It hath been related that in Tarábulus-town[205] of Syria was a Kází
appointed under orders of the Caliph Hárún al-Rashíd to adjudge
law-suits and dissolve contracts and cross-examine witnesses; and after
taking seat in his Mahkamah[206] his rigour and severity became well
known to all men. Now this judge kept a black handmaiden likest unto a
buffalo-bull and she cohabited with him for a lengthened while; for his
nature was ever niggardly nor could anyone wrest from him half a Faddah
or any alms-gift or aught else; and his diet was of biscuit[207] and
onions. Moreover, he was ostentatious as he was miserly: he had an
eating-cloth bordered with a fine bell-fringe,[208] and when any person
entered about dinner-time or supper-tide he would cry out, “O handmaid,
fetch the fringed table-cloth;” and all who heard his words would say to
themselves, “By Allah, this must needs be a costly thing.” Presently one
day of the days his assessors and officers said to him, “O our lord the
Kazi, take to thyself a wife, for yon negress becometh not a dignitary
of thy degree.” Said he, “An this need be, let any who hath a daughter
give her to me in wedlock and I will espouse her.” Herewith quoth one
present, “I have a fair daughter and a marriageable,” whereto quoth the
Kazi, “An thou wouldst do me a favour this is the time.” So the bride
was fitted out and the espousals took place forthright and that same
night the Kazi’s father-in-law came to him and led him in to his bride
saying in his heart, “I am now connected with the Kazi.” And he took
pleasure in the thought for he knew naught of the judge’s stinginess and
he could not suppose but that his daughter would be comfortable with her
mate and well-to-do in the matter of diet and dress and furniture. Such
were the fancies which occurred to him; but as for the Kazi, he lay with
the maid and abated her maidenhead; and she in the morning awaited
somewhat wherewith to break her fast and waited in vain. Presently the
Kazi left her and repaired to his court-house whither the city-folk came
and gave him joy of his marriage and wished him good morning, saying in
themselves, “Needs must he make a mighty fine bride-feast.” But they sat
there to no purpose until past noon when each went his own way privily
damning the judge’s penuriousness. As soon as they were gone he returned
to his Harem and cried out to his black wench, “O handmaiden, fetch the
fringed table-cloth;” and his bride hearing this rejoiced, saying to
herself, “By Allah, his calling for this cloth requireth a banquet which
befitteth it, food suitable for the Kings.” The negress arose and faring
forth for a short time returned with the cloth richly fringed and set
upon it a Kursi-stool,[209] and a tray of brass whereon were served
three biscuits and three onions. When the bride saw this, she prayed in
her heart saying, “Now may my Lord wreak my revenge upon my father!” but
her husband cried to her, “Come hither, my girl,” and the three sat down
to the tray wherefrom each took a biscuit and an onion. The Kazi and the
negress ate all their portions, but the bride could not swallow even a
third of the hard bread apportioned to her; so she rose up, heartily
cursing her father’s ambition in her heart. At supper-tide it was the
same till the state of things became longsome to her and this endured
continuously for three days, when she was ready to sink with hunger. So
she sent for her sire and cried aloud in his face. The Kazi hearing the
outcries of his bride asked, “What is to do?” whereupon they informed
him that the young woman was not in love with this style of living.——And
Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to
say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy
story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And
where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming
night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next
night and that was
The Three Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other
than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching
of this our latter night!” She replied:——With love and good will! It
hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding,
lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and
worthy celebrating, that the bride was not in love with the Kazi’s mode
of living; so he took her and cut off her nose and divorced her, falsely
declaring that she had behaved frowardly. On the next day he proposed
for another wife and married her and entreated her in like fashion as
the first; and when she demanded a divorce, he shredded off her nostrils
and put her away; and whatever woman he espoused he starved by his
stinginess and tortured with hunger, and when any demanded a divorce he
would chop off her nose on false pretences and put her away without
paying aught either of her marriage settlement or of the contingent
dowry. At last the report of that Kazi’s avarice came to the ears of a
damsel of Mosul-city, a model of beauty and loveliness who had insight
into things hidden and just judgment and skilful contrivance. Thereupon,
resolved to avenge her sex, she left her native place and journeyed till
she made Tarábulus; and by the decree of the Decreer at that very time
the judge, after a day spent in his garden, purposed to return home so
he mounted his mule and met her half-way between the pleasance and the
town. He chanced to glance at her and saw that she was wondrous
beautiful and lovely, symmetrical and graceful and the spittle ran from
his mouth wetting his mustachios; and he advanced and accosting her
said, “O thou noble one, whence comest thou hither?” “From behind me!”
