When the morning morrowed and the king sat on the throne of his
kingship, he summoned his Grand Wazir, the Premier of all his Ministers,
and said to him, “How seest thou the deed this robber-youth hath
done?[146] He hath entered my Harim and lain down on my couch and I fear
lest there be an object between him and the woman. What deemest thou of
the affair?” Said the Wazir, “Allah prolong the king’s continuance! What
sawest thou in this youth?[147] Is he not ignoble of birth, the son of
thieves? Needs must a thief revert to his vile origin, and whoso reareth
the serpent’s brood shall get of them naught but biting. As for the
woman, she is not at fault; since from time ago until now, nothing
appeared from her except good breeding and modest bearing; and at this
present, an the king give me leave, I will go to her and question her,
so I may discover to thee the affair.” The king gave him leave for this
and the Wazir went to the Queen and said to her, “I am come to thee, on
account of a grave shame, and I would fain have thee soothfast with me
in speech and tell me how came the youth into the sleeping-chamber.”
Quoth she, “I have no knowledge whatsoever of it, no, none at all,” and
sware to him a binding oath to that intent, whereby he knew that the
woman had no inkling of the affair, nor was in fault and said to her, “I
will show thee a sleight, wherewith thou mayst acquit thyself and thy
face be whitened before the king.” Asked she, “What is it?” and he
answered, “When the king calleth for thee and questioneth thee of this,
say thou to him:—Yonder youth saw me in the boudoir-chamber and sent me
a message, saying:—I will give thee an hundred grains of gem for whose
price money may not suffice, so thou wilt suffer me to enjoy thee. I
laughed at him who bespake me with such proposal and rebuffed him; but
he sent again to me, saying:—An thou consent not thereto, I will come
one of the nights, drunken, and enter and lie down in the
sleeping-chamber, and the king will see me and slay me; so wilt thou be
put to shame and thy face shall be blackened with him and thine honour
dishonoured. Be this thy saying to the king, and I will fare to him
forthright and repeat this to him.” Quoth the Queen, “And I also will
say thus.” Accordingly, the Minister returned to the king and said to
him, “Verily, this youth hath merited grievous pains and penalties after
the abundance of thy bounty, and no kernel which is bitter can ever wax
sweet;[148] but, as for the woman, I am certified that there is no
default in her.” Thereupon he repeated to the king the story which he
had taught the Queen, which when Azadbakht heard, he rent his raiment
and bade the youth be brought. So they fetched him and set him before
the king, who bade summon the Sworder, and the folk all fixed their eyes
upon the youth, to the end that they might see what the sovran should do
with him. Then said Azadbakht to him (and his words were words of anger
and the speech of the youth was reverent and well-bred), “I bought thee
with my money and looked for fidelity from thee, wherefore I chose thee
over all my Grandees and Pages and made thee Keeper of my treasuries.
Why, then, hast thou outraged mine honour and entered my house and
played traitor with me and tookest thou no thought of all I have done
thee of benefits?” Replied the youth, “O king, I did this not of my
choice and freewill and I had no business in being there; but, of the
lack of my luck, I was driven thither, for that Fate was contrary and
fair Fortune failed me. Indeed, I had endeavoured with all endeavour
that naught of foulness should come forth me and I kept watch and ward
over myself, lest default foreshow in me; and none may withstand an ill
chance, nor doth striving profit against adverse Destiny, as appeareth
by the example of the merchant who was stricken with ill luck and his
endeavour availed him naught and he fell by the badness of his fortune.”
