the baker after summing up what was due to him said, “I still owe thee
two days’ bread,” replied, “Good,” and went on to the butcher, to whom
he gave a gold piece and took meat, saying, “Keep the rest of the dinar
on account.” Then he bought vegetables and going home, found his
brothers importuning their mother for victual, whilst she cried, “Have
patience till your brother come home, for I have naught.” So he went in
to them and said, “Take and eat;” and they fell on the food like
cannibals. Then he gave his mother the rest of his gold saying, “If my
brothers come to thee, give them wherewithal to buy food and eat in my
absence.” He slept well that night and next morning he took his net and
going down to Lake Karun stood there and was about to cast his net, when
behold, there came up to him a second Maghribi, riding on a she-mule
more handsomely accoutred than he of the day before and having with him
a pair of saddle-bags of which each pocket contained a casket. “Peace be
with thee, O Judar!” said the Moor: “And with thee be peace, O my lord,
the pilgrim!” replied Judar. Asked the Moor, “Did there come to thee
yesterday a Moor riding on a mule like this of mine?” Hereat Judar was
alarmed and answered, “I saw none,” fearing lest the other say, “Whither
went he?” and if he replied, “He was drowned in the lake,” that haply he
should charge him with having drowned him; wherefore he could not but
deny. Rejoined the Moor, “Harkye, O unhappy![266] this was my brother,
who is gone before me.” Judar persisted, “I know naught of him.” Then
the Moor enquired, “Didst thou not bind his arms behind him and throw
him into the lake, and did he not say to thee:—If my hands appear above
the water first, cast thy net over me and drag me out in haste; but, if
my feet show first, know that I am dead and carry the mule to the Jew
Shamayah, who shall give thee an hundred dinars.” Quoth Judar, “Since
thou knowest all this why and wherefore dost thou question me?”; and
quoth the Moor, “I would have thee do with me as thou didst with my
brother.” Then he gave him a silken cord, saying, “Bind my hands behind
me and throw me in, and if I fare as did my brother, take the mule to
the Jew and he will give thee other hundred dinars.” Said Judar, “Come
on;” so he came and he bound him and pushed him into the lake, where he
sank. Then Judar sat watching and after awhile, his feet appeared above
the water and the fisher said, “He is dead and damned! Inshallah, may
Maghribis come to me every day, and I will pinion them and push them in
and they shall die; and I will content me with an hundred dinars for
each dead man.” Then he took the mule to the Jew, who seeing him asked,
“The other is dead?” Answered Judar, “May thy head live!”; and the Jew
said, “This is the reward of the covetous!” Then he took the mule and
gave Judar an hundred dinars, with which he returned to his mother. “O
my son,” said she, “whence hast thou this?” So he told her, and she
said, “Go not again to Lake Karun, indeed I fear for thee from the
Moors.” Said he, “O my mother, I do but cast them in by their own wish,
and what am I to do? This craft bringeth me an hundred dinars a day and
I return speedily; wherefore, by Allah, I will not leave going to Lake
Karun, till the trace of the Magháribah[267] is cut off and not one of
them is left.” So, on the morrow which was the third day, he went down
to the lake and stood there, till there came up a third Moor, riding on
a mule with saddle-bags and still more richly accoutred than the first
two, who said to him, “Peace be with thee, O Judar, O son of Omar!” And
the fisherman saying in himself, “How comes it that they all know me?”
returned his salute. Asked the Maghribi, “Have any Moors passed by
here?” “Two,” answered Judar. “Whither went they?” enquired the Moor,
and Judar replied, “I pinioned their hands behind them and cast them
into the lake, where they were drowned, and the same fate is in store
for thee.” The Moor laughed and rejoined, saying, “O unhappy! every life
hath its term appointed.” Then he alighted and gave the fisherman the
silken cord, saying, “Do with me, O Judar, as thou didst with them.”
