some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and
good will.”——It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin said
to the Sultan, “O King of the Time, thou didst naught to me contrary to
Holy Law, and I also sinned not against thee; but all the trouble came
from that Maghrabi, the impure, the Magician.” Thereupon the Sultan bade
the city be decorated and they obeyed him and held high feast and
festivities. He also commanded the crier to cry about the streets
saying, “This day is a mighty great fête, wherein public rejoicings must
be held throughout the realm, for a full month of thirty days, in honour
of the Lady Badr al-Budur and her husband Alaeddin’s return to their
home.” On this wise befel it with Alaeddin and the Maghrabi; but withal
the King’s son-in-law escaped not wholly from the Accursed, albeit the
body had been burnt and the ashes scattered in air. For the villain had
a brother yet more villainous than himself, and a greater adept in
necromancy, geomancy and astromancy; and, even as the old saw saith “A
bean and ’twas split;”[212] so each one dwelt in his own quarter of the
globe that he might fill it with his sorcery, his fraud and his
treason.[213] Now, one day of the days it fortuned that the Moorman’s
brother would learn how it fared with him, so he brought out his
sandboard and dotted it and produced the figures which, when he had
considered and carefully studied them, gave him to know that the man he
sought was dead and housed in the tomb. So he grieved and was certified
of his decease, but he dotted a second time seeking to learn the manner
of the death and where it had taken place; so he found that the site was
the China-land and that the mode was the foulest of slaughter;
furthermore, that he who did him die was a young man Alaeddin hight.
Seeing this he straightway arose and equipped himself for wayfare; then
he set out and cut across the wilds and wolds and heights for the space
of many a month until he reached China and the capital of the Sultan
wherein was the slayer of his brother. He alighted at the so-called
Strangers’ Khan and, hiring himself a cell, took rest therein for a
while; then he fared forth and wandered about the highways that he might
discern some path which would aid him unto the winning of his ill-minded
wish, to wit, of wreaking upon Alaeddin blood-revenge for his
brother.[214] Presently he entered a coffeehouse, a fine building which
stood in the market-place and which collected a throng of folk to play,
some at the Mankalah,[215] others at the backgammon[216] and others at
the chess and what not else. There he sat down and listened to those
seated beside him and they chanced to be conversing about an ancient
dame and a holy, by name Fátimah,[217] who dwelt alway at her devotions
in a hermitage without the town, and this she never entered save only
two days each month. They mentioned also that she had performed many
saintly miracles[218] which, when the Maghrabi, the Necromancer, heard
he said in himself, “Now have I found that which I sought: Inshallah—God
willing—by means of this crone will I win to my wish.”——And Shahrazad
was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us
some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and
good will.”——It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,
the Necromancer, went up to the folk who were talking of the miracles
performed by the devout old woman and said to one of them, “O my uncle,
I heard you all chatting about the prodigies of a certain saintess named
Fatimah: who is she and where may be her abode?” “Marvellous?”[219]
exclaimed the man: “How canst thou be in our city and yet never have
heard about the miracles of the Lady Fatimah? Evidently, O thou poor
fellow, thou art a foreigner, since the fastings of this devotee and her
asceticism in worldly matters and the beauties of her piety never came
to thine ears.” The Moorman rejoined, “’Tis true, O my lord: yes, I am a
stranger and came to this your city only yesternight; and I hope thou
wilt inform me concerning the saintly miracles of this virtuous woman
and where may be her wone, for that I have fallen into a calamity, and
’tis my wish to visit her and crave her prayers, so haply Allah (to whom
be honour and glory!) will, through her blessings, deliver me from mine
evil.” Hereat the man recounted to him the marvels of Fatimah the
Devotee and her piety and the beauties of her worship; then, taking him
by the hand went with him without the city and showed him the way to her
abode, a cavern upon a hillock’s head. The Necromancer acknowledged his
kindness in many words and, thanking him for his good offices, returned
to his cell in the caravanserai. Now by the fiat of Fate on the very
next day Fatimah came down to the city, and the Maghrabi, the
Necromancer, happened to leave his hostelry a-morn, when he saw the folk
swarming and crowding; wherefore he went up to discover what was to do
and found the Devotee standing amiddlemost the throng, and all who
suffered from pain or sickness flocked to her soliciting a blessing and
praying for her prayers; and each and every she touched became whole of
his illness.[220] The Maroccan, the Necromancer, followed her about
until she returned to her antre; then, awaiting till the evening evened,
he arose and repaired to a vintner’s store where he drank a cup of wine.
