after seven bouts; and on the morrow, a freedwoman of his met him and
said to him, “May I be thy sacrifice! Thou art perfect, even in this.”
And a certain woman said, “I was with Ayishah, when her husband came in
to her, and she lusted for him; so he fell upon her and she snarked and
snorted and made use of all manner of wondrous movements and marvellous
new inventions, and I the while within hearing.” So, when he came out
from her, I said to her, “How canst thou do thus with thy rank and
nobility and condition, and I in thy house?” Quoth she, “Verily a woman
should bring her husband all of which she is mistress, by way of
excitement and rare buckings and wrigglings and motitations.[113] What
dislikest thou of this?” And I answered “I would have this by nights.”
Rejoined she, “Thus is it by day and by night I do more than this; for
when he seeth me, desire stirreth him up and he falleth in heat; so he
putteth it out to me and I obey him, and it is as thou seest.” And there
also hath reached me an account of
-----
Footnote 111:
Half-brother of Abdullah bin al-Zubayr, the celebrated pretender.
Footnote 112:
Grand-daughter of the Caliph Abu Bakr and the most beautiful woman of
her day.
Footnote 113:
The Calc. Edit. by mistake reads “Izzah.” Torrens (notes i.-xi.)
remarks “The word _Ghoonj_ is applied to this sort of blandishment”
(_i.e._ an affected gait), and says Burckhardt (Prov. No. 685), “The
women of Cairo flatter themselves that their _Ghoonj_ is superior to
that of all other females in the Levant.” But Torrens did not
understand and Burckhardt would not explain “Ghunj” except by “assumed
airs” (see No. 714). It here means the art of moving in coition, which
is especially affected, even by modest women, throughout the East and
they have many books teaching the genial art. In China there are
professors, mostly old women, who instruct young girls in this branch
of the gymnastic.
ABU AL-ASWAD AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL.
Abu al-Aswad bought a native-born slave-girl, who was blind of an eye,
and she pleased him; but his people decried her to him; whereat he
wondered and, turning the palms of his hands upwards,[114] recited these
two couplets:—
They find me fault with her where I default ne’er find, ✿ Save haply
that a speck in either eye may show:
But if her eyes have fault, of fault her form hath none, ✿ Slim-built
above the waist and heavily made below.
And this is also told of
-----
Footnote 114:
When reciting the Fátihah (opening Koranic chapter), the hands are
held in this position as if to receive a blessing falling from Heaven;
after which both palms are passed down the face to distribute it over
the eyes and other organs of sense.
HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE TWO SLAVE-GIRLS.
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid lay one night between two slave-girls, one
from Al-Medinah and the other from Cufa and the Cufite rubbed his hands,
whilst the Medinite rubbed his feet and made his concern[115] stand up.
Quoth the Cufite, “I see thou wouldst keep the whole of the
stock-in-trade to thyself; give me my share of it.” And the other
answered, “I have been told by Málik, on the authority of Hishám ibn
Orwah,[116] who had it of his (grand) father, that the Prophet said,
“Whoso quickeneth the dead, the dead belongeth to him and is his.”” But
the Cufite took her unawares and, pushing her away, seized it all in her
own hand and said, “Al-A’amash telleth us, on the authority of
Khaysamah, who had it of Abdallah bin Mas’úd, that the Prophet declared,
Game belongeth to him who taketh it, not to him who raiseth it.” And
this is also related of
-----
Footnote 115:
The word used is “bizá’at” = capital or a share in a mercantile
business.
Footnote 116:
This and the following names are those of noted traditionists of the
eighth century, who derive back to Abdallah bin Mas’úd, a “Companion
of the Apostle.” The text shows the recognised formula of ascription
for quoting a “Hadís” = saying of Mohammed; and sometimes it has to
pass through half a dozen mouths.
THE CALIPH HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE THREE SLAVE-GIRLS.
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid once slept with three slave-girls, a Meccan,
a Medinite and an Irakite. The Medinah girl put her hand to his yard and
handled it, whereupon it rose and the Meccan sprang up and drew it to
herself. Quoth the other, “What is this unjust aggression? A tradition
was related to me by Málik[117] after Al-Zuhri, after Abdallah ibn
Sálim, after Sa’íd bin Zayd, that the Apostle of Allah (whom Allah bless
and keep!) said:—Whoso enquickeneth a dead land, it is his.” And the
Meccan answered, “It is related to us by Sufyán, from Abu Zanád, from
Al-A’araj, from Abu Horayrah, that the Apostle of Allah said:—“The
quarry is his who catcheth it, not his who starteth it.”” But the Irak
girl pushed them both away and taking it to herself, said, “This is
mine, till your contention be decided.” And they tell a tale of
-----
Footnote 117:
Traditionists of the seventh and eighth centuries who refer back to
the “Father of the Kitten” (Abu Horayrah), an uncle of the Apostle.
