Basim acquainted the old grocer with all the doings of Queen Lab and
what he had seen of her proceedings, the Shaykh gave him to know that
all the birds upon the tree were young men and strangers whom she had
enchanted, and that the black bird was one of her Mamelukes whom she had
transmewed. “And,” continued the Shaykh, “whenas she lusteth after him
she transformeth herself into a she-bird that he may enjoy her, for she
still loveth him with passionate love. When she found that thou knewest
of her case, she plotted evil against thee, for she loveth thee not
wholly. But no harm shall betide thee from her, so long as I protect
thee; therefore fear nothing; for I am a Moslem, by name Abdallah, and
there is none in my day more magical than I; yet do I not make use of
gramarye save upon constraint. Many a time have I put to naught the
sorceries of yonder accursed and delivered folk from her, and I care not
for her, because she can do me no hurt: nay, she feareth me with
exceeding fear, as do all in the city who, like her, are magicians and
serve the fire, not the Omnipotent Sire. So to-morrow, come thou to me
and tell me what she doth with thee; for this very night she will cast
about to destroy thee, and I will tell thee how thou shalt do with her,
that thou mayst save thyself from her malice.” Then King Badr Basim
farewelled the Shaykh and returned to the Queen whom he found awaiting
him. When she saw him, she rose and seating him and welcoming him
brought him meat and drink and the two ate till they had enough and
washed their hands; after which she called for wine and they drank till
the night was well nigh half spent, when she plied him with cup after
cup till he was drunken and lost sense[343] and wit. When she saw him
thus, she said to him, “I conjure thee by Allah and by whatso thou
worshippest, if I ask thee a question wilt thou inform me rightly and
answer me truly?” And he being drunken, answered, “Yes, O my lady.”
Quoth she, “O my lord and light of mine eyes, when thou awokest last
night and foundest me not, thou soughtest me, till thou sawest me in the
garden, under the guise of a white she-bird, and also thou sawest the
black bird leap on me and tread me. Now I will tell the truth of this
matter. That black bird was one of my Mamelukes, whom I loved with
exceeding love; but one day he cast his eyes upon a certain of my
slave-girls, wherefore jealousy gat hold upon me and I transformed him
by my spells into a black bird and her I slew. But now I cannot endure
without him a single hour; so, whenever I lust after him, I change
myself into a she-bird and go to him, that he may leap me and enjoy me,
even as thou hast seen. Art thou not therefore incensed against me,
because of this, albeit, by the virtue of Fire and Light, Shade and
Heat, I love thee more than ever and have made thee my portion of the
world?” He answered (being drunken), “Thy conjecture of the cause of my
rage is correct, and it had no reason other than this.” With this she
embraced him and kissed him and made great show of love to him; then she
lay down to sleep and he by her side. Presently, about midnight she rose
from the carpet-bed and King Badr Basim was awake; but he feigned sleep
and watched stealthily to see what she would do. She took out of a red
bag a something red, which she planted a-middlemost the chamber, and it
became a stream, running like the sea; after which she took a handful of
barley and strewing it on the ground, watered it with water from the
river; whereupon it became wheat in the ear, and she gathered it and
ground it into flour. Then she set it aside and returning to bed, lay
down by Badr Basim till morning when he arose and washed his face and
asked her leave to visit the Shaykh his uncle. She gave him permission
and he repaired to Abdallah and told him what had passed. The old man
laughed and said, “By Allah, this miscreant witch plotteth mischief
against thee; but reck thou not of her ever!” Then he gave him a pound
of parched corn[344] and said to him, “Take this with thee and know
that, when she seeth it, she will ask thee:—What is this and what wilt
thou do with it? Do thou answer:—Abundance of good things is good; and
eat of it. Then will she bring forth to thee parched grain of her own
and say to thee:—Eat of this Sawík; and do thou feign to her that thou
eatest thereof, but eat of this instead, and beware and have a care lest
thou eat of hers even a grain; for, an thou eat so much as a grain
thereof, her spells will have power over thee and she will enchant thee
and say to thee:—Leave this form of a man. Whereupon thou wilt quit
thine own shape for what shape she will. But, an thou eat not thereof,
her enchantments will be null and void and no harm will betide thee
therefrom; whereat she will be shamed with shame exceeding and say to
thee:—I did but jest with thee! Then will she make a show of love and
fondness to thee; but this will all be but hypocrisy in her and craft.