After this he fared forth the city and finding the Devotee’s cavern,
entered it and saw her lying prostrate[221] with her back upon a strip
of matting. So he came forward and mounted upon her belly; then he drew
his dagger and shouted at her; and, when she awoke and opened her eyes,
she espied a Moorish man with an unsheathed poniard sitting upon her
middle as though about to kill her. She was troubled and sore terrified,
but he said to her, “Hearken! an thou cry out or utter a word I will
slay thee at this very moment: arise now and do all I bid thee.” Then he
sware to her an oath that if she obeyed his orders, whatever they might
be, he would not do her die. So saying, he rose up from off her and
Fatimah also arose, when he said to her, “Give me thy gear and take thou
my habit;” whereupon she gave him her clothing and head-fillets, her
face-kerchief and her mantilla. Then quoth he, “’Tis also requisite that
thou anoint me with somewhat shall make the colour of my face like unto
thine.” Accordingly she went into the inner cavern and, bringing out a
gallipot of ointment, spread somewhat thereof upon her palm and with it
besmeared his face until its hue favoured her own; then she gave him her
staff[222] and, showing him how to walk and what to do when he entered
the city, hung her rosary around his neck. Lastly she handed to him a
mirror and said, “Now look! Thou differest from me in naught;” and he
saw himself Fatimah’s counterpart as though she had never gone or
come.[223] But after obtaining his every object he falsed his oath and
asked for a cord which she brought to him; then he seized her and
strangled her in the cavern; and presently, when she was dead, haled the
corpse outside and threw it into a pit hard by.——And Shahrazad was
surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us
some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and
good will.”——It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,
after murthering Fatimah, threw her body into a pit and went back to
sleep in her cavern; and, when broke the day, he rose and repairing to
the town took his stand under the walls of Alaeddin’s pavilion. Hereupon
flocked the folk about him, all being certified that he was Fatimah the
Devotee and he fell to doing whatso she was wont to do: he laid hands on
these in pain and recited for those a chapter of the Koran and made
orisons for a third. Presently the thronging of the folk and the
clamouring of the crowd were heard by the Lady Badr al-Budur, who said
to her handmaidens, “Look what is to do and what be the cause of this
turmoil!” Thereupon the Agha of the eunuchry fared forth to see what
might be the matter and presently returning said, “O my lady, this
clamour is caused by the Lady Fatimah, and if thou be pleased to
command, I will bring her to thee; so shalt thou gain through her a
blessing.” The Princess answered, “Go bring her, for since many a day I
am always hearing of her miracles and her virtues, and I do long to see
her and get a blessing by her intervention, for the folk recount her
manifestations in many cases of difficulty.” The Agha went forth and
brought in the Maroccan, the Necromancer, habited in Fatimah’s clothing;
and, when the wizard stood before the Lady Badr al-Budur, he began at
first sight to bless her with a string of prayers; nor did any one of
those present doubt at all but that he was the Devotee herself. The
Princess arose and salam’d to him; then seating him beside her, said, “O
my Lady Fatimah, ’tis my desire that thou abide with me alway, so might
I be blessed through thee, and also learn of thee the paths[224] of
worship and piety and follow thine example making for salvation.” Now
all this was a foul deceit of the accursed African and he designed
furthermore to complete his guile, so he continued, “O my Lady, I am a
poor woman and a religious that dwelleth in the desert; and the like of
me deserveth not to abide in the palaces of the kings.” But the Princess
replied, “Have no care whatever, O my Lady Fatimah; I will set apart for
thee an apartment of my pavilion, that thou mayest worship therein and
none shall ever come to trouble thee; also thou shalt avail to worship
Allah in my place better than in thy cavern.” The Maroccan rejoined,
“Hearkening and obedience, O my lady; I will not oppose thine order for
that the commands of the children of the kings may not be gainsaid nor
renounced. Only I hope of thee that my eating and drinking and sitting
may be within my own chamber which shall be kept wholly private; nor do
I require or desire the delicacies of diet, but do thou favour me by
sending thy handmaid every day with a bit of bread and a sup of
water;[225] and, when I feel fain of food, let me eat by myself in my
own room.” Now the Accursed hereby purposed to avert the danger of haply
raising his face-kerchief at meal times, when his intent might be
baffled by his beard and mustachios discovering him to be a man. The
Princess replied, “O my Lady Fatimah, be of good heart; naught shall
happen save what thou wishest. But now arise and let me show thee the
