favour, over all his other children; and this son said to him one day,
“O my father, I have a mind to fare a-coursing and a-hunting.” So the
King bade furnish him and commanded one of his Wazirs to bear him
company and do all the service he needed during his trip. The Minister
accordingly took everything that was necessary for the journey and they
set out with a retinue of eunuchs and officers and pages, and rode on,
sporting as they went, till they came to a green and well-grassed
champaign abounding in pasture and water and game. Here the Prince
turned to the Minister and told him that the place pleased him and he
purposed to halt there. So they set down in that site and they loosed
the falcons and lynxes and dogs and caught great plenty of game, whereat
they rejoiced and abode there some days, in all joyance of life and its
delight. Then the King’s son gave the signal for departure; but, as they
went along, a beautiful gazelle, as if the sun rose shining from between
her horns, that had strayed from her mate, sprang up before the Prince,
whereupon his soul longed to make prize of her and he coveted her. So he
said to the Wazir, “I have a mind to follow that gazelle;” and the
Minister replied, “Do what seemeth good to thee.” Thereupon the Prince
rode single-handed after the gazelle, till he lost sight of his
companions, and chased her all that day till dusk, when she took refuge
in a bit of rocky ground[172] and darkness closed in upon him. Then he
would have turned back, but knew not the way; whereat he was sore
concerned and said, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” He sat his mare all night till morning
dawned, in quest of relief, but found none; and, when the day appeared,
he fared on at hazard fearful, famished, thirsty, and knowing not
whither to wend till it was noon and the sun beat down upon him with
burning heat. By that time he came in sight of a great city, with
massive base and lofty bulwarks; but it was ruined and desolate, nor was
there any live thing therein save owl and raven. As he stood among the
buildings, marvelling at their ordinance, lo! his eyes fell on a damsel,
young, beautiful and lovely, sitting under one of the city walls wailing
and weeping copious tears. So he drew nigh to her and asked, “Who art
thou and who brought thee hither?” She answered, “I am called Bint
al-Tamímah, daughter of Al-Tiyákh, King of the Gray Country. I went out
one day to obey a call of nature,[173] when an Ifrit of the Jinn
snatched me up and soared with me between heaven and earth; but as he
flew there fell on him a shooting-star in the form of a flame of fire
and burned him, and I dropped here, where these three days I have
hungered and thirsted; but when I saw thee I longed for life.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Prince, when
addressed by the daughter of King Al-Tiyakh who said to him, “When I saw
thee I longed for life,” was smitten with ruth and grief for her and
took her up on his courser’s crupper, saying, “Be of good cheer and keep
thine eyes cool and clear; for, if Allah (extolled and exalted be He!)
restore me to my people and family, I will send thee back to thine own
folk.” Then he rode on, praying for deliverance, and presently the
damsel said to him, “O King’s son, set me down, that I may do an
occasion under this wall.” So he drew bridle and she alighted. He waited
for her a long while as she hid herself behind the wall; and she came
forth, with the foulest of favours; which when he saw, his hair stood on
end and he quaked for fear of her and he turned deadly pale. Then she
sprang up on his steed, behind him, wearing the most loathly of aspects,
and presently she said to him, “O King’s son, what ails thee that I see
thee troubled and thy favour changed?” “I have bethought me of somewhat
that troubles me.” “Seek aid against it of thy father’s troops and his
braves.” “He whom I fear careth naught for troops, neither can braves
affright him.” “Aid thyself against him with thy father’s monies and
treasures.” “He whom I fear will not be satisfied with wealth.” “Ye hold
that ye have in Heaven a God who seeth and is not seen and is Omnipotent
and Omniscient.” “Yes, we have none but Him.” “Then pray thou to Him;
haply He will deliver thee from me thine enemy!” So the King’s son
raised his eyes to heaven and began to pray with his whole heart,
saying, “O my God, I implore Thy succour against that which troubleth
me.” Then he pointed to her with his hand, and she fell to the ground,
burnt black as charred coal. Therewith he thanked Allah and praised Him
and ceased not to fare forwards; and the Almighty (extolled and exalted
be He!) of His grace made the way easy to him and guided him into the
right road, so that he reached his own land and came upon his father’s
capital, after he had despaired of life. Now all this befel by the
contrivance of the Wazir, who travelled with him, to the end that he
might cause him to perish on the way; but Almighty Allah succoured him.
