The caliph sat down by Abon Hassan, while he told him all that had

happened to him, from his waking in the palace to his waking again

in his own house, all as a mere dream, with all the circumstances

which the caliph knew as well as himself, and which renewed his

pleasure. He enlarged afterwards upon the impression that dream of

being caliph and commander of the faithful made upon him, which he

said, threw him into such extravagancies, that his neighbours were

obliged to bind him as a madman, and carry him to a madhouse, where

he was treated in a way that must seem very barbarous. But, said he,

what will surprise you, and what you little think of, is, that it

was altogether your fault that these things fell out; for, if you

remember, I desired you to shut the door after you, which you

neglected, and the devil, finding it open, put this dream into my

head, which, though it was very agreeable, was the cause of the

misfortune I complain of: you, therefore, for your negligence, are

answerable for the horrid and detestable crime I was guilty of in

lifting my hand against my mother, whom I might have killed, and

committed parricide (I blush for shame when I think of it,) only

because she said I was her son, and she would not acknowledge me for

the commander of the faithful, as I thought, and positively insisted

on to her that I was. You are the cause of the offence I have given

my neighbours, when, running in at the cries of my poor mother, they

surprised me bent on knocking her down; which would never have

happened, if you had taken care to shut my chamber door when you

went away, as I desired you. They would not have come into my house

without my leave; and, what troubles me most of all, they would not

have been witness of my folly. I should not have been obliged to

strike them in my own defence, and they would not have bound and

fettered me to carry me and shut me up in the hospital for madmen,

where I assure you every day that I remained confined in that hell,

I received a score of strokes with a bull’s pizzle. Abon Hassan

recounted his complaints with great heat and vehemence to the

caliph, who knew better than he what had passed, and was delighted

to find that he had succeeded so well in his plan to throw him into

the vagaries he still was in. He could not help bursting out a

laughing at the simplicity wherewith he related them.

Abon Hassan, who thought that his story should rather move

compassion, and that every one ought to be as much concerned at it

as himself, very much resented the pretended Moussol merchant’s

laughter: What! said he, do you make a jest of me, and laugh in my

face, or do you believe I laugh at you when I speak seriously? if

you want proof of what I advance, look here yourself and see whether

or no I tell you the truth: with that, stooping down and baring his

shoulders, he showed the caliph the scars and weals the bull’s

pizzle had made.

The caliph could not behold those objects without horror. He pitied

poor Abon Hassan, and was sorry he had carried the jest so far.

Come, rise, dear brother, said he to him very seriously, and

embracing Abon Hassan heartily in his arms; let us go to your house,

and enjoy the happiness of being merry with you to-night; and

to-morrow, if it please God, all things will go well.

Abon Hassan, notwithstanding his resolution and oath never to admit

the same stranger a second time, could not resist the caresses of

the caliph, whom he always took for a merchant of Moussol. I will

consent, said he, if you will swear to shut my door after you, that

the devil may not come in to distract my brain again. The caliph

promised that he would; upon which they both got up, walked towards

the city, and followed by the caliph’s slave, reached Abon

Hassan’s house by the time it was dark.

The caliph, the more to engage Abon Hassan, said to him, Place a

confidence in me; I promise you on my honour I will not break my

word. After this, you need not hesitate to trust in a person like

me, who wishes you all happiness and prosperity, of which you will

see the effects. I desire not that, said Abon Hassan, stopping him

short. I yield to your importunity; but I dispense with your good

wishes, and beg you in God’s name to form none for me. All the

mischief that has hitherto befallen me arose purely from those you

already expressed for me, and from your leaving the door open. Well,

replied the caliph, still laughing at the misguided imagination of

Abon Hassan, since you will have it so, be it so; I promise you I

will form none. You do me pleasure by speaking so, said Abon Hassan;

I desire no more; I shall be more than satisfied provided you keep

your word, and I shall forgive you all the rest.

As soon as Abon Hassan entered the doors, he called for his mother

and for candles, and desired his guest to sit down upon a sofa, and

then placed himself by him. A little time after, supper was brought

up, and they both fell to without ceremony. When they had done, Abon

Hassan’s mother cleared the table, set on a small dessert of

fruit, wine and glasses by her son, and withdrew, and appeared no

more. Abon Hassan first filled his own glass, and then the

caliph’s; and after they had drank some time, and talked of

indifferent matters, the caliph perceiving that his host grew warm

with liquor, began to talk of love, and asked him if he had ever

felt that passion.

Brother, replied Abon Hassan, familiarly, thinking his guest was his

equal, I never looked upon love or marriage but as a slavery, to

which I was always unwilling to submit; and must own to you, that I

never loved any thing but good cheer and good wine; in short, to

divert and entertain myself agreeably with my friends. Yet I do not

tell you that I am so indifferent to marriage or incapable of

attachment, if I could meet with a woman of such beauty and

sweetness of temper as her I saw in my dream on that fatal night I

first received you into my house, and you, to my misfortune, left my

door open, who would pass the whole night with me drinking, singing,

and playing on some instrument, and in agreeable conversation, and

who would study to please and divert me: I believe, on the contrary,

I should change all my indifference into a perfect attachment to

such a person, and, I think, should live very happily with her. But

where is such a woman to be found but in the caliph’s palace, or

in those of the grand vizier or some great lords of the court who

want no money to provide them? I choose therefore to stick close to

my bottle, which is a much cheaper pleasure, and which I can enjoy

as well as they. Saying these words, he filled out his own and the

caliph’s glass, and said, Come, take your glass, and let us pursue

this charming pleasure.

When they had drank off their wine, It is great pity, said the

caliph, that so gallant a man as you, who owns himself not

insensible of love, should lead so solitary a life. I prefer the

easy quiet life I live, replied Abon Hassan, before the company of a

wife, whose beauty might not please me, and who, besides, might

create me a great deal of trouble by her imperfections and

ill-humour. The conversation lasted a long time, and the caliph

seeing Abon Hassan had drank up to the pitch he desired, said, Let

me alone, since you have the same good taste as every other honest

man, I warrant you I will find you one that shall please you. Then

taking Abon Hassan’s glass, and putting a pinch of the same powder

into it again, filled him up a bumper and presenting it to him,

said, Come let us drink beforehand the fair lady’s health, who is

to make you happy. I am sure you will like her.

Abon Hassan took the glass laughing, and shaking his head, said, Be

it so; since you desire it, I cannot be guilty of so great a piece

of incivility, nor disoblige a guest of so much merit in such a

trifling matter. I will drink the lady’s health you promise me,

though I am very well contented as I am, and do not rely on your

promise. But no sooner had Abon Hassan drank off his bumper, than he

was seized with as deep a sleep as before, and the caliph ordered

the same slave to take him and carry him to the palace. The slave

did so, and the caliph, who did not intend to send back Abon Hassan

as before, shut the door after him, as he had promised, and followed

the slave carrying Abon Hassan.

When they arrived at the palace, the caliph ordered Abon Hassan to

be laid on a sofa, in the fourth hall, from whence he was carried

home fast asleep a month before; but first he bid them put him on

the same habit which he acted the caliph in, which was done

forthwith before him. He then sent every body to bed, and charged

all the eunuchs, officers, ladies, and musicians who were in the

hall, when he drank the last glass of wine which had put him to

sleep, to be there by daybreak, and to take care to act their parts

well when he should awake. He then went to bed, charging Mesrour to

awake him before they went into the hall, that he might conceal

himself in the closet as before.

Mesrour, at the hour appointed, awakened the caliph, who immediately

rose and went to the hall where Abon Hassan lay fast asleep, and

when he had placed himself in his closet, Mesrour and the other

officers, ladies and musicians, who waited for him, went in, and

placed themselves about the sofa, so as not to hinder the caliph

from seeing what passed, and noticing all his actions.

Things being thus disposed, and the caliph’s powder having had its

effect, Abon Hassan began to awake without opening his eyes, and

threw off the phlegm, which was received in a gold basin as before.

In that moment the seven bands of musicians joined their charming

voices to the sound of hautboys, fifes, flutes and other

instruments, forming a very agreeable concert. Abon Hassan was in

great surprise to hear that delightful harmony; but when he opened

his eyes, and saw the ladies and officers about him, whom he thought

he knew again, his amazement increased. The hall that he was in,

seemed to be the same he saw in his first dream, and he observed the

same lustres, and the same furniture and ornaments.

The concert ceased, to give the caliph an opportunity of attending

to the countenance of his new guest, and all that he might say in

his surprise. The ladies, Mesrour, and all the officers of the

chamber, waited in profound and respectful silence. Abon Hassan bit

his finger, and cried loud enough for the caliph to hear him, Alas!

I am fallen again into the same dream and illusion that happened to

me a month ago, and must expect again the bull’s pizzle and iron

cage at the madhouse. Almighty God, added he, I commit myself into

the hands of thy divine providence. He was a wicked man that I

entertained at my house last night, who has been the cause of this

illusion, and the hardships I must undergo. The base wretch swore to

shut the door after him, but did not, and the devil came in and has

turned my brain with this wicked dream of being commander of the

faithful, and other phantoms which bewitch my eyes. God confound

thee, Satan, and crush thee under some mountain of stones.

After these last words, Abon Hassan closed his eyes, and remained

sometime thoughtful and very much perplexed; then opening them

again, and looking about him, cried out a second time with less

surprise, and smiling at the various objects before him, Great God!

I commit myself into the hands of thy providence; preserve me from

the temptations of Satan. Then shutting them again, he said, I know

what I will do: I will go to sleep until Satan leaves me, and

returns as he came, were I to wait till noon. They did not give him

time to go to sleep again, as he had promised himself: for Strength

of Hearts, one of the ladies whom he had seen before, approached,

and sitting down on the sofa by him, said to him respectfully,

Commander of the faithful, I intreat your majesty to forgive me for

taking the liberty to tell you not to go to sleep; day appears, and

it is time to rise. Begone, Satan! answered Abon Hassan, raising his

voice: but looking upon the lady, he said, is it me you call the

commander of the faithful? Certainly you take me for somebody else.

It is to your majesty I give that title, replied the lady, to whom

it belongs, as you are sovereign of the Mussulman world, and I am

your most humble slave. Undoubtedly, added she, your majesty means

to divert yourself by pretending to have forgotten yourself, or this

is the effect of some troublesome dream; but if you would but open

your eyes, the mists which may disturb your imagination will soon be

dispelled, and you will find yourself in your own palace, surrounded

by your officers and slaves, who all wait your commands: and that

your majesty may not be surprised to find yourself in this hall, and

not in bed, I beg leave to tell you, that you fell so suddenly

asleep last night, that we were unwilling to wake you, to conduct

you to your chamber, but laid you carefully upon the sofa. In short,

she said to him so many things that appeared probable, that at last

he sat up, opened his eyes, and recollected her and all the ladies

again. They all drew near, and she who spoke first, resuming the

discourse, said, Commander of the faithful, and vicar of the prophet

on earth, be not displeased if I acquaint your majesty once more

that it is time to rise, for day appears.

You are very troublesome and importunate, replied Abon Hassan,

rubbing his eyes: I am not the commander of the faithful, but Abon

Hassan; I know it well, and you shall not persuade me otherwise. We

do not know that Abon Hassan your majesty speaks of, nor desire to

know him, answered the lady; but we know you to be commander of the

believers, and you cannot persuade us to the contrary.

Abon Hasan looking about and finding himself in the same hall,

attributed all he saw and heard to such a dream as he had before,

and very much feared the dreadful consequences. God have mercy on

me! said he, lifting up his hands and eyes, like a man who knew not

where he was; I commit myself into his hands. I cannot doubt, after

what I have seen, but that the devil, who came into my chamber,

possesses me, and fills my imagination full of all these visions.

The caliph, who saw him all the time, and heard these acclamations,

began laughing so heartily, that he had much ado to forbear bursting

into loud laughter.

Abon Hassan laying himself down again, and shutting his eyes, the

same lady again said, Commander of the faithful, since your majesty

does not rise, after we have, according to our duty, informed you it

was day, and the despatch of business requires your presence, we

shall use the liberty you give us in such cases. Then taking him by

one arm, and calling to one of the other ladies to do the same by

the other, they lifted him up, and carried him into the middle of

the hall, where they set him on his breech, and taking all hands,

danced and skipped round him while the music played and rattled in

his ears.

