The Sultan and the Wazir threaded the broadways of the city and
they noted the houses and stood for an hour or so in each and
every greater thoroughfare, till they came to a lane, a
cul-de-sac wherethrough none could pass, and behold, they hit
upon a house containing a company of folk. Now these were
conversing and saying, "By Allah, our Sultan hath not acted
wisely nor hath he any cause to be proud, since he hath made his
daughter's bride-feast a vanity and a vexation and the poor are
excluded therefrom. He had done better to distribute somewhat of
his bounty amongst the paupers and the mesquin, who may not enter
his palace nor can they obtain aught to eat." Hearing this the
Sultan said to the Wazir, "By Allah, needs must we enter this
place;" and the Minister replied, "Do whatso thou willest."
Accordingly the King went up to the door and knocked, when one
came out and asked, "Who is at the door?" The Sultan answered,
"Guests;" and the voice rejoined, "Welcome to the guests;" and
the door was thrown open. Then they went in till they reached the
sitting-room where they found three men of whom one was lame, the
second was broken-backed and the third was split-mouthed.[FN#131]
And all three were sitting together in that place. So he asked
them, "Wherefore sit ye here, ye three, instead of going to the
Palace?" and they answered him, "O Darwaysh, 'tis of the weakness
of our wits!" The King then turned to his Minister and said,
"There is no help but thou must bring these three men into my
presence, as soon as the wedding-fêtes be finished, that I may
enquire into what stablished their imbecility."?And Shahrazad
was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to
say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet
is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!"
Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate
to you on the coming night, an the Sovran suffer me to survive?"
Now when it was the next night and that was
The Three Hundred and Sixty-second Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be
other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short
the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love
and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the
director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting
and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Sultan
said to the Wazir, "Needs must thou bring these three men into my
presence, as soon as the wedding-fêtes be finished, and we will
enquire into what proved their imbecility." Then quoth the King
to them, "Wherefore fare ye not, ye three, and eat of the royal
banquet day by day?" and quoth they, "O Darwaysh, we are crippled
folk who cannot go and come, for this be grievous to us; but, an
the Sultan would assign to us somewhat of victual, and send it
hither, we would willingly eat thereof." He rejoined, "What
knoweth the Sultan that ye sit in this place?" and they retorted,
"Ye be Darwayshes who enter everywhere: so when ye go in to him,
tell him our tale; haply shall Almighty Allah incline his heart
uswards." The King asked them, "Be you three ever sitting
together in this stead?" and they answered, "Yea, verily: we
never leave one another by night or by day." Then the King and
the Minister rose up and having presented them with a few silvers
took leave and departed. Now it was midnight when they reached a
tenement wherein sat three girls with their mother spinning and
eating; and each one appeared fairer than her fellows, and at
times they sang and then they laughed and then they talked. The
Sultan said to the Wazir, "There is no help but we enter to these
damsels;" whereto the Minister replied "What have we to do with
going near them? Let them be as they are!" The Sultan, however,
rejoined, "Needs must we enter," and the Wazir retorted,
"Hearkening and obedience;" and he rapped at the door when one of
the sisterhood cried out, "Who knocketh in this gloom of the
night?" The Minister answered, "We are two Darwayshes, guests and
strangers;" and the girl rejoined, "We are maidens with our
mother and we have no men in our house who can admit you; so fare
ye to the marriage-feast of the Sultan and become ye his guests."
The Minister continued, "We are foreigners and we know not the
way to the Palace and we dread lest the Chief of Police happen
upon us and apprehend us at this time o' night. We desire that
you afford us lodging till daylight when we will go about our
business and you need not expect from us aught save respect and
honourable treatment." Now when the mother heard this, she pitied
them and bade one daughter open the door. So the damsel threw it
open and the Sultan and Wazir entered and salam'd and sat down to
converse together; but the King gazed upon the sisters and
marvelled at their beauty and their loveliness, and said in his
mind, "How cometh it that these maidens dwell by themselves
unmated and they in such case?" So quoth he to them, "How is it
ye lack husbands, you being so beautiful, and that ye have not a
man in the house?" Quoth the youngest, "O Darwaysh, hold thy
tongue[FN#132] nor ask us of aught, for our story is wondrous and
our adventures marvellous. But 'ware thy words and shorten thy
speech; verily hadst thou been the Sultan and thy companion the
Wazir an you heard our history haply ye had taken compassion upon
our case." Thereupon the King turned to the Minister and said,
"Up with us and wend we our ways; but first do thou make sure of
the place and affix thy mark upon the door." Then the twain rose
up and fared forth but the Wazir stood awhile and set a sign upon
the entrance and there left his imprint; after which the twain
returned to the Palace. Presently the youngest sister said to her
mother, "By Allah, I fear lest the Darwayshes have made their
mark upon our door to the end that they may recognise it by day;
for haply the twain may be the King and his Minister." "What
proof hast thou of this?" asked the mother, and the daughter
answered, "Their language and their questioning which were naught
save importunity!" And saying this she went to the door where she
found the sign and mark. Now besides the two houses to the right
and to the left were fifteen doors, so the girl marked them all
with the same mark set by the Wazir.[FN#133] But when Allah had
caused the day to dawn, the King said to the Minister, "Go thou
and look at the sign and make sure of it." The Wazir went as he
was commanded by the Sultan, but he found all the doors marked in
the same way, whereat he marvelled and knew not nor could he
distinguish the door he sought. Presently he returned and
reported the matter of the door-marks to the King who cried, "By
Allah, these girls must have a curious history! But when the
bride-feast is finished we will enquire into the case of the
three men who are weak-witlings and then we will consider that of
the damsels who are not." As soon as the thirtieth feast-day
passed by, he invested with robes of honour all the Lords of his
land and the high Officers of his estate and matters returned to
their customed course. Then he sent to summon the three men who
had professed themselves weak of wits and they were brought into
the presence, each saying of himself, "What can the King require
of us?" When they came before him he bade them be seated and they
sat; then he said to them, "My requirement is that ye relate to
me proofs of the weakness of your minds and the reason of your
maims." Now the first who was questioned was he of the broken
back, and when the enquiry was put to him he said, "Deign to
favour me with an answer O our Lord the Sultan, on a matter which
passed through my mind." He replied, "Speak out and fear not!" So
the other enquired, "How didst thou know us and who told thee of
us and of our weakly wits?" Quoth the King, "'Twas the Darwaysh
who went in to you on such a night;" and quoth the broken-backed
man, "Allah slay all the Darwayshes who be tattlers and
tale-carriers!" Thereupon the Sultan turned to the Wazir and
laughing said, "We will not reproach them for aught: rather let
us make fun of them," adding to the man, "Recite, O Shaykh." So
he fell to telling