apartment in the palace which I would prepare for thy sojourn with
us.”——And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us
some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and
good will.”——It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Lady Badr
al-Budur arose and taking the Necromancer who had disguised himself as
the Devotee, ushered him in to the place which she had kindly promised
him for a home and said, “O my Lady Fatimah, here thou shalt dwell with
every comfort about thee and in all privacy and repose; and the place
shall be named after thy name;” whereupon the Maghrabi acknowledged her
kindness and prayed for her. Then the Princess showed him the jalousies
and the jewelled Kiosque with its four and twenty windows[226] and said
to him, “What thinkest thou, O my Lady Fatimah, of this marvellous
pavilion?” The Moorman replied, “By Allah, O my daughter, ’tis indeed
passing fine and wondrous exceedingly; nor do I deem that its fellow is
to be found in the whole universe; but alas for the lack of one thing
which would enhance its beauty and decoration!” The Princess asked her,
“O my Lady Fatimah, what lacketh it and what be this thing would add to
its adornment? Tell me thereof, inasmuch as I was wont to believe it
wholly perfect.” The Maroccan answered, “O my lady, all it wanteth is
that there be hanging from the middle of the dome the egg of a fowl
called the Rukh;[227] and, were this done, the pavilion would lack its
peer all the world over.” The Princess asked, “What be this bird and
where can we find her egg?” and the Maroccan answered, “O my lady, the
Rukh is indeed a giant fowl which carried off camels and elephants in
her pounces and flieth away with them, such is her stature and strength;
also this fowl is mostly found in Mount Káf; and the architect who built
this pavilion is able to bring thee one of her eggs.” They then left
such talk as it was the hour for the noon-day meal and, when the
handmaid had spread the table, the Lady Badr al-Budur sent down to
invite the Accursed African to eat with her. But he accepted not and for
a reason he would on no wise consent; nay, he rose and retired to the
room which the Princess had assigned to him and whither the slave-girls
carried his dinner. Now when evening evened, Alaeddin returned from the
chase and met his wife who salam’d to him and he clasped her to his
bosom and kissed her. Presently, looking at her face he saw thereon a
shade of sadness and he noted that contrary to her custom, she did not
laugh; so he asked her, “What hath betided thee, O my dearling? tell me,
hath aught happened to trouble thy thoughts?” “Nothing whatever,”
answered she, “but, O my beloved, I fancied that our pavilion lacked
naught at all; however, O eyes of me, O Alaeddin, were the dome of the
upper story hung with an egg of the fowl called Rukh, there would be
naught like it in the universe.” Her husband rejoined, “And for this
trifle thou art saddened when ’tis the easiest of all matters to me! So
cheer thyself; and, whatever thou wantest, ’tis enough thou inform me
thereof, and I will bring it from the abysses of the earth in the
quickest time and at the earliest hour.”——And Shahrazad was surprised by
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Ninetieth Night,
Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us
some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and
good will.”——It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin, after
refreshing the spirits of his Princess by promising her all she could
desire, repaired straightway to his chamber and taking the Lamp[228]
rubbed it, when the Marid appeared without let or delay saying, “Ask
whatso thou wantest.” Said the other, “I desire thee to fetch me an egg
of the bird Rukh and do thou hang it to the dome-crown of this my
pavilion.” But when the Marid heard these words, his face waxed fierce
and he shouted with a mighty loud voice and a frightful, and cried, “O
denier of kindly deeds, sufficeth it not for thee that I and all the
Slaves of the Lamp are ever at thy service, but thou must also require
me to bring thee our Liege Lady[229] for thy pleasure, and hang her up
at thy pavilion-dome for the enjoyment of thee and thy wife! Now by
Allah, ye deserve, thou and she, that I reduce you to ashes this very
moment and scatter you upon the air; but, inasmuch as ye twain be
ignorant of this matter, unknowing its inner from its outer
significance, I will pardon you for indeed ye are but innocents. The
offence cometh from that accursed Necromancer, brother to the Maghrabi,
the Magician, who abideth here representing himself to be Fatimah, the
Devotee, after assuming her dress and belongings and murthering her in
the cavern: indeed he came hither seeking to slay thee by way of
blood-revenge for his brother; and ’tis he who taught thy wife to
require this matter of me.”[230] So saying the Marid evanished. But when
Alaeddin heard these words, his wits fled his head and his joints
trembled at the Marid’s terrible shout; but he empowered his purpose
and, rising forthright issued from his chamber and went into his wife’s.
