When next night was near at an end, Dinarzade awaked and called to
the sultaness, If you please, sister, pray continue the story of
Amine. Scheherazade answered, the lady resumed it thus:
The old woman who was with me, being extremely troubled at this
accident, endeavoured to comfort me; My dear mistress, said she, I
beg your pardon, for I am the cause of this misfortune, having
brought you to this merchant, because he is my countryman; but I
never thought he would be guilty of such a villanous action. But do
not grieve: let us make haste to go home; I will give you a medicine
that shall perfectly cure you in three day’s time, so that the
least mark shall not be seen. The fit had made me so weak that I was
scarce able to walk: but at last I got home, where I had a second
fit, as I went into the chamber. Meanwhile, the old woman applied
her remedy, so that I came to myself, and went to bed.
My husband came to me at night, and seeing my head bound up, asked
me the reason. I told him I had the head-ache, and hoped he would
inquire no further; but he took a candle, and saw my cheek was hurt.
How comes this wound? said he. And though I was not very guilty, yet
I could not think of owning the thing; besides, to make such a
confession to a husband, I thought was somewhat indecent; therefore
I told him, That as I was going to seek for that stuff you gave me
leave to buy, a porter carrying a load of wood came so close by me,
as I went through a narrow street, that one of the sticks gave me a
rub on the cheek; but it is not much hurt. This put my husband in
such a passion, that he vowed he should not go unpunished; for I
will to-morrow give orders to the lieutenant of the police to seize
upon all those brutes of porters, and cause them to be hanged. Being
afraid to occasion the death of so many innocent persons, I told
him, Sir, I should be sorry that so great a piece of injustice
should be committed. Pray do not do it; for I should deem myself
unpardonable if I were the cause of so much mischief. Then tell me
sincerely, said he, how came you by this wound? I answered, That it
came through the inadvertency of a broom-seller upon an ass, who
coming behind me, and looking another way, his ass gave me such a
push that I fell down, and hurt my cheek upon some glass. --Is it
so? said my husband; then to-morrow morning, before sun-rising, the
grand vizier Giafar shall have an account of this insolence, and he
shall cause all the broom-sellers to be put to death. --For the love
of God, sir, said I, let me beg of you to pardon them, for they are
not guilty. --How, madam, said he, what is it I must believe? Speak,
for I am absolutely resolved to know the truth from your own mouth.
--Sir, said I, I was taken with a giddiness in my head, and fell
down, and that is the whole matter.
At these last words, my husband lost all patience. Oh! cried he, I
have given ear to your lies too long; with that, clapping his hands,
in came three slaves: Pull her out of bed, said he, and lay her in
the middle of the floor. The slaves obeyed his orders, one holding
me by the head, and another by the feet: he commanded a third to
fetch him a scimitar; and when he had brought it, Strike, said he;
cut her in two in the middle, and then throw her into the Tigris to
feed the fishes. This is the punishment I give to those to whom I
have given my heart, if they falsify their promise. When he saw that
the slave made no haste to obey his orders, Why do you not strike?
said he. Who is it that holds you? What are you waiting for?
Madam, then said the slave, you are near the last moments of your
life; consider if you have any thing to dispose of before you die. I
begged leave to speak one word, which was granted me. I lifted up my
head, and looking wistfully to my husband, Alas! said I, to what
condition am I reduced! must I then die in the prime of my youth? I
could say no more, for my tears and sighs prevented me. My husband
was not at all moved, but, on the contrary, went on to reproach me;
so that to have made answer would have been in vain. I had recourse
to entreaties and prayers; but he had no regard to them, and
commanded the slaves to proceed to execution. The old woman who had
been his nurse came in just at that moment, fell down upon her
knees, and endeavoured to appease his wrath. My son, said she, since
I have been your nurse, and brought you up, let me beg the favour of
you to grant me her life; consider that he who kills shall be
killed, and that you will stain your reputation, and lose the esteem
of mankind. What will the world say of such a bloody rage? She spoke
these words in such an affecting manner, accompanied with tears,
that she prevailed upon him at last.
Well then, said he to his nurse, for your sake I will spare her
life; but she shall carry some marks along with her to make her
remember the crime. With that, one of the slaves, by his order, gave
me so many blows as hard as he could strike, with a little cane,
upon my sides and breast, that he fetched both skin and flesh away,
so that I lay senseless. After that he caused the same slaves, the
executioners of his fury, to carry me into a house, where the old
woman took care of me. I kept my bed four months; at last I
recovered; the scars you saw yesterday, against my will, have
remained ever since.
As soon as I was able to walk, and go abroad, I resolved to go to
the house which was my own by my first husband, but I could not find
the place. My second husband, in the heat of his wrath, was not
content to have razed it to the ground, but caused all the street
where it stood to be pulled down. I believe such a violent
proceeding was never heard of before; but against whom should I make
my complaint? The author had taken such care that he was not to be
found, neither could I know him again if I saw him; and suppose I
had known him, is it not easily seen that the treatment I met with
proceeded from absolute power? How then dared I make any complaint?
Being desolate, and unprovided of every thing, I had recourse to my
dear sister Zobeide, who gave your majesty just now an account of
her adventures; to her I made known my misfortune; she received me
with her accustomed goodness, and advised me to bear it with
patience. This is the way of the world, said she, which either robs
us of our means, our friends, or our lovers, and oftentimes of all
at once. And at the same time, to confirm what she had said, she
gave me an account of the loss of the young prince, occasioned by
the jealousy of her two sisters; she told me also by what accident
they were transformed into bitches; and in the last place, after a
thousand testimonials of her love towards me, she showed me my
youngest sister, who had likewise taken sanctuary with her after the
death of her mother.
Thus we gave God thanks, who had brought us together again,
resolving to live a single life, and never to separate any more, for
we have enjoyed this peaceable way of living a great many years; and
as it was my business to mind the affairs of the house, I always
took pleasure to go myself, and buy in what we wanted. I happened to
go abroad yesterday, and the things I bought I caused to be brought
home by a porter, who proved to be a sensible and jocose fellow, and
we kept him with us for a little diversion. Three calenders happened
to come to our door as it began to grow dark, and prayed us to give
them shelter till the next morning. We gave them entrance, but upon
certain conditions, which they agreed unto; and after we had made
them sit down at the table by us, they gave us a concert of music
after their fashion, and at the same time we heard knocking at our
gate. These were the three merchants of Moussoul, men of a very good
mien, who begged the same favour which the calenders had obtained
before. We consented to it upon the same conditions, but neither of
them kept their promise; and though we had power as well as justice
on our side to punish them, yet we contented ourselves with
demanding from them the history of their lives, and consequently
confined our revenge to dismissing them after they had done, and
depriving them of the lodging they requested.
The caliph Haroun Alraschid was very well satisfied with these
strange stories, and declared publicly his astonishment at what he
had heard.
But, sir, said Scheherazade, day begins to break; so that I have not
time to acquaint your majesty what the caliph did to put an end to
the enchantment of the two black bitches. Schahriar supposing that
the sultaness would finish the story of the five ladies and the
three calenders the next night, rose up, and suffered her to live
till next morning.