Said Judar, “Put thy hands behind thy back, that I may pinion thee, for
I am in haste, and time flies.” So he put his hands behind him and Judar
tied him up and cast him in. Then he waited awhile; presently the Moor
thrust both hands forth of the water and called out to him, saying, “Ho,
good fellow, cast out thy net!” So Judar threw the net over him and drew
him ashore, and lo! in each hand he held a fish as red as coral. Quoth
the Moor, “Bring me the two caskets that are in the saddle-bags.” So
Judar brought them and opened them to him, and he laid in each casket a
fish and shut them up. Then he pressed Judar to his bosom and kissed him
on the right cheek and the left, saying, “Allah save thee from all
stress! By the Almighty, hadst thou not cast the net over me and pulled
me out, I should have kept hold of these two fishes till I sank and was
drowned, for I could not get ashore of myself.” Quoth Judar, “O my lord
the pilgrim, Allah upon thee, tell me the true history of the two
drowned men and the truth anent these two fishes and the Jew.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Tenth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Judar
asked the Maghribi, saying, “Prithee tell me first of the drowned men,”
the Maghribi answered:—Know, O Judar, that these drowned men were my two
brothers, by name Abd al-Salám and Abd al-Ahad. My own name is Abd
al-Samad, and the Jew also is our brother; his name is Abd al-Rahím and
he is no Jew, but a true believer of the Maliki school. Our father,
whose name was Abd al-Wadúd,[268] taught us magic and the art of solving
mysteries and bringing hoards to light, and we applied ourselves
thereto, till we compelled the Ifrits and Marids of the Jinn to do us
service. By-and-by, our sire died and left us much wealth, and we
divided amongst us his treasures and talismans, till we came to the
books, when we fell out over a volume called “The Fables of the
Ancients,” whose like is not in the world, nor can its price be paid of
any, nor is its value to be evened with gold and jewels; for in it are
particulars of all the hidden hoards of the earth and the solution of
every secret. Our father was wont to make use of this book, of which we
had some small matter by heart, and each of us desired to possess it,
that he might acquaint himself with what was therein. Now when we fell
out there was in our company an old man by name Cohen Al-Abtan,[269] who
had reared our sire and taught him divination and gramarye, and he said
to us, “Bring me the book.” So we gave it him and he continued:—Ye are
my son’s sons, and it may not be that I should wrong any of you. So
whoso is minded to have the volume, let him address himself to achieve
the treasure of Al-Shamardal[270] and bring me the celestial planisphere
and the Kohl-phial and the seal-ring and the sword. For the ring hath a
Marid that serveth it called Al-Ra’ad al-Kásif;[271] and whoso hath
possession thereof, neither King nor Sultan may prevail against him; and
if he will, he may therewith make himself master of the earth, in all
the length and breadth thereof. As for the brand, if its bearer draw it
and brandish it against an army, the army will be put to the rout; and
if he say the while, “Slay yonder host,” there will come forth of that
sword lightning and fire, that will kill the whole many. As for the
planisphere, its possessor hath only to turn its face toward any
country, east or west, with whose sight he hath a mind to solace
himself, and therein he will see that country and its people, as they
were between his hands and he sitting in his place; and if he be wroth
with a city and have a mind to burn it, he hath but to face the
planisphere towards the sun’s disc, saying, “Let such a city be burnt,”
and that city will be consumed with fire. As for the Kohl-phial, whoso
pencilleth his eyes therefrom, he shall espy all the treasures of the
earth. And I make this condition with you which is that whoso faileth to
hit upon the hoards shall forfeit his right; and that none save he who
shall achieve the treasure and bring me the four precious things which
be therein shall have any claim to take this book. So we all agreed to
this condition, and he continued, “O my sons, know that the treasure of
Al-Shamardal is under the commandment of the sons of the Red King, and
your father told me that he had himself essayed to open the treasure,
but could not; for the sons of the Red King fled from him into the land
of Egypt and took refuge in a lake there, called Lake Karun, whither he
pursued them, but could not prevail over them, by reason of their