“And this” (said the damsel) “have I told thee, O King, that thou mayst
know that wicked Wazirs deal not honestly by nor counsel with sincere
intent their Kings; wherefore be thou wise and ware of them in this
matter.” The King gave ear to her speech and bade put his son to death;
but the third Wazir came in and said to his brother Ministers, “I will
warrant you from the King’s mischief this day,” and, going in to him,
kissed the ground between his hands and said, “O King, I am thy true
counsellor and solicitous for thee and for thine estate, and indeed I
rede thee the best of rede; it is that thou hasten not to slay thy son,
the coolth of thine eyes and the fruit of thy vitals. Haply his sin is
but a slight slip, which this damsel hath made great to thee; and indeed
I have heard tell that the people of two villages once destroyed one
another, because of a drop of honey.” Asked the King, “How was that?”;
and the Wazir answered, saying:—Know, O King, that I have heard this
story anent
_THE DROP OF HONEY_.[174]
A certain hunter used to chase wild beasts in wold, and one day he came
upon a grotto in the mountains, where he found a hollow full of bees’
honey. So he took somewhat thereof in a water-skin he had with him and,
throwing it over his shoulder, carried it to the city, followed by a
hunting dog which was dear to him. He stopped at the shop of an oilman
and offered him the honey for sale and he bought it. Then he emptied it
out of the skin, that he might see it, and in the act a drop fell to the
ground, whereupon the flies flocked to it and a bird swooped down upon
the flies. Now the oilman had a cat, which sprang upon the bird, and the
huntsman’s dog, seeing the cat, sprang upon it and slew it; whereupon
the oilman sprang upon the dog and slew it, and the huntsman in turn
sprang upon the oilman and slew him. Now the oilman was of one village
and the huntsman of another; and when the people of the two places heard
what had passed, they took up arms and weapons and rose one on other in
wrath and the two lines met; nor did the sword leave to play amongst
them, till there died of them much people, none knoweth their number
save Almighty Allah. And amongst other stories of the malice of women
(continued the Wazir) I have heard tell, O King, one concerning
_THE WOMAN WHO MADE HER HUSBAND SIFT DUST_.[175]
A man once gave his wife a dirham to buy rice; so she took it and went
to the rice-seller, who gave her the rice and began to jest with her and
ogle her, for she was dowered with beauty and loveliness, saying, “Rice
is not good but with sugar which if thou wilt have, come in with me for
an hour.” So, saying, “Give me sugar,” she went in with him into his
shop and he won his will of her and said to his slave, “Weigh her out a
dirham’s worth of sugar.” But he made the slave a privy sign, and the
boy, taking the napkin, in which was the rice, emptied it out and put in
earth and dust in its stead, and for the sugar set stones, after which
he again knotted up the napkin and left it by her. His object, in doing
this, was that she should come to him a second time; so, when she went
forth of the shop, he gave her the napkin and she took it, thinking to
have in it rice and sugar, and ganged her gait; but when she returned
home and, setting it before her husband, went for a cooking-pot, he
found in it earth and stones. So, as soon as she came back bringing the
pot, he said to her, “Did I tell thee I had aught to build, that thou
bringest me earth and stones?” When she saw this, she knew that the
rice-seller’s slave had tricked her; so she said to her husband, “O man,
in my trouble of mind for what hath befallen me, I went to fetch the
sieve and brought the cooking-pot.” “What hath troubled thee?” asked he;
and she answered, “O husband, I dropped the dirham thou gavest me in the
market-street and was ashamed to search for it before the folk; yet I
grudged to lose the silver, so I gathered up the earth from the place
where it fell and brought it away, thinking to sift it at home.
Wherefore I went to fetch the sieve, but brought the cooking-pot
instead.” Then she fetched the sieve and gave it to her husband, saying,
“Do thou sift it; for thine eyes are sharper than mine.” Accordingly he
sat, sifting the clay, till his face and beard were covered with dust;
and he discovered not her trick, neither knew what had befallen her.
