Once upon a time a rich farmer lived in a village near Korzian, who was in the
habit of going into the wood late in the evening. One evening he went back
again into the wood very late, when he distinctly heard the name Zurkielis
shouted. He followed the voice, but could not discover from whence the sound
proceeded.
On the next evening the farmer went into the wood, and did not wait long
before he heard the cry repeated, but this time much louder and more
distinctly. On the third evening the farmer went again to the wood; but this
time on Valpurgis-night--the Witch's Sabbath. Suddenly he saw a light appear
in the distance; then more lights shone out, and the light grew stronger and
stronger; and presently the farmer saw a strange procession advancing, and
passing by him. In front of the procession ran a great number of mice of all
sorts, each of whom carried a jewel in his mouth which shone brighter than the
sun. After these came a golden chariot, drawn by a lion, a bear, and two
wolves. The chariot shone like fire, and, instead of nails, it was studded
with dazzling jewels. In the chariot sat the King of the Rats and his consort,
both clad in golden raiment. The King of the Rats wore a golden crown on his
head, and his consort marshalled the procession. After the chariot followed a
vast procession of rats, each of whom carried a torch, and the sparks which
flew from the torches fell to the earth as jewels. Some of the rats were
shouting "Zurkielis" incessantly; and whenever a rat uttered this cry, a piece
of gold fell from his mouth. The procession was followed by a great number of
fantastic forms, which collected the gold from the ground, and put it into
large sacks. When the farmer saw this he also gathered together as much of the
gold and jewels as he could reach. Presently a cock crew, and everything
vanished. The farmer returned to his house, but the gold and jewels gave him a
very tangible proof that the adventure had not been a dream.
A year passed by, and on the next Valpurgis-night the farmer went back to the
wood, and everything happened as on the year before. The farmer became
immensely rich from the gold and jewels which he collected; and on the third
anniversary of the Valpurgis-night he did not go to the wood, but remained
quietly at home. He was quite rich enough, and he was afraid that some harm
might happen to him in the wood. But on the following morning a rat appeared,
and addressed him as follows: "You took the gold and jewels, but this year you
did not think it needful to pay our king and his consort the honour due to
them by appearing before them during the procession in the wood; and
henceforward it will go ill with you."
Having thus spoken, the rat disappeared; but shortly afterwards such a host of
rats took up their abode in the farmer's house that it was impossible for him
to defend himself against them. The rats gnawed everything in the house, and
whatever was brought into it. In time the farmer was reduced to beggary, and
died in wretchedness.
Story of the Second Lunatic (pp. 67-74).
This is a variant of "Woman's Craft" (No. 184 of our Table), or "Woman's
Wiles," (Supp. Nights, ii. pp. 135-148). Mr. L. C. Smithers tells me that an
English version of this story, based upon Langl�s' translation (Cf. Nights, x.
App., p. 498, sub "Sindbad the Sailor"), appeared in the Literary Souvenir for
1831, under the title of "Woman's Wit."
Pp. 69-76.--Concerning the Shikk and the Nesn�s, Lane writes (1001 Nights, i.,
Introd. note 21): "The Shikk is another demoniacal creature, having the form
of half a human being (like a man divided longitudinally); and it is believed
that the Nesn�s is the offspring of a Shikk and of a human being. The Shikk
appears to travellers; and it was a demon of this kind who killed, and was
killed by, 'Alkamah, the son of Safw�n, the son of Umeiyeh, of whom it is well
known that he was killed by a Jinnee. So says El-Kazweenee.
"The Nesn�s (above-mentioned) is described as resembling half a human being,
having half a head, half a body, one arm, and one leg, with which it hops with
much agility; as being found in the woods of El-Yemen, and being endowed with
speech; 'but God,' it is added, 'is all-knowing.' (El-Kazweenee in the
khatimeh of his work.) It is said that it is found in Hadram�t as well as
El-Yemen; and that one was brought alive to El-Mutawekkil; it resembled a man
in form, excepting that it had but half a face, which was in its breast, and a
tail like that of a sheep. The people of Hadram�t, it is added, eat it; and
its flesh is sweet. It is only generated in their country. A man who went
there asserted that he saw a captured Nesn�s, which cried out for mercy,
conjuring him by God and by himself. (Mi-r�t ez-Zem�n.) A race of people whose
head is in the breast is described as inhabiting an island called J�beh
(supposed to be Java) in the Sea of El-Hind or India; and a kind of Nesn�s is
also described as inhabiting the Island of R��j, in the Sea of Es-Seen, or
China, and having wings like those of the bat. (Ibn El-Wardee.)" Compare also
an incident in the story of Janshah (Nights v. p. 333, and note) and the
description of the giant Haluka in Forbes' translation of the Persian Romance
of Hatim Tai (p. 47): "In the course of an hour the giant was so near as to be
distinctly seen in shape like an immense dome. He had neither hands nor feet,
but a tremendous mouth, situated in the midst of his body. He advanced with an
evolving motion, and from his jaws issued volumes of flame and clouds of
smoke." When his reflection was shown him in a mirror, he burst with rage.
I may add that a long-tailed species of African monkey (Cercopithecus
Pyrrhonotus) is now known to naturalists as the Nisnas.
Story of the Broken-backed Schoolmaster (pp. 95-97).
