She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wali gave the
Baghdad man some silver, saying, "Help thee back herewith to thine own
country;" and he took the money and set out upon his homewards march.
Now the house the Wali had described was the man's own house in
Baghdad; so the wayfarer returned thither and, digging underneath the
fountain in his garden, discovered a great treasure. And thus Allah
gave him abundant fortune; and a marvellous coincidence occurred. And a
story is also current of
CALIPH AL-MUTAWAKKIL AND HIS CONCUBINE MAHBUBAH.
There were in the palace of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil ala'llah[FN#426]
four thousand concubines, whereof two thousand were Greeks and other
two thousand slave born Arabians[FN#427] and Abyssinians; and 'Obayd
ibn Tбhir[FN#428] had given him two hundred white girls and a like
number of Abyssinian and native girls. Among these slave-borns was a
girl of Bassorah, hight Mahbъbah, the Beloved, who was of surpassing
beauty and loveliness, elegance and voluptuous grace. Moreover, she
played upon the lute and was skilled in singing and making verses and
wrote a beautiful hand; so that Al-Mutawakkil fell passionately in love
with her and could not endure from her a single hour. But when she saw
this affection, she presumed upon his favour to use him arrogantly,
wherefore he waxed exceeding wroth with her and forsook her, forbidding
the people of the palace to speak with her. She abode on this wise some
days, but the Caliph still inclined to her; and he arose one morning
and said to his courtiers, "I dreamt, last night, that I was reconciled
to Mahhubah." They answered, "Would Allah this might be on wake!"; and
as they were talking, behold, in came one of the Caliph's maidservants
and whispered him; so he rose from his throne and entered the
Serraglio; for the whisper had said, "Of a truth we heard singing and
lute-playing in Mahbubah's chamber and we knew not what this meant." So
he went straight to her apartment, where he heard her playing upon the
lute and singing the following verses,
"I wander through the palace, but I sight there not a soul * To
whom I may complain or will 'change a word with me.
It is as though I'd done so grievous rebel-deed * Wherefrom can
no contrition e'er avail to set me free.
Have we no intercessor here to plead with King, who came * In
sleep to me and took me back to grace and amity;
But when the break of day arose and showed itself again, * Then
he departing sent me back to dree my privacy?"
Now when the Caliph heard her voice, he marvelled at the verse and yet
more at the strange coincidence of their dreams and entered the
chamber. As soon as she perceived him, she hastened to rise and throw
herself at his feet, and kissing them, said, "By Allah, O my lord, this
hap is what I dreamt last night; and, when I awoke, I made the couplets
thou hast heard." Replied Al- Mutawakkil, "By Allah, I also dreamt the
like!" Then they embraced and made friends and he abode with her seven
days with their nights. Now Mahbubah had written upon her cheek, in
musk, the Caliph's name, which was Ja'afar: and when he saw this, he
improvised the following,
"One wrote upon her cheek with musk, his name was Ja'afar highs;
* My soul for hers who wrote upon her cheek the name I
sight!
If an her fingers have inscribed one line upon her cheek, * Full
many a line in heart of mine those fingers did indite:
O thou, whom Ja'afar sole of men possesseth for himself, * Allah
fill Ja'afar[FN#429] stream full draught, the wine of thy
delight!"
When Al-Mutawakkil died, his host of women forgot him, all save
Mahhubah,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Al-Mutawakkil died, his host of women forgot him all save Mahbubah who
ceased not to mourn for him, till she deceased and was buried by his
side, the mercy of Allah be on them both! And men also tell the tale of
WARDAN[FN#430] THE BUTCHER; HIS ADVENTURE WITH THE LADY AND THE BEAR.
