Destiny stayed me here with you: but my place of birth was Cairo, in
Egypt, where I also was brought up, for I am one of the Copts and my
father was a broker before me. When I came to man's estate he departed
this life and I succeeded to his business. One day, as I was sitting in
my shop, behold, there came up to me a youth as handsome as could be,
wearing sumptuous raiment and riding a fine ass.[511] When he saw me he
saluted me, and I stood up to do him honour: then he took out a
kerchief containing a sample of sesame and asked, "How much is this
worth per Ardabb[512]?"; whereto I answered, "An hundred dirhams."
Quoth he, "Take porters and gaugers and metesmen and come to-morrow to
the Khan al-Jawáli,[513] by the Gate of Victory quarter where thou wilt
find me." Then he fared forth leaving with me the sample of sesame in
his kerchief; and I went the round of my customers and ascertained that
every Ardabb would fetch an hundred and twenty dirhams. Next day I took
four metesmen and walked with them to the Khan, where I found him
awaiting me. As soon as he saw me he rose and opened his magazine, when
we measured the grain till the store was empty; and we found the
contents fifty Ardabbs, making five thousand pieces of silver. Then
said he, "Let ten dirhams on every Ardabb be thy brokerage; so take the
price and keep in deposit four thousand, and five hundred dirhams for
me; and, when I have made an end of selling the other wares in my
warehouses, I will come to thee and receive the amount." "I will well,"
replied I and kissing his hand went away, having made that day a profit
of a thousand dirhams. He was absent a month, at the end of which he
came to me and asked, "Where be the dirhams?" I rose and saluted him
and answered to him, "Wilt thou not eat somewhat in my house?" But he
refused with the remark, "Get the monies ready and I will presently
return and take them." Then he rode away. So I brought out the dirhams
and sat down to await him, but he stayed away for another month, when
he came back and said to me, "Where be the dirhams?" I rose and
saluting him asked, "Wilt thou not eat something in my house?" But he
again refused adding, "Get me the monies ready and I will presently
return and take them." Then he rode off. So I brought out the dirhams
and sat down to await his return; but he stayed away from me a third
month, and I said, "Verily this young man is liberality in incarnate
form." At the end of the month he came up, riding a mare-mule and
wearing a suit of sumptuous raiment; he was as the moon on the night of
fullness, and he seemed as if fresh from the baths, with his cheeks
rosy bright, and his brow flower-white, and a mole-spot like a grain of
ambergris delighting the sight; even as was said of such an one by the
poet:—
Full moon with sun in single mansion ✿ In brightest sheen and fortune
rose and shone,
With happy splendour changing every sprite: ✿ Hail to what guerdons
prayer with blissfull boon!
Their charms and grace have gained perfection's height, ✿ All hearts
have conquered and all wits have won.
Laud to the Lord for works so wonder-strange, ✿ And what th' Almighty
wills His hand hath done!
When I saw him I rose to him and invoking blessings on him asked, "O my
lord, wilt thou not take thy monies?" "Whence the hurry?"[514] quoth
he, "Wait till I have made an end of my business and then I will come
and take them." Again he rode away and I said to myself, "By Allah,
when he comes next time needs must I make him my guest; for I have
traded with his dirhams and have gotten large gains thereby." At the
end of the year he came again, habited in a suit of clothes more
sumptuous than the former; and, when I conjured him by the Evangel to
alight at my house and eat of my guest-food, he said, "I consent, on
condition that what thou expendest on me shall be of my monies still in
thy hands." I answered, "So be it," and made him sit down whilst I got
ready what was needful of meat and drink and else besides; and set the
tray before him, with the invitation "Bismillah"![515] Then he drew
near the tray and put out his left hand[516] and ate with me; and I
marvelled at his not using the right hand. When we had done eating, I
poured water on his hand and gave him wherewith to wipe it. Upon this
we sat down to converse after I had set before him some sweetmeats; and
I said to him, "O my master, prithee relieve me by telling me why thou
eatest with thy left hand? Perchance something aileth thy other hand?"
When he heard my words, he repeated these verses:—
Dear friend, ask not what burneth in my breast, ✿ Lest thou see fiery
pangs eye never saw:
Wills not my heart to harbour Salmá in stead ✿ Of Laylá's[517] love,
but need hath ne'er a law!
