questions, commanding him to tell who he was and how he came there;
but the young man was not to be made to speak. Then the spokesman
ordered one of his comrades to go below and bring up an anvil and four
hammers, and when these had been brought, one of the ghosts blew up a
fire and threw the young man upon it. When he was heated to a glow
they laid him upon the anvil and beat him with hammers until he was as
flat as paper. But with all this he was not to be forced to speak.
The time was up and the ghosts must go. Before they went they told him
that he and all around him were blessed; and then the door flew open
and they vanished. He again arose, laid himself upon the bed, and sank
at once into slumber.
Next morning the three ladies, all in white from head to foot, came,
with the sound of music, to thank him for ransoming them, and they
gave him to choose among them for a wife. Now the youngest of them had
grown nearest his heart, and he declared himself ready to marry her,
not at once, but later, for first he wished to see something of the
world.
This being the case, they gave him a ham, a wooden flask of wine, a
loaf of bread, three dogs, and a pipe which hung by a golden chain,
and they told him that these dogs would come to his aid in every time
of need; he had only to call them by means of his pipe. And should he
be tired, he had only to seat himself upon one of them. So he took all
these things and went forth to see the world.
One day when he was travelling through a forest he arrived at a castle
and turned aside to enter. But the steps which led up were of such a
kind that he could not climb them; so he seated himself upon one of
his dogs and the animal carried him up. As he passed through the
entrance he peeped through a window and saw a Tiger and his wife, who
was combing his hair.
He went in to where they were, and the Tiger at once arose, led him
from room to room, and showed him many wonderful things. Everything
pleased the young man, except that the Tiger's wife kept the dogs shut
up in a room apart.
When he entered the fourth room he went around it, gazing upon the
many statues and paintings; and while thus doing he stepped upon a
board which gave way and let him fall into a cellar where it was as
dark as pitch. He groped around for a way of escape, but a damp, heavy
wind seemed to sweep all around him, and first he would wound his hand
and then his foot. So he thought to himself, "You won't come safely
out of this!"
After a while the Tiger let himself down by a rope, butcher-knife in
hand, intending to kill him. The young man begged for a half-hour's
respite, that he might do penance for his sins. This was granted, but
the time soon flew by, and the Tiger was already whetting his knife to
stab him, when the young man sprang aside, and his hand met the chain
upon which the pipe was hanging. He blew upon it, and quick as thought
the dogs were on the spot. He set them upon the Tiger, but as they
fell upon him the Tiger begged humbly for life, promising that his
wife would draw him and his dogs up out of the cellar.
So it came to pass; but they were no sooner out than he again set the
dogs upon the Tiger, who again began to beg, promising to give him a
salve which had the power of fastening against the wall any one upon
whose back it was rubbed, and keeping him there fast and firm until he
chose to let him go.
The youth took the salve and went on farther, till he reached a city
which was all shrouded in mourning. He entered and asked why every one
was in mourning, and received answer that a fearful Dragon was to come
that day and carry off the Emperor's daughter.
At this he laughed heartily, and said, "That may easily be helped;
just go and announce to the Emperor that I am ready to ransom the
Princess, if it is agreeable to him." This was announced, and the
Emperor received him into the castle with great joy.
As the appointed time for the Dragon's coming had arrived, the young
man placed himself in readiness. At the stroke of twelve the Dragon
suddenly appeared, driving four horses. The young man was waiting for
him, and as soon as the Dragon had taken the Princess by the hand to
carry her off he spread the salve upon his back, pressed him against
the wall, and set his dogs upon him. At the same time he belaboured
him with the butt-end of his musket, till the Dragon was quite
exhausted and began to beg off, promising to give a written agreement
never again to molest the Princess. When he had written the paper in
his own blood and signed it he vanished through the window.
Then the Emperor knew not what to do for joy. He offered his daughter
to the soldier to wife, or, if he liked it better, the half of his
kingdom. But the young man declined both offers and returned to his
own ladies, where he married the youngest with the greatest
festivities. As they came out of church to go to their house a new
city sprang up along the roadside. The hilarity was great. I myself
was among the guests, and after I had made merry to my heart's content
I set out upon the way home to Varazdin.
