al-aswáni, or the long-necked Gugglet hight, from his brimming over
with words, the same who was blind of one eye, he became a butcher in
Baghdad and he sold flesh and fattened rams; and great men and rich
bought their meat of him, so that he amassed much wealth and got him
cattle and houses. He fared thus a long while, till one day, as he was
sitting in his shop, there came up an old man and long o' the beard,
who laid down some silver and said, "Give me meat for this." He gave
him his money's worth of flesh and the oldster went his ways. My
brother examined the Shaykh's silver, and, seeing that the dirhams were
white and bright, he set them in a place apart. The grey-beard
continued to return to the shop regularly for five months, and my
brother ceased not to lay up all the coin he received from him in its
own box. At last he thought to take out the money to buy sheep; so he
opened the box and found in it nothing, save bits of white paper cut
round to look like coin[656]; so he buffetted his face and cried aloud
till the folk gathered about him, whereupon he told them his tale which
made them marvel exceedingly. Then he rose as was his wont, and
slaughtering a ram hung it up inside his shop; after which he cut off
some of the flesh, and hanging it outside kept saying to himself, "O
Allah, would the ill-omened old fellow but come!" And an hour had not
passed before the Shaykh came with his silver in hand; whereupon my
brother rose and caught hold of him calling out, "Come aid me, O
Moslems, and learn my story with this villain!" When the old man heard
this, he quietly said to him, "Which will be the better for thee, to
let go of me or to be disgraced by me amidst the folk?" "In what wilt
thou disgrace me?" "In that thou sellest man's flesh for mutton!" "Thou
liest, thou accursed!" "Nay, he is the accursed who hath a man hanging
up by way of meat in his shop." "If the matter be as thou sayest, I
give thee lawful leave to take my money and my life." Then the old man
cried out aloud, "Ho, ye people! if you would prove the truth of my
words, enter this man's shop." The folk rushed in and found that the
ram was become a dead man[657] hung up for sale. So they set upon my
brother crying out, "O Infidel! O villain!"; and his best friends fell
to cuffing and kicking him and kept saying, "Dost thou make us eat
flesh of the sons of Adam?" Furthermore, the old man struck him on the
eye and put it out. Then they carried the carcass, with the throat cut,
before the Chief of the city-watch, to whom the old man said, "O Emir,
this fellow butchers men and sells their flesh for mutton and we have
brought him to thee; so arise and execute the judgments of Allah (to
whom be honour and glory!)" My brother would have defended himself, but
the Chief refused to hear him and sentenced him to receive five hundred
sticks and to forfeit the whole of his property. And, indeed, had it
not been for that same property which he expended in bribes, they would
have surely slain him. Then the Chief banished him from Baghdad; and my
brother fared forth at a venture, till he came to a great town, where
he thought it best to set up as a cobbler; so he opened a shop and sat
there doing what he could for his livelihood. One day, as he went forth
on his business, he heard the distant tramp of horses and, asking the
cause, was told that the King was going out to hunt and course; so my
brother stopped to look at the fine suite. It so fortuned that the
King's eye met my brother's; whereupon the King hung down his head and
said, "I seek refuge with Allah from the evil of this day!"[658]; and
turned the reins of his steed and returned home with all his retinue.
