Egypt put out his hand to the purse, the bells and rings jingled and
Zurayk said, “Thy trick hath not deceived me; for all thou comest
disguised as a groom I knew thee by the grip of thy hand on the dish and
the dirhams!” So saying, he threw the lead at him, but he avoided it and
it fell into the pan full of hot fish and broke it and overturned it,
fat and all, upon the breast and shoulders of the Kazi, who was passing.
The oil ran down inside his clothes to his privy parts and he cried out,
“O my privities! What a sad pickle you are in! Alas, unhappy I! Who hath
played me this trick?” Answered the people, “O our lord, it was some
small boy that threw a stone into the pan: but for Allah’s ward, it had
been worse.” Then they turned and seeing the loaf of lead and that it
was Zurayk who had thrown it, rose against him and said to him, “O
Zurayk, this is not allowed of Allah! Take down the purse or it shall go
ill for thee.” Answered he, “I will take it down, Inshallah!” Meanwhile
Ali returned to the barrack and told his comrades who cried, “Where is
the purse?”, all that had passed and they said, “Thou hast exhausted
two-thirds of his cunning.” Then he changed his groom’s dress for the
garb of a merchant and going out, met a snake-charmer, with a bag of
serpents and a wallet containing his kit to whom said he, “O charmer,
come and amuse my lads, and thou shalt have largesse.” So he accompanied
him to the barrack, where he fed him and drugging him with Bhang, doffed
his clothes and put them on. Then he took the bags and repairing to
Zurayk’s shop began to play the reed-pipe. Quoth Zurayk, “Allah provide
thee!” But Ali pulled out the serpents and cast them down before him;
whereat the fish-seller, who was afraid of snakes, fled from them into
the inner shop. Thereupon Ali picked up the reptiles and, thrusting them
back into the bag, stretched out his hand and caught hold of the end of
the purse. The rings again rang and the bells and rattles jangled, and
Zurayk cried, “Wilt thou never cease to play me tricks? Now thou
feignest thyself a serpent-charmer!” So saying, he took up a piece of
lead, and hurled it at Ali; but it missed him and fell on the head of a
groom, who was passing by, following his master, a trooper, and knocked
him down. Quoth the soldier, “Who felled him?”; and the folk said,
“’Twas a stone fell from the roof.” So the soldier passed on and the
people, seeing the piece of lead, went up to Zurayk and cried to him,
“Take down the purse!”; and he said, “Inshallah, I will take it down
this very night!” Ali ceased not to practice upon Zurayk till he had
made seven different attempts but without taking the purse. Then he
returned the snake-charmer his clothes and kit and gave him due
benevolence; after which he went back to Zurayk’s shop and heard him
say, “If I leave the purse here to-night, he will dig through the
shop-wall and take it; I will carry it home with me.” So he arose and
shut the shop; then he took down the purse and putting it in his bosom
set out home, till he came near his house, when he saw a wedding in a
neighbour’s lodging and said to himself, “I will hie me home and give my
wife the purse and don my fine clothes and return to the marriage.” And
Ali followed him. Now Zurayk had married a black girl, one of the freed
women of the Wazir Ja’afar and she had borne him a son, whom he named
Abdallah, and he had promised her to spend the money in the purse on the
occasion of the boy’s circumcision and of his marriage-procession. So he
went into his house and, as he entered, his wife saw that his face was
