mother said to her lady-friends, "Verily his father feared for him the
evil eye and reared him in an underground chamber; and haply the slave
forgot to shut the door and he fared forth; but we did not mean that he
should come out, before his beard was grown." The women gave her joy of
him, and the youth went out from them into the court yard where he
seated himself in the open sitting room; and behold, in came the slaves
with his father's she mule, and he said to them, "Whence cometh this
mule?" Quoth they, "We escorted thy father when riding her to the shop,
and we have brought her back." He asked, "What may be my father's
trade?"; and they answered, "Thy father is Consul of the merchants in
the land of Egypt and Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs." Then he went in
to his mother and said to her, "O my mother, what is my father's
trade?" Said she, "O my son, thy sire is a merchant and Consul of the
merchants in the land of Egypt and Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs. His
slaves consult him not in selling aught whose price is less than one
thousand gold pieces, but merchandise worth him an hundred and less
they sell at their own discretion; nor cloth any merchandise whatever,
little or much, leave the country without passing through his hands and
he disposeth of it as he pleaseth; nor is a bale packed and sent abroad
amongst folk but what is under his disposal. And "Almighty Allah, O my
son, hath given thy father monies past compt." He rejoined, "O my
mother, praised be Allah, that I am son of the Sultan of the Sons of
the Arabs and that my father is Consul of the merchants! But why, O my
mother, do ye put me in the underground chamber and leave me prisoner
there?" Quoth she, "O my son, we imprisoned thee not save for fear of
folks' eyes: 'the evil eye is a truth,'[FN#34] and most of those in
their long homes are its victims." Quoth he, "O my mother, and where is
a refuge-place against Fate? Verily care never made Destiny forbear;
nor is there flight from what is written for every wight. He who took
my grandfather will not spare myself nor my father; for, though he live
to day he shall not live tomorrow. And when my father dieth and I come
forth and say, 'I am Ala al-Din, son of Shams al-Din the merchant',
none of the people will believe me, but men of years and standing will
say, 'In our lives never saw we a son or a daughter of Shams al-Din.'
Then the public Treasury will come down and take my father's estate,
and Allah have mercy on him who said, 'The noble dieth and his wealth
passeth away, and the meanest of men take his women.' Therefore, O my
mother, speak thou to my father, that he carry me with him to the bazar
and open for me a shop; so may I sit there with my merchandise, and
teach me to buy and sell and take and give." Answered his mother, "O my
son, as soon as thy sire returneth I will tell him this." So when the
merchant came home, he found his son Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat sitting
with his mother and said to her, "Why hast thou brought him forth of
the underground chamber?" She replied, "O son of my uncle, it was not I
that brought him out; but the servants forgot to shut the door and left
it open; so, as I sat with a company of women of rank, behold, he came
forth and walked in to me." Then she went on to repeat to him his son's
words; so he said, "O my son, to-morrow, Inshallah! I will take thee
with me to the bazar; but, my boy, sitting in markets and shops
demandeth good manners and courteous carriage in all conditions." Ala
al-Din passed the night rejoicing in his father's promise and, when the
morrow came, the merchant carried him to the Hammam and clad him in a
suit worth a mint of money. As soon as they had broken their fast and
drunk their sherbets, Shams al-Din mounted his she mule and putting his
son upon another, rode to the market, followed by his boy. But when the
market folk saw their Consul making towards them, foregoing a youth as
he were a slice of the full moon on the fourteenth night, they said,
one to other, "See thou yonder boy behind the Consul of the merchants;
verily, we thought well of him, but he is, like the leek, gray of head
and green at heart."[FN#35] And Shaykh Mohammed Samsam, Deputy Syndic
of the market, the man before mentioned, said to the dealers, "O
merchants, we will not keep the like of him for our Shaykh; no, never!"
