As I sat one day in my shop, there came up to me a fair woman, as
she were the moon at its rising, and with her a hand-maid. Now I
was a handsome man in my time; so that lady sat down on my
shop[FN#471] and buying stuffs of me, paid the price and went her
ways. I asked the girl anent her and she answered, "I know not
her name." Quoth I, "Where is her abode?" Quoth she, "In
heaven;" and I, "She is presently on the earth; so when doth she
ascend to heaven and where is the ladder by which she goeth
up?"[FN#472] The girl retorted, "She hath her lodging in a
palace between two rivers,[FN#473] that is, in the palace of Al-
Maam�n al-H�kim bi-Amri 'llah."[FN#474] Then said I, "I am a
dead man, without a doubt;" but she replied, "Have patience, for
needs must she return to thee and buy other stuffs of thee." I
asked, "And how cometh it that the Commander of the Faithful
trusteth her to go out?" and she answered, "He loveth her with
exceeding love and is wrapped up in her and crosseth her not."
Then the slave-girl went away, running after her mistress;
whereupon I left the shop and followed them, so I might see her
abiding-place. I kept them in view all the way, till she
disappeared from mine eyes, when I returned to my place, with
heart a-fire. Some days after, she came to me again and bought
stuffs of me: I refused to take the price and she cried, "We
have no need of thy goods." Quoth I, "O my lady, accept them
from me as a gift;" but quoth she, "Wait till I try thee and make
proof of thee." Then she brought out of her pocket a purse and
gave me therefrom a thousand dinars, saying, "Trade with this
till I return to thee." So I took the purse and she went away
and returned not till six months had passed. Meanwhile, I traded
with the money and sold and bought and made other thousand dinars
profit on it. At last she came to me again and I said to her,
"Here is thy money and I have gained with it other thousand
ducats;" and she, "Let it lie by thee and take these other
thousand dinars. As soon as I have departed from thee, go thou
to Al-Rauzah, the Garden-holm, and build there a goodly pavilion,
and when the edifice is accomplished, give me to know thereof. So saying, she left me and went away.
As soon as she was gone, I betook myself to Al-Rauzah and fell to
building the pavilion, and when it was finished, I furnished it
with the finest of furniture and sent to tell her that I had made
an end to the edifice; whereupon she sent back to me, saying,
"Let him meet me to-morrow about day-break at the Zuwaylah gate
and bring with him a strong ass." I did as she bade and,
betaking myself to the Zuwaylah gate, at the appointed time,
found there a young man on horseback, awaiting her, even as I
awaited her. As we stood, behold, up she came, and with her a
slave-girl. When she saw that young man, she asked him, "Art
thou here?" and he answered, "Yes, O my lady." Quoth she, "To-
day I am invited by this man: wilt thou wend with us?" and quoth
he, "Yes." Then said she, "Thou hast brought me hither against
my will and parforce. Wilt thou go with us in any case?"[FN#475]
He cried, "Yes, yes," and we fared on, all three, till we came
to Al-Rauzah and entered the pavilion. The dame diverted herself
awhile with viewing its ordinance and furniture, after which she
doffed her walking-dress and sat down with the young man in the
goodliest and chiefest place. Then I fared forth and brought
them what they should eat at the first of the day; presently I
again went out and fetched them what they should eat at the end
of the day and brought for the twain wine and dessert and fruits
and flowers. After this fashion I abode in their service,
standing on my feet, and she said not unto me, "Sit," nor "Take,
eat" nor "Take, drink," while she and the young man sat toying
and laughing, and he feel to kissing her and pinching her and
hopping over the ground[FN#476] and laughing. They remained thus
awhile and presently she said, "Hitherto we have not become
drunken; let me pour out." So she took the cup, and crowning it,
gave him to drink and plied him with wine, till he lost his wits,
when she took him up and carried him into a closet. Then she
came out, with the head of that youth in her hand, while I stood
silent, fixing not mine eyes on her eyes neither questioning her
of the case; and she asked me, "What be this?" "I wot not," answered I; and she said, "Take it and throw it in the
river." I accepted her commandment and she arose and stripping
herself of her clothes, took a knife and cut the dead man's body
in pieces, which she laid in three baskets, and said to me,
"Throw them into the river." I did her bidding and when I
returned, she said to me, "Sit, so I may relate to thee yonder
fellow's case, lest thou be affrighted at what accident hath
befallen him. Thou must know that I am the Caliph's favourite
concubine, nor is there any higher in honour with him than I; and
I am allowed six nights in each month, wherein I go down into the
city and tarry with my whilome mistress who reared me; and when I
go down thus, I dispose of myself as I will. Now this young man
was the son of certain neighbours of my mistress, when I was a
virgin girl. One day, my mistress was sitting with the chief
officers of the palace and I was alone in the house, and as the
night came on, I went up to the terrace-roof in order to sleep
there, but ere I was ware, this youth came up from the street and
falling upon me knelt on my breast. He was armed with a dagger
and I could not get free of him till he had taken my maidenhead
by force; and this sufficed him not, but he must needs disgrace
me with all the folk for, as often as I came down from the
palace, he would stand in wait for me by the way and futtered me
against my will and follow me whithersoever I went. This, then, is
my story, and as for thee, thou pleasest me and thy patience
pleaseth me and thy good faith and loyal service, and there
abideth with me none dearer than thou." Then I lay with her that
night and there befel what befel between us till the morning,
when she gave me abundant wealth and took to meeting me at the
pavilion six days in every month. After this wise we passed a
whole year, at the end of which she cut herself off from me a
month's space, wherefore fire raged in my heart on her account.