Abon Hassan was in an inexpressible perplexity of mind, and said,

What! am I indeed caliph, and commander of the faithful? And in the

uncertainty he was in, would have said something more, but the music

was so loud, that he could not be heard. At last he made a sign to

String of Pearls and Morning Star, two of the ladies who were

dancing, that he wanted to speak with them; upon which they forbore,

and went to him. Do not lie now, said he, but tell me truly who I am?

Commander of the faithful, replied Morning Star, your majesty means

either to surprise us, by asking this question, as if you did not

know that you are commander of the faithful, and the vicar on earth

of the prophet of God, master of both worlds, that whereon we now

are and that to come after death, or else you must have had some

very extraordinary dream to-night, which has made you forget who you

are; which may very well be, considering that your majesty has slept

longer to-night than ordinary: however, if you will give me leave, I

will refresh your memory with what passed yesterday. Then she told

him how he went to the council, punished the iman, and the four old

men, and sent a present by his grand vizier of a thousand pieces of

gold to the mother of one Abon Hassan; what he did in the inner part

of the palace, and what passed at the three meals which he took in

the three halls, and how in the fourth your majesty did us the

honour to make us sit down by you, to hear our songs, and receive

wine from our hands, until your majesty fell so fast asleep, as

Strength of Hearts has told you. From that time your majesty has

continued, contrary to custom, in a sound sleep until now.

--Strength of Hearts, all your other slaves, and the officers

present, can confirm what I say, and it is now time you should go to

prayers.

Very well, replied Abon Hassan, shaking his head, you would have me

believe all this; but I tell you, you are all fools, or mad, and

that is a great pity, for you are very pretty. Since I saw you I

have been at home, where I used my mother so ill that they sent me

to a mad-house, and kept me there three weeks against my will, and

beat me every day with a bull’s pizzle, and yet you would make me

believe all this to be a dream. Commander of the faithful, answered

Morning Star, you are mistaken; we are all ready to swear by all

that your majesty holds most dear that all you tell is a dream. You

never stirred out of this hall since yesterday, but slept here all

night long.

The confidence with which the lady assured Abon Hassan that all she

said was truth, and that he had never been out of the hall since

that time, made him not know what to believe, but bewildered his

senses. O Heaven! said he to himself, am I Abon Hassan, or the

commander of the faithful? Almighty God, enlighten my understanding,

and inform me of the truth, that I may know what to trust to. Then

he uncovered his shoulders, and shewed the ladies the livid weals of

the blows he had received. Look, said he; judge whether these

strokes could come to me in a dream, or when I was asleep. For my

part, I can affirm, that they were real blows; I feel the smart of

them yet, and that is a testimonial there is no room to doubt of.

Now if I received these strokes in my sleep, it is the most

extraordinary thing in the world, and surpasses my comprehension.

In this uncertainty Abon Hassan called to one of the officers that

stood round him: Come hither, said he, and bite the tip of my ear,

that I may know whether I am asleep or awake. The officer obeyed

him, and bit so hard that he made him cry out horridly; the music

struck up at the same time, and the officers and ladies all began to

sing, dance, and skip about Abon Hassan, and made such a noise, that

he was in perfect enthusiasm, and played a thousand merry tricks. He

tore off his caliph’s habit, threw off his turban, and jumped up

in his shirt and drawers, and taking hold of two of the ladies’

hands, fell a dancing and singing and jumping and cutting capers,

that the caliph could not contain himself, but burst into such

violent laughter at this sudden pleasantry of Abon Hassan, that he

fell backwards, and made a greater noise than all the musicians

together. He was so long before he could check himself, that it had

like to have hurt him. At last he got up, and opened the lattice,

and putting out his head, cried out, Abon Hassan, Abon Hassan, have

you a mind to kill me with laughing?

As soon as the caliph’s voice was heard, every body was silent,

and Abon Hassan, among the rest, who, turning his head to see from

whence the voice came, knew the caliph, and the Moussol merchant,

but was not in the least dashed; on the contrary, he found that he

was awake, and all that had happened to him was matter of fact, and

not a dream. He entered into the caliph’s pleasantry and

intention. Ha! ha! said he, looking at him with good assurance, you

are a merchant of Moussol, and complain that I would kill you; you

have been the occasion of my using my mother so ill, and being sent

to a mad-house. It was you who treated the iman and the four scheiks

in the manner they were used, and not me; I wash my hands of it. It

was you who have been the cause of all my disorders and sufferings:

in short, you are the aggressor, and I the injured person.

Indeed, you are in the right of it, Abon Hassan, answered the

caliph, laughing all the while; but to comfort you, and make you

amends for all your troubles, I call Heaven to witness, I am ready

and willing to make you what reparation you please to ask. After

these words, he came out of the closet into the hall, and ordered

one of his most magnificent habits to be brought, and commanded the

ladies to dress Abon Hassan in it; and when they had done so, he

said, embracing him, Thou art my brother; ask what thou wilt, and

thou shalt have it.

Commander of the faithful, replied Abon Hassan, I beg of your

majesty to do me the favour to tell me what you did to disturb my

brain in this manner, and what was your design; for it is a thing of

the greatest importance for me to know, that I may perfectly recover

my senses.

The caliph was ready to give him that satisfaction, and said, First

you are to know, that I often disguise myself, and particularly at

night, to observe if all goes right in Bagdad; and as I wish to know

what passes in its environs, I set apart the first day of every

month to make a tour about it, sometimes on one side, and sometimes

on another, and always return by the bridge. The evening that you

invited me to supper, I had been taking my rounds, and in our

conversation you told me, that the only thing you wished for was to

be caliph for four-and-twenty hours, to punish the iman of your

mosque and his four counsellors. I fancied that this desire of yours

would afford me a great deal of diversion, and thought immediately

how I might procure you that satisfaction. I had about me a certain

powder, which immediately throws the person who takes it into a

sound sleep for a certain time. I put a dose of it, without being

perceived by you, into the last glass I presented you, upon which

you fell fast asleep, and I ordered my slave to carry you to my

palace, and came away without shutting the door. I have no occasion

to repeat what happened at my palace when you awaked, and during the

whole day till evening; but after you had been regaled by my orders,

one of the slaves who waited on you put another dose of the same

powder at night into a glass she gave you; you fell asleep as

before, and the same slave carried you home, and left the door open.

You have told me all that happened to you afterwards. I never

imagined that you could have suffered so much as you have done. But

as I have a great regard for you, I will do every thing to comfort

you, and make you forget all your sufferings; think of what I can do

to please you, and ask me boldly what you wish.

Commander of the faithful, replied Abon Hassan, how great soever my

tortures may have been, they are all blotted out of my remembrance,

as soon as I understand my sovereign lord and master had any share

in them. I doubt not in the least of your majesty’s bounty; but as

interest never governed me, and you give me liberty to ask a favour,

I beg that it may be that of having access to your person, to have

the happiness of admiring, all my lifetime, your grandeur.

This last proof of disinterestedness in Abon Hassan completed the

esteem the caliph had entertained for him. I am pleased with your

request, said the caliph, and grant you free access to my person at

all times and all hours. At the same time, he assigned him an

apartment in the palace, and, in regard to his pension, told him

that he would not have him apply to his treasurer, but come always

to him for an order upon him; and immediately ordered his private

treasurer to give him a purse containing a thousand pieces of gold.

Abon Hassan made a low bow; and the caliph left him to go to council.

Abon Hassan took this opportunity to go and inform his mother of his

good fortune, and what had happened, which he told her was not a

dream; for that he had actually been caliph, and had acted as such,

and received all the honours, and that she had no reason to doubt

it, since he had it confirmed by the caliph himself.

It was not long before this story of Abon Hassan was spread over

Bagdad, and carried into all the provinces both far and near,

without the omission of a single circumstance.

The new favourite, Abon Hassan, was always with the caliph; for, as

he was a man of a pleasant temper, and created mirth wherever he

went by his wit and pleasantry, the caliph could not live without

him. He formed no party of diversion without him, and sometimes

carried him along with him to see his consort Zobiede, to whom he

had told his story, which so highly pleased him, as it did Zobiede;

who observed that every time he came with the caliph, he had his

eyes always fixed upon one of her slaves, called Nouzhatoul-aouadat,

(which is to say, _renewed pleasure_,) and resolved to tell the

caliph of it. Commander of the faithful, said that princess one day,

you do not observe so well as I, that every time Abon Hassan attends

you in your visits to me, he never keeps his eyes off

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, and makes her blush, which is almost a certain

sign that she entertains no aversion for him. If you approve of it,

we will make a match between them.

Madam, replied the caliph, you put me in mind of a thing which I

ought to have done before now. I know Abon Hassan’s opinion

respecting marriage from himself, and have always promised him a

wife that should please him. I am glad you mentioned it; for I know

not now I came to forget it. But it is better that Abon Hassan

should follow his own inclination, and choose for himself; and if

Nouzhatoul-aouadat is not averse to it, we ought not to hesitate

upon their marriage; and since they are both present, they have only

to say that they consent.

Abon Hassan threw himself at the caliph’s and Zobeide’s feet to

show the sense he had of their goodness to him; and, rising up,

said, I cannot receive a wife from better hands, but dare not hope

that Nouzhatoul-aouadat will give me her hand as readily as I give

her mine. At these words he looked upon the princess’s slave, who

showed by her respectful silence, and the sudden blush that arose in

her cheeks, that she was disposed to obey the caliph and her

mistress Zobiede.

The marriage was solemnized, and the nuptials celebrated in the

palace with great rejoicings, which lasted several days. Zobeide, in

pleasure to the caliph, made her slave considerable presents, and

the caliph did the same to Abon Hassan. The bride was conducted to

the apartment the caliph had assigned Abon Hassan, who waited for

her with all the impatience of a bridegroom, and received her with

the sound of all sorts of instruments, and musicians of both sexes,

who made the air echo again with their concert.

After these feasts and rejoicings, which lasted several days, the

new married couple were left to pursue their loves in peace. --Abon

Hassan and his spouse were charmed with each other, and lived

together in perfect union, and seldom were asunder, but when either

he paid his respects to the caliph, or she to Zobeide. Indeed,

Nouzhatoul-aouadat was endued with every qualification capable of

gaining Abon Hassan’s love and attachment, and was just such a

wife as he described to the caliph, and fit to sit at the head of

his table. With these dispositions they could not fail to pass their

lives agreeably. They kept a good table, covered with the nicest and

choicest rarities in season, by an excellent cook, who took upon him

to provide every thing. Their sideboard was always stored with

exquisite wines, placed within their reach when at table, where they

enjoyed themselves in an agreeable tete-a-tete, and afterwards

entertained each other with some pleasantry or other, which made

them laugh more or less, as they had in the day met with something

to divert them; and in the evenings, which they consecrated to

mirth, they had generally some slight repast of dried sweetmeats,

choice fruits, and cakes; and at each glass invited each other by

new songs to drink, and sometimes accompanied their voices with a

lute, or other instruments, which they could both touch.

Abon Hassan and Nouzhatoul-aouadat led this pleasant life a long

time, unattentive to expense, when the caterer, who disbursed all

the money for these expenses, brought them in a long bill, in hope

of having an advance of money. They found it, too late, to be so

considerable a sum, including the wedding clothes and jewels for the

bride, that all the presents that the caliph and the princess

Zobiede had given them at their marriage were but just enough to pay

him. This made them reflect seriously on what was passed, which,

however, was no remedy for the present evil. But they agreed to pay

the caterer; and having sent for him, paid him all they owed him,

without considering the difficulty they would be in immediately

after.

The caterer went away very well pleased to receive so large a sum of

ready money, though Abon Hassan and his wife were not so well

satisfied with seeing the bottom of their purse, but remained a long

time silent, and very much embarrassed to find themselves reduced to

that condition the very first year of their marriage. Abon Hassan

remembered that the caliph, when he took him into the palace,

promised never to let him want any thing; but when he considered how

prodigal he had been of his money in so short a time, he was

unwilling to expose himself to the shame of letting the caliph know

the ill use he had made of what he had given him, and that he wanted

more. Besides, he had made over his patrimony to his mother, as soon

as the caliph received him near his person, and was afraid to go to

her, lest she should find that he had returned to the same

extravagance he had been guilty of after his father’s death. His

wife, on the other hand, looked upon Zobeide’s generosity, and the

liberty she had given her to marry, as more than a sufficient

recompense for her service, and thought she had not a right to ask

more.

