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[Illustration: لا لابرار كلّ شي تبر]
“TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE.”
(Puris omnia pura)
—_Arab Proverb._
“Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole.”
—“_Decameron_”—_conclusion_.
“Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum
Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget.”
—_Martial._
“Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,
Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.”
—RABELAIS.
“The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One Stories makes
us regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of these truly
enchanting fictions.”
—CRICHTON’S “_History of Arabia_.”
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_A PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS.
NOW ENTITULED_
_THE BOOK OF THE_
Thousand Nights and a Night
_WITH INTRODUCTION EXPLANATORY NOTES ON THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF
MOSLEM MEN AND A TERMINAL ESSAY UPON THE HISTORY OF THE NIGHTS_
VOLUME IX.
BY
RICHARD F. BURTON
[Illustration]
PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shammar Edition
Limited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is
Number _547_
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
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TO ALEXANDER BAIRD OF URIE.
MY DEAR BAIRD,
I avail myself of a privilege of authorship, not yet utterly
obsolete, to place your name at the head of this volume. Your long
residence in Egypt and your extensive acquaintance with its
“politic,” private and public, make you a thoroughly competent judge
of the merits and demerits of this volume; and encourage me to hope
that in reading it you will take something of the pleasure I have
had in writing it.
RICHARD F. BURTON.
TANGIER, _December 31st, 1885_.
CONTENTS OF THE NINTH VOLUME.
PAGE
ALI NUR AL-DIN AND MIRIAM THE GIRDLE-GIRL (Continued) 1
(_Lane omits, III. 572._)
THE MAN OF UPPER EGYPT AND HIS FRANKISH WIFE 19
(_Lane omits._)
THE RUINED MAN OF BAGHDAD AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL 24
(_Lane, Anecdote of a Man of Baghdad and His Slave-Girl, III. 572_)
KING JALI’AD OF HIND AND HIS WAZIR SHIMAS: FOLLOWED BY THE HISTORY
OF KING WIRD KHAN, SON OF KING JALI’AD, WITH HIS WOMEN AND
WAZIRS 32
_a._ THE MOUSE AND THE CAT 35
_b._ THE FAKIR AND HIS JAR OF BUTTER 40
_c._ THE FISHES AND THE CRAB 43
_d._ THE CROW AND THE SERPENT 46
_e._ THE WILD ASS AND THE JACKAL 48
_f._ THE UNJUST KING AND THE PILGRIM PRINCE 50
_g._ THE CROWS AND THE HAWK 53
_h._ THE SERPENT-CHARMER AND HIS WIFE 56
_i._ THE SPIDER AND THE WIND 59
_j._ THE TWO KINGS 65
_k._ THE BLIND MAN AND THE CRIPPLE 67
_l._ THE FOOLISH FISHERMAN 93
_m._ THE BOY AND THE THIEVES 95
_n._ THE MAN AND HIS WIFE 98
_o._ THE MERCHANT AND THE ROBBERS 100
_p._ THE JACKALS AND THE WOLF 103
_q._ THE SHEPHERD AND THE ROGUE 106
_r._ THE FRANCOLIN AND THE TORTOISES 113
CONCLUSION OF THE HISTORY OF KING WIRD KHAN 115
ABU KIR THE DYER AND ABU SIR THE BARBER 134
(_Lane, III. 580, The Story of Aboo Seer and Aboo Keer._)
ABDULLAH THE FISHERMAN AND ABDULLAH THE MERMAN 165
(_Lane, III. 627. The Story of ’Abd Allah of the Land and ’Abd Allah of
the Sea._)
HARUN AL-RASHID AND ABU HASAN, THE MERCHANT OF OMAN 188
IBRAHIM AND JAMILAH 207
ABU AL-HASAN OF KHORASAN 229
KAMAR AL-ZAMAN AND THE JEWELLER’S WIFE 246
ABDULLAH BIN FAZIL AND HIS BROTHERS 304
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nur al-Din
heard the voice singing these verses he said in himself, “Verily this be
the Lady Miriam chanting without hesitation or doubt or suspicion of one
from without.[1] Would Heaven I knew an my thought be true and if it be
indeed she herself or other self!” And regrets redoubled upon him and he
bemoaned himself and recited these couplets:—
When my blamer saw me beside my love ✿ Whom I met in a site that lay
open wide,
I spake not at meeting a word of reproach ✿ Though oft it comfort sad
heart to chide;
Quoth the blamer, “What means this silence that bars ✿ Thy making answer
that hits his pride?”
And quoth I, “O thou who as fool dost wake, ✿ To misdoubt of lovers and
Love deride;
The sign of lover whose love is true ✿ When he meets his belovèd is mum
to bide.”
When he had made an end of these verses, the Lady Miriam fetched inkcase
and paper and wrote therein:—“After honour due to the Basmalah,[2] may
the peace of Allah be upon thee and His mercy and blessings be! I would
have thee know that thy slave-girl Miriam saluteth thee, who longeth
sore for thee; and this is her message to thee. As soon as this letter
shall fall into thy hands, do thou arise without stay and delay and
apply thyself to that she would have of thee with all diligence and
beware with all wariness of transgressing her commandment and of
sleeping. When the first third of the night is past, (for that hour is
of the most favourable of times) apply thee only to saddling the two
stallions and fare forth with them both to the Sultan’s Gate.[3] If any
ask thee whither thou wend, answer, I am going to exercise the steeds,
and none will hinder thee; for the folk of this city trust to the
locking of the gates.” Then she folded the letter in a silken kerchief
and threw it out of the latticed window to Nur al-Din, who took it and
reading it, knew it for the handwriting of the Lady Miriam and
comprehended all its contents. So he kissed the letter and laid it
between his eyes; then, calling to mind that which had betided him with
her of the sweets of love-liesse, he poured forth his tears whilst he
recited these couplets:—
Came your writ to me in the dead of the night ✿ And desire for you
stirrèd heart and sprite;
And, remembered joys we in union joyed, ✿ Praised the Lord who placed us
in parting plight.