There he affected an ache of head, for that he knew how famous was
Fatimah for the art and mystery of healing all such pains; and, when the
Lady Badr al-Budur saw him sitting hand to head and complaining of
unease, she asked him the cause and he answered, “I know of none other
save that my head acheth exceedingly.” Hereupon she straightway bade
summon Fatimah that the Devotee might impose her hand upon his
head;[231] and Alaeddin asked her, “Who may this Fatimah be?” So she
informed him that it was Fatimah the Devotee to whom she had given a
home in the pavilion. Meanwhile the slave-girls had fared forth and
summoned the Maghrabi, and when the Accursed made act of presence,
Alaeddin rose up to him and, acting like one who knew naught of his
purpose, salam’d to him as though he had been the real Fatimah and,
kissing the hem of his sleeve, welcomed him and entreated him with
honour and said, “O my Lady Fatimah, I hope thou wilt bless me with a
boon, for well I wot thy practice in the healing of pains: I have gotten
a mighty ache in my head.” The Moorman, the Accursed, could hardly
believe that he heard such words, this being all that he desired.——And
Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Ninety-first Night,
Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us
some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and
good will.”——It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,
the Necromancer, habited as Fatimah the Devotee, came up to Alaeddin
that he might place hand upon his head and heal his ache; so he imposed
one hand and, putting forth the other under his gown, drew a dagger
wherewith to slay him. But Alaeddin watched him and, taking patience
till he had wholly unsheathed the weapon, seized him with a forceful
grip; and, wrenching the dagger from his grasp plunged it deep into his
heart. When the Lady Badr al-Budur saw him do on this wise, she shrieked
and cried out, “What hath this virtuous and holy woman done that thou
hast charged thy neck with the heavy burthen of her blood shed
wrongfully? Hast thou no fear of Allah that thou killest Fatimah, this
saintly woman, whose miracles are far-famed?” “No,” replied Alaeddin, “I
have not killed Fatimah. I have slain only Fatimah’s slayer, he that is
the brother of the Maghrabi, the Accursed, the Magician, who carried
thee off by his black art and transported my pavilion to the
Africa-land; and this damnable brother of his came to our city and
wrought these wiles, murthering Fatimah and assuming her habit, only
that he might avenge upon me his brother’s blood; and he also ’twas who
taught thee to require of me a Rukh’s egg, that my death might result
from such requirement. But, an thou doubt my speech, come forwards and
consider the person I have slain.” Thereupon Alaeddin drew aside the
Moorman’s face-kerchief and the Lady Badr al-Budur saw the semblance of
a man with a full beard that well nigh covered his features. She at once
knew the truth and said to her husband, “O my beloved, twice have I cast
thee into death-risk!” but he rejoined, “No harm in that, O my lady, by
the blessing of your loving eyes: I accept with all joy all things thou
bringest me.” The Princess, hearing these words, hastened to fold him in
her arms and kissed him saying, “O my dearling, all this is for my love
to thee and I knew naught thereof; but indeed I do not deem lightly of
thine affection.” So Alaeddin kissed her and strained her to his breast;
and the love between them waxed but greater. At that moment the Sultan
appeared and they told him all that had happened, showing him the corpse
of the Maghrabi, the Necromancer, when the King commanded the body to be
burned and the ashes scattered on air, even as had befallen the Wizard’s
brother. And Alaeddin abode with his wife, the Lady Badr al-Budur, in
all pleasure and joyance of life and thenceforward escaped every danger;
and, after a while, when the Sultan deceased, his son-in-law was seated
upon the throne of the Kingdom; and he commanded and dealt justice to
the lieges so that all the folk loved him and he lived with his wife in
all solace and happiness until there came to him the Destroyer of
delights and the Severer of societies.[232]——And Shahrazad was surprised
by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP.