“This then, O King,” said the Wazir, “is an instance of the malice of
women, and consider the saying of Allah Almighty:—Surely the cunning of
you (women) is great![176] And again:—Indeed, the malice of Satan is
weak in comparison with the malice of women.”[177] The King gave ear to
his Wazir’s speech and was persuaded thereby and was satisfied by what
he cited to him of the signs of Allah[178]; and the lights of good
counsel arose and shone in the firmament of his understanding and he
turned from his purpose of slaying his son. But on the fourth day, the
favourite came in to him weeping and wailing and, kissing the ground
before him, said, “O auspicious King, and lord of good rede, I have made
plainly manifest to thee my grievance and thou hast dealt unjustly by me
and hast forborne to avenge me on him who hath wronged me, because he is
thy son and the darling of thy heart; but Allah (extolled and exalted be
He!) will presently succour me against him, even as He succoured the
King’s son against his father’s Wazir.” “And how was that?” asked the
King; and she answered:—I have heard tell, O King, a tale of
_THE ENCHANTED SPRING_.[179]
There was once in times gone by a King who had one son and none other;
and, when the Prince grew up to man’s estate, he contracted him in
marriage to another King’s daughter. Now the damsel was a model of
beauty and grace and her uncle’s son had sought her in wedlock of her
sire, but she would none of him. So, when he knew that she was to be
married to another, envy and jealousy gat hold of him and he bethought
himself and sent a noble present to the Wazir of the bridegroom’s father
and much treasure, desiring him to use craft for slaying the Prince or
contrive to make him leave his intent of espousing the girl and adding,
“O Wazir, indeed jealousy moveth me to this for she is my cousin.”[180]
The Wazir accepted the present and sent an answer, saying, “Be of good
cheer and of eyes cool and clear, for I will do all that thou wishest.”
Presently, the bride’s father wrote to the Prince, bidding him to his
capital, that he might go in to his daughter; whereupon the King his
father gave him leave to wend his way thither, sending with him the
bribed Wazir and a thousand horse, besides presents and litters, tents
and pavilions. The Minister set out with the Prince, plotting the while
in his heart to do him a mischief; and when they came into the desert,
he called to mind a certain spring of running water in the mountains
there, called Al-Zahrá,[181] whereof whosoever drank from a man became a
woman. So he called a halt of the troops near the fountain and presently
mounting steed again, said to the Prince, “Hast thou a mind to go with
me and look upon a spring of water near hand?” The Prince mounted,
knowing not what should befal him in the future,[182] and they rode on,
unattended by any, and without stopping till they came to the spring.
The Prince being thirsty said to the Wazir, “O Minister, I am suffering
from drouth,” and the other answered, “Get thee down and drink of this
spring!” So he alighted and washed his hands and drank, when behold, he
straightway became a woman. As soon as he knew what had befallen him, he
cried out and wept till he fainted away, and the Wazir came up to him as
if to learn what had befallen him and cried, “What aileth thee?” So he
told him what had happened, and the Minister feigned to condole with him
and weep for his affliction, saying, “Allah Almighty be thy refuge in
thine affliction! How came this calamity upon thee and this great
misfortune to betide thee, and we carrying thee with joy and gladness,
that thou mightest go in to the King’s daughter? Verily, now I know not
whether we shall go to her or not; but the rede[183] is thine. What dost
thou command me to do?” Quoth the Prince, “Go back to my sire and tell
him what hath betided me, for I will not stir hence till this matter be
removed from me or I die in my regret.” So he wrote a letter to his
father, telling him what had happened, and the Wazir took it and set out
on his return to the city, leaving what troops he had with the Prince
and inwardly exulting for the success of his plot. As soon as he reached
the King’s capital, he went in to him and, telling him what had passed,
delivered the letter. The King mourned for his son with sore mourning
and sent for the wise men and masters of esoteric science, that they
might discover and explain to him this thing which had befallen his son,
but none could give him an answer. Then the Wazir wrote to the lady’s
cousin, conveying to him the glad news of the Prince’s misfortune, and
he when he read the letter rejoiced with great joy and thought to marry
the Princess and answered the Minister sending him rich presents and
great store of treasure and thanking him exceedingly. Meanwhile, the
Prince abode by the stream three days and three nights, eating not nor
drinking and committing himself, in his strait, unto Allah (extolled and
exalted be He!) who disappointeth not whoso relieth on him. On the
fourth night, lo! there came to him a cavalier on a bright-bay
steed[184] with a crown on his head, as he were of the sons of the
Kings, and said to him, “Who brought thee hither, O youth?” The Prince
told him his mishap, how he was wending to his wedding, and how the
Wazir had led him to a spring whereof he drank and incurred what had
occurred; and as he spoke his speech was broken by tears. Having heard
him the horseman pitied his case and said, “It was thy father’s Wazir
who cast thee into this strait, for no man alive save he knoweth of this
spring;” presently adding, “Mount thee behind me and come with me to my
dwelling, for thou art my guest this night.” “Acquaint me who thou art
ere I fare with thee,” quoth the Prince; and quoth the other, “I am a
King’s son of the Jinn, as thou a King’s son of mankind; so be of good
cheer and keep thine eyes clear of tear, for I will surely do away thy
cark and care; and this is a slight thing unto me.” So the Prince
mounted him behind the stranger, and they rode on, leaving the troops,
from the first of the day till midnight, when the King’s son of the Jinn
asked the Prince, “Knowest thou how many days’ march we have covered in
this time?” “Not I.” “We have come a full year’s journey for a diligent
horseman.” The Prince marvelled at this and said, “How shall I do to
return to my people?” “That is not thine affair, but my business. As
soon as thou art quit of thy complaint, thou shalt return to thy people
in less than the twinkling of an eye; for that is an easy matter to me.”
