{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_3443/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_3443","id":"gutenberg_3443","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3443","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Romance","Fairy tales","Tales -- Arab countries"],"text":"Ver.07/27/01*END*\n\n\n\n\nThis etext was scanned by JC Byers\n(http://www.capitalnet.com/~jcbyers/index.htm) and proofread by\nNancy Bloomquist, J.C. Byers, Diane Doerfler, P.J. LaBrocca,\nCarrie R. Lorenz, Laura Shaffer, Coralie Sheehan, Robert Sinton,\nand Charles Wilson.\n\n\n\n\n                        THE BOOK OF THE\n                  THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT\n                A Plain and Literal Translation\n              of the Arabian Nights Entertainments\n\n                  Translated and Annotated by\n                       Richard F. Burton\n\n                          VOLUME NINE\n              Privately Printed By The Burton Club\n\n\n\n                  To Alexander Baird of Urie.\n\nMy Dear Baird,\n\n     I avail my self of a privilege of authorship, not yet\nutterly obsolete, to place your name at the head of this volume.\nYour long residence in Egypt and your extensive acquaintance with\nits \"politic,\" private and public, make you a thouroughly\ncompetent judge of the merits and demerits of this volume; and\nencourage me to hope that in reading it you will take something\nof the pleasure I have had in writing it..\n\n                    Ever yours sincerely,\n\n                         Richard F. Burton.\n\nTangier, December 31, 1885.\n\n\n                  Contents of the Ninth Volume\n\n\n     Ali Nur Al-Din and Miriam the Girdle-Girl (continued)\n159. The Man of Upper Egypt and His Frankish Wife\n160. The Ruined Man of Baghdad and his Slave-Girl\n161. King Jali'ad of Hind and His Wazir Shimas: Followed by the\nHistory of King Wird Khan,    son of King Jali'ad with His Women\nand Wazirs\n     a.   The Mouse and the Cat\n     b.   The Fakir and His Jar of Butter\n     c.   The Fishes and the Crab\n     d.   The Crow and the Serpent\n     e.   The Wild Ass and the Jackal\n     f.   The Unjust King and the Pilgrim Prince\n     g.   The Crows and the Hawk\n     h.   The Serpent-Charmer and His Wife\n     i.   The Spider and the Wind\n     j.   The Two Kings\n     k.   The Blind Man and the Cripple\n     l.   The Foolish Fisherman\n     m.   The Boy and the Thieves\n     n.   The Man and his Wife\n     o.   The Merchant and the Robbers\n     p.   The Jackals and the Wolf\n     q.   The Shepherd and the Rogue\n     r.   The Francolin and the Tortoises\n162. Abu Kir the Dyer and Abu Sir the Barber\n163. Abdullah the Fisherman and Abdullah the Merman\n164. Harun Al-Rashid and Abu Hasan, The Merchant of Oman\n165. Ibrahim and Jamilah\n166. Abu Al-Hasan of Khorasan\n167. Kamar Al-Zaman and the Jeweller's Wife\n168. Abdullah Bin Fazil and His Brothers\n\n\n\n                        The Book Of The\n                  THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT\n\n\n\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nur\nal-Din heard the voice singing these verses he said in himself,\n\"Verily this be the Lady Miriam chanting without hesitation or\ndoubt or suspicion of one from without.[FN#1] Would Heaven I knew\nan my thought be true and if it be indeed she herself or other\nself!\" And regrets redoubled upon him and he bemoaned himself and\nrecited these couplets,\n\n\"When my blamer saw me beside my love * Whom I met in a site that\n     lay open wide,\nI spake not at meeting a word of reproach * Though oft it comfort\n     sad heart to chide;\nQuoth the blamer, 'What means this silence that bars * Thy making\n     answer that hits his pride?'\nAnd quoth I, 'O thou who as fool dost wake, * To misdoubt of\n     lovers and Love deride;\nThe sign of lover whose love is true * When he meets his belov\u00e8d\n     is mum to bide.'\"\n\nWhen he had made an end of these verses, the Lady Miriam fetched\ninkcase and paper and wrote therein: \"After honour due to the\nBasmalah,[FN#2] may the peace of Allah be upon thee and His mercy\nand blessings be! I would have thee know that thy slavegirl\nMiriam saluteth thee, who longeth sore for thee; and this is her\nmessage to thee. As soon as this letter shall fall into thy\nhands, do thou arise without stay and delay and apply thyself to\nthat we would have of thee with all diligence and beware with all\nwariness of transgressing her commandment and of sleeping. When\nthe first third of the night is past, (for that hour is of the\nmost favourable of times) apply thee only to saddling the two\nstallions and fare forth with them both to the Sultan's\nGate.[FN#3] If any ask thee whither thou wend, answer, 'I am\ngoing to exercise the steeds,' and none will hinder thee; for the\nfolk of this city trust to the locking of the gates.\" Then she\nfolded the letter in a silken kerchief and threw it out of the\nlatticed window to Nur al-Din, who took it and reading it, knew\nit for the handwriting of the Lady Miriam and comprehended all\nits contents. So he kissed the letter and laid it between his\neyes; then, calling to mind that which had betided him with her\nof the sweets of love-liesse, he poured forth his tears whilst he\nrecited these couplets,\n\n\"Came your writ to me in the dead of the night * And desire for\n     you stirr\u00e8d heart and sprite;\nAnd, remembered joys we in union joyed, * Praised the Lord who\n     placed us in parting plight.\"\n\nAs soon as it was dark Nur al-Din busied himself with making\nready the stallions and patiented till the first watch of the\nnight was past; when, without a moment delay, Nur al-Din the\nlover full of teen, saddled them with saddles of the goodliest,\nand leading them forth of the stable, locked the door after him\nand repaired with them to the city-gate, where he sat down to\nawait the coming of the Princess. Meanwhile, Miriam returned\nforthright to her private apartment, where she found the one-eyed\nWazir seated, elbow-propt upon a cushion stuffed with\nostrich-down; but he was ashamed to put forth his hand to her or\nto bespeak her. When she saw him, she appealed to her Lord in\nheart, saying, \"Allahumma-O my God-bring him not to his will of\nme nor to me defilement decree after purity!\" Then she went up to\nhim and made a show of fondness for him and sat down by his side\nand coaxed him, saying, \"O my lord, what is this aversion thou\ndisplayest to me? Is it pride or coquetry on thy part? But the\ncurrent byword saith, 'An the salam-salutation be little in\ndemand, the sitters salute those who stand.\"[FN#4] So if, O my\nlord, thou come not to me neither accost me, I will go to thee\nand accost thee.\" Said he, \"To thee belong favour and kindness, O\nQueen of the earth in its length and breadth; and what am I but\none of thy slaves and the least of thy servants. Indeed, I was\nashamed to intrude upon thine illustrious presence, O unique\npearl, and my face is on the earth at thy feet.\" She rejoined,\n\"Leave this talk and bring us to eat and drink.\" Accordingly he\nshouted to his eunuchs and women an order to serve food, and they\nset before them a tray containing birds of every king that walk\nand fly and in nests increase and multiply, such as sand-grouse\nand quails and pigeon-poults and lambs and fatted geese and fried\npoultry and other dishes of all sorts and colours. The Princess\nput out her hand to the tray and began to eat and feed the Wazir\nwith her fair finger-tips and kiss him on the mouth. They ate\ntill they had enough and washed their hands, after which the\nhandmaidens removed the table of food and set on the service of\nwine. So Princess Miriam filled the cup and drank and gave the\nWazir to drink and served him with assiduous service, so that he\nwas like to fly for joy and his breast broadened and he was of\nthe gladdest. When she saw that the wine had gotten the better of\nhis senses, she thrust her hand into her bosom and brought out a\npastile of virgin Cretan-Bhang, which she had provided against\nsuch an hour, whereof if an elephant smelt a dirham's weight, he\nwould sleep from year to year. She distracted his attention and\ncrumbled the drug into the cup: then, filling it up, handed it to\nthe Wazir, who could hardly credit his senses for delight. So he\ntook it and kissing her hand, drank it off, but hardly had it\nsettled in his stomach when he fell head foremost to the ground.\nThen she rose and filling two great pairs of saddle-bags with\nwhat was light of weight and weighty of worth of jewels and\njacinths and precious stones, together with somewhat of meat and\ndrink, donned harness of war and armed herself for fight. She\nalso took with her for Nur al-Din what should rejoice him of rich\nand royal apparel and splendid arms and armour, and shouldering\nthe bags (for indeed her strength equalled her valiancy),\nhastened forth from the new palace to join her lover. On this\nwise fared it with the Lady Miriam; but as regards Nur\nal-Din,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninetieth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nLady Miriam left the new palace, she went straightways to meet\nher lover for indeed she was as valiant as she was strong; but\nNur al-Din the distracted, the full of teen, sat at the city-gate\nhending the horses' halters in hand, till Allah (to whom belong\nMajesty and Might) sent a sleep upon him and he slept-glory be to\nHim who sleepeth not! Now at that time the Kings of the Islands\nhad spent much treasure in bribing folk to steal the two steeds\nor one of them; and in those days there was a black slave, who\nhad been reared in the islands skilled in horse-lifting;\nwherefore the Kings of the Franks seduced him with wealth galore\nto steal one of the stallions and promised him, if he could\navail to lift the two, that they would give him a whole island\nand endue him with a splendid robe of honour. He had long gone\nabout the city of France in disguise, but succeeded not in taking\nthe horses, whilst they were with the King; but, when he gave\nthem in free gift to the Wazir and the monocular one carried them\nto his own stable, the blackamoor thief rejoiced with joy\nexceeding and made sure of success, saying in himself, \"By the\nvirtue of the Messiah and the Faith which is no liar, I will\ncertainly steal the twain of them!\" Now he had gone out that very\nnight, intending for the stable, to lift them; but, as he walked\nalong, behold, he caught sight of Nur al-Din lying asleep, with\nthe halters in his hands. So he went up to the horses and loosing\nthe halters from their heads, was about to mount one of them and\ndrive the other before him, when suddenly up came the Princess\nMiriam, carrying on her shoulders the couple of saddle-bags. She\nmistook the black for Nur al-Din and handed him one pair of bags,\nwhich he laid on one of the stallions: after which she gave him\nthe other and he set it on the second steed, without word said to\ndiscover that it was not her lover. Then they mounted and rode\nout of the gate[FN#5] in silence till presently she asked, \"O my\nlord Nur al-Din, what aileth thee to be silent?\" Whereupon the\nblack turned to her and cried angrily, \"What sayst thou, O\ndamsel?\" When she heard the slave's barbarous accents, she knew\nthat the speech was not of Nur al-Din; so raising her eyes she\nlooked at him and saw that he was a black chattel, snub-nosed and\nwide-mouthed, with nostrils like ewers; whereupon the light in\nher eyes became night and she asked him, \"Who art thou, O Shaykh\nof the sons of Ham and what among men is thy name?\" He answered,\n\"O daughter of the base, my name is Mas'\u00fad, the lifter of horses,\nwhen folk slumber and sleep.\" She made him no reply, but\nstraightway baring her blade, smote him on the nape and the blade\ncame out gleaming from his throat-tendons, whereupon he fell\nearthwards, weltering in his blood, and Allah hurried his soul to\nthe Fire and abiding-place dire. Then she took the other horse by\nthe bridle and retraced her steps in search of Nur al-Din, whom\nshe found lying, asleep and snoring, in the place where she had\nappointed him to meet her, hending the halters in hand, yet\nknowing not his fingers from his feet. So she dismounted and gave\nhim a cuff,[FN#6] whereupon he awoke in affright and said to her,\n\"O m lady, praised be Allah for thy safe coming!\" Said she \"Rise\nand back this steed and hold thy tongue!\" So he rose and mounted\none of the stallions, whilst she bestrode the other, and they\nwent forth the city and rode on awhile in silence. Then said she\nto him, \"Did I not bid thee beware of sleeping? Verily, he\nprospereth not who sleepeth.\" He rejoined, \"O my lady, I slept\nnot but because of the cooling of my heart by reason of thy\npromise. But what hath happened, O my lady?\" So she told him her\nadventure with the black, first and last, and he said, \"Praised\nbe Allah for safety!\" Then they fared on at full speed,\ncommitting their affair to the Subtle, the All-wise and\nconversing as they went, till they came to the place where the\nblack lay prostrate in the dust, as he were an Ifrit, and Miriam\nsaid to Nur al-Din, \"Dismount; strip him of his clothes and take\nhis arms.\" He answered, \"By Allah, O my lady, I dare not dismount\nnor approach him.\" And indeed he marvelled at the blackamoor's\nstature and praised the Princess for her deed, wondering the\nwhile at her valour and stout-heartedness. They fared on lustily\nand ceased not so doing all that night and halted not till the\nday broke with its shine and sheen and the sun shone bright upon\nplain and height when they came to a wide riverino lea wherein\nthe gazelles were frisking gracefully. Its surface was clothed\nwith green and on all sides fruit trees of every kind were seen:\nits slopes for flowers like serpents' bellies showed, and birds\nsang on boughs aloud and its rills in manifold runnels flowed.\nAnd indeed it was as saith the poet and saith well and\naccomplisheth the hearer's desire,\n\n\"Rosy red Wady hot with summer-glow, * Where twofold tale of\n     common growth was piled.\nIn copse we halted wherein bent to us * Branches, as bendeth\n     nurse o'er weanling-child.\nAnd pure cold water quenching thirst we sipped: * To cup-mate\n     sweeter than old wine and mild:\nFrom every side it shut out sheen of sun * Screen-like, but wooed\n     the breeze to cool the wild:\nAnd pebbles, sweet as maidens deckt and dight * And soft as\n     threaded pearls, the touch beguiled.\"\n\nAnd as saith another,\n\n\"And when birdies o'er warble its lakelet, it gars *\n     Longing[FN#7] lover to seek it where morning glows;\nFor likest to Paradise lie its banks * With shade and fruitage\n     and fount that flows.\"\n\nPresently Princess Miriam and Nur al-Din alighted to rest in this\nWady,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hat reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nPrincess Miriam and Nur al-Din alighted in that valley, they ate\nof its fruits and drank of its streams, after turning the\nstallions loose to pasture: then they sat talking and recalling\ntheir past and all that had befallen them and complaining one to\nother of the pangs of parting and of the hardships suffered for\nestrangement and love-longing. As they were thus engaged, behold,\nthere arose in the distance a dust-cloud which spread till it\nwalled the world, and they heard the neighing of horses and clank\nof arms and armour. Now the reason of this was, that after the\nPrincess had been bestowed in wedlock upon the Wazir who had gone\nin to her that night, the King went forth at daybreak, to give\nthe couple good morrow, taking with him, after the custom of\nKings with their daughters, a gift of silken stuffs and\nscattering gold and silver among the eunuchs and tire-women, that\nthey might snatch at and scramble for it. And he fared on\nescorted by one of his pages; but when he came to the new palace,\nhe found the Wazir prostrate on the carpet, knowing not his head\nfrom his heels; so he searched the place right and left for his\ndaughter, but found her not; whereat he was troubled sore with\nconcern galore and his wits forlore. Then he bade bring hot water\nand virgin vinegar and frankincense[FN#8] and mingling them\ntogether, blew the mixture into the Wazir's nostrils and shook\nhim, whereupon he cast the Bhang forth of his stomach, as it were\na bit of cheese. He repeated the process, whereupon the Minister\ncame to himself and the King questioned him of his case and that\nof his daughter. He replied, \"O mighty King, I have no knowledge\nof her save that she poured me out a cup of wine with her own\nhand; and from that tide to this I have no recollection of aught\nnor know I what is come of her.\" When the King heard this, the\nlight in his eyes became night, and he drew his scymitar and\nsmote the Wazir on the head, then the steel came out gleaming\nfrom between his grinder teeth. Then, without an instant delay,\nhe called the groom sand syces and demanded of them the two\nstallions: but they said, \"O King, the two steeds were lost in\nthe night and together with them our chief, the Master of Horse;\nfor, when we awoke in the morning, we found all the doors wide\nopen.\" Cried the King, \"By the faith of me and by all wherein my\nbelief is stablished on certainty, none but my daughter hath\ntaken the steeds, she and the Moslem captive which used to tend\nthe Church and which took her aforetime! Indeed I knew him right\nwell and none delivered him from my hand save this one-eyed\nWazir; but now he is requited his deed.\" Then the King called his\nthree sons, who were three doughty champions, each of whom could\nwithstand a thousand horse in the field of strife and the stead\nwhere cut and thrust are rife; and bade them mount. So they took\nhorse forthwith and the King and the flower of his knights and\nnobles and officers mounted with them and followed on the trail\nof the fugitives till Miriam saw them, when she mounted her\ncharger and baldrick'd her blade and took her arms. Then she said\nto Nur al-Din, \"How is it with thee and how is thy heart for\nfight and strife and fray?\" Said he, \"Verily, my steadfastness in\nbattle-van is as the steadfastness of the stake in bran.\"[FN#9]\nAnd he improvised and said,\n\n\"O Miriam thy chiding I pray, forego; * Nor drive me to death or\n     injurious blow:\nHow e'er can I hope to bear fray and fight * Who quake at the\n     croak of the corby-crow?\nI who shiver for fear when I see the mouse * And for very funk I\n     bepiss my clo'!\nI loveno foin but the poke in bed, * When coynte well knoweth my\n     prickle's prow;\nThis is rightful rede, and none other shows * Righteous as this\n     in my sight, I trow.\"\n\nNow when Miriam heard his speech and the verse he made, she\nlaughed and smilingly said, \"O my lord Nur al-Din, abide in thy\nplace and I will keep thee from their ill grace, though they be\nas the sea-sands in number. But mount and ride in rear of me, and\nif we be defeated and put to flight, beware of falling, for none\ncan overtake thy steed.\" So saying, she turned her lance-head\ntowards foe in plain and gave her horse the rein, whereupon he\ndarted off under her, like the stormy gale or like waters that\nfrom straitness of pipes outrail. Now Miriam was the doughtiest\nof the folk of her time and the unique pearl of her age and tide;\nfor her father had taught her, whilst she was yet little, on\nsteeds to ride and dive deep during the darkness of the night in\nthe battle tide. When the King saw her charging down upon them,\nhe knew her but too well and turning to his eldest son, said, \"O\nBartaut,[FN#10] thou who art surnamed Ras al-Killaut[FN#11] this\nis assuredly thy sister Miriam who chargeth upon us, and she\nseeketh to wage war and fight fray with us. So go thou out to\ngive her battle: and I enjoin thee by the Messiah and the Faith\nwhich is no liar, an thou get the better of her, kill her not\ntill thou have propounded to her the Nazarene faith. An she\nreturn to her old creed, bring her to me prisoner; but an she\nrefuse, do her die by the foulest death and make of her the\nvilest of examples, as well as the accursed which is with her.\"\nQuoth Bartaut, \"Hearkening and obedience\"; and, rushing out\nforthright to meet his sister, said to her, \"O Miriam, doth not\nwhat hath already befallen us on thine account suffice thee, but\nthou must leave the faith of thy fathers and forefathers and\nfollow after the faith of the Vagrants in the lands, that is to\nsay, the faith of Al-Islam?  By the virtue of the Messiah and the\nFaith which is no liar, except thou return to the creed of the\nKings thy Forebears and walk therein after the goodliest fashion,\nI will put thee to an ill death and make of thee the most\nshameful of ensamples!\" But Miriam laughed at his speech and\nreplied, \"Well-away! Far be it that the past should present stay\nor that he who is dead should again see day! I will make thee\ndrink the sourest of regrets! By Allah, I will not turn back upon\nthe faith of Mohammed son of Abdullah, who made salvation\ngeneral; for his is the True Faith; nor will I leave the right\nroad though I drain the cup of ruin!\"--And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-second Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Miriam\nexclaimed to her brother, \"Well-away! Heaven forfend that I turn\nback from the faith of Mohammed Abdullah-son who made salvation\ngeneral; for his is the Right Road nor will I leave it although I\ndrain the cup of ruin.\" When the accursed Bartaut heard this, the\nlight in his eyes became night, the matter was great and grievous\nto him and between them there befel a sore fight. The twain\nswayed to and fro battling throughout the length and breadth of\nthe valley and manfully enduring the stress of combat singular,\nwhilst all eyes upon them were fixed in admiring surprise:  after\nwhich they wheeled about and foined and feinted for a long bout\nand as often as Bartaut opened on his sister Miriam a gate of\nwar,[FN#12] she closed it to and put it to naught, of the\ngoodliness of her skill and her art in the use of arms and her\ncunning of cavalarice. Nor ceased they so doing till the dust\noverhung their heads vault-wise and they were hidden from men's\neyes; and she ceased not to baffle Bartaut and stop the way upon\nhim, till he was weary and his courage wavered and his resolution\nwas worsted and his strength weakened; whereupon she smote him on\nthe nape, that the sword came out gleaming from his throat\ntendons and Allah hurried his soul to the Fire and the\nabiding-place which is dire. Then Miriam wheeled about in the\nbattleplain and the stead where cut and thrust are fain; and\nchampioned it and offered battle, crying out and saying, \"Who is\nfor fighting? Who is for jousting? Let come forth to me to-day no\nweakling or niderling; ay, let none come forth to me but the\nchampions who the enemies of The Faith represent, that I may give\nthem to drink the cup of ignominious punishment. O worshippers of\nidols, O miscreants, O rebellious folk, this day verily shall the\nfaces of the people of the True Faith be whitened and theirs who\ndeny the Compassionate be blackened!\" Now when the King saw his\neldest son slain, he smote his face and rent his dress and cried\nout to his second son, saying, \"O Batr\u00fas, thou who art surnamed\nKhara al-S\u00fas,[FN#13] go forth, O my son, in haste and do battle\nwith thy sister Miriam; avenge me the death of thy brother\nBartaut and bring her to me a prisoner, abject and humiliated!\"\nHe answered, \"Hearkening and obedience, O my sire, and charging\ndown drave at his sister, who met him in mid-career, and they\nfought, he and she, a sore fight, yet sorer than the first.\nBartus right soon found himself unable to cope with her might and\nwould have sought safety in flight, but of the greatness of her\nprowess could not avail unto this sleight; for, as often as he\nturned to flee, she drave after him and still clave to him and\npressed him hard, till presently she smote him with the sword in\nhis throat, that it issued gleaming from his nape, and sent him\nafter his brother. Then she wheeled about in the mid-field and\nplain where cut and thrust are dealed, crying out and saying,\n\"Where be the Knights? Where be the Braves? Where is the one-eyed\nWazir, the lameter, of the crooked faith[FN#14] the worthy\nbeliever?\" Thereupon the King her father cried out with heart in\nbleeding guise and tear-ulcerated eyes, saying, \"She hath slain\nmy second son, by the virtue of the Messiah and the Faith which\nis no liar!\" And he called aloud to his youngest son, saying, \"O\nFasy\u00e1n, surnamed Salh al-Suby\u00e1n,[FN#15] go forth, O my son, to do\nbattle with thy sister and take of her the blood-wreak for thy\nbrothers and fall on her, come what may; and whether thou gain or\nthou lose the day;[FN#16] and if thou conquer her, slay her with\nfoulest slaughter!\" So he drave out to Miriam, who ran at him\nwith the best of her skill and charged him with the goodliness of\nher cleverness and her courage and her cunning in fence and\ncavalarice, crying to him, \"O accursed, O enemy of Allah and the\nMoslems, I will assuredly send thee after thy brothers and woeful\nis the abiding-place of the Miscreants!\" So saying, she\nunsheathed her sword and smote him and cut off his head and arms\nand sent him after his brothers and Allah hurried his soul to the\nFire and the abiding-place dire. Now when the Knights and riders\nwho rode with her sire saw his three sons slain, who were the\ndoughtiest of the folk of their day, there fell on their hearts\nterror of the Princess Miriam, awe of her overpowered them; they\nbowed their heads earthwards and they made sure of ruin and\nconfusion, disgrace and destruction. So with the flames of hate\nblazing in heart they turned their backs forthright and addressed\nthemselves to flight. When the King saw his sons slain and on his\nflying troops cast sight, there fell on him bewilderment and\naffright, whilst his heart also was a-fire for despight. Then\nquoth he to himself, \"In very sooth Princess Miriam hath\nbelittled us; and if I venture myself and go out against her\nalone, haply she will gar me succumb and slay me without ruth,\neven as she slew her brothers and make of me the foulest of\nexamples, for she hath no longer any desire for us nor have we of\nher return any hope. Wherefore it were the better rede that I\nguard mine honour and return to my capital.\" So he gave reins to\nhis charger and rode back to his city. But when he found himself\nin his palace, fire was loosed in his heart for rage and chagrin\nat the death of his three gallant sons and the defeat of his\ntroops and the disgrace to his honour; nor did he abide half an\nhour ere he summoned his Grandees and Officers of state and\ncomplained to them of that his daughter Miriam had done with him\nof the slaughter of her brothers and all he suffered therefrom of\npassion and chagrin, and sought advice of them. They all\ncounselled him to write to the Vicar of Allah in His earth, the\nCommander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, and acquaint him with\nhis circumstance. So he wrote a letter to the Caliph, containing,\nafter the usual salutations, the following words. \"We have a\ndaughter, Miriam the Girdle-girl hight, who hath been seduced and\ndebauched from us by a Moslem captive, named Nur al-Din Ali, son\nof the merchant Taj al-Din of Cairo, and he hath taken her by\nnight and went forth with her to his own country; wherefore I beg\nof the favour of our lord the Commander of the Faithful that he\nwrite to all the lands of the Moslems to seize her and send her\nback to us by a trusty messenger.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-third Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King\nof France wrote to the Caliph and Prince of True Believers, Harun\nal-Rashid, a writ humbling himself by asking for his daughter\nMiriam and begging of his favour that he write to all the\nMoslems, enjoining her seizure and sending back to him by a\ntrusty messenger of the servants of his Highness the Commander of\nthe Faithful; adding, \"And in requital of your help and aidance\nin this matter, we will appoint to you half of the city of Rome\nthe Great, that thou mayst build therein mosques for the Moslems,\nand the tribute thereof shall be forwarded to you.\" And after\nwriting this writ, by rede of his Grandees and Lords of the land,\nhe folded the scroll and calling his Wazir, whom he had appointed\nin the stead of the monocular Minister, bade him seal it with the\nseal of the kingdom, and the Officers of state also set hands and\nseals thereto; after which the King bade the Wazir bear the\nletter to Baghdad,[FN#17] the Palace of Peace, and hand it into\nthe Caliph's own hand, saying, \"An thou bring her back, thou\nshalt have of me the fiefs of two Emirs and I will bestow on thee\na robe of honour with two-fold fringes of gold.\" The Wazir set\nout with the letter and fared on over hill and dale, till he came\nto the city of Baghdad, where he abode three days, till he was\nrested from the way, when he sought the Palace of the Commander\nof the Faithful and when guided thereto he entered it and craved\naudience. The Caliph bade admit him; so he went in and kissing\nground before him, handed to him the letter of the King of\nFrance, together with rich gifts and rare presents beseeming the\nCommander of the Faithful. When the Caliph read the writ and\napprehended its significance, he commanded his Wazir to write,\nwithout stay or delay, despatches to all the lands of the\nMoslems, setting out the name and favour of Princess Miriam and\nof Nur al-Din, stating how they had eloped and bidding all who\nfound them lay hands on them and send them to the Commander of\nthe Faithful, and warning them on no wise in that matter to use\ndelay or indifference. So the Wazir wrote the letters and sealing\nthem, despatched them by couriers to the different Governors, who\nhastened to obey the Caliph's commandment and addressed\nthemselves to make search in all the lands for persons of such\nname and favour. On this wise it fared with the Governors and\ntheir subjects; but as regards Nur al-Din and Miriam the\nGirdle-girl, they fared on without delay after defeating the King\nof France and his force and the Protector protected them, till\nthey came to the land of Syria and entered Damascus-city. Now the\ncouriers of the Caliph had foregone them thither by a day and the\nEmir of Damascus knew that he was commanded to arrest the twain\nas soon as found, that he might send them to the Caliph.\nAccordingly, when they entered the city, the secret police[FN#18]\naccosted them and asked them their names. They told them the\ntruth and acquainted them with their adventure and all that had\nbetided them; whereupon they knew them for those of whom they\nwere in search and seizing them, carried them before the Governor\nof the city. He despatched them to the city of Baghdad under\nescort of his officers who, when they came thither, craved\naudience of the Caliph which he graciously granted; so they came\ninto the presence; and, kissing ground before him, said, \"O\nCommander of the Faithful, this is Miriam the Girdle-girl,\ndaughter of the King of France, and this is the captive Nur\nal-Din, son of the merchant Taj al-Din of Cairo, who debauched\nher from her sire and stealing her from his kingdom and country\nfled with her to Damascus, where we found the twain as they\nentered the city, and questioned them. They told us the truth of\ntheir case: so we laid hands on them and brought them before\nthee.\" The Caliph looked at Miriam and saw that she was slender\nand shapely of form and stature, the handsomest of the folk of\nher tide and the unique pearl of her age and her time; sweet of\nspeech[FN#19] and fluent of tongue, stable of soul and hearty of\nheart. Thereupon she kissed the ground between his hands and\nwished him permanence of glory and prosperity and surcease of\nevil and enmity. He admired the beauty of her figure and the\nsweetness of her voice and the readiness of her replies and said\nto her, \"Art thou Miriam the Girdle-girl, daughter of the King of\nFrance?\" Answered she, \"Yes, O Prince of True Believers and\nPriest of those who the Unity of Allah receive and Defender of\nthe Faith and cousin of the Primate of the Apostles!\" Then the\nCaliph turned to Nur al-Din Ali and seeing him to be a shapely\nyouth, as he were the shining full moon on fourteenth night, said\nto him, \"And thou, art thou Ali Nur al-Din, son of the merchant\nTaj al-Din of Cairo?\" Said he, \"Yes, O Commander of the Faithful\nand stay of those who for righteousness are care-full!\" The\nCaliph asked, \"How cometh it that thou hast taken this damsel and\nfled forth with her of her father's kingdom?\" So Nur al-Din\nproceeded to relate to the Commander of the Faithful all his\npast, first and last; whereat the Caliph was astonied with\nextreme astonishment and diverted and exclaimed, \"How manifold\nare the sufferings that men suffer!\"--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-fourth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nCaliph Harun al-Rashid asked Nur al-Din of his adventure and was\ntold of all that had passed, first and last, he was astonied with\nextreme astonishment and exclaimed, \"How manifold are the\nsufferings that men suffer!\" Then he turned to the Princess and\nsaid to her, \"Know, O Miriam, that thy father, the King of\nFrance, hath written to me anent thee. What sayst thou?\" She\nreplied, \"O Vicar of Allah on His earth and Executor of the\nprecepts of His prophet and commands to man's unworth,[FN#20] may\nHe vouchsafe thee eternal prosperity and ward thee from evil and\nenmity! Thou art Viceregent of Allah in His earth and I have\nentered thy Faith, for that it is the creed which Truth and\nRighteousness inspire; and I have left the religion of the\nMiscreants who make the Messiah a liar,[FN#21] and I am become a\nTrue Believer in Allah the Bountiful and in the revelation of His\ncompassionate Apostle. I worship Allah (extolled and exalted be\nHe!) and acknowledge Him to be the One God and prostrate myself\nhumbly before Him and glorify Him; and I say before the Caliph,\n'Verily , I testify that there is no god but the God and I\ntestify that Mohammed is the Messenger of God, whom He sent with\nthe Guidance and the True Faith, that He might make it victorious\nover every other religion, albeit they who assign partners to God\nbe averse from it.'[FN#22] Is it therefore in thy competence, O\nCommander of the Faithful, to comply with the letter of the King\nof the heretics and send me back to the land of the schismatics\nwho deny The Faith and give partners to the All-wise King, who\nmagnify the Cross and bow down before idols and believe in the\ndivinity of Jesus, for all he was only a creature? An thou deal\nwith me thus, O Viceregent of Allah, I will lay hold upon thy\nskirts on the Day of Muster before the Lord and make my complaint\nof thee to thy cousin the Apostle of Allah (whom God assain and\npreserve!) on the Day when wealth availeth not neither children\nsave one come unto Allah wholehearted!\"[FN#23] Answered the\nCaliph, \"O Miriam, Allah forfend that I should do this ever! How\ncan I send back a Moslemah believer in the one God and in His\nApostle to that which Allah hath forbidden and eke His Messenger\nhath forbidden?\" Quoth she, \"I testify that there is no god but\nthe God and that Mohammed is the Apostle of God!\" Rejoined the\nCaliph, \"O Miriam, Allah bless and direct thee in the way of\nrighteousness! Since thou art a Moslemah and a believer in Allah\nthe One, I owe thee a duty of obligation and it is that I should\nnever transgress against thee nor forsake thee, though be\nlavished unto me on thine account the world full of gold and\ngems. So be of good cheer and eyes clear of tear; and be thy\nbreast broadened and thy case naught save easy. Art thou willing\nthat this youth Ali of Cairo be to thee man and thou to him\nwife?\" Replied Miriam, \"O Prince of True Believers, how should I\nbe other than willing to take him to husband, seeing that he\nbought me with his money and hath entreated me with the utmost\nkindness and, for crown of his good offices, he hath ventured his\nlife for my sake many times?\" So the Caliph summoned the Kazi and\nthe witneses and married her to him assigning her a dowry and\ncausing the Grandees of his realm be present and the marriage day\nwas a notable. Then he turned to the Wazir of the French King,\nwho was present, and said to him, \"Hast thou heard her words? How\ncan I her send back to her father the Infidel, seeing that she is\na Moslemah and a believer in the Unity? Belike he will evil\nentreat her and deal harshly with her, more by token that she\nhath slain his sons, and I shall bear blame for her on\nResurrection-day. And indeed quoth the Almighty 'Allah will by no\nmeans make a way for the Infidels over the True\nBelievers.'[FN#24] So return to thy King and say to him, 'Turn\nfrom this thing and hope not to come at thy desire thereof.'\" Now\nthis Wazir was a Zany: so he said to the Caliph, \"O Commander of\nthe Faithful, by the virtue of the Messiah and the Faith which is\nno liar, were Miriam forty times a Moslemah and forty times\nthereto, I may not depart from thee without that same Miriam! And\nif thou send her not back with me of free will, I will hie me to\nher sire and cause him despatch thee an host, wherewith I will\ncome upon you from the landward and the seaward; and the van\nwhereof shall be at your capital city whilst the rear is yet on\nthe Euphrates[FN#25] and they shall lay waste thy realms.\" When\nthe Caliph heard these words from the accursed Wazir of the King\nof France, the light in his face became night and he was wroth at\nhis speech with exceeding wrath and said to him, \"O damned one, O\ndog of the Nazarenes, art thou come to such power that thou durst\nassail me with the King of the Franks?\" Then quoth he to his\nguards, \"Take this accursed and do him die\"; and he repeated this\ncouplet,[FN#26]\n\n\"This be his recompense who will * Oppose and thwart his betters'\nwill.\"\n\nThen he commanded to cut off the Wazir's head and burn his body;\nbut Princess Miriam cried, \"O Commander of the Faithful, soil not\nthy sword with the blood of this accursed.\" So saying, she bared\nher brand and smote him and made his head fly from his corpse,\nand he went to the house of ungrace; his abode was Gehenna, and\nevil is the abiding-place. The Caliph marvelled at the force of\nher fore-arm and the strength of her mind, and they carried the\ndead Wazir forth of the pavilion and burnt him. Then the\nCommander of the Faithful bestowed upon Nur al-Din a splendid\nrobe of honour and assigned to him and her a lodging in his\npalace. Moreover, he appointed them solde and rations, and\ncommanded to transport to their quarters all they needed of\nraiment and furniture and vessels of price. They sojourned awhile\nin Baghdad in all delight of life and solace thereof till Nur\nal-Din longed for his mother and father. So he submitted the\nmatter to the Caliph and sought his leave to revisit his native\nland and visit his kinsfolk, and he granted him the permission he\nsought and calling Miriam, commended them each to other. He also\nloaded them with costly presents and rarities and bade write\nletters to the Emirs and Olema and notables of Cairo the\nGod-guarded, commending Nur al-Din and his wife and parents to\ntheir care and charging them honour them with the highmost\nhonour. When the news reached Cairo, the merchant Taj al-Din\njoyed at the return of his son and Nur al-Din's mother likewise\nrejoiced therein with passing joy. The Emirs and the notables of\nthe city went forth to meet him, in obedience to the Caliph's\ninjunctions, and indeed it was for them a right note-worthy day,\nwherein foregathered the lover and the beloved and the seeker\nattained the sought. Moreover, all the Emirs made them\nbride-feasts, each on his own day, and joyed in them with joy\nexceeding and vied in doing them honour, one the other\nsucceeding. When Nur al-Din foregathered with his mother and\nfather, they were gladdened in each other with the utmost\ngladness and care and affliction ceased from them, whilst his\nparents joyed no less in the Princess Miriam and honoured her\nwith the highmost honour. Every day, there came to them presents\nfrom all the Emirs and great merchants, and they were in new\ndelight and gladness exceeding the gladness of festival. Then\nthey ceased not abiding in solace and pleasance and good cheer\nand abounding prosperity, eating and drinking with mirth and\nmerriment, till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and\nSunderer of societies, Waster of houses and palace-domes and\nPeopler of the bellies of the tombs. So they were removed from\nworldly stead and became of the number of the dead; and glory be\nto the Living One, who dieth not and in whose hand are the keys\nof the Seen and the Unseen! And a tale was also told by the Emir\nShuj\u00e1 al-D\u00edn,[FN#27] Prefect of Cairo anent\n\n\n\n\n            THE MAN OF UPPER EGYPT AND HIS FRANKISH\n                             WIFE.\n\n\nWe lay one night in the house of a man of the Sa'\u00edd or Upper\nEgypt, and he entertained us and entreated us hospitably. Now he\nwas a very old man swart with exceeding swarthiness, and he had little\nchildren, who were white, of a white dashed with red. So we said\nto him, \"Harkye, such an one, how cometh it that these thy\nchildren are white, whilst thou thyself art passing swart?\" and\nhe said, \"Their mother was a Frankish woman, whom I took prisoner\nin the days of Al-Malik al-N\u00e1sir Sal\u00e1h al-D\u00edn,[FN#28] after the\nbattle of Hatt\u00edn,[FN#29] when I was a young man.\" We asked, \"And\nhow gottest thou her?\" and he answered, \"I had a rare adventure\nwith her.\" Quoth we, \"Favour us with it;\" and quoth he, \"With all\nmy heart! You must know that I once sowed a crop of flax in these\nparts and pulled it and scutched it and spent on it five hundred\ngold pieces; after which I would have sold it, but could get no\nmore than this therefor, and the folk said to me, 'Carry it to\nAcre: for there thou wilt haply make good gain by it.' Now Acre\nwas then in the hands of the Franks; [FN#30] so I carried my flax\nthither and sold part of it at six months' credit. One day, as I\nwas selling, behold, there came up a Frankish woman (now 'tis the\ncustom of the women of the Franks to go about the market streets\nwith unveiled faces), to buy flax of me, and I saw of her beauty\nwhat dazed my wits. So I sold her somewhat of flax and was easy\nwith her concerning the price; and she took it and went away.\nSome days after, she returned and bought somewhat more flax of me\nand I was yet easier with her about the price; and she repeated\nher visits to me, seeing that I was in love with her. Now she was\nused to walk in company of an old woman to whom I said, \"I am\nsore enamoured of thy mistress. Canst thou contrive for me to\nenjoy her?\" Quoth she, 'I will contrive this for thee; but the\nsecret must not go beyond us three, me, thee and her; and there\nis no help but that thou be lavish with money, to boot.' And I\nanswered, saying, 'Though my life were the price of her favours\n'twere no great matter.'\" -- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-Fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old\nwoman said to the man, \"However the secret must not go beyond us\nthree, to wit me, thee and her; and there is no help but thou be\nlavish of thy money to boot.\" He replied, \"Though my life were\nthe price of her favours 'twere no great matter.\" \"So it was\nagreed\" (continued the man of Upper Egypt), \"that I should pay\nher fifty dinars and that she should come to me; whereupon I\nprocured the money and gave it to the old woman. She took it and\nsaid, 'Make ready a place for her in thy house, and she will come\nto thee this night.' Accordingly I went home and made ready what\nI could of meat and drink and wax candles and sweetmeats. Now my\nhouse overlooked the sea and 'twas the season of summer; so I\nspread the bed on the terrace roof. Presently, the Frank woman\ncame and we ate and drank, and the night fell dark. We lay down\nunder the sky, with the moon shining on us, and fell to watching\nthe shimmering of the stars in the sea: and I said to myself,\n'Art thou not ashamed before Allah (to whom belong Might and Majesty!)\nand thou a stranger, under the heavens and in presence of the\ndeep waters, to disobey Him with a Nazarene woman and merit the\ntorment of Fire?' Then said I, 'O my God, I call Thee to witness\nthat I abstain from this Christian woman this night, of\nshamefastness before Thee and fear of Thy vengeance!' So I slept\ntill the morning, and she arose at peep of day full of anger and\nwent away. I walked to my shop and sat there; and behold,\npresently she passed, as she were the moon, accompanied by the\nold woman who was also angry; whereat my heart sank within me and\nI said to myself, 'Who art thou that thou shouldst refrain from\nyonder damsel? Art thou Sar\u00ed al-Sakat\u00ed or Bishr Barefoot or\nJunayd of Baghdad or Fuzayl bin 'Iy\u00e1z?'[FN#31] Then I ran after\nthe old woman and coming up with her said to her, 'Bring her to\nme again;' and said she, 'By the virtue of the Messiah, she will\nnot return to thee but for an hundred ducats!' Quoth I, 'I will\ngive thee a hundred gold pieces.' So I paid her the money and the\ndamsel came to me a second time; but no sooner was she with me\nthan I returned to my whilome way of thinking and abstained from\nher and forbore her for the sake of Allah Almighty. Presently she\nwent away and I walked to my shop, and shortly after the old\nwoman came up, in a rage. Quoth I to her, 'Bring her to me\nagain;' and quoth she, 'By the virtue of the Messiah, thou shalt\nnever again enjoy her presence with thee, except for five hundred\nducats, and thou shalt perish in thy pain!' At this I trembled\nand resolved to spend the whole price of my flax and therewith\nransom my life. But, before I could think, I heard the crier\nproclaiming and saying, 'Ho, all ye Moslems, the truce which was\nbetween us and you is expired, and we give all of you Mahometans\nwho are here a week from this time to have done with your\nbusiness and depart to your own country.' Thus her visits were\ncut off from me and I betook myself to getting in the price of\nthe flax which men had bought upon credit, and to bartering what\nremained in my hands for other goods. Then I took with me fair\nmerchandise and departed Acre with a soul full of affection and\nlove-longing for the Frankish woman, who had taken my heart and\nmy coin. So I journeyed till I made Damascus, where I sold the\nstock in trade I had brought from Acre, at the highest price,\nbecause of the cutting off of communication by reason of the term\nof truce having expired; and Allah (extolled and exalted be He!)\nvouchsafed me good gain. Then I fell to trading in captive slave-\ngirls, thinking thus to ease my heart of its pining for the\nFrankish woman, and in this traffic engaged I abode three years,\ntill there befel between Al-Malik al-N\u00e1sir and the Franks what\nbefel of the action of Hattin and other encounters and Allah gave\nhim the victory over them, so that he took all their Kings\nprisoners and he opened [FN#32] the coast [FN#33] cities by His\nleave. Now it fortuned one day after this, that a man came to me\nand sought of me a slave-girl for Al-Malik al-Nasir. Having a\nhandsome handmaid I showed her to him and he bought her of me for\nan hundred dinars and gave me ninety thereof, leaving ten still\ndue to me, for that there was no more found in the royal treasury\nthat day, because he had expended all his monies in waging war\nagainst the Franks. Accordingly they took counsel with him and he\nsaid, 'Carry him to the treasury[FN#34] where are the captives'\nlodging and give him his choice among the damsels of the Franks,\nso he may take one of them for the ten dinars,'\" -- And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-sixth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that whenas\nAl-Malik al-Nasir said, \" ' Give him his choice to take one of the\ngirls for the ten dinars that are due to him;' they brought me to\nthe captives' lodging and showed me all who were therein, and I\nsaw amongst them the Frankish damsel with whom I had fallen in\nlove at Acre and knew her right well. Now she was the wife of one\nof the cavaliers of the Franks. So I said, 'Give me this one,'\nand carrying her to my tent, asked her, 'Dost thou know me?' She\nanswered, 'No;' and I rejoined, 'I am thy friend, the sometime\nflax-merchant with whom thou hadst to do at Acre and there befel\nbetween us what befel. Thou tookest money of me and saidest,\n'Thou shalt never again see me but for five hundred dinars.' And\nnow thou art become my property for ten ducats.' Quoth she, 'This\nis a mystery. Thy faith is the True Faith and I testify that\nthere is no god but the God and that Mohammed is the Messenger of\nGod!' And she made perfect profession of Al-Islam. Then said I to\nmyself, 'By Allah, I will not go in unto her till I have set her\nfree and acquainted the Kazi.' So I betook myself to Ibn\nShadd\u00e1d[FN#35] and told him what had passed and he married me to\nher. Then I lay with her that night and she conceived; after\nwhich the troops departed and we returned to Damascus. But within\na few days there came an envoy from the King of the Franks, to\nseek the captives and the prisoners, according to the treaty\nbetween the Kings. So Al-Malik al-Nasir restored all the men and\nwomen captive, till there remained but the woman who was with me\nand the Franks said, 'The wife of such an one the Knight is not\nhere.' Then they asked after her and making strict search for\nher, found that she was with me; whereupon they demanded her of\nme and I went in to her sore concerned and with colour changed;\nand she said to me, 'What aileth thee and what evil assaileth\nthee?' Quoth I, 'A messenger is come from the King to take all\nthe captives, and they demand thee of me.' Quoth she, 'Have no\nfear, bring me to the King and I know what to say before and to\nhim.' I carried her into the presence of the Sultan Al-Malik al-\nNasir, who was seated, with the envoy of the King of the Franks\non his right hand, and I said to him, 'This is the woman that is\nwith me.' Then quoth the King and the envoy to her, 'Wilt thou go\nto thy country or to[FN#36] thy husband? For Allah hath loosed\nthy bonds and those of thy fellow captives.' Quoth she to the\nSultan, 'I am become a Moslemah and am great with child, as by my\nmiddle ye may see, and the Franks shall have no more profit of\nme.' The envoy asked, 'Whether is dearer to thee, this Moslem or\nthy first husband and knight such an one?;' and she answered him\neven as she had answered the Sultan. Then said the envoy to the\nFranks with him, 'Heard ye her words?' They replied, 'Yes.' And\nhe said to me, 'Take thy wife and depart with her.' So I took her\nand went away; but the envoy sent after me in haste and cried,\n'Her mother gave me a charge for her, saying, 'My daughter is a\ncaptive and naked; and I would have thee carry her this chest.'\nTake it thou and deliver it to her.' Accordingly I carried the\nchest home and gave it to her. She opened it and found in it all\nher raiment as she had left it and therein I saw the two purses\nof fifty and an hundred dinars which I had given her, untouched\nand tied up with my own tying, wherefore I praised Almighty\nAllah. These are my children by her and she is alive to this day\nand 'twas she dressed you this food.\" We marvelled at his story\nand at that which had befallen him of good fortune, and Allah is\nAll-knowing. But men also tell a tale anent the\n\n\n\n\n\n\n            RUINED MAN OF BAGHDAD AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL\n\n\nThere was of old time in Baghdad a man of condition, who had\ninherited from his father abounding affluence. He fell in love\nwith a slave-girl; so he bought her and she loved him as he loved\nher; and he ceased not to spend upon her, till all his money was\ngone and naught remained thereof; whereupon he sought a means of\ngetting his livelihood, but availed not to find any. Now this\nyoung man had been used, in the days of his affluence, to\nfrequent the assemblies of those who were versed in the art of\nsinging and had thus attained to the utmost excellence therein.\nPresently he took counsel with one of his intimates, who said to\nhim, \"Meseems thou canst find no better profession than to sing,\nthou and thy slave-girl; for on this wise thou wilt get money in\nplenty and wilt eat and drink.\" But he misliked this, he and the\ndamsel, and she said to him, \"I have bethought me of a means of\nrelief for thee.\" He asked, \"What is it?;\" and she answered, \"Do\nthou sell me; thus shall we be delivered of this strait, thou and\nI, and I shall be in affluence; for none will buy the like of me\nsave a man of fortune, and with this I will contrive for my\nreturn to thee.\" He carried her to the market and the first who\nsaw her was a Hashimi[FN#37] of Bassorah, a man of good breeding,\nfine taste and generosity, who bought her for fifteen hundred\ndinars. (Quoth the young man, the damsel's owner), \"When I had\nreceived the price, I repented me and wept, I and the damsel; and\nI sought to cancel the sale; but the purchaser would not consent.\nSo I took the gold in a bag, knowing not whither I should wend,\nnow my house was desolate of her and buffeted my face and wept\nand wailed as I had never done before. Then I entered a mosque\nand sat shedding tears, till I was stupefied and losing my senses\nfell asleep, with the bag of money under my head by way of\npillow. Presently, ere I could be ware, a man plucked the bag\nfrom under my head and ran off with it at speed: whereupon I\nstarted up in alarm and affright and would have arisen to run\nafter him; but lo! my feet were bound with a rope and I fell on\nmy face. Then I took to weeping and buffeting myself, saying,\n'Thou hast parted with thy soul[FN#38] and thy wealth is lost!'\"-\n- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n    When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nyoung man continued, \"So I said to myself, 'Thou hast parted with\nthy soul and thy wealth is lost.' Then, of the excess of my\nchagrin, I betook myself to the Tigris and wrapping my face in my\ngown, cast myself into the stream. The bystanders saw me and\ncried, 'For sure, this is because of some great trouble that hath\nbetided him.' They cast themselves in after me and bringing me\nashore, questioned me of my case. I told them what misadventure\nhad befallen me and they condoled with me. Then an old man of\nthem came to me and said, 'Thou hast lost thy money, but why\ngoest thou about to lose thy life and become of the people of The\nFire?[FN#39] Arise, come with me, that I may see thy lodging.' I\nwent with him to my house and he sat with me awhile, till I waxed\ncalmer, and becoming tranquil I thanked him and he went away.\nWhen he was gone, I was like to kill myself, but bethought me of\nthe Future and the Fire; so I fared forth my house and fled to\none of my friends and told him what had befallen me. He wept for\npity of me and gave me fifty dinars, saying, 'Take my advice and\nhie thee from Baghdad forthright and let this provide thee till\nthy heart be diverted from the love of her and thou forget her.\nThy forbears were Secretaries and Scribes and thy handwriting is\nfine and thy breeding right good: seek out, then, whom thou wilt\nof the Intendants[FN#40] and throw thyself on his bounty; thus\nhaply Allah shall reunite thee with thy slave-girl.' I hearkened\nto his words (and indeed my mind was strengthened and I was\nsomewhat comforted) and resolved to betake myself to\nWasit,[FN#41] where I had kinfolk. So I went down to the river-\nside, where I saw a ship moored and the sailors embarking goods\nand goodly stuffs. I asked them to take me with them and carry me\nto W\u00e1sit; but they replied, 'We cannot take thee on such wise,\nfor the ship belongeth to a Hashimi.' However, I tempted them\nwith promise of passage-money and they said, 'We cannot embark\nthee on this fashion;[FN#42] but, if it must be, doff those fine\nclothes of thine and don sailor's gear and sit with us as thou\nwert one of us.' I went away and buying somewhat of sailors'\nclothes, put them on; after which I bought me also somewhat of\nprovisions for the voyage; and, returning to the vessel, which\nwas bound for Bassorah, embarked with the crew. But ere long I\nsaw my slave-girl herself come on board, attended by two waiting-\nwomen; whereupon what was on me of chagrin subsided and I said in\nmyself, 'Now shall I see her and hear her singing, till we come\nto Bassorah.' Soon after, up rode the Hashimi, with a party of\npeople, and they embarked aboard the ship, which dropped down the\nriver with them. Presently the Hashimi brought out food and ate\nwith the damsel, whilst the rest ate amidships. Then said he to\nher, 'How long this abstinence from singing and permanence in\nthis wailing and weeping? Thou art not the first that hath been\nparted from a beloved!' Wherefore I knew what she suffered for\nlove of me. Then he hung a curtain before her along the gunwale\nand calling those who ate apart, sat down with them without the\ncurtain; and I enquired concerning them and behold they were his\nbrethren.[FN#43] He set before them what they needed of wine and\ndessert, and they ceased not to press the damsel to sing, till\nshe called for the lute and tuning it, intoned these two\ncouplets,\n\n'The company left with my love by night, * Nor forbore to fare\n     with heart's delight:\nAnd raged, since their camels off paced, a fire * As of\n     Ghaz\u00e1[FN#44]-wood in the lover's sprite.'\n\nThen weeping overpowered her and she threw down the elute and\nceased singing; whereat the folks were troubled and I slipped\ndown a-swoon. They thought I was possessed[FN#45] and one of them\nbegan reciting exorcisms in my ear; nor did they cease to comfort\nher and beseech her to sing, till she tuned the lute again and\nchaunted these couplets twain,\n\n'I stood and bewailed who their loads had bound * And far yode\n     but still in my heart are found;\nI drew near the ruins and asked of them * And the camp was void\n     and lay waste the ground.'\n\nThen she fell down in a fainting-fit and weeping arose amongst\nthe folk; and I also cried out and fainted away. The sailors were\nstartled by me and one of the Hashimi's pages said to them, 'How\ncame ye to take this madman on board?' So they said one to other,\n'As soon as we come to the next village, we will set him ashore\nand rid us of him.' When I heard this, I was sore troubled but I\nheartened and hardened myself, saying in thought, 'Nothing will\nserve me to deliver myself from their hands, except I make shift\nto acquaint her with my presence in the ship, so she may prevent\nmy being set ashore.' Then we sailed when we came hard by a\nhamlet[FN#46] and the skipper said, 'Come, let us go ashore.'\nTherewith they all landed, save myself; and as evening fell I\nrose and going behind the curtain took the lute and changed its\naccord, mode[FN#47] by mode, and tuning it after a fashion of my\nown,[FN#48] that she had learnt of me, returned to my place in\nthe ship;\" --And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-eighth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nyoung man continued, \"I returned to my place in the ship; and\npresently the whole party came on board again and the moon shone\nbright upon river and height. Then said the Hashimi to the\ndamsel, 'Allah upon thee, trouble not our joyous lives!' So she\ntook the lute, and touching it with her hand, gave a sob, that\nthey thought her soul had fled her frame, and said, 'By Allah, my\nmaster and teacher is with us in this ship!' Answered the\nHashimi, 'By Allah, were this so, I would not forbid him our\nconversation! Haply he would lighten thy burthen, so we might\nenjoy thy singing: but his being on board is far from possible.'\nHowever she said, 'I cannot smite lute-string or sing sundry airs\nI was wont to sing whilst my lord is with us.' Quoth the Hashimi,\n'Let us ask the sailors;' and quoth she, 'Do so.' He questioned\nthem, saying, 'Have ye carried anyone with you!'; and they\nanswered, 'No.' Then I feared lest the enquiry should end there;\nso I laughed and said, 'Yes; I am her master and taught her\nwhenas I was her lord.' Cried she, 'By Allah, that is my lord's\nvoice!' Thereupon the pages carried me to the Hashimi, who knew\nme at first sight and said to me, 'Out on thee! What plight is\nthis in which I see thee and what hath brought thee to such\ncondition?' I related to him all that had befallen me of my\naffair, weeping the while, and the damsel made loud wail from\nbehind the curtain. The Hashimi wept with sore weeping, he and\nhis brethren, for pity of me, and he said, 'By Allah, I have not\ndrawn near this damsel nor enjoyed her, nor have I even heard her\nsing till this day! I am a man to whom Allah hath been ample and\nI came to Baghdad but to hear singing and seek my allowances of\nthe Commander of the Faithful. I accomplished both my needments\nand being about to return home, said to myself, 'Let us hear some\nwhat of the singing of Baghdad.' Wherefore I bought this damsel,\nknowing not that such was the case with you twain; and I take\nAllah to witness that, when I reach Bassorah I will free her and\nmarry her to thee and assign you what shall suffice you, and\nmore; but on condition that, whenever I have a mind to hear\nmusic, a curtain shall be hung for her and she shall sing to me\nfrom behind it, and thou shalt be of the number of my brethren\nand boon-companions.' Hereat I rejoiced and the Hashimi put his\nhead within the curtain and said to her, 'Will that content\nthee?'; whereupon she fell to blessing and thanking him. Then he\ncalled a servant and said to him, 'Take this young man and do off\nhis clothes and robe him in costly raiment and incense[FN#49] him\nand bring him back to us.' So the servant did with me as his\nmaster bade him and brought me back to him, and served me with\nwine, even as the rest of the company. Then the damsel began\nsinging after the goodliest fashion and chanted these couplets,\n\n'They blamed me for causing my tears to well * When came my\n     beloved to bid farewell:\nThey ne'er tasted the bitters of parting nor felt * Fire beneath\n     my ribs that flames fierce and fell!\nNone but baffled lover knows aught of Love, * Whose heart is lost\n     where he wont to dwell.'\n\nThe folk rejoiced in her song with exceeding joy and my gladness\nredoubled, so that I took the lute from the damsel and preluding\nafter the most melodious fashion, sang these couplets,\n\n'Ask (if needs thou ask) the Compassionate, * And the generous\n     donor of high estate.\nFor asking the noble honours man * And asking the churl entails\n     bane and bate:\nWhen abasement is not to be 'scaped by wight * Meet it asking\n     boons of the good and great.\nOf Grandee to sue ne'er shall vilify man, * But 'tis vile on the\n     vile of mankind to 'wait.'\n\nThe company rejoiced in me with joy exceeding and the ceased not\nfrom pleasure and delight, whilst anon I sang and anon the\ndamsel, till we came to one of the landing-places, where the\nvessel moored and all on board disembarked and I with them. Now I\nwas drunken with wine and squatted on my hams to make water; but\ndrowsiness overcame me and I slept, and the passengers returned\nto the ship which ran down stream without any missing me, for\nthat they also were drunken, and continued their voyage until\nthey reached Bassorah. As for me I awoke not till the heat of the\nsun aroused me, when I rose and looked about me, but saw no one.\nNow I had given my spending money to the damsel and had naught\nleft: I had also forgotten to ask the Hashimi his name and where\nhis house was at Bassorah and his titles; thus I was confounded\nand my joy at meeting the damsel had been but a dream; and I\nabode in perplexity till there came up a great vessel wherein I\nembarked and she carried me to Bassorah. Now I knew none there\nmuch less the Hashimi's house, so I accosted a grocer and taking\nof him inkcase and paper, -- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nBaghdad man who owned the maid entered Bassorah, he was perplexed\nfor not knowing the Hashimi's house. \"So I accosted\" (said he) \"a\ngrocer and, taking of him inkcase and paper, sat down to write.\nHe admired my handwriting and seeing my dress stained and soiled,\nquestioned me of my case, to which I replied that I was a\nstranger and poor. Quoth he, 'Wilt thou abide with me and order\nthe accounts of my shop and I will give thee thy food and\nclothing and half a dirham a day for ordering the accompts of my\nshop?'; and quoth I, ''Tis well,' and abode with him and kept his\naccounts and ordered his income and expenditure for a month, at\nthe end of which he found his income increased and his\ndisbursements diminished; wherefore he thanked me and made my\nwage a dirham a day. When the year was out, he proposed to me to\nmarry his daughter and become his partner in the shop. I agreed\nto this and went in to my wife and applied me to the shop. But I\nwas broken in heart and spirit, and grief was manifest upon me;\nand the grocer used to drink and invite me thereto, but I\nrefrained for melancholy. I abode on this wise two years till,\none day, as I sat in the shop, behold, there passed by a parcel\nof people with meat and drink, and I asked the grocer what was\nthe matter. Quoth he, 'This is the day of the pleasure-makers,\nwhen all the musicians and dancers of the town go forth with the\nyoung men of fortune to the banks of the Ubullah river[FN#50] and\neat and drink among the trees there.' The spirit prompted me to\nsolace myself with the sight of this thing and I said in my mind,\n'Haply among these people I may foregather with her I love.' So I\ntold the grocer that I had a mind to this and he said, 'Up and go\nwith them an thou please.' He made me ready meat and drink and I\nwent till I came to the River of Ubullah, when, behold, the folk\nwere going away: I also was about to follow, when I espied the\nRais of the bark wherein the Hashimi had been with the damsel and\nhe was going along the river. I cried out to him and his company\nwho knew me and took me on board with them and said to me, 'Art\nthou yet alive?'; and they embraced me and questioned me of my\ncase. I told them my tale and they said, 'Indeed, we thought that\ndrunkenness had gotten the better of thee and that thou hadst\nfallen into the water and wast drowned.' Then I asked them of the\ndamsel, and they answered, 'When she came to know of thy loss,\nshe rent her raiment and burnt the lute and fell to buffeting\nherself and lamenting and when we returned with the Hashimi to\nBassorah we said to her, 'Leave this weeping and wailing.' Quoth\nshe, 'I will don black and make me a tomb beside the house and\nabide there and repent from singing.'[FN#51] We allowed her so to\ndo and on this wise she abideth to this day. Then they carried me\nto the Hashimi's house, where I saw the damsel as they had said.\nWhen she espied me, she cried out a great cry, methought she had\ndied, and I embraced her with a long embrace. Then said the\nHashimi to me, 'Take her;' and I said, ''Tis well: but do thou\nfree her and according to thy promise marry her to me.'\nAccordingly he did this and gave us costly goods and store of\nraiment and furniture and five hundred dinars, saying, 'This is\nthe amount of that which I purpose to allow you every month, but\non condition that thou be my cup-companion and that I hear the\ngirl sing when I will.' Furthermore, he assigned us private\nquarters and bade transport thither all our need; so, when I went\nto the house I found it filled full of furniture and stuffs and\ncarried the damsel thither. Then I betook myself to the grocer\nand told him all that had betided me, begging to hold me\nguiltless for divorcing his daughter, without offence on her\npart; and I paid her her dowry[FN#52] and what else behoved\nme.[FN#53] I abode with the Hashimi in this way two years and\nbecame a man of great wealth and was restored to the former\nestate of prosperity wherein I had been at Baghdad, I and the\ndamsel. And indeed Allah the Bountiful put an end to our troubles\nand loaded us with the gifts of good fortune and caused our\npatience to result in the attainment of our desire: wherefore to\nHim be the praise in this world and the next whereto we are\nreturning.\"[FN#54] And among the tales men tell is that of\n\n\n\n\n           KING JALI'AD OF HIND AND HIS WAZIR SHIMAS;\n           FOLLOWED BY THE HISTORY OF KING WIRD KHAN,\n            SON OF KING JALI'AD, WITH HIS  WOMEN AND\n                         WAZIRS.[FN#55]\n\n\n\nThere was once in days of yore and in ages and times long gone\nbefore, in the land of Hind, a mighty King, tall of presence and\nfair of favour and goodly of parts, noble of nature and generous,\nbeneficent to the poor and loving to his lieges and all the\npeople of his realm. His name was Jal\u00ed'\u00e1d and under his hand were\ntwo-and-seventy Kings and in his cities three hundred and fifty\nKazis. He had three score and ten Wazirs and over every ten of\nthem he set a premier. The chiefest of all his ministers was a\nman called Shim\u00e1s[FN#56] who was then[FN#57] two and twenty years\nold, a statesman of pleasant presence and noble nature, sweet of\nspeech and ready in reply; shrewd in all manner of business,\nskilful withal and sagacious for all his tender age, a man of\ngood counsel and fine manners versed in all arts and sciences and\naccomplishments; and the King loved him with exceeding love and\ncherished him by reason of his proficiency in eloquence and\nrhetoric and the art of government and for that which Allah had\ngiven him of compassion and brooding care[FN#58] with his lieges\nfor he was a King just in his Kingship and a protector of his\npeoples, constant in beneficence to great and small and giving\nthem that which befitted them of good governance and bounty and\nprotection and security and a lightener of their loads in taxes\nand tithes. And indeed he was loving to them each and every, high\nand low, entreating them with kindness and solicitude and\ngoverning them in such goodly guise as none had done before him.\nBut, with all this, Almighty Allah had not blessed him with a\nchild, and this was grievous to him and to the people of his\nreign. It chanced, one night, as Jali'ad[FN#59] lay in his bed,\noccupied with anxious thought of the issue of the affair of his\nKingdom, that sleep overcame him and he dreamt that he poured\nwater upon the roots of a tree,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n             When it was the Nine Hundredth Night,\n\nShe continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nKing saw himself in his vision pouring water upon the roots of a\ntree, about which were many other trees; and lo and behold! there\ncame fire out of this tree and burnt up every growth which\nencompassed it; whereupon Jali'ad awoke affrighted and trembling,\nand calling one of his pages said to him, \"Go fetch the Wazir\nShimas in all haste.\" So he betook himself to Shimas and said to\nhim, \"The King calleth for thee forthright because he hath awoke\nfrom his sleep in affright and hath sent me to bring thee to him in\nhaste.\" When Shimas heard this, he arose without stay or delay\nand going to the King, found him seated on his bed. He prostrated\nhimself before him, wishing him permanence of glory and\nprosperity, and said, \"May Allah not cause thee grieve, O King!\nWhat hath troubled thee this night, and what is the cause of thy\nseeking me thus in haste?\" The King bade him be seated; and, as\nsoon as he sat down, began telling his tale and said to him, \"I\nhave dreamt this night a dream which terrified me, and 'twas,\nthat methought I poured water upon the roots of a tree where\nabout were many other trees and as I was thus engaged, lo and\nbehold! fire issued therefrom and burnt up all the growths that\nwere around it; wherefore I was affrighted and fear took me. Then\nI awoke and sent to bid thee to me, because of thy knowledge and\nskill in the interpretation of dreams and of that which I know of\nthe vastness of thy wisdom and the greatness of thine\nunderstanding.\" At this Shimas the Wazir bowed his head\ngroundwards awhile and presently raising it, smiled; so the King\nsaid to him, \"What deemest thou, O Shimas? Tell me the truth of\nthe matter and hide naught from me.\" Answered Shimas, \"O King,\nverily Allah Almighty granteth thee thy wish and cooleth thine\neyes; for the matter of this dream presageth all good, to wit,\nthat the Lord will bless thee with a son, who shall inherit the\nKingdom from thee, after thy long life. But there is somewhat\nelse I desire not to expound at this present, seeing that the\ntime is not favourable for interpretation.\" The King rejoiced in\nthese words with exceeding joy and great was his contentment; his\ntrouble departed from him, his mind was at rest and he said, \"If\nthe case be thus of the happy presage of my dream, do thou\ncomplete to me its exposition when the fitting time betideth: for\nthat which it behoveth not to expound to me now, it behoveth that\nthou expound to me when its time cometh, so my joy may be\nfulfilled, because I seek naught in this save the approof of\nAllah extolled and exalted be He!\" Now when the Wazir Shimas saw\nthat the King was urgent to have the rest of the exposition, he\nput him off with a pretext; but Jali'ad assembled all the\nastrologers and interpreters of dreams of his realm and as soon\nas they were in the presence related to them his vision, saying,\n\"I desire you to tell me the true interpretation of this.\"\nWhereupon one of them came forward and craved the King's\npermission to speak, which being granted, he said, \"Know, O King,\nthat thy Wazir Shimas is nowise unable to interpret this thy\ndream; but he shrank from troubling thy repose. Wherefore he\ndisclosed not unto thee the whole thereof; but, an thou suffer me\nto speak, I will expose to thee that which he concealed from\nthee.\" The King replied, \"Speak without respect for persons, O\ninterpreter, and be truthful in thy speech.\" The interpreter\nsaid, \"Know then, O King, that there will be born to thee a boy-\nchild who shall inherit the Kingship from thee, after thy long\nlife; but he shall not order himself towards the lieges after thy\nfashion; nay, he shall transgress thine ordinances and oppress\nthy subjects, and there shall befal him what befel the Mouse with\nthe Cat[FN#60]; and I seek refuge with Almighty Allah[FN#61]!\"\nThe King asked, \"But what is the story of the Cat and the\nMouse?\"; and the interpreter answered \"May Allah prolong the\nKing's life! They tell the following tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Mouse and the Cat.\n\n\n\nA grimalkin, that is to say, a Cat, went out one night to a\ncertain garden, in search of what she might devour, but found\nnothing and became weak for the excess of cold and rain that\nprevailed that night. So she sought for some device whereby to\nsave herself. As she prowled about in search of prey, she espied\na nest at the foot of a tree, and drawing near unto it, sniffed\nthereat and purred till she scented a Mouse within and went round\nabout it, seeking to enter and seize the inmate. When the Mouse\nsmelt the Cat, he turned his back to her and scraped up the earth\nwith his forehand, to stop the nest-door against her; whereupon\nshe assumed a weakly voice and said, \"Why dost thou thus, O my\nbrother? I come to seek refuge with thee, hoping that thou wilt\ntake pity on me and harbour me in thy nest this night; for I am\nweak because of the greatness of my age and the loss of my\nstrength, and can hardly move. I have ventured into thy garden\ntonight, and how many a time have I called upon death, that I might\nbe at rest from this pain! Behold, here am I at thy door,\nprostrate for cold and rain and I beseech thee, by Allah, take of\nthy charity my hand and bring me in with thee and give me shelter\nin the vestibule of thy nest; for I am a stranger and wretched\nand 'tis said, 'Whoso sheltereth a stranger and a wretched one in\nhis home his shelter shall be Paradise on the Day of Doom.' And\nthou, O my brother, it behoveth thee to earn eternal reward by\nsuccouring me and suffering me abide with thee this night till\nthe morning, when I will wend my way.\"--And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and First Night,\n\nShe pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth\nthe Cat to the Mouse, \"So suffer me to night with thee this\nnight, after which I will wend my way.\" Hearing these words the\nMouse replied, \"How shall I suffer thee enter my nest seeing that\nthou art my natural foe and thy food is of my flesh? Indeed I\nfear lest thou false me, for that is of thy nature and there is\nno faith in thee, and the byword saith, 'It befitteth not to\nentrust a lecher with a fair woman nor a moneyless man with money\nnor fire with fuel.' Neither doth it behove me to entrust myself\nto thee; and 'tis said, 'Enmity of kind, as the enemy himself\ngroweth weaker groweth stronger.' \" The Cat made answer in the\nfaintest voice, as she were in most piteous case, saying, \"What\nthou advancest of admonitory instances is the truth and I deny\nnot my offences against thee; but I beseech thee to pardon that\nwhich is past of the enmity of kind between me and thee, for 'tis\nsaid, 'Whoso forgiveth a creature like himself, his Creator will\nforgive him his sins.' 'Tis true that whilome I was thy foe but\nhere am I a suitor for thy friendship, and they say, 'An thou\nwilt have thy foe become thy friend, do with him good.' O my\nbrother, I swear to thee by Allah and make a binding covenant\nwith thee that I will hurt thee nevermore and for the best of\nreasons, to wit, that I have no power thereto; wherefore place\nthy trust in Allah and do good and accept my oath and covenant.\"\nQuoth the Mouse, \"How can I accept the covenant of one between\nwhom and me there is a rooted enmity, and whose wont it is to\ndeal treacherously by me? Were the feud between us aught but one\nof blood, this were light to me; but it is an enmity of kind\nbetween souls, and it is said, 'Whoso trusteth himself to his foe\nis as one who thrusteth hand into a serpent's[FN#62] mouth.'\"\nQuoth the Cat, full of wrath, \"My breast is strait and my soul is\nfaint: indeed I am in articulo mortis and ere long I shall die at\nthy door and my blood will be on thy head, for that thou hadst it\nin thy power to save me in mine extremity: and this is my last\nword to thee.\" Herewith the fear of Allah Almighty overcame the\nMouse and ruth gat hold upon his heart and he said in himself,\n\"Whoso would have the succour of Allah the Most High against his\nfoe, let him entreat him with compassion and kindness show. I\nrely upon the Almighty in this matter and will deliver this Cat\nfrom this her strait and earn the divine reward for her.\" So he\nwent forth and dragged into his nest the Cat, where she abode\ntill she was rested and somewhat strengthened and restored, when\nshe began to bewail her weakness and wasted strength and want of\ngossips. The Mouse entreated her in friendly guise and comforted\nher and busied himself with her service; but she crept along till\nshe got command of the issue of the nest, lest the Mouse should\nescape. So when the nest-owner would have gone out after his\nwont, he drew near the Cat; whereupon she seized him and taking\nhim in her claws, began to bite him and shake him and take him in\nher mouth and lift him up and cast him down and run after him and\ncranch him and torture him.[FN#63] The Mouse cried out for help,\nbeseeching deliverance of Allah and began to upbraid the Cat,\nsaying, \"Where is the covenant thou madest with me and where are\nthe oaths thou swarest to me? Is this my reward from thee? I\nbrought thee into my nest and trusted myself to thee: but sooth\nhe speaketh that saith, 'Whoso relieth on his enemy's promise\ndesireth not salvation for himself.' And again, 'Whoso confideth\nhimself to his foe deserveth his own destruction.' Yet do I put\nmy trust in my Creator, for He will deliver me from thee.\" Now as\nhe was in this condition, with the Cat about to pounce on him and\ndevour him, behold, up came a huntsman, with hunting dogs trained\nto the chase. One of the hounds passed by the mouth of the nest\nand hearing a great scuffling, thought that within was a fox\ntearing somewhat; so he crept into the hole, to get at him, and\ncoming upon the Cat, seized on her. When she found herself in the\ndog's clutches, she was forced to take thought anent saving\nherself and loosed the Mouse alive and whole without wound. Then\nthe hound brake her neck and dragging her forth of the hole,\nthrew her down dead: and thus was exemplified the truth of the\nsaying, \"Who hath compassion shall at the last be compassionated.\nWhoso oppresseth shall presently be oppressed.\" \"This, then, O\nKing,\" added the interpreter, \"is what befel the Mouse and the\nCat and teacheth that none should break faith with those who put\ntrust in him; for who ever doth perfidy and treason, there shall\nbefal him the like of that which befel the Cat. As a man meteth,\nso shall it be meted unto him, and he who betaketh himself to\ngood shall gain his eternal reward. But grieve thou not, neither\nlet this trouble thee, O King, for that assuredly thy son, after\nhis tyranny and oppression, shall return to the goodliness of thy\npolicy. And I would that yon learned man, thy Wazir Shimas, had\nconcealed from thee naught in that which he expounded unto thee;\nand this had been well advised of him, for 'tis said, 'Those of\nthe folk who most abound in fear are the amplest of them in\nknowledge and the most emulous of good.'\" The King received the\ninterpreter's speech with submission and gifted him and his\nfellows with rich gifts; then, dismissing them he arose and\nwithdrew to his own apartments and fell to pondering the issue of\nhis affair. When night came, he went in to one of his women, who\nwas most in favour with him and dearest to him of them all, and\nlay with her: and ere some four months had passed over her, the\nchild stirred in her womb, whereat she rejoiced with joy\nexceeding and told the King. Quoth he, \"My dream said sooth, by\nAllah the Helper!\"; and he lodged her in the goodliest of\nlodgings and entreated her with all honour, bestowing on her\nstore of rich gifts and manifold boons. Then he sent one of his\npages to fetch his Wazir Shimas and as soon as he was in the\npresence told the Minister what had betided, rejoicing and\nsaying, \"My dream is come true and I have won my wish. It may be\nthis burthen will be a man-child and inherit the Kingship after\nme; what sayest thou of this, O Shimas?\" But he was silent and\nmade no reply, whereupon cried the King, \"What aileth thee that\nthou rejoicest not in my joy and returnest me no answer? Doth the\nthing mislike thee, O Shimas?\" Hereat the Wazir prostrated\nhimself before him and said, \"O King, may Allah prolong thy\nlife! What availeth it to sit under the shade of a tree, if there\nissue fire therefrom, and what is the delight of one who drinketh\npure wine, if he be choked thereby, and what doth it profit to\nquench one's thirst with sweet cool water, if one be drowned\ntherein? I am Allah's servant and thine, O King; but there are\nthree things[FN#64] whereof it besitteth not the understanding to\nspeak, till they be accomplished; to wit, the wayfarer, till he\nreturn from his way, the man who is in fight, till he have\novercome his foe, and the pregnant woman, till she have cast her\nburthen.\"----And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and Second Night,\n\nShe resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that after\nShimas had enumerated to the King the three things whereof it\nbesitteth not the understanding to speak save after they are\ndone, he continued, \"For know, O King, that he, who speaketh of\naught before its accomplishment is like the Fakir who had hung\nover his head the jar of clarified butter.[FN#65]\" \"What is the\nstory of the Fakir,\" asked the King, \"and what happened to him?\"\nAnswered the Wazir, \"O King, they tell this tale anent\n\n\n\n\nThe Fakir and his Jar of Butter.[FN#66]\n\n\n\nA fakir[FN#67] abode once with one of the nobles of a certain\ntown, who made him a daily allowance of three scones and a little\nclarified butter and honey. Now such butter was dear in those\nparts and the Devotee laid all that came to him together in a jar\nhe had, till he filled it and hung it up over his head for safe\nkeeping. One night, as he sat on his bed, staff in hand, he fell\na-musing upon the butter and the greatness of its price and said\nin himself, \"Needs must I sell all this butter I have by me and\nbuy with the price an ewe and take to partner therein a\nFellah[FN#68] fellow who hath a ram. The first year she will bear\na male lamb and a female and the second a female and a male and\nthese in their turn will bear other males and other females, nor\nwill they give over bearing females and males, till they become a\ngreat matter. Then will I take my share and vent thereof what I\nwill. The males I will sell and buy with them bulls and cows,\nwhich will also increase and multiply and become many; after\nwhich I will purchase such a piece of land and plant a garden\ntherein and build thereon a mighty fine[FN#69] palace. Moreover,\nI will get me robes and raiment and slaves and slave girls and\nhold a wedding never was seen the like thereof. I will slaughter\ncattle and make rich meats and sweetmeats and confections and\nassemble all the musicians and mimes and mountebanks and player-\nfolk and after providing flowers and perfumes and all manner\nsweet herbs, I will bid rich and poor, Fakirs and Olema, captains\nand lords of the land, and whoso asketh for aught, I will cause\nit to be brought him; and I will make ready all manner of meat\nand drink and send out a crier to cry aloud and say, 'Whoso\nseeketh aught, let him ask and get it.' Lastly I will go in to my\nbride, after her unveiling and enjoy her beauty and loveliness;\nand I will eat and drink and make merry and say to myself,\n'Verily, hast thou won thy wish,' and will rest from devotion and\ndivine worship. Then in due time my wife will bear me a boy, and\nI shall rejoice in him and make banquets in his honour and rear\nhim daintily and teach him philosophy and mathematics and polite\nletters;[FN#70] so that I shall make his name renowned among men\nand glory in him among the assemblies of the learned; and I will\nbid him do good and he shall not gainsay me, and I will forbid\nhim from lewdness and iniquity and exhort him to piety and the\npractice of righteousness; and, I will bestow on him rich and\ngoodly gifts; and, if I see him obsequious in obedience, I will\nredouble my bounties towards him: but, an I see him incline to\ndisobedience, I will come down on him with this staff.\" So\nsaying, he raised his hand, to beat his son withal but the staff\nhit the jar of butter which overhung his head, and brake it;\nwhereupon the shards fell upon him and the butter ran down upon\nhis head, his rags and his beard. So his clothes and bed were\nspoiled and he became a caution to whoso will be cautioned.\n\"Wherefore, O King,\" added the Wazir, \"it behoveth not a man to\nspeak of aught ere it come to pass.\" Answered the King, \"Thou\nsayest sooth! Fair fall thee for a Wazir! Verily the truth thou\nspeakest and righteousness thou counsellest. Indeed, thy rank\nwith me is such as thou couldst wish[FN#71] and thou shalt never\ncease to be accepted of me.\" Thereupon the Wazir prostrated\nhimself before the King and wished him permanence of prosperity,\nsaying, \"Allah prolong thy days and thy rank upraise! Know that I\nconceal from thee naught, nor in private nor in public aught; thy\npleasure is my pleasure, and thy displeasure my displeasure.\nThere is no joy for me save in thy joyance and I cannot sleep o'\nnights an thou be angered against me, for that Allah the Most\nHigh hath vouchsafed me all good through thy bounties to me:\nwherefore I beseech the Almighty to guard thee with His angels,\nand to make fair thy reward whenas thou meetest Him.\" The King\nrejoiced in this, whereupon Shimas arose and went out from before\nhim. In due time the King's wife bare a male child, and the\nmessengers hastened to bear the glad tidings and to congratulate\nthe Sovran, who rejoiced therein with joy exceeding and thanked\nall with abundant thanks, saying, \"Alhamdolillah--laud to the\nLord--who hath vouchsafed me a son, after I had despaired, for He\nis pitiful and ruthful to His servants.\" Then he wrote to all the\nlieges of his land, acquainting them with the good news and\nbidding them to his capital; and great were the rejoicings and\nfestivities in all the realm. Accordingly there came Emirs and\nCaptains, Grandees and Sages, Olema and literati, scientists and\nphilosophers from every quarter to the palace and all presenting\nthemselves before the King, company after company, according to\ntheir different degrees, gave him joy, and he bestowed largesse\nupon them. Then he signed to the seven chief Wazirs, whose head\nwas Shimas, to speak, each after the measure of his wisdom, upon\nthe matter which concerned him the most. So the Grand Wazir\nShimas began and sought leave of the King to speak, which being\ngranted, he spake as follows.[FN#72] \"Praised be Allah who\nbrought us into existence from non-existence and who favoureth\nHis servants with Kings that observe justice and equity in that\nwherewith He hath invested them of rule and dominion, and who act\nrighteously with that which he appointeth at their hands of\nprovision for their lieges; and most especially our Sovereign by\nwhom He hath quickened the deadness of our land, with that which\nHe hath conferred upon us of bounties, and hath blessed us of His\nprotection with ease of life and tranquillity and fair dealing!\nWhat King did ever with his folk that which this King hath done\nwith us in fulfilling our needs and giving us our dues and doing\nus justice, one of other, and in abundant carefulness over us and\nredress of our wrongs? Indeed, it is of the favour of Allah to\nthe people that their King be assiduous in ordering their affairs\nand in defending them from their foes; for the end of the enemy's\nintent is to subdue his enemy and hold him in his hand; and many\npeoples[FN#73] bring their sons as servants unto Kings, and they\nbecome with them in the stead of slaves, to the intent that they\nmay repel ill-willers from them.[FN#74] As for us, no enemy hath\ntrodden our soil in the days of this our King, by reason of this\npassing good fortune and exceeding happiness, that no describer\nmay avail to describe, for indeed it is above and beyond all\ndescription. And verily, O King, thou art worthy of this highest\nhappiness, and we are under thy safeguard and in the shadow of\nthy wings, may Allah make fair thy reward and prolong thy\nlife![FN#75] Indeed, we have long been diligent in supplication\nto Allah Almighty that He would vouchsafe an answer to our\nprayers and continue thee to us and grant thee a virtuous son, to\nbe the coolth of thine eyes: and now Allah (extolled and exalted\nbe He!) hath accepted of us and replied to our petition,\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and Third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Shimas the\nWazir said to the King, \"And now Almighty Allah hath accepted of\nus and answered our petition and brought us speedy relief, even\nas He did to the Fishes in the pond of water.\" The King asked,\n\"And how was that, and what is the tale?\"; and Shimas answered\nhim, \"Hear, O King the story of\n\n\n\n\nThe Fishes and the Crab.\n\n\n\nIn a certain place there was a piece of water, wherein dwelt a\nnumber of Fishes, and it befel that the pond dwindled away and\nshrank and wasted, till there remained barely enough to suffice\nthem and they were nigh upon death and said, \"What will become of\nus? How shall we contrive and of whom shall we seek counsel for\nour deliverance?\" Thereupon arose one of them, who was the\nchiefest in wit and age, and cried, \"There is nothing will serve\nus save that we seek salvation of Allah; but let us consult the\nCrab and ask his advice: so come ye all[FN#76] and hie we\nhimwards and hear his rede for indeed he is the chiefest and\nwisest of us all in coming upon the truth.\" Each and every\napproved of the Fish's advice and betook themselves in a body to\nthe Crab, whom they found squatted in his hole, without news or\nknowledge of their strait. So they saluted him with the salam and\nsaid, \"O our lord, doth not our affair concern thee, who art\nruler and the head of us?\" The Crab returned their salutation,\nreplying, \"And on you be The Peace! What aileth you and what d'ye\nwant?\" So they told him their case and the strait wherein they\nwere by reason of the wastage of the water, and that, when it\nshould be dried up, destruction would betide them, adding,\n\"Wherefore we come to thee, expecting thy counsel and what may\nbring us deliverance, for thou art the chiefest and the most\nexperienced of us.\" The Crab bowed his head awhile and said,\n\"Doubtless ye lack understanding, in that ye despair of the mercy\nof Allah Almighty and His care for the provision of His creatures\none and all. Know ye not that Allah (extolled and exalted be He!)\nprovideth all His creatures without account and that He\nfore-ordained their daily meat ere He created aught of creation\nand appointed to each of His creatures a fixed term of life and\nan allotted provision, of His divine All might? How then shall we\nburthen ourselves with concern for a thing which in His secret\npurpose is indite? Wherefore it is my rede that ye can do naught\nbetter than to seek aid of Allah Almighty, and it behoveth each\nof us to clear his conscience with his Lord, both in public and\nprivate, and pray Him to succour us and deliver us from our\ndifficulties; for Allah the Most High disappointeth not the\nexpectation of those who put their trust in Him and rejecteth not\nthe supplications of those who prefer their suit to Him. When we\nhave mended our ways, our affairs will be set up and all will be\nwell with us, and when the winter cometh and our land is deluged,\nby means of a just one's prayer, He will not cast down the good\nHe hath built up. So 'tis my counsel that we take patience and\nawait what Allah shall do with us. An death come to us, as is\nwont, we shall be at rest, and if there befal us aught that\ncalleth for flight, we will flee and depart our land whither\nAllah will.\"[FN#77] Answered all the fishes with one voice \"Thou\nsayst sooth, O our lord: Allah requite thee for us with weal!\"\nThen each returned to his stead, and in a few days the Almighty\nvouchsafed unto them a violent rain and the place of the pond was\nfilled fuller than before. \"On like wise, O King,\" continued\nShimas, \"we despaired of a child being born to thee, and now that\nGod hath blessed us and thee with this well-omened son, we\nimplore Him to render him blessed indeed and make him the coolth\nof thine eyes and a worthy successor to thee and grant us of him\nthe like of that which He hath granted us of thee; for Almighty\nAllah disappointeth not those that seek Him and it behoveth none\nto cut off hope of the mercy of his God.\" Then, rose the second\nWazir and saluting the King with the salam spake, after his\ngreeting was returned, as follows: \"Verily, a King is not called\na King save he give presents and do justice and rule with equity\nand show munificence and wisely govern his lieges, maintaining\nthe obligatory laws and apostolic usages established among them\nand justifying them, one against other, and sparing their blood\nand warding off hurt from them; and of his qualities should be\nthat he never abide incurious of the poor and that he succour the\nhighest and lowest of them and give them each the rights to them\ndue, so that all bless him and are obedient to his command.\nWithout doubt, a King who is after this wise of his lieges is\nbeloved and gaineth of this world eminence and of the next honour\nand favour with the Creator thereof. And we, the body politic of\nthy subjects, acknowledge in thee, O King, all the attributes of\nkingship I have noted, even as it is said, 'The best of things is\nthat the King of a people be just and equitable, their physician\nskilful and their teacher experience-full, acting according to\nhis knowledge.' Now we enjoy this happiness, after we had\ndespaired of the birth of a son to thee, to inherit thy kingship;\nhowever, Allah (extolled be His name!) hath not disappointed\nthine expectation, but hath granted thy petition, by reason of\nthe goodliness of thy trust in Him and thy submission of thine\naffairs to Him. Then fair fall thy hope! There hath betided thee\nthat which betided the Crow and the Serpent.\" Asked the King\n\"What was that?\"; and the Wazir answered, \"Hear, O King, the tale\nof\n\n\n\n\nThe Crow and the Serpent.\n\n\n\nA crow once dwelt in a tree, he and his wife, in all delight of\nlife, till they came to the time of the hatching of their young,\nwhich was the midsummer season, when a Serpent issued from its\nhole and crawled up the tree wriggling around the branches till\nit came to the Crows' nest, where it coiled itself up and there\nabode all the days of the summer, whilst the Crow was driven away\nand found no opportunity to clear his home nor any place wherein\nto lie. When the days of heat were past, the Serpent went away to\nits own place and quoth the Crow to his wife, \"Let us thank\nAlmighty Allah, who hath preserved us and delivered us from this\nSerpent, albeit we are forbidden from increase this year. Yet the\nLord will not cut off our hope; so let us express our gratitude\nto Him for having vouchsafed us safety and soundness of body:\nindeed, we have none other in whom to confide, and if He will and\nwe live to see the next year, He shall give us other young in the\nstead of those we have missed this year.\" Next summer when the\nhatching-season came round, the Serpent again sallied forth from\nits place and made for the Crows' nest; but, as it was coiling up\na branch, a kite swooped down on it and struck claws into its\nhead and tare it, whereupon it fell to the ground a-swoon, and\nthe ants came out upon it and ate it.[FN#78] So the Crow and his\nwife abode in peace and quiet and bred a numerous brood and\nthanked Allah for their safety and for the young that were born\nto them. \"In like manner, O King,\" continued the Wazir, \"it\nbehoveth us to thank God for that wherewith He hath favoured thee\nand us in vouchsafing us this blessed child of good omen, after\ndespair and the cutting off of hope. May He make fair thy future\nreward and the issue of thine affair!\"--And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and Fourth Night,\n\nShe continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nthe second Wazir had ended with the words, \"Allah make fair thy\nfuture reward and the issue of thine affair!\", the third Wazir\npresently rose and said, \"Rejoice, O just King, in the assurance\nof present prosperity and future felicity; for him, whom the\ndenizens of Earth love, the denizens of Heaven likewise love; and\nindeed Almighty Allah hath made affection to be thy portion and\nhath stablished it in the hearts of the people of thy kingdom;\nwherefore to Him be thanks and praise from us and from thee, so\nHe may deign increase His bounty unto thee and unto us in thee!\nFor know, O King, that man can originate naught but by command of\nAllah the Most High and that He is the Giver and all good which\nbefalleth a creature hath its end and issue in Him. He allotteth\nHis favours to His creatures, as it liketh Him; to some he giveth\ngifts galore while others He doometh barely to win their daily\nbread. Some He maketh Lords and Captains, and others Recluses,\nwho abstain from the world and aspire but to Him, for He it is\nwho saith, 'I am the Harmer with adversity and the Healer with\nprosperity. I make whole and make sick. I enrich and impoverish.\nI kill and quicken: in my hand is everything and unto Me all\nthings do tend.' Wherefore it behoveth all men to praise Him.\nNow, especially thou, O King, art of the fortunate, the pious, of\nwhom it is said, 'The happiest of the just is he for whom Allah\nuniteth the weal of this world and of the next world; who is\ncontent with that portion which Allah allotteth to him and who\ngiveth Him thanks for that which He hath stablished.' And indeed\nhe that is rebellious and seeketh other than the dole which God\nhath decreed unto him and for him, favoureth the wild Ass and the\nJackal.''[FN#79] The King asked, \"And what is the story of the\ntwain?\"; the Wazir answered, \"Hear, O King, the tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Wild Ass and the Jackal.\n\n\n\nA certain Jackal was wont every day to leave his lair and fare\nforth questing his daily bread. Now one day, as he was in a\ncertain mountain, behold, the day was done and he set out to\nreturn when he fell in with another Jackal who saw him on the\ntramp, and each began to tell his mate of the quarry he had\ngotten. Quoth one of them, \"The other day I came upon a wild Ass\nand I was an-hungred, for it was three days since I had eaten;\nso I rejoiced in this and thanked Almighty Allah for bringing him\ninto my power. Then I tare out his heart and ate it and was full\nand returned to my home. That was three days ago, since which\ntime I have found nothing to eat, yet am I still full of meat.\"\nWhen the other Jackal heard his fellow's story, he envied his\nfulness and said in himself, \"There is no help but that I eat the\nheart of a wild Ass.\" So he left feeding for some days, till he\nbecame emaciated and nigh upon death and bestirred not himself\nneither did his endeavour to get food, but lay coiled up in his\nearth. And whilst he was thus, behold, one day there came out two\nhunters trudging in quest of quarry and started a wild Ass. They\nfollowed on his trail tracking him all day, till at last one of\nthem shot at him a forked[FN#80] arrow, which pierced his vitals\nand reached his heart and killed him in front of the Jackal's\nhole. Then the hunters came up and finding him dead, pulled out\nthe shaft from his heart, but only the wood came away and the\nforked head abode in the Ass's belly. So they left him where he\nlay, expecting that others of the wild beasts would flock to him;\nbut, when it was eventide and nothing fell to them, they returned\nto their abiding places. The Jackal, hearing the commotion at the\nmouth of his home, lay quiet till nightfall, when he came forth\nof his lair, groaning for weakness and hunger, and seeing the\ndead Ass lying at his door, rejoiced with joy exceeding till he\nwas like to fly for delight and said, \"Praised be Allah who hath\nwon me my wish without toil! Verily, I had lost hope of coming at\na wild Ass or aught else; and assuredly[FN#81] the Almighty hath\nsent him to me and drave him fall to my homestead.\" Then he\nsprang on the body and tearing open its belly, thrust in his head\nand with his nose rummaged about its entrails, till he found the\nheart and tearing a tid-bit swallowed it: but, as soon as he had\nso done, the forked head of the arrow struck deep in his gullet\nand he could neither get it down into his belly nor bring it\nforth of his throttle. So he made sure of destruction and said,\n\"Of a truth it beseemeth not the creature to seek for himself\naught over and above that which Allah hath allotted to him. Had I\nbeen content with what He appointed to me, I had not come to\ndestruction.\" \"Wherefore, O King,\" added the Wazir, \"it becometh\nman to be content with whatso Allah hath distributed to him and\nthank Him for His bounties to him and cast not off hope of his\nLord. And behold, O King, because of the purity of thy purpose\nand the fair intent of thy good works, Allah hath blessed thee\nwith a son, after despair: wherefore we pray the Almighty to\nvouchsafe him length of days and abiding happiness and make him a\nblessed successor, faithful in the observance of thy covenant,\nafter thy long life.\" Then arose the fourth Wazir and said,\n\"Verily, an the King be a man of understanding, a frequenter of\nthe gates of wisdom,\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifth Night,\n\nShe pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nfourth Wazir, arose and said, \"Verily an the King be a man of\nunderstanding, a frequenter of the gates of wisdom, versed in\nscience, government and policy, and eke upright in purpose and\njust to his subjects, honouring those to whom honour is due,\nrevering those who are digne of reverence, tempering puissance\nwith using clemency whenas it behoveth, and protecting both\ngovernors and governed, lightening all burthens for them and\nbestowing largesse on them, sparing their blood and covering\ntheir shame and keeping his troth with them. Such a King, I say,\nis worthy of felicity both present and future worldly and other-\nworldly, and this is of that which protecteth him from ill-will\nand helpeth him to the stablishing of his Kingdom and the victory\nover his enemies and the winning of his wish, together with\nincrease of Allah's bounty to him and His favouring him for his\npraise of Him and the attainment of His protection. But an the\nKing be the contrary of this, he never ceaseth from misfortunes\nand calamities, he and the people of his realm; for that his\noppression embraceth both stranger far and kinsman near and there\ncometh to pass with him that which befel the unjust King with the\npilgrim Prince.\" King Jali'ad asked, \"And how was that?\" and the\nWazir answered, \"Hear, O King, the tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Unjust King and the Pilgrim Prince.\n\n\n\nThere was once in Mauritania-land[FN#82] a King who exceeded in\nhis rule, a tyrant, violent and over severe, who had no respect\nfor the welfare or protection of his lieges nor of those who\nentered his realm; and from everyone who came within his Kingdom\nhis officers took four-fifths of his monies, leaving him one-\nfifth and no more. Now Allah Almighty decreed that he should have\na son, who was fortunate and God-favoured and seeing the pomps\nand vanities of this world to be transient as they are\nunrighteous, renounced them in his youth and rejected the world\nand that which is therein and fared forth serving the Most High,\nwandering pilgrim-wise over words and wastes and bytimes entering\ntowns and cities. One day, he came to his father's capital and\nthe guards laid hands on him and searched him but found naught\nupon him save two gowns, one new and the other old.[FN#83] So\nthey stripped the new one from him and left him the old, after\nthey had entreated him with contumely and contempt; whereat he\ncomplained and said, \"Woe to you, O  ye oppressors! I am a poor\nman and a pilgrim,[FN#84] and what shall this gown by any means\nprofit you? Except ye restore it to me, I will go to the King and\nmake complaint to him of you.\" They replied, \"We act thus by the\nKing's command: so do what seemeth good to thee.\" Accordingly he\nbetook himself to the King's palace and would have entered, but\nthe chamberlains denied him admittance, and he turned away,\nsaying in himself, \"There is nothing for me except to watch till\nhe cometh out and complain to him of my case and that which hath\nbefallen me.\" And whilst he waited, behold, he heard one of the\nguards announce the King's faring forth; whereupon he crept up,\nlittle by little, till he stood before the gate; and presently\nwhen the King came out, he threw himself in his way and after\nblessing him and wishing him weal, he made his complaint to him\ninforming him how scurvily he had been entreated by the\ngatekeepers. Lastly he gave him to know that he was a man of the\npeople of Allah[FN#85] who had rejected the world seeking\nacceptance of Allah and who went wandering over earth and\nentering every city and hamlet, whilst all the folk he met gave\nhim alms according to their competence. \"I entered this thy city\"\n(continued he), \"hoping that the folk would deal kindly and\ngraciously with me as with others of my condition,[FN#86] but thy\nfollowers stopped me and stripped me of one of my gowns and\nloaded me with blows. Wherefore do thou look into my case and\ntake me by the hand and get me back my gown and I will not abide\nin thy city an hour.\" Quoth the unjust King, \"Who directed thee\nto enter this city, unknowing the custom of its King?\"; and quoth\nthe pilgrim, \"Give me back my gown and do with me what thou\nwilt.\" Now when the King heard this, his temper changed for the\nworse and he said, \"O fool,[FN#87] we stripped thee of thy gown,\nso thou mightest humble thyself to us, but since thou makest this\nclamour I will strip thy soul from thee.\" Then he commanded to\ncast him into gaol, where he began to repent of having answered\nthe King and reproached himself for not having left him the gown\nand saved his life. When it was the middle of the night, he rose\nto his feet and prayed long and prayerfully, saying, \"O Allah,\nThou art the Righteous Judge. Thou knowest my case and that which\nhath befallen me with this tyrannical King, and I, Thine\noppressed servant, beseech Thee, of the abundance of Thy mercy,\nto deliver me from the hand of this unjust ruler and send down on\nhim Thy vengeance; for Thou art not unmindful of the unright of\nevery oppressor. Wherefore, if Thou know that he hath wronged me,\nloose on him Thy vengeance this night and send down on him Thy\npunishment; for Thy rule is just and Thou art the Helper of every\nmourner, O Thou to whom belong the power and the glory to the end\nof time!