terrible "butcher"—Jazzár (Djezzar) Pasha. One can·hardly pity women
who are fools enough to run such risks. According to Frizzi, Niccolò,
Marquis of Este, after beheading Parisina, ordered all the faithless
wives of Ferrara to be treated in like manner.
Footnote 21:
"Shahrázád (Persian)=City-freer; in the older version Scheherazade
(probably both from Shirzád=lion-born). "Dunyázád=World-freer. The
Bres. Edit. corrupts the former to Sháhrzád or Sháhrazád; and the
Mac. and Calc. to Shahrzád or Shehrzád. I have ventured to restore
the name as it should be. Galland for the second prefers Dinarzade
(?) and Richardson Dinazade (Dinázád=Religion-freer): here I have
followed Lane and Payne; though in "First Footsteps" I was misled by
Galland. See Vol. ii. p. 1.
Footnote 22:
Probably she proposed to "Judith" the King. These learned and clever
young ladies are very dangerous in the East.
Footnote 23:
In Egypt, etc., the bull takes the place of the Western ox. The Arab.
word is "Taur" (Thaur, Saur); in old Persian "Tora" and Lat.
"Taurus," a venerable remnant of the days before the "Semitic" and
"Aryan" families of speech had split into two distinct growths.
"Taur" ends in the Saxon "Steor" and the English "Steer."
Footnote 24:
Arab. "Abú Yakzán"=the Wakener; because the ass brays at dawn.
Footnote 25:
Arab. "Tibn"; straw crushed under the sledge: the hay of Egypt,
Arabia, Syria, etc. The old country custom is to pull up the corn by
handfuls from the roots, leaving the land perfectly bare: hence the
"plucking up" of Hebrew Holy Writ. The object is to preserve every
atom of "Tibn."
Footnote 26:
Arab. "Yá Aftah": Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, also of the
chameleon.
Footnote 27:
Arab. "Balid," a favourite Egyptianism often pleasantly confounded
with "Wali" (a Santon); hence the latter comes to mean "an innocent,"
a "ninny."
Footnote 28:
From the Calc. Edit., Vol. I., p. 29.
Footnote 29:
Arab. "Abu Yakzán" is hardly equivalent with "Père l'Eveillé."
Footnote 30:
In Arab. the wa (وَ) is the sign of parenthesis.
Footnote 31:
In the nearer East the light little plough is carried a-field by the
bull or ass.
Footnote 32:
Ocymum basilicum, the "royal herb," so much prized all over the East,
especially in India, where, under the name of "Tulsi," it is a shrub
sacred to the merry god Krishna. I found the verses in a MS. copy of
the Nights.
Footnote 33:
Arab. "Sadaf," the Kauri, or cowrie, brought from the Maldive and
Lakdive Archipelago. The Kámús describes this "Wada'" or Concha
Veneris as "a white shell [whence to "shell out"] which is taken out
of the sea, the fissure of which is white like that of the
date-stone. It is hung about the neck to avert the evil eye." The
pearl in Arab. is "Murwarid," hence evidently "Margarita" and
Margaris (woman's name).
Footnote 34:
Arab. "Kat'a" (bit of leather): some read "Nat'a," a leather used by
way of table-cloth, and forming a bag for victuals; but it is never
made of bull's hide.
Footnote 35:
The Older "Cadi," a judge in religious matters. The Shuhúd, or
Assessors, are officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi's Court.
Footnote 36:
Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself ceremonially
before death.
Footnote 37:
This is Christian rather than Moslem: a favourite Maltese curse is
"Yahrak Kiddísak man rabba-k!"=burn the Saint who brought thee up!
Footnote 38:
A popular Egyptian phrase: the dog and the cock speak like Fellahs.
Footnote 39:
_i.e._ between the last sleep and dawn when they would rise to wash
and pray.
TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI.