_The Two Melons_
An Honest and poor old woman was washing clothes at a pool, when a
bird that a hunter had disabled by a shot in the wing, fell down into
the water before her. She gently took up the bird, carried it home
with her, dressed its wound, and fed it until it was well, when it
soared away. Some days later it returned, put before her an oval seed,
and departed again. The woman planted the seed in her yard and when it
came up she recognized the leaf as that of a melon. She made a trellis
for it, and gradually a fruit formed on it, and grew to great size.
Toward the end of the year, the old dame was unable to pay her debts,
and her poverty so weighed upon her that she became ill. Sitting one
day at her door, feverish and tired, she saw that the melon was ripe,
and looked luscious; so she determined to try its unknown quality.
Taking a knife, she severed the melon from its stalk, and was
surprised to hear it chink in her hands. On cutting it in two, she
found it full of silver and gold pieces, with which she paid her debts
and bought supplies for many days.
Among her neighbours was a busybody who craftily found out how the old
woman had so suddenly become rich. Thinking there was no good reason
why she should not herself be equally fortunate, she washed clothes at
the pool, keeping a sharp lookout for birds until she managed to hit
and maim one of a flock that was flitting over the water. She then
took the disabled bird home, and treated it with care till its wing
healed and it flew away. Shortly afterward it came back with a seed in
its beak, laid it before her, and again took flight. The woman quickly
planted the seed, saw it come up and spread its leaves, made a trellis
for it, and had the gratification of seeing a melon form on its
stalk. In prospect of her future wealth, she ate rich food, bought
fine garments, and got so deeply into debt that, before the end of the
year, she was harried by duns. But the melon grew apace, and she was
delighted to find that, as it ripened, it became of vast size, and
that when she shook it there was a great rattling inside. At the end
of the year she cut it down, and divided it, expecting it to be a
coffer of coins; but there crawled out of it two old, lame, hungry
beggars, who told her they would remain and eat at her table as long
as they lived.
_The Iron Casket_
In Bagdad, in the little lane by the Golden Bridge, lived, ages ago, a
merchant named Kalif. He was a quiet, retiring man, who sat early and
late in his little shop, and went but once a year to Mosul or Shiraz,
where he bought embroidered robes in exchange for attar of roses.
On one of these journeys, chancing to have fallen a little in the rear
of his caravan, he heard roarings and trampling of horse's hoofs in
the thicket close by the roadside. Drawing his sword, which he wore on
account of thieves, he entered the thicket. On a little green,
surrounded by trees, he saw a horseman in a light blue mantle and a
turban fastened by a flashing diamond. The horse, an Arab of purest
blood, seemed to have lost its senses. Rearing upright with a piercing
neigh, it struggled vainly to dislodge an enormous panther, which had
fixed its great claws in its flanks. The rider had lost all control
over it; blood and foam poured from its mouth and nostrils. Kalif
sprang boldly out, with a mighty stroke split the panther's skull,
and, flinging away his sword, ran to the horse's head, thereby
enabling the rider to dismount. Having calmed the trembling animal,
the horseman begged his rescuer to follow him.
"I had lost my way in the chase," he said, "and should have fallen a
victim to the panther, if Allah had not sent you to my aid. I will
reward you well for your bravery. Come! let us seek my companions;
there, behind that wood, my camp must be."
"I did what any other would have done in my place," answered Kalif
simply, "and expect no reward. But if you so will it, I will accompany
you to your tents."
The stranger took his horse by the rein, and walked in silence at the
merchant's side till they arrived at an opening in the trees. Here,
surrounded by several smaller ones, stood one large tent of purple
linen. A number of richly clad men threw themselves on their faces
before the new-comer. Then Kalif knew whom he had saved: it was the
Shah himself. He was about to fall at his feet, but the Shah seized
his hand and led him into the tent. Inside, standing on five stools,
were five caskets, the first of gold set with jewels, the second of
gold alone, the third silver, the fourth copper, and the fifth of
iron.
"Choose one of these caskets," said the Shah.
Kalif hesitated. At length he said:
"What I did is not worthy of any reward, but if you will it, O King of
Kings, I will take one of these caskets to remind me of the day when
my eyes were permitted to behold the Light of Asia."
He stooped and took the iron casket.
