THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI
IT hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was a fisherman
well stricken in years who had a wife and three children, and withal was
of poor condition. Now it was his custom to cast his net every day four
times, and no more. On a day he went forth about noontide to the
seashore, where he laid down his basket and, tucking up his shirt and
plunging into the water, made a cast with his net and waited till it
settled to the bottom. Then he gathered the cords together and haled
away at it, but found it weighty. And however much he drew it landward,
he could not pull it up, so he carried the ends ashore and drove a stake
into the ground and made the net fast to it. Then he stripped and dived
into the water all about the net, and left not off working hard until he
had brought it up.
He rejoiced thereat and, donning his clothes, went to the net, when
he found in it a dead jackass which had torn the meshes. Now when he saw
it, he exclaimed in his grief, "There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah the Glorious, the Great!" Then quoth he, "This is a
strange manner of daily bread," and he began reciting in extempore
verse:
"O toiler through the glooms of night in peril and in pain,
Thy toiling stint for daily bread comes not by might and main!
Seest thou not the fisher seek afloat upon the sea
His bread, while glimmer stars of night as set in tangled skein?
Anon he plungeth in despite the buffet of the waves,
The while to sight the bellying net his eager glances strain,
Till joying at the night's success, a fish he bringeth home
Whose gullet by the hook of Fate was caught and cut in twain.
When buys that fish of him a man who spent the hours of night
Reckless of cold and wet and gloom in ease and comfort fain,
Laud to the Lord who gives to this, to that denies, his wishes
And dooms one toil and catch the prey and other eat the fishes."
Then quoth he, "Up and to it. I am sure of His beneficence,
Inshallah!" So he continued:
"When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume
The noble soul's long-suffering. 'Tis thy best.
Complain not to the creature, this be 'plaint
From one most Ruthful to the ruthlessest."
The fisherman, when he had looked at the dead ass, got it free of the
toils and wrung out and spread his net. Then he plunged into the sea,
saying, "In Allah's name!" and made a cast and pulled at it, but it grew
heavy and settled down more firmly than the first time. Now he thought
that there were fish in it, and he made it fast and, doffing his
clothes, went into the water, and dived and haled until he drew it up
upon dry land. Then found he in it a large earthern pitcher which was
full of sand and mud, and seeing this, he was greatly troubled. So he
prayed pardon of Allah and, throwing away the jar, wrung his net and
cleansed it and returned to the sea the third time to cast his net, and
waited till it had sunk. Then he pulled at it and found therein
potsherds and broken glass. Then, raising his eyes heavenward, he said:
"O my God! Verily Thou wettest that I cast not my net each day save four
times. The third is done and as yet Thou hast vouchsafed me nothing. So
this time, O my God, deign give me my daily bread."
Then, having called on Allah's name, he again threw his net and
waited its sinking and settling, whereupon he haled at it but could not
draw it in for that it was entangled at the bottom. He cried out in his
vexation, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!" and
he began reciting:
"Fie on this wretched world, an so it be
I must be whelmed by grief and misery.
Tho' gladsome be man's lot when dawns the morn,
He drains the cup of woe ere eve he see.
Yet was I one of whom the world when asked
'Whose lot is happiest?' would say, ''Tis he!'"
Thereupon he stripped and, diving down to the net, busied himself
with it till it came to land. Then he opened the meshes and found
therein a cucumber-shaped jar of yellow copper, evidently full of
something, whose mouth was made fast with a leaden cap stamped with the
seal ring of our Lord Solomon, son of David (Allah accept the twain!).
Seeing this, the fisherman rejoiced and said, "If I sell it in the brass
bazaar, 'tis worth ten golden dinars." He shook it, and finding it
heavy, continued: "Would to Heaven I knew what is herein. But I must and
will open it and look to its contents and store it in my bag and sell it
in the brass market." And taking out a knife, he worked at the lead till
he had loosened it from the jar. Then he laid the cup on the ground and
shook the vase to pour out whatever might be inside. He found nothing in
it, whereat he marveled with an exceeding marvel. But presently there
came forth from the jar a smoke which spired heavenward into ether
(whereat he again marveled with mighty marvel), and which trailed along
earth's surface till presently, having reached its full height, the
thick vapor condensed, and became an Ifrit huge of bulk, whose crest
touched the clouds while his feet were on the ground. His head was as a
dome, his hands like pitchforks, his legs long as masts, and his mough
big as a cave. His teeth were like large stones, his nostrils ewers, his
eyes two lamps, and his look was fierce and lowering.
Now when the fisherman saw the Ifrit, his side muscles quivered, his
teeth chattered, his spittle dried up, and he became blind about what to
do. Upon this the Ifrit looked at him and cried, "there is no god but
the God, and Solomon is the prophet of God," presently adding: "O
Apostle of Allah, slay me not. Never again will I gainsay thee in word
nor sin against thee in deed." Quoth the fisherman, "O Marid, diddest
thou say Solomon the Apostle of Allah? And Solomon is dead some thousand
and eight hundred years ago, and we are now in the last days of the
world! What is thy story, and what is thy account of thyself, and what
is the cause of thy entering into this cucurbit?"
Now when the Evil Spirit heard the words of the fisherman, quoth he:
"There is no god but the God. Be of good cheer, O Fisherman!" Quoth the
fisherman, "Why biddest thou me to be of good cheer?" And he replied,
"Because of thy having to die an ill death in this very hour." Said the
fisherman, "Thou deservest for thy good tidings the withdrawal of
Heaven's protection, O thou distant one! Wherefore shouldest thou kill
me, and what thing have I done to deserve death, I who freed thee from
the jar, and saved thee from the depths of the sea, and brought thee up
on the dry land?" Replied the Ifrit, "Ask of me only what mode of death
thou wilt die, and by what manner of slaughter shall I slay thee."
Rejoined the fisherman, "What is my crime, and wherefore such
retribution?" Quoth the Ifrit, "Hear my story, O Fisherman!" And he
answered, "Say on, and be brief in thy sayinig, for of very sooth my
life breath is in my nostrils."
Thereupon quoth the Jinni: "Know that I am one among the heretical
Jann, and I sinned against Solomon, David-son (on the twain be peace!),
I together with the famous Sakhr al-Jinni, whereupon the Prophet sent
his Minister, Asaf son of Barkhiya, to seize me. And this Wazir brought
me against my will and led me in bonds to him (I being downcast despite
my nose), and he placed me standing before him like a suppliant. When
Solomon saw me, he took refuge with Allah and bade me embrace the True
Faith and obey his behests. But I refused, so, sending for this
cucurbit, he shut me up therein and stopped it over with lead, whereon
he impressed the Most High Name, and gave his orders to the Jann, who
carried me off and cast me into the midmost of the ocean. There I abode
a hundred years, during which I said in my heart, 'Whoso shall release
me, him will I enrich forever and ever.'
"But the full century went by and, when no one set me free, I entered
upon the second fivescore saying, 'Whoso shall release me, for him I
will open the hoards of the earth.' Still no one set me free, and thus
four hundred years passed away. Then quoth I, 'Whoso shall release me,
for him will I fulfill three wishes.' Yet no one set me free. Thereupon
I waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and said to myself, 'Whoso shall
release me from this time forth, him will I slay, and I will give him
choice of what death he will die.' And now, as thou hast released me, I
give thee full choice of deaths."
The fisherman, hearing the words of the Ifrit, said, "O Allah! The
wonder of it that I have not come to free thee save in these days!"
adding, "Spare my life, so Allah spare thine, and slay me not, lest
Allah set one to slay thee." Replied the Contumacious One, "There is no
help for it. Die thou must, so ask by way of boon what manner of death
thou wilt die." Albeit thus certified, the fisherman again addressed the
Ifrit, saying, "Forgive me this my death as a generous reward for having
freed thee," and the Ifrit, "Surely I would not slay thee save on
account of that same release." "O Chief of the Ifrits," said the
fisherman, "I do thee good and thou requitest me with evil! In very
sooth the old saw lieth not when it saith:
"We wrought them weal, they met our weal with ill,
Such, by my life! is every bad man's labor.
To him who benefits unworthy wights
Shall hap what hapt to Ummi-Amir's neighbor."
Now when the Ifrit heard these words he answered: "No more of this
talk. Needs must I kill thee." Upon this the fisherman said to himself:
"This is a Jinni, and I am a man to whom Allah hath given a passably
cunning wit, so I will now cast about to compass his destruction by my
contrivance and by mine intelligence, even as he took counsel only of
his malice and his frowardness." He began by asking the Ifrit, "Hast
thou indeed resolved to kill me?" And, receiving for all answer "Even
so," he cried, "Now in the Most Great Name, graven on the seal ring of
Solomon the son of David (peace be with the holy twain!), an I question
thee on a certain matter, wilt thou give me a true answer?" The Ifrit
replied "Yea," but, hearing mention of the Most Great Name, his wits
were troubled and he said with trembling, "Ask and be brief."
Quoth the fisherman: "How didst thou fit into this bottle which would
not hold thy hand- no, nor even thy foot- and how came it to be large
enough to contain the whole of thee?" Replied the Ifrit, "What! Dost not
believe that I was all there?" And the fisherman rejoined, "Nay! I will
never believe it until I see thee inside with my own eyes." The Evil
Spirit on the instant shook and became a vapor, which condensed and
entered the jar little and little, till all was well inside, when lo!
the fisherman in hot haste took the leaden cap with the seal and
stoppered therewith the mouth of the jar and called out to the Ifrit,
saying: "Ask me by way of boon what death thou wilt die! By Allah, I
will throw thee into the sea before us and here will I build me a lodge,
and whoso cometh hither I will warn him against fishing and will say:
'In these waters abideth an Ifrit who giveth as a last favor a choice of
deaths and fashion of slaughter to the man who saveth him!"'
Now when the Ifrit heard this from the fisherman and saw himself in
limbo, he was minded to escape, but this was prevented by Solomon's
seal. So he knew that the fisherman had cozened and outwitted him, and
he waxed lowly and submissive and began humbly to say, "I did but jest
with thee." But the other answered, "Thou liest, O vilest of the Ifrits,
and meanest and filthiest!" And he set off with the bottle for the
seaside, the Ifrit calling out, "Nay! Nay!" and he calling out, "Aye!
Aye!" Thereupon the Evil Spirit softened his voice and smoothed his
speech and abased himself, saying, "What wouldest thou do with me. O
Fisherman?" "I will throw thee back into the sea," he answered, "Where
thou hast been housed and homed for a thousand and eight hundred years.
And now I will leave thee therein till Judgment Day. Did I not say to
thee, `Spare me and Allah shall spare thee, and slay me not lest Allah
slay thee'? yet thou spurnedst my supplication and hadst no intention
save to deal ungraciously by me, and Allah hath now thrown thee into my
hands, and I am cunninger that thou." Quoth the Ifrit, "Open for me that
I may bring thee weal." Quoth the fisherman: "Thou liest, thou accursed!
Nothing would satisfy thee save my death, so now I will do thee die by
hurling thee into this sea." Then the Marid roared aloud and cried:
"Allah upon thee, O Fisherman, don't! Spare me, and pardon my past
doings, and as I have been tyrannous, so be thou generous, for it is
said among sayings that go current: 'O thou who doest good to him who
hath done thee evil, suffice for the ill-doer his ill deeds, and do not
deal with me as did Umamah to 'Atikah.'"
Asked the fisherman, "And what was their case?" And the Ifrit
answered, "This is not the time for storytelling and I in this prison,
but set me free and I will tell thee the tale." Quoth the fisherman:
"Leave this language. There is no help but that thou be thrown back into
the sea, nor is there any way for thy getting out of it forever and
ever. Vainly I placed myself under thy protection, and I humbled myself
to thee with weeping, while thou soughtest only to slay me, who had done
thee no injury deserving this at thy hands. Nay, so far from injuring
thee by any evil act, I worked thee naught but weal in releasing thee
from that jail of thine. Now I knew thee to be an evil-doer when thou
diddest to me what thou didst, and know that when I have cast thee back
into this sea, I will warn whosoever may fish thee up of what hath
befallen me with thee, and I will advise him to toss thee back again. So
shalt thou abide here under these waters till The End of Time shall make
an end of thee." But the Ifrit cried aloud: "Set me free. This is a
noble occasion for generosity, and I make covenant with thee and vow
never to do thee hurt and harm- nay, I will help thee to what shall put
thee out of want."
The fisherman accepted his promises on both conditions, not to
trouble him as before, but on the contrary to do him service, and after
making firm the plight and swearing him a solemn oath by Allah Most
Highest, he opened the cucurbit. Thereupon the pillar of smoke rose up
till all of it was fully out, then it thickened and once more became an
Ifrit of hideous presence, who forthright administered a kick to the
bottle and sent it flying into the sea. The fisherman, seeing how the
cucurbit was treated and making sure of his own death, piddled in his
clothes and said to himself, "This promiseth badly," but he fortified
his heart, and cried: "O Ifrit, Allah hath said: 'Perform your covenant,
for the performance of your covenant shall be inquired into hereafter.'
Thou hast made a vow to me and hast sworn an oath not to play me false
lest Allah play thee false, for verily He is a jealous God who respiteth
the sinner but letteth him not escape. I say to thee as said the Sage
Duban to King Yunan, 'Spare me so Allah may spare thee!'" The Ifrit
burst into laughter and stalked away, saying to the fisherman, "Follow
me."
And the man paced after him at a safe distance (for he was not
assured of escape) till they had passed round the suburbs of the city.
Thence they struck into the uncultivated grounds and, crossing them,
descended into a broad wilderness, and lo! in the midst of it stood a
mountain tarn. The Ifrit waded in to the middle and again cried, "Follow
me," and when this was done he took his stand in the center and bade the
man cast his net and catch his fish. The fisherman looked into the water
and was much astonished to see therein varicolored fishes, white and
red, blue and yellow. However, he cast his net and, hauling it in, saw
that he had netted four fishes, one of each color. Thereat he rejoiced
greatly, and more when the Ifrit said to him: "Carry these to the Sultan
and set them in his presence, then he will give thee what shall make
thee a wealthy man. And now accept my excuse, for by Allah, at this time
I wot none other way of benefiting thee, inasmuch I have lain in this
sea eighteen hundred years and have not seen the face of the world save
within this hour. But I would not have thee fish here save once a day."
The Ifrit then gave him Godspeed, saying, "Allah grant we meet again,"
and struck the earth with one foot, whereupon the ground clove asunder
and swallowed him up.
The fisherman, much marveling at what had happened to him with the
Ifrit, took the fish and made for the city, and as soon as he reached
home he filled an earthen bowl with water and therein threw the fish,
which began to struggle and wriggle about. Then he bore off the bowl
upon his head and, repairing to the King's palace (even as the Ifrit had
bidden him) laid the fish before the presence. And the King wondered
with exceeding wonder at the sight, for never in his lifetime had he
seen fishes like these in quality or in conformation. So he said, "Give
those fish to the stranger slave girl who now cooketh for us," meaning
the bondmaiden whom the King of Roum had sent to him only three days
before, so that he had not yet made trial of her talents in the dressing
of meat.