“_Connu._ I knew that; but from what city?” “From Mosul.” “Art thou
single and secluded or femme couverte with a husband alive.” “Single I
am still!” “Can it be that thou wilt take me and thou become to me mate
and I become to thee man?” “If such be our fate ’twill take place and I
will give thee an answer to-morrow;” and so saying the damsel went on to
Tarábulus. Now the Kazi after hearing her speech felt his love for her
increase; so next morning he sent to ask after her, and when they told
him that she had alighted at a Khan, he despatched to her the negress
his concubine with a party of friends to ask her in marriage, notifying
that he was Kazi of the city. Thereupon she demanded a dower of fifty
dinars and naming a deputy caused the knot be knotted and she came to
him about evening time and he went in to her. But when it was the
supperhour he called as was his wont to his black handmaiden saying
“Fetch the fringed table-cloth,” and she fared forth and fetched it
bringing also three biscuits and three onions, and as soon as the meal
was served up all three sat down to it, the Kazi, the slave-girl, and
the new bride. Each took a biscuit and an onion and ate them up and the
bride exclaimed “Allah requite thee with wealth. By Allah, this be a
wholesome supper.” When the judge heard this he was delighted with her
and cried out, “Extolled be the Almighty for that at last He hath
vouchsafed to me a wife who thanketh the Lord for muchel or for little!”
But he knew not what the Almighty had decreed to him through the wile
and guile, the malice and mischief of women. Next morning the Kazi
repaired to the Mahkamah and the bride arose and solaced herself with
looking at the apartments, of which some lay open whilst others were
closed. Presently she came to one which was made fast by a door with a
wooden bolt and a padlock of iron: she considered it and found it strong
but at the threshold was a fissure about the breadth of a finger; so she
peeped through and espied gold and silver coins heaped up in trays of
brass which stood upon Kursi-stools and the nearest about ten cubits
from the door. She then arose and fetched a long wand, the mid-rib of a
date-palm,[210] and arming the end with a lump of leaven she pushed it
through the chink under the door and turned it round and round upon the
money-trays as if sewing or writing. At last two dinars stuck to the
dough and she drew them through the fissure and returned to her own
chamber; then, calling the negress, she gave her the ducats saying, “Go
thou to the Bazar and buy us some mutton and rice and clarified butter;
and do thou also bring us some fresh bread and spices and return with
them without delay.” The negress took the gold and went to the market,
where she bought all that her lady bade her buy and speedily came back,
when the Kazi’s wife arose and cooked a notable meal, after which she
and the black chattel ate whatso they wanted. Presently the slave
brought basin and ewer to her lady and washed her hands and then fell to
kissing her feet, saying, “Allah feed thee, O my lady, even as thou hast
fed me, for ever since I belonged to this Kazi I have lacked the
necessaries of life.” Replied the other, “Rejoice, O handmaiden, for
henceforth thou shalt have every day naught but the bestest food of
manifold kinds;” and the negress prayed Allah to preserve her and
thanked her. At noon the Kazi entered and cried, “O handmaid fetch the
fringed cloth,” and when she brought it he sat down and his wife arose
and served up somewhat of the food she had cooked and he ate and
rejoiced and was filled and at last he asked, “Whence this provision?”