Abon Hassan at last broke silence, and, looking upon his wife, said,

I see you are in the same embarrassment as myself, and are thinking

what we must do in this unhappy juncture, when our money fails us so

unexpectedly. I do not know what your sentiments may be, but mine

are, let what will happen, not to retrench our expenses in the

least; and I believe you will come into my opinion. The point is,

how to support them without stooping to ask the caliph or Zobeide;

and I think I have fallen on the means; but we must both assist each

other.

This discourse of Abon Hassan very much pleased his wife, and gave

her some hopes. I was thinking so as well as you, said she, but

durst not explain my thoughts, because I did not know how to help

ourselves; and must confess, that what you tell me gives me a great

deal of pleasure. But since you say you have found out a way, and my

assistance is necessary, you need but to tell me, and I will do all

that lies in my power.

I was sure, replied Abon Hassan, that you would not fail in this

business, which concerns us both; and therefore I must tell you,

this want of money has made me think of a plan which will supply us

with some, at least for a time. It consists in a little trick we

will put, I upon the caliph, and you upon Zobeide, and at which, I

am sure, they will both be diverted, and it will answer very well to

us. You and I will both die. Not I, indeed, interrupted

Nouzhatoul-aouadat; you may die by yourself, if you will; I am not

so weary of this life, and, whether you are pleased or not, will not

die so soon. If you have nothing else to propose than that, you may

do it by yourself; for I assure you I shall not join you.

You are a woman, I mean of such vivacity and wonderful quickness,

replied Abon Hassan, that you scarce give me time to explain my

design. Have but a little patience, and you shall find that you will

be ready enough to die such a death as I mean; for surely you could

not think I meant a real death? Well, said his wife, if it is but a

sham death you design, I am at your service, and you may depend on

my zeal to second you in this manner of dying; for I must tell you

truly, I am very unwilling to die, as I apprehended you at first.

Be but easy a little, said Abon Hassan, and I will tell you what I

propose. I will feign myself dead, and you shall lay me out in a

white sheet, in the middle of my chamber, with my turban upon my

face, my feet towards Mecca, and just ready to be carried out to

burial. When you have done so, you must cry, and shed tears, as is

usual in such cases, and tear your clothes and hair, or pretend to

do it, and go all in tears, with your hair loose about your ears, to

Zobeide. The princess will ask you the cause of your grief; and when

you have told her, with words intermixed with sighs, she will pity

you, and give you some money to defray the expense of my funeral,

and a piece of good brocade to cover my body with, that my interment

may be the more magnificent, and to make you a habit in the room of

that she saw you had torn. As soon as you return with the money and

the brocade, I will get up and lay you in my place, and go and act

the same part with the caliph as you have done with Zobeide; and I

dare say the caliph will be as generous to me as Zobeide has been to

you.

When Abon Hassan had explained his plan, I think, replied

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, it will be a pleasant trick, and I am much

mistaken if the caliph and Zobeide will not like us for it. Let us

put it in execution. Leave me to myself; I will play my part at

least as well as I expect you will yours, and with as much zeal and

attention, as the benefit we expect from it is great.

Nouzhatoul-aouadat liked this project very well, and said to Abon

Hassan, Come, lose no time; strip to your shirt and breeches, while

I prepare a sheet. I know how to bury as well as any body; for while

I was in Zobeide’s service, and any of my fellow slaves died, I

had the conducting of the funeral. Abon Hassan did as his wife bid

him, and laid himself flat on his back on the sheet which his wife

had spread on the carpet in the middle of the room. As soon as he

had crossed his arms, his wife wrapped him up, turned his feet

towards Mecca, and put a piece of fine muslin and his turban upon

his face, so as to leave his breath free, so that nothing seemed

wanting but to put him in a coffin, and carry him out to be buried.

After this she pulled off her head-dress, and, with tears in her

eyes, and her hair dishevelled, and seeming to tear it off, with a

dismal cry and lamentation, beating her face and breast with all the

marks of the most lively grief, ran across the court to Zobeide’s

apartments; who, hearing the voice of a person crying very loud,

commanded some of her women to see who it was; who returned and told

her that it was Nouzhatoul-aouadat, who was coming in a deplorable

condition.

The princess, impatient to know what had happened to her, rose up

immediately, and went to meet her at the door of her ante-chamber.

Nouzhatoul-aouadat played her part to perfection. As soon as she saw

Zobeide, who held the door open, she redoubled her cries, tore her

hair off by handfuls, beat her face and breast, and threw herself at

her feet, bathing them with her tears.

Zobeide, amazed to see her slave in such extraordinary affliction,

asked what had happened to her; but instead of answering, she

continued her sighs and sobs, and, at last, feigning to strive to

check them, said, with words interrupted with sighs, Alas! my most

honoured lady and mistress, what greater misfortune could have

befell me than this, which obliges me to throw myself at your

highness’s feet? God prolong your days, my most respectable

princess, in perfect health, and grant you many happy years! --Abon

Hassan! poor Abon Hassan! whom you honoured with your esteem, and

gave me for a husband, is no more!

At these last words, Nouzhatoul-aouadat redoubled her tears and

sighs, and threw herself again at the princess’s feet. Zobeide was

extremely surprised at this news. Abon Hassan dead! cried she; that

healthy, agreeable, pleasant man! Indeed I did not in the least

expect his death so soon; he seemed to promise a long life, and well

deserved to enjoy it. Then she also burst into tears, as did all her

women, who had been often witnesses of Abon Hassan’s pleasantries,

when the caliph brought him to see the princess Zobeide; and all

together continued a long time bewailing the loss of him. At length

the princess Zobeide broke silence: Wicked woman! cried she,

addressing herself to the false widow, perhaps you have occasioned

his death! Your ill temper has given him so much vexation, that you

have at last brought him to his grave. Nouzhatoul-aoudat seemed much

hurt at the reproaches of Zobeide: Ah, madam, cried she, I do not

think I ever gave your majesty, all the time I was your slave, the

least reason to entertain so disadvantageous an opinion of my

conduct to a husband who was so dear to me. I should think myself

the most wretched of women if you were persuaded of this. I behaved

to Abon Hassan as a wife should do to a husband for whom she has a

sincere affection; and I may say, without vanity, that I had for him

the same regard he had for me, which proved he loved me with equal

affection. I am persuaded he would, were he alive, justify me fully

to your majesty; but, madam, added she, renewing her tears, his time

was come, and that was the only cause of his death.

Zobeide had really observed in her slave an uniformly equal temper

and mildness, great docility and zeal for her service, which showed

she was rather actuated by inclination than duty. She hesitated not

to believe her on her word, and ordered her treasurer to fetch a

hundred pieces of gold, and a piece of rich brocade.

The slave soon returned with the purse and piece of brocade, which,

by Zobeide’s order, she put into Nouzhatoul-aouadat’s hand, who

threw herself again at the princess’s feet, and thanked her with

great satisfaction, to think she had succeeded so well. Go, said

Zobeide, make use of that brocade to cover the corpse of your

husband, and with that money bury him handsomely, and as he

deserves. Moderate the transports of your afflictions; I will take

care of you.

As soon as Nouzhatoul-aouadat got out of the princess’s presence,

she dried up her tears, and returned with joy to Abon Hassan, to

give him an account of her good success. When she came home, she

burst out a laughing to see her husband still stretched out in the

middle of the floor; she ran to him, and bid him rise and see the

fruits of his trick. He rose, and rejoiced with his wife at the

sight of the purse and brocade. Unable to contain herself at the

success of her artifice, Come, husband, said she, laughing, let me

act the dead part, and see if you can manage the caliph as well as I

have done Zobeide.

That is the temper of all women, replied Abon Hassan, who, we may

well say, have always the vanity to believe they can do things

better than men, though, at the same time, what good they do is by

their advice. It would be odd indeed if I, who laid this plot

myself, could not carry it on as well as you. But let us lose no

time in idle discourse; lie down in my place, and see if I do not

come off with as much applause.

Abon Hassan wrapped up his wife as she had done him, and with his

turban unrolled, like a man in the greatest affliction, ran to the

caliph, who was holding a private council with the grand vizier

Giafar, and other confidential viziers. He presented himself at the

door, and the officer knowing he had free access, opened it. He

entered holding with one hand his handkerchief before his eyes, to

hide the feigned tears, which trickled down his cheeks, and striking

his breast with the other, with exclamations expressing

extraordinary grief.

The caliph, who was used to see Abon Hassan with a merry

countenance, was very much surprised to see him in that sorrowful

state. He interrupted the business of the council to ask him the

cause of his grief. Commander of the faithful, answered Abon Hassan,

with repeated sighs and sobs, God preserve your majesty on the

throne, which you fill so gloriously! a greater calamity could not

have befallen me than what I now lament. Alas! Nouzhatoul-aouadat,

whom you in your bounty gave me for a wife, to pass the rest of my

days with, alas! --at this exclamation Abon Hassan pretended to have

his heart so full, that he could not utter one syllable more, but

poured forth a flood of tears.

The caliph, who presently understood that Abon Hassan came to tell

him of the death of his wife, seemed very much concerned, and said

to him with an air which showed how much he regretted her loss, God

be merciful to her: she was a good slave, and we gave her to you

with an intention to make you happy: she deserved a longer life.

Then the tears ran down his face, so that he was obliged to pull out

his handkerchief to wipe them off. The grief of Abon Hassan, and the

tears of the caliph, excited those of Giafar and the other viziers.

They bewailed the death of Nouzhatoul-aouadat, who, on her part, was

impatient to hear how Abon Hassan succeeded.

The caliph had the same thought of the husband that Zobeide had of

the wife, and imagined that he had occasioned her death. Wretch!

said he, in a tone of indignation, have you not been the cause of

your wife’s death by your ill-treatment of her? Can I doubt it?

You ought at least to have had some regard for the princess my

consort, who loved her more than the rest of her slaves, and

consented to give her to you. What a return for her kindness!

Commander of the faithful, replied Abon Hassan, affecting to weep

more bitterly than before, can your majesty for a moment suppose

that Abon Hassan, whom you have loaded with your favours and

kindness, and on whom you have conferred honours he could never have

aspired to, can have been capable of such ingratitude? I loved

Nouzhatoul-aouadat my wife as much on these accounts, as for the

many good qualities she possessed, and which drew from me all the

attachment, tenderness, and love she deserved. But, my lord, added

he, she was to die, and God would no longer suffer me to enjoy a

happiness for which I was indebted to your majesty and your beloved

consort.

In short, Abon Hassan dissembled so well, that the caliph, who had

never heard how extravagantly he and his wife had lived, not in the

least doubting his sincerity, ordered his treasurer, who was

present, to give Abon Hassan a purse of a hundred pieces of gold,

and a piece of brocade. Abon Hassan immediately cast himself at the

caliph’s feet, and thanked him for his present. Follow the

treasurer, said that monarch; throw the brocade over the corpse, and

with the money show the last testimony of thy love for thy wife.

Abon Hassan made no reply to these obliging words of the caliph, but

retired with a low bow, and followed the treasurer; and as soon as

he had got the purse, and piece of brocade, went home very well

pleased with having found out so quick and easy a way of supplying

his necessity, which had given him so much uneasiness.

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, weary with lying so long in the posture, never

waited till Abon Hassan bid her rise; but as soon as she heard the

door open, got up and ran to her husband, and asked him if he had

imposed on the caliph as well as she did on Zobeide? You see, said

he, showing her the stuff, and shaking the purse, that I can act a

sorrowful husband for a living wife, as well as you can a weeping

widow for a husband not dead. Abon Hassan, however, was not without

his fears, that this double trick of theirs might be attended with

some ill consequences. He thought it would not be amiss to put his

wife on her guard as to what might happen, that they might act in

concert. For, added he, the better we succeed in embarrassing the

caliph and Zobeide, the more they will be pleased at last, and

perhaps may show their satisfaction by a greater liberality. And

this last consideration induced them to carry on this feint farther.

