Stint thy blame, man! 'Twill drive to a passion without bound; * My
fault is not so heavy as fault in it hast found.
If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not * Save what
happened unto many in the bygone stound.
For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise * Who fromwiles of
female wits kept him safe and kept him sound."
Hearing these words they marvelled with exceeding marvel, and she went
from them to the Ifrit and, taking up his head on her thigh as before,
said to them softly, "Now wend your ways and bear yourselves beyond the
bounds of his malice." So they fared forth saying either to other,
"Allah! Allah!" and, "There be no Majesty and there be no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great; and with Him we seek refuge from
women's malice and sleight, for of a truth it hath no mate in might.
Consider, O my brother, the ways of this marvellous lady with an Ifrit
who is so much more powerful than we are. Now since there hath happened
to him a greater mishap than that which befel us and which should bear
us abundant consolation, so return we to our countries and capitals,
and let us decide never to intermarry with womankind and presently we
will show them what will be our action." Thereupon they rode back to
the tents of King Shahryar, which they reached on the morning of the
third day; and, having mustered the Wazirs and Emirs, the Chamberlains
and high officials, he gave a robe of honour to his Viceroy and issued
orders for an immediate return to the city. There he sat him upon his
throne and sending for the Chief Minister, the father of the two
damsels who (Inshallah!) will presently be mentioned, he said, "I
command thee to take my wife and smite her to death; for she hath
broken her plight and her faith." So he carried her to the place of
execution and did her die. Then King Shahryar took brand in hand and
repairing to the Serraglio slew all the concubines and their
Mamelukes.[FN#20] He also sware himself by a binding oath that whatever
wife he married he would abate her maidenhead at night and slay her
next morning to make sure of his honour; "For," said he, "there never
was nor is there one chaste woman upon the face of earth." Then Shah
Zaman prayed for permission to fare homewards; and he went forth
equipped and escorted and travelled till he reached his own country.
Mean while Shahryar commanded his Wazir to bring him the bride of the
night that he might go in to her; so he produced a most beautiful girl,
the daughter of one of the Emirs and the King went in unto her at
eventide and when morning dawned he bade his Minister strike off her
head; and the Wazir did accordingly for fear of the Sultan. On this
wise he continued for the space of three years; marrying a maiden every
night and killing her the next morning, till folk raised an outcry
against him and cursed him, praying Allah utterly to destroy him and
his rule; and women made an uproar and mothers wept and parents fled
with their daughters till there remained not in the city a young person
fit for carnal copulation. Presently the King ordered his Chief Wazir,
the same who was charged with the executions, to bring him a virgin as
was his wont; and the Minister went forth and searched and found none;
so he returned home in sorrow and anxiety fearing for his life from the
King. Now he had two daughters, Shahrazad and Dunyazad hight,[FN#21] of
whom the elder had perused the books, annals and legends of preceding
Kings, and the stories, examples and instances of by gone men and
things; indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand books of
histories relating to antique races and departed rulers. She had
perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart; she had studied
philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplishments; and she was
pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred. Now on
that day she said to her father, "Why do I see thee thus changed and
laden with cark and care? Concerning this matter quoth one of the
poets.—
Tell whoso hath sorrow * Grief never shall last:
E'en as joy hath no morrow * So woe shall go past."
When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words he related to her,
from first to last, all that had happened between him and the King.
Thereupon said she, "By Allah, O my father, how long shall this
slaughter of women endure? Shall I tell thee what is in my mind in
order to save both sides from destruction?" "Say on, O my daughter,"
quoth he, and quoth she, "I wish thou wouldst give me in marriage to
this King Shahryar; either I shall live or I shall be a ransom for the
virgin daughters of Moslems and the cause of their deliverance from his
hands and thine."[FN#22] "Allah upon thee!" cried he in wrath exceeding
that lacked no feeding, "O scanty of wit, expose not thy life to such
peril! How durst thou address me in words so wide from wisdom and un
far from foolishness? Know that one who lacketh experience in worldly
matters readily falleth into misfortune; and whoso considereth not the
end keepeth not the world to friend, and the vulgar say:—I was lying at
mine ease: nought but my officiousness brought me unease." "Needs must
thou," she broke in, "make me a doer of this good deed, and let him
kill me an he will: I shall only die a ransom for others." "O my
daughter," asked he, "and how shall that profit thee when thou shalt
have thrown away thy life?" and she answered, "O my father it must be,
come of it what will!" The Wazir was again moved to fury and blamed and
reproached her, ending with, "In very deed—I fear lest the same befal
thee which befel the Bull and the Ass with the Husband man." "And
what," asked she, "befel them, O my father?" Whereupon the Wazir began
the
Tale of the Bull[FN#23] and the Ass.