overcast and asked him, “What hath caused thy sadness?” Quoth he, “Allah
hath afflicted me this day with a rascal who made seven attempts to get
the purse, but without avail;” and quoth she, “Give it to me, that I may
lay it up against the boy’s festival-day.” (Now Ali, who had followed
him lay hidden in a closet whence he could see and hear all.) So he gave
her the purse and changed his clothes, saying, “Keep the purse safely, O
Umm Abdallah, for I am going to the wedding.” But she said, “Take thy
sleep awhile.” So he lay down and fell asleep. Presently, Ali rose and
going on tiptoe to the purse, took it and went to the house of the
wedding and stood there, looking on at the fun. Now meanwhile, Zurayk
dreamt that he saw a bird fly away with the purse and awaking in
affright, said to his wife, “Rise; look for the purse.” So she looked
and finding it gone, buffeted her face and said, “Alas the blackness of
thy fortune, O Umm Abdallah! A sharper hath taken the purse.” Quoth
Zurayk, “By Allah it can be none other than rascal Ali who hath plagued
me all day! He hath followed me home and seized the purse; and there is
no help but that I go and get it back.” Quoth she, “Except thou bring
it, I will lock on thee the door and leave thee to pass the night in the
street.” So he went up to the house of the wedding, and seeing Ali
looking on, said to himself, “This is he who took the purse; but he
lodgeth with Ahmad al-Danaf.” So he forewent him to the barrack and,
climbing up at the back, dropped down into the saloon, where he found
every one asleep. Presently there came a rap at the door and Zurayk
asked, “Who is there?” “Ali of Cairo,” answered the knocker; and Zurayk
said, “Hast thou brought the purse?” So Ali thought it was Hasan Shuman
and replied, “I have brought it;[246] open the door.” Quoth Zurayk,
“Impossible that I open to thee till I see the purse; for thy chief and
I have laid a wager about it.” Said Ali, “Put out thy hand.” So he put
out his hand through the hole in the side-door and Ali laid the purse in
it; whereupon Zurayk took it and going forth, as he had come in,
returned to the wedding. Ali stood for a long while at the door, but
none opened to him; and at last he gave a thundering knock that awoke
all the men and they said, “That is Ali of Cairo’s peculiar rap.” So the
hall-keeper opened to him and Hasan Shuman said to him, “Hast thou
brought the purse?” Replied Ali, “Enough of jesting, O Shuman: didst
thou not swear that thou wouldest not open to me till I showed thee the
purse, and did I not give it thee through the hole in the side door? And
didst thou not say to me, I am sworn never to open the door till thou
show me the purse?” Quoth Hasan, “By Allah, ’twas not I who took it, but
Zurayk!” Quoth Ali, “Needs must I get it again,” and repaired to the
house of the wedding, where he heard the buffoon[247] say, “Bravo,[248]
O Abu Abdallah! Good luck to thee with thy son!” Said Ali, “My luck is
in the ascendant,” and going to the fishmonger’s lodging, climbed over
the back wall of the house and found his wife asleep. So he drugged her
with Bhang and clad himself in her clothes. Then he took the child in
his arms and went round, searching, till he found a palm-leaf basket
containing buns,[249] which Zurayk of his niggardliness, had kept from
the Greater Feast. Presently, the fishmonger returned and knocked at the
door, whereupon Ali imitated his wife’s voice and asked, “Who is at the
door?” “Abu Abdallah,” answered Zurayk and Ali said, “I swore that I
would not open the door to thee, except thou broughtest back the purse.”
