laughing at the Porter despite her wrath, came up to the party and
spake thus, "Tell me who ye be, for ye have but an hour of life; and
were ye not men of rank and, perhaps, notables of your tribes, you had
not been so froward and I had hastened your doom." Then said the
Caliph, "Woe to thee, O Ja'afar, tell her who we are lest we be slain
by mistake; and speak her fair before some horror befal us." "'Tis part
of thy deserts," replied he; whereupon the Caliph cried out at him
saying, "There is a time for witty words and there is a time for
serious work." Then the lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked
them, "Are ye brothers?"; when they answered, "No, by Allah, we be
naught but Fakirs and foreigners." Then quoth she to one among them,
"Wast thou born blind of one eye?"; and quoth he, "No, by Allah, 'twas
a marvellous matter and a wondrous mischance which caused my eye to be
torn out, and mine is a tale which, if it were written upon the
eye-corners with needle-gravers, were a warner to whoso would be
warned."[188] She questioned the second and third Kalandar; but all
replied like the first, "By Allah, O our mistress, each one of us
cometh from a different country, and we are all three the sons of
Kings, sovereign Princes ruling over suzerains and capital cities."
Thereupon she turned towards them and said, "Let each and every of you
tell me his tale in due order and explain the cause of his coming to
our place; and if his story please us let him stroke his head[189] and
wend his way." The first to come forward was the Hammál, the Porter,
who said, "O my lady, I am a man and a porter. This dame, the cateress,
hired me to carry a load and took me first to the shop of a vintner;
then to the booth of a butcher; thence to the stall of a fruiterer;
thence to a grocer who also sold dry fruits; thence to a confectioner
and a perfumer-cum-druggist and from him to this place where there
happened to me with you what happened. Such is my story and peace be on
us all!" At this the lady laughed and said, "Rub thy head and wend thy
ways!"; but he cried, "By Allah, I will not stump it till I hear the
stories of my companions." Then came forward one of the Monoculars and
began to tell her
_THE FIRST KALANDAR'S TALE._
Know, O my lady, that the cause of my beard being shorn and my eye
being out-torn was as follows. My father was a King and he had a
brother who was a King over another city; and it came to pass that I
and my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle, were· both born on one and
the same day. And years and days rolled on; and, as we grew up, I used
to visit my uncle every now and then and to spend a certain number of
months with him. Now my cousin and I were sworn friends; for he ever
entreated me with exceeding kindness; he killed for me the fattest
sheep and strained the best of his wines, and we enjoyed long
conversing and carousing. One day when the wine had gotten the better
of us, the son of my uncle said to me, "O my cousin, I have a great
service to ask of thee; and I desire that thou stay me not in whatso I
desire to do!" And I replied, "With joy and goodly will." Then he made
me swear the most binding oaths and left me; but after a little while
he returned leading a lady veiled and richly apparelled with ornaments
worth a large sum of money. Presently he turned to me (the woman being
still behind him) and said, "Take this lady with thee and go before me
to such a burial ground" (describing it, so that I knew the place),
"and enter with her into such a sepulchre[190] and there await my
coming." The oaths I swore to him made me keep silence and suffered me
not to oppose him; so I led the woman to the cemetery and both I and
she took our seats in the sepulchre; and hardly had we sat down when in
came my uncle's son, with a bowl of water, a bag of mortar and an adze
somewhat like a hoe. He went straight to the tomb in the midst of the
sepulchre and, breaking it open with the adze set the stones on one
side; then he fell to digging into the earth of the tomb till he came
upon a large iron plate, the size of a wicket-door; and on raising it
there appeared below it a staircase vaulted and winding. Then he turned
to the lady and said to her, "Come now and take thy final choice!" She
at once went down by the staircase and disappeared; then quoth he to
me, "O son of my uncle, by way of completing thy kindness, when I shall
have descended into this place, restore the trap-door to where it was,
and heap back the earth upon it as it lay before; and then of thy great
goodness mix this unslaked lime which is in the bag with this water
which is in the bowl and, after building up the stones, plaster the
outside so that none looking upon it shall say:—This is a new opening
in an old tomb. For a whole year have I worked at this place whereof
none knoweth but Allah, and this is the need I have of thee;" presently
adding, "May Allah never bereave thy friends of thee nor make them
desolate by thine absence, O son of my uncle, O my dear cousin!" And he
