[Illustration]
[Illustration: لا لابرار كلّ شي تبر]
"TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE."
(Puris omnia pura)
—_Arab Proverb._
"Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole."
—"_Decameron_"—_conclusion_.
"Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum
Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget."
—_Martial._
"Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,
Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes."
—RABELAIS.
"The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One Stories makes
us regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of these truly
enchanting fictions."
—CRICHTON'S "_History of Arabia_."
[Illustration]
_A PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS.
NOW ENTITULED_
_THE BOOK OF THE_
=Thousand Nights and a Night=
_WITH INTRODUCTION EXPLANATORY NOTES ON THE
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF MOSLEM MEN AND A
TERMINAL ESSAY UPON THE HISTORY OF THE
NIGHTS_
VOLUME II.
BY
RICHARD F. BURTON
[Illustration]
PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Shammar Edition
Limited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is
Number _547_
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
TO JOHN PAYNE, ESQ.
ETC. ETC. ETC.
MY DEAR SIR,
Allow me, thus publicly to express my admiration of your magnum opus,
"The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night;" and to offer you my
cordial thanks for honouring me with the dedication of that scholar-like
and admirable version.
Ever yours sincerely,
RICHARD F. BURTON.
QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD
_August 1, 1885_.
CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
PAGE
7. NUR AL-DIN ALI AND THE DAMSEL ANIS AL-JALIS. 1
(_Lane, Chapt. VI. Story of Noor ed-Deen and Enees el-Jelees:
vol. I. p. 436._)
8. TALE OF GHANIM BIN AYYUB, THE DISTRAUGHT, THE THRALL O' LOVE 45
(_Lane, Chapt. VII. Story of Ghanim the Son of Eiyoob, the
Distracted Slave of Love: p. 487._)
_a._ TALE OF THE FIRST EUNUCH, BUKHAYT 49
_b._ TALE OF THE SECOND EUNUCH, KAFUR 51
(_Story of the Slave Kafoor: p. 491._)
9. TALE OF KING OMAR BIN AL-NU'UMAN AND HIS SONS SHARRKAN AND 77
ZAU AL-MAKAN
_a._ TALE OF TAJ AL-MULUK AND THE PRINCESS DUNYA 283
(_Lane, Chapt. VIII. Story of Taj el-Mulook and the Lady Dunya:
p. 523._)
_aa._ TALE OF AZIZ AND AZIZAH 298
(_Lane, Chapt. VIII. Story of Azeez and Azeezah: p. 535._)
NUR AL-DIN ALI AND THE DAMSEL ANIS AL-JALIS
Quoth Shahrazad[1]:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King of
intelligence penetrating, that there was, amongst the Kings of
Bassorah,[2] a King who loved the poor and needy and cherished his
lieges, and gave of his wealth to all who believed in Mohammed (whom
Allah bless and assain!), and he was even as one of the poets described
him:—
A King who when hosts of the foe invade, ✿ Receives them
with lance-lunge and sabre-sway;
Writes his name on bosoms in thin red lines, ✿ And scatters
the horsemen in wild dismay.[3]
His name was King Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, and he had two Wazirs,
one called Al-Mu'in, son of Sawi and the other Al-Fazl son of Khákán.
Now Al-Fazl was the most generous of the people of his age, upright of
life, so that all hearts united in loving him and the wise flocked to
him for counsel; whilst the subjects used to pray for his long life,
because he was a compendium of the best qualities, encouraging the good
and lief, and preventing evil and mischief. But the Wazir Mu'in bin Sawi
on the contrary hated folk[4] and loved not the good and was a mere
compound of ill; even as was said of him:—
Hold to nobles, sons of nobles! 'tis ever Nature's test ✿ That
nobles born of nobles shall excel in noble deed:
And shun the mean of soul, meanly bred, for 'tis the law, ✿ Mean
deeds come of men who are mean of blood and breed.