And do thou also make a show of love to her and say to her:—O my lady
and light of mine eyes, eat of this parched barley and see how delicious
it is. And if she eat thereof, though it be but a grain, take water in
thy hand and throw it in her face, saying:—Quit this human form (for
what form soever thou wilt have her take). Then leave her and come to me
and I will counsel thee what to do.” So Badr Basim took leave of him and
returning to the palace, went in to the Queen, who said to him, “Welcome
and well come and good cheer to thee!” And she rose and kissed him,
saying, “Thou hast tarried long from me, O my lord.” He replied, “I have
been with my uncle, and he gave me to eat of this Sawik.” Quoth she, “We
have better than that.” Then she laid his parched Sawik in one plate and
hers in another and said to him, “Eat of this, for ’tis better than
thine.” So he feigned to eat of it and when she thought he had done so,
she took water in her hand and sprinkled him therewith, saying, “Quit
this form, O thou gallows-bird, thou miserable, and take that of a mule
one-eyed and foul of favour.” But he changed not; which when she saw,
she arose and went up to him and kissed him between the eyes, saying, “O
my beloved, I did but jest with thee; bear me no malice because of
this.” Quoth he, “O my lady, I bear thee no whit of malice; nay, I am
assured that thou lovest me: but eat of this my parched barley.” So she
eat a mouthful of Abdallah’s Sawik; but no sooner had it settled in her
stomach than she was convulsed; and King Badr Basim took water in his
palm and threw it in her face, saying, “Quit this human form and take
that of a dapple mule.” No sooner had he spoken than she found herself
changed into a she-mule, whereupon the tears rolled down her cheeks and
she fell to rubbing her muzzle against his feet. Then he would have
bridled her, but she would not take the bit; so he left her and, going
to the grocer, told him what had passed. Abdallah brought out for him a
bridle and bade him rein her forthwith. So he took it to the palace, and
when she saw him, she came up to him and he set the bit in her mouth and
mounting her, rode forth to find the Shaykh. But when the old man saw
her, he rose and said to her, “Almighty Allah confound thee, O accursed
woman!” Then quoth he to Badr, “O my son, there is no more tarrying for
thee in this city; so ride her and fare with her whither thou wilt and
beware lest thou commit the bridle[345] to any.” King Badr thanked him
and farewelling him, fared on three days, without ceasing, till he drew
near another city and there met him an old man, gray-headed and comely,
who said to him, “Whence comest thou, O my son?” Badr replied, “From the
city of this witch”; and the old man said, “Thou art my guest to-night.”
