in to his wife, who spoke to him as she had been taught and made him
swear the divorce-oath before she would yield to his wishes. He lay
with her that night and, when morning dawned, after he had made the
Ghusl-ablution and prayed the dawn- prayer, he repaired to the prison
and said, "O Ahmad Kamakim, O thou arch-thief, dost thou repent of thy
works?"; whereto he replied, "I do indeed repent and turn to Allah and
say with heart and tongue, 'I ask pardon of Allah.'" So the Governor
took him out of jail and carried him to the Court (he being still in
bilboes) and, approaching the Caliph, kissed ground before him. Quoth
the King, "O Emir Khбlid, what seekest thou?"; whereupon he brought
forward Ahmad Kamakim, shuffling and tripping in his fetters, and the
Caliph said to him, "What! art thou yet alive, O Kamakim?" He replied,
"O Commander of the Faithful, the miserable are long-lived." Quoth the
Caliph to the Emir, "Why hast thou brought him hither?"; and quoth he,
"O Commander of the Faithful, he hath a poor old mother cut off from
the world who hath none but this son and she hath had recourse to thy
slave, imploring him to intercede with thee to strike off his chains,
for he repenteth of his evil courses; and to make him Captain of the
Watch as before." The Caliph asked Ahmad Kamakim, "Doss thou repent of
thy sins?" "I do indeed repent me to Allah, O Commander of the
Faithful," answered he; whereupon the Caliph called for the blacksmith
and made him strike off his irons on the corpse- washer's bench.[FN#92]
Moreover, he restored him to his former office and charged him to walk
in the ways of godliness and righteousness. So he kissed the Caliph's
hands and, being invested with the uniform of Captain of the Watch, he
went forth, whilst they made proclamation of his appointment. Now for a
long time he abode in the exercise of his office, till one day his
mother went in to the Governor's wife, who said to her, "Praised be
Allah who hath delivered thy son from prison and restored him to health
and safety! But why dost thou not bid him contrive some trick to get
the girl Jessamine for my son Hahzalam Bazazah?" "That will I,"
answered she and, going out from her, repaired to her son. She found
him drunk with wine and said to him, "O my son, no one caused thy
release from jail but the wife of the Governor, and she would have thee
find some means to slay Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat and get his slave-girl
Jessamine for her son Habzalam Bazazah." He answered, "That will be the
easiest of things; and I must needs set about it this very night." Now
this was the first night of the new month, and it was the custom of the
Caliph to spend that night with the Lady Zubaydah, for the setting free
of a slave-girl or a Mameluke or something of the sort. Moreover, on
such occasions he used to doff his royal-habit, together with his
rosary and dagger-sword and royal-signet, and set them all upon a chair
in the sitting- saloon: and he had also a golden lanthorn, adorned with
three jewels strung on a wire of gold, by which he set great store; and
he would commit all these things to the charge of the eunuchry, whilst
he went into the Lady Zubaydah's apartment. So arch-thief Ahmad Kamakin
waited till midnight, when Canopus shone bright, and all creatures to
sleep were dight whilst the Creator veiled them with the veil of night.
Then he took his drawn sword in his right and his grappling hook in his
left and, repairing to the Caliph's sitting-saloon planted his scaling
ladder and cast his grapnel on to the side of the terrace-roof; then,
raising the trap-door, let himself down into the saloon, where he found
the eunuchs asleep. He drugged them with hemp-fumes;[FN#93] and, taking
the Caliph's dress; dagger, rosary, kerchief, signet-ring and the
lanthorn whereupon were the pearls, returned whence he came and betook
himself to the house of Ala al-Din, who had that night celebrated his
wedding festivities with Jessamine and had gone in unto her and gotten
her with child. So arch-thief Ahmad Kamakim climbed over into his
saloon and, raising one of the marble slabs from the sunken part of the
floor,[FN#94] dug a hole under it and laid the stolen things therein,
all save the lanthorn, which he kept for himself. Then he plastered
down the marble slab as it before was, and returning whence he came,
went back to his own house, saying, "I will now tackle my drink and set
this lanthorn before me and quaff the cup to its light."[FN#95] Now as
soon as it was dawn of day, the Caliph went out into the
sitting-chamber; and, seeing the eunuchs drugged with hemp, aroused
them. Then he put his hand to the chair and found neither dress nor
signet nor rosary nor dagger-sword nor kerchief nor lanthorn; whereat
he was exceeding wroth and donning the dress of anger, which was a
scarlet suit,[FN#96] sat down in the Divan. So the Wazir Ja'afar came
forward and kissing the ground before him, said, "Allah avert all evil
from the Commander of the Faithful!" Answered the Caliph, "O Wazir, the
evil is passing great!" Ja'afar asked, "What has happened?" so he told
him what had occurred; and, behold, the Chief of Police appeared with
Ahmad Kamakim the robber at his stirrup, when he found the Commander of
the Faithful sore enraged. As soon as the Caliph saw him, he said to
him, "O Emir Khбlid, how goes Baghdad?" And he answered, "Safe and
secure." Cried he "Thou liest!" "How so, O Prince of True Believers?"