Now it was the custom anent the Consul when he came from his house of a
morning and sat down in his shop, for the Deputy Syndic of the market
to go and recite to him and to all the merchants assembled around him
the Fбtihah or opening chapter of the Koran,[FN#36] after which they
accosted him one by one and wished him good morrow and went away, each
to his business place. But when Shams al-Din seated himself in his shop
that day as usual, the traders came not to him as accustomed; so he
called the Deputy and said to him, "Why come not the merchants together
as usual?" Answered Mohammed Samsam, "I know not how to tell thee these
troubles, for they have agreed to depose thee from the Shaykh ship of
the market and to recite the Fatihah to thee no more." Asked Shams
al-Din, "What may be their reason?"; and asked the Deputy, "What boy is
this that sitteth by thy side and thou a man of years and chief of the
merchants? Is this lad a Mameluke or akin to thy wife? Verily, I think
thou lovest him and inclines lewdly to the boy." Thereupon the Consul
cried out at him, saying, "Silence, Allah curse thee, genus and
species! This is my son." Rejoined the Deputy, "Never in our born days
have we seen thee with a son," and Shams al-Din answered, "When thou
gavest me the seed-thickener, my wife conceived and bare this youth;
but I reared him in a souterrain for fear of the evil eye, nor was it
my purpose that he should come forth, till he could take his beard in
his hand.[FN#37] However, his mother would not agree to this, and he on
his part begged I would stock him a shop and teach him to sell and
buy." So the Deputy Syndic returned to the other traders and acquainted
them with the truth of the case, whereupon they all arose to accompany
him; and, going in a body to Shams al-Din's shop, stood before him and
recited the "Opener" of the Koran; after which they gave him joy of his
son and said to him, "The Lord prosper root and branch! But even the
poorest of us, when son or daughter is born to him, needs must cook a
pan-full of custard[FN#38] and bid his friends and kith and kin; yet
hast thou not done this." Quoth he, "This I owe you; be our meeting in
the garden."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Fifty-second Night,
Her sister Dunyazad said to her, "Pray continue thy story for us, as
thou be awake and not inclined to sleep." Quoth she:—With pleasure and
goodwill: it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Consul of the
merchants promised them a banquet and said "Be our meeting in the
garden." So when morning dawned he despatched the carpet layer to the
saloon of the garden-pavilion and bade him furnish the two. Moreover,
he sent thither all that was needful for cooking, such as sheep and
clarified butter and so forth, according to the requirements of the
case; and spread two tables, one in the pavilion and another in the
saloon. Then Shams al-Din and his boy girded themselves, and he said to
Ala al-Din "O my son, whenas a greybeard entereth, I will meet him and
seat him at the table in the pavilion; and do thou, in like manner,
receive the beardless youths and seat them at the table in the saloon."
He asked, "O my father, why dost thou spread two tables, one for men
and another for youths?"; and he answered, "O my son, the beardless is
ashamed to eat with the bearded." And his son thought this his answer
full and sufficient. So when the merchants arrived, Shams al-Din
received the men and seated them in the pavilion, whilst Ala al-Din
received the youths and seated them in the saloon. Then the food was
set on and the guests ate and drank and made merry and sat over their
wine, whilst the attendants perfumed them with the smoke of scented
woods, and the elders fell to conversing of matters of science and
traditions of the Prophet. Now there was amongst them a merchant called
Mahmъd of Balkh, a professing Moslem but at heart a Magian, a man of
lewd and mischievous life who loved boys. And when he saw Ala al-Din
from whose father he used to buy stuffs and merchandise, one sight of
his face sent him a thousand sighs and Satan dangled the jewel before
his eyes, so that he was taken with love-longing and desire and
affection and his heart was filled with mad passion for him. Presently
he arose and made for the youths, who stood up to receive him; and at
this moment Ala Al-Din being taken with an urgent call of Nature,
withdrew to make water; whereupon Mahmud turned to the other youths and
said to them, "If ye will incline Ala al-Din's mind to journeying with
me, I will give each of you a dress worth a power of money." Then he
returned from them to the men's party; and, as the youths were sitting,
Ala al-Din suddenly came back, when all rose to receive him and seated
him in the place of highest honour. Presently, one of them said to his
neighbour, "O my lord Hasan, tell me whence came to thee the
capital—whereon thou trades"." He replied, "When I grew up and came to
man's estate, I said to my sire, 'O my father, give me merchandise.'
