for succour upon our Lord Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!). Such
was her case; but as regards Ali Shar, he ceased not sleeping till next
day, when the Bhang quitted his brain and he opened his eyes and cried
out, "O Zumurrud"; but no one answered him. So he entered the saloon
and found the empty air and the fane afar;[FN#291] whereby he knew that
it was the Nazarene who had played him this trick. And he groaned and
wept and lamented and again shed tears, repeating these couplets,
"O Love thou'rt instant in thy cruellest guise; * Here is my
heart 'twixt fears and miseries:
Pity, O lords, a thrall who, felled on way * Of Love, erst
wealthy now a beggar lies:
What profits archer's art if, when the foe * Draw near, his
bowstring snap ere arrow {lies:
And when griefs multiply on generous man * And urge, what fort
can fend from destinies?
How much and much I warded parting, but * 'When Destiny descends
she blinds our eyes?'"
And when he had ended his verse, he sobbed with loud sobs and repeated
also these couplets,
"Enrobes with honour sands of camp her foot step wandering lone,
* Pines the poor mourner as she wins the stead where wont to
wane
She turns to resting-place of tribe, and yearns thereon to view *
The spring-camp lying desolate with ruins overstrown
She stands and questions of the site, but with the tongue of case
* The mount replies, 'There is no path that leads to union,
none!
'Tis as the lightning flash erewhile bright glittered o'er the
camp * And died in darkling air no more to be for ever
shown.'"
And he repented when repentance availed him naught, and wept and rent
his raiment. Then he hent in hand two stones and went round about the
city, beating his breast with the stones and crying "O Zumurrud!"
whilst the small boys flocked round him, calling out, "A madman! A
madman!" and all who knew him wept for him, saying, "This is such an
one: what evil hath befallen him?" Thus he continued doing all that day
and, when night darkened on him, he lay down in one of the city lanes
and sleet till morning On the morrow, he went round about town with the
stones till eventide, when he returned to his saloon to pass therein
the night. Presently, one of his neighbours saw him, and this worthy
old woman said to him, "O my son, Heaven give thee healing! How long
hast thou been mad?" And he answered her with these two
couplets,[FN#292]
"They said, Thou revest upon the person thou lovest. * And I
replied, The sweets of life are only for the mad.
Drop the subject of my madness, and bring her upon whom I rave *
If she cure my madness do not blame me."
So his old neighbour knew him for a lover who had lost his beloved and
said, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might, save in Allah, the
Glorious, the Great! O my son, I wish thou wouldest acquaint me with
the tale of thine affliction. Peradventure Allah may enable me to help
thee against it, if it so please Him." So he told her all that had
befallen him with Barsum the Nazarene and his brother the wizard who
had named himself Rashid al-Din and, when she understood the whole
case, she said, "O my son, indeed thou hast excuse." And her eyes
railed tears and she repeated these two couplets,
"Enough for lovers in this world their ban and bane: * By Allah,
lover ne'er in fire of Sakar fries:
For, sure, they died of love-desire they never told * Chastely,
and to this truth tradition testifies."[FN#293]
And after she had finished her verse, she said, "O my son, rise at once
and buy me a crate, such as the jewel-pedlars carry; buy also bangles
and seal-rings and bracelets and ear-rings and other gewgaws wherein
women delight and grudge not the cash. Put all the stock into the crate
and bring it to me and I will set it on my head and go round about, in
the guise of a huckstress and make search for her in all the houses,
till I happen on news of her— Inshallah!" So Ali Shar rejoiced in her
words and kissed her hands, then, going out, speedily brought her all
she required; whereupon she rose and donned a patched gown and threw
over her head a honey-yellow veil, and took staff in hand and, with the
basket on her head, began wandering about the passages and the houses.
