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                                      1850

                               THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

                             by Sir Richard Burton
ENTERTAINMENTS

               THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS

                    (ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH)

             STORY OF KING SHAHRYAR AND HIS BROTHER

                    In the Name of Allah,

            the Compassionating, the Compassionate!

PRAISE BE TO ALLAH - THE BENEFICENT KING - THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE
- LORD OF THE THREE WORLDS - WHO SET UP THE FIRMAMENT WITHOUT
PILLARS IN ITS STEAD - AND WHO STRETCHED OUT THE EARTH EVEN AS A BED -
AND GRACE, AND PRAYER-BLESSING BE UPON OUR LORD MOHAMMED - LORD OF
APOSTOLIC MEN - AND UPON HIS FAMILY AND COMPANION TRAIN -PRAYER AND
BLESSINGS ENDURING AND GRACE WHICH UNTO THE DAY OF DOOM SHALL REMAIN -
AMEN! - O THOU OF THE THREE WORLDS SOVEREIGN!

  AND AFTERWARD. Verily the works and words of those gone before us
have become instances and examples to men of our modern day, that folk
may view what admonishing chances befell other folk and may
therefrom take warning; and that they may peruse the annals of antique
peoples and all that hath betided them, and be thereby ruled and
restrained. Praise, therefore, be to Him who hath made the histories
of the past an admonition unto the present! Now of such instances
are the tales called "A Thousand Nights and a Night," together with
their far-famed legends and wonders.

  Therein it is related (but Allah it is All-knowing of His hidden
things and All-ruling and All-honored and All-giving and
All-gracious and All-merciful!) that in tide of yore and in time
long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu Sasan in
the islands of India and China, a Lord of armies and guards and
servants and dependents. He left only two sons, one in the prime of
manhood and the other yet a youth, while both were knights and braves,
albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman than the younger. So he
succeeded to the empire, when he ruled the land and lorded it is
over his lieges with justice so exemplary that he was beloved by all
the peoples of his capital and of his kingdom. His name was King
Shahryar, and he made his younger brother, Shah Zaman hight, King of
Samarkand in Barbarian land. These two ceased not to abide in their
several realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions.
And each ruled his own kingdom with equity and fair dealing to his
subjects, in extreme solace and enjoyment, and this condition
continually endured for a score of years.

  But at the end of the twentieth twelvemonth the elder King yearned
for a sight of his younger brother and felt that he must look upon him
once more. So he took counsel with his Wazir about visiting him, but

 the Minister, finding the project unadvisable, recommended that a
letter be written and a present be sent under his charge to the
younger brother, with an invitation to visit the elder. Having
accepted this advice, the King forthwith bade prepare handsome
gifts, such as horses with saddles of gem-encrusted gold; Mamelukes,
or white slaves; beautiful handmaids, high-breasted virgins, and
splendid stuffs and costly. He then wrote a letter to Shah Zaman
expressing his warm love and great wish to see him, ending with
these words: "We therefore hope of the favor and affection of the
beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir himself and turn his
face usward. Furthermore, we have sent our Wazir to make all ordinance
for the march, and our one and only desire it is to see thee ere we
die. But if thou delay or disappoint us, we shall not survive the
blow. Wherewith peace be upon thee!"

  Then King Shahryar, having sealed the missive and given it is to the
Wazir with the offerings aforementioned, commanded him to shorten
his skirts and strain his strength and make all expedition in going
and returning. "Harkening and obedience!" quoth the Minister, who fell
to making ready without stay and packed up his loads and prepared
all his requisites without delay. This occupied him three days, and on
the dawn of the fourth he took leave of his King and marched right
away, over desert and hallway, stony waste and pleasant lea, without
halting by night or by day. But whenever he entered a realm whose
ruler was subject to his suzerain, where he was greeted with
magnificent gifts of gold and silver and all manner of presents fair
and rare, he would tarry there three days, the term of the guest rite.
And when he left on the fourth, he would be honorably escorted for a
whole day's march.

  As soon as the Wazir drew near Shah Zaman's court in Samarkand he
dispatched to report his arrival one of his high officials, who
presented himself before the King and, kissing ground between his
hands, delivered his message. Hereupon the King commanded sundry of
his grandees and lords of his realm to fare forth and meet his
brother's Wazir at the distance of a full day's journey. Which they
did, greeting him respectfully and wishing him all prosperity and
forming an escort and a procession. When he entered the city, he
proceeded straightway to the palace, where he presented himself in the
royal presence; and after kissing ground and praying for the King's
health and happiness and for victory over all his enemies, he
informed him that his brother was yearning to see him, and prayed
for the pleasure of a visit.

  He then delivered the letter, which Shah Zaman took from his hand
and read. It contained sundry hints and allusions which required
thought, but when the King had fully comprehended its import, he said,
"I hear and I obey the commands of the beloved brother!" adding to the
Wazir, "But we will not march till after the third day's hospitality."
He appointed for the Minister fitting quarters of the palace and
pitching tents for the troops, rationed them with whatever they
might require of meat and drink and other necessaries. On the fourth
day he made ready for wayfare and got together sumptuous presents
befitting his elder brother's majesty, and stablished his chief
Wazir Viceroy of the land during his absence. Then he caused his tents
and camels and mules to be brought forth and encamped, with their
bales and loads, attendants and guards, within sight of the city, in
readiness to set out next morning for his brother's capital.