Quoth he, 'O my son, I have none by me; but go thou to some merchant
and take of him money and traffic with it; and so learn to buy and
sell, give and take.' So I went to one of the traders and borrowed of
him a thousand dinars, wherewith I bought stuffs and carrying them to
Damascus, sold them there at a profit of two for one. Then I bought
Syrian stuffs and carrying them to Aleppo, made a similar gain of them;
after which I bought stuffs of Aleppo and repaired with them to
Baghdad, where I sold them with like result, two for one; nor did I
cease trading upon my capital till I was worth nigh ten thousand
ducats." Then each of the others told his friend some such tale, till
it came to Ala al-Din's turn to speak, when they said to him, "And
thou, O my lord Ala al-Din?" Quoth he, "I was brought up in a chamber
underground and came forth from it only this week; and I do but go to
the shop and return home from the shop." They remarked, "Thou art used
to wone at home and wottest not the joys of travel, for travel is for
men only." He replied, "I reck not of voyaging and wayfaring cloth not
tempt me." Whereupon quoth one to the other, "This one is like the
fish: when he leaveth the water he dieth." Then they said to him, "O
Ala al Din, the glory of the sons of the merchants is not but in travel
for the sake of gain." Their talk angered him; so he left them
weeping-eyed and heavy-hearted and mounting his mule returned home. Now
his mother saw him in tears and in bad temper and asked him, "What hath
made thee weep, O my son?"; and he answered, "Of a truth, all the sons
of the merchants put me to shame and said, 'Naught is more glorious for
a merchant's son than travel for gain and to get him gold.'"—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Fifty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ala al-Din said
to his mother, "Of a truth all the sons of the merchants put me to
shame and said, 'Naught is more honourable for a merchant's son than
travel for gain.'" "O my son, hast thou a mind to travel?" "Even so!"
"And whither wilt thou go?" "To the city of Baghdad; for there folk
make double the cost price on their goods." "O my son, thy father is a
very rich man and, if he provide thee not with merchandise, I will
supply it out of my own monies." "The best favour is that which is
soonest bestowed; if this kindness is to be, now is the time." So she
called the slaves and sent them for cloth packers, then, opening a
store house, brought out ten loads of stuffs, which they made up into
bales for him. Such was his case; but as regards his father, Shams
al-Din, he looked about and failed to find Ala al-Din in the garden and
enquiring after him, was told that he had mounted mule and gone home;
so he too mounted and followed him. Now when he entered the house, he
saw the bales ready bound and asked what they were; whereupon his wife
told him what had chanced between Ala al-Din and the sons of the
merchants; and he cried, "O my son, Allah's malison on travel and
stranger-hood! Verily Allah's Apostle (whom the Lord bless and
preserve!) hath said, 'It is of a man's happy fortune that he eat his
daily bread in his own land', and it was said of the ancients, 'Leave
travel, though but for a mile.'" Then quoth he to his son, "Say, art
thou indeed resolved to travel and wilt thou not turn back from it?"
Quoth the other, "There is no help for it but that I journey to Baghdad
with merchandise, else will I doff clothes and don dervish gear and
fare a-wandering over the world." Shams al-Din rejoined, "I am no
penniless pauper but have great plenty of wealth;" then he showed him
all he owned of monies and stuffs and stock-in-trade and observed,
"With me are stuffs and merchandise befitting every country in the
world." Then he showed him among the rest, forty bales ready bound,
with the price, a thousand dinars, written on each, and said, "O my son
take these forty loads, together with the ten which thy mother gave
thee, and set out under the safeguard of Almighty Allah. But, O my
child, I fear for thee a certain wood in thy way, called the Lion's
Copse,[FN#39] and a valley highs the Vale of Dogs, for there lives are
lost without mercy." He said, "How so, O my father?"; and he replied,
"Because of a Badawi bandit named Ajlan." Quoth Ala al-Din, "Such is
Allah's luck; if any share of it be mine, no harm shall hap to me."