And as much as the people loved and fondly loved Al-Fazl bin Khakan, so
they hated and thoroughly hated the mean and miserly Mu'in bin Sawi. It
befel one day by the decree of the Decreer, that King Mohammed bin
Sulayman al-Zayni, being seated on his throne with his officers of state
about him, summoned his Wazir Al-Fazl and said to him, "I wish to have a
slave-girl of passing beauty, perfect in loveliness, exquisite in
symmetry and endowed with all praiseworthy gifts." Said the courtiers,
"Such a girl is not to be bought for less than ten thousand gold
pieces:" whereupon the Sultan called out to his treasurer and said,
"Carry ten thousand dinars to the house of Al-Fazl bin Khakan." The
treasurer did the King's bidding; and the Minister went away, after
receiving the royal charge to repair to the slave-bazar every day, and
entrust to brokers the matter aforesaid. Moreover the King issued orders
that girls worth above a thousand gold pieces should not be bought or
sold without being first displayed to the Wazir. Accordingly no broker
purchased a slave-girl ere she had been paraded before the minister; but
none pleased him, till one day a dealer came to the house and found him
taking horse and intending for the palace. So he caught hold of his
stirrup saying:—
O thou, who givest to royal state sweet savour, ✿ Thou'rt a Wazir
shalt never fail of favour!
Dead Bounty thou hast raised to life for men; ✿ Ne'er fail of
Allah's grace such high endeavour!
Then quoth he, "O my lord, that surpassing object for whom the gracious
mandate was issued is at last found;[5]" and quoth the Wazir, "Here with
her to me!" So he went away and returned after a little, bringing a
damsel in richest raiment robed, a maid spear-straight of stature and
five feet tall; budding of bosom with eyes large and black as by Kohl
traced, and dewy lips sweeter than syrup or the sherbet one sips, a
virginette smooth cheeked and shapely faced, whose slender waist with
massive hips was engraced; a form more pleasing than branchlet waving
upon the topmost trees, and a voice softer and gentler than the morning
breeze, even as saith one of those who have described her:—
Strange is the charm which dights her brows like Luna's disk
that shine; ✿ O sweeter taste than sweetest Robb[6] or raisins of
the vine.
A throne th' Empyrean keeps for her in high and glorious state, ✿
For wit and wisdom, wandlike form and graceful bending line:
She in the Heaven of her face[7] the seven-fold stars displays, ✿
That guard her cheeks as satellites against the spy's design:
If man should cast a furtive glance or steal far look at her, ✿
His heart is burnt by devil-bolts shot by those piercing eyne.
When the Wazir saw her she made him marvel with excess of admiration, so
he turned, perfectly pleased, to the broker and asked, "What is the
price of this girl?"; whereto he answered, "Her market-value stands at
ten thousand dinars, but her owner swears that this sum will not cover
the cost of the chickens she hath eaten, the wine she hath drunken and
the dresses of honour bestowed upon her instructor: for she hath learned
calligraphy and syntax and etymology; the commentaries of the Koran; the
principles of law and religion; the canons of medicine, and the calendar
and the art of playing on musical instruments."[8] Said the Wazir,
"Bring me her master." So the broker brought him at once and, behold, he
was a Persian of whom there was left only what the days had left; for he
was as a vulture bald and scald and a wall trembling to its fall. Time
had buffetted him with sore smart, yet was he not willing this world to
depart; even as said the poet:—
Time hath shattered all my frame, ✿ Oh! how time hath shattered me.
Time with lordly might can tame ✿ Manly strength and vigour free.
Time was in my youth, that none ✿ Sped their way more fleet and fast:
Time is and my strength is gone, ✿ Youth is sped, and speed is
past.[9]
The Wazir asked him, "Art thou content to sell this slave-girl to the
Sultan for ten thousand dinars?"; and the Persian answered, "By Allah,
if I offered her to the King for naught, it were but my devoir,"[10] So
the Minister bade bring the monies and saw them weighed out to the
Persian, who stood up before him and said, "By the leave of our lord the
Wazir, I have somewhat to say;" and the Wazir replied, "Out with all
thou hast!" "It is my opinion," continued the slave-dealer, "that thou
shouldst not carry the maid to the King this day; for she is newly off a
journey; the change of air[11] hath affected her and the toils of
trouble have fretted her. But keep her quiet in thy palace some ten
days, that she may recover her looks and become again as she was. Then
send her to the Hammam and clothe her in the richest of clothes and go
up with her to the Sultan: this will be more to thy profit." The Wazir
pondered the Persian's words and approved of their wisdom; so he carried
her to his palace, where he appointed her private rooms, and allowed her
every day whatever she wanted of meat and drink and so forth. And on
this wise she abode a while. Now the Wazir Al-Fazl had a son like the
full moon when sheeniest dight, with face radiant in light, cheeks ruddy
bright, and a mole like a dot of ambergris on a downy site; as said of
him the poet and said full right:—
A moon which blights you[12] if you dare behold; ✿ A branch which
folds you in its waving fold:
Locks of the Zanj[13] and golden glint of hair; ✿ Sweet gait and form
a spear to have and hold:
Ah! hard of heart with softest slenderest waist, ✿ That evil to
this weal why not remould?[14]
Were thy form's softness placed in thy heart, ✿ Ne'er would thy
lover find thee harsh and cold:
Oh thou accuser! be my love's excuser, ✿ Nor chide if love-pangs
deal me woes untold!