  But when the night was half-spent he bethought him that he had
forgotten in his palace somewhat which he should have brought with
him, so he returned privily and entered his apartments, where he found
the Queen, his wife, asleep on his own carpet bed embracing with
both arms a black cook of loathsome aspect and foul with kitchen
grease and grime. When he saw this the world waxed black before his
sight and he said: "If such case happen while I am yet within sight of
the city, what will be the doings of this damned whore during my
long absence at my brother's court?" So he drew his scimitar, and
cutting the two in four pieces with a single blow, left them on the
carpet and returned presently to his camp without letting anyone
know of what had happened. Then he gave orders for immediate departure
and set out at once and began his travel; but he could not help
thinking over his wife's treason, and he kept ever saying to
himself: "How could she do this deed by me? How could she work her own
death?" till excessive grief seized him, his color changed to
yellow, his body waxed weak, and he was threatened with a dangerous
malady, such a one as bringeth men to die. So the Wazir shortened
his stages and tarried long at the watering stations, and did his best
to solace the King.

  Now when Shah Zaman drew near the capital of his brother, he
dispatched vaunt-couriers and messengers of glad tidings to announce
his arrival, and Shahryar came forth to meet him with his wazirs and
emirs and lords and grandees of his realm, and saluted him and joyed
with exceeding joy and caused the city to be decorated in his honor.
When, however, the brothers met, the elder could not but see the
change of complexion in the younger and questioned him of his case,
whereto he replied: "'Tis caused by the travails of wayfare and my
case needs care, for I have suffered from the change of water and air!
But Allah be praised for reuniting me with a brother so dear and so
rare!" On this wise he dissembled and kept his secret, adding: "O King
of the Time and Caliph of the Tide, only toil and moil have tinged
my face yellow with bile and hath made my eyes sink deep in my head."

  Then the two entered the capital in all honor, and the elder brother
lodged the younger in a palace overhanging the pleasure garden. And
after a time, seeing his condition still unchanged, he attributed it
is to his separation from his country and kingdom. So he let him
wend his own ways and asked no questions of him till one day when he
again said, "O my brother, I see thou art grown weaker of body and
yellower of color." "O my brother," replied Shah Zaman, "I have an
internal wound." Still he would not tell him what he had witnessed
in his wife. Thereupon Shahryar summoned doctors and surgeons and bade
them treat his brother according to the rules of art, which they did
for a whole month. But their sherbets and potions naught availed,
for he would dwell upon the deed of his wife, and despondency, instead
of diminishing, prevailed, and leechcraft treatment utterly failed.

  One day his elder brother said to him: "I am going forth to hunt and
course and to take my pleasure and pastime. Maybe this would lighten
thy heart." Shah Zaman, however, refused, saying: "O my brother, my
soul yearneth for naught of this sort, and I entreat thy favor to
stiffer me tarry quietly in this place, being wholly taken up with
my malady." So King Shah Zaman passed his night in the palace, and
next morning when his brother had fared forth, he removed from his
room and sat him down at one of the lattice windows overlooking the
pleasure grounds. And there he abode thinking with saddest thought
over his wife's betrayal, and burning sighs issued from his tortured
breast.

  And as he continued in this case lo! a postern of the palace,
which was carefully kept private, swung open, and out of it is came
twenty slave girls surrounding his brother's wife, who was wondrous
fair, a model of beauty and comeliness and symmetry and perfect
loveliness, and who paced with the grace of a gazelle which panteth
for the cooling stream. Thereupon Shah Zaman drew back from the
window, but he kept the bevy in sight, espying them from a place
whence he could not be espied. They walked under the very lattice
and advanced a little way into the garden till they came to a
jetting fountain a-middlemost a great basin of water. Then they
stripped off their clothes, and behold, ten of them were women,
concubines of the King, and the other ten were white slaves. Then they
all paired off, each with each. But the Queen, who was left alone,
presently cried out in a loud voice, "Here to me, O my lord Saeed!"

  And then sprang with a drop leap from one of the trees a big
slobbering blackamoor with rolling eyes which showed the whites, a
truly hideous sight. He walked boldly up to her and threw his arms
round her neck while she embraced him as warmly. Then he bussed her
and winding his legs round hers, as a button loop clasps a button,
he threw her and enjoyed her. On like wise did the other slaves with
the girls till all had satisfied their passions, and they ceased not
from kissing and clipping, coupling and carousing, till day began to
wane, when the Mamelukes rose from the damsels' bosoms and the
blackamoor slave dismounted from the Queen's breast. The men resumed
their disguises and all except the Negro, who swarmed up the tree,
entered the palace and closed the postern door as before.

  Now when Shah Zaman saw this conduct of his sister-in-law, he said
to himself: "By Allah, my calamity is lighter than this! My brother is
a greater King among the Kings than I am, yet this infamy goeth on
in his very palace, and his wife is in love with that filthiest of
filthy slaves. But this only showeth that they all do it and that
there is no woman but who cuckoldeth her husband. Then the curse of
Allah upon one and all, and upon the fools who lean against them for
support or who place the reins of conduct in their hands!" So he put
away his melancholy and despondency, regret and repine, and allayed
his sorrow by constantly repeating those words, adding, "'Tis my
conviction that no man in this world is safe from their malice!"