\" When the gaoler heard the prayer of the poor prisoner\nhe trembled in every limb, and behold, a fire suddenly broke out\nin the King's palace and consumed it and all that were therein,\neven to the door of the prison,[FN#88] and none was spared but\nthe gaoler and the pilgrim. Now when the gaoler saw this, he knew\nthat it had not befallen save because of the pilgrim's prayer; so\nhe loosed him and fleeing with him forth of the burning, betook\nhimself, he and the King's son, to another city. So was the\nunjust King consumed, he and all his city, by reason of his\ninjustice, and he lost the goods both of this world and the next\nworld. \"As for us, O auspicious King\" continued the Wazir, \"we\nneither lie down nor rise up without praying for thee and\nthanking Allah the Most High for His grace in giving thee to us,\ntranquil in reliance on thy justice and the excellence of thy\ngovernance; and sore indeed was our care for thy lack of a son to\ninherit thy kingdom, fearing lest after thee there betide us a\nKing unlike thee. But now the Almighty hath bestowed His favours\nupon us and done away our concern and brought us gladness in the\nbirth of this blessed child; wherefore we beseech the Lord to\nmake him a worthy successor to thee and endow him with glory and\nfelicity enduring and good abiding.\" Then rose the fifth Wazir\nand said, \"Blessed be the Most High,\"--And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nfifth Wazir said, \"Blessed be the Most High, Giver of all good\ngifts and graces the most precious! But to continue: we are well\nassured that Allah favoureth whoso are thankful to Him and\nmindful of His faith; and thou, O auspicious King, art far-famed\nfor these illustrious virtues and for justice and equitable\ndealing between subject and subject and in that which is\nacceptable to Allah Almighty. By reason of this hath the Lord\nexalted thy dignity and prospered thy days and bestowed on thee\nthe good gift of this august child, after despair, wherefrom\nthere hath betided us gladness abiding and joys which may not be\ncut off; for we before this were in exceeding cark and passing\ncare, because of thy lack of issue, and full of concern\nbethinking us of all thy justice and gentle dealing with us and\nfearful lest Allah decree death to thee and there be none to\nsucceed thee and inherit the kingdom after thee, and so we be\ndivided in our counsels and dissensions arise between us and\nthere befal us what befel the Crows.\" Asked the King, \"And what\nbefel the Crows?\"; and the Wazir answered saying, \"Hear, O\nauspicious King, the tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Crows and the Hawk.\n\n\n\nThere was once, in a certain desert, a spacious Wady, full of\nrills and trees and fruits and birds singing the praises of Allah\nthe One of All might, Creator of day and night; and among them\nwas a troop of Crows, which led the happiest of lives. Now they\nwere under the sway and government of a Crow who ruled them with\nmildness and benignity, so that they were with him in peace and\ncontentment; and by reason of their wisely ordering their\naffairs, none of the other birds could avail against them.\nPresently it chanced that there befel their chief the doom\nirrevocably appointed to all creatures and he departed\nlife;[FN#89] whereupon the others mourned for him with sore\nmourning, and what added to their grief was that there abided not\namongst them like him one who should fill his place. So they all\nassembled and took counsel together concerning whom it befitted\nfor his goodness and piety to set over them; and a party of them\nchose one Crow, saying, \"It beseemeth that this be King over us,\"\nwhilst others objected to him and would none of him; and thus\nthere arose division and dissension amidst them and the strife of\nexcitement waxed hot between them. At last they agreed amongst\nthemselves and consented to sleep the night upon it and that none\nshould go forth at dawn next day to seek his living, but that all\nmust wait till high morning, when they should gather together all\nin one place. \"Then,\" said they, \"we will all take flight at once\nand whichsoever shall soar above the rest in his flying, he shall\nbe accepted of us as ruler and be made King over us.\" The fancy\npleased them; so they made covenant together and did as they had\nagreed and took flight all, but each of them deemed himself\nhigher than his fellow; wherefore quoth this one, \"I am highest,\"\nand that, \"Nay, that am I.\" Then said the lowest of them, \"Look\nup, all of you, and whomsoever ye find the highest of you, let\nhim be your chief.\" So they raised their eyes and seeing the Hawk\nsoaring over them, said each to other, \"We agreed that which bird\nsoever should be the highest of us we will make king over us, and\nbehold, the Hawk is the highest of us: what say ye to him?\" And\nthey all cried out, \"We accept of him.\" Accordingly they summoned\nthe Hawk and said to him, \"O Father of Good,[FN#90] we have\nchosen thee ruler over us, that thou mayst look into our affair.\"\nThe Hawk consented, saying, \"Inshallah, ye shall win of me\nabounding weal.\" So they rejoiced and made him their King. But\nafter awhile, he fell to taking a company of them every day and\nbetaking himself with them afar off to one of the caves, where he\nstruck them down and eating their eyes and brains, threw their\nbodies into the river. And he ceased not doing on this wise, it\nbeing his intent to destroy them all till, seeing their number\ndaily diminishing, the Crows flocked to him and said, \"O our\nKing, we complain to thee because from the date we made thee\nSovran and ruler over us, we are in the sorriest case and every\nday a company of us is missing and we know not the reason of\nthis, more by token that the most part thereof are the high in\nrank and of those in attendance on thee. We must now look after\nour own safety.\" Thereupon the Hawk waxed wroth with them and\nsaid to them, \"Verily, ye are the murtherers, and ye forestall me\nwith accusation!\" So saying, he pounced upon them and tearing to\npieces half a score of their chiefs in front of the rest,\nthreatened them and drave them out, sorely cuffed and beaten,\nfrom before him. Hereat they repented them of that which they had\ndone and said, \"We have known no good since the death of our\nfirst King especially in the deed of this stranger in kind; but\nwe deserve our sufferings even had he destroyed us one by one to\nthe last of us, and there is exemplified in us the saying of him\nthat saith, 'Whoso submitteth him not to the rule of his own\nfolk, the foe hath dominion over him, of his folly.' And now\nthere is nothing for it but to flee for our lives, else shall we\nperish.\" So they took flight and dispersed to various places.\n\"And we also, O King,\" continued the Wazir, \"feared lest the like\nof this befal us and there become ruler over us a King other than\nthyself; but Allah hath vouchsafed us this boon and hath sent us\nthis blessed child, and now we are assured of peace and union and\nsecurity and prosperity in our Mother-land. So lauded be Almighty\nAllah and to Him be praise and thanks and goodly gratitude! And\nmay He bless the King and us all his subjects and vouchsafe unto\nus and him the acme of felicity and make his life-tide happy and\nhis endeavour constant!\" Then arose the sixth Wazir and said,\n\"Allah favour thee with all felicity, O King, in this world and\nin the next world! Verily, the ancients have left us this saying,\n'Whoso prayeth and fasteth and giveth parents their due and is\njust in his rule meeteth his Lord and He is well pleased with\nhim.' Thou hast been set over us and hast ruled us justly and\nthine every step in this hath been blessed; wherefore we beseech\nAllah Almighty to make great thy reward eternal and requite thee\nthy beneficence. I have heard what this wise man hath said\nrespecting our fear for the loss of our prosperity, by reason of\nthe death of the King or the advent of another who should not be\nhis parallel, and how after him dissensions would be rife among\nus and calamity betide from our division and how it behoved us\ntherefore to be instant in prayer to Allah the Most High, so\nhaply He might vouchsafe the King a happy son to inherit the\nkingship after him. But, after all, the issue of that which man\ndesireth of mundane goods and wherefor he lusteth is unknown to\nhim and consequently it behoveth a mortal to ask not of his Lord\na thing whose end he wotteth not; for that haply the hurt of that\nthing is nearer to him than its gain and his destruction may be\nin that he seeketh and there may befal him what befel the Serpent\ncharmer, his wife and children and the folk of his house.\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n        When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventh Night,\n\nShe said: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nsixth Wazir said, \"It behoveth not a man to ask of his Lord aught\nwhereof he ignoreth the issue for that haply the hurt of that\nthing may be nearer than its gain, his destruction may be in that\nhe seeketh and there may befal him what befel the Serpent\ncharmer, his children, his wife and his household,\" the King\nasked, \"What was that?\"; and the Wazir answered, \"Hear, O King\nthe tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Serpent-charmer and his Wife.\n\n\n\nThere was once a man, a Serpent-charmer,[FN#91] who used to train\nserpents, and this was his trade; and he had a great\nbasket,[FN#92] wherein were three snakes but the people of his\nhouse knew this not. Every day he used to go round with this\npannier about the town gaining his living and that of his family\nby showing the snakes, and at eventide he returned to his house\nand clapped them back into the basket privily. This lasted a long\nwhile, but it chanced one day, when he came home, as was his\nwont, his wife asked him, saying, \"What is in this pannier?\" And\nhe replied, \"What wouldest thou with it? Is not provision\nplentiful with you? Be thou content with that which Allah hath\nallotted to thee and ask not of aught else.\" With this the woman\nheld her peace; but she said in herself, \"There is no help but\nthat I search this basket and know what is there.\" So she egged\non her children and enjoined them to ask him of the pannier and\nimportune him with their questions, till he should tell them what\nwas therein. They presently concluded that it contained something\nto eat and sought every day of their father that he should show\nthem what was therein; and he still put them off with pleasant\npretences and forbade them from asking this. On such wise they\nabode awhile, the wife and mother still persisting in her quest\ntill they agreed with her that they would neither eat meat nor\ndrain drink with their father, till he granted them their prayer\nand opened the basket to them. One night, behold, the Serpent-\ncharmer came home with great plenty of meat and drink and took\nhis seat calling them to eat with him: but they refused his\ncompany and showed him anger. Whereupon he began to coax them\nwith fair words, saying, \"Lookye, tell me what you would have,\nthat I may bring it you, be it meat or drink or raiment.\"\nAnswered they, \"O our father, we want nothing of thee but that\nthou open this pannier that we may see what is therein, else we\nwill slay ourselves.\" He rejoined, \"O my children, there is\nnothing good for you therein and indeed the opening of it will be\nharmful to you.\" Hereat they redoubled in rage for all he could\nsay, which when he saw, he began to scold them and threaten them\nwith beating, except they returned from such condition; but they\nonly increased in anger and persistence in asking, till at last\nhe waxed wroth and took a staff to beat them, and they fled from\nbefore him within the house. Now the basket was present and the\nSerpent-charmer had not hidden it anywhere, so his wife left him\noccupied with the children and opened the pannier in haste, that\nshe might see what was therein. Thereupon behold, the serpents\ncame out and first struck their fangs into her and killed her;\nthen they hied round about the house and slew all, great and\nsmall, who were therein; except the Serpent-charmer, who left the\nplace and went his way. \"If then, O auspicious King,\" continued\nthe Wazir, \"thou consider this, thou wilt be convinced that it is\nnot for a man to desire aught save that which God the Great\nrefuseth not to him; nay, he should be content with what He\nwilleth. And thou, O King, for the overflowing of thy wisdom and\nthe excellence of thine understanding, Allah hath cooled thine\neyes with the advent of this thy son, after despair, and hath\ncomforted thy heart; wherefore we pray the Almighty to make him\nof the just successors acceptable to Himself and to his\nsubjects.\" Then rose the seventh Wazir and said, \"O King, I know\nand certify all that my brethren, these Ministers wise and\nlearned, have said in the presence, praising thy justice and the\ngoodness of thy policy and proving how thou art distinguished in\nthis from all Kings other than thyself; wherefore they gave thee\nthe preference over them. Indeed, this be of that which is\nincumbent on us, O King, and I say, Praised be Allah in that\nHe hath guerdoned thee with His gifts and vouchsafed thee of His\nmercy, the welfare of the realm; and hath succoured thee and\nourselves, on condition that we increase in gratitude to Him; and\nall this no otherwise than by thine existence! What while thou\nremainest amongst us, we fear not oppression neither dread\nunright, nor can any take long-handed advantage of our weakness!\nand indeed it is said, 'The greatest good of a people is a just\nKing and their greatest ill an unjust King'; and again, 'Better\ndwell with rending lions than with a tyrannous Sultan.' So\npraised be Almighty Allah with eternal praise for that He hath\nblessed us with thy life and vouchsafed thee this blessed child,\nwhenas thou wast stricken in years and hadst despaired of issue!\nFor the goodliest of the gifts in this world is a virtuous sire,\nand it is said, 'Whoso hath no progeny his life is without result\nand he leaveth no memory.' As for thee, because of the\nrighteousness of thy justice and thy pious reliance on Allah the\nMost High, thou hast been vouchsafed this happy son; yea, this\nblessed[FN#93] child cometh as a gift from the Most High Lord to\nus and to thee, for the excellence of thy governance and the\ngoodliness of thy long-sufferance; and in this thou hast fared\neven as fared the Spider and the Wind.\" Asked the King, \"And what\nis the story of the Spider and the Wind?\"--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nthe King asked, \"And what is the story of the twain?\", the Wazir\nanswered, \"Give ear, O King, to the tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Spider and the Wind.\n\n\n\nA Spider once attached herself to a high gate[FN#94] and a retired\nand span her web there and dwelt therein in peace, giving thanks\nto the Almighty, who had made this dwelling-place easy to her and\nhad set her in safety from noxious reptiles. On this wise she\nabode a long while, still giving thanks to Allah for her ease and\nregular supply of daily bread, till her Creator bethought Him to\ntry her and make essay of her gratitude and patience. So he sent\nupon her a strong east Wind, which carried her away, web and all,\nand cast her into the main. The waves washed her ashore, and she\nthanked the Lord for safety and began to upbraid the Wind,\nsaying, \"O Wind, why hast thou dealt thus with me and what good\nhast thou gotten by bearing me hither from my abiding-place,\nwhere indeed I was in safety, secure in my home on the top of\nthat gate?\" Replied the Wind, saying, \"O Spider, hast thou not\nlearnt that this world is a house of calamities; and, say me, who\ncan boast of lasting happiness that such portion shall be thine?\nWottest thou not that Allah tempteth His creatures in order to\nlearn by trial what may be their powers of patience? How, then,\ndoth it beset thee to upbraid me, thou who hast been saved by me\nfrom the vasty deep?\" \"Thy words are true, O Wind,\" replied the\nSpider, \"yet not the less do I desire to escape from this\nstranger land into which thy violence hath cast me.\" The Wind\nrejoined, \"Cease thy blaming, for right soon I will bear thee\nback and replace thee in thy place, as thou wast aforetime.\" So\nthe Spider waited patiently, till the north-east Wind left\nblowing and there arose a south-west Wind, which gently caught\nher up and flew with her towards her dwelling-place; and when she\ncame to her abode, she knew it and clung to it. \"And we,\"\ncontinued the Wazir, \"beseech Allah (who hath rewarded the King\nfor his singleness of heart and patience and hath taken pity on\nhis subjects and blessed them with His favour and hath vouchsafed\nthe King this son in his old age, after he had despaired of issue\nand removed him not from the world, till He had blessed him with\ncoolth of eyes and bestowed on him what He hath bestowed of\nKingship and Empire!) to vouchsafe unto thy son that which He\nhath vouchsafed unto thee of dominion and Sultanship and glory!\nAmen.\" Then said the King, \"Praised be Allah over all praise and\nthanks be to Him over all thanks! There is no god but He, the\nCreator of all things, by the light of whose signs we know the\nglory of His greatness and who giveth kingship and command over\nhis own country to whom He willeth of His servants! He chooseth\nof them whomso He please to make him His viceroy and viceregent\nover His creatures and commandeth him to just and equitable\ndealing with them and the maintenance of religious laws and\npractices and right conduct and constancy in ordering their\naffairs to that which is most acceptable to Him and most grateful\nto them. Whoso doth thus and obeyeth the commandment of his\nLord, his desire attaineth and the orders of his God maintaineth;\nso Providence preserveth him from the perils of the present world\nand maketh ample his recompense in the future world; for indeed\nHe neglecteth not the reward of the righteous. And whoso doth\notherwise than as Allah biddeth him sinneth mortal sin and\ndisobeyeth his Lord, preferring his mundane to his supra-mundane\nweal. He hath no trace in this world and in the next no portion:\nfor Allah spareth not the unjust and the mischievous, nor doth\nHe neglect any of His servants. These our Wazirs have set forth\nhow, by reason of our just dealing with them and our wise\ngovernance of affairs, Allah hath vouchsafed us and them His\ngrace, for which it behoveth us to thank Him, because of the\ngreat abundance of His mercies; each of them hath also spoken\nthat wherewith the Almighty inspired Him concerning this matter,\nand they have vied one with another in rendering thanks to the\nMost High Lord and praising Him for His favours and bounties. I\nalso render thanks to Allah for that I am but a slave commanded;\nmy heart is in His hand and my tongue in His subjection,\naccepting that which He adjudgeth to me and to them, come what\nmay thereof. Each one of them hath said what passed through his\nmind on the subject of this boy and hath set forth that which was\nof the renewal of divine favour to us, after my years had reached\nthe term when confidence faileth and despair assaileth. So\npraised be Allah who hath saved us from disappointment and from\nthe alternation of rulers, like to the alternation of night and\nday! For verily, this was a great boon both to them and to us;\nwherefore we praise Almighty Allah who hath given a ready answer\nto our prayer and hath blessed us with this boy and set him in\nhigh place, as the inheritor of the kingship. And we entreat him,\nof His bounty and clemency, to make him happy in his actions,\nprone to pious works, so he may become a King and a Sultan\ngoverning his people with justice and equity, guarding them from\nperilous error and frowardness, of His grace, goodness and\ngenerosity!\" When the King had made an end of his speech, the\nsages and Olema rose and prostrated themselves before Allah and\nthanked the King; after which they kissed his hands and departed,\neach to his own house, whilst Jali'ad withdrew into his palace, where, he looked upon the new-born and offered up\nprayers\nfor him and named him Wird Kh\u00e1n.[FN#95] The boy grew up till he\nattained the age of twelve,[FN#96] when the King being minded to\nhave him taught the arts and sciences, bade build him a palace\namiddlemost the city, wherein were three hundred and threescore\nrooms,[FN#97] and lodged him therein. Then he assigned him three\nwise men of the Olema and bade them not be lax in teaching him\nday and night and look that there was no kind of learning but\nthey instruct him hterin, so he might become versed in all\nknowledge. He also commanded them to sit with him one day in each\nof the rooms by turn and write on the door thereof that which\nthey had taught him therein of various kinds of lore and report\nto himself, every seven days, whatso instructions they had\nimparted to him.  So they went in to the Prince and stinted not\nfrom educating him day nor night, nor withheld from him aught of\nthat they knew; and presently there appeared in him readiness to\nreceive instruction such as none had shown before him.  Every\nseventh day his governors reported to the King what his son had\nlearnt and mastered, whereby Jali'ad became proficient in goodly\nlearning and fair culture, and the Olema said to him, \"Never saw\nwe one so richly gifted with understanding as is this boy: Allah\nbless thee in him and give thee joy of his life!\" When the Prince\nhad completed his twelfth year, he knew the better part of every\nscience and excelled all the Olema and sages of his day:\nwherefore his governors brought him to his sire and said to him,\n\"Allah gladden thine eyes, O King, with this auspicious youth! We\nbring him to thee, after he hath learnt all manner knowledge, and\nthere is not one of the learned men of the time nor a scientist\nwho hath attained to that whereto he hath attained of science.\"\nThe King rejoiced in this with joy exceeding and thanking the\nAlmighty prostrated himself in gratitude before Allah (to whom\nbelong Majesty and Might!), saying, \"Laud be to the Lord for His\nmercies incalculable!\" Then he called his Chief Wazir and said to\nhim, \"Know, O Shimas, that the governors of my son are come to\ntell me that he hath mastered every kind of knowledge and there\nis nothing but they have instructed him therein, so that he\nsurpasseth in this all who forewent him. What sayst thou, O\nShimas?\" Hereat the Minister prostrated himself before Allah (to\nwhom belong Might and Majesty!) and kissed the King's hand,\nsaying, \"Loath is the ruby stone, albe it be bedded in the hardest\nrock on hill, to do aught but shine as a lamp, and this thy son\nis such a gem. His tender age hath not hindered him from becoming\na sage and Alhamdolillah--praised be Allah--for that which He\ndeigned bestow on him! But to-morrow I will call an assembly of\nthe flower of the Emirs and men of learning and examine the\nPrince and cause him speak forth that which is with him in their\npresence, Inshallah!\" ---And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and Ninth Night,\n\nShe pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nKing Jali'ad heard the words of his Wazir Shimas, he commanded\nthe attendance of the keenest-witted[FN#98] of the Olema and most\naccomplished of the learned and sages of his dominions, and they\nall presented themselves on the morrow at the door of the palace,\nwhereupon the King bade admit them. Then entered Shimas and\nkissed the hands of the Prince, who rose and prostrated himself\nto the Minister: but Shimas said, \"It behoveth not the lion-whelp\nto prostrate himself to any of the wild beasts, nor besitteth it\nthat Light prostrate itself to shade.\" Quoth the Prince, \"Whenas\nthe lion-whelp seeth the leopard,[FN#99] he riseth up to him and\nprostrateth himself before him, because of his wisdom, and Light\nprostrateth itself to shade for the purpose of disclosing that\nwhich is therewithin.\" Quoth Shimas, \"True, O my lord; but I\nwould have thee answer me anent whatso I shall ask thee, by leave\nof His Highness and his lieges.\" And the youth said, \"And I, with\npermission of my sire, will answer thee.\" So Shimas began and\nsaid, \"Tell me what is the Eternal, the Absolute, and what are\nthe two manifestations[FN#100] thereof and whether of the two is the\nabiding one?\" Answered the Prince, \"Allah (to whom belong Might\nand Majesty!) is the Eternal, the Absolute; for that He is Alpha,\nwithout beginning, and Omega, without end. Now his two\nmanifestations are this world and the next, and the\nabiding one of the two is the world to come.\" Q \"Thou sayst truly\nand I approve thy reply; but I would have thee tell me, how\nknowest thou that one of Allah's manifestations is this world and\nthe other the world to come?\"--\"I know this because this world\nwas created from nothingness and had not its being from any\nexisting thing; wherefore its affair is referable to the first\nessence. Moreover, it is a commodity swift of ceasing, the works\nwhereof call for requital of action and this postulateth the\nreproduction[FN#101] of whatso passeth away; so the next world is\nthe second manifestation.\" Q \"Now inform me how knowest thou that\nthe world to come is the abiding one of the two existences?\"--\n\"Because it is the house of requital for deeds done in this world\nprepared by the Eternal sans surcease.\" Q \"Who are the people of\nthis world most to be praised for their practice?\"--\"Those who\nprefer their weal in the world to come before their weal in this\nworld.\" Q \"And who is he that preferreth his future to his\npresent welfare?\"--\"He who knoweth that he dwelleth in a\nperishing house, that he was created but to vade away and that,\nafter vading away, he will be called to account; and indeed, were\nthere in this world one living and abiding for ever, he would not\nprefer it to the next world.\" Q \"Can the future life subsist\npermanently without the present?\"--\"He who hath no present life\nhath no future life: and indeed I liken this world and its folk\nand the goal to which they fare with certain workmen, for whom an\nEmir buildeth a narrow house and lodgeth them therein, commanding\neach of them to do a certain task and assigning to him a set term\nand appointing one to act as steward over them. Whoso doeth the\nwork appointed unto him, the steward bringeth him forth of that\nstraitness; but whoso doeth it not within the stablished term is\npunished. After awhile, behold, they find honey exuding from the\nchinks of the house,[FN#102] and when they have eaten thereof and\ntasted its sweetness of savour, they slacken in their ordered\ntask and cast it behind their backs. So they patiently suffer the\nstraitness and distress wherein they are, with what they know of\nthe future punishment whereto they are fast wending, and are\ncontent with this worthless and easily won sweetness; and the\nSteward leaveth not to fetch every one of them forth of the\nhouse, for ill or good, when his appointed period shall have\ncome. Now we know the world to be a dwelling wherein all eyes are\ndazed, and that each of its folk hath his set term; and he who\nfindeth the little sweetness that is in the world and busieth\nhimself therewith is of the number of the lost, since he\npreferreth the things of this world to the things of the next\nworld; but whoso payeth no heed to this poor sweetness and\npreferreth the things of the coming world to those of this world,\nis of those who are saved.\" Q \"I have heard what thou sayest of\nthis world and the next and I accept thine answer; but I see they\nare as two placed in authority over man; needs must he content\nthem both, and they are contrary one to other. So, if the\ncreature set himself to seek his livelihood, it is harmful to his\nsoul in the future: and if he devote himself to the next world,\nit is hurtful to his body, and there is no way for him of\npleasing these two contraries at once.\"--\"Indeed, the quest of\none's worldly livelihood with pious intent and on lawful wise is\na viaticum for the quest of the goods of the world to come; if a\nman spend a part of his days in seeking his livelihood in this\nworld, for the sustenance of his body, and devote the rest of his\nday to seeking the goods of the next world, for the repose of his\nsoul and the warding off of hurt therefrom; and indeed I see this\nworld and the other world as they were two Kings, a just and an\nunjust.\" Asked Shimas, \"How so?\" and the youth began the tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Two Kings.\n\n\n\nThere were once two Kings, a just and an unjust; and this one had\na land abounding in trees and fruits and herbs; but he let no\nmerchant pass without robbing him of his monies and his\nmerchandise, and the traders endured this with patience, by\nreason of their profit from the fatness of the earth in the means\nof life and its pleasantness, more by token that it was renowned\nfor its richness in precious stones and gems. Now the just King,\nwho loved jewels, heard of this land and sent one of his subjects\nthither, giving him much specie and bidding him pass with it into\nthe other's realm and buy jewels therefrom. So he went thither;\nand, it being told to the unjust King that a merchant was come to\nhis kingdom with much money to buy jewels withal, he sent for him\nto the presence and said to him, \"Who art thou and whence comest\nthou and who brought thee thither and what is thy errand?\" Quoth\nthe merchant, \"I am of such and such a region, and the King of\nthat land gave me money and bade me buy therewith jewels from\nthis country; so I obeyed his bidding and came.\" Cried the unjust\nKing, \"Out on thee! Knowest thou not my fashion of dealing with\nthe people of my realm and how each day I take their monies? How\nthen comest thou to my country? And behold, thou hast been a\nsojourner here since such a time!\" Answered the trader, \"The\nmoney is not mine, not a mite of it; nay, 'tis a trust in my\nhands till I bring its equivalent to its owner.\" But the King\nsaid, \"I will not let thee take thy livelihood of my land or go\nout therefrom, except thou ransom thyself with this money all of\nit.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n         When it was the Nine Hundred and Tenth Night,\n\nShe resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nunjust Ruler said to the trader who came to buy jewels from his\ncountry, \"'Tis not possible for thee to take thy livelihood of my\nland except thou ransom thy life with this money, all of it;  else\nshalt thou die.\" So the man said in himself, \"I am fallen between\ntwo Kings, and I know that the oppression of this ruler embraceth\nall who abide in his dominions: and if I satisfy him not, I shall\nlose both life and money (whereof is no doubt) and shall fail of\nmy errand; whilst, on the other hand, if I give him all the gold,\nit will most assuredly prove my ruin with its owner, the other\nKing: wherefore no device will serve me but that I give this one\na trifling part thereof and content him therewith and avert from\nmyself and from the money perdition. Thus shall I get my\nlivelihood of the fatness of this land, till I buy that which I\ndesire of jewels; and, after satisfying the tyrant with gifts, I\nwill take my portion of the profit and return to the owner of the\nmoney with his need, trusting in his justice and indulgence, and\nunfearing that he will punish me for that which this unjust King\ntaketh of the treasure, especially if it be but a little.\" Then\nthe trader called down blessings on the tyrant and said to him,\n\"O King, I will ransom myself and this specie with a small\nportion thereof, from the time of my entering thy country to that\nof my going forth therefrom.\" The King agreed to this and left\nhim at peace for a year, till he bought all manner jewels with\nthe rest of the money and returned therewith to his master, to\nwhom he made his excuses, confessing to having saved himself from\nthe unjust King as before related. The just King accepted his\nexcuse and praised him for his wise device and set him on his\nright hand in his divan and appointed him in his kingdom an\nabiding inheritance and a happy life-tide.[FN#103] \"Now the just\nKing is the similitude of the future world and the unjust King\nthat of the present world ; the jewels that be in the tyrant's\ndominions are good deeds and pious works. The merchant is man and\nthe money he hath with him is the provision appointed him of\nAllah. When I consider this, I know that it behoveth him who\nseeketh his livelihood in this world to leave not a day without\nseeking the goods of the world to come, so shall he content this\nworld with that which he gaineth of the fatness of the earth and\nsatisfy the other world with that which he spendeth of his life\nin seeking after it.\" Q \"Are the spirit[FN#104] and the body\nalike in reward and retribution, or is the body, as the luster of\nlusts and doer of sinful deeds, and especially affected with\npunishment?\"--\"The inclination to lusts and sins may be the cause\nof earning reward by the withholding of the soul therefrom and\nthe repenting thereof; but the command[FN#105] is in the hand of\nHim who doth what He will, and things by their contraries are\ndistinguished. Thus subsistence is necessary to the body, but\nthere is no body without soul; and the purification of the spirit\nis in making clean the intention in this world and taking thought\nto that which shall profit in the world to come. Indeed, soul and\nbody are like two horses racing for a wager or two foster-\nbrothers or two partners in business. By the intent are good\ndeeds distinguished and thus the body and soul are partners in\nactions and in reward and retribution, and in this they are like\nthe Blind man and the Cripple with the Overseer of the garden.\"\nAsked Shimas, \"How so?\" and the Prince said, \"Hear, O Wazir, the\ntale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Blind Man and the Cripple.\n\n\n\nA blind man and a Cripple were travelling-companions and used to\nbeg alms in company. One day they sought admission into the\ngarden of some one of the benevolent, and a kind-hearted wight,\nhearing their talk, took compassion on them and carried them into\nhis garden, where he left them after plucking for them some of\nits produce and went away, bidding them do no waste nor damage\ntherein. When the fruits became ripe, the Cripple said to the\nBlind man, \"Harkye, I see ripe fruits and long for them, but I\ncannot rise to eat thereof; so go thou arise, for thou art sound\nof either leg, and fetch us somewhat that we may eat.\" Replied\nthe Blind, \"Fie upon thee! I had no thought of them, but now that\nthou callest them to my mind, I long to eat of them and I am\nimpotent unto this, being unable to see them; so how shall we do\nto get at them?\" At this moment, behold, up came the Overseer of\nthe garden, who was a man of understanding, and the Cripple said\nto him, \"Harkye, O Overseer! I long for somewhat of those fruits;\nbut we are as thou seest; I am a cripple and my mate here is\nstone-blind: so what shall we do?\" Replied the Overseer, \"Woe to\nyou! Have ye forgotten that the master of the garden stipulated\nwith you that ye should do nothing whereby waste or damage befal\nit: so take warning and abstain from this.\" But they answered,\n\"Needs must we get our portion of these fruits that we may eat\nthereof: so tell us some device whereby we shall contrive this.\"\nWhen the Overseer saw that they were not to be turned from their\npurpose, he said, \"This, then, is my device, O Cripple, let the\nBlind bear thee on his back and take thee under the tree whose\nfruit pleaseth thee, so thou mayst pluck what thou canst reach\nthereof.\" Accordingly the Blind man took on his back the Cripple\nwho guided him till he brought him under a tree, and he fell to\nplucking from it what he would and tearing at its boughs till he\nhad despoiled it: after which they went roundabout and throughout\nthe garden and wasted it with their hands and feet, nor did they\ncease from this fashion, till they had stripped all the trees of\nthe garth. Then they returned to their place and presently up\ncame the master of the garden, who, seeing it in this plight, was\nwroth with sore wrath and coming up to them said, \"Woe to you!\nWhat fashion is this? Did I not stipulate with you that ye should\ndo no damage in the garden?\" Quoth they, \"Thou knowest that we\nare powerless to come at any of the fruit, for that one of us is\na cripple and cannot rise and the other is blind and cannot see\nthat which is before him: so what is our offence?\" But the master\nanswered, \"Think ye I know not how ye wrought and how ye have\ngone about to do waste in my garden? I know, as if I had been\nwith thee, O Blind, that thou tookest the Cripple pick-a-back,\nand he showed thee the way till thou borest him to the trees.\"\nThen he punished them with grievous punishment and thrust them\nout of the garden. \"Now the Blind is the similitude of the body\nwhich seeth not save by the spirit, and the Cripple that of the\nsoul, for that it hath no power of motion but by the body; the\ngarden is the works, for which the creature is rewarded or\npunished, and the Overseer is the reason which biddeth to good\nand forbiddeth from evil. Thus the body and the soul are partners\nin reward and retribution.\" Q \"Which of the learned men is most\nworthy of praise, according to thee?\"--\"He who is learned in the\nknowledge of Allah and whose knowledge profiteth him.\" Q \"And who\nis this?\"--\"Whoso is intent upon seeking to please his Lord and\navoid His wrath.\" Q \"And which of them is the most excellent?\"--\n\"He who is most learned in the knowledge of Allah.\" Q \"And which\nis the most experienced of them?\"--\"Whoso in doing according to\nhis knowledge is most constant.\" Q \" And which is the purest\nhearted of them?\"-- \"He who is most assiduous in preparing for\ndeath and praising the Lord and least of them in hope, and indeed\nhe who penetrateth his soul with the awful ways of death is as\none who looketh into a clear mirror, for that he knoweth the\ntruth, and the mirror still increaseth in clearness and\nbrilliance.\" Q \"What are the goodliest of treasures?\"--\"The\ntreasures of heaven.\" Q \"Which is the goodliest of the treasures\nof Heaven?\"--\"The praise of Allah and His magnification.\" Q\n\"Which is the most excellent of the treasures of earth?\"--\"The\npractice of kindness.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n        When it was the Nine Hundred and Eleventh Night,\n\nShe said: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nWazir Shimas asked the King's son, saying, \"Which is the most\nexcellent of the treasures of earth?\" he answered, \"The practice\nof kindness.\" So the Minister pursued, \"Tell me of three several\nand different things, knowledge and judgment and wit, and of that\nwhich uniteth them.\"--\"Knowledge cometh of learning, judgment of\nexperience and wit of reflection, and they are all stablished and\nunited in reason. Whoso combineth these three qualities attaineth\nperfection, and he who addeth thereto the piety and fear of the\nLord is in the right course.\" Q \"Take the case of a man of\nlearning and wisdom, endowed with right judgment, luminous\nintelligence and a keen wit and excelling, and tell me can desire\nand lust change these his qualities?\"--\"Yes; for these two\npassions, when they enter into a man, alter his wisdom and\nunderstanding and judgment and wit, and he is like the\nOssifrage[FN#106] which, for precaution against the hunters,\nabode in the upper air, of the excess of his subtlety; but, as he\nwas thus, he saw a fowler set up his nets and when the toils were\nfirmly staked down bait them with a bit of meat; which when he\nbeheld, desire and lust thereof overcame him and he forgot that\nwhich he had seen of springes and of the sorry plight of all\nbirds that fell into them. So he swooped down from the welkin and\npouncing upon the piece of meat, was meshed in the same snare and\ncould not win free. When the fowler came up and saw the Ossifrage\ntaken in his toils he marvelled with exceeding marvel and said,\n'I set up my nets, thinking to take therein pigeons and the like\nof small fowl; how came this Ossifrage to fall into it?' It is\nsaid that when desire and lust incite a man of understanding to\naught, he considereth the end thereof and refraineth from that\nwhich they make fair and represseth with his reason his lust and\nhis concupiscence; for, when these passions urge him to aught, it\nbehoveth him to make his reason like unto a horseman skilled in\nhorsemanship who mounting a skittish horse, curbeth him with a\nsharp bit,[FN#107] so that he go aright with him and bear him\nwhither he will. As for the ignorant man, who hath neither\nknowledge nor judgment, while all things are obscure to him and\ndesire and lust lord it over him, verily he doeth according to\nhis desire and his lust and is of the number of those that\nperish; nor is there among men one in worse case than he.\" Q\n\"When is knowledge profitable and when availeth reason to ward\noff the ill effects of desire and lust?\"--\"When their possessor\nuseth them in quest of the goods of the next world, for reason\nand knowledge are altogether profitable; but it befitteth not\ntheir owner to expend them in the quest of the goods of this\nworld, save in such measure as may be needful for gaining his\nlivelihood and defending himself from its mischief; but to lay\nthem out with a view to futurity.\" Q \"What is most worthy that a\nman should apply himself thereto and occupy his heart withal?\"--\n\"Good works and pious.\" Q \"If a man do this it diverteth him from\ngaining his living; how then shall he do for his daily bread\nwherewith he may not dispense?\"--\"A man's day is four-and-twenty\nhours, and it behoveth him to employ one third thereof in seeking\nhis living, another in prayer and repose and the other in the\npursuits of knowledge;[FN#108] for a reasonable man without\nknowledge is a barren land, which hath no place for tillage,\ntree-planting or grass-growing. Except it be prepared for tilth\nand plantation no fruit will profit therein; but, if it be\ntilled and planted, it bringeth forth goodly fruits. So with the\nman lacking education; there is no profit in him till knowledge\nbe planted in him; then doth he bear fruit.\" Q \"What sayst thou\nof knowledge without understanding?\"--\"It is as the knowledge of\na brute[FN#109] beast, which hath learnt the hours of its\nfoddering and waking, but hath no reason.\" Q \"Thou hast been\nbrief in thine answer here anent; but I accept thy reply. Tell\nme, how shall I guard myself against the Sultan?\"--\"By giving him\nno way to thee.\" Q \"And how can I but give him way to me, seeing\nthat he is set in dominion over me and that the reins of my\naffair be in his hand?\"--\"His dominion over thee lieth in the\nduties thou owest him; wherefore, an thou give him his due, he\nhath no farther dominion over thee.\" Q \"What are a Wazir's duties\nto his King?\"--\"Good counsel and zealous service both in public\nand private, right judgment, the keeping of his secrets and that\nhe conceal from his lord naught of that whereof he hath a right\nto be informed, lack of neglect of aught of his need with the\ngratifying of which he chargeth him, the seeking his approval in\nevery guise, and the avoidance of his anger.\" Q \"How should the\nWazir do with the King?\"--\"An thou be Wazir to the King and\nwouldst fain become safe from him, let thy hearing and thy\nspeaking to him surpass his expectation of thee, and be thy\nseeking of thy want from him after the measure of thy rank in his\nesteem, and beware lest thou advance thyself to a dignity whereof\nhe deemeth thee unworthy, for this would be like presuming against\nhim. So, if thou take advantage of his mildness and raise thee to\na rank beyond that which he deemeth thy due, thou wilt be like\nthe hunter, whose wont it was to trap wild beasts for their pelts\nand cast away the flesh. Now a lion used to come to that place\nand eat of the carrion; and in course of time, he made friendship\nwith the hunter, who would throw meat to him and wipe his hands on\nhis back, whilst the lion wagged his tail.[FN#110] But when the\nhunter saw his tameness and gentleness and submissiveness to him,\nhe said to himself, 'Verily this lion humbleth himself to me and\nI am master of him, and I see not why I should not mount him and\nstrip off his hide, as with the other wild beasts.' So he took\ncourage and sprang on the lion's back, presuming on his mildness\nand deeming himself sure of him; which when the lion saw, he\nraged with exceeding rage and raising his fore paw, smote the\nhunter, that he drove his claws into his vitals; after which he\ncast him under foot and tare him in pieces and devoured him. By\nthis we may know that it behoveth the Wazir to bear himself\ntowards the King according to that which he seeth of his\ncondition and not presume upon the superiority of his own\njudgment, lest the King become jealous of him.\"--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n        When it was the Nine Hundred and Twelfth Night,\n\nShe continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nyouth, the son of King Jali'ad, said to Shimas the Wazir, \"It\nbehoveth the Minister to bear himself towards the Monarch\naccording to that which he seeth of his condition, and not to\npresume upon the superiority of his own judgment lest the King\nwax jealous of him.\" Quoth Shimas, \"How shall the Wazir grace\nhimself in the King's sight.\"--\"By the performance of the trust\ncommitted to him and of loyal counsel and sound judgment and the\nexecution of his commands.\" Q \"As for what thou sayest of the\nWazir's duty to avoid the King's anger and perform his wishes and\napply himself diligently to the doing of that wherewith he\nchargeth him, such duty is always incumbent on him; but how, an\nthe King's whole pleasure be tyranny and the practice of\noppression and exorbitant extortion; and what shall the Wazir do,\nif he be afflicted by intercourse with this unjust lord? An he\nstrive to turn him from his lust and his desire, he cannot do\nthis, and if he follow him in his lusts and flatter him with\nfalse counsel, he assumeth the weight of responsibility herein\nand becometh an enemy to the people. What sayst thou of this?\"--\n\"What thou speakest, O Wazir, of his responsibility and\nsinfulness ariseth only in the case of his abetting the King in\nhis wrong-doing; but it behoveth the Wazir, when the King taketh\ncounsel with him of the like of this, to show forth to him the\nway of justice and equity and warn him against tyranny and\noppression and expound to him the principles of righteously\ngoverning the lieges; alluring him with the future reward that\npertaineth to this and restraining him with warning of the\npunishment he otherwise will incur. If the King incline to him\nand hearken unto his words, his end is gained, and if not, there\nis nothing for it but that he depart from him after courteous\nfashion, because in parting for each of them is ease.\" Q \"What\nare the duties of the King to his subjects and what are the\nobligations of the lieges to their lord?\"--\"They shall do whatso\nhe ordereth them with pure intent and obey him in that which\npleaseth him and pleaseth Allah and the Apostle of Allah. And the\nlieges can claim of the lord that he protect their possessions\nand guard their women,[FN#111] even as it is their duty to\nhearken unto him and obey him and expend their lives freely in\nhis defence and give him his lawful due and praise him fairly for\nthat which he bestoweth upon them of his justice and bounty.\" Q\n\"Have his subjects any claim upon the King other than that which\nthou hast said?\"--\"Yes: the rights of the subjects from their\nSovran are more binding than the liege lord's claim upon his\nlieges; for that the breach of his duty towards them is more\nharmful than that of their duty towards him; because the ruin of\nthe King and the loss of his kingdom and fortune befal not save\nby the breach of his devoir to his subjects; wherefore it\nbehoveth him who is invested with the kingship to be assiduous in\nfurthering three things, to wit, the fostering of the faith, the\nfostering of his subjects and the fostering of government; for by\nthe ensuing of these three things, his kingdom shall endure.\" Q\n\"How doth it behove him to do for his subjects' weal?\"--\"By\ngiving them their due and maintaining their laws and\ncustoms[FN#112] and employing Olema and learned men to teach them\nand justifying them, one of other, and sparing their blood and\ndefending their goods and lightening their loads and\nstrengthening their hosts.\" Q \"What is the Minister's claim upon\nthe Monarch?\"--\"None hath a more imperative claim on the King\nthan hath the Wazir, for three reasons: firstly, because of that\nwhich shall befal him from his liege lord in case of error in\njudgment, and because of the general advantage to King and\ncommons in case of sound judgment; secondly, that folk may know\nthe goodliness of the degree which the Wazir holdeth in the\nKing's esteem and therefore look on him with eyes of veneration\nand respect and submission[FN#113]; and thirdly, that the Wazir,\nseeing this from King and subjects, may ward off from them that\nwhich they hate and fulfil to them that which they love.\" Q \"I\nhave heard all thou hast said of the attributes of King and Wazir\nand liege and approve thereof: but now tell me what is incumbent\nin keeping the tongue from lying and folly and slandering good\nnames and excess in speech.\"--\"It behoveth a man to speak naught\nbut good and kindness and to talk not of that which toucheth him\nnot; to leave detraction nor carry tale he hath heard from one\nman to his enemy, neither seek to harm his friend nor his foe\nwith his Sultan and reck not of any (neither of him from whom he\nhopeth for good nor of him whom he feareth for mischief) save of\nAllah Almighty; for He indeed is the only one who harmeth or\nprofiteth. Let him not impute default unto any nor talk\nignorantly, lest he incur the weight and the sin thereof before\nAllah and earn hate among men; for know thou that speech is like\nan arrow which once shot none can avail to recall. Let him also\nbeware of disclosing his secret to one who shall discover it,\nlest he fall into mischief by reason of its disclosure, after\nconfidence on its concealment; and let him be more careful to\nkeep his secret from his friend than from his foe; for the\nkeeping a secret with all folk is of the performance of faithful\ntrust.\" Q \"Tell me how a man should bear himself with his family\nand friends.\"--\"There is no rest for a son of Adam save in\nrighteous conduct: he should render to his family that which they\ndeserve and to his brethren whatso is their due.\" Q \"What should\none render to one's kinsfolk?\"--\"To parents, submission and soft\nspeech and affability and honour and reverence. To brethren good\ncounsel and readiness to expend money for them and assistance in\ntheir undertakings and joyance in their joy and grieving for\ntheir grief and closing of the eyes toward the errors that they\nmay commit; for, when they experience this from a man, they\nrequite him with the best of counsel they can command and expend\ntheir lives in his defence; wherefore, an thou know thy brother\nto be trusty, lavish upon him thy love and help him in all his\naffairs.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirteenth Night,\n\nShe pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nyouth, the son and heir of King Jali'ad, when questioned by the\nWazir upon the subjects aforesaid, returned him satisfactory\nreplies; when Shimas resumed, \"I see that brethren are of two\nkinds, brethren of trust and brethren of society.[FN#114] As for\nthe first who be friends, there is due to them that which thou\nhast set forth; but now tell me of the others who be\nacquaintances.\"--As for brethren of society, thou gettest of them\npleasance and goodly usance and fair speech and enjoyable\ncompany; so be thou not sparing to them of thy delights, but be\nlavish to them thereof, like as they are lavish to thee, and\nrender to them that which they render to thee of affable\ncountenance and an open favour and sweet speech, so shall thy\nlife be pleasant and thy words be accepted of them.\" Q \"Tell me\nnow of the provision decreed by the Creator to all creatures.\nHath He alloted to men and beasts each his several provision to\nthe completion of his appointed life-term; and if this allotment\nbe thus, what maketh him who seeketh his livelihood to incur\nhardships and travail in the quest of that which he knoweth must\ncome to him, if it be decreed to him, albeit he incur not the\nmisery of endeavour; and which, if it be not decreed to him, he\nshall not win, though he strive after it with his uttermost\nstriving? Shall he therefore stint endeavour and in his Lord put\ntrust and to his body and his soul give rest?\"-- \"Indeed, we see\nclearly that to each and every there is a provision distributed\nand a term prescribed; but to all livelihood are a way and means,\nand he who seeketh would get ease of his seeking by ceasing to\nseek; withal there is no help but that he seek his fortune. The\nseeker is, however, in two cases: either he gaineth his fortune\nor he faileth thereof. In the first case, his pleasure consisteth\nin two conditions: first, in the having gained his fortune, and\nsecondly, in the laudable[FN#115] issue of his quest; and in the\nother case, his pleasure consisteth, first, in his readiness to\nseek his daily bread; secondly, in his abstaining from being a\nburthen to the folk, and thirdly, in his freedom from liability\nto blame.\" Q \"What sayst thou of the means of seeking one's\nfortune?\"--\"A man shall hold lawful that which Allah (to whom\nbelong Might and Majesty!) alloweth, and unlawful whatso He\nforbiddeth.\" Reaching this pass the discourse between them came\nto an end, and Shimas and all the Olema present rose and\nprostrating themselves before the young Prince, magnified and\nextolled him, whilst his father pressed him to his bosom and\nseating him on the throne of kingship, said, \"Praised be Allah\nwho hath blessed me with a son to be the coolth of mine eyes in\nmy lifetime!\" Then said the King's son to Shimas in presence of\nall the Olema, \"O sage that art versed in spiritual questions,\nalbeit Allah have vouchsafed to me but scanty knowledge, yet do I\ncomprehend thine intent in accepting from me what I proffered in\nanswer concerning that whereof thou hast asked me, whether I hit\nor missed the mark therein, and belike thou forgavest my errors;\nbut now I am minded to question thee anent a thing, whereof my\njudgment faileth and whereto my capacity is insufficient and\nwhich my tongue availeth not to set forth, for that it is obscure\nto me, with the obscurity of clear water in a black vessel.\nWherefore I would have thee expound it to me so no iota thereof may\nremain doubtful to the like of me, to whom its obscurity may\npresent itself in the future, even as it hath presented itself to\nme in the past; since Allah, even as He hath made life to be in\nlymph[FN#116] and strength in food and the cure of the sick in\nthe skill of the leach, so hath He appointed the healing of the\nfool to be in the learning of the wise. Give ear, therefore, to\nmy speech.\" Replied the Wazir, \"O luminous of intelligence and\nmaster of casuistical questions, thou whose excellence all the\nOlema attest, by reason of the goodliness of thy discretion of\nthings and thy distribution[FN#117] thereof and the justness of\nthine answers to the questions I have asked thee, thou knowest\nthat thou canst enquire of me naught but thou art better able\nthan I to form a just judgment thereon and expound it truly, for\nthat Allah hath vouchsafed unto thee such wisdom as He hath\nbestowed on none other of men. But inform me of what thou wouldst\nquestion me.\" Quoth the Prince, \"Tell me from what did the\nCreator (magnified be His all-might!) create the world, albeit\nthere was before it naught and there is naught seen in this world\nbut it is created from something; and the Divine Creator\n(extolled and exalted be He!) is able to create things from\nnothing,[FN#118] yet hath His will decreed, for all the\nperfection of His power and grandeur, that He shall create naught\nbut from something.\" The Wazir replied, \"As for those, who\nfashion vessels of potter's clay,[FN#119] and other\nhandicraftsmen, who cannot originate one thing save from another\nthing, they are themselves only created entities; but, as for the\nCreator, who hath wrought the world after this wondrous fashion,\nan thou wouldst know His power (extolled and exalted be He!) of\ncalling things into existence, extend thy thought and consider\nthe various kinds of created things, and thou wilt find signs and\ninstances, proving the perfection of His puissance and that He is\nable to create the ens from the non-ens; nay, He called things\ninto being, after absolute non-existence, for the elements which\nbe the matter of created things were sheer nothingness. I will\nexpound this to thee, so thou mayst be in no scepticism thereof,\nand the marvel-signs of the alternation of Night and Day shall\nmake this clear to thee. When the light goeth and the night\ncometh, the day is hidden from us and we know not the place where\nit abideth; and when the night passeth away with its darkness and\nits terror, the day cometh and we know not the abiding-place of\nthe night.[FN#120] In like manner, when the sun riseth upon us,\nwe know not where it hath laid up its light, and when it setteth,\nwe ignore the abiding-place of its setting; and the examples of\nthis among the works of the Creator (magnified be His name and\nglorified be His might!) abound in what confoundeth the thought\nof the keenest-witted of human beings.\" Rejoined the Prince, \"O\nsage, thou hast set before me of the power of the Creator what is\nincapable of denial; but tell me how He called His creatures into\nexistence.\" Answered Shimas, \"He created them by the sole power\nof His one Word,[FN#121] which existed before time, and wherewith\nhe created all things.\" Quoth the Prince, \"Then Allah (be His\nname magnified and His might glorified!) only willed the\nexistence of created things, before they came into being?\"\nReplied Shimas, \"And of His will, He created them with His one\nWord and but for His speech and that one Word, the creation had\nnot come into existence.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Fourteenth Night,\n\nShe resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that after\nthe King's son had asked his sire's Wazir the casuistical\nquestions aforesaid, and had received a sufficient answer, Shimas\nsaid to him, \"O dear my son,[FN#122] there is no man can tell\nthee other but this I have said, except he twist the words\nhanded down to us of the Holy Law and turn the truths thereof\nfrom their evident meaning. And such a perversion is their saying\nthat the Word hath inherent and positive power and I take refuge\nwith Allah from such a mis-belief! Nay, the meaning of our saying\nthat Allah (to whom belong Might and Majesty!) created the world\nwith His Word is that He (exalted be His name!) is One in His\nessence and His attributes and not that His Word hath independent\npower. On the contrary, power is one of the attributes of Allah,\neven as speech and other attributes of perfection are attributes\nof Allah (exalted be His dignity and extolled be His empery!);\nwherefore He may not be conceived without His Word, nor may His\nWord be conceived without Him; for, with His Word, Allah\n(extolled be His praise!) created all His creatures, and without\nHis Word, the Lord created naught. Indeed, He created all things\nbut by His Word of Truth, and by Truth are we created.\" Quoth the\nPrince, \"I comprehend that which thou hast said on the subject of\nthe Creator and from thee I accept this with understanding; but I\nhear thee say that He created the world by His Word of Truth. Now\nTruth is the opposite of Falsehood; whence then arose Falsehood\nwith its opposition unto Truth, and how cometh it to be possible\nthat it should be confounded therewith and become doubtful to\nhuman beings, so that they need to distinguish between the twain?\nAnd doth the Creator (to whom belong Might and Majesty!) love\nFalsehood or hate it? An thou say He loveth Truth and by it\ncreated all things and abhorreth Falsehood, how came the False,\nwhich the Creator hateth, to invade the True which He loveth?\"\nQuoth Shimas, \"Verily Allah the Most High created man all\nTruth[FN#123], loving His name and obeying His word, and on this\nwise man had no need of repentance till Falsehood invaded the\nTruth whereby he was created by means of the capability[FN#124]\nwhich Allah had placed in him, being the will and the inclination\ncalled lust of lucre.[FN#125] When the False invaded the True on\nthis wise, right became confounded with wrong, by reason of the\nwill of man and his capability and greed of gain, which is the\nvoluntary side of him together with the weakness of human nature:\nwherefore Allah created penitence for man, to turn away from him\nUntruth and stablish him in Truth, and He created for him also\npunishment, if he should abide in the obscurity of Falsehood.\"\nQuoth the Prince, \"Tell me how came Untruth to invade Truth, so\nas to be confounded therewith and how became man liable to\npunishment and so stood in need of repentance.\" Replied Shimas,\n\"When Allah created man with Truth, He made him loving to Himself\nand there was for him neither repentance nor punishment; but he\nabode thus till Allah put in him the soul, which is of the\nperfection of humanity, albeit naturally inclined to lust which\nis inherent therein. From this sprang the growth of Untruth and\nits confusion with Truth, wherewith man was created and with the\nlove whereof his nature had been made; and when man came to this\npass, he declined from the Truth with disobedience and whoso\ndeclineth from the Truth falleth into Falsehood.\" Said the\nPrince, \"Then Falsehood invaded Truth only by reason of\ndisobedience and transgression?\" Shimas replied, \"Yes: and it is\nthus because Allah loveth mankind, and of the abundance of His\nlove to man He created him having need of Himself, that is to\nsay, of the very Truth. But oftentimes man lapseth from this by\ncause of the inclination of the soul to lusts and turneth to\nfrowardness, wherefore he falleth into Falsehood by the act of\ndisobeying his Lord and thus deserveth punishment; and by\nputting away from himself Falsehood with repentance and by the\nreturning to the love of the Truth, he meriteth future reward.\"\nQuoth the Prince, \"Tell me the origin of sin, whilst all mankind\ntrace their being to Adam, and how cometh it that he, being\ncreated of Allah with truth, drew disobedience on himself; then\nwas his disobedience coupled with repentance, after the soul had\nbeen set in him, that his issue might be reward or retribution?\nIndeed, we see some men constant in sinfulness, inclining to that\nwhich He loveth not and transgressing in this the original intent\nand purpose of their creation, which is the love of the Truth,\nand drawing on themselves the wrath of their Lord, whilst we see\nothers constant in seeking the satisfaction of their Creator and\nobeying Him and meriting mercy and future recompense. What\ncauseth this difference prevailing between them?\" Replied Shimas,\n\"The origin of disobedience descending upon mankind is\nattributable to Iblis, who was the noblest of all that Allah\n(magnified be His name!) created of angels[FN#126] and men and\nJinn, and the love of the Truth was inherent in him, for he knew\nnaught but this; but whenas he saw himself unique in such\ndignity, there entered into him pride and conceit, vainglory and\narrogance which revolted from loyalty and obedience to the\ncommandment of His Creator; wherefore Allah made him inferior to\nall creatures and cast him out from love, making his abiding-\nplace to be in disobedience. So when he knew that Allah\n(glorified be His name!) loved not disobedience and saw Adam and\nthe case wherein he was of truth and love and obedience to his\nCreator, envy entered into him and he devised some device to\npervert Adam from the truth, that he might be a partaker with\nhimself in Falsehood; and by this, Adam incurred chastisement for\nhis inclining to disobedience, which his foe made fair to him,\nand his subjection to his lusts, whenas he transgressed the\ncharge of his Lord, by reason of the appearance of Falsehood.\nWhen the Creator (magnified be the praises of Him and hallowed be\nthe names of Him!) saw the weakness of man and the swiftness of\nhis inclining to his enemy and leaving the truth, He appointed to\nhim, of His mercy, repentance, that therewith he might arise from\nthe slough[FN#127] of inclination to disobedience and taking the\narms and armour of repentance, overcome therewith his foe Iblis\nand his hosts and return to the Truth, wherein he was created.\nWhen Iblis saw that Allah (magnified be His praise!) had\nappointed him a protracted term,[FN#128] he hastened to wage war\nupon man and to beset him with wiles, to the intent that he might\noust him from the favour of his Lord and make him a partaker with\nhimself in the wrath which he and his hosts had incurred;\nwherefore Allah (extolled be His praises!) appointed unto man the\ncapability of penitence and commanded him to apply himself to the\nTruth and  persevere therein; and forbade him from disobedience\nand frowardness and revealed to him that he had on the earth an\nenemy warring against him and relaxing not from him night nor\nday.  Thus hath man a right to future reward, if he adhere to the\nTruth, in the love of which his nature was created; but he\nbecometh liable to punishment, if the flesh master him and\nincline him to lusts.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifteenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nyoung Prince had questioned Shimas touching disputed points of\nolden time and had been duly answered, he presently said, \"Now\ntell me by what power is the creature able to transgress against\nhis Creator, seeing that His omnipotence is without bounds, even\nas thou hast set forth, and that naught can overcome Him or\ndepart from His will?  Deemest thou not that He is able to turn\nHis creatures from this disobedience and compel them eternally to\nhold the Truth?\" Answered Shimas, \"In very sooth Almighty Allah\n(honoured be His name!) is just and equitable and loving-kind to\nthe people of His affection.[FN#129] He created His creatures\nwith justice and equity and of the inspiration of His justice and\nthe overflowing of His mercy, He gave them kingship over\nthemselves, that they should do whatever they might design.  He\nshoweth them the way of righteousness and bestoweth on them the\npower and ability of doing what they will of good: and if they do\nthe opposite thereof, they fall into destruction and\ndisobedience.\" Q  \"If the Creator, as thou sayest, have granted\nto mankind power and ability[FN#130] and they by reason thereof\nare empowered to do whatso they will, why then doth He not come\nbetween them and that which they desire of wrong and turn them to\nthe right?\"--\"This is of the greatness of His mercy and the\ngoodliness of His wisdom; for, even as aforetime he showed wrath\nto Iblis and had no mercy on him, even so he showed Adam mercy,\nby means[FN#131] of repentance, and accepted of him, after He had\nbeen wroth with him.\" Q \"He is indeed mere Truth, for He it is\nwho requiteth every one according to his works, and there is no\nCreator save Allah who hath power over all things.  But tell me,\nhath He created that which He loveth and that which He loveth not\nor only that which He loveth?\"--\"He created all things, but\nfavoureth only that which he loveth.\" Q \"What reckest thou of two\nthings, one whereof is pleasing to God and earneth future reward\nfor him who practiseth it and the other offendeth Allah and\nentaileth lawful punishment upon the doer?\"--\"Expound to me these\ntwo things and make me to apprehend them, that I may speak\nconcerning them.\"  Q \"They are good and evil, the two things\ninherent in the body and in the soul.\"--\"O wise youth, I see that\nthou knowest good and evil to be of the works which the soul and\nthe body combine to do.  Good is named good, because it is in\nfavour with God, and evil is termed ill, for that in it is His\nill-will.  Indeed, it behoveth thee to know Allah and to please\nHim by the practice of good, for that He hath bidden us to this\nand forbidden us to do evil.\" Q \"I see these two things, to wit,\ngood and evil, to be wrought only by the five senses familiarly\nknown in the body of man, which be the sensorium[FN#132] whence\nproceed speech, hearing, sight, smell and touch.  Now I would\nhave thee tell me whether these five senses were created\naltogether for good or for evil.\"--\"Apprehend, O man, the\nexposition of that whereof thou askest and it is a manifest\nproof; so lay it up in thine innermost thought and take it to thy\nheart. And this it is that the Creator (extolled and exalted be\nHe!) created man with Truth and impressed him with the love\nthereof and there proceedeth from it no created thing save by the\npuissance of the Most High, whose trace is in every phenomenon.\nHe[FN#133] (extol we Him and exalt we Him!) is not apt but to the\nordering of justice and equity and beneficence, and He created\nman for the love of Him and set in him a soul, wherein the\ninclination to lusts was innate and assigned him capability and\nableness and appointed the Five Senses aforesaid to be to him a\nmeans of winning Heaven or Hell.\" Q \"How so?\"--\"In that He\ncreated the Tongue for speech, the Hands for action, the Feet for\nwalking and the Eyes for seeing and the Ears for hearing, and\nupon each bestowed especial power and incited them to exercise\nand motion, bidding each of them do naught save that which\npleaseth Him. Now what pleaseth Him in Speech is truthfulness and\nabstaining from its opposite, which is falsehood; and what\npleaseth Him in Sight is turning it unto that which He loveth and\nleaving the contrary, which is turning it unto that which He\nhateth, such as looking unto lusts; and what pleaseth Him in\nHearing is hearkening to naught but the True, such as admonition\nand that which is in Allah's writ and leaving the contrary, which\nis listening to that which incurreth the anger of Allah; and what\npleaseth Him in the Hands is not hoarding up that which He\nentrusteth to them, but expending it in such way as shall please\nHim and leaving the contrary, which is avarice or spending in\nsinfulness that which He hath committed to them; and what\npleaseth Him in the Feet is that they be constant in the pursuit\nof good, such as the quest of instruction, and leave its\ncontrary, which is the walking in other than the way of Allah.\nNow respecting the rest of the lusts which man practiseth, they\nproceed from the body by command of the soul. But the lusts which\nproceed from the body are of two kinds, the lust of reproduction\nand the lust of the belly. As for the former, that which pleaseth\nAllah thereof is that it be not other than lawful[FN#134] and He\nis displeased with it if contrary to His law. As for the lust of\nthe belly, eating and drinking, what pleaseth Allah thereof is\nthat each take naught save that which the Almighty hath appointed\nhim be it little or mickle, and praise the Lord and thank Him;\nand what angereth Him thereof is that a man take that which is\nnot his by right. All precepts other than these are false, and\nthou knowest that Allah created every thing and delighteth only in\nGood and commandeth each member of the body to do that which He\nhath made on it incumbent, for that He is the All-wise, the All-\nknowing.\" Q \"Was it foreknown unto Allah Almighty (exalted be His\npower!) that Adam, by eating of the tree from which He forbade\nhim and whence befel what befel, would leave obedience for\ndisobedience?\"--\"Yes, O sage youth. This was foreknown unto Allah\nAlmighty ere He created Adam, and the proof and manifestation\nattached thereto is the warning He gave him against eating of the\ntree and His informing him that, if he ate of the fruit he would\nbe disobedient. And this was in the way of justice and equity,\nlest Adam should have an argument wherewith he might excuse\nhimself against his Lord. When therefore, he fell into error and\ncalamity and when disgrace waxed sore upon him and reproach, this\npassed to his posterity after him; wherefore Allah sent Prophets\nand Apostles and gave to them Books and they taught us the divine\ncommandments and expounded to us what was therein of admonitions\nand precepts and made clear to us and manifest the way of\nrighteousness and explained to us what it behoved us to do and\nwhat to leave undone. Now we are endowed with Freewill and he who\nacteth within these lawful limits winneth his wish and\nprospereth, while whoso transgresseth these legal bounds and\ndoeth other than that which these precepts enjoin, resisteth the\nLord and is ruined in both Abodes. This then is the road of Good\nand Evil. Thou knowest that Allah over all things is Omnipotent\nand created not lusts for us but of His pleasure and volunty, and\nHe bade us use them in the way of lawfulness, so they might be to\nus a good; but, when we use them in the way of sinfulness they\nare to us an evil. Therefore what of righteous we compass is from\nAllah Almighty, and what of wrongous from ourselves[FN#135] His\ncreatures, not from the Creator, exalted be He herefor with\nhighmost exaltation!\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixteenth Night,\n\nShe continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nthe youth, King Jali'ad's son had questioned Shimas concerning\nthese subtleties and had been duly answered, he pursued, \"That\nwhich thou hast expounded to me concerning Allah and His\ncreatures I understand; but tell me of one matter, concerning\nwhich my mind is perplexed with extreme wonderment, and that is\nthat I marvel at the sons of Adam, how careless they are of the\nlife to come and at their lack of taking thought thereof and\ntheir love to this world, albeit they know that they must needs\nleave it and depart from it, whilst they are yet young in\nyears.\"--\"Yes, verily; and that which thou seest of its\nchangefulness and traitorousness with its children is a sign that\nFortune to the fortunate will not endure nor to the afflicted\naffliction; for none of its people is secure from its\nchangefulness and even if one have power over it and be content\ntherewith, yet there is no help but that his estate change and\nremoval hasten unto him. Wherefore man can put no trust therein\nnor profit by that which he enjoyeth of its gilding and\nglitter[FN#136]; and we knowing this will know that the sorriest\nof men in condition are those who are deluded by this world and\nare unmindful of the other world; for that whatso of present ease\nthey enjoy will not even the fear and misery and horrors which\nwill befal them after their removal therefrom. Thus are we\ncertified that, if the creature knew that which will betide him\nwith the coming of death[FN#137] and his severance from that\nwhich he enjoyeth of pleasure and delight, he would cast away the\nworld and that which is therein; for we are certified that the\nnext life is better for us and more profitable.\" Said the Prince,\n\"O sage, thou hast dispelled the darkness that was upon my heart\nby the light of thy shining lamp and hast directed me into the\nright road I must tread on the track of Truth and hast given me a\nlantern whereby I may see.\" Then rose one of the learned men who\nwere in the presence and said, \"When cometh the season of Prime,\nneeds must the hare seek the pasture as well as the elephant; and\nindeed I have heard from you twain such questions and solutions\nas I never before heard; but now leave that and let me ask you of\nsomewhat. Tell me, what is the best of the goods of the world?\"\nReplied the Prince, \"Health of body, lawful livelihood and a\nvirtuous son.\" Q \"What is the greater and what is the less?\"--\n\"The greater is that to which a lesser than itself submitteth and\nthe less that which submitteth to a greater than itself.\" Q \"What\nare the four things wherein concur all creatures?\"--\"Men concur\nin meat and drink, the sweet of sleep, the lust of women and the\nagonies of death.\" Q \"What are the three things whose foulness\nnone can do away?\"--\"Folly, meanness of nature, and lying.\" Q\n\"What is the best kind of lie,[FN#138] though all kinds are\nfoul?\"--\"That which averteth harm from its utterer and bringeth\ngain.\" Q \"What kind of truthfulness is foul, though all kinds are\nfair?\"--\"That of a man glorying in that which he hath and\nvaunting himself thereof.\" Q \"What is the foulest of\nfoulnesses?\"--\"When a man boasteth himself of that which he hath\nnot.\" Q \"Who is the most foolish of men?\"--\"He who hath no\nthought but of what he shall put in his belly.\" Then said Shimas,\n\"O King, verily thou art our King, but we desire that thou assign\nthe kingdom to thy son after thee, and we will be thy servants\nand lieges.\" So the King exhorted the Olema and others who were\nin the presence to remember that which they had heard and do\naccording thereto and enjoined them to obey his son's\ncommandment, for that he made him his heir-apparent,[FN#139] so\nhe should be the successor of the King his sire; and he took an\noath of all the people of his empire, literates and braves and\nold men and boys, to mention none other, that they would not\noppose him in the succession nor transgress against his\ncommandment. Now when the Prince was seventeen years old, the\nKing sickened of a sore sickness and came nigh to die; so, being\ncertified that his decease was at hand, he said to the people of\nhis household, \"This is disease of Death which is upon me;\nwherefore do ye summon my son and kith and kin and gather\ntogether the Grandees and Notables of my empire, so not one of\nthem may remain except he be present.\" Accordingly they fared\nforth and made proclamation to those who were near and published\nthe summons to those who were afar off, and they all assembled\nand went in to the King. Then said they to him, \"How is it with\nthee, O King, and how deemest thou for thyself of these thy\ndolours?\" Quoth Jali'ad, \"Verily, this my malady is mortal and\nthe shaft of death hath executed that which Allah Almighty\ndecreed against me: this is the last of my days in the world here\nand the first of my days in the world hereafter.\" Then said he to\nhis son, \"Draw near unto me.\" So the youth drew near, weeping\nwith weeping so sore, that he well nigh drenched the bed, whilst\nthe King's eyes welled tears and all who were present wept. Quoth\nJali'ad, \"Weep not, O my son; I am not the first whom this\nInevitable betideth; nay, it is common to all that Allah hath\ncreated. But fear thou the Almighty and do good deeds which shall\nprecede thee to the place whither all creatures tend and wend.\nObey not thy lusts, but occupy thy soul with lauding the Lord in\nthy standing up and thy sitting down, in thy waking and in thy\nsleeping. Make the Truth the aim of thine eyes; this is the last\nof my speech with thee and--The Peace.\"--And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventeenth Night,\n\nShe pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nKing Jali'ad charged his son with such injunctions and made him\nhis heir to succeed him in his reign, the Prince said, \"O dear\nfather mine,[FN#140] thou knowest that I have ever been to thee\nobedient and thy commandment carrying out, mindful of thine\ninjunctions and thine approof seeking, for thou hast been to me\nthe best of fathers; how, then, after thy death, shall I depart\nfrom that which contenteth thee? And now, having fairly ordered\nmy nurture thou art about to depart from me and I have no power\nto bring thee back to me; but, an I be mindful of thy charge, I\nshall be blessed therein and great good fortune shall betide me.\"\nQuoth the King, and indeed he was in the last agony of departing\nlife, \"Dear my son, cleave fast unto ten precepts, which if thou\nhold, Allah shall profit thee herewith in this world and the next\nworld, and they are as follows. Whenas thou art wroth, curb thy\nwrath; when thou art afflicted, be patient; when thou speakest be\nsoothfast; when thou promisest, perform; when thou judgest, do\njustice; when thou hast power, be merciful; deal generously by\nthy governors and lieutenants; forgive thy foes; be lavish of\ngood offices to thine adversary, and stay thy mischief from him.\nObserve also other ten precepts,[FN#141] wherewith Allah shall\nprofit thee among the people of thy realm, to wit, when thou\ndividest, be just; when thou punishest, oppress not; when thou\nengagest thyself, fulfil thine engagement; hearken to those that\ngive thee loyal counsel; when offence is offered to thee, neglect\nit; abstain from contention; enjoin thy subjects to the\nobservance of the divine laws and of praiseworthy practices;\nabate ignorance with a sharp sword; withhold thy regard from\ntreachery and its untruth; and, lastly, do equal justice between\nthe folk, so they may love thee, great and small, and the wicked\nand corrupt of them may fear thee.\" Then he addressed himself to\nthe Emirs and Olema which were present when he appointed his son\nto be his successor, saying, \"Beware ye of transgressing the\ncommandment of your King and neglecting to hearken to your chief,\nfor therein lieth ruin for your realm and sundering for your\nsociety and bane for your bodies and perdition for your\npossessions; and your foe would exult over you. Well ye wot the\ncovenant ye made with me, and even thus shall be your covenant\nwith this youth and the troth which plighted between you and me\nshall be also between you and him; wherefore it behoveth you to\ngive ear unto and obey his commandment, for that in this is the\nwell-being of your conditions. So be ye constant with him anent\nthat wherein ye were with me and your estate shall prosper and\nyour affairs be fair; for behold, he hath the Kingship over you\nand is the lord of your fortune, and--The Peace.\" Then the death-\nagony[FN#142] seized him and his tongue was bridled; so he\npressed his son to him and kissed him and gave thanks unto Allah;\nafter which his hour came and his soul fared forth. All his\nsubjects and the people of his court mourned and keened over him\nand they shrouded him and buried him with pomp and honour and\nreverence; after which they returned with the Prince and clad him\nin the royal robes and crowned him with his father's crown and\nput the seal-ring on his finger, after seating him on the Throne\nof Sovranship. The young King ordered himself towards them, after\nhis father's fashion of mildness and justice and benevolence, for\na little while till the world waylaid him and entangled him in\nits lusts, whereupon, its pleasures made him their prey and he\nturned to its gilding and gewgaws, forsaking the engagements\nwhich his father had imposed upon him and casting off his\nobedience to him, neglecting the affairs of his reign and\ntreading a road wherein was his own destruction. The love of\nwomen waxed stark in him and came to such a pass that, whenever\nhe heard tell of a beauty, he would send for her and take her to\nwife; and after this wise, he collected women more in number than\never had Solomon, David-son, King of the children of Israel. Also\nhe would shut himself up with a company of them for a month at a\ntime, during which he went not forth neither enquired of his\nrealm or its rule nor looked into the grievances of such of his\nsubjects as complained to him; and if they wrote to him, he\nreturned them no reply. Now when they saw this and witnessed his\nneglect of their affairs and lack of care for their interests and\nthose of the state, they were assured that ere long some calamity\nwould betide them and this was grievous to them. So they met\nprivily one with other and took counsel together blaming their\nKing, and one of them said to the rest, \"Come, let us go to\nShimas, Chief of the Wazirs, and set forth to him our case and\nacquaint him with that wherein we are by reason of this King, so\nhe may admonish him; else, in a little, calamity will dawn upon\nus, for the world hath dazzled the Sovran with its delights and\nseduced him with its snares.\" Accordingly, they repaired to\nShimas and said to him, \"O wise man and prudent, the world hath\ndazed the King with its delights and taken him in its toils, so\nthat he turneth unto vanity and worketh for the undoing of the\nstate. Now with the disordering of the state the commons will be\ncorrupted and our affairs will run to ruin. We see him not for\ndays and months nor cometh there forth from him any commandment\nto us or to the Wazir or any else. We cannot refer aught of our\nneed to him and he looketh not to the administration of justice\nnor taketh thought to the condition of any of his subjects, in\nhis disregard of them.[FN#143] And behold we are come to acquaint\nthee with the truth of things, for that thou art the chiefest and\nmost accomplished of us and it behoveth not that calamity befal a\nland wherein thou dwellest, seeing that thou art most able of any\nto amend this King. Wherefore go thou and speak with him: haply\nhe will hearken to thy word and return unto the way of\nAllah.\"[FN#144] So Shimas arose forthright and repairing to the\npalace, foregathered with the first page he could find and said\nto him, \"Fair my son, I beseech thee ask leave for me to go in to\nthe King, for I have an affair, concerning which I would fain see\nhis face and acquaint him therewith and hear what he shall answer\nme there anent.\" Answered the page, \"O my lord, by Allah, this\nmonth past hath he given none leave to come in to him, nor have I\nall this time looked upon his face; but I will direct thee to one\nwho shall crave admission for thee. Do thou lay hold of such a\nblackamoor slave who standeth at his head and bringeth him food\nfrom the kitchen. When he cometh forth to go to the kitchen, ask\nhim what seemeth good to thee; for he will do for thee that which\nthou desirest.\" So the Wazir repaired to the door of the kitchen\nand sat there a little while, till up came the black and would\nhave entered the kitchen; but Shimas caught hold of him and said\nto him, \"Dear my son, I would fain stand in presence of the King\nand speak with him of somewhat especially concerneth him; so\nprithee, of thy kindness, when he hath ended his undurn-meal and\nhis temper is at its best, speak for me and get me leave to\napproach him, so I may bespeak him of that which shall suit him.\"\n\"I hear and obey,\" answered the black and taking the food carried\nit to the King, who ate thereof and his temper was soothed\nthereby. Then said the black to him, \"Shimas standeth at the door\nand craveth admission, so he may acquaint thee with matters that\nspecially concern thee.\" At this the King was alarmed and\ndisquieted and commanded to admit the Minister.--And Shahrazed\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighteenth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nKing bade the blackamoor admit Shimas, the slave went forth to\nhim and bade him enter; whereupon he went in and falling prone\nbefore Allah, kissed the King's hands and blessed him. Then said\nthe King, \"What hath betided thee, O Shimas, that thou seekest\nadmission unto me?\" He answered, \"This long while have I not\nlooked upon the face of my lord the King and indeed I longed sore\nfor thee; and now, behold, I have seen thy countenance and come\nto thee with a word which I would lief say to thee, O King\nstablished in all prosperity!\" Quoth the King, \"Say what seemeth\ngood to thee;\" and quoth Shimas, \"I would have thee bear in mind\nO King, that Allah Almighty hath endowed thee with learning and\nwisdom, for all the tenderness of thy years, such as He never\nvouchsafed unto any of the Kings before thee, and hath fulfilled\nthe measure of his bounties to thee with the Kingship; and He\nloveth not that thou depart from that wherewith He hath endowed\nthee unto other than it, by means of thy disobedience to Him;\nwherefore it behoveth thee not to levy war against[FN#145] Him\nwith thy hoards but of His injunctions to be mindful and unto His\ncommandments obedient. Indeed, I have seen thee, this while past,\nforget thy sire and his charges and reject his covenant and\nneglect his counsel and words of wisdom and renounce his justice\nand good governance, remembering not the bounty of Allah to thee\nneither requiting it with gratitude and thanks to Him.\" The King\nasked, \"How so? And what is the manner of this?\"; and Shimas\nanswered, \"The manner of it is that thou neglectest to administer\nthe affairs of the state and that which Allah hath committed unto\nthee of the interests of thy lieges and surrenderest thyself to\nthy lower nature in that which it maketh fair to thee of the\nslight lusts of the world. Verily it is said that the welfare of\nthe state and of the Faith and of the folk is of the things which\nit behoveth the King to watch; wherefore it is my rede, O King,\nthat thou look fairly to the issue of thine affair, for thus wilt\nthou find the manifest road wherein is salvation, and not accept\na trifling pleasure and a transient which leadeth to the abyss of\ndestruction, lest there befal thee that which befel the\nFisherman.\" The King asked, \"What was that?\"; and Shimas\nanswered, \"There hath reached me this tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Foolish Fisherman.\n\n\n\nA fisherman went forth to a river for fishing therein as was his\nwont; and when he came thither and walked upon the bridge, he saw\na great fish and said in himself, \"'Twill not serve me to abide\nhere, but I will follow yonder fish whitherso it goeth, till I\ncatch it, for it will relieve me from fishing for days and days.\"\nSo he did off his clothes and plunged into the river after the\nfish. The current bore him along till he overtook it and laid\nhold of it, when he turned and found himself far from the bank.\nBut albeit he saw what the stream had done with him, he would not\nloose the fish and return, but ventured life and gripping it fast\nwith both hands, let his body float with the flow, which carried\nhim on till it cast him into a whirlpool[FN#146] none might enter\nand come out therefrom. With this he fell to crying out and\nsaying, \"Save a drowning man!\" And there came to him folk of the\nkeepers of the river and said to him, \"What ailed thee to cast\nthyself into this great peril?\" Quoth he, \"It was I myself who\nforsook the plain way wherein was salvation and gave myself over\nto concupiscence and perdition.\" Quoth they, \"O fellow, why didst\nthou leave the way of safety and cast thyself into this\ndestruction, knowing from of old that none may enter herein and\nbe saved? What hindered thee from throwing away what was in thy\nhand and saving thyself? So hadst thou escaped with thy life and\nnot fallen into this perdition, whence there is no deliverance;\nand now not one of us can rescue thee from this thy ruin.\"\nAccordingly the man cut off all his hopes of life and lost that\nwhich was in his hand and for which his flesh had prompted him to\nventure himself, and died a miserable death. \"And I tell thee not\nthis parable, O King,\" added Shimas, \"but that thou mayest leave\nthis contemptible conduct that diverteth thee from thy duties and\nlook to that which is committed to thee of the rule of thy folk\nand the maintenance of the order of thy realm, so that none may\nsee fault in thee.\" The King asked, \"What wouldst thou have me\ndo?\" And Shimas answered, \"Tomorrow, an thou be well and in good\ncase,[FN#147] give the folk leave to come in to thee and look\ninto their affairs and excuse thyself to them and promise them of\nthine own accord good governance and prosperity.\" Quoth the King,\n\"O Shimas, thou hast spoken sensibly and rightly; and to-morrow,\nInshallah, I will do that which thou counsellest me.\" So the\nWazir went out from him and told the lieges all he had said to\nhim; and, when morning morrowed, the King came forth of his\nprivacy and bade admit the people, to whom he excused himself,\npromising them that thenceforward he would deal with them as\nthey wished, wherewith they were content and departed each to his\nown dwelling.[FN#148] Then one of the King's wives, who was his\nbest-beloved of them and most in honour with him, visited him and\nseeing him changed of colour and thoughtful over his affairs, by\nreason of that which he had heard from his Chief Wazir, said to\nhim, \"O King, how is it that I see thee troubled in mind? Hast\nthou aught to complain of?\" Answered he, \"No: but my pleasures\nhave distracted me from my duties. What right have I to be thus\nnegligent of my affairs and those of my subjects? If I continue\non this wise, soon, very soon, the kingdom will pass out of my\nhand.\" She rejoined, \"I see, O King, that thou hast been duped by\nthe Wazirs and Ministers, who wish but to torment and entrap\nthee, so thou mayst have no joyance of this thy kingship neither\nfeel ease nor taste delight; nay, they would have thee consume\nthy life in warding off trouble from them, till thy days be\nwasted in travail and weariness and thou be as one who slayeth\nhimself for the benefit of another or like the Boy and the\nThieves.\" Asked the King, \"How was that?\" and she answered, \"They\ntell the following tale anent\n\n\n\n\nThe Boy and the Thieves.\n\n\n\nSeven Thieves once went out to steal, according to their custom,\nand fell in with a Boy, poor and orphaned to boot, who besought\nthem for somewhat to eat. One of them asked him, \"Wilt go with\nus, O Boy, and we will feed thee and give thee drink, clothe thee\nand entreat thee kindly?\" And he answered, \"Needs must I go with\nyou whitherso ye will and ye are as my own kith and kin.\" So they\ntook him and fared on with him till they came to a garden, and\nentering, went round about therein till they found a walnut- tree\nladen with ripe fruit and said to him, \"O Boy, wilt thou enter\nthis garden with us and swarm up this tree and eat of its walnuts\nthy sufficiency and throw the rest down to us?\" He consented and\nentered with them,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Nineteenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nBoy consented and entered with the Thieves, one of them said to\nother \"Look which is the lightest and smallest of us and make\nhim climb the tree.\" And they said, \"None of us is slighter than\nthis Boy.\" So they sent him up into the tree and said to him, \"O\nBoy, touch not aught of the fruit, lest some one see thee and work\nthee a mischief.\" He asked, \"How then shall I do?\", and they\nanswered, \"Sit among the boughs and shake them one by one with\nall thy might, so that which is thereon may fall, and we will\npick it up. Then, when thou hast made an end of shaking down the\nfruit, come down and take thy share of that which we have\ngathered.\" Accordingly he began to shake every branch at which he\ncould come, so that the nuts fell and the thieves picked them up\nand ate some and hid other some till all were full, save the Boy\nwho had eaten naught. As they were thus engaged, behold, up came\nthe owner of the garden who, standing to witness the spectacle,\nenquired of them, \"What do ye with this tree?\" They replied \"We\nhave taken naught thereof; but we were passing by and seeing\nyonder Boy on the tree, took him for the owner thereof and\nbesought him to give us to eat of the fruit. thereat he fell to\nshaking one of the branches, so that the nuts dropped down, and we\nare not at fault.\" Quoth the master to the Boy, \"What sayst\nthou?\"; and quoth he, \"These men lie; but I will tell thee the\ntruth. It is that we all came hither together and they bade me\nclimb the tree and shake its boughs that the nuts might fall down\nto them, and I obeyed their bidding.\" Said the master, \"Thou hast\ncast thyself into sore calamity; but hast thou profited by eating\naught of the fruit?\"; and he said, \"I have eaten naught thereof.\"\nRejoined the owner of the garden, \"Now know I thy folly and thine\nignorance in that thou hast wrought to ruin thyself and profit\nothers.\" Then said he to the Thieves, \"I have no resort against\nyou, so wend your ways!\" But he laid hands on the Boy and\npunished him. \"On like wise,\" added the favourite, \"thy Wazirs and\nOfficers of state would sacrifice thee to their interests and do\nwith thee as did the Thieves with the Boy.\" Answered the King,\n\"Thou sayst sooth, and speakest truth. I will not go forth to\nthem nor leave my pleasures.\" Then he passed the night with his\nwife in all delight till the morning, when the Grand Wazir arose\nand, assembling the Officers of state, together with those of the\nlieges who were present with them, repaired with them to the\npalace-gate, congratulating one another and rejoicing. But the\ndoor opened not nor did the King come forth unto them nor give\nthem leave to go in to him. So, when they despaired of him, they\nsaid to Shimas, \"O excellent Wazir and accomplished sage, seest\nthou not the behaviour of this lad, young of years and little of\nwit, how he addeth to his offences falsehood? See how he hath\nbroken his promise to us and hath not performed that for which he\nengaged unto us, and this sin it behoveth thee join unto his\nother sins; but we beseech thee go in to him yet again and\ndiscover what is the cause of his holding back and refusal to\ncome forth; for we doubt not but that the like of this action\ncometh of his corrupt nature, and indeed he is now hardened to\nthe highest degree.\" Accordingly, Shimas went in to the King and\nbespake him, saying, \"Peace be with thee, O King! How cometh it\nthat I see thee give thyself up to these slight pleasures and\nneglect the great affair whereto it behoveth thee sedulously\napply thyself? Thou art like unto a man who had a milch-camel\nand, coming one day to milk her, the goodness of her milk made\nhim neglect to hold fast her halter; which whenas she felt, she\nhaled herself free and made off into the wold. Thus the man lost\nboth milk and camel and the loss that betided him surpassed his\ngain. Wherefore, O King, do thou look unto that wherein is thy\nwelfare and the weal of thy subjects; for, even as it behoveth\nnot a man to sit forever at the kitchen door, because of his need\nunto food, so should he not alway company with women, by reason\nof his inclination to them. And as a man should eat but as much\nfood as will guard him from the pains of hunger and drink but\nwhat will ward off the pangs of thirst, in like manner it\nbehoveth the sensible man to content himself with passing two of\nthe four-and-twenty hours of his day with women and expend the\nrest in ordering his own affairs and those of his people. For to\nbe longer than this in company with women is hurtful both to mind\nand body, seeing that they bid not unto good neither direct\nthereto: wherefore it besitteth not a man to accept from them or\nword or deed, for indeed it hath reached me that many men have\ncome to ruin through their women, and amongst others a certain\nman who perished through conversation with his wife at her\ncommand.\" The King asked, \"How was that?\" and Shimas answered,\nsaying, \"Hear, O King the tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Man and his Wife.\n\n\n\nThey relate that a certain man had a wife whom he loved and\nhonoured, giving ear to her speech and doing according to her\nrede. Moreover, he had a garden, which he had newly planted with\nhis own hand, and was wont to go thither every day, to tend it and\nwater it. One day his wife asked him, \"What hast thou planted in\nthy garden?\", and he answered, \"All thou lovest and desirest, and\nI am assiduous in tending and watering it.\" Quoth she, \"Wilt thou\nnot carry me thither and show it to me, so I may look upon it and\noffer thee up a pious prayer for its prosperity, seeing that my\norisons are effectual?\" Quoth he, \"I will well, but have patience\nwith me till the morrow, when I will come and take thee.\" So\nearly on the ensuing day, he carried her to the garden which he\nentered with her. Now two young men saw them enter from afar and\nsaid each to other, \"Yonder man is an adulterer and yonder woman\nan adulteress, and they have not entered this garden but to\ncommit adultery.\" Thereupon they followed the couple to see what\nthey would do, and hid themselves in a corner of the garden. The\nman and his wife after entering abode awhile therein, and\npresently he said to her, \"Pray me the prayer thou didst promise\nme;\" but she replied, saying, \"I will not pray for thee, until\nthou do away my desire of that which women seek from men.\" Cried\nhe, \"Out on thee, O woman! Hast thou not thy fill of me in the\nhouse? Here I fear scandal, especially as thou divertest me from\nmy affairs. Fearest thou not that someone will see us?\" Quoth\nshe, \"We need have no care for that, seeing that we do neither\nsin nor lewdness; and, as for the watering of the garden, that\nmay wait, because thou canst water it when thou wilt.\" And she\nwould take neither excuse nor reason from him, but was instant\nwith him in seeking carnal coition. So he arose and lay with her,\nwhich when the young men aforesaid saw, they ran upon them and\nseized them,[FN#149] saying, \"We will not let you go, for ye are\nadulterers, and except we have carnal knowledge of the woman, we\nwill report you to the police.\" Answered the man, \"Fie upon you!\nThis is my wife and I am the master of the garden.\" They paid no\nheed to him, but fell upon the woman, who cried out to him for\nsuccour, saying, \"Suffer them not to defile me!\" Accordingly he\ncame up to them, calling out for help; but one of them turned on\nhim and smote him with his dagger and slew him.--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Twentieth Night,\n\nShe continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that after\nslaying the husband the two young men returned to the wife and\nravished her. \"This I tell thee, O King,\" continued the Wazir,\n\"But that thou mayst know that it becometh not men to give ear\nunto a woman's talk neither obey her in aught nor accept her\njudgment in counsel. Beware, then, lest thou don the dress of\nignorance, after the robe of knowledge and wisdom, and follow\nperverse rede, after knowing that which is righteous and\nprofitable. Wherefore pursue thou not a paltry pleasure, whose\ntrending is to corruption and whose inclining is unto sore and\nuttermost perdition.\" When the King heard this from Shimas he\nsaid to him, \"To-morrow I will come forth to them, an it be the\nwill of Allah the Most High.\" So Shimas returned to the Grandees\nand Notables who were present and told them what the King had\nsaid. But this came to the ears of the favourite wife; whereupon\nshe went in to the King and said to him, \"The subjects of a King\nshould be his slaves; but I see, O King, thou art become a slave\nto thy subjects, because thou standest in awe of them and fearest\ntheir mischief.[FN#150] They do but desire to make proof of thine\ninner man; and if they find thee weak, they will disdain thee;\nbut, if they find thee stout and brave, they will dread thee. On\nthis wise do ill Wazirs with their King, for that their wiles are\nmany; but I will make manifest unto thee the truth of their\nmalice. An thou comply with the conditions they demand, they will\ncause thee cease ruling and do their will; nor will they leave\nleading thee on from affair to affair, till they cast thee into\ndestruction, and thy case will be as that of the Merchant and the\nRobbers.\" Asked the King, \"How was that?\" and she answered, \"I\nhave heard tell this tale anent\n\n\n\n\nThe Merchant and the Robbers.\n\n\n\nThere was once a wealthy Merchant, who set out for a certain city\npurposing to sell merchandise there, and when he came thither, he\nhired him a lodging wherein he took up his abode. Now certain\nRobbers saw him, men wont to lie in wait for merchants, that they\nmight rob their goods; so they went to his house and sought some\ndevice whereby to enter in, but could find no way thereto, and\ntheir Captain said, \"I'll manage you his matter.\" Then he went\naway and, donning the dress of a leach, threw over his shoulder a\nbag containing somewhat of medicines, after which he set out,\ncrying, 'Who lacks a doctor?' and fared on till he came to the\nmerchant's lodging and him sitting eating the noon-day dinner. So\nhe asked him, \"Dost thou need thee a physician?\"; and the trader\nanswered, \"I need naught of the kind, but sit thee down and eat\nwith me.\" The thief sat down facing him and began to eat. Now\nthis merchant was a belle fourchette, and the Robber seeing this,\nsaid to himself, \"I have found my chance.\" Then he turned to his\nhost and said to him, \"'Tis but right for me to give thee an\nadmonition, and after thy kindness to me, I cannot hide it from\nthee. I see thee to be a great eater and the cause of this is a\ndisorder in thy stomach; wherefore unless thou take speedy\nmeasures for thy cure, thine affair will end in perdition.\" Quoth\nthe merchant, \"My body is sound and my stomach speedy of\ndigestion, and though I be a hearty eater, yet is there no\ndisease in my body, to Allah be the praise and the thanks!\" Quoth\nthe Robber, \"It may appear thus unto thee; but I know thou hast a\ndisease incubating in thy vitals and if thou hearken to me, thou\nwilt medicine thyself.\" The Merchant asked, \"And where shall I\nfind him who knoweth my remedy?\"; and the Robber answered, \"Allah\nis the Healer; but a physician like myself cureth the sick to the\nbest of his power.\" Then the other said, \"Show me at once my\nremedy and give me thereof.\" Hereupon he gave him a powder,\nwherein was a strong dose of aloes,[FN#151] saying, \"Use this to-\nnight;\" and he accepted it gratefully. When the night came, the\nMerchant tasted somewhat of the powder and found it nauseous of\ngust; nevertheless he misdoubted not of it, but swallowed it all\nand therefrom found ease that night. Next night the thief brought\nhim another powder, wherein was yet more aloes, and he took it: it\npurged him that night, but he bore patiently with this and\nrejected it not. When the Robber saw that he gave ear unto his\nword and put trust in him nor would gainsay him in aught, he\nbrought him a deadly drug[FN#152] and gave it to him. The\nMerchant swallowed it and no sooner had he done this than that\nwhich was in his stomach fell down and his bowels were rent in\nsunder, and by the morrow he was a dead man; whereupon the\nRobbers came and took all the merchandise and monies that\nbelonged to him. \"This I tell thee, O King,\" added the favourite\n\"but that thou mayst not accept one word from these deluders;\nelse will there befal thee that whereby thou wilt destroy\nthyself.\" Cried the King, \"Thou sayst sooth; I will not go forth\nto them.\" Now when the morning morrowed, the folk assembled\ntogether and repairing to the King's door, sat there the most\npart of the day, till they despaired of his coming forth, when\nthey returned to Shimas and said to him, \"O sage philosopher and\nexperienced master, seest thou not that this ignorant lad doth\nnaught but redouble in falsehood to us? Verily 'twere only\nreasonable and right to take the Kingdom from him and give it to\nanother, so our affairs may be ordered and our estates\nmaintained; but go thou in to him a third time and tell him that\nnaught hindereth us from rising against him and taking the\nKingship from him but his father's goodness to us and that which\nhe required from us of oaths and engagements. However, to-morrow,\nwe will all, to the last of us, assemble here with our arms and\nbreak down the gate of the citadel[FN#153]; and if he come forth\nto us and do that which we wish, no harm is yet done[FN#154];\nelse we will go in to him and slay him and put the Kingdom in the\nhand of other than he.\" So the Wazir Shimas went in to him and\nsaid, \"O King, that grovellest in thy gusts and thy lusts, what\nis this thou dost with thyself? Would Heaven I wot who seduced\nthee thereto! An it be thou who sinnest against thyself, there\nhath ceased from thee that which we knew in thee aforetime of\nintegrity and wisdom and eloquence. Could I but learn who hath\nthus changed thee and fumed thee from wisdom to folly and from\nfidelity to iniquity and from mildness to harshness and from\nacceptation of me to aversion from me! How cometh it that I\nadmonish thee thrice and thou acceptest not mine admonition and\nthat I counsel thee rightfully and still thou gainsayest my\ncounsel? Tell me, what is this child's play and who is it\nprompteth thee thereunto? Know that the people of thy Kingdom\nhave agreed together to come in to thee and slay thee and give\nthy Kingdom to another. Art able to cope with them all and save\nthyself from their hands or canst quicken thyself after being\nkilled? If, indeed, thou be potent to do all this, thou art safe\nand hast no occasion for my rede; but an thou have any concern\nfor thy life and thy kingship, return to thy sound sense and hold\nfast thy reign and show forth to the folk the power of thy\nprowess and persuade the people with thine excuse, for they are\nminded to tear away that which is in thy hand and commit it unto\nother, being resolved upon revolt and rebellion, led thereto by\nthat which they know of thy youth and thy self-submission to\nlove-liesse and lusts; for that stones, albeit they lie long\nunder water, an thou withdraw them therefrom and smite one upon\nother, fire will be struck from them. Now thy lieges are many\nfolk and they have taken counsel together against thee, with a\ndesign to transfer the Kingship from thee to another and\naccomplish upon thee whatso they desire of thy destruction. So\nshalt thou fare as did the Jackals with the Wolf.\"----And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-first Night,\n\nShe pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nWazir Shimas concluded with saying, \"And they shall accomplish\nupon thee whatso they desire of thy destruction; so shalt thou\nfare as fared the Jackals with the Wolf.\" Asked the King, \"How\nwas that?\" and the Wazir answered, \"They tell the following tale\nof\n\n\n\n\nThe Jackals and the Wolf.\n\n\n\nA pack of Jackals[FN#155] went out one day to seek food, and as\nthey prowled about in quest of this, behold, they happened upon a\ndead camel and said in themselves, \"Verily we have found\nwherewithal we may live a great while; but we fear lest one of us\noppress the other and the strong bear down the weak with his\nstrength and so the puny of us perish. Wherefore it behoveth us\nseek one who shall judge between us and appoint unto each his\npart, so the force-full may not lord it over the feeble.