COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF
THE THIRTY-SECOND.
THE STORY OF THE HUMPBACK.
There was, in ancient times, in the city of El-Baṣrah,[V_1] a
tailor who enjoyed an ample income, and was fond of sport and merriment.
He was in the habit of going out occasionally with his wife, that they
might amuse themselves with strange and diverting scenes; and one day
they went forth in the afternoon,[V_2] and, returning home in the
evening, met a humpbacked man, whose aspect was such as to excite
laughter in the angry, and to dispel anxiety and grief: so they
approached him to enjoy the pleasure of gazing at him, and invited him
to return with them to their house, and to join with them in a carousal
that night.
He assented to their proposal; and after he had gone with them to the
house, the tailor went out to the market; night having then approached.
He bought some dried fish, and bread and limes and sweetmeat, and,
returning with them, placed the fish before the humpback and they sat
down to eat; and the tailor's wife took a large piece of fish, and
crammed the humpback with it, and, closing his mouth with her hand,
said, By Allah, thou shalt not swallow it but by gulping it at once, and
I will not give thee time to chew it. He therefore swallowed it; but it
contained a large and sharp bone, which stuck across in his throat, his
destiny having so determined, and he expired. The tailor exclaimed,
There is no strength nor power but in God the High, the Great! Alas,
that this poor creature should not have died but in this manner by our
hands!--Wherefore this idling? exclaimed the woman.--And what can I do?
asked her husband.--Arise she answered, and take him in thy bosom, and
cover him with a silk napkin: I will go out first and do thou follow me,
this very night and say, This is my son, and this is his mother; and we
are going to convey him to the physician, that he may give him some
medicine.
No sooner had the tailor heard these words than he arose, and took the
humpback in his bosom. His wife, accompanying him, exclaimed, O my
child! may Allah preserve thee! Where is the part in which thou feelest
pain; and where hath this small-pox attacked thee?--So every one who saw
them said, They are conveying a child smitten with the small-pox. Thus
they proceeded, inquiring as they went, for the abode of the physician;
and the people directed them to the house of a physician who was a Jew;
and they knocked at the door, and there came down to them a black
slave-girl, who opened the door, and beheld a man carrying (as she
imagined) a child, and attended by its mother; and she said, What is
your business?--We have a child here answered the tailor's wife, and we
want the physician to see him: take, then, this quarter of a piece of
gold, and give it to thy master, and let him come down and see my son;
for he is ill. The girl, therefore, went up, and the tailor's wife,
entering the vestibule, said to her husband, Leave the humpback here,
and let us take ourselves away. And the tailor, accordingly, set him up
against the wall, and went out with his wife.
The slave-girl, meanwhile, went in to the Jew, and said to him, Below,
in the house, is a sick person, with a woman and a man: and they have
given me a quarter of a piece of gold for thee, that thou mayest
prescribe for them what may suit his case. And when the Jew saw the
quarter of a piece of gold, he rejoiced, and, rising in haste, went down
in the dark; and in doing so, his foot struck against the lifeless
humpback. O Ezra! he exclaimed--O Heavens and the Ten Commandments! O
Aaron, and Joshua son of Nun! It seemeth that I have stumbled against
this sick person, and he hath fallen down the stairs and died! And how
shall I go forth with one killed from my house? O Ezra's
ass![V_3]--He then raised him, and took him up from the court of
the house to his wife, and acquainted her with the accident.--And why
sittest thou here idle? said she; for if thou remain thus until daybreak
our lives will be lost: let me and thee, then, take him up to the
terrace, and throw him into the house of our neighbour the Muslim; for
he is the steward of the Sulṭán's kitchen, and often do the cats come to
his house, and eat of the food which they find there;[V_4] as do
the mice too: and if he remain there for a night, the dogs will come
down to him from the terraces and eat him up entirely.[V_5] So the
Jew and his wife went up, carrying the humpback, and let him down by his
hands and feet to the pavement; placing him against the wall; which
having done, they descended.
Not long had the humpback been thus deposited when the steward returned
to his house, and opened the door, and, going up with a lighted candle
in his hand, found a son of Adam standing in the corner next the
kitchen; upon which he exclaimed, What is this? By Allah, the thief that
hath stolen our goods is none other than a son of Adam, who taketh what
he findeth of flesh or grease, even though I keep it concealed from the
cats and the dogs; and if I killed all the cats and dogs of the quarter
it would be of no use; for he cometh down from the terraces!--And so
saying, he took up a great mallet, and struck him with it, and then,
drawing close to him, gave him a second blow with it upon the chest,
when the humpback fell down, and he found that he was dead; whereupon he
grieved, and said, There is no strength nor power but in God! And he
feared for himself, and exclaimed, Curse upon the grease and the flesh,
and upon this night, in which the destiny of this man hath been
accomplished by my hand! Then, looking upon him, and perceiving that he
was a humpback, he said, Is it not enough that thou art humpbacked, but
must thou also be a robber, and steal the flesh and the grease? O
Protector, cover me with thy gracious shelter!--And he lifted him upon
his shoulders, and descended, and went forth from his house, towards the
close of the night, and stopped not until he had conveyed him to the
commencement of the market-street, where he placed him upon his feet by
the side of a shop at the entrance of a lane, and there left him and
retired.
Soon after, there came a Christian, the Sulṭán's broker, who, in a state
of intoxication, had come forth to visit the bath; and he advanced,
staggering, until he drew near to the humpback, when he turned his eyes,
and beheld one standing by him. Now some persons had snatched off his
turban early in the night,[V_6] and when he saw the humpback
standing there, he concluded that he intended to do the same; so he
clenched his fist, and struck him on the neck. Down fell the humpback
upon the ground, and the Christian called out to the watchman of the
market,[V_7] while, still in the excess of his intoxication, he
continued beating the humpback, and attempting to throttle him. As he
was thus employed, the watchman came, and, finding the Christian
kneeling upon the Muslim[V_8] and beating him, said, Arise, and
quit him! He arose, therefore, and the watchman, approaching the
humpback, saw that he was dead, and exclaimed, How is it that the
Christian dareth to kill the Muslim? Then seizing the Christian, he
bound his hands behind him, and took him to the house of the
Wálee;[V_9] the Christian saying within himself, O Heavens! O
Virgin! how have I killed this man? and how quickly did he die from a
blow of the hand!--Intoxication had departed, and reflection had come.
The humpback and the Christian passed the remainder of the night in the
house of the Wálee, and the Wálee ordered the executioner to proclaim
the Christian's crime, and he set up a gallows, and stationed him
beneath it. The executioner then came, and threw the rope round his
neck, and was about to hang him, when the Sulṭán's steward pushed
through the crowd, seeing the Christian standing beneath the gallows,
and the people made way for him, and he said to the executioner, Do it
not; for it was I who killed him.--Wherefore didst thou kill him? said
the Wálee. He answered, I went into my house last night, and saw that he
had descended from the terrace and stolen my goods; so I struck him with
a mallet upon his chest, and he died, and I carried him out, and
conveyed him to the market-street, where I set him up in such a place,
at the entrance of such a lane. Is it not enough for me to have killed a
Muslim, that a Christian should be killed on my account? Hang, then,
none but me.--The Wálee, therefore, when he heard these words, liberated
the Christian broker, and said to the executioner, Hang this man, on the
ground of his confession. And he took off the rope from the neck of the
Christian, and put it round the neck of the steward, and, having
stationed him beneath the gallows, was about to hang him, when the
Jewish physician pushed through the crowd, and called out to the
executioner, saying to him, Do it not; for none killed him but I; and
the case was this: he came to my house to be cured of a disease, and as
I descended to him I struck against him with my foot, and he died: kill
not the steward, therefore; but kill me. So the Wálee gave orders to
hang the Jewish physician; and the executioner took off the rope from
the steward's neck, and put it round the neck of the Jew. But, lo, the
tailor came, and, forcing his way among the people, said to the
executioner, Do it not; for none killed him but I; and it happened thus:
I was out amusing myself during the day, and as I was returning at the
commencement of the night, I met this humpback in a state of
intoxication, with a tambourine, and singing merrily; and I stopped to
divert myself by looking at him, and took him to my house. I then bought
some fish, and we sat down to eat, and my wife took a piece of fish and
a morsel of bread, and crammed them into his mouth, and he was choked,
and instantly died. Then I and my wife took him to the house of the Jew,
and the girl came down and opened the door, and while she went up to her
master, I set up the humpback by the stairs, and went away with my wife:
so, when the Jew came down and stumbled against him, he thought that he
had killed him.--And he said to the Jew, Is this true? He answered, Yes.
The tailor, then, looking towards the Wálee, said to him, Liberate the
Jew, and hang me. And when the Wálee heard this he was astonished at the
case of the humpback, and said, Verily this is an event that should be
recorded in books! And he said to the executioner, Liberate the Jew, and
hang the tailor on account of his own confession. So the executioner led
him forward, saying, Dost thou put forward this and take back that; and
shall we not hang one? And he put the rope round the neck of the tailor.
Now the humpback was the Sulṭán's buffoon, and the Sulṭán could not bear
him to be out of his sight; and when the humpback had got drunk, and
been absent that night and the next day until noon, the King inquired
respecting him of some of his attendants, and they answered him, O our
lord, the Wálee hath taken him forth dead, and gave orders to hang the
person who killed him, and there came a second and a third person, each
saying, None killed him but I:--and describing to the Wálee the cause of
his killing him. When the King, therefore, heard this, he called out to
the Chamberlain, and said to him, Go down to the Wálee, and bring them
all hither before me. So the Chamberlain went down, and found that the
executioner had almost put to death the tailor, and he called out to
him, saying, Do it not:--and informed the Wálee that the case had been
reported to the King. And he took him, and the humpback borne with him,
and the tailor and the Jew and the Christian and the steward, and went
up with them all to the King; and when the Wálee came into the presence
of the King, he kissed the ground, and related to him all that had
happened. And the King was astonished, and was moved with merriment, at
hearing this tale; and he commanded that it should be written in letters
of gold. He then said to those who were present, Have ye ever heard
anything like the story of this humpback? And upon this the Christian
advanced, and said, O King of the age, if thou permit me I will relate
to thee an event that hath occurred to me more wonderful and strange and
exciting than the story of the humpback.--Tell us then thy story, said
the King. And the Christian related as follows:--
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE STORY TOLD BY THE CHRISTIAN BROKER.
Know, O King of the age, that I came to this country with merchandise,
and destiny stayed me among your people. I was born in Cairo, and am one
of its Copts, and there I was brought up. My father was a broker; and
when I had attained to manhood, he died, and I succeeded to his
business; and as I was sitting one day, lo, a young man of most handsome
aspect, and clad in a dress of the richest description, came to me,
riding upon an ass, and, when he saw me, saluted me; whereupon I rose to
him, to pay him honour, and he produced a handkerchief containing some
sesame, and said, What is the value of an ardebb[V_10] of this? I
answered him, A hundred pieces of silver. And he said to me, Take the
carriers and the measurers, and repair to the Khán of El-Jáwalee[V_11]
in the district of Báb en-Naṣr:[V_12] there wilt thou find me. And he
left me and went his way, after having given me the handkerchief with
the sample of the sesame. So I went about to the purchasers; and the
price of each ardebb amounted to a hundred and twenty pieces of silver;
and I took with me four carriers, and went to him. I found him waiting
my arrival; and when he saw me he rose and opened a magazine, and we
measured its contents, and the whole amounted to fifty ardebbs. The
young man then said, Thou shalt have, for every ardebb, ten pieces of
silver as brokerage; and do thou receive the price and keep it in thy
care: the whole sum will be five thousand; and thy share of it, five
hundred: so there will remain for me four thousand and five hundred; and
when I shall have finished the sale of the goods contained in my
store-rooms, I will come to thee and receive it. I replied, It shall be
as thou desirest. And I kissed his hand, and left him. Thus there
accrued to me, on that day, a thousand pieces of silver, besides my
brokerage.[V_13]
He was absent from me a month, at the expiration of which he came and
said to me, Where is the money? I answered, Here it is, ready. And he
said, Keep it until I come to thee to receive it. And I remained
expecting him; but he was absent from me another month; after which he
came again, and said, Where is the money? Whereupon I arose and saluted
him, and said to him, Wilt thou eat something with us? He, however,
declined, and said, Keep the money until I shall have gone and returned
to receive it from thee. He then departed; and I arose, and prepared for
him the money, and sat expecting him; but again he absented himself from
me for a month, and then came and said, After this day I will receive it
from thee. And he departed, and I made ready the money for him as
before, and sat waiting his return. Again, however, he remained a month
absent from me, and I said within myself, Verily this young man is
endowed with consummate liberality! After the month he came, attired in
rich clothing, and resembling the full moon, appearing as if he had just
come out of the bath, with red cheek and fair forehead, and a mole like
a globule of ambergris. When I beheld him I kissed his hand, and invoked
a blessing upon him, and said to him, O my master, wilt thou not take
thy money?--Have patience with me, he answered, until I shall have
transacted all my affairs, after which I will receive it from thee. And
so saying, he departed; and I said within myself, By Allah, when he
cometh I will entertain him as a guest, on account of the profit which I
have derived from his money; for great wealth hath accrued to me from
it.