  When suppertime came, they brought him the trays and he ate with
voracious appetite, for he had long refrained from meat, feeling
unable to touch any dish, however dainty. Then he returned grateful
thanks to Almighty Allah, praising Him and blessing Him, and he
spent a most restful night, it having been long since he had savored
the sweet food of sleep. Next day he broke his fast heartily and began
to recover health and strength, and presently regained excellent
condition. His brother came back from the chase ten days after, when
he rode out to meet him and they saluted each other. And when King
Shahryar looked at King Shah Zaman, he saw how the hue of health had
returned to him, how his face had waxed ruddy, and how he ate with
an appetite after his late scanty diet. He wondered much and said:
"O my brother, I was no anxious that thou wouldst join me in hunting
and chasing, and wouldst take thy pleasure and pastime in my
dominion!" He thanked him and excused himself.

  Then the two took horse and rode into the city, and when they were
seated at their ease in the palace, the food trays were set before
them and they ate their sufficiency. After the meats were removed
and they had washed their hands, King Shahryar turned to his brother
and said: "My mind is overcome with wonderment at thy condition. I was
desirous to carry thee with me to the chase, but I saw thee changed in
hue, pale and wan to view, and in sore trouble of mind too. But now,
Alhamdolillah- glory be to God!- I see thy natural color hath returned
to thy face and that thou art again in the best of case. It was my
belief that thy sickness came of severance from thy family and
friends, and absence from capital and country, so I refrained from
troubling thee with further questions. But now I beseech thee to
expound to me the cause of thy complaint and thy change of color,
and to explain the reason of thy recovery and the return to the
ruddy hue of health which I am wont to view. So speak out and hide
naught!"

  When Shah Zaman heard this, he bowed groundward awhile his head,
then raised it and said: "I will tell thee what caused my complaint
and my loss of color. But excuse my acquainting thee with the cause of
its return to me and the reason of my complete recovery. Indeed I pray
thee not to press me for a reply." Said Shahryar, who was much
surprised by these words, "Let me hear first what produced thy
pallor and thy poor condition." "Know, then, O my brother," rejoined
Shah Zaman, "that when thou sentest thy Wazir with the invitation to
place myself between thy hands, I made ready and marched out of my
city. But presently I minded me having left behind me in the palace
a string of jewels intended as a gift to thee. I returned for it
alone, and found my wife on my carpet bed and in the arms of a hideous
black cook. So I slew the twain and came to thee, yet my thoughts
brooded over this business and I lost my bloom and became weak. But
excuse me if I still refuse to tell thee what was the reason of my
complexion returning."

  Shahryar shook his head, marveling with extreme marvel, and with the
fire of wrath flaming up from his heart, he cried, "Indeed, the malice
of woman is mighty!" Then he took refuge from them with Allah and
said: "In very sooth, O my brother, thou hast escaped many an evil
by putting thy wife to death, and right excusable were thy wrath and
grief for such mishap, which never yet befell crowned king like
thee. By Allah, had the case been mine, I would not have been
satisfied without slaying a thousand women, and that way madness lies!
But now praise be to Allah Who hath tempered to thee thy
tribulation, and needs must thou acquaint me with that which so
suddenly restored to thee complexion and health, and explain to me
what causeth this concealment." "O King of the Age, again I pray
thee excuse my so doing!" "Nay, but thou must." "I fear, O my brother,
lest the recital cause thee more anger and sorrow than afflicted
me." "That were but a better reason," quoth Shahryar, "for telling
me the whole history, and I conjure thee by Allah not to keep back
aught from me."

  Thereupon Shah Zaman told him all he had seen, from commencement
to conclusion, ending with these words: "When I beheld thy calamity
and the treason of thy wife, O my brother, and I reflected that thou
art in years my senior and in sovereignty my superior, mine own sorrow
was belittled by the comparison, and my mind recovered tone and
temper. So, throwing off melancholy and despondency, I was able to eat
and drink and sleep, and thus I speedily regained health and strength.
Such is the truth and the whole truth." When King Shahryar heard
this he waxed wroth with exceeding wrath, and rage was like to
strangle him. But presently he recovered himself and said, "O my
brother, I would not give thee the lie in this matter, but I cannot
credit it till I see it with mine own eyes." "And thou wouldst look
upon thy calamity," quoth Shah Zaman, "rise at once and make ready
again for hunting and coursing, and then hide thyself with me. So
shalt thou witness it and thine eyes shall verify it." "True," quoth
the King. Whereupon he let make proclamation of his intent to
travel, and the troops and tents fared forth without the city, camping
within sight, and Shahryar sallied out with them and took seat
a-midmost his host, bidding the slaves admit no man to him. When night
came on, he summoned his Wazir and said to him, "Sit thou in my stead,
and let none wot of my absence till the term of three days."

  Then the brothers disguised themselves and returned by night with
all secrecy to the palace, where they passed the dark hours. And at
dawn they seated themselves at the lattice overlooking the pleasure
grounds, when presently the Queen and her handmaids came out as
before, and passing under the windows, made for the fountain. Here
they stripped, ten of them being men to ten women, and the King's wife
cried out, "Where art thou, O Saeed?" The hideous blackamoor dropped
from the tree straightway, and rushing into her arms without stay or
delay, cried out, "I am Sa'ad al-Din Saood!" The lady laughed
heartily, and all fell to satisfying their lusts, and remained so
occupied for a couple of hours, when the white slaves rose up from the
handmaidens' breasts and the blackamoor dismounted from the Queen's
bosom. Then they went into the basin and after performing the ghusl,
or complete ablution, donned their dresses and retired as they had
done before.