As soon as it was dark Nur al-Din busied himself with making ready the
stallions and patiented till the first watch of the night was past;
when, without a moment delay, Nur al-Din the lover full of teen, saddled
them with saddles of the goodliest, and leading them forth of the
stable, locked the door after him and repaired with them to the
city-gate, where he sat down to await the coming of the Princess.
Meanwhile, Miriam returned forthright to her private apartment, where
she found the one-eyed Wazir seated, elbow-propt upon a cushion stuffed
with ostrich-down; but he was ashamed to put forth his hand to her or to
bespeak her. When she saw him, she appealed to her Lord in heart,
saying, “Allahumma—O my God—bring him not to his will of me nor to me
defilement decree after purity!” Then she went up to him and made a show
of fondness for him and sat down by his side and coaxed him, saying, “O
my lord, what is this aversion thou displayest to me? Is it pride or
coquetry on thy part? But the current byword saith:—An the
salam-salutation be little in demand, the sitters salute those who
stand.[4] So if, O my lord, thou come not to me neither accost me, I
will go to thee and accost thee.” Said he, “To thee belong favour and
kindness, O Queen of the earth in its length and breadth; and what am I
but one of thy slaves and the least of thy servants. Indeed, I was
ashamed to intrude upon thine illustrious presence, O unique pearl, and
my face is on the earth at thy feet.” She rejoined, “Leave this talk and
bring us to eat and drink.” Accordingly he shouted to his eunuchs and
women an order to serve food, and they set before them a tray containing
birds of every kind that walk and fly and in nests increase and
multiply, such as sand-grouse and quails and pigeon-poults and lambs and
fatted geese and fried poultry and other dishes of all sorts and
colours. The Princess put out her hand to the tray and began to eat and
feed the Wazir with her fair finger-tips and kiss him on the mouth. They
ate till they had enough and washed their hands, after which the
handmaidens removed the table of food and set on the service of wine. So
Princess Miriam filled the cup and drank and gave the Wazir to drink and
served him with assiduous service, so that he was like to fly for joy
and his breast broadened and he was of the gladdest. When she saw that
the wine had gotten the better of his senses, she thrust her hand into
her bosom and brought out a pastile of virgin Cretan-Bhang, which she
had provided against such an hour, whereof if an elephant smelt a
dirham’s weight, he would sleep from year to year. She distracted his
attention and crumbled the drug into the cup: then, filling it up,
handed it to the Wazir, who could hardly credit his senses for delight.
So he took it and kissing her hand, drank it off, but hardly had it
settled in his stomach when he fell head foremost to the ground. Then
she rose and filling two great pairs of saddle-bags with what was light
of weight and weighty of worth of jewels and jacinths and precious
stones, together with somewhat of meat and drink, donned harness of war
and armed herself for fight. She also took with her for Nur al-Din what
should rejoice him of rich and royal apparel and splendid arms and
armour, and shouldering the bags (for indeed her strength equalled her
valiancy), hastened forth from the new palace to join her lover. On this
wise fared it with the Lady Miriam; but as regards Nur al-Din,——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Ninetieth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Lady
Miriam left the new palace, she went straightways to meet her lover for
indeed she was as valiant as she was strong; but Nur al-Din the
distracted, the full of teen, sat at the city-gate hending the horses’
halters in hand, till Allah (to whom belong Majesty and Might) sent a
sleep upon him and he slept—glory be to Him who sleepeth not! Now at
that time the Kings of the Islands had spent much treasure in bribing
folk to steal the two steeds or one of them; and in those days there was
a black slave, who had been reared in the islands skilled in
horse-lifting; wherefore the Kings of the Franks seduced him with wealth
galore to steal one of the stallions and promised him, if he could avail
to lift the two, that they would give him a whole island and endue him
with a splendid robe of honour. He had long gone about the city of
France in disguise, but succeeded not in taking the horses, whilst they
were with the King; but, when he gave them in free gift to the Wazir and
the monocular one carried them to his own stable, the blackamoor thief
rejoiced with joy exceeding and made sure of success, saying in himself,
“By the virtue of the Messiah and the Faith which is no liar, I will
certainly steal the twain of them!” Now he had gone out that very night,
intending for the stable, to lift them; but, as he walked along, behold,
he caught sight of Nur al-Din lying asleep, with the halters in his
hands. So he went up to the horses and loosing the halters from their
heads, was about to mount one of them and drive the other before him,
when suddenly up came the Princess Miriam, carrying on her shoulders the
couple of saddle-bags. She mistook the black for Nur al-Din and handed
him one pair of bags, which he laid on one of the stallions: after which
she gave him the other and he set it on the second steed, without word
said to discover that it was not her lover. Then they mounted and rode
out of the gate[5] in silence till presently she asked, “O my lord Nur
al-Din, what aileth thee to be silent?” Whereupon the black turned to
her and cried angrily, “What sayst thou, O damsel?” When she heard the
slave’s barbarous accents, she knew that the speech was not of Nur
al-Din; so raising her eyes she looked at him and saw that he was a
black chattel, snub-nosed and wide-mouthed, with nostrils like ewers;
whereupon the light in her eyes became night and she asked him, “Who art
thou, O Shaykh of the sons of Ham and what among men is thy name?” He
answered, “O daughter of the base, my name is Mas’úd, the lifter of
horses, when folk slumber and sleep.” She made him no reply, but
straightway baring her blade, smote him on the nape and the blade came
out gleaming from his throat-tendons, whereupon he fell earthwards,
weltering in his blood, and Allah hurried his soul to the Fire and
abiding-place dire. Then she took the other horse by the bridle and
retraced her steps in search of Nur al-Din, whom she found lying, asleep
and snoring, in the place where she had appointed him to meet her,
hending the halters in hand, yet knowing not his fingers from his feet.