The caliph, though he had a great deal of business to transact in

council, was nevertheless so impatient to go and condole with the

princess upon the death of her slave, that he rose up as soon as

Abon Hassan was gone, and put off the council to another day. Follow

me, said he to Mesrour, who always attended him wherever he went and

was in all his councils; let us go and share with the princess the

grief which the death of her slave, Nouzhatoul-aouadat, causes her.

Accordingly they went to Zobeide’s apartment, whom the caliph

found sitting on a sofa, very much afflicted, and still in tears.

Madam, said the caliph, going up to her, it is unnecessary to tell

you how much I partake with you in your affliction; since you are

not insensible that what gives you pleasure or trouble has the same

effect on me. But we are all mortal, and must surrender up to God

that life which he has given us, when he requires it.

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, your faithful slave, was endued with

qualifications that deserved your esteem, and I cannot but approve

your expressing it after her death; but consider, all your grief

will not bring her to life again. Therefore, madam, if you love me,

and will take my advice, be comforted for this loss, and take more

care of a life which you know is precious to me, and constitutes all

the happiness of mine.

If the princess was charmed with these tender sentiments which the

caliph expressed in his compliments, she was amazed to hear of

Nouzhatoul-aouadat’s death. This news threw her into so great

surprise, that she was not able to return an answer for some time.

At last recovering, she replied, with an air expressive of surprise,

Commander of the faithful, I am very sensible of all your tender

sentiments; but give me leave to say, I cannot comprehend the news

you tell me of the death of my slave, who is in perfect health. My

affliction is for the death of Abon Hassan, her husband, your

favourite, whom I esteem, as much for the regard you have for him,

as because you were so kind to bring me acquainted with him, who has

so often diverted me very agreeably, and for whom I have as great a

value as yourself. But, sir, the little concern you show for his

death, and your so soon forgetting a man in whose company you have

so often told me you took so much pleasure, amazes and surprises me:

and this insensibility seems the greater, by the deception you put

upon me in changing his death for that of my slave.

The caliph, who thought that he was perfectly well informed of the

death of the slave, and had just reason to believe so, because he

had both seen and heard Abon Hassan, fell a laughing, and shrugging

up his shoulders, to hear Zobeide talk after this manner. Mesrour,

said he, turning himself about to that eunuch, what do you think of

the princess’s discourse? Do not women sometimes lose their

senses? For, in short, you have heard and seen all as well as

myself. Then turning about to Zobeide, Madam, said he, shed no more

tears for Abon Hassan, for I can assure you he is well: but rather

bewail the death of your dear slave. It is not many moments since

her husband came all in tears, and the most inexpressible

affliction, to tell me the death of his wife. I gave him a purse of

a hundred pieces of gold, and a piece of brocade, to comfort him,

and bury her with; and Mesrour here, who was by, can tell you the

same.

The princess took this discourse of the caliph’s to be all a jest,

and thought he had a mind to impose upon her. Commander of the

faithful, replied she, though you are used to banter, I must tell

you, this is not a proper time for it. What I tell you is very

serious; I do not talk of my slave’s death, but of Abon Hassan,

her husband, whose fate I bewail, and so ought you too. I, madam,

said the caliph, putting on a grave countenance, I tell you, without

raillery, that you are deceived: Nouzhatoul-aouadat is dead, and

Abon Hassan is alive and in perfect health.

Zobeide was very much piqued at this dry answer of the caliph.

Commander of the faithful, replied she smartly, God preserve you

from continuing longer in this mistake: surely you would make me

think your mind is not as usual. Give me leave to repeat to you once

more, that it is Abon Hassan who is dead, and that my slave

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, his widow, is living. It is not an hour ago

since she went from hence. She came here in so disconsolate a state,

that the sight of her was enough to have drawn tears from my eyes,

if she had not told me her affliction, accompanied with innumerable

sighs. All my women, who wept with me, can bear me witness, and tell

you also that I made her a present of a hundred pieces of gold, and

a piece of brocade; and the grief which you found me in was upon the

death of her husband; and just that instant that you came in, I was

going to send you a compliment of condolence.

At these words of Zobeide, the caliph cried out in a fit of

laughter, This, madam, is a strange piece of obstinacy; but,

continued he seriously, you may depend upon Nouzhatoul-aouadat’s

being dead. I tell you, no, sir, replied Zobeide instantly; it is

Abon Hassan that is dead, and you shall never make me believe

otherwise.

Upon this, the caliph’s anger rose in his countenance. He sat

himself upon the sofa, at some distance from the princess, and

speaking to Mesrour, said, Go immediately, and see which it is, and

bring me word; for though I am certain that it is

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, I would rather take this way than be any longer

obstinately positive about a matter which I am perfectly satisfied

of. No sooner had the caliph commanded than Mesrour was gone. You

will see, continued he, addressing himself to Zobeide, in a moment,

which of us is right. For my part, replied Zobeide, I know very well

that I am in the right, and you will find it to be Abon Hassan. And

for myself, replied the caliph, I am so sure that it is

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, that I will lay you what wager you will, that

Abon Hassan is well.

Do not think to come off so, said Zobeide; I accept your wager, and

I am so well persuaded of his death, that I would willingly lay the

dearest thing in the world against what you will, though it were of

less value. You know what I have at my disposal, and what I value

most; propose the bet, and I will stand to it.

Since it is come to that, said the caliph, I will lay my garden of

pleasures against your palace of paintings, though the one is worth

much more than the other. Is the question at present, replied

Zobeide, if your garden is more valuable than my palace? That is not

the point. You have made choice of what you thought fit belonging to

me as an equivalent against what you lay; I accept the wager, and

will not go back; I take God to witness. The caliph took the same

oath, and both waited till Mesrour returned.

While the caliph and Zobeide were disputing so earnestly, and with

so much warmth, Abon Hassan, who foresaw their difference, was very

attentive to whatever might happen. As soon as he perceived Mesrour

through a window, against which he sat talking with his wife, and

observed that he was coming directly to their apartment, he

presently guessed what he was coming about, and bid his wife make

haste to act the dead part once more, as they had agreed on, without

loss of time; in short, they were so pressed, that Abon Hassan had

much ado to wrap up the wife and lay the piece of brocade which the

caliph had given him upon her, before Mesrour came. As soon as he

had done that, he opened the door of his apartment, and with a

melancholy, dejected countenance, and his handkerchief before his

eyes, went and sat down at the head of the pretended deceased.

By that time he was seated, Mesrour came into the room. The dismal

sight which met his eyes gave him a secret joy, on account of the

errand the caliph sent him on. As soon as Abon Hassan perceived him,

he rose up to meet him, and kissing his hand out of respect, said,

sighing and groaning, You see me, sir, in the greatest affliction

that ever could befall me; the death of my dear wife,

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, whom you honoured with your favours.

Mesrour, affected by this discourse, could not refuse some tears to

the memory of the deceased. He lifted up the cloth a little at the

head, which was uncovered, and peeping under it, let it down again,

and said, with a deep sigh, There is no other God but God; we must

all submit to his will, and every creature must return to him.

--Nouzhatoul-aouadat, my good sister, added he, sighing, thy days

have been very few: God have mercy on thee. Then turning to Abon

Hassan, who was all the time in tears, We may well say, said he,

that women sometimes have whims, and lose their senses in a most

unpardonable manner; for Zobeide, good mistress as she is, is in

that situation at present: she will maintain to the caliph that you

are dead, and not your wife; and whatever the caliph can say to the

contrary, he cannot persuade her otherwise. He called me to witness

and confirm this truth; for you know I was by when you came and told

him the sorrowful news: but all signifies nothing. They are both

positive; and the caliph, to convince Zobeide, has sent me to know

the truth, but I fear I shall not be believed; for when women once

take up a thing, they are not to be beat out of it.

God keep the commander of the faithful in the possession and right

use of his senses, replied Abon Hassan, still sighing and crying:

you see how it is, and that I have not imposed upon his majesty. And

I wish to heaven, continued he, to dissemble the better, that I had

no occasion to tell him the melancholy and affecting news. Alas! I

cannot enough express my irreparable loss! That is true, replied

Mesrour, and I can assure you I take a great share in your

affliction; but you must be comforted, and not abandon yourself to

your grief. --I leave you with reluctance, to return to the caliph;

but I beg the favour of you not to bury the corpse till I come

again; for I will assist at the interment, and accompany it with my

prayers. Mesrour went to give an account of his message. Abon Hassan

waited on him to the door, and told him that he did not deserve the

honour that he intended him: and for fear Mesrour should return to

say something else to him, he followed him with his eyes for

sometime, and when he saw him at a distance, returned to his wife,

and released her. This is already, said he, a new scene of mirth,

but I fancy it will not be the last; for certainly the princess

Zobeide will not believe Mesrour, but will laugh at him, since she

has too substantial a reason to the contrary; therefore we must

expect some new event. While Abon Hassan was talking thus,

Nouzhatoul-aouadat had time to put on her clothes again, and both

went and sat down on a sofa opposite to the window, where they could

see all that passed.

In the mean time, Mesrour reached Zobeide’s apartment, and going

into her closet laughing, clapped his hands like one who had

something very agreeable to tell.

The caliph, who was naturally impatient, would presently be informed

of the truth of the matter, for he was piqued a little at the

princess’s diffidence; therefore as soon as he met Mesrour, Vile

slave, said he, is this a time to laugh? Why do not you tell me

which is dead, the husband or the wife?

Commander of the faithful, answered Mesrour, putting on a serious

countenance, it is Nouzhatoul-aouadat who is dead, for the loss of

whom Abon Hassan is as much afflicted as when he appeared before

your majesty. The caliph not giving him time to pursue his story,

interrupted him, and cried out, laughing heartily, Good news!

Zobeide, your mistress, was a moment ago possessed of the palace of

paintings, and now it is mine. She staked it against my garden of

pleasures, since you went; therefore you could not have done me a

greater pleasure. I will take care to reward you: but give me a true

account of what you saw.

Commander of the faithful, said Mesrour, when I came to Abon

Hassan’s apartment, I found the door open, and he was bewailing

the death of his wife Nouzhatoul-aouadat. He sat at the head of the

deceased, who was laid out in the middle of the room, with her feet

towards Mecca, and was covered with that piece of brocade which your

majesty made a present of to Abon Hassan. After I had expressed the

share I took in this grief, I went and lifted up the pall at the

head, and knew Nouzhatoul-aouadat, though her face was very much

swelled and changed. I exhorted Abon Hassan in the best manner I

could to be comforted; and when I came away, I told him I would

attend at his wife’s funeral, and desired him not to remove the

corpse till I came. This is all I can tell your majesty. I ask no

more, said the caliph, laughing heartily, and I am very well

satisfied with your exactness. Then addressing himself to Zobeide,

Well, madam, said he, have you yet any thing to say against so

certain a truth? Will you always believe that Nouzhatoul-aouadat is

alive, and that Abon Hassan is dead? And will you not own that you

have lost your wager?

How, sir replied Zobeide, who would not believe one word that

Mesrour said, do you think that I regard that impertinent follow of

a slave, who knows not what he says? I am not blind or mad. With

these eyes I saw Nouzhatoul-aouadat in the greatest affliction; I

spoke to her myself, and she told me that her husband was dead.

Madam, replied Mesrour, I swear to you by your own life, and that of

the commander of the faithful, which are both dear to me, that

Nouzhatoul-aouadat is dead, and Abon Hassan is living.

Thou liest, base despicable slave! said Zobeide in a rage, and I

will confound thee immediately; and thereupon, clapping her hands

together, she called her women, who all came in. Come hither, said

the princess to them, and speak the truth. Who was that who came and

spoke with me a little before the caliph came here? The women all

answered that it was poor afflicted Nouzhatoul-aouadat. And what,

added she, addressing herself to her that was treasurer, did I order

you to give her? Madam, answered the treasurer, I gave

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, by your orders, a purse of a hundred pieces of

gold, and a piece of brocade, which she carried away with her. Well,

then, sorry slave, said Zobeide to Mesrour, in a great passion, what

have you to say to all this? Whom do you think now I ought to

believe, you or my treasurer, my other women or myself.

Mesrour did not want for arguments to contradict the princess; but

as he was afraid of provoking her too much, he chose rather to be

silent, though he was satisfied within himself that the wife was

dead, and not the husband.