Thereupon the Wazir carried the fish to the cook and bade her fry
them, saying: O damsel, the King sendeth this say to thee: 'I have not
treasured thee, O tear o' me! save for stress time of me.' Approve,
then, to us this day thy delicate handiwork and thy savory cooking, for
this dish of fish is a present sent to the Sultan and evidently a
rarity." The Wazir, after he had carefully charged her, returned to the
King, who commanded him to give the fisherman four hundred dinars. He
gave them accordingly, and the man took them to his bosom and ran off
home stumbling and falling and rising again and deeming the whole thing
to be a dream. However, he bought for his family all they wanted, and
lastly he went to his wife in huge joy and gladness. So far concerning
him.
But as regards the cookmaid, she took the fish and cleansed them and
set them in the frying pan, basting them with oil till one side was
dressed. Then she turned them over and behold, the kitchen wall clave
asunder, and therefrom came a young lady, fair of form, oval of face,
perfect in grace, with eyelids which kohl lines enchase. Her dress was a
silken headkerchief fringed and tasseled with blue. A large ring hung
from either ear, a pair of bracelets adorned her wrists, rings with
bezels of priceless gems were on her fingers, and she hent in hand a
long rod of rattan cane which she thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O
fish! O fish! Be ye constant to your convenant?" When the cookmaiden saw
this apparition she swooned away. The young lady repeated her words a
second time and a third time, and at last the fishes raised their heads
from the pan, and saying in articulate speech, "Yes! Yes!" began with
one voice to recite:
"Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I!
And if ye fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!"
After this the young lady upset the frying pan and went forth by the
way she came in and the kitchen wall closed upon her. When the
cookmaiden recovered from her fainting fit, she saw the four fishes
charred black as charcoal, and crying out, "His staff brake in his first
bout," she again fell swooning to the ground. Whilst she was in this
case the Wazir came for the fish, and looking upon her as insensible she
lay, not knowing Sunday from Thursday, shoved her with his foot and
said, "Bring the fish for the Sultan!" Thereupon, recovering from her
fainting fit, she wept and informed him of her case and all that had
befallen her. The Wazir marveled greatly and exclaiming, "This is none
other than a right strange matter!" he sent after the fisher-man and
said to him, "Thou, O Fisherman, must needs fetch us four fishes like
those thou broughtest before."
Thereupon the man repaired to the tarn and cast his net, and when he
landed it, lo! four fishes were therein exactly like the first. These he
at once carried to the Wazir, who went in with them to the cookmaiden
and said, "Up with thee and fry these in my presence, that I may see
this business." The damsel arose and cleansed the fish, and set them in
the frying pan over the fire. However, they remained there but a little
while ere the wall clave asunder and the young lady appeared, clad as
before and holding in hand the wand which she again thrust into the
frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! Be ye constant to your olden
convenant?" And behold, the fish lifted their heads and repeated "Yes!
Yes!" and recited this couplet:
"Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I!
But if ye fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!"
When the fishes spoke, and the young lady upset the frying pan with
her rod and went forth by the way she came and the wall closed up, the
Wazir cried out, "This is a thing not to be hidden from the King." So he
went and told him what had happened, whereupon quoth the King, "There is
no help for it but that I see this with mine own eyes Then he sent for
the fisherman and commanded him to bring four other fish like the first
and to take with him three men as witnesses. The fisherman at once
brought the fish, and the King, after ordering them to give him four
hundred gold pieces, turned to the Wazir and said, "Up, and fry me the
fishes here before me!" The Minister, replying, "To hear is to obey,"
bade bring the frying pan, threw therein the cleansed fish, and set it
over the fire, when lo! the wall clave asunder, and out burst a black
slave like a huge rock or a remnant of the tribe Ad, bearing in hand a
branch of a green tree. And he cried in loud and terrible tones, "O
fish! O fish! Be ye an constant to your antique convenant?" Whereupon
the fishes lifted their heads from the frying pan and said, "Yes! Yes!
We be true to our vow," and they again recited the couplet:
"Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I!
But if ye fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!"
Then the huge blackamoor approached the frying pan and upset it with
the branch and went forth by the way he came in. When he vanished from
their sight, the King inspected the fish, and finding them all charred
black as charcoal, was utterly bewildered, and said to the Wazir:
"Verily this is a matter whereanent silence cannot be kept. And as for
the fishes, assuredly some marvelous adventure connects with them." So
he bade bring the fisherman and asked him, saying: "Fie on thee, fellow!
Whence come these fishes?" And he answered, "From a tarn between four
heights lying behind this mountain which is in sight of thy city." Quoth
the King, "How many days' march?" Quoth he, "O our Lord the Sultan, a
walk of half-hour." The King wondered, and straightway ordering his men
to march and horsemen to mount, led off the fisherman, who went before
as guide, privily damning the Ifrit.
They fared on till they had climbed the mountain and descended unto a
great desert which they had never seen during all their lives. And the
Sultan and his merry men marveled much at the wold set in the midst of
four mountains, and the tarn and its fishes of four colors, red and
white, yellow and blue. The King stood fixed to the spot in wonderment
and asked his troops and an present, "Hath anyone among you ever seen
this piece of water before now?" And all made answer, "O King of the
Age, never did we set eyes upon it during an our days." They also
questioned the oldest inhabitants they met, men well stricken in years,
but they replied, each and every, "A lakelet like this we never saw in
this place." Thereupon quoth the King, "By Allah, I will neither return
to my capital nor sit upon the throne of my forebears till I learn the
truth about this tarn and the fish therein."
He then ordered his men to dismount and bivouac all around the
mountain, which they did, and summoning his Wazir, a Minister of much
experience, sagacious, of penetrating wit and well versed in affairs,
said to him: "'Tis in my mind to do a certain thing, whereof I will
inform thee. My heart telleth me to fare forth alone this night and root
out the mystery of this tarn and its fishes. Do thou take thy scat at my
tent door, and say to the emirs and wazirs, the nabobs and the
chamberlains, in fine, to all who ask thee, 'The Sultan is ill at ease,
and he hath ordered me to refuse all admittance.' And be careful thou
let none know my design." And the Wazir could not oppose him. Then the
King changed his dress and ornaments and, slinging his sword over his
shoulder, took a path which led up one of the mountains and marched for
the rest of the night till morning dawned, nor did he cease wayfaring
till the heat was too much for him. After his long walk he rested for a
while, and then resumed his march and fared on through the second night
till dawn, when suddenly there appeared a black point in the far
distance. Hereat he rejoiced and said to himself, "Haply someone here
shall acquaint me with the mystery of the tarn and its fishes."
Presently, drawing near the dark object, he found it a palace built
of swart stone plated with iron, and while one leaf of the gate stood
wide-open, the other was shut. The King's spirits rose high as he stood
before the gate and rapped a light rap, but hearing no answer, he
knocked a second knock and a third, yet there came no sign. Then he
knocked his loudest, but still no answer, so he said, "Doubtless 'tis
empty." There upon he mustered up resolution and boldly walked through
the main gate into the great hall, and there cried out aloud: "Holloa,
ye people of the palace! I am a stranger and a wayfarer. Have you aught
here of victual?" He repeated his cry a second time and a third, but
still there came no reply.
So, strengthening his heart and making up his mind, he stalked
through the vestibule into the very middle of the palace, and found no
man in it. Yet it was furnished with silken stuffs gold-starred, and the
hangings were let down over the doorways. In the midst was a spacious
court off which sat four open saloons, each with its raised dais, saloon
facing saloon. A canopy shaded the court, and in the center was a
jetting fount with four figures of lions made of red gold, spouting from
their mouths water clear as pearls and diaphanous gems. Round about the
palace birds were let loose, and over it stretched a net of golden wire,
hindering them from flying off. In brief, there was everything but human
beings. The King marveled mightily thereat, yet felt he sad at heart for
that he saw no one to give him an account of the waste and its tarn, the
fishes, the mountains, and the palace itself. Presently as he sat
between the doors in deep thought behold, there came a voice of lament,
as from a heart griefspent, and he heard the voice chanting these
verses:
"I hid what I endured of him and yet it came to light,
And nightly sleep mine eyelids fled and changed to sleepless night.
O world! O Fate! Withhold thy hand and cease thy hurt and harm
Look and behold my hapless sprite in dolor and affright.
Wilt ne'er show ruth to highborn youth who lost him on the way
Of Love, and fell from wealth and fame to lowest basest wight?
Jealous of Zephyr's breath was I as on your form he breathed,
But whenas Destiny descends she blindeth human sight.
What shall the hapless archer do who when he fronts his foe
And bends his bow to shoot the shaft shall find his string undight?
When cark and care so heavy bear on youth of generous soul,
How shall he 'scape his lot and where from Fate his place of flight?"
Now when the Sultan heard the mournful voice he sprang to his feet
and following the sound, found a curtain let down over a chamber door.
He raised it and saw behind it a young man sitting upon a couch about a
cubit above the ground, and he fair to the sight, a well-shaped wight,
with eloquence dight. His forehead was flower-white, his cheek rosy
bright, and a mole on his cheek breadth like an ambergris mite, even as
the poet doth indite:
A youth slim-waisted from whose locks and brow
The world in blackness and in light is set.
Throughout Creation's round no fairer show
No rarer sight thine eye hath ever met.
A nut-brown mole sits throned upon a cheek
Of rosiest red beneath an eye of jet.
The King rejoiced and saluted him, but he remained sitting in his
caftan of silken stuff purfled with Egyptian gold and his crown studded
with gems of sorts. But his face was sad with the traces of sorrow. He
returned the royal salute in most courteous wise adding, "O my lord, thy
dignity demandeth my rising to thee, and my sole excuse is to crave thy
pardon." Quoth the King: "Thou art excused, O youth, so look upon me as
thy guest come hither on an especial object. I would thou acquaint me
with the secrets of this tarn and its fishes and of this palace and thy
loneliness therein and the cause of thy groaning and wailing." When the
young man heard these words he wept with sore weeping till his bosom was
drenched with tears. The King marveled and asked him, "What maketh thee
weep, O young man?" and he answered, "How should I not weep, when this
is my case!" Thereupon he put out his hand and raised the skirt of his
garment, when lo! the lower half of him appeared stone down to his feet
while from his navel to the hair of his head he was man. The King,
seeing this his plight, grieved with sore grief and of his compassion
cried: "Alack and wellaway! In very sooth, O youth, thou heapest sorrow
upon my sorrow. I was minded to ask thee the mystery of the fishes only,
whereas now I am concerned to learn thy story as well as theirs. But
there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious,
the Great! Lose no time, O youth, but tell me forthright thy whole
tale." Quoth he, "Lend me thine ears, thy sight, and thine insight." And
quoth the King, "All are at thy service!"
Thereupon the youth began, "Right wondrous and marvelous is my case
and that of these fishes, and were it graven with gravers upon the eye
corners it were a warner to whoso would be warned." "How is that?" asked
the King, and the young man began to tell
THE TALE OF THE ENSORCELED PRINCE
KNOW then, O my lord, that whilom my sire was King of this city, and
his name was Mahmud, entitled Lord of the Black Islands, and owner of
what are now these four mountains. He ruled threescore and ten years,
after which he went to the mercy of the Lord and I reigned as Sultan in
his stead. I took to wife my cousin, the daughter of my paternal uncle,
and she loved me with such abounding love that whenever I was absent she
ate not and she drank not until she saw me again. She cohabited with me
for five years till a certain day when she went forth to the hammam
bath, and I bade the cook hasten to get ready all requisites for our
supper. And I entered this palace and lay down on the bed where I was
wont to sleep and bade two damsels to fan my face, one sitting by my
head and the other at my feet.
But I was troubled and made restless by my wife's absence and could
not sleep, for although my eyes were closed, my mind and thoughts were
wide-awake. Presently I heard the slave girl at my head say to her at my
feet: "O Mas'udah, how miserable is our master and how wasted in his
youth, and oh! the pity of his being so betrayed by our mistress, the
accursed whore!" The other replied: "Yes indeed. Allah curse all
faithless women and adulterous! But the like of our master, with his
fair gifts, deserveth something better than this harlot who lieth abroad
every night." Then quoth she who sat by my head, "Is our lord dumb or
fit only for bubbling that he questioneth her not!" and quoth the other:
"Fie on thee! Doth our lord know her ways, or doth she allow him his
choice? Nay, more, doth she not drug every night the cup she giveth him
to drink before sleeptime, and put bhang into it? So he sleepeth and
wotteth not whither she goeth, nor what she doeth, but we know that
after giving him the drugged wine, she donneth her richest raiment and
perfumeth herself and then she fareth out from him to be away till break
of day. Then she cometh to him and burneth a pastille under his nose and
he awaketh from his death-like sleep." When I heard the slave girls'
words, the light became black before my sight and I thought night would
never fall.
Presently the daughter of my uncle came from the baths, and they set
the table for us and we ate and sat together a fair half-hour quaffing
our wine, as was ever our wont. Then she called for the particular wine
I used to drink before sleeping and reached me the cup, but, seeming to
drink it according to my wont, I poured the contents into my bosom and,
lying down, let her hear that I was asleep. Then, behold, she cried:
"Sleep out the night, and never wake again! By Allah, I loathe thee and
I loathe thy whole body, and my soul turneth in disgust from cohabiting
with thee, and I see not the moment when Allah shall snatch away thy
life!" Then she rose and donned her fairest dress and perfumed her
person and slung my sword over her shoulder, and opening the gates of
the palace, went her ill way.
I rose and followed her as she left the palace and she threaded the
streets until she came to the city gate, where she spoke words I
understood not and the padlocks dropped of themselves as if broken and
the gate leaves opened. She went forth (and I after her without her
noticing aught) till she came at last to the outlying mounds and a reed
fence built about a round-roofed hut of mud bricks. As she entered the
door, I climbed upon the roof, which commanded a view of the interior,
And lo! my fair cousin had gone in to a hideous Negro slave with his
upper lip like the cover of a pot and his lower like an open pot, lips
which might sweep up sand from the gravel floor of the cot. He was to
boot a leper and a paralytic, lying upon a strew of sugar-cane trash and
wrapped in an old blanket and the foulest rags and tatters.
She kissed the earth before him, and he raised his head so as to see
her and said: "Woe to thee! What call hadst thou to stay away all this
time? Here have been with me sundry of the black brethren, who drank
their wine and each had his young lady, and I was not content to drink
because of thine absence." Then she: "O my lord, my heart's love and
coolth of my eyes, knowest thou not that I am married to my cousin,
whose very look I loathe, and hate myself when in his company? And did
not I fear for thy sake, I would not let a single sun arise before
making his city a ruined heap wherein raven should croak and howlet
hoot, and jackal and wolf harbor and loot- nay, I had removed its very
stones to the back side of Mount Kaf." Rejoined the slave: "Thou liest,
damn thee! Now I swear an oath by the valor and honor of blackamoor men
(and deem not our manliness to be the poor manliness of white men), from
today forth if thou stay away till this hour, I will not keep company
with thee nor will I glue my body with thy body. Dost play fast and
loose with us, thou cracked pot, that we may satisfy thy dirty lusts, O
vilest of the vile whites?"
When I heard his words, and saw with my own eyes what passed between
these two wretches, the world waxed dark before my face and my soul knew
not in what place it was. But my wife humbly stood up weeping before and
wheedling the slave, and saying: "O my beloved, and very fruit of my
heart, there is none left to cheer me but thy dear self, and, if thou
cast me off, who shall take me in, O my beloved, O light of my eyes?"