So she dismounted and gave him a cuff,[6] whereupon he awoke in affright
and said to her, “O my lady, praised be Allah for thy safe coming!” Said
she “Rise and back this steed and hold thy tongue!” So he rose and
mounted one of the stallions, whilst she bestrode the other, and they
went forth the city and rode on awhile in silence. Then said she to him,
“Did I not bid thee beware of sleeping? Verily, he prospereth not who
sleepeth.” He rejoined, “O my lady, I slept not but because of the
cooling of my heart by reason of thy promise. But what hath happened, O
my lady?” So she told him her adventure with the black, first and last,
and he said, “Praised be Allah for safety!” Then they fared on at full
speed, committing their affair to the Subtle, the All-wise and
conversing as they went, till they came to the place where the black lay
prostrate in the dust, as he were an Ifrit, and Miriam said to Nur
al-Din, “Dismount; strip him of his clothes and take his arms.” He
answered, “By Allah, O my lady, I dare not dismount nor approach him.”
And indeed he marvelled at the blackamoor’s stature and praised the
Princess for her deed, wondering the while at her valour and
stout-heartedness. They fared on lustily and ceased not so doing all
that night and halted not till the day broke with its shine and sheen
and the sun shone bright upon plain and height when they came to a wide
riverino lea wherein the gazelles were frisking gracefully. Its surface
was clothed with green and on all sides fruit trees of every kind were
seen: its slopes for flowers like serpents’ bellies showed, and birds
sang on boughs aloud and its rills in manifold runnels flowed. And
indeed it was as saith the poet and saith well and accomplisheth the
hearer’s desire:—
Rosy red Wady hot with summer-glow, ✿ Where twofold tale of common
growth was piled.
In copse we halted wherein bent to us ✿ Branches, as bendeth nurse o’er
weanling-child.
And pure cold water quenching thirst we sipped: ✿ To cup-mate sweeter
than old wine and mild:
From every side it shut out sheen of sun ✿ Screen-like, but wooed the
breeze to cool the wild:
And pebbles, sweet as maidens deckt and dight ✿ And soft as threaded
pearls, the touch beguiled.
And as saith another:—
And when birdies o’er warble its lakelet, it gars ✿ Longing[7] lover to
seek it where morning glows;
For likest to Paradise lie its banks ✿ With shade and fruitage and fount
that flows.
Presently Princess Miriam and Nur al-Din alighted to rest in this
Wady——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Princess
Miriam and Nur al-Din alighted in that valley, they ate of its fruits
and drank of its streams, after turning the stallions loose to pasture:
then they sat talking and recalling their past and all that had befallen
them and complaining one to other of the pangs of parting and of the
hardships suffered for estrangement and love-longing. As they were thus
engaged, behold, there arose in the distance a dust-cloud which spread
till it walled the world, and they heard the neighing of horses and
clank of arms and armour. Now the reason of this was, that after the
Princess had been bestowed in wedlock upon the Wazir who had gone in to
her that night, the King went forth at daybreak, to give the couple good
morrow, taking with him, after the custom of Kings with their daughters,
a gift of silken stuffs and scattering gold and silver among the eunuchs
and tire-women, that they might snatch at and scramble for it. And he
fared on escorted by one of his pages; but when he came to the new
palace, he found the Wazir prostrate on the carpet, knowing not his head
from his heels; so he searched the place right and left for his
daughter, but found her not; whereat he was troubled sore with concern
galore and his wits forlore. Then he bade bring hot water and virgin
vinegar and frankincense[8] and mingling them together, blew the mixture
into the Wazir’s nostrils and shook him, whereupon he cast the Bhang
forth of his stomach, as it were a bit of cheese. He repeated the
process, whereupon the Minister came to himself and the King questioned
him of his case and that of his daughter. He replied, “O mighty King, I
have no knowledge of her save that she poured me out a cup of wine with
her own hand; and from that tide to this I have no recollection of aught
nor know I what is come of her.” When the King heard this, the light in
his eyes became night, and he drew his scymitar and smote the Wazir on
the head, that the steel came out gleaming from between his grinder
teeth. Then, without an instant delay, he called the grooms and syces
and demanded of them the two stallions: but they said, “O King, the two
steeds were lost in the night and together with them our chief, the
Master of Horse; for, when we awoke in the morning, we found all the
doors wide open.” Cried the King, “By the faith of me and by all wherein
my belief is stablished on certainty, none but my daughter hath taken
the steeds, she and the Moslem captive which used to tend the Church and
which took her aforetime! Indeed I knew him right well and none
delivered him from my hand save this one-eyed Wazir; but now he is
requited his deed.” Then the King called his three sons, who were three
doughty champions, each of whom could withstand a thousand horse in the
field of strife and the stead where cut and thrust are rife; and bade
them mount. So they took horse forthwith and the King and the flower of
his knights and nobles and officers mounted with them and followed on
the trail of the fugitives till Miriam saw them, when she mounted her
charger and baldrick’d her blade and took her arms. Then she said to Nur
al-Din, “How is it with thee and how is thy heart for fight and strife
and fray?” Said he, “Verily, my steadfastness in battle-van is as the
steadfastness of the stake in bran.[9]” And he improvised and said:—
O Miriam thy chiding I pray, forego; ✿ Nor drive me to death or
injurious blow:
How e’er can I hope to bear fray and fight ✿ Who quake at the croak of
the corby-crow?