There lived once in Cairo, in the days of the Caliph Al-Hбkim bi'
Amri'llah, a butcher named Wardбn, who dealt in sheep's flesh; and
there came to him every day a lady and gave him a dinar, whose weight
was nigh two and a half Egyptian dinars, saying, "Give me a lamb." So
he took the money and gave her the lamb, which she delivered to a
porter she had with her; and he put it in his crate and she went away
with him to her own place. Next day she came in the forenoon and this
went on for a long time, the butcher gaining a dinar by her every day,
till at last he began to be curious about her case and said to himself,
"This woman buyeth of me a ducat-worth of meat every morning, paying
ready money, and never misseth a single day. Verily, this is a strange
thing!" So he took an occasion of questioning the porter, in her
absence, and asked him, "Whither goest thou every day with yonder
woman?"; and he answered, "I know not what to make of her for surprise;
inasmuch as every day, after she hath taken the lamb of thee, she
buyeth necessaries of the table, fresh and dried fruits and wax-candles
a dinar's worth, and taketh of a certain person, which is a Nazarene,
two flagons of wine, worth another dinar; and then she leadeth me with
the whole and I go with her to the Wazir's Gardens, where she
blindfoldeth me, so that I cannot see on what part of earth I set my
feet; and, taking me by the hand, she leadeth me I know not whither.
Presently, she sayeth, 'Set down here;' and when I have done so, she
giveth me an empty crate she hath ready and, taking my hand, leadeth me
back to the Wazir's Gardens, the place where she bound my eyes, and
there removeth the bandage and giveth me ten silver bits." "Allah be
her helper!" quoth Wardan; but he redoubled in curiosity about her
case; disquietude increased upon him and he passed the night in
exceeding restlessness. And quoth the butcher, "Next morning she came
to me as of custom and taking the lamb, for which she paid the dinar,
delivered it to the porter and went away. So I gave my shop in charge
to a lad and followed her without her seeing me;"—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Wardan the
butcher continued: "So I gave my shop in charge to a lad and followed
her without her seeing me; nor did I cease to keep her in sight, hiding
behind her, till she left Cairo and came to the Wazir's Gardens. Then I
hid myself whilst she bandaged the porter's eyes and followed her again
from place to place till she came to the mountain[FN#431] and stopped
at a spot where there was a great stone. Here she made the porter set
down his crate, and I waited whilst she conducted him back to the
Wazir's Gardens, after which she returned and, taking out the contents
of the basket, instantly disappeared. Then I went up to that stone and
wrenching it up entered the hole and found behind the stone an open
trap-door of brass and a flight of steps leading downwards. So I
descended, little by little, till I came to a long corridor,
brilliantly lighted and followed it, till I made a closed door, as it
were the door of a saloon. I looked about the wall sides near the
doorway till I discovered a recess, with steps therein; then climbed up
and found a little niche with a bulls-eye giving upon a saloon. Thence
I looked inside and saw the lady cut off the choicest parts of the lamb
and laying them in a saucepan, throw the rest to a great big bear, who
ate it all to the last bite. Now when she had made an end of cooking,
she ate her fill, after which she set on the fruits and confections and
brought out the wine and fell to drinking a cup herself and giving the
bear to drink in a basin of gold. And as soon as she was heated with
wine, she put off her petticoat-trousers and lay down on her back;
whereupon the bear arose and came up to her and stroked her, whilst she
gave him the best of what belongeth to the sons of Adam till he had
made an end, when he sat down and rested. Presently, he sprang upon her
and rogered her again; and when he ended he again sat down to rest, and
he ceased not so doing till he had futtered her ten times and they both
fell to the ground in a fainting-fit and lay without motion. Then quoth
I to myself, 'Now is my opportunity,' and taking a knife I had with me,
that would cut bones before flesh,[FN#432] went down to them and found
them motionless, not a muscle of them moving for their hard swinking
and swiving. So I put my knife to the bear's gullet and pressed upon
it, till I finished him by severing his head from his body, and he gave
a great snort like thunder, whereat the lady started up in alarm; and,
seeing the bear slain and me standing whittle in hand, she shrieked so
loud a shriek that I thought the soul had left her body. Then she
asked, 'O Wardan, is this how thou requites me my favours?' And I
answered, 'O enemy of thine own soul, is there a famine of men[FN#433]
that thou must do this damnable thing?' She made no answer but bent
down over the bear, and looked fondly upon him; then finding his head