At the close of the year he returned, clad in a dress richer than the
former; and I swore to him that he should alight to be my guest.--On the
condition, he replied, that thou expend nothing of my money that is in
thy possession. I said, Well:--and, having seated him, prepared what was
requisite of meats and drinks and other provisions, and placed them
before him, saying, In the name of Allah! And he drew near to the table,
and put forth his left hand, and thus ate with me: so I was surprised at
him;[V_14] and when we had finished he washed his hand, and I gave
him a napkin with which to wipe it. We then sat down to converse, and I
said, O my master dispel a trouble from my mind. Wherefore didst thou
eat with thy left hand? Probably something paineth thee in thy right
hand?--On hearing these words, he stretched forth his arm from his
sleeve,[V_15] and behold, it was maimed--an arm without a hand! And
I wondered at this; but he said to me, Wonder not; nor say in thy heart
that I ate with thee with my left hand from a motive of self-conceit;
for rather to be wondered at is the cause of the cutting off of my right
hand. And what, said I, was the cause of it? He answered, thus:--
Know that I am from Baghdád: my father was one of the chief people of
that city; and when I had attained the age of manhood, I heard the
wanderers and travellers and merchants conversing respecting the land of
Egypt, and their words remained in my heart until my father died, when I
took large sums of money, and prepared merchandise consisting of the
stuffs of Baghdád and of El-Móṣil, and similar precious goods, and,
having packed them up, journeyed from Baghdád; and God decreed me safety
until I entered this your city. And so saying, he wept, and repeated
these verses:--
The blear-eyed escapeth a pit into which the clear-sighted falleth;
And the ignorant, an expression by which the shrewd sage is ruined.
The believer can scarce earn his food, while the impious infidel
is favoured.
What art or act can a man devise? It is what the Almighty appointeth!
I entered Cairo, continued the young man, and deposited the stuffs in
the Khán of Mesroor,[V_16] and, having unbound my packages and put
them in the magazines, gave to the servant some money to buy for us
something to eat, after which I slept a little; and when I arose, I went
to Beyn el-Ḳaṣreyn.[V_17] I then returned, and passed the night;
and in the morning following, I opened a bale of stuff, and said within
myself, I will arise and go through some of the market-streets, and see
the state of the mart. So I took some stuff, and made some of my
servants carry it, and proceeded until I arrived at the Ḳeysáreeyeh of
Jahárkas,[V_18] where the brokers came to me, having heard of my
arrival, and took from me the stuff, and cried it about for sale; but
the price bidden amounted not to the prime cost. And upon this the
Sheykh of the brokers said to me, O my master, I know a plan by which
thou mayest profit; and it is this: that thou do as other merchants, and
sell thy merchandise upon credit for a certain period, employing a
scrivener and a witness and a money-changer, and receive a portion of
the profits every Thursday and Monday; so shalt thou make of every piece
of silver two; and besides that, thou wilt be able to enjoy the
amusements afforded by Egypt and its Nile.--The advice is judicious, I
replied: and accordingly I took the brokers with me to the Khán, and
they conveyed the stuffs to the Ḳeysáreeyeh, where I sold it to the
merchants, writing a bond in their names, which I committed to the
money-changer, and taking from him a corresponding bond. I then returned
to the Khán, and remained there some days; and every day I took for my
breakfast a cup of wine, and had mutton and sweetmeats prepared for me,
until the month in which I became entitled to the receipt of the
profits, when I seated myself every Thursday and Monday at the shops of
the merchants, and the money-changer went with the scrivener and brought
me the money.
[Illustration]
Thus did I until one day I went to the bath and returned to the Khán,
and, entering my lodging, took for my breakfast a cup of wine, and then
slept; and when I awoke I ate a fowl,[V_19] and perfumed myself
with essence, and repaired to the shop of a merchant named Bedr-ed-Deen
the Gardener,[V_20] who, when he saw me, welcomed me, and conversed
with me a while in his shop; and as we were thus engaged, lo, a female
came and seated herself by my side. She wore a headkerchief inclined on
one side, and the odours of sweet perfumes were diffused from her, and
she captivated my reason by her beauty and loveliness as she raised her
izár and I beheld her black eyes. She saluted Bedr-ed-Deen, and he
returned her salutation, and stood conversing with her; and when I heard
her speech, love for her took entire possession of my heart. She then
said to Bedr-ed-Deen, Hast thou a piece of stuff woven with pure gold
thread? And he produced to her a piece; and she said, May I take it and
go, and then send thee the price? But he answered, It is impossible, O
my mistress; for this is the owner of the stuff, and I owe him a portion
of the profit.--Wo to thee! said she: it is my custom to take of thee
each piece of stuff for a considerable sum of money, giving thee a gain
beyond thy wish, and then to send thee the price.--Yes, he rejoined; but
I am in absolute want of the price this day. And upon this she took the
piece and threw it back to him upon his breast, saying, Verily your
class knows not how to respect any person's rank! And she arose, and
turned away. I felt then as if my soul went with her, and, rising upon
my feet, I said to her, O my mistress, kindly bestow a look upon me, and
retrace thine honoured steps. And she returned, and smiled and said, For
thy sake I return. And she sat opposite me upon the seat of the shop;
and I said to Bedr-ed-Deen, What is the price that thou hast agreed to
give for this piece. He answered, Eleven hundred pieces of silver. And I
said to him, Thy profit shall be a hundred pieces of silver: give me
then a paper, and I will write for thee the price upon it. I then took
the piece of stuff from him, and wrote him the paper with my own hand,
and gave the piece of stuff to the lady, saying to her, Take it and go;
and if thou wilt, bring the price to me in the market; or, if thou wilt,
it shall be my present to thee. She replied, God recompense thee, and
bless thee with my property, and make thee my husband; and may God
accept this prayer!--O my mistress, said I, let this piece of stuff be
thine, and another like it, and permit me to see thy face. And upon this
she raised her veil; and when I beheld her face, the sight drew from me
a thousand sighs, and my heart was entangled by her love, so that I no
longer remained master of my reason. She then lowered the veil again,
and took the piece of stuff, saying, O my master, leave me not desolate.
So she departed, while I continued sitting in the market-street until
past the hour of afternoon-prayer, with wandering mind, overpowered by
love. In the excess of my passion, before I rose I asked the merchant
respecting her; and he answered me, She is a rich lady, the daughter of
a deceased Emeer, who left her great property.
I then took leave of him, and returned to the Khán, and the supper was
placed before me; but, reflecting upon her, I could eat nothing. I laid
myself down to rest; but sleep came not to me, and I remained awake
until the morning, when I arose and put on a suit of clothing different
from that which I had worn the day before; and, having drunk a cup of
wine, and eaten a few morsels as my breakfast, repaired again to the
shop of the merchant, and saluted him, and sat down with him. The lady
soon came, wearing a dress more rich than the former, and attended by a
slave-girl; and she seated herself, and saluted me instead of
Bedr-ed-Deen, and said, with an eloquent tongue which I had never heard
surpassed in softness or sweetness, Send with me some one to receive the
twelve hundred pieces of silver, the price of the piece of
stuff.--Wherefore, said I, this haste? She replied, May we never lose
thee! And she handed to me the price; and I sat conversing with her, and
made a sign to her, which she understood, intimating my wish to visit
her: whereupon she rose in haste, expressing displeasure at my hint. My
heart clung to her, and I followed in the direction of her steps through
the market-street; and lo, a slave-girl came to me, and said, O my
master, answer the summons of my mistress. Wondering at this, I said, No
one here knoweth me.--How soon, she rejoined, hast thou forgotten her!
My mistress is she who was to-day at the shop of the merchant
Bedr-ed-Deen.--So I went with her until we arrived at the
money-changer's;[V_21] and when her mistress, who was there, beheld
me, she drew me to her side, and said, O my beloved, thou hast wounded
my heart, and love of thee hath taken possession of it; and from the
time that I first saw thee, neither sleep nor food nor drink hath been
pleasant to me. I replied, And more than that do I feel; and the state
in which I am needs no complaint to testify it.--Then shall I visit
thee, O my beloved, she asked, or wilt thou come to me? For our marriage
must be a secret.[V_22]--I am a stranger, I answered, and have no
place of reception but the Khán; therefore, if thou wilt kindly permit
me to go to thine abode the pleasure will be perfect.--Well, she
replied; but to-night is the eve of Friday, and let nothing be done till
to-morrow, when, after thou hast joined in the prayers, do thou mount
thine ass, and inquire for the Ḥabbáneeyeh;[V_23] and when thou
hast arrived there, ask for the house called the Ḳá'ah[V_24] of
Barakát the Naḳeeb,[V_25] known by the surname of Aboo-Shámeh; for
there do I reside; and delay not; for I shall be anxiously expecting
thee.
On hearing this I rejoiced exceedingly, and we parted; and I returned to
the Khán in which I lodged. I passed the whole night sleepless, and was
scarcely sure that the daybreak had appeared when I rose and changed my
clothes, and, having perfumed myself with essences and sweet scents,
took with me fifty pieces of gold in a handkerchief, and walked from the
Khán of Mesroor to Báb Zuweyleh,[V_26] where I mounted an ass, and
said to its owner, Go with me to the Ḥabbáneeyeh. And in less than the
twinkling of an eye he set off, and soon he stopped at a by-street
called Darb El-Munaḳḳiree, when I said to him, Enter the street, and
inquire for the Ḳá'ah of the Naḳeeb. He was absent but a little while,
and, returning, said, Alight.--Walk on before me, said I, to the Ḳá'ah.
And he went on until he had led me to the house; whereupon I said to
him, To-morrow come to me hither to convey me back.--In the name of
Allah, he replied: and I handed to him a quarter of a piece of gold, and
he took it and departed. I then knocked at the door, and there came
forth to me two young virgins in whom the forms of womanhood had just
developed themselves, resembling two moons, and they said, Enter; for
our mistress is expecting thee, and she hath not slept last night from
her excessive love for thee. I entered an upper saloon with seven doors:
around it were latticed windows looking upon a garden in which were
fruits of every kind, and running streams and singing birds: it was
plastered with imperial gypsum, in which a man might see his face
reflected:[V_27] its roof was ornamented with gilding, and
surrounded by inscriptions in letters of gold upon a ground of
ultramarine: it comprised a variety of beauties, and shone in the eyes
of beholders: the pavement was of coloured marbles, having in the midst
of it a fountain, with four snakes of red gold casting forth water from
their mouths like pearls and jewels at the corners of the
pool;[V_28] and it was furnished with carpets of coloured silk, and
mattresses.