I bear no blame; 'tis all my heart and eyne; ✿ So leave thy
blaming, let me yearn and pine.
Now the handsome youth knew not the affair of the damsel; and his father
had enjoined her closely, saying, "Know, O my daughter, that I have
bought thee as a bedfellow for our King, Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni;
and I have a son who is a Satan for girls and leaves no maid in the
neighbourhood without taking her maidenhead; so be on thy guard against
him and beware of letting him see thy face or hear thy voice."
"Hearkening and obedience," said the girl; and he left her and fared
forth. Some days after this it happened by decree of Destiny, that the
damsel repaired to the baths in the house, where some of the slave women
bathed her; after which she arrayed herself in sumptuous raiment; and
her beauty and loveliness were thereby redoubled. Then she went in to
the Wazir's wife and kissed her hand; and the dame said to her, "Naiman!
May it benefit thee,[15] O Anis al-Jalis![16] Are not our baths
handsome?" "O my mistress," she replied, "I lacked naught there save thy
gracious presence." Thereupon the lady said to her slave-women, "Come
with us to the Hammam, for it is some days since we went there:" they
answered, "To hear is to obey!" and rose and all accompanied her. Now
she had set two little slave-girls to keep the door of the private
chamber wherein was Anis al-Jalis and had said to them, "Suffer none go
in to the damsel." Presently, as the beautiful maiden sat resting in her
rooms, suddenly came in the Wazir's son whose name was Nur al-Din
Ali,[17] and asked after his mother and her women, to which the two
little slave-girls replied, "They are in the Hammam." But the damsel,
Anis al-Jalis, had heard from within Nur al-Din Ali's voice and had said
to herself, "O would Heaven I saw what like is this youth against whom
the Wazir warned me, saying that he hath not left a virgin in the
neighbourhood without taking her virginity: by Allah, I do long to have
sight of him!" So she sprang to her feet with the freshness of the bath
on her and, stepping to the door, looked at Nur al-Din Ali and saw a
youth like the moon in its full and the sight bequeathed her a thousand
sighs. The young man also glanced at her and the look made him heir to a
thousand thoughts of care; and each fell into Love's ready snare. Then
he stepped up to the two little slave-girls and cried aloud at them;
whereupon both fled before him and stood afar off to see what he would
do. And behold, he walked to the door of the damsel's chamber and,
opening it, went in and asked her "Art thou she my father bought for
me?" and she answered "Yes." Thereupon the youth, who was warm with
wine, came up to her and embraced her; then he took her legs and passed
them round his waist and she wound her arms about his neck, and met him
with kisses and murmurs of pleasure and amorous toyings. Next he sucked
her tongue and she sucked his and, lastly, he loosed the strings of her
petticoat-trousers and abated her maidenhead. When the two little
slave-girls saw their young master get in unto the damsel, Anis
al-Jalis, they cried out and shrieked; so as soon as the youth had had
his wicked will of her, he rose and fled forth fearing the consequences
of his ill-doing. When the Wazir's wife heard the slave-girls' cries,
she sprang up and came out of the baths with the perspiration pouring
from her face, saying, "What is this unseemly clamour in the house[18]?"
