Fisherman, after ending his song, set out with the basket upon his
shoulder and ceased not faring till he entered the city of Baghdad. And
as he threaded the streets the folk knew him and cried out to him,
saying, “What hast thou there, O Khalifah?” But he paid no heed to them
and passed on till he came to the market-street of the money-changers
and fared between the shops, as the ape had charged him, till he found
the Jew seated at the upper end, with his servants in attendance upon
him, as he were a King of the Kings of Khorasan. He knew him at first
sight; so he went up to him and stood before him, whereupon Abu
al-Sa’adat raised his eyes and recognising him, said, “Welcome, O
Khalifah! What wantest thou and what is thy need? If any have missaid
thee or spited thee, tell me and I will go with thee to the Chief of
Police, who shall do thee justice on him.” Replied Khalifah, “Nay, as
thy head liveth, O chief of the Jews, none hath missaid me. But I went
forth this morning to the river and, casting my net into the Tigris on
thy luck, brought up this fish.” Therewith he opened the basket and
threw the fish before the Jew who admired it and said, “By the
Pentateuch and the Ten Commandments,[203] I dreamt last night that the
Virgin came to me and said:—Know, O Abu al-Sa’adat, that I have sent
thee a pretty present! And doubtless ’tis this fish.” Then he turned to
Khalifah and said to him, “By thy faith, hath any seen it but I?”
Khalifah replied, “No, by Allah, and by Abu Bakr the Viridical,[204]
none hath seen it save thou, O chief of the Jews!” Whereupon the Jew
turned to one of his lads and said to him, “Come, carry this fish to my
house and bid Sa’ádah[205] dress it and fry and broil it, against I make
an end of my business and hie me home.” And Khalifah said, “Go, O my
lad; let the master’s wife fry some of it and broil the rest.” Answered
the boy, “I hear and I obey, O my lord” and, taking the fish, went away
with it to the house. Then the Jew put out his hand and gave Khalifah
the fisherman a dinar, saying, “Take this for thyself, O Khalifah, and
spend it on thy family.” When Khalifah saw the dinar on his palm, he
took it, saying, “Laud to the Lord of Dominion!” as if he had never seen
aught of gold in his life, and went somewhat away; but, before he had
gone far, he was minded of the ape’s charge and turning back threw down
the ducat, saying, “Take thy gold and give folk back their fish! Dost
thou make a laughing stock of folk?” The Jew hearing this thought he was
jesting and offered him two dinars upon the other, but Khalifah said,
“Give me the fish and no nonsense. How knewest thou I would sell it at
this price?” Whereupon the Jew gave him two more dinars and said, “Take
these five ducats for thy fish, and leave greed.” So Khalifah hent the
five dinars in hand and went away, rejoicing, and gazing and marvelling
at the gold and saying, “Glory be to God! There is not with the Caliph
of Baghdad what is with me this day!” Then he ceased not faring on till
he came to the end of the market-street, when he remembered the words of
the ape and his charge and returning to the Jew, threw him back the
gold. Quoth he, “What aileth thee, O Khalifah? Dost thou want silver in
exchange for gold?” Khalifah replied, “I want nor dirhams nor dinars. I
only want thee to give me back folk’s fish.” With this the Jew waxed
wroth and shouted out at him, saying, “O fisherman, thou bringest me a
fish not worth a sequin and I give thee five for it; yet art thou not
content! Art thou Jinn-mad? Tell me for how much thou wilt sell it.”
Answered Khalifah, “I will not sell it for silver nor for gold, only for
two sayings[206] thou shalt say me.” When the Jew heard speak of the
“Two Sayings,” his eyes sank into his head, he breathed hard and ground
his teeth for rage and said to him, “O nail-paring of the Moslems, wilt
thou have me throw off my faith for the sake of thy fish, and wilt thou
debauch me from my religion and stultify my belief and my conviction
which I inherited of old from my forbears?” Then he cried out to the
servants who were in waiting and said, “Out on you! Bash me this unlucky
rogue’s neck and bastinado him soundly!” So they came down upon him with
blows and ceased not beating him till he fell beneath the shop, and the
Jew said to them, “Leave him and let him rise.” Whereupon Khalifah
jumped up, as if naught ailed him, and the Jew said to him, “Tell me
what price thou asketh for this fish and I will give it thee: for thou
hast gotten but scant good of us this day.” Answered the Fisherman,
“Have no fear for me, O master, because of the beating; for I can eat
ten donkeys’ rations of stick.” The Jew laughed at his words and said,
“Allah upon thee, tell me what thou wilt have and by the right of my
Faith, I will give it thee!” The Fisherman replied, “Naught from thee
will remunerate me for this fish save the two words whereof I spake.”
