merchant continued as follows: Now when I testified, "I bear witness
that there is no god save _the_ God, I heard my mistress the handmaid
declare to the Caliph, "These chests, O Commander of the Faithful, have
been committed to my charge by the Lady Zubaydah, and she doth not wish
their contents to be seen by any one." "No matter!" quoth the Caliph,
"needs must they be opened, I _will_ see what is in them"; and he cried
aloud to the eunuchs, "Bring the chests here before me." At this I made
sure of death (without benefit of a doubt) and swooned away. Then the
eunuchs brought the chests up to him one after another and he fell to
inspecting the contents, but he saw in them only ottars and stuffs and
fine dresses; and they ceased not opening the chests and he ceased not
looking to see what was in them, finding only clothes and such matters,
till none remained unopened but the box in which I was boxed. They put
forth their hands to open it, but my mistress the handmaid made haste
and said to the Caliph, "This one thou shalt see only in the presence
of the Lady Zubaydah, for that which is in it is her secret." When he
heard this he gave orders to carry in the chests; so they took up that
wherein I was and bore it with the rest into the Harim and set it down
in the midst of the saloon; and indeed my spittle was dried up for very
fear.[566] Then my mistress opened the box and took me out, saying,
"Fear not: no harm shall betide thee now nor dread; but broaden thy
breast and strengthen thy heart and sit thee down till the Lady
Zubaydah come, and surely thou shalt win thy wish of me." So I sat down
and, after a while, in came ten handmaidens, virgins like moons, and
ranged themselves in two rows, five facing five; and after them twenty
other damsels, high-bosomed virginity, surrounding the Lady Zubaydah
who could hardly walk for the weight of her raiment and ornaments. As
she drew near, the slave-girls dispersed from around her, and I
advanced and kissed the ground between her hands. She signed to me to
sit and, when I sat down before her chair, she began questioning me of
my forbears and family and condition, to which I made such answers that
pleased her, and she said to my mistress, "Our nurturing of thee, O
damsel, hath not disappointed us." Then she said to me, "Know that this
handmaiden is to us even as our own child and she is a trust committed
to thee by Allah." I again kissed the ground before her, well pleased
that I should marry my mistress, and she bade me abide ten days in the
palace. So I abode there ten days, during which time I saw not my
mistress nor any body save one of the concubines, who brought me the
morning and evening meals. After this the Lady Zubaydah took counsel
with the Caliph on the marriage of her favourite handmaid, and he gave
leave and assigned to her a wedding portion of ten thousand gold
pieces. So the Lady Zubaydah sent for the Kazi and witnesses who wrote
our marriage-contract, after which the women made ready sweetmeats and
rich viands and distributed them among all the Odahs[567] of the Harim.
Thus they did other ten days, at the end of which time my mistress went
to the baths.[568] Meanwhile, they set before me a tray of food whereon
were various meats and among those dishes, which were enough to daze
the wits, was a bowl of cumin-ragout containing chickens' breasts,
fricandoed[569] and flavoured with sugar, pistachios, musk and
rose-water. Then, by Allah, fair sirs, I did not long hesitate; but
took my seat before the ragout and fell to and ate of it till I could
no more. After this I wiped my hands, but forgot to wash them; and sat
till it grew dark, when the wax-candles were lighted and the singing
women came in with their tambourines and proceeded to display the bride
in various dresses and to carry her in procession from room to room all
round the palace, getting their palms crossed with gold. Then they
brought her to me and disrobed her. When I found myself alone with her
on the bed I embraced her, hardly believing in our union; but she smelt
the strong odours of the ragout upon my hands and forthwith cried out
with an exceeding loud cry, at which the slave-girls came running to
her from all sides. I trembled with alarm, unknowing what was the
matter, and the girls asked her, "What aileth thee, O our sister?" She
answered them, "Take this madman away from me: I had thought he was a
man of sense!" Quoth I to her, "What makes thee think me mad?" Quoth
she, "Thou madman! what made thee eat of cumin-ragout and forget to