divided from his body, said to me, 'O Wardan, which of the two courses
wouldst thou take; either obey me in what I shall say and be the means
of thine own safety'"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the lady, "
'O Wardan, which of the two courses wouldst thou take; either obey me
in what I shall say and be the means of thine own safety and competency
to the end of thy days, or gainsay me and so cause thine own
destruction?'[FN#434] Answered I, 'I choose rather to hearken unto
thee: say what thou wilt.' Quoth she, 'Then slay me, as thou hast slain
this bear, and take thy need of this hoard and wend thy ways.' Quoth I,
'I am better than this bear: so return thou to Allah Almighty and
repent, and I will marry thee, and we will live on this treasure the
rest of our lives.' She rejoined, 'O Wardan, far be it from me! How
shall I live after him? By Allah, an thou slay me not I will assuredly
do away thy life! So leave bandying words with me, or thou art a lost
man: this is all I have to say to thee and peace be with thee!' Then
said I, 'I will kill thee, and thou shalt go to the curse of Allah.' So
saying, I caught her by the hair and cut her throat; and she went to
the curse of Allah and of the angels and of all mankind. And after so
doing I examined the place and found there gold and bezel-stones and
pearls, such as no one king could bring together. So I filled the
porter's crate with as much as I could carry and covered it with the
clothes I had on me. Then I shouldered it and, going up out of the
underground treasure- chamber, fared homewards and ceased not faring
on, till I came to the gate of Cairo, where behold, I fell in with ten
of the bodyguard of Al-Hakim bi' Amri'llah[FN#435] followed by the
Prince himself who said to me, 'Ho, Wardan!' 'At thy service, O King,'
replied I; when he asked, 'Hast thou killed the bear and the lady?' and
I answered, 'Yes.' Quoth he, 'Set down the basket from thy head and
fear naught, for all the treasure thou hast with thee is thine, and
none shall dispute it with thee.' So I set down the crate before him,
and he uncovered it and looked at it; then said to me, 'Tell me their
case, albe I know it, as if I had been present with you.' So I told him
all that had passed and he said, 'Thou hast spoken the truth,' adding,
'O Wardan, come now with me to the treasure.' So I returned with him to
the cavern, where he found the trap-door closed and said to me, 'O
Wardan, lift it; none but thou can open the treasure, for it is
enchanted in thy name and nature.'[FN#436] Said I, 'By Allah, I cannot
open it,' but he said, 'Go up to it, trusting in the blessing of
Allah.' So I called upon the name of Almighty Allah and, advancing to
the trap-door, put my hand to it; whereupon it came up as it had been
of the lightest. Then said the Caliph, 'Go down and bring hither what
is there; for none but one of thy name and semblance and nature hath
gone down thither since the place was made, and the slaying of the bear
and the woman was appointed to be at thy hand. This was chronicled with
me and I was awaiting its fulfilment.'[FN#437] Accordingly (quoth
Wardan) I went down and brought up all the treasure, whereupon the
Caliph sent for beasts of burden and carried it away, after giving me
my crate, with what was therein. So I bore it home and opened me a shop
in the market." And (saith he who telleth the tale) "this market is
still extant and is known as Wardan's Market." And I have heard recount
another story of
THE KING'S DAUGHTER AND THE APE.
There was once a Sultan's daughter, whose heart was taken with love of
a black slave: he abated her maidenhead and she became passionately
addicted to futtering, so that she could not do without it a single
hour and complained of her case to one of her body women, who told her
that no thing poketh and stroketh more abundantly than the
baboon.[FN$438] Now it so chanced one day, that an ape-leader passed
under her lattice, with a great ape; so she unveiled her face and
looking upon the ape, signed to him with her eyes, whereupon he broke
his bonds and chain and climbed up to the Princess, who hid him in a
place with her, and night and day he abode there, eating and drinking
and copulating. Her father heard of this and would have killed her;—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Sultan
heard of this work he would have slain his daughter; but she smoked his
design; and, disguising herself in Mameluke's dress, mounted horse
after loading a mule with gold and bullion, and precious stuffs past
all account; then carrying with her the ape, she fled to Cairo, where
she took up her abode in one of the houses without the city and upon
the verge of the Suez-desert. Now, every day, she used to buy meat of a
young man, a butcher, but she came not to him till after noonday; and
then she was so yellow and disordered in face that he said in his mind,
"There must indeed hang some mystery by this slave." "Accordingly
(quoth the butcher) one day when she came to me as usual, I went out
after her secretly, and ceased not to follow her from place to place,