  When King Shahryar saw this infamy of his wife and concubines, he
became as one distraught, and he cried out: "Only in utter solitude
can man be safe from the doings of this vile world! By Allah, life
is naught but one great wrong." Presently he added, "Do not thwart me,
O my brother, in what I propose." And the other answered, "I will
not." So he said: "Let us up as we are and depart forthright hence,
for we have no concern with kingship, and let us overwander Allah's
earth, worshiping the Almighty till we find someone to whom the like
calamity hath happened. And if we find none then will death be more
welcome to us than life."

  So the two brothers issued from a second private postern of the
palace, and they never stinted wayfaring by day and by night until
they reached a tree a-middle of a meadow hard by a spring of sweet
water on the shore of the salt sea. Both drank of it and sat down to
take their rest. And when an hour of the day had gone by, lo! they
heard a mighty roar and uproar in the middle of the main as though the
heavens were falling upon the earth, and the sea brake with waves
before them and from it towered a black pillar, which grew and grew
till it rose skyward and began making for that meadow. Seeing it, they
waxed fearful exceedingly and climbed to the top of the tree, which
was a lofty, whence they gazed to see what might be the matter. And
behold, it was a Jinni, huge of height and burly of breast and bulk,
broad of brow and black of blee, bearing on his head a coffer of
crystal. He strode to land, wading through the deep, and coming to the
tree whereupon were the two Kings, seated himself beneath it. He
then set down the coffer on its bottom and out of it drew a casket
with seven padlocks of steel, which he unlocked with seven keys of
steel he took from beside his thigh, and out of it a young lady to
come was seen, whiteskinned and of winsomest mien, of stature fine and
thin, and bright as though a moon of the fourteenth night she had
been, or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the poet Utayyah
hath excellently said:-

     She rose like the morn as she shone through the night

     And she gilded the grove with her gracious sight.

     From her radiance the sun taketh increase when

     She unveileth and shameth the moonshine bright.

     Bow down all beings between her hands

     As she showeth charms with her veil undight.

     And she floodeth cities with torrent tears

     When she flasheth her look of levin light.

  The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and looking at
her, said: "O choicest love of this heart of mine! O dame of noblest
line, whom I snatched away on thy bride night that none might
prevent me taking thy maidenhead or tumble thee before I did, and whom
none save myself hath loved or hath enjoyed. O my sweetheart! I
would lief sleep a little while." He then laid his head upon the
lady's thighs, and, stretching out hip legs, which extended down to
the sea, slept and snored and snarked like the roll of thunder.
Presently she raised her head toward the treetop and saw the two Kings
perched near the summit. Then she softly lifted off her lap the
Jinni's pate, which she was tired of supporting, and placed it upon
the ground, then, standing upright under the tree, signed to the
Kings, "Come ye down, ye two, and fear naught from this Ifrit." They
were in a terrible fright when they found that she had seen them,
and answered her in the same manner, "Allah upon thee and by thy
modesty, O lady, excuse us from coming down!" But she rejoined by
saying: "Allah upon you both that ye come down forthright. And if ye
come not, I will rouse upon you my husband, this Ifrit, and he shall
do you to die by the illest of deaths." And she continued making
signals to them.

  So, being afraid, they came down to her, and she rose before them
and said, "Stroke me a strong stroke, without stay or delay, otherwise
will I arouse and set upon you this Ifrit, who shall slay you
straightway." They said to her: "O our lady, we conjure thee by Allah,
let us off this work, for we are fugitives from such, and in extreme
dread and terror of this thy husband. How then can we do it in such
a way as thou desirest?" "Leave this talk. It needs must be so," quoth
she, and she swore them by Him who raised the skies on high without
prop or pillar that if they worked not her will, she would cause
them to be slain and cast into the sea. Whereupon out of fear King
Shahryar said to King Shah Zaman, "O my brother, do thou what she
biddeth thee do." But he replied, "I will not do it till thou do it
before I do." And they began disputing about futtering her.

  Then quoth she to the twain: "How is it I see you disputing and
demurring? If ye do not come forward like men and do the deed of kind,
ye two, I will arouse upon you the Ifrit." At this, by reason of their
sore dread of the Jinni, both did by her what she bade them do, and
when they had dismounted from her, she said, "Well done!" She then
took from her pocket a purse and drew out a knotted string whereon
were strung five hundred and seventy seal rings, and asked, "Know ye
what be these?" They answered her saying, "We know not!" Then quoth
she: "These be the signets of five hundred and seventy men who have
all futtered me upon the horns of this foul, this foolish, this filthy
Ifrit. So give me also your two seal rings, ye pair of brothers."

  When they had drawn their two rings from their hands and given
them to her, she said to them: "Of a truth this Ifrit bore me off on
my bride night, and put me into a casket and set the casket in a
coffer, and to the coffer he affixed seven strong padlocks of steel
and deposited me on the deep bottom of the sea that raves, dashing and
clashing with waves, and guarded me so that I might remain chaste
and honest, quotha! that none save himself might have connection
with me. But I have lain under as many of my kind as I please, and
this wretched Jinni wotteth not that Destiny may not be averted nor
hindered by aught, and that whatso woman willeth, the same she
fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even so saith one of them:

           "Rely not on women,

           Trust not to their hearts,

           Whose joys and whose sorrows

           Are hung to their parts!