Then she came up to the two little slave-girls and asked them saying,
"Fie upon you! what is the matter?"; and both answered, "Verily our lord
Nur al-Din came in and beat us, so we fled; then he went up to Anis
al-Jalis and threw his arms round her and we know not what he did after
that; but when we cried out to thee he ran away." Upon this the lady
went to Anis al-Jalis and said to her, "What tidings?" "O my lady," she
answered, "as I was sitting here lo! a handsome young man came in and
said to me:—Art thou she my father bought for me?; and I answered Yes;
for, by Allah, O mistress mine, I believed that his words were true; and
he instantly came in and embraced me." "Did he nought else with thee but
this?" quoth the lady, and quoth she, "Indeed he did! But he did it only
three times." "He did not leave thee without dishonouring thee!" cried
the Wazir's wife and fell to weeping and buffetting her face, she and
the girl and all the handmaidens, fearing lest Nur al-Din's father
should kill him.[19] Whilst they were thus, in came the Wazir and asked
what was the matter, and his wife said to him, "Swear that whatso I tell
thee thou wilt attend to it." "I will," answered he. So she related to
him what his son had done, whereat he was much concerned and rent his
raiment and smote his face till his nose bled, and plucked out his beard
by the handful. "Do not kill thyself," said his wife, "I will give thee
ten thousand dinars, her price, of my own money." But he raised his head
and cried; "Out upon thee! I have no need of her purchase-money: my fear
is lest life as well as money go." "O my lord, and how is that?"
"Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al-Mu'in bin Sawi who,
as soon as he shall hear of this matter, will go up to the Sultan?"——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
[Illustration]
Now when it was the Thirty-fifth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir
said to his wife, "Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy
Al-Mu'in bin Sawi who, as soon as he hears of this matter will go up to
the Sultan and say to him:—Thy Wazir who, thou wilt have it loveth thee,
took from thee ten thousand ducats and bought therewith a slave-girl
whose like none ever beheld; but when he saw her, she pleased him and he
said to his son:—Take her: thou art worthier of her than the Sultan. So
he took her and did away with her virginity and she is now in his house.
The King will say:—Thou liest! to which he will reply:—With thy leave I
will fall upon him unawares and bring her to thee. The King will give
him warranty for this and he will come down upon the house and will take
the girl and present her to the Sultan, who will question her and she
will not be able to deny the past. Then mine enemy will say:—O my lord,
thou wottest that I give thee the best of counsel; but I have not found
favour in thine eyes. Thereupon the Sultan will make an example of me,
and I shall be a gazing-stock to all the people and my life will be
lost." Quoth his wife, "Let none know of this thing which hath happened
privily, and commit thy case to Allah and trust in Him to save thee from
such strait; for He who knoweth the future shall provide for the
future." With this she brought the Wazir a cup of wine and his heart was
quieted, and he ceased to feel wrath and fear. Thus far concerning him;
but as regards his son Nur al-Din Ali, fearing the consequence of his
misdeed he abode his day long in the flower-garden and came back only at
night to his mother's apartment where he slept; and, rising before dawn,
returned to the gardens. He ceased not to do thus for two whole months
without showing his face to his parent, till at last his mother said to
his father, "O my lord, shall we lose our boy as well as the girl? If
matters continue long in this way he will flee from us." "And what to
do?" asked he; and she answered, "Do thou watch this night; and, when he
cometh, seize on him and frighten him: I will rescue him from thee and
do thou make peace with him and give him the damsel to wife, for she
loveth him as he loveth her. And I will pay thee her price." So the
Minister sat up that night and, when his son came, he seized him and
throwing him down knelt on his breast and showed as though he would cut
his throat; but his mother ran to the youth's succour and asked her
husband, "What wouldest thou do with him?" He answered her, "I will
split his weasand." Said the son to the father, "Is my death, then, so
light a matter to thee?"; and his father's eyes welled with tears, for
natural affection moved him, and he rejoined, "O my son, how light was
to thee the loss of my good and my life!" Quoth Nur al-Din, "Hear, O my
father, what the poet hath said:—
Forgive me! thee-ward sinned I, but the wise ✿ Ne'er to the
sinner shall deny his grace:
Thyfoe may pardon sue when lieth he ✿ In lowest, and thou
holdest highest place!"
