{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_3436/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_3436","id":"gutenberg_3436","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3436","summary":null,"tags":["Best Books Ever Listings","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales","Tales -- Arab countries"],"text":"*******************************************************************\nTHIS EBOOK WAS ONE OF PROJECT GUTENBERG'S EARLY FILES PRODUCED AT A\nTIME WHEN PROOFING METHODS AND TOOLS WERE NOT WELL DEVELOPED. THERE\nIS AN IMPROVED EDITION OF THIS TITLE WHICH MAY BE VIEWED AS EBOOK\n(#51775) at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51775\n*******************************************************************\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF THE\n THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT\n\nA Plain and Literal Translation\nof the Arabian Nights Entertainments\n\nTranslated and Annotated by\n Richard F. Burton \n\nVOLUME TWO\n\nPrivately Printed By The Burton Club\n\n\nTo John Payne, Esq.\n\nMy Dear Sir,\n\nAllow me thus publicly to express my admiration of your magnum opus, \"The\nBook of the Thousand Nights and One Night;\" and to offer you my cordial\nthanks for honouring me with the dedication of that scholar-like and\nadmirable version.\n\nEver yours sincerely,\n\nRichard F. Burton.\n\nQueen's College, Oxford,\n     August 1, 1885.\n\nContents of the Second Volume\n\n 7. Nur Al-Din Ali and the Damsel Anis Al-Jalis\n 8. Tale of Ghanim Bin Ayyub, The Distraught, The Thrall O' Love\n a. Tale of the First Eunuch, Bukhayt\n b. Tale of the Second Eunuch, Kafur\n 9. Tale of King Omar Bin Al-Nu'uman and His Sons Sharrkan and Zau Al-Makan\n a. Tale of Taj Al-Muluk and the Princess Dunya\n aa. Tale of Aziz and Azizah\n\n\nThe Book Of The\nTHOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT\n\n\n\n\nNur Al-Din Ali and the Damsel Anis Al-Jalis\n\n\nQuoth Shahrazad [FN#1]:\u2014It hath reached me, O auspicious King of intelligence\npenetrating, that there was, amongst the Kings of Bassorah[FN#2], a King who\nloved the poor and needy and cherished his lieges, and gave of his wealth to\nall who believed in Mohammed (whom Allah bless and assain!), and he was even as\none of the poets described him,\n\n\"A King who when hosts of the foe invade, * Receives them with lance-lunge and\nsabre-sway;\nWrites his name on bosoms in thin red lines, * And scatters the horsemen in\nwild dismay.\"[FN#3]\n\n\nHis name was King Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, and he had two Wazirs, one\ncalled Al-Mu'\u00edn, son of S\u00e1w\u00ed and the other Al-Fazl son of Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n. Now Al-Fazl\nwas the most generous of the people of his age, upright of life, so that all\nhearts united in loving him and the wise flocked to him for counsel; whilst the\nsubjects used to pray for his long life, because he was a compendium of the\nbest qualities, encouraging the good and lief, and preventing evil and\nmischief. But the Wazir Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed on the contrary hated folk [FN#4] and\nloved not the good and was a mere compound of ill; even as was said of him,\n\n\"Hold to nobles, sons of nobles! 'tis ever Nature's test * That nobles born of nobles shall excel in noble deed:\nAnd shun the mean of soul, meanly bred, for 'tis the law, * Mean deeds come of men who are mean of blood and breed.\"\n\n\nAnd as much as the people loved and fondly loved Al-Fazl bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n, so they\nhated and thoroughly hated the mean and miserly Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed. It befel one\nday by the decree of the Decreer, that King Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni,\nbeing seated on his throne with his officers of state about him, summoned his\nWazir Al-Fazl and said to him, \"I wish to have a slave-girl of passing beauty,\nperfect in loveliness, exquisite in symmetry and endowed with all praiseworthy\ngifts.\" Said the courtiers, \"Such a girl is not to be bought for less than ten\nthousand gold pieces:\" whereupon the Sultan called out to his treasurer and\nsaid, \"Carry ten thousand dinars to the house of Al-Fazl bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n.\" The\ntreasurer did the King's bidding; and the Minister went away, after receiving\nthe royal charge to repair to the slave-bazar every day, and entrust to brokers\nthe matter aforesaid. Moreover the King issued orders that girls worth above a\nthousand gold pieces should not be bought or sold without being first displayed\nto the Wazir. Accordingly no broker purchased a slave-girl ere she had been\nparaded before the minister; but none pleased him, till one day a dealer came\nto the house and found him taking horse and intending for the palace. So he\ncaught hold of his stirrup saying,\n\n\"O thou, who givest to royal state sweet savour, * Thou'rt a Wazir shalt never fail of favour!\nDead Bounty thou hast raised to life for men; * Ne'er fail of Allah's grace such high endeavour!\"\n\n\nThen quoth he, \"O my lord, that surpassing object for whom the gracious mandate\nwas issued is at last found; [FN#5]\" and quoth the Wazir, \"Here with her to\nme!\" So he went away and returned after a little, bringing a damsel in richest\nraiment robed, a maid spear-straight of stature and five feet tall; budding of\nbosom with eyes large and black as by Kohl traced, and dewy lips sweeter than\nsyrup or the sherbet one sips, a virginette smooth cheeked and shapely faced,\nwhose slender waist with massive hips was engraced; a form more pleasing than\nbranchlet waving upon the top-most trees, and a voice softer and gentler than\nthe morning breeze, even as saith one of those who have described her,\n\n\"Strange is the charm which dights her brows like Luna's disk that shine; * O sweeter taste than sweetest Robb[FN#6] or raisins of the vine.\nA throne th'Empyrean keeps for her in high and glorious state, * For wit and wisdom, wandlike form and graceful bending line:\nShe in the Heaven of her face[FN#7] the seven-fold stars displays, * That guard her cheeks as satellites against the spy's design:\nIf man should cast a furtive glance or steal far look at her, * His heart is burnt by devil-bolts shot by those piercing eyne.\"\n\n\nWhen the Wazir saw her she made him marvel with excess of admiration, so he\nturned, perfectly pleased, to the broker and asked, \"What is the price of this\ngirl?\"; whereto he answered, \"Her market-value stands at ten thousand dinars,\nbut her owner swears that this sum will not cover the cost of the chickens she\nhath eaten, the wine she hath drunken and the dresses of honour bestowed upon\nher instructor: for she hath learned calligraphy and syntax and etymology; the\ncommentaries of the Koran; the principles of law and religion; the canons of\nmedicine, and the calendar and the art of playing on musical\ninstruments.\"[FN#8] Said the Wazir, \"Bring me her master.\" So the broker\nbrought him at once and, behold, he was a Persian of whom there was left only\nwhat the days had left; for he was as a vulture bald and scald and a wall\ntrembling to its fall. Time had buffetted him with sore smart, yet was he not\nwilling this world to depart; even as said the poet,\n\n\"Time hath shattered all my frame, * Oh! how time hath shattered me.\nTime with lordly might can tame * Manly strength and vigour free.\nTime was in my youth, that none * Sped their way more fleet and fast:\nTime is and my strength is gone, * Youth is sped, and speed is past.[FN#9]\"\n\n\nThe Wazir asked him, \"Art thou content to sell this slave-girl to the Sultan\nfor ten thousand dinars?\"; and the Persian answered, \"By Allah, if I offer her\nto the King for naught, it were but my devoir.\"[FN#10] So the Minister bade\nbring the monies and saw them weighed out to the Persian, who stood up before\nhim and said, \"By the leave of our lord the Wazir, I have somewhat to say;\" and\nthe Wazir replied, \"Out with all thou hast!\" \"It is my opinion,\" continued the\nslave-dealer, \"that thou shouldst not carry the maid to the King this day; for\nshe is newly off a journey; the change of air[FN#11] hath affected her and the\ntoils of trouble have fretted her. But keep her quiet in thy palace some ten\ndays, that she may recover her looks and become again as she was. Then send\nher to the Hammam and clothe her in the richest of clothes and go up with her\nto the Sultan: this will be more to thy profit.\" The Wazir pondered the\nPersian's words and approved of their wisdom; so he carried her to his palace,\nwhere he appointed her private rooms, and allowed her every day whatever she\nwanted of meat and drink and so forth. And on this wise she abode a while. \nNow the Wazir Al-Fazl had a son like the full moon when sheeniest dight, with\nface radiant in light, cheeks ruddy-bright, and a mole like a dot of ambergris\non a downy site; as said of him the poet and said full right,\n\n\"A moon which blights you[FN#12] if you dare behold; * A branch which folds you in its waving fold:\nLocks of the Zanj[FN#13] and golden glint of hair; * Sweet gait and form a spear to have and hold:\nAh! hard of heart with softest slenderest waist, * That evil to this weal why not remould?[FN#14]\nWere thy form's softness placed in thy heart, * Ne'er would thy lover find thee harsh and cold:\nOh thou accuser! be my love's excuser, * Nor chide if love-pangs deal me woes untold!\nI bear no blame: 'tis all my hear and eyne; * So leave thy blaming, let me yearn and pine.\"\n\n\nNow the handsome youth knew not the affair of the damsel; and his father had\nenjoined her closely, saying, \"Know, O my daughter, that I have bought thee as\na bedfellow for our King, Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni; and I have a son who\nis a Satan for girls and leaves no maid in the neighbourhood without taking her\nmaidenhead; so be on thy guard against him and beware of letting him see thy\nface or hear thy voice.\" \"Hearkening and obedience,\" said the girl; and he\nleft her and fared forth. Some days after this it happened by decree of\nDestiny, that the damsel repaired to the baths in the house, where some of the\nslave women bathed her; after which she arrayed herself in sumptuous raiment;\nand her beauty and loveliness were thereby redoubled. Then she went in to the\nWazir's wife and kissed her hand; and the dame said to her, \"Naiman! May it\nbenefit thee,[FN#15] O Anis al- Jalis![FN#16] Are not our baths handsome?\" \"O\nmy mistress,\" she replied, \"I lacked naught there save thy gracious presence.\"\nThereupon the lady said to her slave-women, \"Come with us to the Hammam, for it\nis some days since we went there:\" they answered, \"To hear is to obey!\" and\nrose and all accompanied her. Now she had set two little slave-girls to keep\nthe door of the private chamber wherein was Anis al-Jalis and had said to them,\n\"Suffer none go in to the damsel.\" Presently, as the beautiful maiden sat\nresting in her rooms, suddenly came in the Wazir's son whose name was Nur\nal-Din Ali,[FN#17] and asked after his mother and her women, to which the two\nlittle slave-girls replied, \"They are in the Hammam.\" But the damsel, Anis\nal-Jalis, had heard from within Nur al-Din Ali's voice and had said to herself,\n\"O would Heaven I saw what like is this youth against whom the Wazir warned me,\nsaying that he hath not left a virgin in the neighbourhood without taking her\nvirginity: by Allah, I do long to have sight of him!\" So she sprang to her\nfeet with the freshness of the bath on her and, stepping to the door, looked at\nNur al-Din Ali and saw a youth like the moon in its full and the sight\nbequeathed her a thousand sighs. The young man also glanced at her and the look\nmake him heir to a thousand thoughts of care; and each fell into Love's ready\nsnare. Then he stepped up to the two little slave-girls and cried aloud at\nthem; whereupon both fled before him and stood afar off to see what he would\ndo. And behold, he walked to the door of the damsel's chamber and, opening it,\nwent in and asked her \"Art thou she my father bought for me?\" and she answered\n\"Yes.\" Thereupon the youth, who was warm with wine, came up to her and embraced\nher; then he took her legs and passed them round his waist and she wound her\narms about his neck, and met him with kisses and murmurs of pleasure and\namorous toyings. Next he sucked her tongue and she sucked his, and lastly, he\nloosed the strings of her petticoat-trousers and abated her maidenhead. When\nthe two little slave-girls saw their young master get in unto the damsel, Anis\nal-Jalis, they cried out and shrieked; so as soon as the youth had had his\nwicked will of her, he rose and fled forth fearing the consequences of his\nill-doing. When the Wazir's wife heard the slave-girls' cries, she sprang up\nand came out of the baths with the perspiration pouring from her face, saying,\n\"What is this unseemly clamour in the house[FN#18]?\" Then she came up to the\ntwo little slave- girls and asked them saying, \"Fie upon you! what is the\nmatter?\"; and both answered, \"Verily our lord Nur al-Din came in and beat us,\nso we fled; then he went up to Anis al-Jalis and threw his arms round her and\nwe know not what he did after that; but when we cried out to thee he ran away.\"\nUpon this the lady went to Anis al-Jalis and said to her, \"What tidings?\" \"O\nmy lady,\" she answered, \"as I was sitting here lo! a handsome young man came in\nand said to me:\u2014Art thou she my father bought for me?; and I answered Yes; for,\nby Allah, O mistress mine, I believed that his words were true; and he\ninstantly came in and embraced me.\" \"Did he nought else with thee but this?\"\nquoth the lady, and quoth she, \"Indeed he did! But he did it only three\ntimes.\" \"He did not leave thee without dishonouring thee!\" cried the Wazir's\nwife and fell to weeping and buffetting her face, she and the girl and all the\nhandmaidens, fearing lest Nur al-Din's father should kill him.[FN#19] Whilst\nthey were thus, in came the Wazir and asked what was the matter, and his wife\nsaid to him, \"Swear that whatso I tell thee thou wilt attend to it.\" \"I will,\"\nanswered he. So she related to him what his son had done, whereat he was much\nconcerned and rent his raiment and smote his face till his nose bled, and\nplucked out his beard by the handful. \"Do not kill thyself,\" said his wife, \"I\nwill give thee ten thousand dinars, her price, of my own money.\" But he raised\nhis head and cried, \"Out upon thee! I have no need of her purchase-money: my\nfear is lest life as well as money go.\" \"O my lord, and how is that?\" \"Wottest\nthou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed who, as soon as he\nshall hear of this matter, will go up to the Sultan\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Thirty-fifth Night,\n\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir said to\nhis wife, \"Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al-Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed\nwho, as soon as he hears of this matter will go up to the Sultan and say to\nhim, 'Thy Wazir who, thou wilt have it loveth thee, took from thee ten thousand\nducats and bought therewith a slave-girl whose like none ever beheld; but when\nhe saw her, she pleased him and he said to his son, 'Take her: thou art\nworthier of her than the Sultan.' So he took her and did away with her\nvirginity and she is now in his house.' The King will say, 'Thou liest!' to\nwhich he will reply, 'With thy leave I will fall upon him unawares and bring\nher to thee.' The King will give him warranty for this and he will come down\nupon the house and will take the girl and present her to the Sultan, who will\nquestion her and she will not be able to deny the past. Then mine enemy will\nsay, 'O my lord, thou wottest that I give thee the best of counsel; but I have\nnot found favour in thine eyes.' Thereupon the Sultan will make an example of\nme, and I shall be a gazing-stock to all the people and my life will be lost.\" \nQuoth his wife, \"Let none know of this thing which hath happened privily, and\ncommit thy case to Allah and trust in Him to save thee from such strait; for He\nwho knoweth the future shall provide for the future.\" With this she brought\nthe Wazir a cup of wine and his heart was quieted, and he ceased to feel wrath\nand fear. Thus far concerning him; but as regards his son Nur al-Din Ali,\nfearing the consequence of his misdeed he abode his day long in the flower\ngarden and came back only at night to his mother's apartment where he slept;\nand, rising before dawn, returned to the gardens. He ceased not to do thus for\ntwo whole months without showing his face to his parent, till at last his\nmother said to his father, \"O my lord, shall we lose our boy as well as the\ngirl? If matters continue long in this way he will flee from us.\" \"And what\nto do?\" asked he; and she answered, \"Do thou watch this night; and, when he\ncometh, seize on him and frighten him: I will rescue him from thee and do thou\nmake peace with him and give him the damsel to wife, for she loveth him as he\nloveth her. And I will pay thee her price.\" So the Minister say up that night\nand, when his son came, he seized him and throwing him down knelt on his breast\nand showed as thou he would cut his throat; but his mother ran to the youth's\nsuccour and asked her husband, \"What wouldest thou do with him?\" He answered\nher, \"I will split his weasand.\" Said the son to the father, \"Is my death,\nthen, so light a matter to thee?\"; and his father's eyes welled with tears, for\nnatural affection moved him, and he rejoined, \"O my son, how light was to thee\nthe loss of my good and my life!\" Quoth Nur al-Din, \"Hear, O my father, what\nthe poet hath said,\n\n\u2018Forgive me! thee-ward sinned I, but the wise * Ne'er to the sinner shall deny his grace:\nThy foe may pardon sue when lieth he * In lowest, and thou holdest highest place!'\"\n\n\nThereupon the Wazir rose from off his son's breast saying, \"I forgive thee!\";\nfor his heart yearned to him; and the youth kissed the hand of his sire who\nsaid, \"O my son, were I sure that thou wouldest deal justly by Anis al-Jalis, I\nwould give her to thee.\" \"O my father, what justice am I to do to her?\" \"I\nenjoin thee, O my son, not to take another wife or concubine to share with her,\nnor sell her.\" \"O my father! I swear to thee that verily I will not do her\ninjustice in either way.\" Having sworn to that effect Nur al-Din went in to\nthe damsel and abode with her a whole year, whilst Allah Almighty caused the\nKing to forget the matter of the maiden; and Al-Mu'\u00edn, though the affair came\nto his ears, dared not divulge it by reason of the high favour in which his\nrival stood with the Sultan. At the end of the year Al-Fazl went one day to\nthe public baths; and, as he came out whilst he was still sweating, the air\nstruck him[FN#20] and he caught a cold which turned to a fever; then he took to\nhis bed. His malady gained ground and restlessness was longsome upon him and\nweakness bound him like a chain; so he called out, \"Hither with my son;\" and\nwhen Nur al-Din Ali came he said to him, \"O my son, know that man's lot and\nmeans are distributed and decreed; and the end of days by all must be dree'd;\nand that every soul drain the cup of death is nature's need.\" The he repeated\nthese lines,\n\n\"I die my death, but He alone is great who dieth not! * And well I wot, soon shall I die, for death was made my lot:\nA King there's not that dies and holds his kingdom in his hand, * For Sovranty the Kingdom is of Him who dieth not.\"\n\n\nThen he continued, \"O my son, I have no charge to leave thee save that thou\nfear Allah and look to the issues of thine acts and bear in mind my injunctions\nanent Anis al-Jalis.\" \"O my father!\" said Nur al-Din, \"who is like unto thee? \nIndeed thou art famed for well doing and preachers offer prayers for thee in\ntheir pulpits!\" Quoth Al-Fazl, \"O my son, I hope that Allah Almighty may grant\nme acceptance!\" Then he pronounced the Two Testimonies,[FN#21] or Professions\nof the Faith, and was recorded among the blessed. The palace was filled with\ncrying and lamentation and the news of his death reached the King, and the\ncity-people wept, even those at their prayers and women at household cares and\nthe school-children shed tears for Bin- Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n. Then his son Nur al-Din Ali\narose and made ready his funeral, and the Emirs and Wazirs and high Officers of\nState and city-notables were present, amongst them the Wazir al-Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed.\nAnd as the bier went forth from the house some one in the crowd of mourners\nbegan to chant these lines,\n\n\"On the fifth day I quitted al my friends for evermore, * And they laid me out and washed me on a slab without my door:[FN#22]\nThey stripped me of the clothes I was ever wont to wear, * And they clothed me in the clothes which till then I never wore.\nOn four men's necks they bore me and carried me from home * To chapel; and some prayed for him on neck they bore:\nThey prayed for me a prayer that no prostration knows;[FN#23] * They prayed for me who prais\u00e8d me and were my friends of yore;\nAnd they laid me in a house with a ceiling vaulted o'er, * And Time shall be no more ere it ope to me its door.\"\n\n\nWhen they had shovelled in the dust over him and the crowd had dispersed, Nur\nal-Din returned home and he lamented with sobs and tears; and the tongue of the\ncase repeated these couplets,\n\n\"On the fifth day at even-tide they went away from me: * I farewelled them as faring they made farewell my lot:\nBut my spirit as they went, with them went and so I cried, * 'Ah return ye!' but replied she, 'Alas! return is not\nTo a framework lere and lorn that lacketh blood and life, * A frame whereof remaineth naught but bones that rattle and rot:\nMine eyes are blind and cannot see quencht by the flowing tear! * Mine ears are dull and lost to sense: they have no power to hear!'\"\n\n\nHe abode a long time sorrowing for his father till, one day, as he was sitting\nat home, there came a knocking at the door; so he rose in haste and opening let\nin a man, one of his father's intimates and who had been the Wazir's\nboon-companion. The visitor kissed Nur al-Din's hand and said to him, \"O my\nlord, he who hath left the like of thee is not dead; and this way went also the\nChief of the Ancients and the Moderns. [FN#24] O my lord Ali, be comforted and\nleave sorrowing.\" Thereupon Nur al-Din rose and going to the guest-saloon\ntransported thither all he needed. Then he assembled his companions and took\nhis handmaid again; and, collecting round him ten of the sons of the merchants,\nbegan to eat meat and drink wine, giving entertainment after entertainment and\nlavishing his presents and his favours. One day his Steward came to him and\nsaid, \"O my lord Nur al-Din, hast thou not heard the saying, Whoso spendeth and\nreckoneth not, to poverty wendeth and recketh not?\" And he repeated what the\npoet wrote,\n\n\"I look to my money and keep it with care, * For right well I wot 'tis my buckler and brand:\nDid I lavish my dirhams on hostilest foes,[FN#25] * I should truck my good luck by mine ill luck trepanned:\nSo I'll eat it and drink it and joy in my wealth; * And no spending my pennies on others I'll stand:\nI will keep my purse close 'gainst whoever he be; * And a niggard in grain a true friend ne'er I fand:\nFar better deny him than come to say:\u2014Lend, * And five-fold the loan shall return to thy hand!\nAnd he turns face aside and he sidles away, * While I stand like a dog disappointed, unmanned.\nOh, the sorry lot his who hath yellow-boys none, * Though his genius and virtues shine bright as the sun!\n\n\n\"O my master,\" continued the Steward, \"this lavish outlay and these magnificent\ngifts waste away wealth.\" When Nur al-Din Ali heard these words he looked at\nhis servant and cried, \"Of all thou hast spoken I will not heed one single\nword, for I have heard the saying of the poet who saith,\n\n'An my palm be full of wealth and my wealth I ne'er bestow, * A palsy take my hand and my foot ne'er rise again!\nShow me niggard who by niggardise e'er rose to high degree, * Or the generous in gifts generosity hath slain.'\"\n\n\nAnd he pursued, \"Know, O Steward, it is my desire that so long as thou hast\nmoney enough for my breakfast, thou trouble me not with taking thought about my\nsupper.\" Thereupon the Steward asked, \"Must it be so?\"; and he answered, \"It\nmust.\" So the honest man went his way and Nur al-Din Ali devoted himself to\nextravagance; and, if any of his cup-companions chanced to say, \"This is a\npretty thing;\" he would reply, \"'Tis a gift to thee!\"; or if another said, \"O\nmy lord, such a house is handsome;\" he would answer, \"Take it: it is thine!\" \nAfter this reckless fashion he continued to live for a whole year, giving his\nfriends a banquet in the morning and a banquet in the evening and a banquet at\nmidnight, till one day, as the company was sitting together, the damsel Anis\nal-Jalis repeated these lines,\n\n\"Thou deemedst well of Time when days went well, * And feardest not what ills might deal thee Fate:\nThy nights so fair and restful cozened thee, * For peaceful nights bring woes of heavy weight.\"\n\n\nWhen she had ended her verse behold, somebody knocked at the door. So Nur\nal-Din rose to open it and one of his boon- companions followed him without\nbeing perceived. At the door he found his Steward and asked him, \"What is the\nmatter?\"; and he answered, \"O my lord, what I dreaded for thee hath come to\npass!\" \"How so?\" \"Know that there remains not a dirham's worth, less or more\nin my hands. Here are my Daftars and account books showing both income and\noutlay and the registers of thine original property.\" When Nur al-Din heard\nthese words he bowed his head and said, \"There is no Majesty and there is no\nMight save in Allah!\" When the man who had followed him privily to spy on him\nheard the Steward's words, he returned to his friends and warned them saying,\n\"Look ye well to what ye do: Nur al-Din is penniless;\" and, as the young host\ncame back to his guests, vexation showed itself in his face. Thereupon one of\nthe intimates rose; and, looking at the entertainer, said to him, \"O my lord,\nmay be thou wilt give me leave to retire?\" \"And why so early retirement this\nday?\"; asked he and the other answered him, \"My wife is in childbirth and I may\nnot be absent from her: indeed I must return and see how she does.\" So he gave\nhim leave, whereupon another rose and said, \"O my lord Nur al-Din, I wish now\nto go to my brother's for he circumciseth his son to- day.\"[FN#26] In short\neach and every asked permission to retire on some pretence or other, till all\nthe ten were gone leaving Nur al-Din alone. Then he called his slave-girl and\nsaid to her, \"O Anis al-Jalis, hast thou seen what case is mine?\" And he\nrelated to her what the Steward had told him. Then quoth she, \"O my lord, for\nmany nights I had it in my mind to speak with thee of this matter, but I heard\nthee repeating,\n\n'When the World heaps favours on thee, pass on * Thy favours to friends ere her hand she stay:\nLargesse never let her when fain she comes, * Nor niggardise kept her from turning away!'\n\n\nWhen I heard these verses I held my peace and cared not to exchange a word with\nthee.\" \"O Anis al-Jalis,\" said Nur al-Din, \"thou knowest that I have not\nwasted my wealth save on my friends, especially these ten who have now left me\na pauper, and I think they will not abandon and desert me without relief.\" \"By\nAllah,\" replied she, \"they will not profit thee with aught of aid.\" Said he,\n\"I will rise at once and go to them; and knock at their doors; it may be I shall\nget from them somewhat wherewith I may trade and leave pastime and pleasuring.\"\nSo he rose without stay or delay, and repaired to a street wherein all his ten\nfriends lived. He went up to the nearest door and knocked; whereupon a\nhandmaid came out and asked him, \"Who art thou?\"; and he answered, \"Tell thy\nmaster that Nur al-Din Ali standeth at the door and saith to him, 'Thy slave\nkisseth thy hand and awaiteth thy bounty.'\" The girl went in and told her\nmaster, who cried at her, \"Go back and say, 'My master is not at home.'\" So\nshe returned to Nur al-Din, and said to him, \"O my lord, my master is out.\" \nThereupon he turned away and said to himself, \"If this one be a whoreson knave\nand deny himself, another may not prove himself such knave and whoreson.\" Then\nhe went up to the next door and sent in a like message to the house-master, who\ndenied himself as the first had done, whereupon he began repeating,\n\n\"He is gone who when to his gate thou go'st, * Fed thy famisht maw with his\nboiled and roast.\"\n\n\nWhen he had ended his verse he said, \"By Allah, there is no help but that I\nmake trial of them all: perchance there be one amongst them who will stand me\nin the stead of all the rest.\" So he went the round of the ten, but not one of\nthem would open his door to him or show himself or even break a bit of bread\nbefore him; whereupon he recited,\n\n\"Like a tree is he who in wealth doth wone, * And while fruits he the folk to his fruit shall run:\nBut when bared the tree of what fruit it bare, * They leave it to suffer from dust and sun.\nPerdition to all of this age! I find * Ten rogues for every righteous one.\"\n\n\nThen he returned to his slave-girl and his grief had grown more grievous and\nshe said to him, \"O my lord, did I not tell thee, none would profit thee with\naught of aid?\" And he replied, \"By Allah, not one of them would show me his\nface or know me!\" \"O my lord,\" quoth she, \"sell some of the moveables and\nhousehold stuff, such as pots and pans, little by little; and expend the\nproceeds until Allah Almighty shall provide.\" So he sold all of that was in\nthe house till nothing remained when he turned to Anis al-Jalis and asked her\n\"What shall we do now?\"; and she answered, \"O my lord, it is my advice that\nthou rise forthwith and take me down to the bazar and sell me. Thou knowest\nthat they father bought me for ten thousand dinars: haply Allah may open thee a\nway to get the same price, and if it be His will to bring us once more\ntogether, we shall meet again.\" \"O Anis al- Jalis,\" cried he, \"by Allah it is\nno light matter for me to be parted from thee for a single hour!\" \"By Allah, O\nmy lord,\" she replied, \"nor is it easy to me either, but Need hath its own law,\nas the poet said,\n\n'Need drives a man into devious roads, * And pathways doubtful of trend and scope:\nNo man to a rope[FN#27] will entrust his weight, * Save for cause that calleth for case of rope.'\"\n\n\nThereupon he rose to his feet and took her,[FN#28] whilst the tears rolled down\nhis cheek like rain; and he recited with the tongue of the case these lines,\n\n\"Stay! grant one parting look before we part, * Nerving my heart this severance to sustain:\nBut, an this parting deal thee pain and bane, * Leave me to die of love and spare thee pain!\"\n\n\nThen he went down with her to the bazar and delivered her to the broker and\nsaid to him, \"O H\u00e1jj Hasan,[FN#29] I pray thee note the value of her thou hast\nto cry for sale.\" \"O my lord Nur al- Din,\" quoth the broker, \"the fundamentals\nare remembered;\"[FN#30] adding, \"Is not this the Anis al-Jalis whom thy father\nbought of me for ten thousand dinars?\" \"Yes,\" said Nur al-Din. Thereupon the\nbroker went round to the merchants, but found that all had not yet assembled. \nSo he waited till the rest had arrived and the market was crowded with\nslave-girls of all nations, Turks, Franks and Circassians; Abyssinians, Nubians\nand Takr\u00far\u00eds;[FN#31] Tartars, Georgians and others; when he came forward and\nstanding cried aloud, \"O merchants! O men of money! every round thing is not a\nwalnut and every long thing a banana is not; all reds are not meat nor all\nwhites fat, nor is every brown thing a date![FN#32] O merchants, I have here\nthis union-pearl that hath no price: at what sum shall I cry her?\" \"Cry her at\nfour thousand five hundred dinars,\" quoth one of the traders. The broker opened\nthe door of sale at the sum named and, as he was yet calling, lo! the Wazir\nAl-Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed passed through the bazar and, seeing Nur al-Din Ali waiting\nat one side, said to himself, \"Why is Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n's son[FN#33] standing about here? \nHath this gallows-bird aught remaining wherewith to buy slave-girls?\" Then he\nlooked round and, seeing the broker calling out in the market with all the\nmerchants around him, said to himself, \"I am sure that he is penniless and hath\nbrought hither the damsel Anis al-Jalis for sale;\" adding, \"O how cooling and\ngrateful is this to my heart!\" Then he called the crier, who came up and kissed\nthe ground before him; and he said to him, \"I want this slave-girl whom thou\nart calling for sale.\" The broker dared not cross him, so he answered, \"O my\nlord, Bismillah! in Allah's name so be it;\" and led forward the damsel and\nshowed her to him. She pleased him much whereat he asked, \"O Hasan, what is\nbidden for this girl?\" and he answered, \"Four thousand five hundred dinars to\nopen the door of sale.\" Quoth Al-Mu'\u00edn, \"Four thousand five hundred is MY bid.\"\nWhen the merchants heard this, they held back and dared not bid another\ndirham, wotting what they did of the Wazir's tyranny, violence and treachery.\nSo Al-Mu'\u00edn looked at the broker and said to him, \"Why stand still? Go and\noffer four thousand dinars for me and the five hundred shall be for thyself.\"\nThereupon the broker went to Nur al-Din and said, \"O my lord, thy slave is\ngoing for nothing!\" \"And how so?\" asked he. The broker answered, \"We had\nopened the biddings for her at four thousand five hundred dinars; when that\ntyrant, Al-Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed, passed through the bazar and, as he saw the damsel\nshe pleased him, so he cried to me, 'Call me the buyer at four thousand dinars\nand thou shalt have five hundred for thyself.' I doubt not but that he knoweth\nthat the damsel is thine, and if he would pay thee down her price at once it\nwere well; but I know his injustice and violence; he will give thee a written\norder upon some of his agents and will send after thee to say to them, 'Pay him\nnothing.' So as often as though shalt go in quest of the coin they will say,\n'We'll pay thee presently!' and they will put thee off day after day, and thou\nart proud of spirit; till at last, when they are wearied with thine\nimportunity, they will say, 'Show us the cheque.' Then, as soon as they have\ngot hold of it they will tear it up and so thou wilt lose the girl's price.\"\nWhen Nur al-Din heard this he looked at the broker and asked him, \"How shall\nthis matter be managed?\"; and he answered, \"I will give thee a counsel which,\nif thou follow, it shall bring thee complete satisfaction.\" \"And what is that?\"\nquoth Nur al-Din. Quoth the broker, \"Come thou to me anon when I am standing in\nthe middle of the market and, taking the girl from my hand, give her a sound\ncuffing and say to her, 'Thou baggage, I have kept my vow and brought thee down\nto the slave-market, because I swore an oath that I would carry thee from home\nto the bazar, and make brokers cry thee for sale.' If thou do this, perhaps\nthe device will impose upon the Wazir and the people, and they will believe\nthat thou broughtest her not to the bazar but for the quittance of thine\noath.\" He replied, \"Such were the best way.\" Then the broker left him and,\nreturning into the midst of the market, took the damsel by the hand, and signed\nto the Wazir and said, \"O my lord, here is her owner.\" With this up came Nur\nal-Din Ali and, snatching the girl from the broker's hand, cuffed her soundly\nand said to her, \"Shame on thee, O thou baggage! I have brought thee to the\nbazar for quittance of mine oath; now get thee home and thwart me no more as is\nthy wont. Woe to thee! do I need thy price, that I should sell thee? The\nfurniture of my house would fetch thy value many times over!\" When Al-Mu'\u00edn saw\nthis he said to Nur al-Din, \"Out on thee! Hast thou anything left for selling\nor buying?\" And he would have laid violent hands upon him, but the merchants\ninterposed (for they all loved Nur al-Din), and the young man said to them,\n\"Here am I in your hands and ye all know his tyranny.\" \"By Allah,\" cried the\nWazir, \"but for you I had slain him!\" Then all signed with significant eyes to\nNur al-Din as much as to say, \"Take thy wreak of him; not one of us will come\nbetween thee and him.\" Thereupon Nur al-Din, who was stout of heart as he was\nstalwart of limb, went up to the Wazir and, dragging him over the pommel of his\nsaddle, threw him to the ground. Now there was in that place a puddling- pit\nfor brick- clay,[FN#34] into the midst of which he fell, and Nur al-Din kept\npummelling and fisti-cuffing him, and one of the blows fell full on his teeth,\nand his beard was dyed with his blood. Also there were with the minister ten\narmed slaves who, seeing their master entreated after this fashion, laid hand\non sword-hilt and would have bared blades and fallen on Nur al-Din to cut him\ndown; but the merchants and bystanders said to them, \"This is a Wazir and that\nis the son of a Wazir; haply they will make friends some time or other, in\nwhich case you will forfeit the favour of both. Or perchance a blow may befal\nyour lord, and you will all die the vilest of deaths; so it were better for you\nnot to interfere.\" Accordingly they held aloof and, when Nur al-Din had made an\nend of thrashing the Wazir, he took his handmaid and fared homewards. Al-Mu'\u00edn\nalso went his ways at once, with his raiment dyed of three colours, black with\nmud, red with blood and ash coloured with brick-clay. When he saw himself in\nthis state, he bound a bit of matting[FN#35] round his neck and, taking in hand\ntwo bundles of coarse Halfah-grass,[FN#36] went up to the palace and standing\nunder the Sultan's windows cried aloud, \"O King of the age, I am a wronged man!\nI am foully wronged!\" So they brought him before the King who looked at him;\nand behold, it was the chief Minister; whereupon he said, \"O Wazir who did this\ndeed by thee?\" Al-Mu'\u00edn wept and sobbed and repeated these lines,\n\n\"Shall the World oppress me when thou art in't? * In the lion's presence shall wolves devour?\nShall the dry all drink of thy tanks and I * Under rain-cloud thirst for the cooling shower?\"\n\n\n\"O my lord,\" cried he, \"the like will befal every one who loveth and serveth\nthee well.\" \"Be quick with thee,\" quoth the Sultan, \"and tell me how this came\nto pass and who did this deed by one whose honour is part of my honour.\" Quoth\nthe Wazir, \"Know, O my lord, that I went out this day to the slave-market to\nbuy me a cookmaid, when I saw there a damsel, never in my life long saw I a\nfairer; and I designed to buy her for our lord the Sultan; so I asked the\nbroker of her and of her owner, and he answered, \"She belongeth to Ali son of\nAl-Fazl bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n. Some time ago our lord the Sultan gave his father ten\nthousand dinars wherewith to buy him a handsome slave-girl, and he bought this\nmaiden who pleased him; so he grudged her to our lord the Sultan and gave her\nto his own son. When the father died, the son sold all he had of houses and\ngardens and household gear, and squandered the price till he was penniless. \nThen he brought the girl to the market that he might sell her, and he handed\nher over to the broker to cry and the merchants bid higher and higher on her,\nuntil the price reached four thousand dinars; whereupon quoth I to myself, 'I\nwill buy this damsel for our lord the Sultan, whose money was paid for her.' \nSo I said to Nur al-Din, 'O my son, sell her to me for four thousand dinars.' \nWhen he heard my words he looked at me and cried, 'O ill-omened oldster, I will\nsell her to a Jew or to a Nazarene, but I will not sell her to thee!' 'I do\nnot buy her for myself,' said I, 'I buy her for our lord and benefactor the\nSultan.' Hearing my words he was filled with rage; and, dragging me off my\nhorse (and I a very old man), beat me unmercifully with his fists and buffeted\nme with his palms till he left me as thou seest, and all this hath befallen me\nonly because I thought to buy this damsel for thee!\" Then the Wazir threw\nhimself on the ground and lay there weeping and shivering. When the Sultan saw\nhis condition and heard his story, the vein of rage started out between his\neyes[FN#37] and he turned to his body-guard who stood before him, forty white\nslaves, smiters with the sword, and said to them, \"Go down forthright to the\nhouse built by the son of Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n and sack it and raze it and bring to me his\nson Nur al-Din with the damsel; and drag them both on their faces with their\narms pinioned behind them.\" They replied, \"To hear is to obey;\" and, arming\nthemselves, they set out for the house of Nur al-Din Ali. Now about the Sultan\nwas a Chamberlain, Alam[FN#38] al-Din Sanjar hight, who had aforetime been\nMameluke to Al-Fazl; but he had risen in the world and the Sultan had advanced\nhim to be one of his Chamberlains. When he heard the King's command and saw\nthe enemies make them ready to slay his old master's son, it was grievous to\nhim: so he went out from before the Sultan and, mounting his beast, rode to Nur\nal- Din's house and knocked at the door. Nur al-Din came out and knowing him\nwould have saluted him: but he said, \"O my master this is no time for greeting\nor treating. Listen to what the poet said,\n\n    'Fly, fly with thy life if by ill overtaken!\n    Let thy house speak thy death by its builder forsaken!\n    For a land else than this land thou may'st reach, my brother,\n    But thy life tho'lt ne'er find in this world another.'\"[FN#39]\n\n\n\"O Alam al-Din what cheer?\" asked Nur al-Din, and he answered, \"Rise quickly\nand fly for thy life, thou and the damsel; for Al- Mu'\u00edn hath set a snare for\nyou both; and, if you fall into his hands, he will slay you. The Sultan hath\ndespatched forty sworders against you and I counsel you to flee ere harm can\nhurt you.\" Then Sanjar put his hand to his purse and finding there forty gold\npieces took them; and gave them to Nur al-Din, saying, \"O my lord receive these\nand journey with them. Had I more I would give them to thee, but this is not\nthe time to take exception.\" Thereupon Nur al-Din went in to the damsel and\ntold her what had happened, at which she wrung her hands. Then they fared\nforth at once from the city, and Allah spread over them His veil of protection,\nso that they reached the river-bank where they found a vessel ready for sea. \nHer skipper was standing amidships and crying, \"Whoso hath aught to do, whether\nin the way of provisioning or taking leave of his people; or whoso hath\nforgotten any needful thing, let him do it at once and return, for we are about\nto sail\"; and all of them saying, \"There is naught left to be done by us, O\ncaptain!\", he cried to his crew, \"Hallo there! cast off the cable and pull up\nthe mooring- pole!\"[FN#40] Quoth Nur al-Din, \"Whither bound, O captain?\" and\nquoth he, \"To the House of Peace, Baghdad,\"\u2014-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Thirty-sixth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the skipper\nanswered, \"To the House of Peace, Baghdad,\" Nur al-Din Ali and the damsel went\non board, and they launched the craft and shook out the sails, and the ship\nsped forth as though she were a bird on wing; even as said one of them; and said\nright well,\n\n\"Watch some tall ship, she'll joy the sight of thee, * The breeze outstripping in her haste to flee;\nAs when a bird, with widely-spreading wings, * Leaveth the sky to settle on the sea.\"\n\n\nSo the vessel sailed on her fastest and the wind to her was fairest. Thus far\nconcerning them; but as regards the Mamelukes, they went to Nur al-Din's\nmansion and, breaking open the doors, entered and searched the whole place, but\ncould find no trace of him and the damsel; so they demolished the house and,\nreturning to the Sultan, reported their proceedings; whereupon quoth he, \"Make\nsearch for them both, wherever they may be;\" and they answered, \"Hearing is\nobeying.\" The Wazir Al-Mu'\u00edn had also gone home after the Sultan had bestowed\nupon him a robe of honour, and had set his heart at rest by saying, \"None shall\ntake blood-wreak for thee save I;\" and he had blessed the King and prayed for\nhis long life and prosperity. Then the Sultan bade proclaim about the city,\n\"Oyez, O ye lieges one and all! It is the will of our lord the Sultan that\nwhoso happeneth on Nur al-Din Ali son of Al- Fazl bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n, and bringeth him\nto the Sultan, shall receive a robe of honour and one thousand gold pieces; and\nhe who hideth him or knoweth his abiding place and informeth not, deserveth\nwhatsoever pains and penalties shall befal him.\" So all began to search for\nNur al-Din Ali, but they could find neither trace nor tidings of him. \nMeanwhile he and his handmaid sailed on with the wind right aft, till they\narrived in safety at Baghdad, and the captain said to them, \"This is Baghdad\nand 'tis the city where security is to be had: Winter with his frosts hath\nturned away and Prime hath come his roses to display; and the flowers are a-\nglowing and the trees are blowing and the streams are flowing.\" So Nur al-Din\nlanded, he and his handmaid and, giving the captain five dinars, walked on a\nlittle way till the decrees of Destiny brought them among the gardens, and they\ncame to a place swept and sprinkled, with benches along the walls and hanging\njars filled with water.[FN#41] Overhead was a trellis of reed-work and canes\nshading the whole length of the avenue, and at the upper end was a garden gate,\nbut this was locked. \"By Allah,\" quoth Nur al-Din to the damsel, \"right\npleasant is this place!\"; and she replied, \"O my lord sit with me a while on\nthis bench and let us take our ease.\" So they mounted and sat them down on the\nbench, after which they washed their faces and hands; and the breeze blew cool\non them; and they fell asleep and glory be to Him who never sleepeth! Now this\ngarden was named the Garden of Gladness[FN#42] and therein stood a belvedere\nhight the Palace of Pleasure and the Pavilion of Pictures, the whole belonging\nto the Caliph Harun al-Rashid who was wont, when his breast was straitened with\ncare, to frequent garden and palace and there to sit. The palace had eighty\nlatticed windows and fourscore lamps hanging round a great candelabrum of gold\nfurnished with wax- candles; and, when the Caliph used to enter, he would order\nthe handmaids to throw open the lattices and light up the rooms; and he would\nbid Ishak bin Ibrahim the cup-companion and the slave- girls to sing till his\nbreast was broadened and his ailments were allayed. Now the keeper of the\ngarden, Shaykh Ibrahim, was a very old man, and he had found from time to time,\nwhen he went out on any business, people pleasuring about the garden gate with\ntheir bona robas; at which he was angered with exceeding anger.[FN#43] But he\ntook patience till one day when the Caliph came to his garden; and he\ncomplained of this to Harun al-Rashid who said, \"Whomsoever thou surprisest\nabout the door of the garden, deal with him as thou wilt.\" Now on this day the\nGardener chanced to be abroad on some occasion and returning found these two\nsleeping at the gate covered with a single mantilla; whereupon said he, \"By\nAllah, good! These twain know not that the Caliph hath given me leave to slay\nanyone I may catch at the door; but I will give this couple a shrewd whipping,\nthat none may come near the gate in future.\" So he cut a green\npalm-frond[FN#44] and went up to them; and, raising his arm till the white of\nhis arm-pit appeared, was about to strike them, when he bethought himself and\nsaid, \"O Ibrahim, wilt thou beat them unknowing their case? Haply they are\nstrangers or of the Sons of the Road,[FN#45] and the decrees of Destiny have\nthrown them here. I will uncover their faces and look at them.\" So he lifted\nup the mantilla from their heads and said, \"They are a handsome couple; it were\nnot fitting that I should beat them.\" Then he covered their faces again and,\ngoing to Nur al-Din's feet, began to rub and shampoo them,[FN#46] whereupon the\nyouth opened his eyes and, seeing an old man of grave and reverend aspect\nrubbing his feet, he was ashamed and drawing them in, sat up. Then he took\nShaykh Ibrahim's hand and kissed it. Quoth the old man, \"O my son, whence art\nthou?\"; and quoth he, \"O my lord, we two are strangers,\" and the tears started\nfrom his eyes. \"O my son,\" said Shaykh Ibrahim, \"know that the Prophet (whom\nAllah bless and preserve!) hath enjoined honour to the stranger;\" and added,\n\"Wilt not thou arise, O my son, and pass into the garden and solace thyself by\nlooking at it and gladden thy heart?\" \"O my lord,\" said Nur al-Din, \"to whom\ndoth this garden belong?;\" and the other replied, \"O my son, I have inherited\nit from my folk.\" Now his object in saying this was to set them at their ease\nand induce them to enter the garden. So Nur al-Din thanked him and rose, he\nand the damsel, and followed him into the garden; and lo! it was a garden, and\nwhat a garden! The gate was arched like a great hall and over walls and roof\nramped vines with grapes of many colours; the red like rubies and the black\nlike ebonies; and beyond it lay a bower of trelliced boughs growing fruits\nsingle and composite, and small birds on branches sang with melodious recite,\nand the thousand-noted nightingale shrilled with her varied shright; the turtle\nwith her cooing filled the site; the blackbird whistled like human wight[FN#47]\nand the ring-dove moaned like a drinker in grievous plight. The trees grew in\nperfection all edible growths and fruited all manner fruits which in pairs were\nbipartite; with the camphor- apricot, the almond-apricot and the apricot\n\"Khorasani\" hight; the plum, like the face of beauty, smooth and bright; the\ncherry that makes teeth shine clear by her sleight, and the fig of three\ncolours, green, purple and white. There also blossomed the violet as it were\nsulphur on fire by night; the orange with buds like pink coral and marguerite;\nthe rose whose redness gars the loveliest cheeks blush with despight; and\nmyrtle and gilliflower and lavender with the blood-red anemone from Nu'uman\nhight. The leaves were all gemmed with tears the clouds had dight; the\nchamomile smiled showing teeth that bite, and Narcissus with his negro[FN#48]\neyes fixed on Rose his sight; the citrons shone with fruits embowled and the\nlemons like balls of gold; earth was carpeted with flowers tinctured infinite;\nfor Spring was come brightening the place with joy and delight; and the streams\nran ringing, to the birds' gay singing, while the rustling breeze upspringing\nattempered the air to temperance exquisite. Shaykh Ibrahim carried them up\ninto the pavilion, and they gazed on its beauty, and on the lamps\naforementioned in the latticed windows; and Nur al-Din, remembering his\nentertainments of time past, cried, \"By Allah, this is a pleasant place; it\nhath quenched in me anguish which burned as a fire of Ghaza-wood.[FN#49]\" Then\nthey sat down and Shaykh Ibrahim set food before them; and they ate till they\nwere satisfied and washed their hands: after which Nur al-Din went up to one of\nthe latticed windows, and, calling to his handmaid fell to gazing on the trees\nladen with all manner fruits. Presently he turned to the Gardener and said to\nhim, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim hast thou no drink here, for folk are wont to drink\nafter eating?\" The Shaykh brought him sweet water, cool and pleasant, but he\nsaid, \"This is not the kind of drink I wanted.\" \"Perchance thou wishest for\nwine?\" \"Indeed I do, O Shaykh!\" \"I seek refuge from it with Allah: it is\nthirteen years since I did this thing, for the Prophet (Abhak[FN#50]) cursed\nits drinker, presser, seller and carrier!\" \"Hear two words of me.\" \"Say on.\" \n\"If yon cursed ass[FN#51] which standeth there be cursed, will aught of his\ncurse alight upon thee?\" \"By no means!\" \"Then take this dinar and these two\ndirhams and mount yonder ass and, halting afar from the wine-shop, call the\nfirst man thou seest buying liquor and say to him, 'Take these two dirhams for\nthyself, and with this dinar buy me some wine and set it on the ass.' So shalt\nthou be neither the presser, nor the buyer, nor the carrier; and no part of the\ncurse will fall upon thee.\" At this Shaykh Ibrahim laughed and said, \"By\nAllah, O my son, I never saw one wilier of wit than thou art, nor heard aught\nsweeter than thy speech.\" So he did as he was bidden by Nur al- Din who\nthanked him and said, \"We two are now dependent on thee, and it is only meet\nthat thou comply with our wishes; so bring us here what we require.\" \"O my\nson,\" replied he, \"this is my buttery before thee\" (and it was the store-room\nprovided for the Commander of the Faithful); \"so go in, and take whatso thou\nwilt, for there is over and above what thou wantest.\" Nur al-Din then entered\nthe pantry and found therein vessels of gold and silver and crystal set with\nall kinds of gems, and was amazed and delighted with what he saw. Then he took\nout what he needed and set it on and poured the wine into flagons and glass\newers, whilst Shaykh Ibrahim brought them fruit and flowers and aromatic herbs.\nThen the old man withdrew and sat down at a distance from them, whilst they\ndrank and made merry, till the wine got the better of them, so that their\ncheeks reddened and their eyes wantoned like the gazelle's; and their locks\nbecame dishevelled and their brightness became yet more beautiful. Then said\nShaykh Ibrahim to himself, \"What aileth me to sit apart from them? Why should\nI not sit with them? When shall I ever find myself in company with the like of\nthese two that favour two moons?\" So he stepped forward and sat down on the\nedge of the da\u00efs, and Nur al- Din said to him, \"O my lord, my life on thee,\ncome nearer to us!\" He came and sat by them, when Nur al-Din filled a cup and\nlooked towards the Shaykh and said to him, \"Drink, that thou mayest try the\ntaste of it!\" \"I take refuge from it with Allah!\" replied he; \"for thirteen\nyears I have not done a thing of the kind.\" Nur al-Din feigned to forget he\nwas there and, drinking off the cup, threw himself on the ground as if the\ndrink had overcome him; whereupon Anis al-Jalis glanced at him and said, \"O\nShaykh Ibrahim see how this husband of mine treateth me;\" and he answered, \"O\nmy lady, what aileth him?\" \"This is how he always serveth me,\" cried she, \"he\ndrinketh awhile, then falleth asleep and leaveth me alone with none to bear me\ncompany over my cup nor any to whom I may sing when the bowl goeth round.\" \nQuoth the Shaykh (and his mien unstiffened for that his soul inclined towards\nher), \"By Allah, this is not well!\" Then she crowned a cup and looking towards\nhim said, \"By my life thou must take and drink it, and not refuse to heal my\nsick heart!\" So he put forth his hand and took it and drank it off and she\nfilled a second and set it on the chandelier and said, \"O master mine, there is\nstill this one left for thee.\" \"By Allah, I cannot drink it;\" cried he, \"what\nI have already drunk is enough for me;\" but she rejoined, \"By Allah, there is\nno help for it.\" So he took the cup and drank; and she filled him a third\nwhich he took and was about to drink when behold, Nur al-Din rolled round and\nsat upright,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Thirty-seventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nur al-Din sat upright\nand said, \"Ho, Shaykh Ibrahim, what is this? Did I not adjure thee a while ago\nand thou refusedst, saying, 'What, I! 'tis thirteen years ago since I have done\nsuch a thing!'\" \"By Allah,\" quoth the Shaykh (and indeed he was abashed), \"no\nsin of mine this, she forced me to do it.\" Nur al-Din laughed and they sat down\nagain to wine and wassail, but the damsel turned to her master and said in a\nwhisper, \"O my lord, drink and do not press him, that I may show thee some\nsport with him.\" Then she began to fill her master's cup and he hers and so\nthey did time after time, till at last Shaykh Ibrahim looked at them; and said,\n\"What fashion of good fellowship is this? Allah curse the glutton who keepeth\nthe cup to himself! Why dost thou not give me to drink, O my brother? What\nmanners are these, O blessed one?\" At this the two laughed until they fell on\ntheir backs; then they drank and gave him to drink and ceased not their\ncarousal till a third part of the night was past. Then said the damsel, \"O\nShaykh Ibrahim, with thy leave I will get up and light one of these candles.\" \n\"Do so,\" he replied, \"but light no more than one.\" So she sprang to her feet\nand, beginning with one candle, lighted all the eighty and sat down again. \nPresently Nur al-Din said, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim, in what favour am I with thee? \nMay I not light one of these lamps?\" \"Light one,\" replied he, \"and bother me no\nmore in thy turn!\" So he rose and lighted one lamp after another, till he had\nlighted the whole eight and the palace seemed to dance with brilliancy. Quoth\nthe Shaykh (and indeed intoxication had overcome him), \"Ye two are bolder than\nI am.\" Then he rose to his feet and opened all the lattices and sat down again;\nand they fell to carousing and reciting verses till the place rang with their\nnoisy mirth. Now Allah, the Decreer who decreeth all things and who for every\neffect appointeth a cause, had so disposed that the Caliph was at that moment\nsitting in the light of the moon at one of the windows of his palace\noverlooking the Tigris. He saw the blaze of the lamps and wax candles\nreflected in the river and, lifting his eyes, perceived that it came from the\nGarden Palace which was all ablaze with brilliancy. So he cried, \"Here to me\nwith Ja'afar the Barmaki!\"; and the last word was hardly spoken ere the Wazir\nwas present before the Commander of the Faithful, who cried at him, \"O dog of a\nMinister, hast thou taken from me this city of Baghdad without saying aught to\nme?\" \"What words are these words?\" asked Ja'afar; and the Caliph answered, \"If\nBaghdad city were not taken from me, the Palace of Pictures would not be\nilluminated with lamps and candles, nor would its windows be thrown open. Woe\nto thee! who durst do a deed like this except the Caliphate had been taken from\nme?\" Quoth Ja'afar (and indeed his side-muscles trembled as he spoke), \"Who\ntold thee that the Palace of Pictures was illuminated and the windows thrown\nopen?\" \"Come hither and see,\" replied the Caliph. Then Ja'afar came close to\nthe Caliph and, looking towards the garden, saw the palace blazing with\nillumination that rayed through the gloom of the night; and, thinking that this\nmight have been permitted by the keeper for some reason of his own, he wished\nto make an excuse for him; so quoth he, \"O Commander of the Faithful, Shaykh\nIbrahim said to me last week, 'O my lord Ja'afar, I much wish to circumcise my\nsons during the life of the Commander of the Faithful and thy life.' I asked,\n'What dost thou want?'; and he answered, 'Get me leave from the Caliph to hold\nthe festival in the Garden Palace.' So said I to him, 'Go circumcise them; and I\nwill see the Caliph and tell him.' Thereupon he went away and I forgot to let\nthee know.\" \"O Ja'afar,\" said the Caliph, \"thou hast committed two offences\nagainst me; first in that thou didst no report to me, secondly, thou didst not\ngive him what he sought; for he came and told thee this only as excuse to ask\nfor some small matter of money, to help him with the outlay; and thou gavest\nhim nothing nor toldest me.\" \"O Commander of the Faithful,\" said Ja'afar, \"I\nforgot.\" \"Now by the rights of my forefathers and the tombs of my forbears,\"\nquoth the Caliph, \"I will not pass the rest of this night save in company with\nhim; for truly he is a pious man who frequenteth the Elders of the Faith and\nthe Fakirs and other religious mendicants and entertaineth them; doubtless they\nare not assembled together and it may be that the prayer of one of them will\nwork us weal both in this world and in the next. Besides, my presence may\nprofit and at any rate be pleasing to Shaykh Ibrahim.\" \"O Commander of the\nFaithful,\" quoth Ja'afar, \"the greater part of the night is passed, and at this\ntime they will be breaking up.\" Quoth the Caliph, \"It matters not: I needs\nmust go to them.\" So Ja'afar held his peace, being bewildered and knowing not\nwhat to do. Then the Caliph rose to his feet and, taking with him Ja'afar and\nMasrur the eunuch sworder, the three disguised themselves in merchants' gear\nand leaving the City-palace, kept threading the streets till they reached the\ngarden. The Caliph went up to the gate and finding it wide open, was surprised\nand said, \"See, O Ja'afar, how Shaykh Ibrahim hath left the gate open at this\nhour contrary to his custom!\" They went in and walked on till they came under\nthe pavilion, when the Caliph said, \"O Ja'afar, I wish to look in upon them\nunawares before I show myself, that I may see what they are about and get sight\nof the elders; for hitherto I have heard no sound from them, nor even a Fakir\ncalling upon the name of Allah.[FN#52]\" Then he looked about and, seeing a tall\nwalnut-tree, said to Ja'afar, \"I will climb this tree, for its branches are\nnear the lattices and so look in upon them.\" Thereupon he mounted the tree and\nceased not climbing from branch to branch, till he reached a bough which was\nright opposite one of the windows, and here he took seat and looked inside the\npalace. He saw a damsel and a youth as they were two moons (glory be to Him who\ncreated them; and fashioned them!), and by them Shaykh Ibrahim seated cup in\nhand and saying, \"O Princess of fair ones, drinking without music is nothing\nworth; indeed I have heard a poet say,\n\n'Round with big and little, the bowl and cup, * Take either that moon[FN#53] in his sheen hath crowned:\nNor drink without music, for oft I've seen, * The horse drink best to the whistle's sound!'\"\n\n\nWhen the Caliph saw this, the vein of wrath started up between his eyes and he\ncame down and said to the Wazir, \"O Ja'afar, never beheld I yet men of piety in\nsuch case; so do thou mount this tree and look upon them, lest the blessings of\nthe blest be lost to thee.\" Ja'afar, hearing the words of the Commander of the\nFaithful and being confounded by them, climbed to the tree- top and looking in,\nsaw Nur al-Din and the damsel, and Shaykh Ibrahim holding in his hand a\nbrimming bowl. At this sight he made sure of death and, descending, stood\nbefore the Commander of the Faithful, who said to him, \"O Ja'afar, praise be to\nAllah who hath made us of those that observe external ordinances of Holy Law\nand hath averted from us the sin of disguising ourselves after the manner of\nhypocrites!\"[FN#54] But Ja'afar could not speak a word for excess of\nconfusion; so the Caliph looked at him and said, \"I wonder how they came\nhither, and who admitted them into my pavilion! But aught like the beauty of\nthis youth and this damsel my eyes never yet saw!\" \"Thou sayest sooth, O our\nLord the Sultan!\" replied Ja'afar (and he hoped to propitiate the Caliph Harun\nal-Rashid). Then quoth the Caliph, \"O Ja'afar, let us both mount the branch\nopposite the window, that we may amuse ourselves with looking at them.\" So the\ntwo climbed the tree and, peering in, heard Shaykh Ibrahim say, \"O my lady, I\nhave cast away all gravity mine by the drinking of wine, but 'tis not sweet\nsave with the soft sounds of the lute-strings it combine.\" \"By Allah,\" replied\nAnis al-Jalis, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim, an we had but some instrument of music our\njoyance were complete.\" Hearing this he rose to his feet and the Caliph said\nto Ja'afar, \"I wonder what he is about to do!\" and Ja'afar answered, \"I know\nnot.\" The Shaykh disappeared and presently reappeared bringing a lute; and the\nCaliph took note of it and knew it for that of Abu Ishak the\nCup-companion.[FN#55] \"By Allah,\" said the Caliph, \"if this damsel sing ill I\nwill crucify all of you; but if she sing well I will forgive them; and only\ngibbet thee.\" \"O Allah cause her to sing vilely!\" quoth Ja'afar. Asked the\nCaliph, \"Why so?\"; and he answered, \"If thou crucify us all together, we shall\nkeep one another company.\" The Caliph laughed at his speech. Presently the\ndamsel took the lute and, after looking at it and tuning it, she played a\nmeasure which made all hearts yearn to her; then she sang these lines,\n\n\"O ye that can aid me, a wretched lover, * Whom longing burns nor can rest restore me!\nThough all you have done I have well deserved, * I take refuge with you, so exult not o'er me:\nTrue, I am weak and low and vile, * But I'll bear your will and whatso you bore me:\nMy death at your hands what brings it of glory? * I fear but your sin which of life forlore me!\"\n\n\nQuoth the Caliph, \"By Allah, good! O Ja'afar, never in my life have I heard a\nvoice so enchanting as this.\" \"Then haply the Caliph's wrath hath passed\naway,\" said Ja'afar, and he replied, \"Yes, 'tis gone.\" Thereupon they\ndescended from the tree, and the Caliph said to Ja'afar, \"I wish to go in and\nsit with them; and hear the damsel sing before me.\" \"O Commander of the\nFaithful,\" replied Ja'afar, \"if thou go in to them they will be terribly\ntroubled, and Shaykh Ibrahim will assuredly die of fright.\" But the Caliph\nanswered, \"O Ja'afar, thou must teach me some device wherewith to delude them\nand whereby I can foregather with them without their knowing me.\" So they\nwalked towards the Tigris pondering the matter, and presently came upon a\nfisherman who stood fishing under the pavilion windows. Now some time before\nthis, the Caliph (being in the pavilion) had called to Shaykh Ibrahim and asked\nhim, \"What noise is this I hear under the windows?\" and he had answered, \"It is\nvoices of fisher folk catching fish:\" so quoth the Caliph, \"Go down and forbid\nthem this place;\" and he forbade them accordingly. However that night a\nfisherman named Karim, happening to pass by and seeing the garden gate open,\nsaid to himself, \"This is a time of negligence; and I will take advantage of it\nto do a bit of fishing.\" So he took his net and cast it, but he had hardly\ndone so when behold, the Caliph come up single-handed and, standing hard by,\nknew him and called aloud to him, \"Ho, Karim!\" The fisherman, hearing himself\nnamed, turned round, and seeing the Caliph, trembled and his side-muscles\nquivered, as he cried, \"By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, I did it not in\nmockery of the mandate; but poverty and a large family drove me to what thou\nseest!\" Quoth the Caliph, \"Make a cast in my name.\" At this the fisherman was\nglad and going to the bank threw his net, then waiting till it had spread out\nat full stretch and settled down, hauled it up and found in it various kinds of\nfish. The Caliph was pleased and said, \"O Karim, doff thy habit.\" So he put\noff a gaberdine of coarse woollen stuff patched in an hundred places whereon\nthe lice were rampant, and a turband which had never been untwisted for three\nyears but to which he had sewn every rag he came upon. The Caliph also pulled\noff his person two vests of Alexandrian and Ba'lbak silk, a loose inner robe\nand a long-sleeved outer coat, and said to the fisherman, \"Take them; and put\nthem on,\" while he assumed the foul gaberdine and filthy turband and drew a\ncorner of the head-cloth as a mouth-veil[FN#56] before his face. Then said he\nto the fisherman, \"Get thee about thy business!\"; and the man kissed the\nCaliph's feet and thanked him and improvised the following couplets,\n\n\"Thou hast granted more favours than ever I craved; * Thou hast satisfied needs which my heart enslaved:\nI will thank thee and thank whileas life shall last, * And my bones will praise thee in grave engraved!\"\n\n\nHardly had the fisherman ended his verse, when the lice began to crawl over the\nCaliph's skin, and he fell to catching them on his neck with his right and left\nand throwing them from him, while he cried, \"O fisherman, woe to thee! what be\nthis abundance of lice on thy gaberdine.\" \"O my lord,\" replied he, \"they may\nannoy thee just at first, but before a week is past thou wilt not feel them nor\nthink of them.\" The Caliph laughed and said to him, \"Out on thee! Shall I\nleave this gaberdine of thine so long on my body?\" Quoth the fisherman, \"I\nwould say a word to thee but I am ashamed in presence of the Caliph!\"; and\nquoth he, \"Say what thou hast to say.\" \"It passed through my thought, O\nCommander of the Faithful,\" said the fisherman, \"that, since thou wishest to\nlearn fishing so thou mayest have in hand an honest trade whereby to gain thy\nlivelihood, this my gaberdine besitteth thee right well.\"[FN#57] The Commander\nof the Faithful laughed at this speech, and the fisherman went his way. Then\nthe Caliph took up the basket of fish and, strewing a little green grass over\nit, carried it to Ja'afar and stood before him. Ja'afar thinking him to be\nKarim the fisherman feared for him and said, \"O Karim, what brought thee\nhither? Flee for thy life, for the Caliph is in the garden to-night and, if he\nsee thee, thy neck is gone.\" At this the Caliph laughed and Ja'afar recognized\nhim and asked, \"Can it be thou, our lord the Sultan?\"; and he answered, \"Yes, O\nJa'afar, and thou art my Wazir and I and thou came hither together; yet thou\nknowest me not; so how should Shaykh Ibrahim know me, and he drunk? Stay here,\ntill I came back to thee.\" \"To hear is to obey,\" said Ja'afar. Then the\nCaliph went up to the door of the pavilion and knocked a gentle knock,\nwhereupon said Nur al-Din,\" O Shaykh Ibrahim, some one taps at the door.\" \"Who\ngoes there?\" cried the Shaykh and the Caliph replied, \"It is I, O Shaykh\nIbrahim!\" \"Who art thou,\" quoth he, and quoth the other, \"I am Karim the\nfisherman: I hear thou hast a feast, so I have brought thee some fish, and of a\ntruth 'tis good fish.\" When Nur al-Din heard the mention of fish, he was glad,\nhe and the damsel, and they both said to the Shaykh, \"O our lord, open the door\nand let him bring us his fish.\" So Shaykh Ibrahim opened and the Caliph came in\n(and he in fisherman guise), and began by saluting them. Said Shaykh Ibrahim,\n\"Welcome to the blackguard, the robber, the dicer! Let us see thy fish.\" So\nthe Caliph showed them his catch and behold, the fishes were still alive and\njumping, whereupon the damsel exclaimed, \"By Allah! O my lord, these are\nindeed fine fish: would they were fried!\" and Shaykh Ibrahim rejoined, \"By\nAllah, O my lady, thou art right.\" Then said he to the Caliph, \"O fisherman,\nwhy didst thou not bring us the fish ready fried? Up now and cook them; and\nbring them back to us.\" \"On my head be thy commands!\" said the Caliph, \"I will\nfry thee a dish and bring it.\" Said they, \"Look sharp.\" Thereupon he went and\nran till he came up to Ja'afar when he called to him, \"Hallo, Ja'afar!\"; and he\nreplied, \"Here am I, O Commander of the Faithful, is all well?\" \"They want the\nfish fried,\" said the Caliph, and Ja'afar answered, \"O Commander of the\nFaithful, give it to me and I'll fry it for them.\" \"By the tombs of my\nforbears,\" quoth the Caliph, \"none shall fry it but I, with mine own hand!\" So\nhe went to the gardener's hut, where he searched and found all that he\nrequired, even to salt and saffron and wild marjoram and else besides. Then he\nturned to the brasier and, setting on the frying-pan, fried a right good fry. \nWhen it was done, he laid it on a banana-leaf, and gathering from the garden\nwind-fallen fruits, limes and lemons, carried the fish to the pavilion and set\nthe dish before them. So the youth and the damsel and Shaykh Ibrahim came\nforward and ate; after which they washed their hands and Nur al-Din said to the\nCaliph, \"By Allah, O fisherman, thou hast done us a right good deed this\nnight.\" Then he put hand in pouch and, taking out three of the dinars which\nSanjar had given him, said, \"O fisherman, excuse me. By Allah had I known thee\nbefore that which hath lately befallen me, I had done away the bitterness of\npoverty from thy heart; but take thou this as the best I can do for thee.\" \nThen he threw the gold pieces to the Caliph, who took them; and kissed them; and\nput them in pouch. Now his sole object in doing all this was to hear the damsel\nsing; so he said to Nur al-Din, \"Thou hast rewarded me most liberally, but I\nbeg of thy boundless bounty that thou let this damsel sing an air, that I may\nhear her.\"[FN#58] So Nur al- Din said, \"O Anis al-Jalis!\" and she answered\n\"Yes!\" and he continued, \"By my life, sing us something for the sake of this\nfisherman who wisheth so much to hear thee.\" Thereupon she took the lute and\nstruck the strings, after she had screwed them tight and tuned them, and sang\nthese improvised verses,\n\n\"The fawn of a maid hent her lute in hand * And her music made us right mettlesome:\nFor her song gave hearing to ears stone-deaf, * While Brava! Brava! exclaimed the dumb.\"\n\n\nThen she played again and played so ravishingly, that she charmed their wits\nand burst out improvising and singing these couplets,\n\n\"You have honoured us visiting this our land, * And your splendour illumined the glooms that blent:\nSo 'tis due that for you I perfume my place * With rose-water, musk and the camphor-scent!\"\n\n\nHereupon the Caliph was agitated, and emotion so overpowered him that he could\nnot command himself for excess of pleasure, and he exclaimed, \"By Allah, good!\nby Allah, good! by Allah, good!\"[FN#59] Asked Nur al-Din, \"O fisherman, doth\nthis damsel please thee?\" and the Caliph answered, \"Ay, by Allah!\" Whereupon\nsaid Nur al-Din, \"She is a gift to thee, a gift of the generous who repenteth\nhim not of his givings and who will never revoke his gift!\" Then he sprang to\nhis feet and, taking a loose robe, threw it over the fisherman and bade him\nreceive the damsel and be gone. But she looked at him and said, \"O my lord,\nart thou faring forth without farewell? If it must be so, at least stay till I\nbid thee good-bye and make known my case.\" And she began versifying in these\nverses,\n\n\"When love and longing and regret are mine, * Must not this body show of ills a sign?\nMy love! say not, 'Thou soon shalt be consoled'; * When state speaks state none shall allay my pine.\nIf living man could swim upon his tears, * I first should float on waters of these eyne:\nO thou, who in my heart infusedst thy love, * As water mingles in the cup with wine,\nThis was the fear I feared, this parting blow. * O thou whose love my heart-core ne'er shall tyne!\nO Bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n! my sought, my hope, my will, * O thou whose love this breast made wholly thine!\nAgainst thy lord the King thou sinn'dst for me, * And winnedst exile in lands peregrine:\nAllah ne'er make my lord repent my loss * To cream[FN#60] o' men thou gavest me, one right digne.\"\n\n\nWhen she had ended her verses, Nur al-Din answered her with these lines,\n\n\"She bade me farewell on our parting day, * And she wept in the fire of our bane and pains:\n'What wilt thou do when fro' thee I'm gone?' * Quoth I, 'say this to whom life remains!'\"\n\n\nWhen the Caliph heard her saying in her verse,\n\n\"To Karim, the cream of men thou gavest me;\"\n\n\nhis inclination for her redoubled and it seemed a hard matter and a grievous to\npart them; so quoth he to the youth, \"O my lord, truly the damsel said in her\nverses that thou didst transgress against her master and him who owned her; so\ntell me, against whom didst thou transgress and who is it hath a claim on\nthee?\" \"By Allah, O fisherman,\" replied Nur al-Din, \"there befel me and this\ndamsel a wondrous tale and a marvellous matter: an 't were graven with\nneedle-gravers on the eye-corners it would be a warner to whoso would be\nwarned.\" Cried the Caliph, \"Wilt thou not tell me thy story and acquaint me\nwith thy case? Haply it may bring thee relief, for Allah's aid is ever\nnearhand.\" \"O fisherman,\" said Nur al-Din, \"Wilt thou hear our history in verse\nor in prose?\" \"Prose is a wordy thing, but verses,\" rejoined the Caliph, \"are\npearls on string.\" Then Nur al-Din bowed his head, and made these couplets,\n\n\"O my friend! reft of rest no repose I command, * And my grief is edoubled in this far land:\nErst I had a father, a kinder ne'er was; * But he died and to Death paid the deodand:\nWhen he went from me, every matter went wrong * Till my heart was nigh-broken, my nature unmanned:\nHe bought me a handmaid, a sweeting who shamed * A wand of the willow by Zephyr befanned:\nI lavisht upon her mine heritage, * And spent like a nobleman puissant and grand:\nThen to sell her compelled, my sorrow increased; * The parting was sore but I mote not gainstand:\nNow as soon as the crier had called her, there bid * A wicked old fellow, a fiery brand:\nSo I raged with a rage that I could not restrain, * And snatched her from out of his hireling's hand;\nWhen the angry curmudgeon made ready for blows, * And the fire of a fight kindled he and his band,\nI smote him in fury with right and with left, * And his hide, till well satisfied, curried and tanned:\nThen in fear I fled forth and lay hid in my house, * To escape from the snares which my foeman had spanned:\nSo the King of the country proclaimed my arrest; * When access to me a good Chamberlain fand:\nAnd warned me to flee from the city afar, * Disappear, disappoint what my enemies planned:\nThen we fled from our home 'neath the wing of the night, * And sought us a refuge by Baghdad strand:\nOf my riches I've nothing on thee to bestow, * O Fisher, except the fair gift thou hast scanned:\nThe loved of my soul, and when I from her part, * Know for sure that I give thee the blood of my heart.\"[FN#61]\n\n\nWhen he had ended his verse, the Caliph said to him, \"O my lord Nur al-Din,\nexplain to me thy case more fully,\" So he told him the whole story from\nbeginning to end, and the Caliph said to him, \"Whither dost thou now intend?\" \n\"Allah's world is wide,\" replied he. Quoth the Caliph, \"I will write thee a\nletter to carry to the Sultan Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, which when he\nreadeth, he will not hurt nor harm thee in aught.\"\u2014-And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Thirty-eighth Night,\n\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph said\nto Nur al-Din Ali, \"I will write thee a letter to carry to the Sultan Mohammed\nbin Sulayman al-Zayni, which when he readeth, he will not hurt nor harm thee in\naught,\" Nur al-Din asked \"What! is there in the world a fisherman who writeth\nto Kings? Such a thing can never be!\"; and the Caliph answered, \"Thou sayest\nsooth, but I will tell thee the reason. Know that I and he learnt in the same\nschool under one schoolmaster, and that I was his monitor. Since that time\nFortune befriended him and he is become a Sultan, while Allah hath abased me\nand made me a fisherman; yet I never send to him to ask aught but he doeth my\ndesire; nay, though I should ask of him a thousand favours every day, he would\ncomply.\" When Nur al-Din heard this he said, \"Good! write that I may see.\" So\nthe Caliph took ink-case and reed-pen and wrote as follows,\u2014\"In the name of\nAllah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! But after.[FN#62] This letter\nis written by Harun al-Rashid, son of Al-Mahdi, to his highness Mohammed bin\nSulayman al-Zayni, whom I have encompassed about with my favour and made my\nviceroy in certain of my dominions. The bearer of these presents is Nur al-Din\nAli, son of Fazl bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n the Wazir. As soon as they come to thy hand divest\nthyself forthright of the kingly dignity and invest him therewith; so oppose\nnot my commandment and peace be with thee.\" He gave the letter to Nur al-Din,\nwho took it and kissed it, then put it in his turband and set out at once on\nhis journey. So far concerning him; but as regards the Caliph, Shaykh Ibrahim\nstared at him (and he still in fisher garb) and said, \"O vilest of fishermen,\nthou hast brought us a couple of fish worth a score of half-dirhams,[FN#63] and\nhast gotten three dinars for them; and thinkest thou to take the damsel to\nboot?\" When the Caliph heard this, he cried out at him, and signed to Masrur\nwho discovered himself and rushed in upon him. Now Ja'afar had sent one of the\ngardener-lads to the doorkeeper of the palace to fetch a suit of royal raiment\nfor the Prince of the Faithful; so the man went and, returning with the suit,\nkissed the ground before the Caliph and gave it him. Then he threw off the\nclothes he had on[FN#64] and donned kingly apparel. Shaykh Ibrahim was still\nsitting upon his chair and the Caliph tarried to behold what would come next.\nBut seeing the Fisherman become the Caliph, Shaykh Ibrahim was utterly\nconfounded and he could do nothing but bite his finger- ends[FN#65] and say,\n\"Would I knew whether am I asleep or am I awake!\" At last the Caliph looked at\nhim and cried, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim, what state is this in which I see thee?\"\nThereupon he recovered from his drunkenness and, throwing himself upon the\nground, repeated these verses,\n\n\"Pardon the sinful ways I did pursue; * Ruth from his lord to every slave is due:\nConfession pays the fine that sin demands; * Where, then, is that which grace and mercy sue?\"[FN#66]\n\n\nThe Caliph forgave him and bade carry the damsel to the city- palace, where he\nset apart for her an apartment and appointed slaves to serve her, saying to\nher, \"Know that we have sent thy lord to be Sultan in Bassorah and, Almighty\nAllah willing, we will dispatch him the dress of investiture and thee with it.\"\nMeanwhile, Nur al-Din Ali ceased not travelling till he reached Bassorah, where\nhe repaired to the Sultan's palace and he shouted a loud shout.[FN#67] The\nSultan heard him and sent for him; and when he came into his presence, he\nkissed the ground between his hands and, producing the letter, presented it to\nhim. Seeing the superscription in the writing of the Commander of the\nFaithful, the Sultan rose to his feet and kissed it three times; and after\nreading it said, \"I hear and I obey Allah Almighty and the Commander of the\nFaithful!\" Then he summoned the four Kazis[FN#68] and the Emirs and was about\nto divest himself of the rule royal, when behold, in came Al Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed. \nThe Sultan gave him the Caliph's letter and he read it, then tore it to pieces\nand putting it into his mouth, chewed it[FN#69] and spat it out. \"Woe to\nthee,\" quoth the Sultan (and indeed he was sore angered); \"what induced thee to\ndo this deed?\" \"Now by thy life! O our lord the Sultan,\" replied Mu'\u00edn, \"this\nman hath never foregathered with the Caliph nor with his Wazir; but he is a\ngallows-bird, a limb of Satan, a knave who, having come upon a written paper in\nthe Caliph's hand, some idle scroll, hath made it serve his own end. The\nCaliph would surely not send him to take the Sultanate from thee without the\nimperial autograph[FN#70] and the diploma of investiture, and he certainly\nwould have despatched with him a Chamberlain or a Minister. But he hath come\nalone and he never came from the Caliph, no, never! never! never!\" \"What is to\nbe done?\" asked the Sultan, and the Minister answered, \"Leave him to me and I\nwill take him and keep him away from thee, and send him in charge of a\nChamberlain to Baghdad-city. Then, if what he says be sooth, they will bring\nus back autograph and investiture; and if not, I will take my due out of this\ndebtor.\" When the Sultan heard the Minister's words he said, \"Hence with thee\nand him too.\" Al Mu'\u00edn took trust of him from the King and, carrying him to his\nown house, cried out to his pages who laid him flat and beat him till he\nfainted. Then he let put upon his feet heavy shackles and carried him to the\njail, where he called the jailor, one Kutayt,[FN#71] who came and kissed the\nground before him. Quoth the Wazir, \"O Kutayt, I wish thee to take this fellow\nand throw him into one of the underground cells[FN#72] in the prison and\ntorture him night and day.\" \"To hear is to obey,\" replied the jailor and,\ntaking Nur al-Din into the prison, locked the door upon him. Then he gave\norders to sweep a bench behind the door and, spreading on it a sitting-rug and\na leather-cloth, seated Nur al-Din thereon and loosed his shackles and\nentreated him kindly. The Wazir sent every day enjoining the jailor to beat\nhim, but he abstained from this, and so continued to do for forty days. On the\nforty-first day there came a present from the Caliph; which when the Sultan\nsaw, it pleased him and he consulted his Ministers on the matter, when one of\nthem said, \"Perchance this present was for the new Sultan.\" Cried Al-Mu'\u00edn,\n\"We should have done well had we put him to death at his first coming;\" and the\nSultan cried \"By Allah, thou hast reminded me of him! Go down to the prison\nand fetch him, and I will strike off his head.\" \"To hear is to obey,\" replied\nAl-Mu'\u00edn: then he stood up and said, \"I will make proclamation in the\ncity:\u2014Whoso would solace himself with seeing the beheading of Nur al-Din bin\nal-Fazl bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n, let him repair to the palace! So follower and followed,\ngreat and small will flock to the spectacle, and I shall heal my heart and harm\nmy foe.\" \"Do as thou wilt,\" said the Sultan. The Wazir went off (and he was\nglad and gay), and ordered the Chief of Police to make the afore-mentioned\nproclamation. When the people heard the crier, they all sorrowed and wept, even\nthe little ones at school and the traders in their shops; and some strove to\nget places for seeing the sight, whilst others went to the prison with the\nobject of escorting him thence. Presently, the Wazir came with ten Mamelukes\nto the jail and Kutayt the jailor asked him, \"Whom seekest thou, O our lord the\nWazir?\"; whereto he answered, \"Bring me out that gallows- bird.\" But the\njailor said, \"He is in the sorriest of plights for the much beating I have\ngiven him.\" Then he went into the prison and found Nur al-Din repeating these\nverses,\n\n\"Who shall support me in calamities, * When fail all cures and greater cares arise?\nExile hath worn my heart, my vitals torn; The World to foes hath turned my firm allies.\nO folk, will not one friend amidst you all * Wail o'er my woes, and cry to hear my cries?\nDeath and it agonies seem light to me, * Since life has lost all joys and jollities:\nO Lord of Mustaf\u00e1,[FN#73] that Science-sea, * Sole Intercessor, Guide all-ware, all-wise!\nI pray thee free me and my fault forego, * And from me drive mine evil and my woe.\"\n\n\nThe jailor stripped off his clean clothes and, dressing him in two filthy\nvests, carried him to the Wazir. Nur al-Din looked at him and saw it was his\nfoe that sought to compass his death; so he wept and said, \"Art thou, then, so\nsecure against the World? Hast thou not heard the saying of the poet,\n\n'Kisras and Caesars in a bygone day * Stored wealth; where is it, and ah! where\nare they?'\n\n\n\"O Wazir,\" he continued, \"know that Allah (be He extolled and exalted!) will do\nwhatso He will!\" \"O Ali,\" replied he, \"thinkest thou to frighten me with such\ntalk? I mean this very day to smite thy neck despite the noses of the Bassorah\nfolk and I care not; let the days do as they please; nor will I turn me to thy\ncounsel but rather to what the poet saith,\n\n'Leave thou the days to breed their ban and bate, * And make thee strong t'\nupbear the weight of Fate.'\n\n\nAnd also how excellently saith another,\n\n'Whoso shall see the death-day of his foe, * One day surviving, wins his\nbestest wish.'\"\n\n\nThen he ordered his attendants to mount Nur al-Din upon the bare back of a\nmule; and they said to the youth (for truly it was irksome to them), \"Let us\nstone him and cut him down though our lives go for it.\" But Nur al-Din said to\nthem, \"Do not so: have ye not heard the saying of the poet,\n\n'Needs must I bear the term by Fate decreed, * And when that day be dead needs must I die:\nIf lions dragged me to their forest-lair, * Safe should I live till draw my death-day nigh.'\"\n\n\nThen they proceeded to proclaim before Nur al-Din, \"This is the least of the\nretribution for him who imposeth upon Kings with forgeries.\" And they ceased\nnot parading him round about Bassorah, till they made him stand beneath the\npalace-windows and set him upon the leather of blood,[FN#74] and the sworder\ncame up to him and said, \"O my lord, I am but a slave commanded in this matter:\nan thou have any desire, tell it me that I may fulfil it, for now there\nremaineth of they life only so much as may be till the Sultan shall put his\nface out of the lattice.\" Thereupon Nur al-Din looked to the right and to the\nleft, and before him and behind him and began improvising,\n\n\"The sword, the sworder and the blood-skin waiting me I sight, * And cry, Alack, mine evil fate! ah, my calamity!\nHow is't I see no loving friend with eye of sense or soul? * What! no one here? I cry to all: will none reply to me?\nThe time is past that formed my life, my death term draweth nigh, * Will no man win the grace of God showing me clemency;\nAnd look with pity on my state, and clear my dark despair, * E'en with a draught of water dealt to cool death's agony?\"\n\n\nThe people fell to weeping over him; and the headsman rose and brought him a\ndraught of water; but the Wazir sprang up from his place and smote the gugglet\nwith his hand and broke it: then he cried out at the executioner and bade him\nstrike off Nur al-Din's head. So he bound the eyes of the doomed man and folk\nclamoured at the Wazir and loud wailings were heard and much questioning of man\nand man. At this moment behold, rose a dense dust-cloud filling sky and wold;\nand when the Sultan, who was sitting in the palace, descried this, he said to\nhis suite, \"Go and see what yon cloud bringeth:\" Replied Al Mu'\u00edn, \"Not till\nwe have smitten this fellow's neck;\" but the Sultan said, \"Wait ye till we see\nwhat this meaneth.\" Now the dust-cloud was the dust of J'afar the Barmecide,\nWazir to the Caliph, and his host; and the cause of his coming was as follows. \nThe Caliph passed thirty days without calling to mind the matter of Nur al-Din\nAli,[FN#75] and none reminded him of it, till one night, as he passed by the\nchamber of Anis al-Jalis, he heard her weeping and singing with a soft sweet\nvoice these lines of the poet,\n\n\"In thought I see thy form when farthest far or nearest near; * And on my\ntongue there dwells a name which man shall ne'er unhear.\"\n\n\nThen her weeping redoubled; when lo! the Caliph opened the door and, entering\nthe chamber, found Anis al-Jalis in tears. When she saw him she fell to the\nground and kissing his feet three times repeated these lines,\n\n\"O fertile root and noble growth of trunk; * Ripe-fruitful branch of never sullied race;\nI mind thee of what pact thy bounty made; * Far be 't from thee thou should'st forget my case!\"\n\n\nQuoth the Caliph, \"Who art thou?\" and she replied, \"I am she whom Ali bin\nKh\u00e1k\u00e1n gave thee in gift, and I wish the fulfilment of thy promise to send me\nto him with the robe of honour; for I have now been thirty days without tasting\nthe food of sleep.\" Thereupon the Caliph sent for Ja'afar and said to him, \"O\nJa'afar, 'tis thirty days since we have had news of Nur al-Din bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n, and\nI cannot but suppose that the Sultan hath slain him; but, by the life of my head\nand by the sepulchres of my forefathers, if aught of foul play hath befallen\nhim, I will surely make an end of him who was the cause of it, though he be the\ndearest of all men to myself! So I desire that thou set out for Bassorah within\nthis hour and bring me tidings of my cousin, King Mohammed bin Sulayman\nal-Zayni, and how he had dealt with Nur al-Din Ali bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n;\" adding, \"If\nthou tarry longer on the road than shall suffice for the journey, I will strike\noff thy head. Furthermore, do thou tell the son of my uncle the whole story of\nNur al-Din, and how I sent him with my written orders; and if thou find, O my\ncousin,[FN#76] that the King hath done otherwise than as I commanded, bring him\nand the Wazir Al-Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed to us in whatsoever guise thou shalt find\nthem.\"[FN#77] \"Hearing and obedience,\" replied Ja'afar and, making ready on the\ninstant, he set out for Bassorah where the news of his coming had foregone him\nand had reached to the ears of King Mohammed. When Ja'afar arrived and saw the\ncrushing and crowding of the lieges, he asked, \"What means all this gathering?\"\nso they told him what was doing in the matter of Nur al-Din; whereupon he\nhastened to go to the Sultan and saluting him, acquainted him with the cause\nwhy he came and the Caliph's resolve, in case of any foul play having befallen\nthe youth, to put to death whoso should have brought it about. Then he took\ninto custody the King and the Wazir and laid them in ward and, giving order for\nthe release of Nur al-Din Ali, enthroned him as Sultan in the stead of Mohammed\nbin Sulayman. After this Ja'afar abode three days in Bassorah, the usual\nguest-time, and on the morning of the fourth day, Nur al-Din Ali turned to him\nand said, \"I long for the sight of the Commander of the Faithful.\" Then said\nJa'afar to Mohammed bin Sulayman, \"Make ready to travel, for we will say the\ndawn-prayer and mount Baghdad-wards;\" and he replied, \"To hear is to obey.\"\nThen they prayed and they took horse and set out, all of them, carrying with\nthem the Wazir, Al-Mu'\u00edn bin S\u00e1w\u00ed, who began to repent him of what he had done.\nNur al-Din rode by Ja'afar's side and they stinted not faring on till they\narrived at Baghdad, the House of Peace, and going in to the Caliph told him how\nthey had found Nur al-Din nigh upon death. Thereupon the Caliph said to the\nyouth, \"Take this sword and smite with it the neck of thine enemy.\" So he took\nthe sword from his hand and stepped up to Al-Mu'\u00edn who looked at him and said,\n\"I did according to my mother's milk, do thou according to thine.\"[FN#78] Upon\nthis Nur al-Din cast the sword from his hand and said to the Caliph, \"O\nCommander of the Faithful, he hath beguiled me with his words;\" and he repeated\nthis couplet,\n\n\"By craft and sleight I snared him when he came; * A few fair words aye trap\nthe noble-game!\"\n\n\n\"Leave him then,\" cried the Caliph and, turning to Masrur said, \"Rise thou and\nsmite his neck.\" So Masrur drew his sword and struck off his head. Then quoth\nthe Caliph to Nur al-Din Ali, \"Ask a boon of me.\" \"O my lord,\" answered he, \"I\nhave no need of the Kingship of Bassorah; my sole desire is to be honoured by\nserving thee and by seeing thy countenance.\" \"With love and gladness,\" said the\nCaliph. Then he sent for the damsel, Anis al-Jalis, and bestowed plentiful\nfavours upon them both and gave them one of his palaces in Baghdad, and\nassigned stipends and allowances, and made Nur al-Din Ali bin Fazl bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n,\none of his cup-companions; and he abode with the Commander of the Faithful\nenjoying the pleasantest of lives till death overtook him. \"Yet (continued\nShahrazad) is not his story in any wise more wondrous than the history of the\nmerchant and his children.\" The King asked \"And what was that?\" and Shahrazad\nbegan to relate the\n\n\n\n\nTale of Ghanim bin Ayyub[FN#79], the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love.\n\n\nIt hath reached me, O auspicious King, that in times of yore and in years and\nages long gone before, there lived in Damascus a merchant among the merchants,\na wealthy man who had a son like the moon on the night of his fulness[FN#80]\nand withal sweet of speech, who was named Gh\u00e1nim bin \u2018Ayy\u00fab surnamed the\nDistraught, the Thrall o' Love. He had also a daughter, own sister to Ghanim,\nwho was called Fitnah, a damsel unique in beauty and loveliness. Their father\ndied and left them abundant wealth.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Thirty-ninth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the merchant left his two\nchildren abundant wealth and amongst other things an hundred loads[FN#81] of\nsilks and brocades, musk-pods and mother o' pearl; and there was written on\nevery bale, \"This is of the packages intended for Baghdad,\" it having been his\npurpose to make the journey thither, when Almighty Allah took him to Himself,\nwhich was in the time of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. After a while his son took\nthe loads and, bidding farewell to his mother and kindred and townsfolk, went\nforth with a company of merchants, putting his trust in Allah Almighty, who\ndecreed him safety, so that he arrived without let or stay at Baghdad. There he\nhired for himself a fair dwelling house which he furnished with carpets and\ncushions, curtains and hangings; and therein stored his bales and stabled his\nmules and camels, after which he abode a while resting. Presently the merchants\nand notables of Baghdad came and saluted him, after which he took a bundle\ncontaining ten pieces of costly stuffs, with the prices written on them, and\ncarried it to the merchants' bazar, where they welcomed and saluted him and\nshowed him all honour; and, making him dismount from his beast, seated him in\nthe shop of the Syndic of the market, to whom he delivered the package. He\nopened it and drawing out the pieces of stuff, sold them for him at a profit\nof two dinars on every dinar of prime cost. At this Ghanim rejoiced and kept\nselling his silks and stuffs one after another, and ceased not to do on this\nwise for a full year. On the first day of the following year he went, as was\nhis wont, to the Exchange which was in the bazar, but found the gate shut; and\nenquiring the reason was told, \"One of the merchants is dead and all the others\nhave gone to follow his bier,[FN#82] and why shouldst thou not win the meed of\ngood deeds by walking with them?\"[FN#83] He replied \"Yes,\" and asked for the\nquarter where the funeral was taking place, and one directed him thereto. So he\npurified himself by the Wuzu-ablution[FN#84] and repaired with the other\nmerchants to the oratory, where they prayed over the dead, then walked before\nthe bier to the burial-place, and Ghanim, who was a bashful man, followed them\nbeing ashamed to leave them. They presently issued from the city, and passed\nthrough the tombs until they reached the grave where they found that the\ndeceased's kith and kin had pitched a tent over the tomb and had brought\nthither lamps and wax-candles. So they buried the body and sat down while the\nreaders read out and recited the Koran over the grave; and Ghanim sat with\nthem, being overcome with bashfulness and saying to himself \"I cannot well go\naway till they do.\" They tarried listening to the Koranic perlection till\nnightfall, when the servants set supper and sweetmeats[FN#85] before them; and\nthey ate till they were satisfied; then they washed their hands and again took\ntheir places. But Ghanim's mind was preoccupied with his house and goods, being\nin fear of robbers, and he said to himself, \"I am a stranger here and supposed\nto have money; if I pass the night abroad the thieves will steal my money-bags\nand my bales to boot.\" So when he could no longer control his fear he arose and\nleft the assembly, having first asked leave to go about some urgent business;\nand following the signs of the road he soon came to the city-gate. But it was\nmidnight and he found the doors locked and saw none going or coming nor heard\naught but the hounds baying and the wolves howling. At this he exclaimed,\n\"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! I was in fear for my\nproperty and came back on its account, but now I find the gate shut and I am in\nmortal fear for my life!\" Then he turned back and, looking out for a place\nwhere he could sleep till morning, presently found a Santon's tomb, a square of\nfour walls with a date-tree in the central court and a granite gateway. The\ndoor was wide open; so he entered and would fain have slept, but sleep came not\nto him; and terror and a sense of desolation oppressed him, for that he was\nalone amidst the tombs. So he rose to his feet and, opening the door, looked\nout and lo! he was ware of a light afar off in the direction of the city-gate;\nthen walking a little way towards it, he saw that it was on the road whereby he\nhad reached the tomb. This made him fear for his life, so he hastily shut the\ndoor and climbed to the top of the date-tree where he hid himself in the heart\nof the fronds. The light came nearer and nearer till it was close to the tomb;\nthen it stopped and he saw three slaves, two bearing a chest and one with a\nlanthorn, an adze and a basket containing some mortar. When they reached the\ntomb, one of those who were carrying the case said, \"What aileth thee O\nSaw\u00e1b?\"; and said the other, \"What is the matter O K\u00e1f\u00far?\"[FN#86] Quoth he,\n\"Were we not here at supper-tide and did we not leave the door open?\" \"Yes,\"\nreplied the other, \"that is true.'' \"See,\" said Kafur, \"now it is shut and\nbarred.\" \"How weak are your wits!\" cried the third who bore the adze and his\nname was Bukhayt,[FN#87] \"know ye not that the owners of the gardens use to\ncome out from Baghdad and tend them; and, when evening closes upon them, they\nenter this place and shut the door, for fear lest the wicked blackmen, like\nourselves, should catch them; and roast 'em and eat 'em.\"[FN#88] \"Thou sayest\nsooth,\" said the two others, \"but by Allah, however that may be, none amongst\nus is weaker of wits than thou.\" \"If ye do not believe me,\" said Bukhayt, \"let\nus enter the tomb and I will rouse the rat for you; for I doubt not but that,\nwhen he saw the light and us making for the place, he ran up the date-tree and\nhid there for fear of us.\" When Ghanim heard this, he said in himself, \"O\ncurstest of slaves! May Allah not have thee in His holy keeping for this thy\ncraft and keenness of wit! There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah, the Glorious, the Great! How shall I win free of these blackamoors?\"\nThen said the two who bore the box to him of the adze, \"Swarm up the wall and\nopen the gate for us, O Bukhayt, for we are tired of carrying the chest on our\nnecks; and when thou hast opened the gate thou shalt have one of those we catch\ninside, a fine fat rat which we will fry for thee after such excellent fashion\nthat not a speck of his fat shall be lost.\" But Bukhayt answered, \"I am afraid\nof somewhat which my weak wits have suggested to me: we should do better to\nthrow the chest over the gateway; for it is our treasure.\" \"If we throw it\n'twill break,\" replied they; and he said, \"I fear lest there be robbers within\nwho murder folk and plunder their goods, for evening is their time of entering\nsuch places and dividing their spoil.\" \"O thou weak o' wits,\" said both the\nbearers of the box, \"how could they ever get in here!\"[FN#89] Then they set\ndown the chest and climbing over the wall dropped inside and opened the gate,\nwhilst the third slave (he that was called Bukhayt) stood by them holding the\nadze, the lanthorn and the hand-basket containing the mortar. After this they\nlocked the gate and sat down; and presently one of them said, \"O my brethren,\nwe are wearied with walking and with lifting up and setting down the chest, and\nwith unlocking and locking the gate; and now 'tis midnight, and we have no\nbreath left to open a tomb and bury the box: so let us rest here two or three\nhours, then rise and do the job. Meanwhile each of us shall tell how he came to\nbe castrated and all that befel him from first to last, the better to pass away\nour time while we take our rest.\" Thereupon the first, he of the lanthorn and\nwhose name was Bukhayt, said, \"I'll tell you my tale.\" \"Say on,\" replied they;\nso he began as follows the\n\n\n\n\nTale of the First Eunuch, Bukhayt.\n\n\nKnow, O my brothers, that when I was a little one, some five years old, I was\ntaken home from my native country by a slave-driver who sold me to a certain\nApparitor.[FN#90] My purchaser had a daughter three years old, with whom I was\nbrought up, and they used to make mock of me, letting me play with her and\ndance for her[FN#91] and sing to her, till I reached the age of twelve and she\nthat of ten; and even then they did not forbid me seeing her. One day I went in\nto her and found her sitting in an inner room, and she looked as if she had\njust come out of the bath which was in the house; for she was scented with\nessences and reek of aromatic woods, and her face shone like a circle of the\nmoon on the fourteenth night. She began to sport with me, and I with her. Now I\nhad just reached the age of puberty; so my prickle stood at point, as it were a\nhuge key. Then she threw me on my back and, mounting astraddle on my breast,\nfell a-wriggling and a-bucking upon me till she had uncovered my yard. When she\nsaw it standing with head erect, she hent it in hand and began rubbing it upon\nthe lips of her little slit[FN#92] outside her petticoat-trousers. Thereat hot\nlust stirred in me and I threw my arms round her, while she wound hers about my\nneck and hugged me to her with all her might, till, before I knew what I did,\nmy pizzle split up her trousers and entered her slit and did away her \nmaidenhead. When I saw this, I ran off and took refuge with one of my comrades.