went down the stairs and disappeared for ever. When he was lost to
sight I replaced the iron plate and did all his bidding till the tomb
became as it was before; and I worked almost unconsciously for my head
was heated with wine. Returning to the palace of my uncle, I was told
that he had gone forth a-sporting and hunting; so I slept that night
without seeing him; and, when the morning dawned, I remembered the
scenes of the past evening and what happened between me and my cousin;
I repented of having obeyed him when penitence was of no avail, I still
thought, however, that it was a dream. So I fell to asking for the son
of my uncle; but there was none to answer me concerning him; and I went
out to the grave-yard and the sepulchres, and sought for the tomb under
which he was, but could not find it; and I ceased not wandering about
from sepulchre to sepulchre, and tomb to tomb, all without success,
till night set in. So I returned to the city, yet I could neither eat
nor drink; my thoughts being engrossed with my cousin, for that I knew
not what was become of him; and I grieved with exceeding grief and
passed another sorrowful night, watching until the morning. Then went I
a second time to the cemetery, pondering over what the son of mine
uncle had done; and, sorely repenting my hearkening to him, went round
among all the tombs, but could not find the tomb I sought. I mourned
over the past, and remained in my mourning seven days, seeking the
place and ever missing the path. Then my torture of scruples[191] grew
upon me till I well nigh went mad, and I found no way to dispel my
grief save travel and return to my father. So I set out and journeyed
homeward; but as I was entering my father's capital a crowd of rioters
sprang upon me and pinioned me.[192] I wondered thereat with all
wonderment, seeing that I was the son of the Sultan, and these men were
my father's subjects and amongst them were some of my own slaves. A
great fear fell upon me, and I said to my soul,[193] "Would heaven I
knew what hath happened to my father!" I questioned those that bound me
of the cause of their so doing, but they returned me no answer.
However, after a while one of them said to me (and he had been a hired
servant of our house), "Fortune hath been false to thy father; his
troops betrayed him and the Wazir who slew him now reigneth in his
stead and we lay in wait to seize thee by the bidding of him." I was
well-nigh distraught and felt ready to faint on hearing of my father's
death; when they carried me off and placed me in presence of the
usurper. Now between me and him there was an olden grudge, the cause of
which was this. I was fond of shooting with the stone-bow,[194] and it
befel one day, as I was standing on the terrace-roof of the palace,
that a bird lighted on the top of the Wazir's house when he happened to
be there. I shot at the bird and missed the mark; but I hit the Wazir's
eye and knocked it out as fate and fortune decreed. Even so saith the
poet:—
We tread the path where Fate hath led ✿ The path Fate writ we fain must
tread:
And man in one land doomed to die ✿ Death no where else shall do him
dead.
And on like wise saith another:—
Let Fortune have her wanton way ✿ Take heart and all her words obey:
Nor joy nor mourn at anything ✿ For all things pass and no things stay.
Now when I knocked out the Wazir's eye he could not say a single word,
for that my father was King of the city; but he hated me ever after and
dire was the grudge thus caused between us twain. So when I was set
before him hand-bound and pinioned, he straightway gave orders for me
to be beheaded. I asked, "For what crime wilt thou put me to death?";
whereupon he answered, "What crime is greater than this?" pointing the
while to the place where his eye had been. Quoth I, "This I did by
accident not of malice prepense;" and quoth he, "If thou didst it by
accident, I will do the like by thee with intention."[195] Then cried
he, "Bring him forward," and they brought me up to him, when he thrust
his finger into my left eye and gouged it out; whereupon I became
one-eyed as ye see me. Then he bade bind me hand and foot, and put me
into a chest and said to the sworder, "Take charge of this fellow, and
go off with him to the waste lands about the city; then draw thy
scymitar and slay him, and leave him to feed the beasts and birds." So
the headsman fared forth with me and when he was in the midst of the
desert, he took me out of the chest (and I with both hands pinioned and
both feet fettered) and was about to bandage my eyes before striking
off my head. But I wept with exceeding weeping until I made him weep
with me and, looking at him I began to recite these couplets:—
I deemed you coat-o'-mail that should withstand ✿ The foeman's shafts;
and you proved foeman's brand;
I hoped your aidance in mine every chance ✿ Though fail my left to aid
my dexter hand:
Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe ✿ While rain their shafts on
me the giber-band:
But an ye will not guard me from my foes ✿ Stand clear, and succour
neither these nor those!