THE MILLER AND HIS WIFE.
There was a miller, who had an ass to turn his mill; and he was married
to a wicked wife, whom he loved, while she hated him because she was
sweet upon a neighbour, who misliked her and held aloof from her. One
night, the miller saw, in his sleep, one who said to him, “Dig in such a
spot of the ass’s round in the mill, and thou shalt find a hoard.” When
he awoke, he told his wife the vision and bade her keep the secret; but
she told her neighbour——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the miller’s wife
told the secret to the neighbour whom she loved, thinking to win his
favour; and he agreed with her to come to her by night. So he came and
they dug in the mill and found the treasure and took it forth. Then he
asked her, “How shall we do with this?” and she answered; “We will
divide it into two halves and will share it equally between us, and do
thou leave thy wife and I will cast about to rid me of my husband. Then
shalt thou marry me and, when we are conjoined, we will join the two
halves of the treasure one to other, and all will be in our hands.”
Quoth he, “I fear lest Satan seduce thee and thou take some man other
than myself; for gold in the house is like the sun in the world. I reck,
therefore, it were right that the money be all in my hands, so thou give
thy whole mind to getting free of thy husband and coming to me.” Quoth
she, “I fear even as thou fearest, nor will I yield up my part to thee;
for it was I directed thee to it.” When he heard this, greed of gain
prompted him to kill her; so he slew her and threw her body into the
empty hoard-hole; but day overtook him and hindered him from covering it
up; he therefore took the money and went his way. Now after a while the
miller awoke and, missing his wife, went into the mill, where he
fastened the ass to the beam and shouted to it. It went on a little,
then stopped; whereupon he beat it grievously; but the more he bashed
it, the more it drew back; for it was affrighted at the dead woman and
could not go forward. Thereupon the Miller, unknowing what hindered the
donkey, took out a knife and goaded it again and again, but still it
would not budge. Then he was wroth with it, knowing not the cause of its
obstinacy, and drove the knife into its flanks, and it fell down dead.
But when the sun rose, he saw his donkey lying dead and likewise his
wife in the place of the treasure, and great was his rage and sore his
wrath for the loss of his hoard and the death of his wife and his ass.
All this came of his letting his wife into his secret and not keeping it
to himself.[118] And I have heard this tale of
-----
Footnote 118:
Eastern story-books abound in these instances. Pilpay says in “Kalilah
wa Dimnah,” “I am the slave of what I have spoken and the lord of what
I keep hidden.” Sa’adi follows suit, “When thou speakest not a word,
thou hast thy hand upon it; when it is once spoken it hath laid its
hand on thee.” Caxton, in the “Dyctes, or Sayings of Philosophers”
(printed in 1477) uses almost the same words.
THE SIMPLETON AND THE SHARPER.
A certain simpleton was once walking along, haling his ass after him by
the halter, when a pair of sharpers saw him and one said to his fellow,
“I will take that ass from yonder wight.” Asked the other, “How wilt
thou do that?” “Follow me and I will show thee how,” answered the first.
So the cony-catcher went up to the ass and, loosing it from the halter,
gave the beast to his fellow; then he haltered his own head and followed
Tom Fool till he knew the other had got clean off with the ass, when he
stood still. The oaf haled at the halter, but the rascal stirred not; so
he turned and seeing the halter on a man’s neck, said to him, “What art
thou?” Quoth the sharper, “I am thine ass and my story is a wondrous one
and ‘tis this. Know that I have a pious old mother and came in to her
one day, drunk; and she said to me:—O my son, repent to the Almighty of
these thy transgressions. But I took my staff and beat her, whereupon
she cursed me and Allah changed me into an ass and caused me fall into
thy hands, where I have remained till this moment. However, to-day, my
mother called me to mind and her heart yearned towards me; so she prayed
for me and the Lord restored me to my former shape amongst the sons of
Adam.” Cried the silly one, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might
save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Allah upon thee, O my brother,
acquit me of what I have done with thee in the way of riding and so
forth.” Then he let the cony-catcher go and returned home, drunken with
chagrin and concern as with wine. His wife asked him, “What aileth thee
and where is the donkey?”; and he answered, “Thou knowest not what was
this ass; but I will tell thee.” So he told her the story, and she
exclaimed, “Alack and alas for the punishment we shall receive from
Almighty Allah! How could we have used a man as a beast of burden, all
this while?” And she gave alms by way of atonement and prayed pardon of
Heaven.[119] Then the man abode awhile at home, idle and feckless, till
she said to him, “How long wilt thou sit at home doing naught? Go to the
market and buy us an ass and ply thy work with it.” Accordingly, he went
to the market and stopped by the ass-stand, where behold, he saw his own
ass for sale. So he went up to it and clapping his mouth to its ear,
said to it, “Woe to thee, thou ne’er-do-well! Doubtless thou hast been
getting drunk again and beating thy mother! But, by Allah, I will never
buy thee more!”[120] And he left it and went away. And they tell a tale
concerning
-----
Footnote 119:
_i.e._ for her husband’s and her sin in using a man like a beast.