so as she saw me not, till she came to her lodging on the edge of her
waste and entered; and I looked in upon her through a cranny, and saw
her as soon as she was at home, kindle a fire and cook the meat, of
which she ate enough and served up the rest to a baboon she had by her
and he did the same. Then she put off the slave's habit and donned the
richest of women's apparel; and so I knew that she was a lady. After
this she set on wine and drank and gave the ape to drink; and he
stroked her nigh half a score times without drawing till she swooned
away, when he spread over her a silken coverlet and returned to his
place. Then I went down in the midst of the place and the ape, becoming
aware of me, would have torn me in pieces; but I made haste to pull out
my knife and slit his paunch and his bowels fell out. The noise aroused
the young lady, who awoke terrified and trembling; and, when she saw
the ape in this case, she shrieked such a shriek that her soul well
nigh fled her body. Then she fell down in a fainting-fit and when she
came to herself, she said to me, 'What moved thee to do thus? Now Allah
upon thee, send me after him!' But I spoke her fair for a while and
pledged myself to stand in the ape's stead in the matter of much
poking, till her trouble subsided and I took her to wife. But when I
came to perform my promise I proved a failure and I fell short in this
matter and could not endure such hard labour: so I complained of my
case and mentioned her exorbitant requirements to a certain old woman
who engaged to manage the affair and said to me, 'Needs must thou bring
me a cooking-pot full of virgin vinegar and a pound of the herb
pellitory called wound-wort.'[FN#439] So I brought her what she sought,
and she laid the pellitory in the pot with the vinegar and set it on
the fire, till it was thoroughly boiled. Then she bade me futter the
girl, and I futtered her till she fainted away, when the old woman took
her up (and she unconscious), and set her parts to the mouth of the
cooking-pot. The steam of the pot entered her slit and there fell from
it somewhat which I examined; and behold, it was two small worms, one
black and the other yellow. Quoth the old, woman, ''The black was bred
of the strokings of the negro and the yellow of stroking with the
baboon.' Now when she recovered from her swoon she abode with me, in
all delight and solace of life, and sought not swiving as before, for
Allah had done away from her this appetite; whereat I marvelled"—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young man
continued: "In truth Allah had done away from her this appetite;
whereat I marvelled and acquainted her with the case. Thereupon I lived
with her and she took the old woman to be to her in the stead of her
mother." "And" (said he who told me the tale) "the old woman and the
young man and his wife abode in joy and cheer till there came to them
the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of societies; and glory be
to the Ever-living One, who dieth not and in whose hand is Dominion of
the world visible and invisible!''[FN#440] And another tale they tell
is that of
End of Arabian Nights Volume 4.
Arabian Nights, Volume 4
Footnotes
[FN#1] The name is indifferently derived from the red sand about the
town or the reeds and mud with which it was originally built. It was
founded by the Caliph Omar, when the old Capital-Madбin (Ctesiphon)
opposite was held unwholesome, on the West bank of the Euphrates, four
days' march from Baghdad and has now disappeared. Al-Saffбh, the first
Abbaside, made it his Capital—and it became a famous seat of Moslem
learning; the Kufi school of Arab Grammarians being as renowned as
their opponents, the Basri (of Bassorah). It gave a name to the "Cufic"
characters which are, however, of much older date.
[FN#2] "Ni'amat" = a blessing, and the word is perpetually occurring in
Moslem conversation, "Ni'amatu'llбh" (as pronounced) is also a
favourite P.N. and few Anglo-Indians of the Mutiny date will forget the
scandalous disclosures of Munshi Ni'amatu 'llah, who had been sent to
England by Nana Sahib. Nu'm = prosperity, good fortune, and a P. N.
like the Heb. "Naomi."
[FN#3] i.e. "causing to be prosperous", the name, corrupted by the
Turks to "Tevfik," is given to either sex, e.g. Taufik Pasha of Egypt,
to whose unprosperous rule and miserable career the signification
certainly does not apply.
[FN#4] Lane (ii. 187) alters the two to four years.
[FN#5] i.e. "to Tom, Dick or Harry:" the names like John Doe and
Richard Roe are used indefinitely in Arab. Grammar and Syntax. I have
noted that Amru is written and pronounced Amr: hence Amru, the
Conqueror of Egypt, when told by an astrologer that Jerusalem would be
taken only by a trium literarum homo, with three letters in his name
sent for the Caliph Omar (Omr), to whom the so-called Holy City at once
capitulated. Hence also most probably, the tale of Bhurtpore and the
Lord Alligator (Kumbhir), who however did not change from Cotton to
Combermore for some time after the successful siege.