stealing into that lake, which was guarded by a spell.”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Eleventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Cohen
Al-Abtan had told the youths this much, he continued his tale as
follows, “So your father returned empty-handed and unable to win to his
wish; and after failing he complained to me of his ill-success,
whereupon I drew him an astrological figure and found that the treasure
could be achieved only by means of a young fisherman of Cairo, hight
Judar bin Omar, the place of foregathering with whom was at Lake Karun,
for that he should be the means of capturing the sons of the Red King
and that the charm would not be dissolved, save if he should bind the
hands of the treasure-seeker behind him and cast him into the lake,
there to do battle with the sons of the Red King. And he whose lot it
was to succeed would lay hands upon them; but, if it were not destined
to him he should perish and his feet appear above water. As for him who
was successful, his hands would show first, whereupon it behoved that
Judar should cast the net over him and draw him ashore.” Now quoth my
brothers Abd al-Salam and Abd al-Ahad, “We will wend and make trial,
although we perish;” and quoth I, “And I also will go;” but my brother
Abd al-Rahím (he whom thou sawest in the habit of a Jew) said, “I have
no mind to this.” Thereupon we agreed with him that he should repair to
Cairo in the disguise of a Jewish merchant, so that, if one of us
perished in the lake, he might take his mule and saddle-bags and give
the bearer an hundred dinars. The first that came to thee the sons of
the Red King slew, and so did they with my second brother; but against
me they could not prevail and I laid hands on them. Cried Judar, “And
where is thy catch?” Asked the Moor, “Didst thou not see me shut them in
the caskets?” “Those were fishes,” said Judar. “Nay,” answered the
Maghribi, “they are Ifrits in the guise of fish. But, O Judar,”
continued he, “thou must know that the treasure can be opened only by
thy means: so say, wilt thou do my bidding and go with me to the city
Fez and Mequinez[272] where we will open the treasure?; and after I will
give thee what thou wilt and thou shalt ever be my brother in the bond
of Allah and return to thy family with a joyful heart.” Said Judar, “O
my lord the pilgrim, I have on my neck a mother and two brothers,”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Twelfth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Judar said to
the Maghribi, “I have on my neck a mother and two brothers, whose
provider I am; and if I go with thee, who shall give them bread to eat?”
Replied the Moor, “This is an idle excuse! if it be but a matter of
expenditure, I will give thee a thousand ducats for thy mother,
wherewith she may provide herself till thou come back: and indeed thou
shalt return before the end of four months.” So when Judar heard mention
of the thousand dinars, he said, “Here with them, O Pilgrim, and I am
thy man;” and the Moor, pulling out the money, gave it to him, whereupon
he carried it to his mother and told her what had passed between them,
saying, “Take these thousand dinars and expend of them upon thyself and
my brothers, whilst I journey to Marocco with the Moor, for I shall be
absent four months, and great good will betide me; so bless me, O my
mother!” Answered she, “O my son, thou desolatest me and I fear for
thee.” “O my mother,” rejoined he, “no harm can befal him who is in
Allah’s keeping, and the Maghribi is a man of worth;” and he went on to
praise his condition to her. Quoth she, “Allah incline his heart to
thee! Go with him, O my son; peradventure, he will give thee somewhat.”
So he took leave of his mother and rejoined the Moor Abd al-Samad, who
asked him, “Hast thou consulted thy mother?” “Yes,” answered Judar; “and
she blessed me.” “Then mount behind me,” said the Maghribi. So Judar
mounted the mule’s crupper and they rode on from noon till the time of
mid-afternoon prayer, when the fisherman was an-hungered; but seeing no
victual with the Moor, said to him, “O my lord the pilgrim, belike thou
hast forgotten to bring us aught to eat by the way?” Asked the Moor,
“Art thou hungry?” and Judar answered, “Yes.” So Abd al-Samad alighted
and made Judar alight and take down the saddle-bags[273]; then he said
to him, “What wilt thou have, O my brother?” “Anything.” “Allah upon
thee, tell me what thou hast a mind to.” “Bread and cheese.” “O my poor
fellow! bread and cheese besit thee not; wish for something good.” “Just
now everything is good to me.” “Dost thou like nice browned chicken?”