Then he gave orders to his guards, who seized my brother and beat him
with a beating so painful that he was well-nigh dead; and my brother
knew not what could be the cause of his maltreatment, after which he
returned to his place in sorriest plight. Soon afterwards he went to
one of the King's household and related what had happened to him; and
the man laughed till he fell upon his back and cried, "O brother mine,
know that the King cannot bear to look at a monocular, especially if he
be blind of the right eye, in which case he doth not let him go without
killing him." When my brother heard this, he resolved to fly from that
city; so he went forth from it to another wherein none knew him and
there he abode a long while. One day, being full of sorrowful thought
for what had befallen him, he sallied out to solace himself; and, as he
was walking along, he heard the distant tramp of horses behind him and
said, "The judgment of Allah is upon me!" and looked about for a
hiding-place but found none. At last he saw a closed door which he
pushed hard: it yielded and he entered a long gallery in which he took
refuge, but hardly had he done so, when two men set upon him crying
out, "Allah be thanked for having delivered thee into our hands, O
enemy of God! These three nights thou hast robbed us of our rest and
sleep, and verily thou hast made us taste of the death-cup." My brother
asked, "O folk, what ails you?"; and they answered, "Thou givest us the
change and goest about to disgrace us and plannest some plot to cut the
throat of the house-master! Is it not enough that thou hast brought him
to beggary, thou and thy fellows? But now give us up the knife
wherewith thou threatenest us every night." Then they searched him and
found in his waist-belt the knife used for his shoe-leather; and he
said, "O people, have the fear of Allah before your eyes and maltreat
me not, for know that my story is a right strange!" "And what is thy
story?" said they; so he told them what had befallen him, hoping they
would let him go; however they paid no heed to what he said and,
instead of showing some regard, beat him grievously and tore off his
clothes: then, finding on his sides the scars of beating with rods,
they said, "O accursed! these marks are the manifest signs of thy
guilt!" They carried him before the Governor, whilst he said to
himself, "I am now punished for my sins and none can deliver me save
Allah Almighty!" The Governor addressing my brother asked him, "O
villain, what led thee to enter their house with intention to
murther?"; and my brother answered, "I conjure thee by Allah, O Emir,
hear my words and be not hasty in condemning me!". But the Governor
cried, "Shall we listen to the words of a robber who hath beggared
these people, and who beareth on his back the scar of his stripes?"
adding, "They surely had not done this to thee, save for some great
crime." So he sentenced him to receive an hundred cuts with the
scourge, after which they set him on a camel and paraded him about the
city, proclaiming, "This is the requital and only too little to requite
him who breaketh into people's houses." Then they thrust him out of the
city, and my brother wandered at random, till I heard what had befallen
him; and, going in search of him, questioned him of his case; so he
acquainted me with his story and all his mischances, and I carried him
secretly to the city where I made him an allowance for his meat and
drink. Then the Caliph gave ear to
_THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS FIFTH BROTHER._
My fifth brother Al-Nashshár,[659] the Babbler, the same who was
cropped of both ears, O Commander of the Faithful, was an asker wont
to beg of folk by night and live on their alms by day. Now when our
father, who was an old man well stricken in years, sickened and died,
he left us seven hundred dirhams whereof each son took his hundred;
but, as my fifth brother received his portion, he was perplexed and
knew not what to do with it. While in this uncertainty he bethought
him to lay it out on glass-ware of all sorts and turn an honest penny
on its price. So he bought an hundred dirhams worth of verroterie
and, putting it into a big tray, sat down to sell it on a bench at
the foot of a wall against which he leant back. As he sat with the
tray before him he fell to musing and said to himself, "Know, O my
good Self, that the head of my wealth, my principal invested in this
glass-ware, is an hundred dirhams. I will assuredly sell it for two
hundred, with which I will forthright buy other glass and make by it
four hundred; nor will I cease to sell and buy on this wise, till I
have gotten four thousand and soon find myself the master of much
money. With these coins I will buy merchandize and jewels and
ottars[660] and gain great profit on them; till, Allah willing, I
will make my capital an hundred thousand dirhams. Then I will
purchase a fine house with white slaves and eunuchs and horses; and I
will eat and drink and disport myself; nor will I leave a singing man
or a singing woman in the city, but I will summon them to my palace
and make them perform before me." All this he counted over in his
mind, while the tray of glass-ware, worth an hundred dirhams, stood
on the bench before him, and, after looking at it, he continued, "And
when, Inshallah! my capital shall have become one hundred
thousand[661] dinars, I will send out marriage-brokeresses to require
for me in wedlock the daughters of Kings and Wazirs; and I will
demand to wife the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister; for it hath
reached me that she is perfect in beauty and prime in loveliness and
rare in accomplishments. I will give a marriage-settlement of one
thousand dinars; and, if her father consent, well: but if not I will
take her by force from under his very nose. When she is safely homed
in my house, I will buy ten little eunuchs[662] and for myself a robe
of the robes of Kings and Sultans; and get me a saddle of gold and a
bridle set thick with gems of price. Then I will mount with the
Mamelukes preceding me and surrounding me, and I will make the round
of the city whilst the folk salute me and bless me; after which I
will repair to the Wazir (he that is father of the girl), with armed
white slaves before and behind me and on my right and on my left.