Thereupon the Wazir rose from off his son's breast saying, "I forgive
thee!"; for his heart yearned to him; and the youth kissed the hand of
his sire who said, "O my son, were I sure that thou wouldest deal justly
by Anis al-Jalis, I would give her to thee." "O my father, what justice
am I to do to her?" "I enjoin thee, O my son, not to take another wife
or concubine to share with her, nor sell her." "O my father! I swear to
thee that verily I will not do her injustice in either way." Having
sworn to that effect Nur al-Din went in to the damsel and abode with her
a whole year, whilst Allah Almighty caused the King to forget the matter
of the maiden; and Al-Mu'in, though the affair came to his ears, dared
not divulge it by reason of the high favour in which his rival stood
with the Sultan. At the end of the year Al-Fazl went one day to the
public baths; and, as he came out whilst he was still sweating, the air
struck him[20] and he caught a cold which turned to a fever; then he
took to his bed. His malady gained ground and restlessness was longsome
upon him and weakness bound him like a chain; so he called out, "Hither
with my son;" and when Nur al-Din Ali came he said to him, "O my son,
know that man's lot and means are distributed and decreed; and the end
of days by all must be dree'd; and that every soul drain the cup of
death is nature's need." Then he repeated these lines:—
I die my death, but He alone is great who dieth not! ✿ And well I
wot, soon shall I die, for death was made my lot:
A King there's not that dies and holds his kingdom in his hand, ✿
For Sovranty the Kingdom is of Him who dieth not.
Then he continued, "O my son, I have no charge to leave thee save that
thou fear Allah and look to the issues of thine acts and bear in mind my
injunctions anent Anis al-Jalis." "O my father!" said Nur al-Din, "who
is like unto thee? Indeed thou art famed for well doing and preachers
offer prayers for thee in their pulpits!" Quoth Al-Fazl, "O my son, I
hope that Allah Almighty may grant me acceptance!" Then he pronounced
the Two Testimonies,[21] or Professions of the Faith, and was recorded
among the blessed. The palace was filled with crying and lamentation and
the news of his death reached the King, and the city-people wept, even
those at their prayers and women at household cares and the
schoolchildren shed tears for Bin-Khakan. Then his son Nur al-Din Ali
arose and made ready his funeral, and the Emirs and Wazirs and high
Officers of State and city-notables were present, amongst them the Wazir
al-Mu'in bin Sawi. And as the bier went forth from the house some one in
the crowd of mourners began to chant these lines:—
On the fifth day I quitted all my friends for evermore, ✿ And they
laid me out and washed me on a slab without my door:[22]
They stripped me of the clothes I was ever wont to wear, ✿ And
they clothed me in the clothes which till then I never wore.
On four men's necks they bore me and carried me from home ✿ To
chapel; and some prayed for him on neck they bore:
They prayed for me a prayer that no prostration knows;[23] ✿
They prayed for me who praised me and were my friends of yore;
And they laid me in a house with a ceiling vaulted o'er, ✿ And
Time shall be no more ere it ope to me its door.
When they had shovelled in the dust over him and the crowd had
dispersed, Nur al-Din returned home and he lamented with sobs and tears;
and the tongue of the case repeated these couplets:—
On the fifth day at even-tide they went away from me: ✿ I
farewelled them as faring they made farewell my lot:
But my spirit as they went, with them went and so I cried, ✿ "Ah
return ye!" but replied she, "Alas! return is not
To a framework lere and lorn that lacketh blood and life, ✿ A
frame whereof remaineth naught but bones that rattle and rot:
Mine eyes are blind and cannot see quencht by the flowing tear! ✿
Mine ears are dull and lost to sense: they have no power to hear!"
He abode a long time sorrowing for his father till, one day, as he was
sitting at home, there came a knocking at the door; so he rose in haste
and opening let in a man, one of his father's intimates and who had been
the Wazir's boon-companion. The visitor kissed Nur al-Din's hand and
said to him, "O my lord, he who hath left the like of thee is not dead;
and this way went also the Chief of the Ancients and the Moderns.[24] O
my lord Ali, be comforted and leave sorrowing." Thereupon Nur al-Din
rose and going to the guest-saloon transported thither all he needed.