wash thy hand? By Allah, I will requite thee for thy misconduct. Shall
the like of thee come to bed with the like of me with unclean
hands?[570]" Then she took from her side a plaited scourge and came
down with it on my back and the place where I sit till her forearms
were benumbed and I fainted away from the much beating; when she said
to the handmaids, "Take him and carry him to the Chief of Police, that
he may strike off the hand wherewith he ate of the cumin-ragout, and
which he did not wash." When I heard this I said, "There is no Majesty
and there is no Might save in Allah! Wilt thou cut off my hand, because
I ate of a cumin-ragout and did not wash?" The handmaidens also
interceded with her and kissed her hand saying, "O our sister, this man
is a simpleton, punish him not for what he hath done this nonce;" but
she answered, "By Allah, there is no help but that I dock him of
somewhat, especially the offending member." Then she went away and I
saw no more of her for ten days, during which time she sent me meat and
drink by a slave-girl who told me that she had fallen sick from the
smell of the cumin-ragout. After that time she came to me and said, "O
black of face[571]! I will teach thee how to eat cumin-ragout without
washing thy hands!" Then she cried out to the handmaids, who pinioned
me; and she took a sharp razor and cut off my thumbs and great toes;
even as you see, O fair assembly! Thereupon I swooned away, and she
sprinkled some powder of healing herbs upon the stumps and when the
blood was staunched, I said, "Never again will I eat of cumin-ragout
without washing my hands forty times with potash and forty times with
galangale and forty times with soap!" And she took of me an oath and
bound me by a covenant to that effect. When, therefore, you brought me
the cumin-ragout my colour changed and I said to myself, "It was this
very dish that caused the cutting off of my thumbs and great toes;"
and, when you forced me, I said, "Needs must I fulfil the oath I have
sworn." "And what befel thee after this?" asked those present; and he
answered, When I swore to her, her anger was appeased and I slept with
her that night. We abode thus awhile till she said to me one day,
"Verily the Palace of the Caliph is not a pleasant place for us to live
in, and none ever entered it save thyself; and thou only by grace of
the Lady Zubaydah. Now she hath given me fifty thousand dinars,"
adding, "Take this money and go out and buy us a fair dwelling-house."
So I fared forth and bought a fine and spacious mansion, whither she
removed all the wealth she owned and what riches I had gained in stuffs
and costly rarities. Such is the cause of the cutting off of my thumbs
and great toes." We ate, (continued the Reeve) and were returning to
our homes when there befel me with the Hunchback that thou wottest of.
This then is my story, and peace be with thee! Quoth the King, "This
story is on no wise more delectable than the story of the Hunchback;
nay, it is even less so, and there is no help for the hanging of the
whole of you." Then came forward the Jewish physician and kissing the
ground said, "O King of the age, I will tell thee an history more
wonderful than that of the Hunchback." "Tell on," said the King of
China; so he began the
_TALE OF THE JEWISH DOCTOR._
Right marvellous was a matter which came to pass to me in my youth. I
lived in Damascus of Syria studying my art and, one day, as I was
sitting at home behold, there came to me a Mameluke from the household
of the Sáhib and said to me, "Speak with my lord!" So I followed him to
the Viceroy's house and, entering the great hall, saw at its head a
couch of cedar plated with gold whereon lay a sickly youth beautiful
withal; fairer than he one could not see. I sat down by his head and
prayed to Heaven for a cure; and he made me a sign with his eyes, so I
said to him, "O my lord! favour me with thy hand, and safety be with
thee!"[572] Then he put forth his left hand and I marvelled thereat and
said, "By Allah, strange that this handsome youth, the son of a great
house, should so lack good manners. This can be nothing but pride and
conceit!" However I felt his pulse and wrote him a prescription and
continued to visit him for ten days, at the end of which time he
recovered and went to the Hammam,[573] whereupon the Viceroy gave me a
handsome dress of honour and appointed me superintendent of the
hospital which is in Damascus.[574] I accompanied him to the baths, the