“Yes!” “Dost thou like rice and honey?” “Yes!” And the Moor went on to
ask him if he liked this dish and that dish till he had named
four-and-twenty kinds of meats; and Judar thought to himself, “He must
be daft! Where are all these dainties to come from, seeing he hath
neither cook nor kitchen? But I’ll say to him, ‘Tis enough!” So he
cried, “That will do: thou makest me long for all these meats, and I see
nothing.” Quoth the Moor, “Thou art welcome, O Judar!” and, putting his
hand into the saddle-bags, pulled out a golden dish containing two hot
browned chickens. Then he thrust his hand a second time and drew out a
golden dish, full of kabobs[274]; nor did he stint taking out dishes
from saddle-bags, till he had brought forth the whole of the
four-and-twenty kinds he had named, whilst Judar looked on. Then said
the Moor, “Fall to, poor fellow!”, and Judar said to him, “O my lord,
thou carriest in yonder saddle-bags kitchen and kitcheners!” The Moor
laughed and replied, “These are magical saddle-bags and have a servant,
who would bring us a thousand dishes an hour, if we called for them,”
Quoth Judar, “By Allah, a meat thing in saddle-bags!” Then they ate
their fill and threw away what was left; after which the Moor replaced
the empty dishes in the saddle-bags and putting in his hand, drew out an
ewer. They drank and making the Wuzu-ablution, prayed the mid-afternoon
prayer; after which Abd al-Samad replaced the ewer and the two caskets
in the saddle-bags and throwing them over the mule’s back, mounted and
cried, “Up with thee and let us be off,” presently adding, “O Judar,
knowest thou how far we have come since we left Cairo?” “Not I, by
Allah,” replied he, and Abd al-Samad, “We have come a whole month’s
journey.” Asked Judar, “And how is that?”; and the Moor answered, “Know,
O Judar, that this mule under us is a Marid of the Jinn who every day
performeth a year’s journey; but, for thy sake, she hath gone an easier
pace.” Then they set out again and fared on westwards till nightfall,
when they halted and the Maghribi brought out supper from the
saddle-bags, and in like manner, in the morning, he took forth
wherewithal to break their fast. So they rode on four days, journeying
till midnight and then alighting and sleeping until morning, when they
fared on again; and all that Judar had a mind to, he sought of the Moor,
who brought it out of the saddle-bags. On the fifth day, they arrived at
Fez and Mequinez and entered the city, where all who met the Maghribi
saluted him and kissed his hands; and he continued riding through the
streets, till he came to a certain door, at which he knocked, whereupon
it opened and out came a girl like the moon, to whom said he, “O my
daughter, O Rahmah,[275] open us the upper chamber.” “On my head and
eyes, O my papa!” replied she and went in, swaying her hips to and fro
with a graceful and swimming gait like a thirsting gazelle, movements
that ravished Judar’s reason, and he said, “This is none other than a
King’s daughter.” So she opened the upper chamber, and the Moor, taking
the saddle-bags from the mule’s back, said, “Go, and God bless thee!”
when lo! the earth clove asunder and swallowing the mule, closed up
again as before. And Judar said, “O Protector! praised be Allah, who
hath kept us in safety on her back!” Quoth the Maghribi, “Marvel not, O
Judar. I told thee that the mule was an Ifrit; but come with us into the
upper chamber.” So they went up into it, and Judar was amazed at the
profusion of rich furniture and pendants of gold and silver and jewels
and other rare and precious things which he saw there. As soon as they
were seated, the Moor bade Rahmah bring him a certain bundle[276] and
opening it, drew out a dress worth a thousand dinars, which he gave to
Judar, saying, “Don this dress, O Judar, and welcome to thee!” So Judar
put it on and became a fair ensample of the Kings of the West. Then the
Maghribi laid the saddle-bags before him, and, putting in his hand,
pulled out dish after dish, till they had before them a tray of forty
kinds of meat, when he said to Judar, “Come near, O my master! eat and
excuse us”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Thirteenth Night,
[Illustration]
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Maghribi
having served up in the pavilion a tray of forty kinds of meat, said to
Judar, “Come near, O my master, and excuse us for that we know not what
meats thou desirest; but tell us what thou hast a mind to, and we will
set it before thee without delay.” Replied Judar, “By Allah, O my lord
the pilgrim, I love all kinds of meat and unlove none; so ask me not of
aught, but bring all that cometh to thy thought, for save eating to do I
have nought.” After this he tarried twenty days with the Moor, who clad
him in new clothes every day, and all this time they ate from the
saddle-bags; for the Maghribi bought neither meat nor bread nor aught
else, nor cooked, but brought everything out of the bags, even to
various sorts of fruit. On the twenty-first day, he said, “O Judar, up
with thee; this is the day appointed for opening the hoard of
Al-Shamardal.” So he rose and they went afoot[277] without the city,
where they found two slaves, each holding a she-mule. The Moor mounted
one beast and Judar the other, and they ceased not riding till noon,
when they came to a stream of running water, on whose banks Abd al-Samad
alighted saying, “Dismount, O Judar!” Then he signed with his hand to
the slaves and said, “To it!” So they took the mules and going each his
own way, were absent awhile, after which they returned, one bearing a
tent, which he pitched, and the other carpets, which he spread in the
tent and laid mattresses, pillows and cushions there-around. Then one of
them brought the caskets containing the two fishes; and another fetched
the saddle-bags; whereupon the Maghribi arose and said, “Come, O Judar!”