He consented and went with him; but by the way behold, they met an old
woman, who wept when she saw the mule, and said, “There is no god but
_the_ God! Verily, this mule resembleth my son’s she-mule, which is
dead, and my heart acheth for her; so, Allah upon thee, O my lord, do
thou sell her to me!” He replied, “By Allah, O my mother, I cannot sell
her.” But she cried, “Allah upon thee, do not refuse my request, for my
son will surely be a dead man except I buy him this mule.” And she
importuned him, till he exclaimed, “I will not sell her save for a
thousand dinars,” saying in himself, “Whence should this old woman get a
thousand gold pieces?” Thereupon she brought out from her girdle a purse
containing a thousand ducats, which when King Badr Basim saw, he said,
“O my mother, I did but jest with thee; I cannot sell her.” But the old
man looked at him and said, “O my son, in this city none may lie, for
whoso lieth they put to death.” So King Badr Basim lighted down from the
mule.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Badr Basim
dismounted from and delivered the mule to the old woman, she drew the
bit from her mouth and, taking water in her hand, sprinkled the mule
therewith, saying, “O my daughter, quit this shape for that form wherein
thou wast aforetime!” Upon this she was straightway restored to her
original semblance and the two women embraced and kissed each other. So
King Badr Basim knew that the old woman was Queen Lab’s mother and that
he had been tricked and would have fled; when, lo! the old woman
whistled a loud whistle and her call was obeyed by an Ifrit as he were a
great mountain, whereat Badr was affrighted and stood still. Then the
old woman mounted on the Ifrit’s back, taking her daughter behind her
and King Badr Basim before her, and the Ifrit flew off with them; nor
was it a full hour ere they were in the palace of Queen Lab, who sat
down on the throne of kingship and said to Badr, “Gallows-bird that thou
art, now am I come hither and have attained to that I desired and soon
will I show thee how I will do with thee and with yonder old man the
grocer! How many favours have I shown him! Yet he doth me frowardness;
for thou hast not attained thine end but by means of him.” Then she took
water and sprinkled him therewith, saying, “Quit the shape wherein thou
art for the form of a foul-favoured fowl, the foulest of all fowls; and
she set him in a cage and cut off from him meat and drink;” but one of
her women seeing this cruelty, took compassion on him and gave him food
and water without her knowledge. One day, the damsel took her mistress
at unawares and going forth the palace, repaired to the old grocer, to
whom she told the whole case, saying, “Queen Lab is minded to make an
end of thy brother’s son.” The Shaykh thanked her and said, “There is no
help but that I take the city from her and make thee Queen thereof in
her stead.” Then he whistled a loud whistle and there came forth to him
an Ifrit with four wings, to whom he said, “Take up this damsel and
carry her to the city of Julnar the Sea-born and her mother
Faráshah[346] for they twain are the most powerful magicians on face of
earth.” And he said to the damsel, “When thou comest thither, tell them
that King Badr Basim is Queen Lab’s captive.” Then the Ifrit took up his
load and, flying off with her, in a little while set her down upon the
terrace roof of Queen Julnar’s palace. So she descended and going in to
the Queen, kissed the earth and told her what had passed to her son,
first and last, whereupon Julnar rose to her and entreated her with
honour and thanked her. Then she let beat the drums in the city and
acquainted her lieges and the lords of her realm with the good news that
King Badr Basim was found; after which she and her mother Farashah and
her brother Salih assembled all the tribes of the Jinn and the troops of
the main; for the Kings of the Jinn obeyed them since the taking of King
Al-Samandal. Presently they all flew up into the air and lighting down
on the city of the sorceress, sacked the town and the palace and slew
all the Unbelievers therein in the twinkling of an eye. Then said Julnar
to the damsel, “Where is my son?” And the slave-girl brought her the
cage and signing to the bird within, cried, “This is thy son.” So Julnar
took him forth of the cage and sprinkled him with water, saying, “Quit
this shape for the form wherein thou wast aforetime;” nor had she made
an end of her speech ere he shook and became a man as before; whereupon
his mother, seeing him restored to human shape, embraced him and he wept
with sore weeping. On like wise did his uncle Salih and his grandmother
and the daughters of his uncle and fell to kissing his hands and feet.