[Illustration]
Having entered, I seated myself; and scarcely had I done so when the
lady approached me. She wore a crown set with pearls and
jewels;[V_29] her hands and feet were stained with ḥennà; and her
bosom was ornamented with gold. As soon as she beheld me she smiled in
my face, and embraced me, saying, Is it true that thou hast come to me,
or is this a dream?--I am thy slave, I answered; and she said, Thou art
welcome. Verily, from the time when I first saw thee, neither sleep hath
been sweet to me, nor hath food been pleasant!--In such case have _I_
been, I replied;--and we sat down to converse; but I hung down my head
towards the ground, in bashfulness; and not long had I thus remained
when a repast was placed before me, consisting of the most exquisite
dishes, as fricandoes and hashes and stuffed fowls. I ate with her until
we were satisfied; when they brought the basin and ewer, and I washed my
hands; after which we perfumed ourselves with rose-water infused with
musk, and sat down again to converse: expressing to each other our
mutual passion; and her love took such possession of me that all the
wealth I possessed seemed worthless in comparison. In this manner we
continued to enjoy ourselves until, night approaching, the female slaves
brought supper and wine, a complete service; and we drank until
midnight. Never in my life had I passed such a night. And when morning
came, I arose, and, having thrown to her the handkerchief containing the
pieces of gold,[V_30] I took leave of her and went out; but as I
did so she wept, and said, O my master, when shall I see again this
lovely face? I answered her, I will be with thee at the commencement of
the night. And when I went forth, I found the owner of the ass, who had
brought me the day before, waiting for me at the door; and I mounted,
and returned with him to the Khán of Mesroor, where I alighted, and gave
to him half a piece of gold, saying to him, Come hither at sunset. He
replied, On the head be thy command.
I entered the Khán, and ate my breakfast, and then went forth to collect
the price of my stuffs; after which I returned. I had prepared for my
wife a roasted lamb, and purchased some sweetmeat and I now called the
porter, described to him the house, and gave him his hire. Having done
this, I occupied myself again with my business until sunset, when the
owner of the ass came, and I took fifty pieces of gold, and put them
into a handkerchief. Entering the house, I found that they had wiped the
marble and polished the vessels of copper and brass, and filled the
lamps and lighted the candles, and dished the supper and strained the
wine; and when my wife saw me, she threw her arms around my neck, and
said, Thou hast made me desolate by thine absence! The tables were then
placed before us, and we ate until we were satisfied, and the
slave-girls took away the first table, and placed before us the wine;
and we sat drinking, and eating of the dried fruits, and making merry,
until midnight. We then slept until morning, when I arose and handed her
the fifty pieces of gold as before, and left her.
Thus I continued to do for a long time, until I passed the night and
awoke possessing not a piece of silver nor one of gold; and I said
within myself, This is the work of the Devil! And I repeated these
verses:--
Poverty causeth the lustre of a man to grow dim, like the yellowness
of the setting sun.
When absent, he is not remembered among mankind; and when present,
he shareth not their pleasures.
In the market-streets he shunneth notice; and in desert places
he poureth forth his tears.
By Allah! a man, among his own relations, when afflicted with poverty,
is as a stranger!
[Illustration]
With these reflections I walked forth into Beyn el-Ḳaṣreyn, and
proceeded thence to Báb Zuweyleh, where I found the people crowding
together, so that the gate was stopped up by their number; and, as
destiny willed, I saw there a trooper, and, unintentionally pressing
against him, my hand came in contact with his pocket, and I felt it, and
found that it contained a purse; and I caught hold of the purse, and
took it from his pocket. But the trooper felt that his pocket was
lightened, and, putting his hand into it, found nothing; upon which he
looked aside at me, and raised his hand with the mace,[V_31] and
struck me upon my head. I fell to the ground, and the people surrounded
us, and seized the bridle of the trooper's horse, saying, On account of
the crowd dost thou strike this young man such a blow? But he called out
to them and said, This is a robber! On hearing this I feared. The people
around me said, This is a comely young man, and hath taken nothing.
While some, however, believed this, others disbelieved; and after many
words, the people dragged me along, desiring to liberate me: but, as it
was predestined, there came at this moment the Wálee and other
magistrates entering the gate, and, seeing the people surrounding me and
the trooper, the Wálee said, What is the news? The trooper answered, By
Allah, O Emeer, this is a robber: I had in my pocket a blue purse
containing twenty pieces of gold; and he took it while I was pressed by
the crowd.--Was any one with thee? asked the Wálee. The trooper
answered, No. And the Wálee called out to the chief of his servants,
saying, Seize him and search him. So he seized me; and protection was
withdrawn from me; and the Wálee said to him, Strip him of all that is
upon him. And when he did so, they found the purse in my clothes: and
the Wálee, taking it, counted the money, and found it to be twenty
pieces of gold, as the trooper had said; whereupon he was enraged, and
called out to his attendants, saying, Bring him forward. They,
therefore, brought me before him, and he said to me, O young man, tell
the truth. Didst thou steal this purse?--And I hung down my head towards
the ground, saying within myself, If I answer that I did not steal it,
it will be useless, for he hath produced it from my clothes; and if I
say, I stole it, I fall into trouble. I then raised my head, and said,
Yes, I took it. And when the Wálee heard these words, he wondered, and
called witnesses, who presented themselves, and gave their testimony to
my confession.--All this took place at Báb Zuweyleh.--The Wálee then
ordered the executioner to cut off my hand; and he cut off my right
hand;[V_32] but the heart of the trooper was moved with compassion for
me, and he interceded for me that I should not be killed:[V_33] so the
Wálee left me and departed. The people however continued around me, and
gave me to drink a cup of wine; and the trooper gave me the purse,
saying, Thou art a comely youth, and it is not fit that thou shouldst
be a thief. And I took it from him, and addressed him with these
verses:--
By Allah! good sir, I was not a robber; nor was I a thief, O, best
of mankind!
But fortune's vicissitudes overthrew me suddenly, and anxiety
and trouble and poverty overpowered me.
I cast it not; but it was the Deity who cast an arrow that threw
down the kingly diadem from my head.[V_34]
The trooper then left me and departed, after having given me the purse,
and I went my way; but first I wrapped my hand in a piece of
rag,[V_35] and put it in my bosom. My condition thus altered, and
my countenance pallid in consequence of my sufferings, I walked to the
Ḳá'ah, and, in a disordered state of mind, threw myself upon the bed. My
wife, seeing my complexion thus changed, said to me, What hath pained
thee, and wherefore do I see thee thus altered? I answered her, My head
acheth, and I am not well. And on hearing this she was vexed, and became
ill on my account, and said, Burn not my heart, O my master! Sit up, and
raise thy head, and tell me what hath happened to thee this day; for I
read a tale in thy face.--Abstain from speaking to me, I replied. And
she wept, and said, It seemeth that thou art tired of us; for I see thee
to be conducting thyself in a manner contrary to thy usual habit. Then
she wept again, and continued addressing me, though I made her no reply,
until the approach of night, when she placed some food before me; but I
abstained from it, fearing that she should see me eat with my left hand,
and said, I have no desire to eat at present. She then said again, Tell
me what hath happened to thee this day, and wherefore I see thee anxious
and broken-hearted. I answered, I will presently tell thee at my
leisure. And she put the wine towards me, saying, Take it; for it will
dispel thine anxiety; and thou must drink, and tell me thy story. I
replied, therefore, If it must be so, give me to drink with thy hand.
And she filled a cup and drank it; and then filled it again and handed
it to me, and I took it from her with my left hand, and, while tears ran
from my eyes, I repeated these verses:--
When God willeth an event to befall a man who is endowed with reason
and hearing and sight,
He deafeneth his ears, and blindeth his heart, and draweth his reason
from him as a hair.[V_36]
Till, having fulfilled his purpose against him, He restoreth him
his reason that he may be admonished.[V_37]
Having thus said, I wept again; and when she saw me do so, she uttered a
loud cry, and said, What is the reason of thy weeping? Thou hast burned
my heart! And wherefore didst thou take the cup with thy left hand?--I
answered her, I have a boil upon my right hand.--Then put it forth, said
she, that I may open it for thee.--It is not yet, I replied, the proper
time for opening it; and continue not to ask me; for I will not put it
forth at present. I then drank the contents of the cup, and she
continued to hand me the wine until intoxication overcame me, and I
fell asleep in the place where I was sitting; upon which she discovered
that my right arm was without a hand, and, searching me, saw the purse
containing the gold.
Grief, such as none else experienceth, overcame her at the sight; and
she suffered incessant torment on my account until the morning, when I
awoke, and found that she had prepared for me a dish composed of four
boiled fowls, which she placed before me. She then gave me to drink a
cup of wine; and I ate and drank, and put down the purse, and was about
to depart; but she said, Whither wouldst thou go? I answered, To such a
place, to dispel somewhat of the anxiety which oppresseth my heart.--Go
not, said she; but rather sit down again. So I sat down, and she said to
me, Hath thy love of me become so excessive that thou hast expended all
thy wealth upon me, and lost thy hand? I take thee, then, as witness
against me, and God also is witness, that I will never desert thee; and
thou shalt see the truth of my words.--Immediately, therefore, she sent
for witnesses, who came; and she said to them, Write my contract of
marriage to this young man, and bear witness that I have received the
dowry. And they did as she desired them; after which she said, Bear
witness that all my property which is in this chest, and all my memlooks
and female slaves, belong to this young man. Accordingly, they declared
themselves witnesses of her declaration, and I accepted the property,
and they departed after they had received their fees. She then took me
by my hand, and, having led me to a closet, opened a large chest, and
said to me, See what is contained in this chest. I looked, therefore;
and lo, it was full of handkerchiefs; and she said, This is thy
property; which I have received from thee: for every time that thou
gavest me a handkerchief containing fifty pieces of gold, I wrapped it
up, and threw it into this chest: take, then, thy property; for God hath
restored it to thee, and thou art now of high estate. Fate hath
afflicted thee on my account so that thou hast lost thy right hand, and
I am unable to compensate thee: if I should sacrifice my life, it would
be but a small thing, and thy generosity would still have surpassed
mine.--She then added, Now take possession of thy property. So I
received it; and she transferred the contents of her chest to mine,
adding her property to mine which I had given her. My heart rejoiced, my
anxiety ceased, and I approached and kissed her, and made myself merry
by drinking with her; after which she said again, Thou hast sacrificed
all thy wealth and thy hand through love of me, and how can I compensate
thee? By Allah, if I gave my life for love of thee, it were but a small
thing, and I should not do justice to thy claims upon me.--She then
wrote a deed of gift transferring to me all her apparel, and her
ornaments of gold and jewels, and her houses and other possessions; and
she passed that night in grief on my account, having heard my relation
of the accident that had befallen me.
Thus we remained less than a month, during which time she became more
and more infirm and disordered; and she endured no more than fifty days
before she was numbered among the people of the other world. So I
prepared her funeral, and deposited her body in the earth, and having
caused recitations of the Ḳur-án to be performed for her, and given a
considerable sum of money in alms for her sake, returned from the tomb.
I found that she had possessed abundant wealth, and houses and lands,
and among her property were the store-rooms of sesame of which I sold to
thee the contents of one; and I was not prevented from settling with
thee during this period but by my being busied in selling the remainder,
the price of which I have not yet entirely received. Now I desire of
thee that thou wilt not oppose me in that which I am about to say to
thee; since I have eaten of thy food: I give thee the price of the
sesame, which is in thy hands.--This which I have told thee was the
cause of my eating with my left hand.
I replied, Thou hast treated me with kindness and generosity:--and he
then said, Thou must travel with me to my country; for I have bought
merchandise of Cairo and Alexandria. Wilt thou accompany me?--I
answered, Yes;--and promised him that I would be ready by the first day
of the following month. So I sold all that I possessed, and, having
bought merchandise with the produce, travelled with the young man to
this thy country, where he sold his merchandise and bought other in its
stead, after which he returned to the land of Egypt: but it was my lot
to remain here, and to experience that which hath befallen me this night
during my absence from my native country.--Now is not this, O King of
the age, more wonderful than the story of the humpback?
The King replied, Ye must be hanged, all of you!--And upon this, the
Sulṭán's steward advanced towards the King, and said, If thou permit me,
I will relate to thee a story that I happened to hear just before I
found this humpback; and if it be more wonderful than the events
relating to him, wilt thou grant us our lives?--The King answered, Tell
thy story:--and he began thus:--
[Illustration]
THE STORY TOLD BY THE SULṬÁN'S STEWARD.