When he sees me, the Wazir stands up, and seating me in his own place
sits down much below me; for that I am to be his son-in-law. Now I
have with me two eunuchs carrying purses, each containing a thousand
dinars; and of these I deliver to him the thousand, his daughter's
marriage-settlement, and make him a free gift of the other thousand,
that he may have reason to know my generosity and liberality and my
greatness of spirit and the littleness of the world in my eyes. And
for ten words he addresses to me I answer him two. Then back I go to
my house, and if one come to me on the bride's part, I make him a
present of money and throw on him a dress of honour; but if he bring
me a gift, I give it back to him and refuse to accept it,[663] that
they may learn what a proud spirit is mine which never condescends to
derogate. Thus I establish my rank and status. When this is done I
appoint her wedding night and adorn my house showily! gloriously! And
as the time for parading the bride is come, I don my finest attire
and sit down on a mattress of gold brocade, propping up my elbow with
a pillow, and turning neither to the right nor to the left; but
looking only straight in front for the haughtiness of my mind and the
gravity of my understanding. And there before me stands my wife in
her raiment and ornaments, lovely as the full moon; and I, in my
loftiness and dread lordliness,[664] will not glance at her till
those present say to me, "O our lord and our master, thy wife, thy
handmaid, standeth before thee; vouchsafe her one look for standing
wearieth her." Then they kiss the ground before me many times;
whereupon I raise my eyes and cast at her one single glance and turn
my face earthwards again. Then they bear her off to the
bride-chamber,[665] and I arise and change my clothes for a far finer
suit; and, when they bring in the bride a second time, I deign not to
throw her a look till they have begged me many times; after which I
glance at her out of the corner of one eye, and then bend down my
head. I continue acting after this fashion till the parading and
displaying are completed"[666]——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Thirty-Third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Barber's
fifth brother proceeded:—Then I bend down my head and continue acting
after this fashion till her parading and displaying are completed.
Thereupon I order one of my eunuchs to bring me a bag of five hundred
dinars which I give as largesse to the tirewomen present and bid them
one and all lead me to the bride-chamber. When they leave me alone with
her I neither look at her nor speak to her, but lie[667] by her side
with my face to the wall showing my contempt, that each and every may
again remark how high and haughty I am. Presently her mother comes in
to me; and kissing[668] my head and hand, says to me, "O my lord, look
upon thine handmaid who longs for thy favour; so heal her broken
spirit!" I give her no answer; and when she sees this she rises and
busses my feet many times and says, "O my lord, in very sooth my
daughter is a beautiful maid, who hath never known man; and if thou
show her this backwardness and aversion, her heart will break; so do
thou incline to her and speak to her and soothe her mind and spirit."
Then she rises and fetches a cup of wine; and says to her daughter,
"Take it and hand it to thy lord." But as she approaches me I leave her
standing between my hands and sit, propping my elbow on a round cushion
purfled with gold thread, leaning lazily back, and without looking at
her in the majesty of my spirit, so that she may deem me indeed a
Sultan and a mighty man. Then she says to me, "O my lord, Allah upon
thee, do not refuse to take the cup from the hand of thine handmaid,
for verily I am thy bondswoman." But I do not speak to her and she
presses me, saying, "There is no help but that thou drink it;" and she
puts it to my lips. Then I shake my fist in her face and kick her with
my foot thus. So he let out with his toe and knocked over the tray of
glass-ware which fell to the ground and, falling from the bench, all
that was on it was broken to bits. "O foulest of pimps,[669] this comes
from the pride of my spirit!" cried my brother; and then, O Commander
of the Faithful, he buffeted his face and rent his garments, and kept
on weeping and beating himself. The folk who were flocking to their
Friday prayers saw him; and some of them looked at him and pitied him,
whilst others paid no heed to him, and in this way my brother lost both
capital and profit. He remained weeping a long while, and at last up
came a beautiful lady, the scent of musk exhaling from her, who was
going to Friday prayers riding a mule with a gold saddle and followed
by several eunuchs. When she saw the broken glass and my brother
weeping, her kind heart was moved to pity for him, and she asked what
ailed him and was told that he had a tray full of glass-ware by the
sale of which he hoped to gain his living, but it was broken, and (said
they), "there befel him what thou seest." Thereupon she called up one
of her eunuchs and said to him, "Give what thou hast with thee to this
poor fellow!" And he gave my brother a purse in which he found five
hundred dinars; and when it touched his hand he was well-nigh dying for
excess of joy and he offered up blessings for her. Then he returned to
his abode a substantial man; and, as he sat considering, some one
rapped at the door. So he rose and opened and saw an old woman whom he
had never seen. "O my son," said she, "know that prayertide is near and
I have not yet made my Wuzu-ablution[670]; so kindly allow me the use
of thy lodging for the purpose." My brother answered, "To hear is to
comply;" and going in bade her follow him. So she entered and he
brought her an ewer wherewith to wash, and sat down like to fly with
joy because of the dinars which he had tied up in his belt for a purse.
