Stories from
The Arabian Nights
Retold by Laurence Housman
[Illustration]
With Drawings by Edmund Dulac
Hodder and Stoughton
Publishers, London
[Illustration: Scheherazadè, the heroine of the Thousand and One
Nights.]
PREFACE
Scheherazadè, the heroine of the Thousand and one Nights, ranks among
the great story-tellers of the world much as does Penelope among the
weavers. Procrastination was the basis of her art; for though the
task she accomplished was splendid and memorable, it is rather in
the quantity than the quality of her invention--in the long spun-out
performance of what could have been done far more shortly--that she
becomes a figure of dramatic interest. The idea which binds the stories
together is greater and more romantic than the stories themselves;
and though, both in the original and in translation, the diurnal
interruption of their flow is more and more taken for granted, we
are never quite robbed of the sense that it is Scheherazadè who is
speaking--Scheherazadè, loquacious and self-possessed, sitting up
in bed at the renewed call of dawn to save her neck for the round
of another day. Here is a figure of romance worth a dozen of the
prolix stories to which it has been made sponsor; and often we may
have followed the fortunes of some shoddy hero and heroine chiefly to
determine at what possible point of interest the narrator could have
left hanging that frail thread on which for another twenty-four hours
her life was to depend.
Yes, the idea is delightful; and, with the fiction of Scheherazadè to
colour them, the tales acquire a rank which they would not otherwise
deserve; their prolixity is then the crowning point of their art, their
sententious truisms have a flavour of ironic wit, their repetitions
become humorous, their trivialities a mark of light-hearted courage;
even those deeper indiscretions, which Burton has so faithfully
recorded, seem then but a wise adaptation of vile means to a noble
end. And yet we know that it is not so; for, as a matter of fact,
the "Arabian Nights Entertainment" is but a miscellany gathered from
various sources, of various dates, and passing down to us, even in its
collocated form, under widely differing versions. None but scholars
can know how little of the unadulterated originals has come into our
possession; and only those whose pious opinions shut their eyes to
obvious facts can object in principle to the simplification of a form
which, from the point of view of mere story-telling, can so easily be
bettered. Even the more accurate of the versions ordinarily available
are full of abridgement, alteration, and suppression; and if you have
to eliminate Scheherazadè and select your stories mainly with a view
to illustration, then you have very largely done away with the reasons
for treating tenderly that prolixity which in an impatient age tends to
debar readers from an old classic.
And so, in the present version, whoever shall care to make comparison
will find that the original material has been treated with considerable
freedom in the direction of brevity, and with an almost uniform
departure from the exact text, save where essentials of plot or
character or local colour required a closer, accuracy. In the case
also of conflicting versions, there has been no reluctance to choose
and combine in order to secure a livelier result; and a further
freedom has sometimes been taken of giving to an incident more meaning
and connexion than has been allowed to it in the original. That is,
perhaps, the greatest licence of all, but it is the one that does
least harm in formal result; for no one can read the majority of the
tales in their accepted versions without perceiving that, as regards
construction and the piecing of event with event, they are either
incredibly careless or discreditably perfunctory. We have to reckon
with them as the product of a race keenly alive to the value of colour
and pictorial description, but a race whose constructive imagination
was feeble and diffuse, lacking almost entirely that great essential
for the development of art in its finer forms--the economy of means
toward ends.
But because they contain, though at a low pressure, the expression
of so much life, habit and custom, so many coloured and secluded
interiors, so quaint a commingling of crowds, so brilliant and moving
a pageantry of Eastern mediævalism, because of all these things the
"Arabian Nights" will still retain their perennial charm. Those of
us who read are all travellers; and never is our travelling sense so
awakened perhaps, as when we dip into a book such as this where the
incredible and the common-place are so curiously blended, and where
Jinn and Efreet and Magician have far less interest for us now than the
silly staring crowds, and the bobbing camels in the narrow streets, and
Scheherazadè spinning her poor thin yarn of wonders that she may share
for another night the pillow of a homicidal maniac.
CONTENTS
The Fisherman and the Genie
The Story of the King of the Ebony Isles
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Story of the Magic Horse
The Story of the Wicked Half-Brothers
The Story of the Princess of Deryabar
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Scheherazadè, the heroine of the Thousand and One
Nights.
2. And there in its midst stood a mighty Genie.
3. When having brought into submission all the rest of my race.
4. No sooner had the monarch seen them, so strange of form and so
brilliant and diverse in hue.
5. Thereupon the damsel upset the pan into the fire.
6. Recalling the fisherman by a swift messenger.
7. He arrived within sight of a palace of shining marble.
8. The Queen of the Ebony Isles.
9. Supposing me asleep, they began to talk.
10. The cup of wine which she gives him each night contains a
sleeping-draught.
11. She went on to vent her malice upon the city and islands.
12. Began to heap upon me terms of the most violent and shameful
abuse.
13. Thus by her wicked machinations the city became a lake.
14. Great was the astonishment of the Vizier and the Sultan's escort.
15. Their chief in a low but distinct voice uttered the two words
"Open Sesame!".