\nPresently her mother came in to her; and, seeing her in this case, fainted\nclean away. However she managed the matter advisedly and hid it from the girl's\nfather out of good will to me; nor did they cease to call to me and coax me,\ntill they took me from where I was. After two months had passed by, her mother\nmarried her to a young man, a barber who used to shave her papa, and portioned\nand fitted her out of her own monies; whilst the father knew nothing of what\nhad passed. On the night of consummation they cut the throat of a pigeon-poult\nand sprinkled the blood on her shift.[FN#93] After a while they seized me\nunawares and gelded me; and, when they brought her to her bridegroom, they made\nme her Agha,[FN#94] her eunuch, to walk before her wheresoever she went,\nwhether to the bath or to her father's house. I abode with her a long time\nenjoying her beauty and loveliness by way of kissing and clipping and coupling\nwith her,[FN#95] till she died, and her husband and mother and father died\nalso; when they seized me for the Royal Treasury as being the property of an\nintestate, and I found my way hither, where I became your comrade. This, then,\nO my brethren, is the cause of my cullions being cut off; and peace be with\nyou! He ceased and his fellow began in these words the\n\n\n\n\nTale of the Second Eunuch, Kafur.\n\n\nKnow, O my brothers that, when beginning service as a boy of eight, I used to\ntell the slave-dealers regularly and exactly one lie every year, so that they\nfell out with one another, till at last my master lost patience with me and,\ncarrying me down to the market, ordered the brokers to cry, \"Who will buy this\nslave, knowing his blemish and making allowance for it?\" He did so and they\nasked him, \"Pray, what may be his blemish?\" and he answered, \"He telleth me one\nsingle lie every year.\" Now a man that was a merchant came up and said to the\nbroker, \"How much do they allow for him with his blemish?\" \"They allow six\nhundred dirhams,\" he replied; and said the other, \"Thou shalt have twenty\ndirhams for thyself.\" So he arranged between him and the slave-dealer who took\nthe coin from him and the broker carried me to the merchant's house and\ndeparted, after receiving his brokerage. The trader clothed me with suitable\ndress, and I stayed in his service the rest of my twelvemonth, until the new\nyear began happily. It was a blessed season, plenteous in the produce of the\nearth, and the merchants used to feast every day at the house of some one among\nthem, till it was my master's turn to entertain them in a flower-garden without\nthe city. So he and the other merchants went to the garden, taking with them\nall that they required of provaunt and else beside, and sat eating and\ncarousing and drinking till mid-day, when my master, having need of some matter\nfrom his home, said to me, \"O slave, mount the she-mule and hie thee to the\nhouse and bring from thy mistress such and such a thing and return quickly.\" I\nobeyed his bidding and started for the house but, as I drew near it, I began to\ncry out and shed tears, whereupon all the people of the quarter collected,\ngreat and small; and my master's wife and daughters, hearing the noise I was\nmaking, opened the door and asked me what was the matter. Said I, \"My master\nwas sitting with his friends beneath an old wall, and it fell on one and all of\nthem; and when I saw what had happened to them, I mounted the mule and came\nhither in haste to tell you.\" When my master's daughters and wife heard this,\nthey screamed and rent their raiment and beat their faces, whilst the\nneighbours came around them. Then the wife overturned the furniture of the\nhouse, one thing upon another, and tore down the shelves and broke the windows\nand the lattices and smeared the walls with mud and indigo, saying to me, \"Woe\nto thee, O Kafur! come help me to tear down these cupboards and break up these\nvessels and this china ware,[FN#96] and the rest of it.\" So I went to her and\naided her to smash all the shelves in the house with whatever stood upon them,\nafter which I went round about the terrace-roofs and every part of the place,\nspoiling all I could and leaving no china in the house unbroken till I had laid\nwaste the whole, crying out the while \"Well away! my master!\" Then my mistress\nfared forth bare-faced wearing a head-kerchief and naught else, and her\ndaughters and the children sallied out with her, and said to me, \"O Kafur, go\nthou before us and show us the place where thy master lieth dead, that we may\ntake him from under the fallen wall and lay him on a bier and bear him to the\nhouse and give him a fine funeral.\" So I went forth before them crying out,\n\"Alack, my master!\"; and they after me with faces and heads bare and all\nshrieking, \"Alas! Alas for the man!\" Now there remained none in the quarter,\nneither man nor woman, nor epicene, nor youth nor maid, nor child nor old trot,\nbut went with us smiting their faces and weeping bitterly, and I led them\nleisurely through the whole city. The folk asked them what was the matter,\nwhereupon they told them what they had heard from me, and all exclaimed, \"There\nis no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!\" Then said one of them, \"He\nwas a personage of consequence; so let us go to the Governor and tell him what\nhath befallen him.\" When they told the Governor,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fortieth Night,[FN#97]\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when they told the\nGovernor, he rose and mounted and, taking with him labourers, with spades and\nbaskets, went on my track, with many people behind him; and I ran on before\nthem, howling and casting dust on my head and beating my face, followed by my\nmistress and her children keening for the dead. But I got ahead of them; and\nentered the garden before them, and when my master saw me in this state, I\nsmiting my face and saying, \"Well away! my mistress! Alas! Alas! Alas! who is\nleft to take pity on me, now that my mistress is gone? Would I had been a\nsacrifice for her!\", he stood aghast and his colour waxed yellow and he said to\nme, \"What aileth thee O Kafur! What is the matter?\" \"O my lord,\" I replied,\n\"when thou sentest me to the house, I found that the saloon-wall had given way\nand had fallen like a layer upon my mistress and her children!\" \"And did not\nthy mistress escape?\" \"No, by Allah, O my master; not one of them was saved;\nthe first to die was my mistress, thine elder daughter!\" \"And did not my\nyounger daughter escape?\"; \"No, she did not!\" \"And what became of the mare-mule\nI use to ride, is she safe?\" \"No, by Allah, O my master, the house-walls and\nthe stable-walls buried every living thing that was within doors, even to the\nsheep and geese and poultry, so that they all became a heap of flesh and the\ndogs and cats are eating them; and not one of them is left alive.\" \"And hath not\nthy master, my elder son, escaped?\" \"No, by Allah! not one of them was saved,\nand now there is naught left of house or household, nor even a sign of them:\nand, as for the sheep and geese and hens, the cats and dogs have devoured\nthem.\" When my master heard this the light became night before his sight; his\nwits were dazed and he so lost command of his senses that he could not stand\nfirm on his feet: he was as one struck with a sudden palsy and his back was\nlike to break. Then he rent his raiment and plucked out his beard and, casting\nhis turband from off his head, buffeted his face till the blood ran down and he\ncried aloud, \"Alas, my children! Alas, my wife! Alas, my calamity! To whom ever\nbefel that which hath befallen me?\" The merchants, his friends, also cried\naloud at his crying and wept for his weeping and tore their clothes, being\nmoved to pity of his case; and so my master went out of the garden, smiting his\nface with such violence that from excess of pain he staggered like one drunken\nwith wine. As he and the merchants came forth from the garden gate, behold,\nthey saw a great cloud of dust and heard a loud noise of crying and\nlamentation; so they looked and lo! it was the Governor with his attendants and\nthe townsfolk, a world of people, who had come out to look on, and my master's\nfamily following them, all screaming and crying aloud and weeping exceeding\nsore weeping. The first to address my owner were his wife and children; and\nwhen he saw them he was confounded and laughed[FN#98] and said to them, \"How is\nit with all of you and what befel you in the house and what hath come to pass\nto you?\" When they saw him they exclaimed, \"Praise be to Allah for thy\npreservation!\" and threw themselves upon him and his children hung about him\ncrying, \"Alack, our father! Thanks to Allah for thy safety, O our father!\" And\nhis wife said to him, \"Art thou indeed well? Laud to Allah who hath shown us\nthy face in safety!\" And indeed she was confounded and her reason fled when she\nsaw him, and she asked, \"O, my lord, how didst thou escape, thou and thy\nfriends the merchants?\"; and he answered her, \"And how fared it with thee in\nthe house?\" Quoth they, \"We were all well, whole and healthy, nor hath aught of\nevil befallen us in the house, save that thy slave Kafur came to us, bareheaded\nwith torn garments and howling, 'Alas, the master! Alas the master!' So we\nasked him, 'What tidings, O Kafur?' and he answered 'A wall of the garden hath\nfallen on my master and his friends the merchants, and they are all crushed and\ndead!''' \"By Allah,\" said my master, \"he came to me but now howling, 'Alas, my\nmistress! Alas, the children of the mistress!', and said, 'My mistress and her\nchildren are all dead, every one of them!'\" Then he looked round and seeing me\nwith my turband rent in rags round my neck, howling and weeping with exceeding\nweeping and throwing dust upon my head, he cried out at me. So I came to him\nand he said, \"Woe to thee, O ill-omened slave! O whoreson knave! O thou damned\nbreed! What mischief thou hast wrought? By Allah! I will flog thy skin from thy\nflesh and cut thy flesh from thy bones!\" I rejoined, \"By Allah, thou canst do\nnothing of the kind with me, O my lord, for thou boughtest me with my blemish;\nand there are honest men to bear witness against thee that thou didst so\naccepting the condition, and that thou knewest of my fault which is to tell one\nlie every year. Now this is only a half-lie, but by the end of the year I will\ntell the other half, then will the lie stand whole and complete.\" \"O dog, son\nof a dog!\", cried my master, \"O most accursed of slaves, is this all of it but\na half-lie? Verily if it be a half-lie 'tis a whole calamity! Get thee from me,\nthou art free in the face of Allah!\" \"By Allah,\" rejoined I, if thou free me, I\nwill not free thee till my year is completed and I have told thee the half-lie\nwhich is left. When this is done, go down with me to the slave-market and sell\nme as thou boughtest me to whoso will buy me with my blemish; but thou shalt\nnot manumit me, for I have no handicraft whereby to gain my living;[FN#99] and\nthis my demand is a matter of law which the doctors have laid down in the\nChapter of Emancipation.\"[FN#100] While we were at these words, up came the\ncrowd of people, and the neighbours of the quarter, men, women and children,\ntogether with the Governor and his suite offering condolence. So my master and\nthe other merchants went up to him and informed him of the adventure, and how\nthis was but a half-lie, at which all wondered, deeming it a whole lie and a\nbig one. And they cursed me and reviled me, while I stood laughing and grinning\nat them, till at last I asked, \"How shall my master slay me when he bought me\nwith this my blemish?\" Then my master returned home and found his house in\nruins, and it was I who had laid waste the greater part of it,[FN#101] having\nbroken things which were worth much money, as also had done his wife, who said\nto him, \"'Twas Kafur who broke the vessels and chinaware.\" Thereupon his rage\nredoubled and he struck hand upon hand exclaiming, \"By Allah! in my life never\nsaw I a whoreson like this slave; and he saith this is but a half-lie! How,\nthen, if he had told me a whole lie? He would ruin a city, aye or even two.\"\nThen in his fury he went to the Governor, and they gave me a neat thing in the\nbastinado-line and made me eat stick till I was lost to the world and a\nfainting-fit came on me; and, whilst I was yet senseless, they brought the\nbarber who docked me and gelded me[FN#102] and cauterised the wound. When I\nrevived I found myself a clean eunuch with nothing left, and my master said to\nme, \"Even as thou hast burned my heart for the things I held dearest, so have I\nburnt thy heart for that of thy members whereby thou settest most store!\" Then\nhe took me and sold me at a profit, for that I was become an eunuch. And I\nceased not bringing trouble upon all, wherever I was sold, and was shifted from\nlord to lord and from notable to notable, being sold and being bought, till I\nentered the palace of the Commander of the Faithful. But now my spirit is\nbroken and my tricks are gone from me, so--alas!--are my ballocks. When the two\nslaves heard his history, they laughed at him and chaffed him and said, \"Truly\nthou art skite[FN#103] and skite-son! Thou liedest an odious lie.\" Then quoth\nthey to the third slave, \"Tell us thy tale.\" \"O sons of my uncle,\" quoth he,\n\"all that ye have said is idle: I will tell you the cause of my losing my\ntesticles, and indeed I deserved to lose even more, for I futtered both my\nmistress and my master's eldest son and heir: but my story is a long one and\nthis is not the time to tell it; for the dawn, O my cousins, draweth near and\nif morning come upon us with this chest still unburied, we shall get into sore\ndisgrace and our lives will pay for it. So up with you and open the door and,\nwhen we get back to the palace, I will tell you my story and the cause of my\nlosing my precious stones.\" Then he swarmed up and dropped down from the wall\ninside and opened the door, so they entered and, setting down the lantern, dug\nbetween four tombs a hole as long as the chest and of the same breadth. Kafur\nplied the spade and Sawab removed the earth by baskets-full till they reached\nthe depth of the stature of a man;[FN#104] when they laid the chest in the hole\nand threw back the earth over it: then they went forth and shutting the door\ndisappeared from Ghanim's eyes. When all was quiet and he felt sure that he was\nleft alone in the place, his thought was busied about what the chest contained\nand he said to himself, \"Would that I knew the contents of that box!\" However,\nhe waited till day broke, when morning shone and showed her sheen: whereupon he\ncame down from the date-tree and scooped away the earth with his hands, till\nthe box was laid bare and disengaged from the ground. Then he took a large\nstone and hammered at the lock till he broke it and, opening the lid, beheld a\nyoung lady, a model of beauty and loveliness, clad in the richest of garments\nand jewels of gold and such necklaces of precious stones that, were the\nSultan's country evened with them, it would not pay their price. She had been\ndrugged with Bhang, but her bosom, rising and falling, showed that her breath\nhad not departed. When Ghanim saw her, he knew that some one had played her\nfalse and hocussed her; so he pulled her out of the chest and laid her on the\nground with her face upwards. As soon as she smelt the breeze and the air\nentered her nostrils, mouth and lungs, she sneezed and choked and coughed; when\nthere fell from out her throat a pill of Cretan Bhang, had an elephant smelt it\nhe would have slept from night to night. Then she opened her eyes and glancing\naround said, in sweet voice and gracious words, \"Woe to thee O wind! there is\nnaught in thee to satisfy the thirsty, nor aught to gratify one whose thirst is\nsatisfied! Where is Zhar al-Bostan?\" But no one answered her, so she turned her\nand cried out, \"Ho Sab\u00edhah! Shajarat al-Durr! N\u00far al-Hud\u00e1! Najmat al-Subh! be\nye awake? Shahwah, Nuzhah, Halw\u00e1, Zar\u00edfah, out on you, speak![FN#105]'' But no\none answered; so she looked all around and said, \"Woe's me! have they entombed\nme in the tombs? O Thou who knowest what man's thought enwombs and who givest\ncompensation on the Day of Doom, who can have brought me from amid hanging\nscreens and curtains veiling the Har\u00edm-rooms and set me down between four\ntombs?\" All this while Ghanim was standing by: then he said to her, \"O my lady,\nhere are neither screened rooms nor palace-Har\u00edms nor yet tombs; only the slave\nhenceforth devoted to thy love, Ghanim bin Ayyub, sent to thee by the\nOmniscient One above, that all thy troubles He may remove and win for thee\nevery wish that doth behove!\" Then he held his peace. She was reassured by his\nwords and cried, \"I testify that there is no god but the God and I testify that\nMohammed is the Apostle of God!\"; then she turned to Ghanim and, placing her\nhands before her face, said to him in the sweetest speech, \"O blessed youth,\nwho brought me hither? See, I am now come to myself.\" \"O my lady,\" he replied,\n\"three slave-eunuchs came here bearing this chest;\" and related to her the\nwhole of what had befallen him, and how evening having closed upon him had\nproved the cause of her preservation, otherwise she had died smothered.[FN#106]\nThen he asked her who she was and what was her story, and she answered, \"O\nyouth, thanks be to Allah who hath cast me into the hands of the like of thee!\nBut now rise and put me back into the box; then fare forth upon the road and\nhire the first camel-driver or muleteer thou findest to carry it to thy house.\nWhen I am there, all will be well and I will tell thee my tale and acquaint\nthee with my adventures, and great shall be thy gain by means of me.\" At this\nhe rejoiced and went outside the tomb. The day was now dazzling bright and the\nfirmament shone with light and the folk had begun to circulate; so he hired a\nman with a mule and, bringing him to the tomb, lifted the chest wherein he had\nput the damsel and set it on the mule. Her love now engrossed his heart and he\nfared homeward with her rejoicing, for that she was a girl worth ten thousand\ngold pieces and her raiment and ornaments would fetch a mint of money. As soon\nas he arrived at his house he carried in the chest and opening it,\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-first night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ghanim son of Ayyub\narrived with the chest at his house, he opened it and took out the young lady,\nwho looked about her and, seeing that the place was handsome, spread with\ncarpets and dight with cheerful colours and other deckings; and noting the\nstuffs up-piled and packed bales and other else than that, knew that he was a\nsubstantial merchant and a man of much money. Thereupon she uncovered her face\nand looked at him, and lo! he was a fair youth; so when she saw him she loved\nhim and said, \"O my lord, bring us something to eat.\" \"On my head and mine\neyes!\" replied he; and, going down to the bazar, bought a roasted lamb and a\ndish of sweetmeats and with these dry fruits and wax candles, besides wine and\nwhatsoever was required of drinking materials, not forgetting perfumes. With\nall this gear he returned to the house; and when the damsel saw him she laughed\nand kissed him and clasped his neck. Then she began caressing him, which made\nhis love wax hotter till it got the mastery of his heart. They ate and drank\nand each had conceived the fondest affection; for indeed the two were one in\nage and one in loveliness; and when night came on Ghanim bin Ayyub, the\nDistraught, the Thrall o' Love, rose and lit the wax candles and lamps till the\nplace blazed with light;[FN#107] after which he produced the wine-service and\nspread the table. Then both sat down again, he and she, and he kept filling and\ngiving her to drink, and she kept filling and giving him to drink, and they\nplayed and toyed and laughed and recited verses; whilst their joy increased and\nthey clove in closer love each to each (glory be to the Uniter of Hearts!). They\nceased not to carouse after this fashion till near upon dawn when drowsiness\novercame them; and they slept where they were, apart each from other, till the\nmorning.[FN#108] Then Ghanim arose and going to the market, bought all they\nrequired of meat and vegetables and wine and what not, and brought them to the\nhouse; whereupon both sat down to eat and ate their sufficiency, when he set on\nwine. They drank and each played with each, till their cheeks flushed red and\ntheir eyes took a darker hue and Ghanim's soul longed to kiss the girl and to\nlie with her and he said, \"O my lady, grant me one kiss of that dear mouth: per\nchance 't will quench the fire of my heart.\" \"O Ghanim,\" replied she, \"wait\ntill I am drunk and dead to the world; then steal a kiss of me, secretly and on\nsuch wise that I may not know thou hast kissed me.\" Then she rose and taking\noff her upper dress sat in a thin shift of fine linen and a silken head\nkerchief.[FN#109] At this passion inflamed Ghanim and he said to her, \"O my\nlady, wilt thou not vouchsafe me what I asked of thee?\" \"By Allah,\" she\nreplied, \"that may not be thine, for there is written upon my trouser\nstring[FN#110] a hard word!\" Thereupon Ghanim's heart sank and desire grew on\nhim as its object offered difficulties; and he improvised these verses,\n\n\"I asked the author of mine ills * To heal the wound with one sweet kiss:\nNo! No! she cried,[FN#111] for ever no! * But I, soft whispering, urged yes:\nQuoth she, Then take it by my leave, * When smiles shall pardon thine amiss:\nBy force, cried I? Nay, she replied * With love and gladness eke I wis.\nNow ask me not what next occurred * Seek grace of God and whist of this!\nDeem what thou wilt of us, for love * By calumnies the sweeter is:\nNor after this care I one jot * Whether my foe be known or not.\"\n\n\nThen his affection increased and love fires rose hotter in his heart, while she\nrefused herself to him saying, \"Thou canst not possess me.\" They ceased not to\nmake love and enjoy their wine and wassail, whilst Ghanim was drowned in the\nsea of love and longing; but she redoubled in coyness and cruelty till the\nnight brought on the darkness and let fall on them the skirts of sleep.\nThereupon Ghanim rose and lit the lamps and wax candles and refreshed the room\nand removed the table; then he took her feet and kissed them; and, finding them\nlike fresh cream, pressed his face[FN#112] on them; and said to her, \"O my lady,\ntake pity on one thy love hath ta'en and thine eyes hath slain; for indeed I\nwere heart-whole but for thy bane!\" And he wept somewhat. \"O my lord, and light\nof my eyes,\" quoth she, \"by Allah, I love thee in very sooth and I trust to thy\ntruth, but I know that I may not be thine.\" \"And what is the obstacle?\" asked\nhe; when she answered, \"To-night I will tell thee my tale, that thou mayst\naccept my excuse.\" Then she threw herself upon him and winding her arms like a\nnecklace about his neck, kissed him and caressed him and promised him her\nfavours; and they ceased not playing and laughing till love get the firmest\nhold upon both their hearts. And so it continued a whole month, both passing\nthe night on a single carpet-bed, but whenever he would enjoy her, she put him\noff; whilst mutual love increased upon them; and each could hardly abstain from\nother. One night, as he lay by her side, and both were warm with wine, Ghanim\npassed his hand over her breasts and stroked them; then he slipped it down to\nher waist as far as her navel. She awoke and, sitting up, put her hand to her\ntrousers and finding them fast tied, once more fell asleep. Presently, he again\nfelt her and sliding his hand down to her trouser-string, began pulling at it,\nwhereupon she awoke and sat upright. Ghanim also sat up by her side and she\nasked him, \"What dost thou want?\" \"I want to lie with thee,\" he answered, \"and\nthat we may deal openly and frankly with each other.\" Quoth she, \"I must now\ndeclare to thee my case, that thou mayst know my quality; then will my secret\nbe disclosed to thee and my excuse become manifest to thee.\" Quoth he, \"So be\nit!\" Thereat she opened the skirt of her shift and taking up her trouser\nstring, said to him, \"O my lord, read what is worked on the flat of this\nstring:\" so he took it in hand, and saw these words broidered on it in gold, \"I\nAM THINE, AND THOU ART MINE, O COUSIN OF THE APOSTLE!''[FN#113] When he read\nthis, he withdrew his hand and said to her, \"Tell me who thou art!\" \"So be it,\"\nanswered she; \"know that I am one of the concubines of the Commander of the\nFaithful, and my name is K\u00fat al-Kul\u00fab--the Food of Hearts. I was brought up in\nhis palace and, when I grew to woman's estate, he looked on me and, noting what\nshare of beauty and loveliness the Creator had given me, loved me with\nexceeding love, and assigned me a separate apartment, and gave me ten slave\ngirls to wait on me and all these ornaments thou seest me wearing. On a certain\nday he set out for one of his provinces, and the Lady Zubaydah came to one of\nthe slave-girls in my service and said to her, 'I have something to require of\nthee.' 'What is it, O my lady?' asked she and the Caliph's wife answered, 'When\nthy mistress Kut al-Kulub is asleep, put this piece of Bhang into her nostrils\nor drop it into her drink, and thou shalt have of me as much money as will\nsatisfy thee.' 'With love and gladness;' replied the girl and took the Bhang\nfrom her, being a glad woman because of the money and because aforetime she had\nbeen one of Zubaydah's slaves. So she put the Bhang in my drink, and when it\nwas night I drank, and the drug had no sooner settled in my stomach than I fell\nto the ground, my head touching my feet, and knew naught of my life but that I\nwas in another world. When her device succeeded, she bade put me in this chest,\nand secretly brought in the slaves and the doorkeepers and bribed them; and, on\nthe night when thou wast perched upon the date-tree, she sent the blacks to do\nwith me as thou sawest. So my delivery was at thy hands, and thou broughtest me\nto this house and hast entreated me honourably and with thy kindest. This is my\nstory, and I wot not what is become of the Caliph during my absence. Know then\nmy condition and divulge not my case.\" When Ghanim heard her words and knew\nthat she was a concubine of the Caliph, he drew back, for awe of the Caliphate\nbeset him, and sat apart from her in one of the corners of the place, blaming\nhimself and brooding over his affair and patiencing his heart bewildered for\nlove of one he could not possess. Then he wept for excess of longing, and\nplained him of Fortune and her injuries, and the world and its enmities (and\npraise be to Him who causeth generous hearts to be troubled with love and the\nbeloved, and who endoweth not the minds of the mean and miserly with so much of\nit as eveneth a grain-weight!). So he began repeating,\n\n\"The lover's heart for his beloved must meet * Sad pain, and from her charms bear sore defeat:\nWhat is Love's taste? They asked and answered I, * Sweet is the aste but ah! 'tis bitter sweet.\"\n\n\nThereupon Kut al-Kulub arose and took him to her bosom and kissed him; for the\nlove of him was firm fixed in her heart, so that she disclosed to him her\nsecret and all the affection she felt; and, throwing her arms round Ghanim's\nneck like a collar of pearls, kissed him again and yet again. But he held off\nfrom her in awe of the Caliph. Then they talked together a long while (and\nindeed both were drowned in the sea of their mutual love); and, as the day\nbroke, Ghanim rose and donned his clothes and going to the bazar, as was his\nwont, took what the occasion required and returned home. He found her weeping;\nbut when she saw him she checked herself and, smiling through her tears, said,\n\"Thou hast desolated me, O beloved of my heart. By Allah, this hour of absence\nhath been to me like a year![FN#114] I have explained to thee my condition in\nthe excess of my eager love for thee; so come now near me, and forget the past\nand have thy will of me.\" But he interrupted her crying, \"I seek refuge with\nAllah! This thing may never be. How shall the dog sit in the lion's stead? What\nis the lord's is unlawful to the slave!\" So he with-drew from her, and sat down\non a corner of the mat. Her passion for him increased with his forbearance; so\nshe seated herself by his side and caroused and played with him, till the two\nwere flushed with wine, and she was mad for her own dishonour. Then she sang\nthese verses,\n\n\"The lover's heart is like to break in twain: * Till when these coy denials ah! till when?\nO thou who fliest me sans fault of mine, * Gazelles are wont at times prove tame to men:\nAbsence, aversion, distance and disdain, * How shall young lover all these ills sustain?\"\n\n\nThereupon Ghanim wept and she wept at his weeping, and they ceased not drinking\ntill nightfall, when he rose and spread two beds, each in its place. \"For whom\nis this second bed?\" asked she, and he answered her, \"One is for me and the\nother is for thee: from this night forth we must not sleep save thus, for that\nwhich is the lord's is unlawful to the thrall.\" \"O my master!\" cried she, \"let\nus have done with this, for all things come to pass by Fate and Fortune.\" But\nhe refused, and the fire was lighted in her heart and, as her longing waxed\nfiercer, she clung to him and cried, \"By Allah, we will not sleep save side by\nside!\" \"Allah forefend!\" he replied and prevailed against her and lay apart\ntill the morning, when love and longing redoubled on her and distraction and\neager thirst of passion. They abode after this fashion three full-told months,\nwhich were long and longsome indeed, and every time she made advances to him,\nhe would refuse himself and say, \"Whatever belongeth to the master is unlawful\nto the man.\" Now when time waxed tiresome and tedious to her and anguish and\ndistress grew on her, she burst out from her oppressed heart with these verses,\n\n\"How long, rare beauty! wilt do wrong to me? * Who was it bade thee not belong to me?\nWith outer charms thou weddest inner grace * Comprising every point of piquancy:\nPassion thou hast infused in every heart, * From eyelids driven sleep by deputy:\nErst was (I wot) the spray made thin of leaf. * O Cassia-spray! Unlief thy sin I see:[FN#115]\nThe hart erst hunted I: how is 't I spy * The hunter hunted (fair my hart!) by thee?\nWondrouser still I tell thee aye that I * Am trapped while never up to trap thou be!\nNe'er grant my prayer! For if I grudge thyself * To thee, I grudge my me more jealously;\nAnd cry so long as life belong to me, * Rare beauty how, how long this wrong to me?\"\n\n\nThey abode in this state a long time, and fear kept Ghanim aloof from her. So\nfar concerning these two; but as regards the Lady Zubaydah, when, in the\nCaliph's absence she had done this deed by Kut al-Kulub she became perplexed,\nsaying to herself, \"What shall I tell my cousin when he comes back and asks for\nher? What possible answer can I make to him?\" Then she called an old woman, who\nwas about her and discovered her secret to her saying, \"How shall I act seeing\nthat Kut al-Kulub died by such untimely death?\" \"O my lady,\" quoth the old\ncrone, \"the time of the Caliph's return is near; so do thou send for a\ncarpenter and bid him make thee a figure of wood in the form of a corpse. We\nwill dig a grave for it midmost the palace and there bury it: then do thou\nbuild an oratory over it and set therein lighted candles and lamps, and order\neach and every in the palace to be clad in black.[FN#116] Furthermore command\nthy handmaids and eunuchs as soon as they know of the Caliph's returning from\nhis journey, to spread straw over the vestibule-floors and, when the Commander\nof the Faithful enters and asks what is the matter, let them say:\u2014 Kut al-Kulub\nis dead, and may Allah abundantly compensate thee for the loss of her![FN#117];\nand, for the high esteem in which she was held of our mistress, she hath buried\nher in her own palace. When he hears this he will weep and it shall be grievous\nto him; then will he cause perlections of the Koran to be made for her and he\nwill watch by night at her tomb. Should he say to himself, 'Verily Zubaydah,\nthe daughter of my uncle, hath compassed in her jealousy the death of Kut\nal-Kulub'; or, if love-longing overcome him and he bid her be taken out of her\ntomb, fear thou not; for when they dig down and come to the image in human\nshape he will see it shrouded in costly grave-clothes; and, if he wish to take\noff the winding-sheet that he may look upon her, do thou forbid him or let some\nother forbid him, saying, 'The sight of her nakedness is unlawful.' The fear of\nthe world to come will restrain him and he will believe that she is dead and\nwill restore the figure to its place and thank thee for thy doings; and thus\nthou shalt escape, please Almighty Allah, from this slough of despond.\" When\nthe Lady Zubaydah heard her words, she commended the counsel and gave her a\ndress of honour and a large sum of money, ordering her to do all she had said.\nSo the old woman set about the business forthright and bade the carpenter make\nher the aforesaid image; and, as soon as it was finished, she brought it to\nthe Lady Zubaydah, who shrouded it and buried it and built a sepulchre over it,\nwherein they lighted candles and lamps, and laid down carpets about the tomb.\nMoreover she put on black and she spread abroad in the Harim that Kut al-Kulub\nwas dead. After a time the Caliph returned from his journey and went up to the\npalace, thinking only of Kut al-Kulub. He saw all the pages and eunuchs and\nhandmaids habited in black, at which his heart fluttered with extreme fear;\nand, when he went in to the Lady Zubaydah, he found her also garbed in black.\nSo he asked the cause of this and they gave him tidings of the death of Kut\nal-Kulub, whereon he fell a-swooning. As soon as he came to himself, he asked\nfor her tomb, and the Lady Zubaydah said to him, \"Know, O Prince of the\nFaithful, that for especial honour I have buried her in my own palace.\" Then he\nrepaired in his travelling-garb[FN#118] to the tomb that he might wail over\nher, and found the carpets spread and the candles and lamps lighted. When he\nsaw this, he thanked Zubaydah for her good deed and abode perplexed, halting\nbetween belief and unbelief till at last suspicion overcame him and he gave\norder to open the grave and take out the body. When he saw the shroud and would\nhave removed it to look upon her, the fear of Allah Almighty restrained him,\nand the old woman (taking advantage of the delay) said, \"Restore her to her\nplace.\" Then he sent at once for Fakirs and Koran-readers, and caused\nperlections to be made over her tomb and sat by the side of the grave, weeping\ntill he fainted; and he continued to frequent the tomb and sit there for a\nwhole month,\u2014 And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-second Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph ceased not to\nfrequent the tomb for the period of a whole month, at the end of which time it\nso happened one day that he entered the Serraglio, after dismissing the Emirs\nand Wazirs, and lay down and slept awhile; and there sat at his head a slave\ngirl fanning him, and at his feet a second rubbing and shampooing them.\nPresently he awoke and, opening his eyes, shut them again and heard the\nhandmaid at his head saying to her who was at his feet, \"A nice business this,\nO Khayzar\u00e1n!\" and the other answered her \"Well, O Kaz\u00edb al-B\u00e1n?\"[FN#119]\n\"Verily\" said the first, \"our lord knoweth naught of what hath happened and\nsitteth waking and watching by a tomb wherein is only a log of wood carved by\nthe carpenter's art.\" \"And Kut al-Kulub,\" quoth the other, \"what hath befallen\nher?\" She replied, \"Know that the Lady Zubaydah sent a pellet of Bhang by one\nof the slave women who was bribed to drug her; and when sleep overpowered her\nshe let put her in a chest, and ordered Sawab and Kafur and Bukhayt to throw\nher amongst the tombs.\" \"What dost thou say, O Kazib al-Ban;\" asked Khayzaran,\n\"is not the lady Kut al-Kulub dead?\" \"Nay, by Allah!\" she answered \"and long\nmay her youth be saved from death! but I have heard the Lady Zubaydah say that\nshe is in the house of a young merchant named Ghanim bin Ayyub of Damascus,\nhight the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love; and she hath been with him these four\nmonths, whilst our lord is weeping and watching by night at a tomb wherein is\nno corpse.\" They kept on talking this sort of talk, and the Caliph gave ear to\ntheir words; and, by the time they had ceased speaking, he knew right well that\nthe tomb was a feint and a fraud, and that Kut al-Kulub had been in Ghanim's\nhouse for four months. Whereupon he was angered with exceeding anger and rising\nup, he summoned the Emirs of his state; and his Wazir Ja'afar the Barmaki came\nalso and kissed the ground between his hands. The Caliph said to him in fury,\n\"Go down, O Ja'afar, with a party of armed men and ask for the house of Ghanim\nson of Ayyub: fall upon it and spoil it and bring him to me with my slave girl,\nKut al-Kulub, for there is no help but that I punish him!\" \"To hear is to\nobey,\" said Ja'afar; and setting out with the Governor and the guards and a\nworld of people, repaired to Ghanim's house. Now about that time the youth\nhappened to have brought back a pot of dressed meat and was about to put forth\nhis hand to eat of it, he and Kut al-Kulub, when the lady, happening to look\nout saw calamity surrounding the house on every side; for the Wazir and the\nGovernor, the night-guard and the Mamelukes with swords drawn had girt it as\nthe white of the eye girdeth the black. At this she knew that tidings of her\nhad reached the Caliph, her lord; and she made sure of ruin, and her colour\npaled and her fair features changed and her favour faded. Then she turned to\nGhanim and said to him, \"O my love? fly for thy life!\" \"What shall I do,\" asked\nhe, \"and whither shall I go, seeing that my money and means of maintenance are\nall in this house?\"; and she answered, \"Delay not lest thou be slain and lose\nlife as well as wealth.\" \"O my loved one and light of mine eyes!\" he cried,\n\"how shall I do to get away when they have surrounded the house?\" Quoth she,\n\"Fear not;\" and, stripping off his fine clothes, dressed him in ragged old\ngarments, after which she took the pot and, putting in it bits of broken bread\nand a saucer of meat,[FN#120] placed the whole in a basket and setting it upon\nhis head said, \"Go out in this guise and fear not for me who wotteth right well\nwhat thing is in my hand for the Caliph.\"[FN#121] So he went out amongst them,\nbearing the basket with its contents, and the Protector vouchsafed him His\nprotection and he escaped the snares and perils that beset him, by the blessing\nof his good conscience and pure conduct. Meanwhile Ja'afar dismounted and\nentering the house, saw Kut al-Kulub who had dressed and decked herself in\nsplendid raiments and ornaments and filled a chest with gold and jewellery and\nprecious stones and rarities and what else was light to bear and of value rare.\nWhen she saw Ja'afar come in, she rose and, kissing the ground before him,\nsaid, \"O my lord, the Reed hath written of old the rede which Allah\ndecreed!''[FN#122] \"By Allah, O my lady,\" answered Ja'afar, \"he gave me an\norder to seize Ghanim son of Ayyub;\" and she rejoined, \"O my lord, he made\nready his goods and set out therewith for Damascus and I know nothing more of\nhim; but I desire thee take charge of this chest and deliver it to me in the\nHarim of the Prince of the Faithful.\" \"Hearing and obedience,\" said Ja'afar,\nand bade his men bear it away to the head-quarters of the Caliphate together\nwith Kut al-Kulub, commanding them to entreat her with honour as one in high\nesteem. They did his bidding after they had wrecked and plundered Ghanim's\nhouse. Then Ja'afar went in to the Caliph and told him all that had happened,\nand he ordered Kut al-Kulub to be lodged in a dark chamber and appointed an old\nwomen to serve her, feeling convinced that Ghanim had debauched her and slept\nwith her. Then he wrote a mandate to the Emir Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni,\nhis viceroy in Damascus, to this effect: \"The instant thou shalt receive this\nour letter, seize upon Ghanim bin Ayyub and send him to us.\" When the missive\ncame to the viceroy, he kissed it and laid it on his head; then he let proclaim\nin the bazars, \"Whoso is desirous to plunder, away with him to the house of\nGhanim son of Ayyub.\"[FN#123] So they flocked thither, when they found that\nGhanim's mother and sister had built him a tomb[FN#124] in the midst of the\nhouse and sat by it weeping for him; whereupon they seized the two without\ntelling them the cause and, after spoiling the house, carried them before the\nviceroy. He questioned them concerning Ghanim and both replied, \"For a year or\nmore we have had no news of him.\" So they restored them to their place. Thus\nfar concerning them; but as regards Ghanim, when he saw his wealth spoiled and\nhis ruin utterest he wept over himself till his heart well-nigh brake. Then he\nfared on at random till the last of the day, and hunger grew hard on him and\nwalking wearied him. So coming to a village he entered a mosque[FN#125] where\nhe sat down upon a mat and propped his back against the wall; but presently he\nsank to the ground in his extremity of famine and fatigue. There he lay till\ndawn, his heart fluttering for want of food; and, owing to his sweating, the\nlice[FN#126] coursed over his skin; his breath waxed fetid and his whole\ncondition was changed. When the villagers came to pray the dawn-prayer, they\nfound him prostrate, ailing, hunger-lean, yet showing evident signs of former\naffluence. As soon as prayers were over, they drew near him; and, understanding\nthat he was starved with hunger and cold, they gave him an old robe with ragged\nsleeves and said to him, \"O stranger, whence art thou and what sickness is upon\nthee?\" He opened his eyes and wept but returned no answer; whereupon one of\nthem, who saw that he was starving, brought him a saucer of honey and two\nbarley scones. He ate a little and they sat with him till sun-rise, when they\nwent to their work. He abode with them in this state for a month, whilst\nsickness and weakliness grew upon him; and they wept for him and, pitying his\ncondition, took counsel with one another upon his case and agreed to forward\nhim to the hospital in Baghdad.[FN#127] Meanwhile behold, two beggar-women, who\nwere none other than Ghanim's mother and sister,[FN#128] came into the mosque\nand, when he saw them, he gave them the bread that was at his head; and they\nslept by his side that night but he knew them not. Next day the villagers\nbrought a camel and said to the cameleer, \"Set this sick man on thy beast and\ncarry him to Baghdad and put him down at the Spital-door; so haply he may be\nmedicined and be healed and thou shalt have thy hire.\"[FN#129] \"To hear is to\ncomply,\" said the man. So they brought Ghanim, who was asleep, out of the\nmosque and set him, mat and all, on the camel; and his mother and sister came\nout among the crowd to gaze upon him, but they knew him not. However, after\nlooking at him and considering him carefully they said, \"Of a truth he favours\nour Ghanim, poor boy!; can this sick man be he?\" Presently, he woke and finding\nhimself bound with ropes on a camel's back, he began to weep and\ncomplain,[FN#130] and the village-people saw his mother and sister weeping over\nhim, albeit they knew him not. Then they fared forth for Baghdad, but the\ncamel-man forewent them; and, setting Ghanim down at the Spital-gate, went away\nwith his beast. The sick man lay there till dawn and, when the folk began to go\nabout the streets, they saw him and stood gazing on him, for he had become as\nthin as a toothpick, till the Syndic of the bazar came up and drove them away\nfrom him, saying, \"I will gain Paradise through this poor creature; for if they\ntake him into the Hospital, they will kill him in a single day.\"[FN#131] Then\nhe made his young men carry him to his house, where they spread him a new bed\nwith a new pillow,[FN#132] and he said to his wife, \"Tend him carefully;\" and\nshe replied, \"Good! on my head be it!\" Thereupon she tucked up her sleeves and\nwarming some water, washed his hands, feet and body; after which she clothed\nhim in a robe belonging to one of her slave-girls and made him drink a cup of\nwine and sprinkled rose-water over him. So he revived and complained, and the\nthought of his beloved Kut al-Kulub made his grief redouble. Thus far\nconcerning him; but as regards Kut al-Kulub, when the Caliph was angered\nagainst her,\u2014 And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-third Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph was\nangered against Kut al-Kulub, he ordered her to a dark chamber where she abode\neighty days, at the end of which the Caliph, happening to pass on a certain day\nthe place where she was, heard her repeating poetry, and after she ceased\nreciting her verse, saying, \"O my darling, O my Ghanim! how great is thy\ngoodness and how chaste is thy nature! thou didst well by one who did ill by\nthee and thou guardedst his honour who garred thine become dishonour, and his\nHarim thou didst protect who to enslave thee and thine did elect! But thou\nshalt surely stand, thou and the Commander of the Faithful, before the Just\nJudge, and thou shalt be justified of him on the Day when the Lord (to whom be\nhonour and glory!) shall be Kazi and the Angels of Heaven shall be witnesses!\"\nWhen the Caliph heard her complaint, he knew that she had been wronged and,\nreturning to the palace, sent Masrur the Eunuch for her. She came before him\nwith bowed head and eyes tearful and heart sorrowful; and he said to her, \"O\nKut al-Kulub, I find thou accuses me of tyranny and oppression, and thou\navouchest that I have done ill by one who did well by me. Who is this who hath\nguarded my honour while I garred his become dishonour? Who protected my Harim\nand whose Harim I wrecked?\" \"He is Ghanim son of Ayyub,\" replied she, \"for he\nnever approached me in wantonness or with lewd intent, I swear by thy\nmunificence, O Commander of the Faithful!\" Then said the Caliph, \"There is no\nMajesty and there is no Might save in Allah! Ask what thou wilt of me, O Kut\nal-Kulub.\" \"O Prince of the Faithful!\", answered she, \"I require of thee only\nmy beloved Ghanim son of Ayyub.\" He did as she desired, whereupon she said, \"O\nLord of the Moslems, if I bring him to thy presence, wilt thou bestow me on\nhim?\"; and he replied, \"If he come into my presence, I will give thee to him as\nthe gift of the generous who revoketh not his largesse.\" \"O Prince of True\nBelievers,\" quoth she, \"suffer me to go and seek him; haply Allah may unite me\nwith him:\" and quoth he, \"Do even as thou wilt.\" So she rejoiced and, taking\nwith her a thousand dinars in gold, went out and visited the elders of the\nvarious faiths and gave alms in Ghanim's name.[FN#133] Next day she walked to\nthe merchants' bazar and disclosed her object to the Syndic and gave him money,\nsaying, \"Bestow this in charity to the stranger!\" On the following Friday she\nfared to the bazar (with other thousand dinars) and, entering the goldsmiths'\nand jewellers' market-street, called the Chief and presented to him a thousand\ndinars with these words, \"Bestow this in charity to the stranger!\" The Chief\nlooked at her (and he was the Syndic who had taken in Ghanim) and said, \"O my\nlady, wilt thou come to my house and look upon a youth, a stranger I have there\nand see how goodly and graceful he is?\" Now the stranger was Ghanim, son of\nAyyub, but the Chief had no knowledge of him and thought him to be some\nwandering pauper, some debtor whose wealth had been taken from him, or some\nlover parted from his beloved. When she heard his words her heart\nfluttered[FN#134] and her vitals yearned, and she said to him, \"Send with me\none who shall guide me to thy house.\" So he sent a little lad who brought her\nto the house wherein was the head man's stranger-guest and she thanked him for\nthis. When she reached the house, she went in and saluted the Syndic's wife,\nwho rose and kissed the ground between her hands, for she knew her. Then quoth\nKut al-Kulub, \"Where is the sick man who is with thee?\" She wept and replied,\n\"Here is he, O my lady; by Allah, he is come of good folk and he beareth the\nsigns of gentle breeding: you see him lying on yonder bed.\" So she turned and\nlooked at him: and she saw something like him, but he was worn and wasted till\nhe had become lean as a toothpick, so his identity was doubtful to her and she\ncould not be certain that it was he. Yet pity for him possessed her and she\nwept saying, \"Verily the stranger is unhappy, even though he be a prince in his\nown land!\"; and his case was grievous to her and her heart ached for him, yet\nshe knew him not to be Ghanim. Then she furnished him with wine and medicines\nand she sat awhile by his head, after which she mounted and returned to her\npalace and continued to visit every bazar in quest of her lover. Meanwhile\nGhanim's mother and sister Fitnah arrived at Baghdad and met the Syndic, who\ncarried them to Kut al-Kulub and said to her, \"O Princess of beneficent ladies,\nthere came to our city this day a woman and her daughter, who are fair of\nfavour and signs of good breeding and dignity are apparent in them, though they\nbe dressed in hair-cloth and have each one a wallet hanging to her neck; and\ntheir eyes are tearful and their hearts are sorrowful. So I have brought them\nto thee that thou mayst give them refuge, and rescue them from beggary, for\nthey are not of asker-folk and, if it please Allah, we shall enter Paradise\nthrough them.\" \"By Allah, O my master,\" cried she, \"thou makest me long to see\nthem! Where are they?\", adding, \"Here with them to me!\" So he bade the eunuch\nbring them in; and, when she looked on them; and saw that they were both of\ndistinguished beauty, she wept for them; and said, \"By Allah, these are people\nof condition and show plain signs of former opulence.\" \"O my lady,\" said the\nSyndic's wife, \"we love the poor and the destitute, more especially as reward\nin Heaven will recompense our love; and, as for these persons, haply the\noppressor hath dealt hardly with them; and hath plundered their property and\nharried their houses.\" Then Ghanim's mother and sister wept with sore weeping,\nremembering their former prosperity and contrasting it with their present\npoverty and miserable condition; and their thoughts dwelt upon son and brother,\nwhilst Kut al-Kulub wept for their weeping; and they said, \"We beseech Allah to\nreunite us with him whom we desire, and he is none other but my son named\nGhanim bin Ayyub!\" When Kut al-Kulub heard this, she knew them to be the mother\nand sister of her lover and wept till a swoon came over her. When she revived\nshe turned to them; and said, \"Have no fear and sorrow not, for this day is the\nfirst of your prosperity and the last of your adversity!\"\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-fourth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kut al-Kulub had\nconsoled them she bade the Syndic lead them to his house and let his wife carry\nthem to the Hammam and dress them in handsome clothes and take care of them; and\nhonour them with all honour; and she gave him a sufficient sum of money. Next\nday, she mounted and, riding to his house, went in to his wife who rose up and\nkissed her hands and thanked her for her kindness. There she saw Ghanim's\nmother and sister whom the Syndic's wife had taken to the Hammam and clothed\nafresh, so that the traces of their former condition became manifest upon them.\nShe sat talking with them awhile, after which she asked the wife about the sick\nyouth who was in her house and she replied, \"He is in the same state.\" Then\nsaid Kut al-Kulub, \"Come, let us go and visit him.\" So she arose, she and the\nChief's wife and Ghanim's mother and sister, and went in to the room where he\nlay and sat down near him. Presently Ghanim bin Ayyub, the Distraught, the\nThrall o' Love, heard them mention the name of Kut al-Kulub; whereupon life\nreturned to him, emaciated and withered as he was, and he raised his head from\nthe pillow and cried aloud, \"O Kut al-Kulub!\" She looked at him and made\ncertain it was he and shrieked rather than said, \"Yes, O my beloved!\" \"Draw\nnear to me;\" said he, and she replied, \"Surely thou art Ghanim bin Ayyub?\"; and\nhe rejoined \"I am indeed!\" Hereupon a swoon came upon her; and, as soon as\nGhanim's mother and his sister Fitnah heard these words, both cried out \"O our\njoy'\" and fainted clean away. When they all recovered, Kut al-Kulub exclaimed,\n\"Praise be to Allah who hath brought us together again and who hath reunited\nthee with thy mother and thy sister!\" And she related to him all that had\nbefallen her with the Caliph and said, \"I have made known the truth to the\nCommander of the Faithful, who believed my words and was pleased with thee; and\nnow he desireth to see thee,\" adding, \"He hath given me to thee.\" Thereat he\nrejoiced with extreme joy, when she said, \"Quit not this place till I come\nback\" and, rising forthwith, betook herself to her palace. There she opened the\nchest which she had brought from Ghanim's house and, taking out some of the\ndinars, gave them to the Syndic saying, \"Buy with this money for each of them\nfour complete suits of the finest stuffs and twenty kerchiefs, and else beside\nof whatsoever they require;\" after which she carried all three to the baths and\nhad them washed and bathed and made ready for them consomm\u00e9s, and\ngalangale-water and cider against their coming out. When they left the Hammam,\nthey put on the new clothes, and she abode with them three days feeding them\nwith chicken meats and bouillis, and making them drink sherbert of sugar candy.\nAfter three days their spirits returned; and she carried them again to the\nbaths, and when they came out and had changed their raiment, she led them back\nto the Syndic's house and left them there, whilst she returned to the palace\nand craved permission to see the Caliph. When he ordered her to come in, she\nentered and, kissing the ground between his hands, told him the whole story and\nhow her lord, Ghanim bin Ayyub, yclept the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love, and\nhis mother and sister were now in Baghdad. When the Caliph heard this, he\nturned to the eunuchs and said, \"Here with Ghanim to me.\" So Ja'afar went to\nfetch him; but Kut al-Kulub forewent him and told Ghanim, \"The Caliph hath sent\nto fetch thee before him,\" and charged him to show readiness of tongue and\nfirmness of heart and sweetness of speech. Then she robed him in a sumptuous\ndress and gave him dinars in plenty, saying, \"Be lavish of largesse to the\nCaliph's household as thou goest in to him.\" Presently Ja'afar, mounted on his\nNubian mule, came to fetch him; and Ghanim advanced to welcome the Wazir and,\nwishing him long life, kissed the ground before him. Now the star of his good\nfortune had risen and shone brightly; and Ja'afar took him; and they ceased not\nfaring together, he and the Minister, till they went in to the Commander of the\nFaithful. When he stood in the presence, he looked at the Wazirs and Emirs and\nChamberlains, and Viceroys and Grandees and Captains, and then at the Caliph.\nHereupon he sweetened his speech and his eloquence and, bowing his head to the\nground, broke out in these extempore couplets,\n\n\"May that Monarch's life span a mighty span, * Whose lavish of largesse all lieges scan:\nNone other but he shall be Kaysar hight, * Lord of lordly hall and of haught Divan:\nKings lay their gems on his threshold-dust * As they bow and salam to the mighty man;\nAnd his glances foil them; and all recoil, * Bowing beards aground and with faces wan:\nYet they gain the profit of royal grace, * The rank and station of high soldan.\nEarth's plain is scant for thy world of men, * Camp there in Kay wan's[FN#135] Empyrean!\nMay the King of Kings ever hold thee dear; * Be counsel thine and right steadfast plan,\nTill thy justice spread o'er the wide-spread earth * And the near and the far be of equal worth.\"\n\n\nWhen he ended his improvisation the Caliph was pleased by it and marvelled at\nthe eloquence of his tongue and the sweetness of his speech,\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-fifth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph, after\nmarvelling at his eloquence of tongue and sweetness of speech, said to him,\n\"Draw near to me.\" So he drew near and quoth the King, \"Tell me thy tale and\ndeclare to me thy case.\" So Ghanim sat down and related to him what had\nbefallen him in Baghdad, of his sleeping in the tomb and of his opening the\nchest after the three slaves had departed, and informed him, in short, of\neverything that had happened to him from commencement to conclusion--none of\nwhich we will repeat for interest fails in twice told tales. The Caliph was\nconvinced that he was a true man; so he invested him with a dress of honour,\nand placed him near himself in token of favour, and said to him, \"Acquit me of\nthe responsibility I have incurred.''[FN#136] And Ghanim so did, saying, \"O our\nlord the Sultan, of a truth thy slave and all things his two hands own are his\nmaster's.\" The Caliph was pleased at this and gave orders to set apart a palace\nfor him and assigned to him pay and allowances, rations and donations, which\namounted to something immense. So he removed thither with sister and mother;\nafter which the Caliph, hearing that his sister Fitnah was in beauty a very\n\"fitnah,\"[FN#137] a mere seduction, demanded her in marriage of Ghanim who\nreplied, \"She is thy handmaid as I am thy slave.\" The Caliph thanked him and\ngave him an hundred thousand dinars, then summoned the witnesses and the Kazi,\nand on one and the same day they wrote out the two contracts of marriage\nbetween the Caliph and Fitnah and between Ghanim bin Ayyub and Kut al-Kulub;\nand the two marriages were consummated on one and the same night. When it was\nmorning, the Caliph gave orders to record the history of what had befallen\nGhanim from first to last and to deposit it in the royal muniment-rooms, that\nthose who came after him might read it and marvel at the dealings of Destiny\nand put their trust in Him who created the night and the day. Yet, O auspicious\nKing, this story to which thou hast deigned give ear is on no wise more\nwondrous than the\n\n\n\n\nTale Of King Omar Bin Al-Nu'uman And His Sons Sharrkan\nand Zau Al-Makan, and What Befel Them of Things Seld-Seen and Peregrine.[FN#138]\n\n\nThe King asked her, \"And what was their story?\" and she answered: It hath\nreached me, O auspicious King, that there was in the City of Safety, Baghdad,\nbefore the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik bin Marw\u00e1n,[FN#139] a King, Omar bin\nal-Nu'um\u00e1n hight, who was of the mighty giants and had subjected the Chosro\u00ebs\nof Persia and the Kaysars of Eastern Rome; for none could warm himself at his\nfire;[FN#140] nor could any avail to meet him in the field of foray and fray;\nand, when he was angered, there came forth from his nostrils sparks of flame. \nHe had made himself King over all quarters, and Allah had subjected to him all\nHis creatures; his word went forth to all great cities and his hosts had\nharried the farthest lands. East and West had come under his command with\nwhatsoever regions lay interspersed between them, Hind and Sind and\nSin,[FN#141] the Holy Land, Al-Hijaz, the rich mountains of Al-Yaman and the\narchipelagos of India and China. Moreover, he reigned supreme over the north\ncountry and Diy\u00e1r Bakr, or Mesopotamia, and over Sud\u00e1n, the Eastern Negro-land\nand the Islands of the Ocean, and all the far famed rivers of the earth, Sayh\u00fan\nand Jayh\u00fan,[FN#142] Nile and Euphrates. He sent envoys and ambassadors to\ncapitals the most remote, to provide him with true report; and they would bring\nback tidings of justice and peace, with assurance of loyalty and obedience and\nof prayers in the pulpits for King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; for he was, O Ruler of\nthe Age, a right noble King; and there came to him presents of rarities and\ntoll and tribute from all lands of his governing. This mighty monarch had a son\nyclept Sharrkan,[FN#143] who was likest of all men to his father and who proved\nhimself one of the prodigies of his time for subduing the brave and bringing\nhis contemporaries to bane and ban. For this his father loved him with love so\ngreat none could be greater, and made him heir to the kingdom after himself. \nThis Prince grew up till he reached man's estate and was twenty years old, and\nAllah subjected His servants to him, by reason of his great might and prowess\nin battle. Now his father, King Omar, had four wives legally married, but\nAllah had vouchsafed him no son by them, save Sharrkan, whom he had begotten\nupon one of them, and the rest were barren. Moreover he had three hundred and\nsixty concubines, after the number of days in the Coptic year, who were of all\nnations; and he had furnished for each and every a private chamber within his\nown palace. For he had built twelve pavilions, after the number of the months,\neach containing thirty private chambers, which thus numbered three hundred and\nthree score, wherein he lodged his handmaids: and he appointed according to law\nfor each one her night, when he lay with her and came not again to her for a\nfull year;[FN#144] and on this wise he abode for a length of time. Meanwhile\nhis son Sharrkan was making himself renowned in all quarters of the world and\nhis father was proud of him and his might waxed and grew mightier; so that he\npassed all bounds and bore himself masterfully and took by storm castles and\ncities. Presently, by decree of the Decreer, a handmaid among the handmaids of\nOmar bin Nu'uman became pregnant; and, her pregnancy being announced to the\nHarim, the King was informed thereof; whereupon he rejoiced with exceeding joy\nand said, \"Haply 't will be a son, and so all my offspring will be males!\" Then\nhe documented the date of her conception and entreated her with all manner of\nkindness. But when the tidings came to Sharrkan, he was troubled and the\nmatter seemed to him a sore one and a grievous; and he said, \"Verily one cometh\nwho shall dispute with me the sovereignty:\" so quoth he to himself, \"If this\nconcubine bear a male child I will kill it:\" but he kept that intention hidden\nin his heart. Such was the case with Sharrkan; but what happened in the matter\nof the damsel was as follows. She was a Roumiyah, a Greek girl, by name\nSofiyah or Sophia,[FN#145] whom the King of Roum and Lord of C\u00e6sarea had sent\nto King Omar as a present, together with great store of gifts and of rarities:\nshe was the fairest of favour and loveliest of all his handmaids and the most\nregardful of her honour; and she was gifted with a wit as penetrating as her\npresence was fascinating. Now she had served the King on the night of his\nsleeping with her, saying to him, \"O King! I desire of the God of the Heavens\nthat he bless thee this night with a male child by me, so I may bring him up\nwith the best of rearing, and enable him to reach man's estate perfect in\nintelligence, good manners and prudent bearing\"[FN#146]\u2014a speech which much\npleased the King. During her pregnancy she was instant in prayer, fervently\nsupplicating the Lord to bless her with a goodly male child and make his birth\neasy to her; and Allah heard her petition so that after her months were\naccomplished she sat safely upon the birth-stool.[FN#147] Now the King had\ndeputed a eunuch to let him know if the child she should bring forth were male\nor female; and in like way his son Sharrkan had sent one to bring him tidings\nof the same. In due time Sophia was delivered of a child, which the midwives\nexamined and found to be a girl with a face sheenier than the moon. So they\nannounced this to all present in the room, whereupon the King's messenger\ncarried the news to him; and Sharrkan's eunuch did the like with his master, who\nrejoiced with exceeding joy. But, after the two had departed, quoth Sophia to\nthe midwives, \"Wait with me awhile, for I feel as if there were still somewhat\nin my womb.\" Then she cried out and the pains of child-bed again took her; and\nAllah made it easy to her and she gave birth to a second child. The wise women\nlooked at it and found it a boy like the full moon, with forehead flower-white,\nand cheek ruddy-bright with rosy light; whereupon the mother rejoiced, as did\nthe eunuchs and attendants and all the company; and Sophia was delivered of the\nafter-birth whilst all in the palace sent forth the trill of joy.[FN#148] The\nrest of the concubines heard it and envied her lot; and the tidings reached\nOmar son of Al- Nu'uman, who was glad and rejoiced at the excellent news. Then\nhe rose and went to her and kissed her head, after which he looked at the boy;\nand, bending over him, kissed him, whilst the damsels struck the tabors and\nplayed on instruments of music; and the King gave order that the boy should be\nnamed Zau al-Mak\u00e1n and his sister Nuzhat al-Zam\u00e1n.[FN#149] They answered\n\"Hearing and obedience,\" and did his bidding; so he appointed wet nurses and\ndry nurses and eunuchs and attendants to serve them; and assigned them rations\nof sugar and diet-drinks and unguents and else beside, beyond the power of\ntongue to rehearse. Moreover the people of Baghdad, hearing that Allah had\nblessed their King with issue, decorated the city and made proclamation of the\nglad tidings with drum and tom-tom; and the Emirs and Wazirs and high\ndignitaries came to the palace and wished King Omar bin al-Nu'uman joy of his\nson, Zau al-Makan, and of his daughter Nuzhat al-Zaman, wherefore he thanked\nthem; and bestowed on them dresses of honour and further favoured them with\ngifts, and dealt largesse to all, gentle and simple, who were present. After\nthis fashion he did for four days full told, and he lavished upon Sophia\nraiment and ornaments and great store of wealth; and, every few days he would\nsend a messenger to ask after her and the new-borns. And when four years had\ngone by, he provided her with the wherewithal to rear the two children\ncarefully and educate them with the best of instructions. All this while his\nson Sharrkan knew not that a male child had been born to his father, Omar son\nof Al-Nu'uman, having news only that he had been blessed with the birth of\nNuzhat al-Zaman; and they hid the intelligence from him, until days and years\nhad sped by, whilst he was busied in battling with the brave and fighting\nsingle-handed against the knights. One day, as King Omar was sitting in his\npalace, his Chamberlains came in to him and, kissing the ground before him,\nsaid, \"O King there be come Ambassadors from the King of Roum, Lord of\nConstantinople the Great, and they desire admission to thee and submission to\nthy decree: if the King command us to introduce them we will so do; and, if\nnot, there is no disputing his behest.\" He bade them enter and, when they came\nin, he turned to them; and, courteously receiving them, asked them of their\ncase, and what was the cause of their coming. They kissed the ground before\nhim and said, \"O King glorious and strong! O lord of the arm that is long! \nknow that he who despatched us to thee is King Afr\u00edd\u00fan,[FN#150] Lord of \nIonia-land[FN#151] and of the Nazarene armies, the sovereign who is firmly\nestablished in the empery of Constantinople, to acquaint thee that he is now\nwaging fierce war and fell with a tyrant and a rebel, the Prince of C\u00e6sarea;\nand the cause of this war is as follows. One of the Kings of the Arabs in past\ntime, during certain of his conquests, chanced upon a hoard of the time of\nAlexander,[FN#152] whence he removed wealth past compute; and, amongst other\nthings, three round jewels, big as ostrich eggs, from a mine of pure white gems\nwhose like was never seen by man. Upon each were graven characts in Ionian\ncharacters, and they have many virtues and properties, amongst the rest that if\none of these jewels be hung round the neck of a new-born child, no evil shall\nbefal him and he shall neither wail, nor shall fever ail him as long as the\njewel remain without fail.[FN#153] When the Arab King laid hands upon them; and\nlearned their secrets, he sent to King Afridun presents of certain rarities and\namongst them the three jewels afore mentioned; and he equipped for the mission\ntwo ships, one bearing the treasure and the other men of might to guard it from\nany who might offer hindrance on the high seas, albeit well assured that none\nwould dare waylay his vessels, for that he was King of the Arabs, and more by\ntoken that their course lay over waters subject to the King of Constantinople\nand they were bound to his port; nor were there on the shores of that sea any\nsave the subjects of the Great King, Afridun. The two ships set out and\nvoyaged till they drew near our city, when there sallied out on them certain\ncorsairs from that country and amongst them troops from the Prince of C\u00e6sarea,\nwho took all the treasures and rarities in the ships, together with the three\njewels, and slew the crews. When our King heard of this, he sent an army\nagainst them, but they routed it; then he marched a second and a stronger but\nthey put this also to flight,\u2014whereupon the King waxed wroth and swore that he\nwould not go forth[FN#154] against them save in his own person at the head of\nhis whole army; nor would he turn back from them till he had left C\u00e6sarea, of\nArmenia[FN#155] in ruins and had laid waste all the lands and cities over which\nher Prince held sway. So he sent us to the Lord of the age and the time,\nSultan Omar bin al-Nu'uman, King of Baghdad and of Khorasan, desiring that he\naid us with an army, so may honour and glory accrue to him; and he hath also\nforwarded by us somewhat of various kinds of presents, and of the King's grace\nhe beggeth their acceptance and the friendly boon of furtherance.\" Then the\nAmbassadors kissed the ground before him,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-sixth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that, after the Ambassadors\nand retinue from the Constantinopolitan King had kissed the ground before Omar\nand had delivered their embassage, they brought out the presents, which were\nfifty damsels of the choicest from Gr\u00e6cia-land, and fifty Mamelukes in tunics\nof brocade, belted with girdles of gold and silver, each wearing in his ears\nhoops of gold with pendants of fine pearls costing a thousand ducats every one.\nThe girls were adorned in like fashion and were clad in stuffs worth a\ntreasury of money. When the King saw them, he rejoiced in them; and accepted\nthem; then he bade the Ambassadors be honourably entreated and, summoning his\nWazirs, took counsel with them of what he should do. Herewith rose up among\nthem a Wazir, an ancient man, Dand\u00e1n[FN#156] hight, who kissed the ground\nbefore Omar and said, \"O King, there is nothing better to do in this matter\nthan equip an army valiant and victorious, and set over it thy son Sharrkan\nwith us as his lieutenants; and this rede commendeth itself to me on two\ncounts; first, because the King of Roum hath invoked thine assistance and hath\nsent thee gifts which thou hast accepted; and, secondly, because while no enemy\ndareth attack our country, thine army may go forth safely and, should it\nsuccour the King of Gr\u00e6cia-land and defeat his foe, the glory will be thine. \nMoreover, the news of it will be noised abroad in all cities and countries and\nespecially, when the tidings shall reach the Islands of the Ocean and the Kings\nof Mauritania shall hear it, they will send thee offerings of rarities and pay\nthee tribute of money.\" The King, pleased by the Wazir's words and approving his\nrede, gave him a dress of honour and said to him, \"Of the like of thee should\nKings ask counsel, and it seemeth fit that thou shouldst conduct the van of our\narmy and our son Sharrkan command the main battle.\" Then he sent for his son\nwho came and kissed ground before him and sat down; and he expounded to him the\nmatter, telling him what the Ambassadors and the Wazir Dandan had said, and he\ncharged him to take arms and equip himself for the campaign, enjoining him not\nto gainsay Dandan in aught he should do. Moreover, he ordered him to pick out\nof his army ten thousand horsemen, armed cap-\u00e0-pie and inured to onset and\nstress of war. Accordingly, Sharrkan arose on the instant, and chose out a\nmyriad of horsemen, after which he entered his palace and mustered his host and\ndistributed largesse to them, saying, \"Ye have delay of three days.\" They\nkissed the earth before him in obedience to his commands and began at once to\nlay in munitions, and provide provisions for the occasion; whilst Sharrkan\nrepaired to the armouries and took therefrom whatsoever he required of arms and\narmour, and thence to the stable where he chose horses of choice blood and\nothers. When the appointed three days were ended, the army drew out to the\nsuburbs of Baghdad city;[FN#157] and King Omar came forth to take leave of his\nson who kissed the ground before him and received from the King seven parcels\nof money.[FN#158] Then he turned to Dandan and commended to his care the army\nof his son; and the Wazir kissed the ground before him and answered, \"I hear\nand I obey;\" and lastly he charged Sharrkan that he should consult the Wazir on\nall occasions, which he promised to do. After this, the King returned to his\ncity and Sharrkan ordered the officers to muster their troops in battle-array. \nSo they mustered them; and their number was ten thousand horsemen, besides\nfootmen and camp-followers. Then they loaded their baggage on their beasts and\nthe war-drums beat and the trumpets blared and the bannerols and standards were\nunfurled, whilst Sharrkan mounted horse, with the Wazir Dandan by his side, and\nthe colours fluttering over their heads. So the host fared forth and stinted\nnot faring, with the ambassadors preceding them, till day departed and night\ndrew nigh, when they alighted and encamped for the night. And as soon as Allah\ncaused the morn To-morrow, they mounted and hied on, guided by the Ambassadors,\nfor a space of twenty days; and by the night of the twenty-first they came to a\nfine and spacious Wady well grown with trees and shrubbery. Here Sharrkan\nordered them to alight and commanded a three days' halt, so they dismounted and\npitched their tents, spreading their camp over the right and the left slopes of\nthe extensive valley, whilst the Wazir Dandan and the Ambassadors of King\nAfridun pitched in the sole of the Wady.[FN#159] As for Sharrkan, he tarried\nbehind them for awhile till all had dismounted and had dispersed themselves\nover the valley-sides; he then slacked the reins of his steed, being minded to\nexplore the Wady and to mount guard in his own person, because of his father's\ncharge and owing to the fact that they were on the frontier of Gr\u00e6cia land and\nin the enemy's country. So he rode out alone after ordering his armed slaves\nand his body-guard to camp near the Wazir Dandan, and he fared on along the\nside of the valley till a fourth part of the night was passed, when he felt\ntired and drowsiness overcame him, so that he could no longer urge horse with\nheel. Now he was accustomed to take rest on horseback; so when slumber\noverpowered him, he slept and the steed ceased not going on with him till half\nthe night was spent and entered one of the thickets[FN#160] which was dense\nwith growth; but Sharrkan awoke not until his horse stumbled over wooded\nground. Then he started from sleep and found himself among the trees, and the\nmoon arose and shone brightly over the two horizons, Eastern and Western. He\nwas startled when he found himself alone in this place and said the say which\nne'er yet shamed its sayer, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah, the Glorious, the Great!\" But as he rode on, in fear of wild beasts,\nbehold, the moon spread her glad light over a meadow as if 'twere of the meads\nof Paradise; and he heard pleasant voices and a loud noise of talk and laughter\ncaptivating the senses of men. So King Sharrkan alighted and, tying his steed\nto one of the trees, went over a little way till he came upon a stream and\nheard a woman talking in Arabic and saying, \"Now by the truth of the Messiah,\nthis is not well of you! but whoso utters a word, I will throw her and truss\nher up with her own girdle[FN#161]!\" He kept walking in the direction of the\nsound and when he reached the further side he looked and behold, a stream was\ngushing and flowing, and antelopes at large were frisking and roving, and wild\ncattle amid the pasture moving, and birds expressed joy and gladness in their\ndivers tongues, and that place was purfled with all manner flowers and green\nherbs, even as a poet described it in these couplets,\n\n\"Most beautiful is earth in budding bloom, * When lucid waters course through plain and wood:\nNo work but His th' All great, th' All glorious, * Giver of all gifts, Giver of all good!\"\n\n\nAnd as Sharrkan considered the place, he saw in it a Christian Monastery within\nwhose enceinte a castle towered high in air catching the light of the\nmoon.[FN#162] Through the midst of the convent passed a stream, the water\nflowing amongst its gardens; and upon the bank sat the woman whose voice he had\nheard, while before her stood ten handmaids like moons and wearing various\nsorts of raiment and ornaments that dazed and dazzled the beholder, \nhigh-bosomed virgins, as saith of them the poet in these couplets,\n\n\"The mead is bright with what is on't * Of merry maidens debonnair:\nDouble its beauty and its grace * Those trooping damsels slender-fair:\nVirgins of graceful swimming gait * Ready with eye and lip to ensnare;\nAnd like the tendril'd vine they loose * The rich profusion of their hair:\nShooting their shafts and arrows from * Beautiful eyes beyond compare;\nOverpowering and transpiercing * Every froward adversaire.\"\n\n\nSharrkan gazed upon the ten girls and saw in their midst a lady like the moon\nat fullest, with ringleted hair and forehead sheeny-white, and eyes wondrous\nwide and black and bright, and temple-locks like the scorpion's tail; and she\nwas perfect in essence and attributes, as the poet said of her in these\ncouplets,\n\n\"She beamed on my sight with a wondrous glance, * And her straight slender stature enshamed the lance:\nShe burst on my sight with cheeks rosy-red, * Where all manner of beauties have habitance:\nAnd the locks on her forehead were lowering as night * Whence issues a dawn-tide of happiest chance.\"\n\n\nThen Sharrkan heard her say to the handmaids, \"Come ye on, that I may wrestle\nwith you and gravel you, ere the moon set and the dawn break!\" So each came up\nto her in turn and she grounded them forthright, and pinioned them with their\ngirdles, and ceased not wrestling and pitching them until she had overthrown\none and all. Then there turned to her an old woman who was before her, and the\nbeldam said as in wrath, \"O strumpet, dost thou glory in grounding these girls?\nBehold I am an old woman, yet have I thrown them forty times! So what hast\nthou to boast of? But if thou have the strength to wrestle with me, stand up\nthat I may grip thee and set thy head between thy heels!\" The young lady smiled\nat her words, but she was filled with inward wrath, and she jumped up and\nasked, \"O my lady Zat al-Dawahi,[FN#163] by the truth of the Messiah, wilt thou\nwrestle with me in very deed, or dost thou jest with me?\"; and she answered,\n\"Yea,\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-seventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the young lady asked\nZat al-Dawahi, \"By the truth of the Messiah, wilt wrestle with me or dost\njest?\", and she answered, \"Yea, I will wrestle with thee in very deed\"\n(Sharrkan looking on the while), the damsel cried, \"Rise up for the fall an\nthou have spunk so to do.\" When the old woman heard this, she raged with\nexceeding rage, and her body-hair stood on end like the bristles of a fretful\nhedgehog.[FN#164] Then she sprang to her feet, whilst the damsel stood up to\nher, and said, \"Now by the truth of the Messiah, I will not wrestle with thee\nunless I be naked, Mistress whore!\"[FN#165] So she loosed her petticoat\ntrousers and, putting her hand under her clothes, tore them off her body; then\ntwisted up a silken kerchief into cord-shape, girt it round her middle and\nbecame as she were a scald-head Ifritah or a spotted snake. With this she\ninclined towards the damsel and said, \"Do thou as I have done.\" All this time,\nSharrkan was gazing at the twain, and laughing at the beldam's loathly\nsemblance. So the damsel leisurely rose and, taking a sash of Yamani stuff,\npassed it twice round her waist, then she tucked up her trousers and displayed\ntwo calves of alabaster carrying a mound of crystal, smooth and rounded, and a\nstomach which exhaled musk from its dimples, as it were a bed of Nu'uman's\nanemones; and breasts like double pomegranates. Then the old woman leant\ntowards her, and the two laid hold either of each, while Sharrkan raised his\nhead Heavenwards and prayed Allah that the belle might beat the beldam. \nPresently the young woman gat beneath the old woman; and, gripping her waist\ncloth with the left and circling her neck with the right hand, hoisted her off\nthe ground with both; whereupon the old woman strove to free herself and, in so\ndoing fell on her back arsiversy, with her legs high in air and her hairy bush\nbetween them showed manifest in the moonshine; furthermore she let fly two\ngreat farts[FN#166] one of which blew up the dust from the earth's face and the\nother steamed up to the gate of Heaven. Sharrkan laughed till he fell back\nupon the ground. Then he arose and, baring his brand looked right and left,\nbut he saw no one save the old woman sprawling on her back, and said to\nhimself, \"He lied not who named thee Lady of Calamities! Verily thou knewest\nher prowess by her performance upon the others.\" So he drew near them to hear\nwhat should pass between them. Then the young lady went up to the old one and,\nthrowing a wrapper of thin silk upon her nakedness, helped her to don her\nclothes and made excuses saying, \"O my lady Zat al- Dawahi, I intended only to\nthrow thee and not all this, but thou triedst to twist out of my hands; so laud\nto Allah for safety!\" She returned her no answer, but rose in her shame and\nwalked away till out of sight, leaving the handmaids prostrate and pinioned,\nwith the fair damsel standing amongst them. Quoth Sharrkan to himself, \"Every\nluck hath its cause. Sleep did not fall upon me nor the war-horse bear me\nhither save for my good fortune; for doubtless this maid and what is with her\nshall become booty to me.\" So he made towards his steed and mounted and\nheeled[FN#167] him on, when he sped as the shaft speeds from the bow and in his\nhand he still hent his brand bare of sheath, which he brandished shouting the\nwhile his war cry, \"Allah is All-mighty[FN#168]!\" When the damsel saw him she\nsprang to her feet and, taking firm stand on the bank of the stream, whose\nbreadth was six ells, the normal cubits, made one bound and landed clear on the\nfarther side,[FN#169] where she turned and cried out with a loud voice, \"Who\nart thou, O thou fellow, that breakest in upon our privacy and pastime, and\nthat too hanger in hand as if charging a host? Whence camest thou and whither\nart thou going? Speak sooth, for truth will stand thee in good stead, and lie\nnot, for lies come of villein-breed Doubtless thou hast wandered this night\nfrom thy way, that thou chancedst upon this place whence escape were the\ngreatest of mercies; for thou art now in an open plain and, did we shout but a\nsingle shout, would come to our rescue four thousand knights.[FN#170] So tell\nme what thou wantest; and if thou wouldst only have us set thee on the right\nroad, we will do so.\" When Sharrkan heard her words he replied, \"I am a\nstranger of the Moslems, who fared forth this night single-handed, seeking for\nspoil; nor could this moonlight show me a fairer booty than these ten maidens;\nso I shall seize them; and rejoin my comrades with them.\" Quoth she, \"I would\nhave thee know that as for the booty thou hast not come at it; and, as for the\nhandmaids, by Allah, they shall never be thy spoil. Have I not told thee that\nto lie is villein-vile?\" Quoth he, \"The wise man is he who taketh warning by\nothers.\" Thereupon quoth she, \"By the truth of the Messiah, did I not fear that\nthy death would be on my hands, I would shout a shout should fill the mead for\nthee with war steeds and with men of might, but I take pity upon the stranger. \nSo, if thou seek booty, I require of thee that thou alight from thy steed and\nswear to me, by thy faith, that thou wilt not advance against me aught like\narms in hand, and we will wrestle, I and thou. If thou throw me, set me on thy\nsteed and take all of us to thy booty; but if I throw thee, thou shalt become\nunder my command. Swear this to me, for I fear thy treachery: indeed it hath\nbecome a common saw, 'Where Perfidy is innate there Trust is a weakly mate.'\nNow an thou wilt swear I will return and draw near to thee and tackle thee.\"\nAnswered Sharrkan (and indeed he lusted to seize her and said in his soul,\n\"Truly she knoweth not that I am a champion of champions\"); \"Swear me by what\noath thou wilt and by what thou deemest most binding, and I will not approach\nthee with aught till thou hast made thy preparation and sayest, 'Draw near that\nI wrestle with thee.' If thou throw me, I have money wherewithal to ransom\nmyself; and if I throw thee, 'twill be booty and booty enough for me!\" Rejoined\nthe damsel, \"I am content herewith!\" and Sharrkan was astounded at her words\nand said, \"And by the truth of the Apostle (whom Allah bless and keep!) I too\nam content on the other part!\" Then said she, \"Swear to me by Him who sprite in\nbody dight and dealt laws to rule mankind aright, that thou wilt not offer me\naught of violence save by way of wrestling; else mayst thou die without the\npale of Al- Islam.\" Sharrkan replied, \"By Allah! were a Kazi to swear me, even\nthough he were a Kazi of the Kazis,[FN#171] he would not impose upon me such an\noath as this!\" Then he sware to her by all she named and tied his steed to a\ntree; but he was drowned in the sea of thought, saying in himself, \"Praise be\nto Him who fashioned her from dirty water!\"[FN#172] Then he girt himself and\nmade ready for wrestling, and said to her, \"Cross the stream to me;\" but she\nreplied, \"It is not for me to come over to thee: if thou wilt, pass thou over\nhere to me.\" \"I cannot do that,\" quoth he, and quoth she, \"O boy, I will come\nacross to thee.\" So she tucked up her skirts and, leaping, landed on the other\nside of the stream by his side; whereupon he drew near to her and bent him\nforwards and clapped palms.[FN#173] But he was confounded by her beauty and\nloveliness; for he saw a shape which the Hand of Power had tanned with the \ndye-leaves of the J\u00e1nn, which had been fostered by the Hand of Beneficence and\nfanned by the Zephyrs of fair fortune and whose birth a propitious ascendant\nhad greeted. Then she called out to him, \"O Moslem, come on and let us wrestle\nere the break of morning,\" and tucked up her sleeves from a forearm like fresh\ncurd, which illumined the whole place with its whiteness; and Sharrkan was\ndazzled by it. Then he bent forwards and clapped his palms by way of\nchallenge, she doing the like, and caught hold of her, and the two grappled and\ngripped and interlocked hands and arms. Presently he shifted his hands to her\nslender waist, when his finger tips sank into the soft folds of her middle,\nbreeding languishment, and he fell a trembling like the Persian reed in the\nroaring gale. So she lifted him up and, throwing him to the ground, sat upon\nhis breast with hips and hinder cheeks like mounds of sand, for his soul had\nlost mastery over his senses. Then she asked him, \"O Moslem! the slaying of\nNazarenes is lawful to you folk; what then hast thou to say about being slain\nthyself?\"; and he answered, \"O my lady, thy speech as regards slaying me is not\nother than unlawful; for our prophet Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!)\nprohibited the slaying of women and children, old men and monks!\" \"As it was\nthus revealed to your Prophet,\" she replied, \"it behoveth us to render the\nequivalent of his mercy; so rise. I give thee thy life, for generosity is\nnever lost upon the generous.\" Then she got off his breast and he rose and\nstood shaking the dust from his head against the owners of the curved rib, even\nwomen; and she said to him, \"Be not ashamed; but verily one who entereth the\nland of Roum in quest of booty, and cometh to assist Kings against Kings, how\nhappeneth it that he hath not strength enough to defend himself from one made\nout of the curved rib?\" \"'Twas not for lack of strength in me,\" he answered;\n\"nor didst thou throw me by thy force; it was thy loveliness overthrew me; so\nif thou wilt grant me another bout, it will be of thy courtesy.\" She laughed\nand said, \"I grant thee thy request: but these handmaids have long been\npinioned and their arms and sides are weary, and it were only right I should\nloose them, for haply this next wrestling bout will be long.\" Then she went to\nthe slave-girls and, unbinding them, said to them in the tongue of Greece, \"Get\nye to some safe place, till I foil this Moslem's lust and longing for you.\" So\nthey went away, whilst Sharrkan kept gazing at them; and they kept turning to\nlook at the two. Then each approached the adversary and he set his breast\nagainst hers, but when he felt waist touch waist, his strength failed him; and\nshe, waxing ware of this, lifted him with her hands swiftlier than the blinding\nleven-flash, and threw him to the ground. He fell on his back,[FN#174] and\nthen she said to him, \"Rise: I give thee thy life a second time. I spared thee\nin the first count because of thy Prophet, for that he made unlawful the\nslaying of women; and I do so on the second count because of thy weakliness and\nthe greenness of thine years and thy strangerhood; but I charge thee, if there\nbe in the Moslem army sent by Omar bin al-Nu'uman to succour the King of\nConstantinople, a stronger than thou, send him hither and tell him of me: for\nin wrestling there are shifts and trips, catches and holds, such as the feint\nor falsing and the snap or first grip, the hug, the feet-catch, the \nthigh-bite,[FN#175] the jostle and the leg-lock.\" \"By Allah, O my lady,\" quoth\nSharrkan (and indeed he was highly incensed against her), \"had I been Master\nal-Safd\u00ed, Master Mohammed Kim\u00e1l or Ibn al-Sadd\u00ed,[FN#176] as they were in their\nprime, I had kept no note of these shifts thou mentionest; for O my mistress,\nby Allah, thou hast not grassed me by thy strength, but by the blandishments of\nthy back parts; for we men of Mesopotamia so love a full-formed thigh that nor\nsense was left me nor foresight. But now, an thou wish, thou shalt try a third\nfall with me while my wits are about me, and this last match is allowed me by\nthe laws of the game which sayeth the best of three: moreover I have regained\nmy presence of mind.\" When she heard his words she said to him, \"Hast thou not\nhad a belly-full of this wrestling, O vanquished one? However come on, an thou\nwilt; but know that this must be the last round.\" Then she bent forward and\nchallenged him and Sharrkan did likewise, setting to it in real earnest and\nbeing right cautious about the throw: so the two strove awhile and the damsel\nfound in him a strength such as she had not observed before and said to him, \"O\nMoslem, thou art now on thy mettle.\" \"Yes,\" he replied, \"thou knowest that\nthere remaineth to me but this one round, after which each of us will wend a\ndifferent way.\" She laughed and he laughed too;[FN#177] then she overreached at\nhis thigh and caught firm hold of it unawares, which made him greet the ground\nand fall full on his back. She laughed at him and said, \"Art thou an eater of\nbran? Thou are like a Badawi's bonnet which falleth off with every touch or\nelse the Father of Winds[FN#178] that droppeth before a puff of air. Fie upon\nthee, O thou poor thing!\" adding, \"Get thee back to the Moslem army and send us\nother than thyself, for thou failest of thews; and proclaim for us, among the\nArabs and Persians, the Turks and Daylamites,[FN#179] whoso hath might in him,\nlet him come to us.\" Then she made a spring and landed on the other side of the\nstream and said to Sharrkan, laughing, \"Parting with thee is right grievous to\nme, O my lord; but get thee to thy mates before dawn, lest the Knights come\nupon thee and pick thee up on their lance-points. Thou hast no strength to\ndefend thee against a woman, so how couldst thou hold thine own amongst men of\nmight and Knights?\" Sharrkan was confounded and called to her (as she turned\nfrom him making towards the convent), \"O my lady, wilt thou go away and leave\nthe miserable stranger, the broken hearted slave of love?\" So she turned to him\nlaughing and said, \"What is thy want? I will grant thee thy prayer.\" \"Have I\nset foot in thy country and tasted the sweetness of thy courtesy,\" replied he,\n\"and shall I return without eating of thy victual and tasting thy hospitality;\nI who have become one of thy servitors!\" \"None baulk kindliness save the base,\"\nshe rejoined, \"honour us in Allah's name, on my head and eyes be it! Mount thy\nsteed and ride along the brink of the stream over against me, for now thou art\nmy guest.\" At this Sharrkan was glad and, hastening back to his horse, mounted\nand walked him abreast of her, and she kept faring on till they came to a\ndrawbridge[FN#180] built of beams of the white poplar, hung by pullies and\nsteel-chains and made fast with hooks and padlocks. When Sharrkan looked, he\nsaw awaiting her upon the bridge the same ten handmaids whom she had thrown in\nthe wrestling-bouts; and, as she came up to them, she said to one in the Greek\ntongue, \"Arise and take the reins of his horse and conduct him across into the\nconvent.\" So she went up to Sharrkan and led him over, much puzzled and\nperturbed with what he saw, and saying to himself, \"O would that the Wazir\nDandan were here with me that his eyes might look upon these fairest of\nfavours.\" Then he turned to the young lady and said to her, \"O marvel of\nloveliness, now I have two claims upon thee; first the claim of good\nfellowship, and secondly for that thou hast carried me to thy home and offered\nme thy hospitality. I am now under thy commandance and thy guidance; so do me\none last favour by accompanying me to the lands of Al-Islam; where thou shalt\nlook upon many a lion-hearted warrior and thou shalt learn who I am.\" When she\nheard this she was angered and said to him, \"By the truth of the Messiah, thou\nhast proved thyself with me a man of keen wit; but now I see what mischief\nthere is in thy heart, and how thou canst permit thyself a speech which proveth\nthy traitorous intent. How should I do as thou sayest, when I wot that if I\ncame to that King of yours, Omar bin al- Nu'uman, I should never get free from\nhim? For truly he hath not the like of me or behind his city walls or within\nhis palace-halls, Lord of Baghdad and of Khorasan though he be, who hath built\nfor himself twelve pavilions, in number as the months of the year, and in each\na concubine after the number of the days; and if I come to him he would not\nprove shy of me, for your folk believe I am lawful to have and to hold as is\nsaid in your writ, 'Or those women whom your right hand shall possess as\nslaves.'[FN#181] So how canst thou speak thus to me? As for thy saying, 'Thou\nshalt look upon the braves of the Moslems,' by the truth of the Messiah, thou\nsayest that which is not true, for I saw your army when it reached our land,\nthese two days ago; and I did not see that your ordinance was the ordinance of\nKings, but I beheld only a rabble of tribesmen gathered together. And as to\nthy words, 'Thou shalt know who I am,' I did not do thee kindness because of\nthy dignity but out of pride in myself; and the like of thee should not talk\nthus to the like of me, even wert thou Sharrkan, Omar bin al- Nu'uman's son,\nthe prowest name in these days!\" \"Knowest thou Sharrkan?\" asked he; and she\nanswered \"Yes! and I know of his coming with an army numbering ten thousand\nhorsemen; also that he was sent by his sire with this force to gain prevalence\nfor the King of Constantinople.\" \"O my lady,\" said Sharrkan, \"I adjure thee by\nthy religion, tell me the cause of all this, that sooth may appear to me clear\nof untruth, and with whom the fault lies.\" \"Now by the virtue of thy faith,\"\nshe replied, \"did I not fear lest the news of me be bruited abroad that I am of\nthe daughters of Roum, I would adventure myself and sally forth single-handed\nagainst the ten thousand horsemen and slay their leader, the Wazir Dandan and\nvanquish their champion Sharrkan.[FN#182] Nor would aught of shame accrue to me\nthereby, for I have read books and studied the rules of good breeding in the\nlanguage of the Arabs. But I have no need to vaunt my own prowess to thee,\nmore by token as thou hast proved in thy proper person my skill and strength in\nwrestling; and thou hast learnt my superiority over other women. Nor, indeed,\nhad Sharrkan himself been here this night and it were said to him, 'Clear this\nstream,' could he have done it; and I only long and lust that the Messiah would\nthrow him into my hands in this very convent, that I might go forth to him in\nthe habit of a man and drag him from his saddle-seat and make him my captive\nand lay him in bilboes.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-eighth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Nazarene damsel\nsaid to Sharrkan (and he listening impatiently enow), \"Verily if Sharrkan fell\ninto my hands, I would go forth to him in the habit of a man and drag him from\nhis saddle-seat and make him my captive and lay him in bilboes,\" pride and\npassion and knightly jealousy took possession of him and he desired to discover\nand declare himself and to lay on load; but her loveliness restrained him and\nhe began repeating,\n\n\"An faulty of one fault the Beauty prove, * Her charms a thousand advocates\nshall move.\"\n\n\nSo she went up and Sharrkan after her; and, when he saw the maiden's back and\nhinder cheeks that clashed against each other, like rollers in the rolling sea,\nhe extemporised these couplets:\u2014\n\n\"For her sins is a pleader that brow, * And all hearts its fair pleading must trow:\nWhen I saw it I cried, \"To-night * The moon at its fullest doth show;\nTho' Balkis' own Ifrit[FN#183] try a bout, * Spite his force she would deal him a throw.\"\n\n\nThe two fared on till they reached a gate over which rose a marble archway. \nThis she opened and ushered Sharrkan into a long vestibule, vaulted with ten\nconnected arches, from each of which hung a crystal lamp glistening like a\nspark of fire. The handmaids met her at the further end bearing wax candles of\ngoodly perfume, and wearing on their heads golden fillets crusted with all\nmanner bezel-gems,[FN#184] and went on before her (Sharrkan still following),\ntill they reached the inner convent. There the Moslem saw couches and sofas\nranged all around, one opposite the other and all overhung with curtains\nflowered in gold. The monastery floor was paved with every kind of \nvari-coloured marbles and mosaic-work, and in the midst stood a basin that held \nfour-and-twenty jetting fountains of gold, whence the water ran like molten silver;\nwhilst at the upper end stood a throne spread with silks fit only for Kings. \nThen said the damsel, \"Ascend, O my lord, this throne.\" So he went up to it and\nsat down and she withdrew to remain absent for some time. Sharrkan asked of her\nfrom one of the servants who answered him, \"She hath gone to her dormitory; but\nwe will serve thee even as she ordered.\" So they set before him viands of rare\nvarieties, and he ate his sufficiency, when they brought him a basin of gold\nand an ewer of silver, and he washed his hands. Then his thoughts reverted to\nhis army, knowing not what had befallen it in his absence and calling to mind\nalso how he had forgotten his father's injunctions: so he was troubled about\nhis case, repenting of what he had done till the dawn broke and the day\nappeared; when he lamented and sighed and became drowned in sea of sadness and\nrepeated,\n\n\"I am not lost to prudence, but indeed * Here I'm bewildered, what shall be my rede?\nWould any aid me in mine ails of love, * By my own might and sleight would I be free'd:\nBut ah! my heart is lost and passion-shent: * To none save Allah can I trust my need!\"\n\n\nWhen he ended his verse behold, there came up to him a rare show and a fair,\nmore than twenty maidens like crescents encompassing the young lady, who shone\nin their midst as the full moon among the constellations guarding and girding\nher. She was clad in brocades befitting Kings; her breasts were like twin\npomegranates, a woven zone set with all kinds of jewels tightly clasped her\nwaist which expanded below into jutting hips; and her hinder cheeks stood out\nas a mound of crystal[FN#185] supporting a silvern shaft. When Sharrkan looked\nat her his wits went nigh to fly away from him with delight; and he forgot army\nand Wazir as he gazed on her fair head decked and dight with a net-work of\npearls set off by divers sorts of gems. Handmaids on her right and handmaids\non her left bore her train, as she paced with dainty graceful gait in all the\npride of seemlihead. He sprang to his feet seeing such beauty and loveliness,\nand cried aloud, \"Beware and beware of that zone rarely fair!\" and broke out\ninto these couplets,\n\n\"With heavy back parts, high breasts delicate, * And lissome form that sways with swimming gait\nShe deftly hides love-longing in her breast; * But I may never hide its ban and bate:\nWhile hosts of followers her steps precede,[FN#186] * Like pearls now necklaced and now separate.\"\n\n\nShe gazed upon him for a long time and considered him till she was assured of\nhim, when she came up to him and said, \"In very sooth the place is honoured and\nillumined by thee, O Sharrkan! How sped thy night, O hero, after we went away\nand left thee?\"; adding, \"Verily lying is a vile thing and a shameful,\nespecially in great Kings! and thou art Crown-Prince Sharrkan, son and heir of\nKing Omar bin al-Nu'uman; so henceforth make no secret of thy rank and\ncondition, nor let me hear aught from thee but the truth; for leasing\nbequeatheth hate and despite. And as thou art pierced by the shaft of Fate, be\nresignation thine and abide content to wait.\" When he heard her words he saw\nthat artifice availed him naught and he acknowledged the truth, saying, \"I am\nSharrkan, bin Omar bin al-Nu'uman, whom fortune hath afflicted and cast into\nthis place; so whatso thou willest, do it in my case!\" She hung her head\ngroundwards a long while, then turned to him and said, \"Be of good cheer and\nlet thine eyes be cool and clear;[FN#187] for thou art the guest of my\nhospitality, and bread-and-salt hath made a tie between me and thee; wherefore\nthou art in my ward and under my safeguard. Have no fear for, by the truth of\nthe Messiah, if all on earth sought to do thee hurt they should not come at\nthee, till life had left my body for thy sake: indeed thou art now under the\ncharge of the Messiah and of me.\" Hereat she sat her down by his side and fell\nto playing with him, till his alarm subsided and he knew that had she desired\nto slay him, she would have done so during the past night. Presently she\nbespoke in the Grecian tongue, one of her slave-girls, who went away and soon\ncame back bringing a beaker and a tray of food; but Sharrkan abstained from\neating and said to himself, \"Haply she hath put somewhat in this meat.\" She\nknew what was in his thought; so she turned to him and said, \"By the truth of\nthe Messiah, the case is not on such wise, nor is there aught in this meat of\nwhat thou suspectest! Had my mind been set on slaying thee, I had slain thee\nere now.