Then they rode to the cattle bazar, where behold, a cameleer[FN#40]
alighted from his she mule and kissing the Consul's hand, said to him,
"O my lord, it is long, by Allah, since thou hast employed us in the
way of business." He replied, "Every time hath its fortune and its
men,[FN#41] and Allah have truth on him who said,
'And the old man crept o'er the worldly ways * So bowed, his
beard o'er his knees down flow'th:
Quoth I, 'What gars thee so doubled go?' * Quoth he (as to me his
hands he show'th)
'My youth is lost, in the dust it lieth; * And see, I bend me to
find my youth.'"[FN#42]
Now when he had ended his verses, he said, "O chief of the caravan, it
is not I who am minded to travel, but this my son." Quoth the cameleer,
"Allah save him for thee." Then the Consul made a contract between Ala
al-Din and the man, appointing that the youth should be to him as a
son, and gave him into his charge, saying, "Take these hundred gold
pieces for thy people." More-over he bought his son threescore mules
and a lamp and a tomb-covering for the Sayyid Abd al-Kadir of
Gнlбn[FN#43] and said to him, "O my son, while I am absent, this is thy
sire in my stead: whatsoever he biddeth thee, do thou obey him." So
saying, he returned home with the mules and servants and that night
they made a Khitmah or perfection of the Koran and held a festival—in
honour of the Shaykh Abd al-Kadir al-Jilбni. And when the morrow
dawned, the Consul gave his son ten thousand dinars, saying, "O my son,
when thou comest to Baghdad, if thou find stuffs easy of sale, sell
them; but if they be dull, spend of these dinars." Then they loaded the
mules and, taking leave of one another, all the wayfarers setting out
on their journey, marched forth from the city. Now Mahmud of Balkh had
made ready his own venture for Baghdad and had moved his bales and set
up his tents without the walls, saying to himself, "Thou shalt not
enjoy this youth but in the desert, where there is neither spy nor
marplot to trouble thee." It chanced that he had in hand a thousand
dinars which he owed to the youth's father, the balance of a
business-transaction between them; so he went and bade farewell to the
Consul, who charged him, "Give the thousand dinars to my son Ala
al-Din;" and commended the lad to his care, saying, "He is as it were
thy son." Accordingly, Ala al-Din joined company with Mahmud of
Balkh.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ala al-Din joined
company with Mahmud of Balkh who, before beginning the march, charged
the youth's cook to dress nothing for him, but himself provided him and
his company with meat and drink. Now he had four houses, one in Cairo,
another in Damascus, a third in Aleppo and a fourth in Baghdad. So they
set out and ceased not journeying over waste and wold till they drew
near Damascus when Mahmud sent his slave to Ala al-Din, whom he found
sitting and reading. He went up to him and kissed his hands, and Ala
al-Din having asked him what he wanted, he answered, "My master
saluteth thee and craveth thy company to a banquet at his place." Quoth
the youth, "Not till I consult my father Kamal al-Din, the captain of
the caravan." So he asked advice of the Makaddam,[FN#44] who said, "Do
not go." Then they left Damascus and journeyed on till they came to
Aleppo, where Mahmud made a second entertainment and sent to invite Ala
al-Din; but he consulted the Chief Cameleer who again forbade him. Then
they marched from Aleppo and fared on, till there remained between them
and Baghdad only a single stage. Here Mahmud prepared a third feast and
sent to bid Ala al-Din to it: Kamal-al-Din once more forbade his
accepting it, but he said, "I must needs go." So he rose and, slinging
a sword over his shoulder, under his clothes, repaired to the tent of
Mahmud of Balkh, who came to meet him and saluted him. Then he set
before him a sumptuous repast and they ate and drank and washed hands.