All the time of this dispute between Zobeide and Mesrour, the

caliph, who heard the evidence on both sides, which each party

insisted on, and was persuaded of the contrary of what the princess

said, because he had himself seen and spoken to Abon Hassan, and

because of what Mesrour had told him, laughed heartily to see

Zobeide so exasperated against Mesrour. Madam, said he to Zobeide,

once more I repeat, that I know not who was the author of that

saying, That women sometimes lose their wits, but I am sure you make

it good. Mesrour came just now from Abon Hassan’s, and tells us

that he saw Nouzhatoul-aouadat lying dead in the middle of the room,

Abon Hassan alive, and sitting by her; and yet you will not believe

this evidence, which nobody can reasonably refuse: I cannot

comprehend this conduct.

Zobeide would not hear what the caliph represented. Pardon me,

commander of the faithful, replied she, if I suspect you: I see very

well that you have contrived with Mesrour to vex me, and to try my

patience. And as I perceive that his report was concerted between

you, I beg leave to send a person to Abon Hassan’s, to know

whether or not I am in the wrong.

The caliph consented, and the princess charged with this important

commission an old nurse, who had lived with her from her infancy,

and was now present among the rest of her women. Hark ye, nurse,

said she; you see my dispute with the commander of the faithful, and

me and Mesrour; I need tell you no more. Go to Abon Hassan’s, or

rather to Nouzhatoul-aouadat’s, for Abon Hassan is dead, and clear

up this matter for me. If you bring me good news, a handsome present

is your reward; make haste, and return immediately.

The nurse set out, to the great joy of the caliph, who was delighted

to see Zobeide in this embarrassment; but Mesrour, extremely

mortified to find the princess so angry with him, did all he could

to appease her, and to make her and the caliph both satisfied with

him. He was overjoyed when Zobeide sent the nurse; because he was

persuaded that the report she would make would agree with his, and

serve to justify him, and restore him to her favour.

In the mean time, Abon Hassan, who watched the window, perceived the

nurse at a distance, and guessing that she was sent by Zobeide,

called his wife, and told her that the princess’s nurse was coming

to know the truth: therefore, said he, make haste and lay me out.

Accordingly Nouzhatoul-aouadat did so, and covered him with the

piece of brocade Zobeide had given her, and put his turban upon his

face. The nurse, eager to acquit herself of her commission, came at

a good round pace, and entering the room, perceived

Nouzhatoul-aouadat all in tears, her hair dishevelled, and set at

the head of her husband, beating her breast, and with all the

expressions of violent grief.

The good old nurse went directly to the false widow. My dear

Nouzhatoul-aouadat, said she with a sorrowful face, I come not to

interrupt your grief and tears for a husband whom you loved so

tenderly. Ah! good mother, replied the counterfeit widow, you see my

misfortune, and how unhappy I am by the loss of my beloved Abon

Hassan. Abon Hassan, my dear husband! cried she, what have I done

that you should leave me so soon? Have I not always preferred your

will to my own? Alas! what will become of poor Nouzhatoul-aouadat?

The nurse was in great surprise to see every thing quite the reverse

of what the chief of the eunuchs had told the caliph. This black

faced Mesrour, cried she, lifting up her hands, deserves to be

confounded for having made so great a difference between my good

mistress and the commander of the faithful, by the notorious lie he

told them. I must tell you, daughter, said she, the wickedness of

that villain Mesrour, who has asserted with an inconceivable

impudence before our good mistress, that you were dead, and Abon

Hassan was alive!

Alas! my good mother, cried Nouzhatoul-aouadat, I wish to heaven

that it was true! I should not be in this sorrowful state, nor

bewail a husband so dear to me! At these words she burst out into

tears, and by her redoubled tears and cries, feigned most desperate

sorrow.

The nurse was so much moved by her tears, that she sat down by her,

and cried too. Then gently lifting up the turban and cloth, looked

on the face of the corpse: Ah! poor Abon Hassan, she cried, covering

his face again, God have mercy upon thee! Adieu, child, said she to

Nouzhatoul-aouadat; if I could stay longer with you, I would with

all my heart; but I am obliged to return immediately, to deliver my

mistress from the uneasiness that black villain has occasioned her,

by his impudent lie, assuring her with an oath that you was dead.

As soon as the nurse was gone, and had pulled the door after her,

and Nouzhatoul-aouadat thought she would not come back again, she

wiped her eyes, and released Abon Hassan; and then they both went

and sat down on a sofa against the window, expecting what would be

the end of this trick, and to be ready to act according as things

should turn out.

The nurse, in the mean time, made all the haste she could to

Zobeide. The pleasure of carrying the princess good news, and still

more the hopes of a good reward, added wings to her feet, and

running into the princess’s closet quite out of breath, she gave

her a true account of all she had seen. Zobeide hearkened to the old

woman’s relation with a most sensible pleasure; and when she had

done, she said with a tone which showed she had won her cause,

Repeat it once more before the caliph, who looks upon us all to be

fools, and would make us believe we have no sense of religion, nor

fear of God; and tell your story to that wicked black slave, who had

the insolence to assert a falsity, though I knew it to be one.

Mesrour, who expected the nurse’s report would prove favourable on

his side, was very much mortified to find it so much the contrary.

He was also vexed at the anger Zobeide expressed against him, for a

thing which he thought himself surer of than any body, that he was

glad of having an opportunity of speaking his mind freely to the

nurse, which he durst not do to the princess. Old toothless, said he

to the nurse, you are a liar, and there is no truth in what you say;

for I saw with my own eyes Nouzhatoul-aouadat laid out in the middle

of the room.

You are a notorious liar yourself, replied the nurse with an

insulting air, to dare to maintain so great a falsity before my

face, who am just come from seeing Abon Hassan dead, and laid out,

and left his wife alive. I am not an impostor, replied Mesrour, it

is you who endeavour to lead us all into error.

What impudence, said the nurse, to dare to tell me I lie in the

presence of their majesties, when I saw just now with my own eyes

the fact I have had the honour to tell them. Indeed, nurse, answered

Mesrour again, you had better hold your tongue, for you certainly

doat.

Zobeide, who could not support this want of respect in Mesrour, who,

without any regard to her, treated her nurse so injuriously in her

presence, without giving the nurse time to reply to so gross an

affront, said to the caliph, Commander of the faithful, I demand

justice for this insolence to us both. She was so enraged she could

say no more, but burst into tears.

The caliph, who had heard all this dispute, thought it very

intricate. He mused some time, and could not tell what to think of

so many contradictions. The princess, for her part, as well as

Mesrour, the nurse, and all the women slaves, who were present, were

as much puzzled, and remained silent. At last the caliph resumed the

business, and addressing himself to Zobeide, said, I see very well

we are all liars, myself first, and then you, Mesrour, and you,

nurse; or at least it seems not one can be believed more than the

other; therefore, let us go ourselves to know the truth, for I can

see no other way to clear up these doubts.

So saying, the caliph rose up, the princess followed him, and

Mesrour went before to open the doors: Commander of the faithful,

said he, I am overjoyed that your majesty has taken this course; and

shall be much more, when I shall make it plainly appear to the

nurse, not that she doats, since the expression is unfortunately

displeasing to my good mistress, but that her report is not true.

The nurse wanted not a reply: Hold your tongue, black face, said

she; you doat yourself.

Zobeide, who was very much provoked at Mesrour, could not bear to

hear him attack her nurse again, without taking her part: Vile

slave, said she, say what you will, I maintain my nurse says the

truth, and look upon you as a mere liar. Madam, replied Mesrour, if

nurse is so very certain that Nouzhatoul-aouadat is alive, and Abon

Hassan is dead, I will lay her what she dares of it. The nurse was

as ready as he; I dare, said she, take you at your word; let us see

if you dare unsay it. Mesrour stood to his word; and they laid a

piece of gold brocade with silver flowers before the caliph and the

princess.

The apartment the caliph and Zobeide came out of, though distant

from Abon Hassan’s, was nevertheless just over against it, and

Abon Hassan could perceive them coming, and told his wife he was

very much mistaken if the caliph and Zobeide, preceded by Mesrour,

and followed by a great number of women, were not coming to do them

the honour of a visit. She looked through a lattice, and saw them.

Though her husband told her beforehand, she seemed frightened, and

cried out, What shall we do? We are ruined. Fear nothing, replied

Abon Hassan; have you forgot already what we agreed on? We will both

feign ourselves dead, and you shall see all will go well. At the

slow rate they come, we shall be ready before they get to the door.

Accordingly, Abon Hassan and his wife wrapped up and covered

themselves with the pieces of brocade, and waited patiently for

their visitors.

Mesrour, who came first, opened the door, and the caliph and

Zobeide, followed by their attendants, entered the room; but were

extremely surprised, and stood motionless, at the dismal sight which

presented itself to their view, not knowing what to make of it. At

last, Zobeide breaking silence, said to the caliph, Alas! they are

both dead! You have done so much, continued she, looking at the

caliph and Mesrour, to endeavour to make me believe that my dear

slave was dead, that I find it is true at last: grief for losing her

husband has certainly killed her. Say rather, madam, answered the

caliph, prepossessed to the contrary, that Nouzhatoul-aouadat died

first, and the afflicted Abon Hassan sunk under his grief, and could

not survive his dear wife; you ought, therefore, to agree that you

have lost your wager, and your palace of paintings is mine.

Hold there, answered Zobeide, warmed at being contradicted by the

caliph; I will maintain it, you have lost your garden of pleasures

to me. Abon Hassan died first; since my nurse told you as well as

me, that she saw her alive, and crying for the death of her husband.

The dispute of the caliph and Zobeide brought on another between

Mesrour and the nurse, who had wagered as well as they, and each

pretended to win, and came at last to abuse each other very grossly.

At last the caliph, reflecting on what had passed, began to think

that Zobeide had as much reason as himself to maintain that she had

won. In this embarrassment of not being able to find out the truth,

he advanced towards the two corpses, and sat down at the head,

searching after some expedient that might gain him the victory over

Zobeide. I swear, cried he, presently after, by the holy name of

God, that I will give a thousand pieces of gold to him that can tell

me which of these two died first.

No sooner were these words out of the caliph’s mouth, but he heard

a voice under Abon Hassan’s piece of brocade, say, Commander of

the faithful, I died first; give me the thousand pieces of gold. At

the same time he saw Abon Hassan throw off the piece of brocade, and

come and prostrate himself at his feet, while his wife did the same

to Zobeide, keeping on her piece of brocade out of decency. The

princess at first shrieked out, so that she frightened all about

her; but recovering herself at last, expressed great joy to see her

dear slave rise again, just when she was almost inconsolable at

having seen her dead. Ah! wicked Nouzhatoul-aouadat, cried she, what

have I suffered for your sake? However, I forgive you from my heart,

since you are not dead.

The caliph for his part was not so much surprised when he heard Abon

Hassan’s voice; but thought he should have died with laughing at

this unravelling of the mystery, and to hear Abon Hassan ask so

seriously for the thousand pieces of gold. What, Abon Hassan, said

he, continuing to laugh aloud, hast thou conspired against my life,

to kill me a second time with laughing? How came this thought into

your head, to surprise Zobeide and me thus, when we least thought of

such a trick?

Commander of the faithful, replied Abon Hassan, I will declare to

your majesty the whole truth without the least reserve. Your majesty

knows very well that I always loved to eat and drink well, and the

wife you gave me rather increased than restrained that inclination.

With these dispositions your majesty may easily suppose we might

spend a good estate; and to make short of my story, we were not in

the least sparing of what your majesty so generously gave us. This

morning, accounting with our caterer, who took care to provide every

thing for us, and paying what we owed him, we found we had nothing

left. Then reflections on what was past, and resolutions to manage

better for the future, crowded into our thoughts; we formed a

thousand projects, all which we rejected. At last, the shame of

seeing ourselves reduced to so low a condition, and not daring to

tell your majesty, made us contrive this trick to relieve our

necessities, and to divert you with it, which we hope your majesty

will be pleased to pardon us.

