There was of old time in Baghdad a man of condition, who had
inherited from his father abounding affluence. He fell in love
with a slave-girl; so he bought her and she loved him as he loved
her; and he ceased not to spend upon her, till all his money was
gone and naught remained thereof; whereupon he sought a means of
getting his livelihood, but availed not to find any. Now this
young man had been used, in the days of his affluence, to
frequent the assemblies of those who were versed in the art of
singing and had thus attained to the utmost excellence therein.
Presently he took counsel with one of his intimates, who said to
him, "Meseems thou canst find no better profession than to sing,
thou and thy slave-girl; for on this wise thou wilt get money in
plenty and wilt eat and drink." But he misliked this, he and the
damsel, and she said to him, "I have bethought me of a means of
relief for thee." He asked, "What is it?;" and she answered, "Do
thou sell me; thus shall we be delivered of this strait, thou and
I, and I shall be in affluence; for none will buy the like of me
save a man of fortune, and with this I will contrive for my
return to thee." He carried her to the market and the first who
saw her was a Hashimi[FN#37] of Bassorah, a man of good breeding,
fine taste and generosity, who bought her for fifteen hundred
dinars. (Quoth the young man, the damsel's owner), "When I had
received the price, I repented me and wept, I and the damsel; and
I sought to cancel the sale; but the purchaser would not consent.
So I took the gold in a bag, knowing not whither I should wend,
now my house was desolate of her and buffeted my face and wept
and wailed as I had never done before. Then I entered a mosque
and sat shedding tears, till I was stupefied and losing my senses
fell asleep, with the bag of money under my head by way of
pillow. Presently, ere I could be ware, a man plucked the bag
from under my head and ran off with it at speed: whereupon I
started up in alarm and affright and would have arisen to run
after him; but lo! my feet were bound with a rope and I fell on
my face. Then I took to weeping and buffeting myself, saying,
'Thou hast parted with thy soul[FN#38] and thy wealth is lost!'"-
- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
young man continued, "So I said to myself, 'Thou hast parted with
thy soul and thy wealth is lost.' Then, of the excess of my
chagrin, I betook myself to the Tigris and wrapping my face in my
gown, cast myself into the stream. The bystanders saw me and
cried, 'For sure, this is because of some great trouble that hath
betided him.' They cast themselves in after me and bringing me
ashore, questioned me of my case. I told them what misadventure
had befallen me and they condoled with me. Then an old man of
them came to me and said, 'Thou hast lost thy money, but why
goest thou about to lose thy life and become of the people of The
Fire?[FN#39] Arise, come with me, that I may see thy lodging.' I
went with him to my house and he sat with me awhile, till I waxed
calmer, and becoming tranquil I thanked him and he went away.
When he was gone, I was like to kill myself, but bethought me of
the Future and the Fire; so I fared forth my house and fled to
one of my friends and told him what had befallen me. He wept for
pity of me and gave me fifty dinars, saying, 'Take my advice and
hie thee from Baghdad forthright and let this provide thee till
thy heart be diverted from the love of her and thou forget her.