And I also quoted:—
I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel ✿ And so they were—from
foes to fend my dart!
I deemed their arrows surest of their aim; ✿ And so they were—when
aiming at my heart!
When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my sire and he
owed me a debt of gratitude) he cried, "O my lord, what can I do, being
but a slave under orders?" presently adding, "Fly for thy life and
nevermore return to this land, or they will slay thee and slay me with
thee, even as the poet said:—
Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; ✿ Let the ruined house tell
its owner's fate:
New land for the old thou shalt seek and find ✿ But to find new life
thou must not await.
Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, ✿ When Allah's world
is so wide and great!
And trust not other, in matters grave ✿ Life itself must act for a life
beset:
Ne'er would prowl the lion with maned neck, ✿ Did he reckon on aid or
of others reck."
Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the loss
of my eye a light matter in consideration of my escaping from being
slain. I arrived at my uncle's capital; and, going in to him, told him
of what had befallen my father and myself; whereat he wept with sore
weeping and said, "Verily thou addest grief to my grief, and woe to my
woe; for thy cousin hath been missing these many days; I wot not what
hath happened to him, and none can give me news of him." And he wept
till he fainted. I sorrowed and condoled with him; and he would have
applied certain medicaments to my eye, but he saw that it was become as
a walnut with the shell empty. Then said he, "O my son, better to lose
eye and keep life!" After that I could no longer remain silent about my
cousin, who was his only son and one dearly loved, so I told him all
that had happened. He rejoiced with extreme joyance to hear news of his
son and said, "Come now and show me the tomb;" but I replied, "By
Allah, O my uncle, I know not its place, though I sought it carefully
full many times, yet could not find the site." However, I and my uncle
went to the grave-yard and looked right and left, till at last I
recognised the tomb and we both rejoiced with exceeding joy. We entered
the sepulchre and loosened the earth about the grave; then, upraising
the trap-door, descended some fifty steps till we came to the foot of
the staircase when lo! we were stopped by a blinding smoke. Thereupon
said my uncle that saying whose sayer shall never come to shame, "There
is no Majesty and there is no Might, save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great!" and we advanced till we suddenly came upon a saloon, whose
floor was strewed with flour and grain and provisions and all manner
necessaries; and in the midst of it stood a canopy sheltering a couch.
Thereupon my uncle went up to the couch and inspecting it found his son
and the lady who had gone down with him into the tomb, lying in each
other's embrace; but the twain had become black as charred wood; it was
as if they had been cast into a pit of fire. When my uncle saw this
spectacle, he spat in his son's face and said, "Thou hast thy deserts,
O thou hog![196] this is thy judgment in the transitory world, and yet
remaineth the judgment in the world to come, a durer and a more
enduring."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Twelfth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kalandar
thus went on with his story before the lady and the Caliph and
Ja'afar:—My uncle struck his son with his slipper[197] as he lay there
a black heap of coal. I marvelled at his hardness of heart, and
grieving for my cousin and the lady, said, "By Allah, O my uncle, calm
thy wrath: dost thou not see that all my thoughts are occupied with
this misfortune, and how sorrowful I am for what hath befallen thy son,
and how horrible it is that naught of him remaineth but a black heap of
charcoal? And is not that enough, but thou must smite him with thy
slipper?" Answered he, "O son of my brother, this youth from his
boyhood was madly in love with his own sister;[198] and often and often
I forbade him from her, saying to myself:—They are but little ones.