Then he assembled his companions and took his handmaid again; and,
collecting round him ten of the sons of the merchants, began to eat meat
and drink wine, giving entertainment after entertainment and lavishing
his presents and his favours. One day his Steward came to him and said,
"O my lord Nur al-Din, hast thou not heard the saying, Whoso spendeth
and reckoneth not, to poverty wendeth and recketh not?" And he repeated
what the poet wrote:—
I look to my money and keep it with care, ✿ For right well I wot
'tis my buckler and brand:
Did I lavish my dirhams on hostilest foes,[25] ✿ I should truck my
good luck by mine ill luck trepanned:
So I'll eat it and drink it and joy in my wealth; ✿ And no spending
my pennies on others I'll stand:
I will keep my purse close 'gainst whoever he be; ✿ And a niggard
in grain a true friend ne'er I fand:
Far better deny him than come to say:—Lend, ✿ And five-fold the
loan shall return to thy hand!
And he turns face aside and he sidles away, ✿ While I stand like a
dog disappointed, unmanned.
Oh, the sorry lot his who hath yellow-boys none, ✿ Though his
genius and virtues shine bright as the sun!
"O my master," continued the Steward, "this lavish outlay and these
magnificent gifts waste away wealth." When Nur al-Din Ali heard these
words he looked at his servant and cried, "Of all thou hast spoken I
will not heed one single word, for I have heard the saying of the poet
who saith;—
An my palm be full of wealth and my wealth I ne'er bestow, ✿ A
palsy take my hand and my foot ne'er rise again!
Show me niggard who by niggardise e'er rose to high degree, ✿ Or
the generous in gifts generosity hath slain."
And he pursued, "Know, O Steward, it is my desire that so long as thou
hast money enough for my breakfast, thou trouble me not with taking
thought about my supper." Thereupon the Steward asked, "Must it be so?";
and he answered, "It must." So the honest man went his way and Nur
al-Din Ali devoted himself to extravagance; and, if any of his
cup-companions chanced to say, "This is a pretty thing;" he would reply,
"'Tis a gift to thee!"; or if another said, "O my lord, such a house is
handsome;" he would answer, "Take it: it is thine!" After this reckless
fashion he continued to live for a whole year, giving his friends a
banquet in the morning and a banquet in the evening and a banquet at
midnight, till one day, as the company was sitting together, the damsel
Anis al-Jalis repeated these lines:
Thou deemedst well of Time when days went well, ✿ And fearedst not
what ills might deal thee Fate:
Thy nights so fair and restful cozened thee, ✿ For peaceful
nights bring woes of heavy weight.
When she had ended her verse behold, somebody knocked at the door. So
Nur al-Din rose to open it and one of his boon-companions followed him
without being perceived. At the door he found his Steward and asked him,
"What is the matter?"; and he answered, "O my lord, what I dreaded for
thee hath come to pass!" "How so?" "Know that there remains not a
dirham's worth, less or more in my hands. Here are my Daftars and
account books showing both income and outlay and the registers of thine
original property." When Nur al-Din heard these words he bowed his head
and said, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!"
When the man who had followed him privily to spy on him heard the
Steward's words, he returned to his friends and warned them saying,
"Look ye well to what ye do: Nur al-Din is penniless;" and, as the young
host came back to his guests, vexation showed itself in his face.
Thereupon one of the intimates rose; and, looking at the entertainer,
said to him, "O my lord, may be thou wilt give me leave to retire?" "And
why so early retirement this day?"; asked he and the other answered him,
"My wife is in child-birth and I may not be absent from her: indeed I
must return and see how she does." So he gave him leave, whereupon
another rose and said, "O my lord Nur al-Din, I wish now to go to my
brother's for he circumciseth his son to day."[26] In short each and
every asked permission to retire on some pretence or other, till all the
ten were gone leaving Nur al-Din alone. Then he called his slave-girl
and said to her, "O Anis al-Jalis, hast thou seen what case is mine?"
And he related to her what the Steward had told him. Then quoth she, "O
my lord, for many nights I had it in my mind to speak with thee of this
matter, but I heard thee repeating:—
When the World heaps favours on thee, pass on ✿ Thy favours to
friends ere her hand she stay:
Largesse never let her when fain she comes, ✿ Nor niggardise kept
her from turning away!"