And she ceased not weeping and abasing herself to him until he deigned
be reconciled with her. Then was she right glad and stood up and doffed
her clothes, even to her petticoat trousers, and said, "O my master,
what hast thou here for thy handmaiden to eat?" "Uncover the basin," he
grumbled, "and thou shalt find at the bottom the broiled bones of some
rats we dined on. Pick at them, and then go to that slop pot, where thou
shalt find some leavings of beer which thou mayest drink." So she ate
and drank and washed her hands, and went and lay down by the side of the
slave upon the cane trash and crept in with him under his foul coverlet
and his rags and tatters.
When I saw my wife, my cousin, the daughter of my uncle, do this
deed, I clean lost my wits, and climbing down from the roof, I entered
and took the sword which she had with her and drew it, determined to cut
down the twain. I first struck at the slave's neck and thought that the
death decree had fallen on him, for he groaned a loud hissing groan, but
I had cut only the skin and flesh of the gullet and the two arteries! It
awoke the daughter of my uncle, so I sheathed the sword and fared forth
for the city, and entering the palace, lay upon my bed and slept till
morning, when my wife aroused me and I saw that she had cut off her hair
and had donned mourning garments. Quoth she: "O son of my uncle, blame
me not for what I do. It hath just reached me that my mother is dead and
my father hath been killed in holy war, and of my brothers one hath lost
his life by a snake sting and the other by falling down some precipice,
and I can and should do naught save weep and lament."
When I heard her words I refrained from all reproach and said only:
"Do as thou list. I certainly will not thwart thee." She continued
sorrowing, weeping and wailing one whole year from the beginning of its
circle to the end, and when it was finished she said to me: "I wish to
build me in thy palace a tomb with a cupola, which I will set apart for
my mourning and will name the House of Lamentations." Quoth I again: "Do
as thou list!" Then she builded for herself a cenotaph wherein to mourn,
and set on its center a dome under which showed a tomb like a santon's
sepulcher. Thither she carried the slave and lodged him, but he was
exceeding weak by reason of his wound, and unable to do her love
service. He could only drink wine, and from the day of his hurt he spake
not a word, yet he lived on because his appointed hour was not come.
Every day, morning and evening, my wife went to him and wept and wailed
over him and gave him wine and strong soups, and left not off doing
after this manner a second year. And I bore with her patiently and paid
no heed to her.
One day, however, I went in to her unawares, and I found her weeping
and beating her face and crying: "Why art thou absent from my sight, O
my heart's delight? Speak to me, O my life, talk with me, O my love."
When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said to her,
"O my cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring forth tears
there is little profit!" "Thwart me not," answered she, "in aught I do,
or I will lay violent hands on myself!" So I held my peace and left her
to go her own way, and she ceased not to cry and keen and indulge her
affliction for yet another year. At the end of the third year I waxed
aweary of this longsome mourning, and one day I happened to enter the
cenotaph when vexed and angry with some matter which had thwarted me,
and suddenly I heard her say: "O my lord, I never hear thee vouchsafe a
single word to me! Why dost thou not answer me, O my master?" and she
began reciting:
"O thou tomb! O thou tomb! Be his beauty set in shade?
Hast thou darkened that countenance all-sheeny as the noon?
O thou tomb! Neither earth nor yet Heaven art to me,
Then how cometh it in thee are conjoined my sun and moon?"
When I heard such verses as these rage was heaped upon my rage, I
cried out: "Wellaway! How long is this sorrow to last?" and I began
repeating:
"O thou tomb! O thou tomb! Be his horrors set in blight?
Hast thou darkened his countenance that sickeneth the soul?
O thou tomb! Neither cesspool nor pigskin art to me,
Then how cometh it in thee are conjoined soil and coal?"
When she heard my words she sprang to her feet crying: "Fie upon
thee, thou cur! All this is of thy doings. Thou hast wounded my heart's
darling and thereby worked me sore woe, and thou hast wasted his youth
so that these three years he hath lain abed more dead than alive!" In my
wrath I cried: "O thou foulest of harlots and filthiest of whores ever
futtered by Negro slaves who are hired to have at thee! Yes, indeed it
was I who did this good deed." And snatching up my sword, I drew it and
made at her to cut her down. But she laughed my words and mine intent to
scorn, crying: "To heel, hound that thou art! Alas for the past which
shall no more come to pass, nor shall anyone avail the dead to raise.
Allah hath indeed now given into my hand him who did to me this thing, a
deed that hath burned my heart with a fire which died not a flame which
might not be quenched!"
Then she stood up, and pronouncing some words to me unintelligible,
she said, "By virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and half
man!" Whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and
neither dead nor alive. Moreover, she ensorceled the city with all its
streets and garths, and she turned by her gramarye the four islands into
four mountains around the tarn whereof thou questionest me. And the
citizens, who were of four different faiths, Moslem, Nazarene, Jew, and
Magian, she transformed by her enchantments into fishes. The Moslems are
the white, the Magians red, the Christians blue, and the Jews yellow.
And every day she tortureth me and scourgeth me with a hundred stripes,
each of which draweth floods of blood and cutteth the skin of my
shoulders to strips. And lastly she clotheth my upper half with a
haircloth and then throweth over them these robes. Hereupon the young
man again shed tears and began reciting:
"In patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate,
I will bear at will of Thee whatsoever be my state.
They oppress me, they torture me, they make my life a woe,
Yet haply Heaven's happiness shall compensate my strait.
Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate o' foes,
But Mustafa and Murtaza shall ope me Heaven's gate."
After this the Sultan turned toward the young Prince and said: "O
youth, thou hast removed one grief only to add another grief. But now, O
my friend, where is she, and where is the mausoleum wherein lieth the
wounded slave?" "The slave lieth under yon dome," quoth the young man,
"and she sitteth in the chamber fronting yonder door. And every day at
sunrise she cometh forth, and first strippeth me, and whippeth me with a
hundred strokes of the leathern scourge, and I weep and shriek, but
there is no power of motion in my lower limbs to keep her off me. After
ending her tormenting me she visiteth the slave, bringing him wine and
boiled meats. And tomorrow at an early hour she will be here." Quoth the
King: "By Allah, O youth, I will assuredly do thee a good deed which the
world shall not willingly let die, and an act of derring-do which shall
be chronicled long after I am dead and gone by."
Then the King sat him by the side of the young Prince and talked till
nightfall, when he lay down and slept. But as soon as the false dawn
showed, he arose and, doffing his outer garments, bared his blade and
hastened to the place wherein lay the slave. Then was he ware of lighted
candles and lamps, and the perfume of incenses and unguents, and
directed by these, he made for the slave and struck him one stroke,
killing him on the spot. After which he lifted him on his back and threw
him into a well that was in the palace. Presently he returned and,
donning the slave's gear, lay down at length within the mausoleum with
the drawn sword laid close to and along his side. After an hour or so
the accursed witch came, and first going to her husband, she stripped
off his clothes and, taking a whip, flogged him cruelly while he cried
out: "Ah! Enough for me the case I am in! Take pity on me, O my cousin!"
But she replied, "Didst thou take pity on me and spare the life of my
truelove on whom I doated?"
Then she drew the cilice over his raw and bleeding skin and threw the
robe upon all and went down to the slave with a goblet of wine and a
bowl of meat broth in her hands. She entered under the dome weeping and
wailing, "Wellaway!" and crying: "O my lord! Speak a word to me! O my
master! Talk awhile with me!" and began to recite these couplets:
"How long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide?
Suffice thee not tear floods thou hast espied?
Thou dost prolong our parting purposely
And if wouldst please my foe, thou'rt satisfied!"
Then she wept again and said: "O my lord! Speak to me, talk with me!"
The King lowered his voice and, twisting his tongue, spoke after the
fashion of the blackamoors and said "'Lack, 'lack! There be no Majesty
and there be no Might save in Allauh, the Gloriose, the Great!"
Now when she heard these words she shouted for joy, and fell to the
ground fainting, and when her senses returned she asked, "O my lord, can
it be true that thou hast power of speech?" And the King, making his
voice small and faint, answered: "O my cuss! Dost thou deserve that I
talk to thee and speak with thee?" "Why and wherefore?" rejoined she,
and he replied: "The why is that all the livelong day thou tormentest
thy hubby, and he keeps calling on 'eaven for aid until sleep is strange
to me even from evenin' till mawnin', and he prays and damns, cussing us
two, me and thee, causing me disquiet and much bother. Were this not so,
I should long ago have got my health, and it is this which prevents my
answering thee." Quoth she, "With thy leave I will release him from what
spell is on him," and quoth the King, "Release him, and let's have some
rest!" She cried, "To hear is to obey," and, going from the cenotaph to
the palace, she took a metal bowl and filled it with water and spake
over it certain words which made the contents bubble and boil as a
caldron seetheth over the fire. With this she sprinkled her husband
saying, "By virtue of the dread words I have spoken, if thou becamest
thus by my spells, come forth out of that form into thine own former
form."
And lo and behold! the young man shook and trembled, then he rose to
his feet and, rejoicing at his deliverance, cried aloud, "I testify that
there is no god but the God, and in very truth Mohammed is His Apostle,
whom Allah bless and keep!" Then she said to him, "Go forth and return
not hither, for if thou do I will surely slay thee," screaming these
words in his face. So he went from between her hands, and she returned
to the dome and, going down to the sepulcher, she said, "O my lord, come
forth to me that I may look upon thee and thy goodliness!" The King
replied in faint low words: "What thing hast thou done? Thou hast rid me
of the branch, but not of the root." She asked: "O my darling! O my
Negroling! What is the root?" And he answered: "Fie on thee, O my cuss!
The people of this city and of the four islands every night when it's
half-passed lift their heads from the tank in which thou hast turned
them to fishes and cry to Heaven and call down its anger on me and thee,
and this is the reason why my body's balked from health. Go at once and
set them free, then come to me and take my hand, and raise me up, for a
little strength is already back in me."
When she heard the King's words (and she still supposed him to be the
slave) she cried joyously: "O my master, on my head and on my eyes be
thy command. Bismillah!" So she sprang to her feet and, full of joy and
gladness, ran down to the tarn and took a little of its water in the
palm of her hand and spake over it words not to be understood, and the
fishes lifted their heads and stood up on the instant like men, the
spell on the people of the city having been removed. What was the lake
again became a crowded capital. The bazaars were thronged with folk who
bought and sold, each citizen was occupied with his own calling, and the
four hills became islands as they were whilom.
Then the young woman, that wicked sorceress, returned to the King and
(still thinking he was the Negro) said to him: "O my love! Stretch forth
thy honored hand that I may assist thee to rise." "Nearer to me," quoth
the King in a faint and feigned tone. She came close as to embrace him,
when he took up the sword lying hid by his side and smote her across the
breast, so that the point showed gleaming behind her back. Then he smote
her a second time and cut her in twain and cast her to the ground in two
halves. After which he fared forth and found the young man, now freed
from the spell, awaiting him and gave him joy of his happy release while
the Prince kissed his hand with abundant thanks.
Quoth the King, "Wilt thou abide in this city, or go with me to my
capital?" Quoth the youth, "O King of the Age, wettest thou not what
journey is between thee and thy city?" "Two days and a half," answered
he, whereupon said the other: "An thou be sleeping, O King, awake!
Between thee and thy city is a year's march for a well-girt walker, and
thou haddest not come hither in two days and a half save that the city
was under enchantment. And I, O King, will never part from thee- no, not
even for the twinkling of an eye." The King rejoiced at his words and
said: "Thanks be to Allah, Who hath bestowed thee upon me! From this
hour thou art my son and my only son, for that in all my life I have
never been blessed with issue." Thereupon they embraced and joyed with
exceeding great joy. And, reaching the palace, the Prince who had been
spellbound informed his lords and his grandees that he was about to
visit the Holy Places as a pilgrim, and bade them get ready all things
necessary for the occasion.
The preparations lasted ten days, after which he set out with the
Sultan, whose heart burned in yearning for his city, whence he had been
absent a whole twelvemonth. They journeyed with an escort of Mamelukes
carrying all manners of precious gifts and rarities, nor stinted they
wayfaring day and night for a full year until they approached the
Sultan's capital, and sent on messengers to announce their coming. Then
the Wazir and the whole army came out to meet him in joy and gladness,
for they had given up all hope of ever seeing their King, and the troops
kissed the ground before him and wished him joy of his safety. He
entered and took seat upon his throne and the Minister came before him
and, when acquainted with all that had befallen the young Prince, he
congratulated him on his narrow escape.
When order was restored throughout the land, the King gave largess to
many of his people, and said to the Wazir, "Hither the fisherman who
brought us the fishes!" So he sent for the man who had been the first
cause of the city and the citizens being delivered from enchantment, and
when he came into the presence, the Sultan bestowed upon him a dress of
honor, and questioned him of his condition and whether he had children.
The fisherman gave him to know that he had two daughters and a son, so
the King sent for them and, taking one dauhter to wife, gave the other
to the young Prince and made the son his head treasurer. Furthermore, he
invested his Wazir with the Sultanate of the City in the Black Islands
whilom belonging to the young Prince, and dispatched with him the escort
of fifty armed slaves, together with dresses of honor for all the emirs
and grandees. The Wazir kissed hands and fared forth on his way, while
the Sultan and the Prince abode at home in all the solace and the
delight of life, and the fisherman became the richest man of his age,
and his daughters wived with the Kings until death came to them.
And yet, O King! this is not more wondrous than the story of
THE PORTER AND THE THREE LADIES OF BAGHDAD
ONCE upon a time there was a porter in Baghdad who was a bachelor
and who would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a certain day, as he
stood about the street leaning idly upon his crate, behold, there stood
before him an honorable woman in a mantilla of Mosul silk broidered with
gold and bordered with brocade. Her walking shoes were also purred with
gold, and her hair floated in long plaits. She raised her face veil and,
showing two black eyes fringed with jetty lashes, whose glances were
soft and languishing and whose perfect beauty was ever blandishing, she
accosted the porter and said in the suavest tones and choicest language,
"Take up thy crate and follow me."
The porter was so dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard her
aright, but he shouldered his basket in hot haste, saying in himself, "O
day of good luck! O day of Allah's grace!" and walked after her till she
stopped at the door of a house. There she rapped, and presently came out
to her an old man, a Nazarene, to whom she gave a gold piece, receiving
from him in return what she required of strained wine clear as olive
oil, and she set it safely in the hamper, saying, "Lift and follow."
Quoth the porter, "This, by Allah, is indeed an auspicious day, a day
propitious for the granting of all a man wisheth." He again hoisted up
the crate and followed her till she stopped at a fruiterer's shop and
bought from him Shami apples and Osmani quinces and Omani peaches, and
cucumbers of Nile growth, and Egyptian limes and Sultani oranges and
citrons, besides Aleppine jasmine, scented myrtle berries, Damascene
nenuphars, flower of privet and camomile, blood-red anemones, violets,
and pomegranate bloom, eglantine, and narcissus, and set the whole in
the porter's crate, saying, "Up with it."