I was last night with a party who celebrated a recitation of the
Ḳur-án,[V_38] for which purpose they had assembled the professors
of religion and law; and when these reciters had accomplished their
task, the servants spread a repast, comprising among other dishes a
zirbájeh.[V_39] We approached, therefore, to eat of the zirbájeh;
but one of the company drew back, and refused to partake of it: we
conjured him; yet he swore that he would not eat of it: and we pressed
him again; but he said, Press me not; for I have suffered enough from
eating of this dish. And when we had finished, we said to him, By Allah,
tell us the reason of thine abstaining from eating of this zirbájeh. He
replied, Because I cannot eat of it unless I wash my hands forty times
with kali, and forty times with cyperus, and forty times with soap;
altogether, a hundred and twenty times. And upon this, the giver of the
entertainment ordered his servants, and they brought water and the other
things which this man required: so he washed his hands as he had
described, and advanced, though with disgust, and, having seated
himself, stretched forth his hand as one in fear, and put it into the
zirbájeh, and began to eat, while we regarded him with the utmost
wonder. His hand trembled, and when he put it forth, we saw that his
thumb was cut off, and that he ate with his four fingers: we therefore
said to him, We conjure thee, by Allah, to tell us how was thy thumb
maimed: was it thus created by God, or hath some accident happened to
it?--O my brothers, he answered, not only have I lost this thumb, but
also the thumb of the other hand; and each of my feet is in like manner
deprived of the great toe: but see ye:--and, so saying, he uncovered the
stump of the thumb of his other hand, and we found it like the right;
and so also his feet, destitute of the great toes. At the sight of this,
our wonder increased, and we said to him, We are impatient to hear thy
story, and thine account of the cause of the amputation of thy thumbs
and great toes, and the reason of thy washing thy hands a hundred and
twenty times. So he said,--
Know that my father was a great merchant, the chief of the merchants of
the city of Baghdád in the time of the Khaleefeh Hároon Er-Rasheed; but
he was ardently addicted to the drinking of wine, and hearing the lute;
and when he died, he left nothing. I buried him, and caused recitations
of the Ḳur-án to be performed for him, and, after I had mourned for him
days and nights, I opened his shop, and found that he had left in it but
few goods, and that his debts were many: however, I induced his
creditors to wait, and calmed their minds, and betook myself to selling
and buying from week to week, and so paying the creditors.[V_40]
Thus I continued to do for a considerable period, until I had discharged
all the debts and increased my capital; and as I was sitting one day, I
beheld a young lady, than whom my eye had never beheld any more
beautiful, decked with magnificent ornaments and apparel, riding on a
mule, with a slave before her and a slave behind her; and she stopped
the mule at the entrance of the market-street, and entered, followed by
a eunuch, who said to her, O my mistress, enter, but inform no one who
thou art, lest thou open the fire of indignation upon us. The eunuch
then further cautioned her; and when she looked at the shops of the
merchants, she found none more handsome than mine; so, when she arrived
before me, with the eunuch following her, she sat down upon the seat of
my shop, and saluted me; and I never heard speech more charming than
hers, or words more sweet. She then drew aside the veil from her face,
and I directed at her a glance which drew from me a sigh; my heart was
captivated by her love, and I continued repeatedly gazing at her face,
and recited these two verses:--
Say to the beauty in the dove-coloured veil, Death would indeed
be welcome to relieve me from thy torment.
Favour me with a visit, that so I may live. See, I stretch forth
my hand to accept thy liberality.
And when she had heard my recitation of them, she answered thus:--
May I lose my heart if it cease to love you! For verily my heart
loveth none but you.
If my eye regard any charms but yours, may the sight of you never
rejoice it after absence!
She then said to me, O youth, hast thou any handsome stuffs?--O my
mistress, I answered, thy slave is a poor man; but wait until the other
merchants open their shops, and then I will bring thee what thou
desirest. So I conversed with her, drowned in the sea of her love, and
bewildered by my passion for her, until the merchants had opened their
shops, when I arose, and procured all that she wanted, and the price of
these stuffs was five thousand pieces of silver: and she handed them all
to the eunuch, who took them; after which, they both went out from the
market-street, and the slaves brought to her the mule, and she mounted,
without telling me whence she was, and I was ashamed to mention the
subject to her: consequently, I became answerable for the price to the
merchants, incurring a debt of five thousand pieces of silver.
I went home, intoxicated with her love, and they placed before me the
supper, and I ate a morsel; but reflections upon her beauty and
loveliness prevented my eating more. I desired to sleep, but sleep came
not to me; and in this condition I remained for a week. The merchants
demanded of me their money; but I prevailed upon them to wait another
week; and after this week, the lady came again, riding upon a mule, and
attended by a eunuch and two other slaves; and, having saluted me, said,
O my master, we have been tardy in bringing to thee the price of the
stuffs: bring now the money-changer, and receive it.[V_41] So the
money-changer came, and the eunuch gave him the money, and I took it,
and sat conversing with her until the market was replenished, and the
merchants opened their shops, when she said to me, Procure for me such
and such things. Accordingly, I procured for her what she desired of the
merchants, and she took the goods and departed without saying anything
to me respecting the price. When she had gone, therefore, I repented of
what I had done; for I had procured for her what she demanded for the
price of a thousand pieces of gold; and as soon as she had disappeared
from my sight, I said within myself, What kind of love is this? She hath
brought me five thousand pieces of silver, and taken goods for a
thousand pieces of gold!--I feared that the result would be my
bankruptcy, and the loss of the property of others, and said, The
merchants know none but me, and this woman is no other than a cheat, who
hath imposed upon me by her beauty and loveliness: seeing me to be
young, she hath laughed at me, and I asked her not where was her
residence.
[Illustration]
I remained in a state of perplexity, and her absence was prolonged more
than a month. Meanwhile the merchants demanded of me their money, and so
pressed me that I offered my possessions for sale, and was on the brink
of ruin; but as I was sitting absorbed in reflection, suddenly she
alighted at the gate of the market-street, and came in to me. As soon as
I beheld her, my solicitude ceased, and I forgot the trouble which I had
suffered. She approached, and addressed me with her agreeable
conversation, and said, Produce the scales, and weigh thy money:--and
she gave me the price of the goods which she had taken, with a surplus;
after which, she amused herself by talking with me, and I almost died
with joy and happiness. She then said to me, Hast thou a wife? I
answered, No: for I am not acquainted with any woman:--and wept. So she
asked me, What causeth thee to weep? And I answered, A thought that hath
come into my mind:--and, taking some pieces of gold, gave them to the
eunuch, requesting him to grant me his mediation in the affair; upon
which he laughed, and said, She is in love with thee more than thou art
with her, and hath no want of the stuffs, but hath done this only from
her love of thee: propose to her, therefore, what thou wilt; for she
will not oppose thee in that which thou wilt say. Now she observed me
giving the pieces of gold to the eunuch, and returned, and resumed her
seat; and I said to her, Shew favour to thy slave, and pardon me for
that which I am about to say. I then acquainted her with the feelings of
my heart, and my declaration pleased her, and she consented to my
proposal, saying, This eunuch will come with my letter; and do thou what
he shall tell thee;--and she arose, and departed.
I went to the merchants, and delivered to them their money, and all
profited except myself; for when she left me I mourned for the
interruption of our intercourse, and I slept not during the whole of the
next night: but a few days after, her eunuch came to me, and I received
him with honour, and asked him respecting his mistress. He answered, She
is sick:--and I said to him, Disclose to me her history. He replied, The
lady Zubeydeh, the wife of Hároon Er-Rasheed, brought up this damsel,
and she is one of her slaves: she had desired of her mistress to be
allowed the liberty of going out and returning at pleasure, and the
latter gave her permission: she continued, therefore, to do so until she
became a chief confident; after which, she spoke of thee to her
mistress, and begged that she would marry her to thee: but her mistress
said, I will not do it until I see this young man, and if he have a
desire for thee, I will marry thee to him. We therefore wish to
introduce thee immediately into the palace; and if thou enter without
any one's having knowledge of thy presence, thou wilt succeed in
accomplishing thy marriage with her; but if thy plot be discovered, thy
head will be struck off. What, then, sayest thou?--I answered, Good: I
will go with thee, and await the event that shall befall me there.--As
soon, then, as this next night shall have closed in, said the eunuch,
repair to the mosque which the lady Zubeydeh hath built on the bank of
the Tigris, and there say thy prayers, and pass the night.[V_42]--Most
willingly, I replied.
Accordingly, when the time of nightfall arrived, I went to the mosque,
and said my prayers there, and passed the night; and as soon as the
morning began to dawn, I saw two eunuchs approaching in a small boat,
conveying some empty chests, which they brought into the mosque. One of
them then departed, and the other remained; and I looked attentively at
him, and lo, it was he who had been our intermediary: and soon after,
the damsel, my companion, came up to us. I rose to her when she
approached, and embraced her; and she kissed me, and wept: and after we
had conversed together for a little while, she took me and placed me in
a chest, and locked it upon me.[V_43] The slaves then brought a
quantity of stuffs, and filled with them the other chests, which they
locked, and conveyed, together with the chest in which I was enclosed,
to the boat, accompanied by the damsel; and having embarked them, they
plied the oars, and proceeded to the palace of the honoured lady
Zubeydeh. The intoxication of love now ceased in me, and reflection came
in its place: I repented of what I had done, and prayed God to deliver
me from my dangerous predicament.
[Illustration]
Meanwhile, they arrived at the gate of the Khaleefeh, where they landed,
and took out all the chests, and conveyed them into the palace: but the
chief of the door-keepers, who had been asleep when they arrived, was
awoke by the sounds of their voices, and cried out to the damsel,
saying, The chests must be opened, that I may see what is in them:--and
he arose, and placed his hand upon the chest in which I was hidden. My
reason abandoned me, my heart almost burst from my body, and my limbs
trembled; but the damsel said, These are the chests of the lady
Zubeydeh, and if thou open them and turn them over, she will be incensed
against thee, and we shall all perish. They contain nothing but clothes
dyed of various colours, except this chest upon which thou hast put thy
hand, in which there are also some bottles filled with the water of
Zemzem,[V_44] and if any of the water run out upon the clothes it
will spoil their colours. Now I have advised thee, and it is for thee to
decide: so do what thou wilt.--When he heard, therefore, these words, he
said to her, Take the chests, and pass on:--and the eunuchs immediately
took them up, and, with the damsel, conveyed them into the palace: but
in an instant, I heard a person crying out, and saying, The Khaleefeh!
The Khaleefeh!
I was bereft of my reason, and seized with a colick from excessive fear;
I almost died, and my limbs were affected with a violent shaking. The
Khaleefeh cried out to the damsel, saying to her, What are these chests?
She answered, O my lord (may God exalt thy dominion!), these chests
contain clothes of my mistress Zubeydeh.--Open them, said the
Khaleefeh, that I may see the clothes.--When I heard this, I felt sure
of my destruction. The damsel could not disobey his command; but she
replied, O Prince of the Faithful, there is nothing in these chests but
clothes of the lady Zubeydeh, and she hath commanded me not to open them
to any one. The Khaleefeh, however, said, The chests must be opened, all
of them, that I may see their contents:--and immediately he called out
to the eunuchs to bring them before him. I therefore felt certain that I
was on the point of destruction. They then brought before him chest
after chest, and opened each to him, and he examined the contents; and
when they brought forward the chest in which I was enclosed, I bade
adieu to life, and prepared myself for death; but as the eunuchs were
about to open it, the damsel said, O Prince of the Faithful, verily this
chest containeth things especially appertaining to women; and it is
proper, therefore, that it should be opened before the lady
Zubeydeh:--and when the Khaleefeh heard her words, he ordered the
eunuchs to convey all the chests into the interior of the palace. The
damsel then hastened, and ordered two eunuchs to carry away the chest in
which I was hidden, and they took it to an inner chamber, and went their
way: whereupon she quickly opened it, and made a sign to me to come out:
so I did as she desired, and entered a closet that was before me, and
she locked the door upon me, and closed the chest: and when the eunuchs
had brought in all the chests, and had gone back, she opened the door of
the closet, and said, Thou hast nothing to fear! May God refresh thine
eye! Come forth now, and go up with me, that thou mayest have the
happiness of kissing the ground before the lady Zubeydeh.