Then Julnar sent for Shaykh Abdallah and thanking him for his kind
dealing with her son, married him to the damsel, whom he had despatched
to her with news of him, and made him King of the city. Moreover, she
summoned those who survived of the citizens (and they were Moslems), and
made them swear fealty to him and take the oath of loyalty, whereto they
replied, “Hearkening and obedience!” Then she and her company farewelled
him and returned to their own capital. The townsfolk came out to meet
them, with drums beating, and decorated the place three days and held
high festival, of the greatness of their joy for the return of their
King Badr Basim. After this Badr said to his mother, “O my mother,
naught remains but that I marry and we be all united.” She replied,
“Right is thy rede, O my son, but wait till we ask who befitteth thee
among the daughters of the Kings.” And his grandmother Farashah, and the
daughters of both his uncles said, “O Badr Basim, we will help thee to
win thy wish forthright.” Then each of them arose and fared forth
questing in the lands, whilst Julnar sent out her waiting women on the
necks of Ifrits, bidding them leave not a city nor a King’s palace
without noting all the handsome girls that were therein. But, when King
Badr Basim saw the trouble they were taking in this matter, he said to
Julnar, “O my mother, leave this thing, for none will content me save
Jauharah, daughter of King Al-Samandal; for that she is indeed a
jewel,[347] according to her name.” Replied Julnar, “I know that which
thou seekest;” and bade forthright bring Al-Samandal the King. As soon
as he was present, she sent for Badr Basim and acquainted him with the
King’s coming, whereupon he went in to him. Now when Al-Samandal was
aware of his presence, he rose to him and saluted him and bade him
welcome; and King Badr Basim demanded of him his daughter Jauharah in
marriage. Quoth he, “She is thine handmaid and at thy service and
disposition,” and despatched some of his suite bidding them seek her
abode and, after telling her that her sire was in the hands of King Badr
Basim, to bring her forthright. So they flew up into the air and
disappeared and they returned after a while, with the Princess who, as
soon as she saw her father, went up to him and threw her arms round his
neck. Then looking at her he said, “O my daughter, know that I have
given thee in wedlock to this magnanimous Sovran, and valiant lion King
Badr Basim, son of Queen Julnar the Sea-born, for that he is the
goodliest of the folk of his day and most powerful and the most exalted
of them in degree and the noblest in rank; he befitteth none but thee
and thou none but him.” Answered she, “I may not gainsay thee, O my
sire; do as thou wilt, for indeed chagrin and despite are at an end, and
I am one of his handmaids.” So they summoned the Kazi and the witnesses
who drew up the marriage-contract between King Badr Basim and the
Princess Jauharah, and the citizens decorated the city and beat the
drums of rejoicing, and they released all who were in the jails, whilst
the King clothed the widows and the orphans and bestowed robes of honour
upon the Lords of the Realm and Emirs and Grandees: and they made
bride-feasts and held high festival night and morn ten days, at the end
of which time they displayed the bride, in nine different dresses,
before King Badr Basim who bestowed an honourable robe upon King
Al-Samandal and sent him back to his country and people and kinsfolk.
And they ceased not from living the most delectable of life and the most
solaceful of days, eating and drinking and enjoying every luxury, till
there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of
Societies; and this is the end of their story,[348] may Allah have mercy
on them all! Moreover, O auspicious King, a tale is also told anent
-----
Footnote 302:
In the Mac. Edit. “Shahzamán,” a corruption of Sháh Zamán = King of
the Age. (See vol. i. 2.)
Footnote 303:
For a note on this subject see vol. ii. 1.
Footnote 304:
_i.e._ bathe her and apply cosmetics to remove all traces of travel.
Footnote 305:
These pretentious and curious displays of coquetry are not uncommon in
handsome slave-girls when newly bought; and it is a kind of pundonor
to humour them. They may also refuse their favours and a master who
took possession of their persons by brute force would be blamed by his
friends, men and women. Even the most despotic of despots, Fath Ali
Shah of Persia, put up with refusals from his slave-girls and did not,
as would the mean-minded, marry them to the grooms or cooks of the
palace.
Footnote 306:
Such continence is rarely shown by the young Jallabs or slave-traders;
when older they learn how much money is lost with the chattel’s
virginity.
Footnote 307:
Midwives in the East, as in the less civilised parts of the West, have
many nostrums for divining the sex of the unborn child.
Footnote 308:
Arabic (which has no written “g”) from Pers. Gulnár (Gul-i-anár)
pomegranate-flower, the “Gulnare” of Byron who learnt his Orientalism
at the Mekhitarist (Armenian) Convent, Venice. I regret to see the
little honour now paid to the gallant poet in the land where he should
be honoured the most. The systematic depreciation was begun by the
late Mr. Thackeray, perhaps the last man to value the noble
independence of Byron’s spirit; and it has been perpetuated, I regret
to see, by better judges. These critics seem wholly to ignore the fact
that Byron founded a school which covered Europe from Russia to Spain,
from Norway to Sicily, and which from England passed over to the two
Americas. This exceptional success, which has not yet fallen even to
Shakespeare’s lot, was due to genius only, for the poet almost ignored
study and poetic art. His great misfortune was being born in England
under the Georgium Sidus. Any Continental people would have regarded
him as one of the prime glories of his race.