She ceased not to go from house to house and street to street and
quarter to quarter, till Allah Almighty led her to the house of the
accursed Rashid al-Din the Nazarene where, hearing groans within, she
knocked at the door,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old
woman heard groans within the house, she knocked at the door, whereupon
a slave-girl came down and opening to her, saluted her. Quoth the old
woman, "I have these trifles for sale: is there any one with you who
will buy aught of them?" "Yes," answered the damsel and, carrying her
indoors, made her sit down; whereupon all the slave-girls came round
her and each bought something of her. And as the old woman spoke them
fair and was easy with them as to price, all rejoiced in her, because
of her kind ways and pleasant speech. Meanwhile, she looked narrowly at
the ins and outs of the place to see who it was she had heard groaning,
till her glance fell on Zumurrud, when she knew her and she began to
show her customers yet more kindness. At last she made sure that
Zumurrud was laid prostrate; so she wept and said to the girls, "O my
children, how cometh yonder young lady in this plight?" Then the
slave-girls told her all what had passed, adding, "Indeed this matter
is not of our choice; but our master commanded us to do thus, and he is
now on a journey." She said, "O my children, I have a favour to ask of
you, and it is that you loose this unhappy damsel of her bonds, till
you know of your lord's return, when do ye bind her again as she was;
and you shall earn a reward from the Lord of all creatures." "We hear
and obey," answered they and at once loosing Zumurrud, gave her to eat
and drink. Thereupon quoth the old woman, "Would my leg had been
broken, ere I entered your house!" And she went up to Zumurrud and said
to her, "O my daughter, Heaven keep thee safe; soon shall Allah bring
thee relief." Then she privily told her that she came from her lord,
Ali Shar, and agreed with her to be on the watch for sounds that night,
saying, "Thy lord will come and stand by the pavilion-bench and
whistle[FN#294] to thee; and when thou hearest him, do thou whistle
back to him and let thyself down to him by a rope from the window, and
he will take thee and go away with thee." So Zumurrud thanked the old
woman, who went forth and returned to Ali Shar and told him what she
had done, saying, "Go this night, at midnight, to such a quarter, for
the accursed carle's house is there and its fashion is thus and thus.
Stand under the window of the upper chamber and whistle; whereupon she
will let herself down to thee; then do thou take her and carry her
whither thou wilt." He thanked her for her good offices and with
flowing tears repeated these couplets,
"Now with their says and saids[FN#295] no more vex me the chiding
race; * My heart is weary and I'm worn to bone by their
disgrace:
And tears a truthful legend[FN#296] with a long ascription-chain
* Of my desertion and distress the lineage can trace.
O thou heart-whole and free from dole and dolours I endure, * Cut
short thy long persistency nor question of my case:
A sweet-lipped one and soft of sides and cast in shapeliest mould
* Hath stormed my heart with honied lure and honied words of
grace.
No rest my heart hath known since thou art gone, nor ever close *
These eyes, nor patience aloe scape the hopes I dare to
trace:
Ye have abandoned me to be the pawn of vain desire, * In squalid
state 'twixt enviers and they who blame to face:
As for forgetting you or love 'tis thing I never knew; * Nor in
my thought shall ever pass a living thing but you."
And when he ended his verses, he sighed and shed tears and repeated
also these couplets,
"Divinely were inspired his words who brought me news of you; *
For brought he unto me a gift was music in mine ear:
Take he for gift, if him content, this worn-out threadbare robe,
* My heart, which was in pieces torn when parting from my
fete."
He waited till night darkened and, when came the appointed time, he
went to the quarter she had described to him and saw and recognised the
Christian's house; so he sat down on the bench under the gallery.
Presently drowsiness overcame him and he slept (Glory be to Him who
sleepeth not!?, for it was long since he had tasted sleep, by reason of
the violence of his passion, and he became as one drunken with slumber.
And while he was on this wise,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventeenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that while he lay
asleep, behold, a certain thief, who had come out that night and
prowled about the skirts of the city to steal-somewhat, happened by the
decree of Destiny, on the Nazarene's house. He went round about it, but
found no way of climbing up into it, and presently on his circuit he
came to the bench, where he saw Ali Shar asleep and stole his turband;
and, as he was taking it suddenly Zumurrud looked out and seeing the
thief standing in the darkness, took him for her lord; whereupon she
let herself down to him by the rope with a pair of saddle-bags full of
gold. Now when the robber saw that, he said to himself, "This is a
wondrous thing, and there must needs be some marvellous cause to it."
