to the fisherman, “Take whatso thou needest and I will have patience
with thee till better luck betide thee, after the which thou shalt bring
me fish for all thou owest me.” Said the fisherman, “Almighty Allah
reward thee, and requite thee for me with all good!” Then he took the
bread and the coins and went away, glad at heart, and buying what he
could returned to his wife whom he found sitting up, soothing the
children, who were weeping for hunger, and saying to them, “At once your
father will be here with what ye may eat.” So he set the bread before
them and they ate, whilst he told his wife what had befallen him, and
she said, “Allah is bountiful.”[236] On the morrow, he shouldered his
net and went forth of his house, saying, “I beseech thee, O Lord, to
vouchsafe me this day that which shall whiten my face with the
baker!”[237] When he came to the sea-shore, he proceeded to cast his net
and pull it in; but there came up no fish therein; and he ceased not to
toil thus till ended day but he caught nothing. Then he set out
homewards, in great concern, and the way to his house lay past the
baker’s oven; so he said in himself, “How shall I go home? But I will
hasten my pace that the baker may not see me.” When he reached the shop,
he saw a crowd about it and walked the faster, being ashamed to face his
creditor; but the baker raised his eyes to him and cried out to him,
saying, “Ho, fisherman! Come and take thy bread and spending-money.
Meseems thou forgettest.” Quoth Abdullah, “By Allah, I had not
forgotten; but I was ashamed to face thee, because I have caught no fish
this day;” and quoth the baker, “Be not ashamed. Said I not to thee, At
thy leisure,[238] till better luck betide thee?” Then he gave him the
bread and the ten Nusfs and he returned and told his wife, who said,
“Allah is bountiful. Better luck shall yet betide thee and thou shalt
give the baker his due, Inshallah.” He ceased not doing on this wise
forty days, betaking himself daily to the sea, from the rising of the
sun to the going down thereof, and returning home without fish; and
still he took bread and spending-money of the baker, who never once
named the fish to him nor neglected him nor kept him waiting like the
folk,[239] but gave him the bread and the ten half-dirhams without
delay. Whenever the fisherman said to him, “O my brother, reckon with
me,” he would say, “Be off:[240] this is no time for reckoning. Wait
till better luck betide thee, and then I will reckon with thee.” And the
fisherman would bless him and go away thanking him. On the
one-and-fortieth day, he said to his wife, “I have a mind to tear up the
net and be quit of this life.” She asked, “Why wilt thou do this?”; and
he answered, “Meseems there is an end of my getting my daily bread from
the waters. How long shall this last? By Allah, I burn with shame before
the baker and I will go no more to the sea, so I may not pass by his
oven, for I have none other way home; and every time I pass he calleth
me and giveth me the bread and the ten silvers. How much longer shall I
run in debt to him?” The wife replied, “Alhamdolillah—lauded be the
Lord, the Most High, who hath inclined his heart to thee, so that he
giveth thee our daily bread! What dislikest thou in this?”; and the
husband rejoined, “I owe him now a mighty great sum of dirhams, and
there is no doubt but that he will demand his due.” “Hath he vexed thee
with words?” “No, on the contrary, he still refuseth to reckon with me,
saying:—Wait till better luck betide thee.” “If he press thee, say to
him:—Wait till there come the good luck for which we hope, thou and I.”