It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a merchant of the
merchants who had much wealth, and business in various cities. Now on a
day he mounted horse and went forth to recover monies in certain towns,
and the heat sore oppressed him; so he sat beneath a tree and, putting
his hand into his saddle-bags, took thence some broken bread and dry
dates and began to break his fast. When he had ended eating the dates
he threw away the stones with force and lo! an Ifrit appeared, huge of
stature and brandishing a drawn sword, wherewith he approached the
merchant and said, "Stand up that I may slay thee, even as thou slewest
my son!" Asked the merchant, "How have I slain thy son?" and he
answered, "When thou atest dates and threwest away the stones they
struck my son full in the breast as he was walking by, so that he died
forthwith."[40] Quoth the merchant, "Verily from Allah we proceeded and
unto Allah are we returning. There is no Majesty, and there is no Might
save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! If I slew thy son, I slew him
by chance medley. I pray thee now pardon me." Rejoined the Jinni,
"There is no help but I must slay thee." Then he seized him and dragged
him along and, casting him to the earth, raised the sword to strike
him; whereupon the merchant wept, and said, "I commit my case to
Allah," and began repeating these couplets:—
Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing that of bane ✿ And
holdeth Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure that of pain.
See'st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking strong
✿ None save the forest giant feels the suffering of the strain?
How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green ✿ Yet none
but those which bear the fruits for cast of stone complain.
See'st not how corpses rise and float on the surface of the tide ✿
While pearls o' price lie hidden in the deepest of the main!
In Heaven are unnumberèd the many of the stars ✿ Yet ne'er a star but
Sun and Moon by eclipse is overta'en.
Well judgest thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well ✿ And
countedst not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever fain.
The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride ✿ But
bliss and blessings of the night are 'genderers of bane!
When the merchant ceased repeating his verses the Jinni said to him,
"Cut thy words short, by Allah! needs must I slay thee." But the
merchant spake him thus, "Know, O thou Ifrit, that I have debts due to
me and much wealth and children and a wife and many pledges in hand; so
permit me to go home and discharge to every claimant his claim; and I
will come back to thee at the head of the new year. Allah be my
testimony and surety that I will return to thee; and then thou mayest
do with me as thou wilt and Allah is witness to what I say." The Jinni
took sure promise of him and let him go; so he returned to his own city
and transacted his business and rendered to all men their dues and
after informing his wife and children of what had betided him, he
appointed a guardian and dwelt with them for a full year. Then he
arose, and made the Wuzu-ablution to purify himself before death and
took his shroud under his arm and bade farewell to his people, his
neighbours and all his kith and kin, and went forth despite his own
nose.[41] They then began weeping and wailing and beating their breasts
over him; but he travelled until he arrived at the same garden, and the
day of his arrival was the head of the New Year. As he sat weeping over
what had befallen him, behold, a Shaykh,[42] a very ancient man, drew
near leading a chained gazelle; and he saluted that merchant and
wishing him long life said, "What is the cause of thy sitting in this
place and thou alone and this be a resort of evil spirits?" The
merchant related to him what had come to pass with the Ifrit, and the
old man, the owner of the gazelle, wondered and said, "By Allah, O
brother, thy faith is none other than exceeding faith and thy story
right strange; were it graven with gravers on the eye-corners, it were
a warner to whoso would be warned." Then seating himself near the
merchant he said, "By Allah, O my brother, I will not leave thee until
I see what may come to pass with thee and this Ifrit." And presently as
he sat and the two were at talk the merchant began to feel fear and
terror and exceeding grief and sorrow beyond relief and ever-growing
care and extreme despair. And the owner of the gazelle was hard by his
side; when behold, a second Shaykh approached them, and with him were
two dogs both of greyhound breed and both black. The second old man
after saluting them with the salam, also asked them of their tidings
and said "What causeth you to sit in this place, a dwelling of the
Jánn?"[43] So they told him the tale from beginning to end, and their
stay there had not lasted long before there came up a third Shaykh, and
with him a she-mule of bright bay coat; and he saluted them and asked
them why they were seated in that place. So they told him the story
from first to last: and of no avail, O my master, is a twice-told tale!
There he sat down with them, and lo! a dust-cloud advanced and a mighty
sand-devil appeared amidmost of the waste. Presently the cloud opened
and behold, within it was that Jinni hending in hand a drawn sword,
while his eyes were shooting fire-sparks of rage. He came up to them
and, haling away the merchant from among them, cried to him, "Arise
that I may slay thee, as thou slewest my son, the life-stuff of my
liver."[44] The merchant wailed and wept, and the three old men began
sighing and crying and weeping and wailing with their companion.
Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle) came out from
among them and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and said, "O Jinni, thou
Crown of the Kings of the Jann! were I to tell thee the story of me and
this gazelle and thou shouldst consider it wondrous wouldst thou give
me a third part of this merchant's blood?" Then quoth the Jinni "Even
so, O Shaykh! if thou tell me this tale, and I hold it a marvellous,
then will I give thee a third of his blood." Thereupon the old man
began to tell
_THE FIRST SHAYKH'S STORY._
Know O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal uncle,
my own flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a young maid,
and I lived with her well-nigh thirty years, yet was I not blessed with
issue by her. So I took me a concubine,[45] who brought to me the boon
of a male child fair as the full moon, with eyes of lovely shine and
eyebrows which formed one line, and limbs of perfect design. Little by
little he grew in stature and waxed tall; and when he was a lad fifteen
years old, it became needful I should journey to certain cities and I
travelled with great store of goods. But the daughter of my uncle (this
gazelle) had learned gramarye and egromancy and clerkly craft[46] from
her childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a calf, and my
handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over to the herdsman's
care. Now when I returned after a long time from my journey and asked
for my son and his mother, she answered me, saying "Thy slave-girl is
dead, and thy son hath fled and I know not whither he is sped." So I
remained for a whole year with grieving heart, and streaming eyes until
the time came for the Great Festival of Allah.[47] Then sent I to my
herdsman bidding him choose for me a fat heifer; and he brought me one
which was the damsel, my handmaid, whom this gazelle had ensorcelled. I
tucked up my sleeves and skirt and, taking a knife, proceeded to cut
her throat, but she lowed aloud and wept bitter tears. Thereat I
marvelled and pity seized me and I held my hand, saying to the herd,
"Bring me other than this." Then cried my cousin, "Slay her, for I have
not a fatter nor a fairer!" Once more I went forward to sacrifice her,
but she again lowed aloud, upon which in ruth I refrained and commanded
the herdsmen to slay her and flay her. He killed her and skinned her
but found in her neither fat nor flesh, only hide and bone; and I
repented when penitence availed me naught. I gave her to the herdsman
and said to him, "Fetch me a fat calf;" so he brought my son
ensorcelled. When the calf saw me, he brake his tether and ran to me,
and fawned upon me and wailed and shed tears; so that I took pity on
him and said to the herdsman, "Bring me a heifer and let this calf go!"
Thereupon my cousin (this gazelle) called aloud at me, saying, "Needs
must thou kill this calf; this is a holy day and a blessed, whereon
naught is slain save what be perfect-pure; and we have not amongst our
calves any fatter or fairer than this!" Quoth I, "Look thou upon the
condition of the heifer which I slaughtered at thy bidding and how we
turn from her in disappointment and she profited us on no wise; and I
repent with an exceeding repentance of having killed her: so this time
I will not obey thy bidding for the sacrifice of this calf." Quoth she,
"By Allah the Most Great, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! there
is no help for it; thou must kill him on this holy day, and if thou
kill him not to me thou art no man and I to thee am no wife." Now when
I heard those hard words, not knowing her object I went up to the calf,
knife in hand——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.[48] Then quoth her sister to her, "How fair is
thy tale, and how grateful, and how sweet and how tasteful!" And
Shahrazad answered her, "What is this to that I could tell thee on the
coming night, were I to live and the King would spare me?" Then said
the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay her, until I shall have
heard the rest of her tale." So they slept the rest of that night in
mutual embrace till day fully brake. Then the King went forth to his
audience-hall[49] and the Wazir went up with his daughter's shroud
under his arm. The King issued his orders, and promoted this and
deposed that, until the end of the day; and he told the Wazir no whit
of what had happened. But the Minister wondered thereat with exceeding
wonder; and when the Court broke up King Shahryar entered his palace.
Now when it was the Second Night,
said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, "O my sister, finish for us that
story of the Merchant and the Jinni;" and she answered, "With joy and
goodly gree, if the King permit me." Then quoth the King, "Tell thy
tale;" and Shahrazad began in these words: It hath reached me, O
auspicious King and Heaven-directed Ruler! that when the merchant
purposed the sacrifice of the calf but saw it weeping, his heart
relented and he said to the herdsman, "Keep the calf among my cattle."