Footnote 309:
Arab. “Fí al-Kamar,” which Lane renders “in the moonlight.” It seems
to me that the allusion is to the Comorin Islands; but the sequel
speaks simply of an island.
Footnote 310:
The Mac. Edit. misprints Julnár as Julnáz (so the Bul. Edit. ii. 233),
and Lane’s Jullanár is an Egyptian vulgarism. He is right in
suspecting the “White City” to be imaginary; but its sea has no
apparent connection with the Caspian. The mermen and mermaids appear
to him to be of an inferior order of the Jinn, termed Al-Ghawwásah,
the Divers, who fly through air and are made of fire which at times
issues from their mouths.
Footnote 311:
Arab. “’Alà Kulli hál,” a popular phrase, like the Anglo-American
“anyhow.”
Footnote 312:
In the text the name does not appear till near the end of the tale.
Footnote 313:
_i.e._ Full moon smiling.
Footnote 314:
These lines have occurred in vol. iii. 264, so I quote Lane ii. 499.
Footnote 315:
These lines occurred in vol. ii. 301. I quote Mr. Payne.
Footnote 316:
Arab. “Khadd” = cheek from the eye-orbit to the place where the beard
grows; also applied to the side of a rough highland, the side-planks
of a litter, etc. etc.
Footnote 317:
The black hair of youth.
Footnote 318:
This manner of listening is not held dishonourable amongst Arabs or
Easterns generally; who, however, hear as little good of themselves as
westerns declare in proverb.
Footnote 319:
Arab. “Hasab wa nasab,” before explained as inherited degree and
acquired dignity. See vol. iv. 171.
Footnote 320:
Arab. Mujájat = spittle running from the mouth: hence Lane, “is like
running saliva,” which, in poetry is not pretty.
Footnote 321:
Arab. and Heb. Salmandra from Pers. Samandal (—dar—duk—dun, etc), a
Salamander, a mouse which lives in fire, some say a bird in India and
China and others confuse with the chameleon (Bochart Hiero. Part ii.
chapt. vi).
Footnote 322:
Arab. “Mahá” one of the four kinds of wild cows or bovine antelopes,
bubalus, Antelope defassa, A. leucoryx, etc.
Footnote 323:
These lines have occurred in vol. iii. 279; so I quote Lane (iii. 274)
by way of variety; although I do not like his “bowels.”
Footnote 324:
The last verse (286) of chapt. ii. The Cow: “compelleth” in the sense
of “burdeneth.”
Footnote 325:
Salih’s speeches are euphuistic.
Footnote 326:
From the Fátihah.
Footnote 327:
A truly Eastern saying, which ignores the “old maids” of the West.
Footnote 328:
_i.e._ naming her before the lieges as if the speaker were her and his
superior. It would have been more polite not to have gone beyond “the
unique pearl and the hoarded jewel”: the offensive part of the speech
was using the girl’s name.
Footnote 329:
Meaning emphatically that one and all were nobodies.
Footnote 330:
Arab. Badr, the usual pun.
Footnote 331:
Arab. Kirát (κεράτιον) the bean of the _Abrus precatorius_, used as a
weight in Arabia and India and as a bead for decoration in Africa. It
is equal to four Kamhahs or wheat-grains and about 3 grs. avoir.; and
being the twenty-fourth of a miskal, it is applied to that proportion
of everything. Thus the Arabs say of a perfect man, “He is of
four-and-twenty Kirát” _i.e._ pure gold. See vol. iii. 239.
Footnote 332:
The (she) myrtle: Kazimirski (A. de Biberstein) Dictionnaire
Arabe-Francais (Paris Maisonneuve 1867) gives Marsín = Rose de
Jericho: myrte.