\" Then she walked up to the tray and ate of every dish a mouthful;\nwhereupon Sharrkan came forward and ate too. She was pleased at this and both\nate till they were satisfied. They washed their hands and after that she rose\nand ordered a handmaid to bring perfumes and herbs of sweet savour, wines of\nall colours and kinds and a wine-service with vessels of gold, silver and\ncrystal. She filled a first goblet and drank it off before offering it to him,\neven as she had done with the food: then she crowned a second and handed it to\nhim. He drank and she said to him, \"O Moslem, see how thou art here in all\nsolace and delight of life!\" And she ceased not to drink and ply him with\ndrink, till he took leave of his wits,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday, and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Forty-ninth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel ceased not to\ndrink and ply Sharrkan with drink till he took leave of his wits, for the wine\nand the intoxication of love he bore her. Presently she said to the slave\ngirl, \"O Marjanah[FN#188]! bring us some instruments of music!\" \"To hear is to\nobey,\" said the handmaid and going out, returned in the twinkling of an eye\nwith a Damascus lute,[FN#189] a Persian harp, a Tartar pipe, and an Egyptian\ndulcimer. The young lady took the lute and, after tuning each several string,\nbegan in gentle undersong to sing, softer than zephyr's wing and sweeter than\nTasmin[FN#190]-spring, with heart safe and secure from everything the couplets\nfollowing,\n\n\"Allah assain those eyne! What streams of blood they shed! * How many an arrowy glance those lids of thine have sped.\nI love all lovers who to lovers show them dure; * 'Twere wrong to rue the love in wrong-head born and bred:\nHaply fall hapless eye for thee no sleeping kens! * Heaven help the hapless heart by force of thee misled!\nThou doomest me to death who art my king, and I * Ransom with life the deemster who would doom me dead.\"\n\n\nThereupon each and every of the maidens rose up and taking an instrument,\nplayed and recited couplets in the Roumi tongue; then their mistress sang also\nand seeing Sharrkan in ecstasies asked him, \"O Moslem, dost thou understand\nwhat I say?\"; and he answered, \"Nay, my ecstasy cometh from the beauty of thy\nfinger-tips.\" She laughed and continued, \"If I sing to thee in Arabic what\nwouldst thou do?\" \"I should no longer,\" quoth he, \"be master of my senses.\"\nThen she took an instrument and, changing the measure, began singing these\nverses,\n\n\"The smack of parting's myrrh to me, * How, then, bear patience' alo\u00eb?\nI'm girt by ills in trinity * Severance, distance, cruelty!\nMy freedom stole that fairest she, * And parting irks me bitterly.\"\n\n\nWhen she ended her verse, she looked at Sharrkan and found him lost to\nexistence, and he lay for a while stretched at full length and prone among the\nmaidens.[FN#191] Then he revived and, remembering the songs, again inclined to\nmirth and merriment; and the twain returned to their wine and wassail, and\ncontinued their playing and toying, their pastime and pleasure till day ceased\nilluminating and night drooped her wing. Then the damsel went off to her\ndormitory and when Sharrkan asked after her they answered, \"She is gone to her\nsleeping-chamber,\" whereto he rejoined, \"Under Allah's ward and His good\nguard!\" As soon as it was morning, a handmaid came to him and said to him, \"My\nmistress biddeth thee to her.\" So he rose and followed her and, as he drew near\nher lodging, the damsels welcomed him with smitten tabrets and songs of\ngreeting, and led him through a great door of ivory studded with pearls and\njewels. Thence they passed with him into a tall and spacious hall, at the\nupper end of which was a wide da\u00efs carpeted with all kinds of silks, and round\nit open lattices commanding a view of trees and streams. About the saloon were\nfigures carved in human form, and fashioned on such wise that the air passed\nthrough them; and set in motion musical instruments within, so that the beholder\nwould fancy they spoke.[FN#192] Here sat the young lady, looking at the\nfigures; but when she saw Sharrkan, she sprang to her feet and, taking him by\nthe hand, made him sit down by her side, and asked him how he had passed the\nnight. He blessed her and the two sat talking awhile till she asked him,\n\"Knowest thou aught touching lovers and slaves of love?\"; and he answered \"Yes!\nI wot somewhat in verse on that matter.\" \"Let me hear it,\" quoth she, so he\nbegan quoting,\n\n\"Pleasure and health, good cheer, good appetite * To Azzah, freest with our name and fame!\nBy Allah! would I near her off she flies * At tangent, granting less the more I claim:\nI dote on Azzah, but when clear I off * My rivals, clears me too that dearest dame;\nLike wandering wight that chose for shade a cloud * Which, ere siesta done, thin air became.\"\n\n\nWhen she heard this she said, \"Verily Al-Kuthayyir[FN#193] was conspicuous for\nsweet speech and chaste, and he was superlative in his praise of Azzah when he\nsang\" (and she began to recite),\n\n\"Did Azzah deal behest to Sun o' noon, * The judge had 'judged her beauty's bestest boon;\nAnd girls who come to me and carp at her, * God make their rosy cheeks her sandal-shoon!\n\n\n\"And indeed,\" quoth she, \"'twas said that Azzah boasted exceeding beauty and\nloveliness.\" Then she asked Sharrkan saying, \"O Prince, dost thou know aught of\nJam\u00edl's[FN#194] verses to Buthaynah? if so repeat to us somewhat of them;\" and\nhe answered, \"Yes, I know them better than any;\" whereupon he began repeating\nthese couplets,\n\n\"Jamil, in Holy war go fight!\" to me they say: * What war save fight for fair ones would I e'er essay?\nTo me their every word and work are mere delight, * And martyrs clepe I all they slay in fight and fray:\nAn ask I, 'O Buthaynah! what's this love, I pray, * Which eats my heart?' quoth she ' 'Twill stay for ever and aye!'\nAnd when I cry, 'Of wits return some small display * For daily use,' quoth she, 'Far, far 'tis fled away!\"\nThou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy * While I no goal espy save thee and thee alway.\n\n\n\"Thou hast spoken right well,\" said she, \"O King's son, and Jamil also spoke\nexcellently well. But what would Buthaynah have done with him that he saith in\nhis hemistich,\n\n'Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy?'\"\n\n\n\"O my lady,\" quoth Sharrkan, \"she willed to do him what thou willest to do with\nme, and even that will not satisfy thee.\" She laughed at his opportune reply\nand they ceased not carousing till Day put out her light and Night came in\ndarkness dight. Then she rose and went to her dormitory and slept, while\nSharrkan slept in his place till morning dawned. As soon as he awoke, the \nhand-maids came to him with tabrets and other instruments of mirth and merriment, as\nwont; and, kissing the ground between his hands, said to him, \"Bismillah!--in\nAllah's name--be so kind as to come[FN#195]: our mistress biddeth thee to her\npresence!\" So he rose and accompanied the slave-girls who surrounded him,\nplaying on tabrets and other instruments of music, till they passed from that\nsaloon into another and a yet more spacious hall, decorated with pictured\nlikenesses and figures of birds and beasts, passing all description. Sharrkan\nmarvelled at the art and artifice of the place and began reciting,\n\n\"He pluckt fruits of her necklace in rivalry, * And her breast-pearls that bedded in gold-mine lie.\nPure water on silvern bars is her brow, * And her cheeks show roses with rubies vie:\nMeseems in her eyne that the violet's hue * Lies purpling set in the Ithmid's[FN#196] dye.\"\n\n\nWhen the lady saw Sharrkan, she stood up to him in honour and,\ntaking his hand, seated him by her side and asked, \"O son of King\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman, hast thou any cunning in the game of chess?\"\n\"Yes,\" he answered, \"but do not thou with me as said the poet,\n\n'I speak and longing love upties me and unties me; * Till with her honey-dew of inner lip she plies me:\nI brought the chess-board and my liefest lover plays me * With white and black,[FN#197] but black-cum-white ne'er satisfies me:\n'Twas as if King for Castle I were fain to place me * Till wilful loss of game atwixt two queens surprise me:\nAnd if I seek to read intent in eyes that eye me * Oh man! that glance askance with hint of wish defies me.'\"\n\n\nThen she brought the chess-board and played with him; but Sharrkan, instead of\nlooking at her moves, kept gazing at her fair mouth, and putting knight in\nplace of elephant and elephant[FN#198] in stead of knight. She laughed and said\nto him, \"If thy play be after this fashion, thou knowest naught of the game.\"\n\"This is only our first,\" replied he, \"judge not by this bout.\" When she beat\nhim he replaced the pieces in position and played again with her; but she beat\nhim a second time, a third, a fourth and a fifth. So she turned to him and\nsaid, \"Thou art beaten in everything;\" and he replied, \"O my lady, how should\none playing with the like of thee avoid being beaten?\" Then she bade bring\nfood, and they ate and washed their hands; after which the wine was set before\nthem; and they drank. Presently, she took the dulcimer, for her hand was\ncunning in smiting it, and she began repeating to an accompaniment these\ncouplets,\n\n\"Twixt the close-tied and open-wide no medium Fortune knoweth, * Now ebb and flow then flow and ebb this wise her likeness showeth.\nThen drink her wine the syne she's thine and smiling thou dost find her * Anon she'll fall and fare away when all thy good forth goeth.\"\n\n\nThey ceased not to carouse till nightfall and this day was pleasanter even than\nthe first. When darkness set in, the lady betook her to her dormitory, leaving\nhim alone with the handmaids; so he threw himself on the ground and slept till\ndawn, when the damsels came to him with tambourines and other instruments\naccording to custom. Seeing them he roused him hastily and sat up; and they\ncarried him to their mistress, who came to meet him and, taking him by the\nhand, seated him by her side. Then she asked him how he had passed his night,\nwhereat he prayed that her life be prolonged; and she took the lute and sang to\nit these verses which she improvised,\n\n\"Ne'er incline thee to part * Which embitters the heart;\nE'en the sun when he sets * Shall in pallor depart.\"\n\n\nWhile they were solacing themselves after this fashion, behold, there arose a\ngreat and sudden clamour, and a confused crowd of knights and men rushed in,\nholding drawn swords that glittered and gleamed in their hands, and cried aloud\nin the Grecian tongue, \"Thou hast fallen into our hands, O Sharrkan, so make\nthee sure of death!\" When he heard this, he said to himself, \"By Allah, she\nhath entrapped me and held me in play, till her men should come. These are the\nKnights with whom she threatened me; but 'tis I who have thrown myself into\nthis strait.\" Then he turned towards the young lady to reproach her, but saw\nthat she had changed colour and her face was pale; and she sprang to her feet\nand asked the crowd, \"Who are ye?\" \"O most gracious Princess and peerless \nunion-pearl,\" answered the leading Knight, \"dost thou weet who is yon man by thy\nside?\" \"Not I,\" she replied, \"who may he be?\" Quoth the Patrician, \"This is of\ntowns the highwayman! This is he who rideth in the horseman's van! This is\nSharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman! This is he that forceth fortalice\nand penetrateth every impregnable place! The news of him reached King Hardub,\nthy father, by report of the ancient dame Zat al- Dawahi; and thy sire, our\nsovereign, hath made sure that thou hast rendered good service to the army of\nthe Greeks by taking captive this ominous lion.\" When she heard this, she\nlooked at the Knight and asked him, \"What be thy name?\" and he answered, \"I am\nM\u00e1s\u00farah, son of thy slave Maus\u00farah bin K\u00e1shardah, Knight of Knights.\" \"And\nhow?\" quoth she, \"durst thou enter my presence without leave?\" Quoth he, \"O my\nlady, when I came to the gate, none forbade me, neither chamberlain nor porter,\nbut all the door-keepers rose and forewent us as of wont; although, when others\ncome, they leave them standing at the gate while they ask permission to admit\nthem. But this is not a time for long talking, when the King is expecting our\nreturn with this Prince, the scorpion-sting[FN#199] of the Islamitic host, that\nhe may kill him and drive back his men whither they came, without the bane of\nbattling with them.\" \"These words be ill words,\" rejoined the Princess, \"and\nDame Zat al-Dawahi lied, avouching an idle thing and a vain, whereof she\nweeteth not the truth; for by the virtue of the Messiah, this man who is with\nme is not Sharrkan, nor is he a captive, but a stranger who came to us seeking\nour hospitality, and I made him my guest. So even were we assured that this be\nSharrkan and were it proved to us that it is he beyond a doubt, I say it would\nill befit mine honour that I should deliver into your hands one who hath\nentered under my protection. So make me not a traitor to my guest and a\ndisgrace among men; but return to the King, my father, and kiss the ground\nbefore him, and inform him that the case is contrariwise to the report of the\nLady Zat al-Dawahi.\" \"O Abr\u00edzah,\" replied Masurah, the Knight, \"I cannot return\nto the King's majesty without his debtor and enemy.\" Quoth she (and indeed she\nhad waxed very wroth), \"Out on thee! Return to him with my answer, and no\nblame shall befal thee!\" Quoth Masurah, \"I will not return without him.\"\nThereupon her colour changed and she exclaimed, \"Exceed not in talk and vain\nwords; for verily this man had not come in to us, were he not assured that he\ncould of himself and single-handed make head against an hundred riders; and if\nI said to him, 'Thou art Sharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman,' he would\nanswer, 'Yes.' But 'tis not of your competence to let or hinder him; for if you\ndo so, he will not turn back from you till he hath slain all that are in this\nplace. Behold, here he is by my side, and I will bring him before you sword\nand targe in hand.\" \"Albeit I were safe from thy wrath,\" answered Masurah the\nKnight, \"I am not safe from that of thy father, and when I see him, I shall\nsign to the Knights to take him captive, and we will carry him to the King\nbound and in abject sort.\" When she heard this, she said, \"The matter shall not\npass thus, for 'twould be blazoning mere folly. This man is but one and ye are\nan hundred Knights: so if you would attack him come out against him, one after\none, that it may appear to the King which is the valiant amongst you.\"\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fiftieth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Abrizah said to\nthe Knight, \"This man is but one, and ye are an hundred: so if ye would attack\nhim, come out against him, one after one, that it may appear to the King which\nis the valiant.\" Quoth Masurah, the Knight, \"By the truth of the Messiah, thou\nsayest sooth, and none but I shall sally out against him first.\" Quoth she,\n\"Wait till I go to him and acquaint him with the case and hear what answer he\nwill make. If he consent, 'tis well; but if he refuse, ye shall on no wise\ncome to him, for I and my handmaids and whosoever is in the convent will be\nhis ransom.\" So she went to Sharrkan and told him the news, whereat he smiled\nand knew that she had not informed any of the Emirs; but that tidings of him\nhad been bruited and blazed abroad, till the report reached the King, against\nher wish and intent. So he again began reproaching himself and said, \"How came\nI to adventure and play with my life by coming to the country of the Greeks?\"\nBut hearing the young lady's proposal he said to her, \"Indeed their onset, one\nafter one, would be overburdensome to them. Will they not come out against me,\nten by ten?\" \"That would be villeiny,\" said she; \"Let one have at one.\" When he\nheard this, he sprang to his feet and made for them with his sword and battle-gear; \nand Masurah, the Knight, also sprang up and bore down upon him. Sharrkan\nmet him like a lion and delivered a shoulder-cut[FN#200] which clove him to the\nmiddle, and the blade came out gleaming and glittering from his back and\nbowels. When the lady beheld that swashing-blow, Sharrkan's might was magnified\nin her sight and she knew that when she overthrew him in the wrestle it was not\nby her strength but by her beauty and loveliness. So she turned to the Knights\nand said, \"Take wreak for your chief!\" Thereupon out came the slain man's\nbrother, a fierce and furious Knight, and rushed upon Sharrkan, who delayed\nnot, but smote him also with the shoulder-cut and the sword came out glittering\nfrom his vitals. Then cried the Princess, \"O ye servants of the Messiah,\navenge your comrade!\" So they ceased not charging down upon him, one after one;\nand Sharrkan also ceased not playing upon them with the blade, till he had\nslain fifty Knights, the lady looking on the while. And Allah cast a panic\ninto the hearts of the survivors, so that they held back and dared not meet him\nin the duello, but fell upon him in a body; and he laid on load with heart\nfirmer than a rock, and smote them; and trod them down like straw under the\nthreshing-sled,[FN#201] till he had driven sense and soul out of them. Then\nthe Princess called aloud to her damsels, saying, \"Who is left in the\nconvent?\"; and they replied, \"None but the gate-keepers;\" whereupon she went up\nto Sharrkan and took him to her bosom, he doing the same, and they returned to\nthe palace, after he had made an end of the mel\u00e9e. Now there remained a few of\nthe Knights hiding from him in the cells of the monastery, and when the\nPrincess saw this she rose from Sharrkan's side and left him for a while, but\npresently came back clad in closely-meshed coat of ring-mail and holding in her\nhand a fine Indian scymitar. And she said, \"Now by the truth of the Messiah, I\nwill not be a niggard of myself for my guest; nor will I abandon him though for\nthis I abide a reproach and a by-word in the land of the Greeks.\" Then she took\nreckoning of the dead and found that he had slain fourscore of the Knights, and\nother twenty had taken to flight.[FN#202] When she saw what work he had made\nwith them she said to him, \"Allah bless thee, O Sharrkan! The Cavaliers may\nwell glory in the like of thee.\" Then he rose and wiping his blade clean of the\nblood of the slain began reciting these couplets,\n\n\"How oft in the mellay I've cleft the array, * And given their bravest to lions a prey:\nAsk of me and of them when I proved me prow * O'er creation, on days of the foray and fray:\nWhen I left in the onslaught their lions to lie * On the sands of the low-lands[FN#203] in fieriest day.\"\n\n\nWhen he ended his verse, the Princess came up to him with smiles and kissed his\nhand; then she doffed her hauberk and he said to her, \"O lady mine, wherefore\ndidst thou don that coat of mail and bare thy brand?\" \"To guard thee against\nthese caitiffs,\"[FN#204] she replied. Then she summoned the gate-keepers and\nasked them, \"How came ye to admit the King's Knights into my dwelling without\nleave of me?\"; and they answered, \"O Princess, it is not our custom to ask\nleave of thee for the King's messengers, and especially for the chief of his\nKnights.\" Quoth she, \"I think ye were minded only to disgrace me and murder my\nguest;\" and bade Sharrkan smite their necks. He did so and she cried to the\nrest of her servants, \"Of a truth, they deserved even more than that!\" Then\nturning to Sharrkan, she said to him, \"Now that there hath become manifest to\nthee what was concealed, thou shalt be made acquainted with my history. Know,\nthen, that I am the daughter of King Hardub of Roum; my name is Abrizah and the\nancient dame, yclept Zat al-Dawahi, is my grandmother by the sword side. She\nit certainly is who told my father of thee, and as surely she will compass a\nsleight to slay me, more by token as thou hast slain my father's chivalry and\nit is noised abroad that I have separated myself from the Nazarenes and have\nbecome no better than I should be with the Moslems. Wherefore it were wiser\nthat I leave this dwelling while Zat al-Dawahi is on my track; but I require of\nthee the like kindness and courtesy I have shown thee, for enmity will\npresently befal between me and my father on thine account. So do not thou\nneglect to do aught that I shall say to thee, remembering all this betided me\nnot save by reason of thee.\" Hearing her words, Sharrkan joyed greatly; his\nbreast broadened and his wits flew from him for delight, and he said, \"By\nAllah, none shall come at thee, while life is in my bosom! But hast thou\npatience to bear parting from thy parents and thy people?\" \"Even so,\" she\nanswered; and Sharrkan swore to her and the two plighted their troth. Then\nsaid she, \"Now is my heart at ease; but there remaineth one other condition for\nthee.\" \"What is it?\" asked he and she answered, \"It is that thou return with\nthy host to thine own country.\" Quoth he, \"O lady mine, my father, King Omar\nbin al- Nu'uman, sent me to wage war upon thy sire, on account of the treasure\nhe plundered from the King of Constantinople, and amongst the rest three great\njewels, noted givers of good fortune.\" Quoth she, \"Cheer thy heart and clear\nthine eyes: I will tell thee the whole of the tale and the cause of our feud\nwith the King of Constantinople. Know that we have a yearly festival, hight\nthe Convent-Feast, whereat Kings from all quarters and the noblest women are\nwont to congregate; thither also come merchants and traders with their wives\nand families, and the visitors abide there seven days. I was wont to be one of\nthem; but, when there befel enmity between us, my father forbade me to be\npresent at the festival for the space of seven years. One year, it chanced that\namongst the daughters of the great who resorted to the patron, as was their\ncustom, came a daughter of the King of Constantinople, a beautiful girl called\nSophia. They tarried at the monastery six days and on the seventh the folk\nwent their ways;[FN#205] but Sophia said, 'I will not return to Constantinople\nsave by water.' So they equipped for her a ship in which she embarked with her\nsuite; and making sail they put out to sea; but as they were voyaging behold, a\ncontrary wind caught them; and drove the vessel from her course till, as Fate\nand Fortune would have it, she fell in with a Nazarene craft from the Camphor\nIsland[FN#206] carrying a crew of five hundred armed Franks, who had been\ncruising about a long time. When they sighted the sails of the ship, wherein\nSophia and her women were, they gave chase in all haste and in less than an\nhour they came up with her, then they laid the grappling-irons aboard her and\ncaptured her. Then taking her in tow they made all sail for their own island\nand were but a little distant from it when the wind veered round and, splitting\ntheir sails, drove them on to a shoal which lies off our coast. Thereupon we\nsallied forth and, looking on them as spoil driven to us by Fate,[FN#207]\nboarded and took them; and, slaying the men, made prize of the wreck, wherein\nwe found the treasures and rarities in question and forty maidens, amongst whom\nwas the King's daughter, Sophia. After the capture we carried the Princess and\nher women to my father, not knowing her to be a daughter of King Afridun of\nConstantinople; and he chose out for himself ten including her; and divided the\nrest among his dependants. Presently he set apart five damsels, amongst whom\nwas the King s daughter, and sent them to thy father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman,\ntogether with other gifts, such as broadcloth[FN#208] and woollen stuffs and\nGrecian silks. Thy father accepted them; and chose out from amongst the five\ngirls Sophia, daughter of King Afridun; nor did we hear more of her till the\nbeginning of this year, when her father wrote to my father in words unfitting\nfor me to repeat, rebuking him with menaces and saying to him: Two years ago,\nyou plundered a ship of ours which had been seized by a band of Frankish\npirates in which was my daughter, Sophia, attended by her maidens numbering\nsome threescore. Yet ye informed me not thereof by messenger or otherwise; nor\ncould I make the matter public, lest reproach befal me amongst the Kings, by\nreason of my daughter's honour. So I concealed my case till this year, when I\nwrote to certain Frankish corsairs and sought news of my daughter from the\nKings of the Isles. They replied, 'By Allah we carried her not forth of thy\nrealm; but we have heard that King Hardub rescued her from certain pirates. \nAnd they told me the whole tale.' Then he added in the writing which he writ to\nmy father: 'Except you wish to be at feud with me and design to disgrace me and\ndishonour my daughter, you will, the instant my letter reacheth you, send my\ndaughter back to me. But if you slight my letter and disobey my commandment, I\nwill assuredly make you full return for your foul dealing and the baseness of\nyour practices.'[FN#209] When my father read this letter and understood the\ncontents,[FN#210] it vexed him and he regretted not having known that Sophia,\nKing Afridun's daughter, was among the captured damsels, that he might have\nsent her back to her sire; and he was perplexed about the case because, after\nso long a time, he could not send to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and demand her\nback from him, especially as he had lately heard that Heaven had granted him\nboon of babe by this Sophia. So when we pondered that truth, we knew that this\nletter was none other than a grievous calamity; and my father found nothing for\nit but to write an answer to King Afridun, making his excuses and swearing to\nhim by strong oaths that he knew not his daughter to be among the bevy of\ndamsels in the ship and setting forth how he had sent her to King Omar bin al\nNu'uman, who had gotten the blessing of issue by her. When my father's reply\nreached King Afridun he rose up and sat down,[FN#211] and roared and foamed at\nthe mouth crying:\u2014'What! shall he take captive my daughter and even her with\nslave-girls and pass her on from hand to hand sending her for a gift to Kings,\nand they lie with her without marriage-contract? By the Messiah and the true\nFaith,' said he, 'I will not desist till I have taken my blood-vengeance for\nthis and have wiped out my shame; and indeed I will do a deed which the\nchroniclers shall chronicle after me!' So he bided his time till he devised a\ndevice and laid notable toils and snares, when he sent an embassy to thy\nfather, King Omar, to tell him that which thou hast heard: accordingly thy\nfather equipped thee and an army with thee and sent thee to King Afridun, whose\nobject is to seize thee and thine army to boot. As for the three jewels\nwhereof he told thy father when asking his aid, there was not one soothfast\nword in that matter, for they were with Sophia, his daughter; and my father\ntook them from her, when he got possession of her and of her maidens, and gave\nthem to me in free gift, and they are now with me. So go thou to thy host and\nturn them back ere they be led deep into, and shut in by, the land of the \nFranks and the country of the Greeks; \nfor as soon as you have come far enough into their interior, they will\nstop the roads upon you and there will be no escape for you till the Day of\nretribution and retaliation. I know that thy troops are still halting where\nthou leftest them, because thou didst order a three days' rest; withal they\nhave missed thee all this time and they wot not what to do.\" When Sharrkan\nheard her words, he was absent awhile in thought; then he kissed Princess\nAbrizah's hand and said, \"Praise be to Allah who hath bestowed thee on me and\nappointed thee to be the cause of my salvation and the salvation of whoso is\nwith me! But 'tis grievous to me to part from thee and I know not what will\nbecome of thee after my departure.\" \"Go now to thine army,\" she replied, \"and\nturn them back, while ye are yet near your own country. If the envoys be still\nwith them, lay hands on them; and keep them, that the case may be made manifest\nto you; and, after three days, I will be with you all and we will enter Baghdad\ntogether.\" As he turned to depart she said, \"Forget not the compact which is\nbetween me and thee;\" then she rose to bid[FN#212] him farewell and embrace him\nand quench the fire of desire, so she took leave of him and, throwing her arms\nround his neck, wept with exceeding weeping, and repeated these verses,\n\n\"I bade adieu, my right hand wiped my tears away, * The while my left hand held her in a close embrace:\n'Fearest thou naught,' quoth she, 'of shame?' I answered 'Nay, * The lover's parting day is lover's worst disgrace.'\"\n\n\nThen Sharrkan left her and walked down from the convent. They brought his\nsteed, so he mounted and rode down-stream to the drawbridge which he crossed\nand presently threaded the woodland paths and passed into the open meadow. As\nsoon as he was clear of the trees he was aware of horsemen which made him stand\non the alert, and he bared his brand and rode cautiously; but as they drew near\nand exchanged curious looks he recognized them; and behold, it was the Wazir\nDandan and two of his Emirs. When they saw him and knew him, they dismounted\nand saluting him, asked the reason of his absence; whereupon he told them all\nthat had passed between him and Princess Abrizah from first to last. The Wazir\nreturned thanks to Almighty Allah for his safety and said,[FN#213] \"Let us at\nonce leave these lands; for the envoys who came with us are gone to inform the\nKing of our approach, and haply he will hasten to fall on us and take us\nprisoners.\" So Sharrkan cried to his men to saddle and mount, which they did\nand, setting out at once, they stinted not faring till they reached the sole of\nthe valley wherein the host lay. The Ambassadors meanwhile had reported\nSharrkan's approach to their King, who forthright equipped a host to lay hold\nof him and those with him. But Sharrkan, escorted by the Wazir Dandan and the\ntwo Emirs, had no sooner sighted the army, than he raised the cry \"March! \nMarch!\" They took horse on the instant and fared through the first day and\nsecond and third day, nor did they cease faring for five days; at the end of\nwhich time they alighted in a well-wooded valley, where they rested awhile. \nThen they again set out and stayed not riding for five and twenty days which\nplaced them on the frontiers of their own country. Here, deeming themselves\nsafe, they halted to rest; and the country people came out to them with guest-gifts \nfor the men and provender and forage for the beasts. They tarried there\ntwo days after which, as all would be making for their homes, Sharrkan put the\nWazir Dandan in command, bidding him lead the host back to Baghdad. But he\nhimself remained behind with an hundred riders, till the rest of the army had\nmade one day's march: then he called \"To horse!\" and mounted with his hundred\nmen. They rode on two parasangs'[FN#214] space till they arrived at a gorge\nbetween two mountains and lo! there arose before them a dark cloud of sand and\ndust. So they checked their steeds awhile till the dust opened and lifted,\ndiscovering beneath it an hundred cavaliers, lion-faced and in mail-coats\ncased. As soon as they drew within earshot of Sharrkan and his meiny they\ncried out to them, saying, \"By the virtue of John and Mary, we have won to our\nwish! We have been following you by forced marches, night and day, till we\nforewent you to this place. So dismount and lay down your arms and yield\nyourselves, that we may grant you your lives.\" When Sharrkan heard this, his\neyes stood out from his head and his cheeks flushed red and he said 'How is it,\nO Nazarene dogs, ye dare enter our country and overmarch our land? And doth\nnot this suffice you, but ye must adventure yourselves and address us in such\nunseemly speech? Do you think to escape out of our hands and return to your\ncountry?\" Then he shouted to his hundred horsemen, \"Up and at these hounds, for\nthey even you in number!\" So saying, he bared his sabre and bore down on them,\nhe and his, but the Franks met them with hearts firmer than rocks, and wight\ndashed against wight, and knight dashed upon knight, and hot waxed the fight,\nand sore was the affright, and nor parley nor cries of quarter helped their\nplight; and they stinted not to charge and to smite, right hand meeting right,\nnor to hack and hew with blades bright-white, till day turned to night and\ngloom oppressed the sight. Then they drew apart and Sharrkan mustered his men\nand found none wounded save four only, who showed hurts but not death-hurts. \nSaid he to them, \"By Allah, my life long have I waded in the clashing sea of\nfight and I have met many a gallant sprite, but none so unfrightened of the\nsword that smites and the shock of men that affrights like these valiant\nKnights!\" \"Know, O King,\" said they, that there is among them a Frankish\ncavalier who is their leader and, indeed, he is a man of valour and fatal is\nhis spear-thrust: but, by Allah, he spares us great and small; for whoso falls\ninto his hands he lets him go and forbears to slay him. By Allah, had he\nwilled he had killed us all.\" Sharrkan was astounded when he heard what the\nKnight had done and such high report of him, so he said, \"When the morn shall\nmorrow, we will draw out and defy them, for we are an hundred to their hundred;\nand we will seek aid against them from the Lord of the Heavens.\" So they rested\nthat night in such intent; whilst the Franks gathered round their Captain and\nsaid, \"Verily this day we did not win our will of these;\" and he replied, \"At\nearly dawn when the morrow shall morn, we will draw out and challenge them, one\nafter one.\" They also rested in that mind, and both camps kept guard until\nAlmighty Allah sent the light of day-dawn. Thereupon King Sharrkan and his\nhundred riders took horse and rode forth to the plain, where they found the\nFranks ranged in line of battle; and Sharrkan said to his followers, \"Our foes\nhave determined like ourselves to do their devoir; so up and at them; and lay on\nload.\" Then came forth an Herald of the Franks and cried out, saying, \"Let\nthere be no general engagement betwixt us this day, save by the duello, a\nchampion of yours against a champion of ours.\" Whereupon one of Sharrkan's\nriders dashed out from the ranks and drave between the two lines crying, \"Ho! \nwho is for smiting? Let no dastard engage me this day nor nidering!\" Hardly\nhad he made an end of his vaunt, when there sallied forth to him a Frankish\ncavalier, armed cap-\u00e0-pie and clad in a surcoat of gold stuff, riding on a \ngrey-white steed,[FN#215] and he had no hair on his cheeks. He urged his charger on\nto the midst of the battle-plain and the two fell to derring-do of cut and\nthrust, but it was not long before the Frank foined the Moslem with the \nlance-point; and, toppling him from his steed, took him prisoner and led him off\ncrestfallen. His folk rejoiced in their comrade and, forbidding him to go out\nagain to the field, sent forth another, to whom sallied out another Moslem,\nbrother to the captive, and offered him battle. The two fell to, either\nagainst other, and fought for a little while, till the Frank bore down upon the\nMoslem and, falsing him with a feint, tumbled him by a thrust of the lance-heel\nfrom his destrier and took him prisoner. After this fashion the Moslems ceased\nnot dashing forwards, one after one, and the Franks to unhorse them; and take\nthem captive, till day departed and the night with darkness upstarted. Now\nthey had captured of the Moslems twenty cavaliers, and when Sharrkan saw this,\nit was grievous to him and he mustered his men and said to them, \"What is this\nthing that hath befallen us? To- morrow, I myself will go forth to the field\nand offer singular combat to their chief and learn what is the cause of his\nentering our land and warn him against doing battle with our band. If he\npersist, we will punish him with death, and if he prove peaceable we will make\npeace with him.\" They righted on this wise till Allah Almighty caused the morn\nto dawn, when mounted the twain and drew up for battle fain; and Sharrkan was\ngoing forth to the plain, but behold, more than one half of the Franks\ndismounted and remained on foot before one of them who was mounted, till they\nreached the midst of the battle-plain. Sharrkan looked at that horseman and\nlo! he was their chief. He was clad in a surcoat of blue satin and a close-ringed \nmail shirt; his face was as the moon when it rises and no hair was upon\nhis cheeks. He hent in hand an Indian scymitar and he rode a sable steed with\na white blaze on brow, like a dirham; and he smote the horse with heel till he\nstood almost in the midst of the field when, signing to the Moslems, he cried\nout in fluent Arab speech, \"Ho, Sharrkan! Ho, son of Omar bin al- Nu'uman! Ho,\nthou who forcest fortalice and overthrowest cities and countries! up and out\nto battle-bout, and blade single-handed wield with one who halves with thee the\nfield! Thou art Prince of thy people and I am Prince of mine; and whoso\novercometh his adversary, him let the other's men obey and come under his\nsway.\" Hardly had he ended his speech, when out came Sharrkan with a heart full\nof fury, and urging his steed into the midst of the field, closed like a raging\nlion with the Frank who encountered him with wariness and steadfastness and met\nhim with the meeting of warriors. Then they fell to foining and hewing, and\nthey stinted not of onset and offset, and give and take, as they were two\nmountains clashing together or two seas together dashing; nor did they cease\nfighting until day darkened and night starkened. Then they drew apart and each\nreturned to his own party; but as soon as Sharrkan foregathered with his\ncomrades, he said, \"Never looked I on the like of this cavalier: he hath one\nquality I have not yet seen in any and this it is that, when his foemen\nuncovereth a place for the death-blow, he reverseth his weapon and smiteth with\nthe lance-heel! In very deed I know not what will be the issue 'twixt him and\nme; but 'tis my wish that we had in our host his like and the like of his men.\"\nThen he went to his rest for the night and, when morning dawned, the Frank came\nforth and rode down to the mid-field, where Sharrkan met him; and they fell to\nfighting and to wheeling, left and right; and necks were stretched out to see\nthe sight, nor did they stint from strife and sword-play and lunge of lance\nwith main and might, till the day turned to night and darkness overwhelmed the\nlight. Then the twain drew asunder and returned each to his own camp, where\nboth related to their comrades what had befallen them in the duello; and at\nlast the Frank said to his men, \"To-morrow shall decide the matter!\" So they\nboth passed that night restfully till dawn; and, as soon as it was day, they\nmounted and each bore down on other and ceased not to fight till half the day\nwas done. Then the Frank bethought him of a ruse; first urging his steed with\nheel and then checking him with the rein, so that he stumbled and fell with his\nrider; thereupon Sharrkan threw himself on the foe, and would have smitten him\nwith the sword fearing lest the strife be prolonged, when the Frank cried out\nto him, \"O Sharrkan, champions are not wont to do thus! This is the act of a\nman accustomed to be beaten by a woman.\"[FN#216] When Sharrkan heard this, he\nraised his eyes to the Frank's face and gazing steadfastly at him, recognized\nin him Princess Abrizah with whom that pleasant adventure had befallen him in\nthe convent; whereupon he cast brand from hand and, kissing the earth before\nher, asked her, \"What moved thee to a deed like this?\"; and she answered, \"I\ndesired to prove thy prowess afield and test thy doughtiness in tilting and\njousting. These that are with me are my handmaids, and they are all clean\nmaids; yet they have vanquished thy horsemen in fair press and stress of plain;\nand had not my steed stumbled with me, thou shouldst have seen my might and\nprowess in combat.\" Sharrkan smiled at her speech and said, \"Praise be to Allah\nfor safety and for my reunion with thee, O Queen of the age!\" Then she cried\nout to her damsels to loose the twenty captives of Sharrkan's troop and\ndismount. They did as she bade and came and kissed the earth before her and\nSharrkan who said to them, \"It is the like of you that Kings keep in store for\nthe need-hour.\" Then he signed to his comrades to salute the Princess; so all\nalighted and kissed the earth before her, for they knew the story. After this,\nthe whole two hundred took horse, and fared on night and day for six days'\nspace, till they drew near to Baghdad, when they halted and Sharrkan bade\nAbrizah and her handmaids doff the Frankish garb that was on them,\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-first Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan bade Princess\nAbrizah and her damsels doff the garb that was on them; and don the garments of\ndaughters of Greece; and thus did they. Then he despatched a company of his\ncompanions to Baghdad to acquaint his father Omar bin al-Nu'uman, with his\narrival and report that he was accompanied by Princess Abrizah, daughter of\nKing Hardub, Lord of Gr\u00e6cia-land. They halted forthright in the place they\nhad reached, and Sharrkan also halted and all nighted there; and when Almighty\nAllah made morning dawn, Sharrkan and his company and Abrizah and her company\ntook horse and fared on towards the city; when lo! on the way they met the\nWazir Dandan, who had come out amongst a thousand horse to honour Abrizah and\nSharrkan, by especial commandment of King Omar Son of Al- Nu'uman. When the\ntwo drew near, they turned towards them; and kissed ground before them; then\nthey mounted again and escorted them into the city and went up with them to the\npalace. Sharrkan walked in to his father, who rose and embraced him and\nquestioned him of his case. So he told him all that Abrizah had told him, and\nwhat had passed between them; and said, \"She hath parted from her sire and\ndeparted from her reign and hath chosen to take part with us and make her abode\nwith us; \"And indeed,\" he said to his father, \"the King of Constantinople hath\nplotted to do us a mischief, because of his daughter Sophia, for that the King\nof Greece had made known to him her story and the cause of her being given to\nthee; and he (the Grecian King) not knowing her to be daughter of King Afridun,\nLord of Constantinople; and, had he known that, he would not have bestowed her\nupon thee, but he would have restored her to her parent. And of a verity,\" he\ncontinued, \"we were saved from these perils only by the Lady Abrizah, and never\nsaw we a more valiant than she.\" And he went on to tell his father all that had\npassed from first to last of the wrestling and the single-fighting. When King\nOmar heard the story of Sharrkan, Abrizah was exalted in his eyes, and he\nlonged to see her and question her. Thereupon Sharrkan went out to her and\nsaid, \"The King calleth for thee;\" she replied, \"I hear and I obey;\" and he\ntook her and brought her in to his father, who was seated on his throne and\nwho, having dismissed his high officers, was attended only by his eunuchs. The\nPrincess entered and kissing the ground between his hands, saluted him in\nchoice terms. He was amazed at her eloquent speech and thanked her for her\ndealing with his son Sharrkan and bade her be seated. So she sat down and\nunveiled her face;[FN#217] and, when the King saw her beauty, his reason fled\nhis head and he made her draw near and showed her favour, appointing her an\nespecial palace for herself and her damsels, and assigning them solde and\nallowances. Then began he to ask her of the three jewels aforesaid, and she\nanswered, \"Here be they with me, O King of the age!\" So saying, she rose and\ngoing to her lodging, unpacked her baggage and from it brought out a box and\nfrom the box a casket of gold. She opened the casket and taking out those\nthree jewels, kissed them; and gave them to the King. Then she went away\nbearing his heart with her. After her going the King sent for his son Sharrkan\nand gave him one jewel of the three, and when he enquired of the other two\nreplied, \"O my son! I mean to give one to thy brother Zau al-Makan, and the\nother to thy sister Nuzhat al- Zaman.\" But when Sharrkan heard that he had a\nbrother (for to that time he knew only of his sister) he turned to his sire and\nsaid to him, \"O King, hast thou a son other than myself?\" He answered, \"Yes,\nand he is now six years old;\" adding that his name was Zau al- Makan and that\nhe and Nuzhat al-Zaman were twins, born at a birth. This news was grievous to\nSharrkan, but he kept his secret and said, \"The bless- ing of Allah Most High\nbe upon them!\", and he cast the jewel from his hand and shook the dust off his\nclothes. Quoth the King, \"How do I see thee change thy manner when hearing of\nthis, considering that after me thou becomest heir of the kingdom. Of a truth\nthe troops have sworn to thee and the Emirs and Grandees have taken the oath of\nsuccession to thee; and this one of the three jewels is thine.\" Sharrkan bowed\nhis head to the ground and was ashamed to bandy words with his parent so he\naccepted the jewel and went away, knowing not what to do for exceeding wrath,\nand stayed not walking till he had entered Abrizah's palace. As he approached\nshe stood up to meet him and thanked him for what he had done and prayed for\nblessings on him and his sire. Then she sat down and seated him by her side;\nbut when he had taken his place she saw rage in his face and questioned him,\nwhereupon he told her that Allah had blessed his father with two children by\nSophia, a boy and a girl, and that he had named the boy Zau al-Makan and the\ngirl Nuzhat al-Zaman; adding, \"He hath kept the other two jewels for them; and\nhath given me one of thine, so I left it behind; I knew naught of Zau\nal-Makan's birth till this day, and the twain are now six years old. So when I\nlearnt this, wrath possessed me; and I tell thee the reason of my rage and hide\nnothing from thee. But now I fear lest my father take thee to wife, for he\nloveth thee and I saw in him signs of desire for thee: so what wilt thou say,\nif he wish this?\" Quoth she, \"Know, O Sharrkan, that thy father hath no\ndominion over me, nor can he have me without my consent; and if he prevail over\nme by force, I will take my own life. As for the three jewels, it was not my\nintent that he should give any of them to either of his children and I had no\nthought but that he would lay them up in his treasury with his things of price;\nbut now I desire of thy favour that thou make me a present of the jewel which\nhe gave thee, if thou have accepted it.\" \"Hearkening and obedience,\" replied\nSharrkan, and gave it to her. Then said she, \"Fear nothing,\" and talked with\nhim awhile and continued, \"I fear lest my father hear that I am with you and\nsit not patiently under my loss, but do his endeavours to find me; and to that\nend he may ally himself with King Afridun, on account of his daughter Sophia,\nand both come on thee with armies and so there befal great turmoil.\" When\nSharrkan heard these words, he said to her, \"O my lady, if it please thee to\nsojourn with us, take no thought of them; though there gather together against\nus all that be on land and on sea.\" \" 'Tis well,\" rejoined she; \"if ye entreat\nme fair, I will tarry with you, and if ye deal evilly by me, I will depart from\nyou.\" Then she bade her slave-maidens bring food; so they set the tables, and\nSharrkan ate a little and went away to his own house, disturbed and perturbed. \nSuch was his case; but regarding the affairs of his father, Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman, after dismissing his son Sharrkan he arose and, taking the other\ntwo jewels, betook himself to the Lady Sophia, who stood up when she saw him\nand remained standing till he was seated. Presently, his two children, Zau\nal-Makan and Nuzhat al-Zaman, came to him and he kissed them; and hung a jewel\nround each one's neck, at which they rejoiced and kissed his hands. Then went\nthey to their mother, who joyed in their joy and wished the King long life; so\nhe asked her, \"Why hast thou not informed me all this time that thou art the\ndaughter of King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, that I might have honoured\nthee still more and enlarged thee in dignity and raised thy rank?\" \"O King,\"\nanswered Sophia, \"and what could I desire greater or higher than this my\nstanding with thee, overwhelmed as I am with thy favours and thy benefits? \nAnd, furthermore, Allah hath blessed me with two children by thee, a son and a\ndaughter.\" Her reply pleased the King and after leaving her, he set apart for\nher and her children a wondrous fine palace. Moreover, he appointed for them\neunuchs and attendants and doctors of law and doctors of philosophy and\nastrologers and physicians and surgeons to do them service; and in every way he\nredoubled his favour and entreated them with the best of treatment. And\npresently he returned to the palace of his dominion and to his Court where he\ndistributed justice among the lieges. So far concerning him and Sophia and her\nchildren; but in the matter of Abrizah the King was greatly occupied with love\nof her and burnt with desire of her night and day; and every night, he would go\nin to her and converse with her and pay his court to her, but she gave him no\nanswer, only saying, \"O King of the age! I have no desire for men at this\npresent.\" When he saw her withdraw from him, his passion waxed hotter and his\nlonging and pining increased until, when weary of this, he summoned his Wazir\nDandan and, opening his very heart to him, told him of his love for Princess\nAbrizah, daughter of Hardub, and informed him how she refused to yield to his\nwishes and how desire for her was doing him to die, for that he could get no\ngrace of her. The Wazir, hearing these words, said to the King, \"As soon as it\nis dark night, take thou a piece of Bhang the measure of a miskal, about an\nounce, and go in to her and drink somewhat of wine with her. When the hour of\nending the carousel shall draw near, fill her a last cup and dropping therein\nthe Bhang, give it to her to drink, and she will not reach her sleeping-chamber\nere the drug take effect on her. Then do thou go in to her and take thy will\nof her; and such is my advice.\"[FN#218] \"Thy rede is aright,\" quoth the King,\nand seeking his treasury, he took thence a piece of concentrated Bhang, if an\nelephant smelt it he would sleep from year to year. This he put in his bosom-pocket \nand waited till some little of the night went by, when he betook himself\nto the palace of Princess Abrizah, who seeing him stood up to receive him; but\nhe bade her sit down. So she sat down, and he sat by her, and he began to talk\nwith her of wine and wassail, whereupon she furnished the carousing-table[FN#219] \nand placed it before him. Then she set on the drinking vessels\nand lighted the candles and ordered to bring dried fruits and sweetmeats and\nall that pertaineth to drinking. So they fell to tippling and the King ceased\nnot to pledge her till drunkenness crept into her head; and seeing this he took\nout the bit of Bhang from his pocket and, holding it between his fingers,\nfilled a cup with his own hand and drank it off. Then filling a second he\nsaid, \"To thy companionship!\"; and dropped the drug into her cup, she knowing\nnaught of it. She took it and drank it off; then she rose and went to her\nsleeping-chamber. He waited for less than an hour till he was assured that the\ndose had taken effect on her and had robbed her of her senses, when he went in\nto her and found her thrown on her back: and she had doffed her petticoat\ntrousers and the air raised the skirt of her shift and discovered what was\nbetween her thighs. When the King saw the state of things and found a lighted\ncandle at her head and another at her feet, shining upon what her thighs\nenshrined he took leave of his five senses for lust and Satan seduced him and\nhe could not master himself, but put off his trousers and fell upon her and\nabated her maidenhead. Then he rose off her and went to one of her women, by\nname Marj\u00e1nah, and said, \"Go in to thy lady and speak with her.\" So she went in\nto her mistress and found her lying on her back insensible, with the blood\nrunning down to the calves of her legs, whereupon she took a kerchief and wiped\naway the blood and lay by her that night. As soon as Almighty Allah brought\nthe dawn, the handmaid Marjanah washed her mistress's hands and feet and\nbrought rose-water and bathed her face and mouth with it, whereupon she\nsneezed and yawned and cast up from her inside that bit of Bhang like a\nbolus.[FN#220] Then she revived and washed her hands and mouth and said to\nMarjanah, \"Tell me what hath befallen me.\" So she told her what had passed and\nhow she had found her, lying on her back, with the blood running down,\nwherefore she knew that King Omar bin al-Nu'uman had lain with her and had\nundone her and taken his will of her. At this she grieved with exceeding grief\nand retired into privacy, saying to her damsels, \"Deny me to whoso would come\nin to me and say to him that I am ill, till I see what Allah will do with me.\"\nPresently the news of her sickness came to the King; so he sent her sherbets\nand sugar electuaries. Some months she thus passed in solitude, during which\ntime the King's flame cooled and his desire for her was quenched, so that he\nabstained from her. Now she had conceived by him, and when the months of \nchild-breeding had gone by, her pregnancy appeared and her belly swelled, and the\nworld was straitened upon her, so she said to her handmaid Marjanah, \"Know that\nit is not the folk who have wronged me, but I who sinned against my own\nself[FN#221] in that I left my father and mother and country. Indeed, I abhor\nlife, for my spirit is broken and neither courage nor strength is left me. I\nused, when I mounted my steed, to have the mastery of him, but now I am unable\nto ride. If I be brought to bed among them I shall be dishonoured before my\nhand-women and every one in the palace will know that he hath taken my\nmaidenhead in the way of shame; and if I return to my father, with what face\nshall I meet him or with what face shall I have recourse to him? How well\nquoth the poet,\n\n'Say, what shall solace one who hath nor home nor stable stead * Nor cup-companion, nor a cup, nor place to house his head?'\"\n\n\nMarjanah answered her, \"It is thine to command; I will obey;\" and Abrizah said,\n\"I desire at once to leave this place secretly, so that none shall know of me\nbut thou; and return to my father and my mother, for when flesh stinketh, there\nis naught for it but its own folk and Allah shall do with me e'en as He will.\"\n\"O Princess,\" Marjanah replied, \"what thou wouldest do is well.\" Then she made\nmatters ready and kept her secret and waited for some days till the King went\nout to chase and hunt, and his son Sharrkan betook himself to certain of the\nfortresses to sojourn there awhile. Then said she to Marjanah, \"I wish to set\nout this night, but how shall I do against my destiny? For already I feel the\npangs of labour and child-birth, and if I abide other four or five days, I\nshall be brought to bed here, and I shall be unable to travel to my country. \nBut this is what was written on my forehead.\" Then she considered awhile, and\nsaid to Marjanah, \"Look us out a man who will go with us and serve us by the\nway, for I have no strength to bear arms.\" \"By Allah, O my lady,\" replied\nMarjanah, \"I know none but a black slave called Al- Ghazb\u00e1n,[FN#222] who is one\nof the slaves of King Omar bin al- Nu'uman; he is a valiant wight, and he\nkeepeth guard at our palace-gate. The King appointed him to attend us, and\nindeed we have overwhelmed him with our favours; so, lookye, I will go out and\nspeak with him of this matter, and promise him some monies and tell him that,\nif he have a mind to tarry with us, I will marry him to whom he will. He told\nme before to-day that he had been a highwayman; so if he consent to us we shall\nwin our wish and reach to our own land.\" She rejoined, \"Call him, that I may\ntalk with him;\" whereupon Marjanah fared forth and said to the slave, 'O\nGhazban, Allah prosper thee, so thou fall in with what my lady saith to thee!\"\nThen she took him by the hand and brought him to the Princess, whose hands he\nkissed, but as she beheld him, her heart took fright at him. \"However,\" she\nsaid to herself, \"of a truth, Need giveth the law;\" and she approached to speak\nwith him, yet her heart started away from him. Presently she said, \"O Ghazban,\nsay me, wilt thou help me against the perfidies of Fortune and conceal my\nsecret if I discover it to thee?\" When the slave saw her, his heart was taken\nby storm and he fell in love with her forthright and could not but reply; \"O my\nmistress, whatsoever thou biddest me do, I will not depart therefrom.\" Quoth\nshe, \"I would have thee take me at this hour and take this my handmaid and\nsaddle us two camels and two of the King's horses and set on each horse a\nsaddle-bag of goods and somewhat of provaunt, and go with us to our own\ncountry; where, if thou desire to abide with us, I will marry thee to her thou\nshalt choose of my handmaidens; or, if thou prefer return to thine own land, we\nwill marry thee and give thee whatso thou desirest after thou hast taken of\nmoney what shall satisfy thee.\" When Al-Ghazban, heard this, he rejoiced with\ngreat joy and replied, \"O my lady, I will serve both of you with mine eyes and\nwill go at once and saddle the horses.\" Then he went away gladsome and saying\nto himself, \"I shall get my will of them; and if they will not yield to me, I\nwill kill them both and take their riches.\" But he kept this his intent to\nhimself, and presently returned with two camels and three head of horses, one\nof which he rode, and Princess Abrizah made Marjanah mount the second, she\nmounting the third, albeit she was in labour-pains and possessed not her soul\nfor anguish. And the slave ceased not travelling with them night and day\nthrough the passes of the mountains, till there remained but a single march\nbetween them; and their own country; when the travail pangs came upon Abrizah\nand she could no longer resist; so she said to Al-Ghazban, \"Set me down, for\nthe pains of labour are upon me;\" and cried to Marjanah, \"Do thou alight and\nsit by me and deliver me.\" Then Marjanah dismounted from her horse, and\nAl-Ghazban did in like sort, and they made fast the bridles and helped the\nPrincess to dismount, for she was aswoon from excess of anguish. When\nAl-Ghazban saw her on the ground, Satan entered into him and he drew his\nfalchion and brandishing it in her face, said \"O my lady, vouchsafe me thy\nfavours.\" Hearing these words she turned to him and said, \"It remaineth for me\nonly that I yield me to negro slaves, after having refused Kings and\nBraves!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-second Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Abrizah said to\nthe black slave Al-Ghazban, \"It remaineth for me only that I yield me to negro\nslaves, after having refused Kings and Braves!\" And she was wroth with him and\ncried, \"Woe to thee! what words are these thou sayest? Out on thee, and talk\nnot thus in my presence and know that I will never consent to what thou sayest,\nthough I drink the cup of death. Wait till I have cast my burden and am\ndelivered of the after-birth, and then, if thou be able thereto, do with me as\nthou wilt; but, an thou leave not lewd talk at this time, assuredly I will slay\nmyself with my own hand and quit the world and be at peace from all this.\" And\nshe began reciting extempore,[FN#223]\n\n\"O spare me, thou Ghazban, indeed enow for me * Are heavy strokes of time, mischance and misery!\nWhoredom my Lord forfends to all humanity; * Quoth He, 'Who breaks my bidding Hell for home shall see!'\nAnd if thou leave not suing me to whoredom's way * Against th' Almighty's choicest gift, my chastity,\nUpon my tribesmen I with might and main will call * And gather all, however far or near they be;\nAnd with Yam\u00e1ni blade were I in pieces hewn, * Ne'er shall he sight my face who makes for villeiny,\nThe face of free-born come of noble folk and brave; * What then can be to me the seed of whoreson slave?\"\n\n\nWhen Ghazban heard these lines he was wroth exceedingly; his eyes reddened with\nblood and his face became a dusty-grey[FN#224]; his nostrils swelled, his lips\nprotruded and the repulsiveness of his aspect redoubled. And he repeated these\ncouplets,\n\n\"Ho thou, Abrizah, mercy! leave me not for I * Of thy love and Yam\u00e1ni[FN#225] glance the victim lie\nMy heart is cut to pieces by thy cruelty, * My body wasted and my patience done to die:\nFrom glances ravishing all hearts with witchery * Reason far flies, the while desire to thee draws nigh;\nThough at thy call should armies fill the face of earth * E'en now I'd win my wish and worlds in arms defy!\"\n\n\nWhen Abrizah heard these words, she wept with sore weeping and said to him,\n\"Woe to thee, O Ghazban! How dareth the like of thee to address me such\ndemand, O base-born and obscene-bred? Dost thou deem all folk are alike?\" When\nthe vile slave heard this from her, he waxt more enraged and his eyes grew\nredder: and he came up to her and smiting her with the sword on her neck\nwounded her to the death. Then he drove her horse before him with the treasure\nand made off with himself to the mountains. Such was the case with Al-Ghazban;\nbut as regards Abrizah, she gave birth to a son, like the moon, and Marjanah\ntook the babe and did him the necessary offices and laid him by his mother's\nside; and lo and behold! the child fastened to its mother's breast and she\ndying.[FN#226] When Marjanah saw this, she cried out with a grievous cry and\nrent her raiment and cast dust on her head and buffeted her cheeks till blood\nflowed, saying, \"Alas, my mistress! Alas, the pity of it! Thou art dead by\nthe hand of a worthless black slave, after all thy knightly prowess!\" And she\nceased not weeping when suddenly a great cloud of dust arose and walled the\nhorizon;[FN#227] but, after awhile, it lifted and discovered a numerous\nconquering host. Now this was the army of King Hardub, Princess Abrizah's\nfather, and the cause of his coming was that when he heard of his daughter and\nher handmaids having fled to Baghdad, and that they were with King Omar bin al-\nNu'uman, he had come forth, leading those with him, to seek tidings of her from\ntravellers who might have seen her with the King. When he had gone a single\nday's march from his capital, he espied three horse men afar off and made\ntowards them, intending to ask whence they came and seek news of his daughter. \nNow these three whom he saw at a distance were his daughter and Marjanah and\nthe slave Al- Ghazban; and he made for them to push enquiry. Seeing this the\nvillain blackamoor feared for himself; so he killed Abrizah and fled for his\nlife. When they came up, King Hardub saw his daughter lying dead and Marjanah\nweeping over her, and he threw himself from his steed and fell fainting to the\nground. All the riders of his company, the Emirs and Wazirs, took foot and\nforthright pitched their tents on the mountain and set up for the King a great\npavilion, domed and circular, without which stood the grandees of the realm. \nWhen Marjanah saw her master, she at once recognized him and her tears\nredoubled; and, when he came to himself, he questioned her and she told him all\nthat had passed and said, \"Of a truth he that hath slain thy daughter is a\nblack slave belonging to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, and she informed him how\nSharrkan's father had dealt with the Princess. When King Hardub heard this,\nthe world grew black in his sight and he wept with sore weeping. Then he\ncalled for a litter and, therein laying his dead daughter, returned to C\u00e6sarea\nand carried her into the palace, where he went in to his mother, Zat al-Dawahi,\nand said to that Lady of Calamities, \"Shall the Moslems deal thus with my girl?\nVerily King Omar bin al-Nu'uman despoiled her of her honour by force, and\nafter this, one of his black slaves slew her. By the truth of the Messiah, I\nwill assuredly take blood-revenge for my daughter and clear away from mine\nhonour the stain of shame; else will I kill myself with mine own hand!\" And he\nwept passing sore. Quoth his mother, \"None other than Marjanah killed thy\ndaughter, for she hated her in secret;\" and she continued to her son, \"Fret not\nfor taking the blood-wit of thy daughter, for, by the truth of the Messiah, I\nwill not turn back from King Omar bin al-Nu'uman till I have slain him and his\nsons; and of a very truth I will do with him a deed, passing the power of Sage\nand Knight, whereof the chroniclers shall tell chronicles in all countries and\nin every place: but needs must thou do my bidding in all I shall direct, for\nwhoso be firmly set on the object of his desire shall surely compass his\ndesire.\" \"By the virtue of the Messiah,\" replied he, \"I will not cross thee in\naught thou shalt say.\" Then quoth she, \"Bring me a number of handmaids, \nhigh-bosomed virgins, and summon the wise men of the age and let them teach them\nphilosophy and the rules of behaviour before Kings, and the art of conversation\nand making verses; and let them talk with them of all manner science and\nedifying knowledge. And the sages must be Moslems, that they may teach them\nthe language and traditions of the Arabs, together with the history of the\nCaliphs and the ancient annals of the Kings of Al-Islam; and if we persevere in\nthis for four years' space, we shall gain our case. So possess thy soul in\npatience and wait; for one of the Arabs saith, 'If we take man-bote after years\nforty the time were short to ye.' When we have taught the girls these things,\nwe shall be able to work our will with our foe, for he doteth on women and he\nhath three hundred and sixty concubines, whereto are now added an hundred of\nthe flowers of thy handmaidens who were with thy daughter, she that hath found\nmercy.[FN#228] As soon as I have made an end of their education, as described\nto thee, I will take them; and set out with them in person.\" When King Hardub\nheard his mother's words, he rejoiced and arose and kissed her head; and at\nonce despatched messengers and couriers to lands sundry and manifold to fetch\nhim Moslem sages. They obeyed his commands and fared to far countries and\nthence brought him the sages and the doctors he sought. When these came into\npresence, he honoured them with notable honours and bestowed dresses on them\nand appointed to them stipends and allowances and promised them much money\nwhenas they should have taught the damsels. Then he committed the handmaidens\nto their hands\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-third Night.\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the sages and the\ndoctors stood in presence of King Hardub, he honoured them with notable honours\nand committed the handmaidens to their hands, enjoining that these be\ninstructed in all manner of knowledge, philosophy and polite accomplishments;\nand they set themselves to do his bidding. Such was the case with King Hardub;\nbut as for King Omar bin al Nu'uman, when he returned from coursing and hunting\nand entered his palace, he sought Princess Abrizah but found her not, nor any\none knew of her nor could any give him news of her. This was grievous to him\nand he said, \"How could the lady leave the palace unknown of any? Had my\nkingdom been at stake in this case, it were in perilous condition there being\nnone to govern it! I will never again go to sport and hunt till I have\nstationed at the gates those who shall keep good guard over them!\" And he was\nsore vexed and his breast was straitened for the loss of Princess Abrizah. \nHereupon behold, his son Sharrkan returned from his journey; and the father\ntold him what had happened, and informed him how the lady had fled, whilst he\nwas chasing and hunting, whereat he grieved with exceeding grief. Then King\nOmar took to visiting his children every day and making much of them; and\nbrought them learned men and doctors to teach them, appointing for them\nstipends. When Sharrkan saw this, he raged with exceeding rage and envied\nthereupon his brother and sister till the signs of chagrin appeared in his face\nand he ceased not to languish by reason of this matter: so one day his father\nsaid to him, \"Why do I see thee grown weak in body and yellow of face?\" \"O my\nfather,\" replied Sharrkan, \"every time I see thee fondle my brother and sister\nand make much of them, jealousy seizeth on me, and I fear lest it grow on me\ntill I slay them; and thou slay me in return. And this is the reason of my\nweakness of body and change of complexion. But now I crave of thy favour that\nthou give me one of thy castles outlying the rest, that I may abide there the\nremnant of my life, for as the sayer of bywords saith, 'Absence from my friend\nis better and fitter for me'; and, 'Whatso eye doth not perceive, that garreth\nnot heart to grieve.'\" And he bowed his head towards the ground. When King\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman heard his words and knew the cause of his ailment and of\nhis being broken down, he soothed his heart and said to him, \"O my son, I grant\nthee this and I have not in my reign a greater than the Castle of Damascus, and\nthe government of it is thine from this time.\" Thereupon he forthright summoned\nhis secretaries of state and bade them write Sharrkan's patent of investiture\nto the viceroyalty of Damascus of Syria. And when they had written it, he\nequipped him and sent with him the Wazir Dandan, and invested him with the rule\nand government and gave him instructions as to policy and regulations; and took\nleave of him, and the grandees and officers of state did likewise, and he set\nout with his host. When he arrived at Damascus, the townspeople beat the drums\nand blew the trumpets and decorated the city and came out to meet him in great\nstate; whilst all the notables and grandees paced in procession, and those who\nstood to the right of the throne walked on his right flank, and the others to\nthe left. Thus far concerning Sharrkan; but as regards his father, Omar bin\nal- Nu'uman, soon after the departure of his son, the children's tutors and\ngovernors presented themselves before him and said to him, \"O our lord, thy\nchildren have now learnt knowledge and they are completely versed in the rules\nof manners and the etiquette of ceremony.\" The King rejoiced thereat with\nexceeding joy and conferred bountiful largesse upon the learned men, seeing Zau\nal- Makan grown up and flourishing and skilled in horsemanship. This Prince had\nreached the age of fourteen and he occupied himself with piety and prayers,\nloving the poor, the Olema and the Koran-students, so that all the people of\nBaghdad loved him, men and women. One day, the procession of the\nMahmil[FN#229] of Ir\u00e1k passed round Baghdad before its departure for the\npilgrimage to Meccah and visitation of the tomb of the Prophet (whom Allah\nbless and preserve!). When Zau al-Makan saw the Mahmil procession he was seized\nwith longing desire to become a pilgrim,[FN#230] so he went in to his sire and\nsaid, \"I come to ask thy leave to make the pilgrimage.\" But his father forbade\nhim saying, \"Wait till next year and I will go and thou too.\" When the Prince\nsaw that the matter was postponed, he betook himself to his sister Nuzhat\nal-Zaman, whom he found standing at prayer. As soon as she had ended her\ndevotions he said to her, \"I am dying with desire of pilgrimage to the Holy\nHouse of Allah at Meccah and to visit the tomb of the Prophet, upon whom be\npeace! I asked my father's leave, but he forbade me that, so I mean to take\nprivily somewhat of money and set out on the pilgrimage without his knowledge.\"\n\"Allah upon thee,\" exclaimed she, \"take me with thee and deprive me not of\nvisitation to the tomb of the Prophet, whom Allah bless and keep!\" And he\nanswered, \"As soon as it is dark night, do thou come forth from this place,\nwithout telling any.\" Accordingly, when it was the middle of the night she arose\nand took somewhat of money and donned a man's habit; and she ceased not walking\nto the palace-gate, where she found Zau al-Makan with camels ready for\nmarching. So he mounted and mounted her; and the two fared on till they were\nin the midst of the Iraki[FN#231] pilgrim-party, and they ceased not marching\nand Allah wrote safety for them, till they entered Meccah the Holy and stood\nupon Araf\u00e1t and performed the pilgrimage-rites. Then they made a visitation to\nthe tomb of the Prophet (whom Allah bless and assain!) and thought to return\nwith the pilgrims to their native land. But Zau al-Makan said to his sister,\n\"O my sister, it is in my mind to visit the Holy House,[FN#232] Jerusalem, and\nAbraham the Friend of Allah[FN#233] (on whom be peace!).\" \"I also desire so to\ndo,\" replied she. So they agreed upon this and he fared forth and took passage\nfor himself and her and they made ready and set out in the ship with a company\nof Jerusalem palmers. That very night the sister fell sick of an aguish chill,\nand was grievously ill but presently recovered, after which the brother also\nsickened. She tended him during his malady and they ceased not wayfaring till\nthey arrived at Jerusalem, but the fever increased on him and he grew weaker\nand weaker. They alighted at a Khan and there hired a lodging; but Zau al-\nMakan's sickness ceased not to increase on him, till he was wasted with\nleanness and became delirious. At this, his sister was greatly afflicted and\nexclaimed, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the\nGlorious, the Great! This is the decree of Allah!\" They sojourned in that place\nawhile, his weakness ever increasing and she attending him and buying\nnecessaries for him and for herself, till all the money she had was expended\nand she became so poor that she had not so much as a dirham left. Then she\nsent a servant of the Khan to the bazar with some of her clothes, and he sold\nthem; and she spent the price upon her brother; then sold she something more and\nshe ceased not selling all she had, piece by piece, till nothing was left but\nan old rug. Whereupon she wept and exclaimed, \"Verily is Allah the Orderer of\nthe past and the future!\" Presently her brother said to her, \"O my sister, I\nfeel recovery drawing near and my heart longeth for a little roast meat.\" \"By\nAllah! O my brother,\" replied she, \"I have no face to beg; but To-morrow I will\nenter some rich man's house and serve him and earn somewhat for our living.\"\nThen she bethought herself awhile and said, \"Of a truth 'tis hard for me to\nleave thee and thou in this state, but I must despite myself!\" He rejoined,\n\"Allah forbid! Thou wilt be put to shame; but there is no Majesty and there is\nno Might save in Allah!\" And he wept and she wept too. Then she said, \"O my\nbrother, we are strangers who have dwelt here a full year, but none hath yet\nknocked at our door. Shall we then die of hunger? I know no resource but that\nI go out and do service and earn somewhat to keep us alive, till thou recover\nfrom thy sickness, when we will travel back to our native land.\" She sat\nweeping awhile and he wept too, propped upon his elbow. Then Nuzhat al-Zaman\narose and, veiling her head with a bit of camlet,[FN#234] which had been of the\ncameleer's clothes and which the owner had forgotten and left with them; she\nkissed the head of her brother and embraced him and went forth from him,\nweeping and knowing not whither she should wend. And she stinted not going and\nher brother Zau al-Makan awaiting her return till the supper-time; but she came\nnot, and he watched for her till the morning morrowed but still she returned\nnot; and this endured till two days went by. He was greatly troubled thereat\nand his heart fluttered for her, and hunger was sore upon him. At last he left\nthe chamber and, calling the servant of the caravanserai, said, \"I wish thee to\nbear me to the bazar.\" So he carried him to the market-street and laid him down\nthere; and the people of Jerusalem gathered round him and were moved to tears\nseeing his condition. He signed to them begging for somewhat to eat; so they\nbrought him some money from certain of the merchants who were in the bazar, and\nbought food and fed him therewith; after which they carried him to a shop,\nwhere they spread him a mat of palm-leaves and set an ewer of water at his\nhead. When night fell, all the folk went away, sore concerned for him and, in\nthe middle of the night, he called to mind his sister and his sickness\nredoubled on him, so that he abstained from eating and drinking and became\ninsensible to the world around him. Then the bazar-people arose and took for\nhim from the merchants thirty-seven dirhams, and hiring a camel, said to the\ndriver, \"Carry this sick man to Damascus and leave him in the hospital; haply\nhe may be cured and recover health.\" \"On my head be it!\" replied the camel-man;\nbut he said to himself, \"How shall I take this sick man to Damascus, and he\nnigh upon death?\" So he carried him away to a place and hid with him till the\nnight, when he threw him down on the ash-heap near the fire-hole of a Hammam\nand went his way. When morning dawned the Stoker[FN#235] of the bath came to\nhis work and, finding Zau al-Makan cast on his back, exclaimed, \"Why did they\nnot throw their dead body any where but here?\" So saying, he gave him a kick and\nhe moved; whereupon quoth the Fireman, \"Some one of you who hath eaten a bit of\nHashish and hath thrown himself down in whatso place it be!\" Then he looked at\nhis face and saw his hairless cheeks and his grace and comeliness; so he took\npity on him and knew that he was sick and a stranger in the land. And he\ncried, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! verily, I\nhave sinned against this youth, for indeed the Prophet (whom Allah bless and\nkeep!) enjoineth honour to the stranger, more especially when the stranger is\nsick.\" Then he carried him home and went in with him to his wife and bade her\ntend him. So she spread him a sleeping-rug and set a cushion under his head,\nthen warmed water for him and washed therewith his hands and feet and face. \nMeanwhile, the Stoker went to the market and bought some rose-water and sugar,\nand sprinkled Zau al-Makan's face with the water and gave him to drink of the\nsherbet. Then he fetched a clean shirt and put it on him. With this, Zau\nal-Makan sniffed the zephyr of health and recovery returned to him; and he sat\nup and leant against the pillow. Hereat the Fireman rejoiced and exclaimed,\n\"Praise be to Allah for the welfare of this youth! O Allah, I beseech Thee by\nThy knowledge of hidden things, that Thou make the salvation of this youth to\nbe at my hands!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-fourth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fireman exclaimed, \"O\nAllah, I beseech Thee of Thy knowledge of hidden things, that Thou make this\nyoung man's life the work of my hands!\" And he ceased not to nurse him for\nthree days, giving him to drink of sherbet of sugar and willow-flower water and\nrose-water; and doing him all manner of service and kindness, till health began\nto return to his body and Zau al-Makan opened his eyes. Presently came in the\nFireman and, seeing him sitting up and showing signs of amendment, said to him,\n\"What is now thy state, O my son?\" \"Praise be to Allah,\" replied Zau al-Makan,\n\"I am well and like to recover, if such be the will of Allah Almighty at this\ntime.\" The Stoker praised the Lord of All for this and, wending fast to the\nmarket, bought ten chickens, which he carried to his wife and said, \"Kill two\nof these for him every day, one at dawn of day and the other at fall of day.\"\nSo she rose up and killed a fowl and brought it to him boiled, and fed him with\nthe flesh and made him drink its broth. When he had done eating, she fetched\nhot water and he washed his hands and lay back upon the pillow, whereupon she\ncovered him up with the coverlet, and he slept till the time of the mid-afternoon \nprayer. Then she arose and killed another fowl and boiled it; after\nwhich she cut it up and, bringing it to Zau al-Makan, said, \"Eat, O my son!\"\nWhile he was eating; behold, her husband entered and seeing her feeding him,\nsat down at his head and said to him, \"How is it with thee now, O my son?\"\n\"Thanks be to Allah for recovery!\" he replied: \"may the Almighty requite thee\nthy kindness to me.\" At this the Fireman rejoiced and going out, bought sherbet\nof violets and rose-water and made him drink it. Now the Stoker used to work\nat the Hammam all day for a wage of five dirhams, whereof he spent every day,\nfor Zau al-Makan, one dirham upon sugar and sherbet of rose-water and \nwillow-flower water,[FN#236] and another dirham for fowls; and he ceased not to\nentreat him thus kindly during a whole month, till the traces of illness ceased\nfrom him and he was once more sound and whole. Thereupon the Fireman and his\nwife rejoiced and asked him, \"O my son, wilt thou go with me to the bath?\";\nwhereto he answered, \"Yes!\" So the Stoker went to the bazar and fetched a\ndonkey-boy, and he mounted Zau al-Makan on the ass and supported him in the\nsaddle till they came to the bath. Then he made him sit down and seated the\ndonkey-boy in the furnace-room and went forth to the market and bought lote-leaves\nand lupin-flour,[FN#237] with which he returned to the bath and said to\nZau al-Makan, \"O my master, in Allah's name, walk in and I will wash thy body.\"\nSo they entered the inner room of the bath, and the Fireman took to rubbing Zau\nal-Makan's legs and began to wash his body with the leaves and meal, when there\ncame to them a bathman, whom the bath-keeper had sent to Zau al-Makan; and he,\nseeing the Stoker washing and rubbing him, said, \"This is doing injury to the\nkeeper's rights.\" Replied the Fireman, \"The master overwhelmeth us with his\nfavours!\" Then the bathman proceeded to shave Zau al-Makan's head, after which\nhe and the Stoker washed themselves and returned to the house, where he clad\nZau al-Makan in a shirt of fine stuff and a robe of his own; and gave him a\nhandsome turband and girdle and a light kerchief which he wound about his neck.\nMeanwhile the Fireman's wife had killed and cooked two chickens; so, as soon as\nZau al-Makan entered and seated himself on the carpet, the husband arose and,\ndissolving sugar in willow-flower water, made him drink of it. Then he brought\nthe food-tray and, cutting up the chickens, fed him with the flesh and gave him\nthe broth to drink till he was satisfied; when he washed his hands and praised\nAllah for recovery, and said to the Fireman, \"Thou art he whom the Almighty\nvouchsafed to me and made the cause of my cure!\" \"Leave this talk,\" replied the\nother, \"and tell us the cause of thy coming to this city and whence thou art. \nThy face showeth signs of gentle breeding.\" \"Tell me first how thou camest to\nfall in with me,\" said Zau al-Makan; \"and after I will tell thee my story.\"\nRejoined the Fireman, \"As for that, I found thee lying on the rubbish-heap by\nthe door of the fire-house, as I went to my work near the morning, and knew not\nwho had thrown thee there. So I carried thee home with me; and this is all my\ntale.\" Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"Glory to Him who quickeneth the bones, though they\nbe rotten! Indeed, O my brother, thou hast not done good save to one worthy of\nit, and thou shalt presently gather its fruitage.\" And he added, \"But where am\nI now?\" \"Thou art in the city of Jerusalem,\" replied the Stoker; whereupon Zau\nal-Makan called to mind his strangerhood and remembered his separation from his\nsister and wept. Then he discovered his secret to the Fireman and told him his\nstory and began repeating,\n\n\"In love they bore me further than my force would go, * And for them made me suffer resurrection-throe:\nOh, have compassion, cruel! on this soul of mine * Which, since ye fared, is pitied by each envious foe;\nNor grudge the tender mercy of one passing glance * My case to lighten, easing this excess of woe:\nQuoth I 'Heart, bear this loss in patience!' Patience cried * 'Take heed! no patience in such plight I'm wont to show.' \"\n\n\nThen he redoubled his weeping, and the Fireman said to him, \"Weep not, but\nrather praise Allah for safety and recovery.\" Asked Zau al-Makan, \"How far is\nit hence to Damascus?\" Answered the other, \"Six days' journey.\" Then quoth Zau\nal-Makan, \"Wilt thou send me thither?\" \"O my lord,\" quoth the Stoker, \"how can\nI allow thee to go alone, and thou a youth and a stranger to boot? If thou\nwould journey to Damascus, I am one who will go with thee; and if my wife will\nlisten to and obey me and accompany me, I will take up my abode there; for it\nis no light matter to part with thee.\" Then said he to his wife, \"Wilt thou\ntravel with me to Damascus of Syria or wilt thou abide here, whilst I lead this\nmy lord thither and return to thee? For he is bent upon going to Damascus of\nSyria and, by Allah, it is hard to me to part with him, and I fear for him from\nhighway men.\" Replied she, \"I will go with you both;\" and he rejoined, \"Praised\nbe Allah for accord, and we have said the last word!\" Then he rose and selling\nall his own goods and his wife's gear,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased saying her permitted say,\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-fifth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fire man and his wife\nagreed with Zau al-Makan to travel with him Damascus wards. Then the Stoker\nsold his goods and his wife's gear and bought a camel and hired an ass for Zau\nal-Makan; and they set out, and ceased not wayfaring for six days till they\nreached Damascus. And they arrived there towards eventide; when the Fireman\nwent forth and, as was his wont, bought some meat and drink. They had dwelt\nbut five days in Damascus, when his wife sickened and, after a short illness,\nwas translated to the mercy of Almighty Allah. Her death was a heavy matter to\nZau al-Makan, for he was grown used to her as she had tended him assiduously;\nand the Fireman grieved for her with excessive grief. Presently the Prince\nturned to the Stoker and finding him mourning, said to him, \"Grieve not, for at\nthis gate we must all go in.\" Replied he, \"Allah make weal thy lot, O my son! \nSurely He will compensate us with His favours and cause our mourning to cease.\nWhat sayst thou, O my son, about our walking abroad to view Damascus and cheer\nthy spirits?\" Replied Zau al-Makan, \"Thy will is mine.\" So the Fireman arose\nand placed his hand in that of Zau al- Makan and the two walked on till they\ncame to the stables of the Viceroy of Damascus, where they found camels laden\nwith chests and carpets and brocaded stuffs, and horses ready saddled and\nBactrian dromedaries, while Mamelukes and negro slaves and folk in a hubbub\nwere running to and fro. Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"I wonder to whom belong all\nthese chattels and camels and stuffs!\" So he asked one of the eunuchs, \"Whither\nthis dispatching?'' and he answered, \"These are presents sent by the Emir of\nDamascus to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, with the tribute of Syria.\" Now when Zau\nal-Makan heard his father's name his eyes brimmed over with tears, and he began\nrepeating,\n\n\"Oh ye gone from the gaze of these ridded eyne, * Ye whose sight in my spirit shall ever dwell!\nYour charms are gone, but this heart of me * Hath no sweet, and no pleasures its sour dispel;\nIf Allah's grace make us meet again, * In long drawn love-tale my love I'll tell.\"\n\n\nAnd when he had ended his verse, he wept and the Fireman said to him, \"O my\nson, we hardly believed that thy health had returned;[FN#238] so take heart and\ndo not weep, for I fear a relapse for thee.\" And he ceased not comforting and\ncheering him, whilst Zau al-Makan sighed and moaned over his strangerhood and\nseparation from his sister and his family; and tears streamed from his eyes and\nhe recited these couplets,\n\n\"Get thee provaunt in this world ere thou wend upon thy way, * And know how surely Death descends thy life lot to waylay:\nAll thy worldly goods are pride and the painfullest repine; * All thy worldly life is vexing, of thy soul in vain display:\nSay is not worldly wone like a wanderer's place of rest, * Where at night he 'nakhs'[FN#239] his camels and moves off at dawn of day?\"\n\n\nAnd he continued to weep and wail over his separation; whilst the Fireman also\nbewept the loss of his wife, yet ceased not to comfort Zau al-Makan till\nmorning dawned. When the sun rose, he said to him, \"Meseemeth thou yearnest\nfor thy native land?\" \"Yes,\" replied Zau al-Makan, \"and I can no longer tarry\nhere; so I will commend thee to Allah's care and set out with these folk and\njourney with them, little by little, till I come to my mother land.\" Said the\nStoker, \"And I with thee; for of a truth I cannot bear to part with thee. I\nhave done thee kindly service and I mean to complete it by tending thee on thy\ntravel.\" At this, Zau al-Makan rejoiced and said, \"Allah abundantly requite\nthee for me!\" and was pleased with the idea of their travelling together. The\nFireman at once went forth and bought another ass, selling the camel; and laid\nin his provaunt and said to Zau al-Makan, \"This is for thee to ride by the way;\nand, when thou art weary of riding, thou canst dismount and walk.\" Said Zau\nal-Makan, \"May Allah bless thee and aid me to requite thee! for verily thou\nhast dealt with me more lovingly than one with his brother.\" Then he waited\ntill it was dark night, when he laid the provisions and baggage on that ass and\nset forth upon their journey. This much befel Zau al-Makan and the Fireman;\nbut as regards what happened to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman, when she left her\nbrother in the Khan where they abode and, wrapped in the old camlet, went out\nto seek service with some one, that she might earn wherewithal to buy him the\nroast meat he longed for, she fared on, weeping and knowing not whither to go,\nwhilst her mind was occupied with thoughts of her brother and of her family and\nher native land. So she implored Allah Almighty to do away with these\ncalamities from them; and began versifying,\n\n\"Dark falls the night and Passion comes sore pains to gar me dree, * And pine upstirs those ceaseless pangs which work my tormentry,\nAnd cease not separation flames my vitals to consume, * And drives me on destruction way this sorrow's ecstacy\nAnd longing breeds me restlessness; desire for ever fires, * And tears to all proclaim what I would keep in secrecy\nNo cunning shift is known to me a meeting to secure, * That I may quit this sickly state, may cure my malady:\nThe love which blazeth in my heart is fed with fancy fuel, * The lover from its hell of fire must bear Hell's agony![FN#240]\nO thou who blamest me for all befel me, 'tis enough, * Patient I bear what ever wrote the Reed of Doom for me:\nBy Love I swear I'll never be consoled, no, never more; * I swear the oath of Love's own slaves who know no perjury:\nO Night, to chroniclers of Love the news of me declare; * That sleep hath fed mine eyelids of thy knowledge witness bear!\"\n\n\nThen she walked on, weeping and turning right and left as she went, when\nbehold, there espied her an old Badawi[FN#241] who had come into the town from\nthe desert with wild Arabs other five. The old man took note of her and saw\nthat she was lovely, but she had nothing on her head save a piece of camlet,\nand, marvelling at her beauty, he said to himself, \"This charmer dazzleth men's\nwits but she is in squalid condition, and whether she be of the people of this\ncity or she be a stranger, I needs must have her.\" So he followed her, little\nby little, till he met her face to face and stopped the way before her in a\nnarrow lane, and called out to her, asking her case, and said, \"Tell me, O my\nlittle daughter! art thou a free woman or a slave?\" When she heard this, she\nsaid to him, \"By thy life, do not add to my sorrows!\" Quoth he, \"Allah hath\nblessed me with six daughters, of whom five died and only one is left me, the\nyoungest of all; and I came to ask thee if thou be of the folk of this city or\na stranger; that I might take thee and carry thee to her, to bear her company\nso as to divert her from pining for her sisters. If thou have no kith and kin,\nI will make thee as one of them; and thou and she shall be as my two children.\"\nNuzhat al-Zaman bowed her head in bashfulness when she heard what he said and\ncommuned with herself, \"Haply I may trust myself to this old man.\" Then she\nsaid to him, \"O nuncle, I am a maiden of the Arabs and a stranger and I have a\nsick brother; but I will go with thee to thy daughter on one condition, which\nis, that I may spend only the day with her and at night may return to my\nbrother. If thou strike this bargain I will fare with thee, for I am a\nstranger and I was high in honour among my tribe, and I awoke one morning to\nfind myself vile and abject. I came with my brother from the land of Al-Hijaz\nand I fearless he know not where I am.\" When the Badawi heard this, he said to\nhimself, \"By Allah, I have got my desire!\" Then he turned to her and replied,\n\"There shall none be dearer to me than thou; I wish thee only to bear my\ndaughter company by day and thou shalt go to thy brother at earliest nightfall.\nOr, if thou wilt, bring him over to dwell with us.\" And the Badawi ceased not\nto console her heart and coax her, till she trusted in him and agreed to serve\nhim. Then he walked on before her and, when she followed him, he winked to his\nmen to go in advance and harness the dromedaries and load them with their packs\nand place upon them water and provisions, ready for setting out as soon as he\nshould come up with the camels. Now this Badawi was a base born churl, a\nhighway thief and a traitor to the friend he held most fief, a rogue in grain,\npast master of plots and chicane. He had no daughter and no son and was only\npassing through the town when, by the decree of the Decreer, he fell in with\nthis unhappy one. And he ceased not to hold her in converse on the highway\ntill they came without the city of Jerusalem and, when outside, he joined his\ncompanions and found they had made ready the dromedaries. So the Badawi\nmounted a camel, having seated Nuzhat al-Zaman behind him and they rode on all\nnight. Then she knew that the Badawi's proposal was a snare and that he had\ntricked her; and she continued weeping and crying out the whole night long,\nwhile they journeyed on making for the mountains, in fear any should see them. \nNow when it was near dawn, they dismounted from their dromedaries and the\nBadawi came up to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said to her, \"O city strumpet, what is\nthis weeping? By Allah, an thou hold not thy peace, I will beat thee to death,\nO thou town filth!\" When she heard this she loathed life and longed for death;\nso she turned to him and said, \"O accursed old man, O gray beard of hell, how\nhave I trusted thee and thou hast played me false, and now thou wouldst torture\nme?\" When he heard her reply he cried out, \"O lazy baggage, dost thou dare to\nbandy words with me?\" And he stood up to her and beat her with a whip, saying,\n\"An thou hold not thy peace, I will kill thee!\" So she was silent awhile, then\nshe called to mind her brother and the happy estate she had been in and she\nshed tears secretly. Next day, she turned to the Badawi and said to him, \"How\ncouldst thou play me this trick and lure me into these bald and stony\nmountains, and what is thy design with me?\" When he heard her words he hardened\nhis heart and said to her, \"O lazy baggage of ill omen and insolent! wilt thou\nbandy words with me?\" and he took the whip and came down with it on her back\ntill she felt faint. Then she bowed down over his feet and kissed[FN#242]\nthem; and he left beating her and began reviling her and said, \"By the rights\nof my bonnet,[FN#243] if I see or hear thee weeping, I will cut out thy tongue\nand stuff it up thy coynte, O thou city filth!\" So she was silent and made him\nno reply, for the beating pained her; but sat down with her arms round her\nknees and, bowing her head upon her collar, began to look into her case and her\nabasement after her lot of high honour; and the beating she had endured; and\nshe called to mind her brother and his sickness and forlorn condition, and how\nthey were both strangers in a far country, which drave her tears down her\ncheeks and she wept silently and began repeating,\n\n\"Time hath for his wont to upraise and debase, * Nor is lasting condition for human race:\nIn this world each thing hath appointed turn; * Nor may man transgress his determined place:\nHow long these perils and woes? Ah woe * For a life, all woeful in parlous case!\nAllah bless not the days which have laid me low * I' the world, with disgrace after so much grace!\nMy wish is baffled, my hopes cast down, * And distance forbids me to greet his face:\nO thou who passeth that dear one's door, * Say for me, these tears shall flow evermore!\"\n\n\nWhen she had finished her verses, the Badawi came up to her and, taking\ncompassion on her, bespoke her kindly and wiped away her tears. Then he gave\nher a barley scone and said, \"I love not one who answereth at times when I am\nin wrath: so henceforth give me no more of these impertinent words and I will\nsell thee to a good man like myself, who will do well with thee, even as I have\ndone.\" \"Yes; whatso thou doest is right,\" answered she; and when the night was\nlongsome upon her and hunger burnt her, she ate very little of that barley\nbread. In the middle of the night the Badawi gave orders for departure,\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-sixth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Badawi gave the\nbarley scone to Nuzhat al-Zaman and promised he would sell her to a good man\nlike himself, she replied, \"Whatso thou doest is right!\" and, about midnight\nwhen hunger burned her,[FN#244] she ate a very little of that barley bread and\nthe Badawi ordered his party to set out; so they loaded their loads and he\nmounted a camel setting Nuzhat al-Zaman behind him. Then they journeyed and\nceased not journeying for three days, till they entered the city of Damascus\nand alighted at the Sultan's Khan, hard by the Viceroy's Gate. Now she had\nlost her colour by grief and the fatigue of such travelling, and she ceased not\nto weep over her misfortunes. So the Badawi came up to her and said, \"O thou\ncity filth, by the right of my bonnet, if thou leave not this weeping, I will\nsell thee to none but a Jew!\" Then he arose and took her by the hand and\ncarried her to a chamber, and walked off to the bazar, and he went round to,\nthe merchants who dealt in slave-girls, and began to parley with them, saying,\n\"I have brought a slave girl whose brother fell ill, and I sent him to my\npeople about Jerusalem, that they might tend him till he is cured. As for her\nI want to sell her, but after the dog her brother fell sick, the separation\nfrom him was grievous to her, and since then she doth nothing but weep, and now\nI wish that whoso is minded to buy her of me speak softly to her and say, 'Thy\nbrother is with me in Jerusalem ill'; and I will be easy with him about her\nprice.\" Then one of the merchants came up to him and asked, \"How old is she?\"\nHe answered \"She is a virgin, just come to marriageable age, and she is endowed\nwith sense and breeding and wit and beauty and loveliness. But from the day I\nsent her brother to Jerusalem, her heart hath been yearning for him, so that\nher beauty is fallen away and her value lessened.\" Now when the merchant heard\nthis, he set forth with the Badawi and said, \"O Shaykh[FN#245] of the Arabs, I\nwill go with thee and buy of thee this girl whom thou praisest so highly for\nwit and manners and beauty and loveliness; and I will pay thee her price but it\nmust be upon conditions which if thou accept, I will give thee ready money, and\nif thou accept not I will return her to thee.\" Quoth the Badawi, \"An thou wilt,\ntake her up to the Sultan Sharrkan, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman lord of Baghdad\nand of the land of Khorasan, and condition me any conditions thou likest, for\nwhen thou hast brought her before King Sharrkan, haply she will please him, and\nhe will pay thee her price and a good profit for thyself to boot.\" Rejoined the\nmerchant, \"It happens that I have just now something to ask from him, and it is\nthis that he write me an order upon the office, exempting me from custom dues\nand also that he write me a letter of recommendation to his father, King Omar\nbin al-Nu'uman. So if he take the girl, I will weigh[FN#246] thee out her\nprice at once.\" \"I agree with thee to this condition,\" answered the Badawi. So\nthey returned together to the place where Nuzhat al-Zaman was and the wild Arab\nstood at the chamber door and called out, saying, \"O N\u00e1jiyah[FN#247]!\" which\nwas the name wherewith he had named her. When she heard him, she wept and made\nno answer. Then he turned to the merchant and said to him, \"There she sitteth;\ngo to her and look at her and speak to her kindly as I enjoined thee.\" So the\ntrader went up to her in courteous wise and saw that she was wondrous beautiful\nand loveable, especially as she knew the Arabic tongue; and he said to the\nBadawi, \"If she be even as thou saddest, I shall get of the Sultan what I will\nfor her.\" Then he bespake her, \"Peace be on thee, my little maid! How art\nthou?\" She turned to him and replied, \"This also was registered in the Book of\nDestiny.\" Then she looked at him and, seeing him to be a man of respectable\nsemblance with a handsome face, she said to herself, \"I believe this one cometh\nto buy me;\" and she continued, \"If I hold aloof from him, I shall abide with my\ntyrant and he will do me to death with beating. In any case, this person is\nhandsome of face and maketh me hope for better treatment from him than from my\nbrute of a Badawi. May be he cometh only to hear me talk; so I will give him a\nfair answer.\" All this while her eyes were fixed on the ground; then she raised\nthem to him and said in a sweet voice, \"And upon thee be peace, O my lord, and\nAllah's mercy and His benediction![FN#248] This is what is commanded of the\nProphet, whom Allah bless and preserve! As for thine enquiry how I am, if thou\nwouldst know my case, it is such as thou wouldst not wish but to thy foe.\" And\nshe held her peace. When the merchant heard what she said, his fancy took\nwings for delight in her and, turning to the Badawi, he asked him, \"What is her\nprice, for indeed she is noble?\" Thereupon the Badawi waxed angry and answered,\n\"Thou wilt turn me the girl's head with this talk! Why dost thou say that she\nis noble,[FN#249] while she is of the scum of slave-girls and of the refuse of\nfolk? I will not sell her to thee!\" When the merchant heard this, he knew the\nman to be weak of wits and said to him, \"Calm thyself, for I will buy her of\nthee with these blemishes thou mentionest.\" \"And how much wilt thou give me for\nher?\" enquired the Badawi. Replied the merchant, \"Name thy price for her: none\nshould name the son save his sire.\" Rejoined the Badawi, \"None shall name it\nbut thou thyself.\" Quoth the merchant to himself, \"This wildling is a rudesby\nand a maggotty head. By Allah, I cannot tell her price, for she hath won my\nheart with her fair speech and good looks; and, if she can read and write, it\nwill be complete fair luck to her and to her purchaser. But this Badawi does\nnot know her worth.\" Then he turned and said to him, \"O Shaykh of the Arabs, I\nwill give thee in ready money, clear of the tax and the Sultan's dues, two\nhundred gold pieces.\" Now when the Badawi heard this, he flew into a violent\nrage and cried at the merchant, saying, \"Get up and go thy ways! By Allah,\nwert thou to offer me two hundred dinars for the bit of camlet she weareth, I\nwould not sell it to thee. And now I will not sell her, but will keep her by\nme, to pasture the camels and grind my grist.\" And he cried out to her, saying,\n\"Come here, thou stinkard! I will not sell thee.\" Then he turned to the\nmerchant and said to him, \"I used to think thee a man of judgment; but, by the\nright of my bonnet, if thou begone not from me, I will let thee hear what shall\nnot please thee!\" Quoth the merchant to himself, \"Of a truth this Badawi is mad\nand knoweth not her value, and I will say no more to him about her price at the\npresent time; for by Allah, were he a man of sense, he would not say, 'By the\nrights of my bonnet!' By the Almighty, she is worth the kingdom of the Chosro\u00ebs\nand I have not her price by me, but if he ask even more, I will give him what\nhe will, though it be all my goods.\" Then he turned and said to him, \"O Shaykh\nof the Arabs, take patience and calm thyself and tell me what clothes she hath\nwith thee?\" Cried the Badawi, \"And what hath the baggage to do with clothes? \nBy Allah, this camlet in which she is wrapped is ample for her.\" \"With thy\nleave,\" said the merchant, \"I will unveil her face and examine her even as folk\nexamine slave-girls whom they think of buying.