So Judar followed him into the tent and sat down beside him; and he
brought out dishes of meat from the saddle-bags and they ate the undurn
meal. Then the Moor took the two caskets and conjured over them both,
whereupon there came from within voices that said, “Adsumus, at thy
service, O diviner of the world! Have mercy upon us!” and called aloud
for aid. But he ceased not to repeat conjurations and they to call for
help, till the two caskets flew in sunder, the fragments flying about,
and there came forth two men, with pinioned hands saying, “Quarter, O
diviner of the world! What wilt thou with us?” Quoth he, “My will is to
burn you both with fire, except ye make a covenant with me, to open to
me the treasure of Al-Shamardal.” Quoth they, “We promise this to thee,
and we will open the treasure to thee, so thou produce to us Judar bin
Omar, the fisherman, for the hoard may not be opened but by his means,
nor can any enter therein save Judar.” Cried the Maghribi, “Him of whom
ye speak, I have brought, and he is here, listening to you and looking
at you.” Thereupon they covenanted with him to open the treasure to him,
and he released them. Then he brought out a hollow wand and tablets of
red carnelian which he laid on the rod; and after this he took a
chafing-dish and setting charcoal thereon, blew one breath into it and
it kindled forthwith. Presently he brought incense and said, “O Judar, I
am now about to begin the necessary conjurations and fumigations, and
when I have once begun, I may not speak, or the charm will be naught; so
I will teach thee first what thou must do to win thy wish.” “Teach me,”
quoth Judar. “Know,” quoth the Moor, “that when I have recited the spell
and thrown on the incense, the water will dry up from the river’s bed
and discover to thee a golden door, the bigness of the city-gate, with
two rings of metal thereon; whereupon do thou go down to the door and
knock a light knock and wait awhile; then knock a second time a knock
louder than the first and wait another while; after which give three
knocks in rapid succession, and thou wilt hear a voice ask:—Who knocketh
at the door of the treasure, unknowing how to solve the secrets? Do thou
answer:—I am Judar the fisherman son of Omar: and the door will open and
there will come forth a figure with a brand in hand who will say to
thee: If thou be that man, stretch forth thy neck, that I may strike off
thy head. Then do thou stretch forth thy neck and fear not; for, when he
lifts his hand and smites thee with the sword, he will fall down before
thee, and in a little thou wilt see him a body sans soul; and the stroke
shall not hurt thee nor shall any harm befal thee; but, if thou gainsay
him, he will slay thee. When thou hast undone his enchantment by
obedience, enter and go on till thou see another door, at which do thou
knock, and there will come forth to thee a horseman riding a mare with a
lance on his shoulder and say to thee:—What bringeth thee hither, where
none may enter ne man ne Jinni? And he will shake his lance at thee.
Bare thy breast to him and he will smite thee and fall down forthright
and thou shalt see him a body without a soul; but if thou cross him he
will kill thee. Then go on to the third door, whence there will come
forth to thee a man with a bow and arrows in his hand and take aim at
thee. Bare thy breast to him and he will shoot at thee and fall down
before thee, a body without a soul; but if thou oppose him, he will kill
thee. Then go on to the fourth door”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Fourteenth Night,