She answered, “I have in this city many kinsfolk who hearing of my
coming sent me these meats and quoth I to myself, When my lord the Kazi
shall return home he shall make his dinner thereof.” On the next day she
did as before and drawing out three ducats called the slave-girl and
gave her two of them bidding her go to the Bazar and buy a lamb ready
skinned and a quantity of rice and clarified butter and greens and
spices and whatso was required for dressing the dishes. So the handmaid
went forth rejoicing, and bought all her lady had ordered and forthwith
returned when her mistress fell to cooking meats of various kinds and
lastly sent to invite all her neighbours, women and maidens. When they
came she had got ready the trays garnished with dainty food[211] and
served up to them all that was suitable and they ate and enjoyed
themselves and made merry. Now this was about mid-forenoon, but as
midday drew near they went home carrying with them dishes full of
dainties which they cleared and washed and sent back till everything was
returned to its place.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and fell
silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister
Dunyazad, “How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and
enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with
that I would relate to you on the coming night an the Sovran suffer me
to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was
The Three Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other
than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching
of this our latter night!” She replied:——With love and good will! It
hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding,
lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and
worthy celebrating, that the guests of the Kazi’s wife fared from her
before turn of sun; and, when it was noon, behold, the Kazi entered his
Harem and said, “O handmaiden, fetch the fringed table-cloth,” when the
wife arose and set before him viands of various sorts. He asked whence
they came and she answered saying, “This is from my maternal aunt who
sent it as a present to me.” The judge ate and was delighted and abode
in the Harem till set of sun. But his wife ceased not daily to draw
money from his hoard and to expend it upon entertaining her friends and
gossips, and this endured for a whole year. Now beside her mansion dwelt
a poor woman in a mean dwelling and every day the wife would feed her
and her husband and babes; moreover she would give them all that
sufficed them. The woman was far gone with child and the other charged
her saying, “As soon as ’tis thy time to be delivered, do thou come to
me for I have a mind to play a prank upon this Kazi who feareth not
Allah and who, whenever he taketh to himself a wife, first depriveth her
of food till she is well nigh famished, then shreddeth off her nose
under false pretences and putteth her away taking all her belongings and
giving naught of dower either the precedent or the contingent.” And the
poor woman replied, “To hear is to obey.” Then the wife persisted in her
lavish expenditure till her neighbour came to her already overtaken by
birth-pains, and these lasted but a little while when she was brought to
bed of a boy. Hereupon the Kazi’s wife arose and prepared a savoury dish
called a Baysárah,[212] the base of which is composed of beans and
gravied mallows[213] seasoned with onions and garlic. It was noon when
her husband came in and she served up the dish; and he being anhungered
ate of it and ate greedily and at supper time he did likewise. But he
was not accustomed to a Baysárah, so as soon as night came on his paunch
began to swell; the wind bellowed in his bowels; his stress was such
that he could not be more distressed and he roared out in his agony.