\"[FN#250] Replied the other, \"Up\nand do what thou wilt and Allah keep thy youth! Examine her outside and inside\nand, if thou wilt, strip off her clothes and look at her when she is naked.\"\nQuoth the trader, \"Allah forfend! I will look at naught save her\nface.\"[FN#251] Then he went up to her and was put to shame by her beauty and\nloveliness,\u2014And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-seventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the merchant went up to\nNuzhat al-Zaman and was put to shame by her beauty and loveliness, so he sat by\nher side and asked her, \"O my mistress, what is thy name?\" She answered, \"Doss\nthou ask what is my name this day or what it was before this day?\" Thereupon\nthe merchant enquired, \"Hast thou then two names: to-day's and yesterday's?\"\n\"Yes,\" replied she, \"my name in the past was Nuzhat al-Zaman, the Delight of\nthe Age; but my name at this present is Ghussat[FN#252] al-Zaman, the Despight\nof the Age.\" When the merchant heard this his eyes brimmed over with tears and\nquoth he to her, \"Hast thou not a sick brother?\" \"Ay by Allah, O my lord, I\nhave,\" quoth she, \"but fortune hath parted me and him and he lieth sick in\nJerusalem.\" The merchant's head was confounded at the sweetness of her speech\nand he said to himself, \"Verily, the Badawi spake the truth of her.\" Then she\ncalled to mind her brother and his sickness and his strangerhood and her\nseparation from him in his hour of weakness and her not knowing what had\nbefallen him; and she thought of all that had happened to her with the Badawi\nand of her severance from her mother and father and native land; and the tears\ncoursed down her cheeks and fast as they started they dropped; and she began\nreciting,\n\n\"Allah, where'er thou be, His aid impart * To thee, who distant dwellest in my heart!\nAllah be near thee how so far thou fare; * Ward off all shifts of Time, all dangers thwart!\nMine eyes are desolate for thy vanisht sight, * And start my tears-ah me, how fast they start!\nWould Heaven I kenned what quarter or what land * Homes thee, and in what house and tribe thou art\nAn fount of life thou drain in greenth of rose, * While drink I tear drops for my sole desert?\nAn thou 'joy slumber in those hours, when I * Peel 'twixt my side and couch coals' burning smart?\nAll things were easy save to part from thee, * For my sad heart this grief is hard to dree.\"\n\n\nWhen the merchant heard her verses, he wept and put out his hand to wipe away\nthe tears from her cheeks; but she let down her veil over her face, saying,\n\"Heaven forbid, O my lord!''[FN#253] Then the Badawi, who was sitting at a\nlittle distance watching them, saw her cover her face from the merchant while\nabout to wipe the tears from her cheeks; and he concluded that she would have\nhindered him from handling her: so he rose and running to her, dealt her, with\na camel's halter he had in his hand, such a blow on the shoulders that she fell\nto the ground on her face. Her eyebrow struck a stone which cut it open, and\nthe blood streamed down her cheeks; whereupon she screamed a loud scream and\nfelt faint and wept bitterly. The merchant was moved to tears for her and said\nin himself, \"There is no help for it but that I buy this damsel, though at her\nweight in gold, and free her from this tyrant.\" And he began to revile the\nBadawi whilst Nazhat al- Zaman lay in sensible. When she came to herself, she\nwiped away the tears and blood from her face; and she bound up her head: then,\nraising her glance to heaven, she besought her Lord with a sorrowful heart and\nbegan repeating,\n\n\"And pity one who erst in honour throve, * And now is fallen into sore disgrace.\nShe weeps and bathes her cheeks with railing tears, * And asks 'What cure can meet this fatal case?'\"\n\n\nWhen she had ended her verse, she turned to the merchant and said in an\nundertone, \"By the Almighty, do not leave me with a tyrant who knoweth not\nAllah the Most High! If I pass this night in his place, I shall kill myself\nwith my own hand: save me from him, so Allah save thee from Gehenna-fire.\" Then\nquoth the merchant to the Badawi, \"O Shaykh of the Arabs, this slave is none of\nthine affair; so do thou sell her to me for what thou wilt.\" \"Take her,\" quoth\nthe Badawi, \"and pay me down her price, or I will carry her back to the camp\nand there set her to feed the camels and gather their dung.\"[FN#254] Said the\nmerchant, \"I will give thee fifty thousand dinars for her.\" \"Allah will\nopen!\"[FN#255] replied the Badawi. \"Seventy thousand,\" said the merchant.\n\"Allah will open!\" repeated the Badawi: \"this is not the capital spent upon\nher, for she hath eaten with me barley bread to the value of ninety thousand\ngold pieces.\" The merchant rejoined, \"Thou and thine and all thy tribe in the\nlength of your lives have not eaten a thousand ducats' worth of barley; but I\nwill say thee one word, wherewith if thou be not satisfied, I will set the\nViceroy of Damascus on thee and he will take her from thee by force.\" The\nBadawi continued, \"Say on!\" \"An hundred thousand,\" quoth the merchant. \"I have\nsold her to thee at that price,\" answered the Badawi; \"I shall be able to buy\nsalt with her.\" The merchant laughed and, going to his lodgings, brought the\nmoney and put it into the hand of the Badawi, who took it and made off, saying\nto himself, \"Needs must I go to Jerusalem where, haply, I shall happen on her\nbrother, and I will bring him here and sell him also.\" So he mounted and\njourneyed till he arrived at Jerusalem, where he went to the Khan and asked for\nZau al-Makan, but could not find him. Such was the case with him; but for what\nregards the merchant and Nazhat al-Zaman, when he took her he threw some of his\nclothes over her and carried her to his lodgings,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-eighth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the trader saved\nNuzhat al-Zaman from the Badawi and bore her to his lodgings and robed her in\nthe richest raiment, he went down with her to the bazar, where he bought her\nwhat ornaments she chose and put them in a satin bag, which he set before her,\nsaying, \"All is for thee and I ask nothing of thee in return but that, when I\nlead thee to the Sultan, Viceroy of Damascus, thou acquaint him with the price\nI paid for thee, albeit it was little compared with thy value: and, if seeing\nthee he buy thee of me, thou tell him how I have dealt with thee and ask of him\nfor me a royal patent, and a written recommendation wherewith I can repair to\nhis father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad, to the intent that he\nmay forbid the tax on my stuffs or any other goods in which I traffic.\" When\nshe heard his words, she wept and sobbed, and the merchant said to her, \"O my\nlady, I observe that, every time I mention Baghdad, thine eyes are tearful: is\nthere any one there whom thou lovest? If it be a trader or the like, tell me;\nfor I know all the merchants and so forth there and, if thou wouldst send him a\nmessage, I will bear it for thee.\" Replied she, \"By Allah, I have no\nacquaintance among merchant folk and the like! I know none there but King Omar\nbin Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad.\" When the merchant heard her words, he laughed\nand rejoiced with exceeding joy and said in himself, \"By Allah, I have won my\nwish!\" Then he said to her, \"Hast thou been shown to him in time past?\" She\nanswered, \"No, but I was brought up with his daughter and he holdeth me dear\nand I have high honour with him; so if thou wouldst have the King grant thee\nthy desire, give me ink case and paper and I will write thee a letter; and when\nthou reachest the city of Baghdad, do thou deliver it into the hand of King\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman and say to him, 'Thy handmaid, Nuzhat al-Zaman, would have\nthee to know that the chances and changes of the nights and days have struck\nher as with a hammer, and have smitten her so that she hath been sold from\nplace to place, and she sendeth thee her salams.' And, if he ask further of\nher, say that I am now with the Viceroy at Damascus.\" The merchant wondered at\nher eloquence, and his affection for her increased and he said to her I cannot\nbut think that men have played upon thine understanding and sold thee for\nmoney. Tell me, dost thou know the Koran by heart?\" \"Yes,\" answered she; \"and\nI am also acquainted with philosophy and medicine and the prolegomena of\nscience and the commentaries of Galen, the physician, on the canons of\nHippocrates; and I have commented him and I have read the Tazkirah and have\ncommented the Burh\u00e1n; and I have studied the Simples of Ibn Bayt\u00e1r, and I have\nsomething to say of the canon of Meccah, by Avicenna. I can ree riddles and\ncan solve ambiguities, and discourse upon geometry and am skilled in anatomy I\nhave read the books of the Sh\u00e1fi'\u00ed[FN#256] school and the Traditions of the\nProphet and syntax; and I can argue with the Olema and discourse of all manner\nlearning. Moreover I am skilled in logic and rhetoric and arithmetic and the\nmaking of talismans and almanacs, and I know thoroughly the Spiritual\nSciences[FN#257] and the times appointed for religious duties and I understand\nall these branches of knowledge.\" Then quoth she to the merchant, \"Bring me\nink case and paper, that I write thee a letter which shall aid thee on thy\njourney to Baghdad and enable thee to do without passports.\" Now when the\nmerchant heard this, he cried out \"Brava! Brava![FN#258] Then O happy he in\nwhose palace thou shalt! Thereupon he brought her paper and ink case and a pen\nof brass and bussed the earth before her face to do her honour. She took a\nsheet and handled the reed and wrote therewith these verses,\n\n\"I see all power of sleep from eyes of me hath flown; * Say, did thy parting teach these eyne on wake to wone?\nWhat makes thy memory light such burnings in my heart? * Hath every lover strength such memories to own?\nHow sweet the big dropped cloud which rained on summer day; * 'Tis gone and ere I taste its sweets afar 'tis flown:\nI pray the wind with windy breath to bring some news * From thee, to lover wightwi' love so woe begone\nComplains to thee a lover of all hope forlorn, * For parting pangs can break not only heart but stone.\"\n\n\nAnd when she had ended writing the verses she continued, \"These words are from\nher who saith that melancholy destroyeth her and that watching wasteth her; in\nthe murk of whose night is found no light and darkness and day are the same in\nher sight. She tosseth on the couch of separation and her eyes are blackened\nwith the pencils of sleeplessness; she watcheth the stars arise and into the\ngloom she strains her eyes: verily, sadness and leanness have consumed her\nstrength and the setting forth of her case would run to length. No helper hath\nshe but tears and she reciteth these verses,\n\n'No ring dove moans from home on branch in morning light, * But shakes my very frame with sorrow's killing might:\nNo lover sigheth for his love or gladdeth heart * To meet his mate, but breeds in me redoubled blight\nI bear my plaint to one who has no ruth for me, * Ah me, how Love can part man's mortal frame and sprite!' \"\n\n\nThen her eyes welled over with tears, and she wrote also these two couplets,\n\n\"Love smote my frame so sore on parting day, * That severance severed sleep and eyes for aye.\nI waxt so lean that I am still a man, * But for my speaking, thou wouldst never say.\"\n\n\nThen she shed tears and wrote at the foot of the sheet, \"This cometh from her\nwho is far from her folk and her native land, the sorrowful hearted woman\nNuzhat al-Zaman.\" In fine, she folded the sheet and gave it to the merchant,\nwho took it and kissed it and understood its contents and exclaimed, \"Glory to\nHim who fashioned thee!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Fifty-ninth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman wrote the\nletter and gave it to the merchant; and he took it and read it and understood\nthe contents and exclaimed, \"Glory to Him who fashioned thee!\" Then he\nredoubled his kindness and made himself pleasant to her all that day, and when\nnight came he sallied out to the bazar and bought some food, wherewith he fed\nher; after which he carried her to the Hammam and said to the bath woman, \"As\nsoon as thou hast made an end of washing her head, dress her and send and let\nme know of it.\" And she replied \"Hearing is obeying.\" Meanwhile he fetched food\nand fruit and wax candles and set them on the bench in the outer room of the\nbath; and when the tire woman had done washing her, she dressed her and led her\nout of the bath and seated her on the bench. Then she sent to tell the\nmerchant, and Nuzhat al-Zaman went forth to the outer room, where she found the\ntray spread with food and fruit. So she ate and the tire woman with her, and\ngave the rest to the people and keeper of the bath. Then she slept till the\nmorning, and the merchant lay the night in a place apart from her. When he\naroused himself from sleep he came to her and waking her, presented her with a\nshift of fine stuff and a head-kerchief worth a thousand dinars, a suit of\nTurkish embroidery and walking boots purfled with red gold and set with pearls\nand gems. Moreover, he hung in each of her ears a circlet of gold with a fine\npearl therein, worth a thousand dinars, and threw round her neck a collar of\ngold with bosses of garnet and a chain of amber beads that hung down between\nher breasts over her navel. Now to this chain were attached ten balls and nine\ncrescents, and each crescent had in its midst a bezel of ruby, and each ball a\nbezel of balass: the value of the chain was three thousand dinars and each of\nthe balls was priced at twenty thousand dirhams, so that the dress she wore was\nworth in all a great sum of money. When she had put these on, the merchant\nbade her adorn herself, and she adorned herself to the utmost beauty; then she\nlet fall her fillet over her eyes and she fared forth with the merchant\npreceding her. But when folk saw her, all wondered at her beauty and\nexclaimed, \"Blessed be Allah, the most excellent Creator! O lucky the man in\nwhose house the hall be!\" And the trader ceased not walking (and she behind\nhim) till they entered the palace of Sultan Sharrkan; when he sought an\naudience and, kissing the earth between his hands, said, \"O auspicious King, I\nhave brought thee a rare gift, unmatched in this time and richly gifted with\nbeauty and with good qualities.\" Quoth the King, \"Let me see it.\" So the\nmerchant went out and brought her, she following him till he made her stand\nbefore King Sharrkan. When he beheld her, blood yearned to blood, though she\nhad been parted from him in childhood and though he had never seen her, having\nonly heard a long time after her birth that he had a sister called Nuzhat al-\nZaman and a brother Zau al-Makan, he having been jealous of them, because of\nthe succession. And such was the cause of his knowing little about them. \nThen, having placed her before the presence, the merchant said, \"O King of the\nage, besides being peerless in her time and beauty and loveliness, she is also\nversed in all learning, sacred and profane, including the art of government and\nthe abstract sciences.\" Quoth the King to the trader, \"Take her price,\naccording as thou boughtest her, and go thy ways.\" \"I hear and I obey,\" replied\nthe merchant; \"but first write me a patent, exempting me for ever from paying\ntithe on my merchandise.\" Said the King, \"I will do this, but first tell me\nwhat price thou paidest for her.\" Said the merchant, \"I bought her for an\nhundred thousand dinars, and her clothes cost me another hundred thousand.\"\nWhen the Sultan heard these words, he declared, \"I will give thee a higher\nprice than this for her;\" and, calling his treasurer, said to him, \"Pay this\nmerchant three hundred and twenty thousand ducats; so will he have an hundred\nand twenty thousand dinars profit.\" Thereupon the Sultan summoned the four\nKazis and paid him the money in their presence and then he said, \"I call you to\nwitness that I free this my slave girl and purpose to marry her.\" So the Kazis\nwrote out the deed of emancipation and the contract of marriage, when the\nSultan scattered much gold on the heads of those present; and the pages and the\neunuchs picked up this largesse. Then, after paying him his monies, Sharrkan\nbade them write for the merchant a perpetual patent, exempting him from toll,\ntax or tithe upon his merchandise and forbidding each and every in all his\ngovernment to molest him, and lastly bestowed on him a splendid dress of\nhonour.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the Sixtieth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Sharrkan bade them\nwrite for the merchant a mandate, after paying him his monies; and they wrote a\nperpetual patent, exempting him from the tithe upon his merchandise and\nforbidding any in his government to molest him; and lastly bestowed upon him a\nsplendid dress of honour. Then all about him retired, and none remained save\nthe Kazis and the merchant, whereupon said he to the judges, \"I wish you to\nhear such discourse from this damsel as may prove her knowledge and\naccomplishments in all aimed for her by this trader, that we ascertain the\ntruth of his assertions.\" They answered, \"There is no evil in that!\"; and he\ncommanded the curtain to be let down between him and those with him and the\nmaiden and those with her; and the women about the damsel behind the curtains\nbegan to wish her joy and kiss her hands and feet, when they learned that she\nwas become the King's wife. Then they came round her and took off her dresses\neasing her of the weight of her clothes and began to look upon her beauty and\nloveliness. Presently the wives of the Emirs and Wazirs heard that King\nSharrkan had bought a handmaiden unmatched for her beauty and learning and\nphilosophy and account keeping, and versed in all branches of knowledge, that\nhe had paid for her three hundred and twenty thousand dinars, and that he had\nset her free and had written a marriage-contract with her and had summoned the\nfour Kazis to make trial of her, how she would answer all their questions and\nhold disputetion with them. So they asked leave of their husbands and repaired\nto the palace wherein was Nuzhat al- Zaman. When they came in to her, they\nfound the eunuchs standing before her; and, as soon as she saw the wives of the\nEmirs and Wazirs and Grandees of the realm coming to call upon her, she arose\nto them on her feet and met them with courtesy, her handmaidens standing behind\nher, and she received them saying, \"Ye be welcome!\" The while she smiled in\ntheir faces so as to win their hearts; and she promised them all manner of good\nand seated them in their proper stations, as if she had been brought up with\nthem; so all wondered at her beauty and loveliness and said to one another,\n\"This damsel is none other than a Queen, the daughter of a King.\" Then they sat\ndown, magnifying her worth and said to her, \"O our lady, this our city is\nillumined by thee, and our country and abode and birth place and reign are\nhonoured by thy presence. The kingdom indeed is thy kingdom and the palace is\nthy palace, and we all are thy handmaids; so, by Allah, do not shut us out from\nthy favours and the sight of thy beauty.\" And she thanked them for this. All\nthis while the curtains were let down between Nuzhat al-Zaman and the women\nwith her, on the one side, and King Sharrkan and the four Kazis and the\nmerchant seated by him on the other. Presently King Sharrkan called to her and\nsaid, \"O Queen, the glory of thine age, this merchant hath described thee as\nbeing learned and accomplished; and he claimeth that thou art skilled in all\nbranches of knowledge, even to astrology: so let us hear something of all this\nhe hath mentioned, and favour us with a short discourse on such subjects.\" She\nreplied, saying: \"O King, to hear is to obey.[FN#259] The first subjects\nwhereof I will treat are the art of government and the duties of Kings and what\nbehoveth governors of command meets according to religious law, and what is\nincumbent on them in respect of satisfactory speech and manners. Know then, O\nKing, that all men's works tend either to religious or to laical life, for none\nattaineth to religion save through this world, because it is the best road to\nfuturity. Now the works of this world are not ordered save by the doings of\nits people, and men's doings are divided into four divisions, government,\ncommerce, husbandry and craftsmanship. Now government requireth perfect\nadministration with just and true judgment; for government is the pivot of the\nedifice of the world, which world is the road to futurity; since Allah Almighty\nhath made the world for His servants as viaticum to the traveller for the\nattainment of his goal; and it befitteth each man that he receive of it such\nmeasure as shall bring him to Allah, and that he follow not herein his own mind\nand his individual lust. If folk would take of worldly goods with justice and\nequity, all cause of contention would be cut off; but they take thereof with\nviolence ant after their own desires, and their persistence therein giveth rise\nto contentions; so they have need of the Sultan, that he do justice between\nthem; and order their affairs; and, if the King restrain not his folk from one\nanother, the strong will drive the weak to the wall. Hence Ardeshir[FN#260]\nsaith, 'Religion and Kingship be twins'; religion is a hidden treasure and the\nKing is its keeper; and the Divine Ordinances and men's intelligence point out\nthat it behoveth the people to adopt a Sultan who shall withhold oppressor from\noppressed and do the weak justice against the strong and restrain the violence\nof the proud and the rebels against rule. For know, O King, that according to\nthe measure of the Sultan's good morals, even so will be the time; as saith the\nApostle of Allah (on whom be peace and salvation!), 'There be two classes who,\nif they be good, the people will be good; and if they be bad, the people will\nbe bad, even the Olema and the Emirs.' And it is said by a certain sage, 'There\nbe three kinds of Kings, the King of the Faith, the King who protecteth things\nto which reverence is due, and the King of his own lusts.' The King of the\nFaith obligeth his subjects to follow their faith, and it behoveth he be the\nmost faithful,[FN#261] for it is by him that they take pattern in the things of\nthe Faith; and it becometh the folk to obey him in whatso he commandeth\naccording to Divine Ordinance; but he shall hold the discontented in the same\nesteem as the contented, because of submission to the decrees of Destiny. As\nfor the King who protecteth things to be reverenced, he upholdeth the things of\nthe Faith and of the World and compelleth his folk to follow the Divine Law and\nto preserve the rights of humanity; and it fitteth him to unite Pen and Sword;\nfor whoso declineth from what Pen hath written his feet slip and the King shall\nrectify his error with the sharp Sword and dispread his justice over all\nmankind. As for the King of his own lusts, he hath no religion but the\nfollowing his desire and, as he feareth not the wrath of his Lord who set him\non the throne, so his Kingdom inclineth to deposition and the end of his pride\nis in the house of perdition. And sages say, 'The King hath need of many\npeople, but the people have need of but one King' wherefore it beseemeth that\nhe be well acquainted with their natures, that he reduce their discord to\nconcord, that with his justice be encompass them all and with his bounties\noverwhelm them all. And know, O King, that Ardeshir, styled Jamr Shad\u00edd, or\nthe Live Coal, third of the Kings of Persia, conquered the whole world and\ndivided it into four divisions and, for this purpose, get for himself four seal\nrings, one for each division. The first seal was that of the sea and the\npolice of prohibition and on it was written, Alterna lives. The second was the\nseal of tribute and of the receipt of monies, and on it was written, Building\nup. The third was the seal of the provisioning department and on it was\nwritten, Plenty. The fourth was the seal of the oppressed, and on it was\nwritten, Justice. And these usages remained valid in Persia until the\nrevelation of Al-Islam. Chosro\u00ebs also wrote his son, who was with the army,\n'Be not thou too open handed with thy troops, or they will be too rich to need\nthee.'\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-first night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Chosro\u00ebs wrote his son,\n'Be not thou too open handed with thy troops, or they will be too rich to need\nthee; nor be thou niggardly with them, or they will murmur against thee. Give\nthy giving deliberately and confer thy favours advisedly; open thy hand to them\nin time of success and stint them not in time of distress.' There is a legend\nthat a desert Arab came once to the Caliph Al- Mans\u00far[FN#262] and said, 'Starve\nthy dog and he shall follow thee.' When the Caliph heard his words, he was\nenraged with the Arab, but Abu 'l-Abb\u00e1s of T\u00fas said to him, 'I fear that if\nsome other than thou should show him a scone, the dog would follow him and\nleave thee alone.' Thereupon the Caliph Al-Mansur's wrath subsided and he knew\nthat the wild Arab had intended no offence and ordered him a present. And\nknow, O King, that Abd al-Malik bin Marw\u00e1n wrote to his brother Abd al-Az\u00edz,\nwhen he despatched him to Egypt, as follows, 'Pay heed to thy Secretaries and\nthy Chamberlains, for the Secretaries will acquaint thee with estate fished\nmatters and the Chamberlains with matters of official ceremony, whilst thine\nexpenditure will make thy troops known to thee.' Omar bin Al-Khatt\u00e1b[FN#263]\n(whom Allah accept!) when engaging a servant was in the habit of conditioning\nhim with four conditions; the first that he should not ride the baggage beasts,\nthe second that he should not wear fine clothes, the third that he should not\neat of the spoil and the fourth that he should not put off praying till after\nthe proper period. It is said that there is no wealth more profitable than\nunderstanding, and there is no understanding like common sense and prudence,\nand there is no prudence like piety; that there is no means of drawing near to\nGod like good morals, no measure like good breeding, no traffic like good works\nand no profit like earning the Divine favour; that there is no temperance like\nstanding within the limits of the law, no science like that of meditation, no\nworship like obeying the Divine commends, no faith like modesty, no calculation\nlike self abasement and no honour like knowledge. So guard the head and what\nit containeth and the belly and what it compriseth; and think of death and doom\nere it ariseth. Saith Ali (whose face Allah honour!), 'Beware of the\nwickedness of women and be on thy guard against them: consult them not in\naught;[FN#264] but grudge not complaisance to them, lest they greed for\nintrigue.' And eke quoth he, 'Whoso leaveth the path of moderation his wits\nbecome perplexed'; and there be rules for this which we will mention, if it be\nAllah's will. And Omar (whom Allah accept!) saith, 'There are three kinds of\nwomen, firstly the true believing, Heaven fearing, love full and fruit full,\nwho helpeth her mate against fate, not helping fate against her mate; secondly,\nshe who loveth her children but no more and, lastly, she who is a shackle Allah\nsetteth on the neck of whom He will.' Men be also three: the wise when he\nexerciseth his own judgement; the wiser who, when befalleth somewhat whereof he\nknoweth not the issue, seeketh folk of good counsel and acteth by their advice;\nand the unwise irresolute ignoring the right way nor heeding those who would\nguide him straight. Justice is indispensable in all things; even slave-girls\nhave need of justice; and men quote as an instance highway robbers who live by\nviolenting mankind, for did they not deal equitably among themselves and\nobserve justice in dividing their booty, their order would fall to\npieces.[FN#265] In short, for the rest, the Prince of noble qualities is\nBeneficence cum Benevolence; and how excellent is the saying of the poet,\n\nBy open hand and ruth the youth rose to his tribe's command; * Go and do\nlikewise for the same were easy task to thee.'\n\n\nAnd quoth another,\n\n'In ruth and mildness surety lies and mercy wins respect, * And Truth is best asylum for the man of soothfast soul:\nWhoso for wealth of gold would win and wear the world's good word, * On glory's course must ever be the first to gain the goal.'\"\n\n\nAnd Nazhat al-Zaman discoursed upon the policy of Kings till the bystanders\nsaid, \"Never have we seen one reason of rule and government like this damsel! \nHaply she will let us hear some discourse upon subject other than this.\" When\nshe heard their words and understood them she said, \"As for the chapter of good\nbreeding, it is wide of comprehension, being a compend of things perfect. Now\nit so happened that one day there came to the Caliph Mu'\u00e1wiyah[FN#266] one of\nhis companions, who mentioned the people of Irak and the goodness of their wit;\nand the Caliph's wife Mays\u00fan, mother of Yez\u00edd, heard his words. So, when he\nwas gone, she said to the Caliph, 'O Prince of the Faithful, I would thou let\nsome of the people of Irak come in and talk to thee, that I may hear their\ndiscourse.' Therewith Mu'awiyah said to his attendants, 'See who is at the\ndoor?' And they answered, 'The Banu Tamim.' 'Let them come in,' said he. So\nthey came in and with them Al-Ahn\u00e1f son of Kays.[FN#267] Then quoth Mu'awiyah,\n'Enter, O Abu Bahr,' and drew a curtain between himself and Maysun, that she\nmight hear what they said without being seen herself; then he said to Al-Ahnaf,\n'O Son of the Sea, draw near and tell me what counsel thou hast for me.' Quoth\nAl-Ahnaf, 'Part thy hair and trim thy moustachio and pare thy nails and pluck\nthine armpits and shave thy pubes[FN#268] and ever use the toothstick because\ntherein be two and seventy virtues, and make the Ghusl or complete ablution on\nFriday, as an expiation for all between the Fridays.'\u2014And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-second Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ahnaf bin Kays replied to\nAl-Mu'awiyah's[FN#269] question, 'And ever use the toothstick, because therein\nbe two end seventy virtues and make the complete Friday ablution as an\nexpiation for all between the two Fridays.' Quoth Mu'awiyah, 'What is thy\ncounsel to thyself?' 'To set my feet firmly on the ground, to move them\ndeliberately and watch over them with mine eyes!' 'How dost thou order thyself\nwhen thou goest in to one not of the nobles of thy tribe?' 'I lower mine eyes\nmodestly and I salute first; I avoid what concerneth me not and I spare my\nwords!' 'And how when thou goest in to thine equals?' 'I give ear to them when\nthey speak and I do not assail them when they err!' 'When thou goest in to thy\nchiefs?' 'I salute without making any sign and await the reply: if they bid me\ndraw near, I draw near, and if they draw off from me I withdraw!' 'How dost\nthou with thy wife?' Quoth Ahnaf, 'Excuse me from answering this, O Commander\nof the Faithful!'; but Mu'awiyah cried, 'I conjure thee inform me.' He said, 'I\nentreat her kindly and show her familiarity and am large in expenditure, for\nwoman was created of a crooked rib.'[FN#270] 'And how dost thou when thou hast\na mind to lie with her?' 'I bid her perfume herself and kiss her till she is\nmoved to desire; then, should it be as thou knowest,[FN#271] I throw her on her\nback. If the seed abide in her womb I say, 'O Allah make it blessed and let it\nnot be a wastrel, but fashion it into the best of fashions!'[FN#272] Then I\nrise from her to ablution and first I pour water over my hands and then over my\nbody and lastly, I praise Allah for the joy He hath given me.' Said Mu'awiyah,\n'Thou hast answered right well and now tell me what be thy requirements?' Said\nAhnaf, 'I would have thee rule thy subjects in the fear of Allah and do even\nhanded justice between them.' Thereupon Ahnaf rose to his feet and left the\nCaliph's presence, and when he had gone Maysun said, 'Were there but this man\nin Irak, he would suffice to it.' Then continued Nuzhat al-Zaman, \"And all this\nis a section of the chapter of good breeding, and know O King, that Muaykib was\nintendant of the public treasury during the Caliphate of Omar bin\nal-Khatt\u00e1b,\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-third Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al- Zaman\ncontinued, \"Know, O King, that Mu'aykib was intendant of the public treasury\nduring the Caliphate of Omar bin al-Khattab; and it so befel him that he saw\nOmar's son and gave him a dirham out of the treasury. Thereupon, quoth\nMu'aykib, 'I returned to my own house, and while I was sitting there behold, a\nmessenger came to me from Omar and I was afraid and went to him, and when I\ncame into his presence, in his hand was the dirham I had given his son. He\nsaid to me, 'Woe to thee Mu'aykib! I have found somewhat concerning thy soul.'\nI asked 'And what is that?'; and he answered, 'It is that thou hast shown\nthyself a foe to the followers of Mohammed (on whom be peace and salvation!) in\nthe matter of this dirham, and thou wilt have to account for it on Resurrection\nDay.'[FN#273] And Omar also wrote a letter to Ab\u00fa M\u00fas\u00e1 al-Ash\u00e1ri[FN#274] as\nfollows, 'When these presents reach thee, give the people what is theirs and\nremit to me the rest.' And he did so. Now when Othman succeeded to the\nCaliphate, he wrote a like letter to Abu Musa, who did his bidding and sent him\nthe tribute accordingly, and with it came Ziy\u00e1d.[FN#275] And when Ziyad laid\nthe tribute before Othman, the Caliph's son came in and took a dirham,\nwhereupon Ziyad shed tears. Othman asked 'Why weepest thou?'; and Ziyad\nanswered, 'I once brought Omar bin al-Khattab the like of this and his son took\na dirham, whereupon Omar bade snatch it from his hand. Now thy son hath taken\nof the tribute, yet I have seen none say aught to him or snatch the money from\nhim.' Then Othman[FN#276] cried, 'And where wilt thou find the like of Omar?'\nAgain Zayd bin Aslam relates of his father that he said, 'I went out one night\nwith Omar till we approached a blazing fire. Quoth Omar, 'O Aslam, I think\nthese must be travellers who are suffering from the cold. Come, let us join\nthem.' So we walked on till we came to them; and behold! we found a woman who\nhad lighted a fire under a cauldron and by her side were two children, both a\nwailing. Said Omar, 'Peace be with you, O folk of light (for it was repugnant\nto him to say 'folk of fire'),[FN#277] what aileth you?' Said she, 'The cold\nand the night trouble us.' He asked, 'What aileth these little people that they\nweep?'; and she answered, 'They are hungry.' He enquired, 'And what is in this\ncauldron?'; and she replied, 'It is what I quiet them withal, and Allah will\nquestion Omar bin al- Khattab of them, on the Day of Doom.' He said, 'And what\nshould Omar know of their case?' 'Why then,' rejoined she, 'should he manage\npeople's affairs and yet be unmindful of them?' Thereupon Omar turned to me\n(continned Aslam) and cried, 'Come with us!' So we set off running till we\nreached the pay department of his treasury, where he took out a sack containing\nflour and a pot holding fat and said to me, 'Load these on my back!' Quoth I,\n'O Commander of the Faithful, I will carry them for thee.' He rejoined, 'Wilt\nthou bear my load for me on the Day of Resurrection?' So I put the things on\nhis back, and we set off, running, till we threw down the sack hard by her. \nThen he took out some of the flour and put it in the cauldron; and, saying to\nthe woman, 'Leave it to me,' he began blowing the fire under the cauldron. Now\nhe was a long bearded man[FN#278] and I saw the smoke issuing from between the\nhairs of his beard till the flour was cooked, when he took some of the fat and\nthrew it in and said to the woman, 'Bed them while I cool it for them.' So they\nfell to eating till they had eaten their fill, and he left the rest with her. \nThen he turned to me and said, 'O Aslam, I see it was indeed hunger made them\nweep; and I am glad I did not go away ere I found out the cause of the light I\nsaw.'\u2014And Shahrazad per ceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-fourth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al- Zaman\ncontinued, \"It is related that Omar passed by a flock of sheep, kept by a\nMameluke, and asked him to sell him a sheep. He answered, 'They are not mine.'\n'Thou art the man I sought,' said Omar, and bought him and freed him; whereupon\nthe slave exclaimed, 'O Allah, as thou hast bestowed on me the lesser\nemancipation; so vouchsafe me the greater!'[FN#279] It is also said that Omar\nbin al- Khattab was wont to give his servants sweet milk and himself eat coarse\nfare, and to clothe them softly and himself wear rough garments. He rendered\nunto all men their due, and exceeded in his giving to them. He once gave a man\nfour thousand dirhams and added thereto a thousand, wherefore it was said to\nhim, 'Why dost thou not increase to thy son as thou increasest to this man?' He\nanswered, 'This man's father stood firm at the battle day of Ohod.'[FN#280]\nAl-Hasan relates that Omar once came back from foray with much money, and that\nHafsah[FN#281] approached him and said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, the due\nof kinship!' 'O Hafsah!' replied he, 'verily Allah hath enjoined us to satisfy\nthe dues of kinship, but not with the monies of the True Believers. Indeed,\nthou pleasest\" thy family, but thou angerest thy father.' And she went away\ntrailing her skirts.[FN#282] The son of Omar said, 'I implored the Lord to\nshow me my father one year after his death, till at last I saw him wiping the\nsweat from his brow and asked him, 'How is it with thee, O my father?' He\nanswered, 'But for my Lord's mercy thy father surely had perished.' Then said\nNuzhat al-Zaman, \"Hear, O auspicious King, the second division of the first\nchapter of the instances of the followers of the Apostle and other holy men. \nSaith Al Hasan al-Basr\u00ed,[FN#283] Not a soul of the sons of Adam goeth forth of\nthe world without regretting three things,- failure to enjoy what he hath\namassed, failure to compass what he hoped, failure to provide himself with\nsufficient viaticum for that hereto he goeth.[FN#284] It was said of\nSufyan,[FN#285] 'Can a man be a religious and yet possess wealth?' He replied,\n'Yes, so he be patient when grieved and be thankful when he hath received.'\nAbdullah bin Shadd\u00e1d, being about to die, sent for his son Mohammed and\nadmonished him, saying, 'O my son, I see the Summoner of Death summoning me,\nand so I charge thee to fear Allah both in public and private, to praise Allah\nand to be soothfastin thy speech, for such praise bringeth increase of\nprosperity, and piety in itself is the best of provision for the next world;\neven as saith one of the poets,\n\n'I see not happiness lies in gathering gold; * The man most pious is man happiest:\nIn truth the fear of God is best of stores, * And God shall make the pious choicely blest.'\n\n\nThen quoth Nuzhat al-Zaman, \"Let the King also give ear to these notes from the\nsecond section of the first chapter.\" He asked her 'What be they?'; and she\nanswered, \"When Omar bin Abd al-Az\u00edz[FN# 286] succeeded to the Caliphate, he\nwent to his household and laying hands on all that was in their hold, put it\ninto the public treasury. So the Banu Umayyah flew for aid to his father's\nsister, F\u00e1timah, daughter of Marwan, and she sent to him saying, 'I must needs\nspeak to thee.' So she came to him by night and, when he had made her alight\nfrom her beast and sit down, he said to her, 'O aunt, it is for thee to speak\nfirst, since thou hast some thing to ask: tell me then what thou wouldst with\nme.' Replied she, 'O Commander of the Faithful, it is thine to speak first, for\nthy judgment perceiveth that which is hidden from the intelligence of others.'\nThen said Omar, 'Of a verity Allah Almighty sent Mohammed as a blessing to some\nand a bane to others; and He elected for him those with him, and commissioned\nhim as His Apostle and took him to Himself,'\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-fifth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al- Zaman\ncontinued thus, \"Said Omar, 'Verily Allah commissioned as His Apostle Mohammed\n(upon whom be the benediction of Allah and His salvation!), for a blessing to\nsome and a bane to others; and He elected for him those with him and took him\nto Himself, leaving the people a stream whereof they might drink. After him\nAbu Bakr[FN#287] the Truth teller became Caliph and he left the river as it\nwas, doing what was pleasing to Allah. Then arose Omar and worked a work and\nstrove in holy war and strife where of none might do the like. But when Othman\narose to power he diverted a streamlet from the stream, and Mu'awiyah in his\nturn diverted from it several streamlets; and without ceasing in like manner,\nYezid and the Banu Marw\u00e1n such as Abd al-Malik and Wal\u00edd and Sulaym\u00e1n[FN#288]\ndrew away water from the stream, and the main course dried up, till rule\ndevolved upon me, and now I am minded to restore the stream to its normal\ncondition.' When Fatimah heard this, she said, 'I came wishing only to speak\nand confer with thee, but if this be thy word, I have nothing to say to thee.'\nThen she returned to the Ommiades and said to them, 'Now take ye the\nconsequences of your act when ye allied yourselves by marriage with Omar bin\nal-Khattab.'[FN#289] And it is also said that when Omar was about to die, he\ngathered his children round him, and Maslamah[FN#290] bin Abd al-Malik said to\nhim, 'O Prince of the Faithful, how wilt thou leave thy children paupers and\nthou their protector? None can hinder thee in thy lifetime from giving them\nwhat will suffice them out of the treasury; and this indeed were better than\nleaving the good work to him who shall rule after thee.' Omar looked at him\nwith a look of wrath and wonder and presently replied, 'O Maslamah, I have\ndefended them from this sin all the days of my life, and shall I make them\nmiserable after my death? Of a truth my sons are like other men, either\nobedient to Almighty Allah who will prosper them, or disobedient and I will not\nhelp them in their disobedience. Know, O Maslamah, that I was present, even as\nthou, when such an one of the sons of Marwanwas buried, and I fell asleep by\nhim and saw him in a dream given over to one of the punishments of Allah, to\nwhom belong Honour and Glory! This terrified me and made me tremble, and I\nvowed to Allah, that if ever I came to power, I would not do such deeds as the\ndead man had done. I have striven to fulfil this vow all the length of my life\nand I hope to die in the mercy of my Lord.' Quoth Maslamah, 'A certain man died\nand I was present at his burial, and when all was over I fell asleep and I saw\nhim as a sleeper seeth a dream, walking in a garden of flowing waters clad in\nwhite clothes. He came up to me and said: 'O Maslamah, it is for the like of\nthis that rulers should rule.' Many are the instances of this kind, and quoth\none of the men of authority, 'I used to milk the ewes in the Caliphate of Omar\nbin Abd al-Aziz, and one day I met a shepherd, among whose sheep I saw a wolf\nor wolves. I thought them to be dogs, for I had never before seen wolves; so I\nasked, 'What dost thou with these dogs?' 'They are not dogs, but wolves,'\nanswered the shepherd. Quoth I, 'Can wolves be with sheep and not hurt them?'\nQuoth he, 'When the head is whole, the body is whole.'[FN#291] Omar bin Abd\nal-Aziz once preached from a pulpit of clay and, after praising and glorifying\nAllah Almighty, said three words as follows, 'O folk, make clean your inmost\nhearts, that your outward lives may be dean to your brethren, and abstain ye\nfrom the things of the world. Know that between us and Adam there is no one\nman alive among the dead. Dead are Abd al- Malik and those who forewent him,\nand Omar also shall die and those who forewent him.' Asked Maslamah, 'O\nCommander of the Faithful, an we set a pillow behind thee, wilt thou lean on it\na little while?' But Omar answered, 'I fear lest it be a fault about my neck on\nResurrection Day.' Then he gasped with the death rattle and fell back in a\nfaint; whereupon Fatimah cried out, saying, 'Ho, Maryam! Ho, Muzahim![FN#292]\nHo, such an one! Look to this man!' And she began to pour water on him\nweeping, till he revived from his swoon; and, seeing her in tears said to her,\n'What causeth thee to weep, O Fatimah?' She replied, 'O Commander of the\nFaithful, I saw thee lying prostrate before us and thought of thy prostration\nin death before Almighty Allah, of thy departure from the world and of thy\nseparation from us. This is what made me weep.' Answered he, 'Enough, O\nFatimah, for indeed thou exceedest.' Then he would have risen, but fell down\nand Fatimah strained him to her and said, 'Thou art to me as my father and my\nmother, O Commander of the Faithful! We cannot speak to thee, all of us.' Then\nquoth Nuzhat al-Zaman to her brother Sharrkan and the four Kazis, \"Here endeth\nthe second section of the first chapter.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-sixth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al- Zaman said to\nher brother Sharrkan and the four Kazis, \"Here endeth the second section of the\nfirst chapter. And it so happened that Omar bin Abd al-Aziz wrote to the\npeople of the festival at Meccah as follows, 'I call Allah to witness, in the\nHoly Month, in the Holy City and on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage,[FN#293]\nthat I am innocent of your oppression and of his wrongs that doth wrong you, in\nthat I have neither commanded this nor purposed it, neither hath any report of\naught thereof hitherto reached me, nor have I compassed any knowledge thereof;\nand I trust that a cause for pardon will be found in that none hath authority\nfrom me to oppress any man, for I shall assuredly be questioned concerning\nevery one oppress. And if any of my officers swerve from the right and act\notherwise than the Holy Book and the Traditions of the Apostle do authorise,\nobey him not so that he may return to the way of righteousness.' He said also\n(Allah accept of him!), 'I do not wish to be relieved from death, because it is\nthe supreme thing for which the True Believer is rewarded.' Quoth one of\nauthority, 'I went to the Prince of the Faithful, Omarbin Abd al-Aziz, who was\nthen Caliph, and saw before him twelve dirhams, which he ordered for deposit in\nthe public treasury. So I said to him, 'O Commander of the Faithful, thou\nimpoverishest thy children and reducest them to beggary having nothing whereon\nto live. An thou wouldst appoint somewhat by will to them; and to those who are\npoor of the people of thy house, it were well.' 'Draw near to me,' answered he:\nso I drew near to him and he said, 'Now as for thy saying, 'Thou beggarest thy\nchildren; provide for them; and for the poor of thy household,' it is without\nreason; for Allah of a truth will replace me to my children and to the poor of\nmy house, and He will be their guardian. Verily, they are like other men; he\nwho feareth Allah, right soon will Allah provide for him a happy issue, and he\nthat is addicted to sins, I will not up hold him in his sin against Allah.'\nThen he summoned his sons who numbered twelve, and when he beheld them his eyes\ndropped tears and presently he said to them, 'Your Father is between two\nthings; either ye will be well to do, and your parent will enter the fire, or\nye will be poor and your parent will enter Paradise; and your father's entry\ninto Paradise is liefer to him than that ye should be well to do.[FN#294] So\narise and go, Allah be your helper, for to Him I commit your affairs!' Kh\u00e1lid\nbin Safw\u00e1n[FN#295] said, 'Y\u00fasuf bin Omar[FN#296] accompanied me to Hish\u00e1m bin\nAbd al-Malik,[FN#297] and as I met him he was coming forth with his kinsmen and\nattendants. He alighted and a tent was pitched for him. When the people had\ntaken their seats, I came up to the side of the carpet whereon he sat reclining\nand looked at him; and, waiting till my eyes met his eyes, bespoke him thus,\n'May Allah fulfil His bounty to thee, O Commander of the Faithful, I have an\nadmonition for thee, which hath come down to us from the history of the Kings\npreceding thee!' At this, he sat up whenas he had been reclining and said to\nme, 'Bring what thou hast, O son of Safwan!' Quoth I, 'O Commander of the\nFaithful, one of the Kings before thee went forth in a time before this thy\ntime, to this very country and said to his companions, 'Saw ye ever any state\nlike mine and say me, hath such case been given to any man even as it hath been\ngiven unto me?' Now there was with him a man of those who survive to bear\ntestimony to Truth; upholders of the Right and wayfarers in its highway, and he\nsaid to him, 'O King, thou askest of a grave matter. Wilt thou give me leave\nto answer?' 'Yes,' replied the King, and the other said, 'Dost thou judge thy\npresent state to be short lasting or ever lasting?' 'It is temporary,' replied\nthe King. 'How then,' rejoined the man, 'do I see thee exulting in that which\nthou wilt enjoy but a little while and whereof thou wilt be questioned for a\nlong while and for the rendering an account whereof thou shalt be as a pledge\nwhich is pawned?' Quoth the King, 'Whither shall I flee and what must I seek\nfor me?' 'That thou abide in thy kingship,' replied the other, 'or else robe\nthee in rags[FN#298] and apply thyself to obey Almighty Allah thy Lord until\nthine appointed hour. I will come to thee again at daybreak.' Khalid bin\nSafwan further relates that the man knocked at the door at dawn and behold, the\nKing had put off his crown and resolved to become an anchorite, for the stress\nof his exhortation. When Hish\u00e1m bin Abd al-Malik heard this, he wept till his\nbeard was wet, and, bidding his rich apparel be put off, shut himself up in his\npalace. Then the grandees and dependants came to Khalid and said, 'What is\nthis thou hast done with the Commander of the Faithful? Thou hast troubled his\npleasure and disturbed his life!' Then quoth Nuzhat al-Zaman, addressing\nherself to Sharrkan, \"How many instances of admonition are there not in this\nchapter! Of a truth I cannot report all appertaining to this head in a single\nsitting,\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-seventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al- Zaman\ncontinued, speaking to Sharrkan, \"Know, O King, that in this chapter be so many\ninstances of admonition that of a truth I cannot report all appertaining to\nthis head in a single sitting but, with length of days, O King of the age, all\nwill be well.\" There said the Kazis, \"O King, of a truth this damsel is the\nwonder of the world, and of our age the unique pearl! Never heard we her like\nin the length of time or in the length of our lives.\" And they called down\nblessings on the King and went away. Then Sharrkan turned to his attendants and\nsaid, \"Begin ye to prepare the marriage festival and make ready food of all\nkinds.\" So they forthright did his bidding as regards the viands, and he\ncommanded the wives of the Emirs and Wazirs and Grandees depart not until the\ntime of the wedding banquet and of the unveiling of the bride. Hardly came the\nperiod of afternoon prayer when the tables were spread with whatso heart can\ndesire or eye can delight in of roast meats and geese and fowls; and the\nsubjects ate till they were satisfied. Moreover, Sharrkan had sent for all the\nsinging women of Damascus and they were present, together with every slave girl\nof the King and of the notables who knew how to sing. And they went up to the\npalace in one body. When the evening came and darkness starkened they lighted\ncandles, right and left, from the gate of the citadel to that of the palace;\nand the Emirs and Wazirs and Grandees marched past before King Sharrkan, whilst\nthe singers and the tire women took the damsel to dress and adorn her, but\nfound she needed no adornment. Meantime King Sharrkan went to the Hammam and\ncoming out, sat down on his seat of estate, whilst they paraded the bride\nbefore him in seven different dresses: after which they eased her of the weight\nof her raiment and ornaments and gave such injunctions as are enjoined upon\nvirgins on their wedding nights. Then Sharrkan went in unto her and took her\nmaidenhead;[FN#299] and she at once conceived by him and, when she announced\nit, he rejoiced with exceeding joy and commanded the savants to record the date\nof her conception. On the morrow he went forth and seated himself on his\nthrone, and the high officers came in to him and gave him joy. Then he called\nhis private secretary and bade him write a letter to his father, King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman, saying that he had bought him a damsel, who excels in learning and\ngood breeding and who is mistress of all kinds of knowledge. Moreover he\nwrote, \"There is no help but that I send her to Baghdad to visit my brother Zau\nal-Makan and my sister Nuzhat al-Zaman. I have set her free and married her\nand she hath conceived by me.\" And he went on to praise her wit and salute his\nbrother and sister together with the Wazir Dandan and all the Emirs. Then he\nsealed the letter and despatched it to his father by a post courier who was\nabsent a whole month, after which time he returned with the answer and\npresented it in the presence. Sharrkan took it and read as follows, \"After the\nusual Bismillah, this is from the afflicted distracted man, from him who hath\nlost his children and home by bane and ban, King Omar bin al- Nu'uman, to his\nson Sharrkan. Know that, since thy departure from me, the place is become\ncontracted upon me, so that no longer I have power of patience nor can I keep\nmy secret: and the cause thereof is as follows. It chanced that when I went\nforth to hunt and course Zau al-Makan sought my leave to fare Hijaz wards, but\nI, fearing for him the shifts of fortune, forbade him therefrom until the next\nyear or the year after. My absence while sporting and hunting endured for a\nwhole month\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-eighth night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar bin al-Nu'uman\nwrote in his letter, \"My absence while sporting and hunting endured for a whole\nmonth, and when I returned I found that thy brother and sister had taken\nsomewhat of money and had set out with the pilgrim caravan for pilgrimage by\nstealth. When I knew this, the wide world narrowed on me, O my son! but I\nawaited the return of the caravan, hoping that haply they would come back with\nit. Accordingly, when the palmers appeared I asked concerning the twain, but\nthey could give me no news of them; so I donned mourning for them, being heavy\nat heart, and in sleep I have no part and I am drowned in the tears of my\neyes.\" Then he wrote in verse,\n\n\"That pair in image quits me not one single hour, * Whom in my heart's most honourable place I keep:\nSans hope of their return I would not live one hour, * Without my dreams of them I ne'er would stretch me in sleep.\"\n\n\nThe letter went on, \"And after the usual salutations to thee and thine, I\ncommand thee neglect no manner of seeking news of them for indeed this is a\nshame to us.\" When Sharrkan read the letter he felt grief for his father and\njoy for the loss of his brother and sister. Then he took the missive and went\nin with it to Nuzhat al-Zaman who knew not that he was her brother, nor he that\nshe was his sister, albeit he often visited her both by night and by day till\nthe months were accomplished and she sat down on the stool of delivery. Allah\nmade the child-birth easy to her and she bare a daughter, whereupon she sent\nfor Sharrkan and seeing him she said to him, \"This is thy daughter: name her as\nthou wilt.\" Quoth he, \"It is usual to name children on the seventh day after\nbirth.[FN#300]\" Then he bent over the child to kiss it and he saw, hung about\nits neck, a jewel, which he knew at once for one of those which Princess\nAbrizah had brought from the land of the Greeks. Now when he saw the jewel\nhanging from his babe's neck he recognised it right well, his senses fled and\nwrath seized on him; his eyes rolled in rage and he looked at Nuzhat al- Zaman\nand said to her, \"Whence hadst thou this jewel, O slave girl?\" When she heard\nthis from Sharrkan she replied, \"I am thy lady, and the lady of all in thy\npalace! Art thou not ashamed to say to me Slave girl? I am a Queen, daughter\nof King Omar bin al-Nu'uman.\" Hearing this, he was seized with trembling and\nhung his head earthwards,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Sixty-ninth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sharrkan heard these\nwords, his heart fluttered and his colour waxed yellow and he was seized with\ntrembling and he hung his head earthwards, for he knew that she was his sister\nby the same father. Then he lost his senses; and, when he revived, he abode in\namazement, but did not discover his identity to her and asked, O my lady, say,\nart thou in sooth the daughter of King Omar bin al- Nu'uman?\" \"Yes,\" answered\nshe; and he continued, \"Tell me the cause of thy leaving thy sire and of thy\nbeing sold for a slave.\" So she related to him all that had befallen her from\nbeginning to end, how she had left her brother sick in the Sanctified City,\nJerusalem, and how the Badawi had kidnapped her and had sold her to the trader.\nWhen Sharrkan heard this, he was certified of her being his sister on the\nsword side and said to himself, \"How can I have my sister to wife? By Allah,\nneeds must I marry her to one of my chamberlains; and, if the thing get wind, I\nwill declare that I divorced her before consummation and married her to my\nChief Chamberlain.\" Then he raised his head and sighing said, \"O Nuzhat\nal-Zaman, thou art my very sister and I cry: 'I take refuge with Allah from\nthis sin whereinto we have fallen,' for I am Sharrkan, son of Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman.\" She looked at him and knew he spoke the truth; and, becoming as\none demented, she wept and buffeted her face, exclaiming, \"There is no Majesty\nand there is no Might save in Allah! Verily have we fallen into mortal\nsin![FN#301] What shall I do and what shall I say to my father and my mother\nwhen they ask me, Whence hadst thou thy daughter?\" Quoth Sharrkan, \"It were\nmeetest that I marry thee to my Chamberlain and let thee bring up my daughter\nin his house, that none may know thou be my sister. This hath befallen us from\nAlmighty Allah for a purpose of his own, and nothing shall cover us but thy\nmarriage with this Chamberlain, ere any know.\" Then he fell to comforting her\nand kissing her head and she asked him, \"What wilt thou call the girl?\" \"Call\nher Kuzia Fak\u00e1n,\"[FN#302] answered he. Then he gave the mother in marriage to\nthe Chief Chamberlain, and transferred her to his house with the child, which\nthey reared on the laps of the slave-girls, and fed with milk and dosed with\npowders. Now all this occurred whilst the brother, Zau al-Makan, still tarried\nwith the Fireman at Damascus. One day there came to King Sharrkan a courier\nfrom his father, with a letter which he took and read and found therein, \"After\nthe Bismillah know, O beloved King, that I am afflicted with sore affliction\nfor the loss of my children: sleep ever faileth me and wakefulness ever\nassaileth me. I send thee this letter that, as soon as thou receivest it, thou\nmake ready the monies and the tribute, and send them to us, together with the\ndamsel whom thou hast bought and taken to wife; for I long to see her and hear\nher discourse; more especially because there hath come to us from Roumland an\nold woman of saintly bearing and with her be five damsels high-bosomed virgins,\nendowed with knowledge and good breeding and all arts and sciences befitting\nmortals to know; and indeed tongue faileth me to describe this old woman and\nthese who with her wend; for of a truth they are compendiums of perfections in\nlearning and accomplishments. As soon as I saw them I loved them, and I wished\nto have them in my palace and in the compass of my hand; for none of the Kings\nowneth the like of them; so I asked the old woman their price and she answered,\n'I will not sell them but for the tribute of Damascus.' And I, by Allah, did\nnot hold this price exorbitant, indeed it is but little, for each one of them\nis worth the whole valuation. So I agreed to that and took them into my\npalace, and they remain in my possession. Wherefore do thou forward the\ntribute to us that the woman may return to her own country; and send to us the\ndamsel to the end that she may dispute with them before the doctors; and, if\nshe prevail over them, I will return her to thee accompanied by the tribute of\nBaghdad.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Seventieth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar son of\nAl-Nu'uman said in his letter, \"And send to us the damsel to the end that she\nmay dispute with them before the doctors and, if she prevail over them, I will\nreturn her to thee accompanied with the tribute of Baghdad.\" As soon as\nSharrkan knew the contents, he went in to his brother in law and said to him,\n\"Bring the damsel to whom I married thee;\" and when she came he showed her the\nletter and said, \"O my sister! what answer wouldst thou advise me make to this\nletter?\" Replied she, \"Seek advice from thyself!\" and presently added (for she\nyearned after her people and her native land), \"Send me together with my\nhusband the Chamberlain, to Baghdad, that I may tell my father my tale and let\nhim know whatso befel me with the Badawi who sold me to the merchant, and that\nI also inform him how thou boughtest me of the trader and gavest me in marriage\nto the Chamberlain, after setting me free.\" \"Be it so,\" replied Sharrkan. Then\nSharrkan took his daughter, Kuzia Fakan, and committed her to the charge of the\nwet nurses and the eunuchs, and he made ready the tribute in haste, bidding the\nChamberlain travel with the Princess and the treasure to Baghdad. He also\nfurnished him two travelling litters one for himself and the other for his\nwife. And the Chamberlain replied, \"To hear is to obey.\" Moreover Sharrkan\ncollected camels and mules and wrote a letter to his father and committed it to\nthe Chamberlain; then he bade farewell to his sister, after he had taken the\njewel from her and hung it round his daughter's neck by a chain of pure gold;\nand she and her husband set out for Baghdad the same night. Now it so happened\nthat Zau al-Makan and his friend the Fireman had come forth from the hut in\nwhich they were, to see the spectacle, and they beheld camels and\nBukhti[FN#303] dromedaries and b\u00e2t-mules and torches and lanterns alight; and\nZau al-Makan enquired about the loads and their owner and was told that it was\nthe tribute of Damascus going to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of the City of\nBaghdad. He then asked, \"Who be the leader of the caravan?\" and they answered,\n\"The Head Chamberlain who hath married the damsel so famous for learning and\nscience.\" Thereupon Zau al-Makan wept with bitter weeping and was minded of his\nmother and his father and his sister and his native land, and he said to the\nStoker, \"I will join this caravan and, little by little, will journey\nhomewards.\" Quoth the Fireman, \"I would not suffer thee to travel single-handed\nfrom the Holy City to Damascus, then how shall I be sure of thy safety when\nthou farest for Baghdad? But I will go with thee and care for thee till thou\neffectest thine object.\" \"With joy and good will,\" answered Zau al-Makan. Then\nthe Fireman get him ready for the journey and hired an ass and threw saddle\nbags over it and put therein something of provaunt; and, when all was prepared,\nhe awaited the passage of the caravan. And presently the Chamberlain came by on\na dromedary and his footmen about him. Then Zau al-Ma ken mounted the ass and\nsaid to his companion, \"Do thou mount with me.\" But he replied, \"Not so: I will\nbe thy servant.\" Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"There is no help for it but thou ride\nawhile.\" \"'Tis well,\" quoth the Stoker; \"I will ride when I grow tired.\" Then\nsaid Zau al-Makan, \"O my brother, soon shalt thou see how I will deal with\nthee, when I come to my own folk.\" So they fared on till the sun rose and,When\nit was the hour of the noonday sleep[FN#304] the Chamberlain called a halt and\nthey alighted and reposed and watered their camels. Then he gave the signal\nfor departure and, after five days, they came to the city of Ham\u00e1h,[FN#305]\nwhere they set down and made a three days' halt;\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-first Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that they halted in the city\nof Hamah three days; they then fared forwards and ceased not travelling till\nthey reached another city. Here also they halted three days and thence they\ntravelled till they entered the province Diy\u00e1r Bakr. Here blew on them the\nbreezes of Baghdad, and Zau al-Makan bethought him of his father and mother and\nnative land, and how he was returning to his sire without his sister: so he\nwept and sighed and complained, and his regrets grew on him, and he began\nimprovising these couplets,\n\n\"Sweetheart! How long must I await by so long suffering teed? * Nor cometh messenger to tell me where thou dost abide:\nAh me! in very sooth our meeting time was short enow: * Would Heaven shorter prove to me the present parting-tide!\nNow trend my hand and open my robe and thou within shall sight * How wasted are the limbs of me and yet the waste I hide:\nWhen say they 'Comfort take for loss of love' I but reply * 'By Allah, till the Day of Doom no comfort shall betide!' \"\n\n\nThereupon said to him the Fireman, \"Leave this weeping and wailing, for we are\nnear the Chamberlain's tent.\" Quoth Zau al- Makan, \"Needs must I recite\nsomewhat of verse; haply it may quench the fire of my heart.\" \"Allah upon\nthee,\" cried the other, \"cease this lamentation till thou come to shine own\ncountry; then do what thou wilt, and I will be with thee wherever thou art.\"\nReplied Zau al-Makan, \"By Allah! I cannot forbear from this!\" Then he turned\nhis face towards Baghdad and the moon was shining brightly and shedding her\nlight on the place, and Nuzhat al-Zaman could not sleep that night, but was\nrestless and called to mind her brother and wept. And while she was in tears,\nhe heard Zau al-Makan weeping and improvising the following distichs,\n\n'Al-Yaman's[FN#306] leven-gleam I see, * And sore despair despaireth me\nFor friend who erst abode wi' me * Crowning my cup with gladdest gree:\nIt minds me o' one who jilted me * To mourn my bitter liberty.\nSay sooth, thou fair sheet lightning! shall * We meet once more in joy and glee?\nO blamer! spare to me thy blame * My Lord hath sent this dule to dree,\nOf friend who left me, fain to flee; * Of Time that breeds calamity:\nAll bliss hath fled the heart of me * Since Fortune proved mine enemy.\nHe[FN#307] brimmed a bowl of merest pine, * And made me drain the dregs, did he:\nI see me, sweetheart, dead and gone * Ere I again shall gaze on thee.\nTime! prithee bring our childhood back, * Restore our happy infancy,\nWhen joy and safety 'joyed we * From shafts that now they shoot at me!\nWho aids the hapless stranger wight, * That nights in fright and misery,\nThat wastes his days in lonely grief, * For 'Time's Delight'[FN#308] no more must be?\nDoomed us despite our will to bear * The hands of base bores cark and care.\"\n\n\nWhen he ended his verse he cried out and fell down in a fainting-fit. This is\nhow it fared with him; but as regards Nuzhat al- Zaman, when she heard that\nvoice in the night, her heart was at rest and she rose and in her joy she\ncalled the Chief Eunuch, who said to her, \"What is thy will?\" Quoth she, \"Arise\nand bring me him who recited verses but now.\" Replied he, \"Of a truth I did not\nhear him\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-second Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat Al-Zaman\nheard her brother reciting, she called the Chief Eunuch and said to him, \"Go,\nfetch me the man who is repeating this poetry!\" Replied he, \"Of a truth I heard\nhim not and I wot him not and folks are all sleeping.\" But she said,\n\"Whomsoever thou seest awake, he is the reciter.\" So he went, yet found none on\nwake save the Stoker; for Zau al-Makan was still insensible, and when his\ncompanion saw the Eunuch standing by his head he was afraid of him. Then said\nthe Eunuch, \"Art thou he who repeated poetry but now and my lady heard him?\"\nThe Stoker fancied that the dame was wroth with the reciter; and, being afraid,\nhe replied, \"By Allah, 'twas not I!\" Rejoined the Eunuch, \"Who then was the\nreciter?: point him out to me. Thou must know who it was, seeing that thou art\nawake.\" The Fireman feared for Zau al- Makan and said in himself, \"Haply the\nEunuch will do him some hurt\"; so he answered, \"By Allah, I know not who it\nwas.\" Said the Eunuch, \"By Allah, thou liest, for there is none on wake here\nbut thou! So needs must thou know him.\" \"By Allah,\" replied the Fireman, \"I\ntell thee the truth!: some passer by, some wayfarer must have recited the\nverses and disturbed me and kept me awake; Allah requite him!\" Quoth the\nEunuch, \"If thou happen upon him, point him out to me and I will lay hands on\nhim and bring him to the door of our lady's litter[FN#309] or do thou take him\nwith thine own hand.\" Said the Fireman, \"Go thou back and I will bring him to\nthee.\" So the Eunuch left him and went his ways; and, going in to his mistress,\ntold her all this and said to her, \"None knoweth who it was; it must have been\nsome passer by, some wayfarer.\" And she was silent. Meanwhile, Zau al-Makan\ncame to himself and saw that the moon had reached the middle Heavens; the\nbreath of the dawn breeze[FN#310] breathed upon him and his heart was moved to\nlonging and sadness; so he cleared his throat and was about to recite verses,\nwhen the Fire man asked him, \"What wilt thou do?\" Answered Zau al-Makan, \"I\nhave a mind to repeat somewhat of poetry, that I may quench therewith the fire\nof my heart.\" Quoth the other, \"Thou knowest not what befel me whilst thou wast\na faint, and how I escaped death only by beguiling the Eunuch.\" \"Tell me what\nhappened,\" quoth Zau al-Makan. Replied the Stoker, \"Whilst thou wast aswoon\nthere came up to me but now an Eunuch, with a long staff of almond tree wood in\nhis hand, who took to looking in all the people's faces, as they lay asleep,\nand asked me who it was recited the verses, finding none awake but myself. I\ntold him in reply it was some passerby, some wayfarer; so he went away and\nAllah delivered me from him; else had he killed me. But first he said to me,\n'If thou hear him again, bring him to us.'\" When Zau al-Makan heard this he\nwept and said, \"Who is it would forbid me to recite? I will surely recite,\nbefal me what may; for I am near mine own land and care for none.\" Rejoined the\nFireman, \"Thy design is naught save to lose thy life;\" and Zau al-Makan\nretorted, \"Needs must I recite verses.\" \"Verily,\" said the Stoker, \"needs must\nthere be a parting between me and thee in this place, albeit;I had intended not\nto leave thee, till I had brought thee to thy native city and reunited thee\nwith thy mother and father. Thou hast now tarried with me a year and a half\nand I have never harmed thee in aught. What ails thee, then, that thou must\nneeds recite verses, seeing that we are tired out with walking and watching and\nall the folk are asleep, for they require sleep to rest them of their fatigue?\"\nBut Zau al-Makan answered, \"I will not be turned away from my purpose.\"[FN#311]\nThen grief moved him and he threw off concealment and began repeating these\ncouplets,\n\n\"Stand thou by the homes and hail the lords of the ruined stead; * Cry thou for an answer, belike reply to thee shall be sped:\nIf the night and absence irk thy spirit kindle a torch * Wi' repine; and illuminate the gloom with a gleaming greed:\nIf the snake of the sand dunes hiss, I shall marvel not at all! * Let him bite so I bite those beauteous lips of the luscious red:\nO Eden, my soul hath fled in despite of the maid I love: * Had I lost hope of Heaven my heart in despair were dead.\"\n\n\nAnd he also improvised the two following distichs,\n\n\"We were and were the days enthralled to all our wills, * Dwelling in union sweet and homed in fairest site:\nWho shall restore the home of the beloved, where showed * Light of the Place for aye conjoined with Time's Delight?''[FN#312]\n\n\nAnd as he ceased his verses, he shrieked three shrieks and fell senseless to\nthe ground and the Fireman rose and covered him. When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard the\nfirst improvisation, she called to mind her father and her mother and her\nbrother and their whilome home; then she wept and cried at the Eunuch and said\nto him, \"Woe to thee! He who recited the first time hath recited a second time\nand I heard him hard by. By Allah, an thou fetch him not to me, I will\nassuredly rouse the Chamberlain on thee, and he shall beat thee and cast thee\nout. But take these hundred dinars and give them to the singer and bring him\nto me gently, and do him no hurt. If he refuse, hand to him this purse of a\nthousand dinars, then leave him and return to me and tell me, after thou hast\ninformed thyself of his place and his calling and what countryman he is. \nReturn quickly and linger not.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-third Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al- Zaman sent the\nEunuch to make enquiries concerning the singer and said, \"Beware how thou come\nback to me and report, I could not find him.\" So the Eunuch went out and laid\nabout the people and trod in their tents, but found none awake, all being\nasleep for weariness, till he came to the Stoker and saw him sitting up, with\nhis head uncovered. So he drew near and seizing him by the hand, said to him,\n\"It was thou didst recite the verses!\" The Fireman was afeard for his life and\nreplied, \"No, by Allah, O chief of the people, it was not I!\" But the Eunuch\nsaid, \"I will not leave thee till thou show me who it was that recited the\nverses, for I dread returning to my lady without him.\" Now when the Fireman\nheard these words he feared for Zau al-Makan and wept with exceeding weeping\nand said to the Eunuch, \"By Allah, it was not I, and I know him not. I only\nheard some passer by, some wayfarer, recite verses: so do not thou commit sin\non me, for I am a stranger and come from the Holy City of Jerusalem; and\nAbraham, the friend of Allah, be with you all.\" \"Rise up and fare with me,\"\nrejoined the Eunuch, \"and tell my lady this with thine own mouth, for I have\nseen none awake save thyself.\" Quoth the Stoker, \"Hast thou not come and seen\nme sitting in the place where I now am, and dost thou not know my station? \nThou wottest none can stir from his place, except the watchman seize him. So\ngo thou to thy station and if thou again meet any one after this hour reciting\naught of poetry, whether he be near or far, it will be I or some one I know,\nand thou shalt not learn of him but by me.\" Then he kissed the Eunuch's head\nand spake him fair till he went away; but the Castrato fetched a round and,\nreturning secretly, came and stood behind the Fireman, fearing to go back to\nhis mistress without tidings. As soon as he was gone, the Stoker arose and\naroused Zau al-Makan and said to him, \"Come, sit up, that I may tell thee what\nhath happened.\" So Zau al-Makan sat up, and his companion told him what had\npassed, and he answered, \"Let me alone; I will take no heed of this and I care\nfor none, for I am mine own country.\"[FN#313] Quoth the Stoker, \"Why wilt thou\nobey thy flesh and the devil? If thou fear no one, I fear for thee and for my\nlife, so Allah upon thee! recite nothing more of verses till thou come to\nthine own land. Indeed, I had not deemed thee so ill conditioned. Dost thou\nnot know that this lady is the wife; of the Chamberlain and is minded to\nchastise thee for disturbing her? Belike, she is ill or restless for fatigue\nof the journey and the distance of the place from her home, and this is the\nsecond time she hath sent the Eunuch to look for thee.\" However Zau al-Makan\npaid no heed to the Fireman's words but cried out a third time and began\nversifying with these couplets,\n\n\"I fly the carper's injury,* Whose carping sorely vexeth me:\nHe chides and taunts me, wotting not * He burns me but more grievously.\nThe blamer cries 'He is consoled!' * I say, 'My own dear land[FN#314] to see:'\nThey ask, 'Why be that land so dear?' * I say, 'It taught me in love to be:'\nThey ask, 'What raised its dignity?' * I say, 'What made my ignomy:'\nWhate'er the bitter cup I drain, * Far be fro' me that land to flee:\nNor will I bow to those who blame, * And for such love would deal me shame.\n\n\nHardly had he made an end of his verses and come to a conclusion, when the\nEunuch (who had heard him from his hiding place at his head) came up to him;\nwhereupon the Fireman flea end stood afar off to see what passed between them. \nThen said the Eunuch to Zau al-Makan, \"Peace be with thee, O my lord!\" \"And on\nthee be peace,\" replied Zau al-Makan, \"and the mercy of Allah and His\nblessings!\" \"O my lord,\" continued the Eunuch\u2014-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say,\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-fourth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Eunuch said to Zau\nal-Makan, \"O my lord, I have sought thee these several times this night, for my\nmistress biddeth thee to her.\" Quoth Zau al- Makan, \"And who be this bitch that\nseeketh for me? Allah curse her and curse her husband with her!\"[FN#315] And he\nbegan to revile the Eunuch, who could make him no answer, because his mistress\nhad charged him to do Zau al-Makan no hurt, nor bring him save of his own\nespecial free will; and, if he would not accompany him, to give him the\nthousand dinars. So the Castrato began to speak him fair and say to him, \"O my\nlord, take this purse and go with me. We will do thee no upright, O my son,\nnor wrong thee in aught; but our object is that thou bend thy gracious steps\nwith me to my mistress, to receive her answer and return in weal and safety:\nand thou shalt have a handsome present as one who bringeth good news.\" When Zau\nal- Makan heard this, he arose and went with the Eunuch and walked among the\nsleeping folk, stepping over them; whilst the Fireman followed after them from\nafar, and kept his eye upon him and said to himself, \"Alas the pity of his\nyouth! To-morrow they will hang him.\" And he ceased not following them till he\napproached their station,[FN#316] without any observing him. Then he stood\nstill and said, \"How base it will be of him, if he say it was I who bade him\nrecite the verses!\" This was the case of the Stoker; but as regards what befel\nZau al-Makan, he ceased not walking with the Eunuch till he reached his station\nand the Castrato went in to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said, \"O my lady, I have\nbrought thee him whom thou soughtest, and he is a youth, fair of face and\nbearing the marks of wealth and gentle breeding.\" When she heard this, her\nheart fluttered and she cried, \"Let him recite some verses, that I may hear him\nnear hand, and after ask him his name and his condition and his native land.\"\nThen the Eunuch went out to Zau al-Makan and said to him, \"Recite what verses\nthou knowest, for my lady is here hard by, listening to thee, and after I will\nask thee of thy name and thy native country and thy condition.\" Replied he,\n\"With love and gladness but, an thou ask my name, it is erased and my trace is\nunplaced and my body a waste. I have a story, the beginning of which is not\nknown nor can the end of it be shown, and behold, I am even as one who hath\nexceeded in wine drinking and who hath not spared himself; one who is afflicted\nwith distempers and who wandereth from his right mind, being perplexed about\nhis case and drowned in the sea of thought.\" When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard this,\nshe broke out into excessive weeping and sobbing, and said to the Eunuch, \"Ask\nhim if he have parted from one he loveth even as his mother or father.\" The\nCastrato asked as she bade him, and Zau al-Makan replied, \"Yes, I have parted\nfrom every one I loved: but the dearest of all to me was my sister, from whom\nFate hath separated me.\" When Nuzhat al- Zaman heard this, she exclaimed,\n\"Allah Almighty reunite him with what he loveth!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-fifth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat al-Zaman\nheard his words she said, \"Allah reunite him with what he loveth!\" Then quoth\nshe to the Eunuch, \"Tell him to let me hear somewhat anent his separation from\nhis countrymen and his country.\" The Eunuch did so, and Zau al-Makan sighed\nheavily and began repeating these couplets,[FN#317]\n\n\"Is not her love a pledge by all mankind confest? * The house that hometh Hinda be forever blest'\nHer love all levels; man can reck of naught beside; * Naught or before or after can for man have zest\n'Tis though the vale is paved with musk and ambergris * That day when Hinda's footstep on its face is prest:\nHail to the beauty of our camp, the pride of folk, * The dearling who en' Slaves all hearts by her behest:\nAllah on 'Time's Delight' send large dropped clouds that teem * With genial rain but bear no thunder in their breast.\"\n\n\nAnd also these,\n\n\"I vow to Allah if at home I sight * My sister Nuzhat al-Zamani hight\nI'll pass the days in joyance and delight * Mid bashful minions, maidens soft and white:\nTo sound of harps in various modes they smite * Draining the bowl, while eyes rain lively light\n'Neath half closed lids, a sipping lips red bright * By stream bank flowing through my garden site.\"\n\n\nWhen he had finished his verse, Nuzhat al-Zaman lifted up a skirt of the litter\ncurtain and looked at him. As soon as her eyes fell on his face, she knew him\nfor certain and cried out, \"O my brother! O Zau al-Makan!\" He also looked at\nher and knew her and cried out, \"O my sister! O Nuzhat al-Zaman!\" Then she\nthrew herself upon him and he gathered her to his bosom and the twain fell down\nin a fainting-fit. When the Eunuch saw this case, he wondered at them; and\nthrowing over them somewhat to cover them, waited till they should recover. \nAfter a while they came to themselves, and Nuzhat al-Zaman rejoiced with\nexceeding joy: oppression and depression left her and gladness took the mastery\nof her, and she repeated these verses,\n\n\"Time sware my life should fare in woeful waste; * Forsworn art Time, expiate thy sin in haste![FN#318]\nComes weal and comes a welcome friend to aid; * To him who brings good news, rise, gird thy waist\nI spurned old world tales of Eden bliss; * Till came I Kausar[FN#319] on those lips\n\n\nWhen Zau al-Makan heard this, he pressed his sister to his breast; tears\nstreamed from his eyes for excess of joy and he repeated these\ncouplets,[FN#320]\n\n\"Long I lamented that we fell apart, * While tears repentant railed from these eyne;\nAnd sware, if Time unite us twain once more, * 'Severance' shall never sound from tongue of mine:\nJoy hath so overwhelmed me that excess * Of pleasure from mine eyes draws gouts of brine:\nTears, O mine eyes, have now become your wont * Ye weep for pleasure and you weep for pine!\"\n\n\nThey sat awhile at the litter door till she said to him, \"Come with me into the\nlitter and tell me all that hath befallen thee, and I will tell thee what\nhappened to me.\" So they entered and Zau al-Maken said, \"Do thou begin thy\ntale.\" Accordingly she told him all that had come to her since their separation\nat the Khan and what had happened to her with the Badawi; how the merchant had\nbought her of him and had taken her to her brother Sharrkan and had sold her to\nhim; how he had freed her at the time of buying; how he had made a marriage\ncontract with her and had gone in to her and how the King, their sire, had sent\nand asked for her from Sharrkan. Then quoth she, \"Praised be Allah who hath\nvouchsafed thee to me and ordained that, even as we left our father together,\nso together shall we return to him!\" And she added, \"Of a truth my brother\nSharrkan gave me in marriage to this Chamberlain that he might carry me to my\nfather. And this is what befel me from first to last; so now tell me how it\nhath fared with thee since I left thee.\" Thereupon he told her all that had\nhappened to him from beginning to end; and how Allah vouchsafed to send the\nFireman to him, and how he had journeyed with him and spent his money on him\nand had served him night and day. She praised the Stoker for this and Zau\nal-Makan added, \"Of a truth, O my sister, this Fireman hath dealt with me in\nsuch benevolent wise as would not lover with lass nor sire with son, for that\nhe fasted and gave me to eat, and he walked whilst he made me ride; and I owe\nmy life to him.\" Said she, \"Allah willing, we will requite him for all this,\naccording to our power.\" Then she called the Eunuch, who came and kissed Zau\nal- Makan's hand, and she said, \"Take thy reward for glad tidings, O face of\ngood omen! It was thy hand reunited me with my brother; so the purse I gave\nthee and all in it are thine. But now go to thy master and bring him quickly\nto me.\" The Castrato rejoiced and, going in to the Chamberlain, him to his\nmistress. Accordingly, he came in to his wife and finding Zau al-Makan with\nher, asked who he was. So she told him all that had befallen them both, first\nand last, and added, \"Know, O Chamberlain, that thou hast married no slave\ngirl; far from it, thou hast taken to wife the daughter of King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman for I am Nuzhat al- Zaman, and this is my brother, Zau al-Makan.\"\nWhen the Chamberlain heard the story he knew it to be sooth, and its manifest\ntruth appeared to him and he was certified that he was become King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman's son in law, so he said to himself, \" 'Twill be my fate to be made\nviceroy of some province.\"[FN#321] Then he went up to Zau al-Makan and gave him\njoy of his safety and reunion with his sister, and bade his servants forthwith\nmake him ready a tent and one of the best of his own horses to ride. Thereupon\nsaid Nuzhat al-Zaman, \"We are now near our country and I would be left alone\nwith my brother, that we may enjoy each other's company and take our fill of it\nere we reach Baghdad; for we have been parted a long, long time.\" \"Be it as\nthou biddest,\" replied the Chamberlain, and, going forth from them, sent them\nwax candles and various kinds of sweetmeats, together with three suits of the\ncostliest for Zau al-Makan. Then he returned to the litter and related the\ngood he had done and Nuzhat al-Zaman said to him, \"Bid the Eunuch bring me the\nFireman and give him a horse to ride and ration him with a tray of food morning\nand evening, and let him be forbidden to leave us.\" The Chamberlain called the\nCastrato and charged him to do accordingly; so he replied, \"I hear and I obey;\"\nand he took his pages with him and went out in search of the Stoker till he\nfound him in the rear of the caravan, girthing his ass and preparing for\nflight. The tears were running adown his cheeks, out of fear for his life and\ngrief for his separation from Zau al-Makan; and he was saying to himself,\n\"Indeed, I warned him for the love of Allah, but he would not listen to me; Oh\nwould I knew what is become of him!\" Ere he had done speaking the Eunuch was\nstanding by his head whilst the pages surrounded him The Fireman turned and\nseeing the Eunuch and the pages gathered around him became yellow with\nfear,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-sixth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Stoker girthed\nhis ass for flight and bespake himself, saying, \"Oh would I knew what is become\nof him!\"; ere he had done speaking the Castrato was standing by his head and\nhis side muscles quivered for fear and he lifted up his voice and cried,\n\"Verily he knoweth not the value of the good offices I have done him! I\nbelieve he hath denounced me to the Eunuch (hence these pages et about me) and\nhe hath made me an accomplice in his crime.\" Then the effeminated one cried at\nhim, saying, \"Who was it recited the verses? O liar! why didst thou say, 'I\nnever repeated these couplets, nor do I know who repeated them;' when it was\nthy companion? But now I will not leave thee between this place and Baghdad,\nand what betideth thy comrade shall betide thee.\" Quoth the Fireman, \"What I\nfeared hath befallen me.\" And he repeated this couplet,\n\n\"'Twas as I feared the coming ills discerning: * But unto Allah we are all\nreturning.\"\n\n\nThen the Eunuch cried upon the pages, saying, \"Take him off the ass.\" So they\ncarried him along with the caravan, surrounded by the pages, as the white\ncontains the black of the eye; and the Castrato said to them, \"If a hair of him\nbe lost, you will be lost with it.\" And he bade them privily treat him with\nhonour and not humiliate him. But when the Stoker saw himself beset by the\npages, he despaired of his life and turning to the Eunuch, said to him, \"O\nChief, I am neither this youth's brother nor am I akin to him, nor is he sib to\nme; but I was a Fireman in a Hammam and found him cast out, in his sickness, on\nthe dung heap.\" Then the caravan fared on and the Stoker wept and imagined in\nhimself a thousand things, whilst the Eunuch walked by his side and told him\nnothing, but said to him, \"Thou disturbedst our mistress by reciting verses,\nthou and this youth: but fear nothing for thy self;\" and kept laughing at him\nthe while to himself. Whenever the caravan halted, they served him with food,\nand he and the Castrato ate from one dish.[FN#322] Then the Eunuch bade his\nlads bring a gugglet of sugared sherbet and, after drinking himself, gave it to\nthe Fireman, who drank; but all the while his tears never dried, out of fear\nfor his life and grief for his separation from Zau al-Makan and for what had\nbefallen them in their strangerhood. So they both travelled on with the\ncaravan, whilst the Chamberlain now rode by the door of his wife's litter, in\nattendance on Zau al-Makan and his sister, and now gave an eye to the Fireman;\nand Nuzhat al-Zaman and her brother occupied themselves with converse and\nmutual condolence; and they ceased not after this fashion till they came within\nthree days' journey from Baghdad. Here they alighted at eventide and rested\ntill the morning morrowed; and as they awoke and they were about to load the\nbeasts, behold, there appeared afar off a great cloud of dust that darkened the\nfirmament till it became black as gloomiest night.[FN#323] Thereupon the\nChamberlain cried out to them, \"Stay, and your loading delay!\"; then, mounting\nwith his Mamelukes, rode forward in the direction of the dust cloud. When they\ndrew near, suddenly appeared under it a numerous conquering host like the full\ntide sea, with flags and standards, drums and kettledrums, horsemen and\nfootmen. The Chamberlain marvelled at this; and when the troops saw him, there\ndetached itself from amongst them a plump of five hundred cavaliers, who fell\nupon him and his suite and surrounded them, five for one; whereupon said he to\nthem, \"What is the matter and what are these troops, that ye do this with us?\"\nAsked they, \"Who art thou; and whence comest thou, and whither art thou bound?\"\nand he answered, \"I am the Chamberlain of the Emir of Damascus, King Sharrkan,\nson of Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad and of the land of Khorasan, and I\nbring tribute and presents from him to his father in Baghdad.\" When the\nhorsemen heard his words they let their head-kerchiefs fall over their faces\nand wept, saying, \"In very sooth King Omar is dead and he died not but of\npoison. So fare ye forwards; no harm shall befal you till you join his Grand\nWazir, Dandan.\" Now when the Chamberlain heard this, he wept sore and\nexclaimed, \"Oh for our disappointment in this our journey!\" Then he and all his\nsuite wept till they had come up with the host and sought access to the Wazir\nDandan, who granted an interview and called a halt and, causing his pavilion to\nbe pitched, sat down on a couch therein and commanded to admit the Chamberlain.\nThen he bade him be seated and questioned him; and he replied that he was\nChamberlain to the Emir of Damascus and was bound to King Omar with presents\nand the tribute of Syria. The Wazir, hearing the mention of King Omar's name,\nwept and said, \"King Omar is dead by poison, and upon his dying the folk fell\nout amongst themselves as to who should succeed him, until they were like to\nslay one another on this account; but the notables and grandees and the four\nKazis interposed and all the people agreed to refer the matter to the decision\nof the four judges and that none should gainsay them. So it was agreed that we\ngo to Damascus and fetch thence the King's son, Sharrkan, and make him Sultan\nover his father's realm. And amongst them were some who would have chosen the\ncadet, Zau Al-Makan, for, quoth they, his name be Light of the Place, and he\nhath a sister Nuzhat al-Zaman hight, the Delight of the Time; but they set out\nfive years ago for Al-Hijaz and none wotteth what is become of them.\" When the\nChamberlain heard this, he knew; that his wife had told him the truth of her\nadventures; and he grieved with sore grief for the death of King Omar, albeit\nhe joyed with exceeding joy, especially at the arrival of Zau al-Makan, for\nthat he would now become Sultan of Baghdad in his father's stead\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-seventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sharrkan's\nChamberlain heard of the death of King Omar bin al- Nu'uman he mourned, but he\nrejoiced because of his wife and her brother Zau al-Makan who would become\nSultan of Baghdad in his father's stead. So he turned to the Wazir Dandan and\nsaid to him, \"Verily your tale is a wonder of wonders! Know, O Chief Wazir,\nthat here, where you have encountered me, Allah hath given you rest from\nfatigue and bringeth you your desire after the easiest of fashions, for that\nHis Almighty Will restoreth to you Zau al-Makan and his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman;\nwhereby we will settle the matter as we easily can.\" When the Minister heard\nthese words he rejoiced with great joy and said, \"O Chamberlain, tell me the\ntale of the twain and what befel them; and the cause of their long absence.\" So\nhe repeated to him the whole story and told him that Nuzhat al-Zaman was his\nwife and related to him the adventures of Zau al-Makan from first to last. As\nsoon as he had ended his tale, the Wazir sent for the Emirs and Wazirs and\nChief Officers and acquainted them with the matter; whereat they rejoiced with\ngreat joy and wondered at the happy chance. Then they gathered in a body and\nwent in to the Chamberlain and did their service to him, kissing the ground\nbetween his hands; and the Wazir Dandan also rose and went out to meet him and\nstood before him in honour. After this, the Chamberlain held on that day a\nDivan council; and he and the Wazir sat upon a throne, whilst all the Emirs and\nGrandees and Officers of State took their places before them, according to\ntheir several ranks.[FN#324] Then they melted sugar in rose-water and drank,\nafter which the Emirs sat down to hold council and permitted the rest of the\nhost to mount and ride forward leisurely, till they should make an end of their\ndebate and overtake them. So the officers kissed the ground between their\nhands and mounting, rode onwards, preceded by the standards of war. When the\ngrandees had finished their conference, they took horse and rejoined the host;\nand the Chamberlain approached the Wazir Dandan and said, \"I deem it well to\nride on before you, and precede you, that I may get ready a place for the\nSultan and notify him of your coming and of your choosing him as Sultan over\nthe head of his brother Sharrkan.\" \"Aright thou reckest,\" answered the Wazir\nThen the Chamberlain rose up in haste and Dandan also stood up to do him honour\nand brought him presents, which he conjured him to accept. In similar guise did\nall the Emirs and Grandees and Officers of State, bringing him gifts and\ncalling down blessings on him and saying to him, \"Haply thou wilt mention our\ncase to Sultan Zau al-Makan and speak to him to continue us in our\ndignities.\"[FN#325] The Chamberlain promised all they required and bade his\npages be ready to march, whereupon the Wazir Dandan sent with him tents and\nbade the tent pitchers set them up at a day's journey from the city. And they\ndid his bidding. Then the Chamberlain mounted and rode forward, full of joy\nand saying to himself, \"How blessed is this gurney!\", and indeed his wife was\nexalted in his eyes, she and her brother Zau al-Makan. They made all haste\nover their wayfare, till they reached a place distant a day's journey from\nBaghdad, where the Chamberlain called a halt for rest, and bade his men alight\nand make ready a sitting place for the Sultan Zau al-Makan, son of King Omar\nbin al-Nu'uman, while he rode forward with his Mamelukes and, alighting at a\ndistance from Nuzhat al-Zaman's litter, commanded the eunuchs to ask leave of\nadmission to the presence. They did so and she gave permission; whereupon he\nwent in to her and conversed with her and her brother; and told them of the\ndeath of their father; and of Zau al-Makan, how the heads of the people had\nmade him King over them in the stead of his sire; and he gave them joy of the\nkingdom. They both wept for their father and asked the manner of his being\nkilled; but the Chamberlain answered, \"The news rests with the Wazir Dandan who\nwill be here To-morrow leading all the host; and it only remaineth for thee, O\nKing, to do what they counsel, since they have unanimously chosen thee Sultan;\nfor if thou do not this, they will choose some one else and thou canst not be\nsure of thy life with another Sultan. Haply he will kill thee, or discord may\nbefal between you twain and the kingdom pass out of the hands of both.\" Zau\nal-Makan bowed his head awhile and then said, \"I accept this position;\" for\nindeed there was no refusing; and he was certified that the Chamberlain had\ncounselled him well and wisely and set him on the right way. Then he added, \"O\nmy uncle, how shall I do with my brother Sharrkan?\" \"O my son,\" replied the\nChamberlain, \"thy brother will be Sultan of Damascus and thou Sultan of\nBaghdad; so take heart of grace and get ready thy case.\" Zau al-Makan accepted\nthis and the Chamberlain presented him with a suit of royal raiment and a\ndagger[FN#326] of state, which the Wazir Dandan had brought with him; then\nleaving him he bade the tent pitchers choose a spot of rising ground and set up\nthereon a spacious pavilion, wherein the Sultan might sit to receive the Emirs\nand Grandees. Moreover he ordered the kitcheners to cook rich viands and serve\nthem; and he commanded the water carriers to dispose the water troughs. They\ndid as he bade them; and presently arose a cloud of dust from the ground and\nspread till it walled the horizon round. After awhile, the dust dispersed and\nthere appeared under it the army of Baghdad and Khorasan, a conquering host\nlike the full tide sea.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-eighth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Chamberlain bade\nthe tent pitchers set up a pavilion spacious enough to receive the subjects\nflocking to their Sultan, they planted a splendid Sh\u00e1hmiy\u00e1nah[FN#327] befitting\nKings. And as they ended their labours behold, a dust cloud spired aloft and\nthe breeze made it lift and beneath it showed a conquering host; and presently\nit appeared that this was the army of Baghdad and Khorasan preceded by the\nWazir Dandan. And in it all rejoiced at the accession of the \"Light of the\nPlace.\" Now Zau al-Makan had donned robes of royal estate and girt himself with\nthe sword of state: so the Chamberlain brought him a steed and he mounted\nsurrounded by the Mamelukes and all the company from the tents on foot, to do\nhim service, and he rode on until he came to the great pavilion, where he sat\ndown and he laid the royal dagger across his thighs, whilst the Chamberlain\nstood in attendance on him and his armed slaves stationed themselves under the\nentrance awning of the Shahmiyanah, with drawn swords in their hands.\nPresently, up came the troops and the host and craved admission so the\nChamberlain went in to Zau al-Makan and asked his leave whereupon he bade admit\nthem, ten by ten. The Chamberlain acquainted them with the King's commands, to\nwhich they replied, \"We hear and we obey;\" and all drew up before the pavilion\nentrance. Then he took ten of them; and carried them through the vestibule into\nthe presence of Sultan Zau al-Makan, whom when they saw, they were awed; but he\nreceived them with most gracious kindness and promised them all good. So they\ngave him joy of his safe return and invoked Allah's blessings upon him after\nwhich they took the oath of fealty never to gainsay him in aught and they\nkissed ground before him and withdrew. Then other ten entered and he entreated\nthem as he had entreated the ethers; and they ceased not to enter, ten by ten,\ntill none was left but the Wazir Dandan. Lastly the Minister went in and\nkissed the ground before Zau al-Makan, who rose to meet him, saying, \"Welcome,\nO Wazir and sire sans peer! Verily, thine acts are those of a counsellor right\ndear, and judgement and foreseeing clear are in the hands of the Subtle of\nLere.\" Then bade he the Chamberlain forthwith go out and cause the tables to be\nspread and order all the troops thereto. So they came and ate and drank. \nMoreover the Sultan commanded his Wazir Dandan call a ten days' halt of the\narmy, that he might be private with him and learn from him how and wherefore\nhis father had been slain. The Wazir obeyed the commands of the Sultan with\nsubmission and wished him eternity of glory and said, \"This needs must be!\" He\nthen repaired to the heart of the encampment and ordered the host to halt ten\ndays. They did as he bade them; and, moreover, he gave them leave to divert\nthemselves and ordered that none of the lords in waiting should attend upon the\nKing for service during the space of three days. Then the Wazir went to the\nSultan and reported all to him, and Zau al-Makan waited until nightfall, when\nhe went in to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman and asked her, \"Dost thou know the\ncause of my father's murder or not?\" \"I have no knowledge of the cause,\" she\nanswered, and drew a silken curtain before herself, whilst Zau al-Makan seated\nhimself without the curtain and commanded the Wazir to the presence and, when\nhe came, said to him, \"I desire thou relate to me in detail the cause of the\nkilling of my sire, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman!\" \"Know then, O King,\" replied\nDandan, \"that King Omar bin al- Nu'uman, when he returned to Baghdad from his\nchasing and hunting and entered the city, enquired for thee and thy sister, but\ncould not find you and knew that you twain had gone on the Pilgrimage; whereat\nhe was greatly grieved and much angered, and his breast was straitened and he\nabode thus half a year, seeking news of you from all who came and went but none\ncould give him any tidings. Now while we were in attendance upon him one day,\nafter a whole year had sped since ye were lost to his sight, lo! there came to\nus an ancient dame with signs of being a devotee, accompanied by five damsels,\nhigh-bosomed virgins like moons, endowed with such beauty and loveliness as\ntongue faileth to describe; and, to crown their perfections of comeliness, they\ncould read the Koran and were versed in various kinds of learning and in the\nhistories of bygone peoples. Then that old woman sought audience of the King,\nand he bade admit her; whereupon she entered the presence and kissed the ground\nbetween his hands. I was then sitting by his side and he, seeing in her the\nsigns of asceticism and devoutness, made her draw near and take seat hard by\nhim. And when she had sat down she addressed him and said, 'Know, O King, that\nwith me are five damsels, whose like no King among the Kings possesseth; for\nthey are endowed with wit and beauty and loveliness and perfection. They read\nthe Koran\u2014and the Traditions and are skilled in all manner of learning and in\nthe history of bygone races. They stand here between thy hands to do thee\nservice, O King of the Age, and it is by trial that folk are prized or\ndespised. 'Thy father, who hath found mercy;[FN#328] looked at the damsels and\ntheir favour pleased him; so he said to them, Let each and every of you make me\nhear something of what she knoweth anent the history of the folk of yore and of\npeoples long gone before!'