Quoth the fishmonger, “I have brought it.” Cried Ali, “Here with it into
my hand before I open the door;” and Zurayk answered, saying, “Let down
the basket and take it therein.” So Sharper Ali let down the basket and
the other put the purse therein, whereupon Ali took it and drugged the
child. Then he aroused the woman and making off by the back way as he
had entered, returned with the child and the purse and the basket of
cakes to the barrack and showed them all to the Forty, who praised his
dexterity. Thereupon he gave them cakes, which they ate, and made over
the boy to Hasan Shuman, saying, “This is Zurayk’s child; hide it by
thee.” So he hid it and fetching a lamb, gave it to the hall-keeper who
cooked it whole, wrapped in a cloth, and laid it out shrouded as it were
a dead body. Meanwhile Zurayk stood awhile, waiting at the door, then
gave a knock like thunder and his wife said to him, “Hast thou brought
the purse?” He replied, “Didst thou not take it up in the basket thou
diddest let down but now?”; and she rejoined, “I let no basket down to
thee, nor have I set eyes on the purse.” Quoth he, “By Allah the sharper
hath been beforehand with me and hath taken the purse again!” Then he
searched the house and found the basket of cakes gone and the child
missing and cried out, saying, “Alas, my child!” Whereupon the woman
beat her breast and said, “I and thee to the Wazir, for none hath killed
my son save this sharper, and all because of thee.” Cried Zurayk, “I
will answer for him.” So he tied the kerchief of truce about his neck
and going to Ahmad al-Danaf’s lodging, knocked at the door. The
hall-keeper admitted him and as he entered Hasan Shuman asked him, “What
bringeth thee here?” He answered, “Do ye intercede with Ali the Cairene
to restore me my child and I will yield to him the purse of gold.” Quoth
Hasan, “Allah requite thee, O Ali! Why didst thou not tell me it was his
child?” “What hath befallen him?” cried Zurayk, and Hasan replied, “We
gave him raisins to eat, and he choked and died; and this is he.” Quoth
Zurayk “Alas, my son! What shall I say to his mother?” Then he rose and
opening the shroud, saw it was a lamb barbecued and said, “Thou makest
sport of me, O Ali!” Then they gave him the child and Calamity Ahmad
said to him, “Thou didst hang up the purse, proclaiming that it should
be the property of any sharper who should be able to take it, and Ali
hath taken it; so ’tis the very property of our Cairene.” Zurayk
answered, “I make him a present of it;” but Ali said to him, “Do thou
accept it on account of thy niece Zaynab.” And Zurayk replied, “I accept
it.” Then quoth the Forty, “We demand of thee Zaynab in marriage for Ali
of Cairo;” but quoth he, “I have no control over her save of kindness.”
Hasan asked, “Dost thou grant our suit?”; and he answered, “Yes, I will
grant her in marriage to him who can avail to her mahr or
marriage-settlement.” “And what is her dowry?” enquired Hasan; and
Zurayk replied, “She hath sworn that none shall mount her breast save
the man who bringeth her the robe of Kamar, daughter of Azariah the Jew
and the rest of her gear.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Sixteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Zurayk
replied to Shuman, “She hath sworn that none shall ride astraddle upon
her breast save the man who bringeth her the clothes of Kamar, daughter
of Azariah the Jew and her crown and girdle and pantoufle[250] of gold,”
Ali cried, “If I do not bring her the clothes this very night, I
renounce my claim to her.” Rejoined Zurayk, “O Ali, thou art a dead man
if thou play any of thy pranks on Kamar.” “Why so?” asked Ali and the
other answered, “Her father, Jew Azariah, is a skilful, wily, perfidious
magician who hath the Jinn at his service. He owneth without the city a
castle, whose walls are one brick of gold and one of silver and which is
visible to the folk only whilst he is therein: when he goeth forth, it
disappeareth. He brought his daughter this dress I speak of from an
enchanted treasure, and every day he layeth it in a charger of gold and,
opening the windows of the palace, crieth out:—Where are the sharpers of
Cairo, the prigs of Al-Irak, the master-thieves of Ajam-land? Whoso
prevaileth to take this dress, ’tis his. So all the long fingered ones
essayed the adventure, but failed to take it, and he turned them by his
magic into apes and asses.” But Ali said, “I will assuredly take it, and
Zaynab shall be displayed therein.”[251] So he went to the shop of the
Jew and found him a man of stern and forbidding aspect, seated with
scales and stone-weights and gold and silver and nests of drawers and so
forth before him, and a she-mule tethered hard by. Presently he rose and
shutting his shop, laid the gold and silver in two purses, which he
placed in a pair of saddle-bags and set on the she-mule’s back. Then he
mounted and rode till he reached the city-outskirts followed, without
his knowledge, by Ali, when he took out some dust from a pocket-purse
and, muttering over it, sprinkled it upon the air. No sooner had he done
this than sharper Ali saw a castle which had not its like, and the Jew
mounted the steps upon his beast which was a subject Jinni; after which
he dismounted and taking the saddle-bags off her back, dismissed the
she-mule and she vanished. Then he entered the castle and sat down.
