{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_51775/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_51775","id":"gutenberg_51775","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51775","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales -- Arab countries","Folklore -- Arab countries"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: \u0644\u0627 \u0644\u0627\u0628\u0631\u0627\u0631 \u0643\u0644\u0651 \u0634\u064a \u062a\u0628\u0631]\n\n \"TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE.\"\n (Puris omnia pura)\n\n \u2014_Arab Proverb._\n\n \"Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole.\"\n\n \u2014\"_Decameron_\"\u2014_conclusion_.\n\n \"Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum\n Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget.\"\n\n \u2014_Martial._\n\n \"Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,\n Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.\"\n\n \u2014RABELAIS.\n\n\"The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One Stories makes\nus regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of these truly\nenchanting fictions.\"\n\n \u2014CRICHTON'S \"_History of Arabia_.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n_A PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS.\nNOW ENTITULED_\n\n\n\n\n _THE BOOK OF THE_\n =Thousand Nights and a Night=\n\n _WITH INTRODUCTION EXPLANATORY NOTES ON THE\n MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF MOSLEM MEN AND A\n TERMINAL ESSAY UPON THE HISTORY OF THE\n NIGHTS_\n\n VOLUME II.\n\n\n BY\n RICHARD F. BURTON\n\n[Illustration]\n\n PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY\n\n Shammar Edition\n\nLimited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is\n\n Number _547_\n\n\n\n\n PRINTED IN U. S. A.\n\n TO JOHN PAYNE, ESQ.\n\n ETC. ETC. ETC.\n\n MY DEAR SIR,\n\nAllow me, thus publicly to express my admiration of your magnum opus,\n\"The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night;\" and to offer you my\ncordial thanks for honouring me with the dedication of that scholar-like\nand admirable version.\n\n Ever yours sincerely,\n\n RICHARD F. BURTON.\n\n QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD\n _August 1, 1885_.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.\n\n\n PAGE\n\n 7. NUR AL-DIN ALI AND THE DAMSEL ANIS AL-JALIS. 1\n\n (_Lane, Chapt. VI. Story of Noor ed-Deen and Enees el-Jelees:\n vol. I. p. 436._)\n\n\n 8. TALE OF GHANIM BIN AYYUB, THE DISTRAUGHT, THE THRALL O' LOVE 45\n\n (_Lane, Chapt. VII. Story of Ghanim the Son of Eiyoob, the\n Distracted Slave of Love: p. 487._)\n\n _a._ TALE OF THE FIRST EUNUCH, BUKHAYT 49\n\n _b._ TALE OF THE SECOND EUNUCH, KAFUR 51\n\n (_Story of the Slave Kafoor: p. 491._)\n\n\n 9. TALE OF KING OMAR BIN AL-NU'UMAN AND HIS SONS SHARRKAN AND 77\n ZAU AL-MAKAN\n\n _a._ TALE OF TAJ AL-MULUK AND THE PRINCESS DUNYA 283\n\n (_Lane, Chapt. VIII. Story of Taj el-Mulook and the Lady Dunya:\n p. 523._)\n\n _aa._ TALE OF AZIZ AND AZIZAH 298\n\n (_Lane, Chapt. VIII. Story of Azeez and Azeezah: p. 535._)\n\n\n\n\n NUR AL-DIN ALI AND THE DAMSEL ANIS AL-JALIS\n\n\nQuoth Shahrazad[1]:\u2014It hath reached me, O auspicious King of\nintelligence penetrating, that there was, amongst the Kings of\nBassorah,[2] a King who loved the poor and needy and cherished his\nlieges, and gave of his wealth to all who believed in Mohammed (whom\nAllah bless and assain!), and he was even as one of the poets described\nhim:\u2014\n\n A King who when hosts of the foe invade, \u273f Receives them\n with lance-lunge and sabre-sway;\n Writes his name on bosoms in thin red lines, \u273f And scatters\n the horsemen in wild dismay.[3]\n\nHis name was King Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, and he had two Wazirs,\none called Al-Mu'in, son of Sawi and the other Al-Fazl son of Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n.\nNow Al-Fazl was the most generous of the people of his age, upright of\nlife, so that all hearts united in loving him and the wise flocked to\nhim for counsel; whilst the subjects used to pray for his long life,\nbecause he was a compendium of the best qualities, encouraging the good\nand lief, and preventing evil and mischief. But the Wazir Mu'in bin Sawi\non the contrary hated folk[4] and loved not the good and was a mere\ncompound of ill; even as was said of him:\u2014\n\n Hold to nobles, sons of nobles! 'tis ever Nature's test \u273f That\n nobles born of nobles shall excel in noble deed:\n And shun the mean of soul, meanly bred, for 'tis the law, \u273f Mean\n deeds come of men who are mean of blood and breed.\n\nAnd as much as the people loved and fondly loved Al-Fazl bin Khakan, so\nthey hated and thoroughly hated the mean and miserly Mu'in bin Sawi. It\nbefel one day by the decree of the Decreer, that King Mohammed bin\nSulayman al-Zayni, being seated on his throne with his officers of state\nabout him, summoned his Wazir Al-Fazl and said to him, \"I wish to have a\nslave-girl of passing beauty, perfect in loveliness, exquisite in\nsymmetry and endowed with all praiseworthy gifts.\" Said the courtiers,\n\"Such a girl is not to be bought for less than ten thousand gold\npieces:\" whereupon the Sultan called out to his treasurer and said,\n\"Carry ten thousand dinars to the house of Al-Fazl bin Khakan.\" The\ntreasurer did the King's bidding; and the Minister went away, after\nreceiving the royal charge to repair to the slave-bazar every day, and\nentrust to brokers the matter aforesaid. Moreover the King issued orders\nthat girls worth above a thousand gold pieces should not be bought or\nsold without being first displayed to the Wazir. Accordingly no broker\npurchased a slave-girl ere she had been paraded before the minister; but\nnone pleased him, till one day a dealer came to the house and found him\ntaking horse and intending for the palace. So he caught hold of his\nstirrup saying:\u2014\n\n O thou, who givest to royal state sweet savour, \u273f Thou'rt a Wazir\n shalt never fail of favour!\n Dead Bounty thou hast raised to life for men; \u273f Ne'er fail of\n Allah's grace such high endeavour!\n\nThen quoth he, \"O my lord, that surpassing object for whom the gracious\nmandate was issued is at last found;[5]\" and quoth the Wazir, \"Here with\nher to me!\" So he went away and returned after a little, bringing a\ndamsel in richest raiment robed, a maid spear-straight of stature and\nfive feet tall; budding of bosom with eyes large and black as by Kohl\ntraced, and dewy lips sweeter than syrup or the sherbet one sips, a\nvirginette smooth cheeked and shapely faced, whose slender waist with\nmassive hips was engraced; a form more pleasing than branchlet waving\nupon the topmost trees, and a voice softer and gentler than the morning\nbreeze, even as saith one of those who have described her:\u2014\n\n Strange is the charm which dights her brows like Luna's disk\n that shine; \u273f O sweeter taste than sweetest Robb[6] or raisins of\n the vine.\n A throne th' Empyrean keeps for her in high and glorious state, \u273f\n For wit and wisdom, wandlike form and graceful bending line:\n She in the Heaven of her face[7] the seven-fold stars displays, \u273f\n That guard her cheeks as satellites against the spy's design:\n If man should cast a furtive glance or steal far look at her, \u273f\n His heart is burnt by devil-bolts shot by those piercing eyne.\n\nWhen the Wazir saw her she made him marvel with excess of admiration, so\nhe turned, perfectly pleased, to the broker and asked, \"What is the\nprice of this girl?\"; whereto he answered, \"Her market-value stands at\nten thousand dinars, but her owner swears that this sum will not cover\nthe cost of the chickens she hath eaten, the wine she hath drunken and\nthe dresses of honour bestowed upon her instructor: for she hath learned\ncalligraphy and syntax and etymology; the commentaries of the Koran; the\nprinciples of law and religion; the canons of medicine, and the calendar\nand the art of playing on musical instruments.\"[8] Said the Wazir,\n\"Bring me her master.\" So the broker brought him at once and, behold, he\nwas a Persian of whom there was left only what the days had left; for he\nwas as a vulture bald and scald and a wall trembling to its fall. Time\nhad buffetted him with sore smart, yet was he not willing this world to\ndepart; even as said the poet:\u2014\n\n Time hath shattered all my frame, \u273f Oh! how time hath shattered me.\n Time with lordly might can tame \u273f Manly strength and vigour free.\n Time was in my youth, that none \u273f Sped their way more fleet and fast:\n Time is and my strength is gone, \u273f Youth is sped, and speed is\n past.[9]\n\nThe Wazir asked him, \"Art thou content to sell this slave-girl to the\nSultan for ten thousand dinars?\"; and the Persian answered, \"By Allah,\nif I offered her to the King for naught, it were but my devoir,\"[10] So\nthe Minister bade bring the monies and saw them weighed out to the\nPersian, who stood up before him and said, \"By the leave of our lord the\nWazir, I have somewhat to say;\" and the Wazir replied, \"Out with all\nthou hast!\" \"It is my opinion,\" continued the slave-dealer, \"that thou\nshouldst not carry the maid to the King this day; for she is newly off a\njourney; the change of air[11] hath affected her and the toils of\ntrouble have fretted her. But keep her quiet in thy palace some ten\ndays, that she may recover her looks and become again as she was. Then\nsend her to the Hammam and clothe her in the richest of clothes and go\nup with her to the Sultan: this will be more to thy profit.\" The Wazir\npondered the Persian's words and approved of their wisdom; so he carried\nher to his palace, where he appointed her private rooms, and allowed her\nevery day whatever she wanted of meat and drink and so forth. And on\nthis wise she abode a while. Now the Wazir Al-Fazl had a son like the\nfull moon when sheeniest dight, with face radiant in light, cheeks ruddy\nbright, and a mole like a dot of ambergris on a downy site; as said of\nhim the poet and said full right:\u2014\n\n A moon which blights you[12] if you dare behold; \u273f A branch which\n folds you in its waving fold:\n Locks of the Zanj[13] and golden glint of hair; \u273f Sweet gait and form\n a spear to have and hold:\n Ah! hard of heart with softest slenderest waist, \u273f That evil to\n this weal why not remould?[14]\n Were thy form's softness placed in thy heart, \u273f Ne'er would thy\n lover find thee harsh and cold:\n Oh thou accuser! be my love's excuser, \u273f Nor chide if love-pangs\n deal me woes untold!\n I bear no blame; 'tis all my heart and eyne; \u273f So leave thy\n blaming, let me yearn and pine.\n\nNow the handsome youth knew not the affair of the damsel; and his father\nhad enjoined her closely, saying, \"Know, O my daughter, that I have\nbought thee as a bedfellow for our King, Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni;\nand I have a son who is a Satan for girls and leaves no maid in the\nneighbourhood without taking her maidenhead; so be on thy guard against\nhim and beware of letting him see thy face or hear thy voice.\"\n\"Hearkening and obedience,\" said the girl; and he left her and fared\nforth. Some days after this it happened by decree of Destiny, that the\ndamsel repaired to the baths in the house, where some of the slave women\nbathed her; after which she arrayed herself in sumptuous raiment; and\nher beauty and loveliness were thereby redoubled. Then she went in to\nthe Wazir's wife and kissed her hand; and the dame said to her, \"Naiman!\nMay it benefit thee,[15] O Anis al-Jalis![16] Are not our baths\nhandsome?\" \"O my mistress,\" she replied, \"I lacked naught there save thy\ngracious presence.\" Thereupon the lady said to her slave-women, \"Come\nwith us to the Hammam, for it is some days since we went there:\" they\nanswered, \"To hear is to obey!\" and rose and all accompanied her. Now\nshe had set two little slave-girls to keep the door of the private\nchamber wherein was Anis al-Jalis and had said to them, \"Suffer none go\nin to the damsel.\" Presently, as the beautiful maiden sat resting in her\nrooms, suddenly came in the Wazir's son whose name was Nur al-Din\nAli,[17] and asked after his mother and her women, to which the two\nlittle slave-girls replied, \"They are in the Hammam.\" But the damsel,\nAnis al-Jalis, had heard from within Nur al-Din Ali's voice and had said\nto herself, \"O would Heaven I saw what like is this youth against whom\nthe Wazir warned me, saying that he hath not left a virgin in the\nneighbourhood without taking her virginity: by Allah, I do long to have\nsight of him!\" So she sprang to her feet with the freshness of the bath\non her and, stepping to the door, looked at Nur al-Din Ali and saw a\nyouth like the moon in its full and the sight bequeathed her a thousand\nsighs. The young man also glanced at her and the look made him heir to a\nthousand thoughts of care; and each fell into Love's ready snare. Then\nhe stepped up to the two little slave-girls and cried aloud at them;\nwhereupon both fled before him and stood afar off to see what he would\ndo. And behold, he walked to the door of the damsel's chamber and,\nopening it, went in and asked her \"Art thou she my father bought for\nme?\" and she answered \"Yes.\" Thereupon the youth, who was warm with\nwine, came up to her and embraced her; then he took her legs and passed\nthem round his waist and she wound her arms about his neck, and met him\nwith kisses and murmurs of pleasure and amorous toyings. Next he sucked\nher tongue and she sucked his and, lastly, he loosed the strings of her\npetticoat-trousers and abated her maidenhead. When the two little\nslave-girls saw their young master get in unto the damsel, Anis\nal-Jalis, they cried out and shrieked; so as soon as the youth had had\nhis wicked will of her, he rose and fled forth fearing the consequences\nof his ill-doing. When the Wazir's wife heard the slave-girls' cries,\nshe sprang up and came out of the baths with the perspiration pouring\nfrom her face, saying, \"What is this unseemly clamour in the house[18]?\"\nThen she came up to the two little slave-girls and asked them saying,\n\"Fie upon you! what is the matter?\"; and both answered, \"Verily our lord\nNur al-Din came in and beat us, so we fled; then he went up to Anis\nal-Jalis and threw his arms round her and we know not what he did after\nthat; but when we cried out to thee he ran away.\" Upon this the lady\nwent to Anis al-Jalis and said to her, \"What tidings?\" \"O my lady,\" she\nanswered, \"as I was sitting here lo! a handsome young man came in and\nsaid to me:\u2014Art thou she my father bought for me?; and I answered Yes;\nfor, by Allah, O mistress mine, I believed that his words were true; and\nhe instantly came in and embraced me.\" \"Did he nought else with thee but\nthis?\" quoth the lady, and quoth she, \"Indeed he did! But he did it only\nthree times.\" \"He did not leave thee without dishonouring thee!\" cried\nthe Wazir's wife and fell to weeping and buffetting her face, she and\nthe girl and all the handmaidens, fearing lest Nur al-Din's father\nshould kill him.[19] Whilst they were thus, in came the Wazir and asked\nwhat was the matter, and his wife said to him, \"Swear that whatso I tell\nthee thou wilt attend to it.\" \"I will,\" answered he. So she related to\nhim what his son had done, whereat he was much concerned and rent his\nraiment and smote his face till his nose bled, and plucked out his beard\nby the handful. \"Do not kill thyself,\" said his wife, \"I will give thee\nten thousand dinars, her price, of my own money.\" But he raised his head\nand cried; \"Out upon thee! I have no need of her purchase-money: my fear\nis lest life as well as money go.\" \"O my lord, and how is that?\"\n\"Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al-Mu'in bin Sawi who,\nas soon as he shall hear of this matter, will go up to the Sultan?\"\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n Now when it was the Thirty-fifth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir\nsaid to his wife, \"Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy\nAl-Mu'in bin Sawi who, as soon as he hears of this matter will go up to\nthe Sultan and say to him:\u2014Thy Wazir who, thou wilt have it loveth thee,\ntook from thee ten thousand ducats and bought therewith a slave-girl\nwhose like none ever beheld; but when he saw her, she pleased him and he\nsaid to his son:\u2014Take her: thou art worthier of her than the Sultan. So\nhe took her and did away with her virginity and she is now in his house.\nThe King will say:\u2014Thou liest! to which he will reply:\u2014With thy leave I\nwill fall upon him unawares and bring her to thee. The King will give\nhim warranty for this and he will come down upon the house and will take\nthe girl and present her to the Sultan, who will question her and she\nwill not be able to deny the past. Then mine enemy will say:\u2014O my lord,\nthou wottest that I give thee the best of counsel; but I have not found\nfavour in thine eyes. Thereupon the Sultan will make an example of me,\nand I shall be a gazing-stock to all the people and my life will be\nlost.\" Quoth his wife, \"Let none know of this thing which hath happened\nprivily, and commit thy case to Allah and trust in Him to save thee from\nsuch strait; for He who knoweth the future shall provide for the\nfuture.\" With this she brought the Wazir a cup of wine and his heart was\nquieted, and he ceased to feel wrath and fear. Thus far concerning him;\nbut as regards his son Nur al-Din Ali, fearing the consequence of his\nmisdeed he abode his day long in the flower-garden and came back only at\nnight to his mother's apartment where he slept; and, rising before dawn,\nreturned to the gardens. He ceased not to do thus for two whole months\nwithout showing his face to his parent, till at last his mother said to\nhis father, \"O my lord, shall we lose our boy as well as the girl? If\nmatters continue long in this way he will flee from us.\" \"And what to\ndo?\" asked he; and she answered, \"Do thou watch this night; and, when he\ncometh, seize on him and frighten him: I will rescue him from thee and\ndo thou make peace with him and give him the damsel to wife, for she\nloveth him as he loveth her. And I will pay thee her price.\" So the\nMinister sat up that night and, when his son came, he seized him and\nthrowing him down knelt on his breast and showed as though he would cut\nhis throat; but his mother ran to the youth's succour and asked her\nhusband, \"What wouldest thou do with him?\" He answered her, \"I will\nsplit his weasand.\" Said the son to the father, \"Is my death, then, so\nlight a matter to thee?\"; and his father's eyes welled with tears, for\nnatural affection moved him, and he rejoined, \"O my son, how light was\nto thee the loss of my good and my life!\" Quoth Nur al-Din, \"Hear, O my\nfather, what the poet hath said:\u2014\n\n Forgive me! thee-ward sinned I, but the wise \u273f Ne'er to the\n sinner shall deny his grace:\n Thyfoe may pardon sue when lieth he \u273f In lowest, and thou\n holdest highest place!\"\n\nThereupon the Wazir rose from off his son's breast saying, \"I forgive\nthee!\"; for his heart yearned to him; and the youth kissed the hand of\nhis sire who said, \"O my son, were I sure that thou wouldest deal justly\nby Anis al-Jalis, I would give her to thee.\" \"O my father, what justice\nam I to do to her?\" \"I enjoin thee, O my son, not to take another wife\nor concubine to share with her, nor sell her.\" \"O my father! I swear to\nthee that verily I will not do her injustice in either way.\" Having\nsworn to that effect Nur al-Din went in to the damsel and abode with her\na whole year, whilst Allah Almighty caused the King to forget the matter\nof the maiden; and Al-Mu'in, though the affair came to his ears, dared\nnot divulge it by reason of the high favour in which his rival stood\nwith the Sultan. At the end of the year Al-Fazl went one day to the\npublic baths; and, as he came out whilst he was still sweating, the air\nstruck him[20] and he caught a cold which turned to a fever; then he\ntook to his bed. His malady gained ground and restlessness was longsome\nupon him and weakness bound him like a chain; so he called out, \"Hither\nwith my son;\" and when Nur al-Din Ali came he said to him, \"O my son,\nknow that man's lot and means are distributed and decreed; and the end\nof days by all must be dree'd; and that every soul drain the cup of\ndeath is nature's need.\" Then he repeated these lines:\u2014\n\n I die my death, but He alone is great who dieth not! \u273f And well I\n wot, soon shall I die, for death was made my lot:\n A King there's not that dies and holds his kingdom in his hand, \u273f\n For Sovranty the Kingdom is of Him who dieth not.\n\nThen he continued, \"O my son, I have no charge to leave thee save that\nthou fear Allah and look to the issues of thine acts and bear in mind my\ninjunctions anent Anis al-Jalis.\" \"O my father!\" said Nur al-Din, \"who\nis like unto thee? Indeed thou art famed for well doing and preachers\noffer prayers for thee in their pulpits!\" Quoth Al-Fazl, \"O my son, I\nhope that Allah Almighty may grant me acceptance!\" Then he pronounced\nthe Two Testimonies,[21] or Professions of the Faith, and was recorded\namong the blessed. The palace was filled with crying and lamentation and\nthe news of his death reached the King, and the city-people wept, even\nthose at their prayers and women at household cares and the\nschoolchildren shed tears for Bin-Khakan. Then his son Nur al-Din Ali\narose and made ready his funeral, and the Emirs and Wazirs and high\nOfficers of State and city-notables were present, amongst them the Wazir\nal-Mu'in bin Sawi. And as the bier went forth from the house some one in\nthe crowd of mourners began to chant these lines:\u2014\n\n On the fifth day I quitted all my friends for evermore, \u273f And they\n laid me out and washed me on a slab without my door:[22]\n They stripped me of the clothes I was ever wont to wear, \u273f And\n they clothed me in the clothes which till then I never wore.\n On four men's necks they bore me and carried me from home \u273f To\n chapel; and some prayed for him on neck they bore:\n They prayed for me a prayer that no prostration knows;[23] \u273f\n They prayed for me who praised me and were my friends of yore;\n And they laid me in a house with a ceiling vaulted o'er, \u273f And\n Time shall be no more ere it ope to me its door.\n\nWhen they had shovelled in the dust over him and the crowd had\ndispersed, Nur al-Din returned home and he lamented with sobs and tears;\nand the tongue of the case repeated these couplets:\u2014\n\n On the fifth day at even-tide they went away from me: \u273f I\n farewelled them as faring they made farewell my lot:\n But my spirit as they went, with them went and so I cried, \u273f \"Ah\n return ye!\" but replied she, \"Alas! return is not\n To a framework lere and lorn that lacketh blood and life, \u273f A\n frame whereof remaineth naught but bones that rattle and rot:\n Mine eyes are blind and cannot see quencht by the flowing tear! \u273f\n Mine ears are dull and lost to sense: they have no power to hear!\"\n\nHe abode a long time sorrowing for his father till, one day, as he was\nsitting at home, there came a knocking at the door; so he rose in haste\nand opening let in a man, one of his father's intimates and who had been\nthe Wazir's boon-companion. The visitor kissed Nur al-Din's hand and\nsaid to him, \"O my lord, he who hath left the like of thee is not dead;\nand this way went also the Chief of the Ancients and the Moderns.[24] O\nmy lord Ali, be comforted and leave sorrowing.\" Thereupon Nur al-Din\nrose and going to the guest-saloon transported thither all he needed.\nThen he assembled his companions and took his handmaid again; and,\ncollecting round him ten of the sons of the merchants, began to eat meat\nand drink wine, giving entertainment after entertainment and lavishing\nhis presents and his favours. One day his Steward came to him and said,\n\"O my lord Nur al-Din, hast thou not heard the saying, Whoso spendeth\nand reckoneth not, to poverty wendeth and recketh not?\" And he repeated\nwhat the poet wrote:\u2014\n\n I look to my money and keep it with care, \u273f For right well I wot\n 'tis my buckler and brand:\n Did I lavish my dirhams on hostilest foes,[25] \u273f I should truck my\n good luck by mine ill luck trepanned:\n So I'll eat it and drink it and joy in my wealth; \u273f And no spending\n my pennies on others I'll stand:\n I will keep my purse close 'gainst whoever he be; \u273f And a niggard\n in grain a true friend ne'er I fand:\n Far better deny him than come to say:\u2014Lend, \u273f And five-fold the\n loan shall return to thy hand!\n And he turns face aside and he sidles away, \u273f While I stand like a\n dog disappointed, unmanned.\n Oh, the sorry lot his who hath yellow-boys none, \u273f Though his\n genius and virtues shine bright as the sun!\n\n\"O my master,\" continued the Steward, \"this lavish outlay and these\nmagnificent gifts waste away wealth.\" When Nur al-Din Ali heard these\nwords he looked at his servant and cried, \"Of all thou hast spoken I\nwill not heed one single word, for I have heard the saying of the poet\nwho saith;\u2014\n\n An my palm be full of wealth and my wealth I ne'er bestow, \u273f A\n palsy take my hand and my foot ne'er rise again!\n Show me niggard who by niggardise e'er rose to high degree, \u273f Or\n the generous in gifts generosity hath slain.\"\n\nAnd he pursued, \"Know, O Steward, it is my desire that so long as thou\nhast money enough for my breakfast, thou trouble me not with taking\nthought about my supper.\" Thereupon the Steward asked, \"Must it be so?\";\nand he answered, \"It must.\" So the honest man went his way and Nur\nal-Din Ali devoted himself to extravagance; and, if any of his\ncup-companions chanced to say, \"This is a pretty thing;\" he would reply,\n\"'Tis a gift to thee!\"; or if another said, \"O my lord, such a house is\nhandsome;\" he would answer, \"Take it: it is thine!\" After this reckless\nfashion he continued to live for a whole year, giving his friends a\nbanquet in the morning and a banquet in the evening and a banquet at\nmidnight, till one day, as the company was sitting together, the damsel\nAnis al-Jalis repeated these lines:\n\n Thou deemedst well of Time when days went well, \u273f And fearedst not\n what ills might deal thee Fate:\n Thy nights so fair and restful cozened thee, \u273f For peaceful\n nights bring woes of heavy weight.\n\nWhen she had ended her verse behold, somebody knocked at the door. So\nNur al-Din rose to open it and one of his boon-companions followed him\nwithout being perceived. At the door he found his Steward and asked him,\n\"What is the matter?\"; and he answered, \"O my lord, what I dreaded for\nthee hath come to pass!\" \"How so?\" \"Know that there remains not a\ndirham's worth, less or more in my hands. Here are my Daftars and\naccount books showing both income and outlay and the registers of thine\noriginal property.\" When Nur al-Din heard these words he bowed his head\nand said, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!\"\nWhen the man who had followed him privily to spy on him heard the\nSteward's words, he returned to his friends and warned them saying,\n\"Look ye well to what ye do: Nur al-Din is penniless;\" and, as the young\nhost came back to his guests, vexation showed itself in his face.\nThereupon one of the intimates rose; and, looking at the entertainer,\nsaid to him, \"O my lord, may be thou wilt give me leave to retire?\" \"And\nwhy so early retirement this day?\"; asked he and the other answered him,\n\"My wife is in child-birth and I may not be absent from her: indeed I\nmust return and see how she does.\" So he gave him leave, whereupon\nanother rose and said, \"O my lord Nur al-Din, I wish now to go to my\nbrother's for he circumciseth his son to day.\"[26] In short each and\nevery asked permission to retire on some pretence or other, till all the\nten were gone leaving Nur al-Din alone. Then he called his slave-girl\nand said to her, \"O Anis al-Jalis, hast thou seen what case is mine?\"\nAnd he related to her what the Steward had told him. Then quoth she, \"O\nmy lord, for many nights I had it in my mind to speak with thee of this\nmatter, but I heard thee repeating:\u2014\n\n When the World heaps favours on thee, pass on \u273f Thy favours to\n friends ere her hand she stay:\n Largesse never let her when fain she comes, \u273f Nor niggardise kept\n her from turning away!\"\n\n\"When I heard these verses I held my peace and cared not to exchange a\nword with thee.\" \"O Anis al-Jalis,\" said Nur al-Din, \"thou knowest that\nI have not wasted my wealth save on my friends, especially these ten who\nhave now left me a pauper, and I think they will not abandon and desert\nme without relief.\" \"By Allah,\" replied she, \"they will not profit thee\nwith aught of aid.\" Said he, \"I will rise at once and go to them and\nknock at their doors; it may be I shall get from them somewhat wherewith\nI may trade and leave pastime and pleasuring.\" So he rose without stay\nor delay, and repaired to a street wherein all his ten friends lived. He\nwent up to the nearest door and knocked; whereupon a handmaid came out\nand asked him, \"Who art thou?\"; and he answered, \"Tell thy master that\nNur al-Din Ali standeth at the door and saith to him:\u2014Thy slave kisseth\nthy hand and awaiteth thy bounty.\" The girl went in and told her master,\nwho cried at her, \"Go back and say:\u2014My master is not at home.\" So she\nreturned to Nur al-Din, and said to him, \"O my lord, my master is out.\"\nThereupon he turned away and said to himself, \"If this one be a whoreson\nknave and deny himself, another may not prove himself such knave and\nwhoreson.\" Then he went up to the next door and sent in a like message\nto the house-master, who denied himself as the first had done, whereupon\nhe began repeating:\u2014\n\n He is gone who when to his gate thou go'st, \u273f Fed thy famisht maw\n with his boiled and roast.\n\nWhen he had ended his verse he said, \"By Allah, there is no help but\nthat I make trial of them all: perchance there be one amongst them who\nwill stand me in the stead of all the rest.\" So he went the round of the\nten, but not one of them would open his door to him or show himself or\neven break a bit of bread before him; whereupon he recited:\u2014\n\n Like a tree is he who in wealth doth wone, \u273f And while fruits he\n the folk to his fruit shall run:\n But when bared the tree of what fruit it bare, \u273f They leave it\n to suffer from dust and sun.\n Perdition to all of this age! I find \u273f Ten rogues for every\n righteous one.\n\nThen he returned to his slave-girl and his grief had grown more grievous\nand she said to him, \"O my lord, did I not tell thee, none would profit\nthee with aught of aid?\" And he replied, \"By Allah, not one of them\nwould show me his face or know me!\" \"O my lord,\" quoth she, \"sell some\nof the moveables and household stuff, such as pots and pans, little by\nlittle; and expend the proceeds until Allah Almighty shall provide.\" So\nhe sold all of that was in the house till nothing remained when he\nturned to Anis al-Jalis and asked her \"What shall we do now?\"; and she\nanswered, \"O my lord, it is my advice that thou rise forthwith and take\nme down to the bazar and sell me. Thou knowest that thy father bought me\nfor ten thousand dinars: haply Allah may open thee a way to get the same\nprice, and if it be His will to bring us once more together, we shall\nmeet again.\" \"O Anis al-Jalis,\" cried he, \"by Allah it is no light\nmatter for me to be parted from thee for a single hour!\" \"By Allah, O my\nlord,\" she replied, nor is it easy to me either, but Need hath its own\nlaw, as the poet said:\u2014\n\n Need drives a man into devious roads, \u273f And pathways doubtful of\n trend and scope:\n No man to a rope[27] will entrust his weight, \u273f Save for cause\n that calleth for case of rope.\n\nThereupon he rose to his feet and took her,[28] whilst the tears rolled\ndown his cheek like rain; and he recited with the tongue of the case\nthese lines:\u2014\n\n Stay! grant one parting look before we part, \u273f Nerving my heart\n this severance to sustain:\n But, an this parting deal thee pain and bane, \u273f Leave me to die of\n love and spare thee pain!\n\nThen he went down with her to the bazar and delivered her to the broker\nand said to him, \"O H\u00e1jj Hasan,[29] I pray thee note the value of her\nthou hast to cry for sale.\" \"O my lord Nur al-Din,\" quoth the broker,\n\"the fundamentals are remembered;\"[30] adding, \"Is not this the Anis\nal-Jalis whom thy father bought of me for ten thousand dinars?\" \"Yes,\"\nsaid Nur al-Din. Thereupon the broker went round to the merchants, but\nfound that all had not yet assembled. So he waited till the rest had\narrived and the market was crowded with slave-girls of all nations,\nTurks, Franks and Circassians; Abyssinians, Nubians and Takr\u00far\u00eds;[31]\nTartars, Georgians and others; when he came forward and standing cried\naloud, \"O merchants! O men of money! every round thing is not a walnut\nand every long thing a banana is not; all reds are not meat nor all\nwhites fat, nor is every brown thing a date![32] O merchants, I have\nhere this union-pearl that hath no price: at what sum shall I cry her?\"\n\"Cry her at four thousand five hundred dinars,\" quoth one of the\ntraders. The broker opened the door of sale at the sum named and, as he\nwas yet calling, lo! the Wazir Al-Mu'in bin Sawi passed through the\nbazar and, seeing Nur al-Din Ali waiting at one side, said to himself,\n\"Why is Khakan's son[33] standing about here? Hath this gallows-bird\naught remaining wherewith to buy slave-girls?\" Then he looked round and,\nseeing the broker calling out in the market with all the merchants\naround him, said to himself, \"I am sure that he is penniless and hath\nbrought hither the damsel Anis al-Jalis for sale;\" adding, \"O how\ncooling and grateful is this to my heart!\" Then he called the crier, who\ncame up and kissed the ground before him; and he said to him, \"I want\nthis slave-girl whom thou art calling for sale.\" The broker dared not\ncross him, so he answered, \"O my lord, Bismillah! in Allah's name so be\nit;\" and led forward the damsel and showed her to him. She pleased him\nmuch whereat he asked, \"O Hasan, what is bidden for this girl?\" and tie\nanswered, \"Four thousand five hundred dinars to open the door of sale.\"\nQuoth Al-Mu'in, \"Four thousand five hundred is _my_ bid.\" When the\nmerchants heard this, they held back and dared not bid another dirham,\nwotting what they did of the Wazir's tyranny, violence and treachery. So\nAl-Mu'in looked at the broker and said to him, \"Why stand still? Go and\noffer four thousand dinars for me and the five hundred shall be for\nthyself.\" Thereupon the broker went to Nur al-Din and said, \"O my lord,\nthy slave is going for nothing!\" \"And how so?\" asked he. The broker\nanswered, \"We had opened the biddings for her at four thousand five\nhundred dinars; when that tyrant, Al-Mu'in bin Sawi, passed through the\nbazar and, as he saw the damsel she pleased him, so he cried to me:\u2014Call\nme the buyer at four thousand dinars and thou shalt have five hundred\nfor thyself. I doubt not but that he knoweth that the damsel is thine,\nand if he would pay thee down her price at once it were well; but I know\nhis injustice and violence; he will give thee a written order upon some\nof his agents and will send after thee to say to them:\u2014Pay him nothing.\nSo as often as thou shalt go in quest of the coin they will say:\u2014We'll\npay thee presently! and they will put thee off day after day, and thou\nart proud of spirit; till at last, when they are wearied with thine\nimportunity, they will say:\u2014Show us the cheque. Then, as soon as they\nhave got hold of it they will tear it up and so thou wilt lose the\ngirl's price.\" When Nur al-Din heard this he looked at the broker and\nasked him, \"How shall this matter be managed?\"; and he answered, \"I will\ngive thee a counsel which, if thou follow, it shall bring thee complete\nsatisfaction.\" \"And what is that?\" quoth Nur al-Din. Quoth the broker,\n\"Come thou to me anon when I am standing in the middle of the market\nand, taking the girl from my hand, give her a sound cuffing and say to\nher:\u2014Thou baggage, I have kept my vow and brought thee down to the\nslave-market, because I swore an oath that I would carry thee from home\nto the bazar, and make brokers cry thee for sale. If thou do this,\nperhaps the device will impose upon the Wazir and the people, and they\nwill believe that thou broughtest her not to the bazar but for the\nquittance of thine oath.\" He replied, \"Such were the best way.\" Then the\nbroker left him and, returning into the midst of the market, took the\ndamsel by the hand, and signed to the Wazir and said, \"O my lord, here\nis her owner.\" With this up came Nur al-Din Ali and, snatching the girl\nfrom the broker's hand, cuffed her soundly and said to her, \"Shame on\nthee, O thou baggage! I have brought thee to the bazar for quittance of\nmine oath; now get thee home and thwart me no more as is thy wont. Woe\nto thee! do I need thy price, that I should sell thee? The furniture of\nmy house would fetch thy value many times over!\" When Al-Mu'in saw this\nhe said to Nur al-Din, \"Out on thee! Hast thou anything left for selling\nor buying?\" And he would have laid violent hands upon him, but the\nmerchants interposed (for they all loved Nur al-Din), and the young man\nsaid to them, \"Here am I in your hands and ye all know his tyranny.\" \"By\nAllah,\" cried the Wazir, \"but for you I had slain him!\" Then all signed\nwith significant eyes to Nur al-Din as much as to say, \"Take thy wreak\nof him; not one of us will come between thee and him.\" Thereupon Nur\nal-Din, who was stout of heart as he was stalwart of limb, went up to\nthe Wazir and, dragging him over the pommel of his saddle, threw him to\nthe ground. Now there was in that place a puddling-pit for\nbrick-clay,[34] into the midst of which he fell, and Nur al-Din kept\npummelling and fisti-cuffing him, and one of the blows fell full on his\nteeth, and his beard was dyed with his blood. Also there were with the\nminister ten armed slaves who, seeing their master entreated after this\nfashion, laid hand on sword-hilt and would have bared blades and fallen\non Nur al-Din to cut him down; but the merchants and bystanders said to\nthem, \"This is a Wazir and that is the son of a Wazir; haply they will\nmake friends some time or other, in which case you will forfeit the\nfavour of both. Or perchance a blow may befal your lord, and you will\nall die the vilest of deaths; so it were better for you not to\ninterfere.\" Accordingly they held aloof and, when Nur al-Din had made an\nend of thrashing the Wazir, he took his handmaid and fared homewards.\nAl-Mu'in also went his ways at once, with his raiment dyed of three\ncolours, black with mud, red with blood and ash coloured with\nbrick-clay. When he saw himself in this state, he bound a bit of\nmatting[35] round his neck and, taking in hand two bundles of coarse\nHalfah-grass,[36] went up to the palace and standing under the Sultan's\nwindows cried aloud, \"O King of the age, I am a wronged man! I am foully\nwronged!\" So they brought him before the King who looked at him; and\nbehold, it was the chief Minister; whereupon he said, \"O Wazir who did\nthis deed by thee?\" Al-Mu'in wept and sobbed and repeated these lines:\u2014\n\n Shall the World oppress me when thou art in't? \u273f In the lion's\n presence shall wolves devour?\n Shall the dry all drink of thy tanks and I \u273f Under rain-cloud\n thirst for the cooling shower?\n\n\"O my lord,\" cried he, \"the like will befal every one who loveth and\nserveth thee well.\" \"Be quick with thee,\" quoth the Sultan, \"and tell me\nhow this came to pass and who did this deed by one whose honour is part\nof my honour.\" Quoth the Wazir, \"Know, O my lord, that I went out this\nday to the slave-market to buy me a cookmaid, when I saw there a damsel,\nnever in my life long saw I a fairer; and I designed to buy her for our\nlord the Sultan; so I asked the broker of her and of her owner, and he\nanswered, \"She belongeth to Ali son of Al-Fazl bin Khakan. Some time ago\nour lord the Sultan gave his father ten thousand dinars wherewith to buy\nhim a handsome slave-girl, and he bought this maiden who pleased him; so\nhe grudged her to our lord the Sultan and gave her to his own son. When\nthe father died, the son sold all he had of houses and gardens and\nhousehold gear, and squandered the price till he was penniless. Then he\nbrought the girl to the market that he might sell her, and he handed her\nover to the broker to cry and the merchants bid higher and higher on\nher, until her price reached four thousand dinars; whereupon quoth I to\nmyself:\u2014I will buy this damsel for our lord the Sultan, whose money was\npaid for her. So I said to Nur al-Din:\u2014O my son, sell her to me for four\nthousand dinars. When he heard my words he looked at me and cried:\u2014O\nill-omened oldster, I will sell her to a Jew or to a Nazarene, but I\nwill not sell her to thee! I do not buy her for myself, said I, I buy\nher for our lord and benefactor the Sultan. Hearing my words he was\nfilled with rage; and, dragging me off my horse (and I a very old man),\nbeat me unmercifully with his fists and buffeted me with his palms till\nhe left me as thou seest, and all this hath befallen me only because I\nthought to buy this damsel for thee!\" Then the Wazir threw himself on\nthe ground and lay there weeping and shivering. When the Sultan saw his\ncondition and heard his story, the vein of rage started out between his\neyes[37] and he turned to his body-guard who stood before him, forty\nwhite slaves, smiters with the sword, and said to them, \"Go down\nforthright to the house built by the son of Khakan and sack it and raze\nit and bring to me his son Nur al-Din with the damsel; and drag them\nboth on their faces with their arms pinioned behind them.\" They replied,\n\"To hear is to obey;\" and, arming themselves, they set out for the house\nof Nur al-Din Ali. Now about the Sultan was a Chamberlain, Alam[38]\nal-Din Sanjar hight, who had aforetime been Mameluke to Al-Fazl; but he\nhad risen in the world and the Sultan had advanced him to be one of his\nChamberlains. When he heard the King's command and saw the enemies make\nthem ready to slay his old master's son, it was grievous to him: so he\nwent out from before the Sultan and, mounting his beast, rode to Nur\nal-Din's house and knocked at the door. Nur al-Din came out and knowing\nhim would have saluted him: but he said, \"O my master this is no time\nfor greeting or treating. Listen to what the poet said:\u2014\n\n Fly, fly with thy life if by ill overtaken!\n Let thy house speak thy death by its builder forsaken!\n For a land else than this land thou may'st reach, my brother,\n But thy life tho'lt ne'er find in this world another.[39]\n\n\"O Alam al-Din what cheer?\" asked Nur al-Din, and he answered, \"Rise\nquickly and fly for thy life, thou and the damsel; for Al-Mu'in hath set\na snare for you both; and, if you fall into his hands, he will slay you.\nThe Sultan hath despatched forty sworders against you and I counsel you\nto flee ere harm can hurt you.\" Then Sanjar put his hand to his purse\nand finding there forty gold pieces took them and gave them to Nur\nal-Din, saying, \"O my lord receive these and journey with them. Had I\nmore I would give them to thee, but this is not the time to take\nexception.\" Thereupon Nur al-Din went in to the damsel and told her what\nhad happened, at which she wrung her hands. Then they fared forth at\nonce from the city, and Allah spread over them His veil of protection,\nso that they reached the river-bank where they found a vessel ready for\nsea. Her skipper was standing amidships and crying, \"Whoso hath aught to\ndo, whether in the way of provisioning or taking leave of his people; or\nwhoso hath forgotten any needful thing, let him do it at once and\nreturn, for we are about to sail\"; and all of them saying, \"There is\nnaught left to be done by us, O captain!\", he cried to his crew, \"Hallo\nthere! cast off the cable and pull up the mooring-pole!\"[40] Quoth Nur\nal-Din, \"Whither bound, O captain?\" and quoth he, \"To the House of\nPeace, Baghdad,\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Thirty-sixth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the skipper\nanswered, \"To the House of Peace, Baghdad,\" Nur al-Din Ali and the\ndamsel went on board, and they launched the craft and shook out the\nsails, and the ship sped forth as though she were a bird on wing; even\nas said one of them and said right well:\u2014\n\n Watch some tall ship, she'll joy the sight of thee, \u273f The\n breeze outstripping in her haste to flee;\n As when a bird, with widely-spreading wings, \u273f Leaveth the sky\n to settle on the sea.\n\nSo the vessel sailed on her fastest and the wind to her was fairest.\nThus far concerning them; but as regards the Mamelukes, they went to Nur\nal-Din's mansion and, breaking open the doors, entered and searched the\nwhole place, but could find no trace of him and the damsel; so they\ndemolished the house and, returning to the Sultan, reported their\nproceedings; whereupon quoth he, \"Make search for them both, wherever\nthey may be;\" and they answered, \"Hearing is obeying.\" The Wazir\nAl-Mu'in had also gone home after the Sultan had bestowed upon him a\nrobe of honour, and had set his heart at rest by saying, \"None shall\ntake blood-wreak for thee save I;\" and he had blessed the King and\nprayed for his long life and prosperity. Then the Sultan bade proclaim\nabout the city, \"Oyez, O ye lieges one and all! It is the will of our\nlord the Sultan that whoso happeneth on Nur al-Din Ali son of Al-Fazl\nbin Khakan, and bringeth him to the Sultan, shall receive a robe of\nhonour and one thousand gold pieces; and he who hideth him or knoweth\nhis abiding place and informeth not, deserveth whatsoever pains and\npenalties shall befal him.\" So all began to search for Nur al-Din Ali,\nbut they could find neither trace nor tidings of him. Meanwhile he and\nhis handmaid sailed on with the wind right aft, till they arrived in\nsafety at Baghdad, and the captain said to them, \"This is Baghdad and\n'tis the city where security is to be had: Winter with his frosts hath\nturned away and Prime hath come his roses to display; and the flowers\nare a-glowing and the trees are blowing and the streams are flowing.\" So\nNur al-Din landed, he and his handmaid and, giving the captain five\ndinars, walked on a little way till the decrees of Destiny brought them\namong the gardens, and they came to a place swept and sprinkled, with\nbenches along the walls and hanging jars filled with water.[41] Overhead\nwas a trellis of reed-work and canes shading the whole length of the\navenue, and at the upper end was a garden gate, but this was locked. \"By\nAllah,\" quoth Nur al-Din to the damsel, \"right pleasant is this place!\";\nand she replied, \"O my lord sit with me a while on this bench and let us\ntake our ease.\" So they mounted and sat them down on the bench, after\nwhich they washed their faces and hands; and the breeze blew cool on\nthem and they fell asleep and glory be to Him who never sleepeth! Now\nthis garden was named the Garden of Gladness[42] and therein stood a\nbelvedere hight the Palace of Pleasure and the Pavilion of Pictures, the\nwhole belonging to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid who was wont, when his\nbreast was straitened with care, to frequent garden and palace and there\nto sit. The palace had eighty latticed windows and fourscore lamps\nhanging round a great candelabrum of gold furnished with wax-candles;\nand, when the Caliph used to enter, he would order the handmaids to\nthrow open the lattices and light up the rooms; and he would bid Ishak\nbin Ibrahim the cup-companion and the slave-girls to sing till his\nbreast was broadened and his ailments were allayed. Now the keeper of\nthe garden, Shaykh Ibrahim, was a very old man, and he had found from\ntime to time, when he went out on any business, people pleasuring about\nthe garden gate with their bona robas; at which he was angered with\nexceeding anger.[43] But he took patience till one day when the Caliph\ncame to his garden; and he complained of this to Harun al-Rashid who\nsaid, \"Whomsoever thou surprisest about the door of the garden, deal\nwith him as thou wilt.\" Now on this day the Gardener chanced to be\nabroad on some occasion and returning found these two sleeping at the\ngate covered with a single mantilla; whereupon said he, \"By Allah, good!\nThese twain know not that the Caliph hath given me leave to slay anyone\nI may catch at the door; but I will give this couple a shrewd whipping,\nthat none may come near the gate in future.\" So he cut a green\npalm-frond[44] and went up to them and, raising his arm till the white\nof his arm-pit appeared, was about to strike them, when he bethought\nhimself and said, \"O Ibrahim, wilt thou beat them unknowing their case?\nHaply they are strangers or of the Sons of the Road,[45] and the decrees\nof Destiny have thrown them here. I will uncover their faces and look at\nthem.\" So he lifted up the mantilla from their heads and said, \"They are\na handsome couple; it were not fitting that I should beat them.\" Then he\ncovered their faces again and, going to Nur al-Din's feet, began to rub\nand shampoo them,[46] whereupon the youth opened his eyes and, seeing an\nold man of grave and reverend aspect rubbing his feet, he was ashamed\nand drawing them in, sat up. Then he took Shaykh Ibrahim\"s hand and\nkissed it. Quoth the old man, \"O my son, whence art thou?\"; and quoth\nhe, \"O my lord, we two are strangers,\" and the tears started from his\neyes. \"O my son,\" said Shaykh Ibrahim, \"know that the Prophet (whom\nAllah bless and preserve!) hath enjoined honour to the stranger;\" and\nadded, \"Wilt not thou arise, O my son, and pass into the garden and\nsolace thy self by looking at it and gladden thy heart?\" \"O my lord,\"\nsaid Nur al-Din, \"to whom doth this garden belong?;\" and the other\nreplied, \"O my son, I have inherited it from my folk.\" Now his object in\nsaying this was to set them at their ease and induce them to enter the\ngarden. So Nur al-Din thanked him and rose, he and the damsel, and\nfollowed him into the garden: and lo! it was a garden, and what a\ngarden! The gate was arched like a great hall and over walls and roof\nramped vines with grapes of many colours; the red like rubies and the\nblack like ebonies; and beyond it lay a bower of trelliced boughs\ngrowing fruits single and composite, and small birds on branches sang\nwith melodious recite, and the thousand-noted nightingale shrilled with\nher varied shright; the turtle with her cooing filled the site; the\nblackbird whistled like human wight[47] and the ring-dove moaned like a\ndrinker in grievous plight. The trees grew in perfection all edible\ngrowths and fruited all manner fruits which in pairs were bipartite;\nwith the camphor-apricot, the almond-apricot and the apricot \"Khorasani\"\nhight; the plum, like the face of beauty, smooth and bright; the cherry\nthat makes teeth shine clear by her sleight, and the fig of three\ncolours, green, purple and white. There also blossomed the violet as it\nwere sulphur on fire by night; the orange with buds like pink coral and\nmarguerite; the rose whose redness gars the loveliest cheeks blush with\ndespight; and myrtle and gilliflower and lavender with the blood-red\nanemone from Nu'uman hight. The leaves were all gemmed with tears the\nclouds had dight; the chamomile smiled showing teeth that bite, and\nNarcissus with his negro[48] eyes fixed on Rose his sight; the citrons\nshone with fruits embowled and the lemons like balls of gold; earth was\ncarpeted with flowers tinctured infinite; for Spring was come\nbrightening the place with joy and delight; and the streams ran ringing,\nto the birds' gay singing, while the rustling breeze upspringing\nattempered the air to temperance exquisite. Shaykh Ibrahim carried them\nup into the pavilion, and they gazed on its beauty, and on the lamps\naforementioned in the latticed windows; and Nur al-Din, remembering his\nentertainments of time past, cried, \"By Allah, this is a pleasant place;\nit hath quenched in me anguish which burned as a fire of\nGhaz\u00e1-wood.[49]\" Then they sat down and Shaykh Ibrahim set food before\nthem; and they ate till they were satisfied and washed their hands:\nafter which Nur al-Din went up to one of the latticed windows, and,\ncalling to his handmaid fell to gazing on the trees laden with all\nmanner fruits. Presently he turned to the Gardener and said to him, \"O\nShaykh Ibrahim hast thou no drink here, for folk are wont to drink after\neating?\" The Shaykh brought him sweet water, cool and pleasant, but he\nsaid, \"This is not the kind of drink I wanted.\" \"Perchance thou wishest\nfor wine?\" \"Indeed I do, O Shaykh!\" \"I seek refuge from it with Allah:\nit is thirteen years since I did this thing, for the Prophet (Abhak[50])\ncursed its drinker, presser, seller and carrier!\" \"Hear two words of\nme.\" \"Say on.\" \"If yon cursed ass[51] which standeth there be cursed,\nwill aught of his curse alight upon thee?\" \"By no means!\" \"Then take\nthis dinar and these two dirhams and mount yonder ass and, halting afar\nfrom the wine-shop, call the first man thou seest buying liquor and say\nto him:\u2014Take these two dirhams for thyself, and with this dinar buy me\nsome wine and set it on the ass. So shalt thou be neither the presser,\nnor the buyer, nor the carrier; and no part of the curse will fall upon\nthee.\" At this Shaykh Ibrahim laughed and said, \"By Allah, O my son, I\nnever saw one wilier of wit than thou art, nor heard aught sweeter than\nthy speech.\" So he did as he was bidden by Nur al-Din who thanked him\nand said, \"We two are now dependent on thee, and it is only meet that\nthou comply with our wishes; so bring us here what we require.\" \"O my\nson,\" replied he, \"this is my buttery before thee\" (and it was the\nstore-room provided for the Commander of the Faithful); \"so go in, and\ntake whatso thou wilt, for there is over and above what thou wantest.\"\nNur al-Din then entered the pantry and found therein vessels of gold and\nsilver and crystal set with all kinds of gems, and was amazed and\ndelighted with what he saw. Then he took out what he needed and set it\non and poured the wine into flagons and glass ewers, whilst Shaykh\nIbrahim brought them fruit and flowers and aromatic herbs. Then the old\nman withdrew and sat down at a distance from them, whilst they drank and\nmade merry, till the wine got the better of them, so that their cheeks\nreddened and their eyes wantoned like the gazelle's; and their locks\nbecame dishevelled and their brightness became yet more beautiful. Then\nsaid Shaykh Ibrahim to himself, \"What aileth me to sit apart from them?\nWhy should I not sit with them? When shall I ever find myself in company\nwith the like of these two that favour two moons?\" So he stepped forward\nand sat down on the edge of the da\u00efs, and Nur al-Din said to him, \"O my\nlord, my life on thee, come nearer to us!\" He came and sat by them, when\nNur al-Din filled a cup and looked towards the Shaykh and said to him,\n\"Drink, that thou mayest try the taste of it!\" I take refuge from it\nwith Allah!\" replied he; \"for thirteen years I have not done a thing of\nthe kind.\" Nur al-Din feigned to forget he was there and, drinking off\nthe cup, threw himself on the ground as if the drink had overcome him;\nwhereupon Anis al-Jalis glanced at him and said, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim see\nhow this husband of mine treateth me;\" and he answered, \"O my lady, what\naileth him?\" \"This is how he always serveth me,\" cried she, \"he drinketh\nawhile, then falleth asleep and leaveth me alone with none to bear me\ncompany over my cup nor any to whom I may sing when the bowl goeth\nround.\" Quoth the Shaykh (and his mien unstiffened for that his soul\ninclined towards her), \"By Allah, this is not well!\" Then she crowned a\ncup and looking towards him said, \"By my life thou must take and drink\nit, and not refuse to heal my sick heart!\" So he put forth his hand and\ntook it and drank it off and she filled a second and set it on the\nchandelier and said, \"O master mine, there is still this one left for\nthee.\" \"By Allah, I cannot drink it;\" cried he, \"what I have already\ndrunk is enough for me;\" but she rejoined, \"By Allah, there is no help\nfor it.\" So he took the cup and drank; and she filled him a third which\nhe took and was about to drink when behold, Nur al-Din rolled round and\nsat upright\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Thirty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nur al-Din sat\nupright and said, \"Ho, Shaykh Ibrahim, what is this? Did I not adjure\nthee a while ago and thou refusedst, saying:\u2014What, I! 'tis thirteen\nyears ago since I have done such a thing!\" \"By Allah,\" quoth the Shaykh\n(and indeed he was abashed), \"no sin of mine this, she forced me to do\nit.\" Nur al-Din laughed and they sat down again to wine and wassail, but\nthe damsel turned to her master and said in a whisper, \"O my lord, drink\nand do not press him, that I may show thee some sport with him.\" Then\nshe began to fill her master's cup and he hers and so they did time\nafter time, till at last Shaykh Ibrahim looked at them and said, \"What\nfashion of good fellowship is this? Allah curse the glutton who keepeth\nthe cup to himself! Why dost thou not give me to drink, O my brother?\nWhat manners are these, O blessed one?\" At this the two laughed until\nthey fell on their backs; then they drank and gave him to drink and\nceased not their carousal till a third part of the night was past. Then\nsaid the damsel, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim, with thy leave I will get up and\nlight one of these candles.\" \"Do so,\" he replied, \"but light no more\nthan one.\" So she sprang to her feet and, beginning with one candle,\nlighted all the eighty and sat down again. Presently Nur al-Din said, \"O\nShaykh Ibrahim, in what favour am I with thee? May I not light one of\nthese lamps?\" \"Light one,\" replied he, \"and bother me no more in thy\nturn!\" So he rose and lighted one lamp after another, till he had\nlighted the whole eighty and the palace seemed to dance with brilliancy.\nQuoth the Shaykh (and indeed intoxication had overcome him), \"Ye two are\nbolder than I am.\" Then he rose to his feet and opened all the lattices\nand sat down again; and they fell to carousing and reciting verses till\nthe place rang with their noisy mirth. Now Allah, the Decreer who\ndecreeth all things and who for every effect appointeth a cause, had so\ndisposed that the Caliph was at that moment sitting in the light of the\nmoon at one of the windows of his palace overlooking the Tigris. He saw\nthe blaze of the lamps and wax candles reflected in the river and,\nlifting his eyes, perceived that it came from the Garden Palace which\nwas all ablaze with brilliancy. So he cried, \"Here to me with Ja'afar\nthe Barmaki!\"; and the last word was hardly spoken ere the Wazir was\npresent before the Commander of the Faithful, who cried at him, \"O dog\nof a Minister, hast thou taken from me this city of Baghdad without\nsaying aught to me?\" \"What words are these words?\" asked Ja'afar; and\nthe Caliph answered, \"If Baghdad city were not taken from me, the Palace\nof Pictures would not be illuminated with lamps and candles, nor would\nits windows be thrown open. Woe to thee! who durst do a deed like this\nexcept the Caliphate had been taken from me?\" Quoth Ja'afar (and indeed\nhis side-muscles trembled as he spoke), \"Who told thee that the Palace\nof Pictures was illuminated and the windows thrown open?\" Come hither\nand see,\" replied the Caliph. Then Ja'afar came close to the Caliph and,\nlooking towards the garden, saw the palace blazing with illumination\nthat rayed through the gloom of the night; and, thinking that this might\nhave been permitted by the keeper for some reason of his own, he wished\nto make an excuse for him; so quoth he, \"O Commander of the Faithful,\nShaykh Ibrahim said to me last week:\u2014O my lord Ja'afar, I much wish to\ncircumcise my sons during the life of the Commander of the Faithful and\nthy life. I asked:\u2014What dost thou want?; and he answered:\u2014Get me leave\nfrom the Caliph to hold the festival in the Garden Palace. So said I to\nhim:\u2014Go circumcise them and I will see the Caliph and tell him.\nThereupon he went away and I forgot to let thee know.\" \"O Ja'afar,\" said\nthe Caliph, \"thou hast committed two offences against me; first in that\nthou didst not report to me, secondly, thou didst not give him what he\nsought; for he came and told thee this only as excuse to ask for some\nsmall matter of money, to help him with the outlay; and thou gavest him\nnothing nor toldest me.\" \"O Commander of the Faithful,\" said Ja'afar, \"I\nforgot.\" \"Now by the rights of my forefathers and the tombs of my\nforbears,\" quoth the Caliph, \"I will not pass the rest of this night\nsave in company with him; for truly he is a pious man who frequenteth\nthe Elders of the Faith and the Fakirs and other religious mendicants\nand entertaineth them; doubtless they are now assembled together and it\nmay be that the prayer of one of them will work us weal both in this\nworld and in the next. Besides, my presence may profit and at any rate\nbe pleasing to Shaykh Ibrahim.\" \"O Commander of the Faithful,\" quoth\nJa'afar, \"the greater part of the night is passed, and at this time they\nwill be breaking up.\" Quoth the Caliph, \"It matters not: I needs must go\nto them.\" So Ja'afar held his peace, being bewildered and knowing not\nwhat to do. Then the Caliph rose to his feet and, taking with him\nJa'afar and Masrur the eunuch sworder, the three disguised themselves in\nmerchants' gear and leaving the City-palace, kept threading the streets\ntill they reached the garden. The Caliph went up to the gate and finding\nit wide open, was surprised and said, \"See, O Ja'afar, how Shaykh\nIbrahim hath left the gate open at this hour contrary to his custom!\"\nThey went in and walked on till they came under the pavilion, when the\nCaliph said, \"O Ja'afar, I wish to look in upon them unawares before I\nshow myself, that I may see what they are about and get sight of the\nelders; for hitherto I have heard no sound from them, nor even a Fakir\ncalling upon the name of Allah.[52]\" Then he looked about and, seeing a\ntall walnut-tree, said to Ja'afar, \"I will climb this tree, for its\nbranches are near the lattices and so look in upon them.\" Thereupon he\nmounted the tree and ceased not climbing from branch to branch, till he\nreached a bough which was right opposite one of the windows, and here he\ntook seat and looked inside the palace. He saw a damsel and a youth as\nthey were two moons (glory be to Him who created them and fashioned\nthem!), and by them Shaykh Ibrahim seated cup in hand and saying, \"O\nPrincess of fair ones, drinking without music is nothing worth; indeed I\nhave heard a poet say:\u2014\n\n Round with big and little, the bowl and cup, \u273f Take either\n that moon[53] in his sheen hath crowned:\n Nor drink without music, for oft I've seen, \u273f The horse drink best\n to the whistle's sound!\n\nWhen the Caliph saw this, the vein of wrath started up between his eyes\nand he came down and said to the Wazir, \"O Ja'afar, never beheld I yet\nmen of piety in such case; so do thou mount this tree and look upon\nthem, lest the blessings of the blest be lost to thee.\" Ja'afar, hearing\nthe words of the Commander of the Faithful and being confounded by them,\nclimbed to the tree-top and looking in, saw Nur al-Din and the damsel,\nand Shaykh Ibrahim holding in his hand a brimming bowl. At this sight he\nmade sure of death and, descending, stood before the Commander of the\nFaithful, who said to him, \"O Ja'afar, praise be to Allah who hath made\nus of those that observe external ordinances of Holy Law and hath\naverted from us the sin of disguising ourselves after the manner of\nhypocrites!\"[54] But Ja'afar could not speak a word for excess of\nconfusion; so the Caliph looked at him and said, \"I wonder how they came\nhither, and who admitted them into my pavilion! But aught like the\nbeauty of this youth and this damsel my eyes never yet saw!\" \"Thou\nsayest sooth, O our Lord the Sultan!\" replied Ja'afar (and he hoped to\npropitiate the Caliph Harun al-Rashid). Then quoth the Caliph, \"O\nJa'afar, let us both mount the branch opposite the window, that we may\namuse ourselves with looking at them.\" So the two climbed the tree and,\npeering in, heard Shaykh Ibrahim say, \"O my lady, I have cast away all\ngravity mine by the drinking of wine, but 'tis not sweet save with the\nsoft sounds of the lute-strings it combine.\" \"By Allah,\" replied Anis\nal-Jalis, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim, an we had but some instrument of music our\njoyance were complete.\" Hearing this he rose to his feet and the Caliph\nsaid to Ja'afar, \"I wonder what he is about to do!\" and Ja'afar\nanswered, \"I know not.\" The Shaykh disappeared and presently reappeared\nbringing a lute; and the Caliph took note of it and knew it for that of\nAbu Ishak the Cup-companion.[55] \"By Allah,\" said the Caliph, \"if this\ndamsel sing ill I will crucify all of you; but if she sing well I will\nforgive them and only gibbet thee.\" \"O Allah cause her to sing vilely!\"\nquoth Ja'afar. Asked the Caliph, \"Why so?\"; and he answered, \"If thou\ncrucify us all together, we shall keep one another company.\" The Caliph\nlaughed at his speech. Presently the damsel took the lute and, after\nlooking at it and tuning it, she played a measure which made all hearts\nyearn to her; then she sang these lines:\u2014\n\n O ye that can aid me, a wretched lover, \u273f Whom longing burns nor\n can rest restore me!\n Though all you have done I have well deserved, \u273f I take refuge\n with you, so exult not o'er me:\n True, I am weak and low and vile, \u273f But I'll bear your will and\n whatso you bore me:\n My death at your hands what brings it of glory? \u273f I fear but your\n sin which of life forlore me!\n\nQuoth the Caliph, \"By Allah, good! O Ja'afar, never in my life have I\nheard a voice so enchanting as this.\" \"Then haply the Caliph's wrath\nhath passed away,\" said Ja'afar, and he replied, \"Yes, 'tis gone.\"\nThereupon they descended from the tree, and the Caliph said to Ja'afar,\n\"I wish to go in and sit with them and hear the damsel sing before me.\"\n\"O Commander of the Faithful,\" replied Ja'afar, \"if thou go in to them\nthey will be terribly troubled, and Shaykh Ibrahim will assuredly die of\nfright.\" But the Caliph answered, \"O Ja'afar, thou must teach me some\ndevice wherewith to delude them and whereby I can foregather with them\nwithout their knowing me.\" So they walked towards the Tigris pondering\nthe matter, and presently came upon a fisherman who stood fishing under\nthe pavilion windows. Now some time before this, the Caliph (being in\nthe pavilion) had called to Shaykh Ibrahim and asked him, \"What noise is\nthis I hear under the windows?\" and he had answered, \"It is voices of\nfisher folk catching fish:\" so quoth the Caliph, \"Go down and forbid\nthem this place;\" and he forbade them accordingly. However that night a\nfisherman named Karim, happening to pass by and seeing the garden gate\nopen, said to himself, \"This is a time of negligence; and I will take\nadvantage of it to do a bit of fishing.\" So he took his net and cast it,\nbut he had hardly done so when behold, the Caliph came up single-handed\nand, standing hard by, knew him and called aloud to him, \"Ho, Karim!\"\nThe fisherman, hearing himself named, turned round, and seeing the\nCaliph, trembled and his side-muscles quivered, as he cried, \"By Allah,\nO Commander of the Faithful, I did it not in mockery of the mandate; but\npoverty and a large family drove me to what thou seest!\" Quoth the\nCaliph, \"Make a cast in my name.\" At this the fisherman was glad and\ngoing to the bank threw his net, then waiting till it had spread out at\nfull stretch and settled down, hauled it up and found in it various\nkinds of fish. The Caliph was pleased and said, \"O Karim, doff thy\nhabit.\" So he put off a gaberdine of coarse woollen stuff patched in an\nhundred places whereon the lice were rampant, and a turband which had\nnever been untwisted for three years but to which he had sewn every rag\nhe came upon. The Caliph also pulled off his person two vests of\nAlexandrian and Ba'lbak silk, a loose inner robe and a long-sleeved\nouter coat, and said to the fisherman, \"Take them and put them on,\"\nwhile he assumed the foul gaberdine and filthy turband and drew a corner\nof the head-cloth as a mouth-veil[56] before his face. Then said he to\nthe fisherman, \"Get thee about thy business!\"; and the man kissed the\nCaliph's feet and thanked him and improvised the following couplets:\u2014\n\n Thou hast granted more favours than ever I craved; \u273f Thou\n hast satisfied needs which my heart enslaved:\n I will thank thee and thank whileas life shall last, \u273f And my\n bones will praise thee in grave engraved!\n\nHardly had the fisherman ended his verse, when the lice began to crawl\nover the Caliph's skin, and he fell to catching them on his neck with\nhis right and left and throwing them from him, while he cried, \"O\nfisherman, woe to thee! what be this abundance of lice on thy\ngaberdine.\" \"O my lord,\" replied he, \"they may annoy thee just at first,\nbut before a week is past thou wilt not feel them nor think of them.\"\nThe Caliph laughed and said to him, \"Out on thee! Shall I leave this\ngaberdine of thine so long on my body?\" Quoth the fisherman, \"I would\nsay a word to thee but I am ashamed in presence of the Caliph!\"; and\nquoth he, \"Say what thou hast to say.\" \"It passed through my thought, O\nCommander of the Faithful,\" said the fisherman, \"that, since thou\nwishest to learn fishing so thou mayest have in hand an honest trade\nwhereby to gain thy livelihood, this my gaberdine besitteth thee right\nwell.\"[57] The Commander of the Faithful laughed at this speech, and the\nfisherman went his way. Then the Caliph took up the basket of fish and,\nstrewing a little green grass over it, carried it to Ja'afar and stood\nbefore him. Ja'afar thinking him to be Karim the fisherman feared for\nhim and said, \"O Karim, what brought thee hither? Flee for thy life, for\nthe Caliph is in the garden to-night and, if he see thee, thy neck is\ngone.\" At this the Caliph laughed and Ja'afar recognized him and asked,\n\"Can it be thou, our lord the Sultan?\"; and he answered, \"Yes, O\nJa'afar, and thou art my Wazir and I and thou came hither together; yet\nthou knowest me not; so how should Shaykh Ibrahim know me, and he drunk?\nStay here, till I come back to thee.\" \"To hear is to obey,\" said\nJa'afar. Then the Caliph went up to the door of the pavilion and knocked\na gentle knock, whereupon said Nur al-Din, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim, some one\ntaps at the door.\" \"Who goes there?\" cried the Shaykh and the Caliph\nreplied, \"It is I, O Shaykh Ibrahim!\" \"Who art thou,\" quoth he, and\nquoth the other, \"I am Karim the fisherman: I hear thou hast a feast, so\nI have brought thee some fish, and of a truth 'tis good fish.\" When Nur\nal-Din heard the mention of fish, he was glad, he and the damsel, and\nthey both said to the Shaykh, \"O our lord, open the door and let him\nbring us his fish.\" So Shaykh Ibrahim opened and the Caliph came in (and\nhe in fisherman guise), and began by saluting them. Said Shaykh Ibrahim,\n\"Welcome to the blackguard, the robber, the dicer! Let us see thy fish.\"\nSo the Caliph showed them his catch and behold, the fishes were still\nalive and jumping, whereupon the damsel exclaimed, \"By Allah! O my lord,\nthese are indeed fine fish: would they were fried!\" and Shaykh Ibrahim\nrejoined, \"By Allah, O my lady, thou art right.\" Then said he to the\nCaliph, \"O fisherman, why didst thou not bring us the fish ready fried?\nUp now and cook them and bring them back to us.\" \"On my head be thy\ncommands!\" said the Caliph, \"I will fry thee a dish and bring it.\" Said\nthey, \"Look sharp.\" Thereupon he went out and ran till he came up to\nJa'afar when he called to him, \"Hallo, Ja'afar!\"; and he replied, \"Here\nam I, O Commander of the Faithful, is all well?\" \"They want the fish\nfried,\" said the Caliph, and Ja'afar answered, \"O Commander of the\nFaithful, give it to me and I'll fry it for them.\" \"By the tombs of my\nforbears,\" quoth the Caliph, \"none shall fry it but I, with mine own\nhand!\" So he went to the gardener's hut, where he searched and found all\nthat he required, even to salt and saffron and wild marjoram and else\nbesides. Then he turned to the brasier and, setting on the frying-pan,\nfried a right good fry. When it was done, he laid it on a banana-leaf,\nand gathering from the garden wind-fallen fruits, limes and lemons,\ncarried the fish to the pavilion and set the dish before them. So the\nyouth and the damsel and Shaykh Ibrahim came forward and ate; after\nwhich they washed their hands and Nur al-Din said to the Caliph, \"By\nAllah, O fisherman, thou hast done us a right good deed this night.\"\nThen he put hand in pouch and, taking out three of the dinars which\nSanjar had given him, said, \"O fisherman, excuse me. By Allah had I\nknown thee before that which hath lately befallen me, I had done away\nthe bitterness of poverty from thy heart; but take thou this as the best\nI can do for thee.\" Then he threw the gold pieces to the Caliph, who\ntook them and kissed them and put them in pouch. Now his sole object in\ndoing all this was to hear the damsel sing; so he said to Nur al-Din,\n\"Thou hast rewarded me most liberally, but I beg of thy boundless bounty\nthat thou let this damsel sing an air, that I may hear her.\"[58] So Nur\nal-Din said, \"O Anis al-Jalis!\" and she answered \"Yes!\" and he\ncontinued, \"By my life, sing us something for the sake of this fisherman\nwho wisheth so much to hear thee.\" Thereupon she took the lute and\nstruck the strings, after she had screwed them tight and tuned them, and\nsang these improvised verses:\u2014\n\n The fawn of a maid hent her lute in hand \u273f And her music made us\n right mettlesome:\n For her song gave hearing to ears stone-deaf, \u273f While Brava!\n Brava! exclaimed the dumb.\n\nThen she played again and played so ravishingly, that she charmed their\nwits and burst out improvising and singing these couplets:\u2014\n\n You have honoured us visiting this our land, \u273f And your\n splendour illumined the glooms that blent:\n So 'tis due that for you I perfume my place \u273f With rose-water, musk\n and the camphor-scent!\n\nHereupon the Caliph was agitated, and emotion so overpowered him that he\ncould not command himself for excess of pleasure, and he exclaimed, \"By\nAllah, good! by Allah, good! by Allah, good!\"[59] Asked Nur al-Din, \"O\nfisherman, doth this damsel please thee?\" and the Caliph answered, \"Ay,\nby Allah!\" Whereupon said Nur al-Din, \"She is a gift to thee, a gift of\nthe generous who repenteth him not of his givings and who will never\nrevoke his gift!\" Then he sprang to his feet and, taking a loose robe,\nthrew it over the fisherman and bade him receive the damsel and be gone.\nBut she looked at him and said, \"O my lord, art thou faring forth\nwithout farewell? If it must be so, at least stay till I bid thee\ngood-bye and make known my case.\" And she began versifying in these\nverses:\u2014\n\n When love and longing and regret are mine, \u273f Must not this body show\n of ills a sign?\n My love! say not, \"Thou soon shalt be consoled\"; \u273f When state\n speaks state none shall allay my pine.\n If living man could swim upon his tears, \u273f I first should float\n on waters of these eyne:\n O thou, who in my heart infusedst thy love, \u273f As water mingles in\n the cup with wine,\n This was the fear I feared, this parting blow. \u273f O thou whose love\n my heart-core ne'er shall tyne!\n O Bin Kh\u00e1k\u00e1n! my sought, my hope, my will, \u273f O thou whose love\n this breast made wholly thine!\n Against thy lord the King thou sinn'dst for me, \u273f And winnedst exile\n in lands peregrine:\n Allah ne'er make my lord repent my loss \u273f To cream[60] o' men\n thou gavest me, one right digne.\n\nWhen she had ended her verses, Nur al-Din answered her with these\nlines:\u2014\n\n She bade me farewell on our parting day, \u273f And she wept in the fire\n of our bane and pains:\n \"What wilt thou do when fro' thee I'm gone?\" \u273f Quoth I, \"say this\n to whom life remains!\"\n\nWhen the Caliph heard her saying in her verse:\u2014\n\n To Karim, the cream of men thou gavest me;\n\nhis inclination for her redoubled and it seemed a hard matter and a\ngrievous to part them; so quoth he to the youth, \"O my lord, truly the\ndamsel said in her verses that thou didst transgress against her master\nand him who owned her; so tell me, against whom didst thou transgress\nand who is it hath a claim on thee?\" \"By Allah, O fisherman,\" replied\nNur al-Din, \"there befel me and this damsel a wondrous tale and a\nmarvellous matter: an 'twere graven with needle-gravers on the\neye-corners it would be a warner to whoso would be warned.\" Cried the\nCaliph, \"Wilt thou not tell me thy story and acquaint me with thy case?\nHaply it may bring thee relief, for Allah's aid is ever nearhand.\" \"O\nfisherman,\" said Nur al-Din, \"wilt thou hear our history in verse or in\nprose?\" \"Prose is a wordy thing, but verses,\" rejoined the Caliph, \"are\npearls on string.\" Then Nur al-Din bowed his head, and made these\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n O my friend! reft of rest no repose I command, \u273f And my grief\n is redoubled in this far land:\n Erst I had a father, a kinder ne'er was; \u273f But he died and to\n Death paid the deodand:\n When he went from me, every matter went wrong \u273f Till my heart\n was nighbroken, my nature unmanned:\n He bought me a handmaid, a sweeting who shamed \u273f A wand of the\n willow by Zephyr befanned:\n I lavisht upon her mine heritage, \u273f And spent like a nobleman\n puissant and grand:\n Then to sell her compelled, my sorrow increased; \u273f The parting was\n sore but I mote not gainstand:\n Now as soon as the crier had called her, there bid \u273f A wicked\n old fellow, a fiery brand:\n So I raged with a rage that I could not restrain, \u273f And snatched\n her from out of his hireling's hand;\n When the angry curmudgeon made ready for blows, \u273f And the fire of\n a fight kindled he and his band,\n I smote him in fury with right and with left, \u273f And his hide, till\n well satisfied, curried and tanned:\n Then in fear I fled forth and lay hid in my house, \u273f To escape from\n the snares which my foeman had spanned:\n So the King of the country proclaimed my arrest; \u273f When access to me\n a good Chamberlain fand:\n And warned me to flee from the city afar, \u273f Disappear, disappoint\n what my enemies planned:\n Then we fled from our home 'neath the wing of the night, \u273f And\n sought us a refuge by Baghdad strand:\n Of my riches I've nothing on thee to bestow, \u273f O Fisher, except\n the fair gift thou hast scanned:\n The loved of my soul, and when I from her part, \u273f Know for sure that\n I give thee the blood of my heart.[61]\n\nWhen he had ended his verse, the Caliph said to him, \"O my lord Nur\nal-Din, explain to me thy case more fully.\" So he told him the whole\nstory from beginning to end, and the Caliph said to him, \"Whither dost\nthou now intend?\" \"Allah's world is wide,\" replied he. Quoth the Caliph,\n\"I will write thee a letter to carry to the Sultan Mohammed bin Sulayman\nal-Zayni, which when he readeth, he will not hurt nor harm thee in\naught.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Thirty-eighth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nCaliph said to Nur al-Din Ali, \"I will write thee a letter to carry to\nthe Sultan Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, which when he readeth, he\nwill not hurt nor harm thee in aught,\" Nur al-Din asked \"What! is there\nin the world a fisherman who writeth to Kings? Such a thing can never\nbe!\"; and the Caliph answered, \"Thou sayest sooth, but I will tell thee\nthe reason. Know that I and he learnt in the same school under one\nschoolmaster, and that I was his monitor. Since that time Fortune\nbefriended him and he is become a Sultan, while Allah hath abased me and\nmade me a fisherman; yet I never send to him to ask aught but he doeth\nmy desire; nay, though I should ask of him a thousand favours every day,\nhe would comply.\" When Nur al-Din heard this he said, \"Good! write that\nI may see.\" So the Caliph took ink-case and reed-pen and wrote as\nfollows,\u2014\"In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate!\nBut after.[62] This letter is written by Harun al-Rashid, son of\nAl-Mahdi, to his highness Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, whom I have\nencompassed about with my favour and made my viceroy in certain of my\ndominions. The bearer of these presents is Nur al-Din Ali, son of Fazl\nbin Khakan the Wazir. As soon as they come to thy hand divest thyself\nforthright of the kingly dignity and invest him therewith; so oppose not\nmy commandment and peace be with thee.\" He gave the letter to Nur\nal-Din, who took it and kissed it, then put it in his turband and set\nout at once on his journey. So far concerning him; but as regards the\nCaliph, Shaykh Ibrahim stared at him (and he still in fisher garb) and\nsaid, \"O vilest of fishermen, thou hast brought us a couple of fish\nworth a score of half-dirhams,[63] and hast gotten three dinars for\nthem; and thinkest thou to take the damsel to boot?\" When the Caliph\nheard this, he cried out at him, and signed to Masrur who discovered\nhimself and rushed in upon him. Now Ja'afar had sent one of the\ngardener-lads to the doorkeeper of the palace to fetch a suit of royal\nraiment for the Prince of the Faithful; so the man went and, returning\nwith the suit, kissed the ground before the Caliph and gave it him. Then\nhe threw off the clothes he had on[64] and donned kingly apparel. Shaykh\nIbrahim was still sitting upon his chair and the Caliph tarried to\nbehold what would come next. But seeing the Fisherman become the Caliph,\nShaykh Ibrahim was utterly confounded and he could do nothing but bite\nhis finger-ends[65] and say, \"Would I knew whether am I asleep or am I\nawake!\" At last the Caliph looked at him and cried, \"O Shaykh Ibrahim,\nwhat state is this in which I see thee?\" Thereupon he recovered from his\ndrunkenness and, throwing himself upon the ground, repeated these\nverses:\u2014\n\n Pardon the sinful ways I did pursue; \u273f Ruth from his lord to\n every slave is due:\n Confession pays the fine that sin demands; \u273f Where, then, is that\n which grace and mercy sue?[66]\n\nThe Caliph forgave him and bade carry the damsel to the city-palace,\nwhere he set apart for her an apartment and appointed slaves to serve\nher, saying to her, \"Know that we have sent thy lord to be Sultan in\nBassorah and, Almighty Allah willing, we will dispatch him the dress of\ninvestiture and thee with it.\" Meanwhile, Nur al-Din Ali ceased not\ntravelling till he reached Bassorah, where he repaired to the Sultan's\npalace and he shouted a loud shout.[67] The Sultan heard him and sent\nfor him; and when he came into his presence, he kissed the ground\nbetween his hands and, producing the letter, presented it to him. Seeing\nthe superscription in the writing of the Commander of the Faithful, the\nSultan rose to his feet and kissed it three times; and after reading it\nsaid, \"I hear and I obey Allah Almighty and the Commander of the\nFaithful!\" Then he summoned the four Kazis[68] and the Emirs and was\nabout to divest himself of the rule royal, when behold, in came Al-Mu'in\nbin Sawi. The Sultan gave him the Caliph's letter and he read it, then\ntore it to pieces and putting it into his mouth, chewed it[69] and spat\nit out. \"Woe to thee,\" quoth the Sultan (and indeed he was sore\nangered); \"what induced thee to do this deed?\" \"Now by thy life! O our\nlord the Sultan,\" replied Mu'in, \"this man hath never foregathered with\nthe Caliph nor with his Wazir; but he is a gallows-bird, a limb of\nSatan, a knave who, having come upon a written paper in the Caliph's\nhand, some idle scroll, hath made it serve his own end. The Caliph would\nsurely not send him to take the Sultanate from thee without the imperial\nautograph[70] and the diploma of investiture, and he certainly would\nhave despatched with him a Chamberlain or a Minister. But he hath come\nalone and he never came from the Caliph, no, never! never! never!\" \"What\nis to be done?\" asked the Sultan, and the Minister answered, \"Leave him\nto me and I will take him and keep him away from thee, and send him in\ncharge of a Chamberlain to Baghdad-city. Then, if what he says be sooth,\nthey will bring us back autograph and investiture; and if not, I will\ntake my due out of this debtor.\" When the Sultan heard the Minister's\nwords he said, \"Hence with thee and him too.\" Al-Mu'in took trust of him\nfrom the King and, carrying him to his own house, cried out to his pages\nwho laid him flat and beat him till he fainted. Then he let put upon his\nfeet heavy shackles and carried him to the jail, where he called the\njailor, one Kutayt,[71] who came and kissed the ground before him. Quoth\nthe Wazir, \"O Kutayt, I wish thee to take this fellow and throw him into\none of the underground cells[72] in the prison and torture him night and\nday.\" \"To hear is to obey,\" replied the jailor and, taking Nur al-Din\ninto the prison, locked the door upon him. Then he gave orders to sweep\na bench behind the door and, spreading on it a sitting-rug and a\nleather-cloth, seated Nur al-Din thereon and loosed his shackles and\nentreated him kindly. The Wazir sent every day enjoining the jailor to\nbeat him, but he abstained from this, and so continued to do for forty\ndays. On the forty-first day there came a present from the Caliph; which\nwhen the Sultan saw, it pleased him and he consulted his Ministers on\nthe matter, when one of them said, \"Perchance this present was for the\nnew Sultan.\" Cried Al-Mu'in, \"We should have done well had we put him to\ndeath at his first coming;\" and the Sultan cried \"By Allah, thou hast\nreminded me of him! Go down to the prison and fetch him, and I will\nstrike off his head.\" \"To hear is to obey,\" replied Al-Mu'in: then he\nstood up and said, \"I will make proclamation in the city:\u2014Whoso would\nsolace himself with seeing the beheading of Nur al-Din bin al-Fazl bin\nKhakan, let him repair to the palace! So follower and followed, great\nand small will flock to the spectacle, and I shall heal my heart and\nharm my foe.\" \"Do as thou wilt,\" said the Sultan. The Wazir went off\n(and he was glad and gay), and ordered the Chief of Police to make the\naforementioned proclamation. When the people heard the crier, they all\nsorrowed and wept, even the little ones at school and the traders in\ntheir shops; and some strove to get places for seeing the sight, whilst\nothers went to the prison with the object of escorting him thence.\nPresently, the Wazir came with ten Mamelukes to the jail and Kutayt the\njailor asked him, \"Whom seekest thou, O our lord the Wazir?\"; whereto he\nanswered, \"Bring me out that gallows-bird.\" But the jailor said, \"He is\nin the sorriest of plights for the much beating I have given him.\" Then\nhe went into the prison and found Nur al-Din repeating these verses:\u2014\n\n Who shall support me in calamities, \u273f When fail all cures and\n greater cares arise?\n Exile hath worn my heart, my vitals torn; \u273f The World to foes\n hath turned my firm allies.\n O folk, will not one friend amidst you all \u273f Wail o'er my woes, and\n cry to hear my cries?\n Death and its agonies seem light to me, \u273f Since life has lost all\n joys and jollities:\n O Lord of Mustaf\u00e1,[73] that Science-sea \u273f Sole Intercessor,\n Guide all-ware, all-wise!\n I pray thee free me and my fault forego, \u273f And from me drive mine\n evil and my woe.\n\nThe jailor stripped off his clean clothes and, dressing him in two\nfilthy vests, carried him to the Wazir. Nur al-Din looked at him and saw\nit was his foe that sought to compass his death; so he wept and said,\n\"Art thou, then, so secure against the World? Hast thou not heard the\nsaying of the poet:\u2014\n\n Kisras and C\u00e6sars in a bygone day \u273f Stored wealth; where is it, and\n ah! where are they?\"\n\n\"O Wazir,\" he continued, \"know that Allah (be He extolled and exalted!)\nwill do whatso He will!\" \"O Ali,\" replied he, \"thinkest thou to frighten\nme with such talk? I mean this very day to smite thy neck despite the\nnoses of the Bassorah folk and I care not; let the days do as they\nplease; nor will I turn me to thy counsel but rather to what the poet\nsaith:\u2014\n\n Leave thou the days to breed their ban and bate, \u273f And make thee\n strong t' upbear the weight of Fate.\n\nAnd also how excellently saith another:\u2014\n\n Whoso shall see the death-day of his foe, \u273f One day surviving, wins\n his bestest wish.\"\n\nThen he ordered his attendants to mount Nur al-Din upon the bare back of\na mule; and they said to the youth (for truly it was irksome to them),\n\"Let us stone him and cut him down though our lives go for it.\" But Nur\nal-Din said to them, \"Do not so: have ye not heard the saying of the\npoet?\u2014\n\n Needs must I bear the term by Fate decreed, \u273f And when that day be\n dead needs must I die:\n If lions dragged me to their forest-lair, \u273f Safe should I live\n till draw my death-day nigh.\"\n\nThen they proceeded to proclaim before Nur al-Din, \"This is the least of\nthe retribution for him who imposeth upon Kings with forgeries.\" And\nthey ceased not parading him round about Bassorah, till they made him\nstand beneath the palace-windows and set him upon the leather of\nblood,[74] and the sworder came up to him and said, \"O my lord, I am but\na slave commanded in this matter: an thou have any desire, tell it me\nthat I may fulfil it, for now there remaineth of thy life only so much\nas may be till the Sultan shall put his face out of the lattice.\"\nThereupon Nur al-Din looked to the right and to the left, and before him\nand behind him and began improvising:\u2014\n\n The sword, the sworder and the blood-skin waiting me I sight, \u273f\n And cry, Alack, mine evil fate! ah, my calamity!\n How is't I see no loving friend with eye of sense or soul? \u273f What!\n no one here? I cry to all: will none reply to me?\n The time is past that formed my life, my death term draweth nigh,\n \u273f Will no man win the grace of God showing me clemency;\n And look with pity on my state, and clear my dark despair, \u273f E'en\n with a draught of water dealt to cool death's agony?\n\nThe people fell to weeping over him; and the headsman rose and brought\nhim a draught of water; but the Wazir sprang up from his place and smote\nthe gugglet with his hand and broke it: then he cried out at the\nexecutioner and bade him strike off Nur al-Din's head. So he bound the\neyes of the doomed man and folk clamoured at the Wazir and loud wailings\nwere heard and much questioning of man and man. At this moment behold,\nrose a dense dust-cloud filling sky and wold; and when the Sultan, who\nwas sitting in the palace, descried this, he said to his suite, \"Go and\nsee what yon cloud bringeth:\" Replied Al-Mu'in, \"Not till we have\nsmitten this fellow's neck;\" but the Sultan said, \"Wait ye till we see\nwhat this meaneth.\" Now the dust-cloud was the dust of Ja'afar the\nBarmecide, Wazir to the Caliph, and his host; and the cause of his\ncoming was as follows. The Caliph passed thirty days without calling to\nmind the matter of Nur al-Din Ali,[75] and none reminded him of it, till\none night, as he passed by the chamber of Anis al-Jalis, he heard her\nweeping and singing with a soft sweet voice these lines of the poet:\u2014\n\n In thought I see thy form when farthest far or nearest near; \u273f And\n on my tongue there dwells a name which man shall ne'er unhear.\n\nThen her weeping redoubled; when lo! the Caliph opened the door and,\nentering the chamber, found Anis al-Jalis in tears. When she saw him she\nfell to the ground and kissing his feet three times repeated these\nlines:\u2014\n\n O fertile root and noble growth of trunk; \u273f Ripe-fruitful branch\n of never sullied race;\n I mind thee of what pact thy bounty made; \u273f Far be't from thee\n thou should'st forget my case!\n\nQuoth the Caliph, \"Who art thou?\" and she replied, \"I am she whom Ali\nbin Khakan gave thee in gift, and I wish the fulfilment of thy promise\nto send me to him with the robe of honour; for I have now been thirty\ndays without tasting the food of sleep.\" Thereupon the Caliph sent for\nJa'afar and said to him, \"O Ja'afar, 'tis thirty days since we have had\nnews of Nur al-Din bin Khakan, and I cannot but suppose that the Sultan\nhath slain him; but, by the life of my head and by the sepulchres of my\nforefathers, if aught of foul play hath befallen him, I will surely make\nan end of him who was the cause of it, though he be the dearest of all\nmen to myself! So I desire that thou set out for Bassorah within this\nhour and bring me tidings of my cousin, King Mohammed bin Sulayman\nal-Zayni, and how he hath dealt with Nur al-Din Ali bin Khakan;\" adding,\n\"If thou tarry longer on the road than shall suffice for the journey, I\nwill strike off thy head. Furthermore, do thou tell the son of my uncle\nthe whole story of Nur al-Din, and how I sent him with my written\norders; and if thou find, O my cousin,[76] that the King hath done\notherwise than as I commanded, bring him and the Wazir Al-Mu'in bin Sawi\nto us in whatsoever guise thou shalt find them.\"[77] \"Hearing and\nobedience,\" replied Ja'afar and, making ready on the instant, he set out\nfor Bassorah where the news of his coming had foregone him and had\nreached to the ears of King Mohammed. When Ja'afar arrived and saw the\ncrushing and crowding of the lieges, he asked, \"What means all this\ngathering?\" so they told him what was doing in the matter of Nur al-Din;\nwhereupon he hastened to go to the Sultan and saluting him, acquainted\nhim with the cause why he came and the Caliph's resolve, in case of any\nfoul play having befallen the youth, to put to death whoso should have\nbrought it about. Then he took into custody the King and the Wazir and\nlaid them in ward and, giving order for the release of Nur al-Din Ali,\nenthroned him as Sultan in the stead of Mohammed bin Sulayman. After\nthis Ja'afar abode three days in Bassorah, the usual guest-time, and on\nthe morning of the fourth day, Nur al-Din Ali turned to him and said, \"I\nlong for the sight of the Commander of the Faithful.\" Then said Ja'afar\nto Mohammed bin Sulayman, \"Make ready to travel, for we will say the\ndawn-prayer and mount Baghdad-wards;\" and he replied, \"To hear is to\nobey.\" Then they prayed and they took horse and set out, all of them,\ncarrying with them the Wazir, Al-Mu'in bin Sawi, who began to repent him\nof what he had done. Nur al-Din rode by Ja'afar's side and they stinted\nnot faring on till they arrived at Baghdad, the House of Peace, and\ngoing in to the Caliph told him how they had found Nur al-Din nigh upon\ndeath. Thereupon the Caliph said to the youth, \"Take this sword and\nsmite with it the neck of thine enemy.\" So he took the sword from his\nhand and stepped up to Al-Mu'in who looked at him and said, \"I did\naccording to my mother's milk, do thou according to thine.\"[78] Upon\nthis Nur al-Din cast the sword from his hand and said to the Caliph, \"O\nCommander of the Faithful, he hath beguiled me with his words;\" and he\nrepeated this couplet:\u2014\n\n By craft and sleight I snared him when he came; \u273f A few fair words\n aye trap the noble-game!\n\n\"Leave him then,\" cried the Caliph and, turning to Masrur said, \"Rise\nthou and smite his neck.\" So Masrur drew his sword and struck off his\nhead. Then quoth the Caliph to Nur al-Din Ali, \"Ask a boon of me.\" \"O my\nlord,\" answered he, \"I have no need of the Kingship of Bassorah; my sole\ndesire is to be honoured by serving thee and by seeing thy countenance.\"\n\"With love and gladness,\" said the Caliph. Then he sent for the damsel,\nAnis al-Jalis, and bestowed plentiful favours upon them both and gave\nthem one of his palaces in Baghdad, and assigned stipends and\nallowances, and made Nur al-Din Ali bin Fazl bin Khakan, one of his\ncup-companions; and he abode with the Commander of the Faithful enjoying\nthe pleasantest of lives till death overtook him. \"Yet (continued\nShahrazad) is not his story in any wise more wondrous than the history\nof the merchant and his children.\" The King asked \"And what was that?\"\nand Shahrazad began to relate the\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n Supplementary to note 2, p. 2, and note 2, p. 14, vol. i., I may add\n that \"Shahrazad,\" in the Shams al-Loghat, is the P.N. of a King. L.\n Langl\u00e8s (Les Voyages de Sindib\u00e2d Le Marin et La Ruse des Femmes, first\n appended to Savary's Grammar and reprinted 12mo. pp. 161 + 113,\n Imprimerie Royale, Paris, M.D.CCC.XIV) explains it by Le cypr\u00e8s, la\n beaut\u00e9 de la ville; and he is followed by (A. de Biberstein)\n Kazimirski (Enis el-Djelis, Paris, Barrois, 1847). Ouseley (Orient.\n Collect.) makes Shahrz\u00e1d=town-born; and others an Arabisation of\n Chehr-\u00e1z\u00e1d (free of face, ingenuous of countenance) the petit nom of\n Queen Humay, for whom see the terminal Essay. The name of the sister,\n whom the Fihrist converts into a Kahram\u00e1nah, or nurse, vulgarly\n written D\u00edn\u00e1r-z\u00e1d, would=child of gold pieces, freed by gold pieces,\n or one who has no need of gold pieces: Dinz\u00e1d=child of faith and\n Dayn\u00e1z\u00e1d, proposed by Langl\u00e8s, \"free from debt(!)\" I have adopted\n Macnaghten's Dunyazad. \"Shahryar,\" which Scott hideously writes\n \"Shier-ear,\" is translated by the Shams, King of the world, absolute\n monarch and the court of Anushirwan while the Burh\u00e1n-i-K\u00e1ti'a renders\n it a King of Kings, and P.N. of a town. Shahr-b\u00e1z is also the P.N. of\n a town in Samarcand.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n Arab. \"Malik,\" here used as in our story-books: \"Pompey was a wise and\n powerful King\" says the Gesta Romanorum. This King is, as will appear,\n a Regent or Governor under Harun al-Rashid. In the next tale he is\n Viceroy of Damascus, where he is also called \"Sultan.\"\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n The Bul. Edit. gives the lines as follows:\u2014\n\n The lance was his pen, and the hearts of his foes \u273f His paper,\n and dipped he in blood for ink;\n Hence our sires entitled the spear Khatt\u00edyah, \u273f Meaning that withal\n man shall write, I think.\n\n The pun is in \"Khatt\u00edyah\" which may mean a writer (feminine) and also\n a spear, from Khatt-Hajar, a tract in the province Al-Bahrayn (Persian\n Gulf), and Oman, where the best Indian bamboos were landed and\n fashioned into lances. Imr al-Kays (Mu'allakah v. 4.) sings of \"our\n dark spears firmly wrought of Khattiyan cane;\" Al-Bus\u00edr\u00ed of \"the brown\n lances of Khatt;\" also see Lebid v. 50 and Ham\u00e1sah pp. 26, 231: Antar\n notes the \"Spears of Khatt\" and \"Rudaynian lances.\" Rudaynah is said\n to have been the wife of one Samh\u00e1r, the Ferrara of lances; others\n make her the wife of Al-Ka'azab and hold Samh\u00e1r to be a town in\n Abyssinia where the best weapons were manufactured. The pen is the\n Calamus or Kalam (reed cut for pen) of which the finest and hardest\n are brought from Java: they require the least nibbing. The rhetorical\n figure in the text is called Husn al-Ta'al\u00edl, our \u00e6tiology; and is as\n admirable to the Arabs as it appears silly to us.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n \"He loves folk\" is high praise, meaning something more than\n benevolence and beneficence. Like charity it covers a host of sins.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n The sentence is euphuistic.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n Arab. \"Rubb\"=syrup a word Europeanised by the \"Rob Laffecteur.\"\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n The Septentriones or four oxen and their wain.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n The list fatally reminds us of \"astronomy and the use of the globes\"\n ... \"Shakespeare and the musical glasses.\"\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n The octave occurs in Night xv. I quote Torrens (p. 360) by way of\n variety.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n A courteous formula of closing with the offer.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n To express our \"change of climate\" Easterns say, \"change of water and\n air,\" water coming first.\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n \"The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night\" (Psalm\n cxxi. 6). Easterns still believe in the blighting effect of the moon's\n rays, which the Northerners of Europe, who view it under different\n conditions, are pleased to deny. I have seen a hale and hearty Arab,\n after sitting an hour in the moonlight, look like a man fresh from a\n sick bed; and I knew an Englishman in India whose face was temporarily\n paralysed by sleeping with it exposed to the moon.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n The negroids and negroes of Zanzibar.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n _i.e._ Why not make thy heart as soft as thy sides! The converse of\n this was reported at Paris during the Empire, when a man had by\n mistake pinched a very high personage: \"Ah, Madame! if your heart be\n as hard as (what he had pinched) I am a lost man.\"\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n \"Na'\u00edman\" is said to one after bathing or head-shaving: the proper\n reply, for in the East every sign of ceremony has its countersign, is\n \"Allah benefit thee!\" (Pilgrimage i. II, iii. 285; Lane M. E. chapt.\n viii.; Caussin de Perceval's Arabic Grammar, etc., etc.). I have given\n a specimen (Pilgrimage i., 122) not only of sign and countersign, but\n also of the rhyming repartee which rakes love. Hanien! (pleasant to\n thee! said when a man drinks). Allah pleasure thee (Allah yuhann\u00edk\n which Arnauts and other ruffians perverted to Allah yan\u00edk, Allah\n copulate with thee); thou drinkest for _ten_!\u2014I am the cock and thou\n art the _hen_! (_i.e._ a passive catamite)\u2014Nay, I am the thick one\n (the penis which gives pleasure) and thou art the _thin_! And so forth\n with most unpleasant pleasantries.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n In the old version she is called \"The Fair Persian,\" probably from the\n owner: her name means \"The Cheerer of the Companion.\"\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n Pronounce \"Nooraddeen.\" I give the name as written in Arabic.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n Amongst Moslems, I have said, it is held highly disgraceful when the\n sound of women's cries can be heard by outsiders.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n In a case like this, the father would be justified by Rasm (or usage)\n not by Koranic law, in playing Brutus with his son. The same would be\n the case in a detected intrigue with a paternal concubine and, in very\n strict houses, with a slave-girl.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n Orientals fear the \"Zug\" or draught as much as Germans; and with even\n a better reason. Draughts are most dangerous in hot climates.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n The Unity of the Godhead and the Apostleship of Mohammed.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n This would be done only in the case of the very poor.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n Prayers over the dead are not universal in Al-Islam; but when they are\n recited they lack the \"sijdah\" or prostration.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n Or, \"Of the first and the last,\" _i.e._ Mohammed, who claimed (and\n claimed justly) to be the \"Seal\" or head and end of all Prophets and\n Prophecy. For note that whether the Arab be held inspired or a mere\n impostor, no man making the same pretension has moved the world since\n him. Mr. J. Smith the Mormon (to mention one in a myriad) made a bold\n attempt and failed.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n _i.e._ flatterers.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n In one matter Moslems contrast strongly with Christians, by most\n scrupulously following the example of their law-giver: hence they are\n the model Conservatives. But (European) Christendom is here, as in\n other things, curiously contradictory: for instance, it still keeps a\n \"Feast of the Circumcision,\" and practically holds circumcision in\n horror. Eastern Christians, however, have not wholly abolished it, and\n the Abyssinians, who find it a useful hygienic precaution, still\n practise it. For ulcers, syphilis and other venereals which are\n readily cured in Egypt become dangerous in the Highlands of Ethiopia.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n Arab. \"Sabab,\" the orig. and material sense of the word; hence \"a\n cause,\" etc.\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n Thus he broke his promise to his father, and it is insinuated that\n retribution came upon him.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n \"O Pilgrim\" (Ya H\u00e1jj) is a polite address even to those who have not\n pilgrimaged. The feminine \"H\u00e1jjah\" (in Egypt pronounced \"H\u00e1ggeh\") is\n similarly used.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n Arab. us\u00fal=roots, _i.e._ I have not forgotten my business.\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n Moslems from Central and Western North Africa. (Pilgrimage i. 261;\n iii. 7, etc.); the \"Jabarti\" is the Moslem Abyssinian.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n This is a favourite bit of chaff and is to be lengthened out almost\n indefinitely _e.g._ every brown thing is not civet nor every shining\n thing a diamond; every black thing is not charcoal nor every white\n chalk; every red thing is not a ruby nor every yellow a topaz; every\n long-necked thing is not a camel, etc., etc., etc.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n He gives him the name of his grandfather; a familiar usage.\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n Arab. \"Ma'janah,\" a place for making unbaked bricks (Tob=Span. Adobe)\n with chaff and bruised or charred straw. The use of this article in\n rainless lands dates from ages immemorial, and formed the outer walls\n of the Egyptian temple.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n Arab. \"Barsh,\" a bit of round matting used by the poor as a seat. The\n Wazir thus showed that he had been degraded to the condition of a\n mat-maker.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n The growth (a _Poa_ of two species) which named Wady Half\u00e1 (vulg.\n \"Halfah\"), of which the home public has of late heard perhaps a trifle\n too much. Burckhardt (Prov. 226) renders it \"dry reeds\"\u2014incorrectly\n enough.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n This \"H\u00e1shimi\" vein, as they call it, was an abnormal development\n between the eyes of the house of Abbas, inherited from the great\n grandfather of the Prophet; and the latter had it remarkably large,\n swelling in anger and battle-rage. The text, however, may read \"The\n sweat of wrath,\" etc.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n Torrens and Payne prefer \"Ilm\"=knowledge. Lane has more correctly\n \"Alam\"=a sign, a flag.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n The lines were in Night xi: I have quoted Torrens (p. 379) for a\n change.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n Still customary in Tigris-Euphrates land, where sea-craft has not\n changed since the days of Xisisthrus-Noah, and long before.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n To cool the contents.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n Hence the Khedivial Palace near Cairo \"Kasr al-Nuzhah;\" literally \"of\n Delights;\" one of those flimsy new-Cairo buildings which contrast so\n marvellously with the architecture of ancient and even of medi\u00e6val\n Egypt, and which are covering the land with modern ruins. Compare\n Mohammed Ali's mosque in the citadel with the older Sultan Hasan. A\n popular tale is told that, when the conquering Turk, Y\u00e1w\u00faz Sultan\n Selim, first visited Cairo, they led him to Mosque Al-Gh\u00fari. \"This is\n a splendid K\u00e1'ah (saloon)!\" quoth he. When he entered Sultan Hasan, he\n exclaimed, \"This is a citadel!\"; but after inspecting the Mosque\n Al-Mu'ayyad he cried, \"'Tis a veritable place of prayer, a fit stead\n for the Faithful to adore the Eternal!\"\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n Arab. gardeners are very touchy on this point. A friend of mine was on\n a similar occasion addressed, in true Egyptian lingo, by an old\n Adam-son, \"Ya ibn al-Kalb! beta'mil ay?\" (O dog-son, what art thou up\n to?).\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n \"The green palm-stick is of the trees of Paradise;\" say the Arabs in\n Solomonic style but not Solomonic words: so our \"Spare the rod,\" etc.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n Wayfarers, travellers who have a claim on the kindness of those at\n home: hence Abd al-Rahman al-Burai sings in his famous Ode:\u2014\n\n He hath claim on the dwellers in the places of their birth,\n Whoso wandereth the world, for he lacketh him a home.\n\n It is given in my \"First Footsteps in East Africa\" (pp. 53-55).\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n The good old man treated the youth like a tired child.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n In Moslem writings the dove and turtle-dove are mostly feminine,\n whereas the female bird is always mute and only the male sings to\n summon or to amuse his mate.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n An unsavoury comparison of the classical Narcissus with the yellow\n white of a nigger's eyes.\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n A tree whose coals burn with fierce heat: Al-Hariri (Vth S\u00e9ance). This\n Artemisia is like the tamarisk but a smaller growth and is held to be\n a characteristic of the Arabian Desert. A Badawi always hails with\n pleasure the first sight of the Ghaz\u00e1, after he has sojourned for time\n away from his wilds. Mr. Palgrave (i. 38) describes the \"Ghad\u00e1\" as an\n Euphorbia with a woody stem often 5-6 feet high and slender flexible\n green twigs (?), \"forming a feathery tuft, not ungraceful to the eye,\n while it affords some shelter to the traveller, and food to his\n camels.\"\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n Arab. Sal'am=S(alla) A(llah) a(layhi) wa S(allam); A(llah) b(less)\n h(im) a(nd) k(eep)=Allah keep him and assain!\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n The ass is held to be ill-omened. I have noticed the braying\n elsewhere. According to Mandeville the Devil did not enter the Ark\n with the Ass, but he left it when Noah said \"Benedicite.\" In his day\n (A.D. 1322) and in that of Benjamin of Tudela, people had seen and\n touched the ship on Ararat, the Judi (Gordi\u00e6i) mountains; and this\n dates from Berosus (S.C. 250) who, of course, refers to the Ark of\n Xisisthrus. See Josephus Ant. i. 3, 6; and Rodwell (Koran, pp. 65,\n 530).\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n As would happen at a \"Zikr,\" rogation or litany. Those who wish to see\n how much can be made of the subject will read \"Pearls of the Faith, or\n Islam's Rosary, being the ninety-nine beautiful names of Allah\"\n (Asm\u00e1-el-Husna) etc. by Edwin Arnold: London. Tr\u00fcbner, 1883.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n _i.e._ the S\u00e1ki, cup-boy or cup-bearer. \"Moon-faced,\" as I have shown\n elsewhere, is no compliment in English, but it is in Persian and\n Arabic.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n He means we are \"Z\u00e1hir\u00ed,\" plain honest Moslems, not \"B\u00e1tin\u00ed\" gnostics\n (erg\u00f2 reprobates) and so forth, who disregard all appearances and\n external ordinances. This suggests his opinion of Shaykh Ibrahim and\n possibly refers to Ja'afar's suspected heresy.\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n This worthy will be noticed in a subsequent page.\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n Arab. \"Lis\u00e1m,\" the end of the \"K\u00fafiyah,\" or head-kerchief passed over\n the face under the eyes and made fast on the other side. This\n mouth-veil serves as a mask (eyes not being recognisable) and defends\n from heat, cold and thirst. I also believe that hooding the eyes with\n this article, Badawi-fashion, produces a sensation of coolness, at any\n rate a marked difference of apparent temperature; somewhat like a pair\n of dark spectacles or looking at the sea from a sandy shore.\n Pilgrimage i., 210 and 346. The woman's \"Lis\u00e1m\" (chin-veil) or Yashmak\n is noticed in i., 337.\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n Most characteristic is this familiarity between the greatest man then\n in the world and his pauper subject. The fisherman alludes to a\n practise of Al-Islam, instituted by Caliph Omar, that all rulers\n should work at some handicraft in order to spare the public treasure.\n Hence Sultan Mu'ayyad of Cairo was a calligrapher who sold his\n handwriting, and his example was followed by the Turkish Sultans\n Mahm\u00fad, Abd al-Maj\u00edd and Abd al-Aziz. German royalties prefer\n carpentering and Louis XVI. watch-making.\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n There would be nothing singular in this request. The democracy of\n despotism levels all men outside the pale of politics and religion.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n \"Wa'll\u00e1hi tayyib!\" an exclamation characteristic of the Egyptian\n Moslem.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n The pretended fisherman's name Kar\u00edm=the Generous.\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n Such an act of generosity would appear to Europeans well-nigh\n insanity, but it is quite in Arab manners. Witness the oft-quoted tale\n of H\u00e1tim and his horse. As a rule the Arab is the reverse of generous,\n contrasting badly, in this point, with his cousin the Jew: hence his\n ideal of generosity is of the very highest. \"The generous (_i.e._\n liberal) is Allah's friend, aye, though he be a sinner; and the miser\n is Allah's foe, aye, though he be a saint!\" Indian Moslems call a\n skin-flint Makhi-ch\u00fas=fly-sucker (Pilgrimage i. 242).\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n Arab. Amm\u00e1 ba'ad (or Wa ba'ad), an initiatory formula attributed to\n Koss ibn Sa'idat al-Iyadi, bishop of Najr\u00e1n (the town in Al-Yaman\n which D'Herbelot calls Negiran and a famous preacher in Mohammed's\n day) hence \"more eloquent than Koss\" (Mayd\u00e1ni, Arab. Prov., 189). He\n was the first who addressed letters with the incept, \"from A. to B.\";\n and the first who preached from a pulpit and who leant on a sword or a\n staff when discoursing. Many Moslems date Amm\u00e1 ba'ad from the Prophet\n David, relying upon a passage of the Koran (xxxviii. 19).\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n Arab. \"Nusf\"=half (a dirham): vulgarly pronounced \"nuss,\" and\n synonymous with the Egypt. \"Faddah\" (=silver), the Greek Asper, and\n the Turkish \"par\u00e1h.\" It is the smallest Egyptian coin, made of very\n base metal and, there being forty to the piastre, it is worth nearly a\n quarter of a farthing.\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n The too literal Torrens and Lane make the Caliph give the gardener-lad\n the clothes in which he was then clad, forgetting, like the author or\n copier, that he wore the fishermen's lousy suit.\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n In sign of confusion, disappointment and so forth: not \"biting his\n nails,\" which is European and utterly un-Asiatic.\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n See lines like these in Night xiii. (i. 136); the sentiment is trite.\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n The Arab will still stand under his ruler's palace and shout aloud to\n attract his attention. Sayyid Sa'id known as the \"Im\u00e1n of Muskat\" used\n to encourage the patriarchal practice. Mohammed repeatedly protested\n against such unceremonious conduct (Koran xciv. 11, etc.). The \"three\n times of privacy\" (Koran cv. 57) are before the dawn prayer, during\n the Siesta (noon) and after the even-prayer.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n The Judges of the four orthodox schools.\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n That none might see it or find it ever after.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n Arab. \"Khatt Sharif\"=a royal autographical letter: the term is still\n preserved in Turkey, but Europeans will write \"Hatt.\"\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n Meaning \"Little tom-cat\"; a dim. of \"Kitt\" vulg. Kutt or Gutt.\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n Arab. \"Matm\u00farah\"\u2014the Algerine \"Matamor\"\u2014a \"silo,\" made familiar to\n England by the invention of \"Ensilage.\"\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n The older \"Mustapha\"=Mohammed. This Intercession-doctrine is fiercely\n disputed. Pilgrimage ii. 77. The Apostle of Al-Islam seems to have\n been unable to make up his mind upon the subject: and modern opinion\n amongst Moslems is apparently borrowed from the Christians.\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n Lane (i. 486) curiously says, \"The place of the stagnation of blood:\"\n yet he had translated the word aright in the Introduction (i. 41). I\n have noticed that the Nat'a is made like the \"Sufrah,\" of well-tanned\n leather, with rings in the periphery, so that a thong passed through\n turns it into a bag. The Sufrah used for provisions is usually yellow,\n with a black border and small pouches for knives or spoons (Pilgrimage\n i. 111).\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n This improbable detail shows the Caliph's greatness.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n \"Cousin\" is here a term of familiarity, our \"coz.\"\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n _i.e._ without allowing them a moment's delay to change clothes.\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n _i.e._ according to my nature, birth, blood, _de race_.\n\n\n\n\n _TALE OF GHANIM BIN AYYUB[79], THE DISTRAUGHT,\n THE THRALL O' LOVE._\n\n\nIt hath reached me, O auspicious King, that in times of yore and in\nyears and ages long gone before, there lived in Damascus a merchant\namong the merchants, a wealthy man who had a son like the moon on the\nnight of his fullness[80] and withal sweet of speech, who was named\nGhanim bin 'Ayy\u00fab surnamed the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love. He had\nalso a daughter, own sister to Ghanim, who was called Fitnah, a damsel\nunique in beauty and loveliness. Their father died and left them\nabundant wealth,\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Thirty-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the merchant left\nhis two children abundant wealth and amongst other things an hundred\nloads[81] of silks and brocades, musk-pods and mother o' pearl; and\nthere was written on every bale, \"This is of the packages intended for\nBaghdad,\" it having been his purpose to make the journey thither, when\nAlmighty Allah took him to Himself, which was in the time of the Caliph\nHarun al-Rashid. After a while his son took the loads and, bidding\nfarewell to his mother and kindred and townsfolk, went forth with a\ncompany of merchants, putting his trust in Allah Almighty, who decreed\nhim safety, so that he arrived without let or stay at Baghdad. There he\nhired for himself a fair dwelling house which he furnished with carpets\nand cushions, curtains and hangings; and therein stored his bales and\nstabled his mules and camels, after which he abode a while resting.\nPresently the merchants and notables of Baghdad came and saluted him,\nafter which he took a bundle containing ten pieces of costly stuffs,\nwith the prices written on them, and carried it to the merchants' bazar,\nwhere they welcomed and saluted him and showed him all honour; and,\nmaking him dismount from his beast, seated him in the shop of the Syndic\nof the market, to whom he delivered the package. He opened it and\ndrawing out the pieces of stuff, sold them for him at a profit of two\ndinars on every dinar of prime cost. At this Ghanim rejoiced and kept\nselling his silks and stuffs one after another, and ceased not to do on\nthis wise for a full year. On the first day of the following year he\nwent, as was his wont, to the Exchange which was in the bazar, but found\nthe gate shut; and enquiring the reason was told, \"One of the merchants\nis dead and all the others have gone to follow his bier,[82] and why\nshouldst thou not win the meed of good deeds by walking with them?\"[83]\nHe replied \"Yes,\" and asked for the quarter where the funeral was taking\nplace, and one directed him thereto. So he purified himself by the\nWuzu-ablution[84] and repaired with the other merchants to the oratory,\nwhere they prayed over the dead, then walked before the bier to the\nburial-place, and Ghanim, who was a bashful man, followed them being\nashamed to leave them. They presently issued from the city, and passed\nthrough the tombs until they reached the grave where they found that the\ndeceased's kith and kin had pitched a tent over the tomb and had brought\nthither lamps and wax-candles. So they buried the body and sat down\nwhile the readers read out and recited the Koran over the grave; and\nGhanim sat with them, being overcome with bashfulness and saying to\nhimself \"I cannot well go away till they do.\" They tarried listening to\nthe Koranic perlection till nightfall, when the servants set supper and\nsweetmeats[85] before them and they ate till they were satisfied; then\nthey washed their hands and again took their places. But Ghanim's mind\nwas preoccupied with his house and goods, being in fear of robbers, and\nhe said to himself, \"I am a stranger here and supposed to have money: if\nI pass the night abroad the thieves will steal my money-bags and my\nbales to boot.\" So when he could no longer control his fear he arose and\nleft the assembly, having first asked leave to go about some urgent\nbusiness; and following the signs of the road he soon came to the\ncity-gate. But it was midnight and he found the doors locked and saw\nnone going or coming nor heard aught but the hounds baying and the\nwolves howling. At this he exclaimed, \"There is no Majesty and there is\nno Might save in Allah! I was in fear for my property and came back on\nits account, but now I find the gate shut and I am in mortal fear for my\nlife!\" Then he turned back and, looking out for a place where he could\nsleep till morning, presently found a Santon's tomb, a square of four\nwalls with a date-tree in the central court and a granite gateway. The\ndoor was wide open; so he entered and would fain have slept, but sleep\ncame not to him; and terror and a sense of desolation oppressed him, for\nthat he was alone amidst the tombs. So he rose to his feet and, opening\nthe door, looked out and lo! he was ware of a light afar off in the\ndirection of the city-gate; then walking a little way towards it, he saw\nthat it was on the road whereby he had reached the tomb. This made him\nfear for his life, so he hastily shut the door and climbed to the top of\nthe date-tree where he hid himself in the heart of the fronds. The light\ncame nearer and nearer till it was close to the tomb; then it stopped\nand he saw three slaves, two bearing a chest and one with a lanthorn, an\nadze and a basket containing some mortar. When they reached the tomb,\none of those who were carrying the case said, \"What aileth thee O\nSawab?\"; and said the other, \"What is the matter O Kafur?\"[86] Quoth he,\n\"Were we not here at supper-tide and did we not leave the door open?\"\n\"Yes,\" replied the other, \"that is true.\" \"See,\" said Kafur, \"now it is\nshut and barred.\" \"How weak are your wits!\" cried the third who bore the\nadze and his name was Bukhayt,[87] \"know ye not that the owners of the\ngardens use to come out from Baghdad and tend them and, when evening\ncloses upon them, they enter this place and shut the door, for fear lest\nthe wicked blackmen, like ourselves, should catch them and roast 'em and\neat 'em.\"[88] \"Thou sayest sooth,\" said the two others, \"but by Allah,\nhowever that may be, none amongst us is weaker of wits than thou.\" \"If\nye do not believe me,\" said Bukhayt, \"let us enter the tomb and I will\nrouse the rat for you; for I doubt not but that, when he saw the light\nand us making for the place, he ran up the date-tree and hid there for\nfear of us.\" When Ghanim heard this, he said in himself, \"O curstest of\nslaves! May Allah not have thee in His holy keeping for this thy craft\nand keenness of wit! There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah, the Glorious, the Great! How shall I win free of these\nblackamoors?\" Then said the two who bore the box to him of the adze,\n\"Swarm up the wall and open the gate for us, O Bukhayt, for we are tired\nof carrying the chest on our necks; and when thou hast opened the gate\nthou shalt have one of those we catch inside, a fine fat rat which we\nwill fry for thee after such excellent fashion that not a speck of his\nfat shall be lost.\" But Bukhayt answered, \"I am afraid of somewhat which\nmy weak wits have suggested to me: we should do better to throw the\nchest over the gateway; for it is our treasure.\" \"If we throw it 'twill\nbreak,\" replied they; and he said, \"I fear lest there be robbers within\nwho murder folk and plunder their goods, for evening is their time of\nentering such places and dividing their spoil.\" \"O thou weak o' wits,\"\nsaid both the bearers of the box, \"how could they ever get in here!\"[89]\nThen they set down the chest and climbing over the wall dropped inside\nand opened the gate, whilst the third slave (he that was called Bukhayt)\nstood by them holding the adze, the lanthorn and the hand-basket\ncontaining the mortar. After this they locked the gate and sat down; and\npresently one of them said, \"O my brethren, we are wearied with walking\nand with lifting up and setting down the chest, and with unlocking and\nlocking the gate; and now 'tis midnight, and we have no breath left to\nopen, a tomb and bury the box: so let us rest here two or three hours,\nthen rise and do the job. Meanwhile each of us shall tell how he came to\nbe castrated and all that befel him from first to last, the better to\npass away our time while we take our rest.\" Thereupon the first, he of\nthe lanthorn and whose name was Bukhayt, said, \"I'll tell you my tale.\"\n\"Say on,\" replied they; so he began as follows the\n\n\n _TALE OF THE FIRST EUNUCH BUKHAYT._\n\nKnow, O my brothers, that when I was a little one, some five years old,\nI was taken home from my native country by a slave-driver who sold me to\na certain Apparitor.[90] My purchaser had a daughter three years old,\nwith whom I was brought up, and they used to make mock of me, letting me\nplay with her and dance for her[91] and sing to her, till I reached the\nage of twelve and she that of ten; and even then they did not forbid me\nseeing her. One day I went in to her and found her sitting in an inner\nroom, and she looked as if she had just come out of the bath which was\nin the house; for she was scented with essences and reek of aromatic\nwoods, and her face shone like the circle of the moon on the fourteenth\nnight. She began to sport with me, and I with her. Now I had just\nreached the age of puberty; so my prickle stood at point, as it were a\nhuge key. Then she threw me on my back and, mounting astraddle on my\nbreast, fell a-wriggling and a-bucking upon me till she had uncovered my\nyard. When she saw it standing with head erect, she hent it in hand and\nbegan rubbing it upon the lips of her little slit[92] outside her\npetticoat-trousers. Thereat hot lust stirred in me and I threw my arms\nround her, while she wound hers about my neck and hugged me to her with\nall her might, till, before I knew what I did, my pizzle split up her\ntrousers and entered her slit and did away her maidenhead. When I saw\nthis, I ran off and took refuge with one of my comrades. Presently her\nmother came in to her; and, seeing her in this case, fainted clean away.\nHowever she managed the matter advisedly and hid it from the girl's\nfather out of good will to me; nor did they cease to call to me and coax\nme, till they took me from where I was. After two months had passed by,\nher mother married her to a young man, a barber who used to shave her\npapa, and portioned and fitted her out of her own monies; whilst the\nfather knew nothing of what had passed. On the night of consummation\nthey cut the throat of a pigeon-poult and sprinkled the blood on her\nshift.[93] After a while they seized me unawares and gelded me; and,\nwhen they brought her to her bridegroom, they made me her Agha,[94] her\neunuch, to walk before her wheresoever she went, whether to the bath or\nto her father's house. I abode with her a long time enjoying her beauty\nand loveliness by way of kissing and clipping and coupling with her,[95]\ntill she died, and her husband and mother and father died also; when\nthey seized me for the Royal Treasury as being the property of an\nintestate, and I found my way hither, where I became your comrade. This,\nthen, O my brethren, is the cause of my cullions being cut off; and\npeace be with you! He ceased and his fellow began in these words the\n\n\n _TALE OF THE SECOND EUNUCH, KAFUR._\n\nKnow, O my brothers that, when beginning service as a boy of eight, I\nused to tell the slave-dealers regularly and exactly one lie every year,\nso that they fell out with one another, till at last my master lost\npatience with me and, carrying me down to the market, ordered the\nbrokers to cry, \"Who will buy this slave, knowing his blemish and making\nallowance for it?\" He did so and they asked him, \"Pray, what may be his\nblemish?\" and he answered, \"He telleth me one single lie every year.\"\nNow a man that was a merchant came up and said to the broker, \"How much\ndo they allow for him with his blemish?\" \"They allow six hundred\ndirhams,\" he replied; and said the other, \"Thou shalt have twenty\ndirhams for thyself.\" So he arranged between him and the slave-dealer\nwho took the coin from him and the broker carried me to the merchant's\nhouse and departed, after receiving his brokerage. The trader clothed me\nwith suitable dress, and I stayed in his service the rest of my\ntwelvemonth, until the new year began happily. It was a blessed season,\nplenteous in the produce of the earth, and the merchants used to feast\nevery day at the house of some one among them, till it was my master's\nturn to entertain them in a flower-garden without the city. So he and\nthe other merchants went to the garden, taking with them all that they\nrequired of provaunt and else beside, and sat eating and carousing and\ndrinking till mid-day, when my master, having need of some matter from\nhis home, said to me, \"O slave, mount the she-mule and hie thee to the\nhouse and bring from thy mistress such and such a thing and return\nquickly.\" I obeyed his bidding and started for the house but, as I drew\nnear it, I began to cry out and shed tears, whereupon all the people of\nthe quarter collected, great and small; and my master's wife and\ndaughters, hearing the noise I was making, opened the door and asked me\nwhat was the matter. Said I, \"My master was sitting with his friends\nbeneath an old wall, and it fell on one and all of them; and when I saw\nwhat had happened to them, I mounted the mule and came hither in haste\nto tell you.\" When my master's daughters and wife heard this, they\nscreamed and rent their raiment and beat their faces, whilst the\nneighbours came around them. Then the wife overturned the furniture of\nthe house, one thing upon another, and tore down the shelves and broke\nthe windows and the lattices and smeared the walls with mud and indigo,\nsaying to me, \"Woe to thee, O Kafur! come help me to tear down these\ncupboards and break up these vessels and this chinaware,[96] and the\nrest of it.\" So I went to her and aided her to smash all the shelves in\nthe house with whatever stood upon them, after which I went round about\nthe terrace-roofs and every part of the place, spoiling all I could and\nleaving no china in the house unbroken till I had laid waste the whole,\ncrying out the while \"Well-away! my master!\" Then my mistress fared\nforth bare-faced wearing a head-kerchief and naught else, and her\ndaughters and the children sallied out with her, and said to me, \"O\nKafur, go thou before us and show us the place where thy master lieth\ndead, that we may take him from under the fallen wall and lay him on a\nbier and bear him to the house and give him a fine funeral.\" So I went\nforth before them crying out, \"Alack, my master!\"; and they after me\nwith faces and heads bare and all shrieking, \"Alas! Alas for the man!\"\nNow there remained none in the quarter, neither man nor woman, nor\nepicene, nor youth nor maid, nor child nor old trot, but went with us\nsmiting their faces and weeping bitterly, and I led them leisurely\nthrough the whole city. The folk asked them what was the matter,\nwhereupon they told them what they had heard from me, and all exclaimed,\n\"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!\" Then said one\nof them, \"He was a personage of consequence; so let us go to the\nGovernor and tell him what hath befallen him.\" When they told the\nGovernor,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Fortieth Night,[97]\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when they told the\nGovernor, he rose and mounted and, taking with him labourers, with\nspades and baskets, went on my track, with many people behind him; and I\nran on before them, howling and casting dust on my head and beating my\nface, followed by my mistress and her children keening for the dead. But\nI got ahead of them and entered the garden before them, and when my\nmaster saw me in this state, I smiting my face and saying, \"Well-away!\nmy mistress Alas! Alas! Alas! who is left to take pity on me, now that\nmy mistress is gone? Would I had been a sacrifice for her!\", he stood\naghast and his colour waxed yellow and he said to me, \"What aileth thee\nO Kafur! What _is_ the matter?\" \"O my lord,\" I replied, \"when thou\nsentest me to the house, I found that the saloon-wall had given way and\nhad fallen like a layer upon my mistress and her children!\" \"And did not\nthy mistress escape?\" \"No, by Allah, O my master; not one of them was\nsaved; the first to die was my mistress, thine elder daughter!\" \"And did\nnot my younger daughter escape?\"; \"No, she did not!\" \"And what became of\nthe mare-mule I use to ride, is she safe?\" \"No, by Allah, O my master,\nthe house-walls and the stable-walls buried every living thing that was\nwithin doors, even to the sheep and geese and poultry, so that they all\nbecame a heap of flesh and the dogs and cats are eating them and not one\nof them is left alive.\" \"And hath not thy master, my elder son,\nescaped?\" \"No, by Allah! not one of them was saved, and now there is\nnaught left of house or household, nor even a sign of them: and, as for\nthe sheep and geese and hens, the cats and dogs have devoured them.\"\nWhen my master heard this the light became night before his sight; his\nwits were dazed and he so lost command of his senses that he could not\nstand firm on his feet: he was as one struck with a sudden palsy and his\nback was like to break. Then he rent his raiment and plucked out his\nbeard and, casting his turband from off his head, buffetted his face\ntill the blood ran down and he cried aloud, \"Alas, my children! Alas, my\nwife! Alas, my calamity! To whom ever befel that which hath befallen\nme?\" The merchants, his friends, also cried aloud at his crying and wept\nfor his weeping and tore their clothes, being moved to pity of his case;\nand so my master went out of the garden, smiting his face with such\nviolence that from excess of pain he staggered like one drunken with\nwine. As he and the merchants came forth from the garden-gate, behold,\nthey saw a great cloud of dust and heard a loud noise of crying and\nlamentation; so they looked and lo! it was the Governor with his\nattendants and the townsfolk, a world of people, who had come out to\nlook on, and my master's family following them, all screaming and crying\naloud and weeping exceeding sore weeping. The first to address my owner\nwere his wife and children; and when he saw them he was confounded and\nlaughed[98] and said to them, \"How is it with all of you and what befel\nyou in the house and what hath come to pass to you?\" When they saw him\nthey exclaimed, \"Praise be to Allah for thy preservation!\" and threw\nthemselves upon him and his children hung about him crying, \"Alack, our\nfather! Thanks to Allah for thy safety, O our father!\" And his wife said\nto him, \"Art thou indeed well? Laud to Allah who hath shown us thy face\nin safety!\" And indeed she was confounded and her reason fled when she\nsaw him, and she asked, \"O, my lord, how didst thou escape, thou and thy\nfriends the merchants?\"; and he answered her, \"And how fared it with\nthee in the house?\" Quoth they, \"We were all well, whole and healthy,\nnor hath aught of evil befallen us in the house, save that thy slave\nKafur came to us, bareheaded with torn garments and howling:\u2014Alas, the\nmaster! Alas the master! So we asked him:\u2014What tidings, O Kafur? and he\nanswered:\u2014A wall of the garden hath fallen on my master and his friends\nthe merchants, and they are all crushed and dead!\" \"By Allah,\" said my\nmaster, \"he came to me but now howling:\u2014Alas, my mistress! Alas, the\nchildren of the mistress!, and said:\u2014My mistress and her children are\nall dead, every one of them!\" Then he looked round and seeing me with my\nturband rent in rags round my neck, howling and weeping with exceeding\nweeping and throwing dust upon my head, he cried out at me. So I came to\nhim and he said, \"Woe to thee, O ill-omened slave! O whoreson knave! O\nthou damned breed! What mischief thou hast wrought? By Allah! I will\nflog thy skin from thy flesh and cut thy flesh from thy bones!\" I\nrejoined, \"By Allah, thou canst do nothing of the kind with me, O my\nlord, for thou boughtest me with my blemish; and there are honest men to\nbear witness against thee that thou didst so accepting the condition,\nand that thou knewest of my fault which is to tell one lie every year.\nNow this is only a half-lie, but by the end of the year I will tell the\nother half, then will the lie stand whole and complete.\" \"O dog, son of\na dog!\", cried my master, \"O most accursed of slaves, is this all of it\nbut a half-lie? Verily if it be a half-lie 'tis a whole calamity! Get\nthee from me, thou art free in the face of Allah!\" \"By Allah,\" rejoined\nI, \"if thou free me, I will not free thee till my year is completed and\nI have told thee the half-lie which is left. When this is done, go down\nwith me to the slave-market and sell me as thou boughtest me to whoso\nwill buy me with my blemish; but thou shalt not manumit me, for I have\nno handicraft whereby to gain my living;[99] and this my demand is a\nmatter of law which the doctors have laid down in the Chapter of\nEmancipation.\"[100] While we were at these words, up came the crowd of\npeople, and the neighbours of the quarter, men, women and children,\ntogether with the Governor and his suite offering condolence. So my\nmaster and the other merchants went up to him and informed him of the\nadventure, and how this was but a half-lie, at which all wondered,\ndeeming it a whole lie and a big one. And they cursed me and reviled me,\nwhile I stood laughing and grinning at them, till at last I asked, \"How\nshall my master slay me when he bought me with this my blemish?\" Then my\nmaster returned home and found his house in ruins, and it was I who had\nlaid waste the greater part of it,[101] having broken things which were\nworth much money, as also had done his wife, who said to him, \"'Twas\nKafur who broke the vessels and chinaware.\" Thereupon his rage redoubled\nand he struck hand upon hand exclaiming, \"By Allah! in my life never saw\nI a whoreson like this slave; and he saith this is but a half-lie! How,\nthen, if he had told me a whole lie? He would ruin a city, aye or even\ntwo.\" Then in his fury he went to the Governor, and they gave me a neat\nthing in the bastinado-line and made me eat stick till I was lost to the\nworld and a fainting-fit came on me; and, whilst I was yet senseless,\nthey brought the barber who docked me and gelded me[102] and cauterised\nthe wound. When I revived I found myself a clean eunuch with nothing\nleft, and my master said to me, \"Even as thou hast burned my heart for\nthe things I held dearest, so have I burnt thy heart for that of thy\nmembers whereby thou settest most store!\" Then he took me and sold me at\na profit, for that I was become an eunuch. And I ceased not bringing\ntrouble upon all, wherever I was sold, and was shifted from lord to lord\nand from notable to notable, being sold and being bought, till I entered\nthe palace of the Commander of the Faithful. But now my spirit is broken\nand my tricks are gone from me, so\u2014alas!\u2014are my ballocks. When the two\nslaves heard his history, they laughed at him and chaffed him and said,\n\"Truly thou art skite[103] and skite-son! Thou liedest an odious lie.\"\nThen quoth they to the third slave, \"Tell us thy tale.\" \"O sons of my\nuncle,\" quoth he, \"all that ye have said is idle: I will tell you the\ncause of my losing my testicles, and indeed I deserved to lose even\nmore, for I futtered both my mistress and my master's eldest son and\nheir: but my story is a long one and this is not the time to tell it;\nfor the dawn, O my cousins, draweth near and if morning come upon us\nwith this chest still unburied, we shall get into sore disgrace and our\nlives will pay for it. So up with you and open the door and, when we get\nback to the palace, I will tell you my story and the cause of my losing\nmy precious stones.\" Then he swarmed up and dropped down from the wall\ninside and opened the door, so they entered and, setting down the\nlantern, dug between four tombs a hole as long as the chest and of the\nsame breadth. Kafur plied the spade and Sawab removed the earth by\nbaskets-full till they reached the depth of the stature of a man;[104]\nwhen they laid the chest in the hole and threw back the earth over it:\nthen they went forth and shutting the door disappeared from Ghanim's\neyes. When all was quiet and he felt sure that he was left alone in the\nplace, his thought was busied about what the chest contained and he said\nto himself, \"Would that I knew the contents of that box!\" However, he\nwaited till day broke, when morning shone and showed her sheen:\nwhereupon he came down from the date-tree and scooped away the earth\nwith his hands, till the box was laid bare and disengaged from the\nground. Then he took a large stone and hammered at the lock till he\nbroke it and, opening the lid, beheld a young lady, a model of beauty\nand loveliness, clad in the richest of garments and jewels of gold and\nsuch necklaces of precious stones that, were the Sultan's country evened\nwith them, it would not pay their price. She had been drugged with\nBhang, but her bosom, rising and falling, showed that her breath had not\ndeparted. When Ghanim saw her, he knew that some one had played her\nfalse and hocussed her; so he pulled her out of the chest and laid her\non the ground with her face upwards. As soon as she smelt the breeze and\nthe air entered her nostrils, mouth and lungs, she sneezed and choked\nand coughed; when there fell from out her throat a pill of Cretan Bhang,\nhad an elephant smelt it he would have slept from night to night. Then\nshe opened her eyes and glancing around said, in sweet voice and\ngracious words, \"Woe to thee O wind! there is naught in thee to satisfy\nthe thirsty, nor aught to gratify one whose thirst is satisfied! Where\nis Zahr al-Bostan?\" But no one answered her, so she turned her and cried\nout, \"Ho Sab\u00edhah! Shajarat al-Durr! N\u00far al-Hud\u00e1! Najmat al-Subh! be ye\nawake? Shahwah, Nuzhah, Halw\u00e1, Zar\u00edfah, out on you, speak![105]\" But no\none answered; so she looked all around and said, \"Woe's me! have they\nentombed me in the tombs? O Thou who knowest what man's thought enwombs\nand who givest compensation on the Day of Doom, who can have brought me\nfrom amid hanging screens and curtains veiling the Har\u00edm-rooms and set\nme down between four tombs?\" All this while Ghanim was standing by: then\nhe said to her, \"O my lady, here are neither screened rooms nor\npalace-Har\u00edms nor yet tombs; only the slave henceforth devoted to thy\nlove, Ghanim bin Ayyub, sent to thee by the Omniscient One above, that\nall thy troubles He may remove and win for thee every wish that doth\nbehove!\" Then he held his peace. She was reassured by his words and\ncried, \"I testify that there is no god but _the_ God, and I testify that\nMohammed is the Apostle of God!\"; then she turned to Ghanim and, placing\nher hands before her face, said to him in the sweetest speech, \"O\nblessed youth, who brought me hither? See, I am now come to myself.\" \"O\nmy lady,\" he replied, \"three slave-eunuchs came here bearing this\nchest;\" and related to her the whole of what had befallen him, and how\nevening having closed upon him had proved the cause of her preservation,\notherwise she had died smothered.[106] Then he asked her who she was and\nwhat was her story, and she answered, \"O youth, thanks be to Allah who\nhath cast me into the hands of the like of thee! But now rise and put me\nback into the box; then fare forth upon the road and hire the first\ncamel-driver or muleteer thou findest to carry it to thy house. When I\nam there, all will be well and I will tell thee my tale and acquaint\nthee with my adventures, and great shall be thy gain by means of me.\" At\nthis he rejoiced and went outside the tomb. The day was now dazzling\nbright and the firmament shone with light and the folk had begun to\ncirculate; so he hired a man with a mule and, bringing him to the tomb,\nlifted the chest wherein he had put the damsel and set it on the mule.\nHer love now engrossed his heart and he fared homeward with her\nrejoicing, for that she was a girl worth ten thousand gold pieces and\nher raiment and ornaments would fetch a mint of money. As soon as he\narrived at his house he carried in the chest and opening it\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ghanim son of\nAyyub arrived with the chest at his house, he opened it and took out the\nyoung lady, who looked about her and, seeing that the place was\nhandsome, spread with carpets and dight with cheerful colours and other\ndeckings; and noting the stuffs up-piled and packed bales and other else\nthan that, knew that he was a substantial merchant and a man of much\nmoney. Thereupon she uncovered her face and looked at him, and lo! he\nwas a fair youth; so when she saw him she loved him and said, \"O my\nlord, bring us something to eat.\" \"On my head and mine eyes!\" replied\nhe; and, going down to the bazar, bought a roasted lamb and a dish of\nsweetmeats and with these dry fruits and wax-candles, besides wine and\nwhatsoever was required of drinking materials, not forgetting perfumes.\nWith all this gear he returned to the house; and when the damsel saw him\nshe laughed and kissed him and clasped his neck. Then she began\ncaressing him, which made his love wax hotter till it got the mastery of\nhis heart. They ate and drank and each had conceived the fondest\naffection; for indeed the two were one in age and one in loveliness; and\nwhen night came on Ghanim bin Ayyub, the Distraught, the Thrall of Love,\nrose and lit the wax candles and lamps till the place blazed with\nlight;[107] after which he produced the wine-service and spread the\ntable. Then both sat down again, he and she, and he kept filling and\ngiving her to drink, and she kept filling and giving him to drink, and\nthey played and toyed and laughed and recited verses; whilst their joy\nincreased and they clove in closer love each to each (glory be to the\nUniter of Hearts!). They ceased not to carouse after this fashion till\nnear upon dawn when drowsiness overcame them and they slept where they\nwere, apart each from other, till the morning.[108] Then Ghanim arose\nand going to the market, bought all they required of meat and vegetables\nand wine and what not, and brought them to the house; whereupon both sat\ndown to eat and ate their sufficiency, when he set on wine. They drank\nand each played with each, till their cheeks flushed red and their eyes\ntook a darker hue and Ghanim's soul longed to kiss the girl and to lie\nwith her and he said, \"O my lady, grant me one kiss of that dear mouth:\nperchance 'twill quench the fire of my heart.\" \"O Ghanim,\" replied she,\n\"wait till I am drunk and dead to the world; then steal a kiss of me,\nsecretly and on such wise that I may not know thou hast kissed me.\" Then\nshe rose and taking off her upper dress sat in a thin shift of fine\nlinen and a silken head-kerchief.[109] At this passion inflamed Ghanim\nand he said to her, \"O my lady, wilt thou not vouchsafe me what I asked\nof thee?\" \"By Allah,\" she replied, \"that may not be thine, for there is\nwritten upon my trouser-string[110] a hard word!\" Thereupon Ghanim's\nheart sank and desire grew on him as its object offered difficulties;\nand he improvised these verses:\u2014\n\n I asked the author of mine ills \u273f To heal the wound with one sweet\n kiss:\n No! No! she cried,[111] for ever no! \u273f But I, soft whispering, urged\n yes:\n Quoth she, Then take it by my leave, \u273f When smiles shall pardon thine\n amiss:\n By force, cried I? Nay, she replied \u273f With love and gladness eke I\n wis.\n Now ask me not what next occurred \u273f Seek grace of God and whist of\n this!\n Deem what thou wilt of us, for love \u273f By calumnies the sweeter is:\n Nor after this care I one jot \u273f Whether my foe be known or not.\n\nThen his affection increased and love-fires rose hotter in his heart,\nwhile she refused herself to him saying, \"Thou canst not possess me.\"\nThey ceased not to make love and enjoy their wine and wassail, whilst\nGhanim was drowned in the sea of love and longing; but she redoubled in\ncoyness and cruelty till the night brought on the darkness and let fall\non them the skirts of sleep. Thereupon Ghanim rose and lit the lamps and\nwax-candles, and refreshed the room and removed the table; then he took\nher feet and kissed them and, finding them like fresh cream, pressed his\nface[112] on them and said to her, \"O my lady, take pity on one thy love\nhath ta'en and thine eyes hath slain; for indeed I were heart-whole but\nfor thy bane!\" And he wept somewhat. \"O my lord, and light of my eyes,\"\nquoth she, \"by Allah, I love thee in very sooth and I trust to thy\ntruth, but I know that I may not be thine.\" \"And what is the obstacle?\"\nasked he; when she answered, \"To-night I will tell thee my tale, that\nthou mayst accept my excuse.\" Then she threw herself upon him and\nwinding her arms like a necklace about his neck, kissed him and caressed\nhim and promised him her favours; and they ceased not playing and\nlaughing till love gat the firmest hold upon both their hearts. And so\nit continued a whole month, both passing the night on a single\ncarpet-bed, but whenever he would enjoy her, she put him off; whilst\nmutual love increased upon them and each could hardly abstain from\nother. One night, as he lay by her side, and both were warm with wine,\nGhanim passed his hand over her breasts and stroked them; then he\nslipped it down to her waist as far as her navel. She awoke and, sitting\nup, put her hand to her trousers and finding them fast tied, once more\nfell asleep. Presently, he again felt her and sliding his hand down to\nher trouser-string, began pulling at it, whereupon she awoke and sat\nupright. Ghanim also sat up by her side and she asked him, \"What dost\nthou want?\" \"I want to lie with thee,\" he answered, \"and that we may\ndeal openly and frankly with each other.\" Quoth she, \"I must now declare\nto thee my case, that thou mayst know my quality; then will my secret be\ndisclosed to thee and my excuse become manifest to thee.\" Quoth he, \"So\nbe it!\" Thereat she opened the skirt of her shift and, taking up her\ntrouser-string, said to him, \"O my lord, read what is worked on the flat\nof this string:\" so he took it in hand, and saw these words broidered on\nit in gold, \"I AM THINE, AND THOU ART MINE, O COUSIN OF THE\nAPOSTLE!\"[113] When he read this, he withdrew his hand and said to her,\n\"Tell me who thou art!\" \"So be it,\" answered she; \"know that I am one of\nthe concubines of the Commander of the Faithful, and my name is Kut\nal-Kulub\u2014the Food of Hearts. I was brought up in his palace and, when I\ngrew to woman's estate, he looked on me and, noting what share of beauty\nand loveliness the Creator had given me, loved me with exceeding love,\nand assigned me a separate apartment, and gave me ten slave-girls to\nwait on me and all these ornaments thou seest me wearing. On a certain\nday he set out for one of his provinces, and the Lady Zubaydah came to\none of the slave-girls in my service and said to her:\u2014I have something\nto require of thee. What is it, O my lady? asked she and the Caliph's\nwife answered:\u2014When thy mistress Kut al-Kulub is asleep, put this piece\nof Bhang into her nostrils or drop it into her drink, and thou shalt\nhave of me as much money as will satisfy thee. With love and gladness;\nreplied the girl and took the Bhang from her, being a glad woman because\nof the money and because aforetime she had been one of Zubaydah's\nslaves. So she put the Bhang in my drink, and when it was night I drank,\nand the drug had no sooner settled in my stomach than I fell to the\nground, my head touching my feet, and knew naught of my life but that I\nwas in another world. When her device succeeded, she bade put me in this\nchest, and secretly brought in the slaves and the doorkeepers and bribed\nthem; and, on the night when thou wast perched upon the date-tree, she\nsent the blacks to do with me as thou sawest. So my delivery was at thy\nhands, and thou broughtest me to this house and hast entreated me\nhonourably and with thy kindest. This is my story, and I wot not what is\nbecome of the Caliph during my absence. Know then my condition and\ndivulge not my case.\" When Ghanim heard her words and knew that she was\na concubine of the Caliph, he drew back, for awe of the Caliphate beset\nhim, and sat apart from her in one of the corners of the place, blaming\nhimself and brooding over his affair and patiencing his heart bewildered\nfor love of one he could not possess. Then he wept for excess of\nlonging, and plained him of Fortune and her injuries, and the world and\nits enmities (and praise be to Him who causeth generous hearts to be\ntroubled with love and the beloved, and who endoweth not the minds of\nthe mean and miserly with so much of it as eveneth a grain-weight!). So\nhe began repeating:\u2014\n\n The lover's heart for his beloved must meet \u273f Sad pain, and from\n her charms bear sore defeat:\n What is Loves taste? They asked and answered I, \u273f Sweet is the\n taste but ah! 'tis bitter-sweet.\n\nThereupon Kut al-Kulub arose and took him to her bosom and kissed him;\nfor the love of him was firm fixed in her heart, so that she disclosed\nto him her secret and all the affection she felt; and, throwing her arms\nround Ghanim's neck like a collar of pearls, kissed him again and yet\nagain. But he held off from her in awe of the Caliph. Then they talked\ntogether a long while (and indeed both were drowned in the sea of their\nmutual love); and, as the day broke, Ghanim rose and donned his clothes\nand going to the bazar, as was his wont, took what the occasion required\nand returned home. He found her weeping; but when she saw him she\nchecked herself and, smiling through her tears, said, \"Thou hast\ndesolated me, O beloved of my heart. By Allah, this hour of absence hath\nbeen to me like a year![114] I have explained to thee my condition in\nthe excess of my eager love for thee; so come now near me, and forget\nthe past and have thy will of me.\" But he interrupted her crying, \"I\nseek refuge with Allah! This thing may never be. How shall the dog sit\nin the lion's stead? What is the lord's is unlawful to the slave!\" So he\nwithdrew from her, and sat down on a corner of the mat. Her passion for\nhim increased with his forbearance; so she seated herself by his side\nand caroused and played with him, till the two were flushed with wine,\nand she was mad for her own dishonour. Then she sang these verses:\u2014\n\n[Illustration]\n\n The lover's heart is like to break in twain: \u273f Till when these\n coy denials ah! till when?\n O thou who fliest me sans fault of mine, \u273f Gazelles are wont at\n times prove tame to men:\n Absence, aversion, distance and disdain, \u273f How shall young lover\n all these ills sustain?\n\nThereupon Ghanim wept and she wept at his weeping, and they ceased not\ndrinking till nightfall, when he rose and spread two beds, each in its\nplace. \"For whom is this second bed?\" asked she, and he answered her,\n\"One is for me and the other is for thee: from this night forth we must\nnot sleep save thus, for that which is the lord's is unlawful to the\nthrall.\" \"O my master!\" cried she, \"let us have done with this, for all\nthings come to pass by Fate and Fortune.\" But he refused, and the fire\nwas lighted in her heart and, as her longing waxed fiercer, she clung to\nhim and cried, \"By Allah, we will not sleep save side by side!\" \"Allah\nforefend!\" he replied and prevailed against her and lay apart till the\nmorning, when love and longing redoubled on her and distraction and\neager thirst of passion. They abode after this fashion three full-told\nmonths, which were long and longsome indeed, and every time she made\nadvances to him, he would refuse himself and say, \"Whatever belongeth to\nthe master is unlawful to the man.\" Now when time waxed tiresome and\ntedious to her and anguish and distress grew on her, she burst out from\nher oppressed heart with these verses:\u2014\n\n How long, rare beauty! wilt do wrong to me? \u273f Who was it bade thee\n not belong to me?\n With outer charms thou weddest inner grace \u273f Comprising every point\n of piquancy:\n Passion thou hast infused in every heart, \u273f From eyelids driven\n sleep by deputy:\n Erst was (I wot) the spray made thin of leaf \u273f O Cassia-spray!\n Unlief thy sin I see:[115]\n The hart erst hunted I: how is't I spy \u273f The hunter hunted (fair\n my hart!) by thee?\n Wondrouser still I tell thee aye that I \u273f Am trapped while never up\n to trap thou be!\n Ne'er grant my prayer! For if I grudge thyself \u273f To thee, I grudge\n my _me_ more jealously;\n And cry so long as life belong to me, \u273f Rare beauty how, how long\n this wrong to me?\n\nThey abode in this state a long time, and fear kept Ghanim aloof from\nher. So far concerning these two; but as regards the Lady Zubaydah,\nwhen, in the Caliph's absence she had done this deed by Kut al-Kulub she\nbecame perplexed, saying to herself, \"What shall I tell my cousin when\nhe comes back and asks for her? What possible answer can I make to him?\"\nThen she called an old woman, who was about her and discovered her\nsecret to her saying, \"How shall I act seeing that Kut al-Kulub died by\nsuch untimely death?\" \"O my lady,\" quoth the old crone, \"the time of the\nCaliph's return is near; so do thou send for a carpenter and bid him\nmake thee a figure of wood in the form of a corpse. We will dig a grave\nfor it midmost the palace and there bury it: then do thou build an\noratory over it and set therein lighted candles and lamps, and order\neach and every in the palace to be clad in black.[116] Furthermore\ncommand thy handmaids and eunuchs as soon as they know of the Caliph's\nreturning from his journey, to spread straw over the vestibule-floors\nand, when the Commander of the Faithful enters and asks what is the\nmatter, let them say:\u2014Kut al-Kulub is dead, and may Allah abundantly\ncompensate thee for the loss of her![117]; and, for the high esteem in\nwhich she was held of our mistress, she hath buried her in her own\npalace. When he hears this he will weep and it shall be grievous to him;\nthen will he cause perlections of the Koran to be made for her and he\nwill watch by night at her tomb. Should he say to himself:\u2014Verily\nZubaydah, the daughter of my uncle, hath compassed in her jealousy the\ndeath of Kut al-Kulub; or, if love-longing overcome him and he bid her\nbe taken out of her tomb, fear thou not; for when they dig down and come\nto the image in human shape he will see it shrouded in costly\ngrave-clothes; and, if he wish to take off the winding-sheet that he may\nlook upon her, do thou forbid him or let some other forbid him,\nsaying:\u2014The sight of her nakedness is unlawful. The fear of the world to\ncome will restrain him and he will believe that she is dead and will\nrestore the figure to its place and thank thee for thy doings; and thus\nthou shalt escape, please Almighty Allah, from this slough of despond.\"\nWhen the Lady Zubaydah heard her words, she commended the counsel and\ngave her a dress of honour and a large sum of money, ordering her to do\nall she had said. So the old woman set about the business forthright and\nbade the carpenter make her the aforesaid image; and, as soon as it was\nfinished, she brought it to the lady Zubaydah, who shrouded it and\nburied it and built a sepulchre over it, wherein they lighted candles\nand lamps, and laid down carpets about the tomb. Moreover she put on\nblack and she spread abroad in the Harim that Kut al-Kulub was dead.\nAfter a time the Caliph returned from his journey and went up to the\npalace, thinking only of Kut al-Kulub. He saw all the pages and eunuchs\nand handmaids habited in black, at which his heart fluttered with\nextreme fear; and, when he went in to the Lady Zubaydah, he found her\nalso garbed in black. So he asked the cause of this and they gave him\ntidings of the death of Kut al-Kulub, whereon he fell a-swooning. As\nsoon as he came to himself, he asked for her tomb, and the Lady Zubaydah\nsaid to him, \"Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that for especial honour I\nhave buried her in my own palace.\" Then he repaired in his\ntravelling-garb[118] to the tomb that he might wail over her, and found\nthe carpets spread and the candles and lamps lighted. When he saw this,\nhe thanked Zubaydah for her good deed and abode perplexed, halting\nbetween belief and unbelief till at last suspicion overcame him and he\ngave order to open the grave and take out the body. When he saw the\nshroud and would have removed it to look upon her, the fear of Allah\nAlmighty restrained him, and the old woman (taking advantage of the\ndelay) said, \"Restore her to her place.\" Then he sent at once for Fakirs\nand Koran-readers, and caused perlections to be made over her tomb and\nsat by the side of the grave, weeping till he fainted; and he continued\nto frequent the tomb and sit there for a whole month,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-second Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph ceased\nnot to frequent the tomb for the period of a whole month, at the end of\nwhich time it so happened one day that he entered the Serraglio, after\ndismissing the Emirs and Wazirs, and lay down and slept awhile; and\nthere sat at his head a slave-girl fanning him, and at his feet a second\nrubbing and shampooing them. Presently he awoke and, opening his eyes,\nshut them again and heard the handmaid at his head saying to her who was\nat his feet, \"A nice business this, O Khayzar\u00e1n!\" and the other answered\nher \"Well, O Kaz\u00edb al-B\u00e1n?\"[119] \"Verily\" said the first, \"our lord\nknoweth naught of what hath happened and sitteth waking and watching by\na tomb wherein is only a log of wood carved by the carpenter's art.\"\n\"And Kut al-Kulub,\" quoth the other, \"what hath befallen her?\" She\nreplied, \"Know that the Lady Zubaydah sent a pellet of Bhang by one of\nthe slave-women who was bribed to drug her; and when sleep overpowered\nher she let put her in a chest, and ordered Sawab and Kafur and Bukhayt\nto throw her amongst the tombs.\" \"What dost thou say, O Kaz\u00edb al-B\u00e1n;\"\nasked Khayzar\u00e1n, \"is not the lady Kut al-Kulub dead?\" \"Nay, by Allah!\"\nshe answered \"and long may her youth be saved from death! but I have\nheard the Lady Zubaydah say that she is in the house of a young merchant\nnamed Ghanim bin Ayyub of Damascus, hight the Distraught, the Thrall o'\nLove; and she hath been with him these four months, whilst our lord is\nweeping and watching by night at a tomb wherein is no corpse.\" They kept\non talking this sort of talk, and the Caliph gave ear to their words;\nand, by the time they had ceased speaking, he knew right well that the\ntomb was a feint and a fraud, and that Kut al-Kulub had been in Ghanim's\nhouse for four months. Whereupon he was angered with exceeding anger and\nrising up, he summoned the Emirs of his state; and his Wazir Ja'afar the\nBarmaki came also and kissed the ground between his hands. The Caliph\nsaid to him in fury; \"Go down, O Ja'afar, with a party of armed men and\nask for the house of Ghanim son of Ayyub: fall upon it and spoil it and\nbring him to me with my slave-girl, Kut al-Kulub, for there is no help\nbut that I punish him!\" \"To hear is to obey,\" said Ja'afar; and setting\nout with the Governor and the guards and a world of people, repaired to\nGhanim's house. Now about that time the youth happened to have brought\nback a pot of dressed meat and was about to put forth his hand to eat of\nit, he and Kut al-Kulub, when the lady, happening to look out saw\ncalamity surrounding the house on every side; for the Wazir and the\nGovernor, the night-guard and the Mamelukes with swords drawn had girt\nit as the white of the eye girdeth the black. At this she knew that\ntidings of her had reached the Caliph, her lord; and she made sure of\nruin, and her colour paled and her fair features changed and her favour\nfaded. Then she turned to Ghanim and said to him, \"O my love? fly for\nthy life!\" \"What shall I do,\" asked he, \"and whither shall I go, seeing\nthat my money and means of maintenance are all in this house?\"; and she\nanswered, \"Delay not lest thou be slain and lose life as well as\nwealth.\" \"O my loved one and light of mine eyes!\" he cried, \"How shall I\ndo to get away when they have surrounded the house?\" Quoth she, \"Fear\nnot;\" and, stripping off his fine clothes, dressed him in ragged old\ngarments, after which she took the pot and, putting in it bits of broken\nbread and a saucer of meat,[120] placed the whole in a basket and\nsetting it upon his head said, \"Go out in this guise and fear not for me\nwho wotteth right well what thing is in my hand for the Caliph.\"[121] So\nhe went out amongst them, bearing the basket with its contents, and the\nProtector vouchsafed him His protection and he escaped the snares and\nperils that beset him, by the blessing of his good conscience and pure\nconduct. Meanwhile Ja'afar dismounted and entering the house, saw Kut\nal-Kulub who had dressed and decked herself in splendid raiments and\nornaments and filled a chest with gold and jewellery and precious stones\nand rarities and what else was light to bear and of value rare. When she\nsaw Ja'afar come in, she rose and, kissing the ground before him, said,\n\"O my lord, the Reed hath written of old the rede which Allah\ndecreed!\"[122] \"By Allah, O my lady,\" answered Ja'afar, \"he gave me an\norder to seize Ghanim son of Ayyub;\" and she rejoined, \"O my lord, he\nmade ready his goods and set out therewith for Damascus and I know\nnothing more of him; but I desire thee take charge of this chest and\ndeliver it to me in the Harim of the Prince of the Faithful.\" \"Hearing\nand obedience,\" said Ja'afar, and bade his men bear it away to the\nhead-quarters of the Caliphate together with Kut al-Kulub, commanding\nthem to entreat her with honour as one in high esteem. They did his\nbidding after they had wrecked and plundered Ghanim's house. Then\nJa'afar went in to the Caliph and told him all that had happened, and he\nordered Kut al-Kulub to be lodged in a dark chamber and appointed an old\nwoman to serve her, feeling convinced that Ghanim had debauched her and\nslept with her. Then he wrote a mandate to the Emir Mohammed bin\nSulayman al-Zayni, his viceroy in Damascus, to this effect:\u2014\"The instant\nthou shalt receive this our letter, seize upon Ghanim bin Ayyub and send\nhim to us.\" When the missive came to the viceroy, he kissed it and laid\nit on his head; then he let proclaim in the bazars, \"Whoso is desirous\nto plunder, away with him to the house of Ghanim son of Ayyub.\"[123] So\nthey flocked thither, when they found that Ghanim's mother and sister\nhad built him a tomb[124] in the midst of the house and sat by it\nweeping for him; whereupon they seized the two without telling them the\ncause and, after spoiling the house, carried them before the viceroy. He\nquestioned them concerning Ghanim and both replied, \"For a year or more\nwe have had no news of him.\" So they restored them to their place. Thus\nfar concerning them; but as regards Ghanim, when he saw his wealth\nspoiled and his ruin utterest he wept over himself till his heart\nwell-nigh brake. Then he fared on at random till the last of the day,\nand hunger grew hard on him and walking wearied him. So coming to a\nvillage he entered a mosque[125] where he sat down upon a mat and\npropped his back against the wall; but presently he sank to the ground\nin his extremity of famine and fatigue. There he lay till dawn, his\nheart fluttering for want of food; and, owing to his sweating, the\nlice[126] coursed over his skin; his breath waxed fetid and his whole\ncondition was changed. When the villagers came to pray the dawn-prayer,\nthey found him prostrate, ailing, hunger-lean, yet showing evident signs\nof former affluence. As soon as prayers were over, they drew near him;\nand, understanding that he was starved with hunger and cold, they gave\nhim an old robe with ragged sleeves and said to him, \"O stranger, whence\nart thou and what sickness is upon thee?\" He opened his eyes and wept\nbut returned no answer; whereupon one of them, who saw that he was\nstarving, brought him a saucer of honey and two barley scones. He ate a\nlittle and they sat with him till sun-rise, when they went to their\nwork. He abode with them in this state for a month, whilst sickness and\nweakliness grew upon him; and they wept for him and, pitying his\ncondition, took counsel with one another upon his case and agreed to\nforward him to the hospital in Baghdad.[127] Meanwhile behold, two\nbeggar-women, who were none other than Ghanim's mother and sister,[128]\ncame into the mosque and, when he saw them, he gave them the bread that\nwas at his head; and they slept by his side that night but he knew them\nnot. Next day the villagers brought a camel and said to the cameleer,\n\"Set this sick man on thy beast and carry him to Baghdad and put him\ndown at the Spital-door; so haply he may be medicined and be healed and\nthou shalt have thy hire.\"[129] \"To hear is to comply,\" said the man. So\nthey brought Ghanim, who was asleep, out of the mosque and set him, mat\nand all, on the camel; and his mother and sister came out among the\ncrowd to gaze upon him, but they knew him not. However, after looking at\nhim and considering him carefully they said, \"Of a truth he favours our\nGhanim, poor boy!; can this sick man be he?\" Presently, he woke and\nfinding himself bound with ropes on a camel's back, he began to weep and\ncomplain,[130] and the village-people saw his mother and sister weeping\nover him, albeit they knew him not. Then they fared forth for Baghdad,\nbut the camel-man forewent them and, setting Ghanim down at the\nSpital-gate, went away with his beast. The sick man lay there till dawn\nand, when the folk began to go about the streets, they saw him and stood\ngazing on him, for he had become as thin as a toothpick, till the Syndic\nof the bazar came up and drove them away from him, saying, \"I will gain\nParadise through this poor creature; for if they take him into the\nHospital, they will kill him in a single day.\"[131] Then he made his\nyoung men carry him to his house, where they spread him a new bed with a\nnew pillow,[132] and he said to his wife, \"Tend him carefully;\" and she\nreplied, \"Good! on my head be it!\" Thereupon she tucked up her sleeves\nand warming some water, washed his hands, feet and body; after which she\nclothed him in a robe belonging to one of her slave-girls and made him\ndrink a cup of wine and sprinkled rose-water over him. So he revived and\ncomplained, and the thought of his beloved Kut al-Kulub made his grief\nredouble. Thus far concerning him; but as regards Kut al-Kulub, when the\nCaliph was angered against her,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph\nwas angered against Kut al-Kulub, he ordered her to a dark chamber where\nshe abode eighty days, at the end of which the Caliph, happening to pass\non a certain day the place where she was, heard her repeating poetry,\nand after she ceased reciting her verse, saying, \"O my darling, O my\nGhanim! how great is thy goodness and how chaste is thy nature! thou\ndidst well by one who did ill by thee and thou guardedst his honour who\ngarred thine become dishonour, and his Harim thou didst protect who to\nenslave thee and thine did elect! But thou shalt surely stand, thou and\nthe Commander of the Faithful, before the Just Judge, and thou shalt be\njustified of him on the Day when the Lord (to whom be honour and glory!)\nshall be Kazi and the Angels of Heaven shall be witnesses!\" When the\nCaliph heard her complaint, he knew that she had been wronged and,\nreturning to the palace, sent Masrur the Eunuch for her. She came before\nhim with bowed head and eyes tearful and heart sorrowful; and he said to\nher, \"O Kut al-Kulub, I find thou accusest me of tyranny and oppression,\nand thou avouchest that I have done ill by one who did well by me. Who\nis this who hath guarded my honour while I garred his become dishonour?\nWho protected my Harim and whose Harim I wrecked?\" \"He is Ghanim son of\nAyyub,\" replied she, \"for he never approached me in wantonness or with\nlewd intent, I swear by thy munificence, O Commander of the Faithful!\"\nThen said the Caliph, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah! Ask what thou wilt of me, O Kut al-Kulub.\" \"O Prince of the\nFaithful!\", answered she, \"I require of thee only my beloved Ghanim son\nof Ayyub.\" He did as she desired, whereupon she said, \"O Lord of the\nMoslems, if I bring him to thy presence, wilt thou bestow me on him?\";\nand he replied, \"If he come into my presence, I will give thee to him as\nthe gift of the generous who revoketh not his largesse.\" \"O Prince of\nTrue Believers,\" quoth she, \"suffer me to go and seek him; haply Allah\nmay unite me with him:\" and quoth he, \"Do even as thou wilt.\" So she\nrejoiced and, taking with her a thousand dinars in gold, went out and\nvisited the elders of the various faiths and gave alms in Ghanim's\nname.[133] Next day she walked to the merchants' bazar and disclosed her\nobject to the Syndic and gave him money, saying, \"Bestow this in charity\nto the stranger!\" On the following Friday she fared to the bazar (with\nother thousand dinars) and, entering the goldsmiths' and jewellers'\nmarket-street, called the Chief and presented to him a thousand dinars\nwith these words, \"Bestow this in charity to the stranger!\" The Chief\nlooked at her (and he was the Syndic who had taken in Ghanim) and said,\n\"O my lady, wilt thou come to my house and look upon a youth, a stranger\nI have there and see how goodly and graceful he is?\" Now the stranger\nwas Ghanim, son of Ayyub, but the Chief had no knowledge of him and\nthought him to be some wandering pauper, some debtor whose wealth had\nbeen taken from him, or some lover parted from his beloved. When she\nheard his words her heart fluttered[134] and her vitals yearned, and she\nsaid to him, \"Send with me one who shall guide me to thy house.\" So he\nsent a little lad who brought her to the house wherein was the head\nman's stranger-guest and she thanked him for this. When she reached the\nhouse, she went in and saluted the Syndic's wife, who rose and kissed\nthe ground between her hands, for she knew her. Then quoth Kut al-Kulub,\n\"Where is the sick man who is with thee?\" She wept and replied, \"Here is\nhe, O my lady; by Allah, he is come of good folk and he beareth the\nsigns of gentle breeding: you see him lying on yonder bed.\" So she\nturned and looked at him: and she saw something like him, but he was\nworn and wasted till he had become lean as a toothpick, so his identity\nwas doubtful to her and she could not be certain that it was he. Yet\npity for him possessed her and she wept saying, \"Verily the stranger is\nunhappy, even though he be a prince in his own land!\"; and his case was\ngrievous to her and her heart ached for him, yet she knew him not to be\nGhanim. Then she furnished him with wine and medicines and she sat\nawhile by his head, after which she mounted and returned to her palace\nand continued to visit every bazar in quest of her lover. Meanwhile\nGhanim's mother and sister Fitnah arrived at Baghdad and met the Syndic,\nwho carried them to Kut al-Kulub and said to her, \"O Princess of\nbeneficent ladies, there came to our city this day a woman and her\ndaughter, who are fair of favour and signs of good breeding and dignity\nare apparent in them, though they be dressed in hair-cloth and have each\none a wallet hanging to her neck; and their eyes are tearful and their\nhearts are sorrowful. So I have brought them to thee that thou mayst\ngive them refuge, and rescue them from beggary, for they are not of\nasker-folk and, if it please Allah, we shall enter Paradise through\nthem.\" \"By Allah, O my master,\" cried she, \"thou makest me long to see\nthem! Where are they?\", adding, \"Here with them to me!\" So he bade the\neunuch bring them in; and, when she looked on them and saw that they\nwere both of distinguished beauty, she wept for them and said, \"By\nAllah, these are people of condition and show plain signs of former\nopulence.\" \"O my lady,\" said the Syndic's wife, \"we love the poor and\nthe destitute, more especially as reward in Heaven will recompense our\nlove; and, as for these persons, haply the oppressor hath dealt hardly\nwith them and hath plundered their property and harried their houses.\"\nThen Ghanim's mother and sister wept with sore weeping, remembering\ntheir former prosperity and contrasting it with their present poverty\nand miserable condition; and their thoughts dwelt upon son and brother,\nwhilst Kut al-Kulub wept for their weeping; and they said, \"We beseech\nAllah to reunite us with him whom we desire, and he is none other but my\nson named Ghanim bin Ayyub!\" When Kut al-Kulub heard this, she knew them\nto be the mother and sister of her lover and wept till a swoon came over\nher. When she revived she turned to them and said, \"Have no fear and\nsorrow not, for this day is the first of your prosperity and the last of\nyour adversity!\" \u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-fourth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kut al-Kulub\nhad consoled them she bade the Syndic lead them to his house and let his\nwife carry them to the Hamman and dress them in handsome clothes and\ntake care of them and honour them with all honour; and she gave him a\nsufficient sum of money. Next day, she mounted and, riding to his house,\nwent in to his wife who rose up and kissed her hands and thanked her for\nher kindness. There she saw Ghanim's mother and sister whom the Syndic's\nwife had taken to the Hammam and clothed afresh, so that the traces of\ntheir former condition became manifest upon them. She sat talking with\nthem awhile, after which she asked the wife about the sick youth who was\nin her house and she replied, \"He is in the same state.\" Then said Kut\nal-Kulub, \"Come, let us go and visit him.\" So she arose, she and the\nChief's wife and Ghanim's mother and sister, and went in to the room\nwhere he lay and sat down near him. Presently Ghanim bin Ayyub, the\nDistraught, the Thrall o' Love, heard them mention the name of Kut\nal-Kulub; whereupon life returned to him, emaciated and withered as he\nwas, and he raised his head from the pillow and cried aloud, \"O Kut\nal-Kulub!\" She looked at him and made certain it was he and shrieked\nrather than said, \"Yes, O my beloved!\" \"Draw near to me;\" said he, and\nshe replied, \"Surely thou art Ghanim bin Ayyub?\"; and he rejoined \"I am\nindeed!\" Hereupon a swoon came upon her; and, as soon as Ghanim's mother\nand his sister Fitnah heard these words, both cried out \"O our joy!\" and\nfainted clean away. When they all recovered, Kut al-Kulub exclaimed,\n\"Praise be to Allah who hath brought us together again and who hath\nreunited thee with thy mother and thy sister!\" And she related to him\nall that had befallen her with the Caliph and said, \"I have made known\nthe truth to the Commander of the Faithful, who believed my words and\nwas pleased with thee; and now he desireth to see thee,\" adding, \"He\nhath given me to thee.\" Thereat he rejoiced with extreme joy, when she\nsaid, \"Quit not this place till I come back\" and, rising forthwith,\nbetook herself to her palace. There she opened the chest which she had\nbrought from Ghanim's house and, taking out some of the dinars, gave\nthem to the Syndic saying, \"Buy with this money for each of them four\ncomplete suits of the finest stuffs and twenty kerchiefs, and else\nbeside of whatsoever they require;\" after which she carried all three to\nthe baths and had them washed and bathed and made ready for them\nconsomm\u00e9s, and galangale-water and cider against their coming out. When\nthey left the Hammam, they put on the new clothes, and she abode with\nthem three days feeding them with chicken meats and bouillis, and making\nthem drink sherbet of sugar candy. After three days their spirits\nreturned; and she carried them again to the baths, and when they came\nout and had changed their raiment, she led them back to the Syndic's\nhouse and left them there, whilst she returned to the palace and craved\npermission to see the Caliph. When he ordered her to come in, she\nentered and, kissing the ground between his hands, told him the whole\nstory and how her lord, Ghanim bin Ayyub, yclept the Distraught, the\nThrall o' Love, and his mother and sister were now in Baghdad. When the\nCaliph heard this, he turned to the eunuchs and said, \"Here with Ghanim\nto me.\" So Ja'afar went to fetch him; but Kut al-Kulub forewent him and\ntold Ghanim, \"The Caliph hath sent to fetch thee before him,\" and\ncharged him to show readiness of tongue and firmness of heart and\nsweetness of speech. Then she robed him in a sumptuous dress and gave\nhim dinars in plenty, saying, \"Be lavish of largesse to the Caliph's\nhousehold as thou goest in to him.\" Presently Ja'afar, mounted on his\nNubian mule, came to fetch him; and Ghanim advanced to welcome the Wazir\nand, wishing him long life, kissed the ground before him. Now the star\nof his good fortune had risen and shone brightly; and Ja'afar took him;\nand they ceased not faring together, he and the Minister, till they went\nin to the Commander of the Faithful. When he stood in the presence, he\nlooked at the Wazirs and Emirs and Chamberlains, and Viceroys and\nGrandees and Captains, and then at the Caliph. Hereupon he sweetened his\nspeech and his eloquence and, bowing his head to the ground, broke out\nin these extempore couplets:\u2014\n\n May that Monarch's life span a mighty span, \u273f Whose lavish of\n largesse all lieges scan:\n None other but he shall be Kaysar hight, \u273f Lord of lordly hall and\n of haught Divan:\n Kings lay their gems on his threshold-dust \u273f As they bow and salam\n to the mighty man;\n And his glances foil them and all recoil, \u273f Bowing beards aground\n and with faces wan:\n Yet they gain the profit of royal grace, \u273f The rank and station of\n high soldan.\n Earth's plain is scant for thy world of men, \u273f Camp there\n in Kayw\u00e1n's[135] Empyrean!\n May the King of Kings ever hold thee dear; \u273f Be counsel thine and\n right steadfast plan,\n Till thy justice spread o'er the wide-spread earth \u273f And the near\n and the far be of equal worth.\n\nWhen he ended his improvisation the Caliph was pleased by it and\nmarvelled at the eloquence of his tongue and the sweetness of his\nspeech,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph, after\nmarvelling at his eloquence of tongue and sweetness of speech, said to\nhim, \"Draw near to me.\" So he drew near and quoth the King, \"Tell me thy\ntale and declare to me thy case.\" So Ghanim sat down and related to him\nwhat had befallen him in Baghdad, of his sleeping in the tomb and of his\nopening the chest after the three slaves had departed, and informed him,\nin short, of everything that had happened to him from commencement to\nconclusion\u2014none of which we will repeat for interest fails in twice told\ntales. The Caliph was convinced that he was a true man; so he invested\nhim with a dress of honour, and placed him near himself in token of\nfavour, and said to him, \"Acquit me of the responsibility I have\nincurred.\"[136] And Ghanim so did, saying, \"O our lord the Sultan, of a\ntruth thy slave and all things his two hands own are his master's.\" The\nCaliph was pleased at this and gave orders to set apart a palace for him\nand assigned to him pay and allowances, rations and donations, which\namounted to something immense. So he removed thither with sister and\nmother; after which the Caliph, hearing that his sister Fitnah was in\nbeauty a very \"fitnah,\"[137] a mere seduction, demanded her in marriage\nof Ghanim who replied, \"She is thy handmaid as I am thy slave.\" The\nCaliph thanked him and gave him an hundred thousand dinars, then\nsummoned the witnesses and the Kazi, and on one and the same day they\nwrote out the two contracts of marriage between the Caliph and Fitnah\nand between Ghanim bin Ayyub and Kut al-Kulub; and the two marriages\nwere consummated on one and the same night. When it was morning, the\nCaliph gave orders to record the history of what had befallen Ghanim\nfrom first to last and to deposit it in the royal muniment-rooms, that\nthose who came after him might read it and marvel at the dealings of\nDestiny and put their trust in Him who created the night and the day.\nYet, O auspicious King, this story to which thou hast deigned give ear\nis on no wise more wondrous than the\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n Our \"Job.\" The English translators of the Bible, who borrowed Luther's\n system of transliteration (of A.D. 1522), transferred into English the\n German \"j\" which has the sound of \"i\" or \"y\"; intending us to\n pronounce Yacob (or Yakob), Yericho, Yimnites, Yob (or Hiob) and\n Yudah. Tyndall who copied Luther (A.D. 1525-26), preserved the true\n sound by writing Iacob, Ben Iamin and Iudas. But his successors\n unfortunately returned to the German; the initial I having from the\n xiii. century been ornamentally lengthened and bent leftwards became a\n consonant; the public adopted the vernacular sound of \"j\" (dg) and\n hence our language and our literature are disgraced by such barbarisms\n as \"Jehovah\" and \"Jesus\"\u2014Dgehovah and Dgeesus for Yehovah and Yesus.\n Future generations of school-teachers may remedy the evil; meanwhile\n we are doomed for the rest of our days to hear\n\n Gee-rusalem! Gee-rusalem! etc.\n\n Nor is there one word to be said in favour of the corruption except\n that, like the Protestant mispronunciation of Latin and the Erasmian\n ill-articulation of Greek, it has become \"English,\" and has lent its\n little aid in dividing the Britons from the rest of the civilised\n world.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n The moon, I repeat, is masculine in the so-called \"Semitic\" tongues.\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n _i.e._ camel-loads about lbs. 300; and for long journeys lbs. 250.\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n Arab. \"Jan\u00e1zah,\" so called only when carrying a corpse; else Na'ash,\n Sar\u00edr or T\u00e1b\u00fat: Ir\u00e1n being the large hearse on which chiefs are borne.\n It is made of plank or stick-work; but there are several varieties\n (Lane, M. E. chapt. xxviii).\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n It is meritorious to accompany the funeral cort\u00e8ge of a Moslem even\n for a few paces.\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n Otherwise he could not have joined in the prayers.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n Arab. \"Halw\u00e1\" made of sugar, cream, almonds, etc. That of Maskat is\n famous throughout the East.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n _i.e._ \"Camphor\" to a negro as we say \"Snowball,\" by the figure\n antiphrase.\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n \"Little Good Luck,\" a dim. form of \"bakht\"=luck, a Persian word\n naturalized in Egypt.\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n There are, as I have shown, not a few cannibal tribes in Central\n Africa and these at times find their way into the slave market.\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n _i.e._ After we bar the door.\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n Arab. \"J\u00e1w\u00edsh\" from Turk. Ch\u00e1w\u00fash, Chiaoosh, a sergeant, poursuivant,\n royal messenger. I would suggest that this is the word \"Sh\u00e1lish\" or\n \"J\u00e1lish\" in Al-Siy\u00fati's History of the Caliphs (p. 501) translated by\n Carlyle \"milites,\" by Schultens \"Sagittarius\" and by Jarett \"picked\n troops.\"\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n This familiarity with blackamoor slave-boys is common in Egypt and\n often ends as in the story: Egyptian blood is sufficiently mixed with\n negro to breed inclination for miscegenation. But here the girl was\n wickedly neglected by her mother at such an age as ten.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n Arab. \"Farj\"; hence a facetious designation of the other sex is\n \"Zawi'l-furuj\" (grammatically Zaw\u00e1tu'l-fur\u00faj)=habentes rimam, slit\n ones.\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n This ancient and venerable practice of inspecting the marriage-sheet\n is still religiously preserved in most parts of the East; and in\n old-fashioned Moslem families it is publicly exposed in the Harem to\n prove that the \"domestic calamity\" (the daughter) went to her husband\n a clean maid. Also the general idea is that no blood will impose upon\n the experts, or jury of matrons, except that of a pigeon-poult which\n exactly resembles hymeneal blood\u2014when not subjected to the microscope.\n This belief is universal in Southern Europe and I have heard of it in\n England. Further details will be given in Night ccxi.\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n \"Agha\" Turk.=sir, gentleman, is, I have said, politely addressed to a\n eunuch.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n As Bukhayt tells us he lost only his testes, consequently his _erectio\n et distensio penis_ was as that of a boy before puberty and it would\n last as long as his heart and circulation kept sound. Hence the eunuch\n who preserves his penis is much prized in the Zenanah where some women\n prefer him to the entire man, on account of his long performance of\n the deed of kind. Of this more in a future page.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n It is or rather was the custom in Egypt and Syria to range long rows\n of fine China bowls along the shelves running round the rooms at the\n height of six or seven feet, and they formed a magnificent cornice. I\n bought many of them at Damascus till the people, learning their value,\n asked prohibitive prices.\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n The tale is interesting as well as amusing, excellently describing the\n extravagances still practised in middle-class Moslem families on the\n death of the pater familias. I must again note that Arab women are\n much more unwilling to expose the back of the head covered by the\n \"Tarhah\" (head-veil) than the face, which is hidden by the \"Burka\" or\n nose-bag.\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n The usual hysterical laughter of this nervous race.\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n Here the slave refuses to be set free and starve. For a master so to\n do without ample reason is held disgraceful. I well remember the\n weeping and wailing throughout Sind when an order from Sir Charles\n Napier set free the negroes whom British philanthropy thus doomed to\n endure if not to die of hunger.\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n Manumission, which is founded upon Roman law, is an extensive subject\n discussed in the Hid\u00e1yah and other canonical works. The slave here\n lays down the law incorrectly, but his claim shows his truly \"nigger\"\n impudence.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n This is quite true to nature. The most remarkable thing in the wild\n central African is his enormous development of \"destructiveness.\" At\n Zanzibar I never saw a slave break a glass or plate without a grin or\n a chuckle of satisfaction.\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n Arab. \"Khass\u00e1-ni\"; Khusyat\u00e1ni (vulg.) being the testicles, also called\n \"bayzat\u00e1n\" (the two eggs) a _double entendre_ which has given rise to\n many tales. For instance in the witty Persian book \"Dozd o Kazi\" (The\n Thief and the Judge) a footpad strips the man of learning and offers\n to return his clothes if he can ask him a puzzle in law or religion.\n The Kazi (in folk-lore mostly a fool) fails, and his wife bids him ask\n the man to supper for a trial of wits on the same condition. She\n begins with compliments and ends by producing five eggs which she\n would have him distribute equally amongst the three; and, when he is\n perplexed, she gives one to each of the men taking three for herself.\n Whereupon the \"Dozd\" wends his way, having lost his booty as his\n extreme stupidity deserved. In the text the eunuch, Kafur, is made a\n \"Sandali\" or smooth-shaven, so that he was of no use to women.\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n Arab. \"Khara,\" the lowest possible word: Y\u00e1 Khara! is the commonest of\n insults, used also by modest women. I have heard one say it to her\n son.\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n Arab. \"K\u00e1mah,\" a measure of length, a fathom, also called \"B\u00e1'a.\" Both\n are omitted in that sadly superficial book, Lane's Modern Egyptians,\n App. B.\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n Names of her slave-girls which mean (in order), Garden-bloom, Dawn (or\n Beautiful), Tree o' Pearl (P. N. of Saladin's wife), Light of (right)\n Direction, Star o' the Morn, Lewdness (=Shahwah, I suppose this is a\n chaff), Delight, Sweetmeat and Miss Pretty.\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n This mode of disposing of a rival was very common in Harems. But it\n had its difficulties and on the whole the river was (and is)\n preferred.\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n An Eastern dislikes nothing more than drinking in a dim dingy place:\n the brightest lights seem to add to his \"drinkitite.\"\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n He did not sleep with her because he suspected some palace-mystery\n which suggested prudence, she also had her reasons.\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n This is called in Egypt \"Aslah\" (Lane M. E. chapt. i.).\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n It would be a broad ribbon-like band upon which the letters could be\n worked.\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n In the Arab. \"_he_ cried.\" These \"Yes, Yes! and No! No!\" trifles are\n very common amongst the Arabs.\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n Arab. \"Maragha\" lit. rubbed his face on them like a fawning dog.\n Ghanim is another \"softy\" lover, a favourite character in Arab tales;\n and by way of contrast, the girl is masterful enough.\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n Because the Abbaside Caliphs descend from Al-Abbas paternal uncle of\n Mohammed. The text means more explicitly, \"O descendant of the\n Prophet's uncle!\"\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n The most terrible part of a _belle passion_ in the East is that the\n beloved will not allow her lover leave of absence for an hour.\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n It is hard to preserve these wretched puns. In the original we have \"O\n spray\" (or branch) of capparis-shrub (_ar\u00e1ki_) which has been thinned\n of leaf and fruit (_tujna_, _i.e._, whose fruit, the hymen, has been\n plucked before and not by me) I see thee (_ar\u00e1ka_) against me sinning\n (_tajn\u00ed_).\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n Apparently the writer forgets that the Abbaside banners and dress were\n black, originally a badge of mourning for the Im\u00e1m Ibrahim bin\n Mohammed put to death by the Ommiade Caliph Al-Marw\u00e1n. The modern\n Egyptian mourning, like the old Persian, is indigo-blue of the\n darkest; but, as before noted, the custom is by no means universal.\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n Koran, chapt. iv. In the East as elsewhere the Devil quotes Scripture.\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n A servant returning from a journey shows his master due honour by\n appearing before him in travelling suit and uncleaned.\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n The first name means \"Rattan\"; the second \"Willow-wand,\" from the\n \"B\u00e1n\" or \"Khil\u00e1f\" the Egyptian willow (_Salix \u00c6gyptiaca_ Linn.)\n vulgarly called \"Safs\u00e1f.\" Forskal holds the \"B\u00e1n\" to be a different\n variety.\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n Arab. \"Ta'\u00e1m,\" which has many meanings: in mod. parlance it would\n signify millet, holcus-seed.\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n _i.e._ \"I well know how to deal with him.\"\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n The Pen (title of the Koranic chapt. lxviii.) and the Preserved Tablet\n (before explained).\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n These plunderings were sanctioned by custom. But a few years ago, when\n the Turkish soldiers mutinied about arrears of pay (often delayed for\n years) the governing P\u00e1sh\u00e1 would set fire to the town and allow the\n men to loot what they pleased during a stated time. Rochet\n (_soi-disant_ D'H\u00e9ricourt) amusingly describes this man\u0153uvre of the\n Turkish Governor of Al-Hodaydah in the last generation (Pilgrimage\n iii. 381).\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n Another cenotaph whose use was to enable women to indulge in their pet\n pastime of weeping and wailing in company.\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n The lodging of pauper travellers, as the chapel in Iceland is of the\n wealthy. I have often taken benefit of the mosque, but as a rule it is\n unpleasant, the matting being not only torn but over-populous. Juvenal\n seems to allude to the Jewish Synagogue similarly used:\u2014\"in qu\u00e2 te\n qu\u00e6ro proseuch\u00e2\"? (iii. 296) and in Acts iii. we find the lame, blind\n and impotent in the Temple-porch.\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n This foul sort of vermin is supposed to be bred by perspiration. It is\n an epoch in the civilised traveller's life when he catches his first\n louse.\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n The Moslem peasant is a kind-hearted man and will make many sacrifices\n for a sick stranger even of another creed. It is a manner of\n \"pundonor\" with the village.\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n Such treatment of innocent women was only too common under the\n Caliphate and in contemporary Europe.\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n This may also mean, \"And Heaven will reward thee;\" but camel-men do\n not usually accept any drafts upon futurity.\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n He felt that he was being treated like a corpse.\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n This hatred of the Hospital extends throughout Southern Europe, even\n in places where it is not justified.\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n The importance of the pillow (wis\u00e1dah or makhaddah) to the sick man is\n often recognised in The Nights. \"He took to his pillow\" is=took to his\n bed.\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n _i.e._ in order that the reverend men, who do not render such suit and\n service gratis, might pray for him.\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n The reader will notice in The Nights the frequent mention of these\n physical prognostications, with which mesmerists are familiar.\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n The Pers. name of the planet Saturn in the Seventh Heaven. Arab.\n \"Zuhal\"; the Kiun or Chiun of Amos vi. 26.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n _i.e._ \"Pardon me if I injured thee\"\u2014a popular phrase.\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n A \"seduction,\" a charmer. The double-entendre has before been noticed.\n\n\n\n\n TALE OF KING OMAR BIN AL-NU'UMAN AND HIS SONS\n SHARRKAN AND ZAU AL-MAKAN,\n\n AND WHAT BEFEL THEM OF THINGS SELD-SEEN AND PEREGRINE.[138]\n\n\nThe King asked her, \"And what was their story?\" and she answered:\u2014It\nhath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was in the City of\nSafety, Baghdad, before the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik bin Marw\u00e1n,[139] a\nKing, Omar bin al-Nu'uman hight, who was of the mighty giants and had\nsubjected the Chosroes of Persia and the Kaysars of Eastern Rome; for\nnone could warm himself at his fire;[140] nor could any avail to meet\nhim in the field of foray and fray; and, when he was an-angered, there\ncame forth from his nostrils sparks of flame. He had made himself King\nover all quarters, and Allah had subjected to him all His creatures; his\nword went forth to all great cities and his hosts had harried the\nfarthest lands. East and West had come under his command with whatsoever\nregions lay interspersed between them, Hind and Sind and Sin,[141] the\nHoly Land, Al-Hijaz, the rich mountains of Al-Yaman and the archipelagos\nof India and China. Moreover, he reigned supreme over the north country\nand Diy\u00e1r Bakr, or Mesopotamia, and over Sud\u00e1n, the Eastern Negro-land\nand the Islands of the Ocean, and all the far famed rivers of the earth,\nSayh\u00fan and Jayh\u00fan,[142] Nile and Euphrates. He sent envoys and\nambassadors to capitals the most remote, to provide him with true\nreport; and they would bring back tidings of justice and peace, with\nassurance of loyalty and obedience and of prayers in the pulpits for\nKing Omar bin al-Nu'uman; for he was, O Ruler of the Age, a right noble\nKing; and there came to him presents of rarities and toll and tribute\nfrom all lands of his governing. This mighty monarch had a son yclept\nSharrkan,[143] who was likest of all men to his father and who proved\nhimself one of the prodigies of his time for subduing the brave and\nbringing his contemporaries to bane and ban. For this his father loved\nhim with love so great none could be greater, and made him heir to the\nkingdom after himself. This Prince grew up till he reached man's estate\nand was twenty years old, and Allah subjected His servants to him, by\nreason of his great might and prowess in battle. Now his father, King\nOmar, had four wives legally married, but Allah had vouchsafed him no\nson by them, save Sharrkan, whom he had begotten upon one of them, and\nthe rest were barren. Moreover he had three hundred and sixty\nconcubines, after the number of days in the Coptic year, who were of all\nnations; and he had furnished for each and every a private chamber\nwithin his own palace. For he had built twelve pavilions, after the\nnumber of the months, each containing thirty private chambers, which\nthus numbered three hundred and three score, wherein he lodged his\nhandmaids: and he appointed according to law for each one her night,\nwhen he lay with her and came not again to her for a full year;[144] and\non this wise he abode for a length of time. Meanwhile his son Sharrkan\nwas making himself renowned in all quarters of the world and his father\nwas proud of him and his might waxed and grew mightier; so that he\npassed all bounds and bore himself masterfully and took by storm castles\nand cities. Presently, by decree of the Decreer, a handmaid among the\nhandmaids of Omar bin Nu'uman became pregnant; and, her pregnancy being\nannounced to the Harim, the King was informed thereof; whereupon he\nrejoiced with exceeding joy and said, \"Haply 'twill be a son, and so all\nmy offspring will be males!\" Then he documented the date of her\nconception and entreated her with all manner of kindness. But when the\ntidings came to Sharrkan, he was troubled and the matter seemed to him a\nsore one and a grievous; and he said, \"Verily one cometh who shall\ndispute with me the sovereignty:\" so quoth he to himself, \"If this\nconcubine bear a male child I will kill it:\" but he kept that intention\nhidden in his heart. Such was the case with Sharrkan; but what happened\nin the matter of the damsel was as follows. She was a Roumiyah, a Greek\ngirl, by name Sofiyah or Sophia,[145] whom the King of Roum and Lord of\nC\u00e6sarea had sent to King Omar as a present, together with great store of\ngifts and of rarities: she was the fairest of favour and loveliest of\nall his handmaids and the most regardful of her honour; and she was\ngifted with a wit as penetrating as her presence was fascinating. Now\nshe had served the King on the night of his sleeping with her, saying to\nhim, \"O King! I desire of the God of the Heavens that he bless thee this\nnight with a male child by me, so I may bring him up with the best of\nrearing, and enable him to reach man's estate perfect in intelligence,\ngood manners and prudent bearing\"[146]\u2014a speech which much pleased the\nKing. During her pregnancy she was instant in prayer, fervently\nsupplicating the Lord to bless her with a goodly male child and make his\nbirth easy to her; and Allah heard her petition so that after her months\nwere accomplished she sat safely upon the birth-stool.[147] Now the King\nhad deputed a eunuch to let him know if the child she should bring forth\nwere male or female; and in like way his son Sharrkan had sent one to\nbring him tidings of the same. In due time Sophia was delivered of a\nchild, which the midwives examined and found to be a girl with a face\nsheenier than the moon. So they announced this to all present in the\nroom, whereupon the King's messenger carried the news to him; and\nSharrkan's eunuch did the like with his master, who rejoiced with\nexceeding joy. But, after the two had departed, quoth Sophia to the\nmidwives, \"Wait with me awhile, for I feel as if there were still\nsomewhat in my womb.\" Then she cried out and the pains of child-bed\nagain took her; and Allah made it easy to her and she gave birth to a\nsecond child. The wise women looked at it and found it a boy like the\nfull moon, with forehead flower-white, and cheek ruddy-bright with rosy\nlight; whereupon the mother rejoiced, as did the eunuchs and attendants\nand all the company; and Sophia was delivered of the after-birth whilst\nall in the palace sent forth the trill of joy.[148] The rest of the\nconcubines heard it and envied her lot; and the tidings reached Omar son\nof Al-Nu'uman, who was glad and rejoiced at the excellent news. Then he\nrose and went to her and kissed her head, after which he looked at the\nboy; and, bending over him, kissed him, whilst the damsels struck the\ntabors and played on instruments of music; and the King gave order that\nthe boy should be named Zau al-Makan and his sister Nuzhat\nal-Zaman.[149] They answered \"Hearing and obedience,\" and did his\nbidding; so he appointed wet nurses and dry nurses and eunuchs and\nattendants to serve them; and assigned them rations of sugar and\ndiet-drinks and unguents and else beside, beyond the power of tongue to\nrehearse. Moreover the people of Baghdad, hearing that Allah had blessed\ntheir King with issue, decorated the city and made proclamation of the\nglad tidings with drum and tom-tom; and the Emirs and Wazirs and high\ndignitaries came to the palace and wished King Omar bin al-Nu'uman joy\nof his son, Zau al-Makan, and of his daughter Nuzhat al-Zaman, wherefor\nhe thanked them and bestowed on them dresses of honour and further\nfavoured them with gifts, and dealt largesse to all, gentle and simple,\nwho were present. After this fashion he did for four days full told, and\nhe lavished upon Sophia raiment and ornaments and great store of wealth;\nand, every few days he would send a messenger to ask after her and the\nnew-borns. And when four years had gone by, he provided her with the\nwherewithal to rear the two children carefully and educate them with the\nbest of instructions. All this while his son Sharrkan knew not that a\nmale child had been born to his father, Omar son of Al-Nu'uman, having\nnews only that he had been blessed with the birth of Nuzhat al-Zaman;\nand they hid the intelligence from him, until days and years had sped\nby, whilst he was busied in battling with the brave and fighting\nsingle-handed against the knights. One day, as King Omar was sitting in\nhis palace, his Chamberlains came in to him and, kissing the ground\nbefore him, said, \"O King there be come Ambassadors from the King of\nRoum, Lord of Constantinople the Great, and they desire admission to\nthee and submission to thy decree: if the King command us to introduce\nthem we will so do; and, if not, there is no disputing his behest.\" He\nbade them enter and, when they came in, he turned to them and,\ncourteously receiving them, asked them of their case, and what was the\ncause of their coming. They kissed the ground before him and said, \"O\nKing glorious and strong! O lord of the arm that is long! know that he\nwho despatched us to thee is King Afridun,[150] Lord of Ionia-land[151]\nand of the Nazarene armies, the sovereign who is firmly established in\nthe empery of Constantinople, to acquaint thee that he is now waging\nfierce war and fell with a tyrant and a rebel, the Prince of C\u00e6sarea;\nand the cause of this war is as follows. One of the Kings of the Arabs\nin past time, during certain of his conquests, chanced upon a hoard of\nthe time of Alexander,[152] whence he removed wealth past compute; and,\namongst other things, three round jewels, big as ostrich eggs, from a\nmine of pure white gems whose like was never seen by man. Upon each were\ngraven characts in Ionian characters, and they have many virtues and\nproperties, amongst the rest that if one of these jewels be hung round\nthe neck of a newborn child, no evil shall befal him and he shall\nneither wail, nor shall fever ail him as long as the jewel remain\nwithout fail.[153] When the Arab King laid hands upon them and learned\ntheir secrets, he sent to King Afridun presents of certain rarities and\namongst them the three jewels afore mentioned; and he equipped for the\nmission two ships, one bearing the treasure and the other men of might\nto guard it from any who might offer hindrance on the high seas, albeit\nwell assured that none would dare waylay his vessels, for that he was\nKing of the Arabs, and more by token that their course lay over waters\nsubject to the King of Constantinople and they were bound to his port;\nnor were there on the shores of that sea any save the subjects of the\nGreat King, Afridun. The two ships set out and voyaged till they drew\nnear our city, when there sallied out on them certain corsairs from that\ncountry and amongst them troops from the Prince of C\u00e6sarea, who took all\nthe treasures and rarities in the ships, together with the three jewels,\nand slew the crews. When our King heard of this, he sent an army against\nthem, but they routed it; then he marched a second and a stronger but\nthey put this also to flight, whereupon the King waxed wroth and swore\nthat he would not go forth[154] against them save in his own person at\nthe head of his whole army; nor would he turn back from them till he had\nleft C\u00e6sarea of Armenia[155] in ruins and had laid waste all the lands\nand cities over which her Prince held sway. So he sent us to the Lord of\nthe age and the time, Sultan Omar bin al-Nu'uman, King of Baghdad and of\nKhorasan, desiring that he aid us with an army, so may honour and glory\naccrue to him; and he hath also forwarded by us somewhat of various\nkinds of presents, and of the King's grace he beggeth their acceptance\nand the friendly boon of furtherance.\" Then the Ambassadors kissed the\nground before him\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-sixth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that, after the\nAmbassadors and retinue from the Constantinopolitan King had kissed the\nground before Omar and had delivered their embassage, they brought out\nthe presents, which were fifty damsels of the choicest from Gr\u00e6cia-land,\nand fifth Mamelukes in tunics of brocade, belted with girdles of gold\nand silver, each wearing in his ears hoops of gold with pendants of fine\npearls costing a thousand ducats every one. The girls were adorned in\nlike fashion and were clad in stuffs worth a treasury of money. When the\nKing saw them, he rejoiced in them and accepted them; then he bade the\nAmbassadors be honourably entreated and, summoning his Wazirs, took\ncounsel with them of what he should do. Herewith rose up among them a\nWazir, an ancient man, Dand\u00e1n[156] hight, who kissed the ground before\nOmar and said, \"O King, there is nothing better to do in this matter\nthan equip an army valiant and victorious, and set over it thy son\nSharrkan with us as his lieutenants; and this rede commendeth itself to\nme on two counts: first, because the King of Roum hath invoked thine\nassistance and hath sent thee gifts which thou hast accepted; and,\nsecondly, because while no enemy dareth attack our country, thine army\nmay go forth safely and, should it succour the King of Gr\u00e6cia-land and\ndefeat his foe, the glory will be thine. Moreover, the news of it will\nbe noised abroad in all cities and countries; and especially, when the\ntidings shall reach the Islands of the Ocean and the Kings of Mauritania\nshall hear it, they will send thee offerings of rarities and pay thee\ntribute of money.\" The King, pleased by the Wazir's words and approving\nhis rede, gave him a dress of honour and said to him, \"Of the like of\nthee should Kings ask counsel, and it seemeth fit that thou shouldst\nconduct the van of our army and our son Sharrkan command the main\nbattle.\" Then he sent for his son who came and kissed ground before him\nand sat down; and he expounded to him the matter, telling him what the\nAmbassadors and the Wazir Dandan had said, and he charged him to take\narms and equip himself for the campaign, enjoining him not to gainsay\nDandan in aught he should do. Moreover, he ordered him to pick out of\nhis army ten thousand horsemen, armed cap-\u00e0-pie and inured to onset and\nstress of war. Accordingly, Sharrkan arose on the instant, and chose out\na myriad of horsemen, after which he entered his palace and mustered his\nhost and distributed largesse to them, saying, \"Ye have delay of three\ndays.\" They kissed the earth before him in obedience to his commands and\nbegan at once to lay in munitions, and provide provisions for the\noccasion; whilst Sharrkan repaired to the armouries and took therefrom\nwhatsoever he required of arms and armour, and thence to the stable\nwhere he chose horses of choice blood and others. When the appointed\nthree days were ended, the army drew out to the suburbs of Baghdad\ncity;[157] and King Omar came forth to take leave of his son who kissed\nthe ground before him and received from the King seven parcels of\nmoney.[158] Then he turned to Dandan and commended to his care the army\nof his son; and the Wazir kissed the ground before him and answered, \"I\nhear and I obey;\" and lastly he charged Sharrkan that he should consult\nthe Wazir on all occasions, which he promised to do. After this, the\nKing returned to his city and Sharrkan ordered the officers to muster\ntheir troops in battle-array. So they mustered them and their number was\nten thousand horsemen, besides footmen and camp-followers. Then they\nloaded their baggage on their beasts and the war-drums beat and the\ntrumpets blared and the bannerols and standards were unfurled, whilst\nSharrkan mounted horse, with the Wazir Dandan by his side, and the\ncolours fluttering over their heads. So the host fared forth and stinted\nnot faring, with the Ambassadors preceding them, till day departed and\nnight drew nigh, when they alighted and encamped for the night. And as\nsoon as Allah caused the morn to morrow, they mounted and hied on,\nguided by the Ambassadors, for a space of twenty days; and by the night\nof the twenty-first they came to a fine and spacious Wady well grown\nwith trees and shrubbery. Here Sharrkan ordered them to alight and\ncommanded a three days' halt, so they dismounted and pitched their\ntents, spreading their camp over the right and the left slopes of the\nextensive valley, whilst the Wazir Dandan and the Ambassadors of King\nAfridun pitched in the sole of the Wady.[159] As for Sharrkan, he\ntarried behind them for awhile till all had dismounted and had dispersed\nthemselves over the valley-sides; he then slacked the reins of his\nsteed, being minded to explore the Wady and to mount guard in his own\nperson, because of his father's charge and owing to the fact that they\nwere on the frontier of Gr\u00e6cia-land and in the enemy's country. So he\nrode out alone after ordering his armed slaves and his body-guard to\ncamp near the Wazir Dandan, and he fared on along the side of the valley\ntill a fourth part of the night was passed, when he felt tired and\ndrowsiness overcame him, so that he could no longer urge horse with\nheel. Now he was accustomed to take rest on horseback; so when slumber\noverpowered him, he slept and the steed ceased not going on with him\ntill half the night was spent and entered one of the thickets[160] which\nwas dense with growth; but Sharrkan awoke not until his horse stumbled\nover wooded ground. Then he started from sleep and found himself among\nthe trees; and the moon arose and shone brightly over the two horizons,\nEastern and Western. He was startled when he found himself alone in this\nplace and said the say which ne'er yet shamed its sayer, \"There is no\nMajesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!\"\nBut as he rode on, in fear of wild beasts, behold, the moon spread her\nglad light over a meadow as if 'twere of the meads of Paradise; and he\nheard pleasant voices and a loud noise of talk and laughter captivating\nthe senses of men. So King Sharrkan alighted and, tying his steed to one\nof the trees, went over a little way till he came upon a stream and\nheard a woman talking in Arabic and saying, \"Now by the truth of the\nMessiah, this is not well of you! but whoso utters a word, I will throw\nher and truss her up with her own girdle[161]!\" He kept walking in the\ndirection of the sound and when he reached the further side he looked\nand behold, a stream was gushing and flowing, and antelopes at large\nwere frisking and roving, and wild cattle amid the pasture moving, and\nbirds expressed joy and gladness in their divers tongues, and that place\nwas purfled with all manner flowers and green herbs, even as a poet\ndescribed it in these couplets:\u2014\n\n Most beautiful is earth in budding bloom, \u273f When lucid waters\n course through plain and wood:\n No work but His th' All-great, th' All-glorious, \u273f Giver of all\n gifts, Giver of all good!\n\nAnd as Sharrkan considered the place, he saw in it a Christian Monastery\nwithin whose enceinte a castle towered high in air catching the light of\nthe moon.[162] Through the midst of the convent passed a stream, the\nwater flowing amongst its gardens; and upon the bank sat the woman whose\nvoice he had heard, while before her stood ten handmaids like moons and\nwearing various sorts of raiment and ornaments that dazed and dazzled\nthe beholder, high-bosomed virgins, as saith of them the poet in these\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n The mead is bright with what is on't \u273f Of merry maidens debonnair:\n Double its beauty and its grace \u273f Those trooping damsels slender-fair:\n Virgins of graceful swimming gait \u273f Ready with eye and lip to ensnare;\n And like the tendril'd vine they loose \u273f The rich profusion of\n their hair:\n Shooting their shafts and arrows from \u273f Beautiful eyes beyond compare;\n Overpowering and transpiercing \u273f Every froward adversaire.\n\nSharrkan gazed upon the ten girls and saw in their midst a lady like the\nmoon at fullest, with ringleted hair and forehead sheeny-white, and eyes\nwondrous wide and black and bright, and temple-locks like the scorpion's\ntail; and she was perfect in essence and attributes, as the poet said of\nher in these couplets:\u2014\n\n She beamed on my sight with a wondrous glance, \u273f And her\n straight slender stature enshamed the lance:\n She burst on my sight with cheeks rosy-red, \u273f Where all manner\n of beauties have habitance:\n And the locks on her forehead were lowering as night \u273f Whence issues\n a dawn-tide of happiest chance.\n\nThen Sharrkan heard her say to the handmaids, \"Come ye on, that I may\nwrestle with you and gravel you, ere the moon set and the dawn break!\"\nSo each came up to her in turn and she grounded them forthright, and\npinioned them with their girdles, and ceased not wrestling and pitching\nthem until she had overthrown one and all. Then there turned to her an\nold woman who was before her, and the beldam said as in wrath, \"O\nstrumpet, dost thou glory in grounding these girls? Behold I am an old\nwoman, yet have I thrown them forty times! So what hast thou to boast\nof? But if thou have the strength to wrestle with me, stand up that I\nmay grip thee and set thy head between thy heels!\" The young lady smiled\nat her words, but she was filled with inward wrath, and she jumped up\nand asked, \"O my lady Z\u00e1t al-Daw\u00e1h\u00ed,[163] by the truth of the Messiah,\nwilt thou wrestle with me in very deed, or dost thou jest with me?\"; and\nshe answered, \"Yea,\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the young\nlady asked Zat al-Dawahi, \"By the truth of the Messiah, wilt wrestle\nwith me or dost jest?\", and she answered, \"Yea, I will wrestle with thee\nin very deed\" (Sharrkan looking on the while), the damsel cried, \"Rise\nup for the fall an thou have spunk so to do.\" When the old woman heard\nthis, she raged with exceeding rage, and her body-hair stood on end like\nthe bristles of a fretful hedgehog.[164] Then she sprang to her feet,\nwhilst the damsel stood up to her, and said, \"Now by the truth of the\nMessiah, I will not wrestle with thee unless I be naked, Mistress\nwhore!\"[165] So she loosed her petticoat-trousers and, putting her hand\nunder her clothes, tore them off her body; then twisted up a silken\nkerchief into cord-shape, girt it round her middle and became as she\nwere a scald-head Ifritah or a spotted snake. With this she inclined\ntowards the damsel and said, \"Do thou as I have done.\" All this time,\nSharrkan was gazing at the twain, and laughing at the beldam's loathly\nsemblance. So the damsel leisurely rose and, taking a sash of Yamani\nstuff, passed it twice round her waist, then she tucked up her trousers\nand displayed two calves of alabaster carrying a mound of crystal,\nsmooth and rounded, and a stomach which exhaled musk from its dimples,\nas it were a bed of Nu'uman's anemones; and breasts like double\npomegranates. Then the old woman leant towards her, and the two laid\nhold either of each, while Sharrkan raised his head Heavenwards and\nprayed Allah that the belle might beat the beldam. Presently the young\nwoman gat beneath the old woman; and, gripping her waist-cloth with the\nleft and circling her neck with the right hand, hoisted her off the\nground with both; whereupon the old woman strove to free herself and, in\nso doing fell on her back arsiversy, with her legs high in air and her\nhairy bush between them showed manifest in the moonshine; furthermore\nshe let fly two great farts[166] one of which blew up the dust from the\nearth's face and the other steamed up to the gate of Heaven. Sharrkan\nlaughed till he fell back upon the ground. Then he arose and, baring his\nbrand looked right and left, but he saw no one save the old woman\nsprawling on her back, and said to himself, \"He lied not who named thee\nLady of Calamities! Verily thou knewest her prowess by her performance\nupon the others.\" So he drew near them to hear what should pass between\nthem. Then the young lady went up to the old one and, throwing a wrapper\nof thin silk upon her nakedness, helped her to don her clothes and made\nexcuses saying, \"O my lady Zat al-Dawahi, I intended only to throw thee\nand not all this, but thou triedst to twist out of my hands; so laud to\nAllah for safety!\" She returned her no answer, but rose in her shame and\nwalked away till out of sight, leaving the handmaids prostrate and\npinioned, with the fair damsel standing amongst them. Quoth Sharrkan to\nhimself, \"Every luck hath its cause. Sleep did not fall upon me nor the\nwar-horse bear me hither save for my good fortune; for doubtless this\nmaid and what is with her shall become booty to me.\" So he made towards\nhis steed and mounted and heeled[167] him on, when he sped as the shaft\nspeeds from the bow, and in his hand he still hent his brand bare of\nsheath, which he brandished shouting the while his war-cry, \"Allah is\nAll-mighty[168]!\" When the damsel saw him she sprang to her feet and,\ntaking firm stand on the bank of the stream, whose breadth was six ells,\nthe normal cubits, made one bound and landed clear on the farther\nside,[169] where she turned and cried out with a loud voice, \"Who art\nthou, O thou fellow, that breakest in upon our privacy and pastime, and\nthat too hanger in hand as if charging a host? Whence camest thou and\nwhither art thou going? Speak sooth, for truth will stand thee in good\nstead, and lie not, for lies come of villein-breed. Doubtless thou hast\nwandered this night from thy way, that thou chancedst upon this place\nwhence escape were the greatest of mercies; for thou art now in an open\nplain and, did we shout but a single shout, would come to our rescue\nfour thousand knights.[170] So tell me what thou wantest; and if thou\nwouldst only have us set thee on the right road, we will do so.\" When\nSharrkan heard her words he replied, \"I am a stranger of the Moslems,\nwho fared forth this night single-handed, seeking for spoil; nor could\nthis moonlight show me a fairer booty than these ten maidens; so I shall\nseize them and rejoin my comrades with them.\" Quoth she, \"I would have\nthee know that as for the booty thou hast not come at it; and, as for\nthe handmaids, by Allah, they shall never be thy spoil. Have I not told\nthee that to lie is villein-vile?\" Quoth he, \"The wise man is he who\ntaketh warning by others.\" Thereupon quoth she, \"By the truth of the\nMessiah, did I not fear that thy death would be on my hands, I would\nshout a shout should fill the mead for thee with war steeds and with men\nof might, but I take pity upon the stranger. So, if thou seek booty, I\nrequire of thee that thou alight from thy steed and swear to me, by thy\nfaith, that thou wilt not advance against me aught like arms in hand,\nand we will wrestle, I and thou. If thou throw me, set me on thy steed\nand take all of us to thy booty; but if I throw thee, thou shalt become\nunder my command. Swear this to me, for I fear thy treachery: indeed it\nhath become a common saw, Where Perfidy is innate there Trust is a\nweakly mate. Now an thou wilt swear I will return and draw near to thee\nand tackle thee.\" Answered Sharrkan (and indeed he lusted to seize her\nand said in his soul, \"Truly she knoweth not that I am a champion of\nchampions\"); \"Swear me by what oath thou wilt and by what thou deemest\nmost binding, and I will not approach thee with aught till thou hast\nmade thy preparation and sayest:\u2014Draw near that I wrestle with thee. If\nthou throw me, I have money wherewithal to ransom myself; and if I throw\nthee, 'twill be booty and booty enough for me!\" Rejoined the damsel, \"I\nam content herewith!\" and Sharrkan was astounded at her words and said,\n\"And by the truth of the Apostle (whom Allah bless and keep!) I too am\ncontent on the other part!\" Then said she, \"Swear to me by Him who\nsprite in body dight and dealt laws to rule mankind aright, that thou\nwilt not offer me aught of violence save by way of wrestling; else mayst\nthou die without the pale of Al-Islam.\" Sharrkan replied, \"By Allah!\nwere a Kazi to swear me, even though he were a Kazi of the Kazis,[171]\nhe would not impose upon me such an oath as this!\" Then he sware to her\nby all she named and tied his steed to a tree; but he was drowned in the\nsea of thought, saying in himself, \"Praise be to Him who fashioned her\nfrom dirty water!\"[172] Then he girt himself and made ready for\nwrestling, and said to her, \"Cross the stream to me;\" but she replied,\n\"It is not for me to come over to thee: if thou wilt, pass thou over\nhere to me.\" \"I cannot do that,\" quoth he, and quoth she, \"O boy, I will\ncome across to thee.\" So she tucked up her skirts and, leaping, landed\non the other side of the stream by his side; whereupon he drew near to\nher and bent him forwards and clapped palms.[173] But he was confounded\nby her beauty and loveliness; for he saw a shape which the Hand of Power\nhad tanned with the dye-leaves of the J\u00e1nn, which had been fostered by\nthe Hand of Beneficence and fanned by the Zephyrs of fair fortune and\nwhose birth a propitious ascendant had greeted. Then she called out to\nhim, \"O Moslem, come on and let us wrestle ere the break of morning,\"\nand tucked up her sleeves from a fore-arm like fresh curd, which\nillumined the whole place with its whiteness; and Sharrkan was dazzled\nby it. Then he bent forwards and clapped his palms by way of challenge,\nshe doing the like, and caught hold of her, and the two grappled and\ngripped and interlocked hands and arms. Presently he shifted his hands\nto her slender waist, when his finger tips sank into the soft folds of\nher middle, breeding languishment, and he fell a trembling like the\nPersian reed in the roaring gale. So she lifted him up and, throwing him\nto the ground, sat upon his breast with hips and hinder cheeks like\nmounds of sand, for his soul had lost mastery over his senses. Then she\nasked him, \"O Moslem! the slaying of Nazarenes is lawful to you folk;\nwhat then hast thou to say about being slain thyself?\"; and he answered,\n\"O my lady, thy speech as regards slaying me is not other than unlawful;\nfor our prophet Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!) prohibited the\nslaying of women and children, old men and monks!\" \"As it was thus\nrevealed to your Prophet,\" she replied, \"it behoveth us to render the\nequivalent of his mercy; so rise. I give thee thy life, for generosity\nis never lost upon the generous.\" Then she got off his breast and he\nrose and stood shaking the dust from his head against the owners of the\ncurved rib, even women; and she said to him, \"Be not ashamed; but verily\none who entereth the land of Roum in quest of booty, and cometh to\nassist Kings against Kings, how happeneth it that he hath not strength\nenough to defend himself from one made out of the curved rib?\" \"'Twas\nnot for lack of strength in me,\" he answered; \"nor didst thou throw me\nby thy force; it was thy loveliness overthrew me; so if thou wilt grant\nme another bout, it will be of thy courtesy.\" She laughed and said, \"I\ngrant thee thy request: but these handmaids have long been pinioned and\ntheir arms and sides are weary, and it were only right I should loose\nthem, for haply this next wrestling bout will be long.\" Then she went to\nthe slave-girls and, unbinding them, said to them in the tongue of\nGreece, \"Get ye to some safe place, till I foil this Moslem's lust and\nlonging for you.\" So they went away, whilst Sharrkan kept gazing at them\nand they kept turning to look at the two. Then each approached the\nadversary and he set his breast against hers, but when he felt waist\ntouch waist, his strength failed him; and she, waxing ware of this,\nlifted him with her hands swiftlier than the blinding leven-flash, and\nthrew him to the ground. He fell on his back,[174] and then she said to\nhim, \"Rise: I give thee thy life a second time. I spared thee in the\nfirst count because of thy Prophet, for that he made unlawful the\nslaying of women; and I do so on the second count because of thy\nweakliness and the greenness of thine years and thy strangerhood; but I\ncharge thee, if there be in the Moslem army sent by Omar bin al-Nu'uman\nto succour the King of Constantinople, a stronger than thou, send him\nhither and tell him of me: for in wrestling there are shifts and trips,\ncatches and holds, such as the feint or falsing and the snap or first\ngrip, the hug, the feet-catch, the thigh-bite,[175] the jostle and the\nleg-lock.\" \"By Allah, O my lady,\" quoth Sharrkan (and indeed he was\nhighly incensed against her), \"had I been Master al-Safd\u00ed, Master\nMohammed Kim\u00e1l or Ibn al-Sadd\u00ed,[176] as they were in their prime, I had\nkept no note of these shifts thou mentionest; for O my mistress, by\nAllah, thou hast not grassed me by thy strength, but by the\nblandishments of thy back-parts; for we men of Mesopotamia so love a\nfull-formed thigh that nor sense was left me nor foresight. But now, an\nthou wish, thou shalt try a third fall with me while my wits are about\nme, and this last match is allowed me by the laws of the game which\nsayeth the best of three: moreover I have regained my presence of mind.\"\nWhen she heard his words she said to him, \"Hast thou not had a\nbelly-full of this wrestling, O vanquished one? However come on, an thou\nwilt; but know that this must be the last round.\" Then she bent forward\nand challenged him and Sharrkan did likewise, setting to it in real\nearnest and being right cautious about the throw: so the two strove\nawhile and the damsel found in him a strength such as she had not\nobserved before and said to him, \"O Moslem, thou art now on thy mettle.\"\n\"Yes,\" he replied, \"thou knowest that there remaineth to me but this one\nround, after which each of us will wend a different way.\" She laughed\nand he laughed too;[177] then she overreached at his thigh and caught\nfirm hold of it unawares, which made him greet the ground and fall full\non his back. She laughed at him and said, \"Art thou an eater of bran?\nThou art like a Badawi's bonnet which falleth off with every touch or\nelse the Father of Winds[178] that droppeth before a puff of air. Fie\nupon thee, O thou poor thing!\" adding, \"Get thee back to the Moslem army\nand send us other than thyself, for thou failest of thews; and proclaim\nfor us, among the Arabs and Persians, the Turks and Daylamites,[179]\nwhoso hath might in him, let him come to us.\" Then she made a spring and\nlanded on the other side of the stream and said to Sharrkan, laughing,\n\"Parting with thee is right grievous to me, O my lord; but get thee to\nthy mates before dawn, lest the Knights come upon thee and pick thee up\non their lance-points. Thou hast no strength to defend thee against a\nwoman, so how couldst thou hold thine own amongst men of might and\nKnights?\" Sharrkan was confounded and called to her (as she turned from\nhim making towards the convent), \"O my lady, wilt thou go away and leave\nthe miserable stranger, the broken hearted slave of love?\" So she turned\nto him laughing and said, \"What is thy want? I will grant thee thy\nprayer.\" \"Have I set foot in thy country and tasted the sweetness of thy\ncourtesy,\" replied he, \"and shall I return without eating of thy victual\nand tasting thy hospitality; I who have become one of thy servitors!\"\n\"None baulk kindliness save the base,\" she rejoined, \"honour us in\nAllah's name, on my head and eyes be it! Mount thy steed and ride along\nthe brink of the stream over against me, for now thou art my guest.\" At\nthis Sharrkan was glad and, hastening back to his horse, mounted and\nwalked him abreast of her, and she kept faring on till they came to a\ndrawbridge[180] built of beams of the white poplar, hung by pullies and\nsteel-chains and made fast with hooks and padlocks. When Sharrkan\nlooked, he saw awaiting her upon the bridge the same ten handmaids whom\nshe had thrown in the wrestling-bouts; and, as she came up to them, she\nsaid to one in the Greek tongue, \"Arise and take the reins of his horse\nand conduct him across into the convent.\" So she went up to Sharrkan and\nled him over, much puzzled and perturbed with what he saw, and saying to\nhimself, \"O would that the Wazir Dandan were here with me that his eyes\nmight look upon these fairest of favours.\" Then he turned to the young\nlady and said to her, \"O marvel of loveliness, now I have two claims\nupon thee; first the claim of good-fellowship, and secondly for that\nthou hast carried me to thy home and offered me thy hospitality. I am\nnow under thy commandance and thy guidance; so do me one last favour by\naccompanying me to the lands of Al-Islam; where thou shalt look upon\nmany a lion-hearted warrior and thou shalt learn who I am.\" When she\nheard this she was angered and said to him, \"By the truth of the\nMessiah, thou hast proved thyself with me a man of keen wit; but now I\nsee what mischief there is in thy heart, and how thou canst permit\nthyself a speech which proveth thy traitorous intent. How should I do as\nthou sayest, when I wot that if I came to that King of yours, Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman, I should never get free from him? For truly he hath not the\nlike of me or behind his city walls or within his palace-halls, Lord of\nBaghdad and of Khorasan though he be, who hath built for himself twelve\npavilions, in number as the months of the year, and in each a concubine\nafter the number of the days; and if I come to him he would not prove\nshy of me, for your folk believe I am lawful to have and to hold as is\nsaid in your writ:\u2014Or those women whom your right hand shall possess as\nslaves.[181] So how canst thou speak thus to me? As for thy saying:\u2014Thou\nshalt look upon the braves of the Moslems, by the truth of the Messiah,\nthou sayest that which is not true, for I saw your army when it reached\nour land, these two days ago; and I did not see that your ordinance was\nthe ordinance of Kings, but I beheld only a rabble of tribesmen gathered\ntogether. And as to thy words:\u2014Thou shalt know who I am, I did not do\nthee kindness because of thy dignity but out of pride in myself; and the\nlike of thee should not talk thus to the like of me, even wert thou\nSharrkan, Omar bin al-Nu'uman's son, the prowest name in these days!\"\n\"Knowest thou Sharrkan?\" asked he; and she answered \"Yes! and I know of\nhis coming with an army numbering ten thousand horsemen; also that he\nwas sent by his sire with this force to gain prevalence for the King of\nConstantinople.\" \"O my lady,\" said Sharrkan, \"I adjure thee by thy\nreligion, tell me the cause of all this, that sooth may appear to me\nclear of untruth, and with whom the fault lies.\" \"Now by the virtue of\nthy faith,\" she replied, \"did I not fear lest the news of me be bruited\nabroad that I am of the daughters of Roum, I would adventure myself and\nsally forth single-handed against the ten thousand horsemen and slay\ntheir leader, the Wazir Dandan and vanquish their champion\nSharrkan.[182] Nor would aught of shame accrue to me thereby, for I have\nread books and studied the rules of good breeding in the language of the\nArabs. But I have no need to vaunt my own prowess to thee, more by token\nas thou hast proved in thy proper person my skill and strength in\nwrestling; and thou hast learnt my superiority over other women. Nor,\nindeed, had Sharrkan himself been here this night and it were said to\nhim:\u2014Clear this stream, could he have done it; and I only long and lust\nthat the Messiah would throw him into my hands in this very convent,\nthat I might go forth to him in the habit of a man and drag him from his\nsaddle-seat and make him my captive and lay him in bilboes.\"\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-eighth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Nazarene\ndamsel said to Sharrkan (and he listening impatiently enow), \"Verily if\nSharrkan fell into my hands, I would go forth to him in the habit of a\nman and drag him from his saddle-seat and make him my captive and lay\nhim in bilboes,\" pride and passion and knightly jealousy took possession\nof him and he desired to discover and declare himself and to lay on\nload; but her loveliness restrained him and he began repeating:\u2014\n\n An faulty of one fault the Beauty prove, \u273f Her charms a\n thousand advocates shall move.\n\nSo she went up and Sharrkan after her; and, when he saw the maiden's\nback and hinder cheeks that clashed against each other, like rollers in\nthe rolling sea, he extemporised these couplets:\u2014\n\n For her sins is a pleader that brow, \u273f And all hearts its fair\n pleading must trow:\n When I saw it I cried, \"To-night \u273f The moon at its fullest doth show;\n Tho' Balk\u00eds' own Ifrit[183] try a bout, \u273f Spite his force she\n would deal him a throw.\n\nThe two fared on till they reached a gate over which rose a marble\narchway. This she opened and ushered Sharrkan into a long vestibule,\nvaulted with ten connected arches, from each of which hung a crystal\nlamp glistening like a spark of fire. The handmaids met her at the\nfurther end bearing wax candles of goodly perfume, and wearing on their\nheads golden fillets crusted with all manner bezel-gems,[184] and went\non before her (Sharrkan still following), till they reached the inner\nconvent. There the Moslem saw couches and sofas ranged all around, one\nopposite the other and all overhung with curtains flowered in gold. The\nmonastery floor was paved with every kind of vari-coloured marbles and\nmosaic-work, and in the midst stood a basin that held four-and-twenty\njetting fountains of gold, whence the water ran like molten silver;\nwhilst at the upper end stood a throne spread with silks fit only for\nKings. Then said the damsel, \"Ascend, O my lord, this throne.\" So he\nwent up to it and sat down and she withdrew to remain absent for some\ntime. Sharrkan asked of her from one of the servants who answered him,\n\"She hath gone to her dormitory; but we will serve thee even as she\nordered.\" So they set before him viands of rare varieties, and he ate\nhis sufficiency, when they brought him a basin of gold and an ewer of\nsilver, and he washed his hands. Then his thoughts reverted to his army,\nknowing not what had befallen it in his absence and calling to mind also\nhow he had forgotton his father's injunctions: so he was troubled about\nhis case, repenting of what he had done till the dawn broke and the day\nappeared; when he lamented and sighed and became drowned in the sea of\nsadness and repeated:\u2014\n\n I am not lost to prudence, but indeed \u273f Here I'm bewildered, what\n shall be my rede?\n Would any aid me in mine ails of love, \u273f By my own might and\n sleight would I be free'd:\n But ah! my heart is lost and passion-shent: \u273f To none save Allah can\n I trust my need!\n\nWhen he ended his verse behold, there came up to him a rare show and a\nfair, more than twenty maidens like crescents encompassing the young\nlady, who shone in their midst as the full moon among the constellations\nguarding and girding her. She was clad in brocades befitting Kings; her\nbreasts were like twin pomegranates, a woven zone set with all kinds of\njewels tightly clasped her waist which expanded below into jutting hips;\nand her hinder cheeks stood out as a mound of crystal[185] supporting a\nsilvern shaft. When Sharrkan looked at her his wits went nigh to fly\naway from him with delight; and he forgot army and Wazir as he gazed on\nher fair head decked and dight with a net-work of pearls set off by\ndivers sorts of gems. Handmaids on her right and handmaids on her left\nbore her train, as she paced with dainty graceful gait in all the pride\nof seemlihead. He sprang to his feet seeing such beauty and loveliness,\nand cried aloud, \"Beware and beware of that zone rarely fair!\" and broke\nout into these couplets:\u2014\n\n With heavy back-parts, high breasts delicate, \u273f And lissome form\n that sways with swimming gait,\n She deftly hides love-longing in her breast; \u273f But I may never hide\n its ban and bate:\n While hosts of followers her steps precede,[186] \u273f Like pearls\n now necklaced and now separate.\n\nShe gazed upon him for a long time and considered him till she was\nassured of him, when she came up to him and said, \"In very sooth the\nplace is honoured and illumined by thee, O Sharrkan! How sped thy night,\nO hero, after we went away and left thee?\"; adding, \"Verily lying is a\nvile thing and a shameful, especially in great Kings! and thou art\nCrown-Prince Sharrkan, son and heir of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; so\nhenceforth make no secret of thy rank and condition, nor let me hear\naught from thee but the truth; for leasing bequeatheth hate and despite.\nAnd as thou art pierced by the shaft of Fate, be resignation thine and\nabide content to wait.\" When he heard her words he saw that artifice\navailed him naught and he acknowledged the truth, saying, \"I am\nSharrkan, bin Omar bin al-Nu'uman, whom fortune hath afflicted, and cast\ninto this place; so whatso thou willest, do it in my case!\" She hung her\nhead groundwards a long while, then turned to him and said, \"Be of good\ncheer and let thine eyes be cool and clear;[187] for thou art the guest\nof my hospitality, and bread-and-salt hath made a tie between me and\nthee; wherefore thou art in my ward and under my safeguard. Have no fear\nfor, by the truth of the Messiah, if all on earth sought to do thee hurt\nthey should not come at thee, till life had left my body for thy sake:\nindeed thou art now under the charge of the Messiah and of me.\" Hereat\nshe sat her down by his side and fell to playing with him, till his\nalarm subsided and he knew that had she desired to slay him, she would\nhave done so during the past night. Presently she bespoke in the Grecian\ntongue one of her slave-girls, who went away and soon came back bringing\na beaker and a tray of food; but Sharrkan abstained from eating and said\nto himself, \"Haply she hath put somewhat in this meat.\" She knew what\nwas in his thought; so she turned to him and said, \"By the truth of the\nMessiah, the case is not on such wise, nor is there aught in this meat\nof what thou suspectest! Had my mind been set on slaying thee, I had\nslain thee ere now.\" Then she walked up to the tray and ate of every\ndish a mouthful; whereupon Sharrkan came forward and ate too. She was\npleased at this and both ate till they were satisfied. They washed their\nhands and after that she rose and ordered a handmaid to bring perfumes\nand herbs of sweet savour, wines of all colours and kinds and a\nwine-service with vessels of gold, silver and crystal. She filled a\nfirst goblet and drank it off before offering it to him, even as she had\ndone with the food: then she downed a second and handed it to him. He\ndrank and she said to him, \"O Moslem, see how thou art here in all\nsolace and delight of life!\" And she ceased not to drink and ply him\nwith drink, till he took leave of his wits,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day, and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Forty-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel ceased\nnot to drink and ply Sharrkan with drink till he took leave of his wits,\nfor the wine and the intoxication of love he bore her. Presently she\nsaid to the slave-girl, \"O Marj\u00e1nah[188]! bring us some instruments of\nmusic!\" \"To hear is to obey,\" said the handmaid and going out, returned\nin the twinkling of an eye with a Damascus lute,[189] a Persian harp, a\nTartar pipe, and an Egyptian dulcimer. The young lady took the lute and,\nafter tuning each several string, began in gentle undersong to sing,\nsofter, than zephyr's wing and sweeter than Tasmin[190]-spring, with\nheart safe and secure from everything the couplets following:\u2014\n\n Allah assain those eyne! What streams of blood they shed! \u273f How many\n an arrowy glance those lids of thine have sped.\n I love all lovers who to lovers show them dure; \u273f Twere wrong to\n rue the love in wrong-head born and bred:\n Haply fall hapless eye for thee no sleeping kens! \u273f Heaven help\n the hapless heart by force of thee misled!\n Thou doomest me to death who art my king, and I \u273f Ransom with life\n the deemster who would doom me dead.\n\nThereupon each and every of the maidens rose up and taking an\ninstrument, played and recited couplets in the Roumi tongue; then their\nmistress sang also and seeing Sharrkan in ecstasies asked him, \"O\nMoslem, dost thou understand what I say?\"; and he answered, \"Nay, my\necstasy cometh from the beauty of thy finger-tips.\" She laughed and\ncontinued, \"If I sing to thee in Arabic what wouldst thou do?\" \"I should\nno longer,\" quoth he, \"be master of my senses.\" Then she took an\ninstrument and, changing the measure, began singing these verses:\u2014\n\n The smack of parting's myrrh to me, \u273f How, then, bear patience' alo\u00eb?\n I'm girt by ills in trinity \u273f Severance, distance, cruelty!\n My freedom stole that fairest she, \u273f And parting irks me bitterly.\n\nWhen she ended her verse, she looked at Sharrkan and found him lost to\nexistence, and he lay for a while stretched at full length and prone\namong the maidens.[191] Then he revived and, remembering the songs,\nagain inclined to mirth and merriment; and the twain returned to their\nwine and wassail, and continued their playing and toying, their pastime\nand pleasure till day ceased illuminating and night drooped her wing.\nThen the damsel went off to her dormitory and when Sharrkan asked after\nher they answered, \"She is gone to her sleeping-chamber,\" whereto he\nrejoined, \"Under Allah's ward and His good guard!\" As soon as it was\nmorning, a handmaid came to him and said to him, \"My mistress biddeth\nthee to her.\" So he rose and followed her and, as he drew near her\nlodging, the damsels welcomed him with smitten tabrets and songs of\ngreeting, and led him through a great door of ivory studded with pearls\nand jewels. Thence they passed with him into a tall and spacious hall,\nat the upper end of which was a wide da\u00efs carpeted with all kinds of\nsilks, and round it open lattices commanding a view of trees and\nstreams. About the saloon were figures carved in human form, and\nfashioned on such wise that the air passed through them and set in\nmotion musical instruments within, so that the beholder would fancy they\nspoke.[192] Here sat the young lady, looking at the figures; but when\nshe saw Sharrkan, she sprang to her feet and, taking him by the hand,\nmade him sit down by her side, and asked him how he had passed the\nnight. He blessed her and the two sat talking awhile till she asked him,\n\"Knowest thou aught touching lovers and slaves of love?\"; and he\nanswered \"Yes! I wot somewhat in verse on that matter.\" \"Let me hear\nit,\" quoth she, so he began quoting:\u2014\n\n Pleasure and health, good cheer, good appetite \u273f To Azzah, freest\n with our name and fame!\n By Allah! would I near her off she flies \u273f At tangent, granting\n less the more I claim:\n I dote on Azzah, but when clear I off \u273f My rivals, clears me too\n that dearest dame;\n Like wandering wight that chose for shade a cloud \u273f Which, ere\n siesta done, thin air became.\n\nWhen she heard this she said, \"Verily Al-Kuthayyir[193] was conspicuous\nfor sweet speech and chaste, and he was superlative in his praise of\nAzzah when he sang (and she began to recite):\u2014\n\n \"Did Azzah deal behest to Sun o' noon, \u273f The judge had 'judged\n her beauty's bestest boon;\n And girls who come to me and carp at her, \u273f God make their rosy\n cheeks her sandal-shoon!\"\n\n\"And indeed,\" quoth she, \"'twas said that Azzah boasted exceeding beauty\nand loveliness.\" Then she asked Sharrkan saying, \"O Prince, dost thou\nknow aught of Jam\u00edl's[194] verses to Buthaynah? if so repeat to us\nsomewhat of them;\" and he answered, \"Yes, I know them better than any;\"\nwhereupon he began repeating these couplets:\u2014\n\n \"Jam\u00edl, in Holy war go fight!\" to me they say: \u273f What war save\n fight for fair ones would I e'er essay?\n To me their every word and work are mere delight, \u273f And martyrs clepe\n I all they slay in fight and fray:\n An ask I, \"O Buthaynah! what's this love, I pray, \u273f Which eats\n my heart? quoth she \"'Twill stay for ever and aye!\"\n And when I cry, \"Of wits return some small display \u273f For daily\n use,\" quoth she, \"Far, far 'tis fled away!\"\n Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy \u273f While I\n no goal espy save thee and thee alway.\n\n\"Thou hast spoken right well,\" said she, \"O King's son, and Jam\u00edl also\nspoke excellently well. But what would Buthaynah have done with him that\nhe saith in his hemistich:\u2014\n\n Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy?\"\n\n\"O my lady,\" quoth Sharrkan, \"she willed to do him what thou willest to\ndo with me, and even that will not satisfy thee.\" She laughed at his\nopportune reply and they ceased not carousing till Day put out her light\nand Night came in darkness dight. Then she rose and went to her\ndormitory and slept, while Sharrkan slept in his place till morning\ndawned. As soon as he awoke, the handmaids came to him with tabrets and\nother instruments of mirth and merriment, as wont; and, kissing the\nground between his hands, said to him, \"Bismillah!\u2014in Allah's name\u2014be so\nkind as to come[195]: our mistress biddeth thee to her presence!\" So he\nrose and accompanied the slave-girls who surrounded him, playing on\ntabrets and other instruments of music, till they passed from that\nsaloon into another and a yet more spacious hall, decorated with\npictured likenesses and figures of birds and beasts, passing all\ndescription. Sharrkan marvelled at the art and artifice of the place and\nbegan reciting:\u2014\n\n He pluckt fruits of her necklace in rivalry, \u273f And her\n breast-pearls that bedded in gold-mine lie.\n Pure water on silvern bars is her brow, \u273f And her cheeks show\n roses with rubies vie:\n Meseems in her eyne that the violet's hue \u273f Lies purpling set in\n the Ithmid's[196] dye.\n\nWhen the lady saw Sharrkan, she stood up to him in honour and, taking\nhis hand, seated him by her side and asked, \"O son of King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman, hast thou any cunning in the game of chess?\" \"Yes,\" he\nanswered, \"but do not thou with me as said the poet:\u2014\n\n I speak and longing love upties me and unties me; \u273f Till with\n her honey-dew of inner lip she plies me:\n I brought the chess-board and my liefest lover plays me \u273f With\n white and black,[197] but black-cum-white ne'er satisfies me:\n 'Twas as if King for Castle I were fain to place me \u273f Till wilful\n loss of game atwixt two queens surprise me:\n And if I seek to read intent in eyes that eye me \u273f Oh man! that\n glance askance with hint of wish defies me.\"\n\nThen she brought the chess-board and played with him; but Sharrkan,\ninstead of looking at her moves, kept gazing at her fair mouth, and\nputting knight in place of elephant and elephant[198] in stead of\nknight. She laughed and said to him, \"If thy play be after this fashion,\nthou knowest naught of the game.\" \"This is only our first,\" replied he,\n\"judge not by this bout.\" When she beat him he replaced the pieces in\nposition and played again with her; but she beat him a second time, a\nthird, a fourth and a fifth. So she turned to him and said, \"Thou art\nbeaten in everything;\" and he replied, \"O my lady, how should one\nplaying with the like of thee avoid being beaten?\" Then she bade bring\nfood, and they ate and washed their hands; after which the wine was set\nbefore them and they drank. Presently, she took the dulcimer, for her\nhand was cunning in smiting it, and she began repeating to an\naccompaniment these couplets:\u2014\n\n Twixt the close-tied and open-wide no medium Fortune knoweth; \u273f\n Now ebb and flow then flow and ebb this wise her likeness showeth:\n Then drink her wine the syne she's thine and smiling thou dost\n find her; \u273f Anon she'll fall and fare away when all thy good\n forth goeth.\n\nThey ceased not to carouse till nightfall and this day was pleasanter\neven than the first. When darkness set in, the lady betook her to her\ndormitory, leaving him alone with the handmaids; so he threw himself on\nthe ground and slept till dawn, when the damsels came to him with\ntambourines and other instruments according to custom. Seeing them he\nroused him hastily and sat up; and they carried him to their mistress,\nwho came to meet him and, taking him by the hand, seated him by her\nside. Then she asked him how he had passed his night, whereat he prayed\nthat her life be prolonged; and she took the lute and sang to it these\nverses which she improvised:\u2014\n\n Ne'er incline thee to part \u273f Which embitters the heart;\n E'en the sun when he sets \u273f Shall in pallor depart.\n\nWhile they were solacing themselves after this fashion, behold, there\narose a great and sudden clamour, and a confused crowd of knights and\nmen rushed in, holding drawn swords that glittered and gleamed in their\nhands, and cried aloud in the Grecian tongue, \"Thou hast fallen into our\nhands, O Sharrkan, so make thee sure of death!\" When he heard this, he\nsaid to himself, \"By Allah, she hath entrapped me and held me in play,\ntill her men should come. These are the Knights with whom she threatened\nme; but 'tis I who have thrown myself into this strait.\" Then he turned\ntowards the young lady to reproach her, but saw that she had changed\ncolour and her face was pale; and she sprang to her feet and asked the\ncrowd, \"Who are ye?\" \"O most gracious Princess and peerless\nunion-pearl,\" answered the leading Knight, \"dost thou weet who is yon\nman by thy side?\" \"Not I,\" she replied, \"who may he be?\" Quoth the\nPatrician, \"This is of towns the highwayman! This is he who rideth in\nthe horseman's van! This is Sharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman!\nThis is he that forceth fortalice and penetrateth every impregnable\nplace! The news of him reached King Hardub, thy father, by report of the\nancient dame Zat al-Dawahi; and thy sire, our sovereign, hath made sure\nthat thou hast rendered good service to the army of the Greeks by taking\ncaptive this ominous lion.\" When she heard this, she looked at the\nKnight and asked him, \"What be thy name?\" and he answered, \"I am\nMasurah, son of thy slave Maus\u00farah bin K\u00e1shardah, Knight of Knights.\"\n\"And how?\" quoth she, \"durst thou enter my presence without leave?\"\nQuoth he, \"O my lady, when I came to the gate, none forbade me, neither\nchamberlain nor porter, but all the doorkeepers rose and forewent us as\nof wont; although, when others come, they leave them standing at the\ngate while they ask permission to admit them. But this is not a time for\nlong talking, when the King is expecting our return with this Prince,\nthe scorpion-sting[199] of the Islamitic host, that he may kill him and\ndrive back his men whither they came, without the bane of battling with\nthem.\" \"These words be ill words,\" rejoined the Princess, \"and Dame Zat\nal-Dawahi lied, avouching an idle thing and a vain, whereof she weeteth\nnot the truth; for by the virtue of the Messiah, this man who is with me\nis not Sharrkan, nor is he a captive, but a stranger who came to us\nseeking our hospitality, and I made him my guest. So even were we\nassured that this be Sharrkan and were it proved to us that it is he\nbeyond a doubt, I say it would ill befit mine honour that I should\ndeliver into your hands one who hath entered under my protection. So\nmake me not a traitor to my guest and a disgrace among men; but return\nto the King, my father, and kiss the ground before him, and inform him\nthat the case is contrariwise to the report of the Lady Zat al-Dawahi.\"\n\"O Abrizah,\" replied Masurah, the Knight, \"I cannot return to the King's\nmajesty without his debtor and enemy.\" Quoth she (and indeed she had\nwaxed very wroth), \"Out on thee! Return to him with my answer, and no\nblame shall befal thee!\" Quoth Masurah, \"I will not return without him.\"\nThereupon her colour changed and she exclaimed, \"Exceed not in talk and\nvain words; for verily this man had not come in to us, were he not\nassured that he could of himself and single-handed make head against an\nhundred riders; and if I said to him:\u2014Thou art Sharrkan, son of King\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman, he would answer, Yes. But 'tis not of your\ncompetence to let or hinder him; for if you so do, he will not turn back\nfrom you till he hath slain all that are in this place. Behold, here he\nis by my side, and I will bring him before you sword and targe in hand.\"\n\"Albeit I were safe from thy wrath,\" answered Masurah the Knight, \"I am\nnot safe from that of thy father, and when I see him, I shall sign to\nthe Knights to take him captive, and we will carry him to the King bound\nand in abject sort.\" When she heard this, she said, \"The matter shall\nnot pass thus, for 'twould be blazoning mere folly. This man is but one\nand ye are an hundred Knights: so if you would attack him come out\nagainst him, one after one, that it may appear to the King which is the\nvaliant amongst you.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Fiftieth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Abrizah\nsaid to the Knight, \"This man is but one, and ye are an hundred: so if\nye would attack him, come out against him, one after one, that it may\nappear to the King which is the valiant.\" Quoth Masurah, the Knight, \"By\nthe truth of the Messiah, thou sayest sooth, and none but I shall sally\nout against him first.\" Quoth she, \"Wait till I go to him and acquaint\nhim with the case and hear what answer he will make. If he consent, 'tis\nwell; but if he refuse, ye shall on no wise come to him, for I and my\nhandmaids and whosoever is in the convent will be his ransom.\" So she\nwent to Sharrkan and told him the news, whereat he smiled and knew that\nshe had not informed any of the Emirs; but that tidings of him had been\nbruited and blazed abroad, till the report reached the King, against her\nwish and intent. So he again began reproaching himself and said, \"How\ncame I to adventure and play with my life by coming to the country of\nthe Greeks?\" But hearing the young lady's proposal he said to her,\n\"Indeed their onset, one after one, would be overburdensome to them.\nWill they not come out against me, ten by ten?\" \"That would be\nvilleiny,\" said she; \"Let one have at one.\" When he heard this, he\nsprang to his feet and made for them with his sword and battle-gear; and\nMasurah, the Knight, also sprang up and bore down upon him. Sharrkan met\nhim like a lion and delivered a shoulder cut[200] which clove him to the\nmiddle, and the blade came out gleaming and glittering from his back and\nbowels. When the lady beheld that swashing blow, Sharrkan's might was\nmagnified in her sight and she knew that when she overthrew him in the\nwrestle it was not by her strength but by her beauty and loveliness. So\nshe turned to the Knights and said, \"Take wreak for your chief!\"\nThereupon out came the slain man's brother, a fierce and furious Knight,\nand rushed upon Sharrkan, who delayed not, but smote him also with the\nshoulder-cut and the sword came out glittering from his vitals. Then\ncried the Princess, \"O ye servants of the Messiah, avenge your comrade!\"\nSo they ceased not charging down upon him, one after one; and Sharrkan\nalso ceased not playing upon them with the blade, till he had slain\nfifty knights, the lady looking on the while. And Allah cast a panic\ninto the hearts of the survivors, so that they held back and dared not\nmeet him in the duello, but fell upon him in a body; and he laid on load\nwith heart firmer than a rock, and smote them and trod them down like\nstraw under the threshing-sled,[201] till he had driven sense and soul\nout of them. Then the Princess called aloud to her damsels, saying, \"Who\nis left in the convent?\"; and they replied, \"None but the gate-keepers;\"\nwhereupon she went up to Sharrkan and took him to her bosom, he doing\nthe same, and they returned to the palace, after he had made an end of\nthe mel\u00e9e. Now there remained a few of the Knights hiding from him in\nthe cells of the monastery, and when the Princess saw this she rose from\nSharrkan's side and left him for a while, but presently came back clad\nin closely-meshed coat of ring-mail and holding in her hand a fine\nIndian scymitar. And she said, \"Now by the truth of the Messiah, I will\nnot be a niggard of myself for my guest; nor will I abandon him though\nfor this I abide a reproach and a byword in the land of the Greeks.\"\nThen she took reckoning of the dead and found that he had slain\nfourscore of the Knights, and other twenty had taken to flight.[202]\nWhen she saw what work he had made with them she said to him, \"Allah\nbless thee, O Sharrkan! The Cavaliers may well glory in the like of\nthee.\" Then he rose and wiping his blade clean of the blood of the slain\nbegan reciting these couplets:\u2014\n\n How oft in the mellay I've cleft the array, \u273f And given their\n bravest to lions a prey:\n Ask of me and of them when I proved me prow \u273f O'er creation, on days\n of the foray and fray:\n When I left in the onslaught their lions to lie \u273f On the sands of\n the lowlands[203] in fieriest day.\n\nWhen he ended his verse, the Princess came up to him with smiles and\nkissed his hand; then she doffed her hauberk and he said to her, \"O lady\nmine, wherefore didst thou don that coat of mail and bare thy brand?\"\n\"To guard thee against these caitiffs,\"[204] she replied. Then she\nsummoned the gate-keepers and asked them, \"How came ye to admit the\nKing's Knights into my dwelling without leave of me?\"; and they\nanswered, \"O Princess, it is not our custom to ask leave of thee for the\nKing's messengers, and especially for the chief of his Knights.\" Quoth\nshe, \"I think ye were minded only to disgrace me and murder my guest;\"\nand bade Sharrkan smite their necks. He did so and she cried to the rest\nof her servants, \"Of a truth, they deserved even more than that!\" Then\nturning to Sharrkan, she said to him, \"Now that there hath become\nmanifest to thee what was concealed, thou shalt be made acquainted with\nmy history. Know, then, that I am the daughter of King Hardub of Roum;\nmy name is Abrizah and the ancient dame, yclept Zat al-Dawahi, is my\ngrandmother by the sword side. She it certainly is who told my father of\nthee, and as surely she will compass a sleight to slay me, more by token\nas thou hast slain my father's chivalry and it is noised abroad that I\nhave separated myself from the Nazarenes and have become no better than\nI should be with the Moslems. Wherefore it were wiser that I leave this\ndwelling while Zat al-Dawahi is on my track; but I require of thee the\nlike kindness and courtesy I have shown thee, for enmity will presently\nbefal between me and my father on thine account. So do not thou neglect\nto do aught that I shall say to thee, remembering all this betided me\nnot save by reason of thee.\" Hearing her words, Sharrkan joyed greatly;\nhis breast broadened and his wits flew from him for delight, and he\nsaid, \"By Allah, none shall come at thee, while life is in my bosom! But\nhast thou patience to bear parting from thy parents and thy people?\"\n\"Even so,\" she answered; and Sharrkan swore to her and the two plighted\ntheir troth. Then said she, \"Now is my heart at ease; but there\nremaineth one other condition for thee.\" \"What is it?\" asked he and she\nanswered, \"It is that thou return with thy host to thine own country.\"\nQuoth he, \"O lady mine, my father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, sent me to\nwage war upon thy sire, on account of the treasure he plundered from the\nKing of Constantinople, and amongst the rest three great jewels, noted\ngivers of good fortune.\" Quoth she, \"Cheer thy heart and clear thine\neyes: I will tell thee the whole of the tale and the cause of our feud\nwith the King of Constantinople. Know that we have a yearly festival,\nhight the Convent-Feast, whereat Kings from all quarters and the noblest\nwomen are wont to congregate; thither also come merchants and traders\nwith their wives and families, and the visitors abide there seven days.\nI was wont to be one of them; but, when there befel enmity between us,\nmy father forbade me to be present at the festival for the space of\nseven years. One year, it chanced that amongst the daughters of the\ngreat who resorted to the patron, as was their custom, came a daughter\nof the King of Constantinople, a beautiful girl called Sophia. They\ntarried at the monastery six days and on the seventh the folk went their\nways;[205] but Sophia said, I will not return to Constantinople save by\nwater. So they equipped for her a ship in which she embarked with her\nsuite; and making sail they put out to sea; but as they were voyaging\nbehold, a contrary wind caught them and drove the vessel from her course\ntill, as Fate and Fortune would have it, she fell in with a Nazarene\ncraft from the Camphor Island[206] carrying a crew of five hundred armed\nFranks, who had been cruising about a long time. When they sighted the\nsails of the ship, wherein Sophia and her women were, they gave chase in\nall haste and in less than an hour they came up with her, when they laid\nthe grappling-irons aboard her and captured her. Then taking her in tow\nthey made all sail for their own island and were but a little distant\nfrom it when the wind veered round and, splitting their sails, drove\nthem on to a shoal which lies off our coast. Thereupon we sallied forth\nand, looking on them as spoil driven to us by Fate,[207] boarded and\ntook them; and, slaying the men, made prize of the wreck, wherein we\nfound the treasures and rarities in question and forty maidens, amongst\nwhom was the King's daughter, Sophia. After the capture we carried the\nPrincess and her women to my father, not knowing her to be a daughter of\nKing Afridun of Constantinople; and he chose out for himself ten\nincluding her; and divided the rest among his dependants. Presently he\nset apart five damsels, amongst whom was the King's daughter, and sent\nthem to thy father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, together with other gifts,\nsuch as broadcloth[208] and woollen stuffs and Grecian silks. Thy father\naccepted them and chose out from amongst the five girls Sophia, daughter\nof King Afridun; nor did we hear more of her till the beginning of this\nyear, when her father wrote to my father in words unfitting for me to\nrepeat, rebuking him with menaces and saying to him:\u2014Two years ago, you\nplundered a ship of ours which had been seized by a band of Frankish\npirates in which was my daughter Sophia, attended by her maidens\nnumbering some threescore. Yet ye informed me not thereof by messenger\nor otherwise; nor could I make the matter public, lest reproach befal me\namongst the Kings, by reason of my daughter's honour. So I concealed my\ncase till this year, when I wrote to certain Frankish corsairs and\nsought news of my daughter from the Kings of the Isles. They replied:\u2014By\nAllah we carried her not forth of thy realm; but we have heard that King\nHardub rescued her from certain pirates. And they told me the whole\ntale. Then he added in the writing which he writ to my father:\u2014Except\nyou wish to be at feud with me and design to disgrace me and dishonour\nmy daughter, you will, the instant my letter reacheth you, send my\ndaughter back to me. But if you slight my letter and disobey my\ncommandment, I will assuredly make you full return for your foul dealing\nand the baseness of your practices.[209] When my father read this letter\nand understood the contents,[210] it vexed him and he regretted not\nhaving known that Sophia, King Afridun's daughter, was among the\ncaptured damsels, that he might have sent her back to her sire; and he\nwas perplexed about the case because, after so long a time, he could not\nsend to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and demand her back from him,\nespecially as he had lately heard that Heaven had granted him boon of\nbabe by this Sophia. So when we pondered that truth, we knew that this\nletter was none other than a grievous calamity; and my father found\nnothing for it but to write an answer to King Afridun, making his\nexcuses and swearing to him by strong oaths that he knew not his\ndaughter to be among the bevy of damsels in the ship and setting forth\nhow he had sent her to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, who had gotten the\nblessing of issue by her. When my father's reply reached King Afridun he\nrose up and sat down,[211] and roared and foamed at the mouth\ncrying:\u2014What! shall he take captive my daughter and even her with\nslave-girls and pass her on from hand to hand sending her for a gift to\nKings, and they lie with her without marriage-contract? By the Messiah\nand the true Faith, said he, I will not desist till I have taken my\nblood-vengeance for this and have wiped out my shame; and indeed I will\ndo a deed which the chroniclers shall chronicle after me! So he bided\nhis time till he devised a device and laid notable toils and snares,\nwhen he sent an embassy to thy father, King Omar, to tell him that which\nthou hast heard: accordingly thy father equipped thee and an army with\nthee and sent thee to King Afridun, whose object is to seize thee and\nthine army to boot. As for the three jewels whereof he told thy father\nwhen asking his aid, there was not one soothfast word in that matter,\nfor they were with Sophia, his daughter; and my father took them from\nher, when he got possession of her and of her maidens, and gave them to\nme in free gift, and they are now with me. So go thou to thy host and\nturn them back ere they be led deep into, and shut in by, the land of\nthe Franks and the country of the Greeks; for as soon as you have come\nfar enough into their interior, they will stop the roads upon you and\nthere will be no escape for you till the Day of retribution and\nretaliation. I know that thy troops are still halting where thou leftest\nthem, because thou didst order a three days' rest; withal they have\nmissed thee all this time and they wot not what to do.\" When Sharrkan\nheard her words, he was absent awhile in thought; then he kissed\nPrincess Abrizah's hand and said, \"Praise be to Allah who hath bestowed\nthee on me and appointed thee to be the cause of my salvation and the\nsalvation of whoso is with me! But 'tis grievous to me to part from thee\nand I know not what will become of thee after my departure.\" \"Go now to\nthine army,\" she replied, \"and turn them back, while ye are yet near\nyour own country. If the envoys be still with them, lay hands on them\nand keep them, that the case may be made manifest to you; and, after\nthree days, I will be with you all and we will enter Baghdad together.\"\nAs he turned to depart she said, \"Forget not the compact which is\nbetween me and thee;\" then she rose to bid[212] him farewell and embrace\nhim and quench the fire of desire, so she took leave of him and,\nthrowing her arms round his neck, wept with exceeding weeping, and\nrepeated these verses:\u2014\n\n I bade adieu, my right hand wiped my tears away, \u273f The while my\n left hand held her in a close embrace:\n \"Fearest thou naught,\" quoth she, \"of shame?\" I answered \"Nay, \u273f\n The lover's parting day is lover's worst disgrace.\"\n\nThen Sharrkan left her and walked down from the convent. They brought\nhis steed, so he mounted and rode down-stream to the drawbridge which he\ncrossed and presently threaded the woodland paths and passed into the\nopen meadow. As soon as he was clear of the trees he was aware of\nhorsemen which made him stand on the alert, and he bared his brand and\nrode cautiously; but as they drew near and exchanged curious looks he\nrecognized them and behold, it was the Wazir Dandan and two of his\nEmirs. When they saw him and knew him, they dismounted and saluting him,\nasked the reason of his absence; whereupon he told them all that had\npassed between him and Princess Abrizah from first to last. The Wazir\nreturned thanks to Almighty Allah for his safety and said,[213] \"Let us\nat once leave these lands; for the envoys who came with us are gone to\ninform the King of our approach, and haply he will hasten to fall on us\nand take us prisoners.\" So Sharrkan cried to his men to saddle and\nmount, which they did and, setting out at once, they stinted not faring\ntill they reached the sole of the valley wherein the host lay. The\nAmbassadors meanwhile had reported Sharrkan's approach to their King,\nwho forthright equipped a host to lay hold of him and those with him.\nBut Sharrkan, escorted by the Wazir Dandan and the two Emirs, had no\nsooner sighted the army, than he raised the cry \"March! March!\" They\ntook horse on the instant and fared through the first day and second and\nthird day, nor did they cease faring for five days; at the end of which\ntime they alighted in a well-wooded valley, where they rested awhile.\nThen they again set out and stayed not riding for five and twenty days\nwhich placed them on the frontiers of their own country. Here, deeming\nthemselves safe, they halted to rest; and the country people came out to\nthem with guest-gifts for the men and provender and forage for the\nbeasts. They tarried there two days after which, as all would be making\nfor their homes, Sharrkan put the Wazir Dandan in command, bidding him\nlead the host back to Baghdad. But he himself remained behind with an\nhundred riders, till the rest of the army had made one day's march: then\nhe called \"To horse!\" and mounted with his hundred men. They rode on two\nparasangs'[214] space till they arrived at a gorge between two mountains\nand lo! there arose before them a dark cloud of sand and dust. So they\nchecked their steeds awhile till the dust opened and lifted, discovering\nbeneath it an hundred cavaliers, lion-faced and in mail-coats cased. As\nsoon as they drew within earshot of Sharrkan and his meiny they cried\nout to them, saying, \"By the virtue of John and Mary, we have won to our\nwish! We have been following you by forced marches, night and day, till\nwe forewent you to this place. So dismount and lay down your arms and\nyield yourselves, that we may grant you your lives.\" When Sharrkan heard\nthis, his eyes stood out from his head and his cheeks flushed red and he\nsaid \"How is it, O Nazarene dogs, ye dare enter our country and\novermarch our land? And doth not this suffice you, but ye must adventure\nyour selves and address us in such unseemly speech? Do you think to\nescape out of our hands and return to your country?\" Then he shouted to\nhis hundred horsemen, \"Up and at these hounds, for they even you in\nnumber!\" So saying, he bared his sabre and bore down on them, he and\nhis, but the Franks met them with hearts firmer than rocks, and wight\nclashed against wight, and knight dashed upon knight, and hot waxed the\nfight, and sore was the affright, and nor parley nor cries of quarter\nhelped their plight; and they stinted not to charge and to smite, right\nhand meeting right, nor to hack and hew with blades bright-white, till\nday turned to night and gloom oppressed the sight. Then they drew apart\nand Sharrkan mustered his men and found none wounded save four only, who\nshowed hurts but not death-hurts. Said he to them, \"By Allah, my life\nlong have I waded in the clashing sea of fight and I have met many a\ngallant sprite, but none so unfrightened of the sword that smites and\nthe shock of men that affrights like these valiant Knights!\" \"Know, O\nKing,\" said they, \"that there is among them a Frankish cavalier who is\ntheir leader and, indeed, he is a man of valour and fatal is his\nspear-thrust: but, by Allah, he spares us great and small; for whoso\nfalls into his hands he lets him go and forbears to slay him. By Allah,\nhad he willed he had killed us all.\" Sharrkan was astounded when he\nheard what the Knight had done and such high report of him, so he said,\n\"When the morn shall morrow, we will draw out and defy them, for we are\nan hundred to their hundred; and we will seek aid against them from the\nLord of the Heavens.\" So they rested that night in such intent; whilst\nthe Franks gathered round their Captain and said, \"Verily this day we\ndid not win our will of these;\" and he replied, \"At early dawn when the\nmorrow shall morn, we will draw out and challenge them, one after one.\"\nThey also rested in that mind, and both camps kept guard until Almighty\nAllah sent the light of day-dawn. Thereupon King Sharrkan and his\nhundred riders took horse and rode forth to the plain, where they found\nthe Franks ranged in line of battle; and Sharrkan said to his followers,\n\"Our foes have determined like ourselves to do their devoir; so up and\nat them and lay on load.\" Then came forth an Herald of the Franks and\ncried out, saying, \"Let there be no general engagement betwixt us this\nday, save by the duello, a champion of yours against a champion of\nours.\" Whereupon one of Sharrkan's riders dashed out from the ranks and\ndrave between the two lines crying, \"Ho! who is for smiting? Let no\ndastard engage me this day nor nidering!\" Hardly had he made an end of\nhis vaunt, when there sallied forth to him a Frankish cavalier, armed\ncap-\u00e0-pie and clad in a surcoat of gold stuff, riding on a grey-white\nsteed,[215] and he had no hair on his cheeks. He urged his charger on to\nthe midst of the battle-plain and the two fell to derring-do of cut and\nthrust, but it was not long before the Frank foined the Moslem with the\nlance-point; and, toppling him from his steed, took him prisoner and led\nhim off crestfallen. His folk rejoiced in their comrade and, forbidding\nhim to go out again to the field, sent forth another, to whom sallied\nout another Moslem, brother to the captive, and offered him battle. The\ntwo fell to, either against other, and fought for a little while, till\nthe Frank bore down upon the Moslem and, falsing him with a feint,\ntumbled him by a thrust of the lance-heel from his destrier and took him\nprisoner. After this fashion the Moslems ceased not dashing forwards,\none after one, and the Franks to unhorse them and take them captive,\ntill day departed and the night with darkness upstarted. Now they had\ncaptured of the Moslems twenty cavaliers, and when Sharrkan saw this, it\nwas grievous to him and he mustered his men and said to them, \"What is\nthis thing that hath befallen us? To-morrow, I myself will go forth to\nthe field and offer singular combat to their chief and learn what is the\ncause of his entering our land and warn him against doing battle with\nour band. If he persist, we will punish him with death, and if he prove\npeaceable we will make peace with him.\" They nighted on this wise till\nAllah Almighty caused the morn to dawn, when mounted the twain and drew\nup for battle fain; and Sharrkan was going forth to the plain, but\nbehold, more than one half of the Franks dismounted and remained on foot\nbefore one of them who was mounted, till they reached the midst of the\nbattle-plain. Sharrkan looked at that horseman and lo! he was their\nchief. He was clad in a surcoat of blue satin and a close-ringed mail\nshirt; his face was as the moon when it rises and no hair was upon his\ncheeks. He hent in hand an Indian scymitar and he rode a sable steed\nwith a white blaze on brow, like a dirham; and he smote the horse with\nheel till he stood almost in the midst of the field when, signing to the\nMoslems, he cried out in fluent Arab speech, \"Ho, Sharrkan! Ho, son of\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman! Ho, thou who forcest fortalice and overthrowest\ncities and countries! up and out to battle-bout, and blade single-handed\nwield with one who halves with thee the field! Thou art Prince of thy\npeople and I am Prince of mine; and whoso overcometh his adversary, him\nlet the other's men obey and come under his sway.\" Hardly had he ended\nhis speech, when out came Sharrkan with a heart full of fury, and urging\nhis steed into the midst of the field, closed like a raging lion with\nthe Frank who encountered him with wariness and steadfastness and met\nhim with the meeting of warriors. Then they fell to foining and hewing,\nand they stinted not of onset and offset, and give and take, as they\nwere two mountains clashing together or two seas together dashing; nor\ndid they cease fighting until day darkened and night starkened. Then\nthey drew apart and each returned to his own party; but as soon as\nSharrkan foregathered with his comrades, he said, \"Never looked I on the\nlike of this cavalier: he hath one quality I have not yet seen in any\nand this it is that, when his foemen uncovereth a place for the\ndeath-blow, he reverseth his weapon and smiteth with the lance-heel! In\nvery deed I know not what will be the issue 'twixt him and me; but 'tis\nmy wish that we had in our host his like and the like of his men.\" Then\nhe went to his rest for the night and, when morning dawned, the Frank\ncame forth and rode down to the mid-field, where Sharrkan met him; and\nthey fell to fighting and to wheeling, left and right; and necks were\nstretched out to see the sight, nor did they stint from strife and\nsword-play and lunge of lance with main and might, till the day turned\nto night and darkness overwhelmed the light. Then the twain drew asunder\nand returned each to his own camp, where both related to their comrades\nwhat had befallen them in the duello; and at last the Frank said to his\nmen, \"To-morrow shall decide the matter!\" So they both passed that night\nrestfully till dawn; and, as soon as it was day, they mounted and each\nbore down on other and ceased not to fight till half the day was done.\nThen the Frank bethought him of a ruse; first urging his steed with heel\nand then checking him with the rein, so that he stumbled and fell with\nhis rider; thereupon Sharrkan threw himself on the foe, and would have\nsmitten him with the sword fearing lest the strife be prolonged, when\nthe Frank cried out to him, \"O Sharrkan, champions are not wont to do\nthus! This is the act of a man accustomed to be beaten by a woman.\"[216]\nWhen Sharrkan heard this, he raised his eyes to the Frank's face and\ngazing steadfastly at him, recognized in him Princess Abrizah with whom\nthat pleasant adventure had befallen him in the convent; whereupon he\ncast brand from hand and, kissing the earth before her, asked her, \"What\nmoved thee to a deed like this?\"; and she answered, \"I desired to prove\nthy prowess afield and test thy doughtiness in tilting and jousting.\nThese that are with me are my handmaids, and they are all clean maids;\nyet they have vanquished thy horsemen in fair press and stress of plain;\nand had not my steed stumbled with me, thou shouldst have seen my might\nand prowess in combat.\" Sharrkan smiled at her speech and said, \"Praise\nbe to Allah for safety and for my reunion with thee, O Queen of the\nage.\" Then she cried out to her damsels to loose the twenty captives of\nSharrkan's troop and dismount. They did as she bade and came and kissed\nthe earth before her and Sharrkan who said to them, \"It is the like of\nyou that Kings keep in store for the need-hour.\" Then he signed to his\ncomrades to salute the Princess; so all alighted and kissed the earth\nbefore her, for they knew the story. After this, the whole two hundred\ntook horse, and fared on night and day for six days' space, till they\ndrew near to Baghdad, when they halted and Sharrkan bade Abrizah and her\nhandmaids doff the Frankish garb that was on them\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Fifty-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan bade\nPrincess Abrizah and her damsels doff the garb that was on them and don\nthe garments of daughters of Greece; and thus did they. Then he\ndespatched a company of his companions to Baghdad to acquaint his father\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman, with his arrival and report that he was accompanied\nby Princess Abrizah, daughter of King Hardub, Lord of Gr\u00e6cia-land. They\nhalted forthright in the place they had reached, and Sharrkan also\nhalted and all nighted there; and when Almighty Allah made morning dawn,\nSharrkan and his company and Abrizah and her company took horse and\nfared on towards the city; when lo! on the way they met the Wazir\nDandan, who had come out amongst a thousand horse, to honour Abrizah and\nSharrkan, by especial commandment of King Omar Son of Al-Nu'uman. When\nthe two drew near, they turned towards them and kissed ground before\nthem; then they mounted again and escorted them into the city and went\nup with them to the palace. Sharrkan walked in to his father, who rose\nand embraced him and questioned him of his case. So he told him all that\nAbrizah had told him, and what had passed between them and said, \"She\nhath parted from her sire and departed from her reign and hath chosen to\ntake part with us and to make her abode with us; and indeed (he said to\nhis father) the King of Constantinople hath plotted to do us a mischief,\nbecause of his daughter Sophia, for that the King of Greece had made\nknown to him her story and the cause of her being given to thee; and he\n(the Grecian King) not knowing her to be daughter of King Afridun, Lord\nof Constantinople; and, had he known that, he would not have bestowed\nher upon thee, but he would have restored her to her parent. And of a\nverity (he continued) we were saved from these perils only by the Lady\nAbrizah, and never saw we a more valiant than she.\" And he went on to\ntell his father all that had passed from first to last of the wrestling\nand the single-fighting. When King Omar heard the story of Sharrkan,\nAbrizah was exalted in his eyes, and he longed to see her and question\nher. Thereupon Sharrkan went out to her and said, \"The King calleth for\nthee;\" she replied, \"I hear and I obey;\" and he took her and brought her\nin to his father, who was seated on his throne and who, having dismissed\nhis high officers, was attended only by his eunuchs. The Princess\nentered and kissing the ground between his hands, saluted him in choice\nterms. He was amazed at her eloquent speech and thanked her for her\ndealing with his son Sharrkan and bade her be seated. So she sat down\nand unveiled her face;[217] and, when the King saw her beauty, his\nreason fled his head and he made her draw near and showed her favour,\nappointing her an especial palace for herself and her damsels, and\nassigning them solde and allowances. Then began he to ask her of the\nthree jewels aforesaid, and she answered, \"Here be they with me, O King\nof the age!\" So saying, she rose and going to her lodging, unpacked her\nbaggage and from it brought out a box and from the box a casket of gold.\nShe opened the casket and taking out those three jewels, kissed them and\ngave them to the King. Then she went away bearing his heart with her.\nAfter her going the King sent for his son Sharrkan and gave him one\njewel of the three, and when he enquired of the other two replied, \"O my\nson! I mean to give one to thy brother Zau al-Makan, and the other to\nthy sister Nuzhat al-Zaman.\" But when Sharrkan heard that he had a\nbrother (for to that time he knew only of his sister) he turned to his\nsire and said to him, \"O King, hast thou a son other than myself?\" He\nanswered, \"Yes, and he is now six years old;\" adding that his name was\nZau al-Makan and that he and Nuzhat al-Zaman were twins, born at a\nbirth. This news was grievous to Sharrkan, but he kept his secret and\nsaid, \"The blessing of Allah Most High be upon them!\"; and he cast the\njewel from his hand and shook the dust off his clothes. Quoth the King,\n\"How do I see thee change thy manner when hearing of this, considering\nthat after me thou becomest heir of the kingdom. Of a truth the troops\nhave sworn to thee and the Emirs and Grandees have taken the oath of\nsuccession to thee; and this one of the three jewels is thine.\" Sharrkan\nbowed his head to the ground and was ashamed to bandy words with his\nparent so he accepted the jewel and went away, knowing not what to do\nfor exceeding wrath, and stayed not walking till he had entered\nAbrizah's palace. As he approached she stood up to meet him and thanked\nhim for what he had done and prayed for blessings on him and his sire.\nThen she sat down and seated him by her side; but when he had taken his\nplace she saw rage in his face and questioned him, whereupon he told her\nthat Allah had blessed his father with two children by Sophia, a boy and\na girl, and that he had named the boy Zau al-Makan and the girl Nuzhat\nal-Zaman; adding, \"He hath kept the other two jewels for them and hath\ngiven me one of thine, so I left it behind; I knew naught of Zau\nal-Makan's birth till this day, and the twain are now six years old. So\nwhen I learnt this, wrath possessed me; and I tell thee the reason of my\nrage and hide nothing from thee. But now I fear lest my father take thee\nto wife, for he loveth thee and I saw in him signs of desire for thee:\nso what wilt thou say, if he wish this?\" Quoth she, \"Know, O Sharrkan,\nthat thy father hath no dominion over me, nor can he have me without my\nconsent; and if he prevail over me by force, I will take my own life. As\nfor the three jewels, it was not my intent that he should give any of\nthem to either of his children and I had no thought but that he would\nlay them up in his treasury with his things of price; but now I desire\nof thy favour that thou make me a present of the jewel which he gave\nthee, if thou have accepted it.\" \"Hearkening and obedience,\" replied\nSharrkan, and gave it to her. Then said she, \"Fear nothing,\" and talked\nwith him awhile and continued, \"I fear lest my father hear that I am\nwith you and sit not patiently under my loss, but do his endeavours to\nfind me; and to that end he may ally himself with King Afridun, on\naccount of his daughter Sophia, and both come on thee with armies and so\nthere befal great turmoil.\" When Sharrkan heard these words, he said to\nher, \"O my lady, if it please thee to sojourn with us, take no thought\nof them; though there gather together against us all that be on land and\non sea.\" \"'Tis well,\" rejoined she; \"if ye entreat me fair, I will tarry\nwith you, and if ye deal evilly by me, I will depart from you.\" Then she\nbade her slave-maidens bring food; so they set the tables, and Sharrkan\nate a little and went away to his own house, disturbed and perturbed.\nSuch was his case; but regarding the affairs of his father, Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman, after dismissing his son Sharrkan he arose and, taking the\nother two jewels, betook himself to the Lady Sophia, who stood up when\nshe saw him and remained standing till he was seated. Presently, his two\nchildren, Zau al-Makan and Nuzhat al-Zaman, came to him and he kissed\nthem and hung a jewel round each one's neck, at which they rejoiced and\nkissed his hands. Then went they to their mother, who joyed in their joy\nand wished the King long life; so he asked her, \"Why hast thou not\ninformed me all this time that thou art the daughter of King Afridun,\nLord of Constantinople, that I might have honoured thee still more and\nenlarged thee in dignity and raised thy rank?\" \"O King,\" answered\nSophia, \"and what could I desire greater or higher than this my standing\nwith thee, overwhelmed as I am with thy favours and thy benefits? And,\nfurthermore, Allah hath blessed me with two children by thee, a son and\na daughter.\" Her reply pleased the King and after leaving her, he set\napart for her and her children a wondrous fine palace. Moreover, he\nappointed for them eunuchs and attendants and doctors of law and doctors\nof philosophy and astrologers and physicians and surgeons to do them\nservice; and in every way he redoubled his favour and entreated them\nwith the best of treatment. And presently he returned to the palace of\nhis dominion and to his Court where he distributed justice among the\nlieges. So far concerning him and Sophia and her children; but in the\nmatter of Abrizah the King was greatly occupied with love of her and\nburnt with desire of her night and day; and every night, he would go in\nto her and converse with her and pay his court to her, but she gave him\nno answer, only saying, \"O King of the age! I have no desire for men at\nthis present.\" When he saw her withdraw from him, his passion waxed\nhotter and his longing and pining increased until, when weary of this,\nhe summoned his Wazir Dandan and, opening his very heart to him, told\nhim of his love for Princess Abrizah, daughter of Hardub, and informed\nhim how she refused to yield to his wishes and how desire for her was\ndoing him to die, for that he could get no grace of her. The Wazir,\nhearing these words, said to the King, \"As soon as it is dark night,\ntake thou a piece of Bhang the measure of a miskal, about an ounce, and\ngo in to her and drink somewhat of wine with her. When the hour of\nending the carousal shall draw near, fill her a last cup and dropping\ntherein the Bhang, give it to her to drink, and she will not reach her\nsleeping-chamber ere the drug take effect on her. Then do thou go in to\nher and take thy will of her; and such is my advice.\"[218] \"Thy rede is\naright,\" quoth the King, and seeking his treasury, he took thence a\npiece of concentrated Bhang, if an elephant smelt it he would sleep from\nyear to year. This he put in his bosom-pocket and waited till some\nlittle of the night went by, when he betook himself to the palace of\nPrincess Abrizah, who seeing him stood up to receive him; but he bade\nher sit down. So she sat down, and he sat by her, and he began to talk\nwith her of wine and wassail, whereupon she furnished the\ncarousing-table[219] and placed it before him. Then she set on the\ndrinking vessels and lighted the candles and ordered to bring dried\nfruits and sweetmeats and all that pertaineth to drinking. So they fell\nto tippling and the King ceased not to pledge her till drunkenness crept\ninto her head; and seeing this he took out the bit of Bhang from his\npocket and, holding it between his fingers, filled a cup with his own\nhand and drank it off. Then filling a second he said, \"To thy\ncompanionship!\"; and dropped the drug into her cup, she knowing naught\nof it. She took it and drank it off; then she rose and went to her\nsleeping-chamber. He waited for less than an hour till he was assured\nthat the dose had taken effect on her and had robbed her of her senses,\nwhen he went in to her and found her thrown on her back: and she had\ndoffed her petticoat-trousers and the air raised the skirt of her shift\nand discovered what was between her thighs. When the King saw the state\nof things and found a lighted candle at her head and another at her\nfeet, shining upon what her thighs enshrined he took leave of his five\nsenses for lust and Satan seduced him and he could not master himself,\nbut put off his trousers and fell upon her and abated her maidenhead.\nThen he rose off her and went to one of her women, by name Marj\u00e1nah, and\nsaid, \"Go in to thy lady and speak with her.\" So she went in to her\nmistress and found her lying on her back insensible, with the blood\nrunning down to the calves of her legs, whereupon she took a kerchief\nand wiped away the blood and lay by her that night. As soon as Almighty\nAllah brought the dawn, the handmaid Marjanah washed her mistress's\nhands and feet and brought rose-water and bathed her face and mouth with\nit, whereupon she sneezed and yawned and cast up from her inside that\nbit of Bhang like a bolus.[220] Then she revived and washed her hands\nand mouth and said to Marjanah, \"Tell me what hath befallen me.\" So she\ntold her what had passed and how she had found her, lying on her back,\nwith the blood running down, wherefore she knew that King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman had lain with her and had undone her and taken his will of\nher. At this she grieved with exceeding grief and retired into privacy,\nsaying to her damsels, \"Deny me to whoso would come in to me and say to\nhim that I am ill, till I see what Allah will do with me.\" Presently the\nnews of her sickness came to the King; so he sent her sherbets and sugar\nelectuaries. Some months she thus passed in solitude, during which time\nthe King's flame cooled and his desire for her was quenched, so that he\nabstained from her. Now she had conceived by him, and when the months of\nchild-breeding had gone by, her pregnancy appeared and her belly\nswelled, and the world was straitened upon her, so she said to her\nhandmaid Marjanah, \"Know that it is not the folk who have wronged me,\nbut I who sinned against my own self[221] in that I left my father and\nmother and country. Indeed, I abhor life, for my spirit is broken and\nneither courage nor strength is left me. I used, when I mounted my\nsteed, to have the mastery of him, but now I am unable to ride. If I be\nbrought to bed among them I shall be dishonoured before my hand-women\nand every one in the palace will know that he hath taken my maidenhead\nin the way of shame; and if I return to my father, with what face shall\nI meet him or with what face shall I have recourse to him? How well\nquoth the poet:\u2014\n\n Say, what shall solace one who hath nor home nor stable stead \u273f Nor\n cup-companion, nor a cup, nor place to house his head?\"\n\nMarjanah answered her, \"It is thine to command; I will obey;\" and\nAbrizah said, \"I desire at once to leave this place secretly, so that\nnone shall know of me but thou; and return to my father and my mother,\nfor when flesh stinketh, there is naught for it but its own folk and\nAllah shall do with me e'en as He will.\" \"O Princess,\" Marjanah replied,\n\"what thou wouldest do is well.\" Then she made matters ready and kept\nher secret and waited for some days till the King went out to chase and\nhunt, and his son Sharrkan betook himself to certain of the fortresses\nto sojourn there awhile. Then said she to Marjanah, \"I wish to set out\nthis night, but how shall I do against my destiny? For already I feel\nthe pangs of labour and child-birth, and if I abide other four or five\ndays, I shall be brought to bed here, and I shall be unable to travel to\nmy country. But this is what was written on my forehead.\" Then she\nconsidered awhile, and said to Marjanah, \"Look us out a man who will go\nwith us and serve us by the way, for I have no strength to bear arms.\"\n\"By Allah, O my lady,\" replied Marjanah, \"I know none but a black slave\ncalled Al-Ghazban,[222] who is one of the slaves of King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman; he is a valiant wight, and he keepeth guard at our palace\ngate. The King appointed him to attend us, and indeed we have\noverwhelmed him with our favours; so, look ye, I will go out and speak\nwith him of this matter, and promise him some monies and tell him that,\nif he have a mind to tarry with us, I will marry him to whom he will. He\ntold me before to-day that he had been a highwayman; so if he consent to\nus we shall win our wish and reach to our own land.\" She rejoined, \"Call\nhim, that I may talk with him;\" whereupon Marjanah fared forth and said\nto the slave, \"O Ghazban, Allah prosper thee, so thou fall in with what\nmy lady saith to thee!\" Then she took him by the hand and brought him to\nthe Princess, whose hands he kissed, but as she beheld him, her heart\ntook fright at him. \"However,\" she said to herself, \"of a truth, Need\ngiveth the law;\" and she approached to speak with him, yet her heart\nstarted away from him. Presently she said, \"O Ghazban, say me, wilt thou\nhelp me against the perfidies of Fortune and conceal my secret if I\ndiscover it to thee?\" When the slave saw her, his heart was taken by\nstorm and he fell in love with her forthright and could not but reply,\n\"O my mistress, whatsoever thou biddest me do, I will not depart\ntherefrom.\" Quoth she, \"I would have thee take me at this hour and take\nthis my handmaid and saddle us two camels and two of the King's horses\nand set on each horse a saddle-bag of goods and somewhat of provaunt,\nand go with us to our own country; where, if thou desire to abide with\nus, I will marry thee to her thou shalt choose of my handmaidens; or, if\nthou prefer return to thine own land, we will marry thee and give thee\nwhatso thou desirest after thou hast taken of money what shall satisfy\nthee.\" When Al-Ghazban heard this, he rejoiced with great joy and\nreplied, \"O my lady, I will serve both of you with mine eyes and will go\nat once and saddle the horses.\" Then he went away gladsome and saying to\nhimself, \"I shall get my will of them; and if they will not yield to me,\nI will kill them both and take their riches.\" But he kept this his\nintent to himself, and presently returned with two camels and three head\nof horses, one of which he rode, and Princess Abrizah made Marjanah\nmount the second, she mounting the third, albeit she was in labour-pains\nand possessed not her soul for anguish. And the slave ceased not\ntravelling with them night and day through the passes of the mountains,\ntill there remained but a single march between them and their own\ncountry; when the travail pangs came upon Abrizah and she could no\nlonger resist; so she said to Al-Ghazban, \"Set me down, for the pains of\nlabour are upon me;\" and cried to Marjanah, \"Do thou alight and sit by\nme and deliver me\" Then Marjanah dismounted from her horse, and\nAl-Ghazban did in like sort, and they made fast the bridles and helped\nthe Princess to dismount, for she was aswoon from excess of anguish.\nWhen Al-Ghazban saw her on the ground, Satan entered into him and he\ndrew his falchion and brandishing it in her face, said, \"O my lady,\nvouchsafe me thy favours.\" Hearing these words she turned to him and\nsaid, \"It remaineth for me only that I yield me to negro slaves, after\nhaving refused Kings and Braves!\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Fifty-second Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Abrizah\nsaid to the black slave Al-Ghazban, \"It remaineth for me only that I\nyield me to negro slaves, after having refused Kings and Braves!\" And\nshe was wroth with him and cried, \"Woe to thee! what words are these\nthou sayest? Out on thee, and talk not thus in my presence and know that\nI will never consent to what thou sayest, though I drink the cup of\ndeath. Wait till I have cast my burden and am delivered of the\nafter-birth, and then, if thou be able thereto, do with me as thou wilt;\nbut, an thou leave not lewd talk at this time, assuredly I will slay\nmyself with my own hand and quit the world and be at peace from all\nthis.\" And she began reciting extempore[223]:\u2014\n\n O spare me, thou Ghazban, indeed enow for me \u273f Are heavy strokes\n of time, mischance and misery!\n Whoredom my Lord forfends to all humanity; \u273f Quoth He, \"Who breaks\n my bidding Hell for home shall see!\"\n And if thou leave not suing me to whoredom's way \u273f Against\n th' Almighty's choicest gift, my chastity,\n Upon my tribesmen I with might and main will call \u273f And gather\n all, however far or near they be;\n And with Yam\u00e1ni blade were I in pieces hewn, \u273f Ne'er shall he sight\n my face who makes for villeiny,\n The face of free-born come of noble folk and brave; \u273f What then can\n be to me the seed of whoreson slave?\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen Ghazban heard these lines he was wroth exceedingly; his eyes\nreddened with blood and his face became a dusty-grey[224]; his nostrils\nswelled, his lips protruded and the repulsiveness of his aspect\nredoubled. And he repeated these couplets:\u2014\n\n Ho thou, Abrizah, mercy! leave me not for I \u273f Of thy love\n and Yam\u00e1ni[225] glance the victim lie\n My heart is cut to pieces by thy cruelty, \u273f My body wasted and\n my patience done to die:\n From glances ravishing all hearts with witchery \u273f Reason far flies,\n the while desire to thee draws nigh;\n Though at thy call should armies fill the face of earth \u273f E'en now\n I'd win my wish and worlds in arms defy!\n\nWhen Abrizah heard these words, she wept with sore weeping and said to\nhim, \"Woe to thee, O Ghazban! How dareth the like of thee to address me\nsuch demand, O base-born and obscene-bred? Dost thou deem all folk are\nalike?\" When the vile slave heard this from her, he waxt more enraged\nand his eyes grew redder: and he came up to her and smiting her with the\nsword on her neck wounded her to the death. Then he drove her horse\nbefore him with the treasure and made off with himself to the mountains.\nSuch was the case with Al-Ghazban; but as regards Abrizah, she gave\nbirth to a son, like the moon, and Marjanah took the babe and did him\nthe necessary offices and laid him by his mother's side; and lo and\nbehold! the child fastened to its mother's breast and she dying.[226]\nWhen Marjanah saw this, she cried out with a grievous cry and rent her\nraiment and cast dust on her head and buffeted her cheeks till blood\nflowed, saying, \"Alas, my mistress! Alas, the pity of it! Thou art dead\nby the hand of a worthless black slave, after all thy knightly prowess!\"\nAnd she ceased not weeping when suddenly a great cloud of dust arose and\nwalled the horizon[227]; but, after awhile, it lifted and discovered a\nnumerous conquering host. Now this was the army of King Hardub, Princess\nAbrizah's father, and the cause of his coming was that when he heard of\nhis daughter and her handmaids having fled to Baghdad, and that they\nwere with King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, he had come forth, leading those\nwith him, to seek tidings of her from travellers who might have seen her\nwith the King. When he had gone a single day's march from his capital,\nhe espied three horsemen afar off and made towards them, intending to\nask whence they came and seek news of his daughter. Now these three whom\nhe saw at a distance were his daughter and Marjanah and the slave\nAl-Ghazban; and he made for them to push enquiry. Seeing this the\nvillain blackamoor feared for himself; so he killed Abrizah and fled for\nhis life. When they came up, King Hardub saw his daughter lying dead and\nMarjanah weeping over her, and he threw himself from his steed and fell\nfainting to the ground. All the riders of his company, the Emirs and\nWazirs, took foot and forthright pitched their tents on the mountain and\nset up for the King a great pavilion, domed and circular, without which\nstood the grandees of the realm. When Marjanah saw her master, she at\nonce recognized him and her tears redoubled; and, when he came to\nhimself, he questioned her and she told him all that had passed and\nsaid, \"Of a truth he that hath slain thy daughter is a black slave\nbelonging to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, and she informed him how\nSharrkan's father had dealt with the Princess.\" When King Hardub heard\nthis, the world grew black in his sight and he wept with sore weeping.\nThen he called for a litter and, therein laying his dead daughter,\nreturned to C\u00e6sarea and carried her into the palace, where he went in to\nhis mother, Zat al-Dawahi, and said to that Lady of Calamities, \"Shall\nthe Moslems deal thus with my girl? Verily King Omar bin al-Nu'uman\ndespoiled her of her honour by force, and after this, one of his black\nslaves slew her. By the truth of the Messiah, I will assuredly take\nblood-revenge for my daughter and clear away from mine honour the stain\nof shame; else will I kill myself with mine own hand!\" And he wept\npassing sore. Quoth his mother, \"None other than Marjanah killed thy\ndaughter, for she hated her in secret;\" and she continued to her son,\n\"Fret not for taking the blood-wit of thy daughter, for, by the truth of\nthe Messiah, I will not turn back from King Omar bin al-Nu'uman till I\nhave slain him and his sons; and of a very truth I will do with him a\ndeed, passing the power of Sage and Knight, whereof the chroniclers\nshall tell chronicles in all countries and in every place: but needs\nmust thou do my bidding in all I shall direct, for whoso be firmly set\non the object of his desire shall surely compass his desire.\" \"By the\nvirtue of the Messiah,\" replied he, \"I will not cross thee in aught thou\nshalt say.\" Then quoth she, \"Bring me a number of handmaids,\nhigh-bosomed virgins, and summon the wise men of the age and let them\nteach them philosophy and the rules of behaviour before Kings, and the\nart of conversation and making verses; and let them talk with them of\nall manner science and edifying knowledge. And the sages must be\nMoslems, that they may teach them the language and traditions of the\nArabs, together with the history of the Caliphs and the ancient annals\nof the Kings of Al-Islam; and if we persevere in this for four years'\nspace, we shall gain our case. So possess thy soul in patience and wait;\nfor one of the Arabs saith:\u2014If we take man-bote after years forty the\ntime were short to ye. When we have taught the girls these things, we\nshall be able to work our will with our foe, for he doteth on women and\nhe hath three hundred and sixty concubines, whereto are now added an\nhundred of the flowers of thy handmaidens who were with thy daughter,\nshe that hath found mercy.[228] As soon as I have made an end of their\neducation, as described to thee, I will take them and set out with them\nin person.\" When King Hardub heard his mother's words, he rejoiced and\narose and kissed her head; and at once despatched messengers and\ncouriers to lands sundry and manifold to fetch him Moslem sages. They\nobeyed his commands and fared to far countries and thence brought him\nthe sages and the doctors he sought. When these came into presence, he\nhonoured them with notable honours and bestowed dresses on them and\nappointed to them stipends and allowances and promised them much money\nwhenas they should have taught the damsels. Then he committed the\nhandmaidens to their hands\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Fifty-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the sages and\nthe doctors stood in presence of King Hardub, he honoured them with\nnotable honours and committed the handmaidens to their hands, enjoining\nthat these be instructed in all manner of knowledge, philosophy and\npolite accomplishments; and they set themselves to do his bidding. Such\nwas the case with King Hardub; but as for King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, when\nhe returned from coursing and hunting and entered his palace, he sought\nPrincess Abrizah but found her not, nor any one knew of her nor could\nany give him news of her. This was grievous to him and he said, \"How\ncould the lady leave the palace unknown of any? Had my kingdom been at\nstake in this case, it were in perilous condition there being none to\ngovern it! I will never again go to sport and hunt till I have stationed\nat the gates those who shall keep good guard over them!\" And he was sore\nvexed and his breast was straitened for the loss of Princess Abrizah.\nHereupon behold, his son Sharrkan returned from his journey; and the\nfather told him what had happened, and informed him how the lady had\nfled, whilst he was chasing and hunting, whereat he grieved with\nexceeding grief. Then King Omar took to visiting his children every day\nand making much of them and brought them learned men and doctors to\nteach them, appointing for them stipends. When Sharrkan saw this, he\nraged with exceeding rage and envied thereupon his brother and sister\ntill the signs of chagrin appeared in his face and he ceased not to\nlanguish by reason of this matter: so one day his father said to him,\n\"Why do I see thee grown weak in body and yellow of face?\" \"O my\nfather,\" replied Sharrkan, \"every time I see thee fondle my brother and\nsister and make much of them, jealousy seizeth on me, and I fear lest it\ngrow on me till I slay them and thou slay me in return. And this is the\nreason of my weakness of body and change of complexion. But now I crave\nof thy favour that thou give me one of thy castles outlying the rest,\nthat I may abide there the remnant of my life, for as the sayer of\nbywords saith:\u2014Absence from my friend is better and fitter for me; and,\nWhatso eye doth not perceive, that garreth not heart to grieve.\" And he\nbowed his head towards the ground. When King Omar bin al-Nu'uman heard\nhis words and knew the cause of his ailment and of his being broken\ndown, he soothed his heart and said to him, \"O my son, I grant thee this\nand I have not in my reign a greater than the Castle of Damascus, and\nthe government of it is thine from this time.\" Thereupon he forthright\nsummoned his secretaries of state and bade them write Sharrkan's patent\nof investiture to the viceroyalty of Damascus of Syria. And when they\nhad written it, he equipped him and sent with him the Wazir Dandan, and\ninvested him with the rule and government and gave him instructions as\nto policy and regulations; and took leave of him, and the grandees and\nofficers of state did likewise, and he set out with his host. When he\narrived at Damascus, the townspeople beat the drums and blew the\ntrumpets and decorated the city and came out to meet him in great state;\nwhilst all the notables and grandees paced in procession, and those who\nstood to the right of the throne walked on his right flank, and the\nothers to the left. Thus far concerning Sharrkan; but as regards his\nfather, Omar bin al-Nu'uman, soon after the departure of his son, the\nchildren's tutors and governors presented themselves before him and said\nto him, \"O our lord, thy children have now learnt knowledge and they are\ncompletely versed in the rules of manners and the etiquette of\nceremony.\" The King rejoiced thereat with exceeding joy and conferred\nbountiful largesse upon the learned men, seeing Zau al-Makan grown up\nand flourishing and skilled in horsemanship. This Prince had reached the\nage of fourteen and he occupied himself with piety and prayers, loving\nthe poor, the Olema and the Koran-students, so that all the people of\nBaghdad loved him, men and women. One day, the procession of the\nMahmil[229] of Ir\u00e1k passed round Baghdad before its departure for the\npilgrimage to Meccah and visitation of the tomb of the Prophet (whom\nAllah bless and preserve!). When Zau al-Makan saw the Mahmil procession\nhe was seized with longing desire to become a pilgrim,[230] so he went\nin to his sire and said, \"I come to ask thy leave to make the\npilgrimage.\" But his father forbade him saying, \"Wait till next year and\nI will go and thou too.\" When the Prince saw that the matter was\npostponed, he betook himself to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman, whom he\nfound standing at prayer. As soon as she had ended her devotions he said\nto her, \"I am dying with desire of pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah\nat Meccah and to visit the tomb of the Prophet, upon whom be peace! I\nasked my father's leave, but he forbade me that, so I mean to take\nprivily somewhat of money and set out on the pilgrimage without his\nknowledge.\" \"Allah upon thee,\" exclaimed she, \"take me with thee and\ndeprive me not of visitation to the tomb of the Prophet, whom Allah\nbless and keep!\" And he answered, \"As soon as it is dark night, do thou\ncome forth from this place, without telling any.\" Accordingly, when it\nwas the middle of the night she arose and took somewhat of money and\ndonned a man's habit; and she ceased not walking to the palace-gate,\nwhere she found Zau al-Makan with camels ready for marching. So he\nmounted and mounted her; and the two fared on till they were in the\nmidst of the Iraki[231] pilgrim-party, and they ceased not marching and\nAllah wrote safety for them, till they entered Meccah the Holy and stood\nupon Arafat and performed the pilgrimage-rites. Then they made a\nvisitation to the tomb of the Prophet (whom Allah bless and assain!) and\nthought to return with the pilgrims to their native land. But Zau\nal-Makan said to his sister, \"O my sister, it is in my mind to visit the\nHoly House,[232] Jerusalem, and Abraham the Friend of Allah[233] (on\nwhom be peace!).\" \"I also desire so to do,\" replied she. So they agreed\nupon this and he fared forth and took passage for himself and her and\nthey made ready and set out in the ship with a company of Jerusalem\npalmers. That very night the sister fell sick of an aguish chill, and\nwas grievously ill, but presently recovered, after which the brother\nalso sickened. She tended him during his malady and they ceased not\nwayfaring till they arrived at Jerusalem, but the fever increased on him\nand he grew weaker and weaker. They alighted at a Khan and there hired a\nlodging; but Zau al-Makan's sickness ceased not to increase on him, till\nhe was wasted with leanness and became delirious. At this, his sister\nwas greatly afflicted and exclaimed, \"There is no Majesty and there is\nno Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! This is the decree of\nAllah!\" They sojourned in that place awhile, his weakness ever\nincreasing and she attending him and buying necessaries for him and for\nherself, till all the money she had was expended and she became so poor\nthat she had not so much as a dirham left. Then she sent a servant of\nthe Khan to the bazar with some of her clothes, and he sold them and she\nspent the price upon her brother; then sold she something more and she\nceased not selling all she had, piece by piece, till nothing was left\nbut an old rug. Whereupon she wept and exclaimed, \"Verily is Allah the\nOrderer of the past and the future!\" Presently her brother said to her,\n\"O my sister, I feel recovery drawing near and my heart longeth for a\nlittle roast meat.\" \"By Allah! O my brother,\" replied she, \"I have no\nface to beg; but to-morrow I will enter some rich man's house and serve\nhim and earn somewhat for our living.\" Then she bethought herself awhile\nand said, \"Of a truth 'tis hard for me to leave thee and thou in this\nstate, but I must despite myself!\" He rejoined, \"Allah forbid! Thou wilt\nbe put to shame; but there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in\nAllah!\" And he wept and she wept too. Then she said, \"O my brother, we\nare strangers who have dwelt here a full year, but none hath yet knocked\nat our door. Shall we then die of hunger? I know no resource but that I\ngo out and do service and earn somewhat to keep us alive, till thou\nrecover from thy sickness, when we will travel back to our native land.\"\nShe sat weeping awhile and he wept too, propped upon his elbow. Then\nNuzhat al-Zaman arose and, veiling her head with a bit of camlet,[234]\nwhich had been of the cameleer's clothes and which the owner had\nforgotten and left with them; she kissed the head of her brother and\nembraced him and went forth from him, weeping and knowing not whither\nshe should wend. And she stinted not going and her brother Zau al-Makan\nawaiting her return till the supper-time; but she came not, and he\nwatched for her till the morning morrowed but still she returned not;\nand this endured till two days went by. He was greatly troubled thereat\nand his heart fluttered for her, and hunger was sore upon him. At last\nhe left the chamber and, calling the servant of the caravanserai, said,\n\"I wish thee to bear me to the bazar.\" So he carried him to the\nmarket-street and laid him down there; and the people of Jerusalem\ngathered round him and were moved to tears seeing his condition. He\nsigned to them begging for somewhat to eat; so they brought him some\nmoney from certain of the merchants who were in the bazar, and bought\nfood and fed him therewith; after which they carried him to a shop,\nwhere they spread him a mat of palm-leaves and set an ewer of water at\nhis head. When night fell, all the folk went away, sore concerned for\nhim and, in the middle of the night, he called to mind his sister and\nhis sickness redoubled on him, so that he abstained from eating and\ndrinking and became insensible to the world around him. Then the\nbazar-people arose and took for him from the merchants thirty-seven\ndirhams, and hiring a camel, said to the driver, \"Carry this sick man to\nDamascus and leave him in the hospital; haply he may be cured and\nrecover health.\" \"On my head be it!\" replied the camel-man; but he said\nto himself, \"How shall I take this sick man to Damascus, and he nigh\nupon death?\" So he carried him away to a place and hid with him till the\nnight, when he threw him down on the ash-heap near the fire-hole of a\nHammam and went his way. When morning dawned the Stoker[235] of the bath\ncame to his work and, finding Zau al-Makan cast on his back, exclaimed,\n\"Why did they not throw their dead body any where but here?\" So saying,\nhe gave him a kick and he moved; whereupon quoth the Fireman, \"Some one\nof you who hath eaten a bit of Hashish and hath thrown himself down in\nwhatso place it be!\" Then he looked at his face and saw his hairless\ncheeks and his grace and comeliness; so he took pity on him and knew\nthat he was sick and a stranger in the land. And he cried, \"There is no\nMajesty and there is no Might save in Allah! verily, I have sinned\nagainst this youth, for indeed the Prophet (whom Allah bless and keep!)\nenjoineth honour to the stranger, more especially when the stranger is\nsick.\" Then he carried him home and went in with him to his wife and\nbade her tend him. So she spread him a sleeping-rug and set a cushion\nunder his head, then warmed water for him and washed therewith his hands\nand feet and face. Meanwhile, the Stoker went to the market and bought\nsome rose-water and sugar, and sprinkled Zau al-Makan's face with the\nwater and gave him to drink of the sherbet. Then he fetched a clean\nshirt and put it on him. With this, Zau al-Makan sniffed the zephyr of\nhealth and recovery returned to him; and he sat up and leant against the\npillow. Hereat the Fireman rejoiced and exclaimed, \"Praise be to Allah\nfor the welfare of this youth! O Allah, I beseech Thee by Thy knowledge\nof hidden things, that Thou make the salvation of this youth to be at my\nhands!\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Fifty-fourth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fireman\nexclaimed, \"O Allah, I beseech Thee of Thy knowledge of hidden things,\nthat thou make this young man's life the work of my hands!\" And he\nceased not to nurse him for three days, giving him to drink of sherbet\nof sugar and willow-flower water and rose-water; and doing him all\nmanner of service and kindness, till health began to return to his body\nand Zau al-Makan opened his eyes. Presently came in the Fireman and,\nseeing him sitting up and showing signs of amendment, said to him, \"What\nis now thy state, O my son?\" \"Praise be to Allah,\" replied Zau al-Makan,\n\"I am well and like to recover, if such be the will of Allah Almighty at\nthis time.\" The Stoker praised the Lord of All for this and, wending\nfast to the market, bought ten chickens, which he carried to his wife\nand said, \"Kill two of these for him every day, one at dawn of day and\nthe other at fall of day.\" So she rose up and killed a fowl and brought\nit to him boiled, and fed him with the flesh and made him drink its\nbroth. When he had done eating, she fetched hot water and he washed his\nhands and lay back upon the pillow, whereupon she covered him up with\nthe coverlet, and he slept till the time of the mid-afternoon prayer.\nThen she arose and killed another fowl and boiled it; after which she\ncut it up and, bringing it to Zau al-Makan, said, \"Eat, O my son!\" While\nhe was eating; behold, her husband entered and seeing her feeding him,\nsat down at his head and said to him, \"How is it with thee now, O my\nson?\" \"Thanks be to Allah for recovery!\" he replied: \"may the Almighty\nrequite thee thy kindness to me.\" At this the Fireman rejoiced and going\nout, bought sherbet of violets and rose-water and made him drink it. Now\nthe Stoker used to work at the Hammam all day for a wage of five\ndirhams, whereof he spent every day, for Zau al-Makan, one dirham upon\nsugar and sherbet of rose-water and willow-flower water,[236] and\nanother dirham for fowls; and he ceased not to entreat him thus kindly\nduring a whole month, till the traces of illness ceased from him and he\nwas once more sound and whole. Thereupon the Fireman and his wife\nrejoiced and asked him, \"O my son, wilt thou go with me to the bath?\";\nwhereto he answered, \"Yes!\" So the Stoker went to the bazar and fetched\na donkey-boy, and he mounted Zau al-Makan on the ass and supported him\nin the saddle till they came to the bath. Then he made him sit down and\nseated the donkey-boy in the furnace-room and went forth to the market\nand bought lote-leaves and lupin-flour,[237] with which he returned to\nthe bath and said to Zau al-Makan, \"O my master, in Allah's name, walk\nin and I will wash thy body.\" So they entered the inner room of the\nbath, and the Fireman took to rubbing Zau al-Makan's legs and began to\nwash his body with the leaves and meal, when there came to them a\nbathman, whom the bath-keeper had sent to Zau al-Makan; and he, seeing\nthe Stoker washing and rubbing him, said, \"This is doing injury to the\nkeeper's rights.\" Replied the Fireman, \"The master overwhelmeth us with\nhis favours!\" Then the bathman proceeded to shave Zau al-Makan's head,\nafter which he and the Stoker washed themselves and returned to the\nhouse, where he clad Zau al-Makan in a shirt of fine stuff and a robe of\nhis own; and gave him a handsome turband and girdle and a light kerchief\nwhich he wound about his neck. Meanwhile the Fireman's wife had killed\nand cooked two chickens; so, as soon as Zau al-Makan entered and seated\nhimself on the carpet, the husband arose and, dissolving sugar in\nwillow-flower water, made him drink of it. Then he brought the food-tray\nand, cutting up the chickens, fed him with the flesh and gave him the\nbroth to drink till he was satisfied; when he washed his hands and\npraised Allah for recovery, and said to the Fireman, \"Thou art he whom\nthe Almighty vouchsafed to me and made the cause of my cure!\" \"Leave\nthis talk,\" replied the other, \"and tell us the cause of thy coming to\nthis city and whence thou art. Thy face showeth signs of gentle\nbreeding.\" \"Tell me first how thou camest to fall in with me,\" said Zau\nal-Makan; \"and after I will tell thee my story.\" Rejoined the Fireman,\n\"As for that, I found thee lying on the rubbish-heap by the door of the\nfire-house, as I went to my work near the morning, and knew not who had\nthrown thee there. So I carried thee home with me; and this is all my\ntale.\" Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"Glory to Him who quickeneth the bones,\nthough they be rotten! Indeed, O my brother, thou hast not done good\nsave to one worthy of it, and thou shalt presently gather its fruitage.\"\nAnd he added, \"But where am I now?\" \"Thou art in the city of Jerusalem,\"\nreplied the Stoker; whereupon Zau al-Makan called to mind his\nstrangerhood and remembered his separation from his sister and wept.\nThen he discovered his secret to the Fireman and told him his story and\nbegan repeating:\n\n In love they bore me further than my force would go, \u273f And for\n them made me suffer resurrection-throe:\n Oh, have compassion, cruel! on this soul of mine \u273f Which, since\n ye fared, is pitied by each envious foe;\n Nor grudge the tender mercy of one passing glance \u273f My case to\n lighten, easing this excess of woe:\n Quoth I \"Heart, bear this loss in patience!\" Patience cried \u273f\n \"Take heed! no patience in such plight I'm wont to show.\"\n\nThen he redoubled his weeping, and the Fireman said to him, \"Weep not,\nbut rather praise Allah for safety and recovery.\" Asked Zau al-Makan,\n\"How far is it hence to Damascus?\" Answered the other, \"Six days'\njourney.\" Then quoth Zau al-Makan, \"Wilt thou send me thither?\" \"O my\nlord,\" quoth the Stoker, \"how can I allow thee to go alone, and thou a\nyouth and a stranger to boot? If thou would journey to Damascus, I am\none who will go with thee; and if my wife will listen to and obey me and\naccompany me, I will take up my abode there; for it is no light matter\nto part with thee.\" Then said he to his wife, \"Wilt thou travel with me\nto Damascus of Syria or wilt thou abide here, whilst I lead this my lord\nthither and return to thee? For he is bent upon going to Damascus of\nSyria and, by Allah, it is hard to me to part with him, and I fear for\nhim from highway-men.\" Replied she, \"I will go with you both;\" and he\nrejoined, \"Praised be Allah for accord, and we have said the last word!\"\nThen he rose and selling all his own goods and his wife's gear\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five-and-Fiftieth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fireman and\nhis wife agreed with Zau al-Makan to travel with him Damascus-wards.\nThen the Stoker sold his goods and his wife's gear and bought a camel\nand hired an ass for Zau al-Makan; and they set out, and ceased not\nwayfaring for six days till they reached Damascus. And they arrived\nthere towards eventide; when the Fireman went forth and, as was his\nwont, bought some meat and drink. They had dwelt but five days in\nDamascus, when his wife sickened and, after a short illness, was\ntranslated to the mercy of Almighty Allah. Her death was a heavy matter\nto Zau al-Makan, for he was grown used to her as she had tended him\nassiduously; and the Fireman grieved for her with excessive grief.\nPresently the Prince turned to the Stoker and finding him mourning, said\nto him, \"Grieve not, for at this gate we must all go in.\" Replied he,\n\"Allah make weal thy lot, O my son! Surely He will compensate us with\nHis favours and cause our mourning to cease. What sayst thou, O my son,\nabout our walking abroad to view Damascus and cheer thy spirits?\"\nReplied Zau al-Makan, \"Thy will is mine.\" So the Fireman arose and\nplaced his hand in that of Zau al-Makan and the two walked on till they\ncame to the stables of the Viceroy of Damascus, where they found camels\nladen with chests and carpets and brocaded stuffs, and horses ready\nsaddled and Bactrian dromedaries, while Mamelukes and negro slaves and\nfolk in a hubbub were running to and fro. Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"I wonder\nto whom belong all these chattels and camels and stuffs!\" So he asked\none of the eunuchs, \"Whither this dispatching?\" and he answered, \"These\nare presents sent by the Emir of Damascus to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman,\nwith the tribute of Syria.\" Now when Zau al-Makan heard his father's\nname, his eyes brimmed over with tears, and he began repeating:\u2014\n\n Oh ye gone from the gaze of these lidded eyne, \u273f Ye whose sight in\n my spirit shall ever dwell!\n Your charms are gone, but this heart of me \u273f Hath no sweet, and\n no pleasures its sour dispel;\n If Allah's grace make us meet again, \u273f In long-drawn love-tale my\n love I'll tell.\n\nAnd when he had ended his verse, he wept and the Fireman said to him, \"O\nmy son, we hardly believed that thy health had returned;[238] so take\nheart and do not weep, for I fear a relapse for thee.\" And he ceased not\ncomforting and cheering him, whilst Zau al-Makan sighed and moaned over\nhis strangerhood and separation from his sister and his family; and\ntears streamed from his eyes and he recited these couplets:\u2014\n\n Get thee provaunt in this world ere thou wend upon thy way; \u273f And\n know how surely Death descends thy life-lot to waylay:\n All thy worldly goods are pride and the painfullest repine; \u273f All\n thy worldly life is vexing of thy soul in vain display:\n Say is not worldly wone like a wanderer's place of rest, \u273f Where\n at night he \"nakhs[239]\" his camels and moves off at dawn of day?\n\nAnd he continued to weep and wail over his separation; whilst the\nFireman also bewept the loss of his wife, yet ceased not to comfort Zau\nal-Makan till morning dawned. When the sun rose, he said to him,\n\"Meseemeth thou yearnest for thy native land?\" \"Yes,\" replied Zau\nal-Makan, \"and I can no longer tarry here; so I will commend thee to\nAllah's care and set out with these folk and journey with them, little\nby little, till I come to my motherland.\" Said the Stoker, \"And I with\nthee; for of a truth I cannot bear to part with thee. I have done thee\nkindly service and I mean to complete it by tending thee on thy travel.\"\nAt this, Zau al-Makan rejoiced and said, \"Allah abundantly requite thee\nfor me!\" and was pleased with the idea of their travelling together. The\nFireman at once went forth and bought another ass, selling the camel;\nand laid in his provaunt and said to Zau al-Makan, \"This is for thee to\nride by the way; and, when thou art weary of riding, thou canst dismount\nand walk.\" Said Zau al-Makan, \"May Allah bless thee and aid me to\nrequite thee! for verily thou hast dealt with me more lovingly than one\nwith his brother.\" Then he waited till it was dark night, when he laid\nthe provisions and baggage on that ass and set forth upon their journey.\nThis much befel Zau al-Makan and the Fireman; but as regards what\nhappened to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman, when she left her brother in the\nKhan where they abode and, wrapped in the old camlet, went out to seek\nservice with some one, that she might earn wherewithal to buy him the\nroast meat he longed for, she fared on, weeping and knowing not whither\nto go, whilst her mind was occupied with thoughts of her brother and of\nher family and her native land. So she implored Allah Almighty to do\naway with these calamities from them and began versifying:\u2014\n\n Dark falls the night and Passion comes sore pains to gar me dree, \u273f\n And pine upstirs those ceaseless pangs which work my tormentry,\n And cease not separation-flames my vitals to consume, \u273f And drives\n me on destruction-way this sorrow's ecstacy;\n And longing breeds me restlessness; desire for ever fires, \u273f And\n tears to all proclaim what I would keep in secrecy:\n No cunning shift is known to me a meeting to secure, \u273f That I may\n quit this sickly state, may cure my malady:\n The love which blazeth in my heart is fed with fancy-fuel, \u273f The\n lover from its hell of fire must bear Hell's agony![240]\n O thou who blamest me for all befel me, 'tis enough, \u273f Patient I\n bear whatever wrote the Reed of Doom for me:\n By Love I swear I'll never be consoled, no, never more; \u273f I swear\n the oath of Love's own slaves who know no perjury:\n O Night, to chroniclers of Love the news of me declare; \u273f That\n sleep hath fed mine eyelids of thy knowledge witness bear!\n\nThen she walked on, weeping and turning right and left as she went, when\nbehold, there espied her an old Badawi[241] who had come into the town\nfrom the desert with wild Arabs other five. The old man took note of her\nand saw that she was lovely, but she had nothing on her head save a\npiece of camlet, and, marvelling at her beauty, he said to himself,\n\"This charmer dazzleth men's wits but she is in squalid condition, and\nwhether she be of the people of this city or she be a stranger, I needs\nmust have her.\" So he followed her, little by little, till he met her\nface to face and stopped the way before her in a narrow lane, and called\nout to her, asking her case, and said, \"Tell me, O my little daughter!\nart thou a free-woman or a slave?\" When she heard this, she said to him,\n\"By thy life, do not add to my sorrows!\" Quoth he, \"Allah hath blessed\nme with six daughters, of whom five died and only one is left me, the\nyoungest of all; and I came to ask thee if thou be of the folk of this\ncity or a stranger; that I might take thee and carry thee to her, to\nbear her company so as to divert her from pining for her sisters. If\nthou have no kith and kin, I will make thee as one of them and thou and\nshe shall be as my two children.\" Nuzhat al-Zaman bowed her head in\nbashfulness when she heard what he said and communed with herself,\n\"Haply I may trust myself to this old man.\" Then she said to him, \"O\nnuncle, I am a maiden of the Arabs and a stranger and I have a sick\nbrother; but I will go with thee to thy daughter on one condition, which\nis, that I may spend only the day with her and at night may return to my\nbrother. If thou strike this bargain I will fare with thee, for I am a\nstranger and I was high in honour among my tribe, and I awoke one\nmorning to find myself vile and abject. I came with my brother from the\nland of Al-Hijaz and I fear lest he know not where I am.\" When the\nBadawi heard this, he said to himself, \"By Allah, I have got my desire!\"\nThen he turned to her and replied, \"There shall none be dearer to me\nthan thou; I wish thee only to bear my daughter company by day and thou\nshalt go to thy brother at earliest nightfall. Or, if thou wilt, bring\nhim over to dwell with us.\" And the Badawi ceased not to console her\nheart and coax her, till she trusted in him and agreed to serve him.\nThen he walked on before her and, when she followed him, he winked to\nhis men to go in advance and harness the dromedaries and load them with\ntheir packs and place upon them water and provisions, ready for setting\nout as soon as he should come up with the camels. Now this Badawi was a\nbase-born churl, a highway thief and a traitor to the friend he held\nmost lief, a rogue in grain, past master of plots and chicane. He had no\ndaughter and no son and was only passing through the town when, by the\ndecree of the Decreer, he fell in with this unhappy one. And he ceased\nnot to hold her in converse on the highway till they came without the\ncity of Jerusalem and, when outside, he joined his companions and found\nthey had made ready the dromedaries. So the Badawi mounted a camel,\nhaving seated Nuzhat al-Zaman behind him and they rode on all night.\nThen she knew that the Badawi's proposal was a snare and that he had\ntricked her; and she continued weeping and crying out the whole night\nlong, while they journeyed on making for the mountains, in fear any\nshould see them. Now when it was near dawn, they dismounted from their\ndromedaries and the Badawi came up to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said to her,\n\"O city-strumpet, what is this weeping? By Allah, an thou hold not thy\npeace, I will beat thee to death, O thou town-filth!\" When she heard\nthis she loathed life and longed for death; so she turned to him and\nsaid, \"O accursed old man, O gray-beard of hell, how have I trusted thee\nand thou hast played me false, and now thou wouldst torture me?\" When he\nheard her reply he cried out, \"O lazy baggage, dost thou dare to bandy\nwords with me?\" And he stood up to her and beat her with a whip, saying,\n\"An thou hold not thy peace, I will kill thee!\" So she was silent\nawhile, then she called to mind her brother and the happy estate she had\nbeen in and she shed tears secretly. Next day, she turned to the Badawi\nand said to him, \"How couldst thou play me this trick and lure me into\nthese bald and stony mountains, and what is thy design with me?\" When he\nheard her words he hardened his heart and said to her, \"O lazy baggage\nof ill-omen and insolent! wilt thou bandy words with me?\" and he took\nthe whip and came down with it on her back till she felt faint. Then she\nbowed down over his feet and kissed[242] them; and he left beating her\nand began reviling her and said, \"By the rights of my bonnet,[243] if I\nsee or hear thee weeping, I will cut out thy tongue and stuff it up thy\ncoynte, O thou city-filth!\" So she was silent and made him no reply, for\nthe beating pained her; but sat down with her arms round her knees and,\nbowing her head upon her collar, began to look into her case and her\nabasement after her lot of high honour; and the beating she had endured;\nand she called to mind her brother and his sickness and forlorn\ncondition, and how they were both strangers in a far country, which\ndrave her tears down her cheeks and she wept silently and began\nrepeating:\u2014\n\n Time hath for his wont to upraise and debase, \u273f Nor is\n lasting condition for human race:\n In this world each thing hath appointed turn; \u273f Nor may man\n transgress his determined place:\n How long these perils and woes? Ah woe \u273f For a life, all woeful\n in parlous case!\n Allah bless not the days which have laid me low \u273f I' the world,\n with disgrace after so much grace!\n My wish is baffled, my hopes cast down, \u273f And distance forbids me\n to greet his face:\n O thou who passeth that dear one's door, \u273f Say for me, these\n tears shall flow evermore!\n\nWhen she had finished her verses, the Badawi came up to her and, taking\ncompassion on her, bespoke her kindly and wiped away her tears. Then he\ngave her a barley-scone and said, \"I love not one who answereth at times\nwhen I am in wrath: so henceforth give me no more of these impertinent\nwords and I will sell thee to a good man like myself, who will do well\nwith thee, even as I have done.\" \"Yes; whatso thou doest is right,\"\nanswered she; and when the night was longsome upon her and hunger burnt\nher, she ate very little of that barley bread. In the middle of the\nnight the Badawi gave orders for departure\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Six-and-Fiftieth Night.\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Badawi\ngave the barley scone to Nuzhat al-Zaman and promised he would sell her\nto a good man like himself, she replied, \"Whatso thou doest is right!\"\nand, about midnight, when hunger burned her,[244] she ate a very little\nof that barley-bread and the Badawi ordered his party to set out; so\nthey loaded their loads and he mounted a camel setting Nuzhat al-Zaman\nbehind him. Then they journeyed and ceased not journeying for three\ndays, till they entered the city of Damascus and alighted at the\nSultan's Khan, hard by the Viceroy's Gate. Now she had lost her colour\nby grief and the fatigue of such travelling, and she ceased not to weep\nover her misfortunes. So the Badawi came up to her and said, \"O thou\ncity-filth, by the right of my bonnet, if thou leave not this weeping, I\nwill sell thee to none but a Jew!\" Then he arose and took her by the\nhand and carried her to a chamber, and walked off to the bazar, and he\nwent round to the merchants who dealt in slave-girls, and began to\nparley with them, saying, \"I have brought a slave-girl whose brother\nfell ill, and I sent him to my people about Jerusalem, that they might\ntend him till he is cured. As for her I want to sell her, but after the\ndog her brother fell sick, the separation from him was grievous to her,\nand since then she doth nothing but weep, and now I wish that whoso is\nminded to buy her of me speak softly to her and say:\u2014Thy brother is with\nme in Jerusalem ill; and I will be easy with him about her price.\" Then\none of the merchants came up to him and asked, \"How old is she?\" He\nanswered \"She is a virgin, just come to marriageable age, and she is\nendowed with sense and breeding and wit and beauty and loveliness. But\nfrom the day I sent her brother to Jerusalem, her heart hath been\nyearning for him, so that her beauty is fallen away and her value\nlessened.\" Now when the merchant heard this, he set forth with the\nBadawi and said, \"O Shaykh[245] of the Arabs, I will go with thee and\nbuy of thee this girl whom thou praisest so highly for wit and manners\nand beauty and loveliness; and I will pay thee her price but it must be\nupon conditions which if thou accept, I will give thee ready money, and\nif thou accept not I will return her to thee.\" Quoth the Badawi, \"An\nthou wilt, take her up to the Sultan Sharrkan, son of Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman lord of Baghdad and of the land of Khorasan, and condition me\nany conditions thou likest, for when thou hast brought her before King\nSharrkan, haply she will please him, and he will pay thee her price and\na good profit for thyself to boot.\" Rejoined the merchant, \"It happens\nthat I have just now something to ask from him, and it is this that he\nwrite me an order upon the office, exempting me from custom-dues and\nalso that he write me a letter of recommendation to his father, King\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman. So if he take the girl, I will weigh[246] thee out\nher price at once.\" \"I agree with thee to this condition,\" answered the\nBadawi. So they returned together to the place where Nuzhat al-Zaman was\nand the wild Arab stood at the chamber door and called out, saying, \"O\nN\u00e1jiyah[247]!\" which was the name wherewith he had named her. When she\nheard him, she wept and made no answer. Then he turned to the merchant\nand said to him, \"There she sitteth; go to her and look at her and speak\nto her kindly as I enjoined thee.\" So the trader went up to her in\ncourteous wise and saw that she was wondrous beautiful and loveable,\nespecially as she knew the Arabic tongue; and he said to the Badawi, \"If\nshe be even as thou saidest, I shall get of the Sultan what I will for\nher.\" Then he bespake her, \"Peace be on thee, my little maid! How art\nthou?\" She turned to him and replied, \"This also was registered in the\nBook of Destiny.\" Then she looked at him and, seeing him to be a man of\nrespectable semblance with a handsome face, she said to herself, \"I\nbelieve this one cometh to buy me;\" and she continued, \"If I hold aloof\nfrom him, I shall abide with my tyrant and he will do me to death with\nbeating. In any case, this person is handsome of face and maketh me hope\nfor better treatment from him than from my brute of a Badawi. May be he\ncometh only to hear me talk; so I will give him a fair answer.\" All this\nwhile her eyes were fixed on the ground; then she raised them to him and\nsaid in a sweet voice, \"And upon thee be peace, O my lord, and Allah's\nmercy and His benediction![248] This is what is commanded of the\nProphet, whom Allah bless and preserve! As for thine enquiry how I am,\nif thou wouldst know my case, it is such as thou wouldst not wish but to\nthy foe.\" And she held her peace. When the merchant heard what she said,\nhis fancy took wings for delight in her and, turning to the Badawi, he\nasked him, \"What is her price, for indeed she is noble?\" Thereupon the\nBadawi waxed angry and answered, \"Thou wilt turn me the girl's head with\nthis talk! Why dost thou say that she is noble,[249] while she is of the\nscum of slave-girls and of the refuse of folk? I will not sell her to\nthee!\" When the merchant heard this, he knew the man to be weak of wits\nand said to him, \"Calm thyself, for I will buy her of thee with these\nblemishes thou mentionest.\" \"And how much wilt thou give me for her?\"\nenquired the Badawi. Replied the merchant, \"Name thy price for her: none\nshould name the son save his sire.\" Rejoined the Badawi, \"None shall\nname it but thou thyself.\" Quoth the merchant to himself, \"This wildling\nis a rudesby and a maggotty head. By Allah, I cannot tell her price, for\nshe hath won my heart with her fair speech and good looks; and, if she\ncan read and write, it will be complete fair luck to her and to her\npurchaser. But this Badawi does not know her worth.\" Then he turned and\nsaid to him, \"O Shaykh of the Arabs, I will give thee in ready money,\nclear of the tax and the Sultan's dues, two hundred gold pieces.\" Now\nwhen the Badawi heard this, he flew into a violent rage and cried at the\nmerchant, saying, \"Get up and go thy ways! By Allah, wert thou to offer\nme two hundred dinars for the bit of camlet she weareth, I would not\nsell it to thee. And now I will not sell her, but will keep her by me,\nto pasture the camels and grind my grist.\" And he cried out to her,\nsaying, \"Come here, thou stinkard! I will not sell thee.\" Then he turned\nto the merchant and said to him, \"I used to think thee a man of\njudgment; but, by the right of my bonnet, if thou begone not from me, I\nwill let thee hear what shall not please thee!\" Quoth the merchant to\nhimself, \"Of a truth this Badawi is mad and knoweth not her value, and I\nwill say no more to him about her price at the present time; for by\nAllah, were he a man of sense, he would not say:\u2014By the rights of my\nbonnet! By the Almighty, she is worth the kingdom of the Chosroes and I\nhave not her price by me, but if he ask even more, I will give him what\nhe will, though it be all my goods.\" Then he turned and said to him, \"O\nShaykh of the Arabs, take patience and calm thyself and tell me what\nclothes she hath with thee?\" Cried the Badawi, \"And what hath the\nbaggage to do with clothes? By Allah, this camlet in which she is\nwrapped is ample for her.\" \"With thy leave,\" said the merchant, \"I will\nunveil her face and examine her even as folk examine slave-girls whom\nthey think of buying.\"[250] Replied the other, \"Up and do what thou wilt\nand Allah keep thy youth! Examine her outside and inside and, if thou\nwilt, strip off her clothes and look at her when she is naked.\" Quoth\nthe trader, \"Allah forfend! I will look at naught save her face.\"[251]\nThen he went up to her and was put to shame by her beauty and\nloveliness,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Fifty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the merchant went\nup to Nuzhat al-Zaman and was put to shame by her beauty and loveliness,\nso he sat by her side and asked her, \"O my mistress, what is thy name?\"\nShe answered, \"Dost thou ask what is my name this day or what it was\nbefore this day?\" Thereupon the merchant enquired, \"Hast thou then two\nnames: to day's and yesterday's?\" \"Yes,\" replied she, \"my name in the\npast was Nuzhat al-Zaman, the Delight of the Age; but my name at this\npresent is Ghussat[252] al-Zaman, the Despight of the Age.\" When the\nmerchant heard this his eyes brimmed over with tears and quoth he to\nher, \"Hast thou not a sick brother?\" \"Ay by Allah, O my lord, I have,\"\nquoth she, \"but fortune hath parted me and him and he lieth sick in\nJerusalem.\" The merchants head was confounded at the sweetness of her\nspeech and he said to himself, \"Verily, the Badawi spake the truth of\nher.\" Then she called to mind her brother and his sickness and his\nstrangerhood and her separation from him in his hour of weakness and her\nnot knowing what had befallen him; and she thought of all that had\nhappened to her with the Badawi and of her severance from her mother and\nfather and native land; and the tears coursed down her cheeks and fast\nas they started they dropped; and she began reciting:\u2014\n\n Allah, where'er thou be, His aid impart \u273f To thee, who distant\n dwellest in my heart!\n Allah be near thee how so far thou fare; \u273f Ward off all shifts of\n Time, all dangers thwart!\n Mine eyes are desolate for thy vanisht sight, \u273f And start my\n tears\u2014ah me, how fast they start!\n Would Heaven I kenned what quarter or what land \u273f Homes thee, and\n in what house and tribe thou art;\n An fount of life thou drain in greenth of rose, \u273f While drink\n I tear-drops for my sole desart?\n An thou 'joy slumber in those hours, when I \u273f Feel 'twixt my side\n and couch coals' burning smart?\n All things were easy save to part from thee, \u273f For my sad heart\n this grief is hard to dree.\n\nWhen the merchant heard her verses, he wept and put out his hand to wipe\naway the tears from her cheeks; but she let down her veil over her face,\nsaying, \"Heaven forbid, O my lord!\"[253] Then the Badawi, who was\nsitting at a little distance watching them, saw her cover her face from\nthe merchant while about to wipe the tears from her cheeks; and he\nconcluded that she would have hindered him from handling her: so he rose\nand running to her, dealt her, with a camel's halter he had in his hand,\nsuch a blow on the shoulders that she fell to the ground on her face.\nHer eyebrow struck a stone which cut it open, and the blood streamed\ndown her cheeks; whereupon she screamed a loud scream and felt faint and\nwept bitterly. The merchant was moved to tears for her and said in\nhimself, \"There is no help for it but that I buy this damsel, though at\nher weight in gold, and free her from this tyrant.\" And he began to\nrevile the Badawi whilst Nuzhat al-Zaman lay insensible. When she came\nto herself, she wiped away the tears and blood from her face; and she\nbound up her head: then, raising her glance to heaven, she besought her\nLord with a sorrowful heart and began repeating:\u2014\n\n And pity one who erst in honour throve, \u273f And now is fallen into\n sore disgrace.\n She weeps and bathes her cheeks with railing tears, \u273f And asks\n \"What cure can meet this fatal case?\"\n\nWhen she had ended her verse, she turned to the merchant and said in an\nundertone, \"By the Almighty, do not leave me with a tyrant who knoweth\nnot Allah the Most High! If I pass this night in his place, I shall kill\nmyself with my own hand: save me from him, so Allah save thee from\nGehenna-fire.\" Then quoth the merchant to the Badawi, \"O Shaykh of the\nArabs, this slave is none of thine affair; so do thou sell her to me for\nwhat thou wilt.\" \"Take her,\" quoth the Badawi, \"and pay me down her\nprice, or I will carry her back to the camp and there set her to feed\nthe camels and gather their dung.\"[254] Said the merchant, \"I will give\nthee fifty thousand dinars for her.\" \"Allah will open!\"[255] replied the\nBadawi. \"Seventy thousand,\" said the merchant. \"Allah will open!\"\nrepeated the Badawi: \"this is not the capital spent upon her, for she\nhath eaten with me barley-bread to the value of ninety thousand gold\npieces.\" The merchant rejoined, \"Thou and thine and all thy tribe in the\nlength of your lives have not eaten a thousand ducats' worth of barley;\nbut I will say thee one word, wherewith if thou be not satisfied, I will\nset the Viceroy of Damascus on thee and he will take her from thee by\nforce.\" The Badawi continued, \"Say on!\" \"An hundred thousand,\" quoth the\nmerchant. \"I have sold her to thee at that price,\" answered the Badawi;\n\"I shall be able to buy salt with her.\" The merchant laughed and, going\nto his lodgings, brought the money and put it into the hand of the\nBadawi, who took it and made off, saying to himself, \"Needs must I go to\nJerusalem where, haply, I shall happen on her brother, and I will bring\nhim here and sell him also.\" So he mounted and journeyed till he arrived\nat Jerusalem, where he went to the Khan and asked for Zau al-Makan, but\ncould not find him. Such was the case with him; but for what regards the\nmerchant and Nuzhat al-Zaman, when he took her he threw some of his\nclothes over her and carried her to his lodgings\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eight-and-Fiftieth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the trader\nsaved Nuzhat al-Zaman from the Badawi and bore her to his lodgings and\nrobed her in the richest raiment, he went down with her to the bazar,\nwhere he bought her what ornaments she chose and put them in a satin\nbag, which he set before her, saying, \"All is for thee and I ask nothing\nof thee in return but that, when I lead thee to the Sultan, Viceroy of\nDamascus, thou acquaint him with the price I paid for thee, albeit it\nwas little compared with thy value: and, if seeing thee he buy thee of\nme, thou tell him how I have dealt with thee and ask of him for me a\nroyal patent, and a written recommendation wherewith I can repair to his\nfather, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad, to the intent that he\nmay forbid the tax on my stuffs or any other goods in which I traffic.\"\nWhen she heard his words, she wept and sobbed, and the merchant said to\nher, \"O my lady, I observe that, every time I mention Baghdad, thine\neyes are tearful: is there any one there whom thou lovest? If it be a\ntrader or the like, tell me; for I know all the merchants and so forth\nthere and, if thou wouldst send him a message, I will bear it for thee.\"\nReplied she, \"By Allah, I have no acquaintance among merchant-folk and\nthe like! I know none there but King Omar bin Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad.\"\nWhen the merchant heard her words, he laughed and rejoiced with\nexceeding joy and said in himself, \"By Allah, I have won my wish!\" Then\nhe said to her, \"Hast thou been shown to him in time past?\" She\nanswered, \"No, but I was brought up with his daughter and he holdeth me\ndear and I have high honour with him; so if thou wouldst have the King\ngrant thee thy desire, give me ink-case and paper and I will write thee\na letter; and when thou reachest the city of Baghdad, do thou deliver it\ninto the hand of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and say to him:\u2014Thy handmaid,\nNuzhat al-Zaman, would have thee to know that the chances and changes of\nthe nights and days have struck her as with a hammer, and have smitten\nher so that she hath been sold from place to place; and she sendeth thee\nher salams. And, if he ask further of her, say that I am now with the\nViceroy at Damascus.\" The merchant wondered at her eloquence, and his\naffection for her increased and he said to her, \"I cannot but think that\nmen have played upon thine understanding and sold thee for money. Tell\nme, dost thou know the Koran by heart?\" \"Yes,\" answered she; \"and I am\nalso acquainted with philosophy and medicine and the prolegomena of\nscience and the commentaries of Galen, the physician, on the canons of\nHippocrates; and I have commented him and I have read the Tazkirah and\nhave commented the Burh\u00e1n; and I have studied the Simples of Ibn Bayt\u00e1r,\nand I have something to say of the canon of Meccah, by Avicenna. I can\nree riddles and can solve ambiguities, and discourse upon geometry and\nam skilled in anatomy. I have read the books of the Sh\u00e1fi'\u00ed[256] school\nand the Traditions of the Prophet and syntax; and I can argue with the\nOlema and discourse of all manner learning. Moreover I am skilled in\nlogic and rhetoric and arithmetic and the making of talismans and\nalmanacs, and I know thoroughly the Spiritual Sciences[257] and the\ntimes appointed for religious duties and I understand all these branches\nof knowledge.\" Then quoth she to the merchant, \"Bring me ink-case and\npaper, that I write thee a letter which shall aid thee on thy journey to\nBaghdad and enable thee to do without passports.\" Now when the merchant\nheard this, he cried out, \"Brava! Brava![258] Then O happy he in whose\npalace thou shalt be!\" Thereupon he brought her paper and ink-case and a\npen of brass and bussed the earth before her face to do her honour. She\ntook a sheet and handled the reed and wrote therewith these verses:\u2014\n\n I see all power of sleep from eyes of me hath flown; \u273f Say, did\n thy parting teach these eyne on wake to wone?\n What makes thy memory light such burnings in my heart? \u273f Hath\n every lover strength such memories to own?\n How sweet the big-dropped cloud which rained on summer-day; \u273f\n 'Tis gone: and ere I taste its sweets afar 'tis flown:\n I pray the wind with windy breath to bring some news \u273f From thee,\n to lover-wight wi' love so woe-begone:\n Complains to thee a lover of all hope forlorn, \u273f For parting-pangs\n can break not only heart but stone.\n\nAnd when she had ended writing the verses she continued, \"These words\nare from her who saith that melancholy destroyeth her and that watching\nwasteth her; in the murk of whose night is found no light and darkness\nand day are the same in her sight. She tosseth on the couch of\nseparation and her eyes are blackened with the pencils of sleeplessness;\nshe watcheth the stars arise and into the gloom she strains her eyes:\nverily, sadness and leanness have consumed her strength and the setting\nforth of her case would run to length. No helper hath she but tears and\nshe reciteth these verses:\u2014\n\n No ring-dove moans from home on branch in morning light, \u273f But\n shakes my very frame with sorrow's killing might:\n No lover sigheth for his love or gladdeth heart \u273f To meet his mate,\n but breeds in me redoubled blight\n I bear my plaint to one who has no ruth for me; \u273f Ah me, how Love\n can part man's mortal frame and sprite!\"\n\nThen her eyes welled over with tears, and she wrote also these two\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n \"Love smote my frame so sore on parting day, \u273f That severance\n severed sleep and eyes for aye\n I waxt so lean that I am still a man, \u273f But for my speaking,\n thou wouldst never say.\"\n\nThen she shed tears and wrote at the foot of the sheet, \"This cometh\nfrom her who is far from her folk and her native land, the\nsorrowful-hearted woman Nuzhat al-Zaman.\" In fine, she folded the sheet\nand gave it to the merchant, who took it and kissed it and understood\nits contents and exclaimed, \"Glory to Him who fashioned thee!\"\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Nine-and-Fiftieth Night,\n\nShe said, It reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman wrote\nthe letter and gave it to the merchant; and he took it and read it and\nunderstood the contents and exclaimed, \"Glory to Him who fashioned\nthee!\" Then he redoubled his kindness and made himself pleasant to her\nall that day; and when night came, he sallied out to the bazar and\nbought some food, wherewith he fed her; after which he carried her to\nthe Hammam and said to the bath-woman, \"As soon as thou hast made an end\nof washing her head, dress her and send and let me know of it.\" And she\nreplied \"Hearing is obeying.\" Meanwhile he fetched food and fruit and\nwax-candles and set them on the bench in the outer room of the bath; and\nwhen the tire-woman had done washing her, she dressed her and led her\nout of the bath and seated her on the bench. Then she sent to tell the\nmerchant, and Nuzhat al-Zaman went forth to the outer room, where she\nfound the tray spread with food and fruit. So she ate and the tire-woman\nwith her, and gave the rest to the people and keeper of the bath. Then\nshe slept till the morning, and the merchant lay the night in a place\napart from her. When he aroused himself from sleep he came to her and\nwaking her, presented her with a shift of fine stuff and a head-kerchief\nworth a thousand dinars, a suit of Turkish embroidery and walking boots\npurfled with red gold and set with pearls and gems. Moreover, he hung in\neach of her ears a circlet of gold with a fine pearl therein, worth a\nthousand dinars, and threw round her neck a collar of gold with bosses\nof garnet and a chain of amber beads that hung down between her breasts\nover her navel. Now to this chain were attached ten balls and nine\ncrescents, and each crescent had in its midst a bezel of ruby, and each\nball a bezel of balass: the value of the chain was three thousand dinars\nand each of the balls was priced at twenty thousand dirhams, so that the\ndress she wore was worth in all a great sum of money. When she had put\nthese on, the merchant bade her adorn herself, and she adorned herself\nto the utmost beauty; then she let fall her fillet over her eyes and she\nfared forth with the merchant preceding her. But when folk saw her, all\nwondered at her beauty and exclaimed, \"Blessed be Allah, the most\nexcellent Creator! O lucky the man in whose house she shall be!\" And the\ntrader ceased not walking (and she behind him) till they entered the\npalace of Sultan Sharrkan; when he sought an audience and, kissing the\nearth between his hands, said, \"O auspicious King, I have brought thee a\nrare gift, unmatched in this time and richly gifted with beauty and with\ngood qualities.\" Quoth the King, \"Let me see it.\" So the merchant went\nout and brought her, she following him till he made her stand before\nKing Sharrkan. When he beheld her, blood yearned to blood, though she\nhad been parted from him in childhood and though he had never seen her,\nhaving only heard a long time after her birth that he had a sister\ncalled Nuzhat al-Zaman and a brother Zau al-Makan, he having been\njealous of them, because of the succession. And such was the cause of\nhis knowing little about them. Then, having placed her before the\npresence, the merchant said, \"O King of the age, besides being peerless\nin her time for beauty and loveliness, she is also versed in all\nlearning, sacred and profane, including the art of government and the\nabstract sciences.\" Quoth the King to the trader, \"Take her price,\naccording as thou boughtest her, and go thy ways.\" \"I hear and I obey,\"\nreplied the merchant; \"but first write me a patent, exempting me for\never from paying tithe on my merchandise.\" Said the King, \"I will do\nthis, but first tell me what price thou paidest for her.\" Said the\nmerchant, \"I bought her for an hundred thousand dinars, and her clothes\ncost me another hundred thousand.\" When the Sultan heard these words, he\ndeclared, \"I will give thee a higher price than this for her;\" and,\ncalling his treasurer, said to him, \"Pay this merchant three hundred and\ntwenty thousand ducats; so will he have an hundred and twenty thousand\ndinars profit.\" Thereupon the Sultan summoned the four Kazis and paid\nhim the money in their presence and then he said, \"I call you to witness\nthat I free this my slave-girl and purpose to marry her.\" So the Kazis\nwrote out the deed of emancipation and the contract of marriage, when\nthe Sultan scattered much gold on the heads of those present; and the\npages and the eunuchs picked up this largesse. Then, after paying him\nhis monies, Sharrkan bade them write for the merchant a perpetual\npatent, exempting him from toll, tax or tithe upon his merchandise and\nforbidding each and every in all his government to molest him, and\nlastly bestowed on him a splendid dress of honour.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day, and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the full Sixtieth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Sharrkan bade\nthem write for the merchant a mandate, after paying him his monies; and\nthey wrote a perpetual patent, exempting him from the tithe upon his\nmerchandise and forbidding any in his government to molest him; and\nlastly bestowed upon him a splendid dress of honour. Then all about him\nretired, and none remained save the Kazis and the merchant, whereupon\nsaid he to the judges, \"I wish you to hear such discourse from this\ndamsel as may prove her knowledge and accomplishments in all claimed for\nher by this trader, that we ascertain the truth of his assertions.\" They\nanswered, \"There is no evil in that!\"; and he commanded the curtain to\nbe let down between him and those with him and the maiden and those with\nher; and the women about the damsel behind the curtains began to wish\nher joy and kiss her hands and feet, when they learned that she was\nbecome the King's wife. Then they came round her and took off her\ndresses easing her of the weight of her clothes and began to look upon\nher beauty and loveliness. Presently the wives of the Emirs and Wazirs\nheard that King Sharrkan had bought a handmaiden unmatched for her\nbeauty and learning and philosophy and account-keeping, and versed in\nall branches of knowledge, that he had paid for her three hundred and\ntwenty thousand dinars, and that he had set her free and had written a\nmarriage-contract with her and had summoned the four Kazis to make trial\nof her, how she would answer all their questions and hold disputation\nwith them. So they asked leave of their husbands and repaired to the\npalace wherein was Nuzhat al-Zaman. When they came in to her, they found\nthe eunuchs standing before her; and, as soon as she saw the wives of\nthe Emirs and Wazirs and Grandees of the realm coming to call upon her,\nshe arose to them on her feet and met them with courtesy, her\nhandmaidens standing behind her, and she received them saying, \"Ye be\nwelcome!\" The while she smiled in their faces so as to win their hearts;\nand she promised them all manner of good and seated them in their proper\nstations, as if she had been brought up with them; so all wondered at\nher beauty and loveliness and said to one another, \"This damsel is none\nother than a Queen, the daughter of a King.\" Then they sat down,\nmagnifying her worth and said to her, \"O our lady, this our city is\nillumined by thee, and our country and abode and birthplace and reign\nare honoured by thy presence. The kingdom indeed is thy kingdom and the\npalace is thy palace, and we all are thy handmaids; so, by Allah, do not\nshut us out from thy favours and from the sight of thy beauty.\" And she\nthanked them for this. All this while the curtains were let down between\nNuzhat al-Zaman and the women with her, on the one side, and King\nSharrkan and the four Kazis and the merchant seated by him on the other.\nPresently King Sharrkan called to her and said, \"O Queen, the glory of\nthine age, this merchant hath described thee as being learned and\naccomplished; and he claimeth that thou art skilled in all branches of\nknowledge, even to astrology: so let us hear something of all this he\nhath mentioned, and favour us with a short discourse on such subjects.\"\nShe replied, saying:\u2014\"O King, to hear is to obey.[259] The first\nsubjects whereof I will treat are the art of government and the duties\nof Kings and what behoveth governors of commandments according to\nreligious law, and what is incumbent on them in respect of satisfactory\nspeech and manners. Know then, O King, that all men's works tend either\nto religious or to laical life, for none attaineth to religion save\nthrough this world, because it is the best road to futurity. Now the\nworks of this world are not ordered save by the doings of its people,\nand men's doings are divided into four divisions, government, commerce,\nhusbandry and craftmanship. Now government requireth perfect\nadministration with just and true judgment; for government is the pivot\nof the edifice of the world, which world is the road to futurity; since\nAllah Almighty hath made the world for His servants as viaticum to the\ntraveller for the attainment of his goal; and it befitteth each man that\nhe receive of it such measure as shall bring him to Allah, and that he\nfollow not herein his own mind and his individual lust. If folk would\ntake of worldly goods with justice and equity, all cause of contention\nwould be cut off; but they take thereof with violence and after their\nown desires, and their persistence therein giveth rise to contentions;\nso they have need of the Sultan, that he do justice between them and\norder their affairs; and, if the King restrain not his folk from one\nanother, the strong will drive the weak to the wall. Hence Ardeshir[260]\nsaith, Religion and Kingship be twins; religion is a hidden treasure and\nthe King is its keeper; and the Divine Ordinances and men's intelligence\npoint out that it behoveth the people to adopt a Sultan who shall\nwithhold oppressor from oppressed and do the weak justice against the\nstrong and restrain the violence of the proud and the rebels against\nrule. For know, O King, that according to the measure of the Sultan's\ngood morals, even so will be the time; as saith the Apostle of Allah (on\nwhom be peace and salvation!), There be two classes who, if they be\ngood, the people will be good; and if they be bad, the people will be\nbad, even the Olema and the Emirs. And it is said by a certain\nsage:\u2014There be three kinds of Kings, the King of the Faith, the King who\nprotecteth things to which reverence is due, and the King of his own\nlusts. The King of the Faith obligeth his subjects to follow their\nfaith, and it behoveth he be the most faithful,[261] for it is by him\nthat they take pattern in the things of the Faith; and it becometh the\nfolk to obey him in whatso he commandeth according to Divine Ordinance;\nbut he shall hold the discontented in the same esteem as the contented,\nbecause of submission to the decrees of Destiny. As for the King who\nprotecteth things to be reverenced, he upholdeth the things of the Faith\nand of the World and compelleth his folk to follow the Divine Law and to\npreserve the rights of humanity; and it fitteth him to unite Pen and\nSword; for whoso declineth from what Pen hath written, his feet slip and\nthe King shall rectify his error with the sharp Sword and dispread his\njustice over all mankind. As for the King of his own lusts, he hath no\nreligion but the following his desire and, as he feareth not the wrath\nof his Lord who set him on the throne, so his Kingdom inclineth to\ndeposition and the end of his pride is in the house of perdition. And\nsages say, The King hath need of many people, but the people have need\nof but one King; wherefore it beseemeth that he be well acquainted with\ntheir natures, that he reduce their discord to concord, that with his\njustice he encompass them all and with his bounties overwhelm them all.\nAnd know, O King, that Ardeshir, styled Jamr Shad\u00edd, or the Live Coal,\nthird of the Kings of Persia, conquered the whole world and divided it\ninto four divisions and, for this purpose, gat for himself four\nseal-rings, one for each division. The first seal was that of the sea\nand the police of prohibition and on it was written, Alternatives. The\nsecond was the seal of tribute and of the receipt of monies, and on it\nwas written, Building up. The third was the seal of the provisioning\ndepartment and on it was written, Plenty. The fourth was the seal of the\noppressed, and on it was written, Justice. And these usages remained\nvalid in Persia until the revelation of Al-Islam. Chosroes also wrote\nhis son, who was with the army:\u2014Be not thou too open-handed with thy\ntroops, or they will be too rich to need thee.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Chosroes wrote his\nson:\u2014Be not thou too open-handed with thy troops, or they will be too\nrich to need thee; nor be thou niggardly with them, or they will murmur\nagainst thee. Give thy giving deliberately and confer thy favours\nadvisedly; open thy hand to them in time of success and stint them not\nin time of distress. There is a legend that a desert Arab came once to\nthe Caliph Al-Mans\u00far[262] and said, Starve thy dog and he shall follow\nthee. When the Caliph heard his words, he was enraged with the Arab, but\nAbu 'l-Abb\u00e1s of T\u00fas said to him, I fear that if some other than thou\nshould show him a scone, the dog would follow him and leave thee alone.\nThereupon the Caliph Al-Mans\u00far's wrath subsided and he knew that the\nwild Arab had intended no offence and ordered him a present. And know, O\nKing, that Abd al-Malik bin Marw\u00e1n wrote to his brother Abd al-Aziz,\nwhen he despatched him to Egypt, as follows:\u2014Pay heed to thy Secretaries\nand thy Chamberlains, for the Secretaries will acquaint thee with\nestablished matters and the Chamberlains with matters of official\nceremony, whilst thine expenditure will make thy troops known to thee.\nOmar bin Al-Khattab[263] (whom Allah accept!) when engaging a servant\nwas in the habit of conditioning him with four conditions; the first\nthat he should not ride the baggage-beasts, the second that he should\nnot wear fine clothes, the third that he should not eat of the spoil and\nthe fourth that he should not put off praying till after the proper\nperiod. It is said that there is no wealth more profitable than\nunderstanding, and there is no understanding like common sense and\nprudence, and there is no prudence like piety; that there is no means of\ndrawing near to God like good morals, no measure like good breeding, no\ntraffic like good works and no profit like earning the Divine favour;\nthat there is no temperance like standing within the limits of the law,\nno science like that of meditation, no worship like obeying the Divine\ncommands, no faith like modesty, no calculation like self-abasement and\nno honour like knowledge. So guard the head and what it containeth and\nthe belly and what it compriseth; and think of death and doom ere it\nariseth. Saith Ali (whose face Allah honour!), Beware of the wickedness\nof women and be on thy guard against them: consult them not in\naught;[264] but grudge not complaisance to them, lest they greed for\nintrigue. And eke quoth he, whoso leaveth the path of moderation his\nwits become perplexed; and there be rules for this which we will\nmention, if it be Allah's will. And Omar (whom Allah accept!) saith,\nthere are three kinds of women, firstly the true-believing,\nHeaven-fearing, love-full and fruit-full, who helpeth her mate against\nfate, not helping fate against her mate; secondly, she who loveth her\nchildren but no more and, lastly, she who is a shackle Allah setteth on\nthe neck of whom He will. Men be also three: the wise when he exerciseth\nhis own judgement; the wiser who, when befalleth somewhat whereof he\nknoweth not the issue, seeketh folk of good counsel and acteth by their\nadvice; and the unwise-irresolute ignoring the right way nor heeding\nthose who would guide him straight. Justice is indispensable in all\nthings; even slave-girls have need of justice; and men quote as an\ninstance highway robbers who live by violenting mankind, for did they\nnot deal equitably among themselves and observe justice in dividing\ntheir booty, their order would fall to pieces.[265] In short, for the\nrest, the Prince of noble qualities is Beneficence-cum-Benevolence; and\nhow excellent is the saying of the poet:\u2014\n\n By open hand and ruth the youth rose to his tribe's command; \u273f Go\n and do likewise for the same were easy task to thee.\n\nAnd quoth another:\u2014\n\n In ruth and mildness surety lies and mercy wins respect; \u273f And Truth\n is best asylum for the man of soothfast soul:\n Whoso for wealth of gold would win and wear the world's good word, \u273f\n On glory's course must ever be the first to gain the goal.\n\nAnd Nuzhat al-Zaman discoursed upon the policy of Kings till the\nbystanders said, \"Never have we seen one reason of rule and government\nlike this damsel! Haply she will let us hear some discourse upon subject\nother than this.\" When she heard their words and understood them she\nsaid, \"As for the chapter of good breeding, it is wide of comprehension,\nbeing a compend of things perfect. Now it so happened that one day there\ncame to the Caliph Mu'\u00e1wiyah[266] one of his companions, who mentioned\nthe people of Irak and the goodness of their wit; and the Caliph's wife\nMaysun, mother of Yezid, heard his words. So, when he was gone, she said\nto the Caliph:\u2014O Prince of the Faithful, I would thou let some of the\npeople of Irak come in and talk to thee, that I may hear their\ndiscourse. Therewith Mu'awiyah said to his attendants, See who is at the\ndoor? And they answered, The Banu Tam\u00edm. Let them come in, said he. So\nthey came in and with them Al-Ahnaf son of Kays.[267] Then quoth\nMu'awiyah:\u2014Enter, O Abu Bahr, and drew a curtain between himself and\nMaysun, that she might hear what they said without being seen herself;\nthen he said to Al-Ahnaf:\u2014O Son of the Sea, draw near and tell me what\ncounsel thou hast for me. Quoth Al-Ahnaf, Part thy hair and trim thy\nmoustachio and pare thy nails and pluck thine armpits and shave thy\npubes[268] and ever use the toothstick because therein be\ntwo-and-seventy virtues, and make the Ghusl or complete ablution on\nFriday, as an expiation for all between the Fridays.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-second Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ahnaf bin Kays\nreplied to Al-Mu'awiyah's[269] question, \"And ever use the toothstick,\nbecause therein be two-and-seventy virtues and make the complete Friday\nablution as an expiation for all between the two Fridays.\" Quoth\nMu'awiyah, \"What is thy counsel to thyself?\" \"To set my feet firmly on\nthe ground, to move them deliberately and watch over them with mine\neyes!\" \"How dost thou order thyself when thou goest in to one not of the\nnobles of thy tribe?\" \"I lower mine eyes modestly and I salute first; I\navoid what concerneth me not and I spare my words!\" \"And how when thou\ngoest in to thine equals?\" \"I give ear to them when they speak and I do\nnot assail them when they err!\" \"When thou goest in to thy chiefs?\" \"I\nsalute without making any sign and await the reply: if they bid me draw\nnear, I draw near; and if they draw off from me I withdraw!\" \"How dost\nthou with thy wife?\" Quoth Ahnaf, \"Excuse me from answering this, O\nCommander of the Faithful!\"; but Mu'awiyah cried, \"I conjure thee inform\nme.\" He said, \"I entreat her kindly and show her familiarity and am\nlarge in expenditure, for woman was created of a crooked rib.\"[270] \"And\nhow dost thou when thou hast a mind to lie with her?\" \"I bid her perfume\nherself and kiss her till she is moved to desire; then, should it be as\nthou knowest,[271] I throw her on her back. If the seed abide in her\nwomb I say:\u2014O Allah make it blessed and let it not be a wastrel, but\nfashion it into the best of fashions![272] Then I rise from her to\nablution and first I pour water over my hands and then over my body and\nlastly, I praise Allah for the joy He hath given me.\" Said Mu'awiyah,\n\"Thou hast answered right well and now tell me what be thy\nrequirements?\" Said Ahnaf, \"I would have thee rule thy subjects in the\nfear of Allah and do even-handed justice between them.\" Thereupon Ahnaf\nrose to his feet and left the Caliph's presence, and when he had gone\nMaysun said, \"Were there but this man in Irak, he would suffice to it.\"\nThen continued Nuzhat al-Zaman, \"And all this is a section of the\nchapter of good-breeding, and know O King, that Mu'aykib was intendant\nof the public treasury during the Caliphate of Omar bin\nal-Khatt\u00e1b,\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman\ncontinued, \"Know, O King, that Mu'aykib was intendant of the public\ntreasury during the Caliphate of Omar bin Al-Khattab; and it so befel\nhim that he saw Omar's son and gave him a dirham out of the treasury.\nThereupon, quoth Mu'aykib, I returned to my own house, and while I was\nsitting there behold, a messenger came to me from Omar and I was afraid\nand went to him, and when I came into his presence, in his hand was the\ndirham I had given his son. He said to me, Woe to thee, Mu'aykib! I have\nfound somewhat concerning thy soul. I asked, And what is that?; and he\nanswered, It is that thou hast shown thyself a foe to the followers of\nMohammed (on whom be peace and salvation!) in the matter of this dirham,\nand thou wilt have to account for it on Resurrection Day.[273] And Omar\nalso wrote a letter to Ab\u00fa M\u00fas\u00e1 al-Ash\u00e1ri[274] as follows:\u2014When these\npresents reach thee, give the people what is theirs and remit to me the\nrest. And he did so. Now when Othm\u00e1n succeeded to the Caliphate, he\nwrote a like letter to Abu Musa, who did his bidding and sent him the\ntribute accordingly, and with it came Ziy\u00e1d.[275] And when Ziyad laid\nthe tribute before Othman, the Caliph's son came in and took a dirham,\nwhereupon Ziyad shed tears. Othman asked Why weepest thou?; and Ziyad\nanswered, I once brought Omar bin Al-Khattab the like of this and his\nson took a dirham, whereupon Omar bade snatch it from his hand. Now thy\nson hath taken of the tribute, yet I have seen none say aught to him or\nsnatch the money from him. Then Othman[276] cried, And where wilt thou\nfind the like of Omar? Again Zayd bin Aslam relates of his father that\nhe said:\u2014I went out one night with Omar till we approached a blazing\nfire. Quoth Omar, O Aslam, I think these must be travellers who are\nsuffering from the cold. Come, let us join them. So we walked on till we\ncame to them and behold! we found a woman who had lighted a fire under a\ncauldron and by her side were two children, both a-wailing. Said Omar,\nPeace be with you, O folk of light (for it was repugnant to him to say\n'folk of fire'),[277] what aileth you? Said she, The cold and the night\ntrouble us. He asked, What aileth these little people that they weep?;\nand she answered, They are hungry. He enquired, And what is in this\ncauldron?; and she replied, It is what I quiet them withal, and Allah\nwill question Omar bin Al-Khattab of them, on the Day of Doom. He said,\nAnd what should Omar know of their case? Why then, rejoined she, should\nhe manage people's affairs and yet be unmindful of them? Thereupon Omar\nturned to me (continued Aslam) and cried, Come with us! So we set off\nrunning till we reached the pay-department of his treasury, where he\ntook out a sack containing flour and a pot holding fat and said to me,\nLoad these on my back! Quoth I, O Commander of the Faithful, I will\ncarry them for thee. He rejoined, Wilt thou bear my load for me on the\nDay of Resurrection? So I put the things on his back, and we set off,\nrunning, till we threw down the sack hard by her. Then he took out some\nof the flour and put it in the cauldron; and, saying to the woman, Leave\nit to me, he began blowing the fire under the cauldron. Now he was a\nlong-bearded man[278] and I saw the smoke issuing from between the hairs\nof his beard till the flour was cooked, when he took some of the fat and\nthrew it in and said to the woman, Feed them while I cool it for them.\nSo they fell to eating till they had eaten their fill, and he left the\nrest with her. Then he turned to me and said, O Aslam, I see it was\nindeed hunger made them weep; and I am glad I did not go away ere I\nfound out the cause of the light I saw.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-fourth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman\ncontinued, \"It is related that Omar passed by a flock of sheep, kept by\na Mameluke, and asked him to sell him a sheep. He answered, They are not\nmine. Thou art the man I sought, said Omar, and bought him and freed\nhim; whereupon the slave exclaimed, O Allah, as thou hast bestowed on me\nthe lesser emancipation; so vouchsafe me the greater![279] It is also\nsaid that Omar bin Al-Khattab was wont to give his servants sweet milk\nand himself eat coarse fare, and to clothe them softly and himself wear\nrough garments. He rendered unto all men their due, and exceeded in his\ngiving to them. He once gave a man four thousand dirhams and added\nthereto a thousand, wherefore it was said to him, Why dost thou not\nincrease to thy son as thou increasest to this man? He answered, This\nman's father stood firm at the battle-day of Ohod.[280] Al-Hasan relates\nthat Omar once came back from foray with much money, and that\nHafsah[281] approached him and said, O Commander of the Faithful, the\ndue of kinship! O Hafsah! replied he, verily Allah hath enjoined us to\nsatisfy the dues of kinship, but not with the monies of the True\nBelievers. Indeed, thou pleasest thy family, but thou angerest thy\nfather. And she went away trailing her skirts.[282] The son of Omar\nsaid, I implored the Lord to show me my father one year after his death,\ntill at last I saw him wiping the sweat from his brow and asked him, How\nis it with thee, O my father? He answered, But for my Lord's mercy thy\nfather surely had perished.\" Then said Nuzhat al-Zaman, \"Hear, O\nauspicious King, the second division of the first chapter of the\ninstances of the followers of the Apostle and other holy men. Saith\nAl-Hasan al-Basr\u00ed,[283] Not a soul of the sons of Adam goeth forth of\nthe world without regretting three things, failure to enjoy what he hath\namassed, failure to compass what he hoped, failure to provide himself\nwith sufficient viaticum for that whereto he goeth.[284] It was said to\nSufyan,[285] Can a man be a religious and yet possess wealth? He\nreplied, Yes, so he be patient when grieved and be thankful when he hath\nreceived. Abdullah bin Shadd\u00e1d, being about to die, sent for his son\nMohammed and admonished him, saying, O my son, I see the Summoner of\nDeath summoning me, and so I charge thee to fear Allah both in public\nand private, to praise Allah and to be soothfast in thy speech, for such\npraise bringeth increase of prosperity, and piety in itself is the best\nof provision for the next world; even as saith one of the poets:\u2014\n\n I see not happiness lies in gathering gold; \u273f The man most pious is\n man happiest:\n In truth the fear of God is best of stores, \u273f And God shall make\n the pious choicely blest.\"\n\nThen quoth Nuzhat al-Zaman, \"Let the King also give ear to these notes\nfrom the second section of the first chapter.\" He asked her what be\nthey?; and she answered, \"When Omar bin Abd al-Aziz[286] succeeded to\nthe Caliphate, he went to his household and laying hands on all that was\nin their hold, put it into the public treasury. So the Banu Umayyah flew\nfor aid to his father's sister, F\u00e1timah, daughter of Marw\u00e1n, and she\nsent to him saying, I must needs speak to thee. So she came to him by\nnight and, when he had made her alight from her beast and sit down, he\nsaid to her, O aunt, it is for thee to speak first, since thou hast\nsomething to ask: tell me then what thou wouldst with me. Replied she, O\nCommander of the Faithful, it is thine to speak first, for thy judgment\nperceiveth that which is hidden from the intelligence of others. Then\nsaid Omar, Of a verity Allah Almighty sent Mohammed as a blessing to\nsome and a bane to others; and He elected for him those with him, and\ncommissioned him as His Apostle and took him to Himself,\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman\ncontinued thus, \"Said Omar, Verily Allah commissioned as His Apostle\nMohammed (upon whom be the benediction of Allah and His salvation!), for\na blessing to some and a bane to others; and He elected for him those\nwith him and took him to Himself, leaving the people a stream whereof\nthey might drink. After him Abu Bakr[287] the Truth-teller became Caliph\nand he left the river as it was, doing what was pleasing to Allah. Then\narose Omar and worked a work and strove in holy war and strife whereof\nnone might do the like. But when Othman arose to power he diverted a\nstreamlet from the stream, and Mu'awiyah in his turn diverted from it\nseveral streamlets; and without ceasing in like manner, Yezid and the\nBanu Marw\u00e1n such as Abd al-Malik and Wal\u00edd and Sulaym\u00e1n[288] drew away\nwater from the stream, and the main course dried up, till rule devolved\nupon me, and now I am minded to restore the stream to its normal\ncondition. When Fatimah heard this, she said, I came wishing only to\nspeak and confer with thee, but if this be thy word, I have nothing to\nsay to thee. Then she returned to the Ommiades and said to them, Now\ntake ye the consequences of your act when ye allied yourselves by\nmarriage with Omar bin Al-Khattab[289].\" And it is also said that when\nOmar was about to die, he gathered his children round him, and\nMaslamah[290] bin Abd al-Malik said to him, O Prince of the Faithful,\nhow wilt thou leave thy children paupers and thou their protector? None\ncan hinder thee in thy lifetime from giving them what will suffice them\nout of the treasury; and this indeed were better than leaving the good\nwork to him who shall rule after thee. Omar looked at him with a look of\nwrath and wonder and presently replied, O Maslamah, I have defended them\nfrom this sin all the days of my life, and shall I make them miserable\nafter my death? Of a truth my sons are like other men, either obedient\nto Almighty Allah who will prosper them, or disobedient and I will not\nhelp them in their disobedience. Know, O Maslamah, that I was present,\neven as thou, when such an one of the sons of Marw\u00e1n was buried, and I\nfell asleep by him and saw him in a dream given over to one of the\npunishments of Allah, to whom belong Honour and Glory! This terrified me\nand made me tremble, and I vowed to Allah, that if ever I came to power,\nI would not do such deeds as the dead man had done. I have striven to\nfulfil this vow all the length of my life and I hope to die in the mercy\nof my Lord. Quoth Maslamah:\u2014A certain man died and I was present at his\nburial, and when all was over I fell asleep and I saw him as a sleeper\nseeth a dream, walking in a garden of flowing waters clad in white\nclothes. He came up to me and said: O Maslamah, it is for the like of\nthis that rulers should rule. Many are the instances of this kind, and\nquoth one of the men of authority, I used to milk the ewes in the\nCaliphate of Omar bin Abd al-Aziz, and one day I met a shepherd, among\nwhose sheep I saw a wolf or wolves. I thought them to be dogs, for I had\nnever before seen wolves; so I asked, What dost thou with these dogs?\nThey are not dogs, but wolves, answered the shepherd. Quoth I, Can\nwolves be with sheep and not hurt them? Quoth he, When the head is\nwhole, the body is whole.[291] Omar bin Abd al-Aziz once preached from a\npulpit of clay and, after praising and glorifying Allah Almighty, said\nthree words as follows, O folk, make clean your inmost hearts, that your\noutward lives may be clean to your brethren, and abstain ye from the\nthings of the world. Know that between us and Adam there is no one man\nalive among the dead. Dead are Abd al-Malik and those who forewent him,\nand Omar also shall die and those who forewent him. Asked Maslamah, O\nCommander of the Faithful, an we set a pillow behind thee, wilt thou\nlean on it a little while? But Omar answered, I fear lest it be a fault\nabout my neck on Resurrection Day. Then he gasped with the death rattle\nand fell back in a faint; whereupon Fatimah cried out, saying, Ho,\nMaryam! Ho, Muz\u00e1him![292] Ho, such an one! Look to this man! And she\nbegan to pour water on him weeping, till he revived from his swoon; and,\nseeing her in tears said to her, What causeth thee to weep, O Fatimah?\nShe replied, O Commander of the Faithful, I saw thee lying prostrate\nbefore us and thought of thy prostration in death before Almighty Allah,\nof thy departure from the world and of thy separation from us. This is\nwhat made me weep. Answered he, Enough, O Fatimah, for indeed thou\nexceedest. Then he would have risen, but fell down and Fatimah strained\nhim to her and said, \"Thou art to me as my father and my mother, O\nCommander of the Faithful! We cannot speak to thee, all of us.\" Then\nquoth Nuzhat al-Zaman to her brother Sharrkan and the four Kazis, \"Here\nendeth the second section of the first chapter.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-sixth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman\nsaid to her brother Sharrkan and the four Kazis, \"Here endeth the second\nsection of the first chapter. And it so happened that Omar bin Abd\nal-Aziz wrote to the people of the festival at Meccah as follows:\u2014I call\nAllah to witness, in the Holy Month, in the Holy City and on the day of\nthe Greater Pilgrimage,[293] that I am innocent of your oppression and\nof his wrongs that doth wrong you, in that I have neither commanded this\nnor purposed it, neither hath any report of aught thereof hitherto\nreached me, nor have I compassed any knowledge thereof; and I trust that\na cause for pardon will be found in that none hath authority from me to\noppress any man, for I shall assuredly be questioned concerning every\none opprest. And if any of my officers swerve from the right and act\notherwise than the Holy Book and the Traditions of the Apostle do\nauthorise, obey him not so that he may return to the way of\nrighteousness. He said also (Allah accept of him!), I do not wish to be\nrelieved from death, because it is the supreme thing for which the True\nBeliever is rewarded. Quoth one of authority, I went to the Prince of\nthe Faithful, Omar bin Abd al-Aziz, who was then Caliph, and saw before\nhim twelve dirhams, which he ordered for deposit in the public treasury.\nSo I said to him, O Commander of the Faithful, thou impoverishest thy\nchildren and reducest them to beggary having nothing whereon to live. An\nthou wouldst appoint somewhat by will to them and to those who are poor\nof the people of thy house, it were well. Draw near to me, answered he:\nso I drew near to him and he said, Now as for thy saying, Thou beggarest\nthy children; provide for them and for the poor of thy household, it is\nwithout reason; for Allah of a truth will replace me to my children and\nto the poor of my house, and He will be their guardian. Verily, they are\nlike other men; he who feareth Allah, right soon will Allah provide for\nhim a happy issue, and he that is addicted to sins, I will not uphold\nhim in his sin against Allah. Then he summoned his sons who numbered\ntwelve, and when he beheld them his eyes dropped tears and presently he\nsaid to them, Your Father is between two things; either ye will be well\nto do, and your parent will enter the fire, or ye will be poor and your\nparent will enter Paradise; and your father's entry into Paradise is\nliefer to him than that ye should be well to do.[294] So arise and go,\nAllah be your helper, for to Him I commit your affair! Kh\u00e1lid bin\nSafw\u00e1n[295] said, Y\u00fasuf bin Omar[296] accompanied me to Hish\u00e1m bin Abd\nal-Malik,[297] and as I met him he was coming forth with his kinsmen and\nattendants. He alighted and a tent was pitched for him. When the people\nhad taken their seats, I came up to the side of the carpet whereon he\nsat reclining and looked at him; and, waiting till my eyes met his eyes,\nbespoke him thus, May Allah fulfil His bounty to thee, O Commander of\nthe Faithful, I have an admonition for thee, which hath come down to us\nfrom the history of the Kings preceding thee! At this, he sat up whenas\nhe had been reclining and said to me, Bring what thou hast, O son of\nSafwan! Quoth I, O Commander of the Faithful, one of the Kings before\nthee went forth in a time before this thy time, to this very country and\nsaid to his companions, Saw ye ever any state like mine and say me, hath\nsuch case been given to any man even as it hath been given unto me? Now\nthere was with him a man of those who survive to bear testimony to\nTruth; upholders of the Right and wayfarers in its highway, and he said\nto him, O King, thou askest of a grave matter. Wilt thou give me leave\nto answer? Yes, replied the King, and the other said, Dost thou judge\nthy present state to be short-lasting or everlasting? It is temporary,\nreplied the King. How then, rejoined the man, do I see thee exulting in\nthat which thou wilt enjoy but a little while and whereof thou wilt be\nquestioned for a long while, and for the rendering an account whereof\nthou shalt be as a pledge which is pawned? Quoth the King, Whither shall\nI flee and what must I seek for me? That thou abide in thy kingship,\nreplied the other, or else robe thee in rags[298] and apply thyself to\nobey Almighty Allah thy Lord until thine appointed hour. I will come to\nthee again at daybreak. Khalid bin Safwan further relates that the man\nknocked at the door at dawn and behold, the King had put off his crown\nand resolved to become an anchorite, for the stress of his exhortation.\nWhen Hish\u00e1m bin Abd al-Malik heard this, he wept till his beard was wet;\nand, bidding his rich apparel be put off, shut himself up in his palace.\nThen the grandees and dependants came to Khalid and said, What is this\nthou hast done with the Commander of the Faithful? Thou hast troubled\nhis pleasure and disturbed his life!\" Then quoth Nuzhat al-Zaman,\naddressing herself to Sharrkan, \"How many instances of admonition are\nthere not in this chapter! Of a truth I cannot report all appertaining\nto this head in a single sitting\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman\ncontinued, speaking to Sharrkan, \"Know, O King, that in this chapter be\nso many instances of admonition that of a truth I cannot report all\nappertaining to this head in a single sitting but, with length of days,\nO King of the age, all will be well.\" Then said the Kazis, \"O King, of a\ntruth this damsel is the wonder of the world, and of our age the unique\npearl! Never heard we her like in the length of time or in the length of\nour lives.\" And they called down blessings on the King and went away.\nThen Sharrkan turned to his attendants and said, \"Begin ye to prepare\nthe marriage festival and make ready food of all kinds.\" So they\nforthright did his bidding as regards the viands, and he commanded the\nwives of the Emirs and Wazirs and Grandees depart not until the time of\nthe wedding-banquet and of the unveiling of the bride. Hardly came the\nperiod of afternoon-prayer when the tables were spread with whatso heart\ncan desire or eye can delight in of roast meats and geese and fowls; and\nthe subjects ate till they were satisfied. Moreover, Sharrkan had sent\nfor all the singing-women of Damascus and they were present, together\nwith every slave-girl of the King and of the notables who knew how to\nsing. And they went up to the palace in one body. When the evening came\nand darkness starkened they lighted candles, right and left, from the\ngate of the citadel to that of the palace; and the Emirs and Wazirs and\nGrandees marched past before King Sharrkan, whilst the singers and the\ntire-women took the damsel to dress and adorn her, but found she needed\nno adornment. Meantime King Sharrkan went to the Hammam and coming out,\nsat down on his seat of estate, whilst they paraded the bride before him\nin seven different dresses: after which they eased her of the weight of\nher raiment and ornaments and gave such injunctions as are enjoined upon\nvirgins on their wedding-nights. Then Sharrkan went in unto her and took\nher maidenhead;[299] and she at once conceived by him and, when she\nannounced it, he rejoiced with exceeding joy and commanded the savants\nto record the date of her conception. On the morrow he went forth and\nseated himself on his throne, and the high officers came in to him and\ngave him joy. Then he called his private secretary and bade him write a\nletter to his father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, saying that he had\nbought him a damsel, who excels in learning and good breeding and who is\nmistress of all kinds of knowledge. Moreover he wrote, \"There is no help\nbut that I send her to Baghdad to visit my brother Zau al-Makan and my\nsister Nuzhat al-Zaman. I have set her free and married her and she hath\nconceived by me.\" And he went on to praise her wit and salute his\nbrother and sister together with the Wazir Dandan and all the Emirs.\nThen he sealed the letter and despatched it to his father by a\npost-courier who was absent a whole month, after which time he returned\nwith the answer and presented it in the presence. Sharrkan took it and\nread as follows, \"After the usual Bismillah, this is from the afflicted\ndistracted man, from him who hath lost his children and home by bane and\nban, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, to his son Sharrkan. Know that, since thy\ndeparture from me, the place is become contracted upon me, so that no\nlonger I have power of patience nor can I keep my secret: and the cause\nthereof is as follows. It chanced that when I went forth to hunt and\ncourse Zau al-Makan sought my leave to fare Hijaz-wards, but I, fearing\nfor him the shifts of fortune, forbade him therefrom until the next year\nor the year after. My absence while sporting and hunting endured for a\nwhole month\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-eighth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman wrote in his letter, \"My absence while sporting and hunting\nendured for a whole month, and when I returned I found that thy brother\nand sister had taken somewhat of money and had set out with the\npilgrim-caravan for pilgrimage by stealth. When I knew this, the wide\nworld narrowed on me, O my son! but I awaited the return of the caravan,\nhoping that haply they would come back with it. Accordingly, when the\npalmers appeared I asked concerning the twain, but they could give me no\nnews of them; so I donned mourning for them, being heavy at heart, and\nin sleep I have no part and I am drowned in the tears of my eyes.\" Then\nhe wrote in verse:\u2014\n\n That pair in image quits me not one single hour, \u273f Whom in my\n heart's most honourable place I keep:\n Sans hope of their return I would not live one hour, \u273f Without\n my dreams of them I ne'er would stretch me in sleep.\n\nThe letter went on, \"And after the usual salutations to thee and thine,\nI command thee neglect no manner of seeking news of them, for indeed\nthis is a shame to us.\" When Sharrkan read the letter, he felt grief for\nhis father and joy for the loss of his brother and sister. Then he took\nthe missive and went in with it to Nuzhat al-Zaman who knew not that he\nwas her brother, nor he that she was his sister, albeit he often visited\nher both by night and by day, till the months were accomplished and she\nsat down on the stool of delivery. Allah made the child-birth easy to\nher and she bare a daughter, whereupon she sent for Sharrkan and seeing\nhim she said to him, \"This is thy daughter: name her as thou wilt.\"\nQuoth he, \"It is usual to name children on the seventh day after\nbirth.\"[300] Then he bent over the child to kiss it and he saw, hung\nabout its neck, a jewel, which he knew at once for one of those which\nPrincess Abrizah had brought from the land of the Greeks. Now when he\nsaw the jewel hanging from his babe's neck he recognised it right well,\nhis senses fled and wrath seized on him; his eyes rolled in rage and he\nlooked at Nuzhat al-Zaman and said to her, \"Whence hadst thou this\njewel, O slave girl?\" When she heard this from Sharrkan she replied, \"I\nam thy lady, and the lady of all in thy palace! Art thou not ashamed to\nsay to me, Slave-girl? I am a Queen, daughter of King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman.\" Hearing this, he was seized with trembling and hung his\nhead earthwards,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Sixty-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious king, that when Sharrkan\nheard these words, his heart fluttered and his colour waxed yellow and\nhe was seized with trembling and he hung his head earthwards, for he\nknew that she was his sister by the same father. Then he lost his\nsenses; and, when he revived, he abode in amazement, but did not\ndiscover his identity to her and asked, \"O my lady, say, art thou in\nsooth the daughter of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman?\" \"Yes,\" answered she;\nand he continued, \"Tell me the cause of thy leaving thy sire and of thy\nbeing sold for a slave.\" So she related to him all that had befallen her\nfrom beginning to end, how she had left her brother sick in the\nSanctified City, Jerusalem, and how the Badawi had kidnapped her and had\nsold her to the trader. When Sharrkan heard this, he was certified of\nher being his sister on the sword-side and said to himself, \"How can I\nhave my sister to wife? By Allah, needs must I marry her to one of my\nchamberlains; and, if the thing get wind, I will declare that I divorced\nher before consummation and married her to my Chief Chamberlain.\" Then\nhe raised his head and sighing said, \"O Nuzhat al-Zaman, thou art my\nvery sister and I cry:\u2014I take refuge with Allah from this sin whereinto\nwe have fallen, for I am Sharrkan, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman.\" She\nlooked at him and knew he spoke the truth; and, becoming as one\ndemented, she wept and buffetted her face, exclaiming, \"There is no\nMajesty and there is no Might save in Allah! Verily have we fallen into\nmortal sin![301] What shall I do and what shall I say to my father and\nmy mother when they ask me, Whence hadst thou thy daughter?\" Quoth\nSharrkan, \"It were meetest that I marry thee to my Chamberlain and let\nthee bring up my daughter in his house, that none may know thou be my\nsister. This hath befallen us from Almighty Allah for a purpose of his\nown, and nothing shall cover us but thy marriage with this Chamberlain,\nere any know.\" Then he fell to comforting her and kissing her head and\nshe asked him, \"What wilt thou call the girl?\" \"Call her\nKuzia-Fakan,\"[302] answered he. Then he gave the mother in marriage to\nthe Chief Chamberlain, and transferred her to his house with the child,\nwhich they reared on the laps of the slave-girls, and fed with milk and\ndosed with powders. Now all this occurred whilst the brother, Zau\nal-Makan, still tarried with the Fireman at Damascus. One day there came\nto King Sharrkan a courier from his father, with a letter which he took\nand read and found therein, \"After the Bismillah know, O beloved King,\nthat I am afflicted with sore affliction for the loss of my children:\nsleep ever faileth me and wakefulness ever assaileth me. I send thee\nthis letter that, as soon as thou receivest it, thou make ready the\nmonies and the tribute, and send them to us, together with the damsel\nwhom thou hast bought and taken to wife; for I long to see her and hear\nher discourse; more especially because there hath come to us from\nRoum-land an old woman of saintly bearing and with her be five damsels,\nhigh-bosomed virgins, endowed with knowledge and good-breeding and all\narts and sciences befitting mortals to know; and indeed tongue faileth\nme to describe this old woman and these who with her wend; for of a\ntruth they are compendiums of perfections in learning and\naccomplishments. As soon as I saw them I loved them, and I wished to\nhave them in my palace and in the compass of my hand; for none of the\nKings owneth the like of them; so I asked the old woman their price and\nshe answered:\u2014I will not sell them but for the tribute of Damascus. And\nI, by Allah, did not hold this price exorbitant, indeed it is but\nlittle, for each one of them is worth the whole valuation. So I agreed\nto that and took them into my palace, and they remain in my possession.\nWherefore do thou forward the tribute to us that the woman may return to\nher own country; and send to us the damsel to the end that she may\ndispute with them before the doctors; and, if she prevail over them, I\nwill return her to thee accompanied by the tribute of Baghdad.\"\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the full Seventieth Night,\n\nShe said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar son of\nAl-Nu'uman said in his letter, \"And send to us the damsel to the end\nthat she may dispute with them before the doctors; and, if she prevail\nover them, I will return her to thee accompanied with the tribute of\nBaghdad.\" As soon as Sharrkan knew the contents, he went in to his\nbrother-in-law and said to him, \"Bring the damsel to whom I married\nthee;\" and when she came he showed her the letter and said, \"O my\nsister! what answer wouldst thou advise me make to this letter?\" Replied\nshe, \"Seek advice from thyself!\" and presently added (for she yearned\nafter her people and her native land), \"Send me together with my husband\nthe Chamberlain, to Baghdad, that I may tell my father my tale and let\nhim know whatso befel me with the Badawi who sold me to the merchant,\nand that I also inform him how thou boughtest me of the trader and\ngavest me in marriage to the Chamberlain, after setting me free.\" \"Be it\nso,\" replied Sharrkan. Then Sharrkan took his daughter, Kuzia Fakan, and\ncommitted her to the charge of the wet-nurses and the eunuchs, and he\nmade ready the tribute in haste, bidding the Chamberlain travel with the\nPrincess and the treasure to Baghdad. He also furnished him two\ntravelling litters; one for himself and the other for his wife. And the\nChamberlain replied, \"To hear is to obey.\" Moreover Sharrkan collected\ncamels and mules and wrote a letter to his father and committed it to\nthe Chamberlain; then he bade farewell to his sister, after he had taken\nthe jewel from her and hung it round his daughter's neck by a chain of\npure gold; and she and her husband set out for Baghdad the same night.\nNow it so happened that Zau al-Makan and his friend the Fireman had come\nforth from the hut in which they were, to see the spectacle, and they\nbeheld camels and Bukhti[303] dromedaries and b\u00e2t-mules and torches and\nlanterns alight; and Zau al-Makan enquired about the loads and their\nowner and was told that it was the tribute of Damascus going to King\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of the City of Baghdad. He then asked, \"Who be\nthe leader of the caravan?\" and they answered, \"The Head Chamberlain who\nhath married the damsel so famous for learning and science.\" Thereupon\nZau al-Makan wept with bitter weeping and was minded of his mother and\nhis father and his sister and his native land, and he said to the\nStoker, \"I will join this caravan and, little by little, will journey\nhomewards.\" Quoth the Fireman, \"I would not suffer thee to travel\nsingle-handed from the Holy City to Damascus, then how shall I be sure\nof thy safety when thou farest for Baghdad? But I will go with thee and\ncare for thee till thou effectest thine object.\" \"With joy and good\nwill,\" answered Zau al-Makan. Then the Fireman gat him ready for the\njourney and hired an ass and threw saddle-bags over it and put therein\nsomething of provaunt; and, when all was prepared, he awaited the\npassage of the caravan. And presently the Chamberlain came by on a\ndromedary and his footmen about him. Then Zau al-Makan mounted the ass\nand said to his companion, \"Do thou mount with me.\" But he replied, \"Not\nso: I will be thy servant.\" Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"There is no help for it\nbut thou ride awhile.\" \"'Tis well,\" quoth the Stoker; \"I will ride when\nI grow tired.\" Then said Zau al-Makan, \"O my brother, soon shalt thou\nsee how I will deal with thee, when I come to my own folk.\" So they\nfared on till the sun rose and, when it was the hour of the noonday\nsleep[304] the Chamberlain called a halt and they alighted and reposed\nand watered their camels. Then he gave the signal for departure and,\nafter five days, they came to the city of Hamah,[305] where they set\ndown and made a three day's halt;\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that they halted in the\ncity of Hamah three days; they then fared forwards and ceased not\ntravelling till they reached another city. Here also they halted three\ndays and thence they travelled till they entered the province Diy\u00e1r\nBakr. Here blew on them the breezes of Baghdad, and Zau al-Makan\nbethought him of his father and mother and native land, and how he was\nreturning to his sire without his sister: so he wept and sighed and\ncomplained, and his regrets grew on him, and he began improvising these\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n Sweetheart! How long must I await by so long-suffering tried? \u273f\n Nor cometh messenger to tell me where thou dost abide:\n Ah me! in very sooth our meeting-time was short enow: \u273f Would\n Heaven shorter prove to me the present parting-tide!\n Now hend my hand and ope my robe and thou within shall sight \u273f\n How wasted are the limbs of me and yet the waste I hide:\n When say they \"Comfort take for loss of love\" I but reply \u273f \"By\n Allah, till the Day of Doom no comfort shall betide!\"\n\nThereupon said to him the Fireman, \"Leave this weeping and wailing, for\nwe are near the Chamberlain's tent.\" Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"Needs must I\nrecite somewhat of verse; haply it may quench the fire of my heart.\"\n\"Allah upon thee,\" cried the other, \"cease this lamentation till thou\ncome to thine own country; then do what thou wilt, and I will be with\nthee wherever thou art.\" Replied Zau al-Makan, \"By Allah! I cannot\nforbear from this!\" Then he turned his face towards Baghdad and the moon\nwas shining brightly and shedding her light on the place, and Nuzhat\nal-Zaman could not sleep that night, but was restless and called to mind\nher brother and wept. And while she was in tears, she heard Zau al-Makan\nweeping and improvising the following distichs:\u2014\n\n \"Al-Yaman's[306] leven-gleam I see, \u273f And sore despair despaireth me\n For friend who erst abode wi' me \u273f Crowning my cup with gladdest gree;\n It minds me o' one who jilted me \u273f To mourn my bitter liberty.\n Say sooth, thou fair sheet-lightning! shall \u273f We meet once more in\n joy and glee?\n O blamer! spare to me thy blame \u273f My Lord hath sent this dule to dree,\n Of friend who left me, fain to flee; \u273f Of Time that breeds calamity:\n All bliss hath fled the heart of me \u273f Since Fortune proved mine enemy.\n He[307] brimmed a bowl of merest pine, \u273f And made me drain the\n dregs, did he:\n I see me, sweetheart, dead and gone \u273f Ere I again shall gaze on thee.\n Time! prithee bring our childhood back, \u273f Restore our happy infancy,\n When joy and safety 'joyed we \u273f From shafts that now they shoot at me!\n Who aids the hapless stranger-wight, \u273f That nights in fright\n and misery,\n That wastes his days in lonely grief, \u273f For \"Time's Delight\"[308]\n no more must be?\n Doomed us despite our will to bear \u273f The hands of base-borns cark\n and care.\n\nWhen he ended his verse he cried out and fell down in a fainting-fit.\nThis is how it fared with him; but as regards Nuzhat al-Zaman, when she\nheard that voice in the night, her heart was at rest and she rose and in\nher joy she called the Chief Eunuch, who said to her, \"What is thy\nwill?\" Quoth she, \"Arise and bring me him who recited verses but now.\"\nReplied he, \"Of a truth I did not hear him\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-second Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat\nal-Zaman heard her brother reciting, she called the Chief Eunuch and\nsaid to him, \"Go, fetch me the man who is repeating this poetry!\"\nReplied he, \"Of a truth I heard him not and I wot him not and folks are\nall sleeping.\" But she said, \"Whomsoever thou seest awake, he is the\nreciter.\" So he went, yet found none on wake save the Stoker; for Zau\nal-Makan was still insensible, and when his companion saw the Eunuch\nstanding by his head he was afraid of him. Then said the Eunuch, \"Art\nthou he who repeated poetry but now and my lady heard him?\" The Stoker\nfancied that the dame was wroth with the reciter; and, being afraid, he\nreplied, \"By Allah, 'twas not I!\" Rejoined the Eunuch, \"Who then was the\nreciter?: point him out to me. Thou must know who it was, seeing that\nthou art awake.\" The Fireman feared for Zau al-Makan and said in\nhimself, \"Haply the Eunuch will do him some hurt\"; so he answered, \"By\nAllah, I know not who it was.\" Said the Eunuch, \"By Allah, thou liest,\nfor there is none on wake here but thou! So needs must thou know him.\"\n\"By Allah,\" replied the Fireman, \"I tell thee the truth!: some\npasser-by, some wayfarer must have recited the verses and disturbed me\nand kept me awake; Allah requite him!\" Quoth the Eunuch, \"If thou happen\nupon him, point him out to me and I will lay hands on him and bring him\nto the door of our lady's litter;[309] or do thou take him with thine\nown hand.\" Said the Fireman, \"Go thou back and I will bring him to\nthee.\" So the Eunuch left him and went his ways; and, going in to his\nmistress, told her all this and said to her, \"None knoweth who it was;\nit must have been some passer-by, some wayfarer.\" And she was silent.\nMeanwhile, Zau al-Makan came to himself and saw that the moon had\nreached the middle Heavens; the breath of the dawn-breeze[310] breathed\nupon him and his heart was moved to longing and sadness; so he cleared\nhis throat and was about to recite verses, when the Fireman asked him,\n\"What wilt thou do?\" Answered Zau al-Makan, \"I have a mind to repeat\nsomewhat of poetry, that I may quench therewith the fire of my heart.\"\nQuoth the other, \"Thou knowest not what befel me whilst thou wast\na-faint, and how I escaped death only by beguiling the Eunuch.\" \"Tell me\nwhat happened,\" quoth Zau al-Makan. Replied the Stoker, \"Whilst thou\nwast aswoon there came up to me but now an Eunuch, with a long staff of\nalmond-tree wood in his hand, who took to looking in all the people's\nfaces, as they lay asleep, and asked me who it was recited the verses,\nfinding none awake but myself. I told him in reply it was some\npasser-by, some wayfarer; so he went away and Allah delivered me from\nhim; else had he killed me. But first he said to me:\u2014If thou hear him\nagain, bring him to us.\" When Zau al-Makan heard this he wept and said,\n\"Who is it would forbid me to recite? I will surely recite, befal me\nwhat may; for I am near mine own land and care for none.\" Rejoined the\nFireman, \"Thy design is naught save to lose thy life;\" and Zau al-Makan\nretorted, \"Needs must I recite verses.\" \"Verily,\" said the Stoker,\n\"Needs must there be a parting between me and thee in this place, albeit\nI had intended not to leave thee, till I had brought thee to thy native\ncity and reunited thee with thy mother and father. Thou hast now tarried\nwith me a year and a half and I have never harmed thee in aught. What\nails thee, then, that thou must needs recite verses, seeing that we are\ntired out with walking and watching and all the folk are asleep, for\nthey require sleep to rest them of their fatigue?\" But Zau al-Makan\nanswered, \"I will not be turned away from my purpose.\"[311] Then grief\nmoved him and he threw off concealment and began repeating these\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n Stand thou by the homes and hail the lords of the ruined stead; \u273f\n Cry thou for an answer, belike reply to thee shall be sped:\n If the night and absence irk thy spirit kindle a torch \u273f Wi'\n repine; and illuminate the gloom with a gleaming gleed:\n If the snake of the sand-dunes hiss, I shall marvel not at all! \u273f\n Let him bite so I bite those beauteous lips of the luscious red:\n O Eden, my soul hath fled in despite of the maid I love: \u273f Had I\n lost hope of Heaven my heart in despair were dead.\n\nAnd he also improvised the two following distichs:\n\n We were and were the days enthralled to all our wills, \u273f Dwelling\n in union sweet and homed in fairest site:\n Who shall restore the home of the beloved, where showed \u273f Light of\n the Place for aye conjoined with Time's Delight?[312]\n\nAnd as he ceased his verses, he shrieked three shrieks and fell\nsenseless to the ground and the Fireman rose and covered him. When\nNuzhat al-Zaman heard the first improvisation, she called to mind her\nfather and her mother and her brother and their whilom home; then she\nwept and cried at the Eunuch and said to him, \"Woe to thee! He who\nrecited the first time hath recited a second time and I heard him hard\nby. By Allah, an thou fetch him not to me, I will assuredly rouse the\nChamberlain on thee, and he shall beat thee and cast thee out. But take\nthese hundred dinars and give them to the singer and bring him to me\ngently, and do him no hurt. If he refuse, hand to him this purse of a\nthousand dinars, then leave him and return to me and tell me, after thou\nhast informed thyself of his place and his calling and what countryman\nhe is. Return quickly and linger not.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman\nsent the Eunuch to make enquiries concerning the singer and said,\n\"Beware how thou come back to me and report, I could not find him.\" So\nthe Eunuch went out and laid about the people and trod in their tents,\nbut found none awake, all being asleep for weariness, till he came to\nthe Stoker and saw him sitting up, with his head uncovered. So he drew\nnear and seizing him by the hand, said to him, \"It was thou didst recite\nthe verses!\" The Fireman was afeard for his life and replied, \"No, by\nAllah, O chief of the people, it was not I!\" But the Eunuch said, \"I\nwill not leave thee till thou show me who it was that recited the\nverses, for I dread returning to my lady without him.\" Now when the\nFireman heard these words he feared for Zau al-Makan and wept with\nexceeding weeping and said to the Eunuch, \"By Allah, it was not I, and I\nknow him not. I only heard some passer-by, some wayfarer, recite verses:\nso do not thou commit sin on me, for I am a stranger and come from the\nHoly City of Jerusalem; and Abraham, the friend of Allah, be with you\nall.\" \"Rise up and fare with me,\" rejoined the Eunuch, \"and tell my lady\nthis with thine own mouth, for I have seen none awake save thyself.\"\nQuoth the Stoker, \"Hast thou not come and seen me sitting in the place\nwhere I now am, and dost thou not know my station? Thou wottest none can\nstir from his place, except the watchmen seize him. So go thou to thy\nstation and if thou again meet any one after this hour reciting aught of\npoetry, whether he be near or far, it will be I or some one I know, and\nthou shalt not learn of him but by me.\" Then he kissed the Eunuch's head\nand spake him fair till he went away; but the Castrato fetched a round\nand, returning secretly, came and stood behind the Fireman, fearing to\ngo back to his mistress without tidings. As soon as he was gone, the\nStoker arose and aroused Zau al-Makan and said to him, \"Come, sit up,\nthat I may tell thee what hath happened.\" So Zau al-Makan sat up, and\nhis companion told him what had passed, and he answered, \"Let me alone;\nI will take no heed of this and I care for none, for I am near mine own\ncountry.\"[313] Quoth the Stoker, \"Why wilt thou obey thy flesh and the\ndevil? If thou fear no one, I fear for thee and for my life, so Allah\nupon thee! recite nothing more of verses till thou come to thine own\nland. Indeed, I had not deemed thee so ill-conditioned. Dost thou not\nknow that this lady is the wife of the Chamberlain and is minded to\nchastise thee for disturbing her? Belike, she is ill or restless for\nfatigue of the journey and the distance of the place from her home, and\nthis is the second time she hath sent the Eunuch to look for thee.\"\nHowever Zau al-Makan paid no heed to the Fireman's words but cried out a\nthird time and began versifying with these couplets:\u2014\n\n I fly the carper's injury, \u273f Whose carping sorely vexeth me:\n He chides and taunts me, wotting not \u273f He burns me but more\n grievously.\n The blamer cries \"He is consoled!\" \u273f I say, \"My own dear land[314] to\n see:\"\n They ask, \"Why be that land so dear?\" \u273f I say \"It taught me in love\n to be:\"\n They ask, \"What raised its dignity?\" \u273f I say, \"What made my ignomy:\"\n Whate'er the bitter cup I drain, \u273f Far be fro' me that land to flee:\n Nor will I bow to those who blame, \u273f And for such love would deal me\n shame.\n\nHardly had he made an end of his verses and come to a conclusion, when\nthe Eunuch (who had heard him from his hiding-place at his head) came up\nto him; whereupon the Fireman fled and stood afar off to see what passed\nbetween them. Then said the Eunuch to Zau al-Makan, \"Peace be with thee,\nO my lord!\" \"And on thee be peace,\" replied Zau al-Makan, \"and the mercy\nof Allah and His blessings!\" \"O my lord,\" continued the Eunuch\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-fourth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Eunuch said to\nZau al-Makan, \"O my lord, I have sought thee these several times this\nnight, for my mistress biddeth thee to her.\" Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"And\nwho be this bitch that seeketh for me? Allah curse her and curse her\nhusband with her!\"[315] And he began to revile the Eunuch, who could\nmake him no answer, because his mistress had charged him to do Zau\nal-Makan no hurt, nor bring him save of his own especial free will; and,\nif he would not accompany him, to give him the thousand dinars. So the\nCastrato began to speak him fair and say to him, \"O my lord, take this\npurse and go with me. We will do thee no unright, O my son, nor wrong\nthee in aught; but our object is that thou bend thy gracious steps with\nme to my mistress, to receive her answer and return in weal and safety:\nand thou shalt have a handsome present as one who bringeth good news.\"\nWhen Zau al-Makan heard this, he arose and went with the Eunuch and\nwalked among the sleeping folk, stepping over them; whilst the Fireman\nfollowed after them from afar, and kept his eye upon him and said to\nhimself, \"Alas the pity of his youth! To-morrow they will hang him.\" And\nhe ceased not following them till he approached their station,[316]\nwithout any observing him. Then he stood still and said, \"How base it\nwill be of him, if he say it was I who bade him recite the verses!\" This\nwas the case of the Stoker; but as regards what befel Zau al-Makan, he\nceased not walking with the Eunuch till he reached his station and the\nCastrato went in to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said, \"O my lady, I have brought\nthee him whom thou soughtest, and he is a youth, fair of face and\nbearing the marks of wealth and gentle breeding.\" When she heard this,\nher heart fluttered and she cried, \"Let him recite some verses, that I\nmay hear him nearhand, and after ask him his name and his condition and\nhis native land.\" Then the Eunuch went out to Zau al-Makan and said to\nhim, \"Recite what verses thou knowest, for my lady is here hard by,\nlistening to thee, and after I will ask thee of thy name and thy native\ncountry and thy condition.\" Replied he, \"With love and gladness but, an\nthou ask my name, it is erased and my trace is unplaced and my body\nawaste. I have a story, the beginning of which is not known nor can the\nend of it be shown, and behold, I am even as one who hath exceeded in\nwine-drinking and who hath not spared himself; one who is afflicted with\ndistempers and who wandereth from his right mind, being perplexed about\nhis case and drowned in the sea of thought.\" When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard\nthis, she broke out into excessive weeping and sobbing, and said to the\nEunuch, \"Ask him if he have parted from one he loveth even as his mother\nor father.\" The Castrato asked as she bade him, and Zau al-Makan\nreplied, \"Yes, I have parted from every one I loved: but the dearest of\nall to me was my sister, from whom Fate hath separated me.\" When Nuzhat\nal-Zaman heard this, she exclaimed, \"Allah Almighty reunite him with\nwhat he loveth!\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat\nal-Zaman heard his words she said, \"Allah reunite him with what he\nloveth!\" Then quoth she to the Eunuch, \"Tell him to let me hear somewhat\nanent his separation from his countrymen and his country.\" The Eunuch\ndid so, and Zau al-Makan sighed heavily and began repeating these\ncouplets[317]:\u2014\n\n Is not her love a pledge by all mankind confest? \u273f The house\n that hometh Hinda be for ever blest!\n Her love all levels; man can reck of naught beside; \u273f Naught or\n before or after can for man have zest.\n 'Tis though the vale is paved with musk and ambergris \u273f That day\n when Hinda's footstep on its face is prest:\n Hail to the beauty of our camp, the pride of folk, \u273f The dearling\n who enslaves all hearts by her behest:\n Allah on \"Time's Delight\" send large-dropped clouds that teem \u273f\n With genial rain but bear no thunder in their breast.\n\nAnd also these:\u2014\n\n I vow to Allah if at home I sight \u273f My sister Nuzhat al-Zam\u00e1ni hight,\n I'll pass the days in joyance and delight \u273f Mid bashful\n minions, maidens soft and white:\n To sound of harps in various modes they smite \u273f Draining the\n bowl, while eyes rain lively light\n 'Neath half-closed lids, a-sipping lips red-bright \u273f By\n stream-bank flowing through my garden-site.\n\nWhen he had finished his verse, Nuzhat al-Zaman lifted up a skirt of the\nlitter-curtain and looked at him. As soon as her eyes fell on his face,\nshe knew him for certain and cried out, \"O my brother! O Zau al-Makan!\"\nHe also looked at her and knew her and cried out, \"O my sister! O Nuzhat\nal-Zaman!\" Then she threw herself upon him and he gathered her to his\nbosom and the twain fell down in a fainting fit. When the Eunuch saw\nthis case, he wondered at them and throwing over them somewhat to cover\nthem, waited till they should recover. After a while they came to\nthemselves, and Nuzhat al-Zaman rejoiced with exceeding joy: oppression\nand depression left her and gladness took the mastery of her, and she\nrepeated these verses:\u2014\n\n Time sware my life should fare in woeful waste; \u273f Forsworn art\n Time, expiate thy sin in haste![318]\n Comes weal and comes a welcome friend to aid; \u273f To him who brings\n good news, rise, gird thy waist:\n I spurn\u00e8d old-world tales of Eden-bliss; \u273f Till came I Kausar[319]\n on those lips to taste.\n\nWhen Zau al-Makan heard this, he pressed his sister to his breast; tears\nstreamed from his eyes for excess of joy and he repeated these\ncouplets[320]:\u2014\n\n Long I lamented that we fell apart, \u273f While tears repentant rail\u00e8d\n from these eyne;\n And sware, if Time unite us twain once more, \u273f \"Severance\" shall\n never sound from tongue of mine:\n Joy hath so overwhelmed me that excess \u273f Of pleasure from mine\n eyes draws gouts of brine:\n Tears, O mine eyes, have now become your wont \u273f Ye weep for\n pleasure and you weep for pine!\n\nThey sat awhile at the litter-door till she said to him, \"Come with me\ninto the litter and tell me all that hath befallen thee, and I will tell\nthee what happened to me.\" So they entered and Zau al-Makan said, \"Do\nthou begin thy tale.\" Accordingly she told him all that had come to her\nsince their separation at the Khan and what had happened to her with the\nBadawi; how the merchant had bought her of him and had taken her to her\nbrother Sharrkan and had sold her to him; how he had freed her at the\ntime of buying; how he had made a marriage-contract with her and had\ngone in to her and how the King, their sire, had sent and asked for her\nfrom Sharrkan. Then quoth she, \"Praised be Allah who hath vouchsafed\nthee to me and ordained that, even as we left our father together, so\ntogether shall we return to him!\" And she added, \"Of a truth my brother\nSharrkan gave me in marriage to this Chamberlain that he might carry me\nto my father. And this is what befel me from first to last; so now tell\nme how it hath fared with thee since I left thee.\" Thereupon he told her\nall that had happened to him from beginning to end; and how Allah\nvouchsafed to send the Fireman to him, and how he had journeyed with him\nand spent his money on him and had served him night and day. She praised\nthe Stoker for this and Zau al-Makan added, \"Of a truth, O my sister,\nthis Fireman hath dealt with me in such benevolent wise as would not\nlover with lass nor sire with son, for that he fasted and gave me to\neat, and he walked whilst he made me ride; and I owe my life to him.\"\nSaid she, \"Allah willing, we will requite him for all this, according to\nour power.\" Then she called the Eunuch, who came and kissed Zau\nal-Makan's hand, and she said, \"Take thy reward for glad tidings, O face\nof good omen! It was thy hand reunited me with my brother; so the purse\nI gave thee and all in it are thine. But now go to thy master and bring\nhim quickly to me.\" The Castrato rejoiced and, going in to the\nChamberlain, summoned him to his mistress. Accordingly, he came in to\nhis wife and finding Zau al-Makan with her, asked who he was. So she\ntold him all that had befallen them both, first and last, and added,\n\"Know, O Chamberlain, that thou hast married no slave-girl; far from it,\nthou hast taken to wife the daughter of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman for I\nam Nuzhat al-Zaman, and this is my brother, Zau al-Makan.\" When the\nChamberlain heard the story he knew it to be sooth, and its manifest\ntruth appeared to him and he was certified that he was become King Omar\nbin al-Nu'uman's son-in-law, so he said to himself, \"'Twill be my fate\nto be made viceroy of some province.\"[321] Then he went up to Zau\nal-Makan and gave him joy of his safety and reunion with his sister, and\nbade his servants forthwith make him ready a tent and one of the best of\nhis own horses to ride. Thereupon said Nuzhat al-Zaman, \"We are now near\nour country and I would be left alone with my brother, that we may enjoy\neach other's company and take our fill of it ere we reach Baghdad; for\nwe have been parted a long, long time.\" \"Be it as thou biddest,\" replied\nthe Chamberlain, and, going forth from them, sent them wax-candles and\nvarious kinds of sweetmeats, together with three suits of the costliest\nfor Zau al-Makan. Then he returned to the litter and related the good he\nhad done and Nuzhat al-Zaman said to him, \"Bid the Eunuch bring me the\nFireman and give him a horse to ride and ration him with a tray of food\nmorning and evening, and let him be forbidden to leave us.\" The\nChamberlain called the Castrato and charged him to do accordingly; so he\nreplied, \"I hear and I obey;\" and he took his pages with him and went\nout in search of the Stoker till he found him in the rear of the\ncaravan, girthing his ass and preparing for flight. The tears were\nrunning adown his cheeks, out of fear for his life and grief for his\nseparation from Zau al-Makan; and he was saying to himself, \"Indeed, I\nwarned him for the love of Allah, but he would not listen to me; Oh\nwould I knew what is become of him!\" Ere he had done speaking the Eunuch\nwas standing by his head whilst the pages surrounded him. The Fireman\nturned and seeing the Eunuch and the pages gathered around him became\nyellow with fear\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-sixth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Stoker\ngirthed his ass for flight and bespake himself, saying, \"Oh would I knew\nwhat is become of him!\"; ere he had done speaking the Castrato was\nstanding by his head and his side-muscles quivered for fear and he\nlifted up his voice and cried, \"Verily he knoweth not the value of the\ngood offices I have done him! I believe he hath denounced me to the\nEunuch (hence these pages get about me) and he hath made me an\naccomplice in his crime.\" Then the effeminated one cried at him, saying,\n\"Who was it recited the verses? O liar! why didst thou say:\u2014I never\nrepeated these couplets, nor do I know who repeated them; when it was\nthy companion? But now I will not leave thee between this place and\nBaghdad, and what betideth thy comrade shall betide thee.\" Quoth the\nFireman, \"What I feared hath befallen me.\" And he repeated this\ncouplet:\u2014\n\n 'Twas as I feared the coming ills discerning: \u273f But unto Allah we\n are all returning.\n\nThen the Eunuch cried upon the pages, saying, \"Take him off the ass.\" So\nthey carried him along with the caravan, surrounded by the pages, as the\nwhite contains the black of the eye; and the Castrato said to them, \"If\na hair of him be lost, you will be lost with it.\" And he bade them\nprivily treat him with honour and not humiliate him. But when the Stoker\nsaw himself beset by the pages, he despaired of his life and turning to\nthe Eunuch, said to him, \"O Chief, I am neither this youth's brother nor\nam I akin to him, nor is he sib to me; but I was a Fireman in a Hammam\nand found him cast out, in his sickness, on the dung-heap.\" Then the\ncaravan fared on and the Stoker wept and imagined in himself a thousand\nthings, whilst the Eunuch walked by his side and told him nothing, but\nsaid to him, \"Thou disturbedst our mistress by reciting verses, thou and\nthis youth: but fear nothing for thyself;\" and kept laughing at him the\nwhile to himself. Whenever the caravan halted, they served him with\nfood, and he and the Castrato ate from one dish.[322] Then the Eunuch\nbade his lads bring a gugglet of sugared sherbet and, after drinking\nhimself, gave it to the Fireman, who drank; but all the while his tears\nnever dried, out of fear for his life and grief for his separation from\nZau al-Makan and for what had befallen them in their strangerhood. So\nthey both travelled on with the caravan, whilst the Chamberlain now rode\nby the door of his wife's litter, in attendance on Zau al-Makan and his\nsister, and now gave an eye to the Fireman; and Nuzhat al-Zaman and her\nbrother occupied themselves with converse and mutual condolence; and\nthey ceased not after this fashion till they came within three days'\njourney from Baghdad. Here they alighted at eventide and rested till the\nmorning morrowed; and as they awoke and they were about to load the\nbeasts, behold, there appeared afar off a great cloud of dust that\ndarkened the firmament till it became black as gloomiest night.[323]\nThereupon the Chamberlain cried out to them, \"Stay, and your loading\ndelay!\"; then, mounting with his Mamelukes, rode forward in the\ndirection of the dust-cloud. When they drew near, suddenly appeared\nunder it a numerous conquering host like the full-tide sea, with flags\nand standards, drums and kettledrums, horsemen and footmen. The\nChamberlain marvelled at this; and when the troops saw him, there\ndetached itself from amongst them a plump of five hundred cavaliers, who\nfell upon him and his suite and surrounded them, five for one; whereupon\nsaid he to them, \"What is the matter and what are these troops, that ye\ndo this with us?\" Asked they, \"Who art thou; and whence comest thou, and\nwhither art thou bound?\" and he answered, \"I am the Chamberlain of the\nEmir of Damascus, King Sharrkan, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of\nBaghdad and of the land of Khorasan, and I bring tribute and presents\nfrom him to his father in Baghdad.\" When the horsemen heard his words\nthey let their head-kerchiefs fall over their faces and wept, saying,\n\"In very sooth King Omar is dead and he died not but of poison. So fare\nye forwards; no harm shall befal you till you join his Grand Wazir,\nDandan.\" Now when the Chamberlain heard this, he wept sore and\nexclaimed, \"Oh for our disappointment in this our journey!\" Then he and\nall his suite wept till they had come up with the host and sought access\nto the Wazir Dandan, who granted an interview and called a halt and,\ncausing his pavilion to be pitched, sat down on a couch therein and\ncommanded to admit the Chamberlain. Then he bade him be seated and\nquestioned him; and he replied that he was Chamberlain to the Emir of\nDamascus and was bound to King Omar with presents and the tribute of\nSyria. The Wazir, hearing the mention of King Omar's name, wept and\nsaid, \"King Omar is dead by poison, and upon his dying the folk fell out\namongst themselves as to who should succeed him, until they were like to\nslay one another on this account; but the notables and grandees and the\nfour Kazis interposed and all the people agreed to refer the matter to\nthe decision of the four judges and that none should gainsay them. So it\nwas agreed that we go to Damascus and fetch thence the King's son,\nSharrkan, and make him Sultan over his father's realm. And amongst them\nwere some who would have chosen the cadet, Zau al-Makan, for, quoth\nthey, his name be Light of the Place, and he hath a sister Nuzhat\nal-Zaman hight, the Delight of the Time; but they set out five years ago\nfor Al-Hijaz and none wotteth what is become of them.\" When the\nChamberlain heard this, he knew that his wife had told him the truth of\nher adventures; and he grieved with sore grief for the death of King\nOmar, albeit he joyed with exceeding joy, especially at the arrival of\nZau al-Makan, for that he would now become Sultan of Baghdad in his\nfather's stead.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sharrkan's\nChamberlain heard of the death of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman he mourned,\nbut he rejoiced because of his wife and her brother Zau al-Makan who\nwould become Sultan of Baghdad in his father's stead. So he turned to\nthe Wazir Dandan and said to him, \"Verily your tale is a wonder of\nwonders! Know, O Chief Wazir, that here, where you have encountered me,\nAllah hath given you rest from fatigue and bringeth you your desire\nafter the easiest of fashions, for that His Almighty Will restoreth to\nyou Zau al-Makan and his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman; whereby we will settle\nthe matter as we easily can.\" When the Minister heard these words he\nrejoiced with great joy and said, \"O Chamberlain, tell me the tale of\nthe twain and what befel them and the cause of their long absence.\" So\nhe repeated to him the whole story and told him that Nuzhat al-Zaman was\nhis wife and related to him the adventures of Zau al-Makan from first to\nlast. As soon as he had ended his tale, the Wazir sent for the Emirs and\nWazirs and Chief Officers and acquainted them with the matter; whereat\nthey rejoiced with great joy and wondered at the happy chance. Then they\ngathered in a body and went in to the Chamberlain and did their service\nto him, kissing the ground between his hands; and the Wazir Dandan also\nrose and went out to meet him and stood before him in honour. After\nthis, the Chamberlain held on that day a Divan-council; and he and the\nWazir sat upon a throne, whilst all the Emirs and Grandees and Officers\nof State took their places before them, according to their several\nranks.[324] Then they melted sugar in rose-water and drank, after which\nthe Emirs sat down to hold council and permitted the rest of the host to\nmount and ride forward leisurely, till they should make an end of their\ndebate and overtake them. So the officers kissed the ground between\ntheir hands and mounting, rode onwards, preceded by the standards of\nwar. When the grandees had finished their conference, they took horse\nand rejoined the host; and the Chamberlain approached the Wazir Dandan\nand said, \"I deem it well to ride on before you, and precede you, that I\nmay get ready a place for the Sultan and notify him of your coming and\nof your choosing him as Sultan over the head of his brother Sharrkan.\"\n\"Aright thou reckest,\" answered the Wazir. Then the Chamberlain rose up\nin haste and Dandan also stood up to do him honour and brought him\npresents, which he conjured him to accept. In similar guise did all the\nEmirs and Grandees and Officers of State, bringing him gifts and calling\ndown blessings on him and saying to him, \"Haply thou wilt mention our\ncase to Sultan Zau al-Makan and speak to him to continue us in our\ndignities.\"[325] The Chamberlain promised all they required and bade his\npages be ready to march, whereupon the Wazir Dandan sent with him tents\nand bade the tent-pitchers set them up at a day's journey from the city.\nAnd they did his bidding. Then the Chamberlain mounted and rode forward,\nfull of joy and saying to himself, \"How blessed is this journey!\"; and\nindeed his wife was exalted in his eyes, she and her brother Zau\nal-Makan. They made all haste over their wayfare, till they reached a\nplace distant a day's journey from Baghdad, where the Chamberlain called\na halt for rest, and bade his men alight and make ready a sitting place\nfor the Sultan Zau al-Makan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, while he\nrode forward with his Mamelukes and, alighting at a distance from Nuzhat\nal-Zaman's litter, commanded the eunuchs to ask leave of admission to\nthe presence. They did so and she gave permission; whereupon he went in\nto her and conversed with her and her brother; and told them of the\ndeath of their father; and of Zau al-Makan, how the heads of the people\nhad made him King over them in the stead of his sire; and he gave them\njoy of the kingdom. They both wept for their father and asked the manner\nof his being killed; but the Chamberlain answered, \"The news rests with\nthe Wazir Dandan who will be here to-morrow leading all the host; and it\nonly remaineth for thee, O King, to do what they counsel, since they\nhave unanimously chosen thee Sultan; for if thou do not this, they will\nchoose some one else and thou canst not be sure of thy life with another\nSultan. Haply he will kill thee, or discord may befal between you twain\nand the kingdom pass out of the hands of both.\" Zau al-Makan bowed his\nhead awhile and then said, \"I accept this position;\" for indeed there\nwas no refusing; and he was certified that the Chamberlain had\ncounselled him well and wisely and set him on the right way. Then he\nadded, \"O my uncle, how shall I do with my brother Sharrkan?\" \"O my\nson,\" replied the Chamberlain, \"thy brother will be Sultan of Damascus\nand thou Sultan of Baghdad; so take heart of grace and get ready thy\ncase.\" Zau al-Makan accepted this and the Chamberlain presented him with\na suit of royal raiment and a dagger[326] of state, which the Wazir\nDandan had brought with him; then leaving him he bade the tent-pitchers\nchoose a spot of rising ground and set up thereon a spacious pavilion,\nwherein the Sultan might sit to receive the Emirs and Grandees. Moreover\nhe ordered the kitcheners to cook rich viands and serve them and he\ncommanded the water-carriers to dispose the water-troughs. They did as\nhe bade them and presently arose a cloud of dust from the ground and\nspread till it walled the horizon round. After awhile, the dust\ndispersed and there appeared under it the army of Baghdad and Khorasan,\na conquering host like the full-tide sea.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-eighth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nChamberlain bade the tent-pitchers set up a pavilion spacious enough to\nreceive the subjects flocking to their Sultan, they planted a splendid\nSh\u00e1hmiy\u00e1nah[327] befitting Kings. And as they ended their labours\nbehold, a dust cloud spired aloft and the breeze made it lift and\nbeneath it showed a conquering host; and presently it appeared that this\nwas the army of Baghdad and Khorasan preceded by the Wazir Dandan. And\nin it all rejoiced at the accession of the \"Light of the Place.\" Now Zau\nal-Makan had donned robes of royal estate and girt himself with the\nsword of state: so the Chamberlain brought him a steed and he mounted,\nsurrounded by the Mamelukes and all the company from the tents on foot,\nto do him service, and he rode on until he came to the great pavilion,\nwhere he sat down and he laid the royal dagger across his thighs, whilst\nthe Chamberlain stood in attendance on him and his armed slaves\nstationed themselves under the entrance-awning of the Sh\u00e1hmiy\u00e1nah, with\ndrawn swords in their hands. Presently, up came the troops and the host\nand craved admission; so the Chamberlain went in to Zau al-Makan and\nasked his leave, whereupon he bade admit them, ten by ten. The\nChamberlain acquainted them with the King's commands, to which they\nreplied, \"We hear and we obey;\" and all drew up before the\npavilion-entrance. Then he took ten of them and carried them through the\nvestibule into the presence of Sultan Zau al-Makan, whom when they saw,\nthey were awed; but he received them with most gracious kindness and\npromised them all good. So they gave him joy of his safe return and\ninvoked Allah's blessings upon him, after which they took the oath of\nfealty never to gainsay him in aught and they kissed ground before him\nand withdrew. Then other ten entered and he entreated them as he had\nentreated the others; and they ceased not to enter, ten by ten, till\nnone was left but the Wazir Dandan. Lastly the Minister went in and\nkissed the ground before Zau al-Makan, who rose to meet him, saying,\n\"Welcome, O Wazir and sire sans peer! Verily, thine acts are those of a\ncounsellor right dear, and judgement and foreseeing clear are in the\nhands of the Subtle of Lere.\" Then bade he the Chamberlain forthwith go\nout and cause the tables to be spread and order all the troops thereto.\nSo they came and ate and drank. Moreover the Sultan commanded his Wazir\nDandan call a ten days' halt of the army, that he might be private with\nhim and learn from him how and wherefore his father had been slain. The\nWazir obeyed the commands of the Sultan with submission and wished him\neternity of glory and said, \"This needs must be!\" He then repaired to\nthe heart of the encampment and ordered the host to halt ten days. They\ndid as he bade them and, moreover, he gave them leave to divert\nthemselves and ordered that none of the lords in waiting should attend\nupon the King for service during the space of three days. Then the Wazir\nwent to the Sultan and reported all to him, and Zau al-Makan waited\nuntil nightfall, when he went in to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman and asked\nher, \"Dost thou know the cause of my father's murder or not?\" \"I have no\nknowledge of the cause,\" she answered, and drew a silken curtain before\nherself, whilst Zau al-Makan seated himself without the curtain and\ncommanded the Wazir to the presence and, when he came, said to him, \"I\ndesire thou relate to me in detail the cause of the killing of my sire,\nKing Omar bin al-Nu'uman!\" Know then, O King, replied Dandan, that King\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman, when he returned to Baghdad from his chasing and\nhunting and entered the city, enquired for thee and thy sister, but\ncould not find you and knew that you twain had gone on the Pilgrimage;\nwhereat he was greatly grieved and much angered, and his breast was\nstraitened and he abode thus half a year, seeking news of you from all\nwho came and went, but none could give him any tidings. Now while we\nwere in attendance upon him one day, after a whole year had sped since\nye were lost to his sight, lo! there came to us an ancient dame with\nsigns of being a devotee, accompanied by five damsels, high-bosomed\nvirgins like moons, endowed with such beauty and loveliness as tongue\nfaileth to describe; and, to crown their perfections of comeliness, they\ncould read the Koran and were versed in various kinds of learning and in\nthe histories of bygone peoples. Then that old woman sought audience of\nthe King, and he bade admit her; whereupon she entered the presence and\nkissed the ground between his hands. I was then sitting by his side and\nhe, seeing in her the signs of asceticism and devoutness, made her draw\nnear and take seat hard by him. And when she had sat down she addressed\nhim and said, \"Know, O King, that with me are five damsels, whose like\nno King among the Kings possesseth; for they are endowed with wit and\nbeauty and loveliness and perfection. They read the Koran and the\nTraditions and are skilled in all manner of learning and in the history\nof bygone races. They stand here between thy hands to do thee service, O\nKing of the Age, and it is by trial that folk are prized or despised.\"\nThy father, who hath found mercy;[328] looked at the damsels and their\nfavour pleased him; so he said to them, \"Let each and every of you make\nme hear something of what she knoweth anent the history of the folk of\nyore and of peoples long gone before!\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Seventy-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\nsaid unto King Zau al-Makan:\u2014Thy father, who hath found mercy, glanced\nat the damsels and their favour pleased him and he said to them, \"Let\neach and every of you make me hear something of what she knoweth anent\nthe history of the folk of yore and of peoples long gone before!\"\nThereupon one of them came forward and, kissing the ground before him,\nspake as follows.[329] \"Know, O King, that it behoveth one of\ngood-breeding to eschew impertinence and adorn himself with\nexcellencies, and observe the Divine injunctions and avoid mortal sins;\nand to this he should apply himself with the assiduity of one who, if he\nstray therefrom, falleth into perdition; for the foundation of good\nbreeding is virtuous behaviour. And know that the chief cause and reason\nof man's existence is the endeavour after life everlasting, and the\nright way thereto is the service of Allah. Wherefore it behoveth thee to\ndeal beneficently with the people: and swerve not from this canon, for\nthe mightier men are in dignity, the more their need of prudence and\nforesight; and indeed Monarchs need this more than the many, for the\ngeneral cast themselves into affairs, without taking thought to the\nissue thereof. Be thou prodigal of thy life and thy good in the way of\nAllah, and know that, if an enemy dispute with thee, thou mayst dispute\nwith him and refute him with proofs and be proof against him; but as for\nthy friend, there is none can judge between thee and him save\nrighteousness and fair-dealing. Choose, therefore, thy friend for\nthyself, after thou hast proved him. If he be of the brotherhood of\nfuturity,[330] let him be zealous in observing the externals of the Holy\nLaw and versed in its inner meaning, as far as may be; and if he be of\nthe brotherhood of the world, let him be free-born, sincere, neither a\nfool nor a perverse, for the fool man is such that even his parents\nmight well flee from him, and a liar cannot be a true friend. Indeed the\nword, Sidd\u00edk[331] ('friend') deriveth from Sidk ('truth') that welleth\nup from the bottom of the heart; and how can this be the case, when\nfalsehood is manifest upon the tongue? And know, that the observance of\nthe Law profiteth him who practiseth it: so love thy brother, if he be\nof this quality and do not cast him off, even if thou see in him that\nwhich irketh thee, for a friend is not like a wife, whom one can divorce\nand re-marry: nay, his heart is like glass: once broken, it may not be\nmended. And Allah bless him who saith:\u2014\n\n Ware how thou hurtest man with hurt of heart; \u273f 'Tis hard to win\n thee back the heart offended:\n For hearts indeed, whence love is alien made, \u273f Like broken-glass\n may nevermore be mended.\"\n\nThe maiden continued and concluded with pointing out to us what sages\nsay, \"The best of brethren is he who is the most constant in good\ncounsel; the best of action is that which is fairest in its consequence,\nand the best of praise is not that which is in the mouths of men. It is\nalso said:\u2014It behoveth not the servant to neglect thanking Allah\nespecially for two favours, health and reason. Again it is said:\u2014Whoso\nhonoureth himself, his lust is a light matter to him, and he who maketh\nmuch of his small troubles, Allah affiicteth him with the greater; he\nwho obeyeth his own inclination neglecteth his duties and he who\nlisteneth to the slanderer loseth the true friend. He who thinketh well\nof thee, do thou fulfill his thought of thee. He who exceedeth in\ncontention sinneth, and he who against unright standeth not on ward, is\nnot safe from the sword. Now will I tell thee somewhat of the duties of\nKazis and judges. Know, O King, that no judgement serveth the cause of\njustice save it be given after proof positive, and it behoveth the judge\nto treat all people on the same level, to the intent that the great may\nnot hunger for oppression nor the small despair of justice. Furthermore\nhe should extract proof from the complainant and impose an oath upon the\ndefendant; and mediation is admissible between Moslems, except it be a\ncompromise sanctioning the unlawful or forbidding the lawful.[332] If\nthou shalt have done aught during the day, of which thy reason is\ndoubtful but thy good intention is proved, thou (O Kazi) shouldst revert\nto the right, for to do justice is a religious obligation and to return\nto that which is right is better than persistence in wrong. Then (O\njudge) thou shouldest study precedents and the law of the case and do\nequal justice between the suitors, withal fixing thine eyes upon the\ntruth and committing thine affair to Allah (be He extolled and\nexalted!). And require thou proof of the complainant, and if he adduce\nevidence let him have due benefit of it; and if not, put the defendant\nto his oath; for this is the ordinance of Allah. Receive thou the\ntestimony of competent Moslem witnesses, one against other, for Almighty\nAllah hath commanded judges to judge by externals, He Himself taking\ncharge of the inner and secret things. It behoveth the judge also to\navoid giving judgement, whilst suffering from stress of pain or\nhunger,[333] and that in his decisions between folk he seek the face of\nAllah Almighty, for he whose intent is pure and who is at peace with\nhimself, Allah shall guarantee him against what is between him and the\npeople. Quoth al-Zuhri[334]:\u2014There are three things for which, if they\nbe found in a Kazi, he should be deposed; namely, if he honour the base,\nif he love praise and if he fear dismissal. And Omar bin Abd al-Aziz\nonce deposed a Kazi, who asked him, Why hast thou dismissed me? It hath\nreached me, answered Omar, that thy converse is greater than thy\ncondition. It is said also that Iskandar[335] said to his Kazi:\u2014I have\ninvested thee with this function and committed to thee in it my soul and\nmine honour and my manliness; so do thou guard it with thy sense and\nthine understanding. To his Cook he said, Thou art the Sultan of my\nbody; so look thou tender it as thine own self. To his Secretary he\nsaid, Thou art the controller of my wit: so do thou watch over me in\nwhat thou writest for me and from me.\" Thereupon the first damsel backed\nout from the presence and a second damsel came forward.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the full Eightieth Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir\nDandan said to Zau al-Makan:\u2014Thereupon the first damsel backed out from\nthe presence and a second damsel came forward and, kissing the ground\nseven times before the King thy father, spake as follows, \"The sage\nLukm\u00e1n[336] said to his son, There be three who are known only in three\nseveral cases; the merciful man is unknown save in time of wrath, the\nbrave only in battle, and thy friend in time of need. It is said that\nthe oppressor shall be deprest though by people praised, and that the\nopprest is at rest though by people blamed. Quoth Allah Almighty,[337]\nAssuredly deem not that those who rejoice in what they have done, and\nwho love to be praised for what they have not done, shall escape\nreckoning of punishment: indeed there is reserved for them a grievous\npenalty. And he said[338] (on whom be salvation and salutation!):\u2014Works\nare according to intention and to each man is attributed that which he\nintendeth. He said also:\u2014In the body is a part which being sound the\nrest is sound, and which being unsound the whole is unsound. And this is\nthe heart. Now this heart is the most marvellous of what is in man,\nsince it is that which ordereth his whole affair: If covetise stir in\nit, desire destroyeth him; and if affliction master it, anguish slayeth\nhim; if anger rage in it, danger is hard upon him; if it be blest with\ncontentment, he is safe from discontent; if fear surprise it, he is full\nof mourning; and if calamity overtake it, affliction betideth him. If a\nman gain the use of wealth, peradventure he is diverted thereby from the\nremembrance of his Lord; if poverty choke him, his heart is distracted\nby woe, or if disquietude waste his heart, weakness causeth him to fall.\nThus, in any case, nothing profiteth him but that he be mindful of Allah\nand occupy himself with gaining his livelihood in this world and\nsecuring his place in the next. It was asked of a certain sage, Who is\nthe most ill-conditioned of men?; and he answered, The man whose lusts\nmaster his manhood and whose mind soareth over high, so that his\nknowledge dispreadeth and his excuse diminisheth; and how excellently\nsaith the poet:\u2014\n\n Freest am I of all mankind fro' meddling wight \u273f Who, seeing\n others err, self-error ne'er can sight:\n Riches and talents are but loans to creature lent; \u273f Each wears\n the cloak of that he bears in breast and sprite:\n If by mistaken door attempt on aught thou make, \u273f Thou shalt go\n wrong; and if the door be right, go right!\"\n\nContinued the maiden, \"As for anecdotes of devotees, quoth Hish\u00e1m bin\nBashar:\u2014I asked Omar bin Ubayd, What is true piety?; and he answered,\nThe Apostle of Allah (to whom be salutation and salvation!) hath\nexplained it when he sayeth, The pious is he who forgetteth not the\ngrave nor calamity and who preferreth that which endureth to that which\npasseth away; who counteth not the morrow as of his days but reckoneth\nhimself among the dead. And it is related that Abu Zarr[339] used to\nsay, Want is dearer to me than wealth, and unheal is dearer to me than\nhealth. Quoth one of the listeners, May Allah have mercy on Abu Zarr!\nFor my part, I say, Whoso putteth his trust in the goodness of the\nelection of Almighty Allah should be content with that condition which\nAllah hath chosen for him. Quoth one of the Companions of the Prophet,\nIbn Abi Aufa[340] once prayed with us the dawn-prayer. When he had done,\nhe recited, O Thou Enwrapped![341] till he came to where Allah saith,\nWhen there shall be a trumping on the trumpet, and fell down dead. It is\nsaid that Sabit al-Ban\u00e1ni wept till he well-nigh lost his eyes. They\nbrought him a man to medicine him who said to him, I will cure thee,\nprovided thou obey my bidding. Asked Sabit, In what matter? Quoth the\nleach, In that thou leave weeping! What is the worth of mine eyes?,\nrejoined Sabit, if they do not weep? Quoth a man to Mohammed bin\nAbdillah, Exhort thou me!\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-first Night,\n\nShe continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir\nDandan said to Zau al-Makan:\u2014Thus spake the second handmaid to the King\nwho hath found mercy, Omar bin al-Nu'uman. \"Quoth a man to Mohammed bin\nAbdillah, Exhort thou me! I exhort thee, replied he, to be a self-ruler,\nan abstainer in this world, and in the next a greedy slave. How so?\nasked the other and Mohammed answered, The abstinent man in this world\nconquereth both the world that is and the world to come. And quoth Ghaus\nbin Abdillah, There were two brothers among the sons of Israel, one of\nwhom said to the other, What be the most perilous[342] thing thou hast\ndone? Replied the brother, I once came upon a nest of young birds; so I\ntook out one and threw it back into the nest; but among the chickens\nwere some which drew apart from it. This is the most perilous thing I\never did; now what be the most perilous thing thou hast ever done? He\nrejoined, When I arise for prayer I am fearful that it is only for the\nsake of the reward. Now their father heard these words and exclaimed, O\nAllah, an say they sooth take them to Thyself! It was declared by one of\nthe wise men, Verily, these were of the most virtuous of children. Quoth\nSa'id bin Jubayr,[343] I was once in company with Fuzalah bin 'Ubayd and\nsaid to him, Exhort thou me! Replied he, Bear in mind these two\nnecessaries, Shun syntheism[344] and harm not any of Allah's creatures.\nAnd he repeated these two couplets:\u2014\n\n Be as thou wilt, for Allah still is bounteous Lord, \u273f\n And care-dispeller; dread not therefore bane and ban\n To two things only never draw thee nigh, nor give \u273f Partner to\n Allah, trouble to thy brother-man.\"\n\nAnd how well saith the poet:\u2014\n\n An thou of pious works a store neglect \u273f And after death meet one\n who _did_ collect,\n Thou shalt repent thou diddest not as he, \u273f Nor madest ready as he\n did elect.\"\n\nThen the third damsel came forward, after the second had withdrawn, and\nsaid, \"Of a truth, the chapter of piety is exceeding wide; but I will\nmention what occurreth to me thereof, concerning the pious of old. Quoth\na certain holy man, I congratulate myself in death, though I am not\nassured of rest therein, save that I know death interveneth between a\nman and his works; so I hope for the doubling of good works and the\ndocking off of ill works. And It\u00e1'a al-Salam\u00ed, when he had made an end\nof an exhortation, was wont to tremble and grieve and weep sore; and as\nthey asked him why he did this he answered, I desire to enter upon a\ngrave matter, and it is the standing up before Almighty Allah to do in\naccordance with my exhortation. In similar guise Zayn al-Abid\u00edn,[345]\nson of Al-Husayn, was wont to tremble when he rose to pray. Being asked\nthe cause of this, he replied, Know ye not before whom I stand and whom\nI address? It is said that there lived near Sufy\u00e1n al-Thauri[346] a\nblind man who, when the month of Ramaz\u00e1n came, went out with the folk to\npray,[347] but remained silent and hung back. Said Sufyan, On the Day of\nResurrection he shall come with the people of the Koran and they will be\ndistinguished by increase of honour from their fellows. Quoth Sufyan,\nWere the soul established in the heart as befitteth, it would fly away\nfor joy and pining for Paradise, and for grief and fear of hell-fire. It\nis related also of Sufyan al-Thauri that he said, To look upon the face\nof a tyrant is a sin.\" Then the third damsel retired and came forward\nthe fourth, who said, \"Here am I to treat of sundry traditions of pious\nmen which suggest themselves to me. It is related that Bishr\nBarefoot[348] said, I once heard Kh\u00e1lid say, Beware of secret\npolytheism. I asked, What may secret polytheism be?; and he answered,\nWhen one of you in praying prolong his inclinations and prostrations\ntill a cause of impurity[349] come upon him. And one of the sages said,\nDoing works of weal expiateth what is ill. Quoth Ibrahim,[350] I\nsupplicated Bishr Barefoot to acquaint me with some theological\nmysteries; but he said, O my son, this knowledge it behoveth us not to\nteach to every one; of every hundred five, even as the legal alms upon\nmoney. Said Ibrahim, I thought his reply excellent and approved of it\nand while I was praying behold, Bishr was also praying: so I stood\nbehind him[351] making the prayer-bow till the Mu'ezzin called his call.\nThen rose a man of tattered appearance and said, O folk, beware of a\ntruth which bringeth unweal, for there is no harm in a lie bringing\nweal,[352] and in time of need no choice we heed: speech booteth not in\nthe absence of good qualities even as silence hurteth not in the\npresence of good. Presently I saw Bishr drop a danik,[353] so I picked\nit up and exchanged it for a dirham which I gave him. Quoth he, I will\nnot take it. Quoth I, It is perfectly lawful change; but he rejoined I\ncannot take in exchange the riches of the present world for those of the\nfuture world. It is related also that Bishr Barefoot's sister once went\nto Ahmad bin Hanbal\"[354]\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-second Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\ncontinued to bespeak Zau al-Makan on this wise:\u2014And quoth the maiden to\nthy father, \"Bishr Barefoot's sister once went to Ahmad bin Hanbal and\nsaid to him, O Imam of the Faith, we are a family that spin thread by\nnight and work for our living by day; and oftentimes the cressets of the\nwatch of Baghdad pass by and we on the roof spinning by their light. Is\nthis forbidden to us? Asked Ahmad:\u2014Who art thou? I am the sister of\nBishr Barefoot, answered she. Rejoined the Imam, O household of Bishr, I\nshall never cease to drink full draughts of piety from your hearts.\nQuoth one of the sages, When Allah willeth well to His servant He\nopeneth upon him the gate of action. Malik bin Din\u00e1r,[355] when he\npassed through the bazar and saw aught he desired, was wont to say:\u2014O\nsoul, take patience, for I will not accord to thee what thou desirest.\nHe said also (Allah accept him!), The salvation of the soul lies in\nresistance to it and its damnation in submission to it. Quoth Mans\u00far bin\nAmm\u00e1r,[356] I made a pilgrimage and was faring Meccahwards by way of\nCufa, and the night was overcast, when I heard a voice crying out from\nthe deeps of the darkness saying, O Allah, I swear by Thy Greatness and\nThy Glory, I meant not through my disobedience to transgress against\nThee; for indeed I am not ignorant of Thee; but my fault is one Thou\ndidst foreordain to me from eternity without beginning;[357] so do Thou\npardon my transgression, for indeed I disobeyed Thee of my ignorance!\nWhen he had made an end of his prayer he recited aloud the verse, O true\nbelievers, save your souls and those of your families from the fire\nwhose fuel is men and stones.[358] Then I heard a fall, but not knowing\nwhat it was I passed on. When the morning morrowed, as we went our way,\nbehold, we fell in with a funeral-train, followed by an old woman whose\nstrength had left her. I asked her of the dead, and she answered:\u2014This\nis the funeral of a man who passed by us yesterday whilst my son was\nstanding at prayer and after his prayers he recited a verse from the\nBook of Allah Almighty when the man's gall-bladder burst and he fell\ndead.\" Therewith the fourth damsel retired and the fifth came forward\nand said, \"I here will also repeat what occurreth to me regarding the\nacts of devotees in olden time. Maslamah bin Din\u00e1r used to say:\u2014By\nmaking sound the secret thoughts, sins great and small are covered; and,\nwhen the servant of Allah is resolved to leave sinning, victory cometh\nto him. Also quoth he, Every worldly good which doth not draw one nearer\nto Allah is a calamity, for a little of this world distracteth from a\nmickle of the world to come and a mickle of the present maketh thee\nforget the whole of the future. It was asked of Ab\u00fa H\u00e1zim,[359] Who is\nthe most prosperous of men?; and he answered, Whoso spendeth his life in\nsubmission to Allah. The other enquired, And who is the most foolish of\nmankind? Whoso selleth his future for the worldly goods of others,\nreplied Abu H\u00e1zim. It is reported of Moses[360] (on whom be peace!) that\nwhen he came to the waters of Midian he exclaimed:\u2014O Lord, verily I\nstand in need of the good which thou shalt send down to me.[361] And he\nasked of his Lord and not of his folk. There came two damsels and he\ndrew water for them both and allowed not the shepherds to draw first.\nWhen the twain returned, they informed their father Shu'ayb (on whom be\npeace!) who said, Haply, he is hungry, adding to one of them, Go back to\nhim and bid him hither. Now when she came to Moses, she veiled her face\nand said, My father biddeth thee to him that he may pay thee thy wage\nfor having drawn water for us. Moses was averse to this and was not\nwilling to follow her. Now she was a woman large in the back parts, and\nthe wind blowing upon her garment[362] discovered the hinder cheeks to\nMoses; which when Moses saw, he lowered his eyes and said to her, Get\nthee behind while I walk in front. So she followed him till he entered\nthe house of Shu'ayb where supper was ready,\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\ncontinued to Zau al-Makan:\u2014Now, quoth the fifth damsel to thy sire,\n\"When Moses (on whom be peace!) entered the home of Shu'ayb where supper\nwas ready, Shu'ayb said to him, O Moses, I desire to pay thee thy wage\nfor having drawn water for these two. But Moses answered, I am of a\nhousehold which selleth nothing of the fashion of the next world[363]\nfor what is on earth of gold and silver.\" Then quoth Shu'ayb, O youth!\nnevertheless thou art my guest, and it is my wont and that of my\nforbears to honour the guest by setting food before him. So Moses sat\ndown and ate. Then Shu'ayb hired Moses for eight pilgrimages, that is to\nsay, eight years, and made his wage marriage with one of his two\ndaughters, and Moses' service to him was to stand for her dowry. As\nsaith the Holy Writ of him:\u2014Verily I will give thee one of these my two\ndaughters in marriage, on condition that thou serve me for hire eight\npilgrimages: and if thou fulfil ten years, it is in thine own breast;\nfor I seek not to impose a hardship on thee.[364] A certain man once\nsaid to one of his friends whom he had not met for many days:\u2014Thou hast\nmade me desolate, for that I have not seen thee this long while. Quoth\nthe other, I have been distracted from thee by Ibn Shih\u00e1b: dost thou\nknow him? Quoth his friend, Yes, he hath been my neighbour these thirty\nyears, but I have never spoken to him. He replied, Verily thou\nforgettest Allah in forgetting thy neighbour! If thou lovedst Allah thou\nwouldst love thy neighbour. Knowest thou not that a neighbour hath a\nclaim upon his neighbour,[365] even as the right of kith and kin? Said\nHuzayfah, \"We entered Meccah with Ibr\u00e1h\u00edm bin Adham, and Shakik\nal-Balkh\u00ed was also making a pilgrimage that year. Now we met whilst\ncircumambulating the Ka'abah and Ibrahim said to Shakik, What is your\nfashion in your country? Replied Shakik, When we are blest with our\ndaily bread we eat, and when we hunger we take patience. This wise, said\nIbrahim, do the dogs of Balkh; but we, when blest with plenty, do honour\nto Allah and when an-hungered we thank Him. And Shakik seated himself\nbefore Ibrahim and said to him, Thou art my master. Also said Mohammed\nbin Imr\u00e1n, A man once asked of H\u00e1tim the Deaf[366] What maketh thee to\ntrust in Allah? Two things, answered he, I know that none save myself\nshall eat my daily bread, so my heart is at rest as to that; and I know\nthat I was not created without the knowledge of Allah, and am abashed\nbefore Him.\" Then the fifth damsel retired and the ancient dame came\nforward and, kissing the ground before thy father nine times, said,\n\"Thou hast heard, O King, what these all have spoken on the subject of\npiety; and I will follow their example in relating what hath reached me\nof the famous men of past times. It is said that the Imam al-Sh\u00e1fi'\u00ed\ndeparted the night into three portions, the first for study, the second\nfor sleep and the third for prayer. The Imam Ab\u00fa Han\u00edfah[367] was wont\nalso to pass half the night in prayer. One day a man pointed him out to\nanother, as he walked by and remarked, Yonder man watcheth the whole\nnight. When he heard this Abu Hanifah said, I was abashed before Allah\nto hear myself praised for what was not in me; so after this he used to\nwatch the whole night. And one of the Sages hath said:\u2014\n\n Who seeketh for pearl in the Deep dives deep; \u273f Who on high would\n hie robs his night of sleep.\n\nAl-Rab\u00ed a relates that Al-Shafi'i used to recite the whole Koran seventy\ntimes during the month of Ramaz\u00e1n, and that in his daily prayers. Quoth\nAl-Shafi'i (Allah accept him!), During ten years I never ate my fill of\nbarley-bread, for fullness hardeneth the heart and deadeneth the wit and\ninduceth sleep and enfeebleth one from standing up to pray.[368] It is\nreported of Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Sakr\u00e1 that he said, I was once\ntalking with Omar and he observed to me, Never saw I a more God-fearing\nor eloquent man than Mohammed bin Idris al-Sh\u00e1fi'\u00ed. It so happened I\nwent out one day with Al-H\u00e1ris bin Lab\u00edb al-Saff\u00e1r, who was a disciple\nof Al-Muzani[369] and had a fine voice and he read the saying of the\nAlmighty:\u2014This shall be a day whereon they shall not speak to any\npurpose, nor shall they be permitted to excuse themselves.[370] I saw\nAl-Shafi'i's colour change; his skin shuddered with horripilation, he\nwas violently moved and he fell down in a fainting fit. When he revived\nhe said, I take refuge with Allah from the stead of the liars and the\nlot of the negligent! O Allah, before whom the hearts of the wise abase\nthemselves, O Allah, of Thy beneficence accord to me the remission of my\nsins, adorn me with the curtain of Thy protection and pardon me my\nshortcomings, by the magnanimity of Thy Being! Then I rose and went\naway. Quoth one of the pious, When I entered Baghdad, Al-Shafi'i was\nthere. So I sat down on the river-bank to make the ablution before\nprayer; and behold, there passed me one who said, O youth, make thy\nWuzu-ablution well and Allah will make it well for thee in this world\nand in the next. I turned and lo! there was a man behind whom came a\ncompany of people. So I hastened to finish my ablution and followed him.\nPresently, he turned and asked me, Say, dost thou want aught? Yes,\nanswered I; I desire that thou teach me somewhat of that which Allah\nAlmighty hath taught thee. He said, Know then that whoso believeth in\nAllah shall be saved, and whoso jealously loveth his faith shall be\ndelivered from destruction, and whoso practiseth abstinence in this\nworld, his eyes shall be solaced on the morrow of death. Shall I tell\nthee any more? I replied, Assuredly; and he continued, Be thou of the\nworld that is, heedless; and of the world to come, greediest. Be\ntruthful in all thy dealings, and thou shalt be saved with the\nSalvationists. Then he went on and I asked about him and was told that\nhe was the Imam Al-Shafi'i. Al-Shafi'i was wont to remark, I love to see\nfolk profit by this learning of mine, on condition that nothing of it be\nattributed to me.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-fourth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\ncontinued to Zau al-Makan:\u2014The old woman bespake thy sire, saying, \"The\nImam Al-Shafi'i was wont to remark, I love to see folk profit by this\nlearning of mine on condition that nothing of it be attributed to me. He\nalso said:\u2014I never disputed with any one, but I would that Almighty\nAllah should give him the knowledge of the Truth and aid him to dispread\nit: nor did I ever dispute with anyone at all but for the showing forth\nof the Truth, and I reck not whether Allah manifest it by my tongue or\nby His. He said also (whom Allah accept!), if thou fear to grow\nconceited of thy lore, then bethink thee Whose grace thou seekest and\nfor what good thou yearnest and what punishment thou dreadest. It was\ntold to Abu Han\u00edfah that the Commander of the Faithful, Ab\u00fa Ja'afar\nal-Mans\u00far, had appointed him Kazi and ordered him a salary of ten\nthousand dirhams; but he would not accept of this; and, when the day\ncame on which the money was to be paid him, he prayed the dawn-prayer,\nthen covered his head with his robe and spoke not. When the Caliph's\nmessenger came with the money, he went in to the Imam and accosted him,\nbut he would not speak to him. So the messenger said, Verily this money\nis lawfully thine. I know that it is lawfully mine, replied he: but I\nabhor that the love of tyrants get a hold upon my heart.[371] Asked the\nother, If thou go in to them canst thou not guard thyself from loving\nthem. Answered Abu Hanifah, Can I look to enter the sea without my\nclothes being wet? Another of Al-Shafi'i's sayings (Allah accept him!)\nis:\u2014\n\n Oh soul of me, an thou accept my rede, \u273f Thou shalt be wealthy and\n of grace entire:\n Cast off ambitious hopes and vain desires; \u273f How many a death was\n done by vain desire!\"\n\nAmong the sayings of Sufy\u00e1n al-Thaur\u00ed, with which he admonished Ali bin\nal-Hasan al-Salam\u00ed was, Be thou a man of truth and 'ware lies and\ntreachery and hypocrisy and pride. Be not indebted save to Him who is\nmerciful to His debtors; and let thine associate be one who shall\ndissociate thee from the world. Be ever mindful of death and be constant\nin craving pardon of Allah and in beseeching of Allah peace for what\nremaineth of thy life. Counsel every True Believer, when he asketh thee\nconcerning the things of his faith; and beware of betraying a Believer,\nfor whoso betrayeth a Believer, betrayeth Allah and His Apostle. Avoid\ndissensions and litigation; and leave that which causeth doubt in thee\nfor things which breed no doubt:[372] so shalt thou be at peace. Enjoin\nbeneficence and forbid malevolence: so shalt thou be loved of Allah.\nAdorn thine inner man and Allah shall adorn thine outer man. Accept the\nexcuse of him who excuseth self to thee and hate not any one of the\nMoslems. Draw near unto those who withdraw from thee and excuse those\nthat misuse thee: so shalt thou be the friend of the Prophets. Let thine\naffairs, both public and private, be in Allah's charge, and fear Him\nwith the fear of one who knoweth he is dead and who fareth towards\nResurrection and Judgement-stead between the hands of the Lord of Dread;\nand remember that to one of two houses thou art sped, either for Heavens\neterne or to the Hell fires that burn.\" Thereupon the old woman sat down\nbeside the damsels. Now when thy father, who hath found mercy, heard\ntheir discourse, he knew that they were the most accomplished of the\npeople of their time; and, seeing their beauty and loveliness and the\nextent of their wisdom and lore, he showed them all favour. Moreover, he\nturned to the ancient dame and treated her with honour, and set apart\nfor her and her damsels the palace which had lodged Princess Abrizah,\ndaughter of the King of Greece, to which he bade carry all the luxuries\nthey needed. They abode with him ten days and the old woman abode with\nthem; and, whenever the King visited them, he found her absorbed in\nprayer, watching by night and fasting by day; whereby love of her took\nhold upon his heart and he said to me, \"O Wazir, verily this old woman\nis of the pious, and awe of her is strong in my heart.\" Now on the\neleventh day, the King visited her, that he might pay her the price of\nthe damsels; but she said to him, \"O King, know that the price of these\nmaidens surpasseth the competence of men; indeed I seek not for them\neither gold or silver or jewels, be it little or much.\" Now when thy\nfather heard these words he wondered and asked her, \"O my lady and what\nis their price?\"; whereto she answered, \"I will not sell them to thee\nsave on condition that thou fast, watching by night a whole month, and\nabstaining by day, all for the love of Allah Almighty; and, if thou do\nthis, they are thy property to use in thy palace as thou please. So the\nKing wondered at the perfection of her rectitude and piety and\nabnegation; she was magnified in his eyes and he said, \"Allah make this\npious woman to profit us!\" Then he agreed with her to fast for a month\nas she had stipulated, and she said to him, \"I will help thee with the\nprayers I pray for thee and now bring me a gugglet of water.\" They\nbrought one and she took it and recited over it and muttered spells, and\nsat for an hour speaking in speech no one understood or knew aught\nthereof. Lastly she covered it with a cloth and, sealing it with her\nsignet-ring, gave it to thy sire, saying, \"When thou hast fasted the\nfirst ten days, break thy fast on the eleventh night with what is in\nthis gugglet, for it will root out the love of the world from thy heart\nand fill it with light and faith. As for me to-morrow I will go forth to\nmy brethren, the Invisible[373] Controuls, for I yearn after them, and I\nwill return to thee when the first ten days are past.\" Thy father took\nthe gugglet and arose and set it apart in a closet of his palace, then\nlocked the door and put the key in his pocket. Next day the King fasted\nand the old woman went her ways. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\nthus continued to Zau al-Makan:\u2014Now when came the day for the Sultan's\nfast, the old woman went her ways. And after he had accomplished the ten\ndays thereof, on the eleventh he opened the gugglet and drank what was\ntherein and found it cordial to his stomach. Within the second ten days\nof the month the old woman returned, bringing sweetmeats wrapped in a\ngreen leaf, like no leaf of known tree. She went in to thy sire and\nsaluted him; and, when he saw her, he rose to her saying, \"Welcome, O\npious lady!\" \"O King,\" quoth she, \"the Invisible Controuls salute thee,\nfor I told them of thee, and they rejoiced in thee and have sent thee\ntheir Halw\u00e1,[374] which is of the sweetmeats of the other world. Do thou\nbreak thy fast on it at the end of the day.\" The King rejoiced at this\nwith great joy, and exclaimed, \"Praised be Allah, who hath given me\nbrethren of the Invisible World!\" Thereupon he thanked the ancient dame\nand kissed her hands; and he honoured her and the damsels with exceeding\nhonour. She went forth for the twenty days of thy father's fast, at the\nend of which time she came to him and said, \"Know, O King, that I told\nthe Invisible Controuls of the love which is between me and thee, and\ninformed them how I had left the maidens with thee, and they were glad\nthat the damsels should belong to a King like thee; for they were wont,\nwhen they saw them, to be strenuous in offering on their behalf prayers\nand petitions ever granted. So I would fain carry them to the Invisible\nControuls that they may benefit by the breath of their favour, and\nperadventure, they shall not return to thee without some treasure of the\ntreasures of the earth, that thou, after completing thy fast, mayst\noccupy thyself with their raiment and help thyself by the money they\nshall bring thee, to the extent of thy desires.\" When thy sire heard her\nwords, he thanked her for them and said, \"Except that I fear to cross\nthee, I would not accept the treasure or aught else; but when wilt thou\nset out with them?\" Replied she, \"On the seven-and-twentieth night; and\nI will bring them back to thee at the head of the month, by which time\nthou wilt have accomplished thy fast and they will have had their\ncourses and be free from impurity; and they shall become thine and be at\nthy disposal. By Allah, each damsel of them is worth many times thy\nkingdom!\" He said, \"I know it, O pious lady!\" Then quoth the old woman,\n\"There is no help but that thou send with them someone in thy palace who\nis dear to thee, that she may find solace and seek a blessing of the\nInvisible Controuls.\" Quoth he, \"I have a Greek slave called Sophia, by\nwhom I have been blessed with two children, a girl and a boy; but they\nwere lost years ago. Take her with thee that she may get the\nblessing.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-sixth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan\ncontinued to Zau al-Makan:\u2014Quoth thy sire to the ancient woman when she\ndemanded the handmaids of him, \"I have a Greek slave called Sophia, by\nwhom I have been blest with two children, a girl and a boy, but they\nwere lost years ago; so take her with thee, haply she may get the\nbenediction and, belike, the Invisible Controuls will sue Allah for her\nthat her two children may be restored to her.\" \"Thou hast said well,\"\nreplied she; \"for that indeed was her grievousest want.\" Thy sire gave\nnot over finishing his fast till the old woman said to him, \"O my son, I\nam going to the Invisible Controuls; so bring me Sophia.\" Accordingly,\nhe summoned her and she came forthright, and he delivered her to the old\nwoman who mixed her up with the other damsels. Then she went in to her\nchamber and bringing out a sealed cup, presented it to the Sultan\nsaying, \"On the thirtieth day, do thou repair to the Hammam and when\nthou comest out, enter one of the closets in thy palace and drink what\nis in this cup. Then sleep, and thou shalt attain what thou seekest, and\npeace be with thee!\" Thereat the King was glad and thanked her and\nkissed her hands. Quoth she, \"I commend thee to Allah's care;\" whereat\nquoth he, \"And when shall I see thee again, O pious lady? In very sooth\nI love not to part with thee.\" Then she called down blessings on him and\ndeparted with the five damsels and the Queen; whilst the King fasted\nafter her departure other three days, till the month ended, when he\narose and went to the Hammam and coming out, shut himself up in a closet\nof his palace, commanding that none should go in to him. There, after\nmaking fast the door, he drank what was in the cup and lay down to\nsleep; and we sat awaiting him till the end of the day, but he did not\ncome out and we said, \"Perchance he is tired with the bath and with\nwatching by night and fasting by day; wherefore he sleepeth.\" So we\nwaited till next day; but still he did not come forth. Then we stood at\nthe closet-door and cried aloud so haply he might awake and ask what was\nthe matter. But nothing came of that; so at last we lifted up the\ndoor;[375] and, going in, found him dead, with his flesh torn into\nstrips and bits and his bones broken.[376] When we saw him in this\ncondition it was grievous to us, and we took up the cup and found within\nits cover a piece of paper whereon was inscribed, \"Whoso doeth evil\nleaveth no regrets, and this be the reward of him who playeth traitor\nwith the daughters of Kings and who debaucheth them; and we make known\nto all who fall upon this scroll that Sharrkan, when he came to our\ncountry, seduced our Queen Abrizah; nor did that suffice him but he must\nneeds take her from us and bring her to you. Then he[377] sent her away\nin company of a black slave who slew her, and we found her lying dead on\nthe desert sward and thrown out to wild beasts. This be no kingly deed,\nand he who did this is requited with naught but what he merited. So do\nye suspect none of having killed him, for no one slew him but the\ncunning witch, whose name is Zat al-Dawahi. And behold, I have taken the\nKing's wife, Sophia, and have carried her to her father, Afridun King of\nConstantinople. Moreover, there is no help for it but that we wage war\nupon you and kill you and take your country from you, and ye shall be\ncut off even to the last man, nor shall a living soul be spared by Death\nnor one who bloweth fire with his breath, save he who Cross and\nBelt[378] worshippeth.\" When we read this paper, we knew that the\nancient woman had beguiled us and carried out her plot against us:\nwhereupon we cried aloud and buffeted our faces and wept sore when\nweeping availed us naught. And the troops fell out as to whom they\nshould make Sultan; some would have thee, and others would have thy\nbrother Sharrkan; and we ceased not to dispute about this for the space\nof a month, at the end of which certain of us drew together and agreed\nto repair to thy brother Sharrkan: so we set out and journeyed on till\nwe fell in with thee. And such is the manner of the death of Sultan Omar\nbin al-Nu'uman! Now when the Wazir Dandan had made an end of his story,\nZau al-Makan and his sister, Nuzhat al-Zaman, wept; and the Chamberlain,\nwho wept also, said to Zau al-Makan, \"O King, weeping will avail thee\nnaught; nor shall aught profit thee but that thou harden thy heart and\nstrengthen thy stress and stablish thy sovranty; for verily whoso\nleaveth the like of thee is not dead.\" Thereupon Zau al-Makan gave over\nhis weeping and caused his throne to be set up without the pavilion, and\nthen commanded the army to pass in review-order before him. And the\nChamberlain sat by his side and all the armour-bearers[379] behind him,\nwhilst the Wazir Dandan and the rest of the Emirs and Grandees stood\neach in his dividual stead. Then quoth King Zau al-Makan to the Minister\nDandan, \"Inform me concerning my sire's treasures;\" and he replied, \"I\nhear and I obey;\" and gave him to know of the late King's hoards and\nmonies, and what was in the treasury of amassed wealth and jewels, and\nacquainted him with other precious things. So Zau al-Makan opened his\nhand to the army, and gave a sumptuous robe of honour to the Wazir\nDandan, saying, \"Thou continuest in office.\" Whereupon Dandan kissed the\nground before him and wished him long life. Then he bestowed dresses on\nthe Emirs, after which he said to the Chamberlain, \"Bring out before me\nthe tribute of Damascus that is with thee.\" So he was shown the chests\nof money and rarities and jewels, when he took them and parted them all\namongst the troops,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Zau al-Makan\nordered the Chamberlain to bring out before him what he had brought of\nthe tribute of Damascus; and, when he was shown the chests of money and\nrarities and jewels, he took them and parted them all amongst the\ntroops, till nothing was left. And the Emirs kissed the ground before\nhim and wished him long life, saying, \"Never saw we a King, who gave the\nlike of these gifts.\" Then all went away to their tents and when it was\nmorning he gave orders for marching. So they marched for three days,\ntill, on the fourth day, they drew near to Baghdad. When they entered\nthe city, they found it decorated, and Zau al-Makan, the Sultan, went up\nto his father's palace and sat down on the throne, whilst the Emirs of\nthe army and the Wazir Dandan and the Chamberlain of Damascus stood\nbetween his hands. Then he bade his private secretary write a writ to\nhis brother Sharrkan, acquainting him with all that had passed, from\nfirst to last, and he concluded, \"As soon as thou hast read this letter,\nmake ready thine affair and join us with thine army, that we may turn to\nHoly War upon the Infidels and take man-bote for our father and wipe out\nthe stain upon our honour.\" Then he folded the letter and sealed it with\nhis seal-ring and said to the Minister Dandan, \"None shall carry this\nletter but thou; and it behoveth thee speak my brother fair and say to\nhim:\u2014If thou have a mind to thy father's kingdom, it is thine, and thy\nbrother shall be Viceroy for thee in Damascus; for to this effect am I\ninstructed by him.\" So the Wazir went down from before him and made\nready for his march. Then Zau al-Makan bade set apart a magnificent\nhouse for the Fireman and furnished it with the best of furniture and\nlong is the tale of that Fireman.[380] Presently Zau al-Makan went out\nchasing and hunting and, as he was returning to Baghdad, one of the\nEmirs presented him with blood-horses and with beauteous handmaids whose\ndescription the tongue evades. One of the damsels pleased him: so he\nwent in unto her and knew her that night, and she conceived by him\nforthright. After a while, the Wazir Dandan returned from his journey,\nbringing him news of his brother Sharrkan and that he was then on his\nway to him, and said, \"It were fitting thou go forth to meet him.\" Zau\nal-Makan replied, \"I hear and I consent;\" and, riding forth with his\nGrandees a day's journey from Baghdad, he pitched his pavilions there\nawaiting his brother. Next morning appeared King Sharrkan amid the army\nof Syria, a horseman of might, a lion fierce in fight, a prow and\ndoughty knight. As the squadrons drew nigh and the dust-clouds came hard\nby and the troops rode up with banners on high, Zau al-Makan and those\nwith him pushed forward to meet Sharrkan and his men; and when Zau\nal-Makan saw his brother, he desired to dismount, but Sharrkan conjured\nhim not to do on this wise, and himself footed it, and walked a few\npaces towards him.[381] As soon as he reached Zau al-Makan, the new\nSultan threw himself upon him, and Sharrkan embraced him and wept with\ngreat weeping and the twain condoled with each other. Then they mounted\nand rode onward, they and their troops, till they reached Baghdad, where\nthey alighted and went up to the royal palace and there they passed that\nnight, and when next morning came, Zau al-Makan went forth and bade\nsummon the troops from all parts, and proclaimed a Holy War and a\nRazzia.[382] They then awaited the coming of the levies from each\nquarter of the kingdom, and every one who came they entreated with\nhonour and promised him all manner of good; till in so doing a full\nmonth had sped, and the fighting men flocked to them in a continuous\nbody. Then Sharrkan said to Zau al-Makan, \"O my brother, tell me thy\nhistory.\" So he told him all that had befallen him from first to last,\nincluding the benevolent dealing of the Fireman with him. Asked\nSharrkan, \"Hast thou requited his kindness?\"; and he answered, \"O my\nbrother! I have not rewarded him as yet, but Inshallah! I will\nrecompense him whenas I return from this raid.\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived\nthe dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-eighth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan asked his\nbrother Zau al-Makan, \"Hast thou requited the Fireman for his\nkindness?\"; and he answered, \"O my brother, I have not rewarded him as\nyet, but Inshallah! I will recompense him whenas I return from this raid\nand find time so to do.\" Therewith Sharrkan was certified that his\nsister, Nuzhat al-Zaman, had told him the whole truth; but he concealed\nwhat had passed between them and offered his salutation to her by her\nhusband the Chamberlain. She sent him back her greeting, calling down\nblessings on him and enquiring after her daughter Kuzia-Fakan, to which\nhe replied that the maiden was well and in the best of health and\nsafety. Whereupon she praised Almighty Allah and gave him thanks. Then\nSharrkan went to his brother to take counsel with him for departure; and\nZau al-Makan said, \"O my brother, as soon as the army is complete and\nthe Arabs have come in from all parts, we will march forth.\" So he bade\nmake ready the commissariat and prepare munitions of war and went in to\nhis wife, who was now five months gone with child; and he put under her\nastrologers and mathematicians, to whom he appointed stipends and\nallowances. Then he set out three months after the arrival of the army\nof Syria, and as soon as the Arabs were come in and the troops were\nassembled from all directions; and, as he fared forth, he was followed\nby the warriors and the united host. Now the name of the General of the\nDaylam army was Rustam and that of the General of the army of the\nTurks[383] Bahram. And Zau al-Makan marched in mid-host and on his right\nwas his brother Sharrkan, and on his left the Chamberlain his\nbrother-in-law. So the squadrons broke up and pushed forward and the\nbattalions and companies filed past in battle-array, till the whole army\nwas in motion. They ceased not to fare on for the space of a month, and\neach body dismounted at its own ground and there rested every week three\ndays (for the host was great); and they advanced in this order till they\ncame to the country of the Greeks. Then the people of the villages and\nhamlets and the poorer sort took fright at them and fled to\nConstantinople. But when King Afridun heard the tidings he arose and\nbetook himself to Zat al-Dawahi, the same who had contrived the\nstratagem, and had travelled to Baghdad and had slain King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman; and who, after carrying off her slaves and Queen Sophia, had\nreturned with them all to her native land. Now when she had been\nrestored to her son, the King of Greece, and felt herself safe, she said\nto King Hardub, \"Cool thine eyes; for I have avenged by blood the shame\nof thy daughter Abrizah, and have killed Omar bin al-Nu'uman and have\nbrought back Sophia. So now let us go to the King of Constantinople and\ncarry to him his daughter and acquaint him with what hath happened, that\nall of us be on guard and prepare our forces; and I will fare with thee\nto King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, for I opine that the Moslems\nwill not await our attack.\" Said Hardub, \"Tarry thou till they draw near\nour country, that we may make us ready meantime and assemble our power.\"\nAccordingly they took to levying their forces and preparing for war,\nand, when the news of the Moslems' advance reached them, they were\nprepared for defence; and Zat al-Dawahi had preceded them. Now when she\nand her son arrived at Constantinople, the King of Kings, Afridun,\nhearing of the approach of Hardub, King of the Greeks, came forth to\nmeet him and asked how it was with him and the cause of his visit. So\nHardub acquainted him with the cunning doings of his mother, Zat\nal-Dawahi, how she had slain the Moslem King and recovered from him\nQueen Sophia, and had said, \"The Moslems have assembled their forces and\nare on their way to attack us, wherefore it behoveth that we two join\nhands in single band and meet them.\" Now King Afridun rejoiced in the\nreturn of his daughter and the killing of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; and\nhe sent to all countries seeking succour and acquainting the folk with\nthe cause of slaying the Moslem King. So the Nazarene troops flocked to\nhim and three months were not past ere the army of the Greeks was\ncomplete, besides which there joined themselves to him Franks from all\ntheir lands, French, Germans[384] and Ragusans,[385] with men of\nZara,[386] Venetians, Genoese, and all the hosts of the Yellow\nFaces[387]; and, when the gathering was at its full, earth was\nstraitened on them by reason of their multitude. Then Afridun, the Great\nKing, ordered a march; so they set out and ceased not to defile through\nthe city for ten days. They fared on till they reached the Wady hight Al\nNu'uman, a broad-sided vale hard by the Salt Sea, where they halted\nthree days; and on the fourth they were about to set out again, when\nnews came that the army of Al-Islam on them prest, and the defenders of\nthe faith of Mohammed, of Men the Best. So they halted in it other three\ndays, and on the eighth they espied a dust-cloud which towered till it\nwalled the whole land; nor was an hour of the day past ere that dust\nbegan to drift and was torn to shreds in the lift, and pierced through\nits shades the starry radiance of lance and the white leven of blades.\nPresently there appeared beneath it the banners Islamitan and the\nensigns Mahometan; the horsemen urged forward, like the letting loose of\nseas that surged, clad in mail, as they were mackerel-back clouds which\nthe moon enveil; whereupon the two hosts clashed, like two torrents on\neach other dashed. Eyes fell upon eyes; and the first to seek combat\nsingular was the Wazir Dandan, he and the army of Syria, numbering\nthirty thousand bridles, and with him were the General of the Turks, and\nthe General of Daylam, Rustam and Bahram, amid twenty thousand horse,\nbehind whom came the men from the shores of the Salt Sea, clad in iron\nmail, as they were full moons that past through a night o'ercast. Then\nthe Nazarene host called out on Jesus and Mary, and the defiled[388]\nCross and they heaped themselves upon the Wazir Dandan and those with\nhim of the Syrian host. Now all this was in pursuance of a stratagem\ndevised by that ancient woman Zat al-Dawahi; for, before his departure,\nKing Afridun had gone in to her and asked her, \"How shall I do and what\nplan shall I pursue?; it is thou hast caused this great distress to us;\"\nand she had answered, \"O great King and mighty Cohen![389] I will teach\nthee a trick would baffle Iblis himself, though he summon to his\nassistance all his grisly hosts.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Eighty-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, all this was a\nstratagem of the ancient woman, for that the King before his departure\nhad gone to her and asked, \"How shall I do and what plan shall I pursue?\nit is thou hast caused this great distress to us!\" And she had answered,\n\"O great King and mighty Cohen, I will teach thee a trick would baffle\nthe Devil himself though he summon to his assistance all his grisly\nhosts. It is that thou send fifty thousand men going down in ships, and\nsailing over the sea to the Mountain of Smoke; and there let them land\nand stir not till the standards of Al-Islam come upon thee, when do thou\nup and at them. Then bid the troops from the seaward sally out upon the\nMoslems and take them in rear, whilst we confront them from the\nlandward. So not one of them shall escape, and our sorrows shall cease\nand peace abide with us.\" Now the counsel of this ancient woman\ncommended itself to King Afridun, and he replied, \"Right is the recking\nthou reckest, O Princess of wits and recourse of Kings and Cohens\nwarring for their blood-wit!\" So when the army of Al-Islam came upon\nthem in that valley, before they knew of it the flames began to burn up\nthe tents and the swords in men's bodies to make rents. Then hurried up\nthe army of Baghdad and Khorasan who numbered one hundred and twenty\nthousand horse, with Zau al-Makan in the front of war. When the host of\nthe Infidels that lay by the sea saw them, they sallied out against them\nand followed in their tracks; and when Zau al-Makan espied this he cried\nout to his men, \"Turn back to the Infidels, O People of the Chosen\nApostle, and slay those who deny and hate the authority of the\nCompassionating, the Compassionate!\" So they turned and fought with the\nChristians. Then Sharrkan marched up with another corps of the Moslem\nhost, some hundred thousand men, whilst the Infidels numbered nigh upon\na thousand and six hundred thousand men. When the Moslems were united,\ntheir hearts were strengthened and they cried out, saying, \"Verily Allah\nhath promised us victory, and to the Infidels hath assigned defeat.\" And\nthey clashed together with sword and spear. Now Sharrkan tare through\nrank and row and raged among the masses of the foe, fighting so fierce a\nfight as to make children grey grow; nor did he cease tourneying among\nthe infidel horde and working havoc among them with the keen-edged\nsword, shouting \"Allaho Akbar!\"\u2014Allah is Most Great\u2014till he drove back\nthe host to the coast. Then failed the force of the foe and Allah gave\nvictory to the faith of Al-Islam, and folk fought folk, drunken without\nstrong drink, till they slew of the Infidels in this affair forty and\nfive thousand, while of the Moslems but three thousand and five hundred\nfell. Moreover, the Lion of the Faith, King Sharrkan, and his brother,\nZau al-Makan, slept not that night, but occupied themselves with\ncongratulating their braves and with looking to the wounded and with\nassuring the army of victory and salvation and promise of reward in the\nworld to come. Thus far concerning the Moslem; but as regards King\nAfridun, Lord of Constantinople and Sovran of Roum, and Zat al-Dawahi,\nthey assembled the Emirs of the host and said to them, \"Verily, we had\nworked our will and solaced our hearts, but our over-confidence in our\nnumbers, and that only, defeated us.\" Then quoth to them the ancient\none, the Lady of Calamities, \"In very sooth nought shall profit you,\nexcept ye draw you nigh unto the Messiah and put your trust in the True\nBelief; for, by the virtue of the Messiah, the whole strength of the\nMoslem host lieth in that Satan, King Sharrkan.\" \"To-morrow,\" said King\nAfridun, \"I have resolved to draw up in battle array and to send out\nagainst them that redoubtable cavalier, Luka bin Sh\u0227ml\u00fat; for if King\nSharrkan come forth as a champion to fight single-handed, our man will\nslay him and will slay the other Moslem Knights, till not one is left.\nAnd I purpose this night to sacre you all with the Holy Incense.\" When\nthe Emirs heard these words they kissed the ground before him. Now the\nincense which he designated was the excrement of the Chief Patriarch,\nthe denier, the defiler of the Truth, and they sought for it with such\ninstance, and they so highly valued it that the high priests of the\nGreeks used to send it to all the countries of the Christians in silken\nwraps after mixing it with musk and ambergris. Hearing of it Kings would\npay a thousand gold pieces for every dram and they sent for and sought\nit to fumigate brides withal; and the Chief Priests and the great Kings\nwere wont to use a little of it as collyrium for the eyes and as a\nremedy in sickness and colic; and the Patriarchs used to mix their own\nskite[390] with it, for that the skite of the Chief Patriarch could not\nsuffice for ten countries.[391] So, as soon as dawn was seen and the\nmorning shone with its shine and sheen, the horsemen ran to their spears\nfull keen, and King Afridun\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Full Ninetieth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, as soon as dawn was\nseen and the morning shone with its shine and sheen, the horsemen ran to\ntheir spears full keen and King Afridun summoned his chief Knights and\nNobles and invested them with dresses of honour; and, drawing the sign\nof the cross on their brows, incensed them with the incense which as\naforesaid was the skite of the Chief Patriarch, the Cohen, the\nHeresiarch. This incensing done, he called for Luka bin Shamlut,\nsurnamed the Sword of the Messiah; and, after fumigating him and rubbing\nhis palate with the Holy Merde, caused him to snuff it and smeared his\ncheeks and anointed his moustaches with the rest. Now there was no\nstouter champion in the land of Roum than this accursed Luka, nor any\nbetter at bending of bow or sway of sword or lunge with lance on the day\nof devoir; but he was foul of favour, for his face was as the face of an\nass, his shape that of an ape and his look as the look of a malignant\nsnake: his presence was grievouser than parting from the beloved make;\nand blacker than night was his blackness and more fetid than the lion\nwas his breath for foulness; more crooked than a bow was his crookedness\nand grimmer than the leopard was his ugliness, and he was branded with\nthe mark of the Infidels on face.[392] After this he came up to King\nAfridun and kissed his feet and stood before him; and the King said to\nhim, \"I desire thou go out against Sharrkan, King of Damascus, son of\nOmar bin al-Nu'uman, and deliver us from this affliction.\" Quoth Luka,\n\"Hearkening and obedience;\" and the King made the sign of the cross on\nhis forehead and felt assured of help from Heaven being near hand. Then\nLuka went out from the presence and the accursed one mounted a sorrel\nhorse; he was clad in a red robe and a hauberk of gold set with jewels,\nand he bore a trident spear, as he were Iblis the damned on the day of\ndrewing out his hosts war to darraign. Then he rode forward, he and his\nhorde of Infidels, even as though they were driving to the Fire,\npreceded by a herald, crying aloud in the Arabic tongue and saying, \"Ho,\nsect of Mohammed (upon whom be salutation and salvation!), let none of\nyou come out but your champion Sharrkan, the Sword of Al-Islam, Lord of\nDamascus in Sh\u00e1m[393]!\" Nor had he made an end of speaking, when arose a\ntumult in the plain; all the people heard the strain and the whole\nmoving bodies of the armies twain called to mind the Day of Complain.\nThen the cowards trembled and all necks turned towards the sound, and\nlo! it was King Sharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman. For when his\nbrother, Zau al-Makan, saw that accursed one push out on the plain, and\nheard the pursuivant, he turned to Sharrkan and said to him, \"Of a\nsurety they seek for thee.\" Said he, \"Should it so be, 'twere most\npleasing to me.\" So when they made sure of the matter and heard the\nherald crying in the plain, \"Let none of you come out against me save\nSharrkan,\" they knew this cursed Luka to be champion of the land of Roum\nwho had sworn to sweep the earth clean of Moslems. Now he was one of the\ngreatest of villains, a wretch who caused hearts to pain; and the\nDaylamites, Turks and Kurds dreaded his might and main. Presently\nSharrkan drave at him like a lion angry-grim, mounted on a courser like\na wild gazelle flying snell and slim; and coming nigh to him made the\nspear he hent to shake as it were a darting snake, and recited these\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n I have a sorrel steed, whose pride is fain to bear the rein, \u273f\n Shall give thee what thou likest not and make thee feel his main:\n I have a handy limber spear full bright and keen of point, \u273f Upon\n whose shaft the dam of Death her throny seat hath ta'en:\n I have a trenchant glaive of Hind; and, when I bare its face \u273f\n Of scabbard-veil, from out its brow the rays of leven rain.\n\nLuka understood not the sense of his speech nor did he apprehend the\nvehemence of the verse: but he smote his forehead with his hand, in\nhonour of the Cross drawn thereon and kissed it; then he couched his\nthrow-spear and ran at Sharrkan. But first he tossed the javelin with\none hand in air to such height that it was lost to the spectators'\nsight; and, catching it with the other hand as do the jugglers, hurled\nit at Sharrkan. It flew from his grasp like a shooting star and folk\nclamoured and feared for Sharrkan; but, as the spear flew near him, he\nput out his hand and caught it in full flight to the amazement of all\nwho saw the sight. Then he shook it with the hand that took it till it\nwas well-nigh broken, and hurled it so high into the welkin that it\ndisappeared from view. As it descended, he caught it again with the\nother hand, in less than the twinkling of an eye, and cried out from his\nheart-core, saying, \"By the truth of Him who created the seven-fold\nskies, I will assuredly make this cursed wight a byword for mankind to\ndespise!\" Then threw he the throw-spear at Luka, who thought to do as\nSharrkan had done and put forth his hand to bend it in mid-flight; but\nSharrkan prevented him, and sped at him a second throw-spear which smote\nhim and the point fell on his forehead, in the very centre of the sign\nof the Cross, and Allah hurried his soul to the Fire and Dwelling-place\ndire.[394] But when the Infidels saw Luka bin Shamlut fall slain, they\nbuffeted their faces and they cried, \"Alas!\" and \"Woe worth the day!\"\nand called for aid upon the Abbots of the monasteries\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Infidels\nsaw Luka bin Shamlut fall slain, they buffeted their faces and cried,\n\"Alas!\" and \"Woe worth the day!\" and called upon the Abbots of the\nmonasteries and cried, \"Where be the crosses?\" So the Religious offered\nup prayers and the Christians all drew together against Sharrkan; and,\nbrandishing their scymitars and lances, rushed forward to the attack.\nThen army met army and breasts fell under hoof, whilst spear and sword\nruled the day and fore-arms and wrists grew weak and the coursers seemed\ncreated without legs;[395] nor did the herald of war cease calling to\nfight, till arms were aweary and day took flight and night came on with\ndarkness dight. So the two hosts drew apart, whilst every brave\nstaggered like a drunken knave, for that with so much cut and thrust\nthey strave; and the place was choked with the slain; fell were the\nwounds and the hurt knew not by whom they fell. Then Sharrkan joined his\nbrother, Zau al-Makan, and the Chamberlain and the Wazir Dandan, and\nsaid to them, \"Verily Allah hath opened a door for the Infidels to fall,\npraised be the Lord of the Worlds one and all!\" Replied Zau al-Makan,\n\"Let us never cease to praise Allah, for that He hath dispelled trouble\nfrom the Arab and the Ajam. Indeed the folk, generation after\ngeneration, shall tell of thy derring-do against the accursed Luka, the\nfalsifier of the Evangel;[396] of thy catching the throw spear in\nmid-flight, and how the enemy of Allah among men thou didst smite; and\nthy fame shall endure until the end of time.\" Then said Sharrkan,\n\"Harkye, O grand Chamberlain and doughty Capitayne!\" and he answered,\n\"Adsum!\"[397] Quoth Sharrkan, \"Take with thee the Wazir Dandan and\ntwenty thousand horse, and lead them seven parasangs towards the sea,\nand force the march till ye shall have come near the shore, and there\nremain only two parasangs between thee and the foe. Then ambush ye in\nthe hollows of the ground till ye hear the tumult of the Infidels\ndisembarking from their ships; and the war-cry from every side strike\nyour ear and ye know that the sabres have begun labour between us and\nthem; and, whenso ye see our troops falling back, as if defeated, and\nall the Infidels following them, as well those in front as those from\nthe seaward and the tents, do ye still lie in wait for them: but as soon\nas ye see the standard with the words, There is no god but _the_ God,\nand Mohammed is God's Apostle (on whom be salutation and salvation!),\nthen up with the green banner, and do your endeavour and fall on their\nrear and shout, Allaho Akbar! Allah is most Great! and circle round that\nthey may not interpose between the retreating army and the sea.\" He\nreplied, \"To hear is to obey!\"; and forthright they agreed upon this\nmatter and they went forth. Now the Chamberlain took with himself the\nWazir Dandan and twenty thousand men even as Sharrkan had commanded. As\nsoon as dawned the morn, the troops sprung to horse when they had donned\ntheir armour-gear and drawn the scymitar and slung the spear. Then the\nChristians dispread themselves over hill and dale and the\nEcclesiasts[398] cried out and all heads were bared, and those in the\nships hoisted the Cross at their mast-heads and began making for shore\nfrom every side, and landed their horses and gat them ready for fight\nand fray, whilst the sword-blades glittered bright and the javelins\nglanced like leven-light on mail-shirt white; and all joined fight and\nthe grind-mill of Death whirled round and ground those who fought from\nhorse and aground: heads from bodies flew and tongues mute grew and eyes\nno vision knew. Scymitars strave with utmost strain and heads flew over\nthe battle plain; gall-bladders clave and wrists were shorn in twain;\nsteeds plashed in pools of gore and beards were gripped right sore; the\nhost of Al-Islam called out, saying, \"On the Prince of Mankind be\nblessings and peace, and to the Compassionate glory and praise, which\nne'er shall cease, for His boons which aye increase;\" and the host of\nthe Infidels shouted, \"Glory to the Cross and the Belt and the\nvine-prest juice, and the wine-presser and the Priests and the Monks and\nthe Festival of Palms and the Metropolitan!\" Now Zau al-Makan and\nSharrkan held back and their troops gave way and feigned flight from\nbefore the enemy, while the Infidel array pressed hard upon them deeming\nthem in rout, and made ready to foin and hew. Then the meiny of the\nMoslems raised their voices, reciting the first verses of the Chapter of\nthe Cow,[399] whilst the dead were trampled under hoofs of steeds, and\nthe heralds of the Greeks cried out, \"Ho, servants of the Messiah! Ho,\npeople of the True Faith! Ho, followers of the Primate![400] Verily\nDivine grace upon you opes; for see, the hosts of Al-Islam like birds\nwith broken wings incline to elope! So turn ye not to them your backs,\nbut let your swords cleave deep in their necks and hold not your hands\nfrom them, else are ye outcasts from the Messiah, Mary's son, who spoke\neven when a cradled one!\"[401] Now Afridun, King of Constantinople,\ndeemed that the Infidels were victorious, knowing not that this was but\na clever stratagem of the Moslems, and sent to King Hardub of Roum\ncongratulations on success, adding, \"Availed us naught but the Holy\nMerde of the Arch-Patriarch, whose fragrance exhaled from the beards and\nmustachios of the slaves of the Cross near and far; and I swear, by the\nMiracles of the Messiah; and by thy daughter Abrizah, the Nazarene, the\nMariolater; and by the Waters of Baptism, that I will not leave upon the\nearth a single defender of Al-Islam! And to the bitter end will I carry\nout this plan.\" So the messenger betook himself with the address to King\nHardub, whilst the Infidels called to one another saying, \"Take we\nvengeance-wreak for Luka!\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-second Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Infidels\ncalled to one another, saying, \"Take we vengeance-wreak for Luka!\" while\nHardub King of Greece cried aloud, \"Ho, to our revenge for Abrizah!\"\nThereupon King Zau al-Makan shouted \"Ho, servants of the Requiting\nKing!: smite the children of denial and disobedience with the blanch of\nsword and the brown of spear!\" So the Moslems returned to the Infidels\nand plied them with the keen-edged scymitar, whilst their herald cried\naloud, \"Up, and at the foes of the Faith, all ye who love the Prophet\nElect, with hope of salvation on the Day of Fear, to win favour of the\nBountiful, the Forgiving One; for verily the Garden of Paradise is under\nthe shadow of swords!\" And behold, Sharrkan and his men charged down\nupon the Infidels and cut off their retreat and wheeled and tourneyed\namong the ranks; when lo! a knight of goodly presence opened a passage\nthrough the army of Unbelievers and circled hither and thither amongst\nthe Deniers, cutting and thrusting and covering the ground with heads\nand trunks, so that the Faithless feared him and their necks bent under\nhis lunge and hew. He was girt with two swords, his glances and his\nbrand, and he was armed with two lances, one of bamboo-cane and the\nother his straight wandlike shape; and his flowing hair stood him in\nstead of many warriors, even as saith the poet:\u2014\n\n Laud not long hair,[402] except it be dispread \u273f In two-fold locks,\n on day of fight and fray,\n O'er youth who bears his lance 'twixt flank and thigh, \u273f From many\n a whiskered knight to win the day.\n\nAnd as singeth another:\u2014\n\n I say to him, what while he slings his sword, \u273f \"For sword shall\n serve those looks that sword-like show!\"\n Says he, \"My sabre-looks for those I love, \u273f My sword for those\n who sweets of love unknow!\"\n\nWhen Sharrkan saw him, he said to him, \"I conjure thee by the Koran and\nthe attributes of the Compassionate One, O Champion of the Champions!\ntell me who thou art: for verily by thy deeds this day thou hast pleased\nthe Requiting King, whom one thing distracteth not from other thing; in\nthat thou hast been discomfiting the children of impiety and in\nrebellion revelling.\" Then cried the Cavalier to him saying, \"Thou art\nhe who madest brother-covenant with me but yesterday: how quickly thou\nhast forgotten me!\" Thereupon he withdrew his mouth-veil,[403] so that\nwhat was hidden of his beauty was disclosed, and lo! it was none other\nthan Zau al-Makan. Then Sharrkan rejoiced in his brother, save that he\nfeared for him the rush of fighting and the crush of braves a-smiting;\nand this for two reasons, the first, his tender age and exposure to the\nevil eye, and the second, that his safety was to the kingdom the greater\nof the two overshadowing wings. So he said to him, \"O King! thou riskest\nthy life, so join thy steed to mine; in very sooth I fear for thee from\nthe foe; and better thou stint hazarding thyself forth of these\nsquadrons, that we may shoot at the enemy thine unerring shaft.\" Quoth\nZau al-Makan, \"I desire to even thee in fray and I will not be niggard\nof myself before thee in the mellay.\" Then the host of Al-Islam, heaping\nitself upon the Infidels, girt them on all sides, warred on them a right\nHoly War, and brake the power of the children of impiety and pride and\nstowre. But King Afridun sighed when he saw the evil wreak that had\nfallen on the Greek, and they turned their backs from fight and\naddressed themselves to flight, making for the ships, when lo! there\ncame out upon them from the sea-coast another host, led by the Minister\nDandan, the champion who was wont to make champions bite the dust, and\nto lay load on them with cut and thrust. Nor less came forth the Emir\nBahram, Lord of the Provinces of Sham, amid twenty thousand horse\ndoughty of arm; and the host of Al-Islam pressed them in front and on\nflank and wrought them grievous harm. Then a body of the Moslems turned\nagainst those who in the ships remained, and perdition on them rained,\ntill they threw themselves into the main, and they slew of them many\nslain, more than a hundred thousand noblemen, nor was one of their\nchampions, great or small, saved from bale and bane. Moreover, they took\ntheir ships, with all the money and treasure and cargo, save a score of\nkeel, and the Moslems got that loot whose like was never gotten in\nbygone years; nor was such cut and thrust ever heard of by men's\nears.[404] Now amongst the booty were fifty thousand horses, besides\ntreasure and spoil past reckoning and arithmetic, whereat the Moslems\nrejoiced with an exceeding joy for that Allah had given them victory and\nprotection. Such was the case with them; but as regards the fugitive\nInfidels they soon reached Constantinople, whither the tidings preceded\nthem that King Afridun had prevailed over the Moslems; so quoth the\nancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi, \"I know that my son Hardub, King of Roum,\nis no runagate and that he feareth not the Islamitic hosts, but will\nrestore the whole world to the Nazarene faith.\" Then she bade the Great\nKing, Afridun, give command that the city be decorated, and the people\nheld festival high and drank their wines drunkenly and knew not the\ndecrees of Destiny. Now whilst they were in the midst of their\nrejoicings, behold, the raven of dule and downfall croaked over them,\nand up came the twenty fugitive ships wherein was the King of C\u00e6sarea.\nSo King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, met them on the sea-shore, and\nthey told him all that had befallen them from the Moslem, and they wept\nsore and groaned and moaned; and rejoicing at weal was turned into\ndismay for unheal; and they informed him concerning Luka son of Shamlut,\nhow calamity had betided him and how Death had shot him with his shaft.\nThereat the horrors of Doomday rose upon King Afridun,[405] and he knew\nthat there was no making straight their crook. Then came up from them\nthe sound of weeping and wailing; the city was full of men mourning and\nthe keeners were keening, and sighs and cries were heard from all sides.\nAnd when King Hardub of Greece met King Afridun he told him the truth of\nthe case and how the flight of the Moslems was by way of stratagem and\ndeceit, and said to him, \"Look not to see any of the army, save those\nwho have already reached thee.\" When King Afridun heard these words he\nfell down in a fainting fit, with his nose under his feet; and, as soon\nas he revived, he exclaimed, \"Surely the Messiah was wroth with them\nthat he caused the Moslems to prevail over them!\" Then came the\nArch-Patriarch sadly to the King who said to him, \"O our father,\nannihilation hath overtaken our army and the Messiah hath punished us!\"\nReplied the Patriarch, \"Grieve not nor feel concerned, for it cannot be\nbut that one of you have sinned against the Messiah, and all have been\npunished for his offence; but now we will read prayers for you in the\nchurches, that the Mohammedan hosts may be repelled from you.\" After\nwhich the old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, came to Afridun and said to him, \"O\nKing, verily the Moslem hosts are many, and we shall never overcome them\nsave by wile: wherefor I purpose to work upon them by guile and repair\nto this army of Al-Islam, haply I may win my wish of their leader and\nslay their champion, even as I slew his father. If my stratagem succeed\nin his case, not one of the host he leads shall return to his native\nland, for all are strong only because of him; but I desire to have some\nChristian dwellers of Syria, such as go out every month and year to sell\ntheir goods, that they may help me (for this they can do) in carrying\nout my plan.\" Replied the King, \"Be it so whenever thou wilt.\" So she\nbade fetch an hundred men, natives of Najr\u00e1n,[406] in Sham, and the King\nasked them, \"Have ye not heard what hath befallen the Christians with\nthe Moslems?\" \"Yes,\" answered they; and he rejoined, \"Know ye that this\nwoman hath devoted her life to the Messiah and purposeth to go forth\nwith you, disguised as Monotheists and Mohammedans, to work out a device\nwhich shall profit us and hinder the Moslem from us: say, then, are ye\nalso willing to devote yourselves to the Anointed and I will give you a\nquintal of gold?[407] He of you who escapeth shall have the money, and\nhim of you who dieth will the Messiah reward.\" \"O King,\" replied they,\n\"we will devote our lives to the Messiah, and we will be thy sacrifice.\"\nThereupon the old woman took all she required of aromatic roots and\nplaced them in water which she boiled over the fire till the black\nessence of them was extracted. She waited till the decoction was cold,\nthen dipped the corner of a long kerchief therein and stained her face\ntherewith. Moreover, she donned over her clothes a long gaberdine with\nan embroidered border and took in her hand a rosary, and afterwards went\nin to King Afridun, who knew her not, nor did any of his companions know\nher, till she discovered herself to them: and there was none in the\nassembly but who thanked and praised her for her cunning; and her son\nrejoiced and said, \"May the Messiah never fail thee!\" Thereupon she took\nwith her the Syrian Christians, and set out for the army of Baghdad.\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Afridun\nheard these words, he fell into a fainting-fit with his nose under his\nfeet; and, as soon as he revived, fear fluttered the scrotum[408] below\nhis belly and he complained to the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi. Now this\naccursed old woman was a witch of the witches, past mistress in sorcery\nand deception; wanton and wily, deboshed and deceptious; with foul\nbreath, red eyelids, yellow cheeks, dull-brown face, eyes bleared, mangy\nbody, hair grizzled, back humped, skin withered and wan and nostrils\nwhich ever ran. But she had studied the scriptures of Al-Islam and had\nmade the Pilgrimage to the Holy House of Meccah and all this that she\nmight come to the knowledge of the Mohammedan ordinances and the\nmiraculous versets of the Koran; and she had professed Judaism in the\nHoly City of Jerusalem[409] for two years' space, that she might master\nthe magic of men and demons; so that she was a plague of plagues and a\npest of pests, wrong-headed as to belief and to no religion lief. Now\nthe chief reason of her sojourn with her son, King Hardub of Greece, was\non account of the slave virgins at his court: for she was given to\ntribadism[410] and could not exist without sapphism or she went mad: so\nif any damsel pleased her, she was wont to teach her the art of rubbing\nclitoris against clitoris and would anoint her with saffron[411] till\nshe fainted away for excess of volupty. Whoso obeyed her she was wont to\nfavour and make her son incline towards her; but whoso repelled her she\nwould contrive to destroy; and so she abode for a length of time. This\nwas known to Marjanah and Rayh\u00e1nah and Utrijah, the handmaids of\nAbrizah, and their Princess loathed the old woman and abhorred to lie\nwith her, because of the rank smell from her armpits, the stench of her\nfizzles more fetid than carrion, and the roughness of her hide coarser\nthan palm fibre. She was wont to bribe those who rubbed parts with her\nby means of jewels and instructions; but Abrizah held aloof from her and\nsought refuge with the Omnipotent, the Omniscient; for, by Allah, right\nwell quoth the poet:\u2014\n\n[Illustration]\n\n Ho thou who grovellest low before the great \u273f Nor over-lording\n lesser men dost blench,\n Who gildest dross by dirham-gathering, \u273f No ottar-scent\n disguises carrion-stench!\n\nAnd now to return to the story of her stratagem and the woes of her\nworking. Presently she departed, taking the chief Nazarenes with their\nhosts, and turned towards the army of the Moslems. Whereupon King Hardub\nwent in to King Afridun and said to him, \"O King, we have no need of the\nChief Patriarch nor of his prayers, but will consult my mother's counsel\nand observe what she will do with her craft unending against the Moslem\nhosts; for these are marching with all their power, they will soon be\nupon us and they will encircle us on all sides.\" When King Afridun heard\nthis, terror took hold upon his heart and he wrote letters, without stay\nor delay, to all the nations of the Nazarenes, saying, \"It behoveth none\nof the Messiahites or Cross-knights to hold back, especially the folk of\nthe strongholds and forts: but let them all come to us, foot and horse,\nwomen and children, for the Moslem hosts already tread our soil. So\nhaste! haste ye! ere what we fear to us here appear.\" Thus much\nconcerning them; but regarding the work of the old woman, Zat al-Dawahi;\nwhen she went forth from the city with her suite, she clad them in the\nclothing of Moslem merchants, having provided herself with an hundred\nmules carrying stuffs of Antioch, such as goldwoven satins and royal\nbrocades and so forth. And she had taken a letter from King Afridun to\nthe following effect:\u2014\"These be merchantmen from the land of Sham who\nhave been with us: so it befitteth none to do them harm or hindrance,\nnor take tax and tithe of them, till they reach their homes and safe\nplaces, for by merchants a country flourisheth, and these are no men of\nwar nor of ill-faith.\" Then quoth the accursed Zat al-Dawahi to those\nwith her, \"Verily I wish to work out a plot for the destruction of the\nMoslem.\" Replied they, \"O Queen, command us whatso thou wilt; we are at\nthy disposal and may the Messiah never disappoint thy dealings!\" Then\nshe donned a gown of fine white wool and rubbed her forehead, till she\nmade a great mark as of a scar and anointed it with an ointment of her\nown fashion, so that it shone with prodigious sheen. Now the old hag was\nlean-bodied and hollow-eyed, and she bound her legs tightly round with\ncords[412] just above her feet, till she drew near the Moslem camp, when\nshe unwound them, leaving their marks deeply embedded in her ankles.\nThen she anointed the wheals with dragon's blood and bade her companions\nbeat her with a severe beating, and set her in a chest and, quoth she,\n\"Cry abroad the Refrain of Unity,[413] nor fear from it aught of\ndamage!\" Replied they, \"How can we beat thee, who be our sovereign lady,\nZat al-Dawahi, mother of the King we glory in?\" Then said she, \"We blame\nnot nor deal reproach to him who goeth to the jakes, and in need evil\nbecometh good deed. When ye have set me in the chest, take it and make\nit one of the bales and place it on mule-back and fare forth with it and\nthe other goods through the Moslem camp, and fear ye no blame. And if\nany of the Moslems hinder you, give up the mules and their lading and\nbetake yourselves to their King, Zau al-Makan, and implore his\nprotection saying:\u2014We were in the land of the Infidels and they took\nnothing from us, but wrote us a passport, that none shall do us\nhindrance or work our mischance. If he ask you, What profit had ye of\nyour property in the land of Roum? answer him:\u2014We profited in the\ndeliverance of a pious man, who had been bound down in an underground\ncell nigh fifteen years, crying out for help yet none helped him. Nay,\nthe Infidels tortured him night and day. We knew not this; but, after we\nhad tarried in Constantinople for some time, having sold our goods and\nbought others in their stead, we determined on and made ready for a\nreturn to our native land. We spent that night conversing about our\njourney, and when day broke, we saw figured upon the wall a human form;\nand as we drew nigh it, behold, it moved and said:\u2014O Moslems, is there\namongst you one who is minded to woo the favour of the Lord of the three\nWorlds?[414] How so? asked we; and the figure answered:\u2014Know that Allah\nhath made me speak to you, to the intent that your faith be fortified,\nand that your belief embolden you and that you may go forth of the\ncountry of the Infidels and repair to the Moslem host; for with them\nwones the Sword of the Compassionate One, of our Age the Champion, King\nSharrkan, by whom He shall conquer Constantinople town and destroy the\nsect of the Nazarene. And when ye shall have journeyed three days, you\nwill find an hermitage known as the Hermitage of the ascetic\nMatruhina[415] and containing a cell; visit it with pure intent and\ncontrive to arrive there by force of will, for therein is a Religious\nfrom the Holy City, Jerusalem, by name Abdullah, and he is one of the\ndevoutest of mankind, endowed with the power of working saintly\nmiracles[416] such as dispel doubts and obscurity. Certain of the monks\nseized him by fraud and shut him up in a souterrain where he hath lain a\nlong time. By his deliverance you will please the Lord of Faithful Men,\nfor such release is better than fighting for the Faith.\" Now when the\nancient dame and those with her had agreed upon such words, she said,\n\"As soon as that which I impart shall reach the ears of King Sharrkan,\nsay him further:\u2014Hearing this from that image we knew that the holy\nman\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-fourth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old\nwoman, Zat al-Dawahi, and those with her had agreed upon such words, she\nsaid, \"Now as soon as that which I impart shall reach the ears of King\nSharrkan say him further:\u2014Hearing these words from that image we knew\nthat the holy man was indeed of the chiefest devotees and Allah's\nservants of purest qualities; so we made three days' march till we came\nin sight of that hermitage, and then we went up to it and passed the day\nin buying and selling, as is the wont of merchants. As soon as day had\ndeparted our sight and night was come to darken light, we repaired to\nthe cell wherein was the dungeon, and we heard the holy man, after\nchanting some verses of the Koran, repeat the following couplets:\u2014\n\n My heart disheartened is, my breast is strait, \u273f And sinks my soul\n in sea of bale and bate:\n Unless escape be near I soon shall die; \u273f And Death were better\n than this doleful strait:\n O Lightning an thou light my home and folk, \u273f An their still\n brighter charms thy shine abate,\n Say, what my path to meet them, being barred \u273f By wars; and\n barricado'd succour's gate?\"\n\n\"When once ye have brought me into the Moslem camp, and I mix with them\nyou shall see,\" the old woman continued, \"how I will make shift to\nbeguile them and slay them all, even to the last man.\" The Nazarenes\nhearing what she said, kissed her hands and set her in the chest, after\nthey had beaten her with a grievous beating in obedience to her\ncommands, for they saw it was incumbent on them to do her bidding in\nthis; then they all made for the Moslem host as hath erst been said.\nSuch was the case with the damned hag, Zat al-Dawahi and her companions;\nbut as regards the Mohammedan army, they indeed, after Allah had given\nthem victory over their enemies and they had plundered everything in the\nships of money and hoards, all sat down to converse with one another and\nZau al-Makan said to his brother Sharrkan, \"Verily, Allah hath granted\nus to prevail because of our just dealing and discipline and concord\namongst ourselves; wherefore continue, O Sharrkan, to obey my\ncommandment, in submission to Allah (be He exalted and extolled!), for I\nmean to slay ten Kings in blood-revenge for my sire, to cut the throat\nof fifty thousand Greeks and to enter Constantinople.\" Replied Sharrkan,\n\"My life be thy ransom against death! Needs must I follow out the Holy\nWar, though I wone many a year in their country. But I have, O my\nbrother, in Damascus a daughter, named Kuzia Fakan, whom I love\nheartily, for she is one of the marvels of the time and she will soon be\nof age.\" Said Zau al-Makan, \"And I also have left my wife with child and\nnear her time, nor do I know what Allah will vouchsafe me by her. But\npromise me, O my brother, that if Allah bless me with a son, thou wilt\ngrant me thy daughter for wife to him, and make covenant with me and\npledge me thy faith thereon.\" \"With love and good will,\" replied\nSharrkan; and, stretching out his hand to his brother, he said, \"If she\nbring thee a son, I will give him my daughter Kuzia Fakan, to wife.\" At\nthis Zau al-Makan rejoiced, and they fell to congratulating each other\non the victory over the enemy. And the Wazir Dandan also congratulated\nthe two brothers and said to them, \"Know, O ye Kings, that Allah hath\ngiven us the victory, for that we have devoted our lives to Him (be He\nexalted and extolled!); and we have left our homes and households; and\nit is my counsel that we follow up the foe and press upon him and harass\nhim; so haply Allah shall enable us to win our wishes, and we shall\ndestroy our enemies, branch and root. If it please you, do ye go down in\nthese ships and sail over the sea, whilst we fare forward by land and\nbear the brunt of battle and the thrust of fight.\" And the Minister\nDandan ceased not to urge them to combat and repeated his words who\nsaid:\u2014\n\n To slay my foes is chiefest bliss I wist, \u273f And on the courser's\n back be borne a-list;\n Comes promising tryst a messenger from friend \u273f Full oft, when\n comes the friend withouten tryst.\n\nAnd these words of another:\u2014\n\n War for my mother (an I live) I'll take; \u273f Spear for my\n brother; scymitar for sire,\n With every shag-haired brave who meets his death \u273f Smiling, till\n won from Doom his dear desire!\n\nAnd when the Wazir ended his verses, he said, \"Praise be to Him who\naided us dear victory to uphold and who hath given us spoil of silver\nand fine gold!\" Then Zau al-Makan commanded the army to depart; and they\nfared on forcing their marches for Constantinople, till they came to a\nwide and spacious champaign, full of all things fair and fain, with wild\ncattle frisking and gazelles pacing to and fro across the plain. Now\nthey had traversed great deserts and drink had been six days cut off\nfrom them, when they drew near this meadow and saw therein waters\nfounting and ripe fruits flaunting and that land as it were Paradise;\nfor it had donned its adornments and decked itself.[417] Gently waved\nthe branches of its trees drunken with the new wine of the dew, and\ncombined with the nectar of Tasnim the soft breathings of the morning\nbreeze. Mind and gazer were confounded by its beauty, even as saith the\npoet:\u2014\n\n Behold this lovely garden! 'tis as though \u273f Spring o'er its frame\n her greeny cloak had spread.\n Looking with fleshly eyne, thou shalt but sight \u273f A lake whose\n waters balance in their bed;\n But look with spirit-eyes and lo! shalt see \u273f Glory in every\n leaf o'erwaves thy head.\n\nAnd as another saith:\u2014\n\n The stream's a cheek by sunlight rosy dyed, \u273f Whose down[418]\n is creeping shade of tamarisk-stems;\n Round legs of tree-trunks wavelets roll in rings \u273f Silvern,\n and blossoms are the diadems.\n\nWhen Zau al-Makan saw this champaign, with its trees bowing and its\nflowers blooming and its birds warbling, he called to his brother\nSharrkan and said, \"O my brother, verily in Damascus is naught the like\nof this place. We will not march from it save after three days, that we\nmay take rest ourselves and that the army of Al-Islam may regain\nstrength and their souls be fortified to encounter the blamed Infidels.\"\nSo they halted therein and while camping behold, they heard a noise of\nvoices from afar, and Zau al-Makan asked the cause thereof, and was\nanswered that a caravan of merchants from the Land of Syria had halted\nthere to rest and that the Moslem troops had come on them and had haply\nseized something of the goods which they had brought from the country of\nthe Infidels. After a while up came the merchants, crying out and\nappealing to the King for aidance. When Zau al-Makan saw this, he bade\nthem be brought before him and, when in presence, they said to him, \"O\nKing, we have been in the country of the Infidels and they plundered us\nof nothing: why then do our brothers the Moslems despoil our goods, and\nwe in their own land? Of a truth when we saw your troops, we went up to\nthem, and they robbed us of what we had with us and we have now reported\nto thee all that hath befallen us.\" Thereupon they brought out to him\nthe letter of the King of Constantinople, and Sharrkan read it and said,\n\"We will presently restore to you what hath been taken from you; but yet\nit behoveth you not to carry merchandise to the country of the\nInfidels.\" Replied they, \"O our Lord, in very sooth Allah despatched us\nthither that we might win what Gh\u00e1zi[419] never won the like of, not\neven thou in all thy razzias.\" Asked Sharrkan, \"What was it ye won?\" \"O\nKing,\" answered they, \"we will not tell thee save in private; for if\nthis matter be noised among the folk, haply it may come to the ears of\nsome,[420] and this will be the cause of our ruin and of the ruin of all\nMoslems who resort to the land of the Greeks.\" Now they had hidden the\nchest wherein was the damned Zat al-Dawahi. So Zau al-Makan and his\nbrother brought them to a private place, where they laid bare to both of\nthem the story of the devotee, and wept till they made the two Kings\nweep\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Nazarenes who\nwore merchants' weed, when brought to a private place by Zau al-Makan\nand his brother Sharrkan, laid bare to both of them the story of the\ndevotee and wept till they made the two Kings weep and repeated to them\nall which had been taught by the old witch Zat al-Dawahi. Thereupon\nSharrkan's heart yearned to the devotee and he was moved to ruth for him\nand was fired with zeal for the service of Almighty Allah. So quoth he\nto them, \"Did ye rescue this holy man or is he still in the hermitage?\"\nQuoth they, \"We delivered him and slew the hermit, fearing for our\nlives; after which we made haste to fly for dread of death; but a trusty\nman told us that in this hermitage are quintals of gold and silver and\nstones of price.\" Then they fetched the chest and brought out the\naccursed old woman, as she were a cassia-pod[421] for excess of\nblackness and leanness, and she was laden with the same fetters and\nshackles. When Zau al-Makan and the bystanders saw her, they took her\nfor a man of the best of Allah's devotees and surpassing in pious\nqualities, more especially because of the shining of her forehead for\nthe ointment wherewith she had anointed her face. So Zau al-Makan and\nSharrkan wept sore; then they rose up in honour and kissed her hands and\nfeet, sobbing aloud: but she signed to them and said, \"Cease this\nweeping and hear my words.\" Hereat they dried their tears in obedience\nto her bidding, and she said, \"Know ye both that I was content to accept\nwhat my Lord did unto me, for I kenned that the affliction which befel\nme was a trial from Him (be He exalted and extolled!); and whoso hath\nnot patience under calamity and tribulation, for him there is no coming\nto the delights of Paradise. I had indeed supplicated Him that I might\nreturn to my native land, not as a compensation for the sufferings\ndecreed to me, but that I might die under the horse-hoofs of warriors\nfighting for the Faith who, being slain in fray, live again without\nsuffering death.\"[422] Then she repeated the following couplets:\u2014\n\n Our Fort is Tor,[423] and flames the fire of fight: \u273f Moses art\n thou and this is time for aid:\n Cast down thy rod, 'twill swallow all they wrought, \u273f Nor dread for\n men their ropes be vipers made:[424]\n For Chapters read on fight-day lines of foes, \u273f And on their\n necks 'grave versets[425] wi' thy blade!\n\nWhen the old woman had ended her verse, her eyes overflowed with tears\nand her forehead under the unguent shone like gleaming light, and\nSharrkan rose and kissed her hand and caused food be brought before her:\nbut she refused it, saying, \"I have not broken my fast by day for\nfifteen years; and how should I break it at such a time when my Lord\nhath been bountiful to me in delivering me from the captivity of the\nInfidels and removing from me that which was more grievous to me than\ntorment of fire? I will wait till sundown.\" So when it was nightfall,\nSharrkan and Zau al-Makan came and served her with food and said, \"Eat O\nascetic!\" But she said, \"This is no time for eating; it is the time for\nworshipping the Requiting King.\" Then she stood up in the prayer-niche\nand remained praying till the night was spent; and she ceased not to do\nafter this fashion for three days and nights, sitting not but at the\ntime of the Sal\u00e1m or salutation[426] ending the several prayers. When\nZau al-Makan saw her on this wise, firm belief in her gat hold of his\nheart and he said to Sharrkan, \"Cause a tent of perfumed leather to be\npitched for this Religious, and appoint a body servant to wait upon\nhim.\" On the fourth day she called for food; so they brought her all\nkinds of meats that could seduce the sense or delight the sight; but of\nall this she would eat only a scone with salt. Then she again turned to\nher fast and, as the night came, she rose anew to pray; when Sharrkan\nsaid to Zau al-Makan, \"Verily, this man carrieth renunciation of the\nworld to the extreme of renouncing, and, were it not for this Holy War,\nI would join myself to him and worship Allah in his service, till I came\nbefore His presence. And now I desire to enter his tent and talk with\nhim for an hour.\" Quoth Zau al-Makan, \"And I also: to-morrow we sally\nforth to fight against Constantinople, and we shall find no time like\nthe present.\" Said the Wazir Dandan, \"And I no less desire to see this\nascetic; haply he will pray for me that I find death in this Holy War\nand come to the presence of my Lord, for I am aweary of the world.\" So\nas soon as night had darkened, they repaired to the tent of that witch,\nZat al-Dawahi; and, seeing her standing to pray, they drew near her and\nfell a-weeping for pity of her; but she paid no heed to them till\nmidnight was past, when she ended her orisons by pronouncing the\nsalutation. Then she turned to them and after wishing them long life,\nasked them \"Wherefore come ye?\"; whereto they answered, \"O thou holy\nman! diddest thou not hear us weep around thee?\" She rejoined, \"To him\nwho standeth in the presence of Allah, remaineth no existence in time,\neither for hearing any or for seeing aught about him.\" Quoth they, \"We\nwould have thee recount to us the cause of thy captivity and pray for us\nthis night, for that will profit us more than the possession of\nConstantinople.\" Now when she heard their words she said, \"By Allah,\nwere ye not the Emirs of the Moslems, I would not relate to you aught of\nthis at any time; for I complain not but to Allah alone. However, to you\nI will relate the circumstances of my captivity. Know, then, that I was\nin the saintly City of Jerusalem with certain ecstatics and inspired\nmen, and did not magnify myself among them, for that Allah (be He\nexalted and extolled!) had endowed me with humility and abnegation, till\nI chanced to go down to the sea one night and walked upon the water.\nThen entered into me pride; whence I know not, and I said to myself:\u2014Who\nlike me can walk the water? And my heart from that time hardened and\nAllah afflicted me with the love of travel. So I journeyed to Roum-land\nand visited every part for a whole year, and left no place but therein I\nworshiped Allah. When I came to this spot,[427] I clomb the mountain and\nsaw there an hermitage, inhabited by a monk called Matruhina, who, when\nhe sighted me, came out and kissed my hands and feet and said:\u2014Verily, I\nhave seen thee since thou enteredst the land of the Greeks, and thou\nhast filled me with longing for the land of Al-Islam. Then he took my\nhand and carried me into that hermitage, and brought me to a dark room;\nand, when I entered it unawares, he locked the door on me and left me\nthere forty days, without meat or drink; for it was his intent to kill\nme by delay. It chanced one day, that a Knight called Dakian\u00fas[428] came\nto the hermitage, accompanied by ten squires and his daughter Tamasil, a\ngirl whose beauty was incomparable. When they entered that hermitage,\nthe monk Matruhina told them of me, and the Knight said:\u2014Bring him out,\nfor surely there is not on him a bird's meal of meat. So they opened the\ndoor of the dark room and found me standing in the niche, praying and\nreciting the Koran and glorifying Allah and humbling myself before the\nAlmighty. When they saw me in this state Matruhina exclaimed:\u2014This man\nis indeed a sorcerer of the sorcerers!; and hearing his words, they all\ncame in on me, Dakianus and his company withal, and they beat me with a\ngrievous beating, till I desired death and reproached myself, saying,\nThis is his reward who exalteth himself and who prideth himself on that\nwhich Allah hath vouchsafed to him, beyond his own competence! And thou,\nO my soul, verily self-esteem and arrogance have crept into thee. Dost\nthou not know that pride angereth the Lord and hardeneth the heart and\nbringeth men to the Fire? Then they laid me in fetters and returned me\nto my place which was the dungeon under ground. Every three days, they\nthrew me down a scone of barley bread and a draught of water; and every\nmonth or two the Knight came to the hermitage. Now his daughter Tamasil\nhad grown up, for she was nine years old when I first saw her, and\nfifteen years passed over me in captivity, so that she had reached her\nfour-and-twentieth year. There is not in our land nor in the land of the\nGreeks a fairer than she, and her father feared lest the King take her\nfrom him; for she had vowed herself to the Messiah and rode with\nDakianus in the habit of a cavalier, so that albeit none might compare\nwith her in loveliness, no one who saw her knew her for a woman. And her\nfather had laid up his monies in this hermitage, every one who had aught\nof price or treasured hoard being wont to deposit it therein; and I saw\nthere all manner of gold and silver and jewels and precious vessels and\nrarities, none may keep count of them save Almighty Allah. Now ye are\nworthier of these riches than those Infidels; so lay hands on that which\nis in the hermitage and divide it among the Moslems and especially on\nfighters in the Holy War. When these merchants came to Constantinople\nand sold their merchandise, that image which is on the wall spoke to\nthem, by grace of a marvel which Allah granted to me; so they made for\nthat hermitage and slew Matruhina, after torturing him with most\ngrievous torments, and dragging him by the beard, till he showed them\nthe place where I was; when they took me and found no path but flight\nfor dread of death. Now to-morrow night Tamasil will visit that\nhermitage as is her habit, and her father and his squires will come\nafter her, as he feareth for her so, if ye would witness these things,\ntake me with you and I will deliver to you the monies and the riches of\nthe Knight Dakianus which be in that mountain; for I saw them bring out\nvessels of gold and silver to drink therefrom, and I heard a damsel of\ntheir company sing to them in Arabic and well-away! that so sweet a\nvoice should not be busied in chaunting the Koran. If, then, ye will;\nenter into that hermitage and hide there against the coming of Dakianus\nand his daughter; and take her, for she is fit only for the King of the\nAge, Sharrkan, or King Zau al-Makan.\" Thereat they all rejoiced with the\nexception of the Wazir Dandan, who put scant faith in her story, for her\nwords took no hold on his reason, and signs of doubt in her and\ndisbelief showed in his face.[429] Yet he was confounded at her\ndiscourse, but he feared to speak with her for awe of the King. Then\nquoth the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi, \"Verily, I fear lest the Knight\ncome and, seeing these troops encamped in the meadow, be afraid to enter\nthe hermitage.\" So Zau al-Makan ordered the army to march upon\nConstantinople and said, \"I have resolved to take with me an hundred\nhorse and many mules and make for that mountain, where we will load the\nbeasts with the monies which be in the hermitage.\" Then he sent at once\nfor the Chief Chamberlain whom they brought into the presence; and he\nsummoned likewise the leaders of the Turks and Daylamites and said, \"As\nsoon as it is dawn, do ye set forth for Constantinople; and thou, O\nChamberlain, shalt take my place in council and contrivance, while thou,\nO Rustam, shalt be my brother's deputy in battle. But let none know that\nwe are not with you and after three days we will rejoin you.\" Then he\nchose out an hundred of the doughtiest riders, and he and Sharrkan and\nthe Minister Dandan set out for the hermitage, and the hundred horsemen\nled the mules with chests for transporting the treasure.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-sixth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan and his\nbrother, Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan set off with an hundred horse\nfor the hermitage described to them by that accursed Zat al-Dawahi; and\nthey took with them mules and chests for transporting the treasure. Now\nas soon as dawned the morn, the Chamberlain signalled to the host an\norder for departure, and they set out thinking that the two Kings and\nthe Wazir were with them; knowing not that the three had made for the\nmonastery. Such was the case with the host; but as regards the two Kings\nand the Minister, they tarried in their place till the end of that day.\nNow the Infidels who were with Zat al-Dawahi took their departure\nprivily, after they had gone in to her and kissed her hands and feet and\nobtained her leave to march. So she not only gave them permission but\nalso taught them all she minded of wile and guile. And when it was dark\nnight, she arose and went in to Zau al-Makan and his companions and said\nto them, \"Come, let us set out for the mountain, and take with you a few\nmen-at-arms.\" They obeyed her and left five horsemen at the foot of the\nmountain, whilst the rest rode on before Zat al-Dawahi, who gained new\nstrength for excess of joy, so that Zau al-Makan said, \"Glory be to Him\nwho sustaineth this holy man, whose like we never saw!\" Now the witch\nhad written a letter to the King of Constantinople and despatched it on\nthe wings of a bird,[430] acquainting him with what had passed and\nending, \"I wish thee to send me ten thousand horsemen of the bravest of\nthe Greeks and let them steal along the foot of the mountains with\ncaution, lest the host of Al-Islam get sight of them; and, when they\nreach the hermitage, let them ambush themselves there, till I come to\nthem with the Moslem King and his brother, for I shall inveigle them and\nwill bring them thither, together with the Wazir and an hundred horse\nand no more, that I may presently deliver to them the crosses which be\nin the hermitage. I am resolved to slay the Monk Matruhina, since my\nscheme cannot be carried out but by taking his life. If my plot work\nwell, not one of the Moslems shall return to his own country; no, not a\nliving wight nor one who blows the fire alight; and Matruhina shall be a\nsacrifice for the followers of the Nazarene faith and the servants of\nthe Cross, and praise be to the Messiah, first and last.\" When this\nletter reached Constantinople, the keeper of the carrier-pigeons carried\nit to King Afridun, who read it and forthwith inspected his host and\nequipped ten thousand cavaliers with horses and dromedaries and mules\nand provaunt and bade them repair to that hermitage and, after reaching\nthe tower, to hide therein. Thus far concerning them; but as regards\nKing Zau al-Makan and his brother Sharrkan and the Wazir Dandan and the\nescort, when they reached the hermitage they entered and met the Monk\nMatruhina, who came out to see who and what they were; whereupon quoth\nthat pious man Zat al-Dawahi, \"Slay this damned fellow.\"[431] So they\nsmote him with their swords and made him drink the cup of death. Then\nthe accursed old woman carried them to the place of offerings and ex\nvotos, and brought out to them treasures and precious things more than\nshe had described to them; and after gathering the whole together, they\nset the booty in chests and loaded the mules therewith. As for Tamasil,\nshe came not, she or her father, for fear of the Moslems; so Zau\nal-Makan tarried there, awaiting her all that day and the next and a\nthird, till Sharrkan said to him, \"By Allah, I am troubled anent the\narmy of Al-Islam, for I know not what is become of them.\" His brother\nreplied, \"And I also am concerned for them: we have come by this great\ntreasure and I do not believe that Tamasil or any one else will approach\nthe hermitage, after that befel which hath befallen the host of the\nChristians. It behoveth us, then, to content ourselves with what Allah\nhath given us and depart; so haply He will help us conquer\nConstantinople.\" Accordingly they came down from the mountain, while Zat\nal-Dawahi was impotent to oppose their march for fear of betraying her\ndeceit; and they fared forwards till they reached the head of a defile,\nwhere the old woman had laid an ambush for them with the ten thousand\nhorse. As soon as these saw the Moslems they encircled them from all\nsides, couching lance and baring the white sabre blade; and the Infidels\nshouted the watchword of their faithless Faith and set the shafts of\ntheir mischief astring. When Zau al-Makan and his brother Sharrkan and\nthe Minister Dandan looked upon this host, they saw that it was a\nnumerous army and said, \"Who can have given these troops information of\nus?\" Replied Sharrkan, \"O my brother, this be no time for talk; this is\nthe time for smiting with swords and shooting with shafts; so gird up\nyour courage and hearten your hearts, for this strait is like a street\nwith two gates; though, by the virtue of the Lord of Arabs and Ajams,\nwere not the place so narrow I would bring them to naught, even though\nthey were an hundred thousand men!\" Said Zau al-Makan, \"Had we wotted\nthis we would have brought with us five thousand horse;\" and the Wazir\nDandan continued, \"If we had ten thousand horse they had availed us\nnaught in these narrows; but Allah will succour us against them. I know\nthis defile and its straitness, and I know there be many places of\nrefuge in it; for I have been here on razzia with King Omar bin\nal-Nu'uman, what while we besieged Constantinople. We abode in this\nplace, and here is water colder than snow. So come, let us push out of\nthis defile ere the Infidel host increase on us and get the start of us\nto the mountain-top, whence they will hurl down rocks upon us, and we\npowerless to come at them.\" So they began hurrying on to get out of\nthose narrows; but the pious man, Zat al-Dawahi, looked at them and\nsaid, \"What is it ye fear, ye who have vowed yourselves to the Lord, and\nto working His will? By Allah, I abode imprisoned underground for\nfifteen years, yet never gainsaid the Almighty in aught he did with me!\nFight ye in Allah's way; so whoever of you is slain Paradise shall be\nhis abode, and whoso slayeth, his striving shall be to his honour.\" When\nthey heard from the ascetic these words, their care and anxiety ceased\nfrom them and they stood firm till the Infidels charged down from all\nsides, whilst the swords played upon their necks and the cup of death\nwent round amongst them. The Moslems fought for the service of Allah a\nright good fight, and wrought upon His foes with sway of sword and lunge\nof lance; whilst Zau al-Makan smote upon the men and garred the knights\nbite the dust and their heads from their bodies take flight, five by\nfive and ten by ten, till he had done to death a number of them past\nnumbering and an accompt beyond counting. Now while so doing, he looked\nat the accursed old woman who was waving her sword and heartening them,\nand all who feared fled to her for shelter; but she was also signing the\nInfidels to slay Sharrkan. So troop after troop rushed on him with\ndesign to do him die; but each troop that charged, he charged and drove\nback; and when another troop attacked him he repelled the assault with\nthe sword in their backs; for he thought it was the devotee's blessing\nthat gave him the victory, and he said in himself, \"Verily on this holy\nman Allah looketh with eyes of His favour and strengtheneth my prowess\nagainst the Infidels with the purity of his pious intent: for I see that\nthey fear me and cannot prevail against me, but every one who assaileth\nme turneth tail and taketh flight.\" So they battled the rest of the day\nand, when night fell, the Moslems took refuge in a cave of that defile\nbeing weary with stress of war and cast of stone: and that day were\nslain of them five-and-forty. And when they were gathered together, they\nsought the devotee, but could find no trace of him; and this was\ngrievous to them and they said, \"Belike, he hath died a martyr.\" Quoth\nSharrkan, \"I saw him heartening the horsemen with divine instances and\nusing as talisman verses of Holy Writ.\" Now while they were talking,\nbehold, the accursed old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, stood before them,\nhending in hand the head of the Chief Captain of the ten thousand horse,\na noble knight, a champion fierce in fight and a Satan for blight. One\nof the Turks had slain him with an arrow, and Allah hurried his soul to\nthe fire; and when the Infidels saw what that Moslem had done with their\nleader, they all fell on him and wrought his bane and hewed him in\npieces with their swords, and Allah hurried his soul to Heaven. Then the\naccursed old woman cut off that Knight's head and brought it and threw\nit at the feet of Sharrkan and Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan. Now\nwhen Sharrkan saw her, he sprang up hastily before her and exclaimed,\n\"Praised be Allah for thy safety and for our sighting thee, O holy man\nand devout champion of the Religion!\" Replied she, \"O my son, I have\nsought martyrdom this day, and have thrown my life away amid the Infidel\narray, but they feared me with dismay. When ye dispersed, I waxed\njealous for your honour; so I rushed on the Chief Knight their leader,\nalbeit he was a match for a thousand horse, and I smote him till I\nsevered head from trunk. Not one of the Infidels could near me; so I\nbrought his head to you,\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damned\nwitch, Zat al-Dawahi, took the head of the Knight, the leader of the\ntwenty thousand Infidels, she brought it and threw it down before Zau\nal-Makan and his brother Sharrkan and the Wazir Dandan, saying, \"When I\nsaw your condition, I waxed jealous for your honour; so I rushed on the\nChief Knight and smote him with the sword till I severed head from\ntrunk. And none could near me, so I brought his head to you, that you\nmay be strengthened in Holy War and work out with your swords the will\nof the Lord of the Faithful. And now I purpose leaving you to strive\nagainst the Infidels, whilst I go to your army, though they be at the\ngates of Constantinople, and return with twenty thousand horse to\ndestroy these Unfaithfuls.\" Quoth Sharrkan, \"How wilt thou pass to them,\nO thou holy man, seeing that the valley is blocked up on all sides by\nthe Miscreants?\" Quoth the accursed hag, \"Allah will veil me from their\neyes and they shall not sight me;[432] nor, if any saw me, would he dare\nto attack me at that time, for I shall be as one non-existing, absorbed\nin Allah, and He will fend off from me His foes.\" \"Thou sayest sooth, O\nholy man,\" rejoined Sharrkan, \"for indeed I have been witness of that;\nso, if thou can pass out at the first of the night, 'twill be best for\nus.\" Replied she, \"I will set out at this very hour and, if thou desire,\nthou shalt go with me and none shall see thee. Furthermore if thy\nbrother also have a mind to go with us we will take him, but none else;\nfor the shadow of a saint can cover only twain.\" Sharrkan said, \"As for\nme I will not leave my comrades; but, if my brother will, there is no\nharm in his going with thee and setting us free of this strait; for he\nis the stronghold of the Moslems and the sword of the Lord of the three\nWorlds; and if it be his pleasure, let him take with him the Wazir\nDandan, or whom else he may elect and send us ten thousand horse to\nsuccour us against these caitiffs.\" So after debate they agreed on this\nand the old woman said, \"Give me leisure to go before you and consider\nthe condition of the Infidels, if they be asleep or awake.\" Quoth they,\n\"We will not go forth save with thee and trust our affair to Allah.\" \"If\nI do your bidding,\" replied she, \"blame me not but blame yourselves; for\nit is my rede that you await me till I bring you tidings of the case.\"\nThen said Sharrkan, \"Go to them and delay not from us, for we shall be\nawaiting thee.\" Thereupon she fared forth and Sharrkan turned to his\nbrother addressing him and said, \"Were not this holy man a\nmiracle-worker, he had never slain yonder furious knight. This is proof\nsufficient of the ascetic's power; and of a truth the pride of the\nInfidels is laid low by the slaying of this cavalier, for he was\nviolent, evil devil and a stubborn.\" Now whilst they were thus devising\nof the mighty works of the devotee, behold, the accursed Zat al-Dawahi\ncame upon them and promised them victory over the Unbelievers; wherefor\nthey thanked her (not knowing that all this was wile and guile) and the\ndamned hag asked, \"Where be the King of the Age, Zau al-Makan, and the\nMinister Dandan?\" Answered he, \"Here am I!\" \"Take with thee thy Wazir,\"\nsaid she, \"and follow after me, that we may fare forth to\nConstantinople.\" Now she had acquainted the Infidels with the cheat she\nhad put upon the Moslems, and they rejoiced with exceeding great joy,\nand said, \"Our hearts will not be contented till we shall have slain\ntheir King in return for the Knight's death; because we had no stouter\nrider than he;\" and they added (bespeaking the ill-omened hag as she\ntold them her plan of faring to the land of the Moslems), \"When thou\nbringest him to us, we will bear him to King Afridun.\" Then she went out\nand went out with her Zau al-Makan and the Minister Dandan, and she\nwalked on before the two saying, \"Fare forth with the blessing of\nAlmighty Allah!\" So they did her bidding, for the shaft of Fate and\nFortune of man's lot had shot them, and she ceased not leading them both\nthrough the midst of the Grecian camp, till they came to the defile, the\nnarrow pass aforesaid, whilst the Infidel enemy watched them, but did\nthem no hindrance; for the infernal old woman had enjoined this. Now\nwhen Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan saw that the Infidel host offered\nthem no let and stay and yet had them in sight, the Wazir exclaimed, \"By\nAllah, this is one of the holy man's saintly miracles! and doubtless he\nbe of the elect.\" Rejoined Zau al-Makan, \"By Allah, I think the Infidels\nbe naught but blind, for we see them and they see us not.\" And while\nthey were thus praising the holy man and recounting his mighty works and\nhis piety and his prayers, behold, the Infidels charged down on them\nfrom all sides and surrounded them and seized them, saying, \"Is there\nanyone else with you twain, that we may seize upon him too?\" And the\nWazir Dandan replied, \"See you not yon other man that is before us?\"\nReplied the Unbelievers, \"By the truth of the Messiah and the Monks, and\nthe Primate and the Metropolitan, we see none save you two!\" Then Zau\nal-Makan said, \"By Allah, this is a chastisement decreed to us by\nAlmighty Allah!\"\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-eighth Night,\n\nShe said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the\nUnfaithful had seized upon King Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan, they\nsaid to the two, \"Is there anyone else with you twain, that we may seize\nupon him also?\" And the Wazir Dandan replied, \"See you not yon other man\nwho be with us?\" They rejoined, \"By the truth of the Messiah and the\nMonks and the Primate and the Metropolitan, we see none save you two!\"\nThen the Infidels laid shackles on their feet and set men to guard them\nduring the night, whilst Zat al-Dawahi fared on and disappeared from\ntheir sight. So they fell to lamenting and saying to each other,\n\"Verily, the opposing of pious men leadeth to greater distress than\nthis, and we are punished by the strait which hath befallen us.\" So far\nconcerning Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan; but as regards King\nSharrkan, he passed that night in the cavern with his comrades, and when\ndawned the day and he had prayed the morn-prayer, he and his men made\nready to do battle with the Infidel and he heartened them and promised\nthem all good. Then they sallied out till they were hard upon the\nUnbelievers and, when these saw them from afar, they cried out to them,\nsaying, \"O Moslems, we have taken captives your Sultan and your Wazir\nwho hath the ordering of your affairs; and except ye leave off fighting\nus, we will slay you to the last man; but an you yield yourselves we\nwill take you to our King, who will make peace with you on condition\nthat you quit our country and return home and harm us in naught, and we\nwill do you no harm in aught. If ye accept, it will be well for you; but\nif ye refuse there remaineth nothing for you but death. So we have told\nyou sooth, and this is our last word to you.\" Now when Sharrkan heard\nthis and was certified of the captivity of his brother and the Wazir\nDandan, he was weighed down with woe and wept; his force failed him and,\nmaking sure of death, he said to himself, \"Would I knew the cause of\ntheir capture! Did they fail of respect to the holy man or disobey him,\nor what was the matter?\" Then they sprang up to battle with the\nUnbelievers and slew great numbers of them. The brave was known that day\nfrom craven men, and sword and spear were dyed with bloody stain; for\nthe Infidels flocked upon them, as flies flock to drink, from hill and\nfrom plain; but Sharrkan and his men ceased not to wage the fight of\nthose who fear not to die, nor let death hinder them from the pursuit of\nvictory, till the valley ran gore and earth was full of the slain she\nbore. And when night fell the armies separated, each making for his own\nplace; and the Moslems returned to the cavern where gain and loss were\nmanifest to them: few remained of them and there was no dependence for\nthem but on Allah and the scymitar. Now there had been slain of them\nthat day five-and-thirty men of the chiefest Emirs, and they had killed\nthousands of the Infidels, footmen and fighters on horse. When Sharrkan\nsaw this, the case was grievous to him and he asked his comrades, \"What\nshall we do?\"; whereto all answered, \"That which Almighty Allah willeth\nshall befal us.\" On the morning of the second day, Sharrkan said to the\nremnant of his troop, \"If ye go forth to fight, not one of you will\nremain alive and we have but little left of food and water; so I deem ye\nwould do better to bare your brands and go forth and stand at the mouth\nof this cavern, to hinder any from entering. Haply the holy man may have\nreached the Moslem host, and may return with ten thousand horse to\nsuccour us in fight with the Infidels, for belike the Unfaithful may\nhave failed to see him and those with him.\" They said, \"This were the\nbetter course to take, and of its expediency no doubt we make.\" So the\ntroop went out and held the cavern mouth standing by its walls; and\nevery one of the Infidels who sought to enter in, they slew. Thus did\nthey fend off the foe from the gape of the cave and they patiently\nsupported all such assaults, till day was done and night came on dusky\nand dun;\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Ninety-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the army of the\nMoslems held the cavern-mouth and stood by its walls and they fended off\nthe foe, and every one of the Infidels attempted to charge them, him\nthey slew; and they patiently supported all such assaults till day was\ndone and night came on dusky and dun; by which time King Sharrkan had\nonly five-and-twenty men and no more left. Then quoth the Infidels to\none another, \"When shall these battle days have an end? We are weary of\nwarring the Moslems.\" And quoth one of them, \"Up and at them, for there\nremain of them but five-and-twenty men! If we cannot prevail on them to\nfight, let us light a fire upon them;[433] and if they submit themselves\nand yield to us, we will take them prisoners; but if they refuse we will\nleave them for fuel to the fire, so shall they become to men of\nforeseeing mind a warning dire. May the Messiah on their fathers have no\ngrace, and may the sojourn of the Nazarenes be for them no\nabiding-place!\" So they carried fuel to the jaws of the cavern and set\nfire to it. Thereupon Sharrkan and his companions made sure of perdition\nand yielded themselves prisoners. And while they were in this condition,\nlo! the knight their captain said to those who counselled their\nslaughter, \"It is not for any save for King Afridun to kill them, that\nhe may gratify his wrath; therefore it behoveth us to keep them in\ndurance by us till the morrow, when we will journey with them to\nConstantinople and deliver them to our King, who shall deal with them as\nhe please.\" Said they, \"This is the right course;\" and he commanded to\npinion them and set guards over them. Then, as soon as it was black\nnight, the Infidels busied themselves with feasting and making festival;\nand they called for wine and drank it till all fell upon their backs.\nNow Sharrkan and his brother, Zau al-Makan, were in confinement and so\nalso were his companion knights; whereupon the elder turned to the\nyounger brother and said to him, \"O my brother, how win free?\" \"By\nAllah,\" replied Zau al-Makan, \"I know not; for here we be like birds in\ncage.\" Then Sharrkan waxed wroth and sighed for excess of rage and\nstretched himself, till his pinion-bonds brast asunder; whereupon being\nfree he arose and went up to the Captain of the guard, and taking from\nhis pocket the keys of the fetters, freed Zau al-Makan and the Wazir\nDandan and the rest of his men. Then he turned to the two and said, \"I\ndesire to slay three of these Infidels and take and don their dress, we\nthree; so that we shall be guised as Greeks and we will pass through\nthem, without their knowing us, and fare forth to our own force.\"\nReplied Zau al-Makan, \"This is no safe counsel for if we kill them, I\nfear some of their comrades may hear their shrieks and the foe be\naroused upon us and kill us. 'Twere the surer way to pass out of the\ndefile.\" So they agreed upon this and set out; and, when they had left\nthe head of the strait a little distance behind, they saw horses\npicketed and the riders sleeping: and Sharrkan said to his brother,\n\"Better we take each one of us a steed.\" There were five-and-twenty\nhorsemen, so they took five-and-twenty horses, whilst Allah sent sleep\nupon the Infidels for a purpose He knew; and the Faithful mounted and\nfared on till they were out of reach. Meanwhile Sharrkan set to\ngathering from the Infidels as many weapons, swords, and spears, as were\nwanted. And while they took saddle and struck forwards none of the\nInfidels supposed that anyone could release Zau al-Makan and his brother\nand their men; or that their prisoners had power to escape. Now when all\nthe captives were safe from the Unfaithful, Sharrkan came up with his\ncomrades, and found them awaiting his arrival, on coals of flame,\nexpecting him in anxious grame, so he turned to them and said, \"Feel no\nfear since Allah protecteth us. I have that to propose which haply shall\neffect our purpose.\" \"What is it?\" asked they, and he answered, \"I\ndesire that ye all climb to the mountain top and cry out with one voice,\nAllaho Akbar! and ye add, The army of Al-Islam is upon you! Allaho\nAkbar! This wise their company will surely be dissolved nor will they\nfind out the trick for they are drunk, but they will think that the\nMoslem troops have encompassed them about on all sides and have mingled\nwith them; so they will fall on one another brand in hand during the\nconfusion of drunkenness and sleep, and we will cleave them asunder with\ntheir own swords and the scymitar will go round amongst them till dawn.\"\nReplied Zau al-Makan, \"This plan is not good; we should do better to\nmake our way to our army and speak not a word; for if we cry out Allaho\nAkbar, they will wake and fall on us and not one of us will escape.\"\nRejoined Sharrkan, \"By Allah, though they should awake 'tis no matter,\nand I long that ye fall in with my plan, for naught save good can come\nof it!\" So they agreed thereon and clomb the mountain and shouted,\n\"Allaho Akbar!\" And hills and trees and rocks re-worded their Allaho\nAkbar for fear of the Almighty. But when the Kafirs heard this slogan\nthey cried out to one another\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundredth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me O auspicious King, that Sharrkan spake\nthus, \"I long that ye fall in with this my plan, for naught save good\ncan come of it.\" So they agreed thereon and clomb the mountain head\nand shouted, \"Allaho Akbar!\"; and hills and trees and rocks re-worded\ntheir Allaho Akbar for fear of the Almighty. The Infidels heard it and\ncried out one to other and donned their armour and said, \"The foe is\nupon us, by the truth of the Messiah!\" Then they fell on one another\nand slew of their own men more than any knoweth save Almighty Allah.\nAs soon as it was dawn, they sought for the captives, but found no\ntrace of them, and their captains said, \"They who did this were the\nprisoners in our possession; up, then, and after them in all haste\ntill ye overtake them, when we will make them quaff the cup of\nrequital; and let not fright nor the panic of sudden awaking possess\nyou.\" So they took horse and rode after the fugitives and it wanted\nbut an eye-twinkling before they overtook them and surrounded them.\nNow when Zau al-Makan saw this, he was seized with increase of terror\nand said to his brother, \"What I feared would come, is come upon us,\nand now it remaineth only for us to fight for the Faith.\" But Sharrkan\npreferred to hold his peace. Then Zau al-Makan and his companions\nrushed down from the hill-crest, shouting, \"Allaho Akbar!\" and his men\nrepeated the war cry and addressed themselves to fight and to sell\ntheir lives in the service of the Lord of Faithful Men; and while they\nwere in this case, behold, they heard many voices voicing, \"There is\nno god but _the_ God! God is most great! Salutation and salvation upon\nthe Apostle, the Bringer of glad Tidings, the Bearer of bad\nTidings!\"[434] So they turned towards the direction of the sound and\nsaw a company of Moslems who believed in one God, pushing towards\nthem, whereat their hearts were heartened and Sharrkan charged upon\nthe Infidels crying out, \"There is no god but _the_ God! God is most\ngreat!\" he and those with him, so that earth quaked as with an\nearthquake and the Unbeliever host brake asunder and fled into the\nmountains and the Moslems followed them with lunge and blow; and Zau\nal-Makan and his comrades of the Moslems ceased not to smite the hosts\nof the Infidel foe, and parted heads from bodies till day darkened and\nnight coming on starkened sight. Thereupon the Moslems drew together\nand passed the night in congratulations; and, when morning dawned and\ndaybreak shone with its shine and sheen, they saw Bahram, the captain\nof the Daylamites, and Rustam, the captain of the Turks, advancing to\njoin them, with twenty thousand cavaliers like lions grim. As soon as\nthey saw Zau al-Makan, the riders dismounted and saluted him, and\nkissed ground between his hands when he said to them, \"Rejoice ye in\nthe glad tidings of the victory of the Moslem and the discomfiture of\nthe tribe of Unbelievers!\" Then they gave one another joy of their\ndeliverance and of the greatness of their reward after Resurrection\nDay. Now the cause of the coming of the succours to that place was\nthis. When the Emir Bahram and the Emir Rustam and the Chief\nChamberlain, with the Moslem host and flags flaunting high ahead, came\nin sight of Constantinople they saw that the Nazarenes had mounted the\nwalls and manned the towers and the forts, and had set all their\ndefenders in order of defence, as soon as they learned of the approach\nof the host of Al-Islam and the banners Mohammedan, and they heard the\nclash of arms and the noise of war-voices and tramp of horse-hoofs;\nand from their look-outs they beheld the Moslems, with their standards\nand ensigns of the Faith of Unity under the dust-clouds and lo! they\nwere like a flight of locusts or rain clouds raining rain; and the\nvoices of the Moslems chanting the Koran and glorifying the\nCompassionate One, struck their ears. Now the Infidels knew of the\napproach of this host through Zat al-Dawahi with her craft and\nwhoredom,[435] calumny and contrivance. And the armies of Al-Islam\ndrew near, as it were the swollen sea, for the multitude of footmen\nand horsemen and women and children. Then quoth the General of the\nTurks to the General of the Daylamites, \"O Emir, of a truth, we are in\njeopardy from the multitude of the foe who is on the walls. Look at\nyonder bulwarks and at this world of folk like the seas that clash\nwith dashing billows. Indeed yon Infidel outnumbereth us an\nhundredfold and we cannot be safe from spies who may inform them that\nwe are without a Sultan. In very sooth, we run danger from these\nenemies, whose numbers may not be told and whose resources none can\nwithhold, especially in the absence of King Zau al-Makan and his\nbrother Sharrkan and the illustrious Wazir Dandan. If they know of\nthis, they will be emboldened to attack us in their absence and with\nthe sword they will annihilate us to the last man; not one of us\nsafety shall see. So it is my counsel that thou take ten thousand\nriders of the allies and the Turks, and march them to the hermitage of\nMatruhina and the meadow of Mal\u00fakhin\u00e1 in quest of our brothers and\ncomrades. If thou act by my advice, it may be we shall approve\nourselves the cause of their deliverance, in case they be hard pressed\nby the Infidels; and if thou act not, blame will not attach to me.\nBut, an ye go, it behoveth that ye return quickly, for ill-suspicion\nis part of prudence.\" The Emir aforesaid fell in with his counsel; so\nthey chose twenty thousand horse and they set out covering the roads\nand making for the monastery above mentioned. So much for the cause of\ntheir coming; but as regards the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi, as soon\nas she had delivered Sultan Zau al-Makan and his brother Sharrkan and\nthe Wazir Dandan into the hands of the Infidels, the foul whore\nmounted a swift steed, saying to the Faithless, \"I design to rejoin\nthe Moslem army which is at Constantinople and contrive for their\ndestruction; for I will inform them that their chiefs are dead, and\nwhen they hear that from me, their joining will be disjointed and the\ncord of their confederation cut and their host scattered. Then will I\ngo to King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, and to my son Hardub, King\nof Roum, and relate to them their tidings and they will sally forth on\nthe Moslems with their troops and will destroy them and will not leave\none of them alive.\" So she mounted and struck across country on her\ngood steed all the livelong night; and, when day dawned, appeared the\narmies of Bahram and Rustam advancing towards her. So she turned into\na wayside brake and hid her horse among the trees and she walked a\nwhile saying to herself, \"Haply the Moslem hosts be returning, routed,\nfrom the assault of Constantinople.\" However, as she drew near them\nshe looked narrowly and made sure that their standards were not\nreversed,[436] and she knew that they were coming not as conquered\nmen, but fearing for their King and comrades. When she was assured of\nthis, she hastened towards them, running at speed, like a devil of ill\nrede, till reaching them she cried out, \"Haste ye! haste ye! O\nsoldiers of the Compassionate One, hasten to the Holy War against the\nhosts of Satan!\" When Bahram saw her he dismounted and kissed the\nground before her and asked her, \"O friend of Allah, what is behind\nthee?\" Answered she, \"Question not of sad case and sore condition; for\nwhen our comrades had taken the treasure from the hermitage of\nMatruhina, and designed to win their way Constantinople-wards,\nthereupon came out on them a driving host and a dreadful of the\nInfidels.\" And the damned witch repeated to them the story to fill\nthem with trouble and terror, adding, \"The most of them are dead, and\nthere are but five-and-twenty men left.\" Said Bahram, \"O holy man!\nwhen didst thou leave them?\" \"But this night,\"[437] replied she. He\ncried, \"Glory be to Allah! to Him who hath rolled up the far distance\nfor thee like a rug, so that thou hast sped thus walking upon thy feet\nand propt upon a mid-rib of palm-tree! But thou art one of the saints\nwhich fly like birds when inspired and possessed by His\ndirections.\"[438] Then he mounted his horse, and he was perplexed and\nconfounded by what he had heard from the beldam so strong in lies and\nill calumnies, and he said, \"There is no Majesty and there is no Might\nsave in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Verily our labour is lost and\nour hearts are heavy within us, for our Sultan is a prisoner and those\nwho are with him.\" Then they cut across the country, wide and side,\nnight and day, and when morning dawned they reached the head of the\ndefile and saw Zau al-Makan and Sharrkan shouting. \"There is no god\nbut _the_ God! Allaho Akbar! and Salutation and Salvation upon the\nCongratulator, the Comminator.\"[439] Whereupon he and his drove at the\nUnbelievers and whelmed them, as the rain-torrent whelms the waste;\nand cried out their war-cries, till fear gat hold of the prowest\nKnights and the mountains were cloven in affright. And when shone the\nday and showed its shine and sheen, the breeze of morning blew upon\nthem sweet and fragrant, and each recognised other as hath been said\nbefore. Then they kissed the ground before the King and before his\nbrother Sharrkan, who told them all that had befallen the party in the\ncave. Now thereat they marvelled and said to one another, \"Hasten we\nback to Constantinople, for we left our companions there, and our\nhearts are with them.\" So they hurried departure, commending\nthemselves to the Subtle, the All-wise, and Zau al-Makan exhorted the\nMoslems to steadfastness and versified in the following\ncouplets:[440]\u2014\n\n Be praises mine to all-praiseworthy Thee, \u273f O Lord, who stinted\n not mine aid to be!\n Though was I lost abroad, Thou wast to me \u273f Strongest support\n which vouchsafed victory:\n Thou gav'st me wealth and reign and goodly gifts, \u273f And\n slungest conquering sword of valiancy:\n Thou mad'st me blest beneath Thy kingly shade, \u273f Engraced with\n generous boons dealt fain and free:\n Thou savedst from every fear I feared, by aid \u273f Of my Wazir, the\n Age's noblest he!\n Garred us Thy grace in fight to throw the Greek, \u273f Who yet came\n back dight in War's cramoisie:\n Then made I feint to fly from out the fight; \u273f But like grim\n lion turning made them flee,\n And left on valley-sole my foemen, drunk \u273f Not with old wine[441]\n but Death-cup's revelry:\n Then came the Saintly Hermit, and he showed \u273f His marvels wrought\n for town and wold to see;\n When slew they hero-wights who woke to dwell \u273f In Eden bowers\n wherein sweet rill-lets well.\n\nBut, when Zau al-Makan had made an end of versifying, his brother\nSharrkan congratulated him on his safety and thanked him for the deeds\nhe had done; after which both set out forcing their marches to rejoin\ntheir army.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it as the Hundred-and-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan\ncongratulated his brother, Zau al-Makan, on his safety and thanked him\nfor the deeds he had done; after which both set out forcing their\nmarches to rejoin their army. Such was their case; but as regards the\nold woman, Zat al-Dawahi, after she had foregathered with the hosts of\nRustam and Bahram, she returned to the coppice, where she took her steed\nand mounted and sped on at speed, till she drew near the Moslem army\nthat beleaguered Constantinople, when she lighted down from her destrier\nand led it to the pavilion-tent of the Chief Chamberlain. And when he\nsaw her, he stood up to her in honour and signed to her with his right\nhand and said, \"Welcome O pious recluse!\" Then he questioned her of what\nhad befallen, and she repeated to him her disquieting lies and deluding\ncalumnies, saying, \"In sooth I fear for the Emir Rustam, and the Emir\nBahram, for that I met them and theirs on the way and sent them and\ntheir following to relieve the King and his companions. Now there are\nbut twenty thousand horse and the Unbelievers outnumber them; so I would\nhave thee at this moment send off the rest of thy troops at full speed\nto their succour, lest they be slain to the last man.\" And she cried to\nthem, \"Haste! Haste!\" When the Chamberlain and the Moslems heard these\nwords, their spirits fell and they wept; but Zat al-Dawahi said to them,\n\"Ask aidance of Allah and bear patiently this tribulation; for ye have\nthe example of those who have been before you of the people of Mohammed;\nand Paradise with its palaces is laid out by Allah for those who die\nmartyrs; and needs must all die, but most praiseworthy is dying while\nfighting for the Faith.\" The Chamberlain, hearing this speech of the\naccursed old woman, called for the Emir Bahram's brother, a knight by\nname Tarkash; and, choosing out for him ten thousand horse, riders famed\nfor force, bade him set out at once. So he fared forth and marched all\nthat day and the whole of the next night, till he neared the Moslems.\nWhen daylight dawned, Sharrkan saw the dust cloud about them and feared\nfor the men of Al-Islam and said, \"If these troops which are coming upon\nus be Moslem men our victory is assured by them; but, if these be\nNazarenes, there is no gainsaying Destiny's decrees.\" Then he turned to\nhis brother, Zau al-Makan, and said, \"Never fear, for with my life I\nwill ransom thee from death. If these be Mohammedan troops, then were it\nan increase of heavenly favours; but, if they be our foes, there is no\nhelp save that we fight them. Yet do I long to meet the Holy Man ere I\ndie, so I may beg him to pray that I die not save by death of\nmartyrdom.\" Whilst the twain were thus speaking, behold, there appeared\nthe banners inscribed with the words, \"There is no God but _the_ God and\nMohammed is the Apostle of God;\" and Sharrkan cried out, \"How is it with\nthe Moslems?\" \"All are sound and safe,\" replied they, \"and we came not\nbut out of concern for you.\" Then the Chief of the army dismounted and,\nkissing ground before Sharrkan, asked, \"O my lord, how be the Sultan and\nthe Wazir Dandan and Rustam and my brother Bahram; are they all in\nsafety?\" He answered, \"All well; but who brought thee tidings of us?\"\nQuoth Tarkash; \"It was the Holy Man who told us that he had met my\nbrother Bahram and Rustam and had sent them both to you and he also\nassured us that the Infidels had encompassed you and outnumbered you;\nbut I see not the case save the contrary thereof and that you are\nvictorious.\" They questioned him, \"And how did the Holy Man reach you?\";\nand he replied, \"Walking on his feet and he had compassed in a day and a\nnight, ten days' journey for a well girt horseman.\" \"There is no doubt\nbut that he is a Saint of Allah,\" said Sharrkan, \"but where is he now?\"\nThey rejoined, \"We left him with our troops, the folk of the Faith,\nmoving them to do battle with the rebels and the Faithless.\" Thereat\nSharrkan rejoiced and all thanked Allah for their own deliverance and\nthe safety of the Holy Man; and commended the dead to His mercy saying,\n\"This was writ in the Book.\" Then they set out making for Constantinople\nby forced marches, and whilst they were on this enterprise, behold, a\ndust-cloud arose to such height that it walled the two horizons, the\neastern and the western, from man's sight and the day was darkened by it\nto night. But Sharrkan looked at it and said, \"Verily, I fear lest this\nbe the Infidels who have routed the army of Al-Islam for that this dust\nwalleth the world, east and west, and hideth the two horizons, north and\nsouth.\" Presently appeared under the dust a pillar of darkness, blacker\nthan the blackness of dismal days; nor ceased to come upon them that\ncolumn more dreadful than the dread of the Day of Doom. Horse and foot\nhastened up to look at it and know the terrors of the case, when behold,\nthey saw it to be the recluse aforesaid; so they thronged round him to\nkiss his hands and he cried out, \"O people of the Best of Mankind,[442]\nthe lamp which shineth in darkness blind, verily the Infidels have\noutwitted the Moslems by guile, for they fell upon the host of the One\nGod whilst they deemed themselves safe from the Faithless, and attacked\nthem in their tents and made a sore slaughter of them what while they\nlooked for no wile; so hasten to the aid of the Believers in the unity\nof God, and deliver them from those who deny Him!\" Now when Sharrkan\nheard these words, his heart flew from his breast with sore trouble;\nand, alighting from his steed in amazement, he kissed the Recluse's\nhands and feet. On like wise did his brother, Zau al-Makan, and the rest\nof the foot and horse-troops; except the Wazir Dandan, who dismounted\nnot but said, \"By Allah, my heart flieth from this devotee, for I never\nknew show of devotion to religion that bred not bane. So leave him and\nrejoin your comrades the Moslems, for this man is of the outcasts from\nthe gate of the mercy of the Lord of the Three Worlds! How often have I\nhere made razzias with King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and trodden the earth of\nthese lands!\" Said Sharrkan, \"Put away from thee such evil thought, hast\nthou not seen this Holy Man exciting the Faithful to fight, and holding\nspears and swords light? So slander him not, for backbiting is blameable\nand poisoned is the flesh of the pious.[443] Look how he inciteth us to\nfight the foe; and, did not Almighty Allah love him, He had cast him\naforetime into fearful torment.\" Then Sharrkan bade bring a Nubian mule\nfor the ascetic to ride and said, \"Mount, O pious man, devout and\nvirtuous!\" But the devotee refused to ride and feigned self-denial, that\nhe might attain his end; and they knew not that this holy personage was\nlike him of whom the poet saith:\u2014\n\n He prayeth and he fasteth for an end he doth espy; \u273f When once his\n end is safely won then fast and prayer good-bye.[444]\n\nSo the devotee ceased not to walk among the horsemen and the footmen,\nlike a wily fox meditating guile, and began to uplift her voice,\nchanting the Koran and praising the Compassionate One. And they\ncontinued pressing forward till they approached the camp of Al-Islam,\nwhere Sharrkan found the Moslem in conquered plight and the Chamberlain\nupon the brink of falling back in flight, whilst the sword of Greece\nhavoc dight among the Faithful, the righteous and those who work\nunright,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-second Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sharrkan saw\nthe Moslems in conquered plight and the Chamberlain upon the brink of\nretreat and flight and the sword havoc dight among the righteous and the\nworkers of unright, the cause of this weakness among the Moslems was\nthat the accursed old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, the foe of the Faith, after\nseeing that Bahram and Rustam had set forward with their troops to join\nSharrkan and his brother Zau al-Makan, repaired to the camp of the\nMahometans before Constantinople and caused the mission of the Emir\nTarkash, as hath been before said. In this her purpose was to divide the\nMoslem forces the better to weaken them. Then she left them and entered\nConstantinople, and called with a loud voice on the knights of the\nGreeks, saying, \"Let me down a cord that I may tie thereto this letter,\nand do ye bear it to your King Afridun, that he may read it and to my\nson King Hardub that they both do what is written therein of bidding and\nforbidding.\" So they let down for her a string and she tied thereto a\nletter whose purport was the following: \"From the terriblest of\ntribulations[445] and the chiefest of all calamities, Zat al-Dawahi, to\nKing Afridun greeting. But afterwards. Of a truth I have contrived a\ndevice for destroying the Moslems; so bide ye quiet and content. I have\ncozened and captured their Sultan and the Wazir Dandan; and then I\nreturned to their camp and acquainted them therewith, whereby their\npride had a fall and their withers were wrung. And I have so wrought\nupon the host 'leaguering Constantinople that they have sent ten\nthousand men under the Emir Tarkash to succour the captives, of whom\nthere be now left but few; it is therefore my object that ye sally forth\nagainst them with all your power while this day endureth; and that ye\nfall on them in their tents and that ye leave them not till ye shall\nhave slain them to the last man; for, verily the Messiah looketh down\nupon you and the Blessed Virgin favoureth you; and I hope of the Messiah\nthat he forget not what deed I have done.\" When her letter came to King\nAfridun, he rejoiced with great joyance; and, sending at once for King\nHardub of Greece, son of Zat al-Dawahi, read the letter to him as soon\nas he came, whereat he was exceeding glad and said, \"See my mother's\ncraft; verily it dispenseth with swords, and her aspect standeth in\nstead of the terrors of the Day of Dread.\" Rejoined Afridun, \"May the\nMessiah not bereave us of thy venerable parent nor deprive her of her\nwile and guile!\" Then he bade the Knights give orders for sallying\noutside the city, and the news was noised abroad in Constantinople. So\nthe Nazarenes and the cohorts of the Cross burst forth and unsheathed\ntheir keen sabres in their numbers, shouting out their professions of\nimpiety and heresies, and blaspheming the Lord of all Creatures. When\nthe Chamberlain saw the sally, he said, \"Behold, the Greek is upon us\nand they surely have learned that our Sultan is far away; and haply they\nhave attacked us, for that the most part of our troops have marched to\nthe succour of King Zau al-Makan!\" Therewith he waxed wroth and cried\nout, \"Ho, soldiers of Al-Islam and favourers of the True Faith, an you\nflee you are lost, but if ye stand fast, ye win! Know ye that valiancy\nlieth in endurance of outrance and that no case is so strait but that\nthe Almighty is able to make it straight; Allah assain you and look upon\nyou with eyes of compassion fain!\" Thereupon the Moslems cried out,\n\"Allaho Akbar!\" and the believer in the One God shouted his slogan, and\nwhirled the mill-wheels of fight with cutting and thrusting in main and\nmight; scymitars and spears played sore and the plains and valleys were\nswamped with gore. The priests and monks priested it, tight-girding\ntheir girdles and uplifting the Crucifixes, while the Moslem shouted out\nthe professions of the Requiting King and verses of the Koran began to\nsing. The hosts of the Compassionate One fought against the legions of\nSatan; and head flew from body of man, while the good Angels hovered\nabove the people of the Chosen Prophet, nor did the sword cease to smite\ntill the day darkened and night came on and starkened. Now the\nmiscreants had encompassed the Moslems and made sure of escaping the\npains that awaited them; and the Faithless greeded for victory over the\nFaithful until day dawned and dazzled. Thereupon the Chamberlain\nmounted, he and his men, trusting that Allah would help them to victory;\nand host was mingled with host and battle rose a-foot and took post. And\nheads flew from trunks whilst the brave stood fast in stead; the craven\nturned tail and fled; and the Judge of death judged and sentence sped,\nso that the champions fell from their saddles slain and corpses cumbered\nmeadow and plain. Then the Moslem began to give ground and rearwards\nbent; and the Greek took possession of some of their tents; whereupon\nthe Moslems were about to break and retreat and take flight, when\nmeanwhile behold, up came Sharrkan with the rest of the host of Al-Islam\nand the standards of the Believers in Unity. And having come up with\nthem, he charged the Infidels; and followed him Zau al-Makan and the\nWazir Dandan and the Emirs Bahram and Rustam with his brother Tarkash.\nWhen the foe saw this, they lost head and their reason fled, and the\ndust clouds towered till they covered the country, whilst the righteous\nBelievers joined their pious comrades. Then Sharrkan accosted the\nChamberlain and praised him for his steadfastness; and he in turn gave\nthe Prince joy of his timely succour and his gaining the day. Thereat\nthe Moslems were glad and their hearts were heartened; so they rushed\nupon their enemies and devoted themselves to Allah in their Fight for\nthe Faith. But when the Idolaters beheld the standards Mohammedan and\nthereon the profession of Faith Islamitan, proclaiming the Unity, they\nshrieked \"Woe!\" and \"Ruin!\" and besought succour of the Patriarchs of\nthe Monasteries. Then fell they to calling upon John and Mary and the\nCross abhorrent and stayed their hands from slaughter, whilst King\nAfridun went up to consult King Hardub of Greece, for the two Kings\nstood one at the head of each wing, right and left. Now there was with\nthem also a famous cavalier, Lawiy\u00e1 hight, who commanded the centre; and\nthey drew out in battle array, but indeed they were full of alarm and\naffray. Meanwhile, the Moslems aligned their forces and thereupon\nSharrkan came to his brother, Zau al-Makan, and said, \"O King of the\nAge, doubtless they mean to champion it, and that is also the object of\nour desire; but it is my wish to push forward the stoutest-hearted of\nour fighters, for by forethought is one half of life wrought.\" Replied\nthe Sultan, \"As thou wilt, O companion of good counsel!\" \"It is my\nwish,\" added Sharrkan, \"to stand in mid-line opposite the Infidel, with\nthe Wazir Dandan on my left and thee on my right, whilst the Emir Bahram\nleads the dexter-wing and the Emir Rustam leads the wing sinistral; and\nthou, O mighty King, shalt be under the standards and the ensigns, for\nthat thou art the pillar of our defence; upon thee, after Allah, is our\ndependence and we will all be thy ransom from aught that can harm thee.\"\nZau al-Makan thanked him therefor, and the slogan arose and the sabre\nwas drawn; but, as things stood thus, behold, there came forth a\ncavalier from the ranks of Roum; and, as he drew near, they saw that he\nwas mounted on a slow-paced she-mule, fleeing with her master from the\nshock of swords. Her housings were of white silk covered by a\nprayer-carpet of Cashmere stuff, and on her back sat a Shaykh, an old\nman of comely presence and reverend aspect, garbed in a gown of white\nwool. He stinted not pushing her and hurrying her on till he came near\nthe Moslem and said, \"I am an ambassador to you all, and an ambassador\nhath naught to do save to deliver; so give me safe conduct and permit of\nspeech, that I communicate to you my message.\" Replied Sharrkan, \"Thou\nart in safety: fear neither sway of sword nor lunge of lance.\" Thereupon\nthe old man dismounted and, taking the Cross from his neck, placed it\nbefore the Sultan and humbled himself with much humility. Then quoth to\nhim the Moslems, \"What is with thee of news?\"; and quoth he, \"I am an\nambassador from King Afridun, for I counselled him to avert the\ndestruction of all these frames of men and temples of the Compassionate\nOne; and to him it seemed righteous to stay the shedding of blood and\nlimit it to the encounter of two knights in shock of fight singular; so\nhe agreed to that and he saith to you:\u2014Verily, I will ransom my army\nwith my life; so let the Moslem King do as I do and with his life ransom\nhis host. And if he kill me, there will be no stay left in the army of\nRoum, and if I kill him, there will be no stability with the Moslems.\"\nWhen Sharrkan heard this he said, \"O monk, I agree to that, for it is\njust nor may it be gainsaid; and behold, I will meet him in duello and\ndo with him derring-do, for I am Champion of the Faithful even as he is\nChampion of the Faithless; and if he slay me, he will have won the day\nand naught will remain for the Moslems' forces save flight. So return to\nhim, O thou monk, and say that the single combat shall take place\nto-morrow, for this day we have come off our journey and are aweary; but\nafter rest neither reproach nor blame fear ye.\" So the monk returned\n(and he rejoicing) to King Afridun and King Hardub, and told them both\nwhat Sharrkan had said, whereat King Afridun was glad with exceeding\ngladness and fell from him anxiety and sadness, and he said to himself,\n\"No doubt but this Sharrkan is their doughtiest swayer of the sword and\nthe dourest at lunge of lance; and when I shall have slain him, their\nhearts will be disheartened and their strength will be shattered.\" Now\nZat al-Dawahi had written to King Afridun of that and had told him how\nSharrkan was a Knight of the Braves and the bravest of knights and had\nwarned him against him; but Afridun was a stalwart cavalier who fought\nin many a fashion; he could hurl rocks and throw spears and smite with\nthe iron mace and he feared not the prowest of the prow. So when he\nheard the report of the monk that Sharrkan agreed to the duello, he was\nlike to fly for exceeding joy, because he had self-confidence and he\nknew that none could withstand him. The Infidels passed that night in\njoy and jubilee and wine-bibbing; and, as soon as it was dawn, the two\narmies drew out with the swart of spear and the blanch of blade. And\nbehold, a cavalier rode single-handed into the plain, mounted on a steed\nof purest strain, and for foray and fray full ready and fain. And that\nKnight had limbs of might and he was clad in an iron cuirass made for\nstress of fight. On his breast he wore a jewelled mirror and in his hand\nhe bore a keen scymitar and his lance of Khalanj-wood,[446] the curious\nwork of the Frank, weighing a quintal. Then the rider uncovered his face\nand cried out, saying, \"Whoso knoweth me verily hath enough of me, and\nwhoso knoweth me not right soon[447] shall ken who I be. I am Afridun\nthe overwhelmed by the well-omened Shaw\u00e1hi,[448] Zat al-Dawahi.\" But he\nhad not ended speaking ere Sharrkan, the Champion of the Moslems, fared\nforth to meet him, mounted on a sorrel horse worth a thousand pieces of\nred gold with accoutrements purfled in pearls and precious stone; and he\nbore in baldrick a blade of watered Indian steel that through necks\nshore and made easy the hard and sore. He drave his charger between the\ntwo hosts in line whilst the horsemen all fixed on him their eyne, and\nhe cried out to Afridun, \"Woe to thee, O accursed! dost thou deem me one\nof the horsemen thou hast overta'en who cannot stand against thee on\nbattle-plain?\" Then each rushed upon other and they bashed together like\ntwo mountains crashing or two billows dashing and clashing: they\nadvanced and retreated; and drew together and withdrew; and stinted not\nof fray and fight and weapon-play, and strife and stay, with stroke of\nsword and lunge of lance. Of the two armies looking on, some said,\n\"Sharrkan is victor!\" and others, \"Afridun will conquer!\"; and the two\nriders stayed not their hands from the hustle until ceased the clamour\nand the bustle; and the dust-columns rose and the day waned and the sun\nwaxed yellow and wan. Then cried out King Afridun to Sharrkan, saying,\n\"By the truth of the Messiah and the Faith which is no liar, thou art\nnought save a doughty rider and a stalwart fighter; but thou art\nfraudful and thy nature is not that of the noble. I ken thy work is\nother than praiseworthy nor is thy prowess that of a Prince; for thy\npeople behave to thee as though thou wert a slave;[449] and see! they\nbring thee out a charger which is not thine, that thou mayst mount and\nreturn to the fight. But by the truth of my Faith, thy fighting irketh\nand fatigueth me and I am weary of cutting and thrusting with thee; and\nif thou purpose to lay on load with me to-night, thou wouldst not change\naught of thy harness nor thy horse, till thou approve to the cavaliers\nthy generous blood and skill in brunt.\" When Sharrkan heard him say\nthese words concerning his own folk behaving to him though he were a\nslave, he waxt wroth and turned towards his men, meaning to sign to them\nand bid them not prepare him change of harness or horse, when lo!\nAfridun shook his throw-spear high in air and cast it at Sharrkan. Now\nwhen the Moslem turned his back, he found none of the men near him, and\nhe knew this to be a trick of the accursed Infidel; so he wheeled round\nin haste and behold, the javelin came at him, so he swerved from it,\ntill his head was bent low as his saddle-bow. The weapon grazed his\nbreast, and pierced the skin of his chest, for Sharrkan was\nhigh-bosomed: whereupon he gave one cry and swooned away. Thereat the\naccursed Afridun was joyful, thinking he had slain him; and shouted to\nthe Infidels bidding them rejoice, whereat the Faithless were encouraged\nand the Faithful wept. When Zau al-Makan saw his brother reeling in\nselle so that he well-nigh fell, he despatched cavaliers towards him and\nthe braves hurried to his aid and came up with him. Thereupon the\nInfidels drove at the Moslems; the two hosts joined battle and the two\nlines were mingled, whilst the keen scymitar of Al-Yaman did good work.\nNow the first to reach Sharrkan was the Wazir Dandan\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Zau\nal-Makan saw that the accursed Infidel had struck with javelin his\nbrother Sharrkan, he deemed him dead, and despatched cavaliers towards\nhim; and the first to reach him were the Wazir Dandan and the Emir of\nthe Turks, Bahram, and the Emir of the Daylamites, Rustam. They found\nhim falling from his horse; so they stayed him in his saddle and\nreturned with him to his brother, Zau al-Makan; then they gave him in\ncharge to his pages, and went again to do the work of cut and thrust. So\nthe strife redoubled and the weapons together clashed and ceased not\nbate and debate and naught was to be seen but blood flowing and necks\nbowing; nor did the swords cease on the napes of men to make play nor\nthe strife to rage with more and more affray, till the most part of the\nnight was past away and the two hosts were aweary of the mellay. So they\ncalled a truce and each army returned to its tents, whilst all the\nInfidels repaired to King Afridun and kissed the ground before him, and\nthe priests and monks wished him joy of his victory over Sharrkan. Then\nthe King fared for Constantinople and sat upon the throne of his realm,\nwhen King Hardub came to him and said, \"May the Messiah strengthen thy\nfore-arm and never cease to be thy helper and hearken to what prayers my\npious mother, Zat al-Dawahi, shall pray for thee! Know that the Moslems\ncan make no stay without Sharrkan.\" Replied Afridun, \"To-morrow shall\nend the affair when to fight I fare: I will seek Zau al-Makan and slay\nhim, and their army shall turn tail and of flight shall avail.\" Such was\nthe case with the Kafirs; but as regards the host of Al-Islam, when Zau\nal-Makan returned to his tent, he thought of naught but his brother and,\ngoing into the pavilion, found him in evil case and sore condition;\nwhereupon he summoned for counsel the Wazir Dandan and Rustam and\nBahram. When they entered, they opined to assemble the physicians that\nthey might medicine Sharrkan, and they wept and said, \"The world will\nnot readily afford his like!\" and they watched by him all that night,\nand about the later hours came to them the Recluse in tears. When Zau\nal-Makan saw him, he rose in honour; and the Religious stroked\nSharrkan's wound with his hand, chanting somewhat of the Koran and\nrepeating by way of talisman some of the verses of the Compassionate\nOne. And the pretender ceased not to watch over him till dawn, when he\ncame to himself and, opening his eyes, moved his tongue in his mouth and\nspoke. At this Zau al-Makan rejoiced, saying, \"Of a truth the blessing\nof the Holy Man hath taken effect on him!\" And Sharrkan said, \"Praised\nbe Allah for recovery; indeed, I am well at this hour. That accursed one\nplayed me false; and, but that I swerved aside lighter than lightning,\nthe throw-spear had pierced through my breast. So praised be Allah for\nsaving me! And how is it with the Moslems?\" Answered Zau al-Makan, \"All\nare weeping for thee.\" Quoth Sharrkan, \"I am well and in good case; but\nwhere is the Holy Man?\" Now he was sitting by him and said, \"At thy\nhead.\" So the Prince turned to him and kissed his hand when he said, \"O\nmy son! be of good patience and Allah shall increase thy reward; for the\nwage is measured by the work.\" Sharrkan rejoined, \"Pray for me,\" and he\nprayed for him. As soon as morning dawned and day brake in shine and\nsheen, the Moslems sallied out to the plain and the Kafirs made ready to\nthrust and cut. Then the Islamite host advanced and offered fight with\nweapons ready dight, and King Zau al-Makan and Afridun made to charge\none at other. But when Zau al-Makan fared forth into the field, there\ncame with him the Wazir Dandan and the Chamberlain and Bahram, saying,\n\"We will be thy sacrifice.\" He replied, \"By the Holy House and Zemzem\nand the Place![450] I will not be stayed from going forth against these\nwild asses.\" And when he rode out into the field he played with sword\nand spear till riders marvelled and both armies wondered; then he rushed\nupon the foe's right wing and of it he slew two knights and in like\nmanner he dealt with the left wing. Presently he stayed his steed in the\nmidst of the field and cried out, \"Where is Afridun, that I may make him\ntaste the cup of disgrace?\" But when King Hardub saw the case he\nconjured Afridun not to attack him, saying, \"O King, yesterday it was\nthy turn to fight: it is mine to-day. I care naught for his prowess.\" So\nhe rushed out towards Zau al-Makan brand in hand and under him a\nstallion like Abjar, which was Antar's charger, and its coat was jet\nblack even as saith the poet:\u2014\n\n On the glancing racer outracing glance \u273f He speeds, as though he\n would collar Doom:\n His steed's black coat is of darkest jet, \u273f And likest Night in\n her nightliest gloom:\n Whose neigh sounds glad to the hearer's ears \u273f Like thunders rolling\n in thund'rous boom:\n If he race the wind he will lead the way, \u273f And the\n lightning-flash will behind him loom.[451]\n\nThen each rushed upon the opponent, parrying blows and proving the\nmarvellous qualities were stored in him; and they fell to drawing on and\nwithdrawing till the breasts of the bystanders were straitened and they\nwere weary of waiting for the event. At last Zau al-Makan cried out his\nwar-cry and rushed upon Hardub, King of C\u00e6sarea,[452] and struck him a\nstroke that shore head from trunk and slew him on the spot. When the\nInfidels saw this, they charged in a body, compact and united, upon Zau\nal-Makan, who met them amidfield, and they engaged in hewing and\nfoining, till blood ran in rills. Then the Moslems cried out, \"Allaho\nAkbar!\"\u2014God is most great\u2014and \"There is no god but _the_ God!\"; and\ninvoked salvation for the Prophet, the Bringer of Glad Tidings, the\nBearer of Bad Tidings. And there befel a great fight, but Allah assigned\nvictory to the Faithful and defeat to the Faithless. The Wazir Dandan\nshouted, \"Take your blood-revenge for King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and his\nson Sharrkan!\"; and bared his head and cried out to the Turks. Now there\nwere by his side more than twenty thousand horse, and all charged with\nhim as one man, when the Faithless found naught to save their lives but\nflight. So they turned tail to fly while the biting sabre wrought its\nhavoc and the Moslems slew of them that day some fifty thousand horse\nand took more than that number: much folk also were slain while going in\nat the gates, for the flock was great. Then the Greeks hove to the doors\nand swarmed up the walls to await the assault; and in fine the Moslem\nhosts returned to their tents aided to glory and victory, and King Zau\nal-Makan went in to his brother whom he found in most joyous case. So he\nmade a prostration of thanks to the Bountiful and the Exalted; and then\nhe came forward and gave Sharrkan joy of his recovery. Answered he,\n\"Verily we are all under the benediction of this Religious, holy and\nrighteous, nor would you have been victorious, but for his accepted\norisons; indeed all day he remained at prayer to invoke victory on the\nMoslems.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-fourth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Zau al-Makan\nwent in to his brother Sharrkan, he found him sitting with the Holy Man\nby his side; so he rejoiced and drew near him and gave him joy of his\nrecovery. Answered he, \"Verily we are all under the benediction of this\nRecluse nor would you have been victorious but for his prayers, indeed\nhe felt no fear this day and he ceased not supplication for the Moslems.\nI found strength return to me, when I heard your 'Allaho Akbar,' for\nthen I knew you to be victorious over your enemies. But now recount to\nme, O my brother, what befel thee.\" So he told him all that had passed\nbetween him and the accursed Hardub and related how he had slain him and\nsent him to the malediction of Allah; and Sharrkan praised him and\nthanked him for his prowess. When Zat al-Dawahi heard tell of her son's\ndeath (and she still drest as a devotee), her face waxed yellow and her\neyes ran over with railing tears: she kept her counsel, however, and\nfeigned to the Moslems that she was glad and wept for excess of joy. But\nshe said to herself, \"By the truth of the Messiah, there remaineth no\nprofit of my life, if I burn not his heart for his brother, Sharrkan,\neven as he hath burnt my heart for King Hardub, the mainstay of\nChristendom and the hosts of Crossdom!\" Still she kept her secret. And\nthe Wazir Dandan and King Zau al-Makan and the Chamberlain remained\nsitting with Sharrkan till they had dressed and salved his wound; after\nwhich they gave him medicines and he began to recover strength; whereat\nthey joyed with exceeding joy and told the troops who congratulated\nthemselves, saying, \"To-morrow he will ride with us and do manly devoir\nin the siege.\" Then said Sharrkan to them, \"Ye have fought through all\nthis day and are aweary of fight; so it behoveth that you return to your\nplaces and sleep and not sit up.\" They accepted his counsel and then\neach went away to his own pavilion, and none remained with Sharrkan but\na few servants and the old woman Zat al-Dawahi. He talked with her\nthrough part of the night, then he stretched himself to rest: and his\nservants did likewise and presently sleep overcame them all and they lay\nlike the dead. Such was the case with Sharrkan and his men; but as\nregards the old woman she alone abode awake while they slumbered in the\ntent and, looking at Sharrkan she presently saw that he was drowned in\nsleep. Thereupon she sprang to her feet, as she were a scald she-bear or\na speckled snake, and drew from her waist-cloth a dagger so poisoned\nthat if laid thereon it would have melted a rock. Then she unsheathed\nthe poniard and went up to Sharrkan's head and she drew the knife across\nhis throat and severed his weasand and hewed off his head from his body.\nAnd once more she sprang to her feet; and, going the round of the\nsleeping servants, she cut off their heads also, lest they should awake.\nThen she left the tent and made for the Sultan's pavilion, but finding\nthe guards on the alert, turned to that of the Wazir Dandan. Now she\nfound him reading the Koran and when his sight fell upon her he said,\n\"Welcome to the Holy Man!\" Hearing this from the Wazir, her heart\ntrembled and she said, \"The reason of my coming hither at this time is\nthat I heard the voice of a saint amongst Allah's Saints and am going to\nhim.\" Then she turned her back, but the Wazir said to himself, \"By\nAllah, I will follow our Devotee this night!\" So he rose and walked\nafter her; but when the accursed old woman sensed his footsteps, she\nknew that he was following her: wherefore she feared the disgrace of\ndiscovery and said in herself, \"Unless I serve some trick upon him he\nwill disgrace me.\" So she turned and said to him from afar, \"Ho, thou\nWazir, I am going in search of this Saint that I may learn who he is;\nand, after learning this much, I will ask his leave for thee to visit\nhim. Then I will come back and tell thee; for I fear thine accompanying\nme, without having his permission, lest he take umbrage at me seeing\nthee in my society.\" Now when the Wazir heard these words, he was\nashamed to answer her; so he left her and returned to his tent, and\nwould have slept; but sleep was not favourable to him and the world\nseemed heaped upon him. Presently he rose and went forth from the tent\nsaying in himself, \"I will go to Sharrkan and chat with him till\nmorning.\" But when he entered into Sharrkan's pavilion, he found the\nblood running like an aqueduct and saw the servants lying with their\nthroats cut like beasts for food. At this he cried a cry which aroused\nall who were asleep; the folk hastened to him and, seeing the blood\nstreaming, set up a clamour of weeping and wailing. Then the noise awoke\nthe Sultan, who enquired what was the matter, and it was said to him,\n\"Sharrkan thy brother and his servants are murthered.\" So he rose in\nhaste and entered the tent, and found the Wazir Dandan shrieking aloud\nand he saw his brother's body without a head. Thereat he swooned away\nand all the troops crowded around him, weeping and crying out, and so\nremained for a while, till he came to himself, when he looked at\nSharrkan and wept with sore weeping, while the Wazir and Rustam and\nBahram did the like. But the Chamberlain cried and lamented more than\nthe rest and asked leave to absent himself, such was his alarm. Then\nsaid Zau al-Makan, \"Know ye who did this deed and how is it I see not\nthe Devotee, him who the things of this world hath put away?\" Quoth the\nWazir, \"And who should have been the cause of this affliction, save that\nDevotee, that Satan? By Allah, my heart abhorred him from the first,\nbecause I know that all who pretend to be absorbed in practices\nreligious are vile and treacherous!\" And he repeated to the King the\ntale of how he would have followed the Religious, but he forbade him,\nwhereupon the folk broke out into a tumult of weeping and lamentation\nand humbled themselves before Him who is ever near, Him who ever\nanswereth prayer, supplicating that He would cause the false Devotee who\ndenied Allah's testimony to fall into their hands. Then they laid\nSharrkan out and buried him in the mountain aforesaid and mourned over\nhis far-famed virtues.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-fifth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that they laid Sharrkan\nout and buried him in the mountain aforesaid and mourned over his\nfar-famed virtues. Then they looked for the opening of the city-gate;\nbut it opened not and no sign of men appeared to them on the walls;\nwhereat they wondered with exceeding wonder. But King Zau al-Makan said,\n\"By Allah, I will not turn back from them, though I sit here for years\nand years, till I take blood-revenge for my brother Sharrkan and waste\nConstantinople and kill the King of the Nazarenes, even if death\novercome me and I be at rest from this woeful world!\" Then he bade be\nbrought out the treasure taken from the Monastery of Matruhina; and\nmustered the troops and divided the monies among them, and he left not\none of them but he gave him gifts which contented him. Moreover, he\nassembled in the presence three hundred horse of every division and said\nto them, \"Do ye send supplies to your households, for I am resolved to\nabide by this city, year after year, till I have taken man-bote for my\nbrother Sharrkan, even if I die in this stead.\" And when the army heard\nthese words and had received his gifts of money they replied, \"To hear\nis to obey!\" Thereupon he summoned couriers and gave them letters and\ncharged them to deliver the same, together with the monies, to the\nsoldiers' families and inform them that all were safe and satisfied, and\nacquaint them saying, \"We are encamped before Constantinople and we will\neither destroy it or die; and, albeit we be obliged to abide here months\nand years, we will not depart hence till we take it.\" Moreover, he bade\nthe Wazir Dandan write to his sister, Nuzhat al-Zaman, and said to him,\n\"Acquaint her with what hath befallen us, and what be our situation and\ncommend my child to her care since that, when I went out to war, my wife\nwas near her delivery and by this time she must needs have been brought\nto bed; and if she hath given birth to a boy, as I have heard say,\nhasten your return and bring me the acceptable news.\" Then he gave them\nsomewhat of money, which they pouched and set out at once; and all the\npeople flocked forth to take leave of them and entrust them with the\nmonies and the messages. After they had departed, Zau al-Makan turned to\nthe Wazir Dandan and commanded him to advance with the army against the\ncity-walls. So the troops pushed forward, but found none on the\nramparts, whereat they marvelled, while Zau al-Makan was troubled at the\ncase, for he deeply mourned the severance from his brother Sharrkan and\nhe was sore perturbed about that traitor the Ascetic. In this condition\nthey abode three days without seeing anyone. So far concerning the\nMoslems; but as regards the Greeks and the cause of their refusing fight\nduring these three days the case was this. As soon as Zat al-Dawahi had\nslain Sharrkan, she hastened her march and reached the walls of\nConstantinople, where she called out in the Greek tongue to the guards\nto throw her down a rope. Quoth they, \"Who art thou?\"; and quoth she, \"I\nam Zat al-Dawahi.\" They knew her and let down a cord to which she tied\nherself and they drew her up; and, when inside the city, she went in to\nthe King Afridun and said to him, \"What is this I hear from the Moslems?\nThey say that my son King Hardub is slain.\" He answered, \"Yes;\" and she\nshrieked out and wept right grievously and ceased not weeping thus till\nshe made Afridun and all who were present weep with her. Then she told\nthe King how she had slain Sharrkan and thirty of his servants, whereat\nhe rejoiced and thanked her; and, kissing her hands, exhorted her to\nresignation for the loss of her son. Said she, \"By the truth of the\nMessiah, I will not rest content with killing that dog of the Moslem\ndogs in blood-revenge for my son, a King of the Kings of the age! Now\nthere is no help for it but that I work some guile and I contrive a wile\nwhereby to slay the Sultan Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan and the\nChamberlain and Rustam and Bahram and ten thousand cavaliers of the army\nof Al-Islam; for it shall never be said that my son's head be paid with\nthe blood-wit of Sharrkan's head; no, never!\" Then said she to King\nAfridun, \"Know, O King of the Age, that it is my wish to set forth\nmourning for my son and to cut my Girdle and to break the Crosses.\"\nReplied Afridun, \"Do what thou desire; I will not gainsay thee in aught.\nAnd if thou prolong thy mourning for many days it were a little thing;\nfor though the Moslems resolve to beleaguer us years and years, they\nwill never win their will of us nor gain aught of us save trouble and\nweariness.\" Then the Accursed One (when she had ended with the calamity\nshe had wrought and the ignominies which in herself she had thought)\ntook ink-case and paper and wrote thereon:\u2014\"From Shaw\u00e1hi, Zat al-Dawahi,\nto the host of the Moslems. Know ye that I entered your country and\nduped by my cunning your nobles and at first hand I slew your King Omar\nbin al-Nu'uman in the midst of his palace. Moreover, I slew, in the\naffair of the mountain-pass and of the cave, many of your men; and the\nlast I killed were Sharrkan and his servants. And if fortune do not stay\nme and Satan obey me, I needs must slay me your Sultan and the Wazir\nDandan, for I am she who came to you in disguise of a Recluse and who\nheaped upon you my devices and deceits. Wherefore, an you would be in\nsafety after this, fare ye forth at once; and if you seek your own\ndestruction cease not abiding for the nonce; and though ye tarry here\nyears and years, ye shall not do your desire on us. And so peace be\nyours!\" After writing her writ she devoted three days to mourning for\nKing Hardub; and, on the fourth, she called a Knight and bade him take\nthe letter and make it fast to a shaft and shoot it into the Moslem\ncamp. When this was done, she entered the church and gave herself up to\nweeping and wailing for the loss of her son, saying to him who took the\nkingship after him, \"Nothing will serve me but I must kill Zau al-Makan\nand all the nobles of Al-Islam.\" Such was the case with her; but as\nregards what occurred to the Moslems, all passed three days in trouble\nand anxiety, and on the fourth when gazing at the walls behold, they saw\na knight holding a bow and about to shoot an arrow along whose side a\nletter was bound. So they waited till he had shot it among them and the\nSultan bade the Wazir Dandan take the missive and read it. He perused it\naccordingly; and, when Zau al-Makan heard it to end and understood its\npurport, his eyes filled with tears and he shrieked for agony at her\nperfidy; and the Minister Dandan said, \"By Allah, my heart shrank from\nher!\" Quoth the Sultan, \"How could this whore play her tricks upon us\ntwice? But by the Almighty I will not depart hence till I fill her cleft\nwith molten lead and jail her with the jailing of a bird encaged, then\nbind her with her own hair and crucify her over the gate of\nConstantinople.\" And he called to mind his brother and wept with\nexcessive weeping. But when Zat al-Dawahi arrived amongst the Infidels\nand related to them her adventures at length, they rejoiced at her\nsafety and at the slaying of Sharrkan. Thereupon the Moslems addressed\nthemselves again to the siege of the city and the Sultan promised his\nmen that, if it should be taken, he would divide its treasures among\nthem in equal parts. But he dried not his tears grieving for his brother\ntill his body was wasted and sick, growing thin as a toothpick.\nPresently the Wazir Dandan came in to him and said, \"Be of good cheer\nand keep thine eyes cool and clear; in very sooth thy brother died not\nbut because his hour was come, and there is no profit in this mourning.\nHow well saith the poet:\u2014\n\n Whatso is not to be no sleight shall bring to pass; \u273f What is to\n be without a failure shall become;\n Soon the becoming fortune shall be found to be, \u273f And\n Folly's brother[453] shall abide forlorn and glum.\"\n\n\"Wherefore do thou leave this weeping and wailing and hearten thy heart\nto bear arms.\" He replied, \"O Wazir, my heart is heavy for the death of\nmy father and my brother and for our absence from hearth and home; and\nmy mind is concerned for my subjects.\" Thereupon the Wazir and the\nbystanders wept; but they ceased not from pushing forward the siege of\nConstantinople for a length of days. And they being thus, behold, news\narrived from Baghdad, by one of the Emirs to the effect that the King's\nwife had been blessed with a boy, and that his sister, Nuzhat al-Zaman,\nhad named him Kanmakan.[454] Moreover, that the boy bid fair to be\nfamous, already showing wondrous signs and marvellous tokens; and that\nshe had commanded the Olema and the preachers to pray for mother and\nchild from the pulpits and bless them in all wise; furthermore that the\ntwain were well, that the land had enjoyed abundant rains, and that his\ncomrade the Fireman was established in all prosperity, with eunuchs and\nslaves to wait upon him; but that he was still ignorant of what had\nbefallen him. And she ended with the greeting of peace. Then quoth Zau\nal-Makan to the Wazir Dandan, \"Now is my back strengthened for that I\nhave been blest with a son whose name is Kanmakan.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-sixth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when they brought\nhim the news of his wife having borne him a boy child, Zau al-Makan\nrejoiced with great joy and cried, \"Now is my back strengthened, for\nthat I have been blessed with a son[455] whose name is Kanmakan.\" And he\nspake to the Wazir Dandan, saying, \"I am minded to leave this mourning\nand order perlections of the Koran for my brother and command almsdeeds\non his account.\" Quoth the Wazir, \"Thy design is good.\" Thereupon he\ncaused tents to be pitched over his brother's tomb; so they raised them\nand gathered together such of the men-at-arms as could repeat the Koran;\nand some began reciting the Holy volume; whilst others chanted litanies\ncontaining the names of Allah, and thus they did till the morning. Then\nZau al-Makan went up to the grave of his brother Sharrkan and poured\nforth copious tears, and improvised these couplets:\u2014\n\n They bore him bier'd, and all who followed wept \u273f With Moses'\n shrieks what day o'erhead shook Tor;[456]\n Till reached the grave which Fate had made his home, \u273f Dug in\n men's souls who one sole God adore:\n Ne'er had I thought before to see my joy \u273f Borne on the bier\n which heads of bearers bore:\n Ah no! nor ere they homed thee in the dust \u273f That stars of heaven\n earth ever covered o'er.\n Is the tomb-dweller hostage of a stead, \u273f Where light and\n splendour o'er thy face shall pour?\n Praise to restore his life her word hath pledged: \u273f Cribbed\n and confined he shall dispread the more!\n\nWhen Zau al-Makan had made an end of his versifying he wept and wept\nwith him all the troops; then he came to the grave and threw himself\nupon it wild with woe, and the Wazir repeated the words of the poet:\u2014\n\n Fain leaving life that fleets thou hast th' eternal won; \u273f Thou\n didst as whilom many a doer like thee hath done;\n Leftest this worldly house without reproach or blame; \u273f Ah, may\n th' exchange secure thee every benison!\n Thou wast from hostile onset shield and firm defence, \u273f For us\n to baffle shafts and whistling spears to shun.\n I see this world is only cheat and vanity, \u273f Where man naught else\n must seek but please the Truthful One:\n Th' Empyrean's Lord allow thee bower of heavenly bliss, \u273f And wi'\n thy faithful friends The Guide show goodly wone:\n I bid thee last good e'en with sigh of bitter grief, \u273f Seeing the\n West in woe for lack of Easting Sun.\n\nWhen the Wazir Dandan had finished his reciting, he wept with sore\nweeping and the tears rained from his eyes like cushioned pearls. Then\ncame forward one who had been of Sharrkan's boon-companions in his cups\nand he wept till ran in rills the drops, and he enumerated the dead\nman's generous qualities, reciting the following pentastichs:\u2014\n\n Where gone is Bounty since thy hand is turned to clay? \u273f And I\n in misery lie since thou wast ta'en away.\n See'st not, O litter-guide[457] (Heaven keep thee glad and gay!), \u273f\n How tears adorn my cheeks, these furrowed wrinkles fray?\n A sight to joy thine eyes and fill thee with dismay.[458]\n By Allah ne'er this heart within I spoke of thee; \u273f Ah no! nor dared\n my sight to see thy brilliancy:\n Save that my tear-drops sorest wound have garred me dree \u273f Yea! and\n if e'er on other rest these eyne of me,\n May yearning draw their reins nor suffer sleep to see.\n\nAnd when the man stinted reciting, Zau al-Makan and the Minister Dandan\nwept and the whole army was moved to tears; after which all retired to\ntheir tents, and the King turning to the Wazir took counsel with him\nconcerning the conduct of the campaign. On this wise the two passed days\nand nights, while Zau al-Makan was weighed down with grief and mourning\ntill at last he said, \"I long to hear stories and adventures of Kings\nand tales of lover-folk enslaved by love; haply Allah may make this to\nsolace that which is on my heart of heavy anxiety, and stint and stay my\nweeping and wailing.\" Quoth the Wazir, \"If naught can dispel thy trouble\nbut hearing curious tales of Kings and people long gone before and\nstories of folk enslaved by love of yore, and so forth, this thing were\neasy, for I had no other business, in the lifetime of thy father (who\nhath found mercy) than to relate stories and to repeat verses to him.\nThis very night I will tell thee a tale of a lover and his beloved, so\nshall thy breast be broadened.\" When Zau al-Makan heard these words from\nthe Minister, his heart was set upon that which had been promised to him\nand he did nothing but watch for the coming of the night, that he might\nhear what the Wazir Dandan had to tell of the Kings of yore and\ndistracted lovers long gone before. And hardly would he believe that\nnight had fallen ere he bade light the wax-candles and the lamps and\nbring all that was needful of meat and drink and perfume-gear, and what\nnot; and when all was in presence, he summoned the Wazir Dandan, and the\nEmirs Rustam and Bahram and Tarkash and the Grand Chamberlain; then\nwaited till the whole party was seated before him; whereupon he turned\nto the Minister and said, \"Know, O Wazir, that night is come and hath\nlet down over us its veil of gloom, and we desire that thou tell us\nthose tales which thou promisedst us.\" Replied the Wazir, \"With joy and\ngood will.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-seventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Zau\nal-Makan summoned the Wazir and the Chamberlain and Rustam and Bahram,\nhe turned towards the Minister Dandan and said, \"Know, O Wazir, that\nnight is come and hath let down over us its veil of gloom, and we desire\nthat thou tell us those tales which thou promisedst us.\" Replied the\nWazir:\u2014With love and gladness! Know, O auspicious King, that there\nreached my ears a relation of a lover and a loved one and of the\ndiscourse between them and what befel them of things rare and fair, a\nstory such as repelleth care from the heart and dispelleth sorrow like\nunto that of the patriarch Jacob[459]; and it is as follows:\u2014\n\n\n _TALE OF TAJ AL-MULUK AND THE PRINCESS DUNYA:\n THE LOVER AND THE LOVED._\n\nThere stood in times long gone by behind the Mountains of Ispahan, a\ncity hight the Green City, wherein dwelt a King named Sulaym\u00e1n Sh\u00e1h. Now\nhe was a man of liberality and beneficence, of justice and integrity, of\ngenerosity and sincerity, to whom travellers repaired from every\ncountry, and his name was noised abroad in all regions and cities and he\nreigned many a year in high worship and prosperity, save that he owned\nneither wives nor children. He had a Minister who rivalled him in\ngoodness and generosity and it so happened that one day, he sent for him\nand when he came into the presence said to him, \"O my Wazir, my heart is\nheavy and my patience is past and my force faileth me, for that I have\nneither wife nor child. This is not the way of Kings who rule over all\nmen, princes and paupers; for they rejoice in leaving behind them\nchildren and successors whereby are doubled their number and their\nstrength. Quoth the Prophet (whom Allah bless and keep!):\u2014Marry ye,\nincrease ye, and multiply ye, that I may boast me of your superiority\nover the nations on the Day of Resurrection. So what is thy rede, O\nWazir? Advise me of what course and contrivance be advisable!\" When the\nMinister heard these words, the tears sprang from his eyes in streams,\nand he replied, \"Far be it from me, O King of the Age, that I debate on\nthat which appertaineth to the Compassionate One! Wilt thou have me cast\ninto the fire by the All-powerful King's wrath and ire? Buy thee a\nconcubine.\" Rejoined the King, \"Know, O Wazir, that when a sovereign\nbuyeth a female slave, he knoweth neither her rank nor her lineage and\nthus he cannot tell if she be of simple origin that he may abstain from\nher, or of gentle strain that he may be intimate in her companionship.\nSo, if he have commerce with her, haply she will conceive by him and her\nson be a hypocrite, a man of wrath and a shedder of blood. Indeed the\nlike of such woman may be instanced by a salt and marshy soil, which if\none till for ever it yieldeth only worthless growth and no endurance\nshoweth; for it may be that her son will be obnoxious to his Lord's\nanger, doing not what He biddeth him or abstaining from what He\nforbiddeth him. Wherefore will I never become the cause of this through\nthe purchase of a concubine; and it is my desire that thou demand for me\nin marriage the daughter of some one of the Kings, whose lineage is\nknown and whose loveliness hath renown. If thou can direct me to some\nmaiden of birth and piety of the daughters of Moslem Sovranty, I will\nask her in marriage and wed her in presence of witnesses, so may accrue\nto me the favour of the Lord of all Creatures.\" Said the Wazir, \"O King,\nverily Allah hath fulfilled thy wish and hath brought thee to thy\ndesire;\" presently adding, \"Know, O King, it hath come to my knowledge\nthat King Zahr Shah,[460] Lord of the White Land, hath a daughter of\nsurpassing loveliness whose charms talk and tale fail to express: she\nhath not her equal in this age, for she is perfect in proportion and\nsymmetry, black eyed as if Kohl-dyed and long locked, wee of waist and\nheavy of hip. When she draweth nigh she seduceth and when she turneth\nher back[461] she slayeth; she ravisheth heart and view and she looketh\neven as saith of her the poet:\u2014\n\n A thin-waist maid who shames the willow-wand; \u273f Nor sun nor moon\n can like her rising shine:\n 'Tis as her honey-dew of lips were blent \u273f With wine, and pearls\n of teeth were bathed in wine;\n Her form, like heavenly Houri's, graceful slim; \u273f Fair face; and\n ruin dealt by glancing eyne:\n How many a dead-done man her eyes have slain \u273f Upon her way of love\n in ruin li'en:\n An live I she's my death! I'll say no more \u273f But dying without her\n vain were life of mine.\"\n\nNow when the Wazir had made an end of describing that maiden, he said to\nKing Zahr Shah, \"It is my counsel, O King, that thou despatch to her\nfather an ambassador, sagacious, experienced and trained in the ways of\nthe world, who shall courteously demand her in marriage for thee of her\nsire; for in good sooth she hath not her equal in the far parts of the\nworld nor in the near.\" So shalt thou enjoy her lovely face in the way\nof grace, and the Lord of Glory be content with thy case; for it is\nreported of the Prophet (whom Allah bless and preserve!) that he said,\n\"There be no monkery in Al-Islam.\" At this the King was transported to\nperfect joy; his breast was broadened and lightened; care and cark\nceased from him and he turned to the Wazir and said, \"Know thou, O\nMinister, that none shall fare about this affair save thou, by reason of\nthy consummate intelligence and good breeding; wherefore hie thee home\nand do all thou hast to do and get thee ready by the morrow and depart\nand demand me in marriage this maiden, with whom thou hast occupied my\nheart and thought; and return not to me but with her.\" Replied the\nWazir, \"I hear and I obey.\" Then he hied to his own house and bade make\nready presents befitting Kings, of precious stones and things of price\nand other matters light of load but weighty of worth, besides Rabite\nsteeds and coats of mail, such as David made[462] and chests of treasure\nfor which speech hath no measure. And the Wazir loaded the whole on\ncamels and mules, and set out attended by an hundred slave-girls with\nflags and banners flaunting over his head. The King charged him to\nreturn to him after a few days; and, when he was gone, Sulayman Shah lay\non coals of fire, engrossed night and day with desire; while the envoy\nfared on without ceasing through gloom and light, spanning fertile field\nand desert site, till but a day's march remained between him and the\ncity whereto he was bound. Here he sat him down on the banks of a river\nand, summoning one of his confidants, bade him wend his way to King Zahr\nShah and announce his approach without delay. Quoth the messenger, \"I\nhear and I obey!\" And he rode on in haste to that city and, as he was\nabout to enter therein, it so chanced that the King, who was sitting in\none of his pleasaunces before the city-gate, espied him as he was\npassing the doors, and knowing him for a stranger, bade bring him before\nthe presence. So the messenger coming forward informed him of the\napproach of the Wazir of the mighty King Sulayman Shah, Lord of the\nGreen Land and of the Mountains of Ispahan: whereat King Zahr Shah\nrejoiced and welcomed him. Then he carried him to his palace and asked\nhim, \"Where leavedst thou the Wazir?\"; and he answered, \"I left him in\nearly day on the banks of such a river and to-morrow he will reach thee,\nAllah continue his favours to thee and have mercy upon thy parents!\"\nThereupon King Zahr Shah commanded one of his Wazirs to take the better\npart of his Grandees and Chamberlains and Lieutenants and Lords of the\nland, and go out to meet the ambassador in honour of King Sulayman Shah;\nfor that his dominion extended over the country. Such was the case with\nZahr Shah; but as regards the Wazir he abode in his stead till night was\nhalf spent[463] and then set out for the city; but when morning shone\nand the sun rose upon hill and down, of a sudden he saw King Zahr Shah's\nWazir approaching him, with his Chamberlains and high Lords and Chief\nOfficers of the kingdom; and the two parties joined company at some\nparasangs' distance from the city.[464] Thereat the Wazir made sure of\nthe success of his errand and saluted the escort, which ceased not\npreceding him till they reached the King's palace and passed in before\nhim through the gate to the seventh vestibule, a place where none might\nenter on horseback, for it was near to where the King sat. So the\nMinister alighted and fared on a-foot till he came to a lofty saloon, at\nwhose upper end stood a marble couch, set with pearls and stones of\nprice, and having for legs four elephant's tusks. Upon it was a coverlet\nof green satin purfled with red gold, and above it hung a canopy adorned\nwith pearls and gems, whereon sat King Zahr Shah, whilst his officers of\nstate stood in attendance before him. When the Wazir went in to him, he\ncomposed his mind and, unbinding his tongue, displayed the oratory of\nWazirs and saluted the King in the language of eloquence\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-eighth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Wazir of\nKing Sulayman Shah entered the presence of King Zahr Shah he composed\nhis mind and, unbinding his tongue, displayed the oratory of Wazirs and\nsaluted the King in the language of eloquence and improvised these\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n He cometh robed and bending gracefully: \u273f O'er crop and cropper dews\n of grace sheds he:\n He charms; nor characts, spells nor gramarye \u273f May fend the glances\n of those eyne from thee:\n Say to the blamer, \"Blame me not, for I \u273f From love of him will\n never turn to flee\":\n My heart hath played me false while true to him, \u273f And Sleep, in\n love with him, abhorreth me:\n O heart! th'art not the sole who loveth him, \u273f So bide with him while\n I desertion dree:\n There's nought to joy mine ears with joyous sound \u273f Save praise of\n King Zahr Shah in jubilee:\n A King albeit thou leave thy life to win \u273f One look, that look\n were all-sufficiency:\n And if a pious prayer thou breathe for him, \u273f Shall join all\n Faithfuls in such pious gree:\n Folk of his realm! If any shirk his right \u273f For other hoping,\n gross Unfaith I see.\n\nWhen the Wazir had ended his poetry, King Zahr Shah bade him draw near\nand honoured him with the highmost honours; then, seating him by his own\nside, smiled in his face and favoured him with a gracious reply. They\nceased not on this wise till the time of the under-meal when the\nattendants brought forward the tables of food in that saloon and all ate\ntill they were sated; after which the tables were removed and those who\nwere in the assembly withdrew, leaving only the chief officers. Now when\nthe Minister saw this, he rose to his feet and, after complimenting the\nKing a second time and kissing the ground before him, spake as follows,\n\"O mighty King and dread Lord! I have travelled hither and have visited\nthee upon a matter which shall bring thee peace, profit and prosperity:\nand it is this, that I come as ambassador to thee, seeking in marriage\nthy daughter, the noble and illustrious maid, from Sulayman Shah, a\nPrince famed for justice and integrity, sincerity and generosity, Lord\nof the Green Land and of the Mountains of Ispahan, who sendeth thee of\npresents a store, and gifts of price galore, ardently desiring to become\nthy son-in-law. But art thou inclined to him as he to thee?\" He then\nkept silence, awaiting a reply. When King Zahr Shah heard these words,\nhe sprang to his feet and kissed the ground respectfully before the\nWazir, while the bystanders were confounded at his condescension to the\nambassador and their minds were amazed. Then he praised Him who is the\nLord of Honour and Glory and replied (and he still standing), \"O mighty\nWazir and illustrious Chief; hear thou what I say! Of a truth we are to\nKing Sulayman Shah of the number of his subjects, and we shall be\nennobled by his alliance and we covet it ardently; for my daughter is a\nhandmaid of his handmaidens, and it is my dearest desire that he may\nbecome my stay and my reliable support.\" Then he summoned the Kazis and\nthe witnesses, who should bear testimony that King Sulayman Shah had\ndespatched his Wazir as proxy to conclude the marriage, and that King\nZahr Shah joyfully acted and officiated for his daughter. So the Kazis\nconcluded the wedding-contract and offered up prayers for the happiness\nand prosperity of the wedded feres; after which the Wazir arose and,\nfetching the gifts and rarities and precious things, laid them all\nbefore the King. Then Zahr Shah occupied himself anent the fitting out\nof his daughter and honourably entertained the Wazir and feasted his\nsubjects all, great and small; and for two months they held high\nfestival, omitting naught that could rejoice heart and eye. Now when all\nthings needful for the bride were ready, the King caused the tents to be\ncarried out and they pitched the camp within sight of the city, where\nthey packed the bride's stuffs in chests and gat ready the Greek\nhandmaids and Turkish slave-girls, and provided the Princess with great\nstore of precious treasures and costly jewels. Then he had made for her\na litter of red gold, inlaid with pearls and stones of price, and set\napart two mules to carry it; a litter which was like one of the chambers\nof a palace, and within which she seemed as she were of the loveliest\nHouris and it became as one of the pavilions of Paradise. And after they\nhad made bales of the treasures and monies, and had loaded them upon the\nmules and camels, King Zahr Shah went forth with her for a distance of\nthree parasangs; after which he bade farewell to her and the Wazir and\nthose with him, and returned to his home in gladness and safety.\nThereupon the Wazir, faring with the King's daughter, pushed on and\nceased not his stages over desert ways\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-ninth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir fared on\nwith the King's daughter and ceased not forcing his stages over desert\nways and hastened his best through nights and days, till there remained\nbetween him and his city but three marches. Thereupon he sent forward to\nKing Sulayman Shah one who should announce the coming of the bride. The\nKing rejoiced thereat and bestowed on the messenger a dress of honour;\nand bade his troops march forth in grand procession to meet the Princess\nand her company for due worship and honour, and don their richest\napparel with banners flying over their heads. And his orders were\nobeyed. He also commanded to cry throughout the city that neither\ncurtained damsel nor honoured lady nor time-ruptured crone should fail\nto fare forth and meet the bride. So they all went out to greet her and\nthe grandest of them vied in doing her service and they agreed to bring\nher to the King's palace by night. Moreover, the chief officers decided\nto decorate the road and to stand in espalier of double line, whilst the\nbride should pass by preceded by her eunuchs and serving-women and clad\nin the gear her father had given her. So when she made her appearance,\nthe troops surrounded her, these of the right wing and those of the\nleft, and the litter ceased not advancing with her till she approached\nthe palace; nor remained any but came forth to gaze upon the Princess.\nDrums were beaten and spears were brandished and horns blared and flags\nfluttered and steeds pranced for precedence and scents shed fragrance\ntill they reached the Palace gate and the pages entered with the litter\nthrough the Harim-wicket. The place shone with its splendours and the\nwalls glittered for the glamour of its gear. Now when night came, the\neunuchs threw open the doors of the bridal-chamber and stood surrounding\nthe chief entrance; whereupon the bride came forward and amid her\ndamsels she was like the moon among stars or an union shining on a\nstring of lesser pearls, and she passed into the bridal closet where\nthey had set for her a couch of alabaster inlaid with unions and jewels.\nAs soon as she had taken seat there, the King came in to her and Allah\nfilled his heart with her love so he abated her maidenhead and ceased\nfrom him his trouble and disquiet. He abode with her well-nigh a month\nbut she had conceived by him the first night; and, when the month was\nended, he went forth and sat on his sofa of state, and dispensed justice\nto his subjects, till the months of her pregnancy were accomplished. On\nthe last day of the ninth month, towards daybreak, the Queen was seized\nwith the pangs of labour; so she sat down on the stool of delivery and\nAllah made the travail easy to her and she gave birth to a boy child, on\nwhom appeared auspicious signs. When the King heard of this, he joyed\nwith exceeding joy and rewarded the bearer of the good tidings with much\ntreasure; and of his gladness he went in to the child and kissed him\nbetween the eyes and wondered at his brilliant loveliness; for in him\nwas approved the saying of the poet:\u2014\n\n In the towering forts Allah throned him King, \u273f A lion, a star in\n the skies of reign:\n At his rising the spear and the throne rejoiced, \u273f The gazelle,\n the ostrich, the men of main:[465]\n Mount him not on the paps, for right soon he'll show \u273f That to\n throne on the war-steed's loins he's fain:\n And wean him from sucking of milk, for soon \u273f A sweeter drink,\n the foe's blood, he'll drain.\n\nThen the midwives took the newborn child and cut the navel-cord and\ndarkened his eyelids with Kohl-powder[466] and named him T\u00e1j al-Mul\u00fak\nKh\u00e1r\u00e1n.[467] He was suckled at the breast of fond indulgence and was\nreared in the lap of happy fortune; and thus his days ceased not running\nand the years passing by till he reached the age of seven. Thereupon\nSulayman Shah summoned the doctors and learned men and bade them teach\nhis son writing and science and belle-lettres. This they continued to do\nfor some years, till he had learnt what was needful; and, when the King\nsaw that he was well grounded in whatso he desired, he took him out of\nthe teachers' and professors' hands and engaged for him a skilful\nmaster, who taught him cavalarice and knightly exercises till the boy\nattained the age of fourteen; and when he fared abroad on any occasion,\nall who saw him were ravished by his beauty and made him the subject of\nverse; and even pious men were seduced by his brilliant loveliness.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-tenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, That when Taj al-Muluk\nKharan, son of Sulayman Shah, became perfect in riding-craft and\nexcelled all those of his time, his excessive beauty, when he fared\nabroad on any occasion, caused all who saw him to be ravished and to\nmake him the subject of verse; and even pious men were seduced by his\nbrilliant loveliness. Quoth the poet of him:\u2014\n\n I clipt his form and wax'd drunk with his scent, \u273f Fair branch to\n whom Zephyr gave nutriment:\n Nor drunken as one who drinks wine, but drunk \u273f With night-draught\n his lips of the honey-dew lent:\n All beauty is shown in the all of him, \u273f Hence all human hearts he\n in hand hath hent:\n My mind, by Allah! shall ne'er unmind \u273f His love, while I wear\n life's chains till spent:\n If I live, in his love I'll live; if I die \u273f For pine and longing,\n \"O blest!\" I'll cry.\n\nWhen he reached the eighteenth year of his age, tender down[468]\nsprouted, on his side-face fresh with youth, from a mole upon one rosy\ncheek and a second beauty-spot, like a grain of ambergris, adorned the\nother; and he won the wits and eyes of every wight who looked on him,\neven as saith the poet:\u2014\n\n He is Caliph of Beauty in Y\u00fasufs lieu, \u273f And all lovers fear when\n they sight his grace:\n Pause and gaze with me; on his cheek thou'lt sight \u273f The\n Caliphate's banner of sable hue.[469]\n\nAnd as saith another:\u2014\n\n Thy sight hath never seen a fairer sight, \u273f Of all things men can\n in the world espy,\n Than yon brown mole, that studs his bonny cheek \u273f Of rosy red\n beneath that jet black eye.\n\nAnd as saith another:\u2014\n\n I marvel seeing yon mole that serves his cheeks' bright flame \u273f\n Yet burneth not in fire albeit Infidel[470];\n I wonder eke to see that apostolic glance, \u273f Miracle-working, though\n it work by magic spell:\n How fresh and bright the down that decks his cheek, and yet \u273f\n Bursten gall-bladders feed which e'en as waters well.\n\nAnd as saith another:\u2014\n\n I marvel hearing people questioning of \u273f The Fount of Life and in\n what land 'tis found:\n I see it sprung from lips of dainty fawn, \u273f Sweet rosy mouth with\n green mustachio down'd:\n And wondrous wonder 'tis when Moses viewed \u273f That Fount, he rested\n not from weary round.[471]\n\nNow having developed such beauty, when he came to man's estate his\nloveliness increased, and it won for him many comrades and intimates;\nwhile every one who drew near to him wished that Taj al-Muluk Kharan\nmight become Sultan after his father's death, and that he himself might\nbe one of his Emirs. Then took he passionately to chasing and hunting\nwhich he would hardly leave for a single hour. His father, King Sulayman\nShah, would have forbidden him the pursuit fearing for him the perils of\nthe waste and the wild beasts; but he paid no heed to his warning voice.\nAnd it so chanced that once upon a time he said to his attendants \"Take\nye ten days food and forage;\" and, when they obeyed his bidding, he set\nout with his suite for sport and disport. They rode on into the desert\nand ceased not riding four days, till they came to a place where the\nground was green, and they saw in it wild beasts grazing and trees with\nripe fruit growing and springs flowing. Quoth Taj al-Muluk to his\nfollowers, \"Set up the nets here and peg them in a wide ring and let our\ntrysting place be at the mouth of the fence, in such a spot.\" So they\nobeyed his words and staked out a wide circle with toils; and there\ngathered together a mighty matter of all kinds of wild beasts and\ngazelles, which cried out for fear of the men and threw themselves for\nfright in the face of the horses. Then they loosed on to them the hounds\nand lynxes[472] and hawks;[473] and they shot the quarry down with\nshafts which pierced their vitals; and, by the time they came to the\nfurther end of the net-ring, they had taken a great number of the wild\nbeasts, and the rest fled. Then Taj al-Muluk dismounted by the\nwater-side and bade the game be brought before himself, and divided it,\nafter he had set apart the best of the beasts for his father, King\nSulayman Shah, and despatched the game to him; and some he distributed\namong the officers of his court. He passed the night in that place, and\nwhen morning dawned there came up a caravan of merchants conveying negro\nslaves and white servants, and halted by the water and the green ground.\nWhen Taj al-Muluk saw them, he said to one of his companions, \"Bring me\nnews of yonder men and question them why they have halted in this\nplace.[474]\" So the messenger went up to them and addressed them, \"Tell\nme who ye be, and answer me an answer without delay.\" Replied they, \"We\nare merchants and have halted to rest, for that the next station is\ndistant and we abide here because we have confidence in King Sulayman\nShah and his son, Taj al-Muluk, and we know that all who alight in his\ndominions are in peace and safety; moreover we have with us precious\nstuffs which we have brought for the Prince.\" So the messenger returned\nand told these news to the King's son who, hearing the state of the case\nand what the merchants had replied, said, \"If they have brought stuff on\nmy account I will not enter the city nor depart hence till I see it\nshown to me.\" Then he mounted horse and rode to the caravan and his\nMamelukes followed him till he reached it. Thereupon the merchants rose\nto receive him and invoked on him Divine aid and favour with continuance\nof glory and virtues; after which they pitched him a pavilion of red\nsatin, embroidered with pearls and jewels, wherein they spread him a\nkingly divan upon a silken carpet worked at the upper end with emeralds\nset in gold. There Taj al-Muluk seated himself whilst his white servants\nstood in attendance upon him, and sent to bid the merchants bring out\nall that they had with them. Accordingly, they produced their\nmerchandise, and displayed the whole and he viewed it and took of it\nwhat liked him, paying them the price. Then he looked about him at the\ncaravan, and remounted and was about to ride onwards, when his glance\nfell on a handsome youth in fair attire, and of comely and shapely make,\nwith flower-white brow and moon-like face, save that his beauty was\nwasted and that yellow hues had overspread his cheeks by reason of\nparting from those he loved;\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-eleventh Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Taj al-Muluk, when\nhe looked about him at the caravan, saw a handsome youth in neat attire\nand of shapely make, with flower-like forehead and moon-like face, save\nthat his beauty was wasted and yellow hues had overspread his cheeks by\nreason of parting from those he loved; and great was his groaning and\nmoaning, and the tears streamed from his eyelids as he repeated these\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n Longsome is Absence; Care and Fear are sore, \u273f And ceaseless tears,\n O friend, mine eyes outpour:\n Yea, I farewelled my heart on parting-day \u273f And heartless,\n hopeless, now I bide forlore:\n Pause, O my friend, with me farewelling one \u273f Whose words my cure\n can work, my health restore!\n\nNow when the youth ended his poetry he wept awhile and fell down in a\nfainting-fit, whilst Taj al-Muluk looked at him and wondered at his\ncase. Then, coming to himself, he stared with distracted air, and\nversified in these couplets:\u2014\n\n Beware her glance I rede thee, 'tis like wizard-wight, \u273f None\n can escape unscathed those eye-shafts' glancing flight:\n In very sooth black eyes, with languorous sleepy look, \u273f Pierce\n deeper than white swords however these may bite.\n Be not thy senses by her sweets of speech beguiled, \u273f Whose\n brooding fever shall ferment in thought and sprite:\n Soft-sided Fair,[475] did silk but press upon her skin, \u273f 'Twould\n draw red blood from it, as thou thyself canst sight.\n Chary is she of charms twixt neck and anklets dwell; \u273f And ah!\n what other scent shall cause me such delight?[476]\n\nThen he sobbed a loud sob and swooned away. But when Taj al-Muluk saw\nhim in this case, he was perplexed about his state and went up to him;\nand, as the youth came to his senses and saw the King's son standing at\nhis head, he sprang to his feet and kissed the ground between his hands.\nTaj al-Muluk asked him, \"Why didst thou not show us thy merchandise?\"\nand he answered, \"O my lord, there is naught among my stock worthy of\nthine august highness.\" Quoth the Prince, \"Needs must thou show me what\nthou hast and acquaint me with thy circumstance; for I see thee\nweeping-eyed and heavy-hearted. If thou have been oppressed, we will end\nthine oppression, and if thou be in debt, we will pay thy debt; for of a\ntruth my heart burneth to see thee, since I first set eyes on\nthee.\"[477] Then Taj al-Muluk bade the seats be set, and they brought\nhim a chair of ivory and ebony with a net-work of gold and silk, and\nspread him a silken rug for his feet. So he sat down on the chair and\nbidding the youth seat himself on the rug said to him, \"Show me thy\nstock in trade!\" The young merchant replied, \"O my Lord, do not name\nthis to me, for my goods be unworthy of thee.\" Rejoined Taj al-Muluk,\n\"It needs must be thus!\"; and bade some of the pages fetch the goods. So\nthey brought them in despite of him; and, when he saw them, the tears\nstreamed from his eyes and he wept and sighed and lamented; sobs rose in\nhis throat and he repeated these couplets:\u2014\n\n By what thine eyelids show of Kohl and coquetry! \u273f By what thy\n shape displays of lissome symmetry!\n By what thy liplets store of honey-dew and wine! \u273f By what thy\n mind adorns of gracious kindly gree!\n To me thy sight dream-visioned, O my hope! exceeds \u273f The\n happiest escape from horriblest injury.\n\nThen the youth opened his bales and displayed his merchandise to Taj\nal-Muluk in detail, piece by piece, and amongst them he brought out a\ngown of satin brocaded with gold, worth two thousand dinars. When he\nopened the gown there fell a piece of linen from its folds. As soon as\nthe young merchant saw this, he caught up the piece of linen in haste\nand hid it under his thigh; and his reason wandered, and he began\nversifying:\u2014\n\n When shall be healed of thee this heart that ever bides in woe? \u273f\n Than thee the Pleiad-stars more chance of happy meeting show.\n Parting and banishment and longing pain and lowe of love,\n \u273f Procrastinating[478] and delay\u2014these ills my life lay low:\n Nor union bids me live in joy, nor parting kills by grief, \u273f Nor\n travel draws me nearer thee nor nearer comest thou:\n Of thee no justice may be had, in thee dwells naught of ruth; \u273f\n Nor gain of grace by side of thee, nor flight from thee I know:\n For love of thee all goings forth and comings back are strait \u273f On\n me; and I am puzzled sore to know where I shall go.\n\nTaj al-Muluk wondered with great wonder at his verse, and could not\ncomprehend the cause. But when the youth snatched up the bit of linen\nand placed it under thigh, he asked him, \"What is that piece of linen?\"\n\"O my Lord,\" answered the merchant, \"thou hast no concern with this\npiece.\" Quoth the King's son, \"Show it me;\" and quoth the merchant, \"O\nmy Lord, I refused to show thee my goods on account of this piece of\nlinen; for I cannot let thee look upon it.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-twelfth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\nsaid to Taj al-Muluk, \"I did not refuse to show thee my goods save on\nthis account, for I cannot let thee look upon it.\" Whereupon Taj\nal-Muluk retorted, \"Perforce I must and will see it;\" and insisted and\nbecame angry. So the youth drew it out from under his thigh, and wept\nand moaned and redoubled his sighs and groans, and repeated these\nverses:\u2014\n\n Now blame him not; for blame brings only irk and pain! \u273f Indeed,\n I spake him sooth but ne'er his ear could gain:\n May Allah guard my moon which riseth in the vale \u273f Beside our\n camp, from loosed robe like skyey plain:[479]\n I left him but had Love vouchsafed to leave for me \u273f Some peace in\n life such leave of him I ne'er had ta'en:\n How long he pleaded for my sake on parting morn, \u273f While down\n his cheeks and mine tears ran in railing rain:\n Allah belie me not: the garb of mine excuse \u273f This parting rent, but\n I will mend that garb again!\n No couch is easy to my side, nor on such wise \u273f Aught easeth him,\n when all alone without me lain:\n Time with ill-omened hand hath wrought between us two, \u273f And made\n my waxing joys to wane and his to wane,\n And poured mere grief and woe, what time Time fain had crowned \u273f\n The bowl he made me drink and gave for him to drain.\n\nWhen he ended his recitation, quoth Taj al-Muluk, \"I see thy conduct\nwithout consequence; tell me then why weepest thou at the sight of this\nrag!\" When the young merchant heard speak of the piece of linen, he\nsighed and answered, \"O my lord, my story is a strange and my case out\nof range, with regard to this piece of linen and to her from whom I\nbrought it and to her who wrought on it these figures and emblems.\"\nHereupon, he spread out the piece of linen, and behold, thereon was the\nfigure of a gazelle wrought in silk and worked with red gold, and facing\nit was another gazelle traced in silver with a neck-ring of red gold and\nthree bugles[480] of chrysolite upon the ring. When Taj al-Muluk saw the\nbeauty of these figures, he exclaimed, \"Glory be to Allah who teacheth\nman that which he knoweth not!\"[481] And his heart yearned to hear the\nyouth's story; so he said to him, \"Tell me thy story with her who owned\nthese gazelles.\" Replied the young man:\u2014Hear, O my Lord, the\n\n\n _TALE OF AZIZ AND AZIZAH._[482]\n\nMy father was a wealthy merchant and Allah had vouchsafed him no other\nchild than myself; but I had a cousin, Az\u00edzah hight, daughter of my\npaternal uncle and we twain were brought up in one house; for her father\nwas dead and before his death, he had agreed with my father that I\nshould marry her. So when I reached man's estate and she reached\nwomanhood, they did not separate her from me or me from her, till at\nlast my father spoke to my mother and said, \"This very year we will draw\nup the contract of marriage between Aziz and Azizah.\" So having agreed\nupon this he betook himself to preparing provision for the\nwedding-feast. Still we ceased not to sleep on the same carpet knowing\nnaught of the case, albeit she was more thoughtful, more intelligent and\nquicker-witted than I. Now when my father had made an end of his\npreparations, and naught remained for him but to write out the contract\nand for me but to consummate the marriage with my cousin, he appointed\nthe wedding for a certain Friday, after public prayers; and, going round\nto his intimates among the merchants and others, he acquainted them with\nthat, whilst my mother went forth and invited her women friends and\nsummoned her kith and kin. When the Friday came, they cleaned the saloon\nand prepared for the guests and washed the marble floor; then they\nspread tapestry about our house and set out thereon what was needful,\nafter they had hung its walls with cloth of gold. Now the folk had\nagreed to come to us after the Friday prayers; so my father went out and\nbade them make sweetmeats and sugared dishes, and there remained nothing\nto do but to draw up the contract. Then my mother sent me to the bath\nand sent after me a suit of new clothes of the richest; and, when I came\nout of the Hammam, I donned those habits which were so perfumed that as\nI went along, there exhaled from them a delicious fragrance scenting the\nwayside. I had designed to repair to the Cathedral-mosque, when I\nbethought me of one of my friends and returned in quest of him that he\nmight be present at the writing of the contract; and quoth I to myself,\n\"This matter will occupy me till near the time of congregational\nprayer.\" So I went on and entered a by-street which I had never before\nentered, perspiring profusely from the effects of the bath and the new\nclothes on my body; and the sweat streamed down whilst the scents of my\ndress were wafted abroad: I therefore sat me at the upper end of the\nstreet resting on a stone bench, after spreading under me an embroidered\nkerchief I had with me. The heat oppressed me more and more, making my\nforehead perspire and the drops trickled along my cheeks; but I could\nnot wipe my face with my kerchief because it was dispread under me. I\nwas about to take the skirt of my robe and wipe my cheeks with it, when\nunexpectedly there fell on me from above a white kerchief, softer to the\ntouch than the morning breeze and pleasanter to the sight than healing\nto the diseased. I hent it in hand and raised my head to see whence it\nhad fallen, when my eyes met the eyes of the lady who owned these\ngazelles.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-thirteenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014So I raised my head to see whence this\nkerchief had fallen, when my eyes met those of the lady who owned these\ngazelles. And lo! she was looking out of a wicket in a lattice of brass\nand never saw my eyes a fairer than she; and in fine my tongue faileth\nto describe her beauty. When she caught sight of me looking at her, she\nput her forefinger into her mouth, then joined her middle finger and her\nwitness-finger[483] and laid them on her bosom, between her breasts;\nafter which she drew in her head and closed the wicket-shutter and went\nher ways. Thereupon fire broke out in and was heaped upon my heart, and\ngreater grew my smart; the one sight cost me a thousand sighs and I\nabode perplexed, for that I heard no word by her spoken, nor understood\nthe meaning of her token. I looked at the window a second time, but\nfound it shut and waited patiently till sundown, but sensed no sound and\nsaw no one in view. So when I despaired of seeing her again, I rose from\nmy place and taking up the handkerchief, opened it, when there breathed\nfrom it a scent of musk which caused me so great delight I became as one\nin Paradise.[484] Then I spread it before me and out dropped from it a\ndelicate little scroll; whereupon I opened the paper which was perfumed\nwith a delicious perfume, and therein were writ these couplets:\u2014\n\n I sent to him a scroll that bore my plaint of love, \u273f Writ in\n fine delicate hand; for writing proves man's skill:\n Then quoth to me my friend, \"Why is thy writing thus; \u273f So fine,\n so thin-drawn 'tis to read unsuitable?\"\n Quoth I, \"For that I'm fine-drawn, wasted, waxed thin; \u273f Thus\n lovers' writ should be, for so Love wills his will.\"\n\nAnd after casting my eyes on the beauty of the kerchief,[485] I saw upon\none of its two borders the following couplets worked in with the\nneedle:\u2014\n\n His cheek-down writeth (O fair fall the goodly scribe!) \u273f Two lines\n on table of his face in Rayh\u00e1n-hand:[486]\n O the wild marvel of the Moon when comes he forth! \u273f And when he\n bends, O shame to every Willow-wand!\n\nAnd on the opposite border these two couplets were traced:\u2014\n\n His cheek-down writeth on his cheek with ambergris on pearl \u273f\n Two lines, like jet on apple li'en, the goodliest design:\n Slaughter is in those languid eyne whene'er a glance they deal, \u273f\n And drunkenness in either cheek and not in any wine.\n\nWhen I read the poetry on the handkerchief the flames of love darted\ninto my heart, and yearning and pining redoubled their smart. So I took\nthe kerchief and the scroll and went home, knowing no means to win my\nwish, for that I was incapable of conducting love-affairs and\ninexperienced in interpreting hints and tokens. Nor did I reach my home\nere the night was far spent and I found the daughter of my uncle sitting\nin tears. But as soon as she saw me she wiped away the drops and came up\nto me, and took off my walking dress and asked me the reason of my\nabsence, saying, \"All the folk, Emirs and notables and merchants and\nothers, assembled in our house; and the Kazi and the witnesses were also\npresent at the appointed time. They ate and tarried awhile sitting to\nawait thine appearance for the writing of the contract; and, when they\ndespaired of thy presence, they dispersed and went their ways. And\nindeed,\" she added, \"thy father raged with exceeding wrath by reason of\nthis, and swore that he would not celebrate our marriage save during the\ncoming year, for that he hath spent on these festivities great store of\nmoney.\" And she ended by asking, \"What hath befallen thee this day to\nmake thee delay till now?; and why hast thou allowed that to happen\nwhich happened because of thine absence?\" Answered I, \"O daughter of\nmine uncle, question me not concerning what hath befallen me.\"[487] Then\nI told her all that had passed from beginning to end, and showed her the\nhandkerchief. She took the scroll and read what was written therein; and\ntears ran down her cheeks and she repeated these cinquains:\u2014\n\n Who saith that Love at first of free will came, \u273f Say him:\u2014Thou\n liest! Love be grief and grame:\n Yet shall such grame and grief entail no shame; \u273f All annals teach\n us one thing and the same\u2014\n Good current coin clipt coin we may not clepe!\n\n An please thou, say there's pleasure in thy pain, \u273f Find\n Fortune's playful gambols glad and fain:\n Or happy blessings in th' unhappy's bane, \u273f That joy or grieve\n with equal might and main:\u2014\n 'Twixt phrase and antiphrase I'm all a-heap!\n\n But he, withal, whose days are summer-bright, \u273f Whom maids e'er\n greet with smiling lips' delight;\n Whom spicey breezes fan in every site \u273f And wins whate'er he\n wills, that happy wight\n White-blooded coward heart should never keep!\n\nThen she asked me, \"What said she, and what signs made she to thee?\" I\nanswered, \"She uttered not a word, but put her forefinger in her mouth,\nthen joining it to her middle finger, laid both fingers on her bosom and\npointed to the ground. Thereupon she withdrew her head and shut the\nwicket; and after that I saw her no more. However, she took my heart\nwith her, so I sat till sundown, expecting her again to look out of the\nwindow; but she did it not; and, when I despaired of her, I rose from my\nseat and came home. This is my history and I beg thee to help me in this\nmy sore calamity.\" Upon this she raised her face to me and said, \"O son\nof mine uncle, if thou soughtest my eye, I would tear it for thee from\nits eyelids, and perforce I cannot but aid thee to thy desire and aid\nher also to her desire; for she is whelmed in passion for thee even as\nthou for her.\" Asked I, \"And what is the interpretation of her signs?\";\nand Azizah answered, \"As for the putting her finger in her mouth,[488]\nit showed that thou art to her as her soul to her body and that she\nwould bite into union with thee with her wisdom teeth. As for the\nkerchief, it betokeneth that her breath of life is bound up in thee. As\nfor the placing her two fingers on her bosom between her breasts, its\nexplanation is that she saith:\u2014The sight of thee may dispel my grief.\nFor know, O my cousin, that she loveth thee and she trusteth in thee.\nThis is my interpretation of her signs and, could I come and go at will,\nI would bring thee and her together in shortest time, and curtain you\nboth with my skirt.\" Hearing these words I thanked her (continued the\nyoung merchant) for speaking thus, and said to myself, \"I will wait two\ndays.\" So I abode two days in the house, neither going out nor coming\nin; neither eating nor drinking but I laid my head on my cousin's lap,\nwhilst she comforted me and said to me, \"Be resolute and of good heart\nand hope for the best!\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-fourteenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth pursued\nto Taj al-Muluk:\u2014And when the two days were past she said to me, \"Be of\ngood cheer and clear thine eyes of tears and take courage to dress\nthyself and go to her, according to thy tryst.\" Then she rose and\nchanged my clothes and perfumed me with incense-smoke. So I braced\nmyself up and heartened my heart and went out and walked on till I came\nto the by-street, where I sat down on the bench awhile. And behold, the\nwicket suddenly opened and I looked up and seeing her, fell down in a\nswoon. When I revived, I called up resolution and took courage and gazed\nagain at her and again became insensible to the world around me. Then I\ncame to myself and looking at her, saw that she held in hand a mirror\nand a red kerchief. Now when she caught my glance, she bared her\nfore-arms and opened her five fingers and smote her breast with palm and\ndigits; and after this she raised her hands and, holding the mirror\noutside the wicket, she took the red kerchief and retired into the room\nwith it, but presently returned and putting out her hand with the\nkerchief, let it down towards the lane three several times, dipping it\nand raising it as often. Then she wrung it out and folded it in her\nhands, bending down her head the while; after which she drew it in from\nthe lattice and, shutting the wicket-shutter, went away without a single\nword; nay, she left me confounded and knowing not what signified her\nsigns.[489] I tarried sitting there till supper-time and did not return\nhome till near midnight; and there I found the daughter of my uncle with\nher cheek propt in her hand and her eyelids pouring forth tears; and she\nwas repeating these couplets:\u2014\n\n Woe's me! why should the blamer gar thee blaming trow? \u273f How\n be consoled for thee that art so tender bough?\n Bright being! on my vitals dost thou prey, and drive \u273f My heart\n before platonic passion's[490] force to bow.\n Thy Turk-like[491] glances havoc deal in core of me, \u273f As\n furbished sword thin-ground at curve could never show:\n Thou weigh'st me down with weight of care, while I have not \u273f\n Strength e'en to bear my shift, so weakness lays me low:\n Indeed I weep blood-tears to hear the blamer say:\u2014\u273f \"The lashes of\n thy lover's eyne shall pierce thee through!\"\n Thou hast, my prince of loveliness! an Overseer,[492] \u273f Who wrongs\n me, and a Groom[493] who beats me down with brow.\n He foully lies who says all loveliness belonged \u273f To Joseph, in\n thy loveliness is many a Joe:\n I force myself to turn from thee, in deadly fright \u273f Of spies; and\n what the force that turns away my sight!\n\nWhen I heard her verse, cark increased and care redoubled on me and I\nfell down in a corner of our house; whereupon she arose in haste and,\ncoming to me, lifted me up and took off my outer clothes and wiped my\nface with her sleeve. Then she asked me what had befallen me, and I\ndescribed all that had happened from her. Quoth she, \"O my cousin, as\nfor her sign to thee with her palm and five fingers its interpretation\nis, Return after five days; and the putting forth of her head out of the\nwindow, and her gestures with the mirror and the letting down and\nraising up and wringing out of the red kerchief,[494] signify, Sit in\nthe dyer's shop till my messenger come to thee.\" When I heard her words\nfire flamed up in my heart and I exclaimed, \"O daughter of my uncle,\nthou sayest sooth in this thine interpretation; for I saw in the street\nthe shop of a Jew dyer.\" Then I wept, and she said, \"Be of good cheer\nand strong heart: of a truth others are occupied with love for years and\nendure with constancy the ardour of passion, whilst thou hast but a week\nto wait; why then this impatience?\" Thereupon she went on cheering me\nwith comfortable talk and brought me food: so I took a mouthful and\ntried to eat but could not; and I abstained from meat and drink and\nestranged myself from the solace of sleep, till my colour waxed yellow\nand I lost my good looks; for I had never been in love before nor had I\never savoured the ardour of passion save this time. So I fell sick and\nmy cousin also sickened on my account; but she would relate to me, by\nway of consolation, stories of love and lovers every night till I fell\nasleep; and whenever I awoke, I found her wakeful for my sake with tears\nrunning down her cheeks. This ceased not till the five days were past,\nwhen my cousin rose and warmed some water and bathed me with it. Then\nshe dressed me in my best and said to me, \"Repair to her and Allah\nfulfil thy wish and bring thee to thy desire of thy beloved!\" So I went\nout and ceased not walking on till I came to the upper end of the\nby-street. As it was the Sabbath[495] I found the dyer's shop locked and\nsat before it, till I heard the call to mid afternoon prayer. Then the\nsun yellowed and the Mu'ezzins[496] chanted the call to sundown-prayer\nand the night came; but I saw no sign nor heard one word, nor knew any\nnews of her. So I feared for my life sitting there alone; and at last I\narose and walked home reeling like a drunken man. When I reached the\nhouse, I found my cousin Azizah standing, with one hand grasping a peg\ndriven into the wall and the other on her breast; and she was sighing\nand groaning and repeating these couplets:\u2014\n\n The longing of an Arab lass forlorn of kith and kin \u273f (Who to\n Hij\u00e1zian willow-wand and myrtle[497] doth incline,\n And who, when meeting caravan, shall with love-lowe set light \u273f\n To bivouac-fire, and bring for drink her tears of pain and pine)\n Exceeds not mine for him nor more devotion shows, but he \u273f Seeing\n my heart is wholly his spurns love as sin indign.\n\nNow when she had finished her verse she turned to me and, seeing me,\nwiped away her tears and my tears with her sleeve. Then she smiled in my\nface and said, \"O my cousin, Allah grant thee enjoyment of that which He\nhath given thee! Why didst thou not pass the night by the side of thy\nbeloved and why hast thou not fulfilled thy desire of her?\" When I heard\nher words, I gave her a kick in the breast and she fell down in the\nsaloon and her brow struck upon the edge of the raised pavement and hit\nagainst a wooden peg therein. I looked at her and saw that her forehead\nwas cut open and the blood running\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-fifteenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014Now when I kicked the daughter of my uncle in\nthe breast she fell on the edge of the raised pavement in the saloon and\nher brow struck upon a wooden peg. Thereby her forehead was cut open and\nthe blood ran down, but she was silent and did not utter a single\nsound.[498] Presently she rose up, and made some tinder of rags, then\nstaunching with it the bleeding wound, bound her forehead with a\nbandage; after which she wiped up the blood that had fallen on the\ncarpet, and it was as if nothing had been. Presently she came up to me\nand smiling in my face, said with gentle voice, \"By Allah, O son of my\nuncle, I spake not these words to mock at thee or at her! But I was\ntroubled with an ache in my head and was minded to be blooded, but now\nthou hast eased my head and lightened my brow; so tell me what hath\nbefallen thee to-day.\" Thereupon I told her all that had passed between\nme and her that day; and she wept as she heard my words and said, \"O son\nof my uncle, rejoice at the good tidings of thy desire being fulfilled\nand thine aim being attained. Of a truth this is a sign of acceptance;\nfor that she stayed away only because she wisheth to try thee and know\nif thou be patient or not, and sincere in thy love for her or otherwise.\nTo-morrow, repair to her at the old place and see what sign she maketh\nto thee; for indeed thy gladness is near and the end of thy sadness is\nat hand.\" And she went on to comfort me; but my cark and care ceased not\nto increase on me. Presently she brought me food which I kicked away\nwith my foot so that the contents of every saucer were scattered in all\ndirections, and I said, \"Every lover is a madman; he inclineth not to\nfood neither enjoyeth he sleep.\" And my cousin Azizah rejoined, \"By\nAllah, O son of my uncle, these be in very deed the signs of love!\" And\nthe tears streamed down her cheeks whenas she gathered the fragments of\nthe saucers and wiped up the food; then she took seat and talked to me,\nwhilst I prayed Allah to hasten the dawn. At last, when morning arose\nwith its sheen and shine, I went out to seek her and hastening to her\nby-street sat down on that bench, when lo! the wicket opened and she put\nout her head laughing. Then she disappeared within and returned with a\nmirror, a bag, and a pot full of green plants and she held in hand a\nlamp. The first thing she did was to take the mirror and, putting it\ninto the bag, tie it up and throw it back into the room; then she let\ndown her hair over her face and set the lamp on the pot of flowers\nduring the twinkling of an eye; then she took up all the things and went\naway shutting the window without saying a word. My heart was riven by\nthis state of the case, and by her secret signals, her mysterious\nsecrets and her utter silence; and thereby my longing waxed more violent\nand my passion and distraction redoubled on me. So I retraced my steps,\ntearful-eyed and heavy-hearted, and returned home, where I found the\ndaughter of my uncle sitting with her face to the wall; for her heart\nwas burning with grief and galling jealousy; albeit her affection\nforbade her to acquaint me with what she suffered of passion and pining\nwhen she saw the excess of my longing and distraction. Then I looked at\nher and saw on her head two bandages, one on account of the accident to\nher forehead and the other over her eye in consequence of the pain she\nendured for stress of weeping; and she was in miserable plight shedding\ntears and repeating these couplets:\u2014\n\n I number rights; indeed I count night after night; \u273f Yet lived I\n long ere learnt so sore accompt to see, ah!\n Dear friend, I compass not what Allah pleased to doom \u273f For Layl\u00e1,\n nor what Allah destin\u00e8d for me, ah!\n To other giving her and unto me her love, \u273f What loss but Layla's\n loss would He I ever dree, ah!\n\nAnd when she had finished her reciting, she looked towards me and seeing\nme through her tears, wiped them away and came up to me hastily, but\ncould not speak for excess of love. So she remained silent for some\nwhile and then said, \"O my cousin, tell me what befel thee with her this\ntime.\" I told her all that had passed and she said, \"Be patient, for the\ntime of thy union is come and thou hast attained the object of thy\nhopes. As for her signal to thee with the mirror which she put in the\nbag, it said to thee, When the sun is set; and the letting down of her\nhair over her face signified, When night is near and letteth fall the\nblackness of the dark and hath starkened the daylight, come hither. As\nfor her gesture with the pot of green plants it meant, When thou comest,\nenter the flower-garden which is behind the street; and as for her sign\nwith the lamp it denoted, When thou enterest the flower-garden walk down\nit and make for the place where thou seest the lamp shining; and seat\nthyself beneath it and await me; for the love of thee is killing me.\"\nWhen I heard these words from my cousin, I cried out from excess of\npassion and said, \"How long wilt thou promise me and I go to her, but\nget not my will nor find any true sense in thine interpreting.\" Upon\nthis she laughed and replied, \"It remaineth for thee but to have\npatience during the rest of this day till the light darken and the night\nstarken and thou shalt enjoy union and accomplish thy hopes; and indeed\nall my words be without leasing. Then she repeated these two couplets:\u2014\n\n Let days their folds and plies deploy, \u273f And shun the house that\n deals annoy!\n Full oft when joy seems farthest far \u273f Thou nighmost art to hour\n of joy.\"\n\nThen she drew near to me and began to comfort me with soothing speech,\nbut dared not bring me aught of food, fearing lest I be angry with her\nand hoping I might incline to her; so when coming to me she only took\noff my upper garment and said to me, \"Sit O my cousin, that I may divert\nthee with talk till the end of the day and, Almighty Allah willing, as\nsoon as it is night thou shalt be with thy beloved.\" But I paid no heed\nto her and ceased not looking for the approach of darkness, saying, \"O\nLord, hasten the coming of the night!\" And when night set in, the\ndaughter of my uncle wept with sore weeping and gave me a crumb of pure\nmusk, and said to me, \"O my cousin, put this crumb in thy mouth, and\nwhen thou hast won union with thy beloved and hast taken thy will of her\nand she hath granted thee thy desire, repeat to her this couplet:\u2014\n\n Ho, lovers all! by Allah say me sooth \u273f What shall he do when love\n sore vexeth youth?[499]\"\n\nAnd she kissed me and swore me not to repeat this couplet till I should\nbe about to leave my lover and I said, \"Hearing is obeying!\" And when it\nwas supper-tide I went out and ceased not walking on till I came to the\nflower-garden whose door I found open. So I entered and, seeing a light\nin the distance, made towards it and reaching it, came to a great\npavilion vaulted over with a dome of ivory and ebony, and the lamp hung\nfrom the midst of the dome. The floor was spread with silken carpets\nembroidered in gold and silver, and under the lamp stood a great candle,\nburning in a candelabrum of gold. In mid-pavilion was a fountain adorned\nwith all manner of figures;[500] and by its side stood a table covered\nwith a silken napkin, and on its edge a great porcelain bottle full of\nwine, with a cup of crystal inlaid with gold. Near all these was a large\ntray of silver covered over, and when I uncovered it I found therein\nfruits of every kind, figs and pomegranates, grapes and oranges, citrons\nand shaddocks[501] disposed amongst an infinite variety of sweet-scented\nflowers, such as rose, jasmine, myrtle, eglantine, narcissus and all\nsorts of sweet-smelling herbs. I was charmed with the place and I joyed\nwith exceeding joy, albeit I found not there a living soul and my grief\nand anxiety ceased from me.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day,\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-sixteenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014I was charmed with the place and joyed with\ngreat joy albeit there I found not a living soul of Almighty Allah's\ncreatures, and saw nor slave nor handmaid to oversee these things or to\nwatch and ward these properties. So I sat down in the pavilion to await\nthe coming of the beloved of my heart; but the first hour of the night\npassed by, and the second hour, and the third hour, and still she came\nnot. Then hunger grew sore upon me, for that it was long since I had\ntasted food by reason of the violence of my love: but when I found the\nplace even as my cousin had told me, and saw the truth of her\ninterpretation of my beloved's signs, my mind was set at rest and I felt\nthe pangs of hunger; moreover, the odour of the viands on the table\nexcited me to eat. So making sure of attaining my desire, and being\nfamished for food I went up to the table and raised the cover and found\nin the middle a china dish containing four chickens reddened with\nroasting and seasoned with spices, round the which were four saucers,\none containing sweetmeats, another conserve of pomegranate-seeds, a\nthird almond-pastry[502] and a fourth honey fritters; and the contents\nof these saucers were part sweet and part sour. So I ate of the fritters\nand a piece of meat, then went on to the almond-cakes and ate what I\ncould; after which I fell upon the sweetmeats, whereof I swallowed a\nspoonful or two or three or four, ending with part of a chicken and a\nmouthful of something beside. Upon this my stomach became full and my\njoints loose and I waxed too drowsy to keep awake; so I laid my head on\na cushion, after having washed my hands, and sleep overcame me; I knew\nnot what happened to me after this, and I awoke not till the sun's heat\nscorched me, for that I had never once tasted sleep for days past. When\nI awoke I found on my stomach a piece of salt and a bit of charcoal; so\nI stood up and shook my clothes and turned to look right and left, but\ncould see no one; and discovered that I had been sleeping on the marble\npavement without bedding beneath me. I was perplexed thereat and\nafflicted with great affliction; the tears ran down my cheeks and I\nmourned for myself. Then I returned home, and when I entered, I found my\ncousin beating her hand on her bosom and weeping tears like\nrain-shedding clouds; and she versified with these couplets:\u2014\n\n Blows from my lover's land a Zephyr cooly sweet, \u273f And with its\n every breath makes olden love new glow:\n O Zephyr of the morning hour, come show to us \u273f Each lover hath\n his lot, his share of joy and woe:\n Could I but win one dearest wish, we had embraced \u273f With what\n embrace and clip of breast fond lovers know.\n Allah forbids, while bides unseen my cousin's face, \u273f All joys\n the World can give or hand of Time bestow.\n Would Heaven I knew his heart were like this heart of me, \u273f Melted\n by passion-flame and charged with longing lowe.\n\nWhen she saw me, she rose in haste and wiped away her tears and\naddressed me with her soft speech, saying, \"O son of my uncle, verily\nAllah hath been gracious to thee in thy love, for that she whom thou\nlovest loveth thee, whilst I pass my time in weeping and bewailing my\nseverance from thee who blamest me and chidest me; but may Allah not\npunish thee for my sake!\" Thereupon she smiled in my face a smile of\nreproach and caressed me; then taking off my walking clothes, she spread\nthem out and said, \"By Allah, this is not the scent of one who hath\nenjoyed his lover! So tell me what hath befallen thee, O my cousin.\" I\ntold her all that had passed, and she smiled again a smile of reproach\nand said, \"Verily, my heart is full of pain; but may he not live who\nwould hurt thy heart! Indeed, this woman maketh herself inordinately\ndear and difficult to thee, and by Allah, O son of my uncle, I fear for\nthee from her.[503] Know, O my cousin, that the meaning of the salt is\nthou wast drowned in sleep like insipid food, disgustful to the taste;\nand it is as though she said to thee:\u2014It behoveth thou be salted lest\nthe stomach eject thee; for thou professest to be of the lovers noble\nand true; but sleep is unlawful and to a lover undue; therefore is thy\nlove but a lie. However, it is her love for thee that lieth; for she saw\nthee asleep yet aroused thee not and were her love for thee true, she\nhad indeed awoken thee. As for the charcoal, it means Allah blacken thy\nface[504] for thou makest a lying pretence of love, whereas thou art\nnaught but a child and hast no object in life other than eating and\ndrinking and sleeping! such is the interpretation of her signs, and may\nAllah Almighty deliver thee from her!\" When I heard my cousin's words, I\nbeat my hand upon my breast and cried out, \"By Allah, this is the very\ntruth, for I slept and lovers sleep not! Indeed I have sinned against\nmyself, for what could have wrought me more hurt than eating and\nsleeping? Now what shall I do?\" Then I wept sore and said to the\ndaughter of my uncle, \"Tell me how to act and have pity on me, so may\nAllah have pity on thee: else I shall die.\" As my cousin loved me with\nvery great love,\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-seventeenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued his tale to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014Thereupon quoth I to the daughter of\nmy uncle, \"Tell me what to do and have pity on me, so may Allah have\npity on thee!\" As the daughter of my uncle loved me with great love, she\nreplied, \"On my head and eyes! But, O my cousin, I repeat what I have\ntold thee oftentimes, if I could go in and out at will, I would at once\nbring you two together and cover you both with my skirt: nor would I do\nthis but hoping to win thy favour. Inshallah, I will do my utmost\nendeavour to unite you; but hear my words and do my bidding. Go thou to\nthe very same place and sit down where thou sattest before and at\nsupper-tide look thou eat not, for eating induceth sleep; and have a\ncare thou slumber not, for she will not come to thee till a fourth part\nof the night be passed. And the Almighty avert her mischief from thee!\"\nNow when I heard these words I rejoiced and besought Allah to hasten the\nnight; and, as soon as it was dark, I was minded to go, and my cousin\nsaid to me, \"When thou shalt have met her, repeat to her the couplet I\ntaught thee before, at the time of thy leave-taking.\" Replied I, \"On my\nhead and eyes!\" and went out and repaired to the garden, where I found\nall made ready in the same state as on the previous night, with every\nrequisite of meat and drink, dried fruits, sweet-scented flowers and so\nforth. I went up into the pavilion and smelt the odour of the viands and\nmy spirit lusted after them; but I possessed my soul in patience for a\nwhile, till at last I could no longer withstand temptation. So I arose\nfrom my seat and went up to the table and, raising its cover, found a\ndish of fowls, surrounded by four saucers containing four several meats.\nI ate a mouthful of each kind and as much as I would of the sweetmeats\nand a piece of meat: then I drank from the saucer a sauce yellowed with\nsaffron[505] and as it pleased me, I supped it up by the spoonful till I\nwas satisfied and my stomach was full. Upon this, my eyelids drooped; so\nI took a cushion and set it under my head, saying, \"Haply I can recline\nupon it without going to sleep.\" Then I closed my eyes and slept, nor\ndid I wake till the sun had risen, when I found on my stomach a cube of\nbone,[506] a single tip-cat stick,[507] the stone of a green date[508]\nand a carob pod. There was no furniture nor aught else in the place, and\nit was as if there had been nothing there yesterday. So I rose and\nshaking all these things off me, fared forth in fury; and, going home,\nfound my cousin groaning and versifying with these couplets:\u2014\n\n A wasted body, heart enpierced to core, \u273f And tears that down my\n poor cheeks pour and pour:\n And lover dure of access; but, but still \u273f Naught save what's fair\n can come from fairest flow'r;\n O cousin mine thou fill'st my soul with pain, \u273f And from these\n tears mine eyelids ache full sore!\n\nI chid the daughter of my uncle and abused her, whereat she wept; then,\nwiping away her tears, she came up to me and kissed me and began\npressing me to her bosom, whilst I held back from her blaming myself.\nThen said she to me, \"O my cousin, it seemeth thou sleptest again this\nnight?\" Replied I, \"Yes; and when I awoke, I found on my stomach a cube\nof bone, a single tip-cat stick, a stone of a green date and a\ncarob-pod, and I know not why she did this.\" Then I wept and went up to\nher and said, \"Expound to me her meaning in so doing and tell me how\nshall I act and aid me in my sore strait.\" She answered, \"On my head and\neyes! By the single tip-cat stick and the cube of bone which she placed\nupon thy stomach she saith to thee, Thy body is present but thy heart is\nabsent; and she meaneth, Love is not thus: so do not reckon thyself\namong lovers. As for the date-stone, it is as if she said to thee, An\nthou wert in love thy heart would be burning with passion and thou\nwouldst not taste the delight of sleep; for the sweet of love is like a\ngreen date[509] which kindleth a coal of fire in the vitals. As for the\ncarob-pod[510] it signifieth to thee, The lover's heart is wearied; and\nthereby she saith, Be patient under our separation with the patience of\nJob.\" When I heard this interpretation, fires darted into my vitals like\na dart and grief redoubled upon my heart and I cried out, saying, \"Allah\ndecreed sleep to me for my ill-fortune.\" Then I said to her, \"O my\ncousin, by my life, devise me some device whereby I may win my will of\nher!\" She wept and answered, \"O Aziz, O son of my uncle, verily my heart\nis full of sad thought which I cannot speak: but go thou again to-night\nto the same place and beware thou sleep not, and thou shalt surely\nattain thy desire. This is my counsel and peace be with thee!\" Quoth I,\n\"If Allah please I will not sleep, but will do as thou biddest me.\" Then\nmy cousin rose, and brought me food, saying, \"Eat now what may suffice\nthee, that nothing may divert thy heart.\" So I ate my fill and, when\nnight came, my cousin rose and bringing me a sumptuous suit of clothes\nclad me therein. Then she made me swear I would repeat to my lover the\nverse aforesaid and bade me beware of sleeping. So I left her and\nrepaired to the garden and went up into that same pavilion where I\noccupied myself in holding my eyelids open with my fingers and nodding\nmy head as the night darkened on me.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-eighteenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014So I repaired to the garden and went up into\nthat same pavilion and occupied myself in gazing upon the flower-beds\nand in holding my eyelids open with my fingers and nodding my head as\nthe night darkened on me. And presently I grew hungry with watching and\nthe smell of the meats being wafted towards me, my appetite increased:\nso I went up to the table and took off the cover and ate a mouthful of\nevery dish and a bit of meat; after which I turned to the flagon of\nwine, saying to myself, I will drink one cup. I drank it, and then I\ndrank a second and a third, till I had drunk full ten, when the cool air\nsmote me and I fell to the earth like a felled man. I ceased not to lie\nthus till day arose, when I awoke and found myself outside the garden,\nand on my stomach were a butcher's knife and a dram-weight of iron.[511]\nThereat I trembled and, taking them with me, went home, where I found my\ncousin saying, \"Verily, I am in this house wretched and sorrowful,\nhaving no helper but weeping.\" Now when I entered, I fell down at full\nlength and throwing the knife and the dram-weight from my hand, I\nfainted clean away. As soon as I came to myself, I told her what had\nbefallen me and said, \"Indeed, I shall never enjoy my desire.\" But when\nshe saw my tears and my passion, they redoubled her distress on my\naccount, and she cried, \"Verily, I am helpless! I warned thee against\nsleeping; but thou wouldst not hearken to my warning, nor did my words\nprofit thee aught.\" I rejoined, \"By Allah, I conjure thee to explain to\nme the meaning of the knife and the iron dram-weight.\" \"By the\ndram-weight,\" replied my cousin, \"she alludeth to her right eye,[512]\nand she sweareth by it and saith:\u2014By the Lord of all creatures and by my\nright eye! if thou come here again and sleep, I will cut thy throat with\nthis very knife. And indeed I fear for thee, O my cousin, from her\nmalice; my heart is full of anguish for thee and I cannot speak.\nNevertheless, if thou can be sure of thyself not to sleep when thou\nreturnest to her, return to her and beware of sleeping and thou shalt\nattain thy desire; but if when returning to her thou wilt sleep, as is\nthy wont, she will surely slaughter thee.\" Asked I, \"What shall I do, O\ndaughter of my uncle: I beg thee, by Allah, to help me in this my\ncalamity.\" Answered she, \"On my head and eyes! if thou wilt hearken to\nmy words and do my bidding, thou shalt have thy will.\" Quoth I, \"I will\nindeed hearken to thy words and do thy bidding;\" and quoth she, \"When it\nis time for thee to go, I will tell thee.\" Then she pressed me to her\nbosom and laying me on the bed, shampoo'd my feet, till drowsiness\novercame me and I was drowned in sleep; then she took a fan and seated\nherself at my head with the fan in her hand and she was weeping till her\nclothes were wet with tears. Now when she saw that I was awake, she\nwiped away the drops and fetched me some food and set it before me. I\nrefused it, but she said to me, \"Did I not tell thee that thou must do\nmy bidding? Eat!\" So I ate and thwarted her not and she proceeded to put\nthe food into my mouth and I to masticate it, till I was full. Then she\nmade me drink jujube-sherbet[513] and sugar and washed my hands and\ndried them with a kerchief; after which she sprinkled me with\nrose-water, and I sat with her awhile in the best of spirits. When the\ndarkness had closed in, she dressed me and said to me, \"O son of my\nuncle, watch through the whole night and sleep not; for she will not\ncome to thee this tide till the last of the dark hours and, Allah\nwilling, thou shalt be at one with her this night; but forget not my\ncharge.\" Then she wept, and my heart was pained for her by reason of her\nover much weeping, and I asked, \"What is the charge thou gavest me?\" She\nanswered, \"When thou takest leave of her repeat to her the verse before\nmentioned.\" So, full of joy I left her and repairing to the garden, went\nup into the pavilion where, being satiated with food, I sat down and\nwatched till a fourth part of the dark hours was past. That night seemed\nlongsome to me as it were a year: but I remained awake till it was three\nquarters spent and the cocks crew and I was famished for long watching.\nAccordingly I went up to the table and ate my fill, whereupon my head\ngrew heavy and I wanted to sleep, when behold, a light appeared making\ntowards me from afar. I sprang up and washed my hands and mouth and\nroused myself; and before long she came with ten damsels, in whose midst\nshe was like the full moon among the stars. She was clad in a dress of\ngreen satin purfled with red gold, and she was as saith the poet:\u2014\n\n She lords it o'er our hearts in grass-green gown, \u273f With\n buttons[514] loose and locks long flowing down.\n Quoth I, \"What is thy name?\" Quoth she, \"I'm she, \u273f Who burns\n the loverheart live coals upon:\"\n I made my plaint to her of loving lowe; \u273f Laughed she, \"To stone\n thou moanest useless moan!\"\n Quoth I, \"An be of hardest stone thy heart, \u273f Allah drew\n sweetest spring from hardest stone.\"\n\nWhen she saw me she laughed and said, \"How is it that thou art awake and\nthat sleep overcame thee not? Forasmuch as thou hast watched through the\nnight, I know that thou art a lover; for night-watching is the mark of\nlovers displaying brave endurance of their desires.\" Then she turned to\nher women and signed to them and they went away from her, whereupon she\ncame up to me and strained me to her breast and kissed me, whilst I\nkissed her, and she sucked my upper lip whilst I sucked her lower lip. I\nput my hand to her waist and pressed it and we came not to the ground\nsave at the same moment. Then she undid her petticoat-trousers which\nslipped down to her anklets, and we fell to clasping and embracing and\ntoying and speaking softly and biting and intertwining of legs and going\nround about the Holy House and the corners thereof,[515] till her joints\nbecame relaxed for love-delight and she swooned away. I entered the\nsanctuary, and indeed that night was a joy to the sprite and a solace to\nthe sight even as saith the poet:\u2014\n\n Sweetest of nights the world can show to me, that night \u273f When\n cups went round and round as fed by ceaseless spring:\n There utter severance made I 'twixt mine eyes and sleep, \u273f And\n joined, rejoined mine ear-drop with the anklet-ring.[516]\n\nWe lay together in close embrace till the morning when I would have gone\naway, but she stopped me and said, \"Stay till I tell thee\nsomething\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-nineteenth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued his recital to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014When I would have gone away, she\nstopped me and said, \"Stay, till I tell thee something and charge thee\nwith a charge.\" So I stayed whilst she unfolded a kerchief and drew out\nthis piece of linen and spread it open before me. I found worked on it\nthese two figures of gazelles and admired it with great admiration. Then\nI took the piece of linen and went away, joyful, after we had agreed\nthat I should visit her every night in the garden; but in my joy I\nforgot to repeat to her the verse my cousin had taught me. For when\ngiving me the piece of linen with the gazelles she had said to me, \"Keep\nthis carefully, as it is my sister's handiwork.\" I asked her, \"What is\nthy sister's name?\"; and she answered, \"Her name is N\u00far al-Hud\u00e0.\" When I\nwent to my cousin, I found her lying down; but as soon as she saw me,\nshe rose, with the tears running from her eyes, and came up to me, and\nkissed me on the breast and said, \"Didst thou do as I enjoined thee? and\nrepeat the verse to her?\" \"I forgot it,\" replied I; \"and nothing drove\nit out of my mind but these two figured gazelles.\" And I threw the piece\nof linen on the floor before her. She rose and sat down again, but was\nunable to contain herself for impatience, and her eyes ran over with\ntears, whilst she repeated these two couplets:\u2014\n\n O thou who seekest parting, softly fare! \u273f Let not the Fair delude\n with cunning art:\n Fare softly, Fortune's nature is to 'guile, \u273f And end of every\n meeting is to part.\n\nAnd when she ended her recitation she said, \"O my cousin, give me this\npiece of linen.\" So I gave it to her and she took it and unfolding it,\nsaw what was therein. When the tryst-time came for my going to my lover,\nthe daughter of my uncle said to me, \"Go, and peace attend thee; and\nwhen thou art about to leave her, recite to her the verse I taught thee\nlong ago and which thou didst forget.\" Quoth I, \"Tell it me again\"; and\nshe repeated it. Then I went to the garden and entered the pavilion,\nwhere I found the young lady awaiting me. When she saw me, she rose and\nkissed me and made me sit in her lap; and we ate and drank and did our\ndesire as before. In the morning, I repeated to her my cousin's verse\nwhich was this:\u2014\n\n Ho, lovers all! by Allah say me sooth \u273f What shall he do when Love\n sore vexeth youth?\n\nWhen she heard this, her eyes filled with tears and she answered and\nsaid:\u2014\n\n Strive he to cure his case, to hide the truth; \u273f Patiently humble\n self and sue for ruth!\n\nI committed it to memory and returned home rejoicing at having done my\ncousin's bidding. When I entered the house I found her lying down and my\nmother at her head weeping over her case; but as soon as I went in to\nher my mother said to me, \"A foul plague on such a cousin! How couldst\nthou leave the daughter of thy uncle ailing and not ask what ailed her?\"\nBut when my cousin saw me she raised her head and sat up and asked me,\n\"O Aziz, didst thou repeat to her the couplet I taught thee?\" I\nanswered, \"Yes, and when she heard it she wept and recited in answer\nanother couplet which I committed to memory.\" Quoth my cousin, \"Tell it\nme.\" I did so; and when she heard it she wept with much weeping and\nrepeated the following verses:\u2014\n\n How shall youth cure the care his life undo'th, \u273f And every day\n his heart in pieces hew'th?\n In sooth he would be patient, but he findeth \u273f Naught save a\n heart which love with pains imbu'th.\n\nThen added my cousin, \"When thou goest to her as of wont, repeat to her\nalso these two couplets which thou hast heard.\" I replied, \"Hearkening\nand obedience!\" and I went at the wonted time, to the garden, where\nthere passed between my mistress and myself what tongue faileth to\ndescribe. When I was about to leave her, I repeated to her those two\ncouplets of my cousin's; whereupon the tears streamed from her eyes and\nshe replied:\u2014\n\n If he of patience fail the truth to hide \u273f For him no cure save\n Death my vision view'th!\n\nI committed them to memory and returned home, and when I went in to my\ncousin I found her fallen into a fit and my mother sitting at her head.\nWhen she heard my voice, she opened her eyes and asked, \"O Aziz! didst\nthou repeat the two couplets to her?\" whereto I answered, \"Yes; but she\nwept on hearing them and she replied with this couplet beginning, If he\nof patience fail, to the end.\" And I repeated it; whereupon my cousin\nswooned again, and when she came to herself, she recited these two\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n Hearkening, obeying, with my dying mouth \u273f I greet who joy of\n union ne'er allow'th:\n Fair fall all happy loves, and fair befal \u273f The hapless lover dying\n in his drowth!\n\nAgain when it was night, I repaired to the garden as usual where I found\nthe young lady awaiting me. We sat down and ate and drank, after which\nwe did all we wanted and slept till the morning; and, as I was going\naway, I repeated to her the saying of my cousin. When she heard the\ncouplet she cried out with a loud cry and was greatly moved and\nexclaimed, \"Aw\u00e1h! Aw\u00e1h![517] By Allah, she who spake these lines is\ndead!\" Then she wept and said to me, \"Woe to thee! How is she who spoke\nthus related to thee?\" Replied I, \"She is the daughter of my father's\nbrother.\" \"Thou liest,\" rejoined she; \"by Allah, were she thy cousin,\nthou hadst borne her the same love as she bore thee! It is thou who hast\nslain her and may the Almighty kill thee as thou killedst her! By Allah,\nhadst thou told me thou hadst a cousin, I would not have admitted thee\nto my favours!\" Quoth I, \"Verily it was she who interpreted to me the\nsigns thou madest and it was she who taught me how to come to thee and\nhow I should deal with thee; and, but for her, I should never have been\nunited to thee.\" She then asked me, \"Did thy cousin then know of us?\";\nand I answered, \"Yes;\" whereupon she exclaimed, \"Allah give thee sorrow\nof thy youth, even as thou hast sorrowed her youth!\" Then she cried to\nme, \"Go now and see after her.\" So I went away troubled at heart, and\nceased not walking till I reached our street, when I heard sounds of\nwailing, and asking about it, was answered, \"Azizah, we found her dead\nbehind the door.\" I entered the house, and when my mother saw me, she\nsaid, \"Her death lieth heavy on thy neck and may Allah not acquit thee\nof her blood!\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased\nsaying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred-and-twentieth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014So I entered the house and when my mother saw\nme she said, \"Her death lieth heavy on thy neck and may Allah not acquit\nthee of her blood! A plague on such a cousin!\" Then came my father, and\nwe laid her out and gat ready her bier and buried her; and we had\nrecitations of the whole Koran over her tomb and we abode by her grave\nthree days, after which we returned to our home, and I grieving for her\ngrievously. Then my mother came to me and said, \"I would fain know what\nthou didst to her, to break her heart[518] for, O my son, I questioned\nher at all times of the cause of her complaint, but she would tell me\nnothing nor let me know aught of it. So Allah upon thee, tell me what\nthou hast been doing to her that she died.\" Quoth I, \"I did nothing.\"\nQuoth my mother, \"Allah avenge her on thee! Verily she told me naught,\nbut kept her secret till she died of her love-longings for thee; but\nwhen she died I was with her and she opened her eyes and said to me:\u2014O\nwife of my uncle, may Allah hold thy son guiltless of my blood and\npunish him not for what he hath done by me! And now Allah transporteth\nme from the house of the world which is perishable to the house of the\nother world which is eternal. Said I, O my daughter, Allah preserve thee\nand preserve thy youth! And as I questioned her of the cause of her\nillness, she made me no answer; but she smiled and said, O wife of my\nuncle, bid thy son, whenever he would go whither he goeth every day,\nrepeat these two saws at his going away:\u2014Faith is fair! Unfaith is foul!\nFor this is of my tender affection to him, that I am solicitous\nconcerning him during my lifetime and after my death. Then she gave me\nsomewhat for thee and sware me that I would not give it until I see thee\nweeping for her and lamenting her death. The thing is with me; and, when\nI have seen thy case as I have said, I will make it over to thee.\" \"Show\nit me,\" cried I: but she would not. Then I gave myself up to\nlove-delights and thought no more of my cousin's death: for my mind was\nunsettled and fain would I have been with my lover the livelong day and\nnight.[519] So hardly had I perceived the darkness fall when I betook\nmyself to the garden, where I found the young lady sitting on coals of\nfire for much impatience. As soon as she was sure that she saw me, she\nran to me and throwing her arms about my neck, enquired of the daughter\nof my uncle. I replied, \"Sooth to say she is dead, and we have caused\nZikr-litanies and recitations of the Koran to be performed for her; and\nit is now four nights and this be the fifth since she is gone.\" When she\nheard that, she shrieked aloud and wept and said, \"Did I not tell thee\nthat thou hast slain her? Hadst thou let me know of her before her\ndeath, I would have requited her the kindness she did me, in that she\nserved me and united thee to me; for without her, we had never\nforegathered, we twain, and I fear lest some calamity befal thee because\nof thy sin against her.\" Quoth I, \"She acquitted me of offence ere she\ndied;\" and I repeated to her what my mother had told me. Quoth she,\n\"Allah upon thee! when thou returnest to thy mother, learn what thing\nshe keepeth for thee.\" I rejoined, \"My mother also said to me:\u2014Before\nthe daughter of thy uncle died, she laid a charge upon me, saying,\nWhenever thy son would go whither he is wont to go, teach him these two\nsaws, Faith is fair; Unfaith is foul!\" When my lady heard this she\nexclaimed, \"The mercy of Almighty Allah be upon her! Indeed, she hath\ndelivered thee from me, for I minded to do thee a mischief, but now I\nwill not harm thee nor trouble thee.\" I wondered at this and asked her,\n\"What then wast thou minded to do with me in time past and we two being\nin bond of love?\" Answered she, \"Thou art infatuated with me; for thou\nart young in life and a raw laddie; thy heart is void of guile and thou\nweetest not our malice and deceit. Were she yet alive, she would protect\nthee; for she is the cause of thy preservation and she hath delivered\nthee from destruction. And now I charge thee speak not with any woman,\nneither accost one of our sex, be she young or be she old; and again I\nsay Beware! for thou art simple and raw and knowest not the wiles of\nwomen and their malice, and she who interpreted the signs to thee is\ndead. And indeed I fear for thee, lest thou fall into some disgrace and\nfind none to deliver thee from it, now that the daughter of thy uncle is\nno more.\"\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred and Twenty-first Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014Then the young lady said to me, \"I fear for\nthee lest thou fall into some disgrace and find none to deliver thee\nfrom it. Alas for thy cousin and ah, the pity of her! Would I had known\nher before her death, that I might have requited by waiting upon her the\nfair service she did me. The mercy of Allah Almighty be upon her, for\nshe kept her secret and revealed not what she suffered, and but for her\nthou hadst never foregathered with me; no, never! But there is one thing\nI desire of thee.\" I asked, \"What is it?\"; and she answered, \"It is that\nthou bring me to her grave, that I may visit her in the tomb wherein she\nis and write some couplets thereon.\" I rejoined, \"To-morrow, if Allah\nplease!\"[520] I slept with her that night, and she ceased not saying\nafter every hour, \"Would thou hadst told me of thy cousin before her\ndeath!\" And I asked her, \"What is the meaning of the two saws she taught\nme? Faith is fair! Unfaith is foul?\" But she made no answer. As soon as\nit was day she rose and, taking a purse of gold pieces, said to me,\n\"Come, show me her tomb, that I may visit it and grave some verses\nthereon and build a dome over it and commend her to Allah's mercy and\nbestow these dinars in alms for her soul.\" I replied, \"To hear is to\nobey!\"; and walked on before her, whilst she followed me, giving alms as\nshe went and saying to all upon whom she lavisht bounty, \"This is an\nalms for the soul of Azizah, who kept her counsel till she drank the cup\nof death and never told the secret of her love.\" And she stinted not\nthus to give alms and say, \"For Azizah's soul,\" till the purse was empty\nand we came to the grave. And when she looked at the tomb, she wept and\nthrew herself on it; then, pulling out a chisel of steel and a light\nhammer, she graved therewith upon the head-stone in fine small\ncharacters these couplets:\u2014\n\n I past by a broken tomb amid a garth right sheen, \u273f Whereon\n seven blooms of Nu'uman[521] glowed with cramoisie;\n Quoth I, \"Who sleepeth in this tomb?\" Quoth answering Earth \u273f \"Before\n a lover Hades-tombed[522] bend reverently!\"\n Quoth I, \"May Allah help thee, O thou slain of Love, \u273f And grant\n thee home in Heaven and Paradise-height to see!\"\n Hapless are lovers all e'en tomb\u00e8d in their tombs, \u273f Where amid\n living folk the dust weighs heavily!\n Fain would I plant a garden blooming round thy grave, \u273f And water\n every flower with tear-drops flowing free!\n\nThen she turned away in tears and I with her and returned to the garden\nwhere she said to me, \"By Allah! I conjure thee never leave me!\" \"To\nhear is to obey,\" replied I. Then I gave myself wholly up to her and\npaid her frequent visits: she was good and generous to me; and as often\nas I passed the night with her, she would make much of me and would ask\nme of the two saws my cousin Azizah told my mother and I would repeat\nthem to her. And matters ceased not to be on this wise and I continued\nfor a whole year eating and drinking and enjoying dalliance and wearing\nchange of rich raiment until I waxed gross and fat, so that I lost all\nthought of sorrowing and mourning, and I clean forgot my cousin Azizah.\nAnd on New Year's day I went to the bath, where I refreshed myself and\nput on a suit of sumptuous clothes; then coming out I drank a cup of\nwine and smelt the scent of my new gear which was perfumed with various\nessences; and my breast was broadened thereby, for I knew not the tricks\nof Fate nor the changing ways of Time. When the hour of night-prayer\ncame, I was minded to repair to my lover; but, being the worse for wine,\nI knew not when going to her whither I went, so my drunkenness turned me\ninto a by-street called Syndic Street;[523] and the while I walked up\nthat street behold, I caught sight of an old woman faring with a lighted\ntaper in one hand, and in the other a folded letter.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nperceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred and Twenty-second Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young\nmerchant, whose name was Aziz, continued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014And when I\nentered the street called Syndic Street behold, I caught sight of an old\nwoman walking with a lighted taper in one hand and in the other a folded\nletter and I drew near her and lo! she was weeping and repeating these\ncouplets:\u2014\n\n O glad-news bearer well come! Welcome! Hail! \u273f How sweet thy speech\n to me, what treat thy tale:\n O messenger from him whose weal I love, \u273f God bless thee long\n as breathes soft morning-gale!\n\nNow when she saw me she asked, \"O my son! canst thou read?\"; and I\nanswered, of my officiousness, \"Yes, old naunty!\" Rejoined she, \"Then\ntake this letter and read it to me.\" And when she handed it to me, I\ntook it and unfolding it read it to her and behold it was from an absent\nman to his friends and lovers whom he greeted; and, when she heard its\npurport, she rejoiced at the good tidings and blessed me, saying, \"Allah\ndispel thine anxiety, even as thou hast dispelled mine!\" Then she took\nthe letter and walked on. Meanwhile, I was urged by a call of nature and\nsat down on my heels to make water.[524] When I had ended I stood up and\nwiped the orifice with a pebble and then, letting down my clothes, I was\nabout to wend my way, when suddenly the old woman came up to me again\nand, bending down over my hand, kissed it and said, \"O my master! the\nLord give thee joy of thy youth! I entreat thee to walk with me a few\nsteps as far as yonder door, for I told them what thou didst read to me\nof the letter, and they believe me not; so come with me two steps and\nread them the letter from behind the door and accept the prayers of a\nrighteous woman.\" I enquired, \"What is the history of this letter?\", and\nshe replied, \"O my son, this letter is from my son, who hath been absent\nfor a term of ten years. He set out with a stock of merchandise and\ntarried long in foreign parts, till we lost hope of him and supposed him\nto be dead. Now after all that delay cometh this letter from him, and he\nhath a sister who weepeth for him night and day; so I said to her, He is\nwell and all right. But she will not believe me and declares, There is\nno help but thou bring me one who will read this letter in my presence,\nthat my heart may be at rest and my mind at ease. Thou knowest, O my\nson, that all who love are wont to think evil: so be good enough to go\nwith me and read to her this letter, standing behind the curtain, whilst\nI call his sister to listen within the door, so shalt thou dispel our\nheed and fulfil our need. Verily quoth the Apostle of Allah (whom Allah\nbless and preserve!):\u2014Whoso easeth the troubled of one of the troubles\nof this troublous world, Allah will ease him of an hundred troubles; and\naccording to another tradition:\u2014Whoso easeth his brother of one of the\ntroubles of this troublous world, Allah shall relieve him of\nseventy-and-two troubles on the Day of Resurrection. And I have betaken\nmyself to thee; so disappoint me not.\" Replied I, \"To hear is to obey;\ndo thou go before me!\" So she walked on devancing me and I followed her\na little way, till she came to the gate of a large and handsome mansion\nwhose door was plated with copper.[525] I stood behind the door, whilst\nthe old woman cried out in Persian, and ere I knew it a damsel ran up\nwith light and nimble step. She had tucked up her trousers to her knees,\nso that I saw a pair of calves that confounded thinker and sighter, and\nthe maid herself was as saith the poet describing her:\u2014\n\n[Illustration]\n\n O thou who barest leg-calf, better to suggest \u273f For\n passion-madded amourist better things above!\n Towards its lover doth the bowl go round and run; \u273f Cup[526]\n and cup-bearer only drive us daft with love.[527]\n\nNow these legs were like two pillars of alabaster adorned with anklets\nof gold, wherein were set stones of price. And the damsel had tucked up\nthe end of her gown under her arm-pit and had rolled up her sleeves to\nthe elbow, so that I could see her white wrists whereon were two pairs\nof bracelets with clasps of great pearls; and round her neck was a\ncollar of costly gems. Her ears were adorned with pendants of pearls and\non her head she wore a kerchief[528] of brocade, brand-new and broidered\nwith jewels of price. And she had thrust the skirt of her shift into her\ntrousers-string being busy with some household business. So when I saw\nher in this undress, I was confounded at her beauty, for she was like a\nshining sun. Then she said, with soft, choice speech, never heard I\nsweeter, \"O my mother! is this he who cometh to read the letter?\" \"It\nis,\" replied the old woman; and she put out her hand to me with the\nletter. Now between her and the door was a distance of about half a\nrod[529]; so I stretched forth my hand to take the letter from her and\nthrust head and shoulders within the door, thinking to draw near her and\nread the letter when, before I knew what her design was, the old woman\nbutted her head against my back and pushed me forwards with the letter\nin my hand, so that ere I could take thought I found myself in the\nmiddle of the hall far beyond the vestibule. Then she entered, faster\nthan a flash of blinding leven, and had naught to do but to shut the\ndoor.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred and Twenty-third Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth Aziz\npursued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014When the old woman pushed me forwards I found\nmyself, ere I could think, inside the vestibule; and the old woman\nentered faster than a flash of blinding leven and had naught to do but\nto shut the door. When the girl saw me in the vestibule, she came up to\nme and strained me to her bosom, and threw me to the floor; then she sat\nastraddle upon my breast and kneaded my belly with her fingers, till I\nwell-nigh lost my senses. Thereupon she took me by the hand and led me,\nunable to resist for the violence of her pressure, through seven\nvestibules, whilst the old woman forewent us with the lighted candle,\ntill we came to a great saloon with four estrades whereon a horseman\nmight play Polo.[530] Here she released me, saying, \"Open thine eyes.\"\nSo I opened them still giddy for the excess of her embracing and\npressing, and saw that the whole saloon was built of the finest marbles\nand alabasters, and all its furniture was of silk and brocade even to\nthe cushions and mattrasses. Therein also were two benches of yellow\nbrass and a couch of red gold, set with pearls and precious stones,\nbefitting none save Kings like thyself. And off the saloon were smaller\nsitting rooms; and the whole place was redolent of wealth. Then she\nasked, \"O Aziz, which is liefer to thee life or death?\" \"Life,\" answered\nI; and she said, \"If life be liefer to thee, marry me.\" Quoth I, \"Indeed\nI should hate to marry the like of thee.\" Quoth she, \"If thou marry me\nthou wilt at least be safe from the daughter of Dal\u00edlah the Wily\nOne.\"[531] I asked, \"And who be that daughter of the Wily One?\"\nWhereupon she laughed and replied, \"'Tis she who hath companied with\nthee this day for a year and four months (may the Almighty destroy and\nafflict her with one worse than herself!). By Allah, there liveth not a\nmore perfidious than she. How many men hath she not slain before thee\nand what deeds hath she not done. Nor can I understand how thou hast\nbeen all the time in her company, yet she hath not killed thee nor done\nthee a mischief.\" When I heard her words, I marvelled with exceeding\nmarvel and said, \"O my lady, who made thee to know her?\" Said she, \"I\nknow her as the age knoweth its calamities; but now I would fain have\nthee tell me all that hath passed between you two, that I may ken the\ncause of thy deliverance from her.\" So I told her all that had happened\nbetween us, including the story of my cousin Azizah. She expressed her\npity when she heard of the death, and her eyes ran over with tears and\nshe clapt hand on hand and cried out, \"Her youth was lost on Allah's\nway,[532] and may the Lord bless thee for her good works! By Allah, O\nAziz, she who died for thee was the cause of thy preservation from the\ndaughter of Dalilah the Wily; and, but for her, thou hadst been lost.\nAnd now she is dead I fear for thee from the Crafty One's perfidy and\nmischief; but my throat is choking and I cannot speak.\" Quoth I, \"Ay, by\nAllah: all this happened even as thou sayest.\" And she shook her head\nand cried, \"There liveth not this day the like of Azizah.\" I continued,\n\"And on her death bed she bade me repeat to my lover these two\nsaws:\u2014Faith is fair! Unfaith is foul!\" When she heard me say this, she\nexclaimed, \"O Aziz, by Allah, those same words saved thee from dying by\nher hand; and now my heart is at ease for thee from her, for she will\nnever kill thee; and the daughter of thy uncle preserved thee during her\nlifetime and after her death. By Allah, I have desired thee day after\nday, but could not get at thee till this time when I tricked thee and\noutwitted thee; for thou art a raw youth[533] and knowest not the wiles\nof young women nor the deadly guile of old women.\" Rejoined I, \"No, by\nAllah!\" Then said she to me, \"Be of good cheer and eyes clear; the dead\nhath found Allah's grace, and the live shall be in good case. Thou art a\nhandsome youth and I do not desire thee but according to the ordinance\nof Allah and His Apostle (on whom be salutation and salvation!).\nWhatever thou requirest of money and stuff, thou shalt have forthright\nwithout stint, and I will not impose any toil on thee, no, never!; for\nthere is with me always bread baked hot and water in pot. All I need of\nthee is that thou do with me even as the cock doth.\" I asked, \"And what\ndoth the cock?\" Upon this she laughed and clapped her hands and fell\nover on her back for excess of merriment: then she sat up and smiled and\nsaid, \"O light of my eyes, really dost thou not know what cock's duty\nis?\" \"No, by Allah!\" replied I, and she, \"The cock's duty is to eat and\ndrink and tread.\" I was abashed at her words and asked, \"Is that the\ncock's duty?\" \"Yes,\" answered she; \"and all I ask of thee now is to gird\nthy loins and strengthen thy will and futter thy best.\" Then she clapped\nher hands and cried out, saying, \"O my mother, bring forward those who\nare with thee.\" And behold, in came the old woman accompanied by four\nlawful witnesses, and carrying a veil of silk. Then she lighted four\ncandles, whilst the witnesses saluted me and sat down; and the girl\nveiled herself with the veil and deputed one of them to execute the\ncontract on her behalf. So they wrote out the marriage-bond and she\ntestified to have received the whole sum settled upon her, both the half\nin advance and the half in arrears; and that she was indebted to me in\nthe sum of ten thousand dirhams.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of\nday and ceased saying her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night,\n\nShe said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant\ncontinued to Taj al-Muluk:\u2014When they wrote out the marriage-contract,\nshe testified to having received the whole sum settled upon her, the\nhalf in advance and the half in arrears and that she was indebted to me\nin the sum of ten thousand dirhams. She paid the witnesses their wage\nand they withdrew whence they came. Thereupon she arose and cast off her\nclothes and stood in a chemise of fine silk edged with gold-lace, after\nwhich she took off her trousers and seized my hand and led me up to the\ncouch, saying, \"There is no sin in a lawful put-in.\" She lay down on the\ncouch outspread upon her back; and, drawing me on to her breast, heaved\na sigh and followed it up with a wriggle by way of being coy. Then she\npulled up the shift above her breasts, and when I saw her in this pose,\nI could not withhold myself from thrusting it into her, after I had\nsucked her lips, whilst she whimpered and shammed shame and wept when no\ntears came, and then said she, \"O my beloved, do it, and do thy best!\"\nIndeed the case reminded me of his saying, who said:\u2014\n\n When I drew up her shift from the roof of her coynte, \u273f I found it\n as strait as my mind and my money:\n So I drove it half-way, and she sighed a loud sigh: \u273f Quoth I,\n \"Why this sigh?\": \"For the rest of it, honey!\"\n\nAnd she repeated, \"O my beloved, let the finish be made for I am thine\nhandmaid. My life on thee, up with it! give it me, all of it! that I may\ntake it in my hand and thrust it into my very vitals!\" And she ceased\nnot to excite me with sobs and sighs and amorous cries in the intervals\nof kissing and clasping until amid our murmurs of pleasure we attained\nthe supreme delight and the term we had in sight. We slept together till\nthe morning, when I would have gone out; but lo! she came up to me,\nlaughing, and said, \"So! So! thinkest thou that going into the Hammam is\nthe same as going out?[534] Dost thou deem me to be the like of the\ndaughter of Dalilah the Wily One? Beware of such a thought, for thou art\nmy husband by contract and according to law. If thou be drunken return\nto thy right mind, and know that the house wherein thou art openeth but\none day in every year. Go down and look at the great door.\" So I arose\nand went down and found the door locked and nailed up and returned and\ntold her of the locking and nailing. \"O Aziz,\" said she, \"We have in\nthis house flour, grain, fruits and pomegranates; sugar, meat, sheep,\npoultry and so forth enough for many years; and the door will not be\nopened till after the lapse of a whole twelvemonth and well I weet thou\nshalt not find thyself without this house till then.\" Quoth I, \"There is\nno Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the\nGreat!\" \"And how can this harm thee,\" rejoined she; \"seeing thou knowest\ncock's duty, whereof I told thee?\" Then she laughed and I laughed too,\nand I conformed to what she said and abode with her, doing cock's duty\nand eating and drinking and futtering for a year of full twelve months,\nduring which time she conceived by me, and I was blessed with a babe by\nher. On the New Year's day I heard the door opened and behold, men came\nin with cates and flour and sugar. Upon this, I would have gone out but\nmy wife said, \"Wait till supper-tide and go out even as thou camest in.\"\nSo I waited till the hour of night-prayer and was about to go forth in\nfear and trembling, when she stopped me, saying, \"By Allah, I will not\nlet thee go until thou swear to come back this night before the closing\nof the door.\" I agreed to this, and she swore me a solemn oath on Blade\nand Book,[535] and the oath of divorce to boot, that I would return to\nher. Then I left her and going straight to the garden, found the door\nopen as usual; whereat I was angry and said to myself, \"I have been\nabsent this whole year and come here unawares and find the place open as\nof wont! I wonder is the damsel still here as before? I needs must enter\nand see before I go to my mother, more by reason that it is now\nnightfall.\" So I entered the flower-garden\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad perceived the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n This knightly tale, the longest in the Nights (xliv-cxlv.), about\n one-eighth of the whole, does not appear in the Bres. Edit. Lane, who\n finds it \"objectionable,\" reduces it to two of its episodes,\n Aziz-cum-Az\u00edzah and T\u00e1j al-Mul\u00fak. On the other hand it has been\n converted into a volume (8vo, pp. 240) \"Scharkan, Conte Arabe;\" etc.\n Traduit par M. Asselan Riche, etc. Paris: Dondey-Dupr\u00e9. 1829. It has\n its _longueurs_ and at times is longsome enough; but it is interesting\n as a comparison between the chivalry of Al-Islam and European\n knight-errantry. Although all the characters are fictitious the period\n is evidently in the early crusading days. C\u00e6sarea, the second capital\n of Palestine, taken during the Caliphate of Omar (A.H. 19) and\n afterwards recovered, was fortified in A.H. 353=963 as a base against\n the Arabs by the Emperor Phocas, the Arab. \"Nakf\u00far\" _i.e._ Nicephorus.\n In A.H. 498=1104, crusading craft did much injury by plundering\n merchantmen between Egypt and Syria, to which allusion is found in the\n romance. But the story-teller has not quite made up his mind about\n which C\u00e6sarea he is talking, and M. Riche tells us that C\u00e9sar\u00e9e is a\n \"ville de la Mauritanie, en Afrique\" (p. 20).\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n The fifth Ommiade Caliph reign. A.H. 65-86=685-704.\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n This does not merely mean that no one was safe from his wrath: or,\n could approach him in the heat of fight: it is a reminiscence of the\n masterful \"King Kulayb,\" who established game-laws in his dominions\n and would allow no man to approach his camp-fire. Moreover the Jinn\n lights a fire to decoy travellers; but if his victim be bold enough to\n brave him, he invites him to take advantage of the heat.\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n China.\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n The Jaxartes and the Bactrus (names very loosely applied).\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n In full \"Sharrun k\u00e1na\" _i.e._ an evil (Sharr) has come to being\n (k\u00e1na), that is, \"bane to the foe\"\u2014a pagan and knightly name. The hero\n of the Romance \"Al-Dalhamah\" is described as a bitter gourd\n (colocynth), a viper, a calamity.\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n This is a Moslem law (Koran chapt. iv. bodily borrowed from the\n Talmud) which does not allow a man to marry one wife unless he can\n carnally satisfy her. Moreover he must distribute his honours equally\n and each wife has a right to her night unless she herself give it up.\n This was the case even with the spouses of the Prophet; and his\n biography notices several occasions when his wives waived their rights\n in favour of one another. M. Riche kindly provides the King with _la\n piquante fran\u00e7aise_ (p. 15).\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n So the celebrated mosque in Stambul, famed for being the largest\n church in the world, is known to the Greeks as \"Agia (pron. Aya)\n Sophia\" and to Moslems as \"Aya Sof\u00edyeh\" (Holy Wisdom) _i.e._ the Logos\n or Second Person of the Trinity (not a Saintess). The sending a\n Christian girl as a present to a Moslem would, in these days be\n considered highly scandalous. But it was done by the Mukaukis or\n Coptic Governor of Egypt (under Heraclius) who of course hated the\n Greeks. This worthy gave two damsels to Mohammed, one called S\u00edr\u00edn and\n the other M\u00e1riyah (Maria) whom the Prophet reserved for his especial\n use and whose abode is still shown at Al-Medinah. The Rev. Doctor\n Badger (loc. cit. p. 972) gives the translation of an epistle by\n Mohammed to this Mukaukis, written in the Cufic character (??) and\n sealed \"Mohammed, The Apostle of Allah.\" My friend seems to believe\n that it is an original, but upon this subject opinions will differ. It\n is, however, exceedingly interesting, beginning with \"Bismillah,\"\n etc., and ending (before the signature) with a quotation from the\n Koran (iii. 57); and may be assumed as a formula addressed to foreign\n potentates by a Prophet who had become virtually \"King of Arabia.\"\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n This prayer before \"doing the deed of kind\" is, I have said, Moslem as\n well as Christian.\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n Exodus i. 16, quoted by Lane (M. E., chapt. xxvii.). Torrens in his\n Notes cites Drayton's \"Moon-calf\":\u2014\n\n Bring forth the birth-stool\u2014no, let it alone;\n She is so far beyond all compass grown,\n Some other new device us needs must stead,\n Or else she never can be brought to bed.\n\n It is the \"groaning-chair\" of Poor Robin's Almanac (1676) and we find\n it alluded to in Boccaccio, the classical sedile which according to\n scoffers has formed the papal chair (a curule seat) ever since the\n days of Pope Joan, when it has been held advisable for one of the\n Cardinals to ascertain that His Holiness possesses all the instruments\n of virility. This \"Kurs\u00ed al-wil\u00e1dah\" is of peculiar form on which the\n patient is seated. A most interesting essay might be written upon the\n various positions preferred during delivery, _e.g._ the wild Irish\n still stand on all fours, like the so-called \"lower animals.\" Amongst\n the Moslems of Waday, etc., a cord is hung from the top of the hut,\n and the woman in labour holds on to it standing with her legs apart,\n till the midwife receives the child.\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n Some Orientalists call \"lullilooing\" the trilling cry, which is made\n by raising the voice to its highest pitch and breaking it by a rapid\n succession of touches on the palate with the tongue-tip, others\n \"Ziraleet\" and Zagaleet, and one traveller tells us that it began at\n the marriage-festival of Isaac and Rebecca(!). Arabs term it\n classically Tahl\u00edl and vulgarly Zaghrutah (Plur. Zagh\u00e1rit) and\n Persians \"Kil.\" Finally in Don Quixote we have \"Lelilies,\" the\n battle-cry of the Moors (Duffield iii. 289). Dr. Buchanan likens it to\n a serpent uttering human sounds, but the good missionary heard it at\n the festival of Jagannath (Pilgrimage iii. 197).\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n _i.e._ \"Light of the Place\" (or kingdom) and \"Delight of the Age.\"\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n It is utterly absurd to give the old heroic Persian name Afridun or\n Furaydun, the destroyer of Zoh\u00e1k or Zahh\u00e1k, to a Greek, but such\n anachronisms are characteristic of The Nights and are evidently\n introduced on purpose. See Boccaccio, ix. 9.\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n Arab. \"Yun\u00e1n\" lit. Ionia, which applies to all Greece, insular and\n continental, especially to ancient Greece.\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n In 1870 I saw at Sidon a find of some hundreds of gold \"Philippi\" and\n \"Alexanders.\"\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n M. Riche has (p. 21):\u2014Ces talismans travaill\u00e9s par le ciseau du\n c\u00e9l\u00e8bre _Calfaziri_, adding in a note:\u2014Je pense que c'est un sculpteur\n Arabe.\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n This periphrase, containing what seems to us a useless negative, adds\n emphasis in Arabic.\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n This bit of geographical information is not in the Bul. Edit.\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n In Pers.=a tooth, the popular word.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n This preliminary move, called in Persian Nakl-i-Safar, is generally\n mentioned. So the Franciscan monks in California, when setting out for\n a long journey through the desert, marched three times round the\n convent and pitched tents for the night under its walls.\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n In Arab. \"Khazinah\" or \"Khaznah\" lit. a treasure, representing 1,000\n \"Kis\" or purses (each=\u00a35). The sum in the text is 7,000 purses \u00d7\n 5=\u00a335,000.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n Travellers often prefer such sites because they are sheltered from the\n wind, and the ground is soft for pitching tents; but many have come to\n grief from sudden torrents following rain.\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n Arab. \"Gh\u00e1bah\" not a forest in our sense of the word, but a place\n where water sinks and the trees (mostly Mimosas), which elsewhere are\n widely scattered, form a comparatively dense growth and collect in\n thickets. These are favourite places for wild beasts during\n noon-heats.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n At various times in the East Jews and Christians were ordered to wear\n characteristic garments, especially the Zunn\u00e1r or girdle.\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n The description is borrowed from the Coptic Convent, which invariably\n has an inner donjon or keep. The oldest monastery in the world is Mar\n Antonios (St. Anthony the Hermit) not far from Suez (Gold Mines of\n Midian, p. 85).\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n \"Daw\u00e1hi,\" plur. of D\u00e1hiyah=a mishap. The title means \"Mistress of\n Misfortunes\" or Queen of Calamities (to the enemy); and the venerable\n lady, as will be seen, amply deserved her name, which is pronounced\n Z\u00e1t ad-Daw\u00e1h\u00ed.\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n Arab. \"Kunfuz\"=hedgehog or porcupine.\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n These flowers of speech are mere familiarities, not insults. In\n societies where the sexes are separated speech becomes exceedingly\n free. \u00c9tourdie que vous \u00eates, says M. Riche, toning down the text.\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n Arab. \"Zirt,\" a low word. The superlative \"Zarr\u00e1t\" (fartermost) or,\n \"Abu Zirt\" (Father of farts) is a facetious term among the bean-eating\n Fellahs and a deadly insult amongst the Badawin (Night ccccx.). The\n latter prefer the word Tagg\u00e1a (Pilgrimage iii. 84). We did not disdain\n the word in farthingale=pet en air.\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n Arab. \"kicked\" him, _i.e._ with the sharp corner of the\n shovel-stirrup. I avoid such expressions as \"spurring\" and \"pricking\n over the plain,\" because apt to give a wrong idea.\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n Arab. \"Allaho Akbar!\" the classical Moslem slogan.\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n Arab horses are never taught to leap, so she was quite safe on the\n other side of a brook nine feet broad.\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n \"Batr\u00edk\" (vulg. Bitr\u00edk)=patricius, a title given to Christian knights\n who commanded ten thousand men; the Tarkhan (or Nobb) heading four\n thousand, and the Kaumas (Arab. K\u00e1id) two hundred. It must not be\n confounded with Batrak (or Batrik)=patriarcha (Lane's Lex.).\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n Arab. \"K\u00e1zi al-Kuz\u00e1t,\" a kind of Chief Justice or Chancellor. The\n office was established under the rule of Harun al-Rashid, who so\n entitled Ab\u00fa Y\u00fasuf Ya'akub al-Ans\u00e1ri: therefore the allusion is\n anachronistic. The same Caliph also caused the Olema to dress as they\n do still.\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n The allusion is Koranic: \"O men, if ye be in doubt concerning the\n resurrection, consider that he first created you of the dust of the\n ground (Adam); afterwards of seed\" (chapt. xxii.). But the\n physiological ideas of the Koran are curious. It supposes that the\n Mani or male semen is in the loins and that of women in the breast\n bone (chapt. lxxxvi.); that the mingled seed of the two (chapt.\n lxxvi.) fructifies the ovary and that the child is fed through the\n navel with menstruous blood, hence the cessation of the catamenia.\n Barzoi (Kalilah and D\u00edmnah) says:\u2014\"Man's seed, falling into the\n woman's womb, is mixed with her seed and her blood: when it thickens\n and curdles the Spirit moves it and it turns about like liquid cheese;\n then it solidifies, its arteries are formed, its limbs constructed and\n its joints distinguished. If the babe is a male, his face is placed\n towards his mother's back; if a female, towards her belly. (P. 262,\n Mr. I. G. N. Keith-Falconer's translation.) But there is a curious\n prolepsis of the spermatozoa-theory. We read (Koran chapt. vii.), \"Thy\n Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of Adam;\"\n and the commentators say that Allah stroked Adam's back and extracted\n from his loins all his posterity, which shall ever be, in the shape of\n small ants; these confessed their dependence on God and were dismissed\n to return whence they came.\" From this fiction it appears (says Sale)\n that the doctrine of pre-existence is not unknown to the Mohammedans;\n and there is some little conformity between it and the modern theory\n of generatio ex animalculis in semine marium. The poets call this\n Yaum-i-Alast=the Day of Am-I-not (-your Lord)? which Sir William Jones\n most unhappily translated \"Art thou not with thy Lord?\" (Alasta bi\n Rabbi-kum); and they produce a grand vision of unembodied spirits\n appearing in countless millions before their Creator.\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n The usual preliminary of a wrestling bout.\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n In Eastern wrestling this counts as a fair fall. So Ajax fell on his\n back with Ulysses on his breast (Iliad xxxii., 700, etc.).\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n So biting was allowed amongst the Greeks in the \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03ba\u03bb\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c0\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7, the\n final struggle on the ground.\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n Supposed to be names of noted wrestlers. \"Kayim\" (not El-Kim as\n Torrens has it) is a term now applied to a juggler or \"professor\" of\n legerdemain who amuses people in the streets with easy tricks (Lane,\n M. E., chapt. xx.).\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n Lit. \"laughed in his face\" which has not the unpleasant meaning it\n bears in English.\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n Arab. \"Abu riy\u00e1h\"=a kind of child's toy. It is the \"\u03a1\u03cc\u03bc\u03b2\u03bf\u03c2\" of the\n Greeks, our \"bull-roarer\" well known in Australia and parts of Africa.\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n The people of the region south of the Caspian which is called \"Sea of\n Daylam.\" It has a long history; for which see D'Herbelot, _s. v._\n \"Dilem.\"\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n Coptic convents in Egypt still affect these drawbridges over the\n keep-moat.\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n Koran iv., xxii. etc., meaning it is lawful to marry women taken in\n war after the necessary purification although their husbands be still\n living. This is not permitted with a free woman who is a True\n Believer. I have noted that the only concubine slave-girls mentioned\n in the Koran are these \"captives possessed by the right hand.\"\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n The Amazonian dame is a favourite in folk-lore and is an ornament to\n poetry from the Iliad to our modern day. Such heroines, apparently\n unknown to the Pagan Arabs, were common in the early ages of Al-Islam\n as Ockley and Gibbon prove, and that the race is not extinct may be\n seen in my Pilgrimage (iii. 55) where the sister of Ibn Rumi resolved\n to take blood revenge for her brother.\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n And Solomon said, \"O nobles, which of you will bring me her throne?\" A\n terrible genius (_i.e._ an Ifrit of the Jinn named Dhakwan or the\n notorious Sakhr) said, \"I will bring it unto thee before thou arise\n from thy seat (of justice); for I am able to perform it, and may be\n trusted\" (Koran, xxvii. 38-39). Balk\u00eds or _Bilk\u00eds_ (says the Durrat\n al-Ghaww\u00e1s) daughter of Hoz\u00e1d bin Sharhab\u00edl, twenty-second in the list\n of the rulers of Al-Yaman, according to some murdered her husband, and\n became, by Moslem ignorance, the Biblical \"Queen of Sheba.\" The\n Abyssinians transfer her from Arabian Saba to Ethiopia and make her\n the mother by Solomon of Menelek, their proto-monarch; thus claiming\n for their royalties an antiquity compared with which all reigning\n houses in the world are of yesterday. The dates of the Tab\u00e1bi'ah or\n Tobbas prove that the Bilk\u00eds of history ruled Al-Yaman in the early\n Christian era.\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n Arab. \"Fass,\" fiss or fuss; the gem set in a ring; also applied to a\n hillock rounded _en cabochon_. In The Nights it is used to signify \"a\n fine gem.\"\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n This prominence of the glut\u00e6i muscles is always insisted upon, because\n it is supposed to promise well in a bedfellow. In Somali-land, where\n the people are sub-steatopygous, a rich young man, who can afford such\n luxury, will have the girls drawn up in line and choose her to wife\n who projects furthest behind.\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n The \"bull\" is only half mine.\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n A favourite Arab phrase, the \"hot eye\" is one full of tears.\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n _i.e._ \"Coral,\" coral branch; a favourite name for a slave-girl,\n especially a negress. It is the older \"Morgiana.\" I do not see why\n Preston in Al-Hariri's \"Makamah (S\u00e9ance) of Singar\" renders it pearls,\n because Golius gives \"small pearls,\" when it is evidently \"coral.\"\n Richardson (Dissert. xlviii.) seems to me justified in finding the\n Pari (fairy) Marjan of heroic Persian history reflected in the Fairy\n Morgain who carried off King Arthur after the battle of Camelon.\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n Arab. \"'Ud Jalaki\"=Jalak or Jalik being a poetical and almost obsolete\n name of Damascus.\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n The fountain in Paradise whose water shall be drunk with \"pure\" wine\n mixed and sealed with musk (for clay). It is so called because it\n comes from the \"Sanam\" (Sanima, to be high) boss or highest ridge of\n the Moslem Heaven (Koran lv. 78 and lxxxiii. 27). Mr. Rodwell says \"it\n is conveyed to the highest apartments in the Pavilions of Paradise.\"\n (?)\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n This \"hysterical\" temperament is not rare even amongst the bravest\n Arabs.\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n An idea evidently derived from the \u00c6olipyla (olla animatoria) the\n invention of Hero Alexandrinus, which showed that the ancient\n Egyptians could apply the motive force of steam.\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n Kuthayyir ibn Abi Jumah, a poet and far-famed R\u00e1w\u00ed or Tale-reciter,\n mentioned by Ibn Kballikan: he lived at Al-Medinah and sang the\n attractions of one Azzah, hence his soubriquet S\u00e1hib (lover of) Azzah.\n As he died in A.H. 105 (=726), his presence here is a gross\n anachronism: the imaginary Sharrkan flourished before the Caliphate of\n Abd al-Malik bin Marw\u00e1n A.H. 65-86.\n\nFootnote 194:\n\n Jam\u00edl bin Ma'amar, a poet and lover contemporary with Al-Kuthayyir.\n\nFootnote 195:\n\n Arab. \"Tafazzal,\" a word of frequent use in conversations=\"favour me,\"\n etc.\n\nFootnote 196:\n\n The word has a long history. From the Gr. \u03c3\u03c4\u03af\u03bc\u03bc\u03b9 or \u03c3\u03c4\u03af\u03b2\u03b9 is the Lat.\n stibium; while the Low-Latin \"antimonium\" and the Span. Althimod are\n by metathesis for Al-Ithmid. The dictionaries define the substance as\n a stone from which antimony is prepared; but the Arabs understand a\n semi-mythical mineral of yellow colour which enters into the veins of\n the eyes and gives them lynx-like vision. The famous Anz nicknamed\n Zark\u00e1 (the blue-eyed) of Yam\u00e1mah (Province) used it; and, according to\n some, invented Kohl. When her (protohistoric) tribe Jadis had\n destroyed all the rival race of Tasm, except Rib\u00e1h ibn Murrah; the\n sole survivor fled to the Tobba of Al-Yaman, who sent a host to avenge\n him. The king commanded his Himyarites to cut tree-boughs and use them\n as screens (again Birman wood). Zark\u00e1 from her Utum, or peel-tower,\n saw the army three marches off and cried, \"O folk, either trees or\n Himyar are coming upon you!\" adding, in Rajaz verse:\u2014\n\n I swear by Allah that trees creep onward, or that Himyar beareth\n somewhat which he draweth along!\n\n She then saw a man mending his sandal. But Jadis disbelieved;\n Cassandra was slain and, when her eyes were cut out, the vessels were\n found full of Ithmid. Hence Al-Mutanabbi sang:\n\n \"Sharper-sighted than Zark\u00e1 of Jau\" (Yam\u00e1mah).\n\n See C. de Perceval i. 101; Arab. Prov. i. 192; and Chenery (p. 381.\n The Assemblies of Al-Hariri; London, Williams and Norgate, 1867). I\n have made many enquiries into the true nature of Ithmid and failed to\n learn anything: on the Upper Nile the word is=Kohl.\n\nFootnote 197:\n\n The general colour of chessmen in the east, where the game is played\n on a cloth more often than a board.\n\nFootnote 198:\n\n Arab. \"Al-fil,\" the elephant=the French fol or fou and our bishop. I\n have derived \"elephant\" from P\u00edl (old Persian, Sansk. Pilu) and Arab.\n Fil, with the article Al-Fil, whence the Greek \u1f10\u03bb\u03ad\u03c6\u03b1\u03c2 the suffix\u2014as\n being devoted to barbarous words as Obod-as (Al-Ubayd), Aretas\n (Al-H\u00e1ris), etc. Mr. Isaac Taylor (The Alphabet i. 169), preserves the\n old absurdity of \"eleph-ant or ox-like (!) beast of Africa.\" Prof.\n Sayce finds the word al-ab (two distinct characters) in line 3, above\n the figure of an (Indian) elephant, on the black obelisk of Nimrod\n Mound, and suggests an Assyrian derivation.\n\nFootnote 199:\n\n Arab. \"Shaukat\" which may also mean the \"pride\" or \"mainstay\" (of the\n army).\n\nFootnote 200:\n\n Lit. \"smote him on the tendons of his neck.\" This is the famous\n shoulder-cut (Tawashshuh) which, with the leg-cut (Kalam), formed, and\n still forms, the staple of Eastern attack with the sword.\n\nFootnote 201:\n\n Arab. \"Dir\u00e1s.\" Easterns do not thresh with flails. The material is\n strewed over a round and smoothed floor of dried mud in the open air\n and threshed by different contrivances. In Egypt the favourite is a\n chair-like machine called \"Norag,\" running on iron plates and drawn by\n bulls or cows over the corn. Generally, however, Moslems prefer the\n old classical \u03a4\u03c1\u03af\u03b2\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd, the Tribulum of Virgil and Varro, a\n slipper-shaped sled of wood garnished on the sole with large-headed\n iron nails, or sharp fragments of flint or basalt. Thus is made the\n \"Tibn\" or straw, the universal hay of the East, which our machines\n cannot imitate.\n\nFootnote 202:\n\n These numbers appear to be grossly exaggerated, but they were possible\n in the days of sword and armour: at the battle of Saffayn the Caliph\n Ali is said to have cut down five hundred and twenty-three men in a\n single night.\n\nFootnote 203:\n\n Arab. \"Bik\u00e1'a\": hence the \"Buka'ah\" or C\u0153lesyria.\n\nFootnote 204:\n\n Richardson in his excellent dictionary (note 103) which modern\n priggism finds \"unscientific,\" wonderfully derives this word from\n Arab. \"Khatt\u00e1f,\" a snatcher (_i.e._ of women), a ravisher. It is an\n evident corruption of \"captivus\" through Italian and French.\n\nFootnote 205:\n\n These periodical and fair-like visitations to convents are still\n customary; especially amongst the Christians of Damascus.\n\nFootnote 206:\n\n Camphor being then unknown.\n\nFootnote 207:\n\n The \"wrecker\" is known all over the world; and not only barbarians\n hold that ships driven ashore become the property of the shore.\n\nFootnote 208:\n\n Arab. \"Jokh\": it is not a dictionary word, but the only term in\n popular use for European broadcloth.\n\nFootnote 209:\n\n The second person plural is used because the writer would involve the\n subjects of his correspondent in the matter.\n\nFootnote 210:\n\n This part of the phrase, which may seem unnecessary to the European,\n is perfectly intelligible to all Orientalists. You may read many an\n Eastern letter and _not_ understand it. Compare Boccaccio iv. 1.\n\nFootnote 211:\n\n _i.e._, he was greatly agitated.\n\nFootnote 212:\n\n In text \"_Li-ajal al-Taud\u00ed'a_,\" for the purpose of farewelling, a low\n Egyptianism; emphatically a \"Kal\u00e1m w\u00e1ti.\" (Pilgrimage iii. 330.)\n\nFootnote 213:\n\n In the Mac. Edit. Sharrkan speaks, a clerical error.\n\nFootnote 214:\n\n The Farsakh (Germ. Stunde) a measure of time rather than distance, is\n an hour's travel or its equivalent, a league, a meile=three English\n stat. miles. The word is still used in Persia its true home, but not\n elsewhere. It is very old, having been determined as a lineal measure\n of distance by Herodotus (ii. 5 and 6; v. 53), who computes it at 30\n furlongs (=furrow-lengths, 8 to the stat. mile). Strabo (xi.) makes it\n range from 40 to 60 stades (each=606 feet 9 inches); and even now it\n varies between 1500 to 6,000 yards. Captain Francklin (Tour to Persia)\n estimates it=about four miles. (Pilgrimage ii. 113.)\n\nFootnote 215:\n\n Arab. \"Ashhab.\" Names of colours are few amongst semi-civilised\n peoples, but in Arabia there is a distinct word for every shade of\n horseflesh.\n\nFootnote 216:\n\n She had already said to him \"Thou art beaten in everything!\"\n\nFootnote 217:\n\n Showing that she was still a Christian.\n\nFootnote 218:\n\n This is not Badawi sentiment: the honoratioren amongst wild people\n would scorn such foul play; but amongst the settled Arabs honour\n between men and women is unknown; and such \"hocussing\" would be held\n quite fair.\n\nFootnote 219:\n\n The table of wine, in our day, is mostly a japanned tray with glasses\n and bottles, saucers of pickles and fruits and, perhaps, a bunch of\n flowers and aromatic herbs. During the Caliphate the \"wine-service\"\n was on a larger scale.\n\nFootnote 220:\n\n Here the \"Bhang\" (almost a generic term applied to hellebore, etc.)\n may be hyoscyamus or henbane. Yet there are varieties of Cannabis,\n such as the Dakha of South Africa, capable of most violent effect. I\n found the use of the drug well known to the negroes of the Southern\n United States and of the Brazil, although few of their owners had ever\n heard of it.\n\nFootnote 221:\n\n Amongst Moslems this is a reference to Adam who first \"sinned against\n himself,\" and who therefore is called \"Saf\u00edyu'llah,\" the Pure of Allah\n (Pilgrimage iii. 333).\n\nFootnote 222:\n\n Meaning, an angry, violent man.\n\nFootnote 223:\n\n Arab. \"Insh\u00e1d,\" which may mean reciting the verse of another or\n improvising one's own. In Modern Egypt \"Munshid\" is the singer or\n reciter of poetry at Zikrs (Lane M. E. chapt. xxiv.). Here the verses\n are quite bad enough to be improvised by the hapless Princess.\n\nFootnote 224:\n\n The negro skin assumes this dust-colour in cold, fear, concupiscence\n and other mental emotions.\n\nFootnote 225:\n\n He compares her glance with the blade of a Yamani sword, a _lieu\n commun_ of Eastern poetry. The weapons are famous in The Nights; but\n the best sword-cutlery came from Persia as the porcelain from China to\n Sana'\u00e1. Here, however, is especial allusion as to the sword \"Samsam\"\n or \"Samsamah.\" It belonged to the Himyarite Tobba, Amru bin Ma'ad\n Kurb, and came into the hands of Harun al-Rashid. When the Emperor of\n the Greeks sent a present of superior sword-blades to him by way of a\n brave, the Caliph, in the presence of the Envoys, took \"Samsam\" in\n hand and cut the others in twain as if they were cabbages without the\n least prejudice to the edge of \"Samsam.\"\n\nFootnote 226:\n\n This touch of pathos is truly Arab. So in the \"Romance of Dalhamah\"\n (Lane, M. E. xxiii.) the infant Gundubah sucks the breast of its dead\n mother and the King exclaims, \"If she had committed this crime she\n would not be affording the child her milk after she was dead.\"\n\nFootnote 227:\n\n Arab. Sadda'l-Akt\u00e1r, a term picturesque enough to be preserved in\n English. \"Sadd,\" I have said, is a wall or dyke, the term applied to\n the great dam of water-plants which obstructs the navigation of the\n Upper Nile, the lilies and other growths floating with the current\n from the (Victoria) Nyanza Lake. I may note that we need no longer\n derive from India the lotus-lily so extensively used by the Ancient\n Egyptians and so neglected by the moderns that it has well nigh\n disappeared. All the Central African basins abound in the Nymph\u00e6a and\n thence it found its way down the Nile-Valley.\n\nFootnote 228:\n\n Arab. \"Al-Marh\u00famah\": equivalent to our \"late lamented.\"\n\nFootnote 229:\n\n Vulgarly pronounced \"Mahmal,\" and by Egyptians and Turks \"Mehmel.\"\n Lane (M. E. xxiv.) has figured this queenly litter and I have sketched\n and described it in my Pilgrimage (iii. 12).\n\nFootnote 230:\n\n For such fits of religious enthusiasm see my Pilgrimage (iii. 254).\n\nFootnote 231:\n\n \"Ir\u00e1k\" (Mesopotamia) means \"a level country beside the banks of a\n river.\"\n\nFootnote 232:\n\n \"Al-Kuds,\" or \"Bayt al-Mukaddas,\" is still the popular name of\n Jerusalem, from the Heb. Yerushalaim ha-Kadushah (legend on shekel of\n Simon Maccabeus).\n\nFootnote 233:\n\n \"Follow the religion of Abraham\" says the Koran (chapt. iii. 89).\n Abraham, titled \"Khal\u00edlu'llah,\" ranks next in dignity to Mohammed,\n preceding Isa; I need hardly say that his tomb is not in Jerusalem nor\n is the tomb itself at Hebron ever visited. Here Moslems (soi disant)\n are allowed by the jealousies of Europe to close and conceal a place\n which belongs to the world, especially to Jews and Christians. The\n tombs, if they exist, lie in a vault or cave under the Mosque.\n\nFootnote 234:\n\n Ab\u00e1, or Ab\u00e1'ah, vulg. Ab\u00e1yah, is a cloak of hair, goat's or camel's;\n too well known to require description.\n\nFootnote 235:\n\n Arab. \"Al-Wakk\u00e1d;\" the man who lights and keeps up the bath-fires.\n\nFootnote 236:\n\n Arab. \"M\u00e1 al-Khal\u00e1f\"(or \"Khil\u00e1f\") a sickly perfume but much prized,\n made from the flowers of the Salix \u00c6gyptiaca.\n\nFootnote 237:\n\n Used by way of soap; like glasswort and other plants.\n\nFootnote 238:\n\n _i.e._, \"Thou art only just recovered.\"\n\nFootnote 239:\n\n To \"Nakh\" is to gurgle \"Ikh! Ikh!\" till the camel kneels. Hence the\n space called \"Barr al-Man\u00e1khah\" in Al-Medinah (Pilgrimage i. 222, ii.\n 91). There is a regular camel-vocabulary amongst the Arabs, made up\n like our \"Gee\" (go ye!), etc. of significant words worn down.\n\nFootnote 240:\n\n Arab. \"Laza,\" the Second Hell provided for Jews.\n\nFootnote 241:\n\n The word has been explained (vol. i. 112). It is trivial, not\n occurring in the Koran which uses \"Arabs of the Desert;\" \"Arabs who\n dwell in tents,\" etc. (chapt. ix. and xxxiii.). \"A'ar\u00e1bi\" is the\n classical word and the origin of \"Arab\" is disputed. According to\n Pocock (Not\u00e6 Spec. Hist. Arab.): \"Diverse are the opinions concerning\n the denomination of the Arabs; but the most certain of all is that\n which draws it from Arabah, which is part of the region of Tehamah,\n (belonging to Al-Medinah, Pilgrimage ii. 118), which their father\n Ismail afterwards inhabited.\" Tehamah (tierra caliente) is the\n maritime region of Al-Hijaz, the Moslem's Holy Land; and its \"Arabah,\"\n a very small tract which named a very large tract, must not be\n confounded, as some have done, with the Wady Arabah, the ancient\n outlet of the Dead Sea. The derivation of \"Arab\" from \"Ya'arab\" a\n fancied son of Joktan is mythological. In Heb. Arabia may be called\n \"Eretz Ereb\" (or \"Arab\")=land of the West; but in Arabic \"Gharb\" (not\n Ereb) is the Occident and the Arab dates long before the Hebrew.\n\nFootnote 242:\n\n \"When thine enemy extends his hand to thee, cut it off if thou can, or\n kiss it,\" wisely said Caliph al-Mans\u00far.\n\nFootnote 243:\n\n The Tartur was a peculiar turban worn by the Northern Arabs and shown\n in old prints. In modern Egypt the term is applied to the tall\n sugar-loaf caps of felt affected mostly by regular Dervishes.\n Burckhardt (Proverbs 194 and 398) makes it the high cap of felt or fur\n proper to the irregular cavalry called Dely or Delaty. In Dar For\n (Darfour) \"Tartur\" is a conical cap adorned with beads and cowries\n worn by the Manghwah or buffoon who corresponds with the Egyptian\n \"Khalb\u00fas\" or \"Maskharah\" and the Turkish \"Sutari.\" For an illustration\n see Plate iv. fig. 10 of Voyage au Darfour par Mohammed El-Tounsy (The\n Tunisian), Paris, Duprat, 1845.\n\nFootnote 244:\n\n The term is picturesque and true; we say \"gnaw\" which is not so good.\n\nFootnote 245:\n\n Here, meaning an Elder, a Chief, etc.; the word has been almost\n naturalised in English. I have noted that Abraham was the first\n \"Shaykh.\"\n\nFootnote 246:\n\n This mention of weighing suggests the dust of Dean Swift and the money\n of the Gold Coast. It was done, I have said, because the gold coin,\n besides being \"sweated\" was soft and was soon worn down.\n\nFootnote 247:\n\n Fem. of N\u00e1j\u00ed (a deliverer, a saviour)=Salvadora.\n\nFootnote 248:\n\n This, I have noted, is according to Koranic command (chapt. iv. 88).\n \"When you are saluted with a salutation, salute the person with a\n better salutation.\" The longer answer to \"Peace be with (or upon)\n thee!\" is still universally the custom. The \"Sal\u00e1m\" is so differently\n pronounced by every Eastern nation that the observant traveller will\n easily make of it a Shibboleth.\n\nFootnote 249:\n\n The Badawi, who was fool as well as rogue, begins to fear that he has\n kidnapped a girl of family.\n\nFootnote 250:\n\n These examinations being very indecent are usually done in strictest\n privacy. The great point is to make sure of virginity.\n\nFootnote 251:\n\n This is according to strict Moslem law: the purchaser may not look at\n the girl's nakedness till she is his, and he ought to manage matters\n through an old woman.\n\nFootnote 252:\n\n Lit. wrath; affliction which chokes; in Hindustani it means simply\n anger.\n\nFootnote 253:\n\n _i.e._, Heaven forbid I be touched by a strange man.\n\nFootnote 254:\n\n Used for fuel and other purposes, such as making \"Joss stick.\"\n\nFootnote 255:\n\n Arab. \"Yaftah' Allah\" the offer being insufficient. The rascal is\n greedy as a Badawi and moreover he is a liar, which the Badawi is not.\n\nFootnote 256:\n\n The third of the four great Moslem schools of Theology, taking its\n name from the Imam al-Sh\u00e1fi'\u00ed (Mohammed ibn Idris) who died in Egypt\n A.H. 204, and lies buried near Cairo (Sale's Prel. Disc. sect. viii.).\n\nFootnote 257:\n\n The Moslem form of Cabbala, or transcendental philosophy of the\n Hebrews.\n\nFootnote 258:\n\n Arab. \"Bakh\" the word used by the Apostle to Ali his son-in-law. It is\n the Latin \"Euge.\"\n\nFootnote 259:\n\n Readers, who read for amusement, will do well to \"skip\" the fadaises\n of this highly educated young woman.\n\nFootnote 260:\n\n There are three Persian Kings of this name (Artaxerxes) which means\n \"Flour and milk,\" or \"high lion.\" The text alludes to Ardeshir\n Babegan, so called because he married the daughter of Babak the\n shepherd, founder of the Sassanides in A.D. 202. See D'Herbelot, and\n the Dabistan.\n\nFootnote 261:\n\n Alluding to the proverb, \"Folk follow their King's faith,\" \"Cujus\n regio ejus religio,\" etc.\n\nFootnote 262:\n\n Second Abbaside, A.H. 136-158 (=754-775).\n\nFootnote 263:\n\n The celebrated companion of Mohammed who succeeded Abu Bakr in the\n Caliphate (A. H. 13-23=634-644). The Sunnis know him as Al-Adil, the\n Just; and the Shiahs detest him for his usurpation, his austerity and\n harshness. It is said that he laughed once, and wept once. The laugh\n was caused by recollecting how he ate his dough-gods (the idols of the\n Hanifah tribe) in The Ignorance. The tears were drawn by remembering\n how he buried alive his baby daughter who, while the grave was being\n dug, patted away the dust from his hair and beard. Omar was doubtless\n a great man, but he is one of the most ungenial figures in Moslem\n history which does not abound in genialities. To me he suggests a\n Puritan, a Covenanter of the sourest and narrowest type; and I cannot\n wonder that the Persians abhor him, and abuse him on all occasions.\n\nFootnote 264:\n\n The austere Caliph Omar whose scourge was more feared than the sword\n was the author of the celebrated saying \"Consult them (feminines) and\n do clear contrary-wise.\" The dictum is illustrated by a dozen Joe\n Millers known throughout the East.\n\nFootnote 265:\n\n Our \"honour amongst thieves.\"\n\nFootnote 266:\n\n The sixth successor of Mohammed and founder of the Banu Umayyah or\n Ommiades, called the \"sons of the little mother\" from their eponymus\n (A.H. 41-60=661-680). For his Badawi wife Maysun, and her abuse of her\n husband, see Pilgrimage iii. 262.\n\nFootnote 267:\n\n Shaykh of the noble tribe, or rather nation, Banu Tam\u00edm and a notable\n of the day, surnamed, no one knows why, \"Sire of the Sea.\"\n\nFootnote 268:\n\n This is essential for cleanliness in hot lands: however much the bath\n may be used, the body-pile and lower hair, if submitted to a\n microscope, will show more or less sordes adherent. The axilla-hair is\n plucked because if shaved the growing pile causes itching and the\n depilatories are held deleterious. At first vellication is painful but\n the skin becomes used to it. The pecten is shaved either without or\n after using depilatories, of which more presently. The body-pile is\n removed by \"Takhf\u00edf\"; the Lib\u00e1n Sh\u00e1mi (Syrian incense), a fir-gum\n imported from Scio, is melted and allowed to cool in the form of a\n pledget. This is passed over the face and all the down adhering to it\n is pulled up by the roots (Burckhardt No. 420). Not a few\n Anglo-Indians have adopted these precautions.\n\nFootnote 269:\n\n This Caliph was a tall, fair, handsome man of awe-inspiring aspect.\n Omar used to look at him and say, \"This is the C\u00e6sar of the Arabs,\"\n while his wife called him a \"fatted ass.\"\n\nFootnote 270:\n\n The saying is attributed to Abraham when \"exercised\" by the unkindly\n temper of Sarah; \"woman is made hard and crooked like a rib;\" and the\n modern addition is, \"whoso would straighten her, breaketh her.\"\n\nFootnote 271:\n\n _i.e._, \"When ready and in erection.\"\n\nFootnote 272:\n\n \"And do first (before going in to your wives) some act which may be\n profitable unto your souls\"\u2014or, for your soul's good. (Koran, chapt.\n ii. 223.). Hence Ahnaf makes this prayer.\n\nFootnote 273:\n\n It was popularly said that \"Truth-speaking left Omar without a\n friend.\" Entitled \"The Just\" he was murdered by Abu L\u00fal\u00faah, alias\n F\u00edr\u00faz, a (Magian?) slave of Al-Magh\u00edrah for denying him justice.\n\nFootnote 274:\n\n Governor of Bassorah under the first four Caliphs. See D'Herbelot _s.\n v._ \"Asch\u00e1ri.\"\n\nFootnote 275:\n\n Ziyad bin Abi Sufyan, illegitimate brother of the Caliph Mu'awiyah\n afterwards governor of Bassorah, Cufa and Al-Hijaz.\n\nFootnote 276:\n\n The seditions in Kufah were mainly caused by the wilful nepotism of\n Caliph Othman bin As\u00e1kir which at last brought about his death. His\n main quality seems to have been personal beauty: \"never was seen man\n or woman of fairer face than he and he was the most comely of men:\" he\n was especially famed for beautiful teeth which in old age he bound\n about with gold wire. He is described as of middling stature,\n large-limbed, broad shouldered, fleshy of thigh and long in the\n fore-arm which was hairy. His face inclined to yellow and was\n pock-marked; his beard was full and his curly hair, which he dyed\n yellow, fell below his ears. He is called \"writer of the Koran\" from\n his edition of the MS., and \"Lord of the two Lights\" because he\n married two of the Prophet's daughters, Rukayyah and Umm Kulthum; and,\n according to the Shi'ahs who call him Othman-i-Lang or \"limping\n Othman,\" he vilely maltreated them. They justify his death as the act\n of an Ijm\u00e1' al-Muslimin, the general consensus of Moslems which\n ratifies \"Lynch law.\" Altogether Othman is a mean figure in history.\n\nFootnote 277:\n\n \"N\u00e1r\" (fire) is a word to be used delicately from its connection with\n Gehenna. You say, _e.g._ \"bring me a light, a coal (bassah)\" etc.; but\n if you say \"bring me fire!\" the enemy will probably remark \"He wanteth\n fire even before his time!\" The slang expression would be \"bring the\n sweet:\" (Pilgrimage i. 121.)\n\nFootnote 278:\n\n Omar is described as a man of fair complexion, and very ruddy, but he\n waxed tawny with age, when he also became bald and grey. He had little\n hair on the cheeks but a long mustachio with reddish ends. In stature\n he overtopped the people and was stout as he was tall. A popular\n saying of Mohammed's is, \"All (very) long men are fools save Omar, and\n all (very) short men are knaves save Ali.\" The Persians, who abhor\n Omar, compare every lengthy, ungainly, longsome thing with him; they\n will say, \"This road never ends, like the entrails of Omar.\" We know\n little about Ali's appearance except that he was very short and stout,\n broad and full-bellied with a tawny complexion and exceedingly hairy,\n his long beard, white as cotton filling all the space between his\n shoulders. He was a \"pocket-Hercules,\" and incredible tales, like that\n about the gates of Khaybar, are told of his strength. Lastly, he was\n the only Caliph who bequeathed anything to literature: his\n \"Cantiloquium\" is famous and he has left more than one mystical and\n prophetic work. See Ockley for his \"Sentences\" and D'Herbelot _s. v._\n \"Ali\" and \"Gebr.\" Ali is a noble figure in Moslem history.\n\nFootnote 279:\n\n The emancipation from the consequences of his sins; or it may mean a\n holy death.\n\nFootnote 280:\n\n Battle fought near Al-Medinah A.D. 625. The word is derived from\n \"Ahad\" (one). I have described the site in my Pilgrimage, vol. ii.\n 227.\n\nFootnote 281:\n\n \"Haphsa\" in older writers; Omar's daughter and one of Mohammed's\n wives, famous for her connection with the manuscripts of the Koran.\n From her were (or claimed to be) descended the Hafsites who reigned in\n Tunis and extended their power far and wide over the Maghrib\n (Mauritania), till dispossessed by the Turks.\n\nFootnote 282:\n\n _i.e._ humbly without the usual strut or swim: it corresponds with the\n biblical walking or going softly (1 Kings xxi. 27; Isaiah xxxviii. 15,\n etc.).\n\nFootnote 283:\n\n A theologian of the seventh and eighth centuries.\n\nFootnote 284:\n\n _i.e._ to prepare himself by good works, especially alms-giving, for\n the next world.\n\nFootnote 285:\n\n A theologian of the eighth century.\n\nFootnote 286:\n\n Abd al-Aziz was eighth Ommiade (regn. A.H. 99=717) and the fifth of\n the orthodox, famed for a piety little known to his house. His most\n celebrated saying was, \"Be constant in meditation on death: if thou be\n in straitened case 'twill enlarge it, and if in affluence 'twill\n straiten it upon thee.\" He died, poisoned, it is said, in A.H. 101.\n\nFootnote 287:\n\n Abu Bakr originally called Abd al-Ka'ahah (slave of the Ka'abah) took\n the name of Abdullah and was surnamed Abu Bakr (father of the virgin)\n when Mohammed, who before had married only widows, took to wife his\n daughter, the famous or infamous Ayishah. \"Bikr\" is the usual form,\n but \"Bakr,\" primarily meaning a young camel, is metaphorically applied\n to human youth (Lane's Lex. _s. v._). The first Caliph was a\n cloth-merchant, like many of the Meccan chiefs. He is described as\n very fair with bulging brow, deep-set eyes and thin-cheeked, of\n slender build and lean-loined, stooping and with the backs of his\n hands fleshless. He used tinctures of Henna and Katam for his beard.\n The Persians who hate him, call him \"Pir-i-Kaft\u00e1r,\" the old she-hy\u00e6na,\n and believe that he wanders about the deserts of Arabia in perpetual\n rut which the males must satisfy.\n\nFootnote 288:\n\n The second, fifth, sixth and seventh Ommiades.\n\nFootnote 289:\n\n The mother of Omar bin Abd al-Aziz was a granddaughter of Omar bin\n Al-Khattab.\n\nFootnote 290:\n\n Brother of this Omar's successor, Yezid II.\n\nFootnote 291:\n\n So the Turkish proverb \"The fish begins to stink at the head.\"\n\nFootnote 292:\n\n Calling to the slaves.\n\nFootnote 293:\n\n When the \"Day of Arafat\" (9th of Z\u00fa'l-Hijjah) falls upon a Friday. For\n this Hajj al-Akbar see my Pilgrimage iii. 226. It is often confounded\n by writers (even by the learned M. Caussin de Perceval) with the\n common Pilgrimage as opposed to the Umrah, or \"Lesser Pilgrimage\"\n (ibid. iii. 342, etc.). The latter means etymologically cohabiting\n with a woman in her father's house as opposed to 'Ars or leading her\n to the husband's home: it is applied to visiting Meccah and going\n through all the pilgrim-rites but not at the Pilgrimage-season. Hence\n its title \"Hajj al-Asghar\" the \"Lesser Hajj.\" But \"Umrah\" is also\n applied to a certain ceremony between the hills Saf\u00e1 (a large hard\n rock) and Marwah (stone full of flints), which accompanies the Hajj\n and which I have described (ibid. iii. 344). At Meccah I also heard of\n two places called Al-Umrah, the Greater in the Wady F\u00e1timah and the\n Lesser half way nearer the city (ibid. iii. 344).\n\nFootnote 294:\n\n A fair specimen of the unworthy egoism which all religious systems\n virtually inculcate. Here a pious father leaves his children miserable\n to save his own dirty soul.\n\nFootnote 295:\n\n Chief of the Ban\u00fa Tam\u00edm, one of noblest of tribes derived from Tam\u00edm,\n the uncle of Kuraysh (Koreish); hence the poets sang:\u2014\n\n There cannot be a son nobler than Kuraysh,\n Nor an uncle nobler than Tam\u00edm.\n\n The high-minded Tam\u00edm is contrasted with the mean-spirited Kays, who\n also gave rise to a tribe; and hence the saying concerning one\n absolutely inconsistent, \"Art thou now Tam\u00edm and then Kays?\"\n\nFootnote 296:\n\n Surnamed Al-Sakaf\u00ed, Governor of Al-Yaman and Irak.\n\nFootnote 297:\n\n Tenth Ommiade (regn. A.H. 105-125=724-743).\n\nFootnote 298:\n\n Or \"clothe thee in worn-out clothes\" _i.e._ \"Become a Fakir\" or\n religious mendicant.\n\nFootnote 299:\n\n This gratuitous incest in ignorance injures the tale and is as\n repugnant to Moslem as to Christian taste.\n\nFootnote 300:\n\n The child is named either on the day of its birth or on that day week.\n The father whispers it in the right ear, often adding the Az\u00e1n or\n prayer-call, and repeating in the left ear the \"Ik\u00e1mah\" or Friday\n sentence. There are many rules for choosing names according to the\n week-day, the ascendant planet, the \"Sortes Coranic\u00e6,\" etc.\n\nFootnote 301:\n\n Amongst Moslems as amongst Christians there are seven deadly sins:\n idolatry, murder, falsely charging modest women with unchastity,\n robbing orphans, usury, desertion in Holy War and disobedience to\n parents. The difference between the two creeds is noteworthy. And the\n sage knows only three, intemperance, ignorance and egoism.\n\nFootnote 302:\n\n Meaning, \"It was decreed by Destiny; so it came to pass,\" appropriate\n if not neat.\n\nFootnote 303:\n\n The short, stout, dark, long-haired and two bunched camel from\n \"Bukhtar\" (Bactria), the \"Eastern\" (Bakhtar) region on the Amu or\n Jayh\u00fan (Oxus) River; afterwards called Khorasan. The two-humped camel\n is never seen in Arabia except with northern caravans, and to speak of\n it would be a sore test of Badawi credulity.\n\nFootnote 304:\n\n \"Kayl\u00falah\" is the \"forty-winks\" about noon: it is a Sunnat or Practice\n of the Prophet who said, \"Make the mid-day siesta, for verily at this\n hour the devils sleep not.\" \"Ayl\u00falah\" is slumbering after morning\n prayers (our \"beauty-sleep\"), causing heaviness and idleness:\n \"Ghayl\u00falah\" is dozing about 9 a.m. engendering poverty and\n wretchedness: \"Kayl\u00falah\" (with the guttural Kaf) is sleeping before\n evening prayers and \"Fayl\u00falah\" is slumbering after sunset\u2014both held to\n be highly detrimental. (Pilgrimage ii. 49.)\n\nFootnote 305:\n\n The Biblical \"Hamath\" (Hightown) too well known to require\n description. It is still famous for the water-wheels mentioned by\n al-Hariri (assembly of the Banu Har\u00e1m).\n\nFootnote 306:\n\n When they say, The leven flashes bright on the hills of Al-Yaman, the\n allusion is to the south quarter, where summer-lightning is seen.\n Al-Yaman (always with the article) means, I have said, the right-hand\n region to one facing the rising sun and Al-Sham (Syria) the left-hand\n region.\n\nFootnote 307:\n\n Again \"he\" for \"she,\" in delicacy and jealousy of making public the\n beauty or conditions of the \"veiled sex.\" Even public singers would\n hesitate to use a feminine pronoun. As will be seen, however, the rule\n is not invariably kept and hardly ever in Badawi poetry.\n\nFootnote 308:\n\n The normal pun on \"Nuzhat al-Zaman\"=Delight of the Age or Time.\n\nFootnote 309:\n\n The reader will find in my Pilgrimage (i. 305) a sketch of the\n Takht-rawan or travelling-litter, in which pilgrimesses are wont to\n sleep.\n\nFootnote 310:\n\n In poetry it holds the place of our Zephyr; and the\n \"B\u00e1d-i-Sab\u00e1\"=Breeze o' the morn, is much addressed by Persian poets.\n\nFootnote 311:\n\n Here appears the nervous, excitable, hysterical Arab temperament which\n is almost phrensied by the neighbourhood of a home from which he had\n run away.\n\nFootnote 312:\n\n Zau al-Makan and Nuzhat al-Zaman.\n\nFootnote 313:\n\n The idea is essentially Eastern, \"A lion at home and a lamb abroad\" is\n the popular saying.\n\nFootnote 314:\n\n Arab. \"Hubb al-Watan\" (=love of birthplace, patriotism) of which the\n Tradition says \"Min al-Im\u00e1n\" (=is part of man's religion).\n\nFootnote 315:\n\n He is supposed to speak _en prince_; and he yields to a prayer when he\n spurns a command.\n\nFootnote 316:\n\n In such caravans each party must keep its own place under pain of\n getting into trouble with the watchmen and guards.\n\nFootnote 317:\n\n Mr. Payne (ii. 109) borrows this and the next quotation from the Bul.\n Edit. i. 386.\n\nFootnote 318:\n\n For the expiation of inconsiderate oaths see Koran (chapt. v.) I\n cannot but think that Al-Islam treats perjury too lightly: all we can\n say is that it improves upon Hinduism, which practically seems to\n leave the punishment to the gods.\n\nFootnote 319:\n\n \"Kausar,\" as has been said, represents the classical nectar, the\n Amrita of the Hindus.\n\nFootnote 320:\n\n From Bul. Edit. i. 186. The couplet in the Mac. Edit. i. 457 is very\n wildly applied.\n\nFootnote 321:\n\n The \"insula\" of Sancho Panza.\n\nFootnote 322:\n\n This should have assured him that he stood in no danger.\n\nFootnote 323:\n\n Here ends the wearisome tale of the brother and sister and the romance\n of chivalry begins once more with the usual Arab digressions.\n\nFootnote 324:\n\n I have derived this word from the Persian \"rang\"=colour, hue, kind.\n\nFootnote 325:\n\n Otherwise all would be superseded, like U. S. officials under a new\n President.\n\nFootnote 326:\n\n Arab. \"N\u00edmshah\" from the Pers. N\u00edmchah, a \"half-sword,\" a long dagger\n worn in the belt. Richardson derives it from Namsh, being freckled\n (damasked).\n\nFootnote 327:\n\n The Indian term for a tent large enough to cover a troop of cavalry.\n\nFootnote 328:\n\n Arab. \"Marh\u00fam\" a formula before noticed. It is borrowed from the\n Jewish, \"of blessed memory\" (after the name of the honoured dead,\n Prov. x. 17.); with the addition of \"upon whom be peace,\" as opposed\n to the imprecation, \"May the name of the wicked rot!\"\n\nFootnote 329:\n\n The speeches of the five damsels should be read only by students.\n\nFootnote 330:\n\n _i.e._ Those who look for \"another and a better.\"\n\nFootnote 331:\n\n The title of Caliph Abu Bakr because he bore truthful witness to the\n Apostle's mission or, others say, he confirmed the \"Mi'r\u00e1j\" or\n nocturnal journey to Heaven.\n\nFootnote 332:\n\n All this is Koranic (chapt. ii., etc.)\n\nFootnote 333:\n\n This may have applied more than once to \"hanging judges\" in the Far\n West.\n\nFootnote 334:\n\n A traditionist and jurisconsult of Al-Medinah in the seventh and\n eighth centuries.\n\nFootnote 335:\n\n The Alexander of the Koran and Eastern legends not to be confounded\n with the Alexander of Macedon. He will be noticed in a future Night.\n\nFootnote 336:\n\n \u00c6sop, according to the Arabs: of him or rather of the two Lukmans,\n more presently.\n\nFootnote 337:\n\n Koran ii. 185.\n\nFootnote 338:\n\n Mohammed.\n\nFootnote 339:\n\n One of the Ash\u00e1b or Companions of Mohammed.\n\nFootnote 340:\n\n A noted traditionist at Cufa in the seventh century.\n\nFootnote 341:\n\n Koran, chapt. lxxiv. 1 (and verse 8 follows). The Archangel Gabriel is\n supposed to address Mohammed and not a few divines believe this Surah\n (chapter) to have been first revealed. Mr. Rodwell makes it No. ii.\n following the Fatrah or silent interval which succeeded No. xcvi.\n \"Clots of Blood.\" See his 2nd Edit. p. 3 for further details.\n\nFootnote 342:\n\n _i.e._ dangerous to soul-health.\n\nFootnote 343:\n\n In the Mac. Edit. \"Abd\" for \"Sa'id.\" The latter was a black and a\n native of Cufa during the first century (A.H.) and is still famous as\n a traditionist.\n\nFootnote 344:\n\n Arab. \"Shirk,\" giving a partner to Allah, attending chiefly to\n Christians and idolaters; and in a minor degree to Jews and Guebres.\n We usually English it by \"polytheism,\" which is clumsy and conveys a\n wrong idea.\n\nFootnote 345:\n\n Grandson of the Caliph Ali. He is one of the Imams (High-priests) of\n the Shi'ah school.\n\nFootnote 346:\n\n An eminent traditionist of the eighth century (A.D.)\n\nFootnote 347:\n\n The prayers of the Fast-month and Pilgrimage-month are often said in\n especial places outside the towns and cities; these are the Indian\n Id(Eed-)g\u00e1h. They have a screen of wall about a hundred yards long\n with a central prayer-niche and the normal three steps for the\n preacher; and each extremity is garnished with an imitation minaret.\n They are also called Nam\u00e1z-gah and one is sketched by Herklots (Plate\n iii. fig. 2). The object of the trips thither in Zu'l-Ka'adah and\n Z\u00fa'l-Hijjah is to remind Moslems of the \"Ta'ar\u00edf,\" or going forth from\n Meccah to Mount Arafat.\n\nFootnote 348:\n\n Arab. \"Al-H\u00e1fi,\" which in Egyptian means sore-footed as well. He was\n an ascetic of the eighth and ninth centuries (A.D.). He relates a\n tradition of the famous soldier-saint Kh\u00e1lid bin Wal\u00edd who lies buried\n like the poet Ka'ab al-Ahb\u00e1r near Hums (Emessa) once the B\u0153otia,\n Phrygia, Abdera, Suabia of Syria now Halbun (pronounced Halb\u00e1un) near\n Damascus. I cannot explain how this Kuraysh noble (a glorious figure\n in Moslem history) is claimed by the Afghans as one of their\n countrymen and made to speak Pukhtu or Pushtu, their rough old dialect\n of Persian. The curious reader will consult my Pilgrimage iii. 322 for\n the dialogue between Mohammed and Khalid. Again there is general\n belief in Arabia that the English sent a mission to the Prophet,\n praying that Khalid might be despatched to proselytise them:\n unfortunately Mohammed was dead and the \"Ingriz\" ratted. It is\n popularly held that no armed man can approach Khalid's grave; but I\n suppose my revolver did not count.\n\nFootnote 349:\n\n When he must again wash before continuing prayer.\n\nFootnote 350:\n\n Bin Adham; another noted ascetic of the eighth century. Those curious\n about these unimportant names will consult the great Biographical\n Dictionary of Ibn Khallikan, translated by Baron MacGuckin de Slane\n (1842-45).\n\nFootnote 351:\n\n Thus making Bishr the \"Im\u00e1m\" (antistes) lit. one who stands in front.\n In Koran xvii. 74 it means \"leader\": in ii. 118 Allah makes Abraham an\n \"Imam to mankind.\"\n\nFootnote 352:\n\n A favourite sentiment in the East: we find it at the very beginning of\n Sa'di's Gulistan: better a weal-bringing lie than a harm-dealing\n truth.\n\nFootnote 353:\n\n A penny, one sixth of the drachma.\n\nFootnote 354:\n\n Founder of the Hanbali, fourth (in date) of the four orthodox Moslem\n schools. The Caliph al-Mu'atasim bi'llah, son of Harun al-Rashid, who\n believed the Koran to have been created and not a Logos (whatever that\n may be), co-eternal with Allah, scourged this Imam severely for\n \"differing in opinion\" (A.H. 220=833). In fact few of the notable\n reverends of that day escaped without a caress of the scourge or the\n sword.\n\nFootnote 355:\n\n A learned man of the eighth century at Bassorah (A.D.).\n\nFootnote 356:\n\n A traditionist of Khorasan in the ninth century (A.D.).\n\nFootnote 357:\n\n \"Azal,\" opp. to \"Abad,\" eternity without end, infinity.\n\nFootnote 358:\n\n Koran lxvi. 6.\n\nFootnote 359:\n\n A traditionist of Al-Medinah, eighth century (A.D.).\n\nFootnote 360:\n\n Arab. \"M\u00fas\u00e1\": the Egyptian word was \"Mesu,\" the \"child\" or the \"boy\"\n (brought up in the palace?), and the Hebrews made it \"Mosheh\" or \"one\n drawn out of the water;\" \"Mu\" in Egypt being water, the Arab \"Ma\";\n whence probably the moderns have derived the dim. \"Moyeh;\" vulg.\n Egyptian for water.\n\nFootnote 361:\n\n Koran, chapt. xxviii.: Shu'ayb is our Jethro: Koran, chapt. vii. and\n xi. Mr Rodwell suggests (p. 101) that the name has been altered from\n Hobab (Numb. x 29).\n\nFootnote 362:\n\n Arab. \"Taub\" (Saub), the long shirt popularly written in English Tobe\n and pronounced so by Egyptians. It is worn by both sexes (Lane, M. E.\n chapt. i. \"Tob\") in Egypt, and extends into the heart of Moslem\n Africa: I can compare it with nothing but a long nightgown dyed a\n dirty yellow by safflower and about as picturesque as a carter's\n smock-frock.\n\nFootnote 363:\n\n There is nothing of this in the Koran; and it is a most unhappy\n addition, as Moses utterly and pretentiously ignored a \"next world.\"\n\nFootnote 364:\n\n Koran xxviii. 22-27. Mohammed evidently confounded the contract\n between Laban and Jacob (Gen. xxix. 15-39).\n\nFootnote 365:\n\n So says Al Hariri (Ass. of Sasan), \"The neighbour before the house and\n the traveller before the journey.\" In certain cities the neighbourhood\n is the real detective police, noting every action and abating scandals\n (such as orgies, etc.) with a strong hand and with the full consent of\n public opinion and of the authorities. This loving the neighbour shows\n evident signs of being borrowed from Christianity.\n\nFootnote 366:\n\n Al-Asamm, a theologian of Balkh, ninth century (A.D.).\n\nFootnote 367:\n\n The founder of the Senior School, for which see Sale Prel. Disc. sect.\n viii.\n\nFootnote 368:\n\n Thus serving the Lord by sinning against his own body.\n\nFootnote 369:\n\n An Egyptian doctor of the law (ninth century).\n\nFootnote 370:\n\n Koran lxxvii. 35, 36. This is one of the earliest and most poetical\n chapters of the book.\n\nFootnote 371:\n\n Abu Hanifah was scourged for refusing to take office and was put to\n death in prison, it is said by poison (A.H. 150=A.D. 767), for a\n judicial sentence authorising rebellion against the second Abbaside,\n Al-Mans\u00far, surnamed Abu'l-Daw\u00e1nik (Father of Pence) for his exceeding\n avarice.\n\nFootnote 372:\n\n \"L\u00e1 rayba f\u00ed-hi\" says the Koran (ii. 1) of itself; and the saying is\n popularly applied to all things of the Faith.\n\nFootnote 373:\n\n Arab. \"Rij\u00e1l al-Ghayb,\" somewhat like the \"Himalayan Brothers\" of\n modern superstition. See Herklots (Qanoon-e-Islam) for a long and\n careful description of these \"Mard\u00e1n-i-Ghayb\" (Pers.), a \"class of\n people mounted on clouds,\" invisible, but moving in a circular orbit\n round the world; and suggesting the Hindu \"Lokap\u00e1las.\" They should not\n be in front of the traveller nor on his right, but either behind or on\n his left hand. Hence tables, memorial couplets and hemistichs are\n required to ascertain the station, without which precaution journeys\n are apt to end badly.\n\nFootnote 374:\n\n A sweetmeat before noticed.\n\nFootnote 375:\n\n Door-hinges in the east are two projections for the top and bottom of\n the leaf playing in hollows of the lintel and threshold. It appears to\n be the primitive form, for we find it in the very heart of Africa. In\n the basaltic cities of the Hauran, where the doors are of thick stone,\n they move easily on these pins. I found them also in the official (not\n the temple) City of Palmyra, but all broken.\n\nFootnote 376:\n\n The effect of the poison and of the incantation which accompanied it.\n\nFootnote 377:\n\n King Omar who had raped her. My sympathies are all with the old woman\n who rightly punished the royal lecher.\n\nFootnote 378:\n\n Arab. \"Zunn\u00e1r,\" the Gr. \u03b6\u03ce\u03bd\u03b7. Christians and Jews were compelled by\n the fanatical sumptuary laws of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil (A.D. 856) to\n wear a broad leather belt in public; hence it became a badge of the\n Faith. Probably it was confounded with the \"Janeo\" (Brahmanical\n thread) and the Parsi sacred girdle called Kashti. (Dabistan i, 297,\n etc.). Both Mandeville and La Brocqui\u00e8re speak of \"Christians of the\n Girdle, because they are all girt above;\" intending Jacobites or\n Nestorians.\n\nFootnote 379:\n\n \"Sil\u00e1h-d\u00e1r\" (Arab. and Pers.)=a military officer of high rank;\n literally an \"armour-bearer,\" chosen for valour and trustworthiness.\n So Jonathan had a \"young man\" (brave) who bare his armour (1 Sam. xiv.\n 1, 6 and 7); and Goliath had a man that bare the shield before him\n (ibid. xvii. 7, 41). Men will not readily forget the name of Sulayman\n Agha, called the Silahdar, in Egypt (Lane M. E. chapt. iv.).\n\nFootnote 380:\n\n It will be told afterwards.\n\nFootnote 381:\n\n The elder brother thus showed himself a vassal and proved himself a\n good Moslem by not having recourse to civil war.\n\nFootnote 382:\n\n Arab. \"Ghazwah,\" the corrupt Gallicism, now Europeanised=raid, foray.\n\nFootnote 383:\n\n Turk in modern parlance means a Turkoman, a nomade: the settled people\n call themselves Osmanli or Othmanli. Turkoman=Turk-like.\n\nFootnote 384:\n\n Arab. \"Nims\u00e1;\" southern Germans, Austrians; from the Slav. \"Nemica\"\n (any Germans), literally meaning \"The dumb\" (nemac), because they\n cannot speak Slav.\n\nFootnote 385:\n\n Arab. \"Dub\u00e1r\u00e1\" from the Slav. \"Dubrovnik,\" from \"Dub\" (an oak) and\n \"Dubrava\" (an oak forest). Ragusa, once a rival of Venice, gave rise\n to the word \"Argosy.\" D'Herbelot calls it \"Dobravenedik\" or \"Good\n Venice,\" the Turkish name, because it paid tribute when Venice would\n not (?).\n\nFootnote 386:\n\n Arab. \"Jawarnah,\" or, \"J\u00farnah\" evidently Zara, a place of many names,\n Jadera (Hirtius de Bell. Alex. cap. 13), Jadra, Zadra (whence the\n modern term), Diadora, Diadosca and Jadrossa. This important Liburnian\n city sent forth many cruisers in crusading days; hence the Arabs came\n to know its name.\n\nFootnote 387:\n\n Arab. \"Banu 'l-Asfar;\" which may mean \"Pale faces,\" in the sense of\n \"yaller girls\" (New Orleans) and that intended by North American\n Indians, or, possibly, the peoples with yellow (or rather\n tow-coloured) hair we now call Russians. The races of Hindostan term\n the English not \"white men,\" but \"red men;\" and the reason will at\n once be seen by comparing a Britisher with a high-caste N\u00e1gar Brahman\n whose face is of parchment-colour as if he had drunk _exsangue\n cuminum_. The Yellow-faces of the text correspond with the Sansk.\n \"Svetadvipa\"\u2014Whiteman's Land.\n\nFootnote 388:\n\n Arab. \"Al-Musakhkham.\" No Moslem believes that Isa was crucified and a\n favourite fancy is that Judas, changed to the likeness of Jesus, thus\n paid for his treason. (Evangel. Barnab\u00e6). Hence the resurrection is\n called not \"Kiy\u00e1mah\" but \"Kum\u00e1mah\"=rubbish. This heresy about the\n Cross they share with the Docetes, \"certain beasts in the shape of\n men\" (says Ignatius), who held that a phantom was crucified. So far\n the Moslems are logical, for \"Isa,\" being angelically, miraculously\n and immaculately conceived, could not die; but they contradict\n themselves when they hold a vacant place near Mohammed's tomb for the\n body of Isa after his second coming as a forerunner to Mohammed and\n Doomday (Pilgrimage ii. 89).\n\nFootnote 389:\n\n A Diviner, a priest, esp. Jewish, and not belonging to the tribe of\n Levi.\n\nFootnote 390:\n\n Again the coarsest word \"Khara.\" The allusion is to the vulgar saying,\n \"Thou eatest skite!\" (_i.e._ thou talkest nonsense). Decent English\n writers modify this to, \"Thou eatest dirt:\" and Lord Beaconsfield made\n it ridiculous by turning it into \"eating _sand_.\"\n\nFootnote 391:\n\n These silly scandals, which cause us only to smile, excite Easterns to\n fury. I have seen a Moslem wild with rage on hearing a Christian\n parody the opening words of the Koran, \"Bismillahi 'l-Rahm\u00e1ni\n 'l-Rah\u00edm, Mismish wa Kamar al-din,\" roughly translated, \"In the name\n of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! Apricots and\n marmalade.\" The idea of the Holy Merde might have been suggested by\n the Hindus: see Mandeville, of the archiprotopapaton (prelate)\n carrying ox-dung and urine to the King, who therewith anoints his brow\n and breast, &c. And, incredible to relate, this is still practised\n after a fashion by the Parsis, one of the most progressive and the\n sharpest witted of Asiatic races.\n\nFootnote 392:\n\n Meaning that he had marked his brow with a cross (of ashes?) as\n certain do on Ash-Wednesday.\n\nFootnote 393:\n\n Syria, the \"left-hand land\" as has before been explained. The popular\n saying about its people is \"Sh\u00e1mi sh\u00fami!\"\u2014the Syrian is small potatoes\n (to render the sense Americanic\u00e8). Nor did Syrus, the slave in Roman\n days, bear the best of names. In Al-Hijaz the Syrian is addressed \"Ab\u00fa\n Sh\u00e1m\" (Father of Syria) and insulted as \"Abuser of the Salt\" a\n (traitor). Yet many sayings of Mohammed are recorded in honour of\n Syria, and he sometimes used Syriac words. Such were \"Bakh, bakh\"\n (=euge, before noticed), and \"Kakh,\" a congener of the Latin Cacus and\n Caca which our day has docked to \"cack.\" (Pilgrimage iii. 115).\n\nFootnote 394:\n\n Koran xiv. 34. \"They (Unbelievers) shall be thrown therein (_i.e._,\n the House of Perdition=Hell); and an unhappy dwelling shall it be.\"\n\nFootnote 395:\n\n The leg-cut is a prime favourite with the Eastern Sworder, and a heavy\n two-handed blade easily severs a horse's leg.\n\nFootnote 396:\n\n Mohammed repeatedly declared (Koran lxi.) that the Christians had\n falsified the passage (\"I go to my Father and the Paraclete shall\n come,\" John xvi. 7) promising the advent of the Comforter, \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03ac\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2,\n (ibid. xiv. 20; xv. 26) by substituting the latter word for \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03ba\u03bb\u03c5\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2\n glorious, renowned, _i.e._, Ahmed or Mohammed=the praised one. This\n may have been found in the Arabic translation of the Gospels made by\n Warakah, cousin to Mohammed's first wife; and hence in Koran lxi. we\n find Jesus prophesying of an Apostle \"whose name shall be Ahmad.\" The\n word has consequently been inserted into the Arabic Gospel of Saint\n Barnabas (Dabistan iii. 67). Moslems accept the Pentateuch, the\n Psalter and the Gospel; but assert (Koran, _passim_) that all extant\n copies have been Hopelessly corrupted, and they are right. Moses, to\n whom the Pentateuch is attributed, notices his own death and\n burial\u2014\"the mair the miracle,\" said the old Scotch lady. The \"Psalms\n of David\" range over a period of some five hundred years, and there\n are three Isaiahs who pass with the vulgar for one. The many\n apocryphal Gospels, all of which have been held genuine and canonical\n at different times and in different places, prove that the four, which\n are still in use, were retained because they lack the manifest\n absurdities of their discarded rivals.\n\nFootnote 397:\n\n Arab. \"Labbayka;\" the Pilgrimage-cry (Night xxii.) which in Arabic is,\n\n Labbayk' Allahumma, Labbayk'!\n L\u00e1 Shar\u00edka laka, Labbayk'!\n Inna 'l-hamda w'al ni'amata laka wa'l mulk!\n Labbayk' Allahumma, Labbayk'!\n\n Some add \"Here am I, and I honour Thee, the son of Thy two slaves;\n beneficence and good are all between Thy hands.\" With the \"Talbiyah\"\n the pilgrim should bless the Prophet, pray Allah to grant Heaven and\n exclaim, \"By Thy mercy spare us from the pains of Hell-fire!\"\n (Pilgrimage iii. 232.) Labbayka occurs in the verses attributed to\n Caliph Ali; so labba=he faced and yalubbu=it faces (as one house faces\n another); lastly, he professed submission to Allah; in which sense,\n together with the verbal noun \"Talbiyah,\" it is used by Al-Hariri\n (Pref. and Ass. of Su'adah).\n\nFootnote 398:\n\n Arab. Kiss\u00eds (plur. Kus\u00fas) from \u1f18\u03ba\u03ba\u03bb\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u1f74\u03c2.\n\nFootnote 399:\n\n Koran ii. The \"red cow\" is evidently the \"red heifer\" of Barnabas,\n chapt. vii.\n\nFootnote 400:\n\n Arab. \"Al-J\u00e1sal\u00edk\"=\u039a\u03b1\u03b8\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u1f78\u03c2.\n\nFootnote 401:\n\n This is from the first \"Gospel of Infancy,\" wherein Jesus said to his\n mother, \"Verily I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Word which thou hast\n brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel did declare unto thee; and my\n Father hath sent me to save the world\" (chapt. i. 2). The passage is\n virtually quoted in the Koran (chapt. iii. 141), of course omitting\n \"the Son of God.\"\n\nFootnote 402:\n\n Mohammed allowed his locks to grow down to his ear-lobes but never\n lower.\n\nFootnote 403:\n\n Arab. \"Lis\u00e1m\" I have explained as a covering for the lower face, made\n by drawing over it the corner of the head-kerchief (Pilgrimage i.\n 346). The Lis\u00e1m of the African Taw\u00e1rik hoods the eyes so that a man\n must turn up his face to see, and swathes all the lower half, leaving\n only the nose exposed. And this is worn by many men by night as well\n as by day, doubtless to avoid the evil eye. The native Sultans of\n Darfur, like those of Bornu and others further west, used white muslin\n as a face-wrap: hence, too, the ceremonies when spitting, etc., etc.\n The K\u00fafiyah or head-kerchief of the Arabs soon reached Europe and\n became in Low Latin Cuphia; in Spanish Escofia; in Ital. Cuffia or\n Scuffia; in French Escoffion, Scofion (Reine Marguerite) Co\u00ebffe (une\n pellicule, marque de bonheur), Coiffe and Coife, &c.; the Scotch Curch\n or Coif, opposed to the maiden snood; and, lastly our\n Sergeant-at-Law's Coif. Littr\u00e9, the Learned, who in erudition was _n\u00e9\n coiff\u00e9_, has missed this obvious derivation.\n\nFootnote 404:\n\n \"Cutting,\" throughout the book, alludes to the scymitar with which\n Arabs never give point; and \"thrusting\" to the footman's spear and the\n horseman's lance.\n\nFootnote 405:\n\n A popular phrase, I repeat, for extreme terror and consternation.\n\nFootnote 406:\n\n The name usually applies to a well-known district and city of\n Al-Yaman, where \"Koss the eloquent\" was bishop in Mohammed's day: the\n Negiran of D'Herbelot. Here, however, it is the Syrian Najr\u00e1n (Nejr\u00e2n\n of Missionary Porter's miserable Handbook); now a wretched village\n near the volcanic Lajj\u00e1, about one hundred and twenty miles direct\n south of Damascus and held by Druzes and Christians.\n\nFootnote 407:\n\n The Kant\u00e1r (quintal) of 100 ratls (lbs.)=98-99 lbs. avoir.\n\nFootnote 408:\n\n Arab. \"Jur\u00e1b\" (bag) mi'adat-ih (of his belly), the \"curdling of the\n testicles\" in fear is often mentioned.\n\nFootnote 409:\n\n Clearly alluding to the magic so deeply studied by medi\u00e6val Jews.\n\nFootnote 410:\n\n Arab. \"Sah\u00e1kah,\" lit. rubbing. The Moslem Harem is a great school for\n this \"Lesbian (which I would call Atossan) love\"; but the motive of\n the practice lies deeper. As amongst men the mixture of the feminine\n with the masculine temperament leads to sodomy, so the reverse makes\n women prefer their own sex. These tribades are mostly known by\n peculiarities of form and features, hairy cheeks and upper lips, gruff\n voices, hircine odour and the large projecting clitoris with erectile\n powers known to the Arabs as \"bazar\" (\u0628\u0638\u0631), hence Tabz\u00edr=circumcision\n or amputation of such clitoris. Burckhardt (Prov. 436) translates\n \"Bazarah\" by slut or wench. He adds \"it originally signifies the labia\n which the Cairenes also entitle Zamb\u00far and which are cut off in\n girlhood.\" See also Lane, Lex. s. v.; Tabz\u00edr. Both writers confuse\n excision of the nymph\u00e6 with circumcision of the clitoris (Zamb\u00far).\n Al-Siy\u00fati (Kitab al-Iz\u00e1' fi'Ilm al-Nikah) has a very interesting\n chapter on Sapphic venery, which is well known to Europe as proved by\n such works as \"Gamiani,\" and \"Anandria ou Confessions de Mademoiselle\n Sappho, avec la Clef,\" Lesbos, 1778. Onanism is fatally prevalent: in\n many Harems and girls' schools tallow-candles and similar succedania\n are vainly forbidden and bananas when detected are cut into four so as\n to be useless; of late years, however, China has sent some marvellous\n artificial phalli of stuffed bladder, horn and even caoutchouc, the\n latter material of course borrowed from Europe.\n\nFootnote 411:\n\n This is considered a powerful aphrodisiac in the East. Hence male\n devotees are advised to avoid the \"two reds,\" _i.e._ meat and wine;\n while the \"two reds,\" which corrupt women, are gold and saffron, that\n is perfumery. Hence also the saying of Mohammed:\u2014\"Perfumes for men\n should have scent and not colour; for women should have colour and not\n scent.\" (Mishk\u00e1t al-Mas\u00e1b\u00edh ii. 361.)\n\nFootnote 412:\n\n These are the \"Hib\u00e1s\" or thin cords of wool which the Badawi binds\n round his legs, I believe to keep off cramp. (Pilgrimage iii. 78).\n\nFootnote 413:\n\n Crying out \"La il\u00e1ha illa 'llah.\" (There is no god but _the_ God.);\n technically called \"Tahl\u00edl.\"\n\nFootnote 414:\n\n _i.e._ Men, angels and devils, the \"Triloka\" (triple people) of the\n Hindus. Alam\u00edn (plur.), never Alamayn (dual), is the Triregno denoted\n by the papal Tiara, the three Christian kingdoms being Heaven, Hell\n and Purgatory.\n\nFootnote 415:\n\n Matrahinna or Mit-Rahinah is a well-known village near Memphis; the\n name being derived from the old Egyptian Minat-ro-hinnu, the port at\n the mouth of the canal. Let me remark that two of these three words,\n \"Minat\" and \"Ru,\" are still common in \"Aryan\" Persian.\n\nFootnote 416:\n\n Kir\u00e1mat, a sign, a prodigy, opposed to Mu'ujizah, a miracle wrought by\n a prophet. The S\u00fafis explain this thaumaturgy by Allah changing\n something of Nature's ordinary course in favour of an especial\n worshipper; and, after a fashion, this is Catholic doctrine (See\n Dabistan, iii. 173).\n\nFootnote 417:\n\n Koran, x. 25, \"until the earth receive its vesture and be adorned with\n various plants.\"\n\nFootnote 418:\n\n _i.e._ the young hair sprouting on the boy's cheek.\n\nFootnote 419:\n\n A fighter for the faith and now a title which follows the name, _e.g._\n Osm\u00e1n P\u00e1sh\u00e1 Gh\u00e1zi, whom the English press dubbed \"Gh\u00e1zi Osm\u00e1n.\"\n\nFootnote 420:\n\n That is the King of Constantinople.\n\nFootnote 421:\n\n Cassia fistularis, a kind of carob: \"Shambar\" is the Arab. form of the\n Persian \"Chambar.\"\n\nFootnote 422:\n\n Koran, ii. 149. Hence the vulgar idea that Martyrs are still alive in\n the flesh. See my Pilgrimage (ii. 110 and elsewhere) for the romantic\n and picturesque consequences of that belief. The Commentators (Jal\u00e1l\n al-D\u00edn, etc.) play tricks with the Koranic words, \"they (martyrs) are\n not dead but living\" (iii. 179) by placing the happy souls in the\n crops of green birds which eat of the fruits and drink of the waters\n of Paradise; whereas the reprobates and the (very) wicked are\n deposited in black birds which drain the sanies and the boiling waters\n of Hell. Amongst the Greeks a body remaining entire long after death\n suggests Anathema Maranatha: it is the contrary with Catholic\n Christians (Boccaccio iv. 5, of the Pot of Basil). Concerning this\n creed see Maundrell, Letter of 1698.\n\nFootnote 423:\n\n Tor is \"Mount Sinai\" in the Koran (xcv. I). I have only to repeat my\n opinion concerning the present site so called: \"It is evident that\n Jebel Serbal dates only from the early days of Coptic Christianity;\n that Jebel Musa, its Greek rival, rose after the visions of Helena in\n the fourth century; whilst the building of the Convent by Justinian\n belongs to A.D. 527. Ras Safs\u00e1fah, its rival to the north, is an\n affair of yesterday, and may be called the invention of Robinson; and\n Jebel Katerina, to the South is the property of R\u00fcppell\" (Midian\n Revisited i., 237.). I would therefore call the \"Sinaitic\" Peninsula,\n Peninsula of Paran in old days and Peninsula of Tor (from its chief\n port) in our time. It is still my conviction that the true Mount Sinai\n will be found in Jabal Ar\u00e1if, or some such unimportant height to the\n north of the modern Hajj-road from Suez to Akabah. Even about the name\n (which the Koran writes \"Sain\u00e1\" and \"S\u00edn\u00edn\") there is a dispute: It is\n usually derived from the root \"Sanah\"=sentis, a bush; but this is not\n satisfactory. Our eminent Assyriologist, Professor Sayce, would\n connect it with \"Sin,\" the Assyrian Moon-god, as Mount Nebo with the\n Sun-god and he expects to find there the ruins of a Lunar temple as a\n Solar fane stands on Ba'al Zapuna (Baal Zephon) or the classical Mount\n Casius.\n\nFootnote 424:\n\n Alluding to the miracle of Aaron's rod (the gift of Jethro) as related\n in the Koran (chapts. vii. I., xx., etc.), where the Egyptian\n sorcerers threw down thick ropes which by their magic twisted and\n coiled like serpents.\n\nFootnote 425:\n\n Arab. \"Ay\u00e1t\" lit. \"signs,\" here \"miracles of the truth,\" l.c. Koranic\n versets as opposed to chapters. The ranks of the enemy represent the\n latter, sword-cuts the former\u2014a very persuasive mode of preaching.\n\nFootnote 426:\n\n Lane (M. E. chapt. iii.) shows by a sketch the position of the\n worshipper during this \"Sal\u00e1m\" which is addressed, some say, to the\n guardian angels, others suppose to all brother-believers and angels.\n\nFootnote 427:\n\n _i.e._, where the Syrians found him.\n\nFootnote 428:\n\n _i.e._, Dedianus Arabised; a name knightly and plebeian.\n\nFootnote 429:\n\n In such tales the Wazir is usually the sharp-witted man, contrasting\n with the \"dummy,\" his master.\n\nFootnote 430:\n\n Carrier-pigeons were extensively used at this time. The Caliph\n Al-N\u00e1sir li-D\u00edni 'llah (regn. A. H. 575=1180) was, according to Ibn\n Khald\u00fan, very fond of them. The moderns of Damascus still affect them.\n My successor, Mr. Consul Kirby Green, wrote an excellent report on\n pigeon-fancying at Damascus. The so-called Maundeville or Mandeville\n in A.D. 1322 speaks of carrier-pigeons in Syria as a well-known mode\n of intercourse between lord and lord.\n\nFootnote 431:\n\n Mohammed who declared \"There is no monkery in Al-Islam,\" and who\n virtually abolished the priest, had an especial aversion to the\n shaveling (Ruhb\u00e1n). But the \"Gens \u00e6terna in qu\u00e2 nemo nascitur\" (Pliny\n v. 17) managed to appear even in Al-Islam, as Fakirs, Dervishes,\n S\u00fafis, etc. Of this more hereafter.\n\nFootnote 432:\n\n _i.e._ her holiness would act like a fascinating talisman.\n\nFootnote 433:\n\n The \"smoking out\" practice is common amongst the Arabs: hence Marshal\n Pelissier's so-called \"barbarity.\" The Public is apt to forget that on\n a campaign the general's first duty is to save his own men by any\n practice which the laws of fair warfare do not absolutely forbid.\n\nFootnote 434:\n\n _i.e._, Mohammed, who promised Heaven and threatened Hell.\n\nFootnote 435:\n\n Arab. \"Ahr\" or \"ihr,\" fornication or adultery, _i.e._, irreligion,\n infidelity as amongst the Hebrews. (Isaiah xxiii. 17).\n\nFootnote 436:\n\n A sign of defeat.\n\nFootnote 437:\n\n In English \"last night\": I have already noted that the Moslem day,\n like the Jewish and the Scandinavian, begins at sundown; and \"layl,\" a\n night, is often used to denote the twenty-four hours between sunset\n and sunset, whilst \"yaum,\" a day, would by us be translated in many\n cases \"battle-day.\"\n\nFootnote 438:\n\n Iterum the \"Himalayan Brothers.\"\n\nFootnote 439:\n\n Again, Mohammed who promised Good to the Good, and _vice vers\u00e2_.\n\nFootnote 440:\n\n They are sad doggrel like most of the _pi\u00e8ces d'occasion_ inserted in\n The Nights.\n\nFootnote 441:\n\n Here \"Kahwah\" (coffee) is used in its original sense of strong old\n wine. The derivation is \"Akh\u00e1\"=fastidire fecit, causing disinclination\n for food, the Matambre (kill-hunger) of the Iberians. In old days the\n scrupulous called coffee \"Kihwah\" in order to distinguish it from\n \"Kahwah,\" wine.\n\nFootnote 442:\n\n _i.e._ Mohammed, a common title.\n\nFootnote 443:\n\n That is, fatal to the scoffer and the impious.\n\nFootnote 444:\n\n Equivalent to our \"The Devil was sick,\" etc.\n\nFootnote 445:\n\n _i.e._ to the enemy: the North American Indians (so called) use\n similar forms of \"inverted speech\"; and the Australian aborigines are\n in no way behind them.\n\nFootnote 446:\n\n See Vol. i., p. 154 (Night xvi.).\n\nFootnote 447:\n\n Arab. \"Sauf,\" a particle denoting a near future whereas \"Sa-\" points\n to one which may be very remote.\n\nFootnote 448:\n\n From the root \"Shauh\"=having a fascinating eye, terrifying. The Irish\n call the fascinater \"eybitter\" and the victim (who is also rhymed to\n death) \"eybitten.\"\n\nFootnote 449:\n\n _i.e._, not like the noble-born, strong in enduring the stress of\n fight.\n\nFootnote 450:\n\n _i.e._, of Abraham. For the Well Zemzem and the Place of Abraham, see\n my Pilgrimage (iii. 171-175, etc.), where I described the water as of\n salt-bitter taste, like that of Epsom (iii. 203). Sir William Muir (in\n his excellent life of Mahomet, I. cclviii.) remarks that \"the flavour\n of stale water bottled up for months would not be a criterion of the\n same water freshly drawn;\" but soldered tins-full of water drawn a\n fortnight before are to be had in Calcutta and elsewhere after\n Pilgrimage time; and analysis would at once detect the salt.\n\nFootnote 451:\n\n Racing was and is a favourite pastime with those hippomanists, the\n Arabs; but it contrasts strongly with our civilised form being a trial\n of endurance rather than of speed. The Prophet is said to have limited\n betting in these words, \"There shall be no wagering save on the Khuff\n (camel's foot), the Hafir (hoof of horse, ass, etc.) or the Nasal\n (arrow-pile or lance head).\"\n\nFootnote 452:\n\n In the Mac. Edit. \"Arman\"=Armenia, which has before occurred. The\n author or scribe here understands by \"C\u00e6sarea\" not the old Turris\n Stratonis, Herod's city called after Augustus, but C\u00e6sareia the\n capital of Cappadocia (Pliny, vi. 3), the royal residence before\n called Mazaca (Strabo).\n\nFootnote 453:\n\n An idiom meaning \"a very fool.\"\n\nFootnote 454:\n\n _i.e._ K\u00e1na (was) m\u00e1 (that which) was (k\u00e1na).\n\nFootnote 455:\n\n A son being \"the lamp of a dark house.\"\n\nFootnote 456:\n\n When the Israelites refused to receive the Law (the souls of all the\n Prophets even those unborn being present at the Covenant), Allah tore\n up the mountain (Sinai which is not mentioned) by the roots and shook\n it over their heads to terrify them, saying, \"Receive the Law which we\n have given you with a resolution to keep it\" (Koran chapt. xlx. 170).\n Much of this story is from the Talmud (Abodah Sar. 2, 2, Tract\n Sabbath, etc.) whence Al-Islam borrowed so much of its Judaism, as it\n took Christianity from the Apocryphal New Testament. This tradition is\n still held by the Israelites, says Mr. Rodwell (p. 333) who refers it\n to a misunderstanding of Exod. xix. 17, rightly rendered in the E.\n version \"at the nether part of the mountain.\"\n\nFootnote 457:\n\n Arab. \"Azgh\u00e1n\"=the camel-litters in which women travel.\n\nFootnote 458:\n\n _i.e._ to joy foes and dismay friends.\n\nFootnote 459:\n\n Whose eyes became white (_i.e._ went blind) with mourning for his son\n Joseph (Koran, chapt. xii. 84). He recovered his sight when his face\n was covered with the shirt which Gabriel had given to the youth after\n his brethren had thrown him into the well.\n\nFootnote 460:\n\n \"Poison King\" (Persian); or \"Flower-King\" (Arabic).\n\nFootnote 461:\n\n A delicate allusion to the size of her hips and back parts, in which\n volume is, I have said, greatly admired for the best of reasons.\n\nFootnote 462:\n\n All Prophets had some manual trade and that of David was making coats\n of mail, which he invented, for before his day men used plate-armour.\n So \"Allah softened the iron for him\" and in his hands it became like\n wax (Koran xxi., xxxiv., etc.). Hence a good coat of mail is called\n \"Davidean.\" I have noticed (First Footsteps, p. 33 and elsewhere) the\n homage paid to the blacksmith on the principle which made Mulciber\n (Malik Kabir) a god. The myth of David inventing mail possibly arose\n from his peculiarly fighting career. Moslems venerate D\u00e1\u00fad on account\n of his extraordinary devotion; nor has this view of his character\n ceased: a modern divine preferred him to \"all characters in history.\"\n\nFootnote 463:\n\n \"Travel by Night,\" said the Prophet, \"when the plagues of earth\n (scorpions, serpents, etc.) afflict ye not.\" Yet the night-march in\n Arabia is detestable (Pilgrimage iii.)\n\nFootnote 464:\n\n This form of ceremony is called \"Istikb\u00e1l\" (coming forth to greet) and\n is regulated by the severest laws of etiquette. As a rule the greater\n the distance (which may be a minimum of one step) the higher the\n honour. Easterns infinitely despise strangers who ignore these vitals\n of politeness.\n\nFootnote 465:\n\n _i.e._ he will be a desert Nimrod and the game will delight to be\n killed by him.\n\nFootnote 466:\n\n This serves to keep the babe's eyes free from inflammation.\n\nFootnote 467:\n\n _i.e._ Crown of the Kings of amorous Blandishment.\n\nFootnote 468:\n\n Lane (i. 531) translates \"the grey down.\" The Arabs use \"Akhzar\"\n (prop. \"green\") in many senses, fresh, grey-hued, etc.\n\nFootnote 469:\n\n Allusion to the well-known black banners of the house of Abbas. The\n Persians describe the growth of hair on a fair young face by, \"His\n cheeks went into mourning for the loss of their charms.\"\n\nFootnote 470:\n\n Arab. \"K\u00e1fir\" a Koranic word meaning Infidel, the active participle of\n Kufr=Infidelity _i.e._ rejecting the mission of Mohammed. It is\n insulting and in Turkish has been degraded to \"Giaour.\" Here it means\n black, as Hafiz of Shiraz terms a cheek-mole \"Hindu\" _i.e._\n dark-skinned and idolatrous.\n\nFootnote 471:\n\n Alluding to the travel of Moses (Koran chapt. xviii.) with Al-Khizr\n (the \"evergreen Prophet\") who had drunk of the Fountain of Life and\n enjoyed flourishing and continual youth. Moses is represented as the\n external and superficial religionist; the man of outsight; Al-Khizr as\n the spiritual and illuminated man of insight.\n\nFootnote 472:\n\n The lynx was used like the lion in Ancient Egypt and the Chita-leopard\n in India: I have never seen or heard of it in these days.\n\nFootnote 473:\n\n Arab. \"Suk\u00far,\" whence our \"Saker\" the falcon, not to be confounded\n with the old Falco Sacer, the Gr. \u1f31\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1\u03be. Falconry which, like all\n arts, began in Egypt, is an extensive subject throughout Moslem lands.\n I must refer my readers to \"Falconry in the Valley of the Indus\" (Van\n Voorst, 1852) and a long note in Pilgrimage iii. 71.\n\nFootnote 474:\n\n It was not respectful to pitch their camp within dog-bark.\n\nFootnote 475:\n\n Easterns attach great importance to softness and smoothness of skin\n and they are right: a harsh rough epidermis spoils sport with the\n handsomest woman.\n\nFootnote 476:\n\n Canticles vii. 8: Hosea xiv. 6.\n\nFootnote 477:\n\n The mesmeric attraction of like to like.\n\nFootnote 478:\n\n Arab. \"Taswif\"=saying \"Sauf,\" I will do it soon. It is a beautiful\n word\u2014etymologically.\n\nFootnote 479:\n\n A very far-fetched allusion. The face of the beloved springing from an\n unbuttoned robe is the moon rising over the camp in the hollow (_bat'\n h\u00e1_).\n\nFootnote 480:\n\n Arab. \"Kasab\u00e1t\"=\"canes,\" long beads, bugles.\n\nFootnote 481:\n\n Koran, xcvi. 5.\n\nFootnote 482:\n\n Both words (masc. and fem.) mean \"dear, excellent, highly-prized.\" The\n tale is the Arab form of the European \"Patient Griselda\" and shows a\n higher conception of womanly devotion, because Azizah, despite her\n wearisome weeping, is a girl of high intelligence and Aziz is a\n vicious zany, weak as water and wilful as wind. The phenomenon (not\n rare in life) is explained by the couplet:\u2014\n\n I love my love with an S\u2014\n Because he is stupid and not intellectual.\n\n This fond affection of clever women for fools can be explained only by\n the law of unlikeness which mostly governs sexual unions in physical\n matters; and its appearance in the story gives novelty and point. Aziz\n can plead only the violence of his passion which distinguished him as\n a lover among the mob of men who cannot love anything beyond\n themselves. And none can pity him for losing a member which he so much\n abused.\n\nFootnote 483:\n\n Arab. \"Sh\u00e1hid,\" the _index_, the pointer raised in testimony: the\n comparison of the Eastern and the Western names is curious.\n\nFootnote 484:\n\n Musk is one of the perfumes of the Moslem Heaven; and \"musky\" is much\n used in verse to signify scented and dark-brown.\n\nFootnote 485:\n\n Arab. \"Mand\u00edl\": these kerchiefs are mostly oblong, the short sides\n being worked with gold and coloured silk, and often fringed, while the\n two others are plain.\n\nFootnote 486:\n\n Arab. \"Rayh\u00e1n\u00ed,\" of the Ocymum Basilicum or sweet basil: a delicate\n handwriting, so called from the pen resembling a leaf (?) See vol. i.\n p. 128.\n\nFootnote 487:\n\n An idiom meaning \"something unusual happened.\"\n\nFootnote 488:\n\n An action common in grief and regret: here the lady would show that\n she sighs for union with her beloved.\n\nFootnote 489:\n\n Lane (i. 608) has a valuable note on the language of signs, from M. du\n Vigneau's \"Secretaire Turc,\" etc. (Paris, 1688), Baron von\n Hammer-Purgstall (\"Mines de l'Orient,\" No. 1, Vienna, 1809) and\n Marcel's \"Contes du Cheykh El-Mohdy\" (Paris, 1833). It is practised in\n Africa as well as in Asia. At Abeokuta in Yoruba a man will send a\n symbolical letter in the shape of cowries, palm-nuts and other kernels\n strung on rice-straw; and sharp wits readily interpret the meaning. A\n specimen is given in p. 262 of Miss Tucker's \"Abbeokuta; or Sunrise\n within the Tropics.\"\n\nFootnote 490:\n\n Mr. Payne (ii. 227) translates \"Haw\u00e1 al-'Uzr\u00ed\" by \"the love of the\n Beni Udhra, an Arabian tribe famous for the passion and devotion with\n which love was practised among them.\" See Night dclxxxiii. I\n understand it as \"excusable love\" which, for want of a better term, is\n here translated \"platonic.\" It is, however, more like the old\n \"bundling\" of Wales and Northern England; and allows all the pleasures\n but one, the toyings which the French call _les plaisirs de la petite\n oie_; a term my dear old friend Fred. Hankey derived from _la petite\n voie_. The Afghans know it as \"N\u00e1mzad-b\u00e1z\u00ed\" or betrothed-play\n (Pilgrimage, ii. 56); the Abyssinians as eye-love; and the Kafirs as\n Slambuka a Shlabonka, for which see the traveller Delegorgue.\n\nFootnote 491:\n\n \"Turk\" in Arabic and Persian poetry means a plunderer, a robber. Thus\n Hafiz: \"Agar \u00e1n Turk-i-Shir\u00e1zi ba-dast \u00e1rad dil-i-m\u00e1r\u00e1,\" If that\n Shirazi (ah, the Turk!) would deign to take my heart in hand, etc.\n\nFootnote 492:\n\n Arab. \"N\u00e1zir,\" a steward or an eye (a \"looker\"). The idea is borrowed\n from Al-Hariri (Assemblies, xiii.), and\n\nFootnote 493:\n\n Arab. \"H\u00e1jib,\" a groom of the chambers, a chamberlain; also an\n eyebrow. See Al-Hariri, ibid. xiii. and xxii.\n\nFootnote 494:\n\n This gesture speaks for itself: it is that of a dyer staining a cloth.\n The \"Sabb\u00e1gh's\" shop is the usual small recess, open to the street and\n showing pans of various dyes sunk like \"dog-laps\" in the floor.\n\nFootnote 495:\n\n The Arab. Sabt (from sabata, he kept Sabt) and the Heb. \"Sabbath\" both\n mean Saturn's day, Saturday, transferred by some unknown process\n throughout Christendom to Sunday. The change is one of the most\n curious in the history of religions. If there be a single command\n stronger than all others it is \"Keep the Saturday holy.\" It was so\n kept by the Founder of Christianity; the order was never abrogated and\n yet most Christians are not aware that Sabbath, or \"Sawbath,\" means\n Saturn's day, the \"Shiy\u00e1r\" of the older Arabs. And to complete its\n degradation \"Sabbat\" in French and German means a _criaillerie_, a\n \"row,\" a disorder, an abominable festival of Hexen (witches). This\n monstrous absurdity can be explained only by aberrations of sectarian\n zeal, of party spirit in religion.\n\nFootnote 496:\n\n The men who cry to prayer. The first was Bil\u00e1l, the Abyssinian slave\n bought and manumitted by Abu Bakr. His simple cry was \"I testify there\n is no Il\u00e1h (god) but Allah (God)! Come ye to prayers!\" Caliph Omar,\n with the Prophet's permission, added, \"I testify that Mohammed is the\n Apostle of Allah.\" The prayer-cry which is beautiful and human,\n contrasting pleasantly with the brazen clang of the bell, now is\n\n Allah is Almighty (bis).\n I declare no god is there but Allah (bis).\n Hie ye to Rogation (Hayya=halumma).\n Hie ye to Salvation (Fal\u00e1h=prosperity, Paradise).\n (\"Hie ye to Edification,\" a Shi'ah adjunct).\n Prayer is better than sleep (in the morning, also bis).\n No god is there but Allah.\n\n This prayer-call is similarly worded and differently pronounced and\n intoned throughout Al-Islam.\n\nFootnote 497:\n\n _i.e._ a graceful youth of Al-Hijaz, the Moslem Holy Land, whose\n \"sons\" claim especial privileges.\n\nFootnote 498:\n\n Arab. \"harf\"=a letter, as we should say a syllable.\n\nFootnote 499:\n\n She uses the masculine \"fat\u00e1,\" in order to make the question more\n mysterious.\n\nFootnote 500:\n\n The fountain-bowl is often ornamented by a rude mosaic of black and\n white marble with enlivenments of red stone or tile in complicated\n patterns.\n\nFootnote 501:\n\n Arab. \"Kub\u00e1d\"=shaddock (citrus decumana): the huge orange which\n Captain Shaddock brought from the West Indies; it is the Anglo-Indian\n pompelmoose, vulg. pummelo. An excellent bitter is made out of the\n rind steeped in spirits. Citronworts came from India whence they\n spread throughout the tropics: they were first introduced into Europe\n by the heroic Joam de Castro and planted in his garden at Cintra where\n their descendants are still seen.\n\nFootnote 502:\n\n Arab. Bakl\u00e1wah, Turk. Bakl\u00e1v\u00e1, a kind of pastry with blanched almonds\n bruised small between layers of dough, baked in the oven and cut into\n lozenges. It is still common.\n\nFootnote 503:\n\n Her just fear was that the young woman might prove \"too clever by\n half\" for her simpleton cousin.\n\nFootnote 504:\n\n The curse is pregnant with meaning. On Judgement-day the righteous\n shall arise with their faces shining gloriously: hence the blessing,\n \"Bayyaz' Allaho wajh-ak\" (=Allah whiten thy countenance!). But the\n wicked shall appear with faces scorched black and deformed by horror\n (Koran xxiv.): hence \"God blacken thy brow!\" I may observe that\n Easterns curse, the curse being everywhere the language of excited\n destructiveness; but only Westerns, and these chiefly English, swear,\n a practice utterly meaningless. \"Damn _it_\" without specifying what\n the \"it\" is, sounds like the speech of a naughty child anxious only to\n use a \"wicked word.\" \"Damn _you_!\" is intelligible all the world over.\n It has given rise to \"les goddams\" in France; \"God\u00e1mes\" in the Brazil\n and \"Got\u00e1ma\" amongst the Somal of Eastern Africa, who learn it in\n Aden.\n\nFootnote 505:\n\n Arab. \"Zardah,\" usually rice dressed with saffron and honey, from\n Pers. \"Zard,\" saffron, yellow. See Night dccxii.\n\nFootnote 506:\n\n Vulgarly called \"knuckle-bone,\" concerning which I shall have\n something to say.\n\nFootnote 507:\n\n A bit of wood used in the children's game called \"T\u00e1b\" which resembles\n our tip-cat (Lane M. E. chapt. xvii.)\n\nFootnote 508:\n\n Arab. \"Balah,\" the unripened date, which is considered a laxative and\n eaten in hot weather.\n\nFootnote 509:\n\n Lane (i. 611), quoting Al-Kazw\u00edn\u00ed, notes that the date-stone is called\n \"Naw\u00e1\" (dim. \"Naw\u00e1yah\") which also means distance, absence, severance.\n Thus the lady threatens to cast off her greedy and sleepy lover.\n\nFootnote 510:\n\n The pod of the carob-bean which changes little after being plucked is\n an emblem of constancy.\n\nFootnote 511:\n\n This dirham=48 grains avoir.\n\nFootnote 512:\n\n The weight would be round: also \"Had\u00edd\" (=iron) means sharp or\n piercing (Koran chapt. vii. 21). The double \"swear\" is intended to be\n very serious. Moreover iron conjures away fiends: when a water-spout\n or a sand-devil (called Shayt\u00e1n also in Arabia) approaches, you point\n the index at the Jinn and say, \"Iron, O thou ill-omened one!\" Amongst\n the Ancient Egyptians the metal was ill-omened being the bones of\n Typhon, so here, possibly, we have an instance of early\n hom\u0153opathy\u2014similia similibus.\n\nFootnote 513:\n\n Probably fermented to a kind of wine. The insipid fruit (Unn\u00e1b) which\n looks like an apple in miniature, is much used in stews, etc. It is\n the fruit (Nabak classically Nabik) of Rhamnus Nabeca (or Sidrat) also\n termed Zizyphus Jujuba, seu Spina Christi because fabled to have\n formed the crown of thorns: in the English market this plum is called\n Chinese Japonica. I have described it in Pilgrimage ii. 205, and have\n noticed the infusion of the leaves for washing the dead (ibid. ii.\n 105): this is especially the use of the \"Ber\" in India, where the\n leaves are superstitiously held peculiarly pure. Our dictionaries\n translate \"Sidr\" by \"Lote-tree\"; and no wonder that believers in\n Homeric writ feel their bile aroused by so poor a realisation of the\n glorious myth. The Homerids probably alluded to Hashish or Bhang.\n\nFootnote 514:\n\n Arab. \"Azr\u00e1r\": the open collar of the Saub (\"Tobe\") or long loose\n dress is symptomatic. The Eastern button is on the same principle as\n ours (both having taken the place of the classical fibula); but the\n Moslem affects a loop (like those to which we attach our \"frogs\") and\n utterly ignores a button-hole.\n\nFootnote 515:\n\n Alluding to the ceremonious circumambulation of the Holy House at\n Meccah, a notable irreverence worthy of Kneph-town (Canopus).\n\nFootnote 516:\n\n The ear-drop is the penis and the anklet its crown of glory.\n\nFootnote 517:\n\n Equivalent to our \"Alas! Alas!\" which, by the by, no one ever says.\n \"Aw\u00e1h,\" like \"Yauh,\" is now a woman's word although used by Al-Hariri\n (Assembly of Basrah) and so Al-aww\u00e1h=one who cries from grief \"Aw\u00e1h.\"\n A favourite conversational form is \"Yehh\" with the aspirate\n exasperated; but it is an expression of astonishment rather than\n sorrow. It enters into Europe travel-books.\n\nFootnote 518:\n\n In the text \"burst her gall-bladder.\"\n\nFootnote 519:\n\n The death of Azizah is told with true Arab pathos and simplicity: it\n still draws tears from the eyes of the Badawi, and I never read it\n without a \"lump in the throat.\"\n\nFootnote 520:\n\n Arab. \"Inshallah bukra!\" a universal saying which is the horror of\n travellers.\n\nFootnote 521:\n\n I have explained \"Nu'uman's flower\" as the anemone which in Grecised\n Arabic is \"An\u00famiy\u00e1.\" Here they are strewed over the tomb; often the\n flowers are planted in a small bed of mould sunk in the upper surface.\n\nFootnote 522:\n\n Arab. \"Barzakh\" lit. a bar, a partition: in the Koran (chapts. xxiii.\n and xxxv.) the space or the place between death and resurrection where\n souls are stowed away. It corresponds after a fashion with the\n classical Hades and the Limbus (Limbo) of Christendom, _e.g._ Limbus\n patrum, infantum, fatuorum. But it must not be confounded with\n Al-A'ar\u00e1f, the Moslem purgatory.\n\nFootnote 523:\n\n Arab. \"Zuk\u00e1k al-Nak\u00edb,\" the latter word has been explained as a chief,\n leader, head man.\n\nFootnote 524:\n\n Moslems never stand up at such times, for a spray of urine would make\n their clothes ceremonially impure: hence the scrupulous will break up\n with stick or knife the hard ground in front of them. A certain\n pilgrim was reported to have made this blunder which is hardly\n possible in Moslem dress. A high personage once asked me if it was\n true that he killed a man who caught him in a standing position; and I\n found to my surprise that the absurd scandal was already twenty years\n old. After urining the Moslem wipes the _os penis_ with one to three\n bits of stone, clay or handfuls of earth, and he must perform Wuzu\n before he can pray. Tournefort (Voyage au Levant iii. 335) tells a\n pleasant story of certain Christians at Constantinople who powdered\n with \"_Poivre-d'Inde_\" the stones in a wall where the Moslems were in\n the habit of rubbing the _os penis_ by way of wiping. The same author\n (ii. 336) strongly recommends a translation of Rabelais'\n _Torcheculative_ chapter (Lib. i., chapt. 13) for the benefit of\n Mohammedans.\n\nFootnote 525:\n\n Arab. \"Nuh\u00e1s ahmar,\" lit. red brass.\n\nFootnote 526:\n\n The cup is that between the lady's legs.\n\nFootnote 527:\n\n A play upon \"S\u00e1k\"=calf, or leg, and \"S\u00e1k\u00ed,\" a cup-bearer. The going\n round (Taw\u00e1f) and the running (Sa'\u00ed) allude to the circumambulation of\n the Ka'abah, and the running between Mount Saf\u00e1 and Marwah (Pilgrimage\n ii. 58, and iii. 343). A religious Moslem would hold the allusion\n highly irreverent.\n\nFootnote 528:\n\n Lane (i. 614) never saw a woman wearing such kerchief which is\n deshabille. It is either spread over the head or twisted turband-wise.\n\nFootnote 529:\n\n The \"Kasabah\" was about two fathoms of long measure, and sometimes 12\u00bd\n feet; but the length has been reduced.\n\nFootnote 530:\n\n \"Bat and ball,\" or hockey on horseback (Polo) is one of the earliest\n Persian games as shown by every illustrated copy of Firdausi's\n \"Shahn\u00e1meh.\" This game was played with a Kurrah or small hand-ball and\n a long thin bat crooked at the end called in Persian Chaug\u00e1n and in\n Arabic Saulaj\u00e1n. Another sense of the word is given in the\n Burh\u00e1n-i-K\u00e1ti, translated by Vullers (Lex. Persico-Latinum), a large\n bandy with bent head to which is hung an iron ball, also called\n Kaukabah (our \"morning-star\") and like the umbrella it denotes the\n grandees of the court. The same Kaukabah particularly distinguished\n one of the Marquesses of Waterford. This Polo corresponds with the\n folliculus, the pallone, the baloun-game (moyen \u00e2ge) of Europe, where\n the horse is not such a companion of man; and whereof the classics\n sang:\u2014\n\n Folle decet pueros ludere, folle senes.\n\n In these days we should spell otherwise the \"folle\" of seniors playing\n at the ball or lawn-tennis.\n\nFootnote 531:\n\n \"Dal\u00edl\" means a guide; \"Dal\u00edlah,\" a woman who misguides, a bawd. See\n the Tale of Dal\u00edlah the Crafty, Night dcxcviii.\n\nFootnote 532:\n\n _i.e._ she was a martyr.\n\nFootnote 533:\n\n Arab. \"Ghash\u00edm\" a popular and insulting term, our \"Johnny Raw.\" Its\n use is shown in Pilgrimage i. 110.\n\nFootnote 534:\n\n Bathers pay on leaving the Hammam; all enter without paying.\n\nFootnote 535:\n\n _i.e._ she swore him upon his sword and upon the Koran: a loaf of\n bread is sometimes added. See Lane (i. 615).\n\n\n\n\n INDEX.\n\n\n Aaron's Rod, 242\n\n Ab\u00e1, Ab\u00e1'ah=cloak of hair, 133\n\n Abad=eternity without end, 205\n\n Abbasides (descendants of the Prophet's uncle), 61\n\n \u2014\u2014 (black banners and dress), 64; 292\n\n Abd al-Az\u00edz(Caliph), 166\n\n Abd al-Malik (Caliph), 77; 167\n\n Abhak=Allah bless him and keep (_see_ Sal'am), 24\n\n Abraham (an Im\u00e1m to mankind), 203\n\n \u2014\u2014 (place of), 272\n\n Ab\u00fa Bakr (Caliph), 167; 197\n\n Ab\u00fa Han\u00edfah (founder of the Senior School), 207\n\n \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014 (scourged for refusing to take office), 210\n\n Ab\u00fa H\u00e1zim, 205\n\n Ab\u00fa Ishak (H\u00e1r\u00fan's cup-companion), 302\n\n Ab\u00fa L\u00fal\u00faah (murderer of Caliph Omar), 162\n\n Ab\u00fa M\u00fas\u00e1 al-Ash\u00e1ri, _ib._\n\n Ab\u00fa Riy\u00e1h=father of winds, a toy, 93\n\n Ab\u00fa Zarr (companion of the Prophet), 200\n\n Acquit me of responsibility=pardon me, 76\n\n \u00c6olipyla, 101\n\n Afridun (Furaydun) absurd name for a Greek king, 82\n\n Agha=sir, gentleman, to a Eunuch, 50\n\n Ahmad=the praised one, Mohammed, 226\n\n Ahmad bin Hanbal (founder of the fourth Moslem School), 204\n\n Ahnaf (Al-) bin Kays, 160\n\n Ahr (ihr)=fornication, in the sense of irreligion, 258\n\n Akhzar (green, grey, fresh, applied to cheek-down), 292\n\n Ali (Caliph), his deeds of prowess, 108\n\n Alam (not Ilm) al-D\u00edn=flag of the faith, 19\n\n Alexander (of the Koran) not to be confounded with the Macedonian, 199\n\n Alms to reverend men for securing their prayers, 71\n\n Allah (names, by Edwin Arnold), 28\n\n \u2014\u2014 Wa'll\u00e1hi tayyib (exclamation of the Egyptian Moslem), 34\n\n Allaho akbar (as a war-cry), 89\n\n Amazon (a favourite in folk-lore), 96\n\n Amm\u00e1 ba'ad=but after, initiatory formula, 37\n\n Anemone on a tomb, 325\n\n Anis al-Jalis=the Cheerer of the Companion, 5\n\n Anklet-ring and ear-drops (erotic meaning of), 318\n\n Arab exaggerates generosity, 36\n\n \u2014\u2014 shouting under his ruler's palace, 39\n\n \u2014\u2014 Temperament, 54, 101, 181\n\n \u2014\u2014 Cap (Turt\u00far), 143\n\n \u2014\u2014 Derivation of the name, 140\n\n Arafat day, 169\n\n Ar\u00e1ki (capparis shrub), 54\n\n Ardeshir (Artaxerxes), three Persian Kings of the name, 156\n\n Arman=Armenia, 273\n\n Ashhab=grey-white, 116\n\n Aslah=head-kerchief, 59\n\n Ass held ill-omened, 25\n\n Attraction of like to like, 296\n\n Aw\u00e1h! Aw\u00e1h=Alas! Alas!, 321\n\n Ay\u00e1t (Coranic verses), 242\n\n Ayl\u00falah (slumbering after morning prayers), 178\n\n Ayy\u00fab=Job, 45\n\n Azal=eternity without beginning, 205\n\n Az\u00e1n (call to prayer), 306\n\n Azgh\u00e1n=camel litters, 282\n\n Az\u00edz (f. Az\u00edzah)=dear, excellent, highly prized, 298\n\n Azr\u00e1r (buttons), 318\n\n\n Badawi not used in the Koran for Desert Arab, 140\n\n \u2014\u2014 bonnet, 143\n\n \u2014\u2014 a fool as well as a rogue, 146\n\n B\u00e1d-i-Sab\u00e1=breeze o' the morn, 181\n\n Bakh! Bakh!=bravo! brava!, 151\n\n Bakl\u00e1wah=almond-pastry, 311\n\n Balah=green date, 314\n\n Ban\u00fa 'l-Asfar (people of the yellow faces), 220\n\n Beni Udhra (tribe famous for love-passion), 304\n\n Barr al-Man\u00e1khah in Al-Medinah, 139\n\n Barsh=matting, 18\n\n Barzakh=bar, partition, Hades, 325\n\n Bathers pay on leaving the Hammam, 332\n\n B\u00e1tin\u00ed=gnostic, 29\n\n Batrak (Batrik)=patriarcha, 89\n\n Batr\u00edk (Bitr\u00edk)=patricius, _ib._\n\n Bayt al-Mukaddas=Jerusalem, 132\n\n Bayzat\u00e1n=testicles; egg-story, 55\n\n Belle passion in the East, 62\n\n Bhang (its kinds and use), 123\n\n Bik\u00e1'a=low-land, 109\n\n Bil\u00e1l (first Muazzin), 306\n\n Bilk\u00eds and her throne, 79\n\n Birth-stool (Kurs\u00ed al-wil\u00e1dah), 80\n\n Bishr al-H\u00e1fi (Barefoot), 203\n\n Biting the finger ends (not nails) sign of confusion, etc., 38\n\n Bismillah parodied, 223\n\n Black (colour of the Abbaside banner), 292\n\n Boccaccio quoted, 112\n\n Brother of Folly=a very fool, 279\n\n Brotherhood of futurity=lookers out for a better world, 197\n\n Buka'ah=C\u0153lesyria, 109\n\n Bukhait=little good luck, 48\n\n Bukhti (dromedaries), 177\n\n Bull (followers preceding), 98\n\n Burka'=nose-bag, 52\n\n Bursting of the gall-bladder=our breaking of the heart, 322\n\n Burying a rival, 58\n\n Buttons (azr\u00e1r), 318\n\n\n Cabbala=Spiritual Sciences, 151\n\n Caliphs:\n Ab\u00fa Bakr, 167, 197\n Abd al-Az\u00edz, 166\n Abd al-Malik, 77, 167\n Ali, 108\n Hish\u00e1m bin Abd al-Malik, 170\n Mans\u00far (Al-), 142, 158, 210\n Mu'\u00e1wiyah, 160, 161\n Omar, 158, 159\n Othm\u00e1n, 163\n Wal\u00edd bin Marw\u00e1n, 167\n\n Caitiff=Captivus, 109\n\n Camel-load=lbs. 300, for long journeys lbs. 250, 45\n\n \u2014\u2014 men do not accept drafts on futurity, 69\n\n Cannibal tribes in Central Africa, 48\n\n Caravan (each one's place to be kept in), 184\n\n Carob (Cassia fistularis), 241\n\n \u2014\u2014 bean, emblem of constancy, 315\n\n Carrier-pigeons, 247\n\n Cesarea, 77\n\n \u2014\u2014 \"of Armenia\", 273\n\n Chaff, 15\n\n Chewing a document that none might see it after, 39\n\n Chess and chessmen, 104\n\n China-ware displayed on shelves, 52\n\n Clapping hands preliminary to a wrestling-bout, 91\n\n Clerical error of Bulak Edition, 114\n\n Climate (water and air), 4\n\n Coffee (_see_ Kahwah), 261\n\n Cohen (K\u00e1hin)=diviner, priest, esp. Jewish, 221\n\n Continuation in dignities requested by office-holders from a new ruler,\n 192\n\n Coptic convents, 86\n\n \u2014\u2014 visitations to, still customary, 110\n\n Copulation, praying before or after, 161\n\n Coral (name of slave-girl), 101\n\n Cousin (term of familiarity=our \"coz.\"), 43\n\n Cursing intelligible, swearing meaningless, although English, 312\n\n Cup and cup-bearer, 327\n\n Cutting (alluding to the scymitar), 231\n\n\n Dakian\u00fas=Decianus, 244\n\n Dal\u00edl=guide; f. Dal\u00edlah=misguiding woman, bawd, 329\n\n Dand\u00e1n (N.P.)=tooth, 83\n\n D\u00e1nik=sixth of a drachma, 204\n\n D\u00e1\u00fad=David, 286\n\n David (makes coats of mail), 286\n\n Dawn-breeze, 181\n\n Daylamites, 94\n\n Deeds of prowess not exaggerated, 108\n\n Destructiveness of slaves, 55\n\n Devil (the, was sick, etc.), 264\n\n Dir\u00e1s=thrashing-sled, 108\n\n Dirham-weight=48 grains avoir, 316\n\n Doomsday, horrors of, come upon a man, 232\n\n Door-hinges, 214\n\n Dove and turtle-dove female, 23\n\n Down (of the cheek), 246\n\n Dozd o K\u00e1zi (Persian book), 55\n\n Draught of air (Zug) feared by Orientals, 9\n\n Drawbridges in Coptic convents, 94\n\n Drinking in the dark disliked, 59\n\n \"Drugging\" not a Badawi sentiment, 122\n\n D\u00fabarah (Dub\u00e1r\u00e1)=Dubrovnik, Ragusa, 219\n\n Dung (used as fuel, etc.), 149\n\n\n Ear-drop=penis, 318\n\n Eedg\u00e1h see Idg\u00e1h, 202\n\n Eggs for testicles, 55\n\n Emancipation, the greater=pardon for sins or holy death, 165\n\n Elephant (derivation of the word), 104\n\n Enemy his offered hand to be kissed or cut off, 142\n\n Eunuchs, if without testes only, highly prized, 50\n\n Expiration of oaths, 186\n\n Eyes, hot=full of tears, 99\n\n \u2014\u2014 becoming white=blind, 283\n\n\n Fadaises of a blue stocking, 156\n\n Falling on the back a fair fall in wrestling, 92\n\n Familiarity between the great and paupers, 32\n\n \u2014\u2014 of girls with black slave-boys, 49\n\n Farj=slit; Zawi'l-Fur\u00faj=slit ones, _ib._\n\n Faisakh=three English miles, 114\n\n Fayl\u00falah=slumbering after sunset, 178\n\n Fass (fiss, fuss)=bezel; hillock, 97\n\n Finger in mouth (sign of grief), 302\n\n Fish begins to stink at the head, 168\n\n Fitnah=seduction, charmer, 76\n\n Fits of religious enthusiasm, 132\n\n Flatterers (the worst of foes), 11\n\n Flowers of speech, 88\n\n Folk follow their King's faith, 157\n\n Fountain-bowl, ornamented with mosaic, etc., 310\n\n \"Fundamentals (Us\u00fal) remembered\"=the business is not forgotten, 15\n\n Funerals (meritorious to accompany), 46\n\n Furaydun (_see_ Afridun), 82\n\n\n Gardeners touchy on the point of mated visitors, 22\n\n Generosity an Arab's ideal because the reverse of his nature, 36\n\n Gh\u00e1bah=thicket, 85\n\n Ghash\u00edm=\"Johnny Raw\", 330\n\n Ghayl\u00falah=slumbering in the morning, 178\n\n Ghaz\u00e1 (Artemesia, a desert shrub), 24\n\n Ghazban (N. P.)=an angry, violent man, 125\n\n Gh\u00e1zi=fighter for the faith, 240\n\n Ghazwah=raid, foray, razzia, 217\n\n Ghussah=calamity which chokes, wrath, 147\n\n Glance compared with a Yam\u00e1ni sword, 127\n\n Grandfather's name given familiarly, 15\n\n Gospel of Infancy, 228\n\n\n Had\u00edd=iron, 316\n\n Hafsah (Caliph Omar's daughter and wife of Mohammed), 165\n\n Hafsites (Dynasty in Mauritania), _ib._\n\n Hajj al-Akbar and Hajj al-Asghar, 169\n\n H\u00e1jib=groom, chamberlain, 304\n\n Halfah-grass (Poa), 18\n\n Halw\u00e1=sweetmeats, 47, 212\n\n Hamah=Hightown, 178\n\n Hanbal (_see_ Ahmad bin Hanbal), 204\n\n Hanien=pleasant to thee! after drinking, 5\n\n Han\u00edfah (_see_ Abu Han\u00edfah), 207\n\n Hard of heart and soft of sides, 5\n\n Harf=letter, syllable, 307\n\n Hasan al-Basr\u00ed (theologian), 165\n\n H\u00e1shimi vein, 19\n\n H\u00e1tim al-Asamm (the Deaf), 207\n\n Haw\u00e1 al-'Uzr\u00ed=platonic love, 304\n\n \"He\" for \"She\" out of delicacy, 179\n\n Head-kerchief (deshabille), 328\n\n Hib\u00e1=cords, garters, 236\n\n Hij\u00e1z (al)=Moslem Holy Land, 306\n\n Himalayan brothers, 211, 260\n\n Hips (their volume admired), 285\n\n Hish\u00e1m bin Abd al-Malik (Caliph), 170\n\n Holiness supposed to act as talisman, 251\n\n Honour amongst thieves, 159\n\n Horses not taught to leap, 89\n\n Hospitals hated, 70\n\n Hubb al-Watan=patriotism, 183\n\n Hunger (burns), 144\n\n Hungry judges \"hanging judges\", 198\n\n Hymeneal blood resembles that of pigeon-poult, 50\n\n Hysterical Arab temperament, 54, 101,\n\n\n Ibn Abi Aufa, 200\n\n Ibr\u00e1h\u00edm bin Adham, 203\n\n Idg\u00e1h (place of prayer), 202\n\n Ikh! Ikh! (cry to a camel to make it kneel down), 139\n\n Im\u00e1m=leader, antistes, 203\n\n Incest repugnant to Moslem taste, 172\n\n Index finger (Sh\u00e1hid), 300\n\n Insh\u00e1d=reciting, improvising, 126\n\n Inshallah bukra=to-morrow if, Allah please, 324\n\n Intercession-doctrine disputed amongst Moslems, 40\n\n Inverted speech (forms of), 265\n\n Ir\u00e1k=level country beside river banks, 132\n\n Iron (conjures away fiends), 316\n\n Istikb\u00e1l=coming forth to greet, 287\n\n Ithmid (stibium, antimone)=Sp. Althimod, 103\n\n\n J, how it came to take the place of Y in the English Bible, 43\n\n Jabarti=Moslem Abyssinian, 15\n\n Jam\u00edl ibn Ma'amar (poet), 102\n\n Jan\u00e1zah=bier with corpse, 46\n\n Jars for cooling water, 21\n\n J\u00e1sal\u00edk (Al-)=\u039a\u03b1\u03b8\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u1f78\u03c2, Primate, 228\n\n Jawarnah (J\u00farnah)=Zara, 219\n\n J\u00e1w\u00edsh=apparitor, sergeant, royal messenger, 49\n\n Jews adepts in magic, 233\n\n Jokh=broadcloth, 111\n\n Jujube-sherbet, 317\n\n Jur\u00e1b mi'adat-hu (bag of his belly=scrotum), 233\n\n\n K\u00e1fir=Infidel, Giaour, 292\n\n Kafur=Camphor, 47\n\n Kahwah (Kihwah)=strong old wine, 261\n\n Kalam=leg cut, 107\n\n Kal\u00e1m w\u00e1ti=vulgarism, 113\n\n K\u00e1mah=fathom, 56\n\n Kanmakan (p. n.) \"was that which was\", 280\n\n Kant\u00e1r (quintal)=98\u00b799 lbs. avoir, 233\n\n Kar\u00edm=generous (cream of men), 35\n\n Kasabah=rod (measurement), 328\n\n Kasab\u00e1t=canes, bugles, 298\n\n Kasr al-Nuzhat=palace of delights, 22\n\n Kausar (fountain)=nectar-amrita, 186\n\n Kayw\u00e1n (Persian for Saturn), 75\n\n Kayim (professional wrestler, names of such), 93\n\n Kayl\u00falah=siesta, 178\n\n Kazi al-Kuz\u00e1t=Chief Justice, 90\n\n Kazis (the four of the orthodox schools), 39\n\n Kaz\u00edb al-B\u00e1n=willow-wand, 66\n\n Khalb\u00fas=buffoon, 143\n\n Kh\u00e1lid bin al-Wal\u00edd, 203\n\n \u2014\u2014 bin Safw\u00e1n, 170\n\n Khal\u00edlu 'llah (friend of Allah=Abraham), 132\n\n Khara=dung, lowest insult, 56\n\n Khara (Holy Merde), 223\n\n Khalanj (a hard kind of wood), 269\n (Vol. I. 154)\n\n Khatt\u00edyah=writer, f.;\n spear, from Khatt Hajar, 1\n\n Khatt Sharif=a royal hand letter, 39\n\n Khayzar\u00e1n=rattan, 66\n\n Khaznah (Khazinah)=1,000 k\u00eds of \u00a35 each, 84\n\n Khil\u00e1f (Khal\u00e1f)=Salix \u00c6gyptiaca, 66\n\n Khusyat\u00e1n=testicles, 55\n\n Kir\u00e1mat=prodigy, 237\n\n Kiss\u00eds=ecclesiast, 228\n\n Knight errant of the East, 77\n\n Knuckle-bone, 314\n\n Kohl-powder keeps the eyes from inflammation, 291\n\n Koran quoted (xxxviii. 19), 37\n\n \u2014\u2014 (xciv. 11; cv. 57), 38\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iv.), 64, 78\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 57), 79\n\n \u2014\u2014 (vii., lxxvi. lxxxvi.), 91\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iv., xxii.), 95\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 89), 132\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ix., xxxiii.), 140\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iv. 88), 146\n\n \u2014\u2014 (v.), 186\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. etc.), 198\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 185), 199\n\n \u2014\u2014 (lxxiv. 1, 8; xcvi.), 201\n\n \u2014\u2014 (xvi. 74; ii. 118), 203\n\n \u2014\u2014 (lvi. 6; xxviii.; vii.; ix), 205\n\n \u2014\u2014 (xxviii. 22-27), 207\n\n \u2014\u2014 (xiv. 34), 225\n\n \u2014\u2014 (lxi.), 226\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii.), 228\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 141), _ib._\n\n \u2014\u2014 (x. 25), 239\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 149; xcv.), 242\n\n \u2014\u2014 (xlx. 170), 281\n\n \u2014\u2014 (xviii.), 293\n\n \u2014\u2014 (xcvi. 5), 298\n\n \u2014\u2014 (xxiv.), 312\n\n \u2014\u2014 (vii. 21), 316\n\n Koss ibn Sa'idat (Bishop of Najr\u00e1n), 37\n\n Kub\u00e1d=shaddock, 310\n\n Kuds (Al-) _see_ Bayt al-Mukaddas, 132\n\n K\u00fafiyah=coif, etc., 230\n\n Kulaib allows no one to approach his camp-fire, 77\n\n Kunfuz=hedgehog, 88\n\n Kurrah=ball in the Polo game, 329\n\n Kurs\u00ed al-wil\u00e1dah=birth-stool, 80\n\n Kutait=little tom cat, 39\n\n Kuthayyir (poet), 102\n\n Kuzia Fak\u00e1n (P.N.) \"it was decreed by destiny; so it came to pass\", 175\n\n\n Labbayka=here I am, 227\n\n L\u00e1 il\u00e1ha illa 'llah=there is no God but _the_ God (tahl\u00edl), 236\n\n Language of signs, 304\n\n L\u00e1 rayba f\u00ed-hi, 210\n\n Layl (night) frequently=the interval between sunset and sunset, 260\n\n Laza (Hell for Jews), 140\n\n Leg-cut (severs horse's leg), 226\n\n Letter (reading _not_ always understanding), 112\n\n Li-ajal=for the sake of, low Egyptian, 113\n\n Lice bred by perspiration, 69\n\n Lion at home, lamb abroad, 183\n\n Lis\u00e1m (mouth-band for men), chin-veil(=Yashmak) for women, 31, 230\n\n Locks (Mohammed's), 230\n\n Lost on Allah's way=martyr, 330\n\n Loving folk=something more than benevolence, 2\n\n Lukm\u00e1n (\u00c6sop of the Arabs), 199\n\n Lullilooing (Tahl\u00edl, Zaghrutah, Kil), 80\n\n Lupin-flour used as soap, 136\n\n Lynx (trained for hunting), 293\n\n\n M\u00e1 al-Khil\u00e1f, 136\n\n Magic studied by Jews, 234\n\n Mahmil (mahmal)=litter, 131\n\n Ma'ajanah (a place for making bricks), 17\n\n Makhaddah=pillow, 70\n\n Malik, used as in our story-books, 1\n\n \u2014\u2014 bin Din\u00e1r, 204\n\n Mand\u00edl=kerchief, 301\n\n Manumission of slaves, 55\n\n Man's creation, 91\n\n Mans\u00far (Al-) Caliph, 142, 153, 210\n\n \u2014\u2014 bin Amm\u00e1r, 204\n\n Maragha=he rubbed his face, 60\n\n Mard\u00e1n-i-Ghayb (Himalayan brothers), 211\n\n Marh\u00fam (f. Marh\u00famah)=late lamented, 129, 196\n\n Marj\u00e1nah=coral branch (P.N.), 100\n\n Marriage-sheet inspected, 50\n\n Martyrs (still alive), 242\n\n Maskharah=buffoon, 143\n\n Maslamah bin Abd al-Malik, 167\n\n Matm\u00farah=underground cell, 39\n\n Mayz\u00fan (Badawi wife of Caliph Mu'\u00e1wiyah), 160\n\n Mitrahinna (Minat-ro-hinnu)=port at mouth of canal, 237\n\n Mohammed (best of the first and last), 11\n\n \u2014\u2014 (Mustaf\u00e1), 40\n\n \u2014\u2014 (Periclytus and Paracletus), 226\n\n \u2014\u2014 His letter to the Mukaukis, 79\n\n \u2014\u2014 abhors the shaveling, 248\n\n \u2014\u2014 (Bearer of glad and bad tidings), 257\n\n \u2014\u2014 (Congratulator and Commiserator), 260\n\n \u2014\u2014 (Best of mankind), 263\n\n Money weighed when old and worn, 145\n\n Monkery abhorred by Mohammed, 248\n\n Moon (blighting effect of its rays), 4\n\n \u2014\u2014 masculine in Semitic, 45\n\n Mooring-pole customary in Tigris-Euphrates land, 20\n\n Moses (derivation of the name), 205\n\n \u2014\u2014 and Jethro, _ib._\n\n \u2014\u2014 and the next world, 206\n\n \u2014\u2014 and Al-Khizr, 263\n\n Moslems, model Conservatives, 13\n\n \u2014\u2014 external, 29\n\n \u2014\u2014 peasants kind-hearted, 69\n\n \u2014\u2014 familiarity between high and low, 32\n\n Mosques serving as lodgings for poor travellers, 69\n\n Mother's milk=nature, 44\n\n Mu'\u00e1wiyah (Caliph), 160; 161\n\n Muazzin (who calls to prayer), 306\n\n Mu'ujizah=miracle of a prophet, 237\n\n M\u00fas\u00e1=Moses, 205\n\n Musakhkham (Al-)=the defiled Cross, 220\n\n Musk (scent of heaven), 300\n\n Muzan\u00ed (Al-), 208\n\n Mu'ayyad (Sultan and calligrapher), 32\n\n Mustaf\u00e1 (the chosen)=Mohammed, 40\n\n\n Nah\u00e1s ahmar=copper, 327\n\n Na'\u00edman=may it benefit thee! after bathing, etc., 5\n\n N\u00e1jiyah=Salvadora, 145\n\n Najr\u00e1n (in Syria), 232\n\n Nakf\u00far=Nicephorus, 77\n\n Nakh=make a camel kneel down by the cry Ikh! Ikh!, 139\n\n Nakl-i-safar (move preliminary to a journey), 84\n\n Naming of a child, 174\n\n N\u00e1r (fire), 163\n\n Narcissus (with negro eyes=yellowish white), 24\n\n Naw\u00e1=date-stone; Naw\u00e1yah=severance, 315\n\n Nat'a=leather of blood, 41\n\n N\u00e1zir=Overseer, 304\n\n Neighbour before the house, companion before the journey, 207\n\n Negroes (_see_ Slaves) familiarity of boys with white girls\n\n \u2014\u2014 skin assumes dust-colour in cold, etc., 127\n\n Nimrod of the desert, 291\n\n Nims\u00e1=Germans, 219\n\n N\u00edmshah (Namshah?)=dagger of state, 193\n\n Nufs (nifs, nuss)=half (a dirham), 37\n\n Nu'uman's flower=anemone, 325\n\n Nuzhat al Zam\u00e1n=delight of the age, 81\n\n\n Oath (inconsiderate), 136\n\n Obscene abuse meant as familiarity, not insult, 88\n\n Offering for naught=closing with the offer, 4\n\n Ohod (battle of), 165\n\n Omar bin al-Khatt\u00e1b (Caliph), 158; 159; 162; 164\n\n Othm\u00e1n (Caliph), 163\n\n\n Palm-stick (a salutary rod), 22\n\n Payne quoted, 19; 185; 304\n\n Pen and Preserved Tablet, 68\n\n Periphrase containing a negative adds emphasis, 83\n\n \"Philippi\" and \"Alexanders\" in Sidon, 82\n\n Physical prognostication familiar to Mesmerists, 72\n\n Pi\u00e8ces d'occasion mostly sad doggrels, 261\n\n Pillow (wis\u00e1dah, makhaddah), taking to=taking to one's bed, 70\n\n Pilgrimage quoted (i. 11; iii. 285), 5\n\n \u2014\u2014 (i. 261; iii. 7), 15\n\n \u2014\u2014 (i. 210, 346), 31\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 77), 40\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 330), 113\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 113), 114\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 333), 124\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 12), 131\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 254), 132\n\n \u2014\u2014 (i. 222; ii. 91), 139\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 118), 140\n\n \u2014\u2014 (i. 121), 163\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 227), 165\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 226, 342, 344), 169\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 49), 178\n\n \u2014\u2014 (i. 305), 180\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 322), 203\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 89), 220\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 115), 224\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 232), 227\n\n \u2014\u2014 (i. 346), 230\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 78), 236\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 110), 242\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 171-175, 203), 272\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 113), 286\n\n \u2014\u2014 (iii. 71), 293\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 105, 205), 317\n\n \u2014\u2014 (ii. 58; iii. 343), 327\n\n \u2014\u2014 (i. 110), 330\n\n Pitching tents within dog-bark from Royalty disrespectful, 294\n\n Plunder sanctioned by custom, 68\n\n Prayer for the dead lack the Sijdah, 10\n\n \u2014\u2014 of Ramaz\u00e1n, 202\n\n Preserved Tablet, 68\n\n Prognostication frequently mentioned, 72\n\n Preliminaries of a wrestling bout, 92\n\n Prominence of the pugaic muscles insisted upon, 98\n\n Prophets (have some manual trade), 286\n\n Province (\"some\"=Sancho Panza's \"insula\"), 188\n\n Puns (wretched and otherwise), 64, 179, 182\n\n Purifying (after evacuation), 326\n\n\n Racing a favourite pastime, 273\n\n Rank (derived from Pers. rang=colour), 192\n\n Rasm=usage (justifies a father killing his son), 7\n\n Rayh\u00e1ni (handwriting), 301\n\n Reed=pen (title of the Koranic chapt. lxviii.), 68\n\n Rij\u00e1l al-Ghayb (invisible controls), 211\n\n Rising up and sitting down sign of agitation, 112\n\n Robing one's self in rags=becoming a Fakir, 171\n\n Rubb=syrup \"Rob\", 3\n\n Rudaynah and Rudaynian lances, 1\n\n\n Sabab=rope (hence \"a cause\"), 14\n\n Sabb\u00e1gh=dyer, 305\n\n Sabt=Sabbath, _ib._\n\n Sadd=wall, dyke, 128\n\n Saffron (Aphrodisiac), 234\n\n Saf\u00edyu 'llah (Adam)=pure of Allah, 124\n\n Sah\u00e1kah=tribadism, 234\n\n Sa'\u00ed=running between Saf\u00e1 and Marwah, 327\n\n Sa'\u00edd bin Jubayr, 201\n\n Sayh\u00fan and Jayh\u00fan=Jaxartes and Bactrus, 78\n\n S\u00e1k=calf of the leg, 327\n\n S\u00e1ki=cup-bearer 27, 327\n\n Saker=hawk, 293\n\n Sal'am=S (alla) A (llah) a (layhi) wa S (allam) see Abhak, 24\n\n Sal\u00e1m (to be answered by a better salutation), 146\n\n \u2014\u2014 (of prayers), 243\n\n Samsam (sword of the Tobba Amru bin Ma'ad Kurb), 127\n\n Sapphic venery, 234\n\n Sar\u00edr=bier (empty), 46\n\n Saulaj\u00e1n=bat in \"bat and ball\", 329\n\n Scrotum curdling in fear, 233\n\n Seditions in Kufah caused by Caliph Othman's nepotism, 163\n\n Septentriones (four oxen and their wain), 3\n\n Serving the Lord by sinning against one's body, 208\n\n Seven deadly sins, 175\n\n Sh\u00e1fi'i (school of Theology), 151\n\n Sh\u00e1hid=index, pointer, 300\n\n Sh\u00e1hmiy\u00e1nah (large tent), 194\n\n Shahrazad (various explanations of the name), 1\n\n Shakespeare and musical glasses, 3\n\n Shambar=Cassia fistularis, 241\n\n Sharrkan (Sharrun k\u00e1na)=bane to the foe, 78\n\n Shaukat=sting, pride, 106\n\n Shaving and depilation, 160\n\n Shaykh=elder, chief, 144\n\n Shaw\u00e1hi (from Shauh)=having a fascinating eye, 269\n\n Shirk=giving a partner to Allah, 202\n\n Shiy\u00e1r (old name for Saturday), 305\n\n Shouting under a ruler's palace to attract attention, 38\n\n Shu'aib=Jethro, 205\n\n Sidd\u00edk=true friend, 197\n\n Sign of the cross on the forehead, 224\n\n Sin=China, 77\n\n Sins (seven deadly), 175\n\n Sijdah=prostration, 10\n\n Sil\u00e1h-d\u00e1r=armour-bearer, 215\n\n Slander (poisoned=fatal), 264\n\n Slaves, Cannibals, 48\n\n \u2014\u2014 Familiarity, 49\n\n \u2014\u2014 called \"Camphor,\" like \"Snowball\", 47\n\n \u2014\u2014 refuse to be set free, 55\n\n \u2014\u2014 Manumission of, _ib._\n\n \u2014\u2014 Destructiveness, _ib._\n\n \u2014\u2014 Girls' names, 57\n\n \u2014\u2014 Returning from a journey, 65\n\n \u2014\u2014 Christian girls sent to Moslems, 79\n\n \u2014\u2014 Girls examined as to virginity, 147\n\n \u2014\u2014 Behaving like one, 270\n\n Sledge (thrashing=tribulum), 23\n\n Sleeping and slumbering, 178\n\n Smoking out (a common practice), 255\n\n Smothering a rival common in Harems, 58\n\n Softness of skin highly prized, 295\n\n Sole of a valley often preferred to encamp in, 85\n\n Solomon and al-Sakhr, 97\n\n Sons of the Road=wayfarers, 23\n\n Son (the lamp of a dark house), 280\n\n Sophia (P.N. and Mosque), 79\n\n Speaking _en prince_, 184\n\n Spiritual Sciences (Moslem form of Cabbala), 151\n\n Spurring=kicking with the shovel-stirrup, 89\n\n Standards reversed in sign of defeat, 259\n\n Sucking the dead mother's breast, touch of Arab pathos, 128\n\n Sufy\u00e1n al-Thaur\u00ed, 202\n\n Sulaym\u00e1n bin Marw\u00e1n (Caliph), 167\n\n Sweet, the (slang for fire), 163\n\n Swearing on Blade and Book, 332\n\n Syria (Sh\u00e1m)=left-hand land, 224\n\n\n T\u00e1b (game)=tip-cat, 314\n\n T\u00e1b\u00fat=bier (empty), 46\n\n Ta \u00e1m=meat; millet, 67\n\n Tabz\u00edr=female circumcision, 234\n\n Tafazzal=favorisca (have the kindness), 103\n\n Tagg\u00e1a, 88\n\n Tahl\u00edl=Refrain of Unity, 236\n\n Taj al-Mul\u00fak Kh\u00e1r\u00e1n=crown of the kings of amorous blandishment, 291\n\n Takht-rawan=travelling litter, 180\n\n Talbiyat (formula labbayka), 227\n\n Takr\u00far\u00ed=Moslem from Central and Western North Africa, 15\n\n Tarhah=head-veil, 52\n\n Tasnim (from sanam)=a fountain in Paradise, 100\n\n Taswif=saying \"Sauf\" a particle to express near future, 296\n\n Tawashshuh=shoulder-cut, 107\n\n Taub (Saub, Tobe)=loose garment, 206\n\n Taw\u00e1f (circumambulation of the Ka'abah), 327\n\n Testimonies (the two Shah\u00e1datain), 10\n\n Testicles (names for), 55\n\n \u2014\u2014 (curdling in fear), 233\n\n Thigh-bite allowed in wrestling, 93\n\n Thrusting (applied to spear and lance), 231\n\n Tip-cat stick, 314\n\n Tob=Span. Adobe (unbaked brick), 17\n\n Tor (Mount Sinai), 242\n\n \u2014\u2014 (its shaking), 281\n\n Torrens quoted, 5, 19, 80\n\n Traditionists\u2014\n Al-Zuhri, 198\n Ibn Ab\u00ed Ausf\u00e1, 200\n Sa'\u00edd bin Jubayr, 201\n Sufy\u00e1n al-Thaur\u00ed, 202\n Bishr al-H\u00e1fi, 203\n Mans\u00far bin Amm\u00e1r, 204\n\n Trailing the skirts (humbly), 165\n\n Travelling at night, 286\n\n Tribulum (threshing-sledge), 108\n\n Triregno (denoted by the Papal Tiara), 236\n\n Trouser-string, 60\n\n Turk=Turkoman, nomade, 218\n\n \u2014\u2014=plunderer, robber, 304\n\n Turt\u00far (an Arab's bonnet), 143\n\n\n 'Ud Jalaki=Damascus lute, 100\n\n Umrah=lesser Pilgrimage, 169\n\n Unveiling the face a sign of being a Christian, 119\n\n Urining, 326\n\n Us\u00fal (fundamentals), 15\n\n\n Veil, _see_ Lis\u00e1m, 31\n\n\n Wady=valley, 85\n\n Wakk\u00e1d (Al-)=stoker, fireman of a Hammam-bath, 134\n\n Wal\u00edd bin Marw\u00e1n (Caliph), 167\n\n Wa 'll\u00e1hi tayyib=By Allah, good!, 34\n\n Warm one's self at a man's fire, 76\n\n Washing the dead without doors only in case of poverty, 10\n\n Wazir (the sharp-witted in the tales), 246\n\n Whitening and blackening of the faces on Judgment-day, 312\n\n Wine (kahwah), 261\n\n \u2014\u2014 (table and service), 122\n\n Wis\u00e1dah=pillow, 70\n\n Wives have their night in turns, 78\n\n Women, cries of, 6\n\n \u2014\u2014 weeping and wailing before cenotaphs, 68\n\n \u2014\u2014 maltreated under the Caliphate, 69\n\n \u2014\u2014 captives, 94\n\n \u2014\u2014 of the blue-stocking type, 156\n\n \u2014\u2014 Consult them and do the contrary, 184\n\n \u2014\u2014 created of a crooked rib, 161\n\n Worlds (the three=Triloka), 236\n\n Wreckers, 111\n\n Wrestling and Wrestlers, 93\n\n Wuzu-ablution necessary before joining in prayers, 46\n\n\n Xisisthrus=Noah, 20, 25\n\n\n Yaftah Allah=Allah will open, an offer being insufficient, 149\n\n Y\u00e1 H\u00e1jj=O Pilgrim, 15\n\n Yaman (Al-)=right hand region, 179\n\n \u2014\u2014 Lightning on the hills of ... _ib._\n\n Yashmak (chin-veil for women), 31\n\n Yauh (conversationally Yehh) expression of astonishment, 321\n\n Yaum-i-Alast=Day of am-I-not (your Lord)?, 91\n\n Yes, Yes! and No, No! trifles common amongst the Arabs, 60\n\n Yun\u00e1n, Yun\u00e1n\u00edya=Greece, 82\n\n Y\u00fasuf bin Omar, 170\n\n\n Z\u00e1hir\u00ed=plain honest Moslems, 29\n\n Zahr Sh\u00e1h (P. N.), 284\n\n Zanj=negroes of Zanzibar, 5\n\n Zardah=rice with saffron, etc., 313\n\n Zark\u00e1 (Cassandra of Yam\u00e1mah), 104\n\n Z\u00e1t al-Daw\u00e1h\u00ed=Lady of Calamities, 87\n\n Zau al-Makan (Light of the Place), 81\n\n Zawi 'l-fur\u00faj=habentes rimam, 49\n\n Zayn al-Abid\u00edn (grandson of Ali), 202\n\n Zemzem (well), 272\n\n Zikr (and Edwin Arnold's Pearls of Faith), 28\n\n Zirt=broken wind; derivatives, 88\n\n Ziy\u00e1d bin Ab\u00ed Sufy\u00e1n, 163\n\n \"Zug\" (draught) feared by Orientals, 9\n\n Zuhal=Saturn, 75\n\n Zuhr\u00ed (Al-), 198\n\n Zuk\u00e1k al-Nak\u00edb=Syndic street, 325\n\n Zunn\u00e1r=\u03b6\u03ce\u03bd\u03b7, confounded with the \"Janeo\", 215\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES\n\n\n 1. Added missing footnote anchor on p. 188.\n 2. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical\n errors.\n 3. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.\n 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.\n 5. Enclosed bold font in =equals=.\n 6. From a footnote in volume 10, \"It has been pointed out to me \n that in vol. ii. p. 285, line 18 \"Zahr Shah\" is a mistake for \n\tSulayman Shah.\"","title":"The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night \u2014 Volume 02 (of 10)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":157666}