\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Seventy-ninth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan said\nunto King Zau al-Makan, \"Thy father, who hath found mercy, glanced at the\ndamsels and their favour pleased him and he said to them, 'Let each and every\nof you make me hear something of what she knoweth anent the history of the folk\nof yore and of peoples long gone before!' Thereupon one of them came forward\nand, kissing the ground before him, spake as follows[FN#329] 'Know, O King,\nthat it behoveth one of good breeding to eschew impertinence and adorn himself\nwith excellencies, and observe the Divine injunctions and avoid mortal sins;\nand to this he should apply himself with the assiduity of one who, if he stray\ntherefrom, falleth into perdition; for the foundation of good breeding is\nvirtuous behaviour. And know that the chief cause and reason of man's\nexistence is the endeavour after life everlasting, and the right way thereto is\nthe service of Allah. Wherefore it behoveth thee to deal beneficently with the\npeople: and swerve not from this canon, for the mightier men are in dignity,\nthe more their need of prudence and foresight; and indeed Monarchs need this\nmore than the many, for the general cast themselves into affairs, without\ntaking thought to the issue thereof. Be thou prodigal of thy life and thy good\nin the way of Allah, and know that, if an enemy dispute with thee, thou mayst\ndispute with him and refute him with proofs and be proof against him; but as\nfor thy friend, there is none can judge between thee and him save righteousness\nand fair dealing. Choose, therefore, thy friend for thyself, after thou hast\nproved him. If he be of the brotherhood of futurity,[FN#330] let him be\nzealous in observing the externals of the Holy Law and versed in its inner\nmeaning, as far as may be; and if he be of the brotherhood of the world, let\nhim be free-born, sincere, neither a fool nor a perverse, for the fool man is\nsuch that even his parents might well flee from him, and a liar cannot be a\ntrue friend. Indeed the word, Sidd\u00edk[FN#331] ('friend') deriveth from Sidk\n('truth') that welleth up from the bottom of the heart; and how can this be the\ncase, when falsehood is manifest upon the tongue? And know, that the\nobservance of the Law profiteth him who practiseth it: so love thy brother, if\nhe be of this quality and do not cast him off, even if thou see in him that\nwhich irketh thee, for a friend is not I like a wife, whom one can divorce and\nre-marry: nay, his heart is like glass: once broken, it may not be mended. And\nAllah bless him who saith,\n\n'Ware how thou hurtest man with hurt of heart; * 'Tis hard to win thee back the heart offended:\nFor hearts indeed, whence love is alien made, * Like broken glass may nevermore be mended.'\n\n\nThe maiden continued and concluded with pointing out to us what sages say, 'The\nbest of brethren is he who is the most constant in good counsel; the best of\naction is that which is fairest in its consequence, and the best of praise is\nnot that which is in the mouths of men. It is also said, 'It behoveth not the\nservant to neglect thanking Allah especially for two favours, health and\nreason.' Again it is said, 'Whoso honoureth himself, his lust is a light matter\nto him, and he who maketh much of his small troubles, Allah afflicteth him with\nthe greater; he who obeyeth his own inclination neglecteth his duties and he\nwho listeneth to the slanderer loseth the true friend. He who thinketh well of\nthee, do thou fulfill his thought of thee. He who exceedeth in contention\nsinneth, and he who against upright standeth not on ward, is not safe from the\nsword. Now will I tell thee somewhat of the duties of Kazis and judges. Know,\nO King, that no judgement serveth the cause of justice save it be given after\nproof positive, and it behoveth the judge to treat all people on the same\nlevel, to the intent that the great may not hunger for oppression nor the small\ndespair of justice. Furthermore he should extract proof from the complainant\nand impose an oath upon the defendant; and mediation is admissible between\nMoslems, except it be a compromise sanctioning the unlawful or forbidding the\nlawful.[FN#332] If thou shalt have done aught during the day, of which thy\nreason is doubtful but thy good intention is proved, thou (O Kazi) shouldst\nrevert to the right, for to do justice is a religious obligation and to return\nto that which is right is better than persistence in wrong. Then (O judge)\nthou shouldest study precedents and the law of the case and do equal justice\nbetween the suitors, withal fixing thine eyes upon the truth and committing\nthine affair to Allah (be He extolled and exalted!). And require thou proof of\nthe complainant, and if he adduce evidence let him have due benefit of it; and\nif not, put the defendant to his oath; for this is the ordinance of Allah.\nReceive thou the testimony of competent Moslem witnesses, one against other,\nfor Almighty Allah hath commanded judges to judge by externals, He Himself\ntaking charge of the inner and secret things. It behoveth the judge also to\navoid giving judge meet, whilst suffering from stress of pain or\nhunger,[FN#333] and that in his decisions between folk he seek the face of\nAllah Almighty for he whose intent is pure and who is at peace with himself,\nAllah shall guarantee him against what is between him and the people.' Quoth\nal-Zuhri,[FN#334] 'There are three things for which, if they be found in a\nKazi, he should be deposed; namely, if he honour the base, if he love praise\nand if he fear dismissal. And Omar bin Abd al-Aziz once deposed a Kazi, who\nasked him, 'Why hast thou dismissed me? It hath reached me,' answered Omar,\n'that thy converse is greater than thy condition.' It is said also that\nIskandar[FN#335] said to his Kazi, 'I have invested thee with this function and\ncommitted to thee in it my soul and mine honour and my manliness; so do thou\nguard it with thy sense and thine understanding.' To his Cook he said, 'Thou\nart the Sultan of my body; so look thou tender it as thine own self.' To his\nSecretary he said, 'Thou art the controller of my wit: so do thou watch over me\nin what thou writest for me and from me.'\" Thereupon the first damsel backed\nout from the presence and a second damsel came forward.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eightieth Night,\n\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\nsaid to Zau al-Makan, \"Thereupon the first damsel backed out from the presence\nand a second damsel came forward and, kissing the ground seven times before the\nKing thy father, spake as follows, 'The sage Lukm\u00e1n[FN#336] said to his son,\n'There be three who are known only in three several cases; the merciful man is\nunknown save in time of wrath, the brave only in battle, and thy friend in time\nof need.' It is said that the oppressor shall be depress though by people\npraised, and that the oppress is at rest though by people blamed. Quoth Allah\nAlmighty,[FN#337] 'Assuredly deem not that those who rejoice in what they have\ndone, and who love to be praised for what they have not done, shall escape\nreckoning of punishment: indeed there is reserved for them a grievous penalty.'\nAnd he said[FN#338] (on whom be salvation and salutation!), 'Works are\naccording to intention and to each man is attributed that which he intendeth.'\nHe said also, 'In the body is a part which being sound the rest is sound, and\nwhich being unsound the whole is unsound.' And this is the heart. Now this\nheart is the most marvellous of what is in man, since it is that which ordereth\nhis whole affair: If covetise stir in it, desire destroyeth him, and if\naffliction master it, anguish slayeth him; if anger rage in it, danger is hard\nupon him; if it be blest with contentment, he is safe from discontent; if fear\nsurprise it, he is full of mourning; and if calamity overtake it, affliction\nbetideth him. If a man gain the use of wealth, peradventure he is diverted\nthereby from the remembrance of his Lord; if poverty choke him his heart is\ndistracted by woe, or if disquietude waste his heart, weakness causeth him to\nfall. Thus, in any case, nothing profiteth him but that he be mindful of Allah\nand occupy himself with gaining his livelihood in this world and securing his\nplace in the next. It was asked of a certain sage, 'Who is the most ill\nconditioned of men?'; and he answered, 'The man whose lusts master his manhood\nand whose mind soareth over high, so that his knowledge dispreadeth and his\nexcuse diminisheth; and how excellently saith the poet,\n\nFreest am I of all mankind fro' meddling wight * Who, seeing others err, self error ne'er can sight:\nRiches and talents are but loans to creature lent, * Each wears the cloak of that he bears in breast and sprite:\nIf by mistaken door attempt on aught thou make, * Thou shalt go wrong and if the door be right, go right!'\n\n\nContinued the maiden, 'As for anecdotes of devotees, quoth Hisham bin Bashar,\n'I asked Omar bin Ubayd, What is true piety?'; and he answered, 'The Apostle of\nAllah (to whom be salutation and salvation!) hath explained it when he sayeth,\nThe pious is he who forgetteth not the grave nor calamity and who preferreth\nthat which endureth to that which passeth away; who counteth not the morrow as\nof his days but reckoneth himself among the dead.' And it is related that Abu\nZarr[FN#339] used to say, Want is dearer to me than wealth, and unheal is\ndearer to me than health.' Quoth one of the listeners, 'May Allah have mercy on\nAbu Zarr!'. For my part, I say, 'Whoso putteth his trust in the goodness of\nthe election of Almighty Allah should be content with that condition which\nAllah hath chosen for him.' Quoth one of the Companions of the Prophet, 'Ibn\nAbi Aufa[FN#340] once prayed with us the dawn-prayer. When he had done, he\nrecited, 'O Thou Enwrapped!'[FN#341] till he came to where Allah saith, 'When\nthere shall be a trumping on the trumpet,' and fell down dead. It is said that\nSabit al-Banani wept till he well-nigh lost his eyes. They brought him a man\nto medicine him who said to him, 'I will cure thee, provided thou obey my\nbidding' Asked Sabit, 'In what matter?' Quoth the leach, 'In that thou leave\nweeping!' 'What is the worth of mine eyes?', rejoined Sabit, 'if they do not\nweep?' Quoth a man to Mohammed bin Abdillah, 'Exhort thou me!'\"\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-first Night,\n\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\nsaid to Zau al-Makan, \"Thus spake the second handmaid to the King who hath\nfound mercy, Omar bin al-Nu'uman. 'Quoth a man to Mohammed bin Abdillah, Exhort\nthou me!' 'I exhort thee,' replied he, 'to be a self ruler, an abstainer in\nthis world, and in the next a greedy slave.' 'How so?' asked the other and\nMohammed answered, 'The abstinent man in this world conquereth both the world\nthat is and the world to come.' And quoth Ghaus bin Abdillah, 'There were two\nbrothers among the sons of Israel, one of whom said to the other, 'What be the\nmost perilous[FN#342] thing thou hast done?' Replied the brother, 'I once came\nupon a nest of young birds; so I took out one and threw it back into the nest;\nbut among the chickens were some which drew apart from it. This is the most\nperilous thing I ever did; now what be the most perilous thing thou hast ever\ndone?' He rejoined, 'When I arise for prayer I am fearful that it is only for\nthe sake of the reward.' Now their father heard these words and exclaimed, 'O\nAllah, an say they sooth take them to Thyself!' It was declared by one of the\nwise men, 'Verily, these were of the most virtuous of children.' Quoth Sa'\u00edd\nbin Jubayr,[FN#343] 'I was once in company with Fuzalah bin 'Ubaydand said to\nhim, 'Exhort thou me!, Replied he, 'Bear in mind these two necessaries, Shun\nsyntheism[FN#344] and harm not any of Allah's creatures.' And he repeated these\ntwo couplets,\n\n'Be as thou wilt, for Allah still is bounteous Lord, * And care dispeller dread not therefore bane and ban\nTo two things only never draw thee nigh, nor give * Partner to Allah trouble to thy brother man.'\n\n\nAnd how well saith the poet,\n\n'An thou of pious works a store neglect * And after death meet one who did collect,\nThou shalt repent thou diddest not as he, * Nor madest ready as he did elect.'\n\n\nThen the third damsel came forward, after the second had with drawn, and said,\n'Of a truth, the chapter of piety is exceeding wide; but I will mention what\noccurreth to me thereof, concerning the pious of old. Quoth a certain holy\nman, 'I congratulate myself in death, though I am not assured of rest therein,\nsave that I know death interveneth between a man and his works; so I hope for\nthe doubling of good works and the docking off of ill works.' And Ita'a al\nSalami, when he had made an end of an exhortation, was wont to tremble and\ngrieve and weep sore; and as they asked him why he did this he answered, 'I\ndesire to enter upon a grave matter, and it is the standing up before Almighty\nAllah to do in accordance with my exhortation.' In similar guise Zayn\nal-Abid\u00edn,[FN#345] son of Al-Husayn, was wont to tremble when he rose to pray. \nBeing asked the cause of this, he replied, 'Know ye not before whom I stand and\nwhom I address?' It is said that there lived near Sufy\u00e1n al-Thauri[FN#346] a\nblind man who, when the month of Ramazan came, went out with the folk to\npray,[FN#347] but remained silent and hung back. Said Sufyan, 'On the Day of\nResurrection he shall come with the people of the Koran and they will be\ndistinguished by increase of honour from their fellows.' Quoth Sufyan, 'Were\nthe soul established in the heart as befitteth, it would fly away for joy and\npining for Paradise, and for grief and fear of hell-fire.' It is related also\nof Sufyan Al-Thauri that he said, 'To look upon the face of a tyrant is a sin.'\nThen the third damsel retired and came for ward the fourth, who said, 'Here am\nI to treat of sundry traditions of pious men which suggest themselves to me. \nIt is related that Bishr Barefoot[FN#348] said, 'I once heard Kh\u00e1lid say,\n'Beware of secret polytheism.' I asked, 'What may secret polytheism be?'; and\nhe answered, 'When one of you in praying prolong his inclinations and\nprostrations till a cause of impurity[FN#349] come upon him.' And one of the\nsages said, 'Doing works of weal expiateth what is ill.' Quoth Ibrahim,[FN#350]\n'I supplicated Bishr Barefoot to acquaint me with some theological mysteries;\nbut he said, 'O my son, this knowledge it behoveth us not to teach to every\none; of every hundred five, even as the legal alms upon money.' Said Ibrahim,\n'I thought his reply excellent and approved of it and while I was praying\nbehold, Bishr was also praying: so I stood behind him[FN#351] making the prayer\nbow till the Mu'ezzin called his call. Then rose a man of tattered appearance\nand said, O folk, beware of a truth which bringeth unweal, for there is no harm\nin a lie bringing weal,[FN#352] and in time of need no choice we heed: speech\nbooteth not in the absence of good qualities even as silence hurteth not in the\npresence of good. Presently I saw Bishr drop a danik,[FN#353] so I picked it\nup and exchanged it for a dirham which I gave him. Quoth he, 'I will not take\nit.' Quoth I, 'It is perfectly lawful change'; but he rejoined 'I cannot take\nin exchange the riches of the present world for those of the future world.' It\nis related also that Bishr Barefoot's sister once went to Ahmad bin\nHanbal\"[FN#354]\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-second Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\ncontinued to bespeak Zau al-Makan on this wise, \"And quoth the maiden to thy\nfather, 'Bishr Barefoot's sister once went to Ahmad bin Hanbal and said to him,\n'O Imam of the Faith, we are a family that spin thread by night and work for\nour living by day; and oftentimes the cressets of the watch of Baghdad pass by\nand we on the roof spinning by their light. Is this forbidden to us?' Asked\nAhmad:'Who are thou?' 'I am the sister of Bishr Barefoot,' answered she. \nRejoined the Iman, 'O household of Bishr, I shall never cease to drink full\ndraughts of piety from your hearts.' Quoth one of the sages, 'When Allah\nwilleth well to His servant He openeth upon him the gate of action.' M\u00e1lik bin\nDin\u00e1r,[FN#355] when he passed through the bazar and saw aught he desired, was\nwont to say, 'O soul, take patience, for I will not accord to thee what thou\ndesirest.' He said also (Allah accept him!), 'The salvation of the soul lies in\nresistance to it and its damnation in submission to it.' Quoth Mans\u00far bin\nAmm\u00e1r,[FN#356] 'I made a pilgrimage and was faring Meccahwards by way of Cufa,\nand the night was overcast, when I heard a voice crying out from the deeps of\nthe darkness saying, 'O Allah, I swear by Thy Greatness and Thy Glory, I meant\nnot through my disobedience to transgress against Thee; for indeed I am not\nignorant of Thee; but my fault is one Thou didst foreordain to me from eternity\nwithout beginning;[FN#357] so do Thou pardon my transgression, for indeed I\ndisobeyed Thee of my ignorance!' When he had made an end of his prayer he\nrecited aloud the verse, 'O true believers, save your souls and those of your\nfamilies from the fire whose fuel is men and stones.'[FN#358] Then I heard a\nfall, but not knowing what it was I passed on. When the morning morrowed, as\nwe went our way, behold, we fell in with a funeral train, followed by an old\nwoman whose strength had left her. I asked her of the dead, and she answered,\n'This is the funeral of a man who passed by us yesterday whilst my son was\nstanding at prayer and after his prayers he recited a verse from the Book of\nAllah Almighty when the man's gall bladder burst and he fell dead.' Therewith\nthe fourth damsel retired and the fifth came forward and said, 'I here will\nalso repeat what occurreth to me regarding the acts of devotees in olden time. \nMaslamah bin Din\u00e1r used to say, 'By making sound the secret thoughts, sins\ngreat and small are covered'; and, 'when the servant of Allah is resolved to\nleave sinning, victory cometh to him.' Also quoth he, 'Every worldly good which\ndoth not draw one nearer to Allah is a calamity, for a little of this world\ndistracteth from a mickle of the world to come and a mickle of the present\nmaketh thee forget the whole of the future.' It was asked of Ab\u00fa H\u00e1zim,[FN#359]\n'Who is the most prosperous of men?'; and he answered, 'Whoso spendeth his life\nin submission to Allah.' The other enquired, 'And who is the most foolish of\nmankind?' 'Whoso selleth his future for the worldly goods of others,' replied\nAbu Hazim. It is reported of Moses[FN#360] (on whom be peace!) that when he\ncame to the waters of Midian he exclaimed, 'O Lord, verily I stand in need of\nthe good which thou shalt send down to me.'[FN#361] And he asked of his Lord\nand not of his folk. There came two damsels and he drew water for them both\nand allowed not the shepherds to draw first. When the twain returned, they\ninformed their father Shu'ayb (on whom be peace!) who said, 'Haply, he is\nhungry,' adding to one of them, 'Go back to him and bid him hither.' Now when\nshe came to Moses, she veiled her face and said, 'My father biddeth thee to him\nthat he may pay thee thy wage for having drawn water for us.' Moses was averse\nto this and was not willing to follow her. Now she was a woman large in the\nback parts, and the wind blowing upon her garment[FN#362] covered the hinder\ncheeks to Moses; which when Moses saw, he lowered his eyes and said to her,\n'Get thee behind while I walk in front.' So she followed him till he entered\nthe house of Shu'ayb where supper was ready.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-third Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\ncontinued to Zau al-Makan, \"Now, quoth the fifth damsel to thy sire, 'When\nMoses (on whom be peace!) entered the home of Shu'ayb where supper was ready,\nShu'ayb said to him, 'O Moses, I desire to pay thee thy wage for having drawn\nwater for these two.' But Moses answered, 'I am of a household which selleth\nnothing of the fashion of the next world[FN#363] for what is on earth of gold\nand silver.' Then quoth Shu'ayb, 'O youth! nevertheless thou art my guest, and\nit is my wont and that of my forbears to honour the guest by setting food\nbefore him.' So Moses sat down and ate. Then Shu'ayb hired Moses for eight\npilgrimages, that is to say, eight years, and made his wage marriage with one\nof his two daughters, and Moses' service to him was to stand for her dowry. As\nsaith the Holy Writ of him, 'Verily I will give thee one of these my two\ndaughters in marriage, on condition that thou serve me for hire eight\npilgrimages: and if thou fulfil ten years, it is in thine own breast; for I\nseek not to impose a hardship on thee.'[FN#364] A certain man once said to one\nof his friends whom he had not met for many days, 'Thou hast made me desolate,\nfor that I have not seen thee this long while.' Quoth the other, 'I have been\ndistracted from thee by Ibn Shih\u00e1b: dost thou know him?' Quoth his friend,\n'Yes, he hath been my neighbour these thirty years, but I have never spoken to\nhim.' He replied, 'Verily thou forgettest Allah in forgetting\u2014thy neighbour! If\nthou lovedst Allah thou wouldst love thy neighbour. Knowest thou not that a\nneighbour hath a claim upon his neighbour,[FN#365] even as the right of kith\nand kin?' Said Huzayfah, 'We entered Meccah with Ibr\u00e1h\u00edm bin Adham, and Shak\u00edk\nal-Balkh\u00ed was also making a pilgrimage that year. Now we met whilst\ncircumambulating the Ka'abah and Ibrahim said to Shakik, 'What is your fashion\nin your country?' Replied Shakik, 'When we are blest with our daily bread we\neat, and when we hunger we take patience.' 'This wise,' said Ibrahim, 'do the\ndogs of Balkh; but we, when blest with plenty, do honour to Allah and when an\nhungered we thank Him.' And Shakik seated himself before Ibrahim and said to\nhim, 'Thou art my master.' Also said Mohammed bin Imr\u00e1n, 'A man once asked of\nH\u00e1tim the Deaf[FN#366] 'What maketh thee to trust in Allah?' 'Two things,'\nanswered he, 'I know that none save myself shall eat my daily bread, so my\nheart is at rest as to that; and I know that I was not created without the\nknowledge of Allah, and am abashed before Him.' Then the fifth damsel retired\nand the ancient dame came forward and, kissing the ground before thy father\nnine times, said, 'Thou hast heard, O King, what these all have spoken on the\nsubject of piety; and I will follow their example in relating what hath reached\nme of the famous men of past times. It is said that the Imam al-Sh\u00e1fi'\u00ed\ndeparted the night into three portions, the first for study, the second for\nsleep and the third for prayer. The Imam Ab\u00fa Han\u00edfah[FN#367] was wont also to\npass half the night in prayer. One day a man pointed him out to another, as he\nwalked by and remarked, 'Yonder man watcheth the whole night.' When he heard\nthis Abu Hanifah said, 'I was abashed before Allah to hear myself praised for\nwhat was not in me'; so after this he used to watch the whole night. And one of\nthe Sages hath said,\n\n'Who seeketh for pearl in the Deep dives deep; * Who on high would hie robs his\nnight of sleep.'\n\n\nAl-Rab\u00ed a relates that Al-Shafi'i used to recite the whole Koran seventy times\nduring the month of Ramazan, and that in his daily prayers. Quoth Al-Shafi'i\n(Allah accept him!), 'During ten years I never ate my fill of barley bread, for\nfullness hardeneth the heart and deadeneth the wit and induceth sleep and\nenfeebleth one from standing up to pray.'[FN#368] It is reported of Abdullah\nbin Mohammed al-Sakr\u00e1 that he said, 'I was once talking with Omar and he\nobserved to me, 'Never saw I a more God fearing or eloquent man than Mohammed\nbin Idris al-Shafi'i.' It so happened I went out one day with Al-H\u00e1ris bin\nLab\u00edb al-Saff\u00e1r, who was a disciple of Al-Muzani[FN#369] and had a fine voice\nand he read the saying of the Almighty, 'This shall be a day whereon they shall\nnot speak to any purpose, nor shall they be permitted to excuse\nthemselves.'[FN#370] I saw Al-Shafi'i's colour change; his skin shuddered with\nhorripilation, he was violently moved and he fell down in a fainting-fit When\nhe revived he said, 'I take refuge with Allah from the stead of the liars and\nthe lot of the negligent! O Allah, before whom the hearts of the wise abase\nthemselves, O Allah, of Thy bene ficence accord to me the remission of my sins,\nadorn me with the curtain of Thy protection and pardon me my shortcomings, by\nthe magnanimity of Thy Being!' Then I rose and went away. Quoth one of the\npious, 'When I entered Baghdad, Al-Shafi'i was there. So I sat down on the\nriver bank to make the ablution before prayer; and behold, there passed me one\nwho said, 'O youth, make thy Wuzu-ablution well and Allah will make it well for\nthee in this world and in the next.' I turned and lo! there was a man behind\nwhom came a company of people. So I hastened to finish my ablution and\nfollowed him. Presently, he turned and asked me, 'Say, dost thou want aught?'\n'Yes,' answered I, 'I desire that thou teach me somewhat of that which Allah\nAlmighty hath taught thee.' He said, 'Know then that whoso believeth in Allah\nshall be saved, and whoso jealously loveth his faith shall be delivered from\ndestruction, and whoso practiseth abstinence in this world, his eyes shall be\nsolaced on the morrow of death. Shall I tell thee any more?' I replied,\n'Assuredly;' and he continued, 'Be thou of the world that is, heedless; and of\nthe world to come, greediest. Be truthful in all thy dealings, and thou shalt\nbe saved with the Salvationists.' Then he went on and I asked about him and was\ntold that he was the Imam Al-Shafi'i. Al-Shafi'i was wont to remark, 'I love\nto see folk profit by this learning of mine, on condition that nothing of it be\nattributed to me.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-fourth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\ncontinued to Zau al-Makan, \"The old woman bespake thy sire, saying, 'The Imam\nAl-Shafi'i was wont to remark, I love to see folk profit by this learning of\nmine on condition that nothing of it be attributed to me.' He also said, 'I\nnever disputed with any one, but I would that Almighty Allah should give him\nthe knowledge of the Truth and aid him to dispread it: nor did I ever dispute\nwith anyone at all but for the showing forth of the Truth, and I reck not\nwhether Allah manifest it by my tongue or by His.' He said also (whom Allah\naccept!), 'If thou fear to grow conceited of thy lore, then bethink thee Whose\ngrace thou seekest and for what good thou yearnest and what punishment thou\ndreadest.' It was told to Abu Han\u00edfah that the Commander of the Faithful, Ab\u00fa\nJa'afar al-Mans\u00far, had appointed him Kazi and ordered him a salary of ten\nthousand dirhams; but he would not accept of this; and, when the day came on\nwhich the money was to be paid him, he prayed the dawn-prayer, then covered his\nhead with his robe\u2014and spoke not. When the Caliph's messenger came with the\nmoney, he went in to the Imam and accosted him, but he would not speak to him. \nSo the messenger said, 'Verily this money is lawfully thine.' 'I know that it\nis lawfully mine,' replied he: 'but I abhor that the love of tyrants get a hold\nupon my heart.'[FN#371] Asked the other, 'If thou go in to them canst thou not\nguard thyself from loving them?' Answered Abu Hanifah, 'Can I look to enter the\nsea without my clothes being wet?' Another of Al-Shafi'i's sayings (Allah\naccept him!) is,\n\n'Oh soul of me, an thou accept my rede, * Thou shalt be wealthy and of grace entire:\nCast off ambitious hopes and vain desires, * How many a death was done by vain desire!'\n\n\nAmong the sayings of Sufy\u00e1n al-Thaur\u00ed, with which he admonished Ali bin\nal-Hasan al-Salami was, 'Be thou a man of truth and 'ware lies and treachery\nand hypocrisy and pride. Be not indebted save to Him who is merciful to His\ndebtors; and let thine associate be one who shall dissociate thee from the\nworld. Be ever mindful of death and be constant in craving pardon of Allah and\nin beseeching of Allah peace for what remaineth of thy life. Counsel every True\nBeliever, when he asketh thee concerning the things of his faith; and beware of\nbetraying a Believer, for whoso betrayeth a Believer, betrayeth Allah and His\nApostle. Avoid dissensions and litigation; and leave that which causeth doubt\nin thee for things which breed no doubt:[FN#372] so shalt thou be at peace. \nEnjoin beneficence and forbid malevolence: so shalt thou be loved of Allah. \nAdorn thine inner man and Allah shall adorn thine outer man. Accept the excuse\nof him who excuseth self to thee and hate not any one of the Moslems. Draw\nnear unto those who withdraw from thee and excuse those that misuse thee: so\nshalt thou be the friend of the Prophets. Let thine affairs, both public and\nprivate, be in Allah's charge, and fear Him with the fear of one who knoweth he\nis dead and who fareth towards Resurrection and Judgement stead between the\nhands of the Lord of Dread; and remember that to one of two houses thou art\nsped, either for Heavens eterne or to the Hell fires that burn.' Thereupon the\nold woman sat down beside the damsels. Now when thy father, who hath found\nmercy, heard their discourse, he knew that they were the most accomplished of\nthe people of their time; and, seeing their beauty and loveliness and the\nextent of their wisdom and lore, he showed them all favour. Moreover, he\nturned to the ancient dame and treated her with honour, and set apart for her\nand her damsels the palace which had lodged Princess Abrizah, daughter of the\nKing of Greece, to which he bade carry all the luxuries they needed. They\nabode with him ten days and the old woman abode with them; and, whenever the\nKing visited them, he found her absorbed in prayer, watching by night and\nfasting by day; whereby love of her took hold upon his heart and he said to me,\n'O Wazir, verily this old woman is of the pious, and awe of her is strong in my\nheart.' Now on the eleventh day, the King visited her, that he might pay her\nthe price of the damsels; but she said to him, 'O King, know that the price of\nthese maidens surpasseth the competence of men; indeed I seek not for them\neither gold or silver or jewels, be it little or much.' Now when thy father\nheard these words he wondered and asked her, 'O my lady and what is their\nprice?'; whereto she answered, 'I will not sill them to thee save on condition\nthat thou fast, watching by night a whole month, and abstaining by day, all for\nthe love of Allah Almighty; and, if thou do this, they are thy property to use\nin thy palace as thou please.' So the King wondered at the perfection of her\nrectitude and piety and abnegation; she was magnified in his eyes and he said,\n'Allah make this pious woman to profit us!' Then he agreed with her to fast for\na month as she had stipulated, and she said to him, 'I will help thee with the\nprayers I pray for thee and now bring me a gugglet of water.' They brought one\nand she took it and recited over it and muttered spells, and sat for an hour\nspeaking in speech no one understood or knew aught thereof. Lastly she covered\nit with a cloth and, sealing it with her signet ring, gave it to thy sire,\nsaying, 'When thou hast fasted the first ten days, break thy fast on the\neleventh night with what is in this gugglet, for it will root out the love of\nthe world from thy heart and fill it with light and faith. As for me, To-morrow\nI will go forth to my brethren, the Invisible[FN#373] Controuls, for I yearn\nafter them, and I will return to thee when the first ten days are past. Thy\nfather took the gugglet and arose and set it apart in a closet of his palace,\nthen locked the door and put the key in his pocket. Next day the King fasted\nand the old woman went her ways.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-fifth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan thus\ncontinued to Zau al-Makan, \"Now when came the day for the Sultan's fast, the\nold woman went her ways. And after he had accomplished the ten days thereof,\non the eleventh he opened the gugglet and drank what was therein and found it\ncordial to his stomach. Within the second ten days of the month the old woman\nreturned, bringing sweetmeats wrapped in a green leaf, like no leaf of known\ntree. She went in to thy sire and saluted him; and, when he saw her, he rose\nto her saying, 'Welcome, O pious lady!' 'O King,' quoth she, 'the Invisible\nControuls salute thee, for I told them of thee, and they rejoiced in thee and\nhave sent thee their Halw\u00e1,[FN#374] which is of the sweetmeats of the other\nworld. Do thou break thy fast on it at the end of the day.' The King rejoiced\nat this with great joy, and exclaimed, 'Praised be Allah, who hath given me\nbrethren of the Invisible World!' Thereupon he thanked the ancient dame and\nkissed her hands; and he honoured her and the damsels with exceeding honour. \nShe went forth for the twenty days of thy father's fast at the end of which\ntime she came to him and said, 'Know, O King, that I told the Invisible\nControuls of the love which is between me and thee, and informed them how I had\nleft the maidens with thee, and they were glad that the damsels should belong\nto a King like thee; for they were wont, when they saw them, to be strenuous in\noffering on their behalf prayers and petitions ever granted. So I would fain\ncarry them to the Invisible Controuls that they may benefit by the breath of\ntheir favour, and peradventure, they shall not return to thee without some\ntreasure of the treasures of the earth, that thou, after completing thy fast,\nmayst occupy thyself with their raiment and help thyself by the money they\nshall bring thee, to the extent of thy desires.' When thy sire heard her words,\nhe thanked her for them; and said, 'Except that I fear to cross thee, I would\nnot accept the treasure or aught else; but when wilt thou set out with them?'\nReplied she, 'On the seven and twentieth night; and I will bring them back to\nthee at the head of the month, by which time thou wilt have accomplished thy\nfast and they will have had their courses and be free from impurity; and they\nshall become thine and be at thy disposal. By Allah, each damsel of them is\nworth many times thy kingdom!' He said, 'I know it, O pious lady!' Then quoth\nthe old woman, 'There is no help but that thou send with them someone in thy\npalace who is dear to thee, that she may find solace and seek a blessing of the\nInvisible Controuls.' Quoth he, 'I have a Greek slave called Sophia, by whom I\nhave been blessed with two children, a girl and a boy; but they were lost;\nyears ago. Take her with thee that she may get the blessing'\"\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-sixth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\ncontinued to Zau al-Makan, \"Quoth thy sire to the ancient woman when she\ndemanded the handmaids of him, 'I have a Greek slave called Sophia, by whom I\nhave been blest with two children, a girl and a boy, but they were lost years\nago; so take her with thee, haply she may get the benediction and, belike, the\nInvisible Controuls will sue Allah for her that her two children may be\nrestored to her.' 'Thou hast said well,' replied she; 'for that indeed was her\ngrievousest want.' Thy sire gave not over finishing his fast till the old\nwoman said to him, 'O my son, I am going to the Invisible Controuls; so bring\nme Sophia.' Accordingly, he summoned her and she came forthright, and he\ndelivered her to the old woman who mixed her up with the other damsels. Then\nshe went in to her chamber and bringing out a sealed cup, presented it to the\nSultan saying, 'On the thirtieth day, do thou repair to the Hammam and when\nthou comest out, enter one of the closets in thy palace and drink what is in\nthis cup. Then sleep, and thou shalt attain what thou seekest, and peace be\nwith thee'! Thereat the King was glad and thanked her and kissed her hands. \nQuoth she, 'I commend thee to Allah's care;' whereat quoth he, 'And when shall\nI see thee again, O pious lady? In very sooth I love not to part with thee.'\nThen she called down blessings on him and departed with the five damsels and\nthe Queen; whilst the King fasted after her departure other three days, till\nthe month ended, when he arose and went to the Hammam and coming out shut\nhimself up in a closet of his palace, commanding that none should go in to\nhim. There, after making fast the door, he drank what was in the cup and lay\ndown to sleep; and we sat awaiting him till the end of the day, but he did not\ncome out and we said, 'Perchance he is tired with the bath and with watching\nby night and fasting by day; wherefore he sleepeth.' So we waited till next\nday; but still he did not come forth. Then we stood at the closet door and\ncried aloud so haply he might awake and ask what was the matter. But nothing\ncame of that; so at last we lifted up the door;[FN#375] and, going in, found\nhim dead, with his flesh torn into strips and bits and his bones\nbroken.[FN#376] When we saw him in this condition it was grievous to us, and\nwe took up the cup and found within its cover a piece of paper whereon was\ninscribed, 'Whoso doeth evil leaveth no regrets, and this be the reward of him\nwho playeth traitor with the daughters of Kings and who debaucheth them; and\nwe make known to all who fall upon this scroll that Sharrkan, when he came to\nour country, seduced our Queen Abrizah; nor did that suffice him but he must\nneeds take her from us and bring her to you. Then he[FN#377] sent her away in\ncompany of a black slave who slew her, and we found her lying dead on the\ndesert sward and thrown out to wild beasts. This be no kingly deed, and he\nwho did this is requited with naught but what he merited. So do ye suspect\nnone of having killed him, for no one slew him but the cunning witch, whose\nname is Zat al-Dawahi. And behold, I have taken the King's wife, Sophia, and\nhave carried her to her father, Afridun King of Constantinople. Moreover,\nthere is no help for it but that we wage war upon you and kill you and take\nyour country from you, and ye shall be cut off even to the last man, nor shall\na living soul be spared by Death nor one who bloweth fire with his breath,\nsave he who Cross and Belt[FN#378] worshippeth.' When we read this paper, we\nknew that the ancient woman had beguiled us and carried out her plot against\nus: whereupon we cried aloud and buffeted our faces and wept sore when weeping\navailed us naught. And the troops fell out as to whom they should make\nSultan; some would have thee, and others would have thy brother Sharrkan; and\nwe ceased not to dispute about this for the space of a month, at the end of\nwhich certain of us drew together and agreed to repair to thy brother\nSharrkan: so we set out and journeyed on till we fell in with thee. And such\nis the manner of the death of Sultan Omar bin al-Nu'uman!\" Now when the Wazir\nDandan had made an end of his story, Zau al- Makan and his sister, Nuzhat\nal-Zaman wept; and the Chamberlain, who wept also, said to Zau al-Makan, \"O\nKing, weeping will avail thee naught; nor shall aught profit thee but that\nthou harden thy heart and strengthen thy stress and establish thy sovranty;\nfor verily whoso leaveth the like of thee is not dead.\" Thereupon Zau al-Makan\ngave over his weeping and caused his throne to be set up without the pavilion,\nand then commanded the army to pass in review order before him. And the\nChamberlain sat by his side and all the armour-bearers[FN#379] behind him,\nwhilst the Wazir Dandan and the rest of the Emirs and Grandees stood each in\nhis individual stead. Then quoth King Zau al-Makan to the Minister Dandan,\n\"Inform me concerning my sire's treasures;\" and he replied, \"I hear and I\nobey;\" and gave him to know of the late King's hoards and monies, and what was\nin the treasury of amassed wealth and jewels, and acquainted him with other\nprecious things. So Zau al-Makan opened his hand to the army, and gave a\nsumptuous robe of honour to the Wazir Dandan, saying, \"Thou continues\" in\noffice. Whereupon Dandan kissed the ground before him and wished him long\nlife. Then he bestowed dresses on the Emirs, after which he said to the\nChamberlain, \"Bring out before me the tribute of Damascus that is with thee.\"\nSo he was shown the chests of money and rarities and jewels, when he took them\nand parted them all amongst the troops,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-seventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Zau al- Makan ordered the\nChamberlain to bring out before him what he had brought of the tribute of\nDamascus; and, when he was shown the chests of money and rarities and jewels,\nhe took them; and parted them all amongst the troops, till nothing was left. \nAnd the Emirs kissed the ground before him and wished him long life, saying,\n\"Never saw we a King, who gave the like of these gifts.\" Then all went away to\ntheir tents and when it was morning he gave orders for marching. So they\nmarched for three days, till, on the fourth day, they drew near to Baghdad. \nWhen they entered the city, they found it decorated, and Zau al-Makan, the\nSultan, went up to his father's palace and sat down on the throne, whilst the\nEmirs of the army and the Wazir Dandan and the Chamberlain of Damascus stood\nbetween his hands. Then he bade his private secretary write a writ to his\nbrother Sharrkan, acquainting him with all that had passed, from first to last,\nand he concluded, \"As soon as thou hast read this letter, make ready thine\naffair and join us with thine army, that we may turn to Holy War upon the\nInfidels and take man-bote for our father and wipe out the stain upon our\nhonour.\" Then he folded the letter and sealed it with his seal ring and said to\nthe Minister Dandan, \"None shall carry this letter but thou; and it behoveth\nthee speak my brother fair and say to him, 'If thou have a mind to thy father's\nkingdom, it is thine, and thy brother shall be Viceroy for thee in Damascus;\nfor to this effect am I instructed by him.'\" So the Wazir went down from before\nhim and made ready for his march. Then Zau al-Makan bade set apart a\nmagnificent house for the Fireman and furnished it with the best of furniture\nand long is the tale of that Fireman.[FN#380] Presently Zau al-Makan went out\nchasing and hunting and, as he was returning to Baghdad, one of the Emirs\npresented him with blood horses and with beauteous handmaids whose description\nthe tongue evades. One of the damsels pleased him: so he went in unto her and\nknew her that night, and she conceived by him forthright. After a while, the\nWazir Dandan returned from his journey, bringing him news of his brother\nSharrkan and that he was then on his way to him, and said, \"It were fitting\nthou go forth to meet him.\" Zau al- Makan replied, \"I hear and I consent;\" and\nriding forth with his Grandees a day's journey from Baghdad, he pitched his\npavilions there awaiting his brother. Next morning appeared King Sharrkan amid\nthe army of Syria, a horseman of might, a lion fierce in fight, a prow and\ndoughty knight. As the squadrons drew nigh and the dust clouds came hard by\nand the troops rode up with banners on high, Zau al-Makan and those with him\npushed forward to meet Sharrkan and his men; and when Zau al-Makan saw his\nbrother, he desired to dismount, but Sharrkan conjured him not to do on this\nwise, and himself footed it, and walked a few paces towards him.[FN#381] As\nsoon as he reached Zau al-Makan, the new Sultan threw himself upon him, and\nSharrkan embraced him and wept with great weeping and the twain condoled with\neach other. Then they mounted and rode onward, they and their troops, till\nthey reached Baghdad, where they alighted and went up to the royal palace and\nthere they passed that night, and when next morning came, Zau al- Makan went\nforth and bade summon the troops from all parts, and proclaimed a Holy War and\na Razzia.[FN#382] They then awaited the coming of the levies from each quarter\nof the kingdom, and every one who came they entreated with honour and promised\nhim all manner of good; till in so doing a full month had sped, and the\nfighting men flocked to them in a continuous body. Then Sharrkan said to Zau\nal-Makan, \"O my brother, tell me thy history.\" So he told him all that had\nbefallen him from first to last, including the benevolent dealing of the\nFireman with him. Asked Sharrkan, 'Hast thou requited his kindness?\"; and he\nanswered, \"O my brother! I have not rewarded him as yet, but Inshallah! I\nwill recompense him whenas I return from this raid\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-eighth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan asked his\nbrother Zau al-Makan, \"Hast thou requited the Fireman for his kindness?\"; and\nhe answered, \"O my brother, I have not rewarded him as yet, but Inshallah! I\nwill recompense him whenas I return from this raid and find time so to do.\"\nTherewith Sharrkan was certified that his sister, Nuzhat al-Zaman, had told him\nthe whole truth; but he concealed what had passed between them; and offered his\nsalutation to her by her husband the Chamberlain. She sent him back her\ngreeting, calling down blessings on him and enquiring after her daughter\nKuzia-Fakan, to which he replied that the maiden was well and in the best of\nhealth and safety. whereupon she praised Almighty Allah and gave him thanks. \nThen Sharrkan went to his brother to take counsel with him for departure; and\nZau al-Makan said, \"O my brother, as soon as the army is complete and the Arabs\nhave come in from all parts, we will march forth.\" So he bade make ready the\ncommissariat and prepare munitions of war and went in to his wife, who was now\nfive months gone with child; and he put under her astrologers and\nmathematicians, to whom he appointed stipends and allowances. Then he set out\nthree months after the arrival of the army of Syria, and as soon as the Arabs\nwere come in and the troops were assembled from all directions; and, as he\nfared forth, he was followed by the warriors and the united host. Now the name\nof the General of the Daylam army was Rustam and that of the General of the\narmy of the Turks[FN#383] Bahram. And Zau al- Makan marched in mid host and on\nhis right was his brother Sharrkan, and on his left the Chamberlain his\nbrother-in-law. So the squadrons broke up and pushed forward and the\nbattalions and companies filed past in battle-array, till the whole army was in\nmotion. They ceased not to fare on for the space of a month, and each body\ndismounted at its own ground and there rested every week three days (for the\nhost was great); and they advanced in this order till they came to the country\nof the Greeks. Then the people of the villages and hamlets and the poorer sort\ntook fright at them; and fled to Constantinople. But when King Afridun heard\nthe tidings he arose and betook himself to Zat al-Dawahi, the same who had\ncontrived the stratagem, and had travelled to Baghdad and had slain King Omar\nbin Al-Nu'uman; and who after carrying off her slaves and Queen Sophia, had\nreturned with them all to her native land. Now when she had been restored to\nher son, the King of Greece, and felt herself safe, she said to King Hardub,\n\"Cool thine eyes; for I have avenged by blood the shame of thy daughter\nAbrizah, and have killed Omar bin al-Nu'uman and have brought back Sophia. So\nnow let us go to the King of Constantinople and carry to him his daughter and\nacquaint him with what hath happened, that all of us be on guard and prepare\nour forces; and I will fare with thee to King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople,\nfor I opine that the Moslems will not await our attack.\" Said Hardub, \"Tarry\nthou till they draw near our country, that we may make us ready meantime and\nassemble our power.\" Accordingly they took to levying their forces and\npreparing for war, and, when the news of the Moslems' advance reached them,\nthey were prepared for defence; and Zat al Dawahi had preceded them. Now when\nshe and her son arrived at Constantinople, the King of Kings, Afridun, hearing\nof the approach of Hardub, King of the Greeks, came forth to meet him and asked\nhow it was with him and the cause of his visit. So Hardub acquainted him with\nthe cunning doings of his mother, Zat al-Dawahi, how she had slain the Moslem\nKing and recovered from him Queen Sophia, and had said, \"The Moslems have\nassembled their forces and are on their way to attack us, wherefore it behoveth\nthat we two join hands in single band and meet them.\" Now King Afridun rejoiced\nin the return of his daughter and the killing of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; and\nhe sent to all countries seeking succour and acquainting the folk with the\ncause of slaying the Moslem King. So the Nazarene troops flocked to him and\nthree months were not past ere the army of the Greeks was complete, besides\nwhich there joined themselves to him Franks from all their lands, French,\nGermans[FN#384] and Ragusans,[FN#385] with men of Zara,[FN#386] Venetians,\nGenoese, and all the hosts of the Yellow Faces[FN#387]; and, when the gathering\nwas at its full, earth was straitened on them by reason of their multitude. \nThen Afridun, the Great King, ordered a march; so they set out and ceased not\nto defile through the city for ten days. They fared on till they reached the\nWady hight Al-Nu'uman, a broad sided vale hard by the Salt Sea, where they\nhalted three days; and on the fourth they were about to set out again, when\nnews came that the army of Al-Islam on them press, and the defenders of the\nfaith of Mohammed, of Men the Best. So they halted in it other three days, and\non the eighth they espied a dust cloud which towered till it walled the whole\nland; nor was an hour of the day past ere that dust began to drift and was torn\nto shreds in the lift, and pierced through its shades the starry radiance of\nlance and the white leven of blades. Presently there appeared beneath it the\nbanners Islamitan and the ensigns Mahometan; the horsemen urged forward, like\nthe letting loose of seas that surged, clad in mail, as they were mackerel-back\nclouds which the moon enveil; whereupon the two hosts clashed, like two\ntorrents on each other dashed. Eyes fell upon eyes; and the first to seek\ncombat singular was the Wazir Dandan, he and the army of Syria, numbering\nthirty thousand bridles, and with him were the General of the Turks, and the\nGeneral of Daylam, Rustam and Bahram, amid twenty thousand horse, behind whom\ncame the men from the shores of the Salt Sea, clad in iron mail, as they were\nfull moons that past through a night o'ercast. Then the Nazarene host called\nout on Jesus and Mary, and the defiled[FN#388] Cross and they heaped themselves\nupon the Wazir Dandan and those with him of the Syrian host. Now all this was\nin pursuance of a stratagem devised by that ancient woman Zat al-Dawahi; for,\nbefore his departure, King Afridun had gone in to her and asked her, \"How shall\nI do and what plan shall I pursue?; it is thou hast caused this great distress\nto us;\" and she had answered, \"O great King and mighty Cohen![FN#389] I will\nteach thee a trick would baffle Iblis himself, though he summon to his\nassistance all his grisly hosts.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Eighty-ninth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, all this was a stratagem of\nthe ancient woman, for that the King before his departure had gone to her and\nasked, \"How shall I do and what plan shall I pursue? it is thou hast caused\nthis great distress to us!\" And she had answered, \"O great King and mighty\nCohen, I will teach thee a trick would baffle the Devil himself though he\nsummon to his assistance all his grisly hosts. It is that thou send fifty\nthousand men going down in ships, and sailing over the sea to the Mountain of\nSmoke; and there let them land and stir not till {he standards of Al-Islam come\nupon thee, when do thou up and at them. Then bid the troops from the seaward\nsally out upon the Moslems and take them in rear, whilst we confront them from\nthe landward. So not one of them shall escape, and our sorrows shall tease and\npeace abide with us.\" Now the counsel of this ancient woman commended itself to\nKing Afridun, and he replied, \"Right is the recking thou reckest, O Princess of\nwits and recourse of Kings and Cohens warring for their blood-wit!\" So when the\narmy of Al-Islam came upon them in chat valley, before they knew of it the\nflames began to burn up the tents and the swords in men's bodies to make rents.\nThen hurried up the army of Baghdad and Khorasan who numbered one hundred and\ntwenty thousand horse, with Zau al-Makan in the front of war. When the host of\nthe Infidels that lay by the sea saw them, they sallied out against them; and\nfollowed in their tracks; and when Zau al- Makan espied this he cried out to\nhis men, \"Turn back to the Infidels, O People of the Chosen Apostle, and slay\nthose who deny and hate the authority of the Compassionating, the\nCompassionate!\" So they turned and fought with the Christians. Then Sharrkan\nmarched up with another corps of the Moslem host, some hundred thousand men,\nwhilst the Infidels numbered nigh upon a thousand and six hundred thousand men.\nWhen the Moslems were united, their hearts were strengthened and they cried\nout, saying, \"Verily Allah hath pro mised us victory, and to the Infidels hath\nassigned defeat.\" And they clashed together with sword and spear. Now Sharrkan\ntare through rank and row and raged among the masses of the foe, fighting so\nfierce a fight as to make children grey grow; nor did he cease tourneying among\nthe infidel horde and working havoc among them with the keen edged sword,\nshouting \"Allaho Akbar!\" (Allah is Most Great) till he drove back the host to\nthe coast. Then failed the force of the foe and Allah gave victory to the\nfaith of Al-Islam, and folk fought folk, drunken without strong drink till they\nslew of the Infidels in this affair forty and five thousand, while of the\nMoslems but three thousand and five hundred fell. Moreover, the Lion of the\nFaith, King Sharrkan, and his brother, Zau al-Makan, slept not that night, but\noccupied themselves with congratulating their braves and with looking to the\nwounded and with assuring the army of victory and salvation and promise of\nreward in the world to come. Thus far concerning the Moslem; but as regards\nKing Afridun, Lord of Constantinople and Sovran of Roum, and Zat Al-Dawahi,\nthey assembled the Emirs of the host and said to them, \"Verily, we had worked\nour will and solaced our hearts, but our over confidence in our numbers, and\nthat only, defeated us.\" Then quoth to them the ancient one, the Lady of\nCalamities, \"In very sooth nought shall profit you, except ye draw you nigh\nunto the Messiah and put your trust in the True Belief, for, by the virtue of\nthe Messiah, the whole strength of the Moslem host lieth in that Satan, King\nSharrkan.\" \"To-morrow,\" said King Afridun, \"I have resolved to draw up in battle\narray and to send out against them that redoubtable cavalier, L\u00fak\u00e1 bin Shaml\u00fat;\nfor if King Sharrkan come forth as a champion to fight single-handed, our man\nwill slay him and will slay the other Moslem Knights, till not one is left. \nAnd I purpose this night to sacre you all with the Holy Incense.\" When the\nEmirs heard these words they kissed the ground before him. Now the incense\nwhich he designated was the excrement of the Chief Patriarch, the denier, the\ndefiler of the Truth, and they sought for it with such instance, and they so\nhighly valued it that the high priests of the Greeks used to send it to all the\ncountries of the Christians in silken wraps after mixing it with musk and\nambergris. Hearing of it Kings would pay a thousand gold pieces for every dram\nand they sent for and sought it to fumigate brides withal; and the Chief\nPriests and the great Kings were wont to use a little of it as collyrium for\nthe eyes and as a remedy in sickness and colic; and the Patriarchs used to mix\ntheir own skite[FN#390] with it, for that the skite of the Chief Patriarch\ncould not suffice for ten countries.[FN#391] So, as soon as dawn was seen and\nthe morning shone with its shine and sheen, the horsemen ran to their spears\nfull keen, and King Afridun,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninetieth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, as soon as dawn was seen and\nthe morning shone with its shine and sheen, the horsemen ran to their spears\nfull keen and King Afridun summoned his chief Knights and Nobles and invested\nthem with dresses of honour; and, drawing the sign of the cross on their\nbrows, incensed them with the incense which as aforesaid was the skite of the\nChief Patriarch, the Cohen, the Heresiarch. This incensing done, he called\nfor Luka bin Shamlut, surnamed the Sword of the Messiah; and, after fumigating\nhim and rubbing his palate with the Holy Merde, caused him to snuff it and\nsmeared his cheeks and anointed his moustaches with the rest. Now there was\nno stouter champion in the land of Roum than this accursed Luka, nor any\nbetter at bending of bow or sway of sword or lunge with lance on the day of\ndevoir; but he was foul of favour, for his face was as the face of an ass, his\nshape that of an ape and his look as the look of a malignant snake: his\npresence was grievouser than parting from the beloved make; and blacker than\nnight was his blackness and more fetid than the lion was his breath for\nfoulness; more crooked than a bow was his crookedness and grimmer than the\nleopard was his ugliness, and he was branded with the mark of the Infidels on\nface.[FN#392] After this he came up to King Afridun and kissed his feet and\nstood before him; and the King said to him, \"I desire thou go out against\nSharrkan, King of Damascus, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman, and deliver us from\nthis affliction.\" Quoth Luka, \"Hearkening and obedience;\" and the King made\nthe sign of the cross on his forehead and felt assured of help from Heaven\nbeing near hand. Then Luka went out from the presence and the accursed one\nmounted a sorrel horse; he was clad in a red robe and a hauberk of gold set\nwith jewels, and he bore a trident spear, as he were Iblis the damned on the\nday of drewing out his hosts war to darraign. Then he rode forward, he and\nhis horde of Infidels, even as though they were driving to the Fire, preceded\nby a herald, crying aloud in the Arabic tongue and saying, \"Ho, sect of\nMohammed (upon whom be salutation and salvation!), let none of you come out\nbut your champion Sharrkan, the Sword of Al-Islam, Lord of Damascus in\nSh\u00e1m[FN#393]!\" Nor had he made an end of speaking, when arose a tumult in the\nplain; all the people heard the strain and the whole moving bodies of the\narmies twain called to mind the Day of Complain. Then the cowards trembled\nand all necks turned towards the sound, and lo! it was King Sharrkan, son of\nKing Omar bin al-Nu'uman. For when his brother, Zau al-Makan, saw that\naccursed one push out on the plain, and heard the pursuivant, he turned to\nSharrkan and said to him, \"Of a surety they seek for thee.\" Said he, \"Should\nit so be, 'twere most pleasing to me.\" So when they made sure of the matter\nand heard the herald crying in the plain, \"Let none of you come out against me\nsave Sharrkan,\" they knew this cursed Luka to be champion of the land of Roum\nwho had sworn to sweep the earth clean of Moslems. Now he was one of the\ngreatest of villains, a wretch who caused hearts to pain; and the DayIamites,\nTurks and Kurds dreaded his might and main. Presently Sharrkan drave at him\nlike a lion angry grim, mounted on a courser like a wild gazelle flying snell\nand slim; and coming nigh to him made the spear he hent to shake as it were a\ndarting snake, and recited these couplets,\n\n\"I have a sorrel steed, whose pride is fain to bear the rein, * Shall give thee what thou likest not and make thee feel his main:\nI have a handy limber spear full bright and keen of point, * Upon whose shaft the dam of Death her throny seat hath ta'en:\nI have a trenchant glaive of Hind; and, when I bare its face * Of scabbard\" veil, from out its brow the rays of leven rain.\"\n\n\nLuka understood not the sense of his speech nor did he apprehend the vehemence\nof the verse; but he smote his forehead with his hand, in honour of the Cross\ndrawn thereon and kissed it; then he couched his throw spear and ran at\nSharrkan. But first he tossed the javelin with one hand in air to such height\nthat it was lost to the spectators' sight; and, catching it with the other hand\nas do the jugglers, hurled it at Sharrkan. It flew from his grasp like a\nshooting star and folk clamoured and feared for Sharrkan; but, as the spear\nflew near him, he put out his hand and caught it in full flight to the\namazement of all who saw the sight. Then he shook it with the hand that took it\ntill it was well-nigh broken, and hurled it so high into the welkin that it\ndisappeared from view. As it descended, he caught it again with the other\nhand, in less than the twinkling of an eye, and cried out from his heart core,\nsaying, \"By the truth of Him who created the sevenfold skies, I will assuredly\nmake this cursed wight a byword for mankind to despise!\" Then threw he the\nthrow spear at Luka, who thought to do as Sharrkan had done and put forth his\nhand to trend it in mid flight; but Sharrkan prevented him, and sped at him a\nsecond throw spear which smote him and the point fell on his forehead, in the\nvery centre of the sign of the Cross, and Allah hurried his soul to the Fire\nand Dwelling place dire.[FN#394] But when the Infidels saw Luka bin Shamlut\nfall slain, they buffeted their faces and they cried, \"Alas!\" and \"Woe worth\nthe day!\" and called for aid upon the Abbots of the monasteries,\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-first Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Infidels saw\nLuka bin Shamlut fall slain, they buffeted their faces and cried, \"Alas!\" and\n\"Woe worth the day!\" and called upon the Abbots of the monasteries and cried,\n\"Where be the crosses?\" So the Religious offered up prayers and the Christians\nall drew together against Sharrkan; and, brandishing their scymitars and\nlances, rushed forward to the attack. Then army met army and breasts fell\nunder hoof, whilst spear and sword ruled the day and forearms and wrists grew\nweak and the coursers seemed created without legs;[FN#395] nor did the herald\nof-war cease calling to fight, till arms were aweary and day took flight and\nnight came on with darkness dight. So the two hosts drew apart, whilst every\nbrave staggered like a drunken knave, for that with so much cut and thrust they\nstrave; and the place was choked with the slain; fell were the wounds and the\nhurt knew not by whom they fell. Then Sharrkan joined his brother, Zau\nal-Makan, and the Chamberlain and the Wazir Dandan, and said to them, \"Verily\nAllah hath opened a door for the Infidels to fall, praised be the Lord of the\nWorlds one and all!\" Replied Zau al-Makan, \"Let us never cease to praise Allah,\nfor that He hath dispelled trouble from the Arab and the Ajam. Indeed the\nfolk, generation after generation, shall tell of thy derring-do against the\naccursed Luka, the falsifier of the Evangel;[FN#396] of thy catching the throng\nspear in mid-flight, and how the enemy of Allah among men thou didst smite; and\nthy fame shall endure until the end of time.\" Then said Sharrkan, \"Harkye, O\ngrand Chamberlain and doughty Capitayne!\" and he answered, \"Adsum!\"[FN#397]\nQuoth Sharrkan, \"Take with thee the Wazir Dandan and twenty thousand horse, and\nlead them seven parasangs towards the sea, and force the march till ye shall\nhave come near the shore, and there remain only two parasangs between thee and\nthe foe. Then ambush ye in the hollows of the ground till ye hear the tumult\nof the Infidels disembarking from their ships; and the war cry from every side\nstrike your ear and ye know that the sabres have begun labour between us and\nthem; and, whenso ye see our troops falling back, as if defeated, and all the\nInfidels following them, as well those in front as those from the seaward and\nthe tents, do ye still lie in wait for them: but as soon as ye see the standard\nwith the words, There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is God's Apostle (on\nwhom be salutation and salvation!), then up with the green banner, and do your\nendeavour and fall on their rear and shout, 'Alla ho Akbar! Allah is most\nGreat!' and circle round that they may not interpose between the retreating\narmy and the sea.\" He replied, \"To hear is to obey!\"; and forthright they\nagreed upon this matter and they went forth. Now the Chamberlain took with\nhimself the Wazir Dandan and twenty thousand men even as Sharrkan had\ncommanded. As soon as dawned the morn, the troops sprung to horse when they\nhad donned their armour gear and drawn the scymitar and slung the spear. Then\nthe Christians dispread themselves over hill and dale and the\nEcclesiasts[FN#398] cried out and all heads were bared, and those in the ships\nhoisted the Cross at their mast heads and began making for shore from every\nside, and landed their horses and get them ready for fight and fray, whilst the\nsword blades glittered bright and the javelins glanced like leven-light on mail\nshirt white; and all joined fight and the grind mill of Death whirled round and\nground those who fought from horse and aground: heads from bodies flew end\ntongues mute grew and eyes no vision knew. Scymitars strave with utmost strain\nand heads flew over the battle-plain; gall bladders clave and wrists were shorn\nin twain; steeds plashed in pools of gore and beards were gripped right sore;\nthe host of Al-Islam called out, saying, \"On the Prince of Mankind be blessings\nand peace, and to the Compassionate glory and praise, which ne'er shall cease,\nfor His boons which aye increase;\" and the host of the Infidels shouted, \"Glory\nto the Cross and the Belt and the vine press juice, and the wine presser and\nthe Priests and the Monks and the Festival of Palms and the Metropolitan!\" Now\nZau al-Makan and Sharrkan held back and their troops gave way and feigned\nflight from before the enemy, while the Infidel array pressed hard upon them\ndeeming them in rout, and made ready to foin and hew. Then the meiny of the\nMoslems raised their voices, reciting the first verses of the Chapter of the\nCow,[FN#399] whilst the dead were trampled under hoofs of steeds, and the\nheralds of the Greeks cried out, \"Ho, servants of the Messiah! Ho, people of\nthe True Faith! Ho, followers of the Primate![FN#400] Verily Divine grace upon\nyou opes; for see, the hosts of Al Islam like birds with broken wings incline\nto elope! So turn ye not to them your backs, but let your swords cleave deep in\ntheir necks and hold not your hands from them, else are ye outcasts from the\nMessiah, Mary's son, who spoke even when a cradled one!\"[FN#401] Now Afridun,\nKing of Constantinople, deemed that the Infidels were victorious, knowing not\nthat this was but a clever stratagem of the Moslems, and sent to King Hardub of\nRoum congratulations on success, adding, \"Availed us naught but the Holy Merde\nof the Arch Patriarch, whose fragrance exhaled from the beards and mustachios\nof the slaves of the Cross near and far; and I swear, by the Miracles of the\nMessiah; and by thy daughter Abrizah, the Nazarene, the Mariolater; and by the\nWaters of Baptism, that I will not leave upon the earth a single defender of\nAl- Islam! And to the bitter end will I carry out this plan.\" So the messenger\nbetook himself with the address to King Hardub, whilst the Infidels called to\none another saying, \"Take we vengeance wreak for Luka!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-second Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Infidels called to\none another, saying, \"Take we vengeance wreak for Luka!\" while Hardub King of\nGreece cried aloud, \"Ho, to our revenge for Abrizah!\" Thereupon King Zau\nal-Makan shouted \"Ho, servants of the Requiting King!: smite the children of\ndenial and disobedience with the blanch of sword and the brown of spear!\" So\nthe Moslems returned to the Infidels and plied them with the keen edged\nscymitar, whilst their herald cried aloud, \"Up, and at the foes of the Faith,\nall ye who love the Prophet Elect, with hope of salvation on the Day of Fear,\nto win favour of the Bountiful, the Forgiving One; for verily the Garden of\nParadise is under the shadow of swords!\" And behold, Sharrkan and his men\ncharged down upon the Infidels and cut off their retreat and wheeled and\ntourneyed among the ranks; when lo! a knight of goodly presence opened a\npassage through the army of Unbelievers and circled hither and thither amongst\nthe Deniers, cutting and thrusting and covering the ground with heads and\ntrunks, so that the Faithless feared him and their necks bent under his lunge\nand hew. He was girt with two swords, his glances and his brand, and he was\narmed with two lances, one of bamboo cane and the other his straight wand like\nshape; and his flowing hair stood him in stead of many warriors, even as saith\nthe poet,\n\n\"Laud not long hair,[FN#402] except it be dispread * In two fold locks, on day of fight and fray,\nO'er youth who bears his lance 'twixt flank and thigh, * From many a whis kered knight to win the day.\"\n\n\nAnd as singeth another,\n\n\"I say to him, what while he slings his sword, * 'For sword shall serve those looks that sword like show!'\nSays he, 'My sabre looks for those I love, * My sword for those who sweets of love unknow!'\"\n\n\nWhen Sharrkan saw him, he said to him, \"I conjure thee by the Koran and the\nattributes of the Compassionate One, O Champion of the Champions! tell me who\nthou art: for verily by thy deeds this day thou hast pleased the Requiting\nKing, whom one thing distracteth not from other thing; in that thou hast been\ndiscomforting the children of impiety and in rebellion revelling.\" Then cried\nthe Cavalier to him saying, \"Thou art he who madest brother covenant with me\nbut yesterday: how quickly thou hast forgotten me!\" Thereupon he withdrew his\nmouth veil,[FN#403] so that what was hidden of his beauty was disclosed, and\nlo! it was none other than Zau al-Makan. Then Sharrkan rejoiced in his\nbrother, save that he feared for him the rush of fighting and the crush of\nbraves a smiting; and this for two reasons, the first, his tender age and\nexposure to the evil eye, and the second, that his safety was to the kingdom\nthe greater of the two overshadowing wings. So he said to him, \"O King! thou\nriskest thy life, so join thy steed to mine; in very sooth I fear for thee from\nthe foe; and better thou stint hazarding thyself forth of these squadrons, that\nwe may shoot at the enemy thine unerring shaft.\" Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"I desire\nto even thee in fray and I will not be niggard of myself before thee in the\nmelay.\" Then the host of Al-Islam, heaping itself upon the Infidels, girt them\non all sides, warred on them a right Holy War, and brake the power of the\nchildren of impiety and pride and stowre. But King Afridun sighed when he saw\nthe evil wreak that had fallen on the Greek, and they turned their backs from\nfight and addressed themselves to flight, making for the ships, when lo! there\ncame out upon them from the seacoast another host, led by the Minister Dandan,\nthe champion who was wont to make champions bite the dust, and to lay load on\nthem with cut and thrust. Nor less came forth the Emir Bahram, Lord of the\nProvinces of Sham, amid twenty thousand horse doughty of arm; and the host of\nAl-Islam pressed them in front and on flank and wrought them grievous harm. \nThen a body of the Moslems turned against those who in the ships remained, and\nperdition on them rained, till they threw themselves into the main, and they\nslew of them many slain, more than a hundred thousand noblemen, nor was one of\ntheir champions, great or small, saved from bale and bane. Moreover, they took\ntheir ships, with all the money and treasure and cargo, save a score of keel,\nand the Moslems got that loot whose like was never gotten in by gone years; nor\nwas such cut and thrust ever heard of by men's ears.[FN#404] Now amongst the\nbooty were fifty thousand horses, besides treasure and spoil past reckoning and\narithmetic, whereat the Moslems rejoiced with an exceeding joy for that Allah\nhad given them victory and protection. Such was the case with them; but as\nregards the fugitive Infidels they soon reached Constantinople, whither the\ntidings preceded them that King Afridun had prevailed over the Moslems; so\nquoth the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi, \"I know that my son Hardub, King of\nRoum, is no runagate and that he feareth not the Islamitic hosts, but will\nrestore the whole world to the Nazarene faith.\" Then she bade the Great King,\nAfridun, give command that the city be decorated, and the people held festival\nhigh and drank their wines drunkenly and knew not the decrees of Destiny. Now\nwhilst they were in the midst of their rejoicings, behold, the raven of dule\nand downfall croaked over them, and up came the twenty fugitive ships wherein\nwas the King of C\u00e6sarea. So King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, met them on\nthe sea shore, and they told him all that had befallen them from the Moslem,\nand they wept sore and groaned and moaned; and rejoicing at weal was turned\ninto dismay for unheal; and they informed him concerning Luka son of Shamlut,\nhow calamity had betided him and how Death had shot him with his shaft. \nThereat the horrors of Doomday rose upon King Afridun,[FN#405] and he knew that\nthere was no making straight their crook. Then came up from them the sound of\nweeping and wailing; the city was full of men mourning and the keepers were\nkeening, and sighs and cries were heard from all sides. And when King Hardub\nof Greece met King Afridun he told him the truth of the case and how the flight\nof the Moslems was by way of stratagem and deceit, and said to him, \"Look not\nto see any of the army, save those who have already reached thee.\" When King\nAfridun heard these words he fell down in a fainting-fit, with his nose under\nhis feet; and, as soon as he revived, he exclaimed, \"Surely the Messiah was\nwroth with them that he caused the Moslems to prevail over them!\" Then came the\nArch Patriarch sadly to the King who said to him, \"O our father, annihilation\nhath overtaken our army and the Messiah hath punished us!\" Replied the\nPatriarch, \"Grieve not nor feel concerned, for it cannot be but that one of you\nhave sinned against the Messiah, and all have been punished for his offence;\nbut now we will read prayers for you in the churches, that the Mohammeden hosts\nmay be repelled from you.\" After which the old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, came to\nAfridun and said to him, \"O King, verily the Moslem hosts are many, and we\nshall never overcome them save by wile: wherefore I purpose to work upon them\nby guile and repair to this army of Al-Islam, haply I may win my wish of their\nleader and slay their champion, even as I slew his father. If my stratagem\nsucceed in his case, not one of the host he leads shall return to his native\nland, for all are strong only because of him; but I desire to have some\nChristian dwellers of Syria, such as go out every month and year to sell their\ngoods, that they may help me (for this they can do) in carrying out my plan.\"\nReplied the King, \"Be it so whenever thou wilt.\" So she bade fetch an hundred\nmen, natives of Najr\u00e1n,[FN#406] in Sham, and the King asked them, \"Have ye not\nheard what hath befallen the Christians with the Moslems?\" \"Yes,\" answered\nthey; and he rejoined, \"Know ye that this woman hath devoted her life to the\nMessiah and purposeth to go forth with you, disguised as Monotheists and\nMohammedans, to work out a device which shall profit us and hinder the Moslem\nfrom us: say, then, are ye also willing to devote yourselves to the Anointed\nand I will give you a quintal of gold?[FN#407] He of you who escapeth shall\nhave the money, and him of you who dieth will the Messiah reward.\" \"O King,\"\nreplied they, \"we will devote our lives to the Messiah, and we will be thy\nsacrifice.\" Thereupon the old woman took all she required of aromatic roots and\nplaced them in water which she boiled over the fire till the black essence of\nthem was extracted. She waited till the decoction was cold, then dipped the\ncorner of a long kerchief therein and stained her face therewith. Moreover,\nshe donned over her clothes a long gaberdine with an embroidered border and\ntook in her hand a rosary, and afterwards went in to King Afridun, who knew her\nnot, nor did any of his companions know her, till she discovered herself to\nthem: and there was none in the assembly but who thanked and praised her for\nher cunning; and her son rejoiced and said, \"May the Messiah never fail thee!\"\nThereupon she took with her the Syrian Christians, and set out for the army of\nBaghdad.\u2014 And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-third Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Afridun heard\nthese words, he fell into a fainting-fit with his nose under his feet; and, as\nsoon as he revived, fear fluttered the scrotum[FN#408] below his belly and he\ncomplained to the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi. Now this accursed old woman was\na witch of the witches, past mistress in sorcery and deception; wanton and\nwily, deboshed and deceptious; with foul breath, red eyelids, yellow cheeks,\ndull brown face, eyes bleared, mangy body, hair grizzled, back humped, skin\nwithered and wan and nostrils which ever ran. But she had studied the\nscriptures of Al-Islam and had made the Pilgrimage to the Holy House of Meccah\nand all this that she might come to the knowledge of the Mohammedan ordinances\nand the miraculous versets of the Koran; and she had professed Juda\u00efsm in the\nHoly City of Jerusalem[FN#409] for two years' space, that she might master the\nmagic of men and demons; so that she was a plague of plagues and a pest of\npests, wrong-headed as to belief and to no religion fief. Now the chief reason\nof her sojourn with her son, King Hardub of Greece, was on account of the slave\nvirgins at his court: for she was given to tribadism[FN#410] and could not\nexist without sapphism or she went mad: so if any damsel pleased her, she was\nwont to teach her the art of rubbing clitoris against clitoris and would anoint\nher with saffron[FN#411] till she fainted away for excess of volupty. Whoso\nobeyed her she was wont to favour and make her son incline towards her; but\nwhoso repelled her she would contrive to destroy; and so she abode for a length\nof time. This was known to Marjanah and Rayh\u00e1nah and Utrijah, the handmaids of\nAbrizah, and their Princess loathed the old woman and abhorred to lie with her,\nbecause of the rank smell from her armpits, the stench of her fizzles more\nfetid than carrion, and the roughness of her hide coarser than palm fibre. She\nwas wont to bribe those who rubbed parts with her by means of jewels and\ninstructions; but Abrizah held aloof from her and sought refuge with the\nOmnipotent, the Omniscient; for, by Allah, right well quoth the poet,\n\n\"Ho thou who grovellest low before the great * Nor over fording lesser men dost blench\nWho gildest dross by dirham gathering, * No otter scent disguises carrion stench!\n\n\nAnd now to return to the story of her stratagem and the woes of her working. \nPresently she departed, taking the chief Nazarenes with their hosts, and turned\ntowards the army of the Moslems. Whereupon King Hardub went in to King Afridun\nand said to him, \"O King, we have no need of the Chief Patriarch nor of his\nprayers, but will consult my mother's counsel and observe what she will do with\nher craft unending against the Moslem hosts; for these are marching with all\ntheir power, they will soon be upon us and they will encircle us on all sides.\"\nWhen King Afridun heard this, terror took hold upon his heart and he wrote\nletters, without stay or delay, to all the nations of the Nazarenes, saying,\n\"It behoveth none of the Messiahites or Cross knights to hold back, especially\nthe folk of the strongholds and forts: but let them all come to us, foot and\nhorse, women and children, for the Moslem hosts already tread our soil. So\nhaste! haste ye! ere what we fear to us here appear.\" Thus much concerning\nthem; but regarding the work of the old woman, Zat al-Dawahi; when she went\nforth from the city with her suite, she clad them in the clothing of Moslem\nmerchants, having provided herself with an hundred mules carrying stuffs of\nAntioch, such as goldwoven satins and royal brocades and so forth. And she had\ntaken a letter from King Afridun to the following effect: \"These be merchantmen\nfrom the land of Sham who have been with us: so it besitteth none to do them\nharm or hindrance, nor take tax and tithe of them, till they reach their homes\nand safe places, for by merchants a country flourisheth, and these are no men\nof war nor of ill faith.\" Then quoth the accursed Zat al-Dawahi to those with\nher, \"Verily I wish to work out a plot for the destruction of the Moslem.\"\nReplied they, \"O Queen, command us whatso thou wilt; we are at thy disposal and\nmay the Messiah never disappoint thy dealings!\" Then she donned a gown of fine\nwhite wool and rubbed her forehead, till she made a great mark as of a scar and\nanointed it with an ointment of her own fashion, so that it shone with\nprodigious sheen. Now the old hag was lean bodied and hollow eyed, and she\nbound her legs tightly round with cords[FN#412] just above her feet, till she\ndrew near the Moslem camp, when she unwound them, leaving their marks deeply\nembedded in her ankles. Then she anointed the wheels with dragon's blood and\nbade her companions beat her with a severe beating, and set her in a chest and,\nquoth she, \"Cry abroad the Refrain of Unity,[FN#413] nor fear from it aught of\ndamage!\" Replied they, \"How can we beat thee, who be our sovereign lady, Zat\nal-Dawahi, mother of the King we glory in?\" Then said she, \"We blame not nor\ndeal reproach to him who goeth to the jakes, and in need evil becometh good\ndeed. When ye have set me in the chest, take it and make it one of the bales\nand place it on mule back and fare forth with it and the other goods through\nthe Moslem camp, and fear ye no blame. And if any of the Moslems hinder you,\ngive up the mules and their lading and be take yourselves to their King, Zau\nal-Makan, and implore his protection saying, 'We were in the land of the\nInfidels and they took nothing from us, but wrote us a passport, that none\nshall do us hindrance or work our mischance.' If he ask you, 'What profit had\nye of your property in the land of Roum?' answer him, 'We profited in the\ndeliverance of a pious man, who had been bound down in an underground cell nigh\nfifteen years, crying out for help yet none helped him. Nay, the Infidels\ntortured him night and day. We knew not this; but, after we had tarried in\nConstantinople for some time, having sold our goods and bought others in their\nstead, we determined on and made ready for a return to our native land. We\nspent that night conversing about our journey and when day broke, we saw\nfigured upon the wall a human form and as we drew nigh it, behold, it moved and\nsaid, 'O Moslems, is there amongst you one who is minded to woo the favour of\nthe Lord of the three Worlds?'[FN#414] 'How so?' asked we; and the figure\nanswered, 'Know that Allah hath made me speak to you, to the intent that your\nfaith be fortified, and that your belief embolden you and that you may go forth\nof the country of the Infidels and repair to the Moslem host; for with them\nwones the Sword of the Com passionate One, of our Age the Champion, King\nSharrkan, by whom He shall conquer Constantinople town and destroy the sect of\nthe Nazarene. And when ye shall have journeyed three days, you will find an\nhermitage known as the Hermitage of the ascetic Matruhina[FN#415] and\ncontaining a cell; visit it with pure intent and contrive to arrive there by\nforce of will, for therein is a Religious from the Holy City, Jerusalem, by\nname Abdullah, and he is one of the devoutest of mankind, endowed with the\npower of working saintly miracles[FN#416] such as dispel doubts and obscurity. \nCertain of the monks seized him by fraud and shut him up in a souterrain where\nhe hath lain a long time. By his deliverance you will please the Lord of\nFaithful Men, for such release is better than fighting for the Faith.'\" Now\nwhen the ancient dame and those with her had agreed upon such words, she said,\n\"As soon as that which I impart shall reach the ears of King Sharrkan, say him\nfurther, 'Hearing this from that image we knew that the holy man'\"\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-fourth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old woman, Zat\nal-Dawahi, and those with her had agreed upon such words, she said, \"Now as\nsoon as that which I impart shall reach the ears of King Sharrkan say him\nfurther, 'Hearing these words from that image we knew that the holy man was\nindeed of the chiefest devotees and Allah's servants of purest qualities; so we\nmade three days' march till we came in sight of that hermitage, and then we\nwent up to it and passed the day in buying and selling, as is the wont of\nmerchants. As soon as day had departed our sight and night was come to darken\nlight, we repaired to the cell wherein was the dungeon, and we heard the holy\nman, after chanting some verses of the Koran, repeat the following couplets,\n\n'My heart disheartened is, my breast is strait, * And sinks my soul in sea of bale and bate\nUnless escape be near I soon shall die; * And Death were better than this doleful strait:\nO Lightning an thou light my home and folk, * An their still brighter charms thy shine abate,\nSay, what my path to meet them, being barred * By wars, and barricado'd succour's gate?'\n\n\n\"When once ye have brought me into the Moslem camp, and I mix with them you\nshall see,\" the old woman continued, \"how I will make shift to beguile them; and\nslay them all, even to the last man.\" The Nazarenes hearing whet she said,\nkissed her hands and set her in the chest, after they had beaten her with a\ngrievous beating in obedience to her commands, for they saw it was incumbent on\nthem to do her bidding in this; then they all made for the Moslem host as hath\nerst been said. Such was the case with the damned hag, Zat al-Dawahi and her\ncompanions; but as regards the Mohammeden army, they indeed, after Allah had\ngiven them victory over their enemies and they had plundered everything in the\nships of money and hoards, all sat down to converse with one another and Zau\nal-Makan said to his brother Sharrkan, \"Verily, Allah hath granted us to\nprevail because of our just dealing and discipline and concord amongst\nourselves; wherefore continue, O Sharrkan, to obey my commandment, in\nsubmission to Allah (be He exalted and extolled!), for I mean to slay ten Kings\nin blood-revenge for my sire, to cut the throat of fifty thousand Greeks and to\nenter Constantinople.\" Replied Sharrkan, \"My life be thy ransom against death! \nNeeds must I follow out the Holy War, though I wone many a year in their\ncountry. But I have, O my brother, in Damascus a daughter, named Kuzia Fakan,\nwhom I love heartily for she is one of the marvels of the time and she will\nsoon be of age.' Said Zau al-Makan, \"And I also have left my wife with child\nand near her time, nor do I know what Allah will vouchsafe me by her. But\npromise me, O my brother, that if Allah bless me with a son, thou wilt grant me\nthy daughter for wife to him, and make covenant with me and pledge me thy faith\nthereon.\" \"With love and good will, replied Sharrkan; and, stretching out his\nhand to his brother, he said, If she bring thee a son, I will give him my\ndaughter Kuzia Fakan, to wife.\" At this Zau al-Makan rejoiced, and they fell to\ncongratulating each other on the victory over the enemy. And the Wazir Dandan\nalso congratulated the two brothers and said to them, \"Know, O ye Kings, that\nAllah hath given us the victory, for that we have devoted our lives to Him (be\nHe exalted and ex tolled!); and we have left our homes and households; and it\nis my counsel that we follow up the foe and press upon him and harass him, so\nhaply Allah shall enable us to win our wishes, and we shall destroy our\nenemies, branch and root. If it please you, do ye go down in these ships and\nsail over the sea, whilst we fare forward by land and bear the brunt of battle\nand the thrust of fight.\" And the Minister Dandan ceased not to urge them to\ncombat and repeated his words who said,\n\n\"To slay my foes is chiefest bliss I wist, * And on the courser's back be borne a list;\nComes promising tryst a messenger from friend * Full oft, when comes the friend withouten tryst.\"\n\n\nAnd these words of another,\n\n\"War for my mother (an I live) I'll take; * Spear for my brother; scymitar for sire\nWith every shag haired brave who meets his death * Smiling, till won from Doom his dear desire!\"\n\n\nAnd when the Wazir ended his verses, he said, \"Praise be to Him who aided us\ndear victory to uphold and who hath given us spoil of silver and fine gold!\"\nThen Zau al-Makan commanded the army to depart; and they fared on forcing their\nmarches for Constantinople, till they came to a wide and spacious champaign,\nfull of all things fair and fain, with wild cattle frisking and gazelles pacing\nto and fro across the plain. Now they had traversed great deserts and drink\nhad been six days cut off from them, when they drew near this meadow and saw\ntherein waters founting and ripe fruits daunting and that land as it were\nParadise; for it had donned its adornments and decked itself.[FN#417] Gently\nwaved the branches of its trees drunken with the new wine of the dew, and\ncombined with the nectar of Tasnim the soft breathings of the morning breeze. \nMind and gazer were confounded by its beauty, even as saith the poet,\n\n\"Behold this lovely garden! 'tis as though * Spring o'er its frame her greeny cloak had spread.\nLooking with fleshly eyne, thou shalt but sight * A lake whose waters balance in their bed,\nBut look with spirit eyes and lo! shalt see * Glory in every leaf o'erwaves thy head.\"\n\n\nAnd as another saith,\n\n\"The stream's a cheek by sunlight rosy dyed, * Whose down[FN#418] is creeping shade of tamarisk stems\nRound legs of tree trunks waveless roll in rings * Silvern, and blossoms are the diadems.\"\n\n\nWhen Zau al-Makan saw this champaign, with its trees bowing and its flowers\nblooming and its birds warbling, he called to his brother Sharrkan and said, \"O\nmy brother, verily in Damascus is naught the like of this place. We will not\nmarch from it save after three days, that we may take rest ourselves and that\nthe army of Al-Islam may regain strength and their souls be fortified to\nencounter the blamed Infidels.\" So they halted therein and while camping\nbehold, they heard a noise of voices from afar, and Zau al-Makan asked the\ncause thereof, and was answered that a caravan of merchants from the Land of\nSyria had halted there to rest and that the Moslem troops had come on them; and\nhad haply seized something of the goods which they had brought from the country\nof the Infidels. After a while up came the merchants, crying out and appealing\nto the King for aidance. When Zau al- Makan saw this, he bade them be brought\nbefore him and, when in presence they said to him, \"O King, we have been in the\ncountry of the Infidels and they plundered us of nothing: why then do our\nbrothers the Moslems despoil our goods, and we in their own land? Of a truth\nwhen we saw your troops, we went up to them; and they robbed us of what we had\nwith us and we have now reported to thee all that hath befallen us.\" Thereupon\nthey brought out to him the letter of the King of Constantinople, and Sharrkan\nread it and said, \"We will presently restore to you what hath been taken from\nyou; but yet it behoveth you not to carry merchandise to the country of the\nInfidels.\" Replied they, \"O our Lord, in very sooth Allah despatched us thither\nthat we might win what Gh\u00e1zi[FN#419] never won the like of, not even thou in\nall thy razzias.\" Asked Sharrkan, \"What was it ye won?\" \"O King,\" answered\nthey, \"we will not tell thee save in private; for if this matter be noised\namong the folk, haply it may come to the ears of some,[FN#420] and this will be\nthe cause of our ruin and of the ruin of all Moslems who resort to the land of\nthe Greeks.\" Now they had hidden the chest wherein was the damned Zat al-\nDawahi. So Zau al-Makan and his brother brought them to a private place, where\nthey laid bare to both of them the story of the devotee, and wept till they\nmade the two Kings weep.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-fifth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Nazarenes who wore\nmerchants' weed, when brought to a private place by Zau al-Makan and his\nbrother Sharrkan, laid bare to both of them the story of the devotee and wept\ntill they made the two Kings weep and repeated to them all which had been\ntaught by the old witch Zat al-Dawahi. Thereupon Sharrkan's heart yearned to\nthe devotee and he was moved to ruth for him and was fired with zeal for the\nservice of Almighty Allah. So quoth he to them, \"Did ye rescue this holy man\nor is he still in the hermitage?\" Quoth they, \"We delivered him and slew the\nhermit, fearing for our lives; after which we made haste to fly for dread of\ndeath; but a trusty man told us that in this hermitage are quintals of gold and\nsilver and stones of price.\" Then they fetched the chest and brought out the\naccursed old woman, as she were a cassia pod[FN#421] for excess of blackness\nand leanness, and she was laden with the same fetters and shackles. When Zau\nal-Makan and the bystanders saw her, they took her for a man of the best of\nAllah's devotees and surpassing in pious qualities, more especially because of\nthe shining of her forehead for the ointment wherewith she had anointed her\nface. So Zau al-Makan and Sharrkan wept sore; then they rose up in honour and\nkissed her hands and feet, sobbing aloud: but she signed to them; and said,\n\"Cease this weeping and hear my words. Hereat they dried their tears in\nobedience to her bidding, and she said, \"Know ye both that I was content to\naccept what my Lord did unto me, for I kenned that the affliction which befel\nme was a trial from Him (be He exalted and extolled!); and whoso hath not\npatience under calamity and tribulation, for him there is no coming to the\ndelights of Paradise. I had indeed supplicated Him that I might return to my\nnative land, not as a compensation for the sufferings decreed to me, but that I\nmight die under the horse hoofs of warriors fighting for the Faith who, being\nslain in fray, live again without suffering death.\"[FN#422] Then she repeated\nthe following couplets,\n\n\"Our Fort is Tor,[FN#423] and flames the fire of fight: * Moses art thou and this is time for aid:\nCast down thy rod, 'twill swallow all they wrought, * Nor dread for men their ropes be vipers made.[FN#424]\nFor Chapters read on fight day lines of foes, * And on their necks 'grave versets[FN#425] wi' thy blade!\"\n\n\nWhen the old woman had ended her verse, her eyes overflowed with tears and her\nforehead under the unguent shone like gleaming light, and Sharrkan rose and\nkissed her hand and caused food be brought before her: but she refused it,\nsaying, \"I have not broken my fast by day for fifteen years; and how should I\nbreak it at such a time when my Lord hath been bountiful to me in delivering me\nfrom the captivity of the Infidels and removing from me that which was more\ngrievous to me than torment of fire? I will wait till sun down.\" So when it was\nnightfall, Sharrkan and Zau al-Makan came and served her with food and said,\n\"Eat, O ascetic!\" But she said, \"This is no time for eating; it is the time for\nworshipping the Requiting King.\" Then she stood up in the prayer niche and\nremained praying till the night was spent; and she ceased not to do after this\nfashion for three days and nights, sitting not but at the time of the Sal\u00e1m or\nsalutation[FN#426] ending with several prayers. When Zau al- Makan saw her on\nthis wise, firm belief in her get hold of his heart and he said to Sharrkan,\n\"Cause a tent of perfumed leather to be pitched for this Religious, and appoint\na body servant to wait upon him.\" On the fourth day she called for food; so\nthey brought her all kinds of meats that could seduce the sense or delight the\nsight; but of all this she would eat only a scone with salt. Then she again\nturned to her fast and, as the night came, she rose anew to pray; when Sharrkan\nsaid to Zau al-Makan, \"Verily, this man carrieth renunciation of the world to\nthe extreme of renouncing, and, were it not for this Holy War, I would join\nmyself to him and worship Allah in his service, till I came before His\npresence. And now I desire to enter his tent and talk with him for an hour.\"\nQuoth Zau al-Makan, \"And I also: To-morrow we sally forth to fight against\nConstantinople, and we shall find no time like the present.\" Said the Wazir\nDandan, \"And I no less desire to see this ascetic; haply he will pray for me\nthat I find death in this Holy War and come to the presence of my Lord, for I\nam aweary of the world.\" So as soon as night had darkened, they repaired to the\ntent of that witch, Zat al-Dawahi; and, seeing her standing to pray, they drew\nnear her and fell a weeping for pity of her; but she paid no heed to them till\nmidnight was past, when she ended her orisons by pronouncing the salutation. \nThen she turned to them; and after wishing them long life, asked them \"Wherefore\ncome ye?\", whereto they answered, \"O thou holy man! diddest thou not hear us\nweep around thee?\" She rejoined, \"To him who standeth in the presence of Allah,\nremaineth no existence in time, either for hearing any or for seeing aught\nabout him.\" Quoth they, \"We would have thee recount to us the cause of thy\ncaptivity and pray for us this night, for that will profit us more than the\npossession of Constantinople.\" Now when she heard their words she said, \"By\nAllah, were ye not the Emirs of the Moslems, I would not relate to you aught of\nthis at any time; for I complain not but to Allah alone. However, to you I\nwill relate the circumstances of my captivity. Know, then, that I was in the\nsaintly City of Jerusalem with certain ecstatics and inspired men, and did not\nmagnify myself among them, for that Allah (be He exalted and extolled!) had\nendowed me with humility and abnegation, till I chanced to go down to the sea\none night and walked upon the water. Then entered into me pride; whence I know\nnot, and I said to myself, 'Who like me can walk the water?' And my heart from\nthat time hardened and Allah afflicted me with the love of travel. So I\njourneyed to Roum land and visited every part for a whole year, and left no\nplace but therein I worshiped Allah. When I came to this spot,[FN#427] I clomb\nthe mountain and saw there an hermitage, inhabited by a monk called Matrubina,\nwho, when he sighted me, came out and kissed my hands and feet and said,\n'Verily, I have seen thee since thou enteredst the land of the Greeks, and thou\nhast filled me with longing for the land of Al-Islam.' Then he took my hand and\ncarried me into that hermitage, and brought me to a dark room; and, when I\nentered it unawares, he locked the door on me and left me there forty days,\nwithout meat or drink; for it was his intent to kill me by delay. It chanced\none day, that a Knight called Dakian\u00fas[FN#428] came to the hermitage,\naccompanied by ten squires and his daughter Tam\u00e1sil, a girl whose beauty was\nincom parable. When they entered that hermitage, the monk Matruhina told them\nof me, and the Knight said, 'Bring him out, for surely there is not on him a\nbird's meal of meat.' So they opened the door of the dark room and found me\nstanding in the niche, praying and reciting the Koran and glorifying Allah and\nhumbling myself before the Almighty. When they saw me in this state Matrohina\nexclaimed, 'This man is indeed a sorcerer of the sorcerers!'; and hearing his\nwords, they all came in on me, Dakianus and his company withal, and they beat\nme with a grievous beating, till I desired death and reproached myself, saying,\n'This is his reward who exalteth himself and who prideth himself on that which\nAllah hath vouchsafed to him, beyond his own competence! And thou, O my soul,\nverily self esteem and arrogance have crept into thee. Dost thou not know that\npride angereth the Lord and hardeneth the heart and bringeth men to the Fire?'\nThen they laid me in fetters and returned me to my place which was the dungeon\nunder ground. Every three days, they threw me down a scone of barley bread and\na draught of water; and every month or two the Knight came to the hermitage. \nNow his daughter Tamasil had grown up, for she was nine years old when I first\nsaw her, and fifteen years passed over me in captivity, so that she had reached\nher four and twentieth year. There is not in our land nor in the land of the\nGreeks a fairer than she, and her father feared lest the King take her from\nhim; for she had vowed herself to the Messiah and rode with Dakianus in the\nhabit of a cavalier, so that albeit none might compare with her in loveliness,\nno one who saw her knew her for a woman. And her father had laid up his monies\nin this hermitage, every one who had aught of price or treasured hoard being\nwont to deposit it therein; and I saw there all manner of gold and silver and\njewels and precious vessels and rarities, none may keep count of them save\nAlmighty Allah. Now ye are worthier of these riches than those Infidels; so\nlay hands on that which is in the hermitage and divide it among the Moslems and\nespecially on fighters in the Holy War. When these merchants came to\nConstantinople and sold their merchandise, that image which is on the wall\nspoke to them, by grace of a marvel which Allah granted to me; so they made for\nthat hermitage and slew Matruhina, after torturing him with most grievous\ntorments, and dragging him by the beard, till he showed them the place where I\nwas; when they took me and found no path but flight for dread of death. Now\nTo-morrow night Tamasil will visit that hermitage as is her habit, and her\nfather and his squires will come after her, as he feareth for her; so, if ye\nwould witness these things, take me with you and I will deliver to you the\nmonies and the riches of the Knight Dakianus which be in that mountain; for I\nsaw them bring out vessels of gold and silver to drink therefrom, and I heard a\ndamsel of their company sing to them in Arabic and well-away! that so sweet a\nvoice should not be busied in chaunting the Koran. If, then, ye will; enter\ninto that hermitage and hide there against the coming of Dakianus and his\ndaughter; and take her, for she is fit only for the King of the Age, Sharrkan,\nor King Zau al-Makan.\" Thereat they all rejoiced with the exception of the\nWazir Dandan, who put scant faith in her story, for her words took no hold on\nhis reason, and signs of doubt in her and disbelief showed in his face.[FN#429]\nYet he was confounded at her discourse, but he feared to speak with her for\nawe of the King. Then quoth the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi, \"Verily, I fear\nlest the Knight come and, seeing these troops encamped in the meadow, be afraid\nto enter the hermitage.\" So Zau al-Makan ordered the army to march upon\nConstantinople and said, \"I have resolved to take with me an hundred horse and\nmany mules and make for that mountain, where we will load the beasts with the\nmonies which be in the hermitage.\" Then he sent at once for the Chief\nChamberlain whom they brought into the presence; and he summoned likewise the\nleaders of the Turks and Daylamites and said, \"As soon as it is dawn, do ye set\nforth for Constantinople; and thou, O Chamberlain, shalt take my place in\ncouncil and contrivance, while thou, O Rustam, shalt be my brother's deputy in\nbattle. But let none know that we are not with you and after three days we\nwill rejoin you.\" Then he chose out an hundred of the doughtiest riders, and he\nand Sharrkan and the Minister Dandan set out for the hermitage, and the hundred\nhorsemen led the mules with chests for transporting the treasure.\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-sixth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan and his brother,\nZau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan set off with an hundred horse for the\nhermitage described to them by that accursed Zat al-Dawahi, and they took with\nthem mules and chests for transporting the treasure. Now as soon as dawned the\nmorn, the Chamberlain signalled to the host an order for departure, and they\nset out thinking that the two Kings and the Wazir were with them; knowing not\nthat the three had made for the monastery. Such was the case with the host, but\nas regards the two Kings and the Minister, they tarried in their place till the\nend of that day. Now the Infidels who were with Zat al-Dawahi took their\ndeparture privily, after they had gone in to her and kissed her hands and feet\nand obtained her leave to march. So she not only gave them permission but also\ntaught them all she minded of wile and guile. And when it was dark night, she\narose and went in to Zau al-Makan and his companions and said to them, \"Come,\nlet us set out for the mountain, and take with you a few men at arms.