Know, O my daughter, that there was once a merchant who owned much
money and many men, and who was rich in cattle and camels; he had also
a wife and family and he dwelt in the country, being experienced in
husbandry and devoted to agriculture. Now Allah Most High had endowed
him with understanding the tongues of beasts and birds of every kind,
but under pain of death if he divulged the gift to any. So he kept it
secret for very fear. He had in his cow house a Bull and an Ass each
tethered in his own stall one hard by the other. As the merchant was
sitting near hand one day with his servants and his children were
playing about him, he heard the Bull say to the Ass, "Hail and health
to thee O Father of Waking![FN#24] for that thou enjoyest rest and good
ministering; all under thee is clean swept and fresh sprinkled; men
wait upon thee and feed thee, and thy provaunt is sifted barley and thy
drink pure spring water, while I (unhappy creature!) am led forth in
the middle of the night, when they set on my neck the plough and a
something called Yoke; and I tire at cleaving the earth from dawn of
day till set of sun. I am forced to do more than I can and to bear all
manner of ill treatment from night to night; after which they take me
back with my sides torn, my neck flayed, my legs aching and mine
eyelids sored with tears. Then they shut me up in the byre and throw me
beans and crushed straw,[FN#25] mixed with dirt and chaff; and I lie in
dung and filth and foul stinks through the livelong night. But thou art
ever in a place swept and sprinkled and cleansed, and thou art always
lying at ease, save when it happens (and seldom enough!) that the
master hath some business, when he mounts thee and rides thee to town
and returns with thee forthright. So it happens that I am toiling and
distrest while thou takest thine ease and thy rest; thou sleepest while
I am sleepless; I hunger still while thou eatest thy fill, and I win
contempt while thou winnest good will." When the Bull ceased speaking,
the Ass turned towards him and said, "O Broad o' Brow,[FN#26] O thou
lost one! he lied not who dubbed thee Bull head, for thou, O father of
a Bull, hast neither forethought nor contrivance; thou art the simplest
of simpletons,[FN#27] and thou knowest naught of good advisers. Hast
thou not heard the saying of the wise:—
For others these hardships and labours I bear * And theirs is the
pleasure and mine is the care;
As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun * To whiten the
raiment which other men wear.[FN#28]
But thou, O fool, art full of zeal and thou toilest and moilest before
the master; and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thy self for the
comfort of another. Hast thou never heard the saw that saith, None to
guide and from the way go wide? Thou wendest forth at the call to dawn
prayer and thou returnest not till sundown; and through the livelong
day thou endurest all manner hardships; to wit, beating and belabouring
and bad language. Now hearken to me, Sir Bull! when they tie thee to
thy stinking manger, thou pawest the ground with thy forehand and
lashest out with thy hind hoofs and pushest with thy horns and
bellowest aloud, so they deem thee contented. And when they throw thee
thy fodder thou fallest on it with greed and hastenest to line thy fair
fat paunch. But if thou accept my advice it will be better for thee and
thou wilt lead an easier life even than mine. When thou goest a field
and they lay the thing called Yoke on thy neck, lie down and rise not
again though haply they swinge thee; and, if thou rise, lie down a
second time; and when they bring thee home and offer thee thy beans,
fall backwards and only sniff at thy meat and withdraw thee and taste
it not, and be satis fied with thy crushed straw and chaff; and on this
wise feign thou art sick, and cease not doing thus for a day or two
days or even three days, so shalt thou have rest from toil and moil."