Presently, he arose and opening the lattices, took a wand of gold, which
he set up in the open window and, hanging thereto a golden charger by
chains of the same metal, laid in it the dress, whilst Ali watched him
from behind the door, and presently he cried out, saying, “Where are the
sharpers of Cairo? Where are the prigs of Al-Irak, the master-thieves of
the Ajam-land? Whoso can take this dress by his sleight, ’tis his!” Then
he pronounced certain magical words and a tray of food spread itself
before him. He ate and conjured a second time, whereupon the tray
disappeared; and yet a third time, when a table of wine was placed
between his hands and he drank. Quoth Ali, “I know not how I am to take
the dress except if he be drunken.” Then he stole up behind the Jew
whinger in grip; but the other turned and conjured, saying to his hand,
“Hold with the sword;” whereupon Ali’s right arm was held and abode
half-way in the air hending the hanger. He put out his left hand to the
weapon, but it also stood fixed in the air, and so with his right foot,
leaving him standing on one foot. Then the Jew dispelled the charm from
him and Ali became as before. Presently Azariah struck a table of sand
and found that the thief’s name was Mercury Ali of Cairo; so he turned
to him and said, “Come nearer! Who art thou and what dost thou here?” He
replied, “I am Ali of Cairo, of the band of Ahmad al-Danaf. I sought the
hand of Zaynab, daughter of Dalilah the Wily, and she demanded thy
daughter’s dress to her dowry; so do thou give it to me and become a
Moslem, an thou wouldst save thy life.” Rejoined the Jew, “After thy
death! Many have gone about to steal the dress, but failed to take it
from me; wherefore an thou deign be advised, thou wilt begone and save
thyself; for they only seek the dress of thee, that thou mayst fall into
destruction; and indeed, had I not seen by geomancy that thy fortune
overrideth my fortunes I had smitten thy neck.” Ali rejoiced to hear
that his luck overcame that of the Jew and said to him, “There is no
help for it but I must have the dress and thou must become a True
Believer.” Asked the Jew, “Is this thy will and last word,” and Ali
answered, “Yes.” So the Jew took a cup and filling it with water,
conjured over it and said to Ali, “Come forth from this shape of a man
into the form of an ass.” Then he sprinkled him with the water and
straightway he became a donkey, with hoofs and long ears, and fell to
braying after the manner of asinines. The Jew drew round him a circle
which became a wall over against him, and drank on till the morning,
when he said to Ali, “I will ride thee to-day and give the she-mule a
rest.” So he locked up the dress, the charger, the rod and the charms in
a cupboard[252] and conjured over Ali, who followed him. Then he set the
saddle-bags on his back and mounting, fared forth of the Castle,
whereupon it disappeared from sight and he rode into Baghdad, till he
came to his shop, where he alighted and emptied the bags of gold and
silver into the trays before him. As for Ali, he was tied up by the
shop-door, where he stood in his asinine form hearing and understanding
all that passed, without being able to speak. And behold, up came a
young merchant with whom fortune had played the tyrant and who could
find no easier way of earning his livelihood than water-carrying. So he
brought his wife’s bracelets to the Jew and said to him, “Give me the
price of these bracelets, that I may buy me an ass.” Asked the Jew,
“What wilt thou do with him?”; and the other answered, “O master, I mean
to fetch water from the river on his back, and earn my living thereby.”