I once heard a tale of two Irishmen, one of whom lowered the other over a
cliff, probably in search of the nests of sea-fowl. Presently the man at the
top called out, "Hold hard while I spit on my hands," so he loosed the rope
for that purpose, and his companion incontinently disappeared with it.
Story of the Split-mouthed Schoolmaster (pp. 97-101).
In Scott's "Story of the Wry-mouthed Schoolmaster" (Arabian Nights, vi. pp. 74-75) the schoolmaster crams a boiling egg into his mouth, which the boy smashes.
Night Adventure of Sultan Mohammed of Cairo (pp.
90-109).
P. 103.--Scott (vi. p. 403) makes the proclamation read, "Whoever presumes
after the first watch of the night to have a lamp lighted in his house, shall
have his head struck off, his goods confiscated, his house razed to the
ground, and his women dishonoured." A proclamation in such terms under the
circumstances (though not meant seriously) would be incredible, even in the
East.
Story of the Kazi Who Bare a Babe (pp. 167-185).
In the Esthonian Kalevipoeg we read of two giants who lay down to sleep on
opposite sides of the table after eating a big supper of thick peas-soup. An
unfortunate man was hidden under the table, and the consequence was that he
was blown backwards and forwards between them all night.
History of the Bhang-Eater and His Wife (pp. 202-209).
Selling a bull or a cow in the manner described is a familiar incident in
folk-lore; and in Rivi�re's "Contes Populaires Kabyles" we find a variant of
the present story under the title of "L'Idiot et le Coucou." In another form,
the cow or other article is exchanged for some worthless, or apparently
worthless, commodity, as in Jack and the Bean-stalk; Hans im Gl�ck; or as in
the case of Moses in the Vicar of Wakefield. The incident of the fool finding
a treasure occurs in Cazotte's story of Xailoun.[FN#642]
How Drummer Abu Kasim Became a Kazi (pp. 210-212).
I have heard an anecdote of a man who was sued for the value of a bond which
he had given payable one day after the day of judgment. The judge ruled, "This
is the day of judgment, and I order that the bill must be paid to-morrow!"
Story of the Kazi and His Slipper (pp. 212-215).
This story is well known in Europe, though not as forming part of The Nights.
Mr. W. A. Clouston informs me that it first appeared in Cardonne's "M�langes
de litt�rature orientale" (Paris, 1770). Cf. Nights x. App. pp. 509 and 512.
History of the Third Larrikin (pp. 296-297).
Such mistakes must be very frequent. I remember once seeing a maid stoop down
with a jug in her hand, when she knocked her head against the table. Some one
sitting by, thinking it was the jug, observed, "Never mind, there's nothing in
it."
Another time I was driving out in the country with a large party, and our host
got out to walk across to another point. Presently he was missed, and they
inquired, "Where is he?" There was a dog lying in the carriage, and one of the
party looked round, and not seeing the dog, responded, "Why, where is the
dog?"
Tale of the Fisherman and His Son (pp. 314-329).
The present story, though not very important in itself, is interesting as
combining some of the features of three distinct classes of folk-tales. One of
these is the anti-Jewish series, of which Grimm's story of the Jew in the
Bramble-Bush is one of the most typical examples. According to these tales,
any villany is justifiable, if perpetrated on a Jew. We find traces of this
feeling even in Shakspeare, and to this day Shylock (notwithstanding the
grievous wrongs which he had suffered at the hands of Christians) rarely gets
much sympathy from modern readers, who quite overlook all the extenuating
circumstances in his case.[FN#643] Nor do we always find the Jew famous for
'cuteness in folk-tales. This phase of his reputation is comparatively modern,
and in the time of Horace, "Credat Jud�us" was a Roman proverb, which means,
freely translated, "Nobody would be fool enough to believe it except a Jew."
The present story combines the features of the anti-Jewish tales, the Alaeddin
series, and the Grateful Beasts series. (Compare Mr. W. A. Clouston's remarks
on Aladdin, Supp. Nights, App. iii., pp. 564-581; and also his "Tales and
Popular Fictions.")
In vol. 53 of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1884, pp. 24-39) I
find a Nicobar story which relates how Tiomberombi received a magic mirror
from a snake whose enemy he had killed. Its slaves obeyed all his orders if he
only put the key into the keyhole, but he was not allowed to open the mirror,
as he was too weak to face the spirits openly. He dwelt on an island, but when
a hostile fleet came against him, the gunners could not hit it, as the island
became invisible. The hostile chief sent an old woman to worm the secret out
of Tiomberombi's wife; the mirror was stolen, and Tiomberombi and his wife
were carried off. On reaching land, Tiomberombi was thrown into prison, but he
persuaded the rats to fetch him the mirror.[FN#644] He destroyed his enemies,
went home, and re-established himself on his island, warning his wife and
mother not to repeat what had happened, lest the island should sink. They told
the story while he was eating; the island sank into the sea, and they were all
drowned.
The History of Abu Niyyah and Abu Niyyatayn (pp.
334-352).
This story combines features which we find separately in Nos. 3b (ba); 162 and
198. The first story, the Envier and the Envied, is very common in folk-lore,
and has been sometimes used in modern fairy-tales. The reader will remember
the Tailor and the Shoemaker in Hans Christian Andersen's "Eventyr."
Frequently, as in the latter story, the good man, instead of being thrown into
a well, is blinded by the villain, and abandoned in a forest, where he
afterwards recovers his sight. One of the most curious forms of this story is
the Samoghitian