When the Bull heard these words he knew the Ass to be his friend and
thanked him, saying, "Right is thy rede;" and prayed that all blessings
might requite him, and cried, "O Father Wakener![FN#29] thou hast made
up for my failings." (Now[FN#30] the merchant, O my daughter,
understood all that passed between them.) Next day the driver took the
Bull, and settling the plough on his neck,[FN#31] made him work as
wont; but the Bull began to shirk his ploughing, according to the
advice of the Ass, and the ploughman drubbed him till he broke the yoke
and made off; but the man caught him up and leathered him till he
despaired of his life. Not the less, however, would he do nothing but
stand still and drop down till the evening. Then the herd led him home
and stabled him in his stall: but he drew back from his manger and
neither stamped nor ramped nor butted nor bellowed as he was wont to
do; whereat the man wondered. He brought him the beans and husks, but
he sniffed at them and left them and lay down as far from them as he
could and passed the whole night fasting. The peasant came next
morning; and, seeing the manger full of beans, the crushed straw
untasted and the ox lying on his back in sorriest plight, with legs
outstretched and swollen belly, he was concerned for him, and said to
himself, "By Allah, he hath assuredly sickened and this is the cause
why he would not plough yesterday." Then he went to the merchant and
reported, "O my master, the Bull is ailing; he refused his fodder last
night; nay more, he hath not tasted a scrap of it this morning." Now
the merchant farmer understood what all this meant, because he had
overheard the talk between the Bull and the Ass, so quoth he, "Take
that rascal donkey, and set the yoke on his neck, and bind him to the
plough and make him do Bull's work." Thereupon the ploughman took the
Ass, and worked him through the livelong day at the Bull's task; and,
when he failed for weakness, he made him eat stick till his ribs were
sore and his sides were sunken and his neck was flayed by the yoke; and
when he came home in the evening he could hardly drag his limbs along,
either forehand or hind legs. But as for the Bull, he had passed the
day lying at full length and had eaten his fodder with an excellent
appetite, and he ceased not calling down blessings on the Ass for his
good advice, unknowing what had come to him on his account. So when
night set in and the Ass returned to the byre the Bull rose up before
him in honour, and said, "May good tidings gladden thy heart, O Father
Wakener! through thee I have rested all this day and I have eaten my
meat in peace and quiet." But the Ass returned no reply, for wrath and
heart burning and fatigue and the beating he had gotten; and he
repented with the most grievous of repentance; and quoth he to himself:
"This cometh of my folly in giving good counsel; as the saw saith, I
was in joy and gladness, nought save my officiousness brought me this
sadness. But I will bear in mind my innate worth and the nobility of my
nature; for what saith the poet?
Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil[FN#32] fail * Tho' the beetle's
foot o'er the Basil crawl?
And though spider and fly be its denizens * Shall disgrace attach to
the royal hall?
The cowrie,[FN#33] I ken, shall have currency * But the pearl's clear
drop, shall its value fall?
And now I must take thought and put a trick upon him and return him to
his place, else I die." Then he went aweary to his manger, while the
Bull thanked him and blessed him. And even so, O my daughter, said the
Wazir, thou wilt die for lack of wits; therefore sit thee still and say
naught and expose not thy life to such stress; for, by Allah, I offer
thee the best advice, which cometh of my affection and kindly
solicitude for thee." "O my father," she answered, "needs must I go up
to this King and be married to him." Quoth he, "Do not this deed;" and
quoth she, "Of a truth I will:" whereat he rejoined, "If thou be not
silent and bide still, I will do with thee even what the merchant did
with his wife." "And what did he?" asked she. "Know then, answered the
Wazir, that after the return of the Ass the merchant came out on the
terrace roof with his wife and family, for it was a moonlit night and
the moon at its full. Now the ter race overlooked the cowhouse and
presently, as he sat there with his children playing about him, the
trader heard the Ass say to the Bull, "Tell me, O Father Broad o' Brow,
what thou purposest to do to morrow?" The Bull answered, "What but
continue to follow thy counsel, O Aliboron? Indeed it was as good as
good could be and it hath given me rest and repose; nor will I now
depart from it one tittle: so, when they bring me my meat, I will
refuse it and blow out my belly and counterfeit crank." The Ass shook
his head and said, "Beware of so doing, O Father of a Bull!" The Bull
asked, "Why," and the Ass answered, "Know that I am about to give thee
the best of counsel, for verily I heard our owner say to the herd, If
the Bull rise not from his place to do his work this morning and if he
retire from his fodder this day, make him over to the butcher that he
may slaughter him and give his flesh to the poor, and fashion a bit of
leather[FN#34] from his hide. Now I fear for thee on account of this.