Quoth the Jew, “Take this ass of mine.” So he sold him the bracelets and
received the ass-shaped Ali of Cairo in part payment and carried him
home. Quoth Ali to himself, “If the Ass-man clap the pannel on thee and
load thee with water-skins and go with thee half a score journeys a day
he will ruin thy health and thou wilt die.” So, when the water-carrier’s
wife came to bring him his fodder, he butted her with his head and she
fell on her back; whereupon he sprang on her and smiting her brow with
his mouth, put out and displayed that which his begetter left him. She
cried aloud and the neighbours came to her assistance and beat him and
raised him off her breast. When her husband the intended water-carrier
came home, she said to him, “Now either divorce me or return the ass to
his owner.” He asked, “What hath happened?”; and she answered, “This is
a devil in the guise of a donkey. He sprang upon me, and had not the
neighbours beaten him off my bosom he had done with me a foul thing.” So
he carried the ass back to the Jew, who said to him, “Wherefore hast
thou brought him back?” and he replied, “He did a foul thing with my
wife.” So the Jew gave him his money again and he went away; and Azariah
said to Ali, “Hast thou recourse to knavery, unlucky wretch that thou
art, in order that”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Seventeenth Night,
[Illustration]
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
water-carrier brought back the ass, its Jew owner returned to him the
monies and turning to Ali of Cairo said, “Hast thou recourse to knavery,
unlucky wretch that thou art, in order that he may return thee to me?
But since it pleaseth thee to be an ass, I will make thee a spectacle
and a laughing stock to great and small.” Then he mounted him and rode
till he came without the city, when he brought out the ashes in powder
and conjuring over it sprinkled it upon the air and immediately the
Castle appeared. He entered and taking the saddle-bags off the ass’s
back set up the rod and hung to it the charger wherein were the clothes
proclaiming aloud, “Where be the clever ones of all quarters who may
avail to take this dress?” Then he conjured as before and meat was set
before him and he ate and then wine when he drank; after which he took a
cup of water and muttering certain words thereover, sprinkled it on the
ass Ali, saying, “Quit this form and return to thy former shape.” Ali
straightway became a man once more and Azariah said to him, “O Ali, take
good advice and be content with my mischief. Thou hast no call to marry
Zaynab nor to take my daughter’s dress, for ’tis no easy matter for
thee: so leave greed and ’twill be better for thee; else will I turn
thee into a bear or an ape or set on thee an Ifrit, who will cast thee
behind the Mountain Kaf.” He replied, “I have engaged to take the dress
and needs must I have it and thou must Islamize or I will slay thee.”
Rejoined the Jew, “O Ali, thou art like a walnut; unless it be broken it
cannot be eaten.” Then he took a cup of water and conjuring over it,
sprinkled Ali with somewhat thereof, saying, “Take thou shape of bear;”
whereupon he instantly became a bear and the Jew put a collar about his
neck, muzzled him and chained him to a picket of iron. Then he sat down
and ate and drank, now and then throwing him a morsel of his orts and
emptying the dregs of the cup over him, till the morning, when he rose
and laid by the tray and the dress and conjured over the bear, which
followed him to the shop. There the Jew sat down and emptied the gold
and silver into the trays before Ali, after binding him by the chain;
and the bear there abode seeing and comprehending but not able to speak.
Presently up came a man and a merchant, who accosted the Jew and said to
him, “O Master, wilt thou sell me yonder bear? I have a wife who is my
cousin and is sick; and they have prescribed for her to eat bears’ flesh
and anoint herself with bears’ grease.” At this the Jew rejoiced and
said to himself, “I will sell him to this merchant, so he may slaughter
him and we be at peace from him.” And Ali also said in his mind, “By
Allah, this fellow meaneth to slaughter me; but deliverance is with the
Almighty.” Then said the Jew, “He is a present from me to thee.” So the
merchant took him and carried him to the butcher, to whom he said,
“Bring thy tools and company me.” The butcher took his knives and
followed the merchant to his house, where he bound the beast and fell to
sharpening his blade: but, when he went up to him to slaughter him, the
bear escaped from his hands and rising into the air, disappeared from
sight between heaven and earth; nor did he cease flying till he alighted
at the Jew’s castle. Now the reason thereof was on this wise. When the