Then he snatched up the saddle-bags, and threw Zumurrud over his
shoulders and made off with both like the blinding lightening. Quoth
she, "Verily, the old woman told me that thou west weak with illness on
my account; and here thou art, stronger than a horse." He made her no
reply; so she put her hand to his face and felt a beard like the broom
of palm-frond used for the Hammam,[FN#297] as if he were a hog which
had swallowed feathers and they had come out of his gullet; whereat she
took fright and said to him, "What art thou?" "O strumpet," answered
he, "I am the sharper Jawбn[FN#298] the Kurd, of the band of Ahmad
al-Danaf; we are forty sharpers, who will all piss our tallow into thy
womb this night, from dusk to dawn." When she heard his words, she wept
and beat her face, knowing that Fate had gotten the better of her and
that she had no resource but resignation and to put her trust in Allah
Almighty. So she took patience and submitted herself to the ordinance
of the Lord, saying, "There is no god but the God! As often as we
escape from one woe, we fall into a worse." Now the cause of Jawan's
coming thither was this: he had said to Calamity-Ahmad, "O
Sharper-captain,[FN#299] I have been in this city before and know a
cavern without the walls which will hold forty souls; so I will go
before you thither and set my mother therein. Then will I return to the
city and steal-somewhat for the luck of all of you and keep it till you
come; so shall you be my guests and I will show you hospitality this
day." Replied Ahmad al-Danaf, "Do what thou wilt." So Jawan went forth
to the place before them and set his mother in the cave; but, as he
came out he found a trooper lying asleep, with his horse picketed
beside him; so he cut his throat and, taking his clothes and his
charger and his arms, hid them with his mother in the cave, where also
he tethered the horse. Then he betook himself to the city and prowled
about, till he happened on the Christian's house and did with Ali
Shar's turband and Zumurrud and her saddle-bags as we have said. He
ceased not to run, with Zumurrud on his back, till he came to the
cavern, where he gave her in charge of his mother, saying, "Keep thou
watch over her till I return to thee at first dawn of day," and went
his ways.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Eighteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth Kurdish
Jawan to his mother, "Keep thou watch over her till I come back to thee
at first dawn of day," and went his ways. Now Zumurrud said to herself,
"Why am I so heedless about saving my life and wherefore await till
these forty men come?: they will take their turns to board me, till
they make me like a water- logged ship at sea." Then she turned to the
old woman, Jawan's mother, and said to her, "O my aunt, wilt thou not
rise up and come without the cave, that I may louse thee in the
sun?"[FN#300] Replied the old woman, "Ay, by Allah, O my daughter: this
long time have I been out of reach of the bath; for these hogs cease
not to carry me from place to place." So they went without the cavern,
and Zumurrud combed out her head hair and killed the lice on her locks,
till the tickling soothed her and she fell asleep; whereupon Zumurrud
arose and, donning the clothes of the murdered trooper, girt her waist
with his sword and covered her head with his turband, so that she
became as she were a man. Then, mounting the horse after she had taken
the saddle-bags full of gold, she breathed a prayer, "O good Protector,
protect me I adjure thee by the glory of Mohammed (whom Allah bless and
preserve!)," adding these words in thought, "If I return to the city
belike one of the trooper's folk will see me, and no good will befal
me." So she turned her back on the town and rode forth into the wild
and the waste. And she ceased not faring forth with her saddle-bags and
the steed, eating of the growth of the earth and drinking of its
waters, she and her horse, for ten days and, on the eleventh, she came
in sight of a city pleasant and secure from dread, and established in
happy stead. Winter had gone from it with his cold showers, and Prime
had come to it with his roses and orange- blossoms and varied flowers;
and its blooms were brightly blowing; its streams were merrily flowing
and its birds warbled coming and going. And she drew near the dwellings
and would have entered the gate when she saw the troops and Emirs and
Grandees of the place drawn up, whereat she marvelled seeing them in
such unusual-case and said to herself, "The people of the city are all
gathered at its gate: needs must there be a reason for this." Then she
made towards them; but, as she drew near, the soldiery dashed forward
to meet her and, dismounting all, kissed the ground between her hands
and said, "Aid thee Allah, O our lord the Sultan!" Then the notables