\" As they\nconsulted together on such subject, suddenly up came a Wolf, and\none of the Jackals said to the others, \"Right is your rede; let\nus make this Wolf judge between us, for he is the strongest of\nbeasts and his father was Sultan over us aforetime; so we hope in\nAllah that he will do justice between us.\" Accordingly they\naccosted the Wolf and acquainting him with what they had resolved\nconcerning him said, \"We make thee judge between us, so thou\nmayst allot unto each of us his day's meat, after the measure of\nhis need, lest the strong of us bear down the weak and some of us\ndestroy other of us.\" The Wolf accepted the governance of their\naffairs and allotted to each of them what sufficed him that day;\nbut on the morrow he said in his mind, \"An I divide this camel\namongst these weaklings, no part thereof will come to me, save\nthe pittance they will assign to me, and if I eat it alone, they\ncan do me no harm, seeing that they are a prey to me and to the\npeople of my house. Who, then, is the one to hinder me from\ntaking it all for myself? Surely, 'tis Allah who hath bestowed it\non me by way of provision without any obligation to any of them.\nIt were best that I keep it for myself, and henceforth I will\ngive them naught.\" Accordingly, next morning when the Jackals\ncame to him, as was their wont, and sought of him their food,\nsaying, \"O Abu Sirh\u00e1n,[FN#156] give us our day's\nprovender,[FN#157]\" he answered saying, \"I have nothing left to\ngive you.\" Whereupon they went away in the sorriest plight,\nsaying, \"Verily, Allah hath cast us into grievous trouble with\nthis foul traitor, who regardeth not Allah nor feareth Him; but\nwe have neither stratagem nor strength on our side.\" Moreover one\nof them said, \"Haply 'twas but stress of hunger that moved him to\nthis; so let him eat his fill to-day, and to-morrow we will go to\nhim again.\" Accordingly, on the morrow, they again betook\nthemselves to the Wolf and said to him, \"O Father of Foray, we\ngave thee authority over us, that thou mightest apportion unto\neach of us his day's meat and do the weak justice against the\nstrong of us, and that, when this provaunt is finished, thou\nshouldst do thine endeavour to get us other and so we be always\nunder thy watch and ward. Now hunger is hard upon us, for that we\nhave not eaten these two days; so do thou give us our day's\nration and thou shalt be free to dispose of all that remaineth as\nthou wilt.\" But the Wolf returned them no answer and redoubled in\nhis hardness of heart and when they strave to turn him from his\npurpose he would not be turned. Then said one of the Jackals to\nthe rest, \"Nothing will serve us but that we go to the Lion and\ncast ourselves on his protection and assign unto him the camel.\nIf he vouchsafe us aught thereof, 'twill be of his favour, and if\nnot, he is worthier of it than this scurvy rascal.\" So they\nbetook themselves to the Lion and acquainted him with that which\nhad betided them from the Wolf, saying, \"We are thy slaves and\ncome to thee imploring thy protection, so thou mayst deliver us\nfrom this Wolf, and we will be thy thralls.\" When the Lion heard\ntheir story, he was jealous for Almighty Allah[FN#158] and went\nwith them in quest of the Wolf who, seeing him approach addressed\nhimself to flight; but the Lion ran after him and seizing him,\nrent him in pieces and restored their prey to the Jackals. \"This\nshoweth,\" added Shimas, \"that it fitteth no King to neglect the\naffairs of his subjects; wherefore do thou hearken to my rede and\ngive credit to the words which I say to thee.\" Quoth the King, \"I\nwill hearken to thee and to-morrow, Inshallah, I will go forth to\nthem.\" Accordingly Shimas went from him and returning to the\nfolk, told them that the King had accepted his advice and\npromised to come out unto them on the morrow. But, when the\nfavourite heard this saying reported of Shimas and was certified\nthat needs must the King go forth to his subjects, she betook\nherself to him in haste and said to him, \"How great is my wonder\nat thy submissiveness and thine obedience to thy slaves! Knowest\nthou not that these Wazirs are thy thralls? Why then dost thou\nexalt them to this highmost pitch of importance that they imagine\nthem it was they gave thee this kingship and advanced thee to\nthis rank and that it is they who confer favours on thee, albeit\nthey have no power to do thee the least damage? Indeed, 'tis not\nthou who owest submission to them; but on the contrary they owe\nit to thee, and it is their duty to carry out thine orders. How\ncometh it then, that thou art so mightily affrighted at them? It is\nsaid, 'Unless thy heart be like iron, thou art not fit to be a\nSovran.' But thy mildness hath deluded these men, so that they\npresume upon thee and cast off their allegiance, although it\nbehoveth that they be constrained unto thy obedience and enforced\nto thy submission. Therefore an thou hasten to accept their words\nand leave them as they now are and vouchsafe to them the least\nthing against thy will, they will weigh heavily upon thee and\nrequire other concessions of thee, and this will become their\nhabit. But, an thou hearken to me, thou wilt not advance any one\nof them to power neither wilt thou accept his word nor encourage\nhim to presume upon thee; else wilt thou fare with them as did\nthe Shepherd with the Rogue.\" Asked the King, \"How was that?\" and\nshe answered, \"They relate this adventure of\n\n\n\n\nThe Shepherd and the Rogue.[FN#159]\n\n\n\nThere was once a Shepherd, who fed a flock of sheep in the wold\nand kept over them strait watch. One night, there came to him a\nRogue thinking to steal some of his charges and, finding him\nassiduous in guarding them, sleeping not by night nor neglecting\nthem by day, prowled about him all the livelong night, but could\nplunder nothing from him. So, when he was weary of striving, he\nbetook himself to another part of the waste and trapping a lion,\nskinned him and stuffed his hide with bruised straw[FN#160];\nafter which he set it up on a high place in the desert, where the\nShepherd might see it and be assured thereof. Then he accosted\nthe Shepherd and said to him, \"Yonder lion hath sent me to demand\nhis supper of these sheep.\" The Shepherd asked, \"Where is the\nlion?\" and the Rogue answered, \"Lift thine eyes; there he\nstandeth.\" So the Shepherd raised his eyes and seeing the\nsemblance deemed it a very lion and was much affrighted;--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-second Night,\n\nShe resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nShepherd saw the semblance of the lion, he deemed it a very lion\nand was affrighted with the sorest fright, trembling for dread so\nhe said to the thief, \"O my brother take what thou wilt, I will\nnot gainsay thee.\" Accordingly the Rogue took what he would of\nthe sheep and redoubled in greed by reason of the excess of the\nShepherd's fear. Accordingly, every little while, he would hie to\nhim and terrify him, saying, \"The lion hath need of this and\nrequireth that, and his intent is to do thus and thus,\" and take\nhis sufficiency of the sheep; and he stinted not to do thus with\nhim, till he had wasted the most part of his flock. \"This, O\nKing,\" added the favourite, \"I tell thee only that thou suffer\nnot the Grandees of thy realm to be deluded by thy mildness and\neasiness of temper and presume on thee; and, in right rede, their\ndeath were better than that they deal thus with thee.\" Quoth the\nKing, \"I accept this thy counsel and will not hearken to their\nadmonition neither will I go out unto them.\" On the morrow the\nWazirs and Officers of State and heads of the people assembled;\nand, taking each with him his weapon, repaired to the palace of\nthe King, so they might break in upon him and slay him and seat\nanother in his stead. When they came to the door, they required\nthe doorkeeper to open to them; but he refused, whereupon they\nsent to fetch fire, wherewith to burn down the doors and enter.\nThe doorkeeper, hearing what they said went in to the King in\nhaste and told him that the folk were gathered together at the\ngate, adding, \"They required me to open to them, but I refused;\nand they have sent to fetch fire to burn down the doors withal,\nso they may come into thee and slay thee. What dost thou bid me\ndo?\" Quoth the King in himself, \"Verily, I am fallen into\nuttermost perdition.\" Then he sent for the favourite; and, as\nsoon as she came, said to her, \"Indeed, Shimas never told me\naught but I found it true, and now great and small are come\npurposing to slay me and thee; and because the doorkeeper would\nnot open to them, they have sent to fetch fire, to burn the doors\nwithal; so will the house be burnt and we therein. What dost thou\ncounsel me to do?\" She replied, \"No harm shall betide thee, nor\nlet thine affair affright thee. This is a time when the simple\nrise against their Kings.\" Quoth he, \"What dost thou counsel me\nto do and how shall I act in this affair?\" Quoth she, \"My rede is\nthat thou fillet thy head and feign thyself sick; then send for\nthe Wazir Shimas, who will come and see the plight wherein thou\nart; and do thou say to him, 'Verily I purposed to go forth to\nthe folk this day; but this malady hindered me. So go thou out to\nthem and acquaint them with my condition and tell them that to-\nmorrow I will fare forth without fail to them and do their need\nand look into their affairs, so they may be reassured and their\nrage may subside.' Then do thou summon ten of thy father's\nslaves, stalwart men of strength and prowess, to whom thou canst\nentrust thyself, hearing to thy hest and complying with thy\ncommandment, surely keeping thy secret and lief to thy love; and\ncharge them on the morrow to stand at thy head and bid them\nsuffer none of the folk to enter, save one by one; and all who\nenter do thou say, 'Seize them and do them die.' An they agree\nwith thee upon this, to-morrow set up thy throne in the\nDivan[FN#161] and open thy doors. When the folk see that thou\nhast opened to them their minds will be set at ease and they\nwill come to thee with a whole heart, and seek admission to thee.\nThen do thou admit them, one after one, even as I said to thee\nand work with them thy will; but it behoveth thee begin by\nslaying Shimas, their chief and leader; for he is the Grand Wazir\nand head of the matter. Therefore do him die first and after put\nall the rest to death, one after other, and spare none whom thou\nknowest to have broken with thee his covenant; and in like way\nslaughter all whose violence thou fearest. An thou deal thus with\nthem, there will be left them no power to make head against thee;\nso shalt thou be at rest from them with full repose, and shalt\nenjoy thy kingship in peace and do whatso thou wilt; and know\nthat there is no device that will profit thee more than this.\"\nQuoth the King, \"Verily, this thy counsel is just and that which\nthou biddest me is to the point and I will assuredly do as thou\ndirectest.\" So he called for a fillet and bound his head\ntherewith and shammed sickness. Then he sent for the Grand Wazir\nand said to him, \"O Shimas, thou knowest that I love thee and\nhearken to the counsel of thee and thou art to me as brother and\nfather both in one; also thou knowest that I do all thou biddest\nme and indeed thou badest me go forth to the lieges and sit to\njudge between them. Now I was assured that this was right rede on\nthy part, and purposed to go forth to them yesterday; but this\nsickness assailed me and I cannot sit up. It hath reached me that\nthe folk are incensed at my failure to come forth to them and are\nminded of their mischief to do with me that which is unmeet for\nthat they know not what ailment aileth me. So go thou forth to\nthem and acquaint them with my case and the condition I am in;\nand excuse me to them, for I am obedient to their bidding and\nwill do as they desire; wherefore order this affair and engage\nthyself for me herefor, even as thou hast been a loyal counsellor\nto me and to my sire before me, and it is of thy wont to make\npeace between the people. To-morrow, Inshallah, I will without\nfail come forth to them, and peradventure my sickness will cease\nfrom me this night, by the blessing of the purest intent and the\ngood I purpose them in my heart.\" So Shimas prostrated himself to\nAllah and called down blessings on the King and kissed his hand,\nrejoicing at this. Then he went forth to the folk and told them\nwhat he had heard from the King and forbade them from that which\nthey had a mind to do, acquainting them with what excused the\nKing for his absence and informing them that he had promised to\ncome forth to them on the morrow and deal with them according to\ntheir desires; whereupon they dispersed and hied them to their\nhouses.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-third Night,\n\nShe said: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Shimas went\nfrom the presence to the ringleaders of the commons and said to\nthem, \"To-morrow the Sovran will come forth to you and will deal\nwith you as ye desire.\" So they hied them to their homes. On\nsuch wise fared it with them; but as regards the Monarch, he\nsummoned ten slaves of gigantic stature,[FN#162] men of hard\nheart and prow of prowess, whom he had chosen from amongst his\nfather's body-guards; and said to them, \"Ye know the favour,\nesteem and high rank ye held with my sire and all the bounties,\nbenefits and honours he bestowed on you, and I will advance you\nto yet higher dignity with me than this. Now I will tell you the\nreason thereof and ye are under safeguard of Allah from me. But\nfirst I will ask you somewhat, wherein if ye do my desire,\nobeying me in that which I shall bid you and conceal my secret\nfrom all men, ye shall have of me largesse and favour surpassing\nexpectation. But above all things obedience!\" The ten thralls\nanswered him with one mouth and in sequent words, saying, \"Whatso\nthou biddest us, O our liege, that we will do, nor will we depart\nin aught from thy commandment, for thou art our lord and master.\"\nQuoth the King, \"Allah allot you weal! Now will I tell you the\nreason why I have chosen you out for increase of honour with me.\nYe know how liberally my father dealt with the folk of his realm\nand the oath he took from them on behalf of me and how they\npromised him that they would break faith with me nor gainsay the\nbidding of me; and ye saw how they did yesterday, whenas they\ngathered all together about me and would have slain me. Now I am\nminded to do with them somewhat; and 'tis this, for that I have\nconsidered their action of yesterday and see that naught will\nrestrain them from its like save exemplary chastisement;\nwherefore I perforce charge you privily to do to death whom I\nshall point out to you, to the intent that I may ward off\nmischief and calamity from my realm by slaying their leaders and\nChiefs; and the manner thereof shall be on this wise. To-morrow I\nwill sit on this seat in this chamber and give them admission to\nme one by one, coming in at one door and going out at another;\nand do ye, all ten, stand before me and be attentive to my signs:\nand whoso entereth singly, take him and drag him into yonder\nchamber and kill him and hide his corpse.\" The slaves answered,\n\"We hearken to thy hest and obey thy order.\" Whereupon he gave\nthem gifts and dismissed them for the night. On the morrow he\nsummoned the thralls and bade set up the royal seat; then he\ndonned his kingly robes and taking the Book of law-cases[FN#163]\nin his hands, posted the ten slaves before him and commanded to\nopen the doors. So they opened the doors and the herald\nproclaimed aloud, saying, \"Whoso hath authority, let him come to\nthe King's carpet[FN#164]!\" Whereupon up came the Wazirs and\nPrefects and Chamberlains and stood, each in his rank. Then the\nKing bade admit them, one after one, and the first to enter was\nShimas, according to the custom of the Grand Wazir; but no sooner\nhad he presented himself before the King, and ere he could\nbeware, the ten slaves gat about him, and dragging him into the\nadjoining chamber, despatched him. On like wise did they with the\nrest of the Wazirs and Olema and Notables, slaying them, one\nafter other, till they made a clean finish.[FN#165] Then the King\ncalled the headsmen and bade them ply sword upon all who remained\nof the folk of valour and stowre: so they fell on them and left\nnone whom they knew for a man of mettle but they slew him,\nsparing only the proletaires and the refuse of the people. These\nthey drove away and they returned each to his folk, whilst the\nKing secluded himself with his pleasures and surrendered his soul\nto its lusts, working tyranny, oppression and violence, till he\noutraced all the men of evil who had forerun him.[FN#166] Now\nthis King's dominion was a mine of gold and silver and jacinths\nand jewels and the neighbouring rulers, one and all, envied him\nthis empire and looked for calamity to betide him. Moreover, one\nof them, the King of Outer Hind, said in himself, \"I have gotten\nmy desire of wresting the realm from the hand of yonder silly\nlad, by reason of that which hath betided of his slaughter of the\nChiefs of his State and of all men of valour and mettle that were\nin his country. This is my occasion to snatch away that which is\nin his hand, seeing he is young in years and hath no knowledge of\nwar nor judgment thereto, nor is there any left to counsel him\naright or succour him. Wherefore this very day will I open on him\nthe door of mischief by writing him a writ wherein I will flyte\nhim and reproach him with that which he hath done and see what he\nwill reply.\" So he indited him a letter to the following effect,\n\"In the name of Allah the Compassionating, the Compassionate *\nAnd after * I have heard tell of that which thou hast done with\nthy Wazirs and Olema and men of valiancy * and that whereinto\nthou hast cast thyself of calamity * so that there is neither\npower nor strength left in thee to repel whoso shall assail thee,\nmore by token that thou transgressest and orderest thyself\ntyrannously and profligately * Now Allah hath assuredly given me\nthe conquering of thee and the mastery over thee and into my hand\nhath delivered thee; wherefore do thou give ear to my word and\nobey the commandment of me and build me an impregnable castle\namiddlemost the sea * An thou can not do this, depart thy realm\nand with thy life go flee * for I will send unto thee, from the\nfarthest ends of Hind, twelve hordes[FN#167] of horse, each\ntwelve thousand fighting-men strong, who shall enter thy land and\nspoil thy goods and slay thy men and carry thy women into\ncaptivity * Moreover, I will make my Wazir, Badi'a captain over\nthem and bid him lay strait siege to thy capital till the master\nhe be; * and I have bidden the bearer of this letter that he\ntarry with thee but days three * So, an thou do my demand, thou\nshalt be saved; else will I send that which I have said unto\nthee.\" Then he sealed the scroll and gave it to a messenger, who\njourneyed with it till he came to the capital of Wird Khan and\ndelivered it to him. When the King read it, his strength failed\nhim, his breast waxed strait and he made sure of destruction,\nhaving none to whom he might resort for aid or advice. Presently\nhe rose and went in to his favourite wife who, seeing him changed\nof colour, said to him, \"What mattereth thee, O King?\" Quoth he,\n\"This day I am no King but slave to the King.\" And he opened the\nletter and read it to her, whereupon she fell to weeping and\nwailing and rending her raiment. Then he asked her, \"Hast thou\naught of rede or resource in this grievous strait?\"; but she\nanswered, \"Women have no resource in time of war, nor have women\nany strength or aught of counsel. 'Tis men alone who in like of\nthis affair have force and discourse and resource.\" When the King\nheard her words, there befel him the utmost regret and repentance\nand remorse for that he had transgressed against his Wazirs and\nOfficers and Lords of his land,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night,\n\nShe continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nKing Wird Khan heard the words of his favourite wife there befel\nhim the utmost regret and repentance for having transgressed\nagainst and slain his Wazirs and the chiefs of his state, and he\nwould that he had died ere there came to him the like of these\nshameful tidings. Then he said to his women, \"Verily, there hath\nbetided me from you that which befel the Francolin and the\nTortoises.\" Asked they, \"What was that?\"; and he answered, \"Men\ntell this tale of\n\n\n\n\nThe Francolin and the Tortoises.\"\n\n\n\nIt is said that sundry Tortoises dwelt once in a certain island\nabounding in trees and fruiterers and rills, and it fortuned, one\nday, that a Francolin, passing over the island, was overcome with\nthe fiery heat and fatigue and being in grievous suffering stayed\nhis flight therein. Presently, looking about for a cool place, he\nespied the resort of the Tortoises and alighted down near their\nhome. Now they were then abroad foraging for food, and when they\nreturned from their feeding places to their dwelling, they found\nthe Francolin there. His beauty pleased them and Allah made him\nlovely in their eyes, so that they exclaimed \"Subh\u00e1na 'll\u00e1h,\"\nextolling their Creator and loved the Francolin with exceeding\nlove and rejoiced in him, saying one to other, \"Forsure this is\nof the goodliest of the birds;\" and all began to caress him and\nentreat him with kindness. When he saw that they looked on him\nwith eyes of affection, he inclined to them and companioned with\nthem and took up his abode with them, flying away in the morning\nwhither he would and returning at eventide to pass the night by\nside of them. On this wise he continued a long while until the\nTortoises, seeing that his daily absence from them desolated them\nand finding that they never saw him save by night (for at dawn he\nstill took flight in haste and they knew not what came of him,\nfor all that their love grew to him), said each to other,\n\"Indeed, we love this Francolin and he is become our true friend\nand we cannot bear parting from him, so how shall we devise some\ndevice tending to make him abide with us always? For he flieth\naway at dawn and is absent from us all day and we see him not\nsave by night.\" Quoth one of them, \"Be easy, O my sisters; I will\nbring him not to leave us for the turn of an eye?\" and quoth the\nrest, saying, \"An thou do this, we will all be thy thralls.\" So,\nwhen the Francolin came back from his feeding-place and sat down\namongst them, that wily Tortoise drew near unto him and called\ndown blessings on him, giving him joy of his safe return and\nsaying, \"O my lord, know that Allah hath vouch-safed thee our\nlove and hath in like manner set in thy heart the love of us,\nwhereby thou art become to us a familiar friend and a comrade in\nthis desert. Now the goodliest of times for those who love one\nanother is when they are united and the sorest of calamities for\nthem are absence and severance. But thou departest from us at\npeep of day and returnest not to us till sundown, wherefore there\nbetideth us extreme desolation. Indeed this is exceeding grievous\nto us and we abide in sore longing for such reason.\" The\nFrancolin replied, \"Indeed, I love you also and yearn for you yet\nmore than you can yearn for me, nor is it easy for me to leave\nyou; but my hand hath no help for this, seeing that I am a fowl\nwith wings and may not wone with you always, because that is not\nof my nature. For a bird, being a winged creature, may not remain\nstill, save it be for the sake of sleep o' nights; but, as soon\nas it is day, he flieth away and seeketh his morning-meal in what\nplace soever pleaseth him.\" Answered the Tortoise, \"Sooth thou\nspeakest! Nevertheless he who hath wings hath no repose at most\nseasons, for that the good he getteth is not a fourth part of\nwhat ill betideth him, and the highmost aims of the creature are\nrepose and ease of life. Now Allah hath bred between us and thee\nlove and fellowship and we fear for thee, lest some of thine\nenemies catch thee and thou perish and we be denied the sight of\nthy countenance.\" Rejoined the Francolin, \"True! But what rede\nhast thou or resource for my case?\" Quoth the Tortoise, \"My\nadvice is that thou pluck out thy wing-feathers, wherewith thou\nspeedest thy flight, and tarry with us in tranquillity, eating of\nour meat and drinking of our drink in this pasturage, that\naboundeth in trees rife with fruits yellow-ripe and we will\nsojourn, we and thou, in this fruitful stead and enjoy the\ncompany of one another.\" The Francolin inclined to her speech,\nseeking ease for himself, and plucked out his wing-feathers, one\nby one, in accordance with the rede approved of by the Tortoise;\nthen he took up his abode with them and contented himself with\nthe little ease and transient pleasure he enjoyed. Presently up\ncame a Weasel[FN#168] and glancing at the Francolin, saw that his\nwings were plucked, so that he could not fly, whereat he rejoiced\nwith joy exceeding and said to himself, \"Verily yonder Francolin\nis fat of flesh and scant of feather.\" So he went up to him and\nseized him, whereupon the Francolin called out to the Tortoises\nfor help; but when they saw the Weasel hend him, they drew apart\nfrom him and huddled together, choked with weeping for him, for\nthey witnessed how the beast tortured him. Quoth the Francolin,\n\"Is there aught with you but weeping?\"; and quoth they, \"O our\nbrother, we have neither force nor resource nor any course\nagainst a Weasel.\" At this the Francolin was grieved and cutting\noff all his hopes of life said to them, \"The fault is not yours,\nbut mine own fault, in that I hearkened to you and plucked out my\nwing-feathers wherewith I used to fly. Indeed I deserve\ndestruction for having obeyed you, and I blame you not in aught.\"\n\"On like wise,\" continued the King, \"I do not blame you, O women;\nbut I blame and reproach myself for that I remembered not that ye\nwere the cause of the transgression of our father Adam, by reason\nwhereof he was cast out from the Garden of Eden, and for that I\nforgot ye are the root of all evil and hearkened to you, in mine\nignorance, lack of sense and weakness of judgment, and slew my\nWazirs and the Governors of my State, who were my loyal advisers\nin all mine actions and my glory and my strength against\nwhatsoever troubled me. But at this time find I not one to\nreplace them nor see I any who shall stand me in their stead; and\nI fall into utter perdition.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night,\n\nShe pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King\nblamed himself saying, \"'Twas I that hearkened to you in mine\nignorance and slew my Wazirs so that now I find none to stand in\ntheir stead, and unless Allah succour me with one of sound\njudgment, who shall guide me to that wherein is my deliverance, I\nam fallen into utter perdition.\" Then he arose and withdrew into\nhis bedchamber, bemoaning his Wazirs and wise men and saying,\n\"Would Heaven those lions were with me at this time, though but\nfor an hour; so I might excuse myself unto them and look on them\nand bemoan to them my case and the travail that hath betided me\nafter them!\" And he abode all his day sunken in the sea of cark\nand care neither eating nor drinking. But as soon as the night\nfell dark, he arose and changing his raiment, donned old clothes\nand disguised himself and went forth at a venture to walk about\nthe city, so haply he might hear from any some word of comfort.\nAs he wandered about the main streets, behold, he chanced upon\ntwo boys who had sought a retired seat by a wall and he observed\nthat they were equal in age, or about twelve years old. As they\ntalked together he drew near them whereas he might hear and\napprehend what they said, unseen of them, and heard one say to\nthe other, \"Listen, O my brother, to what my sire told me\nyesternight of the calamity which hath betided him in the\nwithering of his crops before their time, by reason of the rarity\nof rain and the sore sorrow that is fallen on this city.\" Quoth\nthe other, \"Wottest thou not the cause of this affliction?\"; and\nquoth the first, \"No! and, if thou ken it, pray tell it me.\"\nRejoined the other, \"Yes, I wot it and will tell it thee. Know\nthat I have heard from one of my father's friends that our King\nslew his Wazirs and Grandees, not for aught of offence done of\nthem, but only by reason of his love for women and inclination to\nthem; for that his Ministers forbade him from this, but he would\nnot be forbidden and commanded to do them die in obedience to his\nwives. Thus he slew Shimas my sire, who was his Wazir and the\nWazir of his father before him and the chief of his council; but\nright soon thou shalt see how Allah will do with him by reason of\nhis sins against them and how He shall avenge them of him.\" The\nother boy asked, \"What can Allah do now that they are dead?\"; and\nhis fellow answered, \"Know that the King of Outer Hind[FN#169]\nmaketh light of our monarch, and hath sent him a letter berating\nhim and saying to him, 'Build me a castle amiddlemost the sea, or\nI will send unto thee Badi'a my Wazir, with twelve hordes of\nhorse, each twelve thousand strong, to seize upon thy kingdom and\nslay thy men and carry thee and thy women into captivity.' And he\nhath given him three days' time to answer after the receipt of\nthat missive. Now thou must know, O my brother, that this King of\nOuter Hind is a masterful tyrant, a man of might and prowess in\nfight, and in his realm are much people; so unless our King make\nshift to fend him off from himself, he will fall into perdition,\nwhilst the King of Hind, after slaying our Sovran, will seize on\nour possessions and massacre our men and make prize of our\nwomen.\" When the King heard this their talk, his agitation\nincreased and he inclined to the boys, saying, \"Surely, this boy\nis a wizard, in that he is acquainted with this thing without\nlearning it from me; for the letter is in my keeping and the\nsecret also and none hath knowledge of such matter but myself.\nHow then knoweth this boy of it? I will resort to him and talk\nwith him and I pray Allah that our deliverance may be at his\nhand.\" Hereupon the King approached the boy softly and said to\nhim, \"O thou dear boy, what is this thou sayest of our King, that\nhe did ill of the evilest in slaying his Wazirs and the Chiefs of\nhis State? Indeed he sinned against himself and his subjects and\nthou art right in that which thou sayest. But tell me, O my son,\nwhence knowest thou that the King of Outer Hind hath written him\na letter, berating him and bespeaking him with the grievous\nspeech whereof thou tellest?\" The boy replied, \"O brother, I know\nthis from the sand[FN#170] wherewith I take compt of night and\nday and from the saying of the ancients, 'No mystery from Allah\nis hidden; for the sons of Adam have in them a spiritual virtue\nwhich discovereth to them the darkest secrets.'\" Answered Wird\nKhan, \"True, O my son, but whence learnedest thou geomancy and\nthou young of years?\" Quoth the boy, \"My father taught it me;\"\nand quoth the King, \"Is thy father alive or dead?\" \"He is dead,\"\nreplied the boy. Then Wird Khan asked, \"Is there any resource or\ndevice for our King, whereby to ward off from himself and his\nkingdom this sore calamity?\" And the boy answered, saying, \"It\nbefitteth not that I speak with thee of this; but, an the King\nsend for me and ask me how he shall do to baffle his foe and get\nfree of his snares, I will acquaint him with that wherein, by the\npower of Allah Almighty, shall be his salvation.\" Rejoined Wird\nKhan, \"But who shall tell the King of this that he may send for\nthee and invite thee to him?\" The boy retorted, \"I hear that he\nseeketh men of experience and good counsel, so I will go up with\nthem to him and tell him that wherein shall be his welfare and\nthe warding off of this affliction from him; but, an he neglect\nthe pressing matter and busy himself with his love-liesse among\nhis women and I go to him of my own accord designing to acquaint\nhim with the means of deliverance, he will assuredly give orders\nto slay me, even as he slew those his Wazirs, and my courtesy to\nhim will be the cause of my destruction. Wherefore the folk will\nthink slightly of me and belittle my wit and I shall be of those\nof whom it is said, 'He whose science excelleth his sense\nperisheth by his ignorance.'\" When the King heard the boy's\nwords, he was assured of his sagacity, and the excellence of his\nmerit was manifest and he was certified that deliverance would\nbetide him and his subjects at the boy's hands. So presently he\nresumed the colloquy and asked him, \"Whence art thou and where is\nthy home?\"; and the boy answered, \"This is the wall of our\nhouse.\" The King took note of the place and farewelling the boy,\nreturned to his palace in high spirits. there he changed his\nclothes and called for meat and wine, forbidding his women from\nhim; and he ate and drank and returned thanks to Allah the Most\nHigh and besought Him of succour and deliverance, and he craved\nHis pardon and forgiveness for that which he had done with his\nWazirs and Olema and turned to Him with sincere repentance,\nimposing on himself many a prayer and long fasting, by way of\ndiscipline-vow. On the morrow, he called one of his confidential\neunuchs and, describing to him the boy's home, bade him repair\nthither and bring him to his presence with all gentleness.\nAccordingly the slave sought out the boy and said to him, \"The\nKing summoneth thee, that good may betide thee from him and that\nhe may ask thee a question; then shalt thou return safe and sound\nto thy dwelling.\" Asked the boy, \"What is the King's need of me\nthat he biddeth me to him on this wise?\", and the eunuch\nanswered, \"My lord's occasion with thee is question and answer.\"\n\"A thousand times hearkening and a thousand times obeying the\ncommandment of the King!\" replied the boy and accompanied the\nslave to the palace. When he came into the presence, he\nprostrated himself before Allah and after salaming, called down\nblessings on the King who returned his salutation and bade him be\nseated.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night,\n\nShe resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nboy appeared before the King and saluted him with the salam, Wird\nKhan returned his salutation and bade him be seated. So he sat\ndown and the King asked him, \"Knowest thou who talked with thee\nyesternight?\" Answered the boy, \"Yes,\" and the King said, \"And\nwhere is he?\" \"'Tis he who speaketh with me at this present,\"\nsaid the boy. Rejoined the King, \"Thou sayst sooth, O friend,\"\nand bade set him a chair beside his own, whereon he made him sit\nand called for meat and drink. Then they talked awhile and the\nKing said, \"Ho, thou the Wazir,[FN#171] in our talk yesternight\nthou toldest me that thou hadst a device whereby thou couldst\ndefend us from the malice of the King of Hind. What is this\ncontrivance and how shall we man\u0153uvre to ward off his mischief\nfrom us? Tell me, that I may make thee chief of those who speak\nwith me in the realm and choose thee to be my Grand Wazir and do\naccording to thy judgment in all thou counsellest me and assign\nthee a splendid honorarium.\" Answered the boy, \"O King, keep thy\nhonorarium to thyself and seek counsel and policy of thy women,\nwho directed thee to slay my father Shimas and the rest of the\nWazirs.\" When the King heard this, he was ashamed and sighed and\nsaid, \"O thou dear boy, was Shimas indeed thy sire?\" The boy\nreplied, \"Shimas was indeed my sire, and I am in truth his son.\"\nWhereupon the King bowed his head, whilst the tears ran from his\neyes, and he craved pardon of Allah. Then said he, \"O boy, indeed\nI did this of my ignorance and by the evil counsel of the women,\nfor 'Great indeed is their malice'[FN#172]; but I beseech thee to\nforgive me and I will set thee in thy father's stead and make thy\nrank higher than his rank. Moreover, an thou do away from us this\nretribution sent down from Heaven, I will deck thy neck with a\ncollar of gold and mount thee on the goodliest of steeds and bid\nthe crier make proclamation before thee, saying, 'This is the\nlief[FN#173] boy, the Wazir who sitteth in the second seat after\nthe King!' And touching what thou sayest of the women, I have it\nin mind to do vengeance on them at such time as Almighty Allah\nshall will it. But tell me now what thou hast with thee of\ncounsel and contrivance, that my heart may be content.\" Quoth the\nboy, \"Swear to me an oath that thou wilt not gainsay me in whatso\nI shall say to thee and that I from that which I fear shall be\nsafe,\" and quoth the King, \"This is the covenant of Allah between\nme and thee, that I will not go from thy word and that thou shalt\nbe my chief counsellor and whatsoever thou biddest me, that will\nI do; and the Almighty Lord is witness betwixt us twain whatso I\nsay.\" Therewith the boy's breast waxed broad and the field of\nspeech was opened to him wide and he said, \"O King, my rede to\nthee is that thou await the expiration of the delay appointed to\nthee for answering the courier of the King of Hind, and when he\ncometh before thee seeking the reply, do thou put him off to\nanother day. With this he will excuse himself to thee, on the\nground of his master having appointed him certain fixed days, and\nimportune for an answer; but do thou rebut him and defer him to\nanother day, without specifying what day it be. Then will he go\nforth from thee an-angered and betake himself into the midst of\nthe city and speak openly among the folk, saying, 'O people of\nthe city, I am a courier of the King of Outer Hind, who is a\nmonarch of great puissance and of determination such as softeneth\niron. He sent me with a letter to the King of this city\nappointing to me certain days, saying, 'An thou be not with me by\nthe time appointed, my vengeance shall fall on thee.' Now,\nbehold, I went in to the King of this city and gave him the\nmissive, which when he had read, he sought of me a delay of three\ndays, after which he would return me an answer to the letter and\nI agreed to this of courtesy and consideration for him. When the\nthree days were past, I went to seek the reply of him, but he\ndelayed me to another day; and now I have no patience to wait\nlonger; so I am about to return to my lord, the King of Outer\nHind, and acquaint him with that which hath befallen me; and ye,\nO folk, are witnesses between me and him.' All this will be\nreported to thee and do thou send for him and speak him gently\nand say to him, 'O thou who seekest thine own ruin, what hath\nmoved thee to blame us among our subjects? Verily, thou deservest\npresent death at our hands; but the ancients say, 'Clemency is of\nthe attributes of nobility.' Know that our delay in answering\narose not from helplessness on our part, but from our much\nbusiness and lack of leisure to look into thine affair and write\na reply to thy King.' Then call for the scroll and read it again\nand laugh loud and long and say to the courier, 'Hast thou a\nletter other than this? If so, we will write thee an answer to\nthat also.' He will say, 'I have none other than this letter';\nbut do thou repeat thy question to him a second time and a third\ntime, and he will reply, 'I have none other at all.' Then say to\nhim, 'Verily, this thy King is utterly witless in that he writeth\nus the like of this writ seeking to arouse our wrath against him,\nso that we shall go forth to him with our forces and domineer\nover his dominions and capture his kingdom. But we will not\npunish him this time for his unmannerly manners as shown in this\nletter, because he is wanting in wit and feeble of foresight, and\nit beseemeth our dignity that we first warn him not to repeat the\nlike of these childish extravagances; and if he risk his life by\nreturning to the like of this, he will deserve speedy\ndestruction. Indeed, methinks this King of thine who sent thee on\nsuch errand must be an ignorant fool, taking no thought to the\nissue of things and having no Wazir of sense and good counsel,\nwith whom he may advise. Were he a man of mind, he had taken\ncounsel with a Wazir, ere sending us the like of this laughable\nletter. But he shall have a reply similar to his script and\nsurpassing it, for I will give it to one of the boys of the\nschool to answer.' Then send for me and, when I come to the\npresence, bid me read the letter and reply thereto.\" When the\nKing heard the boy's speech, his breast broadened and he approved\nhis proposal and his device delighted him. So he conferred gifts\nupon him and installing him in his father's office, sent him away\nrejoicing. And as soon as expired the three days of delay which\nhe had appointed, the courier presented himself and going in to\nthe King, demanded the answer; but he put him off to another day;\nwhereupon he went to the end of the carpet-room[FN#174] and spake\nwith unseemly speech, even as the boy had foresaid. Then he\nbetook himself to the bazar and cried, \"Ho, people of this city,\nI am a courier of the King of Outer Hind and came with a message\nto your monarch who still putteth me off from a reply. Now the\nterm is past which my master limited to me and your King hath no\nexcuse, and ye are witnesses unto this.\" When these words reached\nthe King, he sent for that courier and said to him, \"O thou that\nseeketh thine own ruin, art thou not the bearer of a letter from\nKing to King, between whom are secrets, and how cometh it that\nthou goest forth among the folk and publishest Kings' secrets to\nthe vulgar? Verily, thou meritest retribution from us, but this\nwe will forbare, for the sake of returning an answer by thee to\nthis fool of a King of thine: and it befitteth not that any\nreturn to him reply but the least of the boys of the school.\"\nThen he sent for the Wazir's son, who came and prostrating\nhimself before Allah, offered up prayers for the King's lasting\nglory and long life; whereupon Wird Khan threw him the letter,\nsaying, \"Read that letter and write me an acknowledgment thereof\nin haste.\" The boy took the letter and read it, smiled; then he\nlaughed; then he laughed aloud and asked the King, \"Didst thou\nsend for me to answer this letter?\" \"Yes,\" answered Wird Khan,\nand the boy said, \"O King, methought thou hadst sent for me on\nsome grave occasion; indeed, a lesser than I had answered this\nletter but 'tis thine to command, O puissant potentate.\" Quoth\nthe King, \"Write the reply forthright, on account of the courier,\nfor that he is appointed a term and we have delayed him another\nday.\" Quoth the boy, \"With the readiest hearkening and\nobedience,\" and pulling out paper and inkcase[FN#175] wrote as\nfollows:--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nboy took the letter and read it, he forthright pulled out inkcase\nand paper and wrote as follows:--\"In the name of Allah the\nCompassionating, the Compassionate! Peace be upon him who hath\ngotten pardon and deliverance and the mercy of the Merciful! But\nafter, O thou who pretendest thyself a mighty King and art but a\nKing in word and not in deed, we give thee to know that thy\nletter hath reached us and we have read it and have taken note of\nthat which is therein of absurdities and peregrine extravagances,\nwhereby we are certified of thine ignorance and ill-will to us.\nVerily, thou hast put out thy hand to that whereunto thou canst\nnever reach; and, but that we have compassion on Allah's creatures\nand the lieges, we had not held back from thee. As for thy\nmessenger, he went forth to the market-streets and published the\nnews of thy letter to great and small, whereby he merited\nretaliation from us; but we spared him and remitted his offence,\nof pity for him, seeing that he is excusable with thee and not\nfor aught of respect to thyself. As for that whereof thou makest\nmention in thy letter of the slaying of my Wazirs and Olema and\nGrandees, this is the truth and this I did for a reason that\narose with me, and I slew not one man of learning but there are\nwith me a thousand of his kind, wiser than he and cleverer and\nwittier; nor is there with me a child but is filled with\nknowledge, and I have, in the stead of each of the slain, of\nthose who surpass in his kind, what is beyond count. Each man of\nmy troops also can cope with an horde of thine, whilst, as for\nmonies I have a manufactory that maketh every day a thousand\npounds of silver, besides gold, and precious stones are with me\nas pebbles; and as for the people of my possessions I cannot set\nforth to thee their goodliness and abundance of means. How darest\nthou, therefore, presume upon us and say to us, 'Build me a\ncastle amiddlemost the main'? Verily, this is a marvellous thing,\nand doubtless it ariseth from the slightness of thy wit; for\nhadst thou aught of sense, thou hadst enquired of the beatings of\nthe billows and the waftings of the winds. But wall it off from\nthe waves and the surges of the sea and still the winds, and we\nwill build thee the castle. Now as for thy pretension that thou\nwilt vanquish me, Allah forfend that such thing should befal and\nthe like of thee should lord it over us and conquer our realm!\nNay, the Almighty hath given me the victory over thee, for that\nthou hast transgressed against me and rebelled without due cause.\nKnow, therefore, that thou hast merited retribution from the Lord\nand from me; but I fear Allah in respect of thee and thy\nsubjects[FN#176] and will not take horse against thee except\nafter warning. Wherefore, an thou also fear Allah, hasten to send\nme this year's tribute; else will I not turn from my design to\nride forth against thee with a thousand thousand[FN#177] and an\nhundred thousand fighting men, all furious giants on elephants,\nand I will range them round about my Wazir and bid him besiege\nthee three years, in lieu of the three days' delay thou\nappointedst to thy messenger, and I will make myself master of\nthy dominion, except that I will slay none save thyself alone and\ntake captive therefrom none but thy Harim.\" Then the boy drew his\nown portrait in the margin of the letter and wrote thereunder the\nwords: \"This answer was written by the least of the boys of the\nschool.\" After this he sealed it and handed it to the King, who\ngave it to the courier, and the man, after taking it and kissing\nthe King's hands went forth from him thanking Allah and the\nSovran for his royal clemency to him and marvelling at the boy's\nintelligence. He arrived at the court of the King, his master, on\nthe third day after the expiration of the term appointed to him,\nand found that he had called a meeting of his council, by reason\nof the failure of the courier to return at the time appointed. So\nhe went in to the King and prostrating himself before him, gave\nhim the letter. The King took it and questioned him of the cause\nof his tarrying and how it was with King Wird Khan. So he told\nhim all he had seen with his own eyes and heard with his own\nears; whereat the King's wit was confounded and he said, \"Out on\nthee! What tale is this thou tellest me of the like of this\nKing?\" Answered the courier, \"O mighty monarch, here am I in thy\npresence,[FN#178] but open the letter and read it, and the truth\nof my speech will be manifest to thee.\" So the King opened the\nletter and read it and seeing the semblance of the boy who had\nwritten it, made sure of the loss of his kingdom and was\nperplexed anent the end of his affair. Then, turning to his\nWazirs and Grandees, he acquainted them with what had occurred\nand read to them the letter, whereat they were affrighted with\nthe sorest affright and sought to soothe the King's terror with\nwords that were only from the tongue, whilst their hearts were\ntorn piecemeal with palpitations of alarm. But Badi'a (the Chief\nWazir) presently said, \"Know, O King, that there is no profit in\nthat which my brother Wazirs have proffered, and it is my rede\nthat thou write this King a writ and excuse thyself to him\ntherein, saying, 'I love thee and loved thy father before thee\nand sent thee not this letter by the courier except only to prove\nthee and try thy constancy and see what was in thee of valiancy\nand thy proficiency in matters of practick and theorick and skill\nin enigmas and that wherewith thou art endowed of all\nperfections, So we pray Almighty Allah to bless thee in thy\nkingdom and strengthen the defences of thy capital and add to thy\ndominion, since thou art mindful of thyself and managest to\naccomplish every need of thy subjects'. And send it to him by\nanother courier.\" Exclaimed the King, \"By Allah of All-might!\n'tis a marvel of marvels that this man should be a mighty King\nand ready for war, after his slaughter of all the wise men of his\nkingdom and his counsellors and the captains of his host and that\nhis realm should be populous and prosper after this and there\nshould issue therefrom this prodigious power! But the\nmarvelousest of all is that the little ones of its schools should\nreturn the like of this answer for its King. Verily, of the\nvileness of my greed I have kindled this fire upon myself and\nlieges, and I know not how I shall quench it, save by taking the\nadvice of this my Wazir.\" Accordingly he gat ready a costly\npresent, with eunuchs and slaves manifold, and wrote the\nfollowing reply, \"In the name of Allah the Compassionating, the\nCompassionate! To proceed: O Glorious King Wird Khan, son of my\ndear brother, Jali'ad, may the Lord have mercy on thee and\ncontinue thee! Thine answer to our letter hath reached us and we\nhave read it and apprehended its contents and see therein that\nwhich gladdeneth us and this is the utmost of that which we\nsought of Allah for thee; so we beseech Him to exalt thy dignity\nand stablish the pillars of thy state and give thee the victory\nover thy foes and those who purpose thee frowardness. Know, O\nKing, that thy father was my brother and that there were between\nus in his lifetime pacts and covenants, and never saw he from me\naught save weal, nor ever saw I from him other than good; and\nwhen he deceased and thou tookest seat upon the throne of his\nkingship, there betided us the utmost joy and gladness; but, when\nthe news reached us of that which thou didst with thy Wazirs and\nthe Notables of thy State, we feared lest the report of thee\nshould come to the ears of some King other than ourselves and he\nshould presume against thee, for that we deemed thee negligent of\nthine affairs and of the maintenance of thy defences and\nneglectful of the interests of thy kingdom; so we let write unto\nthee what should arouse thy spirit. But, when we saw that thou\nreturnedest us the like of this reply, our heart was set at ease\nfor thee, may Allah give thee enjoyment[FN#179] of thy kingdom\nand stablish thee in thy dignity! And so peace be with thee.\"\nThen he despatched the letter and the presents to Wird Khan with\nan escort of an hundred horse,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-eighth Night,\n\nShe continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nmonarch of Outer Hind, after making ready his presents,\ndespatched them to King Wird Khan with an escort of an hundred\nhorse, who fared on till they came to his court and saluting him,\npresented letter and gifts. The King read the writ and lodged the\nleader of the escort in a befitting place, entreating him with\nhonour and accepting the presents he presented. So the news of\nthis was bruited abroad among the folk and the King rejoiced\ntherein with joy exceeding. Then he sent for the boy, the son of\nShimas, and the Captain of the hundred horse; and, entreating the\nyoung Wazir with honour, gave him the letter to read; whilst he\nhimself blamed the King's conduct to the Captain who kissed his\nhands and made his excuses to him, offering up prayers for the\ncontinuance of his life and the permanence of his prosperity. The\nKing thanked him for this and bestowed upon him honours and\nlargesse and gave to all his men what befitted them and made\nready presents to send by them and bade the boy Wazir indite an\nanswer to their King's letter. So the boy wrote a reply, wherein,\nafter an address[FN#180] beautiful exceedingly, he touched\nbriefly on the question of reconciliation and praised the good\nbreeding of the envoy and of his mounted men, and showed it, when\nduly finished, to the King who said to him, \"Read it, O thou dear\nboy, that we may know what is written[FN#181] therein.\" So the\nboy read the letter in the presence of the hundred horse, and the\nKing and all present marvelled at its ordinance of style and\nsense. Then the King sealed the letter and delivering it to the\nCaptain of the hundred horse, dismissed him with some of his own\ntroops, to escort him as far as the frontier of his country. The\nCaptain returned, confounded in mind at that which he had seen of\nthe boy's knowledge and thanking Allah for the speedy\naccomplishment of his errand and the acceptance of peace, to the\nKing of Outer Hind. Then going in to the presence, he delivered\nthe presents and handed to him the letter, telling him what he\nhad seen and heard, whereat the King rejoiced with joy exceeding\nand rendered lauds to his Lord the Most High and honoured the\nCaptain commending his care and zeal and advancing him in rank.\nAnd from that hour he woned in peace and tranquillity and all\nhappiness. As for King Wird Khan, he returned to the paths of\nrighteousness, abandoning his evil ways and repenting to Allah\nwith sincere penitence; and he gave up womanising altogether and\napplied himself wholly to the ordering of the affairs of his\nrealm and the governance of his people in the fear of Allah.\nFurthermore, he made the son of Shimas Wazir in his father's\nstead, and the chief after himself in his realm and keeper of his\nsecrets and bade decorate his capital for seven days and likewise\nthe other cities of his kingdom. At this the subjects rejoiced\nand fear and alarm ceased from them and they were glad in the\nprospect of justice and equity and instant in prayer for the King\nand for the Minister who from him and them had done away this\ntrouble. Then said the King to the Wazir, \"What is thy rede for\nthe assuring of the state and the prospering of the people and\nthe return of the realm to its aforetime state as regards\nCaptains and Councillors?\" Answered the boy, \"O King of high\nestate, in my judgment it behoveth before all, that thou begin by\nrending out from thy heart the root of wickedness and leave thy\ndebauchery and tyranny and addiction to women; for, an thou\nreturn to the root of transgression, the second backsliding will\nbe worse than the first.\" The King asked, \"And what is the root\nof sinfulness that it behoveth me to root out from my heart?\";\nand was answered by the Wazir, little of years but great of wit,\n\"O King the root of wickedness is subjection to the desire of\nwomen and inclining to them and following their counsel and\ncontrivance; for the love of them changeth the soundest wit and\ncorrupteth the most upright nature, and manifest proofs bear\nwitness to my saying, wherein an thou meditate them and follow\ntheir actions and consequences with eyes intent, thou wilt find a\nloyal counsellor against thy own soul and wilt stand in no need\nwhatever of my rede. Look, then, thou occupy not thy heart with\nthe thought of womankind and do away the trace of them from thy\nmind, for that Allah the Most High hath forbidden excessive use\nof them by the mouth of His prophet Moses, so that quoth a\ncertain wise King to his son, 'O my son, when thou succeedest to\nthe kingdom after me, frequent not women overmuch, lest thy heart\nbe led astray and thy judgment be corrupted; for that overmuch\ncommerce with them leadeth to love of them, and love of them to\ncorruption of judgment'. And the proof of this is what befel our\nLord Solomon, son of David, (peace be upon the twain of them!)\nwhom Allah specially endowed with knowledge and wisdom and\nsupreme dominion, nor vouchsafed He to any one of the Kings his\npredecessors the like of that which He gave him; and women were\nthe cause of his father's offending. The examples of this are\nmany, O King, and I do but make mention of Solomon to thee for\nthat thou knowest that to none was given such dominion as that\nwith which he was invested, so that all the Kings of the earth\nobeyed him. Know then, O King, that the love of women is the root\nof all evil and none of them hath any judgment; wherefore it\nbehoveth a man use them according to his need and not incline to\nthem with utter inclination for that will cast him into\ncorruption and perdition. An thou hearken to my words, all thine\naffairs will prosper; but, an thou neglect them thou wilt repent,\nwhenas repentance will not profit thee.\" Answered the King,\n'Verily, I have left my whilome inclination to women.'--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-ninth Night,\n\nShe pursued: It hath reached me, O mighty monarch, that King Wird\nKhan said to his Wazir, \"Indeed, I have left my whilome\ninclination to women and have altogether renounced my infatuation\nfor them; but how shall I do to punish them in retaliation of\ntheir misdeeds? For the slaying of thy sire Shimas was of their\nmalice and not of my own will, and I know not what ailed my\nreason that I consented with their proposal to slay him \" Then he\ncried, \"Ah me!\" and groaned and lamented, saying \"Well-away and\nalas for the loss of my Wazir and his just judgment and admirable\nadministration and for the loss of his like of the Wazirs and\nHeads of the State and of the goodliness of their apt counsels\nand sagacious!\" \"O King,\" quoth the boy-minister, \"Know that the\nfault is not with women alone, for that they are like unto a\npleasing stock in trade, whereto the lusts of the lookers-on\nincline. To whosoever lusteth and buyeth, they sell it, but whoso\nbuyeth not, none forceth him to buy; so that the fault is of him\nwho buyeth, especially if he know the harmfulness of that\nmerchandise. Now, I warn thee, as did my sire before me, but thou\nacceptedest not to his counsel.\" Answered the King, \"O Wazir,\nindeed I have fixed this fault upon myself, even as thou hast\nsaid, and I have no excuse except divine foreordainment.\"\nRejoined the Wazir, \"O King, know that Almighty Allah hath\ncreated us and endowed us with capability and appointed to us\nfreewill and choice; so, if we will, we do, and if we will, we\ndo not. The Lord commanded us not to do harm, lest sin attach to\nus; wherefore it befitteth us to take compt of whatso is right to\ndo, for that the Almighty biddeth us naught but good in all cases\nand forbiddeth us only from evil; but what we do, we do of our\nown design, be it fair or faulty.\" Quoth the King, \"Thou sayest\nsooth, and indeed my fault arose from my surrendering myself to\nmy lusts, albeit often and often my better self warned me from\nthis, and thy sire Shimas also warned me often and often, but my\nlusts overcame my wits. Hast thou then with thee aught that may\nwithhold me from again committing this error and whereby my\nreason may be victorious over the desires of my soul?\" Quoth the\nWazir, \"Yes: I can tell thee what will restrain thee from\nrelapsing into this fault, and it is that thou doff the garment\nof ignorance and don that of understanding, and disobey thy\npassions and obey thy Lord and revert to the policy of the just\nKing thy sire, and fulfil thy duties to Allah the Most High and\nto thy people and apply thyself to the defence of thy faith and\nthe promotion of thy subjects' welfare and rule thyself aright\nand forbear the slaughter of thy people; and look to the end of\nthings and sever thyself from tyranny and oppression and\narrogance and lewdness, and practice justice, equity and humility\nand bow before the bidding of the Almighty and apply thyself to\ngentle dealing with those of His creatures over whom He set thee\nand be assiduous as it besitteth thee in fulfilling their prayers\nunto thee. An thou be constant herein may thy days be serene and\nmay Allah of His mercy pardon thee and make thee loved and\nfeared of all who look on thee; so shall thy foes be brought to\nnaught, for the Omnipotent shall rout their hosts and thou shalt\nhave acceptance with Him and of His creatures be dreaded and to\nthem endeared.\" Quoth the King, \"Indeed thou hast quickened my\nvitals and illumined my heart with thy sweet speech and hast\nopened the eyes of my clear-seeing after blindness; and I am\nresolved to do whatso thou hast set forth to me, with the help of\nthe Almighty leaving my former case of lust and sinfulness and\nbringing forth my soul from durance vile to deliverance and from\nfear to safety. So it behoveth thee to be joyful hereat and\ncontented, for that I am become to thee as a son, maugre my more\nof age, and thou to me as a dear father, despite thy tenderness of\nyears, and it hath become incumbent on me to do mine utmost\nendeavour in all thou commandest me. Wherefore I thank the bounty\nof Allah and thy bounty because He hath vouchsafed me, by thee,\nfair fortune and goodly guidance and just judgment to ward off my\ncark and care; and the security of my lieges hath been brought\nabout by thy hand, through the excellence of thy knowledge and\nthe goodliness of thy contrivance. And thou, from this hour,\nshalt be the counsellor of my kingdom and equal to myself in all\nbut sitting upon the throne; and whatso thou dost shall be law to\nme and none shall disobey thy word, young in years though thou\nbe, for that thou art old in wit and knowledge. So I thank Allah\nwho deigned grant thee to me, that thou mayst guide me into the\nway of salvation and out of the crooked paths of perdition.\"\nQuoth the Wazir, \"O auspicious King, know that no merit is due to\nme for giving thee loyal counsel; for that to succour thee by\ndeed and word is one of the things which is incumbent on me,\nseeing that I am but a plant of thy bounty, and not I alone, but\none before me was overwhelmed with thy beneficence, so that we\nare both alike partakers in thy honours and favours, and how\nshall we not acknowledge this? Moreover thou, O King, art our\nshepherd and ruler and he who wardeth off from us our foes, and\nto whom are committed our protection and our guardian, constant\nin endeavour for our safety. Indeed, though we lavished our lives\nin thy service yet should we not fulfil that which is incumbent\non us of gratitude to thee; but we supplicate Allah Almighty, who\nhath set thee over us and made thee our ruler, and beseech Him\nvouchsafe thee long life and success in all thine enterprises and\nnot to make trial of thee with afflictions in thy time, but bring\nthee to thy desire and make thee to be reverenced till the day of\nthy death and lengthen thine arms in generosity, so thou mayst\nhave command over every wise man and subdue every wicked man and\nall the wise and brave be found with thee in thy realm and all\nthe ignorant and cowardly be plucked out from thy reign; and we\npray Him to withhold from thy people scarcity and calamity and\nsow among them the seed of love and friendship and cause them to\nenjoy of this world its prosperity and of the next felicity, of\nHis grace and bounty and hidden mercies. Amen![FN#182] For He is\nover all things Omnipotent and there is naught difficult unto\nHim, to Him all things tend.\" When the King heard the Wazir's\nprayer, he was mightily rejoiced and inclined to him with his\nwhole heart, saying, \"Know, O Wazir, thou art to me in lieu of\nbrother and son and father, and naught but death shall divide me\nfrom thee. All that my hand possesseth thou shalt have the\ndisposal of and, if I have no child to succeed me, thou shalt sit\non my throne in my stead; for thou art the worthiest of all the\nfolk of my realm, and I will invest thee with my Kingship in the\npresence of the Grandees of my state and appoint thee my heir\napparent to inherit the kingdom after me, Inshallah!\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirtieth Night,\n\nShe resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King\nWird Khan said to the son of Shimas the whilome Wazir, \"Presently\nI will name thee my successor and make thee my heir apparent, and\nI will call the Grandees of mine Empire to witness thereto.\" Then\nhe summoned his Secretary and bade him write to all the Lords of\nhis land, convoking them at his Court, and caused proclamation to\nbe made in his city to all the townsfolk great and small, bidding\nevery one of the Emirs and Governors and Chamberlains and other\nofficers and dignitaries to his presence as well as the Olema and\nLiterati learned in the law. He held to boot a grand Divan and\nmade a banquet, never was its like seen anywhere and thereto he\nbade all the folk, high and low. So they assembled and abode in\nmerry making, eating and drinking a month's space, after which\nthe King clothed the whole of his household and the poor of his\nKingdom and bestowed on the men of knowledge abundant largesse.\nThen he chose out a number of the Olema and wise men who were\nknown to the son of Shimas, and caused them go in to him, bidding\nhim choose out of them six that he might make them Wazirs under\ncommandment of the boy. Accordingly he selected six of the oldest\nof them in years and the best in wits and fullest of lore and the\nquickest of memory and judgment, and presented them to the King,\nwho clad them in Wazirial habit saying, \"Ye are become my\nMinisters, under the commandment of this my Grand Wazir, the son\nof Shimas. Whatsoever he saith to you or biddeth you to do, ye\nshall never and in no wise depart from it, albeit he is the\nyoungest of you in years; for he is the eldest of you in\nintellect and intelligence.\" Then he seated them upon chairs,\nadorned with gold after the usage of Wazirs, and appointed to\nthem stipends and allowances, bidding them choose out such of the\nnotables of the kingdom and officers of the troops present at the\nbanquet as were aptest for the service of the state, that he\nmight make them Captains of tens and Captains of hundreds and\nCaptains of thousands and appoint to them dignities and stipends\nand assign them provision, after the manner of Grandees. This\nthey did with entire diligence and he bade them also handsel all\nwho were present with large gifts and dismiss them each to his\ncountry with honour and renown; he also charged his governors to\nrule the people with justice and enjoined them to be tender to\nthe poor as well as to the rich and bade succour them from the\ntreasury, according to their several degrees. So the Wazirs\nwished him permanence of glory and continuance of life, and he\ncommanded to decorate the city three days, in gratitude to Allah\nAlmighty for mercies vouchsafed to him. Such was the case with\nthe King and his Wazir, Ibn Shimas, in the ordinance of his\nkingdom through his Emirs and Governors; but as regards the\nfavourite women, wives, concubines and others who, by their\nmalice and perfidy, had brought about the slaughter of the Wazirs\nand had well nigh ruined the realm, as soon as the Court was\ndissolved and all the people had departed, each to his own place,\nafter their affairs had been set in order, the King summoned his\nboy-Minister, the son of Shimas, and the other six Wazirs and\ntaking them apart privily, said to them, \"Know, O Wazirs that I\nhave been a wanderer from the right way, drowned in ignorance,\nopposed to admonition, a breaker of facts and promises and a\ngainsayer of good counsellors; and the cause of all this was my\nbeing fooled by these women and the wiles whereby they beset me\nand the glozing lure of their speech, whereby they seduced me to\nsin and my acceptance of this, for that I deemed the words of\nthem true and loyal counsel, by reason of their sweetness and\nsoftness; but lo, and behold! they were deadly poison. And now I\nam certified that they sought but to ruin and destroy me,\nwherefore they deserve punishment and retribution from me, for\njustice sake, that I may make them a warning to whoso will be\nwarned. And what say your just judgments anent doing them to\ndie?\" Answered the boy Wazir, \"O mighty King, I have already told\nthee that women are not alone to blame, but that the fault is\nshared between them and the men who hearken to them. However,\nthey deserve punishment and requital for two reasons: firstly for\nthe fulfilment of thy word, because thou art the supreme King;\nand secondly, by reason of their presumption against thee and\ntheir seducing thee and their meddling with that which concerneth\nthem not and whereof it befitteth them not even to speak.\nWherefore they have right well deserved death; yet let that which\nhath befallen them suffice them, and do thou henceforth reduce\nthem to servants' estate. But it is thine to command in this and\nin other than this.\" Then one of the Wazirs seconded the counsel\nof Ibn Shimas; but another of them prostrated himself before the\nKing and said to him, \"Allah prolong the King's life! An thou be\nindeed resolved to do with them that which shall cause their\ndeath, do with them as I shall say to thee.\" Asked Wird Khan,\n\"And what is that?\"; and the Wazir answered, \"'Twere best that\nthou bid some of thy female slaves carry the women who played\nthee false to the apartment, wherein befel the slaughter of thy\nWazirs and wise men and imprison them there; and bid that they be\nprovided with a little meat and drink, enough to keep life in\ntheir bodies. Let them never be suffered to go forth of that\nplace, and whenever one of them dies, let her abide among them,\nas she is, till they die all, even to the last of them. This is\nthe least of their desert, because they were the cause of this\ngreat avail, ay, and the origin of all the troubles and\ncalamities that have befallen in our time; so shall there be\nverified in them the saying of the Sayer, 'Whoso diggeth his\nbrother a pit shall surely himself fall into it, albeit of long\nsafety he have benefit.'\" The King accepted the Wazir's counsel\nand sending for four stalwart female slaves, committed the\noffending women to them, bidding them bear them into the place of\nslaughter and imprison them there and allow them every day a\nlittle coarse food and a little troubled water. They did with\nthem as he bade; wherefore the women mourned with sore mourning,\nrepenting them of that which they had done and lamenting with\ngrievous lamentation. Thus Allah gave them their reward of\nabjection in this world and prepared for them torment in the\nworld to come; nor did they cease to abide in that murky and\nnoisome place, whilst every day one or other of them died, till\nthey all perished, even to the last of them;[FN#183] and the\nreport of this event was bruited abroad in all lands and\ncountries. This is the end of the story of the King and his\nWazirs and subjects, and praise be to Allah who causeth peoples\nto pass away, and quickeneth the bones that rot in decay; Him who\nalone is worthy to be glorified and magnified alway and hallowed\nfor ever and aye! And amongst the tales they tell is one of\n\n\n\n\n            ABU KIR THE DYER AND ABU SIR THE BARBER.\n\n\n\nThere dwelt once, in Alexandria city, two men, of whom one was a\ndyer, by name Ab\u00fa K\u00edr, and the other a barber Ab\u00fa S\u00edr[FN#184];\nand they were neighbours in the market-street, where their shops\nstood side by side.  The dyer was a swindler and a liar, an\nexceeding wicked wight, as if indeed his head-temples were hewn\nout of a boulder rock or fashioned of the threshold of a Jewish\nsynagogue, nor was he ashamed of any shameful work he wrought\namongst the folk.  It was his wont, when any brought him cloth\nfor staining, first to require of him payment under pretence of\nbuying dyestuffs therewith.  So the customer would give him the\nwage in advance and wend his ways, and the dyer would spend all\nhe received on meat and drink; after which he would sell the\ncloth itself as soon as ever its owner turned his back and waste\nits worth in eating and drinking and what not else, for he ate\nnot but of the daintiest and most delicate viands nor drank but\nof the best of that which doth away the with of man.  And when\nthe owner of the cloth came to him, he would say to him, \"Return\nto me to-morrow before sunrise and thou shalt find thy stuff\ndyed.\"  So the customer would go away, saying to himself, \"One\nday is near another day,\" and return next day at the appointed\ntime, when the dyer would say to him, \"Come to-morrow; yesterday\nI was not at work, for I had with me guests and was occupied with\ndoing what their wants required till they went: but to-morrow\nbefore sunrise come and take thy cloth dyed.\"  So he would fare\nforth and return on the third day, when Abu Kir would say to him,\n\"Indeed yesterday I was excusable, for my wife was brought to bed\nin the night and all day I was busy with manifold matters; but\nto-morrow, without fail, come and take thy cloth dyed.\"  When the\nman came again at the appointed time, he would put him off with\nsome other pretence, it mattered little what, and would swear to\nhim;--Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that every time\nthe owner of an article came to the dyer he would put him off\nwith any pretext[FN#185] and would swear to him; nor would he\ncease to promise and swear to him, as often as he came, till the\ncustomer lost patience and said, \"How often wilt thou say to me,\n'To-morrow?'  Give me my stuff: I will not have it dyed.\"\nWhereupon the dyer would make answer, \"By Allah, O my brother, I\nam abashed at thee; but I must tell the truth and may Allah harm\nall who harm folk in their goods!\"  The other would exclaim,\n\"Tell me what hath happened;\" and Abu Kir would reply, \"As for\nthy stuff I dyed that same on matchless wise and hung it on the\ndrying rope but 'twas stolen and I know not who stole it.\"  If\nthe owner of the stuff were of the kindly he would say, \"Allah\nwill compensate me;\" and if he were of the ill-conditioned, he\nwould haunt him with exposure and insult, but would get nothing\nof him, though he complained of him to the judge.  He ceased not\ndoing thus till his report was noised abroad among the folk and\neach used to warn other against Abu Kir who became a byword\namongst them.  So they all held aloof from him and none would be\nentrapped by him save those who were ignorant of his character;\nbut, for all this, he failed not daily to suffer insult and\nexposure from Allah's creatures.  By reason of this his trade\nbecame slack and he used to go to the shop of his neighbour the\nbarber Abu Sir and sit there, facing the dyery and with his eyes\non the door.  Whenever he espied any one who knew him not\nstanding at the dyery-door, with a piece of stuff in his hand, he\nwould leave the barber's booth and go up to him saying, \"What\nseekest thou, O thou?\"; and the man would reply, \"Take and dye me\nthis thing.\"  So the dyer would ask, \"What colour wilt thou have\nit?\"  For, with all his knavish tricks his hand was in all manner\nof dyes; but he was never true to any one; wherefore poverty had\ngotten the better of him.  Then he would take the stuff and say,\n\"Give me my wage in advance and come to-morrow and take the\nstuff.\"  So the stranger would advance him the money and wend his\nway; whereupon Abu Kir would carry the cloth to the market-street\nand sell it and with its price buy meat and vegetables and\ntobacco[FN#186] and fruit and what not else he needed; but,\nwhenever he saw any one who had given him stuff to dye standing\nat the door of his shop, he would not come forth to him or even\nshow himself to him.  On this wise he abode years and years, till\nit fortuned one day that he received cloth to dye from a man of\nwrath and sold it and spent the proceeds.  The owner came to him\nevery day, but found him not in his shop; for, whenever he espied\nany one who had claim against him, he would flee from him into\nthe shop of the barber Abu Sir.  At last, that angry man finding\nthat he was not to be seen and growing weary of such work,\nrepaired to the Kazi and bringing one of his serjeants to the\nshop, nailed up the door, in presence of a number of Moslems, and\nsealed it, for that he saw therein naught save some broken pans\nof earthenware to stand him instead of his stuff; after which the\nserjeant took the key, saying to the neighbours, \"Tell him to\nbring back this man's cloth then come to me[FN#187] and take his\nshop key;\" and went his way, he and the man.  Then said Abu Sir\nto Abu Kir, \"What ill business is this?[FN#188] Whoever bringeth\nthee aught thou losest it for him.  What hath become of this\nangry man's stuff?\"  Answered the dyer, \"O my neighbour, 'twas\nstolen from me.\"  \"Prodigous!\" exclaimed the barber.  \"Whenever\nany one giveth thee aught, a thief stealeth it from thee!  Art\nthou then the meeting-place of every rogue upon town?  But I\ndoubt me thou liest: so tell me the truth.\"  Replied Abu Kir, \"O\nmy neighbour, none hath stolen aught from me.\"  Asked Abu Sir,\n\"What then dost thou with the people's property?\"; and the dyer\nanswered, \"Whenever any one giveth me aught to dye, I sell it and\nspend the price.\"  Quoth Abu Sir, \"Is this permitted thee of\nAllah?\" and quoth Abu Kir, \"I do this only out of poverty,\nbecause business is slack with me and I am poor and have\nnothing.\"[FN#189]  And he went on to complain to him of the\ndulness of his trade and his lack of means.  Abu Sir in like\nmanner lamented the little profit of his own calling, saying, \"I\nam a master of my craft and have not my equal in this city; but\nno one cometh to me to be polled, because I am a pauper; and I\nloathe this art and mystery, O my brother.\"  Abu Kir replied,\n\"And I also loathe my own craft, by reason of its slackness; but,\nO my brother, what call is there for abiding in this town?  Let\nus depart from it, I and thou, and solace ourselves in the lands\nof mankind, carrying in our hands our crafts which are in demand\nall the world over; so shall we breathe the air and rest from\nthis grievous trouble.\"  And he ceased not to commend travel to\nAbu Sir, till the barber became wishful to set out; so they\nagreed upon their route,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-second Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abu\nKir ceased not his praises of wayfaring to Abu Sir till the\nbarber became wishful to depart; so they agreed upon their route,\nat which decision Abu Kir rejoiced and improvised these lines,\n\n\"Leave thy home for abroad an wouldst rise on high, * And travel\n     whence benefits five-fold rise;\nThe soothing of sorrow and winning of bread, * Knowledge, manners\n     and commerce with good men and wise.\nAn they say that in travel are travail and care, * And disunion\n     of friends and much hardship that tries;\nYet to generous youth death is better than life * In the house of\n     contempt betwixt haters and spies.\"\n\nWhen they agreed to travel together Abu Kir said to Abu Sir, \"O\nmy neighbour, we are become brethren and there is no difference\nbetween us, so it behoveth us to recite the F\u00e1tihah[FN#190] that\nhe of us who gets work shall of his gain feed him who is out of\nwork, and whatever is left, we will lay in a chest; and when we\nreturn to Alexandria, we will divide it fairly and equally.\"  \"So\nbe it,\" replied Abu Sir, and they repeated the Opening Chapter of\nthe Koran on this understanding.  Then Abu Sir locked up his shop\nand gave the key to its owner, whilst Abu Kir left his door\nlocked and sealed and let the key lie with the Kazi's serjeant;\nafter which they took their baggage and embarked on the morrow in\na galleon[FN#191] upon the salt sea.  They set sail the same day\nand fortune attended them, for, of Abu Sir's great good luck,\nthere was not a barber in the ship albeit it carried an hundred\nand twenty men, besides captain and crew.  So, when they loosed\nthe sails, the barber said to the dyer, \"O my brother, this is\nthe sea and we shall need meat and drink; we have but little\nprovaunt with us and haply the voyage will be long upon us;\nwherefore methinks I will shoulder my budget and pass among the\npassengers, and may be some one will say to me, 'Come hither, O\nbarber, and shave me,' and I will shave him for a scone or a\nsilver bit or a draught of water: so shall we profit by this, I\nand thou too.\"  \"There's no harm in that,\" replied the dyer and\nlaid down his head and slept, whilst the barber took his gear and\nwater-tasse[FN#192] and throwing over his shoulder a rag, to\nserve as napkin (because he was poor), passed among the\npassengers.  Quoth one of them, \"Ho, master, come and shave me.\"\nSo he shaved him, and the man gave him a half-dirham;[FN#193]\nwhereupon quoth Abu Sir, \"O my brother, I have no use for this\nbit; hadst thou given me a scone 'twere more blessed to me in\nthis sea, for I have a shipmate and we are short of provision.\"\nSo he gave him a loaf and a slice of cheese and filled him the\ntasse with sweet water.  The barber carried all this to Abu Kir\nand said, \"Eat the bread and cheese and drink the water.\"\nAccordingly he ate and drank, whilst Abu Sir again took up his\nshaving gear and, tasse in hand and rag on shoulder, went round\nabout the deck among the passengers.  One man he shaved for two\nscones and another for a bittock of cheese, and he was in demand,\nbecause there was no other barber on board.  Also he bargained\nwith every one who said to him, \"Ho, master, shave me!\" for two\nloaves and a half dirham, and they gave him whatever he sought,\nso that, by sundown, he had collected thirty loaves and thirty\nsilvers with store of cheese and olives and botargoes.[FN#194]\nAnd besides these he got from the passengers whatever he asked\nfor and was soon in possession of things galore.  Amongst the\nrest he shaved the Captain,[FN#195] to whom he complained of his\nlack of victual for the voyage, and the skipper said to him,\n\"Thou art welcome to bring thy comrade every night and sup with\nme and have no care for that so long as ye sail with us.\"  Then\nhe returned to the dyer, whom he found asleep; so he roused him;\nand when Abu Kir awoke, he saw at his head an abundance of bread\nand cheese and olives and botargoes and said, \"Whence gottest\nthou all this?\"  \"From the bounty of Allah Almighty,\" replied Abu\nSir.  Then Abu Kir would have fallen to, but the barber said to\nhim, \"Eat not of this, O my brother; but leave it to serve us\nanother time; for know that I shaved the Captain and complained\nto him of our lack of victual: whereupon quoth he, 'Welcome to\nthee!  Bring thy comrade and sup both of ye with me every night.'\nAnd this night we sup with him for the first time.\"  But Abu Kir\nreplied, \"My head goeth round with sea-sickness and I cannot rise\nfrom my stead; so let me sup off these things and fare thou alone\nto the Captain.\"  Abu Sir replied, \"There is no harm in that;\"\nand sat looking at the other as he ate, and saw him hew off\ngobbets, as the quarryman heweth stone from the hill-quarries and\ngulp them down with the gulp of an elephant which hath not eaten\nfor days, bolting another mouthful ere he had swallowed the\nprevious one and glaring the while at that which was before him\nwith the glowering of a Ghul and blowing as blowing as bloweth the\nhungry bull over his beans and bruised straw.  Presently up came\na sailor and said to the barber, \"O craftsmaster, the Captain\nbiddeth thee come to supper and bring thy comrade.\"  Quoth the\nbarber to the dyer, \"Wilt thou come with us?\"; but quoth he, \"I\ncannot walk.\"  So the barber went by himself and found the\nCaptain sitting before a tray whereon were a score or more of\ndishes and all the company were awaiting him and his mate.  When\nthe Captain saw him he asked, \"Where is thy friend?\"; and Abu Sir\nanswered, \"O my lord, he is sea-sick.\"  Said the skipper, \"That\nwill do him no harm; his sickness will soon pass off; but do thou\ncarry him his supper and come back, for we tarry for thee.\"  Then\nhe set apart a porringer of Kab\u00e1bs and putting therein some of\neach dish, till there was enough for ten, gave it to Abu Sir,\nsaying, \"Take this to thy chum.\"  He took it and carried it to\nthe dyer, whom he found grinding away with his dog-teeth[FN#196]\nat the food which was before him, as he were a camel, and heaping\nmouthful on mouthful in his hurry.  Quoth Abu Sir, \"Did I not say\nto thee, 'Eat not of this'?  Indeed the Captain is a kindly man.\nSee what he hath sent thee, for that I told him thou wast\nsea-sick.\"  \"Give it here,\" cried the dyer.  So the barber gave\nhim the platter, and he snatched it from him and fell upon his\nfood, ravening for it and resembling a grinning dog or a raging\nlion or a Rukh pouncing on a pigeon or one well-nigh dead for\nhunger who seeing meat falls ravenously to eat.  Then Abu Sir\nleft him and going back to the Captain, supped and enjoyed\nhimself and drank coffee[FN#197] with him; after which he\nreturned to Abu Kir and found that he had eaten all that was in the\nporringer and thrown it aside, empty.--And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-third Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abu\nSir returned to Abu Kir he saw that he had eaten all that was in\nthe porringer and had thrown it aside empty.  So he took it up\nand gave it to one of the Captain's servants, then went back to\nAbu Kir and slept till the morning.  On the morrow, he continued\nto shave, and all he got by way of meat and drink he gave to his\nshipmate, who ate and drank and sat still, rising not save to do\nwhat none could do for him, and every night the barber brought\nhim a full porringer from the Captain's table.  They fared thus\ntwenty days until the galleon cast anchor in the harbour of a\ncity; whereupon they took leave of the skipper and landing,\nentered the town and hired them a closet in a Khan.  Abu Sir\nfurnished it and buying a cooking pot and a platter and\nspoons[FN#198] and what else they needed, fetched meat and cooked\nit; but Abu Kir fell asleep the moment he entered the\nCaravanserai and awoke not till Abu Sir aroused him and set a\ntray of food[FN#199] before him.  When he awoke, he ate and\nsaying to Abu Sir, \"Blame me not, for I am giddy,\" fell asleep\nagain.  Thus he did forty days, whilst, every day, the barber\ntook his gear and making the round of the city, wrought for that\nwhich fell to his lot,[FN#200] and returning, found the dyer\nasleep and aroused him.  The moment he awoke he fell ravenously\nupon the food, eating as one who cannot have his fill nor be\nsatisfied; after which he went asleep again.  On this wise he\npassed other forty days and whenever the barber said to him, \"Sit\nup and be comfortable[FN#201] and go forth and take an airing in\nthe city, for 'tis a gay place and a pleasant and hath not its\nequal among the cities,\" he would reply, \"Blame me not, for I am\ngiddy.\"  Abu Sir cared not to hurt his feelings nor give him hard\nwords; but, on the forty-first day, he himself fell sick and\ncould not go abroad; so he engaged the porter of the Khan to\nserve them both, and he did the needful for them and brought them\nmeat and drink whilst Abu Kir would do nothing but eat and sleep.\nThe man ceased not to wait upon them on this wise for four days,\nat the end of which time the barber's malady redoubled on him,\ntill he lost his senses for stress of sickness; and Abu Kir,\nfeeling the sharp pangs of hunger, arose and sought in his\ncomrade's clothes, where he found a thousand silver bits.  He\ntook them and, shutting the door of the closet upon Abu Sir,\nfared forth without telling any; and the doorkeeper was then at\nmarket and thus saw him not go out.  Presently Abu Kir betook\nhimself to the bazar and clad himself in costly clothes, at a\nprice of five hundred half-dirhams; then he proceeded to walk\nabout the streets and divert himself by viewing the city which he\nfound to be one whose like was not among cities; but he noted\nthat all its citizens were clad in clothes of white and blue,\nwithout other colour.  Presently he came to a dyer's and seeing\nnaught but blue in his shop, pulled out to him a kerchief and\nsaid, \"O master, take this and dye it and win thy wage.\"  Quoth\nthe dyer, \"The cost of dyeing this will be twenty dirhams;\" and\nquoth Abu Kir, \"In our country we dye it for two.\"  \"Then go and\ndye it in your own country!  As for me, my price is twenty\ndirhams and I will not bate a little thereof.\"  \"What colour wilt\nthou dye it?\"  \"I will dye it blue.\"  \"But I want it dyed red.\"\n\"I know not how to dye red.\"  \"Then dye it green.\"  \"I know not\nhow to dye green.\"  \"Yellow.\"  \"Nor yet yellow.\"  Thereupon Abu\nKir went on to name the different tints to him, one after other,\ntill the dyer said, \"We are here in this city forty master-dyers,\nnot one more nor one less; and when one of us dieth, we teach his\nson the craft.  If he leave no son, we abide lacking one, and if\nhe leave two sons, we teach one of them the craft, and if he die,\nwe teach his brother.  This our craft is strictly ordered, and we\nknow how to dye but blue and no other tine whatsoever.\"  Then\nsaid Abu Kir, \"Know that I too am a dyer and wot how to dye all\ncolours; and I would have thee take me into thy service on hire,\nand I will teach thee everything of my art, so thou mayst glory\ntherein over all the company of dyers.\"  But the dyer answered,\n\"We never admit a stranger into our craft.\"  Asked Abu Kir, \"And\nwhat if I open a dyery for myself?\"; whereto the other answered,\n\"We will not suffer thee to do that on any wise;\"  whereupon he\nleft him and going to a second dyer, made him the like proposal;\nbut he returned him the same answer as the first; and he ceased\nnot to go from one to other, till he had made the round of the\nwhole forty masters; but they would not accept him either to\nmaster or apprentice.  Then he repaired to the Shaykh of the\nDyers and told him what had passed, and he said, \"We admit no\nstrangers into our craft.\"  Hereupon Abu Kir became exceeding\nwroth and going up to the King of that city, made complaint to\nhim, saying, \"O King of the age, I am a stranger and a dyer by\ntrade\"; and he told him whatso had passed between himself and the\ndyers of the town, adding, \"I can dye various kinds of red, such\nas rose-colour and jujubel-colour[FN#202] and various kinds of\ngreen, such as grass-green and pistachio-green and olive and\nparrot's wing, and various kinds of black, such as coal-black and\nKohl-black, and various shades of yellow, such as orange and\nlemon-colour,\" and went on to name to him the rest of the\ncolours.  Then said he, \"O King of the age, all the dyers in thy\ncity can not turn out of hand any one of these tincts, for they\nknow not how to dye aught but blue; yet will they not admit me\namongst them, either to master or apprentice.\"  Answered the\nKing, \"Thou sayst sooth for that matter, but I will open to thee\na dyery and give thee capital and have thou no care anent them;\nfor whoso offereth to do thee let or hindrance, I will hang him\nover his shop-door.\"  Then he sent for builders and said to them,\n\"Go round about the city with this master-dyer, and whatsoever\nplace pleaseth him, be it shop or Khan or what not, turn out its\noccupier and build him a dyery after his wish.  Whatsoever he\nbiddeth you, that do ye and oppose him not in aught.\"  And he\nclad him in a handsome suit and gave him two white slaves to\nserve him, and a horse with housings of brocade and a thousand\ndinars, saying, \"Expend this upon thyself against the building be\ncompleted.\"  Accordingly Abu Kir donned the dress and mounting\nthe horse, became as he were an Emir.  Moreover the King assigned\nhim a house and bade furnish it; so they furnished it for\nhim.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King\nassigned a house to Abu Kir and bade furnish it and he took up\nhis abode therein.  On the morrow he mounted and rode through the\ncity, whilst the architects went before him; and he looked about\nhim till he saw a place which pleased him and said, \"This stead\nis seemly;\" whereupon they turned out the owner and carried him\nto the King, who gave him as the price of his holding, what\ncontented him and more.  Then the builders fell to work, whilst\nAbu Kir said to them, \"Build thus and thus and do this and that,\"\ntill they built him a dyery that had not its like; whereupon he\npresented himself before the King and informed him that they had\ndone building the dyery and that there needed but the price of\nthe dye-stuffs and gear to set it going.  Quoth the King, \"Take\nthese four thousand dinars to thy capital and let me see the\nfirst fruits of thy dyery.\"  So he took the money and went to the\nmarket where, finding dye-stuffs[FN#203] plentiful and well-nigh\nworthless, he bought all he needed of materials for dyeing; and\nthe King sent him five hundred pieces of stuff, which he set\nhimself to dye of all colours and then he spread them before the\ndoor of his dyery.  When the folk passed by the shop, they saw a\nwonder-sight whose like they had never in their lives seen; so\nthey crowded about the entrance, enjoying the spectacle and\nquestioning the dyer and saying, \"O master, what are the names of\nthese colours?\"  Quoth he, \"This is red and that yellow and the\nother green\" and so on, naming the rest of the colours.  And they\nfell to bringing him longcloth and saying to him, \"Dye it for us\nlike this and that and take what hire thou seekest.\"  When he had\nmade an end of dyeing the King's stuffs, he took them and went up\nwith them to the Divan; and when the King saw them he rejoiced in\nthem and bestowed abundant bounty on the dyer.  Furthermore, all\nthe troops brought him stuffs, saying, \"Dye for us thus and\nthus;\" and he dyed for them to their liking, and they threw him\ngold and silver.  After this his fame spread abroad and his shop\nwas called the Sultan's Dyery.  Good came in to him at every door\nand none of the other dyers could say a word to him, but they\nused to come to him kissing his hands and excusing themselves to\nhim for past affronts they had offered him and saying, \"Take us\nto thine apprentices.\"  But he would none of them for he had\nbecome the owner of black slaves and handmaids and had amassed\nstore of wealth.  On this wise fared it with Abu Kir; but as\nregards Abu Sir, after the closet door had been locked on him and\nhis money had been stolen, he abode prostrate and unconscious for\nthree successive days, at the end of which the Concierge of the\nKhan, chancing to look at the door, observed that it was locked\nand bethought himself that he had not seen and heard aught of the\ntwo companions for some time.  So he said in his mind, \"Haply\nthey have made off, without paying rent,[FN#204] or perhaps they\nare dead, or what is to do with them?\"  And he waited till\nsunset, when he went up to the door and heard the barber groaning\nwithin.  He saw the key in the lock; so he opened the door and\nentering, found Abu Sir lying, groaning, and said to him, \"No\nharm to thee: where is thy friend?\"  Replied Abu Sir, \"By Allah,\nI came to my senses only this day and called out; but none\nanswered my call.  Allah upon thee, O my brother, look for the\npurse under my head and take from it five half-dirhams and buy me\nsomewhat nourishing, for I am sore anhungered.\"  The porter put\nout his hand and taking the purse, found it empty and said to the\nbarber, \"The purse is empty; there is nothing in it.\"  Whereupon\nAbu Sir knew that Abu Kir had taken that which was therein and\nhad fled and he asked the porter, \"Hast thou not seen my friend?\"\nAnswered the doorkeeper, \"I have not seen him these three days;\nand indeed methought you had departed, thou and he.\"  The barber\ncried, \"Not so; but he coveted my money and took it and fled\nseeing me sick.\"  Then he fell a-weeping and a-wailing but the\ndoorkeeper said to him, \"No harm shall befal thee, and Allah will\nrequite him his deed.\"  So he went away and cooked him some\nbroth, whereof he ladled out a plateful and brought it to him;\nnor did he cease to tend him and maintain him with his own monies\nfor two months' space, when the barber sweated[FN#205] and the\nAlmighty made him whole of his sickness.  Then he stood up and\nsaid to the porter, \"An ever the Most High Lord enable me, I will\nsurely requite thee thy kindness to me; but none requiteth\nsave the Lord of His bounty!\"  Answered the porter, \"Praised be\nHe for thy recovery!  I dealt not thus with thee but of desire\nfor the face of Allah the Bountiful.\"  Then the barber went forth\nof the Khan and threaded the market-streets of the town, till\nDestiny brought him to the bazar wherein was Abu Kir's dyery, and\nhe saw the vari-coloured stuffs dispread before the shop and a\njostle of folk crowding to look upon them.  So he questioned one\nof the townsmen and asked him, \"What place is this and how cometh\nit that I see the folk crowding together?\"; whereto the man\nanswered, saying, \"This is the Sultan's Dyery, which he set up\nfor a foreigner Abu Kir hight; and whenever he dyeth new stuff,\nwe all flock to him and divert ourselves by gazing upon his\nhandiwork, for we have no dyers in our land who know how to stain\nwith these colours; and indeed there befel him with the dyers who\nare in the city that which befel.\"[FN#206] And he went on to tell\nhim all that had passed between Abu Kir and the master-dyers and\nhow he had complained of them to the Sultan who took him by the\nhand and built him that dyery and gave him this and that: brief,\nhe recounted to him all that had occurred.  At this the barber\nrejoiced and said in himself, \"Praised be Allah who hath\nprospered him, so that he is become a master of his craft!  And\nthe man is excusable, for of a surety he hath been diverted from\nthee by his work and hath forgotten thee; but thou actedst kindly\nby him and entreatedst him generously, what time he was out of\nwork; so, when he seeth thee, he will rejoice in thee and entreat\nthee generously, even as thou entreatedst him.\"  According he\nmade for the door of the dyery and saw Abu Kir seated on a high\nmattress spread upon a bench beside the doorway, clad in royal\napparel and attended by four blackamoor slaves and four white\nMamelukes all robed in the richest of raiment.  Moreover, he saw\nthe workmen, ten negro slaves, standing at work; for, when Abu\nKir bought them, he taught them the craft of dyeing, and he\nhimself sat amongst his cushions, as he were a Grand Wazir or a\nmighty monarch putting his hand to naught, but only saying to the\nmen, \"Do this and do that.\"  So the barber went up to him and\nstood before him, deeming he would rejoice in him when he saw him\nand salute him and entreat him with honour and make much of him;\nbut, when eye fell upon eye, the dyer said to him, \"O scoundrel,\nhow many a time have I bidden thee stand not at the door of the\nworkshop?  Hast thou a mind to disgrace me with the folk,\nthief[FN#207] that thou art?  Seize him.\"  So the blackamoors ran\nat him and laid hold of him; and the dyer rose up from his seat\nand said, \"Throw him.\"  Accordingly they threw him down and Abu\nKir took a stick and dealt him an hundred strokes on the back;\nafter which they turned him over and he beat him other hundred\nblows on his belly.  Then he said to him, \"O scoundrel, O\nvillian, if ever again I see thee standing at the door of this\ndyery, I will forthwith send thee to the King, and he will commit\nthee to the Chief of Police, that he may strike thy neck.\nBegone, may Allah not bless thee!\"  So Abu Sir departed from him,\nbroken-hearted by reason of the beating and shame that had\nbetided him; whilst the bystanders asked Abu Kir, \"What hath this\nman done?\"  He answered, \"The fellow is a thief, who stealeth the\nstuffs of folk.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abu\nKir beat Abu Sir and thrust him forth he said to those present,\n\"He is a thief who stealeth the stuffs of folk; he hath robbed me\nof cloth, how many a time! and I still said in myself, 'Allah\nforgive him!'  He is a poor man; and I cared not to deal roughly\nwith him; so I used to give my customers the worth of their goods\nand forbid him gently; but he would not be forbidden: and if he\ncome again, I will send him to the King, who will put him to\ndeath and rid the people of his mischief.\"  And the bystanders\nfell to abusing the barber after his back was turned.  Such was\nthe behaviour of Abu Kir; but as regards Abu Sir, he returned to\nthe Khan, where he sat pondering that which the dyer had done by\nhim and he remained seated till the burning of the beating\nsubsided, when he went out and walked about the markets of the\ncity.  Presently, he bethought him to go to the Hammam-bath; so\nhe said to one of the townsfolk, \"O my brother, which is the way\nto the Baths?\"  Quoth the man, \"And what manner of thing may the\nBaths be?\" and quoth Abu Sir, \"'Tis a place where people wash\nthemselves and do away their dirt and defilements, and it is of\nthe best of the good things of the world.\"  Replied the townsman,\n\"Get thee to the sea,\" but the barber rejoined, \"I want the\nHammam-baths.\"  Cried the other, \"We know not what manner of thing\nis the Hammam, for we all resort to the sea; even the King, when\nhe would wash, betaketh himself to the sea.\"  When Abu Sir was\nassured that there was no bath in the city and that the folk knew\nnot the Baths nor the fashion thereof, he betook himself to the\nKing's Divan and kissing ground between his hands called down\nblessings on him and said, \"I am a stranger and a Bath-man by\ntrade, and I entered thy city and thought to go to the Hammam;\nbut found not one therein.  How cometh a city of this comely\nquality to lack a Hammam, seeing that the bath is of the highest\nof the delights of this world?\"  Quoth the King, \"What manner of\nthing is the Hammam?\"  So Abu Sir proceeded to set forth to him\nthe quality of the bath, saying, \"Thy capital will not be a\nperfect city till there be a Hammam therein.\"  \"Welcome to thee!\"\nsaid the King and clad him in a dress that had not its like and\ngave him a horse and two blackamoor slaves, presently adding four\nhandmaids and as many white Mamelukes: he also appointed him a\nfurnished house and honoured him yet more abundantly than he had\nhonoured the dyer.  After this he sent builders with him saying\nto them, \"Build him a Hammam in what place soever shall please\nhim.\"  So he took them and went with them through the midst of\nthe city, till he saw a stead that suited him.  He pointed it out\nto the builders and they set to work, whilst he directed them,\nand they wrought till they builded him a Hammam that had not its\nlike.  Then he bade them paint it, and they painted it rarely, so\nthat it was a delight to the beholders; after which Abu Sir went\nup to the King and told him that they had made an end of building\nand decorating the Hammam, adding, \"There lacketh naught save the\nfurniture.\"  The King gave him ten thousand dinars wherewith he\nfurnished the Bath and ranged the napkins on the ropes; and all\nwho passed by the door stared at it and their mind confounded at\nits decorations.  So the people crowded to this spectacle, whose\nlike they had never in their lives seen, and solaced themselves\nby staring at it and saying, \"What is this thing?\"  To which Abu\nSir replied, \"This is a Hammam;\" and they marvelled thereat.\nThen he heated water and set the bath aworking,[FN#208] and he\nmade a jetting fountain in the great basin, which ravished the\nwit of all who saw it of the people of the city.  Furthermore, he\nsought of the King ten Mamelukes not yet come to manhood, and he\ngave him ten boys like moons; whereupon Abu Sir proceeded to\nshampoo them, saying, \"Do in this wise with the bathers.\"  Then\nhe burnt perfumes and sent out a crier to cry aloud in the city,\nsaying, \"O creatures of Allah, get ye to the Baths which be\ncalled the Sultan's Hammam!\"  So the lieges came thither and Abu\nSir bade the slave-boys wash their bodies.  The folk went down\ninto the tank and coming forth, seated themselves on the raised\npavement, whilst the boys shampooed them, even as Abu Sir had\ntaught them; and they continued to enter the Hammam and do their\nneed therein gratis and go out, without paying, for the space of\nthree days.  On the fourth day the barber invited the King, who\ntook horse with his Grandees and rode to the Baths, where he put\noff his clothes and entered; then Abu Sir came in to him and\nrubbed his body with the bag-gloves, peeling from his skin\ndirt-rolls like lamp-wicks and showing them to the King, who\nrejoiced therein, and clapping his hand upon his limbs heard them\nring again for very smoothness and cleanliness[FN#209]; after\nwhich thorough washing Abu Sir mingled rose-water with the water\nof the tank and the King went down therein.  When he came forth,\nhis body was refreshed and he felt a lightness and liveliness\nsuch as he had never known in his life.  Then the barber made him\nsit on the da\u00efs and the boys proceeded to shampoo him, whilst the\ncensers fumed with the finest lign-aloes.[FN#210] Then said the\nKing, \"O master is this the Hammam?\"; and Abu Sir said, \"Yes.\"\nQuoth the King, \"As my head liveth, my city is not become a city\nindeed but by this Bath,\" presently adding, \"But what pay takest\nthou for each person?\"  Quoth Abu Sir, \"That which thou biddest\nwill I take;\" whereupon the King cried, \"Take a thousand gold\npieces for every one who washeth in thy Hammam.\"  Abu Sir,\nhowever, said, \"Pardon, O King of the age!  All men are not\nalike, but there are amongst them rich and poor, and if I take of\neach a thousand dinars, the Hammam will stand empty, for the poor\nman cannot pay this price.\"  Asked the King, \"How then wilt thou\ndo for the price!\"; and the barber answered, \"I will leave it to\ntheir generosity.[FN#211]  Each who can afford aught shall pay\nthat which his soul grudgeth not to give, and we will take from\nevery man after the measure of his means.  On this wise will the\nfolk come to us and he who is wealthy shall give according to his\nstation and he who is wealth-less shall give what he can afford.\nUnder such condition the Hammam will still be at work and prosper\nexceedingly; but a thousand dinars is a Monarch's gift, and not\nevery man can avail to this.\"  The Lords of the Realm confirmed\nAbu Sir's words, saying, \"This is the truth, O King of the age!\nThinkest thou that all folk are like unto thee, O glorious\nKing[FN#212]?\"  The King replied, \"Ye say sooth; but this man is\na stranger and poor and 'tis incumbent on us to deal generously\nwith him, for that he hath made in our city this Hammam whose\nlike we have never in our lives seen and without which our city\nwere not adorned nor hath gotten importance; wherefore, an we\nfavour him with increase of fee 'twill not be much.\"  But the\nGrandees said, \"An thou wilt guerdon him be generous with thine\nown monies, and let the King's bounty be extended to the poor by\nmeans of the low price of the Hammam, so the lieges may bless\nthee; but, as for the thousand dinars, we are the Lords of thy\nLand, yet do our souls grudge to pay it; and how then should the\npoor be pleased to afford it?\"  Quoth the King, \"O my Grandees,\nfor this time let each of you give him an hundred dinars and a\nMameluke, a slave girl and a blackamoor;\" and quoth they, \"'Tis\nwell; we will give it; but after to-day whoso entereth shall give\nhim only what he can afford, without grudging.\"  \"No harm in\nthat,\" said the King; and they gave him the thousand gold pieces\nand three chattels.  Now the number of the Nobles who were washed\nwith the King that day was four hundred souls;--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nnumber of the Nobles who were washed with the King that day were\nfour hundred souls; so that the total of that which they gave him\nwas forty thousand dinars, besides four hundred Mamelukes and a\nlike number of negroes and slave-girls.[FN#213]  Moreover the\nKing gave him ten thousand dinars, besides ten white slaves and\nten hand-maidens and a like number of blackamoors; whereupon\ncoming forward Abu Sir kissed the ground before him and said, \"O\nauspicious Sovereign, lord of justice, what place will contain me\nall these women and slaves?\"  Quoth the King, \"O weak o' wit, I\nbade not my nobles deal thus with thee but that we might gather\ntogether unto thee wealth galore; for may be thou wilt bethink\nthee of thy country and family and repine for them and be minded\nto return to thy mother-land; so shalt thou take from our country\nmuchel of money to maintain thyself withal, what while thou\nlivest in thine own country.\"  And quoth Abu Sir, \"O King of the\nage, (Allah advance thee!) these white slaves and women and\nnegroes befit only Kings and hadst thou ordered me ready money,\nit were more profitable to me than this army; for they must eat\nand drink and dress, and whatever betideth me of wealth, it will\nnot suffice for their support.\"  The King laughed and said, \"By\nAllah thou speakest sooth!  They are indeed a mighty host, and\nthou hast not the wherewithal to maintain them; but wilt thou\nsell them to me for an hundred dinars a head?\"  Said Abu Sir, \"I\nsell them to thee at that price.\"  So the King sent to his\ntreasurer for the coin and he brought it and gave Abu Sir the\nwhole of the price without abatement[FN#214] and in full tale;\nafter which the King restored the slaves to their owners, saying, \"Let each of you who knoweth his slaves\ntake them; for they are\na gift from me to you.\"  So they obeyed his bidding and took each\nwhat belonged to him; whilst Abu Sir said to the King, \"Allah\nease thee, O King of the age, even as thou hast eased me of these\nGhuls, whose bellies none may fill save Allah[FN#215]!\"  The King\nlaughed, and said he spake sooth; then, taking the Grandees of\nhis Realm from the Hammam returned to his palace; but the barber\npassed the night in counting out his gold and laying it up in\nbags and sealing them; and he had with him twenty black slaves\nand a like number of Mamelukes and four slave girls to serve him.\nNow when morning morrowed, he opened the Hammam and sent out a\ncrier to cry, saying, \"Whoso entereth the Baths and washeth shall\ngive that which he can afford and which his generosity requireth\nhim to give.\"  Then he seated himself by the pay-chest[FN#216]\nand customers flocked in upon him, each putting down that which\nwas easy to him, nor had eventide evened ere the chest was full\nof the good gifts of Allah the Most High.  