whole of which they had kept private for his accommodation; and the
servants came in with him and took off his clothes within the bath, and
when he was stripped I saw that his right hand had been newly cut off,
and this was the cause of his weakliness. At this I was amazed and
grieved for him: then, looking at his body, I saw on it the scars of
scourge-stripes whereto he had applied unguents. I was troubled at the
sight and my concern appeared in my face. The young man looked at me
and, comprehending the matter, said, "O Physician of the age, marvel
not at my case; I will tell thee my story as soon as we quit the
baths." Then we washed and, returning to his house, ate somewhat of
food and took rest awhile; after which he asked me, "What sayest thou
to solacing thee by inspecting the supper-hall"; and I answered "So let
it be." Thereupon he ordered the slaves to carry out the carpets and
cushions required and roast a lamb and bring us some fruit. They did
his bidding and we ate together, he using the left hand for the
purpose. After a while I said to him, "Now tell me thy tale." "O
Physician of the age," replied he, "Hear what befel me. Know that I am
of the sons of Mosul, where my grandfather died leaving nine children
of whom my father was the eldest. All grew up and took to them wives,
but none of them was blessed with offspring except my father, to whom
Providence vouchsafed me. So I grew up amongst my uncles who rejoiced
in me with exceeding joy, till I came to man's estate. One day which
happened to be a Friday, I went to the Cathedral-mosque of Mosul with
my father and my uncles, and we prayed the congregational prayers,
after which the folk went forth, except my father and uncles, who sat
talking of wondrous things in foreign parts and the marvellous sights
of strange cities. At last they mentioned Egypt, and one of my uncles
said, "Travellers tell us that there is not on earth's face aught
fairer than Cairo and her Nile;" and these words made me long to see
Cairo. Quoth my father, "Whoso hath not seen Cairo hath not seen the
world. Her dust is golden and her Nile a miracle holden; and her women
are as Houris fair; puppets, beautiful pictures; her houses are palaces
rare; her water is sweet and light[575] and her mud a commodity and a
medicine beyond compare, even as said the poet in this his poetry:—
The Nile[576]-flood this day is the gain you own; ✿ You alone in such
gain and bounties wone:
The Nile is my tear-flood of severance, ✿ And here none is forlorn but
I alone.
Moreover temperate is her air, and with fragrance blent, which
surpasseth aloes-wood in scent; and how should it be otherwise, she
being the Mother of the World? And Allah favour him who wrote these
lines:—
An I quit Cairo and her pleasaunces, ✿ Where can I wend to find so
gladsome ways?
Shall I desert that site, whose grateful scents ✿ Joy every soul and
call for loudest praise?
Where every palace, as another Eden, ✿ Carpets and cushions richly
wrought displays;
A city wooing sight and sprite to glee, ✿ Where Saint meets Sinner and
each 'joys his craze;
Where friend meets friend, by Providence united ✿ In greeny garden and
in palmy maze:
People of Cairo, an by Allah's doom ✿ I fare, with you in thoughts I
wone always!
Whisper not Cairo in the ear of Zephyr, ✿ Lest for her like of garden
scents he reave her.[577]
And if your eyes saw her earth, and the adornment thereof with bloom,
and the purfling of it with all manner blossoms, and the islands of the
Nile and how much is therein of wide-spread and goodly prospect, and if
you bent your sight upon the Abyssinian Pond[578], your glance would
not revert from the scene quit of wonder; for nowhere would you behold
the fellow of that lovely view; and, indeed, the two arms of the Nile
embrace most luxuriant verdure[579], as the white of the eye
encompasseth its black or like filagree'd silver surrounding
chrysolites. And divinely gifted was the poet who thereanent said these
couplets:—
By th' Abyssinian Pond, O day divine! ✿ In morning twilight and in
sunny shine:
The water prisoned in its verdurous walls, ✿ Like sabre flashes before
shrinking eyne:
And in The Garden sat we while it drains ✿ Slow draught, with purfled
sides dyed finest fine:
The stream is rippled by the hands of clouds; ✿ We too, a-rippling, on
our rugs recline,
Passing pure wine, and whoso leaves us there ✿ Shall ne'er arise from
fall his woes design:
Draining long draughts from large and brimming bowls, ✿ Administ'ring
thirst's only medicine—wine.