At last Mahmud bent towards Ala al-Din to snatch a kiss from him, but
the youth received the kiss on the palm of his hand and said to him,
"What wouldest thou be at?" Quoth Mahmud, "In very sooth I brought thee
hither that I might take my pleasure with thee in this jousting ground,
and we will comment upon the words of him who saith,
'Say, canst not come to us one momentling, * Like milk of ewekin
or aught glistening
And eat what liketh thee of dainty cake, * And take thy due of
fee in silverling,
And bear whatso thou wilt, without mislike, * Of spanling,
fistling or a span long thing?'"
Then Mahmud of Balkh would have laid hands on Ala al-Din to ravish him;
but he rose and baring his brand, said to him, "Shame on thy gray
hairs! Hast thou no fear of Allah, and He of exceeding awe?[FN#45] May
He have mercy on him who saith,
'Preserve thy hoary hairs from soil and stain, * For whitest colours
are the easiest stained!'"
And when he ended his verses he said to Mahmud of Balkh, "Verily this
merchandise[FN#46] is a trust from Allah and may not be sold. If I sold
this property to other than thee for gold, I would sell it to thee for
silver; but by Allah, O filthy villain, I will never again company with
thee; no, never!" Then he returned to Kamal-Al-Din the guide and said
to him, "Yonder man is a lewd fellow, and I will no longer consort with
him nor suffer his company by the way." He replied, "O my son, did I
not say to thee, 'Go not near him'? But if we part company with him, I
fear destruction for ourselves; so let us still make one caravan." But
Ala al-Din cried, "It may not be that I ever again travel with him." So
he loaded his beasts and journeyed onwards, he and his company, till
they came to a valley, where Ala al-Din would have halted, but the
Cameleer said to him, "Do not halt here; rather let us fare forwards
and press our pace, so haply we make Baghdad before the gates are
closed, for they open and shut them with the sun, in fear lest the
Rejectors[FN#47] should take the city and throw the books of religious
learning into the Tigris." But Ala al Din replied to him, "O my father,
I came not forth from home with this merchandise, or travelled hither
for the sake of traffic, but to divert myself with the sight of foreign
lands and folks;" and he rejoined, "O my son, we fear for thee and for
thy goods from the wild Arabs." Whereupon the youth answered "Harkye,
fellow, art thou master or man? I will not enter Baghdad till the
morning, that the sons of the city may see my merchandise and know me."
"Do as thou wilt," said the other "I have given thee the wisest advice,
but thou art the best judge of thine own case." Then Ala al-Din bade
them unload the mule; and pitch the tent; so they did his bidding and
abode there till the middle of the night, when he went out to obey a
call of nature and suddenly saw something gleaming afar off. So he said
to Kamal-al-Din, "O captain, what is yonder glittering?" The Cameleer
sat up and, considering it straitly, knew it for the glint of spear
heads and the steel of Badawi weapons and swords. And lo and behold!
this was a troop of wild Arabs under a chief called Ajlбn Abъ Nбib,
Shaykh of the Arabs, and when they neared the camp and saw the bales
and baggage, they said one to another, "O night of loot!" Now when
Kamal-al-Din heard these their words he cried, "Avaunt, O vilest of
Arabs!" But Abu Naib so smote him with his throw spear in the breast,
that the point came out gleaming from his back, and he fell down dead
at the tent door. Then cried the water carrier,[FN#48] "Avaunt, O
foulest of Arabs!" and one of them smote him with a sword upon the
shoulder, that it issued shining from the tendons of the throat, and he
also fell down dead. (And all this while Ala Al-Din stood looking on.)