The caliph and Zobeide were very well satisfied with Abon Hassan’s

sincerity, and not sorry for what was done; and then Zobeide, who

had all along been very serious, began to laugh at the thoughts of

Abon Hassan’s scheme. The caliph, who had not ceased laughing at

the singularity of thus adventure, rising up, said to Abon Hassan

and his wife, Follow me; I will give you the thousand pieces of gold

I promised you, for joy to find you are not dead. Zobeide desired

him to let her make her slave a present of the same sum, for the

same reason. By this means Abon Hassan and his dear wife

Nouzhatoul-aouadat long preserved the favour of the caliph Haroun

Alraschid and the princess Zobeide, and by their liberality were

made capable of pursuing their pleasures.

The Story of Aladdin; or, the Wonderful Lamp.

In the capital of one of the large and rich provinces of the kingdom

of China, the name of which I do not recollect, there lived a

tailor, whose name was Mustapha, without any other distinction but

that which his profession afforded him, and so poor, that he could

hardly, by his daily labour, maintain himself and family, which

consisted of a wife and son.

His son, who was called Aladdin, had been brought up after a very

careless and idle manner, and by that means had contracted many

vicious habits. He was wicked, obstinate, and disobedient to his

father and mother, who, when he grew up, could not keep him within

doors; but he would go out early in the morning, and stay out all

day, playing in the streets and public places with little vagabonds

of his own age.

When he was old enough to learn a trade, his father not being able

to put him out to any other, took him into his own shop, and showed

him how to use his needle: but neither good words nor the fear of

chastisement were capable of fixing his lively genius. All that his

father could do to keep him at home to mind his work was in vain;

for no sooner was his back turned, but Aladdin was gone for that

day. Mustapha chastised him, but Aladdin was incorrigible; and his

father, to his great grief, was forced to abandon him to his

libertinism; and was so much troubled at not being able to reclaim

him, that it threw him into a fit of sickness, of which he died in a

few months.

The mother of Aladdin, finding that her son would not follow his

father’s business, shut up the shop, sold off the implements of

that trade, and with the money she got for them, and what she could

get by spinning cotton, thought to maintain herself and her son.

Aladdin, who was now no longer restrained by the fear of a father,

and who cared so little for his mother, that whenever she chid him

he would fly in her face, gave himself entirely over to dissipation,

and was never out of the streets from his companions. This course he

followed till he was fifteen years old, without giving his mind to

any thing whatever, or the least reflection on what would become of

him. In this situation, as he was one day playing according to

custom, in the street, with his vagabond troop, a stranger passing

by stood still to observe him.

This stranger was a famous magician, called by the writer of this

story the African Magician; and by that name I shall call him with

the more propriety, as he was a native of Africa, and had been but

two days come from thence.

Whether the African magician, who was a good physiognomist, had

observed in Aladdin’s countenance something which was absolutely

necessary for the execution of the design he came about, he inquired

artfully about his family, who he was, and what were his

inclinations; and when he had learned all he desired to know, he

went up to him, and taking him aside from his comrades, said to him,

Child, was not your father called Mustapha the tailor? --Yes, sir,

answered Aladdin, but he has been dead a long time.

At these words, the African magician threw his arms about

Aladdin’s neck, and kissed him several times with tears in his

eyes. Aladdin, who observed his tears, asked him, What made him

weep? Alas! my son, cried the African magician with a sigh, how can

I forbear? I am your uncle; your good father was my own brother. I

have been a great many years abroad travelling, and now I am come

home with the hopes of seeing him, you tell me he is dead. I assure

you it is a sensible grief to me to be deprived of the comfort I

expected. But it is some relief to my affliction, that as far as I

can remember him, I knew you at first sight, you are so like him;

and I see I am not deceived. Then he asked Aladdin, putting his hand

into his purse, where his mother lived; and as soon as Aladdin had

informed him, he gave him a handful of small money, saying to him,

Go, my son, to your mother, give my love to her, and tell her that I

will come and see her to-morrow, if I have time, that I may have the

satisfaction of seeing where my good brother lived so long, and

ended his days.

As soon as the African magician left his new-adopted nephew, Aladdin

ran to his mother, overjoyed at the money his uncle had given him.

Mother, said he, have I an uncle? No, child, replied his mother, you

have no uncle by your father’s side or mine. I am just now come,

answered Aladdin, from a man who says he is my uncle by my

father’s side, assuring me that he is his brother. He cried and

kissed me when I told him my father was dead; and to show you that

what I tell you is truth, added he, pulling out the money, see what

he has given me; he charged me to give his love to you, and to tell

you, if he has any time to-morrow, he will come and pay you a visit,

that he may see at the same time the house my father lived and died

in. Indeed, child, replied the mother, your father had a brother,

but he has been dead a long time, and I never heard of another.

The mother and son talked no more then of the African magician; but

the next day Aladdin’s uncle found him playing in another part of

the town with other children, and embracing him as before, put two

pieces of gold into his hand, and said to him, Carry this, child, to

your mother, and tell her that I will come and see her to-night, and

bid her get us something for supper; but first show me the house

where you live.

After Aladdin had showed the African magician the house, he carried

the two pieces of gold to his mother, and when he had told her of

his uncle’s intention, she went out and bought provisions; and

considering she wanted various vessels, she went and borrowed them

of her neighbours. She spent the whole day in preparing the supper;

and at night, when it was ready, she said to Aladdin, Perhaps your

uncle knows not how to find our house, go and see for him, and bring

him if you meet with him.

Though Aladdin had showed the magician the house, he was very ready

to go, when somebody knocked at the door, which Aladdin immediately

opened; and the magician came in, loaded with wine and all sorts of

fruits, which he brought for a dessert.

After the African magician had given what he brought into

Aladdin’s hands, he saluted his mother, and desired her to show

him the place where his brother Mustapha used to sit on the sofa;

and when she had so done, he presently fell down and kissed it

several times, crying out with tears in his eyes, My poor brother!

how unhappy am I, not to have come soon enough to give you one last

embrace! Aladdin’s mother desired him to sit down in the same

place, but he would not. No, said he, I shall take care how I do

that; but give me leave to sit here over against it, that if I am

deprived of the satisfaction of seeing the master of a family so

dear to me, I may at least have the pleasure of seeing the place

where he used to sit. Aladdin’s mother pressed him no farther, but

left him at his liberty to sit where he pleased.

When the magician had made choice of a place, and sat down, he began

to enter into discourse with Aladdin’s mother: My good sister,

said he, do not be surprised at your never having seen me all the

time you have been married to my brother Mustapha, of happy memory.

I have been forty years absent from this country, which is my native

place, as well as my late brother’s; and during that time have

travelled into the Indies, Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, and

have resided in the finest towns of those countries; and afterwards

crossed over into Africa, where I made a longer stay. At last, as it

is natural for a man, how distant soever it may be, to remember his

native country, relations and acquaintance, I was very desirous to

see mine again, and to embrace my dear brother; and finding I had

strength and courage enough to undertake so long a journey, I

immediately made the necessary preparations for it, and set out. I

will not tell you the length of time it took me, all the obstacles I

met with, and what fatigues I have endured, to come hither; but

nothing ever mortified and afflicted me so much as the hearing of my

brother’s death, for whom I always had a brotherly love and

friendship. I observed his features in the face of my nephew, your

son, and distinguished him from a number of children with whom he

was at play; he can tell you how I received the most melancholy news

that ever reached my ears. But God be praised for all things! it is

a comfort to me to find him again in a son, who has his most

remarkable features.

The African magician, perceiving that Aladdin’s mother began to

weep at the remembrance of her husband, changed the discourse, and

turning towards Aladdin, asked him his name. I am called Aladdin,

said he. Well, Aladdin, replied the magician, what business do you

follow? Are you of any trade?

At this question Aladdin hung down his head, and was not a little

dashed when his mother made answer, Aladdin is an idle fellow; his

father, when alive, strove all he could to teach him his trade, but

could not succeed; and since his death, notwithstanding all I can

say to him, he does nothing but idle away his time in the streets,

as you saw him, without considering he is no longer a child; and if

you do not make him ashamed of it, and make him leave it off, I

despair of his ever coming to any good. He knows that his father

left him no fortune, and sees me endeavour to get bread by spinning

cotton every day; for my part, I am resolved one of these days to

turn him out of doors, and let him provide for himself.

After these words, Aladdin’s mother burst out into tears; and the

magician said, This is not well, nephew; you must think of helping

yourself, and getting your livelihood. There are a great many sorts

of trades, consider if you have not an inclination to some of them;

perhaps you did not like your father’s trade, and would prefer

another; come, do not disguise your sentiments from me; I will

endeavour to help you. But finding that Aladdin returned no answer;

If you have no mind, continued he, to learn any trade, and prove an

honest man, I will take a shop for you, and furnish it with all

sorts of fine stuffs and linens, and set you to trade with them; and

with the money you make with them, lay in fresh goods, and then you

will live after an honourable way. Consult your own inclination, and

tell me freely what you think of it: you shall always find me ready

to keep my word.

This proposal greatly flattered Aladdin, who mortally hated work,

and had sense enough to know that such sort of shops were very much

esteemed and frequented, and the owners honoured and respected. He

told the magician he had a greater inclination to that business than

to any other, and that he should be very much obliged to him all his

life for his kindness. Since this profession is agreeable, to you,

said the African magician, I will carry you along with me to-morrow,

and clothe you as richly and handsomely as the best merchants in the

city, and after that we will think of opening such a shop as I mean.

Aladdin’s mother, who never till then could believe that the

magician was her husband’s brother, no longer doubted it after his

promises of kindness to her son. She thanked him for his good

intentions; and after having exhorted Aladdin to render himself

worthy of his uncle’s favour by his good behaviour, served up

supper, at which they talked of several indifferent matters: and

then the magician, who saw that the night was pretty far advanced,

took his leave of the mother and son, and retired.

He came again the next day as he promised, and took Aladdin along

with him to a great merchant, who sold all sorts of clothes for

different ages and ranks ready made, and a variety of fine stuffs.

He asked to see some that suited Aladdin in size; and after choosing

a suit which he liked best, and rejecting others which he did not

think handsome enough, he bid Aladdin choose those he preferred.

Aladdin, charmed with the liberality of his new uncle, made choice

of one, and the magician immediately bought it, and all things

proper to it, and paid for it without haggling.

When Aladdin found himself so handsomely equipped from top to toe,

he returned his uncle all imaginable thanks; who, on the other hand,

promised never to forsake him, but always to take him along with

him, which he did to the most frequented places in the city, and

particularly where the capital merchants kept their shops. When he

brought him into the street where they sold the richest stuffs and

finest linens, he said to Aladdin, As you are soon to be a merchant

as well as these, it is proper you should frequent these shops, and

be acquainted with them. Then he showed him the largest and finest

mosques, and carried him to the khans or inns where the merchants

and travellers lodged, and afterwards to the sultan’s palace,

where he had free access; and at last brought him to his own khan,

where meeting with some merchants he had got acquainted with since

his arrival, he gave them a treat, to bring them and his pretended

nephew acquainted.

This treat lasted till night, when Aladdin would have taken his

leave of his uncle to go home, but the magician would not let him go

by himself, but conducted him safe to his mother, who, as soon as

she saw him so finely dressed, was transported with joy, and

bestowed a thousand blessings upon the magician for being at so

great an expense upon her child. Generous relation, said she, I know

not how to thank you for your liberality. I know that my son is not

deserving of your favours; and was he ever so grateful, and answered

your good intentions, he would be unworthy of them. For my part,

added she, I thank you with all my soul, and wish you may live long

enough to be a witness of my son’s gratitude, which he cannot

better show than by regulating his conduct by your good advice.

Aladdin, replied the magician, is a good boy, and minds well enough,

and I believe we shall do very well; but I am sorry for one thing,

which is, that I cannot perform to-morrow what I promised, because

it is Friday, and the shops will be shut up, and therefore we cannot

hire or furnish one, but let it alone till Saturday. But I will call

on him to-morrow, and take him to walk in the gardens, where people

of the best fashion generally walk. Perhaps he has never seen these

amusements, he has only hitherto been among children; but now he

must see men. Then the African magician took his leave of the mother

and the son, and retired. Aladdin, who was overjoyed to be so well

clothed, anticipated the pleasure of walking in the gardens which

lay about the town. He had never been out of the town, nor seen the

environs, which were very beautiful and pleasant.

Aladdin rose early the next morning and dressed himself to be ready

against his uncle called on him; and after he had waited some time,

he began to be impatient, and stood watching for him at the door;

but as soon as he perceived him coming, he told his mother, took his

leave of her, and ran to meet him.