[FN#6] BinYъsuf al-Sakafi, a statesman and soldier of the seventh and
eighth centuries (A.D.). He was Governor of Al-Hij az and Al-Irak under
the fifth and sixth Ommiades, and I have noticed his vigorous rule of
the Moslems' Holy Land in my Pilgrimage (iii. 194, etc.). He pulled
down the Ka'abah and restored it to the condition in which it now is.
Al-Siyuti (p. 219) accuses him of having suborned a man to murder Ibn
Omar with a poisoned javelin, and of humiliating the Prophet's
companions by "sealing them in the necks and hands," that is he tied a
thong upon the neck of each and sealed the knot with lead. In Irak he
showed himself equally masterful, but an iron hand was required by the
revolutionists of Kufah and Basrah. He behaved like a good Knight in
rescuing the Moslem women who called upon his name when taken prisoners
by Dahir of Debal (Tathб in Sind). Al-Hajjaj was not the kind of man
the Caliph would have chosen for a pander; but the Shi'ahs hates him
and have given him a lasting bad name. In the East men respect manly
measures, not the hysterical, philanthropic pseudo-humanitarianism of
our modern government which is really the cruellest of all. When Ziyбd
bin Abihi was sent by Caliph Mu'awiyah to reform Bassorah, a den of
thieves, he informed the lieges that he intended to rule by the sword
and advised all evil-doers to quit the city. The people were forbidden,
under pain of teeth, to walk the streets after prayers, on the first
night two hundred suffered; on the second five and none afterwards.
Compare this with our civilised rule in Egypt where even bands of
brigands, a phenomenon perfectly new and unknown to this century, have
started up, where crime has doubled in quantity and quality, and where
"Christian rule" has thoroughly scandalised a Moslem land.
[FN#7] The old bawd's portrait is admirably drawn: all we dwellers in
the East have known her well: she is so and so. Her dress and manners
are the same amongst the Hindus (see the hypocritical-female ascetic in
the Katha, p. 287) as amongst the Moslems; men of the world at once
recognise her and the prudent keep out of her way. She is found in the
cities of Southern Europe, ever pious, ever prayerful; and she seems to
do her work not so much for profit as for pure or impure enjoyment. In
the text her task was easy, as she had to do with a pair of innocents.
[FN#8] Koran, xxv. 70. I give Sale's version.
[FN#9] Easterns, I have observed, have no way of saying "Thank you;"
they express it by a blessing or a short prayer. They have a right to
your surplus: daily bread is divided, they say and, eating yours, they
consider it their own. I have discussed this matter in Pilgrimage i.
75-77, in opposition to those who declare that "gratitude" is unknown
to Moslems.
[FN#10] Cufa (Kufah) being a modern place never had a "King,"
but as the Hindu says, " Delhi is far" it is a far cry to Loch
Awe. Here we can hardly understand "Malik" as Governor or
Viceroy: can it be syn. with Zъ-mбl-(moneyed)?
[FN#11] Abd al-Malik has been before mentioned as the "Sweat of a
Stone," etc. He died recommending Al-Hajjaj to his son, Al-Walid, and
one of his sayings is still remembered. "He who desireth to take a
female slave for carnal-enjoyment, let him take a native of Barbary; if
he need one for the sake of children, let him have a Persian; and whoso
desireth one for service, let him take a Greek." Moderns say, "If you
want a brother (in arms) try a Nubian; one to get you wealth an
Abyssinian and if you want an ass (for labour) a Sбwahнli, or Zanzibar
negroid."
[FN#12] Probably suggested by the history of Antiochus and
Stratonice, with an addition of Eastern mystery such as geomancy.
[FN#13] Arab, "Kбrъrah": the "water-doctor" has always been an
institution in the east and he has lately revived in Europe especially
at the German baths and in London.
[FN#14] Lane makes this phrase "O brother of the Persians!" synonymous
with "O Persian!" I think it means more, a Persian being generally
considered "too clever by half."
[FN#15] The verses deal in untranslatable word-plays upon women's
names, Naomi (the blessing) Su'adб or Su'бd (the happy, which Mr.
Redhouse, in Ka'ab's Mantle-poem, happily renders Beatrice); and Juml
(a sum or total) the two latter, moreover, being here fictitious.