I who shiver for fear when I see the mouse ✿ And for very funk I bepiss
my clo’!
I love no foin but the poke in bed, ✿ When coynte well knoweth my
prickle’s prow;
This is rightful rede, and none other shows ✿ Righteous as this in my
sight, I trow.
Now when Miriam heard his speech and the verse he made, she laughed and
smilingly said, “O my lord Nur al-Din, abide in thy place and I will
keep thee from their ill grace, though they be as the sea-sands in
number. But mount and ride in rear of me, and if we be defeated and put
to flight, beware of falling, for none can overtake thy steed.” So
saying, she turned her lance-head towards foe in plain and gave her
horse the rein, whereupon he darted off under her, like the stormy gale
or like waters that from straitness of pipes out-rail. Now Miriam was
the doughtiest of the folk of her time and the unique pearl of her age
and tide; for her father had taught her, whilst she was yet little, on
steeds to ride and dive deep during the darkness of the night in the
battle tide. When the King saw her charging down upon them, he knew her
but too well and turning to his eldest son, said, “O Bartaut,[10] thou
who art surnamed Ras al-Killaut,[11] this is assuredly thy sister Miriam
who chargeth upon us, and she seeketh to wage war and fight fray with
us. So go thou out to give her battle: and I enjoin thee by the Messiah
and the Faith which is no liar, an thou get the better of her, kill her
not till thou have propounded to her the Nazarene faith. An she return
to her old creed, bring her to me prisoner; but an she refuse, do her
die by the foulest death and make of her the vilest of examples, as well
as the accursed which is with her.” Quoth Bartaut, “Hearkening and
obedience”; and, rushing out forthright to meet his sister, said to her,
“O Miriam, doth not what hath already befallen us on thine account
suffice thee, but thou must leave the faith of thy fathers and
forefathers and follow after the faith of the Vagrants in the lands,
that is to say, the faith of Al-Islam? By the virtue of the Messiah and
the Faith which is no liar, except thou return to the creed of the Kings
thy Forebears and walk therein after the goodliest fashion, I will put
thee to an ill death and make of thee the most shameful of ensamples!”
But Miriam laughed at his speech and replied, “Well-away! Far be it that
the past should present stay or that he who is dead should again see
day! I will make thee drink the sourest of regrets! By Allah, I will not
turn back upon the faith of Mohammed son of Abdullah, who made salvation
general; for his is the True Faith; nor will I leave the right road
though I drain the cup of ruin!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Miriam
exclaimed to her brother, “Well-away! Heaven forfend that I turn back
from the faith of Mohammed Abdullah-son who made salvation general; for
his is the Right Road nor will I leave it although I drain the cup of
ruin.” When the accursed Bartaut heard this, the light in his eyes
became night, the matter was great and grievous to him and between them
there befel a sore fight. The twain swayed to and fro battling
throughout the length and breadth of the valley and manfully enduring
the stress of combat singular, whilst all eyes upon them were fixed in
admiring surprise: after which they wheeled about and foined and feinted
for a long bout and as often as Bartaut opened on his sister Miriam a
gate of war,[12] she closed it to and put it to naught, of the
goodliness of her skill and her art in the use of arms and her cunning
of cavalarice. Nor ceased they so doing till the dust overhung their
heads vault-wise and they were hidden from men’s eyes; and she ceased
not to baffle Bartaut and stop the way upon him, till he was weary and
his courage wavered and his resolution was worsted and his strength
weakened; whereupon she smote him on the nape, that the sword came out
gleaming from his throat tendons and Allah hurried his soul to the Fire
and the abiding-place which is dire. Then Miriam wheeled about in the
battle-plain and the stead where cut and thrust are fain; and championed
it and offered battle, crying out and saying, “Who is for fighting? Who
is for jousting? Let come forth to me to-day no weakling or nidering;
ay, let none come forth to me but the champions who the enemies of The
Faith represent, that I may give them to drink the cup of ignominious
punishment. O worshippers of idols, O miscreants, O rebellious folk,
this day verily shall the faces of the people of the True Faith be
whitened and theirs who deny the Compassionate be blackened!” Now when
the King saw his eldest son slain, he smote his face and rent his dress
and cried out to his second son, saying, “O Bartús, thou who art
surnamed Khara al-Sús,[13] go forth, O my son, in haste and do battle
with thy sister Miriam; avenge me the death of thy brother Bartaut and
bring her to me a prisoner, abject and humiliated!” He answered,
“Hearkening and obedience, O my sire,” and charging down drave at his
sister, who met him in mid-career, and they fought, he and she, a sore
fight, yet sorer than the first. Bartus right soon found himself unable
to cope with her might and would have sought safety in flight, but of
the greatness of her prowess could not avail unto this sleight; for, as
often as he turned to flee, she drave after him and still clave to him
and pressed him hard, till presently she smote him with the sword in his
throat, that it issued gleaming from his nape, and sent him after his
brother. Then she wheeled about in the mid-field and plain where cut and
thrust are dealed, crying out and saying, “Where be the Knights? Where
be the Braves? Where is the one-eyed Wazir, the lameter, of the crooked
faith[14] the worthy believer?” Thereupon the King her father cried out
with heart in bleeding guise and tear-ulcerated eyes, saying, “She hath
slain my second son, by the virtue of the Messiah and the Faith which is