           Lying love they will swear thee

           Whence guile ne'er departs.

           Take Yusuf for sample,

           'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts!

           Iblis ousted Adam

           (See ye not?) thro' their arts."

  Hearing these words, they marveled with exceeding marvel, and she
went from them to the Ifrit, and taking up his head on her thigh as
before, said to them softly, "Now wend your ways and bear yourselves
beyond the bounds of his malice." So they fared forth saying either to
other, "Allah! Allah!" and: "There be no Majesty and there be no Might
save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great, and with Him we seek refuge
from women's malice and sleight, for of a truth it hath no mate in
might. Consider, O my brother, the ways of this marvelous lady with an
Ifrit, who is so much more powerful than we are. Now since there
hath happened to him a greater mishap than that which befell us and
which should bear us abundant consolation, so return we to our
countries and capitals, and let us decide never to intermarry with
womankind, and presently we will show them what will be our action."

  Thereupon they rode back to the tents of King Shahryar, which they
reached on the morning of the third day. And having mustered the
wazirs and emirs, the chamberlains and high officials, he gave a
robe of honor to his Viceroy and issued orders for an immediate return
to the city. There he sat him upon his throne and, sending for the
Chief Minister, the father of the two damsels who (Inshallah!) will
presently be mentioned, he said, "I command thee to take my wife and
smite her to death, for she hath broken her plight and her faith."
So he carried her to the place of execution and did her die. Then King
Shahryar took brand in hand and, repairing to the seraglio, slew all
the concubines and their Mamelukes. He also sware himself by a binding
oath that whatever wife he married he would abate her maidenhead at
night and slay her next morning, to make sure of his honor. "For,"
said he, "there never was nor is there one chaste woman upon the
face of earth."

  Then Shah Zaman prayed for permission to fare homeward, and he
went forth equipped and escorted and traveled till he reached his
own country. Meanwhile Shahryar commanded his Wazir to bring him the
bride of the night that he might go in to her. So he produced a most
beautiful girl, the daughter of one of the emirs, and the King went in
unto her at eventide. And when morning dawned, he bade his Minister
strike off her head, and the Wazir did accordingly, for fear of the
Sultan. On this wise he continued for the space of three years,
marrying a maiden every night and killing her the next morning, till
folk raised an outcry against him and cursed him, praying Allah
utterly to destroy him and his rule. And women made an uproar and
mothers wept and parents fled with their daughters till there remained
not in the city a young person fit for carnal copulation.

  Presently the King ordered his Chief Wazir, the same who was charged
with the executions, to bring him a virgin, as was his wont, and the
Minister went forth and searched and found none. So he returned home
in sorrow and anxiety, fearing for his life from the King. Now he
had two daughters, Scheherazade and Dunyazade, hight, of whom the
elder had perused the books, annals, and legends of preceding kings,
and the stories, examples, and instances of bygone men and things.
Indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand books of
histories relating to antique races and departed rulers. She had
purused the works of the poets and knew them by heart, she had studied
philosophy and the sciences, arts, and accomplishments. And she was
pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred. Now on
that day she said to her father: "Why do I see thee thus changed and
laden with cark and care? Concerning this matter quoth one of the
poets:

           "Tell whoso hath sorrow

           Grief never shall last.

           E'en as joy hath no morrow

           So woe shall go past."

  When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words, he related to
her, from first to last, all that had happened between him and the
King. Thereupon said she: "By Allah, O my father, how long shall
this slaughter of women endure? Shall I tell thee what is in my mind
in order to save both sides from destruction?" "Say on, O my
daughter," quoth he, and quoth she: "I wish thou wouldst give me in
marriage to this King Shahryar. Either I shall live or I shall be a
ransom for the virgin daughters of Moslems and the cause of their
deliverance from his hands and thine." "Allah upon thee!" cried he
in wrath exceeding that lacked no feeding. "O scanty of wit, expose
not thy life to such peril! How durst thou address me in words so wide
from wisdom and unfar from foolishness? Know that one who lacketh
experience in worldly matters readily falleth into misfortune, and
whoso considereth not the end keepeth not the world to friend, and the
vulgar say: 'I was lying at mine ease. Naught but my officiousness
brought me unease'." "Needs must thou," she broke in, "make me a
doer of this good deed, and let him kill me an he will. I shall only
die a ransom for others." "O my daughter," asked he, "and how shall
that profit thee when thou shalt have thrown away thy life?" And she
answered, "O my father, it must be, come of it what will!" The Wazir
was again moved to fury and blamed and reproached her, ending with,
"In very deed I fear lest the same befall thee which befell the bull
and the ass with the husbandman." "And what," asked she, "befell them,
O my father?" Whereupon the Wazir began
TALE

                THE TALE OF THE BULL AND THE ASS

  KNOW, O my daughter, that there was once a merchant who owned much
money and many men, and who was rich in cattle and camels. He had also
a wife and family, and he dwelt in the country, being experienced in
husbandry and devoted to agriculture. Now Allah Most High had
endowed him with understanding the tongues of beasts and birds of
every kind, but under pain of death if he divulged the gift to any. So
he kept it secret for very fear. He had in his cow house a bull and an
ass, each tethered in his own stall, one hard by the other. As the
merchant was sitting near-hand one day with his servans and his
children were playing about him, he heard and bull say to the ass:

  "Hail and health to thee O Father of Waking! for that thou
enjoyest rest and good ministering. All under thee is clean-swept
and fresh-sprinkled. Men wait upon thee and feed thee, and thy
provaunt is sifted barley and thy drink pure spring water, while I
(unhappy creature!) am led forth in the middle of the night, when they
set on my neck the plow and a something called yoke, and I tire at
cleaving the earth from dawn of day till set of sun. I am forced to do
more than I can and to bear all manner of ill-treatment from night to
night. After which they take me back with my sides torn, my neck
flayed, my legs aching, and mine eyelids sored with tears. Then they
shut me up in the byre and throw me beans and crushed straw mixed with
dirt and chaff, and I lie in dung and filth and foul stinks through
the livelong night. But thou art ever in a place swept and sprinkled
and cleansed, and thou art always lying at ease, save when it
happens (and seldom enough!) that the master hath some business,
when he mounts thee and rides thee to town and returns with thee
forthright. So it happens that I am toiling and distrest while thou
takest thine ease and thy rest. Thou sleepest while I am sleepless,
I hunger still while thou eatest thy fill, and I win contempt while
thou winnest goodwill."

  When the bull ceased speaking, the ass turned toward him and said:
"O Broad-o'-Brow, O thou lost one! He lied not who dubbed thee
bullhead, for thou, O father of a bull, hast neither forethought nor
contrivance. Thou art the simplest of simpletons, and thou knowest
naught of good advisers. Hast thou not heard the saying of the wise?

     "For others these hardships and labors I bear,

     And theirs is the pleasure and mine is the care,

     As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun

     To whiten the raiment which other men wear.

But thou, O fool, art full of zeal, and thou toilest and moilest
before the master, and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thyself
for the comfort of another. Hast thou never heard the saw that saith
'None to guide and from the way go wide'? Thou wendest forth at the
call to dawn prayer and thou returnest not till sundown, and through
the livelong day thou endurest all manner hardships: to wit, beating
and belaboring and bad language.

  "Now hearken to me, Sir Bull! When they tie thee to thy stinking
manger, thou pawest the ground with thy forehand and lashest out
with thy hind hoofs and pushest with thy horns and bellowest aloud, so
they deem thee contented. And when they throw thee thy fodder, thou
fallest on it with greed and hastenest to line thy fair fat paunch.
But if thou accept any advice, it will be better for thee, and thou
wilt lead an easier life even than mine. When thou goest afield and
they lay the thing called yoke on thy neck, be down and rise not
again, though haply they swings thee. And if thou rise, lie down a
second time. And when they bring thee home and offer thee thy beans,
fall backward and only sniff at thy meat and withdraw thee and taste
it not, and be satisfied with thy crushed straw and chaff. And on this
wise feign thou art sick, and cease not doing thus for a day or two
days or even three days; so shalt thou have rest from toil and moil."

  When the Bull heard these words, he knew the ass to be his friend
and thanked him, saying, "Right is thy rede," and prayed that all
blessings might requite him, and cried: "O Father Wakener! Thou hast
made up for my failings." (Now the merchant, O my daughter, understood
all that passed between them.) Next day the driver took the bull
and, settling the plow on his neck, made him work as wont. But the
bull began to shirk his plowing, according to the advice of the ass,
and the plowman drubbed him till he broke the yoke and made off. But
the man caught him up and leathered him till he despaired of his life.
Not the less, however, would he do nothing but stand still and drop
down till the evening. Then the herd led him home and stabled him in
his stall, but he drew back from his manger and neither stamped nor
ramped nor butted nor bellowed as he was wont to do, whereat the man
wondered. He brought him the beans and husks, but he sniffed at them
and left them and lay down as far from them as he could and passed the
whole night fasting. The peasant came next morning and, seeing the
manger full of beans, the crushed straw untasted, and the ox lying
on his back in sorriest plight, with legs outstretched and swollen
belly, he was concerned for him, and said to himself, "By Allah, he
hath assuredly sickened, and this is the cause why he would not plow
yesterday."

  Then he went to the merchant and reported: "O my master, the bull is
ailing. He refused his fodder last night- nay, more, he hath not
tasted a scrap of it this morning." Now the merchant-farmer understood
what all this meant, because he had overheard the talk between the
bull and the ass, so quoth he, "Take that rascal donkey, and set the
yoke on his neck, and bind him to the plow and make him do bull's
work." Thereupon the plowman took the ass, and worked him through the
livelong day at the bull's task. And when be failed for weakness, he
made him eat stick till his ribs were sore and his sides were sunken
and his neck was rayed by the yoke. And when he came home in the
evening he could hardly drag his limbs along, either forehand or
hind legs. But as for the bull, he had passed the day lying at full
length, and had eaten his fodder with an excellent appetite, and he
ceased not calling down blessings on the ass for his good advice,
unknowing what had come to him on his account.

  So when night set in and the ass returned to the byre, the bull rose
up before him in honor, and said: "May good tidings gladden thy heart,
O Father Wakener! Through thee I have rested all this day, and I
have eaten my meat in peace and quiet." But the ass returned no reply,
for wrath and heartburning and fatigue and the beating he had
gotten. And he repented with the most grievous of repentance, and
quoth he to himself: "This cometh of my folly in giving good
counsel. As the saw saith, I was in joy and gladness, naught save my
officiousness brought me this sadness. And now I must take thought and
put a trick upon him and return him to his place, else I die." Then he
went aweary to his manger while the bull thanked him and blessed him.