And the Jew said, “Meseemeth thou wouldst have me become a Moslem?”[207]
Khalifah rejoined, “By Allah, O Jew, an thou islamise ’twill nor
advantage the Moslems nor damage the Jews; and in like manner, an thou
hold to thy misbelief ’twill nor damage the Moslems nor advantage the
Jews. But what I desire of thee is that thou rise to thy feet and
say:—Bear witness against me, O people of the market, that I barter my
ape for the ape of Khalifah the Fisherman and my lot in the world for
his lot and my luck for his luck.” Quoth the Jew, “If this be all thou
desirest ’twill sit lightly upon me.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Jew said to
Khalifah the Fisherman, “If this be all thou desirest, ’twill sit
lightly upon me.” So he rose without stay or delay and standing on his
feet, repeated the required words; after which he turned to the
Fisherman and asked him, “Hast thou aught else to ask of me?” “No,”
answered he, and the Jew said, “Go in peace!” Hearing this Khalifah
sprung to his feet forthright; took up his basket and net and returned
straight to the Tigris, where he threw his net and pulled it in. He
found it heavy and brought it not ashore but with travail, when he found
it full of fish of all kinds. Presently, up came a woman with a dish,
who gave him a dinar, and he gave her fish for it; and after her an
eunuch, who also bought a dinar’s worth of fish, and so forth till he
had sold ten dinars’ worth. And he continued to sell ten dinars’ worth
of fish daily for ten days, till he had gotten an hundred dinars. Now
Khalifah the Fisherman had quarters in the Passage of the
Merchants,[208] and, as he lay one night in his lodging much bemused
with Hashísh, he said to himself, “O Khalifah, the folk all know thee
for a poor fisherman, and now thou hast gotten an hundred golden dinars.
Needs must the Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, hear of this
from some one, and haply he will be wanting money and will send for thee
and say to thee:——I need a sum of money and it hath reached me that thou
hast an hundred dinars: so do thou lend them to me those same.” I shall
answer, “O Commander of the Faithful, I am a poor man, and whoso told
thee that I had an hundred dinars lied against me; for I have naught of
this.” Thereupon he will commit me to the Chief of Police,
saying:—“Strip him of his clothes and torment him with the bastinado
till he confess and give up the hundred dinars in his possession.
Wherefore, meseemeth to provide against this predicament, the best thing
I can do, is to rise forthright and bash myself with the whip, so to use
myself to beating.” And his Hashish[209] said to him, “Rise, doff thy
dress.” So he stood up and putting off his clothes, took a whip he had
by him and set handy a leathern pillow; then he fell to lashing himself,
laying every other blow upon the pillow and roaring out the while,
“Alas! Alas! By Allah, ’tis a false saying, O my lord, and they have
lied against me; for I am a poor fisherman and have naught of the goods
of the world!” The noise of the whip falling on the pillow and on his
person resounded in the still of night and the folk heard it, and
amongst others the merchants, and they said, “Whatever can ail the poor
fellow, that he crieth and we hear the noise of blows falling on him?
’Twould seem robbers have broken in upon him and are tormenting him.”
Presently they all came forth of their lodgings, at the noise of the
blows and the crying, and repaired to Khalifah’s room, but they found
the door locked and said one to other, “Belike the robbers have come in
upon him from the back of the adjoining saloon. It behoveth us to climb
over by the roofs.” So they clomb over the roofs and coming down through
the sky-light,[210] saw him naked and flogging himself and asked him,
“What aileth thee, O Khalifah?” He answered, “Know, O folk, that I have
gained some dinars and fear lest my case be carried up to the Prince of
True Believers, Harun al-Rashid, and he send for me and demand of me
those same gold pieces; whereupon I should deny, and I fear that, if I
deny, he will torture me, so I am torturing myself, by way of
accustoming me to what may come.” The merchants laughed at him and said,
“Leave this fooling, may Allah not bless thee and the dinars thou hast
gotten! Verily thou hast disturbed us this night and hast troubled our
hearts.” So Khalifah left flogging himself and slept till the morning,
when he rose and would have gone about his business, but bethought him
of his hundred dinars and said in his mind, “An I leave them at home,
thieves will steal them, and if I put them in a belt[211] about my
waist, peradventure some one will see me and lay in wait for me till he
come upon me in some lonely place and slay me and take the money: but I
have a device that should serve me well, right well.” So he jumped up
forthright and made him a pocket in the collar of his gaberdine and
tying the hundred dinars up in a purse, laid them in the collar-pocket.