no liar!” And he called aloud to his youngest son, saying, “O Fasyán,
surnamed Salh al-Subyán,[15] go forth, O my son, to do battle with thy
sister and take of her the blood-wreak for thy brothers and fall on her,
come what may; and whether thou gain or thou lose the day[16]; and if
thou conquer her, slay her with foulest slaughter!” So he drave out to
Miriam, who ran at him with the best of her skill and charged him with
the goodliness of her cleverness and her courage and her cunning in
fence and cavalarice, crying to him, “O accursed, O enemy of Allah and
the Moslems, I will assuredly send thee after thy brothers and woeful is
the abiding-place of the Miscreants!” So saying, she unsheathed her
sword and smote him and cut off his head and arms and sent him after his
brothers and Allah hurried his soul to the Fire and the abiding-place
dire. Now when the Knights and the riders who rode with her sire saw his
three sons slain, who were the doughtiest of the folk of their day,
there fell on their hearts terror of the Princess Miriam, awe of her
overpowered them; they bowed their heads earthwards and they made sure
of ruin and confusion, disgrace and destruction. So with the flames of
hate blazing in heart they turned their backs forthright and addressed
themselves to flight. When the King saw his sons slain and on his flying
troops cast sight, there fell on him bewilderment and affright, whilst
his heart also was afire for despight. Then quoth he to himself, “In
very sooth Princess Miriam hath belittled us; and if I venture myself
and go out against her alone, haply she will gar me succumb and slay me
without ruth, even as she slew her brothers, and make of me the foulest
of examples, for she hath no longer any desire for us nor have we of her
return any hope. Wherefore it were the better rede that I guard mine
honour and return to my capital.” So he gave reins to his charger and
rode back to his city. But when he found himself in his palace, fire was
loosed in his heart for rage and chagrin at the death of his three
gallant sons and the defeat of his troops and the disgrace to his
honour; nor did he abide half an hour ere he summoned his Grandees and
Officers of state and complained to them of that his daughter Miriam had
done with him of the slaughter of her brothers and all he suffered
therefrom of passion and chagrin, and sought advice of them. They all
counselled him to write to the Vicar of Allah in His earth, the
Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, and acquaint him with his
circumstance. So he wrote a letter to the Caliph, containing, after the
usual salutations, the following words. “We have a daughter, Miriam the
Girdle-girl hight, who hath been seduced and debauched from us by a
Moslem captive, named Nur al-Din Ali, son of the merchant Taj al-Din of
Cairo, and he hath taken her by night and went forth with her to his own
country; wherefore I beg of the favour of our lord the Commander of the
Faithful that he write to all the lands of the Moslems to seize her and
send her back to us by a trusty messenger.”——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-third Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King of
France wrote to the Caliph and Prince of True Believers, Harun
al-Rashid, a writ humbling himself by asking for his daughter Miriam and
begging of his favour that he write to all the Moslems, enjoining her
seizure and sending back to him by a trusty messenger of the servants of
his Highness the Commander of the Faithful; adding, “And in requital of
your help and aidance in this matter, we will appoint to you half of the
city of Rome the Great, that thou mayst build therein mosques for the
Moslems, and the tribute thereof shall be forwarded to you.” And after
writing this writ, by rede of his Grandees and Lords of the land, he
folded the scroll and calling his Wazir, whom he had appointed in the
stead of the monocular Minister, bade him seal it with the seal of the
kingdom, and the Officers of state also set hands and seals thereto;
after which the King bade the Wazir bear the letter to Baghdad,[17] the
Palace of Peace, and hand it into the Caliph’s own hand, saying, “An
thou bring her back, thou shalt have of me the fiefs of two Emirs and I
will bestow on thee a robe of honour with twofold fringes of gold.” The
Wazir set out with the letter and fared on over hill and dale, till he
came to the city of Baghdad, where he abode three days, till he was
rested from the way, when he sought the Palace of the Commander of the
Faithful and when guided thereto he entered it and craved audience. The
Caliph bade admit him; so he went in and kissing ground before him,
handed to him the letter of the King of France, together with rich gifts
and rare presents beseeming the Commander of the Faithful. When the
Caliph read the writ and apprehended its significance, he commanded his
Wazir to write, without stay or delay, despatches to all the lands of
the Moslems, setting out the name and favour of Princess Miriam and of
Nur al-Din, stating how they had eloped and bidding all who found them
lay hands on them and send them to the Commander of the Faithful, and
warning them on no wise in that matter to use delay or indifference. So
the Wazir wrote the letters and sealing them, despatched them by
couriers to the different Governors, who hastened to obey the Caliph’s
commandment and addressed themselves to make search in all the lands for
persons of such name and favour. On this wise it fared with the
Governors and their subjects; but as regards Nur al-Din and Miriam the
Girdle-girl, they fared on without delay after defeating the King of
France and his force and the Protector protected them, till they came to
the land of Syria and entered Damascus-city. Now the couriers of the
Caliph had foregone them thither by a day and the Emir of Damascus knew