  And even so, O my daughter (said the Wazir) thou wilt die for lack
of wits. Therefore sit thee still and say naught and expose not thy
life to such stress, for, by Allah, I offer thee the best advice,
which cometh of my affection and kindly solicitude for thee. "O my
father," she answered, "needs must I go up to this King and be married
to him." Quoth he, "Do not this deed," and quoth she, "Of a truth I
will." Whereat he rejoined, "If thou be not silent and bide still, I
will do with thee even what the merchant did with his wife." "And what
did be?" asked she.

  Know then (answered the Wazir) that after the return of the ass
the merchant came out on the terrace roof with his wife and family,
for it was a moonlit night and the moon at its full. Now the terrace
overlooked the cow house, and presently as he sat there with his
children playing about him, the trader heard the ass say to the
bull, "Tell me, O Father Broad-o'-Brow, what thou purposest to do
tomorrow." The bull answered: "What but continue to follow thy
counsel, O Aliboron? Indeed it was as good as good could be, and it
hath given me rest and repose, nor will I now depart from it one
tittle. So when they bring me my meat, I will refuse it and blow out
my belly and counterfeit crank." The ass shook his head and said,
"Beware of so doing, O Father of a Bull!" The buff asked, "Why?" and
the ass answered, "Know that I am about to give thee the best of
counsel, for verily I heard our owner say to the herd, 'If the bull
rise not from his place to do his work this morning and if he retire
from his fodder this day, make him over to the butcher that he may
slaughter him and give his flesh to the poor, and fashion a bit of
leather from his hide.' Now I fear for thee on account of this. So
take my advice ere a calamity befall thee, and when they bring thee
thy fodder, eat it and rise up and bellow and paw the ground, or our
master will assuredly slay thee. And peace be with thee!"

  Thereupon the bull arose and lowed aloud and thanked the ass, and
said, "Tomorrow I will readily go forth with them." And he at once ate
up all his meat and even licked the manger. (All this took place and
the owner was listening to their talk.) Next morning the trader and
his wife went to the bull's crib and sat down, and the driver came and
led forth the bull, who, seeing his owner, whisked his tail and
brake wind, and frisked about so lustily that the merchant laughed a
loud laugh and kept laughing till he fell on his back. His wife
asked him, "Whereat laughest thou with such loud laughter as this?"
and he answered her, "I laughed at a secret something which I have
heard and seen but cannot say lest I die my death." She returned,
"Perforce thou must discover it to me, and disclose the cause of thy
laughing even if thou come by thy death!" But he rejoined, "I cannot
reveal what beasts and birds say in their lingo for fear I die."
Then quoth she: "By Allah, thou liest! This is a mere pretext. Thou
laughest at none save me, and now thou wouldest hide somewhat from me.
But by the Lord of the Heaven, an thou disclose not the cause I will
no longer cohabit with thee, I will leave thee at once." And she sat
down and cried.

  Whereupon quoth the merchant: "Woe betide thee! What means thy
weeping? Fear Allah, and leave these words and query me no more
questions." "Needs must thou tell me the cause of that laugh," said
she, and he replied: "Thou wettest that when I prayed Allah to
vouchsafe me understanding of the tongues of beasts and birds, I
made a vow never to disclose the secret to any under pain of dying
on the spot." "No matter!" cried she. "Tell me what secret passed
between the bull and the ass and die this very hour an thou be so
minded." And she ceased not to importune him till he was worn-out
and clean distraught. So at last he said, "Summon thy father and thy
mother and our kith and kin and sundry of our neighbors." Which she
did, and he sent for the kazi and his assessors, intending to make his
will and reveal to her his secret and die the death; for he loved
her with love exceeding because she was his cousin, the daughter of
his father's brother, and the mother of his children, and he had lived
with her a life of a hundred and twenty years.

  Then, having assembled all the family and the folk of his
neighborhood, he said to them, "By me there hangeth a strange story,
and 'tis such that if I discover the secret to any, I am a dead
man." Therefore quoth every one of those present to the woman,
"Allah upon thee, leave this sinful obstinacy and recognize the
right of this matter, lest haply thy husband and the father of thy
children die." But she rejoined, "I will not turn from it till he tell
me, even though he come by his death." So they ceased to urge her, and
the trader rose from amongst them and repaired to an outhouse to
perform the wuzu ablution, and he purposed thereafter to return and to
tell them his secret and to die.

  Now, Daughter Scheherazade, that merchant had in his outhouses
some fifty hens under one cock, and whilst making ready to farewell
his folk he heard one of his many farm dogs thus address in his own
tongue the cock, who was flapping his wings and crowing lustily and
jumping from one hen's back to another and treading all in turn,
saying: "O Chanticleer! How mean is thy wit and how shameless is thy
conduct! Be he disappointed who brought thee up. Art thou not
ashamed of thy doings on such a day as this?" "And what," asked the
rooster, "hath occurred this day?" when the dog answered; "Dost thou
not know that our master is this day making ready for his death? His
wife is resolved that he shall disclose the secret taught to him by
Allah, and the moment he so doeth he shall surely die. We dogs are all
a-mourning, but thou clappest thy wings and clarionest thy loudest and
treadest hen after hen. Is this an hour for pastime and pleasuring?
Art thou not ashamed of thyself?"