All this the old Shaykh told the Jinni who marvelled much at these
strange words. Then the owner of the gazelle continued:—O Lord of the
Kings of the Jann, this much took place and my uncle's daughter, this
gazelle, looked on and saw it, and said, "Butcher me this calf, for
surely it is a fat one;" but I bade the herdsman take it away and he
took it and turned his face homewards. On the next day as I was sitting
in my own house, lo! the herdsman came and, standing before me said, "O
my master, I will tell thee a thing which shall gladden thy soul, and
shall gain me the gift of good tidings."[50] I answered, "Even so."
Then said he, "O merchant, I have a daughter, and she learned magic in
her childhood from an old woman who lived with us. Yesterday when thou
gavest me the calf, I went into the house to her, and she looked upon
it and veiled her face; then she wept and laughed alternately and at
last she said:—O my father, hath mine honour become so cheap to thee
that thou bringest in to me strange men? I asked her:—Where be these
strange men and why wast thou laughing, and crying?; and she answered,
Of a truth this calf which is with thee is the son of our master, the
merchant; but he is ensorcelled by his stepdame who bewitched both him
and his mother: such is the cause of my laughing; now the reason of his
weeping is his mother, for that his father slew her unawares. Then I
marvelled at this with exceeding marvel and hardly made sure that day
had dawned before I came to tell thee." When I heard, O Jinni, my
herdsman's words, I went out with him, and I was drunken without wine,
from the excess of joy and gladness which came upon me, until I reached
his house. There his daughter welcomed me and kissed my hand, and
forthwith the calf came and fawned upon me as before. Quoth I to the
herdsman's daughter, "Is this true that thou sayest of this calf?"
Quoth she, "Yea, O my master, he is thy son, the very core of thy
heart." I rejoiced and said to her, "O maiden, if thou wilt release him
thine shall be whatever cattle and property of mine are under thy
father's hand." She smiled and answered, "O my master, I have no greed
for the goods nor will I take them save on two conditions; the first
that thou marry me to thy son and the second that I may bewitch her who
bewitched him and imprison her, otherwise I cannot be safe from her
malice and malpractices." Now when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words
of the herdsman's daughter, I replied, "Beside what thou askest all the
cattle and the household stuff in thy father's charge are thine and, as
for the daughter of my uncle, her blood is lawful to thee." When I had
spoken, she took a cup and filled it with water: then she recited a
spell over it and sprinkled it upon the calf, saying, "If Almighty
Allah created thee a calf, remain so shaped, and change not; but if
thou be enchanted, return to thy whilom form, by command of Allah Most
Highest!" and lo! he trembled and became a man. Then I fell on his neck
and said, "Allah upon thee, tell me all that the daughter of my uncle
did by thee and by thy mother." And when he told me what had come to
pass between them I said, "O my son, Allah favoured thee with one to
restore thee, and thy right hath returned to thee." Then, O Jinni, I
married the herdsman's daughter to him, and she transformed my wife
into this gazelle, saying:—Her shape is a comely and by no means
loathsome. After this she abode with us night and day, day and night,
till the Almighty took her to Himself. When she deceased, my son fared
forth to the cities of Hind, even to the city of this man who hath done
to thee what hath been done;[51] and I also took this gazelle (my
cousin) and wandered with her from town to town seeking tidings of my
son, till Destiny drove me to this place where I saw the merchant
sitting in tears. Such is my tale! Quoth the Jinni, "This story is
indeed strange, and therefore I grant thee the third part of his
blood." Thereupon the second old man, who owned the two greyhounds,
came up and said, "O Jinni, if I recount to thee what befel me from my
brothers, these two hounds, and thou see that it is a tale even more
wondrous and marvellous than what thou hast heard, wilt thou grant to
me also the third of this man's blood?" Replied the Jinni, "Thou hast
my word for it, if thine adventures be more marvellous and wondrous."
Thereupon he thus began
_THE SECOND SHAYKH'S STORY._