that he was commanded to arrest the twain as soon as found, that he
might send them to the Caliph. Accordingly, when they entered the city,
the secret police[18] accosted them and asked them their names. They
told them the truth and acquainted them with their adventure and all
that had betided them; whereupon they knew them for those of whom they
were in search and seizing them, carried them before the Governor of the
city. He despatched them to the city of Baghdad under escort of his
officers who, when they came thither, craved audience of the Caliph
which he graciously granted; so they came into the presence; and,
kissing ground before him, said, “O Commander of the Faithful, this is
Miriam the Girdle-girl, daughter of the King of France, and this is the
captive Nur al-Din, son of the merchant Taj al-Din of Cairo, who
debauched her from her sire and stealing her from his kingdom and
country fled with her to Damascus, where we found the twain as they
entered the city, and questioned them. They told us the truth of their
case: so we laid hands on them and brought them before thee.” The Caliph
looked at Miriam and saw that she was slender and shapely of form and
stature, the handsomest of the folk of her tide and the unique pearl of
her age and her time; sweet of speech[19] and fluent of tongue, stable
of soul and hearty of heart. Thereupon she kissed the ground between his
hands and wished him permanence of glory and prosperity and surcease of
evil and enmity. He admired the beauty of her figure and the sweetness
of her voice and the readiness of her replies and said to her, “Art thou
Miriam the Girdle-girl, daughter of the King of France?” Answered she,
“Yes, O Prince of True Believers and Priest of those who the Unity of
Allah receive and Defender of the Faith and cousin of the Primate of the
Apostles!” Then the Caliph turned to Nur al-Din Ali and seeing him to be
a shapely youth, as he were the shining full moon on fourteenth night,
said to him, “And thou, art thou Ali Nur al-Din, son of the merchant Taj
al-Din of Cairo?” Said he, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful and stay of
those who for righteousness are care-full!” The Caliph asked, “How
cometh it that thou hast taken this damsel and fled forth with her of
her father’s kingdom?” So Nur al-Din proceeded to relate to the
Commander of the Faithful all his past, first and last; whereat the
Caliph was astonied with extreme astonishment and diverted and
exclaimed, “How manifold are the sufferings that men suffer!”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Ninety-fourth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph
Harun al-Rashid asked Nur al-Din of his adventure and was told of all
that had passed, first and last, he was astonied with extreme
astonishment and exclaimed, “How manifold are the sufferings that men
suffer!” Then he turned to the Princess and said to her, “Know, O
Miriam, that thy father, the King of France, hath written to me anent
thee. What sayst thou?” She replied, “O Vicar of Allah on His earth and
Executor of the precepts of His prophet and commands to man’s
unworth,[20] may He vouchsafe thee eternal prosperity and ward thee from
evil and enmity! Thou art Viceregent of Allah in His earth and I have
entered thy Faith, for that it is the creed which Truth and
Righteousness inspire; and I have left the religion of the Miscreants
who make the Messiah a liar,[21] and I am become a True Believer in
Allah the Bountiful and in the revelation of His compassionate Apostle.
I worship Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) and acknowledge Him to be
the One God and prostrate myself humbly before Him and glorify Him; and
I say before the Caliph:—Verily, I testify that there is no god but
_the_ God and I testify that Mohammed is the Messenger of God, whom He
sent with the Guidance and the True Faith, that He might make it
victorious over every other religion, albeit they who assign partners to
God be averse from it.[22] Is it therefore in thy competence, O
Commander of the Faithful, to comply with the letter of the King of the
heretics and send me back to the land of the schismatics who deny The
Faith and give partners to the All-wise King, who magnify the Cross and
bow down before idols and believe in the divinity of Jesus, for all he
was only a creature? An thou deal with me thus, O Viceregent of Allah, I
will lay hold upon thy skirts on the Day of Muster before the Lord and
make my complaint of thee to thy cousin the Apostle of Allah (whom God
assain and preserve!) on the Day when wealth availeth not neither
children save one come unto Allah wholehearted[23]!” Answered the
Caliph, “O Miriam, Allah forfend that I should do this ever! How can I
send back a Moslemah believer in the one God and in His Apostle to that
which Allah hath forbidden and eke His Messenger hath forbidden?” Quoth
she, “I testify that there is no God but _the_ God and that Mohammed is
the Apostle of God!” Rejoined the Caliph, “O Miriam, Allah bless and
direct thee in the way of righteousness! Since thou art a Moslemah and a
believer in Allah the One, I owe thee a duty of obligation and it is
that I should never transgress against thee nor forsake thee, though be
lavished unto me on thine account the world full of gold and gems. So be
of good cheer and eyes clear of tear; and be thy breast broadened and
thy case naught save easy. Art thou willing that this youth Ali of Cairo
be to thee man and thou to him wife?” Replied Miriam, “O Prince of True
Believers, how should I be other than willing to take him to husband,
seeing that he bought me with his money and hath entreated me with the
utmost kindness and, for crown of his good offices, he hath ventured his
life for my sake many times?” So the Caliph summoned the Kazi and the
witnesses and married her to him assigning her a dowry and causing the
Grandees of his realm be present and the marriage day was a notable.