So he lifted and followed her till she stopped at a butcher's booth
and said, "Cut me off ten pounds of mutton." She paid him his price and
he wrapped it in a banana leaf, whereupon she laid it in the crate and
said, "Hoist, O Porter." He hoisted accordingly, and followed her as she
walked on till she stopped at a grocer's, where she bought dry fruits
and pistachio kernels, Tihamah raisins, shelled almonds, and all wanted
for dessert, and said to the porter, "Lift and follow me." So he up with
his hamper and after her till she stayed at the confectioner's, and she
bought an earthen platter, and piled it with all kinds of sweetmeats in
his shop, open-worked tarts and fritters scented with musk, and "soap
cakes," and lemon loaves, and melon preserves, and "Zaynab's combs," and
"ladies' fingers," and "Kazi's titbits," and goodies of every
description, and placed the platter in the porter's crate. Thereupon
quoth he (being a merry man), "Thou shouldest have told me, and I would
have brought with me a pony or a she-camel to carry all this market
stuff." She smiled and gave him a little cuff on the nape, saying, "Step
out and exceed not in words, for (Allah willing!) thy wage will not be
wanting."
Then she stopped at a perfumer's and took from him ten sorts of
waters, rose scented with musk, orange-flower, water-lily,
willow-flower, violet and five others. And she also bought two loaves of
sugar, a bottle for perfume-spraying, a lump of male incense, aloe wood,
ambergris, and musk, with candles of Alexandria wax, and she put the
whole into the basket, saying, "Up with thy crate and after me." He did
so and followed until she stood before the greengrocer's, of whom she
bought pickled sallower and olives, in brine and in oil, with tarragon
and cream cheese and hard Syrian cheese, and she stowed them away in the
crate, saying to the porter, "Take up thy basket and follow me." He did
so and went after her till she came to a fair mansion fronted by a
spacious court, a tall, fine place to which columns gave strength and
grace. And the gate thereof had two leaves of ebony inlaid with plates
of red gold. The lady stopped at the door and, turning her face veil
sideways, knocked softly with her knuckles whilst the porter stood
behind her, thinking of naught save her beauty and loveliness.
Presently the door swung back and both leaves were opened, whereupon
he looked to see who had opened it, and behold, it was a lady of tall
figure, some five feet high, a model of beauty and loveliness,
brilliance and symmetry and perfect grace. Her forehead was
flower-white, her cheeks like the anemone ruddy-bright. Her eyes were
those of the wild heifer or the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent
moon which ends Sha'aban and begins Ramazan. Her mouth was the ring of
Solomon, her lips coral-red, and her teeth like a line of strung pearls
or of camomile petals. Her throat recalled the antelope's, and her
breasts, like two pomegranates of even size, stood at bay as it were.
Her body rose and fell in waves below her dress like the rolls of a
piece of brocade, and her navel would hold an ounce of benzoin ointment.
In fine, she was like her of whom the poet said:
On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight,
Enjoy her flowerlike face, her fragrant light.
Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black
Beauty encase a brow so purely white.
The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim,
Though fail her name whose beauties we indite.
As sways her gait, I smile at hips so big
And weep to see the waist they bear so slight.
When the porter looked upon her, his wits were waylaid and his senses
were stormed so that his crate went nigh to fall from his head, and he
said to himself, "Never have I in my life seen a day more blessed than
this day!" Then quoth the lady portress to the lady cateress, "Come in
from the gate and relieve this poor man of his load." So the provisioner
went in, followed by the portress and the porter, and went on till they
reached a spacious ground-floor hall, built with admirable skill and
beautified with all manner colors and carvings, with upper balconies and
groined arches and galleries and cupboards and recesses whose curtains
hung before them. In the midst stood a great basin full of water
surrounding a fine fountain, and at the upper end on the raised dais was
a couch of juniper wood set with gems and pearls, with a canopy like
mosquito curtains of red satin-silk looped up with pearls as big as
filberts and bigger.
Thereupon sat a lady bright of blee, with brow beaming brilliancy,
the dream of philosophy, whose eyes were fraught with Babel's gramarye
and her eyebrows were arched as for archery. Her breath breathed
ambergris and perfumery and her lips were sugar to taste and carnelian
to see. Her stature was straight as the letter l and her face shamed the
noon sun's radiancy; and she was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden
marquetry, or a bride displayed in choicest finery, or a noble maid of
Araby. The third lady, rising from the couch, stepped forward with
graceful swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon, when
she said to her sisters: "Why stand ye here? Take it down from this poor
man's head!" Then the cateress went and stood before him and the
portress behind him while the third helped them, and they lifted the
load from the porter's head, and, emptying it of all that was therein,
set everything in its place. Lastly they gave him two gold pieces,
saying, "Wend thy ways, O Porter."
But he went not, for he stood looking at the ladies and admiring what
uncommon beauty was theirs, and their pleasant manners and kindly
dispositions (never had he seen goodlier). And he gazed wistfully at
that good store of wines and sweet-scented flowers and fruits and other
matters. Also he marveled with exceeding marvel, especially to see no
man in the place, and delayed his going, whereupon quoth the eldest
lady: "What aileth thee that goest not? Haply thy wage be too little?"
And, turning to her sister, the cateress, she said, "Give him another
dinar!" But the porter answered: "By Allah, my lady, it is not for the
wage, my hire is never more than two dirhams, but in very sooth my heart
and my soul are taken up with you and your condition. I wonder to see
you single with ne'er a man about you and not a soul to bear you
company. And well you wot that the minaret toppleth o'er unless it stand
upon four, and you want this same fourth, and women's pleasure without
man is short of measure, even as the poet said:
"Seest not we want for joy four things all told-
The harp and lute, the flute and flageolet-
And be they companied with scents fourfold,
Rose, myrtle, anemone, and violet.
Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withhold-
Good wine and youth and gold and pretty pet.
"You be three and want a fourth who shall be a person of good sense
and prudence, smart-witted, and one apt to keep careful counsel." His
words pleased and amused them much, and they laughed at him and said:
"And who is to assure us of that? We are maidens, and we fear to entrust
our secret where it may not be kept, for we have read in a certain
chronicle the lines of one Ibn al-Sumam:
"Hold fast thy secret and to none unfold,
Lost is a secret when that secret's told.
An fail thy breast thy secret to conceal,
How canst thou hope another's breast shall hold?"
When the porter heard their words, he rejoined: "By your lives! I am
a man of sense and a discreet, who hath read books and perused
chronicles. I reveal the fair and conceal the foul and I act as the poet
adviseth:
"None but the good a secret keep,
And good men keep it unrevealed.
It is to me a well-shut house
With keyless locks and door ensealed."
When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application
addressed to them, they said: "Thou knowest that we have laid out all
our moneys on this place. Now say, hast thou aught to offer us in return
for entertainment? For surely we will not suffer thee to sit in our
company and be our cup companion, and gaze upon our faces so fair and so
rare, without paying a round sum. Wettest thou not the saying:
"Sans hope of gain
Love's not worth a grain"?
Whereto the lady portress added, "If thou bring anything, thou art a
something; if no thing, be off with thee, thou art a nothing." But the
procuratrix interposed, saying: "Nay, O my sisters, leave teasing him,
for by Allah he hath not failed us this day, and had he been other he
never had kept patience with me, so whatever be his shot and scot I will
take it upon myself."
The porter, overjoyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her,
saying, "By Allah, these moneys are the first fruits this day hath given
me." Hearing this, they said, "Sit thee down and welcome to thee," and
the eldest lady added: "By Allah, we may not suffer thee to join us save
on one condition, and this it is, that no questions be asked as to what
concerneth thee not, and frowardness shall be soundly flogged." Answered
the porter: "I agree to this, O my lady. On my head and my eyes be it!
Look ye, I am dumb, I have no tongue." Then arose the provisioneress
and, tightening her girdle, set the table by the fountain and put the
flowers and sweet herbs in their jars, and strained the wine and ranged
the flasks in rows and made ready every requisite. Then sat she down,
she and her sisters, placing amidst them the porter, who kept deeming
himself in a dream. And she took up the wine flagon and poured out the
first cup and drank it off, and likewise a second and a third. After
this she filled a fourth cup, which she handed to one of her sisters,
and lastly, she crowned a goblet and passed it to the porter, saying:
"Drink the dear draught, drink free and fain
What healeth every grief and pain."
He took the cup in his hand and, Touting low, returned his best
thanks and improvised:
"Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend,
A man of worth whose good old blood all know.
For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet
And stinks when over stench it haply blow."
Adding:
"Drain not the bowl, save from dear hand like thine,
The cup recalls thy gifts, thou, gifts of wine."
After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and was
drunk and sat swaying from side to side and pursued:
"All drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean
Doth hold save one, the bloodshed of the vine.
Fill! Fill! Take all my wealth bequeathed or won,
Thou fawn! a willing ransome for those eyne."
Then the cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the portress, who took
it from her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she poured again
and passed to the eldest lady, who sat on the couch, and filled yet
another and handed it to the porter. He kissed the ground before them,
and after drinking and thanking them, he again began to recite:
"Here! Here! By Allah, here!
Cups of the sweet, the dear!
Fill me a brimming bowl,
The Fount o' Life I speer."
Then the porter stood up before the mistress of the house and said,
"O lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, thy very
bondsman," and he began reciting:
"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door,
Lauding thy generous boons and gifts galore.
Beauty! May he come in awhile to 'joy
Thy charms? For Love and I part nevermore!"
Then the lady took the cup and drank it off to her sisters' health,
and they ceased not drinking (the porter being in the midst of them) and
dancing and laughing and reciting verses and singing ballads and
ritornellos. All this time the porter was carrying on with them,
kissing, toying, biting, handling, groping, fingering whilst one thrust
a dainty morsel in his mouth and another slapped him, and this cuffed
his cheeks, and that threw sweet flowers at him. And he was in the very
paradise of pleasure, as though he were sitting in the seventh sphere
among the houris of Heaven. And they ceased not to be after this fashion
till night began to fall. Thereupon said they to the porter, "Bismillah,
O our master, up and on with those sorry old shoes of thine and turn thy
face and show us the breadth of thy shoulders!" Said he: "By Allah, to
part with my soul would be easier for me than departing from you. Come,
let us join night to day, and tomorrow morning we will each wend our own
way." "My life on you," said the procuratrix, "suffer him to tarry with
us, that we may laugh at him. We may live out our lives and never meet
with his like, for surely he is a right merry rogue and a witty." So
they said: "Thou must not remain with us this night save on condition
that thou submit to our commands, and that whatso thou seest, thou ask
no questions thereanent, nor inquire of its cause." "All right,"
rejoined he, and they said, "Go read the writing over the door."
So he rose and went to the entrance and there found written in
letters of gold wash: WHOSO SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT SHALL
HEAR WHAT PLEASETH HIM NOT! The porter said, "Be ye witnesses against me
that I will not speak on whatso concerneth me not." Then the cateress
arose and set food before them and they ate. After which they changed
their drinking place for another, and she lighted the lamps and candles
and burned ambergris and aloe wood, and set on fresh fruit and the wine
service, when they fell to carousing and talking of their lovers. And
they ceased not to eat and drink and chat, nibbling dry fruits and
laughing and playing tricks for the space of a full hour, when lo! a
knock was heard at the gate.
The knocking in no wise disturbed the seance, but one of them rose
and went to see what it was and presently returned, saying, "Truly our
pleasure for this night is to be perfect." "How is that?" asked they,
and she answered: "At the gate be three Persian Kalandars with their
beards and heads and eyebrows shaven, and all three blind of the left
eye- which is surely a strange chance. They are foreigners from Roumland
with the mark of travel plain upon them. They have just entered Baghdad,
this being their first visit to our city, and the cause of their
knocking at our door is simply because they cannot find a lodging.
Indeed one of them said to me: 'Haply the owner of this mansion will let
us have the key of his stable or some old outhouse wherein we may pass
this night.' For evening had surprised them and, being strangers in the
land, they knew none who would give them shelter. And, O my sisters,
each of them is a figure o' fun after his own fashion, and if we let
them in we shall have matter to make sport of." She gave not over
persuading them till they said to her: "Let them in, and make thou the
usual condition with them that they speak not of what concerneth them
not, lest they hear what pleased them not."
So she rejoiced and, going to the door, presently returned with the
three monoculars whose beards and mustachios were clean-shaven. They
salaamed and stood afar off by way of respect, but the three ladies rose
up to them and welcomed them and wished them joy of their safe arrival
and made them sit down. The Kalandars looked at the room and saw that it
was a pleasant place, clean-swept and garnished with flowers, and the
lamps were burning and the smoke of perfumes was spiring in air, and
beside the dessert and fruits and wine, there were three fair girls who
might be maidens. So they exclaimed with one voice, "By Allah, 'tis
good!" Then they turned to the porter and saw that he was a merry-faced
wight, albeit he was by no means sober and was sore after his slappings.
So they thought that he was one of themselves and said, "A mendicant
like us, whether Arab or foreigner!"
But when the porter heard these words, he rose up and, fixing his
eyes fiercely upon them, said: "Sit ye here without exceeding in talk!
Have you not read what is writ over the door? Surely it befitteth not
fellows who come to us like paupers to wag your tongues at us." "We
crave thy pardon, O Fakir," rejoined they, "and our heads are between
thy hands." The ladies laughed consumedly at the squabble and, making
peace between the Kalandars and the porter, seated the new guests before
meat, and they ate. Then they sat together, and the portress served them
with drink, and as the cup went round merrily, quoth the porter to the
askers, "And you, O brothers mine, have ye no story or rare adventure to
amuse us withal?"
Now the warmth of wine having mounted to their heads, they called for
musical instruments, and the portress brought them a tambourine of
Mosul, and a lute of Irak, and a Persian harp. And each mendicant took
one and tuned it, this the tambourine and those the lute and the harp,
and struck up a merry tune while the ladies sang so lustily that there
was a great noise. And whilst they were carrying on, behold, someone
knocked at the gate, and the portress went to see what was the matter
there.
Now the cause of that knocking, O King (quoth Scheherazade) was this,
the Caliph Harun al-Rashid had gone forth from the palace, as was his
wont now and then, to solace himself in the city that night, and to see
and hear what new thing was stirring. He was in merchant's gear, and he
was attended by Ja'afar, his Wazir, and by Masrur, his Sworder of
Vengeance. As they walked about the city, their way led them toward the
house of the three ladies, where they heard the loud noise of musical
instruments and singing and merriment. So quoth the Caliph to Ja'afar,
"I long to enter this house and hear those songs and see who sing them."
Quoth Ja'afar, "O Prince of the Faithful, these folk are surely drunken
with wine, and I fear some mischief betide us if we get amongst them."
"There is no help but that I go in there," replied the Caliph, "and I
desire thee to contrive some pretext for our appearing among them."
Ja'afar replied, "I hear and I obey," and knocked at the door, whereupon
the portress came out and opened. Then Ja'afar came forward and, kissing
the ground before her, said, "O my lady, we be merchants from Tiberias
town. We arrived at Baghdad ten days ago and, alighting at the
merchants' caravanserai, we sold all our merchandise. Now a certain
trader invited us to an entertainment this night, so we went to his
house and he set food before us and we ate. Then we sat at wine and
wassail with him for an hour or so when he gave us leave to depart. And
we went out from him in the shadow of the night and, being strangers, we
could not find our way back to our khan. So haply of your kindness and
courtesy you will suffer us to tarry with you this night, and Heaven
will reward you!"