I therefore went with her, and beheld twenty other female slaves,
high-bosomed virgins, and among them was the lady Zubeydeh, who was
scarcely able to walk from the weight of the robes and ornaments with
which she was decked. As she approached, the female slaves dispersed
from around her, and I advanced to her, and kissed the ground before
her. She made a sign to me to sit down: so I seated myself before her;
and she began to ask me questions respecting my condition and lineage;
to all of which I gave such answers that she was pleased, and said, By
Allah, the care which we have bestowed on the education of this damsel
hath not been in vain. She then said to me, Know that this damsel is
esteemed by us as though she were really our child, and she is a trust
committed to thy care by God. Upon this, therefore, I again kissed the
ground before her, well pleased to marry the damsel; after which, she
commanded me to remain with them ten days. Accordingly, I continued with
them during this period; but I knew nothing meanwhile of the damsel;
certain of the maids only bringing me my dinner and supper, as my
servants. After this, however, the lady Zubeydeh asked permission of her
husband, the Prince of the Faithful, to marry her maid, and he granted
her request, and ordered that ten thousand pieces of gold should be
given to her.
[Illustration]
The lady Zubeydeh, therefore, sent for the Ḳáḍee and witnesses, and
they wrote my contract of marriage to the damsel; and the maids then
prepared sweetmeats and exquisite dishes, and distributed them in all
the apartments. Thus they continued to do for a period of ten more days;
and after the twenty days had passed, they conducted the damsel into the
bath, preparatively to my being introduced to her as her husband. They
then brought to me a repast comprising a basin of zirbájeh sweetened
with sugar, perfumed with rose-water infused with musk, and containing
different kinds of fricandoed fowls and a variety of other ingredients,
such as astonished the mind; and, by Allah, when this repast was
brought, I instantly commenced upon the zirbájeh, and ate of it as much
as satisfied me, and wiped my hand, but forgot to wash it. I remained
sitting until it became dark; when the maids lighted the candles, and
the singing-girls approached with the tambourines, and they continued to
display the bride, and to give presents of gold, until she had
perambulated the whole of the palace; after which, they brought her to
me, and disrobed her; and as soon as I was left alone with her, I threw
my arms around her neck, scarcely believing in our union: but as I did
so, she perceived the smell of the zirbájeh from my hand, and
immediately uttered a loud cry: whereupon the female slaves ran in to
her from every quarter.
I was violently agitated, not knowing what was the matter; and the
slaves who had come in said to her, What hath happened to thee, O our
sister?--Take away from me, she exclaimed to them, this madman, whom I
imagined to be a man of sense!--What indication of my insanity hath
appeared to thee? I asked. Thou madman, said she, wherefore hast thou
eaten of the zirbájeh, and not washed thy hand? By Allah, I will not
accept thee for thy want of sense, and thy disgusting conduct!--And so
saying, she took from her side a whip,[V_45] and beat me with it
upon my back until I became insensible from the number of the stripes.
She then said to the other maids, Take him to the magistrate of the city
police, that he may cut off his hand with which he ate the zirbájeh
without washing it afterwards. On hearing this, I exclaimed, There is no
strength nor power but in God! Wilt thou cut off my hand on account of
my eating a zirbájeh and neglecting to wash it?--And the maids who were
present entreated her, saying to her, O our sister, be not angry with
him for what he hath done this time. But she replied, By Allah, I must
cut off something from his extremities! And immediately she departed,
and was absent from me ten days: after which, she came again, and said
to me, O thou black-faced! Am I not worthy of thee? How didst thou dare
to eat the zirbájeh and not wash thy hand?--And she called to the maids,
who bound my hands behind me, and she took a sharp razor, and cut off
both my thumbs and both my great toes, as ye see, O companions; and I
swooned away. She then sprinkled upon my wounds some powder, by means of
which the blood was stanched; and I said, I will not eat of a zirbájeh
as long as I live unless I wash my hands forty times with kali and forty
times with cyperus and forty times with soap:--and she exacted of me an
oath that I would not eat of this dish unless I washed my hands as I
have described to you. Therefore, when this zirbájeh was brought, my
colour changed, and I said within myself, This was the cause of the
cutting off of my thumbs and great toes:--so, when ye compelled me, I
said, I must fulfil the oath which I have sworn.
I then said to him (continued the Sulṭán's steward), And what happened
to thee after that? He answered, When I had thus sworn to her, she was
appeased, and I was admitted into her favour; and we lived happily
together for a considerable time: after which she said, The people of
the Khaleefeh's palace know not that thou hast resided here with me,
and no strange man beside thee hath entered it; nor didst thou enter but
through the assistance of the lady Zubeydeh. She then gave me fifty
thousand pieces of gold, and said to me, Take these pieces of gold, and
go forth and buy for us a spacious house. So I went forth, and purchased
a handsome and spacious house, and removed thither all the riches that
she possessed, and all that she had treasured up, and her dresses and
rarities.--This was the cause of the amputation of my thumbs and great
toes.--So we ate (said the Sulṭán's steward), and departed; and after
this, the accident with the humpback happened to me: this is all my
story; and peace be on thee.
[Illustration]
The King said, This is not more pleasant than the story of the humpback:
nay, the story of the humpback is more pleasant than this; and ye must
all of you be crucified.--The Jew, however, then came forward, and,
having kissed the ground, said, O King of the age, I will relate to thee
a story more wonderful than that of the humpback:--and the King said,
Relate thy story. So he commenced thus:--
[Illustration]
THE STORY TOLD BY THE JEWISH PHYSICIAN.
The most wonderful of the events that happened to me in my younger days
was this:--I was residing in Damascus, where I learnt and practised my
art; and while I was thus occupied, one day there came to me a memlook
from the house of the governor of the city: so I went forth with him,
and accompanied him to the abode of the governor. I entered, and beheld,
at the upper end of a saloon, a couch of alabaster overlaid with plates
of gold, upon which was reclining a sick man: he was young; and a person
more comely had not been seen in his age. Seating myself at his head, I
ejaculated a prayer for his restoration;[V_46] and he made a sign
to me with his eye. I then said to him, O my master, stretch forth to me
thy hand:--whereupon he put forth to me his left hand; and I was
surprised at this, and said within myself, What self-conceit! I felt his
pulse, however, and wrote a prescription for him, and continued to visit
him for a period of ten days, until he recovered his strength; when he
entered the bath, and washed himself, and came forth: and the governor
conferred upon me a handsome dress of honour, and appointed me
superintendent of the hospital of Damascus.[V_47] But when I went
with him into the bath, which they had cleared of all other visitors for
us alone, and the servants had brought the clothes, and taken away those
which he had pulled off within, I perceived that his right hand had been
cruelly amputated; at the sight of which I wondered, and grieved for
him; and looking at his skin, I observed upon him marks of beating with
miḳra'ahs, which caused me to wonder more. The young man then turned
towards me, and said, O doctor of the age, wonder not at my case; for I
will relate to thee my story when we have gone out from the bath:--and
when we had gone forth, and arrived at the house, and had eaten some
food, and rested, he said to me, Hast thou a desire to divert thyself in
the supper-room? I answered, Yes:--and immediately he ordered the slaves
to take up thither the furniture, and to roast a lamb and bring us some
fruit. So the slaves did as he commanded them: and when they had brought
the fruit, and we had eaten, I said to him, Relate to me thy story:--and
he replied, O doctor of the age, listen to the relation of the events
which have befallen me.
Know that I am of the children of El-Móṣil. My paternal grandfather died
leaving ten male children, one of whom was my father: he was the eldest
of them; and they all grew up and married; and my father was blest with
me; but none of his nine brothers was blest with children. So I grew up
among my uncles, who delighted in me exceedingly; and when I had
attained to manhood, I was one day with my father in the chief mosque of
El-Móṣil. The day was Friday; and we performed the congregational
prayers, and all the people went out, except my father and my uncles,
who sat conversing together respecting the wonders of various countries,
and the strange sights of different cities, until they mentioned Egypt;
when one of my uncles said, The travellers assert, that there is not on
the face of the earth a more agreeable country than Egypt with its
Nile:[V_48]--and my father added, He who hath not seen Cairo hath
not seen the world: its soil is gold; its Nile is a wonder; its women
are like the black-eyed virgins of Paradise; its houses are palaces; and
its air is temperate; its odour surpassing that of aloes-wood, and
cheering the heart: and how can Cairo be otherwise when it is the
metropolis of the world?[V_49] Did ye see its gardens in the
evening (he continued), with the shade obliquely extending over them, ye
would behold a wonder, and yield with ecstasy to their attractions.[V_50]
When I heard these descriptions of Egypt, my mind became wholly engaged
by reflections upon that country; and after they had departed to their
homes, I passed the night sleepless from my excessive longing towards
it, and neither food nor drink was pleasant to me. A few days after, my
uncles prepared to journey thither, and I wept before my father that I
might go with them, so that he prepared a stock of merchandise for me,
and I departed in their company; but he said to them, Suffer him not to
enter Egypt, but leave him at Damascus, that he may there sell his
merchandise.
[Illustration]
I took leave of my father, and we set forth from El-Móṣil, and continued
our journey until we arrived at Aleppo, where we remained some days;
after which we proceeded thence until we came to Damascus; and we beheld
it to be a city with trees and rivers and fruits and birds, as though it
were a paradise, containing fruits of every kind. We took lodgings in
one of the Kháns, and my uncles remained there until they had sold and
bought; and they also sold my merchandise, gaining, for every piece of
silver, five, so that I rejoiced at my profit. My uncles then left me,
and repaired to Egypt, and I remained, and took up my abode in a
handsome Ḳá'ah, such as the tongue cannot describe; the monthly rent of
which was two pieces of gold.[V_51]
Here I indulged myself with eating and drinking, squandering away the
money that was in my possession; and as I was sitting one day at the
door of the Ḳá'ah, a damsel approached me, attired in clothing of the
richest description, such as I had never seen surpassed in costliness,
and I invited her to come in; whereupon, without hesitation, she
entered; and I was delighted at her compliance, and closed the door upon
us both. She then uncovered her face, and took off her izár, and I found
her to be so surprisingly beautiful that love for her took possession of
my heart: so I went and brought a repast consisting of the most
delicious viands and fruit and everything else that was requisite for
her entertainment, and we ate and sported together; after which, we
drank till we were intoxicated, and fell asleep, and so we remained
until the morning, when I handed her ten pieces of gold; but she swore
that she would not accept them from me, and said, Expect me again, O my
beloved, after three days: at the hour of sunset I will be with thee:
and do thou prepare for us, with these pieces of gold, a repast similar
to this which we have just enjoyed. She then gave me ten pieces of gold,
and took leave of me, and departed, taking my reason with her. And after
the three days had expired, she came again, decked with embroidered
stuffs and ornaments and other attire more magnificent than those which
she wore on the former occasion. I had prepared for her what was
required previously to her arrival; so we now ate and drank and fell
asleep as before; and in the morning she gave me again ten pieces of
gold, promising to return to me after three more days. I therefore made
ready what was requisite, and after the three days she came attired in a
dress still more magnificent than the first and second, and said to me,
O my master, am I beautiful?--Yea, verily, I answered.--Wilt thou give
me leave, she rejoined, to bring with me a damsel more beautiful than
myself, and younger than I, that she may sport with us, and we may make
merry with her? For she hath requested that she may accompany me, and
pass the night in frolicking with us.--And so saying, she gave me twenty
pieces of gold, desiring me to prepare a more plentiful repast, on
account of the lady who was to come with her; after which, she bade me
farewell, and departed.
Accordingly, on the fourth day, I procured what was requisite, as usual,
and soon after sunset she came, accompanied by a female wrapped in an
izár, and they entered, and seated themselves. I was rejoiced, and I
lighted the candles, and welcomed them with joy and exultation. They
then took off their outer garments, and when the new damsel uncovered
her face, I perceived that she was like the full moon: I had never
beheld a person more beautiful. I arose immediately, and placed before
them the food and drink, and we ate and drank, while I continued
caressing the new damsel, and filling the wine-cup for her, and drinking
with her: but the first lady was affected with a secret jealousy.--By
Allah, she said, verily this girl is beautiful! Is she not more charming
than I?--Yea, indeed, I answered.--Soon after this, I fell asleep, and
when I awoke in the morning, I found my hand defiled with blood, and,
opening my eyes, perceived that the sun had risen; so I attempted to
rouse the damsel, my new companion, whereupon her head rolled from her
body. The other damsel was gone, and I concluded, therefore, that she
had done this from her jealousy; and after reflecting a while, I arose,
and took off my clothes, and dug a hole in the Ḳá'ah, in which I
deposited the murdered damsel, afterwards covering her remains with
earth, and replacing the marble pavement as it was before. I then
dressed myself again, and, taking the remainder of my money, went forth,
and repaired to the owner of the Ḳá'ah, and paid him a year's rent,
saying to him, I am about to journey to my uncles in Egypt.