"When I heard these verses I held my peace and cared not to exchange a
word with thee." "O Anis al-Jalis," said Nur al-Din, "thou knowest that
I have not wasted my wealth save on my friends, especially these ten who
have now left me a pauper, and I think they will not abandon and desert
me without relief." "By Allah," replied she, "they will not profit thee
with aught of aid." Said he, "I will rise at once and go to them and
knock at their doors; it may be I shall get from them somewhat wherewith
I may trade and leave pastime and pleasuring." So he rose without stay
or delay, and repaired to a street wherein all his ten friends lived. He
went up to the nearest door and knocked; whereupon a handmaid came out
and asked him, "Who art thou?"; and he answered, "Tell thy master that
Nur al-Din Ali standeth at the door and saith to him:—Thy slave kisseth
thy hand and awaiteth thy bounty." The girl went in and told her master,
who cried at her, "Go back and say:—My master is not at home." So she
returned to Nur al-Din, and said to him, "O my lord, my master is out."
Thereupon he turned away and said to himself, "If this one be a whoreson
knave and deny himself, another may not prove himself such knave and
whoreson." Then he went up to the next door and sent in a like message
to the house-master, who denied himself as the first had done, whereupon
he began repeating:—
He is gone who when to his gate thou go'st, ✿ Fed thy famisht maw
with his boiled and roast.
When he had ended his verse he said, "By Allah, there is no help but
that I make trial of them all: perchance there be one amongst them who
will stand me in the stead of all the rest." So he went the round of the
ten, but not one of them would open his door to him or show himself or
even break a bit of bread before him; whereupon he recited:—
Like a tree is he who in wealth doth wone, ✿ And while fruits he
the folk to his fruit shall run:
But when bared the tree of what fruit it bare, ✿ They leave it
to suffer from dust and sun.
Perdition to all of this age! I find ✿ Ten rogues for every
righteous one.
Then he returned to his slave-girl and his grief had grown more grievous
and she said to him, "O my lord, did I not tell thee, none would profit
thee with aught of aid?" And he replied, "By Allah, not one of them
would show me his face or know me!" "O my lord," quoth she, "sell some
of the moveables and household stuff, such as pots and pans, little by
little; and expend the proceeds until Allah Almighty shall provide." So
he sold all of that was in the house till nothing remained when he
turned to Anis al-Jalis and asked her "What shall we do now?"; and she
answered, "O my lord, it is my advice that thou rise forthwith and take
me down to the bazar and sell me. Thou knowest that thy father bought me
for ten thousand dinars: haply Allah may open thee a way to get the same
price, and if it be His will to bring us once more together, we shall
meet again." "O Anis al-Jalis," cried he, "by Allah it is no light
matter for me to be parted from thee for a single hour!" "By Allah, O my
lord," she replied, nor is it easy to me either, but Need hath its own
law, as the poet said:—
Need drives a man into devious roads, ✿ And pathways doubtful of
trend and scope:
No man to a rope[27] will entrust his weight, ✿ Save for cause
that calleth for case of rope.
Thereupon he rose to his feet and took her,[28] whilst the tears rolled
down his cheek like rain; and he recited with the tongue of the case
these lines:—
Stay! grant one parting look before we part, ✿ Nerving my heart
this severance to sustain:
But, an this parting deal thee pain and bane, ✿ Leave me to die of
love and spare thee pain!
Then he went down with her to the bazar and delivered her to the broker
and said to him, "O Hájj Hasan,[29] I pray thee note the value of her
thou hast to cry for sale." "O my lord Nur al-Din," quoth the broker,
"the fundamentals are remembered;"[30] adding, "Is not this the Anis
al-Jalis whom thy father bought of me for ten thousand dinars?" "Yes,"
said Nur al-Din. Thereupon the broker went round to the merchants, but
found that all had not yet assembled. So he waited till the rest had
arrived and the market was crowded with slave-girls of all nations,
Turks, Franks and Circassians; Abyssinians, Nubians and Takrúrís;[31]
Tartars, Georgians and others; when he came forward and standing cried
aloud, "O merchants! O men of money! every round thing is not a walnut
and every long thing a banana is not; all reds are not meat nor all
whites fat, nor is every brown thing a date![32] O merchants, I have
here this union-pearl that hath no price: at what sum shall I cry her?"