The Shah started. "Stranger," he said, "your modesty has met with its
own reward. You have chosen the most valuable casket; for, look! the
others are empty, but this one contains two jewels which possess the
magic gift of bestowing undreamed-of power to their owner." He raised
the lid and showed the wondering Kalif the two stones. "This one," he
said, "is a lapis lazuli. Whosoever winds it in the folds of his
turban, to him everything is known that has happened since the world
began, and no secret can be hidden from him. But this stone," and he
took a diamond the size of a dove's egg from the casket, "this stone
brings all the riches he can think of to its owner. He has but to rub
the stone and repeat his wish aloud." He replaced the stones in the
casket, closed the lid, and handed it to the merchant, who thanked the
Shah, hid the treasure in his robes, and hastened to rejoin his
caravan.
Once again in his own house he often looked at the princely gift, and
one day as he was rubbing the lid he noticed an inscription upon it,
that had hitherto been unseen. It ran:--
"'Tis Allah's will that he who cherishes
The precious gift that never perishes.
Shall make the East to bend as low
As palms that in the whirlwind blow."
Kalif never spoke of his adventure in the Kalaat Mountains, neither
could he ever make up his mind to test the virtue of the stones, being
a frugal man on the one hand, and unwilling to surpass his neighbours
in wisdom on the other. But at length the news of the Shah's rescue by
the merchant reached even Bagdad, together with the account of the
Royal reward, and people jostled one another to call on the merchant
and see with their own eyes the wonderful casket. In consequence Kalif
had more customers in one day than he generally had in ten years, and
his daily receipts testified to the worth of the casket. For many
years he enjoyed the reward of his bravery, and at his death Ali
Haitam, the eldest son, proposed that they should draw lots for the
magic stones. He had great ideas of his own cleverness, and hoped from
the bottom of his heart to win the lapis lazuli. Ali Hassuf, the
second son, whose sole failing was insatiable greed, was quite
agreeable, though in secret he was revolving in his own mind how to
obtain the diamond in case it fell into the hands of the youngest son.
But just as they were about to draw, Abdul Kassim, the youngest son,
said: "Dear brothers, we are three, and there are but two stones. It
would be better, therefore, for one to renounce his claim in order
that no dispute may arise in our hitherto peace-loving family. I am
the youngest, and therefore can have least claim on the stones. Throw
to decide which stone shall fall to each. I resign!"
The other two were delighted and, as it happened, each got the stone
he desired.
"But in order that I may have a keepsake of my dear father," continued
Abdul Kassim, "permit me to take home the casket. It will be of no use
to you, since you have divided the contents."
Ali Hassuf hesitated at first, but finally agreed to Kassim's wish.
The three brothers left the empty house, and went each to seek his
fortune in his own way.
Ali Haitam bought a piece of muslin, folded it into a turban, sewed
the lapis lazuli inside, and fixed it firmly on his head. Then he went
to the bazaar and waited for an influx of wisdom, And see! The power
of the stone set to work and his mind was filled with knowledge! He
knew the origin of all things, and his eyes could see through walls
five feet thick! He passed the Caliph's palace, and he could see that
in the recesses of the cellars were hidden 9,000 sacks of gold, and
that Fatma, the daughter of the Caliph, was the most lovely maiden in
the East; and an idea occurred to him that dazzled him. "How would it
be," he thought, "if I placed my wisdom at the Caliph's disposal,
became his first adviser, and finally married the lovely Fatma?" But
together with this dream came the longing to display to an admiring
crowd some proofs of his wisdom.
He hurried back to the bazaar, mounted the highest steps at the gates,
and cried: "You people of Bagdad, who believe that the sun moves round
the earth, you are ignorant fools and sons of fools! Hear now what I
preach to you. The sun stands still, but the earth moves!"
He intended to continue, but the cries of the bystanders interrupted
him.
"Ali Haitam has gone mad," they cried; "listen to the nonsense he is
talking. Come, let us hold him head first under the lion's mouth at
the spring; that will restore him to reason!"
And one, a fruit dealer, took an orange, and crying, "Ali Haitam is
right, the sun moves just as little as this orange!" flung the orange
at the philosopher on the steps. The juicy fruit knocked the turban
from Ali's head. He stooped to regain it, but in vain. The fruit
dealer's throw was the signal for a general onslaught, so that he was
obliged to take to his heels and fly for home. Dusty and panting he
reached his hut, deeply grieved at the loss of his precious stone, and
furious at the stupidity of the people, who showed so little
understanding of the first principles of science.