\" They\nobeyed her and left five horsemen at the foot of the mountain, whilst the rest\nrode on before Zat al-Dawahi, who gained new strength for excess of joy, so\nthat Zau al-Makan said, \"Glory be to Him who sustaineth this holy man, whose\nlike we never saw!\" Now the witch had written a letter to the King of\nConstantinople and despatched it on the wings of a bird,[FN#430] acquainting\nhim with what had passed and ending, \"I wish thee to send me ten thousand\nhorsemen of the bravest of the Greeks and let them steal along the foot of the\nmountains with caution, lest the host of Al-Islam get sight of them; and, when\nthey reach the hermitage, let them ambush themselves there, till I come to them\nwith the Moslem King and his brother, for I shall inveigle them; and will bring\nthem thither, together with the Wazir and an hundred horse and no more, that I\nmay presently deliver to them the crosses which be in the hermitage. I am\nresolved to slay the Monk Matruhina, since my scheme cannot be carried out but\nby taking his life. If my plot work well, not one of the Moslems shall return\nto his own country; no, not a living wight nor one who blows the fire alight;\nand Matruhina shall be a sacrifice for the followers of the Nazarene faith and\nthe servants of the Cross, and praise be to the Messiah, first and last.\" When\nthis letter reached Constantinople, the keeper of the carrier pigeons carried\nit to King Afridun, who read it and forthwith inspected his host and equipped\nten thousand cavaliers with horses and dromedaries and mules and provaunt and\nbade them repair to that hermitage and, after reaching the tower, to hide\ntherein. Thus far concerning them; but as regards King Zau al-Makan and his\nbrother Sharrkan and the Wazir Dandan and the escort, when they reached the\nhermitage they entered and met the Monk Matruhina, who came out to see who and\nwhat they were; whereupon quoth that pious man Zat al-Dawahi, \"Slay this damned\nfellow.\"[FN#431] So they smote him with their swords and made him drink the cup\nof death. Then the accursed old woman carried them to the place of offerings\nand ex votos, and brought out to them treasures and precious things more than\nshe had described to them; and after gathering the whole together, they set the\nbooty in chests and loaded the mules therewith. As for Tamasil, she came not,\nshe or her father, for fear of the Moslems; so Zau al-Makan tarried there,\nawaiting her all that day and the next and a third, till Sharrkan said to him,\n\"By Allah, I am troubled anent the army of Al-Islam, for I know not what is\nbecome of them.\" His brother replied, \"And I also am concerned for them: we\nhave come by this great treasure and I do not believe that Tamasil or any one\nelse will approach the hermitage, after that befel which hath befallen the host\nof the Christians. It behoveth us, then, to content ourselves with what Allah\nhath given us and depart; so haply He will help us conquer Constantinople.\"\nAccordingly they came down from the mountain, while Zat al-Dawahi was impotent\nto oppose their march for fear of betraying her deceit; and they fared forwards\ntill they reached the head of a defile, where the old woman had laid an ambush\nfor them with the ten thousand horse. As soon as these saw the Moslems they\nencircled them from all sides, couching lance and baring the white sabre blade;\nand the Infidels shouted the watch word of their faithless Faith and set the\nshafts of their mischief astring. When Zau al-Makan and his brother Sharrkan\nand the Minister Dandan looked upon this host, they saw that it was a numerous\narmy and said, \"Who can have given these troops information of us?\" Replied\nSharrkan, \"O my brother, this be no time for talk; this is the time for smiting\nwith swords and shooting with shafts) so gird up your courage and hearten your\nhearts, for this strait is like a street with two gates; though, by the virtue\nof the Lord of Arabs and Ajams, were not the place so narrow I would bring them\nto naught, even though they were an hundred thousand men!\" Said Zau al-Makan,\n\"Had we wotted this we would have brought with us five thousand horse;\" and the\nWazir Dandan continued, \"If we had ten thousand horse they had availed us\nnaught in these narrows; but Allah will succour us against them. I know this\ndefile and its straitness, and I know there be many places of refuge in it; for\nI have been here on razzia with King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, what while we\nbesieged Constantinople. We abode in this place, and here is water colder than\nsnow. So come, let us push out of this defile ere the Infidel host increase on\nus and get the start of us to the mountain top, whence they will hurl down\nrocks upon us, and we powerless to come at them.\" So they began hurrying on to\nget out of those narrows; but the pious man, Zat al-Dawahi, looked at them; and\nsaid, \"What is it ye fear, ye who have vowed yourselves to the Lord, and to\nworking His will? By Allah, I abode imprisoned underground for fifteen years,\nyet never gainsaid the Almighty in aught he did with me! Fight ye in Allah's\nway; so whoever of you is slain Paradise shall be his abode, and whoso slayeth,\nhis striving shall be to his honour.\" When they heard from the ascetic these\nwords, their care and anxiety ceased from them; and they stood firm till the\nInfidels charged down from all sides, whilst the swords played upon their necks\nand the cup of death went round amongst them. The Moslems fought for the\nservice of Allah a right good fight, and wrought upon His foes with sway of\nsword and lunge of lance; whilst Zau al-Makan smote upon the men and garred the\nknights bite the dust and their heads from their bodies take flight, five by\nfive and ten by ten, till he had done to death a number of them past numbering\nand an accompt beyond counting. Now while so doing, he looked at the accursed\nold woman who was waving her sword and heartening them, and all who feared fled\nto her for shelter; but she was also signing the Infidels to slay Sharrkan. So\ntroop after troop rushed on him with design to do him die; but each troop that\ncharged, he charged and drove back; and when another troop attacked him he\nrepelled the assault with the sword in their backs; for he thought it was the\ndevotee's blessing that gave him the vic tory, and he said in himself, \"Verily\non this holy men Allah looketh with eyes of His favour and strengtheneth my\nprowess against the Infidels with the purity of his pious intent: for I see\nthat they fear me and cannot prevail against me, but every one who assaileth me\nturneth tail and taketh flight.\" So they battled the rest of the day and, when\nnight fell, the Moslems took refuge in a cave of that defile being weary with\nstress of war and cast of stone: and that day were slain of them five and\nforty. And when they were gathered together, they sought the devotee, but\ncould find no trace of him; and this was grievous to them; and they said,\n\"Belike, he hath died a martyr.\" Quoth Sharrkan, \"I saw him heartening the\nhorsemen with divine instances and using as talisman verses of Holy Writ.\" Now\nwhile they were talking, behold, the accursed old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, stood\nbefore them, hending in hand the head of the Chief Captain of the ten thousand\nhorse, a noble knight, a champion fierce in fight and a Satan for blight. One\nof the Turks had slain him with an arrow, and Allah hurried his soul to the\nfire; and when the Infidels saw what that Moslem had done with their leader,\nthey all fell on him and wrought his bane and hewed him in pieces with their\nswords, and Allah hurried his soul to Heaven. Then the accursed old woman cut\noff that Knight's head and brought it and threw it at the feet of Sharrkan and\nZau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan. Now when Sharrkan sew her, he sprang up\nhastily before her and exclaimed, \"Praised be Allah for thy safety and for our\nsighting thee, O holy man and devout champion of the Religion!\" Replied she, O\nmy son, I have sought martyrdom this day, and have thrown my life away amid the\nInfidel array, but they feared me with dismay. When ye dispersed, I waxed\njealous for your honour; so I rushed on the Chief Knight their leader, albeit\nhe was a match for a thousand horse, and I smote him till I severed head from\ntrunk. Not one of the Infidels could near me; so I brought his head to\nyou,\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-seventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damned witch,\nZat al-Dawahi, took the head of the Knight, the leader of the twenty thousand\nInfidels, she brought it and threw it down before Zau al-Makan and his brother\nSharrkan and the Wazir Dandan, saying, \"When I saw your condition, I waxed\njealous for your honour; so I rushed on the Chief Knight and smote him with the\nsword till I severed head from trunk. And none could near me, so I brought his\nhead to you, that you may be strengthened in Holy War and work out with your\nswords the will of the Lord of the Faithful. And now I purpose leaving you to\nstrive against the Infidels, whilst I go to your army, though they be at the\ngates of Constantinople, and return with twenty thousand horse to destroy these\nUnfaithfuls.\" Quoth Sharrkan, \"How wilt thou pass to them, O thou holy man,\nseeing that the valley is blocked up on all sides by the Miscreants?\" Quoth the\naccursed hag, \"Allah will veil me from their eyes and they shall not sight\nme;[FN#432] nor, if any saw me, would he dare to attack me at that time, for I\nshall be as one non existing, absorbed in Allah, and He will fend off from me\nHis foes.\" \"Thou sayest sooth, O holy man,\" rejoined Sharrkan, \"for indeed I\nhave been witness of that; so, if thou can pass out at the first of the night,\n'twill be best for us.\" Replied she, \"I will set out at this very hour and, if\nthou desire, thou shalt go with me and none shall see thee. Furthermore if thy\nbrother also have a mind to go with us we will take him, but none else; for the\nshadow of a saint can cover only twain.\" Sharrkan said, \"As for me I will not\nleave my comrades; but, if my brother will, there is no harm in his going with\nthee and setting us free of this strait; for he is the stronghold of the\nMoslems and the sword of the Lord of the three Worlds; and if it be his\npleasure, let him take with him the Wazir Dandan, or whom else he may elect and\nsend us ten thousand horse to succour us against these caitiffs.\" So after\ndebate they agreed on this and the old woman said, \"Give me leisure to go\nbefore you and consider the condition of the Infidels, if they be asleep or\nawake.\" Quoth they, \"We will not go forth save with thee and trust our affair\nto Allah.\" \"If I do your bidding,\" replied she, \"blame me not but blame\nyourselves; for it is my rede that you await me till I bring you tidings of the\ncase.\" Then said Sharrkan, \"Go to them; and delay not from us, for we shall be\nawaiting thee.\" Thereupon she fared forth and Sharrkan turned to his brother\naddressing him and said, \"Were not this holy man a miracle worker, he had never\nslain yonder furious knight. This is proof sufficient of the ascetic's power;\nand of a truth the pride of the Infidels is laid low by the slaying of this\ncavalier, for he was violent, an evil devil and a stubborn.\" Now whilst they\nwere thus devising of the mighty works of the devotee, behold, the accursed Zat\nal-Dawahi came upon them; and promised them victory over the Unbelievers;\nwherefor they thanked her (not knowing that all this was wile and guile) and\nthe damned hag asked, \"Where be the King of the Age, Zau al-Makan, and the\nMinister Dandan?\" Answered he, \"Here am I!\" Take with thee thy Wazir,\" said\nshe, \"and follow after me, that we may fare forth to Constantinople.\" Now she\nhad acquainted the Infidels with the cheat she had put upon the Moslems, and\nthey rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and said, Our hearts will not be\ncontented till we shall have slain their King in return for the Knight's death;\nbecause we had no stouter rider than he;\" and they added (bespeaking the ill\nomened hag as she told them her plan of faring to the land of the Moslems),\n\"When thou bringest him to us, we will bear him to King Afridun.\" Then she went\nout and went out with her Zau al-Makan and the Minister Dandan, and she walked\non before the two saying, \"Fare forth with the blessing of Almighty Allah!\" So\nthey did her bidding, for the shaft of Pate and Fortune of man's lot had shot\nthem, and she ceased not leading them both through the midst of the Grecian\ncamp, till they came to the defile, the narrow pass aforesaid, whilst the\nInfidel enemy watched them, but did them no hindrance; for the infernal old\nwoman had enjoined this. Now when Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan saw that\nthe Infidel host offered them no let and stay and yet had them in sight, the\nWazir exclaimed, \"By Allah, this is one of the holy man's saintly miracles! \nand doubtless he be of the elect.\" Rejoined Zau al-Makan, \"By Allah, I think\nthe Infidels be naught but blind, for we see them; and they see us not.\" And\nwhile they were thus praising the holy man and recounting his mighty works and\nhis piety and his prayers, behold, the Infidels charged down on them from all\nsides and surrounded them; and seized them, saying, \"Is there anyone else with\nyou twain, that we may seize upon him too?\" And the Wazir Dandan replied, \"See\nyou not yon other man that is before us? ' Replied the Unbelievers, \"By the\ntruth of the Messiah and the Monks, and the Primate and the Metropolitan, we\nsee none save you two!\" Then Zau Al-Makan said, \"By Allah, this is a\nchastisement decreed to us by Almighty Allah!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-eighth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Unfaithful had\nseized upon King Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan, they said to the two, \"Is\nthere anyone else with you twain, that we may seize upon him also?\" And the\nWazir Dandan replied, \"See you not yon other man who be with us?\" They\nrejoined, \"By the truth of the Messiah and the Monks and the Primate and the\nMetropolitan, we see none save you two!\" Then the Infidels laid shackles on\ntheir feet and set men to guard them during the night, whilst Zat al-Dawahi\nfared on and disappeared from their sight. So they fell to lamenting and\nsaying to each other, \"Verily, the opposing of pious men leadeth to greater\ndistress than this, and we are punished by the strait which hath befallen us.\"\nSo far concerning Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan; but as regards King\nSharrkan, he passed that night in the cavern with his comrades, and when dawned\nthe day and he had prayed the morn prayer, he and his men made ready to do\nbattle with the Infidel and he heartened them; and promised them all good. Then\nthey sallied out till they were hard upon the Unbelievers and, when these saw\nthem from afar, they cried out to them, saying, \"O Moslems, we have taken\ncaptives your Sultan and your Wazir who hath the ordering of your affairs; and\nexcept ye leave off fighting us, we will slay you to the last man; but an you\nyield yourselves we will take you to our King, who will make peace with you on\ncondition that you quit our country and return home and harm us in naught, and\nwe will do you no harm in aught. If ye accept, it will be well for you; but if\nye refuse there remaineth nothing for you but death. So we have told you\nsooth, and this is our last word to you.\" Now when Sharrkan heard this and was\ncertified of the captivity of his brother and the Wazir Dandan, he was weighed\ndown with woe and wept; his force failed him and, making sure of death, he said\nto himself, \"Would I knew the cause of their capture! Did they fail of respect\nto the holy man or disobey him, or what was the matter?\" Then they sprang up to\nbattle with the Unbelievers and slew great numbers of them. The brave was known\nthat day from craven men, and sword and spear were dyed with bloody stain; for\nthe Infidels flocked up on them, as flies flock to drink, from hill and from\nplain; but Sharrkan and his men ceased not to wage the fight of those who fear\nnot to die, nor let death hinder them from the pursuit of victory, till the\nvalley ran gore and earth was full of the slain she bore. And when night fell\nthe armies separated each making for his own place; and the Moslems returned to\nthe cavern where gain and loss were manifest to them: few remained of them; and\nthere was no dependence for them but on Allah and the scymitar. Now there had\nbeen slain of them that day five and thirty men of the chiefest Emirs, and they\nhad killed thousands of the Infidels, footmen and fighters on horse. When\nSharrkan saw this, the case was grievous to him and he asked his comrades \"What\nshall we do?\"; whereto all answered, \"That which Almighty Allah willeth shall\nbefal us.\" On the morning of the second day, Sharrkan said to the remnant of\nhis troop, \"If ye go forth to fight, not one of you will remain alive and we\nhave but little left of food and water; so I deem ye would do better to bare\nyour brands and go forth and stand at the mouth of this cavern, to hinder any\nfrom entering. Haply the holy man may have reached the Moslem host, and may\nreturn with ten thousand horses to succour us in fight with the Infidels, for\nbelike the Unfaithful may have failed to see him and those with him.\" They\nsaid, This were the better course to take, and of its expediency no doubt we\nmake.\" So the troop went out and held the cavern mouth standing by its walls;\nand every one of the Infidels who sought to enter in, they slew. Thus did they\nfend off the foe from the gape of the cave and they patiently supported all\nsuch assaults, till day was done and night came on dusky and dun;\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the Ninety-ninth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the army of the Moslems\nheld the cavern mouth and stood by its walls and they fended off the foe, and\nevery one of the Infidels attempted to charge them, him they slew; and they\npatiently supported all such assaults till day was done and night came on dusky\nand dun, by which time King Sharrkan had only five and twenty men and no more\nleft. Then quoth the Infidels to one another, \"When shall these battle days\nhave an end? We are weary of warring the Moslems.\" And quoth one of them, \"Up\nand at them, for there remain of them but five and twenty men! If we cannot\nprevail on them to fight, let us light a fire upon them;[FN#433] and if they\nsubmit themselves and yield to us, we will take them prisoners; but if they\nrefuse we will leave them for fuel to the fire, so shall they become to men of\nforeseeing mind a warning dire. May the Messiah on their fathers have no\ngrace, and may the sojourn of the Nazarenes be for them no abiding place!\" So\nthey carried fuel to the jaws of the cavern and set fire to it. Thereupon\nSharrkan and his companions made sure of perdition and yielded themselves\nprisoners. And while they were in this condition, lo! the knight their\ncaptain said to those who counselled their slaughter, \"It is not for any save\nfor King Afridun to kill them, that he may gratify his wrath; therefore it\nbehoveth us to keep them in durance by us till the morrow, when we will journey\nwith them to Constantinople and deliver them to our King, who shall deal with\nthem as he please.\" Said they, \"This is the right course;\" and he commanded to\npinion them; and set guards over them. Then, as soon as it was black night, the\nInfidels busied themselves with feasting and making festival; and they called\nfor wine and drank it till all fell upon their backs. Now Sharrkan and his\nbrother, Zau al-Makan, were in confinement and so also were his companion\nknights; whereupon the elder turned to the younger brother and said to him, \"O\nmy brother, how win free?\" \"By Allah,\" replied Zau al Makan, \"I know not; for\nhere we be like birds in cage.\" Then Sharrkan waxed wroth and sighed for excess\nof rage and stretched himself, till his pinion bonds brass asunder; whereupon\nbeing free he arose and went up to the Captain of the guard, and taking from\nhis pocket the keys of the fetters, freed Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan and\nthe rest of his men. Then he turned to the two and said, \"I desire to slay\nthree of these Infidels and take and don their dress, we three; so that we\nshall be guised as Greeks and we will pass through them, with out their knowing\nus, and fare forth to our own force.\" Replied Zau al-Makan, \"This is no safe\ncounsel for if we kill them, I fear some of their comrades may hear their\nshrieks and the foe be aroused upon us and kill us. 'Twere the surer way to\npass out of the defile.\" So they agreed upon this and set out; and, when they\nhad left the head of the strait a little distance behind, they saw horses\npicketed and the riders sleeping: and Sharrkan said to his brother, \"Better we\ntake each one of us a steed.\" There were five and twenty horsemen, so they took\nfive and twenty horses, whilst Allah sent sleep upon the Infidels for a purpose\nHe knew and the Faithful mounted and fared on till they were out of reach. \nMeanwhile Sharrkan set to gathering from the Infidels as many weapons, swords,\nand spears, as were wanted. And while they took saddle and struck forwards\nnone of the Infidels supposed that anyone could release Zau al-Makan and his\nbrother and their men; or that their prisoners had power to escape. Now when\nall the captives were safe from the Unfaithful, Sharrkan came up with his\ncomrades, and found them awaiting his arrival, on coals of flame, expecting him\nin anxious grame, so he turned to them; and said, \"Feel no fear since Allah\nprotecteth us. I have that to propose which haply shall effect our purpose.\"\n\"What is it?\" asked they and he answered, \"I desire that ye all climb to the\nmountain top and cry out with one voice, 'Allaho Akbar!' and ye add, 'The army\nof Al Islam is upon you! Allaho Akbar!' This wise their company will surely be\ndissolved nor will they find out the trick for they are drunk, but they will\nthink that the Moslem troops have encompassed them about on all sides and have\nmingled with them; so they will fall on one another brand in hand during the\nconfusion of drunkenness and sleep, and we will cleave them asunder with their\nown swords and the scymitar will go round amongst them till dawn.\" Replied Zau\nal-Makan, \"This plan is not good; we should do better to make our way to our\narmy and speak not a word; for if we cry out 'Allaho Akbar,' they will wake and\nfall on us and not one of us will escape.\" Rejoined Sharrkan, \"By Allah, though\nthey should awake tis no matter, and I long that ye fall in with my plan, for\nnaught save good can come of it!\" So they agreed thereon and clomb the mountain\nand shouted, \"Allaho Akbar!\" And hills and trees and rocks reworded their\nAllaho Akbar for fear of the Almighty. But when the Kafirs heard this slogan\nthey cried out to one another,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundredth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan spake thus, \"I\nlong that ye fall in with this my plan, for naught save good can come of it.\"\nSo they agreed thereon and clomb the mountain head and shouted, \"Allaho\nAkbar!\"; and hills and trees and rocks re worded their Allaho Akbar for fear of\nthe Almighty. The Infidels heard it and cried out one to other and donned their\narmour and said, \"The foe is upon us, by the truth of the Messiah!\" Then they\nfell on one another and slew of their own men more than any knoweth save\nAlmighty Allah. As soon as it was dawn, they sought for the captives, but\nfound no trace of them, and their captains said, \"They who did this were the\nprisoners in our possession; up, then, and after them in all haste till ye\novertake them, when we will make them quaff the cup of requital; and let not\nfright nor the panic of sudden awaking possess you.\" So they took horse and\nrode after the fugitives and it wanted but an eye twinkling before they\novertook them; and surrounded them. Now when Zau al-Makan saw this, he was\nseized with increase of terror and said to his brother, \"What I feared would\ncome, is come upon us, and now it remaineth only for us to fight for the\nFaith.\" But Sharrkan preferred to hold his peace. Then Zau al- Makan and his\ncompanions rushed down from the hill crest, shouting, \"Allaho Akbar!\" and his\nmen repeated the war cry and addressed themselves to fight and to sell their\nlives in the service of the Lord of Faithful Men; and while they were in this\ncase, behold, they heard many voices voicing, \"There is no god but the God! \nGod is most great! Salutation and salvation upon the Apostle, the Bringer of\nglad Tidings, the Bearer of bad Tidings!''[FN#434] So they turned towards the\ndirection of the sound and saw a company of Moslems who believed in one God,\npushing towards them, whereat their hearts were heartened and Sharrkan charged\nupon the Infidels crying out, \"There is no god but the God! God is most great!\nhe and those with him, so that earth quaked as with an earthquake and the\nUnbeliever host brake asunder and fled into the mountains and the Moslems\nfollowed them with lunge and blow; and Zau al-Makan and his comrades of the\nMoslems ceased not to smite the hosts of the Infidel foe, and parted heads from\nbodies till day darkened and night coming on starkened sight. Thereupon the\nMoslems drew together and passed the night in congratulations, and, when\nmorning dawned and daybreak shone with its shine and sheen, they saw Bahram,\nthe captain of the Daylamites, and Rustam, the captain of the Turks, advancing\nto join them, with twenty thousand cavaliers like lions grim. As soon as they\nsaw Zau al-Makan, the riders dismounted and saluted him, and kissed ground\nbetween his hands when he said to them, \"Rejoice ye in the glad tidings of the\nvictory of the Moslem and the discomfiture of the tribe of Unbelievers!\" Then\nthey gave one another joy of their deliverance and of the greatness of their\nreward after Resurrection Day. Now the cause of the coming of the succours to\nthat place was this. When the Emir Bahram and the Emir Rustam and the Chief\nChamberlain, with the Moslem host and flags flaunting high ahead, came in sight\nof Constantinople they saw that the Nazarenes had mounted the walls and manned\nthe towers and the forts, and had set all their defenders in order of defence,\nas soon as they learned of the approach of the host of Al-Islam and the banners\nMohammedan, and they heard the clash of arms and the noise of war voices and\ntramp of horse hoofs and from their look outs they beheld the Moslems, with\ntheir standards and ensigns of the Faith of Unity under the dust clouds and lo!\nthey were like a flight of locusts or rain clouds raining rain, and the voices\nof the Moslems chanting the Koran and glorifying the Compassionate One, struck\ntheir ears. Now the Infidels knew of the approach of this host through Zat\nal-Dawahi with her craft and whoredom,[FN#435] calumny and contrivance. And\nthe armies of Al-Islam drew near, as it were the swollen sea, for the multitude\nof footmen and horsemen and women and children. Then quoth the General of the\nTurks to the General of the Daylamites, \"O Emir, of a truth, we are in jeopardy\nfrom the multitude of the foe who is on the walls. Look at yonder bulwarks and\nat this world of folk like the seas that clash with dashing billows. Indeed\nyon Infidel outnumbereth us an hundredfold and we cannot be safe from spies who\nmay inform them that we are without a Sultan. In very sooth, we run danger\nfrom these enemies, whose numbers may not be told and whose resources none can\nwithhold, especially in the absence of King Zau al-Makan and his brother\nSharrkan and the illustrious Wazir Dandan. If they know of this, they will be\nemboldened to attack us in their absence and with the sword they will\nannihilate us to the last man; not one of us safety shall see. So it is my\ncounsel that thou take ten thousand riders of the allies and the Turks, and\nmarch them to the hermitage of Matruhina and the meadow of Mal\u00fakhin\u00e1 in quest\nof our brothers and comrades. If thou act by my advice, it may be we shall\napprove ourselves the cause of their deliverance, in case they be hard pressed\nby the Infidels; and if thou act not, blame will not attach to me. But, an ye\ngo, it behoveth that ye return quickly, for ill suspicion is part of prudence.\"\nThe Emir aforesaid fell in with his counsel; so they chose twenty thousand\nhorse and they set out covering the roads and making for the monastery above\nmentioned. So much for the cause of their coming; but as regards the ancient\ndame, Zat al-Dawahi, as soon as she had delivered Sultan Zau al-Makan and his\nbrother Sharrkan and the Wazir Dandan into the hands of the Infidels, the foul\nwhore mounted a swift steed, saying to the Faithless, \"I design to rejoin the\nMoslem army which is at Constantinople and contrive for their destruction; for\nI will inform them that their chiefs are dead, and when they hear that from me,\ntheir joining will be disjointed and the cord of their confederation cut and\ntheir host scattered. Then will I go to King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople,\nand to my son Hardub, King of Roum, and relate to them their tidings and they\nwill sally forth on the Moslems with their troops and will destroy them; and\nwill not leave one of them alive.\" So she mounted and struck across country on\nher good steed all the livelong night; and, when day-dawned, appeared the\narmies of Bahram and Rustam advancing towards her. So she turned into a\nwayside brake and hid her horse among the trees and she walked a while saying\nto herself, \"Haply the Moslem hosts be returning, routed, from the assault of\nConstantinople.\" However, as she drew near them she looked narrowly and made\nsure that their standards were not reversed,[FN#436] and she knew that they\nwere coming not as conquered men, but fearing for their King and comrades. \nWhen she was assured of this, she hastened towards them, running at speed, like\na devil of ill rede, till reaching them she cried out, \"Haste ye! haste ye! O\nsoldiers of the Compassionate One, hasten to the Holy War against the hosts of\nSatan!\" When Bahram saw her he dismounted and kissed the ground before her and\nasked her, \"O friend of Allah what is behind thee?\" Answered she, \"Question not\nof sad case and sore condition; for when our comrades had taken the treasure\nfrom the hermitage of Matruhina, and designed to win their way Constantinople\nwards, thereupon came out on them a driving host and a dreadful of the\nInfidels.\" And the damned witch repeated to them the story to fill them with\ntrouble and terror, adding, \"The most of them are dead, and there are but five\nand twenty men left.\" Said Bahram, \"O holy man! when didst thou leave them?\"\n\"But this night,\"[FN#437] replied she. He cried, \"Glory be to Allah! to Him\nwho hath rolled up the far distance for thee like a rug, so that thou hast sped\nthus walking upon thy feet and props upon a mid-rib of palm-tree! But thou art\none of the saints which fly like birds when inspired and possessed by His\ndirections.\"[FN#438] Then he mounted his horse, and he was perplexed and\nconfounded by what he had heard from the beldam so strong in lies and ill\ncalumnies, and he said, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah, the Glorious, the Great! Verily our labour is lost and our hearts are\nheavy within us, for our Sultan is a prisoner and those who are with him.\" Then\nthey cut across the country, wide and side, night and day, and when morning\ndawned they reached the head of the defile and saw Zau al-Makan and Sharrkan\nshouting. \"There is no god but the God! Allaho Akbar! and Salutation and\nSalvation upon the Congratulator, the Comminator.\"[FN#439] Whereupon he and\nhis drove at the Unbelievers and whelmed them, as the rain torrent whelms the\nwaste; and cried out their war cries, till fear get hold of the prowess Knights\nand the mountains were cloven in affright. And when shone the day and showed\nits shine and sheen, the breeze of morning blew upon them sweet and fragrant,\nand each recognised other as hath been said before. Then they kissed the\nground before the King and before his brother Sharrkan, who told them all that\nhad befallen the party in the cave. Now thereat they marvelled and said to one\nanother, \"Hasten we back to Constantinople, for we left our companions there,\nand our hearts are with them.\" So they hurried departure, commending themselves\nto the Subtle, the All-wise, and Zau al-Makan exhorted the Moslems to\nsteadfast- ness and versified in the following couplets,[FN#440]\n\n\"Be praises mine to all praiseworthy Thee, * O Lord, who stinted not mine aid to be!\nThough was I lost abroad, Thou west to me * Strongest support which vouchsafed victory:\nThou gav'st me wealth and reign and goodly gifts, * And slungest con quering sword of valiancy:\nThou mad'st me blest beneath Thy kingly shade, * Engraced with generous boons dealt fain and free:\nThou savedst *from every fear I feared, by aid * Of my Wazir, the Age's noblest he!\nGarred us Thy grace in fight to throw the Greek, * Who yet came back dight in War's cramoisie:\nThen made I feint to fly from out the fight; * But like grim lion turning made them flee,\nAnd left on valley sole my foemen, drunk * Not with old wine[FN#441] but Death-cup's revelry:\nThen came the Saintly Hermit, and he showed * His marvels wrought for town and wold to see;\nWhen slew they hero-wights who woke to dwell * In Eden bowers wherein sweet rill-lets well.\"\n\n\nBut, when Zau al-Makan had made an end of versifying, his brother Sharrkan\ncongratulated him on his safety and thanked him for the deeds he had done;\nafter which both set out forcing their marches to rejoin their army.\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and First Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan congratulated\nhis brother, Zau al-Makan, on his safety and thanked him for the deeds he had\ndone; after which both set out forcing their marches to rejoin their army. \nSuch was their case; but as regards the old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, after she had\nforegathered with the hosts of Rustam and Bahram, she returned to the coppice,\nwhere she took her steed and mounted and sped on at speed, till she drew near\nthe Moslem army that beleaguered Constantinople, when she lighted down from her\ndestrier and led it to the pavilion tent of the Chief Chamberlain. And when he\nsaw her, he stood up to her in honour and signed to her with his right hand and\nsaid, \"Welcome O pious recluse!\" Then he questioned her of what had befallen,\nand she repeated to him her disquieting lies and deluding calumnies, saying,\n\"In sooth I fear for the Emir Rustam, and the Emir Bahram, for that I met them\nand theirs on the way and sent them; and their following to relieve the King and\nhis companions. Now there are but twenty thousand horse and the Unbelievers\noutnumber them; so I would have thee at this moment send off the rest of thy\ntroops at full speed to their suc cour, lest they be slain to the last man.\"\nAnd she cried to them, \"Haste! Haste!\" When the Chamberlain and the Moslems\nheard these words, their spirits fell and they wept; but Zat al-Dawahi said to\nthem, \"Ask aidance of Allah and bear patiently this triburation; for ye have\nthe example of those who have been before you of the people of Mohammed; and\nParadise with its palaces is laid out by Allah for those who die martyrs; and\nneeds must all die, but most praiseworthy is dying while fighting for the\nFaith.\" The Chamberlain, hearing this speech of the accursed old woman, called\nfor the Emir Bahram's brother, a knight by name Tarkash; and, choosing out for\nhim ten thousand horse, riders famed for force, bade him set out at once. So\nhe fared forth and marched all that day and the whole of the next night, till\nhe neared the Moslems. When daylight dawned, Sharrkan saw the dust cloud about\nthem; and feared for the men of Al-Islam and said, \"If these troops which are\ncoming upon us be Moslem men our victory is assured by them; but, if these be\nNazarenes, there is no gainsaying Destiny's decrees.\" Then he turned to his\nbrother, Zau al- Makan, and said, Never fear, for with my life I will ransom\nthee from death. If these be Mohammedan troops, then were it an increase of\nheavenly favours; but, if they be our foes, there is no help save that we fight\nthem. Yet do I long to meet the Holy Man ere I die, so I may beg him to pray\nthat I die not save by death of martyrdom.\" Whilst the twain were thus\nspeaking, behold, there appeared the banners inscribed with the words, \"There\nis no god but the God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God;\" and Sharrkan cried\nout, \"How is it with the Moslems?\" \"All are sound and safe,\" replied they, \"and\nwe came not but out of concern for you.\" Then the Chief of the army dismounted\nand, kissing ground before Sharrkan, asked, \"O my lord, how be the Sultan and\nthe Wazir Dandan and Rustam and my brother Bahram; are they all in safety?\" He\nanswered, \"All well; but who brought thee tidings of us?\" Quoth Tarkash; \"It\nwas the Holy Man who told us that he had met my brother Bahram and Rustam and\nhad sent them both to you and he also assured us that the Infidels had\nencompassed you and out numbered you; but I see not the case save the contrary\nthereof and that you are victorious.\" They questioned him, \"And how did the\nHoly Man reach you?\"; and he replied, \"Walking on his feet and he had compassed\nin a day and a night, ten days' journey for a well girt horseman.\" \"There is no\ndoubt but that he is a Saint of Allah,\" said Sharrkan, \"but where is he now?\"\nThey rejoined, \"We left him with our troops, the folk of the Faith, moving them\nto do battle with the rebels and the Faithless.\" Thereat Sharrkan rejoiced and\nall thanked Allah for their own deliverance and the safety of the Holy Man; and\ncommended the dead to His mercy saying, \"This was writ in the Book.\" Then they\nset out making for Constantinople by forced marches, and whilst they were on\nthis enterprise, behold, a dust cloud arose to such height that it walled the\ntwo horizons, the eastern and the western, from man's sight and the day was\ndarkened by it to night. But Sharrkan looked at it and said, \"Verily, I fear\nlest this be the Infidels who have routed the army of Al-Islam for that this\ndust walleth the world, east and west, and hideth the two horizons, north and\nsouth.\" Presently appeared under the dust a pillar of darkness, blacker than\nthe blackness of dismal days; nor ceased to come upon them that column more\ndreadful than the dread of the Day of Doom. Horse and foot hastened up to look\nat it and know the terrors of the case, when behold, they saw it to be the\nrecluse aforesaid; so they thronged round him to kiss his hands and he cried\nout, \"O people of the Best of Mankind,[FN#442] the lamp which shineth in\ndarkness blind, verily the Infidels have outwitted the Moslems by guile, for\nthey fell upon the host of the One God whilst they deemed themselves safe from\nthe Faithless, and attacked them in their tents and made a sore slaughter of\nthem what while they looked for no wile; so hasten to the aid of the Believers\nin the unity of God, and deliver them from those who deny Him!\" Now when\nSharrkan heard these words, his heart flew from his breast with sore trouble;\nand, alighting from his steed in amazement, he kissed the Recluse's hands and\nfeet. On like wise did his brother, Zau al-Makan, and the rest of the foot and\nhorse troops; except the Wazir Dandan, who dismounted not but said, \"By Allah,\nmy heart flieth from this devotee, for I never knew show of devotion to\nreligion that bred not bane. So leave him and rejoin your comrades the\nMoslems, for this man is of the outcasts from the gate of the mercy of the Lord\nof the Three Worlds! How often have I here made razzias with King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman and trodden the earth of these lands!\" Said Sharrkan, \"Put away from\nthee such evil thought, hast thou not seen this Holy Man exciting the Faithful\nto fight, and holding spears and swords light? So slander him not, for\nbackbiting is blameable and poisoned is the flesh of the pious.[FN#443] Look\nhow he inciteth us to fight the foe; and, did not Almighty Allah love him, He\nhad cast him aforetime into fearful torment.\" Then Sharrkan bade bring a Nubian\nmule for the ascetic to ride and said, \"Mount, O pious man, devout and\nvirtuous!\" But the devotee refused to ride and feigned self denial, that he\nmight attain his end; and they knew not that this holy personage was like him\nof whom the poet saith,\n\n\"He prayeth and he fasteth for an end he doth espy; * When once his end is\nsafely won then fast and prayer good bye.\"[FN#444]\n\n\nSo the devotee ceased not to walk among the horsemen and the footmen, like a\nwily fox meditating guile, and began to uplift her voice, chanting the Koran\nand praising the Compassionate One. And they continued pressing forward till\nthey approached the camp of Al-Islam, where Sharrkan found the Moslem in\nconquered plight and the Chamberlain upon the brink of falling back in flight,\nwhilst the sword of Greece havoc dight among the Faithful, the righteous and\nthose who work upright,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Second Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sharrkan saw the\nMoslems in conquered plight and the Chamberlain upon the brink of retreat and\nflight and the sword havoc dight among the righteous and the workers of\nupright, the cause of this weakness among the Moslems was that the accursed old\nwoman, Zat al- Dawahi, the foe of the Faith, after seeing that Bahram and\nRustam had set forward with their troops to join Sharrkan and his brother Zau\nal-Makan, repaired to the camp of the Mahometans before Constantinople and\ncaused the mission of the Emir Tarkash, as hath been before said. In this her\npurpose was to divide the Moslem forces the better to weaken them. Then she\nleft them; and entered Constantinople, and called with a loud voice on the\nknights of the Greeks, saying, \"Let me down a cord that I may tie thereto this\nletter, and do ye bear it to your King Afridun, that he may read it and to my\nson King Hardub that they both do what is written therein of bidding and\nforbidding.\" So they let down for her a string and she tied thereto a letter\nwhose purport was the following: \"From the terriblest of tribulations[FN#445]\nand the chiefest of all calamities, Zat al-Dawahi, to King Afridun greeting. \nBut afterwards, of a truth I have contrived a device for destroying the\nMoslems; so bide ye quiet and content. I have cozened and captured their\nSultan and the Wazir Dandan; and then I returned to their camp and acquainted\nthem therewith, whereby their pride had a fall and their withers were wrung. \nAnd I have so wrought upon the host 'leaguering Constantinople that they have\nsent ten thousand men under the Emir Tarkash to succour the capitves, of whom\nthere be now left but few; it is therefore my object that ye sally forth\nagainst them with all your power while this day endureth; and that ye fall on\nthem in their tents and that ye leave them not till ye shall have slain them to\nthe last man; for, verily the Messiah looketh down upon you and the Blessed\nVirgin favoureth you; and I hope of the Messiah that he forget not what deed I\nhave done.\" When her letter came to King Afridun, he rejoiced with great\njoyance; and, sending at once for King Hardub of Greece, son of Zat al-Dawahi,\nread the letter to him as soon as he came,whereathe was exceeding glad and\nsaid, \"See my mother's craft; verily it dispenseth with swords, and her aspect\nstandeth in stead of the terrors of the Day of Dread.\" Rejoined Afridun, \"May\nthe Messiah not bereave us of thy venerable parent nor deprive her of her wile\nand guile!\" Then he bade the Knights give orders for sallying outside the city,\nand the news was noised abroad in Constantinople. So the Nazarenes and the\ncohorts of the Cross burst forth and unsheathed their keen sabres in their\nnumbers, shouting out their professions of impiety and heresies, and\nblaspheming the Lord of all Creatures. When the Chamberlain saw the sally, he\nsaid, \"Behold, the Greek is upon us and they surely have learned that our\nSultan is far away; and haply they have attacked us, for that the most part of\nour troops have marched to the succour of King Zau al-Makan!\" Therewith he\nwaxed wroth and cried out, \"Ho, soldiers of Al-Islam and favourers of the True\nFaith, an you flee you are lost, but if ye stand fast, ye win! Know ye that\nvaliancy lieth in endurance of outrance and that no case is so strait but that\nthe Almighty is able to make it straight; Allah assain you and look upon you\nwith eyes of compassion fain!\" Thereupon the Moslems cried out, \"Allaho Akbar!\"\nand the believer in the One God shouted his slogan, and whirled the mill wheels\nof fight with cutting and thrusting in main and might; scymitars and spears\nplayed sore and the plains and valleys were swamped with gore. The priests and\nmonks priested it, tight girding their girdles and uplifting the Crucifixes,\nwhile the Moslem shouted out the professions of the Requiting King and verses\nof the Koran began to sing. The hosts of the Compassion are One fought against\nthe legions of Satan; and head flew from body of man, while the good Angels\nhovered above the people of the Chosen Prophet, nor did the sword cease to\nsmite till the day darkened and night came on and starkened. Now the miscreants\nhad encompassed the Moslems and made sure of escaping the pains that awaited\nthem; and the Faithless greeded for victory over the Faithful until day-dawned\nand dazzled. Thereupon the Chamberlain mounted, he and his men, trusting thee\nAllah would help them to victory; and host was mingled with host and battle\nrose a foot and took post. And heads flew from trunks whilst the brave stood\nfast in stead; the craven turned tail and fled; and the Judge of death judged\nand sentence sped, so that the champions fell from their saddles slain and\ncorpses cumbered meadow and plain. Then the Moslem began to give ground and\nrearwards bent; and the Greek took possession of some of their tents; whereupon\nthe Moslems were about to break and retreat and take flight, when meanwhile\nbehold, up came Sharrkan with the rest of the host of Al-Islam and the\nstandards of the Believers in Unity. And having come up with them, he charged\nthe Infidels; and followed him Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan and the Emirs\nBahram and Rustam with his brother Tarkash. When the foe saw this, they lost\nhead and their reason fled, and the dust clouds towered till they covered the\ncountry whilst the righteous Believers joined their pious comrades. Then\nSharrkan accosted the Chamberlain and praised him for his steadfastness; and he\nin turn gave the Prince joy of his timely succour and his gaining the day. \nThereat the Moslems were glad and their hearts were heartened; so they rushed\nupon their enemies and devoted themselves to Allah in their Fight for the\nFaith. But when the Idolaters beheld the standards Mohammedan and there on the\nprofession of Faith Islamitan, proclaiming the Unity, they shrieked \"Woe!\" and\n\"Ruin!\" and besought succour of the Patriarchs of the Monasteries. Then fell\nthey to calling upon John and Mary and the Cross abhorrent and stayed their\nhands from slaughter, whilst King Afridun went up to consult King Hardub of\nGreece, for the two Kings stood one at the head of each wing, right and left. \nNow there was with them also a famous cavalier, L\u00e1wiy\u00e1 hight, who commanded the\ncentre; and they drew out in battle-array, but indeed they were full of alarm\nand affray. Meanwhile, the Moslems aligned their forces and thereupon Sharrkan\ncame to his brother, Zau al-Makan, and said, \"O King of the Age, doubtless they\nmean to champion it, and that is also the object of our desire; but it is my\nwish to push forward the stoutest hearted of our fighters, for by forethought\nis one half of life wrought.\" Replied the Sultan, \"As thou wilt, O companion of\ngood counsel!\" \"It is my wish,\" added Sharrkan, \"to stand in mid line opposite\nthe Infidel, with the Wazir Dandan on my left and thee on my right, whilst the\nEmir Bahram leads the dexter wing and the Emir Rustam leads the wing sinistral;\nand thou, O mighty King, shalt be under the standards and the ensigns, for that\nthou art the pillar of our defence; upon thee, after Allah, is our dependence\nand we will all be thy ransom from aught that can harm thee.\" Zau al-Makan\nthanked him therefor, and the slogan arose and the sabre was drawn; but, as\nthings stood thus, behold, there came forth a cavalier from the ranks of Roum;\nand, as he drew near, they saw that he was mounted on a slow paced she-mule,\nfleeing with her master from the shock of swords. Her housings were of white\nsilk covered by a prayer-carpet of Cash mere stuff, and on her back sat a\nShaykh, an old man of comely presence and reverend aspect, garbed in a gown of\nwhite wool. He stinted not pushing her and hurrying her on till he came near\nthe Moslem and said, \"I am an ambassador to you all, and an ambassador hath\nnaught to do save to deliver; so give me safe conduct and permit of speech,\nthat I communicate to you my message.\" Replied Sharrkan, \"Thou art in safety:\nfear neither sway of sword nor lunge of lance.\" Thereupon the old man\ndismounted and, taking the Cross from his neck, placed it before the Sultan and\nhumbled himself with much humility. Then quoth to him the Moslems, \"What is\nwith thee of news?\"; and quoth he, \"I am an ambassador from King Afridun, for I\ncounselled him to avert the destruction of all these frames of men and temples\nof the Compassionate One; and to him it seemed righteous to stay the shedding\nof blood and limit it to the encounter of two knights in shock of fight\nsingular; so he agreed to that and he saith to you, 'Verily, I will ransom my\narmy with my life; so let the Moslem King do as I do and with his life ransom\nhis host. And if he kill me, there will be no stay left in the army of Roum,\nand if I kill him, there will be no stability with the Moslems.\" When Sharrkan\nheard this he said, \"O monk, I agree to that, for it is just nor may it be\ngainsaid; and behold, I will meet him in duello and do with him derring-do, for\nI am Champion of the Faithful even as he is Champion of the Faithless; and if\nhe slay me, he will have won the day and naught will remain for the Moslems\nforces save flight. So return to him, O thou monk, and say that the single\ncombat shall take place to morrow, for this day we have come off our journey\nand are aweary; but after rest neither reproach nor blame fear ye.\" So the monk\nreturned (and he rejoicing) to King Afridun and King Hardub, and told them both\nwhat Sharrkan had said, whereat King Afridun was glad with exceeding gladness\nand fell from him anxiety and sadness, and he said to himself, \"No doubt but\nthis Sharrkan is their doughtiest swayer of the sword and the dourest at lunge\nof lance; and when I shall have slain him, their hearts will be disheartened\nand their strength will be shattered.\" Now Zat al-Dawahi had written to King\nAfridun of that and had told him how Sharrkan was a Knight of the Braves and\nthe bravest of knights and had warned him against him; but Afridun was a\nstalwart cavalier who fought in many a fashion; he could hurl rocks and throw\nspears and smite with the iron mace and he feared not the prowess of the prow. \nSo when he heard the report of the monk that Sharrkan agreed to the duello, he\nwas like to fly for exceeding joy because he had self confidence and he knew\nthat none could with stand him. The Infidels passed that night in joy and\njubilee and wine bibbing; and, as soon as it was dawn, the two armies drew out\nwith the swart of spear and the blanch of blade. And behold a cavalier rode\nsingle-handed into the plain, mounted on a steed of purest strain, and for\nforay and fray full ready and fain. And that Knight had limbs of might and he\nwas clad in an iron cuirass made for stress of fight. On his breast he wore a\njewelled mirror and in his hand he bore a keen scymitar and his lance of\nKhalanj wood,[FN#446] the curious work of the Frank, weighing a quintal. Then\nthe rider uncovered his face and cried out, saying, \"Whoso knoweth me verily\nhath enough of me, and whoso knoweth me not right soon[FN#447] shall ken who I\nbe. I am Afridun the overwhelmed by the well omened Shaw\u00e1hi,[FN#448] Zat\nal-Dawahi.\" But he had not ended speaking ere Sharrkan, the Champion of the\nMoslems, fared forth to meet him, mounted on a sorrel horse worth a thousand\npieces of red gold with accoutrements purfled in pearls and precious stone; and\nhe bore in baldrick a blade of watered Indian steel that through necks shore\nand made easy the hard and sore. He drave his charger between the two hosts in\nline whilst the horsemen all fixed on him their eyne, and he cried out to\nAfridun, \"Woe to thee, O accursed! dost thou deem me one of the horsemen thou\nhast overta'en who cannot stand against thee on battle-plain?\" Then each rushed\nupon other and they bashed together like two mountains crashing or two billows\ndash ing and clashing: they advanced and retreated; and drew together and\nwithdrew; and stinted not of fray and fight and weapon play, and strife and\nstay, with stroke of sword and lunge of lance. Of the two armies looking on,\nsome said, \"Sharrkan is victor!\" and others, \"Afridun will conquer!\"; and the\ntwo riders stayed not their hands from the hustle until ceased the clamour and\nthe bustle; and the dust columns rose and the day waned and the sun waxed\nyellow and wan. Then cried out King Afridun to Sharrkan, saying, \"By the truth\nof the Messiah and the Faith which is no liar, thou art nought save a doughty\nrider and a stalwart fighter; but thou art fraudful and thy nature is not that\nof the noble. I ken thy work is other than praiseworthy nor is thy prowess\nthat of a Prince; for thy people behave to thee as though thou wert a\nslave;[FN#449] and see! they bring thee out a charger which is not thine, that\nthou mayst mount and return to the fight. But by the truth of my Faith, thy\nfighting irketh and fatigueth me and I am weary of cutting and thrusting with\nthee; and if thou purpose to lay on load with me to night, thou wouldst not\nchange aught of thy harness nor thy horse, till thou approve to the cavaliers,\nthy generous blood and skill in brunt.\" When Sharrkan heard him say these words\nconcerning his own folk behaving to him though he were a slave, he waxt wroth\nand turned towards his men, meaning to sign to them; and bid them not prepare\nhim change of harness or horse, when lo! Afridun shook his throw spear high in\nair and cast it at Sharrkan. Now when the Moslem turned his back, he found\nnone of the men near him, and he knew this to be a trick of the accursed\nInfidel; so he wheeled round in haste and behold, the javelin came at him, so\nhe swerved from it, till his head was bent low as his saddle bow. The weapon\ngrazed his breast, and pierced the skin of his chest, for Sharrkan was \nhigh-bosomed: whereupon he gave one cry and swooned away. Thereat the accursed\nAfridun was joyful, thinking he had slain him; and shouted to the Infidels\nbidding them rejoice, whereat the Faithless were encouraged and the Faithful\nwept. When Zau al-Makan saw his brother reeling in selle so that he well-nigh\nfell, he despatched cavaliers towards him and the braves hurried to his aid and\ncame up with him. Thereupon the Infidels drove at the Moslems; the two hosts\njoined battle and the two lines were mingled, whilst the keen scymitar of\nAl-Yaman did good work. Now the first to reach Sharrkan was the Wazir\nDandan,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Third Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Zau al-Makan\nsaw that the accursed Infidel had struck with javelin his brother Sharrkan, he\ndeemed him dead, and despatched cavaliers towards him; and the first to reach\nhim were the Wazir Dandan and the Emir of the Turks, Bahram, and the Emir of\nthe Daylamites, Rustam. They found him falling from his horse; so they stayed\nhim in his saddle and returned with him to his brother, Zau al-Makan; then they\ngave him in charge to his pages, and went again to do the work of cut and\nthrust. So the strife redoubled and the weapons together clashed and ceased\nnot bate and debate and naught was to be seen but blood flowing and necks\nbowing; nor did the swords cease on the napes of men to make play nor the\nstrife to rage with more and more affray, till the most part of the night was\npast away and the two hosts were aweary of the mellay. So they called a truce\nand each army returned to its tents, whilst all the Infidels repaired to King\nAfridun and kissed the ground before him, and the priests and monks wished him\njoy of his victory over Sharrkan. Then the King fared for Constantinople and\nsat upon the throne of his realm, when King Hardub came to him and said, \"May\nthe Messiah strengthen thy fore arm and never cease to be thy helper and\nhearken to what prayers my pious mother, Zat al-Dawahi, shall pray for thee! \nKnow that the Moslems can make no stay without Sharrkan.\" Replied Afridun, \"To\nmorrow shall end the affair when to fight I fare: I will seek Zau al-Makan and\nslay him, and their army shall turn tail and of flight shall avail.\" Such was\nthe case with the Kafirs; but as regards the host of Al-Islam, when Zau\nal-Makan returned to his tent, he thought of naught but his brother and, going\ninto the pavilion, found him in evil case and sore condition; whereupon he\nsummoned for counsel the Wazir Dandan and Rustam and Bahram. When they entered,\nthey opined to assemble the physicians that they might medicine Sharrkan, and\nthey wept and said, \"The world will not readily afford his like!\" and they\nwatched by him all that night, and about the later hours came to them the\nRecluse in tears. When Zau al-Makan saw him, he rose in honour; and the\nReligious stroked Sharrkan's wound with his hand, chanting somewhat of the\nKoran and repeating by way of talisman some of the verses of the Compassionate\nOne. And the pretender ceased not to watch over him till dawn, when he came to\nhimself and, opening his eyes, moved his tongue in his mouth and spake. At\nthis Zau al-Makan rejoiced, saying, \"Of a truth the blessing of the Holy Man\nhath taken effect on him!\" And Sharrkan said, \"Praised be Allah for recovery;\nindeed, I am well at this hour. That accursed one played me false; and, but\nthat I swerved aside lighter than lightening, the throw spear had pierced\nthrough my breast. So praised be Allah for saving me! And how is it with the\nMoslems?\" Answered Zau al-Makan, \"All are weeping for thee.\" Quoth Sharrkan, \"I\nam well and in good case; but where is the Holy Man?\" Now he was sitting by him\nand said, \"At thy head.\" So the Prince turned to him and kissed his hand when\nhe said, \"O my son! Be of good patience and Allah shall increase thy reward;\nfor the wage is measured by the work.\" Sharrkan rejoined, \"Pray for me,\" and he\nprayed for him. As soon as morning dawned and day brake in shine and sheen,\nthe Moslems sallied out to the plain and the Kafirs made ready to thrust and\ncut. Then the Islamite host advanced and offered fight with weapons ready\ndight, and King Zau al-Makan and Afridun made to charge one at other. But when\nZau al-Makan fared forth into the field, there came with him the Wazir Dandan\nand the Chamberlain and Bahram, saying, \"We will be thy sacrifice.\" He replied,\n\"By the Holy House and Zemzem and the Place![FN#450] I will not be stayed from\ngoing forth against these wild asses.\" And when he rode out into the field he\nplayed with sword and spear till riders marvelled and both armies wondered;\nthen he rushed upon the foe's right wing and of it slew two knights and in like\nmanner he dealt with the left wing. Presently he stayed his steed in the midst\nof the field and cried out, \"Where is Afridun, that I may make him taste the\ncup of disgrace?\" But when King Hardub saw the case he conjured Afridun not to\nattack him, saying, \"O King, yesterday it was thy turn to fight: it is mine to\nday. I care naught for his prowess.\" So he rushed out towards Zau al-Makan\nbrand in hand and under him a stallion like Abjar, which was Antar's charger\nand its coat was jet black even as saith the poet,\n\n\"On the glancing racer outracing glance * He speeds, as though he would collar Doom:\nHis steed's black coat is of darkest jet, * And likest Night in her nightliest gloom:\nWhose neigh sounds glad to the hearer's ears * Like thunders rolling in thun d'rous boom:\nIf he race the wind he will lead the way, * And the lightning flash will behind him loom.''[FN#451]\n\n\nThen each rushed upon the opponent, parrying blows and proving the marvellous\nqualities were stored in him; and they fell to drawing on and withdrawing till\nthe breasts of the bystanders were straitened and they were weary of waiting\nfor the event. At last Zau al-Makan cried out his war cry and rushed upon\nHardub, King of C\u00e6sarea,[FN#452] and struck him a stroke that shore head from\ntrunk and slew him on the spot. When the Infidels saw this, they charged in a\nbody, compact and united, upon Zau al-Makan, who met them amidfield, and they\nengaged in hewing and foining, till blood ran in rills. Then the Moslems cried\nout, \"Allaho Akbar!\" (God is most Great) and \"There is no god but the God!\",\nand invoked salvation for the Prophet, the Bringer of Glad Tidings, the Bearer\nof Bad Tidings. And there befel a great fight, but Allah assigned victory to\nthe Faithful and defeat to the Faithless. The Wazir Dandan shouted, \"Take your\nblood-revenge for King Omar bin al Nu'uman and his son Sharrkan!\"; and bared\nhis head and cried out to the Turks. Now there were by his side more than\ntwenty thousand horse, and all charged with him as men, when the Faithless\nfound naught to save their lives but flight. So they turned tail to fly while\nthe biting sabre wrought its havoc and the Moslems slew of them that day some\nfifty thousand horse and took more than that number: much folk also were slain\nwhile going in at the gates, for the flock was great. Then the Greeks hove to\nthe doors and swarmed up the walls to await the assault; and in fine the Moslem\nhosts returned to their tents aided to glory and victory, and King Zau al-Makan\nwent in to his brother whom he found in most joyous case. So he made a\nprostration of thanks to the Bountiful and the Exalted; and then he came\nforward and gave Sharrkan joy of his recovery. Answered he, \"Verily we are all\nunder the benediction of this Religious, holy and righteous, nor would you have\nbeen victorious, but for his accepted orisons; indeed all day he remained at\nprayer to invoke victory on the Moslems.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Fourth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Zau al- Makan went\nin to his brother Sharrkan, he found him sitting with the Holy Man by his side;\nso he rejoiced and drew near him and gave him joy of his recovery. Answered\nhe, \"Verily we are all under the benediction of this Recluse nor would you have\nbeen victorious but for his prayers, indeed he felt no fear this day and he\nceased not supplication for the Moslems. I found strength return to me, when I\nheard your 'Allaho Akbar,' for then I knew you to be victorious over your\nenemies. But now recount to me, O my brother, what befel thee.\" So he told him\nall that had passed between him and the accursed Hardub and related how he had\nslain him and sent him to the malediction of Allah; and Sharrkan praised him\nand thanked him for his prowess. When Zat al-Dawahi heard tell of her son's\ndeath (and she still drest as a devotee), her face waxed yellow and her eyes\nran over with railing tears: she kept her counsel, however, and feigned to the\nMoslems that she was glad and wept for excess of joy. But she said to herself,\n\"By the truth of the Messiah, there remaineth no profit of my life, if I burn\nnot his heart for his brother, Sharrkan, even as he hath burned my heart for\nKing Hardub, the mainstay of Christendom and the hosts of Crossdom!\" Still she\nkept her secret. And the Wazir Dandan and King Zau al-Makan and the\nChamberlain remained sitting with Sharrkan till they had dressed and salved his\nwound; after which they gave him medicines and he began to recover strength;\nwhereat they joyed with exceeding joy and told the troops who congratulated\nthemselves, saying, \"To morrow he will ride with us and do manly devoir in the\nsiege.\" Then said Sharrkan to them, \"Ye have fought through all this day and\nare aweary of fight; so it behoveth that you return to your places and sleep\nand not sit up.\" They accepted his counsel and then each went away to his own\npavilion, and none remained with Sharrkan but a few servants and the old woman\nZat al-Dawahi. He talked with her through part of the night, then he stretched\nhimself to rest: and his servants did likewise and presently sleep overcame\nthem all and they lay like the dead. Such was the case with Sharrkan and his\nmen; but as regards the old woman she alone abode awake while they slumbered in\nthe tent and, looking at Sharrkan she presently saw that he was drowned in\nsleep. Thereupon she sprang to her feet, as she were a scald she bear or a\nspeckled snake, and drew from her waist-cloth a dagger so poisoned that if laid\nthereon it would have melted a rock. Then she unsheathed the poniard and went\nup to Sharrkan's head and she drew the knife across his throat and severed his\nweasand and hewed off his head from his body. And once more she sprang to her\nfeet; and, going the round of the sleeping servants, she cut off their heads\nalso, lest they should awake. Then she left the tent and made for the Sultan's\npavilion, but finding the guards on the alert, turned to that of the Wazir\nDandan. Now she found him reading the Koran and when his sight fell upon her\nhe said, \"Welcome to the Holy Man!\" Hearing this from the Wazir, her heart\ntrembled and she said, \"The reason of my coming hither at this time is that I\nheard the voice of a saint amongst Allah's Saints and am going to him.\" Then\nshe turned her back, but the Wazir said to himself, \"By Allah, I will follow\nour Devotee this night!\" So he rose and walked after her; but when the accursed\nold woman sensed his footsteps, she knew that he was following her: wherefore\nshe feared the disgrace of discovery and said in herself, \"Unless I serve some\ntrick upon him he will disgrace me.\" So she turned and said to him from afar,\n\"Ho, thou Wazir, I am going in search of this Saint that I may learn who he is;\nand, after learning this much, I will ask his leave for thee to visit him. \nThen I will come back and tell thee: for I fear thine accompanying me, without\nhaving his permission, lest he take umbrage at me seeing thee in my society.\"\nNow when the Wazir heard these words, he was ashamed to answer her; so he left\nher and returned to his tent, and would have slept; but sleep was not\nfavourable to him and the world seemed heaped upon him. Presently he rose and\nwent forth from the tent saying in himself, \"I will go to Sharrkan and chat\nwith him till morning.\" But when he entered into Sharrkan's pavilion, he found\nthe blood running like an aqueduct and saw the servants lying with their\nthroats cut like beasts for food. At this he cried a cry which aroused all who\nwere asleep; the folk hastened to him and, seeing the blood streaming, set up a\nclamour of weeping and wailing. Then the noise awoke the Sultan, who enquired\nwhat was the matter, and it was said to him, \"Sharrkan thy brother and his\nservants are murthered.\" So he rose in haste and entered the tent, and found\nthe Wazir Dandan shrieking aloud and he saw his brother's body without a head. \nThereat he swooned away and all the troops crowded around him, weeping and\ncrying out, and so remained for a while, till he came to himself, when he\nlooked at Sharrkan and wept with sore weeping, while the Wazir and Rustam and\nBahram did the like. But the Chamberlain cried and lamented more than the rest\nand asked leave to absent himself, such was his alarm. Then said Zau al-Makan,\n\"Know ye who did this deed and how is it I see not the Devotee, him who the\nthings of this world hath put away?\" Quoth the Wazir, \"And who should have been\nthe cause of this affliction, save that Devotee, that Satan? By Allah, my\nheart abhorred him from the first, because I know that all who pretend to be\nabsorbed in practices religious are vile and treacherous!\" And he repeated to\nthe King the tale of how he would have followed the Religious, but he forbade\nhim, whereupon the folk broke out into a tumult of weeping and lamentation and\nhumbled themselves before Him who is ever near, Him who ever answereth prayer,\nsupplicating that He would cause the false Devotee who denied Allah's testimony\nto fall into their hands. Then they laid Sharrkan out and buried him in the\nmountain aforesaid and mourned over his far-famed virtues.\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Fifth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that they laid Sharrkan out\nand buried him in the mountain aforesaid and mourned over his far-famed\nvirtues. Then they looked for the opening of the city-gate; but it opened not\nand no sign of men appeared to them on the walls; whereat they wondered with\nexceeding wonder. But King Zau al-Makan said, \"By Allah, I will not turn back\nfrom them, though I sit here for years and years, till I take blood-revenge for\nmy brother Sharrkan and waste Constantinople and kill the King of the\nNazarenes, even if death overcome me and I be at rest from this woeful world!\"\nThen he bade be brought out the treasure taken from the Monastery of Matruhina;\nand mustered the troops and divided the monies among them, and he left not one\nof them but he gave him gifts which contented him. Moreover, he assembled in\nthe presence three hundred horse of every division and said to them, \"Do ye\nsend supplies to your households, for I am resolved to abide by this city, year\nafter year, till I have taken man-bote for my brother Sharrkan, even if I die\nin this stead.\" And when the army heard these words and had received his gifts\nof money they replied, \"To hear is to obey!\" Thereupon he summoned couriers and\ngave them letters and charged them to deliver the same, together with the\nmonies, to the soldiers' families and inform them that all were safe and\nsatisfied, and acquaint them saying, \"We are encamped before Constantinople and\nwe will either destroy it or die; and, albeit we be obliged to abide here\nmonths and years, we will not depart hence till we take it.\" Moreover, he bade\nthe Wazir Dandan write to his sister, Nuzhat al-Zaman, and said to him,\n\"Acquaint her with what hath befallen us, and what be our situation and commend\nmy child to her care since that, when I went out to war, my wife was near her\ndelivery and by this time she must needs have been brought to bed; and if she\nhath given birth to a boy, as I have heard say, hasten your return and bring me\nthe acceptable news.\" Then he gave them somewhat of money, which they pouched\nand set out at once; and all the people flocked forth to take leave of them; and\nentrust them with the monies and the messages. After they had departed, Zau\nal-Makan turned to the Wazir Dandan and commanded him to advance with the army\nagainst the city walls. So the troops pushed forward, but found none on the\nramparts, whereat they marvelled, while Zau al-Makan was troubled at the case,\nfor he deeply mourned the severance from his brother Sharrkan and he was sore\nperturbed about that traitor the Ascetic. In this condition they abode three\ndays without seeing anyone. So far concerning the Moslems; but as regards the\nGreeks and the cause of their refusing to fight during these three days the\ncase was this. As soon as Zat al-Dawahi had slain Sharrkan, she hastened her\nmarch and reached the walls of Constantinople, where she called out in the\nGreek tongue to the guards to throw her down a rope. Quoth they, \"Who art\nthou?\"; and quoth she, \"I am Zat al- Dawahi.\" They knew her and let down a cord\nto which she tied herself and they drew her up; and, when inside the city, she\nwent in to the King Afridun and said to him, \"What is this I hear from the\nMoslems? They say that my son King Hardub is slain.\" He answered, \"Yes;\" and\nshe shrieked out and wept right grievously and ceased not weeping thus till she\nmade Afridun and all who were present weep with her. Then she told the King\nhow she had slain Sharrkan and thirty of his servants, whereat he rejoiced and\nthanked her; and, kissing her hands, exhorted her to resignation for the loss\nof her son. Said she, \"By the truth of the Messiah, I will not rest content\nwith killing that dog of the Moslem dogs in blood-revenge for my son, a King of\nthe Kings of the age! Now there is no help for it but that I work some guile\nand I contrive a wile whereby to slay the Sultan Zau al-Makan and the Wazir\nDandan and the Chamberlain and Rustam and Bahram and ten thousand cavaliers of\nthe army of Al-Islam; for it shall never be said that my son's head be paid\nwith the bloodwit of Sharrkan's head; no, never!\" Then said she to King\nAfridun, \"Know, O King of the Age, that it is my wish to set forth mourning for\nmy son and to cut my Girdle and to break the Crosses.\" Replied Afridun, \"Do\nwhat thou desire; I will not gainsay thee in aught. And if thou prolong thy\nmourning for many days it were a little thing; for though the Moslems resolve\nto beleaguer us years and years, they will never win their will of us nor gain\naught of us save trouble and weariness.\" Then the Accursed One (when she had\nended with the calamity she had wrought and the ignominies which in herself she\nhad thought) took ink case and paper and wrote thereon: \"From Shawahi, Zat al-\nDawahi, to the host of the Moslems. Know ye that I entered your country and\nduped by my cunning your nobles and at first hand I slew your King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman in the midst of his palace. Moreover, I slew, in the affair of the\nmountain pass and of the cave, many of your men; and the last I killed were\nSharrkan and his servants. And if fortune do not stay me and Satan obey me, I\nneeds must slay me your Sultan and the Wazir Dandan, for I am she who came to\nyou in disguise of a Recluse and who heaped upon you my devices and deceits. \nWherefore, an you would be in safety after this, fare ye forth at once; and if\nyou seek your own destruction cease not abiding for the nonce; and though ye\ntarry here years and years, ye shall not do your desire on us. And so peace be\nyours!\" After writing her writ she devoted three days to mourning for King\nHardub; arid, on the fourth, she called a Knight and bade him take the letter\nand make it fast to a shaft and shoot it into the Moslem camp. When this was\ndone, she entered the church and gave herself up to weeping and wailing for the\nloss of her son, saying to him who took the kingship after him, \"Nothing will\nserve me but I must kill Zau al-Makan and all the nobles of Al-Islam.\" Such was\nthe case with her; but as regards what occurred to the Moslems, all passed\nthree days in trouble and anxiety, and on the fourth when gazing at the walls\nbehold, they saw a knight holding a bow and about to shoot an arrow along whose\nside a letter was bound. So they waited till he had shot it among them; and the\nSultan bade the Wazir Dandan take the missive and read it. He perused it\naccordingly; and, when Zau al-Makan heard it to end and understood its purport,\nhis eyes filled with tears and he shrieked for agony at her perfidy; and the\nMinister Dandan said, \"By Allah, my heart shrank from her!\" Quoth the Sultan,\n\"How could this whore play her tricks upon us twice? But by the Almighty I\nwill not depart hence till I fill her cleft with molten lead and jail her with\nthe jailing of a bird encaged, then bind her with her own hair and crucify her\nover the gate of Constantinople.\" And he called to mind his brother and wept\nwith excessive weeping. But when Zat al-Dawahi arrived amongst the Infidels\nand related to them her adventures at length, they rejoiced at her safety and\nat the slaying of Sharrkan. Thereupon the Moslems addressed themselves again\nto the siege of the city and the Sultan promised his men that, if it should be\ntaken, he would divide its treasures among them in equal parts. But he dried\nnot his tears grieving for his brother till his body was wasted and sick,\ngrowing thin as a tooth pick. Presently the Wazir Dandan came in to him and\nsaid, \"Be of good cheer and keep thine eyes cool and clear; in very sooth thy\nbrother died not but because his hour was come, and there is no profit in this\nmourning. How well saith the poet,\n\n\"Whatso is not to be no sleight shall bring to pass; * What is to be without a failure shall become;\nSoon the becoming fortune shall be found to be, * And Folly's brother[FN#453] shall abide forlorn and glum.\"\n\n\nWherefore do thou leave this weeping and wailing and hearten thy heart to bear\narms.\" He replied, \"O Wazir, my heart is heavy for the death of my father and\nmy brother and for our absence from hearth and home; and my mind is concerned\nfor my subjects.\" Thereupon the Wazir and the bystanders wept; but they ceased\nnot from pushing forward the siege of Constantinople for a length of days. And\nthey being thus, behold, news arrived from Baghdad, by one of the Emirs to the\neffect that the King's wife had been blessed with a boy, and that his sister,\nNuzhat al-Zaman, had named him K\u00e1nm\u00e1k\u00e1n.[FN#454] Moreover, that the boy bid\nfair to be famous, already showing wondrous signs and marvellous tokens; and\nthat she had commanded the Olema and the preachers to pray for mother and child\nfrom the pulpits and bless them in all wise; furthermore that the twain were\nwell, that the land had enjoyed abundant rains, and that his comrade the\nFireman was established in all prosperity, with eunuchs and slaves to wait upon\nhim; but that he was still ignorant of what had befallen him. And she ended\nwith the greeting of peace. Then quoth Zau al- Makan to the Wazir Dandan, \"Now\nis my back strengthened for that I have been blest with a son whose name is\nKanmakan.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Sixth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when they brought him the\nnews of his wife having borne him a boy child, Zau al- Makan rejoiced with\ngreat joy and cried, \"Now is my back strengthened, for that I have been blessed\nwith a son[FN#455] whose name is Kanmakan.\" And he spake to the Wazir Dandan,\nsaying, \"I am minded to leave this mourning and order perlections of the Koran\nfor my brother and command almsdeeds on his account.\" Quoth the Wazir, \"Thy\ndesign is good.\" Thereupon he caused tents to be pitched over his brother's\ntomb; so they raised them; and gathered together such of the men at arms as\ncould repeat the Koran; and some began reciting the Holy volume; whilst others\nchanted litanies containing the names of Allah, and thus they did till the\nmorning. Then Zau al-Makan went up to the grave of his brother Sharrkan and\npoured forth copious tears, and improvised these couplets,\n\n\"They bore him bier'd, and all who followed wept * With Moses' shrieks what day o'erhead shook Tor;[FN#456]\nTill reached the grave which Pate had made his home, * Dug in men's souls who one sole God adore:\nNe'er had I thought before to see my joy * Borne on the bier which heads of bearers bore:\nAh no! nor ere they homed thee in the dust * That stars of heaven earth ever covered o'er.\nIs the tomb dweller hostage of a stead, * Where light and splendour o'er thy face shall pour?\nPraise to restore his life her word hath pledged: * Cribbed and confined he shall dispread the more!\"\n\n\nWhen Zau al-Makan had made an end of his versifying he wept and wept with him\nall the troops; then he came to the grave and threw himself upon it wild with\nwoe, and the Wazir repeated the words of the poet,\n\n\"Pain leaving life that fleets thou hast th' eternal won; * Thou didst as whilom many a doer like thee hath done\nLeftest this worldly house without reproach or blame; * Ah, may th' ex change secure thee every benison!\nThou west from hostile onset shield and firm defence, * For us to baffle shafts and whistling spears to shun.\nI see this world is only cheat and vanity, * Where man naught else must seek but please the Truthful One:\nTh' Empyrean's Lord allow thee bower of heavenly bliss, * And wi' thy faithful friends The Guide show goodly wone:\nI bid thee last good e'en with sigh of bitter grief, * Seeing the West in woe for lack of Easting Sun.\"\n\n\nWhen the Wazir Dandan had finished his reciting, he wept with sore weeping and\nthe tears rained from his eyes like cushioned pearls. Then came forward one\nwho had been of Sharrkan's boon companions in his cups and he wept till ran in\nrills the drops, and he enumerated the dead man's generous qualities, reciting\nthe following pentastichs,\n\n\"Where gone is Bounty since thy hand is turned to clay? * And I in misery lie since thou west ta'en away.\nSee'st not, O litter guide[FN#457] (Heaven keep thee glad and gay!), * How tears adorn my cheeks, these furrowed wrinkles fray?\nA sight to joy shine eyes and fill thee with dismay.[FN#458]\nBy Allah ne'er this heart within I spoke of thee; * Ah no! nor dared my sight to see thy brilliancy:\nSave that my tear drops sorest wound have garred me dree * Yea! and if e'er on other rest these eyne of me,\nMay yearning draw their reins nor suffer sleep to see.\"\n\n\nAnd when the man stinted reciting, Zau al-Makan and the Minister Dandan wept\nand the whole army was moved to tears; after which all retired to their tents,\nand the King turning to the Wazir took counsel with him concerning the conduct\nof the campaign. On this wise the two passed days and nights, while Zau\nal-Makan was weighed down with grief and mourning till at last he said, \"I long\nto hear stories and adventures of Kings and tales of lover folk enslaved by\nlove; haply Allah may make this to solace that which is on my heart of heavy\nanxiety, and stint and stay my weeping and wailing.\" Quoth the Wazir, \"If\nnaught can dispel thy trouble but hearing curious tales of Kings and people\nlong gone before and stories of folk enslaved by love of yore, and so forth,\nthis thing were easy, for I had no other business, in the lifetime of thy\nfather (who hath found mercy) than to relate stories and to repeat verses to\nhim. This very night I will tell thee a tale of a lover and his beloved, so\nshall thy breast be broadened.\" When Zau al-Makan heard these words from the\nMinister, his heart was set upon that which had been promised to him and he did\nnothing but watch for the coming of the night, that he might hear what the\nWazir Dandan had to tell of the Kings of yore and distracted lovers long gone\nbefore. And hardly would he believe that night had fallen ere he bade light\nthe wax candles and the lamps and bring all that was needful of meat and drink\nand perfume gear, and what not; and when all was in presence, he summoned the\nWazir Dandan, and the Emirs Rustam and Bahram and Tarkash and the Grand\nChamberlain; then waited till the whole party was seated before him; whereupon\nhe turned to the Minister and said, \"Know, O Wazir, that night is come and hath\nlet down over us its veil of gloom, and we desire that thou tell us those tales\nwhich thou promisedst us.\" Replied the Wazir, \"With joy and good will.\"\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Seventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Zau Al-Makan\nsummoned the Wazir and the Chamberlain and Rustam and Bahram, he turned towards\nthe Minister Dandan and said, \"Know, O Wazir, that night is come and hath let\ndown over us its veil of gloom, and we desire that thou tell us those tales\nwhich thou promisedst us.\" Replied the Wazir, \"With love and gladness! Know, O\nauspicious King, that there reached my ears a relation of a lover and a loved\none and of the discourse between them; and what befel them of things rare and\nfair, a story such as repelleth care from the heart and dispelleth sorrow like\nunto that of the patriarch Jacob[FN#459]; and it is as follows\":\n\n\n\n\nTale of Taj al-Muluk and the Princess Dunya\n(The Lover and the Loved).\n\n\nThere stood in times long gone by behind the Mountains of Ispah\u00e1n, a city hight\nthe Green City, wherein dwelt a King named Sul\u00e1yman Sh\u00e1h. Now he was a man of\nliberality and beneficence, of justice and integrity, of generosity and\nsincerity, to whom travellers repaired from every country, and his name was\nnoised abroad in all regions and cities and he reigned many a year in high\nworship and prosperity, save that he owned neither wives nor children. He had\na Minister who rivalled him in goodness and generosity and it so happened that\none day, he sent for him and when he came into the presence said to him, \"O my\nWazir, my heart is heavy and my patience is past and my force faileth me, for\nthat I have neither wife nor child. This is not the way of Kings who rule over\nall men, princes. and paupers; for they rejoice in leaving behind them\nchildren and successors whereby are doubled their number and their strength. \nQuoth the Prophet (whom Allah bless and keep!); 'Marry ye, increase ye, and\nmultiply ye, that I may boast me of your superiority over the nations on the\nDay of Resurrection.' So what is thy rede, O Wazir? Advise me of what course\nand contrivance be advisable!\" When the Minister heard these words, the tears\nsprang from his eyes in streams, and he replied, \"Far be it from me, O King of\nthe Age, that I debate on that which appertaineth to the Compassionate One! \nWilt thou have me cast into the fire by the All powerful King's wrath and ire?\nBuy thee a concubine.\" Rejoined the King, \"Know, O Wazir, that when a sovereign\nbuyeth a female slave, he knoweth neither her rank nor her lineage and thus he\ncannot tell if she be of simple origin that he may abstain from her, or of\ngentle strain that he may be intimate in her companionship. So, if he have\ncommerce with her, haply she will conceive by him and her son be a hypocrite, a\nman of wrath and a shedder of blood. Indeed the like of such woman may be\ninstanced by a salt and marshy soil, which if one till for ever it yieldeth\nonly worthless growth and no endurance show eth; for it may be that her son\nwill be obnoxious to his Lord's anger, doing not what He biddeth him or\nabstaining from what He for biddeth him. Wherefore will I never become the\ncause of this through the purchase of a concubine; and it is my desire that\nthou demand for me in marriage the daughter of some one of the Kings, whose\nlineage is known and whose loveliness hath renown. If thou can direct me to\nsome maiden of birth and piety of the daughters of Moslem Sovranty, I will ask\nher in marriage and wed her in presence of witnesses, so may accrue to me the\nfavour of the Lord of all Creatures.\" Said the Wazir, \"O King, verily Allah\nhath fulfilled thy wish and hath brought thee to thy desire;\" presently adding,\n\"Know, O King, it hath come to my knowledge that King Zahr Shah,[FN#460] Lord\nof the White Land, hath a daughter of surpassing loveliness whose charms talk\nand tale fail to express: she hath not her equal in this age, for she is\nperfect in proportion and symmetry, black eyed as if Kohl dyed and long locked,\nwee of waist and heavy of hip. When she draweth nigh she seduceth and when she\nturneth her back[FN#461] she slayeth; she ravisheth heart and view and she\nlooketh even as saith of her the poet,\n\n'A thin waist maid who shames the Willow-wand; * Nor sun nor moon can like her rising shine:\n'Tis as her honey-dew of lips were blent * With wine, and pearls of teeth were bathed in wine:\nHer form, like heavenly Houri's, graceful slim; * Fair face; and ruin dealt by glancing eyne:\nHow many a dead done man her eyes have slain * Upon her way of love in ruin li'en:\nAn live I she's my death! I'll say no more * But dying without her vain were life of mine.' \"\n\n\nNow when the Wazir had made an end of describing that maiden, he said to\nSulayman Shah, \"It is my counsel, O King, that thou despatch to her father an\nambassador, sagacious, experienced and trained in the ways of the world, who\nshall courteously demand her in marriage for thee of her sire; for in good\nsooth she hath not her equal in the far parts of the world nor in the near. So\nshalt thou enjoy her lovely face in the way of grace, and the Lord of Glory be\ncontent with thy case; for it is reported of the Prophet (whom Allah bless and\npreserve!) that he said, 'There be no monkery in Al-Islam.\"' At this the King\nwas transported to perfect joy; his breast was broadened and lightened; care\nand cark ceased from him and he turned to the Wazir and said, \"Know thou, O\nMinister, that none shall fare about this affair save thou, by reason of thy\nconsummate intelligence and good breeding; wherefore hie thee home and do all\nthou hast to do and get thee ready by the morrow and depart and demand me in\nmarriage this maiden, with whom thou hast occupied my heart and thought; and\nreturn not to me but with her.\" Replied the Wazir, \"I hear and I obey.\" Then he\ntried to his own house and bade make ready presents befitting Kings, of\nprecious stones and things of price and other matters light of load but weighty\nof worth, besides Rabite steeds and coats of mail, such as David made[FN#462]\nand chests of treasure for which speech hath no measure. And the Wazir loaded\nthe whole on camels and mules, and set out attended by an hundred slave-girls\nwith flags and banners flaunting over his head. The King charged him to return\nto him after a few days; and, when he was gone, Sulayman Shah lay on coals of\nfire, engrossed night and day with desire; while the envoy fared on without\nceasing through gloom and light, spanning fertile field and desert site, till\nbut a day's march remained between him and the city whereto he was bound. Here\nhe sat him down on the banks of a river and, summoning one of his confidants,\nbade him wend his way to King Zahr Shah and announce his approach without\ndelay. Quoth the messenger, \"I hear and I obey!\" And he rode on in haste to\nthat city and, as he was about to enter therein, it so chanced that the King,\nwho was sitting in one of his pleasaunces before the city-gate, espied him as\nhe was passing the doors, and knowing him for a stranger, bade bring him before\nthe presence. So the messenger coming forward informed him of the approach of\nthe Wazir of the mighty King Sulayman Shah, Lord of the Green Land and of the\nMountains of Ispahan: whereat King Zahr Shah rejoiced and welcomed him. Then\nhe carried him to his palace and asked him, \"Where leavedst thou the Wazir?\";\nand he answered, \"I left him in early day on the banks of such a river and\nTo-morrow he will reach thee, Allah continue his favours to thee and have mercy\nupon thy parents!\" Thereupon King Zahr Shah commanded one of his Wazirs to take\nthe better part of his Grandees and Chamberlains and Lieutenants and Lords of\nthe land, and go out to meet the ambassador in honour of King Sulayman Shah;\nfor that his dominion extended over the country. Such was the case with Zahr\nShah; but as regards the Wazir he abode in his stead till night was half\nspent[FN#463] and then set out for the city; but when morning shone and the sun\nrose upon hill and down, of a sudden he saw King Zahr Shah's Wazir approaching\nhim, with his Chamberlains and high Lords and Chief Officers of the kingdom;\nand the two parties joined company at some parasangs' distance from the\ncity.[FN#464] Thereat the Wazir made sure of the success of his errand and\nsaluted the escort, which ceased not preceding him till they reached the King's\npalace and passed in before him through the gate to the seventh vestibule, a\nplace where none might enter on horseback, for it was near to where the King\nsat. So the Minister alighted and fared on a foot till he came to a lofty\nsaloon, at whose upper end stood a marble couch, set with pearls and stones of\nprice, and having for legs four elephant's tusks. Upon it was a coverlet of\ngreen satin purfled with red gold, and above it hung a canopy adorned with\npearls and gems, whereon sat King Zahr Shah, whilst his officers of state stood\nin attendance before him. When the Wazir went in to him, he composed his mind\nand, unbinding his tongue, displayed the oratory of Wazirs and saluted the King\nin the language of eloquence.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say,\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Eighth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Wazir of King\nSulayman Shah entered the presence of King Zahr Shah he composed his mind and,\nunbinding his tongue, displayed the oratory of Wazirs and saluted the King in\nthe language of eloquence and improvised these couplets,\n\n\"He cometh robed and bending gracefully: * O'er crop and cropper dews of grace sheds he:\nHe charms; nor characts, spells nor gramarye * May fend the glances of those eyne from thee:\nSay to the blamer, \"Blame me not, for I * From love of him will never turn to flee\":\nMy heart hath played me false while true to him, * And Sleep, in love with him, abhorreth me:\nO heart! th'art not the sole who loveth him, * So bide with him while I desertion dree:\nThere's nought to joy mine ears with joyous sound * Save praise of King Zahr Shah in jubilee:\nA King albeit thou leave thy life to win * One look, that look were all sufficiency:\nAnd if a pious prayer thou breathe for him, * Shall join all Faithfuls in such pious gree:\nFolk of his realm! If any shirk his right * For other hoping, gross Unfaith I see.\"\n\n\nWhen the Wazir had ended his poetry, King Zahr Shah bade him draw near and\nhonoured him with the highmost honours; then, seating him by his own side,\nsmiled in his face and favoured him with a gracious reply. They ceased not on\nthis wise till the time of the under meal when the attendants brought forward\nthe tables of food in that saloon and all ate till they were sated; after which\nthe tables were removed and those who were in the assembly withdrew, leaving\nonly the chief officers. Now when the Minister saw this, he rose to his feet\nand, after complimenting the King a second time and kissing the ground before\nhim, spake as follows, \"O mighty King and dread Lord! I have travelled hither\nand have visited thee upon a matter which shall bring thee peace, profit and\nprosperity: and it is this, that I come as ambassador to thee, seeking in\nmarriage thy daughter, the noble and illustrious maid, from Sulayman Shah, a\nPrince famed for justice and integrity, sincerity and generosity, Lord of the\nGreen Land and of the Mountains of Ispahan, who sendeth thee of presents a\nstore, and gifts of price galore, ardently desiring to become thy son in law. \nBut art thou inclined to him as he to thee?\" He then kept silence, awaiting a\nreply. When King Zahr Shah heard these words, he sprang to his feet and kissed\nthe ground respectfully before the Wazir, while the bystanders were confounded\nat his condescension to the ambassador and their minds were amazed. Then he\npraised Him who is the Lord of Honour and Glory and replied (and he still\nstanding), \"O mighty Wazir and illustrious Chief; hear thou what I say! Of a\ntruth we are to King Sulayman Shah of the number of his subjects, and we shall\nbe ennobled by his alliance and we covet it ardently; for my daughter is a\nhandmaid of his handmaidens, and it is my dearest desire that he may become my\nstay and my reliable support.\" Then he summoned the Kazis and the witnesses,\nwho should bear testimony that King Sulayman Shah had despatched his Wazir as\nproxy to conclude the marriage, and that King Zahr Shah joyfully acted and\nofficiated for his daughter. So the Kazis concluded the wedding contract and\noffered up prayers for the happiness and prosperity of the wedded feres; after\nwhich the Wazir arose and, fetching the gifts and rarities and precious things,\nlaid them all before the King. Then Zahr Shah occupied himself anent the\nfitting out of his daughter and honourably entertained the Wazir and feasted\nhis subjects all, great and small; and for two months they held high festival,\nomitting naught that could rejoice heart and eye. Now when all things needful\nfor the bride were ready, the King caused the tents to be carried out and they\npitched the camp within sight of the city, where they packed the bride's stuffs\nin chests and get ready the Greek handmaids and Turkish slave-girls, and\nprovided the Princess with great store of precious treasures and costly jewels.\nThen he had made for her a litter of red gold, inlaid with pearls and stones\nof price, and set apart two mules to carry it; a litter which was like one of\nthe chambers of a palace, and within which she seemed as she were of the\nloveliest Houris and it became as one of the pavilions of Paradise. And after\nthey had made bales of the treasures and monies, and had loaded them upon the\nmules and camels, King Zahr Shah went forth with her for a distance of three\nparasangs; after which he bade farewell to her and the Wazir and those with\nhim, and returned to his home in gladness and safety. Thereupon the Wazir,\nfaring with the King's daughter, pushed on and ceased not his stages over\ndesert ways,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Ninth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir fared on with\nthe King's daughter and ceased not forcing his stages over desert ways and\nhastened his best through nights and days, till there remained between him and\nhis city but three marches. Thereupon he sent forward to King Sulayman Shah\none who should announce the coming of the bride. The King rejoiced thereat and\nbestowed on the messenger a dress of honour; and bade his troops march forth in\ngrand procession to meet the Princess and her company for due worship and\nhonour, and don their richest apparel with banners flying over their heads. \nAnd his orders were obeyed. He also commanded to cry throughout the city that\nneither curtained damsel nor honoured lady nor time-ruptured crone should fail\nto fare forth and meet the bride. So they all went out to greet her and the\ngrandest of them vied in doing her service and they agreed to bring her to the\nKing's palace by night. More over, the chief officers decided to decorate the\nroad and to stand in espalier of double line, whilst the bride should pass by\npreceded by her eunuchs and serving women and clad in the gear her father had\ngiven her. So when she made her appearance, the troops surrounded her, these\nof the right wing and those of the left, and the litter ceased not advancing\nwith her till she approached the palace; nor remained any but came forth to\ngaze upon the Princess. Drums were beaten and spears were brandished and horns\nblared and flags fluttered and steeds pranced for precedence and scents shed\nfragrance till they reached the palace-gate and the pages entered with the\nlitter through the Harim wicket. The place shone with its splendours and the\nwalls glittered for the glamour of its gear. Now when night came, the eunuchs\nthrew open the doors of the bridal chamber and stood surrounding the chief\nentrance whereupon the bride came forward and amid her damsels she was like the\nmoon among stars or an union shining on a string of lesser pearls, and she\npassed into the bridal closet where they had set for her a couch of alabaster\ninlaid with unions and jewels. As soon as she had taken seat there, the King\ncame in to her and Allah filled his heart with her love so he abated her\nmaidenhead and ceased from him his trouble and disquiet. He abode with her\nwell-nigh a month but she had conceived by him the first night; and, when the\nmonth was ended, he went forth and sat on his sofa of state, and dispensed\njustice to his subjects, till the months of her pregnancy were accomplished. \nOn the last day of the ninth month, towards day break, the Queen was seized\nwith the pangs of labour; so she sat down on the stool of delivery and Allah\nmade the travail easy to her and she gave birth to a boy child, on whom\nappeared auspicious signs. When the King heard of this, he joyed with\nexceeding joy and rewarded the bearer of the good tidings with much treasure;\nand of his gladness he went in to the child and kissed him between the eyes and\nwondered at his brilliant loveliness; for in him was approved the saying of the\npoet,\n\n\"In the towering forts Allah throned him King, * A lion, a star in the skies of reign:\nAt his rising the spear and the throne rejoiced, * The gazelle, the ostrich, The men of main:[FN#465]\nMount him not on the paps, for right soon he'll show * That to throne on the war steed's loins he's fain:\nAnd wean him from sucking of milk, for soon * A sweeter drink, the foe's blood, he'll drain.\"\n\n\nThen the midwives took the newborn child and cut the navel cord and darkened\nhis eyelids with Kohl powder[FN#466] and named him T\u00e1j al-Mul\u00fak Kh\u00e1r\u00e1n.[FN#467]\nHe was suckled at the breast of fond indulgence and was reared in the lap of\nhappy fortune; and thus his days ceased not running and the years passing by\ntill he reached the age of seven. Thereupon Sulayman Shah summoned the doctors\nand learned men and bade them teach his son writing and science and\nbelle-lettres. This they continued to do for some years, till he had learnt\nwhat was needful; and, when the King saw that he was well grounded in whatso he\ndesired, he took him out of the teachers' and professors' hands and engaged for\nhim a skilful master, who taught him cavalarice and knightly exercises till the\nboy attained the age of fourteen; and when he fared abroad on any occasion, all\nwho saw him were ravished by his beauty and made him the subject of verse; and\neven pious men were seduced by his brilliant loveliness.\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Tenth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, That when Taj al-Muluk Kharan,\nson of Sulayman Shah, became perfect in riding craft and excelled all those of\nhis time, his excessive beauty, when he fared abroad on any occasion, caused\nall who saw him to be ravished and to make him the subject of verse; and even\npious men were seduced by his brilliant loveliness. Quoth the poet of him,\n\n\"I clipt his form and wax'd drunk with his scent, * Fair branch to whom Zephyr gave nutriment:\nNor drunken as one who drinks wine, but drunk * With night draught his lips of the honey-dew lent:\nAll beauty is shown in the all of him, * Hence all human hearts he in hand hath hens:\nMy mind, by Allah! shall ne'er unmind * His love, while I wear life's chains till spent:\nIf I live, in his love I'll live; if I die * For pine and longing, 'O blest!' I'll cry\n\n\nWhen he reached the eighteenth year of his age, tender down[FN#468] sprouted,\non his side face fresh with youth, from a mole upon one rosy cheek and a second\nbeauty spot, like a grain of ambergris adorned the other; and he won the wits\nand eyes of every wight who looked on him, even as saith the poet,\n\n\"He is Caliph of Beauty in Y\u00fasufs lieu, * And all lovers fear when they sight his grace:\nPause and gaze with me; on his cheek thou'lt sight * The Caliphate's banner of sable hue.\"[FN#469]\n\n\nAnd as saith another,\n\n\"Thy sight hath never seen a fairer sight, * Of all things men can in the world espy,\nThan yon brown mole, that studs his bonny cheek * Of rosy-red beneath that jet black eye.\"\n\n\nAnd as saith another,\n\n\"I marvel seeing yon mole that serves his cheeks' bright flame * Yet burneth not in fire albeit Infidel[FN#470]\nI wonder eke to see that apostolic glance, * Miracle working, though it work by magic spell:\nHow fresh and bright the down that decks his cheek, and yet * Bursten gall bladders feed which e'en as waters well.\"\n\n\nAnd as saith another,\n\n\"I marvel hearing people questioning of * The Fount of Life and in what land 'tis found:\nI see it sprung from lips of dainty fawn, * Sweet rosy mouth with green mustachio down'd:\nAnd wondrous wonder 'tis when Moses viewed * That Fount, he rested not from weary round.\"[FN#471]\n\n\nNow having developed such beauty, when he came to man's estate his loveliness\nincreased, and it won for him many comrades and intimates; while every one who\ndrew near to him wished that Taj al-Muluk Kharan might become Sultan after his\nfather's death, and that he himself might be one of his Emirs. Then took he\npassionately to chasing and hunting which he would hardly leave for a single\nhour. His father, King Sulayman Shah, would have forbidden him the pursuit\nfearing for him the perils of the waste and the wild beasts; but he paid no\nheed to his warning voice. And it so chanced that once upon a time he said to\nhis attendants \"Take ye ten days food and forage;\" and, when they obeyed his\nbidding, he set out with his suite for sport and disport. They rode on into\nthe desert and ceased not riding four days, till they came to a place where the\nground was green, and they saw in it wild beasts grazing and trees with ripe\nfruit growing and springs flowing. Quoth Taj al-Muluk to his followers, \"Set\nup the nets here and peg them in a wide ring and let our trysting place be at\nthe mouth of the fence, in such a spot.