Presently the Queen\ndesired to go to the Hammam, and when this came to Abu Sir's\nknowledge, he divided the day on her account into two parts,\nappointing that between dawn and noon to men and that between\nmidday and sundown to women.[FN#217]  As soon as the Queen came,\nhe stationed a handmaid behind the pay-chest; for he had taught\nfour slave-girls the service of the Hammam, so that they were\nbecome expert bathwomen and tire-women.  When the Queen entered,\nthis pleased her and her breast waxed broad and she laid down a\nthousand dinars.  Thus his report was noised abroad in the city,\nand all who entered the bath he entreated with honour, were they\nrich or poor; good came in upon him at every door and he made\nacquaintance with the royal guards and got him friends and\nintimates.  The King himself used to come to him one day in every\nweek, leaving with him a thousand dinars and the other days were\nfor rich and poor alike; and he was wont to deal courteously with\nthe folk and use them with the utmost respect.  It chanced that\nthe King's sea-captain came in to him one day in the bath; so Abu\nSir did off his dress and going in with him, proceeded to shampoo\nhim and entreated him with exceeding courtesy.  When he came\nforth, he made him sherbet and coffee; and when he would have\ngiven him somewhat, he swore that he would not accept from him\naught.  So the captain was under obligation to him, by reason of\nhis exceeding kindness and courtesy and was perplexed how to\nrequite the bath-man his generous dealing.  Thus fared it with\nAbu Sir: but as regards Abu Kir, hearing all the people\nrecounting wonders of the Baths and saying, \"Verily, this Hammam\nis the Paradise of this world!  Inshallah, O such an one, thou\nshalt go with us to-morrow to this delightful bath,\" he said to\nhimself, \"Needs must I fare like the rest of the world, and see\nthis bath that hath taken folk's wits.\"  So he donned his richest\ndress and mounting a she-mule and bidding the attendance of four\nwhite slaves and four blacks, walking before and behind him, he\nrode to the Hammam.  When he alighted at the door, he smelt the\nscent of burning aloes-wood and found people going in and out and\nthe benches full of great and small.  So he entered the vestibule\nand saw Abu Sir, who rose to him and rejoiced in him: but the\ndyer said to him, \"Is this the way of well-born men?  I have\nopened me a dyery and am become master-dyer of the city and\nacquainted with the King and have risen to prosperity and\nauthority: yet camest thou not to me nor askest of me nor saidst,\nWhere's my comrade?  For my part I sought thee in vain and sent\nmy slaves and servants to make search for thee in all the Khans\nand other places; but they knew not whither thou hadst gone, nor\ncould any one give me tidings of thee.\"  Said Abu Sir, \"Did I not\ncome to thee and didst thou not make me out a thief and bastinado\nme and dishonour me before the world?\"  At this Abu Kir made a\nshow of concern and asked, \"What manner of talk is this?  Was it\nthou whom I beat?\"; and Abu Sir answered, \"Yes, 'twas I.\"\nWhereupon Abu Kir swore to him a thousand oaths that he knew him\nnot and said, \"There was a fellow like thee, who used to come\nevery day and steal the people's stuff, and I took thee for him.\"\nAnd he went on to pretend penitence, beating hand upon hand and\nsaying, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah,\nthe Glorious, the Great?  Indeed we have sinned against thee; but\nwould that thou hadst discovered thyself to me and said, I am\nsuch an one!  Indeed the fault is with thee, for that thou madest\nnot thyself known unto me, more especially seeing that I was\ndistracted for much business.\"  Replied Abu Sir, \"Allah pardon\nthee,[FN#218] O my comrade!  This was foreordained in the Secret\nPurpose, and reparation is with Allah.  Enter and put off thy\nclothes and bathe at thine ease.\"  Said the dyer, \"I conjure\nthee, by Allah, O my brother, forgive me!\"; and said Abu Sir,\n\"Allah acquit thee of blame and forgive thee!  Indeed this thing\nwas decreed to me from all eternity.\"  Then asked Abu Kir,\n\"Whence gottest thou this high degree?\"; and answered Abu Sir,\n\"He who prospered thee prospered me; for I went up to the King\nand described to him the fashion of the Hammam and he bade me\nbuild one.\"  And the dyer said, \"Even as thou art beknown of the\nKing, so also am I;\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abu\nKir and Abu Sir were exchanging reproof and excuse, the dyer said\nto him, \"Even as thou art beknown of the King, so also am I; and,\nInshallah,-God willing-I will make him love and favour thee more\nthan ever, for my sake, he knoweth not that thou art my comrade,\nbut I will acquaint him of this and commend thee to him.\"  But\nAbu Sir said, \"There needeth no commendation; for He who moveth\nman's heart to love still liveth; and indeed the King and all his\ncourt affect me and have given me this and that.\"  And he told\nhim the whole tale and said to him, \"Put off thy clothes behind\nthe chest and enter the Hammam, and I will go in with thee and\nrub thee down with the glove.\"  So he doffed his dress and Abu\nSir, entering the bath with him, soaped him and gloved him and\nthen dressed him and busied himself with his service till he came\nforth, when he brought him dinner and sherbets, whilst all the\nfolk marvelled at the honour he did him.  Then Abu Kir would have\ngiven him somewhat; but he swore that he would not accept aught\nfrom him and said to him, \"Shame upon such doings!  Thou art my\ncomrade, and there is no difference between us.\"  Then Abu Kir\nobserved, \"By Allah, O my comrade, this is a mighty fine Hammam\nof thine, but there lacketh somewhat in its ordinance.\"  Asked\nAbu Sir, \"And what is that?\" and Abu Kir answered, \"It is the\ndepilatory,[FN#219] to wit, the paste compounded of yellow\narsenic and quicklime which removeth the hair with comfort.  Do\nthou prepare it and next time the King cometh, present it to him,\nteaching him how he shall cause the hair to fall off by such\nmeans, and he will love thee with exceeding love and honour\nthee.\"  Quoth Abu Sir, \"Thou speakest sooth, and Inshallah, I\nwill at once make it.\"  Then Abu Kir left him and mounted his\nmule and going to the King said to him, \"I have a warning to give\nthee, O King of the age!\"  \"And what is thy warning?\" asked the\nKing; and Abu Kir answered, \"I hear that thou hast built a\nHammam.\"  Quoth the King, \"Yes: there came to me a stranger and I\nbuilded the Baths for him, even as I builded the dyery for thee;\nand indeed 'tis a mighty fine Hammam and an ornament to my city;\"\nand he went on to describe to him the virtues of the bath.  Quoth\nthe dyer, \"Hast thou entered therein?\"; and quoth the King,\n\"Yes.\"  Thereupon cried Abu Kir, \"Alhamdolillah-praised be\nGod,-who save thee from the mischief of yonder villain and foe of\nthe Faith, I mean the bathkeeper!\"  The King enquired, \"And what\nof him?\"; and Abu Kir replied, \"Know, O King of the age that, an\nthou enter the Hammam again, after this day, thou wilt surely\nperish.\"  \"How so?\" said the King; and the dyer said, \"This\nbath-keeper is thy foe and the foe of the Faith, and he induced\nthee not to stablish this Bath but because he designed therein to\npoison thee.  He hath made for thee somewhat and he will present\nit to thee when thou enterest the Hammam, saying, 'This is a drug\nwhich, if one apply to his parts below the waist, will remove the\nhair with comfort.'  Now it is no drug, but a drastic dreg and a\ndeadly poison; for the Sultan of the Christians hath promised\nthis obscene fellow to release to him his wife and children, an\nhe will kill thee; for they are prisoners in the hands of that\nSultan.  I myself was captive with him in their land, but I\nopened a dyery and dyed for them various colours, so that they\nconciliated the King's heart to me and he bade me ask a boon of\nhim.  I sought of him freedom and he set me at liberty, whereupon\nI made my way to this city and seeing yonder man in the Hammam,\nsaid to him, 'How didst thou effect thine escape and win free\nwith thy wife and children?'  Quoth he, 'We ceased not to be in\ncaptivity, I and my wife and children, till one day the King of\nthe Nazarenes held a court whereat I was present, amongst a\nnumber of others; and as I stood amongst the folk, I heard them\nopen out on the Kings and name them, one after other, till they\ncame to the name of the King of this city, whereupon the King of\nthe Christians cried out 'Alas!' and said, 'None vexeth\nme[FN#220] in the world, but the King of such a city![FN#221]\nWhosoever will contrive me his slaughter I will give him all he\nshall ask.'  So I went up to him and said, 'An I compass for thee\nhis slaughter, wilt thou set me free, me and my wife and my\nchildren?'  The King replied 'Yes; and I will give thee to boot\nwhatso thou shalt desire.'  So we agreed upon this and he sent me\nin a galleon to this city, where I presented myself to the King\nand he built me this Hammam.  Now, therefore, I have nought to do\nbut to slay him and return to the King of the Nazarenes, that I\nmay redeem my children and my wife and ask a boon of him.'  Quoth\nI, \"And how wilt thou go about to kill him?'; and quoth he, 'By\nthe simplest of all devices; for I have compounded him somewhat\nwherein is poison; so, when he cometh to the bath, I shall say to\nhim, 'Take this paste and anoint therewith thy parts below the\nwaist for it will cause the hair[FN#222] to drop off.'  So he\nwill take it and apply it to himself and the poison will work in\nhim a day and a night, till it reacheth his heart and destroyeth\nhim; and meanwhile I shall have made off and none will know that\nit was I slew him.'\"  \"When I heard this,\" added Abu Kir, \"I\nfeared for thee, my benefactor, wherefore I have told thee of\nwhat is doing.\"  As soon as the King heard the dyer's story, he\nwas wroth with exceeding wrath and said to him, \"Keep this\nsecret.\"  Then he resolved to visit the Hammam, that he might\ndispel doubt by supplying certainty; and when he entered, Abu Sir\ndoffed his dress and betaking himself as of wont to the service\nof the King, proceeded to glove him; after which he said to him,\n\"O King of the age, I have made a drug which assisteth in\nplucking out the lower hair.\"  Cried the King, \"Bring it to me\":\nso the barber brought it to him and the King, finding it nauseous\nof smell, was assured that it was poison; wherefore he was\nincensed and called out to his guards, saying, \"Seize him!\"\nAccordingly they seized him and the King donned his dress and\nreturned to his palace, boiling with fury, whilst none knew the\ncause of his indignation; for, of the excess of his wrath he had\nacquainted no one therewith and none dared ask him.  Then he\nrepaired to the audience-chamber and causing Abu Sir to be\nbrought before him, with his elbows pinioned, sent for his\nSea-captain and said to him, \"Take this villain and set him in a\nsack with two quintals of lime unslacked and tie its mouth over\nhis head.  Then lay him in a cock-boat and row out with him in\nfront of my palace, where thou wilt see me sitting at the\nlattice.  Do thou say to me, 'Shall I cast him in?' and if I\nanswer, 'Cast him!' throw the sack into the sea, so the\nquick-lime may be slaked on him to the intent that he shall die\ndrowned and burnt.\"[FN#223] \"Hearkening and obeying;\" quoth the\nCaptain and taking Abu Sir from the presence carried him to an\nisland facing the King's palace, where he said to him, \"Ho thou,\nI once visited thy Hammam and thou entreatedst me with honour and\naccomplishedst all my needs and I had great pleasure of thee:\nmoreover, thou swarest that thou wouldst take no pay of me, and I\nlove thee with a great love.  So tell me how the case standeth\nbetween thee and the King and what abominable deed thou hast done\nwith him that he is wroth with thee and hath commanded me that\nthou shouldst die this foul death.\"  Answered Abu Sir, \"I have\ndone nothing, nor weet I of any crime I have committed against\nhim which meriteth this!\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nSea-captain asked Abu Sir the cause of the King's wrath with him,\nhe replied, \"By Allah, O my brother I have committed no crime\nagainst him which meriteth this!\"  Rejoined the Captain, \"Verily,\nthou wast high in rank with the King, such as none ever won\nbefore thee, and all who are prosperous are envied.  Haply some\none was jealous of thy good fortune and threw out certain hints\nconcerning thee to the King, by reason whereof he is become\nenraged against thee with rage so violent: but be of good cheer;\nno harm shall befal thee; for, even as thou entreatedst me\ngenerously, without acquaintanceship between me and thee, so now\nI will deliver thee.  But, an if I release thee, thou must abide\nwith me on this island till some galleon sail from our city to\nthy native land, when I will send thee thither therein.\"  Abu Sir\nkissed his hand and thanked him for that; after which the Captain\nfetched the quicklime and set it in a sack, together with a great\nstone, the size of a man, saying, \"I put my trust in\nAllah!\"[FN#224] Then he gave the barber a net, saying, \"Cast this\nnet into the sea, so haply thou mayst take somewhat of fish.  For\nI am bound to supply the King's kitchen with fish every day; but\nto-day I have been distracted from fishing by this calamity which\nhath befallen thee, and I fear lest the cook's boys come to me in\nquest of fish and find none.  So, an thou take aught, they will\nfind it and thou wilt veil my face,[FN#225] whilst I go and play\noff my practice in front of the palace and feign to cast thee\ninto the sea.\"  Answered Abu Sir, \"I will fish the while; go thou\nand God help thee!\"  So the Captain set the sack in the boat and\npaddled till he came under the palace, where he saw the King\nseated at the lattice and said to him, \"O King of the age, shall\nI cast him in?\"  \"Cast him!\" cried the King, and signed to him\nwith his hand, when lo and behold!; something flashed like leven\nand fell into the sea.  Now that which had fallen into the water\nwas the King's seal-ring; and the same was enchanted in such way\nthat, when the King was wroth with any one and was minded to slay\nhim, he had but to sign to him with his right hand, whereon was\nthe signet-ring, and therefrom issued a flash of lightning, which\nsmote the object, and thereupon his head fell from between his\nshoulders; and the troops obeyed him not, nor did he overcome the\nmen of might save by means of the ring.  So, when it dropped from\nhis finger, he concealed the matter and kept silence, for that\ndared not say, \"My ring is fallen into the sea,\" for fear of the\ntroops, lest they rise against him and slay him.  On this wise it\nbefel the King; but as regards Abu Sir, after the Captain had\nleft him on the island he took the net and casting it into the\nsea presently drew it up full of fish; nor did he cease to throw\nit and pull it up full, till there was a great mound of fish\nbefore him.  So he said in himself, \"By Allah, his long while I\nhave not eaten fish!\"; and chose himself a large fat fish,\nsaying, \"When the Captain cometh back, I will bid him fry it for\nme, so I may dine on it.\"  Then he cut its throat with a knife he\nhad with him; but the knife stuck in its gills and there he saw\nthe King's signet-ring; for the fish had swallowed it and Destiny\nhad driven it to that island, where it had fallen into the net.\nHe took the ring and drew it on his little finger,[FN#226] not\nknowing its peculiar properties.  Presently, up came two of the\ncook's boys in quest of fish and seeing Abu Sir, said to him, \"O\nman, whither is the Captain gone?\"  \"I know not,\" said he and\nsigned to them with his right hand; when, behold, the heads of\nboth underlings dropped off from between their shoulders.  At\nthis Abu Sir was amazed and said, \"Would I wot who slew them!\"\nAnd their case was grievous to him and he was still pondering it,\nwhen the Captain suddenly returned and seeing the mound of fishes\nand two men lying dead and the seal-ring on Abu Sir's finger,\nsaid to him, \"O my brother, move not thy hand whereon is the\nsignet-ring; else thou wilt kill me.\"  Abu Sir wondered at this\nspeech and kept his hand motionless; whereupon the Captain came\nup to him and said, \"Who slew these two men?\"  \"By Allah, O my\nbrother I wot not!\"  \"Thou sayst sooth; but tell me whence hadst\nthou that ring?\"  \"I found it in this fish's gills.\"  \"True,\"\nsaid the Captain, \"for I saw it fall flashing from the King's\npalace and disappear in the sea, what time he signed towards\nthee,[FN#227] saying, Cast him in.  So I cast the sack into the\nwater, and it was then that the ring slipped from his finger and\nfell into the sea, where this fish swallowed it, and Allah drave\nit to thee, so that thou madest it thy prey, for this ring was\nthy lot; but kennest thou its property?\"  Said Abu Sir, \"I knew\nnot that it had any properties peculiar to it;\" and the Captain\nsaid, \"Learn, then, that the King's troops obey him not save for\nfear of this signet-ring, because it is spelled, and when he was\nwroth with any one and had a mind to kill him, he would sign at\nhim therewith and his head would drop from between his shoulders;\nfor there issued a flash of lightning from the ring and its ray\nsmote the object of his wrath, who died forthright.\"  At this,\nAbu Sir rejoiced with exceeding joy and said to the Captain,\n\"Carry me back to the city;\" and he said, \"That will I, now that\nI no longer fear for thee from the King; for, wert thou to sign\nat him with thy hand, purposing to kill him, his head would fall\ndown between thy hands; and if thou be minded to slay him and all\nhis host, thou mayst slaughter them without let or hindrance.\"\nSo saying, he embarked him in the boat and bore him back to the\ncity;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nCaptain embarked with Abu Sir he bore him back to the city, so\nAbu Sir landed and going up to the palace, entered the\ncouncil-chamber, where he found the King seated facing his\nofficers, in sore cark and care by reason of the seal-ring and\ndaring not tell any of his folk anent its loss.  When he saw Abu\nSir, he said to him, \"Did we not cast thee into the sea?  How\nhast thou contrived to come forth of it?\"  Abu Sir replied, \"O\nKing of the age, whenas thou badest throw me into the sea, thy\nCaptain carried me to an island and asked me of the cause of thy\nwrath against me, saying, 'What hast thou done with the King,\nthat he should decree thy death?' I answered, 'By Allah, I know\nnot that I have wrought him any wrong!' Quoth he, 'Thou wast high\nin rank with the King, and haply some one envied thee and threw\nout certain hints concerning thee to him, so that he is become\nincensed against thee.  But when I visited thee in thy Hammam,\nthou entreatedst me honourably, and I will requite thee thy\nhospitality to me by setting thee free and sending thee back to\nthine own land.'  Then he set a great stone in the sack in my\nstead and cast it into the sea; but, when thou signedst to him to\nthrow me in, thy seal-ring dropped from thy finger into the main,\nand a fish swallowed it.  Now I was on the island a-fishing, and\nthis fish came up in the net with the others; whereupon I took\nit, intending to broil it; but, when I opened its belly, I found\nthe signet-ring therein; so I took it and put it on my finger.\nPresently, up came two of the servants of the kitchen, questing\nfish, and I signed to them with my hand, knowing not the property\nof the seal-ring, and their heads fell off.  Then the Captain\ncame back, and seeing the ring on my finger, acquainted me with\nits spell; and behold, I have brought it back to thee, for that\nthou dealtest kindly by me and entreatedst me with the utmost\nhonour, nor is that which thou hast done me of kindness lost upon\nme.  Here is thy ring; take it!  But an I have done with thee\naught deserving of death, tell me my crime and slay me and thou\nshalt be absolved of sin in shedding my blood.\"  So saying, he\npulled the ring from his finger and gave it to the King who,\nseeing Abu Sir's noble conduct, took the ring and put it on and\nfelt life return to him afresh.  Then he rose to his feet and\nembracing the barber, said to him, \"O man, thou art indeed of the\nflower of the well-born!  Blame me not, but forgive me the wrong\nI have done thee.  Had any but thou gotten hold of this ring, he\nhad never restored it to me.\"  Answered Abu Sir, \"O King of the\nage, an thou wouldst have me forgive thee, tell me what was my\nfault which drew down thine anger upon me, so that thou\ncommandedst to do me die.\"  Rejoined the King, \"By Allah, 'tis\nclear to me that thou art free and guiltless in all things of\noffence since thou hast done this good deed; only the dyer\ndenounced thee to me in such and such words;\" and he told him all\nthat Abu Kir had said.  Abu Sir replied, \"By Allah, O King of the\nage, I know no King of the Nazarenes nor during my days have ever\njourneyed to a Christian country, nor did it ever come into my\nmind to kill thee.  But this dyer was my comrade and neighbour in\nthe city of Alexandria where life was straitened upon us;\ntherefore we departed thence, to seek our fortunes, by reason of\nthe narrowness of our means at home, after we had recited the\nOpening Chapter of the Koran together, pledging ourselves that he\nwho got work should feed him who lacked work; and there befel me\nwith him such and such things.\"  Then he went on to relate to the\nKing all that had betided him with Abu Kir the dyer; how he had\nrobbed him of his dirhams  and had left him alone and sick in the\nKhan-closet and how the door-keeper had fed him of his own monies\ntill Allah recovered him of his sickness, when he went forth and\nwalked about the city with his budget, as was his wont, till he\nespied a dyery, about which the folk were crowding; so he looked\nat the door and seeing Abu Kir seated on a bench there, went in\nto salute him, whereupon he accused him of being a thief and beat\nhim a grievous beating; brief, he told him his whole tale, from\nfirst to last, and added, \"O King of the age, 'twas he who\ncounselled me to make the depilatory and present it to thee,\nsaying, 'The Hammam is perfect in all things but that it lacketh\nthis'; and know, O King of the age, that this drug is harmless\nand we use it in our land where 'tis one of the requisites of the\nbath; but I had forgotten it: so, when the dyer visited the\nHammam I entreated him with honour and he reminded me of it, and\nenjoined me to make it forthwith.  But do thou send after the\nporter of such a Khan and the workmen of the dyery and question\nthem all of that which I have told thee.\"  Accordingly the King\nsent for them and questioned them one and all and they acquainted\nhim with the truth of the matter.  Then he summoned the dyer,\nsaying, \"Bring him barefooted, bareheaded and with elbows\npinioned!\"  Now he was sitting in his house, rejoicing in Abu\nSir's death; but ere he could be ware, the King's guards rushed\nin upon him and cuffed him on the nape, after which they bound\nhim and bore him into the presence, where he saw Abu Sir seated\nby the King's side and the door-keeper of the Khan and workmen of\nthe dyery standing before him.  Quoth the door-keeper to him, \"Is\nno this thy comrade whom thou robbedst of his silvers and leftest\nwith me sick in the closet doing such and such by him?\"  And the\nworkmen said to him, \"Is not this he whom thou badest us seize\nand beat?\"  Therewith Abu Kir's baseness was made manifest to the\nKing and he was certified that he merited torture yet sorer than\nthe torments of Munkar and Nak\u00edr.[FN#228]  So he said to his\nguards, \"Take him and parade him about the city and the\nmarkets;\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n        When it was the Nine Hundred and Fortieth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicous King, that when\nthe King heard the words spoken by the door-keeper of the\nCaravanserai and the workmen of the dyery, he was certified of\nthe vileness of Abu Kir; so he upbraided him with flout and fleer\nand said to his guards, \"Take him and parade him about the city\nand the market-streets; then set him in a sack and cast him into\nthe sea.\"  Whereupon quoth Abu Sir, \"O King of the age, accept my\nintercession for him, for I pardon him all he hath done with me.\"\nBut quoth the King, \"An thou pardon him all his offences against\nthee, I cannot pardon him his offences against me.\"  And he cried\nout, saying, \"Take him.\"  So they took him and paraded him about\nthe city, after which they set him in a sack with quicklime and\ncast him into the sea, and he died, drowned and burnt.  Then said\nthe King to the barber, \"O Abu Sir, ask of me what thou wilt and\nit shall be given thee.\"  And he answered, saying, \"I ask of thee\nto send me back to my own country, for I care no longer to tarry\nhere.\"  Then the King gifted him great store of gifts, over and\nabove that which he had whilome bestowed on him; and amongst the rest a galleon freighted with goods; and the crew of this\ngalleon were Mamelukes; so he gave him these also, after offering\nto make him his Wazir whereto the barber consented not.\nPresently he farewelled the King and set sail in his own ship\nmanned by his own crew; nor did he cast anchor till he reached\nAlexandria and made fast to the shore there.  Then he landed and\none of his Mamelukes, seeing a sack on the beach, said to Abu\nSir, \"O my lord, there is a great heavy sack on the sea-shore,\nwith the mouth tied up and I know not what therein.\"  So Abu Sir\ncame up and opening the sack, found therein the remains of Abu\nKir, which the sea had borne thither.  He took it forth and\nburying it near Alexandria, built over the grave a place of\nvisitation and endowed it with mortmain writing over the door\nthese couplets,\n\n\n\"Man is known among me as his deeds attest; * Which make noble\n     origin manifest:\nBackbite not, lest other men bit thy back; * Who saith aught, the\n     same shall to him be addrest:\nShun immodest words and indecent speech * When thou speakest in\n     earnest or e'en in jest.[FN#229]\nWe bear with the dog which behaves itself * But the lion is\n     chained lest he prove a pest:\nAnd the desert carcases swim the main * While union-pearls on the\n     sandbank rest[FN#230]:\nNo sparrow would hustle the sparrow-hawk, * Were it not by folly\n     and weakness prest:\nA-sky is written on page of air * 'Who doth kindly of kindness\n     shall have the best!'\n'Ware of gathering sugar from bitter gourd:[FN#231] * 'Twill\n     prove to its origin like in taste.\"\n\nAfter this Abu Sir abode awhile, till Allah took him to Himself,\nand they buried him hard by the tomb of his comrade Abu Kir;\nwherefore that place was called Abu Kir and Abu Sir; but it is\nnow known as Abu Kir only.  This, then, is that which hath\nreached us of their history, and glory be to Him who endureth for\never and aye and by whose will interchange the night and the day.\nAnd of the stories they tell is one anent\n\n\n\n\n               ABDULLAH[FN#232] THE FISHERMAN AND\n                      ABDULLAH THE MERMAN.\n\n\n\nThere was once a Fisherman named Abdullah, who had a large\nfamily, to wit, nine children and their mother, so was he poor,\nvery poor, owning naught save his net.  Every day he used to go\nto the sea a-fishing, and if he caught little, he sold it and\nspent the price on his children, after the measure of that which\nAllah vouchsafed him of provision; but if he caught much, he\nwould cook a good mess of meat and buy fruit and spend without\nstint till nothing was left him, saying to himself, \"The daily\nbread of to-morrow will come to-morrow.\"  Presently, his wife\ngave birth to another child, making a total of ten, and it\nchanced that day that he had nothing at all; so she said to him,\n\"O my master, see and get me somewhat wherewithal I may sustain\nmyself.\"  Quoth he, \"I am going (under favour of Almighty Allah)\nthis day seawards to fish on the luck of this new-born child,\nthat we may see its fair fortune;\" and quoth she, \"Put thy trust\nin Allah!\"  So he took his net and went down to the sea-shore,\nwhere he cast it on the luck of the little one, saying, \"O my\nGod, make his living of ease not of unease, and abundant, not\nscant!\"  Then he waited awhile and drew in the net, which came up\nfull of rubbish and sand and pebbles and weeds, and he saw\ntherein no sign of fish neither muchel nor little.  He cast it\nagain and waited, then drew it in, but found no catch in it, and\nthrew it a third and a fourth and a fifth time still not a single\nfish came up.  So he removed to another place beseeching his\ndaily bread of Allah Almighty and thus he kept working till the\nend of the day, but caught not so much as a minnow;[FN#233]\nwhereat he fell a-marvelling in himself and said self-communing,\n\"Hath Allah then created this new-born child without lot of\nprovision?  This may never, never be.  He who slitteth the\ncorners of the lips hath pledged Himself for its provision,\nbecause Almighty Allah is the Bountiful, the Provider!\"[FN#234]\nSo saying, he shouldered his net and turned him homewards,\nbroken-spirited and heavy at heart about his family, for that he\nhad left them without food, more by token that his wife was in\nthe straw.  And as he continued trudging along and saying in\nhimself, \"How shall I do and what shall I say to the children to-\nnight?\" he came to a baker's oven and saw a crowd about it; for\nthe season was one of dearth and in those days food was scant\nwith the folk; so people were proffering the baker money, but he\npaid no heed to any of them, by reason of the dense crowd. The\nfisherman stood looking and snuffing he smell of the hot bread\n(and indeed his soul longed for it, by reason of his hunger),\ntill the baker caught sight of him and cried out to him, \"Come\nhither, O fisherman!\"  So he went up to him, and the baker said,\n\"Dost thou want bread?\" But he was silent.  Quoth the baker,\n\"Speak out and be not ashamed, for Allah is bountiful.  An thou\nhave no silver, I will give thee bread and have patience with\nthee till weal betide thee.\" And quoth the fisherman, \"By Allah,\nO master, I have indeed no money!  But give me bread enough for\nmy family, and I will leave thee this net in pawn till the\nmorrow.\"  Rejoined the baker, \"Nay, my poor fellow, this net is\nthy shop and the door of thy daily subsistence; so an thou pawn\nit, wherewithal wilt thou fish? Tell me how much will suffice\nthee?\"; and replied the fisherman, \"Ten half-dirhams'\nworth.\"[FN#235]  So he gave him ten Nusfs worth of bread and ten\nin silver saying, \"Take these ten Nusfs and cook thyself a mess\nof meat therewith; so wilt thou owe me twenty, for which bring me\nfish to-morrow; but, an thou catch nothing again, come and take\nthy bread and thy ten Nusfs, and I will have patience with thee\ntill better luck betide thee,\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-first Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nbaker said to the fisherman, \"Take whatso thou needest and I will\nhave patience with thee till better luck betide thee, after the\nwhich thou shalt bring me fish for all thou owest me.\"  Said the\nfisherman, Almighty Allah reward thee, and requite thee for me\nwith all good!\"  Then he took the bread and the coins and went\naway, glad at heart, and buying what he could returned to his\nwife whom he found sitting up, soothing the children, who were\nweeping for hunger, and saying to them, \"At once your father will\nbe here with what ye may eat.\"  So he set the bread before them\nand they ate, whilst he told his wife what had befallen him, and\nshe said, \"Allah is bountiful.\"[FN#236]  On the morrow, he\nshouldered his net and went forth of his house, saying, \"I\nbeseech thee, O Lord, to vouchsafe me this day that which shall\nwhiten my face with the baker!\"[FN#237]  When he came to the sea-\nshore, he proceeded to cast his net and pull it in; but there\ncame up no fish therein; and he ceased not to toil thus till\nended day but he caught nothing.  Then he set out homewards, in\ngreat concern, and the way to his house lay past the baker's\noven; so he said to himself, \"How shall I go home?  But I will\nhasten my pace that the baker may not see me.\"  When he reached\nthe shop, he saw a crowd about it and walked the faster, being\nashamed to face his creditor; but the baker raised his eyes to\nhim and cried out to him, saying, \"Ho, fisherman!  Come and take\nthy bread and spending-money.  Meseems thou forgettest.\"  Quoth\nAbdullah, \"By Allah, I had not forgotten; but I was ashamed to\nface thee, because I have caught no fish this day;\" and quoth the\nbaker, \"Be not ashamed.  Said I not to thee, At thy\nleisure,[FN#238] till better luck betide thee?\" Then he gave him\nthe bread and the ten Nusfs and he returned and told his wife,\nwho said, \"Allah is bountiful.  Better luck shall yet betide thee\nand thou shalt give the baker his due, Inshallah.\"  He ceased not\ndoing on this wise forty days, betaking himself daily to the sea,\nfrom the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, and\nreturning home without fish; and still he took bread and\nspending-money of the baker, who never once named the fish to him\nnor neglected him nor kept him waiting like the folk,[FN#239] but\ngave him the bread and the ten half-dirhams without delay.\nWhenever the fisherman said to him, \"O my brother, reckon with\nme,\" he would say, \"Be off:[FN#240] this is no time for\nreckoning.  Wait till better luck betide thee, and then I will\nreckon with thee.\"  And the fisherman would bless him and go away\nthanking him.  On the one-and-fortieth day, he said to his wife,\n\"I have a mind to tear up the net and be quit of this life.\" She\nasked, \"Why wilt thou do this?\"; and he answered, \"Meseems there\nis an end of my getting my daily bread from the waters.  How long\nshall this last?  By Allah, I burn with shame before the baker\nand I will go no more to the sea, so I may not pass by his oven,\nfor I have none other way home; and every time I pass he calleth\nme and giveth me the bread and the ten silvers.  How much longer\nshall I run in debt to him?\"  The wife replied, \"Alhamdolillah--\nlauded be the Lord, the Most High, who hath inclined his heart to\nthee, so that he giveth thee our daily bread!  What dislikest\nthou in this?\"; and the husband rejoined, \"I owe him now a mighty\ngreat sum of dirhams, and there is no doubt but that he will\ndemand his due.\"  \"Hath he vexed thee with words?\" \"No, on the\ncontrary, he still refuseth to reckon with me, saying, 'Wait till\nbetter luck betide thee.'\"  \"If he press thee, say to him, 'Wait\ntill there come the good luck for which we hope, thou and I.'\"\n\"And when will the good luck come that we hope for?\"  \"Allah is\nbountiful.\"  \"Sooth thou speakest!\" So saying he shouldered his\nnet and went down to the sea-side, praying, \"O Lord provide thou\nme, though but with one fish, that I may give it to the baker!\"\nAnd he cast his net into the sea and pulling it in, found it\nheavy; so he tugged at it till he was tired with sore travail.\nBut when he got it ashore, he found in it a dead donkey swollen\nand stinking; whereat his senses sickened and he freed it from\nthe net, saying, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save\nin Allah, the Glorious, the Great!  Indeed, I can no more! I say\nto that wife of mine, 'There is no more provision for me in the\nwaters; let me leave this craft.'  And she still answereth me,\n'Allah is bountiful: good will presently betide thee.'  Is this\ndead ass the good whereof she speaketh?\"  And he grieved with the\nsorest grief. Then he turned to another place, so he might remove\nfrom the stench of the dead donkey, and cast his net there and\nwaited a full hour: then he drew it in and found it heavy.\nThereupon quoth he, \"Good; we are hauling up all the dead donkeys\nin the sea and ridding it of its rubbish.[FN#241]\"  However he\ngave not over tugging at the net, till blood came from the palms\nof his hands, and when he got it ashore, he saw a man[FN#242] in\nit and took him for one of the Ifrits of the lord Solomon, whom\nhe was wont to imprison in cucurbits of brass and cast him into\nthe main, believing that the vessel had burst for length of years\nand that the Ifrit had come forth and fallen into the net;\nwherefore he fled from him, crying out and saying, \"Mercy, mercy,\nO Ifrit of Solomon!\"  But the Adamite called out to him from\nwithin the net and said, \"Come hither, O fisherman, and flee not\nfrom me; for I am human like thyself.  Release me, so thou mayst\nget a recompense for me of Allah.\"  Whenas he heard these words,\nthe fisherman took heart and coming up to him, said to him, \"Art\nthou not an Ifrit of the Jinn?\"; and replied the other, \"No: I am\na mortal and a believer in Allah and His Apostle.\"  Asked the\nfisherman, \"Who threw thee into the sea?\"; and the other\nanswered, \"I am of the children of the sea, and was going about\ntherein, when thou castest the net over me.  We are people who\nobey Allah's commandments and show loving-kindness unto the\ncreatures of the Almighty, and but that I fear and dread to be of\nthe disobedient, I had torn thy net; but I accept that which the\nLord hath decreed unto me; wherefore by setting me free thou\nbecomest my owner and I thy captive.  Wilt thou then set me free\nfor the love[FN#243] of Almighty Allah and make a covenant with\nme and become my comrade? I will come to thee every day in this\nplace, and do thou come to me and bring me a gift of the fruits\nof the land.  For with you are grapes and figs and water-melons\nand peaches and pomegranates and so forth, and all thou bringest\nme will be acceptable unto me.  Moreover, with us are coral and\npearls and chrysolites and emeralds and rubies and other gems,\nand I will fill thee the basket, wherein thou bringest me the\nfruit, with precious stones of the jewels of the sea.[FN#244]\nWhat sayst thou to this, O my brother?\"  Quoth the fisherman,\n\"Be the Opening Chapter of the Koran between thee and me upon\nthis!\"  So they recited together the F\u00e1tihah, and the fisherman\nloosed the Merman from the net and asked him, \"What is thy name?\"\nHe replied, \"My name is Abdullah of the sea; and if thou come\nhither and see me not, call out and say, 'Where art thou, O\nAbdullah, O Merman?' and I will be with thee.\"--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-second Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah\nof the sea thus enjoined the other, \"An thou come hither and see\nme not, call out and say, 'Where art thou, O Abdullah, O Merman?'\nand I will be with thee forthwith.  But thou, what is thy name?\"\nQuoth the fisherman, \"My name also is Abdullah;\" and quoth the\nother, \"Thou art Abdullah of the land and I am Abdullah of the\nSea; but tarry here till I go and fetch thee a present.\"  And the\nfisherman repented him of having released him and said to\nhimself, \"How know I that he will come back to me?  Indeed, he\nbeguiled me, so that I loosed him, and now he will laugh at\nme.[FN#245]  Had I kept him, I might have made a show of him for\nthe diversion of the city-folk and taken silver from all men and\ngone with him to the houses of the great.\"  And he repented him\nof having set him free and said, \"Thou hast let thy prey from thy\nhand away.\"  But, as he was thus bemoaning his folly in releasing\nthe prisoner, behold, Abdullah the merman returned to him, with\nboth hands full of pearls and coral and smaragds and rubies and\nother gems, and said to him, \"Take these, O my brother, and\nexcuse me; had I a fish-basket[FN#246] I would have filled it for\nthee.\"  Abdullah the fisherman rejoiced and took the jewels from\nthe Merman who said to him, \"Every day come hither, before\nsunrise,\" and farewelling him, went down into the sea; whilst the\nother returned to the city, rejoicing, and stayed not walking\ntill he came to the baker's oven and said to him, \"O my brother,\ngood luck is come to us at last; so do thou reckon with me.\"\nAnswered the baker, \"There needeth no reckoning.  An thou have\naught, give it me: and if thou have naught, take thy bread and\nspending-money and begone, against weal betide thee.\"  Rejoined\nthe fisherman, \"O my friend, indeed weal hath betided me of\nAllah's bounty, and I owe thee much money; but take this.\"  So\nsaying, he took for him a handful of the pearls and coral and\nrubies and other jewels he had with him (the handful being about\nhalf of the whole), and gave them to the baker, saying, \"Give me\nsome ready money to spend this day, till I sell these jewels.\"\nSo the baker gave him all the money he had in hand and all the\nbread in his basket and rejoiced in the jewels, saying, \"I am thy\nslave and thy servant.\"  Then he set all the bread on his head\nand following the fisherman home, gave it to his wife and\nchildren, after which he repaired to the market and brought meat\nand greens and all manner fruit.  Moreover, he left his oven and\nabode with Abdullah all that day, busying himself in his service\nand fulfilling all his affairs.  Said the fisherman, \"O my\nbrother, thou weariest thyself;\" and the baker replied, \"This is\nmy duty, for I am become thy servant and thou hast overwhelmed me\nwith thy boons.\"  Rejoined the fisherman, \"'Tis thou who wast my\nbenefactor in the days of dearth and distress.\"  And the baker\npassed that night with him enjoying good cheer and became a\nfaithful friend to him.  Then the fisherman told his wife what\nhad befallen him with the Merman, whereat she rejoiced and said,\n\"Keep thy secret, lest the government come down upon thee;\" but\nhe said, \"Though I keep my secret from all men, yet will I not\nhide it from the baker.\"  On the morrow, he rose betimes and,\nshouldering a basket which he had filled in the evening with all\nmanner fruits, repaired before sunrise to the sea-shore, and\nsetting down the crate on the water-edge called out, \"Where art\nthou, O Abdullah, O Merman?\" He answered, \"Here am I, at thy\nservice;\" and came forth to him. The fisherman gave him the fruit\nand he took it and plunging into the sea with it, was absent a\nfull hour, after which time he came up, with the fish-basket full\nof all kinds of gems and jewels.  The fisherman set it on his\nhead and went away; and, when he came to the oven, the baker said\nto him, \"O my lord, I have baked thee forty bunns[FN#247] and have\nsent them to thy house; and now I will bake some firsts and as\nsoon as all is done, I will bring it to thy house and go and\nfetch thee greens and meat.\"  Abdullah handed to him three\nhandfuls of jewels out of the fish-basket and going home, set it\ndown there.  Then he took a gem of price of each sort and going\nto the jewel-bazar, stopped at the Syndic's shop and said to him,\n\"Buy these precious stones of me.\" \"Show them to me,\" said the\nShaykh.  So he showed them to him and the jeweller said, \"Hast\nthou aught beside these?\"; and Abdullah replied, \"I have a\nbasket-full at home.\"  The Syndic asked, \"And where is thine\nhouse?\" and the fisherman answered, \"In such a quarter\";\nwhereupon the Shaykh took the jewels from him and said to his\nfollowers, \"Lay hold of him, for he is the thief who stole the\njewellery of the Queen, the wife of our Sultan.\"  And he bade\nbeat him.  So they bastinadoed him and pinioned him; after which\nthe Syndic and all the people of the jewel-market arose and set\nout for the palace, saying, \"We have caught the thief.\"  Quoth\none, \"None robbed such an one but this villain,\" and quoth\nanother, \"'Twas none but he stole all that was in such an one's\nhouse;\" and some said this and others said that.  All this while\nhe was silent and spake not a word nor returned a reply, till\nthey brought him before the King, to whom said the Syndic, \"O\nKing of the age, when the Queen's necklace was stolen, thou\nsentest to acquaint us of the theft, requiring of us the\ndiscovery of the culprit; wherefore I strove beyond the rest of\nthe folk and have taken the thief for thee. Here he standeth\nbefore thee, and these be the jewels we have recovered from him.\"\nThereupon the King said to the chief eunuch, \"Carry these jewels\nfor the Queen to see, and say to her, 'Are these thy property\nthou hast lost?'\"  So the eunuch took the jewels and went in with\nthem to the Queen, who seeing their lustre marvelled at them and\nsent to the King to say, \"I have found my necklace in my own\nplace and these jewels are not my property; nay, they are finer\nthan those of my necklace. So oppress not the man;\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nKing's wife sent to the King to say, \"These are not my property;\nnay, these gems are finer than those of my necklace.  So oppress\nnot this man; but, if he will sell them, buy them for thy\ndaughter Umm al-Su'\u00fad,[FN#248] that we may set them in a necklace\nfor her.\"  When the eunuch returned and told the King what the\nQueen said, he damned the Syndic of the jewellers, him and his\ncompany, with the damnation of \u00c1d and Tham\u00fad,[FN#249] and they\nsaid to him, \"O King of the age, we knew this man for a poor\nfisherman and deemed such things too much for him,[FN#250] so we\nsupposed that he had stolen them.\"  Cried the King, \"O ye filthy\nvillains, begrudge ye a True Believer good fortune? Why did ye\nnot make due enquiry of him?  Haply Allah Almighty hath\nvouchsafed him these things from a source whereupon he reckoned\nnot. Why did ye make him out a thief and disgrace him amongst the\nfolk? Begone, and may Allah never bless you!\"  So they went out\naffrighted and the King said to Abdullah, \"O man (Allah bless\nthee in all He hath bestowed on thee!), no harm shall befal thee;\nbut tell me truly, whence gottest thou these jewels; for I am a\nKing yet have I not the like of them.\"  The fisherman replied, \"O\nKing of the age, I have a fish-basket full of them at home and\nthe case is thus and thus.\"  Then he told him of his friendship\nwith the Merman, adding, \"We have made a covenant together that I\nshall bring him every day a basket full of fruit and that he\nshall fill me the basket with these jewels.\"  Quoth the King, O\nman this is thy lucky lot; but wealth needeth rank,[FN#251] I\nwill defend thee for the present against men's domineering; but\nhaply I shall be deposed or die and another rule in my stead, and\nhe shall slay thee because of his love of the goods of this world\nand his covetousness.  So I am minded to marry thee to my\ndaughter and make thee my Wazir and bequeath thee the kingdom\nafter me, so none may hanker for thy riches when I am gone.  Then\nsaid he, \"Hie with this man to the Hammam.\"  So they bore him to\nthe Baths and bathed his body and robed him in royal raiment,\nafter which they brought him back to the King, and he made him\nhis Wazir and sent to his house couriers and the soldiers of his\nguard and all the wives of the notables, who clad his wife and\nchildren in Kingly costume and mounting the woman in a horse-\nlitter, with the little child in her lap, walked before her to\nthe palace, escorted by the troops and couriers and officers.\nThey also brought her elder children in to the King who made much\nof them, taking them in his lap and seating them by his side; for\nthey were nine children male and the King had no son and heir nor\nhad he been blessed with any child save this one daughter, Umm\nal-Su'ud hight.  Meanwhile the Queen entreated Abdullah's wife\nwith honour and bestowed favours on her and made her Waziress to\nher.  Then the King bade draw up the marriage contract between\nhis daughter and Abdullah of the Land[FN#252] who assigned to\nher, as her dower, all the gems and precious stones in his\npossession, and they opened the gates of festival.  The King\ncommanded by proclamation to decorate the city, in honour of his\ndaughter's wedding.  Then Abdullah went in unto the Princess and\nabated her maidenhead.  Next morning the King looked out of the\nlattice and saw Abdullah carrying on his head a fish-crate full\nof fruit.  So he called to him, \"What hast thou there, O my son-\nin-law, and whither wendest thou?\"  The fisherman replied, \"To my\nfriend, Abdullah the Merman;\" and the King said, \"O my son-in-\nlaw, this is no time to go to thy comrade.\"  Quoth Abdullah,\n\"Indeed, I fear to break tryst with him, lest he reckon me a liar\nand say, 'The things of the world have diverted thee from me,'\"\nand quoth the King, \"Thou speakest sooth: go to thy friend and\nGod help thee!\"  So he walked through the city on his way to his\ncompanion; and, as he went, he heard the folk who knew him say,\n\"There goeth the King's son-in-law to exchange fruit for gems;\"\nwhilst those who knew him not said, \"Ho, fellow, how much a\npound?  Come, sell to me.\"  And he answered, saying, \"Wait till I\ncome back to thee,\" for that he would not hurt the feelings of\nany man. Then he fared on till he came to the sea-shore and\nforegathered with his friend Abdullah the Merman, to whom he\ndelivered the fruit, receiving gems in return.  He ceased not\ndoing thus till one day, as he passed by the baker's oven, he\nfound it closed; and so he did ten days, during which time the\noven remained shut and he saw nothing of the baker.  So he said\nto himself, \"This is a strange thing!  Would I wot whither the\nbaker went!\"  Then he enquired of his neighbour, saying, \"O my\nbrother, where is thy neighbour the baker and what hath Allah\ndone with him?\"; and the other responded, \"O my lord, he is sick\nand cometh not forth of his house.\"  \"Where is his house?\" asked\nAbdullah; and the other answered, \"In such a quarter.\"  So he\nfared thither and enquired of him; but, when he knocked at the\ndoor, the baker looked out of window and seeing his friend the\nfisherman, full basket on head, came down and opened the door to\nhim.  Abdullah entered and throwing himself on the baker embraced\nhim and wept, saying, \"How dost thou, O my friend?  Every day, I\npass by thine oven and see it unopened; so I asked thy neighbour,\nwho told me that thou wast sick; therefore I enquired for thy\nhouse, that I might see thee.\"  Answered the baker, \"Allah\nrequite thee for me with all good!  Nothing aileth me; but it\nreached me that the King had taken thee, for that certain of the\nfolk had lied against thee and accused thee of being a robber\nwherefore I feared and shut shop and hid myself.\"  \"True,\" said\nAbdullah and told him all that had befallen him with the King and\nthe Shaykh of the jewellers' bazar, adding \"Moreover, the King\nhath given me his daughter to wife and made me his Wazir;\" and,\nafter a pause, \"So do thou take what is in this fish-basket to\nthy share and fear naught.\"  Then he left him, after having done\naway from him his affright, and returned with the empty crate to the\nKing, who said to him, \"O my son-in-law, 'twould seem thou hast\nnot foregathered with thy friend the Merman to-day.\" Replied\nAbdullah, \"I went to him but that which he gave me I gave to my\ngossip the baker, to whom I owe kindness.\"  \"Who may be this\nbaker?\" asked the King; and the fisherman answered, \"He is a\nbenevolent man, who did with me thus and thus in the days of my\npoverty and never neglected me a single day nor hurt my\nfeelings.\"  Quoth the King, \"What is his name?\"; and quoth the\nfisherman \"His name is Abdullah the Baker; and my name is\nAbdullah of the Land and that of my friend the Merman Abdullah of\nthe Sea.\"  Rejoined the King, \"And my name also is Abdullah; and\nthe servants of Allah[FN#253] are all brethren.  So send and\nfetch thy friend the baker, that I may make him my Wazir of the\nleft.\"[FN#254]  So he sent for the baker who speedily came to the\npresence, and the King invested him with the Wazirial uniform and\nmade him Wazir of the left, making Abdullah of the Land his Wazir\nof the right.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-fourth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nKing made his son-in-law, Abdullah of the Land, Wazir of the\nright and Abdullah the baker Wazir of the left.  In such\ncondition the fisherman abode a whole year, every day carrying\nfor the Merman the crate full of fruit and receiving it back,\nfull of jewels; and when fruit failed from the gardens, he\ncarried him raisins and almonds and filberts and walnuts and figs\nand so forth; and all that he brought for him the Merman accepted\nand returned him the fish-basket full of jewels according to his\ncustom.  Now it chanced one day that he carried him the crate,\nfull of dry[FN#255] fruits as was his wont, and his friend took\nthem from him.  Then they sat down to converse, Abdullah the\nfisherman on the beach and Abdullah the Merman in the water near\nthe shore, and discoursed; and the talk went round between them,\ntill it fell upon the subject of sepulchres; whereat quoth the\nMerman, \"O my brother, they say that the Prophet (whom Allah\nassain and save!) is buried with you on the land.  Knowest thou\nhis tomb?\"  Abdullah replied, \"Yes; it lieth in a city called\nYathrib.[FN#256]\"  Asked the Merman, \"And do the people of the\nland visit it?\"  \"Yes,\" answered the fisherman, and the other\nsaid, \"I give you joy, O people of the land, of visiting[FN#257]\nthat noble Prophet and compassionate, which whoso visiteth\nmeriteth his intercession!  Hast thou made such visitation, O my\nbrother?\"  Replied the fisherman, \"No: for I was poor and had not\nthe necessary sum[FN#258] to spend by the way, nor have I been in\neasy case but since I knew thee and thou bestowedst on me this\ngood fortune. But such visitation behoveth me after I have\npilgrimed to the Holy House of Allah[FN#259] and naught\nwithholdeth me therefrom but my love to thee, because I cannot\nleave thee for one day.\"  Rejoined the Merman, \"And dost thou set\nthe love of me before the visitation of the tomb of Mohammed\n(whom Allah assain and save!), who shall intercede for thee on\nthe Day of Review before Allah and shall save thee from the Fire\nand through whose intercession thou shalt enter Paradise? And\ndost thou, for the love of the world, neglect to visit the tomb\nof thy Prophet[FN#260] Mohammed, whom God bless and preserve?\"\nReplied Abdullah, \"No, by Allah, I set the visitation of the\nProphet's tomb above all else, and I crave thy leave to pray\nbefore it this year.\" The Merman rejoined, \"I grant thee leave,\non condition that when thou shalt stand by his sepulchre thou\nsalute him for me with the Salam. Furthermore I have a trust to\ngive thee; so come thou with me into the sea, that I may carry\nthee to my city and entertain thee in my house and give thee a\ndeposit; which when thou takest thy station by the Prophet's\ntomb, do thou lay thereon, saying, 'O apostle of Allah, Abdullah\nthe Merman saluteth thee, and sendeth thee this present,\nimploring thine intercession to save him from the Fire.'\"  Said\nthe fisherman, \"O my brother, thou wast created in the water and\nwater is thy abiding-place and doth thee no hurt, but, if thou\nshouldst come forth to the land, would any harm betide thee?\"\nThe Merman replied, \"Yes; my body would dry up and the breezes of\nthe land would blow upon me and I should die.\"  Rejoined the\nfisherman, \"And I, in like manner, was created on the land and\nthe land is my abiding-place; but, an I went down into the sea,\nthe water would enter my belly and choke me and I should die.\"\nRetorted the other, \"Have no fear for that, for I will bring thee\nan ointment, wherewith when thou hast anointed thy body, the\nwater will do thee no hurt, though thou shouldst pass the lave of\nthy life going about in the great deep: and thou shalt lie down\nand rise up in the sea and naught shall harm thee.\"  Quoth the\nfisherman, \"An the case by thus, well and good; but bring me the\nointment, so that I may make trial of it;\" and quoth the Merman,\n\"So be it;\" then, taking the fish-basket disappeared in the\ndepths.  He was absent awhile, and presently returned with an\nunguent as it were the fat of beef, yellow as gold and sweet of\nsavour.  Asked the fisherman, \"What is this, O my brother?\"; and\nanswered the Merman, \"'Tis the liver-fat of a kind of fish called\nthe Dand\u00e1n,[FN#261] which is the biggest of all fishes and the\nfiercest of our foes.  His bulk is greater than that of any beast\nof the land, and were he to meet a camel or an elephant, he would\nswallow it at a single mouthful.\"  Abdullah enquired, \"O my\nbrother, what doth this baleful beast?\"; and the Merman replied,\n\"He eateth of the beasts of the sea.  Hast thou not heard the\nsaying, 'Like the fishes of the sea: forcible eateth\nfeeble?[FN#262]'\"  \"True; but have you many of these Dandans in\nthe sea?\"  \"Yes, there be many of them with us.  None can tell\ntheir tale save Almighty Allah.\"  \"Verily, I fear lest, if I go\ndown with thee into the deep a creature of this kind fall in with\nme and devour me.\"  \"Have no fear: when he seeth thee, he will\nknow thee for a son of Adam and will fear thee and flee. He\ndreadeth none in the sea as he dreadeth a son of Adam; for that\nan he eateth a man he dieth forthright, because human fat is a\ndeadly poison to this kind of creature; nor do we collect its\nliver-speck save by means of a man, when he falleth into the sea\nand is drowned; for that his semblance becometh changed and\nofttimes his flesh is torn; so the Dandan eateth him, deeming him\nthe same of the denizens of the deep, and dieth.  Then we light\nupon our enemy dead and take the speck of his liver and grease\nourselves so that we can over-wander the main in safety.  Also,\nwherever there is a son of Adam, though there be in that place an\nhundred or two hundred or a thousand or more of these beasts, all\ndie forthright an they but hear him,--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-fifth Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah\nof the sea said to Abdullah of the Land, \"And if a thousand or\nmore of this kind hear an Adamite cry a single cry, forthright\nall die nor hath one of them power to remove from his place; so,\nwhenever a son of Adam falleth into the sea, we take him and\nanoint him with this fat and go round about the depths with him,\nand whenever we see a Dandan or two or three or more, we bid him\ncry out and they all die forthright for his once crying.\"  Quoth\nthe fisherman, \"I put my trust in Allah;\" and, doffing his\nclothes, buried them in a hole which he dug in the beach; after\nwhich he rubbed his body from head to heels with that ointment.\nThen he descended into the water and diving, opened his eyes and\nthe brine did him no hurt.  So he walked right and left, and if\nhe would, he rose to the sea-face, and if he would, he sank to\nthe base.  And he beheld the water as it were a tent over his\nhead; yet it wrought him no hurt.  Then said the Merman to him,\n\"What seest thou, O my brother?\"; and said he, \"O my brother, I\nsee naught save weal[FN#263]; and indeed thou spakest truth in\nthat which thou saidst to me; for the water doth me no hurt.\"\nQuoth the Merman, \"Follow me.\"  So he followed him and they\nceased not faring on from place to place, whilst Abdullah\ndiscovered before him and on his right and left mountains of\nwater and solaced himself by gazing thereon and on the various\nsorts of fish, some great and some small, which disported\nthemselves in the main. Some of them favoured buffaloes[FN#264]\nothers oxen and others dogs and yet others human beings; but all\nto which they drew near fled, whenas they saw the fisherman, who\nsaid to the Merman, \"O my brother, how is it that I see all the\nfish, to which we draw near, flee from us afar?\" Said the other,\n\"Because they fear thee, for all things that Allah hath made fear\nthe son of Adam.[FN#265]\"  The fisherman ceased not to divert\nhimself with the marvels of the deep, till they came to a high\nmountain and fared on beside it.  Suddenly, he heard a mighty\nloud cry and turning, saw some black thing, the bigness of a\ncamel or bigger, coming down upon him from the liquid mountain\nand crying out.  So he asked his friend, \"What is this, O my\nbrother?\"; and the Merman answered, \"This is the Dandan.  He\ncometh in search of me, seeking to devour me; so cry out at him,\nO my brother, ere he reach us; else he will snatch me up and\ndevour me.\"  Accordingly Abdullah cried out at the beast and\nbehold, it fell down dead; which when he saw, he said, \"Glorified\nbe the perfection of God and His praise! I smote it not with the\nsword nor knife; how cometh it that, for all the vastness of the\ncreature's bulk, it could not bear my cry, but died?\" Replied the\nMerman, \"Marvel not, for, by Allah, O my brother, were there a\nthousand or two thousand of these creatures, yet could they not\nendure the cry of a son of Adam.\"  Then they walked on, till they\nmade a city, whose inhabitants the fisherman saw to be all women,\nthere being no male among them; so he said to his companion, \"O\nmy brother, what city is this and what are these women?\"  \"This\nis the city of women; for its inhabitants are of the women of the\nsea.\" \"Are there any males among them?\"  \"No!\" \"Then how do they\nconceive and bear young, without males?[FN#266]\"  \"The King of\nthe sea banisheth them hither and they conceive not neither bear\nchildren.  All the women of the sea, with whom he is wroth, he\nsendeth to this city, and they cannot leave it; for, should one\nof them come forth therefrom, any of the beasts of the sea that\nsaw her would eat her.  But in other cities of the main there are\nboth males and females.\"  Thereupon asked the fisherman, \"Are\nthere then other cities than this in the sea?\"; and the Merman\nanswered, \"There are many.\"  Quoth the fisherman, \"And is there a\nSultan over you in the sea?\"  \"Yes,\" quoth the Merman.  Then said\nAbdullah \"O my brother, I have indeed seen many marvels in the\nmain!\" But the Merman said, \"And what hast thou seen of its\nmarvels?[FN#267] Hast thou not heard the saying, 'The marvels of\nthe sea are more manifold than the marvels of the land?'\"\n\"True,\" rejoined the fisherman and fell to gazing upon those\nwomen, whom he saw with faces like moons and hair like women's\nhair, but their hands and feet were in their middle and they had\ntails like fishes' tails.  Now when the Merman had shown him the\npeople of the city, he carried him forth therefrom and forewalked\nhim to another city, which he found full of folk, both males and\nfemales, formed like the women aforesaid and having tails; but\nthere was neither selling nor buying amongst them, as with the\npeople of the land, nor were they clothed, but went all naked and\nwith their same uncovered.  Said Abdullah \"O my brother, I see\nmales and females alike with their shame exposed,[FN#268]\" and\nthe other said, \"This is because the folk of the sea have no\nclothes.\"  Asked the fisherman, \"And how do they when they\nmarry?\" The Merman answered, \"They do not marry; but every one\nwho taketh a liking to a female doth his will of her.\"  Quoth\nAbdullah, \"This is unlawful!  Why doth he not ask her in marriage\nand dower her and make her a wedding festival and marry her, in\naccordance with that which is pleasing to Allah and His\nApostle?\"; and quoth the other, \"We are not all of one religion:\nsome of us are Moslems, believers in The Unity, others Nazarenes\nand what not else; and each marrieth in accordance with the\nordinances of his creed; but those of us who marry are mostly\nMoslems.\"  The fisherman continued, \"Ye are naked and have\nneither buying nor selling among you: of what then is your wives'\ndowry? Do ye give them jewels and precious stones?\"  The Merman\nrejoined, \"Gems with us are only stones without worth: but upon\nthe Moslem who is minded to marry they impose a dowry of a\ncertain number of fishes of various kinds that he must catch, a\nthousand or two thousand, more or less, according to the\nagreement between himself and the bride's father.  As soon as he\nbringeth the amount required, the families of the bride and\nbridegroom assemble and eat the marriage-banquet; after which\nthey bring him in to his bride, and he catcheth fish and feedeth\nher; or, if he be unable, she catcheth fish and feedeth him.\"\nEnquired the fisherman, \"And how if a woman commit adultery?\";\nand the other replied, \"If a woman be convicted of this case,\nthey banish her to the City of Women; and if she be with child by\nher gallant, they leave her till she be delivered; then, if she\ngive birth to a girl, they banish her with her, calling her\nadulteress, daughter of adulteress, and she abideth a maid till\nshe die; but, if the woman give birth to a male child, they carry\nit to the Sultan of the Sea, who putteth it to death.\"  Abdullah\nmarvelled at this and the Merman carried him to another city and\nthence to another and yet another, till he had diverted him with\nthe sight of eighty cities, and he saw the people of each city\nunlike those of every other.  Then said he to the Merman, \"O my\nbrother, are there yet other cities in the main?\"; whereto said\nthe other, \"And what hast thou seen of the cities of the sea and\nits wondrous spectacles?  By the virtue of the noble Prophet, the\nbenign, the compassionate, were I to show thee every day a\nthousand cities for a thousand years, and in each city a thousand\nmarvels, I should not have shown thee one carat of the four-and-\ntwenty carats of the cities of the sea and its miracles!  I have\nbut shown thee our own province and country, nothing more.\"  The\nfisherman thus resumed, \"O my brother, since this is the case,\nwhat I have seen sufficeth me, for I am a-weary of eating fish,\nand these fourscore days I have been in thy company, thou hast\nfed me, morning and night, upon nothing but raw fish, neither\nbroiled nor boiled.\"  \"And what is broiled or boiled?\"  \"We broil\nfish with fire and boil it in water and dress it in various ways\nand make many dishes of it.\"  \"And how should we come by fire in\nthe sea?  We know not broiled nor boiled nor aught else of the\nkind.\"  \"We also fry it in olive-oil and oil of sesame.[FN#269]\"\nHow should be come by olive-oil and oil of sesame in the sea?\nVerily we know nothing of that thou namest.\"  \"True, but O my\nbrother, thou hast shown me many cities; yet hast thou not shown\nme thine own city.\" \"As for mine own city, we passed it a long\nway, for it is near the land whence we came, and I left it and\ncame with thee hither, thinking only to divert thee with the\nsight of the greater cities of the sea.\" \"That which I have seen\nof them sufficeth me; and now I would have thee show me thine own\ncity.\"  \"So be it,\" answered Abdullah of the Sea; and, returning\non his traces, carried him back thither and said to him, \"This is\nmy city.\"  Abdullah of the Land looked and saw a city small by\ncomparison with those he had seen; then he entered with his\ncomrade of the deep and they fared on till they came to a cave.\nQuoth the Merman, \"This is my house and all the houses in the\ncity are like this, caverns great and small in the mountains; as\nare also those of every other city of the sea.  For whoso is\nminded to make him a house must repair to the King and say to\nhim, 'I wish to make me a house in such a place.' Whereupon the\nKing sends with him a band of the fish called 'Peckers,'[FN#270]\nwhich have beaks that crumble the hardest rock, appointing for\ntheir wage a certain quantum of fish.  They betake themselves to\nthe mountain chosen by the intended owner and therein pierce the\nhouse, whilst the owner catcheth fish for them and feedeth them,\ntill the cave is finished, when they wend their ways and the\nhouse-owner taketh up his abode therein.  On such wise do all the\npeople of the sea; they traffic not one with other nor serve each\nother save by means of fish; and their food is fish and they\nthemselves are a kind of fish.[FN#271]\"  Then he said to him,\n\"Enter!\"  So Abdullah entered and the Merman cried out, saying,\n\"Ho, daughter mine!\" when behold, there came to him a damsel with\na face like the rondure of the moon and hair long, hips heavy,\neyes black-edged and waist slender; but she was naked and had a\ntail.  When she saw Abdullah of the Land she said to her sire, \"O\nmy father, what is this No-tail[FN#272] thou hast brought with\nthee?\"  He replied, \"O my daughter this is my friend of the land,\nfrom whom I used to bring thee the fruits of the ground.  Come\nhither and salute him with the salam.\"  So she came forward and\nsaluted the fisherman with loquent tongue and eloquent speech;\nand her father said to her, \"Bring meat for our guest, by whose\nvisit a blessing hath betided us:[FN#273]\" whereupon she brought\nhim two great fishes, each the bigness of a lamb, and the Merman\nsaid to him, \"Eat.\" So he ate for stress of hunger, despite\nhimself; because he was tired of eating fish and they had naught\nelse save fish.  Before long, in came the Merman's wife, who was\nbeautiful of form and favour and with her two children, each\nhaving in his hand a young fish, which he craunched as a man\nwould craunch a cucumber.  When she saw the fisherman with her\nhusband, she said, \"What is this No-tail?\" And she and her sons\nand their sister came up to him and fell to examining the back\nparts of Abdullah of the Land, and saying, \"Yea, by Allah, he is\ntailless!\"; and they laughed at him.  So he said to the Merman,\n\"O my brother, hast thou brought me hither to make me a butt and\na laughing-stock for thy children and thy consort?\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-sixth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah\nof the Land said to Abdullah of the sea, \"O my brother, hast thou\nbrought me hither to make me a butt and a laughing-stock for thy\nchildren and thy consort?\"  Cried the Merman, \"Pardon, O my\nbrother!  Those who have no tails are rare among us, and whenever\none such is found, the Sultan taketh him, to make fun of him, and\nhe abideth a marvel amongst us, and all who see him laugh at him.\nBut, O my brother, excuse these young children and this woman,\nfor they lack wits.\" Then he cried out to his family, saying,\n\"Silence!\"; so they were afraid and held their peace; whilst he\nwent on to soothe Abdullah's mind.  Presently, as they were\ntalking, behold, in came some ten Mermen, tall and strong and\nstout, and said to him, \"O Abdullah, it hath reached the King\nthat thou hast with thee a No-tail of the No-tails of the earth.\"\nAnswered the Merman, \"Yes; and this is he; but he is not of us\nnor of the children of the sea.  He is my friend of the land and\nhath come to me as a guest and I purpose to carry him back to the\nland.\"  Quoth they, \"We cannot depart but with him; so, an thou\nhave aught to say, arise and come with him before the King; and\nwhatso thou wouldst say to us, say thou that same to the King.\"\nThen quoth the Merman to the fisherman, \"O my brother, my excuse\nis manifest, and we may not disobey the King: but go thou with me\nto him and I will do my best to deliver thee from him, Inshallah!\nFear not, for he deemeth thee of the children of the sea; but,\nwhen he seeth thee, he will know thee to be of the children of\nthe land, and he will surely entreat thee honourably and restore\nthee to the land.\"  And Abdullah of the Land replied, \"'Tis thine\nto decide, I will trust in Allah and wend with thee.\"  So he took\nhim and carried him to the King, who, when he saw him, laughed at\nhim and said, \"Welcome to the No-tail!\"  And all who were about\nthe King began to laugh at him and say, \"Yea, by Allah, he is\ntailless!\"  Then Abdullah of the Sea came forward and acquainted\nthe King with the fisherman's case, saying, \"This man is of the\nchildren of the land and he is my comrade and cannot live amongst\nus, for that he loveth not the eating of fish, except it be fried\nor boiled; wherefore I desire that thou give me leave to restore\nhim to the land.\"  Whereto the King replied, \"Since the case is\nso, and he cannot live among us, I give thee leave to restore him\nto his place, after due entertainment,\" presently adding, \"Bring\nhim the guest-meal.\" So they brought him fish of various kinds\nand colours and he ate, in obedience to the royal behest; after\nwhich the King said to him, \"Ask a boon of me.\"  Quoth he, \"I ask\nof thee that thou give me jewels;\" and the King said, \"Carry him\nto the jewel-house and let him choose that whereof he hath need.\"\nSo his friend carried him to the jewel-house and he picked out\nwhatso he would, after which the Merman brought him back to his\nown city and pulling out a purse, said to him, \"Take this deposit\nand lay it on the tomb of the Prophet, whom Allah save and\nassain!\"  And he took it, knowing not what was therein. Then the\nMerman went forth with him, to bring him back to land, and by the\nway he heard singing and merrymaking and saw a table spread with\nfish and folk eating and singing and holding mighty high\nfestival. So Abdullah of the Land said to his friend, \"What\naileth these people to rejoice thus?  Is there a wedding among\nthem?\"  Replied Abdullah of the Sea, \"Nay; one of them is dead.\"\nAsked the fisherman, \"Then do ye, when one dieth amongst you,\nrejoice for him and sing and feast?\"; and the Merman answered,\n\"Yes: and ye of the land, what do ye?\" Quoth Abdullah of the\nLand, \"When one dieth amongst us, we weep and keen for him and\nthe women beat their faces and rend the bosoms of their raiment,\nin token of mourning for the dead.\"  But Abdullah the Merman\nstared at him with wide eyes and said to him, \"Give me the\ndeposit!\"  So he gave it to him.  Then he set him ashore and said\nto him, \"I have broken off our companionship and our amity;\nwherefore from this day forward thou shalt no more see me, nor I\nsee thee.\"  Cried the fisherman, \"Why sayst thou this?\"; and the\nother said, \"Are ye not, O folk of the land, a deposit of Allah?\"\n\"Yes.\"  \"Why then,\" asked the Merman, \"is it grievous to you that\nAllah should take back His deposit and wherefore weep ye over it?\nHow can I entrust thee with a deposit for the Prophet (whom Allah\nsave and assain!), seeing that, when a child is born to you, ye\nrejoice in it, albeit the Almighty setteth the soul therein as a\ndeposit; and yet, when he taketh it again, it is grievous to you\nand ye weep and mourn?  Since it is hard for thee to give up the\ndeposit of Allah, how shall it be easy to thee to give up the\ndeposit of the Prophet?[FN#274]  Wherefore we need not your\ncompanionship.\"  Saying thus he left him and disappeared in the\nsea. Thereupon Abdullah of the Land donned his dress and taking\nthe jewels, went up to the King, who met him lovingly and\nrejoiced at his return saying, \"How dost thou, O my son-in-law,\nand what is the cause of thine absence from me this while?\"  So\nhe told him his tale and acquainted him with that which he had\nseen of marvels in the sea, whereat the King wondered.  Then he\ntold him what Abdullah the Merman had said[FN#275]; and the King\nreplied, \"Indeed 'twas thou wast at fault to tell him this.\"\nNevertheless, he continued for some time to go down to the shore\nand call upon Abdullah of the Sea, but he answered him not nor\ncame to him; so, at last, he gave up all hope of him and abode,\nhe and the King his father-in-law and the families of them both\nin the happiest of case and the practice of righteous ways, till\nthere came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of\nsocieties and they died all.  Wherefore glory be to the Living,\nwho dieth not, whose is the empire of the Seen and the Unseen,\nwho over all things is Omnnipotent and is gracious to His\nservants and knowth their every intent!  And amongst the tales\nthey tell is one anent\n\n\n\n\n               HARUN AL-RASHID AND ABU HASAN, THE\n                       MERCHANT OF OMAN.\n\n\n\nThe Caliph Harun al-Rashid was one night wakeful exceedingly;  so\nhe called Masrur and said to him as soon as he came, \"Fetch  me\nJa'afar in haste.\" Accordingly, he went out and returned  with\nthe Wazir, to whom said the Caliph, \"O Ja'afar wakefulness  hath\nmastered me this night and forbiddeth sleep from me, nor  wot I\nwhat shall drive it away from me.\" Replied Ja'afar, \"O  Commander\nof the Faithful, the wise say, 'Looking on a mirror,  entering\nthe Hammam-bath and hearkening unto song banish  care and\nchagrin.'\" He rejoined, \"O Ja'afar I have done all this,  but it\nhath brought me naught of relief, and I swear by my pious\nforbears unless thou contrive that which shall abate from me\nthis insomny, I will smite thy neck.\" Quoth Ja'afar, \"O\nCommander of the Faithful, wilt thou do that which I shall\ncounsel  thee?\" whereupon quoth the Caliph, \"And what is that\nthou  counselleth?\" He replied, \"It is that thou take boat with\nus  and drop down Tigris River with the tide to a place called\nKarn  al-Sirat, so haply we may hear what we never heard or see\nwhat  we never saw, for 'tis said, 'The solace of care is in one\nof three  things; that a man see what he never before saw or hear\nwhat  he never yet heard or tread an earth he erst hath never\ntrodden.'  It may be this shall be the means of remedying thy\nrestlessness,  O Commander of the Faithful, Inshallah! There, on\neither side  of the river, are windows and balconies one facing\nother, and it  may be we shall hear or see from one of these\nsomewhat wherewith  our hearts may be heartened.\" Ja'afar's\ncounsel pleased the  Caliph, so he rose from his place and taking\nwith him the  Wazir and his brother Al-Fazl and Isaac[FN#276] the\nboon-companion  and Abu Nowas and Abu Dalaf[FN#277] and Masrur\nthe Sworder,-- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her  permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nCaliph arose from his seat with Ja'afar and the rest of the\nparty,  all entered the wardrobe, where they donned merchant's\ngear.  Then they went down to the Tigris and embarking in a\ngilded  boat, dropped down with the stream, till they came to the\nplace  they sought, when they heard the voice of a damsel singing\nto the  lute and chanting these couplets,\n\n\"To him when the wine cup is near I declare, * While in coppice\n     loud shrilleth and trilleth Haz\u00e1r,\n'How long this repining from joys and delight? * Wake up for this\n     life is a borrowed ware!'\nTake the cup from the hand of the friend who is dear * With\n     languishing eye-lids and languorous air.\nI sowed on his cheek a fresh rose, which amid * His side-locks\n     the fruit of granado-tree bare.\nThou wouldst deem that the place where he tare his fair\n     cheek[FN#278] * Were ashes, while cheeks hues incendiary\n     wear.\nQuoth the blamer, 'Forget him! But where's my excuse * When his\n     side-face is growing the downiest hair?[FN#279]'\"\n\nWhen the Caliph heard this, he said, \"O Ja'afar, how goodly is\nthat voice!\"; and the Wazir replied, \"O our lord, never smote  my\nhearing aught sweeter or goodlier than this singing! But,  good\nmy lord, hearing from behind a wall is only half hearing;  how\nwould it be an we heard it from behind a curtain?\" Quoth  the\nCaliph, \"Come, O Ja'afar, let us play the parasites with the\nmaster of this house; and haply we shall look upon the\nsongstress,  face to face;\" and quoth Ja'afar, \"I hear and I\nobey.\" So  they landed and sought admittance; when behold, there\ncame out  to them a young man, fair of favour, sweet of speech\nand fluent  of tongue, who said to them, \"Well come and welcome,\nO lords  that honour me with your presence! Enter in all comfort\nand  convenience!\" So they went in (and he with them) to a saloon\nwith four faces, whose ceiling was decorated with gold and its\nwalls adorned with ultramarine.[FN#280] At its upper end was a\nda\u00efs,  whereon stood a goodly row of seats[FN#281] and thereon\nsat an hundred  damsels like moons. The house-master cried out to\nthem and  they came down from their seats. Then he turned to\nJa'afar and  said to him \"O my lord, I know not the honourable\nof you from  the more honourable: Bismillah! deign he that is\nhighest in rank  among you favour me by taking the head of the\nroom, and let his  brethren sit each in his several stead.\" So\nthey sat down, each  according to his degree, whilst Masrur abode\nstanding before them in  their service; and the host asked them,\n\"O my guests, with your  leave, shall I set somewhat of food\nbefore you?\" and they  answered, \"Yes.\" Hearing this he bade his\nhandmaids bring  food, whereupon four damsels with girded waists\nplaced in front  of them a table, whereon were rare meats of that\nwhich flieth  and walketh earth and swimmeth seas, sand-grouse\nand quails  and chickens and pigeons; and written on the raised\nedge of the  tray were verses such as sorted with the\nentertainment. So they  ate till they had enough and washed their\nhands, after which said  the young man, \"O my lords, if you have\nany want, let us know  it, that we may have the honour of\nsatisfying it.\" They replied,  \"'Tis well: we came not to thy\ndwelling save for the sake of a  voice we heard from behind the\nwall of thy house, and we would  fain hear it again and know her\nto whom it belongeth. So, an  thou deem right to vouchsafe us\nthis favour, it will be of the  generosity of thy nature, and\nafter we will return whence we  came.\" Quoth the host, \"Ye are\nwelcome;\" and, turning to a  black slave-girl, said to her,\n\"Fetch me thy mistress such an  one.\" So she went away and\nreturning with a chair of chinaware,  cushioned with brocade, set\nit down: then withdrew again and  presently returned with a\ndamsel, as she were the moon on the  night of its full, who sat\ndown on the chair. Then the black girl  gave her a bag of satin\nwherefrom she brought out a lute, inlaid  with gems and jacinths\nand furnished with pegs of gold.--And  Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her  permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nthe damsel came forward, she took her seat upon the chair and\nbrought out from its case a lute and behold, it was inlaid with\ngems and jacinths and furnished with pegs of gold. Then she\ntuned its strings, even as saith the poet of her and her lute in\nthese  lines,\n\n\"She sits it in lap like a mother fond * And she strikes the\n     strings that can make it speak:\nAnd ne'er smiteth her right an injurious touch * But her left\n     repairs of her right the wreak.[FN#282]\"\n\nThen she strained the lute to her bosom, bending over it as\nmother  bendeth over babe, and swept the strings which complained\nas  child to mother complaineth; after which she played upon it\nand  began improvisng these couplets,\n\n\"An Time my lover restore me I'll blame him fain, * Saying,\n     'Pass, O my dear, the bowl and in passing drain\nThe wine which hath never mixed with the heart of man * But he\n     passes to joy from annoy and to pleasure from pain.'\nThen Zephyr arose to his task of sustaining the cup: * Didst e'er\n     see full Moon that in hand the star hath ta'en?[FN#283]\nHow oft I talked thro' the night, when its rounded Lune * Shed on\n     darkness of Tigris' bank a beamy rain!\nAnd when Luna sank in the West 'twas as though she'd wave * O'er\n     the length of the watery waste a gilded glaive.\"\n\nWhen she had made an end of her verse, she wept with sore weeping\nand all who were in the place wept aloud till they were well-nigh\ndead; nor was there one of them but took leave of his wits  and\nrent his raiment and beat his face, for the goodliness of her\nsinging. Then said Al-Rashid, \"This damsel's song verily denoteth\nthat she is a lover departed from her beloved.\" Quoth her master,\n\"She hath lost father and mother;\" but quoth the Caliph, \"This\nis not the weeping of one who hath lost mother and father,  but\nthe yearning of one who hath lost him she loveth.\" And he  was\ndelighted with her singing and said to Isaac, \"By Allah,  never\nsaw I her like!\"; and Isaac said, \"O my lord, indeed I  marvel at\nher with utterest marvel and am beside myself for  delight.\" Now\nAl-Rashid with all this stinted not to look upon  the\nhouse-master and note his charms and the daintiness of his\nfashion; but he saw on his face a pallor as he would die; so he\nturned to him and said, \"Ho, youth!\" and the other said,\n\"Adsum!--at thy service, O my lord.\" The Caliph asked,  \"Knowest\nthou who we are?\"; and he answered, \"No.\" Quoth  Ja'afar, \"Wilt\nthou that I tell thee the names of each of us?\";  and quoth the\nyoung man \"Yes;\" when the Wazir said, \"This is  the Commander of\nthe Faithful, descendant of the uncle of the  Prince of the\nApostles,\" and named to him the others of the  company; after\nwhich quoth Al-Rashid, \"I wish that thou acquaint  me with the\ncause of the paleness of thy face, whether it be  acquired or\nnatural from thy birth-tide.\" Quoth he, \"O Prince of  True\nBelievers, my case is wondrous and my affair marvellous;  were it\ngraven with gravers on the eye-corners it were a warner to  whoso\nwill be warned.\" Said the Caliph, \"Tell it to me: haply  thy\nhealing may be at my hand.\" Said the young man, \"O  Commander of\nthe Faithful, lend me thine ears and give me thy  whole mind.\"\nAnd he, \"Come; tell it me, for thou makest me  long to hear it.\"\nSo the young man began,--\"Know then, O  Prince of True Believers,\nthat I am a merchant of the merchants  of the sea and come from\nOman city, where my sire was a trader  and a very wealthy trader\nhaving thirty ships trafficking upon the  main, whose yearly hire\nwas thirty thousand dinars; and he was a  generous man and had\ntaught me writing and all whereof a wight  hath need. When his\nlast hour drew near, he called me to him  and gave me the\ncustomary charge; then Almighty Allah took  him and admitted him\nto His mercy and may He continue the  Commander of the Faithful\non life! Now my late father had  partners trading with his coin\nand voyaging on the ocean. So one  day, as I sat in my house with\na company of merchants, a certain  of my servants came in to me\nand said, 'O my lord, there is at  the door a man who craveth\nadmittance to thee!' I gave leave  and he came in, bearing on his\nhead a something covered. He  set it down and uncovered it, and\nbehold it was a box wherein  were fruits out of season and herbs\nconserved in salt and fresh,  such as are not found in our land.\nI thanked him and gifted him  with an hundred dinars, and he went\naway grateful. Then I  divided these things amongst my friends\nand guests who were  present and asked them whence they came.\nQuoth they, 'They  come from Bassorah,' and praised them and went\non to portray  the beauties of Bassorah and all agreed that there\nwas naught in  the world goodlier than Baghdad and its people.\nThen they fell  to describing Baghdad and the fine manners of its\nfolk and the  excellence of its air and the beauty of its\nordinance, till my soul  longed for it and all my hopes clave to\nlooking upon it. So I arose  and selling my houses and lands,\nships and slaves, negroes and  handmaids, I got together my good,\nto wit, a thousand thousand dinars,  besides gems and jewels,\nwherewith I freighted a vessel and setting  out therein with the\nwhole of the property, voyaged awhile. Then  I hired a barque and\nembarking therein with all my monies sailed  up the river some\ndays till we arrived at Baghdad. I enquired  where the merchants\nabode and what part was pleasantest for  domicile and was\nanswered, 'The Karkh quarter.' So I went  thither and hiring a\nhouse in a thoroughfare called the Street of  Saffron,\ntransported all my goods to it and took up my lodging  therein\nfor some time. At last one day which was a Friday, I  sallied\nforth to solace myself taking with me somewhat of coin. I  went\nfirst to a cathedral-mosque, called the Mosque of Mansur,  where\nthe Friday service was held, and when we had made an end  of\ncongregational prayers, I fared forth with the folk to a place\nhight Karn al-Sirat, where I saw a tall and goodly mansion, with\na balcony overlooking the river-bank and pierced with a lattice-\nwindow. So I betook myself thither with a company of folk and\nsighted there an old man sitting, handsomely clad and exhaling\nperfumes. His beard forked upon his breast in two waves like\nsilver-wire, and about him were four damsels and five pages. So I\nsaid to one of the folk, 'What is the name of this old man and\nwhat is his business?'; and the man said, 'His name is T\u00e1hir  ibn\nal-Al\u00e1a, and he is a keeper of girls: all who go into him eat and\ndrink and look upon fair faces.' Quoth I, 'By Allah, this long\nwhile have I wandered about in search of something like\nthis!'\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying  her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-ninth Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nyoung merchant cried, \"'By Allah this long while I have gone\nabout in search of something like this!' So I went up to the\nShaykh, O Commander of the Faithful, and saluting him said to\nhim, 'O my lord, I need somewhat of thee!' He replied, 'What  is\nthy need?' and I rejoined, ''Tis my desire to be thy guest\nto-night.' He said, 'With all my heart; but, O my son, with me\nare  many damsels, some whose night is ten dinars, some forty and\nothers more. Choose which thou wilt have.' Quoth I, 'I  choose\nher whose night is ten dinars.' And I weighed out to him  three\nhundred dinars, the price of a month; whereupon he  committed me\nto a page, who carried me to a Hammam within the  house and\nserved me with goodly service. When I came out of  the Bath he\nbrought me to a chamber and knocked at the door,  whereupon out\ncame a handmaid, to whom said he, 'Take thy  guest!' She met me\nwith welcome and cordiality, laughing and  rejoicing, and brought\nme into a mighty fine room decorated with  gold. I considered her\nand saw her like the moon on the night of  its fulness having in\nattendance on her two damsels as they were  constellations. She\nmade me sit and seating herself by my side,  signed to her\nslave-girls who set before us a tray covered with  dishes of\nvarious kinds of meats, pullets and quails and sand-grouse  and\npigeons. So we ate our sufficiency, and never in my  life ate I\naught more delicious than this food. When we had eaten  she bade\nremove the tray and set on the service of wine and  flowers,\nsweetmeats and fruits; and I abode with her a month in  such\ncase. At the end of that time, I repaired to the Bath; then,\ngoing to the old man, I said to him, 'O my lord, I want her whose\nnight is twenty dinars.' 'Weigh down the gold,' said he. So I\nfetched money and weighed out to him six hundred dinars for a\nmonth's hire, whereupon he called a page and said to him, 'Take\nthy lord here.' Accordingly he carried me to the Hammam and\nthence to the door of a chamber, whereat he knocked and there\ncame out a handmaid, to whom quoth he, 'Take thy guest!' She\nreceived me with the goodliest reception and I found in\nattendance  on her four slave-girls, whom she commanded to bring\nfood. So  they fetched a tray spread with all manner meats, and I\nate.  When I had made an end of eating and the tray had been re-\nmoved, she took the lute and sang thereto these couplets,\n\n'O waftings of musk from the Babel-land! * Bear a message from me\n     which my longings have planned:\nMy troth is pledged to that place of yours, * And to friends\n     there 'biding--a noble band;\nAnd wherein dwells she whom all lovers love * And would hend, but\n     she cometh to no man's hand.'\n\nI abode with her a month, after which I returned to the Shaykh\nand said to him, 'I want the forty dinar one.' 'Weigh out the\nmoney,' said he. So I weighed out to him twelve hundred dinars,\nthe mensual hire, and abode with her one month as it were one\nday, for what I saw of the comeliness of her semblance and the\ngoodliness of her converse. After this I went to the Shaykh one\nevening and heard a great noise and loud voices; so I asked him,\n'What is to do?'; and he answered, saying, 'This is the night of\nour  remarkablest nights, when all souls embark on the river and\ndivert  themselves by gazing one upon other. Hast thou a mind to\ngo up  to the roof and solace thyself by looking at the folk?'\n'Yes,'  answered I, and went up to the terrace roof,[FN#284]\nwhence I could see a  gathering of people with flambeaux and\ncressets, and great mirth  and merriment. Then I went up to the\nend of the roof and beheld  there, behind a goodly curtain, a\nlittle chamber in whose midst  stood a couch of\njuniper-wood[FN#285] plated with shimmering gold and  covered\nwith a handsome carpet. On this sat a lovely young lady,\nconfounding all beholders with her beauty and comeliness and\nsymmetry and perfect grace, and by her side a youth, whose hand\nwas on her neck; and he was kissing her and she kissing him.\nWhen I saw them, O Prince of True Believers, I could not contain\nmyself nor knew where I was, so dazed and dazzled was I by her\nbeauty: but, when I came down, I questioned the damsel with  whom\nI was and described the young lady to her. 'What wilt  thou with\nher?' asked she; and I, 'She hath taken my wit.' 'O  Abu\nal-Hasan, hast thou a mind to her?' 'Ay, by Allah! for  she hath\ncaptivated my heart and soul.' 'This is the daughter of  Tahir\nibn al-Alaa; she is our mistress and we are all her  handmaids;\nbut knowest thou, O Abu al-Hasan, what be the price of  her night\nand her day?' 'No!' 'Five hundred dinars, for she  is a regret to\nthe heart of Kings!'[FN#286] 'By Allah, I will spend all I  have\non this damsel!' So saying I lay, heartsore for desire,  through\nthe livelong night till the morning, when I repaired to the\nHammam and presently donned a suit of the richest royal raiment\nand betaking myself to Ibn al-Alaa, said to him, 'O my lord, I\nwant her whose night is five hundred dinars.' Quoth he, 'Weigh\ndown the money.' So I weighed out to him fifteen thousand dinars\nfor a month's hire and he took them and said to the page,  'Carry\nhim to thy mistress such an one!' Accordingly he took  me and\ncarried me to an apartment, than which my eyes never saw  a\ngoodlier on the earth's face and there I found the young lady\nseated. When I saw her, O Commander of the Faithful, my reason\nwas confounded with her beauty, for she was like the full moon on\nits fourteenth night,\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of  day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Fiftieth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nyoung man continued to describe before the Prince of True\nBelievers the young lady's characteristics, saying, \"She was like\nthe full moon on her fourteenth night, a model of grace and\nsymmetry and loveliness. Her speech shamed the tones of the\nlute, and it was as it were she whom the poet meant in these\nverses,\n\n'She cried while played in her side Desire, * And Night o'er hung\n     her with blackest blee:--\n'O Night shall thy murk bring me ne'er a chum * To tumble and\n     futter this coynte of me?'\nAnd she smote that part with her palm and sighed * Sore sighs and\n     a-weeping continued she,\n'As the toothstick beautifies teeth e'en so * Must prickle to\n     coynte as a toothstick be.\nO Moslems, is never a stand to your tools, * To assist a woman's\n     necessity?'\nThereat rose upstanding beneath its clothes * My yard, as crying,\n     'At thee! at thee!'\nAnd I loosed her trouser-string, startling her: * 'Who art thou?'\n     and I said, 'A reply to thy plea!'\nAnd began to stroke her with wrist-thick yard, * Hurting hinder\n     cheeks by its potency:\nAnd she cried as I rose after courses three * 'Suit thy gree the\n     stroke!' and I--'suit thy gree!'\n\nAnd how excellent is the saying of another![FN#287],\n\n'A fair one, to idolaters if she her face should show, They'd\nleave their idols and her face for only Lord would know.\nIf in the Eastward she appeared unto a monk, for sure, He'd cease\nfrom turning to the West and to the East bend low;\nAnd if into the briny sea one day she chanced to spit, Assuredly\nthe salt sea's floods straight fresh and sweet would grow.'\n\nAnd that of another,\n\n'I looked at her one look and that dazed me * Such rarest gifts\n     of mind and form to see,\nWhen doubt inspired her that I loved her, and * Upon her cheeks\n     the doubt showed showily.'\n\nI saluted her and she said to me, 'Well come and welcome, and\nfair welcome!'; and taking me by the hand, O Prince of True\nBelievers, made me sit down by her side; whereupon, of the\nexcess of my desire, I fell a-weeping for fear of severance and\npouring forth the tears of the eye, recited these two couplets,\n\n'I love the nights of parting though I joy not in the same * Time\n     haply may exchange them for the boons of Union-day:\nAnd the days that bring Union I unlove for single thought, *\n     Seeing everything in life lacking steadfastness of stay.'\n\nThen she strave to solace me with soft sweet speech, but I was\ndrowned in the deeps of passion, fearing even in union the pangs\nof disunion, for excess of longing and ecstasy of passion; and I\nbethought me of the lowe of absence and estrangement and\nrepeated these two couplets,\n\n'I thought of estrangement in her embrace * And my eyes rained\n     tears red as 'Andam-wood.\nSo I wiped the drops on that long white neck; * For\n     camphor[FN#288] is wont to stay flow of blood.'\n\nThen she bade bring food and there came four damsels,\nhigh-bosomed girls and virginal, who set before us food and\nfruits and  confections and flowers and wine, such as befit none\nsave kings.  So, O Commander of the Faithful, we ate, and sat\nover our wine,  compassed about with blooms and herbs of sweet\nsavour, in a  chamber suitable only for kings. Presently, one of\nher maids  brought her a silken bag, which she opened and taking\nthereout  a lute, laid it in her lap and smote its strings,\nwhereat it  complained as child complaineth to mother, and she\nsang these two  couplets,\n\n'Drink not pure wine except from hand of slender youth * Like\n     wine for daintiness and like him eke the wine:\nFor wine no joyance brings to him who drains the cup * Save bring\n     the cup-boy cheek as fair and fain and fine.'\n\nSo, I abode with her, O Commander of the Faithful, month after\nmonth in similar guise, till all my money was spent; wherefore I\nbegan to bethink me of separation as I sat with her one day and\nmy tears railed down upon my cheeks like rills, and I became not\nknowing night from light. Quoth she, 'Why dost thou weep?';  and\nquoth I, 'O light of mine eyes, I weep because of our parting.'\nShe asked, 'And what shall part me and thee, O my lord?';  and I\nanswered, 'By Allah, O my lady, from the day I came  to thee, thy\nfather hath taken of me, for every night, five  hundred dinars,\nand now I have nothing left. Right soothfast is  the saw, 'Penury\nmaketh strangerhood at home and money  maketh a home in\nstrangerhood'; and indeed the poet speaks  truth when he saith,\n\n'Lack of good is exile to man at home; * And money shall house\nhim where'er he roam.'\n\nShe replied, 'Know that it is my father's custom, whenever a\nmerchant abideth with him and hath spent all his capital, to\nentertain him three days; then doth he put him out and he may\nreturn to us nevermore. But keep thou thy secret and conceal  thy\ncase and I will so contrive that thou shalt abide with me till\nsuch time as Allah will;[FN#289] for, indeed, there is in my\nheart a great  love for thee. Thou must know that all my father's\nmoney is  under my hand and he wotteth not its full tale; so,\nevery morning,  I will give thee a purse of five hundred dinars\nwhich do thou offer  to my sire, saying, 'Henceforth, I will pay\nthee only day by  day.' He will hand the sum to me, and I will\ngive it to thee  again, and we will abide thus till such time as\nmay please Allah.'  Thereupon I thanked her and kissed her hand;\nand on this wise,  O Prince of True Believers, I abode with her a\nwhole year, till  it chanced on a certain day that she beat one\nof her handmaids  grievously and the slave-girl said, 'By Allah,\nI will assuredly  torture thy heart, even as thou hast tortured\nme!' So she went  to the girl's father and exposed to him all\nthat had passed, first  and last, which when Tahir ibn Alaa heard\nhe arose forthright and  coming in to me, as I sat with his\ndaughter, said, 'Ho, such an  one!'; and I said, 'At thy\nservice.' Quoth he, ''Tis our wont,  when a merchant grow poor\nwith us, to give him hospitality three  days; but thou hast had a\nyear with us, eating and drinking and  doing what thou wouldst.'\nThen he turned to his pages and cried  to them, 'Pull off his\nclothes.' They did as he bade them and  gave me ten dirhams and\nan old suit worth five silvers; after  which he said to me, 'Go\nforth; I will not beat thee nor abuse  thee; but wend thy ways\nand if thou tarry in this town, thy blood  be upon thine own\nhead.' So I went forth, O Commander of the  Faithful, in my own\ndespite, knowing not whither to hie, for had  fallen on my heart\nall the trouble in the world and I was occupied  with sad thought\nand doubt. Then I bethought me of the wealth  which I had brought\nfrom Oman and said in myself, 'I came  hither with a thousand\nthousand dinars, part price of thirty ships,  and have made away\nwith it all in the house of yonder ill-omened  man, and now I go\nforth from him, bare and broken-hearted! But  there is no Majesty\nand there is no Might save in Allah, the  Glorious, the Great!'\nThen I abode three days in Baghdad,  without tasting meat or\ndrink, and on the fourth day seeing a ship  bound for Bassorah, I\ntook passage in her of the owner, and when  we reached our port,\nI landed and went into the bazar, being sore  anhungered.\nPresently, a man saw me, a grocer, whom I had  known aforetime,\nand coming up to me, embraced me, for he had  been my friend and\nmy father's friend before me. Then he  questioned me of my case,\nseeing me clad in those tattered clothes;  so I told him all that\nhad befallen me, and he said, 'By Allah,  this is not the act of\na sensible man! But after this that hath  befallen thee what dost\nthou purpose to do?' Quoth I, 'I know  not what I shall do,' and\nquoth he, 'Wilt thou abide with me  and write my outgo and income\nand thou shalt have two dirhams  a day, over and above thy food\nand drink?' I agreed to this and  abode with him, O Prince of\nTrue Believers, selling and buying,  till I had gotten an hundred\ndinars; when I hired me an upper  chamber by the river-side, so\nhaply a ship should come up with  merchandise, that I might buy\ngoods with the dinars and go back  with them to Baghdad. Now it\nfortuned that one day, there came  ships with merchandise, and\nall the merchants resorted to them to  buy, and I went with them\non board, when behold, there came  two men out of the hold and\nsetting themselves chairs on the  deck, sat down thereon. The\nmerchants addressed themselves to  the twain with intent to buy,\nand the man said to one of the crew,  'Bring the carpet.'\nAccordingly he brought the carpet and  spread it, and another\ncame with a pair of saddle-bags, whence  he took a budget and\nemptied it on the carpet; and our sights  were dazzled with that\nwhich issued therefrom of pearls and corals  and jacinths and\ncarnelians and other jewels of all sorts and  colours.\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and  ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young\nmerchant, after recounting to the Caliph the matter of the bag\nand  its containing jewels of all sorts, continued, \"Presently, O\nCommander of the Faithful, said one of the men on the chairs, 'O\ncompany of merchants, we will sell but this to-day, by way of\nspending-money, for that we are weary.' So the merchants fell to\nbidding  one against other for the jewels and bid till the price\nreached four  hundred dinars. Then said to me the owner of the\nbag (for he  was an old acquaintance of mine, and when he saw me,\nhe came  down to me and saluted me), 'Why dost thou not speak and\nbid  like the rest of the merchants?' I said, 'O my lord, by\nAllah,  the shifts of fortune have run against me and I have lost\nmy  wealth and have only an hundred dinars left in the world.'\nQuoth he, 'O Om\u00e1ni, after this vast wealth, can only an  hundred\ndinars remain to thee?' And I was abashed before  him and my eyes\nfilled with tears; whereupon he looked  at me and indeed my case\nwas grievous to him. So he said  to the merchants, 'Bear witness\nagainst me that I have sold  all that is in this bag of various\ngems and precious stones to  this man for an hundred gold pieces,\nalbeit I know them to be  worth so many thousand dinars, and this\nis a present from  me to him.' Then he gave me the saddle-bag and\nthe carpet,  with all the jewels that were thereon, for which I\nthanked him, and  each and every of the merchants present praised\nhim. Presently  I carried all this to the jewel-market and sat\nthere to sell and buy.  Now among the precious stones was a round\namulet of the handi-work  of the masters,[FN#290] weighing half a\npound: it was red of the  brightest, a carnelian on both whose\nsides were graven characts  and characters, like the tracks of\nants; but I knew not its worth.  I sold and bought a whole year,\nat the end of which I took the  amulet[FN#291] and said, 'This\nhath been with me some while, and I  know not what it is nor what\nmay be its value.' So I gave it to  the broker who took it and\nwent round with it and returned, saying,  'None of the merchants\nwill give me more than ten dirhams for  it.' Quoth I, 'I will not\nsell it at that price;' and he threw it in  my face and went\naway. Another day I again offered it for sale  and its price\nreached fifteen dirhams; whereupon I took it from  the broker in\nanger and threw it back into the tray. But a few  days after, as\nI sat in my shop, there came up to me a man, who  bore the traces\nof travel, and saluting me, said, 'By thy leave, I  will turn\nover what thou hast of wares.' Said I, ''Tis well,' and  indeed,\nO Commander of the Faithful, I was still wroth by reason  of the\nlack of demand for the talisman. So the man fell to turning  over\nmy wares, but took nought thereof save the amulet, which  when he\nsaw, he kissed his hand and cried, 'Praised be Allah!'  Then said\nhe to me, 'O my lord, wilt thou sell this?'; and I  replied,\n'Yes,' being still angry. Quoth he, 'What is its price?'  And I\nasked, 'How much wilt thou give?' He answered,  'Twenty dinars':\nso I thought he was making mock of me and  exclaimed, 'Wend thy\nways.' But he resumed, 'I will give thee  fifty dinars for it.' I\nmade him no answer, and he continued, 'A  thousand dinars.' But I\nwas silent, declining to reply, whilst he  laughed at my silence\nand said, 'Why dost thou not return me an  answer?' 'Hie thee\nhome,' repeated I and was like to quarrel  with him. But he bid\nthousand after thousand, and I still made  him no reply, till he\nsaid, 'Wilt thou sell it for twenty thousand  dinars?' I still\nthought he was mocking me; but the people  gathered about me and\nall of them said, 'Sell to him, and if he  buy not, we will all\nup and at him and drub him and thrust him  forth the city.' So\nquoth I to him, 'Wilt thou buy or dost thou  jest?'; and quoth\nhe, 'Wilt thou sell or dost thou joke?' I said,  'I will sell if\nthou wilt buy;' then he said, 'I will buy it for  thirty thousand\ndinars; take them and make the bargain;' so I  cried to the\nbystanders, 'Bear witness against him,' adding to  him, 'But on\ncondition that thou acquaint me with the virtues and  profit of\nthis amulet for which thou payest all this money.' He  answered,\n'Close the bargain, and I will tell thee this;' I rejoined,  'I\nsell it to thee;' and he retorted, 'Allah be witness of that\nwhich thou sayst and testimony!' Then he brought out the  gold\nand giving it to me took the amulet, and set it in his bosom;\nafter which he turned to me and asked, 'Art thou content?'\nAnswered I, 'Yes,' and he said to the people, 'Bear witness\nagainst him that he hath closed the bargain and touched the\nprice,  thirty thousand dinars.' Then he turned to me and said,\n'Harkye,  my poor fellow, hadst thou held back from selling, by\nAllah I  would have bidden thee up to an hundred thousand dinars,\nnay,  even to a thousand thousand!' When I heard these words, O\nCommander of the Faithful, the blood fled my face, and from that\nday there overcame it this pallor thou seest. Then said I to him,\n'Tell me the reason of this and what is the use of this amulet.'\nAnd he answered, saying, 'Know that the King of Hind hath  a\ndaughter, never was seen a thing fairer than she, and she is\npossessed with a falling sickness.[FN#292] So the King summoned\nthe  Scribes and men of science and Divines, but none of them\ncould  relieve her of this. Now I was present in the assembly; so\nI said  to him, 'O King, I know a man called Sa'adu'll\u00e1h the\nBabylonian,  than whom there is not on the face of the earth one\nmore masterly  in these matters, and if thou see fit to send me\nto him, do so.'  Said he, 'Go to him;' and quoth I, 'Bring me a\npiece of  carnelian.' Accordingly he gave me a great piece of\ncarnelian  and an hundred thousand dinars and a present, which I\ntook, and  with which I betook myself to the land of Babel. Then\nI sought  out the Shaykh and when he was shown to me I delivered\nto him  the money and the present, which he accepted and sending\nfor a  lapidary, bade him fashion the carnelian into this amulet.\nThen  he abode seven months in observation of the stars, till he\nchose  out an auspicious time for engraving it, when he graved\nupon it  these talismanic characters which thou seest, and I took\nit and  returned with it to the King.'