asked the Emir. So he told him the case and added, "I charge thee to
bring me back all the stolen things." Replied the Emir, "O Commander of
the Faithful, the vinegar worm is of and in the vinegar, and no
stranger can get at this place."[FN#97] But the Caliph said, "Except
thou bring me these things, I will put thee to death." Quoth he, "Ere
thou slay me, slay Ahmad Kamakim, for none should know the robber and
the traitor but the Captain of the Watch." Then came forward Ahmad
Kamakim and said to the Caliph, "Accept my intercession for the Chief
of Police, and I will be responsible to thee for the thief and will
track his trail till I find him; but give me two Kazis and two
Assessors for he who did this thing feareth thee not, nor cloth he fear
the Governor nor any other." Answered the Caliph, "Thou shalt have what
thou wantest; but let search be made first in my palace and then in
those of the Wazir and the Chief of the Sixty." Rejoined Ahmad Kamakim,
"Thou sayest well, O Commander of the Faith ful; belike the man that
did this ill deed be one who hath been reared in the King's household
or in that of one of his officers." Cried the Caliph, "As my head
liveth, whosoever shall have done the deed I will assuredly put him to
death, be it mine own son!" Then Ahmad Kamakim received a written
warrant to enter and perforce search the houses;—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ahmad Kamakim got
what he wanted, and received a written warrant to enter and perforce
search the houses; so he fared forth, taking in his hand a rod[FN#98]
made of bronze and copper, iron and steel, of each three equal-parts.
He first searched the palace of the Caliph, then that of the Wazir
Ja'afar; after which he went the round of the houses of the
Chamberlains and the Viceroys till he came to that of Ala al-Din. Now
when the Chief of the Sixty heard the clamour before his house, he left
his wife Jessamine and went down and, opening the door, found the
Master of Police without in the midst of a tumultuous crowd. So he
said, "What is the matter, O Emir Khбlid?" Thereupon the Chief told him
the case and Ala al-Din said, "Enter my house and search it." The
Governor replied, "Pardon, O my lord; thou art a man in whom trust is
reposed and Allah forfend that the trusty turn traitor!" Quoth Ala
al-Din, "There is no help for it but that my house be searched." So the
Chief of Police entered, attended by the Kazi and his Assessors;
whereupon Ahmad Kamakim went straight to the depressed floor of the
saloon and came to the slab, under which he had buried the stolen goods
and let the rod fall upon it with such violence that the marble broke
in sunder and behold something glittered underneath. Then said he,
"Bismillah; in the name of Allah! Mashallah; whatso Allah willeth! By
the blessing of our coming a hoard hath been hit upon, wait while we go
down into this hiding-place and see what is therein." So the Kazi and
Assessors looked into the hole and finding there the stolen goods, drew
up a statement[FN#99] of how they had discovered them in Ala al-Din's
house, to which they set their seals. Then, they bade seize upon Ala
al-Din and took his turban from his head, and officially registered all
his monies and effects which were in the mansion. Meanwhile, arch-thief
Ahmad Kamakim laid hands on Jessamine, who was with child by Ala
al-Din, and committed her to his mother, saying, "Deliver her to
Khatun, the Governor's lady:" so the old woman took her and carried her
to the wife of the Master of Police. Now as soon as Habzalam Bazazah
saw her, health and heart returned to him and he arose without stay or
delay and joyed with exceeding joy and would have drawn near her; but
she plucks a dagger from her girdle and said, "Keep off from me, or I
will kill thee and kill myself after." Exclaimed his mother, "O
strumpet, let my son have his will of thee!" But Jessamine answered "O
bitch, by what law is it lawful for a woman to marry two men; and how
shall the dog be admitted to the place of the lion?" With this, the
ugly youth's love-longing redoubled and he sickened for yearning and
unfulfilled desire; and refusing food returned to his pillow. Then said
his mother to her, "O harlot, how canst thou make me thus to sorrow for
my son? Needs must I punish thee with torture, and as for Ala al-Din,
he will assuredly be hanged." "And I will die for love of him,"
answered Jessamine. Then the Governor's wife arose and stripped her of
her jewels and silken raiment and, clothing her in petticoat-trousers
of sack-cloth and a shift of hair-cloth, sent her down into the kitchen
and made her a scullery-wench, saying, "The reward for thy constancy
shall be to break up fire-wood and peel onions and set fire under the
cooking-pots." Quoth she, "I am willing to suffer all manner of
hardships and servitude, but I will not suffer the sight of thy son."
