Contents of The Fourth Volume.
1. The Imam Abou Yousuf With Haroun er Reshid and his Vizier
Jaafer
2. The Lover Who Feigned Himself a Thief to save His Mistress's
Honour
3. Jaafer the Barmecide and the Bean-seller
4. Abou Mohammed the Lazy
5. Yehya Ben Khalid and Mensour
6. Yehya Ben Khalid and the Man Who Forged a Letter in His Name
7. The Khalif el Mamoun and the Strange Doctor
8. Ali Shar and Zumurrud
9. The Loves of Jubeir Ben Umeir and the Lady Budour
10. The Man of Yemen and His Six Slave Girls
11. Haroun er Reshid with the Damsel and Abou Nuwas
12. The Man Who Stole The Dog's Dish of Gold
13. The Sharper of Alexandria and the Master of Police
14. El Melik en Nasir and the Three Masters of Police
a. Story of the Chief of the New Cairo Police
b. Story of the Chief of the Boulac Police
c. Story of the chief of the Old Cairo Police
15. The Thief and the Money-Changer
16. The Chief of the Cous Police and the Sharper
17. Ibrahim Ben el Mehdi and the Merchant's Sister
18. The Woman Whose Hands Were Cut Off For Almsgiving
19. The Devout Israelite
20. Abou Hassan ez Ziyadi and the Man From Khorassan
21. The Poor Man and his Generous Friend
22. The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through a Dream
23. El Mutawekkil and his Favourite Mehboubeh
24. Werdan the Butcher's Adventure with the Lady and the Bear
25. The King's Daughter and the Ape
26. The Enchanted Horse
27. Uns El Eoujoud and the Vizier's Daughter Rose-in-Bud
28. Abou Nuwas with the Three Boys and the Khalif Haroun er
Reshid
29. Abdallah Ben Maamer with the Man of Bassora and His Slave
Girl
30. The Lovers of the Benou Udhreh
31. The Vizier of Yemen and His Young Brother
32. Loves of the Boy and Girl at School
33. El Mutelemmis and His Wife Umeimeh
34. Haroun er Reshid and Zubeideh in the Bath
35. Haroun er Reshid and the Three Poets
36. Musab Ben ez Zubeir and Aaisheh His Wife
37. Aboulasweh and His Squinting Slave Girl
38. Haroun er Reshid ad the Two Girls
39. Hroun er Reshid and the Three Girls
40. The Miller and his Wife
41. The Simpleton and the Sharper
42. The Imam Abou Yousuf with Haroun er Reshid and Zubeideh
43. The Khalif el Hakim and the Merchant
44. King Kisra Anoushirwan and the Village Damsel
45. The Water-Carrier and the Goldsmith's Wife
46. Khusrau and Shirin and the Fisherman
47. Yehya Ben Khalid and the Poor Man
48. Mohammed El Amin and Jaafer Ben el Hadi
49. Said Ben Salim and the Barmecides
50. The Woman's Trick Against Her Husband
51. The Devout Woman and the Two Wicked Elders
52. Jaafer the Barmecide and the Old Bedouin
53. Omar Ben Khettab and the Young Bedouin
54. El Mamoun and the Pyramids of Egypt
55. The Thief Turned Merchant and the Other Thief
56. Mesrour and Ibn El Caribi
57. The Devout Prince
58. The Schoolmaster Who Fell in Love by Report
59. The Foolish Schoolmaster
60. The Ignorant Man Who Set up For a Schoolmaster
61. The King and the Virtuous Wife
62. Abdurrehman the Moor's Story of the Roc
63. Adi Ben Zeid and the Princess Hind
64. Dibil el Khuzai With the Lady and Muslim Ben el Welid
65. Isaac of Mosul and the Merchant
66. The Three Unfortunate Lovers
67. The Lovers of the Benou Tai
68. The Mad Lover
69. The Apples of Paradise
70. The Loves of Abou Isa and Current El Ain
71. El Amin and His Uncle Ibrahim Ben el Mehdi
72. El Feth Ben Khacan and El Mutawekkil
73. The Man's Dispute with the Learned Woman of the Relative
Excellence of the Male and the Female
74. Abou Suweid and the Handsome Old Woman
75. Ali Ben Tahir and the Birl Mounis
76. The Woman Who Has a Boy and the Other Who Had a Man to Lover
77. The Haunted House in Baghdad
78. The Pilgrim and the Old Woman Who Dwelt in the Desert
79. Aboulhusn and His Slave Girl Taweddud
THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS
AND ONE NIGHT
HOW THE IMAM ABOU YOUSUF EXTRICATED THE
KHALIF HAROUN ER RESHID AND HIS VIZIER
JAAFER FROM A DILEMMA.