\"--And Shahrazad perceived\nthe  dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-second Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nyoung man said to the Commander of the Faithful, \"'So after the\nShaykh had spoken, I took this talisman and returned with it to\nthe King. Now the Princess was bound with four chains, and  every\nnight a slave-girl lay with her and was found in the morning\nwith her throat cut. The King took the amulet and laid it upon\nhis daughter who was straightway made whole. At this he  rejoiced\nwith exceeding joy and invested me with a vest of honour  and\ngave alms of much money; and he caused set the amulet in  the\nPrincess's necklace. It chanced, one day, that she embarked  with\nher women in a ship and went for a sail on the sea. Presently,\none of her maids put out her hand to her, to sport with her, and\nthe necklace brake asunder and fell into the waves. From that\nhour the possessor[FN#293] of the Princess returned to her,\nwherefore  great grief betided the King and he gave me much\nmoney, saying,  'Go thou to Shaykh Sa'adu'llah and let him make\nher another  amulet, in lieu of that which is lost.' I journeyed\nto Babel,  but found the old man dead; whereupon I returned and\ntold the  King, who sent me and ten others to go round about in\nall  countries, so haply we might find a remedy for her: and now\nAllah  hath caused me happen on it with thee.' Saying these\nwords, he  took from me the amulet, O Commander of the Faithful,\nand went  his ways. Such, then, is the cause of the wanness of my\ncomplexion. As for me, I repaired to Baghdad, carrying all my\nwealth  with me, and took up my abode in the lodgings where I\nlived  whilome. On the morrow, as soon as it was light, I donned\nmy  dress and betook myself to the house of Tahir ibn al-Alaa,\nthat  haply I might see her whom I loved, for the love of her had\nnever  ceased to increase upon my heart. But when I came to his\nhome,  I saw the balcony broken down and the lattice builded up;\nso I  stood awhile, pondering my case and the shifts of Time,\ntill there  came up a serving-man, and I questioned him, saying,\n'What hath  God done with Tahir ibn al-Alaa?' He answered, 'O my\nbrother,  he hath repented to Almighty Allah.[FN#294]' Quoth I,\n'What was the  cause of his repentance?'; and quoth he, 'O my\nbrother, in such  a year there came to him a merchant, by name\nAbu al-Hasan the  Omani, who abode with his daughter awhile, till\nhis wealth was all  spent, when the old man turned him out,\nbroken-hearted. Now  the girl loved him with exceeding love, and\nwhen she was parted  from him, she sickened of a sore sickness\nand came nigh upon  death. As soon as her father knew how it was\nwith her, he sent  after and sought for Abu al-Hasan through the\nlands, pledging  himself to bestow upon whoso should produce him\nan hundred  thousand dinars; but none could find him nor come on\nany trace  of him; and she is now hard upon death.' Quoth I, 'And\nhow  is it with her sire?' and quoth the servant, 'He hath sold\nall his  girls, for grief of that which hath befallen him, and\nhath repented  to Almighty Allah.' Then asked I, 'What wouldst\nthou say to  him who should direct thee to Abu al-Hasan the\nOmani?'; and  he answered, 'Allah upon thee, O my brother, that\nthou do this  and quicken my poverty and the poverty of my\nparents![FN#295]' I  rejoined, 'Go to her father and say to him,\nThou owest me the  reward for good news, for that Abu al-Hasan\nthe Omani standeth  at the door.' With this he set off trotting,\nas he were a mule  loosed from the mill, and presently came back,\naccompanied by  Shaykh Tahir himself, who no sooner saw me than\nhe returned to  his house and gave the man an hundred thousand\ndinars which he  took and went away blessing me. Then the old man\ncame up and  embraced me and wept, saying, 'O my lord, where hast\nthou been  absent all this while? Indeed, my daughter hath been\nkilled by  reason of her separation from thee; but come with me\ninto the  house.' So we entered and he prostrated himself in\ngratitude to  the Almighty, saying, 'Praised be Allah who hath\nreunited us  with thee!' Then he went in to his daughter and said\nto her,  'The Lord hath healed thee of this sickness;' and said\nshe, 'O  my papa, I shall never be whole of my sickness, save I\nlook upon  the face of Abu al-Hasan.' Quoth he, 'An thou wilt eat\na morsel  and go to the Hammam, I will bring thee in company with\nhim.'  Asked she, 'Is it true that thou sayst?'; and he answered,\n'By  the Great God, 'tis true!' She rejoined, 'By Allah, if I\nlook  upon his face, I shall have no need of eating!' Then said\nhe to  his page, 'Bring in thy lord.' Thereupon I entered, and\nwhen  she saw me, O Prince of True Believers, she fell down in a\nswoon,  and presently coming to herself, recited this couplet,\n\n'Yea, Allah hath joined the parted twain, * When no thought they\nthought e'er to meet again.'\n\nThen she sat upright and said, 'By Allah, O my lord, I had not\ndeemed to see thy face ever more, save it were in a dream!' So\nshe embraced me and wept, and said, 'O Abu al-Hasan, now will  I\neat and drink.' The old man her sire rejoiced to hear these\nwords and they brought her meat and drink and we ate and drank,\nO Commander of the Faithful. After this, I abode with them\nawhile, till she was restored to her former beauty, when her\nfather  sent for the Kazi and the witnesses and bade write out\nthe  marriage-contract between her and me and made a mighty great\nbride-feast; and she is my wife to this day and this is my son by\nher.\" So saying he went away and returned with a boy of rare\nbeauty and symmetry of form and favour to whom said he, \"Kiss\nthe ground before the Commander of the Faithful.\" He kissed\nground before the Caliph, who marvelled at his beauty and\nglorified  his Creator; after which Al-Rashid departed, he and\nhis company,  saying, \"O Ja'afar, verily, this is none other than\na marvellous thing,  never saw I nor heard I aught more\nwondrous.\" When he was  seated in the palace of the Caliphate, he\ncried, \"O Masrur!\" who  replied, \"Here am I, O my lord!\" Then\nsaid he, \"Bring the  year's tribute of Bassorah and Baghdad and\nKhorasan, and set it  in this recess.[FN#296]\" Accordingly he\nlaid the three tributes together  and they were a vast sum of\nmoney, whose tale none might tell  save Allah. Then the Caliph\nbade draw a curtain before the  recess and said to Ja'afar,\n\"Fetch me Abu al-Hasan.\" Replied  Ja'afar, \"I hear and obey,\" and\ngoing forth, returned presently  with the Omani, who kissed\nground before the Caliph, fearing lest  he had sent for him\nbecause of some fault that he had committed  when he was with him\nin his house. Then said Al-Rashid,  \"Harkye, O Omani!\" and he\nreplied, \"Adsum, O Prince of True  Believers! May Allah ever\nbestow his favours upon thee!\"  Quoth the Caliph, \"Draw back\nyonder curtain.\" Thereupon  Abu al-Hasan drew back the curtain\nfrom the recess and  was confounded and perplexed at the mass of\nmoney he saw  there. Said Al-Rashid, \"O Abu al-Hasan, whether is\nthe more,  this money or that thou didst lose by the\namulet?[FN#297]\"; and he  answered, \"This is many times the\ngreater, O Commander of the  Faithful!\" Quoth the Caliph, \"Bear\nwitness, all ye who are  present, that I give this money to this\nyoung man.\" So Abu  al-Hasan kissed ground and was abashed and\nwept before the  Caliph for excess of joy. Now when he wept, the\ntears ran down  from his eyelids upon his cheeks and the blood\nreturned to its  place and his face became like the moon on the\nnight of its  fulness. Whereupon quoth the Caliph, \"There is no\ngod but the  God! Glory be to Him who decreeth change upon change\nand  is Himself the Everlasting who changeth not!\" Saying these\nwords, he bade fetch a mirror and showed Abu al-Hasan his face\ntherein, which when he saw, he prostrated himself, in gratitude\nto  the Most High Lord. Then the Caliph bade transport the money\nto Abu al-Hasan's house and charged the young man not to absent\nhimself from him, so he might enjoy his company as a\ncup-companion.  Accordingly he paid him frequent visits, till\nAl-Rashid  departed to the mercy of Almighty Allah; and glory be\nto Him  who dieth not the Lord of the Seen and the Unseen! And\namong  tales they tell is one touching\n\n\n\n\n                  IBRAHIM AND JAMILAH.[FN#298]\n\n\n\nAl-Khas\u00edb,[FN#299] Wazir of Egypt, had a son named Ibrah\u00edm, than\nwhom there was none goodlier, and of his fear for him, he\nsuffered him not to go forth, save to the Friday prayers. One\nday, as the youth was returning from the mosque, he came upon an\nold man, with whom were many books; so he lighted down from his\nhorse and seating himself beside him, began to turn over the\ntomes and examine them. In one of them he espied the semblance of\na woman which all but spoke, never was seen on the earth's face\none more beautiful; and as this captivated his reason and\nconfounded his wit, he said to the old man, \"O Shaykh, sell me\nthis picture.\" The bookseller kissed ground between his hands and\nsaid, \"O my lord, 'tis thine without price.[FN#300]\" Ibrahim gave\nhim an hundred dinars and taking the book in which was the\npicture, fell to gazing upon it and weeping night and day,\nabstaining from meat and drink and sleep. Then said he in his\nmind, \"An I ask the bookseller of the painter of this picture,\nhaply he will tell me; and if the original be living, I will seek\naccess to her; but, if it be only a picture, I will leave doting\nupon it and plague myself no more for a thing which hath no real\nexistence.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-third Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nyouth Ibrahim said in his mind, \"An I ask the bookseller of the\npainter of this picture, haply he will tell me; and, if it be\nonly a picture, I will leave doting upon it and plague myself no\nmore for a thing which hath no real existence.\" So on the next\nFriday he betook himself to the bookseller, who sprang up to\nreceive him, and said to him, \"Oh uncle, tell me who painted this\npicture.\" He replied, \"O my lord, a man of the people of Baghdad\npainted it, by name Abu al-K\u00e1sim al-Sandal\u00e1ni who dwelleth in a\nquarter called Al-Karkh; but I know not of whom it is the\nportraiture.\" So Ibrahim left him without acquainting any of his\nhousehold with his case, and returned to the palace, after\npraying the Friday prayers. Then he took a bag and filling it\nwith gold and gems to the value of thirty thousand dinars, waited\ntill the morning, when he went out, without telling any, and\npresently overtook a caravan. Here he saw a Badawi and asked him,\n\"O uncle, what distance is between me and Baghdad?\"; and the\nother answered,  \"O my son, where art thou, and where is\nBaghdad?[FN#301] Verily, between thee and it is two months'\njourney.\" Quoth Ibrahim, \"O nuncle, an thou wilt guide me to\nBaghdad, I will give thee an hundred dinars and this mare under\nme that is worth other thousand gold pieces;\" and quoth the\nBadawi, \"Allah be witness of what we say! Thou shalt not lodge\nthis night but with me.\" So Ibrahim agreed to this and passed the\nnight with him. At break of dawn, the Badawi took him and fared\non with him in haste by a near road, in his greed for the mare\nand the promised good; nor did they leave wayfaring till they\ncame to the walls of Baghdad, when said the wildling, \"Praised be\nAllah for safety! O my lord, this is Baghdad.\" Whereat Ibrahim\nrejoiced with exceeding joy and alighting from the mare, gave her\nto the Desert-man, together with the hundred dinars. Then he took\nthe bag and entering the city walked on, enquiring for the\nquarter Al-Karkh and the station of the merchants, till Destiny\ndrave him to a by-way, wherein were ten houses, five fronting\nfive, and at the farther end was a two-leaved door with a silver\nring. By the gate stood two benches of marble, spread with the\nfinest carpets, and on one of them sat a man of handsome aspect\nand reverend, clad in sumptuous clothing and attended by five\nMamelukes like moons. When the youth Ibrahim saw the street, he\nknew it by the description the bookseller had given him; so he\nsalamed to the man, who returned his salutation and bidding him\nwelcome, made him sit down and asked him of his case. Quoth\nIbrahim, \"I am a stranger man and desire of thy favour that thou\nlook me out a house in this street where I may take up my abode.\"\nWith this the other cried out, saying, \"Ho, Ghaz\u00e1lah![FN#302]\";\nand there came forth to him a slave-girl, who said, \"At thy\nservice, O my lord!\" Said her master, \"Take some servants and\nfare ye all and every to such a house and clean it and furnish it\nwith whatso is needful for this handsome youth.\" So she went\nforth and did his bidding; whilst the old man took the youth and\nshowed him the house; and he said, \"O my lord, how much may be\nthe rent of this house?\" The other answered, \"O bright of face, I\nwill take no rent of thee whilst thou abidest therein.\" Ibrahim\nthanked him for this and the old man called another slave-girl,\nwhereupon there came forth to him a damsel like the sun, to whom\nsaid he, \"Bring chess.\" So she brought it and one of the servants\nset the cloth;[FN#303] whereupon said the Shaykh to Ibrahim,\n\"Wilt thou play with me?\"; and he answered, \"Yes.\" So they played\nseveral games and Ibrahim beat him, when his adversary exclaimed,\n\"Well done, O youth! Thou art indeed perfect in qualities. By\nAllah, there is not one in Baghdad can beat me, and yet thou hast\nbeaten me!\" Now when they had made ready the house and furnished\nit with all that was needful, the old man delivered the keys to\nIbrahim and said to him, \"O my lord, wilt thou not enter my place\nand eat of my bread?\" He assented and walking in with him, found\nit a handsome house and a goodly, decorated with gold and full of\nall manner pictures and furniture galore and other things, such\nas tongue faileth to set out. The old man welcomed him and called\nfor food, whereupon they brought a table of the make of Sana'a of\nal-Yaman and spread it with all manner rare viands, than which\nthere was naught costlier nor more delicious. So Ibrahim ate his\nsufficiency, after which he washed his hands and proceeded to\ninspect the house and furniture. Presently, he turned to look for\nthe leather bag, but found it not and said in himself, \"There is\nno Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the\nGreat! I have eaten a morsel worth a dirham or two and have lost\na bag wherein is thirty thousand dinars' worth: but I seek aid of\nAllah!\" And he was silent and could not speak,--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nyouth Ibrahim saw that his bag was lost, he was silent and could\nnot speak for the greatness of his trouble. Presently his host\nbrought the chess and said to him, \"Wilt thou play with me?\"; and\nhe said, \"Yes.\" So they played and the old man beat him. Ibrahim\ncried, \"Well done!\" and left playing and rose: upon which his\nhost asked him, \"What aileth thee, O youth?\" whereto he answered,\n\"I want the bag.\" Thereupon the Shaykh rose and brought it out to\nhim, saying, \"Here it is, O my lord. Wilt thou now return to\nplaying with me?\" \"Yes,\" replied Ibrahim. Accordingly they played\nand the young man beat him. Quoth the Shaykh, \"When thy thought\nwas occupied with the bag, I beat thee: but, now I have brought\nit back to thee, thou beatest me. But, tell me, O my son, what\ncountryman art thou.\" Quoth Ibrahim, \"I am from Egypt,\" and quoth\nthe oldster, \"And what is the cause of thy coming to Baghdad?\";\nwhereupon Ibrahim brought out the portrait and said to him,\n\"Know, O uncle, that I am the son of Al-Kasib, Wazir of Egypt,\nand I saw with a bookseller this picture, which bewildered my\nwit. I asked him who painted it and he said, 'He who wrought it\nis a man, Abu al-Kasim al-Sandalani hight, who dwelleth in a\nstreet called the Street of Saffron in the Karkh quarter of\nBaghdad.' So I took with me somewhat of money and came hither\nalone, none knowing of my case; and I desire of the fullness of\nthy favour that thou direct me to Abu al-Kasim, so I may ask him\nof the cause of his painting this picture and whose portrait it\nis. And whatsoever he desireth of me, I will give him that\nsame.\" Said his host, \"By Allah, O my son, I am Abu al-Kasim al-\nSandalani, and this is a prodigious thing how Fate hath thus\ndriven thee to me!\" Now when Ibrahim heard these words, he rose\nto him and embraced him and kissed his head and hands, saying,\n\"Allah upon thee, tell me whose portrait it is!\" The other\nreplied, \"I hear and I obey,\" and rising, opened a closet and\nbrought out a number of books, wherein he had painted the same\npicture. Then said he, \"Know, O my son, that the original of this\nportrait is my cousin, the daughter of my father's brother, whose\nname is Ab\u00fa al-Lays.[FN#304] She dwelleth in Bassorah of which\ncity her father is governor, and her name is Jam\u00edlah--the\nbeautiful. There is not on the face of the earth a fairer than\nshe; but she is averse from men and cannot hear the word 'man'\npronounced in her presence. Now I once repaired to my uncle, to\nthe intent that he should marry me to her, and was lavish of\nwealth to him; but he would not consent thereto: and when his\ndaughter knew of this she was indignant and sent to me to say,\namongst other things, 'An thou have wit, tarry not in this town;\nelse wilt thou perish and thy sin shall be on thine own\nneck.[FN#305]' For she is a virago of viragoes. Accordingly I\nleft Bassorah, brokenhearted, and limned this likeness of her in\nbooks and scattered them abroad in various lands, so haply they\nmight fall into the hands of a comely youth like thyself and he\ncontrive access to her and peradventure she might fall in love\nwith him, purposing to take a promise of him that, when he should\nhave possession of her, he would show her to me, though I look\nbut for a moment from afar off.\" When Ibrahim son of Al-Kasib\nheard these words, he bowed his head awhile in thought and\nAl-Sandalani said to him, \"O my son, I have not seen in Baghdad a\nfairer than thou, and meseems that, when she seeth thee, she will\nlove thee. Art thou willing, therefore, in case thou be united\nwith her and get possession of her, to show her to me, if I look\nbut for a moment from afar?\" Ibrahim replied, Yes; and the\npainter rejoined, \"This being so, tarry with me till thou set\nout.\" But the youth  retorted, \"I cannot tarry longer; for my\nheart with love of her is all afire.\" \"Have patience three days,\"\nsaid the Shaykh, \"till I fit thee out a ship, wherein thou mayst\nfare to Bassorah.\" Accordingly he waited whilst the old man\nequipped him a craft and stored therein all that he needed of\nmeat and drink and so forth. When the three days were past, he\nsaid to Ibrahim, \"Make thee ready for the voyage; for I have\nprepared thee a packet-boat furnished with all thou requirest.\nThe craft is my property and the seamen are of my servants. In\nthe vessel is what will suffice thee till thy return, and I have\ncharged the crew to serve thee till thou come back in safety.\"\nThereupon Ibrahim farewelled his host and embarking, sailed down\nthe river till he came to Bassorah, where he pulled out an\nhundred dinars for the sailors, but they said, \"We have gotten\nour hire of our lord.\" However he replied, \"Take this by way of\nlargesse; and I will not acquaint him therewith.\" So they took it\nand blessed him. Then the youth landed and entering the town\nasked, \"Where do the merchants lodge?\" and was answered, \"In a\nKhan called the Khan of Hamad\u00e1n.\"[FN#306] So he walked to the\nmarket wherein stood the Khan, and all eyes were fixed upon him\nand men's sight was attracted to him by reason of his exceeding\nbeauty and loveliness. He entered the caravanserai, with one of\nthe sailors in his company; and, asking for the porter, was\ndirected to an aged man of reverend aspect. He saluted him and\nthe doorkeeper returned his greeting; after which Ibrahim said to\nhim, \"O uncle, hast thou a nice chamber?\" He replied, 'Yes,\" and\ntaking him and the sailor, opened to them a handsome room\ndecorated with gold, and said, \"O youth, this chamber befitteth\nthee.\" Ibrahim pulled out two dinars and gave them to him,\nsaying, \"Take these to key-money.\"[FN#307] And the porter took\nthem and blessed him. Then the youth Ibrahim sent the sailor back\nto the ship and entered the room, where the doorkeeper abode with\nhim and served him, saying, \"O my lord, thy coming hath brought\nus joy!\" Ibrahim gave him a dinar, and said, \"Buy us herewith\nbread and meat and sweetmeats and wine.\" Accordingly the\ndoorkeeper went to the market; and, buying ten dirhams' worth of\nvictual, brought it back to Ibrahim and gave him the other ten\ndirhams. But he cried to him, \"Spend them on thyself;\" whereat\nthe porter rejoiced with passing joy. Then he ate a scone with a\nlittle kitchen[FN#308] and gave the rest to the concierge,\nadding, \"Carry this to the people of thy household.\" The porter\ncarried it to his family and said to them, \"Methinketh there is\nnot on the face of the earth a more generous than the young man\nwho has come to lodge with us this day, nor yet a pleasanter than\nhe. An he abide with us, we shall grow rich.\" Then he returned to\nIbrahim and found him weeping; so he sat down and began to\nrub[FN#309] his feet and kiss them, saying, \"O my lord, wherefore\nweepest thou? May Allah not make thee weep!\" Said Ibrahim, \"O\nuncle, I have a mind to drink with thee this night;\" and the\nporter replied, \"Hearing and obeying!\" So he gave him five dinars\nand said, \"Buy us fresh fruit and wine;\" and presently added\nother five, saying, \"With these buy also for us dessert[FN#310]\nand flowers and five fat fowls and bring me a lute.\" The\ndoorkeeper went out and, buying what he had ordered, said to his\nwife, \"Strain this wine and cook us this food and look thou dress\nit daintily, for this young man overwhelmeth us with his\nbounties.\" She did as he bade her, to the utmost of desire; and\nhe took the victuals and carried them to Ibrahim son of the\nSultan.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that then they\nate and drank and made merry, and Ibrahim wept and repeated the\nfollowing verses,\n\n\"O my friend! an I rendered my life, my sprite, * My wealth and\n     whatever the world can unite;\nNay, th' Eternal Garden and Paradise[FN#311] * For an hour of\n     Union my heart would buy't!\"\n\nThen he sobbed a great sob and fell down a-swoon. The porter\nsighed, and when he came to himself, he said to him, \"O my lord,\nwhat is it gars thee weep and who is she to whom thou alludest in\nthese verses? Indeed, she cannot be but as dust to thy feet.\" But\nIbrahim arose and for all reply brought out a parcel of the\nrichest raiment that women wear and said to him, \"Take this to\nthy Harim.\" So he carried it to his wife and she returned with\nhim to the young man's lodging and behold, she found him weeping,\nquoth the doorkeeper to him, \"Verily, thou breakest our hearts!\nTell us what fair one thou desirest, and she shall be naught save\nthy handmaid.\" Quoth he, \"O uncle, know that I am the son of\nal-Kasib, Wazir of Egypt, and I am enamoured of Jamilah, daughter\nof Abu al-Lays the Governor.\" Exclaimed the porter's wife,\n\"Allah! Allah! O my brother, leave this talk, lest any hear of us\nand we perish. Verily there is not on earth's face a more\nmasterful than she, nor may any name to her the word 'man', for she\nis averse from men. Wherefore, O my son, turn from her to other\nthan her.\" Now when Ibrahim heard this, he wept with sore weeping\nand the doorkeeper said to him, \"I have nothing save my life; but\nthat I will risk for thy love and find thee a means of winning\nthy will.\" Then the twain went out from him, and on the morrow he\nbetook himself to the Hammam and donned a suit of royal raiment,\nafter which he returned to his lodging, when behold, the porter\nand his wife came in to him and said, \"Know, O my lord, that\nthere is a humpbacked tailor here who seweth for the lady\nJamilah. Go thou to him and acquaint him with thy case; haply he\nwill show thee the way of attaining thine aim.\" So the youth\nIbrahim arose and betaking himself to the shop of the humpbacked\ntailor, went in to him and found with him ten Mamelukes as they\nwere moons. He saluted them with the salam, and they returned his\ngreeting and bade him welcome and made him sit down; and indeed\nthey rejoiced in him and were amazed at his charms and\nloveliness, especially the hunchback who was confounded at his\nbeauty of form and favour. Presently he said to the Gobbo, \"I\ndesire that thou sew me up my pocket;\" and the tailor took a\nneedleful of silk and sewed up his pocket which he had torn\npurposely; whereupon Ibrahim gave him five dinars and returned to\nhis lodging. Quoth the tailor, \"What thing have I done for this\nyouth, that he should give me five gold pieces?\" And he passed\nthe night, pondering his beauty and generosity. And when morning\nmorrowed Ibrahim repaired to the shop and saluted the tailor, who\nreturned his salam and welcomed him and made much of him. Then he\nsat down and said to the hunchback, \"O uncle, sew up my pocket,\nfor I have rent it again.\" Replied the tailor, \"On my head and\neyes, O my son,\" and sewed it up; whereupon Ibrahim gave him ten\nducats and he took them, amazed at his beauty and generosity.\nThen said he, \"By Allah, O youth, for this conduct of thine needs\nmust be a cause, this is no matter of sewing up a pocket. But\ntell me the truth of thy case. An thou be in love with one of\nthese boys,[FN#312] by Allah, there is not among them a comelier\nthan thou, for they are each and every as the dust at thy feet;\nand behold, they are all thy slaves and at thy command. Or if it\nbe other than this, tell me.\" Replied Ibrahim, \"O uncle, this is\nno place for talk, for my case is wondrous and my affair\nmarvellous.\" Rejoined the tailor, \"An it be so, come with me to a\nplace apart.\" So saying, he rose up in haste and took the youth\nby the hand and carrying him into a chamber behind the shop,\nsaid, \"Now tell me thy tale, O youth!\" Accordingly Ibrahim\nrelated his story first and last to the tailor, who was amazed at\nhis speech and cried, \"O youth, fear Allah for thyself :[FN#313]\nindeed she of whom thou speakest is a virago and averse from men.\nWherefore, O my brother, do thou guard thy tongue, else thou wilt\ndestroy thyself.\" When Ibrahim heard the hunchback's words, he\nwept with sore weeping and clinging to the tailor's skirts said,\n\"Help me, O my uncle, or I am a dead man; for I have left my\nkingdom and the kingdom of my father and grandfather and am\nbecome a stranger in the lands and lonely; nor can I endure\nwithout her.\" When the tailor saw how it was with him, he pitied\nhim and said, \"O my son, I have but my life and that I will\nventure for thy love, for thou makest my heart ache. But by to-\nmorrow I will contrive thee somewhat whereby thy heart shall be\nsolaced.\" Ibrahim blessed him and returning to the khan, told the\ndoorkeeper what  the hunchback had said, and he answered,\n\"Indeed, he hath dealt kindly with thee.\" Next morning, the youth\ndonned his richest dress and taking a purse of gold, repaired to\nthe Gobbo and saluted him. Then he sat down and said, \"O uncle,\nkeep thy word with me.\" Quoth the hunchback, \"Arise forthright\nand take thee three fat fowls and three ounces[FN#314] of sugar-\ncandy and two small jugs which do thou fill with wine; also a\ncup. Lay all these in a budget[FN#315] and to-morrow, after the\nmorning-prayers, take boat with them, saying to the boatman, 'I\nwould have thee row me down the river below Bassorah.' An he say\nto thee, 'I cannot go farther than a parasang' do thou answer,\n'As thou wilt;' but, when he shall have come so far, lure him on\nwith money to carry thee farther; and the first flower-garden\nthou wilt descry after this will be that of the lady Jamilah. Go\nup to the gate as soon as thou espiest it and there thou wilt see\ntwo high steps, carpeted with brocade, and seated thereon a\nQuasimodo like me. Do thou complain to him of thy case and crave\nhis favour: belike he will have compassion on thy condition and\nbring thee to the sight of her, though but for a moment from\nafar. This is all I can do for thee; and unless he be moved to\npity for thee, we be dead men, I and thou. This then is my rede\nand the matter rests with the Almighty.\" Quoth Ibrahim, \"I seek\naid of Allah; whatso He willeth becometh; and there is no Majesty\nand there is no Might save in Allah!\" Then he left the hunchback\ntailor and returned to his lodging where, taking the things his\nadviser had named, he laid them in a bag. On the morrow, as soon\nas it was day, he went down to Tigris bank, where he found a\nboatman asleep; so he awoke him and giving him ten sequins, bade\nhim row him down the river below Bassorah. Quoth the man, \"O my\nlord, it must be on condition that I go no farther than a\nparasang; for if I pass that distance by a span, I am a lost man,\nand thou too.\" And quoth Ibrahim, \"Be it as thou wilt.\" Thereupon\nhe took him and dropped down the river with him till he drew near\nthe flower garden, when he said to him, \"O my son, I can go no\nfarther; for, if I pass this limit, we are both dead men.\" Hereat\nIbrahim pulled out other ten dinars and gave them to him, saying,\n\"Take this spending-money and better thy case therewithal.\" The\nboatman was ashamed to refuse him and fared on with him crying \"I\ncommit the affair to Allah the Almighty!\"--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nthe youth Ibrahim gave the boatman other ten dinars, the man took\nthem, saying, \"I commit the affair to Allah the Almighty!\" and\nfared on with him down stream. When they came to the flower\ngarden, the youth sprang out of the boat, in his joy, a spring of\na spear's cast from the land, and cast himself down, whilst the\nboatman turned and fled. Then Ibrahim fared forward and found all\nas it had been described by the Gobbo: he also saw the garden-\ngate open, and in the porch a couch of ivory, whereon sat a hump\nbacked man of pleasant presence, clad in gold-laced clothes and\nhending in hand a silvern mace plated with gold. So he hastened\nup to him and seizing his hand kissed it; whereupon asked the\nhunchback, \"Who art thou and whence comest thou and who brought\nthee hither, O my son?\" And indeed, when the man saw Ibrahim\nKhasib-son, he was amazed at his beauty. He answered, \"O uncle, I\nam an ignorant lad and a stranger,\" and he wept. The hunchback\nhad pity on him and taking him up on the couch, wiped away his\ntears and said to him, \"No harm shall come to thee. An thou be in\ndebt, may Allah settle thy debt: and if thou be in fear, may\nAllah appease thy fear!\" Replied Ibrahim, \"O uncle, I am neither\nin fear nor am I in debt, but have money in plenty, thanks to\nAllah.\" Rejoined the other, \"Then, O my son, what is thy need\nthat thou venturest thyself and thy loveliness to a place wherein\nis destruction?\" So he told him his story and disclosed to him\nhis case, whereupon the man bowed his head earthwards awhile,\nthen said to him, \"Was he who directed thee to me the humpbacked\ntailor?\" \"Yes,\" answered Ibrahim, and the keeper said, \"This is\nmy brother, and he is a blessed man!\" presently adding, \"But, O\nmy son, had not affection for thee sunk into my heart, and had I\nnot taken compassion on thee, verily thou wert lost, thou and my\nbrother and the doorkeeper of the Khan and his wife. For know\nthat this flower-garden hath not its like on the face of the\nearth and that it is called the Garden of the Wild\nHeifer,[FN#316] nor hath any entered it in all my life long, save\nthe Sultan and myself and its mistress Jamilah; and I have dwelt\nhere twenty years and never yet saw any else attain to this\nstead. Every forty days the Lady Jamilah cometh hither in a bark\nand landeth in the midst of her women, under a canopy of satin,\nwhose skirts ten damsels hold up with hooks of gold, whilst she\nentereth, and I see nothing of her. Natheless, I have but my life\nand I will risk it for the sake of thee.\" Herewith Ibrahim kissed\nhis hand and the keeper said to him, \"Sit by me, till I devise\nsomewhat for thee.\" Then he took him by the hand and carried him\ninto the flower-garden which, when he saw, he deemed it Eden, for\ntherein were trees intertwining and palms high towering and\nwaters welling and birds with various voices carolling.\nPresently, the keeper brought him to a domed pavilion and said to\nhim, \"This is where the Lady Jamilah sitteth.\" So he examined it\nand found it of the rarest of pleasances, full of all manner\npaintings in gold and lapis lazuli. It had four doors, whereto\nman mounted by five steps, and in its centre was a cistern of\nwater, to which led down steps of gold all set with precious\nstones. Amiddlewards the basin was a fountain of gold, with\nfigures, large and small, and water jetting in gerbes from their\nmouths; and when, by reason of the issuing forth of the water,\nthey attuned themselves to various tones, it seemed to the hearer\nas though he were in Eden. Round the pavilion ran a channel of\nwater, turning a Persian wheel[FN#317] whose buckets[FN#318] were\nsilvern covered with brocade. To the left of the pavilion[FN#319]\nwas a lattice of silver, giving upon a green park, wherein were\nall manner wild cattle and gazelles and hares, and on the right\nhand was another lattice, overlooking a meadow full of birds of\nall sorts, warbling in various voices and bewildering the\nhearers' wits. Seeing all this the youth was delighted and sat\ndown in the doorway by the gardener, who said to him, \"How\nseemeth to thee my garden?\" Quoth Ibrahim \"'Tis the Paradise of\nthe world!\" Whereat the gardener laughed. Then he rose and was\nabsent awhile and presently returned with a tray, full of fowls\nand quails and other dainties including sweet-meats of sugar,\nwhich he set before Ibrahim, saying, \"Eat thy sufficiency.\" So he\nate his fill, whereat the keeper rejoiced and cried, \"By Allah,\nthis is the fashion of Kings and sons of Kings!\"[FN#320] Then\nsaid he, \"O Ibrahim, what hast thou in yonder bag?\" Accordingly\nhe opened it before him and the keeper said, \"Carry it with thee;\n'twill serve thee when the Lady Jamilah cometh; for when once she\nis come, I shall not be able to bring thee food.\" Then he rose\nand taking the youth by the hand, brought him to a place fronting\nthe pavilion, where he made him an arbour[FN#321] among the trees\nand said to him, \"Get thee up here, and when she cometh thou wilt\nsee her and she will not see thee. This is the best I can do for\nthee and on Allah be our dependence! Whenas she singeth, drink\nthou to her singing, and whenas she departeth thou shalt return\nin safety whence thou camest, Inshallah!\" Ibrahim thanked him and\nwould have kissed his hand, but he forbade him. Then the youth\nlaid the bag in the arbour and the keeper said to him, \"O\nIbrahim, walk about and take thy pleasure in the garth and eat of\nits fruits, for thy mistress's coming is appointed to be to-\nmorrow.\" So he solaced himself in the garden and ate of its\nfruits; after which he nighted with the keeper. And when morning\nmorrowed and showed its sheen and shone, he prayed the dawn-\nprayer and presently the keeper came to him with a pale face, and\nsaid to him, \"Rise, O my son, and go up into the arbour: for the\nslave-girls are come to order the place, and she cometh after\nthem;\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-seventh Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nkeeper came to Ibrahim Khasib-son in the Garden he said to him,\n\"Rise, O my son, and go up into the arbour; for the slave-girls\nare come to order the place and she cometh after them. So beware\nlest thou spit or sneeze or blow thy nose[FN#322]; else we are\ndead men, I and thou.\" Hereupon Ibrahim rose and went up into his\nnest, whilst the keeper fared forth, saying, \"Allah grant thee\nsafety, O my son!\" Presently behold, up came four slave-girls,\nwhose like none ever saw, and entering the pavilion, doffed their\nouter dresses and washed it. Then they sprinkled it with rose-\nwater and incensed it with ambergris and aloes-wood and spread it\nwith brocade. After these came fifty other damsels, with\ninstruments of music, and amongst them Jamilah, within a canopy\nof red brocade, whose skirts the handmaidens bore up with hooks\nof gold, till she had entered the pavilion, so that Ibrahim saw\nnaught of her nor of her raiment. So he said to himself, \"By\nAllah, all my travail is lost! But needs must I wait to see how\nthe case will be.\" Then the damsels brought meat and drink and\nthey ate and drank and washed their hands, after which they set\nher a royal chair and she sat down; and all played on instruments\nof music and with ravishing voices incomparably sang. Presently,\nout ran an old woman, a duenna, and clapped hands and danced,\nwhilst the girls pulled her about, till the curtain was lifted\nand forth came Jamilah laughing. Ibrahim gazed at her and saw\nthat she was clad in costly robes and ornaments, and on her head\nwas a crown set with pearls and gems. About her long fair neck\nshe wore a necklace of unions and her waist was clasped with a\ngirdle of chrysolite bugles, with tassels of rubies and pearls.\nThe damsels kissed ground before her, and, 'When I considered\nher\" (quoth Ibrahim), \"I took leave of my senses and wit and I\nwas dazed and my thought was confounded for amazement at the\nsight of loveliness whose like is not on the face of the earth.\nSo I fell into a swoon and coming to myself, weeping-eyed,\nrecited these two couplets,\n\n'I see thee and close not mine eyes for fear * Lest their lids\n     prevent me beholding thee:\nAn I gazed with mine every glance these eyne * Ne'er could sight\n     all the loveliness moulding thee.'\"\n\nThen said the old Kahramanah[FN#323] to the girls, \"Let ten of\nyou arise and dance and sing.\" And Ibrahim when looking at them\nsaid in himself, \"I wish the lady Jamilah would dance.\" When the\nhandmaidens had made an end of their pavane, they gathered round\nthe Princess and said to her, \"O my lady, we long for thee to\ndance amongst us, so the measure of our joy may be fulfilled, for\nnever saw we a more delicious day than this.\" Quoth Ibrahim to\nhimself, \"Doubtless the gates of Heaven are open[FN#324] and\nAllah hath granted my prayer.\"  Then the damsels bussed her feet\nand said to her, \"By Allah, we never saw thee broadened of breast\nas to-day!\" Nor did they cease exciting her, till she doffed her\nouter dress and stood in a shift of cloth of gold,[FN#325]\nbroidered with various jewels, showing breasts which stood out\nlike pomegranates and unveiling a face as it were the moon on the\nnight of fullness. Then she began to dance, and Ibrahim beheld\nmotions he had never in his life seen their like, for she showed\nsuch wondrous skill and marvellous invention, that she made men\nforget the dancing of bubbles in wine-cups and called to mind the\ninclining of the turbands from head[FN#326]-tops: even as saith\nof her the poet[FN#327],\n\n\"A dancer whose form is like branch of Ban! * Flies my soul well\n     nigh as his steps I greet:\nWhile he dances no foot stands still and meseems * That the fire\n     of my heart is beneath his feet.\"\n\nAnd as quoth another,[FN#328]\n\n\"A dancer whose figure is like a willow-branch: my soul almost\n     quitteth me at the sight of her movements.\nNo foot can remain stationary at her dancing, she is as though\n     the fire of my heart were beneath her feet.\"\n\nQuoth Ibrahim, \"As I gazed upon her, she chanced to look up and\ncaught sight of me whereupon her face changed and she said to her\nwomen, 'Sing ye till I come back to you.' Then, taking up a knife\nhalf a cubit long, she made towards me, crying, 'There is no\nMajesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the\nGreat!' Now when I saw this, I well-nigh lost my wits; but, whenas\nshe drew near me and face met face, the knife dropped from her\nhand, and she exclaimed, 'Glory to Him who changeth men's\nhearts!' Then said she to me, 'O youth, be of good cheer, for\nthou art safe from what thou dost fear!' Whereupon I fell to\nweeping, and she to wiping away my tears with her hand and\nsaying, 'O youth, tell me who thou art, and what brought thee\nhither.' I kissed the ground before her and seized her skirt; and\nshe said, 'No harm shall come to thee; for, by Allah, no male hath\never filled mine eyes[FN#329] but thyself! Tell me, then, who\nthou art.' So I recited to her my story from first to last,\nwhereat she marvelled and said to me, 'O my lord, I conjure thee\nby Allah, tell me if thou be Ibrahim bin al-Khasib?' I replied,\n'Yes!' and she threw herself upon me, saying, 'O my lord, 'twas\nthou madest me averse from men; for, when I heard that there was\nin the land of Egypt a youth than whom there was none more\nbeautiful on earth's face, I fell in love with thee by report,\nand my heart became enamoured of thee, for that which reached me\nof thy passing comeliness, so that I was, in respect of thee,\neven as saith the poet,\n\n'Mine ear forewent mine eye in loving him; * For ear shall love\nbefore the eye at times.'\n\n'So praised be Allah who hath shown thy face! But, by the\nalmighty, had it been other than thou, I had crucified the keeper\nof the garden and the porter of the Khan and the tailor and him\nwho had recourse to them!' And presently she added, 'But how\nshall I contrive for somewhat thou mayst eat, without the\nknowledge of my women?' Quoth I, 'With me is somewhat we may eat\nand drink;' and I opened the bag before her. She took a fowl and\nbegan to morsel me and I to morsel her; which when I saw, it\nseemed to me that this was a dream. Then I brought out wine and\nwe drank, what while the damsels sang on; nor did they leave to\ndo thus from morn to noon, when she rose and said, 'Go now and\nget thee a boat and await me in such a place, till I come to\nthee: for I have no patience left to brook severance.' I replied,\n'O my lady, I have with me a ship of my own, whose crew are in my\nhire, and they await me.' Rejoined she, 'This is as we would have\nit,' and returning to her women,\"--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nLady Jamilah returned to her women, she said to them, \"Come, let\nus go back to our palace.\" They replied, \"Why should we return\nnow, seeing that we use to abide here three days?\" Quoth she, \"I\nfeel an exceeding oppression in myself, as though I were sick,\nand I fear lest this increase upon me.\"[FN#330] So they answered,\n\"We hear and obey,\" and donning their walking-dresses went down\nto the river-bank and embarked in a boat; whereupon behold, the\nkeeper of the garden came up to Ibrahim and said to him, knowing\nnot what had happened, \"O Ibrahim, thou hast not had the luck to\nenjoy the sight of her, and I fear lest she have seen thee, for\n'tis her wont to tarry here three days.\" Replied Ibrahim, \"She\nsaw me not nor I her; for she came not forth of the\npavilion.\"[FN#331] Rejoined the keeper, \"True, O my son, for, had\nshe seen thee, we were both dead men: but abide with me till she\ncome again next week, and thou shalt see her and take thy fill of\nlooking at her.\" Replied the Prince, \"O my lord, I have with me\nmoney and fear for it: I also left men behind me and I dread lest\nthey take advantage of my absence.\"[FN#332] He retorted, \"O my\nson 'tis grievous to me to part with thee;\" and he embraced and\nfarewelled him. Then Ibrahim returned to the Khan where he\nlodged, and foregathering with the doorkeeper, took of him all\nhis property and the porter said, \"Good news, Inshallah!\"[FN#333]\nBut Ibrahim said, \"I have found no way to my want, and now I am\nminded to return to my people.\" Whereupon the porter wept; then\ntaking up his baggage, he carried them to the ship and abade him\nadieu. Ibrahim repaired to the place which Jamilah had appointed\nhim and awaited her there till it grew dark, when, behold, she\ncame up, disguised as a bully-boy with rounded beard and waist\nbound with a girdle. In one hand she held a bow and arrows and in\nthe other a bared blade, and she asked him, \"Art thou Ibrahim,\nson of al-Khasib, lord of Egypt?\" \"He I am,\" answered the Prince;\nand she said, \"What ne'er-do-well art thou, who comes to debauch\nthe daughters of Kings? Come: speak with the Sultan.\"[FN#334]\n\"Therewith\" (quoth Ibrahim) \"I fell down in a swoon and the\nsailors died[FN#335] in their skins for fear; but, when she saw\nwhat had betided me, she pulled off her beard and throwing down\nher sword, ungirdled her waist whereupon I knew her for the Lady\nJamilah and said to her, 'By Allah, thou hast rent my heart in\nsunder!'[FN#336] adding to the boatmen, 'Hasten the vessel's\nspeed.' So they shook out the sail and putting off, fared on with\nall diligence; nor was it many days ere we made Baghdad, where\nsuddenly we saw a ship lying by the river-bank. When her sailors\nsaw us, they cried out to our crew, saying, 'Ho, such an one and\nsuch an one, we give you joy of your safety!' Then they drave\ntheir ship against our craft and I looked and in the other boat\nbeheld Abu al-Kasim al-Sandalani who when he saw us exclaimed\n'This is what I sought: go ye in God's keeping; as for me, I have\na need to be satisfied!' Then he turned to me and said, 'Praised\nbe Allah for safety! Hast thou accomplished thine errand?' I\nreplied, 'Yes!' Now Abu al-Kasim had a flambeau before him; so he\nbrought it near our boat,[FN#337] and when Jamilah saw him, she\nwas troubled and her colour changed: but, when he saw her, he\nsaid, 'Fare ye in Allah's safety. I am bound to Bassorah, on\nbusiness for the Sultan; but the gift is for him who is\npresent.'[FN#338] Then he brought out a box of sweetmeats,\nwherein was Bhang and threw it into our boat: whereupon quoth I\nto Jamilah, 'O coolth of mine eyes, eat of this.' But she wept\nand said, 'O Ibrahim, wottest thou who that is?' and said I,\n'Yes, 'tis such an one.' Replied she, 'He is my first cousin, son\nof my father's brother[FN#339] who sought me aforetime in\nmarriage of my sire; but I would not accept of him. And now he is\ngone to Bassorah and most like he will tell my father of us.' I\nrejoined, 'O my lady he will not reach Bassorah, till we are at\nMosul.' But we knew not what lurked for us in the Secret Purpose.\n\"Then\" (continued Ibrahim) \"I ate of the sweetmeat, but hardly\nhad it reached my stomach when I smote the ground with my head;\nand lay there till near dawn, when I sneezed and the Bhang issued\nfrom my nostrils. With this, I opened my eyes and found myself\nnaked and cast out among ruins; so I buffeted my face and said in\nmyself, 'Doubtless this is a trick Al-Sandalani hath played me.'\nBut I knew not whither I should wend, for I had upon me naught\nsave my bag-trousers.[FN#340] However, I rose and walked on a\nlittle, till I suddenly espied the Chief of Police coming towards\nme, with a posse of men with swords and targes;[FN#341] whereat I\ntook fright and seeing a ruined Hammam hid myself there.\nPresently, my foot stumbled upon something; so I put my hand to\nit, and it became befouled with blood. I wiped my hand upon my\nbag-trousers, unknowing what had befouled it, and put it out a\nsecond time, when it fell upon a corpse whose head came up in my\nhand. I threw it down, saying, 'There is no Majesty and there is\nno Might in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!'; and I took refuge\nin one of the corner-cabinets of the Hammam. Presently the Wali\nstopped at the bath-door and said, 'Enter this place and search.'\nSo ten of them entered with cressets, and I of my fear retired\nbehind a wall and looking upon the corpse, saw it to be that of a\nyoung lady[FN#342] with a face like the full moon; and her head\nlay on one side and her body clad in costly raiment on the other.\nWhen I saw this, my heart fluttered with affright. Then the Chief\nof Police entered and said, 'Search the corners of the bath.' So\nthey entered the place wherein I was, and one of them seeing me,\ncame up hending in hand a knife half a cubit long. When he drew\nnear me, he cried, 'Glory be to God, the Creator of this fair\nface! O youth, whence art thou?' Then he took me by the hand and\nsaid, 'O youth, why slewest thou this woman?' Said I, 'By Allah,\nI slew her not, nor wot I who slew her, and I entered not this\nplace but in fear of you!' And I told him my case, adding, 'Allah\nupon thee, do me no wrong, for I am in concern for myself!' Then\nhe took me and carried me to the Wali who, seeing the marks of\nblood on my hand said, 'This needeth no proof: strike off his\nhead!'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ibrahim\ncontinued, 'Then they carried me before the Wali and he, seeing\nthe bloodstains on my hand, cried, 'This needeth no proof: strike\noff his head!' Now hearing these words, I wept with sore weeping\nthe tears streaming from my eyes and recited these two\ncouplets[FN#343],\n\n'We trod the steps that for us were writ, * And whose steps are\n     written he needs must tread\nAnd whose death is decreed in one land to be * He ne'er shall\n     perish in other stead.'\n\nThen I sobbed a single sob and fell a-swoon; and the headsman's\nheart was moved to ruth for me and he exclaimed, 'By Allah, this\nis no murtherer's face!' But the Chief said, 'Smite his neck.' So\nthey seated me on the rug of blood and bound my eyes; after which\nthe sworder drew his sword and asking leave of the Wali, was\nabout to strike off my head, whilst I cried out, 'Alas, my\nstrangerhood!' when lo and behold! I heard a noise of horse\ncoming up and a voice calling aloud, 'Leave him! Stay thy hand, O\nSworder!'\" Now there was for this a wondrous reason and a\nmarvellous cause; and 'twas thus. Al-Khasib, Wazir of Egypt, had\nsent his Head Chamberlain to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid with\npresents and a letter, saying, \"My son hath been missing this\nyear past, and I hear that he is in Baghdad; wherefore I crave\nof the bounty of the Vicegerent of Allah that he make search for\ntidings of him and do his endeavour to find him and send him back\nto me with the Chamberlain.\" When the Caliph read the missive, he\ncommanded the Chief of Police to search out the truth of the\nmatter, and he ceased not to enquire after Ibrahim, till it was\ntold him that he was at Bassorah, whereupon he informed the\nCaliph, who wrote a letter to the viceroy and giving it to the\nChamberlain of Egypt, bade him repair to Bassorah and take with\nhim a company of the Wazir's followers. So, of his eagerness to\nfind the son of his lord, the Chamberlain set out forthright and\nhappened by the way upon Ibrahim, as he stood on the rug of\nblood. When the Wali saw the Chamberlain, he recognised him and\nalighted to him and as he asked, \"What young man is that and what\nis his case?\" The Chief told him how the matter was and the\nChamberlain said (and indeed he knew him not for the son of the\nSultan[FN#344]) \"Verily this young man hath not the face of one\nwho murthereth.\" And he bade loose his bonds; so they loosed him\nand the Chamberlain said, \"Bring him to me!\" and they brought\nhim, but the officer knew him not his beauty being all gone for\nthe horrors he had endured. Then the Chamberlain said to him, \"O\nyouth, tell me thy case and how cometh this slain woman with\nthee.\" Ibrahim looked at him and knowing him, said to him, \"Woe\nto thee! Dost thou not know me? Am I not Ibrahim, son of thy\nlord? Haply thou art come in quest of me.\" With this the\nChamberlain considered him straitly and knowing him right well,\nthrew himself at his feet; which when the Wali saw, his colour\nchanged, and the Chamberlain cried to him, \"Fie upon thee, O\ntyrant! Was it thine intent to slay the son of my master\nAl-Khasib, Wazir of Egypt?\" The Chief of Police kissed his skirt,\nsaying \"O my lord,[FN#345] how should I know him? We found him in\nthis plight and saw the girl lying slain by his side.\" Rejoined\nthe Chamberlain, \"Out on thee! Thou art not fit for the office.\nThis is a lad of fifteen and he hath not slain a sparrow; so how\nshould he be a murtherer? Why didst thou not have patience with\nhim and question him of his case?\" Then the Chamberlain and the\nWali cried to the men, \"Make search for the young lady's\nmurtherer.\" So they re-entered the bath and finding him, brought\nhim to the Chief of Police, who carried him to the Caliph and\nacquainted him with that which had occurred. al-Rashid bade slay\nthe slayer and sending for Ibrahim, smiled in his face and said\nto him, \"Tell me thy tale and that which hath betided thee.\" So\nhe recounted to him his story from first to last, and it was\ngrievous to the Caliph, who called Masrur his Sworder, and said\nto him, \"Go straightway and fall upon the house of Abu al-Kasim\nal-Sandalani and bring me him and the young lady.\" The eunuch\nwent forth at once and breaking into the house, found Jamilah\nbound with her own hair and nigh upon death; so he loosed her and\ntaking the painter, carried them both to the Caliph, who\nmarvelled at Jamilah's beauty. Then he turned to Al-Sandalani\nand said, \"Take him and cut off his hands, wherewith he beat this\nyoung lady; then crucify him and deliver his monies and\npossessions to Ibrahim.\" They did his bidding, and as they were\nthus, behold, in came Abu al-Lays governor of Bassorah, the Lady\nJamilah's father, seeking aid of the Caliph against Ibrahim bin\nal- Khasib Wazir of Egypt and complaining to him that the youth\nhad taken his daughter. Quoth Al-Rashid, \"He hath been the means\nof delivering her from torture and slaughter.\" Then he sent for\nIbrahim, and when he came, he said to Abu al-Lays, \"Wilt thou not\naccept of this young man, son of the Soldan of Egypt, as husband\nto thy daughter? ' Replied Abu al-Lays, \"I hear and I obey Allah\nand thee, O Commander of the Faithful;\" whereupon the Caliph\nsummoned the Kazi and the witnesses and married the young lady to\nIbrahim. Furthermore, he gave him all Al Sandalani's wealth and\nequipped him for his return to his own country, where he abode\nwith Jamilah in the utmost of bliss and the most perfect of\nhappiness, till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and\nthe Sunderer of societies; and glory be to the Living who dieth\nnot! They also relate, O auspicious King, a tale anent\n\n\n\n\n               ABU AL-HASAN OF KHORASAN.[FN#346]\n\n\n\nThe Caliph Al-Mu'tazid bi 'llah[FN#347] was a high-spirited\nPrince and a noble-minded lord; he had in Baghdad six hundred\nWazirs and of the affairs of the folk naught was hidden from him.\nHe went forth one day, he and Ibn Hamd\u00fan,[FN#348] to divert\nhimself with observing his lieges and hearing the latest news of\nthe people; and, being overtaken with the heats of noonday, they\nturned aside from the main thoroughfare into a little by-street,\nat the upper end whereof they saw a handsome and high-builded\nmansion, discoursing of its owner with the tongue of praise. They\nsat down at the gate to take rest, and presently out came two\neunuchs as they were moons on their fourteenth night. Quoth one\nof them to his fellow, \"Would Heaven some guest would seek\nadmission this day! My master will not eat but with guests and we\nare come to this hour and I have not yet seen a soul.\" The Caliph\nmarvelled at their speech and said, \"This is a proof of the\nhouse-master's liberality: there is no help but that we go in to\nhim and note his generosity, and this shall be a means of favour\nbetiding him from us.\" So he said to the eunuch, \"Ask leave of\nthy lord for the admission of a company[FN#349] of strangers.\"\nFor in those days it was the Caliph's wont, whenas he was minded\nto observe his subjects, to disguise himself in merchant's garb.\nThe eunuch went in and told his master, who rejoiced and rising,\ncame out to them in person. He was fair of favour and fine of\nform and he appeared clad in a tunic of N\u00edsh\u00e1p\u00far[FN#350] silk and\na gold laced mantle; and he dripped with scented waters and wore\non his hand a signet ring of rubies. When he saw them, he said to\nthem, \"Well come and welcome to the lords who favour us with the\nutmost of favour by their coming!\" So they entered the house and\nfound it such as would make a man forget family and fatherland\nfor it was like a piece of Paradise.--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n        When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixtieth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nthe Caliph entered the mansion, he and the man with him, they saw\nit to be such as would make one forget family and fatherland, for\nit was like a piece of Paradise. Within it was a flower-garden,\nfull of all kinds of trees, confounding sight and its\ndwelling-places were furnished with costly furniture. They sat\ndown and the Caliph fell to gazing at the house and the household\ngear. (Quoth Ibn Hamd\u00fan), \"I looked at the Caliph and saw his\ncountenance change, and being wont to know from his face whether\nhe was amused or anangered, said to myself, 'I wonder what hath\nvexed him.' Then they brought a golden basin and we washed our\nhands, after which they spread a silken cloth and set thereon a\ntable of rattan. When the covers were taken off the dishes, we\nsaw therein meats rare as the blooms of Prime in the season of\ntheir utmost scarcity, twofold and single, and the host said,\n'Bismillah, O my lords! By Allah, hunger pricketh me; so favour\nme by eating of this food, as is the fashion of the noble.'\nThereupon he began tearing fowls apart and laying them before us,\nlaughing the while and repeating verses and telling stories and\ntalking gaily with pleasant sayings such as sorted with the\nentertainment. We ate and drank, then removed to another room,\nwhich confounded beholders with its beauty and which reeked with\nexquisite perfumes. Here they brought us a tray of fruits\nfreshly-gathered and sweetmeats the finest flavoured, whereat our\njoys increased and our cares ceased. But withal the Caliph\"\n(continued Ibn Hamdun) \"ceased not to wear a frowning face and\nsmiled not at that which gladdened all souls, albeit it was his\nwont to love mirth and merriment and the putting away of cares,\nand I knew that he was no envious wight and oppressor. So I said\nto myself, 'Would Heaven I knew what is the cause of his\nmoroseness and why we cannot dissipate his ill-humour!' Presently\nthey brought the tray of wine which friends doth conjoin and\nclarified draughts in flagons of gold and crystal and silver, and\nthe host smote with a rattan-wand on the door of an inner\nchamber, whereupon behold, it opened and out came three damsels,\nhigh-bosomed virginity with faces like the sun at the fourth hour\nof the day, one a lutist, another a harpist and the third a\ndancer-artiste. Then he set before us dried fruits and\nconfections and drew between us and the damsels a curtain of\nbrocade, with tassels of silk and rings of gold. The Caliph paid\nno heed to all this, but said to the host, who knew not who was\nin his company, 'Art thou noble?'[FN#351] Said he, 'No, my lord;\nI am but a man of the sons of the merchants and am known among\nthe folk as Ab\u00fa al-Hasan Ali, son of Ahmad of Khorasan.' Quoth\nthe Caliph, 'Dost thou know me, O man?', and quoth he, 'By Allah,\nO my lord, I have no knowledge of either of your honours!' Then\nsaid I to him, 'O man, this is the Commander of the Faithful,\nAI-Mu'tazid bi 'llah grandson of Al-Mutawakkil al\u00e0\n'llah.'[FN#352] Whereupon he rose and kissed the ground before\nthe Caliph, trembling for fear of him, and said, 'O Prince of\nTrue Believers, I conjure thee, by the virtue of thy pious\nforbears, an thou have seen in me any shortcomings or lack of\ngood manners in thy presence, do thou forgive me!' Replied the\nCaliph, 'As for that which thou hast done with us of honouring\nand hospitality nothing could have exceeded it; and as for that\nwherewith I have to reproach thee here, an thou tell me the truth\nrespecting it and it commend itself to my sense, thou shalt be\nsaved from me; but, an thou tell me not the truth, I will take\nthee with manifest proof and punish thee with such punishment as\nnever yet punished any.' Quoth the man, 'Allah forbid that I tell\nthee a lie! But what is it that thou reproachest to me, O\nCommander of the Faithful?' Quoth the Caliph, 'Since I entered\nthy mansion and looked upon its grandeur, I have noted the\nfurniture and vessels therein, nay, even to thy clothes, and\nbehold, on all of them is the name of my grandfather\nAl-Mutawakkil ala 'llah.'[FN#353] Answered Abu al-Hasan, 'Yes, O\nCommander of the Faithful (the Almighty protect thee), truth is\nthine inner garb and sincerity is thine outer garment and none\nmay speak otherwise than truly in thy presence.' The Caliph bade\nhim be seated and said, 'Tell us.'\" So he began, \"Know, O\nCommander of the Faithful, that my father belonged to the markets\nof the money-changers and druggists and linendrapers and had in\neach bazar a shop and an agent and all kinds of goods. Moreover,\nbehind the money-changer's shop he had an apartment, where he\nmight be private, appointing the shop for buying and selling. His\nwealth was beyond count and to his riches there was none amount;\nbut he had no child other than myself, and he loved me and was\ntenderly fain of me. When his last hour was at hand, he called me\nto him and commended my mother to my care and charged me to fear\nAlmighty Allah. Then he died, may Allah have mercy upon him and\ncontinue the Prince of True Believers on life! And I gave myself\nup to pleasure and eating and drinking and took to myself\ncomrades and intimates. My mother used to forbid me from this and\nto blame me for it, but I would not hear a word from her, till my\nmoney was all gone, when I sold my lands and houses and naught\nwas left me save the mansion wherein I now dwell, and it was a\ngoodly stead, O Commander of the Faithful. So I said to my\nmother, 'I wish to sell the house;' but she said, 'O my son, an\nthou sell it, thou wilt be dishonoured and wilt have no place\nwherein to take shelter.' Quoth I, ''Tis worth five thousand\ndinars, and with one thousand of its price I will buy me another\nhouse and trade with the rest.' Quoth she, 'Wilt thou sell it to\nme at that price?'; and I replied, 'Yes.' Whereupon she went to a\ncoffer and opening it, took out a porcelain vessel, wherein were\nfive thousand dinars. When I saw this meseemed the house was all\nof gold and she said to me, 'O my son, think not that this is of\nthy father's good. By Allah, O my son, it was of my own father's\nmoney and I have treasured it up against a time of need; for, in\nthy father's day I was a wealthy woman and had no need of it.' I\ntook the money from her, O Prince of True Believers, and fell\nagain to feasting and carousing and merrymaking with my friends,\nunheeding my mother's words and admonitions, till the five\nthousand dinars came to an end, when I said to her, 'I wish to\nsell the house.' Said she, 'O my son, I forbade thee from selling\nit before, of my knowledge that thou hadst need of it; so how\nwilt thou sell it a second time?' Quoth I, 'Be not longsome of\nspeech with me, for I must and will sell it;' and quoth she,\n'Then sell it to me for fifteen thousand dinars, on condition\nthat I take charge of thine affairs.' So I sold her the house at\nthat price and gave up my affairs into her charge, whereupon she\nsought out the agents of my father and gave each of them a\nthousand dinars, keeping the rest in her own hands and ordering\nthe outgo and the income. Moreover she gave me money to trade\nwithal and said to me, 'Sit thou in thy father's shop.' So I did\nher bidding, O Commander of the Faithful, and took up my abode in\nthe chamber behind the shop in the market of the money-changers,\nand my friends came and bought of me and I sold to them; whereby\nI made good cheape and my wealth increased. When my mother saw me\nin this fair way, she discovered to me that which she had\ntreasured up of jewels and precious stones, pearls, and gold, and\nI bought back my houses and lands that I had squandered and my\nwealth became great as before. I abode thus for some time, and\nthe factors of my father came to me and I gave them\nstock-in-trade, and I built me a second chamber behind the shop.\nOne day, as I sat there, according to my custom, O Prince of True\nBelievers, there came up to me a damsel, never saw eyes a fairer\nthan she of favour, and said, 'Is this the private shop of Abu\nal-Hasan Ali ibn Ahmad al-Khorasani?' Answered I, 'Yes,' and she\nasked, 'Where is he?' 'He am I,' said I, and indeed my wit was\ndazed at the excess of her loveliness. She sat down and said to\nme, 'Bid thy page weigh me out three hundred dinars.' Accordingly\nI bade him give her that sum and he weighed it out to her and she\ntook it and went away, leaving me stupefied. Quoth my man to me,\n'Dost thou know her?', and quoth I, 'No, by Allah!' He asked,\n'Then why didst thou bid me give her the money?'; and I answered,\n'By Allah, I knew not what I said, of my amazement at her beauty\nand loveliness!' Then he rose and followed her, without my\nknowledge, but presently returned, weeping and with the mark of a\nblow on his face. I enquired of him what ailed him, and he\nreplied, 'I followed the damsel, to see whither she went; but,\nwhen she was aware of me, she turned and dealt me this blow and\nall but knocked out my eye.' After this, a month passed, without\nher coming, O Commander of the Faithful, and I abode bewildered\nfor love of her; but, at the end of this time, she suddenly\nappeared again and saluted me, whereat I was like to fly for joy.\nShe asked me how I did and said to me, 'Haply thou saidst to\nthyself, What manner of trickstress is this, who hath taken my\nmoney and made off?' Answered I, 'By Allah, O my lady, my money\nand my life are all thy very own!' With this she unveiled herself\nand sat down to rest, with the trinkets and ornaments playing\nover her face and bosom. Presently, she said to me, 'Weigh me out\nthree hundred dinars.' 'Hearkening and obedience,' answered I and\nweighed out to her the money. She took it and went away and I\nsaid to my servant, 'Follow her.' So he followed her, but\nreturned dumbstruck, and some time passed without my seeing her.\nBut, as I was sitting one day, behold, she came up to me and\nafter talking awhile, said to me, 'Weigh me out five hundred\ndinars, for I have need of them.' I would have said to her, 'Why\nshould I give thee my money?'; but my love immense hindered me\nfrom utterance; for, O Prince of True Believers, whenever I saw\nher, I trembled in every joint and my colour paled and I forgot\nwhat I would have said and became even as saith the poet,\n\n''Tis naught but this! When a-sudden I see her * Mumchance I bide\nnor a word can say her.'\n\nSo I weighed out for her the five hundred ducats, and she took\nthem and went away; whereupon I arose and followed her myself,\ntill she came to the jewel-bazar, where she stopped at a man's\nshop and took of him a necklace. Then she turned and seeing me,\nsaid, 'Pay him five hundred dinars for me.' When the jeweller saw\nme, he rose to me and made much of me, and I said to him, 'Give\nher the necklace and set down the price to me.' He replied, 'I\nhear and obey,' and she took it and went away;\"--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-first Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abu\nHasan the Khorasani thus pursued his tale, \"So I said to the\njeweller, 'Give her the necklace and set down the price to me.'\nThen she took it and went away; but I followed her, till she came\nto the Tigris and boarded a boat there, whereupon I signed with\nmy hand to the ground, as who should say, 'I kiss it before\nthee.' She went off laughing, and I stood watching her, till I\nsaw her land and enter a palace, which when I considered, I knew\nit for the palace of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil. So I turned back,\nO Commander of the Faithful, with all the cares in the world\nfallen on my heart, for she had of me three thousand dinars, and\nI said to myself, 'She hath taken my wealth and ravished my wit,\nand peradventure I shall lose my life for her love.' Then I\nreturned home and told my mother all that had befallen me, and\nshe said, 'O my son, beware how thou have to do with her after\nthis, or thou art lost.' When I went to my shop, my factor in the\ndrug-market, who was a very old man, came to me and said, 'O my\nlord, how is it that I see thee changed in case and showing marks\nof chagrin? Tell me what aileth thee.' So I told him all that had\nbefallen me with her and he said, 'O my son, this is indeed one\nof the handmaidens of the palace of the Commander of the Faithful\nand haply she is the Caliph's favourite concubine: so do thou\nreckon the money as spent for the sake of Almighty Allah[FN#354]\nand occupy thyself no more with her. An she come again, beware\nlest she have to do with thee and tell me of this, that I may\ndevise thee some device lest perdition betide thee.' Then he\nfared forth and left me with a flame of fire in my heart. At the\nend of the month behold, she came again and I rejoiced in her\nwith exceeding joy. Quoth she, 'What ailed thee to follow me?';\nand quoth I, 'Excess of passion that is in my heart urged me to\nthis,' and I wept before her. She wept for ruth of me and said,\n'By Allah, there is not in thy heart aught of love-longing but in\nmy heart is more! Yet how shall I do? By Allah, I have no\nresource save to see thee thus once a month.' Then she gave me a\nbill saying, 'Carry this to such an one of such a trade who is my\nagent and take of him what is named therein.' But I replied, 'I\nhave no need of money; be my wealth and my life thy sacrifice!'\nQuoth she, 'I will right soon contrive thee a means of access to\nme, whatever trouble it cost me.' Then she farewelled me and\nfared forth, whilst I repaired to the old druggist and told him\nwhat had passed. He went with me to the palace of Al-Mutawakkil\nwhich I knew for that which the damsel had entered; but the\nShaykh was at a loss for a device. Presently he espied a tailor\nsitting with his apprentices at work in his shop, opposite the\nlattice giving upon the river bank and said to me, 'Yonder is one\nby whom thou shalt win thy wish; but first tear thy pocket and go\nto him and bid him sew it up. When he hath done this, give him\nten dinars.' 'I hear and obey,' answered I and taking with me two\npieces[FN#355] of Greek brocade, went to the tailor and bade him\nmake of them four suits, two with long-sleeved coats and two\nwithout. When he had finished cutting them out and sewing them, I\ngave him to his hire much more than of wont, and he put out his\nhand to me with the clothes; but I said, 'Take them for thyself\nand for those who are with thee.' And I fell to sitting with him\nand sitting long: I also bespoke of him other clothes and said to\nhim, 'Hang them out in front of thy shop, so the folk may see\nthem and buy them.' He did as I bade him, and whoso came forth of\nthe Caliph's palace and aught of the clothes pleased him, I made\nhim a present thereof, even to the doorkeeper. One day of the\ndays the tailor said to me, 'O my son, I would have thee tell me\nthe truth of thy case; for thou hast bespoken of me an hundred\ncostly suits, each worth a mint of money, and hast given the most\nof them to the folk. This is no merchant's fashion, for a\nmerchant calleth an account for every dirham, and what can be the\nsum of thy capital that thou givest these gifts and what thy gain\nevery year? Tell me the truth of thy case, that I may assist thee\nto thy desire;' presently adding, 'I conjure thee by Allah, tell\nme, art thou not in love?' 'Yes,' replied I; and he said, 'With\nwhom?' Quoth I, 'With one of the handmaids of the Caliph's\npalace;' and quoth he, 'Allah put them to shame! How long shall\nthey seduce the folk? Knowest thou her name?' Said I, 'No;' and\nsaid he, 'Describe her to me.' So I described her to him and he\ncried, 'Out on it! This is the lutanist of the Caliph\nAl-Mutawakkil and his pet concubine. But she hath a\nMameluke[FN#356] and do thou make friends with him; it may be he\nshall become the means of thy having access to her.' Now as we\nwere talking, behold, out walked the servant in question from the\npalace, as he were a moon on the fourteenth night; and, seeing\nthat I had before me the clothes which the tailor had made me,\nand they were of brocade of all colours, he began to look at them\nand examine them. Then he came up to me and I rose and saluted\nhim. He asked, 'Who art thou?' and I answered, 'I am a man of the\nmerchants.' Quoth he, 'Wilt thou sell these clothes?'; and quoth\nI, 'Yes.' So he chose out five of them and said to me, 'How much\nthese five?' Said I, 'They are a present to thee from me in\nearnest of friendship between me and thee.' At this he rejoiced\nand I went home and fetching a suit embroidered with jewels and\njacinths, worth three thousand dinars, returned therewith and\ngave it to him. He accepted it and carrying me into a room within\nthe palace, said to me, 'What is thy name among the merchants?'\nSaid I, 'I am a man of them.'[FN#357] He continued, 'Verily I\nmisdoubt me of thine affair.' I asked, 'Why so?' and he answered,\n'Because thou hast bestowed on me a costly gift and won my heart\ntherewith, and I make certain that thou art Abu al-Hasan of\nKhorasan the Shroff.' With this I fell aweeping, O Prince of True\nBelievers; and he said to me, 'Why dost thou weep? By Allah, she\nfor whom thou weepest is yet more longingly in love with thee\nthan thou with her! And indeed her case with thee is notorious\namong all the palace women. But what wouldst thou have?' Quoth I,\n'I would have thee succour me in my calamity.' So he appointed me\nfor the morrow and I returned home. As soon as I rose next\nmorning, I betook myself to him and waited in his chamber till he\ncame in and said to me, 'Know that yesternight when, after having\nmade an end of her service by the Caliph, she returned to her\napartment, I related to her all that had passed between me and\nthee and she is minded to foregather with thee. So stay with me\ntill the end of the day.' Accordingly I stayed with him till\ndark, when the Mameluke brought me a shirt of gold-inwoven stuff\nand a suit of the Caliph's apparel and clothing me therein,\nincensed me[FN#358] and I became like the Commander of the\nFaithful. Then he brought me to a gallery with rows of rooms on\neither side and said to me, 'These are the lodgings of the Chief\nof the slave-girls; and when thou passest along the gallery, do\nthou lay at each door a bean, for 'tis the custom of the Caliph\nto do this every night,'\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-second Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nMameluke said to Abu Hasan, \"When thou passest along the gallery\nset down at each door a bean for 'tis the custom of the Caliph so\nto do, till thou come to the second passage on thy right hand,\nwhen thou wilt see a door with a marble threshold .[FN#359] Touch\nit with thy hand or, an thou wilt, count the doors which are so\nmany, and enter the one whose marks are thus and thus. There thy\nmistress will see thee and take thee in with her. As for thy\ncoming forth, verily Allah will make it easy to me, though I\ncarry thee out in a chest.\"  Then he left me and returned,\nwhilst I went on, counting the doors and laying at each a bean.\nWhen I had reached the middle of the gallery, I heard a great\nclatter and saw the light of flambeaux coming towards me. As the\nlight drew near me, I looked at it and behold, the Caliph\nhimself, came surrounded by the slave-girls carrying waxen\nlights, and I heard one of the women[FN#360] say to another, 'O\nmy sister, have we two Caliphs? Verily, the Caliph whose perfumes\nand essences I smelt, hath already passed by my room and he hath\nlaid the bean at my door, as his wont; and now I see the light of\nhis flambeaux, and here he cometh with them.' Replied the other,\n'Indeed this is a wondrous thing, for disguise himself in the\nCaliph's habit none would dare.' Then the light drew near me,\nwhilst I trembled in every limb; and up came an eunuch, crying\nout to the concubines and saying, 'Hither!' Whereupon they turned\naside to one of the chambers and entered. Then they came out\nagain and walked on till they came to the chamber of my mistress\nand I heard the Caliph say, 'Whose chamber is this?' They\nanswered, 'This is the chamber of Shajarat al-Durr.' And he said,\n'Call her.' So they called her and she came out and kissed the\nfeet of the Caliph, who said to her, 'Wilt thou drink to-night?'\nQuoth she, 'But for thy presence and the looking on thine\nauspicious countenance, I would not drink, for I incline not to\nwine this night.' Then quoth the Commander of the Faithful to the\neunuch, 'Bid the treasurer give her such necklace;' and he\ncommanded to enter her chamber. So the waxen lights entered\nbefore him and he followed them into the apartment. At the same\nmoment, behold, there came up a damsel, the lustre of whose face\noutshone that of the flambeau in her hand, and drawing near she\nsaid, 'Who is this?' Then she laid hold of me and carrying me\ninto one of the chambers, said to me, 'Who art thou?' I kissed\nthe ground before her saying, 'I implore thee by Allah, O my\nlady, spare my blood and have ruth on me and commend thyself unto\nAllah by saving my life!'; and I wept for fear of death. Quoth\nshe, 'Doubtless, thou art a robber;' and quoth I, 'No, by Allah,\nI am no robber. Seest thou on me the signs of thieves?' Said she,\n'Tell me the truth of thy case and I will put thee in safety.' So\nI said, 'I am a silly lover and an ignorant, whom passion and my\nfolly have moved to do as thou seest, so that I am fallen into\nthis slough of despond.' Thereat cried she, 'Abide here till I\ncome back to thee;' and going forth she presently returned with\nsome of her handmaid's clothes wherein she clad me and bade me\nfollow her; so I followed her till she came to her apartment and\ncommanded me to enter. I went in and she led me to a couch,\nwhereon was a mighty fine carpet, and said, 'Sit down here: no\nharm shall befal thee. Art thou not Abu al-Hasan Ali the\nKhorasani, the Shroff?' I answered, 'Yes,' and she rejoined,\n'Allah spare thy blood given thou speak truth! An thou be a\nrobber, thou art lost, more by token that thou art dressed in the\nCaliph's habit and incensed with his scents. But, an thou be\nindeed Abu al-Hasan, thou art safe and no hurt shall happen to\nthee, for that thou art the friend of Shajarat al-Durr, who is my\nsister and ceaseth never to name thee and tell us how she took of\nthee money, yet wast thou not chagrined, and how thou didst\nfollow her to the river bank and madest sign as thou wouldst kiss\nthe earth in her honour; and her heart is yet more aflame for\nthee than is thine for her. But how camest thou hither? Was it by\nher order or without it? She hath indeed imperilled thy\nlife[FN#361]. But what seekest thou in this assignation with\nher?' I replied, 'By Allah, O my lady, 'tis I who have imperilled\nmy own life, and my aim in foregathering with her is but to look\non her and hear her pretty speech.' She said, 'Thou hast spoken\nwell;' and I added, 'O my lady, Allah is my witness when I\ndeclare that my soul prompteth me to no offence against her\nhonour.' Cried she, 'In this intent may Allah deliver thee!\nIndeed compassion for thee hath gotten hold upon my heart.' Then\nshe called her handmaid and said to her, 'Go to Shajarat al-Durr\nand say to her, 'Thy sister saluteth thee and biddeth thee to\nher; so favour her by coming to her this night, according to thy\ncustom, for her breast is straitened.' The slave-girl went out\nand presently returning, told her mistress that Shajarat al-Durr\nsaid, 'May Allah bless me with thy long life and make me thy\nransom! By Allah, hadst thou bidden me to other than this, I had\nnot hesitated; but the Caliph's migraine constraineth me and thou\nknowest my rank with him.' But the other said to her damsel,\n'Return to her and say, 'Needs must thou come to my mistress upon\na private matter between thee and her!' So the girl went out\nagain and presently returned with the damsel, whose face shone\nlike the full moon. Her sister met her and embraced her; then\nsaid she, 'Ho, Abu al-Hasan, come forth to her and kiss her\nhands!' Now I was in a closet within the apartment; so I walked\nout, O Commander of the Faithful, and when my mistress saw me,\nshe threw herself upon me and strained me to her bosom saying,\n'How camest thou in the Caliph's clothes and his ornaments and\nperfumes? Tell me what hath befallen thee.' So I related to her\nall that had befallen me and what I had suffered for affright and\nso forth; and she said, 'Grievous to me is what thou hast endured\nfor my sake and praised be Allah who hath caused the issue to be\nsafety, and the fulfilment of safety is in thy entering my\nlodging and that of my sister.' Then she carried me to her own\napartment, saying to her sister, 'I have covenanted with him that\nI will not be united to him unlawfully; but, as he hath risked\nhimself and incurred these perils, I will be earth for his\ntreading and dust to his sandals!'\"--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the\ndamsel to her sister, \"I have covenanted with him that I will not\nbe united to him unlawfully; but, as he hath risked himself and\nincurred these perils, I will be earth for his treading and dust\nto his sandals!\" Replied her sister, \"In this intent may Allah\ndeliver him!\"; and my mistress rejoined, 'Soon shalt thou see\nhow I will do, so I may lawfully foregather with him and there is\nno help but that I lavish my heart's blood to devise this.' Now\nas we were in talk, behold, we heard a great noise and turning,\nsaw the Caliph making for her chamber, so engrossed was he by the\nthought of her; whereupon she took me, O Prince of True Believers\nand hid me in a souterrain[FN#362] and shut down the trap-door\nupon me. Then she went out to meet the Caliph, who entered and\nsat down, whilst she stood between his hands to serve him, and\ncommanded to bring wine. Now the Caliph loved a damsel by name\nBanjah, who was the mother of Al-Mu'tazz bi 'llah[FN#363]; but\nthey had fallen out and parted; and in the pride of her beauty\nand loveliness she would not make peace with him, nor would\nAl-Mutawakkil, for the dignity of the Caliphate and the kingship,\nmake peace with her neither humble himself to her, albeit his\nheart was aflame with passion for her, but sought to solace his\nmind from her with her mates among the slave-girls and with going\nin to them in their chambers. Now he loved Shajarat al-Durr's\nsinging: so he bade her sing, when she took the lute and tuning\nthe strings sang these verses,\n\n'The world-tricks I admire betwixt me and her; * How, us parted,\n     the World would to me incline:\nI shunned thee till said they, 'He knows not Love;' * I sought\n     thee till said they, 'No patience is mine!'\nThen, O Love of her, add to my longing each night, * And, O\n     Solace, thy comforts for Doomsday assign!\nSoft as silk is her touch and her low sweet voice * Twixt o'er\n     much and o'er little aye draweth the line:\nAnd eyne whereof Allah said 'Be ye!' and they * Became to man's\n     wit like the working of wine.'\n\nWhen the Caliph heard these verses, he was pleasured with\nexceeding pleasure, and I also, O Commander of the Faithful, was\npleasured in my hiding-place, and but for the bounty of Almighty\nAllah, I had cried out and we had been disgraced. Then she sang\nalso these couplets,\n\n'I embrace him, yet after him yearns my soul * For his love, but\n     can aught than embrace be nigher?\nI kiss his lips to assuage my lowe; * But each kiss gars it glow\n     with more flaming fire;\n'Tis as though my vitals aye thirst unquencht * Till I see two\n     souls mixt in one entire.'\n\nThe Caliph was delighted and said, 'O Shajarat al-Durr, ask a\nboon of me.' She replied, 'O Commander of the Faithful, I ask of\nthee my freedom, for the sake of the reward thou wilt obtain\ntherein.'[FN#364] Quoth he, 'Thou art free for the love of\nAllah;' whereupon she kissed ground before him. He resumed, 'Take\nthe lute and sing me somewhat on the subject of my slave-girl, of\nwhom I am enamoured with warmest love: the folk seek my pleasure\nand I seek hers.' So she took the lute and sang these two\ncouplets,\n\n'My charmer who spellest my piety[FN#365] * On all accounts I'll\n     have thee, have thee,\nOr by humble suit which besitteth Love * Or by force more fitting\n     my sovranty.'\n\nThe Caliph admired these verses and said, 'Now, take up thy lute\nand sing me a song setting out my case with three damsels who\nhold the reins of my heart and make rest depart; and they are\nthyself and that wilful one and another I will not name, who hath\nnot her like.'[FN#366] So she took the lute and playing a lively\nmeasure, sang these couplets,\n\n'Three lovely girls hold my bridle-rein * And in highest stead my\n     heart overreign.\nI have none to obey amid all mankind * But obeying them I but win\n     disdain:\nThis is done through the Kingship of Love, whereby * The best of\n     my kingship they made their gain.'\n\nThe Caliph marvelled with exceeding marvel at the aptness of\nthese verses to his case and his delight inclined him to\nreconciliation with the recalcitrant damsel. So he went forth and\nmade for her chamber whither a slave-girl preceded him and\nannounced to her the coming of the Caliph. She advanced to meet\nhim and kissed the ground before him; then she kissed his feet\nand he was reconciled to her and she was reconciled to him. Such\nwas the case with the Caliph; but as regards Shajarat al-Durr,\nshe came to me rejoicing and said, 'I am become a free woman by\nthy blessed coming! Surely Allah will help me in that which I\nshall contrive, so I may foregather with thee in lawful way.' And\nI said, 'Alhamdolillah!' Now as we were talking, behold her\nMameluke-eunuch entered and we related to him that which had\npassed, when he said, 'Praised be Allah who hath made the affair\nto end well, and we implore the Almighty to crown His favours\nwith thy safe faring forth the palace!' Presently appeared my\nmistress's sister, whose name was F\u00e1tir, and Shajarat al-Durr\nsaid to her, 'O my sister, how shall we do to bring him out of\nthe palace in safety; for indeed Allah hath vouchsafed me\nmanumission and, by the blessing of his coming, I am become a\nfree woman.' Quoth Fatir, 'I see nothing for it but to dress him\nin woman's gear.' So she brought me a suit of women's clothes and\nclad me therein; and I went out forthwith, O Commander of the\nFaithful; but, when I came to the midst of the palace, behold, I\nfound the Caliph seated there, with the eunuchs in attendance\nupon him. When he saw me, he misdoubted of me with exceeding\ndoubt, and said to his suite, 'Hasten and bring me yonder\nhandmaiden who is faring forth.' So they brought me back to him\nand raised the veil from my face, which when he saw, he knew me\nand questioned me of my case. I told him the whole truth, hiding\nnaught, and when he heard my story, he pondered my case awhile,\nwithout stay or delay, and going into Shajarat al-Durr's chamber,\nsaid to her, 'How couldst thou prefer before me one of the sons\nof the merchants?' She kissed ground between his hands and told\nhim her tale from first to last, in accordance with the truth;\nand he hearing it had compassion upon her and his heart relented\nto her and he excused her by reason of love and its\ncircumstances. Then he went away and her eunuch came in to her\nand said, 'Be of good cheer; for, when thy lover was set before\nthe Caliph, he questioned him and he told him that which thou\ntoldest him, word by word.' Presently the Caliph returned and\ncalling me before him, said to me, 'What made thee dare to\nviolate the palace of the Caliphate?' I replied, 'O Commander of\nthe Faithful, 'twas my ignorance and passion and my confidence in\nthy clemency and generosity that drave me to this.' And I wept\nand kissed the ground before him. Then said he, 'I pardon you\nboth,' and bade me be seated. So I sat down and he sent for the\nKazi Ahmad ibn Abi Duw\u00e1d[FN#367] and married me to her. Then he\ncommanded to make over all that was hers to me and they displayed\nher to me[FN#368] in her lodging. After three days, I went forth\nand transported all her goods and gear to my own house; so every\nthing thou hast seen, O Commander of the Faithful, in my house\nand whereof thou misdoubtest, is of her marriage-equipage. After\nthis, she said to me one day, 'Know that Al-Mutawakkil is a\ngenerous man and I fear lest he remember us with ill mind, or\nthat some one of the envious remind him of us; wherefore I\npurpose to do somewhat that may ensure us against this.' Quoth I,\n'And what is that?;' and quoth she, 'I mean to ask his leave to\ngo the pilgrimage and repent[FN#369] of singing.' I replied,\n'Right is this rede thou redest;' but, as we were talking,\nbehold, in came a messenger from the Caliph to seek her, for that\nAl-Mutawakkil loved her singing. So she went with the officer and\ndid her service to the Caliph, who said to her, 'Sever not\nthyself from us;'[FN#370] and she answered 'I hear and I obey.'\nNow it chanced one day, after this, she went to him, he having\nsent for her, as was his wont; but, before I knew, she came back,\nwith her raiment rent and her eyes full of tears. At this I was\nalarmed, misdoubting me that he had commanded to seize upon us,\nand said, 'Verily we are Allah's and unto Him shall we return! Is\nAl-Mutawakkil wroth with us?' She replied, 'Where is\nAl-Mutawakkil? Indeed Al-Mutawakkil's rule is ended and his trace\nis blotted out!' Cried I, 'Tell me what has happened;' and she,\n'He was seated behind the curtain, drinking, with Al-Fath bin\nKh\u00e1k\u00e1n[FN#371] and Sadakah bin Sadakah, when his son Al-Muntasir\nfell upon him, with a company of the Turks,[FN#372] and slew him;\nand merriment was turned to misery and joy to weeping and wailing\nfor annoy. So I fled, I and the slave-girl, and Allah saved us.'\nWhen I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I arose\nforthright and went down stream to Bassorah, where the news\nreached me of the falling out of war between Al-Muntasir and\nAl-Musta'\u00edn bi 'llah;[FN#373] wherefore I was affrighted and\ntransported my wife and all my wealth to Bassorah. This, then, is\nmy tale, O Prince of True Believers, nor have I added to or taken\nfrom it a single syllable. So all that thou seest in my house,\nbearing the name of thy grandfather Al-Mutawakkil, is of his\nbounty to us, and the fount of our fortune is from thy noble\nsources;[FN#374] for indeed ye are people of munificence and a\nmine of beneficence.\" The Caliph marvelled at his story and\nrejoiced therein with joy exceeding: and Abu al-Hasan brought\nforth to him the lady and the children she had borne him, and\nthey kissed ground before the Caliph, who wondered at their\nbeauty. Then he called for inkcase and paper and wrote Abu\nal-Hasan a patent of exemption from taxes on his lands and houses\nfor twenty years. Moreover, he rejoiced in him and made him his\ncup-companion, till the world parted them and they took up their\nabode in the tombs, after having dwelt under the palace-domes;\nand glory be to Allah, the King Merciful of doom. And they also\ntell a tale concerning\n\n\n\n\n               KAMAR AL-ZAMAN AND THE JEWELLER'S\n                         WIFE.[FN#375]\n\n\n\nThere was once, in time of old, a merchant hight Abd al-Rahm\u00e1n,\nwhom Allah had blessed with a son and daughter, and for their\nmuch beauty and loveliness, he named the girl Kaubab al-Sab\u00e1h and\nthe boy Kamar al-Zam\u00e1n.[FN#376] When he saw what Allah had\nvouchsafed the twain of beauty and loveliness, brilliancy and\nsymmetry, he feared for them the evil eyes[FN#377] of the espiers\nand the jibing tongues of the jealous and the craft of the crafty\nand the wiles of the wicked and shut them up from the folk in a\nmansion for the space of fourteen years, during which time none\nsaw them save their parents and a slave-girl who served them. Now\ntheir father could recite the Koran, even as Allah sent it down,\nas also did his wife, wherefore the mother taught her daughter to\nread and recite it and the father his son till both had gotten it\nby heart. Moreover, the twain learned from their parents writing\nand reckoning and all manner of knowledge and polite letters and\nneeded no master. When Kamar al-Zaman came to years of manhood,\nthe wife said to her husband, \"How long wilt thou keep thy son\nKamar al-Zaman sequestered from the eyes of the folk? Is he a\ngirl or a boy?\" He answered, \"A boy.\" Rejoined she, \"An he be a\nboy, why dost thou not carry him to the bazar and seat him in thy\nshop, that he may know the folk and they know him, to the intent\nthat it may become notorious among men that he is thy son, and do\nthou teach him to sell and to buy. Peradventure somewhat may\nbefal thee; so shall the folk know him for thy son and he shall\nlay his hand on thy leavings. But, an thou die, as the case now\nis, and he say to the folk, 'I am the son of the merchant Abd\nal-Rahman,' verily they will not believe him, but will cry, 'We\nhave never seen thee and we knew not that he had a son,'\nwherefore the government will seize thy goods and thy son will be\ndespoiled. In like manner the girl; I mean to make her known\namong the folk, so may be some one of her own condition may ask\nher in marriage and we will wed her to him and rejoice in her.\"\nQuoth he, \"I did thus of my fear for them from the eyes of the\nfolk,\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-fourth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nthe Merchant's wife spake to him in such wise, he replied, \"I did\nthus of my fear for them from the eyes of the folk and because I\nlove them both and love is jealous exceedingly and well saith he\nwho spoke these verses,\n\n'Of my sight I am jealous for thee, of me, * Of thyself, of thy\n     stead, of thy destiny:\nThough I shrined thee in eyes by the craze of me * In such\n     nearness irk I should never see:\nThough thou wert by my side all the days of me * Till Doomsday I\n     ne'er had enough of thee.'\"\n\nSaid his wife, \"Put thy trust in Allah, for no harm betideth him\nwhom He protecteth, and carry him with thee this very day to the\nshop.\" Then she clad the boy in the costliest clothes and he\nbecame a seduction to all who on him cast sight and an affliction\nto the heart of each lover wight. His father took him and carried\nhim to the market, whilst all who saw him were ravished with him\nand accosted him, kissing his hand and saluting him with the\nsalam. Quoth one, \"Indeed the sun hath risen in such a place and\nblazeth in the bazar,\" and another, \"The rising-place of the full\nmoon is in such a quarter;\" and a third, \"The new moon of the\nFestival[FN#378] hath appeared to the creatures of Allah.\" And\nthey went on to allude to the boy in talk and call down blessings\nupon him. But his father scolded the folk for following his son\nto gaze upon him, because he was abashed at their talk, but he\ncould not hinder one of them from talking; so he fell to abusing\nthe boy's mother and cursing her because she had been the cause\nof his bringing him out. And as he gazed about he still saw the\nfolk crowding upon him behind and before. Then he walked on till\nhe reached his shop and opening it, sat down and seated his son\nbefore him: after which he again looked out and found the\nthoroughfare blocked with people for all the passers-by, going\nand coming, stopped before the shop to stare at that beautiful\nface and could not leave him; and all the men and women crowded\nin knots about him, applying to themselves the words of him who\nsaid,\n\n\"Thou madest Beauty to spoil man's sprite * And saidst, 'O my\n     servants, fear My reprove:'\nBut lovely Thou lovest all loveliness * How, then, shall thy\n     servants refrain from Love?\"\n\nWhen the merchant Abd al-Rahman saw the folk thus crowding about\nhim and standing in rows, both women and men, to fix eyes upon\nhis son, he was sore ashamed and confounded and knew not what to\ndo; but presently there came up from the end of the bazar a man\nof the wandering Dervishes, clad in haircloth, the garb of the\npious servants of Allah and seeing Kamar al-Zaman sitting there\nas he were a branch of B\u00e1n springing from a mound of saffron,\npoured forth copious tears and recited these two couplets,\n\n\"A wand uprising from a sandy knoll, * Like full moon shining\n     brightest sheen, I saw;\nAnd said, 'What is thy name?' Replied he 'L\u00fal\u00fa' * 'What' (asked\n     I) 'Lily?' and he answered 'L\u00e1, l\u00e1!'\"[FN#379]\n\nThen the Dervish fell to walking, now drawing near and now moving\naway,[FN#380] and wiping his gray hairs with his right hand,\nwhilst the heart of the crowd was cloven asunder for awe of him.\nWhen he looked upon the boy, his eyes were dazzled and his wit\nconfounded, and exemplified in him was the saying of the poet,\n\n\"While that fair-faced boy abode in the place, * Moon of\n     breakfast-f\u00eate he lit by his face,[FN#381]\nLo! there came a Shaykh with leisurely pace * A reverend trusting\n     to Allah's grace,\n          And ascetic signals his gait display'd.\nHe had studied Love both by day and night * And had special\n     knowledge of Wrong and Right;\nBoth for lad and lass had repined his sprite, * And his form like\n     toothpick was lean and slight,\n          And old bones with faded skin were o'erlaid.\nIn such arts our Shaykh was an Ajam\u00ed[FN#382] * With a catamite\n     ever in company;\nIn the love of woman, a Platonist he[FN#383] * But in either\n     versed to the full degree,\n          And Zaynab to him was the same as Zayd.[FN#384]\nDistraught by the Fair he adored the Fair * O'er Spring-camp\n     wailed, bewept ruins bare.[FN#385]\nDry branch thou hadst deemed him for stress o' care, * Which the\n     morning breeze swayeth here and there,\n          For only the stone is all hardness made!\nIn the lore of Love he was wondrous wise * And wide awake with\n     all-seeing eyes.\nIts rough and its smooth he had tried and tries * And hugged buck\n     and doe in the self-same guise\n          And with greybeard and beardless alike he\nplay'd.\"[FN#386]\n\nThen he came up to the boy and gave him a root[FN#387] of sweet\nbasil, whereupon his father put forth his hand to his pouch and\nbrought out for him some small matter of silver, saying, \"Take\nthy portion, O Dervish, and wend thy ways.\" He took the dirhams,\nbut sat down on the masonry-bench alongside the shop and opposite\nthe boy and fell to gazing upon him and heaving sigh upon sigh,\nwhilst his tears flowed like springs founting. The folk began to\nlook at him and remark upon him, some saying, \"All Dervishes are\nlewd fellows,\" and other some, \"Verily, this Dervish's heart is\nset on fire for love of this lad.\" Now when Abd al-Rahman saw\nthis case, he arose and said to the boy, \"Come, O my son, let us\nlock up the shop and hie us home, for it booteth not to sell and\nbuy this day; and may Almighty Allah requite thy mother that\nwhich she hath done with us, for she was the cause of all this!\"\nThen said he, \"O Dervish, rise, that I may shut my shop.\" So the\nDervish rose and the merchant shut his shop and taking his son,\nwalked away. The Dervish and the folk followed them, till they\nreached their place, when the boy went in and his father, turning\nto the Dervish, said to him, \"What wouldst thou, O Dervish, and\nwhy do I see thee weep?\" He replied, \"O my lord, I would fain be\nthy guest this night, for the guest is the guest of Almighty\nAllah.\" Quoth the merchant, \"Welcome to the guest of God: enter,\nO Dervish!\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nmerchant, the father of Kamar al-Zaman, heard the saying of the\nDervish, \"I am Allah's guest,\" he replied, \"Welcome to the guest\nof God: enter, O Dervish!\" But he said to himself, \"An the beggar\nbe enamoured of the boy and sue him for sin, needs must I slay\nhim this very night and bury him secretly. But, an there be no\nlewdness in him, the guest shall eat his portion.\" Then he\nbrought him into a saloon, where he left him with Kamar al-Zaman,\nafter he had said privily to the lad, \"O my son, sit thou beside\nthe Dervish when I am gone out and sport with him and provoke him\nto love-liesse and if he seek of thee lewdness, I who will be\nwatching you from the window overlooking the saloon will come\ndown to him and kill him.\" So, as soon as Kamar al-Zaman was\nalone in the room with the Dervish, he sat down by his side and\nthe old man began to look upon him and sigh and weep. Whenever\nthe lad bespake him, he answered him kindly, trembling the while\nand would turn to him groaning and crying, and thus he did till\nsupper was brought in, when he fell to eating, with his eyes on\nthe boy but refrained not from shedding tears. When a fourth part\nof the night was past and talk was ended and sleep-tide came, Abd\nal-Rahman said to the lad, \"O my son, apply thyself to the\nservice of thine uncle the Dervish and gainsay him not:\" and\nwould have gone out; but the Dervish cried to him, \"O my lord,\ncarry thy son with thee or sleep with us.\" Answered the merchant,\n\"Nay, my son shall lie with thee: haply thy soul may desire\nsomewhat, and he will look to thy want and wait upon thee.\" Then\nhe went out leaving them both together, and sat down in an\nadjoining room which had a window giving upon the saloon. Such\nwas the case with the merchant; but as to the lad, as soon as his\nsire had left them, he came up to the Dervish and began to\nprovoke him and offer himself to him, whereupon he waxed wroth\nand said, \"What talk is this, O my son? I take refuge with Allah\nfrom Satan the Stoned! O my Lord, indeed this is a denial of Thee\nwhich pleaseth Thee not! Avaunt from me, O my son!\" So saying,\nthe Dervish arose and sat down at a distance; but the boy\nfollowed him and threw himself upon him, saying, \"Why, O Dervish,\nwilt thou deny thyself the joys of my possession, and I with a\nheart that loveth thee?\" Hereupon the Dervish's anger redoubled\nand he said, \"An thou refrain not from me, I will summon thy sire\nand tell him of thy doings.\" Quoth the lad, \"My father knoweth my\nturn for this and it may not be that he will hinder me: so heal\nthou my heart. Why dost thou hold off from me? Do I not please\nthee?\" Answered the Dervish, \"By Allah, O my son, I will not do\nthis, though I be hewn in pieces with sharp-edged swords!\"; and\nhe repeated the saying of the poet,\n\n\"Indeed my heart loves all the lovely boys * As girls; nor am I\n     slow to such delight,\nBut, though I sight them every night and morn, * I'm neither of\n     Lot's folk[FN#388] nor wencher-wight.\"\n\nThen he shed tears and said, \"Arise, open the door, that I may\nwend my way, for I will lie no longer in this lodging.\" Therewith\nhe rose to his feet; but the boy caught hold of him, saying,\n\"Look at the fairness of my face and the cramoisy of my cheeks\nand the softness of my sides and the lusciousness of my lips.\"\nMoreover he discovered to him calves that would shame wine and\ncupcarrier[FN#389] and gazed on him with fixed glance that would\nbaffle enchanter and enchantments; for he was passing of\nloveliness and full of blandishment, even as saith of him one of\nthe poets who sang,\n\n\"I can't forget him, since he rose and showed with fair design *\n     Those calves of legs whose pearly shine make light in\n     nightly gloom:\nWonder not an my flesh uprise as though 'twere Judgment-day *\n     When every shank shall bared be and that is Day of\n     Doom.\"[FN#390]\n\nThen the boy displayed to him his bosom, saying, \"Look at my\nbreasts which be goodlier than the breasts of maidens and my\nlip-dews are sweeter than sugar-candy. So quit scruple and\nasceticism and cast off devoutness and abstinence and take thy\nfill of my possession and enjoy my loveliness. Fear naught, for\nthou art safe from hurt, and leave this hebetude for 'tis a bad\nhabit.\" And he went on to discover to him his hidden beauties,\nstriving to turn the reins of his reason with his bendings in\ngraceful guise, whilst the Dervish turned away his face and said,\n\"I seek refuge with Allah! Have some shame, O my son![FN#391]\nThis is a forbidden thing I deem and I will not do it, no, not\neven in dream.\" The boy pressed upon him, but the Dervish got\nfree from him and turning towards Meccah addressed himself to his\ndevotions. Now when the boy saw him praying, he left him till he\nhad prayed a two-bow prayer and saluted,[FN#392] when he would\nhave accosted him again; but the Dervish again repeated the\nintent[FN#393] and prayed a second two-bow prayer, and thus he\ndid a third and a fourth and a fifth time. Quoth the lad, \"What\nprayers are these? Art thou minded to take flight upon the\nclouds? Thou lettest slip our delight, whilst thou passest the\nwhole night in the prayer-niche.\" So saying, he threw himself\nupon the Dervish and kissed him between the eyes; but the Shaykh\nsaid, \"O my son, put Satan away from thine estate and take upon\nthee obedience of the Compassionate.\" Quoth the other, \"An thou\ndo not with me that which I desire, I will call my sire and say\nto him, The Dervish is minded to do lewdness with me. Whereupon\nhe will come in to thee and beat thee till thy bones be broken\nupon thy flesh.\" All this while Abd al-Rahman was watching with\nhis eyes and hearkening with his ears, and he was certified that\nthere was no frowardness in the Dervish and he said to himself,\n\"Were he a lewd fellow, he had not stood out against all this\nimportunity.\" The boy continued to beguile the Dervish and every\ntime he expressed purpose of prayer, he interrupted him, till at\nlast he waxed wroth with passing wrath and was rough with him and\nbeat him. Kamar al-Zaman wept and his father came in and having\nwiped away his tears and comforted him said to the Dervish, \"O my\nbrother, since thou art in such case, why didst thou weep and\nsigh when thou sawest my son? Say me, is there a reason for\nthis?\" He replied, \"There is;\" and Abd al-Rahman pursued, \"When I\nsaw thee weep at his sight, I deemed evil of thee and bade the\nboy do with thee thus, that I might try thee, purposing in\nmyself, if I saw thee sue him for sin, to come in upon thee and\nkill thee. But, when I saw what thou didst, I knew thee for one\nof those who are virtuous to the end. Now Allah upon thee, tell\nme the cause of thy weeping!\" The Dervish sighed and said, \"O my\nlord, chafe not a closed[FN#394] wound.\" But the merchant said,\n\"There is no help but thou tell me;\" and the other began, \"Know\nthou that I am a Dervish who wander in the lands and the\ncountries, and take warning by the display[FN#395] of the Creator\nof Night and Day. It chanced that one Friday I entered the city\nof Bassorah in the undurn.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nDervish said to the merchant, \"Know, then, that I a wandering\nmendicant chanced one Friday to enter the city of Bassorah in the\nundurn and saw the shops open and full of all manner of wares and\nmeat and drink; but the place was deserted and therein was\nneither man nor woman nor girl nor boy: nor in the markets and\nthe main streets was there dog or cat nor sounded sound nor\nfriend was found. I marvelled at this end and said to myself, 'I\nwonder whither the people of the city be gone with their cats and\ndogs and what hath Allah done with them?' Now I was anhungred so\nI took hot bread from a baker's oven and going into the shop of\nan oilman, spread the bread with clarified butter and honey and\nate. Then I entered the shop of a sherbet-seller and drank what I\nwould; after which, seeing a coffee-shop open, I went in and\nfound the pots on the fire, full of coffee;[FN#396] but there was\nno one there. So I drank my fill and said, 'Verily, this is a\nwondrous thing! It seemeth as though Death had stricken the\npeople of this city and they had all died this very hour, or as\nif they had taken fright at something which befel them and fled,\nwithout having time to shut their shops.' Now whilst pondering\nthis matter, lo! I heard a sound of a band of drums beating;\nwhereat I was afraid and hid myself for a while: then, looking\nout through a crevice, I saw damsels, like moons, come walking\nthrough the market, two by two, with uncovered heads and faces\ndisplayed. They were in forty pairs, thus numbering fourscore and\nin their midst a young lady, riding on a horse that could hardly\nmove his legs for that which was upon it of silvern trappings and\ngolden and jewelled housings. Her face was wholly unveiled, and\nshe was adorned with the costliest ornaments and clad in the\nrichest of raiment and about her neck she wore a collar of gems\nand on her bosom were necklaces of gold; her wrists were clasped\nwith bracelets which sparkled like stars, and her ankles with\nbangles of gold set with precious stones. The slave-girls walked\nbefore her and behind and on her right and left and in front of\nher was a damsel bearing in baldric a great sword, with grip of\nemerald and tassels of jewel-encrusted gold. When that young lady\ncame to where I lay hid, she pulled up her horse and said, 'O\ndamsels, I hear a noise of somewhat within yonder shop: so do ye\nsearch it, lest haply there be one hidden there, with intent to\nenjoy a look at us, whilst we have our faces unveiled.' So they\nsearched the shop opposite the coffee-house[FN#397] wherein I lay\nhid, whilst I abode in terror; and presently I saw them come\nforth with a man and they said to her, 'O our lady, we found a\nman there and here he is before thee.' Quoth she to the damsel\nwith the sword, 'Smite his neck.' So she went up to him and\nstruck off his head; then, leaving the dead man lying on the\nground, they passed on. When I saw this, I was affrighted; but my\nheart was taken with love of the young lady. After an hour or so,\nthe people reappeared and every one who had a shop entered it;\nwhilst the folk began to come and go about the bazars and\ngathered around the slain man, staring at him as a curiosity.\nThen I crept forth from my hiding place by stealth, and none took\nnote of me, but love of that lady had gotten possession of my\nheart, and I began to enquire of her privily. None, however, gave\nme news of her; so I left Bassorah, with vitals yearning for her\nlove; and when I came upon this thy son, I saw him to be the\nlikest of all creatures to the young lady; wherefore he reminded\nme of her and his sight revived the fire of passion in me and\nkindled anew in my heart the flames of love-longing and\ndistraction. And such is the cause of my shedding tears!\" Then he\nwept with sore weeping till he could no more and said, \"O my\nlord, I conjure thee by Allah, open the door to me, so I may gang\nmy gait!