and dignitaries ranged themselves before her in double line, whilst the
troops ordered the people in, saying, "Allah aid thee and make thy
coming a blessing to the Moslems, O Sultan of all creatures! Allah
establish thee, O King of the time and union-pearl of the day and the
tide!" Asked Zumurrud, "What aileth you, O people of this city?" And
the Head Chamberlain answered, "Verily, He hath given to thee who is no
niggard in His giving; and He hath been bountiful to thee and hath made
thee Sultan of this city and ruler over the necks of all who are
therein; for know thou it is the custom of the citizens, when their
King deceaseth leaving no son, that the troops should sally forth to
the suburbs and sojourn there three days: and whoever cometh from the
quarter whence thou hast come, him they make King over them. So praised
be Allah who hath sent us of the sons of the Turks a well-favoured man;
for had a lesser than thou presented himself, he had been Sultan." Now
Zumurrud was clever and well-advised in all she did: so she said,
"Think not that I am of the common folk of the Turks! nay, I am of the
sons of the great, a man of condition; but I was wroth with my family,
so I went forth and left them. See these saddle-bags full of gold which
I have brought under me that, by the way, I might give alms thereof to
the poor and the needy." So they called down blessings upon her and
rejoiced in her with exceeding joy and she also joyed in them and said
in herself, "Now that I have attained to this"—And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Nineteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth Zumurrud to
herself, "Now that I have attained to this case, haply Allah will
reunite me with my lord in this place, for He can do whatso He
willeth." Then the troops escorted her to the city and, all
dismounting, walked before her to the palace. Here she alighted and the
Emirs and Grandees, taking her under both armpits,[FN#301] carried her
into the palace and seated her on the throne; after which they all
kissed ground before her. And when duly enthroned she bade them open
the treasuries and gave largesse to all the troops, who offered up
prayers for the continuance of her reign, and all the townsfolk
accepted her rule and all the lieges of the realm. Thus she abode
awhile bidding and forbidding, and all the people came to hold her in
exceeding reverence and heartily to love her, by reason of her
continence and generosity; for taxes she remitted and prisoners she
released and grievances she redressed; but, as often as she bethought
her of her lord, she wept and besought Allah to reunite her and him;
and one night, as she chanced to be thinking of him and calling to mind
the days she had passed with him, her eyes ran over with tears and she
versified in these two couplets,
"My yearning for thee though long is fresh, * And the tears which
chafe these eyelids increase
When I weep, I weep from the burn of love, * For to lover
severance is decease."[FN#302]
And when she had ended her verse, she wiped away her tears and
repairing to the palace, betook herself to the Harim, where she
appointed to the slave-girls and concubines separate lodgings and
assigned them pensions and allowances, giving out that she was minded
to live apart and devote herself to works of piety. So she applied
herself to fasting and praying, till the Emirs said, "Verily this
Sultan is eminently devout;" nor would she suffer any male attendants
about her, save two little eunuchs to serve her. And on this wise she
held the throne a whole year, during which time she heard no news of
her lord, and failed to hit upon his traces, which was exceeding
grievous to her; so, when her distress became excessive, she summoned
her Wazirs and Chamberlains and bid them fetch architects and builders
and make her in front of the palace a horse-course, one parasang long
and the like broad. They hastened to do her bidding, and lay out the
place to her liking; and, when it was completed, she went down into it
and they pitched her there a great pavilion, wherein the chairs of the
Emirs were ranged in due order. Moreover, she bade them spread on the
racing-plain tables with all manners of rich meats and when this was
done she ordered the Grandees to eat. So they ate and she said to them,
"It is my will that, on seeing the new moon of each month, ye do on
this wise and proclaim in the city that no man shall open his shop, but
that all our lieges shall come and eat of the King's banquet, and that
whoso disobeyeth shall be hanged over his own door."[FN#303] So they
did as she bade them, and ceased not so to do till the first new moon
of the second year appeared; when Zumurrud went down into the
horse-course and the crier proclaimed aloud, saying, "Ho, ye lieges and