“And when will the good luck come that we hope for?” “Allah is
bountiful.” “Sooth thou speakest!” So saying he shouldered his net and
went down to the sea-side, praying, “O Lord provide thou me, though but
with one fish, that I may give it to the baker!” And he cast his net
into the sea and pulling it in, found it heavy; so he tugged at it till
he was tired with sore travail. But when he got it ashore, he found in
it a dead donkey swollen and stinking; whereat his senses sickened and
he freed it from the net, saying, “There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Indeed, I can no more! I
say to that wife of mine:—There is no more provision for me in the
waters; let me leave this craft. And she still answereth me:—Allah is
bountiful: good will presently betide thee. Is this dead ass the good
whereof she speaketh?” And he grieved with the sorest grief. Then he
turned to another place, so he might remove from the stench of the dead
donkey, and cast his net there and waited a full hour: then he drew it
in and found it heavy. Thereupon quoth he, “Good; we are hauling up all
the dead donkeys in the sea and ridding it of its rubbish.[241]” However
he gave not over tugging at the net, till blood came from the palms of
his hands, and when he got it ashore, he saw a man[242] in it and took
him for one of the Ifrits of the lord Solomon, whom he was wont to
imprison in cucurbits of brass and cast him into the main, believing
that the vessel had burst for length of years and that the Ifrit had
come forth and fallen into the net; wherefore he fled from him, crying
out and saying, “Mercy, mercy, O Ifrit of Solomon!” But the Adamite
called out to him from within the net and said, “Come hither, O
fisherman, and flee not from me; for I am human like thyself. Release
me, so thou mayst get a recompense for me of Allah.” Whenas he heard
these words, the fisherman took heart and coming up to him, said to him,
“Art thou not an Ifrit of the Jinn?”; and replied the other, “No: I am a
mortal and a believer in Allah and His Apostle.” Asked the fisherman,
“Who threw thee into the sea?”; and the other answered, “I am of the
children of the sea, and was going about therein, when thou castest the
net over me. We are people who obey Allah’s commandments and show
loving-kindness unto the creatures of the Almighty, and but that I fear
and dread to be of the disobedient, I had torn thy net; but I accept
that which the Lord hath decreed unto me; wherefore by setting me free
thou becomest my owner and I thy captive. Wilt thou then set me free for
the love[243] of Almighty Allah and make a covenant with me and become
my comrade? I will come to thee every day in this place, and do thou
come to me and bring me a gift of the fruits of the land. For with you
are grapes and figs and water-melons and peaches and pomegranates and so
forth, and all thou bringest me will be acceptable unto me. Moreover,
with us are coral and pearls and chrysolites and emeralds and rubies and
other gems, and I will fill thee the basket, wherein thou bringest me
the fruit, with precious stones of the jewels of the sea.[244] What
sayst thou to this, O my brother?” Quoth the fisherman, “Be the Opening
Chapter of the Koran between thee and me upon this!” So they recited
together the Fátihah, and the fisherman loosed the Merman from the net
and asked him, “What is thy name?” He replied, “My name is Abdullah of
the sea; and if thou come hither and see me not, call out and say,
“Where art thou, O Abdullah, O Merman?”; and I will be with thee.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
[Illustration]
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-second Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah of the
sea thus enjoined the other, “An thou come hither and see me not, call
out and say, Where art thou, O Abdullah. O Merman? and I will be with
thee forthwith. But thou, what is thy name?” Quoth the fisherman, “My
name also is Abdullah;” and quoth the other, “Thou art Abdullah of the
land and I am Abdullah of the Sea; but tarry here till I go and fetch
thee a present.” And the fisherman repented him of having released him
and said to himself, “How know I that he will come back to me? Indeed,
he beguiled me, so that I loosed him, and now he will laugh at me.[245]
Had I kept him, I might have made a show of him for the diversion of the
city-folk and taken silver from all men and gone with him to the houses
of the great.” And he repented him of having set him free and said,
“Thou hast let thy prey from thy hand away.” But, as he was thus
bemoaning his folly in releasing the prisoner, behold, Abdullah the
merman returned to him, with both hands full of pearls and coral and
smaragds and rubies and other gems, and said to him, “Take these, O my
brother, and excuse me; had I a fish-basket[246] I would have filled it
for thee.” Abdullah the fisherman rejoiced and took the jewels from the
Merman who said to him, “Every day come hither, before sunrise,” and
farewelling him, went down into the sea; whilst the other returned to
the city, rejoicing, and stayed not walking till he came to the baker’s
oven and said to him, “O my brother, good luck is come to us at last; so
do thou reckon with me.” Answered the baker, “There needeth no
reckoning. An thou have aught, give it me: and if thou have naught, take
thy bread and spending-money and begone, against weal betide thee.”