When it was the next month, behold , a little eunuch presented
himself to me and said, "I am a messenger to thee from Such-an-
one, who giveth thee to know that the Commander of the Faithful
hath ordered her to be drowned, her and those who are with her, six-
and-twenty slave-girls, on such a day at Dayr al-Tin,[FN#477] for
that they have confessed of lewdness, one against other and she
sayeth to thee, 'Look how thou mayst do with me and how thou
mayst contrive to deliver me, even an thou gather together all
my money and spend it upon me, for that this be the time of
manhood.'"[FN#478] Quoth I, "I know not this woman; belike it is
other than I to whom this message is sent; so beware, O Eunuch,
lest thou cast me into a cleft." Quoth he, "Behold, I have told
thee that I had to say," and went away, leaving me in sore
concern on her account. Now when the appointed day came, I
arose and changing my clothes and favour, donned sailor's
apparel; then I took with me a purse full of gold and buying a
right good breakfast, accosted a boatman at Dayr al-Tin and sat
down and ate with him; after which I asked him, "Wilt thou hire
me thy boat?" Answered he, "The Commander of the Faithful hath
commanded me to be here;" and he told me the tale of the
concubines and how the Caliph purposed to drown them that day.
When I heard this from him, I brought out to him ten gold pieces
and discovered to him my case, whereupon he said to me, "O my
brother, get thee empty gourds, and when thy mistress cometh,
give me to know of her and I will contrive the trick." So I
kissed his hand and thanked him and, as I was walking about,
waiting, up came the guards and eunuchs escorting the women, who
were weeping and shrieking and farewelling one another. The
Castratos cried out to us, whereupon we came with the boat, and
they said to the sailor, "Who be this?" Said he, "This be my mate
whom I have brought to help me, so one of us may keep the boat,
whilst another doth your service." Then they brought out to us
the women, one by one, saying "Throw them in by the Island;" and
we replied, "'Tis well." Now each of them was shackled and they
had made fast about her neck a jar of sand. We did as the
neutrals bade us and ceased not to take the women, one after
other, and cast them in, till they gave us my mistress and I
winked to my mate. So we took her and carried her out into mid-stream, where I threw to her the empty
gourds[FN#479] and said to her, "Wait for me at the mouth of the
Canal."[FN#480] Then we cast her in alongside the boat, after we had loosed the jar of sand from her legs[FN#480a] and done off her shackles, and returned.
Now there remained one woman after her: so we
took her and drowned her and the eunuchs went away, whilst we
dropped down the river with the craft till we came to the mouth of Khalij, where I saw my mistress
awaiting me. We haled her into the canoe and returned to our
pavilion on Al-Rauzah. Then I rewarded the sailor and he took his boat and
went away; whereupon quoth she to me, "Thou art indeed the friend
ever faithful found for the shifts of Fortune."[FN#481] and I
sojourned with her some days; but the shock wrought upon her so
that she sickened and fell to wasting away and redoubled in langour and
weakness till she died. I mourned for her with exceeding mourning and buried her; after
which I removed all that was in the pavilion and abandoned the
building. Now she had brought to that pavilion a little coffer
of copper and laid it in a place whereof I knew not; so, when the
Inspector of Inheritances[FN#482] came, he rummaged the house and
found the coffer, with the key in the lock. Presently he opened it and seeing it full of jewels and jacinths and earrings and seal-rings and precious stones (and 'twas a matter such as is not found save with kings and sultans), took it, and me with it, and he and his men ceased not to
put me to the question with beating and torment till I confessed to them the whole affair, from beginning to end. Thereupon they carried me to the Caliph and I told him all that had passed between me and her; and he said to
me, "O man, depart this city, for I release thee on account of
thy courage and because of thy constancy in keeping thy secret
and thy daring in exposing thyself to death." So I arose
forthwith and fared from his city; and this is what befel me.
Variants and Analogues
of
Some of the Tales
in
Volumes XI. and XII.
By. W. A. Clouston.
Author of "Popular Tales and Fictions: Their Migrations
and Transformations," Etc.