16. Ali Baba departed for the town a well satisfied man.
17. As soon as he came in she began to jeer at him.
18. Greater still was the exultation of a greedy nature like that
of Cassim's.
19. Mustapha doubted much of his ability to refrain from question.
20. This way and that she led him blindfold.
21. Having transformed himself by disguise.
22. "Sir," said he, "I have brought my oil a great distance to sell
to-morrow".
23. She poured into each jar in turn a sufficient quantity of the
boiling oil to scald its occupant to death.
24. When Morgiana, who had remained all this time on the watch.
25. Then for the last figure of all she drew out the dagger.
26. At so arrogant a claim all the courtiers burst into loud
laughter.
27. As he descended, the daylight in which hitherto he had been
travelling faded from view.
28. He saw black eunuchs lying asleep.
29. She gave orders for a rich banquet to be prepared.
30. Till the tale of her mirror contented her.
31. She cried: "O miserable man, what sorry watch is this that thou
hast kept".
32. All this time the Princess had been watching the combat from
the roof of the palace.
33. In the garden of the summer palace all was silence and solitude.
34. Sat by the lake and solaced themselves sweetly with love.
35. It was in vain that all the wisest physicians in the country
were summoned into consultation.
36. For many months he travelled without clue.
37. And ever with the tears falling down from her eyes she sighed
and sang.
38. There appeared before him an old man of venerable appearance.
39. Pirouzè, the fairest and most honourably born.
40. Reaching his farthest wounded the giant in the knee.
41. The lady advanced to meet him.
42. A city among the Isles named Deryabar.
43. Presently in the distance he perceived a light.
44. The ship struck upon a rock.
45. And presently, feeling myself lifted by men's hands.
46. The Princess of Deryabar.
47. She found to her grief the place where Codadad had lain left
vacant.
48. She and her companion arrived at the city of Harran.
49. And taking her hand he led her to the apartments of the Queen
Pirouzè.
50. After these, maidens on white horses, with heads unveiled,
bearing in their hands baskets of precious stones.
THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE
There was once an old fisherman who lived in great poverty with a wife
and three children. But though poorer than others he ever toiled in
humble submission to the decrees of Providence, and so, at the same
hour each day, he would cast his net four times into the sea, and
whatever it brought up to him therewith he rested content.
One day, having cast for the first time, he found his net so heavy that
he could scarcely draw it in; yet when at last he got it to shore all
that it contained was the carcase of an ass.
He cast a second time, and found the draught of the net even heavier
than before. But again he was doomed to disappointment, for this time
it contained nothing but a large earthenware jar full of mud and sand.
His third attempt brought him only a heap of broken old bottles and
potsherds: fortune seemed to be against him. Then, committing his hope
to Providence, he cast for the fourth and last time; and once more the
weight of the net was so great that he was unable to haul it. When at
last he got it to land, he found that it contained a brazen vessel, its
mouth closed with a leaden stopper, bearing upon it the seal of King
Solomon.
The sight cheered him. "This," thought he, "I can sell in the market,
where I may get for it enough to buy a measure of corn; and, if one is
to judge by weight, what lies within may prove yet more valuable."
[Illustration: And there in its midst stood a mighty Genie.]
Thus reckoning, he prised out the stopper with his knife, and turning
the vessel upside down looked for the contents to follow. Great was
his astonishment when nothing but smoke came out of it. The smoke rose
in a thick black column and spread like a mist between earth and sky,
till presently, drawing together, it took form; and there in its midst
stood a mighty Genie, whose brows touched heaven while his feet rested
upon ground. His head was like a dome, his hands were like flails, and
his legs like pine trees; his mouth was black as a cavern, his nostrils
were like trumpets, his eyes blazed like torches, and his wings whirled
round and over him like the simoom of the desert.
At so fearful a sight all the fisherman's courage oozed out of him;
but the Genie, perceiving him, cried with a loud voice, "O, Solomon,
Prophet of God, slay me not, for never again will I withstand thee in
word or deed!"
"Alas!" said the fisherman, "I am no prophet; and as for Solomon, he
has been dead for nearly two thousand years. I am but a poor fisherman
whom chance has knocked by accident against thy door."
"In that case," answered the Genie, "know that presently thou wilt have
to die."
"Heaven forbid!" cried the fisherman; "or, at least, tell me why!
Surely it might seem that I had done thee some service in releasing
thee."
"Hear first my story," said the Genie, "then shalt thou understand."
"Well, if I must!" said the fisherman, resigning himself to the
inevitable; "but make it short, for truly I have small stomach left in
me now for the hearing of tales."
"Know, then," said the Genie, "that I am one of those spirits which
resisted the power and dominion of Solomon; and when, having brought
into submission all the rest of my race, he could not make me yield to
him either reverence or service, he caused me to be shut up in this
bottle, and sealing it with his own seal cast it down into the depths
of the sea.
[Illustration: When having brought into submission all the rest of my
race.]
"Now when I had lain there prisoner for a hundred years, I swore in
my heart that I would give to the man that should release me all the
treasures attainable in heaven or earth. But when none came to earn so
great a reward in all the hundred years that followed, then I swore
that I would give to my liberator earthly riches only; and when this
gift also had lain despised for yet another hundred years, then would
I promise no more than the fulfilment of three wishes. But thereafter
finding that all promises and vows were vain, my heart became consumed
with rage, and I swore by Allah that I would only grant to the fool
that should release me his own choice of the most cruel form of death
by which he should die. Now therefore accept that mercy which I still
offer and choose thy penalty!"