Then he took his net and basket and staff and went down to the
Tigris——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Khalifah the
Fisherman, having set his hundred dinars in the collar-pocket took
basket, staff and net and went down to the Tigris, where he made a cast
but brought up naught. So he removed from that place to another and
threw again, but once more the net came up empty; and he went on
removing from place to place till he had gone half a day’s journey from
the city, ever casting the net which kept bringing up naught. So he said
to himself, “By Allah, I will throw my net a-stream but this once more,
whether ill come of it or weal[212]!” Then he hurled the net with all
his force, of the excess of his wrath and the purse with the hundred
dinars flew out of his collar-pocket and, lighting in mid-stream, was
carried away by the strong current; whereupon he threw down the net and
doffing his clothes, left them on the bank and plunged into the water
after the purse. He dived for it nigh a hundred times, till his strength
was exhausted and he came up for sheer fatigue without chancing on it.
When he despaired of finding the purse, he returned to the shore, where
he saw nothing but staff, net and basket and sought for his clothes, but
could light on no trace of them: so he said in himself, “O vilest of
those wherefor was made the byword:—The pilgrimage is not perfected save
by copulation with the camel[213]!” Then he wrapped the net about him
and taking staff in one hand and basket in other, went trotting about
like, a camel in rut, running right and left and backwards and forwards,
dishevelled and dusty, as he were a rebel Marid let loose from Solomon’s
prison.[214] So far for what concerns the Fisherman Khalifah; but as
regards the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, he had a friend, a jeweller called
Ibn al-Kirnás,[215] and all the traders, brokers and middle-men knew him
for the Caliph’s merchant; wherefore there was naught sold in Baghdad,
by way of rarities and things of price or Mamelukes or handmaidens, but
was first shown to him. As he sat one day in his shop, behold, there
came up to him the Shaykh of the brokers, with a slave-girl, whose like
seers never saw, for she was of passing beauty and loveliness, symmetry
and perfect grace, and among her gifts was that she knew all arts and
sciences and could make verses and play upon all manner musical
instruments. So Ibn al-Kirnas bought her for five thousand golden dinars
and clothed her with other thousand; after which he carried her to the
Prince of True Believers, with whom she lay the night and who made trial
of her in every kind of knowledge and accomplishment and found her
versed in all sorts of arts and sciences, having no equal in her time.
Her name was Kút al-Kulúb[216] and she was even as saith the poet:—
I fix my glance on her, whene’er she wends; ✿ And non-acceptance of my
glance breeds pain:
She favours graceful-necked gazelle at gaze; ✿ And “Graceful as gazelle”
to say we’re fain.
And where is this[217] beside the saying of another?—
Give me brunettes; the Syrian spears, so limber and so straight, Tell of
the slender dusky maids, so lithe and proud of gait.
Languid of eyelids, with a down like silk upon her cheek, Within her
wasting lover’s heart she queens it still in state.
On the morrow the Caliph sent for Ibn al-Kirnas the Jeweller, and bade
him receive ten thousand dinars to her price. And his heart was taken up
with the slave-girl Kut al-Kulub and he forsook the Lady Zubaydah bint
al-Kasim, for all she was the daughter of his father’s brother[218] and
he abandoned all his favourite concubines and abode a whole month
without stirring from Kut al-Kulub’s side save to go to the Friday
prayers and return to her all in haste. This was grievous to the Lords
of the Realm and they complained thereof to the Wazir Ja’afar the
Barmecide, who bore with the Commander of the Faithful and waited till
the next Friday, when he entered the cathedral-mosque and, foregathering
with the Caliph, related to him all that occurred to him of
extraordinary stories anent seld-seen love and lovers with intent to
draw out what was in his mind. Quoth the Caliph, “By Allah, O Ja’afar,
this is not of my choice; but my heart is caught in the snare of love
and wot I not what is to be done!” The Wazir Ja’afar replied, “O
Commander of the Faithful, thou knowest how this girl Kut al-Kulub is
become at thy disposal and of the number of thy servants, and that which
hand possesseth soul coveteth not. Moreover, I will tell thee another
thing which is that the highest boast of Kings and Princes is in hunting
and the pursuit of sport and victory; and if thou apply thyself to this,
perchance it will divert thee from her, and it may be thou wilt forget
her.” Rejoined the Caliph, “Thou sayest well, O Ja’afar; come let us go
a-hunting forthright, without stay or delay.” So soon as Friday prayers
were prayed, they left the mosque and at once mounting their she-mules
rode forth to the chase.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Caliph Harun al-Rashid and the Wazir Ja’afar would go forth a-hunting
and a-chasing, they mounted two she-mules and fared on into the open
country, occupied with talk, and their attendants outwent them.
Presently the heat became over-hot and Al-Rashid said to his Wazir, “O
Ja’afar, I am sore athirst.” Then he looked around and espying a figure
in the distance on a high mound, asked Ja’afar, “Seest thou what I see?”