Rejoined the fisherman, “O my friend, indeed weal hath betided me of
Allah’s bounty, and I owe thee much money; but take this.” So saying, he
took for him a handful of the pearls and coral and rubies and other
jewels he had with him (the handful being about half of the whole), and
gave them to the baker, saying, “Give me some ready money to spend this
day, till I sell these jewels.” So the baker gave him all the money he
had in hand and all the bread in his basket and rejoiced in the jewels,
saying, “I am thy slave and thy servant.” Then he set all the bread on
his head and following the fisherman home, gave it to his wife and
children, after which he repaired to the market and brought meat and
greens and all manner fruit. Moreover, he left his oven and abode with
Abdullah all that day, busying himself in his service and fulfilling all
his affairs. Said the fisherman, “O my brother, thou weariest thyself;”
and the baker replied, “This is my duty, for I am become thy servant and
thou hast overwhelmed me with thy boons.” Rejoined the fisherman, “’Tis
thou who wast my benefactor in the days of dearth and distress.” And the
baker passed that night with him enjoying good cheer and became a
faithful friend to him. Then the fisherman told his wife what had
befallen him with the Merman, whereat she rejoiced and said, “Keep thy
secret, lest the government come down upon thee;” but he said, “Though I
keep my secret from all men, yet will I not hide it from the baker.” On
the morrow, he rose betimes and, shouldering a basket which he had
filled in the evening with all manner fruits, repaired before sunrise to
the sea-shore, and setting down the crate on the water-edge called out,
“Where art thou, O Abdullah, O Merman?” He answered, “Here am I, at thy
service;” and came forth to him. The fisherman gave him the fruit and he
took it and plunging into the sea with it, was absent a full hour, after
which time he came up, with the fish-basket full of all kinds of gems
and jewels. The fisherman set it on his head and went away; and, when he
came to the oven, the baker said to him, “O my lord, I have baked thee
forty bunns[247] and have sent them to thy house; and now I will bake
some firsts and as soon as all is done, I will bring it to thy house and
go and fetch thee greens and meat.” Abdullah handed to him three
handsful of jewels out of the fish-basket and going home, set it down
there. Then he took a gem of price of each sort and going to the
jewel-bazar, stopped at the Syndic’s shop and said to him, “Buy these
precious stones of me.” “Show them to me,” said the Shaykh. So he showed
them to him and the jeweller said, “Hast thou aught beside these?”; and
Abdullah replied, “I have a basket-full at home.” The Syndic asked, “And
where is thine house?” and the fisherman answered, “In such a quarter”;
whereupon the Shaykh took the jewels from him and said to his followers,
“Lay hold of him, for he is the thief who stole the jewellery of the
Queen, the wife of our Sultan.” And he bade beat him. So they
bastinadoed him and pinioned him; after which the Syndic and all the
people of the jewel-market arose and set out for the palace, saying, “We
have caught the thief.” Quoth one, “None robbed such an one but this
villain,” and quoth another, “’Twas none but he stole all that was in
such an one’s house;” and some said this and others said that. All this
while he was silent and spake not a word nor returned a reply, till they
brought him before the King, to whom said the Syndic, “O King of the
age, when the Queen’s necklace was stolen, thou sentest to acquaint us
of the theft, requiring of us the discovery of the culprit; wherefore I
strove beyond the rest of the folk and have taken the thief for thee.
Here he standeth before thee, and these be the jewels we have recovered
from him.” Thereupon the King said to the chief eunuch, “Carry these
jewels for the Queen to see, and say to her, Are these thy property thou
hast lost?” So the eunuch took the jewels and went in with them to the
Queen, who seeing their lustre marvelled at them and sent to the King to
say, “I have found my necklace in my own place and these jewels are not
my property; nay, they are finer than those of my necklace. So oppress
not the man;”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the King’s
wife sent to the King to say, “These are not my property; nay, these
gems are finer than those of my necklace. So oppress not this man; but,
if he will sell them, buy them for thy daughter Umm al-Su’úd,[248] that
we may set them in a necklace for her.” When the eunuch returned and
told the King what the Queen said, he damned the Syndic of the
jewellers, him and his company, with the damnation of Ád and
Thamúd,[249] and they said to him, “O King of the age, we knew this man
for a poor fisherman and deemed such things too much for him,[250] so we
supposed that he had stolen them.” Cried the King, “O ye filthy
villains, begrudge ye a True Believer good fortune? Why did ye not make
due enquiry of him? Haply Allah Almighty hath vouchsafed him these
things from a source whereupon he reckoned not. Why did ye make him out
a thief and disgrace him amongst the folk? Begone, and may Allah never
bless you!” So they went out affrighted and the King said to Abdullah,
“O man (Allah bless thee in all He hath bestowed on thee!), no harm
shall befal thee; but tell me truly, whence gottest thou these jewels;
for I am a King yet have I not the like of them.” The fisherman replied,
“O King of the age, I have a fish-basket full of them at home and the
case is thus and thus.” Then he told him of his friendship with the
Merman, adding, “We have made a covenant together that I shall bring him
every day a basket full of fruit and that he shall fill me the basket
with these jewels.” Quoth the King, O man this is thy lucky lot; but
wealth needeth rank,[251] I will defend thee for the present against
men’s domineering; but haply I shall be deposed or die and another rule
in my stead, and he shall slay thee because of his love of the goods of
this world and his covetousness. So I am minded to marry thee to my
daughter and make thee my Wazir and bequeath thee the kingdom after me,
so none may hanker for thy riches when I am gone. Then said he, “Hie
with this man to the Hammam.” So they bore him to the Baths and bathed
his body and robed him in royal raiment, after which they brought him
back to the King, and he made him his Wazir and sent to his house
couriers and the soldiers of his guard and all the wives of the
notables, who clad his wife and children in Kingly costume and mounting
the woman in a horse-litter, with the little child in her lap, walked
before her to the palace, escorted by the troops and couriers and
officers. They also brought her elder children in to the King who made
much of them, taking them in his lap and seating them by his side; for
they were nine children male and the King had no son and heir nor had he
been blessed with any child save this one daughter, Umm al-Su’ud hight.