However, Allah inclined the hearts of the slave-girls to her and they
used to do her service in the kitchen. Such was the case with
Jessamine; but as regards Ala al-Din they carried him, together with
the stolen goods, to the Divan where the Caliph still sat upon his
throne. And behold, the King looked upon his effects and said, "Where
did ye find them?" They replied, "In the very middle of the house
belonging to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat;" whereat the Caliph was filled
with wrath and took the things, but found not the lanthorn among them
and said, "O Ala al-Din, where is the lanthorn?" He answered "I stole
it not, I know naught of it; I never saw it; I can give no information
about it!" Said the Caliph, "O traitor, how cometh it that I brought
thee near unto me and thou hast cast me out afar, and I trusted in thee
and thou betrayest me?" And he commanded to hang him. So the Chief of
Police took him and went down with him into the city, whilst the crier
preceded them proclaiming aloud and saying, "This is the reward and the
least of the reward he shall receive who doth treason against the
Caliphs of True Belief!" And the folk flocked to the place where the
gallows stood. Thus far concerning him; but as regards Ahmad al-Danaf,
Ala al-Din's adopted father, he was sitting making merry with his
followers in a garden, and carousing and pleasuring when lo! in came
one of the water-carriers of the Divan and, kissing the hand of Ahmad
al-Danaf, said to him, "O Captain Ahmad, O Danaf! thou sittest at thine
ease with water flowing at thy feet,[FN#100] and thou knowest not what
hath happened." Asked Ahmad, "What is it?" and the other answered,
"They have gone down to the gallows with thy son Ala al-Din, adopted by
a covenant before Allah!" Quoth Ahmad, "What is the remedy here, O
Hasan Shuuman, and what sayst thou of this?" He replied, "Assuredly Ala
al-Din is innocent and this blame hath come to him from some one
enemy."[FN#101] Quoth Ahmad, "What counsellest thou?" and Hasan said,
"We must rescue him, Inshallah!" Then he went to the jail and said to
the gaolor, "Give us some one who deserveth death." So he gave him one
that was likest of men to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat; and they covered
his head and carried him to the place of execution between Ahmad
al-Danaf and Ali al-Zaybak of Cairo.[FN#102] Now they had brought Ala
al-Din to the gibbet, to hang him, but Ahmad al-Danaf came forward and
set his foot on that of the hangman, who said, "Give me room to do my
duty." He replied, "O accursed, take this man and hang him in Ala
al-Din's stead; for he is innocent and we will ransom him with this
fellow, even as Abraham ransomed Ishmael with the ram."[FN#103] So the
hangman seized the man and hanged him in lieu of Ala al-Din; whereupon
Ahmad and Ali took Ala al-Din and carried him to Ahmad's quarters and,
when there, Ala al-Din turned to him and said, "O my sire and chief,
Allah requite thee with the best of good!" Quoth he, "O Ala al-Din"—
And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Calamity Ahmad
cried, "O Ala al-Din, what is this deed thou hast done? The mercy of
Allah be on him who said, 'Whoso trusteth thee betray him not, e'en if
thou be a traitor.' Now the Caliph set thee in high place about him and
styled thee 'Trusty' and 'Faithful'; how then couldst thou deal thus
with him and steal his goods?" "By the Most Great Name, O my father and
chief," replied Ala al-Din, "I had no hand in this, nor did I such
deed, nor know I who did it." Quoth Ahmad, "Of a surety none did this
but a manifest enemy and whoso doth aught shall be requited for his
deed; but, O Ala al-Din, thou canst sojourn no longer in Baghdad, for
Kings, O my son, may not pass from one thing to another, and when they
go in quest of a man, ah! longsome is his travail." "Whither shall I
go, O my chief?" asked Ala al-Din; and he answered, "O my son, I will
bring thee to Alexandria, for it is a blessed place; its threshold is
green and its sojourn is agreeable." And Ala al-Din rejoined, "I hear
and I obey, O my chief." So Ahmad said to Hasan Shuuman, "Be mindful
and, when the Caliph asketh for me, say, 'He is gone touring about the
provinces'." Then, taking Ala al-Din, he went forth of Baghdad and
stayed not going till they came to the outlying vineyards and gardens,
where they met two Jews of the Caliph's tax-gatherers, riding on mules.