Then he turned to the Wazir of the French King, who was present, and
said to him, “Hast thou heard her words? How can I her send back to her
father the Infidel, seeing that she is a Moslemah and a believer in the
Unity? Belike he will evil entreat her and deal harshly with her, more
by token that she hath slain his sons, and I shall bear blame for her on
Resurrection-day. And indeed quoth the Almighty ’Allah will by no means
make a way for the Infidels over the True Believers.[24]’ So return to
thy King and say to him:—Turn from this thing and hope not to come at
thy desire thereof.” Now this Wazir was a Zany: so he said to the
Caliph, “O Commander of the Faithful, by the virtue of the Messiah and
the Faith which is no liar, were Miriam forty times a Moslemah and forty
times thereto, I may not depart from thee without that same Miriam! And
if thou send her not back with me of free will, I will hie me to her
sire and cause him despatch thee an host, wherewith I will come upon you
from the landward and the seaward; and the van whereof shall be at your
capital city whilst the rear is yet on the Euphrates[25] and they shall
lay waste thy realms.” When the Caliph heard these words from the
accursed Wazir of the King of France, the light in his face became night
and he was wroth at his speech with exceeding wrath and said to him, “O
damned one, O dog of the Nazarenes, art thou come to such power that
thou durst assail me with the King of the Franks?” Then quoth he to his
guards, “Take this accursed and do him die”; and he repeated this
couplet[26]:—
This be his recompense who will ✿ Oppose and thwart his betters’ will.
Then he commanded to cut off the Wazir’s head and burn his body; but
Princess Miriam cried, “O Commander of the Faithful, soil not thy sword
with the blood of this accursed.” So saying, she bared her brand and
smote him and made his head fly from his corpse, and he went to the
house of ungrace; his abode was Gehenna, and evil is the abiding-place.
The Caliph marvelled at the force of her fore-arm and the strength of
her mind, and they carried the dead Wazir forth of the pavilion and
burnt him. Then the Commander of the Faithful bestowed upon Nur al-Din a
splendid robe of honour and assigned to him and her a lodging in his
palace. Moreover, he appointed them solde and rations, and commanded to
transport to their quarters all they needed of raiment and furniture and
vessels of price. They sojourned awhile in Baghdad in all delight of
life and solace thereof till Nur al-Din longed for his mother and
father. So he submitted the matter to the Caliph and sought his leave to
revisit his native land and visit his kinsfolk, and he granted him the
permission he sought and calling Miriam, commended them each to other.
He also loaded them with costly presents and rarities and bade write
letters to the Emirs and Olema and notables of Cairo the God-guarded,
commending Nur al-Din and his wife and parents to their care and
charging them honour them with the highmost honour. When the news
reached Cairo, the merchant Taj al-Din joyed at the return of his son
and Nur al-Din’s mother likewise rejoiced therein with passing joy. The
Emirs and the notables of the city went forth to meet him, in obedience
to the Caliph’s injunctions, and indeed it was for them a right
note-worthy day, wherein foregathered the lover and the beloved and the
seeker attained the sought. Moreover, all the Emirs made them
bride-feasts, each on his own day, and joyed in them with joy exceeding
and vied in doing them honour, one the other succeeding. When Nur al-Din
foregathered with his mother and father, they were gladdened in each
other with the utmost gladness and care and affliction ceased from them,
whilst his parents joyed no less in the Princess Miriam and honoured her
with the highmost honour. Every day, there came to them presents from
all the Emirs and great merchants, and they were in new delight and
gladness exceeding the gladness of festival. Then they ceased not
abiding in solace and pleasance and good cheer and abounding prosperity,
eating and drinking with mirth and merriment, till there came to them
the Destroyer of delights and Sunderer of societies, Waster of houses
and palace-domes and Peopler of the bellies of the tombs. So they were
removed from worldly stead and became of the number of the dead; and
glory be to the Living One, who dieth not and in whose hand are the keys
of the Seen and the Unseen! And a tale was also told by the Emir Shujá’
al-Din,[27] Prefect of Cairo anent
-----
Footnote 1:
Arab. “Wa lá rajma ghaybin:” lit. = without stone-throwing
(conjecture) of one latent.
Footnote 2:
_i.e._ saying Bismillah, etc. See vol. v. 206.
Footnote 3:
Where he was to await her.
Footnote 4:
As a rule, amongst Moslems the rider salutes the man on foot and the
latter those who sit. The saying in the text suggests the Christian
byword anent Mohammed and the Mountain, which is, I need hardly say,
utterly unknown to Mahommedans.
Footnote 5:
The story-teller does not remember that “the city-folk trust to the
locking of the gates” (dccclxxxix.); and forgets to tell us that the
Princess took the keys from the Wazir whom she had hocussed. In a
carefully corrected Arabic Edition of The Nights, a book much wanted,
the texts which are now in a mutilated state would be supplied with
these details.