\" So they obeyed his words and staked\nout a wide circle with toils; and there gathered together a mighty matter of\nall kinds of wild beasts and gazelles, which cried out for fear of the men and\nthrew themselves for fright in the face of the horses. Then they loosed on to\nthem the hounds and lynxes[FN#472] and hawks;[FN#473] and they shot the quarry\ndown with shafts which pierced their vitals; and, by the time they came to the\nfurther end of the net ring, they had taken a great number of the wild beasts,\nand the rest fled. Then Taj al-Muluk dismounted by the water side and bade the\ngame be brought before himself, and divided it, after he had set apart the best\nof the beasts for his father, King Sulayman Shah, and despatched the game to\nhim; and some he distributed among the officers of his court. He passed the\nnight in that place, and when morning dawned there came up a caravan of\nmerchants conveying negro slaves and white servants, and halted by the water\nand the green ground. When Taj al-Muluk saw them, he said to one of his\ncompanions, \"Bring me news of yonder men and question them why they have halted\nin this place.\"[FN#474] So the messenger went up to them; and addressed them,\n\"Tell me who ye be, and answer me an answer without delay.\" Replied they, \"We\nare merchants and have halted to rest, for that the next station is distant and\nwe abide here because we have confidence in King Sulayman Shah and his son, Taj\nal-Muluk, and we know that all who alight in his dominions are in peace and\nsafety; more over we have with us precious stuffs which we have brought for the\nPrince.\" So the messenger returned and told these news to the King's son who,\nhearing the state of the case and what the merchants had replied, said, \"If\nthey have brought stuff on my account I will not enter the city nor depart\nhence till I see it shown to me.\" Then he mounted horse and rode to the caravan\nand his Mamelukes followed him till he reached it. Thereupon the merchants rose\nto receive him and invoked on him Divine aid and favour with continuance of\nglory and virtues; after which they pitched him a pavilion of red satin,\nembroidered with pearls and jewels, wherein they spread him a kingly divan upon\na silken carpet worked at the upper end with emeralds set in gold. There Taj\nal-Muluk seated himself whilst his white servants stood in attendance upon him,\nand sent to bid the merchants bring out all that they had with them. \nAccordingly, they produced their merchandise, and displayed the whole and he\nviewed it and took of it what liked him, paying them the price. Then he looked\nabout him at the caravan, and remounted and was about to ride onwards, when his\nglance fell on a handsome youth in fair attire, and a comely and shapely make,\nwith flower-white brow and moon like face, save that his beauty was wasted and\nthat yellow hues had overspread his cheeks by reason of parting from those he\nloved;\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Eleventh Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Taj Al- Muluk, when he\nlooked about him at the caravan, saw a handsome youth in neat attire and of\nshapely make, with flower like forehead and moon like face, save that his\nbeauty was wasted and yellow hues had overspread his cheeks by reason of\nparting from those he loved; and great was his groaning and moaning, and the\ntears streamed from his eyelids as he repeated these couplets,\n\n\"Longsome is Absence; Care and Fear are sore, * And ceaseless tears, O friend, mine eyes outpour:\nYea, I farewelled my heart on parting day * And heartless, hopeless, now I bide forlore:\nPause, O my friend, with me farewelling one * Whose words my cure can work, my health restore!\"\n\n\nNow when the youth ended his poetry he wept awhile and fell down in a fainting\nfit, whilst Taj al-Muluk looked at him and wondered at his case. Then, coming\nto himself, he stared with distracted air, and versified in these couplets,\n\n\"Beware her glance I rede thee, 'tis like wizard wight, * None can escape unscathed those eye shafts' glancing flight:\nIn very sooth black eyes, with languorous sleepy look, * Pierce deeper than white swords however these may bite.\nBe not thy senses by her sweets of speech beguiled, * Whose brooding fever shall ferment in thought and sprite:\nSoft sided Fair[FN#475] did silk but press upon her skin, * 'Twould draw red blood from it, as thou thyself canst sight.\nChary is she of charms twixt neck and anklets dwell, * And ah! what other scent shall cause me such delight?[FN#476]\"\n\n\nThen he sobbed a loud sob and swooned away. But when Taj al- Muluk saw him in\nthis case, he was perplexed about his state and went up to him; and, as the\nyouth came to his senses and saw the King's son standing at his head, he sprang\nto his feet and kissed the ground between his hands. Taj al-Muluk asked him,\n'Why didst thou not show us thy merchandise?\" end he answered, O my lord, there\nis naught among my stock worthy of thine august highness.\" Quoth the Prince,\n\"Needs must thou show me what thou hast and acquaint me with thy circumstance;\nfor I see thee weeping eyed and heavyhearted. If thou have been oppressed, we\nwill end thine oppression, and if thou be in debt, we will pay thy debt; for of\na truth my heart burneth to see thee, since I first set eyes on thee.\"[FN#477] \nThen Taj al-Muluk bade the seats be set, and they brought him a chair of ivory\nand ebony with a net-work of gold and silk, and spread him a silken rug for his\nfeet. So he sat down on the chair and bidding the youth seat himself on the\nrug said to him, \"Show me thy stock in trade!\" The young merchant replied, \"O\nmy Lord, do not name this to me, for my goods be unworthy of thee.\" Rejoined\nTaj al-Muluk \"It needs must be thus!\"; and bade some of the pages fetch the\ngoods. So they brought them in despite of him; and, when he saw them, the\ntears streamed from his eyes and he wept and sighed and lamented: sobs rose in\nhis throat and he repeated these couplets,\n\n\"By what thine eyelids show of Kohl and coquetry! * By what thy shape displays of lissome symmetry!\nBy what thy liplets store of honey-dew and wine! * By what thy mind adorns of gracious kindly gree!\nTo me thy sight dream-visioned, O my hope! exceeds * The happiest escape from horriblest injury.\"\n\n\nThen the youth opened his bales and displayed his merchandise to Taj Al-Muluk\nin detail, piece by piece, and amongst them he brought out a gown of satin\nbrocaded with gold, worth two thousand dinars. When he opened the gown there\nfell a piece of linen from its folds. As soon as the young merchant saw this\nhe caught up the piece of linen in haste and hid it under his thigh; and his\nreason wandered, and he began versifying,\n\n\"When shall be healed of thee this heart that ever bides in woe?  * Than thee the Pleiad-stars more chance of happy meeting show\nParting and banishment and longing pain and lowe of love, * Procrastinating[FN#478] and delay these ills my life lay low:\nNor union bids me live in joy, nor parting kills by grief, * Nor travel draws me nearer thee nor nearer comest thou:\nOf thee no justice may be had, in thee dwells naught of rush, * Nor gain of grace by side of thee, nor flight from thee I know:\nFor love of thee all goings forth and comings back are strait * On me, and I am puzzled sore to know where I shall go.\"\n\n\nTaj al-Muluk wondered with great wonder at his verse, and could not comprehend\nthe cause. But when the youth snatched up the bit of linen and placed it under\nthigh, he asked him, \"What is that piece of linen?\" \"O my Lord,\" answered the\nmerchant, \"thou hast no concern with this piece.\" Quoth the King's son, \"Show\nit me;\" and quoth the merchant, \"O my lord, I refused to show thee my goods on\naccount of this piece of linen; for I cannot let thee look upon it.\"\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say,\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Twelfth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant said\nto Taj al-Muluk, \"I did not refuse to show thee my goods save on this account,\nfor I cannot let thee look upon it.\" Whereupon Taj al Muluk retorted, \"Perforce\nI must and will see it;\" and insisted and became angry. So the youth drew it\nout from under his thigh, and wept and moaned and redoubled his sighs and\ngroans, and repeated these verses,\n\n\"Now blame him not; for blame brings only irk and pain! * Indeed, I spake him sooth but ne'er his ear could gain:\nMay Allah guard my moon which riseth in the vale * Beside our camp, from loosed robe like skyey plain:[FN#479]\nI left him but had Love vouchsafed to leave for me * Some peace in life such leave of him I ne'er had ta'en:\nHow long he pleaded for my sake on parting morn, * While down his cheeks and mine tears ran in railing rain:\nAllah belie me not: the garb of mine excuse * This parting rent, but I will Mend that garb again!\nNo couch is easy to my side, nor on such wise * Aught easeth him, when all alone without me lain:\nTime with ill-omened hand hath wrought between us two, * And made my waxing joys to wane and his to wane,\nAnd poured mere grief and woe, what time Time fain had crowned * The bowl he made me drink and gave for him to drain.\"\n\n\nWhen he ended his recitation, quoth Taj al-Muluk, \"I see thy conduct without\nconsequence; tell me then why weepest thou at the sight of this rag!\" When the\nyoung merchant heard speak of the piece of linen, he sighed and answered, \"O my\nlord, my story is a strange and my case out of range, with regard to this piece\nof linen and to her from whom I brought it and to her who wrought on it these\nfigures and emblems.\" Hereupon, he spread out the piece of linen, and behold,\nthereon was the figure of a gazelle wrought in silk and worked with red gold,\nand facing it was another gazelle traced in silver with a neck ring of red gold\nand three bugles[FN#480] of chrysolite upon the ring. When Taj al-Muluk saw\nthe beauty of these figures, he exclaimed, \"Glory be to Allah who teacheth man\nthat which he knoweth not!\"[FN#481] And his heart yearned to hear the youth's\nstory; so he said to him, \"Tell me thy story with her who owned these\ngazelles.\" Replied the young man: \"Hear, O my Lord, the\n\n\n\n\nTale of Aziz and Azizah.[FN#482]\n\n\nMy father was a wealthy merchant and Allah had vouchsafed him no other child\nthan myself; but I had a cousin, Az\u00edzah hight, daughter of my paternal uncle\nand we twain were brought up in one house; for her father was dead and before\nhis death, he had agreed with my father that I should marry her. So when I\nreached man's estate and she reached womanhood, they did not separate her from\nme or me from her, till at last my father spoke to my mother and said, \"This\nvery year we will draw up the contract of marriage between Aziz and Azizah.\" So\nhaving agreed upon this he betook himself to preparing provision for the\nwedding feast. Still we ceased not to sleep on the same carpet knowing naught\nof the case, albeit she was more thoughtful, more intelligent and quicker\nwitted than I. Now when my father had made an end of his preparations, and\nnaught remained for him but to write out the contract and for me but to\nconsummate the marriage with my cousin, he appointed the wedding for a certain\nFriday, after public prayers; and, going round to his intimates among the mer\nchants and others, he acquainted them with that, whilst my mother went forth\nand invited her women friends and summoned her kith and kin. When the Friday\ncame, they cleaned the saloon and prepared for the guests and washed the marble\nfloor; then they spread tapestry about our house and set out thereon what was\nneedful, after they had hung its walls with cloth of gold. Now the folk had\nagreed to come to us after the Friday prayers; so my father went out and bade\nthem make sweetmeats and sugared dishes, and there remained nothing to do but\nto draw up the contract. Then my mother sent me to the bath and sent after me a\nsuit of new clothes of the richest; and, when I came out of the Hammam, I\ndonned those habits which were so perfumed that as I went along, there exhaled\nfrom them a delicious fragrance scenting the wayside. I had designed to repair\nto the Cathedral mosque when I bethought me of one of my friends and returned\nin quest of him that he might be present at the writing of the contract; and\nquoth I to myself, \"This matter will occupy me till near the time of\ncongregational prayer.\" So I went on and entered a by street which I had never\nbefore entered, perspiring profusely from the effects of the bath and the new\nclothes on my body; and the sweat streamed down whilst the scents of my dress\nwere wafted abroad: I therefore sat me at the upper end of the street resting\non a stone bench, after spreading under me an embroidered kerchief I had with\nme. The heat oppressed me more and more, making my forehead perspire and the\ndrops trickled along my cheeks; but I could not wipe my face with my kerchief\nbecause it was dispread under me. I was about to take the skirt of my robe and\nwipe my cheeks with it, when unexpectedly there fell on me from above a white\nkerchief, softer to the touch than the morning breeze and pleasanter to the\nsight than healing to the diseased. I hent it in hand and raised my head to\nsee whence it had fallen, when my eyes met the eyes of the lady who owned these\ngazelles.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Thirteenth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth continued to\nTaj al-Muluk: \"So I raised my head to see whence this kerchief had fallen, when\nmy eyes met those of the lady who owned these gazelles. And lo! she was\nlooking out of a wicket in a lattice of brass and never saw my eyes a fairer\nthan she, and in fine my tongue faileth to describe her beauty. When she\ncaught sight of me looking at her, she put her forefinger into her mouth, then\njoined her middle finger and her witness finger[FN#483] and laid them on her\nbosom, between her breasts; after which she drew in her head and closed the\nwicket shutter and went her ways. Thereupon fire broke out in and was heaped\nupon my heart, and greater grew my smart; the one sight cost me a thousand\nsighs and I abode perplexed, for that I heard no word by her spoken, nor\nunderstood the meaning of her token. I looked at the window a second time, but\nfound it shut and waited patiently till sundown, but sensed no sound and saw no\none in view. So when I despaired of seeing her again, I rose from my place and\ntaking up the handkerchief, opened it, when there breathed from it a scent of\nmusk which caused me so great delight I became as one in Paradise.[FN#484] Then\nI spread it before me and out dropped from it a delicate little scroll;\nwhereupon I opened the paper which was perfumed with a delicious perfume, and\ntherein were writ these couplets,\n\n\"I sent to him a scroll that bore my plaint of love, * Writ in fine delicate hand; for writing proves man's skill:\nThen quoth to me my friend, 'Why is thy writing thus; * So fine, so thin drawn 'tis to read unsuitable?'\nQuoth I, 'for that I'm fine-drawn wasted, waxed thin, * Thus lovers' writ Should be, for so Love wills his will.\n\n\nAnd after casting my eyes on the beauty of the kerchief,[FN#485] I saw upon one\nof its two borders the following couplets worked in with the needle,\n\n\"His cheek down writeth (O fair fall the goodly scribe!) * Two lines on table of his face in Rayh\u00e1n-hand:[FN#486]\nO the wild marvel of the Moon when comes he forth! * And when he bends, O shame to every Willow-wand!\"\n\n\nAnd on the opposite border these two couplets were traced,\n\n\"His cheek down writeth on his cheek with ambergris on pearl * Two lines, like jet on apple li'en, the goodliest design:\nSlaughter is in those languid eyne whene'er a glance they deal, * And drunkenness in either cheek and not in any wine.\"\n\n\nWhen I read the poetry on the handkerchief the flames of love darted into my\nheart, and yearning and pining redoubled their smart. So I took the kerchief\nand the scroll and went home, knowing no means to win my wish, for that I was\nincapable of conducting love affairs and inexperienced in interpreting hints\nand tokens. Nor did I reach my home ere the night was far spent and I found\nthe daughter of my uncle sitting in tears. But as soon as she saw me she wiped\naway the drops and came up to me, and took off my walking dress and asked me\nthe reason of my absence, saying, \"All the folk, Emirs and notables and\nmerchants and others, assembled in our house; and the Kazi and the witnesses\nwere also present at the appointed time. They ate and tarried awhile sitting\nto await thine appearance for the writing of the contract; and, when they\ndespaired of thy presence, they dispersed and went their ways. \"And indeed,\"\nshe added, \"thy father raged with exceeding wrath by reason of this, and swore\nthat he would not celebrate our marriage save during the coming year, for that\nhe hath spent on these festivities great store of money.\" And she ended by\nasking, \"What hath befallen thee this day to make thee delay till now?; and why\nhast thou allowed that to happen which happened because of thine absence?\"\nAnswered I, \"O daughter of mine uncle, question me not concerning what hath\nbefallen me.\"[FN#487] Then I told her all that had passed from beginning to\nend, and showed her the handkerchief. She took the scroll and read what was\nwritten therein; and tears ran down her cheeks and she repeated these\ncinquains,\n\n\"Who saith that Love at first of free will came, * Say him: Thou liest! Love be grief and grame:\nYet shall such grame and grief entail no shame; * All annals teach us one thing and the same\nGood current coin clips coin we may not crepe!\n\n\nAn please thou, say there's pleasure in thy pain, * Find Fortune's playful gambols glad and fain:\nOr happy blessings in th' unhappy's bane, * That joy or grieve, with equal might and main:\nTwixt phrase and antiphrase I'm all a heap!\n\n\nBut he, withal, whose days are summer bright, * Whom maids e'er greet with smiling lips' delight;\nWhom spicey breezes fan in every site * And wins whate'er he wills, that happy wight\nWhite blooded coward heart should never keep!\"\n\n\nThen she asked me, \"What said she, and what signs made she to thee?\" I\nanswered, \"She uttered not a word, but put her fore finger in her mouth, then\njoining it to her middle finger, laid both fingers on her bosom and pointed to\nthe ground. Thereupon she withdrew her head and shut the wicket; and after\nthat I saw her no more. However, she took my heart with her, so I sat till sun\ndown, expecting her again to look out of the window; but she did it not; and,\nwhen I despaired of her, I rose from my seat and came home. This is my history\nand I beg thee to help me in this my sore calamity.\" Upon this she raised her\nface to me and said, \"O son of mine uncle, if thou soughtest my eye, I would\ntear it for thee from its eyelids, and perforce I cannot but aid thee to thy\ndesire and aid her also to her desire; for she is whelmed in passion for thee\neven as thou for her.\" Asked I, \"And what is the interpretation of her signs?\";\nand Azizah answered, \"As for the putting her finger in her mouth,[FN#488] it\nshowed that thou art to her as her soul to her body and that she would bite\ninto union with thee with her wisdom teeth. As for the kerchief, it betokeneth\nthat her breath of life is bound up in thee. As for the placing her two\nfingers on her bosom between her breasts, its explanation is that she saith;\n'The sight of thee may dispel my grief.' For know, O my cousin, that she loveth\nthee and she trusteth in thee. This is my interpretation of her signs and,\ncould I come and go at Will, I would bring thee and her together in shortest\ntime, and curtain you both with my skirt.\" Hearing these words I thanked her\n(continued the young merchant) for speaking thus, and said to myself, \"I will\nwait two days.\" So I abode two days in the house, neither going out nor coming\nin; neither eating nor drinking but I laid my head on my cousin's lap, whilst\nshe comforted me and said to me, \"Be resolute and of good heart and hope for\nthe best!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say,\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Fourteenth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth pursued to Taj\nal-Muluk:\u2014\"And when the two days were past she said to me, \"Be of good cheer\nand clear thine eyes of tears and take courage to dress thyself and go to her,\naccording to thy tryst.\" Then she rose and changed my clothes and perfumed me\nwith incense smoke. So I braced myself up and heartened my heart and went out\nand walked on till I came to the by-street, where I sat down on the bench\nawhile. And behold, the wicket suddenly opened and I looked up and seeing her,\nfell down in a swoon. When I revived, I called up resolution and took courage\nand gazed again at her and again became insensible to the world around me. \nThen I came to myself and looking at her, saw that she held in hand a mirror\nand a red kerchief. Now when she caught my glance, she bared her forearms and\nopened her five fingers and smote her breast with palm and digits; and after\nthis she raised her hands and, holding the mirror outside the wicket, she took\nthe red kerchief and retired into the room with it, but presently returned and\nputting out her hand with the kerchief, let it down towards the lane three\nseveral times, dipping it and raising it as often. Then she wrung it out and\nfolded it in her hands, bending down her head the while; after which she drew\nit in from the lattice and, shutting the wicket shutter, went away without a\nsingle word; nay, she left me confounded and knowing not what signified her\nsigns.[FN#489]. I tarried sitting there till supper-time and did not return\nhome till near midnight; and there I found the daughter of my uncle with her\ncheek props in her hand and her eyelids pouring forth tears; and she was\nrepeating these couplets,\n\n\"Woe's me! why should the blamer gar thee blaming bow? * How be consoled for thee that art so tender bough?\nBright being! on my vitals dost thou prey, and drive * My heart before platonic passion's[FN#490] force to bow.\nThy Turk like[FN#491] glances havoc deal in core of me, * As furbished sword thin ground at curve could never show:\nThou weigh's\" me down with weight of care, while I have not * Strength e'en to bear my shift, so weakness lays me low:\nIndeed I weep blood tears to hear the blamer say; * 'The lashes of thy lover's eyne shall pierce thee through!'\nThou hast, my prince of loveliness! an Overseer,[FN#492] * Who wrongs me, and a Groom[FN#493] who beats me down with brow.\nHe foully lies who says all loveliness belonged * To Joseph, in thy loveliness is many a Joe:\nI force myself to turn from thee, in deadly fright * Of spies; and what the force that turns away my sight!\"\n\n\nWhen I heard her verse, cark increased and care redoubled on me and I fell down\nin a corner of our house; whereupon she arose in haste and, coming to me lifted\nme up and took off my outer clothes and wiped my face with her sleeve. Then\nshe asked me what had befallen me, and I described all that had happened from\nher. Quoth she, \"O my cousin, as for her sign to thee with her palm and five\nfingers its interpretation is, Return after five days; and the putting forth of\nher head out of the window, and her gestures with the mirror and the letting\ndown and raising up and wringing out of the red kerchief,[FN#494] signify, Sit\nin the dyer's shop till my messenger come to thee.\" When I heard her words fire\nflamed up in my heart and I exclaimed, \"O daughter of my uncle, thou sayest\nsooth in this thine interpretation; for I saw in the street the shop of a Jew\ndyer.\" Then I wept, and she said, \"Be of good cheer and strong heart: of a\ntruth others are occupied with love for years and endure with constancy the\nardour of passion, whilst thou hast but a week to wait; why then this\nimpatience?\" Thereupon she went on cheering me with comfortable talk and\nbrought me food: so I took a mouthful and tried to eat but could not; and I\nabstained from meat and drink and estranged myself from the solace of sleep,\ntill my colour waxed yellow and I lost my good looks; for I had never been in\nlove before nor had I ever savoured the ardour of passion save this time. So I\nfell sick and my cousin also sickened on my account; but she would relate to\nme, by way of consolation, stories of love and lovers every night till I fell\nasleep; and when ever I awoke, I found her wakeful for my sake with tears\nrunning down her cheeks. This ceased not till the five days were past, when my\ncousin rose and warmed some water and bathed me with it. Then she dressed me\nin my best and said to me, \"Repair to her and Allah fulfil thy wish and bring\nthee to thy desire of thy beloved!\" So I went out and ceased not walking on\ntill I came to the upper end of the by street. As it was the Sabbath[FN#495] I\nfound the dyer's shop locked and sat before it, till I heard the call to mid-afternoon \nprayer. Then the sun yellowed and the Mu'ezzins[FN#496] chanted the\ncall to sundown prayer and the night came; but I saw no sign nor heard one\nword, nor knew any news of her. So I feared for my life sitting there alone;\nand at last I arose and walked home reeling like a drunken man. When I reached\nthe house, I found my cousin Azizah standing, with one hand grasping a peg\ndriven into the wall and the other on her breast; and she was sighing and\ngroaning and repeating these couplets,\n\n\"The longing of an Arab lass forlorn of kith and kin * (Who to Hijazian Willow-wand and myrtle[FN#497] doth incline,\nAnd who, when meeting caravan, shall with love-lowe set light * To bivouac fire, and bang for conk her tears of pain and pine)\nExceeds not mine for him nor more devotion shows, but he * Seeing my heart is wholly his spurns love as sin indign.\"\n\n\nNow when she had finished her verse she turned to me and, seeing me, wiped away\nher tears and my tears with her sleeve. Then she smiled in my face and said,\n\"O my cousin, Allah grant thee enjoyment of that which He hath given thee! Why\ndidst thou not pass the night by the side of thy beloved and why hast thou not\nfulfilled thy desire of her?\" When I heard her words, I gave her a kick in the\nbreast and she fell down in the saloon and her brow struck upon the edge of the\nraised pavement and hit against a wooden peg therein. I looked at her and saw\nthat her forehead was cut open and the blood running,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Fifteenth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk: \"Now when I kicked the daughter of my uncle in the\nbreast she fell on the edge of the raised pavement in the saloon and her brow\nstruck upon a wooden peg. Thereby her forehead was cut open and the blood ran\ndown, but she was silent and did not utter a single sound.[FN#498] Presently\nshe rose up, and made some tinder of rags, then staunching with it the bleeding\nwound, bound her forehead with a bandage; after which she wiped up the blood\nthat had fallen on the carpet, and it was as if nothing had been. Presently\nshe came up to me and smiling in my face, said with gentle voice, \"By Allah, O\nson of my uncle, I spake not these words to mock at thee or at her! But I was\ntroubled with an ache in my head and was minded to be blooded, but now thou\nhast eased my head and lightened my brow; so tell me what hath befallen thee to\nday.\" Thereupon I told her all that had passed between me and her that day; and\nshe wept as she heard my words and said, \"O son of my uncle, rejoice at the\ngood tidings of thy desire being fulfilled and thine aim being attained. Of a\ntruth this is a sign of acceptance; for that she stayed away only because she\nwisheth to try thee and know if thou be patient or not, and sincere in thy love\nfor her or otherwise. To-morrow, repair to her at the old place and see what\nsign she maketh to thee; for indeed thy gladness is near and the end of thy\nsadness is at hand.\" And she went on to comfort me; but my cark and care ceased\nnot to increase on me. Presently she brought me food which I kicked away with\nmy foot so that the contents of every saucer were scattered in all directions,\nand I said, \"Every lover is a madman; he inclineth not to food neither enjoyeth\nhe sleep.\" And my cousin Azizah rejoined, \"By Allah, O son of my uncle, these\nbe in very deed the signs of love!\" And the tears streamed down her cheeks\nwhenas she gathered the fragments of the saucers and wiped up the food; then\nshe took seat and talked to me, whilst I prayed Allah to hasten the dawn. At\nlast, when morning arose with its sheen and shine, I went out to seek her and\nhastening to her by street sat down on that bench, when lo! the wicket opened\nand she put out her head laughing. Then she disappeared within and returned\nwith a mirror, a bag; and a pot full of green plants and she held in hand a\nlamp. The first thing she did was to take the mirror and, putting it into the\nbag, tie it up and throw it back into the room; then she let down her hair over\nher face and set the lamp on the pot of flowers during the twinkling of an eye;\nthen she took up all the things and went away shutting the window without\nsaying a word. My heart was riven by this state of the case, and by her secret\nsignals, her mysterious secrets and her utter silence; and thereby my longing\nwaxed more violent and my passion and distraction redoubled on me. So I\nretraced my steps, tearful-eyed and heavy hearted, and returned home, where I\nfound the daughter of my uncle sitting with her face to the wall; for her heart\nwas burning with grief and galling jealousy; albeit her affection forbade her\nto acquaint me with what she suffered of passion and pining when she saw the\nexcess of my longing and distraction. Then I looked at her and saw on her head\ntwo bandages, one on account of the accident to her forehead and the other over\nher eye in consequence of the pain she endured for stress of weeping; and she\nwas in miserable plight shedding tears and repeating these couplets,\n\n\"I number nights; indeed I count night after night; * Yet lived I long ere learnt so sore accompt to see, ah!\nDear friend, I compass not what Allah pleased to doom * For Layl\u00e1, nor what Allah destined for me, ah!\nTo other giving her and unto me her love, * What loss but Layla's loss would He I ever dree, ah!\"\n\n\nAnd when she had finished her reciting, she looked towards me and seeing me\nthrough her tears, wiped them away and came up to me hastily, but could not\nspeak for excess of love. So she remained silent for some while and then said,\n\"O my cousin, tell me what befel thee with her this time.\" I told her all that\nhad passed and she said, \"Be patient, for the time of thy union is come and\nthou hast attained the object of thy hopes. As for her signal to thee with the\nmirror which she put in the bag, it said to thee, When the sun is set; and the\nletting down of her hair over her face signified, When night is near and\nletteth fall the blackness of the dark and hath starkened the daylight, come\nhither. As for her gesture with the pot of green plants it meant, When thou\ncomest, enter the flower-garden which is behind the street; and as for her sign\nwith the lamp it denoted, When thou enterest the flower-garden walk down it and\nmake for the place where thou seest the lamp shining; and seat thyself beneath\nit and await me; for the love of thee is killing me.\" When I heard these words\nfrom my cousin, I cried out from excess of passion and said, \"How long wilt\nthou promise me and I go to her, but get not my will nor find any true sense in\nthine interpreting.\" Upon this she laughed and replied, \"It remaineth for thee\nbut to have patience during the rest of this day till the light darken and the\nnight starker and thou shalt enjoy union and accomplish thy hopes; and indeed\nall my words be without leasing.\" Then she repeated these two couplets,\n\n\"Let days their folds and plies deploy, * And shun the house that deals annoy!\nFull oft when joy seems farthest far * Thou nighmost art to hour of joy.\"'\n\n\nThen she drew near to me and began to comfort me with soothing speech, but\ndared not bring me aught of food, fearing lest I be angry with her and hoping I\nmight incline to her; so when coming to me she only took off my upper garment\nand said to me, \"Sit O my cousin, that I may divert thee with talk till the end\nof the day and, Almighty Allah willing, as soon as it is night thou shalt be\nwith thy beloved.\" But I paid no heed to her and ceased not looking for the\napproach of darkness, saying, \"O Lord, hasten the coming of the night!\" And\nwhen night set in, the daughter of my uncle wept with sore weeping and gave me\na crumb of pure musk, and said to me, \"O my cousin, put this crumb in thy\nmouth, and when thou hast won union with thy beloved and hast taken thy will of\nher and she hath granted thee thy desire, repeat to her this couplet,\n\n'Ho, lovers all! by Allah say me sooth * What shall he do when love sore\nvexeth youth?'\"[FN#499]\n\n\nAnd she kissed me and swore me not to repeat this couplet till I should be\nabout to leave my lover and I said, \"Hearing is obeying!\" And when it was\nsupper-tide I went out and ceased not walking on till I came to the flower\ngarden whose door I found open. So I entered and, seeing a light in the\ndistance, made towards it and reaching it, came to a great pavilion vaulted\nover with a dome of ivory and ebony, and the lamp hung from the midst of the\ndome. The floor was spread with silken carpets embroidered in gold and silver,\nand under the lamp stood a great candle, burning in a candelabrum of gold. In\nmid pavilion was a fountain adorned with all manner of figures;[FN#500] and by\nits side stood a table covered with a silken napkin, and on its edge a great\nporcelain bottle full of wine, with a cup of crystal inlaid with gold. Near\nall these was a large tray of silver covered over, and when I uncovered it I\nfound therein fruits of every kind, figs and pomegranates, grapes and oranges,\ncitrons and shaddocks[FN#501] disposed amongst an infinite variety of sweet\nscented flowers, such as rose, jasmine, myrtle, eglantine, narcissus and all\nsorts of sweet smelling herbs. I was charmed with the place and I joyed with\nexceeding joy, albeit I found not there a living soul and my grief and anxiety\nceased from me.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Sixteenth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk: \"I was charmed with the place and joyed with great\njoy albeit there I found not a living soul of Almighty Allah's creatures, and\nsaw nor slave nor handmaid to oversee these things or to watch and ward these\nproperties. So I sat down in the pavilion to await the coming of the beloved\nof my heart; but the first hour of the night passed by, and the second hour,\nand the third hour, and still she came not. Then hunger grew sore upon me, for\nthat it was long since I had tasted food by reason of the violence of my love:\nbut when I found the place even as my cousin had told me, and saw the truth of\nher in terpretation of my beloved's signs, my mind was set at rest and I felt\nthe pangs of hunger; moreover, the odour of the viands on the table excited me\nto eat. So making sure of attaining my desire, and being famished for food I\nwent up to the table and raised the cover and found in the middle a china dish\ncontaining four chickens reddened with roasting and seasoned with spices, round\nthe which were four saucers, one containing sweetmeats, another conserve of\npomegranate seeds, a third almond pastry[FN#502] and a fourth honey fritters;\nand the contents of these saucers were part sweet and part sour. So I ate of\nthe fritters and a piece of meat, then went on to the almond cakes and ate what\nI could; after which I fell upon the sweetmeats, whereof I swallowed a spoonful\nor two or three or four, ending with part of a chicken and a mouthful of\nsomething beside. Upon this my stomach became full and my joints loose and I\nwaxed too drowsy to keep awake; so I laid my head on a cushion, after having\nwashed my hands, and sleep over came me; I knew not what happened to me after\nthis, and I awoke not till the sun's heat scorched me, for that I had never\nonce tasted sleep for days past. When I awoke I found on my stomach a piece of\nsalt and a bit of charcoal; so I stood up and shook my clothes and turned to\nlook right and left, but could see no one; and discovered that I had been\nsleeping on the marble pavement without bedding beneath me. I was perplexed\nthereat and afflicted with great affliction; the tears ran down my cheeks and I\nmourned for myself. Then I returned home, and when I entered, I found my\ncousin beating her hand on her bosom and weeping tears like rain shedding\nclouds; and she versified with these couplets,\n\n\"Blows from my lover's land a Zephyr cooly sweet, * And with its every breath makes olden love new glow:\nO Zephyr of the morning hour, come show to us * Each lover hath his lot, his share of joy and woe:\nCould I but win one dearest wish, we had embraced * With what embrace and clip of breast fond lovers know.\nAllah forbids, while bides unseen my cousin's face, * All joys the World can give or hand of Time bestow.\nWould Heaven I knew his heart were like this heart of me, * Melted by passion-flame and charged with longing owe.\"\n\n\nWhen she saw me, she rose in haste and wiped away her tears and addressed me\nwith her soft speech, saying, \"O son of my uncle, verily Allah hath been\ngracious to thee in thy love, for that she whom thou lovest loveth thee, whilst\nI pass my time in weeping and bewailing my severance from thee who blamest me\nand chidest me; but may Allah not punish thee for my sake!\" Thereupon she\nsmiled in my face a smile of reproach and caressed me; then taking off my\nwalking clothes, she spread them out and said, \"By Allah, this is not the scent\nof one who hath enjoyed his lover! So tell me what hath befallen thee, O my\ncousin.\" I told her all that had passed, and she smiled again a smile of\nreproach and said, \"Verily, my heart is full of pain; but may he not live who\nwould hurt thy heart! Indeed, this woman maketh herself inordinately dear and\ndifficult to thee, and by Allah, O son of my uncle, I fear for thee from\nher.[FN#503] Know, O my cousin, that the meaning of the salt is thou west\ndrowned in sleep like insipid food, disgustful to the taste; and it is as\nthough she said to thee; 'It behoveth thou be salted lest the stomach eject\nthee; for thou professes to be of the lovers noble and true; but sleep is\nunlawful and to a lover undue; therefore is thy love but a lie.' However, it is\nher love for thee that lieth; for she saw thee asleep yet aroused thee not and\nwere her love for thee true, she had indeed awoken thee. As for the charcoal,\nit means 'Allah blacken thy face'[FN#504] for thou makest a lying presence of\nlove, whereas thou art naught but a child and hast no object in life other than\neating and drinking and sleeping! such is the interpretation of her signs, and\nmay Allah Almighty deliver thee from her!\" When I heard my cousin's words, I\nbeat my hand upon my breast and cried out, \"By Allah, this is the very truth,\nfor I slept and lovers sleep not! Indeed I have sinned against myself, for\nwhat could have wrought me more hurt than eating and sleeping? Now what shall\nI do?\" Then I wept sore and said to the daughter of my uncle, \"Tell me how to\nact and have pity on me, so may Allah have pity on thee: else I shall die.\" As\nmy cousin loved me with very great love,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Seventeenth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued his tale to Taj al-Muluk: \"Thereupon quoth I to the daughter of my\nuncle, \"Tell me what to do and have pity on me, so may Allah have pity on\nthee!\" As the daughter of my uncle loved me with great love, she replied, \"On\nmy head and eyes! But, O my cousin, I repeat what I have told thee oftentimes,\nif I could go in and out at will, I would at once bring you two together and\ncover you both with my skirt: nor would I do this but hoping to win thy favour.\nInshallah, I will do my utmost endeavour to unite you; but hear my words and\ndo my bidding. Go thou to the very same place and sit down where thou sattest\nbefore and at supper-tide look thou eat not, for eating induceth sleep; and\nhave a care-thou slumber not, for she will not come to thee till a fourth part\nof the night be passed. And the Almighty avert her mischief from thee!\" Now\nwhen I heard these words I rejoiced and besought Allah to hasten the night;\nand, as soon as it was dark, I was minded to go, and my cousin said to me,\n\"When thou shalt have met her, repeat to her the couplet I taught thee before,\nat the time of thy leave taking.\" Replied I, \"On my head and eyes!\" and went\nout and repaired to the garden, where I found all made ready in the same state\nas on the previous night, with every requisite of meat and drink, dried fruits,\nsweet scented flowers and so forth. I went up into the pavilion and smelt the\nodour of the viands and my spirit lusted after them; but I possessed my soul in\npatience for a while, till at last I could no longer withstand temptation. So\nI arose from my seat and went up to the table and, raising its cover, found a\ndish of fowls, surrounded by four saucers containing four several meats. I ate\na mouthful of each kind and as much as I would of the sweetmeats and a piece of\nmeat: then I drank from the saucer a sauce yellowed with saffron[FN#505] and as\nit pleased me, I supped it up by the spoonful till I was satisfied and my\nstomach was full. Upon this, my eyelids drooped; so I took a cushion and set it\nunder my head, saying, \"Haply I can recline upon it without going to sleep.\"\nThen I closed my eyes and slept, nor did I wake till the sun had risen, when I\nfound on my stomach a cube of bone,[FN#506] a single tip-cat stick,[FN#507] the\nstone of a green date[FN#508] and a carob pod. There was no furniture nor\naught else in the place, and it was as if there had been nothing there\nyesterday. So I rose and shaking all these things off me, fared forth in fury;\nand, going home, found my cousin groaning and versifying with these couplets,\n\n\"A wasted body, heart enpierced to core, * And tears that down my poor cheeks pour and pour:\nAnd lover cure of access; but, but still * Naught save what's fair can come from fairest flow'r:\nO cousin mine thou fill'st my soul with pate, * And from these tears mine eyelids ache full sore!\"\n\n\nI chid the daughter of my uncle and abused her, whereat she wept; then, wiping\naway her tears, she came up to me and kissed me and began pressing me to her\nbosom, whilst I held back from her blaming myself. Then said she to me, \"O my\ncousin, it seemeth thou sleptest again this night?\" Replied I, \"Yes; and when I\nawoke, I found on my stomach a cube of bone, a single tip-cat stick, a stone of\na green date and a carob pod, and I know not why she did this.\" Then I wept and\nwent up to her and said, \"Expound to me her meaning in so doing and tell me how\nshall I act and aid me in my sore strait.\" She answered, \"On my head and eyes! \nBy the single tip cat stick and the cube of bone which she placed upon thy\nstomach she saith to thee 'Thy body is present but thy heart is absent'; and\nshe meaneth, 'Love is not thus: so do not reckon thyself among lovers.' As for\nthe date stone, it is as if she said to thee, 'An thou wert in love thy heart\nwould be burning with passion and thou wouldst not taste the delight of sleep;\nfor the sweet of love is like a green date[FN#509] which kindleth a coal of\nfire in the vitals.' As for the carob pod[FN#510] it signifieth to thee, 'The\nlover's heart is wearied'; and thereby she saith, 'Be patient under our\nseparation with the patience of Job.' \" When I heard this interpretation, fires\ndarted into my vitals like a dart and grief redoubled upon my heart and I cried\nout, saying, \"Allah decreed sleep to me for my ill fortune.\" Then I said to\nher, \"O my cousin, by my life, devise me some device whereby I may win my will\nof her!\" She wept and answered, \"O Aziz, O son of my uncle, verily my heart is\nfull of sad thought which I cannot speak: but go thou again to night to the\nsame place and beware thou sleep not, and thou shalt surely attain thy desire. \nThis is my counsel and peace be with thee!\" Quoth I, \"If Allah please I will\nnot sleep, but will do as thou biddest me.\" Then my cousin rose, and brought me\nfood, saying, \"Eat now what may suffice thee, that nothing may divert thy\nheart.\" So I ate my fill and, when night came, my cousin rose and bringing me a\nsumptuous suit of clothes clad me therein. Then she made me swear I would\nrepeat to my lover the verse aforesaid and bade me beware of sleeping. So I\nleft her and repaired to the garden and went up into that same pavilion where I\noccupied myself in holding my eyelids open with my fingers and nodding my head\nas the night darkened on me.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Eighteenth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al Muluk: \"So I repaired to the garden and went up into that\nsame pavilion and occupied myself in gazing upon the flower beds and in holding\nmy eyelids open with my fingers and nodding my head as the night darkened on\nme. And presently I grew hungry with watching and the smell of the meats being\nwafted towards me, my appetite increased: so I went up to the table and took\noff the cover and ate a mouthful of every dish and a bit of meat; after which I\nturned to the flagon of wine, saying to myself, I will drink one cup. I drank\nit, and then I drank a second and a third, till I had drunk full ten, when the\ncool air smote me and I fell to the earth like a felled man. I ceased not to\nlie thus till day arose, when I awoke and found myself out side the garden, and\non my stomach were a butcher's knife and a dram-weight of iron.[FN#511] \nThereat I trembled and, taking them with me, went home, where I found my cousin\nsaying, \"Verily, I am in this house wretched and sorrowful, having no helper\nbut weeping.\" Now when I entered, I fell down at full length and throwing the\nknife and the dram weight from my hand, I fainted clean away. As soon as I\ncame to myself, I told her what had befallen me and said, Indeed, I shall never\nenjoy my desire.\" But when she saw my tears and my passion, they redoubled her\ndistress on my account, and she cried, \"Verily, I am helpless! I warned thee\nagainst sleeping; but thou wouldst not hearken to my warning, nor did my words\nprofit thee aught.\" I rejoined, \"By Allah, I conjure thee to explain to me the\nmeaning of the knife and the iron dram-weight.\" \"By the dram weight,\" replied\nmy cousin, \"she alludeth to her right eye,[FN#512] and she sweareth by it and\nsaith, 'By the Lord of all creatures and by my right eye! if thou come here\nagain and sleep, I will cut thy throat with this very knife.' And indeed I fear\nfor thee, O my cousin, from her malice; my heart is full of anguish for thee\nand I cannot speak. Nevertheless, if thou can be sure of thyself not to sleep\nwhen thou returnest to her, return to her and beware of sleeping and thou shalt\nattain thy desire; but if when returning to her thou wilt sleep, as is thy\nwont, she will surely slaughter thee.\" Asked I, \"What shall I do, O daughter of\nmy uncle: I beg thee, by Allah, to help me in this my calamity.\" Answered she,\n\"On my head and eyes! if thou wilt hearken to my words and do my bidding, thou\nshalt have thy will.\" Quoth I, \"I will indeed hearken to thy words and do thy\nbidding;\" and quoth she, \"When it is time for thee to go, I will tell thee.\"\nThen she pressed me to her bosom and laying me on the bed, shampoo'd my feet,\ntill drowsiness overcame me and I was drowned in sleep, then she took a fan and\nseated herself at my head with the fan in her hand and she was weeping till her\nclothes were wet with tears. Now when she saw that I was awake, she wiped away\nthe drops and fetched me some food and set it before me. I refused it, but she\nsaid to me, \"Did I not tell thee that thou must do my bidding? Eat!\" So I ate\nand thwarted her not and she proceeded to put the food into my mouth and I to\nmasticate it, till I was full. Then she made me drink jujube sherbet[FN#513]\nand sugar and washed my hands and dried them with a kerchief; after which she\nsprinkled me with rose-water, and I sat with her awhile in the best of spirits.\nWhen the darkness had closed in, she dressed me and said to me, \"O son of my\nuncle, watch through the whole night and sleep not; for she will not come to\nthee this tide till the last of the dark hours and, Allah willing, thou shalt\nbe at one with her this night; but forget not my charge.\" Then, she wept, and\nmy heart was pained for her by reason of her over much weeping, and I asked,\n\"What is the charge thou gayest me?\" She answered, \"When thou takest leave of\nher repeat to her the verse before mentioned.\" So, full of joy I left her and\nrepairing to the garden, went up into the pavilion where, being satiated with\nfood, I sat down and watched till a fourth part of the dark hours was past. \nThat night seemed longsome to me as it were a year: but I remained awake till\nit was three quarters spent and the cocks crew and I was famished for long\nwatching. Accordingly I went up to the table and ate my fill, whereupon my\nhead grew heavy and I wanted to sleep, when behold, a light appeared making\ntowards me from afar. I sprang up and washed my hands and mouth and roused\nmyself; and before long she came with ten damsels, in whose midst she was like\nthe full moon among the stars. She was clad in a dress of green satin purfled\nwith red gold, and she was as saith the poet,\n\n\"She lords it o'er our hearts in grass green gown, * With buttons[FN#514] loose and locks long flowing down.\nQuoth I, 'What is thy name?' Quoth she, 'I'm she, * Who burns the lover-heart live coals upon:'\nI made my plaint to her of loving lowe; * Laughed she, 'To stone thou moanest useless moan!'\nQuoth I, 'An be of hardest stone thy heart, * Allah drew sweetest spring from hardest stone.' \"\n\n\nWhen she saw me she laughed and said, \"How is it that thou art awake and that\nsleep overcame thee not? Forasmuch as thou hast watched through the night, I\nknow that thou art a lover; for night watching is the mark of lovers displaying\nbrave endurance of their desires.\" Then she turned to her women and signed to\nthem; and they went away from her, whereupon she came up to me and strained me\nto her breast and kissed me, whilst I kissed her, and she sucked my upper lip\nwhilst I sucked her lower lip. I put my hand to her waist and pressed it and\nwe came not to the ground save at the same moment. Then she undid her\npetticoat-trousers which slipped down to her anklets, and we fell to clasping\nand embracing and toying and speaking softly and biting and inter twining of\nlegs and going round about the Holy House and the corners thereof,[FN#515] till\nher joints became relaxed for love delight and she swooned away. I entered the\nsanctuary, and indeed that night was a joy to the sprite and a solace to the\nsight even as saith the poet,\n\n\"Sweetest of nights the world can show to me, that night * When cups went round and round as fed by ceaseless spring:\nThere utter severance made I 'twixt mine eyes and sleep, * And joined, re joined mine ear drop with the anklet ring.\"[FN#516]\n\n\nWe lay together in close embrace till the morning when I would have gone away,\nbut she stopped me and said, \"Stay till I tell thee something\"\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Nineteenth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued his recital to Taj al Muluk: \"When I would have gone away, she\nstopped me and said, \"Stay, till I tell thee something and charge thee with a\ncharge.\" So I stayed whilst she unfolded a kerchief and drew out this piece of\nlinen and spread it open before me. I found worked on it these two figures of\ngazelles and admired it with great admiration. Then I took the piece of linen\nand went away, joyful, after we had agreed that I should visit her every night\nin the garden; but in my joy I forgot to repeat to her the verse my cousin had\ntaught me. For when giving me the piece of linen with the gazelles she had\nsaid to me, \"Keep this carefully, as it is my sister's handiwork.\" I asked her,\n\"What is thy sister's name?\"; and she answered, \"Her name is N\u00far al-Hud\u00e1.\" When\nI went to my cousin, I found her lying down; but as soon as she saw me, she\nrose, with the tears running from her eyes, and came up to me, and kissed me on\nthe breast and said, \"Didst thou do as I enjoined thee? and repeat the verse\nto her?\" \"I forgot it,\" replied I; \"and nothing drove it out of my mind but\nthese two figured gazelles.\" And I threw the piece of linen on the floor before\nher. She rose and sat down again, but was unable to contain herself for\nimpatience, and her eyes ran over with tears, whilst she repeated these two\ncouplets,\n\n\"O thou who seekest parting, softly fare! * Let not the Pair delude with cunning art:\nPare softly, Fortune's nature is to 'guile, * And end of every meeting is to part.\"\n\n\nAnd when she ended her recitation she said, \"O my cousin, give me this piece of\nlinen.\" So I gave it to her and she took it and unfolding it, saw what was\ntherein. When the tryst time came for my going to my lover, the daughter of my\nuncle said to me, \"Go, and peace attend thee; and when thou art about to leave\nher, recite to her the verse I taught thee long ago and which thou didst\nforget.\" Quoth I, \"Tell it me again\"; and she repeated it. Then I went to the\ngarden and entered the pavilion, where I found the young lad, awaiting me. \nWhen she saw me, she rose and kissed me and made me sit in her lap; and we ate\nand drank and did our desire as before. In the morning, I repeated to her my\ncousin's verse which was this,\n\n\"Ho, lovers all! by Allah say me sooth * What shall he do when Love sor' vexeth youth?\"\n\n\nWhen she heard this, her eyes filled with tears and she answered and said,\n\n\"Strive he to cure his case, to hide the truth, * Patiently humble self and sue for rush!\"\n\n\nI committed it to memory and returned home rejoicing at having done my cousin's\nbidding. When I entered the house I found her lying down and my mother at her\nhead weeping over her case; but as soon as I went in to her my mother said to\nme, \"A foul plague on such a cousin! How couldst thou leave the daughter of\nthy uncle ailing and not ask what ailed her?\" But when my cousin saw me she\nraised her head and sat up and asked me, \"O Aziz, didst thou repeat to her the\ncouplet I taught thee?\" I answered, \"Yes, and when she heard it she wept and\nrecited in answer another couplet which I committed to memory.\" Quoth my\ncousin, \"Tell it me.\" I did so; and when she heard it she wept with much\nweeping and repeated the following verses,\n\n'How shall youth cure the care his life undo'th, * And every day his heart in pieces hew'th?\nIn sooth he would be patient, but he findeth * Naught save a heart which love with pains imbu'th.\"\n\n\nThen added my cousin, \"When thou goest to her as of wont, repeat to her also\nthese two couplets which thou hast heard.\" I replied, \"Hearkening and\nobedience!\" and I went at the wonted time, to the garden, where there passed\nbetween my mistress and myself what tongue faileth to describe. When I was\nabout to leave her, I repeated to her those two couplets of my cousin's;\nwhereupon the tears streamed from her eyes and she replied,\n\n\"If he of patience fail the truth to hide * For him no cure save Death my vision view'th!\"\n\n\nI committed them to memory and returned home, and when I went in to my cousin I\nfound her fallen into a fit and my mother sitting at her head. When she heard\nmy voice, she opened her eyes and asked, \"O Aziz! didst thou repeat the two\ncouplets to her?\" whereto I answered, \"Yes; but she wept on hearing them; and\nshe replied with this couplet beginning, If he of patience fail, to the end.\"\nAnd I repeated it; whereupon my cousin swooned again, and when she came to\nherself, she recited these two couplets,\n\n\"Hearkening, obeying, with my dying mouth * I greet who joy of union ne'er allow'th:\nPair fall all happy loves, and fair befal * The hapless lover dying in his drowth!\"\n\n\nAgain when it was night, I repaired to the garden as usual where I found the\nyoung lady awaiting me. We sat down and ate and drank, after which we did all\nwe wanted and slept till the morning; and, as I was going away, I repeated to\nher the saying of my cousin. When she heard the couplet she cried out with a\nloud cry and was greatly moved and exclaimed, \"Aw\u00e1h! Aw\u00e1h![FN#517] By Allah,\nshe who spake these lines is dead!\" Then she wept and said to me, \"Woe to thee!\nHow is she who spoke thus related to thee?\" Replied I, \"She is the daughter of\nmy father's brother.\" \"Thou liest,\" rejoined she; \"by Allah, were she thy\ncousin, thou hadst borne her the same love as she bore thee! It is thou who\nhast slain her and may the Almighty kill thee as thou killedst her! By Allah,\nhadst thou told me thou hadst a cousin, I would not have admitted thee to my\nfavours!\" Quoth I, \"Verily it was she who interpreted to me the signs thou\nmadest and it was she who taught me how to come to thee and how I should deal\nwith thee; and, but for her, I should never have been united to thee.\" She then\nasked me, \"Did thy cousin then know of us?\"; and I answered, \"Yes;\" whereupon\nshe exclaimed, \"Allah give thee sorrow of thy youth, even as thou hast sorrowed\nher youth!\" Then she cried to me, \"Go now and see after her.\" So I went away\ntroubled at heart, and ceased not walking till I reached our street, when I\nheard sounds of wailing, and asking about it, was answered, \"Azizah, we found\nher dead behind the door.\" I entered the house, and when my mother saw me, she\nsaid, \"Her death lieth heavy on thy neck and may Allah not acquit thee of her\nblood!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted\nsay.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Twentieth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk: \"So I entered the house and when my mother saw me\nshe said, \"Her death lieth heavy on thy neck and may Allah not acquit thee of\nher blood! A plague on such a cousin!\" Then came my father, and we laid her\nout and get ready her bier and buried her; and we had recitations of the whole\nKoran over her tomb and we abode by her grave three days, after which we\nreturned to our home, and I grieving for her grievously. Then my mother came\nto me and said, \"I would fain know what thou didst to her, to break her\nheart[FN#518] for, O my son, I questioned her at all times of the cause of her\ncomplaint, but she would tell me nothing nor let me know aught of it. So Allah\nupon thee, tell me what thou hast been doing to her that she died.\" Quoth I, \"I\ndid nothing.\" Quoth my mother, \"Allah avenge her on thee! Verily she told me\nnaught, but kept her secret till she died of her love-longings for thee; but\nwhen she died I was with her and she opened her eyes and said to me; 'O wife of\nmy uncle may Allah hold thy son guiltless of my blood and punish him not for\nwhat he hath done by me! And now Allah transporteth me from the house of the\nworld which is perishable to the house of the other world which is eternal.'\nSaid I, 'O my daughter, Allah preserve thee and preserve thy youth!' And as I\nquestioned her of the cause of her illness, she made me no answer; but she\nsmiled and said, 'O wife of my uncle, bid thy son, whenever he would go whither\nhe goeth every day, repeat these two saws at his going away; 'Faith is fair! \nUnfaith is foul!' For this is of my tender affection to him, that I am\nsolicitous concerning him during my lifetime and after my death.' Then she gave\nme somewhat for thee and sware me that I would not give it until I see thee\nweeping for her and lamenting her death. The thing is with me; and, when I have\nseen thy case as I have said, I will make it over to thee.\" \"Show it me,\" cried\nI: but she would not. Then I gave myself up to love delights and thought no\nmore of my cousin's death: for my mind was unsettled and fain would I have been\nwith my lover the livelong day and night.[FN#519] So hardly had I perceived\nthe darkness fall when I betook myself to the garden, where I found the young\nlady sitting on coals of fire for much impatience. As soon as she was sure\nthat she saw me, she ran to me and throwing her arms about my neck, enquired of\nthe daughter of my uncle. I replied, \"Sooth to say she is dead, and we have\ncaused Zikr- litanies and recitations of the Koran to be performed for her; and\nit is now four nights and this be the fifth since she is gone.\" When she heard\nthat, she shrieked aloud and wept and said, \"Did I not tell thee that thou hast\nslain her? Hadst thou let me know of her before her death, I would have\nrequited her the kindness she did me, in that she served me and united thee to\nme; for without her, we had never foregathered, we twain, and I fear lest some\ncalamity befal thee because of thy sin against her.\" Quoth I, \"She acquitted me\nof offence ere she died;\" and I repeated to her what my mother had told me. \nQuoth she, \"Allah upon thee! when thou returnest to thy mother, learn what\nthing she keepeth for thee.\" I rejoined, \"My mother also said to me; 'Before\nthe daughter of thy uncle died, she laid a charge upon me, saying, Whenever thy\nson would go whither he is wont to go, teach him these two saws, 'Faith is\nfair; Unfaith is foul!' \" When my lady heard this she exclaimed, \"The mercy of\nAlmighty Allah be upon her! Indeed, she hath delivered thee from me, for I\nminded to do thee a mischief, but now I will not harm thee nor trouble thee.\" I\nwondered at this and asked her, \"What then west thou minded to do with me in\ntime past and we two being in bond of love?\" Answered she, \"Thou art infatuated\nwith me; for thou art young in life and a raw laddie; thy heart is void of\nguile and thou weetest not our malice and deceit. Were she yet alive, she\nwould protect thee; for she is the cause of thy preservation and she hath\ndelivered thee from destruction. And now I charge thee speak not with any\nwoman, neither accost one of our sex, be she young or be she old; and again I\nsay Beware! for thou art simple and raw and knowest not the wiles of women and\ntheir malice, and she who interpreted the signs to thee is dead. And indeed I\nfear for thee, lest thou fall into some disgrace and find none to deliver thee\nfrom it, now that the daughter of thy uncle is no more.\"\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Twenty-first Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk: \"Then the young lady said to me, \"I fear for thee\nlest thou fall into some disgrace and find none to deliver thee from it. Alas\nfor thy cousin and ah, the pity of her! Would I had known her before her\ndeath, that I might have requited by waiting upon her the fair service she did\nme. The mercy of Allah Almighty be upon her, for she kept her secret and\nrevealed not what she suffered, and but for her thou hadst never foregathered\nwith me; no, never! But there is one thing I desire of thee.\" I asked, \"What\nis it?\"; and she answered, \"It is that thou bring me to her grave, that I may\nvisit her in the tomb wherein she is and write some couplets thereon.\" I\nrejoined, \"To morrow, if Allah please!\"[FN#520] I slept with her that night,\nand she ceased not saying after every hour, \"Would thou hadst told me of thy\ncousin before her death!\" And I asked her, \"What is the meaning of the two saws\nshe taught me? 'Faith is fair! Unfaith is foul!'\" But she made no answer. As\nsoon as it was day she rose and, taking a purse of gold pieces, said to me,\n\"Come, show me her tomb, that I may visit it and grave some verses thereon and\nbuild a dome over it and commend her to Allah's mercy and bestow these dinars\nin alms for her soul.\" I replied, \"To hear is to obey!\"; and walked on before\nher, whilst she followed me, giving alms as she went and saying to all upon\nwhom she lavisht bounty, \"This is an alms for the soul of Azizah, who kept her\ncounsel till she drank the cup of death and never told the secret of her love.\"\nAnd she stinted not thus to give alms and say, \"for Azizah's soul,\" till the\npurse was empty and we came to the grave. And when she looked at the tomb, she\nwept and threw herself on it; then, pulling out a chisel of steel and a light\nhammer, she graved therewith upon the head stone in fine small characters these\ncouplets,\n\n\"I past by a broken tomb amid a garth right sheen, * Whereon seven blooms of Nu'uman[FN#521] glowed with cramoisie;\nQuoth I, 'Who sleepeth in this tomb?' Quoth answering Earth * 'Before a lover Hades-tombed[FN#522] bend reverently!'\nQuoth I, 'May Allah help thee, O thou slain of Love, * And grant thee home in Heaven and Paradise height to see!'\nHapless are lovers all e'en tombed in their tombs, * Where amid living folk the dust weighs heavily!\nPain would I plant a garden blooming round thy grave, * And water every flower with tear drops flowing free!\"\n\n\nThen she turned away in tears and I with her and returned to the garden where\nshe said to me, \"By Allah! I conjure thee never leave me!\" \"To hear is to\nobey,\" replied I. Then I gave myself wholly up to her and paid her frequent\nvisits: she was good and generous to me; and as often as I passed the night\nwith her, she would make much of me and would ask me of the two saws my cousin\nAzizah told my mother and I would repeat them to her. And matters ceased not\nto be on this wise and I continued for a whole year eating and drinking and\nenjoying dalliance and wearing change of rich raiment until I waxed gross and\nfat, so that I lost all thought of sorrowing and mourning, and I clean forgot\nmy cousin Azizah. And on New Year's day I went to the bath, where I refreshed\nmyself and put on a suit of sumptuous clothes; then coming out I drank a cup of\nwine and smelt the scent of my new gear which was perfumed with various\nessences; and my breast was broadened thereby, for I knew not the tricks of\nPate nor the changing ways of Time. When the hour of night prayer came, I was\nminded to repair to my lover; but, being the worse for wine, I knew not when\ngoing to her whither I went, so my drunkenness turned me into a by street\ncalled Syndic Street;[FN#523] and the while I walked up that street behold, I\ncaught sight of an old woman faring with a lighted taper in one hand, and in\nthe other a folded letter.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Twenty-second Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant, whose\nname was Aziz, continued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014And when I entered the street called\nSyndic Street behold, I caught sight of an old woman walking with a lighted\ntaper in one hand and in the other a folded letter and I drew near her and lo! \nshe was weeping and repeating these couplets,\n\n\"O glad news bearer well come! Welcome! Hail! * How sweet thy speech to me, what treat thy tale:\nO messenger from him whose weal I love, * God bless thee long as breathes soft morning-gale!\"\n\n\nNow when she saw me she asked, \"O my son! canst thou read?\"; and I answered, of\nmy officiousness, \"Yes, old naunty!\" Rejoined she, \"Then take this letter and\nread it to me.\" And when she handed it to me, I took it and unfolding it read\nit to her and behold it was from an absent man to his friends and lovers whom\nhe greeted; and, when she heard its purport, she rejoiced at the good tidings\nand blessed me, saying, \"Allah dispel thine anxiety, even as thou hast\ndispelled mine!\" Then she took the letter and walked on. Meanwhile, I was urged\nby a call of nature and sat down on my heels to make water.[FN#524] When I had\nended I stood up and wiped the orifice with a pebble and then, letting down my\nclothes, I was about to wend my way, when suddenly the old woman came up to me\nagain and, bending down over my hand, kissed it and said, \"O my master! the\nLord give thee joy of thy youth! I entreat thee to walk with me a few steps as\nfar as yonder door, for I told them what thou didst read to me of the letter,\nand they believe me not, so come with me two steps and read them the letter\nfrom behind the door and accept the prayers of a righteous woman.\" I enquired,\n\"What is the history of this letter?\", and she replied, \"O my son, this letter\nis from my son, who hath been absent for a term of ten years. He set out with\na stock of merchandise and tarried long in foreign parts, till we lost hope of\nhim and supposed him to be dead. Now after all that delay cometh this letter\nfrom him, and he hath a sister who weepeth for him night and day; so I said to\nher, 'He is well and all right.' But she will not believe me and declares,\n'There is no help but thou bring me one who will read this letter in my\npresence, that my heart may be at rest and my mind at ease.' Thou knowest, O my\nson, that all who love are wont to think evil: so be good enough to go with me\nand read to her this letter, standing behind the curtain, whilst I call his\nsister to listen within the door, so shalt thou dispel our heed and fulfil our\nneed. Verily quoth the Apostle of Allah (whom Allah bless and preserve!),\n'Whoso easeth the troubled of one of the troubles of this troublous world,\nAllah will ease him of an hundred troubles'; and according to another\ntradition, 'Whoso easeth his brother of one of the troubles of this troublous\nworld, Allah shall relieve him of seventy and two troubles on the Day of\nResurrection.' And I have betaken myself to thee; so disappoint me not.\"\nReplied I, \"To hear is to obey: do thou go before me!\" So she walked on\ndevancing me and I followed her a little way, till she came to the gate of a\nlarge and handsome mansion whose door was plated with copper.[FN#525] I stood\nbehind the door, whilst the old woman cried out in Persian, and ere I knew it a\ndamsel ran up with light and nimble step. She had tucked up her trousers to\nher knees, so that I saw a pair of calves that confounded thinker and lighter,\nand the maid herself was as saith the poet describing her,\n\n\"O thou who barest leg calf, better to suggest * For passion madded amourist better things above!\nTowards its lover doth the bowl go round and run; * Cup[FN#526] and cup bearer only drive us daft with love.\"[FN#527]\n\n\nNow these legs were like two pillars of alabaster adorned with anklets of gold,\nwherein were set stones of price. And the damsel had tucked up the end of her\ngown under her arm pit and had rolled up her sleeves to the elbow, so that I\ncould see her white wrists whereon were two pairs of bracelets with clasps of\ngreat pearls; and round her neck was a collar of costly gems. Her ears were\nadorned with pendants of pearls and on her head she wore a kerchief[FN#528] of\nbrocade, brand new and broidered with jewels of price. And she had thrust the\nskirt of her shift into her trousers string being busy with some household\nbusiness. So when I saw her in this undress, I was confounded at her beauty,\nfor she was like a shining sun. Then she said, with soft, choice speech, never\nheard I sweeter, \"O my mother! is this he who cometh to read the letter?\" \"It\nis,\" replied the old woman; and she put out her hand to me with the letter. \nNow between her and the door was a distance of about half a rod[FN#529]; so I\nstretched forth my hand to take the letter from her and thrust head and\nshoulders within the door, thinking to draw near her and read the letter when,\nbefore I knew what her design was, the old woman butted her head against my\nback and pushed me forwards with the letter in my hand, so that ere I could\ntake thought I found myself in the middle of the hall far beyond the vestibule.\nThen she entered, faster than a flash of blinding leven, and had naught to do\nbut to shut the door. And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Twenty-third Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth Aziz pursued to\nTaj al Muluk: \"When the old woman pushed me forwards I found myself, ere I\ncould think, inside the vestibule; and the old woman entered faster than a\nflash of blinding leven and had naught to do but to shut the door. When the\ngirl saw me in the vestibule, she came up to me and strained me to her bosom,\nand threw me to the floor; then she sat astraddle upon my breast and kneaded my\nbelly with her fingers, till I well-nigh lost my senses. Thereupon she took me\nby the hand and led me, unable to resist for the violence of her pressure,\nthrough seven vestibules, whilst the old woman forewent us with the lighted\ncandle, till we came to a great saloon with four estrades whereon a horseman\nmight play Polo.[FN#530] Here she released me, saying, \"Open thine eyes.\" So I\nopened them still giddy for the excess of her embracing and pressing, and saw\nthat the whole saloon was built of the finest marbles and alabasters, and all\nits furniture was of silk and brocade even to the cushions and mattresses.\nTherein also were two benches of yellow brass and a couch of red gold, set with\npearls and precious stones, befitting none save Kings like thyself. And off\nthe saloon were smaller sitting rooms; and the whole place was redolent of\nwealth. Then she asked, \"O Aziz, which is liefer to thee life or death?\"\n\"Life,\" answered I; and she said, \"If life be liefer to thee, marry me.\" Quoth\nI, \"Indeed I should hate to marry the like of thee.\" Quoth she, \"If thou marry\nme thou wilt at least be safe from the daughter of Dal\u00edlah the Wily\nOne.\"[FN#531] I asked, \"And who be that daughter of the Wily One?\" Whereupon\nshe laughed and replied, \" 'Tis she who hath companied with thee this day for a\nyear and four months (may the Almighty destroy and afflict her with one worse\nthan herself!) By Allah, there liveth not a more perfidious than she. How many\nmen hath she not slain before thee and what deeds hath she not done. Nor can I\nunderstand how thou hast been all the time in her company, yet she hath not\nkilled thee nor done thee a mischief.\" When I heard her words, I marvelled with\nexceeding marvel and said, \"O my lady, who made thee to know her?\" Said she,\n\"I know her as the age knoweth its calamities; but now I would fain have thee\ntell me all that hath passed between you two, that I may ken the cause of thy\ndeliverance from her.\" So I told her all that had happened between us,\nincluding the story of my cousin Azizah. She expressed her pity when she heard\nof the death, and her eyes ran over with tears and she claps hand on hand and\ncried out, Her youth was lost on Allah's way,[FN#532] and may the Lord bless\nthee for her good works! By Allah, O Aziz, she who died for thee was the cause\nof thy preservation from the daughter of Dalia the Wily; and, but for her, thou\nhadst been lost. And now she is dead I fear for thee from the Crafty One's\nperfidy and mischief; but my throat is choking and I cannot speak.\" Quoth I Ay,\nby Allah: all this happened even as thou sayest.\" And she shook her head and\ncried, \"There liveth not this day the like of Azizah. I continued, \"And on her\ndeath bed she bade me repeat to my lover these two saws, 'Faith is fair! \nUnfaith is foul'\" When she heard me say this, she exclaimed, \"O Aziz, by Allah\nthose same words saved thee from dying by her hand; and now my heart is at ease\nfor thee from her, for she will never kill thee and the daughter of thy uncle\npreserved thee during her lifetime and after her death. By Allah, I have\ndesired thee day after day but could not get at thee till this time when I\ntricked thee and outwitted thee; for thou art a raw youth[FN#533] and knowest\nnot the wiles of young women nor the deadly guile of old women.\" Rejoined I,\nNo, by Allah!\" Then said she to me, \"Be of good cheer and eyes clear; the dead\nhath found Allah's grace, and the live shall be in good case. Thou art a\nhandsome youth and I do not desire thee but according to the ordinance of Allah\nand His Apostle (on whom be salutation and salvation!). Whatever thou\nrequirest of money and stuff, thou shalt have forthright without stint, and I\nwill not impose any toil on thee, no, never!, for there is with me always bread\nbaked hot and water in pot. All I need of thee is that thou do with me even as\nthe cock doth.\" I asked \"And what doth the cock?\" Upon this she laughed and\nclapped her hands and fell over on her back for excess of merriment then she\nsat up and smiled and said, \"O light of my eyes, really dost thou not know what\ncock's duty is?\" \"No, by Allah!\" replied I, and she, \"The cock's duty is to eat\nand drink and tread.' I was abashed at her words and asked, \"Is that the cock's\nduty? Yes, answered she; \"and all I ask of thee now is to gird thy loins and\nstrengthen thy will and futter thy best.\" Then she clapped her hands and cried\nout, saying, \"O my mother, bring forward those who are with thee.\" And behold,\nin came the old woman accompanied by four lawful witnesses, and carrying a veil\nof silk. Then she lighted four candles, whilst the witnesses saluted me and\nsat down; and the girl veiled herself with the veil and deputed one of them to\nexecute the contract on her behalf. So they wrote out the marriage bond and\nshe testified to have received the whole sum settled upon her, both the half in\nadvance and the half in arrears; and that she was indebted to me in the sum of\nten thousand dirhams.\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\nWhen it was the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night,\n\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk: When they wrote out the marriage-contract, she\ntestified to having received the whole sum settled upon her, the half in\nadvance and the half in arrears and that she was indebted to me in the sum of\nten thousand dirhams. She paid the witnesses their wage and they withdrew\nwhence they came. Thereupon she arose and cast off her clothes and stood in a\nchemise of fine silk edged with gold lace, after which she took off her\ntrousers and seized my hand and led me up to the couch, saying, \"There is no\nsin in a lawful put in.\" She lay down on the couch outspread upon her back;\nand, drawing me on to her breast, heaved a sigh and followed it up with a\nwriggle by way of being coy. Then she pulled up the shift above her breasts,\nand when I saw her in this pose, I could not withhold myself from thrusting it\ninto her, after I had sucked her lips, whilst she whimpered and shammed shame\nand wept when no tears came, and then said she, \"O my beloved, do it, and do\nthy best!\" Indeed the case reminded me of his saying, who said,\n\n\"When I drew up her shift from the roof of her coynte, * I found it as strait* as my mind and my money:\nSo I drove it half-way, and she sighed a loud sigh * Quoth I, 'Why this sigh?': 'For the rest of it, honey!'\"\n\n\nAnd she repeated, \"O my beloved, let the finish be made for I am thine\nhandmaid. My life on thee, up with it! give it me, all of it! that I may\ntake it in my hand and thrust it into my very vitals!\" And she ceased not to\nexcite me with sobs and sighs and amorous cries in the intervals of kissing and\nclasping until amid our murmurs of pleasure we attained the supreme delight and\nthe term we had in sight. We slept together till the morning, when I would\nhave gone out; but lo! she came up to me, laughing, and said, \"So! So!\nthinkest thou that going into the Hammam is the same as going out?[FN#534] \nDost thou deem me to be the like of the daughter of Dalilah the Wily One? \nBeware of such a thought, for thou art my husband by contract and according to\nlaw. If thou be drunken return to thy right mind, and know that the house\nwherein thou art openeth but one day in every year. Go down and look at the\ngreat door.\" So I arose and went down and found the door locked and nailed up\nand returned and told her of the locking and nailing. \"O Aziz,\" said she, \"We\nhave in this house flour, grain, fruits and pomegranates; sugar, meat, sheep,\npoultry and so forth enough for many years; and the door will not be opened\ntill after the lapse of a whole twelvemonth and well I weet thou shalt not find\nthyself without this house till then.\" Quoth I \"There is no Majesty, and there\nis no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!\" \"And how can this harm\nthee,\" rejoined she; \"seeing thou knowest cock's duty, whereof I told thee?\"\nThen she laughed and I laughed too, and I conformed to what she said and abode\nwith her, doing cock's duty and eating and drinking and futtering for a year of\nfull twelve months, during which time she conceived by me, and I was blessed\nwith a babe by her. On the New Year's day I heard the door opened and behold,\nmen came in with cakes and flour and sugar. Upon this, I would have gone out\nbut my wife said, \"Wait till supper-tide and go out even as thou camest in.\" So\nI waited till the hour of night prayer and was about to go forth in fear and\ntrembling, when she stopped me, saying, \"By Allah, I will not let thee go until\nthou swear to come back this night before the closing of the door.\" I agreed to\nthis, and she swore me a solemn oath on Blade and Book,[FN#535] and the oath of\ndivorce to boot, that I would return to her. Then I left her and going\nstraight to the garden, found the door open as usual; where at I was angry and\nsaid to myself, \"I have been absent this whole year and come here unawares and\nfind the place open as of wont! I wonder is the damsel still here as before? \nI needs must enter and see before I go to my mother, more by reason that it is\nnow nightfall.\" So I entered the flower-garden,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\nEnd of Vol. 2.\n\nVolume 2 Footnotes\n\n\n[FN#1] Supplementarily to note 2, p. 2, [FN#2 Vol 1]and note 2, p. 14, [FN#21\nVol 1] vol. i., I may add that \"Shahr\u00e1z\u00e1d,\" in the Shams al-Loghat, is the P.N.\nof a King. L. Langl\u00e8s (Les Voyages de Sindib\u00e2d Le Marin et La Ruse des Femmes,\nfirst appended to Savary's Grammar and reprinted 12mo. pp. 161 + 113,\nImprimerie Royale, Paris, M.D.CCC.XIV) explains it by Le cypr\u00e8s, la beaut\u00e9 de\nla ville; and he is followed by (A. de Biberstein) Kazimirski (Enis el-Djelis\nParis, Barrois, 1847). Ouseley (Orient. Collect.) makes Shahrz\u00e1d=town-born; and\nothers an Arabisation of Chehr-\u00e1z\u00e1d (free of face, ingenuous of countenance)\nthe petit nom of Queen Humay, for whom see the Terminal Essay. The name of the\nsister, whom the Fihrist converts into a Kahram\u00e1nah, or nurse, vulgarly written\nD\u00edn\u00e1r-z\u00e1d, would= child of gold pieces, freed by gold pieces, or one who has no\nneed of gold pieces: D\u00ednz\u00e1d=child of faith and Dayn\u00e1z\u00e1d, proposed by Langl\u00e8s,\n\"free from debt (!)\" I have adopted Macnaghten's Dunyazad. \"Shahryar,\" which\nScott hideously writes \"Shier-ear,\" is translated by the Shams, King of the\nworld, absolute monarch and the court of Anushirwan while the Burh\u00e1n-i-K\u00e1ti'a\nrenders it a King of Kings, and P.N. of a town. Shahr-b\u00e1z is also the P.N. of a\ntown in Samarcand.\n\n[FN#2] Arab. \"Malik,\" here used as in our story-books: \"Pompey was a wise and\npowerful King\" says the Gesta Romanorum. This King is, as will appear, a Regent\nor Governor under Harun al-Rashid. In the next tale he is Viceroy of Damascus,\nwhere he is also called \"Sultan.\"\n\n[FN#3] The Bull Edit. gives the lines as follows:\u2014-\n\n     The lance was his pen, and the hearts of his foes *\n         His paper, and dipped he in blood for ink;\n     Hence our sires entitled the spear Khatt\u00edyah, *\n         Meaning that withal man shall write, I think.\n\nThe pun is in \"Khatt\u00edyah\" which may mean a writer (feminine) and also a spear,\nfrom Khatt-Hajar, a tract in the province Al-Bahrayn (Persian Gulf), and Oman,\nwhere the best Indian bamboos were landed and fashioned into lances. Imr\nal-Kays (Mu'allakah v. 4.) sings of \"our dark spears firmly wrought of\nKhattiyan cane;\" Al-Bus\u00edr\u00ed of \"the brown lances of Khatt;\" also see Lebid v. 50\nand Ham\u00e1sah pp. 26, 231, Antar notes the \"Spears of Khatt\" and \"Rudaynian\nlances.\" Rudaynah is said to have been the wife of one Samh\u00e1r, the Ferrara of\nlances; others make her the wife of Al-Ka'azab and hold Samh\u00e1r to be a town in\nAbyssinia where the best weapons were manufactured The pen is the Calamus or\nKalam (reed cut for pen) of which the finest and hardest are brought from Java:\nthey require the least nibbing. The rhetorical figure in the text is called\nHusn al-Ta'al\u00edl, our aetiology; and is as admirable to the Arabs as it appears\nsilly to us.\n\n[FN#4] \"He loves folk\" is high praise, meaning something more than benevolence\nand beneficence.. Like charity it covers a host of sins.\n\n[FN#5] The sentence is euphuistic.\n\n[FN#6] Arab. \"Rubb\"=syrup a word Europeanised by the \"Rob\nLaffecteur.\"\n\n[FN#7] The Septentriones or four oxen and their wain.\n\n[FN#8] The list fatally reminds us of \"astronomy and the use of the globes\" . .\n. \"Shakespeare and the musical glasses.\"\n\n[FN#9] The octave occurs in Night xv. I quote Torrens (p. 360) by way of\nvariety.\n\n[FN#10] A courteous formula of closing with the offer.\n\n[FN#11] To express our \"change of climate\" Easterns say, \"change of water and\nair,\" water coming first.\n\n[FN#12] \"The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night\" (Psalm\ncxxi. 6). Easterns still believe in the blighting effect of the moon's rays,\nwhich the Northerners of Europe, who view it under different conditions, are\npleased to deny. I have seen a hale and hearty Arab, after sitting an hour in\nthe moonlight, look like a man fresh from a sick bed; and I knew an Englishman\nin India whose face was temporarily paralysed by sleeping with it exposed to\nthe moon.\n\n[FN#13] The negroids and negroes of Zanzibar.\n\n[FN#14] i.e. Why not make thy heart as soft as thy sides! The converse of this\nwas reported at Paris during the Empire, when a man had by mistake pinched a\nvery high personage: \"Ah, Madame! if your heart be as hard as (what he had\npinched) I am a lost man.\"\n\n[FN#15] \"Na'\u00edman\" is said to one after bathing or head-shaving: the proper\nreply, for in the East every sign of ceremony has its countersign, is \"Allah\nbenefit thee!\" (Pilgrimage i. 11, iii. 285; Lane M. E. chaps. viii.; Caussin de\nPerceval's Arabic Grammar, etc., etc.) I have given a specimen (Pilgrimage i.,\n122) not only of sign and countersign, but also of the rhyming repartee which\nrakes love. Hanien ! (pleasant to thee! said when a man drinks). Allah pleasure\nthee (Allah yuhann\u00edk which Arnauts and other ruffians perverted to Allah yan\u00edk,\nAllah copulate with thee); thou drinkest for ten! I am the cock and thou art\nthe hen! (i.e. a passive catamite) Nay, I am the thick one (the penis which\ngives pleasure) and thou art the thin! And so forth with most unpleasant\npleasantries.\n\n[FN#16] In the old version she is called \"The Fair Persian,\" probably from the\nowner: her name means \"The Cheerer of the Companion.\"\n\n[FN#17] Pronounce \"Nooraddeen.\" I give the name as written in\nArabic.\n\n[FN#18] Amongst Moslems, I have said, it is held highly disgraceful when the\nsound of women's cries can be heard by outsiders.\n\n[FN#19] In a case like this, the father would be justified by Rasm (or usage)\nnot by Koranic law, in playing Brutus with his son. The same would be the case\nin a detected intrigue with a paternal concubine and, in very strict houses,\nwith a slave-girl.\n\n[FN#20] Orientals fear the \"Zug\" or draught as much as Germans; and with even a\nbetter reason. Draughts are most dangerous in hot climates.\n\n[FN#21] The Unity of the Godhead and the Apostleship of Mohammed.\n\n[FN#22] This would be done only in the case of the very poor.\n\n[FN#23] Prayers over the dead are not universal in Al-Islam; but when they are\nrecited they lack the \"sijdah\" or prostration.\n\n[FN#24] Or, \"Of the first and the last,\" i.e. Mohammed, who claimed (and\nclaimed justly) to be the \"Seal\" or head and end of all Prophets and Prophecy.\nFor note that whether the Arab be held inspired or a mere impostor, no man\nmaking the same pretension has moved the world since him. Mr. J. Smith the\nMormon (to mention one in a myriad) made a bold attempt and failed.\n\n[FN#25] i.e. flatterers.\n\n[FN#26] In one matter Moslems contrast strongly with Christians, by most\nscrupulously following the example of their law-giver: hence they are the model\nConservatives. But (European) Christendom is here, as in other things,\ncuriously contradictory: for instance, it still keeps a \"Feast of the\nCircumcision,\" and practically holds circumcision in horror. Eastern\nChristians, however, have not wholly abolished it, and the Abyssinians, who\nfind it a useful hygienic precaution, still practise it. For ulcers, syphilis\nand other venereals which are readily cured in Egypt become dangerous in the\nHighlands of Ethiopia.\n\n[FN#27] Arab. \"Sabab,\" the orig. and material sense of the word; hence \"a\ncause,\" etc.\n\n[FN#28] Thus he broke his promise to his father, and it is insinuated that\nretribution came upon him.\n\n[FN#29] \"O Pilgrim\" (Ya H\u00e1jj) is a polite address even to those who have not\npilgrimaged. The feminine \"H\u00e1jjah\" (in Egypt pronounced \"H\u00e1ggeh\") is similarly\nused.\n\n[FN#30] Arab. \"us\u00fal\"=roots, i.e. I have not forgotten my business.\n\n[FN#31] Moslems from Central and Western North Africa.\n(Pilgrimage i. 261; iii. 7, etc); the \"Jabarti\" is the Moslem\nAbyssinian.\n\n[FN#32] This is a favourite bit of chaff and is to be lengthened out almost\nindefinitely e.g. every brown thing is not civet nor every shining thing a\ndiamond; every black thing is not charcoal nor every white chalk; every red\nthing is not a ruby nor every yellow a topaz; every long-necked thing is not a\ncamel, etc., etc., etc.\n\n[FN#33] He gives him the name of his grandfather; a familiar usage.\n\n[FN#34] Arab. \"Ma'janah,\" a place for making unbaked bricks (Tob=Span. Adobe)\nwith chaff and bruised or charred straw. The use of this article in rainless\nlands dates from ages immemorial, and formed the outer walls of the Egyptian\ntemple.\n\n[FN#35] Arab. \"Barsh,\" a bit of round matting used by the poor as a seat. The\nWazir thus showed that he had been degraded to the condition of a mat-maker.\n\n[FN#36] The growth (a Poa of two species) which named Wady Half\u00e1 (vulg.\n\"Halfah\"), of which the home public has of late heard perhaps a trifle too\nmuch. Burckhardt (Prov. 226) renders it \"dry reeds\"\u2014-incorrectly enough.\n\n[FN#37] This \"H\u00e1shimi\" vein, as they call it, was an abnormal development\nbetween the eyes of the house of Abbas, inherited from the great- grandfather\nof the Prophet; and the latter had it remarkably large, swelling in answer and\nbattle-rage. The text, however, may read \"The sweat of wrath,\" etc.\n\n[FN#38] Torrens and Payne prefer \"Ilm\"=knowledge. Lane has more correctly\n\"Alam\"=a sign, a flag.\n\n[FN#39] The lines were in Night xi.: I have quoted Torrens (p. 379) for a\nchange.\n\n[FN#40] Still customary in Tigris-Euphrates land, where sea-craft has not\nchanged since the days of Xisisthrus-Noah, and long before.\n\n[FN#41] To cool the contents.\n\n[FN#42] Hence the Khedivial Palace near Cairo \"Kasr al-Nuzhah;\" literally \"of\nDelights;\" one of those flimsy new-Cairo buildings which contrast so\nmarvellously with the architecture of ancient and even of medi\u00e6val Egypt, and\nwhich are covering the land with modern ruins. Compare Mohammed Ali's mosque in\nthe citadel with the older Sultan Hasan. A popular tale is told that, when the\nconquering Turk, Y\u00e1w\u00faz Sultan Selim, first visited Cairo, they led him to\nMosque Al-Gh\u00far\u00ed. \"This is a splendid K\u00e1'ah (saloon)!\" quoth he. When he entered\nSultan Hasan, he exclaimed, \"This is a citadel!\"; but after inspecting the\nMosque Al-Mu'ayyad he cried, \"'Tis a veritable place of prayer, a fit stead for\nthe Faithful to adore the Eternal!\"\n\n[FN#43] Arab. gardeners are very touchy on this point. A friend of mine was on\na similar occasion addressed, in true Egyptian lingo, by an old Adam-son, \"Ya\nibn al-Kalb! beta'mil ay?\" (O dog- son, what art thou up to?).\n\n[FN#44] \"The green palm-stick is of the trees of Paradise;\" say the Arabs in\nSolomonic style but not Solomonic words: so our \"Spare the rod,\" etc.\n\n[FN#45] Wayfarers, travellers who have a claim on the kindness of those at\nhome: hence Abd al-Rahman al-Burai sings in his famous Ode:\u2014\n\n He hath claim on the dwellers in the places of their birth, *\nWhoso wandereth the world, for he lacketh him a home.\n\nIt is given in my \"First Footsteps in East Africa\" (pp. 53-55).\n\n[FN#46] The good old man treated the youth like a tired child.\n\n[FN#47] In Moslem writings the dove and turtle-dove are mostly feminine,\nwhereas the female bird is always mute and only the male sings to summon or to\namuse his mate.\n\n[FN#48] An unsavoury comparison of the classical Narcissus with the yellow\nwhite of a nigger's eyes.\n\n[FN#49] A tree whose coals burn with fierce heat: Al-Hariri (Vth S\u00e9ance). This\nArtemisia is like the tamarisk but a smaller growth and is held to be a\ncharacteristic of the Arabian Desert. A Badawi always hails with pleasure the\nfirst sight of the Ghaz\u00e1, after he has sojourned for time away from his\nwilds. Mr. Palgrave (i. 38) describes the \"Ghad\u00e1\" as an Euphorbia with a woody\nstem often 5-6 feet high and slender flexible green twigs (?), \"forming a\nfeathery tuft, not ungraceful to the eye, while it affords some shelter to the\ntraveller, and food to his camels.\"\n\n[FN#50] Arab. \"Sal'am\"=S(alla) A(llah) a(layhi) wa S(allam); A(llah) b(less)\nh(im) a(nd) k(eep)=Allah keep him and assain!\n\n[FN#51] The ass is held to be ill-omened. I have noticed the braying elsewhere.\nAccording to Mandeville the Devil did not enter the Ark with the Ass, but he\nleft it when Noah said \"Benedicite.\" In his day (A.D. 1322) and in that of\nBenjamin of Tudela, people had seen and touched the ship on Ararat, the Judi\n(Gordi\u00e6i) mountains; and this dates from Berosus (S.C. 250) who, of course,\nrefers to the Ark of Xisisthrus. See Josephus Ant. i. 3, 6; and Rodwell (Koran,\npp. 65, 530).\n\n[FN#52] As would happen at a \"Zikr,\" rogation or litany. Those who wish to see\nhow much can be made of the subject will read \"Pearls of the Faith, or Islam's\nRosary, being the ninety-nine beautiful names of Allah\" (Asm\u00e1-el-Husna) etc. by\nEdwin Arnold: London, Tr\u00fcbner, 1883.\n\n[FN#53] i.e. the S\u00e1ki, cup-boy or cup-bearer. \"Moon-faced,\" as I have shown\nelsewhere, is no compliment in English, but it is in Persian and Arabic.\n\n[FN#54] He means we are \"Z\u00e1hir\u00ed,\" plain honest Moslems, not \"B\u00e1tin\u00ed,\" gnostics\n(ergo reprobates) and so forth, who disregard all appearances and external\nordinances. This suggests his opinion of Shaykh Ibrahim and possibly refers to\nJa'afar's suspected heresy.\n\n[FN#55] This worthy will be noticed in a subsequent page.\n\n[FN#56] Arab. \"Lis\u00e1m,\" the end of the \"Kufiyah,\" or head-kerchief passed over\nthe face under the eyes and made fast on the other side. This mouth-veil serves\nas a mask (eyes not being recognisable) and defends from heat, cold and thirst.\nI also believe that hooding the eyes with this article, Badawi-fashion,\nproduces a sensation of coolness, at any rate a marked difference of apparent\ntemperature; somewhat like a pair of dark spectacles or looking at the sea from\na sandy shore. (Pilgrimage i., 210 and 346.) The woman's \"Lis\u00e1m\" (chin-veil) or\nYashmak is noticed in i., 337.\n\n[FN#57] Most characteristic is this familiarity between the greatest man then\nin the world and his pauper subject. The fisherman alludes to a practise of\nAl-Islam, instituted by Caliph Omar, that all rulers should work at some\nhandicraft in order to spare the public treasure. Hence Sultan Mu'ayyad of\nCairo was a calligrapher who sold his handwriting, and his example was followed\nby the Turkish Sultans Mahm\u00fad, Abd al-Maj\u00edd and Abd al-Az\u00edz. German royalties\nprefer carpentering and Louis XVI, watch-making.\n\n[FN#58] There would be nothing singular in this request. The democracy of\ndespotism levels all men outside the pale of politics and religion.\n\n[FN#59] \"Wa'll\u00e1hi tayyib!\" an exclamation characteristic of the\nEgyptian Moslem.\n\n[FN#60] The pretended fisherman's name Kar\u00edm=the Generous.\n\n[FN#61] Such an act of generosity would appear to Europeans well- nigh\ninsanity, but it is quite in Arab manners. Witness the oft- quoted tale of\nHatim and his horse. As a rule the Arab is the reverse of generous, contrasting\nbadly, in this point, with his cousin the Jew: hence his ideal of generosity is\nof the very highest. \"The generous (i.e. liberal) is Allah's friend, aye,\nthough he be a sinner; and the miser is Allah's foe, aye, though he be a\nsaint!\" Indian Moslems call a skin-flint Makhi-ch\u00fas = fly-sucker. (Pilgrimage\ni. 242.)\n\n[FN#62] Arab. \"Amm\u00e1 ba'ad\" (or Wa ba'ad), an initiatory formula attributed to\nKoss ibn Sa'idat al-Iyadi, bishop of Najr\u00e1n (the town in Al-Yaman which\nD'Herbelot calls Negiran) and a famous preacher in Mohammed's day, hence \"more\neloquent than Koss\" (Mayd\u00e1n\u00ed, Arab. Prov., 189). He was the first who addressed\nletters with the incept, \"from A. to B.\"; and the first who preached from a\npulpit and who leant on a sword or a staff when discoursing. Many Moslems date\nAmm\u00e1 ba'ad from the Prophet David, relying upon a passage of the Koran\n(xxxviii. 19).\n\n[FN#63] Arab. \"Nusf\"=half (a dirham): vulgarly pronounced \"nuss,\" and\nsynonymous with the Egypt. \"Faddah\" (=silver), the Greek \"Asper,\" and the\nTurkish \"par\u00e1h.\" It is the smallest Egyptian coin, made of very base metal and,\nthere being forty to the piastre, it is worth nearly a quarter of a farthing.\n\n[FN#64] The too literal Torrens and Lane make the Caliph give the gardener-lad\nthe clothes in which he was then clad, forgetting, like the author or copier,\nthat he wore the fisherman's lousy suit.\n\n[FN#65] In sign of confusion, disappointment and so forth: not \"biting his\nnails,\" which is European and utterly un-Asiatic.\n\n[FN#66] See lines like these in Night xiii. (i. 136); the sentiment is trite.\n\n[FN#67] The Arab will still stand under his ruler's palace and shout aloud to\nattract his attention. Sayyid Sa'\u00edd known as the \"Im\u00e1n of Muskat\" used to\nencourage the patriarchal practice. Mohammed repeatedly protested against such\nunceremonious conduct (Koran xciv. 11, etc.). The \"three times of privacy\"\n(Koran cv. 57) are before the dawn-prayer, during the Siesta (noon) and after\nthe even-prayer.\n\n[FN#68] The Judges of the four orthodox schools.\n\n[FN#69] That none might see it or find it ever after.\n\n[FN#70] Arab. \"Khatt Shar\u00edf\"=a royal autographical letter: the term is still\npreserved in Turkey, but Europeans will write \"Hatt.\"\n\n[FN#71] Meaning \"Little tom-cat;\" a dim. of \"Kitt\" vulg. Kutt or\nGutt.\n\n[FN#72] Arab. \"Matm\u00farah\"\u2014-the Algerine \"Matamor\"\u2014-a \"silo,\" made familiar to\nEngland by the invention of \"Ensilage.\"\n\n[FN#73] The older \"Mustapha\"=Mohammed. This Intercession-doctrine is fiercely\ndisputed. (Pilgrimage ii. 77.) The Apostle of Al- Islam seems to have been\nunable to make up his mind upon the subject: and modern opinion amongst Moslems\nis apparently borrowed from the Christians.\n\n[FN#74] Lane (i. 486) curiously says, \"The place of the stagnation of blood:\"\nyet he had translated the word aright in the Introduction (i. 41). I have\nnoticed that the Nat'a is made like the \"Sufrah,\" of well-tanned leather, with\nrings in the periphery, so that a thong passed through turns it into a bag. The\nSufrah used for provisions is usually yellow, with a black border and small\npouches for knives or spoons. (Pilgrimage i. 111.)\n\n[FN#75] This improbable detail shows the Caliph's greatness.\n\n[FN#76] \"Cousin\" is here a term of familiarity, our \"coz.\"\n\n[FN#77] i.e. without allowing them a moment's delay to change clothes.\n\n[FN#78] i.e. according to my nature, birth, blood, de race.\n\n[FN#79] Our \"Job.\" The English translators of the Bible, who borrowed Luther's\nsystem of transliteration (of A.D. 1522), transferred into English the German\n\"j\" which has the sound of \"i\" or \"y\"; intending us to pronounce Yacob (or\nYakob), Yericho, Yimnites, Yob (or Hiob) and Yudah. Tyndall, who copied Luther\n(A.D. 1525-26), preserved the true sound by writing lacob, Ben Iamin and Iudas.\nBut his successors unfortunately returned to the German; the initial I, having\nfrom the xiii century been ornamentally lengthened and bent leftwards, became a\nconsonant. The public adopted the vernacular sound of \"j\" (da) and hence our\nlanguage and our literature are disgraced by such barbarisms as \"Jehovah\" and\n\"Jesus\"; Dgehovah and Dgeesus for Yehovah and Yesus. Future generations of\nschool-teachers may remedy the evil; meanwhile we are doomed for the rest of\nour days to hear\n\nGee-rusalem! Gee-rusalem! etc.\n\nNor is there one word to be said in favour of the corruption except that, like\nthe Protestant mispronunciation of Latin and the Erasmian ill-articulation of\nGreek, it has become English, and has lent its little aid in dividing the\nBritons from the rest of the civilised world.\n\n[FN#80] The moon, I repeat, is masculine in the so-called\n\"Semitic\" tongues.\n\n[FN#81] i.e. camel loads, about lbs. 300; and for long journeys lbs. 250.\n\n[FN#82] Arab. \"Jan\u00e1zah,\" so called only when carrying a corpse; else Na'ash,\nSar\u00edr or T\u00e1b\u00fat: Ir\u00e1n being the large hearse on which chiefs are borne. It is\nmade of plank or stick-work; but there are several varieties. (Lane, M. E.\nchaps. xxviii.)\n\n[FN#83] It is meritorious to accompany the funeral cort\u00e8ge of a\nMoslem even for a few paces.\n\n[FN#84] Otherwise he could not have joined in the prayers.\n\n[FN#85] Arab. \"Halw\u00e1\" made of sugar, cream, almonds, etc. That of\nMaskat is famous throughout the East.\n\n[FN#86] i.e. \"Camphor\" to a negro, as we say \"Snowball,\" by the figure\nantiphrase.\n\n[FN#87] \"Little Good Luck,\" a dim. form of \"bakht\"=luck, a\nPersian word naturalized in Egypt.\n\n[FN#88] There are, as I have shown, not a few cannibal tribes in Central Africa\nand these at times find their way into the slave-market.\n\n[FN#89] i.e. After we bar the door.\n\n[FN#90] Arab. \"J\u00e1w\u00edsh\" from Turk. Ch\u00e1w\u00fash, Chiaoosh, a sergeant, poursuivant,\nroyal messenger. I would suggest that this is the word \"Sh\u00e1lish\" or \"J\u00e1lish\" in\nAl-Siyuti's History of the Caliphs (p. 501) translated by Carlyle \"milites,\" by\nSchultens \"Sagittarius\" and by Jarett \"picked troops.\"\n\n[FN#91] This familiarity with blackamoor slave-boys is common in Egypt and\noften ends as in the story: Egyptian blood is sufficiently mixed with negro to\nbreed inclination for miscegenation. But here the girl was wickedly neglected\nby her mother at such an age as ten.\n\n[FN#92] Arab. \"Farj\"; hence a facetious designation of the other sex is\n\"Zawi'l-furuj\" (grammatically Zaw\u00e1tu'l- fur\u00faj)=habentes rimam, slit ones.\n\n[FN#93] This ancient and venerable practice of inspecting the marriage-sheet is\nstill religiously preserved in most parts of the East; and in old-fashioned\nMoslem families it is publicly exposed in the Harem to prove that the\n\"domestic calamity\" (the daughter) went to her husband a clean maid. Also the\ngeneral idea is that no blood will impose upon the exerts, or jury of matrons,\nexcept that of a pigeon-poult which exactly resembles hymeneal blood\u2014 when not\nsubjected to the microscope. This belief is universal in Southern Europe and I\nhave heard of it in England. Further details will be given in Night ccxi.\n\n[FN#94] \"Agha\" Turk.=sir, gentleman, is, I have said, politely addressed to a\neunuch.\n\n[FN#95] As Bukhayt tells us he lost only his testes, consequently his erectio\net distensio penis was as that of a boy before puberty and it would last as\nlong as his heart and circulation kept sound. Hence the eunuch who preserves\nhis penis is much prized in the Zenanah where some women prefer him to the\nentire man, on account of his long performance of the deed of kind. Of this\nmore in a future page.\n\n[FN#96] It is or rather was the custom in Egypt and Syria to range long rows of\nfine China bowls along the shelves running round the rooms at the height of six\nor seven feet, and they formed a magnificent cornice. I bought many of them at\nDamascus till the people, learning their value, asked prohibitive prices.\n\n[FN#97] The tale is interesting as well as amusing, excellently describing the\nextravagances still practised in middle-class Moslem families on the death of\nthe pater familias. I must again note that Arab women are much more unwilling\nto expose the back of the head covered by the \"Tarhah\" (head-veil) than the\nface, which is hidden by the \"Burka\" or nose bag.