\" Accordingly Abd al-Rahman opened the door and he went\nforth. Thus fared it with him; but as regards Kamar al-Zaman,\nwhen he heard the Dervish's story, his heart was taken with love\nof the lady and passion gat the mastery of him and raged in him\nlonging and distraction; so, on the morrow, he said to his sire,\n\"All the sons of the merchants wander about the world to attain\ntheir desire, nor is there one of them but his father provideth\nfor him a stock-in-trade wherewithal he may travel and traffic\nfor gain. Why, then, O my father, dost thou not outfit me with\nmerchandise, so I may fare with it and find my luck?\" He replied,\n\"O my son, such merchants lack money; so they send their sons to\nforeign parts for the sake of profit and pecuniary gain and\nprovision of the goods of the world. But I have monies in plenty\nnor do I covet more: why then should I exile thee? Indeed, I\ncannot brook to be parted from thee an hour, more especially as\nthou art unique in beauty and loveliness and perfect grace and I\nfear for thee.\" But Kamar al-Zaman said, \"O my father, nothing\nwill serve but thou must furnish me with merchandise wherewithal\nto travel; else will I fly from thee at unawares though without\nmoney or merchandise. So, an thou wish to solace my heart, make\nready for me a stock-in-trade, that I may travel and amuse myself\nby viewing the countries of men.\" Abd al-Rahman, seeing his son\nenamoured of travel, acquainted his wife with this, saying,\n\"Verily thy son would have me provide him with goods, so he may\nfare therewith to far regions, albeit Travel is Travail.\"[FN#398]\nQuoth she, \"What is there to displease thee in this? Such is the\nwont of the sons of the merchants and they all vie one with other\nin glorifying globe-trotting and gain.\" Quoth he, \"Most of the\nmerchants are poor and seek growth of good; but I have wealth\ngalore.\" She replied, \"More of a good thing hurteth not; and, if\nthou comply not with his wish, I will furnish him with goods of\nmy own monies.\" Quoth Abd al-Rahman, \"I fear strangerhood for\nhim, inasmuch as travel is the worst of trouble;\" but she said,\n\"There is no harm in strangerhood for him when it leadeth to\ngaining good; and, if we consent not, our son will go away and we\nshall seek him and not find him and be dishonoured among the\nfolk.\" The merchant accepted his wife's counsel and provided his\nson with merchandise to the value of ninety thousand gold pieces,\nwhilst his mother gave him a purse containing forty bezel-stones,\njewels of price, the least of the value of one of which was five\nhundred ducats, saying, \"O my son, be careful of this jewellery\nfor 'twill be of service to thee.\" Thereupon Kamar al-Zaman took\nthe jewels and set out for Bassorah,--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar\nal-Zaman took the jewels and set out for Bassorah after he had\nlaid them in a belt, which he buckled about his waist; and he\nstayed not till there remained aught but a day's journey between\nthat city and himself; when the Arabs came out upon him and\nstripped him naked and slew his men and servants; but he laid\nhimself down among the slain and wallowed in their blood, so that\nthe wildlings took him for dead and left him without even turning\nhim over and made off with their booty. When the Arabs had gone\ntheir ways, Kamar al-Zaman arose, having naught left but the\njewels in his girdle, and fared on nor ceased faring till he came\nto Bassorah. It chanced that his entry was on a Friday and the\ntown was void of folk, even as the Dervish had informed him. He\nfound the market-streets deserted and the shops wide open and\nfull of goods; so he ate and drank and looked about him.\nPresently, he heard a band of drums beating and hid himself in a\nshop, till the slave-girls came up, when he looked at them; and,\nseeing the young lady riding amongst them, love and longing\novercame him and desire and distraction overpowered him, so that\nhe had no force to stand. After awhile, the people reappeared and\nthe bazars filled. Whereupon he went to the market and repairing\nto a jeweller and pulling out one of his forty gems sold it for a\nthousand dinars, wherewith he returned to his place and passed\nthe night there; and when morning morrowed he changed his clothes\nand going to the Hamman came forth as he were the full moon. Then\nhe sold other four stones for four thousand dinars and sauntered\nsolacing himself about the main streets of Bassorah, clad in the\ncostliest of clothes; till he came to a market, where he saw a\nbarber's shop. So he went in to the barber who shaved his head;\nand, clapping up an acquaintance with him, said to him, \"O my\nfather, I am a stranger in these parts and yesterday I entered\nthis city and found it void of folk, nor was there in it any\nliving soul, man nor Jinni. Then I saw a troop of slave-girls and\namongst them a young lady riding in state:\" and he went on to\ntell him all he had seen. Said the barber, \"O my son, hast thou\ntold any but me of this?\"; and he said, \"No.\" The other rejoined,\n\"Then, O my son, beware thou mention this before any but me; for\nall folk cannot keep a secret and thou art but a little lad and I\nfear lest the talk travel from man to man, till it reach those\nwhom it concerneth and they slay thee. For know, O my son, that\nthis thou hast seen, none ever kenned nor knew in other than this\ncity. As for the people of Bassorah they are dying of this annoy;\nfor every Friday forenoon they shut up the dogs and cats, to\nhinder them from going about the market-streets, and all the\npeople of the city enter the cathedral-mosques, where they lock\nthe doors on them[FN#399] and not one of them can pass about the\nbazar nor even look out of casement; nor knoweth any the cause of\nthis calamity. But, O my son, to-night I will question my wife\nconcerning the reason thereof, for she is a midwife and entereth\nthe houses of the notables and knoweth all the city news. So\nInshallah, do thou come to me to-morrow and I will tell thee what\nshe shall have told me.\" With this Kamar al-Zaman pulled out a\nhandful of gold and said to him, \"O my father, take this gold and\ngive it to thy wife, for she is become my mother.\" Then he gave\nhim a second handful, saying, \"Take this for thyself.\" Whereupon\nquoth the barber, \"O my son, sit thou in thy place, till I go to\nmy wife and ask her and bring the news of the true state of the\ncase.\" So saying, he left him in the shop and going home,\nacquainted his wife with the young man's case, saying, \"I would\nhave thee tell me the truth of this city-business, so I may\nreport it to this young merchant, for he hath set his heart on\nweeting the reason why men and beasts are forbidden the\nmarket-streets every Friday forenoon; and methinks he is a lover,\nfor he is openhanded and liberal, and if we tell him what he\nwould trow, we shall get great good of him.\" Quoth she, \"Go back\nand say to him, 'Come, speak with thy mother, my wife, who\nsendeth her salam to thee and saith to thee, Thy wish is won.'\"\nAccordingly he returned to the shop, where he found Kamar\nal-Zaman sitting awaiting him and repeated him the very words\nspoken by his spouse. Then he carried him in to her and she\nwelcomed him and bade him sit down; whereupon he pulled out an\nhundred ducats and gave them to her, saying, \"O my mother, tell\nme who this young lady may be.\" Said she, \"Know, O my son, that\nthere came a gem to the Sultan of Bassorah from the King of Hind,\nand he was minded to have it pierced. So he summoned all the\njewellers in a body and said to them, 'I wish you to drill me\nthis jewel. Whoso pierceth it, I will give him whatsoever he\nshall ask; but if he break it, I will cut off his head.' At this\nthey were afraid and said, 'O King of the age, a jewel is soon\nspoilt and there are few who can pierce them without injury, for\nmost of them have a flaw. So do not thou impose upon us a task to\nwhich we are unable; for our hands cannot avail to drill this\njewel. However, our Shaykh[FN#400] is more experienced than we.'\nAsked the King, 'And who is your Shaykh?'; and they answered,\n'Master Obayd: he is more versed than we in this art and hath\nwealth galore and of skill great store. Therefore do thou send\nfor him to the presence and bid him pierce thee this jewel.'\nAccordingly the King sent for Obayd and bade him pierce the\njewel, imposing on him the condition aforesaid. He took it and\npierced it to the liking of the King who said to him, 'Ask a boon\nof me, O master'; and said he, 'O King of the age, allow me delay\ntill to-morrow.' Now the reason of this was that he wished to\ntake counsel with his wife, who is the young lady thou sawest\nriding in procession; for he loveth her with exceeding love, and\nof the greatness of his affection for her, he doth naught without\nconsulting her; wherefore he put off asking till the morrow. When\nhe went home, he said to her, 'I have pierced the King a jewel\nand he hath granted me a boon which I deferred asking till\nto-morrow, that I might consult thee. Now what dost thou wish,\nthat I may ask it?' Quoth she, 'We have riches such as fires may\nnot consume; but, an thou love me, ask of the King to make\nproclamation in the streets of Bassorah that all the townsfolk\nshall every Friday enter the mosques, two hours before the hour\nof prayer, so none may abide in the town at all great or small\nexcept they be in the mosques or in the houses and the doors be\nlocked upon them, and that every shop of the town be left open.\nThen will I ride with my slave-women through the heart of the\ncity and none shall look on me from window or lattice; and every\none whom I find abroad I will kill.'[FN#401] So he went in to the\nKing and begged of him this boon, which he granted him and caused\nproclamation to be made amongst the Bassorites,\"--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When is was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Jeweller begged his boon, the King\nbade proclamation be made amongst the Bassorites, but the people\nobjected that they feared for their goods from the cats and dogs;\nwherefore he commanded to shut the animals up till the folk\nshould come forth from the Friday prayers. So the jeweller's wife\nfell to sallying forth every Friday, two hours before the time of\ncongregational prayer, and riding in state through the city with\nher women; during which time none dareth pass through the\nmarket-place nor look out of casement or lattice. This, then, is\nwhat thou wouldest know and I have told thee who she is; but, O\nmy son, was it thy desire only to have news of her or hast thou a\nmind to meet her?\" Answered he, \"O my mother, 'tis my wish to\nforegather with her.\" Quoth she, \"Tell me what valuables thou\nhast with thee\"; and quoth he, \"O my mother, I have with me\nprecious stones of four sorts, the first worth five hundred\ndinars each, the second seven hundred, the third eight hundred\nand the fourth a thousand ducats.\" She asked, \"Art thou willing\nto spend four of these?\"; and he answered, \"I am ready to spend\nall of them.\" She rejoined, \"Then, arise, O my son, and go\nstraight to thy lodging and take a bezel-gem of those worth five\nhundred sequins, with which do thou repair to the jewel market\nand ask for the shop of Master Obayd, the Shaykh of the\nJewellers. Go thither and thou wilt find him seated in his shop,\nclad in rich clothes, with workmen under his hand. Salute him and\nsit down on the front shelf of his shop;[FN#402] then pull out\nthe jewel and give it to him, saying, 'O master, take this stone\nand fashion it into a seal-ring for me with gold. Make it not\nlarge, a Misk\u00e1l[FN#403] in weight and no more; but let the\nfashion of it be thy fairest.' Then give him twenty dinars and to\neach of his prentices a dinar. Sit with him awhile and talk with\nhim and if a beggar approach thee, show thy generosity by giving\nhim a dinar, to the intent that he may affect thee, and after\nthis, leave him and return to thy place. Pass the night there,\nand next morning, take an hundred dinars and bring them and give\nthem to thy father the barber, for he is poor.\" Quoth Kamar\nal-Zaman, \"Be it so,\" and returning to his caravanserai, took a\njewel worth five hundred gold pieces and went with it to the\njewel-bazar. There he enquired for the shop of Master Obayd,\nShaykh of the Jewellers, and they directed him thereto. So he\nwent thither and saw the Shaykh, a man of austere aspect and\nrobed in sumptuous raiment with four journeymen under his hand.\nHe addressed him with \"Peace be upon you!\" and the jeweller\nreturned his greeting and welcoming him, made him sit down. Then\nhe brought out the jewel and said, \"O master, I wish thee to make\nme this jewel into a seal-ring with gold. Let it be the weight of\na Miskal and no more, but fashion it excellently.\" Then he pulled\nout twenty dinars and gave them to him, saying, \"This is the fee\nfor chasing and the price of the ring shall remain.\"[FN#404] And\nhe gave each of the apprentices a gold piece, wherefore they\nloved him, and so did Master Obayd. Then he sat talking with the\njeweller and whenever a beggar came up to him, he gave him a gold\npiece and they all marvelled at his generosity. Now Master Obayd\nhad tools at home, like those he had in the shop, and whenever he\nwas minded to do any unusual piece of work, it was his custom to\ncarry it home and do it there, that his journeymen might not\nlearn the secrets of his wonderful workmanship.[FN#405] His wife\nused to sit before him, and when she was sitting thus and he\nlooking upon her,[FN#406] he would fashion all manner of\nmarvellously wroughten trinkets, such as were fit for none but\nkings. So he went home and sat down to mould the ring with\nadmirable workmanship. When his wife saw him thus engaged, she\nasked him, \"What wilt thou do with this bezel-gem?\"; and he\nanswered, \"I mean to make it into a ring with gold, for 'tis\nworth five hundred dinars.\" She enquired, \"For whom?\"; and he\nanswered, \"For a young merchant, who is fair of face, with eyes\nthat wound with desire, and cheeks that strike fire and mouth\nlike the seal of Sulaym\u00e1n and cheeks like the bloom of Nu'm\u00e1n and\nlips red as coralline and neck like the antelope's long and fine.\nHis complexion is white dashed with red and he is well-bred,\npleasant and generous and doth thus and thus.\" And he went on to\ndescribe to her now his beauty and loveliness and then his\nperfection and bounty and ceased not to vaunt his charms and the\ngenerosity of his disposition, till he had made her in love with\nhim; for there is no sillier cuckold than he who vaunteth to his\nwife another man's handsome looks and unusual liberality in money\nmatters. So, when desire rose high in her, she said to him, \"Is\naught of my charms found in him?\" Said he, \"He hath all thy\nbeauties; and he is thy counterpart in qualities. Meseemeth his\nage is even as thine and but that I fear to hurt thy feelings, I\nwould say that he is a thousand times handsomer than thou art.\"\nShe was silent, yet the fire of fondness was kindled in her\nheart. And the jeweller ceased not to talk with her and to set\nout Kamar al-Zaman's charms before her till he had made an end of\nmoulding the ring; when he gave it to her and she put it on her\nfinger, which it fitted exactly. Quoth she, \"O my lord, my heart\nloveth this ring and I long for it to be mine and will not take\nit from my finger.\" Quoth he, \"Have patience! The owner of it is\ngenerous, and I will seek to buy it of him, and if he will sell\nit, I will bring it to thee. Or if he have another such stone, I\nwill buy it and fashion it for thee into a ring like this.\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\njeweller said to his wife, \"Have patience! The owner of it is\ngenerous and I will seek to buy it of him; and, if he will sell\nit, I will bring it to thee; or, if he have another such stone I\nwill buy it and fashion it for thee into a ring like this.\" On\nthis wise it fared with the jeweller and his wife; but as regards\nKamar al-Zaman, he passed the night in his lodging and on the\nmorrow he took an hundred dinars and carried them to the old\nwoman, the barber's wife, saying to her, \"Accept these gold\npieces,\" and she replied, \"Give them to thy father.\" So he gave\nthem to the barber and she asked, \"Hast thou done as I bade\nthee?\" He answered, \"Yes,\" and she said, \"Go now to the Shaykh,\nthe jeweller, and if he give thee the ring, put it on the tip of\nthy finger and pull it off in haste and say to him, 'O master,\nthou hast made a mistake; the ring is too tight.' He will say, 'O\nmerchant, shall I break it and mould it again larger?' And do\nthou say, 'It booteth not to break it and fashion it anew. Take\nit and give it to one of thy slave-women.' Then pull out another\nstone worth seven hundred dinars and say to him, 'Take this stone\nand set it for me, for 'tis handsomer than the other.' Give him\nthirty dinars and to each of the prentices two, saying, 'These\ngold pieces are for the chasing and the price of the ring shall\nremain.' Then return to thy lodging for the night and on the\nmorrow bring me two hundred ducats, and I will complete thee the\nrest of the device.\" So the youth went to the jeweller, who\nwelcomed him and made him sit down in his shop; and he asked him,\n\"Hast thou done my need?\" \"Yes,\" answered Obayd and brought out\nto him the seal-ring; whereupon he set it on his finger-tip and\npulling it off in haste, cried, \"Thou hast made a mistake, O\nmaster;\" and threw it to him, saying, \"'Tis too strait for my\nfinger.\" Asked the jeweller, \"O merchant, shall I make it\nlarger?\" But he answered, \"Not so; take it as a gift and give it\nto one of thy slave-girls. Its worth is trifling, some five\nhundred dinars; so it booteth not to fashion it over again.\" Then\nhe brought out to him another stone worth seven hundred sequins\nand said to him, \"Set this for me: 'tis a finer gem.\" Moreover he\ngave him thirty dinars and to each of his workmen two. Quoth\nObayd, \"O my lord we will take the price of the ring when we have\nmade it.\"[FN#407] But Kamar al-Zaman said, \"This is for the\nchasing, and the price of the ring remains over.\" So saying, he\nwent away home, leaving the jeweller and his men amazed at the\nexcess of his generosity. Presently the jeweller returned to his\nwife and said, \"O Hal\u00edmah,[FN#408] never did I set eyes on a more\ngenerous than this young man, and as for thee, thy luck is good,\nfor he hath given me the ring without price, saying, 'Give it to\none of thy slave-women.'\" And he told her what had passed,\nadding, \"Methinks this youth is none of the sons of the\nmerchants, but that he is of the sons of the Kings and Sultans.\"\nNow the more he praised him, the more she waxed in love-longing,\npassion and distraction for him. So she took the ring and put it\non her finger, whilst the jeweller made another one, a little\nlarger than the first. When he had finished moulding it, she put\nit on her finger, under the first, and said, \"Look, O my lord,\nhow well the two rings show on my finger! I wish they were both\nmine.\" Said he, \"Patience! It may be I shall buy thee this second\none.\" Then he lay that night and on the morrow he took the ring\nand went to his shop. As for Kamar al-Zaman, as soon as it was\nday, he repaired to the barber's wife and gave her two hundred\ndinars. Quoth she, \"Go to the jeweller and when he giveth thee\nthe ring, put it on thy finger and pull it off again in haste,\nsaying, 'Thou hast made a mistake, O master! This ring is too\nlarge. A master like thee, when the like of me cometh to him with\na piece of work, it behoveth him to take right measure; and if\nthou hadst measured my finger, thou hadst not erred.' Then pull\nout another stone worth a thousand dinars and say to him, 'Take\nthis and set it, and give this ring to one of thy slave-women.'\nGive him forty ducats and to each of his journeymen three,\nsaying, \"This is for the chasing, and for the cost of the ring,\nthat shall remain.' And see what he will say. Then bring three\nhundred dinars and give them to thy father the barber that he may\nmend his fortune withal, for he is a poor man.\" Answered Kamar\nal-Zaman, \"I hear and obey,\" and betook himself to the jeweller,\nwho welcomed him and making him sit down, gave him the ring. He\ntook it and put it on his finger; then pulled it off in haste and\nsaid, \"It behoveth a master like thee, when the like of me\nbringeth him a piece of work, to take his measure. Hadst thou\nmeasured my finger, thou hadst not erred; but take it and give it\nto one of thy slave-women.\" Then he brought out to him a stone\nworth a thousand sequins and said to him, \"Take this and set it\nin a signet-ring for me after the measure of my finger.\" Quoth\nObayd, \"Thou hast spoken sooth and art in the right;\" and took\nhis measure, whereupon he pulled out forty gold pieces and gave\nthem to him, saying, \"Take these for the chasing and the price of\nthe ring shall remain.\" Cried the jeweller, \"O my lord, how much\nhire have we taken of thee! Verily, thy bounty to us is great!\"\n\"No harm,\" replied Kamar al-Zaman and sat talking with him awhile\nand giving a dinar to every beggar who passed by the shop. Then\nhe left him and went away, whilst the jeweller returned home and\nsaid to his wife, 'How generous is this young merchant! Never did\nI set eyes on a more open-handed or a comelier than he, no, nor a\nsweeter of speech.' And he went on to recount to her his charms\nand generosity and was loud in his praise. Cried she, \"O thou\nlack-tact,[FN#409] since thou notest these qualities in him, and\nindeed he hath given thee two seal rings of price, it behoveth\nthee to invite him and make him an entertainment and entreat him\nlovingly. When he seeth that thou affectest him and cometh to our\nplace, we shall surely get great good of him; and if thou grudge\nhim the banquet do thou bid him and I will entertain him of my\nmonies.\" Quoth he, \"Dost thou know me to be niggardly, that thou\nsayest this Say?; and quoth she, \"Thou art no niggard, but thou\nlackest tact. Invite him this very night and come not without\nhim. An he refuse, conjure him by the divorce oath and be\npersistent with him.\" \"On my head and eyes,\" answered he and\nmoulded the ring till he had finished it, after which he passed\nthe night and went forth on the morrow to his shop and sat there.\nOn this wise it was with him; but as for Kamar al-Zaman, he took\nthree hundred dinars and carrying them to the old wife, gave them\nto her for the barber, her husband. Said she, \"Most like he will\ninvite thee to his house this day; and if he do this and thou\npass the night there, tell me in the morning what befalleth thee\nand bring with thee four hundred dinars and give them to thy\nfather.\" Answered he, \"Hearing and obeying;\" and as often as he\nran out of money, he would sell some of his stones. So he\nrepaired to the jeweller, who rose to him and received him with\nopen arms, greeted him heartily and clapped up companionship with\nhim. Then he gave him the ring, and he found it after the measure\nof his finger and said to the jeweller, \"Allah bless thee, O\nprince of artists! The setting is conformable but the stone is\nnot to my liking.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say,\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventieth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar\nal-Zaman said to the jeweller, \"The setting is conformable to my\nwishes, but the stone is not to my liking. I have a handsomer\nthan this: so take the seal-ring and give it to one of thy slave\nwomen.\" Then he gave him a fourth stone and an hundred dinars,\nsaying, \"Take thy hire and excuse the trouble we have given\nthee.\" Obayd replied, \"O merchant, all the trouble thou hast\ngiven us thou hast requited us and hast overwhelmed us with thy\ngreat bounties: and indeed my heart is taken with love of thee\nand I cannot brook parting from thee. So, Allah upon thee, be\nthou my guest this night and heal my heart.\" He rejoined, \"So be\nit; but needs must I go to my Khan, that I may give a charge to\nmy domestics and tell them that I shall sleep abroad to-night, so\nthey may not expect me.\" \"Where dost thou lodge?\" asked the\njeweller; and he answered, \"In such a Khan.\" Quoth Obayd, \"I will\ncome for thee there;\" and quoth the other \"'Tis well.\" So the\njeweller repaired to the Khan before sundown, fearing lest his\nwife should be anangered with him, if he returned home without\nhis guest; and, carrying Kamar al-Zaman to his house, seated him\nin a saloon that had not its match. Halimah saw him, as he\nentered, and was ravished with him. They talked till supper was\nserved when they ate and drank; after which appeared coffee and\nsherbets, and the jeweller ceased not to entertain him with talk\ntill eventide, when they prayed the obligatory prayers. Then\nentered a handmaid with two cups[FN#410] of night drink, which\nwhen they had drunk, drowsiness overcame them and they slept.\nPresently in came the jeweller's wife and seeing them asleep,\nlooked upon Kamar al-Zaman's face and her wit was confounded at\nhis beauty. Said she, \"How can he sleep who loveth the fair?\"\nand, turning him over on his back, sat astraddle upon his breast.\nThen, in the mania of her passion for him, she rained down kisses\non his cheeks, till she left a mark upon them and they became\nexceeding red and his cheek bones shone; and, she sucked his\nlips, till the blood ran out into her mouth; but with all this,\nher fire was not quenched nor her thirst assuaged. She ceased not\nto kiss and clip him and twine leg with leg, till the forebrow of\nMorn grew white and the dawn broke forth in light; when she put\nin his pocket four cockals[FN#411] and went away. Then she sent\nher maid with something like snuff, which she applied to their\nnostrils and they sneezed and awoke, when the slave-girl said, \"O\nmy lords, prayer is a duty; so rise ye and pray the dawn-prayer.\"\nAnd she brought them basin and ewer.[FN#412] Quoth Kaman al-Zamar\n\"O master, 'tis late and we have overslept ourselves;\" and quoth\nthe jeweller, \"O my friend verily the air of this room is heavy;\nfor, whenever I sleep in it, this happens to me.\" Rejoined Kamar\nal-Zaman, \"True,\" and proceeded to make the Wuzu ablution; but,\nwhen he put the water to his face, his cheeks and lips burned\nhim. Cried he, \"Prodigious! If the air of the room be heavy and\nwe have been drowned in sleep, what aileth my cheeks and lips\nthat they burn me?\" And he said to the jeweller, \"O master, my\ncheeks and lips burn me.\" The other replied, \"I guess this cometh\nof the mosquito-bites.\" \"Strange!\" said Kamar al-Zaman. \"Hath\nthis thing happened to thee?\" Replied Obayd, \"No! But whenever I\nhave by me a guest like thee, he complaineth in the morning of\nthe mosquito-bites, and this happeneth only when he is like thee\nbeardless. If he be bearded the mosquitoes sting him not, and\nnaught hindereth them from me but my beard. It seems mosquitoes\nlove not bearded men.\"[FN#413] Rejoined Kamar al-Zaman, \"True.\"\nThen the maid brought them early breakfast and they broke their\nfast and went out. Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old\nwoman, who exclaimed, when she saw him, \"I see the marks of\njoyance on thy face: tell me what thou hast seen.\" Said he, \"I\nhave seen nothing. Only I supped with the house master in a\nsaloon and prayed the night prayer, after which we fell asleep\nand woke not till morning.\" She laughed and said, \"What be those\nmarks on thy cheeks and lips?\" He answered, \"'Twas the mosquitoes\nof the saloon that did this with me;\" and she rejoined, \"'Tis\nwell. But did the same thing betide the house master?\" He\nretorted, \"Nay; but he told me that the mosquitoes of that saloon\nmolest not bearded men, but sting those only who have no hair on\nface, and that whenever he hath for guest one who is beardless,\nthe stranger awaketh complaining of the mosquito bites; whereas\nan he have a beard, there befalleth him naught of this.\" Said\nshe, \"Sooth thou speakest: but say me, sawest thou aught save\nthis?\" And he answered, \"I found four cockals in my pocket.\"\nQuoth she, \"Show them to me.\" So he gave them to her and she\nlaughed and said, \"Thy mistress laid these in thy pocket.\" He\nasked, \"How so?\" And she answered, \" 'Tis as if she said to thee,\nin the language of signs,[FN#414] 'An thou wert in love, thou\nwouldst not sleep, for a lover sleepeth not: but thou hast not\nceased to be a child and fit for nothing but to play with these\ncockals. So what drave thee to fall in love with the fair?' Now\nshe came to thee by night and finding thee asleep, scored thy\ncheeks with her kisses and left thee this sign. But that will not\nsuffice her of thee and she will certainly send her husband to\ninvite thee again to night; so, when thou goest home with him,\nhasten not to fall asleep, and on the morrow bring me five\nhundred dinars and come and acquaint me with what hath passed,\nand I will perfect for thee the device.\" Answered he, \"I hear and\nobey,\" and went back to the Khan. Thus it befel him; but as\nregards the jeweller's wife, she said to her husband, \"Is the\nguest gone?\" Answered he, \"Yes, but, O Halimah,[FN#415]the\nmosquitoes plagued him last night and scarified his cheeks and\nlips, and indeed I was abashed before him.\" She rejoined, \"This\nis the wont of the mosquitoes of our saloon; for they love none\nsave the beardless. But do thou invite him again to night.\" So he\nrepaired to the Khan where the youth abode, and bidding him,\ncarried him to his house, where they ate and drank and prayed the\nnight-prayer in the saloon, after which the slave-girl entered\nand gave each of them a cup of night-drink,--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the slave-\ngirl went in to the twain and gave each of them a cup of night\ndrink, and they drank and fell asleep. Presently, in came Halimah\nand said, \"O good-for-nothing, how canst thou sleep and call thyself a lover? A lover sleepeth not!\" Then she mounted on his\nbreast and ceased not to come down upon him with kisses and\ncaresses, biting and sucking his lips and so forth, till the\nmorning. when she put in his pocket a knife and sent her handmaid\nto arouse them. And when the youth awoke, his cheeks were on\nfire, for excess of redness, and his lips like coral, for dint of\nsucking and kissing. Quoth the jeweller, \"Did the mosquitoes\nplague thee last night?\"; and quoth the other, \"Nay!\"; for he now\nknew the conceit and left complaining. Then he felt the knife in\nhis pocket and was silent; but when he had broken his fast and\ndrunk coffee, he left the jeweller and going to the Khan; took\nfive hundred dinars of gold and carried them to the old woman, to\nwhom he related what had passed, saying, \"I slept despite myself,\nand when I woke at dawn I found nothing but a knife in my\npocket.\" Exclaimed the old trot, \"May Allah protect thee from her\nthis next night! For she saith to thee by this sign, 'An thou\nsleep again, I will cut thy throat.' Thou wilt once more be\nbidden to the jeweller's house to-night,[FN#416] and if thou\nsleep, she will slay thee.\" Said he, \"What is to be done?\"; and\nsaid she, \"Tell me what thou atest and drankest before sleeping.\"\nQuoth he, \"We supped as was our wont and prayed the night- prayer,\nafter which there came in to us a maid, who gave each of us a cup\nof night-drink, which when I had drunk, I fell asleep and awoke\nnot till the morning.\" Quoth the old woman, \"The mischief is in\nthe cup: so, when the maid giveth it to thee, take it from her,\nbut drink not and wait till the master of the house have drunken\nand fallen asleep; then say to her, 'Give me a draught of water,'\nand she will go to fetch thee the gugglet. Then do thou empty the\ncup behind the pillow and lie down and feign sleep. So when she\ncometh back with the gugglet, she will deem that thou hast fallen\nasleep, after having drunk off the cup, and will leave thee; and\npresently the case will appear to thee; but beware of disobeying\nmy bidding.\" Answered he, \"I hear and I obey,\" and returned to\nthe Khan. Meanwhile the jeweller's wife said to her husband, \"A\nguest's due honour is three nights' entertainment: so do thou\ninvite him a third time.\" Whereupon he betook himself to the\nyouth and inviting him, carried him home and sat down with him in\nthe saloon. When they had supped and prayed the night-prayer,\nbehold, in came the handmaid and gave each of them a cup. Her\nmaster drank and fell asleep; but Kamar al-Zaman forbore to\ndrink, whereupon quoth the maid, \"Wilt thou not drink, O my\nlord?\" Answered he, \"I am athirst, bring me the gugglet.\"\nAccordingly she went to fetch it, and he emptied the cup behind\nthe pillow and lay down. When the slave-girl returned, she saw\nhim lying down and going to her mistress said, \"He hath drunk off\nthe cup and fallen asleep;\" whereupon quoth Halimah to herself,\n\"Verily, his death is better than his life.\" Then, taking a sharp\nknife, she went in to him, saying, \"Three times, and thou notedst\nnot the sign, O fool![FN#417] So now I will rip up thy maw.\" When\nhe saw her making for him knife in hand, he opened his eyes and\nrose, laughing; whereupon said she, \"'Twas not of thine own wit,\nthat thou camest at the meaning of the sign, but by the help of\nsome wily cheat; so tell me whence thou hadst this knowledge.\"\n\"From an old woman,\" replied he, \"between whom and me befel such\nand such;\" and he told her all that had passed. Quoth she, \"To-\nmorrow go thou forth from us and seek her and say, 'Hast thou any\nfurther device in store?' And if she answer, 'I have,' do thou\nrejoin, 'Then do thy best that I may enjoy her publicly.' But, if\nshe say, 'I have no means of doing that, and this is the last of\nmy devices,' put her away from thy thought, and to-morrow night\nmy husband will come to thee and invite thee. Do thou come with\nhim and tell me and I will consider what remaineth to be done.\"\nAnswered he, \"There is no harm in that!\" Then he spent the rest\nof the night with her in embracing and clipping, plying the\nparticle of copulation in concert[FN#418] and joining the\nconjunctive with the conjoined,[FN#419] whilst her husband was as\na cast-out nunnation of construction.[FN#420] And they ceased not\nto be thus till morning, when she said to him, \"'Tis not a night\nof thee that will content me, nor a day; no, nor yet a month nor\na year; but it's my intent to abide with thee the rest of my\nlife. Wait, however, till I play my husband a trick which would\nbaffle the keenest-witted and win for us our wishes. I will cause\ndoubt to enter into him, so that he shall divorce me, whereupon I\nwill marry thee and go with thee to thine own country; I will\nalso transport all his monies and hoards to thy lodging and will\ncontrive thee the ruin of his dwelling place and the blotting out\nof his traces. But do thou hearken to my speech and obey me in\nthat I shall say to thee and gainsay me not.\" He replied, \"I hear\nand I obey: in me there is none opposition.\" Then said she, \"Go\nto the Khan and, when my husband cometh to thee and inviteth\nthee, say to him, 'O my brother, a son of Adam is apt to be\nburdensome, and when his visits grow over frequent, both generous\nand niggard loathe him.[FN#421] How then shall I go with thee\nevery night and lie I and thee, on the saloon? An thou wax not\nchagrined with me, thy Harim will bear me grudge, for that I\nhinder thee from thine. Therefore if thou have a mind to my\ncompany, take me a house beside thine own and we will abide thus,\nnow I sitting with thee till the time of sleep, and now with me\nthou. Then I will go to my place and thou to thy Harim and this\nwill be a better rede than that I hinder thee from thy Harim\nevery night.' Then will he come to me and take counsel with me,\nand I will advise him to turn out our neighbour, for the house\nwherein he liveth is our house and he renteth it of us; and once\nthou art in the house, Allah will make easy to us the rest of our\nscheme.\" And presently she added, \"Go now and do as I bid thee.\"\nAnswered he, \"I hear and obey;\" whereupon she left him and went\naway, whilst he lay down and feigned to be asleep. Presently, the\nhandmaid came and aroused them; and when the jeweller awoke, he\nsaid to his guest, \"O merchant have the mosquitoes worried thee?\"\nHe replied, \"No,\" and Obayd said, \"Belike thou art grown used to\nthem.\" Then they broke their fast and drank coffee, after which\nthey fared forth to their affairs, and Kamar al-Zaman betook\nhimself to the old crone, and related to her what had passed,--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-second Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nKamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old crone, he related to her\nwhat had passed, saying, \"She spake to me this and that, and I\nanswered her thus and thus. Now say me, hast thou any farther\ndevice for bringing me to enjoy her publicly?\" Quoth she, \"O my\nson, here endeth my contrivance, and now I am at the term of my\ndevices.\" Upon this he left her and returned to the Khan where,\nas eventide evened, the jeweller came to him and invited him. He\nsaid, \"I cannot go with thee.\" Asked the merchant, \"Why so? I\nlove thee and cannot brook separation from thee. Allah upon thee\ncome with me!\" The other replied, \"An it be thy wish to continue\nour comradeship and keep up the friendship betwixt thee and me,\ntake me a house by the side of thine own and when thou wilt, thou\nshalt pass the evening with me and I with thee; but, as soon as\nthe time of sleep cometh, each of us shall hie him to his own\nhome and lie there.\" Quoth Obayd, \"I have a house adjoining mine,\nwhich is my own property: so go thou with me to night and to-\nmorrow I will have the house untenanted for thee.\" Accordingly he\nwent with him and they supped and prayed the night prayer, after\nwhich the jeweller drank the cup of drugged[FN#422] liquor and\nfell asleep: but in Kamar al-Zaman's cup there was no trick; so\nhe drank it and slept not. Then came the jeweller's wife and sat\nchatting with him through the dark hours, whilst her husband lay\nlike a corpse. When he awoke in the morning as of wont, he sent\nfor his tenant and said to him, \"O man, quit me the house, for I\nhave need of it.\" \"On my head and eyes,\" answered the other and\nvoided the house to him, whereupon Kamar al-Zaman took up his\nabode therein and transported thither all his baggage. The\njeweller passed that evening with him, then went to his own\nhouse. On the next day, his wife sent for a cunning builder and\nbribed him with money to make her an underground-way[FN#423] from\nher chamber to Kamar al-Zaman's house, with a trap-door under the\nearth. So, before the youth was ware, she came in to him with two\nbags of money and he said to her, \"Whence comest thou?\" She\nshowed him the tunnel and said to him, \"Take these two bags of\nhis money.\" Then she sat with him, the twain toying and tumbling\ntogether till the morning, when she said, \"Wait for me, till I go\nto him and wake him, so he may go to his shop, and I return to\nthee.\" He sat expecting her, whilst she went away and awoke her\nhusband, who made the Wuzu-ablution and prayed and went to his\nshop. As soon as he was gone, she took four bags and, carrying\nthem through the Souterrain to Kamar al-Zaman, said to him,\n\"Store these up;\" then she sat with him awhile, after which she\nretired to her home and he betook himself to the bazar. When he\nreturned at sundown, he found in his house ten purses and jewels\nand much besides. Presently the jeweller came to him and carried\nhim to his own house, where they passed the evening in the\nsaloon, till the handmaid came in according to custom, and\nbrought them the drink. Her master drank and fell asleep, whilst\nnaught betided Kamar al-Zaman for that his cup was wholesome and\nthere was no trick therein. Then came Halimah who sat down\natoying with him, whilst the slave-girl transported the\njeweller's goods to Kamar al-Zaman's house by the secret passage.\nThus they did till morning, when the handmaid awoke her lord and\ngave them to drink coffee, after which they went each his own\nway. On the third day the wife brought out to him a knife of her\nhusband's, which he had chased and wrought with his own hand, and\nwhich he priced at five hundred dinars. But there was no knife\nlike it and because of the eagerness with which folk sought it of\nhim, he had laid it up in a chest and could not bring himself to\nsell it to any one in creation. Quoth she, \"Take this knife and\nset it in thy waist shawl and go to my husband and sit with him.\nThen pull out the knife and say to him, 'O master, look at this\nknife I bought to-day and tell me if I have the worst or the best\nof the bargain.' He will know it, but will be ashamed to say to\nthee, 'This is my knife;' so he will ask thee, 'Whence didst thou\nbuy it and for how much?'; and do thou make answer, 'I saw two\nLevantines[FN#424] disputing and one said to the other, 'Where\nhast thou been?' Quoth his companion, 'I have been with my\nmistress, and whenever I foregather with her, she giveth me ten\ndirhams; but this day she said to me, 'My hand is empty of silver\nfor thee to day, but take this knife of my husband's.' So I took\nit and intend to sell it.' The knife pleased me and hearing his\ntale I said to him, 'Wilt thou sell it to me?' when he replied,\n'Buy.' So I got it of him for three hundred gold pieces and I\nwonder whether it was cheap or dear.' And note what he will say\nto thee. Then talk with him awhile and rise and come back to me\nin haste. Thou wilt find me awaiting thee at the tunnel mouth,\nand do thou give me the knife.\" Replied Kamar al-Zaman, \"I hear\nand I obey,\" and taking the knife set it in his waist-shawl. Then\nhe went to the shop of the jeweller, who saluted him with the\nsalam and welcomed him and made him sit down. He spied the knife\nin his waist shawl, at which he wondered and said to himself,\n\"That is my knife: who can have conveyed it to this merchant?\"\nAnd he fell a-musing and saying in his mind, \"I wonder an it be\nmy knife or a knife like it!\" Presently Kamar al-Zaman pulled it\nout and said to him, \"Harkye, master; take this knife and look at\nit.\" Obayd took it and knew it right well, but was ashamed to\nsay, \"This is my knife;\"-- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-third Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\njeweller took the knife from Kamar al-Zaman, he knew it, but was\nashamed to say, \"This is my knife.\" So he asked, \"Where didst\nthou buy it?\" Kamar al-Zaman answered as Halimah had charged him,\nand the jeweller said, \"The knife was cheap at that price, for it\nis worth five hundred dinars.\" But fire flamed in his heart and\nhis hands were tied from working at his craft. Kamar al-Zaman\ncontinued to talk with him, whilst he was drowned in the sea of\nsolicitudes, and for fifty words wherewith the youth bespoke him,\nhe answered him but one; for his heart ached and his frame was\nracked and his thoughts were troubled and he was even as saith\nthe poet,\n\n\"I have no words though folk would have me talk * And who bespeak\n     me find me thought waylaid:\nPlunged in the Care-sea's undiscovered depths, * Nor aught of\n     difference see 'twixt man and maid!\"\n\n\nWhen Kamar al-Zaman saw his case thus changed, he said to him,\n\"Belike thou art busy at this present,\" and leaving him, returned\nin hottest haste to his own house, where he found Halimah\nstanding at the passage door awaiting him. Quoth she \"Hast thou\ndone as I bade thee?\"; and quoth he, \"Yes.\" She asked, \"What said\nhe to thee?\"; and he answered, \"He told me that the knife was\ncheap at that price, for that it was worth five hundred dinars:\nbut I could see that he was troubled; so I left him and know not\nwhat befel him after that.\" Cried she, \"Give me the knife and\nreck thou not of him.\" Then she took the knife and restoring it\nto its place, sat down. Now after Kamar al-Zaman's departure fire\nflamed in the jeweller's heart and suspicion was sore upon him\nand he said to himself, \"Needs must I get up and go look for the\nknife and cut down doubt with certainty.\" So he rose and repaired\nto his house and went in to his wife, snorting like a\ndragon;[FN#425] and she said to him, \"What mattereth thee, O my\nlord?\" He asked, \"Where is my knife?\" and she answered, \"In the\nchest,\" and smote hand upon breast, saying, \"O my grief! Belike\nthou hast fallen out with some one and art come to fetch the\nknife to smite him withal.\" Said he, \"Give me the knife. Let me\nsee it.\" But said she, \"Not till thou swear to me that thou wilt\nnot smite any one therewith.\" So he swore this to her and she\nopened the chest and brought out to him the knife and he fell to\nturning it over, saying, \"Verily, this is a wondrous thing!\" Then\nquoth he to her, \"Take it and lay it back in its place;\" and she,\n\"Tell me the meaning of all this.\" He answered, \"I saw with our\nfriend a knife like this,\" and told her all that had passed\nbetween himself and the youth, adding, \"But, when I saw it in the\nchest, my suspicion ended in certainty.\" Said she, \"Haply thou\nmisdoubtedst of me and deemedst that I was the Levantine's\nmistress and had given him the knife.\" He replied, \"Yes, I had my\ndoubts of this; but, when I saw the knife, suspicion was lifted\nfrom my heart.\" Rejoined she, \"O man, there is now no good in\nthee!\" And he fell to excusing himself to her, till he appeased\nher; after which he fared forth and returned to his shop. Next\nday, she gave Kamar al-Zaman her husband's watch, which he had\nmade with his own hand and whereof none had the like, saying, \"Go\nto his shop and sit by his side and say to him, 'I saw again to-\nday him whom I saw yesterday. He had a watch in his hand and said\nto me, 'Wilt thou buy this watch?' Quoth I, 'Whence hadst thou\nit?'; and quoth he, 'I was with my mistress and she gave me this\nwatch.' So I bought it of him for eight-and-fifty gold pieces.\nLook at it: is it cheap at that price or dear?' Note what he\nshall say to thee; then return to me in haste and give me the\nwatch.\" So Kamar al-Zaman repaired to the jeweller and did with\nhim as she had charged him. When Obayd saw the watch, he said,\n\"This is worth seven hundred ducats;\" and suspicion entered into\nhim. Then the youth left him and returning to the wife, gave her\nback the watch. Presently, her husband suddenly came in snorting,\nand said to her, \"Where is my watch?\" Said she, \"Here it is;\" and\nhe cried, \"Give it to me.\" So she brought it to him and he\nexclaimed, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah, the Glorious, the Great!\"; and she too exclaimed, \"O man,\nthere is something the matter with thee. Tell me what it is.\" He\nreplied, \"What shall I say? Verily, I am bewildered by these\nchances!\" And he recited these couplets,[FN#426]\n\n\"Although the Merciful be doubtless with me,\nYet am I sore bewildered, for new griefs\nHave compassed me about, or ere I knew it,\nI have endured till Patience self became\nImpatient of my patience.--I have endured\nWaiting till Heaven fulfil my destiny.--\nI have endured till e'en endurance owned\nHow I bore up with her; (a thing more bitter\nThan bitter aloes) yet though a bitterer thing\nIs not, than is that drug it were more bitter\nTo me should Patience leave me unsustained.\"\n\nThen said he to his wife, \"O woman, I saw with the merchant our\nfriend, first my knife, which I knew, for that its fashion was a\ndevice of my own wit, nor doth its like exist; and he told me of\nit a story that troubled the heart: so I came back and found it\nat home. Again to day I see him with the watch, whose fashion\nalso is of my own device, nor is there the fellow of it in\nBassorah, and of this also he told me a story that saddened my\nheart. Wherefore I am bewildered in my wit and know not what is\nto come to me.\" Quoth she, \"The purport of thy speech is that\nthou suspectedst me of being the friend of that merchant and his\nleman, and eke of giving him thy good; so thou camest to question\nme and make proof of my perfidy; and, had I not shown thee the\nknife and the watch, thou hadst been certified of my treason. But\nsince, O man, thou deemest me this ill deme, henceforth I will\nnever again break with thee bread nor drain with thee drink, for\nI loathe thee with the loathing of prohibition.[FN#427]\" So he\ngentled her and excused himself till he had appeased her and\nreturned, repenting him of having bespoken her thus, to his shop,\nwhere he sat, And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\njeweller quitted his wife, he repented having bespoken her thus\nand, returning to his shop, he sat there in disquiet sore and\nanxiety galore, between belief and unbelief. About eventide he\nwent home alone, not bringing Kamar al-Zaman with him: whereupon\nquoth his wife, \"Where is the merchant?\"; and quoth he, \"In his\nlodgings.\" She asked, \"Is the friendship between thee and him\ngrown cold?\" and he answered, \"By Allah, I have taken a dislike\nto him, because of that which hath betided me from him.\"[FN#428]\nQuoth she, \"Go fetch him, to please me.\" So he arose and went in\nto Kamar al-Zaman in his house; where he saw his own goods strewn\nabout and knew them. At this sight, fire was kindled in his heart\nand he fell asighing. Quoth the youth, \"How is it that I see thee\nmelancholy?\" Obayd was ashamed to say, \"Here are my goods in thy\nhouse: who brought them hither?\"; so he replied only, \"A vexation\nhath betided me; but come thou with me to my house, that we may\nsolace ourselves there.\" The other rejoined, \"Let me be in my\nplace: I will not go with thee.\" But the jeweller conjured him to\ncome and took him to his house, where they supped and passed the\nevening together, Kamar al-Zaman talking with the jeweller, who\nwas drowned in the sea of solicitude and for a hundred words,\nwherewith the guest bespoke him, answered him only one word.\nPresently, the handmaid brought them two cups of drink, as usual,\nand they drank; whereupon the jeweller fell asleep, but the youth\nabode on wake, because his cup was not drugged. Then came Halimah\nand said to her lover, \"How deemest thou of yonder cornuted, who\nis drunken in his heedlessness and weeteth not the wiles of\nwomen? There is no help for it but that I cozen him into\ndivorcing me. To-morrow, I will disguise myself as a slave-girl\nand walk after thee to his shop, where do thou say to him, 'O\nmaster, I went to-day into the Khan of Al-Yasirj\u00edyah, where I saw\nthis damsel and bought her for a thousand dinars. Look at her for\nme and tell me whether she was cheap at that price or dear.' Then\nuncover to him my face and breasts and show all of me to him;\nafter which do thou carry me back to thy house, whence I will go\nto my chamber by the secret passage, so I may see the issue of\nour affair with him.\" Then the twain passed the night in mirth\nand merriment, converse and good cheer, dalliance and delight\ntill dawn, when she returned to her own place and sent the\nhandmaid to arouse her lawful lord and her lover. Accordingly\nthey arose and prayed the dawn-prayer and brake their fast and\ndrank coffee, after which Obayd repaired to his shop and Kamar\nal-Zaman betook himself to his own house. Presently, in came\nHalimah to him by the tunnel, in the guise of a slave-girl, and\nindeed she was by birth a slave-girl.[FN#429] Then he went out\nand she walked behind him, till he came to the jeweller's shop\nand saluting him, sat down and said, \"O master, I went into the\nKhan of Al-Yasirjiyah to-day, to look about me, and saw this\ndamsel in the broker's hands. She pleased me; so I bought her for\na thousand dinars and I would have thee look upon her and see if\nshe be cheap at that price or no.\" So saying, he uncovered her\nface and the jeweller saw her to be his own wife, clad in her\ncostliest clothes, tricked out in her finest trinkets and kohl'd\nand henna'd, even as she was wont to adorn herself before him in\nthe house. He knew with full knowledge her face and dress and\ntrinkets, for those he had wrought with his own hand, and he saw\non her fingers the seal-rings he had newly made for Kamar al-\nZaman, whereby he was certified with entire assurance that she\nwas indeed his very wife. So he asked her, \"What is thy name, O\nslave-girl?\"; and she answered, \"Halimah,\" naming to him her own\nname; whereat he was amazed and said to the youth, \"For how much\ndidst thou buy her?\" He replied, \"For a thousand dinars\"; and the\njeweller rejoined, \"Thou hast gotten her gratis; for her rings\nand clothes and trinkets are worth more than that.\" Said Kamar\nal-Zaman, \"May Allah rejoice thee with good news! Since she\npleaseth thee, I will carry her to my house;\" and Obayd said, \"Do\nthy will.\" So he took her off to his house, whence she passed\nthrough the secret passage to her own apartment and sat there.\nMeanwhile, fire flamed in the jeweller's heart and he said to\nhimself, \"I will go see my wife. If she be at home, this slave-\ngirl must be her counterpart, and glory be to Him who alone hath\nno counterpart! But, if she be not at home, 'tis she herself\nwithout a doubt.\" Then he set off running, and coming to his\nhouse, found his wife sitting in the same clothes and ornaments\nhe had seen upon her in the shop; whereupon he beat hand upon\nhand, saying, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah, the Glorious, the Great!\" \"O man,\" asked she, \"art thou\nmad or what aileth thee? 'Tis not thy wont to do thus, and needs\nmust it be that something hath befallen thee.\" Answered he, \"If\nthou wilt have me tell thee be not vexed.\" Quoth she, \"Say on\";\nso he said, \"Our friend the merchant hath bought a slave-girl,\nwhose shape is as thy shape and her height as thy height; more-\nover, her name is even as thy name and her apparel is the like of\nthine apparel. Brief, she resembleth thee in all her attributes,\nand on her fingers are seal-rings like thy seal-rings and her\ntrinkets are as thy trinkets. So, when he displayed her to me,\nmethought it was thyself and I was perplexed concerning my case.\nWould we had never seen this merchant nor companied with him; and\nwould he had never left his own country and we had not known him,\nfor he hath troubled my life which before was serene, causing ill-\nfeeling to succeed good faith and making doubt to enter into my\nheart.\" Said she, \"Look in my face, belike I am she who was with\nhim and he is my lover and I disguised myself as a slave-girl and\nagreed with him that he should display me to thee, so he might\nlay a snare for thee.\" He replied, \"What words are these? Indeed,\nI never suspected that thou wouldst do the like of this deed.\"\nNow this jeweller was unversed in the wiles of women and knew not\nhow they deal with men, nor had he heard the saying of him who\nsaid,\n\n\"A heart bore thee off in chase of the fair, * As fled Youth and\n     came Age wi' his hoary hair:\nLayl\u00e0 troubles me and love-joys are far; * And rival and risks\n     brings us cark and care.\nAn would'st ask me of woman, behold I am * In physic of womankind\n     wise and ware:\nWhen grizzleth man's head and his monies fail, * His lot in their\n     love is a poor affair.\"\n\nNor that of another,[FN#430]\n\n\"Gainsay women; he obeyeth Allah best, who saith them nay And he\n     prospers not who giveth them his bridle-rein to sway;\nFor they'll hinder him from winning to perfection in his gifts,\n     Though a thousand years he study, seeking after wisdom's\n     way.\"\n\nAnd a third,\n\n\"Women Satans are, made for woe of man: * To Allah I fly from\n     such Satanesses!\nWhom they lure by their love he to grief shall come * And lose\n     bliss of world and the Faith that blesses.\"\n\nSaid she, \"Here am I sitting in my chamber; so go thou to him\nforthright and knock at the door and contrive to go in to him\nquickly. An thou see the damsel with him 'tis a slave-girl of his\nwho resembleth me (and Glory be to Him who hath no\nresemblance![FN#431]) But, an thou see no slave-girl with him,\nthen am I myself she whom thou sawest with him in the shop, and\nthine ill thought of me will be stablished.\" \"True,\" answered\nObayd, and went out leaving her, whereupon she passed through the\nhidden passage and seating herself by Kamar al-Zaman, told him\nwhat had passed, saying, \"Open the door quickly and show me to\nhim.\" Now, as they were talking, behold, there came a knocking at\nthe door. Quoth Kamar al-Zaman, \"Who is at the door?\"; and quoth\nthe jeweller, \"I, thy friend; thou displayedst to me thy slave-\ngirl in the bazar, and I rejoiced for thee in her, but my joy in\nher was not completed; so open the door and let me look at her\nagain.\" Rejoined he, \"So be it,\" and opened the door to him,\nwhereupon he saw his wife sitting by him. She rose and kissed\ntheir hands; and he looked at her; then she talked with him\nawhile and he saw her not to be distinguished from his wife in\naught and said, \"Allah createth whatso He will.\" Then he went\naway more disheartened than before and returned to his own house\nwhere he saw his wife sitting, for she had foregone him thither\nby the souterrain.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young\nlady forewent her spouse by the souterrain as he fared through\nthe door and sat down in her upper chamber;[FN#432] so as soon as\nhe entered she asked him, \"What hast thou seen?\" and he answered,\n\"I found her with her master; and she resembleth thee.\" Then said\nshe, \"Off to thy shop and let this suffice thee of ignoble\nsuspicion and never again deem ill of me.\" Said he, \"So be it:\naccord me pardon for what is past.\" And she, \"Allah grant thee\ngrace!\"[FN#433] whereupon he kissed her right and left and went\nback to his shop. Then she again betook herself to Kamar al-Zaman\nthrough the underground passage, with four bags of money, and\nsaid to him, \"Equip thyself at once for the road and be ready to\ncarry off the money without delay, against I devise for thee the\ndevice I have in mind.\" So he went out and purchased mules and\nloaded them and made ready a travelling litter, he also bought\nMamelukes and eunuchs and sending, without let or hindrance, the\nwhole without the city, returned to Halimah and said to her, \"I\nhave made an end of my affairs.\" Quoth she, \"And I on my side am\nready; for I have transported to thy house all the rest of his\nmonies and treasures and have left him nor little nor much,\nwhereof he may avail himself. All this is of my love for thee, O\ndearling of my heart, for I would sacrifice my husband to thee a\nthousand times. But now it behoveth, thou go to him and farewell\nhim, saying, 'I purpose to depart after three days and am come to\nbid thee adieu; so do thou reckon what I owe thee for the hire of\nthe house that I may send it to thee and acquit my conscience.'\nNote his reply and return to me and tell me; for I can no more: I\nhave done my best, by cozening him, to anger him with me and\ncause him to put me away, but I find him none the less infatuated\nwith me. So nothing will serve us but to depart to thine own\ncountry.\" And quoth he, \"O rare! an but swevens prove\ntrue!\"[FN#434] Then he went to the jeweller's shop and sitting\ndown by him, said to him, \"O master, I set out for home in three\ndays' time, and am come to farewell thee. So I would have thee\nreckon what I owe thee for the hire of the house, that I may pay\nit to thee and acquit my conscience.\" Answered Obayd, \"What talk\nis this? Verily, 'tis I who am indebted to thee. By Allah, I will\ntake nothing from thee for the rent of the house, for thou hast\nbrought down blessings upon us! However, thou desolatest me by\nthy departure, and but that it is forbidden to me, I would\ncertainly oppose thee and hinder thee from returning to thy\ncountry and kinsfolk.\" Then he took leave of him, whilst they\nboth wept with sore weeping and the jeweller went with him, and\nwhen they entered Kamar al-Zaman's house, there they found\nHalimah who stood before them and served them; but when Obayd\nreturned home, he found her sitting there; nor did he cease to\nsee her thus in each house in turn, for the space of three days,\nwhen she said to Kamar al-Zaman, \"Now have I transported to thee\nall that he hath of monies and hoards and carpets and things of\nprice, and there remaineth with him naught save the slave-girl,\nwho used to come in to you with the night-drink: but I cannot\npart with her, for that she is my kinswoman and she is dear to me\nas a confidante. So I will beat her and be wroth with her and\nwhen my spouse cometh home, I will say to him, 'I can no longer\nput up with this slave-girl nor stay in the house with her; so\ntake her and sell her.' Accordingly he will sell her and do thou\nbuy her, that we may carry her with us.\" Answered he, \"No harm in\nthat.\" So she beat the girl and when the jeweller came in, he\nfound her weeping and asked her why she wept. Quoth she, \"My\nmistress hath beaten me.\" He then went in to his wife and said to\nher, \"What hath that accursed girl done, that thou hast beaten\nher?\" She replied, \"O man, I have but one word to say to thee,\nand 'tis that I can no longer bear the sight of this girl; so\ntake her and sell her, or else divorce me.\" Quoth he, \"I will\nsell her that I may not cross thee in aught;\" and when he went\nout to go to the shop he took her and passed with her by Kamar\nal-Zaman. No sooner had he gone out than his wife slipped through\nthe underground passage to Kamar al-Zaman, who placed her in the\nlitter, before the Shaykh her husband reached him. When the\njeweller came up and the lover saw the slave-girl with him, he\nasked him, \"What girl is this?\"; and the other answered, \"'Tis my\nslave-girl who used to serve us with the night-drink; she hath\ndisobeyed her mistress who is wroth with her and hath bidden me\nsell her.\" Quoth the youth, \"An her mistress have taken an\naversion to her, there is for her no abiding with her; but sell\nher to me, that I may smell your scent in her, and I will make\nher handmaid to my slave Halimah.\" \"Good,\" answered Obayd: \"take\nher.\" Asked Kamar al-Zaman, \"What is her price?\"; but the\njeweller said, \"I will take nothing from thee, for thou hast been\nbountiful to us.\" So he accepted her from him and said to\nHalimah, \"Kiss thy lord's hand.\" Accordingly, she came out from\nthe litter and kissing Obayd's hand, remounted, whilst he looked\nhard at her. Then said Kamar al-Zaman, \"I commend thee to Allah,\nO Master Obayd! Acquit my conscience of responsibility.[FN#435]\"\nAnswered the jeweller, \"Allah acquit thee! and carry thee safe to\nthy family!\" Then he bade him farewell and went to his shop\nweeping, and indeed it was grievous to him to part from Kamar al-\nZaman, for that he had been friend and friendship hath its\ndebtorship; yet he rejoiced in the dispelling of the doubts which\nhad befallen him anent his wife, since the young man was now gone\nand his suspicions had not been stablished. Such was his case;\nbut as regards Kamar al-Zaman, the young lady said to him, \"An\nthou wish for safety, travel with me by other than the wonted\nway.\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nHalimah said to Kamar al-Zaman, \"An thou wish for safety, travel\nwith me by other than the wonted way,\" he replied, \"Hearing and\nobeying;\" and, taking a road other than that used by folk, fared\non without ceasing from region to region till he reached the\nconfines of Egypt-land[FN#436] and sent his sire a letter by a\nrunner. Now his father the merchant Abd al-Rahman was sitting in\nthe market among the merchants, with a heart on fire for\nseparation from his son, because no news of the youth had reached\nhim since the day of his departure; and while he was in such case\nthe runner came up and cried, \"O my lords, which of you is called\nthe merchant Abd al-Rahman?\" They said, \"What wouldst thou of\nhim?\"; and he said, \"I have a letter for him from his son Kamar\nal-Zaman, whom I left at Al-Ar\u00edsh.\"[FN#437] At this Abd al-Rahman\nrejoiced and his breast was broadened and the merchants rejoiced\nfor him and gave him joy of his son's safety. Then he opened the\nletter and read as follows, \"From Kamar al-Zaman to the merchant\nAbd al-Rahman. And after Peace be upon thee and upon all the\nmerchants! An ye ask concerning us, to Allah be the praise and\nthe thanks. Indeed we have sold and bought and gained and are\ncome back in health, wealth and weal.\" Whereupon Abd al-Rahman\nopened the door[FN#438] of rejoicing and made banquets and gave\nfeasts and entertainments galore, sending for instruments of\nmusic and addressing himself to festivities after rarest fashion.\nWhen Kamar al-Zaman came to Al-S\u00e1lihiyah,[FN#439] his father and\nall the merchants went forth to meet him, and Abd al-Rahman\nembraced him and strained him to his bosom and sobbed till he\nswooned away. When he came to himself he said, \"Oh, 'tis a boon\nday O my son, whereon the Omnipotent Protector hath reunited us\nwith thee!\" And he repeated the words of the bard,\n\n\"The return of the friend is the best of all boons, * And the joy-\n     cup circles o' morns and noons:\nSo well come, welcome, fair welcome to thee, * The light of the\n     time and the moon o' full moons.\"\n\nThen, for excess of joy, he poured forth a flood of tears from\nhis eyes and he recited also these two couplets,\n\n\"The Moon o' the Time,[FN#440] shows unveil\u00e8d light; * And, his\n     journey done, at our door doth alight:\nHis locks as the nights of his absence are black * And the sun\n     upstands from his collar's[FN#441] white.\"\n\nThen the merchants came up to him and saluting him, saw with him\nmany loads and servants and a travelling litter enclosed in a\nspacious circle.[FN#442] So they took him and carried him home;\nand when Halimah came forth from the litter, his father held her\na seduction to all who beheld her. So they opened her an upper\nchamber, as it were a treasure from which the talismans had been\nloosed;[FN#443] and when his mother saw her, she was ravished\nwith her and deemed her a Queen of the wives of the Kings. So she\nrejoiced in her and questioned her; and she answered, \"I am wife\nto thy son;\" and the mother rejoined, \"Since he is wedded to thee\nwe must make thee a splendid marriage-feast, that we may rejoice\nin thee and in my son.\" On this wise it befel her; but as regards\nthe merchant Abd al-Rahman, when the folk had dispersed and each\nhad wended his way, he foregathered with his son and said to him,\n\"O my son, what is this slave-girl thou hast brought with thee\nand for how much didst thou buy her?\"[FN#444] Kamar al-Zaman\nsaid, \"O my father, she is no slave-girl; but 'tis she who was\nthe cause of my going abroad.\" Asked his sire, \"How so?\"; and he\nanswered, \"'Tis she whom the Dervish described to us the night he\nlay with us; for indeed my hopes clave to her from that moment\nand I sought not to travel save on account of her. The Arabs came\nout upon me by the way and stripped me and took my money and\ngoods, so that I entered Bassorah alone and there befel me there\nsuch and such things;\" and he went on to relate to his parent all\nthat had befallen him from commencement to conclusion. Now when\nhe had made an end of his story, his father said to him, \"O my\nson, and after all this didst thou marry her?\" \"No; but I have\npromised her marriage.\" \"Is it thine intent to marry her?\" \"An\nthou bid me marry her, I will do so; otherwise I will not marry\nher.\" Thereupon quoth his father, \"An thou marry her, I am quit\nof thee in this world and in the next, and I shall be incensed\nagainst thee with sore indignation. How canst thou wed her,\nseeing that she hath dealt thus with her husband? For, even as\nshe did with her spouse for thy sake, so will she do the like\nwith thee for another's sake, because she is a traitress and in a\ntraitor there is no trusting. Wherefore an thou disobey me, I\nshall be wroth with thee; but, an thou give ear to my word, I\nwill seek thee out a girl handsomer than she, who shall be pure\nand pious, and marry thee to her, though I spend all my substance\nupon her; and I will make thee a wedding without equal and will\nglory in thee and in her; for 'tis better that folk should say,\nSuch an one hath married such an one's daughter, than that they\nsay, He hath wedded a slave-girl sans birth or worth.\" And he\nwent on to persuade his son to give up marrying her, by citing in\nsupport of his say, proofs, stories, examples, verses and moral\ninstances, till Kamar al-Zaman exclaimed, \"O my father, since the\ncase is thus, 'tis not right and proper that I marry her.\" And\nwhen his father heard him speak on such wise, he kissed him\nbetween the eyes, saying, \"Thou art my very son, and as I live, O\nmy son, I will assuredly marry thee to a girl who hath not her\nequal!\" Then the merchant set Obayd's wife and her handmaid in a\nchamber high up in the house and, before locking the door upon\nthe twain, he appointed a black slave-girl to carry them their\nmeat and drink and he said to Halimah, \"Ye shall abide imprisoned\nin this chamber, thou and thy maid, till I find one who will buy\nyou, when I will sell you to him. An ye resist, I will slay ye\nboth, for thou art a traitress, and there is no good in thee.\"\nAnswered she, \"Do thy will: I deserve all thou canst do with me.\"\nThen he locked the door upon them and gave his Harim a charge\nrespecting them, saying, \"Let none go up to them nor speak with\nthem, save the black slave-girl who shall give them their meat\nand drink through the casement of the upper chamber.\" So she\nabode with her maid, weeping and repenting her of that which she\nhad done with her spouse. Meanwhile Abd al-Rahman sent out the\nmarriage-brokers to look out a maid of birth and worth for his\nson, and the women ceased not to make search, and as often as\nthey saw one girl, they heard of a fairer than she, till they\ncame to the house of the Shaykh al-Islam[FN#445] and saw his\ndaughter. In her they found a virgin whose equal was not in Cairo\nfor beauty and loveliness, symmetry and perfect grace, and she\nwas a thousand-fold handsomer than the wife of Obayd. So they\ntold Abd al-Rahman of her and he and the notables repaired to her\nfather and sought her in wedlock of him. Then they wrote out the\nmarriage contract and made her a splendid wedding; after which\nAbd al-Rahman gave bride feasts and held open house forty days.\nOn the first day, he invited the doctors of the law and they held\na splendid nativity[FN#446]: and on the morrow, he invited all\nthe merchants, and so on during the rest of the forty days,\nmaking a banquet every day to one or other class of folk, till he\nhad bidden all the Olema and Emirs and Antients[FN#447] and\nMagistrates, whilst the kettle-drums were drummed and the pipes\nwere piped and the merchant sat to greet the guests, with his son\nby his side, that he might solace himself by gazing on the folk,\nas they ate from the trays. Each night Abd al-Rahman illuminated\nthe street and the quarter with lamps and there came every one of\nthe mimes and jugglers and mountebanks and played all manner\nplay; and indeed it was a peerless wedding. On the last day he\ninvited the Fakirs, the poor and the needy, far and near, and\nthey flocked in troops and ate, whilst the merchant sat, with his\nson by his side.[FN#448] And among the paupers, behold, entered\nShaykh Obayd the jeweller and he was naked and weary and bare on\nhis face the marks of wayfare. When Kamar al-Zaman saw him, he\nknew him and said to his sire, \"Look, O my father, at yonder poor\nman who is but now come in by the door.\" So he looked and saw him\nclad in worn clothes and on him a patched gown[FN#449] worth two\ndirhams: his face was yellow and he was covered with dust and was\nas he were an offcast of the pilgrims.[FN#450] He was groaning as\ngroaneth a sick man in need, walking with a tottering gait and\nswaying now to the right and then to the left, and in him was\nrealized his saying who said,[FN#451]\n\n\"Lack-gold abaseth man and doth his worth away, Even as the\n     setting sun that pales with ended day.\nHe passeth 'mongst the folk and fain would hide his head; And\n     when alone, he weeps with tears that never stay.\nAbsent, none taketh heed to him or his concerns; Present, he hath\n     no part in life or pleasance aye.\nBy Allah, whenas men with poverty are cursed, But strangers midst\n     their kin and countrymen are they!\"\n\nAnd the saying of another,\n\n\"The poor man fares by everything opposed: * On him to shut the\n     door Earth ne'er shall fail:\nThou seest men abhor him sans a sin, * And foes he finds tho' none\n     the cause can tell:\nThe very dogs, when sighting wealthy man, * Fawn at his feet and\n     wag the flattering tail;\nYet, an some day a pauper loon they sight, * All at him bark and,\n     gnashing fangs, assail.\"\n\nAnd how well quoth a third,\n\n\"If generous youth be blessed with luck and wealth, *\n     Displeasures fly his path and perils fleet:\nHis enviers pimp for him and par'site-wise * E'en without tryst\n     his mistress hastes to meet.\nWhen loud he farts they say 'How well he sings!' * And when he\n     fizzles[FN#452] cry they, 'Oh, how sweet!'\"\n\n--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n    When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when his\nson said to Abd al-Rahman, \"Look at yonder pauper!\" he asked, \"O\nmy son, who is this?\" And Kamar al-Zaman answered, \"This is\nMaster Obayd the jeweller, husband of the woman who is imprisoned\nwith us.\" Quoth Abd al-Rahman, \"Is this he of whom thou toldest\nme?\"; and quoth his son, \"Yes; and indeed I wot him right well.\"\nNow the manner of Obayd's coming thither was on this wise. When\nhe had farewelled Kamar al-Zaman, he went to his shop and thence\ngoing home, laid his hand on the door, whereupon it opened and he\nentered and found neither his wife nor the slave-girl, but saw\nthe house in sorriest plight, quoting in mute speech his saying\nwho said,[FN#453]\n\n\"The chambers were like a bee-hive well stocked: * When their\nbees quitted it, they became empty.\"\n\nWhen he saw the house void, he turned right and left and\npresently went round about the place, like a madman, but came\nupon no one. Then he opened the door of his treasure-closet, but\nfound therein naught of his money nor his hoards; whereupon he\nrecovered from the intoxication of fancy and shook off his\ninfatuation and knew that it was his wife herself who had turned\nthe tables upon him and outwitted him with her wiles. He wept for\nthat which had befallen him, but kept his affair secret, so none\nof his foes might exult over him nor any of his friends be\ntroubled, knowing that, if he disclosed his secret, it would\nbring him naught but dishonour and contumely from the folk;\nwherefore he said in himself, \"O Obayd, hide that which hath\nbetided thee of affliction and ruination; it behoveth thee to do\nin accordance with his saying who said,\n\n'If a man's breast with bane he hides be straiten\u00e8d, * The breast\nthat tells its hidden bale is straiter still.' \"\n\nThen he locked up his house and, making for his shop, gave it in\ncharge of one of his apprentices to whom said he, \"My friend the\nyoung merchant hath invited me to accompany him to Cairo, for\nsolacing ourselves with the sight of the city, and sweareth that\nhe will not march except he carry us with him, me and my wife.\nSo, O my son, I make thee my steward in the shop, and if the King\nask for me, say thou to him, 'He is gone with his Harim to the\nHoly House of Allah.'\"[FN#454] Then he sold some of his effects\nand bought camels and mules and Mamelukes, together with a slave-\ngirl,[FN#455] and placing her in a litter, set out from Bassorah\nafter ten days. His friends farewelled him and none doubted but\nthat he had taken his wife and gone on the Pilgrimage, and the\nfolk rejoiced in this, for that Allah had delivered them from\nbeing shut up in the mosques and houses every Friday. Quoth some\nof them, \"Allah grant he may never return to Bassorah, so we may\nno more be boxed up in the mosques and houses every Friday!\"; for\nthat this usage had caused the people of Bassorah exceeding\nvexation. Quoth another, \"Methinks he will not return from this\njourney, by reason of the much-praying of the people of Bassorah\nagainst him.\"[FN#456] And yet another, \"An he return, 'twill not\nbe but in reversed case.\"[FN#457] So the folk rejoiced with\nexceeding joy in the jeweller's departure, after they had been in\nmighty great chagrin, and even their cats and dogs were\ncomforted. When Friday came round, however, the crier proclaimed\nas usual that the people should repair to the mosques two hours\nbefore prayer time or else hide themselves in their houses,\ntogether with their cats and dogs; whereat their breasts were\nstraitened and they assembled in general assembly and betaking\nthemselves to the King's divan, stood between his hands and said,\n\"O King of the age, the jeweller hath taken his Harim and\ndeparted on the pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah: so the\ncause of our restrains hath ceased to be, and why therefore are\nwe now shut up?\" Quoth the King, \"How came this traitor to depart\nwithout telling me? But, when he cometh back from his journey,\nall will not be save well[FN#458]: so go ye to your shops and\nsell and buy, for this vexation is removed from you.\" Thus far\nconcerning the King and the Bassorites; but as for the jeweller,\nhe fared on ten days' journey, and as he drew near Baghdad, there\nbefel him that which had befallen Kamar al-Zaman, before his\nentering Bassorah; for the Arabs[FN#459] came out upon him and\nstripped him and took all he had and he escaped only by feigning\nhimself dead. As soon as they were gone, he rose and fared on,\nnaked as he was, till he came to a village, where Allah inclined\nto him the hearts of certain kindly folk, who covered his shame\nwith some old clothes; and he asked his way, begging from town to\ntown, till he reached the city of Cairo the God-guarded. There,\nburning with hunger, he went about alms-seeking in the market-\nstreets, till one of the townsfolk said to him, \"O poor man, off\nwith thee to the house of the wedding-festival and eat and drink;\nfor to-day there is open table for paupers and strangers.\" Quoth\nhe, \"I know not the way thither\": and quoth the other, \"Follow me\nand I will show it to thee.\" He followed him, till he brought him\nto the house of Abd al-Rahman and said to him, \"This is the house\nof the wedding; enter and fear not, for there is no doorkeeper at\nthe door of the festival.\" Accordingly he entered and Kamar al-\nZaman knew him and told his sire who said, \"O my son, leave him\nat this present: belike he is anhungered: so let him eat his\nsufficiency and recover himself and after we will send for him.\"\nSo they waited till Obayd had eaten his fill and washed his hands\nand drunk coffee and sherbets of sugar flavoured with musk and\nambergris and was about to go out, when Abd al-Rahman sent after\nhim a page who said to him, \"Come, O stranger, and speak with the\nmerchant Abd al-Rahman.\" \"Who is he?\" asked Obayd; and the man\nanswered, \"He is the master of the feast.\" Thereupon the jeweller\nturned back, thinking that he meant to give him a gift, and\ncoming up to Abd al-Rahman, saw his friend Kamar al-Zaman and\nwent nigh to lose his senses for shame before him. But Kamar al-\nZaman rose to him and embracing him, saluted him with the salam,\nand they both wept with sore weeping. Then he seated him by his\nside and Abd al-Rahman said to his son, \"O destitute of good\ntaste, this is no way to receive friends! Send him first to the\nHammam and despatch after him a suit of clothes of the choicest,\nworth a thousand dinars.\"[FN#460] Accordingly they carried him to\nthe bath, where they washed his body and clad him in a costly\nsuit, and he became as he were Consul of the Merchants. Meanwhile\nthe bystanders questioned Kamar al-Zaman of him, saying, \"Who is\nthis and whence knowest thou him?\" Quoth he, \"This is my friend,\nwho lodged me in his house and to whom I am indebted for favours\nwithout number, for that he entreated me with exceeding kindness.\nHe is a man of competence and condition and by trade a jeweller,\nin which craft he hath no equal. The King of Bassorah loveth him\ndearly and holdeth him in high honour and his word is law with\nhim.\" And he went on to enlarge before them on his praises,\nsaying, \"Verily, he did with me thus and thus and I have shame of\nhim and know not how to requite him his generous dealing with\nme.\" Nor did he leave to extol him, till his worth was magnified\nto the bystanders and he became venerable in their eyes; so they\nsaid, \"We will all do him his due and honour him for thy sake.\nBut we would fain know the reason why he hath departed his native\nland and the cause of his coming hither and what Allah hath done\nwith him, that he is reduced to this plight?\" Replied Kamar al-\nZaman, \"O folk, marvel not, for a son of Adam is still subject to\nFate and Fortune, and what while he abideth in this world, he is\nnot safe from calamities. Indeed he spake truly who said these\ncouplets,\n\nThe world tears man to shreds, so be thou not * Of those whom\n     lure of rank and title draws:\nNay; 'ware of slips and turn from sin aside * And ken that bane\n     and bale are worldly laws:\nHow oft high Fortune falls by least mishap * And all things bear\n     inbred of change a cause!'\n\nKnow that I entered Bassorah in yet iller case and worse distress\nthan this man, for that he entered Cairo with his shame hidden by\nrags; but I indeed came into his town with my nakedness\nuncovered, one hand behind and another before; and none availed\nme but Allah and this dear man. Now the reason of this was that\nthe Arabs stripped me and took my camels and mules and loads and\nslaughtered my pages and serving-men; but I lay down among the\nslain and they thought that I was dead, so they went away and\nleft me. Then I arose and walked on, mother-naked, till I came to\nBassorah where this man met me and clothed me and lodged me in\nhis house, he also furnished me with money, and all I have\nbrought back with me I owe to none save to Allah's goodness and\nhis goodness. When I departed, he gave me great store of wealth\nand I returned to the city of my birth with a heart at ease. I\nleft him in competence and condition, and haply there hath\nbefallen him some bale of the banes of Time, that hath forced him\nto quit his kinsfolk and country, and there happened to him by\nthe way the like of what happened to me. There is nothing strange\nin this; but now it behoveth me to requite him his noble dealing\nwith me and do according to the saying of him who saith,\n\n'O who praisest Time with the fairest appraise, * Knowest thou\n     what Time hath made and unmade?\nWhat thou dost at least be it kindly done,[FN#461] * For with pay\n     he pays shall man be repaid.'\"\n\nAs they were talking and telling the tale, behold, up came Obayd\nas he were Consul[FN#462] of the Merchants; whereupon they all\nrose to salute him and seated him in the place of honour. Then\nsaid Kamar al-Zaman to him, \"O my friend, verily, thy day[FN#463]\nis blessed and fortunate! There is no need to relate to me a\nthing that befel me before thee. If the Arabs have stripped thee\nand robbed thee of thy wealth, verily our money is the ransom of\nour bodies, so let not thy soul be troubled; for I entered thy\ncity naked and thou clothedst me and entreatedst me generously,\nand I owe thee many a kindness. But I will requite thee.\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say,\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar\nal-Zaman said to Master Obayd the jeweller, \"Verily I entered thy\ncity naked and thou clothedst me and I owe thee many a kindness.\nBut I will requite thee and do with thee even as thou didst with\nme; nay, more: so be of good cheer and eyes clear of tear.\" And\nhe went on to soothe him and hinder him from speech, lest he\nshould name his wife and what she had done with him; nor did he\ncease to ply him with saws and moral instances and verses and\nconceits and stories and legends and console him, till the\njeweller saw his drift and took the hint and kept silence\nconcerning the past, diverting himself with the tales and rare\nanecdotes he heard and repeating in himself these lines,\n\n\"On the brow of the World is a writ; an thereon thou look, * Its\n     contents will compel thine eyes tears of blood to rain:\nFor the World never handed to humans a cup with its right, * But\n     with left it compelled them a beaker of ruin to drain.\"\n\nThen Kamar al-Zaman and his father took Obayd and carrying him\ninto the saloon of the Harim, shut themselves up with him; and\nAbd al-Rahman said to him, \"We did not hinder thee from speaking\nbefore the folk, but for fear of dishonour to thee and to us: but\nnow we are private; so tell me all that hath passed between thee\nand thy wife and my son.\" So he told him all, from beginning to\nend, and when he had made an end of his story, Abd al-Rahman\nasked him, \"Was the fault with my son or with thy wife?\" He\nanswered, \"By Allah, thy son was not to blame, for men must needs\nlust after women, and 'tis the bounden duty of women to defend\nthemselves from men. So the sin lieth with my wife, who played me\nfalse and did with me these deeds.\"[FN#464] Then Abd al-Rahman\narose and taking his son aside, said to him, \"O my son, we have\nproved his wife and know her to be a traitress; and now I mean to\nprove him and see if he be a man of honour and manliness, or a\nwittol.\"[FN#465] \"How so?\" asked Kamar al-Zaman; and Abd al-\nRahman answered, \"I mean to urge him to make peace with his wife,\nand if he consent thereto and forgive her, I will smite him with\na sword and slay him and kill her after, her and her maid, for\nthere is no good in the life of a cuckold and a queen;[FN#466]\nbut, if he turn from her with aversion I will marry him to thy\nsister and give him more of wealth than that thou tookest from\nhim.\" Then he went back to Obayd and said to him, \"O master,\nverily, the commerce of women requireth patience and magnanimity\nand whoso loveth them hath need of fortitude, for that they order\nthemselves viper-wise towards men and evilly entreat them, by\nreason of their superiority over them in beauty and loveliness:\nwherefore they magnify themselves and belittle men. This is\nnotably the case when their husbands show them affection; for\nthen they requite them with hauteur and coquetry and harsh\ndealing of all kinds. But, if a man be wroth whenever he seeth in\nhis wife aught that offendeth him, there can be no fellowship\nbetween them; nor can any hit it off with them who is not\nmagnanimous and long-suffering; and unless a man bear with his\nwife and requite her foul doing with forgiveness, he shall get no\ngood of her conversation. Indeed, it hath been said of them,\n'Were they in the sky, the necks of men would incline themwards';\nand he who hath the power and pardoneth, his reward is with\nAllah. Now this woman is thy wife and thy companion and she hath\nlong consorted with thee; wherefore it behoveth that thou entreat\nher with indulgence which in fellowship is of the essentials of\nsuccess. Furthermore, women fail in wit and Faith,[FN#467] and if\nshe have sinned, she repenteth and Inshallah she will not again\nreturn to that which she whilome did. So 'tis my rede that thou\nmake peace with her and I will restore thee more than the good\nshe took; and if it please thee to abide with me, thou art\nwelcome, thou and she, and ye shall see naught but what shall joy\nyou both; but, an thou seek to, return to thine own land. For\nthat which falleth out between a man and his wife is manifold,\nand it behoveth thee to be indulgent and not take the way of the\nviolent.\" Said the jeweller, \"O my lord, and where is my wife?\"\nand said Abd al-Rahman, \"She is in that upper chamber, go up to\nher and be easy with her, for my sake, and trouble her not; for,\nwhen my son brought her hither, he would have married her, but I\nforbade him from her and shut her up in yonder room, and locked\nthe door upon her saying in myself, 'Haply her husband will come\nand I will hand her over to him safe; for she is fair of favour,\nand when a woman is like unto this one, it may not be that her\nhusband will let her go.' What I counted on is come about and\npraised be Allah Almighty for thy reunion with thy wife! As for\nmy son, I have sought him another woman in marriage and have\nmarried him to her: these banquets and rejoicings are for his\nwedding, and to-night I bring him to his bride. So here is the\nkey of the chamber where thy wife is: take it and open the door\nand go in to her and her handmaid and be buxom with her. There\nshall be brought you meat and drink and thou shalt not come down\nfrom her till thou have had thy fill of her.\" Cried Obayd, \"May\nAllah requite thee for me with all good, O my lord!\" and taking\nthe key, went up, rejoicing. The other thought his words had\npleased him and that he consented thereto; so he took the sword\nand following him unseen, stood to espy what should happen\nbetween him and his wife. This is how it fared with the merchant\nAbd al-Rahman; but as for the jeweller, when he came to the\nchamber-door, he heard his wife weeping with sore weeping for\nthat Kamar al-Zaman had married another than her, and the\nhandmaid saying to her, \"O my lady, how often have I warned thee\nand said, 'Thou wilt get no good of this youth: so do thou leave\nhis company.' But thou heededst not my words and spoiledst thy\nhusband of all his goods and gavest them to him. After the which\nthou forsookest thy place, of thine fondness and infatuation for\nhim, and camest with him to this country. And now he hath cast\nthee out from his thought and married another and hath made the\nissue of thy foolish fancy for him to be durance vile.\" Cried\nHalimah, \"Be silent, O accursed! Though he be married to another,\nyet some day needs must I occur to his thought. I cannot forget\nthe nights I have spent in his company and in any case I console\nmyself with his saying who said,\n\n'O my lords, shall he to your mind occur * Who recurs to you only\n     sans other mate?\nGrant Heaven you ne'er shall forget his state * Who for state of\n     you forgot own estate!'\n\nIt cannot be but he will bethink him of my affect and converse\nand ask for me, wherefore I will not turn from loving him nor\nchange from passion for him, though I perish in prison; for he is\nmy love and my leach[FN#468] and my reliance is on him that he\nwill yet return to me and deal fondly with me.\" When the jeweller\nheard his wife's words, he went in to her and said to her, \"O\ntraitress, thy hope in him is as the hope of Iblis[FN#469] in\nHeaven. All these vices were in thee and I knew not thereof; for,\nhad I been ware of one single vice, I had not kept thee with me\nan hour. But now I am certified of this in thee, it behoveth me\nto do thee die although they put me to death for thee, O\ntraitress!\" and he clutched her with both hands and repeated\nthese two couplets,\n\n\"O fair ones forth ye cast my faithful love * With sin, nor had\n     ye aught regard for right:\nHow long I fondly clung to you, but now * My love is loathing and\n     I hate your sight.\"\n\nThen he pressed hardly upon her windpipe and brake her neck,\nwhereupon her handmaid cried out \"Alas, my mistress!\" Said he, \"O\nharlot, 'tis thou who art to blame for all this, for that thou\nknewest this evil inclination to be in her and toldest me\nnot.\"[FN#470] Then he seized upon her and strangled her. All this\nhappened while Abd al-Rahman stood, brand in hand, behind the\ndoor espying with his eyes and hearing with his ears. Now when\nObayd the ]eweller had done this, apprehension came upon him and\nhe feared the issue of his affair and said to himself, \"As soon\nas the merchant learneth that I have killed them in his house, he\nwill surely slay me; yet I beseech Allah that He appoint the\ntaking of my life to be while I am in the True Belief!\" And he\nabode bewildered about his case and knew not what to do, but, as\nhe was thus behold, in came Abd al-Rahman from his lurking-place\nwithout the door and said to him, \"No harm shall befal thee, for\nindeed thou deservest safety. See this sword in my hand. 'Twas in\nmy mind to slay thee, hadst thou made peace with her and restored\nher to favour, and I would also have slain her and the maid. But\nsince thou hast done this deed, welcome to thee and again\nwelcome! And I will reward thee by marrying thee to my daughter,\nKamar al-Zaman's sister.\" Then he carried him down and sent for\nthe woman who washed the dead: whereupon it was bruited abroad\nthat Kamar al-Zaman had brought with him two slave-girls from\nBassorah and that both had deceased. So the people began to\ncondole with him saying, \"May thy head live!\" and \"May Allah\ncompensate thee!\" And they washed and shrouded them and buried\nthem, and none knew the truth of the matter. Then Abd al-Rahman\nsent for the Shaykh al-Islam and all the notables and said, \"O\nShaykh, draw up the contract of marriage between my daughter\nKaukab al-Salah[FN#471] and Master Obayd the jeweller and set\ndown that her dowry hath been paid to me in full.\" So he wrote\nout the contract and Abd al-Rahman gave the company to drink of\nsherbets, and they made one wedding festival for the two brides\nthe daughter of the Shaykh al-Islam and Kamar al-Zaman's sister;\nand paraded them in one litter on one and the same night; after\nwhich they carried Kamar al-Zaman and Obayd in procession\ntogether and brought them in to their brides.[FN#472] When the\njeweller went in to Abd al-Rahman's daughter, he found her\nhandsomer than Halimah and a thousand-fold lovelier. So he took\nher maidenhead and on the morrow, he went to the Hammam with\nKamar al-Zaman. Then he abode with them awhile in pleasance and\njoyance, after which he began to yearn for his native land; so he\nwent in to Abd al-Rahman and said to him, \"O uncle, I long for my\nown country, for I have there estates and effects, which I left\nin charge of one of my prentices; and I am minded to journey\nthither that I may sell my properties and return to thee. So wilt\nthou give me leave to go to my country for that purpose?\"\nAnswered the merchant, \"O my son, I give thee leave to do this\nand there be no fault in thee or blame to thee for these words,\nfor 'Love of mother-land is a part of Religion'; and he who hath\nnot good in his own country hath none in other folks' country.\nBut, haply, an thou depart without thy wife, when thou art once\ncome to thy native place, it may seem good to thee to settle\nthere, and thou wilt be perplexed between returning to thy wife\nand sojourning in thine own home; so it were the righter rede\nthat thou carry thy wife with thee; and after, an thou desire to\nreturn to us, return and welcome to you both; for we are folk who\nknow not divorce and no woman of us marrieth twice, nor do we\nlightly discard a man.\"[FN#473] Quoth Obayd, \"Uncle, I fear me\nthy daughter will not consent to journey with me to my own\ncountry.\" Replied Abd al-Rahman, \"O my son, we have no women\namongst us who gainsay their spouses, nor know we a wife who is\nwroth with her man.\" The jeweller cried, \"Allah bless you and\nyour women!\" and going in to his wife, said to her, \"I am minded\nto go to my country: what sayst thou?\" Quoth she, \"Indeed, my\nsire had the ordering of me, whilst I was a maid, and when I\nmarried, the ordering all passed into the hands of my lord and\nmaster, nor will I gainsay him.\" Quoth Obayd, \"Allah bless thee\nand thy father, and have mercy on the womb that bare thee and the\nloins that begat thee!\" Then he cut his thongs[FN#474] and\napplied himself to making ready for his journey. His father-in-\nlaw gave him much good and they took leave each of other, after\nwhich tile jeweller and his wife journeyed on without ceasing,\ntill they reached Bassorah where his kinsmen and comrades came\nout to meet him, doubting not but that he had been in Al-Hijaz.\nSome rejoiced at his return, whilst others were vexed, and the\nfolk said one to another, \"Now will he straiten us again every\nFriday, as before, and we shall be shut up in the mosques and\nhouses, even to our cats and our dogs.\" On such wise it fared\nwith him; but as regards the King of Bassorah, when he heard of\nhis return, he was wroth with him; and sending for him, upbraided\nhim and said to him, \"Why didst thou depart, without letting me\nknow of thy departure? Was I unable to give thee somewhat\nwherewith thou mightest have succoured thyself in thy pilgrimage\nto the Holy House of Allah?\" Replied the jeweller, \"Pardon, O my\nlord! By Allah, I went not on the pilgrimage! but there have\nbefallen me such and such things.\" Then he told him all that had\nbefallen him with his wife and with Abd al-Rahman of Cairo and\nhow the merchant had given him his daughter to wife, ending with\nthese words, \"And I have brought her to Bassorah.\" Said the King,\n\"By the Lord, did I not fear Allah the Most High, I would slay\nthee and marry this noble lady after thy death, though I spent on\nher mints of money, because she befitteth none but Kings. But\nAllah hath appointed her of thy portion and may He bless thee in\nher! So look thou use her well.\" Then he bestowed largesse on the\njeweller, who went out from before him and abode with his wife\nfive years, after which he was admitted to the mercy of the\nAlmighty. Presently the King sought his widow in wedlock; but she\nrefused, saying, \"O King, never among my kindred was a woman who\nmarried again after her husband's death; wherefore I will never\ntake another husband, nor will I marry thee, no, though thou kill\nme.\" Then he sent to her one who said, \"Dost thou seek to go to\nthy native land?\" And she answered, \"An thou do good, thou shalt\nbe requited therewith.\" So he collected for her all the\njeweller's wealth and added unto her of his own, after the\nmeasure of his degree. Lastly he sent with her one of his Wazirs,\na man famous for goodness and piety, and an escort of five\nhundred horse, who journeyed with her, till they brought her to\nher father; and in his home she abode, without marrying again,\ntill she died and they died all. So, if this woman would not\nconsent to replace her dead husband with a Sultan, how shall she\nbe compared with one who replaced her husband, whilst he was yet\nalive, with a youth of unknown extraction and condition, and\nespecially when this was in lewd carriage and not by way of\nlawful marriage? So he who deemeth all women alike,[FN#475] there\nis no remedy for the disease of his insanity. And glory be to Him\nto whom belongeth the empire of the Seen and the Unseen and He is\nthe Living, who dieth not! And among the tales they tell, O\nauspicious King, is one of\n\n\n\n\n\n          ABDULLAH BIN FAZIL AND HIS BROTHERS.[FN#476]\n\n\n\nThe Caliph Harun al-Rashid was one day examining the tributes of\nhis various provinces and viceroyalties, when he observed that\nthe contributions of all the countries and regions had come into\nthe treasury, except that of Bassorah which had not arrived that\nyear. So he held a Divan because of this and said, \"Hither to me\nwith the Wazir Ja'afar;\" and when they brought him into the\npresence he thus bespoke him, \"The tributes of all the provinces\nhave come into the treasury, save that of Bassorah, no part\nwhereof hath arrived.\" Ja'afar replied, \"O Commander of the\nFaithful, belike there hath befallen the governor of Bassorah\nsomething that hath diverted him from sending the tribute.\" Quoth\nthe Caliph, \"The time of the coming of the tribute was twenty\ndays ago; what then, can be his excuse for that, in this time, he\nhath neither sent it nor sent to show cause for not doing so?\"\nAnd quoth the Minister, \"O Commander of the Faithful, if it\nplease thee, we will send him a messenger. Rejoined the Caliph,\n\"Send him Abu Ishak al-Mausili,[FN#477] the boon companion,\" and\nJa'afar, \"Hearkening and obedience to Allah and to thee, O Prince\nof True Believers!\" Then he returned to his house and summoning\nAbu Ishak, wrote him a royal writ and said to him, \"Go to Abdullah\nbin Fazil, Viceroy of Bassorah, and see what hath diverted him\nfrom sending the tribute. If it be ready, do thou receive it from\nhim in full and bring it to me in haste, for the Caliph hath\nexamined the tributes of the provinces and findeth that they are\nall come in, except that of Bassorah: but an thou see that it is\nnot ready and he make an excuse to thee, bring him back with\nthee, that he may report his excuse to the Caliph with his own\ntongue.\" Answered Abu Ishak, \"I hear and I obey;\" and taking with\nhim five thousand horse of Ja'afar's host set out for Bassorah.\nNow when Abdullah bin Fazil heard of his approach, he went out to\nmeet him with his troops, and led him into the city and carried\nhim to his palace, whilst the escort encamped without the city\nwalls, where he appointed to them all whereof they stood in need.\nSo Abu Ishak entered the audience-chamber and sitting down on the\nthrone, seated the governor beside himself, whilst the notables\nsat round him, according to their several degrees. After\nsalutation with the salam Abdullah bin Fazil said to him \"O my\nlord, is there for thy coming to us any cause?;\" and said Abu\nIshak, \"Yes, I come to seek the tribute; for the Caliph enquireth\nof it and the time of its coming is gone by.\" Rejoined Abdullah\nbin Fazil, \"O my lord, would Heaven thou hadst not wearied\nthyself nor taken upon thyself the hardships of the journey! For\nthe tribute is ready in full tale and complete, and I purpose to\ndespatch it to-morrow. But, since thou art come, I will entrust\nit to thee, after I have entertained thee three days; and on the\nfourth day I will set the tribute between thine hands. But it\nbehoveth us now to offer thee a present in part requital of thy\nkindness and the goodness of the Commander of the Faithful.\"\n\"There is no harm in that,\" said Abu Ishak. So Abdullah bin Fazil\ndismissed the Divan and carrying him into a saloon that had not\nits match, bade set a tray of food before him and his companions.\nThey ate and drank and made merry and enjoyed themselves; after\nwhich the tray was removed and there came coffee and sherbets.\nThey sat conversing till a third part of the night was past, when\nthey spread for Abu Ishak bedding on an ivory couch inlaid with\ngold glittering sheeny. So he lay down and the viceroy lay down\nbeside him on another couch; but wakefulness possessed Abu Ishak\nand he fell to meditating on the metres of prosody and poetical\ncomposition, for that he was one of the primest of the Caliph's\nboon-companions and he had a mighty fine fore-arm[FN#478] in\nproducing verses and pleasant stories; nor did he leave to lie\nawake improvising poetry till half the night was past. Presently,\nbehold, Abdullah bin Fazil arose, and girding his middle, opened\na locker,[FN#479] whence he brought out a whip; then, taking a\nlighted waxen taper, he went forth by the door of the saloon.--\nAnd Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nAbdullah bin Fazil went forth by the door of the saloon deeming\nAbu Ishak asleep, the Caliph's cup-companion, seeing this,\nmarvelled and said in himself, \"Whither wendeth Abdullah bin\nFazil with that whip? Perhaps he is minded to punish some body.\nBut needs must I follow him and see what he will do this night.\"\nSo he arose and went out after him softly, very softly, that he\nmight not be seen and presently saw him open a closet and take\nthence a tray containing four dishes of meat and bread and a\ngugglet of water. Then he went on, carrying the tray and secretly\nfollowed by Abu Ishak, till he came to another saloon and\nentered, whilst the cup-companion stood behind the door and,\nlooking through the chink, saw a spacious saloon, furnished with\nthe richest furniture and having in its midst a couch of ivory\nplated with gold glittering sheeny, to which two dogs were made\nfast with chains of gold. Then Abdullah set down the tray in a\ncomer and tucking up his sleeves, loosed the first dog, which\nbegan to struggle in his hands and put its muzzle to the floor,\nas it would kiss the ground before him, whining the while in a\nweak voice. Abdullah tied its paws behind its back and throwing\nit on the ground, drew forth the whip and beat it with a painful\nbeating and a pitiless. The dog struggled, but could not get\nfree, and Abdullah ceased not to beat it with the same whip till\nit left groaning and lay without consciousness. Then he took it\nand tied it up in its place, and unbinding the second dog, did\nwith him as he had done with the first; after which he pulled out\na kerchief and fell to wiping away their tears and comforting\nthem, saying, \"Bear me not malice; for by Allah, this is not of\nmy will, nor is it easy to me! But it may be Allah will grant you\nrelief from this strait and issue from your affliction.\" And he\nprayed for the twain what while Abu Ishak the cup-companion stood\nhearkening with his ears and espying with his eyes, and indeed he\nmarvelled at his case. Then Abdullah brought the dogs the tray of\nfood and fell to morselling them with his own hand, till they had\nenough, when he wiped their muzzles and lifting up the gugglet,\ngave them to drink; after which he took up the tray, gugglet and\ncandle and made for the door. But Abu Ishak forewent him and\nmaking his way back to his couch, lay down; so that he saw him\nnot, neither knew that he had walked behind him and watched him.\nThen the governor replaced the tray and the gugglet in the closet\nand returning to the saloon, opened the locker and laid the whip\nin its place; after which he doffed his clothes and lay down. But\nAbu Ishak passed the rest of that night pondering this affair\nneither did sleep visit him for excess of wonderment, and he\nceased not to say in himself, \"I wonder what can be the meaning\nof this!\" Nor did he leave wondering till day break, when they\narose and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then they set the\nbreakfast[FN#480] before them and they ate and drank coffee,\nafter which they went out to the divan. Now Abu Ishak's thought\nwas occupied with this mystery all day long but he concealed the\nmatter and questioned not Abdullah thereof. Next night, he again\nfollowed the governor and saw him do with the two dogs as on the\nprevious night, first beating them and then making his peace with\nthem and giving them to eat and to drink; and so also he did the\nthird night. On the fourth day he brought the tribute to Abu\nIshak who took it and departed, without opening the matter to\nhim. He fared on, without ceasing, till he came to Baghdad, where\nhe delivered the tribute to the Caliph, who questioned him of the\ncause of its delay. Replied he, \"O Commander of the Faithful, I\nfound that the governor of Bassorah had made ready the tribute\nand was about to despatch it; and I delayed a day, it would have\nmet me on the road. But, O Prince of True Believers, I had a\nwondrous adventure with Abdullah bin Fazil; never in my life saw\nI its like.\" \"And what was it, O Abu Ishak?\" asked the Caliph. So\nhe replied, \"I saw such and such;\" and, brief, acquainted him\nwith that which the governor had done with the two dogs, adding,\n\"After such fashion, I saw him do three successive nights, first\nbeating the dogs, then making his peace with them and comforting\nthem and giving them to eat and drink, I watching him, and he\nseeing me not.\" Asked the Caliph, \"Didst thou question him of the\ncause of this?\"; and the other answered, \"No, as thy head liveth,\nO Commander of the Faithful.\" Then said Al-Rashid, \"O Abu Ishak,\nI command thee to return to Bassorah and bring me Abdullah bin\nFazil and the two dogs.\" Quoth he, \"O Commander of the Faithful,\nexcuse me from this; for indeed Abdullah entertained me with\nexceedingly hospitable entertainment and I became ware of this\ncase with chance undesigned and acquainted thee therewith. So how\ncan I go back to him and bring him to thee? Verily, if I return\nto him, I shall find me no face for shame of him; wherefore\n'twere meet that thou send him another than myself, with a letter\nunder thine own hand, and he shall bring him to thee, him and the\ntwo dogs.\" But quoth the Caliph, \"If I send him other than\nthyself, peradventure he will deny the whole affair and say,\n'I've no dogs.' But if I send thee and thou say to him, 'I saw\nthem with mine own eyes,' he will not be able to deny that.\nWherefore nothing will serve but that thou go and fetch him and\nthe two dogs; otherwise I will surely slay thee.\"[FN#481]--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n       When it was the Nine Hundred and Eightieth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nCaliph Harun al-Rashid said to Abu Ishak, \"Nothing will serve but\nthat thou go and fetch him and the two dogs; otherwise I will\nsurely slay thee.\" Abu Ishak replied, \"Hearing and obeying, O\nCommander of the Faithful: Allah is our aidance and good is the\nAgent. He spake sooth who said, 'Man's wrong is from the\ntongue;'[FN#482] and 'tis I who sinned against myself in telling\nthee. But write me a royal rescript[FN#483] and I will go to him\nand bring him back to thee.\" So the Caliph gave him an autograph\nand he took it and repaired to Bassorah. Seeing him come in the\ngovernor said, \"Allah forfend us from the mischief of thy return,\nO Abu Ishak! How cometh it I see thee return in haste?\nPeradventure the tribute is deficient and the Caliph will not\naccept it?\" Answered Abu Ishak, \"O Emir Abdullah, my return is\nnot on account of the deficiency of the tribute, for 'tis full\nmeasure and the Caliph accepteth it; but I hope that thou wilt\nexcuse me, for that I have failed in my duty as thy guest and\nindeed this lapse of mine was decreed of Allah Almighty.\"\nAbdullah enquired, \"And what may be the lapse?\" and he replied,\n\"Know that when I was with thee, I followed thee three following\nnights and saw thee rise at midnight and beat the dogs and\nreturn; whereat I marvelled, but was ashamed to question thee\nthereof. When I came back to Baghdad, I told the Caliph of thine\naffair, casually and without design, whereupon he charged me to\nreturn to thee, and here is a letter under his hand. Had I known\nthat the affair would lead to this, I had not told him, but\nDestiny foreordained thus.