Answered the Wazir, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful; I see a dim
figure on a high mound; belike he is the keeper of a garden or of a
cucumber-plot, and in whatso wise water will not be lacking in his
neighbourhood;” presently adding, “I will go to him and fetch thee
some.” But Al-Rashid said, “My mule is swifter than thy mule; so do thou
abide here, on account of the troops, whilst I go myself to him and get
of this person[219] drink and return.” So saying, he urged his she-mule,
which started off like racing wind or railing-water and, in the
twinkling of an eye, made the mound, where he found the figure he had
seen to be none other than Khalifah the Fisherman, naked and wrapped in
the net; and indeed he was horrible to behold, as to and fro he rolled
with eyes for very redness like cresset-gleam and dusty hair in
dishevelled trim, as he were an Ifrit or a lion grim. Al-Rashid saluted
him and he returned his salutation; but he was wroth and fires might
have been lit at his breath. Quoth the Caliph, “O man, hast thou any
water?”; and quoth Khalifah, “Ho thou, art thou blind, or Jinn-mad? Get
thee to the river Tigris, for ’tis behind this mound.” So Al-Rashid went
around the mound and going down to the river, drank and watered his
mule: then without a moment’s delay he returned to Khalifah and said to
him, “What aileth thee, O man, to stand here, and what is thy calling?”
The Fisherman cried, “This is a stranger and sillier question than that
about the water! Seest thou not the gear of my craft on my shoulder?”
Said the Caliph, “Belike thou art a fisherman?”; and he replied, “Yes.”
Asked Al-Rashid, “Where is thy gaberdine,[220] and where are thy
waistcloth and girdle and where be the rest of thy raiment?” Now these
were the very things which had been taken from Khalifah, like for like;
so, when he heard the Caliph name them, he got into his head that it was
he who had stolen his clothes from the river-bank and coming down from
the top of the mound, swiftlier than the blinding leven, laid hold of
the mule’s bridle, saying, “Harkye, man, bring me back my things and
leave jesting and joking.” Al-Rashid replied, “By Allah, I have not seen
thy clothes, nor know aught of them!” Now the Caliph had large cheeks
and a small mouth;[221] so Khalifah said to him, “Belike, thou art by
trade a singer or a piper on pipes? But bring me back my clothes fairly
and without more ado, or I will bash thee with this my staff till thou
bepiss thyself and befoul thy clothes.” When Al-Rashid saw the staff in
the Fisherman’s hand and that he had the vantage of him, he said to
himself, “By Allah, I cannot brook from this mad beggar half a blow of
that staff!” Now he had on a satin gown; so he pulled it off and gave it
to Khalifah, saying, “O man, take this in place of thy clothes.” The
Fisherman took it and turned it about and said, “My clothes are worth
ten of this painted ’Abá-cloak;” and rejoined the Caliph, “Put it on
till I bring thee thy gear.” So Khalifah donned the gown, but finding it
too long for him, took a knife he had with him, tied to the handle of
his basket,[222] and cut off nigh a third of the skirt, so that it fell
only beneath his knees. Then he turned to Al-Rashid and said to him,
“Allah upon thee, O piper, tell me what wage thou gettest every month
from thy master, for thy craft of piping.” Replied the Caliph, “My wage
is ten dinars a month,” and Khalifah continued, “By Allah, my poor
fellow, thou makest me sorry for thee! Why, I make thy ten dinars every
day! Hast thou a mind to take service with me and I will teach thee the
art of fishing and share my gain with thee? So shalt thou make five
dinars a day and be my slavey and I will protect thee against thy master
with this staff.” Quoth Al-Rashid, “I will well”; and quoth Khalifah,
“Then get off thy she-ass and tie her up, so she may serve us to carry
the fish hereafter, and come hither, that I may teach thee to fish
forthright.” So Al-Rashid alighted and hobbling his mule, tucked his
skirts into his girdle, and Khalifah said to him, “O piper, lay hold of
the net thus and put it over thy forearm thus and cast it into the
Tigris thus.” Accordingly, the Caliph took heart of grace and, doing as
the fisherman showed him, threw the net and pulled at it, but could not
draw it up. So Khalifah came to his aid and tugged at it with him; but
the two together could not hale it up: whereupon said the fisherman, “O
piper of ill-omen, for the first time I took thy gown in place of my
clothes; but this second time I will have thine ass and will beat thee
to boot, till thou bepiss and beskite thyself! An I find my net torn.”
Quoth Al-Rashid, “Let the twain of us pull at once.” So they both pulled
together and succeeded with difficulty in hauling that net ashore, when
they found it full of fish of all kinds and colours;——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,