The portress looked upon them and, seeing them dressed like merchants
and men of gave looks and solid, she returned to her sisters and
repeated to them Ja'afar's story, and they took compassion upon the
strangers and said to her, "Let them enter." She opened the door to
them, when said they to her, "Have we thy leave to come in?" "Come in,"
quoth she, and the Caliph entered, followed by Ja'afar and Masrur. And
when the girls saw them they stood up to them in respect and made them
sit down and looked to their wants, saying, "Welcome, and well come and
good cheer to the guests, but with one condition!" "What is that?" asked
they, and one of the ladies answered, "Speak not of what concerneth you
not, lest ye hear what pleaseth you not." "Even so," said they, and sat
down to their wine and drank deep.
Presently the Caliph looked on the three Kalandars and, seeing them,
each and every blind of the left eye, wondered at the sight. Then he
gazed upon the girls, and he was startled and he marveled with exceeding
marvel at their beauty and loveliness. They continued to carouse and to
converse, and said to the Caliph, "Drink!" But he replied, "I am vowed
to pilgrimage," and drew back from the wine. Thereupon the portress rose
and, spreading before him a tablecloth worked with gold, set thereon a
porcelain bowl into which she poured willow-flower water with a lump of
snow and a spoonful of sugar candy. The Caliph thanked her and said in
himself, "By Allah, I will recompense her tomorrow for the kind deed she
hath done." The others again addressed themselves to conversing and
carousing, and when the wine gat the better of them, the eldest lady,
who ruled the house, rose and, making obeisance to them, took the
cateress by the hand and said, "Rise, O my sister, and let us do what is
our devoir." Both answered "Even so!"
Then the portress stood up and proceeded to remove the table service
and the remnants of the banquet, and renewed the pastilies and cleared
the middle of the saloon. Then she made the Kalandars sit upon a sofa at
the side of the estrade, and seated the Caliph and Ja'afar and Masrur on
the other side of the saloon, after which she called the porter, and
said: "How scant is thy courtesy! Now thou art no stranger- nay, thou
art one of the household." So he stood up and, tightening his
waistcloth, asked, "What would ye I do?" And she answered, "Stand in thy
place." Then the procuratrix rose and set in the midst of the saloon a
low chair and, opening a closet, cried to the porter, "Come help me."
So he went to help her and saw two black bitches with chains round
their necks, and she said to him, "Take hold of them," and he took them
and led them into the middle of the saloon. Then the lady of the house
arose and tucked up her sleeves above her wrists and, seizing a scourge,
said to the porter, "Bring forward one of the bitches." He brought her
forward, dragging her by the chain, while the bitch wept and shook her
head at the lady, who, however, came down upon her with blows on the
sconce. And the bitch howled and the lady ceased not beating her till
her forearm failed her. Then, casting the scourge from her hand, she
pressed the bitch to her bosom and, wiping away her tears with her
hands, kissed her head. Then said she to the porter, "Take her away and
bring the second." And when he brought her, she did with her as she had
done with the first.
Now the heart of the Caliph was touched at these cruel doings. His
chest straitened and he lost all patience in his desire to know why the
two bitches were so beaten. He threw a wink at Ja'afar, wishing him to
ask, but the Minister, turning toward him, said by signs, "Be silent!"
Then quoth the portress to the mistress of the house, "O my lady, arise
and go to thy place, that I in turn may do my devoir." She answered,
"Even so," and, taking her seat upon the couch of juniper wood,
pargetted with gold and silver, said to the portress and cateress, "Now
do ye what ye have to do." Thereupon the portress sat upon a low seat by
the couch side, but the procuratrix, entering a closet, brought out of
it a bag of satin with green fringes and two tassels of gold. She stood
up before the lady of the house and, shaking the bag, drew out from it a
lute which she tuned by tightening its pegs; and when it was in perfect
order, she began to sing these quatrains:
"Ye are the wish, the aim of me,
And when, O love, thy sight I see,
The heavenly mansion openeth,
But Hell I see when lost thy sight.
From thee comes madness, nor the less
Comes highest joy, comes ecstasy.
Nor in my love for thee I fear
Or shame and blame, or hate and spite.
When Love was throned within my heart
I rent the veil of modesty,
And stints not Love to rend that veil,
Garring disgrace on grace to alight.
The robe of sickness then I donned,
But rent to rags was secrecy.
Wherefore my love and longing heart
Proclaim your high supremest might.
The teardrop railing adown my cheek
Telleth my tale of ignomy.
And all the hid was seen by all
And all my riddle ree'd aright.
Heal then my malady, for thou
Art malady and remedy!
But she whose cure is in thy hand
Shall ne'er be free of bane and blight.
Burn me those eyne that radiance rain,
Slay me the swords of phantasy.
How many hath the sword of Love
Laid low, their high degree despite?
Yet will I never cease to pine,
Nor to oblivion will I flee.
Love is my health, my faith, my joy,
Public and private, wrong or right.
O happy eyes that sight thy charms,
That gaze upon thee at their gree!
Yea, of my purest wish and will
The slave of Love I'll aye be hight."
When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains, she cried out "Alas!
Alas!" and rent her raiment, and fell to the ground fainting. And the
Caliph saw scars of the palm rod on her back and welts of the whip, and
marveled with exceeding wonder. Then the portress arose and sprinkled
water on her and brought her a fresh and very fine dress and put it on
her. But when the company beheld these doings, their minds were
troubled, for they had no inkling of the case nor knew the story
thereof. So the Caliph said to Ja'afar: "Didst thou not see the scars
upon the damsel's body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till I learn
the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and the
secret of the two black bitches." But Ja'afar answered: "O our lord,
they made it a condition with us that we speak not of what concerneth us
not, lest we come to hear what pleaseth us not."
Then said the portress, "By Allah, O my sister, come to me and
complete this service for me." Replied the procuratrix, "With joy and
goodly gree." So she took the lute and leaned it against her breasts and
swept the strings with her finger tips, and began singing:
"Give back mine eyes their sleep long ravished,
And say me whither be my reason fled.
I learnt that lending to thy love a place,
Sleep to mine eyelids mortal foe was made.
They said, `We held thee righteous. Who waylaid
Thy soul?' 'Go ask his glorious eyes,' I said.
I pardon all my blood he pleased to shed.
Owning his troubles drove him blood to shed.
On my mind's mirror sunlike sheen he cast,
Whose keen reflection fire in vitals bred.
Waters of Life let Allah waste at will,
Suffice my wage those lips of dewy red.
And thou address my love thou'lt find a cause
For plaint and tears or ruth or lustilied.
In water pure his form shall greet your eyne,
When fails the bowl nor need ye drink of wine."
Then she quoted from the same ode:
"I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine,
And his swaying gait swayed to sleep these eyne.
'Twas not grape juice gript me but grasp of Past,
'Twas not bowl o'erbowled me but gifts divine.
His coiling curllets my soul ennetted
And his cruel will all my wits outwitted."
After a pause she resumed:
"If we 'plain of absence, what shall we say?
Or if pain afflict us, where wend our way?
An I hire a truchman to tell my tale,
The lovers' plaint is not told for pay.
If I put on patience, a lover's life
After loss of love will not last a day.
Naught is left me now but regret, repine,
And tears flooding cheeks forever and aye.
O thou who the babes of these eyes hast fled,
Thou art homed in heart that shall never stray.
Would Heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact
Long as stream shall flow, to have firmest fay?
Or hast forgotten the weeping slave,
Whom groans afflict and whom griefs waylay?
Ah, when severance ends and we side by side
Couch, I'll blame thy rigors and chide thy pride!"
Now when the portress heard her second ode, she shrieked aloud and
said: "By Allah! 'Tis right good!" and, laying hands on her garments,
tore them as she did the first time, and fell to the ground fainting.
Thereupon the procuratrix rose and brought her a second change of
clothes after she had sprinkled water on her. She recovered and sat
upright and said to her sister the cateress, "Onward, and help me in my
duty, for there remains but this one song." So the provisioneress again
brought out the lute and began to sing these verses:
"How long shall last, how long this rigor rife of woe
May not suffice thee all these tears thou seest flow?
Our parting thus with purpose fell thou dost prolong
Is't not enough to glad the heart of envious foe?
Were but this lying world once true to lover heart,
He had not watched the weary night in tears of woe.
Oh, pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will,
My lord, my king, 'tis time some ruth to me thou show.
To whom reveal my wrongs, O thou who murdered me?
Sad, who of broken troth the pangs must undergo!
Increase wild love for thee and frenzy hour by hour,
And days of exile minute by so long, so slow.
O Moslems, claim vendetta for this slave of Love,
Whose sleep Love ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low.
Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie
Lapt in another's arms and unto me cry 'Go!'?
Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy
When he I love but works my love to overthrow?"
When the portress heard the third song, she cried aloud and, laying
hands on her garments, rent them down to the very skirt and fell to the
ground fainting a third time, again showing the scars of the scourge.
Then said the three Kalandars, "Would Heaven we had never entered this
house, but had rather nighted on the mounds and heaps outside the city!
For verily our visit hath been troubled by sights which cut to the
heart." The Caliph turned to them and asked, "Why so?" and they made
answer, "Our minds are sore troubled by this matter." Quoth the Caliph,
"Are ye not of the household?" and quoth they, "No, nor indeed did we
ever set eyes on the place till within this hour." Hereat the Caliph
marveled and rejoined, "This man who sitteth by you, would he not know
the secret of the matter?" And so saying he winked and made signs at the
porter. So they questioned the man, but he replied: "By the All-might of
Allah, in love all are alike! I am the growth of Baghdad, yet never in
my born days did I darken these doors till today, and my companying with
them was a curious matter." "By Allah," they rejoined, "we took thee for
one of them and now we see thou art one like ourselves."
Then said the Caliph: "We be seven men, and they only three women
without even a fourth to help them, so let us question them of their
case. And if they answer us not, fain we will be answered by force." All
of them agreed to this except Ja'afar, who said, "This is not my
recking. Let them be, for we are their guests and, as ye know, they made
a compact and condition with us which we accepted and promised to keep.
Wherefore it is better that we be silent concerning this matter, and as
but little of the night remaineth, let each and every of us gang his own
gait." Then he winked at the Caliph and whispered to him, "There is but
one hour of darkness left and I can bring them before thee tomorrow,
when thou canst freely question them all concerning their story." But
the Caliph raised his head haughtily and cried out at him in wrath,
saying: "I have no patience left for my longing to hear of them. Let the
Kalandars question them forthright." Quoth Ja'afar, "This is not my
rede."
Then words ran high and talk answered talk, and they disputed as to
who should first put the question, but at last all fixed upon the
porter. And as the jangle increased the house mistress could not but
notice it and asked them, "O ye folk! On what matter are ye talking so
loudly?" Then the porter stood up respectfully before her and said: "O
my lady, this company earnestly desire that thou acquaint them with
story of the two bitches and what maketh thee punish them so cruelly,
and then thou fallest to weeping over them and kissing them. And lastly,
they want to hear the tale of thy sister and why she hath been
bastinadoed with palm sticks like a man. These are the questions they
charge me to put, and peace be with thee." Thereupon quoth she who was
the lady of the house to the guests, "Is this true that he saith on your
part?" and all replied, "Yes!" save Ja'afar, who kept silence.
When she heard these words she cried: "By Allah, ye have wronged us,
O our guests, with grievous wronging, for when you came before us we
made compact and condition with you that whoso should speak of what
concerneth him not should hear what pleaseth him not. Sufficeth ye not
that we took you into our house and fed you with our best food? But the
fault is not so much yours as hers who let you in." Then she tucked up
her sleeves from her wrists and struck the floor thrice with her hand,
crying, "Come ye quickly!" And lo! a closet door opened and out of it
came seven Negro slaves with drawn swords in hand, to whom she said,
"Pinion me those praters' elbows and bind them each to each." They did
her bidding and asked her: "O veiled and virtuous! Is it thy high
command that we strike off their heads?" But she answered, "Leave them
awhile that I question them of their condition before their necks feel
the sword." "By Allah, O my lady!" cried the porter, "slay me not for
other's sin. All these men offended and deserve the penalty of crime
save myself. Now, by Allah, our night had been charming had we escaped
the mortification of those monocular Kalandars whose entrance into a
populous city would convert it into a howling wilderness." Then he
repeated these verses:
"How fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother!
And fairest fair when shown to weakest brother.
By Love's own holy tie between us twain,
Let one not suffer for the sin of other."
When the porter ended his verse, the lady laughed despite her wrath,
and came up to the party and spake thus: "Tell me who ye be, for ye have
but an hour of life. And were ye not men of rank and perhaps notables of
your tribes, you had not been so froward and I had hastened your doom."
Then said the Caliph: "Woe to thee, O Ja'afar, tell her who we are lest
we be slain by mistake, and speak her fair before some horror befall
us." "'Tis part of thy deserts," replied he, whereupon the Caliph cried
out at him, saying, "There is a time for witty words and there is a time
for serious work." Then the lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked
them, "Are ye brothers?" when they answered, "No, by Allah, we be naught
but fakirs and foreigners." Then quoth she to one among them, "Wast thus
born blind of one eye?" and quoth he, "No, by Allah, 'twas a marvelous
matter and a wondrous mischance which caused my eye to be torn out, and
mine is a tale which, if it were written upon the eye corners with
needle gravers, were a warner to whoso would be warned." She questioned
the second and third Kalandar, but all replied like the first, "By
Allah, O our mistress, each one of us cometh from a different country,
and we are all three the sons of kings, sovereign princes ruling over
suzerains and capital cities."
Thereupon she turned toward them and said: "Let each and every of you
tell me his tale in due order and explain the cause of his coming to our
place, and if his story please us, let him stroke his head and wend his
way." The first to come forward was the hammal, the porter, who said: "O
my lady, I am a man and a porter. This dame, the cateress, hired me to
carry a load and took me first to the shop of a vintner, then to the
booth of a butcher, thence to the stall of a fruiterer, thence to a
grocer who also sold dry fruits, thence to a confectioner and a
perfumer-cum-druggist, and from him to this place, where there happened
to me with you what happened. Such is my story, and peace be on us all!"
At this the lady laughed and said, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways!" But
he cried, "By Allah, I will not stump it till I hear the stories of my
companions!" Then came forward one of the monoculars and began to tell
her
THE FIRST KALANDAR'S TALE
KNOW, O my lady, that the cause of my beard being shorn and my eye
being outtorn was as follows: My father was a king and he had a brother
who was a king over another city; and it came to pass that I and my
cousin, the son of my paternal uncle, were both born on one and the same
day. And years and days rolled on and as we grew up I used to visit my
uncle every now and then and to spend a certain number of months with
him. Now my cousin and I were sworn friends, for he ever entreated me
with exceeding kindness. He killed for me the fattest sheep and strained
the best of his wines, and we enjoyed long conversing and carousing. One
day when the wine had gotten the better of us, the son of my uncle said
to me, "O my cousin, I have a great service to ask of thee, and I desire
that thou stay me not in whatso I desire to do!" And I replied, "With
joy and goodly will."
Then he made me swear the most binding oaths and left me, but after a
little while he returned leading a lady veiled and richly appareled,
with ornaments worth a large sum of money. Presently he turned to me
(the woman being still behind him) and said, "Take this lady with thee
and go before me to such a burial ground" (describing it, so that I knew
the place) "and enter with her into such a sepulcher and there await my
coming." The oaths I swore to him made me keep silence and suffered me
not to oppose him, so I led the woman to the cemetery and both I and she
took our seats in the sepulcher. And hardly had we sat down when in came
my uncle's son, with a bowl of water, a bag of mortar, and an adze
somewhat like a hoe. He went straight to the tomb in the midst of the
sepulcher and, breaking it open with the adze, set the stones on one
side. Then he fell to digging into the earth of the tomb till he came
upon a large iron plate, the size of a wicket door, and on raising it
there appeared below it a staircase vaulted and winding. Then he turned
to the lady and said to her, "Come now and take thy final choice!"