And what is there to compare with the Rasad, the Observatory, and its
charms whereof every viewer as he approacheth saith:—"Verily this spot
is specialised with all manner of excellence! And if thou speak of the
Night of Nile-full,[580] give the rainbow and distribute it![581] And
if thou behold The Garden at eventide, with the cool shades sloping far
and wide, a marvel thou wouldst see and wouldst incline to Egypt in
ecstacy. And wert thou by Cairo's river side,[582] when the sun is
sinking and the stream dons mail-coat and habergeon[583] over its other
vestments, thou wouldst be quickened to new life by its gentle zephyrs
and by its all-sufficient shade." So spake he and the rest fell to
describing Egypt and her Nile. As I heard their accounts, my thoughts
dwelt upon the subject and when, after talking their fill, all arose
and went their ways, I lay down to sleep that night, but sleep came not
because of my violent longing for Egypt; and neither meat pleased me
nor drink. After a few days my uncles equipped themselves for a
trade-journey to Egypt; and I wept before my father till he made ready
for me fitting merchandise, and he consented to my going with them,
saying however, "Let him not enter Cairo, but leave him to sell his
wares at Damascus." So I took leave of my father and we fared forth
from Mosul and gave not over travelling till we reached Aleppo[584]
where we halted certain days. Then we marched onwards till we made
Damascus and we found her a city as though she were a Paradise,
abounding in trees and streams and birds and fruits of all kinds. We
alighted at one of the Khans, where my uncles tarried awhile selling
and buying; and they bought and sold also on my account, each dirham
turning a profit of five on prime cost, which pleased me mightily.
After this they left me alone and set their faces Egyptwards; whilst I
abode at Damascus, where I had hired from a jeweller, for two dinars a
month, a mansion[585] whose beauties would beggar the tongue. Here I
remained, eating and drinking and spending what monies I had in hand
till, one day, as I was sitting at the door of my house behold, there
came up a young lady clad in costliest raiment—never saw my eyes
richer. I winked[586] at her and she stepped inside without hesitation
and stood within. I entered with her and shut the door upon myself and
her; whereupon she raised her face-veil and threw off her mantilla,
when I found her like a pictured moon of rare and marvellous
loveliness; and love of her gat hold of my heart. So I rose and brought
a tray of the most delicate eatables and fruits and whatso befitted the
occasion, and we ate and played and after that we drank till the wine
turned our heads. Then I lay with her the sweetest of nights and in the
morning I offered her ten gold pieces; when her face lowered and her
eyebrows wrinkled and shaking with wrath she cried, "Fie upon thee, O
my sweet companion! dost thou deem that I covet thy money?" Then she
took out from the bosom of her shift[587] fifteen dinars and, laying
them before me, said, "By Allah! unless thou take them I will never
come back to thee." So I accepted them and she said to me, "O my
beloved! expect me again in three days' time, when I will be with thee
between sunset and supper-tide; and do thou prepare for us with these
dinars the same entertainment as yesternight." So saying, she took
leave of me and went away and all my senses went with her. On the third
day she came again, clad in stuff weft with gold wire, and wearing
raiment and ornaments finer than before. I had prepared the place for
her ere she arrived and the repast was ready; so we ate and drank and
lay together, as we had done, till the morning, when she gave me other
fifteen gold pieces and promised to come again after three days.
Accordingly, I made ready for her and, at the appointed time, she
presented herself more richly dressed than on the first and second
occasion, and said to me, "O my lord, am I not beautiful?" "Yea, by
Allah thou art!" answered I, and she went on, "Wilt thou allow me to
bring with me a young lady fairer than I, and younger in years, that
she may play with us and thou and she may laugh and make merry and
rejoice her heart, for she hath been very sad this long time past, and
hath asked me to take her out and let her spend the night abroad with
me?" "Yea, by Allah!" I replied; and we drank till the wine turned our
heads and slept till the morning, when she gave me other fifteen
dinars, saying, "Add something to thy usual provision on account of the
young lady who will come with me." Then she went away, and on the
fourth day I made ready the house as usual, and soon after sunset
behold, she came, accompanied by another damsel carefully wrapped in
her mantilla. They entered and sat down; and when I saw them I repeated
these verses:—
How dear is our day and how lucky our lot, ✿ When the cynic's away with
his tongue malign!