So take my advice ere a calamity befal thee; and when they bring thee
thy fodder eat it and rise up and bellow and paw the ground, or our
master will assuredly slay thee: and peace be with thee!" Thereupon the
Bull arose and lowed aloud and thanked the Ass, and said, "To morrow I
will readily go forth with them;" and he at once ate up all his meat
and even licked the manger. (All this took place and the owner was
listening to their talk.) Next morning the trader and his wife went to
the Bull's crib and sat down, and the driver came and led forth the
Bull who, seeing his owner, whisked his tail and brake wind, and
frisked about so lustily that the merchant laughed a loud laugh and
kept laughing till he fell on his back. His wife asked him, "Whereat
laughest thou with such loud laughter as this?"; and he answered her,
"I laughed at a secret something which I have heard and seen but cannot
say lest I die my death." She returned, "Perforce thou must discover it
to me, and disclose the cause of thy laughing even if thou come by thy
death!" But he rejoined, "I cannot reveal what beasts and birds say in
their lingo for fear I die." Then quoth she, "By Allah, thou liest!
this is a mere pretext: thou laughest at none save me, and now thou
wouldest hide somewhat from me. But by the Lord of the Heavens! an thou
disclose not the cause I will no longer cohabit with thee: I will leave
thee at once." And she sat down and cried. Whereupon quoth the
merchant, "Woe betide thee! what means thy weeping? Fear Allah and
leave these words and query me no more questions." "Needs must thou
tell me the cause of that laugh," said she, and he replied, "Thou
wottest that when I prayed Allah to vouchsafe me understanding of the
tongues of beasts and birds, I made a vow never to disclose the secret
to any under pain of dying on the spot." "No matter," cried she, "tell
me what secret passed between the Bull and the Ass and die this very
hour an thou be so minded;" and she ceased not to importune him till he
was worn out and clean distraught. So at last he said, "Summon thy
father and thy mother and our kith and kin and sundry of our
neighbours," which she did; and he sent for the Kazi[FN#35] and his
assessors, intending to make his will and reveal to her his secret and
die the death; for he loved her with love exceeding because she was his
cousin, the daughter of his father's brother, and the mother of his
children, and he had lived with her a life of an hundred and twenty
years. Then, having assembled all the family and the folk of his
neighbourhood, he said to them, "By me there hangeth a strange story,
and 'tis such that if I discover the secret to any, I am a dead man."
Therefore quoth every one of those present to the woman, "Allah upon
thee, leave this sinful obstinacy and recognise the right of this
matter, lest haply thy husband and the father of thy children die." But
she rejoined, "I will not turn from it till he tell me, even though he
come by his death." So they ceased to urge her; and the trader rose
from amongst them and repaired to an out-house to perform
Wuzu-ablution,[FN#36] and he purposed thereafter to return and to tell
them his secret and to die. Now, daughter Shahrazad, that mer chant had
in his out-houses some fifty hens under one cock, and whilst making
ready to farewell his folk he heard one of his many farm dogs thus
address in his own tongue the Cock, who was flapping his wings and
crowing lustily and jumping from one hen's back to another and treading
all in turn, saying "O Chanticleer! how mean is thy wit and how
shameless is thy conduct! Be he disappointed who brought thee
up![FN#37] Art thou not ashamed of thy doings on such a day as this!"
"And what," asked the Rooster, "hath occurred this day?" when the Dog
answered, "Dost thou not know that our master is this day making ready
for his death? His wife is resolved that he shall disclose the secret
taught to him by Allah, and the moment he so doeth he shall surely die.
We dogs are all a mourning; but thou clappest thy wings and clarionest
thy loudest and treadest hen after hen. Is this an hour for pastime and
pleasuring? Art thou not ashamed of thyself?"[FN#38] "Then by Allah,"
quoth the Cock, "is our master a lack wit and a man scanty of sense: if
he cannot manage matters with a single wife, his life is not worth
prolonging. Now I have some fifty Dame Partlets; and I please this and
provoke that and starve one and stuff another; and through my good
governance they are all well under my control. This our master
pretendeth to wit and wisdom, and he hath but one wife, and yet knoweth
not how to manage her." Asked the Dog, "What then, O Cock, should the
master do to win clear of his strait?" "He should arise forthright,"
answered the Cock, "and take some twigs from yon mulberry tree and give
her a regular back basting and rib roasting till she cry:—I repent, O
my lord! I will never ask thee a question as long as I live! Then let
him beat her once more and soundly, and when he shall have done this he
shall sleep free from care and enjoy life. But this master of ours owns
neither sense nor judgment." "Now, daughter Shahrazad," continued the
Wazir, "I will do to thee as did that husband to that wife." Said
Shahrazad, "And what did he do?" He replied, "When the merchant heard
the wise words spoken by his Cock to his Dog, he arose in haste and
sought his wife's chamber, after cutting for her some mulberry twigs
and hiding them there; and then he called to her, "Come into the closet
that I may tell thee the secret while no one seeth me and then die."