When the fisherman heard this he gave himself up for lost, yet he
did not the less continue by prayer and supplication to entreat the
Genie from his purpose. But when he found that there was no heart left
in him to be moved, then for the first time he bestirred his wits,
and remembering how that which is evil contains far less wisdom than
that which is good, and so falls ever the more readily into the trap
prepared for it, he spoke thus: "O Genie, since thou art determined
on my death, there is yet a certain thing touching thine honour that
I would first know. So, by the Ineffable Name, which is the seal of
Solomon, I will ask thee one question, and do thou swear to answer it
truly."
The Genie was ready enough to give the oath as desired. Then said
the fisherman, "How is it that one so great as thou art, whose feet
o'er-step the hills and whose head out-tops the heaven--how can such
an one enter into so small a vessel to dwell in it? Truly, though mine
eyes tell me I have seen it, I cannot any longer believe so great a
marvel."
"What?" cried the Genie, "dost thou not believe what I have already
told thee?"
"Not till I have seen it done can I believe it," said the fisherman.
Thereupon, without more waste of words, the Genie, drawing his limbs
together and folding himself once more in a thick veil of smoke,
descended from his vast altitude into the narrow neck of the brazen
vessel till not one shred or film of him remained to view. Then the
fisherman with a quick hand replaced the leaden stopper, and laughing,
cried to the Genie, "Choose now, thou in thy turn, by what manner of
death thou wilt die."
The Genie, hearing himself thus mocked, made violent efforts to escape;
but the power of the seal of Solomon held him fast, and the fisherman,
ceasing not all the while to revile him for the treachery and baseness
which were now to receive their due reward, began to carry the vessel
back to the sea's brink. "Now," said he, "thou shalt return to the
place whence I drew thee! And here on the shore I will build myself a
hut, and to every fisherman that comes near I will say, 'Look that you
fish not in these waters, for herein lies bound a wicked genie that has
sworn to put to a cruel death whoever dares to release him.'"
"Nay, nay," cried the Genie, "I did not mean what I said! Ask of me
now, and I will give you all the treasures that the world contains, or
that your heart can find in it to desire, if only you will set me free!"
The fisherman, being of a mild spirit and with no heart for revenge,
sat down to consider what he should do, and all the while the
imprisoned Genie continued to appeal to him for compassion with loud
promise and lamentation. So at last, the fisherman, having the fear
of God before his eyes, after he had extracted from the Genie a most
solemn vow to leave him unharmed, drew out the stopper of lead and
released him.
No sooner was he out and restored to his true form than the Genie,
turning himself about, lifted his foot and with his full strength smote
the brazen vessel far out to sea; and the fisherman, beholding that
act, began to repent him of his mercy and to tremble again for dear
life.
But the Genie, seeing his fear, broke into huge laughter, and striding
on ahead of him cried, "Come, fisherman, and follow me, for now I will
lead you to fortune!"
Meekly at his heels went the old fisherman, and leaving behind them
the habitations of men they ascended a mountain and entered upon a
desert tract guarded by four hills, in the centre of which lay a broad
lake. Here the Genie stopped, and pointing to a place where fish were
swimming in abundance bade the fisherman cast in his net. The fisherman
did as he was told, and when he drew in his net he found that it
contained four fish each of a different colour, a red, a white, a blue,
and a yellow: never in his life had he seen the like of them. The Genie
bade him take and offer them to the Sultan, assuring him that if he did
so they should bring him both fortune and honours. Then he struck the
ground with his foot, and immediately the earth opened its mouth and
swallowed him as the dry desert swallows the rain.
The fisherman, wondering no less at his safe deliverance than at the
marvel of these occurrences, made his way in haste to the city; and
there presenting himself at the palace he begged that the four fish
might be laid at the Sultan's feet, as a humble offering from the
poorest of his subjects.
No sooner had the monarch seen them, so strange of form and so
brilliant and diverse in hue, than his longing to taste of them became
strongly awakened; so, by the hand of his Vizier, he sent them to
the cook to be prepared forthwith for the royal table. As for the
poor fisherman, he received no fewer than four hundred pieces of gold
from the Sultan's bounty, and returned to his family rejoicing in an
affluence which surpassed his utmost expectations.
[Illustration: No sooner had the monarch seen them, so strange of form
and so brilliant and diverse in hue.]
The cook meanwhile, proud of an opportunity to exhibit her culinary
skill on dainties so rare, scaled and cleaned the fish and laid them
in a frying-pan over the fire. But scarcely had she done so when the
wall of the kitchen divided, and there issued forth from it a damsel
of moon-like beauty richly apparelled, holding a rod of myrtle in her
hand. With this she struck the fish that lay in the frying-pan, and
cried--
"O fish of my pond,
Are ye true to your bond?"
And immediately the four fishes lifted their heads from the frying fat
and answered--
"Even so, the bond holds yet;
Paid by thee, we pay the debt.