Footnote 6:
Which probably would not be the last administered to him by the
Amazonian young person, who after her mate feared to approach the dead
blackamoor must have known him to be cowardly as Cairenes generally
are. Moreover, he had no shame in his poltroonery like the recreant
Fellah-soldiers, in the wretched Sawákin campaign against the noble
Súdáni negroids, who excused their running away by saying, “We are
Egyptians” _i.e._ too good men and Moslems to lose our lives as
becomes you Franks and dog-Christians. Yet under Mohammed Ali the
Great, Fellah-soldiers conquered the “colligated” Arabs (Pilgrimage
iii. 48) of Al-Asír (Ophir) at Bissel and in Wahhabi-land and put the
Turks to flight at the battle of Nazíb, and the late General Jochmus
assured me that he saved his command, the Ottoman cavalry in Syria, by
always manœuvring to refuse a pitched battle. But Mohammed Ali knew
his men. He never failed to shoot a runaway, and all his officers,
even the lieutenants, were Turks or Albanians. Sa’id Pasha was the
first to appoint Fellah-officers and under their command the Egyptian
soldier, one of the best in the East, at once became the worst. We
have at last found the right way to make them fight, by officering
them with Englishmen, but we must not neglect the shooting process
whenever they dare to turn tail.
Footnote 7:
“Al-walhán” (as it should be printed in previous places, instead of
Al-walahán) is certainly not a P.N. in this place.
Footnote 8:
Arab. “Kundur,” Pers. and Arab. manna, mastich, frankincense, the
latter being here meant.
Footnote 9:
So Emma takes the lead and hides her lover under her cloak during
their flight to the place where they intended to lie concealed. In
both cases the women are the men.
Footnote 10:
Or “Bartút,” in which we recognise the German Berthold.
Footnote 11:
_i.e._ Head of Killaut which makes, from the Muhít, “the name of a son
of the sons of the Jinn and the Satans.”
Footnote 12:
_i.e._ attacked her after a new fashion: see vol. i. 136.
Footnote 13:
_i.e._ Weevil’s dung; hence Suez = Suways the little weevil, or
“little Sus” from the Maroccan town: see The Mines of Midian p. 74 for
a note on the name. Near Gibraltar is a fiumara called Guadalajara
_i.e._ Wady al-Khara, of dung. “Bartús” is evidently formed “on the
weight” of “Bartút;” and his metonym is a caricature, a chaff fit for
Fellahs.
Footnote 14:
Arab. “Al-Din al-a’raj,” the perverted or falsified Faith,
Christianity having been made obsolete and abolished by the Mission of
Mohammed, even as Christianity claims to have superseded the Mosaic
and Noachian dispensations. Moslems are perfectly logical in their
deductions, but logic and truth do not always go together.
Footnote 15:
The “Breaker of Wind” (faswah = a fizzle, a silent crepitus) “son of
Children’s dung.”
Footnote 16:
Arab. “Ammá laka au ’alayk” lit. = either to thee (be the gain) or
upon thee (be the loss). This truly Arabic idiom is varied in many
ways.
Footnote 17:
In addition to what was noted in vol. iii. 100 and viii. 51, I may
observe that in the “Masnavi” the “Baghdad of Nulliquity” is opposed
to the Ubiquity of the World. The popular derivation is Bagh (the
idol-god, the slav “Bog”) and dád a gift, he gave (Persian). It is
also called Al-Zaurá = a bow, from the bend of the Tigris where it was
built.
Footnote 18:
Arab. “Jawásís” plur. of Jásús lit. the spies.
Footnote 19:
The Caliph could not “see” her “sweetness of speech”; so we must
understand that he addressed her and found out that she was fluent of
tongue. But this idiomatic use of the word “see” is also found in the
languages of Southern Europe: so Camoens (Lus. i. ii.), “Ouvi * * *
vereis” lit. = “hark, you shall see” which sounds Hibernian.
Footnote 20:
Here “Farz” (Koranic obligation which it is mortal sin to gainsay)
follows whereas it should precede “Sunnat” (sayings and doings of the
Apostle) simply because “Farz” jingles with “Arz” (earth.)
Footnote 21:
Moslems, like modern Agnostics, hold that Jesus of Nazareth would be
greatly scandalized by the claims to Godship advanced for him by his
followers.
Footnote 22:
Koran ix. 33: See also v. 85. In the passage above quoted Mr. Rodwell
makes the second “He” refer to the deity.
Footnote 23:
Koran xxvi. 88, 89. For a very indifferent version (and abridgment) of
this speech, see Saturday Review, July 9, 1881.
Footnote 24:
Koran iv. 140.
Footnote 25:
Arab. “Furát” from the Arab. “Faruta” = being sweet, as applied to
water. Al-Furátáni = the two sweet (rivers), are the Tigris and
Euphrates. The Greeks, who in etymology were satisfied with Greek,
derived the latter from εὐφραινεῖν (to gladden, lætificare, for which
see Pliny and Strabo, although both are correct in explaining
“Tigris”) and Selden remarks hereon, “Talibus nugis nugantur Græculi.”
But not only the “Græculi”; _e.g._ Parkhurst’s good old derivations
from the Heb. “Farah” of fero, fructus, Freya (the Goddess), frayer
(to spawn), friand, fry (of fish), etc., etc.
Footnote 26:
The great Caliph was a poet; and he spoke verses as did all his
contemporaries: his lament over his slave-girl Haylanah (Helen) is
quoted by Al-Suyuti, p. 305.
Footnote 27:
“The Brave of the Faith.”
THE MAN OF UPPER EGYPT AND HIS FRANKISH WIFE.