Herewith his wife ran in and cried to him, “No harm shall befal thee, O
my lord!” and so saying she passed her hand over his stomach and
presently exclaimed “Extolled be He, O my lord; verily thou art pregnant
and a babe is in thy belly.”——And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of
day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her
sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how
enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with
that I would relate to you on the coming night an the Sovran suffer me
to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was
The Three Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other
than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching
of this our latter night!” She replied:——With love and good will! It
hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding,
lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and
worthy celebrating, that the Kazi’s wife came up to him and passing her
palm over his paunch presently cried, “Extolled be He, O my lord: verily
thou art pregnant and a babe is in thy belly.” Quoth the Kazi, “How
shall a man bear a child?” and quoth she, “Allah createth whatso He
willeth.” And as they two sat at talk the flatulence and belly-ache
increased and violent colic[214] set in and the torments waxed still
more torturing. Then the wife rose up and disappeared but presently she
returned with her pauper neighbour’s newly-born babe in her sleeve, its
mother accompanying it: she also brought a large basin of copper and she
found her husband rolling from right to left and crying aloud in his
agony. At last the qualms[215] in his stomach were ready to burst forth
and the rich food to issue from his body, and when this delivery was
near hand the wife privily set the basin under him like a close stool
and fell to calling upon the Holy Names and to shampooing and rubbing
down his skin while she ejaculated, “The name of Allah be upon
thee!”[216] But all this was of her malice. At last the prima via opened
and the Kazi let fly, whereat his wife came quickly behind and setting
the babe upon its back gently pinched it so that it began to wail, and
said, “O man Alhamdolillah,—laud to the Lord, who hath so utterly
relieved thee of thy burthen,” and she fell to muttering Names over the
new-born. Then quoth he, “Have a care of the little one and keep it from
cold draughts;” for the trick had taken completely with the Kazi and he
said in his mind, “Allah createth whatso He willeth: even men if so
predestined can bring forth.” And presently he added, “O woman, look out
for a wet nurse to suckle him;” and she replied, “O my lord, the nurse
is with me in the women’s apartments.” Then having sent away the babe
and its mother she came up to the Kazi and washed him and removed the
basin from under him and made him lie at full length. Presently after
taking thought he said, “O woman, be careful to keep this matter private
for fear of the folk who otherwise might say:—Our Kazi hath borne a
babe.” She replied, “O my lord, as the affair is known to other than our
two selves how can we manage to conceal it?” and after she resumed, “O
my husband, this business can on no wise be hidden from the people for
more than a week or at most till next month.” Herewith he cried out, “O
my calamity; if it reach the ears of folk and they say:—Our Kazi hath
borne a babe, then what shall we do?” He pondered the matter until
morning when he rose before daylight and, taking some provaunt secretly,
made ready to depart the city, saying, “O Allah, suffer none to see me!”
Then, after giving his wife charge of the house and bidding her take
care of his effects and farewelling her, he went forth secretly from her
and journeyed that day and a second and a third until the seventh, when
he entered Damascus of Syria where none knew him. But he had no spending
money for he could not persuade himself to take even a single dinar from
his hoard and he had provided himself with naught save the meagrest
provision. So his condition was straitened and he was compelled to sell
somewhat of his clothes and lay out the price upon his urgent needs; and
when the coin was finished he was forced to part with other portions of
his dress till little or nothing of it remained to him. Then, in his
sorest strait, he went to the Shaykh of the Masons and said to him, “O
master, my wish is to serve in this industry;”[217] and said he,
“Welcome to thee.” So the Kazi worked through every day for a wage of
five Faddahs. Such was his case; but as regards his wife,——And Shahrazad
was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her
permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet and tasteful
is thy tale, O sister mine, and enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she,
“And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on this
coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the
next night and that was the
The Three Hundred and Ninetieth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other
than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching
of this our latter night!” She replied:——With love and good will! It
hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding,
lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and
worthy celebrating, that when the Kazi went forth from his wife she
threw a sherd[218] behind him and muttered “Allah never bring thee back
from thy journey.” Then she arose and threw open the rooms and noted all
that was in them of moneys and moveables and _vaiselle_ and rarities,