The magician caressed Aladdin when he came to him: Come along, my

dear child, said he, and I will show you fine things. Then he led

him out at one of the gates of the city, to some large fine houses,

or rather palaces, to each of which belonged beautiful gardens, into

which any body might go. At every house he came to, he asked Aladdin

if he did not think it fine; and Aladdin was ready to answer when

any one presented itself, crying out, Here is a finer house, uncle,

than any we have seen yet. By this artifice, the cunning magician

got Aladdin a pretty way in the country; and as he had a mind to

carry him farther, to execute his design, he took an opportunity to

sit down in one of the gardens by a fountain of clear water, which

discharged itself by a lion’s mouth of bronze into a great basin,

pretending to be tired, the better to rest Aladdin: Come, nephew,

said he, you must be weary as well as me; let us rest ourselves, and

we shall be better able to walk.

After they had sat down, the magician pulled from his girdle a

handkerchief with cakes and fruit, which he had provided on purpose,

and laid them on the edge of the basin. He broke a cake in two, gave

one half to Aladdin, and ate the other himself: and in regard to the

fruit, he left him at liberty to take which sort he liked best.

--During this short repast, he exhorted his nephew to leave off

keeping company with children, and seek that of wise and prudent

men, to improve by their conversation; for, said he, you will soon

be at man’s estate, and you cannot too early begin to imitate

their conversation. When they had eaten as much as they liked, they

got up, and pursued their walk through the gardens, which were

separated from one another only by small ditches, which only marked

out the limits without interrupting the communication; so great was

the confidence the inhabitants reposed in each other. By this means,

the African magician drew Aladdin insensibly beyond the gardens, and

crossed the country till they almost came to the mountains.

Aladdin, who had never been so far in his life before, began to find

himself much tired with so long a walk, and said to the magician,

where are we going, uncle? we have left the gardens a great way

behind us, and I see nothing but mountains; if we go much farther, I

do not know whether I shall be able to reach the town again. Never

fear, nephew, said the false uncle; I will show you another garden,

which surpasses all we have yet seen; it is not far off! it is but a

little step; and when we come there, you will say that you would

have been sorry to have been so nigh it, and not seen it. Aladdin

was soon persuaded; and the magician, to make the way seem shorter

and less fatiguing, told him a great many stories.

At last they came between two mountains of moderate height, and

equal size, divided by a narrow valley, which was the place where

the magician intended to bring Aladdin, to put into execution a

design that had brought him from Africa to China. We will go no

farther now, said he to Aladdin; I will show you here some very

extraordinary things, and what nobody ever saw before; which, when

you have seen, you will thank me for: but while I strike fire, do

you gather up all the loose sticks you can see, to kindle a fire

with.

Aladdin found there so many dried sticks, that before the magician

had lighted a match, he had gathered up a great heap. The magician

presently set them on fire, and when they were all in a blaze, the

magician threw in some incense he had about him, which raised a

great cloud of smoke, which he dispersed on each side, by

pronouncing several magical words which Aladdin did not understand.

At the same time the earth trembled a little, and opened just before

the magician and Aladdin, and discovered a stone about half a yard

square, laid horizontally, with a brass ring fixed into the middle

of it, to raise it up. Aladdin was so frightened at what he saw,

that he would have run away: but as he was to be serviceable to the

magician, he caught hold of him, scolded him, and gave him such a

box on the ear, that he knocked him down, and had like to have beat

his teeth down his throat. Poor Aladdin got up again trembling, and

with tears in his eyes, said to the magician, What have I done,

uncle, to be treated after this severe manner? I have my reasons for

it, replied the magician: I am your uncle, and supply the place of

your father, and you ought to make no reply. But, child, added he,

softening, do not be afraid of any thing; for I shall not ask any

thing of you, but that you obey me punctually, if you would reap the

advantages which I intended you should. These fair promises calmed

Aladdin’s fears and resentment; and when the magician saw that he

was come to himself, he said to him, You see what I have done by

virtue of my incense, and the words I pronounced. Know then, that

under this stone there is hid a treasure, which is destined to be

yours, and which will make you richer than the greatest monarch in

the world: this is so true, that no other person but yourself is

permitted to touch this stone, and to pull it up and go in; for I am

forbid even to touch it, or set foot in this treasure when it is

opened; so you must without fail punctually execute what I tell you,

for it is a matter of great consequence both to you and me.

Aladdin, amazed at all he saw and heard the magician say of the

treasure, which was to make him happy for ever, forgot what was

past, and rising up, said to the magician, Well, uncle, what is to

be done? command me, I am ready to obey you. I am overjoyed, child,

said the African magician, embracing him, to see you take the

resolution; come, take hold of the ring, and lift up that stone.

Indeed, uncle, replied Aladdin, I am not strong enough to lift it;

you must help me. You have no occasion for my assistance, answered

the magician, if I help you, we shall be able to do nothing; you

must lift it up yourself: take hold of the ring, only pronounce the

names of your father and grandfather, then lift it up, and you will

find it will come easily. Aladdin did as the magician bade him, and

raised the stone with a great deal of ease, and laid it on one side.

When the stone was pulled up there appeared a cavity of about three

or four feet deep, with a little door, and steps to go down lower.

Observe, my son, said the African magician, what I am going to say

to you: go down into that cave, and when you are at the bottom of

those steps, you will find a door open, which will lead you into a

large vaulted place, divided into three great halls, in each of

which you will see four large brass vessels placed on each side,

full of gold and silver, but take care you do not meddle with them.

Before you go into the first hall, be sure to tuck up your gown, and

wrap it well about you, and then go through the second into the

third without stopping. Above all things, have a care that you do

not touch the walls, so much as with your clothes; for if you do,

you will die instantly. At the end of the third hall, you will find

a door which leads into a garden planted with fine trees loaded with

fruit; walk directly across the garden by a path which will lead you

to five steps that will bring you upon a terrace, where you will see

a niche before you, and in that niche a lighted lamp. Take the lamp

down, and put it out; when you have thrown away the wick, and poured

out the liquor, put it in your breast, and bring it to me. Do not be

afraid that the liquor will spoil your clothes, for it is not oil,

and the lamp will be dry as soon as it is thrown out. If you have a

mind to any of the fruit of the garden, you may gather as much as

you please.

After these words, the magician drew a ring off his finger, and put

it upon one of Aladdin’s, telling him that it was a preservative

against all evil, while he observed what he had prescribed to him.

After this instruction he said, Go down boldly, child, and we shall

both be rich all our lives.

Aladdin jumped into the cave, went down the steps, and found the

three halls, just as the African magician had described them. He

went through them with all the precaution the fear of death could

inspire, if he failed to observe all that he was told very

carefully; crossed the garden without stopping, took down the lamp

from the niche, threw out the wick and the liquor, and, as the

magician told him, put it in his bosom. But as he came down from the

terrace, seeing it was perfectly dry, he stopped in the garden to

observe the fruit, which he only had a glimpse of in crossing it.

All the trees were loaded with extraordinary fruit, of different

colours on each tree: some bore fruit entirely white, and some clear

and transparent as crystal; some pale red, and others deeper; some

green, blue, and purple, and others yellow; in short, there was

fruit of all colours. The white were pearls; the clear and

transparent, diamonds; the deep red, rubies; the paler, ballas

rubies; [96] the green, emeralds; the blue, turquoises; the purple,

amethysts; and those that were of yellow cast, sapphires; and so of

the rest. All these fruits were so large and beautiful, that nothing

was ever seen like them. Aladdin was altogether ignorant of their

value, and would have preferred figs and grapes, or any other

fruits, before them; and though he took them only for coloured glass

of little value, yet he was so pleased with the variety of the

colours, and the beauty and extraordinary size of the fruit, that he

had a mind to gather some of every sort; and accordingly filled his

two pockets, and the two new purses his uncle had bought for him

with the clothes which he gave him; and as he could not put them in

his pockets, he fastened them to his girdle. Some he wrapped up in

the skirts of his gown, which was of silk, large and wrapping, and

crammed his breast as full as it could hold.

Aladdin, having thus loaded himself with riches he knew not the

value of, returned through the three halls with the same precaution,

and made all the haste he could, that he might not make his uncle

wait, and soon arrived at the mouth of the cave, where the African

magician expected him with the utmost impatience. As soon as Aladdin

saw him, he cried out, Pray, uncle, lend me your hand to help me

out. Give me the lamp first, replied the magician; it will be

troublesome to you. Indeed, uncle, answered Aladdin, I cannot now;

it is not troublesome to me; but I will as soon as I am up. The

African magician was so obstinate, that he would have the lamp

before he would help him up; and Aladdin, who had incumbered himself

so much with his fruit, that he could not well get at it, refused to

give him it till he was out of the cave. The African magician,

provoked at this obstinate refusal of the lad, flew into a terrible

passion, and threw a little of his incense into the fire, which he

had taken care to keep in, and no sooner pronounced two magical

words, but the stone which had closed the mouth of the cave, moved

into its place, with the earth over it, in the same manner as it lay

at the arrival of the magician and Aladdin.

This action of the African magician’s plainly showed him to be

neither Aladdin’s uncle, nor Mustapha, the tailor’s brother, but

a true African, a native of that part of the world. For as Africa is

a country whose inhabitants delight most in magic of any other in

the whole world, he had applied himself to it from his youth; and

after about forty years’ experience in enchantments, works of

geomancy, fumigations, and reading of magic books, he had found out

that there was in the world a wonderful lamp, the possession of

which would render him more powerful than any monarch in the world,

if he could obtain it; and by a late operation of geomancy, he found

out that this lamp lay concealed in a subterraneous place in the

midst of China, in the situation, with all the circumstances,

already described. Fully persuaded of the truth of this discovery,

he set out from the farthest part of Africa, and, after a long and

fatiguing journey, came to the town nearest to this treasure. But

though he had a certain knowledge of the place where the lamp was,

he was not permitted to take it himself, nor to enter the

subterraneous place where it was, but must receive it from the hands

of another person. For this reason he addressed himself to Aladdin,

whom he looked upon as a young lad of no consequence, and fit to

serve his purpose; resolving, as soon as he got the lamp into his

hands, to sacrifice poor Aladdin to his avarice and wickedness, by

making the fumigation mentioned before, and saying those two magical

words, the effect of which was to remove the stone into its place

again, that he might have no witness of the transaction.

The blow he gave Aladdin, and the authority he assumed over him, was

only to use him to fear him, and to make him obey him the more

readily, and give him the lamp as soon as he asked for it. But his

too great precipitation in executing his wicked intention on poor

Aladdin, and his fear lest somebody should come that way during

their dispute, and discover what he wished to keep secret, produced

an effect quite contrary to what he proposed to himself.

When the African magician saw that all his great hopes were

frustrated forever, he returned that same day for Africa; but went

quite round the town, and at some distance from it, for fear lest

some persons who had seen him walk out with the boy, seeing him come

back without him, should entertain any jealousy of him, and stop him.

According to all appearances, there was no prospect of Aladdin being

any more heard of. But the magician, when he contrived his death,

had forgotten the ring he put on his finger, which preserved him,

though he knew not its virtue; and it is amazing that the loss of

that, together with the lamp, did not drive the magician to despair;

but magicians are so much used to misfortunes, and events contrary

to their wishes, that they do not lay them to heart, but still feed

themselves all their lives with unsubstantial notions and chimeras.

As for Aladdin, who never suspected this bad usage from his

pretended uncle, after all his caresses, and what he had done for

him, his surprise is more easily to be imagined than expressed by

words. When he found himself buried alive, he cried, and called out

to his uncle to tell him he was ready to give him the lamp; but all

in vain, since his cries could not be heard by him, and he remained

in this dark abode. At last, when he had quite tired himself with

crying, he went to the bottom of the steps, with a design to get

into the garden, where it was light; but the door, which was opened

before by enchantment, was now shut by the same means. Then he

redoubled his cries and tears, and sat down on the steps, without

any hopes of ever seeing the light again, and in a melancholy

certainty of passing from the present darkness into that of a speedy

death.