She at once went down by the staircase and disappeared, then quoth he
to me, "O son of my uncle, by way of completing thy kindness, when I
shall have descended into this place, restore the trapdoor to where it
was, and heap back the earth upon it as it lay before. And then of thy
great goodness mix this unslaked time which is in the bag with this
water which is in the bowl and, after building up the stones, plaster
the outside so that none looking upon it shall say: 'This is a new
opening in an old tomb'. For a whole year have I worked at this place
whereof none knoweth but Allah, and this is the need I have of thee,"
presently adding, "May Allah never bereave thy friends of thee nor make
them desolate by thine absence, O son of my uncle, O my dear cousin!"
And he went down the stairs and disappeared for ever.
When he was lost to sight, I replaced the iron plate and did all his
bidding till the tomb became as it was before, and I worked almost
unconsciously, for my head was heated with wine. Returning to the palace
of my uncle, I was told that he had gone forth a-sporting and hunting,
so I slept that night without seeing him. And when the morning dawned, I
remembered the scenes of the past evening and what happened between me
and my cousin. I repented of having obeyed him when penitence was of no
avail. I still thought, however, that it was a dream. So I fell to
asking for the son of my uncle, but there was none to answer me
concerning him, and I went out to the graveyard and the sepulchers, and
sought for the tomb under which he was, but could not find it. And I
ceased not wandering about from sepulcher to sepulcher, and tomb to
tomb, all without success, till night set in. So I returned to the city,
yet I could neither eat nor drink, my thoughts being engrossed with my
cousin, for that I knew not what was become of him. And I grieved with
exceeding grief and passed another sorrowful night, watching until the
morning. Then went I a second time to the cemetery, pondering over what
the son of mine uncle had done and, sorely repenting my hearkening to
him, went round among all the tombs, but could not find the tomb I
sought. I mourned over the past, and remained in my mourning seven days,
seeking the place and ever missing the path.
Then my torture of scruples grew upon me till I well-nigh went mad,
and I found no way to dispel my grief save travel and return to my
father. So I set out and journeyed homeward, but as I was entering my
father's capital a crowd of rioters sprang upon me and pinioned me. I
wondered thereat with all wonderment, seeing that I was the son of the
Sultan, and these men were my father's subjects and amongst them were
some of my own slaves. A great fear fell upon me, and I said to my soul,
"Would Heaven I knew what hath happened to my father!" I questioned
those that bound me of the cause of their so doing, but they returned me
no answer. However, after a while one of them said to me (and he had
been a hired servant of our house), "Fortune hath been false to thy
father. His troops betrayed him, and the Wazir who slew him now reigneth
in his stead, and we lay in wait to seize thee by the bidding of him." I
was well-nigh distraught and felt ready to faint on hearing of my
father's death, when they carried me off and placed me in presence of
the usurper.
Now between me and him there was an olden grudge, the cause of which
was this: I was fond of shooting with the stone bow, and it befell one
day, as I was standing on the terrace roof of the palace, that a bird
lighted on the top of the Wazir's house when he happened to be there. I
shot at the bird and missed the mark, but I hit the Wazir's eye and
knocked it out, as fate and fortune decreed. Now when I knocked out the
Wazir's eye, he could not say a single word, for that my father was King
of the city, but he hated me ever after, and dire was the grudge thus
caused between us twain. So when I was set before him hand-bound and
pinioned, he straightway gave orders for me to be beheaded. I asked,
"For what crime wilt thou put me to death?" Whereupon he answered, "What
crime is greater than this?" pointing the while to the place where his
eye had been. Quoth I, "This I did by accident, not of malice prepense,"
and quoth he, "If thou didst it by accident, I will do the like by thee
with intention." Then cried he, "Bring him forward," and they brought me
up to him, when he thrust his finger into my left eye and gouged it out,
whereupon I became one-eyed as ye see me.
Then he bade bind me hand and foot, and put me into a chest, and said
to the sworder, "Take charge of this fellow, and go off with him to the
wastelands about the city. Then draw thy scimitar and slay him, and
leave him to feed the beasts and birds." So the headsman fared forth
with me, and when he was in the midst of the desert, he took me out of
the chest (and I with both hands pinioned and both feet fettered) and
was about to bandage my eyes before striking off my head. But I wept
with exceeding weeping until I made him weep with me and, looking at him
I began to recite these couplets:
"I deemed you coat o'mail that should withstand
The foeman's shafts, and you proved foeman's brand.
I hoped your aidance in mine every chance,
Though fail my left to aid my dexter hand.
Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe
While rain their shafts on me the giber band.
But an ye will not guard me from my foes,
Stand clear, and succor neither these nor those!"
And I also quoted:
"I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel,
And so they were- from foes to fend my dart!
I deemed their arrows surest of their aim,
And so they were- when aiming at my heart!"
When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my sire and
he owed me a debt of gratitude), he cried, "O my lord, what can I do,
being but a slave under orders?" presently adding, "Fly for thy life and
nevermore return to this land, or they will slay thee and slay me with
thee." Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the
loss of my eye a light matter in consideration of my escaping from being
slain. I arrived at my uncle's capital, and going in to him, told him of
what had befallen my father and myself, whereat he wept with sore
weeping and said: "Verily thou addest grief to my grief, and woe to my
woe, for thy cousin hath been missing these many days. I wot not what
hath happened to him, and none can give me news of him." And he wept
till he fainted. I sorrowed and condoled with him, and he would have
applied certain medicaments to my eye, but he saw that it was become as
a walnut with the shell empty. Then said he, "O my son, better to lose
eye and keep life!"
After that I could no longer remain silent about my cousin, who was
his only son and one dearly loved, so I told him all that had happened.
He rejoiced with extreme joyance to hear news of his son and said, "Come
now and show me the tomb." But I replied, "By Allah, O my uncle, I know
not its place, though I sought it carefully full many times, yet could
not find the site." However, I and my uncle went to the graveyard and
looked right and left, till at last I recognized the tomb, and we both
rejoiced with exceeding joy. We entered the sepulcher and loosened the
earth about the grave, then, upraising the trapdoor, descended some
fifty steps till we came to the foot of the staircase, when lo! we were
stopped by a blinding smoke. Thereupon said my uncle that saying whose
sayer shall never come to shame: "There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" and we advanced till we
suddenly came upon a saloon, whose floor was strewed with flour and
grain and provisions and all manner necessaries, and in the midst of it
stood a canopy sheltering a couch. Thereupon my uncle went up to the
couch and, inspecting it, found his son and the lady who had gone down
with him into the tomb, lying in each other's embrace.
But the twain had become black as charred wood. It was as if they had
been cast into a pit of fire. When my uncle saw this spectacle, he spat
in his son's face and said: "Thou hast thy deserts, O thou hog! This is
thy judgment in the transitory world, and yet remaineth the judgment in
the world to come, a durer and a more enduring." I marveled at his
hardness of heart and, grieving for my cousin and the lady, said: "By
Allah, O my uncle, calm thy wrath. Dost not see that all my thoughts are
occupied with this misfortune, and how sorrowful I am for what hath
befallen thy son, and how horrible it is that naught of him remaineth
but a black heap of charcoal? And is not that enough, but thou must
smite him with thy slipper?" Answered he: "O son of my brother, this
youth from his boyhood was madly in love with his own sister, and often
and often I forbade him from her, saying to myself, 'They are but little
ones.' However, when they grew up sin befell between them, and although
I could hardly believe it, I confined him and chided him and threatened
him with the severest threats, and the eunuchs and servants said to him:
'Beware of so foul a thing which none before thee ever did, and which
none after thee will ever do, and have a care lest thou be dishonored
and disgraced among the kings of the day, even to the end of time.' And
I added: 'Such a report as this will be spread abroad by caravans, and
take heed not to give them cause to talk or I will assuredly curse thee
and do thee to death.'
After that I lodged them apart and shut her up, but the accursed girl
loved him with passionate love, for Satan had got the mastery of her as
well as of him and made their foul sin seem fair in their sight. Now
when my son saw that I separated them, he secretly built this souterrain
and furnished it and transported to it victuals, even as thou seest, and
when I had gone out a-sporting, came here with his sister and hid from
me. Then His righteous judgment fell upon the twain and consumed them
with fire from Heaven, and verily the Last Judgment will deal them durer
pains and more enduring!" Then he wept and I wept with him, and he
looked at me and said, "Thou art my son in his stead." And I bethought
me awhile of the world and of its chances, how the Wazir had slain my
father and had taken his place and had put out my eye, and how my cousin
had come to his death by the strangest chance. And I wept again and my
uncle wept with me.
Then we mounted the steps and let down the iron plate and heaped up
the earth over it, and after restoring the tomb to its former condition,
we returned to the palace. But hardly had we sat down ere we heard the
tom-toming of the kettledrum and tantara of trumpets and clash of
cymbals, and the rattling of war men's lances, and the clamors of
assailants and the clanking of bits and the neighing of steeds, while
the world was canopied with dense dust and sand clouds raised by the
horses' hoofs. We were amazed at sight and sound, knowing not what could
be the matter. So we asked, and were told us that the Wazir who had
usurped my father's kingdom had marched his men, and that after levying
his soldiery and taking a host of wild Arabs into service, he had come
down upon us with armies like the sands of the sea. Their number none
could tell, and against them none could prevail. They attacked the city
unawares, and the citizens, being powerless to oppose them, surrendered
the place. My uncle was slain and I made for the suburbs, saying to
myself, "If thou fall into this villain's hands, he will assuredly kill
thee."
On this wise all my troubles were renewed, and I pondered all that
had betided my father and my uncle and I knew not what to do; for if the
city people or my father's troops had recognized me, they would have
done their best to will favor by destroying me. And I could think of no
way to escape save by shaving off my beard and my eyebrows. So I shore
them off and, changing my fine clothes for a Kalandar's rags, I fared
forth from my uncle's capital and made for this city, hoping that
peradventure someone would assist me to the presence of the Prince of
the Faithful, and the Caliph who is the Viceregent of Allah upon earth.
Thus have I come hither that I might tell him my tale and lay my case
before him. I arrived here this very night, and was standing in doubt
whither I should go when suddenly I saw this second Kalandar. So I
salaamed to him, saying, 'I am a stranger' and he answered,- 'I too am a
stranger!' And as we were conversing, behold, up came our companion,
this third Kalandar, and saluted us saying, 'I am a stranger!' And we
answered, `We too be strangers!'
Then we three walked on and together till darkness overtook us and
Destiny drave us to your house. Such, then. is the cause of the shaving
of my beard and mustachios and eyebrows, and the manner of my losing my
left eye. They marveled much at this tale, and the Caliph said to
Ja'afar, "By Allah, I have not seen nor have I heard the like of what
hath happened to this Kalandar!" Quoth the lady of the house, "Rub thy
head and wend thy ways." But he replied, "I will not go till I hear the
history of the two others." Thereupon the second Kalandar came forward
and, kissing the ground, began to tell
THE SECOND KALANDAR'S TALE
KNOW, O my lady, that I was not born one-eyed, and mine is a strange
story. And it were graven with needle graver on the eye corners, it were
a warner to whoso would be warned. I am a king, son of a king, and was
brought up like a prince. I learned intoning the Koran according the
seven schools, and I read all manner books, and held disputations on
their contents with the doctors and men of science. Moreover, I studied
star lore and the fair sayings of poets, and I exercised myself in all
branches of learning until I surpassed the people of my time. My skill
in calligraphy exceeded that of all the scribes, and my fame was bruited
abroad over all climes and cities, and all the kings learned to know my
name.
Amongst others, the King of Hind heard of me and sent to my father to
invite me to his court, with offerings and presents and rarities such as
befit royalties. So my father fitted out six ships for me and my people,
and we put to sea and sailed for the space of a full month till we made
the land. Then we brought out the horses that were with us in the ships,
and after loading the camels with our presents for the Prince, we set
forth inland. But we had marched only a little way when behold, a dust
cloud up flew, and grew until it walled the horizon from view. After an
hour or so the veil lifted and discovered beneath it fifty horsemen,
ravening lions to the sight, in steel armor dight. We observed them
straightly and lo! they were cutters-off of the highway, wild as wild
Arabs. When they saw that we were only four and had with us but the ten
camels carrying the presents, they dashed down upon us with lances at
rest. We signed to them with our fingers, as it were saying, "We be
messengers of the great King of Hind, so harm us not!" But they answered
on like wise, "We are not in his dominions to obey nor are we subject to
his sway."
Then they set upon us and slew some of my slaves and put the lave to
flight. And I also fled after I had gotten a wound, a grievous hurt,
whilst the Arabs were taken up with the money and the presents which
were with us. I went forth unknowing whither I went, having become mean
as I was mighty, and I fared on until I came to the crest of a mountain,
where I took shelter for the night in a cave. When day arose I set out
again, nor ceased after this fashion till I arrived at a fair city and a
well filled. Now it was the season when winter was turning away with his
rime and to greet the world with his flowers came prime, and the young
blooms were springing and the streams flowed ringing, and the birds were
sweetly singing, as saith the poet concerning a certain city when
describing it:
A place secure from every thought of fear,
Safety and peace forever lord it here.
Its beauties seem to beautify its sons
And as in Heaven its happy folk appear.
I was glad of my arrival, for I was wearied with the way, and yellow
of face for weakness and want, but my plight was pitiable and I knew not
whither to betake me. So I accosted a tailor sitting in his little shop
and saluted him. He returned my salaam, and bade me kindly welcome and
wished me well and entreated me gently and asked me of the cause of my
strangerhood. I told him all my past from first to last, and he was
concerned on my account and said: "O youth, disclose not thy secret to
any. The King of this city is the greatest enemy thy father hath, and
there is blood wite between them and thou hast cause to fear for thy
life." Then he set meat and drink before me, and I ate and drank and he
with me, and we conversed freely till nightfall, when he cleared me a
place in a corner of his shop and brought me a carpet and a coverlet. I
tarried with him three days, at the end of which time he said to me,
"Knowest thou no calling whereby to will thy living, O my son?" "I am
learned in the law," I replied, "and a doctor of doctrine, an adept in
art and science, a mathematician, and a notable pen-man." He rejoined,
"Thy calling is of no account in our city, where not a soul
understandeth science or even writing, or aught save money-making." Then
said I, "By Allah, I know nothing but what I have mentioned," and he
answered, "Gird thy middle and take thee a hatchet and a cord, and go
and hew wood in the wold for thy daily bread till Allah send thee
relief, and tell none who thou art lest they slay thee."
Then he bought me an ax and a rope and gave me in charge to certain
woodcutters, and with these guardians I went forth into the forest,
where I cut fuel wood the whole of my day and came back in the evening
bearing my bundle on my head. I sold it for half a dinar, with part of
which I bought provision, and laid by the rest. In such work I spent a
whole year, and when this was ended, I went out one day, as was my wont,
into the wilderness and, wandering away from my companions, I chanced on
a thickly grown lowland in which there was an abundance of wood. So I
entered and I found the gnarled stump of a great tree and loosened the
ground about it and shoveled away the earth. Presently my hatchet rang
upon a copper ring, so I cleared away the soil and behold, the ring was
attached to a wooden trapdoor. This I raised, and there appeared beneath
it a staircase.