With give and take is the reckoning met."
Thereupon the damsel upset the pan into the fire and retired through
the wall in the same way that she had come, leaving the four fish all
charred to a cinder.
[Illustration: Whereupon one upset the pan into the fire.]
The cook, beholding her labour thus brought to naught, began to weep
and bewail herself, expecting no less than instant dismissal, and was
still loud in her lamentations when the Vizier arrived to see if the
fish were ready.
[Illustration: Recalling the fisherman by a swift messenger.]
On hearing her account of what had occurred, the Vizier was greatly
astonished, but feared to bring so strange a report to the Sultan's
ears while the cravings of the royal appetite were still unsatisfied;
so recalling the fisherman by a swift messenger, he bade him procure
in all haste four more fish of the same kind, promising to reward him
according to the speed with which he accomplished the task. So spurred,
and by the additional favour of fortune, the fisherman fulfilled his
mission in an astonishingly short space of time; but no sooner was the
second lot of fish placed upon the fire in the Vizier's presence than
once again the wall opened, and the damsel, appearing as before, struck
the frying-pan with her rod, and cried--
"O fish of my pond,
Are ye true to your bond?"
And immediately the fish stood up on their tails in the frying fat and
replied--
"Even so, the bond holds yet;
Paid by thee, we pay the debt.
With give and take is the reckoning met."
Whereupon she upset the pan into the fire and departed as she had come.
The Vizier, perceiving that so strange an event might no longer be
kept from the royal knowledge, went and informed the Sultan of all
that had occurred; and the monarch, as soon as he had heard the tale,
now rendered more eager for the satisfaction of his eyes than he had
previously been for the indulgence of his appetite, sent for the
fisherman, and promised him yet another four hundred pieces of gold if
he could within a given time procure four more fishes similar to those
he had already brought on the previous occasions.
If the fisherman had been prompt at the Vizier's bidding, he made even
greater speed to fulfil the royal command, and before the day was
over--this time in the presence of the Sultan himself--four fish, of
four diverse colours like to the first, were cleaned and laid into the
pan ready for frying. But scarcely had they touched the fat when the
wall opened in a clap like thunder, and there came forth with a face of
rage a monstrous negro the size of a bull, holding in his hand the rod
of myrtle. With this he struck the frying-pan, and cried in a terrible
voice--
"O fish from the pond,
Are ye true to your bond?"
And when the fish had returned the same answer that the others had made
before them, without more ado the negro overturned the pan upon the
fire and departed as he had come.
When the Sultan's eyes had seen that marvel, he said to his Vizier,
"Here is mystery set before us! Surely these fish that talk have a past
and a history. Never shall I rest satisfied until I have learned it."
So causing the fisherman to be brought before him, he inquired whence
the fish came. The fisherman answered, "From a lake between four hills
upon the mountain overlooking the city." The Sultan inquired how many
days' journey it might be, and the fisherman replied that it was but a
matter of a few hours going and returning. Then to the Sultan and his
court it seemed that the old man was mocking them, for none had heard
tell of any lake lying among the hills so near to that city; and the
fisherman, seeing his word doubted, began to fear that the Genie was
playing him a trick; for if the lake were now suddenly to vanish away,
he might find his fortunes more undone at the end than at the beginning.
Yet the Sultan, though his Vizier and all his court sought to dissuade
him, was firmly resolved on putting the matter to the proof; so he
gave orders that an escort and camping tents should be immediately got
ready, and, with the fisherman to guide, set forth to find the place
that was told of.
And, sure enough, when they had ascended the mountain which all knew,
they came upon a desert tract on which no man had previously set eyes;
and there in its midst lay the lake filled with four kinds of fish, and
beyond it stretched a vast and unknown country.
[Illustration: He arrived within sight of a palace of shining marble.]
At this sight, so mysterious and unaccountable, of a strange region
lying unbeknownst at the gates of his own capital, the monarch was
seized with an overwhelming desire to press forward in solitary
adventure to the discovery of its secret. To the cautious counsels of
his Vizier he turned a deaf ear; but since it would not be safe for
his subjects to know of his departure on an errand so perilous, it was
given out that he had been stricken by sudden sickness. The door of the
royal tent was closed, and at the dead of night the Sultan, admitting
none but the Vizier into his confidence, set out secretly on his
adventure.
Journeying by night and resting by day, he arrived on the third morning
within sight of a palace of shining marble which, with its crowd of
domes and minarets, stood solitary among the hills. No sign of life
was about it, and when he drew near and knocked at the gates none came
to answer him. Then, finding the doors unfastened, he took courage and
entered; and advancing through chambers where gold lay as dust, and
by fountains wherein pearls lay poured out like water, he found only
solitude to greet him.
Wandering without aim among innumerable treasures unguarded and left
to waste, the Sultan grew weary, and sat down in an embrasure to rest.
Then it seemed to him that not far off he could hear a sorrowful
voice chant verses of lamentation. Following the sounds with wonder
he came to a curtained doorway, and passing through found himself in
the presence of a fair youth richly dressed, seated upon a couch and
bearing upon his countenance tokens of extreme grief and despondency.