\" And he went on to excuse himself to\nhim; whereupon said Abdullah, \"Since thou hast told him this, I\nwill bear out thy report with him, lest he deem thee a liar, for\nthou art my friend. Were it other than thou, I had denied the\naffair and given him the lie. But now I will go with thee and\ncarry the two dogs with me, though this be to me ruin-rife and\nthe ending of my term of life.\" Rejoined the other, \"Allah will\nveil[FN#484] thee, even as thou hast veiled my face with the\nCaliph!\" Then Abdullah took a present beseeming the Commander of\nthe Faithful and mounting the dogs with him, each on a camel,\nbound with chains[FN#485] of gold, journeyed with Abu Ishak to\nBaghdad, where he went in to the Caliph and kissed ground before\nhim. He deigned bid him sit; so he sat down and brought the two\ndogs before Al-Rashid, who said to him \"What be these dogs, O\nEmir Abdullah?\" Whereupon they fell to kissing the floor between\nhis hands and wagging their tails and weeping, as if complaining\nto him. The Caliph marvelled at this and said to the governor,\n\"Tell me the history of these two dogs and the reason of thy\nbeating them and after entreating them with honour.\" He replied,\n\"O Vicar of Allah, these be no dogs, but two young men, endowed\nwith beauty and seemliness, symmetry and shapeliness, and they\nare my brothers and the sons of my father and mother.\" Asked the\nCaliph, \"How is it that they were men and are become dogs?\"; and\nhe answered, \"An thou give me leave, O Prince of True Believers,\nI will acquaint thee with the truth of the circumstance.\" Said\nAl-Rashid, \"Tell me and 'ware of leasing, for 'tis of the fashion\nof the hypocrites, and look thou tell truth, for that is the\nArk[FN#486] of safety and the mark of virtuous men.\" Rejoined\nAbdullah, \"Know then, O vice-regent of Allah, when I tell thee\nthe story of these dogs, they will both bear witness against me:\nan I speak sooth they will certify it and if I lie they will give\nme the lie.\" Cried the Caliph, \"These are of the dogs; they\ncannot speak nor answer; so how can they testify for thee or\nagainst thee?\" But Abdullah said to them, \"O my brothers, if I\nspeak a lying word, do ye lift your heads and stare with your\neyes; but, if I say sooth hang down your heads and lower your\neyes.\" Then said he to the Caliph, \"Know, O Commander of the\nFaithful, that we are three brothers by one mother and the same\nfather. Our sire's name was Fazil and he was so named because his\nmother bare two sons at one birth, one of whom died forthright\nand the other twin remained alive, wherefore his sire named him\nFazil--the Remainder. His father brought him up and reared him\nwell, till he grew to manhood when he married him to our mother\nand died. Our mother conceived a first time and bare this my\nfirst brother, whom our sire named Mans\u00far; then she conceived\nagain and bare this my second brother, whom he named\nN\u00e1sir[FN#487]; after which she conceived a third time and bare\nme, whom he named Abdullah. My father reared us all three till we\ncame to man's estate, when he died, leaving us a house and a shop\nfull of coloured stuffs of all kinds, Indian and Greek and\nKhor\u00e1s\u00e1ni and what not, besides sixty thousand dinars. We washed\nhim and buried him to the ruth of his Lord, after which we built\nhim a splendid monument and let pray for him prayers for the\ndeliverance of his soul from the fire and held perlections of the\nKoran and gave alms on his behalf, till the forty days[FN#488]\nwere past; when I called together the merchants and nobles of the\nfolk and made them a sumptuous entertainment. As soon as they had\neaten, I said to them, 'O merchants, verily this world is\nephemeral, but the next world is eternal, and extolled be the\nperfection of Him who endureth always after His creatures have\npassed away! Know ye why I have called you together this blessed\nday?' And they answered, 'Extolled be Allah sole Scient of the\nhidden things.[FN#489]' Quoth I, 'My father died, leaving much of\nmoney, and I fear lest any have a claim against him for a debt or\na pledge[FN#490] or what not else, and I desire to discharge my\nfather's obligations towards the folk. So whoso hath any demand\non him, let him say, 'He oweth me so and so,' and I will satisfy\nit to him, that I may acquit the responsibility of my\nsire.[FN#491]' The merchants replied, 'O Abdullah, verily the\ngoods of this world stand not in stead of those of the world to\ncome, and we are no fraudful folk, but all of us know the lawful\nfrom the unlawful and fear Almighty Allah and abstain from\ndevouring the substance of the orphan. We know that thy father\n(Allah have mercy on him!) still let his money lie with the\nfolk,[FN#492] nor did he suffer any man's claim on him to go\nunquitted, and we have ever heard him declare, 'I am fearful of\nthe people's substance.' He used always to say in his prayers, 'O\nmy God, Thou art my stay and my hope! Let me not die while in\ndebt.' And it was of his wont that, if he owed any one aught, he\nwould pay it to him, without being pressed, and if any owed him\naught he would not dun him, but would say to him, 'At thy\nleisure.' If his debtor were poor, he would release him from his\nliability and acquit him of responsibility; and if he were not\npoor and died in his debt, he would say, 'Allah forgive him what\nhe owed me!' And we all testify that he owed no man aught.' Quoth\nI, 'May Allah bless you!' Then I turned to these my brothers and\nsaid, 'Our father owed no man aught and hath left us much money\nand stuffs, besides the house and the shop. Now we are three and\neach of us is entitled to one third part. So shall we agree to\nwaive division and wone copartners in our wealth and eat together\nand drink together, or shall we apportion the stuffs and the\nmoney and take each his part?' Said they, 'We will divide them\nand take each his share.'\" (Then Abdullah turned to the two dogs\nand said to them, \"Did it happen thus, O my brothers?\"; and they\nbowed their heads and lowered their eyes, as to say, \"Yes.\")\nAbdullah continued \"I called in a departitor from the Kazi's\ncourt, O Prince of True Believers, and he distributed amongst us\nthe money and the stuffs and all our father had left, allotting\nthe house and shop to me in exchange for a part of the coin and\nclothes to which I was entitled. We were content with this; so\nthe house and shop fell to my share, whilst my brothers took\ntheir portion in money and stuffs. I opened the shop and stocking\nit with my stuffs bought others with the money apportioned to me,\nover and above the house and shop, till the place was full, and I\nsat selling and buying. As for my brothers, they purchased stuffs\nand hiring a ship, set out on a voyage to the far abodes of folk.\nQuoth I, 'Allah aid them both! As for me, my livelihood is ready\nto my hand and peace is priceless.' I abode thus a whole year,\nduring which time Allah opened the door of fortune to me and I\ngained great gains, till I became possessed of the like of that\nwhich our father had left us. One day, as I sat in my shop, with\ntwo fur pelisses on me, one of sable and the other of\nmeniver,[FN#493] for it was the season of winter and the time of\nthe excessive cold, behold, there came up to me my two brothers,\neach clad in a ragged shirt and nothing more, and their lips were\nwhite with cold, and they were shivering. When I saw them in this\nplight, it was grievous to me and I mourned for them,\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-first Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah\nbin Fazil continued to the Caliph, \"When I saw them in this\nplight, it was grievous to me and I mourned for them and my\nreason fled my head. So I rose and embraced them and wept over\ntheir condition: then I put on one of them the pelisse of sable\nand on the other the fur coat of meniver and, carrying them to\nthe Hammam, sent thither for each of them a suit of apparel such\nas befitted a merchant worth a thousand.[FN#494] When they had\nwashed and donned each his suit, I carried them to my house\nwhere, seeing them well nigh famished, I set a tray of food\nbefore them and ate with them, caressing them and comforting\nthem.\" (Then he again turned to the two dogs and said to them\n\"Was this so, O my brothers?\"; and they bent their heads and\nlowered their eyes.) So Abdullah continued \"When they had eaten,\nO Vicar of Allah, quoth I to them, 'What hath befallen you and\nwhere are your goods?'; and quoth they, 'We fared up the\nriver,[FN#495] till we came to a city called Cufa, where we sold\nfor ten dinars the piece of stuff that had cost half a ducat and\nthat which cost us a ducat for twenty. So we profited greatly and\nbought Persian stuffs at the rate of ten sequins per piece of\nsilk worth forty in Bassorah. Thence we removed to a city called\nAl-Karkh[FN#496] where we sold and bought and made gain galore\nand amassed of wealth great store.' And they went on to set forth\nto me the places and the profits. So I said to them, 'Since ye\nhad such good luck and lot, how cometh it that I see you return\nnaked?' They sighed and answered, 'O our brother, some one must\nhave evileyed us, and in travel there is no trusting. When we had\ngotten together these monies and goods, we freighted a ship\ntherewith and set sail, intending for Bassorah. We fared on three\ndays and on the fourth day we saw the sea rise and fall and roar\nand foam and swell and dash, whilst the waves clashed together\nwith a crash, striking out sparks like fire[FN#497] in the darks.\nThe winds blew contrary for us and our craft struck upon the\npoint of a bill-projected rock, where it brake up and plunged us\ninto the river, and all we had with us was lost in the waters. We\nabode struggling on the surface a day and a night, till Allah\nsent us another ship, whose crew picked us up and we begged our\nway from town to town, suffering mighty sore hardships and\nselling our body-clothes piecemeal, to buy us food, till we drew\nnear Bassorah; nor did we make the city till we had drained the\ndraught of a thousand miseries. But, had we come safely off with\nthat which was by us, we had brought back riches that might be\nevened with those of the King: but this was fore ordained to us of\nAllah.' I said, 'O my brothers, let not your hearts be grieved,\nfor wealth is the ransom of bodies and safety is property. Since\nAllah hath written you of the saved, this is the end of desire,\nfor want and wealth are but as it were illusions of dreams and\nGod-gifted is he who said,\n\n'If a man from destruction can save his head * Let him hold his\nwealth as a slice of nail.'\n\nI continued, 'O my brothers we will suppose that our sire died\nto-day and left us all this wealth that is with me, for I am\nright willing to share it with you equally.' So I fetched a\ndepartitor from the Kazi's court and brought out to him all my\nmoney, which he distributed into three equal parts, and we each\ntook one. Then said I to them, 'O my brothers, Allah blesseth a\nman in his daily bread, if he be in his own country: so let each\nof you open him a shop and sit therein to get his living; and he\nto whom aught is ordained in the Secret Purpose,[FN#498] needs\nmust he get it.' Accordingly, I helped each of them to open a\nshop and filled it for him with goods, saying to them, 'Sell and\nbuy and keep your monies and spend naught thereof; for all ye\nneed of meat and drink and so forth I will furnish to you.' I\ncontinued to entreat them generously, and they fell to selling\nand buying by day and returning at even-tide to my house where\nthey lay the night; nor would I suffer them to expend aught of\ntheir own substance. But, whenever I sat talking with them, they\nwould praise travel and proclaim its pleasures and vaunt the\ngains they had made therein; and they ceased not to urge me to\naccompany them in travelling over foreign parts.\" (Then he said\nto the dogs, \"Was this so, O my brothers?\" and they again bowed\ntheir heads and lowered their eyes in confirmation of his words.)\nHe continued, \"On such wise, O Vicar of Allah, they continued to\nurge me and tempt me to travel by vaunting the great gains and\nprofit to be obtained thereby till I said to them, 'Needs must I\nfare with you for your sake!' Then I entered into a contract of\npartnership with them and we chartered a ship and packing up all\nmanner of precious stuffs and merchandise of every kind,\nfreighted it therewith; after which we embarked in it all we\nneeded and, setting sail from Bassorah, launched out into the\ndashing sea, swollen with clashing surge whereinto whoso entereth\nis lone and lorn and whence whoso cometh forth is as a babe new-\nborn. We ceased not sailing on till we came to a city of the\ncities, where we sold and bought and made great cheape. Thence we\nwent on to another place, and we ceased not to pass from land to\nland and port to port, selling and buying and profiting, till we\nhad gotten us great wealth and much advantage. Presently, we came\nto a mountain,[FN#499] where the captain cast anchor and said to\nus, 'O passengers; go ye ashore; ye shall be saved from this\nday,[FN#500] and make search; it may be ye shall find water.' So\nall landed I amongst the crowd, and dispersed about the island in\nsearch of water. As for me, I climbed to the top of the mountain,\nand whilst I went along, lo and behold! I saw a white snake\nfleeing and followed by a black dragon, foul of favour and\nfrightful of form, hotly pursuing her. Presently he overtook her\nand clipping her, seized her by the head and wound his tail about\nher tail, whereupon she cried out and I knew that he purposed to\nrape her. So I was moved to ruth for her and taking up a lump of\ngranite,[FN#501] five pounds or more in weight, hurled it at the\ndragon. It smote him on the head and crushed it, and ere I knew,\nthe white snake changed and became a young girl bright with\nbeauty and loveliness and brilliancy and perfect grace, as she\nwere the shining full moon, who came up to me and kissing my\nhands, said to me, 'Allah veil thee with two-fold veils, one from\nshame in this world and the other from the flame in the world to\ncome on the day of the Great Upstanding, the day when neither\nwealth nor children shall avail save to him who shall come to\nAllah with a sound heart!'[FN#502] And presently she continued,\n'O mortal, thou hast saved my honour and I am indebted to thee\nfor kindness, wherefore it behoveth me to requite thee.' So\nsaying, she signed with her hand to the earth, which opened and\nshe descended thereinto: then it closed up again over her and by\nthis I knew that she was of the Jinn. As for the dragon, fire was\nkindled in him and consumed him and he became ashes. I marvelled\nat this and returned to my comrades, whom I acquainted with\nwhatso I had seen, and we passed the night in the island. On the\nmorrow the Captain weighed anchor and spread the sails and coiled\nthe ropes and we sailed till the shore faded from our gaze. We\nfared on twenty days, without seeing or land or bird, till our\nwater came to an end and quoth the Rais to us, 'O folk, our fresh\nwater is spent.' Quoth we, 'Let us make for land; haply we shall\nfind water.' But he exclaimed, 'By Allah, I have lost my way and\nI know not what course will bring me to the seaboard.' Thereupon\nbetided us sore chagrin and we wept and besought Almighty Allah\nto guide us into the right course. We passed that night in the\nsorriest case: but God-gifted is He who said,\n\n'How many a night have I spent in woes * That would grizzle the\n     suckling-babe with fear:\nBut morrowed not morn ere to me there came * 'Aidance from Allah\n     and victory near.'[FN#503]\n\nBut when the day arose in its sheen and shone, we caught sight of\na high mountain and rejoiced therein. When we came to its skirts,\nthe Captain said to us, 'O folk, go ashore and seek for water.'\nSo we all landed and sought water but found none, whereat we were\nsore afflicted because we were suffering for want of it. As for\nme, I climbed up to the mountain-top and on the other side\nthereof I saw a spacious circle[FN#504] distant from us an hour's\njourney or more. Presently I called my companions and as soon as\nthey all rejoined me, said to them 'Look at yonder basin behind\nthis mountain; for I see therein a city high of base and a\nstrong-cornered place girt with sconce and rampartry, pasturage\nand lea and doubtless it wanteth not water and good things. So\nhie we thither and fetch drink therefrom and buy what we need of\nprovisions, meat and fruit, and return.' But they said, 'We fear\nlest the city-folk be Kafirs ascribing to Allah partners and\nenemies of The Faith and lay hand on us and take us captive or\nelse slay us; so should we cause the loss of our own lives,\nhaving cast ourselves into destruction and evil emprise. Indeed,\nthe proud and presumptuous are never praiseworthy, for that they\never fare in danger of calamities, even as saith of such an one a\ncertain poet,\n\n'Long as earth is earth, long as sky is sky, * The o'erproud is\nblamed tho' from risk he fly!'\n\nSo we will not expose ourselves to peril.' I replied, 'O folk, I\nhave no authority over you; so I will take my brothers and go to\nyonder city.' But my brothers said to me, 'We also fear this\nthing and will not go with thee.' Quoth I, 'As for me, I am\nresolved to go thither, and I put my trust in Allah and accept\nwhatsoever He shall decree to me. Do ye therefore await me,\nwhilst I wend thither and return to you twain.'\"--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-second Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah\nsaid, \"'Do ye twain await me whilst I wend thither and return to\nyou.'\" \"So I left them and walked on till I came to the gate of\nthe place and saw it a city of building wondrous and projection\nmarvellous, with boulevards high-towering and towers strong-\nbuilded and palaces high-soaring. Its portals were of Chinese\niron, rarely gilded and graven on such wise as confounded the\nwit. I entered the gateway and saw there a stone bench, whereon\nsat a man bearing on his forearm a chain of brass, whereto hung\nfourteen keys; so I knew him to be the porter of the city and\nthat it had fourteen gates. I drew near him and said to him\n'Peace be with thee!'; but he returned not my salam and I saluted\nhim a second and a third time; but he made me no reply. Then I\nlaid my hand on his shoulder and said to him, 'Ho thou, why dost\nthou not return my salam? Art thou asleep or deaf or other than a\nMoslem, that thou refrainest from exchanging the salutation?' But\nhe answered me not neither stirred; so I considered him and saw\nthat he was stone. Quoth I, 'Verily an admirable matter! This is\na stone wroughten in the semblance of a son of Adam and wanting\nin naught save speech!' Then I left him and entering the city,\nbeheld a man standing in the road; so I went up to him and\nscrutinised him and found him stone. Presently, as I walked adown\nthe broad-ways, and saw that this was every where the case, I met\nan old woman bearing on her head a bundle of clothes ready for\nwashing; so I went up to her and examining her, saw that she was\nstone, and the bundle of clothes on her head was stone\nalso.[FN#505] Then I fared for the market, where I saw an oilman\nwith his scales set up and fronted by various kinds of wares such\nas cheese and so forth, all of stone. Moreover, I saw all manner\nof tradesmen seated in their shops and men and women and\nchildren, some standing and some sitting; but they were all\nstone; and the stuffs were like spiders' webs. I amused myself\nwith looking upon them, and as often as I laid hold upon a piece\nof stuff, it powdered in my hands like dust dispread. Presently I\nsaw some chests and opening one of them, found it full of gold in\nbags; so I laid hold upon the bags, but they crumbled away in my\ngrasp, whilst the gold abode unchanged. I carried off of it what\nI could carry and said to myself, 'Were my brothers with me, they\nmight take of this gold their fill and possess themselves of\nthese hoards which have no owner.' Then I entered another shop\nand found therein more than this, but could bear away no more\nthan I had borne. I left this market and went on to another and\nthence to another and another, much enjoying the sight of all\nmanner of creatures of various kinds, all several stones, even to\nthe dogs and the cats, till I came to the goldsmiths' bazar,\nwhere I saw men sitting in their shops, with their stock-in-trade\nabout them, some in their hands and others in crates of wicker-\nwork. When I saw this, O Commander of the Faithful, I threw down\nthe gold and loaded myself with goldsmiths' ware, as much as I\ncould carry. Then I went on to the jewel-market and saw there the\njewellers seated in their shops, each with a tray before him,\nfull of all sorts of precious stones, jacinths and diamonds and\nemeralds and balass rubies and so forth: but all the shop-keepers\nwere stones; whereupon I threw away the goldsmiths' ware and\ncarried off as many jewels as I could carry, regretting that my\nbrothers were not with me, so they might take what they would of\nthose costly gems. Then I left the jewel-market and went on till\nI came to a great door, quaintly gilded and decorated after the\nfairest fashion, within which were wooden benches and in the\nporch sat eunuchs, and body-guards; horsemen, and footmen and\nofficers of police each and every robed in the richest of\nraiment; but they were all stones. I touched one of them and his\nclothes crumbled away from his body like cobwebs. Then I passed\nthrough the door and saw a palace without equal for its building\nand the goodliness of the works that were therein. Here I found\nan audience-chamber, full of Grandees and Wazirs and Officers and\nEmirs, seated upon chairs and every one of them stone. Moreover,\nI saw a throne of red gold, crusted with pearls and gems, and\nseated thereon a son of Adam arrayed in the most sumptuous\nraiment and bearing on his head a Chosr\u00f6an[FN#506] crown,\ndiademed with the finest stones that shed a light like the light\nof day; but, when I came up to him, I found him stone. Then I\nwent on to the gate of the Harim and entering, found myself in\nthe Queen's presence-chamber, wherein I saw a throne of red gold,\ninlaid with pearls and gems, and the Queen seated thereon. On her\nhead she wore a crown diademed with finest jewels, and round\nabout her were women like moons, seated upon chairs and clad in\nthe most sumptuous clothing of all colours. There also the\neunuchry, with their hands upon their breasts,[FN#507] were\nstanding in the attitude of service, and indeed this hall\nconfounded the beholder's wits with what was therein of quaint\ngilding and rare painting and curious carving and fine furniture.\nThere hung the most brilliant lustres[FN#508] of limpid crystal,\nand in every globe[FN#509] of the crystal was an unique jewel,\nwhose price money might not fulfil. So I threw down that which\nwas with me, O Prince of True Believers, and fell to taking of\nthese jewels what I could carry, bewildered as to what I should\nbear away and what I should leave; for indeed I saw the place as\nit were a treasure of the treasures of the cities. Presently I\nespied a wicket[FN#510] standing open and within it a staircase:\nso I entered and mounting forty steps, heard a human voice\nreciting the Koran in a low tone. I walked towards that sound\ntill I came to the main door hung with a silken curtain, laced\nwith wires of gold whereon were strung pearls and coral and\nrubies and cut emeralds which gave forth a light like the light\nof stars. The voice came from behind the curtain: so I raised it\nand discovered a gilded door, whose beauty amazed the mind. I\npassed through the door and found myself in a saloon as it were a\nhoard upon earth's surface[FN#511] and therein a girl as she were\nthe sun shining fullest sheen in the zenith of a sky serene. She\nwas robed in the costliest of raiment and decked with ornaments\nthe most precious that could be and withal she was of passing\nbeauty and loveliness, a model of symmetry and seemliness, of\nelegance and perfect grace, with waist slender and hips heavy and\ndewy lips such as heal the sick and eyelids lovely in their\nlanguor, as it were she of whom the sayer spake when he said,\n\n'My best salam to what that robe enrobes of symmetry, * And what\n     that blooming garth of cheek enguards of rosy blee:\nIt seems as though the Pleiades depend upon her brow; * And other\n     lights of Night in knots upon her breast we see:\nDid she but don a garment weft of Rose's softest leaf, * The leaf\n     of Rose would draw her blood[FN#512] when pluckt that fruit\n     from tree:\nAnd did she crache in Ocean's face, next Morn would see a change\n     * To sweeter than the honeycomb of what was briny sea:\nAnd did she deign her favours grant to grey-beard staff-enpropped\n     * He'd wake and rend the lion's limbs for might and\n     valiancy.'\"\n\nThen Abdullah continued, \"O Prince of True Believers, as soon as\nI saw that girl I fell passionately in love with her and going\nstraight up to her, found her seated on a high couch, reciting by\nheart and in grateful memory the Book of Allah, to whom belong\nhonour and glory! Her voice was like the harmony of the gates of\nHeaven, when Rizwan openeth them, and the words came from her\nlips like a shower of gems; whilst her face was with beauty\ndight, bright and blossom-white, even as saith the poet of a\nsimilar sight,\n\n'O thou who gladdenest man by speech and rarest quality; * Grow\n     longing and repine for thee and grow beyond degree!\nIn thee two things consume and melt the votaries of Love; * The\n     dulcet song of David joined with Joseph's brilliancy.'\n\nWhen I heard her voice of melody reciting the sublime Koran, my\nheart quoted from her killing glances, 'Peace, a word from a\ncompassionating Lord;'[FN#513] but I stammered[FN#514] in my\nspeech and could not say the salam-salutation aright, for my mind\nand sight were confounded and I was become as saith the bard,\n\n'Love-longing urged me not except to trip in speech o'er free; *\n     Nor, save to shed my blood I passed the campment's boundary:\nI ne'er will hear a word from those who love to rail, but I *\n     Will testify to love of him with every word of me.'\n\nThen I hardened myself against the horrors of repine and said to\nher, 'Peace be with thee, O noble Lady, and treasured jewel!\nAllah grant endurance to the foundation of thy fortune fair and\nupraise the pillars of thy glory rare!' Said she, 'And on thee\nfrom me be peace and salutation and high honour, O Abdullah, O\nson of Fazil! Well come and welcome and fair welcome to thee, O\ndearling mine and coolth of mine eyne!' Rejoined I, 'O my lady,\nwhence wottest thou my name and who art thou and what case befel\nthe people of this city, that they are become stones? I would\nhave thee tell me the truth of the matter, for indeed I am\nadmiring at this city and its citizens and that I have found none\nalive therein save thyself. So, Allah upon thee, tell me the\ncause of all this, according to the truth!' Quoth she, 'Sit, O\nAbdullah, and Inshallah, I will talk with thee and acquaint thee\nin full with the facts of my case and of this place and its\npeople; and there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah, the Glorious, the Great!' So I sat me down by her side and\nshe said to me, 'Know, O Abdullah, (may Allah have mercy on\nthee!) that I am the daughter of the King of this city and that\nit is my sire whom thou sawest seated on the high stead in the\nDivan, and those who are round about him were the Lords of his\nland and the Guards of his empery. He was a King of exceeding\nprowess and had under his hand a thousand thousand and sixty\nthousand troopers. The number of the Emirs of his Empire was\nfour-and-twenty thousand, all of them Governors and Dignitaries.\nHe was obeyed by a thousand cities, besides towns, hamlets and\nvillages; and sconces and citadels, and the Emirs[FN#515] of the\nwild Arabs under his hand were a thousand in number, each\ncommanding twenty thousand horse. Moreover, he had monies and\ntreasures and precious stones and jewels and things of price,\nsuch as eye never saw nor of which ear ever heard.'\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Eight-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the\nPrincess, daughter to the King of the Stone-city, thus continued,\n\"Verily, O Abdullah my father had monies and hoards, such as eye\nnever saw and of which ear never heard. He used to debel Kings\nand do to death champions and braves in battle and in the field\nof fight, so that the Conquerors feared him and the\nChosro\u00ebs[FN#516] humbled themselves to him. For all this, he was\na miscreant in creed ascribing to Allah partnership and adoring\nidols, instead of the Lord of worship; and all his troops were of\nimages fain in lieu of the All-knowing Sovereign. One day of the\ndays as he sat on the throne of his Kingship, compassed about\nwith the Grandees of his realm, suddenly there came in to him a\nPersonage, whose face illumined the whole Divan with its light.\nMy father looked at him and saw him clad in a garb of\ngreen,[FN#517] tall of stature and with hands that reached\nbeneath his knees. He was of reverend aspect and awesome and the\nlight[FN#518] shone from his face. Said he to my sire, 'O rebel,\nO idolater, how long wilt thou take pride in worshipping idols\nand abandoning the service of the All-knowing King? Say, 'I\ntestify that there is no god but the God and that Mohammed is His\nservant and His messenger.' And embrace Al-Islam, thou and thy\ntribe; and put away from you the worship of idols, for they\nneither suffice man's need nor intercede. None is worshipful save\nAllah alone, who raised up the heavens without columns and spread\nout the earths like carpets in mercy to His creatures.'[FN#519]\nQuoth my father, 'Who art thou, O man who rejectest the worship\nof idols, that thou sayst thus? Fearest thou not that the idols\nwill be wroth with thee?' He replied, 'The idols are stones;\ntheir anger cannot prejudice me nor their favour profit me. So do\nthou set in my presence thine idol which thou adorest and bid all\nthy folk bring each his image: and when they are all present, do\nye pray them to be wroth with me and I will pray my Lord to be\nwroth with them, and ye shall descry the difference between the\nanger of the creature and that of the Creator. For your idols, ye\nfashioned them yourselves and the Satans clad themselves\ntherewith as with clothing, and they it is who spake to you from\nwithin the bellies of the images,[FN#520] for your idols are made\nand the maker is my God to whom naught is impossible. An the True\nappear to you, do ye follow it, and if the False appear to you do\nye leave it.' Cried they, 'Give us a proof of thy god, that we\nmay see it;' and quoth he, 'Give me proof of your gods.' So the\nKing bade every one who worshipped his lord in image-form to\nbring it, and all the armies brought their idols to the Divan.\nThus fared it with them; but as for me, I was sitting behind a\ncurtain, whence I could look upon my father's Divan, and I had an\nidol of emerald whose bigness was as the bigness of a son of\nAdam. My father demanded it, so I sent it to the Divan, where\nthey set it down beside that of my sire, which was of jacinth,\nwhilst the Wazir's idol was of diamond.[FN#521] As for those of\nthe Grandees and Notables, some were of balass-ruby and some of\ncarnelian, others of coral or Comorin aloes-wood and yet others\nof ebony or silver or gold; and each had his own idol, after the\nmeasure of his competence; whilst the idols of the common\nsoldiers and of the people were some of granite, some of wood,\nsome of pottery and some of mud; and all were of various hues\nyellow and red; green, black and white. Then said the Personage\nto my sire, 'Pray your idol and these idols to be wroth with me.'\nSo they aligned the idols in a Divan,[FN#522] setting my father's\nidol on a chair of gold at the upper end, with mine by its side,\nand ranking the others each according to the condition of him who\nowned it and worshipped it. Then my father arose and prostrating\nhimself to his own idol, said to it, 'O my god, thou art the\nBountiful Lord, nor is there among the idols a greater than\nthyself. Thou knowest that this person cometh to me, attacking\nthy divinity and making mock of thee; yea, he avoucheth that he\nhath a god stronger than thou and ordereth us leave adoring thee\nand adore his god. So be thou wrath with him, O my god!' And he\nwent on to supplicate the idol; but the idol returned him no\nreply neither bespoke him with aught of speech; whereupon quoth\nhe, 'O my god, this is not of thy wont, for thou usedst to answer\nme, when I addressed thee. How cometh it that I see thee silent\nand speaking not? Art thou unheeding or asleep?[FN#523] Awake;\nsuccour me and speak to me!' And he shook it with his hand; but\nit spake not neither stirred from its stead. Thereupon quoth the\nPersonage, 'What aileth thine idol that it speaketh not?'; and\nquoth the King, 'Methinks he is absent-minded or asleep.'\nExclaimed the other, 'O enemy of Allah, how canst thou worship a\ngod that speaketh not nor availeth unto aught and not worship my\nGod, who to prayers deigns assent and who is ever present and\nnever absent, neither unheeding nor sleeping, whom conjecture may\nnot ween, who seeth and is not seen and who over all things\nterrene is omnipotent? Thy god is powerless and cannot guard\nitself from harm; and indeed a stoned Satan had clothed himself\ntherewith as with a coat that he might debauch thee and delude\nthee. But now hath its devil departed; so do thou worship Allah\nand testify that there is no god but He and that none is\nworshipful nor worshipworth but Himself; neither is there any\ngood but His good. As for this thy god, it cannot ward off hurt\nfrom it; so how shall it ward off harm from thee? See with thine\nown eyes its impotence.' So saying, he went up to the idol and\ndealt it a cuff on the neck, that it fell to the ground;\nwhereupon the King waxed wroth and cried to the bystanders, 'This\nfroward atheist hath smitten my god. Slay him!' So they would\nhave arisen to smite him, but none of them could stir from his\nplace. Then he propounded to them Al-Islam; but they refused to\nbecome Moslems and he said, 'I will show you the wroth of my\nLord.' Quoth they, 'Let us see it!' So he spread out his hands\nand said, 'O my God and my Lord, Thou art my stay and my hope;\nanswer Thou my prayer against these lewd folk, who eat of Thy\ngood and worship other gods. O Thou the Truth, O Thou of All-\nmight, O Creator of Day and Night, I beseech Thee to turn these\npeople into stones, for Thou art the Puissant nor is aught\nimpossible to Thee, and Thou over all things are omnipotent!' And\nAllah transformed the people of this city into stones; but, as\nfor me, when I saw the manifest proof of His deity, I submitted\nmyself to Him and was saved from that which befel the rest. Then\nthe Personage drew near me and said 'Felicity[FN#524] was fore-\nordained of Allah to thee and in this a purpose had He.' And he\nwent on to instruct me and I took unto him the oath and\ncovenant.[FN#525] I was then seven years of age and am now thirty\nyears old. Then said I to him, 'O my lord, all that is in the\ncity and all its citizens are become stones by thine effectual\nprayer, and I am saved, for that I embraced Al-Islam at thy\nhands. Wherefore thou art become my Shaykh; so do thou tell me\nthy name and succour me with thy security and provide me with\nprovision whereon I may subsist.' Quoth he, 'My name is Abu al-\n'Abb\u00e1s al-Khizr'; and he planted me a pomegranate-tree, which\nforthright grew up and foliaged, flowered and fruited, and bare\none pomegranate; whereupon quoth he, 'Eat of that wherewith Allah\nthe Almighty provideth thee and worship Him with the worship\nwhich is His due.' Then he taught me the tenets of Al-Islam and\nthe canons of prayer and the way of worship, together with the\nrecital of the Koran, and I have now worshipped Allah in this\nplace three-and-twenty years. Each day the tree yieldeth me a\npomegranate which I eat and it sustaineth me from tide to tide;\nand every Friday, Al-Khizr (on whom be peace!) cometh to me and\n'tis he who acquainted me with thy name and gave me the glad\ntidings of thy soon coming hither, saying to me, 'When he shall\ncome to thee, entreat him with honour and obey his bidding and\ngainsay him not; but be thou to him wife and he shall be to thee\nman, and wend with him whitherso he will.' So, when I saw thee, I\nknew thee and such is the story of this city and of its people,\nand the Peace!'\" Then she showed me the pomegranate-tree,\nwhereon was one granado, which she took and eating one-half\nthereof herself, gave me the other to eat, and never did I taste\naught sweeter or more savoury or more satisfying than that\npomegranate. After this, I said to her, 'Art thou content, even\nas the Shaykh Al-Khizr charged thee, to be my wife and take me to\nmate; and art thou ready to go with me to my own country and\nabide with me in the city of Bassorah?' She replied, 'Yes,\nInshallah: an it please Almighty Allah. I hearken to thy word and\nobey thy hest without gainsaying.' Then I made a binding covenant\nwith her and she carried me into her father's treasury, whence we\ntook what we could carry and going forth that city, walked on\ntill we came to my brothers, whom I found searching for me. They\nasked, 'Where hast thou been? Indeed thou hast tarried long from\nus, and our hearts were troubled for thee.' And the captain of\nthe ship said to me, 'O merchant Abdullah, the wind hath been\nfair for us this great while, and thou hast hindered us from\nsetting sail.' And I answered, 'There is no harm in that:\nofttimes slow[FN#526] is sure and my absence hath wrought us\nnaught but advantage, for indeed, there hath betided me therein\nthe attainment of our hopes and God-gifted is he who said,\n\n'I weet not, whenas to a land I fare * In quest of good, what I\n     shall there obtain;\nOr gain I fare with sole desire to seek; * Or loss that seeketh\n     me when seek I gain.'\n\nThen said I to them, 'See what hath fallen to me in this mine\nabsence;' and displayed to them all that was with me of treasures\nand told them what I had beheld in the City of Stone, adding,\n'Had ye hearkened to me and gone with me, ye had gotten of these\nthings great gain.'\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that\nAbdullah bin Fazil said to his shipmates and to his two brothers,\n\"Had ye gone with me, ye had gotten of these things great gain.\"\nBut they said, \"By Allah, had we gone, we had not dared to go in\nto the King of the city!\" Then I said to my brothers, 'No harm\nshall befal you; for that which I have will suffice us all and\nthis is our lot.'[FN#527] So I divided my booty into four parts\naccording to our number and gave one to each of my brothers and\nto the Captain, taking the fourth for myself, setting aside\nsomewhat for the servants and sailors, who rejoiced and blessed\nme: and all were content with what I gave them, save my brothers\nwho changed countenance and rolled their eyes. I perceived that\nlust of lucre had gotten hold of them both; so I said to them, 'O\nmy brothers, methinketh what I have given you doth not satisfy\nyou; but we are brothers and there is no difference between us.\nMy good and yours are one and the same thing, and if I die none\nwill inherit of me but you.' And I went on to soothe them. Then I\nbore the Princess on board the galleon and lodged her in the\ncabin, where I sent her somewhat to eat and we sat talking, I and\nmy brothers. Said they, 'O our brother, what wilt thou do with\nthat damsel of surpassing beauty?' And I replied, 'I mean to\ncontract marriage with her, as soon as I reach Bassorah and make\na splendid wedding and go in to her there.' Exclaimed one of\nthem, 'O my brother, verily, this young lady excelleth in beauty\nand loveliness and the love of her is fallen on my heart;\nwherefore I desire that thou give her to me and I will espouse\nher.' And the other cried, 'I too desire this: give her to me,\nthat I may espouse her.' 'O my brothers,' answered I, 'indeed she\ntook of me an oath and a covenant that I would marry her myself;\nso, if I give her to one of you, I shall be false to my oath and\nto the covenant between me and her, and haply she will be broken-\nhearted, for she came not with me but on condition that I marry\nher. So how can I wed her to other than myself? As for your both\nloving her, I love her more than you twain, for she is my\ntreasure-trove, and as for my giving her to one of you, that is a\nthing which may not be. But, if we reach Bassorah in safety, I\nwill look you out two girls of the best of the damsels of\nBassorah and demand them for you in marriage and pay the dower of\nmy own monies and make one wedding and we will all three go into\nour brides on the same night. But leave ye this damsel, for she\nis of my portion.' They held their peace, and I thought they were\ncontent with that which I had said. Then we fared onwards for\nBassorah, and every day I sent her meat and drink; but she came\nnot forth of the cabin, whilst I slept between my brothers on\ndeck. We sailed thus forty days, till we sighted Bassorah city\nand rejoiced that we were come near it. Now I trusted in my\nbrothers and was at my ease with them, for none knoweth the\nhidden future save Allah the Most High; so I lay down to sleep\nthat night; but, as I abode drowned in slumber, I suddenly found\nmyself caught up by these my brothers, one seizing me by the legs\nand the other by the arms, for they had taken counsel together to\ndrown me in the sea for the sake of the damsel. When I saw myself\nin their hands, I said to them, 'O my brothers, why do ye this\nwith me?' And they replied, 'Ill-bred that thou art, wilt thou\nbarter our affection for a girl?; we will cast thee into the sea,\nbecause of this.' So saying, they threw me overboard.\" (Here\nAbdullah turned to the dogs and said to them, \"Is this that I\nhave said true O my brothers or not?\"; and they bowed their heads\nand fell a-whining, as if confirming his speech; whereat the\nCaliph wondered). Then Abdullah resumed, \"O Commander of the\nFaithful, when they threw me into the sea, I sank to the bottom;\nbut the water bore me up again to the surface, and before I could\nthink, behold a great bird, the bigness of a man, swooped down\nupon me and snatching me up, flew up with me into upper air. I\nfainted and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strong-\npillared place, a high-builded palace, adorned with magnificent\npaintings and pendants of gems of all shapes and hues. Therein\nwere damsels standing with their hands crossed over their breasts\nand, behold in their midst was a lady seated on a throne of red\ngold, set with pearls and gems, and clad in apparel whereon no\nmortal might open his eyes, for the lustre of the jewels\nwherewith they were decked. About her waist she wore a girdle of\njewels no money could pay their worth and on her head a three-\nfold tiara dazing thought and wit and dazzling heart and sight.\nThen the bird which had carried me thither shook and became a\nyoung lady bright as sun raying light. I fixed my eyes on her and\nbehold, it was she whom I had seen, in snake form on the mountain\nand had rescued from the dragon which had wound his tail around\nher. Then said to her the lady who sat upon the throne, 'Why hast\nthou brought hither this mortal?'; and she replied, 'O my mother,\nthis is he who was the means of veiling my honour[FN#528] among\nthe maidens of the Jinn.' Then quoth she to me, 'Knowest thou who\nI am?'; and quoth I, 'No.' Said she, 'I am she who was on such a\nmountain, where the black dragon strave with me and would have\nforced my honour, but thou slewest him.' And I said, 'I saw but a\nwhite snake with the dragon.' She rejoined, \"Tis I who was the\nwhite snake; but I am the daughter of the Red King, Sovran of the\nJann and my name is Sa'\u00eddah.[FN#529] She who sitteth there is my\nmother and her name is Mub\u00e1rakah, wife of the Red King. The black\ndragon who attacked me and would have done away my honour was\nWazir to the Black King, Darf\u00edl by name, and he was foul of\nfavour. It chanced that he saw me and fell in love with me; so he\nsought me in marriage of my sire, who sent to him to say, 'Who\nart thou, O scum of Wazirs, that thou shouldst wed with Kings'\ndaughters?' Whereupon he was wroth and sware an oath that he\nwould assuredly do away my honour, to spite my father. Then he\nfell to tracking my steps and following me whithersoever I went,\ndesigning to ravish me; wherefore there befel between him and my\nparent mighty fierce wars and bloody jars, but my sire could not\nprevail against him, for that he was fierce as fraudful and as\noften as my father pressed hard upon him and seemed like to\nconquer he would escape from him, till my sire was at his wits'\nend. Every day I was forced to take new form and hue; for, as\noften as I assumed a shape, he would assume its contrary, and to\nwhatsoever land I fled he would snuff my fragrance and follow me\nthither, so that I suffered sore affliction of him. At last I\ntook the form of a snake and betook myself to the mountain where\nthou sawest me; whereupon he changed himself to a dragon and\npursued me, till I fell into his hands, when he strove with me\nand I struggled with him, till he wearied me and mounted me,\nmeaning to have his lustful will of me: but thou camest and smotest\nhim with the stone and slewest him. Then I returned to my own\nshape and showed myself to thee, saying, 'I am indebted to thee\nfor a service such as is not lost save with the son of\nadultery.'[FN#530] So, when I saw thy brothers do with thee this\ntreachery and throw thee into the sea, I hastened to thee and\nsaved thee from destruction, and now honour is due to thee from\nmy mother and my father.' Then she said to the Queen, 'O my\nmother, do thou honour him as deserveth he who saved my virtue.'\nSo the Queen said to me, 'Welcome, O mortal! Indeed thou hast\ndone us a kindly deed which meriteth honour.' Presently she\nordered me a treasure-suit,[FN#531] worth a mint of money, and\nstore of gems and precious stones, and said, 'Take him and carry\nhim in to the King.' Accordingly, they carried me into the King\nin his Divan, where I found him seated on his throne, with his\nMarids and guards before him; and when I saw him my sight was\nblent for that which was upon him of jewels; but when he saw me,\nhe rose to his feet and all his officers rose also, to do him\nworship. Then he saluted me and welcomed me and entreated me with\nthe utmost honour, and gave me of that which was with him of good\nthings; after which he said to some of his followers, 'Take him\nand carry him back to my daughter, that she may restore him to\nthe place whence she brought him.' So they carried me back to the\nLady Sa'idah, who took me up and flew away with me and my\ntreasures. On this wise fared it with me and the Princess; but as\nregards the Captain of the galleon, he was aroused by the splash\nof my fall, when my brothers cast me into the sea, and said,\n'What is that which hath fallen overboard?' Whereupon my brothers\nfell to weeping and beating of breasts and replied, 'Alas, for\nour brother's loss! He thought to do his need over the ship's\nside[FN#532] and fell into the water!' Then they laid their hands\non my good, but there befel dispute between them because of the\ndamsel, each saying, 'None shall have her but I.' And they abode\njangling and wrangling each with other and remembered not their\nbrother nor his drowning and their mourning for him ceased. As\nthey were thus, behold Sa'idah alighted with me in the midst of\nthe galleon,\"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-fifth Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah\nbin Fazil continued, \"As they were thus, behold, Sa'idah alighted\nwith me in the midst of the galleon and when my brothers saw me,\nthey embraced me and rejoiced in me, saying, 'O our brother, how\nhast thou fared in that which befel thee? Indeed our hearts have\nbeen occupied with thee.' Quoth Sa'idah, 'Had ye any heart-\nyearnings for him or had ye loved him, ye had not cast him into\nthe sea; but choose ye now what death ye will die.' Then she\nseized on them and would have slain them; but they cried out,\nsaying, 'In thy safeguard, O our brother!' Thereupon I interceded\nand said to her, 'I claim of thine honour not to kill my\nbrothers.' Quoth she, 'There is no help but that I slay them, for\nthey are traitors.' But I ceased not to speak her fair and\nconciliate her till she said, 'To content thee, I will not kill\nthem, but I will enchant them.' So saying, she brought out a cup\nand filling it with sea-water, pronounced over it words that\nmight not be understood; then saying, 'Quit this human shape for\nthe shape of a dog;' she sprinkled them with the water, and\nimmediately they were transmewed into dogs, as thou seest them, O\nVicar of Allah.\" Whereupon he turned to the dogs and said to\nthem, \"Have I spoken the truth, O my brothers?\" And they bowed\ntheir heads, as they would say, \"Thou hast spoken sooth.\" At this\nhe continued, \"Then she said to those who were in the galleon,\n'Know ye that Abdullah bin Fazil here present is become my\nbrother and I shall visit him once or twice every day: so, whoso\nof you crosseth him or gainsayeth his bidding or doth him hurt\nwith hand or tongue, I will do with him even as I have done with\nthese two traitors and bespell him to a dog, and he shall end his\ndays in that form, nor shall he find deliverance.' And they all\nsaid to her, 'O our lady, we are his slaves and his servants\nevery one of us and will not disobey him in aught.' Moreover, she\nsaid to me, 'When thou comest to Bassorah, examine all thy\nproperty and if there lack aught thereof, tell me and I will\nbring it to thee, in whose hands and in what place soever it may\nbe, and will change him who took it into a dog. When thou hast\nmagazined thy goods, clap a collar[FN#533] of wood on the neck of\neach of these two traitors and tie them to the leg of a couch and\nshut them up by themselves. Moreover, every night, at midnight,\ndo thou go down to them and beat each of them a bout till he\nswoon away; and if thou suffer a single night to pass without\nbeating them, I will come to thee and drub thee a sound drubbing,\nafter which I will drub them.' And I answered, 'To hear is to\nobey.' Then said she, 'Tie them up with ropes till thou come to\nBassorah.' So I tied a rope about each dog's neck and lashed them\nto the mast, and she went her way. On the morrow we entered\nBassorah and the merchants came out to meet me and saluted me,\nand no one of them enquired of my brothers. But they looked at\nthe dogs and said to me, 'Ho, such and such,[FN#534] what wilt\nthou do with these two dogs thou hast brought with thee?' Quoth\nI, 'I reared them on this voyage and have brought them home with\nme.' And they laughed at them, knowing not that they were my\nbrothers. When I reached my house, I put the twain in a closet\nand busied myself all that night with the unpacking and\ndisposition of the bales of stuffs and jewels. Moreover, the\nmerchants were with me being minded to offer me the salam;\nwherefore I was occupied with them and forgot to beat the dogs or\nchain them up. Then without doing them aught of hurt, I lay down\nto sleep, but suddenly and unexpectedly there came to me the Red\nKing's daughter Sa'idah and said to me, 'Did I not bid thee clap\nchains on their necks and give each of them a bout of beating?'\nSo saying, she seized me and pulling out a whip, flogged me till\nI fainted away, after which she went to the place where my\nbrothers were and with the same scourge beat them both till they\ncame nigh upon death. Then said she to me, 'Beat each of them a\nlike bout every night, and if thou let a night pass without doing\nthis, I will beat thee;' and I replied, 'O my lady, to-morrow I\nwill put chains on their necks, and next night I will beat them\nnor will I leave them one night unbeaten.' And she charged me\nstrictly to beat them and disappeared. When the morning morrowed\nit being no light matter for me to put fetters of iron on their\nnecks, I went to a goldsmith and bade him make them collars and\nchains of gold. He did this and I put the collars on their necks\nand chained them up, as she bade me; and next night I beat them\nboth in mine own despite. This befel in the Caliphate of Al-\nMahdi,[FN#535] third of the sons of Al-Abbas, and I commended\nmyself to him by sending him presents, so he invested me with the\ngovernment and made me viceroy of Bassorah. On this wise I abode\nsome time and after a while I said to myself, 'Haply her wrath is\ngrown cool;' and left them a night unbeaten, whereupon she came\nto me and beat me a bout whose burning I shall never forget long\nas I live. So, from that time to this, I have never left them a\nsingle night unbeaten during the reign of Al-Mahdi; and when he\ndeceased and thou camest to the succession, thou sentest to me,\nconfirming me in the government of Bassorah. These twelve years\npast have I beaten them every night, in mine own despite, and\nafter I have beaten them, I excuse myself to them and comfort\nthem and give them to eat and drink; and they have remained shut\nup, nor did any of the creatures of Allah know of them, till thou\nsentest to me Abu Ishak the boon-companion, on account of the\ntribute, and he discovered my secret and returning to thee,\nacquainted thee therewith. Then thou sentest him back to fetch me\nand them; so I answered with 'Hearkening and obedience,' and\nbrought them before thee, whereupon thou questionedst me and I\ntold thee the truth of the case; and this is my history.\" The\nCaliph marvelled at the case of the two dogs and said to\nAbdullah, \"Hast thou at this present forgiven thy two brothers\nthe wrong they did thee, yea or nay?\" He replied, \"O my lord, may\nAllah forgive them and acquit them of responsibility in this\nworld and the next! Indeed, 'tis I who stand in need of their\nforgiveness, for that these twelve years past I have beaten them\na grievous bout every night!\" Rejoined the Caliph, \"O Abdullah,\nInshallah, I will endeavour for their release and that they may\nbecome men again, as they were before, and I will make peace\nbetween thee and them; so shall you live the rest of your lives\nas brothers loving one another; and like as thou hast forgiven\nthem, so shall they forgive thee. But now take them and go down\nwith them to thy lodging and this night beat them not, and to-\nmorrow there shall be naught save weal.\" Quoth Abdullah, \"O my\nlord, as thy head liveth, if I leave them one night unbeaten,\nSa'idah will come to me and beat me, and I have no body to brook\nbeating.\" Quoth the Caliph, \"Fear not, for I will give thee a\nwriting under my hand.[FN#536] An she come to thee, do thou give\nher the paper and if, when she has read it, she spare thee, the\nfavour will be hers; but, if she obey not my bidding, commit thy\nbusiness to Allah and let her beat thee a bout and suppose that\nthou hast forgotten to beat them for one night and that she\nbeateth thee because of that: and if it fall out thus and she\nthwart me, as sure as I am Commander of the Faithful, I will be\neven with her.\" Then he wrote her a letter on a piece of paper,\ntwo fingers broad, and sealing it with his signet-ring, gave it\nto Abdullah, saying, \"O Abdullah, if Sa'idah come, say to her,\n'The Caliph, King of mankind, hath commanded me to leave beating\nthem and hath written me this letter for thee; and he saluteth\nthee with the salam.' Then give her the warrant and fear no\nharm.\" After which he exacted of him an oath and a solemn pledge\nthat he would not beat them. So Abdullah took the dogs and\ncarried them to his lodging, saying to himself, \"I wonder what\nthe Caliph will do with the daughter of the Sovran of the Jinn,\nif she cross him and trounce me to-night! But I will bear with a\nbout of beating for once and leave my brothers at rest this\nnight, though for their sake I suffer torture.\" Then he bethought\nhimself awhile, and his reason said to him, \"Did not the Caliph\nrely on some great support, he had never forbidden me from\nbeating them.\" So he entered his lodging and doffed the collars\nfrom the dogs' necks, saying, \"I put my trust in Allah,\" and fell\nto comforting them and saying, \"No harm shall befal you; for the\nCaliph, fifth[FN#537] of the sons of Al-Abbas, hath pledged\nhimself for your deliverance and I have forgiven you. An it\nplease Allah the Most High, the time is come and ye shall be\ndelivered this blessed night; so rejoice ye in the prospect of\npeace and gladness.\" When they heard these words, they fell to\nwhining with the whining of dogs,--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night,\n\nShe resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah\nbin Fazil said to his brothers, \"Rejoice ye in the prospect of\ncomfort and gladness.\" And when they heard his words they fell to\nwhining with the whining of dogs, and rubbed their jowls against\nhis feet, as if blessing him and humbling themselves before him.\nHe mourned over them and took to stroking their backs till supper\ntime; and when they set on the trays he bade the dogs sit. So\nthey sat down and ate with him from the tray, whilst his officers\nstood gaping and marvelling at his eating with dogs and all said,\n\"Is he mad or are his wits gone wrong? How can the Viceroy of\nBassorah city, he who is greater than a Wazir, eat with dogs?\nKnoweth he not that the dog is unclean?[FN#538]\" And they stared\nat the dogs, as they ate with him as servants eat with their\nlords,[FN#539] knowing not that they were his brothers; nor did\nthey cease staring at them, till they had made an end of eating,\nwhen Abdullah washed his hands and the dogs also put out their\npaws and washed; whereupon all who were present began to laugh at\nthem and to marvel, saying, one to other, \"Never in our lives saw\nwe dogs eat and wash their paws after eating!\" Then the dogs sat\ndown on the divans beside Abdullah, nor dared any ask him of\nthis; and thus the case lasted till midnight, when he dismissed\nthe attendants and lay down to sleep and the dogs with him, each\non a couch; whereupon the servants said one to other, \"Verily, he\nhath lain down to sleep and the two dogs are lying with him.\"\nQuoth another, \"Since he hath eaten with the dogs from the same\ntray, there is no harm in their sleeping with him; and this is\nnaught save the fashion of madmen.\" Moreover, they ate not\nanything of the food which remained in the tray, saying, \"'Tis\nunclean.\" Such was their case; but as for Abdullah, ere he could\nthink, the earth clave asunder and out rose Sa'idah, who said to\nhim, \"O Abdullah, why hast thou not beaten them this night and\nwhy hast thou undone the collars from their necks? Hast thou\nacted on this wise perversely and in mockery of my commandment?\nBut I will at once beat thee and spell thee into a dog like\nthem.\" He replied, \"O my lady, I conjure thee by the graving upon\nthe seal-ring of Solomon David-son (on the twain be peace!) have\npatience with me till I tell thee my cause and after do with me\nwhat thou wilt.\" Quoth she, \"Say on,\" and quoth he, \"The reason\nof my not punishing them is only this. The King of mankind, the\nCommander of the Faithful, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, ordered me\nnot to beat them this night and took of me oaths and covenants to\nthat effect; and he saluteth thee with the salam and hath\ncommitted to me a mandate under his own hand, which he bade me\ngive thee. So I obeyed his order for to obey the Commander of the\nFaithful is obligatory; and here is the mandate. Take it and read\nit and after work thy will.\" She replied \"Hither with it!\" So he\ngave her the letter and she opened it and read as follows, \"In\nthe name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! From\nthe King of mankind, Harun al-Rashid, to the daughter of the Red\nKing, Sa'idah! But, after. Verily, this man hath forgiven his\nbrothers and hath waived his claim against them, and we have\nenjoined them to reconciliation. Now, when reconciliation ruleth,\nretribution is remitted, and if you of the Jinn contradict us in\nour commandments, we will contrary you in yours and traverse your\nordinances; but, an ye obey our bidding and further our orders,\nwe will indeed do the like with yours. Wherefore I bid thee hurt\nthem no hurt, and if thou believe in Allah and in His Apostle, it\nbehoveth thee to obey and us to command.[FN#540] So an thou spare\nthem, I will requite thee with that whereto my Lord shall enable\nme; and the token of obedience is that thou remove thine\nenchantment from these two men, so they may come before me to-\nmorrow, free. But an thou release them not, I will release them\nin thy despite, by the aid of Almighty Allah.\" When she had read\nthe letter, she said, \"O Abdullah, I will do nought till I go to\nmy sire and show him the mandate of the monarch of mankind and\nreturn to thee with the answer in haste.\" So saying, she signed\nwith her hand to the earth, which clave open and she disappeared\ntherein, whilst Abdullah's heart was like to fly for joy and he\nsaid, \"Allah advance the Commander of the Faithful!\" As for\nSa'idah, she went in to her father; and, acquainting him with\nthat which had passed, gave him the Caliph's letter, which he\nkissed and laid on his head. Then he read it and understanding\nits contents said, \"O my daughter, verily, the ordinance of the\nmonarch of mankind obligeth us and his commandments are effectual\nover us, nor can we disobey him: so go thou and release the two\nmen forthwith and say to them, 'Ye are freed by the intercession\nof the monarch of mankind.' For, should he be wroth with us, he\nwould destroy us to the last of us; so do not thou impose on us\nthat which we are unable.\" Quoth she \"O my father, if the monarch\nof mankind were wroth with us, what could he do with us?\"; and\nquoth her sire, \"He hath power over us for several reasons. In\nthe first place, he is a man and hath thus pre-eminence over\nus[FN#541]; secondly he is the Vicar of Allah; and thirdly, he is\nconstant in praying the dawn-prayer of two bows[FN#542];\ntherefore were all the tribes of the Jinn assembled together\nagainst him from the Seven Worlds they could do him no hurt. But\nhe, should he be wroth with us would pray the dawn-prayer of two\nbows and cry out upon us one cry, when we should all present\nourselves before him obediently and be before him as sheep before\nthe butcher. If he would, he could command us to quit our\nabiding-places for a desert country wherein we might not endure\nto sojourn; and if he desired to destroy us, he would bid us\ndestroy ourselves, whereupon we should destroy one another.\nWherefore we may not disobey his bidding for, if we did this, he\nwould consume us with fire nor could we flee from before him to\nany asylum. Thus is it with every True Believer who is persistent\nin praying the dawn-prayer of two bows; his commandment is\neffectual over us: so be not thou the means of our destruction,\nbecause of two mortals, but go forthright and release them, ere\nthe anger of the Commander of the Faithful fall upon us.\" So she\nreturned to Abdullah and acquainted him with her father's words,\nsaying, \"Kiss for us the hands of the Prince of True Believers\nand seek his approval for us.\" Then she brought out the tasse and\nfilling it with water, conjured over it and uttered words which\nmight not be understood; after which she sprinkled the dogs with\nthe water saying, \"Quit the form of dogs and return to the shape\nof men!\" Whereupon they became men as before and the spell of the\nenchantment was loosed from them. Quoth they, \"I testify that\nthere is no god but the God and I testify that Mohammed is the\nApostle of God!\" Then they fell on their brother's feet and\nhands, kissing them and beseeching his forgiveness: but he said,\n\"Do ye forgive me;\" and they both repented with sincere\nrepentance, saying, \"Verily, the damned Devil lured us and\ncovetise deluded us: but our Lord hath requited us after our\ndeserts, and forgiveness is of the signs of the noble.\" And they\nwent on to supplicate their brother and weep and profess\nrepentance for that which had befallen him from them[FN#543].\nThen quoth he to them, \"What did ye with my wife whom I brought\nfrom the City of Stone?\" Quoth they, \"When Satan tempted us and\nwe cast thee into the sea, there arose strife between us, each\nsaying, I will have her to wife. Now when she heard these words\nand beheld our contention, she knew that we had thrown thee into\nthe sea; so she came up from the cabin and said to us, 'Contend\nnot because of me, for I will not belong to either of you. My\nhusband is gone into the sea and I will follow him.' So saying,\nshe cast herself overboard and died.\" Exclaimed Abdullah, \"In\nvery sooth she died a martyr[FN#544]! But there is no Majesty and\nthere is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!\" Then\nhe wept for her with sore weeping and said to his brothers, \"It\nwas not well of you to do this deed and bereave me of my wife.\"\nThey answered, \"Indeed, we have sinned, but our Lord hath\nrequited us our misdeed and this was a thing which Allah decreed\nunto us, ere He created us.\" And he accepted their excuse; but\nSa'idah said to him, \"Have they done all these things to thee and\nwilt thou forgive them?\" He replied, \"O my sister, whoso hath\npower[FN#545] and spareth, for Allah's reward he prepareth.\" Then\nsaid she, \"Be on thy guard against them, for they are traitors;\"\nand farewelled him and fared forth.--And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah,\nwhen Sa'idah warned him and blessed him and went her ways, passed\nthe rest of the night with his brothers and on the morrow, he\nsent them to the Hammam and clad each of them, on his coming\nforth, in a suit worth a hoard of money. Then he called for the\ntray of food and they set it before him and he ate, he and his\nbrothers. When his attendants saw the twain and knew them for his\nbrothers they saluted them and said to him, \"O our lord, Allah\ngive thee joy of thy reunion with thy dear brothers! Where have\nthey been this while?\" He replied, \"It was they whom ye saw in\nthe guise of dogs; praise be to Allah who hath delivered them\nfrom prison and grievous torment!\" Then he carried them to the\nDivan of the Caliph and kissing ground before Al-Rashid wished\nhim continuance of honour and fortune and surcease of evil and\nenmity. Quoth the Caliph, \"Welcome, O Emir Abdullah! Tell me what\nhath befallen thee.\" And quoth he, \"O Commander of the Faithful\n(whose power Allah increase!) when I carried my brothers home to\nmy lodging, my heart was at rest concerning them, because thou\nhadst pledged thyself to their release and I said in myself,\n'Kings fail not to attain aught for which they strain, inasmuch\nas the divine favour aideth them.' So I took off the collars from\ntheir necks, putting my trust in Allah, and ate with them from\nthe same tray, which when my suite saw, they made light of my wit\nand said each to other, 'He is surely mad! How can the governor\nof Bassorah who is greater than the Wazir, eat with dogs?' Then\nthey threw away what was in the tray, saying, 'We will not eat\nthe dogs' orts.' And they went on to befool my reason, whilst I\nheard their words, but returned them no reply because of their\nunknowing that the dogs were my brothers. When the hour of sleep\ncame, I sent them away and addressed myself to sleep; but, ere I\nwas ware, the earth clave in sunder and out came Sa'idah, the Red\nKing's daughter, enraged against me, with eyes like fire.\" And he\nwent on to relate to the Caliph all what had passed between him\nand her and her father and how she had transmewed his brothers\nfrom canine to human form, adding, \"And here they are before\nthee, O Commander of the Faithful!\" The Caliph looked at them and\nseeing two young men like moons, said, \"Allah requite thee for me\nwith good, O Abdullah, for that thou hast acquainted me with an\nadvantage[FN#546] I knew not! Henceforth, Inshallah, I will never\nleave to pray these two-bow orisons before the breaking of the\ndawn, what while I live.\" Then he reproved Abdullah's brothers\nfor their past transgressions against him and they excused\nthemselves before the Caliph, who said, \"Join hands[FN#547] and\nforgive one another and Allah pardon what is past!\" Upon which he\nturned to Abdullah and said to him, \"O Abdullah, make thy\nbrothers thine assistants and be careful of them.\" Then he\ncharged them to be obedient to their brother and bade them return\nto Bassorah after he had bestowed on them abundant largesse. So\nthey went down from the Caliph's Divan whilst he rejoiced in this\nadvantage he had obtained by the action aforesaid, to wit,\npersistence in praying two inclinations before dawn, and\nexclaimed, \"He spake truth who said, 'The misfortune of one tribe\nfortuneth another tribe.'\"[FN#548] On this wise befel it to them\nfrom the Caliph; but as regards Abdullah, he left Baghdad\ncarrying with him his brothers in all honour and dignity and\nincrease of quality, and fared on till they drew near Bassorah,\nwhen the notables and chief men of the place came out to meet\nthem and after decorating the city brought them thereinto with a\nprocession which had not its match and all the folk shouted out\nblessings on Abdullah as he scattered amongst them silver and\ngold. None, however, took heed to his brothers; wherefore\njealousy and envy entered their hearts, for all he entreated them\ntenderly as one tenders an ophthalmic eye; but the more he\ncherished them, the more they redoubled in hatred and envy of\nhim: and indeed it is said on the subject,\n\n\"I'd win good will of every one, but whoso envies me * Will not\n     be won on any wise and makes mine office hard:\nHow gain the gree of envious wight who coveteth my good, * When\n     naught will satisfy him save to see my good go marr'd?\"\n\nThen he gave each a concubine that had not her like, and eunuchs\nand servants and slaves white and black, of each kind forty. He\nalso gave each of them fifty steeds all thoroughbreds and they\ngot them guards and followers; and he assigned to them revenues\nand appointed them solde and stipends and made them his\nassistants, saying to them, \"O my brothers, I and you are equal\nand there is no distinction between me and you twain,\"--And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n     When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that\nAbdullah assigned stipends to his brothers and made them his\nassistants, saying, \"O my brothers, I and you are equal and there\nis no distinction between me and you twain, and after Allah and\nthe Caliph, the commandment is mine and yours. So rule you at\nBassorah in my absence and in my presence, and your commandments\nshall be effectual; but look that ye fear Allah in your\nordinances and beware of oppression, which if it endure\ndepopulateth; and apply yourselves to justice, for justice, if it\nbe prolonged, peopleth a land. Oppress not the True Believers, or\nthey will curse you and ill report of you will reach the Caliph,\nwherefore dishonour will betide both me and you. Go not therefore\nabout to violence any, but whatso ye greed for of the goods of\nthe folk, take it from my goods, over and above that whereof ye\nhave need; for 'tis not unknown to you what is handed down in the\nKoran of prohibition versets on the subject of oppression and\nAllah-gifted is he who said these couplets,\n\n'Oppression ambusheth in sprite of man * Whom naught withholdeth\n     save the lack of might:\nThe sage shall ne'er apply his wits to aught * Until befitting\n     time direct his sight:\nThe tongue of wisdom woneth in the heart; * And in his mouth the\n     tongue of foolish wight.\nWho at occasion's call lacks power to rise * Is slain by feeblest\n     who would glut his spite.\nA man may hide his blood and breed, but aye * His deeds on\n     darkest hiddens cast a light.\nWights of ill strain with ancestry as vile * Have lips which\n     never spake one word aright:\nAnd who committeth case to hands of fool * In folly proveth self\n     as fond and light;\nAnd who his secret tells to folk at large * Shall rouse his foes\n     to work him worst despight.\nSuffice the generous what regards his lot * Nor meddles he with\n     aught regards him not'\"\n\nAnd he went on to admonish his brothers and bid them to equity\nand forbid them from tyranny, doubting not but they would love\nhim the better for his boon of good counsel[FN#549] and he relied\nupon them and honoured them with the utmost honour; but\nnotwithstanding all his generosity to them, they only waxed in\nenvy and hatred of him, till, one day, the two being together\nalone, quoth Nasir to Mansur, \"O my brother, how long shall we be\nmere subjects of our brother Abdullah, and he in this estate of\nlordship and worship? After being a merchant, he is become an\nEmir, and from being little, he is grown great: but we, we grow\nnot great nor is there aught of respect or degree left us; for,\nbehold, he laugheth at us and maketh us his assistants! What is\nthe meaning of this? Is it not that we are his servants and under\nhis subjection? But, long as he abideth in good case, our rank\nwill never be raised nor shall we be aught of repute; wherefore\nwe shall not fulfil our wish, except we slay him and win to his\nwealth, nor will it be possible to get his gear save after his\ndeath. So, when we have slain him, we shall become lords and will\ntake all that is in his treasuries of gems and things of price\nand divide them between us. Then will we send the Caliph a\npresent and demand of him the government of Cufah, and thou shalt\nbe governor of Cufah and I of Bassorah. Thus each of us shall\nhave formal estate and condition, but we shall never effect this,\nexcept we put him out of the world!\" Answered Mansur, \"Thou\nsayest sooth, but how shall we do to kill him?\" Quoth Nasir, \"We\nwill make an entertainment in the house of one of us and invite\nhim thereto and serve him with the uttermost service. Then will\nwe sit through the night with him in talk and tell him tales and\njests and rare stories till his heart melteth with sitting up\nwhen we will spread him a bed, that he may lie down to sleep.\nWhen he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and throttle him and\nthrow him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say, 'His\nsister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with us, and\nsaid to him, 'O thou scum of mankind, who art thou that thou\nshouldst complain of me to the Commander of the Faithful? Deemest\nthou that we dread him? As he is a King, so we too are Kings, and\nif he mend not his manners in our regard we will do him die by\nthe foulest of deaths. But meantime I will slay thee, that we may\nsee what the hand of the Prince of True Believers availeth to\ndo.' So saying, she caught him up and clave the earth and\ndisappeared with him which when we saw, we swooned away. Then we\nrevived and we reck not what is become of him.' And saying this\nwe will send to the Caliph and tell him the case and he will\ninvest us with the government in his room. After awhile, we will\nsend him a sumptuous present and seek of him the government of\nCufah, and one of us shall abide in Bassorah and the other in\nCufah. So shall the land be pleasant to us and we will be down\nupon the True Believers and win our wishes.\" And quoth Mansur,\n\"Thou counsellest well, O my brother,\" and they agreed upon the\nmurther. So Nasir made an entertainment and said to Abdullah, \"O\nmy brother, verily I am thy brother, and I would have thee\nhearten my heart thou and my brother Mansur and eat of my banquet\nin my house, so I may boast of thee and that it may be said, The\nEmir Abdullah hath eaten of his brother Nasir's guest meal; when\nmy heart will be solaced by this best of boons.\" Abdullah\nreplied, \"So be it, O my brother; there is no distinction between\nme and thee and thy house is my house; but since thou invitest\nme, none refuseth hospitality save the churl.\" Then he turned to\nMansur and said to him, \"Wilt thou go with me to thy brother\nNasir's house and we will eat of his feast and heal his heart?\"\nReplied Mansur, \"As thy head liveth, O my brother, I will not go\nwith thee, unless thou swear to me that, after thou comest forth\nof brother Nasir's house, thou wilt enter my house and eat of my\nbanquet! Is Nasir thy brother and am not I thy brother? So, even\nas thou heartenest his heart, do thou hearten mine.\" Answered\nAbdullah, \"There is no harm in that: with love and gladly gree!\nWhen I come out from Nasir's house, I will enter thine, for thou\nart my brother even as he.\" So he kissed his hand and going forth\nof the Divan, made ready his feast. On the morrow, Abdullah took\nhorse and repaired, with his brother Mansur and a company of his\nofficers, to Nasir's house, where they sat down, he and Mansur\nand his many. Then Nasir set the trays before them and welcomed\nthem; so they ate and drank and sat in mirth and merriment; after\nwhich the trays and the platters were removed and they washed\ntheir hands. They passed the day in feasting and wine-drinking\nand diversion and delight till night-fall, when they supped and\nprayed the sundown prayers, and the night orisons; after which\nthey sat conversing and carousing, and Nasir and Mansur fell to\ntelling stories whilst Abdullah hearkened. Now they three were\nalone in the pavilion, the rest of the company being in another\nplace, and they ceased not to tell quips and tales and rare\nadventures and anecdotes, till Abdullah's heart was dissolved\nwithin him for watching and sleep overcame him.--And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n      When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,\n\nShe pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when\nAbdullah was a-wearied with watching and wanted to sleep, they\nalso lay beside him on another couch and waited till he\nwasdrowned in slumber and when they were certified thereof they\narose and knelt upon him: whereupon he awoke and seeing them\nkneeling on his breast, said to them, \"What is this, O my\nbrothers?\" Cried they, \"We are no brothers of thine, nor do we\nknow thee unmannerly that thou art! Thy death is become better\nthan thy life.\" Then they gripped him by the throat and throttled\nhim, till he lost his senses and abode without motion; so that\nthey deemed him dead. Now the pavilion wherein they were\noverlooked the river; so they cast him into the water; but, when\nhe fell, Allah sent to his aid a dolphin[FN#550] who was\naccustomed to come under that pavilion because the kitchen had a\nwindow that gave upon the stream; and, as often as they\nslaughtered any beast there, it was their wont to throw the\nrefuse into the river and the dolphin came and picked it up from\nthe surface of the water; wherefore he ever resorted to the\nplace. That day they had cast out much offal by reason of the\nbanquet; so the dolphin ate more than of wont and gained\nstrength. Hearing the splash of Abdullah's fall, he hastened to\nthe spot, where he saw a son of Adam and Allah guided him so that\nhe took the man on his back and crossing the current made with\nhim for the other bank, where he cast his burthen ashore. Now the\nplace where the dolphin cast up Abdullah was a well-beaten\nhighway, and presently up came a caravan and finding him lying on\nthe river bank, said, \"Here is a drowned man, whom the river hath\ncast up;\" and the travellers gathered around to gaze at the\ncorpse. The Shaykh of the caravan was a man of worth, skilled in\nall sciences and versed in the mystery of medicine and, withal,\nsound of judgment: so he said to them, \"O folk, what is the\nnews?\" They answered, \"Here is a drowned man;\" whereupon he went\nup to Abdullah and examining him, said to them, \"O folk, there is\nlife yet in this young man, who is a person of condition and of\nthe sons of the great, bred in honour and fortune, and Inshallah\nthere is still hope of him.\" Then he took him and clothing him in\ndry clothes warmed him before the fire; after which he nursed him\nand tended him three days' march till he revived; but he was\npassing feeble by reason of the shock, and the chief of the\ncaravan proceeded to medicine him with such simples as he knew,\nwhat while they ceased not faring on till they had travelled\nthirty days' journey from Bassorah and came to a city in the land\nof the Persians, by name 'A\u00faj.[FN#551] Here they alighted at a\nKhan and spread Abdullah a bed, where he lay groaning all night\nand troubling the folk with his groans. And when morning morrowed\nthe concierge of the Khan came to the chief of the caravan and\nsaid to him, \"What is this sick man thou hast with thee? Verily,\nhe disturbeth us.\" Quoth the chief, \"I found him by the way, on\nthe river-bank and well nigh drowned; and I have tended him, but\nto no effect, for he recovereth not.\" Said the porter, \"Show him\nto the Shaykhah[FN#552] R\u00e1jihah.\" \"Who is this Religious?\" asked\nthe chief of the caravan, and the door-keeper answered, \"There is\nwith us a holy woman, a clean maid and a comely, called Rajihah,\nto whom they present whoso hath any ailment; and he passeth a\nsingle night in her house and awaketh on the morrow, whole and\nailing nothing.\" Quoth the chief, \"Direct me to her;\" quoth the\nporter, \"Take up thy sick man.\" So he took up Abdullah and\nthe doorkeeper forewent him, till he came to a hermitage, where\nhe saw folk entering with many an ex voto offering and other folk\ncoming forth, rejoicing. The porter went in, till he came to the\ncurtain,[FN#553] and said, \"Permission, O Shaykhah Rajihah! Take\nthis sick man.\" Said she, \"Bring him within the curtain;\" and the\nporter said to Abdullah, \"Enter.\" So he entered and looking upon\nthe holy woman, saw her to be his wife whom he had brought from\nthe City of Stone. And when he knew her she also knew him and\nsaluted him and he returned her salam. Then said he, \"Who brought\nthee hither?\"; and she answered, \"When I saw that thy brothers\nhad cast thee away and were contending concerning me, I threw\nmyself into the sea; but my Shaykh Al-Khizr Abu al-'Abb\u00e1s took me\nup and brought me to this hermitage, where he gave me leave to\nheal the sick and bade cry in the city, 'Whoso hath any ailment,\nlet him repair to the Shaykhah Rajihah;' and he also said to me,\n'Tarry in this hermitage till the time betide, and thy husband\nshall come to thee here.' So all the sick used to flock to me and\nI rubbed them and shampoo'd them and they awoke on the morrow\nwhole and sound; whereby the report of me became noised abroad\namong the folk, and they brought me votive gifts, so that I have\nwith me abundant wealth. And now I live here in high honour and\nworship, and all the people of these parts seek my prayers.\" Then\nshe rubbed him and by the ordinance of Allah the Most High, he\nbecame whole. Now Al-Khizr used to come to her every Friday\nnight, and it chanced that the day of Abdullah's coming was a\nThursday.[FN#554] Accordingly, when the night darkened he and she\nsat, after a supper of the richest meats, awaiting the coming of\nAl-Khizr, who made his appearance anon and carrying them forth of\nthe hermitage, set them down in Abdullah's palace at Bassorah,\nwhere he left them and went his way. As soon as it was day,\nAbdullah examined the palace and knew it for his own; then,\nhearing the folk clamouring without, he looked forth of the\nlattice and saw his brothers crucified, each on his own cross.\nNow the reason of this was as ensueth. When they had thrown him\ninto the Tigris, the twain arose on the morrow, weeping and\nsaying, \"Our brother! the Jinniyah hath carried off our brother!\"\nThen they made ready a present and sent it to the Caliph,\nacquainting him with these tidings and suing from him the\ngovernment of Bassorah. He sent for them and questioned them and\nthey told him the false tale we have recounted, whereupon he was\nexceeding wroth.[FN#555] So that night he prayed a two-bow prayer\nbefore daybreak, as of his wont, and called upon the tribes of\nthe Jinn, who came before him subject-wise, and he questioned\nthem of Abdullah: when they sware to him that none of them had\ndone him aught of hurt and said, \"We know not what is become of\nhim.\" Then came Sa'idah, daughter of the Red King, and acquainted\nthe Caliph with the truth of Abdullah's case, and he dismissed\nthe Jinn. On the morrow, he subjected Nasir and Mansur to the\nbastinado till they confessed, one against other: whereupon the\nCaliph was enraged with them and cried, \"Carry them to Bassorah\nand crucify them there before Abdullah's palace.\" Such was their\ncase; but as regards Abdullah, when he saw his brothers\ncrucified, he commanded to bury them, then took horse and\nrepairing to Baghdad, acquainted the Caliph with that which his\nbrothers had done with him, from first to last and told him how\nhe had recovered his wife; whereat Al-Rashid marvelled and\nsummoning the Kazi and the witnesses, bade draw up the marriage-\ncontract between Abdullah and the damsel whom he had brought from\nthe City of Stone. So he went in to her and woned with her at\nBassorah till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and\nthe Severer of societies; and extolled be the perfection of the\nLiving, who dieth not! Moreover, O auspicious King, I have heard\na tale anent\n\n\n\n\n\nEnd of Volume 9.\n\n\n\n\n\n                    Arabian Nights, Volume 9\n                           Footnotes\n\n\n\n[FN#1] Arab. \"Wa l\u00e1 rajma ghaybin:\" lit. = without stone-throwing\n(conjecture) of one latent.\n\n[FN#2] i.e. saying Bismillah, etc. See vol. v. 206.\n\n[FN#3] Where he was to await her.\n\n[FN#4] As a rule, amongst Moslems the rider salutes the man on\nfoot and the latter those who sit. The saying in the text\nsuggests the Christian byword anent Mohammed and the Mountain,\nwhich is, I need hardly say, utterly unknown to Mahommedans.\n\n[FN#5] The story-teller does not remember that \"the city-folk\ntrust to the locking of the gates\" (dccclxxxix.); and forgets to\ntell us that the Princess took the keys from the Wazir whom she\nhad hocussed. In a carefully corrected Arabic Edition of The\nNights, a book much wanted, the texts which are now in a\nmutilated state would be supplied with these details.\n\n[FN#6] Which probably would not be the last administered to him\nby the Amazonian young person, who after her mate feared to\napproach the dead blackamoor must have known him to be cowardly\nas Cairenes generally are. Moreover, he had no shame in his\npoltroonery like the recreant Fellah-soldiers, in the wretched\nSaw\u00e1kin campaign against the noble S\u00fad\u00e1ni negroids, who excused\ntheir running away by saying, \"We are Egyptians\" i.e. too good\nmen and Moslems to lose our lives as becomes you Franks and\ndog-Christians. Yet under Mohammed Ali the Great, Fellah-soldiers\nconquered the \"colligated\" Arabs (Pilgrimage iii. 48) of Al-Asir\n(Ophir) at Bissel and in Wahhabi-land and put the Turks to flight\nat the battle of Nazib, and the late General Jochmus assured me\nthat he saved his command, the Ottoman cavalry in Syria, by\nalways man\u0153uvring to refuse a pitched battle. But Mohammed Ali\nknew his men. He never failed to shoot a runaway, and all his\nofficers, even the lieutenants, were Turks or Albanians. Sa'id\nPasha was the first to appoint Fellah-officers and under their\ncommand the Egyptian soldier, one of the best in the East, at\nonce became the worst. We have at last found the right way to\nmake them fight, by officering them with Englishmen, but we must\nnot neglect the shooting process whenever they dare to turn tail.\n\n[FN#7] \"Al-walh\u00e1n\" (as it should be printed in previous places,\ninstead of Al-walah\u00e1n) is certainly not a P.N. in this place.\n\n[FN#8] Arab. \"Kundur,\" Pers. and Arab. manna, mastich,\nfrankincense, the latter being here meant.\n\n[FN#9] So Emma takes the lead and hides her lover under her cloak\nduring their flight to the place where they intended to lie\nconcealed. In both cases the women are the men.\n\n[FN#10] Or \"Bart\u00fat,\" in which we recognise the German Berthold.\n\n[FN#11] i.e. Head of Killaut which makes, from the Muh\u00edt , \"the\nname of a son of the sons of the Jinn and the Satans.\"\n\n[FN#12] i.e. attacked her after a new fashion: see vol. i. 136.\n\n[FN#13] i.e. Weevil's dung; hence Suez = Suways the little\nweevil, or \"little Sus\" from the Maroccan town: see The Mines of\nMidian p. 74 for a note on the name. Near Gibraltar is a fiumara\ncalled Guadalajara i.e. Wady al-Khara, of dung. \"Bart\u00fas\" is\nevidently formed \"on the weight\" of \"Bart\u00fat;\" and his metonym is\na caricature, a chaff fit for Fellahs.\n\n[FN#14] Arab. \"Al-Din al-a'raj,\" the perverted or falsified\nFaith, Christianity having been made obsolete and abolished by\nthe Mission of Mohammed, even as Christianity claims to have\nsuperseded the Mosaic and Noachian dispensations. Moslems are\nperfectly logical in their deductions, but logic and truth do not\nalways go together.\n\n[FN#15] The \"Breaker of Wind\" (faswah = a fizzle, a silent\ncrepitus) \"son of Children's dung.\"\n\n[FN#16] Arab. \"Amm\u00e1 laka au 'alayk\" lit. = either to thee (be the\ngain) or upon thee (be the loss). This truly Arabic idiom is\nvaried in many ways.\n\n[FN#17] In addition to what was noted in vol. iii. 100 and viii.\n51, I may observe that in the \"Masnavi\" the \"Baghdad of\nNulliquity\" is opposed to the Ubiquity of the World. The popular\nderivation is Bagh (the idol-god, the slav \"Bog\") and d\u00e1d a gift,\nhe gave (Persian). It is also called Al-Zaur\u00e1 = a bow, from the\nbend of the Tigris where it was built.\n\n[FN#18] Arab. \"Jaw\u00e1s\u00eds\" plur. of J\u00e1s\u00fas lit. the spies.\n\n[FN#19] The Caliph could not \"see\" her \"sweetness of speech\"; so\nwe must understand that he addressed her and found out that she\nwas fluent of tongue. But this idiomatic use of the word \"see\" is\nalso found in the languages of Southern Europe: so Camoens (Lus.\n1. ii.), \"Ouvi * * * vereis\" lit. = \"hark, you shall see\" which\nsounds Hibernian.\n\n[FN#20] Here \"Farz\" (Koranic obligation which it is mortal sin to\ngainsay) follows whereas it should precede \"Sunnat\" (sayings and\ndoings of the Apostle) simply because \"Farz\" jingles with \"Arz\"\n(earth).\n\n[FN#21] Moslems, like modern Agnostics, hold that Jesus of\nNazareth would be greatly scandalized by the claims to Godship\nadvanced for him by his followers.\n\n[FN#22] Koran ix. 33: See also v. 85. In the passage above quoted\nMr. Rodwell makes the second \"He\" refer to the deity.\n\n[FN#23] Koran xxvi. 88, 89. For a very indifferent version (and\nabridgment) of this speech, see Saturday Review, July 9, 1881.\n\n[FN#24] Koran iv. 140.\n\n[FN#25] Arab. \"Fur\u00e1t\" from the Arab. \"Faruta\" = being sweet, as\napplied to water. Al-Fur\u00e1t\u00e1ni = the two sweet (rivers), are the\nTigris and Euphrates. The Greeks, who in etymology were satisfied\nwith Greek, derived the latter from {euphrainein} (to gladden,\nl\u00e6tificare, for which see Pliny and Strabo, although both are\ncorrect in explaining \"Tigris\") and Selden remarks hereon,\n\"Talibus nugis nugantur Gr\u00e6culi.\" But not only the \"Gr\u00e6culi\";\ne.g. Parkhurst's good old derivations from the Heb. \"Farah\" of\nfero, fructus, Freya (the Goddess), frayer (to spawn), friand,\nfry (of fish), etc., etc.\n\n[FN#26] The great Caliph was a poet; and he spoke verses as did\nall his contemporaries: his lament over his slave-girl Haylanah\n(Helen) is quoted by Al-Suyuti, p. 305.\n\n[FN#27] \"The Brave of the Faith.\"\n\n[FN#28] i.e., Saladin. See vol. iv. p. {271}.\n\n[FN#29] usually called the Horns of Hattin (classically Hittin)\nNorth of Tiberias where Saladin by good strategy and the folly of\nthe Franks annihilated the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. For\ndetails see the guide-books. In this action (June 23, 1187),\nafter three bishops were slain in its defence, the last fragment\nof the True Cross (or rather the cross verified by Helena) fell\ninto Moslem hands. The Christians begged hard for it, but\nSaladin, a conscientious believer, refused to return to them even\nfor ransom \"the object of their iniquitous superstition.\" His\nson, however, being of another turn, would have sold it to the\nFranks who then lacked money to purchase. It presently\ndisappeared and I should not be surprised if it were still lying,\nan unknown and inutile lignum in some Cairene mosque.\n\n[FN#30] Akk\u00e1 (Acre) was taken by Saladin on July 29, 1187. The\nEgyptian states that he was at Acre in 1184 or three years before\nthe affair of Hattin (Night dcccxcv.).\n\n[FN#31] Famous Sufis and ascetics of the second and third\ncenturies A.H. For Bishr Barefoot, see vol. ii. p. {203}. Al-Sakati\nmeans \"the old-clothes man;\" and the names of the others are all\nrecorded in D'Herbelot.\n\n[FN#32] i.e., captured, forced open their gates.\n\n[FN#33] Arab. \"Al-S\u00e1hil\" i.e. the seaboard of Syria; properly\nPh\u0153nicia or the coast-lands of Southern Palestine. So the\nmaritime lowlands of continental Zanzibar are called in the plur.\nSaw\u00e1hil = \"the shores\" and the people Saw\u00e1h\u00edl\u00ed = Shore-men.\n\n[FN#34] Arab. \"Al-Khiz\u00e1nah\" both in Mac. Edit. and Breslau x.\n426. Mr. Payne has translated \"tents\" and says, \"Saladin seems to\nhave been encamped without Damascus and the slave-merchant had\napparently come out and pitched his tent near the camp for the\npurposes of his trade.\" But I can find no notice of tents till a\nfew lines below.\n\n[FN#35] Bah\u00e1 al-D\u00edn ibn Shadd\u00e1d, then K\u00e1zi al-Askar (of the Army)\nor Judge-Advocate-General under Saladin.\n\n[FN#36] i.e. \"abide with\" thy second husband, the Egyptian.\n\n[FN#37] A descendant of H\u00e1shim, the Apostle's great-grandfather\nfrom whom the Abbasides were directly descended. The Ommiades\nwere less directly akin to Mohammed, being the descendants of\nHashim's brother, Abd al-Shams. The Hashimis were famed for\nliberality; and the quality seems to have been inherited. The\nfirst H\u00e1shim got his name from crumbling bread into the Sar\u00edd or\nbrewis of the Meccan pilgrims during \"The Ignorance.\" He was\nburied at Ghazzah (Gaza) but his tomb was soon forgotten.\n\n[FN#38] i.e. thy lover.\n\n[FN#39] i.e. of those destined to hell; the especial home of\nMoslem suicides.\n\n[FN#40] Arab. \"Umm\u00e1l\" (plur. of '\u00c1mil) viceroys or governors of\nprovinces.\n\n[FN#41] A town of Ir\u00e1k Arabi (Mesopotamia) between Baghdad and\nBassorah built upon the Tigris and founded by Al-Hajjaj: it is so\ncalled because the \"Middle\" or half-way town between Basrah and\nKufah. To this place were applied the famous lines:--\n\n     In good sooth a right noble race are they;\n     Whose men \"yea\" can't say nor their women \"nay.\"\n\n[FN#42] i.e. robed as thou art.\n\n[FN#43] i.e. his kinsfolk of the Hashimis.\n\n[FN#44] See vol. ii. 24. {Vol2, FN#49}\n\n[FN#45] Arab. \"Sur'itu\" = I was possessed of a Jinn, the common\nEastern explanation of an epileptic fit long before the days of\nthe Evangel. See vol. iv. 89.\n\n[FN#46] Arab. \"Z\u00ed'ah,\" village, feof or farm.\n\n[FN#47] Arab. \"Tar\u00edkah.\"\n\n[FN#48] \"Most of the great Arab musicians had their own peculiar\nfashion of tuning the lute, for the purpose of extending its\nregister or facilitating the accompaniment of songs composed in\nuncommon keys and rhythms or possibly of increasing its sonority,\nand it appears to have been a common test of the skill of a great\nmusician, such as Ishac el-Mausili or his father Ibrahim, to\nrequire him to accompany a difficult song on a lute purposely\nuntuned. As a (partial) modern instance of the practice referred\nto in the text, may be cited Paganini's custom of lowering or\nraising the G string of the violin in playing certain of his own\ncompositions. According to the Kitab el-Aghani, Ishac el-Mausili\nis said to have familiarized himself, by incessant practice, with\nthe exact sounds produced by each division of the strings of the\nfour course lute of his day, under every imaginable circumstance\nof tuning.\" It is regrettable that Mr. Payne does not give us\nmore of such notes.\n\n[FN#49] See vol. vii. 363 for the use of these fumigations.\n\n[FN#50] In the Mac. Edit. \"Aylah\" for Ubullah: the latter is one\nof the innumerable canals, leading from Bassorah to Ubullah-town\na distance of twelve miles. Its banks are the favourite pleasure-\nresort of the townsfolk, being built over with villas and\npavilions (now no more) and the orchards seem to form one great\ngarden, all confined by one wall. See Jaubert's translation of\nAl-Idrisi, vol. i. pp. 368-69. The Aylah, a tributary of the\nTigris, waters (I have noted) the Gardens of Bassorah.\n\n[FN#51] Music having been forbidden by Mohammed who believed with\nthe vulgar that the Devil has something to do with it. Even\nPaganini could not escape suspicion in the nineteenth century.\n\n[FN#52] The \"Mahr,\" or Arab dowry consists of two parts, one paid\ndown on consummation and the other agreed to be paid to the wife,\ncontingently upon her being divorced by her husband. If she\ndivorce him this portion, which is generally less than the half,\ncannot be claimed by her; and I have related the Persian\nabomination which compels the woman to sacrifice her rights. See\nvol. iii. p. 304, [FN#343].\n\n[FN#53] i.e. the cost of her maintenance during the four months\nof single blessedness which must or ought to elapse before she\ncan legally marry again.\n\n[FN#54] Lane translates most incompletely, \"To Him, then, be\npraise, first and last!\"\n\n[FN#55] Lane omits because it is \"extremely puerile\" this most\ncharacteristic tale, one of the two oldest in The Nights which Al\nMas'udi mentions as belonging to the Haz\u00e1r Afs\u00e1neh (See Terminal\nEssay). Von Hammer (Preface in Tr\u00e9butien's translation p. xxv )\nrefers the fables to an Indian (Egyptian ?) origin and remarks,\n\"sous le rapport de leur antiquit\u00e9 et de la morale qu'ils\nrenferment, elles m\u00e9ritent la plus grande attention, mais d'un\nautre c\u00f4t\u00e9 elles ne sont rien moins qu'amusantes.\"\n\n[FN#56] Lane (iii. 579) writes the word \"Shemmas\": the Bresl.\nEdit. (viii. 4) \"Sh\u00edm\u00e1s.\"\n\n[FN#57] i.e. When the tale begins.\n\n[FN#58] Arab. \"Khafz al-jin\u00e1h\" drooping the wing as a brooding\nbird. In the Koran ([vii. 88) lowering the wing\" = demeaning\noneself gently.\n\n[FN#59] The Bresl. Edit. (viii. 3) writes \"Kil'\u00e1d\": Tr\u00e9butien\n(iii. 1) \"le roi Djilia.\"\n\n[FN#60] As the sequel shows the better title would be, \"The Cat\nand the Mouse\" as in the headings of the Mac. Edit. and \"What\nbefel the Cat with the Mouse,\" as a punishment for tyranny. But\nall three Edits. read as in the text and I have not cared to\nchange it. In our European adaptations the mouse becomes a rat.\n\n[FN#61] So that I may not come to grief by thus daring to\nforetell evil things.\n\n[FN#62] Arab. \"Af'\u00e1'\" pl. Af\u00e1'\u00ed = {\u00f3phis}, both being derived\nfrom O. Egypt. Hfi, a worm, snake. Af'\u00e1 is applied to many\nspecies of the larger ophidia, all supposed to be venomous, and\nsynonymous with \"Sall\" (a malignant viper) in Al-Mutalammis. See\nPreston's Al-Hariri, p. 101.\n\n[FN#63] This apparently needless cruelty of all the feline race\nis a strong weapon in the hand of the Eastern \"Dahr\u00ed\" who holds\nthat the world is God and is governed by its own laws, in\nopposition to the religionists believing in a Personal Deity\nwhom, moreover, they style the Merciful, the Compassionate, etc.\nSome Christians have opined that cruelty came into the world with\n\"original Sin,\" but how do they account for the hideous waste of\nlife and the fearful destructiveness of the fishes which\ncertainly never learned anything from man? The mystery of the\ncruelty of things can be explained only by a Law without a\nLaw-giver.\n\n[FN#64] The three things not to be praised before death in\nSouthern Europe are a horse, a priest and a woman; and it has\nbecome a popular saying that only fools prophesy before the\nevent.\n\n[FN#65] 'Arab. \"Sawn\" =butter melted and skimmed. See vol. i.\n144.\n\n[FN#66] This is a mere rechauff\u00e9 of the Barber's tale of his\nFifth Brother (vol. i. 335). In addition to the authorities there\ncited I may mention the school reading-lesson in Addison's\nSpectator derived from Galland's version of \"Alnaschar and his\nbasket of Glass,\" the Persian version of the Hitopadesa or\n\"Anw\u00e1r-i-Suhayli (Lights of Canopes) by Husayn V\u00e1'iz; the Foolish\nSachali of \"Indian Fairy Tales\" (Miss Stokes); the allusion in\nRabelais to the fate of the \"Shoemaker and his pitcher of milk\"\nand the \"Dialogues of creatures moralised\" (1516), whence\nprobably La Fontaine drew his fable, \"La Laiti\u00e8re et le Pot au\nlait.\"\n\n[FN#67] Arab. ' 'N\u00e1sik,\" a religious, a man of Allah from Nask,\ndevotion: somewhat like S\u00e1lik (Dabistan iii. 251)\n\n[FN#68] The well-known Egyptian term for a peasant, a husbandman,\nextending from the Nile to beyond Mount Atlas.\n\n[FN#69] This is again, I note, the slang sense of \"'Az\u00edm,\" which\nin classical Arabic means simply great.\n\n[FN#70] Arab \"Adab\" ; see vol. i. 132. It also implies mental\ndiscipline, the culture which leads to excellence, good manners\nand good morals; and it is sometimes synonymous with literary\nskill and scholarship. \"Ilm al-Adab,\" says Haji Khalfah (Lane's\nLex.), \"is the science whereby man guards against error in the\nlanguage of the Arabs spoken or written.\"\n\n[FN#71] i.e. I esteem thee as thou deservest.\n\n[FN#72] The style is intended to be worthy of the statesman. In\nmy \"Mission to Dahome\" the reader will find many a similar scene.\n\n[FN#73] The Bresl. Edit. (vol. viii. 22) reads \"Turks\" or \"The\nTurk\" in lieu of \"many peoples.\"\n\n[FN#74] i.e. the parents.\n\n[FN#75] The humour of this euphuistic Wazirial speech, purposely\nmade somewhat pompous, is the contrast between the unhappy\nMinister's praises and the result of his prognostication. I\ncannot refrain from complimenting Mr. Payne upon the admirable\nway in which he has attacked and mastered all the difficulties of\nits abstruser passages.\n\n[FN#76] Arab. \"Halumm\u00fa\" plur. of \"Halumma\" = draw near! The latter\nform is used by some tribes for all three numbers; others affect\na dual and a plural (as in the text). Preston ( Al-Hariri, p.\n210) derives it from Heb., but the geographers of Kufah and\nBasrah (who were not etymologists) are divided about its origin.\nHe translates (p. 221) \"Halumma Jarran\" = being the rest of the\ntale in continuation with this, i.e. in accordance with it, like\nour \"and so forth.\" And in p. 271, he makes Halumma = Hayya i.e.\nhither! (to prayer, etc).\n\n[FN#77] This is precisely the semi-fatalistic and wholly\nsuperstitious address which would find favour with Moslems of the\npresent day: they still prefer \"calling upon Hercules\" to putting\ntheir shoulders to the wheel. Mr. Redhouse had done good work in\nhis day but of late he has devoted himself, especially in the\n\"Mesnevi,\" to a rapprochement between Al-Islam and Christianity\nwhich both would reject (see supra, vol. vii. p. 135). The\nCalvinistic predestination as shown in the term \"vessel of\nwrath,\" is but a feeble reflection of Moslem fatalism. On this\nsubject I shall have more to say in a future volume.\n\n[FN#78] The inhabitants of temperate climates have no idea what\nants can do in the tropics. The Kafirs of South Africa used to\nstake down their prisoners (among them a poor friend of mine)\nupon an ant-hill and they were eaten atom after atom in a few\nhours. The death must be the slowest form of torture; but\nprobably the nervous system soon becomes insensible. The same has\nhappened to more than one hapless invalid, helplessly bedridden,\nin Western Africa. I have described an invasion of ants in my\n\"Zanzibar,\" vol. ii. 169; and have suffered from such attacks in\nmany places between that and Dahomey.\n\n[FN#79] Arab. \"Sa'lab.\" See vol. iii. 132 {FN#150}, where it is a fox. I\nrender it jackal because that cousin of the fox figures as a\ncarrion-eater in Hindu folk-lore, the Hitopadesa, Panchopakhyan,\netc. This tale, I need hardly say, is a mere translation; as is\nshown by the Kath\u00e1 s.s. \"Both jackal and fox are nicknamed Joseph\nthe Scribe (T\u00e1lib Y\u00fasuf) in the same principle that lawyers are\ncalled landsharks by sailors.\" (P. 65, Moorish Lotus Leaves,\netc., by George D. Cowan and R. L. N. Johnston, London, Tinsleys,\n1883.)\n\n[FN#80] Arab. \"Sahm mush'ab\" not \"barbed\" (at the wings) but with\ndouble front, much used for birding and at one time familiar in\nthe West as in the East. And yet \"barbed\" would make the fable\nread much better.\n\n[FN#81] Arab. \"la'lla,\" usually = haply, belike; but used here\nand elsewhere = forsure, certainly.\n\n[FN#82] Arab. \"Maghrib\" (or in full Maghrib al-Aks\u00e1) lit. = the\nLand of the setting sun for whose relation to \"Mauritania\" see\nvol. {vi.} 220. It is almost synonymous with \"Al-Gharb\" = the West whence Portugal borrowed the two Algarves, one being in Southern Europe and the other over the straits about Tangier- Ceuta;\nfronting Spanish Trafalgar, i.e. Taraf al-Gharb, the edge of the\nWest. I have noted (Pilgrimage i. 9) the late Captain Peel's\nmis-translation \"Cape of Laurels\" (Al-Gh\u00e1r).\n\n[FN#83] Even the poorest of Moslem wanderers tries to bear with\nhim a new suit of clothes for keeping the two festivals and\nFriday service in the Mosque. See Pilgrimage i. 235; iii. 257,\netc.\n\n[FN#84] Arab. \"S\u00e1yih\" lit. a wanderer, subaudi for religious and\nascetic objects; and not to be confounded with the \"pilgrim\"\nproper.\n\n[FN#85] i.e. a Religious, a wandering beggar.\n\n[FN#86] This was the custom of the whole Moslem world and still\nis where uncorrupted by Christian uncharity and contempt for all\n\"men of God\" save its own. But the change in such places as Egypt\nis complete and irrevocable. Even in 1852 my Dervish's frock\nbrought me nothing but contempt in Alexandria and Cairo.\n\n[FN#87] Arab. \"Ya j\u00e1hil,\" lit. =O ignorant. The popular word is\nAhmak which, however, in the West means a maniac, a madman, a\nSanton; \"Bohl\u00ed\" being= a fool.\n\n[FN#88] The prison according to the practice of the East being in\nthe palace: so the Moorish 'Kasbah,\" which lodges the Governor\nand his guard, always contains the jail.\n\n[FN#89] Arab. \"Tuwuffiya,\" lit.=was received (into the grace of\nGod), an euphemistic and more polite term than \"m\u00e1ta\"=he died.\nThe latter term is avoided by the Founder of Chnstianity; and our\nSpiritualists now say \"passed away to a higher life,\" a phrase\nembodying a theory which, to say the least, is \"not proven \"\n\n[FN#90] Arab. \"Y\u00e1 Ab\u00e1 al-Khayr\"= our my good lord, sir, fellow,\netc.\n\n[FN#91] Arab. \"H\u00e1wi\" from \"Hayyah,\" a serpent. See vol. iii. 145.\nMost of the Egyptian snake charmers are Gypsies, but they do not\nlike to be told of their origin. At Baroda in Guzerat I took\nlessons in snake-catching, but found the sport too dangerous;\nwhen the animal flees, the tail is caught by the left hand and\nthe right is slipped up to the neck, a delicate process, as a few\ninches too far or not far enough would be followed by certain\ndeath in catching a Cobra. At last certain of my messmates killed\none of the captives and the snake-charmer would have no more to\ndo with me.\n\n[FN#92] Arab. \"Sallah,\" also Pers., a basket of wickerwork. This\narticle is everywhere used for lodging snakes from Egypt to\nMorocco.\n\n[FN#93] Arab. \"Mub\u00e1rak.\" It is a favourite name for a slave in\nMorocco; the slave-girl being called Mub\u00e1rakah; and the proverb\nbeing, \"Blessed is the household which hath neither M'b\u00e1rk nor\nM'b\u00e1rkah\" (as they contract the words).\n\n[FN#94] The Bresl. Edit. (viii. 48) instead of the Gate (B\u00e1b)\ngives a B\u00e1dhanj=a Ventilator; for which latter rendering see vol.\ni. 257. The spider's web is Koranic (lxxxi. 40) \"Verily frailest\nof all houses is the house of the spider.\"\n\n[FN#95] Prob. from the Persian Wird=a pupil, a disciple.\n\n[FN#96] And yet, as the next page shows the youth's education was\ncomplete in his twelfth year.  But as all three texts agree, I do\nnot venture upon changing the number to six or seven, the age at\nwhich royal education outside the Harem usually begins.\n\n[FN#97] i.e. One for each day in the Moslem year. For these\nobject-lessons, somewhat in Kinder-garten style, see the Book of\nSindibad or The Malice of Women (vol. vi. 126).\n\n[FN#98] Arab. \"Jah\u00e1bizah\" plur. of \"Jahbiz\"=acute, intelligent\n(from the Pers. Kahbad or Kihbad?)\n\n[FN#99] Arab. \"Nimr\" in the Bresl. Edit. viii. 58. The Mac. Edit.\nsuggests that the leopard is the lion's Wazir.\n\n[FN#100] Arab \"Kaun\" lit. =Being, existence. Tr\u00e9butien (iii. 20)\nhas it \"Qu'est-ce que l' \u00eatre (God), l'existence (Creation),\nl'\u00eatre dans l'existence (the world), et la dur\u00e9e de l'\u00eatre dans\nl'existence (the other world).\n\n[FN#101] i.e for the purpose of requital. All the above is\northodox Moslem doctrine, which utterly ignores the dictum \"ex\nnihilo nihil fit;\" and which would look upon Creation by Law\n(Darwinism) as opposed to Creation by miracle (e.g. the Mosaic\ncosmogony) as rank blasphemy. On the other hand the Eternity of\nMatter and its transcendental essence are tenets held by a host\nof Gnostics, philosophers and Eastern Agnostics.\n\n[FN#102] This is a Moslem lieu commun; usually man is likened to\none suspended in a bottomless well by a thin rope at which a\nrodent is continually gnawing and who amuses himself in licking\na few drops of honey left by bees on the revetement.\n\n[FN#103] A curious pendant to the Scriptural parable of the\nUnjust Steward.\n\n[FN#104] Arab. \"R\u00fah\" Heb. Ruach: lit. breath (spiritus) which in\nthe animal kingdom is the surest sign of life. See vol. v. 29.\nNothing can be more rigidly materialistic than the called Mosaic\nlaw.\n\n[FN#105] Arab. \"Al-Amr\" which may also mean the business, the\nmatter, the affair.\n\n[FN#106] Arab. \"Uk\u00e1b al-k\u00e1sir.\" lit. =the breaker eagle.