  "Then by Allah," quoth the cock, "is our master a lackwit and a
man scanty of sense. If he cannot manage matters with a single wife,
his life is not worth prolonging. Now I have some fifty dame partlets,
and I please this and provoke that and starve one and stuff another,
and through my good governance they are all well under my control.
This our master pretendeth to wit and wisdom, and she hath but one
wife and yet knoweth not how to manage her." Asked the dog, "What
then, O Cock, should the master do to will clear of his strait?" "He
should arise forthright," answered the cock, "and take some twigs from
yon mulberry tree and give her a regular back-basting and
ribroasting till she cry: 'I repent, O my lord! I will never ask
thee a question as Ion, as I live!' Then let him beat her once more
and soundly, and when he shall have done this, he shall sleep free
from care and enjoy life. But this master of ours owns neither sense
nor judgment."

  "Now, Daughter Scheherazade," continued the Wazir, "I will do to
thee as did that husband to that wife." Said Scheherazade, "And what
did he do?" He replied, "When the merchant heard the wise words spoken
by his cock to his dog, he arose in haste and sought his wife's
chamber, after cutting for her some mulberry twigs and hiding them
there. And then he called to her, "Come into the closet, that I may
tell thee the secret while no one seeth me, and then die." She entered
with him and he locked the door and came down upon her with so sound a
beating of back and shoulders, ribs, arms, and legs, saying the
while "Wilt thou ever be asking questions about what concerneth thee
not?" that she was well-nigh senseless. Presently she cried out: "I am
of the repentant! By Allah, I will ask thee no more questions, and
indeed I repent sincerely and wholesomely." Then she kissed his hand
and feet and he led her out of the room submissive, as a wife should
be. Her parents and all the company rejoiced and sadness and
mourning were changed into joy and gladness.

  Thus the merchant learnt family discipline from his cock and he
and his wife lived together the happiest of lives until death. And
thou also, O my daughter! continued the Wazir, unless thou turn from
this matter I will do by thee what that trader did to his wife. But
she answered him with much decision: "I will never desist, O my
father, nor shall this tale change my purpose. Leave such talk and
tattle. I will not listen to thy words and if thou deny me, I will
marry myself to him despite the nose of thee. And first I will go up
to the King myself and alone and I will say to him: 'I prayed my
father to wive me with thee, but he refused, being resolved to
disappoint his lord, grudging the like of me to the like of thee'."
Her father asked, "Must this needs be?" and she answered, "Even so."

  Hereupon the Wazir, being weary of lamenting and contending,
persuading and dissuading her, all to no purpose, went up to King
Shahryar and, after blessing him and kissing the ground before him,
told him all about his dispute with his daughter from first to last
and how he designed to bring her to him that night. The King
wondered with exceeding wonder, for he had made an especial
exception of the Wazir's daughter, and said to him: "O most faithful
of counsellors, how is this? Thou wettest that I have sworn by the
Raiser of the Heavens that after I have gone into her this night I
shall say to thee on the morrow's 'Take her and slay her!' And if thou
slay her not, I will slay thee in her stead without fail." "Allah
guide thee to glory and lengthen thy life, O King of the Age,"
answered the Wazir. "It is she that hath so determined. All this
have I told her and more, but she will not hearken to me and she
persisteth in passing this coming night with the King's Majesty." So
Shahryar rejoiced greatly and said, "'Tis well. Go get her ready,
and this night bring her to me." The Wazir returned to his daughter
and reported to her the command, saying, "Allah make not thy father
desolate by thy loss!"

  But Scheherazade rejoiced with exceeding joy and get ready all she
required and said to her younger sister, Dunyazade: "Note well what
directions I entrust to thee! When I have gone into the King I will
send for thee, and when thou comest to me and seest that he hath had
his carnal will of me, do thou say to me: 'O my sister, an thou be
not sleepy, relate to me some new story, delectable and delightsome,
the better to speed our waking hours.' And I will tell thee a tale
which shall be our deliverance, if so Allah please, and which shall
turn the King from his bloodthirsty custom." Dunyazade answered
"With love and gladness."

  So when it was night, their father the Wazir carried Scheherazade to
the King, who was gladdened at the sight and asked, "Hast thou brought
me my need?" And he answered, "I have." But when the King took her
to his bed and fell to toying with her and wished to go in to her, she
wept, which made him ask, "What aileth thee?" She replied, "O King
of the Age, I have a younger sister, and lief would I take leave of
her this night before I see the dawn." So he sent at once for
Dunyazade and she came and kissed the ground between his hands, when
he permitted her to take her seat near the foot of the couch. Then the
King arose and did away with his bride's maidenhead and the three fell
asleep.

  But when it was midnight Scheherazade awoke and signaled to her
sister Dunyazade, who sat up and said, "Allah upon thee, O my
sister, recite to us some new story, delightsome and delectable,
wherewith to while away the waking hours of our latter night." "With
joy and goodly gree," answered Scheherazade, "if this pious and
auspicious King permit me." "Tell on," quoth the King, who chanced
to be sleepless and restless and therefore was pleased with the
prospect of hearing her story. So Scheherazade rejoiced, and thus,
on the first night of the Thousand Nights and a Night, she began her
recitations.

                 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 junipe