And he put out his right arm from his sleeve and behold, the hand was
cut off, a wrist without a fist. I was astounded at this but he said,
"Marvel not, and think not that I ate with my left hand for conceit and
insolence, but from necessity; and the cutting off my right hand was
caused by an adventure of the strangest." Asked I, "And what caused
it?"; and he answered:—Know that I am of the sons of Baghdad and my
father was of notables of that city. When I came to man's estate I
heard the pilgrims and wayfarers, travellers and merchants talk of the
land of Egypt and their words sank deep into my mind till my parent
died, when I took a large sum of money and furnished myself for trade
with stuffs of Baghdad and Mosul and, packing them up in bales, set out
on my wanderings; and Allah decreed me safety till I entered this your
city. Then he wept and began repeating:—
The blear-eyed scapes the pits ✿ Wherein the lynx-eyed fall:
A word the wise man slays ✿ And saves the natural:
The Moslem fails of food ✿ The Káfir feasts in hall:
What art or act is man's? ✿ God's will obligeth all!
Now when he had ended his verse he said, So I entered Cairo and took
off my loads and stored my stuffs in the Khan "Al-Masrúr."[518] Then I
gave the servant a few silvers wherewith to buy me some food and lay
down to sleep awhile. When I awoke I went to the street called "Bayn
al-Kasrayn"—Between the two Palaces—and presently returned and rested
my night in the Khan. When it was morning I opened a bale and took out
some stuff saying to myself, "I will be off and go through some of the
bazars and see the state of the market." So I loaded the stuff on some
of my slaves and fared forth till I reached the Kaysariyah or Exchange
of Jahárkas;[519] where the brokers who knew of my coming came to meet
me. They took the stuffs and cried them for sale, but could not get the
prime cost of them. I was vexed at this, however the Shaykh of the
brokers said to me, "O my lord, I will tell thee how thou mayest make a
profit of thy goods. Thou shouldest do as the merchants do and sell thy
merchandise at credit for a fixed period, on a contract drawn up by a
notary and duly witnessed; and employ a Shroff to take thy dues every
Monday and Thursday. So shalt thou gain two dirhams and more, for every
one; and thou shalt solace and divert thyself by seeing Cairo and the
Nile." Quoth I, "This is sound advice," and carried the brokers to the
Khan. They took my stuffs and went with them on 'Change where I sold
them well taking bonds for the value. These bonds I deposited with a
Shroff, a banker, who gave me a receipt with which I returned to the
Khan. Here I stayed a whole month, every morning breaking my fast with
a cup of wine and making my meals on pigeon's meat, mutton and
sweetmeats, till the time came when my receipts began to fall due. So,
every Monday and Thursday I used to go on 'Change and sit in the shop
of one or other of the merchants, whilst the notary and money-changer
went round to recover the monies from the traders, till after the time
of mid-afternoon prayer, when they brought me the amount, and I counted
it and, sealing the bags, returned with them to the Khan. On a certain
day which happened to be a Monday,[520] I went to the Hammam and thence
back to my Khan, and sitting in my own room[521] broke my fast with a
cup of wine, after which I slept a little. When I awoke I ate a chicken
and, perfuming my person, repaired to the shop of a merchant hight Badr
al-Din al-Bostáni, or the Gardener,[522] who welcomed me; and we sat
talking awhile till the bazar should open. Presently, behold, up came a
lady of stately figure wearing a head-dress of the most magnificent,
perfumed with the sweetest of scents and walking with graceful swaying
gait; and seeing me she raised her mantilla allowing me a glimpse of
her beautiful black eyes. She saluted Badr al-Din who returned her
salutation and stood up, and talked with her; and the moment I heard
her speak, the love of her gat hold of my heart. Presently she said to
Badr al-Din "Hast thou by thee a cut piece of stuff woven with thread
of pure gold?" So he brought out to her a piece from those he had
bought of me and sold it to her for one thousand two hundred dirhams;
when she said, "I will take the piece home with me and send thee its
price." "That is impossible, O my lady," the merchant replied, "for
here is the owner of the stuff and I owe him a share of profit." "Fie
upon thee!" she cried, "Do I not use to take from thee entire rolls of
costly stuff, and give thee a greater profit than thou expectest, and
send thee the money?" "Yes," rejoined he; "but I stand in pressing need
of the price this very day." Hereupon she took up the piece and threw
it back upon his lap, saying "Out on thee! Allah confound the tribe of