When the old woman had made an end of her ablution, she came up to
where he sat, and prayed a two-bow prayer; after which she blessed my
brother with a godly benediction, and he while thanking her put his
hand to the dinars and gave her two, saying to himself "These are my
voluntaries."[671] When she saw the gold she cried, "Praise be to
Allah! why dost thou look on one who loveth thee as if she were a
beggar? Take back thy money: I have no need of it; or, if thou want it
not, return it to her who gave it thee when thy glass-ware was broken.
Moreover, if thou wish to be united with her, I can manage the matter,
for she is my mistress." "O my mother," asked my brother, "by what
manner of means can I get at her?"; and she answered, "O my son! she
hath an inclination for thee, but she is the wife of a wealthy man; so
take the whole of thy money with thee and follow me, that I may guide
thee to thy desire: and when thou art in her company spare neither
persuasion nor fair words, but bring them all to bear upon her; so
shalt thou enjoy her beauty and wealth to thy heart's content." My
brother took all his gold and rose and followed the old woman, hardly
believing in his luck. She ceased not faring on, and my brother
following her, till they came to a tall gate at which she knocked and a
Roumi slave-girl[672] came out and opened to them. Then the old woman
led my brother into a great sitting-room spread with wondrous fine
carpets and hung with curtains, where he sat down with his gold before
him, and his turband on his knee.[673] He had scarcely taken seat
before there came to him a young lady (never eye saw fairer) clad in
garments of the most sumptuous; whereupon my brother rose to his feet,
and she smiled in his face and welcomed him, signing to him to be
seated. Then she bade shut the door and, when it was shut, she turned
to my brother, and taking his hand conducted him to a private chamber
furnished with various kinds of brocades and gold-cloths. Here he sat
down and she sat by his side and toyed with him awhile; after which she
rose and saying, "Stir not from thy seat till I come back to thee;"
disappeared. Meanwhile as he was on this wise, lo! there came in to him
a black slave big of body and bulk and holding a drawn sword in hand,
who said to him, "Woe to thee! Who brought thee hither and what dost
thou want here?" My brother could not return him a reply, being
tongue-tied for terror; so the blackamoor seized him and stripped him
of his clothes and bashed him with the flat of his sword-blade till he
fell to the ground, swooning from excess of belabouring. The ill-omened
nigger fancied that there was an end of him and my brother heard him
cry, "Where is the salt-wench?"[674] Whereupon in came a handmaid
holding in hand a large tray of salt, and the slave kept rubbing it
into my brother's wounds;[675] but he did not stir fearing lest the
slave might find out that he was not dead and kill him outright. Then
the salt-girl went away, and the slave cried "Where is the
souterrain[676]-guardianess?" Hereupon in came the old woman and
dragged my brother by his feet to a souterrain and threw him down upon
a heap of dead bodies. In this place he lay two full days, but Allah
made the salt the means of preserving his life by staunching the blood
and staying its flow. Presently, feeling himself able to move,
Al-Nashshár rose and opened the trap-door in fear and trembling and
crept out into the open; and Allah protected him, so that he went on in
the darkness and hid himself in the vestibule till dawn, when he saw
the accursed beldam sally forth in quest of other quarry. He followed
in her wake without her knowing it, and made for his own lodging where
he dressed his wounds and medicined himself till he was whole.