Footnote 120:
See the Second Lady’s story (tantôt Kadi, tantôt bandit), pp. 20–26 by
my friend Yacoub Artin Pasha in the Bulletin before quoted, series ii.
No. 4 of 1883. The sharpers’ trick is common in Eastern folk-lore, and
the idea that underlies is always metempsychosis or metamorphosis. So,
in the Kalilah was Dimnah (new Syriac), the three rogues persuade the
ascetic that he is leading a dog not a sheep.
THE KAZI ABU YUSUF WITH HARUN AL-RASHID AND QUEEN ZUBAYDAH.
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid went up one noontide to his couch, to lie
down; and mounting, found upon the bed-clothes semen freshly emitted;
whereat he was startled and troubled with sore trouble. So he called the
Lady Zubaydah and said to her, “What is that spilt on the bed?” She
looked at it and replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, it is semen.”
Quoth he, “Tell me truly what this meaneth or I will lay violent hands
on thee forthright.” Quoth she, “By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,
indeed I know not how it came there and I am guiltless of that whereof
thou suspectest me.” So he sent for the Kazi Abú Yúsuf and acquainted
him of the case. The Judge raised his eyes to the ceiling and, seeing a
crack therein, said to the Caliph, “O Commander of the Faithful, in very
sooth the bat hath seed like that of a man,[121] and this is bat’s
semen.” Then he called for a spear and thrust it into the crevice,
whereupon down fell the bat. In this manner the Caliph’s suspicions were
dispelled——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Kazi Abu
Yusuf took the spear and thrust it into the crevice, down fell the bat,
and thus the Caliph’s suspicions were dispelled and the innocence of
Zubaydah was made manifest; whereat she gave loud and liberal vent to
her joy and promised Abu Yusuf a magnificent reward. Now there were with
her certain delicious fruits, out of their season, and she knew of
others in the garden; so she asked Abu Yusuf, “O Imam of the Faith,
which wouldest thou rather have of the two kinds of fruits, those that
are here or those that are not here?” And he answered, “Our code
forbiddeth us to pronounce judgment on the absent; wheneas they are
present, we will give our decision.” So she let bring the two kinds of
fruits before him; and he ate of both. Quoth she, “What is the
difference between them?” and quoth he, “As often as I think to praise
one kind, the adversary putteth in its claim.” The Caliph laughed at his
answer[122] and made him a rich present; and Zubaydah also gave him what
she had promised him, and he went away, rejoicing. See, then the virtues
of this Imám and how at his hands were manifest the truth and the
innocence of the Lady Zubaydah. And amongst other stories is that of
-----
Footnote 121:
This is the popular prejudice and it has doubtless saved many a
reputation. The bat is known to Moslems as the Bird of Jesus, a legend
derived by the Koran from the Gospel of Infancy (I chapt. xv. Hone’s
Apocryphal New Testament), in which the boy Jesus amuses himself with
making birds of clay and commanding them to fly when (according to the
Moslems) they became bats. These Apocryphal Gospels must be carefully
read, if the student would understand a number of Moslem allusions to
the Injíl which no Evangel contains.
Footnote 122:
Because it quibbled a way out of every question, a truly diplomatic
art.
THE CALIPH AL-HAKIM[123] AND THE MERCHANT.