Thy forbears were Secretaries and Scribes and thy handwriting is
fine and thy breeding right good: seek out, then, whom thou wilt
of the Intendants[FN#40] and throw thyself on his bounty; thus
haply Allah shall reunite thee with thy slave-girl.' I hearkened
to his words (and indeed my mind was strengthened and I was
somewhat comforted) and resolved to betake myself to
Wasit,[FN#41] where I had kinfolk. So I went down to the river-
side, where I saw a ship moored and the sailors embarking goods
and goodly stuffs. I asked them to take me with them and carry me
to Wásit; but they replied, 'We cannot take thee on such wise,
for the ship belongeth to a Hashimi.' However, I tempted them
with promise of passage-money and they said, 'We cannot embark
thee on this fashion;[FN#42] but, if it must be, doff those fine
clothes of thine and don sailor's gear and sit with us as thou
wert one of us.' I went away and buying somewhat of sailors'
clothes, put them on; after which I bought me also somewhat of
provisions for the voyage; and, returning to the vessel, which
was bound for Bassorah, embarked with the crew. But ere long I
saw my slave-girl herself come on board, attended by two waiting-
women; whereupon what was on me of chagrin subsided and I said in
myself, 'Now shall I see her and hear her singing, till we come
to Bassorah.' Soon after, up rode the Hashimi, with a party of
people, and they embarked aboard the ship, which dropped down the
river with them. Presently the Hashimi brought out food and ate
with the damsel, whilst the rest ate amidships. Then said he to
her, 'How long this abstinence from singing and permanence in
this wailing and weeping? Thou art not the first that hath been
parted from a beloved!' Wherefore I knew what she suffered for
love of me. Then he hung a curtain before her along the gunwale
and calling those who ate apart, sat down with them without the
curtain; and I enquired concerning them and behold they were his
brethren.[FN#43] He set before them what they needed of wine and
dessert, and they ceased not to press the damsel to sing, till
she called for the lute and tuning it, intoned these two
couplets,
'The company left with my love by night, * Nor forbore to fare
with heart's delight:
And raged, since their camels off paced, a fire * As of
Ghazá[FN#44]-wood in the lover's sprite.'
Then weeping overpowered her and she threw down the elute and
ceased singing; whereat the folks were troubled and I slipped
down a-swoon. They thought I was possessed[FN#45] and one of them
began reciting exorcisms in my ear; nor did they cease to comfort
her and beseech her to sing, till she tuned the lute again and
chaunted these couplets twain,
'I stood and bewailed who their loads had bound * And far yode
but still in my heart are found;
I drew near the ruins and asked of them * And the camp was void
and lay waste the ground.'
Then she fell down in a fainting-fit and weeping arose amongst
the folk; and I also cried out and fainted away. The sailors were
startled by me and one of the Hashimi's pages said to them, 'How
came ye to take this madman on board?' So they said one to other,
'As soon as we come to the next village, we will set him ashore
and rid us of him.' When I heard this, I was sore troubled but I
heartened and hardened myself, saying in thought, 'Nothing will
serve me to deliver myself from their hands, except I make shift
to acquaint her with my presence in the ship, so she may prevent
my being set ashore.' Then we sailed when we came hard by a
hamlet[FN#46] and the skipper said, 'Come, let us go ashore.'
Therewith they all landed, save myself; and as evening fell I
rose and going behind the curtain took the lute and changed its
accord, mode[FN#47] by mode, and tuning it after a fashion of my
own,[FN#48] that she had learnt of me, returned to my place in
the ship;" --And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-eighth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
young man continued, "I returned to my place in the ship; and
presently the whole party came on board again and the moon shone
bright upon river and height. Then said the Hashimi to the
damsel, 'Allah upon thee, trouble not our joyous lives!' So she
took the lute, and touching it with her hand, gave a sob, that
they thought her soul had fled her frame, and said, 'By Allah, my
master and teacher is with us in this ship!' Answered the
Hashimi, 'By Allah, were this so, I would not forbid him our
conversation! Haply he would lighten thy burthen, so we might
enjoy thy singing: but his being on board is far from possible.'