So I departed to Egypt, where I met with my uncles, and they were
rejoiced to see me. I found that they had concluded the sale of their
merchandise, and they said to me, What is the cause of thy coming? I
answered, I had a longing desire to be with you, and feared that my
money would not suffice me.--For a year I remained with them, enjoying
the pleasures of Egypt and its Nile; and I dipped my hand into the
residue of my money, and expended it prodigally in eating and drinking
until near the time of my uncles' departure, when I fled from them: so
they said, Probably, he hath gone before us, and returned to
Damascus:--and they departed. I then came forth from my concealment, and
remained in Cairo three years, squandering away my money until scarcely
any of it remained: but meanwhile I sent every year the rent of the
Ḳá'ah at Damascus to its owner: and after the three years my heart
became contracted, for nothing remained in my possession but the rent
for the year.
I therefore journeyed back to Damascus, and alighted at the Ḳá'ah. The
owner was rejoiced to see me, and I entered it, and cleansed it of the
blood of the murdered damsel, and, removing a cushion, I found, beneath
this, the necklace that she had worn that night. I took it up and
examined it, and wept a while. After this I remained in the house two
days, and on the third day I entered the bath, and changed my clothes. I
now had no money left; and I went one day to the market, where (the
Devil suggesting it to me, in order to accomplish the purpose of
destiny) I handed the necklace of jewels to a broker; and he rose to me,
and seated me by his side: then having waited until the market was
replenished, he took it, and announced it for sale secretly, without my
knowledge. The price bidden for it amounted to two thousand pieces of
gold; but he came to me and said, This necklace is of brass, of the
counterfeit manufacture of the Franks, and its price hath amounted to a
thousand pieces of silver. I answered him, Yes; we had made it for a
woman, merely to laugh at her, and my wife has inherited it, and we
desire to sell it: go, therefore, and receive the thousand pieces of
silver. Now when the broker heard this, he perceived that the affair was
suspicious, and went and gave the necklace to the chief of the market,
who took it to the Wálee, and said to him, This necklace was stolen from
me, and we have found the thief, clad in the dress of the sons of the
merchants. And before I knew what had happened, the officers had
surrounded me, and they took me to the Wálee, who questioned me
respecting the necklace. I told him, therefore, the same story that I
had told to the broker; but he laughed, and said, This is not the
truth:--and instantly his people stripped me of my outer clothing, and
beat me with miḳra'ahs all over my body, until, through the torture that
I suffered from the blows, I said, I stole it;--reflecting that it was
better I should say I stole it, than confess that its owner was murdered
in my abode; for then they would kill me to avenge her: and as soon as I
had said so, they cut off my hand, and scalded the stump with boiling
oil,[V_52] and I swooned away. They then gave me to drink some
wine, by swallowing which I recovered my senses; and I took my amputated
hand, and returned to the Ḳá'ah; but its owner said to me, Since this
hath happened to thee, leave the Ḳá'ah, and look for another abode; for
thou art accused of an unlawful act.--O my master, I replied, give me
two or three days' delay that I may seek for a lodging:--and he assented
to this, and departed and left me. So I remained alone, and sat weeping,
and saying, How can I return to my family with my hand cut off? He who
cut it off knoweth not that I am innocent: perhaps, then, God will bring
about some event for my relief.
[Illustration]
I sat weeping violently; and when the owner of the Ḳá'ah had departed
from me, excessive grief overcame me, and I was sick for two days; and
on the third day, suddenly the owner of the Ḳá'ah came to me, with some
officers of the police, and the chief of the market, and accused me
again of stealing the necklace. So I went out to them, and said, What is
the news?--whereupon, without granting me a moment's delay, they bound
my arms behind me, and put a chain around my neck, saying to me, The
necklace which was in thy possession hath proved to be the property of
the governor of Damascus, its Wezeer and its Ruler: it hath been lost
from the governor's house for a period of three years, and with it was
his daughter.--When I heard these words from them, my limbs trembled,
and I said within myself, They will kill me! My death is inevitable! By
Allah, I must relate my story to the governor; and if he please he will
kill me, or if he please he will pardon me.--And when we arrived at the
governor's abode, and they had placed me before him, and he beheld me,
he said, Is this he who stole the necklace and went out to sell it?
Verily ye have cut off his hand wrongfully.--He then ordered that the
chief of the market should be imprisoned, and said to him, Give to this
person the compensatory fine for his hand,[V_53] or I will hang
thee and seize all thy property. And he called out to his attendants,
who took him and dragged him away.
I was now left with the governor alone, after they had, by his
permission, loosed the chain from my neck, and untied the cords which
bound my arms; and the governor, looking towards me, said to me, O my
son, tell me thy story, and speak truth. How did this necklace come into
thy possession?--So I replied, O my lord, I will tell thee the
truth:--and I related to him all that had happened to me with the first
damsel, and how she had brought to me the second, and murdered her from
jealousy; on hearing which, he shook his head, and covered his face with
his handkerchief, and wept. Then looking towards me, he said, Know, O my
son, that the elder damsel was my daughter: I kept her closely; and when
she had attained a fit age for marriage, I sent her to the son of her
uncle in Cairo; but he died, and she returned to me, having learnt
habits of profligacy from the inhabitants of that city:[V_54] so
she visited thee four times; and on the fourth occasion, she brought to
thee her younger sister. They were sisters by the same mother, and much
attached to each other; and when the event which thou hast related
occurred to the elder, she imparted her secret to her sister, who asked
my permission to go out with her; after which the elder returned alone;
and when I questioned her respecting her sister, I found her weeping
for her, and she answered, I know no tidings of her:--but she afterwards
informed her mother, secretly, of the murder which she had committed;
and her mother privately related the affair to me; and she continued to
weep for her incessantly, saying, By Allah, I will not cease to weep for
her until I die. Thy account, O my son, is true; for I knew the affair
before thou toldest it me. See then, O my son, what hath happened: and
now I request of thee that thou wilt not oppose me in that which I am
about to say; and it is this:--I desire to marry thee to my youngest
daughter; for she is not of the same mother as they were:[V_55] she
is a virgin, and I will receive from thee no dowry, but will assign to
you both an allowance; and thou shalt be to me as an own son.--I
replied, Let it be as thou desirest, O my master. How could I expect to
attain unto such happiness?--The governor then sent immediately a
courier to bring the property which my father had left me (for he had
died since my departure from him), and now I am living in the utmost
affluence.
I wondered, said the Jew, at his history; and after I had remained with
him three days, he gave me a large sum of money; and I left him, to set
forth on a journey; and, arriving in this your country, my residence
here pleased me, and I experienced this which hath happened to me with
the humpback.
The King, when he had heard this story, said, This is not more wonderful
than the story of the humpback, and ye must all of you be hanged, and
especially the tailor, who is the source of all the mischief. But he
afterwards added, O tailor, if thou tell me a story more wonderful than
that of the humpback, I will forgive you your offences. So the tailor
advanced, and said,--
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE STORY TOLD BY THE TAILOR.
Know, O King of the age, that what hath happened to me is more wonderful
than the events which have happened to all the others. Before I met the
humpback, I was, early in the morning, at an entertainment given to
certain tradesmen of my acquaintance, consisting of tailors and
linen-drapers and carpenters and others; and when the sun had risen, the
repast was brought for us to eat; and lo, the master of the house came
in to us, accompanied by a strange and handsome young man, of the
inhabitants of Baghdád. He was attired in clothes of the handsomest
description, and was a most comely person, except that he was lame; and
as soon as he had entered and saluted us, we rose to him; but when he
was about to seat himself, he observed among us a man who was a barber,
whereupon he refused to sit down, and desired to depart from us. We and
the master of the house, however, prevented him, and urged him to seat
himself; and the host conjured him, saying, What is the reason of thy
entering, and then immediately departing?--By Allah, O my master,
replied he, offer me no opposition; for the cause of my departure is
this barber, who is sitting with you. And when the host heard this, he
was exceedingly surprised, and said, How is it that the heart of this
young man, who is from Baghdád, is troubled by the presence of this
barber? We then looked towards him, and said, Relate to us the cause of
thy displeasure against this barber; and the young man replied, O
company, a surprising adventure happened to me with this barber in
Baghdád, my city; and he was the cause of my lameness, and of the
breaking of my leg; and I have sworn that I will not sit in any place
where he is present, nor dwell in any town where he resides: I quitted
Baghdád and took up my abode in this city, and I will not pass the next
night without departing from it.--Upon this, we said to him, We conjure
thee, by Allah, to relate to us thy adventure with him.--And the
countenance of the barber turned pale when he heard us make this
request. The young man then said,--
Know, O good people, that my father was one of the chief merchants of
Baghdád; and God (whose name be exalted!) blessed him with no son but
myself; and when I grew up, and had attained to manhood, my father was
admitted to the mercy of God, leaving me wealth and servants and other
dependants; whereupon I began to attire myself in clothes of the
handsomest description, and to feed upon the most delicious meats. Now
God (whose perfection be extolled!) made me to be a hater of women; and
so I continued, until, one day, I was walking through the streets of
Baghdád, when a party of them stopped my way: I therefore fled from
them, and, entering a by-street which was not a thoroughfare, I reclined
upon a maṣṭabah at its further extremity. Here I had been seated but a
short time when, lo, a window opposite the place where I sat was opened,
and there looked out from it a damsel like the full moon, such as I had
never in my life beheld. She had some flowers, which she was watering,
beneath the window; and she looked to the right and left, and then shut
the window, and disappeared from before me. Fire had been shot into my
heart, and my mind was absorbed by her; my hatred of women was turned
into love, and I continued sitting in the same place until sunset, in a
state of distraction from the violence of my passion, when, lo, the
Ḳáḍee of the city came riding along, with slaves before him and servants
behind him, and alighted, and entered the house from which the damsel
had looked out: so I knew that he must be her father.
I then returned to my house, sorrowful; and fell upon my bed, full of
anxious thoughts; and my female slaves came in to me, and seated
themselves around me, not knowing what was the matter with me; and I
acquainted them not with my case, nor returned any answers to their
questions; and my disorder increased. The neighbours, therefore, came
to cheer me with their visits; and among those who visited me was an old
woman, who, as soon as she saw me, discovered my state; whereupon she
seated herself at my head, and, addressing me in a kind manner, said, O
my son, tell me what hath happened to thee? So I related to her my
story, and she said, O my son, this is the daughter of the Ḳáḍee of
Baghdád, and she is kept in close confinement: the place where thou
sawest her is her apartment, and her father occupies a large saloon
below, leaving her alone; and often do I visit her: thou canst obtain an
interview with her only through me: so brace up thy nerves. When I
heard, therefore, what she said, I took courage, and fortified my heart;
and my family rejoiced that day. I rose up firm in limb, and hoping for
complete restoration; and the old woman departed; but she returned with
her countenance changed, and said, O my son, ask not what she did when I
told her of thy case; for she said, If thou abstain not, O ill-omened
old woman, from this discourse, I will treat thee as thou
deservest:--but I must go to her a second time.
[Illustration]
On hearing this, my disorder increased: after some days, however, the
old woman came again, and said, O my son, I desire of thee a reward for
good tidings. My soul returned to my body at these words, and I replied,
Thou shalt receive from me everything that thou canst wish. She then
said, I went yesterday to the damsel, and when she beheld me with broken
heart and weeping eye, she said to me, O my aunt, wherefore do I see
thee with contracted heart?--and when she had thus said, I wept, and
answered, O my daughter and mistress, I came to thee yesterday from
visiting a youth who loveth thee, and he is at the point of death on thy
account:--and, her heart being moved with compassion, she asked, Who is
this youth of whom thou speakest? I answered, He is my son, and the
child that is dear to my soul: he saw thee at the window some days ago,
while thou wast watering thy flowers; and when he beheld thy face, he
became distracted with love for thee: I informed him of the conversation
that I had with thee the first time; upon which his disorder increased,
and he took to his pillow: he is now dying, and there is no doubt of his
fate.--And upon this, her countenance became pale, and she said, Is this
all on my account?--Yea, by Allah, I answered; and what dost thou order
me to do?--Go to him, said she; convey to him my salutation, and tell
him that my love is greater than his; and on Friday next, before the
congregational prayers, let him come hither: I will give orders to open
the door to him, and to bring him up to me, and I will have a short
interview with him, and he shall return before my father comes back from
the prayers.