Aladdin remained in this state two days, without eating or drinking,

and on the third day looked upon death as inevitable. Clasping his

hands with an entire resignation to the will of God, he said, There

is no strength or power but in the great and high God. In this

action of joining his hands, he rubbed the ring which the magician

put on his finger, and of which he knew not yet the virtue, and

immediately a genie of an enormous size and frightful look rose out

of the earth, his head reaching the vault, and said to him, What

wouldst thou have with me? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and

the slave of all who have the ring on thy finger; I, and the other

slaves of that ring.

At another time, Aladdin, who had not been used to such visions,

would have been so frightened, that he would not have been able to

speak at the sight of so extraordinary a figure; but the danger he

was in made him answer without hesitation, Whoever thou art, deliver

me from this place, if thou art able. He had no sooner made an end

of these words, but the earth opened, and he found himself on the

very spot the magician first brought him to.

It was some time before Aladdin’s eyes could bear the light, after

having been so long in total darkness; but after he had endeavoured

by degrees to support it, and began to look about him, he was very

much surprised not to find the earth open, and could not comprehend

how he had got so soon out of its bowels. There was nothing to be

seen but the place where the fire had been, by which he could nearly

judge whereabouts the cave was. Then turning himself about towards

the town, he perceived it in the midst of the gardens that

surrounded it, and knew the way back by which the magician had

brought him to it; then, returning God thanks to see himself once

more in the world, where he never more expected to be, he made the

best of his way home. When he got within his mother’s door, the

joy to see her, and his faintness for want of sustenance for three

days, made him faint, and he remained for a long time as dead. His

mother, who had given him over for lost or dead, seeing him in this

condition, omitted nothing to bring him to himself again. As soon as

he recovered, the first words he spake were, Pray, mother, give me

something to eat, for I have not put a morsel of any thing into my

mouth these three days. His mother brought what she had, and set it

before him. My son, said she, be not too eager, for it is dangerous;

eat but a little at a time, and take care of yourself. Besides, I

would not have you talk; you will have time enough to tell me what

has happened to you when you are recovered. It is a great comfort to

me to see you again, after the affliction I have been in since

Friday, and the pains I have taken to learn what had become of you,

ever since I found it was night, and you were not returned.

Aladdin took his mother’s advice, and eat and drank moderately.

When he had done, Mother, said he to her, I cannot help complaining

of you, for abandoning me so easily to the discretion of a man who

had a design to kill me, and who at this very moment thinks my death

certain. You believed he was my uncle, as well as I; and what other

thoughts could we entertain of a man who was so kind to me, and made

such advantageous proffers? But I must tell you, mother, he is a

rogue and a cheat, and only did what he did, and made me all those

promises, to accomplish my death; but for what reason neither you

nor I can guess. For my part, I can assure you I never gave him any

cause to deserve the least ill treatment from him. You shall judge

of it yourself, when you have heard all that passed from the time I

left you, till he came to the execution of his wicked design.

Then Aladdin began to tell his mother all that happened to him on

Friday, when the magician took him to see the palaces and gardens

about that town, and what fell out in the way, till they came to the

place between the two mountains, where the great prodigy was to be

performed; how, with incense which the magician threw into the fire,

and some magical words which he pronounced, the earth opened, and

discovered a cave, which led to an inestimable treasure. He forgot

not the blow the magician gave him, and in what manner he softened

again, and engaged him by great promises, and putting a ring on his

finger, to go down into the cave. He did not omit the least

circumstance of what he saw in crossing the three halls and the

garden, and his taking the wonderful lamp, which he pulled out of

his bosom and showed to his mother, as well as the transparent fruit

of different colours, which he had gathered in the garden as he

returned, two purses full of which he gave to his mother. But,

though these fruits were precious stones, brilliant as the sun, and

the reflection of a lamp which then lighted the room might have led

them to think they were of great value, she was as ignorant of their

worth as her son, and cared nothing for them. She had been bred in a

middling rank of life, and her husband’s poverty prevented her

being possessed of such things, nor had she, or her relations, or

neighbours, ever seen them, so that we must not wonder that she

looked on them as things of no value, and only pleasing to the eye

by the variety of their colours.

Aladdin put them behind one of the cushions of the sofa he sat upon,

and continued his story, telling his mother, that when he returned

and presented himself at the mouth of the cave, upon his refusal to

give the magician the lamp till he had got out, the stone, by his

throwing some incense into the fire, and using two or three magical

words, stopped it up, and the earth closed again. He could not help

bursting into tears at the representation of the miserable condition

he was in, to find himself buried alive in a dismal cave, till by

the touching of his ring, the virtue of which he was then an entire

stranger to, he, properly speaking, came to life again. When he had

made an end of his story, he said to his mother, I need say no more;

you know the rest. This is my adventure, and the danger I have been

exposed to since you saw me.

Aladdin’s mother heard with so much patience as not to interrupt

him, this surprising and wonderful relation, notwithstanding it

could be no small affliction to a mother, who loved her son

tenderly; but yet in the most moving part, which discovered the

perfidy of the African magician, she could not help showing, by

marks of the greatest indignation, how much she detested him; and

when Aladdin had finished his story, she broke out into a thousand

reproaches against that vile impostor. She called him perfidious

traitor, barbarian, assassin, deceiver, magician, and an enemy and

destroyer of mankind. Without doubt, child, added she, he is a

magician, and they are plagues to the world, and by their

enchantments and sorceries have commerce with the devil. Bless God

for preserving you from his wicked designs; for your death would

have been inevitable, if you had not called upon him and implored

his assistance.

She said a great deal more against the magician’s treachery; but

finding while she talked, her son Aladdin, who had not slept for

three days and nights, began to nod, she put him to bed, and soon

after went to bed herself.

Aladdin, who had not had one wink of sleep while he was in the

subterraneous abode, slept very heartily all that night, and never

waked till the next morning; when the first thing that he said to

his mother was, he wanted something to eat, and that she could not

do him a greater pleasure than to give him his breakfast. Alas!

child said she, I have not a bit of bread to give you, you ate up

all the provisions I had in the house yesterday; but have a little

patience, and it shall not be long before I will bring you some; I

have a little cotton which I have spun; I will go and sell it, and

buy bread, and something for our dinner. Mother, replied Aladdin,

keep your cotton against another time, and give me the lamp I

brought home yesterday; I will go and sell it, and the money I shall

get for it will serve both for breakfast and dinner, and perhaps

supper too.

Aladdin’s mother took the lamp, and said to her son, Here it is,

but it is very dirty: if it was a little cleaner, I believe it would

bring something more. She took a little fine sand and water to clean

it; but had no sooner begun to rub it, but in an instant a hideous

genie of gigantic size appeared before her, and said to her in a

voice like thunder, What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee

as thy slave, and the slave of all those who have that lamp in their

hands, I and the other slaves of the lamp.

[Illustration: THE GENIUS OF THE LAMP APPEARING TO ALADDIN AND HIS

MOTHER.]

Aladdin’s mother was not able to speak at the sight of this

frightful genie, but fainted away; when Aladdin, who had once before

seen such another genie in the cavern, without losing time or

reflection, snatched the lamp out of his mother’s hands, and said

to the genie boldly, I am hungry; bring me something to eat. The

genii disappeared immediately, and in an instant returned with a

large silver basin on his head, and twelve covered plates of the

same metal, which contained some excellent meats; six large white

loaves on two other plates, and two bottles of wine, and two silver

cups in each hand. All these things he placed upon a table and

disappeared; and all this was done before Aladdin’s mother came

out of her swoon.

Aladdin went presently and fetched some water, and threw it in her

face, to recover her: whether that or the smell of the meats the

genie procured, brought her to life again, it was not long before

she came to herself. Mother, said Aladdin, do not mind this; it is

nothing at all; get up, and come and eat; here is what will put you

in heart, and at the same time satisfy my extreme hunger: do not let

such fine meat be cold, but fall to.

His mother was very much surprised to see the great basin, twelve

plates, six loaves and the two bottles and cups, and to smell the

delicious odour which exhaled from the plates. Child, said she to

Aladdin, to whom are we obliged for this great plenty and

liberality? Has the sultan been made acquainted with our poverty,

and had compassion on us? It is no matter, mother, said Aladdin; let

us sit down and eat; for you have almost as much need of a good

breakfast as myself; when we have done, I will tell you. Accordingly

both mother and son sat down, and ate with the better stomach, as

the table was so well furnished. But at the time Aladdin’s mother

could not forbear looking at and admiring the basin and plates,

though she could not well tell whether they were silver or any other

metal, so little accustomed was she and her son to see such, and the

novelty more than the value attracted their attention.

In short, the mother and son sat at breakfast till it was

dinner-time, and then they thought it would be best to put the two

meals together; yet after this, they found they should have enough

left for supper, and two meals for the next day.

When Aladdin’s mother had taken away, and set by what was left,

she went and sat down by her son on the sofa. Aladdin, said she, I

expect now that you should satisfy my impatience, and tell me

exactly what passed between the genie and you while I was in a

swoon, which he presently complied with.

She was in as great amazement at what her son told her, as at the

appearance of the genie, and said to him, But son, what have we to

do with genies? I never in my life heard that any of my acquaintance

had ever seen one. How came that vile genie to address himself to

me, and not to you, to whom he had appeared before in the cave?

Mother, answered Aladdin, the genie you saw is not the same who

appeared to me, though he resembles him in size; no, they had quite

different persons and habits; they belong to different masters. If

you remember, he that I first saw called himself the slave of the

ring on my finger; and this you saw called himself the slave of the

lamp you had in your hand; but I believe you did not hear him, for I

think you fainted away as soon as he began to speak.

What! cried the mother, was your lamp then the occasion of that

cursed genie’s addressing himself rather to me than to you? Ah! my

son, take it out of my sight, and put it where you please. I will

never touch it. I had rather you would sell it than run the hazard

of being frightened to death again by touching it; and if you would

take my advice, you would part also with the ring, and not have any

thing to do with genies, who, as our prophet has told us, are only

devils.

With your leave, mother, replied Aladdin, I shall now take care how

I sell a lamp, as I was going to do, which may be so serviceable

both to you and me. Have not you been an eye-witness of what it hath

procured us, and it shall still continue to furnish us with

subsistence and maintenance. You may suppose, as I do, that my false

and wicked uncle would not have taken so much pains, and undertaken

so long and tedious a journey, if it had not been to get into his

possession this wonderful lamp, which he preferred before all the

gold and silver which he knew was in the halls, and which I have

seen with my own eyes. He knew too well the merit and worth of this

lamp, not to prefer it to so great a treasure; and since chance hath

discovered the virtue of it to us, let us make a profitable use of

it, without making any great stir, and drawing the envy and jealousy

of our neighbours upon us. However, since the genies fright you so

much, I will take it out of your sight, and put it where I may find

it when I want it. As for the ring, I cannot resolve to part with

that neither; for, without that, you had never seen me again; and

though I am alive now, perhaps, if it was gone, I might not be so

some moments hence; therefore I hope you will give me leave to keep

that, and to wear it always on my finger. Who knows what dangers you

and I may be exposed to, which neither of us can foresee, and which

it may deliver us from? As Aladdin’s arguments were just, and had

a great deal of weight in them, his mother had nothing to say

against them; but only replied, that he might do what he pleased,

but for her part, she would have nothing to do with genies, but

would wash her hands of them, and never say any thing mere about

them.

By the next night they had eaten all the provisions the genie had

brought; and the next day Aladdin, who could not bear the thoughts

of hunger, took one of the silver plates under his coat, and went

out early to sell it, and addressing himself to a Jew whom he met in

the streets, took him aside, and pulling out the plate, asked him if

he would buy it. The cunning Jew took the plate and examined it, and

no sooner found that it was good silver, but he asked Aladdin how

much he valued it at. Aladdin, who knew not the value of it, and

never had been used to such traffic, told him he would trust to his

judgment and honour. The Jew was somewhat confounded at this plain

dealing; and doubting whether Aladdin understood the material, or

the full value of what he offered to sell him, he took a piece of

gold out of his purse and gave it him, though it was but the

sixtieth part of the worth of the plate. Aladdin took the money very

eagerly, and, as soon as he got it in his pocket, retired with so

much haste, that the Jew, not content with the exorbitancy of his

profit, was vexed he had not penetrated into Aladdin’s ignorance,

and was going to run after him, to endeavour to get some change out

of the piece of gold; but Aladdin ran so fast, and had got so far,

that it would have been impossible for him to overtake him.