However she said, 'I cannot smite lute-string or sing sundry airs
I was wont to sing whilst my lord is with us.' Quoth the Hashimi,
'Let us ask the sailors;' and quoth she, 'Do so.' He questioned
them, saying, 'Have ye carried anyone with you!'; and they
answered, 'No.' Then I feared lest the enquiry should end there;
so I laughed and said, 'Yes; I am her master and taught her
whenas I was her lord.' Cried she, 'By Allah, that is my lord's
voice!' Thereupon the pages carried me to the Hashimi, who knew
me at first sight and said to me, 'Out on thee! What plight is
this in which I see thee and what hath brought thee to such
condition?' I related to him all that had befallen me of my
affair, weeping the while, and the damsel made loud wail from
behind the curtain. The Hashimi wept with sore weeping, he and
his brethren, for pity of me, and he said, 'By Allah, I have not
drawn near this damsel nor enjoyed her, nor have I even heard her
sing till this day! I am a man to whom Allah hath been ample and
I came to Baghdad but to hear singing and seek my allowances of
the Commander of the Faithful. I accomplished both my needments
and being about to return home, said to myself, 'Let us hear some
what of the singing of Baghdad.' Wherefore I bought this damsel,
knowing not that such was the case with you twain; and I take
Allah to witness that, when I reach Bassorah I will free her and
marry her to thee and assign you what shall suffice you, and
more; but on condition that, whenever I have a mind to hear
music, a curtain shall be hung for her and she shall sing to me
from behind it, and thou shalt be of the number of my brethren
and boon-companions.' Hereat I rejoiced and the Hashimi put his
head within the curtain and said to her, 'Will that content
thee?'; whereupon she fell to blessing and thanking him. Then he
called a servant and said to him, 'Take this young man and do off
his clothes and robe him in costly raiment and incense[FN#49] him
and bring him back to us.' So the servant did with me as his
master bade him and brought me back to him, and served me with
wine, even as the rest of the company. Then the damsel began
singing after the goodliest fashion and chanted these couplets,
'They blamed me for causing my tears to well * When came my
beloved to bid farewell:
They ne'er tasted the bitters of parting nor felt * Fire beneath
my ribs that flames fierce and fell!
None but baffled lover knows aught of Love, * Whose heart is lost
where he wont to dwell.'
The folk rejoiced in her song with exceeding joy and my gladness
redoubled, so that I took the lute from the damsel and preluding
after the most melodious fashion, sang these couplets,
'Ask (if needs thou ask) the Compassionate, * And the generous
donor of high estate.
For asking the noble honours man * And asking the churl entails
bane and bate:
When abasement is not to be 'scaped by wight * Meet it asking
boons of the good and great.
Of Grandee to sue ne'er shall vilify man, * But 'tis vile on the
vile of mankind to 'wait.'
The company rejoiced in me with joy exceeding and the ceased not
from pleasure and delight, whilst anon I sang and anon the
damsel, till we came to one of the landing-places, where the
vessel moored and all on board disembarked and I with them. Now I
was drunken with wine and squatted on my hams to make water; but
drowsiness overcame me and I slept, and the passengers returned
to the ship which ran down stream without any missing me, for
that they also were drunken, and continued their voyage until
they reached Bassorah. As for me I awoke not till the heat of the
sun aroused me, when I rose and looked about me, but saw no one.
Now I had given my spending money to the damsel and had naught
left: I had also forgotten to ask the Hashimi his name and where
his house was at Bassorah and his titles; thus I was confounded
and my joy at meeting the damsel had been but a dream; and I
abode in perplexity till there came up a great vessel wherein I
embarked and she carried me to Bassorah. Now I knew none there
much less the Hashimi's house, so I accosted a grocer and taking
of him inkcase and paper, -- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Baghdad man who owned the maid entered Bassorah, he was perplexed
for not knowing the Hashimi's house. "So I accosted" (said he) "a
grocer and, taking of him inkcase and paper, sat down to write.