The second brother started more cautiously. Since he had but seldom
been farther than the end of the narrow street by the Golden Bridge,
he was not in a position to think of anything very precious to wish
for; he therefore first visited the bazaar and asked the price of
everything he saw. At last he found something that, on account of its
high price, made a great impression on him. It was a Turkish sword
that a cunning jeweller had studded thickly with diamonds on handle
and sheath. The dealer asked fifteen hundred golden coins for it, and
the bystanders stared with open eyes at the man who dared to bargain
for such costly possessions. Just as Ali Hassuf was weighing the
precious sword in his hand, a palanquin was borne through the crowd.
He turned, and through the drawn curtains caught sight of a maiden of
wondrous beauty. When he heard that she was the Caliph's daughter, the
desire awoke in his soul to marry this lovely creature, and it seemed
to him not unlikely that the Caliph would give his daughter to a man
of such note as he would become as the possessor of the magic diamond.
He decided to buy the sword, and, armed with the same, to visit the
Caliph the very next day.
"I shall come again the very first thing to-morrow morning," he said
to the dealer. "I have not quite enough money with me now, but I shall
procure it this evening. I had quite expected," he added boastingly,
"that the sword would be expensive."
He turned and went home, where he saddled the thin ass and hung across
its back two large panniers. When it grew dark he softly drove the
beast through the yard and led it out into the desert. For about an
hour he walked, and in imagination saw himself in possession of all
the glories the talisman would bring him. He had not noticed that he
was followed by three dark forms, who had never lost sight of him
since his visit to the bazaar. He halted by a group of stunted palms,
spread out a large cloth, and with trembling fingers began to rub the
diamond, crying at the same time, "Spirit of the Stone! send me at
once twenty shekels of golden coins!" He waited a moment, and listened
in the darkness, thinking he heard whispering voices. But as all was
silent he repeated his wish for the second and third time. He heard a
noise as of the falling of soft, heavy weights, and, on stooping,
found twenty well-filled sacks. He opened one, and felt inside. And,
truly! it was really gold in bright new coins! With feverish haste he
slung the sacks on the ass's back, and turned its head homeward.
Suddenly he heard once more the same mysterious whisperings, this time
in his immediate neighbourhood. He stood still and listened with
bated breath. He felt himself seized by heavy hands and thrown to the
ground, and saw another form seize the ass. Two men with blackened
faces tore off his turban and robe and left him lying half-naked by
the roadside, after having warned him to keep quiet as to this attack
unless he wished to lose his life. Trembling with fright and rage, he
saw the robbers disappear with his ass in the direction of the
mountain. What pained him most was the loss of his diamond, which he
had concealed in his robe. He reached home, where he lay hidden for
weeks, too ashamed to show himself in the streets or at the bazaar.
But once as he sat on the Golden Bridge fishing, to try and provide
himself with a frugal meal, the weapon-dealer passed him by, and said:
"Well, Ali Hassuf, when are you coming for your sword?"
But sword and Princess were forever lost to Ali Hassuf.
In the meantime, as the two elder brothers were mourning their losses,
Abdul Kassim, the youngest, sat at home in his little house by the
gardens, thinking with regret of his father, and wondering what he
should do to earn himself his daily bread. Before him, on a little
stool, stood the iron casket. There came a knock at the door, and
Micha ben Jahzeel, the Jew, who had lent him money a month or two ago,
walked in. Micha looked grave and said, "Abdul Kassim, times are bad,
and ready money gets scarcer and scarcer. You know I lent you ten
golden coins, and I have come to ask"--his eyes fell on the casket and
he started, but collecting himself, went on: "I have come to tell you
that I am not in an immediate hurry for the return of the loan. If you
like you can keep it, or, as it is hardly worth mentioning, keep it
for some months, or even years if you like. I only wanted to tell you
you needn't trouble about it, there is no hurry at all." He bowed low
to his debtor and withdrew.
Abdul Kassim marvelled at the change in the Jew's manner, but as he
thought of the looks he had cast at the casket he couldn't help
smiling.