"Cry her at four thousand five hundred dinars," quoth one of the
traders. The broker opened the door of sale at the sum named and, as he
was yet calling, lo! the Wazir Al-Mu'in bin Sawi passed through the
bazar and, seeing Nur al-Din Ali waiting at one side, said to himself,
"Why is Khakan's son[33] standing about here? Hath this gallows-bird
aught remaining wherewith to buy slave-girls?" Then he looked round and,
seeing the broker calling out in the market with all the merchants
around him, said to himself, "I am sure that he is penniless and hath
brought hither the damsel Anis al-Jalis for sale;" adding, "O how
cooling and grateful is this to my heart!" Then he called the crier, who
came up and kissed the ground before him; and he said to him, "I want
this slave-girl whom thou art calling for sale." The broker dared not
cross him, so he answered, "O my lord, Bismillah! in Allah's name so be
it;" and led forward the damsel and showed her to him. She pleased him
much whereat he asked, "O Hasan, what is bidden for this girl?" and tie
answered, "Four thousand five hundred dinars to open the door of sale."
Quoth Al-Mu'in, "Four thousand five hundred is _my_ bid." When the
merchants heard this, they held back and dared not bid another dirham,
wotting what they did of the Wazir's tyranny, violence and treachery. So
Al-Mu'in looked at the broker and said to him, "Why stand still? Go and
offer four thousand dinars for me and the five hundred shall be for
thyself." Thereupon the broker went to Nur al-Din and said, "O my lord,
thy slave is going for nothing!" "And how so?" asked he. The broker
answered, "We had opened the biddings for her at four thousand five
hundred dinars; when that tyrant, Al-Mu'in bin Sawi, passed through the
bazar and, as he saw the damsel she pleased him, so he cried to me:—Call
me the buyer at four thousand dinars and thou shalt have five hundred
for thyself. I doubt not but that he knoweth that the damsel is thine,
and if he would pay thee down her price at once it were well; but I know
his injustice and violence; he will give thee a written order upon some
of his agents and will send after thee to say to them:—Pay him nothing.
So as often as thou shalt go in quest of the coin they will say:—We'll
pay thee presently! and they will put thee off day after day, and thou
art proud of spirit; till at last, when they are wearied with thine
importunity, they will say:—Show us the cheque. Then, as soon as they
have got hold of it they will tear it up and so thou wilt lose the
girl's price." When Nur al-Din heard this he looked at the broker and
asked him, "How shall this matter be managed?"; and he answered, "I will
give thee a counsel which, if thou follow, it shall bring thee complete
satisfaction." "And what is that?" quoth Nur al-Din. Quoth the broker,
"Come thou to me anon when I am standing in the middle of the market
and, taking the girl from my hand, give her a sound cuffing and say to
her:—Thou baggage, I have kept my vow and brought thee down to the
slave-market, because I swore an oath that I would carry thee from home
to the bazar, and make brokers cry thee for sale. If thou do this,
perhaps the device will impose upon the Wazir and the people, and they
will believe that thou broughtest her not to the bazar but for the
quittance of thine oath." He replied, "Such were the best way." Then the
broker left him and, returning into the midst of the market, took the
damsel by the hand, and signed to the Wazir and said, "O my lord, here
is her owner." With this up came Nur al-Din Ali and, snatching the girl
from the broker's hand, cuffed her soundly and said to her, "Shame on
thee, O thou baggage! I have brought thee to the bazar for quittance of
mine oath; now get thee home and thwart me no more as is thy wont. Woe
to thee! do I need thy price, that I should sell thee? The furniture of
my house would fetch thy value many times over!" When Al-Mu'in saw this
he said to Nur al-Din, "Out on thee! Hast thou anything left for selling
or buying?" And he would have laid violent hands upon him, but the
merchants interposed (for they all loved Nur al-Din), and the young man
said to them, "Here am I in your hands and ye all know his tyranny." "By
Allah," cried the Wazir, "but for you I had slain him!" Then all signed
with significant eyes to Nur al-Din as much as to say, "Take thy wreak
of him; not one of us will come between thee and him." