{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_61974/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_61974","id":"gutenberg_61974","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61974","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales","Tales -- Arab countries"],"text":"THE CALIPH\u2019S NIGHT ADVENTURE.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                         Supplemental\n                                      Nights\n                          _TO THE BOOK OF THE_\n                      Thousand Nights and a Night\n              _WITH NOTES ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND EXPLANATORY_\n                          VOLUME III. Part 2.\n\n\n                                   BY\n\n                           RICHARD F. BURTON\n\n[Illustration]\n\n        PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY\n\n\n\n\n                            Shammar Edition\n\n                Limited to one thousand numbered sets,\n                of which this is\n\n                              Number ____\n\n\n\n\n                     THE CALIPH\u2019S NIGHT ADVENTURE.\n\n\nI have heard, O auspicious King, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid was one\nnight wakeful exceedingly and when he rose in the morning restlessness\ngat hold of him. Wherefore all about him were troubled for that \u201cFolk\naye follow Prince\u2019s fashion;\u201d they rejoice exceedingly with his joy and\nare sorrowful with his sorrows albeit they know not the cause why they\nare so affected. Presently the Commander of the Faithful sent for Masr\u00far\nthe Eunuch, and when he came to him cried, \u201cFetch me my Wazir, Ja\u2019afar\nthe Barmaki, without stay or delay.\u201d Accordingly, he went out and\nreturned with the Minister who, finding him alone, which was indeed\nrare, and seeing as he drew near that he was in a melancholic humour,\nnever even raising his eyes, stopped till his lord would vouchsafe to\nlook upon him. At last the Prince of True Believers cast his glance upon\nJa\u2019afar, but forthright turned away his head and sat motionless as\nbefore. The Wazir descrying naught in the Caliph\u2019s aspect that concerned\nhim personally, strengthened his purpose and bespake him on this wise,\n\u201cO Commander of the Faithful, wilt thine Highness deign suffer me to ask\nwhence cometh this sadness?\u201d and the Caliph answered, with a clearer\nbrow, \u201cVerily, O Wazir, these moods have of late become troublesome to\nme, nor are they to be moved save by hearing strange tales and verses;\nand, if thou come not hither on a pressing affair, thou wilt gladden me\nby relating somewhat to dispel my sadness.\u201d Replied the Wazir, \u201cO\nCommander of the Faithful, my office compelleth me to stand on thy\nservice, and I would fain remind thee that this is the day appointed for\ninforming thyself of the good governance of thy capital and its\nenvirons; and this matter shall, Inshallah, divert thy mind and dispel\nits gloom.\u201d The Caliph answered, \u201cThou dost well to remind me, for that\nI had wholly forgotten it; so fare forth and change thy vestments while\nI do the same with mine.\u201d Presently the twain donned habits of stranger\nmerchants and issued out by a private postern of the palace-garden,\nwhich led them into the fields. After they had skirted the city, they\nreached the Euphrates\u2019 bank at some distance from the gate opening on\nthat side, without having observed aught of disorder; then they crossed\nthe river in the first ferry-boat they found, and, making a second round\non the further side, they passed over the bridge that joined the two\nhalves of Baghdad-town. At the bridge-foot they met with a blind old man\nwho asked alms of them; and the Caliph turned about and crossed his palm\nwith a dinar, whereupon the beggar caught hold of his hand, and held him\nfast, saying, \u201cO beneficent man, whoso thou ever may be, whom Allah hath\ninspired to bestow an alms upon me, refuse not the favour I crave of\nthee, which is, to strike me a buffet upon the ear, for that I deserve\nsuch punishment and a greater still.\u201d After these words he quitted his\nhold of the Caliph\u2019s hand that it might smite him, yet for fear lest the\nstranger pass on without so doing he grasped him fast by his long\nrobe.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n              The end of the Six Hundred and Fifth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Caliph,\nsurprised by the blind man\u2019s words and deeds said, \u201cI may not grant thy\nrequest nor will I minish the merit of my charity, by treating thee as\nthou wouldst have me entreat thee.\u201d Saying these words, he strove to get\naway from the blind man, but he who after his long experience expected\nthis refusal of his benefactor, did his utmost to keep hold of him, and\ncried, \u201cO my lord, forgive my audacity and my persistency; and I implore\nthee either give me a cuff on the ear, or take back thine alms, for I\nmay not receive it save on that condition, without falsing a solemn oath\nI have sworn before the face of Allah; and, if thou knew the reason,\nthou wouldst accord with me that the penalty is light indeed.\u201d Then the\nCaliph not caring to be delayed any longer, yielded to the blind man\u2019s\nimportunity, and gave him a slight cuff: whereupon he loosed him\nforthright and thanked him and blessed him. When the Caliph and his\nWazir had walked some way from the blind man, the former exclaimed,\n\u201cThis blind beggar must assuredly have some right good cause for\nbehaving himself in such manner to all who give him alms, and I would\nfain know it. Do thou return to him and tell him who I am, and bid him\nfail not to appear at my palace about mid-afternoon prayer-time that I\nmay converse with him, and hear whatso he hath to say.\u201d Hereupon Ja\u2019afar\nwent back and bestowed alms on the blind man giving him another cuff on\nthe ear and apprised him of the Caliph\u2019s command, and returned\nforthright to his lord. Presently, when the twain reached the town, they\nfound in a square a vast crowd of folk gazing at a handsome youth and a\nwell-shaped, who was mounted on a mare which he rode at fullest speed\nround the open space, spurring and whipping the beast so cruelly that\nshe was covered with sweat and blood. Seeing this the Caliph, amazed at\nthe youth\u2019s brutality, stopped to ask the bystanders an they knew why he\ntortured and tormented the mare on such wise; but he could learn naught\nsave that for some while past, every day at the same time, he had\nentreated her after the same fashion. Hereat as they walked along, the\nCaliph bid his Wazir especially notice the place and order the young man\nto come without failing on the next day, at the hour appointed for the\nblind man. But ere the Caliph reached his palace, he saw in a street,\nwhich he had not passed through for many months, a newly-built mansion,\nwhich seemed to him the palace of some great lord of the land. He asked\nthe Wazir an he knew its owner; and Ja\u2019afar answered he did not but\nwould make inquiry. So he consulted a neighbour who told him that the\nhouse-owner was one Khw\u00e1jah Hasan surnamed Al-Habb\u00e1l from his\nhandicraft, rope-making; that he himself had seen the man at work in the\ndays of his poverty, that he knew not how Fate and Fortune had\nbefriended him, yet that the same Khw\u00e1jah had gotten such exceeding\nwealth that he had been enabled to pay honourably and sumptuously all\nthe expenses he had incurred when building his palace. Then the Wazir\nreturned to the Caliph, and gave him a full account of whatso he had\nheard, whereat cried the Prince of True Believers, \u201cI must see this\nKhwajah Hasan al-Habbal: do thou therefore, O Wazir, go and tell him to\ncome to my palace, at the same hour thou hast appointed for the other\ntwain.\u201d The Minister did his lord\u2019s bidding and the next day, after\nmid-afternoon prayers, the Caliph retired to his own apartment and\nJa\u2019afar introduced the three persons whereof we have been speaking and\npresented them to the Caliph. All prostrated themselves at his feet and\nwhen they rose up, the Commander of the Faithful asked his name of the\nblind man, who answered he was hight Baba Abdullah. \u201cO Servant of\nAllah,\u201d cried the Caliph, \u201cthy manner of asking alms yesterday seemed so\nstrange to me that, had it not been for certain considerations, I should\nnot have granted thy petition; nay, I would have prevented thy giving\nfurther offence to the folk. And now I have bidden thee hither that I\nmay know from thyself what impelled thee to swear that rash oath whereof\nthou toldest me, that I may better judge whether thou have done well or\nill, and if I should suffer thee to persist in a practice which\nmeseemeth must set so pernicious an example. Tell me openly how such mad\nthought entered into thy head, and conceal not aught, for I will know\nthe truth and the full truth.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad\nheld her peace till\n\n\n              The end of the Six Hundred and Sixth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Baba Abdullah\nterrified by these words, cast himself a second time at the Caliph\u2019s\nfeet with his face prone to the ground, and when he rose again, said, \u201cO\nCommander of the Faithful, I crave pardon of thy Highness for my\naudacity, in that I dared require, and well-nigh compelled thee to do a\nthing which verily seemeth contrary to sound sense. I acknowledge mine\noffence; but as I knew not thy Highness at that time, I implore thy\nclemency, and I pray thou wilt consider my ignorance of thine exalted\ndegree. And now as to the extravagance of my action, I readily admit\nthat it must be strange to the sons of Adam; but in the eye of Allah\n\u2019tis but a slight penance wherewith I have charged myself for an\nenormous crime of which I am guilty, and wherefor, an all the people in\nthe world were each and every to give me a cuff on the ear \u2019twould not\nbe sufficient atonement. Thy Highness shall judge of it thyself, when I,\nin telling my tale according to thy commandment, will inform thee of\nwhat was my offence.\u201d And here he began to relate\n\n\n            _THE STORY OF THE BLIND MAN, BABA ABDULLAH._[1]\n\nO my lord the Caliph, I, the humblest of thy slaves, was born in\nBaghdad, where my father and mother, presently dying within a few days\nof each other, left me a fortune large enough to last me throughout my\nlifetime. But I knew not its value and soon I had squandered it in\nluxury and loose living and I cared naught for thrift or for increasing\nmy store. But when little was left to me of my substance, I repented of\nmy evil courses and toiled and laboured hard by day and night to\nincrease my remaining stock of money. It is truly said, \u201cAfter waste\ncometh knowledge of worth.\u201d Thus little by little I got together\nfourscore camels, which I let on hire to merchants, and thus I made\ngoodly gain each time I found occasion: moreover I was wont to engage\nmyself together with my beasts and on this wise I journeyed over all the\ndominions and domains of thy Highness. Brief, I hoped ere long to reap\nan abundant crop of gold by the hiring out of my baggage animals.\u2014\u2014And\nas the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n             The end of the Six Hundred and Seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Baba Abdullah\ncontinued his tale in these words:\u2014Once I had carried merchants\u2019 stuffs\nto Bassorah for shipping Indiawards and I was returning to Baghdad with\nmy beasts unladen. Now as I fared homewards I chanced pass across a\nplain of excellent pasturage lying fallow and far from any village, and\nthere unsaddled the camels which I hobbled and tethered together that\nthey might crop the luxuriant herbs and thorns and yet not fare astray.\nPresently appeared a Darwaysh who was travelling afoot for Bassorah, and\nhe took seat beside me to enjoy ease after unease; whereat I asked him\nwhence he wayfared and whither he was wending. He also asked me the same\nquestion and when we had told each to other our own tales, we produced\nour provisions and brake our fast together, talking of various matters\nas we ate. Quoth the Darwaysh, \u201cI know a spot hard by which enholdeth a\nhoard and its wealth is so wonder-great that shouldst thou load upon thy\nfourscore camels the heaviest burthens of golden coins and costly gems\nfrom that treasure there will appear no minishing thereof.\u201d Hearing\nthese words I rejoiced with exceeding joy and gathering from his mien\nand demeanour that he did not deceive me, I arose forthright and falling\nupon his neck, exclaimed, \u201cO Hallow of Allah, who carest naught for this\nworld\u2019s goods and hast renounced all mundane lusts and luxuries,\nassuredly thou hast full knowledge of this treasure, for naught\nremaineth hidden from holy men as thou art. I pray thee tell me where it\nmay be found that I may load my fourscore beasts with bales of Ashrafis\nand jewels: I wot full well that thou hast no greed for the wealth of\nthis world, but take, I pray thee, one of these my fourscore camels as\nrecompense and reward for the favour.\u201d Thus spake I with my tongue but\nin my heart I sorely grieved to think that I must part with a single\ncamel-load of coins and gems; withal I reflected that the other\nthree-score and nineteen camel-loads would contain riches to my heart\u2019s\ncontent. Accordingly, as I wavered in mind, at one moment consenting and\nat the next instant repenting, the Darwaysh noting my greed and covetise\nand avarice, replied, \u201cNot so, O my brother: one camel doth not suffice\nme that I should shew thee all this hoard. On a single condition only\nwill I tell thee of the place; to wit, that we twain lead the animals\nthither and lade them with the treasure, then shalt thou give me one\nhalf thereof and take the other half to thyself. With forty camels\u2019 load\nof costly ores and minerals for sure thou canst buy thousands more of\ncamels.\u201d Then, seeing that refusal was impossible, I cried \u201cSo be it! I\nagree to thy proposal and I will do as thou desirest;\u201d for in my heart I\nhad conned the matter over and well I wist that forty camel-loads of\ngold and gems would suffice me and many generations of my descendants;\nand I feared lest an I gainsay him I should repent for ever and ever\nhaving let so great a treasure slip out of hand. Accordingly, giving\nfull consent to all he said, I got together every one of my beasts and\nset me a-wayfaring along with the Fak\u00edr.[2] After travelling over some\nshort distance we came upon a gorge between two craggy mountain-walls\ntowering high in crescent form and the pass was exceeding narrow so that\nthe animals were forced to pace in single file, but further on it flared\nout and we could thread it without difficulty into the broad Wady below.\nNo human being was anywhere to be seen or heard in this wild land, so we\nwere undisturbed and easy in our minds nor feared aught. Then quoth the\nDarwaysh, \u201cLeave here the camels and come with me.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn\nbegan to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n              The end of the Six Hundred and Eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the blind man Baba\nAbdullah pursued his tale on this wise:\u2014I did as the Darwaysh had bidden\nme; and, nakhing[3] all the camels, I followed in wake of him. After\nwalking a short way from the halting-place he produced a flint and steel\nand struck fire therewith and lit some sticks he had gotten together;\nthen, throwing a handful of strong-smelling incense upon the flames, he\nmuttered words of incantation which I could by no means understand. At\nonce a cloud of smoke arose, and spireing upwards veiled the mountains;\nand presently, the vapour clearing away, we saw a huge rock with pathway\nleading to its perpendicular face. Here the precipice showed an open\ndoor, wherethrough appeared in the bowels of the mountain a splendid\npalace, the workmanship of the Jinns, for no man had power to build\naught like it. In due time, after sore toil, we entered therein and\nfound an endless treasure, ranged in mounds with the utmost ordinance\nand regularity. Seeing a heap of Ashrafis I pounced upon it as a vulture\nswoopeth upon her quarry, the carrion, and fell to filling the sacks\nwith golden coin to my heart\u2019s content. The bags were big, but I was\nconstrained to stuff them only in proportion to the strength of my\nbeasts. The Darwaysh, too, busied himself in like manner, but he charged\nhis sacks with gems and jewels only, counselling me the while to do as\nhe did. So I cast aside the ducats and filled my bags with naught save\nthe most precious of the stonery. When we had wrought our best, we set\nthe well-stuffed sacks upon the camels\u2019 backs and we made ready to\ndepart; but, before we left the treasure-house wherein stood ranged\nthousands of golden vessels, exquisite in shape and workmanship, the\nDarwaysh went into a hidden chamber and brought from out a silvern\ncasket a little golden box full of some unguent, which he showed to me,\nand then he placed it in his pocket. Presently, he again threw incense\nupon the fire and recited his incantations and conjurations, whereat the\ndoor closed and the rock became as before. We then divided the camels,\nhe taking one half and I the other; and, passing through the strait and\ngloomy gorge in single file, we came out upon the open plain. Here our\nway parted, he wending in the direction of Bassorah and I Baghdad-wards;\nand when about to leave him I showered thanks upon the Darwaysh who had\nobtained me all this wealth and riches worth a thousand thousand of gold\ncoins; and farewelled him with deep emotions of gratitude; after which\nwe embraced and wended our several ways. But hardly had I bidden adieu\nto the Fakir and had gone some little distance from him with my file of\ncamels than the Shaytan tempted me with greed of gain so that I said to\nmyself, \u201cThe Darwaysh is alone in the world, without friends or kinsman,\nand is wholly estranged from matters mundane. What will these\ncamel-loads of filthy lucre advantage him? Moreover, engrossed by the\ncare of the camels, not to speak of the deceitfulness of riches, he may\nneglect his prayer and worship: therefore it behoveth me to take back\nfrom him some few of my beasts.\u201d With this resolve I made the camels\nhalt and tying up their forelegs ran back after the holy man and called\nout his name. He heard my loud shouts and awaited me forthright; and, as\nsoon as I approached him I said, \u201cWhen I had quitted thee a thought came\ninto my mind; to wit, that thou art a recluse who keepest thyself aloof\nfrom earthly things, pure in heart and busied only with orison and\ndevotion. Now care of all these camels will cause thee only toil and\nmoil and trouble and waste of precious time: \u2019twere better then to give\nthem back and not run the risk of these discomforts and dangers.\u201d The\nDarwaysh replied, \u201cO my son, thou speakest sooth. The tending of all\nthese animals will bring me naught save ache of head, so do thou take of\nthem as many as thou listest. I thought not of the burthen and pother\ntill thou drewest my attention thereto; but now I am forewarned thereof;\nso may Almighty Allah keep thee in His holy keeping!\u201d Accordingly, I\ntook ten camels of him and was about to gang my gait when suddenly it\nstruck me, \u201cThis Fakir was unconcerned at giving up ten camels, so\n\u2019twere better I ask more of him.\u201d Thereupon I drew nearer to him and\nsaid, \u201cThou canst hardly manage thirty camels; do give me, I pray thee,\nother ten.\u201d Said he, \u201cO my son, do whatso thou wishest! Take thee other\nten camels; twenty will suffice me.\u201d I did his bidding and driving off\nthe twenty added them to my forty. Then the spirit of concupiscence\npossessed me, and I bethought me more and more to get yet other ten\ncamels from his share; so I retraced my steps for the third time and\nasked him for another ten, and of these, as also the remaining ten, I\nwheedled him. The Darwaysh gladly gave up the last of his camels, and,\nshaking out his skirts,[4] made ready to depart; but still my accursed\ngreed stuck to me. Albeit I had got the fourscore beasts laden with\nAshrafis and jewels, and I might have gone home happy and content, with\nwealth for fourscore generations, Satan tempted me still more, and urged\nme also to take the box of ointment, which I supposed to contain\nsomething more precious than rubies.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n              The end of the Six Hundred and Ninth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Baba Abdullah\ncontinued his tale in these words:\u2014So when I had again farewelled and\nembraced him I paused awhile and said, \u201cWhat wilt thou do with the\nlittle box of salve thou hast taken to thy portion? I pray thee give me\nthat also.\u201d The Fakir would by no means part with it, whereupon I lusted\nthe more to possess it, and resolved in my mind that, should the holy\nman give it up of his free will, then well and good, but if not I would\nforce it from him. Seeing my intent he drew the box from out his\nbreast-pocket[5] and handed it to me saying, \u201cO my son, an thou wouldst\nhave this box of ointment, then freely do I give it to thee; but first\nit behoveth thee to learn the virtue of the unguent it containeth.\u201d\nHearing these words I said, \u201cForasmuch as thou hast shown me all this\nfavour, I beseech thee tell me of this ointment and what of properties\nit possesseth.\u201d Quoth he, \u201cThe wonders of this ointment are passing\nstrange and rare. An thou close thy left eye and rub upon the lid the\nsmallest bit of the salve then all the treasures of the world now\nconcealed from thy gaze will come to sight; but an thou rub aught\nthereof upon thy right eye thou shalt straightway become stone-blind of\nboth.\u201d Thereat I bethought me of putting this wondrous unguent to the\ntest and placing in his hand the box I said, \u201cI see thou understandest\nthis matter right well; so now I pray thee apply somewhat of the\nointment with thine own hand to my left eyelid.\u201d The Darwaysh thereupon\nclosed my left eye and with his finger rubbed a little of the unguent\nover the lid; and when I opened it and looked around I saw the hidden\nhoards of the earth in countless quantities even as the Fakir had told\nme I should see them. Then closing my right eyelid, I bade him apply\nsome of the salve to that eye also. Said he, \u201cO my son, I have\nforewarned thee that if I rub it upon thy right eyelid thou shalt become\nstone-blind of both. Put far from thee this foolish thought: why\nshouldst thou bring this evil to no purpose on thyself?\u201d He spake sooth\nindeed, but by reason of my accursed ill-fate I would not heed his words\nand considered in my mind, \u201cIf applying the salve to the left eyelid\nhath produced such effect, assuredly far more wondrous still shall be\nthe result when rubbed on the right eye. This fellow doth play me false\nand keepeth back from me the truth of the matter.\u201d When I had thus\ndetermined in my mind I laughed and said to the holy man, \u201cThou art\ndeceiving me to the intent that I should not advantage myself by the\nsecret, for that rubbing the unguent upon the right eyelid hath some\ngreater virtue than applying it to the left eye, and thou wouldst\nwithhold the matter from me. It can never be that the same ointment hath\nqualities so contrary and virtues so diverse.\u201d Replied the other, \u201cAllah\nAlmighty is my witness that the marvels of the ointment be none other\nsave these whereof I bespake thee; O dear my friend, have faith in me,\nfor naught hath been told thee save what is sober sooth.\u201d Still would I\nnot believe his words, thinking that he dissembled with me and kept\nsecret from me the main virtue of the unguent. Wherefore filled with\nthis foolish thought I pressed him sore and begged that he rub the\nointment upon my right eyelid; but he still refused and said, \u201cThou\nseest how much of favour I have shown to thee: wherefore should I now do\nthee so dire an evil? Know for a surety that it would bring thee\nlife-long grief and misery; and I beseech thee, by Allah the Almighty,\nabandon this thy purpose and believe my words.\u201d But the more he refused\nso much the more did I persist; and in fine I made oath and sware by\nAllah, saying, \u201cO Darwaysh, what things soever I have asked of thee thou\ngavest freely unto me and now remaineth only this request for me to\nmake. Allah upon thee, gainsay me not and grant me this last of thy\nboons: and whatever shall betide me I will not hold thee responsible\ntherefor. Let Destiny decide for good or for evil.\u201d When the holy man\nsaw that his denial was of no avail and that I irked him with exceeding\npersistence, he put the smallest bit of ointment on my right lid and, as\nI opened wide my eyes, lo and behold! both were stone-blind: naught\ncould I see for the black darkness before them and ever since that day\nhave I been sightless and helpless as thou foundest me. When I knew that\nI was blinded, I exclaimed, \u201cO Darwaysh of ill-omen, what thou didst\nforetell hath come to pass;\u201d and I fell to cursing him and saying, \u201cO\nwould to Heaven thou hadst never brought me to the hoard or hadst given\nme such wealth. What now avail me all this gold and jewels? Take back\nthy forty camels and make me whole again.\u201d Replied he, \u201cWhat evil have I\ndone to thee? I showed thee favours more than any man hath ever dealt to\nanother. Thou wouldst not heed my rede, but didst harden thy heart and\nlustest to obtain this wealth and to pry into the hidden treasures of\nthe earth. Thou wouldst not be content with what thou hadst and thou\ndidst misdoubt my words thinking that I would play thee false. Thy case\nis beyond all hope, for never more wilt thou regain thy sight; no,\nnever.\u201d Then said I with tears and lamentations, \u201cO Fakir, take back thy\nfourscore camels laden with gold and precious stones and wend thy way: I\nabsolve thee from all blame, natheless I beseech thee by Allah Almighty\nto restore my sight an thou art able.\u201d He answered not a word, but\nleaving me in miserable plight presently took the load to Bassorah,\ndriving before him the fourscore camels laden with wealth. I cried aloud\nand besought him to lead me with him away from the life-destroying\nwilderness, or to put me on the path of some caravan, but he regarded\nnot my cries and abandoned me there.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n              The end of the Six Hundred and Tenth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014\u201cI have heard, O auspicious king, that Baba Abdullah the\nblind man resumed his story, saying:\u2014So when the Darwaysh departed from\nme, I had well-nigh died of grief and wrath at the loss of my sight and\nof my riches, and from the pangs of thirst[6] and hunger. Next day by\ngood fortune a caravan from Bassorah passed that way; and, seeing me in\nsuch a grievous condition, the merchants had compassion on me and made\nme travel with them to Baghdad. Naught could I do save beg my bread in\norder to keep myself alive; so I became a mendicant and made this vow to\nAllah Almighty that, as a punishment for this my unlucky greed and\ncursed covetise, I would require a cuff upon my ear from everyone who\nmight take pity on my case and give an alms. On this wise it was that\nyesterday I pursued thee with such pertinacity.\u201d When the blind man made\nan end of his story the Caliph said, \u201cO Baba Abdullah! thine offence was\ngrievous; may Allah have mercy on thee therefor. It now remaineth to\nthee to tell thy case to devotees and anchorites that they may offer up\ntheir potent prayers in thy behalf. Take no thought for thy daily wants:\nI have determined that for thy living thou shalt have a dole of four\ndirhams a day from my royal treasury according to thy need as long as\nthou mayest live. But see that thou go no more to ask for alms about my\ncity.\u201d So Baba Abdullah returned thanks to the Prince of True Believers,\nsaying, \u201cI will do according to thy bidding.\u201d Now when the Caliph Harun\nal-Rashid had heard the story of Baba Abdullah and the Darwaysh, he\nturned to and addressed the young man whom he had seen riding at fullest\nspeed upon the mare and savagely lashing and ill-treating her. \u201cWhat is\nthy name?\u201d quoth he, and quoth the youth, bowing his brow groundwards,\n\u201cMy name, O Commander of the Faithful, is S\u00edd\u00ed Nu\u2019um\u00e1n.\u201d[7] Then said\nthe Caliph, \u201cHearken now, O Sidi Nu\u2019uman! Ofttimes have I watched the\nhorsemen exercise their horses, and I myself have often done likewise,\nbut never saw I any who rode so mercilessly as thou didst ride thy mare,\nfor thou didst ply both whip and shovel-iron in cruellest fashion. The\nfolk all stood to gaze with wonderment, but chiefly I, who was\nconstrained against my wish to stop and ask the cause of the bystanders.\nNone, however, could make clear the matter, and all men said that thou\nart wont each day to ride the mare in this most brutal fashion, whereat\nmy mind marvelled all the more. I now would ask of thee the cause of\nthis thy ruthless savagery, and see that thou tell me every whit and\nleave not aught unsaid.\u201d Sidi Nu\u2019uman, hearing the order of the\nCommander of the Faithful, became aware he was fully bent upon hearing\nthe whole matter and would on no wise suffer him to depart until all was\nexplained. So the colour of his countenance changed and he stood\nspeechless like a statue through fear and trepidation; whereat said the\nPrince of True Believers, \u201cO Sidi Nu\u2019uman, fear naught but tell me all\nthy tale. Regard me in the light of one of thy friends and speak without\nreserve, and explain to me the matter fully as thou wouldst do hadst\nthou been speaking to thy familiars. Moreover, an thou art afraid of any\nmatter which thou shalt confide to me and if thou dread my indignation,\nI grant thee immunity and a free pardon.\u201d At these comforting words of\nthe Caliph, Sidi Nu\u2019uman took courage, and with clasped hands replied,\n\u201cI trust I have not in this matter done aught contrary to thy Highness\u2019s\nlaw and custom, and therefore will I willingly obey thy bidding and\nrelate to thee all my tale. If I have offended in anything then am I\nworthy of thy punishment. \u2019Tis true that I have daily exercised the mare\nand ridden her at speed around the hippodrome as thou sawest me do; and\nI lashed and gored her with all my might. Thou hadst compassion on the\nmare and didst deem me cruel-hearted to entreat her thus, but when thou\nshalt have heard all my adventure thou wilt admit, Inshallah\u2014God\nwilling\u2014that this be only a trifling penalty for her offence, and that\nnot she but I deserve thy pity and pardon! With thy permission I will\nnow begin my story.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her\npeace till\n\n\n             The end of the Six Hundred and Eleventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Caliph Harun\nal-Rashid accorded the youth permission to speak and that the rider of\nthe mare began in these words the\n\n\n\n\n                        HISTORY OF SIDI NU\u2019UMAN.\n\n\nO lord of beneficence and benevolence, my parents were possessed of\nwealth and riches sufficient to provide their son when they died with\nample means for a life-long livelihood so that he might pass his days\nlike a Grandee of the land in ease and joyance and delight. I\u2014their only\nchild\u2014had nor care nor trouble about any matter until one day of the\ndays, when in the prime of manhood, I was a-minded to take unto me a\nwife, a woman winsome and comely to look upon, that we might live\ntogether in mutual love and double blessedness. But Allah Almighty\nwilled not that a model helpmate become mine; nay, Destiny wedded me to\ngrief and the direst misery. I married a maid who in outward form and\nfeatures was a model of beauty and loveliness without, however, one\nsingle gracious gift of mind or soul; and on the very second day after\nthe wedding her evil nature began to manifest itself. Thou art well\naware, O Prince of True Believers, that by Moslem custom none may look\nupon the face of his betrothed before the marriage-contract, nor after\nwedlock can he complain should his bride prove a shrew or a fright: he\nmust needs dwell with her in such content as he may and be thankful for\nhis fate, be it fair or unfair. When I saw first the face of my bride\nand learnt that it was passing comely, I joyed with exceeding joy and\ngave thanks to Almighty Allah that He had bestowed on me so charming a\nmate. That night I slept with her in joy and love-delight; but next day\nwhen the noon-meal was spread for me and her I found her not at table\nand sent to summon her; and after some delay, she came and sat her down.\nI dissembled my annoyance and forbore for this late-coming to find fault\nwith her; which I soon had ample reason to do. It so happened that\namongst the many dishes which were served up to us was a fine pilaff,[8]\nof which I, according to the custom in our city, began to eat with a\nspoon; but she, in lieu of it pulled out an ear-pick from her pocket and\ntherewith, fell to picking up the rice and ate it grain by grain. Seeing\nthis strange conduct I was sore amazed and fuming inwardly said in sweet\ntones, \u201cO my Aminah,[9] what be this way of eating? hast thou learnt it\nof thy people or art thou counting grains of rice purposing to make a\nhearty meal hereafter? Thou hast eaten but ten or twenty during all this\ntime. Or haply thou art practising thrift? if so I would have thee know\nthat Allah Almighty hath given me abundant store and fear not on that\naccount; but do thou, O my dearling, as all do and eat as thou seest thy\nhusband eat.\u201d I fondly thought that she would assuredly vouchsafe some\nwords of thanks, but never a syllable spake she and ceased not picking\nup grain after grain: nay more, in order to provoke me to greater\ndispleasure, she paused for a long time between each. Now when the next\ncourse of cakes came on she idly brake some bread and tossed a crumb or\ntwo into her mouth; in fact she ate less than would satisfy the stomach\nof a sparrow. I marvelled much to see her so obstinate and selfwilled\nbut I said to myself, in mine innocence, \u201cMay be she hath not been\naccustomed to eat with men, and especially she may be too shame-faced to\neat heartily in presence of her husband: she will in time do whatso do\nother folk.\u201d I thought also that perchance she hath already broken her\nfast and lost appetite, or haply it hath been her habit to eat alone. So\nI said nothing and after dinner went out to smell the air and play the\nJar\u00edd[10] and thought no more of the matter. When, however, we two sat\nagain at meat my bride ate after the same fashion as before; nay, she\nwould ever persist in her perversity; whereat I was sore troubled in\nmind, and marvelled how without food she kept herself alive. One night\nit chanced that deeming me fast asleep she rose up in stealth from my\nside, I being wide awake: when I saw her step cautiously from the bed as\none fearing lest she might disturb me. I wondered with exceeding wonder\nwhy she should arise from sleep to leave me thus and methought I would\nlook into the matter. Wherefore I still feigned sleep and snored but\nwatched her as I lay, and presently saw her dress herself and leave the\nroom; I then sprang off the bed and throwing on my robe and slinging my\nsword across my shoulder looked out of the window to spy whither she\nwent. Presently she crossed the courtyard and opening the street-door\nfared forth; and I also ran out through the entrance which she had left\nunlocked; then followed her by the light of the moon until she entered a\ncemetery hard by our home.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n             The end of the Six Hundred and Twelfth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard O auspicious King, that Sidi Nu\u2019uman\ncontinued his story saying:\u2014But when I beheld Aminah my bride enter the\ncemetery, I stood without and close to the wall over which I peered so\nthat I could espy her well but she could not discover me. Then what did\nI behold but Aminah sitting with a Gh\u00fal![11] Thy Highness wotteth well\nthat Ghuls be of the race of devils; to wit, they are unclean spirits\nwhich inhabit ruins and which terrify solitary wayfarers and at times\nseizing them feed upon their flesh; and if by day they find not any\ntraveller to eat they go by night to the graveyards and dig out and\ndevour dead bodies. So I was sore amazed and terrified to see my wife\nthus seated with a Ghul. Then the twain dug up from the grave a corpse\nwhich had been newly buried, and the Ghul and my wife Aminah tore off\npieces of the flesh which she ate making merry the while and chatting\nwith her companion; but inasmuch as I stood at some distance I could not\nhear what it was they said. At this sight I trembled with exceeding\nfear. And when they had made an end of eating they cast the bones into\nthe pit and thereover heaped up the earth e\u2019en as it was before. Leaving\nthem thus engaged in their foul and fulsome work, I hastened home; and,\nallowing the street-door to remain half-open as my bride had done, I\nreached my room, and throwing myself upon our bed feigned sleep.\nPresently Aminah came and doffing her dress calmly lay beside me, and I\nknew by her manner that she had not seen me at all, nor guessed that I\nhad followed her to the cemetery. This gave me great relief of mind,\nwithal I loathed to bed beside a cannibal and a corpse-eater; howbeit I\nlay still despite extreme misliking till the Muezzin\u2019s call for\ndawn-prayers, when getting up I busied myself with the Wuz\u00fa-ablution and\nset forth mosque-wards. Then having said my prayers and fulfilled my\nceremonial duties,[12] I strolled about the gardens, and during this\nwalk having turned over the matter in my mind, determined that it\nbehoved me to remove my bride from such ill companionship, and wean her\nfrom the habit of devouring dead bodies. With these thoughts I came back\nhome at dinner-time, when Aminah on seeing me return bade the servants\nserve up the noontide-meal and we twain sat at table; but as before she\nfell to picking up the rice grain by grain. Thereat said I to her, \u201cO my\nwife, it irketh me much to see thee picking up each grain of rice like a\nhen. If this dish suit not thy taste see there are, by Allah\u2019s grace and\nthe Almighty\u2019s favour, all kinds of meats before us. Do thou eat of that\nwhich pleaseth thee most; each day the table is bespread with dishes of\ndifferent kinds and if these please thee not, thou hast only to order\nwhatsoever food thy soul desireth. Yet I would ask of thee one question:\nIs there no meat upon the table as rich and toothsome as man\u2019s flesh,\nthat thou refusest every dish they set before thee?\u201d Ere I had finished\nspeaking my wife became assured that I was aware of her night adventure:\nshe suddenly waxed wroth with exceeding wrath, her face flushed red as\nfire, her eyeballs started out from their sockets and she foamed at the\nmouth with ungovernable fury. Seeing her in this mood I was terrified\nand my sense and reason fled by reason of my affright; but presently in\nthe madness of her passion she took up a tasse of water which stood\nbeside her and dipping her fingers in the contents muttered some words\nwhich I could not understand; then sprinkling some drops over me, cried,\n\u201cAccursed that thou art! for this thine insolence and betrayal do thou\nbe straightway turned into a dog.\u201d At once I became transmewed and she,\npicking up a staff began to ribroast me right mercilessly and well-nigh\nkilled me. I ran about from room to room but she pursued me with the\nstick, and tunded and belaboured me with might and main, till she was\nclean exhausted. She then threw the street-door half open and, as I made\nfor it to save my life, attempted violently to close it, so as to\nsqueeze my soul out of my body; but I saw her design and baffled it,\nleaving behind me, however, the tip of my tail; and piteously yelping\nhereat I escaped further basting and thought myself lucky to get away\nfrom her without broken bones. When I stood in the street still whining\nand ailing, the dogs of the quarter seeing a stranger, at once came\nrushing at me barking and biting;[13] and I with tail between my legs\ntore along the market-place and ran into the shop of one who sold\nsheeps\u2019 and goats\u2019 heads and trotters; and there crouching low hid me in\na dark corner.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace\ntill\n\n\n           The end of the Sixth Hundred and Thirteenth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Sidi Nu\u2019uman\ncontinued his story as follows:\u2014The shopkeeper, despite his scruples of\nconscience which caused him to hold all dogs impure,[14] had ruth upon\nmy sorry plight and drove away the yelling and grinning curs that would\nhave followed me into his shop; and I, escaping this danger of doom,\npassed all the night hid in my corner. Early next morning the butcher\nsallied forth to buy his usual wares, sheeps\u2019 heads and hooves; and,\ncoming back with a large supply, he began to lay them out for sale\nwithin the shop when I, seeing that a whole pack of dogs had gathered\nabout the place attracted by the smell of flesh, also joined them. The\nowner noticed me among the ragged tykes and said to himself, \u201cThis dog\nhath tasted naught since yesterday when it ran yelping hungrily and hid\nwithin my shop.\u201d He then threw me a fair sized piece of meat, but I\nrefused it and went up to him and wagged my tail to the end that he\nmight know my wish to stay with him and be protected by his stall: he,\nhowever, thought that I had eaten my sufficiency, and, picking up a\nstaff frightened me and chased me away. So when I saw how the butcher\nheeded not my case, I trotted off and wandering to and fro presently\ncame to a bakery and stood before the door wherethrough I espied the\nbaker at breakfast. Albeit I made no sign as though I wanted aught of\nfood, he threw me a bittock of bread; and I, in lieu of snapping it up\nand greedily swallowing it, as is the fashion with all dogs, the gentle\nand simple of them, approached him with it and gazed in his face and\nwagged my tail by way of thanks. He was pleased by this my well-bred\nbehaviour and smiled at me; whereat I, albeit not one whit anhungered,\nbut merely to humour him, fell to eating the bread, little by little\nslowly and leisurely, to testify my respect. He was yet more satisfied\nwith my manners and wished to keep me in his shop; and I, noting his\nintent, sat by the door and looked wistfully at him, whereby he knew\nthat I desired naught of him save his protection. He then caressed me\nand took charge of me and kept me to guard his store, but I would not\nenter his house till after he had led the way; he also showed me where\nto lie o\u2019nights and fed me well at every meal and entreated me right\nhospitably. I likewise would watch his every movement and always lay\ndown or rose up even as he bade me; and whenas he left his lodging or\nwalked anywhither he took me with him. If ever when I lay asleep he went\noutside and found me not, he would stand still in the street and call to\nme crying, \u201cBakht! Bakht!\u201d[15] an auspicious name he had given to me;\nand straightway on hearing him I would rush about and frisk before the\ndoor; and when he set out to taste the air I paced beside him now\nrunning on ahead, now following at his heels and ever and anon looking\nup in his face. Thus some time passed during which I lived with him in\nall comfort; till one day of the days it so chanced that a woman came to\nthe bakery to buy her bread and gave the owner several dirhams to its\nprice, whereof one was bad coin whilst the others were good. My master\ntested all the silvers and, finding out the false bit, returned it\ndemanding a true dirham in exchange; but the woman wrangled and would\nnot take it back and swore that it was sound. Quoth the baker, \u201cThe\ndirham is beyond all doubt a worthless: see yonder dog of mine, he is\nbut a beast, yet mark me he will tell thee whether it be true or false\nsilver.\u201d So he called me by my name, \u201cBakht! Bakht!\u201d whereat I sprang up\nand ran towards him and he, throwing all the moneys upon the ground\nbefore me, cried, \u201cHere look these dirhams over and if there be a false\ncoin among them separate it from all the others.\u201d I inspected the\nsilvers each by each and found the counterfeit: then, putting it on one\nside and all the others on another, I placed my paw upon the false\nsilver and wagging what remained of my tail looked up at my master\u2019s\nface. The baker was delighted with my sagacity, and the woman also,\nmarvelling with excessive marvel at what had happened, took back her bad\ndirham and paid another in exchange. But when the buyer fared forth, my\nmaster called together his neighbours and gossips and related to them\nthis matter; so they threw down on the ground before me coins both good\nand bad, in order that they might test me and see with their own eyes an\nI were as clever as my master had said I was. Many times in succession I\npicked out the false coin from amongst the true and placed my paw upon\nthem without once failing; so all went away astounded and related the\ncase to each and every one they saw and thus the bruit of me spread\nabroad throughout the city. That livelong day I spent in testing dirhams\nfair and foul.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace\ntill\n\n\n           The end of the Sixth Hundred and Fourteenth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Sidi Nu\u2019uman\ncontinued his story saying:\u2014From that day forwards the baker honoured me\nyet more highly, and all his friends and familiars laughed and said,\n\u201cForsooth thou hast in this dog a mighty good Shroff.\u201d[16] And some\nenvied my master his luck in having me within the shop, and tried\nofttimes to entice me away, but the baker kept me with him nor would he\never allow me to leave his side; for the fame of me brought him a host\nof customers from every quarter of the town, even the farthest. Not many\ndays after there came another woman to buy loaves at our shop and paid\nthe baker six dirhams whereof one was worthless. My master passed them\nover to me for test and trial, and straightway I picked out the false\none, and placing paw thereon looked up in the woman\u2019s face. Hereat she\nwaxed confused and confessed that it was miscoined and praised me for\nthat I had found it out; then, going forth the same woman made signs to\nme that I should follow her unbeknown to the baker. Now I had not ceased\npraying Allah that somehow He would restore me to my human form and\nhoped that some good follower of the Almighty would take note of this my\nsorry condition and vouchsafe me succour. So as the woman turned several\ntimes and looked at me, I was persuaded in my mind that she had\nknowledge of my case; I therefore kept my eyes upon her; which seeing\nshe came back ere she had stepped many paces, and beckoned me to\naccompany her. I understood her signal and sneaking out of the presence\nof the baker, who was busy heating his oven, followed in her wake.\nPleased beyond all measure to see me obey her, she went straightway home\nwith me, and entering she locked the door and led me into a room where\nsat a fair maid in embroidered dress whom I judged by her favour to be\nthe good woman\u2019s daughter. The damsel was well skilled in arts magical;\nso the mother said to her, \u201cO my daughter, here is a dog which telleth\nbad dirhams from good dirhams. When first I heard the marvel I bethought\nme that the beastie must be a man whom some base wretch and\ncruel-hearted had turned into a dog. Methought that to-day I would see\nthis animal and test it when buying loaves at the booth of yonder baker\nand behold, it hath acquitted itself after the fairest of fashions and\nhath stood the test and trial. Look well, O my daughter, at this dog and\nsee whether it be indeed an animal or a man transformed into a beast by\ngramarye.\u201d The young lady, who had veiled her face,[17] hereupon\nconsidered me attentively and presently cried, \u201cO my mother, \u2019tis even\nas thou sayest, and this I will prove to thee forthright.\u201d Then rising\nfrom her seat she took a basin of water and dipping hand therein\nsprinkled some drops upon me saying, \u201cAn thou wert born a dog then do\nthou abide a dog, but an thou wert born a man then, by virtue of this\nwater, resume thy human favour and figure.\u201d Immediately I was\ntransformed from the shape of a dog to human semblance and I fell at the\nmaiden\u2019s feet and kissed the ground before her giving her thanks; then,\nbussing the hem of her garment, I cried, \u201cO my lady, thou hast been\nexceeding gracious unto one unbeknown to thee and a stranger. How can I\nfind words wherewith to thank and bless thee as thou deservest? Tell me\nnow, I pray thee, how and whereby I may shew my gratitude to thee? From\nthis day forth I am beholden to thy kindness and am become thy slave.\u201d\nThen I related all my case and told her of Aminah\u2019s wickedness and what\nof wrongs she had wrought me; and I made due acknowledgment to her\nmother for that she had brought me to her home. Herewith quoth the\ndamsel to me, \u201cO Sidi Nu\u2019uman, I pray thee bestow not such exceeding\nthanks upon me, for rather am I glad and grateful in conferring this\nservice upon one so well-deserving as thou art. I have been familiar\nwith thy wife Aminah for a long time before thou didst marry her; I also\nknew that she had skill in witchcraft and she likewise knoweth of my\nart, for we twain learnt together of one and the same mistress in the\nscience. We met ofttimes at the Hammam as friends but, inasmuch as she\nwas ill-mannered and ill-tempered, I declined further intimacy with her.\nThink not that it sufficeth me to have made thee recover thy form as it\nwas aforetime; nay, verily needs must I take due vengeance of her for\nthe wrong she hath done thee. And this will I do at thy hand, so shalt\nthou have mastery over her and find thyself lord of thine own house and\nhome.[18] Tarry here awhile until I come again.\u201d So saying the damsel\npassed into another room and I remained sitting and talking with her\nmother and praised her excellence and kindness towards me. The ancient\ndame also related strange and rare deeds of wonder done by her with pure\npurpose and lawful means, till the girl returned with an ewer in hand\nand said, \u201cO Sidi Nu\u2019uman, my magical art doth tell me that Aminah is at\nthis present away from home but she will return thither presently.\nMeanwhile she dissembleth with the domestics and feigneth grief at\nseverance from thee; and she hath pretended that, as thou sattest at\nmeat with her, thou didst suddenly arise and fare forth on some weighty\nmatter, when presently a dog rushed through the open door into the room\nand she drove it away with a staff.\u201d Then giving me a gugglet full of\nthe water the maiden resumed, \u201cO Sidi Nu\u2019uman, go now to thine own house\nand, keeping this gugglet by thee, await patiently Aminah\u2019s coming. Anon\nshe will return and seeing thee will be sore perplexed and will hasten\nto escape from thee; but before she go forth sprinkle some drops from\nthis gugglet upon her and recite these spells which I shall teach thee.\nI need not tell thee more; thou wilt espy with thine own eyes what shall\nhappen.\u201d Having said these words the young lady taught me magical\nphrases which I fixed in my memory full firmly, and after this I took my\nleave and farewelled them both. When I reached home it happened even as\nthe young magician had told me; and I had tarried but a short time in\nthe house when Aminah came in. I held the gugglet in hand and she seeing\nme trembled with sore trembling and would fain have run away; but I\nhastily sprinkled some drops upon her and repeated the magical words,\nwhereat she was turned into a mare\u2014the animal thy Highness deigned\nremark but yesterday. I marvelled greatly to sight this transformation\nand seizing the mare\u2019s mane led her to the stable and secured her with a\nhalter.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n            The end of the Six Hundred and Fifteenth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014\u201cI have heard, O auspicious King, that Sidi Nu\u2019uman\ncontinued his story saying:\u2014When I had secured the mare, I loaded her\nwith reproaches for her wickedness and her base behaviour, and lashed\nher with a whip till my forearm was tired.[19] Then I resolved within\nmyself that I would ride her at full speed round the square each day and\nthus inflict upon her the justest penalty.\u201d Herewith Sidi Nu\u2019uman held\nhis peace, having made an end of telling his tale; but presently he\nresumed, \u201cO Commander of the Faithful, I trow thou art not displeased at\nthis my conduct, nay rather thou wouldst punish such a woman with a\npunishment still greater than this.\u201d He then kissed the hem of the\nCaliph\u2019s robe and kept silence; and Harun al-Rashid, perceiving that he\nhad said all his say, exclaimed, \u201cIn very sooth thy story is exceeding\nstrange and rare. The wrongdoing of thy wife hath no excuse and thy\nrequital is methinks in due measure and just degree, but I would ask\nthee one thing\u2014How long wilt thou chastise her thus, and how long will\nshe remain in bestial guise? \u2019Twere better now for thee to seek the\nyoung lady by whose magical skill thy wife was transformed and beg that\nshe bring her back to human shape. And yet I fear me greatly lest\nperchance whenas this sorceress, this Ghulah, shall find herself\nrestored to woman\u2019s form and resumeth her conjurations and incantations\nshe may\u2014who knoweth?\u2014requite thee with far greater wrong than she hath\ndone thee heretofore, and from this thou wilt not be able to escape.\u201d\nAfter this the Prince of True Believers forbore to urge the matter,\nalbeit he was mild and merciful by nature,[20] and addressing the third\nman whom the Wazir had brought before him said, \u201cAs I was walking in\nsuch a quarter I was astonished to see thy mansion, so great and so\ngrand is it; and when I made enquiry of the townsfolk they answered each\nand every, that the palace belongeth to one (thyself) whom they called\nKhw\u00e1jah Hasan. They added that thou wast erewhile exceeding poor and in\nstraitened case, but that Allah Almighty had widened thy means and had\nnow sent thee wealth in such store that thou hast builded the finest of\nbuildings; moreover, that albeit thou hast so princely a domicile and\nsuch abundance of riches, thou art not unmindful of thy former estate,\nand thou dost not waste thy substance in riotous living but thou addest\nthereto by lawful trade. The neighbourhood all speaketh well of thee and\nnot a wight of them hath aught to say against thee; so I now would know\nof thee the certainty of these things, and hear from thine own lips how\nthou didst gain this abundant wealth. I have summoned thee before me\nthat I might be assured of all such matters by actual hearsay: so fear\nnot to tell me all thy tale; I desire naught of thee save knowledge of\nthis thy case. Enjoy thou to thy heart\u2019s content the opulence that\nAlmighty Allah deigned bestow upon thee, and let thy soul have pleasure\ntherein.\u201d Thus spake the Caliph and the gracious words reassured the\nman. Then Khwajah Hasan threw himself before the Commander of the\nFaithful and, kissing the carpet at the foot of the throne, exclaimed,\n\u201cO Prince of True Believers I will relate to thee a faithful relation of\nmy adventure, and Almighty Allah be my witness that I have not done\naught contrary to thy laws and just commandments, and that all this my\nwealth is by the favour and goodness of Allah alone.\u201d Harun al-Rashid\nhereupon again bade him speak out boldly and forthwith he began to\nrecount in the following words the\n\n\n\n\n                HISTORY OF KHWAJAH HASAN AL-HABBAL.[21]\n\n\nO lord of beneficence! obedient to thy royal behest, I will now inform\nthy Highness of the means and the measures whereby Destiny dowered me\nwith such wealth; but first I would thou hear somewhat of two amongst my\nfriends who abode in the House of Peace, Baghdad. They twain are yet\nalive and both well know the history which thy slave shall now relate.\nOne of them, men call Sa\u2019d, the other Sa\u2019d\u00ed.[22] Now Sa\u2019di opined that\nwithout riches no one in this world could be happy and independent;\nmoreover that without hard toil and trouble and wariness and wisdom\nwithal it were impossible to become wealthy. But Sa\u2019d differing\ntherefrom would affirm that affluence cometh not to any save by decree\nof Destiny and fiat of Fate and Fortune. Sa\u2019d was a poor man while Sa\u2019di\nhad great store of good; yet there sprang up a firm friendship between\nthem and fond affection each for other; nor were they ever wont to\ndiffer upon any matter save only upon this; to wit, that Sa\u2019di relied\nsolely upon deliberation and forethought and Sa\u2019d upon doom and man\u2019s\nlot. It chanced one day that, as they sat talking together on this\nmatter, quoth Sa\u2019di, \u201cA poor man is he who either is born a pauper and\npasseth all his days in want and penury, or he who having been born to\nwealth and comfort, doth in the time of manhood squander all he hath and\nfalleth into grievous need; then lacketh he the power to regain his\nriches and to live at ease by wit and industry.\u201d Sa\u2019d made answer,\nsaying, \u201cNor wit nor industry availeth aught to any one, but Fate alone\nenableth him to acquire and to preserve riches. Misery and want are but\naccidents and deliberation is naught. Full many a poor man hath waxed\naffluent by favour of Fate and richards manifold have, despite their\nskill and store, been reduced to misery and beggary.\u201d Quoth Sa\u2019di, \u201cThou\nspeakest foolishly. Howbeit put we the matter to fair test and find out\nfor ourselves some handicraftsman scanty of means and living upon his\ndaily wage; him let us provide with money, then will he without a doubt\nincrease his stock and abide in ease and comfort, and so shalt thou be\npersuaded that my words be true.\u201d Now as they twain were walking on,\nthey passed through the lane wherein stood my lodging and saw me\na-twisting ropes, which craft my father and grandfather and many\ngenerations before me had followed. By the condition of my home and\ndress they judged that I was a needy man; whereupon Sa\u2019d pointing me out\nto Sa\u2019di said, \u201cAn thou wouldst make trial of this our matter of\ndispute, see yonder wight. He hath dwelt here for many years and by this\ntrade of rope-making doth gain a bare subsistence for himself and his. I\nknow his case right well of old; he is a worthy subject for the trial;\nso do thou give him some gold pieces and test the matter.\u201d \u201cRight\nwillingly,\u201d replied Sa\u2019di, \u201cbut first let us take full cognizance of\nhim.\u201d So the two friends came up to me, whereat I left my work and\nsaluted them. They returned my salam after which quoth Sa\u2019di, \u201cPrithee\nwhat be thy name?\u201d Quoth I, \u201cMy name is Hasan, but by reason of my trade\nof rope-making all men call me Hasan al-Habb\u00e1l.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began\nto dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n            The end of the Six Hundred and Sixteenth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Hasan al-Habbal\n(the Ropemaker) continued his story, saying:\u2014Thereupon Sa\u2019di asked me,\n\u201cHow farest thou by this industry? Methinks thou art blithe and quite\ncontent therewith. Thou hast worked long and well and doubtless thou\nhast laid by large store of hemp and other stock. Thy forbears carried\non this craft for many years and must have left thee much of capital and\nproperty which thou hast turned to good account and on this wise thou\nhast largely increased thy wealth.\u201d Quoth I, \u201cO my lord, no money have I\nin pouch whereby I may live happy or even buy me enough to eat. This is\nmy case that every day, from dawn till eve, I spend in making ropes, nor\nhave I one single moment wherein to take rest; and still I am sore\nstraitened to provide even dry bread for myself and family. A wife have\nI and five small children, who are yet too young to help me ply this\nbusiness: and \u2019tis no easy matter to supply their daily wants; how then\ncanst thou suppose that I am enabled to put by large store of hemp and\nstock? What ropes I twist each day I sell straightway, and of the money\nearned thereby I spend part upon our needs and with the rest I buy hemp\nwherewith I twist ropes on the next day. However, praise be to Almighty\nAllah that, despite this my state of penury, He provideth us with bread\nsufficing our necessity.\u201d When I had made known all my condition Sa\u2019di\nreplied, \u201cO Hasan, now I am certified of thy case and indeed \u2019tis other\nthan I had supposed; and, given that I give thee a purse of two hundred\nAshrafis, assuredly thou shalt therewith greatly add to thy gains and be\nenabled to live in ease and affluence: what sayest thou thereto?\u201d Said\nI, \u201cAn thou favour me with such bounty I should hope to grow richer than\nall and every of my fellow-craftsmen, albeit Baghdad-town is prosperous\nas it is populous.\u201d Then Sa\u2019di, deeming me true and trustworthy, pulled\nout of his pocket a purse of two hundred gold pieces and handing them to\nme said, \u201cTake these coins and trade therewith. May Allah advance thee,\nbut see to it that thou use this money with all heed, and waste it not\nin folly and ungraciousness. I and my friend Sa\u2019d will rejoice with all\njoy to hear of thy well-being; and, if hereafter we come again and find\nthee in flourishing condition, \u2019twill be matter of much satisfaction to\nus both.\u201d Accordingly, O Commander of the Faithful, I took the purse of\ngold with much gladness and a grateful heart and, placing it in my\npocket, thanked Sa\u2019di kissing his garment-hem, whereupon the two friends\nfared forth. And I, O Prince of True Believers, seeing the twain depart,\nwent on working, but was sore puzzled and perplexed as to where I might\nbestow the purse; for my house contained neither cupboard nor locker.\nHowbeit I took it home and kept the matter hidden from my wife and\nchildren and when alone and unobserved I drew out ten gold coins by way\nof spending-money; then, binding the purse-mouth with a bit of string I\ntied it tightly in the folds of my turband and wound the cloth around my\nhead. Presently, I went off to the market-street and bought me a stock\nof hemp and coming homewards I laid in some meat for supper, it being\nnow a long while since we had tasted flesh. But as I trudged along the\nroad, meat in hand, a kite[23] came suddenly swooping down, and would\nhave snatched the morsel from out my hand had I not driven off the bird\nwith the other hand. Then it had fain pounced upon the flesh on the left\nside but again I scared it away and thus, whilst exerting myself with\nfrantic efforts to ward off the bird, by ill luck my turband fell to the\nground. At once that accursed kite swooped down and flew off with it in\nits talons; and I ran pursuing it and shouted aloud. Hearing my cries\nthe Bazar-folk, men and women and a rout of children, did what they\ncould to scare it away and make the beastly bird drop its prey, but they\nshouted and cast stones in vain: the kite would not let drop the turband\nand presently flew clean out of sight. I was sore distressed and\nheavy-hearted to lose the Ashrafis as I hied me home bearing the hemp\nand what of food I had bought, but chiefly was I vexed and grieved in\nmind, and ready to die of shame at the thought of what Sa\u2019di would say;\nespecially when I reflected how he would misdoubt my words, nor deem the\ntale true when I should tell him that a kite had carried off my turband\nwith the gold pieces, but rather would he think that I had practised\nsome deceit and had devised some amusing fable by way of excuse. Howbeit\nI hugely enjoyed what had remained of the ten Ashrafis and with my wife\nand children fared sumptuously for some days. Presently, when all the\ngold was spent and naught remained thereof, I became as poor and needy\nas before; withal I was content and thankful to Almighty Allah nor\nblamed my lot. He had sent in his mercy this purse of gold to me\nunawares and now He had taken it away, wherefore I was grateful and\nsatisfied, for what He doeth is ever well done.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began\nto dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Seventeenth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Master Hasan the\nRopemaker continued his story in these words:\u2014My wife, who knew not of\nthe matter of the Ashrafis, presently perceived that I was ill at ease\nand I was compelled for a quiet life to let her know my secret; moreover\nthe neighbours came round to ask me of my case: but I was right loath to\ntell them all that had betided; they could not bring back what was gone\nand they would assuredly rejoice at my calamity. However, when they\npressed me close I told them every whit; and some thought that I had\nspoken falsely and derided me and others that I was daft and\nhare-brained and my words were the wild pratings of an idiot or the\ndrivel of dreams. The youngsters made abundant fun of me and laughed to\nthink that I, who never in my born days had sighted a golden coin,\nshould tell how I had gotten so many Ashrafis, and how a kite had flown\naway with them. My wife, however, gave full credence to my tale and wept\nand beat her breast for sorrow. Thus six months passed over us, when it\nchanced one day that the two friends, to wit, Sa\u2019di and Sa\u2019d, came to my\nquarter of the town, when quoth Sa\u2019d to Sa\u2019di, \u201cLo, yonder is the street\nwhere dwelleth Hasan al-Habbal. Come let us go and see how he hath added\nto his stock and how far he hath prospered by means of the two hundred\nAshrafis thou gavest him.\u201d Sa\u2019di rejoined, \u201c\u2019Tis well said; indeed, we\nhave not seen him for many days: I would fain visit him and I should\nrejoice to hear that he hath prospered.\u201d So the twain walked along\ntowards my house, Sa\u2019d saying to Sa\u2019di, \u201cForsooth I perceive that he\nappeareth the same in semblance, poor and ill-conditioned as before; he\nweareth old and tattered garments, save that his turband seemeth\nsomewhat newer and cleaner. Look well and judge thyself and \u2019tis even as\nI said.\u201d Thereupon Sa\u2019di came up closer to me and he also understood\nthat my condition was unaltered; and presently the two friends addressed\nme. After the usual salutation Sa\u2019d asked, \u201cO Hasan, how fareth it with\nthee, and how goeth it with thy business and have the two hundred\nAshrafis stood thee in good stead and amended thy trade?\u201d To this\nanswered I, \u201cO my lords, how can I tell you of the sad mishap that hath\nbefallen me? I dare not speak for very shame, yet cannot I keep the\nadventure concealed. Verily a marvellous matter and a wondrous hath\nhappened to me, the tale whereof will fill you with wonderment and\nsuspicion, for I wot full well that ye will not believe it, and that I\nshall be to you as one that dealeth in lies; withal needs must I tell\nyou the whole however unwillingly.\u201d Hereat I recounted to them every\nwhit that had betided me first and last, especially that which had\nbefallen me from the kite; but Sa\u2019di misdoubted me and mistrusted me and\ncried, \u201cO Hasan, thou speakest but in jest and dost dissemble with us.\n\u2019Tis hard to believe the tale thou tellest. Kites are not wont to fly\noff with turbands, but only with such things as they can eat. Thou\nwouldst but outwit us and thou art of those who, when some good fortune\ncometh to them unforeseen, do straightways abandon their work or their\nbusiness and, wasting all in pleasuring, become once more poor and\nthereafter must nilly-willy eke out a living as best they may. This\nmethinks be especially the case with thee; thou hast squandered our gift\nwith all speed and now art needy as before.\u201d \u201cO good my lord, not so,\u201d\ncried I; \u201cthis blame and these hard words ill befit my deserts, for I am\nwholly innocent of all thou imputest to me. The strange mishap whereof I\ntold thee is the truest of truths; and to prove that it is no lie all\nthe townsfolk have knowledge thereof and in good sooth I do not play\nthee false. \u2019Tis certain that kites do not fly away with turbands; but\nsuch mishaps, wondrous and marvellous, may betide mankind especially the\nmiserable of lot.\u201d Sa\u2019d also espoused my cause and said, \u201cO Sa\u2019di,\nofttimes have we seen and heard how kites carry off many things besides\ncomestibles; and his tale may not be wholly contrary to reason.\u201d Then\nSa\u2019di pulled out from his pocket a purseful of gold pieces and counted\nout and gave me another two hundred, saying, \u201cO Hasan, take these\nAshrafis, but see that thou keep them with all heed and diligence and\nbeware, and again I say beware, lest thou lose them like the others.\nExpend them in such fashion that thou mayst reap full benefit therefrom\nand prosper even as thou seest thy neighbours prosper.\u201d I took the money\nfrom him and poured out thanks and blessings upon his head, and when\nthey went their ways I returned to my rope-walk and thence in due time\nstraight home. My wife and children were abroad, so again I took ten\ngold coins of the two hundred and securely tied up the remainder in a\npiece of cloth; then I looked around to find a spot wherein to hide my\nhoard so that my wife and youngsters might not come to know of it and\nlay hands thereon. Presently, I espied a large earthen jar full of bran\nstanding in a corner of the room, so herein I hid the rag with the gold\ncoins and I misdeemed that it was safely concealed from wife and\nwees.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n            The end of the Six Hundred and Eighteenth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Hasan al-Habbal\nthus continued his story:\u2014When I had put the Ashrafis a-bottom the jar\nof bran, my wife came in and I said naught to her of the two friends or\nof aught had happened, but I set out for the Bazar to buy hemp. Now as\nsoon as I had left the house there came, by evil fate impelled, a man\nwho sold Tafl, or fuller\u2019s earth,[24] wherewith the poorer sort of women\nare wont to wash their hair. My wife would fain have bought some but not\na single Kauri[25] or almond had she. Then she took thought and said to\nherself, \u201cThis jar of bran is here to no purpose, I will exchange it for\nthe clay,\u201d and he also, the Tafl-seller, agreed to this proposal and\nwent off taking the jar of bran as the price of the washing-earth. Anon\nI came back with a load of hemp upon my head and other five on the heads\nof as many porters who accompanied me; and I helped them off with their\nburthens and, after storing the stuff in a room, I paid and dismissed\nthem. Then I stretched me out upon the floor to take rest awhile and\nlooking towards the corner where once stood the jar of bran I found it\ngone. Words fail me, O Prince of True Believers, to describe the tumult\nof feelings which filled my heart at the sight. I sprang up with all\nspeed and calling to my wife enquired of her whither the jar had been\ncarried; and she replied that she had exchanged its contents for a\ntrifle of washing clay. Then cried I aloud, \u201cO wretched, O miserable,\nwhat hast thou done? thou hast ruined me and thy children; thou hast\ngiven away great wealth to that clay-selling fellow!\u201d Then I told her\nall that had betided me, of the coming of the two friends and how I had\nhidden the hundred and ninety Ashrafis within the bran-jar; and she, on\nhearing this wept sore and beat her breast and tore her hair crying,\n\u201cWhere now shall I find that clay-seller? The wight is a stranger, never\nbefore did I see him about this quarter or this street.\u201d Then turning to\nme she continued, \u201cHerein thou hast dealt right foolishly, for that thou\ndidst not tell me of the matter, nor didst place any trust in me;\notherwise this mishap would never have happened to us; no, never.\u201d And\nshe lamented with loud lamentation and bitter whereat I said, \u201cMake not\nsuch hubbub nor display such trouble, lest our neighbours overhear thee,\nand learning of our mishap peradventure laugh at us and call us fools.\nIt behoveth us to rest content with the will of Almighty Allah.\u201d However\nthe ten Ashrafis which I had taken from the two hundred sufficed me to\ncarry on my trade and to live with more of ease for some short while;\nbut I ever grieved and I marvelled much anent what could be said to\nSa\u2019di when he should come again; for inasmuch as he believed me not the\nfirst time I was assured in my mind that now he would denounce me aloud\nas a cheat and a liar. One day of the days the twain, to wit, Sa\u2019d and\nSa\u2019di, came strolling towards my house conversing and, as usual, arguing\nabout me and my case; and I seeing them from afar left off working that\nI might hide myself, as I could not for very shame come forth and accost\nthem. Seeing this and not guessing the reason they entered my dwelling\nand, saluting me with the salam, asked me how I had fared. I durst not\nraise my eyes so abashed and mortified was I, and with bended brow\nreturned the greeting; when they, noting my sorry plight, marvelled\nsaying, \u201cIs all well with thee? Why art thou in this state? Hast thou\nnot made good use of the gold or hast thou wasted thy wealth in lewd\nliving?\u201d Quoth I, \u201cO my lords, the story of the Ashrafis is none other\nthan this. When ye departed from me I went home with the purse of money\nand, finding no one was in the house for all had gone out somewhere, I\ntook out therefrom ten gold pieces. Then I put the rest together with\nthe purse within a large earthen jar filled full of bran which had long\nstood in one corner of the room, so might the matter be kept privy from\nmy wife and children. But whilst I was in the market buying me some\nhemp, my wife returned home; and at that moment there came in to her a\nman which sold fuller\u2019s earth for washing hair. She had need thereof\nwithal naught to pay with; so she went out to him and said, \u201cI am clean\nwithout coin, but I have a quantity of bran; say me, wilt thou have that\nin change for thy clay?\u201d The man agreed and accordingly my wife took the\nearth of him, and gave him in exchange the jarful of bran which he\ncarried away with him and ganged his gait. An ye ask:\u2014\u201cWherefore didst\nthou not confide the matter to thy spouse and tell her that thou hadst\nput the money in the jar?\u201d I on my side answer, that ye gave me strict\ninjunctions to keep the money this time with the utmost heed and\ncaution. Methought that stead was the safest wherein to store the gold\nand I was loath to trust my wife lest haply she take some coin therefrom\nand expend it upon her household. O my lords, I am certified of your\ngoodness and graciousness, but poverty and penury are writ in my Book of\nFate; how then can I aspire to possessions and prosperity? Withal, never\nwhile I breathe the breath of life, shall I be forgetful of this your\ngenerous favour.\u201d Quoth Sa\u2019di, \u201cMeseemeth I have disbursed four hundred\nAshrafis to no purpose in giving them to thee; yet the intent wherewith\nthey were given was that thou shouldst benefit thereby, not that I claim\nthy praise and thanksgiving.\u201d So they twain compassionated and condoled\nwith me in my misfortune; and presently Sa\u2019d, an upright man and one who\nhad acquaintance with me since many a year, produced a leaden coin[26]\nwhich he had picked up from the path and was still carrying in his\npocket; and, after shewing it to Sa\u2019di, said to me, \u201cSeest thou this bit\nof lead? Take it and by favour of Fate thou shalt find out what\nblessings it will bring to thee.\u201d Sa\u2019di on espying it laughed aloud and\nmade jest of the matter and flouting said, \u201cWhat advantage will there be\nto Hasan from this mite of lead and in what way shall he use it?\u201d Sa\u2019d\nhanding me the leaden coin retorted in reply, \u201cGive no heed to whatso\nSa\u2019di may say, but keep this by thee. Let him laugh an he please. One\nday haply shall come to pass, Inshallah\u2014an it be the will of Almighty\nAllah\u2014that thou shalt by means thereof become a wealthy man and a\nmagnifico.\u201d I took the bit of lead and put it in my pocket, and the\ntwain bade me farewell and went their way.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to\ndawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n            The end of the Six Hundred and Nineteenth Night.\n\nThen said she\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Hasan al-Habbal\nthus continued his story:\u2014As soon as Sa\u2019d and Sa\u2019di had departed, I went\non rope-twisting until night came and when doffing my dress to go to bed\nthe bit of lead which Sa\u2019d had given me fell out of my pocket; so I\npicked it up and set it carelessly in a small niche in the wall.[27] Now\nthat very night so it happened that a fisherman, one of my neighbours,\nstood in need of a small coin[28] wherewith to buy some twine for\nmending his drag-net, as he was wont to do during the dark hours, in\norder that he might catch the fish ere dawn of day and selling his\nquarry, buy victuals for himself and his household. So, as he was\naccustomed to rise while yet somewhat of night remained, he bade his\nwife go round about to all the neighbours and borrow a copper that he\nmight buy the twine required; and the woman went everywhere, from house\nto house, but nowhere could she get loan of a farthing, and at last she\ncame home weary and disappointed. Quoth the fisherman to her, \u201cHast thou\nbeen to Hasan al-Habbal?\u201d and quoth she, \u201cNay, I have not tried at his\nplace. It is the furthest of all the neighbours\u2019 houses and fanciest\nthou, even had I gone there, I could thence have brought back aught?\u201d\n\u201cOff with thee, O laziest of hussies and good-for-nothing of baggages,\u201d\ncried the fisherman, \u201caway with thee this instant; perchance he hath a\ncopper to lend us.\u201d Accordingly the woman, grumbling and muttering,\nfared forth and coming to my dwelling knocked at the door, saying, \u201cO\nHasan al-Habbal, my husband is in sore need of a pice wherewith to buy\nsome twine for mending his nets.\u201d Minding me of the coin which Sa\u2019d had\ngiven me and where it had been put away, I shouted out to her, \u201cHave\npatience, my spouse will go forth to thee and give thee what thou\nneedest.\u201d My wife, hearing all this hubbub, woke from sleep, and I told\nher where to find the bit of money, whereupon she fetched it and gave it\nto the woman, who joyed with exceeding joy, and said, \u201cThou and thy\nhusband have shown great kindness to my man, wherefore I promise thee\nthat whatsoever fish he may chance to catch at the first throw of the\nnet shall be thine; and I am assured that my goodman, when he shall hear\nof this my promise, will consent thereto.\u201d Accordingly when the woman\ntook the money to her husband and told him of what pledge she had given,\nhe was right willing, and said to her, \u201cThou hast done well and wisely\nin that thou madest this covenant.\u201d Then having bought some twine and\nmended all the nets he rose before dawn and hastened riverwards to catch\nfish according to his custom. But when he cast the net into the stream\nfor the first throw and haled it in, he found that it contained but one\nfish and that a full span[29] or so in thickness, which he placed apart\nas my portion. Then he threw the net again and again and at each cast he\ncaught many fishes both small and great, but none reached in size that\nhe first had netted. As soon as he returned home the fisherman came at\nonce to me and brought the fish he had netted in my name, and said, \u201cO\nour neighbour, my wife promised over night that thou shouldst have\nwhatever fishes should come to ground at the first net-throw; and this\nfish is the only one I caught. Here it is, prithee take it as a\nthanks-offering for the kindness of last night, and as fulfilment of the\npromise. If Allah Almighty had vouchsafed to me of fish a seine-full,\nall had been thine but \u2019tis thy fate that only this one was landed at\nthe first cast.\u201d Said I, \u201cThe mite I gave thee yesternight was not of\nsuch value that I should look for somewhat in return;\u201d and refused to\naccept it. But after much \u201csay and said\u201d he would not take back the\nfish, and he insisted that it was mine: wherefore I agreed to keep it\nand gave it to my wife, saying, \u201cO woman, this fish is a return for the\nmite I gave last night to the fisherman our neighbour. Sa\u2019d hath\ndeclared that by means of that coin I shall attain to much riches and\nabundant opulence.\u201d Then I recounted to my wife how my two friends had\nvisited me and what they said and did, and all concerning the leaden\ncoin which Sa\u2019d had given to me. She wondered at seeing but a single\nfish and said, \u201cHow shall I cook it? Meseemeth \u2019twere best to cut it up\nand broil it for the children, especially as we have naught of spices\nand condiments wherewith to dress it otherwise.\u201d Then, as she sliced and\ncleansed the fish she found within its belly a large diamond which she\nsupposed to be a bit of glass or crystal; for she oft had heard tell of\ndiamonds[30] but never with her own eyes had she beheld one. So she gave\nit to the youngest of the children for a plaything and when the others\nsaw it, by reason of its brightness and brilliancy all desired to have\nit and each kept it in turn awhile; moreover when night came and the\nlamp was lighted they crowded round the stone and gazed upon its beauty,\nand screamed and shouted with delight.[31] When my wife had spread the\ntable we sat down to supper and the eldest boy set the diamond upon the\ntray, and as soon as we all had finished eating, the children fought and\nscrambled as before for it. At first I paid no heed to their noise and\nhubbub, but when it waxed exceeding loud and irksome I asked my eldest\nlad the cause why they quarrelled and made such turmoil. Quoth he, \u201cThe\ntrouble and dispute are about a piece of glass which giveth forth a\nlight as bright as the lamp.\u201d Whereat I told him to produce it and\nmarvelled greatly to see its sparkling water, and enquired of my wife\nwhence she had gotten the piece of crystal. Quoth she, \u201cThis I found\nwithin the belly of the fish as I was gutting it.\u201d Still I did not\nsuppose it to be aught but glass. Presently I bade my wife hide the lamp\nbehind the hearth.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her\npeace till\n\n\n            The end of the Six Hundred and Twentieth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Hasan al-Habbal\nthus continued his story:\u2014And when my wife had hidden the lamp from\nview, such was the brightness of the diamond that we could see right\nwell without other light; wherefore I placed it upon the hearth[32] that\nwe might work by it, and said within myself, \u201cThe coin that Sa\u2019d left\nwith me hath produced this benefit that we no longer stand in need of a\nlamp: at least it saveth us oil.\u201d When the youngsters saw me put out the\nlamp and use the glass in its stead they jumped and danced for joy, and\nscreamed and shouted with glee so that all the neighbours round about\ncould hear them when I chid them and sent them to bed; we also went to\nrest and right soon fell asleep. Next day I woke betimes and went on\nwith my work and thought not of the piece of glass. Now there dwelt hard\nby us a wealthy Jew, a jeweller who bought and sold all kinds of\nprecious stones; and, as he and his wife essayed to sleep that night, by\nreason of the noise and clamour of the children they were disturbed for\nmany hours and slumber visited not their eyes. And when morn appeared,\nthe jeweller\u2019s wife came to our house to make complaint both for herself\nand her husband anent the hubbub and shouting. Ere she could say a word\nof blame my wife, guessing the intent wherewith she came, addressed her\nsaying, \u201cO Rah\u00edl,[33] I fear me that my children pestered thee last\nnight with their laughing and crying. I crave thine indulgence in this\nmatter; well thou must wot how children now cry now laugh at trifles.\nCome in and see the cause of all their excitement wherefor thou wouldst\njustly call me to account.\u201d She did accordingly and saw the bit of glass\nabout which the youngsters had made such din and uproar; and when she,\nwho had long experience of all manner precious stones, beheld the\ndiamond she was filled with wonderment. My wife then told her how she\nhad found it in the fish\u2019s belly, whereupon quoth the Jewess, \u201cThis bit\nof glass is more excellent than all other sorts of glass. I too have\nsuch an one as this which I am wont to wear sometimes; and wouldst thou\nsell it I will buy this thing of thee.\u201d Hearing her words the children\nbegan to cry and said, \u201cO mother dear, an thou wilt not sell it we\npromise henceforth to make no noise.\u201d Understanding that they would by\nno means part with it, the women held their peace and presently the\nJewess fared forth, but ere she took her leave she whispered my wife,\n\u201cSee that thou tell the matter to none; and, if thou have a mind to sell\nit at once send me word.\u201d Now the Jew was sitting in his shop when his\nwife went to him and told him of the bit of glass. Quoth he, \u201cGo\nstraightway back and offer a price for it, saying that \u2019tis for me.\nBegin with some small bidding, then raise the sum until thou get it.\u201d\nThe Jewess thereupon returned to my house and offered twenty Ashrafis,\nwhich my wife deemed a large sum to give for such a trifle; however, she\nwould not close the bargain. At that moment I happened to leave my work\nand, coming home to our noon-meal, saw the two women talking on the\nthreshold; and my wife stopped me, saying, \u201cThis neighbour biddeth\ntwenty Ashrafis to price for the piece of glass, but I have as yet given\nher no reply. What sayest thou?\u201d Then I bethought me of what Sa\u2019d had\ntold me; to wit, that much wealth would come to me by virtue of his\nleaden coin. The Jewess seeing how I hesitated bethought her that I\nwould not consent to the price; so quoth she, \u201cO neighbour, an thou wilt\nnot agree to part with the bit of glass for twenty pieces of gold, I\nwill e\u2019en give thee fifty.\u201d Hereat I reflected that whereas the Jewess\nraised her offer so readily from twenty golden pieces to fifty, this\nglass must surely be of great value; so I kept silence and answered her\nnot a word. Then noting that I still held my peace she cried, \u201cTake then\none hundred: this be its full value; nay I know not in very deed if my\nhusband will consent to so high a price.\u201d Said I in reply, \u201cO my good\nwoman, why talk so foolishly? I will not sell it for aught less than an\nhundred thousand[34] gold coins; and thou mayest take it at that price\nbut only because thou art neighbour to us.\u201d The Jewess raised her offer\ncoin by coin to fifty thousand Ashrafis and said, \u201cI pray thee wait till\nmorning and sell it not till then, so that my man may come round and see\nit.\u201d \u201cRight willingly,\u201d quoth I; \u201cby all manner of means let thy husband\ndrop in and inspect it.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-first Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Hasan al-Habbal\nthus continued his story.\u2014Next day the Jew came to my house and I drew\nforth and showed to him the diamond which shone and glittered in my palm\nwith light as bright as any lamp\u2019s. Presently, assured that all which\nhis wife had told him of its water and lustre was strictly true, he took\nit in hand and, examining it and turning it about, marvelled with mighty\nmarvel at its beauty saying, \u201cMy wife made offer of fifty thousand gold\npieces: see now I will give thee yet another twenty thousand.\u201d Said I,\n\u201cThy wife hath surely named to thee what sum I fixed; to wit, one\nhundred thousand Ashrafis and naught less: I shall not abate one jot or\ntittle of this price.\u201d The Jew did all he could to buy it for a lesser\nsum; but I answered only, \u201cIt mattereth naught; an thou desire not to\ncome to my terms I must needs sell it to some other jeweller.\u201d At length\nhe consented and weighed me out two thousand gold pieces by way of\nearnest-money, saying, \u201cTo-morrow I will bring the amount of my offer\nand carry off my diamond.\u201d To this I gave assent and so, on the day\nfollowing, he came to me and weighed out the full sum of one hundred\nthousand Ashrafis, which he had raised amongst his friends and partners\nin business. Then I gave him the diamond which had brought me such\nexceeding wealth, and offered thanks to him and praises unto Almighty\nAllah for this great good Fortune gotten unawares, and much I hoped soon\nto see my two friends, Sa\u2019d and Sa\u2019di, and to thank them likewise. So\nfirst I set my house in order and gave spending-money to my wife for\nhome-necessaries and for clothing herself and children; moreover, I also\nbought me a fine mansion and furnished it with the best. Then said I to\nmy wife, who thought of nothing save rich clothes and high diet and a\nlife of ease and enjoyment, \u201cIt behoveth us not to give up this our\ncraft: we must needs put by some coin and carry on the business.\u201d\nAccordingly, I went to all the rope-makers of the city and buying with\nmuch money several manufactories put them to work, and over each\nestablishment I set an overseer, an intelligent man and a trustworthy,\nso that there is not now throughout Baghdad-city a single ward or\nquarter that hath not walks and workshops of mine for rope-making. Nay,\nfurther, I have in each town and every district of Al-Irak warehouses,\nall under charge of honest supervisors; and thus it is that I have\namassed such a muchel of wealth. Lastly, for my own especial place of\nbusiness I bought another house, a ruined place with a sufficiency of\nland adjoining; and, pulling down the old shell, I edified in lieu\nthereof the new and spacious edifice which thy Highness hath deigned\nyesterday to look upon. Here all my workmen are lodged and here also are\nkept my office-books and accounts; and besides my warehouse it\ncontaineth apartments fitted with furniture in simple style\nall-sufficient for myself and my family. After some time I quitted my\nold home, wherein Sa\u2019d and Sa\u2019di had seen me working, and went and lived\nin the new mansion and not long after this removal my two friends and\nbenefactors bethought them that they would come and visit me. They\nmarvelled much when, entering my old workshop, they found me not, and\nthey asked the neighbours, \u201cWhere dwelleth such and such a ropemaker? Is\nhe alive or dead?\u201d Quoth the folk \u201cHe now is a rich merchant; and men no\nlonger call him simply \u2018Hasan,\u2019 but entitle him \u2018Master Hasan the\nRopemaker.\u2019 He hath built him a splendid building and he dwelleth in\nsuch and such a quarter.\u201d Whereupon the two familiars set forth in\nsearch of me; and they rejoiced at the good report; albeit Sa\u2019di would\nby no means be convinced that all my wealth had sprung (as Sa\u2019d\ncontended) from its root, that small leaden coin. Presently, conning the\nmatter over in his mind he said to his comrade, \u201cIt delighteth me much\nto hear of all this good fortune which hath betided Hasan, despite that\nhe twice deceived me and took from me four hundred gold pieces, whereby\nhe hath gotten to himself these riches; for it is absurd to think that\nit hath come from the leaden coin thou gavest him. Withal I do forgive\nhim and owe him no grudge.\u201d Replied the other, \u201cThou art mistaken. I\nknow Hasan of old to be a good man and true: he would not delude thee\nand what he told us is simple sooth. I am persuaded in my mind that he\nhath won all his wealth and opulence by the leaden coin: however we\nshall hear anon what he may have to say.\u201d Conversing thus they came into\nthe street wherein I now dwell and, seeing a large and magnificent\nmansion and a new-made, they guessed it was mine. So they knocked and,\non the porter opening, Sa\u2019di marvelled to see such grandeur and so many\nfolk sitting within, and feared lest haply they had unwittingly entered\nthe house of some Emir. Then plucking courage he enquired of the porter,\n\u201cIs this the dwelling-place of Khwajah Hasan al-Habbal?\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the\nmorn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-second Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Hasan al-Habbal\ncontinued thus his story:\u2014The porter made reply, \u201cThis is verily the\nhouse of Khwajah Hasan al-Habbal; he is within and he sitteth in his\noffice. I pray thee enter and one of the slaves will make known thy\ncoming to him.\u201d Hereupon the two friends walked in, and as soon as I saw\nthem I recognised them, and rising up to them I ran and kissed the hems\nof their garments. They would fain have fallen on my neck and embraced\nme, but with meekness of mind I would not suffer them so to do; and\npresently I led them into a large and spacious saloon, and bade them sit\nupon the highmost seats of honour. They would have constrained me to\ntake the best place, but I exclaimed, \u201cO my lords, I am on no wise\nbetter than the poor ropemaker Hasan, who not unmindful of your worth\nand goodness ever prayeth for your welfare, and who deserveth not to sit\nin higher stead than you.\u201d Then they took seat and I opposite them, when\nquoth Sa\u2019di, \u201cMy heart rejoiceth with exceeding joy to see thee in this\ncondition, for that Allah hath given thee all even as thou wishest. I\ndoubt not thou has gotten all this abundance and opulence by means of\nthe four hundred gold pieces which I gave to thee; but say me truly\nwherefore didst thou twice deceive me and bespeak me falsely?\u201d Sa\u2019d\nlistened to these words with silent indignation, and ere I could make\nreply he broke out saying, \u201cO Sa\u2019di, how often have I assured thee that\nall which Hasan said aforetime anent the losing of the Ashrafis is very\nsooth and no leasing?\u201d Then they began to dispute each with other; when\nI, recovering from my surprise, exclaimed, \u201cO my lords, of what avail is\nthis contention? Be not at variance, I beseech you, on my account. All\nthat had befallen me I made known to you; and, whether ye believe my\nwords or ye believe them not, it mattereth but little. Now hearken to\nthe whole truth of my tale.\u201d Then I made known to them the story of the\npiece of lead which I had given to the fisherman and of the diamond\nfound in the fish\u2019s belly; brief, I told them every whit even as I have\nnow related to thy Highness. On hearing all my adventure Sa\u2019di said, \u201cO\nKhwajah Hasan, it seemeth to me passing strange that so great a diamond\nshould be found in the belly of a fish; and I deem it a thing impossible\nthat a kite should fly off with thy turband, or that thy wife should\ngive away the jar of bran in exchange for fuller\u2019s earth. Thou sayest\nthe tale is true, still can I not give credit to thy words, for I know\nfull well that the four hundred gold pieces have gotten thee all this\nwealth.\u201d But when they twain rose up to take their leave, I also arose\nand said, \u201cO my lords, ye have shown favour to me in that ye have thus\ndeigned visit me in my poor home. I beseech you now to taste of my food\nand to tarry here this night under your servant\u2019s roof; as to-morrow I\nwould fain take you by the way of the river to a country-house which I\nhave lately bought.\u201d Hereto they consented with some objections; and I,\nafter giving orders for the evening meal, showed them about the house\nand displayed the furniture and entertained them with pleasing words and\npleasant converse, till a slave came and announced that supper was\nserved. So I led them to the saloon wherein were ranged the trays loaded\nwith many kinds of meats; on all sides stood camphorated wax\ncandles,[35] and before the table were gathered musicians singing and\nplaying on various instruments of mirth and merriment, whilst in the\nupper part of the saloon men and women were dancing and making much\ndiversion. When we had supped we went to bed, and rising early we prayed\nthe dawn-prayer, and presently embarked on a large and well-appointed\nboat, and the rowers rowing with a flowing tide soon landed us at my\ncountry seat. Then we strolled in a body about the grounds and entered\nthe house, when I showed them our new buildings and displayed to them\nall that appertained thereto; and hereat they marvelled with great\nmarvel. Thence we repaired to the garden and saw, planted in rows along\nthe walks, fruit trees of all kinds with ripe fruit bowed down, and\nwatered with water from the river by means of brick-work channels. All\nround were flowering shrubs whose perfume gladdened the Zephyr; here and\nthere fountains and jets of water shot high in air; and sweet-voiced\nbirds made melody amid the leafy branches hymning the One, the Eternal;\nin short, the sights and scents on every side filled the soul with joy\nand gladness. My two friends walked about in joyance and delight, and\nthanked me again and again for bringing them to so lovely a site and\nsaid, \u201cAlmighty Allah prosper thee in house and garth.\u201d At last I led\nthem to the foot of a tall tree near to one of the garden walls and\nshewed them a little summer-house wherein I was wont to take rest and\nrefreshment; and the room was furnished with cushions and divans and\npillows purfled with virgin gold.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Hasan al-Habbal\nthus pursued his tale:\u2014Now so it happened that, as we sat at rest within\nthat summer-house, two sons of mine, whom I had sent together with their\ngovernor to my country-place for change of water and air,[36] were\nroaming about the garden seeking birds\u2019 nests. Presently they came\nacross a big one upon the topmost boughs and tried to swarm up the trunk\nand carry it off, but by reason of their lack of strength and little\npractice they durst not venture so high; whereupon they bade a slave-boy\nwho ever attended on them, climb the tree. He did their bidding, but\nwhen looking into the nest he was amazed with exceeding amazement to see\nit mainly made of an old turband. So he brought down the stuff and\nhanded it to the lads. My eldest son took it from his hands and carried\nit to the arbour for me to see, and set it at my feet saying in high\nglee, \u201cO my father, look here; this nest is made of cloth.\u201d Sa\u2019d and\nSa\u2019di wondered with all wonderment at the sight and the marvel grew the\ngreater when I, after considering it closely, recognised it for the very\nturband whereon the kite had swooped and which had been borne off by the\nbird. Then quoth I to my two friends, \u201cExamine well this turband and\ncertify yourselves that it is the self-same one worn upon my head when\nfirst ye honoured me with your presence.\u201d Quoth Sa\u2019d, \u201cI know it not,\u201d\nand quoth Sa\u2019di, \u201cAn thou find within it the hundred and ninety gold\npieces, then shalt thou be assured that is thy turband in very sooth.\u201d I\nsaid, \u201cO my lord, this is, well I wot, that very turband.\u201d And as I held\nit in my hand, I found it heavy of weight, and opening out the folds\nfelt somewhat tied up in one of the corners of the cloth;[37] so I\nunrolled the swathes when lo and behold! I came upon the purse of gold\npieces. Hereat, shewing it to Sa\u2019di, I cried, \u201cCanst thou not recognise\nthis purse?\u201d and he replied, \u201c\u2019Tis in truth the very purse of Ashrafis\nwhich I gave thee when first we met.\u201d Then I opened the mouth and,\npouring out the gold in one heap upon the carpet, bade him count his\nmoney; and he turned it over coin by coin and made the sum thereof one\nhundred and ninety Ashrafis. Hereat waxing sore ashamed and confounded,\nhe exclaimed, \u201cNow do I believe thy words: nevertheless must thou admit\nthat thou hast earned one half of this thy prodigious wealth with the\ntwo hundred gold pieces I gave thee after our second visit, and the\nother half by means of the mite thou gottest from Sa\u2019d.\u201d To this I made\nno answer, but my friends ceased not to dispute upon the matter. We then\nsat down to meat and drink, and when we had eaten our sufficiency, I and\nmy two friends went to sleep in the cool arbour; after which when the\nsun was well-nigh set we mounted and rode off to Baghdad leaving the\nservants to follow. However, arrived at the city we found all the shops\nshut and nowhere could we get grain and forage for the horses, and I\nsent off two slave-boys who had run alongside of us to search for\nprovender. One of them found a jar of bran in the shop of a corn-dealer\nand paying for the provision brought it, together with the jar, under\npromise that on the morrow he would carry back the vessel. Then he began\nto take out the bran by handfuls in the dark and to set it before the\nhorses,\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious king, that Hasan al-Habbal\nthus continued his story:\u2014So as the slave-boy took out the bran by\nhandfuls and set it before the horses, suddenly his hand came upon a\npiece of cloth wherein was somewhat heavy. He brought it to me even as\nhe found it and said, \u201cSee, is not this cloth the very one of whose loss\nthou hast ofttimes spoken to us?\u201d I took it and wondering with great\nwonder knew it was the self-same piece of stuff wherein I had tied up\nthe hundred and fourscore and ten Ashrafis before hiding them in the jar\nof bran. Then said I to my friends, \u201cO my lords, it hath pleased\nAlmighty Allah, ere we parted, I and you, to bear me witness of my words\nand to stablish that I told you naught save whatso was very sooth.\u201d And\nI resumed, addressing Sa\u2019di, \u201cSee here the other sum of money, that is,\nthe hundred and ninety Ashrafis which thou gavest me and which I tied up\nin this very piece of cloth I now recognise.\u201d Then I sent for the\nearthen jar that they might see it, and also bade carry it to my wife\nthat she also might bear witness, an it be or be not the very bran jar\nwhich she gave in exchange for fuller\u2019s earth. Anon she sent us word and\nsaid, \u201cYea verily I know it well. \u2019Tis the same jar which I had filled\nwith bran.\u201d Accordingly Sa\u2019di owned that he was wrong and said to Sa\u2019d,\n\u201cNow I know that thou speakest truth, and am convinced that wealth\ncometh not by wealth; but only by the grace of Almighty Allah doth a\npoor man become a rich man.\u201d And he begged pardon for his mistrust and\nunbelief. We accepted his excuses whereupon we retired to rest and early\non the morrow my two friends bade me adieu and journeyed homewards with\nfull persuasion that I had done no wrong and had not squandered the\nmoneys they had given me.\u2014Now when the Caliph Harun al-Rashid had heard\nthe story of Khwajah Hasan to the end, he said, \u201cI have known thee of\nold by fair report of thee from the folk who, one and all, declare that\nthou art a good man and true. Moreover the self-same diamond whereby\nthou hast attained to so great riches is now in my treasury; so I would\nfain send for Sa\u2019di forthright that he may see it with his own eyes, and\nweet for certain that not by means of money do men become or rich or\npoor.\u201d The Prince of True Believers said moreover to Khwajah Hasan\nal-Habbal, \u201cGo now and tell thy tale to my treasurer that he may take it\ndown in writing for an everlasting memorial, and place the writ in the\ntreasury together with the diamond.\u201d Then the Caliph with a nod\ndismissed Khwajah Hasan; and Sidi Nu\u2019uman and Baba Abdullah also kissed\nthe foot of the throne and departed. So when Queen Shahrazad had made an\nend of relating this history she was about to begin the story of \u2019Al\u00ed\nB\u00e1b\u00e1 and the Forty Thieves, but King Shahryar prevented her, saying, \u201cO\nShahrazad, I am well pleased with this thy tale, but now the dawn\nappeareth and the chanticleer of morn doth sound his shrill clarion.\nThis day also I spare thy life, to the intent that I may listen at my\nease to this new history of thine at the end of the coming night.\u201d\nHereupon the three took their rest until the fittest time drew\nnear.\u2014\u2014And as the morning morrowed Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night.\n\nWith the dawn Dunyazad awoke Queen Shahrazad from slumber sweet and\nsaid, \u201cArise, O my sister, but alas! \u2019tis a bitter thing to stand in awe\nof coming doom.\u201d Replied Shahrazad, \u201cO dear my sister, be not thou\ndownhearted: if life\u2019s span be spent naught can avert the sharp-edged\nsword. Yet place thy trust in Allah Almighty and put far from thee all\nsuch anxious thoughts: my tales are tokens of life prolonged.\u201d Whereupon\nQueen Shahrazad began to tell in these words the story of\n\n\n\n\n                  ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.[38]\n\n\nIn days of yore and in times and tides long gone before there dwelt in a\ncertain town of Persia two brothers one named K\u00e1sim and the other \u2019Al\u00ed\nB\u00e1b\u00e1, who at their father\u2019s demise had divided the little wealth he had\nleft to them with equitable division, and had lost no time in wasting\nand spending it all. The elder, however, presently took to himself a\nwife, the daughter of an opulent merchant; so that when his\nfather-in-law fared to the mercy of Almighty Allah, he became owner of a\nlarge shop filled with rare goods and costly wares and of a store-house\nstocked with precious stuffs; likewise of much gold that was buried in\nthe ground. Thus was he known throughout the city as a substantial man.\nBut the woman whom Ali Baba had married was poor and needy; they lived,\ntherefore, in a mean hovel and Ali Baba eked out a scanty livelihood by\nthe sale of fuel which he daily collected in the jungle[39] and carried\nabout the town to the Bazar upon his three asses. Now it chanced one day\nthat Ali Baba had cut dead branches and dry fuel sufficient for his\nneed, and had placed the load upon his beasts when suddenly he espied a\ndust-cloud spireing high in air to his right and moving rapidly towards\nhim; and when he closely considered it he descried a troop of horsemen\nriding on amain and about to reach him. At this sight he was sore\nalarmed, and fearing lest perchance they were a band of bandits who\nwould slay him and drive off his donkeys, in his affright he began to\nrun; but forasmuch as they were near hand and he could not escape from\nout the forest, he drove his animals laden with the fuel into a bye-way\nof the bushes and swarmed up a thick trunk of a huge tree to hide\nhimself therein; and he sat upon a branch whence he could descry\neverything beneath him whilst none below could catch a glimpse of him\nabove; and that tree grew close beside a rock which towered high\nabove-head. The horsemen, young, active, and doughty riders, came close\nup to the rock-face and all dismounted; whereat Ali Baba took good note\nof them and soon he was fully persuaded by their mien and demeanour that\nthey were a troop of highwaymen who, having fallen upon a caravan had\ndespoiled it and carried off the spoil and brought their booty to this\nplace with intent of concealing it safely in some cache. Moreover he\nobserved that they were forty in number.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious king, that Ali Baba saw the\nrobbers, as soon as they came under the tree, each unbridle his horse\nand hobble it; then all took off their saddle-bags which proved to be\nfull of gold and silver. The man who seemed to be the captain presently\npushed forwards, load on shoulder, through thorns and thickets, till he\ncame up to a certain spot where he uttered these strange words, \u201cOpen, O\nSimsim!\u201d[40] and forthwith appeared a wide doorway in the face of the\nrock. The robbers went in and last of all their Chief and then the\nportal shut of itself. Long while they stayed within the cave whilst Ali\nBaba was constrained to abide perched upon the tree, reflecting that if\nhe came down peradventure the band might issue forth that very moment\nand seize him and slay him. At last he had determined to mount one of\nthe horses and driving on his asses to return townwards, when suddenly\nthe portal flew open. The robber-chief was first to issue forth; then,\nstanding at the entrance, he saw and counted his men as they came out,\nand lastly he spake the magical words, \u201cShut, O Simsim!\u201d whereat the\ndoor closed of itself. When all had passed muster and review, each slung\non his saddle-bags and bridled his own horse and as soon as ready they\nrode off, led by the leader, in the direction whence they came. Ali Baba\nremained still perched on the tree and watched their departure; nor\nwould he descend until what time they were clean gone out of sight, lest\nperchance one of them return and look around and descry him. Then he\nthought within himself, \u201cI too will try the virtue of those magical\nwords and see if at my bidding the door will open and close.\u201d So he\ncalled out aloud, \u201cOpen, O Simsim!\u201d And no sooner had he spoken than\nstraightway the portal flew open and he entered within. He saw a large\ncavern and a vaulted, in height equalling the stature of a full-grown\nman and it was hewn in the live stone and lighted up with light that\ncame through air-holes and bullseyes in the upper surface of the rock\nwhich formed the roof. He had expected to find naught save outer gloom\nin this robbers\u2019 den, and he was surprised to see the whole room filled\nwith bales of all manner stuffs, and heaped up from sole to ceiling with\ncamel-loads of silks and brocades and embroidered cloths and mounds on\nmounds of vari-coloured carpetings; besides which he espied coins golden\nand silvern without measure or account, some piled upon the ground and\nothers bound in leathern bags and sacks. Seeing these goods and moneys\nin such abundance, Ali Baba determined in his mind that not during a few\nyears only but for many generations thieves must have stored their gains\nand spoils in this place. When he stood within the cave, its door had\nclosed upon him, yet he was not dismayed since he had kept in memory the\nmagical words; and he took no heed of the precious stuffs around him,\nbut applied himself only and wholly to the sacks of Ashrafis. Of these\nhe carried out as many as he judged sufficient burthen for the beasts;\nthen he loaded them upon his animals, and covered this plunder with\nsticks and fuel, so none might discern the bags, but might think that he\nwas carrying home his usual ware. Lastly he called out, \u201cShut, O\nSimsim!\u201d and forthwith the door closed, for the spell so wrought that\nwhensoever any entered the cave, its portal shut of itself behind him;\nand, as he issued therefrom, the same would neither open nor close again\ntill he had pronounced the words, \u201cShut, O Simsim!\u201d Presently, having\nladen his asses Ali Baba urged them before him with all speed to the\ncity and reaching home he drove them into the yard; and, shutting close\nthe outer door, took down first the sticks and fuel and after the bags\nof gold which he carried in to his wife. She felt them and finding them\nfull of coin suspected that Ali Baba had been robbing and fell to\nberating and blaming him for that he should do so ill a thing.\u2014\u2014And as\nthe morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that quoth Ali Baba to\nhis wife:\u2014\u201cIndeed I am no robber and rather do thou rejoice with me at\nour good fortune.\u201d Hereupon he told her of his adventure and began to\npour the gold from the bags in heaps before her, and her sight was\ndazzled by the sheen and her heart delighted at his recital and\nadventures. Then she began counting the gold, whereat quoth Ali Baba, \u201cO\nsilly woman, how long wilt thou continue turning over the coin? now let\nme dig a hole wherein to hide this treasure that none may know its\nsecret.\u201d Quoth she, \u201cRight is thy rede! still would I weigh the moneys\nand have some inkling of their amount;\u201d and he replied, \u201cAs thou\npleasest, but see thou tell no man.\u201d So she went off in haste to Kasim\u2019s\nhome to borrow weights and scales wherewith she might balance the\nAshrafis and make some reckoning of their value; and when she could not\nfind Kasim she said to his wife, \u201cLend me, I pray thee, thy scales for a\nmoment.\u201d Replied her sister-in-law,[41] \u201cHast thou need of the bigger\nbalance or the smaller?\u201d and the other rejoined, \u201cI need not the large\nscales, give me the little;\u201d and her sister-in-law cried, \u201cStay here a\nmoment whilst I look about and find thy want.\u201d With this pretext Kasim\u2019s\nwife went aside and secretly smeared wax and suet over the pan of the\nbalance, that she might know what thing it was Ali Baba\u2019s wife would\nweigh, for she made sure that whatso it be some bit thereof would stick\nto the wax and fat. So the woman took this opportunity to satisfy her\ncuriosity, and Ali Baba\u2019s wife suspecting naught thereof carried home\nthe scales and began to weigh the gold, whilst Ali Baba ceased not\ndigging; and, when the money was weighed, they twain stowed it into the\nhole which they carefully filled up with earth. Then the good wife took\nback the scales to her kinswoman, all unknowing that an Ashrafi had\nadhered to the cup of the scales; but when Kasim\u2019s wife espied the gold\ncoin she fumed with envy and wrath, saying to herself, \u201cSo ho! they\nborrowed my balance to weigh out Ashrafis?\u201d and she marvelled greatly\nwhence so poor a man as Ali Baba had gotten such store of wealth that he\nshould be obliged to weigh it with a pair of scales. Now after long\npondering the matter, when her husband returned home at eventide, she\nsaid to him, \u201cO man, thou deemest thyself a wight of wealth and\nsubstance, but lo, thy brother Ali Baba is an Emir by the side of thee\nand richer far than thou art. He hath such heaps of gold that he must\nneeds weigh his moneys with scales, whilst thou, forsooth, art satisfied\nto count thy coin.\u201d \u201cWhence knowest thou this?\u201d asked Kasim, and in\nanswer his wife related all anent the pair of scales and how she found\nan Ashrafi stuck to them, and shewed him the gold coin which bore the\nmark and superscription of some ancient king. No sleep had Kasim all\nthat night by reason of his envy and jealousy and covetise; and next\nmorning he rose betimes and going to Ali Baba said, \u201cO my brother, to\nall appearance thou art poor and needy; but in effect thou hast a store\nof wealth so abundant that perforce thou must weigh thy gold with\nscales.\u201d Quoth Ali Baba, \u201cWhat is this thou sayest? I understand thee\nnot; make clear thy purport;\u201d and quoth Kasim with ready rage, \u201cFeign\nnot that thou art ignorant of what I say and think not to deceive me.\u201d\nThen showing him the Ashrafi he cried, \u201cThousands of gold coins such as\nthese thou hast put by; and meanwhile my wife found this one stuck to\nthe cup of the scales.\u201d Then Ali Baba understood how both Kasim and his\nwife knew that he had store of Ashrafis, and said in his mind that it\nwould not avail him to keep the matter hidden, but would rather cause\nill-will and mischief; and thus he was induced to tell his brother every\nwhit concerning the bandits[42] and also of the treasure trove in the\ncave. When he had heard the story, Kasim exclaimed, \u201cI would fain learn\nof thee the certainty of the place where thou foundest the moneys; also\nthe magical words whereby the door opened and closed; and I forewarn\nthee an thou tell me not the whole truth, I will give notice of those\nAshrafis to the W\u00e1l\u00ed;[43] then shalt thou forfeit all thy wealth and be\ndisgraced and thrown into gaol.\u201d Thereupon Ali Baba told him his tale\nnot forgetting the magical words; and Kasim who kept careful heed of all\nthese matters next day set out, driving ten mules he had hired, and\nreadily found the place which Ali Baba had described to him. And when he\ncame to the aforesaid rock and to the tree whereon Ali Baba had hidden\nhimself, and he had made sure of the door he cried in great joy, \u201cOpen,\nO Simsim!\u201d The portal yawned wide at once and Kasim went within and saw\nthe piles of jewels and treasures lying ranged all around; and, as soon\nas he stood amongst them the door shut after him as wont to do. He\nwalked about in ecstasy marvelling at the treasures, and when weary of\nadmiration he gathered together bags of Ashrafis, a sufficient load for\nhis ten mules, and placed them by the entrance in readiness to be\ncarried outside and set upon the beasts. But by the will of Allah\nAlmighty he had clean forgotten the cabalistic words and cried out,\n\u201cOpen, O Barley!\u201d whereat the door refused to move. Astonished and\nconfused beyond measure he named the names of all manner of grains save\nsesame, which had slipped from his memory as though he had never heard\nthe word; whereat in his dire distress he heeded not the Ashrafis that\nlay heaped at the entrance and paced to and fro, backwards and forwards,\nwithin the cave sorely puzzled and perplexed. The wealth whose sight had\nerewhile filled his heart with joy and gladness was now the cause of\nbitter grief and sadness.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Kasim gave up all\nhope of the life which he by his greed and envy had so sore imperilled.\nIt came to pass that at noontide the robbers, returning by that way, saw\nfrom afar some mules standing beside the entrance and much they\nmarvelled at what had brought the beasts to that place; for, inasmuch as\nKasim by mischance had failed to tether or hobble them, they had strayed\nabout the jungle and were browsing hither and thither. However, the\nthieves paid scant regard to the estrays nor cared they to secure them,\nbut only wondered by what means they had wandered so far from the town.\nThen, reaching the cave the Captain and his troop dismounted and going\nup to the door repeated the formula and at once it flew open. Now Kasim\nhad heard from within the cave the horse-hooves drawing nigh and yet\nnigher; and he fell down to the ground in a fit of fear never doubting\nthat it was the clatter of the banditti who would slaughter him without\nfail. Howbeit he presently took heart of grace and at the moment when\nthe door flew open he rushed out hoping to make good his escape. But the\nunhappy ran full tilt against the Captain who stood in front of the\nband, and felled him to the ground; whereupon a robber standing near his\nchief at once bared his brand and with one cut clave Kasim clean in\ntwain. Thereupon the robbers rushed into the cavern, and put back as\nthey were before the bags of Ashrafis which Kasim had heaped up at the\ndoorway ready for taking away; nor recked they aught of those which Ali\nBaba had removed, so dazed and amazed were they to discover by what\nmeans the strange man had effected an entrance. All knew that it was not\npossible for any to drop through the skylights so tall and steep was the\nrock\u2019s face, withal slippery of ascent; and also that none could enter\nby the portal unless he knew the magical words whereby to open it.\nHowever they presently quartered the dead body of Kasim and hung it to\nthe door within the cavern, two parts to the right jamb and as many to\nthe left[44] that the sight might be a warning of approaching doom for\nall who dared enter the cave. Then coming out they closed the hoard door\nand rode away upon their wonted work. Now when night fell and Kasim came\nnot home, his wife waxed uneasy in mind and running round to Ali Baba\nsaid, \u201cO my brother, Kasim hath not returned: thou knowest whither he\nwent, and sore I fear me some misfortune hath betided him.\u201d Ali Baba\nalso divined that a mishap had happened to prevent his return; not the\nless, however, he strove to comfort his sister-in-law with words of\ncheer and said, \u201cO wife of my brother, Kasim haply exerciseth discretion\nand, avoiding the city, cometh by a roundabout road and will be here\nanon. This, I do believe, is the reason why he tarrieth.\u201d Thereupon\ncomforted in spirit Kasim\u2019s wife fared homewards and sat awaiting her\nhusband\u2019s return; but when half the night was spent and still he came\nnot, she was as one distraught. She feared to cry aloud for her grief,\nlest haply the neighbours hearing her should come and learn the secret;\nso she wept in silence and upbraiding herself fell to thinking,\n\u201cWherefore did I disclose this secret to him and beget envy and jealousy\nof Ali Baba? this be the fruit thereof and hence the disaster that hath\ncome down upon me.\u201d She spent the rest of the night in bitter tears and\nearly on the morrow hied in hottest hurry to Ali Baba and prayed that he\nwould go forth in quest of his brother; so he strove to console her and\nstraightway set out with his asses for the forest. Presently, reaching\nthe rock he wondered to see stains of blood freshly shed and not finding\nhis brother or the ten mules he forefelt a calamity from so evil a sign.\nHe then went to the door and saving, \u201cOpen, O Simsim!\u201d he pushed in and\nsaw the dead body of Kasim, two parts hanging to the right, and the rest\nto the left of the entrance. Albeit he was affrighted beyond measure of\naffright he wrapped the quarters in two cloths and laid them upon one of\nhis asses, hiding them carefully with sticks and fuel that none might\nsee them. Then he placed the bags of gold upon the two other animals and\nlikewise covered them most carefully; and, when all was made ready he\nclosed the cave-door with the magical words, and set him forth wending\nhomewards with all ward and watchfulness. The asses with the load of\nAshrafis he made over to his wife and bade her bury the bags with\ndiligence; but he told her not the condition in which he had come upon\nhis brother Kasim. Then he went with the other ass, to wit, the beast\nwhereon was laid the corpse to the widow\u2019s house and knocked gently at\nthe door. Now Kasim had a slave-girl shrewd and sharp-witted,\nMorgiana[45] hight. She as softly undid the bolt and admitted Ali Baba\nand the ass into the courtyard of the house, when he let down the body\nfrom the beast\u2019s back and said, \u201cO Morgiana, haste thee and make thee\nready to perform the rites for the burial of thy lord: I now go to tell\nthe tidings to thy mistress and I will quickly return to help thee in\nthis matter.\u201d At that instant Kasim\u2019s widow seeing her brother-in-law,\nexclaimed, \u201cO Ali Baba, what news bringest thou of my spouse? Alas, I\nsee grief tokens written upon thy countenance. Say quickly what hath\nhappened.\u201d Then he recounted to her how it had fared with her husband\nand how he had been slain by the robbers and in what wise he had brought\nhome the dead body.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her\npeace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-ninth Night,\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Ali Baba\npursued:\u2014\u201cO my lady, what was to happen hath happened, but it behoveth\nus to keep this matter secret, for that our lives depend upon privacy.\u201d\nShe wept with sore weeping and made answer, \u201cIt hath fared with my\nhusband according to the fiat of Fate; and now for thy safety\u2019s sake I\ngive thee my word to keep the affair concealed.\u201d He replied, \u201cNaught can\navail when Allah hath decreed. Rest thee in patience; until the days of\nthy widowhood[46] be accomplisht; after which time I will take thee to\nwife, and thou shalt live in comfort and happiness; and fear not lest my\nfirst spouse vex thee or show aught of jealousy, for that she is kindly\nand tender of heart.\u201d The widow lamenting her loss noisily, cried, \u201cBe\nit as e\u2019en thou please.\u201d Then Ali Baba farewelled her, weeping and\nwailing for her husband; and joining Morgiana took counsel with her how\nto manage the burial of his brother. So, after much consultation and\nmany warnings, he left the slave-girl and departed home driving his ass\nbefore him. As soon as Ali Baba had fared forth Morgiana went quickly to\na druggist\u2019s shop; and, that she might the better dissemble with him and\nnot make known the matter, she asked of him a drug often administered to\nmen when diseased with dangerous distemper. He gave it saying, \u201cWho is\nthere in thy house that lieth so ill as to require this medicine?\u201d and\nsaid she, \u201cMy Master Kasim is sick well-nigh unto death: for many days\nhe hath nor spoken nor tasted aught of food, so that almost we despair\nof his life.\u201d Next day Morgiana went again and asked the druggist for\nmore of medicine and essences such as are adhibited to the sick when at\ndoor of death, that the moribund may haply rally before the last breath.\nThe man gave the potion and she taking it sighed aloud and wept, saying,\n\u201cI fear me he may not have strength to drink this draught: methinks all\nwill be over with him ere I return to the house.\u201d Meanwhile Ali Baba was\nanxiously awaiting to hear sounds of wailing and lamentation in Kasim\u2019s\nhome that he might at such signal hasten thither and take part in the\nceremonies of the funeral. Early on the second day Morgiana went with\nveiled face to one B\u00e1b\u00e1 Mustaf\u00e1,[47] a tailor well shotten in years\nwhose craft was to make shrouds and cerecloths; and as soon as she saw\nhim open his shop she gave him a gold piece and said, \u201cDo thou bind a\nbandage over thine eyes and come along with me.\u201d Mustafa made as though\nhe would not go, whereat Morgiana placed a second gold coin in his palm\nand entreated him to accompany her. The tailor presently consented for\ngreed of gain, so tying a kerchief tightly over his eyes she led him by\nthe hand to the house wherein lay the dead body of her master. Then,\ntaking off the bandage in the darkened room she bade him sew together\nthe quarters of the corpse, limb to its limb; and, casting a cloth upon\nthe body, said to the tailor, \u201cMake haste and sew a shroud according to\nthe size of this dead man and I will give thee therefor yet another\nducat.\u201d Baba Mustafa quickly made the cere cloth of fitting length and\nbreadth, and Morgiana paid him the promised Ashrafi; then once more\nbandaging his eyes led him back to the place whence she had brought him.\nAfter this she returned hurriedly home and with the help of Ali Baba\nwashed the body in warm water and donning the shroud lay the corpse upon\na clean place ready for burial. This done Morgiana went to the mosque\nand gave notice to an Im\u00e1m[48] that a funeral was awaiting the mourners\nin a certain household, and prayed that he would come to read the\nprayers for the dead; and the Im\u00e1m went back with her. Then four\nneighbours took up the bier[49] and bore it on their shoulders and fared\nforth with the Imam and others who were wont to give assistance at such\nobsequies. After the funeral prayers were ended four other men carried\noff the coffin; and Morgiana walked before it bare of head, striking her\nbreast and weeping and wailing with exceeding loud lament, whilst Ali\nBaba and the neighbours came behind. In such order they entered the\ncemetery and buried him; then, leaving him to Munkar and Nakir[50]\u2014the\nQuestioners of the Dead\u2014all wended their ways. Presently the women of\nthe quarter, according to the custom of the city, gathered together in\nthe house of mourning and sat an hour with Kasim\u2019s widow comforting and\ncondoling, presently leaving her somewhat resigned and cheered. Ali Baba\nstayed forty days at home in ceremonial lamentation for the loss of his\nbrother; so none within the town save himself and his wife (Kasim\u2019s\nwidow) and Morgiana knew aught about the secret. And when the forty days\nof mourning were ended Ali Baba removed to his own quarters all the\nproperty belonging to the deceased and openly married the widow; then he\nappointed his nephew, his brother\u2019s eldest son, who had lived a long\ntime with a wealthy merchant and was perfect of knowledge in all matters\nof trade, such as selling and buying, to take charge of the defunct\u2019s\nshop and to carry on the business.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n            The end of the Six Hundred and Thirtieth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, it so chanced one day\nwhen the robbers, as was their wont, came to the treasure-cave that they\nmarvelled exceedingly to find nor sign nor trace of Kasim\u2019s body whilst\nthey observed that much of gold had been carried off. Quoth the Captain,\n\u201cNow it behoveth us to make enquiry in this matter; else shall we suffer\nmuch of loss and this our treasure, which we and our forefathers have\namassed during the course of many years, will little by little be wasted\nand spoiled.\u201d Hereto all assented and with single mind agreed that he\nwhom they had slain had knowledge of the magical words whereby the door\nwas made to open; moreover that some one beside him had cognizance of\nthe spell and had carried off the body, and also much of gold; wherefore\nthey needs must make diligent research and find out who the man ever\nmight be. They then took counsel and determined that one amongst them,\nwho should be sagacious and deft of wit, must don the dress of some\nmerchant from foreign parts; then, repairing to the city he must go\nabout from quarter to quarter and from street to street, and learn if\nany townsman had lately died and if so where he wont to dwell, that with\nthis clue they might be enabled to find the wight they sought. Hereat\nsaid one of the robbers, \u201cGrant me leave that I fare and find out such\ntidings in the town and bring thee word anon; and if I fail of my\npurpose I hold my life in forfeit.\u201d Accordingly that bandit, after\ndisguising himself by dress, pushed at night into the town and next\nmorning early he repaired to the market-square and saw that none of the\nshops had yet been opened, save only that of Baba Mustafa the tailor,\nwho thread and needle in hand sat upon his working-stool. The thief bade\nhim good day and said, \u201c\u2019Tis yet dark: how canst thou see to sew?\u201d Said\nthe tailor, \u201cI perceive thou art a stranger. Despite my years my\neyesight is so keen that only yesterday I sewed together a dead body\nwhilst sitting in a room quite darkened.\u201d Quoth the bandit thereupon to\nhimself, \u201cI shall get somewhat of my want from this snip;\u201d and to secure\na further clue he asked, \u201cMeseemeth thou wouldst jest with me and thou\nmeanest that a cerecloth for a corpse was stitched by thee and that thy\nbusiness is to sew shrouds.\u201d Answered the tailor, \u201cIt mattereth not to\nthee: question me no more questions.\u201d Thereupon the robber placed an\nAshrafi in his hand and continued, \u201cI desire not to discover aught thou\nhidest, albeit my breast like every honest man\u2019s is the grave of\nsecrets; and this only would I learn of thee, in what house didst thou\ndo that job? Canst thou direct me thither, or thyself conduct me\nthereto?\u201d The tailor took the gold with greed and cried, \u201cI have not\nseen with my own eyes the way to that house. A certain bondswoman led me\nto a place which I know right well and there she bandaged my eyes and\nguided me to some tenement and lastly carried me into a darkened room\nwhere lay the dead body dismembered. Then she unbound the kerchief and\nbade me sew together first the corpse and then the shroud, which having\ndone she again blindfolded me and led me back to the stead whence she\nhad brought me and left me there. Thou seest then I am not able to tell\nthee where thou shalt find the house.\u201d Quoth the robber, \u201cAlbeit thou\nknowest not the dwelling whereof thou speakest, still canst thou take me\nto the place where thou wast blindfolded; then I will bind a kerchief\nover thine eyes and lead thee as thou wast led: on this wise perchance\nthou mayest hit upon the site. An thou wilt do this favour by me, see\nhere another golden ducat is thine.\u201d Thereupon the bandit slipped a\nsecond Ashrafi into the tailor\u2019s palm, and Baba Mustafa thrust it with\nthe first into his pocket; then, leaving his shop as it was, he walked\nto the place where Morgiana had tied the kerchief around his eyes, and\nwith him went the robber who, after binding on the bandage, led him by\nthe hand. Baba Mustafa, who was clever and keen-witted, presently\nstriking the street whereby he had fared with the handmaid, walked on\ncounting step by step; then, halting suddenly, he said, \u201cThus far I came\nwith her;\u201d and the twain stopped in front of Kasim\u2019s house wherein now\ndwelt his brother Ali Baba.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad\nheld her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-First Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the robber then\nmade marks with white chalk upon the door to the end that he might\nreadily find it at some future time, and removing the bandage from the\ntailor\u2019s eyes said, \u201cO Baba Mustafa, I thank thee for this favour: and\nAlmighty Allah guerdon thee for thy goodness. Tell me now, I pray thee,\nwho dwelleth in yonder house?\u201d Quoth he, \u201cIn very sooth I wot not, for I\nhave little knowledge concerning this quarter of the city;\u201d and the\nbandit, understanding that he could find no further clue from the\ntailor, dismissed him to his shop with abundant thanks, and hastened\nback to the tryst-place in the jungle where the band awaited his coming.\nNot long after it so fortuned that Morgiana, going out upon some errand,\nmarvelled exceedingly at seeing the chalk-marks showing white in the\ndoor; she stood awhile deep in thought and presently divined that some\nenemy had made the signs that he might recognize the house and play some\nsleight upon her lord. She therefore chalked the doors of all her\nneighbours in like manner and kept the matter secret, never entrusting\nit or to master or to mistress. Meanwhile the robber told his comrades\nhis tale of adventure and how he had found the clue; so the Captain and\nwith him all the band went one after other by different ways till they\nentered the city; and he who had placed the mark on Ali Baba\u2019s door\naccompanied the Chief to point out the place. He conducted him\nstraightway to the house and shewing the sign exclaimed, \u201cHere dwelleth\nhe of whom we are in search!\u201d But when the Captain looked around him he\nsaw that all the dwellings bore chalk-marks after like fashion and he\nwondered saying, \u201cBy what manner of means knowest thou which house of\nall these houses that bear similar signs is that whereof thou spakest?\u201d\nHereat the robber-guide was confounded beyond measure of confusion, and\ncould make no answer; then with an oath he cried, \u201cI did assuredly set a\nsign upon a door, but I know not whence came all the marks upon the\nother entrances; nor can I say for a surety which it was I chalked.\u201d\nThereupon the Captain returned to the market-place and said to his men,\n\u201cWe have toiled and laboured in vain, nor have we found the house we\nwent forth to seek. Return we now to the forest our rendezvous: I also\nwill fare thither.\u201d Then all trooped off and assembled together within\nthe treasure-cave; and, when the robbers had all met, the Captain judged\nhim worthy of punishment who had spoken falsely and had led them through\nthe city to no purpose. So he imprisoned him in presence of them\nall;[51] and then said he, \u201cTo him amongst you will I show special\nfavour who shall go to town and bring me intelligence whereby we may lay\nhands upon the plunderer of our property.\u201d Hereat another of the company\ncame forward and said, \u201cI am ready to go and enquire into the case, and\n\u2019tis I who will bring thee to thy wish.\u201d The Captain after giving him\npresents and promises despatched him upon his errand; and by the decree\nof Destiny which none may gainsay, this second robber went first to the\nhouse of Baba Mustafa the tailor, as had done the thief who had foregone\nhim. In like manner he also persuaded the snip with gifts of golden coin\nthat he be led hoodwinked and thus too he was guided to Ali Baba\u2019s door.\nHere noting the work of his predecessor, he affixed to the jamb a mark\nwith red chalk the better to distinguish it from the others whereon\nstill showed the white. Then hied he back in stealth to his company; but\nMorgiana on her part also descried the red sign on the entrance and with\nsubtle forethought marked all the others after the same fashion; nor\ntold she any what she had done. Meanwhile the bandit rejoined his band\nand vauntingly said, \u201cO our Captain, I have found the house and thereon\nput a mark whereby I shall distinguish it clearly from all its\nneighbours.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace\ntill\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-second Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Captain\ndespatched another of his men to the city and he found the place, but,\nas aforetime, when the troop repaired thither they saw each and every\nhouse marked with signs of red chalk. So they returned disappointed and\nthe Captain, waxing displeased exceedingly and distraught, clapped also\nthis spy into gaol. Then said the chief to himself, \u201cTwo men have failed\nin their endeavour and have met their rightful meed of punishment; and I\ntrow that none other of my band will essay to follow up their research;\nso I myself will go and find the house of this wight,\u201d Accordingly he\nfared along and aided by the tailor Baba Mustafa, who had gained much\ngain of golden pieces in this matter, he hit upon the house of Ali Baba;\nand here he made no outward show or sign, but marked it on the\ntablet[52] of his heart and impressed the picture upon the page of his\nmemory. Then returning to the jungle he said to his men, \u201cI have full\ncognizance of the place and have limned it clearly in my mind; so now\nthere will be no difficulty in finding it. Go forth straightways and buy\nme and bring hither nineteen mules together with one large leathern jar\nof mustard oil and seven and thirty vessels of the same kind clean\nempty. Without me and the two locked up in gaol ye number thirty-seven\nsouls; so I will stow you away armed and accoutred each within his jar\nand will load two upon each mule, and upon the nineteenth mule there\nshall be a man in an empty jar on one side, and on the other the jar\nfull of oil. I for my part, in guise of an oil-merchant, will drive the\nmules into the town, arriving at the house by night, and will ask\npermission of its master to tarry there until morning. After this we\nshall seek occasion during the dark hours to rise up and fall upon him\nand slay him.\u201d Furthermore the Captain spake saying, \u201cWhen we have made\nan end of him we shall recover the gold and treasure whereof he robbed\nus and bring it back upon the mules.\u201d This counsel pleased the robbers\nwho went forthwith and purchased mules and huge leathern jars, and did\nas the Captain had bidden them. And after a delay of three days shortly\nbefore nightfall they arose; and over-smearing all the jars with oil of\nmustard, each hid him inside an empty vessel. The Chief then disguised\nhimself in trader\u2019s gear and placed the jars upon the nineteen mules; to\nwit, the thirty-seven vessels in each of which lay a robber armed and\naccoutred, and the one that was full of oil. This done, he drove the\nbeasts before him and presently he reached Ali Baba\u2019s place at\nnightfall; when it chanced that the house-master was strolling after\nsupper to and fro in front of his home. The Captain saluted him with the\nsalam and said, \u201cI come from such and such a village with oil; and\nofttimes have I been here a-selling oil, but now to my grief I have\narrived too late and I am sore troubled and perplexed as to where I\nshall spend the night. An thou have pity on me I pray thee grant that I\ntarry here in thy courtyard and ease the mules by taking down the jars\nand giving the beasts somewhat of fodder.\u201d Albeit Ali Baba had heard the\nCaptain\u2019s voice when perched upon the tree and had seen him enter the\ncave, yet by reason of the disguise he knew him not for the leader of\nthe thieves, and granted his request with hearty welcome and gave him\nfull license to halt there for the night. He then pointed out an empty\nshed wherein to tether the mules, and bade one of the slave-boys go\nfetch grain and water. He also gave orders to the slave-girl Morgiana\nsaying, \u201cA guest hath come hither and tarrieth here to-night. Do thou\nbusy thyself with all speed about his supper and make ready the\nguest-bed for him.\u201d Presently, when the Captain had let down all the\njars and had fed and watered his mules, Ali Baba received him with all\ncourtesy and kindness, and summoning Morgiana said in his presence, \u201cSee\nthou fail not in service of this our stranger nor suffer him to lack for\naught. To-morrow early I would fare to the Hammam and bathe; so do thou\ngive my slave-boy Abdullah a suit of clean white clothes which I may put\non after washing; moreover make thee ready a somewhat of broth overnight\nthat I may drink it after my return home.\u201d Replied she, \u201cI will have all\nin readiness as thou hast bidden.\u201d So Ali Baba retired to his rest, and\nthe Captain, having supped, repaired to the shed and saw that all the\nmules had their food and drink for the night.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to\ndawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Captain, after\nseeing to the mules and the jars which Ali Baba and his household held\nto be full of oil, finding utter privacy, whispered to his men who were\nin ambush, \u201cThis night at midnight when ye hear my voice, do you quickly\nopen with your sharp knives the leathern jars from top to bottom and\nissue forth without delay.\u201d Then passing through the kitchen he reached\nthe chamber wherein a bed had been dispread for him, Morgiana showing\nthe way with a lamp. Quoth she, \u201cAn thou need aught beside I pray thee\ncommand this thy slave who is ever ready to obey thy say!\u201d He made\nanswer, \u201cNaught else need I;\u201d then, putting out the light, he lay him\ndown on the bed to sleep awhile ere the time came to rouse his men and\nfinish off the work. Meanwhile Morgiana did as her master had bidden\nher: she first took out a suit of clean white clothes and made it over\nto Abdullah who had not yet gone to rest; then she placed the pipkin\nupon the hearth to boil the broth and blew the fire till it burnt\nbriskly. After a short delay she needs must see an the broth be boiling,\nbut by that time all the lamps had gone out and she found that the oil\nwas spent and that nowhere could she get a light. The slave-boy Abdullah\nobserved that she was troubled and perplexed hereat, and quoth he to\nher, \u201cWhy make so much ado? In yonder shed are many jars of oil: go now\nand take as much soever as thou listest.\u201d Morgiana gave thanks to him\nfor his suggestion; and Abdullah, who was lying at his ease in the hall,\nwent off to sleep so that he might wake betimes and serve Ali Baba in\nthe bath. So the handmaiden rose[53] and with oil-can in hand walked to\nthe shed where stood the leathern jars all ranged in rows. Now, as she\ndrew nigh unto one of the vessels, the thief who was hidden therein\nhearing the tread of footsteps bethought him that it was of his Captain\nwhose summons he awaited; so he whispered, \u201cIs it now time for us to\nsally forth?\u201d Morgiana started back affrighted at the sound of human\naccents; but, inasmuch as she was bold and ready of wit, she replied,\n\u201cThe time is not yet come,\u201d and said to herself, \u201cThese jars are not\nfull of oil and herein I perceive a manner of mystery. Haply the oil\nmerchant hatcheth some treacherous plot against my lord; so Allah, the\nCompassionating, the Compassionate, protect us from his snares!\u201d\nWherefore she answered in a voice made like to the Captain\u2019s, \u201cNot yet,\nthe time is not come.\u201d Then she went to the next jar and returned the\nsame reply to him who was within, and so on to all the vessels one by\none. Then said she in herself, \u201cLaud to the Lord! my master took this\nfellow in believing him to be an oil-merchant, but lo, he hath admitted\na band of robbers, who only await the signal to fall upon him and\nplunder the place and do him die.\u201d Then passed she on to the furthest\njar and finding it brimming with oil, filled her can, and returning to\nthe kitchen, trimmed the lamp and lit the wicks; then, bringing forth a\nlarge cauldron, she set it upon the fire, and filling it with oil from\nout the jar heaped wood upon the hearth and fanned it to a fierce flame\nthe readier to boil its contents. When this was done she baled it out in\npotfuls and poured it seething hot into the leathern vessels one by one\nwhile the thieves unable to escape were scalded to death and every jar\ncontained a corpse.[54] Thus did this slave-girl by her subtle wit make\na clean end of all noiselessly and unknown even to the dwellers in the\nhouse. Now when she had satisfied herself that each and every of the men\nhad been slain, she went back to the kitchen and shutting to the door\nsat brewing Ali Baba\u2019s broth. Scarce had an hour passed before the\nCaptain woke from sleep; and, opening wide his window, saw that all was\ndark and silent; so he clapped his hands as a signal for his men to come\nforth but not a sound was heard in return. After awhile he clapped again\nand called aloud but got no answer; and when he cried out a third time\nwithout reply he was perplexed and went out to the shed wherein stood\nthe jars. He thought to himself, \u201cPerchance all are fallen asleep whenas\nthe time for action is now at hand, so I must e\u2019en awaken them without\nstay or delay.\u201d Then approaching the nearest jar he was startled by a\nsmell of oil and seething flesh; and touching it outside he felt it\nreeking hot; then going to the others one by one, he found all in like\ncondition. Hereat he knew for a surety the fate which had betided his\nband and, fearing for his own safety, he clomb on to the wall, and\nthence dropping into a garden made his escape in high dudgeon and sore\ndisappointment. Morgiana awaited awhile to see the Captain return from\nthe shed but he came not; whereat she knew that he had scaled the wall\nand had taken to flight, for that the street-door was double-locked; and\nthe thieves being all disposed of on this wise Morgiana laid her down to\nsleep in perfect solace and ease of mind. When two hours of darkness yet\nremained, Ali Baba awoke and went to the Hammam knowing naught of the\nnight adventure, for the gallant slave-girl had not aroused him, nor\nindeed had she deemed such action expedient, because had she sought an\nopportunity of reporting to him her plan, she might haply have lost her\nchance and spoiled the project. The sun was high over the horizon when\nAli Baba walked back from the Baths; and he marvelled exceedingly to see\nthe jars still standing under the shed and said, \u201cHow cometh it that he,\nthe oil-merchant my guest, hath not carried to the market his mules and\njars of oil?\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace\ntill\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Ali Baba presently\nasked Morgiana what had befallen the oil-merchant his guest whom he had\nplaced under her charge; and she answered, \u201cAllah Almighty vouchsafe to\nthee six score years and ten of safety! I will tell thee in privacy of\nthis merchant.\u201d So Ali Baba went apart with his slave-girl, who taking\nhim without the house first locked the court-door; then showing him a\njar she said, \u201cPrithee look into this and see if within there be oil or\naught else.\u201d Thereupon peering inside it he perceived a man at which\nsight he cried aloud and fain would have fled in his fright. Quoth\nMorgiana, \u201cFear him not, this man hath no longer the force to work thee\nharm, he lieth dead and stone-dead.\u201d Hearing such words of comfort and\nreassurance Ali Baba asked, \u201cO Morgiana, what evils have we escaped and\nby what means hath this wretch become the quarry of Fate?\u201d She answered\n\u201cAlhamdolillah\u2014Praise be to Almighty Allah!\u2014I will inform thee fully of\nthe case; but hush thee, speak not aloud, lest haply the neighbours\nlearn the secret and it end in our confusion. Look now into all the\njars, one by one from first to last.\u201d So Ali Baba examined them\nseverally and found in each a man fully armed and accoutred and all lay\nscalded to death. Hereat speechless for sheer amazement he stared at the\njars, but presently recovering himself he asked, \u201cAnd where is he, the\noil-merchant?\u201d Answered she, \u201cOf him also I will inform thee. The\nvillain was no trader but a traitorous assassin whose honied words would\nhave ensnared thee to thy doom; and now I will tell thee what he was and\nwhat hath happened; but, meanwhile thou art fresh from the Hammam and\nthou shouldst first drink somewhat of this broth for thy stomach\u2019s and\nthy health\u2019s sake.\u201d So Ali Baba went within and Morgiana served up the\nmess; after which quoth her master, \u201cI fain would hear this wondrous\nstory: prithee tell it to me and set my heart at ease.\u201d Hereat the\nhandmaid fell to relating whatso had betided in these words, \u201cO my\nmaster, when thou badest me boil the broth and retiredst to rest, thy\nslave in obedience to thy command took out a suit of clean white clothes\nand gave it to the boy Abdullah; then kindled the fire and set on the\nbroth. As soon as it was ready I had need to light a lamp so that I\nmight see to skim it, but all the oil was spent, and, learning this I\ntold my want to the slave-boy Abdullah, who advised me to draw somewhat\nfrom the jars which stood under the shed. Accordingly, I took a can and\nwent to the first vessel when suddenly I heard a voice within whisper\nwith all caution, \u2018Is it now time for us to sally forth?\u2019 I was amazed\nthereat and judged that the pretended merchant had laid some plot to\nslay thee; so I replied, \u2018The time is not yet come.\u2019 Then I went to the\nsecond jar and heard another voice to which I made the like answer, and\nso on with all of them. I now was certified that these men awaited only\nsome signal from their Chief whom thou didst take to guest within thy\nwalls supposing him to be a merchant in oil; and that after thou\nreceivedst him hospitably the miscreant had brought these men to murther\nthee and to plunder thy good and spoil thy house. But I gave him no\nopportunity to win his wish. The last jar I found full of oil and taking\nsomewhat therefrom I lit the lamp; then, putting a large cauldron upon\nthe fire, I filled it up with oil which I brought from the jar and made\na fierce blaze under it; and, when the contents were seething hot, I\ntook out sundry cansful with intent to scald them all to death, and\ngoing to each jar in due order, I poured within them one by one boiling\noil. On this wise having destroyed them utterly, I returned to the\nkitchen and having extinguished the lamps stood by the window watching\nwhat might happen, and how that false merchant would act next. Not long\nafter I had taken my station, the robber-captain awoke and ofttimes\nsignalled to his thieves. Then getting no reply he came downstairs and\nwent out to the jars, and finding that all his men were slain he fled\nthrough the darkness I know not whither. So when he had clean\ndisappeared I was assured that, the door being double-locked, he had\nscaled the wall and dropped into the garden and made his escape. Then\nwith my heart at rest I slept.\u201d And Morgiana, after telling her story to\nher master, presently added, \u201cThis is the whole truth I have related to\nthee. For some days indeed have I had inkling of such matter, but\nwithheld it from thee deeming it inexpedient to risk the chance of its\nmeeting the neighbours\u2019 ears; now, however, there is no help but to tell\nthee thereof. One day as I came to the house-door I espied thereon a\nwhite chalk-mark, and on the next day a red sign beside the white. I\nknew not the intent wherewith the marks were made, nevertheless I set\nothers upon the entrances of sundry neighbours, judging that some enemy\nhad done this deed whereby to encompass my master\u2019s destruction.\nTherefore I made the marks on all the other doors in such perfect\nconformity with those I found, that it would be hard to distinguish\namongst them.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace\ntill\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Morgiana continued\nto Ali Baba:\u2014\u201cJudge now and see if these signs and all this villainy be\nnot the work of the bandits of the forest, who marked our house that on\nsuch wise they might know it again. Of these forty thieves there yet\nremain two others concerning whose case I know naught; so beware of\nthem, but chiefly of the third remaining robber, their Captain, who fled\nhence alive. Take good heed and be thou cautious of him, for, shouldst\nthou fall into his hands, he will in no wise spare thee but will surely\nmurther thee. I will do all that lieth in me to save from hurt and harm\nthy life and property, nor shall thy slave be found wanting in any\nservice to my lord.\u201d Hearing these words Ali Baba rejoiced with\nexceeding joyance and said to her, \u201cI am well pleased with thee for this\nthy conduct; and say me what wouldst thou have me do in thy behalf; I\nshall not fail to remember thy brave deed so long as breath in me\nremaineth.\u201d Quoth she, \u201cIt behoveth us before all things forthright to\nbury these bodies in the ground, that so the secret be not known to any\none.\u201d Hereupon Ali Baba took with him his slave-boy Abdullah into the\ngarden and there under a tree they dug for the corpses of the thieves a\ndeep pit in size proportionate to its contents, and they dragged the\nbodies (having carried off their weapons) to the fosse and threw them\nin; then, covering up the remains of the seven and thirty robbers they\nmade the ground appear level and clean as it wont to be. They also hid\nthe leathern jars and the gear and arms and presently Ali Baba sent the\nmules by ones and twos to the Bazar and sold them all with the able aid\nof his slave-boy Abdullah. Thus the matter was hushed up nor did it\nreach the ears of any; however, Ali Baba ceased not to be ill at ease\nlest haply the Captain or the surviving two robbers should wreak their\nvengeance on his head. He kept himself private with all caution and took\nheed that none learn a word of what had happened and of the wealth which\nhe had carried off from the bandits\u2019 cave. Meanwhile the Captain of the\nthieves having escaped with his life, fled to the forest in hot wrath\nand sore irk of mind; and his senses were scattered and the colour of\nhis visage vanished like ascending smoke. Then he thought the matter\nover again and again, and at last he firmly resolved that he needs must\ntake the life of Ali Baba, else he would lose all the treasure which his\nenemy, by knowledge of the magical words, would take away and turn to\nhis own use. Furthermore, he determined that he would undertake the\nbusiness single-handed; and, that after getting rid of Ali Baba, he\nwould gather together another band of banditti and would pursue his\ncareer of brigandage, as indeed his forbears had done for many\ngenerations. So he lay down to rest that night, and rising early in the\nmorning donned a dress of suitable appearance; then going to the city\nalighted at a caravanserai, thinking to himself, \u201cDoubtless the murther\nof so many men hath reached the Wali\u2019s ears, and Ali Baba hath been\nseized and brought to justice, and his house is levelled and his good is\nconfiscated. The townsfolk must surely have heard tidings of these\nmatters.\u201d So he straightway asked of the keeper of the kh\u00e1n, \u201cWhat\nstrange things have happened in the city during the last few days?\u201d and\nthe other told him all that he had seen and heard, but the Captain could\nnot learn a whit of that which most concerned him. Hereby he understood\nthat Ali Baba was ware and wise, and that he had not only carried away\nsuch store of treasure but he had also destroyed so many lives and\nwithal had come off scatheless; furthermore, that he himself must needs\nhave all his wits alert not to fall into the hands of his foe and\nperish. With this resolve the Captain hired a shop in the Bazar, whither\nhe bore whole bales of the finest stuffs and goodly merchandise from his\nforest treasure-house; and presently he took his seat within the store\nand fell to doing merchant\u2019s business. By chance his place fronted the\nbooth of the defunct Kasim where his son, Ali Baba\u2019s nephew, now traded;\nand the Captain, who called himself Khwajah Hasan, soon formed\nacquaintance and friendship with the shopkeepers around about him and\ntreated all with profuse civilities, but he was especially gracious and\ncordial to the son of Kasim, a handsome youth and a well-dressed, and\nofttimes he would sit and chat with him for a long while. A few days\nafter it chanced that Ali Baba, as he was sometime wont to do, came to\nsee his nephew, whom he found sitting in his shop. The Captain saw and\nrecognised him at sight and one morning he asked the young man, saying,\n\u201cPrithee tell me, who is he that ever and anon cometh to thee at thy\nplace of sale?\u201d whereto the youth made answer, \u201cHe is my uncle, the\nbrother of my father.\u201d Whereupon the Captain showed him yet greater\nfavour and affection the better to deceive him for his own devices, and\ngave him presents and made him sit at meat with him and fed him with the\ndaintiest of dishes. Presently Ali Baba\u2019s nephew bethought him it was\nonly right and proper that he also should invite the merchant to supper,\nbut whereas his own house was small, and he was straitened for room and\ncould not make a show of splendour, as did Khwajah Hasan, he took\ncounsel with his uncle on the matter.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Ali Baba replied\nto his nephew:\u2014\u201cThou sayest well: it behoveth thee to entreat thy friend\nin fairest fashion even as he hath entreated thee. On the morrow, which\nis Friday, shut thy shop as do all merchants of repute; then, after the\nearly meal, take Khwajah Hasan to smell the air,[55] and as thou walkest\nlead him hither unawares; meanwhile I will give orders that Morgiana\nshall make ready for his coming the best of viands and all necessaries\nfor a feast. Trouble not thyself on any wise, but leave the matter in my\nhands.\u201d Accordingly on the next day, to wit, Friday, the nephew of Ali\nBaba took Khwajah Hasan to walk about the garden; and, as they were\nreturning he led him by the street wherein his uncle dwelt. When they\ncame to the house, the youth stopped at the door and knocking said, \u201cO\nmy lord, this is my second home: my uncle hath heard much of thee and of\nthy goodness me-wards and desireth with exceeding desire to see thee;\nso, shouldst thou consent to enter and visit him, I shall be truly glad\nand thankful to thee.\u201d Albeit Khwajah Hasan rejoiced in heart that he\nhad thus found means whereby he might have access to his enemy\u2019s house\nand household, and although he hoped soon to attain his end by\ntreachery, yet he hesitated to enter in and stood to make his excuses\nand walk away. But when the door was opened by the slave-porter, Ali\nBaba\u2019s nephew seized his companion\u2019s hand and after abundant persuasion\nled him in, whereat he entered with great show of cheerfulness as though\nmuch pleased and honoured. The house-master received him with all favour\nand worship and asked him of his welfare, and said to him, \u201cO my lord, I\nam obliged and thankful to thee for that thou hast shewn favour to the\nson of my brother and I perceive that thou regardest him with an\naffection even fonder than my own.\u201d Khwajah Hasan replied with pleasant\nwords and said, \u201cThy nephew vastly taketh my fancy and in him I am well\npleased, for that although young in years yet he hath been endued by\nAllah with much of wisdom.\u201d Thus they twain conversed with friendly\nconversation and presently the guest rose to depart and said, \u201cO my\nlord, thy slave must now farewell thee; but on some future\nday\u2014Inshallah\u2014he will again wait upon thee.\u201d Ali Baba, however, would\nnot let him leave and asked, \u201cWhither wendest thou, O my friend? I would\ninvite thee to my table and I pray thee sit at meat with us and after\nhie thee home in peace. Perchance the dishes are not as delicate as\nthose whereof thou art wont to eat, still deign grant me this request I\npray thee and refresh thyself with my victual.\u201d Quoth Khwajah Hasan, \u201cO\nmy lord I am beholden to thee for thy gracious invitation, and with\npleasure would I sit at meat with thee, but for a special reason must I\nneeds excuse myself; suffer me therefore to depart for I may not tarry\nlonger nor accept thy gracious offer.\u201d Hereto the host made reply, \u201cI\npray thee, O my lord, tell me what may be the reason so urgent and\nweighty?\u201d And Khwajah Hasan answered, \u201cThe cause is this: I must not, by\norder of the physician, who cured me lately of my complaint, eat aught\nof food prepared with salt.\u201d Quoth Ali Baba, \u201cAn this be all, deprive me\nnot, I pray thee, of the honour thy company will confer upon me: as the\nmeats are not yet cooked, I will forbid the kitchener to make use of any\nsalt. Tarry here awhile and I will return anon to thee.\u201d So saying Ali\nBaba went in to Morgiana and bade her not put salt into any one of the\ndishes; and she, while busied with her cooking, fell to marvelling\ngreatly at such order and asked her master, \u201cWho is he that eateth meat\nwherein is no salt?\u201d He answered, \u201cWhat to thee mattereth it who he may\nbe? only do thou my bidding.\u201d She rejoined, \u201c\u2019Tis well: all shall be as\nthou wishest;\u201d but in mind she wondered at the man who made such strange\nrequest and desired much to look upon him. Wherefore, when all the meats\nwere ready for serving up, she helped the slave-boy Abdullah to spread\nthe table and set on the meal; and no sooner did she see Khwajah Hasan\nthan she knew who he was, albeit he had disguised himself in the dress\nof a stranger merchant; furthermore, when she eyed him attentively she\nespied a dagger hidden under his robe. \u201cSo ho!\u201d quoth she to herself,\n\u201cthis is the cause why the villain eateth not of salt, for that he\nseeketh an opportunity to slay my master whose mortal enemy he is;\nhowbeit I will be beforehand with him and despatch him ere he find a\nchance to harm my lord.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Morgiana, having\nspread a white cloth upon the table and served up the meal, went back to\nthe kitchen and thought out her plot against the robber-Captain. Now\nwhen Ali Baba and Khwajah Hasan had eaten their sufficiency, the\nslave-boy Abdullah brought Morgiana word to serve the dessert, and she\ncleared the table and set on fruit fresh and dried in salvers, then she\nplaced by the side of Ali Baba a small tripod for three cups with a\nflagon of wine, and lastly she went off with the slave-boy Abdullah into\nanother room, as though she would herself eat supper. Then Khwajah\nHasan, that is, the Captain of the robbers, perceiving that the coast\nwas clear, exulted mightily saying to himself, \u201cThe time hath come for\nme to take full vengeance; with one thrust of my dagger I will despatch\nthis fellow, then escape across the garden and wend my ways. His nephew\nwill not adventure to stay my hand, for an he do but move a finger or\ntoe with that intent another stab will settle his earthly account. Still\nmust I wait awhile until the slave-boy and the cook-maid shall have\neaten and lain down to rest them in the kitchen.\u201d Morgiana, however,\nwatched him wistfully and divining his purpose said in her mind, \u201cI must\nnot allow this villain advantage over my lord, but by some means I must\nmake void his project and at once put an end to the life of him.\u201d\nAccordingly, the trusty slave-girl changed her dress with all haste and\ndonned such clothes as dancers wear; she veiled her face with a costly\nkerchief; around her head she bound a fine turband, and about her middle\nshe tied a waist-cloth worked with gold and silver wherein she stuck a\ndagger, whose hilt was rich in filigree and jewelry. Thus disguised she\nsaid to the slave-boy Abdullah, \u201cTake now thy tambourine that we may\nplay and sing and dance in honour of our master\u2019s guest.\u201d So he did her\nbidding and the twain went into the room, the lad playing and the lass\nfollowing. Then, making a low cong\u00e9e, they asked leave to perform and\ndisport and play; and Ali Baba gave permission, saying, \u201cDance now and\ndo your best that this our guest may be mirthful and merry.\u201d Quoth\nKhwajah Hasan, \u201cO my lord, thou dost indeed provide much pleasant\nentertainment.\u201d Then the slave-boy Abdullah standing by began to strike\nthe tambourine whilst Morgiana rose up and showed her perfect art and\npleased them vastly with graceful steps and sportive motion; and\nsuddenly drawing the poniard from her belt she brandished it and paced\nfrom side to side, a spectacle which pleased them most of all. At times\nalso she stood before them, now clapping the sharp-edged dagger under\nher armpit and then setting it against her breast. Lastly she took the\ntambourine from the slave-boy Abdullah, and still holding the poniard in\nher right she went round for largesse as is the custom amongst\nmerry-makers. First she stood before Ali Baba who threw a gold coin into\nthe tambourine, and his nephew likewise put in an Ashrafi; then Khwajah\nHasan, seeing her about to approach him, fell to pulling out his purse,\nwhen she heartened her heart and quick as the blinding leven she plunged\nthe dagger into his vitals, and forthwith the miscreant fell back\nstone-dead. Ali Baba was dismayed and cried in his wrath, \u201cO unhappy,\nwhat is this deed thou hast done to bring about my ruin!\u201d But she\nreplied, \u201cNay, O my lord, rather to save thee and not to cause thee harm\nhave I slain this man: loosen his garments and see what thou wilt\ndiscover thereunder.\u201d So Ali Baba searched the dead man\u2019s dress and\nfound concealed therein a dagger. Then said Morgiana, \u201cThis wretch was\nthy deadly enemy. Consider him well: he is none other than the oil\nmerchant, the Captain of the band of robbers. Whenas he came hither with\nintent to take thy life, he would not eat thy salt; and when thou\ntoldest me that he wished not any in the meat I suspected him and at\nfirst sight I was assured that he would surely do thee die; Almighty\nAllah be praised \u2019tis even as I thought.\u201d Then Ali Baba lavished upon\nher thanks and expressions of gratitude, saying, \u201cLo, these two times\nhast thou saved me from his hand,\u201d and falling upon her neck he cried,\n\u201cSee thou art free, and as reward for this thy fealty I have wedded thee\nto my nephew.\u201d Then turning to the youth he said, \u201cDo as I bid thee and\nthou shalt prosper. I would that thou marry Morgiana, who is a model of\nduty and loyalty: thou seest now yon Khwajah Hasan sought thy friendship\nonly that he might find opportunity to take my life, but this maiden\nwith her good sense and her wisdom hath slain him and saved us.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as\nthe morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Ali Baba\u2019s nephew\nstraightway consented to marry Morgiana. After which the three, raising\nthe dead body bore it forth with all heed and vigilance and privily\nburied it in the garden, and for many years no one knew aught thereof.\nIn due time Ali Baba married his brother\u2019s son to Morgiana with great\npomp, and spread a bride-feast in most sumptuous fashion for his friends\nand neighbours, and made merry with them and enjoyed singing and all\nmanner of dancing and amusements. He prospered in every undertaking and\nTime smiled upon him and a new source of wealth was opened to him. For\nfear of the thieves he had not once visited the jungle-cave wherein lay\nthe treasure, since the day he had carried forth the corpse of his\nbrother Kasim. But some time after, he mounted his hackney one morning\nand journeyed thither, with all care and caution, till finding no signs\nof man or horse, and reassured in his mind he ventured to draw near the\ndoor. Then alighting from his beast he tied it up to a tree, and going\nto the entrance pronounced the words which he had not forgotten, \u201cOpen,\nO Simsim!\u201d Hereat, as was its wont, the door flew open, and entering\nthereby he saw the goods and hoard of gold and silver untouched and\nlying as he had left them. So he felt assured that not one of all the\nthieves remained alive, and, that save himself there was not a soul who\nknew the secret of the place. At once he bound in his saddlecloth a load\nof Ashrafis such as his horse could bear and brought it home; and in\nafter days he showed the hoard to his sons and sons\u2019 sons and taught\nthem how the door could be caused to open and shut. Thus Ali Baba and\nhis household lived all their lives in wealth and joyance in that city\nwhere erst he had been a pauper, and by the blessing of that secret\ntreasure he rose to high degree and dignities.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to\ndawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n\n\n                ALI KHWAJAH AND THE MERCHANT OF BAGHDAD.\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Thirty-ninth Night.\n\nThen by the command of King Shahryar Queen Shahrazad began to tell in\nthese words the story of\n\n\n\n\n               _ALI KHWAJAH AND THE MERCHANT OF BAGHDAD_.\n\n\n\nUnder the reign of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid there dwelt in the city of\nBaghdad a certain merchant, \u2019Al\u00ed Khw\u00e1jah hight, who had a small stock of\ngoods wherewith he bought and sold and made a bare livelihood, abiding\nalone and without a family in the house of his forbears. Now so it came\nto pass that each night for three nights together he saw in vision a\nvenerable Shaykh who bespake him thus, \u201cThou art beholden to make a\npilgrimage to Meccah; why abidest thou sunk in heedless slumber and\nfarest not forth as it behoveth thee?\u201d[56] Hearing these words he became\nsore startled and affrighted, so that he sold shop and goods and all\nthat he had; and, with firm intent to visit the Holy House of Almighty\nAllah, he let his home on hire and joined a caravan that was journeying\nto Meccah the Magnified. But ere he left his natal city he placed a\nthousand gold pieces, which were over and above his need for the\njourney, within an earthen jar filled up with As\u00e1f\u00edr\u00ed[57] or Sparrow\nolives; and, having made fast the mouth thereof, he carried the jar to a\nmerchant-friend of many years standing and said, \u201cBelike, O my brother,\nthou hast heard tell that I purpose going with a caravan on pilgrimage\nto Meccah, the Holy City; so I have brought a jar of olives the which, I\npray thee, preserve for me in trust against my return.\u201d The merchant at\nonce arose and handing the key of his warehouse to Ali Khwajah said,\n\u201cHere, take the key and open the store and therein place the jar\nanywhere thou choosest, and when thou shalt come back thou wilt find it\neven as thou leftest it.\u201d Hereupon Ali Khwajah did his friend\u2019s bidding\nand locking up the door returned the key to its master. Then loading his\ntravelling goods upon a dromedary and mounting a second beast he fared\nforth with the caravan. They came at length to Meccah the Magnified, and\nit was the month Z\u00fa al-Hijjah wherein myriads of Moslems hie thither on\npilgrimage and pray and prostrate before the Ka\u2019abah-temple. And when he\nhad circuited the Holy House and fulfilled all the rites and ceremonies\nrequired of palmers, he set up a shop for sale of merchandise.[58] By\nchance two merchants passing along that street espied the fine stuffs\nand goods in Ali Khwajah\u2019s booth and approved much of them and praised\ntheir beauty and excellence. Presently quoth one to other, \u201cThis man\nbringeth here most rare and costly goods: now in Cairo, the capital of\nEgypt-land would he get full value for them, and far more than in the\nmarkets of this city.\u201d Hearing mention of Cairo, Ali Khwajah conceived a\nsore longing to visit that famous capital, so he gave up his intent of\nreturn Baghdad-wards and purposed wayfaring to Egypt. Accordingly he\njoined a caravan and arriving thither was well pleased with the place,\nboth country and city; and selling his merchandise he made great gain\ntherefrom. Then buying other goods and stuffs he purposed to make\nDamascus; but for one full month he tarried at Cairo and visited her\nsanctuaries and saintly places and after leaving her walls he solaced\nhimself with seeing many famous cities distant several days\u2019 journey\nfrom the capital along the banks of the River Nilus. Presently, bidding\nadieu to Egypt he arrived at the Sanctified House,[59] Jerusalem and\nprayed in the Temple of the Banu Isra\u2019\u00edl which the Moslems had\nre-edified. In due time he reached Damascus and observed that the city\nwas well builded and much peopled, and that the fields and meads were\nwell-watered with springs and channels and that the gardens and vergiers\nwere laden with flowers and fruits. Amid such delights Ali Khwajah\nhardly thought of Baghdad; withal he ceased not to pursue his journey\nthrough Aleppo, Mosul and Shir\u00e1z, tarrying some time at all of these\ntowns, especially at Shir\u00e1z, till at length after seven years of\nwayfaring he came back to Baghdad.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n             The end of the Six Hundred and Fortieth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014It behoveth thee now, O auspicious King, to hear of the\nBaghdad merchant and his lack of probity. For seven long years he never\nonce thought of Ali Khwajah or of the trust committed to his charge;\ntill one day as his wife sat at meat with him at the evening meal, their\ntalk by chance was of olives. Quoth she to him, \u201cI would now fain have\nsome that I may eat of them;\u201d and quoth he, \u201cAs thou speakest thereof I\nbethink me of that Ali Khwajah who seven years ago fared on a pilgrimage\nto Meccah, and ere he went left in trust with me a jar of Sparrowolives\nwhich still cumbereth the store-house. Who knoweth where he is or what\nhath betided him? A man who lately returned with the Hajj-caravan\nbrought me word that Ali Khwajah had quitted Meccah the Magnified with\nintent to journey on to Egypt. Allah Almighty alone knoweth an he be\nstill alive or he be now dead; however, if his olives be in good\ncondition I will go bring some hither that we may taste them: so give me\na platter and a lamp that I may fetch thee somewhat of them.\u201d His wife,\nan honest woman and an upright, made answer, \u201cAllah forbid that thou\nshouldst do a deed so base and break thy word and covenant. Who can\ntell? Thou art not assured by any of his death; perchance he may come\nback from Egypt safe and sound to-morrow or the day after; then wilt\nthou, an thou cannot deliver unharmed to him what he hath left in\npledge, be ashamed of this thy broken troth and we shall be disgraced\nbefore man and dishonoured in the presence of thy friend. I will not for\nmy part have any hand in such meanness nor will I taste the olives;\nfurthermore, it standeth not to reason that after seven years\u2019 keeping\nthey should be fit to eat. I do implore thee to forswear this ill\npurpose.\u201d On such wise the merchant\u2019s wife protested and prayed her\nhusband that he meddle not with Ali Khwajah\u2019s olives, and shamed him of\nhis intent so that for the nonce he cast the matter from his mind.\nHowever, although the trader refrained that evening from taking Ali\nKhwajah\u2019s olives, yet he kept the design in memory until one day when,\nof his obstinacy and unfaith, he resolved to carry out his project; and\nrising up walked towards the store-room dish in hand. By chance he met\nhis wife who said, \u201cI am no partner with thee in this ill-action: in\nvery truth some evil shall befal thee an thou do such deed.\u201d He heard\nher but heeded her not; and, going to the store-room opened the jar and\nfound the olives spoiled and white with mould; but presently he tilted\nup the jar and pouring some of its contents into the dish, suddenly saw\nan Ashrafi fall from the vessel together with the fruit. Then, filled\nwith greed, he turned out all that was within into another jar and\nwondered with exceeding wonder to find the lower half full of golden\ncoins. Presently, putting up the moneys and the olives he closed the\nvessel and going back said to his wife, \u201cThou spakest sooth, for I have\nexamined the jar and have found the fruit mouldy and foul of smell;\nwherefore I returned it to its place and left it as it was aforetime.\u201d\nThat night the merchant could not sleep a wink for thinking of the gold\nand how he might lay hands thereon; and when morning morrowed he took\nout all the Ashrafis and buying some fresh olives in the Bazar filled up\nthe jar with them and closed the mouth and set it in its usual place.\nNow it came to pass by Allah\u2019s mercy that at the end of the month Ali\nKhwajah returned safe and sound to Baghdad; and he first went to his old\nfriend, to wit, the merchant who, greeting him with feigned joy, fell on\nhis neck, but withal was sore troubled and perplexed at what might\nhappen. After salutations and much rejoicing on either part Ali Khwajah\nbespake the merchant on business and begged that he might take back his\njar of Asafiri-olives which he had placed in charge of his familiar.\nQuoth the merchant to Ali Khwajah, \u201cO my friend, I wot not where thou\ndidst leave thy jar of olives; but here is the key, go down to the\nstore-house and take all that is thine own.\u201d So Ali Khwajah did as he\nwas bidden and carrying the jar from the magazine took his leave and\nhastened home; but, when he opened the vessel and found not the gold\ncoins, he was distracted and overwhelmed with grief and made bitter\nlamentation. Then he returned to the merchant and said, \u201cO my friend,\nAllah, the All-present and the All-seeing, be my witness that, when I\nwent on my pilgrimage to Meccah the Magnified, I left a thousand\nAshrafis in that jar, and now I find them not. Canst thou tell me aught\nconcerning them? An thou in thy sore need have made use of them, it\nmattereth not so thou wilt give them back as soon as thou art able.\u201d The\nmerchant, apparently pitying him, said, \u201cO good my friend, thou didst\nthyself with thine hand set the jar inside the store-room. I wist not\nthat thou hadst aught in it save olives; yet as thou didst leave it, so\nin like manner didst thou find it and carry it away; and now thou\nchargest me with theft of Ashrafis. It seemeth strange and passing\nstrange that thou shouldst make such accusation. When thou wentest thou\nmadest no mention of any money in the jar, but saidst that it was full\nof olives, even as thou hast found it. Hadst thou left gold coins\ntherein, then surely thou wouldst have recovered them.\u201d Hereupon Ali\nKhwajah begged hard with much entreaty, saying, \u201cThose thousand Ashrafis\nwere all I owned, the money earned by years of toil: I do beseech thee\nhave pity on my case and give them back to me.\u201d Replied the merchant,\nwaxing wroth with great wrath, \u201cO my friend, a fine fellow thou art to\ntalk of honesty and withal make such false and lying charge. Begone: hie\nthee hence and come not to my house again; for now I know thee as thou\nart, a swindler and impostor.\u201d Hearing this dispute between Ali Khwajah\nand the merchant all the people of the quarter came crowding to the\nshop.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-first Night,\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the multitude\nwhich thronged about the merchant\u2019s shop warmly took up the matter; and\nthus it became well known to all, rich and poor, within the city of\nBaghdad how that one Ali Khwajah had hidden a thousand Ashrafis within a\njar of olives and had placed it on trust with a certain merchant;\nmoreover how, after pilgrim-ageing to Meccah and seven years of travel\nthe poor man had returned, and that the rich man had gainsaid his words\nanent the gold and was ready to make oath that he had not received any\ntrust of the kind. At length, when naught else availed, Ali Khwajah was\nconstrained to bring the matter before the Kazi, and to claim one\nthousand Ashrafis of his false friend. The Judge asked, \u201cWhat witnesses\nhast thou who may speak for thee?\u201d and the plaintiff answered, \u201cO my\nlord the Kazi, I feared to tell the matter to any man lest all come to\nknow of my secret. Allah Almighty is my sole testimony. This merchant\nwas my friend and I recked not that he would prove dishonest and\nunfaithful.\u201d Quoth the Judge, \u201cThen must I needs send for the merchant\nand hear what he saith on oath;\u201d and when the defendant came they made\nhim swear by all he deemed holy, facing Ka\u2019abah-wards with hands\nuplifted, and he cried, \u201cI swear that I know naught of any Ashrafis\nbelonging to Ali Khwajah.\u201d[60] Hereat the Kazi pronounced him innocent\nand dismissed him from court; and Ali Khwajah went home sad at heart and\nsaid to himself, \u201cAlas, what justice is this which hath been meted out\nto me, that I should lose my money, and my just cause be deemed unjust!\nIt hath been truly said:\u2014He loseth the lave who sueth before a knave.\u201d\nOn the next day he drew out a statement of his case; and, as the Caliph\nHarun al-Rashid was on his way to Friday-prayers, he fell down on the\nground before him and presented to him the paper. The Commander of the\nFaithful read the petition and having understood the case deigned give\norder saying, \u201cTo-morrow bring the accuser and the accused to the\naudience-hall and place the petition before my presence, for I myself\nwill enquire into this matter.\u201d That night the Prince of True Believers,\nas was his wont, donned disguise to walk about the squares of Baghdad\nand its streets and lanes and, accompanied by Ja\u2019afar the Barmaki and\nMasr\u00far the Sworder of his vengeance, proceeded to espy what happened in\nthe city. Immediately on issuing forth he came upon an open place in the\nBazar when he heard the hubbub of children a-playing and saw at scanty\ndistance some ten or dozen boys making sport amongst themselves in the\nmoonlight; and he stopped awhile to watch their diversion. Then one\namongst the lads, a goodly and a fair-complexioned, said to the others,\n\u201cCome now and let us play the game of Kazi: I will be the Judge; let one\nof you be Ali Khwajah, and another the merchant with whom he placed the\nthousand Ashrafis in pledge before faring on his pilgrimage: so come ye\nbefore me and let each one plead his plea.\u201d When the Caliph heard the\nname of Ali Khwajah he minded him of the petition which had been\npresented to him for justice against the merchant, and bethought him\nthat he would wait and see how the boy would perform the part of Kazi in\ntheir game and upon what decision he would decide. So the Prince watched\nthe mock-trial with keen interest saying to himself, \u201cThis case hath\nverily made such stir within the city that even the children know\nthereof and re-act it in their sports.\u201d Presently, he amongst the lads\nwho took the part of Ali Khwajah the plaintiff and his playmate who\nrepresented the merchant of Baghdad accused of theft, advanced and stood\nbefore the boy who as the Kazi sat in pomp and dignity. Quoth the Judge,\n\u201cO Ali Khwajah, what is thy claim against this merchant?\u201d and the\ncomplainant preferred his charge in a plea of full detail. Then said the\nKazi to the boy who acted merchant, \u201cWhat answerest thou to this\ncomplaint and why didst thou not return the gold pieces?\u201d The accused\nmade reply even as the real defendant had done and denied the charge\nbefore the Judge, professing himself ready to take oath thereto. Then\nsaid the boy-Kazi, \u201cEre thou swear on oath that thou hast not taken the\nmoney, I would fain see for myself the jar of olives which the plaintiff\ndeposited with thee on trust.\u201d Then turning to the boy who represented\nAli Khwajah he cried, \u201cGo thou and instantly produce the jar that I may\ninspect it.\u201d And when the vessel was brought the Kazi said to the two\ncontentious, \u201cSee now and say me: be this the very jar which thou, the\nplaintiff, leftest with the defendant?\u201d and both answered that it was\none and the same. Then said the self-constituted Judge, \u201cOpen now the\njar and bring hither some of the contents that I may see the state in\nwhich the Asafiri-olives actually are.\u201d Then tasting of the fruit, \u201cHow\nis this? I find their flavour is fresh and their state excellent. Surely\nduring the lapse of seven twelvemonths the olives would have become\nmouldy and rotten. Bring now before me two oil-merchants of the town\nthat they may pass opinion upon them.\u201d Then two other of the boys\nassumed the parts commanded and coming into court stood before the Kazi,\nwho asked, \u201cAre ye olive-merchants by trade?\u201d They answered, \u201cWe are and\nthis hath been our calling for many generations and in buying and\nselling olives we earn our daily bread.\u201d Then said the Kazi, \u201cTell me\nnow, how long do olives keep fresh and well-flavoured?\u201d and said they,\n\u201cO my lord, however carefully we keep them, after the third year they\nchange flavour and colour and become no longer fit for food, in fact\nthey are good only to be cast away.\u201d Thereupon quoth the boy-Kazi,\n\u201cExamine me now these olives that are in this jar and say me how old are\nthey and what is their condition and savour.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to\ndawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-second Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the two boys who\nplayed the parts of oil-merchants pretended to take some berries from\nthe jar and taste them and presently they said, \u201cO our lord the Kazi,\nthese olives are in fair condition and full-flavoured.\u201d Quoth the Kazi,\n\u201cYe speak falsely, for \u2019tis seven years since Ali Khwajah put them in\nthe jar as he was about to go a-pilgrimageing;\u201d and quoth they, \u201cSay\nwhatso thou wilt, those olives are of this year\u2019s growth, and there is\nnot an oil-merchant in all Baghdad but who will agree with us.\u201d Moreover\nthe accused was made to taste and smell the fruits and he could not but\nadmit that it was even so as they had avouched. Then said the boy-Kazi\nto the boy-defendant, \u201c\u2019Tis clear thou art a rogue and a rascal, and\nthou hast done a deed wherefor thou richly deservest the gibbet.\u201d\nHearing this the children frisked about and clapped their hands with\nglee and gladness, then seizing hold of him who acted as the merchant of\nBaghdad, they led him off as to execution. The Commander of the\nFaithful, Harun al-Rashid, was greatly pleased at this acuteness of the\nboy who had assumed the part of judge in the play, and commanded his\nWazir Ja\u2019afar saying, \u201cMark well the lad who enacted the Kazi in this\nmock-trial and see that thou produce him on the morrow: he shall try the\ncase in my presence substantially and in real earnest, even as we have\nheard him deal with it in play. Summon also the Kazi of this city that\nhe may learn the administration of justice from this child. Moreover\nsend word to Ali Khwajah bidding him bring with him the jar of olives,\nand have also in readiness two oil-merchants of the town.\u201d Thus as they\nwalked along the Caliph gave orders to the Wazir and then returned to\nhis palace. So on the morrow Ja\u2019afar the Barmaki went to that quarter of\nthe town where the children had enacted the mock-trial and asked the\nschoolmaster where his scholars might be, and he answered, \u201cThey have\nall gone away, each to his home.\u201d So the Minister visited the houses\npointed out to him and ordered the little ones to appear in his\npresence. Accordingly they were brought before him, when he said to\nthem, \u201cWho amongst you is he that yesternight acted the part of Kazi in\nplay and passed sentence in the case of Ali Khwajah?\u201d The eldest of them\nreplied, \u201c\u2019Twas I, O my lord the Wazir;\u201d and then he waxed pale, not\nknowing why the question was put. Cried the Minister, \u201cCome along with\nme; the Commander of the Faithful hath need of thee.\u201d At this the mother\nof the lad was sore afraid and wept; but Ja\u2019afar comforted her and said,\n\u201cO my lady, have no fear and trouble not thyself. Thy son will soon\nreturn to thee in safety, Inshallah\u2014God willing\u2014and methinks the Sultan\nwill show much favour unto him.\u201d The woman\u2019s heart was heartened on\nhearing these words of the Wazir and she joyfully dressed her boy in his\nbest attire and sent him off with the Wazir, who led him by the hand to\nthe Caliph\u2019s audience-hall and executed all the other commandments which\nhad been issued by his liege lord. Then the Commander of the Faithful,\nhaving taken seat upon the throne of justice, set the boy upon a seat\nbeside him, and as soon as the contending parties appeared before him,\nthat is Ali Khwajah and the merchant of Baghdad, he commanded them to\nstate each man his case in presence of the child who should adjudge the\nsuit. So the two, plaintiff and defendant recounted their contention\nbefore the boy in full detail; and when the accused stoutly denied the\ncharge and was about to swear on oath that what he said was true, with\nhands uplifted and facing Ka\u2019abah-wards, the child-Kazi prevented him,\nsaying, \u201cEnough! swear not on oath till thou art bidden; and first let\nthe jar of olives be produced in Court.\u201d Forthwith the jar was brought\nforward and placed before him; and the lad bade open it; then, tasting\none he gave also to two oil-merchants who had been summoned, that they\nmight do likewise and declare how old was the fruit and whether its\nsavour was good or bad. They did his bidding and said, \u201cThe flavour of\nthese olives hath not changed and they are of this year\u2019s growth.\u201d Then\nsaid the boy, \u201cMethinks ye are mistaken, for seven years ago Ali Khwajah\nput the olives into the jar: how then could fruit of this year find\ntheir way therein?\u201d But they replied, \u201c\u2019Tis even as we say: an thou\nbelieve not our words send straightway for other oil-merchants and make\nenquiry of them, so shalt thou know if we speak sooth or lies.\u201d But when\nthe merchant of Baghdad saw that he could no longer avail to prove his\ninnocence, he confessed everything; to wit, how he had taken out the\nAshrafis and filled the jar with fresh olives. Hearing this the boy said\nto the Prince of True Believers, \u201cO gracious Sovereign, last night in\nplay we tried this cause, but thou alone hast power to apply the\npenalty. I have adjudged the matter in thy presence and I humbly pray\nthat thou punish this merchant according to the law of the Koran and the\ncustom of the Apostle; and thou decree the restoring of his thousand\ngold pieces to Ali Khwajah, for that he hath been proved entitled to\nthem.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Caliph ordered\nthe merchant of Baghdad to be taken away and be hanged, after he should\nhave made known where he had put the thousand Ashrafis and that these\nshould have been restored to their rightful owner, Ali Khwajah. He also\nturned to the Kazi who had hastily adjudged the case, and bade him learn\nfrom that lad to do his duty more sedulously and conscientiously.\nMoreover the Prince of True Believers embraced the boy, and ordered that\nthe Wazir give him a thousand pieces of gold from the royal treasury and\nconduct him safely to his home and parents.[61] And after, when the lad\ngrew to man\u2019s estate, the Commander of the Faithful made him one of his\ncup-companions and furthered his fortunes and ever entreated him with\nthe highmost honour. But when Queen Shahrazad had ended the story of Ali\nKhwajah and the merchant of Baghdad she said, \u201cNow, O auspicious King, I\nwould relate a more excellent history than any, shouldst thou be pleased\nto hear that I have to say;\u201d and King Shahryar replied, \u201cBy Allah! what\nan admirable tale is this thou hast told: my ears do long to hear\nanother as rare and commendable.\u201d So Shahrazad began forthright to\nrecount the adventures of[62]\n\n\n\n\n               PRINCE AHMAD AND THE FAIRY PERI-BANU.[63]\n\n\nIn days of yore and times long gone before there was a Sultan of India\nwho begat three sons; the eldest hight Prince Husayn, the second Prince\nAli, and the youngest Prince Ahmad; moreover he had a niece, named\nPrincess Nur al-Nih\u00e1r,[64] the daughter of his cadet brother who, dying\nearly, left his only child under her uncle\u2019s charge. The King busied\nhimself with abundant diligence about her instruction and took all care\nthat she should be taught to read and write, sew and embroider, sing and\ndeftly touch all instruments of mirth and merriment. This Princess also\nin beauty and loveliness and in wit and wisdom far excelled all the\nmaidens of her own age in every land. She was brought up with the\nPrinces her cousins in all joyance; and they ate together and played\ntogether and slept together; and the king had determined in his mind\nthat when she reached marriageable age he would give her in wedlock to\nsome one of the neighbouring royalties; but, when she came to years of\ndiscretion, her uncle perceived that the three Princes his sons were all\nthree deep in love of her, and each desired in his heart to woo and to\nwin and to wed her. Wherefore was the King sore troubled in mind and\nsaid to himself, \u201cAn I give the Lady Nur al-Nih\u00e1r in wedlock to any one\nof her cousins, the other twain will be dissatisfied and murmur against\nmy decision; withal my soul cannot endure to see them grieved and\ndisappointed. And should I marry her to some stranger the three Princes\nmy sons will be sore distressed and saddened in soul; nay, who knoweth\nthat they may not slay themselves or go forth and betake them to some\nfar and foreign land? The matter is a troublous and a perilous; so it\nbehoveth me their sire to take action on such wise that if one of them\nespouse her, the other two be not displeased thereat.\u201d Long time the\nSultan revolved the matter in his mind; and at length he devised a\ndevice; and, sending for the three Princes, addressed them saying, \u201cO my\nsons, ye are in my opinion of equal merit one with other; nor can I give\npreference to any of you and marry him to the Princess Nur al-Nihar; nor\nyet am I empowered to wed her with all three. But I have thought of one\nplan whereby she shall be wife to one of you, and yet shall not cause\naught of irk or envy to his brethren; so may your mutual love and\naffection remain unabated, and one shall never be jealous of the other\u2019s\nhappiness. Brief, my device is this:\u2014Go ye and travel to distant\ncountries, each one separating himself from the others; and do ye bring\nme back the thing most wondrous and marvellous of all sights ye may see\nupon your wayfarings; and he who shall return with the rarest of\ncuriosities shall be husband to the Princess Nur al-Nihar. Consent ye\nnow to this proposal; and whatso of money ye require for travel and for\nthe purchase of objects seld-seen and singular, take ye from the royal\ntreasury as much as ye desire.\u201d The three Princes, who were ever\nsubmissive to their sire, consented with one voice to this proposal, and\neach was satisfied and confident that he would bring the King the most\nextraordinary of gifts and thereby win the Princess to wife. So the\nSultan bade give to each what moneys he wanted without stint or account,\nand counselled them to make ready for the journey without stay or delay\nand depart their home in the Peace of Allah.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to\ndawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-fourth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the three princely\nbrothers forthright made them ready for journey and voyage. So they\ndonned disguise, preferring the dress of wandering merchants; and,\nbuying such things as they needed and taking with them each his suite\nthey mounted steeds of purest blood and rode forth in a body from the\npalace. For several stages they travelled the same road until, reaching\na place where it branched off in three different ways, they alighted at\na Khan and ate the evening meal. Then they made compact and covenant,\nthat whereas they had thus far travelled together they should at break\nof day take separate roads and each wend his own way and all seek\ndifferent and distant regions, agreeing to travel for the space of one\nyear only, after which, should they be in the land of the living, all\nthree would rendezvous at that same caravanserai and return in company\nto the King their sire. Furthermore, they determined that the first who\ncame back to the Khan should await the arrival of the next, and that two\nof them should tarry there in expectancy of the third. Then, all this\nmatter duly settled, they retired to rest, and when the morning morrowed\nthey fell on one another\u2019s necks and bade farewell; and, lastly,\nmounting their horses, they rode forth each in his own direction. Now\nPrince Husayn, the eldest, had oft heard recount the wonders of the land\nBishangarh[65], and for a long while had wished to visit it; so he took\nthe road which led thither, and, joining himself to a caravan journeying\nthat way, accompanied it by land and by water and traversed many\nregions, desert wilds and stony wolds, dense jungles and fertile tracts,\nwith fields and hamlets and gardens and townships. After three months\nspent in wayfare at length he made Bishangarh, a region over-reigned by\nmanifold rulers, so great was its extent and so far reaching was its\npower. He put up at a Khan built specially for merchants who came from\nthe farthest lands, and from the folk who dwelt therein he heard tell\nthat the city contained a large central market[66] wherein men bought\nand sold all manner of rarities and wondrous things. Accordingly, next\nday Prince Husayn repaired to the Bazar and on sighting it he stood\namazed at the prospect of its length and width. It was divided into many\nstreets, all vaulted over but lit up by skylights; and the shops on\neither side were substantially builded, all after one pattern and nearly\nof the same size, while each was fronted by an awning which kept off the\nglare and made a grateful shade. Within these shops were ranged and\nordered various kinds of wares; there were bales of \u201cwoven air\u201d[67] and\nlinens of finest tissue, plain-white or dyed or adorned with life-like\npatterns wherefrom beasts and trees and blooms stood out so distinctly\nthat one might believe them to be very ferals, bosquets and gardens.\nThere were moreover silken goods, brocaded stuffs, and finest satins\nfrom Persia and Egypt of endless profusion; in the China warehouses\nstood glass vessels of all kinds, and here and there were stores wherein\ntapestries and thousands of foot-carpets lay for sale. So Prince Husayn\nwalked on from shop to shop and marvelled much to see such wondrous\nthings whereof he had never even dreamt: and he came at length to the\nGoldsmiths\u2019 Lane and espied gems and jewels and golden and silvern\nvessels studded with diamonds and rubies, emeralds, pearls and other\nprecious stones, all so lustrous and dazzling bright that the stores\nwere lit up with their singular brilliancy. Hereat he said to himself,\n\u201cIf in one street only there be such wealth and jewels so rare, Allah\nAlmighty and none save He knoweth what may be the riches in all this\ncity.\u201d He was not less astonished to behold the Brahmins, how their\nwoman-kind for excess of opulence bedecked themselves with the finest\ngems and were ornamented with the richest gear from front to foot: their\nvery slave-boys and handmaids wore golden necklaces and bracelets and\nbangles studded with precious stones. Along the length of one\nmarket-street were ranged hosts of flower-sellers; for all the folk,\nboth high and low, wore wreaths and garlands: some carried nosegays in\nhand, other some bound fillets round their heads, while not a few had\nropes and festoons surrounding and hanging from their necks. The whole\nplace seemed one huge parterre of bloomery; even traders set bouquets in\nevery shop and stall, and the scented air was heavy with perfume.\nStrolling to and fro Prince Husayn was presently tired and would fain\nhave sat him down somewhere to rest awhile, when one of the merchants,\nnoting his look of weariness, with kindly courtesy prayed him be seated\nin his store. After saluting him with the salam the stranger sat down;\nand anon he saw a broker come that way, offering for sale a carpet some\nfour yards square, and crying, \u201cThis be for sale; who giveth me its\nworth; to wit, thirty thousand gold pieces?\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to\ndawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-fifth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Prince\nmarvelled with excessive marvel at the price, and, beckoning the dealer,\nexamined his wares right well; then said he, \u201cA carpet such as this is\nselleth for a few silverlings. What special virtue hath it that thou\ndemand therefor the sum of thirty thousand gold coins?\u201d The broker,\nbelieving Husayn to be a merchant man lately arrived at Bishangarh,\nanswered him saying, \u201cO my lord, thinkest thou I price this carpet at\ntoo high a value? My master hath bidden me not to sell it for less than\nforty thousand Ashrafis.\u201d Quoth the Prince, \u201cIt surely doth possess some\nwondrous virtue, otherwise wouldst thou not demand so prodigious a sum;\u201d\nand quoth the broker, \u201c\u2019Tis true, O my lord, its properties are singular\nand marvellous. Whoever sitteth on this carpet and willeth in thought to\nbe taken up and set down upon other site will, in the twinkling of an\neye, be borne thither, be that place nearhand or distant many a day\u2019s\njourney and difficult to reach.\u201d[68] The Prince hearing these words said\nto himself, \u201cNaught so wonder-rare as this rug can I carry back to the\nSultan my sire to my gift, or any that afford him higher satisfaction\nand delight. Almighty Allah be praised, the aim of my wayfare is\nattained and hereby, Inshallah! I shall win to my wish. This, if\nanything, will be to him a joy for ever.\u201d Wherefore the Prince, with\nintent to buy the Flying Carpet, turned to the broker and said, \u201cIf\nindeed it have properties such as thou describest, verily the price thou\naskest therefor is not over much, and I am ready to pay thee the sum\nrequired.\u201d The other rejoined, \u201cAn thou doubt my words I pray thee put\nthem to the test and by such proof remove thy suspicions. Sit now upon\nthis square of tapestry, and at thy mere wish and will it shall\ntransport us to the caravanserai wherein thou abidest: on this wise\nshalt thou be certified of my words being sooth, and when assured of\ntheir truth thou mayest count out to me, there and then, but not before,\nthe value of my wares.\u201d Accordingly, the man spread out the carpet upon\nthe ground behind his shop and seated the Prince thereupon, he sitting\nby his side. Then, at the mere will[69] and wish of Prince Husayn, the\ntwain were at once transported as though borne by the throne of Solomon\nto the Khan. So the eldest of the brothers joyed with exceeding joy to\nthink that he had won so rare a thing, whose like could nowhere be found\nin the lands nor amongst the Kings; and his heart and soul were\ngladdened for that he had come to Bishangarh and hit upon such a\nprodigy. Accordingly he counted out the forty thousand Ashrafis as\npayment for the carpet, and gave, moreover, another twenty thousand by\nway of sweetmeat to the broker. Furthermore, he ceased not saying to\nhimself that the King on seeing it would forthright wed him to the\nPrincess Nur al-Nihar; for it were clear impossible that either of his\nbrothers, e\u2019en though they searched the whole world over and over, could\nfind a rarity to compare with this. He longed to take seat upon the\ncarpet that very instant and fly to his own country, or, at least, to\nawait his brothers at the caravanserai where they had parted under\npromise and covenant, pledged and concluded, to meet again at the year\u2019s\nend. But presently he bethought him that the delay would be long and\nlongsome, and much he feared lest he be tempted to take some rash step;\nwherefore he resolved upon sojourning in the country whose King and\nsubjects he had ardently desired to behold for many a day, and\ndetermined that he would pass the time in sight-seeing and in pleasuring\nover the lands adjoining. So Prince Husayn tarried in Bishangarh some\nmonths. Now the King of that country was wont to hold a high court once\nevery week for hearing disputes and adjudging causes which concerned\nforeign merchants; and thus the Prince ofttimes saw the King, but to\nnone would he tell a word of his adventure. However, inasmuch as he was\ncomely of countenance, graceful of gait, and courteous of accost, stout\nhearted and strong, wise and ware and witty, he was held by the folk in\nhigher honour than the Sultan; not to speak of the traders his fellows;\nand in due time he became a favourite at court and learned of the ruler\nhimself all matters concerning his kingdom and his grandeur and\ngreatness. The Prince also visited the most famous Pagodas[70] of that\ncountry. The first he saw was wrought in brass and orichalch of most\nexquisite workmanship: its inner cell measured three yards square and\ncontained amiddlemost a golden image in size and stature like unto a man\nof wondrous beauty; and so cunning was the workmanship that the face\nseemed to fix its eyes, two immense rubies of enormous value, upon all\nbeholders no matter where they stood.[71] He also saw another\nidol-temple, not less strange and rare than this, builded in a village\non a plain surface of some half acre long and broad, wherein bloomed\nlovely rose-trees and jasmine and herb-basil and many other\nsweet-scented plants, whose perfume made the air rich with fragrance.\nAround its court ran a wall three feet high, so that no animal might\nstray therein; and in the centre was a terrace well-nigh the height of a\nman, all made of white marble and wavy alabaster, each and every slab\nbeing dressed so deftly and joined with such nice joinery that the whole\npavement albeit covering so great a space, seemed to the sight but a\nsingle stone. In the centre of the terrace stood the domed fane towering\nsome fifty cubits high and conspicuous for many miles around: its length\nwas thirty cubits and its breadth twenty, and the red marbles of the\nrevetment were clean polished as a mirror, so that every image was\nreflected in it to the life. The dome was exquisitely carved and\nsumptuously ornamented without; and within were ranged in due rank and\nsequence rows and rows of idols. To this, the Holy of Holies, from morn\ntill eve thousands of Brahmins, men and women, came flocking for daily\nworship. They had sports and diversions as well as rites and ceremonies:\nsome feasted and others danced, some sang, others played on instruments\nof mirth and merriment, while here and there were plays and revels and\ninnocent merry-makings. And hither at every season flocked from distant\nlands hosts of pilgrims seeking to fulfil their vows and to perform\ntheir orisons; all bringing gifts of gold and silver coin and presents\nrare and costly which they offered to the gods in presence of the royal\nofficers.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-sixth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Prince Husayn also\nsaw a f\u00eate held once a year within the city of Bishangarh, and the Ryots\nall, both great and small, gathered together and circumambulated the\nPagodas; chiefly circuiting one which in size and grandeur surpassed all\nothers. Great and learned Pandits versed in the Sh\u00e1stras[72] made\njourneys of four or five months and greeted one another at that\nfestival; thither too the folk from all parts of India pilgrimaged in\nsuch crowds that Prince Husayn was astounded at the sight; and, by\nreason of the multitudes that thronged around the temples, he could not\nsee the mode in which the gods were worshipped. On one side of the\nadjacent plain which stretched far and wide, stood a new-made\nscaffolding of ample size and great magnificence, nine storeys high, and\nthe lower part supported by forty pillars; and here one day in every\nweek the King assembled his Wazirs for the purpose of meting out justice\nto all strangers in the land. The palace within was richly adorned and\nfurnished with costly furniture: without, upon the wall-faces were\nlimned homely landscapes and scenes of foreign parts and notably all\nmanner beasts and birds and insects even gnats and flies, portrayed with\nsuch skill of brain and cunning of hand that they seemed real and alive\nand the country-folk and villagers seeing from afar paintings of lions\nand tigers and similar ravenous beasts, were filled with awe and dismay.\nOn the three other sides of the scaffolding were pavilions, also of\nwood, built for use of the commons, illuminated and decorated inside and\noutside like the first, and wroughten so cunningly that men could turn\nthem round, with all the people in them, and moving them about transfer\nthem to whatsoever quarter they willed. On such wise they shifted these\nhuge buildings by aid of machinery;[73] and the folk inside could look\nupon a succession of sports and games. Moreover, on each side of the\nsquare elephants were ranged in ranks, the number amounting to well-nigh\none thousand, their trunks and ears and hinder parts being painted with\ncinnabar and adorned with various lively figures; their housings were of\ngold brocade and their howdahs purfled with silver, carrying minstrels\nwho performed on various instruments, whilst buffoons delighted the\ncrowd with their jokes and mimes played their most diverting parts. Of\nall the sports, however, which the Prince beheld, the elephant-show\namused him most and filled him with the greatest admiration. One huge\nbeast, which could be wheeled about where the keepers ever listed, for\nthat his feet rested upon a post which travelled on casters, held in his\ntrunk a flageolet whereon he played so sweetly well that all the people\nwere fain to cry Bravo! There was another but a smaller animal which\nstood upon one end of a beam laid crosswise upon, and attached with\nhinges to, a wooden block eight cubits high, and on the further end was\nplaced an iron weight as heavy as the elephant, who would press down for\nsome time upon the beam until the end touched the ground, and then the\nweight would raise him up again.[74] Thus the beam swung like a see-saw\naloft and adown; and, as it moved, the elephant swayed to and fro and\nkept time with the bands of music, loudly trumpeting the while. The\npeople moreover could wheel about this elephant from place to place as\nhe stood balanced on the beam; and such exhibitions of learned elephants\nwere mostly made in presence of the King. Prince Husayn spent well-nigh\na year in sight-seeing amongst the fairs and festivals of Bishangarh;\nand, when the period of the fraternal compact drew near, he spread his\ncarpet upon the courtground behind the Khan wherein he lodged, and\nsitting thereon, together with the suite and the steeds and all he had\nbrought with him, mentally wished that he might be transported to the\ncaravanserai where the three brothers had agreed to meet. No sooner had\nhe formed the thought than straightway, in the twinkling of an eye, the\ncarpet rose high in air and sped through space and carried them to the\nappointed stead where, still garbed as a merchant he remained in\nexpectation of his brothers\u2019 coming. Hearken now, O auspicious King, to\nwhat befel Prince Ali, the second brother of Prince Husayn. On the third\nday after he had parted from the two others, he also joined a caravan\nand journeyed towards Persia; then, after a march of four months\narriving at Shiraz, the capital of Iran-land, he alighted at a Khan, he\nand his fellow-travellers with whom he had made a manner of friendship;\nand, passing as a jeweller, there took up his abode with them. Next day\nthe traders fared forth to buy wares and to sell their goods; but Prince\nAli, who had brought with him naught of vendible, and only the things he\nneeded, presently doffed his travelling dress, and in company with a\ncomrade of the caravan entered the chief Bazar, known as the\nBazist\u00e1n,[75] or cloth-market. Ali strolled about the place, which was\nbuilt of brick and where all the shops had arched roofs resting on\nhandsome columns; and he admired greatly to behold the splendid\nstore-houses exposing for sale all manner goods of countless value. He\nwondered much what wealth was in the town if a single market-street\ncontained riches such as these. And as the brokers went about crying\ntheir goods for sale, he saw one of them hending in hand an ivory tube\nin length about a cubit, which he was offering for sale at the price of\nthirty thousand Ashrafis. Hearing such demand Prince Ali thought to\nhimself, \u201cAssuredly this fellow is a fool who asketh such a price for so\npaltry a thing.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace\ntill\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Prince Ali\npresently asked one of the shopkeepers with whom he had made\nacquaintance, saying, \u201cO my friend, is this man a maniac that he asketh\na sum of thirty thousand Ashrafis for this little pipe of ivory? Surely\nnone save an idiot would give him such a price and waste upon it such a\nmint of money.\u201d Said the shopman, \u201cO my lord, this broker is wiser and\nwarier than all the others of his calling, and by means of him I have\nsold goods worth thousands of sequins. Until yesterday he was in his\nsound senses; but I cannot say what state is his to-day and whether or\nno he have lost his wits; but this wot I well, that if he ask thirty\nthousand for yon ivory tube, \u2019twill be worth that same or even more.\nHowbeit we shall see with our own eyes. Sit thee here and rest within\nthe shop until he pass this way.\u201d So Prince Ali took where he was bidden\nand presently the broker was seen coming up the street. Then the shopman\ncalling to him said, \u201cO man, rare merit hath yon little pipe; for all\nthe folk are astounded to hear thee ask so high a price therefor; nay\nmore, this friend of mine thinketh that thou art crazy.\u201d The broker, a\nman of sense, was on no wise chafed at these words but answered with\ngentle speech, \u201cO my lord, I doubt not but that thou must deem me a\nmadman to ask so high a price, and set so great a value upon an article\nso mean; but when I shall have made known to thee its properties and\nvirtues, thou wilt most readily consent to take it at that valuation.\nNot thou alone but all men who have heard me cry my cry laugh and name\nme ninny.\u201d So saying, the broker showed the Spying Tube to Prince Ali\nand handing it to him said, \u201cExamine well this ivory, the properties of\nwhich I will explain to thee. Thou seest that it is furnished with a\npiece of glass at either end;[76] and, shouldst thou apply one extremity\nthereof to thine eye, thou shalt see what thing soe\u2019er thou listest and\nit shall appear close by thy side though parted from thee by many an\nhundred of miles.\u201d Replied the Prince \u201cThis passeth all conception, nor\ncan I believe it to be veridical until I shall have tested it and I\nbecome satisfied that \u2019tis even as thou sayest.\u201d Hereupon the broker\nplaced the little tube in Prince Ali\u2019s hand, and showing him the way to\nhandle it said, \u201cWhatso thou mayest wish to descry will be shown to thee\nby looking through this ivory.\u201d Prince Ali silently wished to sight his\nsire, and when he placed the pipe close to his eye forthwith he saw him\nhale and hearty, seated on his throne and dispensing justice to the\npeople of his dominion. Then the youth longed with great longing to look\nupon his lady-love the Princess Nur al-Nihar; and straightway he saw her\nalso sitting upon her bed, sound and sane, talking and laughing, whilst\na host of handmaids stood around awaiting her commands. The Prince was\nastonished exceedingly to behold this strange and wondrous spectacle,\nand said to himself, \u201cAn I should wander the whole world over for ten\nyears or more and search in its every corner and cranny, I shall never\nfind aught so rare and precious as this tube of ivory.\u201d Then quoth he to\nthe broker, \u201cThe virtues of thy pipe I find are indeed those thou hast\ndescribed, and right willingly I give thee to its price the thirty\nthousand Ashrafis.\u201d Replied the salesman, \u201cO my lord, my master hath\nsworn an oath that he will not part with it for less than forty thousand\ngold pieces.\u201d Hereupon the Prince, understanding that the broker was a\njust man and a true, weighed out to him the forty thousand sequins and\nbecame master of the Spying Tube, enraptured with the thought that\nassuredly it would satisfy his sire and obtain for him the hand of\nPrincess Nur al-Nihar. So with mind at ease Ali journeyed through Shiraz\nand over sundry parts of Persia; and in fine, when the year was\nwell-nigh spent he joined a caravan and, travelling back to India,\narrived safe and sound at the appointed caravanserai whither Prince\nHusayn had foregone him. There the twain tarried awaiting the third\nbrother\u2019s safe return. Such, O King Shahryar, is the story of the two\nbrothers; and now I beseech thee incline thine ear and hearken to what\nbefel the youngest, to wit Prince Ahmad; for indeed his adventure is yet\nmore peregrine and seld-seen of all. When he had parted from his\nbrothers, he took the road leading to Samarkand; and, arriving there\nafter long travel, he also like his brothers alighted at a Khan. Next\nday he fared forth to see the market-square, which folk call the\nBazistan, and he found it fairly laid out, the shops wroughten with\ncunning workmanship and filled with rare stuffs and precious goods and\ncostly merchandise. Now as he wandered to and fro he came across a\nbroker who was hawking a Magical Apple and crying aloud, \u201cWho will buy\nthis fruit, the price whereof be thirty-five thousand gold pieces?\u201d\nQuoth Prince Ahmad to the man, \u201cPrithee let me see the fruit thou\nholdest in hand, and explain to me what hidden virtue it possesseth that\nthou art asking for it so high a value.\u201d Quoth the other, smiling and\nhanding to him the apple, \u201cMarvel not at this, O good my lord: in sooth\nI am certified that when I shall have explained its properties and thou\nshalt see how it advantageth all mankind, thou wilt not deem my demand\nexorbitant; nay, rather thou wilt gladly give a treasure-house of gold\nso thou may possess it.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the broker said\nmoreover to Prince Ahmad, \u201cNow hearken to me, O my lord, and I will tell\nthee what of virtue lieth in this artificial apple. If anyone be sick of\na sickness however sore, nay more if he be ill nigh unto death, and\nperchance he smell this pome, he will forthwith recover and become well\nand whole of whatsoever disease he had, plague or pleurisy, fever or\nother malignant distemper, as though he never had been attacked; and his\nstrength will return to him forthright, and after smelling this fruit he\nwill be free from all ailment and malady so long as life shall remain to\nhim.\u201d Quoth Prince Ahmad, \u201cHow shall I be assured that what thou\nspeakest is truth? If the matter be even as thou sayest, then verily I\nwill give thee right gladly the sum thou demandest.\u201d Quoth the broker,\n\u201cO my lord, all men who dwell in the parts about Samarkand know full\nwell how there once lived in this city a sage of wondrous skill who,\nafter many years of toil and travail, wrought this apple by mixing\nmedicines from herbs and minerals countless in number. All his good,\nwhich was great, he expended upon it, and when he had perfected it he\nmade whole thousands of sick folk whom he directed only to smell the\nfruit. But, alas! his life presently came to an end and death overtook\nhim suddenly ere he could save himself by the marvellous scent; and, as\nhe had won no wealth and left only a bereaved wife and a large family of\nyoung children and dependants manifold, his widow had no help but\nprovide for them a maintenance by parting with this prodigy.\u201d While the\nsalesman was telling his tale to the Prince a crowd of citizens gathered\naround them and one amongst the folk, who was well known to the broker,\ncame forward and said, \u201cA friend of mine lieth at home sick to the\ndeath: the doctors and surgeons all despair of his life; so I beseech\nthee let him smell this fruit that he may live.\u201d Hearing these words,\nPrince Ahmad turned to the salesman and said, \u201cO my friend, if this sick\nman of whom thou hearest can recover strength by smelling the apple,\nthen will I straightway buy it of thee at a valuation of forty thousand\nAshrafis.\u201d The man had permission to sell it for a sum of thirty-five\nthousand; so he was satisfied to receive five thousand by way of\nbrokerage, and he rejoined, \u201c\u2019Tis well, O my lord; now mayest thou test\nthe virtues of this apple and be persuaded in thy mind: hundreds of\nailing folk have I made whole by means of it.\u201d Accordingly the Prince\naccompanied the people to the sick man\u2019s house and found him lying on\nhis bed with the breath in his nostrils; but, as soon as the dying man\nsmelt the fruit, at once recovering strength he rose in perfect health,\nsane and sound. Hereupon Ahmad bought the Magical Apple of the dealer\nand counted out to him the forty thousand Ashrafis. Presently, having\ngained the object of his travels, he resolved to join some caravan\nmarching Indiawards and return to his father\u2019s home; but meanwhile he\nresolved to solace himself with the sights and marvels of Samarkand. His\nespecial joy was to gaze upon the glorious plain hight Soghd,[77] one of\nthe wonders of this world: the land on all sides was a delight to the\nsight, emerald-green and bright, with crystal rills like the plains of\nParadise; the gardens bore all manner flowers and fruits and the cities\nand palaces gladdened the stranger\u2019s gaze. After some days Prince Ahmad\njoined a caravan of merchants wending Indiawards; and, when his long and\nlongsome travel was ended, he at last reached the caravanserai where his\ntwo brothers, Husayn and Ali, impatiently awaited his arrival. The three\nrejoiced with exceeding joy to meet once more and fell on one another\u2019s\nnecks; thanking Allah who had brought them back safe and sound, hale and\nhearty, after such prolonged and longsome absence. Then Prince Husayn,\nbeing the eldest, turned to them and said, \u201cNow it behoveth us each to\nrecount what hath betided him and announce what rare thing he hath\nbrought back and what be the virtues thereof; and I, being the\nfirst-born, will be the foremost to tell my adventures. I bring with me\nfrom Bishangarh, a carpet, mean to look at, but such are its properties\nthat should any sit thereon and wish in mind to visit country or city,\nhe will at once be carried thither in ease and safety although it be\ndistant months, nay years of journey. I have paid forty thousand gold\npieces to its price; and, after seeing all the wonders of\nBishangarh-land, I took seat upon my purchase and willed myself at this\nspot. Straightway I found myself here as I wished and have tarried in\nthis caravanserai three months awaiting your arrival. The flying carpet\nis with me; so let him who listeth make trial of it.\u201d When the senior\nPrince had made an end of telling his tale, Prince Ali spake next and\nsaid, \u201cO my brother, this carpet which thou hast brought is marvel-rare\nand hath most wondrous gifts; nor according to thy statement hath any in\nall the world seen aught to compare with it.\u201d Then bringing forth the\nSpying Tube, he pursued, \u201cLook ye here, I too have bought for forty\nthousand Ashrafis somewhat whose merits I will now show forth to\nyou.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-ninth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Prince Ali\nenlarged upon the virtues of his purchase and said:\u2014\u201cYe see this ivory\npipe? By means of it man may descry objects hidden from his sight and\ndistant from him many a mile. \u2019Tis truly a most wondrous matter and\nright worthy your inspection, and you two may try it an ye will. Place\nbut an eye close to the smaller glass and form a wish in mind to see\nwhat thing soe\u2019er your soul desireth; and, whether it be near hand or\ndistant many hundreds of miles, this ivory will make the object look\nclear and close to you.\u201d At these words Prince Husayn took the pipe from\nPrince Ali and, applying his eye to one end as he had been directed,\nthen wished in his heart to behold the Princess Nur al-Nihar;[78] and\nthe two brothers watched him to learn what he would say. Suddenly they\nsaw his face change colour and wither as a wilted flower, while in his\nagitation and distress a flood of tears gushed from his eyes; and, ere\nhis brothers recovered from their amazement and could enquire the cause\nof such strangeness, he cried aloud, \u201cAlas! and well-away. We have\nendured toil and travail, and we have travelled so far and wide hoping\nto wed the Princess Nur al-Nihar. But \u2019tis all in vain: I saw her lying\non her bed death-sick and like to breathe her last and around her stood\nher women all weeping and wailing in the sorest of sorrow. O my\nbrothers, an ye would see her once again for the last time, take ye one\nfinal look through the glass ere she be no more.\u201d Hereat Prince Ali\nseized the Spying Tube and peered through it and found the condition of\nthe Princess even as his brother Husayn had described; so he presently\npassed it over to Prince Ahmad, who also looked and was certified that\nthe Lady Nur al-Nihar was about to give up the ghost. So he said to his\nelder brothers, \u201cWe three are alike love-distraught for the Princess and\nthe dearest wish of each one is to win her. Her life is on the ebb,\nstill I can save her and make her whole if we hasten to her without stay\nor delay.\u201d So saying he pulled from his pocket the Magical Apple and\nshowed it to them crying, \u201cThis thing is not less in value than either\nthe Flying Carpet or the Spying Tube. In Samarkand I bought it for forty\nthousand gold pieces and here is the best opportunity to try its\nvirtues. The folk told me that if a sick man hold it to his nose,\nalthough on the point of death, he will wax at once well and hale again:\nI have myself tested it, and now ye shall see for yourselves its\nmarvel-cure when I shall apply it to the case of Nur al-Nihar. Only, let\nus seek her presence ere she die.\u201d Quoth Prince Husayn, \u201cThis were an\neasy matter: my carpet shall carry us in the twinkling of an eye\nstraight to the bedside of our beloved. Do ye without hesitation sit\ndown with me thereupon, for there is room sufficient to accommodate us\nthree; we shall instantly be carried thither and our servants can follow\nus.\u201d Accordingly, the three Princes disposed themselves upon the Flying\nCarpet and each willed in his mind to reach the bedside of Nur al-Nihar,\nwhen instantly they found themselves within her apartment. The handmaids\nand eunuchs in waiting were terrified at the sight and marvelled how\nthese stranger men could have entered the chamber; and, as the Castratos\nwere fain fall upon them, brand in hand, they recognised the Princes and\ndrew back still in wonderment at their intrusion. Then the brothers rose\nforthright from the Flying Carpet and Prince Ahmad came forwards and put\nthe Magical Apple to the nostrils of the lady, who lay stretched on the\ncouch in unconscious state; and as the scent reached her brain the\nsickness left her and the cure was complete. She opened wide her eyes\nand sitting erect upon her bed looked all around and chiefly at the\nPrinces as they stood before her; for she felt that she had waxed hale\nand hearty and as though she awoke after the sweetest of slumber.\nPresently she rose from her couch and bade her tire-women dress her the\nwhile they related to her the sudden coming of the three Princes, her\nuncle\u2019s sons, and how Prince Ahmad had made her smell something whereby\nshe had recovered of her illness. And after she had made the Ablution of\nHealth she joyed with exceeding joy to see the Princes and returned\nthanks to them, but chiefly to Prince Ahmad in that he had restored her\nto health and life.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her\npeace till\n\n\n             The end of the Six Hundred and Fiftieth Night.\n\nThen she said:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the brothers also\nwere gladdened with exceeding gladness to see the Princess Nur al-Nihar\nrecover so suddenly from mortal malady; and, presently taking leave of\nher, they fared to greet their father. Meanwhile the Eunuchs had\nreported the whole matter to the Sultan, and when the Princes came\nbefore him he rose and embraced them tenderly and kissed them on their\nforeheads, filled with satisfaction to see them again and to hear from\nthem the welfare of the Princess, who was dear to him as she had been\nhis daughter. Then the three brothers produced each one the wondrous\nthing he had brought from his wayfare; and Prince Husayn first showed\nthe Flying Carpet which in the twinkling of an eye had transported them\nhome from far distant exile and said, \u201cFor outward show this carpet hath\nno merit, but inasmuch as it possesseth such wondrous virtue, methinks\n\u2019tis impossible to find in all the world aught that can compare to it\nfor rarity.\u201d Next, Prince Ali presented to the King his Spying Tube and\nsaid, \u201cThe mirror of Jamsh\u00edd[79] is as vain and naught beside this pipe,\nby means whereof all things from East to West and from North to South\nare made clearly visible to the ken of man.\u201d Last of all, Prince Ahmad\nproduced the Magical Apple which wondrously saved the dear life of Nur\nal-Nihar and said, \u201cBy means of this fruit all maladies and grievous\ndistempers are at once made whole.\u201d Thus each presented his rarity to\nthe Sultan, saying, \u201cO our lord, deign examine well these gifts we have\nbrought and do thou pronounce which of them all is most excellent and\nadmirable; so, according to thy promise, he amongst us on whom thy\nchoice may fall shall marry the Princess Nur al-Nihar.\u201d When the King\nhad patiently listened to their several claims and had understood how\neach gift took part in restoring health to his niece, for a while he\ndove deep in the sea of thought and then answered, \u201cShould I award the\npalm of merit to Prince Ahmad, whose Magical Apple cured the Princess,\nthen should I deal unfairly by the other two. Albeit his rarity restored\nher to life and health from mortal illness, yet say me how had he known\nof her condition save by the virtue of Prince Ali\u2019s Spying Tube? In like\nmanner, but for the Flying Carpet of Prince Husayn, which brought you\nthree hither in a moment\u2019s space, the Magical Apple would have been of\nno avail. Wherefore \u2019tis my rede all three had like part and can claim\nequal merit in healing her; for it were impossible to have made her\nwhole if any one thing of the three were wanting; furthermore all three\nobjects are wondrous and marvellous without one surpassing other, nor\ncan I, with aught of reason, assign preference or precedence to any. My\npromise was to marry the Lady Nur al-Nihar to him who should produce the\nrarest of rarities, but although strange \u2019tis not less true that all are\nalike in the one essential condition. The difficulty still remaineth and\nthe question is yet unsolved, whilst I fain would have the matter\nsettled ere the close of day, and without prejudice to any. So needs\nmust I fix upon some plan whereby I may be able to adjudge one of you to\nbe the winner, and bestow upon him the hand of Princess Nur al-Nihar,\naccording to my plighted word; and thus absolve myself from all\nresponsibility. Now I have resolved upon this course of action; to wit,\nthat ye should mount each one his own steed and all of you be provided\nwith bow and arrows; then do ye ride forth to the Mayd\u00e1n\u2014the\nhippodrome\u2014whither I and my Ministers of State and Grandees of the\nkingdom and Lords of the land will follow you. There in my presence ye\nshall each, turn by turn, shoot a shaft with all your might and main;\nand he amongst you whose arrow shall fly the farthest will be adjudged\nby me worthiest to win the Princess Nur al-Nihar to wife.\u201d Accordingly\nthe three Princes, who could not gainsay the decision of their sire nor\nquestion its wisdom and justice, backed their coursers, and each taking\nhis bow and arrows made straight for the place appointed. The King also,\nwhen he had stored the presents in the royal treasury, arrived there\nwith his Wazirs and the dignitaries of his realm; and as soon as all was\nready, the eldest son and heir, Prince Husayn, essayed his strength and\nskill and shot a shaft far along the level plain. After him Prince Ali\nhent his bow in hand and, discharging an arrow in like direction,\novershot the first; and lastly came Prince Ahmad\u2019s turn. He too aimed at\nthe same end, but such was the decree of Destiny, that although the\nknights and courtiers urged on their horses to note where his shaft\nmight strike ground, withal they saw no trace thereof and none of them\nknew if it had sunk into the bowels of earth or had flown up to the\nconfines of the sky. Some, indeed, there were who with evil mind held\nthat Prince Ahmad had not shot any bolt, and that his arrow had never\nleft his bow. So at last the King bade no more search be made for it and\ndeclared himself in favour of Prince Ali and adjudged that he should wed\nthe Princess Nur al-Nihar, forasmuch as his arrow had outsped that of\nPrince Husayn. Accordingly, in due course the marriage rites and\nceremonies were performed after the law and ritual of the land with\nexceeding pomp and grandeur. But Prince Husayn would not be present at\nthe bride-feast by reason of his disappointment and jealousy, for he had\nloved the Lady Nur al-Nihar with a love far exceeding that of either of\nhis brothers; and he doffed his princely dress and donning the garb of a\nFakir fared forth to live a hermit\u2019s life. Prince Ahmad also burned with\nenvy and refused to join the wedding-feast: he did not, however, like\nPrince Husayn, retire to a hermitage, but he spent all his days in\nsearching for his shaft to find where it had fallen. Now it so fortuned\nthat one morning he went again, alone as was his wont, in quest thereof,\nand starting from the stead whence they had shot their shafts reached\nthe place where the arrows of Princes Husayn and Ali had been found.\nThen going straight forwards he cast his glances on every side over hill\nand dale to his right and to his left\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-first Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Prince Ahmad went\nsearching for his shaft over hill and dale when, after covering some\nthree parasangs, suddenly he espied it lying flat upon a rock.[80]\nHereat he marvelled greatly, wondering how the arrow had flown so far,\nbut even more so when he went up to it and saw that it had not stuck in\nthe ground but appeared to have rebounded and to have fallen flat upon a\nslab of stone. Quoth he to himself, \u201cThere must assuredly be some\nmystery in this matter: else how could anyone shoot a shaft to such a\ndistance and find it fallen after so strange a fashion.\u201d Then, threading\nhis way amongst the pointed crags and huge boulders, he presently came\nto a hollow in the ground which ended in a subterraneous passage, and\nafter pacing a few paces he espied an iron door. He pushed this open\nwith all ease, for that it had no bolt, and entering, arrow in hand, he\ncame upon an easy slope by which he descended. But whereas he feared to\nfind all pitch-dark, he discovered at some distance a spacious square, a\nwidening of the cave, which was lighted on every side with lamps and\ncandelabra. Then advancing some fifty cubits or more his glance fell\nupon a vast and handsome palace, and presently there issued from within\nto the portico a lovely maiden lovesome and lovable, a fairy-form robed\nin princely robes and adorned from front to foot with the costliest of\njewels. She walked with slow and stately gait, withal graceful and\nblandishing, whilst around her ranged her attendants like the stars\nabout a moon of the fourteenth night. Seeing this vision of beauty,\nPrince Ahmad hastened to salute her with the salam and she returned it;\nthen coming forwards greeted him graciously and said in sweetest\naccents, \u201cWell come and welcome, O Prince Ahmad: I am pleased to have\nsight of thee. How fareth it with thy Highness and why hast thou tarried\nso long away from me?\u201d The King\u2019s son marvelled greatly to hear her name\nhim by his name; for that he knew not who she was, as they had never\nseen each other aforetime\u2014how then came she to have learnt his title and\ncondition? Then kissing ground before her he said, \u201cO my lady, I owe\nthee much of thanks and gratitude for that thou art pleased to welcome\nme with words of cheer in this strange place where I, alone and a\nstranger, durst enter with exceeding hesitation and trepidation. But it\nperplexeth me sorely to think how thou camest to learn the name of thy\nslave.\u201d Quoth she with a smile, \u201cO my lord, come hither and let us sit\nat ease within yon belvedere; and there I will give an answer to thine\nasking.\u201d So they went thither, Prince Ahmad following her footsteps; and\non reaching it he was filled with wonder to see its vaulted roof of\nexquisite workmanship and adorned with gold and lapis lazuli[81] and\npaintings and ornaments, whose like was nowhere to be found in the\nworld. The lady seeing his astonishment said to the Prince, \u201cThis\nmansion is nothing beside all my others which now, of my free will, I\nhave made thine own; and when thou seest them thou shalt have just cause\nfor wonderment.\u201d Then that sylph-like being took seat upon a raised da\u00efs\nand with abundant show of affection seated Prince Ahmad by her side.\nPresently quoth she, \u201cAlbeit thou know me not, I know thee well, as thou\nshalt see with surprise when I shall tell thee all my tale. But first it\nbehoveth me disclose to thee who I am. In Holy Writ belike thou hast\nread that this world is the dwelling-place not only of men, but also of\na race hight the J\u00e1nn in form likest to mortals. I am the only daughter\nof a Jinn chief of noblest strain and my name is Per\u00ed B\u00e1n\u00fa. So marvel\nnot to hear me tell thee who thou art and who is the King thy sire and\nwho is Nur al-Nihar, the daughter of thine uncle. I have full knowledge\nof all concerning thyself and thy kith and kin; how thou art one of\nthree brothers who all and each were daft for love of Princess Nur\nal-Nihar and strave to win her from one another to wife. Furthermore thy\nsire deemed it best to send you all far and wide over foreign lands, and\nthou faredest to far Samarkand and broughtest back a Magical Apple made\nwith rare art and mystery which thou boughtest for forty thousand\nAshrafis; then by means whereof thou madest the Princess thy lady-love\nwhole of a grievous malady, whilst Prince Husayn, thine elder brother,\nbought for the same sum of money a Flying Carpet at Bishangarh, and\nPrince Ali also brought home a Spying Tube from Shiraz-city. Let this\nsuffice to show thee that naught is hidden from me of all thy case; and\nnow do thou tell me in very truth whom dost thou admire the more, for\nbeauty and loveliness, me or the lady Nur al-Nihar thy brother\u2019s wife?\nMy heart longeth for thee with excessive longing and desireth that we\nmay be married and enjoy the pleasures of life and the joyance of love.\nSo say me, art thou also willing to wed me, or pinest thou in preference\nfor the daughter of thine uncle? In the fulness of my affection for thee\nI stood by thy side unseen during the archery-meeting upon the plain of\ntrial, and when thou shottest thy shaft I knew that it would fall far\nshort of Prince Ali\u2019s[82], so I hent it in hand ere it touched ground\nand carried it away from sight, and striking it upon the iron door\ncaused it rebound and lie flat upon the rock where thou didst find it.\nAnd ever since that day I have been sitting in expectancy, wotting well\nthat thou wouldst search for it until thou find it, and by such means I\nwas certified of bringing thee hither to me.\u201d Thus spake the beautiful\nmaiden Peri-Banu who with eyes fall of love-longing looked up at Prince\nAhmad; and then with modest shame bent low her brow and averted her\nglance.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-second Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that when Prince Ahmad\nheard these words of Peri-Banu he rejoiced with joy exceeding, and said\nto himself; \u201cThe Princess Nur al-Nihar is not within my power to win,\nand Peri-Banu doth outvie her in comeliness of favour and in loveliness\nof form and in gracefulness of gait.\u201d In short so charmed was he and\ncaptivated that he clean forgot his love for his cousin; and, noting\nthat the heart of his new enchantress inclined towards him, he replied,\n\u201cO my lady, O fairest of the fair, naught else do I desire save that I\nmay serve thee and do thy bidding all my life long. But I am of human\nand thou of non-human birth. Thy friends and family, kith and kin, will\nhaply be displeased with thee an thou unite with me in such union.\u201d But\nshe made answer, \u201cI have full sanction of my parents to marry as I list\nand whomsoever I may prefer. Thou sayest that thou wilt be my servant,\nnay, rather be thou my lord and master; for I myself and my life and all\nmy good are very thine, and I shall ever be thy bondswoman. Consent now,\nI beseech thee, to accept me for thy wife: my heart doth tell me thou\nwilt not refuse my request.\u201d Then Peri-Banu added, \u201cI have told thee\nalready that in this matter I act with fullest authority. Besides all\nthis there is a custom and immemorial usage with us fairy-folk that,\nwhen we maidens come to marriageable age and years of understanding,\neach one may wed, according the dictates of her heart, the person that\npleaseth her most and whom she judgeth likely to make her days happy.\nThus wife and husband live with each other all their lives in harmony\nand happiness. But if a girl be given away in marriage by the parents,\naccording to their choice and not hers, and she be mated to a helpmate\nunmeet for her, because ill-shapen or ill-conditioned or unfit to win\nher affection, then are they twain likely to be at variance each with\nother for the rest of their days; and endless troubles result to them\nfrom such ill-sorted union. Nor are we bound by another law which\nbindeth modest virgins of the race of Adam; for we freely announce our\npreference to those we love, nor must we wait and pine to be wooed and\nwon.\u201d When Prince Ahmad heard these words of answer, he rejoiced with\nexceeding joy and stooping down essayed to kiss the skirt of her\ngarment, but she prevented him, and in lieu of her hem gave him her\nhand. The Prince clasped it with rapture and according to the custom of\nthat place, he kissed it and placed it to his breast and upon his eyes.\nHereat quoth the Fairy, smiling a charming smile, \u201cWith my hand locked\nin thine plight me thy troth even as I pledge my faith to thee, that I\nwill alway true and loyal be, nor ever prove faithless or fail of\nconstancy.\u201d And quoth the Prince, \u201cO loveliest of beings, O dearling of\nmy soul, thinkest thou that I can ever become a traitor to my own heart,\nI who love thee to distraction and dedicate to thee my body and my\nsprite; to thee who art my queen, the very empress of me? Freely I give\nmyself to thee, do thou with me whatso thou wilt.\u201d Hereupon Peri-Banu\nsaid to Prince Ahmad, \u201cThou art my husband and I am thy wife.[83] This\nsolemn promise made between thee and me standeth in stead of\nmarriage-contract: no need have we of Kazi, for with us all other forms\nand ceremonies are superfluous and of no avail. Anon I will show thee\nthe chamber where we shall pass the bride-night; and methinks thou wilt\nadmire it and confess that there is none like thereto in the whole world\nof men.\u201d Presently her handmaidens spread the table and served up dishes\nof various kinds, and the finest wines in flagons and goblets of gold\ndubbed with jewels. So they twain sat at meat and ate and drank their\nsufficiency. Then Peri-Banu took Prince Ahmad by the hand and led him to\nher private chamber wherein she slept; and he stood upon the threshold\namazed to see its magnificence and the heaps of gems and precious stones\nwhich dazed his sight, till recovering himself he cried, \u201cMethinks there\nis not in the universe a room so splendid and decked with costly\nfurniture and gemmed articles such as this.\u201d Quoth Peri-Banu, \u201cAn thou\nso admire and praise this palace what wilt thou say when sighting the\nmansions and castles of my sire the Jann-King? Haply too when thou shalt\nbehold my garden thou wilt be filled with wonder and delight; but now\n\u2019tis over late to lead thee thither and night approacheth.\u201d Then she\nushered Prince Ahmad into another room where the supper had been spread,\nand the splendour of this saloon yielded in naught to any of the others;\nnay, rather it was the more gorgeous and dazzling. Hundreds of wax\ncandles set in candelabra of the finest amber[84] and the purest\ncrystal, ranged on all sides, rained floods of light, whilst golden\nflowerpots and vessels of finest workmanship and priceless worth, of\nlovely shapes and wondrous art, adorned the niches and the walls.\u2014\u2014And\nas the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that tongue of man can\nnever describe the magnificence of that room in which bands of virgin\nPeris, loveliest of forms and fairest of features, garbed in choicest\ngarments played on sweet-toned instruments of mirth and merriment or\nsang lays of amorous significance to strains of heart-bewitching music.\nThen they twain, to wit the bride and bridegroom sat down at meat, ever\nand anon delaying to indulge in toyings and bashful love-play and chaste\ncaresses. Peri-Banu with her own hands passed the choicest mouthfuls to\nPrince Ahmad and made him taste of each dish and dainty, telling him\ntheir names and whereof they were composed. But how shall I, O\nauspicious King Shahryar, avail to give thee any notion of those\nJinn-made dishes or to describe with due meed of praise the delicious\nflavour of meats such as no mortal ever tasted or ever beheld? Then,\nwhen both had supped, they drank the choicest wines, and ate with relish\nsweet conserves and dry fruits and a dessert of various delicacies. At\nlength, when they had their requirement of eating and drinking, they\nretired into another room which contained a raised da\u00efs of the grandest,\nbedecked with gold-purfled cushions and pillows wrought with seed-pearl\nand Ach\u00e6menian tapestries, whereupon they took seat side by side for\nconverse and solace. Then came in a troop of Jinns and fairies who\ndanced and sang before them with wondrous grace and art; and this pretty\nshow pleased Peri-Banu and Prince Ahmad, who watched the sports and\ndisplays with ever-renewed delight. At last the newly wedded couple rose\nand retired, weary of revelry, to another chamber, wherein they found\nthat the slaves had dispread the genial bed, whose frame was gold\nstudded with jewels and whose furniture was of satin and sendal flowered\nwith the rarest embroidery. Here the guests who attended at the marriage\nfestival and the handmaids of the palace, ranged in two lines, hailed\nthe bride and bridegroom as they went within; and then, craving\ndismissal, they all departed leaving them to take their joyance in bed.\nOn such wise the marriage-festival and nuptial merry-makings were kept\nup day after day, with new dishes and novel sports, novel dances and new\nmusic; and, had Prince Ahmad lived a thousand years with mortal kind,\nnever could he have seen such revels or heard such strains or enjoyed\nsuch love-liesse. Thus six months soon passed in the Fairyland beside\nPeri-Banu, whom he loved with a love so fond that he would not lose her\nfrom his sight for a moment\u2019s space; but would feel restless and\nill-at-ease whenas he ceased to look upon her. In like manner Peri-Banu\nwas fulfilled with affection for him and strove to please her bridegroom\nmore and more every moment by new arts of dalliance and fresh appliances\nof pleasure, until so absorbing waxed his passion for her that the\nthought of home and kindred, kith and kin, faded from his thoughts and\nfled his mind. But after a time his memory awoke from slumber and at\ntimes he found himself longing to look upon his father, albeit well did\nhe wot that it were impossible to find out how the far one fared unless\nhe went himself to visit him. So one day quoth he to Peri-Banu, \u201cAn it\nbe thy pleasure, I pray thee give me thy command that I may leave thee\nfor a few days to see my sire, who doubtless grieveth at my long absence\nand suffereth all the sorrows of separation from his son.\u201d Peri-Banu,\nhearing these words was dismayed with sore dismay, for that she thought\nwithin herself that this was only an excuse whereby he might escape and\nleave her after enjoyment and possession had made her love pall upon the\npalate of his mind. So quoth she in reply, \u201cHast thou forgotten thy vows\nand thy plighted troth, that thou wishest to leave me now? Have love and\nlonging ceased to stir thee, whilst my heart always throbbeth in\nraptures as it hath ever done at the very thought of thee?\u201d Replied the\nPrince, \u201cO dearling of my soul, my queen, my empress, what be these\ndoubts that haunt thy mind, and why such sad misgivings and sorrowful\nwords? I know full well that the love of thee and thine affection\nme-wards are even as thou sayest; and did I not acknowledge this truth\nor did I prove unthankful or fail to regard thee with a passion as warm\nand deep, as tender and as true as thine own, I were indeed an ingrate\nand a traitor of the darkest dye. Far be it from me to desire severance\nfrom thee nor hath any thought of leaving thee never to return at any\ntime crossed my mind. But my father is now an old man well shotten in\nyears and he is sore grieved in mind at this long separation from his\nyoungest son. If thou wilt deign command, I would fain go visit him and\nwith all haste return to thine arms; yet I would not do aught in this\nmatter against thy will; and such is my fond affection for thee that I\nwould fain be at all hours of the day and watches of the night by thy\nside nor leave thee for a moment of time.\u201d Peri-Banu was somewhat\ncomforted by this speech; and from his looks, words and acts she was\ncertified that Prince Ahmad really loved her with fondest love and that\nhis heart was true as steel to her as was his tongue. Whereupon she\ngranted him leave and liberty to set forth and see his sire, whilst at\nthe same time she gave him strict commandment not to tarry long with his\nkith and kin. Hearken now, O auspicious King Shahryar, to what befel the\nSultan of Hindostan and how it fared with him after the marriage of\nPrince Ali to Princess Nur al-Nihar.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that not seeing Prince\nHusayn and Prince Ahmad for the space of many days the Sultan waxed\nexceeding sad and heavy-hearted, and one morning after Darb\u00e1r,[85] asked\nhis Wazirs and Ministers what had betided them and where they were.\nHereto the councillors made answer saying, \u201cO our lord, and shadow of\nAllah upon earth, thine eldest son and fruit of thy vitals and heir\napparent to thine Empire the Prince Husayn, in his disappointment and\njealousy and bitter grief hath doffed his royal robes to become a\nhermit, a devotee, renouncing all worldly lusts and gusts. Prince Ahmad\nthy third son also in high dudgeon hath left the city; and of him none\nknoweth aught, whither he hath fled or what hath befallen him.\u201d The King\nwas sore distressed and bade them write without stay or delay and\nforthright despatch firmans and commands to all the Nabobs and Governors\nof the provinces, with strict injunctions to make straight search for\nPrince Ahmad and to send him to his sire the moment he was found. But,\nalbeit the commandments were carried out to the letter and all the\nseekers used the greatest diligence none came upon any trace of him.\nThen, with increased sadness of heart, the Sultan ordered his Grand\nWazir to go in quest of the fugitive and the Minister replied, \u201cUpon my\nhead be it and mine eyes! Thy servant hath already caused most careful\nresearch to be made in every quarter, but not the smallest clue hath yet\ncome to hand: and this matter troubleth me the more for that he was dear\nto me as a son.\u201d The Ministers and Grandees now understood that the King\nwas overwhelmed with woe, tearful-eyed and heavy-hearted by reason of\nthe loss of Prince Ahmad; whereupon bethought the Grand Wazir of a\ncertain witch famed for the Black Art who could conjure down the stars\nfrom heaven; and who was a noted dweller in the capital. So going to the\nSultan he spake highly of her skill in knowledge of the abstruse,[86]\nsaying \u201cLet the King, I pray thee, send for this sorceress and enquire\nof her concerning his lost son.\u201d And the King replied, \u201c\u2019Tis well said:\nlet her be brought hither and haply she shall give me tidings of the\nPrince and how he fareth.\u201d So they fetched the Sorceress and set her\nbefore the Sultan, who said, \u201cO my good woman, I would have thee know\nthat ever since the marriage of Prince Ali with the Lady Nur al-Nihar,\nmy youngest son Prince Ahmad,[87] who was disappointed in her love, hath\ndisappeared from our sight and no man knoweth aught of him. Do thou\nforthright apply thy magical craft and tell me only this:\u2014Is he yet\nalive or is he dead? An he live I would learn where is he and how fareth\nhe; moreover, I would ask, Is it written in my book of Destiny that I\nshall see him yet again?\u201d To this the Witch made reply, \u201cO Lord of the\nAge and ruler of the times and tide, \u2019tis not possible for me at once to\nanswer all these questions which belong to the knowledge of Hidden\nThings; but, if thy Highness deign grant me one day of grace, I will\nconsult my books of gramarye and on the morrow will give thee a\nsufficient reply and a satisfactory.\u201d The Sultan to this assented,\nsaying, \u201cAn thou can give me detailed and adequate answer, and set my\nmind at ease after this sorrow, thou shalt have an exceeding great\nreward and I will honour thee with highmost honour.\u201d Next day the\nSorceress, accompanied by the Grand Wazir, craved permission to appear\nbefore the presence, and when it was granted came forward and said, \u201cI\nhave made ample investigation by my art and mystery and I have assured\nmyself that Prince Ahmad is yet in the land of the living. Be not\ntherefore uneasy in thy mind on his account; but at present, save this\nonly, naught else can I discover regarding him, nor can I say for sure\nwhere he be or how he is to be found.\u201d At these words the Sultan took\ncomfort, and hope sprang up within his breast that he should see his son\nagain ere he died. Now return we to the story of Prince Ahmad. Whenas\nPeri-Banu understood that he was bent upon visiting his sire and she was\nconvinced that his love her-wards remained firm and steadfast as before,\nshe took thought and determined that it would ill become her to refuse\nhim leave and liberty for such purpose; so she again pondered the matter\nin her mind and debated with herself for many an hour till at length,\none day of the days, she turned to her husband and said, \u201cAlbeit my\nheart consenteth not to part from thee for a moment or to lose sight of\nthee for a single instant, still inasmuch as thou hast ofttimes made\nentreaty of me and hast shown thyself so solicitous to see thy sire, I\nwill no longer baffle thy wish. But this my favour will depend upon one\ncondition; otherwise I will never grant thy petition and give thee such\npermission. Swear to me the most binding of oaths that thou wilt haste\nthee back hither with all possible speed, and thou wilt not by long\nabsence cause me yearning grief and anxious waiting for thy safe return\nto me.\u201d Prince Ahmad, well pleased to win his wish, thanked her saying,\n\u201cO my beloved, fear not for me after any fashion and rest assured I will\ncome back to thee with all haste as soon as I shall have seen my sire;\nand life hath no charms for me away from thy presence. Although I must\nneeds be severed from thee for a few days, yet will my heart ever turn\nto thee and to thee only.\u201d These words of Prince Ahmad gladdened the\nheart of Peri-Banu and drove away the darksome doubts and mysterious\nmisgivings which ever haunted her nightly dreams and her daily\nmusings.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Peri-Banu\ngladdened by these premises addressed her husband, Prince Ahmad, \u201cSo\nnow, as soon as thy heart desireth, go thou and pay thy respects to thy\nsire; but ere thou set out I would charge thee with one charge and look\nthat on no wise thou forget my rede and my counsel. Speak not to any a\nsingle word of this thy marriage, nor of the strange sights thou hast\nseen and the wonders thou hast witnessed; but keep them carefully\nconcealed from thy father and thy brethren and from thy kith and kin,\none and all. This only shalt thou tell thy sire, so his mind may be set\nat ease, that thou art buxom and happy; also that thou hast returned\nhome for a while only with the object of seeing him and becoming assured\nof his welfare.\u201d Then she gave orders to her people, bidding them make\nready for the journey without delay; and when all things were prepared\nshe appointed twenty horsemen, armed cap-\u00e0-pie and fully accoutred, to\naccompany her husband, and gave him a horse of perfect form and\nproportions, swift as the blinding leven or the rushing wind; and its\nhousings and furniture were bedeckt with precious ores and studded with\njewels. Then she fell on his neck and they embraced with warmest love;\nand as the twain bade adieu, Prince Ahmad, to set her mind at rest,\nrenewed his protestations and sware to her again his solemn oath. Then\nmounting his horse and followed by his suite (all Jinn-born cavaliers)\nhe set forth with mighty pomp and circumstance, and riding diligently he\nsoon reached his father\u2019s capital. Here he was received with loud\nacclamations, the like of which had never been known in the land. The\nMinisters and Officers of State, the citizens and the Ryots all rejoiced\nwith exceeding joy to see him once more, and the folk left their work\nand with blessings and low obeisances joined the cavalcade; and,\ncrowding around him in every side, escorted him to the palace-gates.\nWhen the Prince reached the threshold he dismounted and, entering the\naudience-hall, fell at his father\u2019s feet and kissed them in a transport\nof filial affection. The Sultan, well nigh distraught for delight at the\nunexpected sight of Prince Ahmad, rose from his throne and threw himself\nupon his son\u2019s neck weeping for very joy and kissed his forehead saying,\n\u201cO dear my child, in despair at the loss of the Lady Nur al-Nihar thou\ndidst suddenly fly from thy home, and, despite all research, nor trace\nnor sign of thee was to be found however sedulously we sought thee; and\nI, distracted at thy disappearance, am reduced to this condition in\nwhich thou seest me. Where hast thou been this long while, and how hast\nthou lived all this time?\u201d Replied Prince Ahmad, \u201c\u2019Tis true, O my lord\nthe King, that I was downhearted and distressed to see Prince Ali gain\nthe hand of my cousin, but that is not the whole cause of my absence.\nThou mayest remember how, when we three brothers rode at thy command to\nyonder plain for a trial of archery, my shaft, albeit the place was\nlarge and flat, disappeared from sight and none could find where it had\nfallen. Now so it fortuned that one day in sore heaviness of mind I\nfared forth alone and unaccompanied to examine the ground thereabout and\ntry if haply I could find my arrow. But when I reached the spot where\nthe shafts of my brothers, Princes Husayn and Ali, had been picked up, I\nmade search in all directions, right and left, before and behind,\nthinking that thereabouts mine also might come to hand; but all my\ntrouble was in vain: I found neither shaft nor aught else. So walking\nonwards in obstinate research, I went a long way, and at last\ndespairing, I would have given up the quest, for full well I knew that\nmy bow could not have carried so far, and indeed that \u2019twere impossible\nfor any marksman to have driven bolt or pile to such distance, when\nsuddenly I espied it lying flat upon a rock some four parasangs[88]\ndistant from this place.\u201d The Sultan marvelled with much marvel at his\nwords and the Prince presently resumed, \u201cSo when I picked up the arrow,\nO my lord, and considered it closely I knew it for the very one I had\nshot, but admired in my mind how it had come to fly so far, and I\ndoubted not but that there was a somewhat mysterious about the matter.\nWhile I thus reflected I came upon the place where I have sojourned ever\nsince that day in perfect solace and happiness. I may not tell thee more\nof my tale than this; for I came only to ease thy mind on my account,\nand now I pray thee deign grant me thy supreme permission that I return\nforthright to my home of delights. From time to time I will not cease to\nwait upon thee and to enquire of thy welfare with all the affection of a\nson.\u201d Replied the King, \u201cO my child, the sight of thee hath gladdened\nmine eyes; and I am now satisfied; and not unwillingly I give thee leave\nto go, since thou art happy in some place so near hand; but shouldst\nthou at any time delay thy coming hither, say me, how shall I be able to\nget tidings of thy good health and welfare?\u201d And quoth Prince Ahmad, \u201cO\nmy lord the King, that which thou requirest of me is part of my secret\nand this must remain deep hidden in my breast: as I said before, I may\nnot discover it to thee nor say aught that might lead to its discovery.\nHowever, be not uneasy in thy soul, for I will appear before thee full\nmany a time and haply I may irk thee with continual coming.\u201d \u201cO my son,\u201d\nrejoined the Sultan, \u201cI would not learn thy secret an thou would keep it\nfrom me, but there is one only thing I desire of thee, which is, that\never and anon I may be assured of thine enduring health and happiness.\nThou hast my full permission to hie thee home, but forget not at least\nonce a month to come and see me even as now thou dost, lest such\nforgetfulness cause me anxiety and trouble, cark and care.\u201d So Prince\nAhmad tarried with his father three days full-told, but never for a\nmoment did the memory of the Lady Peri-Banu fade from his mind; and on\nthe fourth day he mounted horse and returned with the same pomp and\npageantry wherewith he came.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad\nheld her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Peri-Banu joyed\nwith exceeding joy at the sight of Prince Ahmad as he returned to his\nhome; and it seemed to her as though they had been parted for three\nhundred years: such is love that moments of separation are longsome and\nweary as twelvemonths. The Prince offered much of excuses for his short\nabsence and his words delighted Peri-Banu yet the more. So these twain,\nlover and beloved, passed the time in perfect happiness, taking their\npleasure one with other. Thus a month went by and Prince Ahmad never\nonce mentioned the name of his sire nor expressed a wish to go visit him\naccording to his promise. Noting this change, the Lady Peri-Banu said to\nhim one day, \u201cThou toldest me aforetime that once in the beginning of\neach month thou wouldst fare forth and travel to thy father\u2019s court and\nlearn news of his welfare: why then neglectest thou so to do, seeing\nthat he will be distressed and anxiously expecting thee?\u201d Replied Prince\nAhmad, \u201c\u2019Tis even as thou sayest, but, awaiting thy command and thy\npermission, I have forborne to propose the journey to thee.\u201d And she\nmade answer, \u201cLet thy faring and thy returning rest not on my giving\nthee liberty of leave. At the beginning of each month as it cometh\nround, do thou ride forth, and from this time forwards thou hast no need\nto ask permission of me. Stay with thy sire three days full-told and on\nthe fourth come back to me without fail.\u201d Accordingly, on the next day\nbetimes in the morning Prince Ahmad took his departure and as aforetime\nrode forth with abundant pomp and parade and repaired to the palace of\nthe Sultan his sire, to whom he made his obeisance. On like manner\ncontinued he to do each month with a suite of horsemen larger and more\nbrilliant than before, whilst he himself was more splendidly mounted and\nequipped. And whenever the Crescent appeared in the Western sky he\nfondly farewelled his wife and paid his visit to the King, with whom he\ntarried three whole days, and on the fourth returned to dwell with\nPeri-Banu. But, as each and every time he went, his equipage was greater\nand grander than the last, at length one of the Wazirs, a favourite and\ncup-companion of the King, was filled with wonderment and jealousy to\nsee Prince Ahmad appear at the palace with such opulence and\nmagnificence. So he said in himself, \u201cNone can tell whence cometh this\nPrince, and by what means he hath obtained so splendid a suite.\u201d Then of\nhis envy and malice that Wazir fell to plying the King with deceitful\nwords and said, \u201cO my liege lord and mighty sovran, it ill becometh thee\nto be thus heedless of Prince Ahmad\u2019s proceedings. Seest thou not how\nday after day his retinue increaseth in numbers and puissance? What an\nhe should plot against thee and cast thee into prison, and take from\nthee the reins of the realm? Right well thou wottest that inasmuch as\nthou didst wed Prince Ali to the Lady Nur al-Nihar thou provokedest the\nwrath of Prince Husayn and Prince Ahmad; so that one of them in the\nbitterness of his soul renounced the pomps and vanities of this world\nand hath become a Fakir, whilst the other, to wit, Prince Ahmad,\nappeareth before thy presence in such inordinate power and majesty.\nDoubtless they both seek their revenge; and, having gotten thee into\ntheir power, the twain will deal treacherously with thee. So I would\nhave thee beware, and again I say beware; and seize the forelock of\nopportunity ere it be too late; for the wise have said:\u2014\n\n Thou canst bar a spring with a sod of clay \u273f But when grown \u2019twill bear\n    a big host away.\u201d\n\nThus spake that malicious Wazir; and presently he resumed, \u201cThou knowest\nalso that when Prince Ahmad would end his three days\u2019 visits he never\nasketh thy leave nor farewelleth thee nor biddeth adieu to any one of\nhis family. Such conduct is the beginning of rebellion and proveth him\nto be rancorous of heart. But \u2019tis for thee in thy wisdom to decide.\u201d\nThese words sank deep in the heart of the simple-minded Sultan and grew\na crop of the direst suspicions. He presently thought within himself,\n\u201cWho knoweth the mind and designs of Prince Ahmad, whether they be\ndutiful or undutiful towards me? Haply he may be plotting vengeance; so\nit besitteth me to make enquiries concerning him, to discover where he\ndwelleth and by what means he hath attained to such puissance and\nopulence.\u201d Filled with these jealous thoughts, he sent in private one\nday, unbeknown to the Grand Wazir who would at all times befriend Prince\nAhmad, to summon the Witch; and, admitting her by a secret postern to\nhis private chamber, asked of her saying, \u201cThou didst aforetime learn by\nthy magical art that Prince Ahmad was alive and didst bring me tidings\nof him. I am beholden to thee for this good office, and now I would\ndesire of thee to make further quest into his case and ease my mind,\nwhich is sore disturbed. Albeit my son still liveth and cometh to visit\nme every month, yet am I clean ignorant of the place wherein he dwelleth\nand whence he setteth out to see me; for that he keepeth the matter\nclose hidden from his sire. Go thou forthright and privily, without the\nknowledge of any, my Wazirs and Nabobs, my courtiers and my household;\nand make thou diligent research and with all haste bring me word\nwhereabouts he liveth. He now sojourneth here upon his wonted visit;\nand, on the fourth day, without leave-taking or mention of departure to\nme or to any of the Ministers and Officers, he will summon his suite and\nmount his steed; then will he ride to some little distance hence and\nsuddenly disappear. Do thou without stay or delay forego him on the path\nand lie perdue in some convenient hollow hard by the road whence thou\nmayest learn where he hometh; then quickly bring me tidings thereof.\u201d\nAccordingly, the Sorceress departed the presence of the King; and, after\nwalking over the four parasangs, she hid herself within a hollow of the\nrocks hard by the place where Prince Ahmad had found his arrow, and\nthere awaited his arrival. Early on the morrow the Prince, as was his\nwont, set out upon his journey without taking leave of his sire or\nfarewelling any of the Ministers. So when they drew nigh, the Sorceress\ncaught sight of the Prince and of the retinue that rode before and\nbeside him; and she saw them enter a hollow way which forked into a many\nof byways; and so steep and dangerous were the cliffs and boulders about\nthe track that hardly could a footman safely pace that path. Seeing this\nthe Sorceress bethought her that it must surely lead to some cavern or\nhaply to a subterraneous passage, or to a souterrain the abode of Jinns\nand fairies; when suddenly the Prince and all his suite vanished from\nher view. So she crept out of the hiding-place wherein she had ensconced\nherself and wandered far and wide seeking, as diligently as she was\nable, but never finding the subterraneous passage nor yet could she\ndiscern the iron door which Prince Ahmad had espied, for none of human\nflesh and blood had power to see this save he alone to whom it was made\nvisible by the Fairy Peri-Banu; furthermore it was ever concealed from\nthe prying eyes of woman-kind. Then said the Sorceress to herself, \u201cThis\ntoil and moil have I undertaken to no purpose; yea, verily, I have\nfailed to find out that wherefor I came.\u201d So she went forthright back to\nthe Sultan and reported to him all that had betided her, how she had\nlain in wait amid the cliffs and boulders and had seen the Prince and\nsuite ride up the most perilous of paths and, having entered a hollow\nway, disappear in an eye-twinkling from her sight. And she ended by\nsaying, \u201cAlbeit I strove my utmost to find out the spot wherein the\nPrince abideth, yet could I on no wise succeed; and I pray thy Highness\nmay grant me time to search further into the matter and to find out this\nmystery which by skill and caution on my part shall not long abide\nconcealed.\u201d Answered the Sultan, \u201cBe it as thou wilt: I grant thee\nleisure to make enquiry and after a time I shall await thy return\nhither.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that moreover the King\nlargessed the Witch with a diamond of large size and of great price,\nsaying, \u201cTake this stone to guerdon for thy trouble and travail and in\nearnest of future favours; so, when thou shalt return and bring me word\nthat thou hast searched and found out the secret, thou shalt have a\nBakhshish of far greater worth and I will make thy heart rejoice with\nchoicest joy and honour thee with highmost honour.\u201d So the Sorceress\nlooked forwards to the coming of the Prince, for well she knew that at\nthe sight of each crescent he rode home to visit his sire and was bound\nto abide with him three days, even as the Lady Peri-Banu had permitted\nand had enjoined him. Now when the moon had waxed and waned, on the day\nbefore the Prince would leave home upon his monthly visit, the Witch\nbetook her to the rocks and sat beside the place whence she imagined he\nwould issue forth; and next morning early he and his suite, composed of\nmany a mounted knight with his esquire afoot, who now always accompanied\nhim in increasing numbers, rode forth gallantly through the iron doorway\nand passed hard by the place where she lay in wait for him. The\nSorceress crouched low upon the ground in her tattered rags; and, seeing\na heap by his way, the Prince at first supposed that a slice of stone\nhad fallen from the rocks across his path. But as he drew nigh she fell\nto weeping and wailing with might and main as though in sore dolour and\ndistress, and she ceased not to crave his countenance and assistance\nwith increase of tears and lamentations. The Prince seeing her sore\nsorrow had pity on her, and reining in his horse, asked her what she had\nto require of him and what was the cause of her cries and lamentations.\nAt this the cunning crone but cried the more, and the Prince was\naffected with compassion still livelier at seeing her tears and hearing\nher broken, feeble words. So when the Sorceress perceived that Prince\nAhmad had ruth on her and would fain show favour to her, she heaved a\nheavy sigh and in woeful tones, mingled with moans and groans, addressed\nhim in these false words, withal holding the hem of his garment and at\ntimes stopping as if convulsed with pain, \u201cO my lord and lord of all\nloveliness, as I was journeying from my home in yonder city upon an\nerrand to such a place, behold, when I came thus far upon my way,\nsuddenly a hot fit of fever seized me and a shivering and a trembling,\nso that I lost all strength and fell down helpless as thou seest me; and\nstill no power have I in hand or foot to rise from the ground and to\nreturn to my place.\u201d Replied the Prince, \u201cAlas, O good woman, there is\nno house at hand where thou mayest go and be fitly tended and tendered.\nHowbeit I know a stead whither, an thou wilt, I can convey thee and\nwhere by care and kindness thou shalt (Inshallah!) soon recover of thy\ncomplaint. Come then with me as best thou canst.\u201d With loud moans and\ngroans the Witch made answer, \u201cSo weak am I in every limb and helpless\nthat I can by no means rise off the ground or move save with the help of\nsome friendly hand.\u201d The Prince then bade one of his horsemen lift up\nthe feeble and ailing old woman and set her upon his steed; and the\ncavalier did his lord\u2019s bidding forthright and mounted her astraddle\nupon the crupper of his courser: then, Prince Ahmad rode back with her\nand entering by the iron door carried her to his apartment and sent for\nPeri-Banu. His wife hurriedly coming forth to the Prince asked him in\nher flurry, \u201cIs all well and wherefore hast thou come back and what\nwouldst thou that thou hast sent for me?\u201d Prince Ahmad then told her of\nthe old woman who was healthless and helpless, adding, \u201cScarce had I set\nout on my journey when I espied this ancient dame lying hard by the\nroadside, suffering and in sore distress. My heart felt pity for her to\nsee her in such case and constrained me to bring her hither as I could\nnot leave her to die among the rocks; and I pray thee of thy bounty take\nher in and give her medicines that she may soon be made whole of this\nher malady. An thou wilt show this favour I shall not cease to thank\nthee and be beholden to thee.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad\nheld her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Peri-Banu looked\nat the old woman and charged a twain of her handmaidens that they carry\nher into a room apart and tend her with the tenderest care and the\nuttermost of diligence. The attendants did as she bade them and\ntransported the Sorceress to the place she had designed. Then Peri-Banu\naddressed Prince Ahmad saying, \u201cO my lord, I am pleased to see thy\npitiful kindness towards this ancient dame, and I surely will look to\nher case even as thou hast enjoined me; but my heart misgiveth me and\nmuch I fear some evil will result from thy goodness. This woman is not\nso ill as she doth make believe, but practiseth deceit upon thee and I\nween that some enemy or envier hath plotted a plot against me and thee.\nHowbeit go now in peace upon thy journey.\u201d The Prince, who on no wise\ntook to heart the words of his wife, presently replied to her, \u201cO my\nlady, Almighty Allah forfend thee from all offence! With thee to help\nand guard me I fear naught of ill: I know of no foeman who would compass\nmy destruction, for I bear no grudge against any living being, and I\nforesee no evil at the hands of man or Jann.\u201d Thereupon the Prince again\ntook leave of Peri-Banu and repaired with his attendants to the palace\nof his sire who, by reason of the malice of his crafty Minister, was\ninwardly afraid to see his son; but not the less he welcomed him with\ngreat outward show of love and affection. Meanwhile the two fairy\nhandmaidens, to whom Peri-Banu had given charge of the Witch, bore her\naway to a spacious room splendidly furnished; and laid her on a bed\nhaving a mattress of satin and a brocaded coverlet. Then one of them sat\nby her side whilst the other with all speed fetched, in a cup of\nporcelain, an essence which was a sovereign draught for ague and fever.\nPresently they raised her up and seated her on the couch saying, \u201cDrain\nthou this drink. It is the water of the Lions\u2019 Fount and whoso tasteth\nof the same is forthwith made whole of what disease soever he hath.\u201d The\nSorceress took the cup with great difficulty and after swallowing the\ncontents lay back on the bed; and the handmaidens spread the quilt over\nher saying, \u201cNow rest awhile and thou shalt soon feel the virtues of\nthis medicine.\u201d Then they left her to sleep for an hour or so; but\npresently the Witch, who had feigned sickness to the intent only that\nshe might learn where Prince Ahmad abode and might inform the Sultan\nthereof, being assured that she had discovered all that she desired,\nrose up and summoning the damsels said to them, \u201cThe drinking of that\ndraught hath restored to me all my health and strength: I now feel hale\nand hearty once more and my limbs are filled with new life and vigour.\nSo at once acquaint your lady herewith, that I may kiss the hem of her\nrobe and return my thanks for her goodness me-wards, then depart and hie\nme home again.\u201d Accordingly, the two handmaidens took the Sorceress with\nthem and showed her as they went along the several apartments, each more\nmagnificent and kingly than the other; and at length they reached the\nbelvedere which was the noblest saloon of all, and fitted and filled\nwith furniture exceeding costly and curious. There sat Peri-Banu upon a\nthrone which was adorned with diamonds and rubies, emeralds, pearls and\nother gems of unwonted size and water, whilst round about her stood\nfairies of lovely form and features, robed in the richest raiments and\nawaiting with folded hands her commandments. The Sorceress marvelled\nwith extreme marvel to see the splendour of the chambers and their\nfurniture, but chiefly when she beheld the Lady Peri-Banu seated upon\nthe jewelled throne; nor could she speak a word for confusion and awe,\nbut she bent down low and placed her head upon Peri-Banu\u2019s feet. Quoth\nthe Princess in soft speech and reassuring tones, \u201cO good woman, it\npleaseth me greatly to see thee a guest in this my palace, and I joy\neven more to learn that thou be wholly quit of thy sickness. So now\nsolace thy spirits with walking all round about the place and my\nservants will accompany thee and show thee what there is worthy of thine\ninspection.\u201d Hereat the Witch again louted low and kissed the carpet\nunder Peri-Banu\u2019s feet, and took leave of her hostess in goodly phrase\nand with great show of gratitude for her favours. The handmaids then led\nher round the palace and displayed to her all the rooms, which dazed and\ndazzled her sight so that she could not find words to praise them\nsufficiently. Then she went her ways and the fairies escorted her past\nthe iron doorway whereby Prince Ahmad had brought her in, and left her,\nbidding her God-speed and blessing her; and the foul crone with many\nthanks took the road to her own home. But when she had walked to some\ndistance she was minded to see the iron door, so might she with ease\nknow it again; so she went back, but lo and behold! the entrance had\nvanished and was invisible to her as to all other women. Accordingly,\nafter searching on all sides and pacing to and fro and finding nor sign\nnor trace of palace or portal, she repaired in despair to the city and,\ncreeping along a deserted pathway, entered the palace, according to her\ncustom, by the private postern. When safely within she straightway sent\nword by an eunuch to the Sultan, who ordered that she be brought before\nhim. She approached him with troubled countenance, whereat, perceiving\nthat she had failed to carry out her purpose, he asked, \u201cWhat news? Hast\nthou accomplished thy design or hast thou been baffled therein?\u201d\u2014\u2014And as\nthe morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Fifty-ninth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Sorceress, who\nwas a mere creature of the malicious Wazir, replied, \u201cO King of kings,\nthis matter have I fully searched out even as thou gavest command, and I\nam about to tell thee all that hath betided me. The signs of sorrow and\nmarks of melancholy thou notest upon my countenance are for other cause\nwhich narrowly concerneth thy welfare.\u201d Then she began to recount her\nadventure in these terms, \u201cNow when I had reached the rocks I sat me\ndown feigning sickness; and, as Prince Ahmad passed that way and heard\nmy complaining and saw my grievous condition, he had compassion on me.\nAfter some \u2018said and say\u2019 he took me with him by a subterranean passage\nand through an iron door to a magnificent palace and gave me in charge\nof a fairy, Peri-Banu hight, of passing beauty and loveliness, such as\nhuman eye hath never yet seen. Prince Ahmad bade her make me her guest\nfor some few days and bring me a medicine which would complete my cure,\nand she to please him at once appointed handmaidens to attend upon me.\nSo I was certified that the twain were one flesh, husband and wife. I\nfeigned to be exceeding frail and feeble and made as though I had not\nstrength to walk or even to stand; whereat the two damsels supported me,\none on either side, and I was carried into a room where they gave me\nsomewhat to drink and put me upon a bed to rest and sleep. Then thought\nI to myself:\u2014Verily I have gained the object wherefor I had feigned\nsickness; and I was assured that it availed no more to practise deceit.\nAccordingly, after a short while I arose and said to the attendants that\nthe draught which they had given me to drink had cut short the fever and\nhad restored strength to my limbs and life to my frame. Then they led me\nto the presence of the Lady Peri-Banu, who was exceeding pleased to see\nme once more hale and hearty, and bade her handmaidens conduct me around\nthe palace and show each room in its beauty and splendour; after which I\ncraved leave to wend my ways and here am I again to work thy will.\u201d When\nthus she had made known to the King all that had betided her, she\nresumed, \u201cPerchance, on hearing of the might and majesty, opulence and\nmagnificence of the Lady Peri-Banu, thou wilt be gladdened and say\nwithin thyself:\u2014\u2019Tis well that Prince Ahmad is wedded to this Fairy and\nhath gotten for himself such wealth and power; but to the thinking of\nthis thy slave the matter is quite other. It is not well, I dare avouch,\nthat thy son should possess such puissance and treasures, for who\nknoweth but that he may by good aid of Peri-Banu bring about division\nand disturbance in the realm? Beware of the wiles and malice of women.\nThe Prince is bewitched with love of her, and peradventure at her\nincitement he may act towards thee otherwise than right, and lay hands\non thy hoards and seduce thy subjects and become master of thy kingdom;\nand albeit he would not of his own free will do aught to his father and\nhis forbears save what was pious and dutiful, yet the charms of his\nPrincess may work upon him little by little and end by making him a\nrebel and what more I may not say. Now mayest thou see that the matter\nis a weighty, so be not heedless but give it full consideration.\u201d Then\nthe Sorceress made ready to gang her gait when spake the King, saying,\n\u201cI am beholden to thee in two things; the first, that thou tookest upon\nthyself much toil and travail, and on my behalf riskedst thy life to\nlearn the truth anent my son Prince Ahmad. Secondly, I am thankful for\nthat thou hast given me a rede so sound and such wholesome counsel.\u201d So\nsaying, he dismissed her with the highmost honour; but no sooner had she\nleft the palace than he, sore distraught, summoned his second Wazir, the\nmalicious Minister who had incited him against Prince Ahmad, and when he\nand his friends appeared in the presence he laid before them the whole\nmatter and asked of them, saying, \u201cWhat is your counsel, and what must I\ndo to protect myself and my kingdom against the wiles of this Fairy?\u201d\nReplied one of his councillors, \u201c\u2019Tis but a trifling matter and the\nremedy is simple and nearhand. Command that Prince Ahmad, who is now\nwithin the city if not in the palace, be detained as one taken prisoner.\nLet him not be put to death, lest haply the deed may engender rebellion;\nbut at any rate place him under arrest and if he prove violent clap him\nin irons.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n             The end of the Six Hundred and Sixtieth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that this felon counsel\npleased the malicious Minister and all his fautors and flatterers highly\napproved his rede. The Sultan kept silence and made no reply, but on the\nmorrow he sent and summoned the Sorceress and debated with her whether\nhe should or should not cast Prince Ahmad into prison. Quoth she, \u201cO\nKing of kings, this counsel is clean contrary to sound sense and right\nreason. An thou throw Prince Ahmad into gaol, so must thou also do with\nall his knights and their esquires; and inasmuch as they are Jinns and\nM\u00e1rids, who can tell their power of reprisals? Nor prison-cells nor\ngates of adamant can keep them in; they will forthwith escape and report\nsuch violence to the Fairy who, wroth with extreme wrath to find her\nhusband doomed to durance vile like a common malefactor, and that too\nfor no default or crime but by a treacherous arrest, will assuredly deal\nthe direst of vengeance on thy head and do us a damage we shall not be\nable to forfend. An thou wilt confide in me, I will advise thee how to\nact, whereby thou mayest win thy wish and no evil will come nigh thee or\nthy kingship. Thou knowest well that to Jinns and Fairies is power given\nof doing in one short moment deeds marvellous and wondrous, which\nmortals fail to effect after long years of toil and trouble. Now whenas\nthou goest a-hunting or on other expedition, thou requirest pavilions\nfor thyself and many tents for thy retinue and attendants and soldiery;\nand in making ready and transporting such store much time and wealth are\nwastefully expended. I would advise, O King of kings, that thou try\nPrince Ahmad by the following test: do thou bid him bring to thee a\nSh\u00e1hmiy\u00e1nah[89] so long and so broad that it will cover and lodge the\nwhole of thy court and men-at-arms and camp-followers, likewise the\nbeasts of burthen; and yet it must be so light that a man may hold it in\nthe hollow of his hand and carry it whithersoever he listeth.\u201d Then,\nafter holding her peace for a while, she added, still addressing the\nSultan, \u201cAnd as soon as Prince Ahmad shall acquit himself of this\ncommission, do thou demand of him a somewhat still greater and more\nwondrous wherewith I will make thee ware, and which he will find\ngrievous of execution. On this wise shalt thou fill thy treasury with\nrare inventions and strange, the handicraft of J\u00e1nn, nor will this cease\ntill such time in fine when thy son shall be at his wits\u2019 end to carry\nout thy requirements. Then, humbled and abashed, he will never dare to\nenter thy capital or even thy presence; and thus shalt thou be saved\nfrom fear of harm at his hands, and thou shalt not have need to put him\nin gaol or, worse still, to do him dead.\u201d Hearing these words of wisdom,\nthe Sultan made known the Witch\u2019s device to his advisers and asked them\nwhat they deemed thereof. They held their peace and answered not a word\nof good or ill; while he himself highly approved it and said no more.\nNext day Prince Ahmad came to visit the King, who welcomed him with\noverflowing affection and clasping him to his bosom kissed him on eyes\nand forehead. Long time they sat conversing on various subjects, till at\nlength the Sultan finding an occasion spake thus, \u201cO dear my son, O\nAhmad, for many a day have I been sad at heart and sorrowful of soul\nbecause of separation from thee, and when thou camest back I was\ngladdened with great gladness at sight of thee, and albeit thou didst\nand dost still withhold from me the knowledge of thy whereabouts, I\nrefrained from asking thee or seeking to find out thy secret, since it\nwas not according to thy mind to tell me of thine abode. Now, however, I\nhave heard say that thou art wedded to a mighty Jinn\u00edyah[90], of passing\nbeauty; and the tidings please me with the highmost possible pleasure. I\ndesire not to learn aught from thee concerning thy Fairy-wife save\nwhatso thou wouldst entrust to me of thine own free will; but, say me,\nshould I at any time, require somewhat of thee, canst thou obtain it\nfrom her? Doth she regard thee with such favour that she will not deny\nthee anything thou askest of her?\u201d Quoth the Prince, \u201cO my lord, what\ndost thou demand of me? My wife is devoted to her husband in heart and\nsoul, so prithee let me learn what it is thou wouldst have of me and\nher.\u201d Replied the Sultan, \u201cThou knowest that ofttimes I fare a-hunting\nor on some foray and fray, when I have great need of tents and pavilions\nand Shahmiyanahs, with herds and troops of camels and mules and other\nbeasts of burden to carry the camp from place to place. I would,\ntherefore, that thou bring me a tent so light that a man may carry it in\nthe hollow of his hand, and yet so large that it may contain my court\nand all my host and camp and suttlers and b\u00e2t-animals. An thou wouldst\nask the Lady for this gift I know full well that she can give it; and\nhereby shalt thou save me much of trouble in providing carriage for the\ntentage and spare me much waste and loss of beasts and men.\u201d The Prince\nreplied, \u201cO my sire the Sultan, trouble not thy thought. I will at once\nmake known thy wish to my wife, the Lady Peri-Banu; and, albeit little I\nwot an fairies have the faculty of making a pavilion such as thou\ndescribest, or indeed (supposing that they have such power), an she will\ngrant me or not grant me her aidance; and, moreover, although I cannot\npromise thee such present, yet whatsoever lieth in my ability to do,\nthat will I gladly do for thy service.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-first Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that quoth the King to\nPrince Ahmad, \u201cShouldst thou perchance fail in this matter and bring me\nnot the gift required, O my son, I will never see thy face again. A\nsorry husband thou, in good sooth, if thy wife refuse so mean a thing\nand hasten not to do all thou biddest her do; giving thee to see that\nthou art of small value and consequence in her eyes, and that her love\nfor thee is a quantity well-nigh to naught. But do thou, O my child, go\nforth and straightway ask her for the tent. An she give it thee know\nthou she desireth thee and thou art the dearest of all things to her;\nand I have been informed that she loveth thee with all her heart and\nsoul and will by no means refuse thee aught thou requirest, were it even\nthe balls of her eyes.\u201d Now Prince Ahmad was ever wont to tarry three\ndays each month with the Sultan his sire, and return to his spouse on\nthe fourth; but this time he stayed two days only and farewelled his\nfather on the third. As he passed into the palace Peri-Banu could not\nbut note that he was sad at heart and downcast of face; so she asked of\nhim, \u201cIs all well with thee? Why has thou come to-day and not to-morrow\nfrom the presence of the King thy father, and why carriest thou so\ntriste a countenance?\u201d Whereupon, after kissing her brow and fondly\nembracing her, he told her the whole matter, first to last, and she made\nanswer, \u201cI will speedily set thy mind at rest, for I would not see thee\nso saddened for a moment longer. Howbeit, O my love, from this petition\nof the Sultan thy sire I am certified that his end draweth nigh, and he\nwill soon depart this world to the mercy of Allah the Almighty.[91] Some\nenemy hath done this deed and much of mischief hath made for thee; and\nthe result is that thy father, all unmindful of his coming doom, doth\nseek diligently his own destruction.\u201d The Prince, anxious and alarmed,\nthus answered his wife, \u201cAlmighty Allah be praised, the King my liege\nlord is in the best of health and showeth no sign of disorder or\ndecrepitude: \u2019tis but this morning I left him hale and hearty, and in\nvery sooth I never saw him in better case. Strange, indeed, that thou\nshouldst ken what shall betide him before I have told thee aught\nconcerning him, and especially how he hath come to learn of our marriage\nand of our home.\u201d Quoth Peri-Banu, \u201cO my Prince, thou knowest what I\nsaid to thee whenas I saw the old dame whom thou broughtest hither as\none afflicted with the ague and fever. That woman, who is a Witch of\nSatan\u2019s breed, hath disclosed to thy father all he sought to learn\nconcerning this our dwelling-place. And notwithstanding that I saw full\nclearly she was nor sick nor sorry, but only feigning a fever, I gave\nher medicine to drink which cureth complaints of all kinds, and she\nfalsely made believe that by its virtues she had recovered health and\nstrength. So when she came to take leave of me, I sent her with two of\nmy damsels and bid them display to her every apartment in the palace\ntogether with its furniture and decorations, that she might better know\nthe condition of me and thee. Now all this did I on thy account only,\nfor thou badest me show compassion to the ancient woman and I was\nrejoiced to see her departing safe and sound and in the best of spirits.\nSave her alone, no human being had ever power to know aught of this\nplace, much less to come hither.\u201d Prince Ahmad hearing these words\nthanked and praised her and said, \u201cO sun-faced beauty, I would beg of\nthee to grant me a boon whereof my father hath made request of me; to\nwit, a Shahmiyanah of such dimensions that it may shelter him and his\nmany, his camp and b\u00e2t-cattle and withal may be carried in the hollow of\nthe hand. An such marvel exist I wot not, yet would I do my utmost to\nprocure it, and carry it to him right loyally.\u201d Quoth she, \u201cWhy trouble\nthyself for so small a matter? I will forthright send for it and give it\nthee.\u201d Then she summoned one of her handmaids who was treasurer to her\nand said, \u201cO Nur Jeh\u00e1n,[92] go thou at once and bring me a pavilion of\nsuch and such a fashion.\u201d So she fared forth without delay and as\nquickly came back with the pavilion which, at her lady\u2019s bidding, she\nplaced in the palm of Prince Ahmad\u2019s hand.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to\ndawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-second Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Prince Ahmad hent\nthe pavilion in hand and thought to himself, \u201cWhat is this Peri-Banu\ngiveth me? Surely she doth make a mock of me.\u201d His wife, however,\nreading his mind in his face, fell to laughing aloud, and asked, \u201cWhat\nis it, O my dearling Prince? Dost thou think that I am jesting and\njibing at thee?\u201d Then she continued, addressing the treasurer Nur Jehan,\n\u201cTake now yon tent from Prince Ahmad and set it upon the plain that he\nmay see its vast size and know if it be such an one as required by the\nSultan his sire.\u201d The handmaid took the pavilion and pitched it afar\nfrom the Palace; and yet one end thereof reached thereto from the outer\nlimit of the plain; and so immense was its size that (as Prince Ahmad\nperceived) there was room therein for all the King\u2019s court; and, were\ntwo armies ranged under it with their camp-followers and b\u00e2t-animals,\none would on no wise crowd or inconvenience the other. He then begged\npardon of Peri-Banu saying, \u201cI wot not that the Shahmiyanah was so\nprodigious of extent and of so marvellous a nature; wherefore I\nmisdoubted when first I saw it.\u201d The Treasurer presently struck the tent\nand returned it to the palm of his hand; then, without stay or delay, he\ntook horse and followed by his retinue rode back to the royal presence,\nwhere after obeisance and suit and service he presented the tent. The\nSultan also, at first sight of the gift, thought it a small matter, but\nmarvelled with extreme marvel to see its size when pitched, for it would\nhave shaded his capital and its suburbs. He was not, however, wholly\nsatisfied, for the size of the pavilion now appeared to him superfluous;\nbut his son assured him that it would always fit itself to its contents.\nHe thanked the Prince for bringing him so rare a present, saying, \u201cO my\nson, acquaint thy consort with my obligation to her and offer my\ngrateful thanks for this her bounteous gift. Now indeed know I of a\ntruth that she doth love thee with the whole of her heart and soul and\nall my doubts and fears are well-nigh set at rest.\u201d Then the King\ncommanded they should pack up the tent and store it with all care in the\nroyal treasury. Now strange it is but true, that when the Sultan\nreceived this rare present from the Prince, the fear and doubt, the envy\nand jealousy of his son, which the Witch and the malicious Wazir and his\nother ill-advisers had bred in his breast, waxed greater and livelier\nthan before; because he was now certified that in very truth the\nJinniyah was gracious beyond measure to her mate and that,\nnotwithstanding the great wealth and power of the sovereign, she could\noutvie him in mighty deeds for the aidance of her husband. Accordingly,\nhe feared with excessive fear lest haply she seek opportunity to slay\nhim in favour of the Prince whom she might enthrone in his stead. So he\nbade bring the Witch who had counselled him aforetime, and upon whose\nsleight and malice he now mainly relied. When he related to her the\nresult of her rede, she took thought for a while; then, raising her brow\nsaid, \u201cO King of kings, thou troublest thyself for naught: thou needest\nonly command Prince Ahmad to bring thee of the water of the Lions\u2019\nSpring. He must perforce for his honour\u2019s sake fulfil thy wish, and if\nhe fail he will for very shame not dare to show his face again at court.\nNo better plan than this canst thou adopt; so look to it nor loiter on\nthy way.\u201d Next day at eventide, as the Sultan was seated in full Darbar\nsurrounded by his Wazirs and Ministers, Prince Ahmad came forwards and\nmaking due obeisance took seat by his side and below him. Hereat, the\nKing addressed him, as was his wont, with great show of favour saying,\n\u201cIt delighteth me mightily that thou hast brought me the tent I required\nof thee; for surely in my Treasury there be naught so rare and strange.\nYet one other thing lack I, and couldst thou bring it me I shall rejoice\nwith joy exceeding. I have heard tell that the Jinniyah, thy consort,\nmaketh constant use of a water which floweth from the Lions\u2019 Spring, the\ndrinking whereof doeth away with fevers and all other deadly diseases. I\nknow thou art anxious that I live in health; and thou wilt gladden me by\nbringing somewhat of that water, so I may drink thereof when occasion\nshall require, and well I wot that, as thou valuest my love and\naffection thee-wards, thou wilt not refuse to grant me my request.\u201d\nPrince Ahmad on hearing this demand was struck with surprise that his\nsire should so soon make a second demand. So he kept silence awhile,\nthinking within himself, \u201cI have managed by some means to obtain the\ntent from the Lady Peri-Banu, but Allah only knoweth how she will now\nact, and whether this fresh request will or will not rouse her wrath.\nHowbeit I know that she will on no wise deny me any boon I may ask of\nher.\u201d So after much hesitation Prince Ahmad made reply, \u201cO my lord the\nKing, I have no power to do aught in this matter, which resteth only\nwith my spouse the Princess; yet will I petition her to give the water;\nand, if she vouchsafe consent I will bring it straight to thee. Indeed I\ncannot promise thee such boon with all certainty: I would gladly do my\nendeavour in all and everything that can benefit thee, but to ask her\nfor this water is a work more weighty than asking for the tent.\u201d Next\nday the Prince took his departure and returned to Peri-Banu; and after\nloving embraces and greetings quoth he, \u201cO my lady and light of my eyes,\nthe Sultan my sire sendeth thee his grateful thanks for the granting of\nhis wish; to wit, the pavilion; and now he adventureth himself once more\nand, certified of thy bounty and beneficence, he would pray from thy\nhand the boon of a little water from the Lions\u2019 Spring. Withal I would\nassure thee that an the giving of this water please thee not, let the\nmatter be clean forgotten; for to do all thou willest is my one and only\nwish.\u201d Peri-Banu made reply, \u201cMethinks the Sultan, thy sire, would put\nboth me and thee to the test by requiring such boons as those suggested\nto him by the Sorceress.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Peri-Banu said\nfurther to Prince Ahmad, \u201cNatheless I will grant this largesse also as\nthe Sultan hath set his mind upon it, and no harm shall come therefrom\nto me or to thee, albe \u2019tis a matter of great risk and danger, and it is\nprompted by not a little of malice and ungraciousness. But give careful\nheed to my words, nor neglect thou aught of them, or thy destruction is\ncertain-sure. I now will tell thee what to do. In the hall of yonder\ncastle which riseth on that mountain is a fountain sentinelled by four\nlions fierce and ravening; and they watch and ward the path that leadeth\nthereto, a pair standing on guard whilst the other two take their turn\nto rest, and thus no living thing hath power to pass by them. Yet will I\nmake known to thee the means whereby thou mayest win thy wish without\nany hurt or harm befalling thee from the furious beasts.\u201d Thus saying\nshe drew from an ivory box a clew of thread and, by means of a needle\none of those wherewith she had been plying her work, made thereof a\nball. This she placed in the hands of her husband, and said, \u201cFirst, be\nthou careful that thou keep about thee with all diligence this ball,\nwhose use I shall presently explain to thee. Secondly, choose for\nthyself two horses of great speed, one for thine own riding, whilst on\nthe other thou shalt load the carcass of a freshly slaughtered sheep cut\ninto four quarters. In the third place, take with thee a phial wherewith\nI will provide thee, and this is for carrying the water which thou,\nInshallah\u2014God willing\u2014shalt bring back. As soon as the morn shall morrow\ndo thou arise with the light and go forth riding thy chosen steed and\nleading the other alongside of thee by the reins. When thou shalt reach\nthe iron portals which open upon the castle-court, at no great distance\nfrom the gate, do thou cast the ball of thread upon the ground before\nthee. Forthwith it will begin rolling onwards of its own will towards\nthe castle door; and do thou follow it through the open entrance until\nsuch time as it stop its course. At this moment thou shalt see the four\nlions; and the two that wake and watch will rouse the twain that sleep\nand rest. All four will turn their jaws to the ground and growl and roar\nwith hideous howlings, and make as though about to fall upon thee and\ntear thee limb from limb. However, fear not nor be dismayed, but ride\nboldly on and throw to the ground from off the led-horse the sheep\u2019s\nquarters, one to each lion. See that thou alight not from thy steed, but\ngore his ribs with thy shovel-stirrup[93] and ride with all thy might\nand main up to the basin which gathereth the water. Here dismount and\nfill the phial whilst the lions will be busied eating. Lastly, return\nwith all speed and the beasts will not prevent thy passing by them.\u201d\nNext day, at peep of morn, Prince Ahmad did according to all that\nPeri-Banu had bidden him and rode forth to the castle. Then, having\npassed through the iron portals and crossed the court and opened the\ndoor, he entered the hall, where he threw the quarters of the sheep\nbefore the lions, one to each, and speedily reached the Spring. He\nfilled his phial with water from the basin and hurried back with all\nhaste. But when he had ridden some little distance he turned about and\nsaw two of the guardian lions following upon his track; however, he was\non no wise daunted but drew his sabre from the sheath to prepare him for\nself-protection. Hereat one of the twain seeing him bare his brand for\ndefence, retired a little way from the road and, standing at gaze,\nnodded his head and wagged his tail, as though to pray the Prince to put\nup his scimitar and to assure him that he might ride in peace and fear\nno peril. The other lion then sprang forwards ahead of him and kept\nclose him, and the two never ceased to escort him until they reached the\ncity, nay even the gate of the Palace. The second twain also brought up\nthe rear till Prince Ahmad had entered the Palace-door; and, when they\nwere certified of this, all four went back by the way they came. Seeing\nsuch wondrous spectacle, the townsfolk all fled in dire dismay, albeit\nthe enchanted beasts molested no man; and presently some mounted\nhorsemen espying their lord riding alone and unattended came up to him\nand helped him alight. The Sultan was sitting in his audience-hall\nconversing with his Wazirs and Ministers when his son appeared before\nhim; and Prince Ahmad, having greeted him and blessed him and, in\ndutiful fashion, prayed for his permanence of existence and prosperity\nand opulence, placed before his feet the phial full of the water from\nthe Lions\u2019 Spring, saying, \u201cLo, I have brought thee the boon thou\ndesiredst of me. This water is most rare and hard to obtain; nor is\nthere in all thy Treasure-house aught so notable and of such value as\nthis. If ever thou fall ill of any malady (Almighty Allah forfend this\nshould be in thy Destiny!) then drink a draught thereof and forthwith\nthou shalt be made whole of whatso distemper thou hast.\u201d When Prince\nAhmad had made an end of speaking, the Sultan, with all love and\naffection, grace and honour, embraced him and kissed his head; then,\nseating him on his right said, \u201cO my son, I am beholden to thee, beyond\ncount and measure, for that thou hast adventured thy life and brought\nthis water with great irk and risk from so perilous a place.\u201d Now the\nWitch had erewhile informed the King concerning the Lions\u2019 Spring and of\nthe mortal dangers which beset the site; so that he knew right well how\ngallant was his son\u2019s derring-do; and presently he said, \u201cSay me, O my\nchild, how couldst thou venture thither and escape from the lions and\nbroughtest back the water, thyself remaining safe and sound?\u201d\u2014\u2014And as\nthe morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-fourth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Prince\nreplied, \u201cBy thy favour, O my lord the Sultan, have I returned in safety\nfrom that stead mainly because I did according to the bidding of my\nspouse, the Lady Peri-Banu; and I have brought the water from the Lions\u2019\nSpring only by carrying out her commands.\u201d Then he made known to his\nfather all that had befallen him in going and returning; and when the\nSultan noted the pre-eminent valiance and prowess of his son he only\nfeared the more, and the malice and the rancour, envy and jealousy which\nfilled his heart waxed tenfold greater than before. However, dissembling\nhis true sentiments he dismissed Prince Ahmad and betaking him to his\nprivate chamber at once sent word to bid the Witch appear in the\npresence; and when she came, he told her of the Prince\u2019s visit and all\nabout the bringing of the water from the Lions\u2019 Spring. She had already\nheard somewhat thereof by reason of the hubbub in the city at the coming\nof the lions; but, as soon as she had given ear to the whole account,\nshe marvelled with mighty marvel and, after whispering in the Sultan\u2019s\near her new device, said to him in triumph, \u201cO King of kings, this time\nthou shalt lay a charge on the Prince and such commandment methinks will\ntrouble him and it shall go hard with him to execute aught thereof.\u201d\n\u201cThou sayest well,\u201d replied the Sovran, \u201cnow indeed will I try this plan\nthou hast projected for me.\u201d Wherefore, next day whenas Prince Ahmad\ncame to the presence of his sire, the King said to him, \u201cO dear my\nchild, it delighteth me exceedingly to see thy virtue and valour and the\nfilial love wherewith thou art fulfilled, good gifts chiefly shown by\nobtaining for me the two rarities I asked of thee. And now one other and\nfinal requirement I have of thee; and, shouldst thou avail to satisfy my\ndesire, I shall be well pleased in my beloved son and render thanks to\nhim for the rest of my days.\u201d Prince Ahmad answered, \u201cWhat is the boon\nthou requirest? I will for my part do thy bidding as far as in me\nlieth.\u201d Then quoth the King in reply to the Prince, \u201cI would fain have\nthee bring me a man of size and stature no more than three feet high,\nwith beard full twenty ells in length, who beareth on his shoulder a\nquarter staff of steel, thirteen score pounds in weight, which he\nwieldeth with ease and swingeth around his head without wrinkle on brow,\neven as men wield cudgels of wood.\u201d On this wise the Sultan, led astray\nby the Doom of Destiny and heedless alike of good and evil, asked that\nwhich should bring surest destruction upon himself. Prince Ahmad also,\nwith blind obedience out of pure affection to his parent, was ready to\nsupply him with all he required unknowing what was prepared for him in\nthe Secret Purpose. Accordingly he said, \u201cO my sire the Sultan, I trow\nme \u2019twill be hard to find, all the world over, a man such as thou\ndesirest, still I will work my best to do thy bidding.\u201d Thereupon the\nPrince retired from the presence and returned, as usual, to his palace\nwhere he greeted Peri-Banu with love and gladness; but his face was\ntroubled and his heart was heavy at the thought of the King\u2019s last\nbehest. Perceiving his pre-occupation the Princess asked him, saying, \u201cO\ndear my lord, what tidings bringest thou for me to-day?\u201d Hereto replied\nhe, \u201cThe Sultan at each visit requireth of me some new thing and\nburtheneth me with his requests; and to-day he purposeth to try me and,\nin the hopes of putting me to shame, he asketh somewhat which \u2019twere\nvain to hope I can find in all the world.\u201d Thereupon Prince Ahmad told\nher all the King had said to him.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Peri-Banu hearing\nthese words said to the Prince, \u201cTrouble not thyself at all in this\nmatter. Thou didst venture at great risk to carry off for thy father\nwater from the Lions\u2019 Spring and thou succeededst in winning thy wish.\nNow this task is on no wise more difficult or dangerous than was that:\nnay, \u2019tis the easier, for that he thou describest is none other than\nShabbar, my brother-german. Although we both have the same parents, yet\nit pleased Almighty Allah to enform us in different figures and to make\nhim unlike his sister as being in mortal mould can be. Moreover he is\nvaliant and adventurous, always seeking some geste and exploit whereby\nto further my interest, and right willingly doth he carry out whatso he\nundertaketh. He is shaped and formed as the Sultan thy sire hath\ndescribed, nor useth he any weapons save the Nabb\u00fat[94] or quarter staff\nof steel. And see now I will send for him, but be not thou dismayed at\nsighting him.\u201d Replied Prince Ahmad, \u201cIf he be in truth thine own\nbrother what matter how he looketh? I shall be pleased to see him as\nwhen one welcometh a valued friend or a beloved kinsman. Wherefore\nshould I fear to look upon him?\u201d Hearing these words Peri-Banu\ndespatched one of her attendants who brought to her from her private\ntreasury a chafing-dish of gold; then she bade a fire be lit therein,\nand sending for a casket of noble metals studded with gems, the gift of\nher kinsmen, she took therefrom some incense and cast it upon the\nflames. Herewith issued a dense smoke spireing high in air and spreading\nall about the palace; and a few moments after, Peri-Banu who had ceased\nher conjurations cried, \u201cLookye my brother Shabbar cometh! canst thou\ndistinguish his form?\u201d The Prince looked up and saw a mannikin in\nstature dwarfish and no more than three feet high, and with a boss on\nbreast and a hump on back; withal he carried himself with stately mien\nand majestic air. On his right shoulder was borne his quarter staff of\nsteel thirteen score pounds in weight. His beard was thick and twenty\ncubits in length but arranged so skilfully that it stood clear off from\nthe ground; he wore also a twisted pair of long mustachios curling up to\nhis ears, and all his face was covered with long pile. His eyes were not\nunlike unto pig\u2019s eyes; and his head, on which was placed a crown-like\ncoiffure, was enormous of bulk, contrasting with the meanness of his\nstature. Prince Ahmad sat calmly beside his wife, the Fairy, and felt no\nfear as the figure approached; and presently Shabbar walked up and\nglancing at him asked Peri-Banu saying, \u201cWho be this mortal who sitteth\nhard by thee?\u201d Hereto she replied, \u201cO my brother, this is my beloved\nhusband, Prince Ahmad, son of the Sultan of Hindostan. I sent thee not\nan invitation to the wedding as thou wast then engaged on some great\nexpedition; now, however, by the grace of Almighty Allah thou hast\nreturned triumphant and victorious over thy foes, wherefore I have\nsummoned thee upon a matter which nearly concerneth me.\u201d Hearing these\nwords Shabbar looked graciously at Prince Ahmad, saying, \u201cO my beloved\nsister, is there any service I can render to him?\u201d and she replied, \u201cThe\nSultan his sire desireth ardently to see thee, and I pray thee go\nforthright to him and take the Prince with thee by way of guide.\u201d Said\nhe, \u201cThis instant I am ready to set forth;\u201d but said she, \u201cNot yet, O my\nbrother. Thou art fatigued with journeying; so defer until the morrow\nthy visit to the King, and this evening I will make known to thee all\nthat concerneth Prince Ahmad.\u201d Presently the time came; so Peri-Banu\ninformed her brother Shabbar concerning the King and his\nill-counsellors; but she dwelt mainly upon the misdeeds of the old\nwoman, the Witch; and how she had schemed to injure Prince Ahmad and\ndespitefully prevent his going to city or court, and she had gained such\ninfluence over the Sultan that he had given up his will to hers and\nceased not doing whatso she bade him. Next day at dawn Shabbar the Jinn\nand Prince Ahmad set out together upon a visit to the Sultan; and, when\nthey had reached the city gates, all the folk, nobles and commons, were\nstruck with consternation at the dwarf\u2019s hideous form; and, flying on\nevery side in affright and running into shops and houses, barred the\ndoors and closed the casements and hid themselves therein. So\npanic-stricken indeed was their flight that many feet lost shoes and\nsandals in running, while from the heads of others their loosened\nturbands fell to earth. And when they twain approached the palace\nthrough streets and squares and market-places desolate as the Desert of\nSam\u00e1wah,[95] all the keepers of the gates took to their heels at sight\nof Shabbar and fled, so there was none to hinder their entering. They\nwalked straight on to the audience-chamber where the Sultan was holding\nDarbar, and they found in attendance on him a host of Ministers and\nCouncillors, great and small, each standing in his proper rank and\nstation. They too on seeing Shabbar speedily took flight in dire dismay\nand hid themselves; also the guards had deserted their posts nor cared\nin any way to let or stay the twain. The Sovran still sat motionless on\nhis throne, where Shabbar went up to him with lordly mien and royal\ndignity and cried, \u201cO King, thou hast expressed a wish to see me; and\nlo, I am here. Say now what wouldst thou have me do?\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn\nbegan to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night.\n\nTHEN said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the King made no\nreply to Shabbar, but held up his hands before his eyes that he might\nnot behold that frightful figure, and turning his head would fain have\nfled in terror. Shabbar was filled with fury at this rudeness on the\npart of the Sultan, and was wroth with exceeding wrath to think that he\nhad troubled himself to come at the bidding of such a craven, who now on\nseeing him would fain run away. So the Jinn, without an instant\u2019s delay,\nraised his quarter staff of steel, and, swinging it twice in air, before\nPrince Ahmad could reach the throne or on any wise interfere, struck the\nSultan so fiercely upon the poll that his skull was smashed and his\nbrains were scattered over the floor. And when Shabbar had made an end\nof this offender, he savagely turned upon the Grand Wazir who stood on\nthe Sultan\u2019s right, and incontinently would have slain him also, but the\nPrince craved pardon for his life and said, \u201cKill him not: he is my\nfriend and hath at no time said one evil word against me. But such is\nnot the case with the others, his fellows.\u201d Hearing these words the\ninfuriated Shabbar fell upon the Ministers and ill-counsellors on either\nside, to wit, all who had devised evil devices against Prince Ahmad, and\nslew them each and every and suffered none to escape save only those who\nhad taken flight and hidden themselves. Then, going from the hall of\njustice to the courtyard, the Dwarf said to the Wazir whose life the\nPrince had saved, \u201cHarkye, there is a Witch who beareth enmity against\nmy brother, the husband of my sister. See that thou produce her\nforthright; likewise the villain who filled his father\u2019s mind with hate\nand malice, envy and jealousy against him, so may I quite them in full\nmeasure for their misdeeds.\u201d The Grand Wazir produced them all, first\nthe Sorceress, and then the malicious minister with his rout of fautors\nand flatterers, and Shabbar felled them one after the other with his\nquarter staff of steel and killed them pitilessly, crying to the\nSorceress, \u201cThis is the end of all thy machinations with the King, and\nthis is the fruit of thy deceit and treachery; so learn not to feign\nthyself sick.\u201d And in the blindness of his passion he would have slain\nall the inhabitants of the city, but Prince Ahmad prevented him and\npacified him with soft and flattering words. Hereupon Shabbar habited\nhis brother in the royal habit and seated him on the throne and\nproclaimed him Sultan of Hindostan. The people all, both high and low,\nrejoiced with exceeding joy to hear these tidings, for Prince Ahmad was\nbeloved by every one; so they crowded to swear fealty and bring presents\nand Nazar\u00e1nahs[96] and raised shouts of acclamation crying out, \u201cLong\nlive King Ahmad!\u201d When all this was done, Shabbar sent for his sister,\nPeri-Banu, and made her Queen under the title of Shahr-Banu;[97] and in\ndue time taking leave of her and of King Ahmad, the Jinni returned to\nhis own home.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace\ntill\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that after these things\nKing Ahmad summoned Prince Ali his brother and Nur al-Nihar and made him\ngovernor of a large city hard by the capital, and dismissed him thither\nin high state and splendour. Also he commissioned an official to wait\nupon Prince Husayn and tell him all the tidings, and sent word saying,\n\u201cI will appoint thee ruler over any capital or country thy soul\ndesireth; and, if thou consent, I will forward thee letters of\nappointment.\u201d But inasmuch as the Prince was wholly content and entirely\nhappy in Darwaysh-hood, he cared naught for rule or government or aught\nof worldly vanities; so he sent back the official with his duty and\ngrateful thanks, requesting that he might be left to live his life in\nsolitude and renunciation of matters mundane. Now when Queen Shahrazad\nhad made an end of telling her story and yet the night was not wholly\nspent, King Shahryar spake saying, \u201cThis thy story, admirable and most\nwonderful, hath given me extreme delight; and I pray thee do thou tell\nus another tale till such time as the last hours of this our night be\npassed.\u201d She replied, \u201cBe it as thou wilt, O auspicious King: I am thy\nslave to do as thou shalt bid.\u201d Then she began to relate the tale of\n\n\n\n\n             THE TWO SISTERS WHO ENVIED THEIR CADETTE.[98]\n\n\nIn days of yore and in times long gone before there lived a King of\nPersia, Khusrau Sh\u00e1h hight, renowned for justice and righteousness. His\nfather, dying at a good old age, had left him sole heir to all the realm\nand, under his rule, the tiger and the kid drank side by side at the\nsame Gh\u00e1t[99]; and his treasury was ever full and his troops and guards\nwere numberless. Now it was his wont to don disguise and, attended by a\ntrusty Wazir, to wander about the street at night-time. Whereby things\nseld-seen and haps peregrine became known to him, the which, should I\ntell thee all thereof, O auspicious King, would weary thee beyond\nmeasure. So he took seat upon the throne of his forbears and when the\nappointed days of mourning were ended, according to the custom of that\ncountry, he caused his exalted name, that is Khusrau Shah, be struck\nupon all the coins of the kingdom and entered into the formula of public\nprayer.[100] And when stablished in his sovranty he went forth as\naforetime on one evening accompanied by his Grand Wazir, both in\nmerchant\u2019s habit, walking the streets and squares, the markets and\nlanes, the better to note what might take place both of good and of bad.\nBy chance they passed, as the night darkened, through a quarter where\ndwelt people of the poorer class; and, as they walked on, the Shah heard\ninside a house women talking with loud voices; then going near, he\npeeped in by the door-chink, and saw three fair sisters who having\nsupped together were seated on a divan talking one to other. The King\nthereupon applied his ear to the crack and listened eagerly to what they\nsaid, and heard each and every declaring what was the thing she most\ndesired.[101] Quoth the eldest, \u201cI would I were married to the Shah\u2019s\nhead Baker for then should I ever have bread to eat, the whitest and\nchoicest in the city, and your hearts would be fulfilled with envy and\njealousy and malice at my good luck.\u201d Quoth the second, \u201cI would rather\nwive with the Shah\u2019s chief Kitchener and eat of dainty dishes that are\nplaced before his Highness, wherewith the royal bread which is common\nthroughout the Palace cannot compare for gust and flavour.\u201d And quoth\nthe third and youngest of the three, and by far the most beautiful and\nlovely of them all, a maiden of charming nature, full of wit and humour;\nsharp-witted, wary and wise, when her turn came to tell her wish, \u201cO\nsisters, my ambition is not as ordinary as yours. I care not for fine\nbread nor glutton-like do I long for dainty dishes. I look to somewhat\nnobler and higher: indeed I would desire nothing less than to be married\nby the King and become the mother of a beautiful Prince, a model of form\nand in mind as masterful as valorous. His hair should be golden on one\nside and silvern on the other: when weeping he should drop pearls in\nplace of tears, and when laughing his rosy lips should be fresh as the\nblossom new-blown.\u201d The Shah was amazed with exceeding amazement to hear\nthe wishes of the three sisters, but chiefly of the youngest and\ndetermined in himself that he would gratify them all. Wherefore quoth he\nto the Grand Wazir, \u201cMark well this house and on the morrow bring before\nme these maidens whom we heard discoursing;\u201d and quoth the Wazir, \u201cO\nAsylum of the Universe, I hear but to obey.\u201d Thereupon the twain walked\nback to the palace and laid them down to rest. When morning morrowed,\nthe Minister went for the sisters and brought them to the King, who,\nafter greeting them and heartening their hearts, said to them in kindly\ntone, \u201cO ye maidens of weal, last night what was it that in merry word\nand jest ye spake one to other? Take heed ye tell the Shah every whit in\nfull detail, for all must become known to us; something have we heard,\nbut now the King would have ye recount your discourse to his royal\nears.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that at these words of\nthe Shah the sisters, confused and filled with shame, durst not reply\nbut stood before him silent with heads bent low; and despite all\nquestioning and encouragement they could not pluck up courage. However,\nthe youngest was of passing comeliness in form and feature and forthwith\nthe Shah became desperately enamoured of her; and of his love began\nreassuring them and saying, \u201cO ye Princesses of fair ones, be not afraid\nnor troubled in thought; nor let bashfulness or shyness prevent you\ntelling the Shah what three wishes you wished, for fain would he fulfil\nthem all.\u201d Thereat they threw themselves at his feet and, craving his\npardon for their boldness and freedom of speech, told him the whole\ntalk, each one repeating the wish she had wished; and on that very day\nKhusrau Shah married the eldest sister to his chief Baker, and the\nsecond sister to his head Cook, and bade make all things ready for his\nown wedding with the youngest sister. So when the preparations for the\nroyal nuptials had been made after costliest fashion, the King\u2019s\nmarriage was celebrated with royal pomp and pageantry, and the bride\nreceived the titles of Light of the Harem and B\u00e1n\u00fa of Ir\u00e1n-land. The\nother two maidens were likewise married, one to the King\u2019s Baker the\nother to his Cook, after a manner according to their several degrees in\nlife and with little show of grandeur and circumstance. Now it had been\nonly right and reasonable that these twain having won each her own wish,\nshould have passed their time in solace and happiness, but the decree of\nDestiny doomed otherwise; and, as soon as they saw the grand estate\nwhereto their youngest sister had risen, and the magnificence of her\nmarriage-festival, their hearts were fired with envy and jealousy and\nsore despite and they resolved upon giving the rein to their hatred and\nmalignancy and to work her some foul mischief. On this wise they\nremained for many months consumed with rancour, day and night; and they\nburned with grief and anger whenever they sighted aught of her superior\nstyle and state. One morning as the two met at the Hamm\u00e1m and found\nprivacy and opportunity, quoth the eldest sister to the second, \u201cA\ngrievous thing it is indeed that she, our youngest sister, no lovelier\nthan ourselves, should thus be raised to the dignity and majesty of\nQueendom and indeed the thought is overhard to bear.\u201d Quoth the other,\n\u201cO sister mine, I also am perplexed and displeased at this thing, and I\nknow not what of merit the Shah could have seen in her that he was\ntempted to choose her for his consort. She ill befitteth that high\nestate with that face like a monkey\u2019s favour; and, save her youth, I\nknow nothing that could commend her to his Highness that he should so\nexalt her above her fellows. To my mind thou and not she art fit to\nshare the royal bed; and I nurse a grudge against the King for that he\nhath made this jade his Queen.\u201d And the eldest sister rejoined, \u201cI\nlikewise marvel beyond all measure; and I swear that thy youth and\nbeauty, thy well-shaped figure and lovely favour and goodliness of gifts\npast challenge or compare, might well have sufficed to win the King and\nhave tempted him to wed and bed with thee and make thee his crowned\nQueen and Sovran Lady in lieu of taking to his arms this paltry\nstrumpet. Indeed he hath shown no sense of what is right and just in\nleaving thee disappointed; and on this account only the matter troubleth\nme with exceeding trouble.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad\nheld her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the two sisters\ntook counsel each with other how they might abase their youngest sister\nin the Shah\u2019s sight and cause her downfall and utter ruin. Day and night\nthey conned over the matter in their minds and spoke at great length\nabout it when they ever met together, and pondered endless plans to\ninjure the Queen their sister, and if possible bring about her death;\nbut they could fix upon none. And, whilst they bore this despite and\nhatred towards her and diligently and deliberately sought the means of\ngratifying their bitter envy, hatred and malice, she on the other hand\nregarded them with the same favour and affection as she had done before\nmarriage and thought only how to advantage their low estate. Now when\nsome months of her wedded life had passed, the fair Queen was found to\nbe with child whereof the glad tidings filled the Shah with joy; and\nstraightway he commanded all the people of the capital and throughout\nthe whole Empire keep holiday with feasts and dancing and every manner\njollity as became so rare and important an occasion. But as soon as the\nnews came to the ears of the two Envious Sisters they were constrained\nperforce to offer their congratulations to the Queen; and, after a long\nvisit, as the twain were about to crave dismissal they said, \u201cThanks be\nto Almighty Allah, O our sister, who hath shown us this happy day. One\nboon have we to ask of thee: to wit, that when the time shall come for\nthee to be delivered of a child, we may assist as midwives at thy\nconfinement, and be with thee and nurse thee for the space of forty\ndays.\u201d The Queen in her gladness made reply, \u201cO sisters mine, I fain\nwould have it so; for at a time of such need I know of none on whom to\nrely with such dependence as upon you. During my coming trial your\npresence with me will be most welcome and opportune; but I can do only\nwhat thing the Shah biddeth nor can I do aught save by his leave. My\nadvice is thus:\u2014Make known this matter to your mates who have always\naccess to the royal presence, and let them personally apply for your\nattendance as midwives; I doubt not but that the Shah will give you\nleave to assist me and remain by my side, considering the fond\nrelationship between us three.\u201d Then the two sisters returned home full\nof evil thoughts and malice, and told their wishes to their husbands\nwho, in turn, bespake Khusrau Shah, and proffered their petition with\nall humility, little knowing what was hidden from them in the Secret\nPurpose. The King replied, \u201cWhen I shall have thought the matter over in\nmy mind, I will give you suitable orders.\u201d So saying he privately\nvisited the Queen and to her said, \u201cO my lady, an it please thee,\nmethinks \u2019twould be well to summon thy sisters and secure their aidance,\nwhen thou shalt be labouring of child, in lieu of any stranger: and if\nthou be of the same mind as myself let me at once learn and take steps\nto obtain their consent and concert ere thy time arriveth. They will\nwait on thee with more loving care than any hired nurse and thou wilt\nfind thyself the safer in their hands.\u201d Replied the Queen, \u201cO my lord\nthe Shah, I also venture to think that \u2019twould be well to have my\nsisters by my side and not mere aliens at such an hour.\u201d Accordingly he\nsent word to them and from that day they dwelt within the palace to make\nall ready for the expected confinement; and on this wise they found\nmeans to carry out their despiteful plot which during so many days they\nhad devised to scanty purpose. When her full tale of months had been\ntold, the Banu was brought to bed of a man-child marvellous in beauty,\nwhereat the fire of envy and hatred was kindled with redoubled fury in\nthe sisters\u2019 breasts. So they again took counsel nor suffered ruth or\nnatural affection to move their cruel hearts; and presently, with great\ncare and secrecy, they wrapped the new-born in a bit of blanket and\nputting him into a basket cast him into a canal which flowed hard by the\nQueen\u2019s apartment.[102] They then placed a dead puppy in the place of\nthe prince and showed it to the other midwives and nurses, averring that\nthe Queen had given birth to such abortion. When these untoward tidings\nreached the King\u2019s ears he was sore discomforted and waxed wroth with\nexceeding wrath.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace\ntill\n\n\n            The end of the Six Hundred and Seventieth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the King, inflamed\nwith sudden fierceness, drew his sword and would have slain his Queen\nhad not the Grand Wazir, who happened to be in his presence at the time,\nrestrained his rage and diverted him from his unjust design and\nbarbarous purpose. Quoth he, \u201cO Shadow of Allah upon earth, this mishap\nis ordained of the Almighty Lord whose will no man hath power to\ngainsay. The Queen is guiltless of offence against thee, for what is\nborn of her is born without her choice, and she indeed hath no hand\ntherein.\u201d With this and other sage counsels he dissuaded his lord from\ncarrying out his fell purpose and saved the guiltless Queen from a\nsudden and cruel death. Meanwhile the basket wherein lay the newly-born\nPrince was carried by the current into a rivulet which flowed through\nthe royal gardens; and, as the Intendant of the pleasure grounds and\npleasaunces chanced to walk along the bank, by the decree of Destiny he\ncaught sight of the basket floating by, and he called a gardener,\nbidding him lay hold of it and bring it to him that he might see what\nwas therein. The man ran along the rivulet side; and, with a long stick\ndrawing the basket to land, showed it to the Intendant who opened it and\nbeheld within a new-born babe, a boy of wondrous beauty wrapped in a bit\nof blanket; at which sight he was astounded beyond measure of surprise.\nNow it so chanced that the Intendant, who was one of the Emirs and who\nstood high in favour with the Sovran, had no children: withal he never\nceased offering prayers and vows to Almighty Allah that he might have a\nson to keep alive his memory and continue his name. Delighted at the\nsight he took home the basket with the babe and giving it to his wife\nsaid, \u201cSee how Allah hath sent to us this man-child which I just now\nfound floating upon the waters; and do thou apply thee forthright and\nfetch a wet-nurse to give him milk and nourish him; and bring him up\nwith care and tenderness as though he were thine own.\u201d So the\nIntendant\u2019s wife took charge of the child with great gladness and reared\nhim with her whole heart, diligently as though born of her own womb; nor\ndid the Intendant say aught to any, or seek to find out whose might be\nthe child lest haply some one claim and take it from him. He was\ncertified in his mind that the boy came from the Queen\u2019s quarter of the\npalace, but deemed it inexpedient to make too strict enquiry concerning\nthe matter; and he and his spouse kept the secret with all secrecy. A\nyear after this the Queen gave birth to a second son, when her sisters,\nthe Satanesses full of spite, did with this babe, even as they had done\nby the first: they wrapped it in a cloth and set it in a basket which\nthey threw into the stream, then gave out that the Queen had brought\nforth a kitten. But once more, by the mercy of Allah Almighty, this boy\ncame to the hands of that same Intendant of the gardens who carried him\nto his wife and placed him under her charge with strict injunctions to\ntake care of the second foundling sedulously as she had done with the\nfirst. The Shah, enraged to hear the evil tidings, again rose up to slay\nthe Queen; but as before the Grand Wazir prevented him and calmed his\nwrath with words of wholesome rede and a second time saved the unhappy\nmother\u2019s life. And after another year had gone by the Banu was brought\nto bed and this time bore a daughter by whom the sisters did as they had\ndone by her brothers: they set the innocent inside a basket and threw\nher into the stream; and the Intendant found her also and took her to\nhis wife and bade her rear the infant together with the other two\ncastaways. Hereupon the Envious Sisters, wild with malice, reported that\nthe Queen had given birth to a musk-ratling;[103] whereat King Khusrau\ncould no longer stay his wrath and indignation. So he cried in furious\nrage to the Grand Wazir, \u201cWhat, shall the Shah suffer this woman, who\nbeareth naught but vermin and abortions, to share the joys of his bed?\nNay more, the King can no longer allow her to live, else she will fill\nthe palace with monstrous births: in very sooth, she is herself a\nmonster, and it behoveth us to rid this place of such unclean creature\nand accursed.\u201d So saying the Shah commanded them do her to death; but\nthe ministers and high officers of estate who stood before the presence\nfell at the royal feet and besought pardon and mercy for the Queen. The\nGrand Wazir also said with folded hands, \u201cO Sh\u00e1hinsh\u00e1h[104]\u2014O King of\nthe kings\u2014thy slave would fain represent that \u2019tis not in accordance\nwith the course of justice or the laws of the land to take the life of a\nwoman for no fault of her own. She cannot interfere with Destiny, nor\ncan she prevent unnatural births such as have thrice betided her; and\nsuch mishaps have oftentimes befallen other women, whose cases call for\ncompassion and not punishment. An the King be displeased with her then\nlet him cease to live with her, and the loss of his gracious favour will\nbe a penalty dire enough; and, if the Shah cannot suffer the sight of\nher, then let her be confined in some room apart, and let her expiate\nher offence by alms deeds and charity until \u2019Izr\u00e1\u00edl, the Angel of Death,\nseparate her soul from her flesh.\u201d Hearing these words of counsel from\nhis aged Councillor, Khusrau Shah recognised that it had been wrong to\nslay the Queen, for that she could on no wise do away with aught that\nwas determined by Fate and Destiny; and presently he said to the Grand\nWazir, \u201cHer life is spared at thine intercession, O wise man and ware;\nyet will the King doom her to a weird which, haply, is hardly less hard\nto bear than death. And now do thou forthright make ready, by the side\nof the Cathedral-mosque, a wooden cage with iron bars and lock the Queen\ntherein as one would confine a ferocious wild beast.[105] Then every\nMussulman who wendeth his way to public prayers shall spit in her face\nere he set foot within the fane, and if any fail to carry out this\ncommand he shall be punished in like manner. So place guards and\ninspectors to enforce obedience and let me hear if there be aught of\ngainsaying.\u201d The Wazir durst not make reply but carried out the Shah\u2019s\ncommandments; and this punishment inflicted upon the blameless Queen had\nfar better befitted her Envious Sisters.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-first Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the cage was made\nready with all speed; and, when the forty days after purification of\nchild-bed[106] had come to an end, the Banu was locked therein; and,\naccording to the King\u2019s commandment, all who came to prayer in the Great\nMosque would first spit in her face. The hapless woman, well knowing\nthat she was not worthy of this ignominy, bore her sufferings with all\npatience and fortitude; nor were they few who deemed her blameless and\nundeserving to endure these torments and tortures inflicted upon her by\nthe Shah; and they pitied her and offered prayers and made vows for her\nrelease. Meanwhile the Intendant of the gardens and his wife brought up\nthe two Princes and the Princess with all love and tenderness; and, as\nthe children grew in years, their love for these adopted ones increased\nin like proportion. They gave the eldest Prince the name Bahman,[107]\nand to his brother Parwez;[108] and, as the maiden was rare of beauty\nand passing of loveliness and graciousness, they called her\nPer\u00edz\u00e1dah.[109] When the Princes became of years to receive instruction,\nthe Intendant of the gardens appointed tutors and masters to teach them\nreading and writing and all the arts and sciences: the Princess also,\nshowing like eagerness to acquire knowledge, was taught letters by the\nsame instructors, and soon could read and write with as perfect fluency\nand facility as could her brothers. Then they were placed under the most\nlearned of the Philosophers and the Olema, who taught them the\ninterpretation of the Koran and the sayings of the Apostle; the science\nof geometry as well as poetry and history, and even the abstruse\nsciences and the mystic doctrines of the Enlightened; and their teachers\nwere astonished to find how soon and how far all three made progress in\ntheir studies and bid fair to outstrip even the sages however learned.\nMoreover, they all three were reared to horsemanship and skill in the\nchase, to shooting with shafts and lunging with lance and sway of sabre\nand jerking the Jer\u00edd, with other manly and warlike sports. Besides all\nthis the Princess Perizadah was taught to sing and play on various\ninstruments of mirth and merriment, wherein she became the peerless\npearl of her age and time. The Intendant was exceeding glad of heart to\nfind his adopted children prove themselves such proficients in every\nbranch of knowledge; and presently, forasmuch as his lodging was small\nand unfit for the growing family, he bought at a little distance from\nthe city a piece of land sufficiently large to contain fields and\nmeadows and copses. Here he fell to building a mansion of great\nmagnificence; and busied himself day and night with supervising the\narchitects and masons and other artificers. He adorned the walls inside\nand out with sculptural work of the finest and paintings of the\nchoicest, and he fitted every apartment with richest furniture. In the\nfront of his mansion he bade lay out a garden and stocked it with\nscented flowers and fragrant shrubs and fruit trees whose produce was as\nthat of Paradise. There was moreover a large park girt on all sides by a\nhigh wall wherein he reared game, both fur and feather, as sport for the\ntwo Princes and their sister. And when the mansion was finished and fit\nfor habitation, the Intendant, who had faithfully served the Shah for\nmany generations of men, craved leave of his lord that he might bid\nadieu to the city and take up his abode in his new country seat; and the\nKing, who had always looked upon him with the eye of favour, granted to\nhim the required boon right heartily; furthermore, to prove his high\nopinion of his old servant and his services, he inquired of him if he\nhad aught to request that it might be granted to him. Replied the other,\n\u201cO my liege lord, thy slave desireth naught save that he may spend the\nremnant of his days under the shadow of the Shah\u2019s protection, with body\nand soul devoted to his service, even as I served the sire before the\nson.\u201d The Shah dismissed him with words of thanks and comfort, when he\nleft the city and taking with him the two Princes and their sister, he\ncarried them to his newly-built mansion. Some years before this time his\nwife had departed to the mercy of Allah, and he had passed only five or\nsix months in his second home when he too suddenly fell sick and was\nadmitted into the number of those who have found ruth. Withal he had\nneglected every occasion of telling his three foundlings the strange\ntale of their birth and how he had carried them to his home as castaways\nand had reared them as rearlings and had cherished them as his own\nchildren. But he had time to charge them, ere he died, that they three\nshould never cease to live together in love and honour and affection and\nrespect one towards other. The loss of their protector caused them to\ngrieve with bitter grief, for they all thought he was their real father;\nso they bewailed them and buried him as befitted; after which the two\nbrothers and their sister dwelt together in peace and plenty. But one\nday of the days the Princes, who were full of daring and of highest\nmettle, rode forth a-hunting and Princess Perizadah was left alone at\nhome when an ancient woman\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-second Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that perchance an\nancient woman of the Moslems, a recluse and a devotee came to the door\nand begged leave to enter within and repeat her prayers, as it was then\nthe canonical hour and she had but time to make the Wuz\u00fa-ablution.\nPerizadah bade bring her and saluted her with the salam and kindly\nwelcomed her; then, when the holy woman had made an end of her orisons,\nthe handmaids of the Princess, at her command, conducted her all through\nthe house and grounds, and displayed to her the rooms with their\nfurniture and fittings, and lastly the garden and orchard and game-park.\nShe was well pleased with all she saw and said within herself, \u201cThe man\nwho built this mansion and laid out these parterres and vergiers was\nverily an accomplished artist and a wight of marvellous skill.\u201d At last\nthe slaves led her back to the Princess who, awaiting her return, was\nsitting in the belvedere; and quoth she to the devotee, \u201cCome, O good my\nmother, do thou sit beside me and make me happy by the company of a\npious recluse whom I am fortunate enough to have entertained unawares,\nand suffer I listen to thy words of grace and thereby gain no small\nadvantage in this world and the next. Thou hast chosen the right path\nand straight whereon to walk, and that which all men strive for and pine\nfor.\u201d The holy woman would fain have seated herself at the feet of the\nPrincess, but she courteously arose and took her by the hand and\nconstrained her to sit beside her. Quoth she, \u201cO my lady, mine eyes\nnever yet beheld one so well-mannered as thou art: indeed, I am unworthy\nto sit with thee, natheless, as thou biddest, I will e\u2019en do thy\nbidding.\u201d As they sat conversing each with other the slave-girls set\nbefore them a table whereon were placed some platters of bread and cakes\nwith saucers full of fruits both fresh and dried, and various kinds of\ncakes and sweetmeats. The Princess took one of the cakes and giving it\nto the good woman said, \u201cO my mother, refresh thyself herewith and eat\nof the fruits such as thou likest. \u2019Tis now long since thou didst leave\nthy home and I trow thou hast not tasted aught of food upon the road.\u201d\nReplied the holy woman, \u201cO lady of gentle birth, I am not wont to taste\nof dainty dishes such as these, but I can ill refuse thy provision,\nsince Allah the Almighty deigneth send me food and support by so liberal\nand generous a hand as thine.\u201d And when they twain had eaten somewhat\nand cheered their hearts, the Princess asked the devotee concerning the\nmanner of her worship and of her austere life; whereto she made due\nanswer and explained according to her knowledge. The Princess then\nexclaimed, \u201cTell me, I pray thee, what thou thinkest of this mansion and\nthe fashion of its building and the furniture and the appurtenances; and\nsay me is all perfect and appropriate, or is aught still lacking in\nmansion or garden?\u201d And she replied, \u201cSince thou deignest ask my\nopinion, I confess to thee that both the building and the parterres are\nfinished and furnished to perfection; and the belongings are in the best\nof taste and in the highest of ordinance. Still to my thinking there be\nthree things here wanting, which if thou hadst the place would be most\ncomplete.\u201d The Princess Perizadah adjured her saying, \u201cO my aunt, I\nbeseech thee tell me what three articles yet are lacking, that I may\nlose nor pains nor toil to obtain them;\u201d and, as the maiden pressed her\nwith much entreaty, the devotee was constrained to tell her. Quoth she,\n\u201cO gentle lady, the first thing is the Speaking-Bird, called\nBulbul-i-haz\u00e1r-d\u00e1st\u00e1n;[110] he is very rare and hard to find but,\nwhenever he poureth out his melodious notes, thousands of birds fly to\nhim from every side and join him in his harmony. The next thing is the\nSinging-Tree, whose smooth and glossy leaves when shaken by the wind and\nrubbed one against other send forth tuneful tones which strike the ear\nlike the notes of sweet-voiced minstrels, ravishing the hearts of all\nwho listen. The third thing is the Golden-Water of transparent purity,\nwhereof should but one drop be dripped into a basin and this be placed\ninside the garden it presently will fill the vessel brimful and will\nspout upwards in gerbes playing like a fountain that jets: moreover it\nnever ceaseth plying, and all the water as it shooteth up falleth back\nagain inside the basin, not one gout thereof being lost.\u201d Replied the\nPrincess, \u201cI doubt not but thou knowest for a certainty the very spot\nwhere these wondrous things are to be found; and I pray thee tell me now\nthe place and means whereby I may take action to obtain them.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as\nthe morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the holy woman\nthus answered the Princess, \u201cThese three rarities are not to be found,\nsave on the boundary-line that lieth between the land of Hind and the\nconfining countries, a score of marches along the road that leadeth\nEastwards from this mansion. Let him who goeth forth in quest of them\nask the first man he meeteth on the twentieth stage concerning the spot\nwhere he may find the Speaking-Bird, the Singing-Tree and the\nGolden-Water; and he will direct the seeker where to come upon all\nthree.\u201d When she had made an end of speaking the Devotee, with many\nblessings and prayers and vows for her well-being, farewelled the lady\nPerizadah and fared forth homewards. The Princess, however, ceased not\nto ponder her words and ever to dwell in memory upon the relation of the\nholy woman who, never thinking that her hostess had asked for\ninformation save by way of curiosity, nor really purposed in mind to set\nforth with intent of finding the rarities, had heedlessly told all she\nknew and had given a clue to the discovery. But Perizadah kept these\nmatters deeply graven on the tablets of her heart with firm resolution\nto follow the directions and, by all means in her power, to gain\npossession of these three wonders. Withal, the more she reflected the\nharder appeared the enterprise, and her fear of failing only added to\nher unease. Now whilst she sat perplexed with anxious thought and anon\nterrified with sore affright, her brothers rode back from the\nhunting-ground; and they marvelled much to see her sad of semblance and\nlow-spirited, wondering the while what it was that troubled her.\nPresently quoth Prince Bahman, \u201cO sister mine, why art thou so heavy of\nheart this day? Almighty Allah forbid thou be ill in health or that\naught have betided thee to cause thy displeasure or to make thee\nmelancholy. Tell us I beseech thee what it is, that we may be sharers in\nthy sorrow and be alert to aid thee.\u201d The Princess answered not a word,\nbut after long silence raised her head and looked up at her brothers;\nthen casting down her eyes she said in curt phrase that naught was amiss\nwith her. Quoth Prince Bahman, \u201cFull well I wot that there is a somewhat\non thy mind which thou hesitatest to tell us; and now hear me swear a\nstrong oath that I will never leave thy side till thou shalt have told\nus what cause it is that troubleth thee. Haply thou art aweary of our\naffection and thou wouldst undo the fraternal tie which hath united us\nfrom our infancy.\u201d When she saw her brothers so distressed and\ndistraught, she was compelled to speak and said, \u201cAlbeit, O my\ndearlings, to tell you wherefore I am sad and sorrowful may cause you\ngrief, still there is no help but I explain the matter to you twain.\nThis mansion, which our dear father (who hath found ruth) builded for\nus, is perfect in every attribute nor lacketh it any condition of\ncomfort or completion. Howbeit I have found out by chance this day that\nthere are yet three things which, were they set within these walls, of\nthe house and grounds, would make our place beyond compare, and in the\nwide world there would be naught with it to pair. These three things are\nthe Speaking-Bird and the Singing-Tree and the Golden-Water; and ever\nsince I heard of them my heart is filled with extreme desire to place\nthem within our domain and excessive longing to obtain them by any means\nwithin my power. It now behoveth you help me with your best endeavour\nand to consider what person will aid me in getting possession of these\nrarities.\u201d Replied Prince Bahman, \u201cMy life and that of my brother are at\nthy service to carry out thy purpose with heart and soul; and, couldst\nthou give me but a clue to the place where these strange things are\nfound, I would sally forth in quest of them at daybreak as soon as the\nmorning shall morrow.\u201d When Prince Parwez understood that his brother\nwas about to make this journey, he spake saying, \u201cO my brother, thou art\neldest of us, so do thou stay at home while I go forth to seek for these\nthree things and bring them to our sister. And indeed it were more\nfitting for me to undertake a task which may occupy me for years.\u201d\nReplied Prince Bahman, \u201cI have full confidence in thy strength and\nprowess, and whatso I am able to perform thou canst do as well as I can.\nStill it is my firm resolve to fare forth upon this adventure alone and\nunaided, and thou must stay and take care of our sister and our home.\u201d\nSo next day Prince Bahman learned from the Princess the road whereon he\nwas to travel and the marks and signs whereby to find the place.\nPresently, he donned armour and arms and bidding the twain adieu, he\ntook horse and was about to ride forth with the stoutest of hearts,\nwhereat Princess Perizadah\u2019s eyes brimmed with tears and in faltering\naccents she addressed him saying, \u201cO dear my brother, this bitter\nseparation is heart-breaking; and sore sorrowful am I to see thee part\nfrom us. This disunion and thine absence in a distant land cause me\ngrief and woe far exceeding that wherewith I mourned and pined for the\nrarities wherefor thou quittest us. If only we might have some news of\nthee from day to day then would I feel somewhat comforted and consoled;\nbut now \u2019tis clear otherwise and regret is of none avail.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the\nmorn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Prince Bahman made\nanswer in these words: \u201cO sister mine, I am fully determined in mind to\nattempt this derring-do: be thou not however anxious or alarmed, for\nInshallah\u2014God willing\u2014I shall return successful and triumphant. After my\ndeparture shouldst thou at any time feel in fear for my safety, then by\nthis token which I leave thee thou shalt know of my fate and lot, good\nor evil.\u201d Then, drawing from his waist-shawl a little hunting-knife like\na whittle, he gave it to Princess Perizadah, saying, \u201cTake now this\nblade and keep it ever by thee; and shouldst thou at any day or hour be\nsolicitous concerning my condition, draw it from its sheath; and, if the\nsteel be clean and bright as \u2019tis now then know that I am alive and safe\nand sound; but an thou find stains of blood thereon then shalt thou know\nthat I am slain, and naught remaineth for thee to do save to pray for me\nas for one dead.\u201d With these words of solace the Prince departed on his\njourney, and travelled straight along the road to India, turning nor to\nright hand nor to left but ever keeping the same object in view. Thus a\nscore of days was spent in journeying from the land of Iran, and upon\nthe twentieth he reached the end of his travel. Here he suddenly sighted\nan ancient man of frightful aspect sitting beneath a tree hard by his\nthatched hut wherein he was wont to shelter himself from the rains of\nspring and the heats of summer and the autumnal miasmas and the wintry\nfrosts. So shotten in years was this Shaykh that hair and beard,\nmustachios and whiskers were white as snow, and the growth of his upper\nlip was so long and so thick that it covered and concealed his mouth,\nwhile his beard swept the ground and the nails of his hands and feet had\ngrown to resemble the claws of a wild beast. Upon his head he wore a\nbroad-brimmed hat of woven palm-leaves like that of a Mal\u00e1b\u00e1r fisherman,\nand all his remaining habit was a strip of matting girded around his\nwaist. Now this Shaykh was a Darwaysh who for many years had fled the\nworld and all worldly pleasures; who lived a holy life of poverty and\nchastity and other-worldliness whereby his semblance had become such as\nI, O auspicious King, have described to thee. From early dawn that day\nPrince Bahman had been watchful and vigilant, ever looking on all sides\nto descry some one who could supply him with information touching the\nwhereabouts of the rarities he sought; and this was the first human\nbeing he had sighted on that stage, the twentieth and last of his\njourney. So he rode up to him, being assured that the Shaykh must be the\nwight of whom the holy woman had spoken. Then Prince Bahman dismounting\nand making low obeisance to the Darwaysh, said, \u201cO my father, Allah\nAlmighty prolong thy years and grant thee all thy wishes!\u201d Whereto the\nFakir made answer but in accents so indistinct that the Prince could not\ndistinguish a single word he said; and presently Bahman understood that\nhis moustache had on such wise closed and concealed his mouth that his\nutterance became indistinct and he only muttered when he would have\nspoken. He therefore haltered his horse to a tree and pulling out a pair\nof scissors said, \u201cO holy man, thy lips are wholly hidden by this\noverlong hair; suffer me, I pray thee, clip the bristling growth which\noverspreadeth thy face and which is so long and thick that thou art\nfearsome to behold; nay, more like to a bear than to a human being.\u201d The\nDarwaysh with a nod consented, and when the Prince had clipped it and\ntrimmed the growth, his face once more looked young and fresh as that of\na man in the prime of youth. Presently quoth Bahman to him, \u201cWould\nHeaven I had a mirror wherein to show thee thy face, so wouldst thou see\nhow youthful thou seemest, and how thy favour hath become far more like\nthat of folk than whilom it was.\u201d These flattering words pleased the\nDarwaysh who smiling said, \u201cI thank thee much for this thy goodly\nservice and kindly offices; and, if in return I can do aught of favour\nfor thee, I pray thee let me know, and I will attempt to satisfy thee in\nall things with my very heart and soul.\u201d Then said the Prince, \u201cO holy\nman, I have come hither from far distant lands along a toilsome road in\nquest of three things; to wit, a certain Speaking-Bird, a Singing-Tree\nand a Golden-Water; and this know I for certain that they are all to be\nfound hard by this site.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Prince,\nturning to the Darwaysh, continued, \u201cO Devotee, albeit well I wot that\nthe three things I seek are in this land and nearhand, yet I know not\nthe exact spot wherein to find them. An thou have true information\nconcerning the place and will inform me thereof, I on my part will never\nforget thy kindness, and I shall have the satisfaction of feeling that\nthis long and toilsome wayfare hath not been wholly vain.\u201d Hearing these\nwords of the Prince, the Darwaysh changed countenance and his face waxed\ntroubled and his colour wan; then he bent his glance downwards and sat\nin deepest silence. Whereat the other said, \u201cO holy father, dost thou\nnot understand the words wherewith I have bespoken thee? An thou art\nignorant of the matter prithee let me know straightway that I may again\nfare onwards until such time as I find a man who can inform me thereof.\u201d\nAfter a long pause the Darwaysh made reply, \u201cO stranger, \u2019tis true I ken\nfull well the site whereof thou art in search; but I hold thee dear in\nthat thou hast been of service to me; and I am loath for thine own sake\nto tell thee where to find that stead.\u201d And the Prince rejoined, \u201cSay\nme, O Fakir, why dost thou withhold this knowledge from me, and\nwherefore art thou not lief to let me learn it?\u201d Replied the other,\n\u201c\u2019Tis a hard road to travel and full of perils and dangers. Besides\nthyself many have come hither and have asked the path of me, and I\nrefused to tell them, but they heeded not my warning and pressed me sore\nand compelled me to disclose the secret which I would have buried in my\nbreast. Know, O my son, that all those braves have perished in their\npride and not one of them hath returned to me safe and sound. Now, an\nthy life be dear to thee, follow my counsel and fare no further, but\nrather turn thee back without stay or delay and make for house and home\nand family.\u201d Hereto Prince Bahman, stern in resolution, made reply,\n\u201cThou hast after kindly guise and friendly fashion advised me with the\nbest of advice; and I, having heard all thou hast to say, do thank thee\ngratefully. But I reck not one jot or tittle of what dangers affront me,\nnor shall thy threats however fatal deter me from my purpose: moreover,\nif thieves or foemen haply fall upon me, I am armed at point and can and\nwill protect myself, for I am certified that none can outvie me in\nstrength and stowre.\u201d To this the Fakir made reply, \u201cThe beings who will\ncut thy path and bar thy progress to that place are unseen of man, nor\nwill they appear to thee on any wise: how then canst thou defend thyself\nagainst them?\u201d And he replied, \u201cSo be it, still I fear not and I pray\nthee only show me the road thither.\u201d When the Darwaysh was assured that\nthe Prince had fully determined in mind to attempt the exploit and would\nby no means turn or be turned back from carrying out his purpose, he\nthrust his hand into a bag which lay hard by and took therefrom a ball,\nand said, \u201cAlas, O my son, thou wilt not accept my counsel and I needs\nmust let thee follow thy wilful way. Take this ball and, mounting thy\nhorse, throw it in front of thee, and as long as it shall roll onwards\ndo thou ride after it, but when it shall stop at the hill-foot dismount\nfrom thy horse and throw the reins upon his neck and leave him alone,\nfor he will stay there without moving until such time as thou return.\nThen manfully breast the ascent, and on either side of the path, right\nand left, thou shalt see a scatter of huge black boulders. Here the\nsound of many voices in confused clamour and frightful will suddenly\nstrike thine ears, to raise thy wrath and to fill thee with fear and\nhinder thy higher course uphill. Have a heed that thou be not dismayed,\nalso beware, and again I say beware, lest thou turn thy head at any time\nand cast a look backwards. An thy courage fail thee, or thou allow\nthyself one glance behind thee, thou shalt be transformed that very\nmoment into a black rock; for know thou, O Prince, that all those stones\nwhich thou shalt see strewn upon thy way were men whilom and braves like\nthyself, who went forth with intent to gain the three things thou\nseekest, but frightened at those sounds lost human shape and became\nblack boulders. However, shouldst thou reach the hill-top safe and\nsound, thou shalt find on the very summit a cage and perched therein the\nSpeaking-Bird ready to answer all thy queries. So ask of him where thou\nmayest find the Singing-Tree and the Golden-Water, and he will tell thee\nall thou requirest. When thou shalt safely have seized all three thou\nwilt be free from further danger; yet, inasmuch as thou hast not yet set\nout upon this journey give ear to my counsel. I beg of thee desist from\nthis thy purpose and return home in peace whilst thou hast yet the\npower.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Prince made\nanswer to the Darwaysh, \u201cUntil, O thou holy man, such time as I win to\nmy purpose I will not go back; no, never; therefore adieu.\u201d So he\nmounted his horse and threw the ball in front of him; and it rolled\nforward at racing-speed and he, with gaze intent thereupon, rode after\nit and did not suffer it to gain upon him. When it had reached the hill\nwhereof the Darwaysh spake, it ceased to make further way, whereupon the\nPrince dismounted and throwing the reins on his horse\u2019s neck left him\nand fared on afoot to the slope. As far as he could see, the line of his\npath from the hill-foot to the head was strewn with a scatter of huge\nblack boulders; withal his heart felt naught of fear. He had not taken\nmore than some four or five paces before a hideous din and a terrible\nhubbub of many voices arose, even as the Darwaysh had forewarned him.\nPrince Bahman, however, walked on valiantly with front erect and\nfearless tread, but he saw no living thing and heard only the\nVoices[111] sounding all around him. Some said, \u201cWho is yon fool man and\nwhence hath he come? Stop him, let him not pass!\u201d Others shouted out,\n\u201cFall on him, seize this zany and slay him!\u201d Then the report waxed\nlouder and louder still, likest to the roar of thunder, and many Voices\nyelled out, \u201cThief! Assassin! Murtherer!\u201d Another muttered in taunting\nundertones, \u201cLet him be, fine fellow that he is! Suffer him to pass on,\nfor he and he only shall get the cage and the Speaking-Bird.\u201d The Prince\nfeared naught but advanced hot foot with his wonted nerve and spirit;\npresently, however, when the Voices kept approaching nearer and nearer\nto him and increased in number on every side, he was sore perplexed. His\nlegs began to tremble, he staggered and in fine overcome by fear he\nclean forgot the warning of the Darwaysh and looked back, whereat he was\nincontinently turned to stone like the scores of knights and adventurers\nwho had foregone him. Meantime the Princess Perizadah ever carried the\nhunting-knife, which Bahman her brother had given her, sheathed as it\nwas in her maiden zone. She had kept it there ever since he set out upon\nhis perilous expedition, and whenever she felt disposed she would bare\nthe blade and judge by its sheen how fared her brother. Now until that\nday when he was transmewed to stone she found it, as often as she looked\nat it, clean and bright; but on the very evening when that evil fate\nbetided him perchance Prince Parwez said to Perizadah, \u201cO sister mine,\ngive me I pray thee the hunting-knife that I may see how goeth it with\nour brother.\u201d She took it from her waist-belt and handed it to him; and\nas soon as he unsheathed the knife lo and behold! he saw gouts of gore\nbegin to drop from it. Noting this he dashed the hunting-knife down and\nburst out into loud lamentations, whilst the Princess who divined what\nhad happened shed a flood of bitter tears and cried with sighs and sobs,\n\u201cAlas, O my brother, thou hast given thy life for me. Ah, woe is me and\nwell-away! why did I tell thee of the Speaking-Bird and the Singing-Tree\nand the Golden-Water? Wherefore did I ask that holy woman how she liked\nour home, and hear of those three things in answer to my question? Would\nto Heaven she had never crossed our threshold and darkened our doors!\nUngrateful hypocrite, dost thou requite me on such wise for the favour\nand the honour I was fain to show thee; and what made me ask of thee the\nmeans whereby to win these things? If now I obtain possession of them\nwhat will they advantage me, seeing that my brother Bahman is no more?\nWhat should I ever do with them?\u201d Thus did Perizadah indulge her grief\nbewailing her sad fate; while Parwez in like manner moaned for his\nbrother Bahman with exceeding bitter mourning. At last the Prince, who\ndespite his sorrow was assured that his sister still ardently desired to\npossess the three marvels, turned to Perizadah and said, \u201cIt behoveth\nme, O my sister, to set out forthright and to discover whether Bahman\nour brother met his death by doom of Destiny, or whether some enemy have\nslain him; and if he hath been killed then must I take full vengeance on\nhis murtherer.\u201d Perizadah besought him with much weeping and wailing not\nto leave her, and said, \u201cO joy of my heart, Allah upon thee, follow not\nin the footsteps of our dear departed brother nor quit me in order to\nattempt a journey so rife in risks. I care naught for those things in my\nfear lest I lose thee also while attempting such enterprise.\u201d But Prince\nParwez would on no wise listen to her lament and next day took leave of\nher, but ere he fared she said to him, \u201cThe hunting-knife which Bahman\nleft with me was the means of informing us concerning the mishap which\nhappened to him; but, say me how shall I know what happeneth to thee?\u201d\nThen he produced a string of pearls which numbered one hundred and said,\n\u201cAs long as thou shalt see these pearls all parted one from other and\neach running loose upon the string, then do thou know that I am alive;\nbut an thou shouldst find them fixed and adhering together then be thou\nware that I am dead.\u201d The Princess taking the string of pearls hung it\naround her neck, determined to observe it hour after hour and find out\nhow it fared with her second brother. After this Prince Parwez set out\nupon his travels and at the twentieth stage came to the same spot where\nBahman had found the Darwaysh and saw him there in like condition. Then,\nafter saluting him with the salam, the Prince asked, \u201cCanst thou tell me\nwhere to find the Speaking-Bird and the Singing-Tree and the\nGolden-Water; and by what manner of means I may get possession of them?\nAn thou can I pray thee inform me of this matter.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn\nbegan to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n         The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Darwaysh\nstrave to stay Prince Parwez from his design and shewed him all the\ndangers on the way. Quoth he, \u201cNot many days ago one like unto thee in\nyears and in features came hither and enquired of me concerning the\nmatter thou now seekest. I warned him of the perils of the place and\nwould have weaned him from his wilful ways, but he paid no wise heed to\nmy warnings and refused to accept my counsel. He went off with full\ninstructions from me how to find those things he sought; but as yet he\nhath not returned, and doubtless he also hath perished like the many who\npreceded him upon that perilous enterprise.\u201d Then said Prince Parwez, \u201cO\nholy father, I know the man of whom thou speakest, for that he was my\nbrother; and I learned that he was dead, but have no inkling of the\ncause whereby he died.\u201d Replied the Darwaysh, \u201cO my lord, I can inform\nthee on this matter; he hath been transmewed into a black stone, like\nthe others of whom I just now spake to thee. If thou wilt not accept my\nadvice and act according to my counsel thou also surely shalt perish by\nthe same means as did thy brother; and I solemnly forewarn thee to\ndesist from this endeavour.\u201d Prince Parwez having pondered these words,\npresently made reply, \u201cO Darwaysh, I thank thee again and again and am\nmuch beholden to thee in that thou art fain of my welfare and thou hast\ngiven me the kindest of counsel and the friendliest of advice; nor am I\nworthy of such favours bestowed upon a stranger. But now remaineth\nnaught for me to beseech save that thou wilt point out the path, for I\nam fully purposed to fare forwards and on no wise to desist from my\nendeavour. I pray thee favour me with full instructions for the road\neven as thou favourest my brother.\u201d Then said the Darwaysh, \u201cAn thou\nwilt not lend ear to my warnings and do as I desire thee, it mattereth\nto me neither mickle nor little. Choose for thyself and I by doom of\nDestiny must perforce forward thy attempt and albeit, by reason of my\ngreat age and infirmities, I may not conduct thee to the place I will\nnot grudge thee a guide.\u201d Then Prince Parwez mounted his horse and the\nDarwaysh taking one of many balls from out his scrip placed it in the\nyouth\u2019s hands, directing him the while what to do, as he had counselled\nhis brother Bahman; and, after giving him much advice and many warnings\nhe ended with saying, \u201cO my lord, have a heed not to be perplexed and\nterrified by the threatening Voices,[112] and sounds from unseen beings,\nwhich shall strike thine ear; but advance dauntless to the hill-top\nwhere thou shalt find the cage with the Speaking-Bird and the\nSinging-Tree and the Golden-Water.\u201d The Fakir then bid him adieu with\nwords of good omen and the Prince set forth. He threw the ball on the\nground before him and, as it rolled up the path, he urged his horse to\nkeep pace with it. But when he reached the hill-foot and saw that the\nball had stopped and lay still, he dismounted forthright and paused\nawhile ere he should begin to climb and conned well in his mind the\ndirections, one and all, given to him by the Darwaysh. Then, with firm\ncourage and fast resolve, he set out afoot to reach the hill-top. But\nhardly had he begun to climb before he heard a voice beside him\nthreatening him in churlish tongue and crying, \u201cO youth of ill-omen,\nstand still that I may trounce thee for this thine insolence.\u201d Hearing\nthese insulting words of the Invisible Speaker, Prince Parwez felt his\nblood boil over; he could not refrain his rage and in his passion he\nclean forgot the words of wisdom wherewith the Fakir had warned him. He\nseized his sword and drawing it from the scabbard, turned about to slay\nthe man who durst insult him on such wise; but he saw no one and, in the\nact of looking back both he and his horse became black stones. Meanwhile\nthe Princess ceased not at all hours of the day and watches of the night\nto consult the string of pearls which Parwez had left her: she counted\nthem overnight when she retired to rest, she slept with them around her\nneck during the hours of darkness, and when she awoke at the dawn of day\nshe first of all consulted them and noted their condition. Now at the\nvery hour when her second brother was turned to stone she found the\npearls sticking one to other so close together that she might not move a\nsingle bead apart from its fellows and she knew thereby that Prince\nParwez also was lost to her for ever.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Princess\nPerizadah was sore grieved at so sudden a blow and said to herself, \u201cAh!\nwoe is me and well-away! How bitter will be living without the love of\nsuch brothers whose youthtide was sacrificed for me! \u2019Tis but right that\nI share their fate whate\u2019er be my lot; else what shall I have to say on\nthe Day of Doom and the Resurrection of the Dead and the Judgment of\nMankind?\u201d Wherefore next morning, without further let or stay, she\ndonned disguise of man\u2019s attire; and, warning her women and slaves that\nshe would be absent on an errand for a term of days during which they\nwould be in charge of the house and goods, she mounted her hackney and\nset out alone and unattended. Now, inasmuch as she was skilled in\nhorsemanship and had been wont to accompany her brothers when hunting\nand hawking, she was better fitted than other women to bear the toils\nand travails of travel. So on the twentieth day she arrived safe and\nsound at the hermitage-hut where, seeing the same Shaykh, she took seat\nbeside him and after salaming to him and greeting him she asked him, \u201cO\nholy father, suffer me to rest and refresh myself awhile in this site of\ngood omen; then deign point out to me, I pray thee, the direction of the\nplace, at no far distance herefrom, wherein are found a certain\nSpeaking-Bird and a Singing-Tree and a Golden-Water. An thou wilt tell\nme I shall deem this the greatest of favour.\u201d Replied the Darwaysh, \u201cThy\nvoice revealeth to me that thou art a woman and no man, albeit attired\nin male\u2019s apparel. Well I wot the stead whereof thou speakest and which\ncontaineth the marvellous things thou hast named. But say me, what is\nthy purpose in asking me?\u201d The Princess made reply, \u201cI have been told\nmany a tale anent these rare and wondrous things, and I would fain get\npossession of them and bear them to my home and make them its choicest\nadornments.\u201d And said the Fakir, \u201cO my daughter, in very truth these\nmatters are exceeding rare and admirable: right fit are they for fair\nones like thyself to win and take back with thee, but thou hast little\ninkling of the dangers manifold and dire that encompass them. Better far\nwere it for thee to cast away this vain thought and go back by the road\nthou camest.\u201d Replied the Princess, \u201cO holy father and far-famed\nanchorite, I come from a distant land whereto I will nevermore return\nexcept after winning my wish; no, never! I pray thee tell me the nature\nof those dangers and what they be, that hearing thereof my heart may\njudge if I have or have not the strength and the spirit to meet them.\u201d\nThen the Shaykh described to the Princess all the risks of the road as\nerst he had informed Princes Bahman and Parwez; and he ended with\nsaying, \u201cThe dangers will display themselves as soon as thou shalt begin\nto climb the hill-foot and shall not end till such time as thou wilt\nhave reached the hill-head where is the home of the Speaking-Bird. Then,\nif thou be fortunate enough to seize him, he will direct thee where to\nfind the Singing-Tree and the Golden-Water. All the time thou climbest\nthe hill, Voices from throats unseen and accents fierce and fell shall\nresound in thine ears. Furthermore, thou shalt see black rocks and\nboulders strewn upon thy path; and these, thou must know, are the\ntransformed bodies of men who with exceeding courage attempted the same\nenterprise, but filled with sudden fear and tempted to turn and to look\nbackwards were changed into stones. Now do thou steadily bear in mind\nwhat was their case. At the first they listened to those fearful sounds\nand cursings with firm souls, but anon their hearts and minds misgave\nthem, or, haply, they fumed with fury to hear the villain words\naddressed to them and they turned about and gazed behind them, whereat\nboth men and horses became black boulders.\u201d But when the Darwaysh had\ntold her every whit, the Princess made reply, \u201cFrom what thou sayest it\nseemeth clear to me that these Voices can do nothing but threaten and\nfrighten by their terrible din; furthermore that there is naught to\nprevent a man climbing up the hill, nor is there any fear of any one\nattacking him; all he hath to do is on no account to look behind him.\u201d\nAnd after a short pause she presently added, \u201cO Fakir, albeit a woman\nyet I have both nerve and thews to carry me through this adventure. I\nshall not heed the Voices nor be enraged thereat, neither will they have\nany power to dismay me: moreover, I have devised a device whereby my\nsuccess on this point is assured.\u201d \u201cAnd what wilt thou do?\u201d asked he,\nand she answered, \u201cI will stop mine ears with cotton so may not my mind\nbe disturbed and reason perturbed by hearing those awesome sounds.\u201d The\nFakir marvelled with great marvel and presently exclaimed, \u201cO my lady,\nmethinks thou art destined to get possession of the things thou seekest.\nThis plan hath not occurred to any hitherto[113] and hence it is haply\nthat one and all have failed miserably and have perished in the attempt.\nTake good heed to thyself however, nor run any risk other than the\nenterprise requireth.\u201d She replied, \u201cI have no cause for fear since this\none and only danger is before me to prevent happy issue. My heart doth\nbear me witness that I shall surely gain the guerdon wherefor I have\nundertaken such toil and trouble. But now do thou tell me what I must\ndo, and whither to win my wish I must wend.\u201d The Darwaysh once more\nbesought her to return home, but Perizadah refused to listen and\nremained as firm and resolute as before; so when he saw that she was\nfully bent upon carrying out her purpose he exclaimed, \u201cDepart, O my\ndaughter, in the peace of Almighty Allah and His blessing; and may He\ndefend thy youth and beauty from all danger.\u201d Then taking from his bag a\nball he gave it her and said, \u201cWhen thou art seated in saddle throw this\nbefore thee and follow it whitherso it lead thee; and when it shall stop\nat the hill-foot then dismount and climb the slope. What will happen\nafter I have already told thee.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Princess after\nfarewelling the Fakir straightway bestrode her steed and threw the ball\nin front of his hooves as she had been bidden do. It rolled along before\nher in the direction of the hill and she urged her hackney to keep up\nwith it, until reaching the hill it suddenly stopped. Hereat the\nPrincess dismounted forthwith and having carefully plugged both her ears\nwith cotton, began to breast the slope with fearless heart and dauntless\nsoul; and as soon as she had advanced a few steps a hubbub of voices\nbroke out all around her, but she heard not a sound, by reason of her\nhearing being blunted by the cotton-wool. Then hideous cries arose with\nhorrid din, still she heard them not; and at last they grew to a storm\nof shouts and shrieks and groans and moans flavoured with foul language\nsuch as shameless women use when railing one at other. She caught now\nand then an echo of the sounds but recked naught thereof and only\nlaughed and said to herself, \u201cWhat care I for their scoffs and jeers and\nfulsome taunts? Let them hoot on and bark and bay as they may: this at\nleast shall not turn me from my purpose.\u201d As she approached the goal the\npath became perilous in the extreme and the air was so filled with an\ninfernal din and such awful sounds that even Rustam would have quailed\nthereat and the bold spirit of Asfandiyar[114] have quaked with terror.\nThe Princess, however, pressed on with uttermost speed and dauntless\nheart till she neared the hill-top and espied above her the cage in\nwhich the Speaking-Bird was singing with melodious tones; but, seeing\nthe Princess draw nigh, he broke out despite his puny form in thundering\ntones and cried, \u201cReturn, O fool: hie thee back nor dare come nearer.\u201d\nPrincess Perizadah heeded not his clamour a whit but bravely reached the\nhill-top, and running over the level piece of ground made for the cage\nand seized it saying, \u201cAt last I have thee and thou shalt not escape\nme.\u201d She then pulled out the cotton-wool wherewith she had stopped her\nears, and heard the Speaking-Bird reply in gentle accents, \u201cO lady\nvaliant and noble, be of good cheer for no harm or evil shall betide\nthee, as hath happened to those who essayed to make me their prize.\nAlbeit I am encaged I have much secret knowledge of what happeneth in\nthe world of men and I am content to become thy slave, and for thee to\nbe my liege lady. Moreover I am more familiar with all that concerneth\nthee even than thou art thyself; and one day of the days I will do thee\na service which shall deserve thy gratitude. What now is thy command?\nSpeak that I may fulfil thy wish.\u201d Princess Perizadah was gladdened by\nthese words, but in the midst of her joy she grieved at the thought of\nhow she had lost her brothers whom she loved with a love so dear, and\nanon she said to the Speaking-Bird, \u201cFull many a thing I want, but first\ntell me if the Golden-Water, of which I have heard so much, be nigh unto\nthis place and if so do thou show me where to find it.\u201d The Bird\ndirected her accordingly and the Princess took a silver flagon she had\nbrought with her and filled it brimful from the magical fount. Then\nquoth she to the Bird, \u201cThe third and last prize I have come to seek is\nthe Singing-Tree: discover to me where that also can be found.\u201d The Bird\nreplied, \u201cO Princess of fair ones, behind thy back in yonder clump that\nlieth close at hand groweth the Tree;\u201d so she went forthright to the\ncopse and found the Tree she sought singing with sweetest toned voice.\nBut inasmuch as it was huge in girth she returned to her slave the Bird\nand said, \u201cThe Tree indeed I found but \u2019tis lofty and bulky; how then\nshall I pull it up?\u201d and he made answer, \u201cPluck but a branchlet of the\nTree and plant it in thy garden: \u2019twill at once take root and in\nshortest time be as gross and fair a growth as that in yonder copse.\u201d So\nthe Princess broke off a twig, and now that she had secured the three\nthings, whereof the holy woman spake to her, she was exceeding joyful\nand turning to the Bird said, \u201cI have in very deed won my wish, but one\nthing is yet wanting to my full satisfaction. My brothers who ventured\nforth with this same purpose are lying hereabouts turned into black\nstones; and I fain would have them brought to life again and the twain\nreturn with me in all satisfaction and assurance of success. Tell me now\nsome plan whereby mine every desire may be fulfilled.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn\nbegan to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n            The end of the Six Hundred and Eightieth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Speaking-Bird\nreplied, \u201cO Princess, trouble not thyself, the thing is easy. Sprinkle\nsome of the Golden-Water from the flagon upon the black stones lying\nround about, and by virtue thereof each and every shall come to life\nagain, thy two brothers as well as the others.\u201d So Princess Perizadah\u2019s\nheart was set at rest and taking the three prizes with her she fared\nforth and scattered a few drops from the silver flagon upon each black\nstone as she passed it when, lo and behold! they came to life as men and\nhorses. Amongst them were her brothers whom she at once knew and falling\non their necks she embraced them, and asked in tones of surprise, \u201cO my\nbrothers, what do ye here?\u201d To this they answered, \u201cWe lay fast asleep.\u201d\nQuoth she, \u201cStrange indeed that ye take delight in slumber away from me\nand ye forget the purpose wherefor ye left me; to wit, the winning of\nthe Speaking-Bird and the Singing-Tree and the Golden-Water. Did ye not\nsee this place all bestrown with dark hued rocks? Look now and say if\nthere be aught left of them. These men and horses now standing around us\nwere all black stones as ye yourselves also were; but, by the boon of\nAlmighty Allah, all have come to life again and await the signal to\ndepart. And if now ye wish to learn by what strange miracle both ye and\nthey have recovered human shape, know ye that it hath been wrought by\nvirtue of a water contained in this flagon which I sprinkled on the\nrocks with leave of the Lord of all Living. When I had gained possession\nof this cage and its Speaking-Bird, and also of the Singing-Tree, a wand\nwhereof ye see in my hand, and lastly of the Golden-Water, I would not\ntake them home with me unless ye twain could also bear me company; so I\nasked of this Bird the means whereby ye could be brought to life again.\nHe made me drop some drops of the Golden-Water on the boulders and when\nI had done this ye two like all the others returned to life and to your\nproper forms.\u201d Hearing these her words the Princes Bahman and Parwez\nthanked and praised their sister Perizadah; and all the others she had\nsaved showered thanks and blessings on her head saying with one accord,\n\u201cO our lady, we are now thy slaves; nor can a life-long service repay\nthe debt of gratitude we owe thee for this favour thou hast shown us.\nCommand and we are ready to obey thee with our hearts and our souls.\u201d\nQuoth Perizadah, \u201cThe bringing back to life of these my brothers were my\naim and purpose, and in so doing ye too have profited thereby; and I\naccept your acknowledgments as another pleasure. But now do ye mount\neach and every man his horse and ride back by the way ye came to your\nhomes in Allah\u2019s peace.\u201d On this wise the Princess dismissed them and\nmade herself also ready to depart; but, as she was about to bestride her\nsteed, Prince Bahman asked permission of her that he might hold in hand\nthe cage and ride in front of her. She answered, \u201cNot so, O brother\nmine; this Bird is now my slave and I will carry him myself. An thou\nwilt, take thou this twig with thee, but hold the cage only till I am\nseated in saddle.\u201d She then mounted her hackney and, placing the cage\nbefore her on the pommel, bade her brother Parwez take charge of the\nGolden-Water in the silver flagon and carry it with all care and the\nPrince did her bidding without gainsaying. And when they all were ready\nto ride forth, including the knights and the squires whom Perizadah had\nbrought to life by sprinkling the Water the Princess turned to them and\nsaid, \u201cWhy delay we our departure and how is it that none offereth to\nlead us?\u201d But as all hesitated she gave command, \u201cNow let him amongst\nyour number whose noblesse and high degree entitle him to such\ndistinction fare before us and show us the way.\u201d Then all with one\naccord replied, \u201cO Princess of fair ones, there be none amongst us\nworthy of such honour, nor may any wight dare to ride before thee.\u201d So\nwhen she saw that none amongst them claimed pre-eminence or right of\nguidance, and none desired to take precedence of the rest, she made\nexcuse and said, \u201cO my lords, \u2019tis not for me by right to lead the way,\nbut since ye order I must needs obey.\u201d Accordingly she pushed on to the\nfront, and after came her brothers and behind them the rest. And as they\njourneyed on all desired to see the holy man, and thank him for his\nfavours and friendly rede, but when they reached the spot where he dwelt\nthey found him dead, and they knew not if old age had taken him away, or\nif he perished in his pride because the Princess Perizadah had found and\nhad carried off the three things whereof he had been appointed by\nDestiny guard and guide.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Eighty-first Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that all the company\nrode on, and as each one arrived at the road which led him to his natal\nland he took leave of the Lady Perizadah and went his way, until all\nwere gone and the Princess and her brothers were the only left. At last\nthey reached their journey\u2019s end safe and sound, and on entering their\nmansion Perizadah hung the cage inside the garden hard by the belvedere\nand no sooner did the Speaking-Bird begin to sing than flights of\nringdoves and bulbuls and nightingales and skylarks and parrots and\nother songsters came flocking around him from afar and anear. Likewise\nshe set the twig, which she had taken from the Singing-Tree, in a choice\nparterre also hard by the belvedere, and forthright it took root and put\nforth boughs and buds and grew goodly in growth, till it became a trunk\nas large as that from which she had plucked the twig, whilst from its\nleafage went forth bewitching sounds rivalling the music of the parent\ntree. She lastly bid them carve her a basin of pure white marble and set\nit in the centre of the pleasure grounds; then she poured therein the\nGolden-Water and forthright it filled the bowl and shot upwards like a\nspouting fountain some twenty feet in height; moreover the gerbes and\njets fell back whence they came and not one drop was lost: whereby the\nworking of the waters was unbroken and ever similar. Now but few days\npassed ere the report of these three wonders was bruited abroad and\nflocked the folk daily from the city to solace themselves with the\nsight, and the gates stood always open wide and all who came had\nentrance to the house and gardens and free leave to walk about at will\nand see these rarities which affected them with admiration and delight.\nThen also, as soon as both the Princes had recovered from the toils of\ntravel, they began to go a-hunting as heretofore; and it chanced one day\nthey rode forth several miles from home and were both busied in the\nchase, when the Shah of Ir\u00e1n-land came by decree of Destiny to the same\nplace for the same purpose. The Princes, seeing a band of knights and\nhuntsmen drawing near, were fain to ride home and to avoid such meeting;\nso they left the hunting-grounds and turned them homewards. But as Fate\nand lot would have it they hit upon the very road whereby King Khusrau\nShah was coming, and so narrow was the path that they could not avoid\nthe horsemen by wheeling round and wending another way. So they drew\nrein perforce and dismounting they salamed and did obeisance to the Shah\nand stood between his hands with heads bent low. The Sovran, seeing the\nhorses\u2019 fine trappings and the Princes\u2019 costly garments, thought that\nthe two youths were in the suite of his Wazirs and his Ministers of\nstate and much wished to look upon their faces; he therefore bade them\nraise their heads and stand upright in the presence and they obeyed his\nbidding with modest mien and downcast eyes. He was charmed to behold\ntheir comeliness of favour and their graceful forms and their noble air\nand their courtly mien; and, after gazing at them for some time in not a\nlittle wonder and admiration, he asked them who they were and what might\nbe their names and where they abode. Hereto Prince Bahman made reply, \u201cO\nAsylum of the Universe, we are the sons of one whose life was spent in\nserving the Shah, the Intendant of the royal gardens and pleasaunces. As\nhis days drew to a close he builded him a home without the town for us\nto dwell in till we should grow to man\u2019s estate and become fit to do thy\nHighness suit and service and carry out thy royal commands.\u201d The Shah\nfurthermore asked them, \u201cHow is it that ye go a-hunting? This is a\nspecial sport of Kings and is not meant for the general of his subjects\nand dependants.\u201d Prince Bahman rejoined, \u201cO Refuge of the World, we yet\nare young in years and being brought up at home we know little of\ncourtly customs; but, as we look to bear arms in the armies of the Shah\nwe fain would train our bodies to toil and moil.\u201d This answer was\nhonoured by the royal approof and the King rejoined, \u201cThe Shah would see\nhow ye deal with noble game; so choose ye whatever quarry ye will and\nbring it down in the presence.\u201d The Princes hereat remounted their\nhorses and joined the Sovran; and when they reached the thick-most of\nthe forest, Prince Bahman started a tiger and Prince Parwez rode after a\nbear; and the twain used their spears with such skill and good will that\neach killed his quarry and laid it at the Shah\u2019s feet. Then entering the\nwood again Prince Bahman slew a bear, and Prince Parwez a tiger[115] and\ndid as before; but when they would have ridden off the third time the\nKing forbade them saying, \u201cWhat! would ye strip the royal preserve of\nall the game? This be enough and more than enough, the Shah wished only\nto put your valour to the proof and having seen it with his own eyes he\nis fully satisfied. Come now with us and stand before us as we sit at\nmeat.\u201d Prince Bahman made reply, \u201cWe are not worthy of the high honour\nand dignity wherewith thou favourest us thy humble servants. We\ndutifully and humbly petition thy Highness to hold us excused for this\nday; but if the Asylum of the Universe deign appoint some other time thy\nslaves will right gladly execute thy auspicious orders.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the\nmorn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Eighty-second Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Khusrau Shah,\nastonished at their refusal, asked the cause thereof when Prince Bahman\nanswered, \u201cMay I be thy sacrifice,[116] O King of kings, we have at home\nan only sister; and all three are bound together with bonds of the\nfondest affection; so we brothers go not anywhere without consulting her\nnor doth she aught save according to our counsel.\u201d The King was pleased\nto see such fraternal love and union and presently quoth he, \u201cBy the\nhead of the Shah,[117] he freely giveth you leave to go to-day: consult\nyour sister and meet the Shadow of Allah[118] to-morrow at this\nhunting-ground, and tell him what she saith and if she be content to let\nyou twain come and wait upon the Shah at meat.\u201d So the Princes\nfarewelled and prayed for him; then rode back home; but they both forgot\nto tell their sister how they had fallen in with the King; and of all\nthat passed between them they remembered not one word.[119] Next day\nagain they went a-hunting and on returning from the chase the Shah\nenquired of them, \u201cHave ye consulted with your sister if ye may serve\nthe King, and what saith she thereto? Have ye obtained permission from\nher?\u201d On hearing these words the Princes waxed aghast with fear; the\ncolour of their faces changed, and each began to look into the other\u2019s\neyes. Then Bahman said, \u201cPardon, O Refuge of the World, this our\ntransgression. We both forgot the command and remembered not to tell our\nsister.\u201d Replied the King, \u201cIt mattereth naught! ask her to-day and\nbring me word to-morrow.\u201d But it so happened that on that day also they\nforgot the message yet the King was not annoyed at their shortness of\nmemory, but taking from his pocket three little balls of gold, and tying\nthem in a kerchief of silk, he handed them to Prince Bahman saying, \u201cPut\nthese balls in thy waist-shawl, so shalt thou not forget to ask thy\nsister; and if perchance the matter escape thy memory, when thou shalt\ngo to bed and take off thy girdle, haply the sound of them falling to\nthe ground will remind thee of thy promise.\u201d Despite this strict\ninjunction of the Shadow of Allah the Princes on that day also clean\nforgot the order and the promise they had made to the King. When,\nhowever, night came on, and Prince Bahman went to his bed-chamber for\nsleep, he loosed his girdle and down fell the golden balls and at the\nsound the message of the Shah flashed across his thought. So he and his\nbrother Parwez at once hastened to Perizadah\u2019s bower, where she was\nabout retiring to rest; and, with many excuses for troubling her at so\nunseasonable an hour, reported to her all that had happened. She\nlamented their thoughtlessness which for three successive days had\ncaused them forget the royal behest and ended with saying, \u201cFortune hath\nfavoured you, O my brothers, and brought you suddenly to the notice of\nthe Asylum of the Universe, a chance which often hath led to the height\nof good. It grieveth me sore that in your over regard for our fraternal\nlove and union ye did not take service with the King when he deigned\ncommand you. Moreover ye have far greater cause for regret and\nrepentance than I in that ye failed to plead a sufficient excuse and\nthat which ye offered must have sounded rude and churlish. A right\ndangerous thing it is to thwart Kingly wishes. In his extreme\ncondescension the Shah commandeth you to take service with him and ye,\nin rebelling against his exalted orders have done foolishly and ye have\ncaused me much trouble of mind. Howbeit I will sue counsel from my slave\nthe Speaking-Bird and see what he may say; for when I have ever any hard\nand weighty question to decide I fail not to ask his advice.\u201d Hereupon\nthe Princess set the cage by her side and after telling her slave all\nthat her brothers had made known to her, asked admonition of him\nregarding what they should do. The Speaking-Bird made answer, \u201cIt\nbehoveth the Princes to gratify the Shah in all things he requireth of\nthem; moreover, let them make ready a feast for the King and humbly pray\nhim to visit this house, and thereby testify to him loyalty and devotion\nto his royal person.\u201d Then said the Princess, \u201cO Bird, my brothers are\nmost dear to me nor would I suffer them leave my sight for one moment if\nit were possible; and Allah forfend that this daring on their part do\ninjury to our love and affection.\u201d Said the Speaking-Bird, \u201cI have\ncounselled thee for the best and have offered thee the right rede; nor\ndo thou fear aught in following it, for naught save good shall come\ntherefrom.\u201d \u201cBut,\u201d quoth the Princess, \u201can the Shadow of Allah honour us\nby crossing the threshold of this house needs must I present myself\nbefore him with face unveiled?\u201d[120] \u201cBy all means,\u201d quoth the\nSpeaking-Bird, \u201cthis will not harm thee, nay rather \u2019twill be to thine\nadvantage.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Eighty-third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that early next day the\ntwo Princes Bahman and Parwez rode as aforetime to the hunting-ground\nand met Khusrau Shah, who asked them, saying, \u201cWhat answer bring ye from\nyour sister?\u201d Hereupon the elder brother advancing said, \u201cO Shadow of\nAllah, verily we are thy slaves and whatever thou deign bid that we are\nready to obey. These less than the least have referred the matter to\ntheir sister and have obtained her consent; nay more, she blamed and\nchided them for that they did not hurry to carry out the commands of the\nRefuge of the World the moment they were delivered. Therefore being sore\ndispleased at us, she desireth us on her behalf to plead forgiveness\nwith the Sh\u00e1hinshah[121] for this offence by us offered.\u201d Replied the\nKing, \u201cNo crime have ye committed to call forth the royal displeasure:\nnay more, it delighteth the Shadow of Allah exceedingly to see the love\nye twain bear towards your sister.\u201d Hearing such words of condescension\nand kindliness from the Shah, the Princes held their peace and hung\ntheir heads for shame groundwards; and the King who that day was not\nkeen, according to his custom, after the chase, whenever he saw the\nbrothers hold aloof, called them to his presence and heartened their\nhearts with words of favour; and presently, when aweary of sport, he\nturned the head of his steed palace-wards and deigned order the Princes\nto ride by his side. The Wazirs and Councillors and Courtiers one and\nall fumed with envy and jealousy to see two unknowns entreated with such\nespecial favour; and as they rode at the head of the suite adown the\nmarket-street all eyes were turned upon the youths and men asked one of\nother, \u201cWho be the two who ride beside the Shah? Belong they to this\ncity, or come they from some foreign land?\u201d And the folk praised and\nblessed them saying, \u201cAllah send our King of kings two Princes as goodly\nand gallant as are these twain who ride beside him. If our hapless Queen\nwho languisheth in durance had brought forth sons, by Allah\u2019s favour\nthey would now be of the same age as these young lords.\u201d But as soon as\nthe cavalcade reached the palace the King alighted from his horse and\nled the Princes to his private chamber, a splendid retreat magnificently\nfurnished, wherein a table had been spread with sumptuous meats and\nrarest cates; and having seated himself thereat he motioned them to do\nlikewise. Hereupon the brothers making low obeisance also took their\nseats and ate in well-bred silence with respectful mien. Then the Shah,\ndesiring to warm them into talk[122] and thereby to test their wit and\nwisdom, addressed them on themes galore and asked of them many\nquestions; and, inasmuch as they had been taught well and trained in\nevery art and science, they answered with propriety and perfect ease.\nThe Shah struck with admiration bitterly regretted that Almighty Allah\nhad not vouchsafed to him sons so handsome in semblance and so apt and\nso learned as these twain; and, for the pleasure of listening to them,\nhe lingered at meat longer than he was wont to do. And when he rose from\ntable and retired with them to his private apartment he still sat\nlongwhile talking with them and at last in his admiration he exclaimed,\n\u201cNever until this day have I set eyes on youths so well brought up and\nso comely and so capable as are these, and methinks \u2019twere hard to find\ntheir equals anywhere.\u201d In fine quoth he, \u201cThe time waxeth late, so now\nlet us cheer our hearts with music.\u201d And forthright the royal band of\nminstrels and musicians began to sing and perform upon instruments of\nmirth and merriment, whilst dancing-girls and boys displayed their\nskill, and mimes and mummers played their parts. The Princes enjoyed the\nspectacle with extreme joy and the last hours of the afternoon passed in\nroyal revelry and regale. But when the sun had set and evening came on,\nthe youths craved dismissal from the Shah with many expressions of\ngratitude for the exalted favours he had deigned bestow on them; and ere\nthey fared forth the King of kings bespake them, saying, \u201cCome ye again\non the morrow to our hunting-ground as heretofore, and thence return to\nthe palace. By the beard of the Shah, he fain would have you always with\nhim, and solace him with your companionship and converse.\u201d Prince\nBahman, prostrating himself before the presence, answered, \u201c\u2019Tis the\nvery end and aim of all our wishes, O Shadow of Allah upon Earth, that\non the morrow when thou shalt come from the chase and pass by our poor\nhouse, thou graciously deign enter and rest in it awhile, thereby\nconferring the highmost of honours upon ourselves and upon our sister.\nAlbeit the place is not worthy of the Shahinshah\u2019s exalted presence, yet\nat times do mighty Kings condescend to visit the huts of their slaves.\u201d\nThe King, ever more and more enchanted with their comeliness and\npleasant speech, vouchsafed a most gracious answer, saying, \u201cThe\ndwelling-place of youths in your estate and degree will certainly be\ngoodly and right worthy of you; and the Shah willingly consenteth for\nthe morrow to become the guest of you twain and of your sister whom,\nalbeit he have not yet seen, he is assured to find perfect in all gifts\nof body and mind. Do ye twain therefore about early dawn-tide expect the\nShah at the usual trysting place.\u201d The Princes then craved leave to wend\ntheir ways; and going home said to their sister, \u201cO Perizadah, the Shah\nhath decreed that to-morrow he will come to our house and rest here\nawhile after the hunt.\u201d Said she, \u201cAn so it be, needs must we see to it\nthat all be made ready for a royal banquet and we may not be put to\nshame when the Shadow of Allah shall deign shade us. There is no help\nbut that in this matter I ask of my slave, the Speaking-Bird, what\ncounsel he would give; and that prepare according thereto such meats as\nare meet for him and are pleasing to the royal palate.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn\nbegan to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Princes both\napproved of her plan and went to seek repose; whereupon Perizadah sent\nfor the cage and setting it before her said, \u201cO Bird, the Shah hath made\na promise and hath decreed that he will deign honour this our house on\nthe morrow, wherefore we must needs make ready for our liege lord the\nbest of banquets and I bid thee say me what dishes should the kitcheners\ncook for him?\u201d The Speaking-Bird replied, \u201cO my lady, thou hast the most\nskilful of cooks and confectioners. Do thou bid them dress for thee the\nchoicest dainties, but above all others see thou with thine own eyes\nthat they set before the Shah a dish of new green cucumbers stuffed with\npearls.\u201d Quoth the Princess in utter wonderment, \u201cNever until this time\nheard I of such a dainty! How? cucumbers with a filling of pearls! And\nwhat will the King, who cometh to eat bread and not to gaze on stones,\nsay to such meat? Furthermore, I have not in my possession pearls enough\nto serve for even a single cucumber.\u201d Replied the Speaking-Bird, \u201cThis\nwere an easy matter: do thou dread naught but only act as I shall advise\nthee. I seek not aught save thy welfare and would on no wise counsel\nthee to thy disadvantage. As for the pearls thou shalt collect them on\nthis wise; go thou to-morrow betimes to the pleasure-gardens and bid a\nhole be dug at the foot of the first tree in the avenue to thy right\nhand, and there shalt thou find of pearls as large a store as thou shalt\nrequire.\u201d So after dawn on the next day Princess Perizadah bade a\ngardener-lad accompany her and fared to the site within the\npleasure-gardens whereof the Speaking-Bird had told her. Here the boy\ndug a hole both deep and wide when suddenly his spade struck upon\nsomewhat hard, and he removed with his hands the earth and discovered to\nview a golden casket well-nigh one foot square. Hereupon the young\ngardener showed it to the Princess who exclaimed, \u201cI brought thee with\nme for this very reason. Take heed and see that no harm come to it, but\ndig it out and bring it to me with all care.\u201d When the lad did her\nbidding she opened it forthright and found it filled with pearls and\nunions fresh from the sea, round as rings and all of one and the same\nsize perfectly fitted for the purpose which the Speaking-Bird had\nproposed. Perizadah rejoiced with extreme joy at the sight and taking up\nthe box walked back with it to the house; and the Princes who had seen\ntheir sister faring forth betimes with the gardener-lad and had wondered\nwhy she went to the park thus early unaccording to her wonted custom,\ncatching sight of her from the casement quickly donned their walking\ndresses and came to meet her. And as the two brothers walked forwards\nthey saw the Princess approaching them with somewhat unusual under her\narm, which when they met, proved to be a golden casket whereof they knew\nnaught. Quoth they, \u201cO our sister, at early light we espied thee going\nto the pleasure grounds with a gardener-lad empty handed, but now thou\nbringest back this golden casket; so disclose to us where and how thou\nhast found it; and haply there may be some hoard close hidden in the\nparterre?\u201d Perizadah replied, \u201cSooth ye say, O my brothers: I took this\nlad with me and made him dig under a certain tree where we came upon\nthis box of pearls, at the sight whereof methinks your hearts will be\ndelighted.\u201d The Princess straightway opened the box and her Brothers\nsighting the pearls and unions were amazed with extreme amazement and\nrejoiced greatly to see them. Quoth the Princess, \u201cCome now ye twain\nwith me, for that I have in hand a weighty matter;\u201d and quoth Prince\nBahman, \u201cWhat is there to do? I pray thee tell us without delay for\nnever yet hast thou kept aught of thy life from us.\u201d She made reply, \u201cO\nmy brothers, I have nothing to hide from you, nor think ye any ill of\nme, for I am now about to tell you all the tale.\u201d Then she made known to\nthem what advice the Speaking-Bird had given to her; and they, conning\nthe matter over in their minds, marvelled much why her slave had bidden\nthem set a dish of green cucumbers stuffed with pearls before the Shah,\nnor could they devise any reason for it. Presently the Princess resumed,\n\u201cThe Speaking-Bird indeed is wise and ware; so methinks this counsel\nmust be for our advantage; and at any rate it cannot be without some\nobject and purpose. It therefore behoveth us to do even as he hath\ncommanded.\u201d Hereupon the Princess went to her own chamber and summoning\nthe head cook said to him, \u201cThis day the Shah, the Shadow of Allah upon\nEarth, will condescend here to eat the noon-meal. So do thou take heed\nthat the meats be of choicest flavour and fittest to set before the\nAsylum of the World, but of all the dishes there is one thou alone must\nmake and let not another have a hand therein. This shall be of the\nfreshest green cucumbers with a stuffing of unions and pearls.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as\nthe morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Eighty-fifth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the head Cook\nlistened to this order of the Princess with wonderment and said in\nhimself, \u201cWho ever heard of such a dish or dreamed of ordering such an\none.\u201d The Lady seeing his astonishment betrayed in his semblance without\nthe science of thought-reading,[123] said to him, \u201cIt seemeth from thy\ncountenance that thou deemest me daft of wits to give thee such order. I\nknow that no one ever tasted a dish of the kind, but what is that to\nthee? Do thou e\u2019en as thou art bidden. Thou seest this box brimful of\npearls; so take of them as many as thou needest for the dish, and what\nremaineth over leave in the box.\u201d The Kitchener who could answer nothing\nin his confusion and amazement, chose as many precious stones as he\nrequired, and presently fared away to superintend the meats being cooked\nand made ready for the feast. Meanwhile the Princess went over the house\nand grounds and gave directions to the slaves about the ordinance\nthereof, lending especial attention to the carpets and divans, the lamps\nand all other furniture. Next day at break of dawn Princes Bahman and\nParwez rode forth in rich attire to the appointed place where they first\nmet the Shah, who was also punctual to his promise and vouchsafed to\njoin them in the hunt. Now when the sun had risen high and its rays\nwaxed hot, the King gave up the chase, and set forth with the Princes to\ntheir house; and as they drew nigh thereto the cadet pushed forwards and\nsent word to the Princess that the Asylum of the World was coming in all\ngood omen. Accordingly, she hastened to receive him and stood waiting\nhis arrival at the inner entrance; and after, when the King rode up to\nthe gate and dismounting within the court stepped over the threshold of\nthe house-door, she fell down at his feet and did him worship. Hereat\nher brothers said, \u201cO Asylum of the World, this is our sister of whom we\nspake;\u201d and the Shah with gracious kindness and condescension raised her\nby the hand, and when he saw her face he marvelled much at its wondrous\ncomeliness and loveliness. He thought in himself, \u201cHow like she is to\nher brothers in favour and form, and I trow there be none of all my\nlieges in city or country who can compare with them for beauty and noble\nbearing. This country-house also exceedeth all that I have ever seen in\nsplendour and grandeur.\u201d The Princess then led the Shah through the\nhouse and showed him all the magnificence thereof, while he rejoiced\nwith extreme joy at everything that met his sight. So when King Khusrau\nhad considered whatso was in the mansion he said to the Princess, \u201cThis\nhome of thine is far grander than any palace owned by the Shah, who\nwould now stroll about the pleasure-garden, never doubting but that it\nwill be delightsome as the house.\u201d Hereat the Princess threw wide open\nthe door whence the grounds could be seen; and at once the King beheld\nbefore and above all other things, the fountain which cast up\nincessantly, in gerbes and jets, water clear as crystal withal golden of\nhue. Seeing such prodigy he cried, \u201cThis is indeed a glorious gusher:\nnever before saw I one so admirable. But say me where is its source, and\nby what means doth it shoot up in spurts so high? Whence cometh this\nconstant supply and in what fashion was it formed? The Shah would fain\nsee it near hand.\u201d \u201cO King of kings, and Lord of the lands,\u201d quoth the\nPrincess, \u201cbe pleased to do whatso thou desirest.\u201d Thereupon they went\nup to the fountain and the Shah stood gazing upon it with delight when\nbehold, he heard a concert of sugar-sweet voices choiring with the\nharmony and melody of wit-ravishing music. So he turned him round and\ngazed about him to discover the singers, but no one was in sight; and\nalbeit he looked both far and near all was in vain, he heard the voices\nbut he could descry no songster. At length completely baffled he\nexclaimed, \u201cWhence come these most musical of sounds; and rise they from\nthe bowels of earth or are they floating in the depths of air? They fill\nthe heart with rapture, but strangely surprise the senses to see that no\none singer is in sight.\u201d Replied the Princess with a smile, \u201cO Lord of\nlords, there are no minstrels here and the strains which strike the\nShah\u2019s ear come from yonder tree. Deign walk on, I pray thee, and\nexamine it well.\u201d So he advanced thereto, ever more and more enchanted\nwith the music, and he gazed now at the Golden-Water and now at the\nSinging-Tree till lost in wonderment and amazement; then, \u201cO Allah,\u201d\nsaid he to himself, \u201cis all this Nature-made or magical, for in very\ndeed the place is full of mystery?\u201d Presently, turning to the Princess\nquoth he, \u201cO my lady, prithee whence came ye by this wondrous tree which\nhath been planted in the middlemost of this garden: did anyone bring it\nfrom some far distant land as a rare gift, and by what name is it\nknown?\u201d Quoth Perizadah in reply, \u201cO King of kings, this marvel hight\nSinging-Tree groweth not in our country. \u2019Twere long to recount whence\nand by what means I obtained it; and suffice it for the present to say\nthat the Tree, together with the Golden-Water and the Speaking-Bird,\nwere all found by me at one and the same time. Deign now accompany thy\nslave and look upon this third rarity; and when the Shah shall have\nrested and recovered from the toils and travails of hunting, the tale of\nthese three strange things shall be told to the Asylum of the World in\nfullest detail.\u201d Hereto the King replied, \u201cAll the Shah\u2019s fatigue hath\ngone for gazing upon these wonders; and now to visit the\nSpeaking-Bird.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morning began to dawn Shahrazad held her\npeace till\n\n\n           The end of the Six Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Princess took\nthe King and when she had shown to him the Speaking-Bird, they returned\nto the garden where he never ceased considering the fountain with\nextreme surprise and presently exclaimed, \u201cHow is this? No spring whence\ncometh all this water meeteth the Shah\u2019s eye, and no channel; nor is\nthere any reservoir large enough to contain it.\u201d She replied, \u201cThou\nspeakest sooth, O King of kings! This jetting fount hath no source; and\nit springeth from a small marble basin which I filled from a single\nflagon of the Golden-Water; and by the might of Allah Almighty it\nincreased and waxed copious until it shot up in this huge gerbe which\nthe Shah seeth. Furthermore it ever playeth day and night; and,\nmarvellous to relate, the water falling back from that height into the\nbasin minisheth not in quantity nor is aught of it spilt or wasted.\u201d\nHereat the King, filled with wonder and astonishment, bade go back to\nthe Speaking-Bird; whereupon the Princess led him to the belvedere\nwhence he looked out upon thousands of all manner fowls carolling in the\ntrees and filling air with their hymns and praises of the Creator; so he\nasked his guide, \u201cO my lady, whence come these countless songsters which\nhaunt yonder tree and make the welkin resound with their melodious\nnotes; yet they affect none other of the trees?\u201d Quoth Perizadah, \u201cO\nKing of kings, they are all attracted by the Speaking-Bird and flock\nhither to accompany his song; and for that his cage hangeth to the\nwindow of this belvedere they prefer only the nearest of the trees; and\nhere he may be heard singing sweeter notes than any of the others, nay\nin a plaint more musical far than that of any nightingale.\u201d And as the\nShah drew nigh the cage and gave ear to the Bird\u2019s singing, the Princess\ncalled to her captive saying, \u201cHo, my slave the Bird, dost thou not\nperceive the Asylum of the Universe is here that thou payest him not due\nhomage and worship?\u201d Hearing these words the Speaking-Bird forthright\nceased his shrilling and at the same moment all the other songsters sat\nin deepest silence; for they were loyal to their liege lord nor durst\nany one utter a note when he held his peace. The Speaking-Bird then\nspake in human voice saying, \u201cO great King, may Almighty Allah by His\nMight and Majesty accord thee health and happiness;\u201d so the Shah\nreturned the salutation and the Slave of Princess Perizadah ceased not\nto shower blessings upon his head. Meanwhile the tables were spread\nafter sumptuous fashion and the choicest meats were set before the\ncompany which was seated in due order and degree, the Shah placing\nhimself hard by the Speaking-Bird and close to the casement where the\ncage was hung. Then the dish of green cucumbers having been set before\nhim, he put forth his hand to help himself, but drew it back in\nwonderment when he saw that the cucumbers, ranged in order upon the\nplate, were stuffed with pearls which appeared at either end. He asked\nthe Princess and her brothers, \u201cWhat is this dish? It cannot be meant\nfor food; then wherefore is it placed before the Shah? Explain to me, I\ncommand you, what this thing meaneth.\u201d They could not give an answer\nunknowing what reply to make, and as all held their peace the\nSpeaking-Bird answered for them saying, \u201cO King of the Age and the Time,\ndost thou deem it strange to see a dish of cucumbers stuffed with\npearls? How much stranger then it is that thou wast not astonished to\nhear that the Queen thy Consort had, contrary to the laws of Allah\u2019s\nordinance, given birth to such animals as dog and cat and musk-rat. This\nshould have caused thee far more of wonder, for who hath ever heard of\nwoman bearing such as these?\u201d Hereat the Shah made answer to the\nSpeaking-Bird, \u201cAll that thou sayest is right indeed and I know that\nsuch things are not after the law of Almighty Allah; but I believed the\nreports of the midwives, the wise women who were with the Queen such\ntime she was brought to bed, for they were not strangers but her own\nsisters, born of the same parents as herself. How then could I do\notherwise than trust their words?\u201d Quoth the Speaking-Bird, \u201cO King of\nkings, indeed the truth of the matter is not hidden from me. Albeit they\nbe the sisters of thy Queen, yet seeing the royal favours and affection\ntowards their cadette they were consumed with anger and hatred and\ndespite by reason of their envy and jealousy. So they devised evil\ndevices against her and their deceits at last succeeded in diverting thy\nthoughts from her, and in hiding her virtues from thy sight. Now are\ntheir malice and treason made manifest to thee; and, if thou require\nfurther proof, do thou summon them and question them of the case. They\ncannot hide it from thee and will be reduced to confess and crave thy\npardon.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Speaking-Bird\nsaid also to Khusrau Shah, \u201cThese two royal brothers so comely and\nstalwart and this lovely Princess, their sister, are thine own lawful\nchildren to whom the Queen thy Consort gave birth. The midwives, thy\nsisters-in-law, by reason of the blackness of their hearts and faces\nbore them away as soon as they were born: indeed every time a child was\ngiven to thee they wrapped it in a bit of blanket and putting it in a\nbasket committed it to the stream which floweth by the palace to the\nintent that it might die an obscure death. But it so fortuned that the\nIntendant of thy royal gardens espied these baskets one and all as they\nfloated past his grounds, and took charge of the infants he found\ntherein. He then caused them to be nursed and reared with all care and,\nwhilst they were growing up to man\u2019s estate, he looked to their being\ntaught every art and science; and whilst his life endured he dealt with\nthem and brought them up in love and tenderness as though they had been\nhis very own. And now, O Khusrau Shah, wake from thy sleep of ignorance\nand heedlessness, and know that these two Princes Bahman and Parwez and\nthe Princess Perizadah their sister are thine own issue and thy rightful\nheirs.\u201d When the King heard these words and was assured of their purport\nbeing true and understood the evil doing of those Satans, his\nsisters-in-law, he said, \u201cO Bird, I am indeed persuaded of thy\nsoothfastness, for when I first saw these youths at the hunting-ground\nmy bowels yearned with affection towards them and my heart felt\nconstrained to love them as though they had been my own seed. Both they\nand their sister have drawn my affections to them as a magnet draweth\niron: and the voice of blood crieth to me and compelleth me to confess\nthe tie and to acknowledge that they are my true children, borne in the\nwomb of my Queen, whose direful Destiny I have been the means of\ncarrying out.\u201d Then turning to the Princes and their sister he said with\ntearful eyes and broken voice, \u201cYe are my children and henceforth do ye\nregard me as your father.\u201d At this they ran to him with rare delight and\nfalling on his neck embraced him. Then they all sat down to meat and\nwhen they had finished eating, Khusrau Shah said to them, \u201cO my\nchildren, I must now leave you, but Inshallah\u2014Allah willing\u2014I will come\nagain to-morrow and bring with me the Queen your mother.\u201d So saying he\nfarewelled them fondly and mounting his horse departed to his palace;\nand no sooner had he seated himself upon his throne than he summoned the\nGrand Wazir and commanded him saying, \u201cDo thou send this instant and\nbind in heaviest bonds those vile women, the sisters of my Queen; for\ntheir ill deeds have at last come to light and they deserve to die the\ndeath of murtherers. Let the Sworder forthright make sharp his sword;\nfor the ground thirsteth for their blood. Go see thyself that they are\nbeheaded without stay or delay: await not other order, but instantly\nobey my commandment.\u201d The Grand Wazir went forth at once and in his\npresence the Envious Sisters were decapitated and thus underwent fit\npunishment for their malice and their evil doing. After this, Khusrau\nShah with his retinue walked afoot to the Cathedral-mosque whereby the\nQueen had been imprisoned for so many years in bitter grief and woe, and\nwith his own hands he led her forth from her cage and tenderly embraced\nher. Then seeing her sad plight and her care-worn countenance and\nwretched attire he wept and cried, \u201cAllah Almighty forgive me this mine\nunjust and wrongful dealing towards thee. I have put to death thy\nsisters who deceitfully and despitefully raised my wrath and anger\nagainst thee, the innocent, the guiltless; and they have received due\nretribution for their misdeeds.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n          The end of the Six Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the King spake\nkindly and fondly to his Consort, and told her all that had betided him,\nand what the Speaking-Bird had made known to him, ending with these\nwords, \u201cCome now with me to the palace where thou shalt see thy two sons\nand daughter grown up to become the loveliest of beings. Hie with me and\nembrace them and take them to thy bosom, for they are our children, the\nlight of our eyes. But first do thou repair to the Hamm\u00e1m and don thy\nroyal robes and jewels.\u201d Meanwhile tidings of these events were noised\nabout the city how the King had at length shown due favour to the Queen,\nand had released her from bondage with his own hands and prayed\nforgiveness for the wrongs he had done to her; and how the Princes and\nthe Princess had been proved to be her true-born children, and also how\nthat Khusrau Shah had punished her sisters who conspired against her: so\njoy and gladness prevailed both in city and kingdom, and all the folk\nblessed the Shah\u2019s B\u00e1n\u00fa and cursed the Satanesses her sisters. And next\nday when the Queen had bathed in the Hammam and had donned royal dress\nand regal jewels, she went to meet her children together with the King\nwho led up to her the Princes Bahman and Parwez and the Princess\nPerizadah and said, \u201cSee, here are thy children, fruit of thy womb and\ncore of thy heart, thine own very sons and thy daughter: embrace them\nwith all a mother\u2019s love and extend thy favour and affection to them\neven as I have done. When thou didst give them birth, thine ill-omened\nsisters bore them away from thee and cast them into yonder stream and\nsaid that thou hadst been delivered first of a puppy, then of a kitten\nand lastly of a musk-ratling. I cannot console myself for having\ncredited their calumnies and the only recompense I can make is to place\nin thine embrace these three thou broughtest forth, and whom Allah\nAlmighty hath restored to us and hath made right worthy to be called our\nchildren.\u201d Then the Princes and Princess fell upon their mother\u2019s neck\nand fondly embraced her weeping tear-floods of joy. After this the Shah\nand the Banu sat down to meat together with their children; and, when\nthey had made an end of eating, King Khusrau Shah repaired to the garden\nwith his Consort that he might show her the Singing-Tree and the\nfountain of Golden-Water, whereat the Queen was filled with wonder and\ndelight. Next they turned to the belvedere and visited the Speaking-Bird\nof whom, as they sat at meat, the King had spoken to her in highest\npraise, and the Queen rejoiced in his sweet voice and melodious singing.\nAnd when they had seen all these things, the King mounted horse, Prince\nBahman riding on his right hand and on his left Prince Parwez, while the\nQueen took Princess Perizadah with her inside her litter, and thus they\nset forth for the palace. As the royal cavalcade passed the city walls\nand entered the capital with royal pomp and circumstance, the subjects\nwho had heard the glad tidings thronged in multitudes to see their\nprogress and volleyed shouts of acclamation; and as the lieges had\ngrieved aforetime to see the Queen-consort imprisoned, so now they\nrejoiced with exceeding joy to find her free once more. But chiefly they\nmarvelled to look upon the Speaking-Bird, for the Princess carried the\ncage with her, and as they rode along thousands of sweet-toned songsters\ncame swarming round them from every quarter, and flew as an escort to\nthe cage, filling the air with marvellous music; while flocks of others,\nperching upon the trees and the housetops, carolled and warbled as it\nwere to greet their lord\u2019s cage accompanying the royal cavalcade. And\nwhen the palace was reached, the Shah and his Queen and his children sat\ndown to a sumptuous banquet; and the city was illuminated, and\neverywhere dancings and merry-makings testified to the joy of the\nlieges; and for many days these revels and rejoicings prevailed\nthroughout the capital and the kingdom where every man was blithe and\nhappy and had feastings and festivities in his house. After these\nfestivals King Khusrau Shah made his elder son Bahman heir to his throne\nand kingdom and committed to his hands the affairs of state in their\nentirety, and the Prince administered affairs with such wisdom and\nsuccess that the greatness and glory of the realm were increased\ntwofold. The Shah also entrusted to his youngest son Parwez the charge\nof his army, both of horsemen and foot-soldiers; and Princess Perizadah\nwas given by her sire in marriage to a puissant King who reigned over a\nmighty country; and lastly the Queen-mother forgot in perfect joy and\nhappiness the pangs of her captivity. Destiny ever afterwards endowed\nthem, one and all, with days the most delectable and they led the\nliefest of lives until at last there came to them the Destroyer of\ndelights and the Sunderer of societies and the Depopulator of palaces\nand the Garnerer of graveyards and the Reaper for Resurrection-day, and\nthey became as though they never had been. So laud be to the Lord who\ndieth not and who knoweth no shadow of change.\n\n\n                                 FINIS\n\n\n[Illustration: \u200f\u0648\u0671\u0644\u0633\u0644\u0627\u0645\u200e]\n\n\n\n\n    VARIANTS AND ANALOGUES OF THE TALES IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL NIGHTS,\n                               VOL. III.\n\n\n                           BY W. A. CLOUSTON,\n\n      AUTHOR OF \u201cPOPULAR TALES AND FICTIONS: THEIR MIGRATIONS AND\n                         TRANSFORMATIONS,\u201d ETC.\n\n\n\n\n                              =Appendix.=\n\n   _VARIANTS AND ANALOGUES OF THE TALES IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL NIGHTS,_\n                               VOL. III.\n\n                           BY W. A. CLOUSTON.\n\n\n                   _THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM\u2014p. 3._\n\nThis story is a compound of two distinct tales, namely, the Dream of\nRiches and the Quest of the Ninth Image. It has always been one of the\nmost popular of the tales in our common version of the \u201cArabian Nights,\u201d\nwith this advantage, that it is perhaps the only one of the whole\ncollection in which something like a moral purpose may be discovered\u2014\u201ca\nvirtuous woman is more precious than fine gold.\u201d Baron de Sacy has\nremarked of The Nights, that in the course of a few years after\nGalland\u2019s version appeared \u201cit filled Europe with its fame, though\noffering no object of moral or philosophical interest, and detailing\nstories merely for the pleasure of relating them.\u201d But this last\nstatement is not quite accurate: Shahrazad relates her stories merely to\nprolong her own life.\n\nIt is a curious fact\u2014and one perhaps not very generally known\u2014that the\nTale of Zayn al-Asn\u00e1m is one of two (the other being that of Khud\u00e1d\u00e1d)\nwhich Galland repudiated, as having been foisted into his 8th volume\nwithout his knowledge, as he expressly asserts in the \u201cAvertissement\u201d to\nthe 9th vol., promising to remove them in a second edition, which,\nhowever, he did not live to see. I understand that M. Herrmann Zotenberg\npurposes showing, in his forthcoming edition of \u201cAladdin,\u201d that these\ntwo _histoires_ (including that of the Princess of Dary\u00e1b\u00e1r, which is\ninterwoven with the tale of Khud\u00e1d\u00e1d and his Brothers) were Turkish\ntales translated by M. Petis de la Croix and were intended to appear in\nhis \u201cMille et un Jours,\u201d which was published, after his death, in 1710;\nand that, like most of the tales in that work, they were derived from\nthe Turkish collection entitled \u201cAl-Far\u00e1j ba\u2019d al-Shiddah,\u201d or Joy after\nAffliction. But that Turkish story-book is said to be a translation of\nthe Persian collection entitled \u201cHaz\u00e1r \u00fa Yek R\u00faz\u201d (the Thousand and One\nDays), which M. Petis rendered into French.\n\nIn the preface to Petis\u2019 work it is stated that during his residence in\nPersia, in 1675, he made a transcript of the \u201cHaz\u00e1r \u00fa Yek R\u00faz,\u201d by\npermission of the author, a dervish named Mukhlis, of Isfah\u00e1n. That\ntranscript has not, I understand, been found; but Sir William Ouseley\nbrought a manuscript from Persia which contained a portion of the \u201cHaz\u00e1r\n\u00fa Yek R\u00faz,\u201d and which he says (\u201cTravels,\u201d vol. ii. p. 21, note) agreed\nso far with the French version. And it does seem strange that Petis\nshould go to the Turkish book for tales to include in his \u201cMille et un\nJours\u201d when he had before him a complete copy of the Persian original;\nand even if he did so, how came his French rendering of the tales in\nquestion into the hands of Galland\u2019s publisher? The tales are not found\nin Petis\u2019 version, which is regularly divided into 1001 Days; and the\nTurkish work, judging from the titles of the eleven first tales, of\nwhich I have seen a transcript by M. Zotenberg, has a number of stories\nwhich do not occur in the Persian.[124] But I think it very unlikely\nthat the tales of Khud\u00e1d\u00e1d and the Princess, foisted into Galland\u2019s 8th\nvolume, were translated from the Turkish collection. In Galland the\nstory of the Princess Dary\u00e1b\u00e1r is inserted in that of Khud\u00e1d\u00e1d; while in\nthe Turkish story-book they are separate tales, the 6th recital being\nunder the title, \u201cOf the Vaz\u00edr with the Daughter of the Prince of\nDary\u00e1b\u00e1n,\u201d and the 9th story is \u201cOf the Sons of the Sovereign of Harr\u00e1n\nwith Khud\u00e1d\u00e1d.\u201d This does not seem to support the assertion that these\ntales in Galland were derived from the Turkish versions: it is not to be\nsupposed, surely, that the translator of the versions in Galland\nconceived the idea of fusing the two stories together?\n\nThe first part of the tale of Zayn al-Asnam\u2014the Dream of Riches\u2014is an\ninteresting variant of the tale in The Nights, vol. iv. p. 289, where\n(briefly to recapitulate, for purposes of comparison by-and-by) a man of\nBaghdad, having lost all his wealth and become destitute, dreams one\nnight that a figure appeared before him and told him that his fortune\nwas in Cairo. To that city he went accordingly, and as it was night when\nhe arrived, he took shelter in a mosque. A party of thieves just then\nhad got into an adjacent house from that same mosque, and the inmates,\ndiscovering them, raised such an outcry as to bring the police at once\non the spot. The thieves contrive to get away, and the wal\u00ed, finding\nonly the man of Baghdad in the mosque, causes him to be seized and\nseverely beaten, after which he sends him to prison, where the poor\nfellow remains thirty days, when the wal\u00ed sends for him and begins to\nquestion him. The man tells his story, at which the wal\u00ed laughs, calls\nhim an ass for coming so far because of a dream, and adds that he\nhimself had had a similar dream of a great treasure buried in the garden\nof such a house in Baghdad, but he was not so silly as to go there. The\npoor man recognises his own house and garden from the wal\u00ed\u2019s\ndescription, and being set at liberty returns to Baghdad, and finds the\ntreasure on the very spot indicated.\n\nLane, who puts this story (as indeed he has done with much better ones)\namong his notes, states that it is also related by El-Ish\u00e1k\u00ed, who\nflourished during the reign of the Khal\u00edf El-Ma\u2019m\u00fan (9th century); and\nhis editor Edward Stanley Poole adds that he found it also in a MS. of\nLane\u2019s entitled \u201cMurshid ez-Z\u00faw\u00e1r il\u00e0 Kub\u00far el-Abrar,\u201d with the\ndifference that it is there related of an Egyptian saint who travelled\nto Baghdad, and was in the same manner directed to his own house in\nEl-Fust\u00e1t.\n\nThe same story is told in the 6th book of the \u201cMasnav\u00ed,\u201d an enormously\nlong suf\u00ed poem, written in Persian, by Jel\u00e1l ed-D\u00edn, the founder of the\nsect of Muslim devotees generally known in Europe as the Dancing\nDervishes, who died in 1272. This version differs from the Arabian in\nbut a few and unimportant details: Arriving at Cairo, destitute and\nhungry, he resolves to beg when it is dark, and is wandering about, \u201cone\nfoot forward, one foot backwards,\u201d for a third of the night, when\nsuddenly a watchman pounces on him and beats him with fist and stick\u2014for\nthe people having been plagued with robbers, the Khal\u00edf had given orders\nto cut off the head of any one found abroad at night. The wretched man\nbegs for mercy till he has told his story, and when he has finished the\nwatchman acquaints him of a similar dream he had had of treasure at\nBaghdad.[125]\n\nA Turkish variant occurs in the \u201cHistory of the Forty Vaz\u00edrs,\u201d where a\npoor water-carrier of Cairo, named Nu\u2019m\u00e1n, presents his son\u2019s teacher\nwith his only camel, which he used daily for carrying his skins of\nwater, as a reward for instructing the lad in the Kur\u00e1n, and his wife\nrails at him for his folly in no measured terms. In his sleep a\nwhite-haired old man appears to him in a dream and tells him to go to\nDamascus, where he would find his portion. After this has occurred three\ntimes in succession, poor Nu\u2019m\u00e1n, spite of his wife\u2019s remonstrances,\nsets out for Damascus, enters a mosque there, and receives a loaf of\nbread from a man who had been baking, and having eaten it falls asleep.\nReturning home, his wife reviles him for giving away a camel and doing\nother mad things. But again the venerable old man appears to him thrice\nin a dream, and bids him dig close by himself, and there he would find\nhis provision. When he takes shovel and pick-axe to dig, his wife\u2019s\ntongue is more bitter than before, and after he has laboured a while and\nbegins to feel somewhat fatigued, when he asks her to take a short spell\nat the work, she mocks him and calls him anything but a wise man. But on\nhis laying bare a stone slab, she thinks there must be something beneath\nit, and offers to relieve him. \u201cNu\u2019m\u00e1n,\u201d quoth she, \u201cthou\u2019rt weary now.\u201d\n\u201cNo, I\u2019m rested,\u201d says he. In the end he discovers a well, goes down\ninto it, and finds a jar full of sequins, upon seeing which his wife\nclasps him lovingly round the neck, exclaiming, \u201cO my noble little\nhubby! Blessed be God for thy luck and thy fortune!\u201d Her tune changes,\nhowever, when the honest water-carrier tells her that he means to carry\nthe treasure to the King, which he does, and the King having caused the\nmoney to be examined, the treasure is found to have the following legend\nwritten on it: \u201cThis is an alms from God to Nu\u2019m\u00e1n, by reason of his\nrespect for the Kur\u00e1n.\u201d[126]\n\nThis curious story, which dates, as we have seen, at least as far back\nas the 9th century, appears to be spread over Europe. Mr. E. Sidney\nHartland, in an able paper treating of several of its forms in \u201cThe\nAntiquary\u201d for February, 1887, pp. 45\u201348, gives a Sicilian version from\nDr. Pitr\u00e9\u2019s collection, which is to this effect:\n\nA poor fellow at Palermo, who got his living by salting tunny and\nselling it afterwards, dreamt one night that a person came to him and\nsaid that if he wished to find his fortune he would find it under the\nbridge of the Teste. Thither he goes and sees a man in rags, and is\nbeginning to retire when the man calls him back, informs him that he is\nhis fortune, and bids him go at midnight of that same night to the place\nwhere he had deposited his casks of tunny, dig there, and whatever he\nfound was his own. The tunny-seller gets a pick-axe and at midnight\nbegins to dig. He comes upon a large flat stone, which he raises and\ndiscovers a staircase; he descends, and at the bottom finds an immense\ntreasure of gold. In brief, he becomes so rich that he lends the King of\nSpain \u201ca million,\u201d to enable him to carry on his wars; the King makes\nhim Viceroy of Sicily, and by-and-by, being unable to repay the loan,\nraises him to the highest royal dignities.\n\n\nJohannes Fungerus, in his \u201cEtymologicon Latino-Gr\u00e6cum,\u201d published at\nLeyden in 1607, in art. _Somnus_, gravely relates the story, with a\nyoung Dutchman for the hero and as having happened \u201cwithin the memory of\nour fathers, both as it has been handed down in truthful and honourable\nfashion as well as frequently told to me.\u201d[127] His \u201ctrue story\u201d may\nthus be rendered:\n\nA certain young man of Dort, in Holland, had squandered his wealth and\nall his estate, and having contracted a debt, was unable to pay it. A\ncertain one appeared to him in a dream, and advised him to betake\nhimself to Kempen, and there on the bridge he would receive information\nfrom some one as to the way in which he should be extricated from his\ndifficulties. He went there, and when he was in a sorrowful mood and\nthinking upon what had been told him and promenaded almost the whole\nday, a common beggar, who was asking alms, pitying his condition, sat\ndown and asked him, \u201cWhy so sad?\u201d Thereupon the dreamer explained to him\nhis sad and mournful fate, and why he had come there: forsooth, under\nthe impulse of a dream, he had set out thither, and was expecting God,\nas if by a wonder, to unravel this more than Gordian knot. The mendicant\nanswered, \u201cGood Heaven! are you so mad and foolish as to rely on a\ndream, which is emptier than nothing, and journey hither? I should\nbetake myself to Dort, to dig up a treasure buried under such a tree in\nsuch a man\u2019s garden (now this garden had belonged to the dreamer\u2019s\nfather), likewise revealed to me in a dream.\u201d The other remained silent\nand pondering all that had been said to him, then hastened with all\nspeed to Dort, and under the aforesaid tree found a great heap of money,\nwhich freed him from his obligations, and having paid off all his debts,\nhe set up in a more sumptuous style than before.\n\n\nThe second part of the tale, or novelette, of \u201cThe Spectre Barber,\u201d by\nMus\u00e6us (1735\u20131788), is probably an elaboration of some German popular\nlegend closely resembling the last-cited version, only in this instance\nthe hero does not dream, but is told by a ghost, in reward for a service\nhe had done it (or him), to tarry on the great bridge over the Weser, at\nthe time when day and night are equal, for a friend who would instruct\nhim what he must do to retrieve his fortune. He goes there at dawn, and\nwalks on the bridge till evening comes, when there remained no one but\nhimself and a wooden legged soldier to whom he had given a small coin in\nthe early morning, and who ventured at length to ask him why he had\npromenaded the bridge all day. The youth at first said he was waiting\nfor a friend, but on the old soldier remarking that he could be no\nfriend who would keep him waiting so long, he said that he had only\ndreamt he was to meet some friend (for he did not care to say anything\nabout his interview with the ghost), the old fellow observed that he had\nhad many dreams, but put not the least faith in them. \u201cBut my dream,\u201d\nquoth the youth, \u201cwas a most remarkable one.\u201d \u201cIt couldn\u2019t have been so\nremarkable as one I had many years ago,\u201d and so on, as usual, with this\naddition, that the young man placed the old soldier in a snug little\ncottage and gave him a comfortable annuity for life\u2014taking care, we may\nbe sure, not to tell him a word as to the result of acting upon his\ndream.\n\nTo what extent Mus\u00e6us has enlarged his original material it is\nimpossible to say; but it is well known that, like Hans Anderson in\nlater times, he did \u201cimprove\u201d and add to such popular tales and\ntraditions as he dealt with\u2014a circumstance which renders him by no means\ntrustworthy for folk-lore purposes.\n\n\nIn Denmark our well-travelled little tale does duty in accounting for\nthe building of a parish church, as we learn from Thorpe, in his\n\u201cNorthern Mythology,\u201d vol. ii. p. 253:\n\nMany years ago there lived in Errits\u00f6, near Fredericia, a very poor man\nwho one day said, \u201cIf I had a large sum of money, I would build a church\nfor the parish.\u201d The following night he dreamed that if he went to the\nsouth bridge at Veile he would make his fortune. He followed the\nintimation and strolled backwards and forwards on the bridge until it\ngrew late, but without seeing any sign of good fortune. When just on the\npoint of returning, he was accosted by an officer, who asked him why he\nhad spent a whole day so on the bridge. He told him his dream, on\nhearing which the officer related to him in return that he also on the\npreceding night had dreamed that in a barn in Errits\u00f6, belonging to a\nman whose name he mentioned, a treasure lay buried. Now the name he\nmentioned was the man\u2019s own, who prudently kept his own counsel,\nhastened home, and found the treasure in the barn. The man was faithful\nto his word, and built the church.[128]\n\n\nEqually at home, as we have seen, in Sicily, Holland, Germany, and\nDenmark, the identical legend is also domiciled in Scotland and England.\nThus Robert Chambers, in his \u201cPopular Rhymes of Scotland,\u201d ed. 1826, p.\n56, speaking of Dundonald Castle, in Ayrshire, the ancient seat of King\nRobert II., relates the following local tradition:\n\nDonald, the builder, was originally a poor man, but had the faculty of\ndreaming lucky dreams. Upon one occasion he dreamed thrice in one night\nthat if he were to go to London Bridge he would make a fortune. He went\naccordingly, and saw a man looking over the parapet of the bridge, whom\nhe accosted courteously, and after a little conversation, entrusted him\nwith the secret of the occasion of his visiting London Bridge. The\nstranger told him that he had made a very foolish errand, for he had\nhimself once had a similar vision, which directed him to go to a certain\nspot in Ayrshire, in Scotland, where he would find a vast treasure, and\nfor his part he had never once thought of obeying the injunction. From\nhis description of the spot, however, the sly Scot at once perceived\nthat the treasure in question must be concealed nowhere but in his own\nhumble kail-yard at home, to which he immediately repaired, in full\nexpectation of finding it. Nor was he disappointed; for after destroying\nmany good and promising cabbages, and completely cracking credit with\nhis wife, who considered him as mad, he found a large potful of gold\ncoin, with which he built a stout castle for himself, and became the\nfounder of a flourishing family.\n\n\u201cThis absurd story,\u201d adds Chambers, \u201cis localised in almost every\ndistrict of Scotland, always referring to London Bridge, and Hogg (the\nEttrick Shepherd) has worked up the fiction in a very amusing manner in\none of his \u2018Winter Evening Tales,\u2019 substituting the Bridge at Kelso for\nthat of London.\u201d\n\n\nBut the legend of the Chapman, or Pedlar, of Swaffam, in Norfolk, handed\ndown, as it has been, from one credulous generation to another, with the\nmost minute details and perfect local colour, throws quite into the\nshade all other versions or variants of the ancient tale of the poor man\nof Baghdad. Blomfield, in his \u201cHistory of Norfolk,\u201d 8vo ed., vol. vi.\n211\u2013213, reproduces it as follows, from Sir Roger Twysden\u2019s\n\u201cReminiscences\u201d:\n\n\u201cThe story of the Pedlar of Swaffam Market is in substance this: That\ndreaming one night, if he went to London, he should certainly meet with\na man upon London Bridge, which should tell him good news; he was so\nperplexed in his mind that till he set upon his journey he could have no\nrest. To London therefore he hastes, and walked upon the Bridge for some\nhours, where being espied by a shopkeeper and asked what he wanted, he\nanswered, \u2018You may well ask me that question, for truly (quoth he) I am\ncome hither upon a very vain errand,\u2019 and so told the story of his dream\nwhich occasioned his journey. Whereupon the shopkeeper replied, \u2018Alas,\ngood friend, should I have heeded dreams I might have proved myself as\nvery a fool as thou hast; for \u2019tis not long since that I dreamt that at\na place called Swaffam Market, in Norfolk, dwells one John Chapman, a\npedlar, who hath a tree in his back yard, under which is buried a pot of\nmoney. Now, therefore, if I should have made a journey thither to dig\nfor such hidden treasure, judge you whether I should not have been\ncounted a fool.\u2019 To whom the Pedlar cunningly said, \u2018Yes, truly: I will\ntherefore return home and follow my business, not heeding such dreams\nhenceforward.\u2019 But when he came home (being satisfied that his dream was\nfulfilled), he took occasion to dig in that place, and accordingly found\na large pot full of money, which he prudently concealed, putting the pot\namong the rest of his brass. After a time, it happened that one who came\nto his house, and beholding the pot, observed an inscription upon it,\nwhich being in Latin he interpreted it, that under that there was\nanother twice as good.[129] Of this inscription the Pedlar was before\nignorant, or at least minded it not; but when he heard the meaning of\nit, he said, \u2018\u2019Tis very true; in the shop where I bought this pot stood\nanother under it which was twice as big\u2019; but considering that it might\ntend to his further profit to dig deeper in the same place where he\nfound that, he fell again to work and discovered such a pot as was\nintimated by the inscription, full of old coin; notwithstanding all\nwhich, he so concealed his wealth that the neighbours took no notice of\nit. But not long after the inhabitants of Swaffam resolving to re-edify\ntheir church, and having consulted the workmen about the charge, they\nmade a levy, wherein they taxed the Pedlar according to no other rate\nbut what they had formerly done. But he, knowing his own ability, came\nto the church and desired the workmen to show him their model and to\ntell him what they esteemed the charge of the north aisle would amount\nto; which when they told him, he presently undertook to pay them for\nbuilding it, and not only that, but for a very tall and beautiful tower\nsteeple.\n\n\u201cThis is the tradition of the inhabitants, as it was told me there. And\nin testimony thereof, there was then his picture, with his wife and\nthree children, in every window of the aisle, with an inscription\nrunning through the bottom of all those windows, viz., \u2018Orate pro bono\nstatu Johannis Chapman.... Uxoris ejus, et Liberorum suorum, qui quidem\nJohannes hanc alam cum fenestris tecto et ... fieri fecit.\u2019 It was in\nHenry the\n\n  Seventh\u2019s time, but the year I now remember not, my notes being left\n  with Mr. William Sedgwicke, who trickt the pictures, he being then\n  with me. In that aisle is his seat, of an antique form, and on each\n  side the entrance, the statue of the Pedlar of about a foot in\n  length, with pack on his back, very artificially [? artistically]\n  cut. This was sent me from Mr. William Dugdale, of Blyth Hall, in\n  Warwickshire, in a letter dated Jan. 29th, 1652\u20133, which I have\n  since learned from others to have been most true.\u2014ROGER TWYSDEN.\u201d\n\n\nMr. William E. A. Axon, in \u201cThe Antiquary,\u201d vol. xi. p. 168, gives the\nsame version, with some slight variations, from a work entitled \u201cNew\nHelp to Discourse,\u201d which he says was often printed between 1619 and\n1696: The dream was \u201cdoubled and tripled,\u201d and the Pedlar stood on the\nbridge for two or three days; but no mention is made of his finding a\nsecond pot of money: \u201che found an infinite mass of money, with part of\nwhich he re-edified the church, having his statue therein to this day,\ncut out in stone, with his pack on his back and his dog at his heels,\nhis memory being preserved by the same form or picture in most of the\nglass windows in taverns and alehouses in that town to this day.\u201d The\nstory is also told of a cobbler in Somersetshire (in an article on\nDreams, \u201cSaturday Review,\u201d Dec. 28, 1878), who dreamt three nights in\nsuccession that if he went to London Bridge he would there meet with\nsomething to his advantage. For three days he walked over the bridge,\nwhen at length a stranger came up to him, and asked him why he had been\nwalking from end to end of the bridge for these three days, offering\nnothing for sale nor purchasing aught. The man having told him of his\nstrange dream, the stranger said that he too had dreamt of a pot of gold\nburied in a certain orchard in such a place in Somersetshire. Upon this\nthe cobbler returned home and found the pot of gold under an apple-tree.\nHe now sent his son to school, where he learnt Latin, and when the lad\nhad come home for his holidays, he happened to look at the pot that had\ncontained the gold and seeing some writing on it he said, \u201cFather, I can\nshow you what I have learnt at school is of some use.\u201d He then\ntranslated the Latin inscription on the pot thus: \u201cLook under and you\nwill find better.\u201d They did look under and a large quantity of gold was\nfound. Mr. Axon gives a version of the legend in the Yorkshire dialect\nin \u201cThe Antiquary,\u201d vol. xii. pp. 121\u20132, and there is a similar story\nconnected with the parish church of Lambeth.[130]\n\nRegarding the Norfolk tradition of the lucky and generous Pedlar,\nBlomfield says that the north aisle of the church of Swaffam (or Sopham)\nwas certainly built by one John Chapman, who was churchwarden in 1462;\nbut he thinks that the figures of the pedlar etc. were only put \u201cto set\nforth the name of the founder: such rebuses are frequently met with on\nold works.\u201d The story is also told in Abraham de la Prynne\u2019s Diary under\ndate Nov. 10, 1699, as \u201ca constant tradition\u201d concerning a pedlar in\nSoffham.\n\n\nSuch is the close resemblance between the Turkish version of the Dream\nand that in the tale of Zayn al-Asnam that I am disposed to consider\nboth as having been derived from the same source, which, however, could\nhardly have been the story told by El-Ish\u00e1k\u00ed. In Zayn al-Asnam a shaykh\nappears to the prince in a dream and bids him hie to Egypt, where he\nwill find heaps of treasure; in the Turkish story the shaykh appears to\nthe poor water-carrier three times and bids him go to Damascus for the\nlike purpose. The prince arrives at Cairo and goes to sleep in a mosque,\nwhen the shaykh again presents himself before him in a dream and tells\nhim that he has done well in obeying him\u2014he had only made a trial of his\ncourage: \u201cnow return to thy capital and I will make thee wealthy\u201d;\u2014in\nthe Turkish story the water-carrier also goes into a mosque at Damascus\nand receives a loaf of bread there from a baker. When the prince returns\nhome the shaykh appears to him once more and bids him take a pick-axe\nand go to such a palace of his sire and dig in such a place, where he\nshould find riches;\u2014in the Turkish story the water-carrier having\nreturned to his own house, the shaykh comes to him three times more and\nbids him search near to where he is and he should find wealth. The\ndiscovery by Zayn al-Asnam of his father\u2019s hidden treasure, after he had\nrecklessly squandered all his means, bears some analogy to the\nwell-known ballad of the \u201cHeir of Linne,\u201d who, when reduced to utter\npoverty, in obedience to his dying father\u2019s injunction, should such be\nhis hap, went to hang himself in the \u201clonely lodge\u201d and found there\nconcealed a store of gold.\n\n\nWith regard to the second part of the tale of Zayn al-Asnam\u2014the Quest of\nthe Ninth Image\u2014and the Turkish version of which my friend Mr. Gibb has\nkindly furnished us with a translation from the mystical work of \u2019Al\u00ed\n\u2019Az\u00edz Efendi, the Cretan, although no other version has hitherto been\nfound,[131] I have little doubt that the story is of either Indian or\nPersian extraction, images and pictures being abhorred by orthodox (or\nsunni) Muslims generally; and such also, I think, should we consider all\nthe Arabian tales of young men becoming madly enamoured of beautiful\ngirls from seeing their portraits\u2014though we can readily believe that an\nArab as well as a Persian or Indian youth might fall in love with a\npretty maid from a mere description of her personal charms, as we are\ntold of the Bedouin coxcomb Amarah in the Romance of Antar. If the\nTurkish version, which recounts the adventures of the Prince Abd\nes-Samed in quest of the lacking image (the tenth, not the ninth, as in\nthe Arabian) was adapted from Zayn al-Asnam, the author has made\nconsiderable modifications in re-telling the fascinating story, and, in\nmy opinion, it is not inferior to the Arabian version. In the Turkish,\nthe Prince\u2019s father appears to him in a vision of the night,[132] and\nconducts him to the treasure-vault, where he sees the vacant pedestal\nand on it the paper in which his father directs him to go to Cairo and\nseek counsel of the Shaykh Mubarak, who would instruct him how to obtain\nthe lacking image; and the prince is commissioned by the shaykh to bring\nhim a spotless virgin who has never so much as longed for the pleasures\nof love, when he should receive the image for his reward. The shaykh\ngives him a mirror which should remain clear when held before such a\nvirgin, but become dimmed when reflecting the features of another sort\nof girl; also a purse which should be always full of money.[133] In the\nArabian story the Shaykh Mubarak accompanies Zayn al-Asnam in his quest\nof the image to the land of Jinnist\u00e1n, the King whereof it is who\nrequires the prince to procure him a pure virgin and then he would give\nhim the lacking image. In the Turkish version the prince Abd es-Samed\nproceeds on the adventure alone, and after visiting many places without\nsuccess he goes to Baghdad, where by means of the Imam he at last finds\nthe desiderated virgin, whom he conducts to Mubarak. In the Arabian\nstory the Imam, Abu Bakr (Haji Bakr in the Turkish), is at first\ninimical towards the prince and the shaykh, but after being propitiated\nby a present of money he is all complaisance, and, as in the Turkish,\nintroduces the prince to the fallen vaz\u00edr, the father of the spotless\nvirgin. The sudden conversion of the Imam from a bitter enemy to an\nobliging friend is related with much humour: one day denouncing the\nstrangers to the folk assembled in the mosque as cutpurses and brigands,\nand the next day withdrawing his statement, which he says he had made on\nthe information of one of the prince\u2019s enviers, and cautioning the\npeople against entertaining aught but reverence for the strangers. This\namusing episode is omitted in the Turkish version. In one point the tale\nof Zayn al-Asnam has the advantage of that of Abd es-Samed: it is much\nmore natural, or congruous, that the King of the Genii should affect to\nrequire the chaste maiden and give the prince a magical mirror which\nwould test her purity, and that the freed slave Mubarak should accompany\nthe prince in his quest.\n\n\n                _ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP\u2014p. 52._\n\nThose scholars who declared a number of the tales in Galland\u2019s \u201cMille et\nune Nuits\u201d to be of his own invention, because they were not found in\nany of the Arabic MS. texts of The Nights preserved in European\nlibraries, were unconsciously paying that learned and worthy man a very\nhigh compliment, since the tales in question are among the best in his\nwork and have ever been, and probably will continue to be, among the\nmost popular favourites. But the fact that Galland seized the first\nopportunity of intimating that two of those tales were not translated or\ninserted by himself ought to have been alone amply sufficient\npresumptive evidence of his good faith with regard to the others.\n\nA friendly reviewer of my \u201cPopular Tales and Fictions\u201d etc. states that\nmodern collectors of European _M\u00e4rchen_, though \u201cworking from 100 to 150\nyears after the appearance of the \u2018Thousand and One Nights,\u2019 in European\nliterature, have not found the special versions therein contained\ndistributed widely and profusely throughout Europe,\u201d and that my chapter\non Aladdin is proof sufficient that they have not done so. The reviewer\ngoes on to say that I cite \u201cnumerous variants, but, save one from Rome,\nvariants of the _theme_, not of the _version_; some again, such as the\nMecklenburg and Danish forms, are more primitive in tone; and all lack\nthose effective and picturesque details which are the charm of the\nArabian story, and which a borrower only interested in the story as a\nstory might just be expected to retain.\u201d[134]\n\nBut it is not contended that the folk-tales of Europe owe much, if\nindeed anything at all, to the \u201cArabian Nights,\u201d which is not only as it\nnow exists a comparatively modern work\u2014Baron de Sacy has adduced good\nreasons for placing the date of its composition in the middle of the 9th\ncentury of the Hijra, or about 1446 A.D.\u2014but was first made known in\nEurope so late as the first quarter of the last century. Several of the\ntales, and incidents of the tales, in the \u201cThousand and One Nights\u201d were\ncurrent in Europe in the 12th century\u2014imported by the Moors of Spain,\nand by European travellers, pilgrims, and minstrels from the East. Thus\nthe Arabian tale of the Ebony (or Enchanted) Horse is virtually\nidentical with the Hispano-French romance of Cleomades and Claremonde;\nthat of Prince Kamar al-Zaman is fairly represented by the romance of\nPeter of Provence and the Fair Maguelone. The episode of Astolphe and\nJoconde in Ariosto\u2019s \u201cOrlando Furioso\u201d is identical with the opening\nstory of The Nights which constitutes the frame of the collection.[135]\nThe Magnetic Rock (or rock of adamant) which figures in the adventures\nof Sindb\u00e1d occurs in the popular German story of \u201cHerzog Ernst von\nBaiern,\u201d which is extant in a Latin poem that cannot be later than the\n13th century and is probably a hundred years earlier.[136] The Valley of\nDiamonds in the History of Sindb\u00e1d is described by Marco Polo, who\ntravelled in the East in the 13th century; moreover, it had been known\nin Europe from the 4th century, when the story connected with it was\nrelated by Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis, who lays the scene in Scythia,\nwhile Marco Polo and the author of Sindb\u00e1d\u2019s Voyages both place it in\nIndia, where the fiction probably had its origin.\n\nWhen we find a popular (_i.e._ oral) European tale reproduce the most\nminute details of a story found in The Nights, we should conclude that\nit has been derived therefrom and within quite recent times, and such I\nam now disposed to think is the case of the Roman version of Aladdin\ngiven by Miss Busk under the title of \u201cHow Cajusse was Married,\u201d\nnotwithstanding the circumstance that the old woman from whom it was\nobtained was almost wholly illiterate. A child who could read might have\ntold the story out of Galland to his or her nurse, through whom it would\nafterwards assume local colour, with some modifications of the details.\nBut stories having all the essential features of the tale of Aladdin\nwere known throughout Europe long before Galland\u2019s work was published,\nand in forms strikingly resembling other Asiatic versions, from one of\nwhich the Arabian tale must have been adapted. The incidents of the\nMagician and Aladdin at the Cave, and the conveying of the Princess and\nthe vaz\u00edr\u2019s son three nights in succession to Aladdin\u2019s house (which\noccurs, in modified forms, in other tales in The Nights), I consider as\nthe work of the Arabian author. Stripped of these particulars, the\nelements of the tale are identical in all versions, Eastern and Western:\na talisman, by means of which its possessor can command unlimited\nwealth, &c.; its loss and the consequent disappearance of the\nmagnificent palace erected by supernatural agents who are subservient to\nthe owner of the talisman; and finally its recovery together with the\nrestoration of the palace to its original situation. The Arabian tale is\nsingular in the circumstance of the talisman (the Lamp) being recovered\nby human means\u2014by the devices of the hero himself, in fact; since in all\nthe European and the other Asiatic forms of the story it is recovered\nby, as it was first obtained from, grateful animals. To my mind, this\nlatter is the pristine form of the tale, and points to a Buddhist\norigin\u2014mercy to all living creatures being one of the leading doctrines\nof pure Buddhism.\n\nThe space at my disposal does not admit of the reproduction _in extenso_\nof the numerous versions or variants of Aladdin: a brief outline of\ntheir features will however serve my purpose. In the tale of Mar\u00faf the\nCobbler, which concludes the B\u00fal\u00e1k and Calcutta printed texts of The\nNights, we have an interesting version of Aladdin. The hero runs away\nfrom his shrewish wife and under false pretences is married to a king\u2019s\ndaughter. He confesses his imposture to the princess, who loves him\ndearly, and she urges him to flee from her father\u2019s vengeance and not to\nreturn until his death should leave the throne vacant; and having\nfurnished him with money, he secretly quits the city at daybreak. After\nriding some distance, he begins to feel hungry, and seeing a peasant\nploughing a field he goes up to him and asks for some food. The peasant\nsets off to his house for eatables, and meanwhile Mar\u00faf begins to plough\na furrow, when presently the ploughshare strikes against something hard,\nwhich he finds to be an iron ring. He tugs at the ring and raises a\nslab, which discovers a number of steps, down which he goes and comes\ninto a cavern filled with gold and precious stones, and in a box made of\na single diamond he finds a talismanic ring, on placing which on his\nfinger a monstrous figure appears and expresses his readiness and\nability to obey all his commands. In brief, by means of this genie, the\nhero obtains immense wealth in gold and jewels, and also rich\nmerchandise, which enable him to return to the city in the capacity of a\nmerchant, which he had professed himself when he married the princess.\nThe vaz\u00edr, who had from the first believed him to be an arrant impostor,\nlays a plot with the King to worm out of him the secret of his wealth,\nand succeeds so well at a private supper, when Mar\u00faf is elevated with\nwine, that he obtains possession of the ring, summons the genie, and\ncauses him to carry both the King and Mar\u00faf into a far distant desert.\nHe then compels the other ministers and the people to acknowledge him as\nking, and resolves to marry the princess. She temporises with him;\ninvites him to sup with her; plies him with wine, induces him to throw\nthe ring into a corner of the room, pretending to be afraid of the demon\nwho is held captive in it; and when he has become insensible (in plain\nEnglish, dead drunk), she seizes the ring, summons the genie, and\ncommands him to secure the vaz\u00edr and bring back her father and husband,\nwhich he does \u201cin less than no time.\u201d The vaz\u00edr is of course put to\ndeath, and the princess takes charge of the ring for the future,\nalleging that neither the King nor her husband is to be trusted with the\ncustody of such a treasure.\n\nAnother Arabian version is found\u2014as Sir Richard Burton points out, note\n2, p. 159\u2014in \u201cThe Fisherman\u2019s Son,\u201d one of the tales translated by\nJonathan Scott from the Wortley-Montague MS. text of The Nights, where\nthe hero finds a magic ring inside a cock: like Aladdin, he marries the\nKing\u2019s daughter and has a grand palace built for him by the genii. The\nring is afterwards disposed of to a Jew, in the same manner as was the\nLamp to the Magician, and the palace with the princess is conveyed to a\ndistant desert island. The fisherman\u2019s son takes to flight. He purchases\nof a man who offered them for sale a dog, a cat, and a rat, which turn\nout to be well-disposed magicians, and they recover the ring from the\nJew\u2019s mouth while he is asleep. The ring is dropped into the sea\naccidentally while the animals are crossing it to rejoin their master,\nbut is brought to the hero by a fish which he had returned to the sea\nout of pity in his fisherman days. The genie conveys the palace back\nagain, and so on.\u2014In a Mongolian version (\u201cSiddh\u00ed K\u00far\u201d) a young merchant\nparts with all his wares to save a mouse, an ape, and a bear from being\ntortured to death by boys. One of those creatures procures for him a\nwishing-stone, by means of which he has a grand palace built and obtains\nmuch treasure. He foolishly exchanges his talisman with the chief of a\ncaravan for all their gold and merchandise, and it is afterwards\nrestored to him by the grateful and ingenious animals.\u2014In a Tamil\nversion\u2014referred to by Sir Richard, p. 51, note 1\u2014which occurs in the\n\u201cMadanak\u00e1mar\u00e1jankadai,\u201d a poor wandering young prince buys a cat and a\nserpent; at his mother\u2019s suggestion, he sets the serpent at liberty and\nreceives from its father a wishing ring. He gets a city built in the\njungle\u2014or rather where the jungle was\u2014and marries a beautiful princess.\nAn old hag is employed by another King to procure him the princess for\nhis wife. She wheedles herself into the confidence of the unsuspecting\nyoung lady, and learning from her the properties of the ring, induces\nher to borrow it of her husband for a few minutes, in order that she\n(the old trot) might apply it to her head to cure a severe headache. No\nsooner has she got possession of the ring than she disappears, and\nhaving delivered it to the other King, he \u201cthought\u201d of the princess, and\nin the twinkling of an eye she is carried through the air and set down\nbefore him. The ring is recovered by means of the cat which the hero had\nfostered, and so on.\n\nSir Richard has referred to a number of Italian versions (p. 51, note\n1), which will be found epitomised in a most valuable and interesting\npaper, by my late friend Mr. H. C. Coote, on the sources of some of M.\nGalland\u2019s Tales, in the First Part of the Folk-Lore Record for 1880;\nand, in conclusion, I may briefly glance at a few other European\nvariants. Among those which not only bear a close analogy one to another\nbut also to the Asiatic versions cited above are the following: No. 15\nof M. Leger\u2019s French collection of Slav Tales is a Bohemian version, in\nwhich the hero, Jenik, saves a dog, a cat, and a serpent from being\nkilled. From the serpent\u2019s father he gets an enchanted watch (evidently\na modern substitute for a talismanic stone, or ring), which procures him\na splendid palace and the King\u2019s daughter for his bride. But the young\nlady, unlike the Princess Badr al-Bad\u00far with Aladdin, does not love\nJenik, and having learned from him the secret of his great wealth, she\nsteals the talisman and causes a palace to be built in the middle of the\nsea, where she goes to live, after making Jenik\u2019s palace disappear.\nJenik\u2019s faithful dog and cat recover the talisman, which, as in the\nArabian story of the Fisherman\u2019s Son, is dropped in the sea while they\nare swimming back and restored by a fish.\u2014In No. 9 of M. Dozon\u2019s \u201cContes\nAlbanais\u201d the hero saves a serpent\u2019s life and gets in return a\nwishing-stone and so on. The talisman is stolen by a rascally Jew on the\nnight of the wedding, and the palace with the princess is transported to\nthe distant sea-shore. The hero buys a cat and feeds it well. He and his\ncat arrive at the spot where the palace now stands, and the cat compels\nthe chief of a colony of mice to steal the talisman from the Jew while\nhe is asleep.\u2014A popular Greek version in Hahn\u2019s collection combines\nincidents found in Aladdin and in the versions in which grateful animals\nplay prominent parts: The hero rescues a snake which some boys are about\nto kill and gets in reward from the snake\u2019s father a sealring, which he\nhas only to lick and a black man will present himself, ready to obey his\norders. As in Aladdin, the first use he makes of the talisman is to have\nhis mother\u2019s cupboard filled with dainty food. Then he bids his mother\n\u201cgo to the King, and tell him he must give me his daughter in marriage.\u201d\nAfter many objections, she goes to deliver her message to the King, who\nreplies that if her son build a castle larger than his, he shall have\nthe princess to wife. The castle is built that same night, and when the\nmother goes next morning to require the King\u2019s performance of his\npromise, he makes a farther stipulation that her son should first pave\nthe way between the two castles with gold. This is done at once, and the\nKing gives the hero his daughter. Here the resemblance to the Aladdin\nstory ceases and what follows (as well as what precedes) is analogous to\nthe other Asiatic forms. The princess has a black servant of whom she is\nenamoured. She steals the ring and elopes with her sable paramour to an\nisland in the sea, where she has a castle erected by the power of the\nring. The black man sleeps with the ring under his tongue, but the\nhero\u2019s dog takes the cat on his back and swims to the island; and the\ncat contrives to get the ring and deliver it to her master, who\nstraightway causes the castle to be removed from the island, then kills\nthe black man, and afterwards lives happily with the princess.\u2014In a\nDanish version (Prof. Grundtvig\u2019s \u201cDanske Folke\u00e4ventyr\u201d) a peasant gets\nfrom an aged man a wishing-box, and henceforward lives in grand style.\nAfter his death the steward and servants cheat his son and heir, so that\nin ten years he is ruined and turned out of house and home. All the\nproperty he takes with him is an old sheepskin jacket, in which he finds\nthe wishing-box, which had been, unknown to him, the cause of his\nfather\u2019s prosperity. When the \u201cslave\u201d of the box appears, the hero\nmerely asks for a fiddle that when played upon makes everybody who hears\nit to dance.[137] He hires himself to the King, whose daughter gives\nhim, in jest, a written promise to marry him, in exchange for the\nfiddle. The King, when the hero claims the princess, insists on her\nkeeping her promise, and they are married. Then follows the loss of the\nwishing-box, as in the Greek version, only in place of a black man it is\na handsome cavalier who is the lady\u2019s paramour. The recovery of the box\nis accomplished by very different means, and may be passed over, as\nbelonging to another cycle of tales.[138]\n\nIt is perhaps hardly worth while to make a critical analysis of the tale\nof Aladdin, since with all its gross inconsistencies it has such a hold\nof the popular fancy that one would not wish it to be otherwise than it\nis. But it must have occurred to many readers that the author has\nblundered in representing the Magician as closing the Cave upon Aladdin\nbecause he refused to give up the Lamp before he had been helped out. As\nthe lad was not aware of the properties of the Lamp, he could have had\nno object in retaining it for himself, while the Magician in any case\nwas perfectly able to take it by force from him. And if he wished to do\naway with Aladdin, yet incur no \u201cblood-guiltiness\u201d (see _ante_, p. 78\nand note), he might surely have contrived to send him down into the Cave\nagain and then close it upon him. As to the Magician giving his ring to\nAladdin, I can\u2019t agree with Sir Richard in thinking (p. 72, note 3) that\nhe had mistaken its powers; this seems to me quite impossible. The ring\nwas evidently a charm against personal injury as well as a talisman to\nsummon an all-powerful and obedient genie. It was only as a charm that\nthe Magician placed it on Aladdin\u2019s finger, and, as the Hindustani\nVersion explains, he had in his rage and vexation forgot about the ring\nwhen he closed the entrance to the Cave. It appears to me also\nincongruous that the Lamp, which Aladdin found burning, should\nafterwards only require to be rubbed in order to cause the genie to\nappear. One should have supposed that the _lighting_ of it would have\nbeen more natural or appropriate; and it is possible that such was in\nthe original form of the Aladdin version before it was reduced to\nwriting, since we find something of the kind in a Mecklenburg version\ngiven in Grimm, under the title of \u201cDas blaue Licht.\u201d A soldier who had\nlong served his King is at last discharged without any pay. In the\ncourse of his wanderings he comes to the hut of an old woman, who proves\nto be a witch, and makes him work for her in return for his board and\nlodging. One day she takes him to the edge of a dry well, and bids him\ngo down and get her the Blue Light which he would find at the bottom. He\nconsents, and she lets him down by a rope. When he has secured the Light\nhe signals to the old witch to draw him up, and when she has pulled him\nwithin her reach, she bids him give her the Light; he refuses to do so\nuntil he is quite out of the well, upon which she lets him fall to the\nbottom again. After ruminating his condition for some time he bethinks\nhim of his pipe, which is in his pocket\u2014he may as well have a smoke if\nhe is to perish. So he lights his pipe at the Blue Light, when instantly\nthere appears before him a black dwarf, with a hump on his back and a\nfeather in his cap, who demands to know what he wants, for he must obey\nthe possessor of the Blue Light. The soldier first requires to be taken\nout of the well, and next the destruction of the old witch, after which\nhe helps himself to the treasures in the hag\u2019s cottage, and goes off to\nthe nearest town, where he puts up at the best inn and gets himself fine\nclothes. Then he determines to requite the King, who had sent him away\npenniless, so he summons the Dwarf[139] and orders him to bring the\nKing\u2019s daughter to his room that night, which the Dwarf does, and very\nearly in the morning he carries her back to her own chamber in the\npalace. The princess tells her father that she has had a strange dream\nof being borne through the air during the night to an old soldier\u2019s\nhouse. The King says that if it was not a dream, she should make a hole\nin her pocket and put peas into it, and by their dropping out the place\nwhere she was taken to could be easily traced. But the Dwarf when he\ntransports her the second night discovers the trick, and strews peas\nthrough all the other streets, and the only result was the pigeons had a\nrare feast. Then the King bids the princess hide one of her shoes in the\nsoldier\u2019s room, if she is carried there again. A search is made for the\nshoe in every house the next day, and when it is found in the soldier\u2019s\nroom he runs off, but is soon caught and thrown into prison. In his\nhaste to escape he forgot to take the Blue Light with him. He finds only\na ducat in his pocket, and with this he bribes an old comrade whom he\nsees passing to go and fetch him a parcel he had left at the inn, and so\nhe gets the Blue Light once more. He summons the Dwarf, who tells him to\nbe of good cheer, for all will yet be well, only he must take the Blue\nLight with him when his trial comes on. He is found guilty and sentenced\nto be hung upon the gallows-tree. On his way to execution he asks as a\nlast favour to be allowed to smoke, which being granted, he lights his\npipe and the Dwarf appears. \u201cSend,\u201d says the soldier\u2014\u201csend all these\npeople to the right about; as for the King, cut him into three pieces.\u201d\nThe Dwarf lays about him with a will, and soon makes the crowd scuttle\noff. The King begs hard for his life, and agrees to let the soldier have\nthe princess for his wife and the kingdom afterwards.\n\nThus, it will be seen, popular tales containing all the essential\nelements of the story of Aladdin are spread over Europe, though hardly\nany of the versions was probably derived from it; and the conclusion at\nwhich I have arrived is that those elements, or incidents, have been\ntime out of mind the common property of European and Asiatic peoples,\nand that the tale of Aladdin may be considered as an almost unique\nversion. The Mecklenburg legend is the only variant which has the\nincident of the Magician requiring the Lamp before helping the hero out\nof the Cave and that of the transporting of the princess from her palace\nto the hero\u2019s house during the night, but these are not, I think,\nsufficient evidence that it was adapted from Galland.\n\n\nThe royal command that all shops are to be closed and everybody must\nkeep within doors while the Princess Badr al-Bad\u00far proceeds to the bath\nand Aladdin\u2019s playing the part of Peeping Tom of Coventry occur in many\nEastern stories and find a curious analogue in the Adventures of\nKurrogl\u00fa, the celebrated robber-poet, as translated by Dr. Alexander\nChodzko in his \u201cPopular Poetry of Persia,\u201d printed for the Oriental\nTranslation Fund, and copies of that work being somewhat scarce, I\ndaresay the story will be new to most of my readers:\n\nListen now to the tale about the Princess Nighara, daughter of the\nTurkish sultan Mur\u00e1d. In the neighbourhood of Constantinople lived a man\nwho was known there under the name of Belli Ahmad. One day the Princess\nNighara went out for a walk through the baz\u00e1rs of Constantinople. At the\nsame time Kurrogl\u00fa\u2019s fame spread over all Turkey; everybody was telling\nstories about him, and all were struck with wonder. The Princess\nNighara\u2019s fond heart particularly was filled with an ardent wish of\nseeing this extraordinary hero, and she often thought in her mind, \u201cO my\nGod, when will you allow me to behold Kurrogl\u00fa?\u201d It happened that while\nBelli Ahmad was taking a walk in the bazars of Istamb\u00fal, he looked and\nbeheld on the platform of the building daroghs beating drums, whilst all\nthe inmates of the baz\u00e1r, the workmen as well as the merchants, were\nflying in a great hurry after having left their shops ajar. \u201cWhy are\nthey thus running?\u201d inquired Belli Ahmad of a Turk. \u201cDost thou know\nnothing? Then listen: Our king, Sultan Murad, is gone on a pilgrimage to\nMecca. His son Burji Sultan reigns until his father\u2019s return. He has a\nsister whose name is the Princess Nighara. Every Friday she goes to pray\nin the great mosque. The Sultan\u2019s will is that during the passage of the\nprincess through the baz\u00e1rs, no man should remain there, but that all\nthe shops be left open. This is the reason of this panic and flight. As\nsoon as the princess has passed, the merchants and workmen will return\nto their shops again.\u201d\n\nBelli Ahmad said in his heart, \u201cThy name is Belli Ahmad, and shalt thou\nnot see this beautiful Princess Nighara? If not, thou art unworthy of\nthe name of Belli[140] Ahmad.\u201d He then looked to the right and left and\nentered stealthily into a greengrocer\u2019s shop enclosed within a few\nboards. The train of the princess now appeared. First passed with their\nwhips farashes and yass\u00e1ls, who led the procession and were followed by\neunuchs with canes of office (_chogan_) in their hands. At last appeared\nthe Princess Nighara, surrounded by a score of waiting-women. She walked\nwith a downcast countenance in front of them, and bending her head\ntowards the ground said to herself, \u201cO thou earth on which my foot is\ntreading, I beseech thee, receive my prayer!\u201d[141] Belli Ahmad saw and\nheard her through the chinks of the boards behind which he sat\nconcealed. When Nighara saw the shop with vegetables she wondered why it\nshould be the only shop enclosed with boards whilst all the other shops\nwere standing open. She then said to her waiting-women, \u201cWhat is the\nreason of this? Whilst goldsmiths who possess a capital of a hundred\nthousand tomans have left their shops open, how is it that this petty\nmerchant of vegetables, whose poor shop used always to be open, has shut\nit up to-day? There must be something extraordinary in all this. Break\ndown the enclosure, my girls, and throw the boards aside.\u201d\n\nBelli Ahmad heard, and his soul was on the point of making its exit. He\nthrew himself with his face downwards as if he was prostrated by a\nsevere illness. When her orders had been executed Nighara entered the\nshop. Perceiving a fellow stretched out his whole length and embracing\nthe floor with both hands, she kicked him with her foot,[142]\nexclaiming, \u201cWho art thou that wallowest in the dirt?\u201d Belli Ahmad\nsprang to his feet and bowing to the Princess said, \u201cLady, I am a\nstranger here. God preserve you from being in a strange land anywhere! I\nsaw that the merchants of the baz\u00e1r were beaten and driven away, and I\nwas frightened. But what was I to do? If I should hide myself in some\nrich shop I might be taken for a thief. I have therefore chosen this\nmiserable hovel, where nothing can be found except greens, onions, and\nmouldy biscuits. And even if there were in it a few copper pieces, the\nowner at his departure must have taken them away. Pardon me, Princess;\nmy soul was at stake and I hid myself.\u201d\n\nNighara inquired, \u201cStranger, what countryman art thou?\u201d \u201cI am a native\nof Erzer\u00fam.\u201d \u201cHast thou seen in those parts the Castle of\nChamley-bill?\u201d[143] \u201cYes, lady, I have seen it.\u201d \u201cIn that valley lives a\nman named Kurrogl\u00fa: didst thou see him?\u201d \u201cO my Princess, I am one of his\nservants; I am a slave purchased with his gold.\u201d \u201cCanst thou deliver him\na letter from me?\u201d \u201cAnd wherefore not, fairest? Thou hast only to write\nand entrust it to me.\u201d The Princess Nighara immediately wrote a letter\nto Kurrogl\u00fa with her own hand. And what did she write? Here it is: \u201cO\nthou who art called Kurrogl\u00fa, the glory of thy name has thrown a spell\nover the countries of Turkey. I have heard that thou hast carried away\nAyvaz from the town of Orfah. My name is Princess Nighara, Sultan\nMurad\u2019s daughter. I tell thee, that thou mayest learn if thou dost not\nknow it, that for a long time I have felt an ardent desire of seeing\nthee. If thou art distinguished by courage, come to Istamb\u00fal and carry\nme away.\u201d\n\nAnd the bold Kurrogl\u00fa, when he read the lady\u2019s billet, assumed the dress\nof a Haji, gained access to the seraglio gardens on the pretence that he\nwas entrusted with a private message to the Princess Nighara from her\nfather the Sultan, whom he had met on the road to Mecca, and carried the\namorous young lady to his fortress of Chamley-bill.\u2014The story, together\nwith the scene between the princess and Kurrogl\u00fa in the gardens and the\npalace, is, no doubt, a true picture of the \u201cways\u201d of Turkish ladies of\nhigh degree in former times, and confirms much that Sir Richard has\nstated regarding Eastern women in his notes to The Nights and his\nTerminal Essay.\n\n\n                    A VERY DIFFERENT SORT OF ALADDIN\n\nfigures in a story which in the first part bears some analogy to the\ncelebrated Arabian tale, and which occurs in an interesting little work,\nnow apparently forgotten, entitled \u201cThe Orientalist; or, Letters of a\nRabbi. With Notes by James Noble, Oriental Master in the Scottish Naval\nand Military Academy,\u201d Edinburgh, 1831. The substance of the story is as\nfollows (p. 118 ff.):\n\nAn aged Dervish falls ill in the house of a poor widow, who tends him\nwith great care, with which he is so touched that he offers to take\ncharge of her only son Abdallah. The good woman gladly consents, and the\nDervish sets out accompanied by his young ward, having intimated to his\nmother that they must perform a journey which would last about two\nyears. One day they arrived at a solitary place, and the Dervish said to\nAbdallah, \u201cMy son, we are now at the end of our journey. I shall employ\nmy prayers to obtain from Allah that the earth shall open and make an\nentrance wide enough to permit thee to descend into a place where thou\nshalt find one of the greatest treasures that the earth contains. Hast\nthou courage to descend into the subterranean vault?\u201d Abdallah swore he\nmight depend upon his obedience and zeal. Then the Dervish lighted a\nsmall fire, into which he cast a perfume; he read and prayed for some\nmoments, after which the earth opened, and he said to the young man,\n\u201cThou mayest now enter. Remember that it is in thy power to do me a\ngreat service, and that this is perhaps the only opportunity thou shalt\never have of testifying to me that thou art not ungrateful. Do not let\nthyself be dazzled by all the riches that thou shalt find there: think\nonly of seizing upon an iron candlestick with twelve branches, which\nthou shalt find close to the door. That is absolutely necessary to me;\ncome up immediately and bring it to me.\u201d\n\nAbdallah descended, and, neglecting the advice of the Dervish, filled\nhis vest and sleeves with the gold and jewels which he found heaped up\nin the vault, whereupon the opening by which he had entered closed of\nitself. He had, however, sufficient presence of mind to seize the iron\ncandlestick, and endeavoured to find some other means of escape from the\nvault. At length he discovers a narrow passage, which he follows until\nhe reaches the surface of the earth, and looking about for the Dervish\nsaw him not, but to his surprise found that he was close to his mother\u2019s\nhouse. On showing his wealth to his mother it all suddenly vanished. But\nthe candlestick remained. He lighted one of the branches, upon which a\ndervish appeared, and after turning round for an hour, he threw down an\nasper (about 3 farthings) and vanished. Next night he put a light in\neach of the branches, when twelve dervishes appeared, and after\ncontinuing their gyrations an hour, each threw down an asper and\nvanished.\n\nThus Abdallah and his mother contrived to live for a time, till at\nlength he resolved to carry the candlestick to the Dervish, hoping to\nobtain from him the treasure which he had seen in the vault. He\nremembered his name and city, and on reaching his dwelling he found the\nDervish living in a magnificent palace with fifty porters at the gate.\nQuoth the Dervish, when Abdallah appeared before him, \u201cThou art an\nungrateful wretch! Hadst thou known the value of the candlestick, thou\nwouldst never have brought it to me. I will show thee its true use.\u201d\nThen the Dervish placed a light in each branch, whereupon twelve\ndervishes appeared and began to whirl, but on his giving each a blow\nwith a cane in an instant they were changed into twelve heaps of\nsequins, diamonds and other precious stones.\n\nUngrateful as Abdallah had shown himself, yet the Dervish gave him two\ncamels laden with gold and a slave, telling him he must depart the next\nmorning. During the night Abdallah stole the candlestick and placed it\nat the bottom of one of his sacks. In the morning he took his leave of\nthe generous Dervish and set off. When about half a day\u2019s journey from\nhis own city he sold the slave, that there should be no witness to his\nformer poverty, and bought another in his stead. Arriving home, he\ncarefully placed his loads of treasure in a private chamber, and then\nput a light in each branch of the candlestick, and when the twelve\ndervishes appeared, as usual, he dealt each a blow with a cane. But he\nhad not observed that the Dervish employed his left hand, and he had\nnaturally used his right, in consequence of which the twelve dervishes\neach drew from under their robes a heavy club and beat him till he was\nnearly dead, and then vanished, as did also the treasure, the camels,\nthe slave, and the wonder-working candlestick.\n\n\nIt is to be regretted that the author has not stated the sources whence\nhe drew his stories, but that they are without exception of Eastern\nextraction does not admit of any doubt: some are taken from the\n\u201cPanchatantra,\u201d \u201cHitopadesa,\u201d or \u201cAnv\u00e1r-i Suhayl\u00ed,\u201d and others are found\nin other Asiatic story-books. I have however not met with the foregoing\nelsewhere than in Noble\u2019s little volume. The beginning of the story is\nnear akin to that of Aladdin: for the wicked magician who pretends to\ntake the tailor\u2019s son under his care we have a dervish who in good faith\ntakes charge of the son of a poor widow who had nursed him through a\nsevere illness. The cave scene is very similar in both, only the\nmagician performs diabolical incantations, while the dervish practises\n\u201cwhite magic\u201d and prays to Allah for assistance. The twelve-branched\ncandlestick takes the place of the Wonderful Lamp. Like Aladdin, young\nAbdallah is shut in the cavern, though not because he refused to give up\nthe candlestick until he was safe above ground again, but because his\ncupidity induced him to pocket some of the treasures which filled the\ncave.\n\nThere is a strong Indian\u2014even Buddhistic\u2014flavour in the story of\nAbdallah and the Dervish, and the apparition of the twelve whirling\nfak\u00edrs, who when struck with a cane held in the left hand fall into so\nmany heaps of gold coin, has its analogue in the \u201cHitopadesa\u201d and also\nin the Persian Tales of a Parrot (\u201cT\u00fat\u00ed N\u00e1ma\u201d). The 10th Fable of Book\niii. of the \u201cHitopadesa\u201d goes thus: In the city of Ayodhya (Oude) there\nwas a soldier named Churamani, who, being anxious for money, for a long\ntime with pain of body worshipped the deity the jewel of whose diadem is\nthe lunar crescent.[144] Being at length purified from his sins, in his\nsleep he had a vision in which, through the favour of the deity, he was\ndirected by the lord of the Yakshas[145] to do as follows: \u201cEarly in the\nmorning, having been shaved, thou must stand, club in hand, concealed\nbehind the door of thy house; and the beggar whom thou seest come into\nthe court thou wilt put to death without mercy by blows of thy staff.\nInstantly the beggar will become a pot full of gold, by which thou wilt\nbe comfortable the rest of thy life.\u201d These instructions being followed,\nit came to pass accordingly. But the barber who had been brought to\nshave him, having witnessed it all, said to himself, \u201cO, is this the\nmode of gaining treasure? Why, then, may not I also do the same?\u201d From\nthat day forward the barber in like manner, with club in hand, day after\nday awaited the coming of the beggar. One day a beggar being so caught\nwas attacked by him and killed with the stick, for which offence the\nbarber himself was beaten by the King\u2019s officers and died.\n\nThe same story is differently told, at greater length and with\nconsiderable humour, in Nakhshab\u00ed\u2019s Parrot-Book, but the outline of it\ncan only be given here: A rich merchant named Abd-el-Malik resolved to\ngive all his substance to the poor and needy before he departed this\nlife. At midnight an apparition stood before him in the habit of a fak\u00edr\nand thus addressed him: \u201cI am the apparition of thy good fortune and the\ngenius of thy future happiness.[146] When thou, with such unbounded\ngenerosity, didst bequeath all thy wealth to the poor, I determined not\nto pass by thy door unnoticed, but to enrich thee with an inexhaustible\ntreasure, suitable to the greatness of thy capacious soul. To accomplish\nwhich I will every morning in this shape appear to thee; thou shalt\nstrike me a few blows on the head, and I shall instantly fall at thy\nfeet, transformed into an image of gold. From this take as much as thou\nshalt have occasion for; and every member that shall be separated from\nthe image shall instantly be replaced by another of the same precious\nmetal.\u201d[147] In the morning a covetous neighbour named Hajm visited the\nmerchant, and soon after the apparition presented itself. Abd-el-Malik\nat once arose and after striking it several blows on the head with a\nstick, it fell down and was changed into an image of gold. He took what\nsufficed for the day\u2019s needs and gave the larger portion to his visitor.\nWhen Hajm the covetous returned to his own house he pondered what he had\nseen, and concluding it would be as easy for him to convert fak\u00edrs into\ngold, invited to a feast at his house all the fak\u00edrs of the province.\nWhen they had feasted to their hearts\u2019 content, Hajm seized a heavy club\nand began to unmercifully belabour his guests till he broke their heads\nand \u201cthe crimson torrent stained the carpet of hospitality.\u201d The cries\nof the fak\u00edrs soon brought the police to their assistance, and a great\ncrowd of people gathered outside the house. Hajm was immediately haled\nbefore the magistrate, and attempted to justify his conduct by giving an\naccount of what he had seen done in the house of Abd-el-Malik. The\nmerchant was sent for and declared Hajm to be mad, no better proof of\nwhich could be desired than his treatment of the fak\u00edrs. So Hajm the\ncovetous was sent forthwith to the hospital for lunatics.\n\n\n                  _KHUDADAD AND HIS BROTHERS\u2014p. 269._\n\nReaders of The Nights must have observed that a large number of the\ntales begin with an account of a certain powerful king, whose dominions\nwere almost boundless, whose treasury overflowed, and whose reign was a\nblessing to his people; but he had one all-absorbing care\u2014he had no son.\nThus in the tale of Khudadad we read that in the city of Harr\u00e1n there\ndwelt a sultan \u201cof illustrious lineage, a protector of the people, a\nlover of his lieges, a friend of mankind, and renowned for being gifted\nwith every good quality. Allah Almighty had bestowed upon him all that\nhis heart could desire, save the boon of a child; for though he had\nlovely wives within his haram-door and concubines galore [far too many,\nno doubt!], he had not been blessed with a son,\u201d and so forth. This is\nthe \u201cregulation\u201d opening of by far the greater number of Asiatic\nstories, even as it was _de rigueur_ for the old pagan Arab poets to\nbegin their _kas\u00eddas_ with a lamentation for the departure of a fair\none, whether real or imaginary. The Sultan of our story is constantly\npetitioning Heaven for the boon of a son (who among Easterns is\nconsidered as the \u201clight of the house\u201d), and at length there appears to\nhim in his slumbers a comely man who bids him go on the morrow to his\nchief gardener and get from him a pomegranate, of which he should eat as\nmany seeds as he pleases, after which his prayers for offspring should\nbe granted. This remedy for barrenness is very common in Indian fictions\n(to which I believe Khudadad belongs), only it is usually the king\u2019s\nwives who eat the seeds or fruit.[148] A few parallels to the opening of\nour tale from Indian sources may prove somewhat interesting, both to\nstudents of popular fictions and to those individuals who are vaguely\nstyled \u201cgeneral readers.\u201d\n\nA Kashm\u00edr\u00ed tale, entitled \u201cThe Four Princes,\u201d translated by the Rev. J.\nHinton Knowles, in the \u201cIndian Antiquary,\u201d 1886,[149] thus begins: In\ndays long since gone by there lived a king most clever, most holy, and\nmost wise, who was a pattern king. His mind was always occupied with\nplans for the improvement of his country and people; his _darb\u00e1r_ was\nopen to all; his ear was ever ready to listen to the petition of the\nhumblest subject; he afforded every facility for trade; he established\nhospitals for the sick, inns (_sar\u00e1\u2019e_) for travellers, and large\nschools for those who wished to learn. These and many other such things\nhe did. Nothing was left undone that ought to be done, and nothing was\ndone that ought not to have been done. Under such a wise, just, and\nbeneficent ruler the people of course lived very happily. Few poor or\nunenlightened or wicked persons were to be found in the country. But the\ngreat and good king had not a son. This was an intense sorrow to him\u2014the\none dark cloud that now and again overshadowed his otherwise happy and\nglorious life. Every day he prayed earnestly to Siva to grant him an\nheir to sit upon the throne after him. One day Siva appeared to him in\nthe garb of a yog\u00ed,[150] and bade him ask a boon and it should be\ngranted. \u201cTake these four fruits,\u201d said Siva, \u201cand give them to your\nwife to eat on such a day before sunrise. Then shall your wife give\nbirth to four sons who will be exceedingly clever and good.\u201d The king\nfollows these instructions and in due course his wife is delivered of\nfour sons at one birth and thereupon dies. The rest of the story is a\nvariant of the Tamil romance \u201cAlak\u00e9sa Kath\u00e1,\u201d[151] and of \u201cStrike, but\nhear!\u201d in Rev. Lal Behari Day\u2019s \u201cFolk-Tales of Bengal.\u201d\n\nThis is how the Tamil story of The Four Good Sisters begins (\u201cFolk-Lore\nin Southern India,\u201d Part iii., by Pandit S. M. Nat\u00e9sa S\u00e1str\u00ed[152]): In\nthe town of Ta\u00f1jai there reigned a king named Hariji, who was a very\ngood and charitable sovereign. In his reign the tiger and the bull drank\nout of the same pool, the serpent and the peacock amused themselves\nunder the same tree; and thus even birds and beasts of a quarrelsome and\ninimical disposition lived together like sheep of the same flock. While\nthe brute creation of the great God was thus living in friendship and\nhappiness, need it be said that this king\u2019s subjects led a life of peace\nand prosperity unknown in any other country under the canopy of heaven?\nBut for all the peace which his subjects enjoyed, Harij\u00ed himself had no\njoy: his face was always drooping, his lips never moved in laughter, and\nhe was as sad as sad could be, because he had no son.\u2014After trying in\nvain the distribution of charitable gifts which his ministers and the\npriests recommended, the king resolves to retire into the wilderness and\nthere endeavour to propitiate Mah\u00e9svara [_i.e._ Siva], hoping thus to\nhave his desire fulfilled. He appoints his ministers to order the realm\nduring his absence, and doffing his royal robes clothes himself in the\nbark of trees and takes up his abode in the desert. After practising the\nmost severe austerities for the space of three years, Siva, mounted on\nhis bull, with his spouse P\u00e1rvat\u00ed by his side, appears before the\nhermit, who is overjoyed at the sight of the deity. Siva bids him ask\nany boon and it should be granted. The royal ascetic desires to have a\nson. Then says Siva: \u201cFor thy long penance we grant thy request. Choose\nthen\u2014a son who shall always be with thee till death, but shall be the\ngreatest fool in the whole world; or four daughters who shall live with\nthee for a short time, then leave thee and return before thy death, but\nwho shall be the incarnation of learning. To thee is left to choose\nwhich thou wilt have,\u201d and so saying, the deity gives him a mango fruit\nfor his wife to eat, and then disappears. The king elects to have the\nfour learned daughters, whose history is very entertaining.\n\nAnother tale in the Pandit\u2019s collection (No. 4) informs us that once\nupon a time in a town named Va\u00f1jaim\u00e1nagar there ruled a king named\nSiv\u00e1ch\u00e1r. He was a most just king and ruled so well that no stone thrown\nup fell down, no crow pecked at the new-drawn milk, the lion and the\nbull drank water from the same pond, and peace and prosperity reigned\nthroughout the kingdom. Notwithstanding all these blessings, care always\nsat on his face. His days and nights he spent in praying that God might\nbless him with a son. Wherever he saw _p\u00edpal_ trees he ordered Br\u00e1hmans\nto circumambulate them.[153] Whatever medicines the doctors recommended\nhe was ever ready to swallow, however bitter they might be. At last\nfortune favoured Siv\u00e1ch\u00e1r; for what religious man fails to obtain his\ndesire? The king in his sixtieth year had a son, and his joy knew no\nbounds.\n\nIn like fashion does the Persian \u201cSindib\u00e1d N\u00e1ma\u201d begin: There reigned in\nIndia a sage and mighty monarch, the bricks of whose palace were not of\nstone or marble but of gold; the fuel of whose kitchen was fresh wood of\naloes; who had brought under the signet of his authority the kingdoms of\nR\u00fam and Abyssinia; and to whom were alike tributary the Ethiop Mah\u00e1r\u00e1j\nand the Roman Kaysar. He was distinguished above all monarchs for his\nvirtue, clemency, and justice. But although he was the refuge of the\nKhal\u00edfate, he was not blessed with an heir: life and the world appeared\nprofitless to him, because he had no fruit of the heart in the garden of\nhis soul.\u2014One night, while reclining on his couch, sad and thoughtful,\nconsumed with grief like a morning taper, he heaved a deep sigh, upon\nwhich one of his favourite wives (he had a hundred in his harem),\nadvancing towards him and kissing the ground, inquired the cause of his\ndistress. He discloses it. His wife consoles him, encourages him to\nhope, and assures him that if he prayed, his prayers would be answered;\nbut that at all events it was his duty to be resigned to the will of\nGod. \u201cPrayer is the only key that will open the door of difficulty.\u201d The\nking fasted for a whole week and was assiduous in his devotions. One\nnight he prayed with peculiar earnestness and self-abasement till\nmorning. The companion of his couch was one of his wives, fairer than\nthe sun and the envy of a per\u00ed. He clasped her in his embrace,\nexclaiming, \u201cThere is no strength, no power, save in God!\u201d and he felt\nassured in his heart that his prayer was granted. In due time a son was\nborn to him, and, eager to show his gratitude, he bestowed munificent\ngifts and lavished his treasures on all his subjects.\n\nThe seventh of Lal Behari Day\u2019s \u201cFolk-Tales of Bengal\u201d opens as follows:\nOnce on a time there reigned a king who had seven queens. He was very\nsad, for the seven queens were all barren. A holy mendicant, however,\none day told the king that in a certain forest there grew a tree, on a\nbranch of which hung seven mangoes; if the king himself plucked those\nmangoes and gave one to each of the queens they would all become\nmothers. So the king went to the forest, plucked the seven mangoes that\ngrew upon one branch, and gave a mango to each of the queens to eat. In\na short time the king\u2019s heart was filled with joy, as he heard that the\nseven queens were pregnant.\u2014In Miss Stokes\u2019 \u201cIndian Fairy Tales,\u201d p. 91,\nR\u00e1j\u00e1 Barb\u00e1l receives from an ascetic 160 _lich\u00ed_ fruits, one of which he\nis to give to each of his 160 wives, who would have each a son.\u2014Similar\ninstances occur in Steel and Temple\u2019s \u201cWide Awake Stories\u201d, from the\nPanj\u00e1b and Kashm\u00edr, pp. 47 and 290, and in Nat\u00e9sa S\u00e1str\u00ed\u2019s \u201cDravidian\nNights\u2019 Entertainments\u201d (a translation of the Tamil romance entitled\n\u201cMadanak\u00e1mar\u00e1jankadai\u201d), pp. 55, 56.\u2014Among biblical instances of women\nhaving offspring after being long barren are: Sarah, the wife of Abraham\n(Gen. ch. xv. 2\u20134, xxi. 1, 2); Rachel, the wife of Jacob (Gen. ch. xxx.,\n1, 22, 23); and Elisabeth, the wife of Zacharias, the high-priest, who\nwere the parents of John the Baptist (Luke, ch. i.). Whether children be\na \u201cblessing,\u201d notwithstanding all that has been said and sung about the\nexquisite joys of paternity and maternity, is perhaps doubtful,\ngenerally speaking: one thing is certain, that many an honest fellow has\nhad too much cause to \u201cwonder why the devil he got an heir!\u201d[154]\n\nAlthough no version or variant of the story of Khudadad and his Brothers\nhas yet been found besides the one in the Turkish collection \u201cAl-Far\u00e1j\nba\u2019d al-Shiddah,\u201d yet the elements of which it is composed occur in many\nEuropean and Asiatic tales. As we have in Galland a story of sisters who\nenvied their cadette, so, by way of justice to the \u201cfair sex,\u201d we have\nlikewise this tale of envious brothers, which is a favourite theme of\npopular fictions, only in the story of Khudadad, the brothers were not\nat first aware of the hero\u2019s kinship to them, though they had been\ninformed of it when they most ungratefully cut and slashed him with\ntheir swords as he lay asleep by the side of his beauteous bride the\nPrincess of Daryab\u00e1r.\n\nSometimes it is not a brother, or brothers, but a treacherous friend or\na secret cowardly rival, who attempts the life of the hero and claims\nthe credit and reward for his bold achievement. Many examples must occur\nto readers familiar with Icelandic, Norwegian, and German folk-tales,\nwhich need not here be cited. In the old French romance of the Chevalier\nBerinus and his gallant son Aigres de l\u2019Aimant, the King of Loquiferne\nis in love with the Princess Melia, daughter of a king named Absalon,\nwho would give her only to the prince who should bring with him two\nknights prepared to combat with and slay two fierce lions, or would\nattempt this feat himself. None of the barons of the King of Loquiferne\noffering themselves for the adventure, Aigres undertakes it very\nreadily, and is accompanied by a knight named A\u00e7ars, who has charge of a\ncasket of jewels destined for the princess as a wedding-gift. Young\nAigres encounters and kills the lions single-handed, and the\nlily-livered and faithless A\u00e7ars envies him the glory of his exploit. On\ntheir way back to Loquiferne with the Princess Melia, as they pass near\na deep well A\u00e7ars purposely allows the casket of jewels to fall into it\nand pretends to be distracted at the misfortune. But the gallant Aigres\nsecuring one end of his horse\u2019s reins to the top of the well descends by\nthis improvised rope, and when he dives into the water to recover the\ncasket the rascal A\u00e7ars cuts the reins and compels the princess and her\nmaid to follow him. His triumph is brief, however, for Melia and her\nmaid are taken from him, without his striking a blow in their defence,\nby a king who is in love with the princess. A\u00e7ars proceeds to the court\nof the King of Loquiferne and tells him how the lady had been snatched\nout of his hands by a king who attacked him with a great army while\nAigres had fled like a craven. Meanwhile Aigres contrives to get out of\nthe well, and finds his steed and armour close by: he is fortunate in\nrescuing the princess and her maid from the king who had taken them from\nA\u00e7ars, and arriving at the court of Loquiferne denounces A\u00e7ars as a\ncoward and traitor, and the princess Melia confirms his assertions; so\nthe carpet-knight is for ever disgraced.\n\nAnother example not very generally known is found in the Urd\u00fa romance,\n\u201cGul-\u00ed Bak\u00e1wal\u00ed\u201d: When the hero, Taj al-Mal\u00fak, the youngest son of King\nZayn al-Mal\u00fak, is born, the astrologers cast his horoscope and predict\nthat the king will lose his sight as soon as he looks upon him. In order\nto prevent such a calamity, the king causes the child and his mother to\nbe placed in a house far distant from the city, where Zayn al-Mal\u00fak\ngrows up into a handsome, courageous youth. By chance he meets his\nfather, the king, while the latter is hunting, and the king no sooner\ncasts his eyes on the youth than he becomes blind. The royal physicians\ntell him that only the Rose of Bak\u00e1wal\u00ed can restore his sight, and the\nfour other sons of the king set out together to procure this wonderful\nflower. They fall victims to the wiles of a courtesan, who wins all\ntheir money at play and ultimately imprisons them in her house. In the\nmeantime Taj al-Mal\u00fak has started on the same errand; he outwits the\ncourtesan, obtains the liberation of his brothers, and then journeys to\nJinnist\u00e1n, where, by the help of a friendly demon, he plucks the Rose in\nthe garden of the beauteous fairy Bak\u00e1wal\u00ed, and retraces his way\nhomeward. Meeting with his four brothers on the road, he acquaints them\nof his success, and on their doubting the virtue of the flower, it is\napplied to the eyes of a blind man, and his sight is instantly restored.\nUpon this the brothers take the flower from Taj al-Mal\u00fak by force and\nhasten with it to their father. But the hero\u2019s friends the demons build\nfor him a splendid palace, and the fame of his wealth soon reaches the\ncourt of his father, who, with the four brothers and the ministers of\nstate, visits him, and after a great feast Taj al-Mal\u00fak makes himself\nknown to the king and relates the whole story of how he procured the\nflower that had restored his sight. The king falls upon his son\u2019s neck\nand weeps tears of joy, saying, \u201cYou have restored the light of my eyes\nby the Rose of Bak\u00e1wal\u00ed, and by the sight of you the door of\ncheerfulness has been opened in my sorrowful heart. It is incumbent on\nme to make known this enlivening news to your mother, who has looked out\nfor you with anxiety, and I must cause her, who has been afflicted with\ngrief at your absence, to drink the sherbet of the glad tidings of your\nsafety.\u201d Then the king went to Taj al-Mal\u00fak\u2019s mother, made many\napologies for his ill-treatment of her, exalted her higher than she was\npreviously, and gave her the joyful news of her son\u2019s arrival. The\nremainder of the romance recounts the marvellous adventures of the hero\nin fairyland, whither he proceeds to rejoin Bak\u00e1wal\u00ed, and where he\nundergoes many strange transformations; but ultimately all is \u201cmerry as\nmarriage bells.\u201d\u2014Nothing is said about the punishment or pardon of the\ntreacherous brothers, but doubtless in the original form of the story\nthe hero acted as generously towards them as did Khudadad when his\nfather would have put the forty brothers to death. It seems somewhat\nstrange that after Khudadad\u2019s brothers had killed him (as they believed)\nthey did not take the Princess Daryab\u00e1r away with them, which generally\nhappens in stories of this kind.\n\n\n          _THE STORY OF THE BLIND MAN, BABA ABDULLAH\u2014p. 311._\n\nAn incident in the Muhammedan version of the legend of the Seven\nSleepers may have furnished a hint for this well-told tale: When the\nevil-minded Dekianus views the Hid Treasure, which he had covenanted\nwith the aged man who read the Tablet for him and conducted him to the\nspot should be equitably divided betwixt them\u2014when he had beheld with\nwonder and astonishment the incalculable riches contained in the seven\nchambers, he says within himself, \u201cAnd must I share this with the old\nman?\u201d Then he ponders and thinks, \u201cNay, but I will give him a goodly\nportion;\u201d but finally he resolves to give him nothing\u2014nay more, to take\naway his life so that there should be none on earth besides himself\nacquainted with the source of his wealth. In vain does the old man bid\nhim take all the treasure and swear that he will ever preserve the\nsecret: Dekianus smote him with his sword so that he died.\n\nThere is a tale in the Persian story-book \u201cShamsah wa Kahkahah\u201d (also\nentitled \u201cMahb\u00fab al-Kal\u00fab\u201d) which bears some analogy to the story of the\nBlind Man, Baba Abdullah. A skilful geomancer is desired by a tradesman\nto cast his horoscope. He does so, and informs the tradesman that he is\nto find a treasure. The man is incredulous, but after the operation is\nrepeated with the same result at length becomes convinced of the\naccuracy of the geomancer\u2019s calculations, locks his door, and forthwith\nthey both begin to dig the floor. They come upon a large stone which on\nremoval is found to have covered a well. The geomancer lowers the\ntradesman down it in a basket, which the latter fills with gold and\nsilver and precious stones, and it is drawn up by the geomancer. When\nthis has been repeated several times and the geomancer views the immense\nquantity of glittering treasure heaped up beside him, covetous thoughts\nenter his mind, and he determines to leave the tradesman to his fate at\nthe bottom of the well, take all the wealth for himself, and live in\ncomfort and luxury the rest of his days. Accordingly he does not again\nlet the basket down, and the poor tradesman, suspecting his iniquitous\ndesign, calls out piteously to his perfidious friend, imploring him not\nto leave him there to perish, and swearing that the treasure should be\nequally shared as between brothers. But the covetous geomancer is deaf\nto his appeal, and begins to consider how the treasure might be conveyed\nto his own house without attracting the notice of any of the folk of the\nquarter, and in the midst of his cogitations he falls asleep. Now it\nhappened that the poor tradesman had an enemy who had long waited for an\nopportunity to do him a personal injury, and that very night he came to\nthe house, and by means of a rope with a hook which he fastened to the\nwall he climbed on to the roof and descended into the place where the\ngeomancer was sleeping. The man, mistaking him for the tradesman, seized\nthe geomancer and with a sharp awl pierced his eyes, blinding him for\never. But, having thus effected his revenge as he thought, in groping\nhis way out of the house he stumbled into the well and broke his foot.\nThe tradesman taking him for the geomancer, come for more gold,\nupbraided him for his insatiable avarice, and the man, in his turn,\nsupposing him to have been thrown into the well by the tradesman,\nreplied, \u201cBe satisfied; I have punished him who cast you into this\nplace,\u201d but as he began to howl from the pain of his broken foot, the\ntradesman knew that he was not the geomancer. Next morning the\ntradesman\u2019s son arrives from a long trading journey, with much gold and\nmerchandise and many slaves. On entering his father\u2019s house he is\nastounded to perceive the open well and by the side of it a vast heap of\ntreasure and a man holding both hands to his eyes and wailing bitterly,\nlamenting the covetousness which had caused him the loss of his\neyesight. The young man sends a slave down into the well and the first\nperson drawn up is the tradesman, who is both surprised and overjoyed to\nbehold his son once more, and tells him the whole story. His enemy is\nthen taken out and is dismayed to find that he has blinded the wrong\nman. Both the geomancer and the tradesman\u2019s enemy are pardoned, but the\nlatter dies soon after, while the geomancer retires to a cave in the\nmountains, where every morning and evening two small loaves are thrown\nin to him by an unknown hand, and during the rest of his life he never\nceased to repeat this distich:\n\n              If you possess one barley grain of justice,\n              You will never have half a grain of sorrow.\n\nBut much more closely resembling the story of Baba Abdullah is a tale in\nthe Persian romance which recounts the imaginary adventures of Hatim\nTa\u2019\u00ed. A blind man is confined in a cage which is suspended from a branch\nof a tree, and constantly exclaims, \u201cDo evil to none; if you do, evil\nwill overtake you.\u201d Hatim having promised to mend his condition and\nrelieve him, he relates his history as follows:\n\n\u201cI am by occupation a merchant, and my name is Ham\u00edr. When I became of\nage my father had finished the building of this city, and he called the\nsame after my name. Shortly after, my father departed on a sea voyage,\nand left me in charge of the city. I was a free-hearted and social young\nman, and so in a short time expended all the property left under my care\nby my father. Thus I became surrounded with poverty and want; and as I\nknew that my father had hidden treasures somewhere in the house, I\nresolved to discover them if possible. I searched everywhere, but found\nnothing; and, to complete my woe, I received the news of my father\u2019s\ndeath, the ship in which he sailed being wrecked.\n\n\u201cOne day as I was sauntering, mournful and dejected, through the baz\u00e1r,\nI espied a learned man who cried out, \u2018If any one has lost his money by\ntheft or otherwise, my knowledge of the occult sciences enables me to\nrecover the same, but on condition that I receive one fourth of the\namount.\u2019 When I heard this seasonable proclamation, I immediately\napproached the man of science, and stated to him my sad condition and\nhow I had been reduced from affluence to poverty. The sage undertook to\nrestore my wealth, and above all to discover the treasures concealed in\nmy father\u2019s house. I conducted him to the house and showed him every\napartment, which he carefully examined one after another. At length by\nhis art he discovered the stores we were in search of; and when I saw\nthe gold and silver and other valuables, which exceeded calculation, the\ndemon of fraud entered my heart, and I refused to fulfil my promise of\ngiving a fourth of the property to the man of wisdom. I offered him only\na few small pieces of silver; instead of accepting which, he stood for a\nfew moments in silent meditation, and with a look of scorn said, \u2018Do I\nthus receive the fourth part of your treasure which you agreed to give\nme? Base man, of what perjury are you guilty?\u2019 On hearing this I became\nenraged, and having struck him several blows on the face, I expelled him\nfrom my house. In a few days, however, he returned, and so far\ningratiated himself into my confidence that we became intimate friends;\nand night and day he displayed before my sight the various hidden\ntreasures contained within the bowels of the earth. One day I asked him\nto instruct me in this wonderful science, to which he answered that no\ninstruction was requisite. \u2018Here,\u2019 said he, \u2018is a composition of surma,\nand whoever applies the same to his eyes, to him will all the wealth of\nthis world become visible.\u2019[155] \u2018Most learned sir,\u2019 I replied, \u2018if you\nwill anoint mine eyes with this substance, I promise to share with you\nthe half of all such treasures as I may discover.\u2019 \u2018I agree,\u2019 said my\nfriend; \u2018meanwhile let us retire to the desert, where we shall be free\nfrom interruption.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe immediately set out, and when we arrived there I was surprised at\nseeing this cage, and asked my companion whose it was. I received for\nanswer, that it belonged to no one. In short, we both sat down at the\nfoot of this tree, and the sage, having produced the surma from his\npocket, began to apply it to my eyes. But, alas! no sooner had he\napplied this composition than I became totally deprived of sight. In a\nvoice of sorrow I asked him why he had thus treated me, and he replied,\n\u2018Such is the reward of treachery; and if you wish to recover your sight,\nyou must for some time undergo penance in this cage. You must utter no\ncomplaint and you shall exclaim from time to time, \u2018Do no evil to\nanyone; if you do, evil will befall you.\u2019 I entreated the sage to\nrelieve me, saying, \u2018You are a mere mortal like myself, and dare you\nthus torment a fellow-creature? How will you account for your deeds to\nthe Supreme Judge?\u2019 He answered, \u2018This is the reward of your treachery.\u2019\nSeeing him inexorable, I begged of him to inform me when and how my\nsight was to be restored; and he told me, that a noble youth should one\nday visit me, and to him I was to make known my condition, and farther\nstate, that in the desert of Himyar there is a certain herb called the\nFlower of Light, which the youth was to procure and apply to my eyes, by\nmeans of which my sight should be restored.\u2019\u201d\n\nWhen the man in the cage had ended his story, the magnanimous Hatim bade\nhim be of good cheer, for he would at once endeavour to relieve him. By\nthe aid of the fairies, who carry him through the air for the space of\nseven days, he arrives in the desert where the Flowers of Light shine\nbrilliant as lamps on a festival night, diffusing the sweetest perfume\nfar and wide; and recking naught for the serpents, scorpions, and beasts\nof prey which infested the place (for he had a talisman that protected\nhim), he advances and plucks three of the largest and most brilliant\nflowers. Returning in the same manner as he had gone thither, he reaches\nthe spot where the blind man Ham\u00edr is imprisoned: taking down the cage,\nhe releases the wretched man, compresses the stalk of the flower so that\nthe juice drops upon his sightless eyeballs, and when this has been\nrepeated three times Ham\u00edr opens his eyes, and seeing Hatim falls\nprostrate at his feet with a profusion of thanks.\n\n\nAlthough there are some differences in the details of the story of Baba\nAbdullah and that of Ham\u00edr, as above, yet the general similarity between\nthem is sufficient to warrant the conclusion that if one was not adapted\nfrom the other, both must have been derived from the same source; and\nhere we have, I think, clear evidence of the genuineness of another of\nthe tales which Galland was believed to have invented himself.\n\n\n                    _HISTORY OF SIDI NU\u2019MAN\u2014p. 325._\n\nIt is curious to find this current as a folk-tale at Palena, in the\nAbruzzi, without any material variation except in the conclusion. My\nfriend Mr. E. Sidney Hartland has favoured me with the following\nabstract of the Italian version, as given in vol. iii. of the \u201cArchivio\nper lo studio delle Tradizioni Popolari\u201d (Palermo, 1882), p. 222:\n\nThere was once a husband and wife. The wife says that she cannot eat\nanything, and only picks a few grains of rice with a large pin. Her\nhusband asks why she eats nothing, and she answers that she does not\nwant to eat. Meantime she goes out secretly every night, and the husband\nbegins to have suspicions of her. One night he follows her softly, and\nfinds she goes to the burial ground, where she meets with certain female\ncompanions. They open a grave and feed on the flesh of the dead. The\nnext morning the husband cooks rice again, and the wife picks up a few\ngrains of it with a pin as before. The husband exclaims, \u201cWhat! you\nenjoy the flesh of dead men, and over rice you are so finical as to eat\nit with a pin!\u201d The wife is so enraged at learning that her husband\nknows of her doings that she goes to the waterbucket, fills a small\nbottle from it, and having muttered certain words over the water flings\nit upon him and he instantly becomes transformed into a dog. A provision\nmerchant sees him running about, and takes and sets him on his counter.\nWhen the people come to buy provisions the dog examines the money to see\nif it be good, and the false coin he throws on the ground. One day a man\ncomes to buy bacon and offers false coin. The provision merchant refuses\nto take it; they dispute over the matter, and it is referred to the dog,\nwho throws the money on the ground. The man is astonished, and returning\nhome tells his wife, who at once says that the dog is not a dog, and\ndesires her husband to bring her the animal that she may see it. The man\nreturns to the provision merchant and begs him to lend him the dog for a\nlittle while, and takes it home. The wife, who is a companion of the\nwife of him who has been changed into a dog, and understands witchcraft,\nfills a bottle with water, pronounces certain words over it, and throws\nthe water upon the dog, who immediately becomes a man again, and she\nadvises him to do to his wife as she had done to him, and imparts the\nsecret to him. As soon as he returns home he fills the bottle with water\nfrom the bucket, says the words he had learned, and throws the water\nover his wife, who becomes a mare. He drives her out of the house and\nbeats her as flax is beaten. To every one who asks why he is thrashing\nthe mare he tells his story, and the people say, \u201cServe her right!\u201d This\ngoes on for some time. At last, when the husband sees that his wife has\nvoided enough foam from the mouth, with another dash of water he changes\nher back to her proper form, and henceforward she eats whatever is set\nbefore her, obeys her husband in all things, and never goes out by night\nagain. So they live long, happy and contented.\n\n\nThis version from the Abruzzi so closely resembles the story of Sidi\nNu\u2019m\u00e1n that we should perhaps be justified in concluding it to have been\ndirectly derived from Galland\u2019s Nights, in the absence of any Venetian\nversion, which might well have been imported independently from the\nEast; but however this may be, the story in Galland bears unquestionable\ninternal evidence that it is a genuine Arabian narrative, having nothing\npeculiarly European in its details.\n\nA somewhat similar story is quite familiar to me, but I cannot at\npresent call to mind whether it occurs in a Persian collection or in The\nNights, in which the woman going out when she thinks her husband asleep,\nthe latter follows her to a hut at some distance which she enters, and\npeeping into the hut, he sees a hideous black give her a severe beating\nfor not coming sooner, while she pleads that she could not venture to\nquit the house until her husband was sound asleep. The two carouse\ntogether, and by-and-by the black going outside for a purpose, the\nhusband strikes off his head with his sword and then conceals himself\nclose by. The woman, after waiting some time, goes out to see what is\ndetaining her paramour, and finding his headless body, she moans over it\nin great sorrow, and then taking the corpse on her back carries it away\nand throws it into the river. Her husband hastens home before her, and\nso she suspects nothing. Some days after, when she refuses to do some\nlight work because of her physical weakness, her husband can no longer\ncontrol himself, and tells her that she had strength enough to carry on\nher back the body of her black paramour, and so on.[156]\n\nThe ghoul-wife of Arabian tales, who eats little or nothing at home, has\nher counterpart in the r\u00e1kshas\u00ed of Indian fictions, who secretly devours\nantelopes etc. There are many parallels in The Nights and other Asiatic\nstory-books to the incident of Sidi Nu\u2019m\u00e1n being changed back into his\nproper form, the most noteworthy being perhaps the case of the Second\nCalender in the shape of a monkey, or ape, whom the princess, an adept\nin white magic, at once recognises as a man and veils her face, as does\nthe young woman in the case of Sidi Nu\u2019m\u00e1n: but while the Calender is\nrestored to his own form, the princess, alas! perishes in her encounter\nwith the genie who had transformed him.\u2014In most of the Arabian tales of\nmagical transformations of men and women into beasts the victims are\nultimately restored to their natural forms, but in the Indian romance of\nthe princes Somasekhara and Chitrasekhara, a wicked king named Ugrab\u00e1hu\nis permanently changed by some water taken from a magic fountain into a\nmonkey and sold to a beggar, who compels him to perform tricks in public\nfor his benefit. Heywood, in his \u201cHistory of Women\u201d (Book viii.), cites\nsome curious European stories of men being transformed into donkeys by\neating a certain kind of cheese.\n\n\n              _HISTORY OF KHWAJAH HASAN AL-HABBAL\u2014p. 341._\n\nHow this entertaining story found its way into North Germany\u2014and nowhere\nelse in Europe, so far as I am aware\u2014it is not easy to say, but its\ntwin-brother seems to be orally current there, in all essential details,\nexcepting the marvellous conclusion. For the poor ropemaker, however, a\nstruggling weaver and for the two gentlemen, Sa\u2019d and Sa\u2019d\u00ed, three rich\nstudents are substituted. There does not appear (according to the\nversion given by Thorpe in his \u201cYule Tide Stories,\u201d which he entitles,\nnot inaptly, The Three Gifts) to be any difference of opinion among the\nstudents regarding the influence of Destiny, or Fate, upon men\u2019s\nfortunes: they simply give the poor weaver a hundred dollars, \u201cto assist\nhim in his housekeeping.\u201d The weaver hides the money in a heap of rags,\nunknown to his wife, who sells them to a rag-collector for a trifling\nsum. A year afterwards the students are again passing the house of the\nweaver and find him poorer than ever. He tells them of his mishap and\nthey give him another hundred dollars, warning him to be more careful\nwith the money this time. The weaver conceals the dollars in the\nash-tub, again without the cognisance of his wife, who disposes of the\nashes for a few pieces of soap. At the end of the second year the\nstudents once more visit the wretched weaver, and on being informed of\nhis loss, they throw a bit of lead at his feet, saying it\u2019s of no use to\ngive such a fool money, and go away in a great huff. The weaver picks up\nthe lead and places it on the window-sill. By-and-by a neighbour, who is\na fisherman, comes in and asks for a bit of lead or some other heavy\nthing, for his net, and on receiving the lead thrown down by the\nstudents promises to give him in return the first large fish he catches.\nThe weaver does get a fine fish, which he immediately cuts open, and\nfinds in its stomach a \u201clarge stone,\u201d which he lays on the window-sill,\nwhere, as it becomes dark, the stone gives forth a brighter and brighter\nlight, \u201cjust like a candle,\u201d and then he places it so that it\nilluminates the whole apartment. \u201cThat\u2019s a cheap lamp,\u201d quoth he to his\nwife: \u201cwouldst not like to dispose of it as thou didst the two hundred\ndollars?\u201d The next evening a merchant happening to ride past the\nweaver\u2019s house perceives the brilliant stone, and alighting from his\nhorse, enters and looks at it, then offers ten dollars for it, but the\nweaver says the stone is not for sale. \u201cWhat! not even for twenty\ndollars?\u201d \u201cNot even for that.\u201d The merchant keeps on increasing his\noffers till he reaches a thousand dollars, which was about half its real\nvalue, for the stone was a diamond, and which the weaver accepts, and\nthus he becomes the richest man in all the village. His wife, however,\ntook credit to herself for his prosperity, often saying to him, \u201cHow\nwell it was that I threw away the money twice, for thou hast me to thank\nfor thy good luck!\u201d\u2014and here the German story ends. For the turban of\nthe ropemaker and the kite that carried it off, with its precious\nlining, we have the heap of rags and the rag-collector; but the ashes\nexchanged for soap agrees with the Arabian story almost exactly.\n\nThe incident of the kite carrying off the poor ropemaker\u2019s turban in\nwhich he had deposited the most part of the gold pieces that he received\nfrom the gentleman who believed that \u201cmoney makes money\u201d\u2014an\nunquestionable fact, in spite of our story\u2014is of very frequent\noccurrence in both Western and Eastern fictions. My readers will\nrecollect its exact parallel in the abstract of the romance of Sir\nIsumbras, cited in Appendix to the preceding volumes: how the Knight,\nwith his little son, after the soudan\u2019s ship has sailed away with his\nwife, is bewildered in a forest, where they fall asleep, and in the\nmorning at sunrise when he awakes, an eagle pounces down and carries off\nhis scarlet mantle, in which he had tied up his scanty store of\nprovisions together with the gold he had received from the soudan; and\nhow many years after he found it in a bird\u2019s nest (Supp. Nights, vol.\nii. p. 361 and p. 365).\u2014And, not to multiply examples, a similar\nincident occurs in the \u201cKath\u00e1 Sarit S\u00e1gara,\u201d Book ix. ch. 54, where a\nmerchant named Samudras\u00fara is shipwrecked and contrives to reach the\nland, where he perceives the corpse of a man, round the loins of which\nis a cloth with a knot in it. On unfastening the cloth he finds in it a\nnecklace studded with jewels. The merchant proceeds towards a city\ncalled Kalasapuri, carrying the necklace in his hand. Overpowered by the\nheat, he sits down in a shady place and falls asleep. The necklace is\nrecognised by some passing policemen as that of the king\u2019s daughter, and\nthe merchant is at once taken before the king and accused of having\nstolen it. While the merchant is being examined, a kite swoops down and\ncarries off the necklace. Presently a voice from heaven declares that\nthe merchant is innocent, explains how the necklace came into his\npossession, and orders the king to dismiss him with honour. This\ncelestial testimony in favour of the accused satisfies the king, who\ngives the merchant much wealth and sends him on his way. The rest of the\nstory is as follows: \u201cAnd after he had crossed the sea, he travelled\nwith a caravan, and one day, at evening time, he reached a wood. The\ncaravan encamped in the wood for the night, and while Samudras\u00fara was\nawake a powerful host of bandits attacked it. While the bandits were\nmassacring the members of the caravan, Samudras\u00fara left his wares and\nfled, and climbed up a banyan-tree without being discovered. The host of\nbandits departed, after they had carried off all the wealth, and the\nmerchant spent that night there, perplexed with fear and distracted with\ngrief. In the morning he cast his eyes towards the top of the tree, and\nsaw, as fate would have it, what looked like the light of a lamp,\ntrembling among the leaves. And in his astonishment he climbed up the\ntree and saw a kite\u2019s nest, in which there was a heap of glittering\npriceless jewelled ornaments. He took them all out of it, and found\namong the ornaments that necklace which he had found in Svarnadv\u00edpa and\nthe kite had carried off. He obtained from that nest unlimited wealth,\nand descending from the tree, he went off delighted, and reached in\ncourse of time his own city of Harshap\u00fara. There the merchant\nSamudras\u00fara remained, enjoying himself to his heart\u2019s content, with his\nfamily, free from the desire of any other wealth.\u201d\n\nThere is nothing improbable\u2014at all events, nothing impossible\u2014in the\nHistory of Khwajah Hasan al-Habb\u00e1l. That he should lose the two sums of\nmoney in the manner described is quite natural, and the incidents carry\nwith them the moral: \u201cAlways take your wife into your confidence\u201d (but\nthe Khwajah was a Muslim), notwithstanding the great good luck which\nafterwards befell, and which, after all, was by mere chance. There is\nnothing improbable in the finding of the turban with the money intact in\nthe bird\u2019s nest, but that this should occur while the Khwajah\u2019s\nbenefactors were his guests is\u2014well, _very_ extraordinary indeed! As to\nthe pot of bran\u2014why, some little license must be allowed a story-teller,\nthat is all that need be said! The story from beginning to end is a most\ncharming one, and will continue to afford pleasure to old and young\u2014to\n\u201cgenerations yet unborn.\u201d\n\n\n                _ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES\u2014p. 369._\n\nI confess to entertaining a peculiar affection for this tale. It was the\nfirst of the tales of the \u201cArabian Nights Entertainments\u201d which I read\nin the days of my \u201cmarvelling boyhood\u201d\u2014eheu! fugaces, &c., &c. I may\ntherefore be somewhat prejudiced in its favour, just as I still consider\nScott\u2019s \u201cWaverley\u201d as the best of his long series of fascinating\nfictions, that being the first of them which I read\u2014as it was the first\nhe wrote. But \u201cAli Baba and the Forty Thieves\u201d\u2014the \u201copen, sesame!\u201d\n\u201cshut, sesame!\u201d\u2014the sackfuls of gold and silver and the bales of rich\nmerchandise in the robbers\u2019 cave\u2014the avaricious brother forgetting the\nmagical formula which would open the door and permit him to escape with\nhis booty\u2014his four quarters hung up _in terrorem_\u2014and above all, the\nclever, devoted slave-girl, Morgiana, who in every way outwitted the\ncrafty robber-chief;\u2014these incidents remain stamped in my memory\nineffaceably: like the initials of lovers\u2019 names cut into the bark of a\ngrowing tree, which, so far from disappearing, become larger by the\nlapse of time. To me this delightful tale will ever be, as Hafiz sings\nof something, \u201cfreshly fresh and newly new.\u201d I care not much though it\nnever be found in an Arabic or any other Oriental dress\u2014but that it is\nof Asiatic invention is self-evident; there is, in my poor opinion,\nnothing to excel it, if indeed to equal it, for intense interest and\ngraphic narrative power in all the Nights proper.\n\n\nSir Richard Burton has remarked, in note 1, p. 369, that Mr. Coote could\nonly find in the south of Europe, or in the Levant, analogues of two of\nthe incidents of this tale, yet one of those may accepted as proof of\nits Eastern extraction, namely, in the Cyprian story of \u201cThree Eyes,\u201d\nwhere the ogre attempts to rescue his wife with a party of blacks\nconcealed in bales: \u201cThe King\u2019s jester went downstairs, in order to open\nthe bales and take something out of them. Directly he approached one of\nthe sacks, the black man answered from the inside, \u2018Is it time, master?\u2019\nIn the same manner he tried all the sacks, and then went upstairs and\ntold them that the sacks were full of black men. Directly the King\u2019s\nbride heard this, she made the jester and the company go downstairs.\nThey take the executioner with them, and go to the first sack. The black\nman says from the inside, \u2018Is it time?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 say they to him, and\ndirectly he came out they cut his head off. In the same manner they go\nto the other sacks and kill the other black men.\u201d[157]\n\nThe first part of the tale of Ali Baba\u2014ending with the death of his\ngreedy brother\u2014is current in North Germany, to this effect:\n\nA poor woodcutter, about to fell a beech at the back of the scattered\nruins of the castle of Dummburg, seeing a monk approach slowly through\nthe forest, hid himself behind a tree. The monk passed by and went among\nthe rocks. The woodcutter stole cautiously after him and saw that he\nstopped at a small door which had never been discovered by the\nvillagers. The monk knocks gently and cries, \u201cLittle door, open!\u201d and\nthe door springs open. He also cries, \u201cLittle door, shut!\u201d and the door\nis closed. The woodcutter carefully observes the place, and next Sunday\ngoes secretly and obtains access to the vault by the same means as that\nemployed by the monk. He finds in it \u201clarge open vessels and sacks full\nof old dollars and fine guilders, together with heavy gold pieces,\ncaskets filled with jewels and pearls, costly shrines and images of\nsaints, which lay about or stood on tables of silver in corners of the\nvault.\u201d He takes but a small quantity of the coin, and as he is quitting\nthe vault a voice cries, \u201cCome again!\u201d First giving to the church, for\nbehoof of the poor, a tenth of what he had taken, he goes to the town\nand buys clothes for his wife and children, giving out to his neighbours\nthat he had found an old dollar and a few guilders under the roots of a\ntree that he had felled. Next Sunday he again visits the vault, this\ntime supplying himself somewhat more liberally from the hoard, but still\nwith moderation and discretion, and \u201cCome again!\u201d cries a voice as he is\nleaving. He now gives to the church two tenths, and resolves to bury the\nrest of the money he had taken in his cellar. But he can\u2019t resist a\ndesire to first measure the gold, for he could not count it. So he\nborrows for this purpose a corn-measure of a neighbour\u2014a very rich but\npenurious man, who starved himself, hoarded up corn, cheated the\nlabourer of his hire, robbed the widow and the orphan, and lent money on\npledges. Now the measure had some cracks in the bottom, through which\nthe miser shook some grains of corn into his own heap when selling it to\nthe poor labourer, and into these cracks two or three small coins\nlodged, which the miser was not slow to discover. He goes to the\nwoodcutter and asks him what it was he had been measuring. \u201cPine-cones\nand beans.\u201d But the miser holds up the coins he had found in the cracks\nof the measure, and threatens to inform upon him and have him put to the\nquestion if he will not disclose to him the secret of his money. So the\nwoodcutter is constrained to tell him the whole story and much against\nhis will, but not before he had made the miser promise that he would\ngive one-tenth to the church, he conducts him to the vault. The miser\nenters, with a number of sacks, the woodcutter waiting outside to\nreceive them when filled with treasure. But while the miser is gloating\nover the enormous wealth before him\u2014even \u201cwealth beyond the dreams of\navarice\u201d\u2014a great black dog comes and lays himself down on the sacks.\nTerrified at the flaming eyes of the dog, the miser crept towards the\ndoor, but in his fear forgot the proper words, and instead of saying,\n\u201cLittle door, open!\u201d he cried, \u201cLittle door, shut!\u201d The woodcutter,\nhaving waited a long time, approached the door, and knocking gently and\ncrying \u201cLittle door, open!\u201d the door sprang open and he entered. There\nlay the bleeding body of his wicked neighbour, stretched on his sacks,\nbut the vessels of gold and silver, and diamonds and pearls, sank deeper\nand deeper into the earth before his eyes, till all had completely\nvanished.[158]\n\n\nThe resemblance which this North German tale bears to the first part of\n\u201cAli Baba\u201d is striking, and is certainly not merely fortuitous; the\nfundamental outline of the latter is readily recognisable in the legend\nof the Dummburg, notwithstanding differences in the details. In both the\nhero is a poor woodcutter, or faggot-maker; for the band of robbers a\nmonk is substituted in the German legend, and for the \u201copen, sesame\u201d and\n\u201cshut, sesame,\u201d we have \u201clittle door, shut,\u201d and \u201clittle door, open.\u201d In\nboth the borrowing of a corn-measure is the cause of the secret being\nrevealed\u2014in the one case, to Kasim, the greedy brother of Ali Baba, and\nin the other, to a miserly old hunks; the fate of the latter and the\ndisappearance of all the treasure are essentially German touches. The\nsubsequent incidents of the tale of Ali Baba, in which the main interest\nof the narrative is concentrated;\u2014Ali Baba\u2019s carrying off the four\nquarters of his brother\u2019s body and having them sewed together; the\nartifices by which the slave-girl checkmates the robber-chief and his\nfollowers in their attempts to discover the man who had learned the\nsecret of the treasure-cave\u2014her marking all the doors in the street and\nher pouring boiling oil on the robbers concealed in the oil-skins in the\ncourtyard;\u2014these incidents seem to have been adapted, or imitated, from\nsome version of the world-wide story of the Robbery of the Royal\nTreasury, as told by Herodotus, of Rhampsinitus, King of Egypt, in which\nthe hero performs a series of similar exploits to recover the headless\nbody of his brother and at the same time escape detection. Moreover, the\nconclusion of the tale of Ali Baba, where we are told he lived in\ncomfort and happiness on the wealth concealed in the robbers\u2019 cave, and\n\u201cin after days he showed the hoard to his sons and his sons\u2019 sons, and\ntaught them how the door could be caused to open and shut\u201d\u2014this is near\nakin to the beginning of Herodotus\u2019 legend of the royal treasury: the\narchitect who built it left a stone loose, yet so nicely adjusted that\nit could not be discovered by any one not in the secret, by removing\nwhich he gained access to the royal stores of gold, and having taken\nwhat he wanted replaced the stone as before; on his deathbed he revealed\nthe secret to his two sons as a legacy for their future maintenance. The\ndiscovery of Ali Baba\u2019s being possessed of much money from some coins\nadhering to the bottom of the corn-measure is an incident of very\nfrequent occurrence in popular fictions; for instance, in the Icelandic\nstory of the Magic Quern that ground out gold or whatever its possessor\ndesired (Powell and Magn\u00fasson\u2019s collection, second series); in the\nIndian tale of the Six Brothers (Vernieux\u2019s collection) and its Irish\nanalogue, \u201cLittle Fairly\u201d; in the modern Greek popular tale of the Man\nwith Three Grapes (Le Grand\u2019s French collection), and a host of other\ntales, both Western and Eastern. The fate of Ali Baba\u2019s rich and\navaricious brother, envious of his good luck, finds also many\nparallels\u2014_mutatis mutandis_\u2014as in the story of the Magic Quern, already\nreferred to, and the Mongolian tale of the poor man and the Dakinis, the\n14th Relation of Siddh\u00ed K\u00far. Morgiana\u2019s counter-device of marking all\nthe doors in the street, so that her master\u2019s house should not be\nrecognised, often occurs, in different forms: in my work on Popular\nTales and Fictions, vol. ii. pp. 164, 165, a number of examples are\ncited. The pretended merchant\u2019s objecting to eat meat cooked with salt,\nwhich fortunately aroused Morgiana\u2019s suspicions of his real\ncharacter\u2014for robber and murderer as he was, he would not be \u201cfalse to\nhis salt\u201d[159]\u2014recalls an anecdote related by D\u2019Herbelot, which may find\na place here, in conclusion: The famous robber Yac\u00fab bin Layth,\nafterwards the founder of a dynasty of Persian monarchs called\nSoffarides, in one of his expeditions broke into the royal palace and\nhaving collected a large quantity of plunder, was on the point of\ncarrying it off when his foot struck against something which made him\nstumble. Supposing it not to be an article of value, he put it to his\nmouth, the better to distinguish it. From the taste he found it was a\nlump of salt, the symbol and pledge of hospitality, on which he was so\ntouched that he retired immediately without carrying away any part of\nhis booty. The next morning the greatest astonishment was caused\nthroughout the palace on the discovery of the valuables packed up and\nready for removal. Yac\u00fab was arrested and brought before the prince, to\nwhom he gave a faithful account of the whole affair, and by this means\nso ingratiated himself with his sovereign that he employed him as a man\nof courage and ability in many arduous enterprises, in which he was so\nsuccessful as to be raised to the command of the royal troops, whose\nconfidence in and affection for their general induced them on the\nprince\u2019s death to prefer his interest to that of the heir to the throne,\nfrom whence he afterwards spread his extensive conquests.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nSince the foregoing was in type I discovered that I had overlooked\nanother German version, in Grimm, which preserves some features of the\nArabian tale omitted in the legend of The Dummburg:\n\nThere were two brothers, one rich, the other poor. The poor brother, one\nday wheeling a barrow through the forest, had just come to a\nnaked-looking mountain, when he saw twelve great wild men approaching,\nand he hid himself in a tree, believing them to be robbers. \u201cSemsi\nmountain, Semsi mountain, open!\u201d they cried, and the mountain opened,\nand they went in. Presently they came out, carrying heavy sacks. \u201cSemsi\nmountain, Semsi mountain, shut thyself!\u201d they cried; the mountain closed\nand they went away. The poor man went up then and cried, \u201cSemsi\nmountain, Semsi mountain, open!\u201d the mountain opens, he goes in, finds a\ncavern full of gold, silver, and jewels, fills his pockets with gold\nonly, and coming out cries, \u201cSemsi mountain, Semsi mountain, shut\nthyself!\u201d He returns home and lives happily till his gold is exhausted.\nThen \u201che went to his brother to borrow a measure that held a bushel, and\nbrought himself some more.\u201d This he does again, and this time the rich\nbrother smears the inside of the bushel with pitch, and when he gets it\nback finds a gold coin sticking to it, so he taxes his poor brother with\nhaving treasure and learns the secret. Off he drives, resolved to bring\nback, not gold, but jewels. He gets in by saying, \u201cSemsi mountain, Semsi\nmountain, open!\u201d He loads himself with precious stones, but has\nforgotten the word, and cries only \u201cSimeli mountain, Simeli mountain,\nopen!\u201d The robbers return and charge him with having twice stolen from\nthem. He vainly protests, \u201cIt was not I,\u201d and they cut his head off.\n\n\nHere the twelve wild men represent the forty robbers, and, as in Ali\nBaba, it is the hero\u2019s brother who falls a victim to his own cupidity.\nIn the Arabian tale the hero climbs up into a tree when he sees the\nrobbers approach; in The Dummburg he hides himself behind a tree to\nwatch the proceedings of the monk; and in Grimm\u2019s version he hides in a\ntree. On this last-cited story W. Grimm has the following note: \u201cIt is\nremarkable that this story, which is told in the province of M\u00fcnster, is\ntold also in the Hartz, about The Dummburg, and closely resembles the\nEastern story of \u2018The Forty Thieves,\u2019 where even the rock Sesam, which\nfalls open at the words Semsi and Semeli, recalls the name of the\nmountain in the German saga. This name for a mountain is, according to a\ndocument in Pistorius (3, 642), very ancient in Germany. A mountain in\nGrabfeld is called Similes, and in a Swiss song a Simeliberg is again\nmentioned. This makes us think of the Swiss word \u2018Sinel,\u2019 for \u2018sinbel,\u2019\nround. In Meier, No. 53, we find \u2018Open, Simson.\u2019 In Pr\u00f6hle\u2019s \u2018M\u00e4rchen\nf\u00fcr die Jugend,\u2019 No. 30, where the story is amplified, it is\nSimsimseliger Mountain. There is also a Polish story which is very like\nit.\u201d Dr. Grimm is mistaken in saying that in the Arabian tale the \u201crock\nSesam\u201d falls open at the words Semsi and Semeli: even in his own\nversion, as the brother finds to his cost, the word Simeli does not open\nthe rock. In Ali Baba the word is \u201cSimsim\u201d (Fr. Sesame), a species of\ngrain, which the brother having forgot, he cries out \u201cBarley.\u201d The\n\u201cOpen, Simson\u201d in Meier\u2019s version and the \u201cSemsi\u201d in Grimm\u2019s story are\nevidently corruptions of \u201cSimsim,\u201d or \u201cSamsam,\u201d and seem to show that\nthe story did not become current in Germany through Galland\u2019s work.\n\n\nDr. N. B. Dennys, in his \u201cFolk-Lore of China, and its Affinities with\nthat of the Aryan and Semitic Races,\u201d p. 134, cites a legend of the cave\nKwang-sio-foo in Kiang-si, which reflects part of the tale of Ali Baba:\nThere was in the neighbourhood a poor herdsman named Chang, his sole\nsurviving relative being a grandmother with whom he lived. One day,\nhappening to pass near the cave, he overheard some one using the\nfollowing words: \u201cShih mun kai, Kwai Ku hsen sh\u00eang lai,\u201d Stone door,\nopen; Mr. Kwai Ku is coming. Upon this the door of the cave opened and\nthe speaker entered. Having remained there for some time he came out,\nand saying, \u201cStone door, close; Mr. Kwai Ku is going,\u201d the door again\nclosed and the visitor departed. Chang\u2019s curiosity was naturally\nexcited, and having several times heard the formula repeated, he waited\none day until the genie (for such he was) had taken his departure and\nessayed to obtain an entrance. To his great delight the door yielded,\nand having gone inside he found himself in a romantic grotto of immense\nextent. Nothing however in the shape of treasure met his eye, so having\nfully explored the place he returned to the door, which shut at his\nbidding, and went home. Upon telling his grandmother of his adventure\nshe expressed a strong wish to see the wonderful cavern; and thither\nthey accordingly went together the next day. Wandering about in\nadmiration of the scenery, they became separated, and Chang at length,\nsupposing that his grandmother had left, passed out of the door and\nordered it to shut. Reaching home, he found to his dismay that she had\nnot yet arrived. She must of course have been locked up in the cave, so\nback he sped and before long was using the magic sentence to obtain\naccess. But alas! the talisman had failed, and poor Chang fell into an\nagony of apprehension as he reflected that his grandmother would either\nbe starved to death or killed by the enraged genie. While in this\nperplexity the genie appeared and asked him what was amiss. Chang\nfrankly told him the truth and implored him to open the door. This the\ngenie refused to do, but told him that his grandmother\u2019s disappearance\nwas a matter of fate. The cave demanded a victim. Had it been a male,\nevery succeeding generation of his family would have seen one of its\nmembers arrive at princely rank. In the case of a woman her descendants\nwould in a similar way possess power over demons. Somewhat comforted to\nknow that he was not exactly responsible for his grandmother\u2019s death,\nChang returned home and in process of time married. His first son duly\nbecame Chang tien shih (Chang, the Master of Heaven), who about A.D. 25\nwas the first holder of an office which has existed uninterruptedly to\nthe present day.\n\n\n           _ALI KHWAJAH AND THE MERCHANT OF BAGHDAD\u2014p. 405._\n\n_Precocious Children._\u2014See note at end of the Tale, p. 416.\u2014In the\n(apocryphal) Arabic Gospel of the Saviour\u2019s Infancy is the following\npassage:\n\n\u201cNow in the month of Adar, Jesus, after the manner of a King, assembled\nthe boys together. They spread their clothes on the ground and he sat\ndown upon them. Then they put on his head a crown made of flowers, and\nlike chamber-servants stood in his presence, on the right and on the\nleft, as if he was a king. And whoever passed by that way was forcibly\ndragged by the boys, saying, \u2018Come hither and adore the king; then go\naway.\u2019\u201d\n\nA striking parallel to this is found in the beginning of the Mongolian\nTales of Ardshi Bordshi\u2014_i.e._, the celebrated Indian monarch, R\u00e1j\u00e1\nBhoja, as given in Miss Busk\u2019s \u201cSagas from the Far East,\u201d p. 252.\n\n\u201cLong ages ago there lived a mighty king called Ardshi Bordshi.[160] In\nthe neighbourhood of his residence was a hill where the boys who were\ntending the calves were wont to pass the time by running up and down.\nBut they had also another custom, and it was that whichever of them won\nthe race was king for the day\u2014an ordinary game enough, only that when it\nwas played in this place the Boy-King thus constituted was at once\nendowed with such extraordinary importance and majesty that everyone was\nconstrained to treat him as a real king. He had not only ministers and\ndignitaries among his playfellows, who prostrated themselves before him,\nand fulfilled all his behests, but whoever passed that way could not\nchoose but pay him homage also.\u201d[161]\n\nThis is followed by an analogous story to that of Al\u00ed Khwajah and the\nMerchant of Baghdad, under the title of \u201cThe False Friend,\u201d in which a\nmerchant on a trading journey entrusts a friend with a valuable jewel to\ngive to his wife on his return home, and the friend retaining it for his\nown use suborns two men to bear witness that they saw him deliver it to\nthe merchant\u2019s wife, so the King dismisses the suit. But the Boy-King\nundertakes to try the case _de novo_; causes the two witnesses to be\nconfined in separate places, each with a piece of clay which he is\nrequired to make into the form of the jewel, and the models are found to\nbe different one from the other, and both from the shape of the jewel as\ndescribed by the false friend. A similar story occurs in several Indian\ncollections, with a K\u00e1z\u00ed instead of the Boy-King.\n\n\nA curious instance of precocity is related in the Third Book of the\n\u201cMasnav\u00ed\u201d (see _ante_, p. 556), of which Mr. E. H. Whinfield gives an\noutline in his admirable and most useful abridgment of that work: The\nboys wished to obtain a holiday, and the sharpest of them suggested that\nwhen the master came into school each boy should condole with him on his\nalleged sickly appearance. Accordingly, when he entered, one said, \u201cO\nmaster, how pale you are looking!\u201d and another said, \u201cYou are looking\nvery ill to-day,\u201d and so on. The master at first answered that there was\nnothing the matter with him, but as one boy after another continued\nassuring him that he looked very ill, he was at length deluded into\nimagining that he must really be ill. So he returned to his house,\nmaking the boys follow him here, and told his wife that he was not well,\nbidding her mark how pale he was. His wife assured him he was not\nlooking pale, and offered to convince him by bringing a mirror; but he\nrefused to look at it, and took to his bed. He then ordered the boys to\nbegin their lessons; but they assured him that the noise made his head\nache, and he believed them, and dismissed them to their homes, to the\nannoyance of their mothers.\n\n\nAnother example of juvenile cleverness is found in a Persian collection\nof anecdotes entitled \u201cLat\u00e1\u2019yif At-Taw\u2019\u00e1yif\u201d, by \u2019Al\u00ed ibn Husain\nAl-Va\u2019iz Al-K\u00e1shif\u00ed: One day N\u00farsh\u00edrv\u00e1n saw in a dream that he was\ndrinking with a frog out of the same cup. When he awoke he told this\ndream to his vaz\u00edr, but he knew not the interpretation of it. The king\ngrew angry and said, \u201cHow long have I maintained thee, that if any\ndifficulty should arise thou mightest unloose the knot of it, and if any\nmatter weighed on my heart thou shouldst lighten it? Now I give thee\nthree days, that thou mayest find out the meaning of this dream, and\nremove the trouble of my mind; and if, within that space, thou art not\nsuccessful, I will kill thee.\u201d The vaz\u00edr went from the presence of\nN\u00farsh\u00edrv\u00e1n confounded and much in trouble. He gathered together all the\nsages and interpreters of dreams, and told the matter to them, but they\nwere unable to explain it; and the vaz\u00edr resigned his soul to death. But\nthis story was told in the city, and on the third day he heard that\nthere was a mountain, ten farsangs distant from the city, in which was a\ncave, and in this cave a sage who had chosen the path of seclusion, and\nlived apart from mankind, and had turned his face to the wall. The vaz\u00edr\nset out for his place of retirement, saying to himself, \u201cPerhaps he will\nbe able to lay a plaster on my wound, and relieve it from the throbbings\nof care.\u201d So he mounted his horse, and went to find the sage. At the\nmoment he arrived at the hill a company of boys were playing together.\nOne of them cried out with a loud voice, \u201cThe vaz\u00edr is running\neverywhere in search of an interpreter, and all avails him nothing; now\nthe interpretation of the dream is with me, and the truth of it is clear\nto me.\u201d When these words reached the ears of the vaz\u00edr he drew in the\nreins, and calling the boy to him asked him, \u201cWhat is thy name?\u201d He\nreplied, \u201cBuzurjmihr.\u201d The vaz\u00edr said, \u201cAll the sages and interpreters\nhave failed in loosing the knot of this difficulty\u2014how dost thou, so\nyoung in years, pretend to be able to do it.\u201d He replied, \u201cAll the world\nis not given to every one.\u201d The vaz\u00edr said, \u201cIf thou speakest truth,\nexplain.\u201d Said the boy, \u201cTake me to the monarch, that I may there\nunloose the knot of this difficulty.\u201d The vaz\u00edr said, \u201cIf thou shouldst\nfail, what then will come of it?\u201d The boy replied, \u201cI will give up my\nown blood to the king, that they may slay me instead of thee.\u201d The vaz\u00edr\ntook the boy with him, returned, and told the whole matter to the king\nand produced the boy in his presence. The king was very angry, and said,\n\u201cAll the wise men and dream-interpreters of the court were unable to\nsatisfy me, and thou bringest me a child, and expectest that he shall\nloose the knot of the difficulty.\u201d The vaz\u00edr bowed his head. And\nBuzurjmihr said, \u201cLook not upon his youth, but see whether he is able to\nexpound the mystery or not.\u201d The king then said, \u201cSpeak.\u201d He replied, \u201cI\ncannot speak in this multitude.\u201d So those who were present retired, and\nthe monarch and the youth were left alone. Then said the youth, \u201cA\nstranger has found entrance into thy seraglio, and is dishonouring thee,\nalong with a girl who is one of thy concubines.\u201d The king was much moved\nat this interpretation, and looked from one of the wise men to another,\nand at length said to the boy, \u201cThis is a serious matter thou hast\nasserted; how shall this matter be proceeded in, and in what way fully\nknown?\u201d The boy replied, \u201cCommand that every beautiful woman in thy\nseraglio pass before thee unveiled, that the truth of this matter may be\nmade apparent.\u201d The king ordered them to pass before him as the boy had\nsaid, and considered the face of each one attentively. Among them came a\nyoung girl extremely beautiful, whom the king much regarded. When she\ncame opposite to him, a shuddering as of palsy, fell upon her, and she\nshook from head to foot, so that she was hardly able to stand. The king\ncalled her to him, and threatening her greatly, bade her speak the\ntruth. She confessed that she loved a handsome slave and had privately\nintroduced him into the seraglio. The king ordered them both to be\nimpaled, and turning to the rewarding of Buzurjmihr, he made him the\nobject of his special bounty.\n\nThis story has been imported into the \u201cHistory of the Seven Wise Masters\nof Rome,\u201d the European form of the Book of Sindib\u00e1d, where the prince\ndiscovers to his father the paramour of his stepmother, the empress, in\nthe person of a young man disguised as one of her maid-servants, and its\npresence in the work is quite inconsistent with the lady\u2019s violent lust\nafter the young prince. There is a similar tale in the Hebrew version,\n\u201cMishl\u00e9 Sandabar,\u201d but the disguised youth is not detected. Vatsyayana,\nin his \u201cK\u00e1ma Sutra\u201d (or Aphorisms of Love), speaks of it as a common\npractice in India thus to smuggle men into the women\u2019s apartments in\nfemale attire. In the Introduction to the \u201cKath\u00e1 Sarit S\u00e1gara,\u201d\nVararuchi relates how King Yogananda saw his queen leaning out of a\nwindow and asking questions of a Br\u00e1hman guest that was looking up. That\ntrivial circumstance threw the king into a passion, and he gave orders\nthat the Br\u00e1hman should be put to death; for jealousy interferes with\ndiscernment. Then as that Br\u00e1hman was being led off to the place of\nexecution in order that he should be put to death, a fish in the market\nlaughed aloud, though it was dead. The king hearing it immediately\nprohibited for the present the execution of the Br\u00e1hman, and asked\nVararuchi the reason why the fish laughed. He desired time to think over\nthe matter and learned from the conversation of a r\u00e1kshas\u00ed with her\nchildren that the fish said to himself, \u201cAll the king\u2019s wives are\ndissolute, for in every part of his harem there are men dressed up as\nwomen, and nevertheless while those escape, an innocent Br\u00e1hman is to be\nput to death\u201d; and this tickled the fish so that he laughed. Mr. Tawney\nsays that Dr. Liebrecht, in \u201cOrient und Occident,\u201d vol. i. p. 341,\ncompares this story with one in the old French romance of Merlin. There\nMerlin laughs because the wife of Julius C\u00e6sar had twelve young men\ndisguised as ladies-in-waiting. Benfey, in a note on Liebrecht\u2019s\narticle, compares with the story of Merlin one by the Countess\nd\u2019Aulnois, No. 36 of Basile\u2019s \u201cPentamerone,\u201d Straparola, iv. 1, and a\nstory in the \u201cSuka Saptat\u00ed.\u201d In this some cooked fish laugh so that the\nwhole town hears them; the reason being the same as in the above story\nand in that of Merlin. In a Kashm\u00edr\u00ed version, which has several other\nincidents and bears a close resemblance to No. 4 of M. Legrand\u2019s\n\u201cRecueil de Contes Populaires Grecs,\u201d to the story of \u201cThe Clever Girl\u201d\nin Professor T. F. Crane\u2019s \u201cItalian Popular Tales,\u201d and to a fable in\nthe Talmud, the king requires his vaz\u00edr to inform him within six months\nwhy the fish laughed in presence of the queen. The vaz\u00edr sends his son\nabroad until the king\u2019s anger had somewhat cooled\u2014for himself he expects\nnothing but death. The vaz\u00edr\u2019s son learns from the clever daughter of a\nfarmer that the laughing of the fish indicates that there is a man in\nthe palace unknown to the king. He hastens home and tells his father the\nsecret, who at once communicates it to the king. All the female\nattendants in the palace are called together and ordered to jump across\nthe mouth of a pit which he has caused to be dug: the man would betray\nhis sex in the trial. Only one person succeeded and he was found to be a\nman.[162] Thus was the queen satisfied, and the faithful old vaz\u00edr\nsaved, and his son, of course, married the farmer\u2019s clever daughter.\n\n\n                _PRINCE AHMAD AND THE PERI-BANU\u2014p. 419._\n\nHow, in the name of all that is wonderful\u2014how has it happened that this\never-delightful tale is not found in any text of The Nights? And how\ncould it be supposed for a moment that Galland was capable of conceiving\nsuch a tale\u2014redolent, as it is, of the East and of Fairyland? Not that\nFairyland where \u201cTrue Thomas,\u201d otherwise ycleped Thomas the Rymer,\notherwise Thomas of Erceldoune, passed several years in the bewitching\nsociety of the Fairy Queen, years which appeared to him as only so many\nmoments: but Eastern Fairyland, with all its enchanting scenes; where\npriceless gems are as plentiful as \u201cautumnal leaves which strow the\nbrooks in Vallombrosa\u201d; where, in the royal banqueting-hall, illuminated\nwith hundreds of wax candles, in candelabra of the finest amber and the\npurest crystal, are bands of charming damsels, fairest of form and\nfeature, who play on sweet-toned instruments which discourse\nheart-ravishing strains of melody;\u2014meanwhile the beauteous Per\u00ed B\u00e1n\u00fa is\nseated on a throne adorned with diamonds and rubies and emeralds, and\npearls and other gems, and by her side is the thrice-happy Prince Ahmad,\nwho feels himself amply indemnified for the loss of his fair cousin\nPrincess N\u00far-en-Nih\u00e1r. Auspicious was that day when he shot the arrow\nwhich the enamoured Per\u00ed B\u00e1n\u00fa caused to be wafted through the air much\nfarther than arm of flesh could ever send the feathered messenger! And\nwhen the Prince feels a natural longing to visit his father in the land\nof mortals from time to time, behold the splendid cavalcade issue from\nthe portals of the fairy palace\u2014the gallant jinn-born cavaliers, mounted\non superb steeds with gorgeous housings, who accompany him to his\nfather\u2019s capital! But alas! the brightest sky is sooner or later\novercast\u2014human felicity is\u2014etc., etc. The old king\u2019s mind is poisoned\nagainst his noble son by the whisperings of a malignant and envious\nminister\u2014a snake in the grass\u2014a fly in the ointment of Prince Ahmad\u2019s\nbeatitude! And to think of the old witch gaining access to the fairy\npalace\u2014it was nothing less than an atrocity! And the tasks which she\ninduces the king to set Prince Ahmad to perform\u2014but they are all\naccomplished for him by his fairy bride. The only thing to regret\u2014the\n_fatal_ blemish in the tale\u2014is the slaughter of the old king. Shabbar\ndid right well to dash into the smallest pieces the wicked vaz\u00edr and the\nfoul witch and all who aided and abetted them, but \u201cto kill a king!\u201d and\na well-meaning if soft-headed king, who was, like many better men, led\nastray by evil counsellors!\n\n\nHaving thus blown off the steam\u2014I mean to say, having thus ventilated\nthe enthusiasm engendered by again reading the tale of Prince Ahmad and\nthe Per\u00ed B\u00e1n\u00fa, I am now in a fitter frame of mind for the business of\nexamining some versions and variants of it; for though the tale has not\nyet been found in Arabic, it is known from the banks of Ganga to the\nsnow-clad hills and vales of Iceland\u2014that strange land whose heart is\nfull of the fiercest fires. This tale, like that of Zayn al-Asn\u00e1m,\ncomprises two distinct stories, which have no necessary connection, to\nwit, (1) the adventures of the Three Princes, each in quest of the\nrarest treasure, wherewith to win the beautiful Princess N\u00far-en-Nih\u00e1r;\nand (2) the subsequent history of the third Prince and the Per\u00ed B\u00e1n\u00fa.\nThe oldest known form of the story concludes with the recovery of the\nlady\u2014not from death\u2019s door, but from a giant who had carried her off,\nand the rival claims of the heroes to the hand of the lady are left\nundecided: certainly a most unsatisfactory ending, though it must be\nconfessed the case was, as the priest found that of Paddy and the stolen\npullet, somewhat \u201cabstruse.\u201d In the \u201cVet\u00e1lapanchavinsati,\u201d or\nTwenty-five Tales of a Vampyre (concerning which collection see Appendix\nto the preceding volumes, p. 320), the fifth recital is to this purpose:\n\nThere was a Br\u00e1hman in Ajjayini (Oojein) whose name was Harisvamin; he\nhad a son named Devasvamin and a daughter far famed for her wondrous\nbeauty and rightly called Somaprabha (Moonlight). When the maiden had\nattained marriageable age, she declared to her parents that she was only\nto be married to a man who possessed heroism, or knowledge, or magic\npower. It happened soon after this that Harisvamin was sent by the king\non state business to the Dekkan, and while there a young Brahman, who\nhad heard the report of Somaprabha\u2019s beauty, came to him as a suitor for\nthe hand of his daughter. Harisvamin informed him of the qualifications\nwhich her husband must possess, and the Br\u00e1hman answered that he was\nendowed with magic power, and having shown this to the father\u2019s\nsatisfaction, he promised to give him his daughter on the seventh day\nfrom that time. In like manner, at home, the son and the wife of\nHarisvamin had, unknown to each other, promised Somaprabha to a young\nman who was skilled in the use of missile weapons and was very brave,\nand to a youth who possessed knowledge of the past, the present, and the\nfuture; and the marriage was also fixed to take place on the seventh\nday. When Harisvamin returned home he at once told his wife and son of\nthe contract he had entered into with the young Br\u00e1hman, and they in\ntheir turn acquainted him of their separate engagements, and all were\nmuch perplexed what course to adopt in the circumstances.\n\nOn the seventh day the three suitors arrived, but Somaprabha was found\nto have disappeared in some inexplicable manner. The father then\nappealed to the man of knowledge, saying, \u201cTell me where my daughter is\ngone?\u201d He replied, \u201cShe has been carried off by a r\u00e1kshasa to his\nhabitation in the Vindhya forest.\u201d Then quoth the man of magic power,\n\u201cBe of good cheer, for I will take you in a moment where the possessor\nof knowledge says she is.\u201d And forthwith he prepared a magic chariot\nthat could fly through the air, provided all sorts of weapons, and made\nHarisvamin, the man of knowledge, and the brave man enter it along with\nhimself, and in a moment carried them to the dwelling of the r\u00e1kshasa.\nThen followed a wonderful fight between the brave man and the r\u00e1kshasa,\nand in a short time the hero cut off his head, after which they took\nSomaprabha into the chariot and quickly returned to Harisvamin\u2019s house.\nAnd now arose a great dispute between the three suitors. Said the man of\nknowledge, \u201cIf I had not known where the maiden was, how could she have\nbeen discovered?\u201d The man of magic argued, \u201cIf I had not made this\nchariot that can fly through the air, how could you all have come and\nreturned in a moment?\u201d Then the brave man said, \u201cIf I had not slain the\nr\u00e1kshasa, how could the maiden have been rescued?\u201d While they were thus\nwrangling Harisvamin remained silent, perplexed in mind. The Vampyre,\nhaving told this story to the King, demanded to know to whom the maiden\nshould have been given. The King replied, \u201cShe ought to have been given\nto the brave man; for he won her by the might of his arm and at the risk\nof his life, slaying that rakshasa in combat.\u201d But the man of knowledge\nand the man of magic power were appointed by the Creator to serve as his\ninstruments. The perplexed Harisvamin would have been glad, no doubt,\ncould he have had such a logical solution of the question as this of the\nsagacious King Trivikramasena\u2014such was his six-syllabled name.\n\nThe Hind\u00ed version (\u201cBayt\u00e2l Pach\u00eds\u00ed\u201d) corresponds with the Sanskrit, but\nin the Tamil version the father, after hearing from each of the three\nsuitors an account of his accomplishments, promises to give his daughter\nto \u201cone of them.\u201d Meanwhile a giant comes and carries off the damsel.\nThere is no difference in the rest of the story.\n\n\nIn the Persian Parrot-Book (\u201cT\u00fat\u00ed N\u00e1ma\u201d) where the tale is also\nfound[163]\u2014it is the 34th recital of the loquacious bird in the India\nOffice MS. No. 2573, the 6th in B. Gerrans\u2019 partial translation, 1792,\nand the 22nd in K\u00e1deri\u2019s abridgment\u2014the first suitor says that his art\nis to discover anything lost and to predict future events; the second\ncan make a horse of wood which would fly through the air; and the third\nwas an unerring archer.\n\nIn the Persian \u201cSindib\u00e1d N\u00e1ma,\u201d a princess, while amusing herself in a\ngarden with her maidens, is carried away by a demon to his cave in the\nmountains. The king proclaims that he will give his daughter in marriage\nto whoever should bring her back. Four brothers offer themselves for the\nundertaking: one is a guide who has travelled over the world; the second\nis a daring robber, who would take the prey even from the lion\u2019s mouth;\nthe third is a brave warrior; and the fourth is a skilful physician. The\nguide leads the three others to the demon\u2019s cave; the robber steals the\ndamsel while the demon is absent; the physician, finding her at death\u2019s\ndoor, restores her to perfect health; while the warrior puts to flight a\nhost of demons who sallied out of the cave.\n\n\nThe Sanskrit story has undergone a curious transformation among the\nKalmuks. In the 9th Relation of Siddh\u00ed K\u00far (a Mongolian version of the\nVampyre Tales) six youths are companions: an astrologer, a smith, a\ndoctor, a mechanic, a painter, and a rich man\u2019s son. At the mouth of a\ngreat river each plants a tree of life and separates, taking different\nroads, having agreed to meet again at the same spot, when if the tree of\nany of them is found to be withered it will be a token that he is dead.\nThe rich man\u2019s son marries a beautiful girl, who is taken from him by\nthe Khan, and the youth is at the same time put to death by the Khan\u2019s\nsoldiers and buried under a great rock. When the five other young men\nmeet at the time and place appointed they find the tree of the rich\nyouth withered. Thereupon the astrologer by his art discovers where the\nyouth is buried; the smith breaks the rock asunder; the physician\nrestores the youth to life, and he tells them how the Khan had robbed\nhim of his wife and killed him. The mechanic then constructs a flying\nchariot in the form of Garuda\u2014the bird of Vishnu; the counterpart of the\nArabian rukh\u2014which the painter decorates, and when it is finished the\nrich youth enters it and is swiftly borne through the air to the roof of\nthe Khan\u2019s dwelling, where he alights. The Khan, supposing the machine\nto be a real Garuda, sends the rich youth\u2019s own wife to the roof with\nsome food for it. Could anything have been more fortunate? The youth\ntakes her into the wooden Garuda and they quickly arrive at the place\nwhere his companions waited for his return. When they beheld the\nmarvellous beauty of the lady the five skilful men instantly fell in\nlove with her, and began to quarrel among themselves, each claiming the\nlady as his by right, and drawing their knives they fought and slew one\nanother. So the rich youth was left in undisputed possession of his\nbeautiful bride.\n\n\nComing back to Europe we find the primitive form of the story partly\npreserved in a Greek popular version given in Hahn\u2019s collection: Three\nyoung men are in love with the same girl, and agree to go away and meet\nagain at a given time, when he who shall have learned the best craft\nshall marry the girl. They meet after three years\u2019 absence. One has\nbecome a famous astronomer; the second is so skilful a physician that he\ncan raise the dead; and the third can run faster than the wind. The\nastronomer looks at the girl\u2019s star and knows from its trembling that\nshe is on the point of death. The physician prepares a medicine, which\nthe third runs off with at the top of his speed, and pours it down the\ngirl\u2019s throat just in time to save her life\u2014though, for the matter of\nthat, she might as well have died, since the second suitor was able to\nresuscitate the dead!\n\n\nBut the German tale of the Four Clever Brothers, divested of the\npreliminary incidents which have been brought into it from different\nfolk-tales, more nearly approaches the form of the original, as we may\nterm the Sanskrit story for convenience\u2019 sake: A poor man sends his four\nsons into the world, each to learn some craft by which he might gain his\nown livelihood. After travelling together for some time they came to a\nplace where four roads branched off and there they separated, each going\nalong one of the roads, having agreed to meet at the same spot that day\nfour years. One learns to be an excellent astronomer and, on quitting,\nhis master gives him a telescope,[164] saying, \u201cWith this thou canst see\nwhatever takes place either on earth or in heaven, and nothing can\nremain concealed from thee.\u201d Another becomes a most expert thief. The\nthird learns to be a sharpshooter and gets from his master a _gun_ which\nwould never fail him: whatever he aimed at he was sure to hit. And the\nyoungest becomes a very clever tailor and is presented by his master\nwith a needle, which could sew anything together, hard or soft. At the\nend of the four years they met according to agreement, and returning\ntogether to their father\u2019s house, they satisfied the old man with a\ndisplay of their abilities. Soon after this the king\u2019s daughter was\ncarried off by a dragon, and the king proclaimed that whoever brought\nher back should have her to wife. This the four clever brothers thought\nwas a fine chance for them, and they resolved to liberate the king\u2019s\ndaughter. The astronomer looked through his telescope and saw the\nprincess far away on a rock in the sea and the dragon watching beside\nher. Then they went and got a ship from the king, and sailed over the\nsea till they came to the rock, where the princess was sitting and the\ndragon was asleep with his head in her lap. The hunter feared to shoot\nlest he should kill the princess. Then the thief crept up the rock and\nstole her from under the dragon so cleverly that the monster did not\nawake. Full of joy, they hurried off with her and sailed away. But\npresently the dragon awoke and missing the princess flew after them\nthrough the air. Just as he was hovering above the ship to swoop down\nupon it, the hunter shot him through the heart and he tumbled down dead,\nbut falling on the vessel his carcass smashed it into pieces. They laid\nhold of two planks and drifted about till the tailor with his wonderful\nneedle sewed the planks together, and then they collected the fragments\nof the ship which the tailor also sewed together so skilfully that their\nship was again seaworthy, and they soon got home in safety. The king was\nright glad to see his daughter and told the four brothers they must\nsettle among themselves which of them should have her to wife. Upon this\nthey began to wrangle with one another. The astronomer said, \u201cIf I had\nnot seen the princess, all your arts would have been useless, so she is\nmine.\u201d The thief claimed her, because he had rescued her from the\ndragon; the hunter, because he had shot the monster; and the tailor,\nbecause he had sewn the ship together and saved them all from drowning.\nThen the king decreed: \u201cEach of you has an equal right, and as all of\nyou cannot have her, none of you shall; but I will give to each as a\nreward half a kingdom,\u201d with which the four clever brothers were well\ncontented.\n\n\nThe story has assumed a droll form among the Albanians, in which no\nfewer than seven remarkably endowed youths play their parts in rescuing\na king\u2019s daughter from the Devil, who had stolen her out of the palace.\nOne of the heroes could hear far off; the second could make the earth\nopen; the third could steal from any one without his knowing it; the\nfourth could throw an object to the end of the world; the fifth could\nerect an impregnable tower; the sixth could bring down anything however\nhigh it might be in the air; and the seventh could catch whatever fell\nfrom any height. So they set off together, and after travelling a long\nway, the first lays his ear to the ground. \u201cI hear him,\u201d he says. Then\nthe second causes the earth to open, and down they go, and find the\nDevil sound asleep, snoring like thunder, with the princess clasped to\nhis breast. The third youth steals her without waking the fiend. Then\nthe fourth takes off the Devil\u2019s shoes and flings them to the end of the\nworld, and off they all go with the princess. The Devil wakes and goes\nafter them, but first he must find his shoes\u2014though what need he could\nhave for shoes it is not easy to say; but mayhap the Devil of the\nAlbanians is _minus_ horns, hoof, and tail! This gives the fifth hero\ntime to erect his impregnable tower before the fiend returns from the\nend of the world. When he comes to the tower he finds all his skill is\nnaught, so he has recourse to artifice, which indeed has always been his\n_forte_. He begs piteously to be allowed one last look of his beloved\nprincess. They can\u2019t refuse him so slight a favour, and make a tiny hole\nin the tower wall, but, tiny as it is, the Devil is able to pull the\nprincess through it and instantly mounts on high with her. Now is the\nmarksman\u2019s opportunity: he shoots at the fiend and down he comes, \u201clike\na hundred of bricks\u201d (as we _don\u2019t_ say in the classics), at the same\ntime letting go the princess, who is cleverly caught by the seventh\nhero, and is none the worse for her aerial journey. The princess chooses\nthe seventh for her husband, as he is the youngest and best looking, but\nher father the king rewards his companions handsomely and all are\nsatisfied.\n\nThe charming history of Prince Ahmad and his fairy bride is \u201cconspicuous\nfrom its absence\u201d in all these versions, but it reappears in the Italian\ncollection of Nerucci: \u201cNovelle Popolari Montalesi,\u201d No. xl., p. 335,\nwith some variations from Galland\u2019s story:\n\nA certain king had three daughters, and a neighbouring king had three\nsons, who were much devoted to the chase. They arrived at the city of\nthe first king, and all fell in love with his daughter[165] and wanted\nto marry her. Her father said it was impossible to content them all, but\nif one of them would ask her, and if he pleased her, he would not oppose\nthe marriage. They could not agree which it was to be, and her father\nproposed that they should all travel, and the one who at the end of six\nmonths brought the most beautiful and wonderful present should marry\nher. They set out in different directions and at the end of six months\nthey meet by appointment at a certain inn. The eldest brings a magic\ncarpet on which he is wafted whithersoever he will. (It goes a hundred\nmiles in a day.) The second brings a telescope which shows whatever is\nhappening a hundred miles away. The youngest brings three stones of a\ngrape, one of which put into the mouth of a person who is dying restores\nhim to life. They at once test the telescope by wishing to see the\nprincess, and they find her dying\u2014at the last gasp indeed. By means of\nthe carpet they reach the palace in time to save her life with one of\nthe grape-stones. Each claims the victory. Her father, almost at his\nwits\u2019 end to decide the question, decrees that they shall shoot with the\ncrossbow, and he who shoots farthest shall win the princess. The second\nbrother shoots farther than the first; but the youngest shoots so far\nthat they cannot find where his arrow has fallen. He persists in the\nsearch and falls down a deep hole, from the bottom of which he can\nscarcely see a speck of the sky. There an ogre (_mago_) appears to him\nand also a bevy of young fairy maidens of extreme beauty. They lead him\nto a marvellous palace, give him refreshments and provide him with a\nroom and a bed, where every night one of the fairies bears him company.\nHe spends his days in pleasure until the king\u2019s daughter is almost\nforgotten. At last he begins to think he ought to learn what has become\nof his brothers, his father, and the lady. The chief fairy however,\ntries to dissuade him, warning him that evil will befall him if he\nreturn to his brothers. He persists, and she tells him that the princess\nis given to his eldest brother, who reigns in his father-in-law\u2019s stead,\nthe latter having died, and that his own father is also dead; and she\nwarns him again not to go. But he goes. His eldest brother says that he\nthought he was dead \u201cin that hole.\u201d The hero replies that, on the\ncontrary, he fares so well with a bevy of young and beautiful fairies\nthat he does not even envy him, and would not change places with him for\nall the treasures in the world. His brother, devoured by rage, demands\nthat the hero bring him within eight days a pavilion of silk which will\nlodge three hundred soldiers, otherwise he will destroy his palace of\ndelights. The hero, affrighted, returns to the fairies and relates his\nbrother\u2019s threats. The chief fairy says, \u201cDidn\u2019t I tell you so? You\ndeserve that I should leave you to your fate; but, out of pity for your\nyouth, I will help you.\u201d And he returns to his brother within eight days\nwith the required pavilion. But his brother is not satisfied: he demands\nanother silk pavilion for 600 soldiers, else he will lay waste the abode\nof the fairies. This pavilion he also receives from the fairies, and it\nwas much finer and richer than the first. His brother\u2019s demands rise\nwhen he sees that the hero does not find any difficulty in satisfying\nhim. He now commands that a column of iron 12 cubits (_braccia_) high be\nerected in the midst of a piazza. The chief of the fairies also complies\nwith this requirement. The column is ready in a moment, and as the hero\ncannot carry it himself, she gives it to the guardian ogre, who carries\nit upon his shoulders, and presents himself, along with the hero, before\nthe eldest brother. As soon as the latter comes to see the column set in\nthe piazza the ogre knocks him down and reduces him to pulp\n(_cofaccino_, lit., a cake), and the hero marries his brother\u2019s widow\nand becomes king in his stead.\n\n\nAlmost suspiciously like the story in Galland in many of the details is\nan Icelandic version in Powell and Magn\u00fasson\u2019s collection, yet I cannot\nconceive how the peasantry of that country could have got it out of \u201cLes\nMille et une Nuits.\u201d There are two ways by which the story might have\nreached them independently of Galland\u2019s work: the Arabs and Persians\ntraded extensively in former times with Scandinavia, through Russia, and\nthis as well as other Norse tales of undoubtedly Eastern extraction may\nhave been communicated by the same channel[166]; or the Norsemen may\nhave taken it back with them from the South of Europe. But however this\nmay be, the Icelandic version is so quaint in its diction, has such a\nfresh aroma about it, and such novel particulars, that I feel justified\nin giving it here in full:\n\nIt is said that once, in the days of old, there was a good and wealthy\nking who ruled over a great and powerful realm; but neither his name nor\nthat of his kingdom is given, nor the latter\u2019s whereabouts in the world.\nHe had a queen, and by her three sons, who were all fine youths and\nhopeful, and the king loved them well. The king had taken, too, a king\u2019s\ndaughter from a neighbouring kingdom, to foster her, and she was brought\nup with his sons. She was of the same age as they, and the most\nbeautiful and accomplished lady that had ever been seen in those days,\nand the king loved her in no way less than his own sons. When the\nprincess was of age, all the king\u2019s sons fell in love with her, and\nthings even went so far that they all of them engaged her at once, each\nin his own name. Their father, being the princess\u2019s foster-father, had\nthe right of bestowing her in marriage, as her own father was dead. But\nas he was fond of all his sons equally the answer he gave them was, that\nhe left it to the lady\u2019s own choice to take for a husband whichever of\nthe brothers she loved the most. On a certain day he had the princess\ncalled up to him and declared his will to her, telling her that she\nmight choose for a husband whichever she liked best of his sons. The\nprincess answered, \u201cBound I am in duty to obey your words. But as to\nthis choice of one of your sons to be my husband I am in the greatest\nperplexity; for I must confess they are all equally dear to me, and I\ncannot choose one before the other.\u201d When the king heard this answer of\nthe princess he found himself in a new embarrassment, and thought a long\nwhile what he could do that should be equally agreeable to all parties,\nand at last hit upon the following decision of the matter: that all his\nsons should after a year\u2019s travel return each with a precious thing, and\nthat he who had the finest thing should be the princess\u2019s husband. This\ndecision the king\u2019s sons found to be a just one and they agreed to meet\nafter one year at a certain castle in the country, whence they should go\nall together, to the town, in order to lay their gifts before the\nprincess. And now their departure from the country was arranged as well\nas could be.\n\nFirst the tale tells of the eldest, that he went from one land to\nanother, and from one city to another, in search of a precious thing,\nbut found nowhere anything that at all suited his ideas. At last the\nnews came to his ears that there was a princess who had so fine a\nspy-glass that nothing so marvellous had ever been seen or heard of\nbefore. In it one could see all over the world, every place, every city,\nevery man, and every living being that moved on the face of the earth,\nand what every living thing in the world was doing. Now the prince\nthought that surely there could be no more precious thing at all likely\nto turn up for him than this telescope; he therefore went to the\nprincess, in order to buy the spy-glass if possible. But by no means\ncould he prevail upon the king\u2019s daughter to part with her spy-glass,\ntill he had told her his whole story and why he wanted it, and used all\nhis powers of entreaty. As might be expected, he paid for it well.\nHaving got it he returned home, glad at his luck, and hoping to wed the\nking\u2019s daughter.\n\nThe story next turns to the second son. He had to struggle with the same\ndifficulties as his elder brother. He travelled for a long while over\nthe wide world without finding anything at all suitable, and thus for a\ntime he saw no chance of his wishes being fulfilled. Once he came into a\nvery well-peopled city; and went about in search of precious things\namong the merchants, but neither did he find nor even see what he\nwanted. He heard that there lived a short way from the town a dwarf, the\ncleverest maker of curious and cunning things. He therefore resolved to\ngo to the dwarf in order to try whether he could be persuaded to make\nhim any costly thing. The dwarf said that he had ceased to make things\nof that sort now and he must beg to be excused from making anything of\nthe kind for the prince. But he said that he had a piece of cloth, made\nin his younger days, with which, however, he was very unwilling to part.\nThe king\u2019s son asked the nature and use of the cloth. The dwarf\nanswered, \u201cOn this cloth one can go all over the world, as well through\nthe air as on the water. Runes are on it, which must be understood by\nhim who uses it.\u201d Now the prince saw that a more precious thing than\nthis could scarcely be found, and therefore asked the dwarf by all means\nto let him have the cloth. And although the dwarf would not at first\npart with his cloth at all, yet at last, hearing what would happen if\nthe king\u2019s son did not get it, he sold it to him at a mighty high price.\nThe prince was truly glad to have got the cloth, for it was not only a\ncloth of great value, but also the greatest of treasures in other\nrespects, having gold-seams and jewel-embroidery. After this he returned\nhome, hoping to get the best of his brothers in the contest for the\ndamsel.\n\nThe youngest prince left home last of all the three brethren.[167] First\nhe travelled from one village to another in his own country, and went\nabout asking for precious things of every merchant he met on his way, as\nalso on all sides where there was the slightest hope of his getting what\nhe wanted. But all his endeavours were in vain, and the greater part of\nthe year was spent in fruitless search till at last he waxed sad in mind\nat his lot. At this time he came into a well-peopled city, whereto\npeople were gathered from all parts of the world. He went from one\nmerchant to another till at last he came to one who sold apples.[168]\nThis merchant said he had an apple that was of so strange a nature that\nif it was put into the arm-hole of a dying man he would at once return\nto life. He declared that it was the property of his family and had\nalways been used in the family as a medicine. As soon as the king\u2019s son\nheard this he would by all means have the apple, deeming that he would\nnever be able to find a thing more acceptable to the king\u2019s daughter\nthan this. He therefore asked the merchant to sell him the apple and\ntold him all the story of his search, and that his earthly welfare was\nbased upon his being in no way inferior to his brethren in his choice of\nprecious things for the princess. The merchant felt pity for the prince\nwhen he had told him his story, so much so that he sold him the apple,\nand the prince returned home, glad and comforted at his happy luck.\n\nNow nothing more is related of the three brothers till they met together\nat the place before appointed. When they were all together each related\nthe striking points in his travelling. All being here, the eldest\nbrother thought that he would be the first to see the princess and find\nout how she was; and therefore he took forth his spy-glass and turned it\ntowards the city. But what saw he? The beloved princess lying in her\nbed, in the very jaws of death! The king, his father, and all the\nhighest nobles of the court were standing round the bed in the blackness\nof sorrow, sad in their minds, and ready to receive the last sigh of the\nfair princess. When the prince saw this lamentable sight he was grieved\nbeyond measure. He told his brothers what he had seen and they were no\nless struck with sorrow than himself. They began bewailing loudly,\nsaying that they would give all they had never to have undertaken this\njourney, for then at least they would have been able to perform the last\noffices for the fair princess. But in the midst of these bewailings the\nsecond brother bethought him of his cloth, and remembered that he could\nget to the town on it in a moment. He told this to his brothers and they\nwere glad at such good and unexpected news. Now the cloth was unfolded\nand they all stepped on to it, and in one moment it was high in the air\nand in the next inside the town. When they were there they made all\nhaste to reach the room of the princess, where everybody wore an air of\ndeep sadness. They were told that the princess\u2019s every breath was her\nlast. Then the youngest brother remembered his wonderful apple, and\nthought that it would never be more wanted to show its healing power\nthan now. He therefore went straight into the bed-room of the princess\nand placed the apple under her right arm. And at the same moment it was\nas if a new breath of life flushed through the whole body of the\nprincess; her eyes opened, and after a little while she began to speak\nto the folk around her. This and the return of the king\u2019s sons caused\ngreat joy at the court of the king.\n\nNow some time went by until the princess was fully recovered. Then a\nlarge meeting was called together, at which the brothers were bidden to\nshow their treasures. First the eldest made his appearance, and showing\nhis spy-glass told what a wonderful thing it was, and also how it was\ndue to this glass that the life of the fair princess had ever been\nsaved, as he had seen through it how matters stood in the town. He\ntherefore did not doubt for a moment that his gift was the one which\nwould secure him the fair princess.\n\nNext stepped forward the second brother with the cloth. Having described\nits powers, he said, \u201cI am of opinion that my brother\u2019s having seen the\nprincess first would have proved of little avail had I not had the\ncloth, for thereupon we came so quickly to the place to save the\nprincess: and I must declare that to my mind, the cloth is the chief\ncause of the king\u2019s daughter\u2019s recovery.\u201d\n\nNext stepped forward the youngest prince and said, as he laid the apple\nbefore the people, \u201cLittle would the glass and the cloth have availed to\nsave the princess\u2019s life had I not had the apple. What could we brothers\nhave profited in being only witnesses of the beloved damsel\u2019s death?\nWhat would this have done, but awaken our grief and regret? It is due\nalone to the apple that the princess is yet alive; wherefore I find\nmyself the most deserving of her.\u201d\n\nThen a long discussion arose in the meeting, and the decision at last\ncame out, that all the three things had worked equally towards the\nprincess\u2019s recovery, as might be seen from the fact that if one had been\nwanting the others would have been worthless. It was therefore declared\nthat, as all gifts had equal claim to the prize, no one could decide to\nwhom the princess should belong.\n\nAfter this the king planned another contrivance in order to come to some\nend of the matter. He soon should try their skill in shooting, and he\nwho proved to be the ablest shooter of them should have the princess. So\na mark was raised and the eldest brother stepped forward with his bow\nand quiver. He shot, and no great distance from the mark fell his arrow.\nAfter that stepped forward the second brother, and his arrow well-nigh\nreached the mark. Last of all stepped forward the third and youngest\nbrother, and his arrow seemed to go farther than the others, but in\nspite of continued search for many days it could not be found. The king\ndecided in this matter that his second son should marry the princess.\nThey were married accordingly, and as the king, the father of the\nprincess, was dead, his daughter now succeeded him, and her husband\nbecame king over his wife\u2019s inheritance. They are now out this tale, as\nis also the eldest brother, who settled in life abroad.\n\nThe youngest brother stayed at home with his father, highly displeased\nat the decision the latter had given concerning the marriage of the\nprincess. He was wont to wander about every day where he fancied his\narrow had fallen, and at last he found it fixed in an oak in the forest,\nand saw that it had by far outstripped the mark. He now called together\nwitnesses to the place where the arrow was, with the intention of\nbringing about some justice in his case. But of this there was no\nchance, for the king said he could by no means alter his decision. At\nthis the king\u2019s son was so grieved that he went well-nigh out of his\nwits. One day he busked for a journey, with the full intention of never\nagain setting foot in his country. He took with him all he possessed of\nfine and precious things, nobody knowing his rede, not even his father,\nthe king.\n\nHe went into a great forest and wandered about there many days, without\nknowing whither he was going, and at last, yielding to hunger and\nweariness, he found himself no longer equal to travelling; so he sat\ndown under a tree, thinking that his sad and sorrowful life would here\ncome to a close. But after he had sat thus awhile he saw ten people, all\nin fine attire and bright armour, come riding towards the stone. On\narriving there they dismounted, and having greeted the king\u2019s son begged\nhim to go with them, and mount the spare horse they had with them,\nsaddled and bridled in royal fashion. He accepted this offer and mounted\nthe horse, and after this they rode on their way till they came to a\nlarge city. The riders dismounted and led the prince into the town,\nwhich was governed by a young and beautiful maiden-queen. The riders led\nthe king\u2019s son at once to the virgin-queen, who received him with great\nkindness. She told him that she had heard of all the ill-luck that had\nbefallen him and also that he had fled from his father. \u201cThen,\u201d quoth\nshe, \u201ca burning love for you was kindled in my breast and a longing to\nheal your wounds. You must know that it was I who sent the ten riders to\nfind you out and bring you hither. I give you the chance of staying\nhere; I offer you the rule of my whole kingdom, and I will try to\nsweeten your embittered life;\u2014this is all that I am able to do.\u201d\nAlthough the prince was in a sad and gloomy state of mind, he saw\nnothing better than to accept this generous offer and agree to the\nmarriage with the maiden-queen. A grand feast was made ready, and they\nwere married according to the ways of that country. And the young king\ntook at once in hand the government, which he managed with much ability.\n\nNow the story turns homewards, to the old king. After the disappearance\nof his son he became sad and weary of life, being, as he was, sinking in\nage. His queen also had died sometime since. One day it happened that a\nwayfaring woman came to the palace. She had much knowledge about many\nthings and knew how to tell many tales.[169] The king was greatly\ndelighted with her storytelling and she got soon into his favour. Thus\nsome time passed. But in course of time the king fell deeply in love\nwith this woman, and at last married her and made her his queen, in\nspite of strong dissent from the court. Shortly this new queen began\nmeddling in the affairs of the government, and it soon turned out that\nshe was spoiling everything by her redes, whenever she had the chance.\nOnce it happened that the queen spoke to the king and said, \u201cStrange\nindeed it seems to me that you make no inquiry about your youngest son\u2019s\nrunning away: smaller faults have been often chastised than that. You\nmust have heard that he has become king in one of the neighbouring\nkingdoms, and that it is a common tale that he is going to invade your\ndominions with a great army whenever he gets the wished-for opportunity,\nin order to avenge the injustice he thinks he has suffered in that\nbygone bridal question. Now I want you to be the first in throwing this\ndanger off-hand.\u201d The king showed little interest in the matter and paid\nto his wife\u2019s chattering but little attention. But she contrived at\nlength so to speak to him as to make him place faith in her words, and\nhe asked her to give him good redes, that this matter might be arranged\nin such a way as to be least observed by other folk. The queen said,\n\u201cYou must send men with gifts to him and pray him to come to you for an\ninterview, in order to arrange certain political matters before your\ndeath, as also to strengthen your friendship with an interchange of\nmarks of kindred. And then I will give you further advice as to what to\ndo.\u201d The king was satisfied with this and equipped his messengers\nroyally.\n\nThen the messengers came before the young king, saying they were sent by\nhis father, who wished his son to come and see him without delay. To\nthis the young king answered well, and lost no time in busking his men\nand himself. But when his queen knew this she said he would assuredly\nrue this journey. The king went off, however, and nothing is said of his\ntravels till he came to the town where his father lived. His father\nreceived him rather coldly, much to the wonder and amazement of his son.\nAnd when he had been there a short while his father gave him a good\nchiding for having run away. \u201cThereby,\u201d said the old king, \u201cyou have\nshown full contempt of myself and caused me such sorrow as well-nigh\nbrought me to the grave. Therefore, according to the law, you have\ndeserved to die; but as you have delivered yourself up into my power and\nare, on the other hand, my son, I have no mind to have you killed. But I\nhave three tasks for you which you must have performed within a year, on\npain of death. The first is that you bring me a tent which will hold one\nhundred men but can yet be hidden in the closed hand;[170] the second,\nthat you shall bring me water that cures all ailments;[171] and the\nthird, that you shall bring me hither a man who has not his like in the\nwhole world.\u201d \u201cShow me whither I shall go to obtain these things,\u201d said\nthe young king. \u201cThat you must find out for yourself,\u201d replied the\nother.\n\nThen the old king turned his back upon his son and went off. Away went\nalso the young king, no farewells being said, and nothing is told of his\ntravels till he came home to his realm. He was then very sad and\nheavy-minded, and the queen seeing this asked him earnestly what had\nbefallen him and what caused the gloom on his mind. He declared that\nthis did not regard her. The queen answered, \u201cI know that tasks must\nhave been set you which it will not prove easy to perform. But what will\nit avail you to sit sullen and sad on account of such things? Behave as\na man, and try if these tasks may not indeed be accomplished.\u201d\n\nNow the king thought it best tell the queen all that had happened and\nhow matters stood. \u201cAll this,\u201d said the queen, \u201cis the rede of your\nstepmother, and it would be well indeed if she could do you no more harm\nby it than she has already tried to do. She has chosen such difficulties\nas she thought you would not easily get over, but I can do something\nhere. The tent is in my possession, so there is that difficulty over.\nThe water you have to get is a short way hence but very hard of\napproach. It is in a well and the well is in a cave hellishly dark. The\nwell is watched by seven lions and three serpents, and from these\nmonsters nobody has ever returned alive; and the nature of the water is\nthat it has no healing power whatever unless it be drawn when all these\nmonsters are awake. Now I will risk the undertaking of drawing the\nwater.\u201d So the queen made herself ready to go to the cave, taking with\nher seven oxen and three pigs. When she came before the cave she ordered\nthe oxen to be killed and thrown before the lions and the pigs before\nthe serpents. And while these monsters tore and devoured the carcases\nthe queen stepped down into the well and drew as much water as she\nwanted. And she left the cave just in time, as the beasts finished\ndevouring their bait. After this the queen went home to the palace,\nhaving thus got over the second trial.\n\nThen she came to her husband and said, \u201cNow two of the tasks are done,\nbut the third and indeed the hardest, of them is left. Moreover, this is\none you must perform yourself, but I can give you some hints as to\nwhither to go for it. I have got a half brother who rules over an island\nnot far from hence. He is three feet high, and has one eye in the middle\nof his forehead. He has a beard thirty ells long, stiff and hard as a\nhog\u2019s bristles. He has a dog\u2019s snout and cat\u2019s ears, and I should\nscarcely fancy he has his like in the whole world. When he travels he\nflings himself forward on a staff of fifty ells\u2019 length, with a pace as\nswift as a bird\u2019s flight. Once when my father was out hunting he was\ncharmed by an ogress who lived in a cave under a waterfall, and with her\nhe begat this bugbear. The island is one-third of my father\u2019s realm, but\nhis son finds it too small for him. My father had a ring, the greatest\ngem, which each of us would have, sister and brother, but I got it,\nwherefore he has been my enemy ever since. Now I will write him a letter\nand send him the ring, in the hope that that will soften him and turn\nhim in our favour. You shall make ready to go to him, with a splendid\nsuite, and when you come to his palace-door you shall take off your\ncrown and creep bareheaded over the floor up to his throne. Then you\nshall kiss his right foot and give him the letter and the ring. And if\nhe orders you to stand up, you have succeeded in your task, if not, you\nhave failed.\u201d\n\nSo he did everything that he was bidden by the queen, and when he\nappeared before the one-eyed king he was stupefied at his tremendous\nugliness and his bugbear appearance; but he plucked up courage as best\nhe could and gave him the letter and the ring. When the king saw the\nletter and the ring his face brightened up, and he said, \u201cSurely my\nsister finds herself in straits now, as she sends me this ring.\u201d And\nwhen he had read the letter he bade the king, his brother-in-law, stand\nup, and declared that he was ready to comply with his sister\u2019s wish and\nto go off at once without delay. He seized his staff and started away,\nbut stopped now and then for his brother-in-law and his suite, to whom\nhe gave a good chiding for their slowness.[172] They continued thus\ntheir march until they came to the palace of the queen, the ugly king\u2019s\nsister; but when they arrived there the one-eyed king cried with a\nroaring voice to his sister, and asked her what she wished, as she had\ntroubled him to come so far from home. She then told him all the matter\nas it really was and begged him to help her husband out of the trial put\nbefore him. He said he was ready to do so, but would brook no delay.\n\nNow both kings went off, and nothing is told of their journey until they\ncame to the old king. The young king announced to his father his coming\nand that he brought with him what he had ordered last year. He wished\nhis father to call together a _ting_,[173] in order that he might show\nopenly how he had performed his tasks. This was done, and the king and\nthe queen and other great folk were assembled. First the tent was put\nforward and nobody could find fault with it. Secondly the young king\ngave the wondrous healing water to his father. The queen was prayed to\ntaste it and see if it was the right water, taken at the right time. She\nsaid that both things were as they should be. Then said the old king,\n\u201cNow the third and heaviest of all the tasks is left: come, and have it\noff your hands quickly.\u201d Then the young king summoned the king with one\neye, and as he appeared on the _ting_ he waxed so hideous that all the\npeople were struck with fright and horror, and most of all the king.\nWhen this ugly monarch had shown himself for a while there he thrust his\nstaff against the breast of the queen and tilted her up into the air on\nthe top of it, and then thrust her against the ground with such force\nthat every bone in her body was broken. She turned at once into the most\nmonstrous troll ever beheld. After this the one-eyed king rushed away\nfrom the _ting_ and the people thronged round the old king in order to\nhelp him, for he was in the very jaws of death from fright. The healing\nwater was sprinkled on him and refreshed him.\n\nAfter the death of the queen, who was killed of course when she turned\ninto a troll, the king confessed that all the tasks which he had given\nhis son to perform were undeserved and that he had acted thus, egged on\nby the queen. He called his son to him and humbly begged his forgiveness\nfor what he had done against him. He declared he would atone for it by\ngiving into his hand all that kingdom, while he himself only wished to\nlive in peace and quiet for the rest of his days. So the young king sent\nfor his queen and for the courtiers whom he loved most. And, to make a\nlong story short, they gave up their former kingdom to the king with one\neye, as a reward, for his lifetime, but governed the realm of the old\nking to a high age, in great glee and happiness.\n\n\n           _THE TWO SISTERS WHO ENVIED THEIR CADETTE\u2014p. 491._\n\nLegends of castaway infants are common to the folk-lore of almost all\ncountries and date far back into antiquity. The most usual mode of\nexposing them\u2014to perish or be rescued, as chance might direct\u2014is placing\nthem in a box and launching them into a river. The story of Moses in the\nbulrushes, which must of course be familiar to everybody, is not only\nparalleled in ancient Greek and Roman legends (_e.g._ Perseus, Cyrus,\nRomulus), but finds its analogue in Babylonian folk-lore.[174] The\nleading idea of the tale of the Envious Sisters, who substituted a\npuppy, a kitten, and a rat for the three babes their young sister the\nqueen had borne and sent the little innocents away to be destroyed,\nappealing, as it does, to the strongest of human instincts, is the theme\nof many popular fictions from India to Iceland. With a malignant\nmother-in-law in place of the two sisters, it is the basis of a medi\u00e6val\nEuropean romance entitled \u201cThe Knight of the Swan,\u201d and of a similar\ntale which occurs in \u201cDolopathus,\u201d the oldest version of the \u201cSeven Wise\nMasters,\u201d written in Latin prose about the year 1180: A king while\nhunting loses his way in a forest and coming to a fountain perceives a\nbeautiful lady, whom he carries home and duly espouses, much against the\nwill of his mother, Matabrun. Some time after, having to lead his\nknights and men-at-arms against an enemy, he commits the queen, now far\nadvanced in pregnancy, to the care of his mother, who undertakes that no\nharm shall befall her during his absence. The queen is delivered at one\nbirth of seven lovely children, six boys and one girl, each of whom has\na silver chain round its neck.[175] The king\u2019s mother plots with the\nmidwife to do away with the babes and place seven little dogs in bed\nbeside the poor queen. She gives the children to one of her squires,\ncharging him either to slay them or cast them into the river. But when\nthe squire enters a forest his heart relents and laying the infants,\nwrapped in his mantle, on the ground, he returns and tells his mistress\nthat he has done her behest. When the king returns, the wicked Matabrun\naccuses his wife to him of having had unnatural commerce with a dog, and\nshows him the seven puppies. The scene which follows presents a striking\nlikeness to that in the Arabian story after the birth of the third\nchild. King Oriant is full of wrath, and at once assembles his\ncounsellors, \u201cdukes, earls, knights and other lords of the realm, with\nthe bishop and prelate of the church,\u201d and having stated the case, the\nbishop pleads in favour of the queen, and finally induces him not to put\nher to death, but confine her in prison for the rest of her life.\nMeanwhile the children are discovered by an aged hermit, who takes them\nto his dwelling, baptises them, and brings them up. After some years it\nhappens that a yeoman in the service of the king\u2019s mother, while hunting\nin the forest, perceives the seven children with silver chains round\ntheir necks seated under a tree. He reports this to Matabrun, who\nforthwith sends him back to kill the children and bring her their silver\nchains. He finds but six of them, one being absent with the hermit, who\nwas gone alms-seeking; and, touched by their innocent looks, he merely\ntakes off the silver chains, whereupon they become transformed into\npretty white swans and fly away. How the innocence of the queen is\nafterwards vindicated by her son Helyas\u2014he who escaped being changed\ninto a swan\u2014and how his brethren and sister are restored to their proper\nforms would take too long to tell, and indeed the rest of the romance\nhas no bearing on the Arabian tale.[176]\n\nIn another medi\u00e6val work, from which Chaucer derived his Man of Law\u2019s\nTale, the Life of Constance, by Nicholas Trivet, an English Dominican\nmonk, the saintly heroine is married to a king, in whose absence at the\nwars his mother plots against her daughter-in-law. When Constance gives\nbirth to a son, the old queen causes letters to be written to the king,\nin which his wife is declared to be an evil spirit in the form of a\nwoman and that she had borne, not a human child, but a hideous monster.\nThe king, in reply, commands Constance to be tended carefully until his\nreturn. But the traitress contrives by means of letters forged in the\nking\u2019s name to have Constance and her son sent to sea in a ship, where\nshe meets with strange adventures. Needless to say, the old queen\u2019s\nwicked devices ultimately come to naught.\n\n\nThe story of the Envious Sisters as told by Galland was known in Italy\n(as Dr. W. Grimm points out in the valuable notes to his _K. u. H. M._)\nmany generations before the learned Frenchman was born, through the\n\u201cPleasant Nights\u201d of Straparola. That Galland took his story from the\nItalian novelist it is impossible to believe, since, as Mr. Coote has\nobserved, Straparola\u2019s work \u201cwas already known in France for a couple of\ncenturies through a popular French translation\u201d and Galland would at\nonce have been an easily convicted copyist. Moreover, the story,\nimitated from Straparola, by Madame d\u2019Aulnois, under the title of \u201cLa\nBelle Etoile et Le Prince Cheri,\u201d had been published before Galland\u2019s\nlast two volumes appeared, and both those writers had the same\npublisher. It is clear, therefore, that Galland neither invented the\nstory nor borrowed it from Straparola or Madame d\u2019Aulnois. Whence, then,\ndid he obtain it?\u2014that is the question. His Arabic source has not yet\nbeen discovered, but a variant of the world-wide story is at the present\nday orally current in Egypt and forms No. xi. of \u201cContes Arabes\nModernes. Recueillis et Traduits par Guillaume Spitta Bey\u201d (Paris,\n1883), of which the following is a translation:\n\n\n                         MODERN ARABIC VERSION.\n\nThere was once a King who said to his vaz\u00edr, \u201cLet us take a walk through\nthe town during the night.\u201d In walking about they came to a house where\nthey heard people talking, and stopping before it they heard a girl say,\n\u201cIf the King would marry me, I would make him a tart (or pie) so large\nthat it would serve for him and his army.\u201d And another said, \u201cIf the\nKing would marry me, I would make him a tent that would shelter him and\nhis whole army.\u201d Then a third said, \u201cIf the King would marry me, I would\npresent him with a daughter and a son, with golden hair, and hair of\nhyacinth colour alternately; if they should weep, it would thunder, and\nif they should laugh, the sun and moon would appear.\u201d The King on\nhearing these words went away, and on the following day he sent for the\nthree girls and made the contract of marriage with them. He passed the\nfirst night with the one who had spoken first, and said to her, \u201cWhere\nis the tart that would be sufficient for me and my army?\u201d She answered\nhim, \u201cThe words of the night are greased with butter: when day appears\nthey melt away.\u201d The next night he slept with the second, saying to her,\n\u201cWhere is the tent which would be large enough for me and my army?\u201d She\nanswered him, \u201cIt was an idea that came into my mind.\u201d So the King\nordered them to go down into the kitchen among the slaves. He passed the\nthird night with the little one, saying, \u201cWhere are the boy and girl\nwhose hair is to be like gold and hyacinth?\u201d She replied, \u201cTarry with me\nnine months and nine minutes.\u201d In due time she became pregnant, and on\nthe night of her confinement the midwife was sent for. Then the other\nwife of the King went and met her in the street and said to her, \u201cWhen\nshe has been delivered, how much will the King give you?\u201d She answered,\n\u201cHe will issue orders to give me fifteen mahb\u00fabs.\u201d[177] The other said,\n\u201cBehold, here are forty mahb\u00fabs from me. Take these two little blind\npuppies, and when she has given birth to a son and a daughter, take them\nand place them in a box and put these two puppies in their stead, and\nremove the children.\u201d The midwife took the money and the little dogs and\nwent away. When the King\u2019s new wife was safely delivered, the midwife\ndid according to her agreement with the other wife of the King, and then\nwent before him and said, \u201cI fear to speak.\u201d He answered, \u201cSpeak; I\ngrant you pardon.\u201d Then said she, \u201cYour wife has been delivered of two\ndogs.\u201d Then the King gave orders, saying, \u201cTake and cover her with tar,\nand bind her to the staircase, and let any one who may go up or down\nspit upon her,\u201d which was done accordingly. And the midwife carried away\nthe children and threw them into the river.\n\nNow there was a fisherman who lived on an island with his wife, and they\nhad no children. On the morrow he went to the water-side to fish and\nfound a box driven on to the shore. He carried it home to his wife, and\nplacing it between them, he said, \u201cListen, my dear, I am going to make a\nbargain with you: if this contains money, it will be for me; if it\ncontains children, they will be for you.\u201d She replied, \u201cVery well, I am\nquite content.\u201d They then opened the box and found in it a baby boy and\ngirl. The baby boy had his finger in the baby girl\u2019s mouth and the\nlatter had her finger in his mouth, and they were sucking one another\u2019s\nfingers. The woman took them out of the box and prayed to Heaven, \u201cMake\nmilk come into my breasts, for the sake of these little ones.\u201d And by\nthe Almighty power the milk came into her breasts, and she continued to\nbring them up until they had reached the age of twelve years.\n\nOne day the fisherman caught two large white fish, and the youth said to\nhim, \u201cThese two white fish are pretty, my father; I will take and sell\nthem, or carry them as a present to the King.\u201d So the boy took them and\nwent away. He sat down with them in the Fish Market: people gathered\nabout him, and those who did not look at the fish looked at the boy. The\nKing also came past, and seeing the two white fish and the boy he called\nto him, saying, \u201cWhat is the price, my lad?\u201d The boy answered, \u201cThey are\na present for you, my prince.\u201d Thereupon the King took him to the palace\nand said to him, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d and he replied, \u201cMy name is\nMuhammed, and my father is the fisherman who lives on the island.\u201d Then\nthe King gave him thirty mahb\u00fabs, saying, \u201cGo away, discreet one, and\nevery day return here to my house.\u201d So the lad returned home and gave\nthe money to his father. The next morning two more white fish were\ncaught and Muhammed carried them to the King, who took him into his\ngarden and made him sit down opposite him. The King remained there\ndrinking his wine and looking on the beauty of the youth: love for the\nlad entered his heart and he remained with him two hours.[178] Then he\ngave orders to provide the youth with a horse for his use in coming to\nand returning from his house, and Muhammed mounted the horse and rode\nhome.\n\nWhen he visited the King the following day he was again led into the\ngarden, and the other wife of the King, looking from her window saw the\nlad and recognised him. She at once sent for the old midwife, and said\nto her, \u201cI bade you kill the children, yet they are still living upon\nthe earth.\u201d Replied the old woman, \u201cHave patience with me, O Queen, for\nthree days, and I will kill him.\u201d Then she went away, and having\nprocured a pitcher, tied it to her girdle, bewitched it, mounted on it,\nand struck it with a whip, and forthwith the pitcher flew away with her\nand descended upon the island near the fisherman\u2019s cottage.[179] She\nfound the young girl, Muhammed\u2019s sister, sitting alone, and thus\naddressed her: \u201cMy dear, why are you thus alone and sad? Tell your\nbrother to fetch you the rose of Arab Zandyk, that it may sing to you\nand amuse you, instead of your being thus lonely and low-spirited.\u201d When\nher brother came home, he found her displeased and asked her, \u201cWhy are\nyou vexed, my sister?\u201d She replied, \u201cI should like the rose of Arab\nZandyk, that it may sing to me and amuse me.\u201d \u201cAt your command,\u201d said\nhe; \u201cI am going to bring it to you.\u201d\n\nHe mounted his horse and travelled into the midst of the desert, where\nhe perceived an ogress seated and pounding wheat with a millstone on her\narm. Alighting, he came up to her and saluted her saying, \u201cPeace be with\nyou, mother ogress.\u201d She replied, \u201cIf your safety did not prevail over\nyour words, I would eat the flesh from off your bones.\u201d Then she asked,\n\u201cWhere are you going, Muhammed the Discreet?\u201d He answered, \u201cI am in\nquest of the singing rose of Arab Zandyk.\u201d She showed him the way,\nsaying, \u201cYou will find before the palace a kid and a dog fastened, and\nbefore the kid a piece of meat and before the dog a bunch of clover:\nlift the meat and throw it to the dog, and give the clover to the\nkid.[180] Then the door will open for you: enter and pluck the rose;\nreturn immediately, without looking behind you, because, if you do so,\nyou will be bewitched and changed into stone, like the enchanted ones\nwho are there.\u201d Muhammed the Discreet carefully followed the\ninstructions of the ogress: plucked the rose, went out by the door, put\nback the meat before the kid and the clover before the dog, and carried\nthe rose home to his sister.\n\nThen he again went to the house of the King, who saluted him and said,\n\u201cWhere hast thou been, discreet one? Why hast thou absented thyself so\nlong from my house?\u201d And he answered, \u201cI was sick, O King.\u201d Then the\nKing took him by the hand and entered the garden, and both sat down. The\nwife of the King saw them seated together, and sending for the midwife\nshe angrily asked, \u201cWhy do you befool me, old woman?\u201d She replied, \u201cHave\npatience with me for three days more, O Queen.\u201d Then she mounted her\npitcher, and arriving at the house of the young girl, she said, \u201cHas thy\nbrother fetched thee the rose?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d answered the girl, \u201cbut it does\nnot sing.\u201d Quoth the old woman, \u201cIt only sings with its looking-glass,\u201d\nand then went away. When the youth returned he found his sister vexed,\nand he asked, \u201cWhy are you so sad, my sister?\u201d She replied, \u201cI should\nlike the looking-glass of the rose, by means of which it sings.\u201d Quoth\nhe, \u201cI obey your orders, and will bring it to you.\u201d\n\nMuhammed the Discreet rode on till he came to the ogress, who asked him\nwhat he wanted. \u201cI wish,\u201d said he, \u201cthe looking-glass of the rose.\u201d\n\u201cWell, go and do with the dog and kid as you did before. When you have\nentered the garden you will find some stairs; go up them, and in the\nfirst room you come to you will find the mirror suspended. Take it, and\nset out directly, without looking behind you. If the earth shake with\nyou, keep a brave heart, otherwise you will have gone on a fruitless\nerrand.\u201d He went and did according to the instructions of the ogress. In\ntaking away the mirror the earth shook under him, but he made his heart\nas hard as an anvil and cared nothing for the shaking. But when he\nbrought the mirror to his sister and she had placed it before the rose\nof Arab Zandyk, still the rose sang not.\n\nWhen he visited the King, he excused his absence, saying, \u201cI was on a\njourney with my father, but here am I, returned once more.\u201d The King led\nhim by the hand into the garden, and the wife of the King again\nperceiving him she sent for the midwife and demanded of her, \u201cWhy do you\nmock me again, old woman?\u201d Quoth she, \u201cHave patience with me for three\ndays, O Queen; this time will be the beginning and the end.\u201d Then she\nrode on her pitcher to the island, and asked the young girl, \u201cHas thy\nbrother brought thee the mirror?\u201d \u201cYes; but still the rose sings not.\u201d\n\u201cAh, it only sings with its mistress, who is called Arab Zandyk,\u201d and so\nsaying she departed. Muhammed the Discreet on his return home again\nfound his sister disconsolate, and in answer to his inquiries she said,\n\u201cI desire Arab Zandyk, mistress of the rose and of the mirror, that I\nmay amuse myself with her when you are absent.\u201d\n\nHe at once mounted his horse and rode on till he came to the house of\nthe ogress. \u201cHow fares it with you, mother ogress?\u201d \u201cWhat do you want\nnow, Muhammed the Discreet?\u201d \u201cI wish Arab Zandyk, mistress of the rose\nand of the mirror.\u201d Quoth the ogress, \u201cMany kings and pashas have not\nbeen able to bring her: she has changed them all into stone; and thou\nart small and poor\u2014what will become of thee?\u201d \u201cOnly, my dear mother\nogress, show me the way, and I shall bring her, with the permission of\nGod.\u201d Said the ogress: \u201cGo to the west side of the palace; there you\nwill find an open window. Bring your horse under the window and then cry\nin a loud voice, \u2018Descend, Arab Zandyk!\u2019\u201d Muhammed the Wary went\naccordingly, halted beneath the window, and cried out, \u201cDescend, Arab\nZandyk!\u201d She looked from her window scornfully and said, \u201cGo away, young\nman.\u201d Muhammed the Discreet raised his eyes and found that half of his\nhorse was changed into stone. A second time cried he in a loud voice,\n\u201cDescend, Arab Zandyk!\u201d She insulted him and said, \u201cI tell you, go away,\nyoung man.\u201d He looked again and found his horse entirely enchanted and\nhalf of himself as well. A third time he cried in a loud voice, \u201cI tell\nyou, descend, Arab Zandyk!\u201d She inclined herself half out of the window,\nand her hair fell down to the ground. Muhammed the Discreet seized it,\ntwined it round his hand, pulled her out, and threw her on the earth.\nThen said she, \u201cThou art my fate, Muhammed the Wary; relinquish thy hold\nof my hair, by the life of thy father the King.\u201d Quoth he, \u201cMy father is\na fisherman.\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d she replied, \u201cthy father is the King; by-and-by I\nwill tell thee his history.\u201d Quoth he, \u201cI will leave hold of your hair\nwhen you have set at liberty the enchanted men.\u201d She made a sign with\nher right arm and they were at once set free. They rushed headlong\ntowards Muhammed the Prudent to take her from him, but some of them\nsaid, \u201cThanks to him who hath delivered us: do you still wish to take\nher from him?\u201d So they left him and went their several ways.\n\nArab Zandyk then took him by the hand and led him into her castle. She\ngave her servants orders to build a palace in the midst of the isle of\nthe fisherman, which being accomplished, she took Muhammed the Discreet\nand her soldiers and proceeded thither, and then said she to him, \u201cGo to\nthe King, and when he asks where you have been, reply, \u2018I have been\npreparing my nuptials and invite you, with your army.\u2019\u201d He went to the\nKing and spoke as Arab Zandyk had instructed him, upon which the King\nlaughed and said to his vaz\u00edr, \u201cThis young man is the son of a fisherman\nand comes to invite me, with my army!\u201d Quoth the vaz\u00edr, \u201cOn account of\nyour love for him, command that the soldiers take with them food for\neight days, and we also will take our provender for eight days.\u201d The\nKing having issued orders to that effect, and all being ready, they all\nset out, and arriving at the house of the fisherman\u2019s son, they found a\nlarge number of beautiful tents erected for the soldiers\u2019 accommodation\nand the King was astonished. Then came the feasting\u2014one dainty dish\nbeing quickly followed by another still more delicious, and the soldiers\nsaid among themselves, \u201cWe should like to remain here for two years to\neat meat and not be obliged to eat only beans and lentils.\u201d They\ncontinued there forty days until the nuptials were completed, well\ncontent with their fare. Then the King departed with his army. The King\nsent a return invitation, and Arab Zandyk commanded her soldiers to set\nout in order to precede her to the capital. When the soldiers arrived\nthey filled the town so that there was scarcely sufficient house-room\nfor them. Then Arab Zandyk set out accompanied by Muhammed and his\nsister. They entered the royal palace, and as they ascended the\nstaircase Arab Zandyk perceived the mother of Muhammed covered with tar\nand in chains, so she threw over her a cashmere shawl and covered her.\nThe servants who were standing about said to Arab Zandyk, \u201cWhy do you\ncover her with a shawl? Spit upon her when you go up and also when you\ncome down.\u201d She asked, \u201cWhy so?\u201d Said they, \u201cBecause she gave birth to\ntwo dogs.\u201d Then they went to the King and said, \u201cA lady amongst the\nstrangers has thrown a cashmere shawl over her who is fastened to the\nstaircase, and has covered her without spitting upon her.\u201d The King went\nand met Arab Zandyk and asked, \u201cWhy have you covered her?\u201d Said she,\n\u201cGive orders that she be conducted to the bath, cleansed, and dressed in\na royal robe, after which I will relate her history.\u201d The King gave the\nrequired orders, and when she was decked in a royal robe they conducted\nher into the divan. Then said the King to Arab Zandyk, \u201cTell me now the\nhistory.\u201d Said she, \u201cListen, O King, the fisherman will speak,\u201d and then\nArab Zandyk said to the fisherman, \u201cIs it true that your wife gave birth\nto Muhammed and his sister at one time or at separate times?\u201d He\nreplied, \u201cMy wife has no children.\u201d \u201cWhere, then, did you get them?\u201d\nQuoth he, \u201cI went one morning to fish, and found them in a box on the\nbank of the river. I took them home, and my wife brought them up.\u201d Arab\nZandyk then said, \u201cHast thou heard, O King?\u201d and turning to his wife,\n\u201cAre these thy children, O woman?\u201d Said she, \u201cTell them to uncover their\nheads that I may see them.\u201d When they uncovered their heads, they were\nseen to have alternately hair of gold and hair of hyacinth. The King\nthen asked her, \u201cAre these thy children?\u201d \u201cTell them to weep: if it\nthunders and rains, they are my children, and if it does not thunder or\nrain, they are not mine.\u201d The children wept, and it thundered and\nrained. Then he asked her again, \u201cAre these thy children?\u201d And she said,\n\u201cTell them to laugh: if the sun and moon appear, they are my children.\u201d\nThey told them to laugh, and the sun and moon appeared. Then he asked\nher once more, \u201cAre these thy children?\u201d and she said, \u201cThey are my\nchildren!\u201d Then the King appointed the fisherman vaz\u00edr of his right\nhand, and commanded that the city be illuminated for forty whole days;\non the last day he caused his other wife and the old witch (the midwife)\nto be led out and burnt, and their ashes to be dispersed to the winds.\n\n\nThe variations between this and Galland\u2019s story are very considerable,\nit must be allowed, and though the fundamental outline is the same in\nboth, they should be regarded as distinct versions of the same tale, and\nboth are represented by Asiatic and European stories. Here the fairy\nArab Zandyk plays the part of the Speaking-Bird, which, however, has its\nequivalent in the preceding tale (No. x.) of Spitta Bey\u2019s collection:\n\nA man dies, leaving three sons and one daughter. The sons build a palace\nfor their sister and mother. The girl falls in love with some one who is\nnot considered as an eligible _parti_ by the brothers. By the advice of\nan old woman, the girl asks her brothers to get her the singing\nnightingale, in hope that the bird would throw sand on them and thus\nsend them down to the seventh earth. The eldest before setting out on\nthis quest leaves his chaplet with his younger brother, saying that if\nit shrank it would be a token that he was dead. Journeying through the\ndesert some one tells him that many persons have been lost in their\nquest of the singing nightingale: he must hide himself till he sees the\nbird go into its cage and fall asleep, then shut the cage and carry it\noff. But he does not wait long enough, and tries to shut the cage while\nthe bird\u2019s feet are still outside, so the bird takes up sand with its\nfeet and throws it on him, and he descends to the seventh earth. The\nsecond brother, finding the chaplet shrunk, goes off in his turn,\nleaving his ring with the youngest brother\u2014if it contract on the finger\nit will betoken his death. He meets with the same fate as his elder\nbrother, and now the youngest, finding the ring contract, sets out,\nleaving with his mother a rose, which will fade if he dies. He waits\ntill the singing nightingale is asleep, and then shuts him in the cage.\nThe bird in alarm implores to be set at liberty, but the youth demands\nfirst the restoration of his brothers, and the bird tells him to scatter\non the ground some sand from beneath the cage, which he does, when only\na crowd of negroes and Turks (? T\u00e1t\u00e1rs) appear, and confess their\nfailure to capture the singing nightingale. Then the bird bids him\nscatter white sand, which being done, 500 whites and the two lost\nbrothers appear and the three return home with the bird, which sings so\ncharmingly in the palace that all the people come to listen to it\noutside.\u2014The rest of this story tells of the amours of the girl and a\nblack, who, at her instigation, kills her eldest brother, but he is\nresuscitated by the Water of Life.\n\n\nThrough the Moors, perhaps, the story found its way among the wandering\ntribes (the Kabail) of Northern Africa, who have curiously distorted its\nchief features, though not beyond recognition, as will be seen from the\nfollowing abstract of their version, from M. Rivi\u00e8re\u2019s collection of\n\u201cContes Populaires de la Kabylie du Djurdjura\u201d (Paris, 1882):\n\n\n                            KABA\u2019IL VERSION.\n\nA man has two wives, one of whom is childless, the other bears in\nsuccession seven sons and a daughter. The childless wife cuts off the\nlittle finger of each and takes them one by one into the forest, where\nthey are brought up. An old woman comes one day and tells the daughter\nthat if her brothers love her they will give her a bat. The girl cries\nto her brothers for a bat, and one of them consults an aged man, who\nsends him to the sea-shore. He puts down his gun under a tree, and a bat\nfrom above cries out, \u201cWhat wild beast is this?\u201d The youth replies, \u201cYou\njust go to sleep, old fellow.\u201d The bat comes down, touches the gun and\nit becomes a piece of wood; touches the youth and he becomes\nmicroscopic. This in turn happens to all the brothers, after which the\ngirl goes to the sea-shore, and when she is under the tree the bat calls\nout, \u201cWhat wild beast is this?\u201d But she does not answer; she waits till\nthe bat is asleep, then climbs the tree, and catching the \u201cbird\u201d\n(_sic_), asks it where her brothers are, and on her promising to clothe\nthe bat in silver and gold, the creature touches the guns and the\nbrothers, and they are restored to their proper forms. The bat then\nconducts them to their father\u2019s house, where he asks lodgings and is\nrefused by the childless wife. The husband takes them in however and\nkills a sheep for their entertainment. The childless wife poisons the\nmeat, and the bat warns the children, bidding them try a cock, a dog,\nand a cat with it, which is done, and the animals die. The brothers now\ndecline the food and ask that their sister be allowed to prepare\nsomewhat for them to eat. Then the bat touches the eyes of the children,\nwho immediately recognise their parents, and great is the rejoicing. The\nchildless wife is torn in pieces by being dragged at the tail of a wild\nhorse, and the bat, having been dressed in silver and gold, is sent back\nto his tree.\n\n\nSir Richard has given (p. 491, note) some particulars of the version in\nHahn\u2019s collection of modern Greek tales, which generally corresponds\nwith Galland\u2019s story. There is a different version in M. Legrand\u2019s\n\u201cRecueil de Contes Populaires Grecs\u201d (Paris, 1881), which combines\nincidents in the modern Arabic story of Arab Zandyk with some of those\nin Galland and some which it has exclusively:\n\n\n                         MODERN GREEK VERSION.\n\nThree daughters of an old woman disobey the order of the King, not to\nuse a light at night because of the scarcity of oil, and work on as\nusual. The King in going round the town to see if his order is obeyed\ncomes to their house, and overhears the eldest girl express a wish that\nshe were married to the royal baker, so that she should have plenty of\nbread. The second wishes the King\u2019s cook for her husband, to have royal\nmeals galore. The youngest wishes to have the king himself, saying she\nwould bear him, as children, \u201cSun,\u201d \u201cMoon,\u201d and \u201cStar.\u201d Next day the\nKing sends for them and marries each as she had wished. When the\nyoungest brings forth the three children, in successive years, her\nmother-in-law, on the advice of a \u201cwise woman,\u201d (? the midwife)\nsubstitutes a dog, a cat, and a serpent, and causes the infants to be\nput in a box and sent down the river, and the queen is disgraced.\n\nAn old monk, in the habit of going down to the river and taking one fish\ndaily, one day gets two fishes, and asks God the reason. In reply he is\ntold that he will henceforth have two mouths to feed. Presently, he\nfinds the box with the infant \u201cSun\u201d in it and takes him home. Next year\nhe gets one day three fishes, and finds the infant \u201cMoon\u201d; and the third\nyear he has four fishes one day and finds the baby girl, \u201cStar.\u201d When\nthe children have grown up the monk sends them to town in order that\nthey should learn the ways of the world. The eldest hearing a Jew\noffering a box for sale, saying, \u201cWhoever buys this box will be sorry\nfor it, and he who does not buy it will be equally sorry,\u201d purchases it\nand on taking it home finds his sister weeping for the golden apple\nwhich the \u201cwise woman\u201d (who had found them out) told her she must get.\nHe opens the Jew\u2019s box and finds a green and winged horse in it. The\nhorse tells him how to get the golden apple from the forty guardian\ndragons. They go and get it. After this the old woman comes again and\ntells the sister that she must get the golden bough, on which all the\nbirds in the world sing, and this also is procured by the help of the\ngreen and winged horse. A third time the old trot comes and says to the\ngirl, \u201cYou must get Tzitzin\u00e6na to explain the language of birds.\u201d The\neldest brother starts off on the horse, and arriving at the dwelling of\nTzitzin\u00e6na he calls her name, whereupon he, with the horse, is turned to\nstone up to the knees; and calling again on her they become marble to\nthe waist. Then the youth burns a hair he had got from the monk, who\ninstantly appears, calls out \u201cTzitzin\u00e6na,\u201d and she comes forth, and with\nthe water of immortality the youth and horse are disenchanted. After the\nyouth has returned home with Tzitzin\u00e6na, the King sees the three\nchildren and thinks them like those his wife had promised to bear him.\nHe invites them to dinner, at which Tzitzin\u00e6na warns them of poisoned\nmeats, some of which they give to a dog they had brought with them, and\nthe animal dies on the spot. They ask the King to dine at their house\nand he goes. Tzitzin\u00e6na by clapping her hands thrice procures a royal\nfeast for him; then, having induced the King to send for his wife, she\ntells the whole story of the mother-in-law\u2019s evil doings, and shows the\nKing that \u201cSun,\u201d \u201cMoon\u201d and \u201cStar\u201d are his own children. The King\u2019s\nmother and the old woman are torn to pieces.\n\n\nIn Albania, as might be expected, our story is orally current in a form\nwhich resembles both the Greek version, as above, and the tale of Arab\nZandyk, more especially the latter; and it may have been derived from\nthe Turks, though I am not aware that the story has been found in\nTurkish. This is an abstract of the second of M. Dozon\u2019s \u201cContes\nAlbanais\u201d (Paris, 1881), a most entertaining collection:\n\n\n                           ALBANIAN VERSION.\n\nThere was a King who had three daughters. When he died, his successor\nproclaimed by the crier am order prohibiting the use of lights during\nthe night of his accession. Having made this announcement, the King\ndisguised himself and went forth alone. After walking about from place\nto place he came to the abode of the daughters of the late King, and\ngoing up close to it he overheard their conversation. This is what the\neldest was saying, \u201cIf the King took me for his wife, I would make him a\ncarpet upon which the whole of his army could be seated and there would\nstill be room to spare.\u201d Then said the second, \u201cIf the King would take\nme for his wife, I would make him a tent under which the whole army\ncould be sheltered, and room would still remain.\u201d Lastly, the youngest\nsaid, \u201cIf the King should espouse me, I would bring him a son and a\ndaughter with a star on their foreheads and a moon on their shoulders.\u201d\n\nThe King, who had not lost a word of this conversation, sent for the\nsisters on the morrow and married all three.[181] The eldest, as she had\ndeclared, made a carpet on which the whole army was seated, and yet\nthere was room to spare. The second, in her turn, made a tent under\nwhich all the army found shelter. As to the youngest, after a time, she\ngrew great, and her confinement approached. The day she was delivered\nthe King was absent, and on his return he inquired what she had given\nbirth to. The two elder sisters replied, \u201cA little cat and a little\nmouse.\u201d On hearing this the King ordered the mother to be placed upon\nthe staircase, and commanded every one who entered to spit upon her.\n\nNow she had given birth to a boy and a girl, but her two sisters, after\nhaving shut them up in a box, sent them away by a servant to be exposed\non the bank of the river, and a violent wind afterwards arising, the box\nwas drifted to the other side. There was a mill on that side, where\ndwelt an old man and his wife. The old man having found the box brought\nit home. They opened it, and discovered the boy and the girl, with a\nstar on their foreheads and a moon on their shoulders. Astonished\nthereat, they took them out and brought the children up as well as they\ncould.\n\nTime passed away; the old woman died, and soon after came the turn of\nthe old man. Before dying he called the youth to him and said, \u201cKnow, my\nson, that in such a place is a cave where there is a bridle which\nbelongs to me. That bridle is thine; but avoid opening the cave before\nforty days have elapsed, if you wish the bridle to do whatever you\ncommand.\u201d The forty days having expired, the young man went to the cave,\nand on opening it found the bridle. He took it in his hand and said to\nit, \u201cI want two horses,\u201d and in a moment two horses appeared. The\nbrother and sister mounted them, and in the twinkling of an eye they\narrived in their father\u2019s country. There the young man opened a caf\u00e9,\nand his sister remained secluded at home.\n\nAs the caf\u00e9 was the best in the country, the King came to hear of it,\nand when he entered it he saw the youth, who had a star on his forehead.\nHe thought him so beautiful [and lingered so long] that he returned late\nto the palace, when he was asked why he had tarried so late. He replied,\nthat a young lad had opened a caf\u00e9, and was so beautiful that he had\nnever seen his equal; and, what was most extraordinary, there was a star\non his brow. The sisters no sooner heard these words of the King than\nthey understood that he referred to their younger sister\u2019s son. Full of\nrage and spite, they quickly devised a plan of causing his death. What\ndid they do? They sent to his sister an old woman, who said to her, \u201cThy\nbrother, O my daughter, can hardly love thee, for he is all day at the\ncaf\u00e9 and has a good time of it, while he leaves thee here alone. If he\ntruly loves thee, tell him to bring thee a flower from the Belle of the\nEarth, so that thou too mayest have something to divert thyself with.\u201d\nOn returning home that evening the young man found his sister quite\nafflicted, and asked the cause of her grief. \u201cWhy should I not grieve?\u201d\nsaid she. \u201cYou leave me alone, secluded here, while you go about as your\nfancy directs. If you love me, go to the Belle of the Earth and bring a\nflower, so that I too may be amused.\u201d \u201cConsole yourself,\u201d replied he,\nand at once gave orders to the bridle. An enormous horse appeared, which\nhe mounted and set off.\n\nAs he journeyed, a lamia presented herself before him, and said, \u201cI have\na great desire to eat thee, but thou also excitest pity, and so I leave\nthee thy life.\u201d The young man then inquired of her how he could find the\nBelle of the Earth. \u201cI know nothing about it, my son,\u201d replied the\nlamia; \u201cbut go ask my second sister.\u201d So he rode off and came to her,\nand she drew near, intending to devour him, but seeing him so beautiful,\nshe asked where he was going. He told his story and said, \u201cDo you know\nthe way to the Belle of the Earth?\u201d But she in her turn sent him to her\nelder sister, who on seeing him rushed out to eat him, but, like the\nothers, was touched by his comeliness and spared him; and when he\ninquired after the Belle of the Earth, \u201cTake this handkerchief,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cand when thou arrivest at her abode, use it to open the door.\nInside thou wilt see a lion and a lamb; throw brains to the lion and\ngrass to the lamb.\u201d So he went forward and did all the lamia advised. He\ntried the door and it opened; threw brains to the lion and grass to the\nlamb, and they allowed him to pass. He went in and pulled a flower, and\nhe had no sooner done so than he found himself at his own door.\n\nGreat was his sister\u2019s joy as she began playing with the flower. But on\nthe morrow the two sisters sent the old woman to her again. \u201cHas he\nbrought thee the flower?\u201d she asked. \u201cYes, he has.\u201d \u201cThou art content,\u201d\nsaid the old hag; \u201cbut if thou hadst the handkerchief of the Belle of\nthe Earth, it would be quite another thing.\u201d When her brother came home\nhe found her in tears, and in reply to his inquiries, \u201cWhat pleasure,\u201d\nsaid she\u2014\u201cwhat pleasure can this flower give me? So long as I have not\nthe handkerchief of the Belle of the Earth I shall not be happy.\u201d Then\nhe, desirous that his sister should have no cause for grief, mounted his\nhorse, and in the same manner as he had obtained the flower, possessed\nhimself of the handkerchief and brought it home to his sister.\n\nOn the morrow, when the young man had gone to his caf\u00e9, the old witch\nagain visited his sister, who informed her that her brother had brought\nher the handkerchief. \u201cHow happy,\u201d said the sorceress\u2014\u201chow happy thou\nart in having a brother who brings thee whatever thou desirest! But if\nthou dost wish to spend thy life like a pasha\u2019s wife, thou must also\nobtain the owner of that handkerchief.\u201d\n\nTo please his sister, the young man once more sets out, and coming to\nthe eldest of the lami\u00e6 and telling her his errand, \u201cO my son,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cthou canst go there, but as to carrying away the mistress of the\nhandkerchief, that is not so easy. However, try in some way to obtain\npossession of her ring, for therein lies all her power.\u201d So he continues\nhis journey, and after passing the lion and the lamb he comes to the\nchamber of the Belle of the Earth. He finds her asleep, and approaching\nher noiselessly draws the ring from her finger, upon which she awakes\nand discovering that she had not her ring, there was no alternative but\nto submit to his will. They set out together and in the twinkling of an\neye arrived at the young man\u2019s house. On perceiving them the sister was\novercome with joy.\n\nIt happened next day that the King again went to the caf\u00e9, and on his\nreturn home ordered supper to be prepared, saying that he had invited\nthe young man and all his friends. The sisters instructed the cooks to\nput poison in the food, which they did accordingly. At nightfall the\nyoung man arrived, accompanied by the Belle of the Earth, whom he had\nmarried, and his sister. But none of them, notwithstanding the\nentreaties of the King, would touch any food, for the Belle of the Earth\nhad revealed to them that the meats were poisoned: they merely ate a few\nmouthfuls out of the King\u2019s mess.\n\nSupper over, the King invited each one to tell a story, and when it came\nto the young man\u2019s turn, he recounted the whole story of his adventures.\nThen the King recognised in him the son of his fairest wife, whom,\ndeceived by the lies of her sisters, he had exposed on the staircase. So\nhe instantly ordered the two sisters to be seized and cut to pieces, and\nhe took back his wife. As for the young man, he became his heir. He grew\nold and prospered.\n\n\nThe points of difference between, and the relative merits of, Galland\u2019s\nstory and Straparola\u2019s\n\n\n                            ITALIAN VERSION,\n\nand whence both were probably obtained, will be considered later on, as\nseveral other versions or variants remain to be noticed or cited, before\nattempting a comparative analysis, not the least interesting of which is\na\n\n\n                            BRETON VERSION.\n\nIn \u201cMelusine,\u201d for 1878, col. 206 ff., M. Luzel gives a Breton version,\nunder the title of \u201cLes Trois Filles du Boulanger; ou, L\u2019Eau qui danse,\nla Pomme qui chante, et l\u2019Oiseau de V\u00e9rit\u00e9,\u201d which does not appear to\nhave been derived from Galland\u2019s story, although it corresponds with it\nclosely in the first part. A prince overhears the conversation of three\ndaughters of an old baker, who is a widower. The eldest says that she\nloves the king\u2019s gardener; the second, that she loves the king\u2019s valet;\nand the youngest says the prince is her love, to whom she would bear two\nboys, each with a star of gold on his brow, and a girl, with a star of\nsilver. The father chides them for talking nonsense and sends them to\nbed. The following day the prince sends for the girls to come to the\npalace one after the other, and having questioned them, tells the\nyoungest that he desires to see her father. When she delivers the royal\nmessage the old baker begins to shake in his shoes, and exclaims, \u201cI\ntold you that your frivolous remarks would come to the ears of the\nprince, and now he sends for me to have me punished, without a doubt.\u201d\n\u201cNo, no, dear father; go to the palace and fear nothing.\u201d He goes, and,\nto be brief, the three marriages duly take place. The sisters married to\nthe royal gardener and valet soon become jealous of the young queen, and\nwhen they find she is about to become a mother they consult a fairy, who\nadvises them to gain over the midwife and get her to substitute a little\ndog and throw the child into the river, which is done accordingly, when\nthe first son with the gold star is born. For the second son, a dog is\nalso substituted, and the king, as on the former occasion, says, \u201cGod\u2019s\nwill be done: take care of the poor creature.\u201d But when the little girl\nwith the silver star is smuggled away and the king is shown a third\npuppy as the queen\u2019s offspring, he is enraged. \u201cThey\u2019ll call me the\nfather of dogs!\u201d he exclaims, \u201cand not without cause.\u201d He orders the\nqueen to be shut up in a tower and fed on bread and water. The children\nare picked up by a gardener, who has a garden close to the river, and\nbrought up by his wife as their own. In course of time the worthy couple\ndie, and the king causes the children to be brought to the palace (how\nhe came to know of them the story-teller does not inform us), and as\nthey were very pretty and had been well brought up, he was greatly\npleased with them. Every Sunday they went to grand mass in the church,\neach having a ribbon on the brow to conceal the stars. All the folk were\nastonished at their beauty.\n\nOne day, when the king was out hunting, an old woman came into the\nkitchen of the palace, where the sister happened to be, and exclaimed,\n\u201cO how cold I am,\u201d and she trembled and her teeth chattered. \u201cCome near\nthe fire, my good mother,\u201d said the little girl. \u201cBlessings on you, my\nchild! How beautiful you are! If you had but the Water that dances, the\nApple that sings, and the Bird of Truth, you\u2019d not have your equal on\nthe earth.\u201d \u201cYes, but how to obtain these wonders?\u201d \u201cYou have two\nbrothers who can procure them for you,\u201d and so saying, the old woman\nwent away. When she told her brothers what the old woman had said, the\neldest before setting out in quest of the three treasures leaves a\npoignard which as long as it can be drawn out of its sheath would\nbetoken his welfare. One day it can\u2019t be drawn out, so the second\nbrother goes off, leaving with his sister a rosary, as in Galland. When\nshe finds the beads won\u2019t run on the string, she goes herself, on\nhorseback, as a cavalier. She comes to a large plain, and in a hollow\ntree sees a little old man with a beard of great length, which she trims\nfor him. The old man tells her that 60 leagues distant is an inn by the\nroadside, she may enter it, and having refreshed herself with food and\ndrink, leave her horse there, and promise to pay on her return. After\nquitting the inn she will see a very high mountain, to climb which will\nrequire hands and feet, and she\u2019ll have to encounter a furious storm of\nhail and snow; it will be bitterly cold: take care and not lose courage,\nbut mount on. She\u2019ll see on either side a number of stone\npillars\u2014persons like herself who have been thus transformed because they\nlost heart. On the summit is a plain, bordered with flowers, blooming as\nin May. She will see a gold seat under an apple-tree and should sit down\nand make it appear as if asleep; presently the bird will descend from\nbranch to branch and enter the cage; quickly close it on the bird, for\nit is the Bird of Truth. Cut a branch of the tree, with an apple on it,\nfor it is the Apple that sings. Lastly, there is also the fountain of\nWater which dances: fill a flask from the fountain and in descending the\nhill sprinkle a few drops of the water on the stone pillars and the\nenchanted young princes and knights will come to life again. Such were\nthe instructions of the little old man, for which the princess thanked\nhim and went on her way. Arriving at the summit of the mountain, she\ndiscovered the cage and sitting down under the tree feigned to be\nasleep, when presently the merle entered and she at once rose up and\nclosed it. The merle, seeing that he was a prisoner, said, \u201cYou have\ncaptured me, daughter of the King of France. Many others have tried to\nseize me, but none has been able till now, and you must have been\ncounselled by some one.\u201d The princess then cut a branch of the tree with\nan apple on it, filled her flask with water from the fountain that\ndanced, and as she went down the hill sprinkled a few drops on the stone\npillars, which were instantly turned into princes, dukes, barons, and\nknights, and last of all her two brothers came to life, but they did not\nknow her. All pressed about the princess, some saying, \u201cGive me the\nWater which dances,\u201d others, \u201cGive me the Apple which sings,\u201d and\nothers, \u201cGive me the Bird of Truth.\u201d But she departed quickly, carrying\nwith her the three treasures, and passing the inn where she had left her\nhorse she paid her bill and returned home, where she arrived long before\nher brothers. When at length they came home she embraced them, saying,\n\u201cAh, my poor brothers! How much anxiety you have caused me! How long\nyour journey has lasted! But God be praised that you are back here\nagain.\u201d \u201cAlas, my poor sister, we have indeed remained a long time away,\nand after all have not succeeded in our quest. But we may consider\nourselves fortunate in having been able to return.\u201d \u201cHow!\u201d said the\nprincess, \u201cdo you not bring me the Water which dances, the Apple which\nsings, and the Bird of Truth?\u201d \u201cAlas! my poor sister, a young knight who\nwas a stranger to us carried them all away\u2014curse the rascal.\u201d The old\nking who had no children (or rather, who believed he had none) loved the\ntwo brothers and the sister very much and was highly delighted to see\nthem back again. He caused a grand feast to be prepared, to which he\ninvited princes, dukes, marquises, barons, and generals. Towards the end\nof the banquet the young girl placed on the table the Water, the Apple,\nand the Bird, and bade each do its duty, whereupon the Water began to\ndance, and the Apple began to sing, and the bird began to hop about the\ntable, and all present, in ecstasy, mouth and eyes wide open, looked and\nlistened to these wonders. Never before had they seen such a sight. \u201cTo\nwhom belong these marvels?\u201d said the king when at length he was able to\nspeak. \u201cTo me, sire,\u201d replied the young girl. \u201cIs that so?\u201d said the\nKing. \u201cAnd from whom did you get them?\u201d \u201cI myself procured them with\nmuch trouble,\u201d answered she. Then the two brothers knew that it was\ntheir sister who had delivered them. As to the king, he nearly lost his\nhead in his joy and admiration. \u201cMy crown and my kingdom for your\nwonders, and you yourself, my young girl, shall be my queen,\u201d he\nexclaimed. \u201cPatience for a little, sire,\u201d said she, \u201cuntil you have\nheard my bird speak\u2014the Bird of Truth, for he has important things to\nreveal to you. My little bird, now speak the truth.\u201d \u201cI consent,\u201d\nreplied the bird; \u201cbut let no one go out of this room,\u201d and all the\ndoors were closed. The old sorceress of a midwife and one of the king\u2019s\nsisters-in-law were present, and became very uneasy at hearing these\nwords. \u201cCome now, my bird,\u201d then said the girl, \u201cspeak the truth,\u201d and\nthis is what the bird said: \u201cTwenty years ago, sire, your wife was shut\nup in a tower, abandoned by everybody, and you have long believed her to\nbe dead. She has been accused unjustly.\u201d The old midwife and the king\u2019s\nsister-in law now felt indisposed and wished to leave the room. \u201cLet no\none depart hence,\u201d said the king. \u201cContinue to speak the truth, my\nlittle bird.\u201d \u201cYou have had two sons and a daughter, sire,\u201d the bird\nwent on to say\u2014\u201call three born of your lady, and here they are! Remove\ntheir bandages and you will see that each of them has a star on the\nforehead.\u201d They removed the bandages and saw a gold star on the brow of\neach of the boys and a silver star on the girl\u2019s brow. \u201cThe authors of\nall the evil,\u201d continued the bird, \u201care your two sisters-in-law and this\nmidwife\u2014this sorceress of the devil. They have made you believe that\nyour wife only gave birth to little dogs, and your poor children were\nexposed on the Seine as soon as they were born. When the midwife\u2014that\nsorceress of hell\u2014learned that the children had been saved and\nafterwards brought to the palace, she sought again to destroy them.\nPenetrating one day into the palace, disguised as a beggar, and\naffecting to be perishing from cold and hunger, she incited in the mind\nof the princess the desire to possess the Dancing-Water, the\nSinging-Apple, and the Bird of Truth\u2014myself. Her two brothers went, one\nafter the other, in quest of these things, and the sorceress took very\ngood care that they should never return. Nor would they have returned,\nif their sister had not succeeded in delivering them after great toil\nand trouble.\u201d As the bird ended his story, the king became unconscious,\nand when he revived he went himself to fetch the queen from the tower.\nHe soon returned with her to the festive chamber, holding her by the\nhand. She was beautiful and gracious as ever, and having ate and drank a\nlittle, she died on the spot. The king, distraught with grief and anger,\nordered a furnace to be heated, and threw into it his sister-in-law and\nthe midwife\u2014\u201cce tison de l\u2019enfer!\u201d As to the princess and her two\nbrothers, I think they made good marriages all three, and as to the\nbird, they do not say if it continues still to speak the truth;\u2014\u201cmais je\npr\u00e9sume que oui, puisque ce n\u2019\u00e9tait pas un homme!\u201d\n\n\nIt would indeed be surprising did we not find our story popularly known\nthroughout Germany in various forms. Under the title of \u201cThe Three\nLittle Birds\u201d a version is given in Grimm\u2019s _K. u. H. M._ (No. 96, vol.\ni. of Mrs. Hunt\u2019s English translation), which reproduces the chief\nparticulars of Galland\u2019s tale with at least one characteristic German\naddition:\n\n\n                            GERMAN VERSION.\n\nA king, who dwelt on the Keuterberg, was out hunting one day, when he\nwas seen by three young girls who were watching their cows on the\nmountain, and the eldest, pointing to him, calls out to the two others,\n\u201cIf I do not get that one, I\u2019ll have none;\u201d the second, from another\npart of the hill, pointing to the one who was on the king\u2019s right hand,\ncries, \u201cIf I don\u2019t get that one, I\u2019ll have none;\u201d and the youngest,\npointing to the one who was on the king\u2019s left hand, shouts, \u201cAnd if I\ndon\u2019t get him, I\u2019ll have none.\u201d When the king has returned home he sends\nfor the three girls, and after questioning them as to what they had said\nto each other about himself and his two ministers, he takes the eldest\ngirl for his own wife and marries the two others to the ministers. The\nking was very fond of his wife, for she was fair and beautiful of face,\nand when he had to go abroad for a season he left her in charge of the\ntwo sisters who were the wives of his ministers, as she was about to\nbecome a mother. Now the two sisters had no children, and when the queen\ngave birth to a boy who \u201cbrought a red star into the world with him,\u201d\nthey threw him into the river, whereupon a little bird flew up into the\nair, singing:\n\n                      \u201cTo thy death art thou sped,\n                      Until God\u2019s word be said.\n                      In the white lily bloom,\n                      Brave boy, is thy tomb.\u201d\n\nWhen the king came home they told him his queen had been delivered of a\ndog, and he said, \u201cWhat God does is well done.\u201d The same thing happens\nthe two following years: when the queen had another little boy, the\nsisters substituted a dog and the king said, \u201cWhat God does is well\ndone;\u201d but when she was delivered of a beautiful little girl, and they\ntold the king she had this time born a cat, he grew angry and ordered\nthe poor queen to be thrown into prison. On each occasion a fisherman\nwho dwelt near the river drew the child from the water soon after it was\nthrown in, and having no children, his wife lovingly reared them. When\nthey had grown up, the eldest once went with some other boys to fish,\nand they would not have him with them, saying to him, \u201cGo away,\nfoundling.\u201d The boy, much grieved, goes to the fisherman and asks\nwhether he is a foundling, and the old man tells him the whole story,\nupon which the youth, spite of the fisherman\u2019s entreaties, at once sets\noff to seek his father. After walking for many days he came to a great\nriver, by the side of which was an old woman fishing. He accosted her\nvery respectfully, and she took him on her back and carried him across\nthe water. When a year had gone by, the second boy set out in search of\nhis brother, and the same happened to him as to the elder one. Then the\ngirl went to look for her two brothers, and coming to the water she said\nto the old woman, \u201cGood day, mother. May God help you with your\nfishing.\u201d (The brothers had said to her that she would seek long enough\nbefore she caught any fish, and she replied, \u201cAnd thou wilt seek long\nenough before thou findest thy father\u201d\u2014hence their failure in their\nquest.)\n\nWhen the old woman heard that, she became quite friendly, and carried\nher over the water, gave her a wand, and said to her, \u201cGo, my daughter,\never onwards by this road, and when you come to a great black dog, you\nmust pass it silently and boldly, without either laughing or looking at\nit. Then you will come to a great high castle, on the threshold of which\nyou must let the wand fall, and go straight through the castle and out\nagain on the other side. There you will see an old fountain out of which\na large tree has grown, whereon hangs a bird in a cage, which you must\ntake down. Take likewise a glass of water out of the fountain, and with\nthese two things go back by the same way. Pick up the wand again from\nthe threshold and take it with you, and when you again pass by the dog\nstrike him in the face with it, but be sure that you hit him, and then\njust come back here to me.\u201d The maiden found everything exactly as the\nold woman had said, and on her way back she found her two brothers who\nhad sought each other over half the world. They went together where the\nblack dog was lying on the road; she struck it in the face and it turned\ninto a handsome prince, who went with them to the river. There the old\nwoman was still standing. She rejoiced much to see them again, and\ncarried them all over the water, and then she too went away, for now she\nwas freed. The others, however, went to the old fisherman, and all were\nglad that they had found each other again, and they hung the bird in its\ncage on the wall. But the second son could not settle at home, and took\nhis crossbow and went a-hunting. When he was tired he took his flute and\nplayed on it. The king happened to be also hunting, and hearing the\nmusic went up to the youth, and said, \u201cWho has given thee leave to hunt\nhere?\u201d \u201cO, no one.\u201d \u201cTo whom dost thou belong, then?\u201d \u201cI am the\nfisherman\u2019s son.\u201d \u201cBut he has no children.\u201d \u201cIf thou wilt not believe\nit, come with me.\u201d The king did so, and questioned the fisherman, who\ntold the whole story, and the little bird on the wall began to sing:\n\n                   \u201cThe mother sits alone\n                     There in the prison small;\n                   O King of the royal blood,\n                     These are thy children all.\n\n                   The sisters twain, so false,\n                     They wrought the children woe,\n                   There in the waters deep,\n                     Where the fishers come and go.\u201d\n\nThen the king took the fisherman, the three little children, and the\nbird back with him to the castle, and ordered his wife to be taken out\nof prison and brought before him. She had become very ill and weak, but\nher daughter gave her some of the water of the fountain to drink and she\nbecame strong and healthy. But the two false sisters were burnt, and the\nmaiden was married to the Prince.\n\n\nEven in Iceland, as already stated, the same tale has long cheered the\nhardy peasant\u2019s fire-side circle, while the \u201cwind without did roar and\nrustle.\u201d That it should have reached that out-of-the-way country through\nGalland\u2019s version is surely inconceivable, notwithstanding the general\nresemblance which it bears to the \u201cHistoire des Deux S\u0153urs jalouses de\nleur Cadette.\u201d It is found in Powell and Magn\u00fasson\u2019s \u201cLegends of\nIceland,\u201d second series, and as that excellent work is not often met\nwith (and why so, I cannot understand), moreover, as the story is told\nwith much na\u00efvet\u00e9, I give it here in full:\n\n\n                           ICELANDIC VERSION.\n\nNot very far from a town where dwelt the king lived once upon a time a\nfarmer. He was well to do and had three daughters; the eldest was twenty\nyears of age, the two others younger, but both marriageable. Once, when\nthey were walking outside their father\u2019s farm, they saw the king coming\nriding on horseback with two followers, his secretary and his bootmaker.\nThe king was unmarried, as were also those two men. When they saw him,\nthe eldest of the sisters said, \u201cI do not wish anything higher than to\nbe the wife of the king\u2019s shoemaker.\u201d Said the second, \u201cAnd I of the\nking\u2019s secretary.\u201d Then the youngest said, \u201cI wish that I were the wife\nof the king himself.\u201d Now the king heard that they were talking\ntogether, and said to his followers, \u201cI will go to the girls yonder and\nknow what it is they were talking about. It seemed to me that I heard\none of them say, \u2018The king himself.\u2019\u201d His followers said that what the\ngirls had been chattering about could hardly be of much importance. The\nking did not heed this, however, but declared that they would all go to\nthe girls and have a talk with them. This they did. The king then asked\nwhat they had been talking about a moment ago, when he and his men\npassed them. The sisters were unwilling to tell the truth, but being\npressed hard by the king, did so at last. Now as the damsels pleased the\nking, and he saw that they were both handsome and fair-spoken,\nparticularly the youngest of them, he said that all should be as they\nhad wished it. The sisters were amazed at this, but the king\u2019s will must\nbe done.\n\nSo the three sisters were married, each to the husband she had chosen.\nBut when the youngest sister had become queen, the others began to cast\non her looks of envy and hatred, and would have her, at any cost,\ndragged down from her lofty position. And they laid a plot for the\naccomplishment of this their will. When the queen was going to be\nconfined for the first time, her sisters got leave to act as her\nmidwives. But as soon as the child was born they hid it away, and\nordered it to be thrown into a slough into which all the filth was cast.\nBut the man to whom they had entrusted this task could not bring himself\nto do it, so put the child on the bank of the slough, thinking that some\none might find it and save its life. And so it fell out; for an old man\nchanced to pass the slough soon afterwards, and finding a crying child\non the bank, thought it a strange find, took it up and brought it to his\nhome, cherishing it as he could. The queen\u2019s sisters took a whelp and\nshowed it to the king as his queen\u2019s offspring. The king was grieved at\nthis tale, but, being as fond of the queen as of his own life, he\nrestrained his anger and punished her not.\n\nAt the second and third confinement of the queen her sisters played the\nsame trick: they exposed the queen\u2019s children in order to have them\ndrowned in the slough. The man, however, always left them on the bank,\nand it so happened that the same old carl always passed by and took up\nthe children, and carried them home, and brought them up as best he\ncould. The queen\u2019s sisters said that the second time the queen was\nconfined she had given birth to a kitten, and the third time, to a log\nof wood. At this the king waxed furiously wroth, and ordered the queen\nto be thrown into the house where he kept a lion, as he did not wish\nthis monster to fill his kingdom with deformities. And the sisters\nthought that they had managed their boat well and were proud of their\nsuccess. The lion, however, did not devour the queen, but even gave her\npart of his food and was friendly towards her, and thus the queen lived\nwith the lion a wretched enough life, without anybody\u2019s knowing anything\nabout it.\n\nNow the story turns to the old man who fostered the king\u2019s children. The\neldest of these, a boy, he called Vilhj\u00e1mr, the second, also a boy,\nSigurdr; the third child was a girl and her name is unknown. All that\ncame to him, or with whom he met, the old man would ask if they knew\nnothing of the children he had found on the bank of the slough. But no\none seemed to have the faintest notion about their birth or descent. As\nthe children grew up they were hopeful and fine-looking. The carl had\nnow waxed very old, and, expecting his end, he gave the children this\nrede, always to ask every one to whom they spoke for news of their\nfamily and birth, in order that they might perchance be able at last to\ntrace out the truth. He himself told them all he knew about the matter.\nAfter this the old man died, and the children followed closely his\nadvice. Once there came to them an old man, of whom they asked the same\nquestions as of all others. He said he could not give them any hints on\nthe matter himself, but that he could point out one to them who was able\nto do so. He told them that a short way from their farm was a large\nstone, whereupon was always sitting a bird which could both understand\nand speak the tongue of men. It would be best for them, he went on, to\nfind this bird; but there was a difficulty in the matter to be got over\nfirst, for many had gone there but none had ever returned. He said that\nmany king\u2019s children had gone to this bird in order to know their future\nfate, but they had all come short in the very thing needed. He told them\nthat whosoever wanted to mount the stone must be so steady as never to\nlook back, whatever he might hear or see, or whatever wonders seemed to\ntake place around the rock. All who did not succeed in this were changed\ninto stones, together with everything they had with them. This\nsteadiness no one had had yet, but whosoever had it could easily mount\nthe rock, and having once done so would be able to quicken all the\nothers who have been turned to stone there. For the top of the rock was\nflat, and there was a trap-door on it, wherein the bird was sitting.\nUnderneath the trap-door was water, the nature of which was that it\nwould turn all the stones back to life again. The old man ended by\nsaying, \u201cNow he who succeeds in getting to the top is allowed by the\nbird to take the water and sprinkle the stone-changed folk, and call\nthem to life again, just as they were before.\u201d This the king\u2019s children\nthought no hard task. The brothers, however, were the most outspoken\nabout the easiness of the thing. They thanked the old man much for his\nstory and took leave of him.\n\nNot long after this, Vilhj\u00e1mr, the eldest brother, went to the rock. But\nbefore he left he said to his brother, that if three drops of blood\nshould fall on his knife at table while he was away, Sigurdr should at\nonce come to the rock, for then it would be sure that he fared like the\nothers. So Vilhj\u00e1mr went away, following the old man\u2019s directions, and\nnothing further is told of him for a while. But after three days, or\nabout the time when his brother should have reached the stone, three\ndrops of blood fell upon Sigurdr\u2019s knife, once, while at table. He was\nstartled at this and told his sister that he must needs leave her, in\norder to help his brother. He made the same agreement with his sister as\nVilhj\u00e1mr had before made with him. Then he went away, and, to make the\nstory short, all came to the same issue with him as with his brother,\nand the blood-drops fell on his sister\u2019s knife, at the time when Sigurdr\nshould have reached the stone.\n\nThen the damsel went herself, to see what luck she might have. She\nsucceeded in finding the rock, and when she came there she was greatly\nstruck with the number of stones that surrounded it, in every shape and\nposition. Some had the form of chests, others of various animals, while\nsome again were in other forms. She paid no heed to all this, but going\nstraight forward to the great rock began climbing it. Then she heard,\nall of a sudden, behind her a loud murmur of human voices, all talking,\none louder than another, and amongst the number she heard those of her\nbrothers. But she paid no heed to this, and took good care never to look\nback, in spite of all she heard going on behind her. Then she got at\nlast to the top of the rock, and the bird greatly praised her steadiness\nand constancy and promised both to tell her anything she chose to ask\nhim and to assist her in every way he could. First, she would have the\nsurrounding stones recalled to their natural shapes and life. This the\nbird granted her, pointing to one of the stones and saying, \u201cMethinks\nyou would free that one from his spell, if you knew who he was.\u201d So the\nking\u2019s daughter sprinkled water over all the stones and they returned to\nlife again, and thanked her for their release with many fair words. Next\nshe asked the bird who were the parents of herself and her brothers, and\nto whom they might trace their descent. The bird said that they were the\nchildren of the king of that country, and told her how the queen\u2019s\nsisters had acted by them at their birth, and last of all told her how\nher mother was in the lion\u2019s den, and how she was nearer dead than alive\nfrom sorrow and want of good food and comfort.\n\nThe stone which the bird had pointed out to the princess was a king\u2019s\nson, as noble as he was handsome. He cast affectionate looks to his\nlife-giver and it was plain that each loved the other. It was he who had\nbrought the greater part of the chest-shaped stones thither, the which\nwere coffers full of gold and jewels. When the bird had told to every\none that which each wanted to know, all the company of the disenchanted\nscattered, the three children and the wealthy prince going together.\nWhen they came home the first thing they did was to break into the\nlion\u2019s den. They found their mother lying in a swoon, for she had lost\nher senses on hearing the house broken into. They took her away, and she\nsoon afterwards recovered. Then they dressed her in fitting attire, and\ntaking her to the palace asked audience of the king. This granted,\nVilhjamr, Sigurdr, and their sister declared to the king that they were\nhis children and that they had brought with them their mother from the\nlion\u2019s den. The king was amazed at this story and at all that had\nhappened. The sisters of the queen were sent for and questioned, and,\nhaving got into scrapes by differing in accounts, confessed at last\ntheir misdeed and told the truth. They were thrown before the same lion\nthat the queen had been given to, and it tore them to pieces immediately\nand ate them up, hair and all.\n\nNow the queen took her former rank, and a banquet was held in joy at\nthis happy turn of affairs, and for many days the palace resounded with\nthe glee of the feast. And at the end of it the foreign prince wooed the\nking\u2019s daughter and gained easily her hand, and thus the banquet was\nbegun afresh and became the young people\u2019s marriage-feast. Such glee has\nnever been witnessed in any other kingdom. After the feast the strange\nprince returned to his home with his bride and became king after his\nfather. Vilhjamr also married and took the kingdom after his father.\nSigurdr married a king\u2019s daughter abroad, and became king after the\ndeath of his father-in-law; and all of them lived in luck and\nprosperity. And now is the story ended.\n\n\nFrom bleak Iceland to sunny India is certainly a \u201cfar cry,\u201d but we had\nalready got half-way thither in citing the Egypto-Arabian versions, and\nthen turned westwards and northwards. We must now, however, go all the\nway to Bengal for our next form of the story, which is much simpler in\nconstruction than any of the foregoing versions, and may be considered\nas a transition stage of the tale in its migration to Europe. This is an\nabridgment of the story\u2014not of Envious Sisters but of jealous\nco-wives\u2014from the Rev. Lal Behari Day\u2019s \u201cFolk-Tales of Bengal,\u201d[182] a\nwork of no small value to students of the genealogy of popular fictions:\n\n\n                            BENGAL\u00cd VERSION.\n\nA certain King had six wives, none of whom had children, in spite of\ndoctors and all sorts of doctors\u2019 stuff. He was advised by his ministers\nto take a seventh wife. There was in the city a poor woman who earned\nher livelihood by gathering cow-dung from the fields, kneading it into\ncakes, which, after drying in the sun, she sold for fuel. She had a very\nbeautiful daughter, who had contracted friendship with three girls much\nabove her rank, namely, the daughter of the King\u2019s minister, the\ndaughter of a rich merchant, and the daughter of the King\u2019s chaplain. It\nhappened one day that all four were bathing together in a tank near the\npalace, and the King overheard them conversing as follows: Said the\nminister\u2019s daughter, \u201cThe man who marries me won\u2019t need to buy me any\nclothes, for the cloth I once put on never gets soiled, never gets old,\nand never tears.\u201d The merchant\u2019s daughter said, \u201cAnd my husband will\nalso be a happy man, for the fuel which I use in cooking never turns to\nashes, but serves from day to day, and from year to year.\u201d Quoth the\nchaplain\u2019s daughter, \u201cMy husband too will be a happy man, for when once\nI cook rice it never gets finished; no matter how much we may eat, the\noriginal quantity always remains in the pot.\u201d[183] Then said the poor\nwoman\u2019s daughter, \u201cAnd the man who marries me will also be happy, for I\nshall give birth to twin children, a son and a daughter; the girl will\nbe divinely beautiful, and the boy will have a moon on his forehead and\nstars on the palms of his hands.\u201d\n\nThe King didn\u2019t care to have any of the three young ladies, but resolved\nat once to marry the fourth girl, who would present him with such\nextraordinary twin children, notwithstanding her humble birth, and their\nnuptials were celebrated in due form, much to the chagrin of his six\nwives. Some time after the King had occasion to go for six months to\nanother part of his dominions, and when about to set out he told his new\nwife that he expected her to be confined before the period of his\nabsence was expired, and that he would like to be present with her at\nthe time, lest her enemies (her co-wives) might do her some injury. So\ngiving her a golden bell he bade her hang it in her room, and when the\npains of labour came on to ring it, and he would be with her in a\nmoment, no matter where he might be at the time; but she must only ring\nit when her labour pains began. The six other wives had overheard all\nthis, and the day after the King had departed went to the new wife\u2019s\nroom and affected to admire the golden bell, and asked her where she got\nit and what was its use. The unsuspecting creature told them its\npurpose, upon which they all exclaimed that it was impossible the King\ncould hear it ring at the distance of hundreds of miles, and besides,\nhow could the King travel such a distance in the twinkling of an eye?\nThey urged her to ring the bell and convince herself that what the King\nhad said to her was all nonsense. So she rang the bell, and the King\ninstantly appeared, and seeing her going about as usual, he asked her\nwhy she had summoned him before her time. Without saying anything about\nthe six other wives, she replied that she had rung the bell merely out\nof curiosity to know if what he had said was true. The King was angry,\nand, telling her distinctly she was not to ring the bell until the\nlabour pains came upon her, went away again. Some weeks after the six\nwives once more induced her to ring the bell, and when the King appeared\nand found she was not about to be confined and that she had been merely\nmaking another trial of the bell (for, as on the former occasion, she\ndid not say that her co-wives had instigated her), he was greatly\nenraged, and told her that even should she ring when in the throes of\nchildbirth he should not come to her, and then went away. At last the\nday of her confinement arrived, and when she rang the bell the King did\nnot come.[184] The six jealous wives seeing this went to her and said\nthat it was not customary for the ladies of the palace to be confined in\nthe royal apartments, and that she must go to a hut near the stables.\nThey then sent for the midwife of the palace, and heavily bribed her to\nmake away with the infant the moment it was born. The seventh wife gave\nbirth, as she had promised, to a son who had a moon on his forehead and\nstars on the palms of his hands, and also to an uncommonly beautiful\ngirl. The midwife had come provided with a couple of newly-littered\npups, which she set before the mother, saying, \u201cYou have given birth to\nthese,\u201d and took away the twin children in an earthen vessel, while the\nmother was insensible. The King, though he was angry with his seventh\nwife, yet recollecting that she was to give birth to an heir to his\nthrone, changed his mind, and came to see her the next morning. The pups\nwere produced before the King as the offspring of his new wife, and\ngreat was his anger and vexation. He gave orders that she should be\nexpelled from the palace, clothed in leather, and employed in the\nmarket-place to drive away crows and keep off dogs, all of which was\ndone accordingly.\n\nThe midwife placed the vessel containing the twins along with the\nunburnt clay vessels which a potter had set in order and then gone to\nsleep, intending to get up during the night and light his furnace; in\nthis way she thought the little innocents would be reduced to ashes. It\nhappened, however, that the potter and his wife overslept themselves\nthat night, and it was near daybreak when the woman awoke and roused her\nhusband. She then hastened to the furnace, and to her surprise found all\nthe pots thoroughly baked, although no fire had been applied to them.\nWondering at such good luck, she summoned her husband, who was equally\nastonished and pleased, and attributed it all to some benevolent deity.\nIn turning over the pots he came upon the one in which the twins were\nplaced, and the wife looking on them as a gift from heaven (for she had\nno children) carried them into the house and gave out to the neighbours\nthat they had been borne by herself. The children grew in stature and in\nstrength and when they played in the fields were the admiration of every\none that saw them. They were about twelve years of age when the potter\ndied, and his wife threw herself on the pyre and was burnt with her\nhusband\u2019s body. The boy with the moon on his forehead (which he always\nkept concealed with a turban, lest it should attract notice) and his\nbeautiful sister now broke up the potter\u2019s establishment, sold his wheel\nand pots and pans, and went to the baz\u00e1r in the King\u2019s city, which they\nhad no sooner entered than it was lit up brilliantly. The shopkeepers\nthought them divine beings and built a house for them in the baz\u00e1r. And\nwhen they used to ramble about they were always followed at a distance\nby the woman clothed in leather who was appointed by the King to drive\naway the crows, and by some strange impulse, she also used to hang about\ntheir house.[185]\n\nThe youth presently bought a horse and went hunting in the neighbouring\njungles. It happened one day, while following the chase, that the King\nmet him, and, struck with his beauty, felt an unaccountable yearning for\nhim.[185] As a deer went past the youth shot an arrow and in so doing\nhis turban fell off, on which a bright light, like that of the moon, was\nseen shining on his forehead. When the King perceived this, it brought\nto his mind the son with the moon on his forehead and stars on the palms\nof his hands who was to have been born of his seventh queen, and would\nhave spoken with the youth, but he immediately galloped off. When the\nKing reached home his six wives observing his sadness asked him its\ncause, and he told them of the youth he had seen in the forest with a\nmoon on his forehead. They began to wonder if the twins were not still\nalive, and sending for the midwife closely questioned her as to the fate\nof the children. She stoutly declared that she had herself seen them\nburnt to ashes, but she would find out who the youth was whom the King\nhad met while hunting. She soon ascertained that two strangers were\nliving in a house in the baz\u00e1r which the shopkeepers had built for them,\nand when she entered the house the girl was alone, her brother having\ngone into the jungle to hunt. Pretending to be her aunt, the old woman\nsaid to her, \u201cMy dear child, you are so beautiful, you require only the\n_kataki_[186] flower to properly set off your charms. You should tell\nyour brother to plant a row of that flower in your courtyard.\u201d \u201cI never\nsaw that flower,\u201d said the girl. \u201cOf course not; how could you? It does\nnot grow in this country, but on the other side of the ocean. Your\nbrother may try and get it for you, if you ask him.\u201d This suggestion the\nold trot made in the hope that the lad would lose his life in venturing\nto obtain the flower. When he returned and his sister told him of the\nvisit of their aunt and asked him to get her the _kataki_ flower, on\nwhich she had set her heart, he at once consented, albeit he thought the\nwoman had imposed upon his sister by calling herself their aunt.\n\nNext morning he rode off on his fleet horse, and arriving on the borders\nof an immense forest he saw a number of r\u00e1kshas\u00ed[187] roaming about, he\nwent aside and shot with his arrows some deer and rhinoceroses and then\napproaching the r\u00e1kshas\u00eds called out, \u201cO auntie dear, your nephew is\nhere.\u201d A huge rakshas\u00ed strode towards him and said, \u201cO, you are the\nyouth with the moon on your forehead and stars on the palms of your\nhands. We were all expecting you, but as you have called me aunt, I will\nnot eat you. What is it you want? Have you brought anything for me to\neat?\u201d The youth gave her the game he had killed, and she began devouring\nit. After swallowing all the carcases she said, \u201cWell, what do you\nwant?\u201d He answered, \u201cI want some _kataki_ flowers for my sister.\u201d She\ntold him it would be very difficult for him to get them, as they were\nguarded by seven hundred r\u00e1kshasas, but if he was determined to attempt\nit, he had better first go to his uncle on the north side of the jungle.\nHe goes, and greets the r\u00e1kshasa, calling him uncle, and having regaled\nhim with deer and rhinoceroses as he had done his \u201caunt,\u201d the r\u00e1kshasa\ntells him that in order to obtain the flower he must go through an\nimpenetrable forest of _kachiri_[188], and say to it, \u201cO mother\n_kachiri_, make way for me, else I perish,\u201d upon which a passage will be\nopened for him. Next he will come to the ocean, which he must petition\nin the same terms, and it would make a way for him. After crossing the\nocean he\u2019ll come to the gardens where the _kataki_ blooms. The forest\nopens a passage for the youth, and the ocean stands up like two walls on\neither side of him, so that he passes over dryshod.[189] He enters the\ngardens and finds himself in a grand palace which appeared unoccupied.\nIn one of the apartments he sees a young damsel of more than earthly\nbeauty asleep on a golden bed, and going near discovers a stick of gold\nlying near her head and a stick of silver near her feet. Taking them in\nhis hand, by accident the gold stick fell upon the feet of the sleeping\nbeauty, when she instantly awoke, and told him she knew that he was the\nyouth with the moon on his forehead and stars on the palms of his hands;\nthat the seven hundred r\u00e1kshasas who guarded the _kataki_ flowers were\nthen out hunting, but would return by sundown, and should they find him\nthey\u2019d eat him. A r\u00e1kshas\u00ed had brought her from her father\u2019s palace, and\nis so fond of her that she will not allow her to return home. By means\nof the gold and silver sticks the r\u00e1kshas\u00ed kills her when she goes off\nin the morning, and by means of them also she is revived when she comes\nback in the evening. He had better flee and save his life. But the youth\ntold her he would not go away without the _kataki_ flower, moreover,\nthat he would take her also with him. They spent the day in walking\nabout the gardens, and when it was drawing near the time for the return\nof the r\u00e1kshasas, the youth concealed himself under a great heap of the\n_kataki_ flower which was in one of the rooms, having first \u201ckilled\u201d the\ndamsel by touching her head with the golden stick. The return of the\nseven hundred r\u00e1kshasas was like the noise of a mighty tempest. One of\nthem entered the damsel\u2019s room and revived her, saying at the same time,\n\u201cI smell a human being!\u201d[190] The damsel replied, \u201cHow can a human being\ncome to this place?\u201d and the r\u00e1kshasa was satisfied. During the night\nthe damsel worms out of the r\u00e1kshas\u00ed who was her mistress the secret\nthat the lives of the seven hundred r\u00e1kshasas depended on the lives of a\nmale and female bee, which were in a wooden box at the bottom of a tank,\nand that the only person who could seize and kill those bees was a youth\nwith a moon on his forehead and stars on the palms of his hands\u2014but\nthere could be no such youth, and so their lives were safe.[191] When\nthe r\u00e1kshasas had all gone out as usual next morning, the damsel, having\nbeen revived by the youth, told him how the demons could be killed, and,\nto be brief, he was not slow to put her directions into practice. After\nthe death of the seven hundred r\u00e1kshasas, the youth took some of the\n_kataki_ flowers and left the palace accompanied by the beautiful\ndamsel, whose name was Pushpavati. They passed through the ocean and\nforest of _kachiri_ in safety, and arriving at the house in the baz\u00e1r\nthe youth with the moon on his forehead presented the _kataki_ flower to\nhis sister. Going out to hunt the next day, he met the king, and his\nturban again falling off as he shot an arrow, the King saw the moon on\nhis forehead and desired his friendship. The youth invited the King to\nhis house, and he went thither at midday. Pushpavati then told the King\n(for she knew the whole story from first to last) how his seventh wife\nhad been induced by his six other wives to ring the bell twice\nneedlessly; how she gave birth to a boy and a girl, and pups were\nsubstituted for them; how the twins were miraculously saved and brought\nup in the house of a potter, and so forth. When she had concluded the\nKing was highly enraged, and next day caused his six wicked wives to be\nburied alive. The seventh queen was brought from the market-place and\nreinstated in the palace, and the youth with a moon on his forehead and\nstars on the palms of his hands lived happily with his beautiful\ntwin-sister.\n\nIn two other Hind\u00fa versions known to me\u2014but the story is doubtless as\nwidely spread over India as we have seen it to be over Europe\u2014only the\nleading idea of Galland\u2019s tale reappears, though one of them suggests\nthe romance of \u201cHelyas, the Knight of the Swan,\u201d namely, the story\ncalled \u201cTruth\u2019s Triumph,\u201d in Miss Frere\u2019s \u201cOld Deccan Days,\u201d p. 55 ff.\nHere a r\u00e1j\u00e1 and his minister walking together come to a large garden,\nwhere is a _bringal_-tree bearing 100 fruits but having no leaves, and\nthe minister says to the r\u00e1j\u00e1 that whosoever should marry the gardener\u2019s\ndaughter should have by her 100 boys and one girl. The r\u00e1j\u00e1 espoused the\nmaiden, much to the vexation of the 12 wives he had already, and then\nfollows a repetition of the golden bell affair, as in the Bengal\u00ed\nversion. Drapadi Bai, the gardener\u2019s daughter and the new r\u00e1n\u00ed, gives\nbirth \u201cright off,\u201d to 100 sons and a daughter, all of whom are thrown by\nthe nurse on a dust-heap in which are a great number of rat-holes, the\njealous co-wives fully expecting that the voracious rodents would\nquickly eat them up. The nurse tells the young r\u00e1n\u00ed that her children\nhad turned into stones; such is also the story the 12 co-wives tell the\nr\u00e1j\u00e1 on his return, and he orders poor Drapadi Bai to be imprisoned for\nlife. But the rats, so far from devouring the children, nourished them\nwith the utmost care. It comes to the knowledge of the 12 co-wives that\nthe children are still alive; they are discovered and turned into\ncrows\u2014all save the little girl, who luckily escapes the fate of her 100\nbrothers, gets married to a great r\u00e1j\u00e1, and has a son named Ramchandra,\nwho effected the restoration to human form of his crow-uncles by means\nof magic water which he obtained from a r\u00e1kshas\u00ed.\n\nThe other story referred to is No. xx. of Miss Stokes\u2019 \u201cIndian Fairy\nTales,\u201d which Mr. Coote could not have read, else he would not have been\nat the trouble to maintain it was impossible that Galland derived his\ntale from it: \u201cso long,\u201d says he, \u201cas that story remained in the country\nof its birth\u2014India\u2014it was absolutely inaccessible to him, for, great\ntraveller as he was, he never visited that far-off portion of the East.\u201d\nThe fact is, this Hind\u00fa story only resembles Galland\u2019s, and that\nremotely, in the opening portion. Seven daughters of a poor man played\ndaily under the shady trees in the king\u2019s garden with the gardener\u2019s\ndaughter, and she used to say to them, \u201cWhen I am married I shall have a\nson\u2014such a beautiful boy as he will be has never been seen. He will have\na moon on his forehead and a star on his chin,\u201d and they all laughed at\nher. The king, having overheard what she so often repeated, married her,\nthough he had already four wives. Then follows the golden bell affair\nagain, with a kettledrum substituted. When the young queen is about to\nbe confined her co-wives tell her it is the custom to bind the eyes of\nwomen in her condition, to which she submits, and after she has borne\nthe wonderful boy she promised to do, they tell her she has been\ndelivered of a stone. The king degraded her to the condition of a\nkitchen servant and never spoke to her. The nurse takes the baby in a\nbox and buries it in the jungle. But the king\u2019s dog had followed her,\nand when she went off he took the box out of the earth and swallowed the\nbaby. Six months after the dog brings him up, caresses him and swallows\nhim again. He does likewise at the end of a year, and the dog\u2019s keeper,\nhaving seen all told the four wives. They say to the king the dog had\ntorn their clothes, and he replies, he\u2019ll have the brute shot to-morrow.\nThe dog overhears this and runs off to the king\u2019s cow; he induces her to\nsave the child by swallowing him, and the cow consents. Next day the dog\nis shot, and so on: the cow is to be killed and induces the king\u2019s horse\nto swallow the child, and so on.\u2014There may have been originally some\nmystical signification attached to this part of the tale, but it has\ncertainly no connection with our story.[192]\n\n\nI had nearly omitted an Arabian version of the outcast infants which\nseems to have hitherto escaped notice by story-comparers. Moreover, it\noccurs in a text of The Nights, to wit, the Wortley-Montague MS., Nights\n472\u2013483, in the story of Abou Neeut and Abou Neeuteen = Ab\u00fa Niyyet and\nAb\u00fa Niyyeteyn, according to Dr. Redhouse; one of those translated by\nJonathan Scott in vol. vi. of his edition of the \u201cArabian Nights,\u201d\nwhere, at p. 227, the hero marries the King\u2019s youngest daughter and the\nKing in dying leaves him heir to his throne, a bequest which is disputed\nby the husbands of the two elder daughters. The young queen is brought\nto bed of a son, and her sisters bribe the midwife to declare that she\nhas given birth to a dog and throw the infant at the gate of one of the\nroyal palaces. The same occurs when a second son is born. But at the\nthird lying-in of the princess her husband takes care to be present, and\nthe beautiful daughter she brings forth is saved from the clutches of\nher vindictive sisters. The two little princes are taken up by a\ngardener and reared as his own children. In course of time, it happened\nthat the King (Ab\u00fa Neeut) and his daughter visited the garden and saw\nthe two little boys playing together and the young princess felt an\ninstinctive affection for them, and the King, finding them engaged in\nmartial play, making clay-horses, bows and arrows, &c., had the\ncuriosity to inquire into their history. The dates when they were found\nagreed with those of the queen\u2019s delivery; the midwife also confessed;\nand the King left the guilty parties to be punished by the pangs of\ntheir own consciences, being convinced that envy is the worst of\ntorments. The two young princes were formally acknowledged and grew up\nto follow their father\u2019s example.\n\n\nWe must go back to India once more if we would trace our tale to what is\nperhaps its primitive form, and that is probably of Buddhist invention;\nthough it is quite possible this may be one of the numerous fictions\nwhich have been time out of mind the common heritage of nearly all\npeoples, and some of which the early Buddhists adapted to their own\npurposes. Be this as it may, in the following tale, from Dr. Mitra\u2019s\n\u201cSanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nep\u00e1l\u201d (Calcutta: 1882), pp. 65, 66, we\nseem to have somewhat like the germ of the Envious Sisters:\n\n\n                           BUDDHIST VERSION.\n\nKing Brahmadatta picked up in Kampilla a destitute girl named Padm\u00e1vat\u00ed,\nwho scattered lotuses at every step she moved, and made her his\nfavourite queen. She was very simple-minded. Other queens used to play\ntricks upon her, and at the time of her first delivery cheated her most\nshamefully. The wicked ladies said to her on that occasion, \u201cDear Padm\u00e1,\nyou are a rustic girl; you do not know how to give birth to a royal\nchild. Let us help you.\u201d She yielded. They covered her eyes, threw into\nthe river the twin boys she had brought forth, and smeared her face with\nblood. They deceived her by telling her that it was only a lump of flesh\nthat she had given birth to, and it had been thrown into the river. At\nthe same time they informed her husband that Padm\u00e1 had eaten up her two\nnew-born sons. The King enraged at her inhuman conduct, ordered her to\ninstant execution. But there was a shrewd man in the court who privately\nsaved her life. A divinity appeared to the King in a dream, and revealed\nthe whole truth to him. The King made a strict investigation in the\nharem, and found that Padm\u00e1vat\u00ed had been perfectly innocent. He became\ndisconsolate, and gave vent to loud lamentations. Soon after some\nfishermen appeared at court and presented the King with two infants, who\nbetrayed their royal lineage by the resemblance which their features\nbore to those of the King. They were reported to have been found in a\nvessel floating on the river. The courtier who saved Padm\u00e1\u2019s life now\nwished to produce her before the King, but she refused to return and\nproceeded to her father\u2019s hermitage. After the death of her father she\ntravelled through various places in the habit of a devotee; and in the\ncourse of her peregrinations she stopped at Ban\u00e1res, from whence\nBrahmadatta conducted her to his capital with great honour.\n\n\nI am of opinion that this Buddhist tale is the original form of the\n\u201cEnvious Sisters\u201d\u2014that it ended with the restoration of the children and\nthe vindication of the innocence of their mother. The second part of our\nstory has no necessary connection with the first, the elements of which\nit is composed being found in scores\u2014nay, hundreds\u2014of popular fictions\nin every country: the quest of wonderful or magical objects; one brother\nsetting out, and by neglecting to follow the advice tendered him by some\nperson he meets on his way, he comes to grief; a second brother follows,\nwith the same result; and it is reserved for the youngest, and the least\nesteemed, to successfully accomplish the adventure. In the second part\nof the \u201cEnvious Sisters,\u201d the girl, the youngest of the three children,\nplays the part of the usual hero of folk-tales of this class. There is,\ngenerally, a seemingly wretched old man\u2014a hideous, misshapen dwarf\u2014or an\nugly, decrepit old woman\u2014who is treated with rudeness by the two elder\nadventurers, so they do not speed in their enterprise; but the youngest\naddresses the person in respectful terms\u2014shares his only loaf with\nhim\u2014and is rewarded by counsel which enables him to bring his adventure\nto a successful end. In the \u201cEnvious Sisters,\u201d which I cannot but think\nGalland has garbled from his original, the eldest clips the beard of the\nhermit, and presumably the second does the same, since we are told he\nfound the hermit in the like condition (albeit, his beard had been\ntrimmed but a few days before). Each of them receives the same\ninstructions. In a true folk-tale the two elder brothers would treat the\nold man with contempt and suffer accordingly, while the youngest would\ncut his nails and his beard, and make him more comfortable in his\nperson. We do not require to go to Asiatic folk-lore for tales in which\nthe elements of the second part of the \u201cEnvious Sisters\u201d are to be\nfound. In the German story of the Fox\u2019s Brush there is a quest of a\ngolden bird. The first brother sets off in high hope; on the road he\nsees a fox, who calls out to him not to shoot at it, and says that\nfarther along the road are two inns, one of which is bright and cheerful\nlooking, and he should not go into it, but rather into the other, even\nthough it does not look very inviting. He shoots at the fox and misses\nit, then continues his journey, and puts up at the fine inn, where\namidst riot and revel he forgets all about the business on which he had\nset out. The same happens to the second brother. But the youngest says\nto the fox that he will not shoot it, and the fox takes him on its tail\nto the small inn, where he passes a quiet night, and in the morning is\nconveyed by the fox to the castle, wherein is the golden bird in a\nwooden cage, and so on. Analogous stories to this are plentiful\nthroughout Europe and Asia; there is one, I think, in the Wortley\nMontague MS. of The Nights.\n\nIn Straparola\u2019s version of the \u201cEnvious Sisters,\u201d when the children\u2019s\nhair is combed pearls and precious stones fall out of it, whereby their\nfoster-parents become rich; this is only hinted at in Galland\u2019s story:\nthe boy\u2019s hair \u201cshould be golden on one side and silvern on the other;\nwhen weeping he should drop pearls in place of tears, and when laughing\nhis rosy lips should be fresh as the blossom new-blown;\u201d not another\nword is afterwards said of this, while in the modern Arabic version the\nchildren are finally identified by their mother through such\npeculiarities. The silver chains with which the children are born in the\nromance of \u201cHelyas, the Knight of the Swan,\u201d correspond with the \u201cgold\nstar\u201d etc. on the forehead in other stories. It only remains to observe\nthat the Bird of our tale who in the end relates the history of the\nchildren to their father, is represented in the modern Arabic version by\nthe fairy Arab Zandyk, in the modern Greek by Tzitzin\u00e6na, and in the\nAlbanian by the Belle of the Earth.\n\n\n                          _ADDITIONAL NOTES._\n\n\n                       THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM.\n\n_The Dream of Riches._\u2014In Croker\u2019s Irish Fairy Legends there is a droll\nversion of this story, entitled \u201cDreaming Tim Jarvis.\u201d Honest Tim, we\nare told, \u201ctook to sleeping, and the sleep set him dreaming, and he\ndreamed all night, and night after night, about crocks full of gold....\nAt last he dreamt that he found a mighty great crock of gold and silver,\nand where, do you think? Every step of the way upon London Bridge\nitself! Twice Tim dreamt it, and three times Tim dreamt the same thing;\nand at last he made up his mind to transport himself, and go over to\nLondon, in Pat Mahoney\u2019s coaster\u2014and so he did!\u201d Tim walks on London\nBridge day after day until he sees a man with great black whiskers and a\nblack cloak that reached down to the ground, who accosts him, and he\ntells the strange man about his dream. \u201cHo! ho!\u201d says the strange man,\n\u201cis that all, Tim? I had a dream myself and I dreamed that I found a\ncrock of gold in the Fort field, on Jerry Driscoll\u2019s ground at\nBalledehob, and, by the same token, the pit where it lay was close to a\nlarge furze bush, all full of yellow blossom.\u201d Tim hastens back to his\nold place, sells his cabin and garden, and buys the piece of waste\nground so minutely described by the man with black whiskers, finds the\npit, jumps into it, and is among the fairies, who give him leave to\nstuff his pockets with gold; but when he returns to upper earth he\ndiscovers that he has got only a handful of small stones mixed with\nyellow furze blossoms.\n\nIn a note appended to this tale, Croker cites the following from Grimm\u2019s\n\u201cDeutsche Sagan,\u201d vol. i. p. 290: A man once dreamed that if he went to\nRegensburg and walked on the bridge he should become rich. He went\naccordingly; and when he had spent near a fortnight walking backwards\nand forwards on the bridge, a rich merchant came up to him, wondering\nwhat he was doing there every day, and asked him what he was looking\nfor. He answered that he had dreamed if he would go to the bridge of\nRegensburg he should become rich. \u201cHa!\u201d said the merchant, \u201cwhat do you\nsay about dreams?\u2014Dreams are but froth (_Tr\u00e4ume sind Sch\u00e4ume_). I too\nhave dreamed that there is buried under yonder large tree (pointing to\nit) a great kettle full of money; but I gave no heed to this, for dreams\nare froth.\u201d The man went immediately and dug under the tree, and there\nhe got a treasure, which made a rich man of him, and so his dream was\naccomplished.\u2014The same story is told of a baker\u2019s boy at Lubeck, who\ndreamed that he should find a treasure on the bridge; there he met a\nbeggar, who said he had dreamed there was one under a lime-tree in the\nchurchyard of M\u00f6llen, but he would not take the trouble of going there.\nThe baker\u2019s boy went, and got the treasure.\u2014It is curious to observe\nthat all the European versions of the story have reference to a bridge,\nand it must have been brought westward in this form.\n\n_The Quest of the Image._\u2014It has only now occurred to my mind that there\nis a very similar story in the romance of the Four Dervishes\n(\u201cKissa-i-Cheh\u00e1r Darwesh\u201d), a Persian work written in the 13th century,\nand rendered into Urd\u00fa about 80 years ago, under the title of \u201cBagh o\nBah\u00e1r\u201d (Garden of Spring), of which an English translation was made by\nL. F. Smith, which was afterwards improved by Duncan Forbes. There the\nimages are of monkeys\u2014a circumstance which seems to point to an Indian\norigin of the story\u2014but the hero falls in love with the spotless girl,\nand the jinn-king takes possession of her, though he is ultimately\ncompelled to give her up.\u2014The fact of this story of the quest of the\nlacking image being found in the Persian language is another proof that\nthe tales in The Nights were largely derived from Persian story-books.\n\n\n                    ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP.\n\nThere is a distorted reflection of the story in M. Ren\u00e9 Basset\u2019s\nrecently published \u201cContes Populaires Berb\u00e8res,\u201d No. xxix., which is to\nthis effect: A taleb proclaims, \u201cWho will sell himself for 100 mitqals?\u201d\nOne offers; the K\u00e1d\u00ed ratifies the sale; the (now) slave gives the money\nto his mother, and follows the taleb. Away they go. The taleb repeats\ncertain words, upon which the earth opens, and he sends down the slave\nfor \u201cthe candlestick, the reed, and the box.\u201d The slave hides the box in\nhis pocket and says he did not find it. They go off, and after a time\nthe slave discovers that his master has disappeared. He returns home,\nhires a house, opens the box, and finds a cloth of silk with seven\nfolds; he undoes one of them, whereupon genii swarm about the room, and\na girl appears who dances till break of day. This occurs every night.\nThe king happens to be out on a nocturnal adventure, and hearing a\nnoise, enters the house and is amused till morning. He sends for the box\nto be brought to the palace, gives the owner his daughter in marriage,\nand continues to divert himself with the box till his death, when his\nson-in-law succeeds him on the throne.\n\n\n                    ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.\n\nMy obliging friend, Mr. W. F. Kirby, who contributed to the 10th volume\nof Sir Richard\u2019s Nights proper the very able Bibliographical Essay, has\ndrawn my attention to an analogue of this tale in Geldart\u2019s Folk-Lore of\nModern Greece: There were two brothers, one of whom was wealthy and had\nfour children, who were in feeble health, the other was poor and had\nseven children, who were in robust health. The poor brother\u2019s wife,\nbegging relief, was allowed to come twice a week to the house of the\nrich brother to bake bread. Her children were starving, but the rich\npeople gave the mother nothing for several days, and all she could do\nwas to wash the dough off her hands for the children, who thrived, and\nthe rich man, discovering the cause, made his wife compel the poor woman\nto wash her hands before she left the house. The father found his\nchildren crying for food, and pretended to go to the wood for herbs, but\nreally purposing to kill himself by falling from a crag. But seeing a\ngreat castle, he determined first to ascertain what it was, so he went\nnear, and, having climbed a tree, saw forty-nine dragons come out. When\nthey were gone he entered, and found a treasure, filled his bag, and\nhurried away. On his return home he found his wife weeping bitterly, but\nwhen he showed her the treasure, she said the first thing was to buy oil\nto light a lamp to our Lady. Next day they bought a house, and moved\ninto it, but agreed only to buy what they needed for each day\u2019s use and\nnothing they could do without. For two months they went often to church\nand helped the poor, till, one day, the wife of the rich man, who had\nmet with losses lately, called for them and was hospitably received. She\nheard the story of the treasure, and the poor man offered to show his\nbrother the place. The rich brother miscounted the dragons as they left\nthe castle, and the one left to watch killed and quartered him. Two days\nafterwards his brother went to look for him, brought home the severed\nbody, and got a tailor to sew the quarters together. Next day the\ndragons called on the tailor to make them coats and shoes (_sic_), and\nheard of his sewing together the body. He showed them the house, and\nforty-eight dragons got into chests, which the forty-ninth deposited\nwith the poor man. The children, playing about the chests, heard the\ndragons say, \u201cWould that it were night, that we might eat them all!\u201d So\nthe father took forty-eight spits and made them red hot, and thrust them\ninto the chests, and then said that a trick had been played upon him,\nand sent his servant to throw them one by one into the sea. As often as\nthe servant returned he pretended to him that he did not throw the chest\nfar enough and it had come back and thus he disposed of the whole\nnumber. In the morning when the last dragon came, the poor man told him\none chest was found open: he was seized with fear, pushed in and spitted\nlike the others, and the poor man became possessor of the dragons\u2019\ncastle.\n\n\nThere can be no doubt, I think, that this story owes nothing to Galland,\nbut that it is a popular Greek version of the original Asiatic tale, of\nwhich Galland\u2019s \u201cAli Baba\u201d is probably a fair reflection. The device of\npretending to the servant that the dragon he had thrown into the sea was\nreturned has its exact analogue in the humorous _fabliau_ of \u201cLes Trois\nBossus,\u201d where a rustic is made to believe that each of the hunchbacks\nhad come back again, with the addition that, on returning from the river\nthe third time, he seizes the lady\u2019s hunchbacked husband and effectually\ndisposes of him.\n\n\n                   THE TALE OF PRINCE AHMAD\u2014_p. 419._\n\nThough my paper on this tale is of considerable length, it would perhaps\nhave been deemed intolerably long had I cited all the versions of the\nfirst part\u2014the quest of the most wonderful thing\u2014which are current in\nEurope, for it is found everywhere, though with few variations of\nimportance. There are two, however, of which I may furnish the outlines\nin this place.\n\nIn the \u201cPentamerone\u201d of Basile,[193] a man sends his five sons into the\nworld to learn something. The eldest becomes a master-thief; the second\nhas learned the trade of shipwright; the third has become a skilful\narcher; the fourth has found an herb which brings the dead to life; and\nthe youngest has learned the speech of birds. Soon after they have\nreturned home, they set out with their father to liberate a princess who\nhad been stolen by a wild man, and by the exercise of their several arts\nsucceed in their adventure. While they quarrel as to which of them had\nby his efforts done most to deserve the princess for wife, the king\ngives her to the father, as the stock of all those branches.\n\nIn the 45th of Laura Gonzenbach\u2019s \u201cSicilianische M\u00e4rchen,\u201d the king\u2019s\ndaughter is stolen by a giant and recovered by the seven sons of a poor\nwoman. The eldest can run like the wind; the second can hear, when he\nputs his ear to the ground, all that goes on in the world; the third can\nwith a blow of his fist break through seven iron doors; the fourth is a\nthief; the fifth can build an iron tower with a blow of his fist; the\nsixth is an unfailing shot; the seventh has a guitar which can awaken\nthe dead. Youths thus wonderfully endowed figure in many tales, but\ngenerally as the servants of the hero.\n\nBy comparing the different European versions it will be found that some\nare similar to the first part of the tale of Prince Ahmad, insomuch as\nthe brothers become possessed of certain wonderful things which are each\ninstrumental in saving the damsel\u2019s life; while others more closely\napproach the oldest known form of the story, in representing the heroes\nas being endowed with some extraordinary kind of power, by means of\nwhich they rescue the damsel from a giant who had carried her off. It is\ncurious to observe that in the \u201cSindib\u00e1d N\u00e1ma\u201d version the damsel is\nboth carried off by a demon and at death\u2019s door, which is not the case\nof any other Asiatic form of the story.\n\n\n\n\n                                 INDEX.\n\n\n Abadan = never at all, 52.\n\n \u00c1b o haw\u00e1 = climate, 362.\n\n Abraham (according to Moslem born in Harr\u00e1n), 269.\n\n Abraham (according to Jews and Christians emigrated to Harr\u00e1n from \u201cUr\n    of the Chaldees\u201d), 270.\n\n Ab\u00fa Ant\u00edk\u00e1 = father of antiquities (new noun in Arabic), 11.\n\n Adam\u2019s Sons = a term that has not escaped ridicule amongst Moslems,\n    149.\n\n Address to inanimate object highly idiomatic and must be cultivated by\n    practical Arabists, 150.\n\n Affidavit amongst Moslems, 411.\n\n Africa (_Arab._ \u201cAfrik\u00edyah\u201d), here used for the limited tract about\n    Carthage (Tunis), _i.e._ Africa Propria, 76.\n\n \u00c1gh\u00e1s, meaning Eunuch officers and officials, 112.\n\n Aj\u00e1ib (_pl._ of \u2019Aj\u00edb) = \u201cMarvellous!\u201d (used in Pers. as well as\n    Arab.), 181.\n\n Alaeddin, _i.e._ the \u201cHeight or Glory (\u2019Al\u00e1) of the Faith (al-D\u00edn),\u201d\n    _pron._ Al\u00e1addeen, 51.\n\n Alaeddin, a favourite with the stage, 51.\n\n \u2019Alamah = an undeflowered virgin, 119.\n\n Alexander the Great = Lord of the Two Horns, 148.\n\n Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (variants), 369.\n\n \u2019\u00c1lim = a learned man, 119.\n\n Allah (Prince \u2019Aj\u00edb forbidden to call upon name of), 18.\n\n Allah, Shadow of\u2014a title of the Shah, 531.\n\n Almahs (_fem._ of \u2019\u00c1lim = a learned man) = professional singing and\n    dancing-girls, 119.\n\n Alm\u00e1s, _Arab._ (from \u1f00\u03b4\u03ac\u03bc\u03b1\u03c2, and in _Hind._ \u201cH\u00edr\u00e1\u201d and \u201cPann\u00e1\u201d) =\n    diamond, 354.\n\n \u201cAmbergris\u2019d\u201d (aphrodisiac), 31.\n\n \u00c1minah, _i.e._ the secure (_fem._), 326.\n\n \u2019Andal\u00edb, nightingale, 506.\n\n Aphrodisiacs, 133.\n\n \u2019Arab al-\u2019Arb\u00e1 = Arabian Arabs, 134.\n\n Arab al-Arb\u00e1 = prehistoric Arabs, 145.\n\n Ardash\u00edr (King), son of B\u00e1bak, 180.\n\n Arstable (astrolabe), 159.\n\n \u2019As\u00e1 = Staff, one of the properties of Moslem Saints, 183.\n\n As\u00e1f\u00edr\u00ed (olives, etc.), 405.\n\n Asfandiy\u00e2r = two heroes of the Shahn\u00e1meh, both types of reckless\n    daring, 524.\n\n Ashkh\u00e1s (_pl._ of Shakhs) = images (_vulg._ used in Moslem realms in\n    the sense of persons or individuals), 12.\n\n Ashraf\u00ed (_Port._ Xerafim), a gold coin whose value has varied, 294.\n\n Astrolabe, (_tr._ \u201cAstronomical-gear\u201d), 159.\n\n Astrology and astronomy, 159.\n\n \u2019At\u00edk = antique, 11.\n\n Ay Ni\u2019am (Yea, verily, Yes indeed), an emphatic and now vulgar\n    expression, 14, 31.\n\n Aysh (_Arab._) = Ayyu Shayyin and Laysh = li ayyi Shayyin, a popular\n    corruption of olden date, 122.\n\n \u201cAysh Khabara-k?\u201d = how art thou? 122.\n\n Ayy\u00e1m al-Nif\u00e1s (_Arab._) = the forty days after labour, during which a\n    woman may not cohabit with her husband, 502.\n\n\n Baba used in Pers., Turk. and Hindostani for Dad! Dear! Child! 311.\n\n Baba Abdullah = Daddy Abdullah, 311.\n\n Backgammon = \u201c(jeu de) dames,\u201d a term of European origin, 180.\n\n B\u00e1d\u00e1m or B\u00edd\u00e1m (almond), used by way of small change, 348.\n\n Badr al-Bud\u00far, _i.e._ Full moon of full moons, 95.\n\n B\u00e1gh = Royal tiger, 530.\n\n Baghdad (explained), 25.\n\n Bahman, meaning one of the Spirits that presides over beasts of burden,\n    502.\n\n Bakht = luck, good fortune, 331.\n\n B\u00e1n\u00fa = a lady, a dame of high degree, 419.\n\n Ban\u00fa Adam = Sons of Adam (as opposed to Ban\u00fa Elohim = Sons of the\n    Gods), 88.\n\n Ban\u00fa al-Asfar = Sons of the yellow (Esau\u2019s posterity in Edom), 88.\n\n Ban\u00fa al-Khashkhash = Sons of the (black) poppy (viz. Ethiopians), 88.\n\n Bassorah-city = \u201cBalsorah\u201d (Galland), \u201cBansr\u00e1\u201d (H.V.), 3.\n\n Bayt al-Mukaddas = Sanctified House, 407.\n\n Bazzist\u00e1n (_Arab._-_Pers._) = market-place for Bazz = cloth, 431.\n\n \u201cBean and \u2019twas split, A,\u201d proverb suggesting \u201cpar nobile fratrum,\u201d\n    179.\n\n Bilisht = The long span between thumb-tip and minimus-tip, 353.\n\n Bishangarh, 422.\n\n Bisnagar (corruption of Sanskrit Vij\u00e1yanagara = City of Victory), 422.\n\n \u201cBlood hideth not from blood\u201d (_equiv. to_ Scotch \u201cBlood is thicker\n    than water\u201d), 54.\n\n Blood revenge religiously laudable, 180.\n\n \u201cBlood speaking to blood,\u201d popular superstition, excusing unwarrantable\n    liberties in Royal personages, 531.\n\n Breslau Ed. quoted, 51.\n\n Bridge at Baghdad made of the ribs of Og bin \u2019Unk (= Og of the Neck),\n    19.\n\n Brow white as day and hair black as night (common conceit), 96.\n\n Bukh\u00e1r\u00ed = a place for steaming, 355.\n\n Bulbul-i-haz\u00e1r-d\u00e1st\u00e1n (_Arab._), usually shortened to \u201cHaz\u00e1r\u201d = (bird\n    of a thousand tales = the Thousand), generally called \u2019Andal\u00edb, 506.\n\n But-Kh\u00e1nah = idol-house, _syn._ with But-Kadah = image-cuddy (_tr._\n    \u201cPagodas\u201d), 427.\n\n\n \u201cCage of Clapham,\u201d 501.\n\n Cairo (magnificent city of Egypt), 58.\n\n Camel (not customary to mount lady upon in India), 294.\n\n Camel (\u201cUshtur\u201d or \u201cUnth\u201d), 294.\n\n Camphor, use of, 361.\n\n Carpet (the Flying), prototype of, 425.\n\n Changes, contradictions and confusions inherent in Arab. stories, 93.\n\n Chhuchhundar, _Hind._ (_Sorex c\u00e6rulescens_) = musk-rat, 500.\n\n China = the normal Oriental \u201cdespotism, tempered by assassination,\u201d\n    164.\n\n Chob-d\u00e1r = rod-bearer, mace-bearer, usher, etc., 125.\n\n Circus tricks with elephants, horses, etc., 430.\n\n Coinage of Baghdad, 294.\n\n Conclusions of Tales compared, 303.\n\n Crows, audacious, and dangerous to men lying wounded, 344.\n\n\n Dahab ramli (_Arab._) = gold-dust washed out of the sand, _placer_-gold\n    (_tr._ \u201cpure sand-gold\u201d), 126.\n\n Darb\u00e1r (_Hind._), term for Royal Lev\u00e9e = Sel\u00e1m (_Pers._), 451.\n\n Darwaysh (_Pers._), _pron._ by Egyptians \u201cDarw\u00edsh,\u201d 313.\n\n Dary\u00e1b\u00e1r, _der._ from \u201cDary\u00e1,\u201d the sea, and \u201cb\u00e1r\u201d = region, 281.\n\n Dary\u00e1b\u00e1r (_Pers._ = the ocean land), a fancy name for a country, 281.\n\n \u201cDasht-i-l\u00e1-siw\u00e1-H\u00fa\u201d = a desert wherein is none save He (Allah), a\n    howling wilderness, 284.\n\n \u201cDaughters\u201d secondary figures in geomancy, \u201cmothers\u201d being primary,\n    156.\n\n \u201cDaughter shall be in his name\u201d = betrothed to her, 110.\n\n \u201cDhob\u00ed-k\u00e1 kutt\u00e1, na Ghar-k\u00e1 na Gh\u00e1t-k\u00e1\u201d (Hind\u00ed saying) = a washerman\u2019s\n    tyke, nor of the house nor of the Gh\u00e1t-dyke, 491.\n\n Dhol = drums, 137.\n\n Diamonds, 354.\n\n Din (Al-); omission of, in proper names very common, 3.\n\n D\u00edn\u00e1rz\u00e1d and Shahr\u00e1z\u00e1d (for Duny\u00e1z\u00e1d and Shahr\u00e1z\u00e1d), 3.\n\n Divan-door, dismounting at, the highest of honours, 136.\n\n Divan or Darb\u00e1r (lev\u00e9e), being also a _lit de justice_ and a Court of\n    Cassation, 107.\n\n D\u00edwan\u2014origin of _Fr._ \u201cDouane\u201d and _Ital._ \u201cDogana,\u201d etc., 7.\n\n Diy\u00e1r Bakr, _lit._ Homes (or habitations) of Bakr (_pron._\n    \u201cDiy\u00e1r-i-Bek\u00edr\u201d), 269.\n\n Dogs, hatred of, inherited from Jewish ancestors, 330.\n\n \u201cDream is the inspiration of the True Believer, The,\u201d 8.\n\n Dress, exchange of, 171.\n\n\n Earthquakes (curious coincidence), 21.\n\n Eaves-dropping (favourite incident of Eastern Storiology), 492.\n\n Egypt (magnificent city of) = Cairo, 58.\n\n Envious Sisters, The (various versions), 491.\n\n Evil eye, to keep off the = one of the functions of iron and steel,\n    146.\n\n\n Fair play not a jewel to the Eastern mind, 180.\n\n Fak\u00edr, a title now debased in Nile Valley to an insult = \u201cpoor devil,\u201d\n    313.\n\n Fak\u00edr here the _Arab. syn._ of the _Pers._ \u201cDarwaysh,\u201d 313.\n\n Fak\u00edr also come to signify a Koran-chaunter, 314.\n\n \u201cFalling-place of my head\u201d = picturesque term for \u201cbirthplace,\u201d 58.\n\n Fals (or Fils) = a fish scale, a spangle of metal, 294.\n\n Faraj (Al-) ba\u2019d al-Shiddah = (Joy after Annoy), compared to Khudadad\n    and his brothers, 269.\n\n Faraj\u00edyah = gaberdine, 30.\n\n \u201cFarz,\u201d devotions, 328.\n\n F\u00e1timah = a weaner, 181.\n\n Fellah, natural fear of\u2014being seen in fine gear, which would have been\n    supposed to be stolen, 171.\n\n F\u00ed ghuz\u00fani z\u00e1lika (_Arab._), a peculiar phrase (_tr._ \u201cmeanwhile\u201d),\n    142.\n\n Fils (or Fals) = a fish scale, a spangle of metal, 294.\n\n Firoz\u00e1b\u00e1d\u00ed (author of \u201cK\u00e1m\u00fas\u201d), Tale of, 84.\n\n Fir\u00fazah (_Arab._) = turquoise, (_Pers. form_ P\u00edrozah), 270.\n\n Flying Carpet (prototype of), 425.\n\n Food, calls for, at critical times not yet wholly obsolete amongst the\n    civilised of the nineteenth century, 113.\n\n Force of, fancy, 182.\n\n Funeral, Customs at, 380.\n\n\n G\u00e1ikw\u00e1r, 134.\n\n Galland quoted, 3, 12, 18, 19, 20, 22, 51, 53, 71, 77, 82, 87, 91, 108,\n    110, 116, 140, 158, 160, 167, 171, 297, 303, 321, 327, 331, 334,\n    335, 341, 348, 351, 353, 355, 363, 369, 377, 380, 385, 416, 422,\n    429, 446, 472, 500, 506.\n\n Gandharba-lagana (fairy wedding) of the Hindus, 448.\n\n Gandharbas = heavenly choristers, 448.\n\n Gardens of the Hesperides and of King Isope (Chaucer), 74.\n\n \u201cGh\u00e1nim bin Ayy\u00fab = the Thrall o\u2019 Love\u201d\u2014position of in Arab. texts\n    compared with Galland, 303.\n\n Ghash\u00edm (_Arab._), from the root \u201cGhashm\u201d (iniquity) = a \u201cJohnny Raw\u201d\u2014a\n    \u201craw laddie,\u201d 91.\n\n Gh\u00e1t (_pop._ \u201cGhaut\u201d) = the steps (or path) which lead to a watering\n    place, 491.\n\n Ghayr an (_Arab._) = otherwise that, except that (_tr._ \u201cStill\u201d), 82.\n\n Ghazn = a crease\u2014a wrinkle, 142.\n\n Gheir (_Syriac_) = for (_der._ from Greek \u03b3\u1f70\u03c1), 82.\n\n Gh\u00falah = an ogress (_fem._ of Gh\u00fal), 327.\n\n Giallo antico, verd\u2019 antico = serpentine limestone, 139.\n\n Gil-i-sar-sh\u00fa\u00ed (_Pers._) = head-washing clay (_tr._ \u201cfuller\u2019s earth\u201d),\n    348.\n\n Glass tokens (for coins), 351.\n\n\n H\u00e1! H\u00e1! so H\u00e1ka (_fem._ H\u00e1ki), _Arab._ = Here for thee (_tr._ \u201cThere!\n    there!\u201d), 89.\n\n Habashi = an Abyssinian, 276.\n\n Habsh\u00ed (chief) of Jinj\u00edrah (= Al-Jazirah, the Island), admiral of the\n    Grand Moghul\u2019s fleets, 276.\n\n H\u00e1fiz = traditionist and Koran reader, 341.\n\n H\u00e1lah mutawassitah (_Arab._) = middle-class folk, 94.\n\n Ham\u00eddah = the Praiseworthy (according to Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m Shayy\u00e1n, instead of\n    Fatimah = a weaner), 181.\n\n Hammam-hu (_Arab._) = bathed, _i.e._ scraping, kneading, soaping, etc.,\n    133.\n\n Harr\u00e1n, King of, 269.\n\n Harr\u00e1n (the Hebrew Charran), 269.\n\n Harun al-Rashid and his famous pilgrimage from Baghdad to Meccah, 177.\n\n H\u00e1tif, or invisible speaker, 519.\n\n Hindostani Version quoted, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 19, 26, 27, 33, 51, 57,\n    61, 75, 79, 82, 85, 87, 95, 96, 97, 105, 113, 114, 116, 125, 129,\n    133, 137, 140, 144, 147, 148, 150, 158, 159, 160, 161, 166, 167,\n    170, 171, 174, 175, 180, 185, 188, 189, 294, 297, 355, 377, 380,\n    422, 446.\n\n Hiz\u00e1m = girdle, sash, waist-belt, _tr._ \u201cwaist-shawl,\u201d 20.\n\n Horses used in India, 297.\n\n Hydrophobia in Egypt, 330.\n\n Hypocrites = those who feign to be Moslems when they are miscreants,\n    83.\n\n\n Ibn m\u00edn, a vulgarism for \u201cman,\u201d 53.\n\n Ibrahim al-Harr\u00e1ni (_Arab._ title for Abraham), 270.\n\n \u201c\u2019Iddah\u201d = days during which a widow cannot marry (_tr._ \u201cwidowhood\u201d),\n    379.\n\n \u201cIf Almighty Allah have appointed unto thee aught thou shalt obtain it\n    without toil and travail\u201d\u2014a favourable sentiment, 10.\n\n \u201c\u2019Ifr\u201d (_fem._ \u2019Ifrah) = a wicked and dangerous man, 80.\n\n Ifr\u00edt, mostly derived from \u201c\u2019afar\u201d = dust, 80.\n\n \u2019Ilm al-Ghayb (_Arab._) = the Science of Hidden Things, 452.\n\n \u2019Ilm al-H\u00edah, _gen. tr._ \u201cAstrology\u201d\u2014here meaning Scientific\n    Physiognomy, 32.\n\n \u2019Ilm al-Muk\u00e1shafah = the Science by which Eastern adepts discover man\u2019s\n    secret thoughts (_tr._ \u201cThought-reading\u201d), 539.\n\n \u2019Ilm al-Raml = (Science of the Sand), our geomancy, 156.\n\n Im\u00e1m = a leader of prayer, 380.\n\n Im\u00e1m = an antistes\u2014a leader in prayer (a word with a host of meanings),\n    27.\n\n \u2019Im\u00e1n = faith, prayer, 380.\n\n \u2019Im\u00e1rah = a building, _tr. here_ souterrain (probably clerical error\n    for Magh\u00e1rah = a cave, a souterrain), 15.\n\n Improbable details on which stories depend, 160.\n\n \u201cI must present myself before him (the King) with face unveiled,\u201d a\n    Persian custom for women, 533.\n\n Infanticide (in accordance with the manners of the age), 497.\n\n \u201cI will hire thee a shop in the Chauk\u201d\u2014Carfax or market-street, 61.\n\n\n Jab\u00e1birah\u2014fabled Giant rulers of Syria, 86.\n\n J\u00e1m = _either_ mirror or cup (meaning doubtful), 440.\n\n J\u00e1m-i-Jamsh\u00edd, a well worn commonplace in Moslem folk-lore, 440.\n\n Jar\u00edd = The Cane-play, 327.\n\n Jar\u00edd, _pop._ Jer\u00edd = the palm frond used as javelin, 145.\n\n Jath\u00e1ni = the wife of an elder brother (_tr._ \u201csister-in-law\u201d), 373.\n\n Jauharj\u00edyyah, _tr._ jewellers (an Arab. plur. of an Arabised Turkish\n    sing.\u2014ji for\u2014ch\u00ed = (crafts) man), 95.\n\n Jaz\u00edrah (Al-) (_Arab._) = Mesopotamia, 269.\n\n \u201cJews hold lawful to them the good of Moslems\u201d (Comparison of Jew and\n    Christian in matters relating to dealing), 93.\n\n Jewels (luminous), 354.\n\n Jinn\u00edyah = the Jinn feminine, 470.