When love and delight and the swimming of head ✿ send cleverness
trotting,—the best boon of wine.
When the full moon shines from the cloudy veil, ✿ And the branchlet
sways in her greens that shine:
When the red rose mantles in freshest cheek, ✿ And Narcissus[588] opeth
his love-sick eyne:
When pleasure with those I love is so sweet, ✿ When friendship with
those I love is complete!
I rejoiced to see them, and lighted the candles after receiving them
with gladness and delight. They doffed their heavy outer dresses and
the new damsel uncovered her face when I saw that she was like the moon
at its full—never beheld I aught more beautiful. Then I rose and set
meat and drink before them, and we ate and drank; and I kept giving
mouthfuls to the new comer, crowning her cup and drinking with her till
the first damsel, waxing inwardly jealous, asked me, "By Allah, is she
not more delicious than I?"; whereto I answered, "Ay, by the Lord!" "It
is my wish that thou lie with her this night; for I am thy mistress but
she is our visitor." "Upon my head be it, and my eyes." Then she rose
and spread the carpets for our bed[589] and I took the young lady and
lay with her that night till morning, when I awoke and found myself
wet, as I thought, with sweat. I sat up and tried to arouse the damsel;
but when I shook her by the shoulders my hand became crimson with blood
and her head rolled off the pillow. Thereupon my senses fled and I
cried aloud, saying, "O All-powerful Protector, grant me Thy
protection!" Then finding her neck had been severed, I sprung up and
the world waxed black before my eyes, and I looked for the lady, my
former love, but could not find her. So I knew that it was she who had
murdered the damsel in her jealousy[590], and said, "There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!
What is to be done now?" I considered awhile then, doffing my clothes,
dug a hole in the middle of the courtyard, wherein I laid the murdered
girl with her jewellery and golden ornaments; and, throwing back the
earth on her, replaced the slabs of the marble[591] pavement. After
this I made the Ghusl or total ablution,[592] and put on pure clothes;
then, taking what money I had left, locked up the house and summoned
courage and went to its owner to whom I paid a year's rent, saying, "I
am about to join my uncles in Cairo." Presently I set out and,
journeying to Egypt, foregathered with my uncles who rejoiced in me,
and I found that they had made an end of selling their merchandise.
They asked me, "What is the cause of thy coming?;" and I answered "I
longed for a sight of you;" but did not let them know that I had any
money with me. I abode with them a year, enjoying the pleasures of
Cairo and her Nile,[593] and squandering the rest of my money in
feasting and carousing till the time drew near for the departure of my
uncles, when I fled from them and hid myself. They made enquiries and
sought for me, but hearing no tidings they said, "He will have gone
back to Damascus." When they departed I came forth from my hiding-place
and abode in Cairo three years, until naught remained of my money. Now
every year I used to send the rent of the Damascus house to its owner,
until at last I had nothing left but enough to pay him for one year's
rent and my breast was straitened. So I travelled to Damascus and
alighted at the house whose owner, the jeweller, was glad to see me and
I found everything locked up as I had left it. I opened the closets and
took out my clothes and necessaries and came upon, beneath the
carpet-bed whereon I had lain that night with the girl who had been
beheaded, a golden necklace set with ten gems of passing beauty. I took
it up and, cleansing it of the blood, sat gazing upon it and wept
awhile. Then I abode in the house two days and on the third I entered
the Hammam and changed my clothes. I had no money by me now; so Satan
whispered temptation to me that the Decree of Destiny be carried out.