you which estimates none at the right value;" and she turned to go. I
felt my very soul going with her; so I stood up and stayed her, saying,
"I conjure thee by the Lord, O my lady, favour me by retracing thy
gracious steps." She turned back with a smile and said, "For thy sake I
return," and took a seat opposite me in the shop. Then quoth I to Badr
al-Din "What is the price they asked thee for this piece?"; and quoth
he, "Eleven hundred dirhams." I rejoined, "The odd hundred shall be thy
profit: bring me a sheet of paper and I will write thee a discharge for
it." Then I wrote him a receipt in my own handwriting and gave the
piece to the lady, saying, "Take it away with thee and, if thou wilt,
bring me its price next bazar-day; or better still, accept it as my
guest-gift to thee." "Allah requite thee with good," answered she, "and
make thee my husband and lord and master of all I have!"[523] And Allah
favoured her prayer. I saw the Gates of Paradise swing open before me
and said, "O my lady, let this piece of stuff be now thine and another
like it is ready for thee; only let me have one look at thy face." So
she raised her veil and I saw a face the sight of which bequeathed to
me a thousand sighs, and my heart was so captivated by her love that I
was no longer ruler of my reason. Then she let fall her face-veil and
taking up the piece of stuff said, "O my lord make me not desolate by
thine absence!" and turned away and disappeared from my sight. I
remained sitting on 'Change till past the hour of afternoon prayer,
lost to the world by the love which had mastered me; and the violence
of my passion compelled me to make enquiries concerning her of the
merchant, who answered me, "This is a lady and a rich: she is the
daughter of a certain Emir who lately died and left her a large
fortune." Then I took leave of him and returned home to the Khan where
they set supper before me; but I could not eat for thinking of her and
when I lay down to sleep, sleep came not near me. So I watched till
morning, when I arose and donned a change of raiment and drank a cup of
wine; and, after breaking my fast on some slight matter, I went to the
merchant's shop where I saluted him and sat down by him. Presently up
came the lady as usual, followed by a slave-girl and wearing a dress
more sumptuous than before; and she saluted me without noticing Badr
al-Din and said in fluent graceful speech (never heard I voice softer
or sweeter), "Send one with me to take the thousand and two hundred
dirhams, the price of the piece." "Why this hurry?" asked I and she
answered, "May we never lose thee!"[524] and handed me the money. Then
I sat talking with her and presently I signed to her in dumb show,
whereby she understood that I longed to enjoy her person,[525] and she
rose up in haste with a show of displeasure. My heart clung to her and
I went forth from the bazar and followed on her track. As I was walking
suddenly a black slave-girl stopped me and said, "O my master, come
speak with my mistress."[526] At this I was surprised and replied,
"There is none who knows me here;" but she rejoined, "O my lord, how
soon hast thou forgotten her! My lady is the same who was this day at
the shop of such a merchant." Then I went with her to the Shroff's,
where I found the lady who drew me to her side and said, "O my beloved,
thine image is firmly stamped upon my fancy, and love of thee hath
gotten hold of my heart: from the hour I first saw thee nor sleep nor
food nor drink hath given me aught of pleasure." I replied, "The double
of that suffering is mine and my state dispenseth me from complaint."
Then said she, "O my beloved, at thy house, or at mine?" "I am a
stranger here and have no place of reception save the Khan, so by thy
favour it shall be at thy house." "So be it; but this is Friday[527]
night and nothing can be done till to-morrow after public prayers; go
to the Mosque and pray; then mount thine ass, and ask for the
Habbániyah[528] quarter; and, when there, look out for the mansion of
Al-Nakib[529] Barakát, popularly known as Abu Shámah the Syndic; for I
live there: so do not delay as I shall be expecting thee." I rejoiced
with still greater joy at this; and took leave of her and returned to
my Khan, where I passed a sleepless night. Hardly was I assured that
morning had dawned when I rose, changed my dress, perfumed myself with
essences and sweet scents and, taking fifty dinars in a kerchief, went
from the Khan Masrúr to the Zuwaylah[530] gate, where I mounted an ass
and said to its owner, "Take me to the Habbaniyah." So he set off with
me and brought up in the twinkling of an eye at a street known as Darb
al-Munkari, where I said to him, "Go in and ask for the Syndic's
mansion." He was absent a while and then returned and said, "Alight."