Jew returned home, his daughter questioned him of Ali and he told her
what had happened; whereupon she said, “Summon a Jinni and ask him of
the youth, whether he be indeed Mercury Ali or another who seeketh to
put a cheat on thee.” So Azariah called a Jinni by conjurations and
questioned him of Ali; and he replied, “’Tis Ali of Cairo himself. The
butcher hath pinioned him and whetted his knife to slaughter him.” Quoth
the Jew, “Go, snatch him up and bring him hither, ere the butcher cut
his throat.” So the Jinni flew off and, snatching Ali out of the
butcher’s hands, bore him to the palace and set him down before the Jew,
who took a cup of water and conjuring over it, sprinkled him therewith,
saying, “Return to thine own shape.” And he straightway became a man
again as before. The Jew’s daughter Kamar,[253] seeing him to be a
handsome young man, fell in love with him and he fell in love with her;
and she said to him, “O unlucky one, why dost thou go about to take my
dress, enforcing my father to deal thus with thee?” Quoth he, “I have
engaged to get it for Zaynab the Coney-catcher, that I may wed her
therewith.” And she said, “Others than thou have played pranks with my
father to get my dress, but could not win to it,” presently adding, “So
put away this thought from thee.” But he answered, “Needs must I have
it, and thy father must become a Moslem, else I will slay him.” Then
said the Jew, “See, O my daughter, how this unlucky fellow seeketh his
own destruction,” adding, “Now I will turn thee into a dog.” So he took
a cup graven with characters and full of water and conjuring over it,
sprinkled some of it upon Ali, saying, “Take thou form of dog.”
Whereupon he straightway became a dog, and the Jew and his daughter
drank together till the morning, when the father laid up the dress and
charger and mounted his mule. Then he conjured over the dog, which
followed him, as he rode towards the town, and all dogs barked at
Ali[254] as he passed, till he came to the shop of a broker, a seller of
second-hand goods, who rose and drove away the dogs, and Ali lay down
before him. The Jew turned and looked for him, but finding him not,
passed onwards. Presently, the broker shut up his shop and went home,
followed by the dog, which, when his daughter saw enter the house, she
veiled her face and said, “O my papa, dost thou bring a strange man in
to me?” He replied, “O my daughter, this is a dog.” Quoth she, “Not so,
’tis Ali the Cairene, whom the Jew Azariah hath enchanted;” and she
turned to the dog and said to him, “Art not Ali of Cairo?” And he signed
to her with his head, “Yes.” Then her father asked her, “Why did the Jew
enchant him?”; and she answered, “Because of his daughter Kamar’s dress;
but I can release him.” Said the broker, “An thou canst indeed do him
this good office, now is the time,” and she, “If he will marry me, I
will release him.” And he signed to her with his head, “Yes.” So she
took a cup of water, graven with certain signs and conjuring over it,
was about to sprinkle Ali therewith, when lo and behold! she heard a
great cry and the cup fell from her hand. She turned and found that it
was her father’s handmaid, who had cried out; and she said to her, “O my
mistress, is’t thus thou keepest the covenant between me and thee? None
taught thee this art save I, and thou didst agree with me that thou
wouldst do naught without consulting me and that whoso married thee
should marry me also, and that one night should be mine and one night
thine.” And the broker’s daughter said, “’Tis well.” When the broker
heard the maid’s words, he asked his daughter, “Who taught the maid?”;
and she answered, “O my papa, enquire of herself.” So he put the
question and she replied, “Know, O my lord, that, when I was with
Azariah the Jew, I used to spy upon him and listen to him, when he
performed his gramarye; and when he went forth to his shop in Baghdad, I
opened his books and read in them, till I became skilled in the
Cabbala-science. One day, he was warm with wine and would have me lie
with him, but I objected, saying, I may not grant thee this except thou
become a Moslem. He refused and I said to him, Now for the Sultan’s
market.[255] So he sold me to thee and I taught my young mistress,
making it a condition with her that she should do naught without my
counsel, and that whoso might wed her should wed me also, one night for
me and one night for her.” Then she took a cup of water and conjuring
over it, sprinkled the dog therewith; saying, “Return thou to form of
man.” And he straightway was restored to his former shape; whereupon the
broker saluted him with the salam and asked him the reason of his
enchantment. So Ali told him all that had passed——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Eighteenth Night,