However, when they grew up sin befel between them; and, although I
could hardly believe it, I confined him and chided him and threatened
him with the severest threats; and the eunuchs and servants said to
him:—Beware of so foul a thing which none before thee ever did, and
which none after thee will ever do; and have a care lest thou be
dishonoured and disgraced among the Kings of the day, even to the end
of time. And I added:—Such a report as this will be spread abroad by
caravans, and take heed not to give them cause to talk or I will
assuredly curse thee and do thee to death. After that I lodged them
apart and shut her up; but the accursed girl loved him with passionate
love, for Satan had got the mastery of her as well as of him and made
their foul sin seem fair in their sight. Now when my son saw that I
separated them, he secretly built this souterrain and furnished it and
transported to it victuals, even as thou seest; and, when I had gone
out a-sporting, came here with his sister and hid from me. Then His
righteous judgment fell upon the twain and consumed them with fire from
Heaven; and verily the last judgment will deal them durer pains and
more enduring!" Then he wept and I wept with him; and he looked at me
and said, "Thou art my son in his stead." And I bethought me awhile of
the world and of its chances, how the Wazir had slain my father and had
taken his place and had put out my eye; and how my cousin had come to
his death by the strangest chance: and I wept again and my uncle wept
with me. Then we mounted the steps and let down the iron plate and
heaped up the earth over it; and, after restoring the tomb to its
former condition, we returned to the palace. But hardly had we sat down
ere we heard the tom-toming of the kettle-drum and tantara of trumpets
and clash of cymbals; and the rattling of war-men's lances; and the
clamours of assailants and the clanking of bits and the neighing of
steeds; while the world was canopied with dense dust and sand-clouds
raised by the horses' hoofs.[199] We were amazed at sight and sound,
knowing not what could be the matter; so we asked and were told us that
the Wazir who had usurped my father's kingdom had marched his men; and
that after levying his soldiery and taking a host of wild Arabs[200]
into service, he had come down upon us with armies like the sands of
the sea; their number none could tell and against them none could
prevail. They attacked the city unawares; and the citizens, being
powerless to oppose them, surrendered the place: my uncle was slain and
I made for the suburbs saying to myself, "If thou fall into this
villain's hands he will assuredly kill thee." On this wise all my
troubles were renewed; and I pondered all that had betided my father
and my uncle and I knew not what to do; for if the city people or my
father's troops had recognised me they would have done their best to
win favour by destroying me; and I could think of no way to escape save
by shaving off my beard and my eyebrows. So I shore them off and,
changing my fine clothes for a Kalandar's rags, I fared forth from my
uncle's capital and made for this city; hoping that peradventure some
one would assist me to the presence of the Prince of the Faithful,[201]
and the Caliph who is the Viceregent of Allah upon earth. Thus have I
come hither that I might tell him my tale and lay my case before him. I
arrived here this very night, and was standing in doubt whither I
should go, when suddenly I saw this second Kalandar; so I salam'd to
him, saying:—I am a stranger! and he answered:—I too am a stranger! And
as we were conversing behold, up came our companion, this third
Kalandar, and saluted us saying:—I am a stranger! And we answered:—We
too be strangers! Then we three walked on and together till darkness
overtook us and Destiny drave us to your house. Such, then, is the
cause of the shaving of my beard and mustachios and eyebrows; and the
manner of my losing my right eye. They marvelled much at this tale and
the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "By Allah, I have not seen nor have I heard
the like of what hath happened to this Kalandar!" Quoth the lady of the
house, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he replied, "I will not
go, till I hear the history of the two others." Thereupon the second
Kalandar came forward; and, kissing the ground, began to tell
_THE SECOND KALANDAR'S TALE._
Know, O my lady, that I was not born one-eyed and mine is a strange
story; an it were graven with needle-graver on the eye-corners, it were
a warner to whoso would be warned. I am a King, son of a King, and was
brought up like a Prince. I learned intoning the Koran according the
seven schools;[202] and I read all manner books, and held disputations
on their contents with the doctors and men of science; moreover I
studied star-lore and the fair sayings of poets and I exercised myself
in all branches of learning until I surpassed the people of my time; my
skill in calligraphy exceeded that of all the scribes; and my fame was
bruited abroad over all climes and cities, and all the kings learned to
know my name. Amongst others the King of Hind heard of me and sent to
my father to invite me to his court, with offerings and presents and
rarities such as befit royalties. So my father fitted out six ships for
me and my people; and we put to sea and sailed for the space of a full
month till we made the land. Then we brought out the horses that were
with us in the ships; and, after loading the camels with our presents
for the Prince, we set forth inland. But we had marched only a little
way, when behold, a dust-cloud up-flew, and grew until it walled[203]
the horizon from view. After an hour or so the veil lifted and
discovered beneath it fifty horsemen, ravening lions to the sight, in
steel armour dight. We observed them straightly and lo! they were
cutters-off of the highway, wild as wild Arabs. When they saw that we
were only four and had with us but the ten camels carrying the
presents, they dashed down upon us with lances at rest. We signed to
them, with our fingers, as it were saying, "We be messengers of the
great King of Hind, so harm us not!" but they answered on like wise,
"We are not in his dominions to obey nor are we subject to his sway."