When the Prince heard these words he was ready to fly for excess of joy;
it seemed to him as he were in the imbroglio of a dream and he
exclaimed, “Glory be to Him who can restore the unhappy to
happiness!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Prince of the
Jinn said to the Prince of mankind, “When thou art quit of thy
complaint, thou shalt return to thy folk in less than the twinkling of
an eye;” and the King’s son rejoiced. They fared on all that night till
the morning morrowed when lo! they found themselves in a green and
smiling country, full of trees spireing and birds quiring and garths
fruit-growing and palaces high-showing and waters a-flowing and
odoriferous flowers a-blowing. Here the King’s son of the Jinn alighted
from his steed and, bidding the Prince do the like, took him by the hand
and carried him into one of the palaces, where he found a great King and
puissant Sultan; and abode with him all that day eating and drinking,
till nightfall. Then the King’s son of the Jinn mounted his courser and
taking the Prince up behind him, fared on swiftly through the murks and
glooms until morning, when lo, they found themselves in a dark land and
a desert, full of black rocks and stones, as it were a piece of Hell;
and the Prince asked the Jinni, “What is the name of this land?”
Answered the other, “It is called the Black Country, and belongs to one
of the Kings of the Jinn, by name Zu’l Janáhayn, against whom none of
the other Kings may prevail, neither may any enter his dominions save by
his permit; so tarry thou here, whilst I go ask leave.” So saying, he
went away and, returning after awhile, they fared on again, till they
ended at a spring of water welling forth of a black rock, and the King’s
son of the Jinn said to the King’s son of men, “Alight!” He dismounted
and the other cried, “Drink of this water!” So he drank of the spring
without stay or delay; and, no sooner had he done so than, by grace of
Allah, he became a man as before. At this he joyed with exceeding joy
and asked the Jinni, “O my brother, how is this spring called?” Answered
the other, “It is called the Women’s Spring, for that no woman drinketh
thereof but she becometh a man: wherefore do thou praise Allah the Most
High and thank Him for thy restoration and mount.” So the Prince
prostrated himself in gratitude to the Almighty, after which he mounted
again and they fared on diligently all that day, till they returned to
the Jinni’s home, where the Prince passed the night in all solace of
life. They spent the next day in eating and drinking till nightfall,
when the King’s son of the Jinn asked the Prince, “Hast thou a mind to
return to thy people this very night?” “Yes,” he answered; “for indeed I
long for them.” Then the Jinni called one of his father’s slaves,
Rájiz[185] hight, and said to him, “Take this young man mounted on thy
shoulders, and let not the day dawn ere he be with his father-in-law and
his wife.” Replied the slave. “Hearkening and obedience, and with love
and gladness, and upon my head and eyes!” then, withdrawing awhile,
re-appeared in the form of an Ifrit. When the Prince saw this, he lost
his senses for affright, but the Jinni said to him, “Fear not; no harm
shall befal thee. Mount thy horse and leap him on to the Ifrit’s
shoulders.” “Nay,” answered he, “I will leave my horse with thee and
bestride his shoulders myself.” So he bestrode the Ifrit’s shoulders
and, when the Jinni cried, “Close thine eyes, O my lord, and be not a
craven!” he strengthened his heart and shut his eyes. Thereupon the
Ifrit rose with him into the air and ceased not to fly between sky and
earth, whilst the Prince was unconscious, nor was the last third of the
night come before he lighted down with him on the terrace-roof of his
father-in-law’s palace. Then said the Ifrit, “Dismount and open thine
eyes; for this is the palace of thy father-in-law and his daughter.” So
he came down and the Ifrit flew away and left him on the roof of the
palace. When the day broke and the Prince recovered from his troubles,
he descended into the palace and as his father-in-law caught sight of
him, he came to meet him and marvelled to see him descend from the roof
of the palace, saying, “We see folk enter by the doors; but thou comest
from the skies.” Quoth the Prince, “Whatso Allah (may He be extolled and
exalted!) willeth that cometh to pass.” And he told him all that had
befallen him, from first to last, whereat the King marvelled and
rejoiced in his safety; and, as soon, as the sun rose, bade his Wazir
make ready splendid bride-feasts. So did he and they held the marriage
festival: after which the Prince, went in unto his bride and abode with
her two months, then departed with her for his father’s capital. As for
the damsel’s cousin, he died forthright of envy and jealousy. When the
Prince and his bride drew near his father’s city, the King came out to