(_ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF GALLAND._)
In the capital of one of the large and rich provinces of the kingdom of
China, the name of which I do not recollect, there lived a tailor, whose
name was Mustapha, without any other distinction but that which his
profession afforded him, and so poor, that he could hardly, by his daily
labour, maintain himself and family, which consisted of a wife and son.
His son, who was called Aladdin, had been brought up after a very
careless and idle manner, and by that means had contracted many vicious
habits. He was wicked, obstinate, and disobedient to his father and
mother, who, when he grew up, could not keep him within doors; but he
would go out early in the morning, and stay out all day, playing in the
streets and public places with little vagabonds of his own age.
When he was old enough to learn a trade, his father, not being able to
put him out to any other, took him into his own shop, and shewed him how
to use his needle; but neither good words nor the fear of chastisement
were capable of fixing his lively genius. All that his father could do
to keep him at home to mind his work was in vain; for no sooner was his
back turned, but Aladdin was gone for that day. Mustapha chastised him,
but Aladdin was incorrigible; and his father, to his great grief, was
forced to abandon him to his libertinism; and was so much troubled at
not being able to reclaim him, that it threw him into a fit of sickness,
of which he died in a few months.
The mother of Aladdin, finding that her son would not follow his
father’s business, shut up the shop, sold off the implements of that
trade, and with the money she got for them, and what she could get by
spinning cotton, thought to maintain herself and her son.
Aladdin, who was now no longer restrained by the fear of a father, and
who cared so little for his mother, that whenever she chid him he would
fly in her face, gave himself entirely over to dissipation, and was
never out of the streets from his companions. This course he followed
till he was fifteen years old, without giving his mind to any thing
whatever, or the least reflection on what would become of him. In this
situation, as he was one day playing according to custom, in the street,
with his vagabond troop, a stranger passing by stood still to observe
him.
This stranger was a famous magician, called by the writer of this story
the African Magician; and by that name I shall call him with the more
propriety, as he was a native of Africa, and had been but two days come
from thence.
Whether the African magician, who was a good physiognomist, had observed
in Aladdin’s countenance something which was absolutely necessary for
the execution of the design he came about, he inquired artfully about
his family, who he was, and what were his inclinations; and when he had
learned all he desired to know, he went up to him, and taking him aside
from his comrades, said to him, “Child, was not your father called
Mustapha the tailor?”—“Yes, sir,” answered Aladdin, “but he has been
dead a long time.”
At these words, the African magician threw his arms about Aladdin’s
neck, and kissed him several times with tears in his eyes. Aladdin, who
observed his tears, asked him, What made him weep? “Alas! my son,” cried
the African magician, with a sigh, “how can I forbear? I am your uncle;
your good father was my own brother. I have been a great many years
abroad travelling, and now I am come home with the hopes of seeing him,
you tell me he is dead. I assure you it is a sensible grief to me to be
deprived of the comfort I expected. But it is some relief to my
affection, that as far as I can remember him, I knew you at first sight,
you are so like him; and I see I am not deceived.” Then he asked
Aladdin, putting his hand into his purse, where his mother lived; and as
soon as Aladdin had informed him, he gave him a handful of small money,
saying to him, “Go, my son, to your mother, give my love to her, and
tell her that I will come and see her to-morrow, if I have time, that I
may have the satisfaction of seeing where my good brother lived so long,
and ended his days.”