Next day I took the jewelled necklace to the bazar and handed it to a
broker who made me sit down in the shop of the jeweller, my landlord,
and bade me have patience till the market was full[594], when he
carried off the ornament and proclaimed it for sale, privily and
without my knowledge. The necklet was priced as worth two thousand
dinars but the broker returned to me and said, "This collar is of
copper, a mere counterfeit after the fashion of the Franks[595] and a
thousand dirhams have been bidden for it." "Yes," I answered, "I knew
it to be copper, as we had it made for a certain person that we might
mock her: now my wife hath inherited it and we wish to sell it; so go
and take over the thousand dirhams."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Twenty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the beautiful
youth said to the broker, "Take over the thousand dirhams"; and when
the broker heard this, he knew that the case was suspicious. So he
carried the collar to the Syndic of the bazar, and the Syndic took it
to the Governor who was also prefect of police, and said to him falsely
enough, "This necklet was stolen from my house, and we have found the
thief in traders' dress." So before I was aware of it the watch got
round me and, making me their prisoner, carried me before the Governor
who questioned me of the collar. I told him the tale I had told to the
broker; but he laughed and said, "These words are not true." Then,
before I knew what was doing, the guard stripped off my clothes and
came down with palm-rods upon my ribs, till for the smart of the stick
I confessed, "It was I who stole it;" saying to myself, "'Tis better
for thee to say, I stole it, than to let them know that its owner was
murdered in thy house, for then would they slay thee to avenge her." So
they wrote down that I had stolen it and they cut off my hand and
scalded the stump in oil,[596] when I swooned away for pain; but they
gave me wine to drink and I recovered and, taking up my hand, was going
to my fine house, when my landlord said to me, "Inasmuch, O my son, as
this hath befallen thee, thou must leave my house and look out for
another lodging for thee, since thou art convicted of theft. Thou art a
handsome youth, but who will pity thee after this?" "O my master" said
I, "bear with me but two days or three, till I find me another place."
He answered, "So be it," and went away and left me. I returned to the
house where I sat weeping and saying, "How shall I go back to my own
people with my hand lopped off and they know not that I am innocent?
Perchance even after this Allah may order some matter for me." And I
wept with exceeding weeping; grief beset me and I remained in sore
trouble for two days; but on the third day my landlord came suddenly in
to me, and with him some of the guard and the Syndic of the bazar, who
had falsely charged me with stealing the necklet. I went up to them and
asked, "What is the matter?" however, they pinioned me without further
parley and threw a chain about my neck, saying, "The necklet which was
with thee hath proved to be the property of the Wazir of Damascus who
is also her Viceroy;" and they added, "It was missing from his house
three years ago at the same time as his younger daughter." When I heard
these words, my heart sank within me and I said to myself, "Thy life is
gone beyond a doubt! By Allah, needs must I tell the Chief my story;
and, if he will, let him kill me, and if he please, let him pardon me."
So they carried me to the Wazir's house and made me stand between his
hands. When he saw me, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye
and said to those present, "Why did ye lop off his hand? This man is
unfortunate, and there is no fault in him; indeed ye have wronged him
in cutting off his hand." When I heard this, I took heart and, my soul
presaging good, I said to him, "By Allah, O my lord, I am no thief; but
they calumniated me with a vile calumny, and they scourged me midmost
the market, bidding me confess till, for the pain of the rods, I lied
against myself and confessed the theft, albeit I am altogether innocent
of it." "Fear not," quoth the Viceroy, "no harm shall come to thee."
Then he ordered the Syndic of the bazar to be imprisoned and said to
him, "Give this man the blood-money for his hand; and, if thou delay I
will hang thee and seize all thy property." Moreover he called to his
guards who took him and dragged him away, leaving me with the Chief.
Then they loosed by his command the chain from my neck and unbound my
arms; and he looked at me, and said, "O my son, be true with me, and
tell me how this necklace came to thee." And he repeated these verses:—
Truth best befits thee, albeit truth ✿ Shall bring thee to burn on the
threatened fire.
"By Allah, O my lord," answered I, "I will tell thee nothing but the
truth." Then I related to him all that had passed between me and the
first lady, and how she had brought me the second and had slain her out
of jealousy, and I detailed for him the tale to its full. When he heard
my story, he shook his head and struck his right hand upon the
left,[597] and putting his kerchief over his face wept awhile and then
repeated:—
I see the woes of the world abound, ✿ And worldings sick with spleen
and teen;
There's One who the meeting of two shall part, ✿ And who part not are
few and far between!