On the same evening came his neighbour, the clothes dealer, who had
not visited him for years, "Dear friend," he said, and placed a
bundle on the floor before Kassim, "I have come to entreat your pardon
that my horse should have splashed your robe with mud the other day;
he is a young thing, and is not yet properly broken. I have brought
you a new robe to replace it, which I hope will please you." Then he
withdrew. The young man could not recollect having been splashed by
his neighbour's horse, still less could he account for the generosity
of one who was celebrated for his meanness, in presenting him with
such an elaborately embroidered robe.
Next morning, just as he had put on his new robe, a distant relation
arrived, bringing a magnificently caparisoned horse.
"Dear cousin," he said--formerly he had not even noticed him--"your
appearance grieves me. I feared you were giving way too much to grief
at the loss of your father, and it would give me great pleasure to
cheer you a little. I have ventured to bring you this horse, which is
overcrowding my stable; do me the favour to accept this little gift!"
Abdul Kassim would have refused, but the cousin had hurried away.
There he stood, holding the beautiful animal by the bridle. He could
not resist the temptation to mount him. He swung himself into the
saddle and rode into the town. Every one bowed to him, and many stood
still, saying: "There, I told you so! Abdul Kassim was always the
favorite son, and he has inherited the casket!"
Next morning, as the barber sharpened his razor and began to shave the
Caliph, the latter asked him: "Well, Harmos, what are my subjects
talking about just now?"
The barber bowed to the ground and said: "What should they speak of, O
King of the Faithful, if not of your goodness and wisdom?"
"Of your idiocy, very likely," shouted the Caliph, bored by the
eternal flatteries of the barber. "Tell me, what are the people
talking about?"
"They talk," began Harmos hesitatingly; "they talk of the luck of your
servant, Abdul Kassim, whom they call the wisest and richest of your
subjects."
"Abdul Kassim? I don't even know his name," said the Caliph.
"He is the son and heir of Kalif," continued the barber, more
courageously; "the same Kalif whom the Shah once rewarded with a magic
casket."
He related at length all about the magic stones. The Caliph listened
attentively, dismissed the barber, and sent a message to the Grand
Vizier to come at once. The Vizier came and confirmed the barber's
tale. "Abdul Kassim," he said, "knows everything that goes on in the
world, and whenever he has a wish, all he has to do to fulfil it is to
rub the diamond and say what he wants."
The Caliph grew serious, "Do you think, Vizier, that this man could
usurp my throne? How would it be if I gave him a palace and raised him
to be the husband of my daughter?"
The Grand Vizier agreed to the proposal of his ruler, and undertook
himself to convey to the astounded Abdul Kassim the tidings that the
Commander of the Faithful had given him a palace and awaited his
visit.
The same evening the new favourite of the Caliph packed all his few
belongings on the horse's back, took the iron casket under his arm
and, amid the cheers of the crowd, entered the palace.
A troop of negroes received him and threw themselves at his feet. An
especially gorgeously arrayed slave led him into a room, where a
banquet awaited him. Abdul Kassim had never fared so well in his life.
But he did not forget to praise Allah for his goodness. Next morning
he put on his gorgeous robe, bound on the magnificent sword he found
in the great hall, and rode, accompanied by the negroes, to visit the
Caliph.
The Commander of the Faithful sat on the throne and awaited his
subject, who, when he appeared, was about to throw himself in the dust
at the ruler's feet, but the Caliph descended the three steps of the
throne, and took the young man's hand.
"Are you Abdul Kassim," he said, "son of Kalif, the merchant who lived
by the Golden Bridge?"
"I am he, Caliph," answered Abdul; "permit me to express my thanks
for the palace with which you have endowed your most humble servant."
"I have heard much good of you," said the Caliph, when he had ordered
his suite to retire; "and pray you to show me the magic jewels that
help you to such power and wisdom."
"Of which jewels are you speaking?" asked Abdul Kassim, amazed.
"Well," smiled the Caliph, "which jewels should I mean but those you
have inherited from your father?"
The young man stared. So the Caliph, too, took him for the possessor
of the magic stones? Without reserve he confessed that, to avoid
disputes he had voluntarily retired and left the stones to his
brothers.
"But," said the Caliph, "Micha ben Jahzeel, the Jew, saw the casket in
your house!"
"The casket he may have seen," answered Abdul Kassim; "I begged it of
my brothers in memory of my father."