He admired my handwriting and seeing my dress stained and soiled,
questioned me of my case, to which I replied that I was a
stranger and poor. Quoth he, 'Wilt thou abide with me and order
the accounts of my shop and I will give thee thy food and
clothing and half a dirham a day for ordering the accompts of my
shop?'; and quoth I, ''Tis well,' and abode with him and kept his
accounts and ordered his income and expenditure for a month, at
the end of which he found his income increased and his
disbursements diminished; wherefore he thanked me and made my
wage a dirham a day. When the year was out, he proposed to me to
marry his daughter and become his partner in the shop. I agreed
to this and went in to my wife and applied me to the shop. But I
was broken in heart and spirit, and grief was manifest upon me;
and the grocer used to drink and invite me thereto, but I
refrained for melancholy. I abode on this wise two years till,
one day, as I sat in the shop, behold, there passed by a parcel
of people with meat and drink, and I asked the grocer what was
the matter. Quoth he, 'This is the day of the pleasure-makers,
when all the musicians and dancers of the town go forth with the
young men of fortune to the banks of the Ubullah river[FN#50] and
eat and drink among the trees there.' The spirit prompted me to
solace myself with the sight of this thing and I said in my mind,
'Haply among these people I may foregather with her I love.' So I
told the grocer that I had a mind to this and he said, 'Up and go
with them an thou please.' He made me ready meat and drink and I
went till I came to the River of Ubullah, when, behold, the folk
were going away: I also was about to follow, when I espied the
Rais of the bark wherein the Hashimi had been with the damsel and
he was going along the river. I cried out to him and his company
who knew me and took me on board with them and said to me, 'Art
thou yet alive?'; and they embraced me and questioned me of my
case. I told them my tale and they said, 'Indeed, we thought that
drunkenness had gotten the better of thee and that thou hadst
fallen into the water and wast drowned.' Then I asked them of the
damsel, and they answered, 'When she came to know of thy loss,
she rent her raiment and burnt the lute and fell to buffeting
herself and lamenting and when we returned with the Hashimi to
Bassorah we said to her, 'Leave this weeping and wailing.' Quoth
she, 'I will don black and make me a tomb beside the house and
abide there and repent from singing.'[FN#51] We allowed her so to
do and on this wise she abideth to this day. Then they carried me
to the Hashimi's house, where I saw the damsel as they had said.
When she espied me, she cried out a great cry, methought she had
died, and I embraced her with a long embrace. Then said the
Hashimi to me, 'Take her;' and I said, ''Tis well: but do thou
free her and according to thy promise marry her to me.'
Accordingly he did this and gave us costly goods and store of
raiment and furniture and five hundred dinars, saying, 'This is
the amount of that which I purpose to allow you every month, but
on condition that thou be my cup-companion and that I hear the
girl sing when I will.' Furthermore, he assigned us private
quarters and bade transport thither all our need; so, when I went
to the house I found it filled full of furniture and stuffs and
carried the damsel thither. Then I betook myself to the grocer
and told him all that had betided me, begging to hold me
guiltless for divorcing his daughter, without offence on her
part; and I paid her her dowry[FN#52] and what else behoved
me.[FN#53] I abode with the Hashimi in this way two years and
became a man of great wealth and was restored to the former
estate of prosperity wherein I had been at Baghdad, I and the
damsel. And indeed Allah the Bountiful put an end to our troubles
and loaded us with the gifts of good fortune and caused our
patience to result in the attainment of our desire: wherefore to
Him be the praise in this world and the next whereto we are
returning."[FN#54] And among the tales men tell is that of
KING JALI'AD OF HIND AND HIS WAZIR SHIMAS;
FOLLOWED BY THE HISTORY OF KING WIRD KHAN,
SON OF KING JALI'AD, WITH HIS WOMEN AND
WAZIRS.[FN#55]
There was once in days of yore and in ages and times long gone
before, in the land of Hind, a mighty King, tall of presence and
fair of favour and goodly of parts, noble of nature and generous,
beneficent to the poor and loving to his lieges and all the
people of his realm. His name was Jalí'ád and under his hand were
two-and-seventy Kings and in his cities three hundred and fifty
Kazis. He had three score and ten Wazirs and over every ten of
them he set a premier. The chiefest of all his ministers was a
man called Shimás[FN#56] who was then[FN#57] two and twenty years
old, a statesman of pleasant presence and noble nature, sweet of
speech and ready in reply; shrewd in all manner of business,
skilful withal and sagacious for all his tender age, a man of
good counsel and fine manners versed in all arts and sciences and
accomplishments; and the King loved him with exceeding love and
cherished him by reason of his proficiency in eloquence and
rhetoric and the art of government and for that which Allah had
given him of compassion and brooding care[FN#58] with his lieges
for he was a King just in his Kingship and a protector of his
peoples, constant in beneficence to great and small and giving
them that which befitted them of good governance and bounty and
protection and security and a lightener of their loads in taxes
and tithes. And indeed he was loving to them each and every, high
and low, entreating them with kindness and solicitude and
governing them in such goodly guise as none had done before him.