I descended the steps to the bottom and came to a door, which I
opened and found myself in a noble hall strong of structure and
beautifully built, where was a damsel like a pearl of great price, whose
favor banished from my heart an grief and cark and care, and whose soft
speech healed the soul in despair and captivated the wise and ware. Her
figure measured five feet in height, her breasts were firm and upright,
her cheek a very garden of delight, her color lively bright, her face
gleamed like dawn through curly tresses which gloomed like night, and
above the snows of her bosom glittered teeth of a pearly white. When I
looked upon her I prostrated myself before Him who had created her, for
the beauty and loveliness He had shaped in her, and she looked at me and
said, "Art thou man or Jinni?" "I am a man," answered I, and she, "Now
who brought thee to this place where I have abided five-and-twenty years
without even yet seeing man in it?" Quoth I (and indeed I found her
words wondersweet, and my heart was melted to the core by them), "O my
lady, my good fortune led me hither for the dispelling of my cark and
care."
Then I related to her all my mishap from first to last, and my case
appeared to her exceeding grievous, so she wept and said: "I will tell
thee my story in my turn. I am the daughter of the King Ifitamus, lord
of the Islands of Abnus, who married me to my cousin, the son of my
paternal uncle. But on my wedding night an Ifrit named Jirjis bin
Rajmus, first cousin- this is, mother's sister's son- of Iblis, the Foul
Fiend, snatched me up and, flying away with me like a bird, set me down
in this place, wither he conveyed all I needed of fine stuffs, raiment
and jewels and furniture, and meat and drink and other else. Once in
every ten days he comes here and lies a single night with me, and then
wends his way, for he took me without the consent of his family. And he
hath agreed with me that if ever I need him by night or by day, I have
only to pass my hand over yonder two lines engraved upon the alcove and
he will appear to me before my fingers cease touching. Four days have
now passed since he was here, and as there remain six days before he
come again, say me, wilt thou abide with me five days, and go hence the
day before his coming?" I replied "Yes, and yes again! O rare, if all
this be not a dream!"
Hereat she was glad and, springing to her feet, seized my hand and
carried me through an arched doorway to a hammam bath, a fair hall and
richly decorate. I doffed my clothes, and she doffed hers, then we
bathed and she washed me. And when this was done we left the bath, and
she seated me by her side upon a high divan, and brought me sherbet
scented with musk. When we felt cool after the bath, she set food before
me and we ate and fell to talking, but presently she said to me, "Lay
thee down and take thy rest, for surely thou must be weary." So I
thanked her, my lady, and lay down and slept soundly, forgetting all
that happened to me. When I awoke I found her subbing and shampooing my
feet, so I again thanked her and blessed her and we sat for a while
talking. Said she, "By Allah, I was sad at heart, for that I have dwelt
alone underground for these five-and-twenty years, and praise be to
Allah Who hath sent me someone with whom I can converse!" Then she
asked, "O youth, what sayest thou to wine?" and I answered, "Do as thou
wilt." Whereupon she went to a cupboard and took out a sealed flask of
right old wine and set off the table with flowers and scented herbs and
began to sing these lines:
"Had we known of thy coming we fain had dispread
The cores of our hearts or the balls of our eyes,
Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown,
And our eyelids had strown for thy feet to betread."
Now when she finished her verse I thanked her, for indeed love of her
had gotten hold of my heart, and my grief and anguish were gone. We sat
at converse and carousal till nightfall, and with her I spent the night-
such night never spent I in all my life! On the morrow delight followed
delight till midday, by which time I had drunken wine so freely that I
had lost my wits, and stood up, staggering to the right and to the left,
and said "Come, O my charmer, and I will carry thee up from this
underground vault and deliver thee from the spell of thy Jinni." She
laughed and replied: "Content thee and hold thy peace. Of every ten days
one is for the Ifrit and the other nine are thine." Quoth I (and in good
sooth drink had got the better of me), "This very instant will I break
down the alcove whereon is graven the talisman and summon the Ifrit that
I may slay him, for it is a practice of mine to slay Ifrits!" When she
heard my words, her color waxed wan and she said, "By Allah, do not!"
and she began repeating:
"This is a thing wherein destruction lies.
I rede thee shun it an thy wits be wise."
And these also:
"O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein
Of thy swift steed nor seek o'ermuch t' advance.
Ah stay! for treachery is the rule of life,
And sweets of meeting end in severance."
I heard her verse but paid no heed to her words- nay, I raised my
foot and administered to the alcove a mighty kick, and behold, the air
starkened and darkened and thundered and lightened, the earth trembled
and quaked, and the world became invisible. At once the fumes of wine
left my head. I cried to her, "What is the matter?" and she replied:
"The Ifrit is upon us! Did I not warn thee of this? By Allah, thou hast
brought ruin upon me, but fly for thy life and go up by the way thou
camest down!" So I fled up the staircase, but in the excess of my fear I
forgot sandals and hatchet. And when I had mounted two steps I turned to
look for them, and lo! I saw the earth cleave asunder, and there arose
from it an Ifrit, a monster of hideousness, who said to the damsel:
"What trouble and pother be this wherewith thou disturbest me? What
mishap hath betided thee?" "No mishap hath befallen me," she answered,
"save that my breast was straitened and my heart heavy with sadness. So
I drank a little wine to broaden it and to hearten myself, then I rose
to obey a call of nature, but the wine had gotten into my head and I
fell against the alcove." "Thou liest, like the whore thou art!"
shrieked the Ifrit, and he looked around the hall right and left till he
caught sight of my ax and sandals and said to her, "What be these but
the belongings of some mortal who hath been in thy society?" She
answered: "I never set eyes upon them till this moment. They must have
been brought by thee hither cleaving to thy garments." Quoth the Ifrit,
"These words are absurd, thou harlot! thou strumpet!"
Then he stripped her stark-naked and, stretching her upon the floor,
bound her hands and feet to four stakes, like one crucified, and set
about torturing and trying to make her confess. I could not bear to
stand listening to her cries and groans, so I climbed the stair on the
quake with fear, and when I reached the top I replaced the trapdoor and
covered it with earth. Then repented I of what I had done with penitence
exceeding, and thought of the lady and her beauty and loveliness, and
the tortures she was suffering at the hands of the accursed Ifrit, after
her quiet life of five-and-twenty years, and how all that had happened
to her was for cause of me. I bethought me of my father and his kingly
estate and how I had become a woodcutter, and how, after my time had
been awhile serene, the world had again waxed turbid and troubled to me.
So I wept bitterly and repeated this couplet:
"What time Fate's tyranny shall most oppress thee
Perpend! One day shall joy thee, one distress thee!"
Then I walked till I reached the home of my friend the tailor, whom I
found most anxiously expecting me. Indeed he was, as the saying goes, on
coals of fire for my account. And when he saw me he said: "All night
long my heart hath been heavy, fearing for thee from wild beasts or
other mischances. Now praise be to Allah for thy safety!" I thanked him
for his friendly solicitude and, retiring to my corner, sat pondering
and musing on what had befallen me, and I blamed and chided myself for
my meddlesome folly and my frowardness in kicking the alcove. I was
calling myself to account when behold, my friend the tailor came to me
and said: "O youth, in the shop there is an old man, a Persian, who
seeketh thee. He hath thy hatchet and thy sandals, which he had taken to
the woodcutters, saying, I was going out at what time the muezzin began
the call to dawn prayer, when I chanced upon these things and know not
whose they are, so direct me to their owner. Tie woodcutters recognized
thy hatchet and directed him to thee. He is sitting in my shop, so fare
forth to him and thank him and take thine ax and sandals."
When I heard these words I turned yellow with fear and felt stunned
as by a blow, and before I could recover myself, lo! the floor of my
private room clove asunder, and out of it rose the Persian, who was the
Ifrit. He had tortured the lady with exceeding tortures, natheless she
would not confess to him aught, so he took the hatchet and sandals and
said to her, "As surely as I am Jirjis of the seed of Iblis, I will
bring thee back the owner of this and these!" Then he went to the
woodcutters with the pretense aforesaid and, being directed to me, after
waiting a while in the shop till the fact was confirmed, he suddenly
snatched me up as a hawk snatcheth a mouse and flew high in air, but
presently descended and plunged with me under the earth (I being a-swoon
the while), and lastly set me down in the subterranean palace wherein I
had passed that blissful night.
And there I saw the lady stripped to the skin, her limbs bound to
four stakes and blood welling from her sides. At the sight my eyes ran
over with tears, but the Ifrit covered her person and said, "O wanton,
is not this man thy lover?" She looked upon me and replied, "I wot him
not, nor have I ever seen him before this hour!" Quoth the Ifrit, "What!
This torture and yet no confessing?" And quoth she, "I never saw this
man in my born days, and it is not lawful in Allah's sight to tell lies
on him." "If thou know him not," said the Ifrit to her, "take this sword
and strike off his head." She hent the sword in hand and came close up
to me, and I signaled to her with my eyebrows, my tears the while
flowing a-down my cheeks. She understood me and made answer, also by
signs, "How couldest thou bring all this evil upon me?" And I rejoined
after the same fashion, "This is the time for mercy and forgiveness."
And the mute tongue of my case spake aloud saying:
Mine eyes were dragomans for my tongue betied,
And told full clear the love I fain would hide.
When last we met and tears in torrents railed,
For tongue struck dumb my glances testified.
She signed with eye glance while her lips were mute,
I signed with fingers and she kenned th'implied.
Our eyebrows did all duty 'twixt us twain,
And we being speechless, Love spake loud and plain.
Then, O my mistress, the lady threw away the sword and said: "How
shall I strike the neck of one I wot not, and who hath done me no evil?
Such deed were not lawful in my law!" and she held her hand. Said the
Ifrit: "'Tis grievous to thee to slay thy lover, and, because he hath
lain with thee, thou endurest these torments and obstinately refusest to
confess. After this it is clear to me that only like loveth and pitieth
Eke." Then he turned to me and asked me, "O man, haply thou also dost
not know this woman," whereto I answered: "And pray who may she be?
Assuredly I never saw her till this instant." "Then take the sword,"
said he, "and strike off her head and I will believe that thou wettest
her not and will leave thee free to go, and will not deal hardly with
thee." I replied, "That will I do," and, taking the sword, went forward
sharply and raised my hand to smite. But she signed to me with her
eyebrows, "Have I failed thee in aught of love, and is it thus that thou
requitest me?" I understood what her looks implied and answered her with
an eye glance, "I will sacrifice my soul for thee." And the tongue of
the case wrote in our hearts these lines:
How many a lover with his eyebrows speaketh
To his beloved, as his passion pleadeth.
With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth
And well she seeth what his pleading needeth.
How sweet the look when each on other gazeth,
And with what swiftness and how sure it speedeth.
And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth,
And that with eyeballs all his passion readeth.
Then my eyes filled with tears to overflowing and I cast the sword
from my hand, saying: "O mighty Ifrit and hero, if a woman lacking wits
and faith deem it unlawful to strike off my head, how can it be lawful
for me, a man, to smite her neck whom I never saw in my whole life? I
cannot do such misdeed, though thou cause me drink the cup of death and
perdition." Then said the Ifrit, "Ye twain show the good understanding
between you, but I will let you see how such doings end." He took the
sword and struck off the lady's hands first, with four strokes, and then
her feet, whilst I looked on and made sure of death and she farewelled
me with her dying eyes. So the Ifrit cried at her, "Thou whorest and
makest me a wittol with thine eyes," and struck her so that her head
went flying. Then turned he to me and said: "O mortal, we have it in our
law that when the wife committeth advowtry, it is lawful for us to slay
her. As for this damsel, I snatched her away on her bride night when she
was a girl of twelve and she knew no one but myself. I used to come to
her once in every ten days and lie with her the night, under the
semblance of a man, a Persian, and when I was well assured that she had
cuckolded me, I slew her. But as for thee, I am not well satisfied that
thou hast wronged me in her. Nevertheless I must not let thee go
unharmed, so ask a boon of me and I will grant it."
Then I rejoiced, O my lady, with exceeding joy and said, "What boon
shall I crave of thee?" He replied, "Ask me this boon- into what shape I
shall bewitch thee? Wilt thou be a dog, or an ass, or an ape?" I
rejoined (and indeed I had hoped that mercy might be shown me), "By
Allah, spare me, that Allah spare thee for sparing a Moslem and a man
who never wronged thee." And I humbled myself before him with exceeding
humility, and remained standing in his presence, saying, "I am sore
oppressed by circumstance." Said the Ifrit: "Lengthen not thy words! As
to my slaying thee, fear it not, and as to my pardoning thee, hope it
not, but from my bewitching thee there is no escape." Then he tore me
from the ground, which closed under my feet, and flew with me into the
firmament till I saw the earth as a large white cloud or a saucer in the
midst of the waters. Presently he set me down on a mountain, and taking
a little dust, over which he muttered some magical words, sprinkled me
therewith, saying, "Quit that shape and take thou the shape of an ape!"
And on the instant I became an ape, a tailless baboon, the son of a
century.
Now when he had left me and I saw myself in this ugly and hateful
shape, I wept for myself, but resigned my soul to the tyranny of Time
and Circumstance, well weeting that Fortune is fair and constant to no
man. I descended the mountain and found at the foot a desert plain, long
and broad, over which I traveled for the space of a month till my course
brought me to the brink of the briny sea. After standing there awhile, I
was ware of a ship in the offing which ran before a fair wind making for
the shore. I hid myself behind a rock on the beach and waited till the
ship drew near, when I leaped on board. I found her full of merchants
and passengers, and one of them cried, "O Captain, this ill-omened brute
will bring us ill luck!" And another said, "Turn this ill-omened beast
out from among us." The Captain said, "Let us kill it!" Another said,
"Slay it with the sword," a third, "Drown it," and a fourth, "Shoot it
with an arrow."
But I sprang up and laid hold of the rais's skirt, and shed tears
which poured down my chops. The Captain took pity on me, and said, "O
merchants, this ape hath appealed to me for protection and I will
protect him. Henceforth he is under my charge, so let none do him aught
hurt or harm, otherwise there will be bad blood between us." Then he
entreated me kindly, and whatsoever he said I understood, and ministered
to his every want and served him as a servant, albeit my tongue would
not obey my wishes, so that he came to love me. The vessel sailed on,
the wind being fair, for the space of fifty days, at the end of which we
cast anchor under the walls of a great city wherein was a world of
people, especially learned men. None could tell their number save Allah.
No sooner had we arrived than we were visited by certain Mameluke
officials from the King of that city, who, after boarding us, greeted
the merchants and, giving them joy of safe arrival, said: "Our King
welcometh you, and sendeth you this roll of paper, whereupon each and
every of you must write a line. For ye shall know that the King's
Minister, a calligrapher of renown, is dead, and the King hath sworn a
solemn oath that he will make none Wazir in his stead who cannot write
as well as he could."
He then gave us the scroll, which measured ten cubits long by a
breadth of one, and each of the merchants who knew how to write wrote a
line thereon, even to the last of them, after which I stood up (still in
the shape of an ape) and snatched the roll out of their hands. They
feared lest I should tear it or throw it overboard, so they tried to
stay me and scare me, but I signed to them that I could write, whereat
all marveled, saying, "We never yet saw an ape write." And the Captain
cried: "Let him write, and if he scribble and scrabble we will kick him
out and kill him. But if he write fair and scholarly, I will adopt him
as my son, for surely I never yet saw a more intelligent and
well-mannered monkey than he. Would Heaven my real son were his match in
morals and manners!"