The king asked, “What is the story of the merchant and how was his luck
changed upon him by the sorriness of his doom?” Answered the youth, “May
Allah prolong the king’s continuance!” and began
_THE STORY OF THE MERCHANT WHO LOST HIS LUCK._[149]
There was once a merchant man, who prospered in trade, and at one time
his every dirham won him fifty. Presently, his luck turned against him
and he knew it not; so he said to himself, “I have wealth galore, yet do
I toil and travel from country to country; so better had I abide in my
own land and rest myself in my own house from this travail and trouble
and sell and buy at home.” Then he made two parts of his money, and with
one bought wheat in summer, saying “Whenas winter cometh, I shall sell
it at a great profit.” But, when the cold set in wheat fell to half the
price for which he had purchased it, whereat he was concerned with sore
chagrin and left it till the next year. However, the price then fell yet
lower and one of his intimates said to him, “Thou hast no luck in this
wheat; so do thou sell it at whatsoever price.” Said the merchant, “Ah,
long have I profited! so ’tis allowable that I lose this time. Allah is
all-knowing! An it abide with me ten full years, I will not sell it save
for a gaining bargain.”[150] Then he walled up in his anger the
granary-door with clay, and by the ordinance of Allah Almighty, there
came a great rain and descended from the terrace-roofs of the house
wherein was the wheat so that the grain rotted; and the merchant had to
pay the porters from his purse five hundred dirhams for them to carry it
forth and cast it without the city, the smell of it having become
fulsome. So his friend said to him, “How often did I tell thee thou
hadst no luck in wheat? But thou wouldst not give ear to my speech, and
now it behoveth thee to go to the astrologer[151] and question him of
thine ascendant.” Accordingly the trader betook himself to the
astrologer and questioned him of his star, and astrophil said to him,
“Thine ascendant is adverse. Put not forth thy hand to any business, for
thou wilt not prosper thereby.” However, he paid no heed to the
astrologer’s words and said in himself, “If I do my business, I am not
afraid of aught.” Then he took the other half of his money, after he had
spent the first in three years, and builded him a ship, which he loaded
with a cargaison of whatso seemed good to him and all that was with him
and embarked on the sea, so he might voyage questing gain. The ship
remained in port some days, till he should be certified whither he would
wend, and he said, “I will ask the traders what this merchandise
profiteth and in what land ’tis wanted and how much can it gain.” They
directed him to a far country, where his dirham should produce an
hundredfold. So he set sail and made for the land in question; but, as
he went, there blew on him a furious gale, and the ship foundered. The
merchant saved himself on a plank and the wind cast him up, naked as he
was, on the sea-shore, where stood a town hard by. He praised Allah and
gave Him thanks for his preservation; then, seeing a great village nigh
hand, he betook himself thither and saw, seated therein, a very old man,
whom he acquainted with his case and that which had betided him. The
Shaykh grieved for him with sore grieving, when he heard his tale and
set food before him. He ate of it and the old man said to him, “Tarry
here with me, so I may make thee my overseer[152] and factor over a farm
I have here, and thou shalt have of me five dirhams a day.” Answered the
merchant, “Allah make fair thy reward, and requite thee with His boons
and bounties.” So he abode in this employ, till he had sowed and reaped
and threshed and winnowed, and all was clean in his hand and the Shaykh
appointed neither agent nor inspector, but relied utterly upon him. Then
the merchant bethought himself and said, “I doubt me the owner of this
grain will never give me my due; so the better rede were to take of it
after the measure of my wage; and if he give me my right, I will return
to him that I have taken.” So he laid hands upon the grain, after the
measure of that which fell to him, and hid it in a hiding place. Then he
carried the rest and meted it out to the old man, who said to him “Come,
take thy wage, for which I conditioned with thee, and sell the grain and
buy with the price clothes and what not else; and though thou abide with
me ten years, yet shalt thou still have this hire and I will acquit it
to thee on this wise.” Quoth the merchant in himself, “Indeed, I have
done a foul deed by taking it without his permission.” Then he went to
fetch that which he had hidden of the grain, but found it not and
returned, perplexed, sorrowful, to the Shaykh, who asked him, “What
aileth thee to be mournful?” and he answered, “Methought thou wouldst
not pay me my due; so I took of the grain, after the measure of my hire;
and now thou hast paid me all my right and I went to bring back to thee
that which I had hidden from thee, but found it gone, for those who had
come upon it have stolen it.” The Shaykh was wroth, when he heard these
words, and said to the merchant, “There is no device against ill luck! I
had given thee this but, of the sorriness of thy doom and thy fortune,
thou hast done this deed, O oppressor of thine own self! Thou deemedst I
would not fulfil to thee thy wage; but, by Allah, nevermore will I give
thee aught.” Then he drove him away from him. So the merchant went
forth, woeful, grieving, weeping-eyed, and wandered along the sea-shore,
till he came to a sort of duckers[153] diving in the sea for pearls.