"Go thou before me to the house," quoth I, adding, "Come back with the
earliest light and bring me home;" and he answered, "In Allah's name;"
whereupon I gave him a quarter-dinar of gold, and he took it and went
his ways. Then I knocked at the door and out came two white
slave-girls, both young; high-bosomed virgins, as they were moons, and
said to me, "Enter, for our mistress is expecting thee and she hath not
slept the night long for her delight in thee." I passed through the
vestibule into a saloon with seven doors, floored with particoloured
marbles and furnished with curtains and hangings of coloured silks: the
ceiling was _cloisonné_ with gold and corniced with inscriptions[531]
emblazoned in lapis lazuli; and the walls were stuccoed with Sultání
gypsum[532] which mirrored the beholder's face. Around the saloon were
latticed windows overlooking a garden full of all manner of fruits;
whose streams were railing and rilling and whose birds were trilling
and shrilling; and in the heart of the hall was a jetting fountain at
whose corners stood birds fashioned in red gold crusted with pearls and
gems and spouting water crystal-clear. When I entered and took a
seat,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Twenty-Sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
merchant continued, When I entered and took a seat, the lady at once
came in crowned with a diadem[533] of pearls and jewels; her face
dotted with artificial moles in indigo,[534] her eyebrows pencilled
with Kohl and her hands and feet reddened with Henna. When she saw me
she smiled in my face and took me to her embrace and clasped me to her
breast; then she put her mouth to my mouth and sucked my tongue[535]
(and I did likewise) and said, "Can it be true, O my little darkling,
thou art come to me?" adding, "Welcome and good cheer to thee! By
Allah, from the day I saw thee sleep hath not been sweet to me nor hath
food been pleasant." Quoth I, "Such hath also been my case: and I am
thy slave, thy negro slave." Then we sat down to converse and I hung my
head earthwards in bashfulness, but she delayed not long ere she set
before me a tray of the most exquisite viands, marinated meats,
fritters soaked in bee's honey[536] and chickens stuffed with sugar and
pistachio-nuts, whereof we ate till we were satisfied. Then they
brought basin and ewer and I washed my hands and we scented ourselves
with rose-water musk'd and sat down again to converse. So she began
repeating these couplets:[537]—
Had we wist of thy coming, thy way had been strown
With the blood of our heart and the balls of our sight:
Our cheek as a foot-cloth to greet thee been thrown,
That thy step on our eyelids should softly alight.
And she kept plaining of what had befallen her and I of what had
betided me; and love of her gat so firm hold of my heart that all
my wealth seemed a thing of naught in comparison with her. Then we
fell to toying and groping and kissing till nightfall, when the
handmaidens set before us meats and a complete wine service, and we
sat carousing till the noon of night; when we lay down and I lay
with her, never in my life saw I a night like that night. When
morning morrowed I arose and took leave of her, throwing under the
carpet-bed the kerchief wherein were the dinars[538] and as I went
out she wept and said, "O my lord, when shall I look upon that
lovely face again?" "I will be with thee at sunset," answered I,
and going out found the donkey-boy, who had brought me the day
before, awaiting at the door. So I mounted ass and rode to the Khan
of Masrur where I alighted and gave the man a half-dinar, saying,
"Return at sunset;" and he said "I will." Then I breakfasted and
went out to seek the price of my stuffs; after which I returned,
and taking a roast lamb and some sweetmeats, called a porter and
put the provision in his crate, and sent it to the lady paying the
man his hire.[539] I went back to my business till sunset, when the
ass-driver came to me; and I took fifty dinars in a kerchief and
rode to her house where I found the marble floor swept, the brasses
burnisht, the branch-lights burning, the wax-candles ready lighted,
the meat served up and the wine strained.[540] When my lady saw me
she threw her arms about my neck, and cried, "Thou hast desolated
me by thine absence." Then she set the tables before me and we ate
till we were satisfied, when the slave girls carried off the trays
and served up wine. We gave not over drinking till half the night
was past; and, being well warmed with drink, we went to the
sleeping-chamber and lay there till morning. I then arose and fared
forth from her leaving the fifty dinars with her as before; and,
finding the donkey-boy at the door, rode to the Khan and slept
awhile. After that I went out to make ready the evening meal and
took a brace of geese with gravy on two platters of dressed and
peppered rice, and got ready colocasia[541]-roots fried and soaked
in honey, and wax-candles and fruits and conserves and nuts and
almonds and sweet-scented flowers; and I sent them all to her. As
soon as it was night I again tied up fifty dinars in a kerchief
and, mounting the ass as usual, rode to the mansion where we ate
and drank and lay together till morning when I threw the kerchief
and dinars[542] to her and rode back to the Khan. I ceased not
doing after that fashion till, after a sweet night, I woke one fine
morning and found myself beggared, dinar-less and dirham-less. So
said I to myself "All this be Satan's work;" and began to recite
these couplets:—
Poverty dims the sheen of man whate'er his wealth has been, ✿ E'en as
the sun about to set shines with a yellowing light:
Absent he falls from memory, forgotten by his friends; ✿ Present he
shareth not their joys for none in him delight:
He walks the market shunned of all, too glad to hide his head; ✿ In
desert places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight:
By Allah, 'mid his kith and kin a man, however good, ✿ Waylaid by want
and penury is but a stranger-wight!