To the Sultan's proffered greeting the youth returned salutation, but
did not stir from his seat. "Pardon me," he said, "for not rising; but
my miserable condition makes it impossible." Having said this he again
broke into doleful lamentation; and when the Sultan inquired as to the
cause of so many tears, "See for yourself," he cried, "what I am now
made into!" And lifting the skirt of his robe he revealed himself all
stone from his waist to the soles of his feet, while from the waist
upwards he was as other men. Then as he observed upon his visitor's
countenance the expression of a lively curiosity and astonishment,
"Doubtless," he went on, "as you now know the secret of my miserable
condition you will wish also to hear my story." And he related it as
follows:--
THE STORY OF THE KING OF THE EBONY ISLES
[Illustration: The Queen of the Ebony Isles.]
"My father was king of the city which once stood about this palace.
He was lord also of the Ebony Isles that are now the four hills which
you passed on your way hither. When I succeeded to the throne upon his
death, I took to wife my own cousin, the daughter of my uncle, with
whom I lived for five years in the utmost confidence and felicity,
continually entertained by the charm of her conversation and the beauty
of her person, and happy in the persuasion that she found in me an
equal satisfaction.
[Illustration: Supposing me asleep they began to talk.]
"One day, however, it chanced, in the hour before dinner when the
queen was gone to bathe and adorn herself, that I lay upon a couch
beside which two female slaves sat fanning me; and they, supposing me
to be asleep, began to talk concerning me and their mistress. 'Ah!'
said one, 'how little our lord knows where our mistress goes to amuse
herself every night while he lies dreaming!' 'How should he know?'
returned the other, 'seeing that the cup of wine which she gives him
each night contains a sleeping-draught, that causes him to sleep sound
however long she is absent. Then at daybreak when she returns she
burns perfumes under his nostrils, and he waking and finding her there
guesses nothing. Pity it is that he cannot know of her treacherous
ways, for surely it is a shame that a king's wife should go abroad and
mix with base people.'
[Illustration: The cup of wine which she gives him each night contains
a sleeping-draught.]
"Now when I heard this the light of day grew dark before my eyes; but
I lay on and made no sign, awaiting my wife's return. And she coming
in presently, we sat down and ate and drank together according to
custom; and afterwards, when I had retired and lain down, she brought
me with her own hands the cup of spiced wine, inviting me to drink.
Then I, averting myself, raised it to my lips, but instead of drinking,
poured it by stealth into my bosom, and immediately sank down as though
overcome by its potency, feigning slumber. Straightway the queen rose
up from my side, and having clothed herself in gorgeous apparel and
anointed herself with perfumes, she made her way secretly from the
palace, and I with equal secrecy followed her.
"Soon, passing by way of the narrower streets, we arrived before the
city gates; and immediately at a word from her the chains fell and the
gates opened of their own accord, closing again behind us as soon as
we had passed. At last she came to a ruined hut, and there entering I
saw her presently with her veil laid aside, seated in familiar converse
with a monstrous negro, the meanest and most vile of slaves, offering
to him in abject servility dainties which she had carried from the
royal table, and bestowing upon him every imaginable token of affection
and regard.
"At this discovery I fell into a blind rage, and drawing my sword I
rushed in and struck the slave from behind a blow upon the neck that
should have killed him. Then believing that I had verily slain him, and
before the queen found eyes to realize what had befallen, I departed
under cover of night as quickly as I had come, and returned to the
palace and my own chamber.
"On awaking the next morning I found the queen lying beside me as
though nothing had happened, and at first I was ready to believe it had
all been an evil dream; but presently I perceived her eyes red with
weeping, her hair dishevelled, and her face torn by the passion of a
grief which she strove to conceal. Having thus every reason to believe
that my act of vengeance had not fallen short of its purpose, I held my
tongue and made no sign.
"But the same day at noon, while I sat in council, the queen appeared
before me clad in deep mourning, and with many tears informed me how
she had received sudden news of the death of her father and mother and
two brothers, giving full and harrowing details of each event. Without
any show of incredulity I heard her tale; and when she besought my
permission to go into retirement and mourn in a manner befitting so
great a calamity, I bade her do as she desired.
"So for a whole year she continued to mourn in a privacy which I left
undisturbed; and during that time she caused to be built a mausoleum or
Temple of Lamentation--the same whose dome you see yonder--into which
she withdrew herself from all society; while I, believing the cause
of my anger removed and willing to humour the grief which my act had
caused her, waited patiently for her return to a sane and reasonable
state of mind.
"But, as I learned too late, matters had not so fallen: for though in
truth the negro was grievously wounded, being cut through the gullet
and speechless, it was not the will of Heaven that he should die; and
the queen having by her enchantments kept him in a sort of life, no
sooner was the mausoleum finished than she caused him to be secretly
conveyed thither, and there night and day tended him, awaiting his full
recovery.