They saw him weeping and wailing and said to him, “What is thy case and
what garreth thee shed tears?” So he acquainted them with his history,
from incept to conclusion, whereby the duckers knew him and asked him
“Art thou Such-an-one, son of Such-an-one?” He answered “Yes;” whereupon
they condoled with him and wept sore for him and said to him, “Abide
here till we dive upon thy luck this next time and whatso betideth us
shall be between us and thee.”[154] Accordingly, they ducked and brought
up ten oyster-shells, in each two great unions: whereat they marvelled
and said to him, “by Allah, thy luck hath re-appeared and thy good star
is in the ascendant!” Then the pearl-fishers gave him the ten pearls and
said to him, “Sell two of them and make them thy stock-in-trade: and
hide the rest against the time of thy straitness.” So he took them,
joyful and contented, and applied himself to sewing eight of them in his
gown, keeping the two others in his mouth; but a thief saw him and went
and advertised his fellows of him; whereupon they gathered together upon
him, and took his gown and departed from him. When they were gone away,
he arose, saying, “The two unions I have will suffice me,” and made for
the nearest city, where he brought out the pearls for sale. Now as
Destiny would have it, a certain jeweller of the town had been robbed of
ten unions, like those which were with the merchant; so, when he saw the
two pearls in the broker’s hand, he asked him, “To whom do these
belong?” and the broker answered, “To yonder man.” The jeweller, seeing
the merchant in pauper case and clad in tattered clothes, suspected him
and said to him, “Where be the other eight pearls?” The merchant thought
he asked him of those which were in the gown, whenas the man had
purposed only to surprise him into confession, and replied, “The thieves
stole them from me.” When the jeweller heard his reply, he was certified
that it was the wight who had taken his good; so he laid hold of him and
haling him before the Chief of Police, said to him, “This is the man who
stole my unions: I have found two of them upon him and he confesseth to
the other eight.” Now the Wali knew of the theft of the pearls; so he
bade throw the merchant into jail. Accordingly they imprisoned him and
whipped him, and he lay in trunk a whole year, till, by the ordinance of
Allah Almighty, the Chief of Police arrested one of the divers
aforesaid, and imprisoned him in the prison where the merchant was
jailed. The ducker saw him and knowing him, questioned him of his case;
whereupon he told them his tale, and that which had befallen him; and
the diver marvelled at the lack of his luck. So, when he came forth of
the prison, he acquainted the Sultan with the merchant’s case and told
him that it was he who had given him the pearls. The Sultan bade bring
him forth of the jail, and asked him of his story, whereupon he told him
all that had befallen him, and the Sovran pitied him and assigned him a
lodging in his own palace, together with pay and allowances for his
support. Now the lodging in question adjoined the king’s house, and
whilst the merchant was rejoicing in this and saying, “Verily, my luck
hath returned, and I shall live in the shadow of this king the rest of
my life,” he espied an opening walled up with clay and stones. So he
cleared the opening the better to see what was behind it, and behold, it
was a window giving upon the lodging of the king’s women. When he saw
this, he was startled and affrighted and rising in haste, fetched clay
and stopped it up again. But one of the eunuchs[155] saw him, and
suspecting him, repaired to the Sultan, and told him of this. So he came
and seeing the stones pulled out, was wroth with the merchant and said
to him, “Be this my reward from thee, that thou seekest to unveil my
Harim?” Thereupon he bade pluck out his eyes; and they did as he
commanded. The merchant took his eyes in his hand and said, “How long, O
star of ill-omen, wilt thou afflict me? First my wealth and now my
life!” And he bewailed himself, saying, “Striving profiteth me naught
against evil fortune. The Compassionate aided me not, and effort was
worse than useless.”[156] “On like wise, O king,” continued the youth,
“whilst fortune was favourable to me, all that I did came to good; but
now that it hath turned against me, everything turneth to mine ill.”
When the youth had made an end of his tale, the king’s anger subsided a
little, and he said, “Return him to the prison, for the day draweth to
an end, and to-morrow we will look into his affair, and punish him for
his ill-deeds.”
The Second Day.