I fared forth from the Khan and walked down "Between the Palaces"
street till I came to the Zuwaylah Porte, where I found the people
crowding and the gateway blocked for the much folk. And by the decree
of Destiny I saw there a trooper against whom I pressed
unintentionally, so that my hand came upon his bosom pocket and I felt
a purse inside it. I looked and seeing a string of green silk hanging
from the pocket knew it for a purse; and the crush grew greater every
minute and just then, a camel laden with a load of fuel happened to
jostle the trooper on the opposite side, and he turned round to fend it
off from him, lest it tear his clothes; and Satan tempted me, so I
pulled the string and drew out a little bag of blue silk, containing
something which chinked like coin. But the soldier, feeling his pocket
suddenly lightened, put his hand to it and found it empty; whereupon he
turned to me and, snatching up his mace from his saddle-bow, struck me
with it on the head. I fell to the ground, whilst the people came round
us and seizing the trooper's mare by the bridle said to him, "Strikest
thou this youth such a blow as this for a mere push!" But the trooper
cried out at them, "This fellow is an accursed thief!" Whereupon I came
to myself and stood up, and the people looked at me and said, "Nay, he
is a comely youth: he would not steal anything;" and some of them took
my part and others were against me and question and answer waxed loud
and warm. The people pulled at me and would have rescued me from his
clutches; but as fate decreed behold, the Governor, the Chief of
Police, and the watch[543] entered the Zuwaylah Gate at this moment
and, seeing the people gathered together around me and the soldier, the
Governor asked, "What is the matter?" "By Allah! O Emir," answered the
trooper, "this is a thief! I had in my pocket a purse of blue silk
lined with twenty good gold pieces and he took it, whilst I was in the
crush." Quoth the Governor, "Was any one by thee at the time?"; and
quoth the soldier, "No." Thereupon the Governor cried out to the Chief
of Police who seized me, and on this wise the curtain of the Lord's
protection was withdrawn from me. Then he said "Strip him;" and, when
they stripped me, they found the purse in my clothes. The Wali took it,
opened it and counted it; and, finding in it twenty dinars as the
soldier had said, waxed exceeding wroth and bade his guard bring me
before him. Then said he to me, "Now, O youth, speak truly: didst thou
steal this purse?"[544] At this I hung my head to the ground and said
to myself, "If I deny having stolen it, I shall get myself into
terrible trouble." So I raised my head and said, "Yes, I took it." When
the Governor heard these words he wondered and summoned witnesses who
came forward and attested my confession. All this happened at the
Zuwaylah Gate. Then the Governor ordered the link-bearer to cut off my
right hand, and he did so; after which he would have struck off my left
foot also; but the heart of the soldier softened and he took pity on me
and interceded for me with the Governor that I should not be
slain.[545] Thereupon the Wali left me, and went away and the folk
remained round me and gave me a cup of wine to drink. As for the
trooper he pressed the purse upon me, and said, "Thou art a comely
youth and it befitteth not thou be a thief." So I repeated these
verses:—
I swear by Allah's name, fair sir! no thief was I, ✿ Nor, O thou best
of men! was I a bandit bred:
But Fortune's change and chance o'erthrew me suddenly, ✿ And cark and
care and penury my course misled:
I shot it not, indeed, 'twas Allah shot the shaft ✿ That rolled in dust
the Kingly diadem from my head.[546]
The soldier turned away after giving me the purse; and I also went my
ways having wrapped my hand in a piece of rag and thrust it into my
bosom. My whole semblance had changed, and my colour had waxed yellow
from the shame and pain which had befallen me. Yet I went on to my
mistress's house where, in extreme perturbation of spirit I threw
myself down on the carpet-bed.