When I heard these words of the old woman, the anguish which I had
suffered ceased; my heart was set at rest, and I gave her the suit of
clothes which I was then wearing, and she departed, saying to me, Cheer
up thy heart. I replied, I have no longer any pain. The people of my
house, and my friends, communicated, one to another, the good news of my
restoration to health, and I remained thus until the Friday, when the
old woman came in to me, and asked me respecting my state: so I informed
her that I was happy and well. I then dressed and perfumed myself, and
sat waiting for the people to go to prayers, that I might repair to the
damsel; but the old woman said to me, Thou hast yet more than ample
time, and if thou go to the bath and shave, especially for the sake of
obliterating the traces of thy disorder, it will be more becoming.--It
is a judicious piece of advice, replied I; but I will shave my head
first, and then go into the bath.
[Illustration]
So I sent for a barber to shave my head, saying to the boy, Go to the
market, and bring me a barber, one who is a man of sense, little
inclined to impertinence, that he may not make my head ache by his
chattering. And the boy went, and brought this sheykh, who, on entering,
saluted me; and when I had returned his salutation, he said to me, May
God dispel thy grief and thine anxiety, and misfortunes and sorrows! I
responded, May God accept thy prayer! He then said, Be cheerful, O my
master, for health hath returned to thee. Dost thou desire to be shaved
or to be bled?--for it hath been handed down, on the authority of
Ibn-'Abbás,[V_56] that the Prophet said, Whoso shorteneth his hair
on Friday, God will avert from him seventy diseases;--and it hath been
handed down also, on the same authority, that the Prophet said, Whoso is
cupped on Friday will not be secure from the loss of sight and from
frequent disease.--Abstain, said I, from this useless discourse, and
come immediately, shave my head, for I am weak. And he arose, and,
stretching forth his hand, took out a handkerchief, and opened it; and
lo, there was in it an astrolabe, consisting of seven plates;[V_57]
and he took it, and went into the middle of the court, where he raised
his head towards the sun, and looked for a considerable time; after
which he said to me, Know that there have passed, of this our day, which
is Friday, and which is the tenth of Ṣafar,[V_58] of the year
263[V_59] of the Flight of the Prophet,--upon whom be the most
excellent of blessings and peace!--and the ascendant star of which,
according to the required rules of the science of computation, is the
planet Mars,--seven degrees[V_60] and six minutes; and it happeneth
that Mercury hath come in conjunction with that planet; and this
indicateth that the shaving of hair is now a most excellent operation:
and it hath indicated to me, also, that thou desirest to confer a
benefit upon a person: and fortunate is he!--but after that, there is an
announcement that presenteth itself to me respecting a matter which I
will not mention to thee.
By Allah, I exclaimed, thou hast wearied me, and dissipated my mind, and
augured against me, when I required thee only to shave my head: arise,
then, and shave it; and prolong not thy discourse to me. But he replied,
By Allah, if thou knewest the truth of the case, thou wouldst demand of
me a further explication; and I counsel thee to do this day as I direct
thee, according to the calculations deduced from the stars: it is thy
duty to praise God, and not to oppose me; for I am one who giveth thee
good advice, and who regardeth thee with compassion: I would that I were
in thy service for a whole year, that thou mightest do me justice; and I
desire not any pay from thee for so doing.--When I heard this, I said to
him, Verily thou art killing me this day, and there is no escape for
me.--O my master, he replied, I am he whom the people call
Eṣ-Ṣámit,[V_61] on account of the paucity of my speech, by which I
am distinguished above my brothers; for my eldest brother is named
El-Baḳbooḳ;[V_62] and the second, El-Heddár; and the third, Baḳbaḳ;
and the fourth is named El-Kooz el-Aṣwánee; and the fifth, El-Feshshár;
and the sixth is named Shaḳáliḳ; and the seventh brother is named
Eṣ-Ṣámit; and he is myself.
Now when this barber thus overwhelmed me with his talk, I felt as if my
gall-bladder had burst, and said to the boy, Give him a quarter of a
piece of gold, and let him depart from me for the sake of Allah: for I
have no need to shave my head. But the barber on hearing what I said to
the boy, exclaimed, What is this that thou hast said, O my lord? By
Allah, I will accept from thee no pay unless I serve thee; and serve
thee I must; for to do so is incumbent on me, and to perform what thou
requirest; and I care not if I receive from thee no money. If thou
knowest not my worth, I know thine; and thy father--may Allah have mercy
upon him!--treated us with beneficence; for he was a man of generosity.
By Allah, thy father sent for me one day, like this blessed day, and
when I went to him, he had a number of his friends with him, and he said
to me, Take some blood from me. So I took the astrolabe, and observed
the altitude for him, and found the ascendant of the hour to be of evil
omen, and that the letting of blood would be attended with trouble: I
therefore acquainted him with this, and he conformed to my wish, and
waited until the arrival of the approved hour, when I took the blood
from him. He did not oppose me; but, on the contrary, thanked me; and in
like manner all the company present thanked me; and thy father gave me
a hundred pieces of gold for services similar to the letting of
blood.--May God, said I, shew no mercy to my father for knowing such a
man as thou!--and the barber laughed, and exclaimed, There is no deity
but God! Moḥammad is God's Apostle! Extolled be the perfection of Him
who changeth others, but is not changed! I did not imagine thee to be
otherwise than a man of sense; but thou hast talked nonsense in
consequence of thine illness. God hath mentioned, in his Excellent Book,
those who restrain their anger, and who forgive men:[V_63]--but
thou art excused in every case. I am unacquainted, however, with the
cause of thy haste; and thou knowest that thy father used to do nothing
without consulting me; and it hath been said, that the person to whom
one applies for advice should be trusted: now thou wilt find no one
better acquainted with the affairs of the world than myself, and I am
standing on my feet to serve thee. I am not displeased with thee, and
how then art thou displeased with me? But I will have patience with thee
on account of the favours which I have received from thy father.--By
Allah, said I, thou hast wearied me with thy discourse, and overcome me
with thy speech! I desire that thou shave my head and depart from me.
I gave vent to my rage; and would have risen, even if he had wetted my
head, when he said, I knew that displeasure with me had overcome thee;
but I will not be angry with thee, for thy sense is weak, and thou art a
youth: a short time ago I used to carry thee on my shoulder,[V_64]
and take thee to the school.--Upon this, I said to him, O my brother, I
conjure thee by Allah, depart from me that I may perform my business,
and go thou thy way. Then I rent my clothes; and when he saw me do this,
he took the razor, and sharpened it, and continued to do so until my
soul almost parted from my body; then advancing to my head, he shaved a
small portion of it; after which he raised his hand, and said, O my
lord, haste is from the Devil;--and he repeated this couplet:--
Deliberate, and haste not to accomplish thy desire; and be merciful,
so shalt thou meet with one merciful:
For there is no hand but God's hand is above it;[V_65] nor
oppressor that shall not meet with an oppressor.
O my lord (he then continued), I do not imagine that thou knowest my
condition in society; for my hand lighteth upon the heads of kings and
emeers and wezeers and sages and learned men; and of such a one as
myself hath the poet said,--
The trades altogether are like a necklace, and this barber is
the chief pearl of the strings.
He excelleth all that are endowed with skill, and under his hands
are the heads of Kings.
--Leave, said I, that which doth not concern thee! Thou hast contracted
my heart, and troubled my mind.--I fancy that thou art in haste, he
rejoined. I replied, Yes! Yes! Yes!--Proceed slowly, said he; for verily
haste is from the Devil, and it giveth occasion to repentance and
disappointment; and he upon whom be blessing and peace[V_65] hath
said, The best of affairs is that which is commenced with
deliberation:--and, by Allah, I am in doubt as to thine affair: I wish,
therefore, that thou wouldst make known to me what thou art hasting to
do; and may it be good; for I fear it is otherwise.
There now remained, to the appointed time, three hours; and he threw the
razor from his hand in anger, and, taking the astrolabe, went again to
observe the sun; then after he had waited a long time, he returned,
saying, There remain, to the hour of prayer, three hours, neither more
nor less. For the sake of Allah, said I, be silent; for thou hast
crumbled my liver!--and thereupon, he took the razor, and sharpened it
as he had done the first time, and shaved another portion of my head.
Then stopping again, he said, I am in anxiety on account of thy hurry:
if thou wouldst acquaint me with the cause of it, it would be better for
thee; for thou knowest that thy father used to do nothing without
consulting me.
I perceived now that I could not avoid his importunity, and said within
myself, The time of prayer is almost come, and I desire to go before the
people come out from the service: if I delay a little longer, I know not
how to gain admission to her. I therefore said to him, Be quick, and
cease from this chattering and impertinence; for I desire to repair to
an entertainment with my friends. But when he heard the mention of the
entertainment, he exclaimed, The day is a blessed day for me! I
yesterday conjured a party of my intimate friends to come and feast with
me, and forgot to prepare for them anything to eat; and now I have
remembered it. Alas for the disgrace that I shall experience from
them!--So I said to him, Be in no anxiety on this account, since thou
hast been told that I am going to-day to an entertainment; for all the
food and drink that is in my house shall be thine if thou use expedition
in my affair, and quickly finish shaving my head.--May God recompense
thee with every blessing! he replied: describe to me what thou hast for
my guests, that I may know it. I have, said I, five dishes of meat, and
ten fowls fricandoed, and a roasted lamb.--Cause them to be brought
before me, he said, that I may see them. So I had them brought to him,
and he exclaimed, Divinely art thou gifted! How generous is thy soul!
But the incense and perfumes are wanting.--I brought him, therefore, a
box containing nedd[V_67] and aloes-wood and ambergris and musk,
worth fifty pieces of gold.--The time had now become contracted, like my
own heart; so I said to him, Receive this, and shave the whole of my
head, by the existence of Moḥammad, God bless and save him! But he
replied, By Allah, I will not take it until I see all that it
contains.--I therefore ordered the boy, and he opened the box to him;
whereupon the barber threw down the astrolabe from his hand, and,
seating himself upon the ground, turned over the perfumes and incense
and aloes-wood in the box until my soul almost quitted my body.
[Illustration]
He then advanced, and took the razor, and shaved another small portion
of my head; after which he said, By Allah, O my son, I know not whether
I should thank thee or thank thy father; for my entertainment to-day is
entirely derived from thy bounty and kindness, and I have no one among
my visiters deserving of it; for my guests are, Zeytoon the bath-keeper,
and Ṣaleeạ the wheat-seller, and 'Owkal the bean-seller, and 'Akresheh
the grocer, and Ḥomeyd the dustman, and 'Akárish the milk-seller, and
each of these hath a peculiar dance which he performeth, and peculiar
verses which he reciteth; and the best of their qualities is, that they
are like thy servant, the memlook who is before thee; and I, thy slave,
know neither loquacity nor impertinence. As to the bath-keeper, he
saith, If I go not to the feast, it cometh to my house!--and as to the
dustman, he is witty, and full of frolick: often doth he dance, and say,
News, with my wife, is not kept in a chest!--and each of my friends hath
jests that another hath not: but the description is not like the actual
observation. If thou choose, therefore, to come to us, it will be more
pleasant both to thee and to us: relinquish, then, thy visit to thy
friends of whom thou hast told us that thou desirest to go to them; for
the traces of disease are yet upon thee, and probably thou art going to
a people of many words, who will talk of that which concerneth them not;
or probably there will be among them one impertinent person; and thy
soul is already disquieted by disease.--I replied, If it be the will of
God, that shall be on some other day:--but he said, It will be more
proper that thou first join my party of friends, that thou mayest enjoy
their conviviality, and delight thyself with their salt. Act in
accordance with the saying of the poet:--
Defer not a pleasure when it can be had; for fortune often destroyeth
our plans.