I took the reed and, stretching out my paw, dipped it in ink and
wrote, in the hand used for letters, these two couplets:
Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great,
But none recorded thine, which be far higher.
Allah ne'er orphan men by loss of thee
Who be of Goodness mother, Bounty's sire.
And I wrote in Rayhani or larger letters elegantly curved:
Thou hast a reed of rede to every land,
Whose driving causeth all the world to thrive.
Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons,
Who makest misery smile with fingers five.
Then I wrote in the Suls character:
There be no writer who from Death shall fleet
But what his hand hath writ men shall repeat.
Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when
Thou see't on Judgment Day an so thou see't!
Then I wrote in the character of Naskh:
When to sore parting Fate our love shall doom,
To distant life by Destiny decreed,
We cause the inkhom's lips to 'plain our pains,
And tongue our utterance with the talking reed.
Then I gave the scroll to the officials, and after we all had written
our line, they carried it before the King. When he saw the paper, no
writing pleased him save my writing, and he said to the assembled
courtiers: "Go seek the writer of these lines and dress him in a
splendid robe of honor. Then mount him on a she-mule, let a band of
music precede him, and bring him to the presence." At these words they
smiled and the King was wroth with them and cried "O accursed! I give
you an order and you laugh at me?" "O King," replied they, "if we laugh
'tis not at thee and not without a cause." "And what is it?" asked he,
and they answered, "O King, thou orderest us to bring to thy presence
the man who wrote these lines. Now the truth is that he who wrote them
is not of the sons of Adam, but an ape, a tailless baboon, belonging to
the ship Captain." Quoth he, "Is this true that you say?" Quoth they,
"Yea! by the rights of thy munificence!" The King marveled at their
words and shook with mirth and said, "I am minded to buy this ape of the
Captain."
Then he sent messengers to the ship with the mule, the dress, the
guard, and the state drums, saying, "Not the less do you clothe him in
the robe of honor and mount him on the mule, and let him be surrounded
by the guards and preceded by the band of music." They came to the ship
and took me from the Captain and robed me in the robe of honor and,
mounting me on the she-mule, carried me in state procession through the
streets whilst the people were amazed and amused. And folk said to one
another: "Halloo! Is our Sultan about to make an ape his Minister?" and
came all agog crowding to gaze at me, and the town was astir and turned
topsy-turvy on my account. When they brought me up to the King and set
me in his presence, I kissed the ground before him three times, and once
before the High Chamberlain and great officers, and he bade me be
seated, and I sat respectfully on shins and knees, and all who were
present marveled at my fine manners, and the King most of all.
Thereupon he ordered the lieges to retire, and when none remained
save the King's Majesty, the eunuch on duty, and a little white slave,
he bade them set before me the table of food, containing all manner of
birds, whatever hoppeth and flieth and treadeth in nest, such as quail
and sand grouse. Then he signed to me to eat with him, so I rose and
kissed ground before him, then sat me down and ate with him. Presently
they set before the King choice wines in flagons of glass and he drank.
Then he passed on the cup to me, and I kissed the ground and drank and
wrote on it:
With fire they boiled me to loose my tongue,
And pain and patience gave for fellowship.
Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high
And honeydew from lips of maid I sip!
The King read my verse and said with a sigh, "Were these gifts in a
man, he would excel all the folk of his time and age!" Then he called
for the chessboard, and said, "Say, wilt thou play with me?" and I
signed with my head, "Yes." Then I came forward and ordered the pieces
and played with him two games, both of which I won. He was speechless
with surprise, so I took the pen case and, drawing forth a reed, wrote
on the board these two couplets:
Two hosts fare fighting thro' the livelong day,
Nor is their battling ever finished
Until, when darkness girdeth them about,
The twain go sleeping in a single bed.
The King read these lines with wonder and delight and said to his
eunuch, "O Mukbil, go to thy mistress, Sitt al-Husn, and say her, 'Come,
speak the King, who biddeth thee hither to take thy solace in seeing
this right wondrous ape!"' So the eunuch went out, and presently
returned with the lady, who when she saw me veiled her face and said: "O
my father, hast thou lost all sense of honor? How cometh it thou art
pleased to send for me and show me to strange men?" "O Sitt al-Husn,"
said he, "no man is here save this little foot page and the eunuch who
reared thee and I, thy father. From whom, then, dost thou veil thy
face?" She answered, "This whom thou deemest an ape is a young man, a
clever and polite, a wise and learned, and the son of a king. But he is
ensorceled, and the Ifrit Jirjaris, who is of the seed of Iblis, cast a
spell upon him, after putting to death his own wife, the daughter of
King Ifitamus lord of the Islands of Abnus." The King marveled at his
daughter's words and, turning to me, said, "Is this true that she saith
of thee?" and I signed by a nod of my head the answer "Yea, verily," and
wept sore.
Then he asked his daughter, "Whence knewest thou that he is
ensorceled?" and she answered: "O my dear Papa, there was with me in my
childhood an old woman, a wily one and a wise and a witch to boot, and
she taught me the theory of magic and its practice, and I took notes in
writing and therein waxed perfect, and have committed to memory a
hundred and seventy chapters of egromantic formulas, by the least of
which I could transport the stones of thy city behind the Mountain Kaf
and the Circumambient Main, or make its site an abyss of the sea and its
people fishes swimming in the midst of it." "O my daughter," said her
father, "I conjure thee, by my life, disenchant this young man, that I
may make him my Wazir and marry thee to him, for indeed he is an
ingenious youth and a deeply learned." "With joy and goodly gree," she
replied and, hending in hand an iron knife whereon was inscribed the
name of Allah in Hebrew characters she described a wide circle in the
midst of the palace hall, and therein wrote in Kufic letters mysterious
names and talismans. And she uttered words and muttered charms, some of
which we understood and others we understood not.
Presently the world waxed dark before our sight till we thought that
the sky was falling upon our heads, and lo! the Ifrit presented himself
in his own shape and aspect. His hands were like many-pronged
pitchforks, his legs like the masts of great ships, and his eyes like
cressets of gleaming fire. We were in terrible fear of him, but the
King's daughter cried at him, "No welcome to thee and no greeting, O
dog!" Whereupon he changed to the form of a lion and said, "O traitress,
how is it thou hast broken the oath we sware that neither should
contraire other?" "O accursed one," answered she, "how could there be a
compact between me and the like of thee?" Then said he, "Take what thou
hast brought on thyself." And the lion open his jaws and rushed upon
her, but she was too quick for him, and, plucking a hair from her head,
waved it in the air muttering over it the while. And the hair
straightway became a trenchant sword blade, wherewith she smote the lion
and cut him in twain. Then the two halves flew away in air and the head
changed to a scorpion and the Princess became a huge serpent and set
upon the accursed scorpion, and the two fought, coiling and uncoiling, a
stiff fight for an hour at least.
Then the scorpion changed to a vulture and the serpent became an
eagle, which set upon the vulture and hunted him for an hour's time,
till he became a black tomcat, which miauled and grinned and spat.
Thereupon the eagle changed into a piebald wolf and these two battled in
the palace for a long time, when the cat, seeing himself overcome,
changed into a worm and crept into a huge red pomegranate which lay
beside the jetting fountain in the midst of the palace hall. Whereupon
the pomegranate swelled to the size of a watermelon in air and, falling
upon the marble pavement of the palace, broke to pieces, and all the
grains fell out and were scattered about till they covered the whole
floor. Then the wolf shook himself and became a snow-white cock, which
fell to picking up the grains, purposing not to leave one, but by doom
of destiny one seed rolled to the fountain edge and there lay hid.
The cock fell to crowing and clapping his wings and signing to us
with his beak as if to ask, "Are any grains left?" But we understood not
what he meant, and he cried to us with so loud a cry that we thought the
palace would fall upon us. Then he ran over all the floor till he saw
the grain which had rolled to the fountain edge, and rushed eagerly to
pick it up when behold, it sprang into the midst of the water and became
a fish and dived to the bottom of the basin. Thereupon the cock changed
to a big fish, and plunged in after the other, and the two disappeared
for a while and lo! we heard loud shrieks and cries of pain which made
us tremble. After this the Ifrit rose out of the water, and he was as a
burning flame, casting fire and smoke from his mouth and eyes and
nostrils. And immediately the Princess likewise came forth from the
basin, and she was one live coal of flaming lowe, and these two, she and
he, battled for the space of an hour, until their fires entirely
compassed them about and their thick smoke filled the palace.
As for us, we panted for breath, being well-nigh suffocated, and we
longed to plunge into the water, fearing lest we be burnt up and utterly
destroyed. And the King said: "There is no Majesty and there is no Might
save in Allah the Glorious, the Great! Verily we are Allah's and unto
Him are we returning! Would Heaven I had not urged my daughter to
attempt the disenchantment of this ape fellow, whereby I have imposed
upon her the terrible task of fighing yon accursed Ifrit, against whom
all the Ifrits in the world could not prevail. And would Heaven we had
never seen this ape, Allah never assain nor bless the day of his coming!
We thought to do a good deed by him before the face of Allah, and to
release him from enchantment, and now we have brought this trouble and
travail upon our heart." But I, O my lady, was tonguetied and powerless
to say a word to him.
Suddenly, ere we were ware of aught, the Ifrit yelled out from under
the flames and, coming up to us as we stood on the estrade, blew fire in
our faces. The damsel overtook him and breathed blasts of fire at his
face, and the sparks from her and from him rained down upon us, and her
sparks did us no harm. But one of his sparks alighted upon my eye and
destroyed it, making me a monocular ape. And another fell on the King's
face, scorching the lower half, burning off his beard and mustachios and
causing his underteeth to fall out, while a third lighted on the
castrato's breast, killing him on the spot. So we despaired of life and
made sure of death when lo! a voice repeated the saying: "Allah is Most
Highest! Allah is Most Highest! Aidance and victory to all who the Truth
believe, and disappointment and disgrace to all who the religion of
Mohammed, the Moon of Faith, unbelieve." The speaker was the Princess,
who had burnt the Ifrit, and he was become a heap of ashes. Then she
came up to us and said, "Reach me a cup of water." They brought it to
her and she spoke over it words we understood not and, sprinkling me
with it, cried, "By virtue of the Truth, and by the Most Great Name of
Allah, I charge thee return to thy former shape!" And behold, I shook
and became a man as before, save that I had utterly lost an eye.
Then she cried out: "The fire! The fire! O my dear Papa, an arrow
from the accursed hath wounded me to the death, for I am not used to
fight with the Jann. Had he been a man, I had slain him in the
beginning. I had no trouble till the time when the pomegranate burst and
the grains scattered, but I overlooked the seed wherein was the very
life of the Jinni. Had I picked it up, he had died on the spot, but as
Fate and Fortune decreed, I saw it not, so he came upon me all unawares
and there befell between him and me a sore struggle under the earth and
high in air and in the water. And as often as I opened on him a gate, he
opened on me another gate and a stronger, till at last he opened on me
the gate of fire, and few are saved upon whom the door of fire openeth.
But Destiny willed that my cunning prevail over his cunning, and I
burned him to death after I vainly exhorted him to embrace the religion
of Al-Islam. As for me, I am a dead woman. Allah supply my place to
you!"
Then she called upon Heaven for help and ceased not to implore relief
from the fire, when lo! a black spark shot up from her robed feet to her
thighs, then it flew to her bosom and thence to her face. When it
reached her face, she wept and said, "I testify that there is no god but
the God and that Mohammed is the Apostle of God!" And we looked at her
and saw naught but a heap of ashes by the side of the heap that had been
the Ifrit. We mourned for her, and I wished I had been in her place, so
had I not seen her lovely face who had worked me such weal become ashes,
but there is no gainsaying the will of Allah.
When the King saw his daughter's terrible death, he plucked out what
was left of his beard and beat his face and rent his raiment, and I did
as he did and we both wept over her. Then came in the chamberlains and
grandees, and were amazed to find two heaps of ashes and the Sultan in a
fainting fit. So they stood round him till he revived and told them what
had befallen his daughter from the Ifrit, whereat their grief was right
grievous and the women and the slave girls shrieked and keened, and they
continued their lamentations for the space of seven days. Moreover, the
King bade build over his daughter's ashes a vast vaulted tomb, and burn
therein wax tapers and sepulchral lamps. But as for the Ifrit's ashes,
they scattered them on the winds, speeding them to the curse of Allah.
Then the Sultan fell sick of a sickness that well-nigh brought him to
his death for a month's space, and when health returned to him and his
beard grew again and he had been converted by the mercy of Allah to
Al-Islam, he sent for me and said: "O youth, Fate had decreed for us the
happiest of lives, safe from all the chances and changes of Time, till
thou camest to us, when troubles fell upon us. Would to Heaven we had
never seen thee and the foul face of thee! For we took pity on thee, and
thereby we have lost our all. I have on thy account first lost my
daughter, who to me was well worth a hundred men, secondly, I have
suffered that which befell me by reason of the fire and the loss of my
teeth, and my eunuch also was slain. I blame thee not, for it was out of
thy power to prevent this. The doom of Allah was on thee as well as on
us, and thanks be to the Almighty for that my daughter delivered thee,
albeit thereby she lost her own life! Go forth now, O my son, from this
my city, and suffice thee what hath befallen us through thee, even
although 'twas decreed for us. Go forth in peace, and if I ever see thee
again I will surely slay thee." And he cried out at me.
So I went forth from his presence, O my lady, weeping bitterly and
hardly believing in my escape and knowing not whither I should wend. And
I recalled all that had befallen me, my meeting the tailor, my love for
the damsel in the palace beneath the earth, and my narrow escape from
the Ifrit, even after he had determined to do me die, and how I had
entered the city as an ape and was now leaving it a man once more. Then
I gave thanks to Allah and said, "My eye and not my life!" And before
leaving the place I entered the bath and shaved my poll and beard and
mustachios and eyebrows, and cast ashes on my head and donned the coarse
black woolen robe of a Kalandar.
Then I journeyed through many regions and saw many a city, intending
for Baghdad, that I might seek audience in the House of Peace with the
Commander of the Faithful, and tell him all that had befallen me. I
arrived here this very night and found my brother in Allah, this first
Kalandar, standing about as one perplexed, so I saluted him with "Peace
be upon thee," and entered into discourse with him. Presently up came
our brother, this third Kalandar, and said to us: "Peace be with you! I
am a stranger," whereto we replied, "And we too be strangers, who have
come hither this blessed night."
So we all three walked on together, none of us knowing the other's
history, till Destiny drave us to this door and we came in to you. Such
then is my story and my reason for shaving my beard and mustachios, and
this is what caused the loss of my eye. Said the house mistress, "Thy
tale is indeed a rare, so rub thy head and wend thy ways." But he
replied, "I will not budge till I hear my companions' stories."
Then came forward the third Kalandar, and said, "O illustrious lady,
my history is not like that of these my comrades, but more wondrous and
far more marvelous. In their case Fate and Fortune came down on them
unawares, but I drew down Destiny upon my own head and brought sorrow on
mine own soul, and shaved my own beard and lost my own eye. Hear then