Footnote 333:
Needless to note that the fowler had a right to expect a return
present worth double or treble the price of his gift. Such is the
universal practice of the East: in the West the extortioner says, “I
leave it to you, sir!”
Footnote 334:
And she does tell him all that the reader well knows.
Footnote 335:
This was for sprinkling him, but the texts omit that operation. Arabic
has distinct terms for various forms of metamorphosis. “Naskh” is
change from a lower to a higher, as beast to man; “Maskh” (the common
expression) is the reverse; “Raskh” is from animate to inanimate (man
to stone) and “Faskh” is absolute wasting away to corruption.
Footnote 336:
I render this improbable detail literally: it can only mean that the
ship was dashed against a rock.
Footnote 337:
Who was probably squatting on his shop-counter. The “Bakkál” (who must
not be confounded with the _épicier_), lit. “vender of herbs” =
greengrocer, and according to Richardson used incorrectly for Baddál
(?) vendor of provisions. Popularly it is applied to a seller of oil,
honey, butter and fruit, like the Ital. “Pizzicagnolo” =
Salsamentarius, and in N. West Africa to an inn-keeper.
Footnote 338:
Here the Shaykh is mistaken: he should have said, “The Sun in old
Persian.” “Almanac” simply makes nonsense of the Arabian Circe’s name.
In Arab. it is “Takwím,” whence the Span. and Port. “Tacuino:” in Heb.
Hakamathá-Takunah = sapientia dispositionis astrorum (Asiat. Research.
iii. 120).
Footnote 339:
_i.e._ for thy daily expenses.
Footnote 340:
_Un adolescent aime toutes les femmes._ Man is by nature polygamic
whereas woman as a rule is monogamic and polyandrous only when tired
of her lover. For the man, as has been truly said, loves the woman,
but the love of the woman is for the love of the man.
Footnote 341:
I have already noted that the heroes and heroines of Eastern
love-tales are always _bonnes fourchettes_: they eat and drink hard
enough to scandalise the sentimental amourist of the West; but it is
understood that this abundant diet is necessary to qualify them for
the Herculean labours of the love night.
Footnote 342:
Here again a little excision is necessary; the reader already knows
all about it.
Footnote 343:
Arab. “Hiss,” prop. speaking a perception (as of sound or motion) as
opposed to “Hadas,” a surmise or opinion without proof.
Footnote 344:
Arab. “Sawík,” the old and modern name for native frumenty, green
grain (mostly barley) toasted, pounded, mixed with dates or sugar and
eaten on journeys when cooking is impracticable. M. C. de Perceval
(iii. 54), gives it a different and now unknown name; and Mr. Lane
also applies it to “ptisane.” It named the “Day of Sawaykah” (for
which see Pilgrimage ii. 19), called by our popular authors the “War
of the Meal-sacks.”
Footnote 345:
Mr. Keightley (H. 122–24 Tales and Popular Fictions, a book now
somewhat obselete) remarks, “There is nothing said about the bridle in
the account of the sale (_infra_), but I am sure that in the original
tale, Badr’s misfortunes must have been owing to his having parted
with it. In Chaucer’s Squier’s Tale the bridle would also appear to
have been of some importance.” He quotes a story from the Notti
Piacevoli of Straparola, the Milanese, published at Venice in 1550.
And there is a popular story of the kind in Germany.
Footnote 346:
Here, for the first time we find the name of the mother who has often
been mentioned in the story. Faráshah is the fem. or singular form of
“Farásh,” a butterfly, a moth. Lane notes that his Shaykh gives it the
very unusual sense of “a locust.”
Footnote 347:
Punning upon Jauharah = “a jewel” a name which has an Hibernian smack.
Footnote 348:
In the old version “All the lovers of the Magic Queen resumed their
pristine forms as soon as she ceased to live;” moreover, they were all
sons of kings, princes, or persons of high degree.
KING MOHAMMED BIN SABAIK AND THE MERCHANT HASAN.