Quoth Ahmad Al-Danaf to these, "Give me the black-mail."[FN#104] and
quoth they, "Why should we pay thee black mail?" whereto he replied,
"Because I am the watchman of this valley." So they gave him each an
hundred gold pieces, after which he slew them and took their mules, one
of which he mounted, whilst Ala al-Din bestrode the other. Then they
rode on till they came to the city of Ayбs[FN#105] and put up their
beasts for the night at the Khan. And when morning dawned, Ala al-Din
sold his own mule and committed that of Ahmad to the charge of the
door-keeper of the caravanserai, after which they took ship from Ayas
port and sailed to Alexandria. Here they landed and walked up to the
bazar and behold, there was a broker crying a shop and a chamber behind
it for nine hundred and fifty dinars. Upon this Ala al-Din bid a
thousand which the broker accepted, for the premises belonged to the
Treasury; and the seller handed over to him the keys and the buyer
opened the shop and found the inner parlour furnished with carpets and
cushions. Moreover, he found there a store-room full of sails and
masts, cordage and seamen's chests, bags of beads and cowrie[FN#106]-
shells, stirrups, battle-axes, maces, knives, scissors and such
matters, for the last owner of the shop had been a dealer in
second-hand goods.[FN#107]ook his seat in the shop and Ahmad al-Danaf
said to him, "O my son, the shop and the room and that which is therein
are become thine; so tarry thou here and buy and sell; and repine not
at thy lot for Almighty Allah blesseth trade." After this he abode with
him three days and on the fourth he took leave of him, saying, "Abide
here till I go back and bring thee the Caliph's pardon and learn who
hath played thee this trick." Then he shipped for Ayas, where he took
the mule from the inn and, returning to Baghdad met Pestilence Hasan
and his followers, to whom said he, "Hath the Caliph asked after me?";
and he replied, "No, nor hast thou come to his thought." So he resumed
his service about the Caliph's person and set himself to sniff about
for news of Ala al-Din's case, till one day he heard the Caliph say to
the Watir, "See, O Ja'afar, how Ala al-Din dealt with me!" Replied the
Minister, "O Commander of the Faithful, thou hast requited him with
hanging and hath he not met with his reward?" Quoth he, "O Wazir, I
have a mind to go down and see him hanging;" and the Wazir answered,
"Do what thou wilt, O Commander of the Faithful." So the Caliph,
accompanied by Ja'afar, went down to the place of execution and,
raising his eyes, saw the hanged man to be other than Ala al-Din Abu
al-Shamat, surnamed the Trusty, and said, "O Wazir, this is not Ala
al-Din!" "How knowest thou that it is not he?" asked the Minister, and
the Caliph answered, "Ala al-Din was short and this one is tall " Quoth
Ja'afar, "Hanging stretcheth." Quoth the Caliph, "Ala al-Din was fair
and this one's face is black." Said Ja'afar "Knowest thou not, O
Commander of the Faithful, that death is followed by blackness?" Then
the Caliph bade take down the body from the gallows tree and they found
the names of the two Shaykhs, Abu Bakr and Omar, written on its
heels[FN#108] whereupon cried the Caliph, "O Wazir, Ala al Din was a
Sunnite, and this fellow is a Rejecter, a Shi'ah." He answered, "Glory
be to Allah who knoweth the hidden things, while we know not whether
this was Ala al-Din or other than he." Then the Caliph bade bury the
body and they buried it; and Ala al-Din was forgotten as though he
never had been. Such was his case; but as regards Habzalam Bazazah, the
Emir Khбlid's son, he ceased not to languish for love and longing till
he died and they joined him to the dust. And as for the young wife
Jessamine, she accomplished the months of her pregnancy and, being
taken with labour-pains, gave birth to a boy-child like unto the moon.