meet them with his troops and Wazirs, and so Allah (blessed and exalted
be He!) enabled the Prince to prevail against his bride’s cousin and his
father’s Minister. “And I pray the Almighty” (added the damsel) “to aid
thee against thy Wazirs, O King, and I beseech thee to do me justice on
thy son!” When the King heard this, he bade put his son to death;——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the favourite
had told her tale to the King she said, “I beseech thee to do me justice
by putting thy son to death.” Now this was the fourth day, so the fourth
Wazir entered and, kissing the ground before him, said, “Allah stablish
and protect the King! O King, be deliberate in doing this thou art
resolved upon, for the wise man doth naught till he hath considered the
issue thereof, and the proverb saith:—Whoso looketh not to his actions’
end, hath not the world to friend; and whoso acteth without
consideration, there befalleth him what befel the Hammam-keeper with his
wife.” “And what betided him?” asked the King. And the Wazir answered:—I
have heard tell, O King, a tale of the
_WAZIR’S SON AND THE HAMMAM-KEEPER’S WIFE_.[186]
There was once a bath-keeper, to whom resorted the notables of the folk
and head men, and one day there came in to him a handsome youth of the
sons of Wazirs who was fat and bulky of body. So he stood to serve him
and when the young man put off his clothes,[187] he saw not his yard,
for that it was hidden between his thighs, by reason of the excess of
his fat, and there appeared thereof but what was like unto a
filbert.[188] At this the bath-keeper fell a-lamenting and smiting hand
upon hand, which when the youth saw, he said to him, “What ails thee, O
bath-keeper, to lament thus?” And he answered, saying, “O my lord, my
lamentation is for thee, because thou art in sore straits, for all thy
fair fortune and goodliness and exceeding comeliness, seeing thou hast
naught wherewithal to do and receive delight, like unto other men.”
Quoth the youth, “Thou sayst sooth, but thou mindest me of somewhat I
had forgotten.” “What is that?” asked the bath-keeper, and the youth
answered, “Take this gold piece and fetch me a pretty woman, that I may
prove my nature on her.” So he took the money and betaking himself to
his wife, said to her, “O woman, there is come to me in the bath a young
man of the sons of the Wazirs, as he were the moon on the fullest night;
but he hath no prickle like other men, for that which he hath is but
some small matter like unto a filbert. I lamented over his youth and he
gave me this dinar and asked me to fetch him a woman on whom he might
approve himself. Now thou art worthier of the money than another, and
from this no harm shall betide us, for I will protect thee. So do thou
sit with him awhile and laugh at him and take this dinar from him.” So
the good wife took the dinar and rising, adorned herself and donned the
richest of her raiment. Now she was the fairest woman of her time. Then
she went out with her husband and he carried her in to the Wazir’s son
in a privy place. When she came in to him, she looked at him and finding
him a handsome youth, fair of favour as he were the moon at full, was
confounded at his beauty and loveliness; and on like wise his heart and
wit were amazed at the first sight of her and the sweetness of her
smile. So he rose forthright and locking the door, took the damsel in
his arms and pressed her to his bosom and they embraced, whereupon the
young man’s yard swelled and rose on end, as it were that of a jackass,
and he rode upon her breast and futtered her, whilst she sobbed and
sighed and writhed and wriggled under him. Now the bath-keeper was
standing behind the door, awaiting what should betide between them, and
he began to call her saying, “O Umm Abdillah, enough! Come out, for the
day is long upon thy sucking child.” Quoth the youth, “Go forth to thy
boy and come back;” but quoth she, “If I go forth from thee, my soul
will depart my body; as regards the child, so I must either leave him to
die of weeping or let him be reared an orphan, without a mother.” So she
ceased not to abide with him till he had done his desire of her ten
times running, while her husband stood at the door, calling her and
crying out and weeping and imploring succour. But none came to aid him
and he ceased not to do thus, saying, “I will slay myself!”; till at
last, finding no way of access to his wife, and being distraught with
rage and jealousy, to hear sighing and murmuring and breathing hard
under the young man, he went up to the top of the bath and, casting
himself down therefrom, died. “Moreover, O King” (continued the Wazir),
“there hath reached me another story of the malice of women.” “What is
that?” asked the King, and the Wazir said:—Know, O King, that it is
anent
_THE WIFE’S DEVICE TO CHEAT HER HUSBAND_.