The Caliph Al-Hákim bi-Amri’llah was riding out in state procession one
day, when he passed along a garden, wherein he saw a man, surrounded by
negro-slaves and eunuchs. He asked him for a draught of water, and the
man gave him to drink, saying, “Belike, the Commander of the Faithful
will honour me by alighting in this my garden.” So the Caliph dismounted
and with his suite entered the garden; whereupon the said man brought
out to them an hundred rugs and an hundred leather mats and an hundred
cushions; and set before them an hundred dishes of fruits, an hundred
bowls of sweetmeats and an hundred jars of sugared sherbets; at which
the Caliph marvelled with much amaze and said to his host, “O man,
verily this thy case is wondrous: didst thou know of our coming and make
this preparation for us?” He replied, “No, by Allah, O Commander of the
Faithful, I knew not of thy coming and I am a merchant of the rest of
thy subjects; but I have an hundred concubines; so, when the Commander
of the Faithful honoured me by alighting with me, I sent to each of
them, bidding her send me her morning-meal in the garden. So they sent
me each of her furniture and the surplus of her meat and drink: and
every day each sendeth me a dish of meat and another of cooling
marinades, also a platter of fruits and a bowl of sweetmeats and a jar
of sherbet. This is my noonday dinner, nor have I added aught thereto
for thee.” Then the Commander of the Faithful, Al-Hakim bi-Amri’llah
prostrated himself in thanksgiving to the Almighty (extolled and exalted
be His name!) and said, “Praised be Allah, who hath been so bountiful to
one of our lieges, that he entertaineth the Caliph and his host, without
making ready for them; nay, he feedeth them with the surplusage of his
day’s provision!” Then he sent for all the dirhams in the treasury, that
had been struck that year (and they were in number three thousand and
seven hundred thousand); nor did he mount till the money came, when he
gave it to the merchant, saying, “Use this as thy state may require; and
thy generosity deserveth more than this.” Then he took horse and rode
away. And I have heard a story concerning
-----
Footnote 123:
This Caliph, the orthodox Abbaside of Egypt (A.D. 1261) must not be
confounded with the Druze-god, the heretical Fatimite (A.D. 996–1021).
D’Herbelot (“Hakem”) gives details. Mr. S. L. Poole (The Academy,
April 26, ‘79) is very severe on the slip of Mr. Payne.
KING KISRA ANUSHIRWAN[124] AND THE VILLAGE DAMSEL.
The just King, Kisrà Anúshirwán one day rode forth to the chase and, in
pursuit of a deer, became separated from his suite. Presently, he caught
sight of a hamlet near hand and being sore athirst, he made for it and
presenting himself at the door of a house that lay by the wayside, asked
for a draught of water. So a damsel came out and looked at him; then,
going back into the house, pressed the juice from a single sugar-cane
into a bowl and mixed it with water; after which she strewed on the top
some scented stuff, as it were dust, and carried it to the King.
Thereupon he seeing in it what resembled dust, drank it, little by
little, till he came to the end; when said he to her, “O damsel, the
drink is good, and how sweet it had been but for this dust in it that
troubleth it.” Answered she, “O guest, I put in that powder for a
purpose;” and he asked, “And why didst thou thus?”; so she replied, “I
saw thee exceeding thirsty and feared that thou wouldst drain the whole
at one draught and that this would do thee mischief; and but for this
dust that troubled the drink so hadst thou done.” The Just King wondered
at her words, knowing that they came of her wit and good sense, and said
to her, “From how many sugar canes didst thou express this draught?”
“One,” answered she; whereat Anushirwan marvelled and, calling for the
register of the village taxes, saw that its assessment was but little
and bethought him to increase it, on his return to his palace, saying in
himself, “A village where they get this much juice out of one
sugar-cane, why is it so lightly taxed?” He then left the village and
pursued his chase; and, as he came back at the end of the day, he passed
alone by the same door and called again for drink; whereupon the same
damsel came out and, knowing him at a look, went in to fetch him water.
It was some time before she returned and Anushirwan wondered thereat and
said to her, “Why hast thou tarried?”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Ninetieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Anushirwan
hurried the damsel and asked her, “Why hast thou tarried?” she answered,
“Because a single sugar-cane gave not enough for thy need; so I pressed
three; but they yielded not so much as did one before.” Rejoined he,
“What is the cause of that?”; and she replied, “The cause of it is that
when the Sultan’s[125] mind is changed against a folk, their prosperity
ceaseth and their good waxeth less.” So Anushirwan laughed and dismissed
from his mind that which he had purposed against the villagers.