\n\n[FN#98] The usual hysterical laughter of this nervous race.\n\n[FN#99] Here the slave refuses to be set free and starve. For a master so to do\nwithout ample reasons is held disgraceful. I well remember the weeping and\nwailing throughout Sind when an order from Sir Charles Napier set free the\nnegroes whom British philanthropy thus doomed to endure if not to die of\nhunger.\n\n[FN#100] Manumission, which is founded upon Roman law, is an extensive subject\ndiscussed in the Hid\u00e1yah and other canonical works. The slave here lays down\nthe law incorrectly but his claim shows his truly \"nigger\" impudence.\n\n[FN#101] This is quite true to nature. The most remarkable thing in the wild\ncentral African is his enormous development of \"destructiveness.\" At Zanzibar I\nnever saw a slave break a glass or plate without a grin or a chuckle of\nsatisfaction.\n\n[FN#102] Arab. \"Khass\u00e1-ni\"; Khusyat\u00e1ni (vulg.) being the testicles, also called\n\"bayzat\u00e1n\" (the two eggs) a double entendre which has given rise to many tales.\nFor instance in the witty Persian book \"Dozd o Kazi\" (The Thief and the Judge)\na footpad strips the man of learning and offers to return his clothes if he can\nask him a puzzle in law or religion. The Kazi (in folk-lore mostly a fool)\nfails, and his wife bids him ask the man to supper for a trial of wits on the\nsame condition. She begins with compliments and ends by producing five eggs\nwhich she would have him distribute equally amongst the three; and, when he is\nperplexed, she gives one to each of the men taking three for herself. Whereupon\nthe \"Dozd\" wends his way, having lost his booty as his extreme stupidity\ndeserved. In the text the eunuch, Kafur, is made a \"Sandali\" or smooth-shaven,\nso that he was of no use to women.\n\n[FN#103] Arab. \"Khara,\" the lowest possible word: Y\u00e1 Khara! is the commonest of\ninsults, used also by modest women. I have heard one say it to her son.\n\n[FN#104] Arab. \"K\u00e1mah,\" a measure of length, a fathom, also called \"B\u00e1'a.\" Both\nare omitted in that sadly superficial book, Lane's Modern Egyptians, App. B.\n\n[FN#105] Names of her slave-girls which mean (in order),\nGarden-bloom, Dawn (or Beautiful), Tree o' Pearl (P. N. of\nSaladin's wife), Light of (right) Direction, Star o' the Morn,\nLewdness (= Shahwah, I suppose this is a chaff), Delight,\nSweetmeat and Miss Pretty.\n\n[FN#106] This mode of disposing of a rival was very common in Harems. But it\nhad its difficulties and on the whole the river was (and is) preferred.\n\n[FN#107] An Eastern dislikes nothing more than drinking in a dim dingy place:\nthe brightest lights seem to add to his \"drinkitite.\"\n\n[FN#108] He did not sleep with her because he suspected some palace-mystery\nwhich suggested prudence, she also had her reasons.\n\n[FN#109] This as called in Egypt \"Allah.\" (Lane M. E. chaps. i.)\n\n[FN#110] It would be a broad ribbon-like band upon which the letters could be\nworked.\n\n[FN#111] In the Arab. \"he cried.\" These \"Yes, Yes! and No! No!\" trifles are\nvery common amongst the Arabs.\n\n[FN#112] Arab. \"Maragha\" lit. rubbed his face on them like a fawning dog.\nGhanim is another \"softy\" lover, a favourite character in Arab tales; and by\nway of contrast, the girl is masterful enough.\n\n[FN#113] Because the Abbaside Caliphs descend from Al-Abbas, paternal uncle of\nMohammed, text means more explicitly, \"O descendant of the Prophet's uncle!\"\n\n[FN#114] The most terrible part of a belle passion in the East is that the\nbeloved will not allow her lover leave of absence for an hour.\n\n[FN#115] It is hard to preserve these wretched puns. In the original we have \"O\nspray (or branch) of capparis-shrub (ar\u00e1ki) which has been thinned of leaf and\nfruit (tujna, i.e., whose fruit, the hymen, has been plucked before and not by\nme) I see thee (ar\u00e1ka) against me sinning (tajn\u00ed).\n\n[FN#116] Apparently the writer forgets that the Abbaside banners and dress were\nblack, originally a badge of mourning for the Im\u00e1m Ibrahim bin Mohammed put to\ndeath by the Ommiade Caliph Al-Marwan. The modern Egyptian mourning, like the\nold Persian, is indigo-blue of the darkest; but, as before noted, the custom is\nby no means universal.\n\n[FN#117] Koran, chaps. iv. In the East as elsewhere the Devil quotes Scripture.\n\n[FN#118] A servant returning from a journey shows his master due honour by\nappearing before him in travelling suit and uncleaned.\n\n[FN#119] The first name means \"Rattan\", the second \"Willow-wand,\" from the\n\"B\u00e1n\" or \"Khil\u00e1f\" the Egyptian willow (Salix \u00c6gyptiaca Linn.) vulgarly called\n\"Safs\u00e1f.\" Forskal holds the \"B\u00e1n\" to be a different variety.\n\n[FN#120] Arab. \"Ta'\u00e1m,\" which has many meanings: in mod. parlance it would\nsignify millet, holcus-seed.\n\n[FN#121] i.e. \"I well know how to deal with him.\"\n\n[FN#122] The Pen (title of the Koranic chaps. Ixviii.) and the\nPreserved Tablet (before explained).\n\n[FN#123] These plunderings were sanctioned by custom. But a few years ago, when\nthe Turkish soldiers mutinied about arrears of pay (often delayed for years)\nthe governing Pasha would set fire to the town and allow the men to loot what\nthey pleased during a stated time. Rochet (soi-disant D'H\u00e9ricourt) amusingly\ndescribes this manoeuvre of the Turkish Governor of Al-Hodaydah in the last\ngeneration. (Pilgrimage iii. 381.)\n\n[FN#124] Another cenotaph whose use was to enable women to indulge in their pet\npastime of weeping and wailing in company.\n\n[FN#125] The lodging of pauper travellers, as the chapel in Iceland is of the\nwealthy. I have often taken benefit of the mosque, but as a rule it is\nunpleasant, the matting being not only torn but over-populous. Juvenal seems to\nallude to the Jewish Synagogue similarly used: \"in qu\u00e2 te qu\u00e6ro proseuch\u00e2\"?\n(iii. 296) and in Acts iii. we find the lame, blind and impotent in the\nTemple-porch.\n\n[FN#126] This foul sort of vermin is supposed to be bred by perspiration. It is\nan epoch in the civilised traveller's life when he catches his first louse.\n\n[FN#127] The Moslem peasant is a kind-hearted man and will make many sacrifices\nfor a sick stranger even of another creed. It is a manner of \"pundonor\" with\nthe village.\n\n[FN#128] Such treatment of innocent women was only too common under the\nCaliphate and in contemporary Europe.\n\n[FN#129] This may also mean, \"And Heaven will reward thee,\" but camel-men do\nnot usually accept any drafts upon futurity.\n\n[FN#130] He felt that he was being treated like a corpse.\n\n[FN#131] This hatred of the Hospital extends throughout Southern\nEurope, even in places where it is not justified.\n\n[FN#132] The importance of the pillow (wis\u00e1dah or makhaddah) to the sick man is\noften recognised in The Nights. \"He took to his pillow\" is = took to his bed.\n\n[FN#133] i.e in order that the reverend men, who do not render such suit and\nservice gratis, might pray for him.\n\n[FN#134] The reader will notice in The Nights the frequent mention of these\nphysical prognostications, with which mesmerists are familiar.\n\n[FN#135] The Pers. name of the planet Saturn in the Seventh\nHeaven. Arab. \"Zuhal\"; the Kiun or Chiun of Amos vi. 26.\n\n[FN#136] i.e. \"Pardon me if I injured thee\"\u2014 a popular phrase.\n\n[FN#137] A \"seduction,\" a charmer. The double-entendre has before been noticed.\n\n[FN#138] This knightly tale, the longest in the Nights (xliv.\u2014 cxlv.), about\none-eighth of the whole, does not appear in the Bres. Edit. Lane, who finds it\n\"objectionable,\" reduces it to two of its episodes, Az\u00edz-cum-Az\u00edzah and T\u00e1j\nal-Mul\u00fak. On the other hand it has been converted into a volume (8vo, pp. 240)\n\"Scharkan, Conte Arabe,\" etc. Traduit par M. Asselan Riche, etc. Paris:\nDondey-Dupr\u00e9. 1829. It has its longueurs and at times is longsome enough; but\nit is interesting as a comparison between the chivalry of Al-Islam and European\nknight-errantry. Although all the characters are fictitious the period is\nevidently in the early crusading days. C\u00e6sarea, the second capital of\nPalestine, taken during the Caliphate of Omar (A.H. 19) and afterwards\nrecovered, was fortified in A.H. 353 = 963 as a base against the Arabs by the\nEmperor Phocas, the Arab. \"Nakf\u00far\" i.e. Nicephorus. In A.H. 498=1104, crusading\ncraft did much injury by plundering merchantmen between Egypt and Syria, to\nwhich allusion is found in the romance. But the story-teller has not quite made\nup his mind about which C\u00e6sarea he is talking, and M. Riche tells us that\nC\u00e9sar\u00e9e is a \"ville de la Mauritanie, en Afrique\" (p. 20).\n\n[FN#139] The fifth Ommiade Caliph reign. A.H. 65-86 = 685-704.\n\n[FN#140] This does not merely mean that no one was safe from his wrath: or,\ncould approach him in the heat of fight: it is a reminiscence of the masterful\n\"King Kulayb,\" who established game-laws in his dominions and would allow no\nman to approach his camp-fire. Moreover the Jinn lights a fire to decoy\ntravellers; but if his victim be bold enough to brave him, he invites him to\ntake advantage of the heat.\n\n[FN#141] China.\n\n[FN#142] The Jaxartes and the Bactrus (names very loosely applied).\n\n[FN#143] In full \"Sharrun k\u00e1na\" i.e. an evil (Sharr) has come to being (k\u00e1na),\nthat is, \"bane to the foe\" a pagan and knightly name. The hero of the Romance\n\"Al-Dalhamah\" is described as a bitter gourd (colocynth), a viper, a calamity.\n\n[FN#144] This is a Moslem law (Koran chaps. iv. bodily borrowed from the\nTalmud) which does not allow a man to marry one wife unless he can carnally\nsatisfy her. Moreover he must distribute his honours equally and each wife has\na right to her night unless she herself give it up. This was the case even with\nthe spouses of the Prophet; and his biography notices several occasions when\nhis wives waived their rights in favour of one another M. Riche kindly provides\nthe King with la piquante francaise (p. 15).\n\n[FN#145] So the celebrated mosque in Stambul, famed for being the largest\nchurch in the world is known to the Greeks as \"Agia (pron. Aya) Sophia\" and to\nMoslems as \"Aya Sof\u00edyeh\" (Holy Wisdom) i.e. the Logos or Second Person of the\nTrinity (not a Saintess). The sending a Christian girl as a present to a Moslem\nwould, in these days, be considered highly scandalous. But it was done by the\nMukaukis or Coptic Governor of Egypt (under Heraclius) who of course hated the\nGreeks. This worthy gave two damsels to Mohammed; one called S\u00edr\u00edn and the\nother M\u00e1riyah (Maria) whom the Prophet reserved for his especial use and whose\nabode is still shown at Al-Medinah. The Rev. Doctor Badger (loc. cit. p. 972)\ngives the translation of an epistle by Mohammed to this Mukaukis, written in\nthe Cufic character ( ? ?) and sealed \"Mohammed, The Apostle of Allah.\" My\nfriend seems to believe that it is an original, but upon this subject opinions\nwill differ. It is, however, exceedingly interesting, beginning with\n\"Bismillah,\" etc., and ending (before the signature) with a quotation from the\nKoran (iii. 57); and it may be assumed as a formula addressee to foreign\npotentates by a Prophet who had become virtually \"King of Arabia.\"\n\n[FN#146] This prayer before \"doing the deed of kind\" is, I have said, Moslem as\nwell as Christian.\n\n[FN#147] Exodus i. 16, quoted by Lane (M. E., chaps. xxvii.).\nTorrens in his Notes cites Drayton's \"Moon-calf':\u2014\n\n    Bring forth the birth-stool\u2014no, let it alone;\n    She is so far beyond all compass grown,\n    Some other new device us needs must stead,\n    Or else she never can be brought to bed.\n\nIt is the \"groaning-chair\" of Poor Robin's Almanac (1676) and we find it\nalluded to in Boccaccio, the classical sedile which according to scoffers has\nformed the papal chair (a curule seat) ever since the days of Pope Joan, when\nit has been held advisable for one of the Cardinals to ascertain that His\nHoliness possesses all the instruments of virility. This \"Kurs\u00ed al-wil\u00e1dah\" is\nof peculiar form on which the patient is seated. A most interesting essay might\nbe written upon the various positions preferred during delivery, e.g. the wild\nIrish still stand on all fours, like the so-called \"lower animals.\" Amongst the\nMoslems of Waday, etc., a cord is hung from the top of the hut, and the woman\nin labour holds on to it standing with her legs apart, till the midwife\nreceives the child.\n\n[FN#148] Some Orientalists call \"lullilooing\" the trilling cry, which is made\nby raising the voice to its highest pitch and breaking it by a rapid succession\nof touches on the palate with the tongue-tip, others \"Ziraleet\" and Zagaleet,\nand one traveller tells us that it began at the marriage-festival of Isaac and\nRebecca (!). Arabs term it classically \"Tahl\u00edl\" and vulgarly \"Zaghrutah\" (Plur.\nZagh\u00e1rit) and Persians \"Kil.\" Finally in Don Quixote we have \"Lelilies,\" the\nbattle-cry of the Moors (Duffield iii. 289). Dr. Buchanan likens it to a\nserpent uttering human sounds, but the good missionary heard it at the festival\nof Jagannath. (Pilgrimage iii. 197 )\n\n[FN#149] i.e. \"Light of the Place\" (or kingdom) and \"Delight of the\nAge.\"\n\n[FN#150] It is utterly absurd to give the old heroic Persian name Afridun or\nFuraydun, the destroyer of Zoh\u00e1k or Zahh\u00e1k, to a Greek, but such anachronisms\nare characteristic of The Nights and are evidently introduced on purpose. See\nBoccaccio, ix. 9.\n\n[FN#151] Arab. \"Yun\u00e1n\" lit. Ionia, which applies to all Greece, insular and\ncontinental, especially to ancient Greece.\n\n[FN#152] In 1870 I saw at Sidon a find of some hundreds of gold\n\"Philippi\" and \"Alexanders.\"\n\n[FN#153] M. Riche has (p. 21), \"Ces talismans travaill\u00e9s par le ciseau du\nc\u00e9l\u00e8bre Califaziri,\" adding in a note, \"Je pense que c'est un sculpteur Arabe.\"\n\n[FN#154] This periphrase, containing what seems to us a useless negative, adds\nemphasis in Arabic.\n\n[FN#155] This bit of geographical information is not in the Bull\nEdit.\n\n[FN#156] In Pers. = a tooth, the popular word.\n\n[FN#157] This preliminary move, called in Persian Nakl-iiSafar, is generally\nmentioned. So the Franciscan monks in California, when setting out for a long\njourney through the desert, marched three times round the convent and pitched\ntents for the night under its walls.\n\n[FN#158] In Arab. \"Khazinah\" or \"Khaznah\" lit. a treasure, representing 1,000\n\"K\u00eds\" or purses (each=\u00a35). The sum in the text is 7,000 purses X 5=\u00a335,000.\n\n[FN#159] Travellers often prefer such sites because they are sheltered from the\nwind, and the ground is soft for pitching tents; but many have come to grief\nfrom sudden torrents following rain.\n\n[FN#160] Arab \"Gh\u00e1bah\" not a forest in our sense of the word, but a place where\nwater sinks and the trees (mostly Mimosas), which elsewhere are widely\nscattered, form a comparatively dense growth and collect in thickets. These are\nfavourite places for wild beasts during noon-heats.\n\n[FN#161] At various times in the East Jews and Christians were ordered to wear\ncharacteristic garments, especially the Zunn\u00e1r or girdle.\n\n[FN#162] The description is borrowed from the Coptic Convent, which invariably\nhas an inner donjon or keep. The oldest monastery in the world is Mar Antonios\n(St. Anthony the Hermit) not far from Suez. (Gold Mines of Midian, p. 85.)\n\n[FN#163] \"Daw\u00e1h\u00ed,\" plur. of D\u00e1hiyah = a mishap. The title means \"Mistress of\nMisfortunes\" or Queen of Calamities (to the enemy); and the venerable lady, as\nwill be seen, amply deserved her name, which is pronounced Z\u00e1t al-Daw\u00e1h\u00ed.\n\n[FN#164] Arab. \"Kunfuz\"=hedgehog or porcupine.\n\n[FN#165] These flowers of speech are mere familiarities, not insults. In\nsocieties where the sexes are separated speech becomes exceedingly free.\n\"\u00c9tourdie que vous \u00eates,\" says M. Riche, toning down the text.\n\n[FN#166] Arab. \"Zirt,\" a low word. The superlative \"Zarr\u00e1t\" (fartermost) or,\n\"Abu Zirt\" (Father of farts) is a facetious term among the bean-eating Fellahs\nand a deadly insult amongst the Badawin (Night ccccx.). The latter prefer the\nword Tagg\u00e1a (Pilgrimage iii. 84). We did not disdain the word in\nfarthingale=pet en air.\n\n[FN#167] Arab. \"kicked\" him, i.e. with the sharp corner of the shovel-stirrup.\nI avoid such expressions as \"spurring\" and \"pricking over the plain,\" because\napt to give a wrong idea.\n\n[FN#168] Arab. \"Allaho Akbar!\" the classical Moslem slogan.\n\n[FN#169] Arab horses are never taught to leap, so she was quite safe on the\nother side of a brook nine feet broad.\n\n[FN#170] \"Batr\u00edk\" (vulg. Bitr\u00edk)=patricius, a title given to\nChristian knights who commanded ten thousand men; the Tarkhan (or\nNobb) heading four thousand, and the Kaumas (Arab. K\u00e1id) two\nhundred. It must not be confounded with Batrak (or\nBatrik)=patriarcha. (Lane's Lex.)\n\n[FN#171] Arab. \"K\u00e1zi al-Kuz\u00e1t,\" a kind of Chief Justice or Chancellor. The\noffice wag established under the rule of Harun al-Rashid, who so entitled Ab\u00fa\nY\u00fasuf Ya'akub al-Ans\u00e1ri: therefore the allusion is anachronistic. The same\nCaliph also caused the Olema to dress as they do still.\n\n[FN#172] The allusion is Koranic: \"O men, if ye be in doubt concerning the\nresurrection, consider that He first created you of the dust of the ground\n(Adam); afterwards of seed\" (chaps. xxii.). But the physiological ideas of the\nKoran are curious. It supposes that the Mani or male semen is in the loins and\nthat of women in the breast bone (chaps Ixxxvi.); that the mingled seed of the\ntwo (chaps. Ixxvi.) fructifies the ovary and that the child is fed through the\nnavel with menstruous blood, hence the cessation of the catamenia. Barzoi\n(Kalilah and D\u00edmnah) says:\u2014 \"Man's seed, falling into the woman's womb, is\nmixed with her seed and her blood: when it thickens and curdles the Spirit\nmoves it and it turns about like liquid cheese; then it solidifies, its\narteries are formed, its limbs constructed and its joints distinguished. If the\nbabe is a male, his face is placed towards his mother's back; if a female,\ntowards her belly.\" (P. 262, Mr. L G.N. Keith- Falconer's translation.) But\nthere is a curious prolepsis of the spermatozoa-theory. We read (Koran chaps.\nvii.), \"Thy Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of\nAdam;\" and the commentators say that Allah stroked Adam's back and extracted\nfrom his loins all his posterity, which shall ever be, in the shape of small\nants; these confessed their dependence on God and were dismissed to return\nwhence they came.\" From this fiction it appears (says Sale) that the doctrine\nof pre-existence is not unknown to the Mohammedans, and there is some little\nconformity between it and the modern theory of generatio ex animalculis in\nsemine marium. The poets call this Yaum-i-Alast = the Day of Am-I-not (-your\nLord)? which Sir William Jones most unhappily translated \"Art thou not with thy\nLord ?\" (Alasta bi Rabbi- kum); fand they produce a grand vision of unembodied\nspirits appearing in countless millions before their Creator.\n\n[FN#173] The usual preliminary of a wrestling bout.\n\n[FN#174] In Eastern wrestling this counts as a fair fail. So Ajax fell on his\nback with Ulysses on his breast. (Iliad xxxii., 700, etc.)\n\n[FN#175] So biting was allowed amongst the Greeks in the \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03ba\u03bb\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c0\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7, \nthe final struggle on the ground.\n\n[FN#176] Supposed to be names of noted wrestlers. \"Kayim\" (not El-Kim as\nTorrens has it) is a term now applied to a juggler or \"professor\" of\nlegerdemain who amuses people in the streets with easy tricks. (Lane, M. E.,\nchaps. xx.)\n\n[FN#177] Lit. \"laughed in his face\" which has not the unpleasant meaning it\nbears in English.\n\n[FN#178] Arab. \"Abu riy\u00e1h\"=a kind of child's toy. It is the \"\u03a1\u03cc\u03bc\u03b2\u03bf\u03c2\"\nof the Greeks, our \"bull-roarer\" well known in Australia and parts of Africa.\n\n[FN#179] The people of the region south of the Caspian which is called \"Sea of\nDaylam.\" It has a long history; for which see D'Herbelot, s.v. \"Dilem.\"\n\n[FN#180] Coptic convents in Egypt still affect these drawbridges over the\nkeep-moat.\n\n[FN#181] Koran iv., xxii. etc., meaning it is lawful to marry women taken in\nwar after the necessary purification although their husbands be still living.\nThis is not permitted with a free woman who is a True Believer. I have noted\nthat the only concubine slave-girl mentioned in the Koran are these \"captives\npossessed by the right hand.\"\n\n[FN#182] The Amazonian dame is a favourite in folk-lore and is an ornament to\npoetry from the Iliad to our modern day. Such heroines, apparently unknown to\nthe Pagan Arabs, were common in the early ages of Al-Islam as Ockley and Gibbon\nprove, and that the race is not extinct may be seen in my Pilgrimage (iii. 55)\nwhere the sister of Ibn Rumi resolved to take blood-revenge for her brother.\n\n[FN#183] And Solomon said, \"O nobles, which of you will bring me her throne ?\"\nA terrible genius (i.e. an If rit of the Jinn named Dhakwan or the notorious\nSakhr) said, \" I will bring it unto thee before thou arise from thy seat (of\njustice); for I am able to perform it, and may be trusted\" (Koran, xxvii.\n38-39). Balk\u00eds or Bilk\u00eds (says the Durrat al-Ghaww\u00e1s) daughter of Hoz\u00e1d bin\nSharhab\u00edl, twenty-second in the list of the rulers of Al- Yaman, according to\nsome murdered her husband, and became, by Moslem ignorance, the Biblical \"\nQueen of Sheba.\" The Abyssinians transfer her from Arabian Saba to Ethiopia and\nmake her the mother by Solomon of Menelek, their proto-monarch; thus claiming\nfor their royalties an antiquity compared with which all reigning houses in the\nworld are of yesterday. The dates of the Tab\u00e1bi'ah or Tobbas prove that the\nBilkis of history ruled Al-Yaman in the early Christian era.\n\n[FN#184] Arab. \"Fass,\" fiss or fuss; the gem set in a ring; also applied to a\nhillock rounded en cabochon. In The Nights it is used to signify \"a fine gem.\"\n\n[FN#185] This prominence of the glut\u00e6i muscles is always insisted upon, because\nit is supposed to promise well in a bed-fellow. In Somali-land, where the people\nare sub- steatopygous, a rich young man, who can afford such luxury, will have\nthe girls drawn up in line and choose her to wife who projects furthest behind\n\n[FN#186] The \"bull\" is only half mine.\n\n[FN#187] A favourite Arab phrase, the \"hot eye\" is one full of tears.\n\n[FN#188] i.e., \"Coral,\" coral branch, a favourite name for a slave-girl,\nespecially a negress. It is the older \"Morgiana.\" I do not see why Preston in\nAl-Har\u00edni's \"Makamah (S\u00e9ance) of Singar\" renders it pearls, because Golius\ngives \"small pearls,\" when it is evidently \"coral.\" Richardson (Dissert.\nxlviii.) seems to me justified in finding the Pari (fairy) Marjan of heroic\nPersian history reflected in the Fairy Morgain who earned off King Arthur after\nthe battle of Camelon.\n\n[FN#189] Arab. \"'Ud Jalaki\"=Jalak or Jalik being a poetical and almost obsolete\nname of Damascus.\n\n[FN#190] The fountain in Paradise whose water shall be drunk with \"pure\" wine\nmixed and sealed with musk (for clay). It is so called because it comes from\nthe \"Sanam\" (Sanima, to be high) boss or highest ridge of the Moslem Heaven\n(Koran lv. 78 and lxxxiii. 27). Mr. Rodwell says \"it is conveyed to the highest\napartments in the Pavilions of Paradise.\" (?)\n\n[FN#191] This \"hysterical\" temperament is not rare even amongst the bravest\nArabs.\n\n[FN#192] An idea evidently derived from the \u00c6olipyla (olla animatoria) the\ninvention of Hero Alexandrinus, which showed that the ancient Egyptians could\napply the motive force of steam.\n\n[FN#193] Kuthayyir ibn Abi Jumah, a poet and far-famed R\u00e1w\u00ed or Tale-reciter,\nmentioned by Ibn Khallikan he lived at Al-Medinah and sang the attractions of\none Azzah, hence his soubriquet S\u00e1hib (lover of) Azzah. As he died in A. H. 105\n(=726), his presence here is a gross anachronism the imaginary Sharrkan\nflourished before the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik bin Marw\u00e1n A. H. 65-86.\n\n[FN#194] Jam\u00edl bin Ma'amar, a poet and lover contemporary with\nAl-Kuthayrir.\n\n[FN#195] Arab. \"Tafazzal,\" a word of frequent use in conversation=\"favour me,\"\netc.\n\n[FN#196] The word has a long history. From the Gr. \u03c3\u03c4\u03af\u03bc\u03bc\u03b9 or \u03c3\u03c4\u03af\u03b2\u03b9 is the Lat.\nstibium; while the Low Latin \"antimonium\" and the Span. Althimod are by\nmetathesis for Al-Ithmid. The dictionaries define the substance as a stone from\nwhich antimony is prepared, but the Arabs understand a semi-mythical mineral of\nyellow colour which enters into the veins of the eyes and gives them Iynx-like\nvision. The famous Anz nicknamed Zark\u00e1 (the blue eyed) of Yam\u00e1mah (Province)\nused it; and, according to some, invented Kohl. When her (protohistoric) tribe\nJadis had destroyed all the rival race of Tasm, except Rib\u00e1h ibn Murrah; the\nsole survivor fled to the Tobba of Al-Yaman, who sent a host to avenge him. The\nking commanded his Himyarites to cut tree-boughs and use them as screens (again\nBirnam wood). Zark\u00e1 from her Utum, or peel-tower, saw the army three marches\noff and cried, \"O folk, either trees or Himyar are coming upon you!\" adding, in\nRajaz verse:\u2014\n\nI swear by Allah that trees creep onward, or that Himyar beareth somewhat which\nhe draweth along!\n\nShe then saw a man mending his sandal. But Jadis disbelieved; Cassandra was\nslain and, when her eyes were cut out the vessels were found full of Ithmid.\nHence Al-Mutanabbi sang:\n\n\"Sharper-sighted than Zark\u00e1 of Jau\" (Yam\u00e1mah).\n\nSee C. de Perceval i. 101; Arab. Prov. i. 192; and Chenery p. 381.\n(The Assemblies of Al-Hariri; London, Williams and Norgate, 1867).\nI have made many enquiries into the true nature of Ithmid and\nfailed to learn anything: on the Upper Nile the word is=Kohl.\n\n[FN#197] The general colour of chessmen in the East, where the game is played\non a cloth more often than a board.\n\n[FN#198] Arab. \"Al-fil,\" the elephant=the French fol or fou and our bishop. I\nhave derived \"elephant\" from P\u00edl (old Persian, Sansk. Pilu) and Arab. Fil, with\nthe article Al-Fil, whence the Greek \u1f10\u03bb\u03ad\u03c6\u03b1\u03c2 the suffix\u2014as being devoted to barbarous\nwords as Obod-as (Al Ubayd), Aretas (Al-H\u00e1ris), etc. Mr. Isaac Taylor (The\nAlphabet i. 169), preserves the old absurdity of \"eleph-ant or ox-like (!)\nbeast of Africa.\" Prof. Sayce finds the word al-ab (two distinct characters) in\nline 3, above the figure of an (Indian) elephant, on the black obelisk of\nNimrod Mound, and suggests an Assyrian derivation.\n\n[FN#199] Arab. \"Shaukat\" which may also mean the \"pride\" or \"mainstay\" (of the\narmy).\n\n[FN#200] Lit. \"smote him on the tendons of his neck.\" This is the famous\nshoulder-cut (Tawash shuh) which, with the leg-cut (Kalam), formed, and still\nforms, the staple of Eastern attack with the sword.\n\n[FN#201] Arab. \"Dir\u00e1s.\" Easterns do not thresh with flails. The material is\nstrewed over a round and smoothed floor of dried mud in the open air and\nthreshed by different connivances. In Egypt the favourite is a chair-like\nmachine called \"Norag,\" running on iron plates and drawn by bulls or cows over\nthe corn. Generally, however, Moslems prefer the old classical \u03a4\u03c1\u03af\u03b2\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd, the\nTribulum of Virgil and Varro, a slipper-shaped sled of wood garnished on the\nsole with large-headed iron nails, or sharp fragments of flint or basalt. Thus\nis made the \"Tibn\" or straw, the universal hay of the East, which our machines\ncannot imitate.\n\n[FN#202] These numbers appear to be grossly exaggerated, but they were possible\nin the days of sword and armour: at the battle of Saffayn the Caliph Ali is\nsaid to have cut down five hundred and twenty-three men in a single night.\n\n[FN#203] Arab. \"Bika'\u00e1\": hence the \"Buka'ah\" or C\u0153lesyria.\n\n[FN#204] Richardson in his excellent dictionary (note 103) which modern\npriggism finds \"unscientific \" wonderfully derives this word from Arab.\n\"Khatt\u00e1f,\" a snatcher (i.e. of women), a ravisher. It is an evident corruption\nof \"captivus\" through Italian and French\n\n[FN#205] These periodical and fair-like visitations to convents are still\ncustomary; especially amongst the Christians of Damascus.\n\n[FN#206] Camphor being then unknown.\n\n[FN#207] The \"wrecker\" is known all over the world; and not only barbarians\nhold that ships driven ashore become the property of the shore\n\n[FN#208] Arab. \"Jokh\": it is not a dictionary word, but the only term in\npopular use for European broadcloth.\n\n[FN#209] The second person plural is used because the writer would involve the\nsubjects of his correspondent in the matter.\n\n[FN#210] This part of the phrase, which may seem unnecessary to the European,\nis perfectly intelligible to all Orientalists. You may read many an Eastern\nletter and not understand it. Compare Boccacoo iv. 1.\n\n[FN#211] i.e. he was greatly agitated\n\n[FN#212] In text \"Li-ajal a al-Taudi'a,\" for the purpose of farewelling, a low\nEgyptianism; emphatically a \"Kal\u00e1m w\u00e1ti.\" (Pilgrimage iii. 330.)\n\n[FN#213] In the Mac. Edit. Sharrkan speaks, a clerical error.\n\n[FN#214] The Farsakh (Germ. Stunde) a measure of time rather than distance, is\nan hour's travel or its equivalent, a league, a meile=three English stat.\nmiles. The word is still used in Persia its true home, but not elsewhere. It is\nvery old, having been determined as a lineal measure of distance by Herodotus\n(ii. 5 and 6 ; v. 53), who computes it at 30 furlongs (=furrow-lengths, 8 to\nthe stat. mile). Strabo (xi.) makes it range from 40 to 60 stades (each=606\nfeet 9 inches), and even now it varies between 1,500 to 6,000 yards. Captain\nFrancklin (Tour to Persia) estimates it = about four miles. (Pilgrimage ii.\n113.)\n\n[FN#215] Arab. \"Ashhab.\" Names of colours are few amongst semi civilised\npeoples, but in Arabia there is a distinct word for every shade of horseflesh.\n\n[FN#216] She had already said to him \"Thou art beaten in everything!\"\n\n[FN#217] Showing that she was still a Christian.\n\n[FN#218] This is not Badawi sentiment: the honoratioren amongst wild people\nwould scorn such foul play; but amongst the settled Arabs honour between men\nand women is unknown and such \"hocussing\" would be held quite fair.\n\n[FN#219] The table of wine, in our day, is mostly a japanned tray with glasses\nand bottles, saucers of pickles and fruits and, perhaps, a bunch of flowers and\naromatic herbs. During the Caliphate the \"wine-service\" was on a larger scale.\n\n[FN#220] Here the \"Bhang\" (almost a generic term applied to hellebore, etc.)\nmay be hyoscyamus or henbane. Yet there are varieties of Cannabis, such as the\nDakha of South Africa capable of most violent effect. I found the use of the\ndrug well known to the negroes of the Southern United States and of the Brazil,\nalthough few of their owners had ever heard of it.\n\n[FN#221] Amongst Moslems this is a reference to Adam who first \"sinned against\nhimself,' and who therefore is called \" Saf\u00edyu'llah,\" the Pure of Allah.\n(Pilgrimage iii. 333.)\n\n[FN#222] Meaning, an angry, violent man.\n\n[FN#223] Arab. \"Insh\u00e1d,\" which may mean reciting the verse of another or\nimprovising one's own. In Modern Egypt \"Munshid\" is the singer or reciter of\npoetry at Zikrs (Lane M. E. chaps. xxiv.). Here the verses are quite bad enough\nto be improvised by the hapless Princess.\n\n[FN#224] The negro skin assumes this dust colour in cold, fear, concupiscence\nand other mental emotions.\n\n[FN#225] He compares her glance with the blade of a Yamani sword, a lieu commun\nof Eastern poetry. The weapons are famous in The Nights; but the best\nsword-cutlery came from Persia as the porcelain from China to Sana'\u00e1. Here,\nhowever, is especial allusion as to the sword \"Samsam\" or \"Samsamah.\" It\nbelonged to the Himyarite Tobba, Amru bin Ma'ad Kurb, and came into the hands\nof Harun al-Rashid. When the Emperor of the Greeks sent a present of superior\nsword-blades to him by way of a brave, the Caliph, in the presence of the\nEnvoys, took \"Samsam\" in hand and cut the others in twain as if they were\ncabbages without the least prejudice to the edge of \"Samsam.\"\n\n[FN#226] This touch of pathos is truly Arab. So in the \"Romance of Dalhamah\"\n(Lane, M. E. xxiii.) the infant Gundubah sucks the breast of its dead mother\nand the King exclaims, \"If she had committed this crime she would not be\naffording the child her milk after she was dead.\"\n\n[FN#227] Arab. \"Sadda'l-Akt\u00e1r,\" a term picturesque enough to be preserved in\nEnglish. \"Sadd,\" I have said, is a wall or dyke, the term applied to the great\ndam of water- plants which obstructs the navigation of the Upper Nile, the\nlilies and other growths floating with the current from the (Victoria) Nyanza\nLake. I may note that we need no longer derive from India the lotus-llily so\nextensively used by the Ancient Egyptians and so neglected by the moderns that\nit has well-nigh disappeared. All the Central African basins abound in the\nNymph\u00e6a and thence it found its way down the Nile Valley.\n\n[FN#228] Arab. \"Al Marh\u00famah\": equivalent to our \"late lamented.\"\n\n[FN#229] Vulgarly pronounced \"Mahmal,\" and by Egyptians and Turks \"Mehmel.\"\nLane (M. E. xxiv.) has figured this queenly litter and I have sketched and\ndescribed it in my Pilgrimage (iii. 12).\n\n[FN#230] For such fits of religious enthusiasm see my Pilgrimage (iii. 254).\n\n[FN#231] \"Ir\u00e1k\" (Mesopotamia) means \"a level country beside the banks of a\never.\"\n\n[FN#232] \"Al Kuds,\" or \"Bays al-Mukaddas,\" is still the popular name of\nJerusalem, from the Heb. Yerushalaim ha-Kadushah (legend on shekel of Simon\nMaccabeus).\n\n[FN#233] \"Follow the religion of Abraham\" says the Koran (chaps. iii. 89).\nAbraham, titled \"Khal\u00edlu'llah,\" ranks next in dignity to Mohammed, preceding\nIsa, I need hardly say that his tomb is not in Jerusalem nor is the tomb itself\nat Hebron ever visited. Here Moslems (soi disant) are allowed by the jealousies\nof Europe to close and conceal a place which belongs to the world, especially\nto Jews and Christians. The tombs, if they exist, lie in a vault or cave under\nthe Mosque.\n\n[FN#234] Ab\u00e1, or Ab\u00e1yah, vulg. Abayah, is a cloak of hair, goat's or camel's;\ntoo well known to require description.\n\n[FN#235] Arab. \"Al-Wakk\u00e1d,\" the man who lights and keeps up the bath-fires.\n\n[FN#236] Arab. \"M\u00e1 al-Khal\u00e1f\" (or \"Khil\u00e1f\") a sickly perfume but much prized,\nmade from the flowers of the Salix \u00c6gyptiaca.\n\n[FN#237] Used by way of soap; like glasswort and other plants.\n\n[FN#238] i.e., \"Thou art only just recovered.\"\n\n[FN#239] To \"Nakh\" is to gurgle \"Ikh! Ikh!\" till the camel kneels. Hence the\nspace called \"Barr al-Man\u00e1khah\" in Al-Medinah (Pilgrimage i. 222, ii. 91).\nThere is a regular camel vocabulary amongst the Arabs, made up like our \"Gee\"\n(go ye!), etc. of significant words worn down.\n\n[FN#240] Arab. \"Laza,\" the Second Hell provided for Jews.\n\n[FN#241] The word has been explained (vol. i. 112).[see Volume 1, note 199] It\nis trivial, not occurring in the Koran which uses \"Arabs of the Desert ;\"\n\"Arabs who dwell in tents,\" etc. (chaps. ix. and xxxiii.). \"A'ar\u00e1bi\" is the\nclassical word and the origin of \"Arab\" is disputed. According to Pocock (Not\u00e6\nSpec. Hist. Arab.): \"Diverse are the opinions concerning the denomination of\nthe Arabs; but the most certain of all is that which draws it from Arabah,\nwhich is part of the region of Tehama (belonging to Al-Medinah Pilgrimage ii.\n118), which their father Ismail afterwards inhabited.\" Tehamah (sierra\ncaliente) is the maritime region of Al Hijaz, the Moslems Holy Land; and its\n\"Arabah,\" a very small tract which named a very large tract, must not be\nconfounded, as some have done, with the Wady Arabah, the ancient outlet of the\nDead Sea. The derivation of \"Arab\" from \"Ya'arab\" a fancied son of Joktan is\nmythological. In Heb. Arabia may be called \"Eretz Ereb\" (or \"Arab\")=land of the\nWest; but in Arabic \"Gharb\" (not Ereb) is the Occident and the Arab dates long\nbefore the Hebrew.\n\n[FN#242] \"When thine enemy extends his hand to thee, cut it off if thou can, or\nkiss it,\" wisely said Caliph al-Mansur.\n\n[FN#243] The Tartur was a peculiar turban worn by the Northern Arabs and shown\nin old prints. In modern Egypt the term is applied to the tall sugar-loaf caps\nof felt affected mostly by regular Dervishes. Burckhardt (Proverbs 194 and 398)\nmakes it the high cap of felt or fur proper to the irregular cavalry called\nDely or Delaty. In Dar For (Darfour) \"Tartur\" is a conical cap adorned with\nbeads and cowries worn by the Manghwah or buffoon who corresponds with the\nEgyptian \"Khalb\u00fas\" or \"Maskharah\" and the Turkish \"Sutari.\" For an illustration\nsee Plate iv. fig. 10 of Voyage au Darfour par Mohammed El Tounsy (The\nTunisian), Paris, Duprat, 1845.\n\n[FN#244] The term is picturesque and true; we say \"gnaw,\" which is not so good.\n\n[FN#245] Here, meaning an Elder, a Chief, etc.; the word has been almost\nnaturalised in English. I have noted that Abraham was the first \"Shaykh.\"\n\n[FN#246] This mention of weighing suggests the dust of Dean Swift and the money\nof the Gold Coast It was done, I have said, because the gold coin, besides\nbeing \"sweated\" was soft and was soon worn down.\n\n[FN#247] Fem. of N\u00e1j\u00ed (a deliverer, a saviour)=Salvadora.\n\n[FN#248] This, I have noted, is according to Koranic command (chaps. iv. 88).\n\"When you are saluted with a salutation, salute the person with a better\nsalutation.\" The longer answer to \"Peace be with (or upon) thee! \" is still\nuniversally the custom. The \"Salem\" is so differently pronounced by every\nEastern nation that the observant traveller will easily make of it a\nShibboleth.\n\n[FN#249] The Badawi, who was fool as well as rogue, begins to fear that he has\nkidnapped a girl of family.\n\n[FN#250] These examinations being very indecent are usually done in strictest\nprivacy. The great point is to make sure of virginity.\n\n[FN#251] This is according to strict Moslem law: the purchaser may not look at\nthe girl's nakedness till she is his, and he ought to manage matters through an\nold woman.\n\n[FN#252] Lit. wrath; affliction which chokes; in Hindustani it means simply\nanger.\n\n[FN#253] i.e. Heaven forbid I be touched by a strange man.\n\n[FN#254] Used for fuel and other purposes, such as making \"doss stick.\"\n\n[FN#255] Arab \"Yaftah'Allah\" the offer being insufficient. The rascal is greedy\nas a Badaw and moreover he is a liar, which the Badawi is not.\n\n[FN#256] The third of the four great Moslem schools of Theology, taking its\nname from the Imam al-Sh\u00e1fi'\u00ed (Mohammed ibn Idr\u00eds) who died in Egypt A.H. 204,\nand lies buried near Cairo. (Sale's Prel. Disc. sect. viii.)\n\n[FN#257] The Moslem form of Cabbala, or transcendental philosophy of the\nHebrews.\n\n[FN#258] Arab. \"Bakh\" the word used by the Apostle to Ali his son-in-law. It is\nthe Latin \"Euge.\"\n\n[FN#259] Readers, who read for amusement, will do well to \"skip\" the fada\u00efses\nof this highly educated young woman.\n\n[FN#260] There are three Persian Kings of this name (Artaxerxes)\nwhich means \"Flour and milk,\" or \"high lion.\" The text alludes to\nArdeshir Babegan, so called because he married the daughter of\nBabak the shepherd, founder of the Sassanides in A.D. 202. See\nD,Herberot, and the Dabistan.\n\n[FN#261] Alluding to the proverb, \"Folk follow their King's faith,\"\n\"Cujus regio ejus religio\" etc.\n\n[FN#262] Second Abbaside, A.H. 136-158 (=754-775).\n\n[FN#263] The celebrated companion of Mohammed who succeeded Abu Bakr in the\nCaliphate (A.H. 13-23=634-644). The Sunnis know him as Al-Adil the Just, and\nthe Shiahs detest him for his usurpation, his austerity and harshness. It is\nsaid that he laughed once and wept once. The laugh was caused by recollecting\nhow he ate his dough-gods (the idols of the Hanifah tribe) in The Ignorance.\nThe tears were drawn by remembering how he buried alive his baby daughter who,\nwhile the grave was being dug, patted away the dust from his hair and beard.\nOmar was doubtless a great man, but he is one of the most ungenial figures in\nMoslem history which does not abound in genialities. To me he suggests a\nPuritan, a Covenanter of the sourest and narrowest type; and I cannot wonder\nthat the Persians abhor him, and abuse him on all occasions.\n\n[FN#264] The austere Caliph Omar whose scourge was more feared than the sword\nwas the - author of the celebrated saying \"Consult them (feminines) and do\nclear contrary-wise.\"\n\n[FN#265] Our \"honour amongst thieves.\"\n\n[FN#266] The sixth successor of Mohammed and founder of the Banu Umayyah or\nOmmiades, called the \"sons of the little mother\" from their eponymus (A.H.\n41-60=661-680). For his Badawi wife Maysun, and her abuse of her husband, see\nPilgrimage iii. 262.\n\n[FN#267] Shaykh of the noble tribe, or rather nation, Banu Tam\u00edm and a notable\nof the day, surnamed, no one knows why, \"Sire of the Sea.\"\n\n[FN#268] This is essential for cleanliness in hot lands: however much the bath\nmay be used, the body-pile and lower hair, if submitted to a microscope, will\nshow more or less sordes adherent. The axilla-hair is plucked because if shaved\nthe growing pile causes itching and the depilatories are held deleterious. At\nfirst vellication is painful but the skin becomes used to it. The pecten is\nshaved either without or after using depilatories, of which more presently. The\nbody-pile is removed by \"Takhf\u00edf\"; the Lib\u00e1n Sh\u00e1mi (Syrian incense), a fir- gum\nimported from Scio, is melted and allowed to cool in the form of a pledget.\nThis is passed over the face and all the down adhering to it is pulled up by\nthe roots (Burckhardt No. 420). Not a few Anglo-Indians have adopted these\nprecautions\n\n[FN#269] This Caliph was a tall, fair, handsome man of awe-inspiring aspect.\nOmar used to look at him and say, \"This is the C\u00e6sar of the Arabs,\" while his\nwife called him a \"fatted ass.\"\n\n[FN#270] The saying is attributed to Abraham when \"exercised\" by the unkindly\ntemper of Sarah; \"woman is made hard and crooked like a rib;\" and the modern\naddition is, \"whoso would straighten her, breaketh her.\"\n\n[FN#271] i.e. \"When ready and in erection.\"\n\n[FN#272] \"And do first (before going in to your wives) some act which may be\nprofitable unto your souls\" or, for you: soul's good. (Koran, chaps. ii. 223.)\nHence Ahnaf makes this prayer.\n\n[FN#273] It was popularly said that \"Truth-speaking left Omar without a\nfriend.\" Entitled \"The Just\" he was murdered by Abu L\u00fal\u00faah, alias F\u00edr\u00faz, a\n(Magian ?) slave of Al-Magh\u00edrah for denying him justice.\n\n[FN#274] Governor of Bassorah under the first four Caliphs. See\nD'Herbelot s.v. \"Asch\u00e1ri.\"\n\n[FN#275] Ziyad bin Abi Sufyan, illegitimate brother of the Caliph\nMu'awiyah afterwards governor of Bassorah, Cufa and Al-Hijaz.\n\n[FN#276] The seditions in Kufah were mainly caused by the wilful nepotism of\nCaliph Othman bin As\u00e1kir which at last brought about his death. His main\nquality seems to have been personal beauty: \"never was seen man or woman of\nfairer face than he and he was the most comely of men:\" he was especially famed\nfor beautiful teeth which in old age he bound about with gold wire. He is\ndescribed as of middling stature, large- limbed, broad shouldered, fleshy of\nthigh and long in the fore-arm which was hairy. His face inclined to yellow and\nwas pock-marked; his beard was full and his curly hair, which he dyed yellow,\nfell below his ears. He is called \"writer of the Koran\" from his edition of the\nM.S., and \"Lord of the two Lights\" because he married two of the Prophet's\ndaughters, Rukayyah and Umm Kulthum; and, according to the Shi'ahs who call him\nOthman-i-Lang or\" limping Othman,\" he vilely maltreated them. They justify his\ndeath as the act of an Ijm\u00e1' al-Muslim\u00edn, the general consensus of Moslems\nwhich ratifies \"Lynch law.\" Altogether Othman is a mean figure in history.\n\n[FN#277] \"N\u00e1r\" (fire) is a word to be used delicately from its connection with\nGehenna. You say, e.g. \"bring me a light, a coal (bassah)\" etc.; but if you say\n\"bring me fire! \" the enemy will probably remark \"He wanteth fire even before\nhis time!\" The slang expression would be \"bring the sweet.\" (Pilgrimage i.\n121.)\n\n[FN#278] Omar is described as a man of fair complexion, and very ruddy, but he\nwaxed tawny with age, when he also became bald and grey. He had little hair on\nthe cheeks but a long mustachio with reddish ends. In stature he overtopped the\npeople and was stout as he was tall. A popular saying of Mohammed's is, \"All\n(very) long men are fools save Omar, and all (very) short men are knaves save\nAli.\" The Persians, who abhor Omar, compare every lengthy, ungainly, longsome\nthing with him; they will say, \"This road never ends, like the entrails of\nOmar.\" We know little about Ali's appearance except that he was very short and\nstout, broad and full-bellied with a tawny complexion and exceedingly hairy,\nhis long beard, white as cotton, filling all the space between his shoulders.\nHe was a \"pocket. Hercules,\" and incredible tales, like that about the gates of\nKhaybar, are told of his strength. Lastly, he was the only Caliph who\nbequeathed anything to literature: his \"Cantiloquium\" is famous and he has left\nmore than one mystical and prophetic work. See Ockley for his \"Sentences\" and\nD'Herbelot s. D. \"Ali\" and \"Gebr.\" Ali is a noble figure in Moslem history.\n\n[FN#279] The emancipation from the consequences of his sins; or it may mean a\nholy death.\n\n[FN#280] Battle fought near Al-Medinah A.D. 625. The word is derived from\n\"shad\" (one). I have described the site in my Pilgrimage, (vol. ii. 227).\n\n[FN#281] \"Haphsa\" in older writers; Omar's daughter and one of Mohammed's\nwives, famous for her connection with the manuscripts of the Koran. From her\nwere (or claimed to be) descended the Hafsites who reigned in Tunis and\nextended their power far and wide over the Maghrib (Mauritania), till\ndispossessed by the Turks.\n\n[FN#282] i.e. humbly without the usual strut or swim: it corresponds with the\nbiblical walking or going softly. (I Kings xxi. 27; Isaiah xxxviii. 15, etc.)\n\n[FN#283] A theologian of the seventh and eighth centuries.\n\n[FN#284] i.e. to prepare himself by good works, especially alms-giving, for the\nnext world.\n\n[FN#285] A theologian of the eighth century.\n\n[FN#286] Abd al-Aziz was eighth Ommiade (regn. A.H. 99=717) and the fifth of\nthe orthodox, famed for a piety little known to his house. His most celebrated\nsaying was, \" Be constant in meditation on death: if thou bein straitened case\n'twill enlarge it, and if in affluence 'twill straiten it upon thee.\" He died.\npoisoned, it is said, in A.H 101,\n\n[FN#287] Abu Bakr originally called Abd al-Ka'abah (slave of the Ka'abah) took\nthe name of Abdullah and was surnamed Abu Bakr (father of the virgin) when\nMohammed, who before had married only widows, took to wife his daughter, the\nfamous or infamous Ayishah. \"Bikr\" is the usual form, but \"Bakr,\" primarily\nmeaning a young camel, is metaphorically applied to human youth (Lane's Lex. s.\nc.). The first Caliph was a cloth-merchant, like many of the Meccan chiefs. He\nis described as very fair with bulging brow, deep set eyes and thin-checked, of\nslender build and lean loined, stooping and with the backs of his hands\nfleshless. He used tinctures of Henna and Katam for his beard. The Persians who\nhate him, call him \"Pir-i-Kaft\u00e1r,\" the old she-hyaena, and believe that he\nwanders about the deserts of Arabia in perpetual rut which the males must\nsatisfy.\n\n[FN#288] The second, fifth, sixth and seventh Ommiades.\n\n[FN#289] The mother of Omar bin Abd al-Aziz was a granddaughter of\nOmar bin al-Khattab.\n\n[FN#290] Brother of this Omar's successor, Yezid II.\n\n[FN#291] So the Turkish proverb \"The fish begins to stink at the head.\"\n\n[FN#292] Calling to the slaves.\n\n[FN#293] When the \"Day of Arafat\" (9th of Z\u00fa'l-Hijjah) falls upon a Friday. For\nthis Hajj al- Akbar see my Pilgrimage iii. 226. It is often confounded by\nwriters (even by the learned M. Caussin de Perceval) with the common Pilgrimage\nas opposed to the Umrah, or \" Lesser Pilgrimage\" (ibid. iii. 342, etc.). The\nlatter means etymologically cohabiting with a woman in her father's house as\nopposed to 'Ars or leading her to the husband's home: it is applied to visiting\nMeccah and going through all the pilgrim-rites but not at the\nPilgrimage-season. Hence its title \"Hajj al-Asghar\" the \"Lesser Hajj.\" But\n\"Umrah\" is also applied to a certain ceremony between the hills Saf\u00e1 (a large\nhard rock) and Marwah (stone full of flints), which accompanies the Hajj and\nwhich I have described (ibid. iii. 344). At Meccah I also heard of two places\ncalled Al-Umrah, the Greater in the Wady F\u00e1timah and the Lesser half way nearer\nthe city (ibid. iii. 344).\n\n[FN#294] A fair specimen of the unworthy egoism which all religious systems\nvirtually inculcate Here a pious father leaves his children miserable to save\nhis own dirty soul.\n\n[FN#295] Chief of the Ban\u00fa Tam\u00edn, one of the noblest of tribes, derived from\nTam\u00edm, the uncle of Kuraysh (Koreish); hence the poets sang:\u2014\n\n     There cannot be a son nobler than Kuraysh,\n     Nor an uncle nobler than Tam\u00edm.\n\nThe high minded Tam\u00edn is contrasted with the mean-spirited Kays, who also gave\nrise to a tribe; and hence the saying concerning one absolutely inconsistent,\n\"Art thou now Tam\u00edn and then Kays?\"\n\n[FN#296] Surnamed Al-Sakafi, Governor of Al-Yaman and Irak.\n\n[FN#297] Tenth Ommiade (regn. A H. 105-125 = 724-743).\n\n[FN#298] Or \"clothe thee in worn-out clothes\" i.e. \"Become a Fakir\" or\nreligious mendicant.\n\n[FN#299] This gratuitous incest in ignorance injures the tale and is as\nrepugnant to Moslem as to Christian taste.\n\n[FN#300] The child is named either on the day of its birth or on that day week.\nThe father whispers it in the right ear, often adding the Az\u00e1n or prayer-call,\nand repeating in the left ear the \"Ik\u00e1mah\" or Friday sentence. There are many\nrules for choosing names according to the week-day, the ascendant planet, the\n\"Sortes Coranic\u00e6,\" etc.\n\n[FN#301] Amongst Moslems as amongst Christians there are seven deadly sins:\nidolatry, murder, falsely charging modest women with unchastity, robbing\norphans, usury, desertion in Holy War and disobedience to parents. The\ndifference between the two creeds is noteworthy. And the sage knows only three,\nintemperance, ignorance and egoism.\n\n[FN#302] Meaning, \"It was decreed by Destiny; so it came to pass,\" appropriate\nif not neat.\n\n[FN#303] The short, stout, dark, long-haired and two-bunched camel from\n\"Bukhtar\" (Bactria), the \"Eastern\" (Bakhtar) region on the Amu or Jayhun (Oxus)\nRiver; afterwards called Khorasan. The two-humped camel is never seen in Arabia\nexcept with northern caravans, and to speak of it would be a sore test of\nBadawi credulity.\n\n[FN#304] \"Kayl\u00falah\" is the \"forty-winks\" about noon: it is a Sunnat or Practice\nof the Prophet who said, \"Make the mid-day siesta, for verily at this hour the\ndevils sleep not.\" \"Ayl\u00falain\" is slumbering after morning prayers (our\n\"beauty-sleep\"), causing heaviness andid leness: \"Ghayl\u00falah\" is dozing about 9\na.m. engendering poverty and wretchedness: \"Kayl\u00falah\" (with the guttural Kaf)\nis sleeping before evening prayers and \"Fayl\u00falah\" is slumbering after\nsunset\u2014both held to be highly detrimental. (Pilgrimage ii 49.)\n\n[FN#305] The Biblical \"Hamath\" (Hightown) too well known to require\ndescription. It is still famous for the water-wheels mentioned by al-Hariri\n(assembly of the Banu Har\u00e1m).\n\n[FN#306] When they say, \"The leven flashes bright on the hills of\nAl-Yaman,\" the allusion is to the south quarter, where\nsummer-lightning is seen. Al-Yaman (always with the article) means,\nI have said, the right-hand region to one facing the rising sun and\nAl-Sham (Syria) the left-hand region.\n\n[FN#307] Again \"he\" for \"she,\" in delicacy and jealousy of making public the\nbeauty or conditions of the \"veiled sex.\" Even public singers would hesitate to\nuse a feminine pronoun. As will be seen however, the rule is not invariably\nkept and hardly ever in Badawi poetry.\n\n[FN#308] The normal pun on \"Nuzhat al-Zaman\" = Delight of the Age or Time.\n\n[FN#309] The reader will find in my Pilgrimage (i. 305) a sketch of the\nTakht-rawan or travelling-litter, in which pilgrimesses are wont to sleep.\n\n[FN#310] In poetry it holds the place of our Zephyr; end the \"B\u00e1d-\ni-Sab\u00e1\"=Breeze o' the morn, Is much addressed by Persian poets.\n\n[FN#311] Here appears the nervous, excitable, hysterical Arab temperament which\nis almost phrensied by the neighbourhood of a home from which he had run away.\n\n[FN#312] Zau al-Makan and Nuzhat al-Zaman.\n\n[FN#313] The idea is essentially Eastern, \"A lion at home and a lamb abroad\" is\nthe popular saying.\n\n[FN#314] Arab. \"Hubb al-Watan\" (= love of birthplace, patriotism) of which the\nTradition says \"Min al-Im\u00e1n\" (=is part of man's religion).\n\n[FN#315] He is supposed to speak en prince; and he yields to a prayer when he\nspurns a command.\n\n[FN#316] In such caravans each party must keep its own place under pain of\ngetting into trouble with the watchmen and guards.\n\n[FN#317] Mr. Payne (ii. 109) borrows this and the next quotation from the Bull\nEdit. i. 386.\n\n[FN#318] For the expiation of inconsiderate oaths see Koran (chaps. v.). I\ncannot but think that Al-Islam treats perjury too lightly: all we can say\nis-that it improves upon Hinduism which practically seems to leave the\npunishment to the gods.\n\n[FN#319] \"Kausar,\" as has been said, represents the classical nectar, the\nAmrita of the Hindus.\n\n[FN#320] From Bull Edit. i. 186. The couplet in the Mac. Edit. i. 457 is very\nwildly applied.\n\n[FN#321] The \"insula\" of Sancho Panza.\n\n[FN#322] This should have assured him that he stood in no danger.\n\n[FN#323] Here ends the wearisome tale of the brother and sister, and the\nromance of chivalry begins once more with the usual Arab digressions.\n\n[FN#324] I have derived this word from the Persian \"rang\"=colour, hue, kind.\n\n[FN#325] Otherwise all would be superseded, like U. S. officials under a new\nPresident.\n\n[FN#326] Arab. \"N\u00edmshah\" from the Pers. N\u00edmchah, a \"half-sword,\" a long dagger\nworn in the belt. Richardson derives it from Namsh, being freckled (damasked).\n\n[FN#327] The Indian term for a tent large enough to cover a troop of cavalry.\n\n[FN#328] Arab. \"Marh\u00fam\" a formula before noticed. It is borrowed from the\nJewish, \"of blessed memory\" (after the name of the honoured dead, Prov. x.\n17.); with the addition of \"upon whom be peace,\" as opposed to the imprecation,\n\"May the name of the wicked rot!\"\n\n[FN#329] The speeches of the five damsels should be read only by students.\n\n[FN#330] i.e. Those who look for \"another and a better.\"\n\n[FN#331] The title of Caliph Abu Bakr because he bore truthful witness to the\nApostle's mission or, others say, he confirmed the \"Mi'r\u00e1j\" or nocturnal\njourney to Heaven.\n\n[FN#332] All this is Koranic (chaps. ii., etc.).\n\n[FN#333] This may have applied more than once to \"hanging judges\" in the Far\nWest.\n\n[FN#334] A traditionist and jurisconsult of Al-Medinah in the seventh and\neighth centuries.\n\n[FN#335] The Alexander of the Koran and Eastern legends, not to be confounded\nwith the Alexander of Macedon. He will be noticed in a future Night.\n\n[FN#336] \u00c6sop, according to the Arabs: of him or rather of the two\nLukmans, more presently.\n\n[FN#337] Koran ii. 185.\n\n[FN#338] Mohammed.\n\n[FN#339] One of the Ash\u00e1b or Companions of Mohammed.\n\n[FN#340] A noted traditionist at Cufa in the seventh century.\n\n[FN#341] Koran, chaps. lxxiv. I (and verse 8 follows). The Archangel Gabriel is\nsupposed to address Mohammed and not a few divines believe this Surah (chapter)\nto have been first revealed. Mr. Rodwell makes it No. ii. following the Fatrah\nor silent interval which succeeded No. xcvi. \"Clots of Blood.\" See his 2nd\nEdit. p. 3 for further details.\n\n[FN#342] i.e. dangerous to soul-health.\n\n[FN#343] In the Mac. Edit. \"Abd\" for \"Sa'id.\" The latter was a black and a\nnative of Cufa during the first century (A.H ) and is still famous as a\ntraditionist.\n\n[FN#344] Arab. \"Shirk,\" giving a partner to Allah, attending chiefly to\nChristians and idolaters and in a minor degree to Jews and Guebres. We usually\nEnglish it by \"polytheism,\" which is clumsy and conveys a wrong idea\n\n[FN#345] Grandson of the Caliph Ali. He is one of the Imams\n(High-priests) of the Shi'ah school.\n\n[FN#346] An eminent traditionist of the eighth century (A.D.).\n\n[FN#347] The prayers of the Fast-month and Pilgrimage-month are often said in\nespecial places outside the towns and cities; these are the Indian Id(Eed-)g\u00e1h.\nThey have a screen of wall about a hundred yards long with a central\nprayer-niche and the normal three steps for the preacher; and each extremity is\ngarnished with an imitation minaret. They are also called Nam\u00e1z-gah and one is\nsketched by Herklots (Plate iii. fig. 2). The object of the trips thither in\nZu'l-Ka'adah and Zu'l-Hijjah is to remind Moslems of the \"Ta'ar\u00edf,\" or going\nforth from Meccah to Mount Arafat.\n\n[FN#348] Arab. \"Al-H\u00e1fi,\" which in Egyptian means sore-footed as well. He was\nan ascetic of the eighth and ninth centuries (A.D.). He relates a tradition of\nthe famous soldier saint Kh\u00e1lid bin Wal\u00edd who lies buried like the poet Ka'ab\nal-Ahb\u00e1r near Hums (Emessa) once the B\u0153otia, Phrygia, Abdera, Suabia of Syria\nnow Halbun (pronounced Halb\u00e1un) near Damascus. I cannot explain how this\nKuraysh noble (a glorious figure in Moslem history) is claimed by the Afghans\nas one of their countrymen and made to speak Pukhtu or Pushtu, their rough old\ndialect of Persian. The curious reader will consult my Pilgrimage iii. 322 for\nthe dialogue between Mohammed and Khalid. Again there is general belief in\nArabia that the English sent a mission to the Prophet, praying that Khalid\nmight be despatched to proselytise them: unfortunately Mohammed was dead and\nthe \"Ingr\u00edz\" ratted. It is popularly held that no armed man can approach\nKhalid's grave; but I suppose my revolver did not count.\n\n[FN#349] When he must again wash before continuing prayer.\n\n[FN#350] Bin Adham; another noted ascetic of the eighth century.\nThose curious about these unimportant names will consult the great\nBiographical Dictionary of Ibn Khallikan, translated by Baron\nMacGuckin de Slane (1842-45).\n\n[FN#351] Thus making Bishr the \"Im\u00e1m\" (artistes) lit. one who stands in front.\nIn Koran xvii. 74 it means \"leader\": in ii. 118 Allah makes Abraham an \"Imam to\nmankind.\"\n\n[FN#352] A favourite sentiment in the East: we find it at the very beginning of\nSa'di's Gulistan: better a weal-bringing lie than a harm-dealing truth.\n\n[FN#353] A penny, one sixth of the drachma.\n\n[FN#354] Founder of the Hanbali, fourth (in date) of the four orthodox Moslem\nschools. The Caliph al-Mu'atasim bi'llah, son of Harun al-Rashid, who believed\nthe Koran to have been created and not a Logos (whatever that may be),\nco-eternal with Allah, scourged this Imam severely for \"differing in opinion\"\n(A.H. 220=833). In fact few of the notable reverends of that day escaped\nwithout a caress of the scourge or the sword.\n\n[FN#355] A learned man of the eighth century at Bassorah (A.D.).\n\n[FN#356] A traditionist of Khorasan in the ninth century (A.D.).\n\n[FN#357] \"Azal,\" opp. to \"Abad,\" eternity without end, infinity.\n\n[FN#358] Koran lxvi. 6.\n\n[FN#359] A traditionist of Al-Medinah, eighth century (A.D.).\n\n[FN#360] Arab. \"M\u00fas\u00e1\": the Egyptian word was \"Mesu,\" the \"child\" or the \"boy\"\n(brought up in the palace?), and the Hebrews made it \"Mosheh\" or \"one drawn out\nof the water;\" \"Mu\" in Egypt being water, the Arab \"Ma\"; whence probably the\nmoderns have derived the dim. \"Moyeh ,\" vulg. Egyptian for water.\n\n[FN#361] Koran, chaps. xxviii.: Shu'ayb is our Jethro: Koran, chaps. vii. and\nxi. Mr. Rodwell suggests (p. 101) that the name has been altered from Hobab\n(Numb. x. 29).\n\n[FN#362] Arab. \"Taub\" (Saub), the long shirt popularly written in English Tobe\nand pronounced so by Egyptians. It is worn by both sexes (Lane, M. E. chaps. i.\n\"Tob\") in Egypt, and extends into the heart of Moslem Africa: I can compare it\nwith nothing but a long nightgown dyed a dirty yellow by safflower and about as\npicturesque as a carter's smock-frock.\n\n[FN#363] There is nothing of this in the Koran; and it is a most unhappy\naddition, as Moses utterly and pretentiously ignored a \"next world.\"\n\n[FN#364] Koran xxviii. 22-27. Mohammed evidently confounded the contract\nbetween Laban and Jacob. (Gen. xxix. 15-39.)\n\n[FN#365] So says Al-Hariri (Ass. of Sasan), \"The neighbour before the house and\nthe traveller before the journey.\" In certain cities the neighbourhood is the\nreal detective police, noting every action and abating scandals (such as\norgies, etc.) with a strong hand and with the full consent of public opinion\nand of the authorities. This loving the neighbour shows evident signs of being\nborrowed from Christianity.\n\n[FN#366] Al-Asamm a theologian of Balkh, ninth century (A.D.).\n\n[FN#367] The founder of the Senior School, for which see Sale Prel.\nDisc. sect. viii.\n\n[FN#368] Thus serving the Lord by sinning against his own body.\n\n[FN#369] An Egyptian doctor of the law (ninth century).\n\n[FN#370] Koran lxxvii. 35, 36. This is one of the earliest and most poetical\nchapters of the book.\n\n[FN#371] Abu Hanifah was scourged for refusing to take office and was put to\ndeath in prison, it is said by poison (A.H. 150=A.D. 767), for a judicial\nsentence authorising rebellion against the second Abbaside, Al-Mansur, surnamed\nAbu'l-Daw\u00e1nik (Father of Pence) for his exceeding avarice.\n\n[FN#372] \"L\u00e1 rayba f\u00ed-hi\" says the Koran (ii. 1) of itself; and the saying is\npopularly applied to all things of the Faith.\n\n[FN#373] Arab. \"Riv\u00e1l al-Ghayb,\" somewhat like the \"Himalayan Brothers\" of\nmodern superstition. See Herklots (Qanoon-e-Islam) for a long and careful\ndescription of these \"Mard\u00e1n-i-Ghayb\" (Pers.), a \"class of people mounted on\nclouds,\" invisible, but moving in a circular orbit round the world, and\nsuggesting the Hindu \"Lokap\u00e1las.\" They should not be in front of the traveller\nnor on his right, but either behind or on his left hand. Hence tables, memorial\ncouplets and hemistichs are required to ascertain the station, without which\nprecaution journeys are apt to end badly.\n\n[FN#374] A sweetmeat before noticed.\n\n[FN#375] Door hinges in the east are two projections for the top and bottom of\nthe leaf playing in hollows of the lintel and threshold. It appears to be the\nprimitive form, for we find it in the very heart of Africa. In the basaltic\ncities of the Hauran, where the doors are of thick stone, they move easily on\nthese pins. I found them also in the official (not the temple)City of Palmyra,\nbut all broken.\n\n[FN#376] The effect of the poison and of the incantation which accompanied it.\n\n[FN#377] King Omar who had raped her. My sympathies are all with the old woman\nwho nightly punished the royal lecher.\n\n[FN#378] Arab. \"Zunn\u00e1r,\" the Gr. . Christians and Jews were compelled by\nthe fanatical sumptuary laws of the Caliph Al- Mutawakkil (AD. 856) to wear a\nbroad leather belt in public, hence it became a badge of the Faith. Probably it\nwas confounded with the \"Janeo\" (Brahmanical thread) and the Parsi sacred\ngirdle called Kashti. (Dabistan i, 297, etc.). Both Mandeville and La\nBrocqui\u00e8re speak of \"Christians of the Girdle, because they are all girt\nabove,\" intending Jacobites or Nestorians.\n\n[FN#379] \"Sil\u00e1h d\u00e1r\" (Arab. and Pers.)=a military officer of high rank;\nliterally an \"armour-bearer,\" chosen for velour and trustworthiness. So\nJonathan had a \"young man\" (brave) who bare his armour (I Sam. xiv. 1, 6 and\n7); and Goliath had a man that bare the shield before him (ibid. xvii. 7, 41).\nMen will not readily forget the name of Sulayman Agha, called the Silahdar, in\nEgypt. (Lane M. E. chaps. iv.)\n\n[FN#380] It will be told afterwards.\n\n[FN#381] The elder brother thus showed himself a vassal and proved himself a\ngood Moslem by not having recourse to civil war.\n\n[FN#382] Arab. \"Ghazwah,\" the corrupt Gallicism, now\nEuropeanised=raid, foray.\n\n[FN#383] Turk in modern parlance means a Turkoman, a pomade: the settled people\ncall themselves Osmanli or Othmanli. Turkoman=Turk- like.\n\n[FN#384] Arab. \"Nims\u00e1;\" southern Germans, Austrians; from the Slav. \"Nemica\"\n(any Germans), literally meaning \"The dumb\" (nemac), because they cannot speak\nSlav.\n\n[FN#385] Arab. \"Dub\u00e1r\u00e1\" from the Slav. \"Dubrovnik,\" from \"Dub\" (an oak) and\n\"Dubrava\" (an oak forest). Ragusa, once a rival of Venice, gave rise to the\nword \"Argosy.\" D'Herbelot calls it \"Dobravenedik\" or \"Good Venice,\" the Turkish\nname, because it paid tribute when Venice would not (?).\n\n[FN#386] Arab. \"Jawarnah,\" or, \"J\u00farnah\" evidently Zara, a place of many names,\nJadera (Hirtius de Bell. Alex. cap. 13), Jadra, Zadra (whence the modern term),\nDiadora, Diadosca and Jadrossa. This important Liburnian city sent forth many\ncruisers in crusading days; hence the Arabs came to know its name.\n\n[FN#387] Arab. \"Banu'l-Asfar;\" which may mean \"Pale faces,\" in the sense of\n\"yeller girls\" (New Orleans) and that intended by North American Indians, or,\npossibly, the peoples with yellow (or rather tow-coloured) hair we now call\nRussians. The races of Hindostan term the English not \"white men,\" but \"red\nmen;\" and the reason will at once be seen by comparing a Britisher with a\nhigh-caste N\u00e1gar Brahman whose face is of parchment colour as if he had drunk\nexsangue cuminum. The Yellow-faces of the text correspond with the Sansk.\n\"Svetadvipa\"\u2014Whiteman's Land.\n\n[FN#388] Arab. \"Al-Musakhkham.\" No Moslem believes that Isa was crucified and a\nfavourite fancy is that Judas, changed to the likeness of Jesus, thus paid for\nhis treason. (Evangel. Barnab\u00e6.) Hence the resurrection is called not \"Kiy\u00e1mah\"\nbut \"Kum\u00e1mah\"=rubbish. This heresy about the Cross they share with the Docetes,\n\"certain beasts in the shape of men\" (says Ignatius), who held that a phantom\nwas crucified. So far the Moslems are logical, for \"Isa,\" being angelically,\nmiraculously and immaculately conceived, could not be; but they contradict\nthemselves when they hold a vacant place near Mohammed's tomb for the body of\nIsa after his second coming as a forerunner to Mohammed and Doomday.\n(Pilgrimage ii. 89.)\n\n[FN#389] A diviner, priest, esp. Jewish, and not belonging to the tribe of\nLevi.\n\n[FN#390] Again the coarsest word \"Khara.\" The allusion is to the\nvulgar saying, \"Thou eatest skite!\" (i.e. thou talkest nonsense).\nDecent English writers modify this to, \"Thou eatest dirt:\" and Lord\nBeaconsfield made it ridiculous by turning it into \"eating sand.\"\n\n[FN#391] These silly scandals, which cause us only to smile, excite\nEasterns to fury. I have seen a Moslem wild with rage on hearing a\nChristian parody the opening words of the Koran, \"Bismillahi 'l-\nRahm\u00e1ni 'l-Rah\u00edm, Mismish wa Kamar al-din,\" roughly translated,\n\n\"In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! Apricots and\nmarmalede.\" The idea of the Holy Merde might have been suggested by the\nHindus: see Mandeville, of the archiprotopapaton (prelate) carrying ox-dung\nand urine to the King, who therewith anoints his brow and breast, &c. And,\nincredible to relate, this is still practised after a fashion by the Parsis,\none of the most progressive and the sharpest witted of Asiatic races.\n\n[FN#392] Meaning that he had marked his brow with a cross (of ashes?) as\ncertain do on Ash Wednesday.\n\n[FN#393] Syria, the \"left-hand land\" as has before been explained. The popular\nsaying about its people is \"Sh\u00e1mi sh\u00fami!\"\u2014the Syrian is small potatoes (to\nrender the sense Americanic\u00e8). Nor did Syrus, the slave in Roman days, bear the\nbest of names. In Al-Hijaz the Syrian is addressed \"Ab\u00fa Sh\u00e1m\" (Father of Syria)\nand insulted as \"Abuser of the Salt\" (a traitor). Yet many sayings of Mohammed\nare recorded in honour of Syria, and he sometimes used Syriac words. Such were\n\"Bakh, bakh\" (=euge, before noticed), and \"Kakh,\" a congener of the Latin Cacus\nand Caca which our day has docked to \"cack.\" (Pilgrimage iii. 115)\n\n[FN#394] Koran xiv. 34. \"They (Unbelievers) shall be thrown therein (i.e., the\nHouse of Perdition=Hell); and an unhappy dwelling shall it be.\"\n\n[FN#395] The leg-cut is a prime favourite with the Eastern Sworder, and a heavy\ntwo-handed blade easily severs a horse's leg.\n\n[FN#396] Mohammed repeatedly declared (Koran lxi.) that the Christians had\nfalsified the passage (\"I go to my Father and the Paraclete shall come,\" John\nxvi. 7) promising the advent of the Comforter, (ibid. xiv. 20; xv.\n26) by substituting the latter word for glorious, renowned, i.e.,\nAhmed or Mohammed=the praised one. This may have been found in the Arabic\ntranslation of the Gospels made by Warakah, cousin to Mohammed's first wife;\nand hence in Koran lxi. we find Jesus prophesying of an Apostle \"whose name\nshall be Ahmad.\" The word has consequently been inserted into the Arabic Gospel\nof Saint Barnabas (Dabistan iii. 67). Moslems accept the Pentateuch, the\nPsalter and the Gospel; but assert (Koran, passim.) that all extant copies have\nbeen hopelessly corrupted, and they are right. Moses, to whom the Pentateuch is\nattributed, notices his own death and burial\u2014\"the mair the miracle,\" said the\nold Scotch lady. The \"Psalms of David\" range over a period of some five hundred\nyears, and there are three Isaiahs who pass with the vulgar for one. The many\napocryphal Gospels, all of which have been held genuine and canonical at\ndifferent times and in different places, prove that the four, which are still\nin use, were retained because they lack the manifest absurdities of their\ndiscarded rivals.\n\n[FN#397] Arab. \" Labbayka; \" the Pilgrimage-cry (Night xxii.) which in Arabic\nis,\n\n     Labbayk' Allahumma, Labbayk'!\n     L\u00e1 Shar\u00edka lake, Labbayk'!\n     Inna 'l-hamda w'al ni'amata lake wa'l mulk!\n     Labbayk' Allahumma, Labbayk'!\n\nSome add \"Here am I, and I honour Thee, the son of Thy two slaves; beneficence\nand good are all between Thy hands.\"With the \"Talbiyah\" the pilgrims should\nbless the Prophet, pray Allah to grant Heaven and exclaim, \"By Thy mercy spare\nus from the pains of Hell-fire!\" (Pilgrimage iii. 232.) Labbayka occurs in the\nverses attributed to Caliph Ali; so labba=he faced, and yalubbu=it faces (as\none house faces another); lastly, he professed submission to Allah; in which\nsense, together with the verbal noun \"Talbiyah,\" it is used by Al- Hanri (Pref.\nand Ass. of Su'adah).\n\n[FN#398] Arab. \"Kiss\u00eds\" (plur. Kus\u00fas) from \u2018 .\n\n[FN#399] Koran ii. The \"red cow\" is evidently the \"red heifer\" of\nBarnabas, chaps. vii.\n\n[FN#400] Arab. \"Al-J\u00e1sal\u00edk\"= .\n\n[FN#401] This is from the first \"Gospel of Infancy,\" wherein Jesus said to his\nmother, \"Verily I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Word which thou hast brought\nforth, as the Angel Gabriel did declare unto thee; and my Father hath sent me\nto save the world\" (chaps. i. 2.). The passage is virtually quoted in the Koran\n(chaps. iii. 141), of course omitting \" the Son of God\"\n\n[FN#402] Mohammed allowed his locks to grow down to his ear-lobes but never\nlower.\n\n[FN#403] Arab. \"Lis\u00e1m\" I have explained as a covering for the lower face, made\nby drawing over it the corner of the head-kerchief (Pilgrimage i. 346). The\nLis\u00e1m of the African Taw\u00e1rik hoods the eyes so that a man must turn up his face\nto see, and swathes all the lower half, leaving only the nose exposed. And this\nis worn by many men by night as well as by day, doubtless to avoid the evil\neye. The native Sultans of Darfur, like those of Bornu and others further west,\nused white muslin as a face-wrap: hence, too, the ceremonies when spitting,\netc., etc. The K\u00fafiyah or head-kerchief of the Arabs soon reached Europe and\nbecame in Low Latin Cuphia; in Spanish Escofia; in Ital. Cuffia or Scuffia; in\nFrench Escoffion, Scofion (Reine Marguerite) Co\u00ebffe (une pellicule, marque de\nbonheur) Coiffe and Coife, &c.; the Scotch Curch or Coif, opposed to the\nmaiden snood, and, lastly our Sergeant-at-Law's Coif. Littr\u00e9, the Learned, who\nin erudition was n\u00e9 coiff\u00e9, has missed this obvious derivation.\n\n[FN#404] \"Cutting,\" throughout the book, alludes to the scymitar with which\nArabs never give point; and \"thrusting\" to the footman's spear and the\nhorseman's lance.\n\n[FN#405] A popular phrase, I repeat, for extreme tenor and consternation.\n\n[FN#406] The name usually applies to a well-known district and city of Al\nYaman, where \"Koss the eloquent\" was bishop in Mohammed's day: the Negiran of\nD'Herbelot. Here, however, it is the Syrian Najr\u00e1n (Nejr\u00e2n of Missionary\nPorter's miserable Handbook), now a wretched village near the volcanic Lajj\u00e1,\nabout one hundred and twenty miles direct south of Damascus and held by Druzes\nand Christians.\n\n[FN#407] The Kant\u00e1r (quintal) of 100 ratls (Ibs.) =98-99 Ibs. avoir.\n\n[FN#408] Arab. \"Jur\u00e1b (bag) mi'adat- ih (of his belly),\" the \"curdling of the\ntesticles\" in fear is often mentioned.\n\n[FN#409] Clearly alluding to the magic so deeply studied by medi\u00e6val Jews.\n\n[FN#410] Arab. \"Sah\u00e1kah,\" lit. rubbing. The Moslem Harem is a great school for\nthis \"Lesbian (which I would call Atossan) love \"; but the motive of the\npractice lies deeper. As amongst men the mixture of the feminine with the\nmasculine temperament leads to sodomy, so the reverse makes women prefer their\nown sex. These tribades are mostly known by peculiarities of form and features,\nhairy cheeks and upper lips, gruff voices, hircine odour and the large\nprojecting clitoris with erectile powers known to the Arabs as \"bazar\" hence\nTabz\u00edr=circumcision or amputation of such clitoris. Burckhardt (Prov. 436)\ntranslates \" Bazarah\" by slut or wench. He adds \" it originally signifies the\nlabia which the Cairenes also entice Zamb\u00far and which are cut off in girlhood.\"\nSee also Lane, Lex. s.v.; Tabz\u00edr. Both writers confuse excision of the nymph\u00e6\nwith circumcision of the clitoris (Zamb\u00far) Al-Siy\u00fati (Kitab al-Iz\u00e1' fi'Ilm\nal-Nikah) has a very interesting chapter on Sapphic venery, which is well known\nto Europe as proved by such works as \"Gamiani,\" and \"Anandria ou Confessions de\nMademoiselle Sappho, avec la Clef,\" Lesbos, 1718. Onanism is fatally prevalent:\nin many Harems and girls' schools tallow candles and similar succedanea are\nvainly forbidden and bananas when detected are cut into four so as to be\nuseless; of late years, however, China has sent some marvellous artificial\nphalli of stuffed bladder, horn and even caoutchouc, the latter material of\ncourse borrowed from Europe.\n\n[FN#411] This is considered a powerful aphrodisiac in the East. Hence male\ndevotees are advised to avoid tile \"two reds,\" i.e. meat and wine; while the\n\"two reds,\" which corrupt women, are gold and saffron, that is perfumery. Hence\nalso the saying of Mohammed:\u2014 \"Perfumes for men should have scent and not\ncolour; for women should have colour and not scent.\" (Mishk\u00e1t al-Mas\u00e1b\u00edh ii.\n361.)\n\n[FN#412] These are the \"Hib\u00e1s\" or thin cords of wool which the\nBadawi binds round his legs, I believe to keep off cramp.\n(Pilgrimage iii. 78).\n\n[FN#413] Crying out \"La il\u00e1ha illa 'llah.\" (There is no god but the\nGod.); technically called \"Tahl\u00edl.\"\n\n[FN#414] i.e. Men, angels and devils, the \"Triloka\" (triple people) of the\nHindus. Alam\u00edn (plur.), never Alamayn (dual), is the Triregno denoted by the\npapal Tiara, the three Christian kingdoms being Heaven, Hell and Purgatory.\n\n[FN#415] Matrahinna or Mit-Rahinah is a well-known village near Memphis, the\nname being derived from the old Egyptian Minat-ro- hinnu, the port at the mouth\nof the canal. Let me remark that two of these three words, \"Minat\" and \"Ru,\"\nare still common in \" Aryan\" Persian.\n\n[FN#416] Kir\u00e1mat, a sign, a prodigy, opposed to Mu'ujizah, a miracle wrought by\na prophet. The Sufis explain this thaumaturgy by Allah changing something of\nNature's ordinary course in favour of an especial worshipper, and, after a\nfashion, this is Catholic doctrine (See Dabistan, iii. 173).\n\n[FN#417] Koran, x. 25, \"until the earth receive its vesture and be adorned with\nvarious plants.\"\n\n[FN#418] i.e. the young hair sprouting on the boy's cheek.\n\n[FN#419] A fighter for the faith and now a title which follows the name, e.g.\nOsm\u00e1n P\u00e1sh\u00e1 Gh\u00e1z\u00ed, whom the English press dubbed \"Ghazi Osman.\"\n\n[FN#420] That is the King of Constantinople.\n\n[FN#421] Cassia fistularis, a kind of carob: \" Shambar\" is the\nArab. form of the Persian \" Chambar.\"\n\n[FN#422] Koran, ii. 149. Hence the vulgar idea that Martyrs are still alive in\nthe flesh. See my Pilgrimage (ii. 110 and elsewhere) for the romantic and\npicturesque consequences of that belief. The Commentators (Jal\u00e1l al-D\u00edn, etc.)\nplay tricks with the Koranic words, \" they (martyrs) are not dead but living\"\n(iii. 179) by placing the happy souls in the crops of green birds which eat of\nthe fruits and drink of the waters of Paradise; whereas the reprobates and the\n(very) wicked are deposited in black birds which drain the sanies and the\nboiling waters of Hell. Amongst the Greeks a body remaining entire long after\ndeath suggests Anathema Maranatha: it is the contrary with Catholic Christians\n(Boccaccio iv. 5, of the Pot of Basil). Concerning this creed see Maundrell,\nLetter of 1698.\n\n[FN#423] Tor is \"Mount Sinai\" in the Koran (xcv. 1). I have only to repeat my\nopinion concerning the present site so called: \"It is evident that Jebel Serbal\ndates only from the early days of Coptic Christianity; that Jebel Musa, its\nGreek rival, rose after the visions of Helena in the fourth century; whilst the\nbuilding of the Convent by Justinian belongs to A.D 527. Ras Safs\u00e1fah, its\nrival to the north, is an affair of yesterday, and may be called the invention\nof Robinson; and Jebel Katerina, to the south is the property of R\u00fcppell\"\n(Midian Revisited i., 237). I would therefore call the \"Sinaitic\" Peninsula,\nPeninsula of Paran in old days and Peninsula of Tor (from its chief port) in\nour time. It is still my conviction that the true Mount Sinai will be found in\nJabal Ar\u00e1if, or some such unimportant height to the north of the modern Hajj-\nroad from Suez to Akabah. Even about the name (which the Koran writes \"Sain\u00e1\"\nand \"S\u00edn\u00edn\") there is a dispute: It is usually derived from the root\n\"Sanah\"=sentis, a bush; but this is not satisfactory. Our eminent\nAssyriologist, Professor Sayce, would connect it with \"Sin,\" the Assyrian Moon-\ngod as Mount Nebo with the Sun-god and he expects to find there the ruins of a\nLunar temple as a Solar fane stands on Ba'al Zapuna (Baal Zephon) or the\nclassical Mount Casius.\n\n[FN#424] Alluding to the miracle of Aaron's rod (the gift of Jethro) as related\nin the Koran (chapts. vii. 1., xx., etc.), where the Egyptian sorcerers threw\ndown thick ropes which by their magic twisted and coiled like serpents.\n\n[FN#425] Arab. \"Ay\u00e1t\" lit. \"signs,\" here \"miracles of the truth,\" 1. c. Koranic\nversets as opposed to chapters. The ranks of the enemy represent the latter,\nsword-cuts the former\u2014a very persuasive mode of preaching.\n\n[FN#426] Lane (M. E. chapt.. iii.) shows by a sketch the position of the\nworshipper during this \"Sal\u00e1m\" which is addressed, some say, to the guardian\nangels, others suppose to all brother-believers and angels.\n\n[FN#427] i.e., where the Syrians found him.\n\n[FN#428] i.e., Dedianus Arabised; a name knightly and plebian.\n\n[FN#429] In such tales the Wazir is usually the sharp-witted man, contrasting\nwith the \"dummy,\" or master.\n\n[FN#430] Carrier-pigeons were extensively used at this time. The Caliph\nAl-N\u00e1sir li-D\u00edni \u2018ll\u00e1h (regn. A.H. 575=1180) was, according to Ibn Khald\u00fan,\nvery fond of them. The moderns of Damascus still affect them. My successor, Mr.\nConsul Kirby Green, wrote an excellent report on pigeon-fancying at Damascus.\nThe so-called Maundeville or Mandeville in A. D. 1322 speaks of carrier-pigeons\nin Syria as a well-known mode Of intercourse between lord and lord.\n\n[FN#431] Mohammed who declared \"There is no monkery in Al-Islam,\" and who\nvirtually abolished the priest, had an especial aversion to the shaveling\n(Ruhb\u00e1n). But the \"Gens \u00e6terna in qu\u00e2 nemo nascitur\" (Pliny v. 17) managed to\nappear even in Al-lslam, as Fakirs,, Dervishes, S\u00fafis, etc. Of this more\nhereafter.\n\n[FN#432] i.e. her holiness would act like a fascinating talisman.\n\n[FN#433] The \"smoking out\" practice is common amongst the Arabs: hence Marshal\nPelissier's so- called \" barbarity.\" The Public is apt to forget that on a\ncampaign the general's first duty is to save his own men by any practice which\nthe laws of fair warfare do not absolutely forbid.\n\n[FN#434] i.e. Mohammed, who promised Heaven and threatened Hell.\n\n[FN#435] Arab. \"Ahr\" or \"ihr,\" fornication or adultery, i.e., irreligion,\ninfidelity as amongst the Hebrews (Isaiah xxiii.17).\n\n[FN#436] A sign of defeat.\n\n[FN#437] In English \"last night\": I have already noted that the Moslem day,\nlike the Jewish and the Scandinavian, begins at sundown; and \"layl \" a night,\nis often used to denote the twenty- four hours between sunset and sunset,\nwhilst \"yaum,\" a day, would by us be translated in many cases \"battle-day.\"\n\n[FN#438] Iterum the \"Himalayan Brothers.\"\n\n[FN#439] Again, Mohammed who promised Good to the Good, and vice vers\u00e2.\n\n[FN#440] They are sad doggrel like most of the pi\u00e8ces d'occasion inserted in\nThe Nights.\n\n[FN#441] Here \"Kahwah\" (coffee) is used in its original sense of strong old\nwine. The derivation is \"Akh\u00e1\"=fastidire fecit, causing disinclination for\nfood, the Matambre (kill- hunger) of the Iberians. In old days the scrupulous\ncalled coffee \"Kihwah\" in order to distinguish it from 'Kakwah,\" wine.\n\n[FN#442] i.e. Mohammed, a common title.\n\n[FN#443] That is, fatal to the scoffer and the impious.\n\n[FN#444] Equivalent to our \"The Devil was sick,\" etc.\n\n[FN#445] i.e. to the enemy: the North American Indians (so called) use similar\nforms of \"inverted speech\"; and the Australian aborigines are in no way behind\nthem.\n\n[FN#446] See Vol. i., p. 154 (Night xvi.).\n\n[FN#447] Arab. \"Sauf,\" a particle denoting a near future whereas\n\"Sa-\" points to one which may be very remote.\n\n[FN#448] From the root \"Shanh\"=having a fascinating eye, terrifying. The Irish\ncall the fascinater \"eybitter\" and the victim (who is also rhymed to death)\n\"eybitten.\"\n\n[FN#449] i.e., not like the noble-born, strong in enduring the stress of fight.\n\n[FN#450] i.e., of Abraham. For the Well Zemzem and the Place of Abraham see my\nPilgrimage (iii. 171-175, etc.), where I described the water as of salt-bitter\ntaste, like that of Epsom (iii. 203). Sir William Muir (in his excellent life\nof Mahomet, I. cclviii.) remarks that \"the flavour of stale water bottled up\nfor months would not be a criterion of the same water freshly drawn;\" but\nsoldered tins-full of water drawn a fortnight before are to be had in Calcutta\nand elsewhere after Pilgrimage time; and analysis would at once detect the\nsalt.\n\n[FN#451] Racing was and is a favourite pastime with those hippomanists, the\nArabs; but it contrasts strongly with our civilised form being a trial of\nendurance rather than of speed. The Prophet is said to have limited betting in\nthese words, \"There shall be no wagering save on the Kuff (camel's foot), the\nHafir (hoof of horse, ass, etc.) or the Nasal (arrow-pile or lance head).\"\n\n[FN#452] In the Mac. Edit. \"Arman\"=Armenia, which has before occurred. The\nauthor or scribe here understands by \"C\u00e6sarea\" not the old Turris Stratonis,\nHerod's city called after Augustus, but C\u00e6sareia the capital of Cappadocia\n(Pliny, vi. 3), the royal residence before called Mazaca (Strabo).\n\n[FN#453] An idiom meaning \"a very fool.\"\n\n[FN#454] i.e. K\u00e1na (was) m\u00e1 (that which) was (k\u00e1na).\n\n[FN#455] A son being \"the lamp of a dark house.\"\n\n[FN#456] When the Israelites refused to receive the Law (the souls of all the\nProphets even those unborn being present at the Covenant), Allah tore up the\nmountain (Sinai which is not mentioned) by the roots and shook it over their\nheads to terrify them, saying, \"Receive the Law which we have given you with a\nresolution to keep it\" (Koran chaps. xlx. 170). Much of this story is from the\nTalmud (Abodah Sar. 2, 2, Tract Sabbath, etc.) whence Al-Islam borrowed so much\nof its Juda\u00efsm, as it took Christianity from the Apocryphal New Testament. This\ntradition is still held by the Israelites, says Mr. Rodwell (p. 333) who refers\nit to a misunderstanding of Exod. xix. 17, rightly rendered in the E. version\n\"at the nether part of the mountain.\"\n\n[FN#457] Arab. \"Azgh\u00e1n\" = the camel-litters in which women travel.\n\n[FN#458] i.e. to joy foes and dismay friends.\n\n[FN#459] Whose eyes became white (i.e. went blind) with mourning for his son\nJoseph (Koran, chaps. xii. 84). He recovered his sight when his face was\ncovered with the shirt which Gabriel had given to the youth after his brethren\nhad thrown him into the well.\n\n[FN#460] \"Poison King\" (Persian); or \"Flower-King\" (Arabic).\n\n[FN#461] A delicate allusion to the size of her hips and back parts, in which\nvolume is, I have said, greatly admired for the best of reasons.\n\n[FN#462] All Prophets had some manual trade and that of David was making coats\nof mail, which he invented, for before his day men used plate-armour. So \"Allah\nsoftened the iron for him\" and in his hands it became like wax (Koran xxi.\nxxxiv., etc.). Hence a good coat of mail is called \"Davidean.\" I have noticed\n(First Footsteps, p. 33 and elsewhere) the homage paid to the blacksmith on the\nprinciple which made Mulciber (Malik Kabir) a god. The myth of David inventing\nmail possibly arose from his peculiarly fighting career. Moslems venerate D\u00e1\u00fad\non account of his extraordinary devotion, nor has this view of his character\nceased : a modern divine preferred him to \"all characters in history.\"\n\n[FN#463] \"Travel by night,\" said the Prophet, \"when the plagues of earth\n(scorpions, serpents, etc.) afflict ye not.\" Yet the night- march in Arabia is\ndetestable (Pilgrimage iii.).\n\n[FN#464] This form of ceremony is called \"Istikb\u00e1l\" (coming forth to greet) and\nis regulated by the severest laws of etiquette. As a rule the greater the\ndistance (which may be a minimum of one step) the higher the honour. Easterns\ninfinitely despise strangers who ignore these vitals of politeness.\n\n[FN#465] i.e. he will be a desert Nimrod and the game will delight to be killed\nby him.\n\n[FN#466] This serves to keep the babe's eyes free from inflammation.\n\n[FN#467] i.e. Crown of the Kings of amorous Blandishment.\n\n[FN#468] Lane (i. 531) translates \"the grey down.\" The Arabs use\n\"Akhzar\" (prop. \"green\") in many senses, fresh, gray-hued, etc.\n\n[FN#469] Allusion to the well-known black banners of the house of Abbas. The\nPersians describe the growth of hair on a fair young face by, \"His cheeks went\ninto mourning for the loss of their charms.\"\n\n[FN#470] Arab. \"K\u00e1fir\" a Koranic word meaning Infidel, the active participle of\nKufr= Infidelity i.e. rejecting the mission of Mohammed. It is insulting and in\nTurkish has been degraded to \"Giaour.\" Here it means black, as Hafiz of Shiraz\nterms a cheek mole \"Hindu\" i.e. dark-skinned and idolatrous.\n\n[FN#471] Alluding to the travel of Moses (Koran chaps. xviii.) with Al-Khizr\n(the \"evergreen Prophet\") who had drunk of the Fountain of Life and enjoyed\nflourishing and continual youth. Moses is represented as the external and\nsuperficial religionist; the man of outsight; Al-Khizr as the spiritual and\nilluminated man of insight.\n\n[FM#472] The lynx was used like the lion in Ancient Egypt and the Chita-leopard\nin India: I have never seen or heard of it in these days.\n\n[FN#473] Arab. \"Suk\u00far,\" whence our \"Saker\" the falcon, not to be confounded\nwith the old Falco Sacer, the Gr. . Falconry which, like all arts, began\nin Egypt, is an extensive subject throughout Moslem lands. I must refer my\nreaders to \"Falconry in the Valley of the Indus\" (Van Voorst, 1852) and a long\nnote in Pilgrimage iii. 71.\n\n[FN#474] It was not respectful to pitch their camp within dog-bark.\n\n[FN#475] Easterns attach great importance to softness and smoothness of skin\nand they are right: a harsh rough epidermis spoils sport with the handsomest\nwoman.\n\n[FN#476] Canticles vii. 8: Hosea xiv. 6.\n\n[FN#477] The mesmeric attraction of like to like.\n\n[FN#478] Arab. \"Taswif\"=saying \"Sauf,\" I will do it soon. It is a beautiful\nword\u2013etymologically.\n\n[FN#479] A very far fetched allusion. The face of the beloved springing from an\nunbuttoned robe is the moon rising over the camp in the hollow (bat'h\u00e1).\n\n[FN#480] Arab. \"Kasab\u00e1t\" = \"canes,\" long beads, bugles.\n\n[FN#481] Koran, xcvi. 5.\n\n[FN#482] Both words (masc. and fem.) mean \"dear, excellent, highly- prized.\"\nThe tale is the Arab form of the European \"Patient Griselda\" and shows a higher\nconception of womanly devotion, because Azizah, despite her wearisome weeping,\nis a girl of high intelligence and Aziz is a vicious zany, weak as water and\nwilful as wind. The phenomenon (not rare in life) is explained by the couplet:\u2014\n\n     I love my love with an S\u2014\n     Because he is stupid and not intellectual.\n\nThis fond affection of clever women for fools can be explained only by the law\nof unlikeness which mostly governs sexual unions in physical matters; and its\nappearance in the story gives novelty and point. Aziz can plead only the\nviolence of his passion which distinguished him as a lover among the mob of men\nwho cannot love anything beyond themselves. And none can pity him for losing a\nmember which he so much abused.\n\n[FN#483] Arab. \"Sh\u00e1hid,\" the index, the pointer raised in testimony: the\ncomparison of the Eastern and the Western names is curious.\n\n[FN#484] Musk is one of the perfumes of the Moslem Heaven; and \"musky\" is much\nused in verse to signify scented and dark-brown.\n\n[FN#485] Arab. \"Mand\u00edl\": these kerchiefs are mostly oblong, the shore sides\nbeing worked with gold and coloured silk, and often fringed, while the two\nothers are plain.\n\n[FN#486] Arab. \"Rayh\u00e1n\u00ed,\" of the Ocymum Basilicum or sweet basil: a delicate\nhandwriting, so called from the pen resembling a leaf (?) See vol. i. p. 128.\n[Volume 1, note 229 & 230]\n\n[FN#487] All idiom meaning \"something unusual happened.\"\n\n[FN#488] An action common in grief and regret: here the lady would show that\nshe sighs for union with her beloved.\n\n[FN#489] Lane (i. 608) has a valuable note on the language of signs, from M. du\nVigneau's \"Secretaire Turc,\" etc. (Paris, 1688), Baron von Hammer-Purgstall\n(\"Mines de ['Orient,\" No. 1, Vienna, 1809) and Marcel's \"Comes du Cheykh\nEl-Mohdy\" (Paris, 1833). It is practised in Africa as well as in Asia. At\nAbeokuta in Yoruba a man will send a symbolical letter in the shape of cowries,\npalm-nuts and other kernels strung on rice- straw, and sharp wits readily\ninterpret the meaning. A specimen is given in p. 262 of Miss Tucker's\n\"Abbeokuta; or Sunrise within the Tropics.\"\n\n[FN#490] Mr. Payne (ii. 227) translates \"Haw\u00e1 al-'Urz\u00ed\" by \"the love of the\nBeni Udhra, an Arabian tribe famous for the passion and devotion with which\nlove was practised among them.\" See Night dclxxxiii. I understand it as\n\"excusable love\" which, for want of a better term, is here translated\n\"platonic.\" It is, however, more like the old \"bundling\" of Wales and Northern\nEngland; and allows all the pleasures but one, the toyings which the French\ncall les plaisirs de la petite ode; a term my dear old friend Fred. Hankey\nderived from la petite voie. The Afghans know it as \"N\u00e1mzad-b\u00e1z\u00ed\" or betrothed\nplay (Pilgrimage, ii. 56); the Abyssinians as eye- love; and the Kafirs as\nSlambuka a Shlabonka, for which see The traveller Delegorgue.\n\n[FN#491] \"Turk\" in Arabic and Persian poetry means a plunderer, a robber. Thus\nHafiz: \"Agar \u00e1n Turk-i-Shir\u00e1zi ba-dast \u00e1rad dil-i- m\u00e1r\u00e1,\" If that Shirazi (ah,\nthe Turk!) would deign to take my heart in hand, etc.\n\n[FN#492] Arab. \"N\u00e1zir,\" a steward or an eye (a \"looker\"). The idea is borrowed\nfrom Al-Hariri (Assemblies, xiii.), and,\u2014\n\n[FN#493] Arab. \"H\u00e1jib,\" a groom of the chambers, a chamberlain; also an\neyebrow. See Al-Hariri, ibid. xiii. and xxii.\n\n[FN#494] This gesture speaks for itself: it is that of a dyer staining a cloth.\nThe \"Sabb\u00e1gh's\" shop is the usual small recess, open to the street and showing\npans of various dyes sunk like \"dog- laps\" in the floor.\n\n[FN#495] The Arab. \"Sabt\" (from sabata, he kept Sabt) and the Heb. \"Sabbath\"\nboth mean Saturn's day, Saturday, transferred by some unknown process\nthroughout Christendom to Sunday. The change is one of the most curious in the\nhistory of religions. If there be a single command stronger than all others it\nis \"Keep the Saturday holy.\" It was so kept by the Founder of Christianity; the\norder was never abrogated and yet most Christians are not aware that Sabbath,\nor \"Sawbath,\" means Saturn's day, the \"Shiy\u00e1r\" of the older Arabs. And to\ncomplete its degradation \"Sabbat\" in French and German means a criaillerie, a\n\"row,\" a disorder, an abominable festival of Hexen (witches). This monstrous\nabsurdity can be explained only by aberrations of sectarian zeal, of party\nspirit in religion.\n\n[FN#496] The men who cry to prayer. The first was Bil\u00e1l, the Abyssinian slave\nbought and manumitted by Abu Bakr. His simple cry was \"I testify there is no\nIl\u00e1h (god) but Allah (God)! Come ye to prayers!\" Caliph Omar, with the\nProphet's permission, added, \"I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah.\"\nThe prayer-cry which is beautiful and human, contrasting pleasantly with the\nbrazen clang of the bell. now is\n\n     Allah is Almighty (bis).\n     I declare no god is there but Allah (bis).\n     Hie ye to Rogation (Hayya=halumma).\n     Hie ye to Salvation (Fal\u00e1h=prosperity, Paradise).\n     (\"Hie ye to Edification,\" a Shi'ah adjunct).\n     Prayer is better than sleep (in the morning, also bis).\n     No god is there but Allah\n\nThis prayer call is similarly worded and differently pronounced and intoned\nthroughout Al-Islam.\n\n[FN#497] i.e. a graceful youth of Al-Hijaz, the Moslem Holy Land, whose \"sons\"\nclaim especial privileges.\n\n[FN#498] Arab. \"harf'= a letter, as we should say a syllable.\n\n[FN#499] She uses the masculine \"fat\u00e1,\" in order to make the question more\nmysterious.\n\n[FN#500] The fountain-bowl is often ornamented by a rude mosaic of black and\nwhite marble with enlivenments of red stone or tile in complicated patterns.\n\n[FN#501] Arab. \"Kub\u00e1d\" = shaddock (citrus decumana): the huge orange which\nCaptain Shaddock brought from the West Indies; it is the Anglo-Indian\npompelmoose, vulg. pummelo. An excellent bitter is made out of the rind steeped\nin spirits. Citronworts came from India whence they spread throughout the\ntropics: they were first introduced into Europe by the heroic Joam de Castro\nand planted in his garden at Cintra where their descendants are still seen.\n\n[FN#502] Arab. \"Bakl\u00e1wah,\" Turk. \"Bakl\u00e1v\u00e1,\" a kind of pastry with blanched\nalmonds bruised small between layers of dough, baked in the oven and cut into\nlozenges. It is still common\n\n[FN#503] Her just fear was that the young woman might prove \"too clever by\nhalf\" for her simpleton cousin.\n\n[FN#504] The curse is pregnant with meaning. On Judgment-day the righteous\nshall arise with their faces shining gloriously: hence the blessing, \"Bayyaz'\nAllaho wajh-ak\" (=Allah whiten thy countenance!). But the wicked shall appear\nwith faces scorched black and deformed by horror (Koran xxiv.): hence \"God\nblacken thy brow!\" I may observe that Easterns curse, the curse being\neverywhere the language of excited destructiveness; but only Westerns, and\nthese chiefly English, swear, a practice utterly meaningless. \"Damn it\" without\nspecifying what the \"it\" is, sounds like the speech of a naughty child anxious\nonly to use a \"wicked word.\" \"Damn you!\" is intelligible all the world over. It\nhas given rise to \"les goddams\" in France, \"God\u00e1mes\" in the Brazil and \"Got\u00e1ma\"\namongst the Somal of Eastern Africa, who learn it in Aden,\n\n[FN#505] Arab. \"Zardah,\" usually rice dressed with saffron and honey, from\nPers. \"Zard,\" saffron, yellow. See Night dcxii.\n\n[FN#506] Vulgarly called \"knuckle-bone,\" concerning which I shall have\nsomething to say.\n\n[FN#507] A bit of wood used in the children's game called \"T\u00e1b\" which resembles\nour tip-cat (Lane M. E. chaps. xvii.).\n\n[FN#508] Arab. \"Balah,\" the unripened date, which is considered a laxative and\neaten in hot weather.\n\n[FN#509] Lane (i. 611), quoting Al-Kazw\u00edn\u00ed, notes that the date- stone is\ncalled \"Naw\u00e1\" (dim. \"Naw\u00e1yah\") which also means distance, absence, severance.\nThus the lady threatens to cast off her greedy and sleepy lover.\n\n[FN#510] The pad of the carob-bean which changes little after being plucked is\nan emblem of constancy.\n\n[FN#511] This dirham=48 grains avoir.\n\n[FN#512] The weight would be round: also \"Had\u00edd\" (=iron) means sharp or\npiercing (Koran chaps. Vi]. 21). The double \"swear\" is intended to be very\nserious. Moreover iron conjures away fiends: when a water-spout or a sand-devil\n(called Shayt\u00e1n also in Arabia) approaches, you point the index at the Jinn and\nsay, \"Iron, O thou ill-omened one!\" Amongst the Ancient Egyptians the metal was\nill- omened being the bones of Typhon, 80 here, possibly, we have an instance\nof early hom\u0153opathy\u2014similia similibus.\n\n[FN#513] Probably fermented to a kind of wine. The insipid fruit (Unn\u00e1b) which\nlooks like an apple in miniature, is much used in stews, etc. It is the fruit\n(Nabak classically Nabik) of Rhamnus Nabeca (or Sidrat) also termed Zizyphus\nJujuba, seu Spina Christi because fabled to have formed the crown of thorns: in\nthe English market this plum is called Chinese Japonica. I have described it in\nPilgrimage ii. 205, and have noticed the infusion of the leaves for washing the\ndead (ibid. ii. 105): this is especially the use of the \"Ber\" in India, where\nthe leaves are superstitiously held peculiarly pure. Our dictionaries translate\n\"Sidr\" by \"Lote-tree\"; and no wonder that believers in Homeric writ feel their\nbile aroused by so poor a realisation of the glorious myth. The Homerids\nprobably alluded to Hashish or Bhang.\n\n[FN#514] Arab. \"Azr\u00e1r\": the open collar of the Saub (\"Tobe\") or long loose\ndress is symptomatic. The Eastern button is on the same principle as ours (both\nhaving taken the place of the classical fibula); but the Moslem affects a loop\n(like those to which we attach our \"frogs\") and utterly ignores a button-hole.\n\n[FN#515] Alluding to the ceremonious circumambulation of the Holy\nHouse at Meccah: a notable irreverence worthy of Kneph-town\n(Canopus).\n\n[FN#516] The ear-drop is the penis and the anklet its crown of glory.\n\n[FN#517] Equivalent to our \"Alas! Alas!\" which, by the by, no one ever says.\n\"Awah,\" like \"Yauh,\" is now a woman's word although used by Al-Hariri (Assembly\nof Basrah) and so Al-aww\u00e1h=one who cries from grief \"Aw\u00e1h.\" A favourite\nconversational form is \"Yehh\" with the aspirate exasperated, but it is an\nexpression of astonishment rather than sorrow. It enters into Europe\ntravel-books.\n\n[FN#518] In the text \"burst her gall-bladder.\"\n\n[FN#519] The death of Azizah is told with true Arab pathos and simplicity: it\nstill draws tear. *from the eyes of the Badawi, and I never read it without a\n\"lump in the throat.\"\n\n[FN#520] Arab. \"Inshallah bukra!\" a universal saying which is the horror of\ntravellers.\n\n[FN#521] I have explained \"Nu'uman's flower\" as the anemone which in Grecised\nArabic is \"An\u00famiy\u00e1.\" Here they are strewed over the tomb; often the flowers are\nplanted in a small bed of mould sunk in the upper surface.\n\n[FN#522] Arab. \"Barzakh\" lit. a bar, a partition: in the Koran (chapts. xxiii.\nand xxxv.) the space or the place between death and resurrection where souls\nare stowed away. It corresponds after a fashion with the classical Hades and\nthe Limbus (Limbo) of Christendom, e.g.. Limbus patrum, infantum, fatuorum. But\nit must not be confounded with Al-A'ar\u00e1f, The Moslem purgatory.\n\n[FN#523] Arab. \"Zuk\u00e1k al-Nak\u00edb,\" the latter word has been explained as a chief,\nleader, head man.\n\n[FN#524] Moslems never stand up at such times, for a spray of urine would make\ntheir clothes ceremonially impure: hence the scrupulous will break up with\nstick or knife the hard ground in front of them. A certain pilgrim was reported\nto have made this blunder which is hardly possible in Moslem dress. A high\npersonage once asked me if it was true that he killed a man who caught him in a\nstanding position; and I found to my surprise that the absurd scandal was\nalready twenty years old. After urinating the Moslem wipes the os penis with\none to three bits of stone, clay or handfuls of earth, and he must perform Wuzu\nbefore he can pray. Tournefort (Voyage au Levant iii. 335) tells a pleasant\nstory of certain Christians at Constantinople who powdered with \"Poivre-d'Inde\"\nthe stones in a wall where the Moslems were in the habit of rubbing the os\npenis by way of wiping The same author (ii. 336) strongly recommends a\ntranslation of Rabelais' Torcheculative chapter (Lib i., chaps. 13) for the\nbenefit of Mohammedans.\n\n[FN#525] Arab. \"Nuh\u00e1s ahmar,\" lit. red brass.\n\n[FN#526] The cup is that between the lady's legs.\n\n[FN#527] A play upon \"S\u00e1k\" = calf, or leg, and \"S\u00e1k\u00ed,\" a cup- bearer. The going\nround (Taw\u00e1f) and the running (Sa'i) allude to the circumambulation of the\nKa'abah, and the running between Mount Saf\u00e1 and Marwah (Pilgrimage ii. 58, and\niii. 343). A religious Moslem would hold the allusion highly irreverent.\n\n[FN#528] Lane (i. 614) never saw a woman wearing such kerchief which is\ndeshabille. It is either spread over the head or twisted turband-wise.\n\n[FN#529] The \"Kasabah\" was about two fathoms of long measure, and sometimes 12\n\u00bd feet; but the length has been reduced.\n\n[FN#530] \"Bat and ball,\" or hockey on horseback (Polo) is one of the earliest\nPersian games as shown by every illustrated copy of Firdausi's \"Shahn\u00e1meh.\"\nThis game was played with a Kurrah or small hand-ball and a long thin bat\ncrooked at the end called in Persian Chaug\u00e1n and in Arabic Saulaj\u00e1n. Another\nsense of the word is given in the Burh\u00e1n-i-K\u00e1ti translated by Vullers (Lex.\nPersico-Latinum), a large bandy with bent head to which is hung an iron ball,\nalso called Kaukabah (our \"morning-star\") and like the umbrella it denotes the\ngrandees of the court. The same Kaukabah particularly distinguished one of the\nMarquesses of Waterford. This Polo corresponds with the folliculus, the\npallone, the baloun-game (moyen \u00e2ge) of Europe, where the horse is not such a\ncompanion of man; and whereof the classics sang:\u2014\n\nFolle decet pueros ludere, folle senes.\n\nIn these days we should spell otherwise the \"folle\" of seniors playing at the\nball or lawn-tennis.\n\n[FN#531] \"Dal\u00edl\" means a guide; `'Dal\u00edlah,\" a woman who misguides, a bawd. See\nthe Tale of Dal\u00edlah the Crafty, Night dcxcviii.\n\n[FN#532] i.e. she was a martyr.\n\n[FN#533] Arab. \"Ghash\u00edm\" a popular and insulting term, our \"Johnny\nRaw.\" Its use is shown in Pilgrimage i. 110.\n\n[FN#534] Bathers pay on leaving the Hammam; all enter without paying.\n\n[FN#535] i.e. she swore him upon his sword and upon the Koran: a loaf of bread\nis sometimes added. See Lane (i. 615).","title":"The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night \u2014 Volume 02 (of 10)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":154295}