There was once in tides of yore and in ages and times long gone
before in the city of Baghdad a fisherman, Khalífah hight, a
pauper wight, who had never once been married in all his days.
[FN#186] It chanced one morning, that he took his net and went
with it to the river, as was his wont, with the view of fishing
before the others came. When he reached the bank, he girt
himself and tucked up his skirts; then stepping into the water,
he spread his net and cast it a first cast and a second but it
brought up naught. He ceased not to throw it, till he had made
ten casts, and still naught came up therein; wherefore his breast
was straitened and his mind perplexed concerning his case and he
said, "I crave pardon of God the Great, there is no god but He,
the Living, the Eternal, and unto Him I repent. There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great! Whatso He willeth is and whatso He nilleth is not! Upon
Allah (to whom belong Honour and Glory!) dependeth daily bread!
Whenas He giveth to His servant, none denieth him; and whenas He
denieth a servant, none giveth to him." And of the excess of his
distress, he recited these two couplets,
"An Fate afflict thee, with grief manifest, * Prepare thy
patience and make broad thy breast;
For of His grace the Lord of all the worlds * Shall send to wait
upon unrest sweet Rest."
Then he sat awhile pondering his case, and with his head bowed
down recited also these couplets,
"Patience, with sweet and with bitter Fate! * And weet that His
will He shall consummate:
Night oft upon woe as on abscess acts * And brings it up to the
bursting state:
And Chance and Change shall pass o'er the youth * And fleet from
his thoughts and no more shall bait."
Then he said in his mind, "I will make this one more cast,
trusting in Allah, so haply He may not disappoint my hope;" and
he rose and casting into the river the net as far as his arm
availed, gathered the cords in his hands and waited a full hour,
after which he pulled at it and, finding it heavy,--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Khalifah the Fisherman had cast his net sundry times into the
stream, yet had it brought up naught, he pondered his case and
improvised the verses afore quoted. Then he said in his mind, "I
will make this one more cast, trusting in Allah who haply will
not disappoint my hope." So he rose and threw the net and waited
a full hour, after which time he pulled at it and, finding it
heavy, handled it gently and drew it in, little by little, till
he got it ashore, when lo and behold! he saw in it a one-eyed,
lame-legged ape. Seeing this quoth Khalifah, "There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! verily, we are
Allah's and to Him we are returning! What meaneth this heart-
breaking, miserable ill-luck and hapless fortune? What is come
to me this blessed day? But all this is of the destinies of
Almighty Allah!" Then he took the ape and tied him with a cord
to a tree which grew on the river-bank, and grasping a whip he
had with him, raised his arm in the air, thinking to bring down
the scourge upon the quarry, when Allah made the ape speak with a
fluent tongue, saying, "O Khalifah, hold thy hand and beat me
not, but leave me bounden to this tree and go down to the river
and cast thy net, confiding in Allah; for He will give thee thy
daily bread." Hearing this Khalifah went down to the river and
casting his net, let the cords run out. Then he pulled it in and
found it heavier than before; so he ceased not to tug at it, till
he brought it to land, when, behold, there was another ape in it,
with front teeth wide apart, [FN#187] Kohl-darkened eyes and
hands stained with Henna-dyes; and he was laughing and wore a
tattered waistcloth about his middle. Quoth Khalifah, "Praised
be Allah who hath changed the fish of the river into apes!"
[FN#188] then, going up to the first ape, who was still tied to
the tree, he said to him, "See, O unlucky, how fulsome was the
counsel thou gavest me! None but thou made me light on this
second ape: and for that thou gavest me good-morrow with thy one
eye and thy lameness, [FN#189] I am become distressed and weary,
without dirham or dinar." So saying, he hent in hand a stick
[FN#190] and flourishing it thrice in the air, was about to come
down with it upon the lame ape, when the creature cried out for
mercy and said to him, "I conjure thee, by Allah, spare me for
the sake of this my fellow and seek of him thy need; for he will
guide thee to thy desire!" So he held his hand from him and
throwing down the stick, went up to and stood by the second ape,
who said to him, "O Khalifah, this my speech [FN#191] will profit
thee naught, except thou hearken to what I say to thee; but, an
thou do my bidding and cross me not, I will be the cause of thine
enrichment." Asked Khalifah, "And what hast thou to say to me
that I may obey there therein?" The Ape answered, "Leave me
bound on the bank and hie thee down to the river; then cast thy
net a third time, and after I will tell thee what to do." So he
took his net and going down to the river, cast it once more and
waited awhile. Then he drew it in and finding it heavy, laboured
at it and ceased not his travail till he got it ashore, when he
found in it yet another ape; but this one was red, with a blue
waistcloth about his middle; his hands and feet were stained with
Henna and his eyes blackened with Kohl. When Khalifah saw this,
he exclaimed, "Glory to God the Great! Extolled be the
perfection of the Lord of Dominion! Verily, this is a blessed
day from first to last: its ascendant was fortunate in the
countenance of the first ape, and the scroll [FN#192] is known by
its superscription! Verily, to-day is a day of apes: there is
not a single fish left in the river, and we are come out to-day
but to catch monkeys!" Then he turned to the third ape and said,
"And what thing art thou also, O unlucky?" Quoth the ape, "Dost
thou not know me, O Khalifah!"; and quoth he, "Not I!" The ape
cried, "I am the ape of Abu al-Sa'ádát [FN#193] the Jew, the
shroff." Asked Khalifah, "And what dost thou for him?"; and the
ape answered, "I give him good-morrow at the first of the day,
and he gaineth five ducats; and again at the end of the day, I
give him good-even and he gaineth other five ducats." Whereupon
Khalifah turned to the first ape and said to him, "See, O
unlucky, what fine apes other folks have! As for thee, thou
givest me good-morrow with thy one eye and thy lameness and thy
ill-omened phiz and I become poor and bankrupt and hungry!" So
saying, he took the cattle-stick and flourishing it thrice in the
air, was about to come down with it on the first ape, when Abu
al-Sa'adat's ape said to him, "Let him be, O Khalifah, hold thy
hand and come hither to me, that I may tell thee what to do." So
Khalifah threw down the stick and walking up to him cried, "And
what hast thou to say to me, O monarch of all monkeys?" Replied
the ape, "Leave me and the other two apes here, and take thy net
and cast it into the river; and whatever cometh up, bring it to
me, and I will tell thee what shall gladden thee."--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.