Upon this I laughed from a heart laden with anger, and said to him, Do
what I require, that I may go in the care of God, whose name be exalted!
and do thou go to thy friends, for they are waiting thine arrival. He
replied, I desire nothing but to introduce thee into the society of
these people; for verily they are of the sons of that class among which
is no impertinent person; and if thou didst but behold them once, thou
wouldst leave all thine own companions.--May God, said I, give thee
abundant joy with them, and I must bring them together here some
day.--If that be thy wish, he rejoined, and thou wilt first attend the
entertainment of thy friends this day, wait until I take this present
with which thou hast honoured me, and place it before my friends, that
they may eat and drink without waiting for me, and then I will return to
thee, and go with thee to thy companions; for there is no false delicacy
between me and my companions that should prevent my leaving them: so I
will return to thee quickly, and repair with thee whithersoever thou
goest.--Upon this I exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in
God, the High, the Great! Go thou to thy companions, and delight thy
heart with them, and leave me to repair to mine, and to remain with them
this day, for they are waiting my arrival.--But he said, I will not
leave thee to go alone.--The place to which I am going, said I, none can
enter except myself.--I suppose then, he rejoined, that thou hast an
appointment to-day with some female: otherwise, thou wouldst take me
with thee; for I am more deserving than all other men, and will assist
thee to attain what thou desirest. I fear that thou art going to visit
some strange woman, and that thy life will be lost; for in this city of
Baghdád no one can do anything of this kind, especially on such a day
as this; seeing that the Wálee of Baghdád is a terrible, sharp
sword.--Wo to thee, O wicked old man! I exclaimed, what are these words
with which thou addressest me?--And upon this, he kept a long silence.
The time of prayer had now arrived, and the time of the
Khuṭbeh[V_68] was near, when he had finished shaving my head: so I
said to him, Go with this food and drink to thy friends, and I will wait
for thee until thou return, and thou shalt accompany me:--and I
continued my endeavours to deceive him, that he might go away; but he
said to me, Verily thou art deceiving me, and wilt go alone, and
precipitate thyself into a calamity from which there will be no escape
for thee: by Allah! by Allah! then, quit not this spot until I return to
thee and accompany thee, that I may know what will be the result of
thine affair.--I replied, Well: prolong not thine absence from me. And
he took the food and drink and other things which I had given him, but
intrusted them to a porter to convey them to his abode, and concealed
himself in one of the by-streets. I then immediately arose. The muëddins
on the menárehs had chanted the Selám of Friday;[V_69] and I put on
my clothes, and went forth alone, and, arriving at the by-street,
stopped at the door of the house where I had seen the damsel: and lo,
the barber was behind me, and I knew it not. I found the door open, and
entered; and immediately the master of the house returned from the
prayers, and entered the saloon, and closed the door; and I said within
myself, How did this devil discover me?
Now it happened, just at this time, for the fulfilment of God's purpose
to rend the veil of protection before me, that a female slave belonging
to the master of the house committed some offence, in consequence of
which he beat her, and she cried out; whereupon a male slave came in to
him to liberate her; but he beat him also, and he likewise cried out;
and the barber concluded that he was beating me; so he cried, and rent
his clothes, and sprinkled dust upon his head, shrieking, and calling
for assistance. He was surrounded by people, and said to them, My master
hath been killed in the house of the Ḳáḍee! Then running to my house,
crying out all the while, and with a crowd behind him, he gave the news
to my family; and I knew not what he had done when they approached,
crying, Alas for our master!--the barber all the while being before
them, with his clothes rent, and a number of the people of the city with
them. They continued shrieking, the barber shrieking at their head, and
all of them exclaiming, Alas for our slain!--Thus they advanced to the
house in which I was confined; and when the Ḳáḍee heard of this
occurrence, the event troubled him, and he arose, and opened the door,
and seeing a great crowd, he was confounded, and said, O people, what is
the news? The servants replied, Thou hast killed our master.--O people,
rejoined he, what hath your master done unto me that I should kill him;
and wherefore do I see this barber before you?--Thou hast just now
beaten him with miḳra'ahs, said the barber; and I heard his cries.--What
hath he done that I should kill him? repeated the Ḳáḍee. And whence, he
added, came he; and whither would he go?--Be not an old man of
malevolence, exclaimed the barber; for I know the story, and the reason
of his entering thy house, and the truth of the whole affair: thy
daughter is in love with him, and he is in love with her; and thou hast
discovered that he had entered thy house, and hast ordered thy young
men, and they have beaten him. By Allah, none shall decide between us
and thee except the Khaleefeh; or thou shalt bring forth to us our
master that his family may take him; and oblige me not to enter and take
him forth from you: haste then thyself to produce him.
[Illustration]
Upon this, the Ḳáḍee was withheld from speaking, and became utterly
abashed before the people: but presently he said to the barber, If thou
speak truth, enter thyself, and bring him forth. So the barber advanced,
and entered the house; and when I saw him do so, I sought for a way to
escape; but I found no place of refuge except a large chest which I
observed in the same apartment in which I then was: I therefore entered
this, and shut down the lid, and held in my breath. Immediately after,
the barber ran into the saloon, and, without looking in any other
direction than that in which I had concealed myself, came thither: then
turning his eyes to the right and left, and seeing nothing but the
chest, he raised it upon his head; whereupon my reason forsook me. He
quickly descended with it; and I, being now certain that he would not
quit me, opened the chest, and threw myself upon the ground. My leg was
broken by the fall; and when I came to the door of the house, I found a
multitude of people: I had never seen such a crowd as was there
collected on that day; so I began to scatter gold among them, to divert
them; and while they were busied in picking it up, I hastened through
the by-streets of Baghdád, followed by this barber; and wherever I
entered, he entered after me, crying, They would have plunged me into
affliction on account of my master! Praise be to God who aided me
against them, and delivered my master from their hands! Thou
continuedst, O my master, to be excited by haste for the accomplishment
of thine evil design until thou broughtest upon thyself this event; and
if God had not blessed thee with me, thou hadst not escaped from this
calamity into which thou hast fallen; and they might have involved thee
in a calamity from which thou wouldst never have escaped. Beg,
therefore, of God, that I may live for thy sake, to liberate thee in
future. By Allah, thou hast almost destroyed me by thine evil design,
desiring to go alone: but we will not be angry with thee for thine
ignorance, for thou art endowed with little sense, and of a hasty
disposition.--Art thou not satisfied, replied I, with that which thou
hast done, but wilt thou run after me through the market-streets?--And I
desired for death to liberate me from him; but found it not; and in the
excess of my rage I ran from him, and, entering a shop in the midst of
the market, implored the protection of its owner; and he drove away the
barber from me.
I then seated myself in a magazine belonging to him, and said within
myself, I cannot now rid myself of this barber; but he will be with me
night and day, and I cannot endure the sight of his face. So I
immediately summoned witnesses, and wrote a document, dividing my
property among my family, and appointing a guardian over them, and I
ordered him to sell the house and all the immoveable possessions,
charging him with the care of the old and young, and set forth at once
on a journey in order to escape from this wretch. I then arrived in your
country, where I took up my abode, and have remained a considerable
time; and when ye invited me, and I came unto you, I saw this vile
wretch among you, seated at the upper end of the room. How, then, can my
heart be at ease, or my sitting in your company be pleasant to me, with
this fellow, who hath brought these events upon me, and been the cause
of the breaking of my leg?
The young man still persevered in his refusal to remain with us; and
when we had heard his story, we said to the barber, Is this true which
the young man hath said of thee?--By Allah, he answered, it was through
my intelligence that I acted thus towards him; and had I not done so, he
had perished: myself only was the cause of his escape; and it was
through the goodness of God, by my means, that he was afflicted by the
breaking of his leg instead of being punished by the loss of his life.
Were I a person of many words, I had not done him this kindness; and now
I will relate to you an event that happened to me, that ye may believe
me to be a man of few words, and less of an impertinent than my
brothers; and it was this:--
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE BARBER'S STORY OF HIMSELF
I was living in Baghdád, in the reign of the Prince of the Faithful
El-Muntaṣir bi-lláh,[V_70] who loved the poor and indigent, and
associated with the learned and virtuous; and it happened, one day, that
he was incensed against ten persons, in consequence of which, he ordered
the chief magistrate of Baghdád to bring them to him in a boat. I saw
them, and I said within myself, These persons have assembled for nothing
but an entertainment, and, I suppose, will pass their day in this boat
eating and drinking; and none shall be their companion but
myself:[V_71]--so I embarked, and mixed myself among them; and when
they had landed on the opposite bank, the guards of the Wálee came with
chains, and put them upon their necks, and put a chain upon my neck
also.--Now this, O people, is it not a proof of my generosity, and of my
paucity of speech? For I determined not to speak.--They took us,
therefore, all together, in chains, and placed us before El-Muntaṣir
bi-lláh, the Prince of the Faithful; whereupon he gave orders to strike
off the heads of the ten; and the executioner struck off the heads of
the ten, and I remained. The Khaleefeh then turning his eyes, and
beholding me, said to the executioner, Wherefore dost thou not strike
off the heads of all the ten? He answered, I have beheaded every one of
the ten.--I do not think, rejoined the Khaleefeh, that thou hast
beheaded more than nine; and this who is before me is the tenth. But the
executioner replied, By thy beneficence, they are ten.--Count them, said
the Khaleefeh. And they counted them; and lo, they were ten. The
Khaleefeh then looked towards me, and said, What hath induced thee to
be silent on this occasion; and how hast thou become included among the
men of blood?--And when I heard the address of the Prince of the
Faithful, I said to him, Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that I am the
sheykh Eṣ-Ṣámit (the silent): I possess, of science, a large stock; and
as to the gravity of my understanding, and the quickness of my
apprehension, and the paucity of my speech, they are unbounded: my trade
is that of a barber; and yesterday, early in the morning, I saw these
ten men proceeding to the boat; whereupon I mixed myself with them, and
embarked with them, thinking that they had met together for an
entertainment; but soon it appeared that they were criminals; and the
guards came to them, and put chains upon their necks, and upon my neck
also they put a chain; and from the excess of my generosity I was
silent, and spoke not: my speech was not heard on that occasion, on
account of the excess of my generosity; and they proceeded with us until
they stationed us before thee, and thou gavest the order to strike off
the heads of the ten, and I remained before the executioner, and
acquainted you not with my case. Was not this great generosity which
compelled me to accompany them to slaughter? But throughout my life I
have acted in this excellent manner.
When the Khaleefeh heard my words, and knew that I was of a very
generous character, and of few words, and not inclined to impertinence
as this young man, whom I delivered from horrors, asserteth, he said,
Hast thou brothers? I answered, Yes: six.--And are thy six brothers,
said he, like thyself, distinguished by science and knowledge, and
paucity of speech? I answered, They lived not so as to be like me: thou
hast disparaged me by thy supposition, O Prince of the Faithful, and it
is not proper that thou shouldst compare my brothers to me; for through
the abundance of their speech, and the smallness of their generous
qualities, each of them experienced a defect: the first was lame; the
second, deprived of many of his teeth; the third, blind; the fourth,
one-eyed; the fifth, cropped of his ears; and the sixth had both his
lips cut off:[V_72] and think not, O Prince of the Faithful, that I
am a man of many words: nay, I must prove to thee that I am of a more
generous character than they; and each of them met with a particular
adventure, in consequence of which he experienced a defect: if thou
please, I will relate their stories to thee.
[Illustration]
THE BARBER'S STORY OF HIS FIRST BROTHER.
Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that the first (who was named
El-Baḳbooḳ) was the lame one. He practised the art of a tailor in
Baghdád, and used to sew in a shop which he hired of a man possessing
great wealth, who lived over the shop, and who had, in the lower part of
his house, a mill. And as my lame brother was sitting in his shop one
day, sewing, he raised his head, and saw a woman like the rising full
moon, at a projecting window of the house, looking at the people passing
by; and as soon as he beheld her, his heart was entangled by her love.
He passed that day gazing at her, and neglecting his occupation, until
the evening; and on the following morning he opened his shop, and sat
down to sew; but every time that he sewed a stitch, he looked towards
the window; and in this state he continued, sewing nothing sufficient to
earn a piece of silver.[V_73]