But, with all this, Almighty Allah had not blessed him with a
child, and this was grievous to him and to the people of his
reign. It chanced, one night, as Jali'ad[FN#59] lay in his bed,
occupied with anxious thought of the issue of the affair of his
Kingdom, that sleep overcame him and he dreamt that he poured
water upon the roots of a tree,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundredth Night,
She continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
King saw himself in his vision pouring water upon the roots of a
tree, about which were many other trees; and lo and behold! there
came fire out of this tree and burnt up every growth which
encompassed it; whereupon Jali'ad awoke affrighted and trembling,
and calling one of his pages said to him, "Go fetch the Wazir
Shimas in all haste." So he betook himself to Shimas and said to
him, "The King calleth for thee forthright because he hath awoke
from his sleep in affright and hath sent me to bring thee to him in
haste." When Shimas heard this, he arose without stay or delay
and going to the King, found him seated on his bed. He prostrated
himself before him, wishing him permanence of glory and
prosperity, and said, "May Allah not cause thee grieve, O King!
What hath troubled thee this night, and what is the cause of thy
seeking me thus in haste?" The King bade him be seated; and, as
soon as he sat down, began telling his tale and said to him, "I
have dreamt this night a dream which terrified me, and 'twas,
that methought I poured water upon the roots of a tree where
about were many other trees and as I was thus engaged, lo and
behold! fire issued therefrom and burnt up all the growths that
were around it; wherefore I was affrighted and fear took me. Then
I awoke and sent to bid thee to me, because of thy knowledge and
skill in the interpretation of dreams and of that which I know of
the vastness of thy wisdom and the greatness of thine
understanding." At this Shimas the Wazir bowed his head
groundwards awhile and presently raising it, smiled; so the King
said to him, "What deemest thou, O Shimas? Tell me the truth of
the matter and hide naught from me." Answered Shimas, "O King,
verily Allah Almighty granteth thee thy wish and cooleth thine
eyes; for the matter of this dream presageth all good, to wit,
that the Lord will bless thee with a son, who shall inherit the
Kingdom from thee, after thy long life. But there is somewhat
else I desire not to expound at this present, seeing that the
time is not favourable for interpretation." The King rejoiced in
these words with exceeding joy and great was his contentment; his
trouble departed from him, his mind was at rest and he said, "If
the case be thus of the happy presage of my dream, do thou
complete to me its exposition when the fitting time betideth: for
that which it behoveth not to expound to me now, it behoveth that
thou expound to me when its time cometh, so my joy may be
fulfilled, because I seek naught in this save the approof of
Allah extolled and exalted be He!" Now when the Wazir Shimas saw
that the King was urgent to have the rest of the exposition, he
put him off with a pretext; but Jali'ad assembled all the
astrologers and interpreters of dreams of his realm and as soon
as they were in the presence related to them his vision, saying,
"I desire you to tell me the true interpretation of this."
Whereupon one of them came forward and craved the King's
permission to speak, which being granted, he said, "Know, O King,
that thy Wazir Shimas is nowise unable to interpret this thy
dream; but he shrank from troubling thy repose. Wherefore he
disclosed not unto thee the whole thereof; but, an thou suffer me
to speak, I will expose to thee that which he concealed from
thee." The King replied, "Speak without respect for persons, O
interpreter, and be truthful in thy speech." The interpreter
said, "Know then, O King, that there will be born to thee a boy-
child who shall inherit the Kingship from thee, after thy long
life; but he shall not order himself towards the lieges after thy
fashion; nay, he shall transgress thine ordinances and oppress
thy subjects, and there shall befal him what befel the Mouse with
the Cat[FN#60]; and I seek refuge with Almighty Allah[FN#61]!"
The King asked, "But what is the story of the Cat and the
Mouse?"; and the interpreter answered "May Allah prolong the
King's life! They tell the following tale of
The Mouse and the Cat.