"At length, when two years were over and her mourning in no wise
abated, my curiosity became aroused; so going one day to the Temple of
Lamentation I entered unannounced, and placing myself where I might
see and not be seen, there I discovered her in an abandonment of fond
weeping over her miserable treasure whose very life was a dishonour to
us both. But no sooner in my just resentment had I started to upbraid
her, than she--as now for the first time realizing the cause of her
companion's misfortune--began to heap upon me terms of the most violent
and shameful abuse; and when, carried beyond myself, I threatened her
with my sword, she stood up before me, and having first uttered words
of unknown meaning she cried,--
'Be thou changed in a moment's span;
Half be marble, and half be man!'
[Illustration: She went on to vent her malice upon the city and
islands.]
And at the word I became even as you see me now--dead to the waist, and
above living yet bound. Yet even so her vengeance was not satisfied.
Having reduced me to this state she went on to vent her malice upon
the city and islands over which I ruled, and the unfortunate people
who were my subjects. Thus by her wicked machinations the city became
a lake, and the islands about it the four hills which you have seen;
as for the inhabitants, who were of four classes and creeds, Moslems,
Christians, Jews, and Persians, she turned them into fish of four
different colours: the white are the Moslems, the red are Persian
fire-worshippers, the yellow are Jews, and the blue Christians. And
now having done all this she fails not every day to inflict upon me a
hundred lashes with a whip which draws blood at every stroke: and when
these are accomplished she covers my torn flesh with hair-cloth and
lays over it these rich robes in mockery. Of a surety it is the will of
Heaven that I should be the most miserable and despised of mortals!"
[Illustration: Began to heap upon me terms of the most violent and
shameful abuse.]
Thus the youth finished his story, nor when he had ended could he
refrain from tears. The Sultan also was greatly moved when he heard
it, and his heart became full of a desire to avenge such injuries upon
the doer of them. "Tell me," he said, "where is now this monster of
iniquity?" "Sir," answered the youth, "I doubt not she is yonder in the
mausoleum with her companion, for thither she goes daily so soon as she
has measured out to me my full meed of chastisement: and as for this
day my portion has been served to me, I am quit of her till to-morrow
brings, the hour of fresh scourgings."
[Illustration: Thus by her wicked machinations the city became a lake.]
Now when this was told him the Sultan saw his way plain. "Be of good
cheer," he said to the youth, "and endure with a quiet spirit yet once
more the affliction she causes thee; for at the price of that single
scourging I trust, by the will of Heaven, to set thee free."
So on the morrow the Sultan lay in close hiding until sounds reached
him which told that the whippings had begun; then he arose and went in
haste to the mausoleum, where amid rich hangings and perfumes and the
illumination of a thousand candles, he found the black slave stretched
mute upon a bed awaiting in great feebleness the recovered use of his
sawn gullet. Quickly, with a single sword-stroke, the avenger took
from him that poor remnant of life which enchantment alone had made
possible: then having thrown the body into a well in the courtyard
below, he lay down in the dead man's place, drawing the coverlet well
over him. Soon after, fresh from her accustomed task of cruelty, the
enchantress entered, and falling upon her knees beside the bed she
cried, "Has my lord still no voice wherewith to speak to his servant?
Surely, for lack of that sound, hearing lies withered within me!" Then
the Sultan, taking to himself the thick speech of a negro, said, "There
is no strength or power but in God alone!"
On hearing those words, believing that her companion's speech was at
last restored to him, the queen uttered a cry of joy! But scarcely
had she begun to lavish upon him the tokens of her affection when the
pretended negro broke out against her in violent abuse. "What!" he
cried, "dost thou expect favour at my hands, when it is because of thee
that for two years I have lain dumb and prostrate? How darest thou
speak to me or look for any recompense save death! Nay!" he went on in
answer to her astonished protests, "have not the cries and tears and
groans of thy husband kept me continually from rest: and has not Heaven
smitten me for no other reason than because thou wouldst not cease from
smiting him? So has the curse which thou didst seek to lay upon him
fallen doubly upon me."
"Alas!" cried the enchantress, "have I unknowingly caused thee so great
an ill? If it be so, then let my lord give command, and whatever be his
desire it shall be satisfied."
Then said the Sultan, "Go instantly and release thy husband from spell
and torment: and when it is done, return hither with all speed."
Thus compelled, in great fear and bewilderment and sorely against her
will, the queen sped to the chamber in the palace where her husband lay
spell-bound. Taking a vessel of water she pronounced over it certain
words which caused it instantly to boil as though it had been set on a
fire: then throwing the water over him, she cried--
"Spell be loosed, and stone grow warm,
Yield back flesh to the human form."
And immediately on the word his nature came to him again, and he leaped
and stood upon his feet. But the queen's hatred towards him was by no
means abated. "Go hence quickly," she cried, "since a better will than
mine releases thee! But if thou tarry or if thou return, thou shalt
surely die!" Thankful for his deliverance the youth stayed not to
question, but departing went and hid himself without, while the queen
returned in haste to the mausoleum where her supposed lover awaited
her. There, eager for restoration to favour, she informed him of what
she had done, supposing that to be all.
"Nay," said the other, still speaking with the thick voice of a negro;
"though thou hast lopped the branch of the evil thou hast not destroyed
the root. For every night I hear a jumping of fishes in the lake that
is between the four hills, and the sound of their curses on thee and me
comes to disturb my rest. Go instantly and restore all things to their
former state, then come back and give me thy hand and I shall rise up a
sound man once more."