Then they set upon us and slew some of my slaves and put the lave to
flight; and I also fled after I had gotten a wound, a grievous hurt,
whilst the Arabs were taken up with the money and the presents which
were with us. I went forth unknowing whither I went, having become mean
as I was mighty; and I fared on until I came to the crest of a mountain
where I took shelter for the night in a cave. When day arose I set out
again, nor ceased after this fashion till I arrived at a fair city and
a well-filled. Now it was the season when Winter was turning away with
his rime and to greet the world with his flowers came Prime, and the
young blooms were springing and the streams flowed ringing, and the
birds were sweetly singing, as saith the poet concerning a certain city
when describing it:—
A place secure from every thought of fear ✿ Safety and peace for ever
lord it here:
Its beauties seem to beautify its sons ✿ And as in Heaven its happy
folk appear.
I was glad of my arrival for I was wearied with the way, and yellow of
face for weakness and want; but my plight was pitiable and I knew not
whither to betake me. So I accosted a Tailor sitting in his little shop
and saluted him; he returned my salam, and bade me kindly welcome and
wished me well and entreated me gently and asked me of the cause of my
strangerhood. I told him all my past from first to last; and he was
concerned on my account and said, "O youth, disclose not thy secret to
any: the King of this city is the greatest enemy thy father hath, and
there is blood-wit[204] between them and thou hast cause to fear for
thy life." Then he set meat and drink before me; and I ate and drank
and he with me; and we conversed freely till nightfall, when he cleared
me a place in a corner of his shop and brought me a carpet and a
coverlet. I tarried with him three days; at the end of which time he
said to me, "Knowest thou no calling whereby to win thy living, O my
son?" "I am learned in the law," I replied, "and a doctor of doctrine;
an adept in art and science, a mathematician and a notable penman." He
rejoined, "Thy calling is of no account in our city, where not a soul
understandeth science or even writing or aught save money-making." Then
said I, "By Allah, I know nothing but what I have mentioned;" and he
answered, "Gird thy middle and take thee a hatchet and a cord, and go
and hew wood in the wold for thy daily bread, till Allah send thee
relief; and tell none who thou art lest they slay thee." Then he bought
me an axe and a rope and gave me in charge to certain woodcutters; and
with these guardians I went forth into the forest, where I cut
fuel-wood the whole of my day and came back in the evening bearing my
bundle on my head. I sold it for half a dinar, with part of which I
bought provision and laid by the rest. In such work I spent a whole
year and when this was ended I went out one day, as was my wont, into
the wilderness; and, wandering away from my companions, I chanced on a
thickly grown lowland[205] in which there was an abundance of wood. So
I entered and I found the gnarled stump of a great tree and loosened
the ground about it and shovelled away the earth. Presently my hatchet
rang upon a copper ring; so I cleared away the soil and behold, the
ring was attached to a wooden trap-door. This I raised and there
appeared beneath it a staircase. I descended the steps to the bottom
and came to a door, which I opened and found myself in a noble hall
strong of structure and beautifully built, where was a damsel like a
pearl of great price, whose favour banished from my heart all grief and
cark and care; and whose soft speech healed the soul in despair and
captivated the wise and ware. Her figure measured five feet in height;
her breasts were firm and upright; her cheek a very garden of delight;
her colour lively bright; her face gleamed like dawn through curly
tresses which gloomed like night, and above the snows of her bosom
glittered teeth of a pearly white.[206] As the poet said of one like
her:—
Slim-waisted loveling, jetty hair-encrowned ✿ A wand of willow on a
sandy mound:
And as saith another:—
Four things that meet not, save they here unite ✿ To shed my
heart-blood and to rape my sprite:
Brilliantest forehead; tresses jetty bright; ✿ Cheeks rosy red and
stature beauty-dight.