She entered with him and he locked the door and came down upon her with
so sound a beating of back and shoulders, ribs, arms and legs, saying
the while, "Wilt thou ever be asking questions about what concerneth
thee not?" that she was well nigh senseless. Presently she cried out,
"I am of the repentant! By Allah, I will ask thee no more questions,
and indeed I repent sincerely and wholesomely." Then she kissed his
hand and feet and he led her out of the room submissive as a wife
should be. Her parents and all the company rejoiced and sadness and
mourning were changed into joy and gladness. Thus the merchant learnt
family discipline from his Cock and he and his wife lived together the
happiest of lives until death. And thou also, O my daughter!" continued
the Wazir, "Unless thou turn from this matter I will do by thee what
that trader did to his wife." But she answered him with much decision,
"I will never desist, O my father, nor shall this tale change my
purpose. Leave such talk and tattle. I will not listen to thy words
and, if thou deny me, I will marry myself to him despite the nose of
thee. And first I will go up to the King myself and alone and I will
say to him:—I prayed my father to wive me with thee, but he refused
being resolved to disappoint his lord, grudging the like of me to the
like of thee." Her father asked, "Must this needs be?" and she
answered, "Even so." Hereupon the Wazir being weary of lamenting and
contending, persuading and dissuading her, all to no purpose, went up
to King Shahryar and after blessing him and kissing the ground before
him, told him all about his dispute with his daughter from first to
last and how he designed to bring her to him that night. The King
wondered with exceeding wonder; for he had made an especial exception
of the Wazir's daughter, and said to him, "O most faithful of
Counsellors, how is this? Thou wottest that I have sworn by the Raiser
of the Heavens that after I have gone in to her this night I shall say
to thee on the morrow's morning:—Take her and slay her! and, if thou
slay her not, I will slay thee in her stead without fail." "Allah guide
thee to glory and lengthen thy life, O King of the age," answered the
Wazir, "it is she that hath so determined: all this have I told her and
more; but she will not hearken to me and she persisteth in passing this
coming night with the King's Majesty." So Shahryar rejoiced greatly and
said, "'Tis well; go get her ready and this night bring her to me." The
Wazir returned to his daughter and reported to her the command saying,
"Allah make not thy father desolate by thy loss!" But Shahrazad
rejoiced with exceeding joy and gat ready all she required and said to
her younger sister, Dunyazad, "Note well what directions I entrust to
thee! When I have gone into the King I will send for thee and when thou
comest to me and seest that he hath had his carnal will of me, do thou
say to me:—O my sister, an thou be not sleepy, relate to me some new
story, delectable and delightsome, the better to speed our waking
hours;" and I will tell thee a tale which shall be our deliverance, if
so Allah please, and which shall turn the King from his blood thirsty
custom." Dunyazad answered "With love and gladness." So when it was
night their father the Wazir carried Shahrazad to the King who was
gladdened at the sight and asked, "Hast thou brought me my need?" and
he answered, "I have." But when the King took her to his bed and fell
to toying with her and wished to go in to her she wept; which made him
ask, "What aileth thee?" She replied, "O King of the age, I have a
younger sister and lief would I take leave of her this night before I
see the dawn." So he sent at once for Dunyazad and she came and kissed
the ground between his hands, when he permitted her to take her seat
near the foot of the couch. Then the King arose and did away with his
bride's maidenhead and the three fell asleep. But when it was midnight
Shahrazad awoke and signalled to her sister Dunyazad who sat up and
said, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, recite to us some new story,
delightsome and delectable, wherewith to while away the waking hours of
our latter night."[FN#39] "With joy and goodly gree," answered
Shahrazad, "if this pious and auspicious King permit me." "Tell on,"
quoth the King who chanced to be sleepless and restless and therefore
was pleased with the prospect of hearing her story. So Shahrazad
rejoiced; and thus, on the first night of the Thousand Nights and a
Night, she began with the