Moreover, he took the damsel to wife then and there, being pleased with
her much wit and acuteness and the excellence of her speech. And they
tell another tale of the
-----
Footnote 124:
The beautiful name is Persian “Anúshín-rawán” = Sweet of Soul; and the
glorious title of this contemporary of Mohammed is “Al-Malik al-Adil”
= the Just King. Kisra, _the_ Chosroë per excellentiam, is also
applied to the godly Guebre of whom every Eastern dictionary gives
details.
Footnote 125:
“Sultan” is here an anachronism: I have noted that the title was first
assumed independently by Mohammed of Ghazni after it had been
conferred by the Caliph upon his father the Amír Al-Umará (Mayor of
the Palace), Sabuktagin A.D. 974.
WATER-CARRIER[126] AND THE GOLDSMITH’S WIFE.
There was once, in the city of Bokhara, a water-carrier, who used to
carry water to the house of a goldsmith and had done this thirty years.
Now that goldsmith had a wife of exceeding beauty and loveliness,
brilliancy and perfect grace; and she was withal renowned for piety,
chastity and modesty. One day the water-carrier came, as of custom, and
poured the water into the cisterns. Now the woman was standing in the
midst of the court; so he went close up to her and taking her hand,
stroked it and pressed it, then went away and left her. When her husband
came home from the bazar, she said to him, “I would have thee tell me
what thing thou hast done in the market this day, to anger Almighty
Allah.” Quoth he, “I have done nothing to offend the Lord.” “Nay,”
rejoined she, “but, by Allah, thou hast indeed done something to anger
Him; and, unless thou tell me the whole truth, I will not abide in thy
house, and thou shalt not see me, nor will I see thee.” So he confessed,
“I will tell thee the truth of what I did this day. It so chanced that,
as I was sitting in my shop, as of wont, a woman came up to me and bade
me make her a bracelet of gold. Then she went away and I wrought her a
bracelet and laid it aside. But when she returned and I brought her out
the bracelet, she put forth her hand and I clasped the bracelet on her
wrist; and I wondered at the whiteness of her hand and the beauty of her
wrist, which would captivate any beholder; and I recalled what the poet
saith:—
Her fore-arms, dight with their bangles, show ✿ Like fire ablaze on the
waves a-flow;
As by purest gold were the water girt, ✿ And belted around by a living
lowe.
So I took her hand and pressed it and squeezed it.” Said the woman,
“Great God! Why didst thou this ill thing? Know that the water-carrier,
who hath come to our house these thirty years, nor sawst thou ever any
treason in him, took my hand this day and pressed and squeezed it.” Said
her husband, “O woman, let us crave pardon of Allah! Verily, I repent of
what I did, and do thou ask forgiveness of the Lord for me.” She cried,
“Allah pardon me and thee, and receive us into his holy keeping.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Ninety-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the goldsmith’s
wife cried out, “Allah pardon me and thee, and receive us into his holy
keeping!” And on the next day, the water-carrier came in to the
jeweller’s wife and, throwing himself at her feet, grovelled in the dust
and besought pardon of her, saying, “O my lady, acquit me of that which
Satan deluded me to do; for it was he that seduced me and led me
astray.” She answered, “Go thy ways, the sin was not in thee, but in my
husband, for that he did what he did in his shop, and Allah hath
retaliated upon him in this world.” And it is related that the
goldsmith, when his wife told him how the water-carrier had used her,
said, “Tit for tat, and blow for blow!; had I done more the
water-carrier had done mo’e”;—which became a current byword among the
folk. Therefore it behoveth a wife to be both outward and inward with
her husband; contenting herself with little from him, if he cannot give
her much, and taking pattern by Ayishah the Truthful and Fatimah the
virgin mother (Allah Almighty accept of them twain!), that she may be of
the company of the righteous ancestry.[127] And I have heard the
following tale of
-----
Footnote 126:
The “Sakká” or water-carrier race is peculiar in Egypt and famed for
trickery and intrigue. Opportunity here as elsewhere makes the thief.
Footnote 127:
A famous saying of Mohammed is recorded when an indiscretion of his
young wife Ayishah was reported to him, “There be no adultress without
an adulterer (of a husband).” Fatimah the Apostle’s daughter is
supposed to have remained a virgin after bearing many children: this
coarse symbolism of purity was known to the classics (Pausanias), who
made Juno recover her virginity by bathing in a certain river every
year. In the last phrase, “Al-Salaf” (ancestry) refers to Mohammed and
his family.
KHUSRAU AND SHIRIN AND THE FISHERMAN.