\n\n\n K\u00e1\u2019ah (_Arab._) = the apodyterium or undressing room upon which the\n    vestibule of the Hammam opens (_tr._ \u201cgreat hall\u201d), 133.\n\n Kabbaltu = I have accepted, _i.e._ I accept emphatically, 37.\n\n \u201cK\u00e1k\u00e1 Siy\u00e1h\u201d (_Pers._), _i.e._ \u201cblack brother\u201d (a domestic negro),\n    pronounces N\u00e1zi-n\u00faz\u00ed, 285.\n\n K\u00e1ma (_Arab._) = he rose; _equiv. to_ \u201che began\u201d in vulg. speech, 389.\n\n K\u00e1ma-Sh\u00e1stra = the Cupid-gospel, 429.\n\n K\u00e1m Khud\u00e1\u00ed = master of his passions, 269.\n\n Kan\u00e1n\u00ed (_plur._ of Kinn\u00ednah) = glass bottles, 92.\n\n Kand\u00edl (Al-) al-\u2019aj\u00edb = the Wonderful Lamp, 135.\n\n K\u00e1r\u2019ah, now usually called \u201cMaslakh\u201d = stripping room, 133.\n\n Kar\u00far = a crore, 129.\n\n Kash\u00e1k\u00edsh (_Arab._), from the quadrille. \u2714 Kashkasha = he gathered fuel\n    (_here tr._ \u201cfuel sticks\u201d), 67.\n\n Kas\u00edr (the Little one), 390.\n\n Kattu from \u201cKatta\u201d = he cut (in breadth, as opposed to Kadda = he cut\n    lengthwise), 52.\n\n Kauri (or \u201cCowrie,\u201d _Cypr\u00e6a moneta_), 348.\n\n Kaw\u00e1rij\u00ed (_Arab._) = one who uses the paddle, a rower (_tr._\n    \u201cboatman\u201d), 18.\n\n Kazz\u00e1k = Cossacks, bandits, etc. (_here tr._ \u201cpirates\u201d), 288.\n\n Khat\u00edbah (_more usually_ \u201cKhutbah\u201d) = the Friday sermon preached by the\n    Khat\u00edb, 492.\n\n Khaw\u00e1b\u00ed (_Arab._) (_pl._ of Kh\u00e1biyah) = large jars usually of pottery,\n    11.\n\n Khud\u00e1, _mod. Pers._ form of old Khud\u00e1\u00ed = Sovereign-King, 269.\n\n Khudadad (derivation), 269.\n\n \u201cKhudadad and his brothers,\u201d position of, compared with Galland, 303.\n\n Khudadad and his brothers, relative position of, 269.\n\n Khurt\u00fam = the trunk of an elephant, 19.\n\n Khuw\u00e1j = hunger, 61.\n\n \u201cKhw\u00e1j\u00e1\u201d for \u201cKhw\u00e1jah,\u201d 61.\n\n Khw\u00e1jah = merchant and gentleman, 61.\n\n Khw\u00e1jah is also a honorific title given by Khor\u00e1s\u00e1nis to their\n    notables, 61.\n\n Khw\u00e1jah Hasan al-Habbal = Master Hasan the Ropemaker, 341.\n\n Kid\u00ed, _pop. for_ Ka-z\u00e1lika = on this wise, 174.\n\n Kimcobs = velvets with gold embroidery, 140.\n\n King in Persia speaks of himself in third person and swears by his own\n    head, etc., 531.\n\n \u201cKing\u2019s Command is upon the head and the eyes\u201d = must be obeyed, 164.\n\n Kinship, Terms of, 373.\n\n Kiosque or belvedere (used to avoid confusion between Kiosque and\n    window), 140.\n\n Kir\u00e1m\u00e1t = miracles, 181.\n\n K\u00edr\u00e1t (Carat), most often one twenty-fourth of the dinar, 91.\n\n \u201cKurb\u00e1n-at b\u00e1sham\u201d = May I become thy Corban or Sacrifice (formula used\n    in addressing the Shah), 530.\n\n\n La\u2019ab al-And\u00e1b (_Arab._) = javelin-play, 154.\n\n \u201cLaffa \u2019l-isnayn bi-zul\u00famati-h\u201d = _tr._ winding his trunk around them\n    (latter word = Khurt\u00fam the trunk of an elephant), 19.\n\n L\u00e1jawardi, _tr._ \u201clapis lazuli,\u201d 444.\n\n Lakh (Anglicised \u201clac\u201d) = 100,000, 357.\n\n Lane quoted, 38, 119, 334, 492.\n\n Lauh = tablet (of the heart), 386.\n\n Lens, origin of, and its applied use in telescopes and microscopes,\n    432.\n\n L\u00edw\u00e1n (_Arab._) = Saloon, 71.\n\n Lume eterno (of the Rosicrucians) = little sepulchral lamps burned by\n    the Hebrews, Greeks and Romans, 72.\n\n\n Magh\u00e1rah = a cave, a souterrain, 15.\n\n Maghrabi Sahh\u00e1r = Wizard, 54.\n\n Maghrabi, the Magician (in classical Arabic \u201cMaghribi = a dweller in\n    the Sunset-land\u201d), 53.\n\n M\u00e1h-i-Khud\u00e1\u00ed = the sovereign moon, 269.\n\n Majlis garm Karn\u00e1 = to give some life to the company (_tr._ \u201cto warm\n    them into talk\u201d), 535.\n\n Malay Aigla = Sandal wood (_tr._ Eaglewood), 20.\n\n Mameluke Beys (dignity forbidding them to walk even the length of a\n    carpet), 177.\n\n Mankalah, a favourite game in Egypt, 180.\n\n Marh\u00fam (Al-) = my late brother (_tr._ \u201cmy brother who hath found\n    mercy\u201d), 58.\n\n Marj\u00e1nah = the \u201cCoralline\u201d (from Marj\u00e1n = red coral), _tr._ \u201cMorgiana,\u201d\n    378.\n\n Market (Central) = the great Bazar, the Indian \u201cChauk,\u201d 422.\n\n Marmar Sum\u00e1ki (_Arab._) = porphyry of which ancient Egypt supplied\n    finest specimens (_tr._ \u201cSum\u00e1ki marble\u201d), 139.\n\n Marriages (Morganatic), 33.\n\n Maslakh = stripping room (also K\u00e1\u2019ah), 133.\n\n Mauza\u2019 (_Arab._) = a place, an apartment, a saloon (_here tr._ \u201chall\u201d),\n    71.\n\n Mayd\u00e1n = plain, 145.\n\n Medinah (Al-), whose title is \u201cAl-Munawwarah\u201d = the Illumined, 58.\n\n Mesmerism (\u201cimpose her hand upon his head\u201d), 189.\n\n Mesopotamia (_Heb._ Naharaym, _Arab._ Al-Jaz\u00edrah), 269.\n\n Met (_Sindi_) = a kind of clay, 348.\n\n Mihaffah bi-takhtraw\u00e1n (_Arab._) = a covered litter, 33.\n\n Mil\u00e1h (pleasant) for Mub\u00e1h (permitted), 38.\n\n \u201cMin ba\u2019di an\u201d for \u201cMin ba\u2019di m\u00e1\u201d = after that, 34.\n\n M\u00edn (who) for \u201cMan,\u201d a Syro-Egyptian form common throughout the MS.,\n    14.\n\n Mirror, a compromising magical article of many kinds, 23.\n\n Mirrors, made to open and shut in the East, 24.\n\n Misr = used in a threefold sense for Egypt, old Cairo and new Cairo,\n    34.\n\n Modesty in story of Alaeddin, 148.\n\n \u201cMoormen,\u201d famed as Magicians, 54.\n\n Morier and the literal translation of the \u201cArabian Nights,\u201d 191.\n\n Moslems make Wuz\u00fa-ablution and pray dawn-prayers before doing anything\n    worldly, 141.\n\n Mother (all women resembled her); an absurd statement to the West but\n    true in the East, 97.\n\n Mother takes rank before the wife, according to Moslem fashion, 301.\n\n \u201cMothers,\u201d the prime figures of geomancy, daughters being secondary,\n    156.\n\n Mub\u00e1rak = The blessed or well omened, 13.\n\n Mukattaf al-Yadayn = arms crossed behind his back (a servile posture),\n    16.\n\n Mun\u00e1fik (_Arab._) = \u201can infidel who pretendeth to believe in Al-Islam\u201d\n    (_tr._ \u201chypocrite\u201d), 83.\n\n Munawwarah (Al-) = the Illumined (title given to Al-Medinah), 58.\n\n Musawwadatayn (_Arab._) = _lit._ two black things, rough copies, etc.\n    (_tr._ \u201caffright\u201d), 87.\n\n Mushayyad\u00e1t, _tr._ \u201c high-builded,\u201d 66.\n\n M\u00fasik\u00e1 (_Arab._), _classically_ \u201cMusik\u00ed,\u201d = \u039c\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03ba\u1f74, _Pers._ M\u00fasik\u00e1r =\n    Music, 137.\n\n Mustapha, 53.\n\n Mut\u2019ah = temporary and extempore marriage, 33.\n\n\n Nabb\u00fat (Egyptian and Syrian weapon), 482.\n\n N\u00e1bl\u00fas = Samaria, 271.\n\n Nadb = brandishing or throwing the javelin, 154.\n\n Naharaym (_Heb._) = Mesopotamia, 269.\n\n Nakhing = making the camels kneel, 314.\n\n \u201cNakshat\u201d and \u201cSifrat,\u201d _tr._ Coin and Gold, 29.\n\n Nard = table, 180.\n\n Nardash\u00edr (Nard Ardash\u00edr?), 180.\n\n Nazar\u00e1nah _prop._ = the gift (or gifts) offered by Moslem noble to his\n    feudal superior, 486.\n\n N\u00e1z o and\u00e1z (_Pers._) = coquetry in a half-honest sense (_tr._ \u201camorous\n    liveliness\u201d), 285.\n\n Negroids dreaded by Hind\u00fas, 276.\n\n Nimak-har\u00e1m, _tr._ \u201ca traitor to the salt,\u201d 286.\n\n Nur al-Nih\u00e1r = Light of the Day, 419.\n\n Nur Jeh\u00e1n (_Pers._) = \u201cLight of the World,\u201d 473.\n\n\n \u201cO Woman,\u201d popular form of address, 108.\n\n Oarsman stands to his work in the East, 25.\n\n Objects (better kept hidden) seen with naked eye by telescope (vulgar\n    belief), 438.\n\n Og bin \u2019Unk (= Og of the Neck), the fabled King of Bashan, 19.\n\n \u201cOld lamps for new lamps\u2014who will exchange?\u201d 159.\n\n Onager, the G\u00far-i-Kh\u00e1r of Persia, 282.\n\n Onager (wild ass) confounded with Zebra, 282.\n\n\n P\u00e1-and\u00e1z (_Pers._) = a carpet made of costly stuffs\u2014a perquisite of\n    Royal attendants, 141.\n\n P\u00e1-and\u00e1z = carpets and costly cloths (spread between Baghdad and Meccah\n    for Harun al-Rashid), 177.\n\n Papal bulls and Kings\u2019 letters (in Medi\u00e6val Europe) were placed for\n    respect on the head, 89.\n\n Parasang (_Gr._ \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03ac\u03b3\u03b3\u03b7\u03c2), 456.\n\n Parwez, older pronunciation of the mod. (Khusrau) \u201cParv\u00edz,\u201d 502.\n\n Pashkh\u00e1nah = a mosquito-curtain, 121.\n\n Pays\u00e1 (pice) = two farthings and in weight = \u00bd an oz., 352.\n\n Penalty inflicted to ensure obedience, 336.\n\n Peri-Banu (The Fairy), 419.\n\n Peri (Par\u00ed) in its modern form has a superficial resemblance to\n    \u201cFairy,\u201d 419.\n\n Peris, 419.\n\n Per\u00edz\u00e1dah = Fairy-born, 502.\n\n Phantasms from the Divine Presence of \u2019Ali \u2019Aziz Efendi, the Cretan,\n    41.\n\n Pictures of faces whose eyes seem to follow beholders, 427.\n\n Pilaff (Turco-English form of Persian Pul\u00e1o), 326.\n\n Pilgrimage quoted, 314, 330, 405, 406.\n\n Pilgrims settle in the two Holy Places, 406.\n\n P\u00edr = saint, spiritual guide, 8.\n\n P\u00edrozah = turquoise (_Arab. form_ F\u00edruzah), 270.\n\n \u201cP\u00edsh-nam\u00e1z\u201d (_Pers._) = fore-prayer, 380.\n\n \u201cPointing the moral,\u201d 265.\n\n Prayers for the Dead recited over bier, 380.\n\n Precocious children, 416.\n\n Primitive attire of Easterns in hot climate, 20.\n\n Prince, petty Indian, preceded in state processions by led horses whose\n    saddles are studded with diamonds, 134.\n\n\n Rabite (steed of purest) = an Arab of noble strain, 287.\n\n \u201cRaf\u00e1 al-Bashkh\u00e1nah\u201d = he raised a hanging, a curtain (_tr._ \u201cthe\n    arras\u201d), 121.\n\n Rah\u00edl = Rachel, 355.\n\n R\u00e1ih yas\u00edr (_Arab._) = about to become (peasant\u2019s language), 131.\n\n Rajah of Baroda, 134.\n\n Ratl (_Arab._) _pron._ by Europeans \u201cRotl\u201d (Rotolo) = pounds, 128.\n\n Re-union after severance\u2014modesty in Alaeddin as contrasted with Kamar\n    al-Zam\u00e1n, etc., 176.\n\n Right hand (seated at the) a place of honour in Europe; amongst Moslems\n    the place would be to the left, 136.\n\n \u201cRing and the Lamp\u201d have a magical effect over physique and morale of\n    the owner, 104.\n\n \u201cRise that I may seat myself in thy stead\u201d (addressed to the full\n    moon)\u2014true Orientalism, 151.\n\n Rosso antico (mostly a porphyry), 139.\n\n Rukh = Roc, 186.\n\n Rukh (the mythical\u2014mixed up with the mysterious bird S\u00edmurgh), 188.\n\n\n Sabbath (the) = the Saturday, 64.\n\n Sabba raml = cast in sand (may be clerical error for \u201cZaraba raml\u201d = he\n    struck sand, _i.e._ made geomantic figures), _here tr._ \u201cstriking a\n    geomantic table,\u201d 68.\n\n Sa\u2019d = prosperity, 341.\n\n Sa\u2019d\u00ed = prosperous, 341.\n\n S\u00e1d\u00ed (Al-) w\u2019al-Gh\u00e1d\u00ed = those who went forth betime (the latter may\n    mean those who came for the morning meal), 27.\n\n S\u00e1hal for Sahal (broad \u201cDoric\u201d of Syria), 125.\n\n Sahr\u00e1 (_Arab._) = desert (applied by Persians to waste grounds about a\n    town; _here to_ \u201cbarren hill-country\u201d), 67.\n\n Samaria (according to Moslems, Shamr\u00edn and Shamr\u00fan), 271.\n\n Sam\u00e1wah, confounded with Kerbela\u2014a desert with a place of pilgrimage,\n    484.\n\n S\u00e1m\u00e1wah (Town on Euphrates), 484.\n\n S\u00e1m\u00e1wah, Desert of, 484.\n\n Sarr\u00e1f = a money-changer (_tr._ \u201cshroff\u201d), 333.\n\n S\u00e1r\u00fa (dakhal\u00fa, jalas\u00fa etc.), in the plural for the dual\u2014popular and\n    vulgar speech, 66.\n\n Seal ring (or Signet ring), 72.\n\n Seeking to release Soul of Prince who had perished, 298.\n\n Semi-abortions (preservation of, a curse in xixth century), 498.\n\n Serraglio-palace; _der. from_ Serai (Pers.) = a palace, _also der.\n    from_ Cerrar (Spanish and Portuguese) = to shut up, 128.\n\n \u201cShadow of Allah,\u201d a title of the Shah, 531.\n\n Shaghr\u00ed (_Pers._), _e.g._ \u201cKyafsh-i-Shaghr\u00ed\u201d = slippers of shagreen,\n    282.\n\n Shagreen (_der. from Pers._ \u201cShaghr\u00ed\u201d) produced by skin of wild ass,\n    282.\n\n Sh\u00e1hinsh\u00e1h = King of kings, 534.\n\n Sh\u00e1hinsh\u00e1h, a title first assumed by Ardash\u00edr, 500.\n\n Sh\u00e1hmiy\u00e1nah = a huge marquee or pavilion-tent in India, 469.\n\n Shahr-B\u00e1nu (_Pers._) = City-queen, 486.\n\n Shahwah (_Arab._) = lust, 33.\n\n Shahwah d\u00e1ram = I am lustful, 33.\n\n \u201cShaking out his skirts,\u201d a sign of willingly parting with possessions,\n    316.\n\n Shakhs, either a person or an image (_here tr._ \u201cImage\u201d), 18.\n\n Sham\u2019\u00e1d\u00edn, a would-be Arabic plural of the Persian \u201cSham\u2019ad\u00e1n\u201d =\n    candlestick, chandelier, 109.\n\n Shamr\u00edn (and Shamr\u00fan) = Samaria, 271.\n\n Sh\u00e1stras\u2014Hindu Scripture or Holy Writ, 429.\n\n Shayy bi-l\u00e1sh = _lit._ \u201ca thing gratis or in vain\u201d (_here tr._ \u201cmatters\n    beyond the range of matter\u201d), 68.\n\n \u201cShe had never gone or come\u201d = she was in her own home, 183.\n\n Sh\u00edsheh-k\u00e1 pays\u00e1 = a (pice) small coin of glass, 351.\n\n Sh\u012bve-Z\u0101d, 47\n\n \u201cSh\u00faf-hu,\u201d _Arab._ (colloquial form of \u201cShuf-hu\u201d) = look upon him, 58.\n\n S\u00edd\u00ed = my lord, 321.\n\n S\u00edd\u00ed mistaken for Sayyid, 321.\n\n S\u00edd\u00ed Nu\u2019um\u00e1n (sometimes \u201cSidi Nouman,\u201d or \u201cSidi Nonman\u201d), 321.\n\n Silvern platters, 93.\n\n Simsim (or \u201cSamsam\u201d) The grain = _Sesamum Orientale_, 370.\n\n Skin of wild ass produce the famous Shagreen, 282.\n\n Sleeping postures, 183.\n\n Sleeping with drawn sword between man and maid, 116.\n\n \u201cSmell the air\u201d = a walk, a \u201cconstitutional,\u201d 397.\n\n \u201cSon of a minute, The,\u201d _i.e._ which would take effect in the shortest\n    time, 171.\n\n Son (youngest of three) generally Fortune\u2019s favourite in folk-lore,\n    453.\n\n Soghd Samarkand = plain of Samarkand, 436.\n\n Soul of Prince who had perished (seeking to release), 298.\n\n Stirrup, The Arab, 478.\n\n Subjects (Persian) both women and men are virtually King\u2019s slaves, 533.\n\n Suicide, Hindus adepts in, 166.\n\n Sullam (_pl._ \u201cSal\u00e1lim\u201d) popularly used for a flight of steps (_tr.\n    here_ souterrain-stairs), 75.\n\n Sul\u00fak (_Arab._) a sufistical expression, the road to salvation (_tr._\n    \u201cpaths\u201d), 185.\n\n Sur\u00e1yy\u00e1t (_lit._ the Pleiades) and Sham\u2019\u00e1d\u00edn, a would-be plural\n    (Arabic) of the Persian \u201cSham\u2019ad\u00e1n\u201d = candlestick, chandelier, 109.\n\n\n Taffaytu-hu = to extinguish (_tr._ \u201cput it out\u201d), 84.\n\n Tafl (_Arab._) = a kind of clay, 348.\n\n T\u00e1k (or T\u00e1kah) = a little wall-niche, 351.\n\n Tamann\u00e1 (_Arab._) = \u201cShe saluted the king by kissing her finger tips\n    and raising them to her brow,\u201d 108.\n\n Taw\u00e1f = Circuiting (an act of worship), 298.\n\n Teshurah = a Gift offered with the object of being admitted to the\n    presence, 100.\n\n Thag, _equiv. to_ our English \u201cThug,\u201d 374.\n\n Thag = simply a \u201ccheat,\u201d but may also mean a robber, assassin, etc.\n    (_tr._ \u201cBandits\u201d), 374.\n\n Theatre (shifting), 429.\n\n \u201cThere is not a present (Teshurah) to bring to the man of God,\u201d 100.\n\n Thirst takes precedence of hunger, 320.\n\n Thought-reading, 539.\n\n \u201cThree things lack permanency. Wealth without trading, Learning without\n    disputation, Government without justice\u201d (Sa\u2019di in the Gulistan), 6.\n\n \u201cThy commands, O my mother, be upon my head, 89.\n\n \u201cThy Highness,\u201d a form of addressing royalty common in Austria, 108.\n\n Traf\u00edr = trumpets, 137.\n\n \u201cTreasure trove,\u201d the possession of exposing the owner to torture, 105.\n\n T\u00fa bar\u00e1 Thag hai = thou art a precious rascal, 374.\n\n Turcoman blood (steed of), 297.\n\n Turquoise stone, held as a talisman in the East, 270.\n\n\n \u2019Ubb (_Arab._) = bulge between breast and outer robe (_tr._ \u201cbreast\n    pocket\u201d), 317.\n\n \u201cUktuli\u2019s-sir\u00e1j,\u201d the Persian \u201cChir\u00e1ghr\u00e1 bi-kush\u201d = kill the lamp, 84.\n\n Unth = Camel, 294.\n\n Ushtur = Camel, 294.\n\n\n Vij\u00e1yanagara = City of Victory, 422.\n\n Visions frequent in Al-Islam, 405.\n\n Voices, disembodied, 515.\n\n\n Wa\u2019d al-Ban\u00e2t, or burial of Mau\u00fad\u00e1t (living daughters), 498.\n\n \u201cW\u00e1hid min al-Tujj\u00e1r,\u201d the very vulgar style, 64.\n\n Wahsh = Lion, 18.\n\n W\u00e1l\u00ed = the Civil Governor, 375.\n\n Wal\u00edmah _prop._ = a marriage-feast, 15.\n\n Washing hands and face\u2014a preparatory washing as a matter of cleanliness\n    preceding the formal Wuz\u00fa-ablution, 168.\n\n Water-closet, wedding night in, 115.\n\n Waz\u00edfah _prop._ = task, a stipend, a salary, (_here tr._ \u201cduties\u201d),\n    328.\n\n Wazir expected to know everything in Oriental countries, 163.\n\n Wedding, description of, 114.\n\n Wedding night in water-closet, 115.\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s past is past and what is written is written and shall come to\n    pass\u201d (Sir C. Murray\u2019s \u201cHassan\u201d), 10.\n\n \u201cWhoso leaveth issue dieth not\u201d (popular saying amongst Moslems), 55.\n\n Wild ass (onager), 282.\n\n Wild ass, meat of, 282.\n\n Wild ass (skin of) produces the famous Shagreen, 282.\n\n Will of man, The, a mighty motive power, 426.\n\n Windows (first mention of in Arabic MS. of \u201cAlaeddin\u201d), 186.\n\n Women (Alaeddin used to think all resembled his mother); an absurd\n    statement to the West but true in the East, 97.\n\n \u201cWoven air,\u201d local name of the Patna gauzes, 423.\n\n\n Y\u00e1 R\u00e1jul (for Rajul) = O man (an Egypto-Syrian form), 58.\n\n Y\u00e1min, copyist\u2019s error for \u201cY\u00e1sim\u00edn,\u201d _tr._ gelsamine, 19.\n\n Yaum al-Mahshar = _lit._ the Day of Assembly (_tr._ Judgment Day), 21.\n\n\n Zahab-raml\u00ed = placer-gold, 15.\n\n Zalm = the dewlap of sheep or goat, 19.\n\n Zangi-i-Adam-kh\u2019w\u00e1r (_tr._ Ethiopian) afterwards called Habashi = an\n    Abyssinian, 276.\n\n Zanzib\u00e1r = Blackland, 281.\n\n Zarb Raml (Geomancy), 4.\n\n Zayn al-Asnam, object of the tale, 38.\n\n Zayn al-Asnam (Turkish) version by Mr. Gibb (note), 41.\n\n Zayn al-Asnam; _old ver._ \u201cOrnament (adornment?) of the Statues,\u201d 3.\n\n Zayn (al-D\u00edn = Adornment of The Faith and owner of) al-Asn\u00e1m = the\n    Images, 3.\n\n Zij = table of the stars\u2014almanack, 159.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  _i.e._ Daddy Abdullah; the former is used in Pers. Turk. and\n  Hindostani for dad! dear! child! and for the latter, see vol. v. 141.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n  Here the Arab. syn. of the Pers. \u201cDarwaysh,\u201d which Egyptians pronounce\n  \u201cDarw\u00edsh.\u201d In the Nile Valley the once revered title has been debased\n  to an insult = \u201cpoor devil\u201d (see Pilgrimage i, pp. 20\u201322); \u201cFak\u00edr\u201d\n  also has come to signify a Koran-chaunter.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n  To \u201cNakh\u201d is to make the camel kneel. See vol. ii. 139, and its\n  references.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n  As a sign that he parted willingly with all his possessions.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n  Arab. \u201c\u2019Ubb\u201d prop. = the bulge between the breast and the outer robe\n  which is girdled round the waist to make a pouch. See vol. viii. 205.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n  Thirst very justly takes precedence of hunger: a man may fast for\n  forty days, but without water in a tropical country he would die\n  within a week. For a description of the horrors of thirst see my\n  \u201cFirst Footsteps in East Africa,\u201d pp. 387\u20138.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n  In Galland it is Sidi Nouman; in many English translations, as in the\n  \u201cLucknow\u201d (Newul Kishore Press, 1880), it has become \u201cSidi Nonman.\u201d\n  The word has occurred in King Omar bin al-Nu\u2019uman, vol. ii. 77 and\n  325, and vol. v. 74. For S\u00edd\u00ed = my lord, see vol. v. 283; Byron, in\n  The Corsair, ii. 2, seems to mistake it for \u201cSayyid.\u201d\n\n               High in his hall reclines the turban\u2019d Seyd,\n               Around\u2014the bearded chiefs he came to lead.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n  The Turco-English form of the Persian \u201cPul\u00e1o.\u201d\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n  _i.e._ the secure (fem.). It was the name of the famous concubine of\n  Solomon to whom he entrusted his ring (vol. vi. 84); also of the\n  mother of Mohammed who having taken her son to Al-Medinah (Yathrib)\n  died on the return journey. I cannot understand why the Apostle of\n  Al-Islam, according to his biographers and commentators, refused to\n  pray for his parent\u2019s soul, she having been born in Al-Fitrah (the\n  interval between the fall of Christianity and the birth of Al-Islam),\n  when he had not begun to preach his \u201cdispensation.\u201d See Tabari, ii.\n  450.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n  The cane-play: see vol. vi. 263.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n  Galland has _une Goule_, _i.e._ a Gh\u00falah, a she-Gh\u00fal, an ogress. But\n  the lady was supping with a male of that species, for which see vols.\n  i. 55; vi. 36.\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n  In the text \u201cWaz\u00edfah\u201d prop. = a task, a stipend, a salary; but here =\n  the \u201cFarz\u201d devotions which he considered to be his duty. In Spitta-Bey\n  (_loc. cit._ p. 218) it is = duty, office, position.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n  For this scene which is one of every day in the East; see Pilgrimage\n  ii. pp. 52\u201354.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n  This hate of the friend of man is inherited from Jewish ancestors;\n  and, wherever the Hebrew element prevails, the muzzle, which has\n  lately made its appearance in London, is strictly enforced, as at\n  Trieste. Amongst the many boons which civilisation has conferred upon\n  Cairo I may note hydrophobia; formerly unknown in Egypt the dreadful\n  disease has lately caused more than one death. In India sporadic cases\n  have at rare times occurred in my own knowledge since 1845.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n  In Galland \u201cRougeau\u201d = (for Rougeaud?) a red-faced (man), etc., and in\n  the English version \u201cChance\u201d: \u201cBakht\u201d = luck, good fortune.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n  In the text \u201cSarr\u00e1f\u201d = a money-changer. See vols. i. 210; iv. 270.\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n  Galland has forgotten this necessary detail: see vol. i. 30 and\n  elsewhere. In Lane\u2019s Story of the man metamorphosed to an ass, the old\n  woman, \u201cquickly covering her face, declared the fact.\u201d\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n  In the normal forms of this story, which Galland has told very badly,\n  the maiden would have married the man she saved.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n  In other similar tales the injured one inflicts such penalty by the\n  express command of his preserver who takes strong measures to ensure\n  obedience.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n  In the more finished tales of the true \u201cNights\u201d the mare would have\n  been restored to human shape after giving the best security for good\n  conduct in time to come.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n  _i.e._ Master Hasan the Ropemaker. Galland writes, after European\n  fashion, \u201cHassan,\u201d for which see vol. i. 251; and for \u201cKhw\u00e1jah\u201d vol.\n  vi. 146. \u201cAl-Habb\u00e1l\u201d was the cognomen of a learned \u201cH\u00e1fiz\u201d (=\n  traditionist and Koran reader), Ab\u00fa Ish\u00e1k Ibrahim, in Ibn Khall. ii.\n  262; for another see iv. 410.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n  \u201cSa\u2019d\u201d = prosperity and \u201cSa\u2019d\u00ed\u201d = prosperous; the surname of the\n  \u201cPersian moralist,\u201d for whom see my friend F. F. Arbuthnot\u2019s pleasant\n  booklet, \u201cPersian Portraits\u201d (London, Quaritch, 1887).\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n  This is true to nature as may be seen any day at Bombay. The crows are\n  equally audacious, and are dangerous to men lying wounded in solitary\n  places.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n  The Pers. \u201cGil-i-sar-sh\u00fal\u201d (= head-washing clay), the Sindi \u201cMet,\u201d and\n  the Arab. \u201cTafl,\u201d a kind of clay much used in Persia, Afghanistan,\n  Sind, etc. Galland turns it into _terre \u00e0 decrasser_ and his English\n  translators into \u201cscouring sand which women use in baths.\u201d This\n  argillaceous earth mixed with mustard oil is locally used for clay and\n  when rose-leaves and perfumes are used, it makes a tolerable\n  wash-ball. See \u201cScinde or The Unhappy Valley,\u201d i. 31.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n  For the \u201cCowrie\u201d (_Cypr\u00e6a moneta_) see vol. iv. 77. The B\u00e1d\u00e1m or B\u00edd\u00e1m\n  (almond) used by way of small change in India, I have noted elsewhere.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n  Galland has \u201c_un morceau de plomb_,\u201d which in the Hindi text becomes\n  \u201cSh\u00edshah-k\u00e1-pays\u00e1\u201d = a (pice) small coin of glass: the translator also\n  terms it a \u201cFaddah,\u201d for which see Nusf (alias \u201cNuss\u201d), vols. ii. 37;\n  vi. 214 and ix. 139, 167. Glass tokens, by way of coins, were until\n  late years made at Hebron, in Southern Syria.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n  For the \u201cT\u00e1k\u201d or \u201cT\u00e1kah\u201d = the little wall-niche, see vol. vii. 361.\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n  In the French and English versions the coin is a bit of lead for\n  weighting the net. For the \u201cPays\u00e1\u201d (pice) = two farthings, and in\n  weight = half an ounce, see Herklot\u2019s Glossary, p. xcviii.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n  In the text \u201cbilisht\u201d = the long span between thumb-tip and\n  minimus-tip. Galland says _long plus d\u2019une coud\u00e9e et gros \u00e0\n  proportion_.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n  For the diamond (Arab. \u201cAlm\u00e1s\u201d from \u1f00\u03b4\u03ac\u03bc\u03b1\u03c2, and in Hind. \u201cH\u00edr\u00e1\u201d and\n  \u201cPann\u00e1\u201d) see vols. vi. 15, ix. 325; and in latter correct, \u201cEuritic,\u201d\n  a misprint for \u201cdioritic.\u201d I still cannot believe diamond-cutting to\n  be an Indian art, and I must hold that it was known to the ancients.\n  It could not have been an unpolished stone, that \u201cAdamas notissimus\u201d\n  which according to Juvenal (vi. 156) Agrippa gave to his sister.\n  Maundeville (A.D. 1322) has a long account of the mineral, \u201cso hard\n  that no man can polish it,\u201d and called Hamese (\u201cAlm\u00e1s?\u201d). For Mr.\n  Petrie and his theory, see vol. ix. 325. In most places where the\n  diamond has been discovered of late years it had been used as a magic\n  stone, _e.g._, by the Pag\u00e9s or medicine-men of the Brazil, or for\n  children\u2019s playthings, which was the case with the South-African\n  \u201cCaffres.\u201d\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n  These stones, especially the carbuncle, which give out light in\n  darkness are a commonplace of Eastern folk-lore. For luminous jewels\n  in folk-lore, see Mr. Clouston (i. 412.): the belief is not wholly\n  extinct in England, and I have often heard of it in the Brazil and\n  upon the African Gaboon. It appears to me that there may be a basis of\n  fact to this fancy, the abnormal effect of precious stones upon\n  mesmeric \u201csensitives.\u201d\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n  The chimney and chimney-piece of Galland are not Eastern: the H. V.\n  uses \u201cBukh\u00e1r\u00ed\u201d = a place for steaming.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n  _i.e._ \u201cRachel.\u201d\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n  In the text \u201clakh,\u201d the Anglicised \u201clac\u201d = 100,000.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n  This use of camphor is noted by Gibbon (D. and F. iii. 195.)\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n  \u201c\u00c1b o haw\u00e1\u201d = climate: see vol. ii. 4.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n  Galland makes this article a linen cloth wrapped about the skull-cap\n  or core of the turban.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n  Mr. Coote (_loc. cit._ p. 185) is unable to produce a _puramythe_\n  containing all of \u201cAli B\u00e1ba;\u201d but, for the two leading incidents he\n  quotes from Prof. Sakellarios two tales collected in Cyprus. One is\n  Morgiana marking the village doors (p. 187), which has occurred\n  doubtless a hundred times. The other, in the \u201cStory of Drakos,\u201d is an\n  ogre, hight \u201cThree Eyes,\u201d who attempts the rescue of his wife with a\n  party of blackamoors (\u03bc\u03b1\u03cd\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2) packed in bales and these are all\n  discovered and slain.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n  _Dans la for\u00eat_, says Galland.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n  Or \u201cSamsam,\u201d the grain = _Sesamum Orientale_: hence the French,\n  _Sesame, ouvre-toi!_ The term is cabalistical, like S\u00falem, S\u00falam or\n  Sh\u00falam in the Directorium Vit\u00e6 Human\u00e6 of Johannes di Capu\u00e2: Inquit\n  vir: Ibam in nocte plenilunii et ascendebam super domum ubi furari\n  intendebam, et accedens ad fenestram ubi radii lune ingrediebantur, et\n  dicebam hanc coniurationem, scilicet sulem sulem, septies, deinde\n  amplectebar lumen lune et sine lesione descendebam ad domum, etc. (pp.\n  24\u201325) par Joseph Derenbourg, Membre de l\u2019Institut 1^{re} Fascicule,\n  Paris, F. Vieweg, 67, Rue de Richelieu, 1887.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n  In the text \u201cJath\u00e1ni\u201d = the wife of an elder brother. Hindostani, like\n  other Eastern languages, is rich in terms for kinship whereof English\n  is so exceptionally poor. Mr. Francis Galtson, in his well-known work\n  \u201cHereditary Genius,\u201d a misnomer by the by for \u201cHereditary Talent,\u201d\n  felt this want severely and was at pains to supply it.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n  In the text \u201cThag,\u201d our English \u201cThug,\u201d often pronounced moreover by\n  the Briton with the sibilant \u201cth.\u201d It means simply a cheat: you say to\n  your servant \u201cT\u00fa bar\u00e1 Thag hai\u201d = thou art a precious rascal; but it\n  has also the secondary meaning of robber, assassin, and the tertiary\n  of Bhaw\u00e1ni-worshippers who offer indiscriminate human sacrifices to\n  the De\u00ebss of Destruction. The word and the thing have been made\n  popular in England through the \u201cConfessions of a Thug\u201d by my late\n  friend Meadows Taylor; and I may record my conviction that were the\n  English driven out of India, \u201cThuggee,\u201d like piracy in Cutch and in\n  the Persian Gulf, would revive at the shortest possible time.\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n  _i.e._ the Civil Governor, who would want nothing better.\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n  This is in Galland and it is followed by the H. V.; but it would be\n  more natural to suppose that of the quarters two were hung up outside\n  the door and the others within.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n  I am unwilling to alter the time honoured corruption: properly it is\n  written Marj\u00e1nah = the \u201cCoralline,\u201d from Marj\u00e1n = red coral, for which\n  see vols. ii. 100; vii. 373.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n  _i.e._ the \u201c\u2019Iddah,\u201d during which she could not marry. See vol. iii.\n  292.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n  In Galland he is a _savetier * * * naturellement gai, et qui avait\n  toujours le mot pour rire_: the H.V. naturally changed him to a tailor\n  as the Ch\u00e1m\u00e1r or leather-worker would be inadmissible to polite\n  conversation.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n  _i.e._ a leader of prayer; the Pers. \u201cP\u00edsh-nam\u00e1z\u201d = fore-prayer, see\n  vols. ii. 203; iv. 111 and 227. Galland has \u201c\u00edm\u00e1n,\u201d which can mean\n  only faith, belief, and in this blunder he is conscientiously followed\n  by his translators\u2014servum pecus.\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n  Galland nails down the corpse in the bier\u2014a Christian practice\u2014and he\n  certainly knew better. Moreover, prayers for the dead are mostly\n  recited over the bier when placed upon the brink of the grave; nor is\n  it usual for a woman to play so prominent a part in the ceremony.\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n  See vols. v. 111, ix. 163 and x. 47.\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n  Galland is less merciful, \u201c_Aussit\u00f4t le conducteur fut d\u00e9clar\u00e9 digne\n  de mort tout d\u2019une voix, et il s\u2019y condamna lui-m\u00eame_,\u201d etc. The\n  criminal, indeed, condemns himself and firmly offers his neck to be\n  stricken.\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n  In the text \u201cLauh,\u201d for which see vol. v. 73.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n  In Arab. \u201cK\u00e1ma\u201d = he rose, which, in vulgar speech especially in\n  Egypt, = he began. So in Spitta-Bey\u2019s \u201cContes Arabes Modernes\u201d (p.\n  124) \u201cK\u00e1mat al-Sibhah dh\u00e1kat f\u00ed yad akh\u00ed-h\u201d = the chaplet began (lit.\n  arose) to wax tight in his brother\u2019s hand. This sense is shadowed\n  forth in classical Arabic.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n  So in old Arabian history \u201cKas\u00edr\u201d (the Little One), the Arab Zopyrus,\n  stows away in huge camel-bags the 2,000 warriors intended to surprise\n  masterful Queen Zebba. Chronique de Tabari, vol. ii. 26. Also the\n  armed men in boxes by which Shamar, King of Al-Yaman, took Shamar-kand\n  = Shamar\u2019s-town, now Samarkand. (Ibid. ii. 158.)\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n  _i.e._ for a walk, a \u201cconstitutional\u201d: the phrase is very common in\n  Egypt, and has occurred before.\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n  These visions are frequent in Al-Islam; see Pilgrimage iii. 254\u201355. Of\n  course Christians are not subject to them, as Moslems also are never\n  favoured with glimpses of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints; the best\n  proof of their \u201cSubjectivity.\u201d\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n  For this word see De Sacy, Chrest. ii. 421. It has already occurred in\n  The Nights, vol. iii. 295.\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n  Not a few pilgrims settle for a time or for life in the two Holy\n  Places, which are thus kept supplied with fresh blood. See Pilgrimage\n  ii. 260.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n  _i.e._ Bayt al-Mukaddas, for which see vol. ii. 132.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n  An affidavit amongst Moslems is \u201clitis decisio,\u201d as in the\n  jurisprudence of medi\u00e6val Europe.\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n  In Arab folk-lore there are many instances of such precocious\n  boys\u2014_enfants terribles_ they must be in real life. In Ibn Khall.\n  (iii. 104) we find notices of a book \u201cKit\u00e1b Nujab\u00e1 al-Abn\u00e1\u201d = Treatise\n  on Distinguished Children, by Ibn Zakaral-Sakalli (the Sicilian), ob.\n  A.D. 1169\u201370. And the boy-Kazi is a favourite r\u00f4le in the plays of\n  peasant-lads who enjoy the irreverent \u201cchaff\u201d almost as much as when\n  \u201cmaking a Pasha.\u201d This reminds us of the boys electing Cyrus as their\n  King in sport (Herodotus, i. 114). For the cycle of \u201cPrecocious\n  Children\u201d and their adventures, see Mr. Clouston (Popular Tales, etc.,\n  ii. 1\u201314), who enters into the pedigree and affiliation. I must,\n  however, differ with that able writer when he remarks at the end, \u201cAnd\n  now we may regard the story of Valerius Maximus with suspicion, and\n  that of Lloyd as absolutely untrue, so far as William Noy\u2019s alleged\n  share in the \u2018case.\u2019\u201d The jest or the event happening again and again\n  is no valid proof of its untruth; and it is often harder to believe in\n  derivation than in spontaneous growth.\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n  In Galland _Ali Cogia, Marchand de Bagdad_, is directly followed by\n  the _Histoire du Cheval Enchant\u00e9_. For this \u201cEbony Horse,\u201d as I have\n  called it, see vol. v. p. 32.\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n  \u201cB\u00e1n\u00fa\u201d = a lady, a dame of high degree generally, _e.g._ the (Shah\u2019s)\n  Banu-i-Harem in James Morier (\u201cThe Mirza,\u201d iii. 50), who rightly\n  renders _Pari Banu_ = Pari of the first quality. \u201cPeri\u201d (Par\u00ed) in its\n  modern form has a superficial resemblance to \u201cFairy;\u201d but this\n  disappears in the \u201cPairika\u201d of the Avesta and the \u201cPairik\u201d of the\n  modern Parsee. In one language only, the Mult\u00e1n\u00ed, there is a masculine\n  form for the word \u201cPar\u00e1\u201d = a he-fairy (Scinde, ii. 203). In Al-Islam\n  these Peris are beautiful feminine spirits who, created after the\n  \u201cD\u00edvs\u201d (Tabari, i. 7), mostly believe in Allah and the Koran and\n  desire the good of mankind: they are often attacked by the said D\u00edvs,\n  giants or demons, who imprison them in cages hung to the highest\n  trees, and here the captives are visited by their friends who feed\n  them with the sweetest of scents. I have already contrasted them with\n  the green-coated pygmies to which the grotesque fancy of Northern\n  Europe has reduced them. B\u00e1n\u00fa in Pers. = a princess, a lady, and is\n  still much used, _e.g._ B\u00e1n\u00fa-\u00ed-Harim, the Dame of the Serraglio, whom\n  foreigners call \u201cQueen of Persia;\u201d and \u00c1r\u00e1m-Banu = \u201cthe calm\n  Princess,\u201d a nickname. A Greek story equivalent of Prince Ahmad is\n  told by Pio in _Contes Populaires Grecs_ (No. ii. p. 98) and called \u03a4\u1f78\n  \u03c7\u03c1\u03c5\u03c3\u1f78 \u03ba\u03bf\u03c5\u03c4\u03ac\u03ba\u03b9, the Golden box. Three youths (\u03c0\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u03ac\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1) love the same\n  girl and agree that whoever shall learn the best craft (\u1f45\u03b3\u03b5\u03bf\u03c2 \u03bc\u03ac\u03b8\u03b7\n  \u03c0\u03bb\u03b5\u1f76\u03b1 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u1f74\u03bd \u03c4\u03ad\u03ba\u03bd\u03b7\u03bd) shall marry her; one becomes an astrologer, the\n  second can raise the dead, and the third can run faster than air. They\n  find her at death\u2019s door, and her soul, which was at her teeth ready\n  to start, goes down (\u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c0\u03ac \u2019\u1f23 \u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u03ae \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03ba\u03ac\u03c4\u03c9, \u03c0\u03bf\u1f54\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5 \u03c0\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u1f70 \u03c3\u03c4\u03ac \u03b4\u03cc\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1\n  \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2).\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n  Light of the Day.\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n  Galland has \u201cBisnagar,\u201d which the H. V. corrupts to Bishan-Garh =\n  Vishnu\u2019s Fort, an utter misnomer. Bisnagar, like Bijnagar,\n  Beejanuggur, Vizianuggur, etc., is a Prakrit corruption of the\n  Sanskrit Vij\u00e1yanagara = City of Victory, the far-famed Hindu city and\n  capital of the Narasingha or Lord of Southern India, mentioned in The\n  Nights, vols. vi. 18; ix. 84. Nicolo de\u2019 Conti in the xvth century\n  found it a magnificent seat of Empire some fifteen marches south of\n  the pestilential mountains which contained the diamond mines. Accounts\n  of its renown and condition in the last generation have been given by\n  James Grant (\u201cRemarks on the Dekkan\u201d) and by Captain Moore\n  (\u201cOperations of Little\u2019s Detachment against Tippoo Sultan\u201d). The\n  latest description of it is in \u201cThe Indian Empire,\u201d by Sir William W.\n  Hunter. Vij\u00e1yanagar, village in Bellary district, Madras, lat. 15\u00b0 18\u2032\n  N., long. 76\u00b0 30\u2032 E.; pop. (1871), 437, inhabiting 172 houses. The\n  proper name of this village is _Hampi_, but Vij\u00e1yanagar was the name\n  of the dynasty (?) and of the kingdom which had its capital here and\n  was the last great Hindu power of the South. Founded by two\n  adventurers in the middle of the xivth century, it lasted for two\n  centuries till its star went down at T\u00e1likot in A.D. 1565. For a\n  description of the ruins of the old city of Vij\u00e1yanagar, which covers\n  a total area of nine square miles, see \u201cMurray\u2019s Handbook for Madras,\u201d\n  by E. B. Eastwick (1879), vol. ix. p. 235. Authentic history in\n  Southern India begins with the Hindu kingdom of Vij\u00e1yanagar, or\n  Narsinha, from A.D. 1118 to 1565. The capital can still be traced\n  within the Madras district of Bellary, on the right bank of the\n  Tungabhadra river\u2014vast ruins of temples, fortifications, tanks and\n  bridges, haunted by hy\u00e6nas and snakes. For at least three centuries\n  Vij\u00e1yanagar ruled over the southern part of the Indian triangle. Its\n  Rajas waged war and made peace on equal terms with the Mohamadan\n  sultans of the Deccan. See vol. iv. p. 335, Sir W. W. Hunter\u2019s\n  \u201cImperial Gazetteer of India,\u201d Edit. 1881.\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n  The writer means the great Bazar, the Indian \u201cChauk,\u201d which = our\n  English Carfax or Carfex (Carrefour) and forms the core of ancient\n  cities in the East. It is in some places, as Damascus, large as one of\n  the quarters, and the narrow streets or lanes, vaulted over or\n  thatched, are all closed at night by heavy doors well guarded by men\n  and dogs. Trades are still localised, each owning its own street,\n  after the fashion of older England, where we read of Draper\u2019s Lane and\n  Butchers\u2019 Row; Lombard Street, Cheapside and Old Jewry.\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n  The local name of the Patna gauzes. The term was originally applied to\n  the produce of the Coan looms, which, however, was anticipated in\n  ancient Egypt. See p. 287 of \u201cL\u2019Arch\u00e9ologie \u00c9gyptienne\u201d (Paris, A.\n  Quantin) of the learned Professor G. Maspero, a most able popular work\n  by a savant who has left many regrets on the banks of Nilus.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n  The great prototype of the Flying Carpet is that of Sulayman bin D\u00e1\u00fad,\n  a fable which the Koran (chap. xxi. 81) borrowed from the Talmud, not\n  from \u201cIndian fictions.\u201d It was of green sendal embroidered with gold\n  and silver and studded with precious stones, and its length and\n  breadth were such that all the Wise King\u2019s host could stand upon it,\n  the men to the left and the Jinns to the right of the throne; and when\n  all were ordered, the Wind, at royal command, raised it and wafted it\n  whither the Prophet would, while an army of birds flying overhead\n  canopied the host from the sun. In the Middle Ages the legend assumed\n  another form. \u201cDuke Richard, surnamed \u2018Richard sans peur,\u2019 walking\n  with his courtiers one evening in the forest of Moulineaux, near one\n  of his castles on the banks of the Seine, hearing a prodigious noise\n  coming towards him, sent one of his esquires to know what was the\n  matter, who brought him word that it was a company of people under a\n  leader or King. Richard, with five hundred of his bravest Normans,\n  went out to see a sight which the peasants were so accustomed to that\n  they viewed it two or three times a week without fear. The sight of\n  the troop, preceded by two men, _who spread a cloth on the ground_,\n  made all the Normans run away, and leave the Duke alone. He saw the\n  strangers form themselves into a circle on the cloth, and on asking\n  who they were, was told that they were the spirits of Charles V., King\n  of France, and his servants, condemned to expiate their sins by\n  fighting all night against the wicked and the damned. Richard desired\n  to be of their party, and receiving a strict charge not to quit the\n  cloth, was conveyed with them to Mount Sinai, where, leaving them\n  without quitting the cloth, he said his prayers in the Church of St.\n  Catherine\u2019s Abbey there, while they were fighting, and returned with\n  them. In proof of the truth of this story, he brought back half the\n  wedding-ring of a knight in that convent, whose wife, after six years,\n  concluded him dead, and was going to take a second husband.\u201d (Note in\n  the Lucknow Edition of The Nights.)\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n  Amongst Eastern peoples, and especially adepts, the will of man is not\n  a mere term for a mental or cerebral operation, it takes the rank of a\n  substance; it becomes a mighty motive power, like table-turning and\n  other such phenomena which, now looked upon as child\u2019s play, will\n  perform a prime part in the Kinetics of the century to come. If a few\n  pair of hands imposed upon a heavy dinner-table can raise it in the\n  air, as I have often seen, what must we expect to result when the new\n  motive force shall find its Franklin and be shown to the world as real\n  \u201cVril\u201d? The experiment of silently willing a subject to act in a\n  manner not suggested by speech or sign has been repeatedly tried and\n  succeeded in London drawing-rooms; and it has lately been suggested\n  that atrocious crimes have resulted from overpowering volition. In\n  cases of paralysis the Faculty is agreed upon the fact that local\n  symptoms disappear when the will-power returns to the brain. And here\n  I will boldly and baldly state my theory that, in sundry cases,\n  spectral appearances (ghosts) and abnormal smells and sounds are\n  simply the effect of a Will which has, so to speak, created them.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n  The text has \u201cBut-Kh\u00e1nah\u201d = idol-house (or room) syn. with \u201cBut-Kadah\u201d\n  = image-cuddy, which has been proposed as the derivation of the\n  disputed \u201cPagoda.\u201d The word \u201cKh\u00e1nah\u201d also appears in our balcony,\n  origin. \u201cbalcony,\u201d through the South-European tongues, the Persian\n  being \u201cB\u00e1l\u00e1-kh\u00e1nah\u201d = high room. From \u201cKadah\u201d also we derive \u201ccuddy,\u201d\n  now confined to nautical language.\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n  Europe contains sundry pictures which have, or are supposed to have,\n  this property; witness the famous Sudarium bearing the head of Jesus.\n  The trick, for it is not Art, is highly admired by the credulous.\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n  _i.e._ the Hindu Scripture or Holy Writ, _e.g._ \u201cK\u00e1ma-Shastra\u201d = the\n  Cupid-gospel.\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n  This shifting theatre is evidently borrowed by Galland from Pliny (N.\n  H. xxxvi., 24) who tells that in B.C. 50, C. Curio built two large\n  wooden theatres which could be wheeled round and formed into an\n  amphitheatre. The simple device seems to stir the bile of the\n  unmechanical old Roman, so unlike the Greek in powers of invention.\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n  This trick is now common in the circuses and hippodromes of Europe,\n  horses and bulls being easily taught to perform it; but India has as\n  yet not produced anything equal to the \u201cCyclist elephant\u201d of Paris.\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n  This Arab.-Pers. compound, which we have corrupted to \u201cBezestein\u201d or\n  \u201cBezetzein\u201d and \u201cBezesten,\u201d properly means a market-place for Baz or\n  Bazz = cloth, fine linen; but is used by many writers as = Bazar, see\n  \u201cKaysariah,\u201d vol. i, 266.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n  The origin of the lens and its applied use to the telescope and the\n  microscope are \u201clost\u201d (as the Castle-guides of Edinburgh say) \u201cin the\n  glooms of antiquity.\u201d Well ground glasses have been discovered amongst\n  the finds of Egypt and Assyria: indeed much of the finer work of the\n  primeval artists could not have been done without such aid. In Europe\n  the \u201cspy-glass\u201d appears first in the Opus Majus of the learned Roger\n  Bacon (circa A.D. 1270); and his \u201coptic tube\u201d (whence his saying \u201call\n  things are known by perspective\u201d), chiefly contributed to make his\n  wide-spread fame as a wizard. The telescope was popularised by Galileo\n  who (as mostly happens) carried off and still keeps, amongst the\n  vulgar, all the honours of invention. Some \u201cIllustrators\u201d of The\n  Nights confound this \u201cNazz\u00e1rah,\u201d the Pers. \u201cD\u00far-b\u00edn,\u201d or far-seer,\n  with the \u201cMagic Mirror,\u201d a speculum which according to Gower was set\n  up in Rome by Virgilius the Magician; hence the Mirror of Glass in the\n  Squire\u2019s tale; Merlin\u2019s glassie Mirror of Spenser (F. Q. ii. 24); the\n  mirror in the head of the monstrous fowl which forecast the Spanish\n  invasion to the Mexicans; the glass which in the hands of Cornelius\n  Agrippa (A.D. 1520) showed to the Earl of Surrey fair Geraldine \u201csick\n  in her bed;\u201d to the globe of glass in The Lusiads; Dr. Dee\u2019s\n  show-stone, a bit of cannel-coal; and lastly the zinc and copper disk\n  of the absurdly called \u201celectro-biologist.\u201d I have noticed this matter\n  at some length in various places.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n  D\u2019Herbelot renders Soghd Samarkand = plain of Samarkand. Hence the old\n  \u201cSogdiana,\u201d the famed and classical capital of M\u00e1war\u00e1nnahr, our modern\n  Transoxiana, now known as Samarkand. The Hindi translator has turned\n  \u201cSoghd\u201d into \u201cSad\u00e1\u201d and gravely notes that \u201cthe village appertained to\n  Arabia.\u201d He possibly had a dim remembrance of the popular legend which\n  derives \u201cSamarkand\u201d from Shamir or Samar bin Afrik\u00fas, the Tobba King\n  of Al-Yaman, who lay waste Soghd-city (\u201cShamir kand\u201d = Shamir\n  destroyed); and when rebuilt the place was called by the Arab.\n  corruption Samarkand. See Ibn Khallikan ii. 480. Ibn Haukal (Kit\u00e1b al\n  Mam\u00e1lik wa al-Mas\u00e1lik = Book of Realms and Routes), whose Oriental\n  Geography (xth century) was translated by Sir W. Ouseley (London,\n  Oriental Press, 1800), followed by Ab\u00fa \u2019l-Fid\u00e1, mentions the\n  Himyaritic inscription upon an iron plate over the Kash portal of\n  Samarkand (Appendix No. iii).\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n  The wish might have been highly indiscreet and have exposed the wisher\n  to the resentment of the two other brothers. In parts of Europe it is\n  still the belief of the vulgar that men who use telescopes can see\n  even with the naked eye objects which are better kept hidden; and I\n  have heard of troubles in the South of France because the villagers\n  would not suffer the secret charms of their women to become as it were\n  the public property of the lighthouse employ\u00e9s.\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n  \u201cJ\u00e1m-i-Jamsh\u00edd\u201d is a well worn commonplace in Moslem folk-lore; but\n  commentators cannot agree whether \u201cJ\u00e1m\u201d be = a mirror or a cup. In the\n  latter sense it would represent the Cyathomantic cup of the Patriarch\n  Joseph and the symbolic bowl of Nestor. Jamsh\u00edd may be translated\n  either Jam the Bright or the Cup of the Sun: this ancient King is the\n  Solomon of the grand old Guebres.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n  This passage may have suggested to Walter Scott one of his\n  descriptions in \u201cThe Monastery.\u201d\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n  In the text \u201cL\u00e1jaward\u00ed,\u201d for which see vols. iii. 33, and ix. 190.\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n  In Galland and the H.V. \u201cPrince Husayn\u2019s.\u201d\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n  This is the \u201cGandharba-lagana\u201d (fairy wedding) of the Hindus; a\n  marriage which lacked only the normal ceremonies. For the Gandharbas =\n  heavenly choristers see Moor\u2019s \u201cHind\u00fa Pantheon,\u201d p. 237, etc.\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n  \u201cPerfumed with amber\u201d (-gris?) says Galland.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n  The Hind. term for the royal lev\u00e9e, as \u201cSel\u00e1m\u201d is the Persian.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n  Arab. \u201c\u2019Ilm al-Ghayb\u201d = the Science of Hidden Things which, says the\n  Hadis, belongeth only to the Lord. Yet amongst Moslems, as with other\n  faiths, the instinctive longing to pry into the Future has produced a\n  host of pseudo-sciences, Geomancy, Astrology, Prophecy and others\n  which serve only to prove that such knowledge, in the present\n  condition of human nature, is absolutely unattainable.\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n  In folk-lore and fairy tales the youngest son of mostly three brothers\n  is generally Fortune\u2019s favourite: at times also he is the fool or the\n  unlucky one of the family, Cinderella being his counterpart (Mr.\n  Clouston, i. 321).\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n  The parasang (Gr. \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03ac\u03b3\u03b3\u03b7\u03c2), which Ibn Khall. (iii. 315) reduces to\n  three miles, has been derived wildly enough from Fars or Pars (Persia\n  proper) sang = (mile) stone. Chardin supports the etymology, \u201cbecause\n  leagues are marked out with great tall stones in the East as well as\n  the West, _e.g._ ad primam (vel secundam) lapidem.\u201d\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n  A huge marquee or pavilion-tent in India.\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n  The Jinn feminine; see vol. i. 10. The word hardly corresponds with\n  the Pers. \u201cPeri\u201d and Engl. \u201cFairy,\u201d a creation, like the \u201cD\u00edv,\u201d of the\n  so-called \u201cAryan,\u201d not \u201cSemitic,\u201d race.\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n  Galland makes the Fairy most unjustifiably fear that her husband is\n  meditating the murder of his father; and the Hind\u00ed in this point has\n  much the advantage of the Frenchman.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n  Pers. = \u201cLight of the World;\u201d familiar to Europe as the name of the\n  Grand Moghul Jeh\u00e1ng\u00edr\u2019s principal wife.\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n  The Arab stirrup, like that of the Argentine Gaucho, was originally\n  made of wood, liable to break, and forming a frail support for lancer\n  and sworder. A famous chief and warrior, Ab\u00fa Sa\u2019\u00edd al-Muhallab (ob.\n  A.H. 83 = 702) first gave orders to forge footrests of iron.\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n  For this Egyptian and Syrian weapon see vol. i. 234.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n  See vol. vii. 93, where an error of punctuation confounds it with\n  Kerbela,\u2014a desert with a place of pilgrimage. \u201cSam\u00e1wah\u201d in Ibn Khall.\n  (vol. i. 108) is also the name of a town on the Euphrates.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n  Nazar\u00e1nah prop. = the gift (or gifts) offered at visits by a Moslem\n  noble or feoffee in India to his feudal superior; and the Kal\u00edchah of\n  Hind\u00fa, Malabar, Goa and the Blue Mountains (p. 197). Hence the\n  periodical tributes and especially the presents which represent our\n  \u201clegacy-duty\u201d and the \u201csuccession-duty\u201d for Rajahs and Nabobs, the\n  latter so highly lauded by \u201cThe Times,\u201d as the logical converse of the\n  Corn-laws which ruined our corn. The Nazar\u00e1nah can always be made a\n  permanent and a considerable source of revenue, far more important\n  than such unpopular and un-Oriental device as an income-tax. But our\n  financiers have yet to learn the A. B. C. of political economy in\n  matters of assessment, which is to work upon familiar lines; and they\n  especially who, like Mr. Wilson \u201cmad as a hatter,\u201d hold and hold forth\n  that \u201cwhat is good for England is good for the world.\u201d These myopics\n  decide on theoretical and sentimental grounds that a poll-tax is bad\n  in principle, which it may be, still public opinion sanctions it and\n  it can be increased without exciting discontent. The same with the\n  \u201cNazar\u00e1nah;\u201d it has been the custom of ages immemorial, and a little\n  more or a little less does not affect its popularity.\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n  Pers. = City-queen.\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n  Compare with this tale its modern and popular version _Histoire du\n  Rossignol Chanteur_ (Spitta-Bey, No. x, p. 123): it contains the\n  rosary (and the ring) that shrinks, the ball that rolls and the water\n  that heals; etc. etc. Mr. Clouston somewhere asserts that the History\n  of the Envious Sisters, like that of Prince Ahmad and the Per\u00ed-Banu,\n  are taken from a MS. still preserved in the \u201cKing\u2019s Library,\u201d Paris;\n  but he cannot quote his authority, De Sacy or Langl\u00e8s. Mr. H. C. Coote\n  (loc. cit. p. 189) declares it to be, and to have been, \u201can enormous\n  favourite in Italy and Sicily: no folk-tale exists in those countries\n  at all comparable to it in the number of its versions and in the\n  extent of its distribution.\u201d He begins two centuries before Galland,\n  with Straparola (_Notti Piacevoli_), proceeds to Imbriani (_Novellaja\n  Fiorentina_), Nerucci (_Novelle Montalesi_), Comparetti (_Novelline\n  Italiane_) and Pitr\u00e8 (_Fiabe, Novelle e Racconti popolari Italiani_,\n  vol i.); and informs us that \u201cthe adventures of the young girl,\n  independently of the joint history of herself and her brother, are\n  also told in a separate _Fiaba_ in Italy. A tale called \u2018La Favenilla\n  Coraggiosa\u2019 is given by Visentini in his _Fiabe Mantovane_ and it is\n  as far as it is a counterpart of the second portion of Galland\u2019s\n  tale.\u201d Mr. Coote also finds this story in Hahn\u2019s \u201cGriechische M\u00e4rchen\u201d\n  entitled \u201cSun, Moon and Morning Star\u201d\u2014the names of the royal children.\n  The King overhears the talk of three girls and marries the youngest\n  despite his stepmother, who substitutes for her issue a puppy, a\n  kitten and a mouse. The castaways are adopted by a herdsman whilst the\n  mother is confined in a henhouse; and the King sees his offspring and\n  exclaims, \u201cThese children are like those my wife promised me.\u201d His\n  stepmother, hearing this, threatens the nurse, who goes next morning\n  disguised as a beggar-woman to the girl and induces her to long for\n  the Bough that makes music, the Magic Mirror, and the bird\n  Dickierette. The brothers set out to fetch them leaving their shirts\n  which become black when the mishap befalls them. The sister, directed\n  by a monk, catches the bird and revives the stones by the Water of\n  Life and the denouement is brought about by a sausage stuffed with\n  diamonds. In Miss Stokes\u2019 Collection of Hindu Stories (No. xx.) \u201cThe\n  Boy who had a moon on his brow and a star on his chin\u201d also suggests\n  the \u201cEnvious Sisters.\u201d\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n  Pop. \u201cGhaut\u201d = The steps (or path) which lead down to a\n  watering-place. Hence the Hindi saying concerning the \u201crolling\n  stone\u201d\u2014Dhobi-ka kutt\u00e1; na Ghar-k\u00e1 na Gh\u00e1t-k\u00e1, = a washerwoman\u2019s tyke,\n  nor of the house nor of the Gh\u00e1t-dyke.\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n  Text \u201cKhat\u00edbah\u201d more usually \u201cKhutbah\u201d = the Friday sermon preached by\n  the Khat\u00edb: in this the reigning sovereign is prayed for by name and\n  his mention together with the change of coinage is the proof of his\n  lawful rule. See Lane, M. E. chap. iii.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n  This form of eaves-dropping, in which also the listener rarely hears\n  any good of himself is, I need hardly now say, a favourite incident of\n  Eastern storiology and even of history, _e.g._ Three men met together;\n  one of them expressed the wish to obtain a thousand pieces of gold, so\n  that he might trade with them; the other wished for an appointment\n  under the Emir of the Moslems; the third wished to possess Yusuf\u2019s\n  wife, who was the handsomest of women and had great political\n  influence. Yusuf, being informed of what they said, sent for the men,\n  bestowed one thousand dinars on him who wished for that sum, gave an\n  appointment to the other and said to him who wished to possess the\n  lady: \u201cFoolish man! what induced you to wish for that which you can\n  never obtain?\u201d He then sent him to her and she placed him in a tent\n  where he remained three days, receiving, each day, one and the same\n  kind of food. She had him then brought to her and said, \u201cWhat did you\n  eat these days past\u201d He replied: \u201cAlways the same thing!\u201d\u2014\u201cWell,\u201d said\n  she, \u201call women are the same thing.\u201d She then ordered some money and a\n  dress to be given him, after which, she dismissed him. (Ibn Khallikan\n  iii. 463\u201364.)\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n  This ruthless attempt at infanticide was in accordance with the\n  manners of the age nor has it yet disappeared from Rajput-land, China\n  and sundry over-populous countries. Indeed it is a question if\n  civilization may not be compelled to revive the law of Lycurgus which\n  forbade a child, male or female, to be brought up without the\n  approbation of public officers appointed _ad hoc_. One of the curses\n  of the XIXth century is the increased skill of the midwife and the\n  physician, who are now able to preserve worthless lives and to bring\n  up semi-abortions whose only effect upon the breed is increased\n  degeneracy. Amongst the Greeks and ancient Arabs the Malthusian\n  practice was carried to excess. Poseidippus declares that in his day\u2014\n\n            A man, although poor, will not expose his son;\n            But however rich, will not preserve his daughter.\n\n  See the commentators\u2019 descriptions of the Wa\u2019d al-Ban\u00e1t or burial of\n  Mau\u00fad\u00e1t (living daughters), the barbarous custom of the pagan Arabs\n  (Koran, chaps. xvi. and lxxxi.), one of the many abominations, like\n  the murderous vow of Jephtha, to which Al-Islam put a summary stop.\n  (Ibn Khallikan, iii. 609\u2013616). For such outcast children reported to\n  be monsters, see pp. 402\u2013412 of Mr. Clouston\u2019s \u201cAsiatic and European\n  versions of four of Chaucer\u2019s Canterbury Tales,\u201d printed by the\n  Chaucer Society.\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n  Hind. Chhuchhundar (_Sorex c\u00e6rulescens_) which occurs repeatedly in\n  verse; _e.g._, when speaking of low men advanced to high degree, the\n  people say:\u2014\n\n                 Chhuchh\u00fandar-ke sir-par Chambel\u00ed-ka tel.\n                 The Jasmine-oil on the musk-rat\u2019s head.\n\n  In Galland the Sult\u00e1nah is brought to bed of _un morceau de bois_; and\n  his Indian translator is more consequent. Hahn, as has been seen, also\n  has the mouse but Hahn could hardly have reached Hindostan.\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n  This title of Sh\u00e1hinshah was first assumed by Ardash\u00edr, the great\n  Persian conqueror, after slaying the King of Ispah\u00e1n, Ardaw\u00e1n. (Tabari\n  ii. 73.)\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n  This imprisonment of the good Queen reminds home readers of the \u201cCage\n  of Clapham\u201d wherein a woman with child was imprisoned in A.D. 1700,\n  and which was noted by Sir George Grove as still in existence about\n  1830.\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n  Arab. Ayy\u00e1m al-Nif\u00e1s = the period of forty days after labour during\n  which, according to Moslem law, a woman may not cohabit with her\n  husband.\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n  A _clarum et venerabile nomen_ in Persia; meaning one of the Spirits\n  that presides over beasts of burden; also a king in general, the P.N.\n  of an ancient sovereign, etc.\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n  This is the older pronunciation of the mod. (Khusrau) \u201cParv\u00edz\u201d; and I\n  owe an apology to Mr. C. J. Lyall (Ancient Arabian Poetry) for terming\n  his \u201cKhusrau Parv\u00eaz\u201d an \u201cugly Indianism\u201d (The Academy, No. 100). As he\n  says (Ibid. vol. x. 85), \u201cthe Indians did not invent for Persian words\n  the sounds _\u00ea_ and _\u00f4_, called _majh\u00fal_ (_i.e._ \u2018not known in Arabic\u2019)\n  by the Arabs, but received them at a time when these sounds were\n  universally used in Persia. The substitution by Persians of _\u00ee_ and\n  _\u00fb_ for _\u00ea_ and _\u00f4_ is quite modern.\u201d\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n  _i.e._ Fairy-born, the \u03a0\u03b1\u03c1\u03c5\u03c3\u03ac\u03c4\u03b9\u03c2 (Parysatis) of the Greeks which some\n  miswrite \u03a0\u03b1\u03c1\u03cd\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03c2.\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n  In Arab. usually shortened to \u201cHaz\u00e1r\u201d (bird of a thousand tales = the\n  Thousand), generally called \u201c\u2019Andal\u00edb:\u201d Galland has _Bulbulhezer_ and\n  some of his translators debase it to _Bulbulkezer_. See vol. v. 148,\n  and the Haz\u00e1r-dast\u00e1n of Kazw\u00edn\u00ed (De Sacy, Chrest. iii. 413). These\n  rarities represent the Rukh\u2019s egg in \u201cAlaeddin.\u201d\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n  These disembodied \u201cvoices\u201d speaking either naturally or through\n  instruments are a recognised phenomenon of the so-called\n  \u201cSpiritualism.\u201d See p. 115 of \u201cSupramundane Facts,\u201d &c., edited by T.\n  J. Nichols, M.D., &c., London, Pitman, 1865. I venture to remark that\n  the medical treatment by Mesmerism, Braidism and hypnotics, which was\n  violently denounced and derided in 1850, is in 1887 becoming a part of\n  the regular professional practice and forms another item in the long\n  list of the Fallacies of the Faculty and the Myopism of the\n  \u201cScientist.\u201d\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n  I may also note that the \u201cH\u00e1tif,\u201d or invisible Speaker, which must be\n  subjective more often than objective, is a commonplace of Moslem\n  thaumaturgy.\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n  It may have been borrowed from Ulysses and the Sirens.\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n  Two heroes of the Shahn\u00e1meh and both the types of reckless daring. The\n  monomachy or duel between these braves lasted through two days.\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n  The \u201cB\u00e1gh\u201d or royal tiger, is still found in the jungles of M\u00e1zender\u00e1n\n  and other regions of Northern Persia.\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n  In addressing the Shah every Persian begins with the formula\n  \u201cKurb\u00e1n-at b\u00e1sham\u201d = may I become thy Corban or sacrifice. For this\n  word (Kurb\u00e1n) see vol. viii. 16.\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n  The King in Persia always speaks of himself in the third person and\n  swears by his own blood and head, soul, life and death. The form of\n  oath is ancient: Joseph, the first (but not the last) Jew-financier of\n  Egypt, emphasises his speech \u201cby the life of Pharaoh.\u201d (Gen. xiii. 15,\n  16).\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n  Another title of the Shah, making him quasi-divine, at any rate the\n  nearest to the Almighty, like the Czar and the Emperor of China. Hence\n  the subjects bow to him with the body at right angles as David did to\n  Saul (1 Sam. xxiv. 8) or fall upon the face like Joshua (v. 14).\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n  A most improbable and absurd detail: its sole excuse is the popular\n  superstition of \u201cblood speaking to blood.\u201d The youths being of the\n  royal race felt that they could take unwarrantable liberties.\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n  This is still a Persian custom because all the subjects, women as well\n  as men, are virtually the King\u2019s slaves.\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n  _i.e._ King of kings, the \u0392\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bb\u03b5\u1f7a\u03c2 \u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bb\u03ad\u03c9\u03bd.\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n  _Majlis garm karn\u00e1_, _i.e._, to give some life to the company.\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n  In Arabic \u201c\u2019Ilm al-Muk\u00e1shafah\u201d = the Science by which Eastern adepts\n  discover man\u2019s secret thoughts. Of late years it has appeared in\n  England but with the same quackery and imposture which have ruined\n  \u201cSpiritualism\u201d as the Faith of the Future.\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n  Nor are those which do occur all in the same order: The first in the\n  Turkish book, \u201cOf \u2019Eb\u00fa-\u2019l-K\u00e1sim of Basra, of the \u2019Em\u00edr of Basra, and\n  of \u2019Eb\u00fa-\u2019l-Faskh of W\u00e1sit,\u201d is probably similar to the first in Petis,\n  \u201cHistory of Aboulcasem of Basra.\u201d The second, \u201cOf Fadzlu-\u2019llah of\n  Mawsil (Mosel), of \u2019Eb\u00fa-\u2019l-Hasan, and of M\u00e1hy\u00e1r of W\u00e1sit,\u201d is\n  evidently the seventh in Petis, \u201cHistory of Fadlallah, Son of Bin\n  Ortoc, King of Moussel.\u201d The fourth, \u201cOf Ridzw\u00e1n-Sh\u00e1h of China and the\n  Shahrist\u00e1n\u00ed Lady,\u201d is the second in Petis, \u201cHistory of King\n  Razvanschad and of the Princess Cheheristany.\u201d The eleventh, \u201cOf the\n  Sovereign without a care and of the Vaz\u00edr full of care,\u201d is the eighth\n  in Petis, \u201cHistory of King Bedreddin Lolo and of his Vizier\n  Altalmulc.\u201d The third, \u201cOf the Builder of Bemm with the two Vaz\u00edrs of\n  the king of Kaw\u00e1shar,\u201d the seventh, \u201cOf the Rogue Nasr and the son of\n  the king of Khur\u00e1s\u00e1n,\u201d and the tenth, \u201cThe Three Youths, the Old Man,\n  and the Daughter of the King,\u201d I cannot, from these titles, recognise\n  in Petis; while the fifth, \u201cFarrukh-Sh\u00e1d, Farrukh-R\u00faz, and\n  Farrukh-N\u00e1z,\u201d may be the same as the frame-story of the \u201cHaz\u00e1r \u00fa Yek\n  R\u00faz,\u201d where the king is called Togrul-bey, his son Farrukrouz, and his\n  daughter Farruknaz, and if this be the case, the Turkish book must\n  differ considerably from the Persian in its plan.\u2014Although \u201cThe\n  Thousand and One Nights\u201d has not been found in Persian, there exists a\n  work in that language of which the plan is somewhat similar\u2014but\n  adapted from an Indian source. It is thus described by Dr. Rieu, in\n  his Catalogue of Persian MSS. in the British Museum, vol. ii. p. 773:\n  Tale of Sh\u00edrz\u00e1d, son of Gurgahan, emperor of China, and Gulsh\u00e1d,\n  daughter of the vaz\u00edr Farrukhz\u00e1d (called the Story of the Nine\n  Belvideres). Nine tales told by Gulshad to Sh\u00edrz\u00e1d, each in one of the\n  nine belvideres of the royal palace, in order to save the forfeited\n  life of her father.\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n  A translation of this version, omitting the moral reflections\n  interspersed, is given by Professor E. B. Cowell in the \u201cJournal of\n  Philology,\u201d 1876, vol. vi. p. 193. The great Persian mystic tells\n  another story of a Dream of Riches, which, though only remotely allied\n  to our tale, is very curious:\n\n                   _THE FAK\u00cdR AND THE HIDDEN TREASURE._\n\n  Notwithstanding the clear evidence of God\u2019s bounty, engendering those\n  spiritual tastes in men, philosophers and learned men, wise in their\n  own conceit, obstinately shut their eyes to it, and look afar off for\n  what is really close to them, so that they incur the penalty of being\n  \u201cbranded on the nostrils\u201d [Kur\u00e1n, lxviii. 16], adjudged against\n  unbelievers. This is illustrated by the story of a poor Fak\u00edr who\n  prayed to God that he might be fed without being obliged to work for\n  his food. A divine voice came to him in his sleep and directed him to\n  go to the house of a certain scribe and take a certain writing he\n  should find there. He did so, and on reading the writing found that it\n  contained directions for discovering a hidden treasure. The directions\n  were as follows: \u201cGo outside the city to the dome which covers the\n  tomb of the martyr, turn your back to the tomb and your face towards\n  Mecca, place an arrow in your bow, and where the arrow falls dig for\n  the treasure.\u201d But before the Fak\u00edr had time to commence the search\n  the rumour of the writing and its purport had reached the King, who at\n  once sent and took it away from the Fak\u00edr, and began to search for the\n  treasure on his own account. After shooting many arrows and digging in\n  all directions the King failed to find the treasure, and got weary of\n  searching, and returned the writing to the Fak\u00edr. Then the Fak\u00edr tried\n  what he could do, but failed to hit the spot where the treasure was\n  buried. At last, despairing of success by his own unaided efforts, he\n  cast his care upon God, and implored the divine assistance. Then a\n  voice from heaven came to him, saying, \u201cYou were directed to fix an\n  arrow in your bow, but not to draw your bow with all your might, as\n  you have been doing. Shoot as gently as possible, that the arrow may\n  fall close to you, for hidden treasure is indeed \u2018nearer to you than\n  your neck-vein\u2019\u201d [Kur\u00e1n, l. 15]. Men overlook the spiritual treasures\n  close to them, and for this reason it is that prophets have no honour\n  in their own countries.\u2014_Mr. E. H. Whinfield\u2019s Abridgment of \u201cThe\n  Masnavi-i Ma\u2019navi.\u201d_ (London, 1887.)\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n  See Mr. Gibb\u2019s translation (London: Redway), p. 278.\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n  \u201cRem qu\u00e6 contigit patrum memori\u00e2 ut veram ita dignam relatu et\n  s\u00e6penumero mihi assertam ab hominibus fide dignis apponam.\u201d\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n  Thorpe says that a nearly similar legend is current at Tanslet, on the\n  island of Alsen.\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n  The common tradition is, it was in English rhyme, viz.\n\n                           \u201cWhere this stood\n                           Is another as good;\u201d\n\n  or, as some will have it:\n\n                       \u201cUnder me doth lie\n                       Another much richer than I.\u201d\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n  Apropos to dreams, there is a very amusing story, entitled \u201cWhich was\n  the Dream?\u201d in Mr. F. H. Balfour\u2019s \u201cLeaves from my Chinese Scrap\n  Book,\u201d p. 106\u20137 (London: Tr\u00fcbner, 1887).\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n  The story in the Turkish collection, \u201cAl-Faraj ba\u2019d al-Shiddah,\u201d where\n  it forms the 8th recital, is doubtless identical with our Arabian\n  version, since in both the King of the Genie figures, which is not the\n  case in Mr. Gibb\u2019s story.\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n  Although this version is not preceded, as in the Arabian, by the Dream\n  of Riches, yet that incident occurs, I understand, in separate form in\n  the work of \u2019Al\u00ed \u2019Az\u00edz.\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n  Sir Richard has referred, in note 2, pp. 23, 24, to numerous different\n  magical tests of chastity etc., and I may here add one more, to wit,\n  the cup which Oberon, King of the Fairies, gave to Duke Huon of\n  Bordeaux (according to the romance which recounts the marvellous\n  adventures of that renowned Knight), which filled with wine in the\n  hand of any man who was out of \u201cdeadly sin\u201d and attempted to drink out\n  of it, but was always empty in the hands of a sinful man. Charlemagne\n  was shown to be sinful by this test, while Duke Huon, his wife, and a\n  companion were proved to be free from sin.\u2014In my \u201cPopular Tales and\n  Fictions\u201d the subject of inexhaustible purses etc. is treated pretty\n  fully\u2014they frequently figure in folk-tales, from Iceland to Ceylon,\n  from Japan to the Hebrides.\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n  \u201cThe Athen\u00e6um,\u201d April 23, 1887, p. 542.\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n  See M. Eug\u00e8ne L\u00e9v\u00eaque\u2019s \u201cLes Mythes et les L\u00e9gendes de l\u2019Inde et la\n  Perse\u201d (Paris, 1880), p. 543, where the two are printed side by side.\n  This was pointed out more than seventy years ago by Henry Weber in his\n  Introduction to \u201cTales of the East,\u201d edited by him.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n  Also in the romance of Duke Huon of Bordeaux and the old French\n  romance of the Chevalier Berinus. The myth was widely spread in the\n  Middle Ages.\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n  Cf. the magic horn that Duke Huon of Bordeaux received from Oberon\n  King of the Fairies, which caused even the Soudan of Babylon to caper\n  about in spite of himself; and similar musical instruments in a\n  hundred different tales, such as the old English poem of \u201cThe Friar\n  and the Boy,\u201d the German tale (in Grimm) of \u201cThe Jew among Thorns,\u201d\n  the \u201cPied Piper of Hamelin,\u201d &c.\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n  Not distantly related to stories of this class are those in which the\n  hero becomes possessed of some all-bestowing object\u2014a purse, a box, a\n  table-cloth, a sheep, a donkey, etc.\u2014which being stolen from him he\n  recovers by means of a magic club that on being commanded rattles on\n  the pate and ribs of the thief and compels him to restore the\n  treasure.\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n  The Dwarf had told the soldier, on leaving him after killing the old\n  witch, that should his services be at any other time required, he had\n  only to light his pipe at the Blue Light and he should instantly\n  appear before him. The tobacco-pipe must be considered as a recent and\n  quite unnecessary addition to the legend: evidently all the power of\n  summoning the Dwarf was in the Blue Light, since he tells the soldier\n  when he first appears before him in the well that he must obey its\n  lord and master.\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n  Belli signifies famous, or notorious.\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n  This young lady\u2019s notion of the \u201cfunction of Prayer\u201d was, to say the\n  least, peculiar, in thus addressing her petition to the earth instead\n  of to Heaven.\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n  The gentle, amiable creature!\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n  Chamley-bill was, says Dr. Chodzko, a fort built by Kurrogl\u00fa, the\n  ruins of which are still to be seen in the valley of Salmas, a\n  district in the province of Aderbaijan.\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n  _i.e._ Kuvera, the god of wealth.\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n  The attendants of Kuvera.\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n  That every man has his \u201cgenius\u201d of good or evil fortune is, I think,\n  essentially a Buddhistic idea.\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n  Such being the case, what need was there for the apparition presenting\n  itself every morning?\u2014but no matter!\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n  Pandit S. M. Nat\u00e9sa S\u00e1str\u00ed, in \u201cIndian Notes and Queries,\u201d for March,\n  1887, says that women swallow large numbers of an insect called\n  _pillai-p\u00fachchi_ (son-insect: _gryllas_) in the hope of bearing sons;\n  they will also drink the water squeezed from the loin-cloth of a\n  _sany\u00e1s\u00ed_ [devotee] after washing it for him!\u2014Another correspondent in\n  the same periodical, Pandit Putl\u00edb\u00e1i K. Raghunathj\u00e9, writes that Hind\u00fa\n  women, for the purpose of having children, especially a son, observe\n  the fourth lunar day of every dark fortnight as a fast, and break\n  their fast only after seeing the moon, generally before 9 or 10 p.m. A\n  dish of twenty-one small, marble-like balls of rice is prepared, in\n  one of which is put some salt. The whole dish is then served up to the\n  woman, and while eating it she should first lay her hands on the ball\n  containing salt, as it is believed to be a positive sign that she will\n  be blessed with a son. In that case she should give up eating the\n  rest, but otherwise she should go on eating till she lays her hands on\n  the salted ball. The Pandit adds, that the observance of this ball\n  depends on the wish of the woman. She may observe it on only one,\n  five, seven, eleven, or twenty-one lunar fourth days, or _chaturth\u00ed_.\n  Should she altogether fail in picking out the salted ball first, she\n  may be sure of remaining barren all her life long.\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n  I am glad to see among Messrs. Tr\u00fcbner and Co.\u2019s announcements of\n  forthcoming publications Mr. Knowles\u2019 collection of \u201cFolk-Tales of\n  Kashm\u00edr\u201d in popular handy-volume form.\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n  A holy man whose austerities have obtained for him supernatural\n  powers.\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n  Also called \u201cStory of the King and his Four Ministers.\u201d There is\n  another but wholly different Tamil romance entitled the \u201cAlak\u00e9sa\n  Kath\u00e1,\u201d in which a king\u2019s daughter becomes a disembodied evil spirit,\n  haunting during the night a particular choultry (or serai) for\n  travellers, and if they do not answer aright to her cries she\n  strangles them and vampyre-like sucks their blood.\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n  The Pandit informs me that his \u201cFolk-Lore in Southern India\u201d will be\n  completed at press and issued shortly at Bombay. (London agents,\n  Messrs. Tr\u00fcbner & Co.)\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n  In the \u201cKath\u00e1 Sarit S\u00e1gara,\u201d Book ii., ch. 14, when the King of Vatsa\n  receives the hand of Vasavadatta, \u201clike a beautiful shoot lately\n  budded on the creeper of love,\u201d she walks round the fire, keeping it\n  to the right, on which Prof. Tawney remarks that \u201cthe practice of\n  walking round an object of reverence, with the right hand towards it,\n  has been exhaustively discussed by Dr. Samuel Fergusson in his paper,\n  \u2018On the ceremonial turn called Desiul,\u2019 published in the Proceedings\n  of the Royal Irish Academy, for March 1877 (vol i., series ii., No.\n  12). He shows it to have existed among the ancient Romans as well as\n  the Celts.... Dr. Fergusson is of opinion that this movement was a\n  symbol of the cosmical rotation, an imitation of the apparent course\n  of the sun in the heavens.\u201d\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n  The affection of parents for their children is often a blind instinct,\n  and sometimes selfish, though, after all, there is doubtless truth in\n  these lines:\n\n               \u201cA mother\u2019s love!\n               If there be one thing pure,\n               Where all beside is sullied,\n               That can endure\n               When all else pass away:\n               If there be aught\n               Surpassing human deed, or word, or thought,\n               It is a mother\u2019s love!\u201d\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n  _Surma_ is a collyrium applied to the edges of the eyelids to increase\n  the lustre of the eyes. A Persian poet, addressing the damsel of whom\n  he is enamoured, says, \u201cFor eyes so intoxicated with love\u2019s nectar\n  what need is there of surma?\u201d\u2014This part of the story seems to be\n  garbled; in another text of the romance of Hatim Ta\u2019\u00ed it is only after\n  the surma has been applied to the covetous man\u2019s eyes that he beholds\n  the hidden treasures.\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n  The first part of the story of the Young King of the Black Isles, in\n  The Nights, bears some analogy to this, but there the paramour is only\n  \u201chalf-killed\u201d and the vindictive queen transforms her husband from the\n  waist downwards into marble.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n  On the Sources of some of Galland\u2019s Tales. By Henry Charles Coote,\n  F.S.A., \u201cFolk-Lore Record,\u201d 1881, vol. iii, part 2, p. 186.\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n  See Thorpe\u2019s \u201cYule Tide Stories,\u201d Bohn\u2019s ed., pp. 481\u2013486.\u2014Thorpe says\n  that \u201cfor many years the Dummburg was the abode of robbers, who slew\n  the passing travellers and merchants whom they perceived on the road\n  from Leipsig to Brunswick, and heaped together the treasures of the\n  plundered churches and the surrounding country, which they concealed\n  in subterranean caverns.\u201d The peasantry would therefore regard the\n  spot with superstitious awe, and once such a tale as that of Ali Baba\n  got amongst them, the robbers\u2019 haunt in their neighbourhood would soon\n  become the scene of the poor woodcutter\u2019s adventure.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n  A Persian poet says:\n\n            \u201cHe who violates the rights of the bread and salt\n            Breaks, for his wretched self, head and neck.\u201d\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n  Miss Busk reproduces the proper names as they are transliterated in\n  J\u00fclg\u2019s German version of those Kalmuk and Mongolian Tales\u2014from which a\n  considerable portion of her book was rendered\u2014thus: Ardshi Bordshi,\n  Rakschasas, etc.; but drollest of all is \u201cRamajana\u201d (Ramayana), which\n  is right in German but not in English.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n  The apocryphal gospels and the Christian hagiology are largely\n  indebted to Buddhism; _e.g._, the Descent into Hell, of which there is\n  such a graphic account in the Gospel of Nicodemus, seems to have been\n  adapted from ancient Buddhist legends, now embodied in the opening\n  chapters of a work entitled, \u201cK\u00e1randa-vy\u00faha,\u201d which contain a\n  description of the Boddhisattva Avalokiteswara\u2019s descent into the hell\n  Av\u00edchi, to deliver the souls there held captive by Yama, the lord of\n  the lower world. (See a paper by Professor E. B. Cowell, LL.D., in the\n  \u201cJournal of Philology,\u201d 1876, vol. vi. pp. 222\u2013231.) This legend also\n  exists in Telugu, under the title of \u201cS\u00e1nanda Charitra,\u201d of which the\n  outline is given in Taylor\u2019s \u201cCatalogue Raisonn\u00e9 of Oriental MSS. in\n  the Government Library, Madras,\u201d vol. ii. p. 643: S\u00e1nanda, the son of\n  Purna Vitta and Bhadra Datta, heard from _munis_ accounts of the pains\n  of the wicked, and wishing to see for himself, went to Yama-puri. His\n  coming had been announced by N\u00e1rada. Yama showed the stranger the\n  different lots of mankind in a future state, in details. S\u00e1nanda was\n  touched with compassion for the miseries that he witnessed, and by the\n  use of the five and six lettered spells he delivered those imprisoned\n  souls and took them with him to Kailasa. Yama went to Siva and\n  complained, but Siva civilly dismissed the appeal.\u2014Under the title of\n  \u201cThe Harrowing of Hell,\u201d the apocryphal Christian legend was the theme\n  of a Miracle Play in England during the Middle Ages, and indeed it\n  seems to have been, in different forms, a popular favourite throughout\n  Europe. Thus in a German tale Strong Hans goes to the Devil in hell\n  and wants to serve him, and sees the pains in which souls are\n  imprisoned standing beside the fire. Full of pity, he lifts up the\n  lids and sets the souls free, on which the Devil at once drives him\n  away. A somewhat similar notion occurs in an Icelandic tale of the Sin\n  Sacks, in Powell and Magn\u00fasson\u2019s collection (second series, p. 48).\n  And in T. Crofton Croker\u2019s \u201cFairy Legends and Traditions of the South\n  of Ireland,\u201d ed. 1828, Part ii. p. 30 ff., we read of Soul Cages at\n  the bottom of the sea, containing the spirits of drowned sailors,\n  which the bold hero Jack Docherty set free.\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n  The Rabbins relate that among the Queen of Sheba\u2019s tests of Solomon\u2019s\n  sagacity she brought before him a number of boys and girls apparelled\n  all alike, and desired him to distinguish those of one sex from those\n  of the other, as they stood in his presence. Solomon caused a large\n  basin of water to be fetched in, and ordered them all to wash their\n  hands. By this expedient he discovered the boys from the girls, since\n  the former washed merely their hands, while the latter washed also\n  their arms.\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n  Dr. W. Grimm, in the notes to his \u201cKinder und Hausm\u00e4rchen,\u201d referring\n  to the German form of the story (which we shall come to by-and-by),\n  says, \u201c_The Parrot_, which is the fourth story in the Persian _Touti\n  Nameh_, bears some resemblance to this\u201d\u2014the _Parrot_ is the reciter of\n  all the stories in the collection, not the title of this particular\n  tale.\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n  To Sir Richard Burton\u2019s interesting note on the antiquity of the lens\n  and its applied use to the telescope and microscope may be added a\n  passage or two from Sir William Drummond\u2019s \u201cOrigines; or, Remarks on\n  the Origin of several Empires, States, and Cities,\u201d 1825, vol. ii. p.\n  246\u2013250. This writer appears to think that telescopes were not unknown\n  to the ancients and adduces plausible evidence in support of his\n  opinion. \u201cMoschopalus,\u201d he says, \u201can ancient grammarian, mentions four\n  instruments with which the astronomers of antiquity were accustomed to\n  observe the stars\u2014the _catoptron_, the _dioptron_, the _eisoptron_,\n  and the _enoptron_.\u201d He supposes the catoptron to have been the same\n  with the astrolabe. \u201cThe dioptron seems to have been so named from a\n  tube through which the observer looked. Were the other two instruments\n  named from objects being reflected in a mirror placed within them?\n  Aristotle says that the Greeks employed mirrors when they surveyed the\n  celestial appearances. May we not conclude from this circumstance that\n  astronomers were not always satisfied with looking through empty\n  tubes?\u201d He thinks the ancients were acquainted with lenses and has\n  collected passages from various writers which corroborate his opinion,\n  besides referring to the numerous uses to which glass was applied in\n  the most remote ages. He goes on to say:\n\n  \u201cSome of the observations of the ancients must appear very\n  extraordinary, if magnifying glasses had never been known among them.\n  The boldness with which the Pythagoreans asserted that the surface of\n  the moon was diversified by mountains and valleys can hardly be\n  accounted for, unless Pythagoras had been convinced of the fact by the\n  help of telescopes, which might have existed in the observatories of\n  Egypt and Chaldea before those countries were conquered and laid waste\n  by the Persians. Pliny (L. 11) says that 1600 stars had been counted\n  in the 72 constellations, and by this expression I can only understand\n  him to mean the 72 dodecans into which the Egyptians and Chaldeans\n  divided the zodiac. Now this number of stars could never have been\n  counted in the zodiac without the assistance of glasses. Ptolemy\n  reckoned a much less number for the whole heavens. The missionaries\n  found many more stars marked in the Chinese charts of the heavens than\n  formerly existed in those which were in use in Europe. Suidas, at the\n  word \u1f55\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 (glass), indicates, in explaining a passage in\n  Aristophanes, that burning mirrors were occasionally made of glass.\n  Now how can we suppose burning mirrors to have been made of glass\n  without supposing the magnifying powers of glass to have been known?\n  The Greeks, as Plutarch affirms, employed metallic mirrors, either\n  plane, or convex, or concave, according to the use for which they were\n  intended. If they could make burning mirrors of glass, they could have\n  given any of these forms to glass. How then could they have avoided\n  observing that two glasses, one convex and the other concave, placed\n  at a certain distance from each other, magnified objects seen through\n  them? Numerous experiments must have been made with concave and convex\n  glasses before burning mirrors made of glass could have been employed.\n  If astronomers never knew the magnifying powers of glass, and never\n  placed lenses in the tubes of the dioptrons, what does Strabo (L. 3,\n  c. 138) mean when he says: \u2018Vapours produce the same effects as the\n  tubes in magnifying objects of vision by refraction?\u2019\u201d\n\n  Mr. W. F. Thompson, in his translation of the \u201cAhl\u00e1k-i Jalaly,\u201d from\n  the Persian of Fak\u00edr J\u00e1n\u00ed Muhammad (15th century), has the following\n  note on the J\u00e1m-i J\u00e1msh\u00edd and other magical mirrors: \u201cJ\u00e1msh\u00edd,\u201d the\n  fourth of the Kaianian dynasty, the Solomon of the Persians. His cup\n  was said to mirror the world, so that he could observe all that was\n  passing elsewhere\u2014a fiction of his own for state purposes, apparently,\n  backed by the use of artificial mirrors. Niz\u00e1m\u00ed tells that Alexander\n  invented the steel mirror, by which he means, of course, that improved\n  reflectors were used for telescopy in the days of Archimedes, but not\n  early enough to have assisted J\u00e1msh\u00edd, who belongs to the fabulous and\n  unchronicled age. In the romance of Beyjan and Manija, in the \u201cShah\n  N\u00e1ma,\u201d this mirror is used by the great Khosr\u00fa for the purpose of\n  discovering the place of the hero\u2019s imprisonment:\n\n             \u201cThe mirror in his hand revolving shook,\n             And earth\u2019s whole surface glimmered in his look;\n             Nor less the secrets of the starry sphere,\n             The what, the when, the how depicted clear,\n             From orbs celestial to the blade of grass,\n             All nature floated in the magic glass.\u201d\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n  We have been told this king had _three_ daughters.\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n  See in \u201cBlackwood\u2019s Magazine,\u201d vol. iv., 1818, 1819, a translation,\n  from the Danish of J. L. Ramussen, of \u201cAn Historical and Geographical\n  Essay on the trade and commerce of the Arabians and Persians with\n  Russia and Scandinavia during the Middle Ages.\u201d\u2014But learned\n  Icelanders, while England was still semi-civilized, frequently made\n  very long journeys into foreign lands: after performing the pilgrimage\n  to Rome, they went to Syria, and some penetrated into Central Asia.\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n  This, of course, is absurd, as each was equally interested in the\n  business; but it seems to indicate a vague reminiscence of the\n  adventures of the Princes in the story of The Envious Sisters.\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n  There is a _na\u00efvet\u00e9_ about this that is peculiarly refreshing.\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n  This recalls the fairy Meliora, in the romance of Partenopex de Blois,\n  who \u201cknew of ancient tales a countless store.\u201d\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n  In a Norwegian folk-tale the hero receives from a dwarf a magic ship\n  that could enlarge itself so as to contain any number of men, yet\n  could be carried in the pocket.\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n  The Water of Life, the Water of Immortality, the Fountain of Youth\u2014a\n  favourite and wide-spread myth during the Middle Ages. In the romance\n  of Sir Huon of Bordeaux the hero boldly encounters a griffin, and\n  after a desperate fight, in which he is sorely wounded, slays the\n  monster. Close at hand he discovers a clear fountain, at the bottom of\n  which is a gravel of precious stones. \u201cThen he dyde of his helme and\n  dranke of the water his fyll, and he had no sooner dranke thereof hut\n  incontynent he was hole of all his woundys.\u201d Nothing more frequently\n  occurs in folk-tales than for the hero to be required to perform three\n  difficult and dangerous tasks\u2014sometimes impossible, without\n  supernatural assistance.\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n                    \u201cSay, will a courser of the Sun\n                    All gently with a dray-horse run?\u201d\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n  _Ting_: assembly of notables\u2014of udallers, &c. The term survives in our\n  word hus_tings_; and in _Ding_-wall\u2014_Ting_-val; where tings were held.\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n  The last of the old Dublin ballad-singers, who assumed the respectable\n  name of Zozimus, and is said to have been the author of the ditties\n  wherewith he charmed his street auditors, was wont to chant the legend\n  of the Finding of Moses in a version which has at least the merit of\n  originality:\n\n         \u201cIn Egypt\u2019s land, upon the banks of Nile,\n         King Pharoah\u2019s daughter went to bathe in style;\n         She took her dip, then went unto the land,\n         And, to dry her royal pelt, she ran along the strand.\n\n         A bulrush tripped her, whereupon she saw\n         A smiling baby in a wad of straw;\n         She took it up, and said, in accents mild\u2014\n         _Tare an\u2019 agurs, girls! which av yez owns this child?_\u201d\n\n  The Babylonian analogue, as translated by the Rev. Prof. A. H. Sayce,\n  in the first vol. of the \u201cFolk-Lore Journal\u201d (1883), is as follows:\n\n  \u201cSargon, the mighty monarch, the King of Agan\u00e8, am I. My mother was a\n  princess; my father I knew not; my father\u2019s brother loved the\n  mountain-land. In the city of Azipiranu, which on the bank of the\n  Euphrates lies, my mother, the princess, conceived me; in an\n  inaccessible spot she brought me forth. She placed me in a basket of\n  rushes, with bitumen the door of my ark she closed. She launched me on\n  the river, which drowned me not. The river bore me along, to Akki, the\n  irrigator, it brought me. Akki, the irrigator, in the tenderness of\n  his heart, lifted me up. Akki, the irrigator, as his own child brought\n  me up. Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener appointed me, and in my\n  gardenership the goddess Istar loved me. For 45 years the kingdom I\n  have ruled, and the black-headed (Accadian) race have governed.\u201d\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n  This strange notion may have been derived from some Eastern source,\n  since it occurs in Indian fictions; for example, in Dr. R\u00e1jendral\u00e1la\n  Mitra\u2019s \u201cSanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nep\u00e1l,\u201d p. 304, we read that\n  \u201cthere lived in the village of V\u00e1sava a rich householder who had born\n  unto him a son with a jewelled ring in his ear.\u201d And in the\n  \u201cMah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata\u201d we are told of a king who had a son from whose body\n  issued nothing but gold\u2014the prototype of the gold-laying goose.\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n  Connected with this romance is the tale of \u201cThe Six Swans,\u201d in Grimm\u2019s\n  collection\u2014see Mrs. Hunt\u2019s English translation, vol. i. p. 192.\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n  Mahb\u00fab: a piece of gold, value about 10 francs; replaces the _din\u00e1r_\n  of old tales. Those in Egypt are all since the time of the Turks: 9,\n  7, or 6\u00bd frs. according to issue\u2014_Note by Spitta Bey_.\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n  Here again we have the old superstition of \u201cblood speaking to blood,\u201d\n  referred to by Sir Richard, _ante_, p. 531, note 3. It often occurs in\n  Asiatic stories. Thus in the Persian \u201cBakhty\u00e1r N\u00e1ma,\u201d when the adopted\n  son of the robber-chief is brought with other captives, before the\n  king (he is really the king\u2019s own son, whom he and the queen abandoned\n  in their flight through the desert), his majesty\u2019s bowels strangely\n  yearned towards the youth, and in the conclusion this is carried to\n  absurdity: when Bakhty\u00e1r is found to be the son of the royal pair,\n  \u201cthe milk sprang from the breasts of the queen,\u201d as she looked on\n  him\u2014albeit she must then have been long past child-bearing!\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n  The enchanted pitcher does duty here for the witches\u2019 broomstick and\n  the fairies\u2019 rush of European tales, but a similar conveyance is, I\n  think, not unknown to Western folk-lore.\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n  In a Norse story the hero on entering a forbidden room in a troll\u2019s\n  house finds a horse with a pan of burning coals under his nose and a\n  measure of corn at his tail; and when he removes the coals and\n  substitutes the corn, the horse becomes his friend and adviser.\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n  M. Dozon does not think that Muslim customs allow of a man\u2019s marrying\n  three sisters at once; but we find the king does the same in the\n  modern Arab version.\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n  London: Macmillan and Co., p. 236 ff.\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n  This recalls the biblical legend of the widow\u2019s cruse, which has its\n  exact counterpart in Singhalese folk-lore.\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n  This recalls the story of the herd-boy who cried \u201cWolf! wolf!\u201d\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n  Again the old notion of maternal and paternal instincts; but the\n  _children_ don\u2019t often seem in folk-tales, to have a similar impulsive\n  affection for their unknown parents.\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n  _Colotropis gigantea_.\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n  R\u00e1kshasas and r\u00e1kshas\u00eds are male and female demons, or ogres, in the\n  Hind\u00fa mythology.\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n  Literally, the _king of birds_, a fabulous species of horse remarkable\n  for swiftness, which plays an important part in Tamil stories and\n  romances.\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n  Here we have a parallel to the biblical legend of the passage of the\n  Israelites dryshod over the Red Sea.\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n  Demons, ogres, trolls, giants, _et hoc genus omne_, never fail to\n  discover the presence of human beings by their keen sense of smelling.\n  \u201cFee, faw, fum! I smell the blood of a British man,\u201d cries a giant\n  when the renowned hero Jack is concealed in his castle. \u201cFum! fum!\n  sento odor christianum,\u201d exclaims an ogre in Italian folk-tales.\n  \u201cFemme, je sens la viande fra\u00eeche, la chair de chr\u00e9tien!\u201d says a giant\n  to his wife in French stories.\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n  In my \u201cPopular Tales and Fictions\u201d a number of examples are cited of\n  life depending on some extraneous object\u2014vol. i. pp. 347\u2013351.\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n  In the Tamil story-book, the English translation of which is called\n  \u201cThe Dravidian Nights\u2019 Entertainments,\u201d a wandering princess, finding\n  the labour pains coming upon her, takes shelter in the house of a\n  dancing-woman, who says to the nurses, \u201cIf she gives birth to a\n  daughter, it is well [because the woman could train her to follow her\n  own \u2018profession\u2019], but if a son, I do not want him;\u2014close her eyes,\n  remove him to a place where you can kill him, and throwing a bit of\n  wood on the ground tell her she has given birth to it.\u201d\u2014I daresay that\n  a story similar to the Bengal\u00ed version exists among the Tamils.\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n  It is to be hoped we shall soon have Sir Richard Burton\u2019s promised\n  complete English translation of this work, since one half is, I\n  understand, already done.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\n 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.\n 2. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as\n      printed.\n 3. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together\n      at the end of the last chapter.\n 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.","title":"Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights \u2014 Volume 3 (of 6) Part 2","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":148057}