[Illustration: Great was the astonishment of the Vizier and the
Sultan's escort.]
Rejoicing in that promise and the expectations it held out to her of
future happiness, the queen went with all speed to the border of the
lake. There taking a little water into her hand, and uttering strange
words over it, she sprinkled it this way and that upon the surface of
the lake and the roots of the four hills, and immediately where had
been the lake a city appeared, and instead of fishes inhabitants, and
in place of the four hills four islands. As for the palace it stood no
longer removed far away into the desert but upon a hill overlooking the
city.
Great was the astonishment of the Vizier and the Sultan's escort
which had lain encamped beside the lake to find themselves suddenly
transported to the heart of a populous city, with streets and walls and
the hum of reawakened life around them; but a greater and more terrible
shock than this awaited the queen upon her return to the mausoleum to
enjoy the reward of her labours. "Now," she cried, "let my lord arise,
since all that he willed is accomplished!"
"Give me thy hand!" said the Sultan, still in a voice of disguise;
"come nearer that I may lean on thee!" And as she approached he drew
forth his sword which had lain concealed beside him in the bed, and
with a single blow cleft her wicked body in twain.
Then he rose and went quickly to where in hiding lay the young king
her husband, who learned with joy of the death of his cruel enemy. He
thanked the Sultan with tears of gratitude for his deliverance, and
invoked the blessings of Heaven upon him and his kingdom. "On yours
too," said the Sultan, "let peace and prosperity now reign! And since
your city is so near to mine, come with me and be my guest that we may
rejoice together in the bonds of friendship."
"Nay," answered the young king, "that would I do willingly, but your
country lies many a day's journey from my own. I fear the breaking of
the spell which held me and my subjects has brought you further than
you wished."
It was in fact true that the Ebony Isles had now returned to the place
from which they had originally come. The Sultan put a smiling face upon
the matter: "I can well put up with the tedium of my journey," said
he, "if only you will be my companion. Nay, let me speak frankly to
one whose demeanour in affliction has won my heart; I am childless and
have no heir. Come with me and be my son, and when I am dead unite our
two kingdoms under a single ruler." The young king, who had conceived
for his deliverer an equal affection, could not withstand so noble and
generous an offer: and so with a free exchange of hearts on both sides
the matter was arranged.
After a journey of some months the Sultan arrived again at his own
capital, where he was welcomed with great rejoicings by the people, who
had long mourned over his strange and unexplained absence.
As for the old fisherman who had been the immediate cause of the young
king's deliverance the Sultan loaded him with honours and gave his
daughters in marriage to sons of the blood royal, so that they all
continued in perfect happiness and contentment to the end of their days.
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES
In a town in Persia lived two brothers named Cassim and Ali Baba,
between whom their father at his death had left what little property he
possessed equally divided. Cassim, however, having married the heiress
of a rich merchant, became soon after his marriage the owner of a fine
shop, together with several pieces of land, and was in consequence,
through no effort of his own, the most considerable merchant in the
town. Ali Baba, on the other hand, was married to one as poor as
himself, and having no other means of gaining a livelihood he used to
go every day into the forest to cut wood, and lading therewith the
three asses which were his sole stock-in-trade, would then hawk it
about the streets for sale.
One day while he was at work within the skirts of the forest, Ali Baba
saw advancing towards him across the open a large company of horsemen,
and fearing from their appearance that they might be robbers, he left
his asses to their own devices and sought safety for himself in the
lower branches of a large tree which grew in the close overshadowing of
a precipitous rock.
[Illustration: Their chief in a low but distinct voice uttered the two
words "Open Sesame!"]
Almost immediately it became evident that this very rock was the goal
toward which the troop was bound, for having arrived they alighted
instantly from their horses, and took down each man of them a sack
which seemed by its weight and form to be filled with gold. There could
no longer be any doubt that they were robbers. Ali Baba counted forty
of them.
Just as he had done so, the one nearest to him, who seemed to be their
chief, advanced toward the rock, and in a low but distinct voice
uttered the two words, "Open, Sesamé!" Immediately the rock opened like
a door, the captain and his men passed in, and the rock closed behind
them.
For a long while Ali Baba waited, not daring to descend from his
hiding-place lest they should come out and catch him in the act; but
at last, when the waiting had grown almost unbearable, his patience
was rewarded, the door in the rock opened, and out came the forty men,
their captain leading them. When the last of them was through, "Shut,
Sesamé!" said the captain, and immediately the face of the rock closed
together as before. Then they all mounted their horses and rode away.
As soon as he felt sure that they were not returning, Ali Baba came
down from the tree and made his way at once to that part of the rock
where he had seen the captain and his men enter. And there at the word
"Open, Sesamé!" a door suddenly revealed itself and opened.
Ali Baba had expected to find a dark and gloomy cavern. Great was his
astonishment therefore when he perceived a spacious and vaulted chamber
lighted from above through a fissure in the rock; and there spread out
before him lay treasures in profusion, bales of merchandise, silks,
carpets, brocades, and above all gold and silver lying in loose heaps
or in sacks piled one upon another. He did not take long to consider
what he should do. Disregarding the silver and the gold that lay loose,
he brought to the mouth of the cave as many sacks of gold as he thought
his three asses might carry; and having loaded them on and covered them
with wood so that they might not be seen, he closed the rock by the
utterance of the magic words which he had learned, and departed for the
town, a well-satisfied man.