And when her fellow slave-girls said to her, "What wilt thou name him?"
she answered, "Were his father well he had named him; but now I will
name him Aslбn."[FN#109] She gave him suck for two successive years,
then weaned him, and he crawled and walked. Now it so came to pass that
one day, whilst his mother was busied with the service of the kitchen,
the boy went out and, seeing the stairs, mounted to the
guest-chamber.[FN#110] And the Emir Khбlid who was sitting there took
him upon his lap and glorified his Lord for that which he had created
and fashioned then closely eyeing his face, the Governor saw that he
was the likest of all creatures to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat. Presently,
his mother Jessamine sought for him and finding him not, mounted to the
guest-chamber, where she saw the Emir seated, with the child playing in
his lap, for Allah had inclined his heart to the boy. And when the
child espied his mother, he would have thrown himself upon her; but the
Emir held him tight to his bosom and said to Jessamine, "Come hither, O
damsel." So she came to him, when he said to her, "Whose son is this?";
and she replied, "He is my son and the fruit of my vitals." "And who is
his father?" asked the Emir; and she answered, "His father was Ala
al-Din Abu al-Shamat, but now he is become thy son." Quoth Khбlid, "In
very sooth Ala al-Din was a traitor." Quoth she, "Allah deliver him
from treason! the Heavens forfend and forbid that the 'Trusty' should
be a traitor!" Then said he, "When this boy shall grow up and reach
man's estate and say to thee, 'Who is my father?' say to him, 'Thou art
the son of the Emir Khбlid, Governor and Chief of Police.'" And she
answered, "I hear and I obey." Then he circumcised the boy and reared
him with the goodliest rearing, and engaged for him a professor of law
and religious science, and an expert penman who taught him to read and
write; so he read the Koran twice and learnt it by heart and he grew
up, saying to the Emir, "O my father!" Moreover, the Governor used to
go down with him to the tilting-ground and assemble horsemen and teach
the lad the fashion of fight and fray, and the place to plant
lance-thrust and sabre-stroke; so that by the time he was fourteen
years old, he became a valiant wight and accomplished knight and gained
the rank of Emir. Now it chanced one day that Aslan fell in with Ahmad
Kamakim, the arch-thief, and accompanied him as cup- companion to the
tavern[FN#111] and behold, Ahmad took out the jewelled lanthorn he had
stolen from the Caliph and, setting it before him, pledged the wine cup
to its light, till he became drunken. So Aslan said to him, "O Captain,
give me this lanthorn;" but he replied, "I cannot give it to thee."
Asked Aslan, "Why not?"; and Ahmad answered, "Because lives have been
lost for it." "Whose life?" enquired Aslan; and Ahmad rejoined, "There
came hither a man who was made Chief of the Sixty; he was named Ala
al-Din Abu al-Shamat and he lost his life through this lanthorn." Quoth
Aslan, "And what was that story, and what brought about his death?"
Quoth Ahmad Kamakim, "Thou hadst an elder brother by name Hahzalam
Bazazah, and when he reached the age of sixteen and was ripe for
marriage, thy father would have bought him a slave-girl named
Jessamine." And he went on to tell him the whole story from first to
last of Habzalam Bazazah's illness and what befell Ala al-Din in his
innocence. When Aslan heard this, he said in thought, "Haply this
slave-girl was my mother Jessamine, and my father was none other than
Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat." So the boy went out from him sorrowful, and
met Calamity Ahmad, who at sight of him exclaimed, "Glory be to Him
unto whom none is like!" Asked Hasan the Pestilence, "Whereat dost thou
marvel, O my chief?" and Ahmad the Calamity replied, "At the make of
yonder boy Aslan, for he is the likest of human creatures to Ala al-Din
Abu al-Shamat." Then he called the lad and said to him, "O Aslan what
is thy mother's name?"; to which he replied, "She is called the damsel
Jessamine;" and the other said, "Harkye, Aslan, be of good cheer and
keep thine eyes cool and clear; for thy father was none other than Ala
al-Din Abu al-Shamat: but, O my son, go thou in to thy mother and
question her of thy father." He said, "Hearkening and obedience," and,
going in to his mother put the question; whereupon quoth she, "Thy sire
is the Emir Khбlid!" "Not so," rejoined he, "my father was none other
than Ala al-Din Abu al Shamat." At this the mother wept and said, "Who
acquainted thee with this, O my son?" And he answered "Ahmad al-Danaf,
Captain of the Guard." So she told him the whole story, saying, "O my
son, the True hath prevailed and the False hath failed:[FN#112] know
that Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat was indeed thy sire, but it was none save
the Emir Khбlid who reared thee and adopted thee as his son. And now, O
my child, when thou seest Ahmad al-Danaf the captain, do thou say to
him, 'I conjure thee, by Allah, O my chief, take my blood-revenge on
the murderer of my father Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat!'" So he went out
from his mother,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night,