and she fell to feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and doling
alms to Fakírs saying, “This be the reward of him who mortifieth the
daughters of folk and devoureth their substance and shreddeth off their
nostrils.” She also sent to the women he had married and divorced, and
gave them of his good the equivalent of their dowers and a solatium for
losing their noses. And every day she assembled the goodwives of the
quarter and cooked for them manifold kinds of food because her spouse
the Kazi was possessed of property approaching two Khaznahs[219] of
money, he being ever loath to expend what his hand could hend and
unprepared to part with aught on any wise, for the excess of his
niggardness and his greed of gain. Nor did she cease from so doing for a
length of time until suddenly she overheard folk saying, “Our Kazi hath
borne a babe.” And such bruit spread abroad and was reported in sundry
cities, nor ceased the rumour ere it reached the ears of the Caliph
Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad city. Now hearing it he marvelled and cried,
“Extolled be Allah! this hap, by the Lord, never can have happened save
at the hand of some woman, a wise and a clever at contrivance; nor would
she have wrought after such fashion save to make public somewhat erst
proceeding from the Kazi, either his covetous intent or his
high-handedness in commandment. But needs must this goodwife be summoned
before me and recount the cunning practice she hath practised;—Allah
grant her success in the prank she hath played upon the Judge.” Such was
her case; but as concerns the Kazi, he abode working at builders’ craft
till his bodily force was enfeebled and his frame became frail; so
presently quoth he to himself, “Do thou return to thy native land, for a
long time hath now passed and this affair is clean forgotten.” Thereupon
he returned to Tarábulus, but as he drew near thereto he was met outside
the city by a bevy of small boys who were playing at forfeits, and lo
and behold! cried one to his comrades, “O lads, do ye remember such and
such a year when our Kazi was brought to bed?”[220] But the Judge
hearing these words returned forthright to Damascus by the way he came,
saying to himself, “Hie thee not save to Baghdad city for ’tis further
away than Damascus!” and set out at once for the House of Peace. However
he entered it privily, because he was still in the employ of the Prince
of True Believers, Harun al-Rashid; and, changing semblance and
superficials, he donned the dress of a Persian Darwaysh and fell to
walking about the streets of the capital. Here met he sundry men of high
degree who showed him favour, but he could not venture himself before
the Caliph albe sundry of the subjects said to him, “O Darwaysh, why
dost thou not appear in the presence of the Commander of the Faithful?
Assuredly he would bestow upon thee many a boon, for he is a true
Sultan; and, specially, an thou panegyrise him in poetry, he will
largely add to his largesse.” Now by the decree of Destiny the
Viceregent of Allah upon His Earth had commanded the Kazi’s wife be
brought from Tarabulus: so they led her into the presence and when she
had kissed ground before him and salam’d to him and prayed for the
perpetuity of his glory and his existence, he asked her anent her
husband and how he had borne a child and what was the prank she had
played him and in what manner she had gotten the better of him. She hung
her head groundwards awhile for shame nor could she return aught of
reply for a time, when the Commander of the Faithful said to her, “Thou
hast my promise of safety and again safety, the safety of one who
betrayeth not his word.” So she raised her head and cried, “By Allah, O
King of the Age, the story of this Kazi is a strange——And Shahrazad was
surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her
permitted say.” Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy story,
O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where
is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an
the Sovran suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and
that was
The Three Hundred and Ninety-first Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other
than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching
of this our latter night!” She replied:——With love and good will! It
hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding,
lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and
worthy celebrating, that quoth the Kazi’s wife, “By Allah, O King of the
Age, the story of this Kazi is a strange and of the wonders of the world
and ’tis as follows. My spouse is so niggardly of nature and greedy of
gain that whatso wife he weddeth he starveth her with hunger and, whenas
she loseth patience, he shreddeth her nostrils and putteth her away,
taking all her good and what not. Now this case continued for a while of
time. Also he had a black slave-wench and a fine eating-cloth and when
dinner-time came he would cry, O handmaid, fetch the fringed
table-cloth! whereupon she would bring it and garnish it with three
biscuits and three onions, one to each mouth. Presently accounts of this
conduct came to me at Mosul, whereupon I removed me to Tarábulus, and
there played him many a prank amongst which was the dish of Baysár by me
seasoned with an over quantity of onions and garlic and such spices as
gather wind in the maw and distend it like a tom-tom and breed
borborygms.[221] This I gave him to eat and then befel that which befel.