When he got home he drove his asses into a small court, and shutting
the gates carefully he took off the wood that covered the bags and
carried them in to his wife. She, discovering them to be full of gold,
feared that her husband had stolen them, and began sorrowfully to
reproach him; but Ali Baba soon put her mind at rest on that score, and
having poured all the gold into a great heap upon the floor he sat down
at her side to consider how well it looked.
[Illustration: Ali Baba departed for the town a well satisfied man.]
Soon his wife, poor careful body, must needs begin counting it over
piece by piece. Ali Baba let her go on for awhile, but before long the
sight set him laughing. "Wife," said he, "you will never make an end
of it that way. The best thing to do is to dig a hole and bury it,
then we shall be sure that it is not slipping through our fingers."
"That will do well enough," said his wife, "but it would be better
first to have the measure of it. So while you dig the hole I will go
round to Cassim's and borrow a measure small enough to give us an exact
reckoning." "Do as you will," answered her husband, "but see that you
keep the thing secret."
Off went Ali Baba's wife to her brother-in-law's house. Cassim was from
home, so she begged of his wife the loan of a small measure, naming for
choice the smallest. This set the sister-in-law wondering. Knowing Ali
Baba's poverty she was all the more curious to find out for what kind
of grain so small a measure could be needed. So before bringing it she
covered all the bottom with lard, and giving it to Ali Baba's wife told
her to be sure and be quick in returning it. The other, promising to
restore it punctually, made haste to get home; and there finding the
hole dug for its reception she started to measure the money into it.
First she set the measure upon the heap, then she filled it, then she
carried it to the hole; and so she continued till the last measure was
counted. Then, leaving Ali Baba to finish the burying, she carried back
the measure with all haste to her sister-in-law, returning thanks for
the loan.
No sooner was her back turned than Cassim's wife looked at the bottom
of the measure, and there to her astonishment she saw sticking to the
lard a gold coin. "What?" she cried, her heart filled with envy, "is
Ali Baba so rich that he needs a measure for his gold? Where, then, I
would know, has the miserable wretch obtained it?"
[Illustration: As soon as he came in she began to jeer at him.]
She waited with impatience for her husband's return, and as soon as he
came in she began to jeer at him. "You think yourself rich," said she,
"but Ali Baba is richer. You count your gold by the piece, but Ali Baba
does not count, he measures it! In comparison to Ali Baba we are but
grubs and groundlings!"
Having thus riddled him to the top of her bent in order to provoke his
curiosity, she told him the story of the borrowed measure, of her own
stratagem, and of its result.
Cassim, instead of being pleased at Ali Baba's sudden prosperity, grew
furiously jealous; not a wink could he sleep all night for thinking of
it. The next morning before sunrise he went to his brother's house.
"Ali Baba," said he, "what do you mean by pretending to be poor when
all the time you are scooping up gold by the quart?" "Brother," said
Ali Baba, "explain your meaning." "My meaning shall be plain!" cried
Cassim, displaying the tell-tale coin. "How many more pieces have you
like this that my wife found sticking to the bottom of the measure
yesterday?"
Ali Baba, perceiving that the intervention of wives had made further
concealment useless, told his brother the true facts of the case, and
offered him, as an inducement for keeping the secret, an equal share of
the treasure.
"That is the least that I have the right to expect," answered Cassim
haughtily. "It is further necessary that you should tell me exactly
where the treasure lies, that I may, if need be, test the truth of
your story, otherwise I shall find it my duty to denounce you to the
authorities."
Ali Baba, having a clear conscience, had little fear of Cassim's
threats; but out of pure good nature he gave him all the information he
desired, not forgetting to instruct him in the words which would give
him free passage into the cave and out again.
Cassim, who had thus secured all he had come for, lost no time in
putting his project into execution. Intent on possessing himself of all
the treasures which yet remained, he set off the next morning before
daybreak, taking with him ten mules laden with empty crates. Arrived
before the cave, he recalled the words which his brother had taught
him; no sooner was "Open, Sesamé!" said than the door in the rock lay
wide for him to pass through, and when he had entered it shut again.
[Illustration: Greater still was the exultation of a greedy nature like
that of Cassim's.]
If the simple soul of Ali Baba had found delight in the riches of
the cavern, greater still was the exultation of a greedy nature like
Cassim's. Intoxicated with the wealth that lay before his eyes, he had
no thought but to gather together with all speed as much treasure as
the ten mules could carry; and so, having exhausted himself with heavy
labour and avaricious excitement, he suddenly found on returning to the
door that he had forgotten the key which opened it. Up and down, and
in and out through the mazes of his brain he chased the missing word.
Barley, and maize, and rice, he thought of them all: but of sesamé
never once, because his mind had become dark to the revealing light of
heaven. And so the door stayed fast, holding him prisoner in the cave,
where to his fate, undeserving of pity, we leave him.