people one and all, whoso openeth store or shop or house shall straight
way be hanged over his own door; for it behoveth you to come in a body
and eat of the King's banquet." And when the proclamation became known,
they laid the tables and the subjects came in hosts; so she bade them
sit down at the trays and eat their fill of all the dishes. Accordingly
they sat down and she took place on her chair of state, watching them,
whilst each who was at meat said to himself, "Verily the King looketh
at none save me." Then they fell to eating and the Emirs said to them,
"Eat and be not ashamed; for this pleaseth the King." So they ate their
fill and went away, blessing the Sovereign and saying, one to the
other, "Never in our days saw we a Sultan who loved the poor as doth
this Sultan." And they wished him length of life. Upon this Zumurrud
returned to her palace,— And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Twentieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Queen Zumurrud
returned to her palace, rejoicing in her device and saying to herself,
"Inshallah, I shall surely by this means happen on news of my lord Ali
Shar." When the first day of the second month came round, she did as
before and when they had spread the tables she came down from her
palace and took place on her throne and commanded the lieges to sit
down and fall to. Now as she sat on her throne, at the head of the
tables, watching the people take their places company by company and
one by one, behold her eye fell on Barsum, the Nazarene who had bought
the curtain of her lord; and she knew him and said in her mind, "This
is the first of my joy and the winning of my wish." Then Barsum came up
to the table and, sitting down with the rest to eat, espied a dish of
sweet rice, sprinkled with sugar; but it was far from him, so he pushed
up to it through the crowd and, putting out his hand to it, seized it
and set it before himself. His next neighbour said to him, "Why dost
thou not eat of what is before thee? Is not this a disgrace to thee?
How canst thou reach over for a dish which is distant from thee? Art
thou not ashamed?" Quoth Barsum, "I will eat of none save this same."
Rejoined the other, "Eat then, and Allah give thee no good of it!" But
another man, a Hashish-eater, said, "Let him eat of it, that I may eat
with him." Replied his neighbour, "O unluckiest of Hashish- eaters,
this is no meat for thee; it is eating for Emirs. Let it be, that it
may return to those for whom it is meant and they eat it." But Barsum
heeded him not and took a mouthful of the rice and put it in his mouth;
and was about to take a second mouthful when the Queen, who was
watching him, cried out to certain of her guards, saying, "Bring me
yonder man with the dish of Sweet rice before him and let him not eat
the mouthful he hath read but throw it from his hand."[FN#304] So four
of the guards went up to Barsum and haled him along on his face, after
throwing the mouthful of rice from his hand, and set him standing
before Zumurrud, whilst all the people left eating and said to one
another, By Allah, he did wrong in not eating of the food meant for the
likes of him." Quoth one, "For me I was content with this
porridge[FN#305] which is before me." And the Hashish-eater said,
"Praised be Allah who hindered me from eating of the dish of sugared
rice for I expected it to stand before him and was waiting only for him
to have his enjoyment of it, to eat with him, when there befel him what
we see." And the general said, one to other, "Wait till we see what
shall befal him." Now as they brought him before Queen Zumurrud she
cried, "Woe to thee, O blue eyes! What is thy name and why comest thou
to our country?" But the accursed called himself out of his name having
a white turband[FN#306] on, and answered, "O King, my name is Ali; I
work as a weaver and I came hither to trade." Quoth Zumurrud, "Bring me
a table of sand and a pen of brass," and when they brought her what she
sought, she took the sand and the pen, and struck a geomantic figure in
the likeness of a baboon; then, raising her head, she looked hard at
Barsum for an hour or so and said to him, "O dog, how darest thou lie
to Kings? Art thou not a Nazarene, Barsum by name, and comest thou not
hither in quest of somewhat? Speak the truth, or by the glory of the
Godhead, I will strike off thy head!" At this Barsum was confounded and
the Emirs and bystanders said, "Verily, this King understandeth
geomancy: blessed be He who hath gifted him!" Then she cried out upon
the Christian and said, 'Tell me the truth, or I will make an end of
thee!" Barsum replied, "Pardon, O King of the age; thou art right as
regards the table, for the far one[FN#307] is indeed a Nazarene,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Twenty-first Night,