So I said to him, Thou art in the family way and tricked him, privily
bringing into the house a new-born babe. When his belly began to drain
off I set under him a large metal basin and after pinching the little
one I placed it in the utensil and recited Names over it. Presently
quoth he, Guard my little stranger from the draught and bring hither a
wet-nurse; and I did accordingly. But he waxed ashamed of the birth and
in the morning he fared forth the city nor knew we what Allah had done
with him. But as he went I bespake him with the words which the poet
sang when the Ass of Umm Amr went off:—
Ass and Umm Amr[222] bewent their way; ✿ Nor Ass nor Umm Amr returned
for aye;
and then I cited the saying of another:—
When I forced him to fare I bade him hie, ✿ Where Umm Kash’am[223]
caused her selle to fly.”
Now as the Caliph Harun al-Rashid heard these words he laughed so hearty
a laugh that he fell backwards and bade the goodwife repeat her history
till he waxed distraught for excess of merriment, when lo and behold! a
Darwaysh suddenly entered the presence. The wife looked at her husband
and recognised him; but the Caliph knew not his Kazi, so much had time
and trouble changed the Judge’s cheer. However, she signalled to the
Commander of the Faithful that the beggar was her mate and he taking the
hint cried out, “Welcome to thee, O Darwaysh, and where be the babe thou
barest at Tarabulus?” The unfortunate replied, “O King of the Age, do
men go with child?” and the Prince of True Believers rejoined, “We heard
that the Kazi bare a babe and thou art that same Kazi now habited in
Fakir’s habit. But who may be this woman thou seest?” He made answer “I
wot not;” but the dame exclaimed, “Why this denial, O thou who fearest
Allah so little? I conjure thee by the life of the King to recount in
his presence all that betided thee.” He could deny it no longer so he
told his tale before the Caliph, who laughed at him aloud; and at each
adventure the King cried out, “Allah spare thee and thy child, O Kazi!”
Thereupon the Judge explained saying, “Pardon, O King of the Age, I
merit even more than what hath betided me.”——And Shahrazad was surprised
by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say.
Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O
sister mine, and enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is
this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the
Sovran suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that
was
The Three Hundred and Ninety-second Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other
than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching
of this our latter night!” She replied:——With love and good will! It
hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding,
lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and
worthy celebrating, that quoth the Kazi to the King, “I deserve even
more than what hath betided me for my deeds were unrighteous, O Ruler of
the Time. But now the twain of us be present between thy hands; so do
thou, of thy generous grace and the perfection of thy beneficence, deign
reconcile me unto my wife and from this moment forwards I repent before
the face of Allah nor will I ever return to the condition I was in of
niggardise and greed of gain. But ’tis for her to decide and on whatever
wise she direct me to act, therein will I not gainsay her; and do thou
vouchsafe to me the further favour of restoring me to the office I
whilome held.” When the Prince of True Believers, Harun al-Rashid, heard
the Kazi’s words he turned to the Judge’s wife and said, “Thou also hast
heard what thy mate hath averred: so do thou become to him what thou
wast before and thou hast command over all which thy husband requireth.”
She replied, “O King of the Age, even as thou hast the advantage of
knowing, verily the Heavens and the son of Adam change not; for that
man’s nature is never altered except with his existence nor doth it
depart from him save when his life departeth. However, an he speak the
truth let him bind himself by a deed documented under thy personal
inspection and thine own seal; so that if he break his covenant the case
may be committed to thee.” The Caliph rejoined, “Sooth thou sayest that
the nature of Adam’s son is allied to his existence;” but the Kazi
exclaimed, “O our lord the Sultan, bid write for me the writ even as
thou hast heard from her mouth and do thou deign witness it between us
twain.” Thereupon the King reconciled their differences and allotted to
them a livelihood which would suffice and sent them both back to
Tarabulus-town. This is all that hath come down to us concerning the
Kazi who bare a babe: yet ’tis as naught compared with the tale of the
Bhang-eaters, for their story is wondrous and their adventures
delectable and marvellous. “What may it be?” asked Shahryar; so
Shahrazad began to recount