\n\n[FN#107] Arab \"Lij\u00e1m shad\u00edd:\" the ring-bit of the Arabs is\nperhaps the severest form known: it is required by the Eastern\npractice of pulling up the horse when going at full speed and it\nis too well known to require description. As a rule the Arab\nrides with a \"lady's hand\" and the barbarous habit of \"hanging on\nby the curb\" is unknown to him. I never pass by Rotten Row or see\na regiment of English Cavalry without wishing to leave riders\nnothing but their snaffles.\n\n[FN#108] We find this orderly distribution of time (which no one\nadopts) in many tongues and many forms. In the Life of Sir W.\nJones (vol. i. p. 193, Poetical Works etc.) the following occurs,\n\"written in India on a small piece of paper\";--\n\n                    Sir Edward Coke\n          \"Six hours to sleep, in law's grave study six!\n          Four spend in prayer,--the rest on Heaven fix!\"\n                    Rather:\n          \"Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven;\n          Ten to the world allot, and all to Heaven!\"\n\nBut this is not practical. I must prefer the Chartist\ndistribution:\n\n          Six hours sleep and six hours play:\n          Six hours work and six shillings a day.\n\nMr Froude (Oceana) speaks of New Zealanders having attained that\nideal of operative felicity:--\n\n          Eight to work, eight to play;\n          Eight to sleep and eight shillings a day.\n\n[FN#109] Arab. \"Bah\u00edmah,\" mostly=black cattle: see vol. iv. 54.\n\n[FN#110] As a rule when the felid\u00e6 wag their tails, it is a sign\nof coming anger, the reverse with the canid\u00e6.\n\n[FN#111] In India it is popularly said that the Rajah can do\nanything with the Ryots provided he respects their women and\ntheir religion--not their property.\n\n[FN#112] Arab. \"Sunan\" for which see vol. v. 36, 167. Here it\nis=Rasm or usage, equivalent to our precedents, and held valid,\nespecially when dating from olden time, in all matters which are\nnot expressly provided for by Koranic command. For instance a\nHind\u00ed Moslem (who doubtless borrowed the customs from Hind\u00fas)\nwill refuse to eat with the Kafir, and when the latter objects\nthat there is no such prohibition in the Koran will reply, \"No:\nbut it is our Rasm.\" As a rule the Anglo-Indian is very ignorant\non this essential point.\n\n[FN#113] Lit. \"lowering the wings,\" see supra p. 33.\n\n[FN#114] .i.e. friends  and acquaintances.\n\n[FN#115] Arab. \"Ham\u00eddah\"=praiseworthy or satisfactory.\n\n[FN#116] Not only alluding to the sperm of man and beast, but\nalso to the \"Neptunist\" doctrine held by the ancient Greeks and\nHindus and developed in Europe during the last century.\n\n[FN#117] Arab. \"Taks\u00edm\" dividing into parts, analysis.\n\n[FN#118] this is the usual illogical contention of all religions.\nIt is not the question whether an Almighty Being can do a given\nthing: the question is whether He has or has not done it.\n\n[FN#119] Upon the old simile of the potter I shall have something\nto say in a coming volume.\n\n[FN#120] A fine specimen of a peculiarity in the undeveloped mind\nof man, the universal confusion between things objective as a\ndead body and states of things as death. We begin by giving a\nname, for facility of intercourse, to phases, phenomena and\nconditions of matter; and, having created the word we proceed to\nsupply it with a fanciful entity, e.g. \"The Mind (a useful term\nto express the aggregate action of the brain, nervous system\netc.) of man is immortal.\" The next step is personification as\nTime with his forelock, Death with his skull and Night (the\nabsence of light) with her starry mantle. For poetry this abuse\nof language is a sine qua non, but it is deadly foe to all true\nphilosophy.\n\n[FN#121] Christians would naturally understand this \"One Word\" to\nbe the {l\u00f3gos} of the Platonists, adopted by St. John\n(comparatively a late writer) and by the Alexandrian school,\nJewish (as Philo Jud\u00e6us) and Christian. But here the tale-teller\nalludes to the Divine Word \"Kun\" (be!) whereby the worlds came\ninto existence.\n\n[FN#122] Arab. \"Ya bunayy\u00ed\" a dim. form lit. \"O my little son !\"\nan affectionate address frequent in Russian, whose \"little\nfather\" (under \"Bog\") is his Czar.\n\n[FN#123] Thus in two texts. Mr. Payne has, \"Verily God the Most\nHigh created man after His own image, and likened him to Himself,\nall of Him truth, without falsehood; then He gave him dominion\nover himself and ordered him and forbade him, and it was man who\ntransgressed His commandment and erred in his obedience and\nbrought falsehood upon himself of his own will.\" Here he borrows\nfrom the Bresl. Edit. viii. 84 (five first lines). But the\ndoctrine is rather Jewish and Christian than Moslem: Al-Mas'\u00fadi\n(ii. 389) introduces a Copt in the presence of Ibn Tut\u00fan saying,\n\"Prince, these people (designing a Jew) pretend that Allah\nAlmighty created Adam (i.e. mankind) after His own image\" ('Al\u00e1\nS\u00farati-h).\n\n[FN#124] Arab. \"Istit\u00e1'ah\"=ableness e.g. \"Al hajj 'inda\n'l-Istit\u00e1'ah\"=Pilgrimage when a man is able thereto (by easy\ncircumstances).\n\n[FN#125] Arab. \"Al-Kasab,\" which phrenologists would translate\n\"acquisitiveness,\" The author is here attempting to reconcile\nman's moral responsibility, that is Freewill, with Fate by which\nall human actions are directed and controlled. I cannot see that\nhe fails to \"apprehend the knotty point of doctrine involved\";\nbut I find his inability to make two contraries agree as\npronounced as that of all others, Moslems and Christians, that\npreceded him in the same path.\n\n[FN#126] The order should be, \"men, angels and Jinn,\" for which\nsee vol. i. p. 10. But \"angels\" here takes precedence because\nIblis was one of them.\n\n[FN#127] Arab. \"Wartah\"=precipice, quagmire, quicksand and hence\nsundry secondary and metaphorical significations, under which, as\nin the \"Semitic\" (Arabic) tongues generally, the prosaical and\nmaterial sense of the word is clearly evident. I noted this in\nPilgrimage iii. 66 and was soundly abused for so saying by a host\nof Sciolists.\n\n[FN#128] i.e. Allowing the Devil to go about the world and seduce\nmankind until Doomsday when \"auld Sootie's\" occupation will be\ngone.  Surely \"Providence\" might have managed better.\n\n[FN#129] i.e. to those who deserve His love.\n\n[FN#130] Here \"Istit\u00e1'ah\" would mean capability of action, i.e.\nfreewill, which is a mere word like \"free-trade.\"\n\n[FN#131] Arab. \"Bi al-taubah\" which may also mean \"for (on\naccount of his) penitence.\"  The reader will note how the learned\nShimas \"dodges\" the real question.  He is asked why the\n\"Omnipotent, Omniscient did not prevent (i.e. why He created)\nsin?\" He answers that He kindly permitted (i.e. created and\nsanctioned) it that man might repent.  Proh pudor! If any one\nthus reasoned of mundane matters he would be looked upon as the\nmerest fool.\n\n[FN#132] Arab. \"Mahall al-Zauk,\" lit.=seat of taste.\n\n[FN#133] Mr. Payne translates \"it\" i.e. the Truth; but the\nformula following the word shows that Allah is meant.\n\n[FN#134] Moslems, who do their best to countermine the ascetic\nidea inherent in Christianity, are not ashamed of the sensual\nappetite; but rather the reverse. I have heard in Persia of a\nReligious, highly esteemed for learning and saintly life who,\nwhen lodged by a disciple at Shiraz, came out of his sleeping\nroom and aroused his host with the words \"Shahwat d\u00e1ram!\"\nequivalent to our \"I want a woman.\" He was at once married to one\nof the slave-girls and able to gratify the demands of the flesh.\n\n[FN#135] Koran iv. 81, \"Whatever good betideth thee is from God,\nand whatever betideth thee of evil is from thyself\": rank\nManich\u00e6ism is pronounced as any in Christendom.\n\n[FN#136] Arab. \"Zukhruf\" which Mr. Payne picturesquely renders\n\"painted gawds.\"\n\n[FN#137] It is the innate craving in the \"Aryan\" (Iranian, not\nthe Turanian) mind, this longing to know what follows Death, or\nif nothing follow it, which accounts for the marvellous\ndiffusion of the so-called Spiritualism which is only\nSwedenborgianism systematised and carried out into action, amongst\nnervous and impressionable races like the Anglo-American. In\nEngland it is the reverse; the obtuse sensitiveness of a people\nbred on beef and beer has made the \"Religion of the Nineteenth\nCentury\" a manner of harmless magic, whose miracles are\ntable-turning and ghost seeing whilst the prodigious rascality of\nits prophets (the so-called Mediums) has brought it into\nuniversal disrepute. It has been said that Catholicism must be\ntrue to co-exist with the priest and it is the same with\nSpiritualism proper, by which I understand the belief in a life\nbeyond the grave, a mere continuation of this life; it flourishes\n(despite the Medium) chiefly because it has laid before man the\nonly possible and intelligible idea of a future state.\n\n[FN#138] See vol. vi. p. 7. The only lie which degrades a man in\nhis own estimation and in that of others, is that told for fear\nof telling the truth. Au reste, human society and civilised\nintercourse are built upon a system of conventional lying, and\nmany droll stories illustrate the consequences of disregarding\nthe dictum, la verit\u00e9 n'est pas toujours bonne \u00e0 dire.\n\n[FN#139] Arab. \"Wal\u00ed'ahd\" which may mean heir-presumptive (whose\nheirship is contingent) or heir-apparent.\n\n[FN#140] Arab. \"Y\u00e1 abati\"= O my papa (which here would sound\nabsurd).\n\n[FN#141] All the texts give a decalogue; but Mr. Payne has\nreduced it to a heptalogue.\n\n[FN#142] The Arabs who had a variety of an\u00e6sthetics never seem to\nhave studied the subject of \"euthanasia.\" They preferred seeing a\nman expire in horrible agonies to relieving him by means of\nsoporifics and other drugs: so I have heard Christians exult in\nsaying that the sufferer \"kept his senses to the last.\" Of course\nsuperstition is at the bottom of this barbarity; the same which a\ngeneration ago made the silly accoucheur refuse to give ether\nbecause of the divine (?) saying \"In sorrow shalt thou bring\nforth children.\" (Gen iii. 16.) In the Bosnia-Herzegovina\ncampaign many of the Austrian officers carried with them doses of\npoison to be used in case of being taken prisoners by the\nferocious savages against whom they were fighting. As many\nanecdotes about \"Easing off the poor dear\" testify, the\nEuthanasia-system is by no means unknown to the lower classes in\nEngland. I shall have more to say on this subject.\n\n[FN#143] See vol. iii. p. 253 for the consequences of royal\nseclusion of which Europe in the present day can contribute\nexamples. The lesson which it teaches simply is that the world\ncan get on very well without royalties.\n\n[FN#144] The grim Arab humour in the text is the sudden change\nfor the worse of the good young man. Easterns do not believe in\nthe Western saw, \"Nemo repente fuit turpissimus.\" The spirited\nconduct of the subjects finds many parallels in European history,\nespecially in Portugal: see my Life of Camoens p. 234.\n\n[FN#145] Arab. \"Muh\u00e1rabah\" lit.=doing battle; but is sometimes\nused in the sense of gain-saying or disobeying.\n\n[FN#146] Arab. \"Duw\u00e1mah\" (from \"duw\u00e1m\"=vertigo, giddiness) also\napplied to a boy's whip-top.\n\n[FN#147] Arab. \"Khayr o (wa) \u00c1fiyah,\" a popular phrase much used\nin salutations, &c.\n\n[FN#148] Another instance, and true to life, of the democracy of\ndespotism in which the express and combined will of the people is\nthe only absolute law. Hence Russian autocracy is forced into\nrepeated wars for the possession of Constantinople which, in the\npresent condition of the Empire, would be an unmitigated evil to\nher and would be only too glad to see a Principality of Byzantium\nplaced under the united protection of the European Powers. I have\ntreated of this in my paper on the \"Partition of Turkey,\" which\nfirst appeared, headed the \"Future of Turkey,\" in the Daily\nTelegraph, of March 7, 1880, and subsequently by its own name in\nthe Manchester Examiner, January 3, 1881. The main reason why the\nproject is not carried out appears to be that the \"politicals\"\nwould thereby find their occupation gone and they naturally\nobject to losing so fine a field of action. So Turkey still plays\nthe r\u00f4le of the pretty young lady being courted by a rabble of\nvalets.\n\n[FN#149] Good Moslems are bound to abate such scandals; and in a\ncase of the kind even neighbours are expected to complain before\nthe Chief of Police. This practice forms \"Vigilance Committees\"\nall over the Mahommedan East: and we may take a leaf out of their\nbooks if dynamite-outrages continue.\n\n[FN#150] But a Hadis, attributed to Mohammed, says, \"The Prince\nof a people is their servant.\" See Matth. xx. 26-27.\n\n[FN#151] Easterns are well aware of the value of this drug which\nhas become the base of so many of our modern medicines.\n\n[FN#152] The strangest poison is mentioned by Sonnini who, as a\nrule, is a trustworthy writer. Noticing the malignity of Egyptian\nwomen he declares (p. 628, English trans.) that they prepare a\ndraught containing a quant. suff. of menstruous discharge at\ncertain phases of the moon, which produces symptoms of scurvy;\nthe gums decay, the teeth, beard and hair fall off, the body\ndries, the limbs lose strength and death follows within a year.\nHe also asserts that no counterpoison is known and if this be\ntrue he confers a boon upon the Locust\u00e6 and Brinvilliers of\nmodern Europe. In Morocco \"Ta'am\" is the vulgar name for a\nmixture of dead men's bones, eyes, hair and similar ingredients\nmade by old wives and supposed to cause a wasting disease for\nwhich the pharmacop\u0153ia has no cure. Dogs are killed by needles\ncunningly inserted into meat-balls; and this process is known\nthroughout the Moslem world.\n\n[FN#153] Which contained the Palace.\n\n[FN#154] Arab. \"L\u00e1 baas.\" See Night vol. iv. 164.\n\n[FN#155] For Ta'lab (Sa'lab) see supra, p. 48. In Morocco it is\nundoubtedly the red or common fox which, however, is not\ngregarious as in the text.\n\n[FN#156] See vol. iii. 146.\n\n[FN#157] Arab. \"Muunah\" which in Morocco applies to the\nprovisions furnished gratis by the unfortunate village-people to\ntravellers who have a passport from the Sultan: its root is Maun\n=supplying necessaries. \"The name is supposed to have its origin\nin that of Manna, the miraculous provision bestowed by the bounty\nof Heaven on the Israelites while wandering in the deserts of\nArabia.\" Such is the marvellous information we find in p. 40,\n\"Morocco and the Moors\" by John Drummond Hay (Murray, 1861).\n\n[FN#158] i.e. He resolved to do them justice and win a reward\nfrom  Heaven.\n\n[FN#159] Arab. ''Luss\" = thief, robber, rogue, rascal, the\nPersian \"Luti\" of popular usage. This is one of the many\n''Simpleton stories\" in which Eastern folk-lore abounds. I hear\nthat Mr. Clouston is preparing a collection, and look forward to\nit with interest.\n\n[FN#160] Arab. \"Tibn\" for which see vol. i 16.\n\n[FN#161] A fanciful origin of \"D\u00edv\u00e1n\" (here an audience-chamber)\nwhich may mean demons (plural of D\u00edv) is attributed to a King of\nPersia. He gave a series of difficult documents and accounts to\nhis scribes and surprised at the quickness and cleverness with\nwhich they were ordered exclaimed, \"These men be Divs!\" Hence a\nhost of secondary meanings as a book of Odes with distichs rhymed\nin alphabetical order and so forth.\n\n[FN#162] In both cases the word \"Jab\u00e1birah\" is used, the plur. of\nJabb\u00e1r, the potent, especially applied to the Kings of the\nCanaanites and giants like the mythical Og of Bashan. So the Heb.\nJabb\u00farah is a title of the Queens of Judah.\n\n[FN#163] Arab. \"Kit\u00e1b al-Kaz\u00e1\"= the Book of Judgments, such as\nthe Kazi would use when deciding cases in dispute, by legal\nprecedents and the Rasm or custom of the country.\n\n[FN#164] i.e. sit before the King as referee, etc.\n\n[FN#165] This massacre of refractory chiefs is one of the grand\nmoyens of Eastern state-craft, and it is almost always successful\nbecause circumstances require it; popular opinion approves of it\nand it is planned and carried out with discretion and secrecy.\nThe two familiar instances in our century are the massacre of the\nMamelukes by Mohammed Ali Pasha the Great and of the turbulent\nchiefs of the Omani Arabs by our ancient ally Sayyid Sa'\u00edd,\nmiscalled the \"Im\u00e1m of Maskat.\"\n\n[FN#166] The metaphor (Sabaka) is from horse-racing, the Arabs\nbeing, I have said, a horsey people.\n\n[FN#167] Arab. \"Kurd\u00fas\" = A body of horse.\n\n[FN#168] Arab. \"Ibn 'Irs.\" See vol. iii. 147.\n\n[FN#169] Arab. \"Al Hind-al-Aks\u00e1.\" The Sanskrit Sindhu (lands on\nthe Indus River) became in Zend \"Hendu\" and hence in Arabic Sind\nand Hind, which latter I wish we had preserved instead of the\nclassical \"India\" or the poetical \"Ind.\"\n\n[FN#170] i.e. by geomancy: see vol. iii. 269 for a note on\nAl-Raml. The passage is not in the Mac. Edit.\n\n[FN#171] This address gave the boy Wazirial rank. In many parts\nof Europe, England included, if the Sovereign address a subject\nwith a title not belonging to him, it is a disputed point if the\nlatter can or cannot claim it.\n\n[FN#172] Koran, chapter of Joseph xii. 28, spoken by Potiphar\nafter Joseph's innocence had been proved by a witness in\nPotiphar's house or according to the Talmud (Sepher H\u00e1djascher)\nby an infant in the cradle. The texts should have printed this as\na quotation (with vowel points).\n\n[FN#173] Arab. \"Al-'Az\u00edz,\" alluding to Joseph the Patriarch\nentitled in Egypt \"Az\u00edz al-Misr\"= Magnifico of Misraim (Koran\nxii. 54). It is generally believed that Ismail Pasha, whose\nunwise deposition has caused the English Government such a host\nof troubles and load of obloquy, aspired to be named \"'Az\u00edz\" by\nthe Porte; but was compelled to be satisfied with Khad\u00edv (vulg.\nwritten Khedive, and pronounced even \"K\u00e9div\u00e9\"), a Persian title,\nwhich simply means prince or Rajah, as Khad\u00edv-i-Hind.\n\n[FN#174] i.e. The Throne room.\n\n[FN#175] For the \"Daw\u00e1t\" or wooden inkcase containing reeds see\nvol. v. 239 and viii. 178. I may remark that its origin is the\nEgyptian \"Pes,\" of which there is a specimen in the British\nMuseum inscribed, \"Am\u00e1sis the good god and Lord of the two\nLands.\"\n\n[FN#176] i.e. I am governed by the fear of Allah in my dealings\nto thee and thy subjects.\n\n[FN#177] Arabic has no single word for million although the\nMaroccans have adopted \"Mily\u00fan\" from the Spaniards (see p. 100 of\nthe Rudimentos del \u00c1rabe vulgar que se habla en el imperio de\nMarruccos por El P. Fr. Jos\u00e8 de Lerchundi, Madrid 1872): This\nlack of the higher numerals, the reverse of the Hindu languages,\nmakes Arabic \"arithmology\" very primitive and almost as cumbrous\nas the Chinese.\n\n[FN#178] i.e. I am thy slave to slay or to pardon.\n\n[FN#179] Arab. \"Matta'aka 'llah\"=Allah permit thee to enjoy,\nfrom the root mata', whence cometh the Maroccan Mat\u00e1'i=my, mine,\nwhich answers to Bit\u00e1'i in Egypt.\n\n[FN#180] Arab. \"Khit\u00e1b\" = the exordium of a letter preceding its\nbusiness-matter and in which the writer displays all his art. It\nends with \"Amm\u00e1 ba'd,\" lit.=but after, equivalent to our \"To\nproceed.\" This \"Khit\u00e1b\" is mostly skipped over by modern\nstatesmen who will say, \"Now after the nonsense let us come to\nthe sense\"; but their secretaries carefully weigh every word of\nit, and strongly resent all shortcomings.\n\n[FN#181] Strongly suggesting that the King had forgotten how to\nread and write. So not a few of the Amirs of Sind were\nanalphabetic and seemed rather proud of it: \"a Baloch cannot\nwrite, but he always carries a signet-ring.\" I heard of an old\nEnglish lady of the past generation in Northern Africa who openly\ndeclared \"A Warrington shall never learn to read or write.\"\n\n[FN#182] Arab. \"\u00c1min,\" of which the Heb. form is Amen from the\nroot Amn=stability, constancy. In both tongues it is a particle\nof affirmation or consent=it is true! So be it! The Hebrew has\nalso \"Amanah\"=verily, truly.\n\n[FN#183] To us this seems a case of \"hard lines\" for the unhappy\nwomen; but Easterns then believed and still believe in the\ndivinity which doth hedge in a King, in his reigning by the\n\"grace of God,\" and in his being the Viceregent of Allah upon\nearth; briefly in the old faith of loyalty which great and\nsuccessful republics are fast making obsolete in the West and\nnowhere faster than in England.\n\n[FN#184] Ab\u00fa S\u00edr is a manifest corruption of the old Egyptian\nPousiri, the Busiris of our classics, and it gives a name to\nsundry villages in modern Egypt where it is usually pronounced\n\"B\u00fas\u00edr\".  Ab\u00fa K\u00edr lit. = the Father of Pitch, is also corrupted\nto Abou Kir (Bay); and the townlet now marks the site of jolly\nold Canopus, the Chosen Land of Egyptian debauchery.\n\n[FN#185] It is interesting to note the superior gusto with which\nthe Eastern, as well as the Western tale-teller describes his\nscoundrels and villains whilst his good men and women are mostly\ncolourless and unpicturesque.  So Satan is the true hero of\nParadise-Lost and by his side God and man are very ordinary; and\nMephistopheles is much better society than Faust and Margaret.\n\n[FN#186] Arab.  \"Dukh\u00e1n,\" lit. = smoke, here tobacco for the\nChibouk, \"Timb\u00e1k\" or \"Tumb\u00e1k\" being the stronger (Persian and\nother) variety which must be washed before smoking in the Sh\u00edshah\nor water-pipe.  Tobacco is mentioned here only and is evidently\ninserted by some scribe: the \"weed\" was not introduced into the\nEast before the end of the sixteenth century (about a hundred\nyears after coffee), when it radically changed the manners of\nsociety.\n\n[FN#187] Which meant that the serjeant, after the manner of such\nofficials, would make him pay dearly before giving up the key.\nHence a very severe punishment in the East is to \"call in a\npoliceman\" who carefully fleeces all those who do not bribe him\nto leave them in freedom.\n\n[FN#188] Arab. \"M\u00e1 D\u00e1hiyatak?\" lit. \"What is thy misfortune?\"\nThe phrase is slighting if not insulting.\n\n[FN#189] Amongst Moslems the plea of robbing to keep life and\nbody together would be accepted by a good man like Abu Sir, who\nstill consorted with a self-confessed thief.\n\n[FN#190] To make their agreement religiously binding.  See vol.\niv. 36.\n\n[FN#191] Arab. \"Ghaliy\u00fan\"; many of our names for craft seem\nconnected with Arabic: I have already noted \"Carrack\" = harr\u00e1k:\nto which add Uskuf in Marocco pronounced 'Skuff = skiff; Kat\u00edrah\n= a cutter; B\u00e1rijah = a barge; etc. etc.\n\n[FN#192] The patient is usually lathered in a big basin of tinned\nbrass, \"Mambrino's helmet\" with a break in the rim to fit the\nthroat; but the poorer classes carry only a small cup with water\ninstead of soap and water ignoring the Italian proverb, \"Barba\nben saponata mezza fatta\" = well lathered is half shaved.  A\nnapkin fringed at either end is usually thrown over the Figaro's\nshoulder and used to wipe the razor.\n\n[FN#193] Arab. \"Nusf.\" See vol. ii. 37.\n\n[FN#194] Arab. \"Bat\u00e1rikh\" the roe (sperm or spawn) of the salted\nFas\u00edkh (fish) and the B\u00far\u00ed (mugil cephalus) a salt-water fish\ncaught in the Nile and considered fair eating. Some write\nBut\u00e1rgh\u00e1 from the old Egyptian town Bur\u00e1t, now a ruin between\nTinnis and Damietta (Sonnini).\n\n[FN#195] Arab. \"Kapt\u00e1n,\" see vol. iv. 85.\n\n[FN#196] Arab.  \"Any\u00e1b,\" plur. of N\u00e1b applied to the grinder\nteeth but mostly to the canines or eye teeth, tusks of animals,\netc. (See vol. vii. p. 339) opp. to Saniyah, one of the four\ncentral incisors, a camel in the sixth year and horse, cow, sheep\nand goat in fourth year.\n\n[FN#197] The coffee (see also vol. viii. 274) like the tobacco is\nprobably due to the scribe; but the tale appears to be\ncomparatively modern.  In The Nights men eat, drink and wash\ntheir hands but do not smoke and sip coffee like the moderns.\nSee my Terminal Essay \u00c2\u00a72.\n\n[FN#198] Arab.  \"Mi'lakah\" (Bresl. Edit. x, 456).  The fork is\nmodern even in the East and the Moors borrow their term for it\nfrom fourchette.  But the spoon, which may have begun with a\ncockle-shell, dates from the remotest antiquity.\n\n[FN#199] Arab.  \"Sufrah\" properly the cloth or leather upon which\nfood is placed.  See vol. i. 178.\n\n[FN#200] i.e. gaining much one day and little another.\n\n[FN#201] Lit. \"Rest thyself\" i.e. by changing posture.\n\n[FN#202] Arab. \"Unn\u00e1bi\" = between dark yellow and red.\n\n[FN#203] Arab.  \"N\u00edlah\" lit. = indigo, but here applied to all\nthe materials for dyeing.  The word is Sanskrit, and the growth\nprobably came from India, although during the Crusaders'\noccupation of Jerusalem it was cultivated in the valley of the\nlower Jordan.  I need hardly say that it has nothing to do with\nthe word \"Nile\" whose origin is still sub judice.  And yet I\nlately met a sciolist who pompously announced to me this\nphilological absurdity as a discovery of his own.\n\n[FN#204] Still a popular form of \"bilking\" in the Wak\u00e1lahs or\nCaravanserais of Cairo: but as a rule the Baww\u00e1b (porter or\ndoorkeeper) keeps a sharp eye on those he suspects.  The evil is\nincreased when women are admitted into these places; so\nperiodical orders for their exclusion are given to the police.\n\n[FN#205] Natives of Egypt always hold this diaphoresis a sign\nthat the disease has abated and they regard it rightly in the\ncase of bilious remittents to which they are subject, especially\nafter the hardships and sufferings of a sea-voyage with its\nalternations of fasting and over-eating.\n\n[FN#206] Not simply, \"such and such events happened to him\"\n(Lane); but, \"a curious chance befel him.\"\n\n[FN#207] Arab. \"Har\u00e1mi,\" lit. = one who lives on unlawful gains;\npopularly a thief.\n\n[FN#208] i.e. he turned on the water, hot and cold.\n\n[FN#209] Men are often seen doing this in the Hammam.  The idea\nis that the skin when free from sebaceous exudation sounds louder\nunder the clapping.  Easterns judge much by the state of the\nperspiration, especially in horse-training, which consists of\nhand-gallops for many successive miles.  The sweat must not taste\nover salt and when held between thumb and forefinger and the two\nare drawn apart must not adhere in filaments.\n\n[FN#210] Lit. \"Aloes for making Nadd;\" see vol. i. 310.\n\"Eagle-wood\" (the Malay Aigla and Agallochum the Sansk. Agura)\ngave rise to many corruptions as lignum aloes, the Portuguese P\u00e1o\nd' Aguila etc.  \"Calamba\" or \"Calambak\" was the finest kind.  See\nColonel Yule in the \"Voyage of Linschoten\" (vol. i. 120 and 150).\nEdited for the Hakluyt Soc. (1885) by my learned and most amiable\nfriend, the late Arthur Cooke Burnell.\n\n[FN#211] The Hammam is one of those unpleasant things which are\nleft \"Al\u00e0 j\u00fadi-k\" = to thy generosity; and the higher the\nbather's rank the more he or she is expected to pay.  See\nPilgrimage i. 103.  In 1853 I paid at Cairo 3 piastres and twenty\nparas, something more than sixpence, but now five shillings would\nbe asked.\n\n[FN#212] This is something like the mythical duchess in England\nwho could not believe that the poor were starving when\nsponge-cakes were so cheap.\n\n[FN#213] This magnificent \"Bakhshish\" must bring water into the\nmouths of all the bath-men in the coffee-house assembly.\n\n[FN#214] i.e. the treasurer did not, as is the custom of such\ngentry, demand and receive a large \"Bakhshish\" on the occasion.\n\n[FN#215] A fair specimen of clever Fellah chaff.\n\n[FN#216] In the first room of the Hammam, called the Maslakh or\nstripping-place, the keeper sits by a large chest in which he\ndeposits the purses and valuables of his customers and also makes\nit the caisse for the pay.  Something of the kind is now done in\nthe absurdly called \"Turkish Baths\" of London.\n\n[FN#217] This is the rule in Egypt and Syria and a clout hung\nover the door shows that women are bathing.  I have heard, but\nonly heard, that in times and places when eunuchs went in with\nthe women youths managed by long practice to retract the\ntesticles so as to pass for castratos.  It is hard to say what\nperseverance may not effect in this line; witness Orsini and his\nabnormal development of hearing, by exercising muscles which are\nusually left idle.\n\n[FN#218] This reference to Allah shows that Abu Sir did not\nbelieve his dyer-friend.\n\n[FN#219] Arab. \"Daw\u00e1\" (lit. remedy, medicine) the vulgar term:\nsee vol. iv. 256: also called Rasmah, N\u00farah and many other names.\n\n[FN#220] Arab. \"M\u00e1 Kahara-n\u00ed\" = or none hath overcome me.\n\n[FN#221] Bresl. Edit. \"The King of Isb\u00e1niya.\" For the \"Ishb\u00e1n\"\n(Spaniards) an ancient people descended from Japhet son of Noah\nand who now are no more, see Al-Mas'udi (Fr. Transl. I. 361). The\n\"Herodotus of the Arabs\" recognises only the \"Jal\u00e1likah\" or\nGallicians, thus bearing witness to the antiquity and importance\nof the Gallego race.\n\n[FN#222] Arab. \"Sha'r,\" properly, hair of body, pile, especially\nthe pecten. See Burckhardt (Prov. No. 202), \"grieving for lack of\na cow she made a whip of her bush,\" said of those who console\nthemselves by building Castles in Spain. The \"parts below the\nwaist\" is the decent Turkish term for the privities.\n\n[FN#223] The drowning is a martyr's death, the burning is a\nforetaste of Hell-fire.\n\n[FN#224] Meaning that if the trick had been discovered the\nCaptain would have taken the barber's place. We have seen (vol.\ni. 63) the Prime Minister superintending the royal kitchen and\nhere the Admiral fishes for the King's table. It is even more\nna\u00efve than the Court of Alcin\u00f6us.\n\n[FN#225] Bresl. Edit. xi. 32: i.e. save me from disgrace.\n\n[FN#226] Arab. \"Khinsir\" or \"Khinsar,\" the little finger or the\nmiddle finger. In Arabic each has its own name or names which is\nalso that of the corresponding toe, e.g. Ibh\u00e1m (thumb); Sabb\u00e1bah,\nMusabbah or Da'\u00e1ah (fore-finger); Wast\u00e1 (medius); Binsir\n(annularis ring-finger) and Khinsar (minimus). There are also\nnames for the several spaces between the fingers. See the English\nArabic Dictionary (London, Kegan Paul and Co., 1881) by the Revd.\nDr. Badger, a work of immense labour and research but which I\nfear has been to the learned author a labour of love not of\nprofit.\n\n[FN#227] Meaning of course that the King signed towards the sack\nin which he supposed the victim to be, but the ring fell off\nbefore it could take effect. The Eastern story-teller often\nbalances his multiplicity of words and needless details by a\nconciseness and an elliptical style which make his meaning a\nmatter of divination.\n\n[FN#228] See vol. v. 111.\n\n[FN#229] This couplet was quoted to me by my friend the Rev. Dr.\nBadger when he heard that I was translating \"The Nights\":\nneedless to say that it is utterly inappropriate.\n\n[FN#230] For a similar figure see vol i. 25.\n\n[FN#231] Arab. \"Hanzal\": see vol. v. 19.\n\n[FN#232]  The tale begins upon the model of \"J\u00fadar and his\nBrethren,\" vi. 213.  Its hero's full name is Abdu'll\u00e1hi=Slave of\nAllah, which vulgar Egyptians pronounce Abdallah and purer\nspeakers, Badawin and others, Abdullah: either form is therefore\nadmissible.  It is more common among Moslems but not unknown to\nChristians especially Syrians who borrow it from the Syriac\nAlloh.  Mohammed is said to have said, \"The names most approved\nby Allah are Abdu'llah, Abd al-Rahm\u00e1n (Slave of the\nCompassionate) and such like\" (Pilgrimage i. 20).\n\n[FN#233]  Arab. \"S\u00edrah\" here probably used of the Nile-sprat\n(Clupea Sprattus Linn.) or Sardine of which Forsk says, \"Sardinn\nin Al-Yaman is applied to a Red Sea fish of the same name.\"\nHasselquist the Swede notes that Egyptians stuff the Sardine with\nmarjoram and eat it fried even when half putrid.\n\n[FN#234]  i.e. by declaring in the Koran (lxvii. 14; lxxiv. 39;\nlxxviii. 69; lxxxviii. 17), that each creature hath its appointed\nterm and lot; especially \"Thinketh man that he shall be left\nuncared for?\" (xl. 36).\n\n[FN#235]  Arab. \"Nusf,\" see vol. ii. 37.\n\n[FN#236]  Arab. \"Allah Karim\" (which Turks pronounce Kyer\u00edm) a\nconsecrated formula used especially when a man would show himself\nresigned to \"small mercies.\"  The fisherman's wife was evidently\npious as she was poor; and the description of the pauper\nhousehold is simple and effective.\n\n[FN#237]  This is repeated in the Mac. Edit. pp. 496-97; an\ninstance amongst many of most careless editing.\n\n[FN#238]  Arab. \"Al\u00e0 mahlak\" (vulg.), a popular phrase, often\ncorresponding with our \"Take it coolly.\"\n\n[FN#239]  For \"He did not keep him waiting, as he did the rest of\nthe folk.\"  Lane prefers \"nor neglected him as men generally\nwould have done.\"  But we are told supra that the baker \"paid no\nheed to the folk by reason of the dense crowd.\"\n\n[FN#240]  Arab. \"Ruh!\" the most abrupt form, whose sound is\ncoarse and offensive as the Turkish yell, \"Gyel!\"=come here.\n\n[FN#241]  Bresl. Edit. xi. 50-51.\n\n[FN#242]  Arab. \"\u00c1dami\"=an Adamite, one descended from the\nmythical and typical Adam for whom see Philo Jud\u00e6us.  We are told\nin one place a few lines further on that the merman is of\nhumankind; and in another that he is a kind of fish (Night\ndccccxlv).  This belief in mermen, possible originating with the\ncaricatures of the human face in the intelligent seal and stupid\nmanatee, is universal.  Al-Kazwini declares that a waterman with\na tail was dried and exhibited, and that in Syria one of them was\nmarried to a woman and had by her a son \"who understood the\nlanguages of both his parents.\"  The fable was refined to perfect\nbeauty by the Greeks: the mer-folk of the Arabs, Hindus and\nNortherners (Scandinavians, etc) are mere grotesques with green\nhair, etc.  Art in its highest expression never left the shores\nof the Mediterranean, and there is no sign that it ever will.\n\n[FN#243]  Here Lane translates \"Wajh\" lit. \"the desire of seeing\nthe face of God,\" and explains in a note that a \"Muslim holds\nthis to be the greatest happiness that can be enjoyed in\nParadise.\"  But I have noted that the tenet of seeing the\ncountenance of the Creator, except by the eyes of spirit, is a\nmuch disputed point amongst Moslems.\n\n[FN#244]  Artful enough is this contrast between the squalid\ncondition of the starving fisherman and the gorgeous belongings\nof the Merman.\n\n[FN#245]  Lit. \"Verily he laughed at me so that I set him free.\"\nThis is a fair specimen of obscure conciseness.\n\n[FN#246]  Arab. \"Mishannah,\" which Lane and Payne translate\nbasket: I have always heard it used of an old gunny-bag or bag of\nplaited palm-leaves.\n\n[FN#247]  Arab. \"Kaff Shurayk\" applied to a single bun.  The\nShurayk is a bunn, an oblong cake about the size of a man's hand\n(hence the term \"Kaff\"=palm) with two long cuts and sundry\noblique crosscuts, made of leavened dough, glazed with egg and\nSamn (clarified butter) and flavoured with spices (cinnamon,\ncurcuma, artemisia and prunes mahalab) and with aromatic seeds,\n(Rihat al-'ajin) of which Lane (iii. 641) specifies aniseed,\nnigella, absinthium, (Artemisia arborescens) and K\u00e1f\u00farah (A.\ncamphorata Monspeliensis) etc.  The Shurayk is given to the poor\nwhen visiting the tombs and on certain f\u00eates.\n\n[FN#248]  \"Mother of Prosperities.\"\n\n[FN#249]  Tribes of pre-historic Arabs who were sent to Hell for\nbad behaviour to Prophets S\u00e1lih and H\u00fad.  See vol. iii. 294.\n\n[FN#250]  \"Too much for him to come by lawfully.\"\n\n[FN#251]  To protect it.  The Arab. is \"J\u00e1h\"=high station,\ndignity.\n\n[FN#252]  The European reader, especially feminine, will think\nthis a hard fate for the pious first wife but the idea would not\noccur to the Moslem mind.  After bearing ten children a woman\nbecomes \"Umm al-ban\u00e1ti w'al-ban\u00edn\"=a mother of daughters and\nsons, and should hold herself unfit for love-disport.  The seven\nages of womankind are thus described by the Arabs and I translate\nthe lines after a well-known (Irish) model:--\n\n          From ten years to twenty--\n          Of beauty there's plenty.\n          From twenty to thirty--\n          Fat, fair and alert t'ye.\n          From thirty to forty--\n          Lads and lasses she bore t'ye.\n          From forty to fifty--\n          An old'un and shifty.\n          From fifty to sixty--\n          A sorrow that sticks t'ye.\n          From sixty to seventy--\n          A curse of God sent t'ye.\n\nFor these and other sentiments upon the subject of women and\nmarriage see Pilgrimage ii. 285-87.\n\n[FN#253]  Abdullah, as has been said, means \"servant or rather\nslave of Allah.\"\n\n[FN#254]  Again the \"Come to my arms, my slight acquaintance,\" of\nthe Anti-Jacobin.\n\n[FN#255]  Arab. \"Nukl,\" e.g. the quatre mendiants as opposed to\n\"F\u00e1kihah\"=fresh fruit.  The Persians, a people who delight in\ngross practical jokes, get the confectioner to coat with sugar\nthe droppings of sheep and goats and hand them to the bulk of the\nparty.  This pleasant confection is called \"Nukl-i-peshkil\"--\ndung-drag\u00e9es.\n\n[FN#256]  The older name of Mad\u00ednat al-Nabi, the city of the\nProphet; vulg. called Al-Medinah per excellentiam.  See vol. iv.\n114.  In the Mac. and Bul. texts we have \"Tayyibah\"=the goodly,\none of the many titles of that Holy City: see Pilgrimage ii. 119.\n\n[FN#257]  Not \"visiting the tomb of,\" etc. but visiting the\nProphet himself, who is said to have declared that \"Ziy\u00e1rah\"\n(visitation) of his tomb was in religion the equivalent of a\npersonal call upon himself.\n\n[FN#258]  Arab. \"Nafakah\"; for its conditions see Pigrimage iii.\n224. I have again and again insisted upon the Anglo-Indian\nGovernment enforcing the regulations of the Faith upon pauper\nHindi pilgrims who go to the Moslem Holy Land as beggars and die\nof hunger in the streets. To an \"Empire of Opinion\" this is an\nunmitigated evil (Pilgrimage iii. 256); and now, after some\nthirty-four years, there are signs that the suggestions of common\nsense are to be adopted.  England has heard of the extraordinary\nrecklessness and inconsequence of the British-Indian \"fellow-\nsubject.\"\n\n[FN#259]  The Ka'abah of Meccah.\n\n[FN#260]  When Moslems apply \"Nab\u00ed!\" to Mohammed it is in the\npeculiar sense of \"prophet\" ({proph\u00e9tes})=one who speaks before the\npeople, not one who predicts, as such foresight was adjured by\nthe Apostle. Dr. A. Neubauer (The Athen\u00e6um No. 3031) finds the\nroot of \"Nab\u00ed!\" in the Assyrian Nabu and Heb. Noob (occurring in\nExod. vii. 1. \"Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.\" i.e.\norator, speaker before the people), and holds it to be a\nCanaanite term which supplanted \"Roeh\" (the Seer) e.g. 1 Samuel\nix. 9.  The learned Hebraist traces the cult of Nebo, a secondary\ndeity in Assyria to Palestine and Ph\u0153nicia, Palmyra, Edessa (in\nthe Nebok of Abgar) and Hierapolis in Syria or Mabug (Nabog?).\n\n[FN#261]  I cannot find \"Dand\u00e1n\" even in Lib. Quintus de\nAquaticis Animalibus of the learned Sam. Bochart's \"Hierozo\u00efcon\"\n(London, 1663) and must conjecture that as \"Dand\u00e1n\" in Persian\nmeans a tooth (vol. ii. 83) the writer applied it to a sun-fish\nor some such well-fanged monster of the deep.\n\n[FN#262] A favourite proverb with the Fellah, when he alludes to\nthe Pasha and to himself.\n\n[FN#263]  An euphemistic answer, unberufen as the Germans say.\n\n[FN#264]  It is a temptation to derive this word from b\u00c2\u0153uf \u00e0\nl'eau, but I fear that the theory will not hold water.  The\n\"buffaloes\" of Alexandria laughted it to scorn.\n\n[FN#265]  Here the writer's zoological knowledge is at fault.\nAnimals, which never or very rarely see man, have no fear of him\nwhatever.  This is well-known to those who visit the Gull-fairs\nat Ascension Island, Santos and many other isolated rocks; the\nhen birds will peck at the intruder's ankles but they do not rise\nfrom off their eggs.  For details concerning the \"Gull-fair\" of\nthe Summer Islands consult p. 4 \"The History of the Bermudas,\"\nedited by Sir J. H. Lefroy for the Hakluyt Society, 1882.  I have\nseen birds on Fernando Po peak quietly await a second shot; and\nherds of antelopes, the most timed of animals, in the plains of\nSomali-land only stared but were not startled by the report of\nthe gun.  But Arabs are not the only moralists who write\nzoological nonsense: witness the notable verse,\n\n          \"Birds in their little nests agree,\"\n\nwhen the feathered tribes are the most pugnacious of breathing\nbeings.\n\n[FN#266]  Lane finds these details \"silly and tiresome or\notherwise objectionable,\" and omits them.\n\n[FN#267]  Meaning, \"Thou hast as yet seen little or nothing.\"  In\nmost Eastern tongues a question often expresses an emphatic\nassertion. See vol. i. 37.\n\n[FN#268]  Easterns wear as a rule little clothing but it suffices\nfor the essential purposes of decency and travellers will live\namongst them for years without once seeing an accidental\n\"exposure of the person.\" In some cases, as with the Nubian\nthong-apron, this demand of modesty requires not a little\npractice of the muscles; and we all know the difference in a\nScotch kilt worn by a Highlander and a cockney sportsman.\n\n[FN#269]  Arab. \"Sh\u00edraj\"=oil extracted from rape seed but\nespecially from sesame.  The Persians pronounce it \"S\u00edraj\"\n(apparently unaware that it is their own word \"Sh\u00edrah\"=juice in\nArabic garb) and have coined a participle \"Musayrij\" e.g., B\u00fa-i-\nmusayrij, taint of sesame-oil applied especially to the Jews who\nvery wisely prefer, in Persia and elsewhere, oil which is\nwholesome to butter which is not.  The Moslems, however, declare\nthat its immoderate use in cooking taints the exudations of the\nskin.\n\n[FN#270] Arab. \"Nakk\u00e1r\u00fan\" probably congeners of the redoubtable\n\"Dand\u00e1n.\"\n\n[FN#271]  Bresl. Edit. xi. 78.  The Mac. says \"They are all fish\"\n(Kullu-hum) and the Bul. \"Their food (aklu-hum) is fish.\"\n\n[FN#272]  Arab. \"Az'ar,\" usually=having thin hair.  The general\nterm for tailless is \"abtar.\"  See Koran cviii. 3, when it means\nchildless.\n\n[FN#273]  A common formula of politeness.\n\n[FN#274]  Bresl. Edit. xi. 82; meaning, \"You will probably keep\nit for yourself.\"  Abdullah of the Sea is perfectly logical; but\ngrief is not. We weep over the deaths of friends mostly for our\nown sake: theoretically we should rejoice that they are at rest;\nbut practically we are afflicted by the thought that we shall\nnever again see their pleasant faces.\n\n[FN#275]  i.e. about rejoicing over the newborns and mourning\nover the dead.\n\n[FN#276] i.e. Ishak of Mosul, for whom see vol. iv. 119. The\nBresl. Edit. has Faz\u00edl for Fazl.\n\n[FN#277] Abu Dalaf al-Ijili, a well-known soldier equally famed\nfor liberality and culture.\n\n[FN#278] Arab. \"Takhm\u00edsh,\" alluding to the familiar practice of\ntearing face and hair in grief for a loss, a death, etc.\n\n[FN#279] i.e. When he is in the very prime of life and able to\nadminister fiers coups de canif.\n\n          \"For ladies e'en of most uneasy virtue\n          Prefer a spouse whose age is short of thirty.\"\n                                                  Don Juan 1. 62.\n\n[FN#280] Arab. \"L\u00e1zuward\": see vol. iii. 33.\n\n[FN#281] Arab. \"Sidillah.\" The Bresl. Edit. (v. 99), has, \"a\ncouch of ivory and ebony, whereon was that which befitted it of\nmattresses and cushions * * * * and on it five damsels.\"\n\n[FN#282] i.e. As she untunes the lute by \"pinching\" the strings\nover-excitedly with her right, her other hand retunes it by\nturning the pegs.\n\n[FN#283] i.e. The slim cupbearer (Zephyr) and fair-faced girl\n(Moon) handed round the bubbling bowl (star).\n\n[FN#284] Arab. \"Al-Sath\" whence the Span. Azotea. The lines that\nfollow are from the Bresl. Edit. v. 110.\n\n[FN#285] This \"'Ar'ar\" is probably the Callitris quadrivalvis\nwhose resin (\"Sandarac\") is imported as varnish from African\nMogador to England. Also called the Thuja, it is of cypress\nshape, slow growing and finely veined in the lower part of the\nbase. Most travellers are agreed that it is the Citrus-tree of\nRoman Mauritania, concerning which Pliny (xiii. 29) gives curious\ndetails, a single table costing from a million sesterces (\u00c2\u00a3900)\nto 1,400,000.  For other details see p. 95, \"Morocco and the\nMoors,\" by my late friend Dr. Leared (London: Sampson Low, 1876).\n\n[FN#286] i.e. Kings might sigh for her in vain.\n\n[FN#287] These lines are in vol. viii. 279. I quote Mr. Payne.\n\n[FN#288] A most unsavoury comparison to a Persian who always\nconnects camphor with the idea of a corpse.\n\n[FN#289] Arab. \"Il\u00e0 m\u00e1 sh\u00e1a' ll\u00e1h\" i.e. as long as you like.\n\n[FN#290] i.e. of gramarye.\n\n[FN#291] Arab. \"Ta'w\u00edz\"=the Arab Tilasm, our Talisman, a charm,\nan amulet; and in India mostly a magic square. The subject is\ncomplicated and occupies in Herklots some sixty pages, 222-284.\n\n[FN#292] The Bul. and Mac. Edits. give the Princess's malady, in\nerror, as D\u00e1a al-Sud\u00e1' (megrims), instead of D\u00e1a al-Sar'\n(epilepsy) as in the Bresl. Edit. The latter would mean that she\nis possessed by a demon, again the old Scriptural fancy (see vol.\nv. 28). The subject is highly fitted for romance but not for a\n\"serious\" book which ought to know better.\n\n[FN#293] Arab. \"Al-'\u00c1riz\"=the demon who possessed her.\n\n[FN#294] i.e. He hath renounced his infamous traffic.\n\n[FN#295] Alluding to the favourite Eastern saying, \"The poor man\nhath no life.\"\n\n[FN#296] In this and the following lines some change is necessary\nfor the Bresl. and Mac. texts are very defective. The Arabic word\nhere translated \"recess\" is \"Ayw\u00e1n,\" prop. a hall, an open\nsaloon.\n\n[FN#297] i.e. by selling it for thirty thousand gold pieces, when\nhe might have got a million for it.\n\n[FN#298] The tale is not in the Bresl. Edit.\n\n[FN#299] Al-Khas\u00edb (= the fruitful) was the son of 'Abd al-Ham\u00edd\nand  intendant of the tribute of Egypt under Harun al-Rashid, but\nneither Lord nor Sultan. Lane (iii. 669) quotes three couplets in\nhis honour by Abu Now\u00e1s from p. 119 of \"Elmacini (Al-Mak\u00edn)\nHistoria  Saracenica.\"\n\nIf our camel visit not the land of Al-Khasib,  what man after\nAl-Khasib shall they visit?\nFor generosity is not his neighbour;  nor hath it sojourned near\nhim;  but generosity goeth wherever he goeth:\nHe is a man who purchaseth praise with his wealth,  and who\nknoweth that the periods of Fortune revolve.\n\n[FN#300] The old story \"Al\u00e0 j\u00fadi-k\"= upon thy generosity, which\nmeans  at least ten times the price.\n\n[FN#301]i.e. The distance is enormous.\n\n[FN#302] A gazelle; but here the slave-girl's name.\n\n[FN#303] See vol. ii. 104. Herklots (Pl. vii. fig. 2) illustrates\nthe cloth used in playing the Indian game, Pach\u00eds\u00ed. The \"board\"\nis rather European than Oriental, but it has of late years spread\nfar and wide, especially the backgammon board.\n\n[FN#304] i.e. \"Father of the Lion.\"\n\n[FN#305] Or as we should say, \"Thy blood will be on thine own\nhead.\"\n\n[FN#306] Called after the famous town in Persian Mesopotamia\nwhich however is spelt with the lesser aspirate. See p. 144. The\nGeographical works of S\u00e1dik-i-Ispah\u00e1ni, London; Oriental Transl.\nFund, 1882. Hamdan (with the greater aspirate) and Hamdun mean\nonly the member masculine, which may be a delicate piece of chaff\nfor the gallery\n\n[FN#307] Arab. \"Hulw\u00e1n al-mift\u00e1h,\" for which see vol. vii. 212.\nMr. Payne compares it with the French denier \u00e0 Dieu, given to the\nconcierge on like occasions.\n\n[FN#308] Arab. 'Udm, a relish, the Scotch \"kitchen,\" Lat.\nOpsonium, Ital. Companatico and our \"by-meat.\" See vol. iv. 128.\n\n[FN#309] Arab. \"Kabasa\" = he shampoo'd. See vol. ii. {23}.\n\n[FN#310] Arab. \"Nukl.\" See supra p. 177.\n\n[FN#311] Arab. \"Jannat al-Khuld\" and \"Firdaus,\" two of the\nHeavens repeatedly noticed.\n\n[FN#312] The na\u00efvet\u00e9 is purely Horatian, that is South European\nversus North European.\n\n[FN#313] i.e. \"Have some regard for thy life.\"\n\n[FN#314] Arab. \"Aw\u00e1k\" plur. of \u00dakiyyah a word known throughout\nthe Moslem East. As an ounce it weighs differently in every\ncountry and in Barbary (Mauritania) which we call Morocco, it is\na nominal coin containing twelve Fl\u00fas (ful\u00fas) now about = a\npenny. It is a direct descendant from the \"Uk\" or \"Wuk\" (ounce)\nof the hieroglyphs (See Sharpe's Egypt or any other Manual) and\nfirst appeared in Europe as the Greek {unk\u00eda}.\n\n[FN#315] Arab. \"K\u00e1rah\" usually a large bag.\n\n[FN#316] Arab. \"L\u00fal\u00faah,\" which may mean the Union-pearl; but here\nused in the sense of \"wild cow,\" the bubalus antelope, alluding to\nthe farouche nature of Miss Jamilah. We are also told infr\u00e0 that\nthe park was full of \"Wuh\u00fash\" = wild cattle.\n\n[FN#317] Arab. \"S\u00e1kiyah,\" the venerable old Persian wheel, for\nwhose music see Pilgrimage ii. 198. But \"Sakiyah\" is also applied,\nas here, to the water-channel which turns the wheel.\n\n[FN#318] Arab. \"Kaw\u00e1d\u00eds,\" plur. of \"K\u00e1d\u00fas,\" the pots round the\nrim of the Persian wheel: usually they are of coarse pottery.\n\n[FN#319] In the text \"S\u00e1kiyah\" a manifest error for \"Kubbah.\"\n\n[FN#320] Easterns greatly respect a belle fourchette, especially\nwhen the eater is a lover.\n\n[FN#321] Arab. \"'Ar\u00edshah,\" a word of many meanings, tent, nest,\nvine-trellis, etc.\n\n[FN#322] To spit or blow the nose in good society is \"vulgar.\"\nSneezing (Al-'Atsah) is a complicated affair. For Talmudic\ntraditions of death by sneezing see Lane (M. E. chapt. viii).\nAmongst Hindus sneezing and yawning are caused by evil spirits\nwhom they drive away by snapping thumb and forefinger as loudly\nas possible. The pagan Arabs held sneezing a bad omen, which\noften stopped their journeys. Moslems believe that when Allah\nplaced the Soul (life ?) in Adam, the dry clay became flesh and\nbone and the First Man, waking to life, sneezed and ejaculated\n\"Alhamdolillah;\" whereto Gabriel replied, \"Allah have mercy upon\nthee, O Adam!\" Mohammed, who liked sneezing because accompanied\nby lightness of body and openness of pores, said of it, \"If a man\nsneeze or eructate and say 'Alhamdolillah' he averts seventy\ndiseases of which the least is leprosy\" (Juz\u00e1m); also, \"If one of\nyou sneeze, let him exclaim, 'Alhamdolillah,' and let those\naround salute him in return with, 'Allah have mercy upon thee!'\nand lastly let him say, 'Allah direct you and strengthen your\ncondition.\"' Moderns prefer, \"Allah avert what may joy thy foe!\" = (our God bless you!) to which the answer is \"Alhamdolillah!\"\nMohammed disliked yawning (Suab\u00e1 or Thuab\u00e1), because not\nbeneficial as a sneeze and said, \"If one of you gape and cover not\nhis mouth, a devil leaps into it. \" This is still a popular\nsuperstition from Baghdad to Morocco.\n\n[FN#323] A duenna, nursery governess, etc. See vol. i. 231.\n\n[FN#324] For this belief see the tale called \"The Night of\nPower,\" vol. vi. 180.\n\n[FN#325] The Anglo-lndian \"Kincob\" (Kimkh'\u00e1b); brocade, silk\nflowered with gold or silver.\n\n[FN#326] Lane finds a needless difficulty in this sentence, which\nis far-fetched only because Kuus (cups) requires Ruus (head-tops)\nby way of jingle. It means only \"'Twas merry in hall when beards\nwag all.\"\n\n[FN#327] The Mac. Edit. gives two couplets which have already\noccurred from the Bull Edit i. 540.\n\n[FN#328] The lines are half of four couplets in vol. iv. 192; so\nI quote Lane.\n\n[FN#329].i.e. none hath pleased me. I have quoted the popular\nsaying, \"The son of the quarter filleth not the eye.\" i.e. women\nprefer stranger faces.\n\n[FN#330] Here after the favourite Oriental fashion, she tells the\ntruth but so enigmatically that it is more deceptive than an\nuntruth; a good Eastern quibble infinitely more dangerous than an\nhonest downright lie. The consciousness that the falsehood is\npart fact applies a salve to conscience and supplies a force\nlacking in the mere fib. When an Egyptian lies to you look\nstraight in his eyes and he will most often betray himself either\nby boggling or by a look of injured innocence.\n\n[FN#331] Another true lie.\n\n[FN#332] Arab. `'Yastagh\u00edb\u00fan\u00ed,\" lit. = they deem my absence too\nlong.\n\n[FN#333] An euphemistic form of questioning after absence: \"Is\nall right with thee?\"\n\n[FN#334] Arab. \"Kallim al-Sultan!\" the formula of summoning which\nhas often occurred in The Nights.\n\n[FN#335] Lane translates \"Almost died,\" Payne \"Well-nigh died;\"\nbut the text says \"died.\" I would suggest to translators\n\n          \"Be bould, be bould and every where be bould!\"\n\n[FN#336] He is the usual poltroon contrasted with the manly and\nmasterful girl, a conjunction of the lioness and the lamb\nsometimes seen in real life.\n\n[FN#337] That he might see Jamilah as Ibrahim had promised.\n\n[FN#338] A popular saying, i.e., les absents ont toujours tort.\n\n[FN#339] Who had a prior right to marry her, but not against her\nconsent after she was of age.\n\n[FN#340] Arab \"Sirw\u00e1l.\" In Al-Hariri it is a singular form (see\nNo. ii. of the twelve riddles in Ass. xxiv.), but Mohammed said\nto his followers \"Tuakhkhiz\u00fa\" (adopt ye) \"Sar\u00e1w\u00edl\u00e1t.\" The latter\nis regularly declinable but the broken form Sar\u00e1w\u00edl is\nimperfectly declinable on account of its \"heaviness,\" as are all\nplurals whose third letter is an Alif followed by i or \u00ed in the\nnext syllable.\n\n[FN#341] Arab. \"Matarik\" from mitrak or mitrakah a small wooden\nshield coated with hide. This even in the present day is the\npoliceman's equipment in the outer parts of the East.\n\n[FN#342] Arab. \"Sab\u00edyah\" for which I prefer Mr. Payne's \"young\nlady\" to Lane's \"damsel\"; the latter should be confined to J\u00e1riyah\nas both bear the double sense of girl and slave (or servant)\ngirl. \"Bint\" again is daughter, maid or simply girl.\n\n[FN#343] The sense of them is found in vol. ii. 41.\n\n[FN#344] Here the text is defective, but I hardly like to supply\nthe omission. Mr. Payne introduces from below, \"for that his\ncharms were wasted and his favour changed by reason of the much\nterror and affliction he had suffered.\" The next lines also are\nvery abrupt and unconnected.\n\n[FN#345] Arab. \"Y\u00e1 Maul\u00e1ya!\" the term is still used throughout\nMoslem lands; but in Barbary where it is pronounced \"Mool\u00e1ee\"\nEuropeans have converted it to \"Muley\" as if it had some\nconnection with the mule. Even in Robinson Crusoe we find \"muly\"\nor \"Moly Ismael\" (chapt. ii.); and we hear the high-sounding name\nMaul\u00e1-i-Idr\u00eds, the patron saint of the Sunset Land, debased to\n\"Muley Dr\u00eds.\"\n\n[FN#346] Lane omits this tale because \"it is very similar, but\ninferior in interest, to the Story told by the Sultan's Steward.\"\nSee vol. i. 278.\n\n[FN#347] Sixteenth Abbaside A.H. 279\u2013289 (=A.D. 891\u2013902). \"He was\ncomely, intrepid, of grave exterior, majestic in presence, of\nconsiderable intellectual power and the fiercest of the Caliphs\nof the House of Abbas. He once had the courage to attack a lion\"\n(Al-Siyuti). I may add that he was a good soldier and an\nexcellent administrator, who was called Saff\u00e1h the Second because\nhe refounded the House of Abbas. He was exceedingly fanatic and\ndied of sensuality, having first kicked his doctor to death, and\nhe spent his last moments in versifying.\n\n[FN#348] Hamd\u00fan bin Ism\u00e1'\u00edl, called the K\u00e1tib or Scribe, was the\nfirst of his family who followed the profession of a Nad\u00edm or\nCup-companion. His son Ahmad (who is in the text) was an oral\ntransmitter of poetry and history. Al-Siy\u00fati (p. 390) and De\nSlane I. Khall (ii. 304) notice him.\n\n[FN#349] Probably the Caliph had attendants, but the text\nafterwards speaks of them as two. Mac. Edit. iv. p. 558, line 2;\nand a few lines below, \"the Caliph and the man with him.\"\n\n[FN#350] Arab. \"Nays\u00e1b\u00far,\" the famous town in Khorasan where\nOmar-i-Khayy\u00e1m (whom our people will call Omar Khayy\u00e1m) was\nburied and where his tomb is still a place of pious visitation. A\nsketch of it has lately appeared in the illustrated papers. For\nan affecting tale concerning the astronomer-poet's tomb, borrowed\nfrom the Nig\u00e1rist\u00e1n see the Preface by the late Mr. Fitzgerald\nwhose admirable excerpts from the Rubaiyat (101 out of 820\nquatrains) have made the poem popular among all the\nEnglish-speaking races.\n\n[FN#351] Arab. \"A-Shar\u00edf anta?\" (with the Hamzah-sign of\ninterrogation)=Art thou a Shar\u00edf (or descendant of the Apostle)?\n\n[FN#352] Tenth Abbaside (A.H. 234\u2013247=848\u2013861), grandson of\nAl-Rashid and born of a slave-concubine. He was famous for his\nhatred of the Alides (he destroyed the tomb of Al-Husayn) and\nclaimed the pardon of Allah for having revised orthodox\ntraditionary doctrines. He compelled the Christians to wear\ncollars of wood or leather and was assassinated by five Turks.\n\n[FN#353] His father was Al-Mu'tasim bi 'llah (A.H.\n218\u2013227=833\u2013842) the son of Al-Rashid by M\u00e1ridah a\nslave-concubine of foreign origin. He was brave and of high\nspirit, but destitute of education; and his personal strength was\nsuch that he could break a man's elbow between his fingers. He\nimitated the apparatus of Persian kings; and he was called the\n\"Octonary\" because he was the 8th Abbaside; the 8th in descent\nfrom Abbas; the 8th son of Al-Rashid; he began his reign in A.H.\n218; lived 48 years; was born under Scorpio (8th Zodiacal sign);\nwas victorious in 8 expeditions; slew 8 important foes and left 8\nmale and 8 female children. For his introducing Turks see vol.\niii, 81.\n\n[FN#354] i.e. as if it were given away in charity.\n\n[FN#355] Arab. \"Shukkah,\" a word much used in the Zanzibar trade\nwhere it means a piece of long-cloth one fathom long. See my\n\"Lake Regions of Central Africa,\" vol. i. 147, etc.\n\n[FN#356] He is afterwards called in two places \"Kh\u00e1dim\"=eunuch.\n\n[FN#357] A courteous way of saying, \"Never mind my name: I wish\nto keep it hidden.\" The formula is still popular.\n\n[FN#358] Arab. \"Bakhkharan\u00ed\" i.e. fumigated me with burning\naloes-wood, Calumba or similar material.\n\n[FN#359] In sign of honour. The threshold is important amongst\nMoslems: in one of the Mameluke Soldans' sepulchres near Cairo I\nfound a granite slab bearing the \"cartouche\" (shield) of Khufu\n(Cheops) with the four hieroglyphs hardly effaced.\n\n[FN#360] i.e. One of the concubines by whose door he had passed.\n\n[FN#361] Epistasis without the prostasis, \"An she ordered thee so\nto do:\" the situation justifies the rhetorical figure.\n\n[FN#362] Arab. \"Sard\u00e1b\" see vol. i, 340.\n\n[FN#363] Thirteenth Abbaside A.H. 252\u2013255 (=866\u2013869). His mother\nwas a Greek slave called Kab\u00edhah (Al-Mas'udi and Al-Siyuti); for\nwhich \"Banjah\" is probably a clerical error. He was exceedingly\nbeautiful and was the first to ride out with ornaments of gold.\nBut he was impotent in the hands of the Turks who caused the mob\nto depose him and kill him\u00c2\u2014his death being related in various\nways.\n\n[FN#364] i.e. The reward from Allah for thy good deed.\n\n[FN#365] Arab. \"Nusk\" abstinence from women, a part of the\nZahid's asceticism.\n\n[FN#366] Arab. \"Mun\u00e1zirah\" the verbal noun of which, \"Mun\u00e1zarah,\"\nmay also mean \"dispute.\" The student will distinguish between\n\"Munazarah\" and Munafarah=a contention for precedence in presence\nof an umpire.\n\n[FN#367] The Mac. Edit. gives by mistake \"Ab\u00fa D\u00e1\u00fad\": the Bul.\ncorrectly \"Ab\u00fa Duw\u00e1d,\" He was K\u00e1zi al-Kuz\u00e1t (High Chancellor)\nunder Al-Mu'tasim, Al-Wasik bi'llah (Vathek) and Al-Mutawakkil.\n\n[FN#368] Arab. \"Zaff\u00fa\"=they led the bride to the bridegroom's\nhouse; but here used in the sense of displaying her as both were\nin the palace.\n\n[FN#369] i.e. renounce the craft which though not sinful (har\u00e1m)\nis makr\u00fah or religiously unpraiseworthy; Mohammed having objected\nto music and indeed to the arts in general.\n\n[FN#370] Arab. \"L\u00e1 tankati'\u00ed;\" do not be too often absent from\nus. I have noticed the whimsical resemblance of \"Kat'\" and our\n\"cut\"; and here the metaphorical sense is almost identical.\n\n[FN#371] See Ibn Khallikan ii. 455.\n\n[FN#372] The Turkish body-guard. See vol. iii. 81.\n\n[FN#373] Twelfth Abbaside (A.H. 248-252=862-866) the son of a\nslave-concubine Mukh\u00e1rik. He was virtuous and accomplished,\ncomely, fair-skinned, pock-marked and famed for defective\npronunciation; and he first set the fashion of shortening men's\ncapes and widening the sleeves.  After may troubles with the\nTurks, who were now the Pr\u00e6torian guard of Baghdad, he was\nmurdered at the instigation of Al-Mu' tazz, who succeeded him, by\nhis Chamberlain Sa'id bin Sal\u00edh.\n\n[FN#374] Arab. \"Us\u00fal,\" his forbears, his ancestors.\n\n[FN#375] Lane rejects this tale because it is \"extremely\nobjectionable; far more so than the title might lead me to\nexpect.\" But he quotes the following marginal note by his Shaykh:\n--\"Many persons (women) reckon marrying a second time amongst the\nmost disgraceful of actions. This opinion is commonest in the\ncountry-towns and villages; and my mother's relations are thus\ndistinguished; so that a woman of them, when her husband dieth or\ndivorceth her while she is young, passeth in widowhood her life,\nhowever long it may be, and disdaineth to marry a second time.\" I\nfear that this state of things belongs to the good old days now\nutterly gone by; and the loose rule of the stranger, especially\nthe English, in Egypt will renew the scenes which characterised\nSind when Sir Charles Napier hanged every husband who cut down an\nadulterous wife. I have elsewhere noticed the ignorant idea that\nMoslems deny to women souls and seats in Paradise, whilst\nMohammed canonised two women in his own family. The theory arose\nwith the \"Fathers\" of the Christian Church who simply exaggerated\nthe misogyny of St. Paul. St. Ambrose commenting on Corinthians\ni. ii., boldly says:--\"Feminas ad imaginem Dei factas non esse.\"\nSt. Thomas Aquinas and his school adopted the Aristotelian view,\n\"Mulier est erratum natur\u00e6, et mas occasionatus, et per accidens\ngeneratur; atque ideo est monstrum.\" For other instances see\nBayle s. v. Gediacus (Revd. Simon of Brandebourg) who in 1695\npublished a \"Defensio Sexus muliebris,\" a refutation of an\nanti-Socinian satire or squib, \"Disputatio perjucunda, Mulieres\nhomines non esse,\" Parisiis, 1693. But when Islam arose in the\nseventh century, the Christian learned cleverly affixed the\nstigma of their own misogyny upon the Moslems ad captandas\nf\u0153minas and in Southern Europe the calumny still bears fruit.\nMohammed (Koran, chapt. xxiv.) commands for the first time, in\nthe sixth year of his mission, the veiling and, by inference, the\nseclusion of women, which was apparently unknown to the Badawin\nand, if practised in the cities was probably of the laxest. Nor\ncan one but confess that such modified separation of the sexes,\nwhich it would be impossible to introduce into European manners,\nhas great and notable advantages. It promotes the freest\nintercourse between man and man, and thus civilises what we call\nthe \"lower orders\": in no Moslem land, from Morocco to China, do\nwe find the brutals without manners or morals which are bred by\nEuropean and especially by English civilisation. For the same\nreason it enables women to enjoy fullest intimacy and friendship\nwith one another, and we know that the best of both sexes are\nthose who prefer the society of their own as opposed to \"quite\nthe lady's man\" and \"quite the gentleman's woman.\" It also adds\nan important item to social decorum by abolishing e.g. such\nindecencies as the \"ball-room flirtation\"--a word which must be\nborrowed from us, not translated by foreigners. And especially it\ngives to religious meetings, a tone which the presence of women\nmodifies and not for the better. Perhaps, the best form is that\nsemi-seclusion of the sex, which prevailed in the heroic ages of\nGreece, Rome, and India (before the Moslem invasion), and which\nis perpetuated in Christian Armenia and in modern Hellas. It is a\nsomething between the conventual strictness of Al-Islam and the\nliberty, or rather licence, of the \"Anglo-Saxon\" and the\n\"Anglo-American.\" And when England shall have cast off that\npeculiar insularity which makes her differ from all civilised\npeoples, she will probably abolish three gross abuses,\ntime-honoured scandals, which bear very heavily on women and\nchildren. The first is the Briton's right to will property away\nfrom his wife and offspring. The second is the action for \"breach\nof promise,\" salving the broken heart with pounds, shillings, and\npence: it should be treated simply as an exaggerated breach of\ncontract. The third is the procedure popularly called \"Crim.\nCon.,\" and this is the most scandalous of all: the offence is\nagainst the rights of property, like robbery or burglary, and it\nought to be treated criminally with fine, imprisonment and in\ncases with corporal punishment after the sensible procedure of\nMoslem law.\n\n[FN#376] \"Moon of the age,\" a name which has before occurred.\n\n[FN#377] The Malocchio or gettatura, so often noticed.\n\n[FN#378] The crescent of the month Zu 'l-Ka'dah when the\nRamazan-fast is broken. This allusion is common. Comp. vol. i.\n84.\n\n[FN#379] This line contains one of the Yes, Yes and No, No\ntrifles alluded to in vol. ii, 60. Captain Lockett (M. A. 103)\nrenders it \"I saw a fawn upon a hillock whose beauty eclipsed the\nfull moon. I said, What is thy name? she answered Deer. What my\nDear said I, but she replied, no, no!\" To preserve the sound I\nhave sacrificed sense: Lulu is a pearl, Li? li? (= for me, for\nme?) and La! La! = no! no! See vol. i, 217. I should have\nexplained a line which has puzzled some readers,\n\n   \"A sun (face) on wand (neck) in knoll of sand (hips) she\n        showed\" etc,\n\n[FN#380] Arab. \"Al-huwayna,\" a rare term.\n\n[FN#381] Bright in the eyes of the famishing who is allowed to\nbreak his fast.\n\n[FN#382] Mr. Payne reads \"Maghrabi\" = a Mauritanian, Maroccan,\nthe Moors (not the Moorish Jews or Arabs) being a race of\nSodomites from highest to lowest. But the Mac. and Bul. Edit.\nhave \"Ajami.\"\n\n[FN#383] For \"Ishk uzri\" = platonic love see vol. i. 232; ii.\n104.\n\n[FN#384] Zaynab (Zenobia) and Zayd are generic names for women\nand men.\n\n[FN#385] i.e. He wrote \"Kasidahs\" (= odes, elegies) after the\nfashion of the \"Suspended Poems\" which mostly open with the lover\ngazing upon the traces of the camp where his beloved had dwelt.\nThe exaggerated conventionalism of such exordium shows that these\nearly poems had been preceded by a host of earlier pieces which\nhad been adopted as canons of poetry.\n\n[FN#386] The verses are very mal-\u00e0-propos, like many occurring in\nThe Nights, for the maligned Shaykh is proof against all the\nseductions of the pretty boy and falls in love with a woman after\nthe fashion of Don Quixote. Mr. Payne complains of the obscurity\nof the original owing to abuse of the figure enallage; but I find\nthem explicit enough, referring to some debauched elder after the\ntype of Abu Now\u00e1s.\n\n[FN#387] Arab. \"'Irk\" = a root which must here mean a sprig, a\ntwig. The basil grows to a comparatively large size in the East.\n\n[FN#388] Arab. \"Lait \"= one connected with the tribe of Lot, see\nvol. v. 161.\n\n[FN#389] For the play upon \"Saki\" (oblique case of sak, leg-calf)\nand Saki a cupbearer see vol. ii. 327.\n\n[FN#390] \"On a certain day the leg shall be bared and men shall\nbe called upon to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able\"\n(Koran, lxviii. 42). \"Baring the leg\" implies a grievous\ncalamity, probably borrowed from the notion of tucking up the\nskirts and stripping for flight. On the dangerous San Francisco\nRiver one of the rapids is called \"Tira-calcoens\" = take off your\ntrousers (Highlands of the Brazil, ii. 35). But here the allusion\nis simply ludicrous and to a Moslem blasphemous.\n\n[FN#391] Arab. \"Istahi,\" a word of every day use in reproof. So\nthe Hindost. \"Kuchh sharm nahin?\" hast thou no shame? Shame is a\npassion with Orientals and very little known to the West.\n\n[FN#392] i.e. Angels and men saying, \"The Peace (of God) be on us\nand on all righteous servants of Allah!\" This ends every prayer.\n\n[FN#393] Arab. \"Al-Niyah,\" the ceremonial purpose or intent to\npray, without which prayer is null and void. See vol. v. 163. The\nwords would be \"I purpose to pray a two-bow prayer in this hour\nof deadly danger to my soul.\" Concerning such prayer see vol. i.\n142.\n\n[FN#394] Arab. \"S\u00e1kin\" = quiescent, Let a sleeping hound lie.\n\n[FN#395] Arab. \"\u00c1s\u00e1r\" lit. traces i.e. the works, the mighty\nsigns and marvels.\n\n[FN#396] The mention of coffee now frequently occurs in this tale\nand in that which follows: the familiar use of it showing a\ncomparatively late date, and not suggesting the copyist's hand.\n\n[FN#397] Arab. \"Al-Kahwah,\" the place being called from its\nproduce. See Pilgrimage i. 317-18.\n\n[FN#398] Arab. \"Al-Ghurbah Kurbah:\" the translation in the text\nis taken from my late friend Edward Eastwick, translator of the\nGulistan and author of a host of works which show him to have\nbeen a ripe Oriental scholar.\n\n[FN#399] The fiction may have been suggested by the fact that in\nall Moslem cities from India to Barbary the inner and outer gates\nare carefully shut during the noontide devotions, not \"because\nFriday is the day on which creation was finished and Mohammed\nentered Al-Medinah;\" but because there is a popular idea that in\ntimes now approaching the Christians will rise up against the\nMoslems during prayers and will repeat the \"Sicilian Vespers.\"\n\n[FN#400] i.e. the syndic of the Guild of Jewellers.\n\n[FN#401] This is an Arab Lady Godiva of the wrong sort.\n\n[FN#402] This is explained in my Pilgrimage i. 99 et seq.\n\n[FN#403] About three pennyweights. It varies, however, everywhere\nand in Morocco the \"Mezkal\" as they call it is an imaginary\nvalue, no such coin existing.\n\n[FN#404] i.e. over and above the value of the gold, etc.\n\n[FN#405] This was the custom of contemporary Europe and more than\none master cutler has put to death an apprentice playing Peeping\nTom to detect the secret of sword-making.\n\n[FN#406] Among Moslems husbands are divided into three species;\n(1) of \"Bahr\" who is married for love; (2) of \"Dahr,\" for defence\nagainst the world, and (3) of \"Mahr\" for marriage-settlements\n(money). Master Obayd was an unhappy compound of the two latter;\nbut he did not cease to be a man of honour.\n\n[FN#407]The Mac. Edit. here is a mass of blunders and misprints.\n\n[FN#408] The Mac. Edit. everywhere calls her \"Sabiyah\" = the\nyoung lady and does not mention her name Halimah = the Mild, the\nGentle till the cmlxxivth Night. I follow Mr. Payne's example by\nintroducing it earlier into the story, as it avoids vagueness and\nrepetition of the indefinite.\n\n[FN#409]  Arab \"Ad\u00edm al-Zauk,\"=without savour. applied to an\ninsipid mannerless man as \"b\u00e1rid\" (cold) is to a fool. \"Ahl Zauk\"\nis a man of pleasure, a voluptuary, a hedonist.\n\n[FN#410]  Arab. \"Finj\u00e1n\" the egg-shell cups from which the\nEasterns still drink coffee.\n\n[FN#411]  Arab. \"Aw\u00e1shik\" a rare word, which Dozy translates\n\"osselet\" (or osselle) and Mr. Payne, \"hucklebones,\" concerning\nwhich he has obliged me with this note. Chambaud renders osselet\nby \"petit os avec lequel les enfants jouent.\" Hucklebone is the\nhip-bone but in the plural it applies to our cockals or cockles:\nLatham gives \"hucklebone,\" (or cockal), one of the small vertebr\u00e6\nof the coccygis, and Littleton translates \"Talus,\" a hucklebone,\na bone to play with like a dye, a play called cockal. (So also in\nRider.) Hucklebones and knucklebones are syn.: but the latter is\nmodern and liable to give a false idea, besides being\ntautological. It has nothing to do with the knuckles and derives\nfrom the German \"Kn\u00f6chel\" (dialectically Kn\u00f6chelein) a bonelet.\n\n[FN#412]  For ablution after sleep and before prayer. The address\nof the slave-girl is perfectly natural: in a Moslem house we\nshould hear it this day, nor does it show the least sign of\n\"frowardness. \"\n\n[FN#413]  The perfect stupidity of the old wittol is told with\nthe driest Arab humour.\n\n[FN#414]  This is a rechauff\u00e9 of the Language of Signs in \"Az\u00edz\nand Az\u00edzah\" vol. ii. 302.\n\n[FN#415]  In the Mac. Edit. \"Y\u00e1 Ful\u00e1nah\"=O certain person.\n\n[FN#416]  Arab. \"Laylat al-K\u00e1bilah,\" lit.=the coming night, our\nto-night; for which see vol. iii. {249}.\n\n[FN#417]  Arab. \"Ya Ahmak!\" which in Marocco means a madman, a\nmaniac, a Santon.\n\n[FN#418]  The whole passage has a grammatical double entendre\nwhose application is palpable. Harf al-Jarr=a particle governing\nthe noun in the genitive or a mode of thrusting and tumbling.\n\n[FN#419]  Arab. \"Al-Silah\" =conjunctive (sentence), also coition;\nAl-Maus\u00fal= the conjoined, a grammatical term for relative pronoun\nor particle.\n\n[FN#420] Arab. \"Tanw\u00edn al-Iz\u00e1fah ma'z\u00fal\" = the nunnation in\nconstruction cast out. \"Tanw\u00edn\" (nunnation) is pronouncing the\nvowels of the case-endings of a noun with n -un for u\n(nominative) -in for i (genitive) and -an for a (accusative). This\nnunnation expresses indefiniteness, e.g. \"Malikun\"=a king, any\nking. When the noun is made definite by the Ma'rifah or article\n(al), the Tanwin must be dropped, e.g. Al-Maliku = the King; Al-\nMalikun being a grammatical absurdity. In construction or regimen\n(iz\u00e1fah) the nunnation must also disappear, as Maliku 'l-Hindi =\nthe King of Hind (a King of Hind would be Malikun min Mul\u00faki\n'l-Hindi = a King from amongst the Kings of Hind). Thus whilst\nthe wife and the lover were conjoined as much as might be, the\nhocussed and sleeping husband was dismissed (ma'z\u00fal=degraded)\nlike a nunnation dropped in construction. I may add that the\nterminal syllables are invariably dropped in popular parlance and\nnone but Mr. G. Palgrave (who afterwards ignored his own\nassertion) ever found an Arab tribe actually using them in\nconversation although they are always pronounced when reading the\nKoran and poetry.\n\n[FN#421]  This was a saying of Mohammed about overfrequency of\nvisits, \"Zur ghibban, tazid hubban\"=call rarely that friendship\nlast fairly. So the verse of Al-Mutanabbi,\n\n          \"How oft familiarity breeds dislike.\"\n\nPreston quotes Jesus ben Sirach, {m\u00e8 \u00e9mpipte h\u00edna m\u00e8 epoorth\u00eas, ka\u00ec m\u00e8 makr\u00e0n aph\u00edstoo h\u00edna m\u00e8 epilesth\u00eas}. Also Al-Hariri (Ass.\nxv. of \"The Legal\"; De Sacy p. 478 1. 2.) \"Visit not your friend\nmore than one day in a month, nor stop longer than that with\nhim!\" Also Ass. xvi. 487, 8. \"Multiply not visits to thy friend.\"\n\"None so disliked as one visiting too often.\" (Preston p. 352).\nIn the Cent nouvelles (52) Nouvelles (No. lii.) the dying father\nsays to his son:--\"Jamais ne vous hantez tant en l'ostel de votre\nvoisin que l'on vous y serve de pain bis.\" In these matters\nMoslems follow the preaching and practice of the Apostle, who was\nabout as hearty and genial as the \"Great Washington.\" But the\nArab had a fund of dry humour which the Anglo-American lacked\naltogether.\n\n[FN#422]  Arab. \"'Amal\"--action, operation. In Hindostani it is\nused (often with an Alif for an Ayn) as intoxication e.g. Amal\np\u00e1n\u00ed strong waters and applied to Shar\u00e1b (wine), Bozah (Beer),\nT\u00e1d\u00ed (toddy or the fermented juice of the T\u00e1d, Borassus\nflabelliformis), Nary\u00e1li (juice of the cocoa-nut tree) Saynddi\n(of the wild date, Elate Sylvestris), Afy\u00fan (opium and its\npreparations as post=poppy seeds) and various forms of Cannabis\nSativa, as Ganja, Charas, Madad, Sabzi etc. for which see\nHerklots' Glossary.\n\n[FN#423] Arab \"Sard\u00e1b,\" mostly an underground room (vol. i. 340)\nbut here a tunnel.\n\n[FN#424]  Arab. \"Al-L\u00e1wandiyah\": this and the frequent mention of\ncoffee and presently of a watch (s\u00e1'ah) show that the tale in its\npresent state, cannot be older than the end of the sixteenth\ncentury.\n\n[FN#425]  Arab. \"Su'b\u00e1n,\" vol. i. 172.\n\n[FN#426]  The lines have occurred in vol. i. 238, where I have\nnoted the punning \"Sabr\"= patience or aloes. I quote Torrens: the\nTemplar, however, utterly abolishes the pun in the last couplet:-\n-\n\n\"The case is not at my command, but in fair Patience hand\nI'm set by Him who order'th all and doth such case command.\"\n\n\"Amr\" here=case (circumstance) or command (order) with a\nsuspicion of reference to Murr=myrrh, bitterness. The reader will\nnote the resignation to Fate's decrees which here and in host of\nplaces elevates the tone of the book.\n\n[FN#427]  i.e. as one loathes that which is prohibited, and with\na loathing which makes it unlawful for me to cohabit with thee.\n\n[FN#428]  This is quite natural to the sensitive Eastern.\n\n[FN#429]  Hence, according to Moslem and Eastern theory generally\nher lewd and treasonable conduct. But in Egypt not a few freeborn\nwomen and those too of the noblest, would beat her hollow at her\nown little game. See for instance the booklet attributed to Jal\u00e1l\nal-Siy\u00fat\u00ed and entitled Kit\u00e1b al-\u00cdz\u00e1h (Book of Explanation) f\u00ed\n'Ilm al-Nik\u00e1h (in the Science of Carnal Copulation). There is a\ncopy of it in the British Museum; and a friend kindly supplied me\nwith a lithograph from Cairo; warning me that there are doubts\nabout the authorship.\n\n[FN#430]  These lines have occurred in vol. iii. 214: I quote Mr.\nPayne.\n\n[FN#431] This ejaculation, as the waw shows, is parenthetic;\nspoken either by Halimah, by Shahrazad or by the writer.\n\n[FN#432]  Arab. \"Kasr\" here meaning an upper room.\n\n[FN#433]  To avoid saying, I pardon thee.\n\n[FN#434]  A proverbial saying which here means I could only dream\nof such good luck.\n\n[FN#435]  A good old custom amongst Moslems who have had business\ntransactions with each other: such acquittance of all possible\nclaims will be quoted on \"Judgment-Day,\" when debts will be\nseverely enquired into.\n\n[FN#436]  Arab. \"Kutr (tract or quarter) Misr,\" vulgarly\npronounced \"Masr.\" I may remind the reader that the Assyrians\ncalled the Nile-valley \"Musur\" whence probably the Heb. Misraim a\ndual form denoting Upper and Lower Egypt which are still\ndistinguished by the Arabs into Sa'id and Misr. The hieroglyphic\nterm is Ta-mera=Land of the Flood; and the Greek Aigyptos is\nprobably derived from Kahi-Ptah (region of the great God Ptah) or\nMa Ka Ptah (House of the soul of Ptah). The word \"Copt\" or\n\"Kopt,\" in Egyptian \"Kubti\" and pronounced \"Gubti,\" contains the\nsame consonants\n\n[FN#437]  Now an unimportant frontier fort and village dividing\nSyria-Palestine from Egypt and famed for the French battle with\nthe Mamelukes (Feb. 19, 1799) and the convention for evacuating\nEgypt. In the old times it was an important site built upon the\n\"River of Egypt\" now a dried up Wady; and it was the chief port\nof the then populous Najab or South Country. According to\nAbulfeda it derived its name (the \"boothy,\" the nest) from a hut\nbuilt there by the brothers of Joseph when stopped at the\nfrontier by the guards of Pharaoh. But this is usual Jewish\ninfection of history.\n\n[FN#438]  Arab. \"B\u00e1b.\" which may also=\"Chapter\" or category. See\nvol. i., 136 and elsewhere (index). In Egypt \"B\u00e1b\" sometimes\nmeans a sepulchral cave hewn in a rock (plur. B\u00edb\u00e1n) from the\nCoptic \"B\u00edb.\"\n\n[FN#439]  i.e. \"The Holy,\" a town some three marches (60 miles)\nN. East of Cairo; thus showing the honour done to our unheroic\nhero. There is also a S\u00e1lihiyah quarter or suburb of Damascus\nfamous for its cemetery of holy men, but the facetious Cits\nchange the name to Z\u00e1lliniyah=causing to stray; in allusion to\nits Kurdish population. Baron von Hammer reads \"le faubourg\nAdelieh\" built by Al-Malik Al-Adil and founded a chronological\nargument on a clerical error.\n\n[FN#440]  Kamar al-Zaman; the normal pun on the name; a practice\nas popular in the East as in the West, and worthy only of a\npickpocket in either place.\n\n[FN#441]  Arab. \"Azr\u00e1r\" plur. of \"Zirr\" and lit. = \"buttons,\"\ni.e. of his robe collar from which his white neck and face appear\nshining as the sun.\n\n[FN#442]  Arab. \"D\u00e1irah\": the usual inclosure of Kan\u00e1ts or\ntent-flaps pitched for privacy during the halt.\n\n[FN#443]  i.e. it was so richly ornamented that it resembled an\nenchanted hoard whose spells, hiding it from sight, had been\nbroken by some happy treasure seeker.\n\n[FN#444]  The merchant who is a \"stern parent\" and exceedingly\nticklish on the Pundonor saw at first sight her servile origin\nwhich had escaped the mother. Usually it is the other way.\n\n[FN#445]  Not the head of the Church, or Chief Pontiff, but the\nChief of the Olema and Fukah\u00e1 (F\u00e1kihs or D.D.'s.) men learned in\nthe Law (divinity). The order is peculiarly Moslem, in fact the\nsuccedaneum for the Christian \"hierarchy,\" an institution never\ncontemplated by the Founder of Christianity. This title shows the\nmodern date of the tale.\n\n[FN#446]  Arab. \"Maulid,\" prop. applied to the Birth-feast of\nMohammed which begins on the 3rd day of Rab\u00ed al-Awwal (third\nMoslem month) and lasts a week or ten days (according to local\ncustom), usually ending on the 12th and celebrated with salutes\nof cannon, circumcision feasts, marriage banquets, Zikr-litanies,\nperlections of the Koran and all manner of solemn festivities\nincluding the \"powder-play\" (L\u00e1b al-B\u00e1r\u00fat) in the wilder corners\nof Al-Islam. It is also applied to the birth-festivals of great\nSantons (as Ahmad al-Badawi) for which see Lane M. E. chapt.\nxxiv. In the text it is used like the Span. \"Funcion\" or the Hind\n\"Tam\u00e1sh\u00e1,\" any great occasion of merry-making.\n\n[FN#447]  Arab. \"San\u00e1jik\" Plur. of Sanjak (Turk.) = a banner,\nalso applied to the bearer (ensign or cornet) and to a military\nrank mostly corresponding with Bey or Colonel.\n\n[FN#448] I have followed Mr. Payne's ordering of the text which,\nboth in the Mac. and Bull. Edits., is wholly inconsequent and has\nnot the excuse of rhyme.\n\n[FN#449]  Arab. \"Jilb\u00e1b,\" a long coarse veil or gown which in\nBarbary becomes a \"Jall\u00e1biyah,\" a striped and hooded cloak of\nwoollen stuff.\n\n[FN#450]  i.e. a broken down pilgrim left to die on the road.\n\n[FN#451]  These lines have occurred in vol. i. 272. I quote Mr.\nPayne.\n\n[FN#452]  Note the difference between \"Zirt,\" the loud crepitus\nand \"Faswah\" the susurrus which Captain Grose in his quaint\n\"Lexicum Balatronicum,\" calls a \"fice\" or a \"foyse\" (from the\nArabic Fas, faswah ?).\n\n[FN#453] These lines have occurred in Night dcxix, vol. vi. 246;\nwhere the pun on Khaliyah is explained. I quote Lane.\n\n[FN#454]  The usual pretext of \"God bizness,\" as the Comoro men\ncall it. For the title of the Ka'abah see my Pilgrimage vol. iii.\n149.\n\n[FN#455]  This was in order to travel as a respectable man; he\ncould also send the girl as a spy into the different Harims to\nlearn news of the lady who had eloped.\n\n[FN#456]  A polite form of alluding to their cursing him.\n\n[FN#457]  i.e. on account of the King taking offence at his\nunceremonious departure.\n\n[FN#458]  i.e. It will be the worse for him.\n\n[FN#459]  I would here remind the reader that \"'Arabiyyun\" pl.\n'Urb is a man of pure Arab race, whether of the Ahl al-Madar\n(=people of mortar, i.e. citizens) or Ahl al-Wabar (=tents of\ngoat or camel's hair); whereas \"A'r\u00e1biyyun\" pl. A'r\u00e1b is one who\ndwells in the Desert whether Arab or not. Hence the verse:--\n\n          \"They name us Al-A'r\u00e1b but Al-'Urb is our name.\"\n\n[FN#460]  I would remind the reader that the Din\u00e1r is the golden\ndenarius (or solidus) of Eastern Rome while the Dirham is the\nsilver denarius, whence denier, danaro, d\u00ednheiro, etc., etc. The\noldest dinars date from A.H. 91-92 (=714-15) and we find the\nfollowing description of one struck in A.H. 96 by Al-Walid the\nVI. Ommiade:--\n\nObverse:\n     Area.     \"There is no il\u00e1h but Allah: He is one: He hath no\n               partner.\"\n     Circle.   \"Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah who hath sent\n               him with the true Guidance and Religion that he\n               manifest it above all other Creeds.\"\n\nReverse:\n     Area.     \"Allah is one: Allah is Eternal: He begetteth not,\n               nor is He begot.\"\n     Circle.   \"Bismillah: This Dinar was struck anno 96.\"\n\nSee \"'Il\u00e2m-en-Nas\" (warnings for Folk) a pleasant little volume\nby Mr. Godfrey Clarke (London, King and Co., 1873), mostly\nconsisting of the minor tales from The Nights, especially this\ngroup between Nights ccxlvii. and cdlxi.; but rendered valuable\nby the annotations of my old friend, the late Frederick Ayrton.\n\n[FN#461]  The reader will note the persistency with which the\nduty of universal benevolence is preached.\n\n[FN#462]  Arab. from Pers. \"Shah-bandar\": see vol. iv. 29.\n\n[FN#463]  i.e. of thy coming, a popular compliment.\n\n[FN#464]  This is the doctrine of the universal East; and it is\ntrue concerning wives and widows, not girls when innocent or\nrather ignorant. According to Western ideas Kamar al-Zaman was a\nyoung scoundrel of the darkest dye whose only excuses were his\nage, his inexperience and his passions.\n\n[FN#465]  Arab. \"Dayy\u00fas\" prop. = a man who pimps for his own wife\nand in this sense constantly occurring in conversation.\n\n[FN#466]  This is taking the law into one's own hands with a\nwitness; yet amongst races who preserve the Pundonor in full and\npristine force, e.g. the Afghans and the Persian Iliyat, the\nkilling so far from being considered murder or even justifiable\nhomicide would be highly commended by public opinion.\n\n[FN#467]  Arab. \"N\u00e1kis\u00e1tu'aklin wa d\u00edn\": the words are attributed\nto the Prophet whom we find saying, \"Verily in your wives and\nchildren ye have an enemy, wherefore beware of them\" (Koran lxiv.\n14): compare 1 Cor. vii. 28, 32. But Ma\u00eetre Jehan de Meung went\nfarther,\n\n          \"Toutes \u00eatez, serez ou f\u00fbtes\n           De faict ou de volont\u00e9, putes.\"\n\n[FN#468]  Arab. \"Hab\u00edb\u00ed wa tab\u00edb\u00ed,\" the common jingle.\n\n[FN#469]  Iblis and his connection with Diabolos has been noticed\nin vol. i. 13. The word is foreign as well as a P.N. and\ntherefore is imperfectly declined, although some authorities\ndeduce it from \"ablasa\"=he despaired (of Allah's mercy). Others\ncall him Al-H\u00e1ris (the Lion) hence Eve's first-born was named in\nhis honour Abd al-Haris. His angelic name was Az\u00e1z\u00edl before he\nsinned by refusing to prostrate himself to Adam, as Allah had\ncommanded the heavenly host for a trial of faith, not to worship\nthe first man, but to make him a Keblah or direction of prayer\naddressed to the Almighty. Hence he was ejected from Heaven and\nbecame the arch-enemy of mankind (Koran xviii. 48). He was an\nangel but related to the Jinn: Al-Bayz\u00e1wi, however (on Koran ii.\n82), opines that angelic by nature he became a Jinn by act. Ibn\nAbbas held that he belonged to an order of angels who are called\nJinn and begot issue as do the nasn\u00e1s, the Gh\u00fal and the Kutrub\nwhich, however are male and female, like the pre-Adamite manwoman\nof Genesis, the \"bi-une\" of our modern days. For this subject see\nTerminal Essay.\n\n\n[FN#470]  As usual in the East and in the West the husband was\nthe last to hear of his wife's ill conduct. But even Othello did\nnot kill Emilia.\n\n[FN#471]  i.e. Star of the Morning: the first word occurs in Bar\nCokba Barchocheba=Son of the Star, i.e., which was to come out of\nJacob (Numbers xxiv. 17). The root, which does not occur in Heb.,\nis Kaukab to shine. This Rabbi Akilah was also called Bar Cozla=\nSon of the Lie.\n\n[FN#472]  Here some excision has been judged advisable as the\nnames of the bridegrooms and the brides recur with damnable\niteration.\n\n[FN#473]  See the note by Lane's Shaykh at the beginning of the\ntale. The contrast between the vicious wife of servile origin and\nthe virtuous wife of noble birth is fondly dwelt upon but not\nexaggerated.\n\n[FN#474]  i.e. those of his water skins for the journey, which as\nusual required patching and supplying with fresh handles after\nlong lying dry.\n\n[FN#475]  A popular saying also applied to men. It is usually\naccompanied with showing the open hand and a reference to the\nsize of the fingers. I find this story most interesting from an\nanthropological point of view; suggesting how differently various\nraces regard the subject of adultery. In Northern Europe the\nburden is thrown most unjustly upon the man, the woman who tempts\nhim being a secondary consideration; and in England he is\nabsurdly termed \"a seducer.\" In former times he was \"paraded\" or\n\"called out,\" now he is called up for damages, a truly ignoble\nand shopkeeper-like mode of treating a high offence against\nprivate property and public morality. In Anglo-America, where\nEnglish feeling is exaggerated, the lover is revolver'd and the\nwoman is left unpunished. On the other hand, amongst Eastern and\nespecially Moslem peoples, the woman is cut down and scant\nreckoning is taken from the man. This more sensible procedure has\nstruck firm root amongst the nations of Southern Europe where the\nhusband kills the lover only when he still loves his wife and\nlover like is furious at her affection being alienated.\n\nPractically throughout the civilised world there are only two\nways of treating women, Moslems keep them close, defend them from\nall kinds of temptations and if they go wrong kill them.\nChristians place them upon a pedestal, the observed of all\nobservers, expose them to every danger and if they fall, accuse\nand abuse them instead of themselves.  And England is so grandly\nlogical that her law, under certain circumstances, holds that\nMrs. A. has committed adultery with Mr. B. but Mr. B. has not\ncommitted adultery with Mrs. A. Can any absurdity be more absurd?\nOnly \"summum jus, summa injuria.\" See my Terminal Essay. I shall\nhave more to say upon this curious subject, the treatment of\nwomen who can be thoroughly guarded only by two things, firstly\ntheir hearts and secondly by the \"Spanish Padlock.\"\n\n[FN#476] Lane owns that this is \"one of the most entertaining tales\nin the work,\" but he omits it \"because its chief and best portion\nis essentially the same as the story of the First of the Three\nLadies of Baghdad.\" The truth is he was straitened for space by\nhis publisher and thus compelled to cut out some of the best\nstories in The Nights.\n\n[FN#477] i.e. Ibrahim of Mosul, the musician poet often mentioned\nin The Nights. I must again warn the reader that the name is\npronounced Is-h\u00e1k (like Isaac with a central aspirate) not Ish\u00e1k.\nThis is not unnecessary when we hear Tait-shill for Tait's hill\nand \"Frederick-shall\" for {Friedrichs-hall.}\n\n[FN#478] i.e. He was a proficient, an adept.\n\n[FN#479] Arab. from Pers. D\u00fal\u00e1b=a waterwheel, a buttery, a\ncupboard.\n\n[FN#480] Arab. \"Fut\u00far,\" the chhot\u00ed h\u00e1zir\u00ed of Anglo-India or\nbreakfast proper, eaten by Moslems immediately after the dawn-\nprayer except in Ram\u00e1z\u00e1n. Amongst sensible people it is a\nsubstantial meal of bread and boiled beans, eggs, cheese, curded\nmilk and the pastry called fat\u00edrah, followed by coffee and a\npipe. See Lane M. E. chapt. v. and my Pilgrimage ii. 48.\n\n[FN#481] This \"off-with-his-head\" style must not be understood\nliterally. As I have noted, it is intended by the writer to show\nthe Kingship and the majesty of the \"Vicar of Allah.\"\n\n[FN#482] Lit. \"the calamity of man (ins\u00e1n) is from the tongue\"\n(lis\u00e1n).\n\n[FN#483] For Khatt Shar\u00edf, lit.=a noble letter, see vol. ii. 39.\n\n[FN#484] Arab. \"Allah yastura-k\"=protect thee by hiding what had\nbetter be hidden.\n\n[FN#485] Arab. \"Jan\u00e1z\u00edr\"=chains, an Arabised plural of the Pers.\nZanj\u00edr with the metathesis or transposition of letters peculiar\nto the vulgar; \"Jan\u00e1z\u00edr\" for \"Zan\u00e1j\u00edr.\"\n\n[FN#486] Arab. \"Saf\u00ednah\"=(Noah's) Ark, a myth derived from the\nBaris of Egypt with subsequent embellishments from the Babylonian\ndeluge-legends: the latter may have been survivals of the days\nwhen the waters of the Persian Gulf extended to the mountains of\nEastern Syria. Hence I would explain the existence of extinct\nvolcanoes within sight of Damascus (see Unexplored Syria i. p.\n159) visited, I believe, for the first time by my late friend\nCharles F. Tyrwhitt-Drake and myself in May, 1871.\n\n[FN#487] Mansur and N\u00e1sir are passive and active participles from\nthe same root, Nasr=victory; the former means triumphant and the\nlatter triumphing.\n\n[FN#488] The normal term of Moslem mourning, which Mohammed\ngreatly reduced disliking the abuse of it by the Jews who even in\nthe present day are the strictest in its observance.\n\n[FN#489] An euphuistic and euphemistic style of saying, \"No, we\ndon't know.\"\n\n[FN#490] Arab. \"Rahan,\" an article placed with him in pawn.\n\n[FN#491] A Moslem is bound, not only by honour but by religion,\nto discharge the debts of his dead father and mother and so save\nthem from punishment on Judgment-day. Mohammed who enjoined mercy\nto debtors while in the flesh (chapt. ii. 280, etc.) said \"Allah\ncovereth all faults except debt; that is to say, there will be\npunishment therefor.\" Also \"A martyr shall be pardoned every\nfault but debt.\" On one occasion he refused to pray for a Moslem\nwho died insolvent. Such harshness is a curious contrast with the\nleniency which advised the creditor to remit debts by way of\nalms. And practically this mild view of indebtedness renders it\nhighly unadvisable to oblige a Moslem friend with a loan.\n\n[FN#492] i.e. he did not press them for payment; and, it must be\nremembered, he received no interest upon his monies, this being\nforbidden in the Koran.\n\n[FN#493] Al-Mas'\u00fadi (chap. xvii.) alludes to furs of Sable\n(Sam\u00far), hermelline (Al-Farwah) and Bort\u00e1s (Turkish) furs of\nblack and red foxes. For Sam\u00far see vol. iv. 57. Sinj\u00e1b is Persian\nfor the skin of the grey squirrel (Mus lemmus, the lemming), the\nmeniver, erroneously miniver, (menu vair) as opposed to the\nermine = (Mus Armenius, or mustela erminia.) I never visit England\nwithout being surprised at the vile furs worn by the rich, and\nthe folly of the poor in not adopting the sheepskin with the wool\ninside and the leather well tanned which keeps the peasant warm\nand comfortable between Croatia and Afghanistan.\n\n[FN#494] Arab. \"T\u00e1jir Alf\u00ed\" which may mean a thousand dinars\n(\u00c2\u00a3500) or a thousand purses (=\u00c2\u00a35,000). \"Alf\u00ed\" is not an uncommon\nP.N., meaning that the bearer (Pasha or pauper) had been bought\nfor a thousand left indefinite.\n\n[FN#495] Tigris-Euphrates.\n\n[FN#496] Possibly the quarter of Baghdad so called and mentioned\nin The Nights more than once.\n\n[FN#497] For this fiery sea see Sind Revisited i. 19.\n\n[FN#498] Arab. \"Al-Ghayb\" which may also mean \"in the future\"\n(unknown to man).\n\n[FN#499] Arab. \"Jabal\"; here a mountainous island: see vol. i.\n140.\n\n[FN#500] i.e. ye shall be spared this day's miseries. See my\nPilgrimage vol. i. 314, and the delight with which we glided into\nMars\u00e1 Damghah.\n\n[FN#501] Arab. \"S\u00faw\u00e1n\"=\"Syenite\" (-granite) also used for flint\nand other hard stones. See vol. i. 238.\n\n[FN#502] Koran xxiv. Male children are to the Arab as much prized\nan object of possession as riches, since without them wealth is\nof no value to him. Mohammed, therefore, couples wealth with\nchildren as the two things wherewith one wards off the ills of\nthis world, though they are powerless against those of the world\nto come.\n\n[FN#503] An exclamation derived from the Surat Nasr (cx. 1) one\nof the most affecting in the Koran. It gave Mohammed warning of\nhis death and caused Al-Abb\u00e1s to shed tears; the Prophet sings a\nsong of victory in the ixth year of the Hijrah (he died on the\nxth) and implores the pardon of his Lord.\n\n[FN#504] Arab. \"D\u00e1irah,\" a basin surrounded by hills. The words\nwhich follow may mean, \"An hour's journey or more in breadth.\"\n\n[FN#505] These petrified folk have occurred in the \"Eldest Lady's\nTale\" (vol. i. 165), where they are of \"black stone.\"\n\n[FN#506] Arab. \"T\u00e1j Kisrawi,\" such as was worn by the Chosroes\nKings. See vol. i. 75.\n\n[FN#507] The familiar and far-famed Napoleonic pose, with the\narms crossed over the breast, is throughout the East the attitude\nassumed by slave and servant in presence of his master. Those who\nsend statues to Anglo-India should remember this.\n\n[FN#508] Arab. \"T\u00e1 \u00e1l\u00edk\"=hanging lamps, often in lantern shape\nwith coloured glass and profuse ornamentation; the Maroccan are\nnow familiar to England.\n\n[FN#509] Arab. \"Kidrah,\" lit.=a pot, kettle; it can hardly mean\n\"an interval.\"\n\n[FN#510] The wicket or small doorway, especially by the side of a\ngate or portal, is called \"the eye of the needle\" and explains\nMatt. xix. 24, and Koran vii. 38. In the Rabbinic form of the\nproverb the camel becomes an elephant. Some have preferred to\nchange the Koranic Jamal (camel) for Habl (cable) and much\ningenuity has been wasted by Christian commentators on Mark x.\n25, and Luke xviii. 25.\n\n[FN#511] i.e. A \"Kanz\" (enchanted treasury) usually hidden\nunderground but opened by a counter-spell and transferred to\nearth's face. The reader will note the gorgeousness of the\npicture.\n\n[FN#512] Oriental writers, Indian and Persian, as well as Arab,\nlay great stress upon the extreme delicacy of the skin of the\nfair ones celebrated in their works, constantly attributing to\ntheir heroines bodies so sensitive as to brook with difficulty\nthe contact of the finest shift. Several instances of this will\nbe found in the present collection and we may fairly assume that\nthe skin of an Eastern beauty, under the influence of constant\nseclusion and the unremitting use of cosmetics and the bath,\nwould in time attain a pitch of delicacy and sensitiveness such\nas would in some measure justify the seemingly extravagant\nstatements of their poetical admirers, of which the following\nanecdote (quoted by Ibn Khellikan from the historian Et Teberi)\nis a fair specimen. Ardeshir ibn Babek (Artaxerxes I.), the first\nSassanian King of Persia (A.D. 226-242), having long\nunsuccessfully besieged El Hedr, a strong city of Mesopotamia\nbelonging to the petty King Es Satiroun, at last obtained\npossession of it by the treachery of the owner's daughter Nezireh\nand married the latter, this having been the price stipulated by\nher for the betrayal to him of the place. \"It happened afterwards\nthat, one night, as she was unable to sleep and turned from side\nto side in the bed, Ardeshir asked her what prevented her from\nsleeping. She replied, 'I never yet slept on a rougher bed than\nthis; I feel something irk me.' He ordered the bed to be changed,\nbut she was still unable to sleep. Next morning, she complained\nof her side, and on examination, a myrtle-leaf was found adhering\nto a fold of the skin, from which it had drawn blood. Astonished\nat this circumstance, Ardeshir asked her if it was this that had\nkept her awake and she replied in the affirmative. 'How then,'\nasked he, 'did your father bring you up?' She answered, 'He\nspread me a bed of satin and clad me in silk and fed me with\nmarrow and cream and the honey of virgin bees and gave me pure\nwine to drink.' Quoth Ardeshir, 'The same return which you made\nyour father for his kindness would be made much more readily to\nme'; and bade bind her by the hair to the tail of a horse, which\ngalloped off with her and killed her.\" It will be remembered that\nthe true princess, in the well-known German popular tale, is\ndiscovered by a similar incident to that of the myrtle-leaf. I\nquote this excellent note from Mr. Payne (ix. 148), only\nregretting that annotation did not enter into his plan of\nproducing The Nights. Amongst Hindu story-tellers a phenomenal\nsoftness of the skin is a lieu commun: see Vikram and the Vampire\n(p.285, \"Of the marvellous delicacy of their Queens\"); and the\nTale of the Sybarite might be referred to in the lines given\nabove.\n\n[FN#513]\n\"(55) Indeed joyous on that day are the people of Paradise in\ntheir employ;\n (56) In shades, on bridal couches reclining they and their\nwives:\n (57) Fruits have they therein and whatso they desire.\n (58) 'Peace!' shall be a word from a compassionating Lord.\"\nKoran xxxvi. 55-58, the famous Chapt. \"Y\u00e1 S\u00edn;\" which most\neducated Moslems learn by heart. See vol. iii. 19. In addition to\nthe proofs there offered that the Moslem Paradise is not wholly\nsensual I may quote, \"No soul wotteth what coolth of the eyes is\nreserved (for the good) in recompense of their works\" (Koran lxx.\n17). The Paradise of eating, drinking, and copulating which Mr.\nPalgrave (Arabia, i. 368) calls \"an everlasting brothel between\nforty celestial concubines\" was preached solely to the baser sort\nof humanity which can understand and appreciate only the\npleasures of the flesh. To talk of spiritual joys before the\nBadawin would have been a non-sens, even as it would be to the\nroughs of our great cities.\n\n[FN#514] Arab. \"Lajlaj\" lit.=rolling anything round the mouth\nwhen eating; hence speaking inarticulately, being tongue-tied,\nstuttering, etc.\n\n[FN#515] The classical \"Phylarchs,\" who had charge of the\nBadawin.\n\n[FN#516] \"The Jab\u00e1birah\" (giant-rulers of Syria) and the\n\"Ak\u00e1sirah\" (Chosro\u00ebs-Kings of Persia).\n\n[FN#517] This shows (and we are presently told) that the intruder\nwas Al-Khizr, the \"Green Prophet,\" for whom see vol. iv. 175.\n\n[FN#518] i.e. of salvation supposed to radiate from all Prophets,\nesp. from Mohammed.\n\n[FN#519] This formula which has occurred from the beginning\n(vol.i.1) is essentially Koranic: See Chapt. li. 18-19 and\npassim.\n\n[FN#520] This trick of the priest hidden within the image may\ndate from the days of the vocal Memnon, and was a favourite in\nIndia, especially at the shrine of Somnauth (Soma-n\u00e1th), the\nMoon-god, Atergatis Aphrodite, etc.\n\n[FN#521] Arab. \"Alm\u00e1s\"=Gr. Adamas. In opposition to the learned\nex-Professor Maskelyne I hold that the cutting of the diamond is\nof very ancient date. Mr. W. M. Flinders Patrie (The Pyramids and\nTemples of Gizah, London: Field and Tuer, 1884) whose studies\nhave thoroughly demolished the freaks and unfacts, the fads and\nfancies of the \"Pyramidists,\" and who may be said to have raised\nmeasurement to the rank of a fine art, believes that the Euritic\nstatues of old Egypt such as that of Khufu (Cheops) in the Bulak\nMuseum were drilled by means of diamonds. Athen\u00e6us tells us (lib.\nv.) that the Indians brought pearls and diamonds to the\nprocession of Ptolemy Philadelphus; and this suggests cutting, as\nnothing can be less ornamental than the uncut stone.\n\n[FN#522] i.e. as if they were holding a \"Durbar\"; the King's idol\nin the Sadr or place of honour and the others ranged about it in\ntheir several ranks.\n\n[FN#523] These words are probably borrowed from the taunts of\nElijah to the priests of Baal (1 Kings xviii. 27). Both Jews and\nMoslems wilfully ignored the proper use of the image or idol\nwhich was to serve as a Keblah or direction of prayer and an\nobject upon which to concentrate thought and looked only to the\nabuse of the ignobile vulgus who believe in its intrinsic powers.\nChristendom has perpetuated the dispute: Romanism affects statues\nand pictures: Greek orthodoxy pictures and not statues and the\nso-called Protestantism ousts both.\n\n[FN#524] Arab. \"Sa'\u00e1dah\"=worldly prosperity and future happiness.\n\n[FN#525] Arab. \"Al-Ahd wa al-M\u00eds\u00e1k\" the troth pledged between the\nMur\u00edd or apprentice-Darwaysh and the Shaykh or Master-Darwaysh\nbinding the former to implicit obedience etc.\n\n[FN#526] Arab. \"Taakh\u00edr\" lit. postponement and meaning acting\nwith deliberation as opposed to \"Ajal\" (haste), precipitate\naction condemned in the Koran lxv. 38.\n\n[FN#527] i.e. I have been lucky enough to get this and we will\nshare it amongst us.\n\n[FN#528] i.e. of saving me from being ravished.\n\n[FN#529] Sa'\u00eddah=the auspicious (fem.): Mub\u00e1rakah,=the blessed;\nboth names showing that the bearers were Moslemahs.\n\n[FN#530] i.e. the base-born from whom base deeds may be expected.\n\n[FN#531] Arab. \"Badlat Kun\u00faz\u00edyah\"=such a dress as would be found\nin enchanted hoards (Kun\u00faz): e.g. Prince Esterhazy's diamond\njacket.\n\n[FN#532] The lieu d'aisance in Eastern crafts is usually a wooden\ncage or framework fastened outside the gunwale, very cleanly but\nin foul weather very uncomfortable and even dangerous.\n\n[FN#533] Arab. \"Ghull,\" a collar of iron or other metal,\nsometimes made to resemble the Chinese Kza or Cangue, a kind of\nambulant pillory, serving like the old stocks which still show in\nEngland the veteris vestigia ruris. See Davis, \"The Chinese,\" i.\n241. According to Al-Siy\u00fati (p. 362) the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil\nordered the Christians to wear these Ghulls round the neck,\nyellow head-gear and girdles, to use wooden stirrups and to place\nfigures of devils before their houses. The writer of The Nights\npresently changes Ghull to \"chains\" and \"fetters of iron.\"\n\n[FN#534] Arab. \"Y\u00e1 ful\u00e1n,\" O certain person! See vol. iii. 191.\n\n[FN#535] Father of Harun al-Rashid A.H. 158-169 (=775-785) third\nAbbaside who both in the Mac. and the Bul. Edits. is called \"the\nfifth of the sons of Al-Abbas.\" He was a good poet and a man of\nletters, also a fierce persecutor of the \"Zindiks\" (Al-Siyuti\n278), a term especially applied to those who read the Zend books\nand adhered to Zoroastrianism, although afterwards applied to any\nheretic or atheist. He made many changes at Meccah and was the\nfirst who had a train of camels laden with snow for his\nrefreshment along a measured road of 700 miles (Gibbon, chapt.\nlii.). He died of an accident when hunting: others say he was\npoisoned after leaving his throne to his sons Musa al-Hadi and\nHarun al-Rashid. The name means \"Heaven-directed\" and must not be\nconfounded with the title of the twelfth Shi'ah Im\u00e1m Mohammed Abu\nal-K\u00e1sim born at Sarramanrai A.H. 255 whom Sale (sect. iv.) calls\n\"Mahdi or Director\" and whose expected return has caused and will\ncause so much trouble in Al-Islam.\n\n[FN#536] This speciosum miraculum must not be held a proof that\nthe tale was written many years after the days of Al-Rashid.\nMiracles grow apace in the East and a few years suffice to mature\nthem. The invasion of Abraha the Abyssinia{n} took place during the\nyear of Mohammed's birth; and yet in an early chapter of the\nKoran (No. cv.) written perhaps forty-five years afterwards, the\nsmall-pox is turned into a puerile and extravagant miracle. I\nmyself became the subject of a miracle in Sind which is duly\nchronicled in the family-annals of a certain Pir or religious\nteacher. See History of Sindh (p. 230) and Sind Revisited (i.\n156).\n\n[FN#537] In the texts, \"Sixth.\"\n\n[FN#538] Arab. \"Najis\"=ceremonially impure especially the dog's\nmouth like the cow's mouth amongst the Hindus; and requiring\nafter contact the Wuzu-ablution before the Moslem can pray.\n\n[FN#539] Arab. \"Akl al-hashamah\" (hashamah=retinue;\nhishmah=reverence, bashfulness) which may also mean \"decorously\nand respectfully,\" according to the vowel-points.\n\n[FN#540] i.e. as the Vice-regent of Allah and Vicar of the\nProphet.\n\n[FN#541] For the superiority of mankind to the Jinn see vol.\nviii. 5;44.\n\n[FN#542] According to Al-Siyuti, Harun al-Rashid prayed every day\na hundred bows.\n\n[FN#543] As the sad end of his betrothed was still to be\naccounted for.\n\n[FN#544] For the martyrdom of the drowned see vol. i, 171, to\nquote no other places.\n\n[FN#545] i.e. if he have the power to revenge himself. The\nsentiment is Christian rather than Moslem.\n\n[FN#546] i.e. the power acquired (as we afterwards learn) by the\nregular praying of the dawn-prayer. It is not often that The\nNights condescend to point a moral or inculcate a lesson as here;\nand we are truly thankful for the immunity.\n\n[FN#547] Arab. \"Mus\u00e1fahah\" which, I have said, serves for our\nshaking hands: and extends over wide regions. They apply the\npalms of the right hands flat to each other without squeezing the\nfingers and then raise the latter to the forehead. Pilgrimage ii.\n332, has also been quoted.\n\n[FN#548] Equivalent to our saying about an ill wind, etc.\n\n[FN#549] A proof of his extreme simplicity and bonhomie.\n\n[FN#550] Arab. \"D\u00e1rf\u00edl\"=the Gr. {delph\u00eds} later {delph\u00edn}, suggesting\nthat the writer had read of Arion in Herodotus i. 23.\n\n[FN#551] 'A\u00faj; I can only suggest, with due diffidence, that this\nis intended for K\u00fach the well-known Baloch city in Persian\nCarmania (Kirm\u00e1n) and meant by Richardson's \"Koch \u00c3\u00bc buloch.\" But\nas the writer borrows so much from Al-Mas'udi it may possibly be\nA\u00fak in S\u00edst\u00e1n where stood the heretical city \"Sh\u00e1drak,\" chapt.\ncxxii.\n\n[FN#552] i.e. The excellent (or surpassing) Religious. Shaykhah,\nthe fem. of Shaykh, is a she-chief, even the head of the dancing-\ngirls will be entitled \"Shaykhah.\"\n\n[FN#553] The curtain would screen her from the sight of men-\ninvalids and probably hung across the single room of the\n\"Z\u00e1wiyah\" or hermit's cell. The curtain is noticed in the tales\nof two other reverend women; vols. {v.} 155 and v. 257.\n\n[FN#554] Abdullah met his wife on Thursday, the night of which\nwould amongst Moslems be Friday night.\n\n[FN#555] i.e. with Sa'idah.","title":"The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night \u2014 Volume 09 (of 10)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":162465}