Then the Badawin surrounded and charged the caravan from every side and
slew all Ala al-Din's company without sparing a man: after which they
loaded the mules with the spoil and made off. Quoth Ala al-Din to
himself, "Nothing will slay thee save thy mule and thy dress!"; so he
arose and put off his gown and threw it over the back of a mule,
remaining in his shirt and bag trousers only; after which he looked
towards the tent door and, seeing there a pool of gore flowing from the
slaughtered, wallowed in it with his remaining clothes till he was as a
slain man drowned in his own blood. Thus it fared with him; but as
regards the Shaykh of the wild Arabs, Ajlan, he said to his banditti,
"O Arabs, was this caravan bound from Egypt for Baghdad or from Baghdad
for Egypt?"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Badawi
asked his banditti, "O Arabs, was this caravan bound from Egypt for
Baghdad or from Baghdad for Egypt?"; they answered, "'Twas bound from
Egypt for Baghdad;" and he said, "Return ye to the slain, for methinks
the owner of this caravan is not dead." So they turned back to the
slain and fell to prodding and slashing them with lance and sword till
they came to Ala al-Din, who had thrown himself down among the corpses.
And when they came to him, quoth they, "Thou dost but feign thyself
dead, but we will make an end of thee," and one of the Badawin levelled
his javelin and would have plunged it into his breast when he cried
out, "Save me, O my lord Abd al-Kadir, O Saint of Gilan!" and behold,
he saw a hand turn the lance away from his breast to that of
Kamal-al-Din the cameleer, so that it pierced him and spared
himself.[FN#49] Then the Arabs made off; and, when Ala al-Din saw that
the birds were flown with their god send, he sat up and finding no one,
rose and set off running; but, behold! Abu Nбib the Badawi looked back
and said to his troop, "I see somewhat moving afar off, O Arabs!" So
one of the bandits turned back and, spying Ala al-Din running, called
out to him, saying, "Flight shall not forward thee and we after thee;"
and he smote his mare with his heel and she hastened after him. Then
Ala al-Din seeing before him a watering tank and a cistern beside it,
climbed up into a niche in the cistern and, stretching himself at full
length, feigned to be asleep and said, "O gracious Protector, cover me
with the veil of Thy protection which may not be torn away!" And lo!
the Badawi came up to the cistern and, standing in his stirrup irons
put out his hand to lay hold of Ala al-Din; but he said, "O my lady
Nafнsah[FN#50]! Now is thy time!" And behold, a scorpion stung the
Badawi in the palm and he cried out, saying, "Help, O Arabs! I am
stung;" and he alighted from his mare's back. So his comrades came up
to him and mounted him again, asking, "What hath befallen thee?"
whereto he answered, "A young scorpion[FN#51] stung me." So they
departed, with the caravan. Such was their case; but as regards Ala
al-Din, he tarried in the niche, and Mahmud of Balkh bade load his
beasts and fared forwards till he came to the Lion's Copse where he
found Ala al-Din's attendants all lying slain. At this he rejoiced and
went on till he reached the cistern and the reservoir. Now his mule was
athirst and turned aside to drink, but she saw Ala al-Din's shadow in
the water and shied and started; whereupon Mahmud raised his eyes and,
seeing Ala al-Din lying in the niche, stripped to his shirt and bag
trousers, said to him, "What man this deed to thee hath dight and left
thee in this evil plight?" Answered Ala alDin, "The Arabs," and Mahmud
said, "O my son, the mules and the baggage were thy ransom; so do thou
comfort thyself with his saying who said,
'If thereby man can save his head from death, * His good is worth him
but a slice of nail!'
But now, O my son, come down and fear no hurt." Thereupon he descended
from the cistern-niche and Mahmud mounted him on a mule, and they fared
on till they reached Baghdad, where he brought him to his own house and
carried him to the bath, saying to him, "The goods and money were the
ransom of thy life, O my son; but, if thou wilt hearken to me, I will
give thee the worth of that thou hast lost, twice told." When he came
out of the bath, Mahmud carried him into a saloon decorated with gold
with four raised floors, and bade them bring a tray with all manner of
meats. So they ate and drank and Mahmud bent towards Ala al-Din to
snatch a kiss from him; but he received it upon the palm of his hand
and said, "What, dost thou persist in thy evil designs upon me? Did I
not tell thee that, were I wont to sell this merchandise to other than
thee for gold, I would sell it thee for silver?" Quoth Mahmud, "I will
give thee neither merchandise nor mule nor clothes save at this price;
for I am gone mad for love of thee, and bless him who said,