It is said that Jaafer the Barmecide was one night carousing with
Er Reshid, when the latter said to him, 'O Jaafer, I hear that
thou hast bought such and such a slave-girl. Now I have long
sought her and my heart is taken up with love of her, for she is
passing fair; so do thou sell her to me.' 'O Commander of the
Faithful,' replied Jaafer, 'I will not sell her.' 'Then give her
to me,' rejoined the Khalif. 'Nor will I give her,' answered
Jaafer. 'Be Zubeideh triply divorced,' exclaimed Haroun, 'if
thou shalt not either sell or give her to me!' Quoth Jaafer, 'Be
my wife triply divorced, if I either sell or give her to thee!'
After awhile they recovered from their intoxication and were ware
that they had fallen into a grave dilemma, but knew not how to
extricate themselves. Then said Er Reshid, 'None can help us in
this strait but Abou Yousuf.'[FN#1] So they sent for him, and
this was in the middle of the night. When the messenger reached
the Imam, he arose in alarm, saying in himself, 'I should not be
sent for at this hour, save by reason of some crisis in Islam.'
So he went out in haste and mounted his mule, saying to his
servant, 'Take the mule's nose-bag with thee; it may be she has
not finished her feed; and when we come to the Khalif's palace,
put the bag on her, that she may eat what is left of her fodder,
whilst I am with the Khalif.' 'I hear and obey,' replied the man.
So the Imam rode to the palace and was admitted to the presence
of Er Reshid, who made him sit down on the couch beside himself,
whereas he was used to seat none but him, and said to him, 'We
have sent for thee at this hour to advise us upon a grave matter,
with which we know not how to deal' And he expounded to him the
case. 'O Commander of the Faithful,' replied Abou Yousuf, 'this
is the easiest of things.' Then he turned to Jaafer and said to
him, 'O Jaafer, sell half of her to the Commander of the Faithful
and give him the other half; so shall ye both be quit of your
oaths.' The Khalif was delighted with this and they did as he
prescribed. Then said Er Reshid, 'Bring me the girl at once, for
I long for her exceedingly.' So they brought her and the Khalif
said to Abou Yousuf, 'I have a mind to lie with her forthright;
for I cannot endure to abstain from her during the prescribed
period of purification; how is this to be done?' 'Bring me one of
thine unenfranchised male slaves,' answered the Imam, 'and give
me leave to marry her to him; then let him divorce her before
consummation. So shall it be lawful for thee to lie with her
before purification.' This expedient pleased the Khalif yet more
than the first and he sent for the slave. When he came, Er Reshid
said to the Imam, 'I authorize thee to marry her to him.' So the
Imam proposed the marriage to the slave, who accepted it, and
performed the due ceremony; after which he said to the slave,
'Divorce her, and thou shalt have a hundred diners.' But he
refused to do this and the Imam went on to increase his offer,
till he bid him a thousand diners. Then said the slave to him,
'Doth it rest with me to divorce her, or with thee or the
Commander of the Faithful?' 'With thee,' answered the Imam.
'Then, by Allah,' quoth the slave, 'I will never do it!'
At this the Khalif was exceeding wroth and said to the Imam,
'What is to be done, O Abou Yousuf?' 'Be not concerned, O
Commander of the Faithful,' replied the Imam; 'the thing is easy.