Meanwhile he used to watch the old woman, tracking her at all times and
seasons, and saw her accost one man after another and carry them to the
house. However he uttered not a word; but, as soon as he waxed hale and
hearty, he took a piece of stuff and made it into a bag which he filled
with broken glass and bound about his middle. He also disguised himself
as a Persian that none might know him, and hid a sword under his
clothes of foreign cut. Then he went out and presently, falling in with
the old woman, said to her, speaking Arabic with a Persian accent,
"Venerable lady,[677] I am a stranger arrived but this day here where I
know no one. Hast thou a pair of scales wherein I may weigh eleven
hundred dinars? I will give thee somewhat of them for thy pains." "I
have a son, a money-changer, who keepeth all kinds of scales," she
answered, "so come with me to him before he goeth out and he will weigh
thy gold." My brother answered "Lead the way!" She led him to the house
and the young lady herself came out and opened it, whereupon the old
woman smiled in her face and said, "I bring thee fat meat to-day."[678]
Then the damsel took my brother by the hand, and led him to the same
chamber as before; where she sat with him awhile then rose and went
forth saying, "Stir not from thy seat till I come back to thee."
Presently in came the accursed slave with the drawn sword and cried to
my brother, "Up and be damned to thee!" So he rose, and as the slave
walked on before him he drew the sword from under his clothes and smote
him with it, making head fly from body. Then he dragged the corpse by
the feet to the souterrain and called out, "Where is the salt-wench?"
Up came the girl carrying the tray of salt and, seeing my brother sword
in hand, turned to fly; but he followed her and struck off her head.
Then he called out "Where is the souterrain-guardianess?"; and in came
the old woman to whom he said, "Dost know me again, O ill-omened hag?"
"No my lord," she replied, and he said, "I am the owner of the five
hundred gold pieces, whose house thou enteredst to make the ablution
and to pray, and whom thou didst snare hither and betray." "Fear Allah
and spare me," cried she; but he regarded her not and struck her with
the sword till he had cut her in four. Then he went to look for the
young lady; and when she saw him her reason fled and she cried out
piteously "Amán![679] Mercy!" So he spared her and asked, "What made
thee consort with this blackamoor?;" and she answered, "I was slave to
a certain merchant, and the old woman used to visit me till I took a
liking to her. One day she said to me:—We have a marriage festival at
our house the like of which was never seen and I wish thee to enjoy the
sight. To hear is to obey, answered I and rising arrayed myself in my
finest raiment and ornaments, and took with me a purse containing an
hundred gold pieces. Then she brought me hither and hardly had I
entered the house when the black seized on me, and I have remained in
this case three whole years through the perfidy of the accursed
beldam." Then my brother asked her, "Is there anything of his in the
house?"; whereto she answered, "Great store of wealth, and if thou art
able to carry it away, do so and Allah give thee good of it!" My
brother went with her and she opened to him sundry chests wherein were
money bags, at which he was astounded; then she said to him, "Go now
and leave me here, and fetch men to remove the money." He went out and
hired ten men, but when he returned he found the door wide open, the
damsel gone and nothing left but some small matter of coin and the
household stuffs.[680] By this he knew that the girl had overreached
him; so he opened the store rooms and seized what was in them, together
with the rest of the money, leaving nothing in the house. He passed the
night rejoicing, but when morning dawned he found at the door some
twenty troopers who laid hands on him saying, "The Governor wants
thee!" My brother implored them hard to let him return to his house;
and even, offered them a large sum of money; but they refused and,
binding him fast with cords, carried him off. On the way they met a
friend of my brother who clung to his skirt and implored his
protection, begging him to stand by him and help to deliver him out of
their hands. The man stopped, and asked them what was the matter, and
they answered, "The Governor hath ordered us to bring this fellow
before him and, look ye, we are doing so." My brother's friend urged
them to release him, and offered them five hundred dinars to let him
go, saying, "When ye return to the Governor tell him that you were
unable to find him." But they would not listen to his words and took my
brother, dragging him along on his face, and set him before the
Governor who asked him, "Whence gottest thou these stuffs and monies?";
and he answered, "I pray for mercy!" So the Governor gave him the
kerchief of mercy;[681] and he told him all that had befallen him from
first to last with the old woman and the flight of the damsel; ending
with, "Whatso I have taken, take of it what thou wilt, so thou leave me
sufficient to support life."[682] But the Governor took the whole of
the stuffs and all the money for himself; and, fearing lest the affair
come to the Sultan's ears, he summoned my brother and said, "Depart
from this city, else I will hang thee." "Hearing and obedience" quoth
my brother and set out for another town. On the way thieves fell foul
of him and stripped and beat him and docked his ears; but I heard
tidings of his misfortunes and went out after him taking him clothes;
and brought him secretly into the city where I assigned to him an
allowance for meat and drink. And presently the Caliph gave ear to,
_THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS SIXTH BROTHER._