Meanwhile the Queen entreated Abdullah’s wife with honour and bestowed
favours on her and made her Waziress to her. Then the King bade draw up
the marriage contract between his daughter and Abdullah of the Land[252]
who assigned to her, as her dower, all the gems and precious stones in
his possession, and they opened the gates of festival. The King
commanded by proclamation to decorate the city, in honour of his
daughter’s wedding. Then Abdullah went in unto the Princess and abated
her maidenhead. Next morning the King looked out of the lattice and saw
Abdullah carrying on his head a fish-crate full of fruit. So he called
to him, “What hast thou there, O my son-in-law, and whither wendest
thou?” The fisherman replied, “To my friend Abdullah the Merman;” and
the King said, “O my son-in-law, this is no time to go to thy comrade.”
Quoth Abdullah, “Indeed, I fear to break tryst with him, lest he reckon
me a liar and say:—The things of the world have diverted thee from me;”
and quoth the King, “Thou speakest sooth: go to thy friend and God help
thee!” So he walked through the city on his way to his companion; and,
as he went, he heard the folk who knew him say, “There goeth the King’s
son-in-law to exchange fruit for gems;” whilst those who knew him not
said, “Ho, fellow, how much a pound? Come, sell to me.” And he answered,
saying, “Wait till I come back to thee,” for that he would not hurt the
feelings of any man. Then he fared on till he came to the sea-shore and
foregathered with his friend Abdullah the Merman, to whom he delivered
the fruit, receiving gems in return. He ceased not doing thus till one
day, as he passed by the baker’s oven, he found it closed; and so he did
ten days, during which time the oven remained shut and he saw nothing of
the baker. So he said to himself, “This is a strange thing! Would I wot
whither the baker went!” Then he enquired of his neighbour, saying, “O
my brother, where is thy neighbour the baker and what hath Allah done
with him?”; and the other responded, “O my lord, he is sick and cometh
not forth of his house.” “Where is his house?” asked Abdullah; and the
other answered, “In such a quarter.” So he fared thither and enquired of
him; but, when he knocked at the door, the baker looked out of window
and seeing his friend the fisherman, full basket on head, came down and
opened the door to him. Abdullah entered and throwing himself on the
baker embraced him and wept, saying, “How dost thou, O my friend? Every
day, I pass by thine oven and see it unopened; so I asked thy neighbour,
who told me that thou wast sick; therefore I enquired for thy house,
that I might see thee.” Answered the baker, “Allah requite thee for me
with all good! Nothing aileth me; but it reached me that the King had
taken thee, for that certain of the folk had lied against thee and
accused thee of being a robber, wherefore I feared and shut shop and hid
myself.” “True,” said Abdullah and told him all that had befallen him
with the King and the Shaykh of the jewellers’ bazar, adding “Moreover,
the King hath given me his daughter to wife and made me his Wazir;” and,
after a pause, “So do thou take what is in this fish-basket to thy share
and fear naught.” Then he left him, after having done away from him his
affright, and returned with the empty crate to the King, who said to
him, “O my son-in-law, ’twould seem thou hast not foregathered with thy
friend the Merman to-day.” Replied Abdullah, “I went to him but that
which he gave me I gave to my gossip the baker, to whom I owe kindness.”
“Who may be this baker?” asked the King; and the fisherman answered, “He
is a benevolent man, who did with me thus and thus in the days of my
poverty and never neglected me a single day nor hurt my feelings.” Quoth
the King, “What is his name?”; and quoth the fisherman “His name is
Abdullah the Baker; and my name is Abdullah of the Land and that of my
friend the merman Abdullah of the Sea.” Rejoined the King, “And my name
also is Abdullah; and the servants of Allah[253] are all brethren. So
send and fetch thy friend the baker, that I may make him my Wazir of the
left.”[254] So he sent for the baker who speedily came to the presence,
and the King invested him with the Wazirial uniform and made him Wazir
of the left, making Abdullah of the Land his Wazir of the right.——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-fourth Night,