Make this slave the damsel's property.' Quoth Er Reshid, 'I give
him to her;' and the Imam said to the girl, 'Say, "I accept."' So
she said, 'I accept:' whereupon quoth Abou Yousuf, 'I pronounce
divorce between them, for that he hath become her property, and
so the marriage is annulled.' With this, Er Reshid sprang to his
feet and exclaimed, 'It is the like of thee that shall be Cadi in
my time.' Then he called for sundry trays of gold and emptied
them before Abou Yousuf, to whom he said, 'Hast thou wherein to
put this ?' The Imam bethought him of the mule's nose-bag; so he
sent for it and filling it with gold, took it and went home; and
on the morrow, he said to his friends, 'There is no easier or
shorter road to the goods of this world and the next, than that
of learning; for, see, I have received all this money for
answering two or three questions.' Consider, then, O polite
[reader], the pleasantness of this anecdote, for it comprises
divers goodly features, amongst which are the complaisance of
Jaafer to Er Reshid and the wisdom[FN#2] of the Khalif and the
exceeding wisdom of Abou Yousuf, may God the Most High have mercy
on all their souls!
THE LOVER WHO FEIGNED HIMSELF A THIEF TO
SAVE HIS MISTRESS'S HONOUR.
There came one day to Khalid ibn Abdallah el Kesri,[FN#3]
governor of Bassora, a company of men dragging a youth of
exceeding beauty and lofty bearing, whose aspect expressed good
breeding and dignity and abundant wit They brought him before the
governor, who asked what was to do with him, and they replied,
'This fellow is a thief, whom we caught last night in our
dwelling.' Khalid looked at him and was struck with wonder at his
well-favouredness and elegance; so he said to the others, 'Loose
him,' and going up to the young man, asked what he had to say for
himself. 'The folk have spoken truly,' answered he; 'and the case
is as they have said.' 'And what moved thee to this,' asked
Khalid, 'and thou so noble and comely of aspect?' 'The lust
after worldly good,' replied the other, 'and the ordinance of
God, glorified and exalted be He!' 'May thy mother be bereaved of
thee!' rejoined Khalid. 'Hadst thou not, in thy fair face and
sound sense and good breeding, what should restrain thee from
thieving?' 'O Amir,' answered the young man, 'leave this talk
and proceed to what God the Most High hath ordained; this is
what my hands have earned, and God is no oppressor of His
creatures.'[FN#4] Khalid was silent awhile, considering the
matter; then he said to the young man, 'Verily, thy confession
before witnesses perplexes me, for I cannot believe thee to be a
thief. Surely thou hast some story that is other than one of
theft. Tell it me'. 'O Amir,' replied the youth, 'deem thou
nought save what I have confessed; for I have no story other than
that I entered these folk's house and stole what I could lay
hands on, and they caught me and took the stuff from me and
carried me before thee.' Then Khalid bade clap him in prison and
commanded a crier to make proclamation throughout Bassora,
saying, 'Ho, whoso is minded to look upon the punishment of such
an one, the thief, and the cutting off of his hand, let him be
present tomorrow morning at such a place!'
When the youth found himself in prison, with irons on his feet,
he sighed heavily and repeated the following verses, whilst the
tears streamed from his eyes:
Khalid doth threaten me with cutting off my hand, Except I do
reveal to him my mistress' case.
But, "God forbid," quoth I, "that I should e'er reveal That which
of love for her my bosom doth embrace!"
The cutting-off my hand, for that I have confessed Unto, less
grievous were to me than her disgrace.
The warders heard him and went and told Khalid, who sent for the
youth after nightfall and conversed with him. He found him
well-bred and intelligent and of a pleasant and vivacious wit; so
he ordered him food and he ate. Then said Khalid, 'I know thou
hast a story to tell that is no thief's; so, when the Cadi comes
to-morrow morning and questions thee before the folk, do thou
deny the charge of theft and avouch what may avert the cutting-off
of thy hand; for the Prophet (whom God bless and preserve) saith,
"In cases of doubt, eschew [or defer] punishment."' Then he sent
him back to the prison, where he passed the night.