A grimalkin, that is to say, a Cat, went out one night to a
certain garden, in search of what she might devour, but found
nothing and became weak for the excess of cold and rain that
prevailed that night. So she sought for some device whereby to
save herself. As she prowled about in search of prey, she espied
a nest at the foot of a tree, and drawing near unto it, sniffed
thereat and purred till she scented a Mouse within and went round
about it, seeking to enter and seize the inmate. When the Mouse
smelt the Cat, he turned his back to her and scraped up the earth
with his forehand, to stop the nest-door against her; whereupon
she assumed a weakly voice and said, "Why dost thou thus, O my
brother? I come to seek refuge with thee, hoping that thou wilt
take pity on me and harbour me in thy nest this night; for I am
weak because of the greatness of my age and the loss of my
strength, and can hardly move. I have ventured into thy garden
tonight, and how many a time have I called upon death, that I might
be at rest from this pain! Behold, here am I at thy door,
prostrate for cold and rain and I beseech thee, by Allah, take of
thy charity my hand and bring me in with thee and give me shelter
in the vestibule of thy nest; for I am a stranger and wretched
and 'tis said, 'Whoso sheltereth a stranger and a wretched one in
his home his shelter shall be Paradise on the Day of Doom.' And
thou, O my brother, it behoveth thee to earn eternal reward by
succouring me and suffering me abide with thee this night till
the morning, when I will wend my way."--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and First Night,
She pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth
the Cat to the Mouse, "So suffer me to night with thee this
night, after which I will wend my way." Hearing these words the
Mouse replied, "How shall I suffer thee enter my nest seeing that
thou art my natural foe and thy food is of my flesh? Indeed I
fear lest thou false me, for that is of thy nature and there is
no faith in thee, and the byword saith, 'It befitteth not to
entrust a lecher with a fair woman nor a moneyless man with money
nor fire with fuel.' Neither doth it behove me to entrust myself
to thee; and 'tis said, 'Enmity of kind, as the enemy himself
groweth weaker groweth stronger.' " The Cat made answer in the
faintest voice, as she were in most piteous case, saying, "What
thou advancest of admonitory instances is the truth and I deny
not my offences against thee; but I beseech thee to pardon that
which is past of the enmity of kind between me and thee, for 'tis
said, 'Whoso forgiveth a creature like himself, his Creator will
forgive him his sins.' 'Tis true that whilome I was thy foe but
here am I a suitor for thy friendship, and they say, 'An thou
wilt have thy foe become thy friend, do with him good.' O my
brother, I swear to thee by Allah and make a binding covenant
with thee that I will hurt thee nevermore and for the best of
reasons, to wit, that I have no power thereto; wherefore place
thy trust in Allah and do good and accept my oath and covenant."
Quoth the Mouse, "How can I accept the covenant of one between
whom and me there is a rooted enmity, and whose wont it is to
deal treacherously by me? Were the feud between us aught but one
of blood, this were light to me; but it is an enmity of kind
between souls, and it is said, 'Whoso trusteth himself to his foe
is as one who thrusteth hand into a serpent's[FN#62] mouth.'"