On the morrow, the folk assembled to see his hand cut off, nor
was there man or woman in Bassora but came forth to look upon his
punishment. Then Khalid mounted in company of the notables of the
city and others and summoning the Cadi, sent for the young man,
who came, hobbling in his shackles. There none saw him but wept
for him, and the women lifted up their voices in lamentation. The
Cadi bade silence the women and said to the prisoner, 'These
folk avouch that thou didst enter their dwelling and steal their
goods: belike thou stolest less than a quarter dinar?'[FN#5]
'Nay,' replied he, 'I stole more than that.' 'Peradventure,'
rejoined the Cadi, 'thou art partner with them in some of the
goods?' 'Not so,' replied the young man; 'it was all theirs. I
had no right in it.' At this Khalid was wroth and rose and smote
him on the face with his whip, applying this verse to his own
case:
Man wisheth and seeketh his wish to fulfil, But Allah denieth
save that which He will.
Then he called for the executioner, who came and taking the
prisoner's hand, set the knife to it and was about to cut it off,
when, behold, a damsel, clad in tattered clothes, pressed through
the crowd of women and cried out and threw herself on the young
man. Then she unveiled and showed a face like the moon; whereupon
the people raised a mighty clamour and there was like to have
been a riot amongst them. But she cried out her loudest, saying,
'I conjure thee, by Allah, O Amir, hasten not to cut off this
man's hand, till thou have read what is in this scroll!' So
saying, she gave him a scroll, and he took it and read therein
the following verses:
O Khalid, this man is love-maddened, a cave of desire, Transfixed
by the glances that sped from the bows of my eye.
The shafts of my looks 'twas that pierced him and slew him;
indeed, He a bondsman of love, sick for passion and like for
to die.
Yea, rather a crime, that he wrought not, he choose to confess
Than suffer on her whom he cherished dishonour to lie.
Have ruth on a sorrowful lover; indeed he's no thief, But the
noblest and truest of mortals for passion that sigh.
When he had read this, he called the girl apart and questioned
her; and she told him that the young man was her lover and she
his mistress. He came to the dwelling of her people, thinking to
visit her, and threw a stone into the house, to warn her of his
coming. Her father and brothers heard the noise of the stone and
sallied out on him; but he, hearing them coming, caught up all
the household stuff and made as if he would have stolen it, to
cover his mistress's honour. 'So they seized him,' continued she,
'saying, "A thief!" and brought him before thee, whereupon he
confessed to the robbery and persisted in his confession, that he
might spare me dishonour; and this he did, making himself a
thief, of the exceeding nobility and generosity of his nature.'
'He is indeed worthy to have his desire,' replied Khalid and
calling the young man to him, kissed him between the eyes. Then
he sent for the girl's father and bespoke him, saying, 'O elder,
we thought to punish this young man by cutting off his hand; but
God (to whom belong might and majesty) hath preserved us from
this! and I now adjudge him the sum of ten thousand dirhems, for
that he would have sacrificed his hand for the preservation of
thine honour and that of thy daughter and the sparing you both
reproach. Moreover, I adjudge other ten thousand dirhems to thy
daughter, for that she made known to me the truth of the case;
and I ask thy leave to marry him to her.' 'O Amir,' rejoined the
old man, 'thou hast my consent.' So Khalid praised God and
thanked Him and offered up a goodly exhortation and prayer; after
which he said to the young man, 'I give thee this damsel to wife,
with her own and her father's consent; and her dowry shall be
this money, to wit, ten thousand dirhems. 'I accept this marriage
at thy hands,' replied the youth and Khalid let carry the money
on trays in procession to the young man's house, whilst the
people dispersed, full of gladness. And surely [quoth he who
tells the tale[FN#6]] never saw I a rarer day than this, for that
its beginning was weeping and affliction and its end joy and
gladness.