Quoth the Cat, full of wrath, "My breast is strait and my soul is
faint: indeed I am in articulo mortis and ere long I shall die at
thy door and my blood will be on thy head, for that thou hadst it
in thy power to save me in mine extremity: and this is my last
word to thee." Herewith the fear of Allah Almighty overcame the
Mouse and ruth gat hold upon his heart and he said in himself,
"Whoso would have the succour of Allah the Most High against his
foe, let him entreat him with compassion and kindness show. I
rely upon the Almighty in this matter and will deliver this Cat
from this her strait and earn the divine reward for her." So he
went forth and dragged into his nest the Cat, where she abode
till she was rested and somewhat strengthened and restored, when
she began to bewail her weakness and wasted strength and want of
gossips. The Mouse entreated her in friendly guise and comforted
her and busied himself with her service; but she crept along till
she got command of the issue of the nest, lest the Mouse should
escape. So when the nest-owner would have gone out after his
wont, he drew near the Cat; whereupon she seized him and taking
him in her claws, began to bite him and shake him and take him in
her mouth and lift him up and cast him down and run after him and
cranch him and torture him.[FN#63] The Mouse cried out for help,
beseeching deliverance of Allah and began to upbraid the Cat,
saying, "Where is the covenant thou madest with me and where are
the oaths thou swarest to me? Is this my reward from thee? I
brought thee into my nest and trusted myself to thee: but sooth
he speaketh that saith, 'Whoso relieth on his enemy's promise
desireth not salvation for himself.' And again, 'Whoso confideth
himself to his foe deserveth his own destruction.' Yet do I put
my trust in my Creator, for He will deliver me from thee." Now as
he was in this condition, with the Cat about to pounce on him and
devour him, behold, up came a huntsman, with hunting dogs trained
to the chase. One of the hounds passed by the mouth of the nest
and hearing a great scuffling, thought that within was a fox
tearing somewhat; so he crept into the hole, to get at him, and
coming upon the Cat, seized on her. When she found herself in the
dog's clutches, she was forced to take thought anent saving
herself and loosed the Mouse alive and whole without wound. Then
the hound brake her neck and dragging her forth of the hole,
threw her down dead: and thus was exemplified the truth of the
saying, "Who hath compassion shall at the last be compassionated.
Whoso oppresseth shall presently be oppressed." "This, then, O
King," added the interpreter, "is what befel the Mouse and the
Cat and teacheth that none should break faith with those who put
trust in him; for who ever doth perfidy and treason, there shall
befal him the like of that which befel the Cat. As a man meteth,
so shall it be meted unto him, and he who betaketh himself to
good shall gain his eternal reward. But grieve thou not, neither
let this trouble thee, O King, for that assuredly thy son, after
his tyranny and oppression, shall return to the goodliness of thy
policy. And I would that yon learned man, thy Wazir Shimas, had
concealed from thee naught in that which he expounded unto thee;
and this had been well advised of him, for 'tis said, 'Those of
the folk who most abound in fear are the amplest of them in
knowledge and the most emulous of good.'" The King received the
interpreter's speech with submission and gifted him and his
fellows with rich gifts; then, dismissing them he arose and
withdrew to his own apartments and fell to pondering the issue of
his affair. When night came, he went in to one of his women, who
was most in favour with him and dearest to him of them all, and
lay with her: and ere some four months had passed over her, the
child stirred in her womb, whereat she rejoiced with joy
exceeding and told the King. Quoth he, "My dream said sooth, by
Allah the Helper!"; and he lodged her in the goodliest of
lodgings and entreated her with all honour, bestowing on her
store of rich gifts and manifold boons. Then he sent one of his
pages to fetch his Wazir Shimas and as soon as he was in the
presence told the Minister what had betided, rejoicing and
saying, "My dream is come true and I have won my wish. It may be
this burthen will be a man-child and inherit the Kingship after
me; what sayest thou of this, O Shimas?" But he was silent and
made no reply, whereupon cried the King, "What aileth thee that
thou rejoicest not in my joy and returnest me no answer? Doth the
thing mislike thee, O Shimas?" Hereat the Wazir prostrated
himself before him and said, "O King, may Allah prolong thy
life! What availeth it to sit under the shade of a tree, if there
issue fire therefrom, and what is the delight of one who drinketh
pure wine, if he be choked thereby, and what doth it profit to
quench one's thirst with sweet cool water, if one be drowned
therein? I am Allah's servant and thine, O King; but there are
three things[FN#64] whereof it besitteth not the understanding to
speak, till they be accomplished; to wit, the wayfarer, till he
return from his way, the man who is in fight, till he have
overcome his foe, and the pregnant woman, till she have cast her
burthen."----And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Second Night,
She resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that after
Shimas had enumerated to the King the three things whereof it
besitteth not the understanding to speak save after they are
done, he continued, "For know, O King, that he, who speaketh of
aught before its accomplishment is like the Fakir who had hung
over his head the jar of clarified butter.[FN#65]" "What is the
story of the Fakir," asked the King, "and what happened to him?"
Answered the Wazir, "O King, they tell this tale anent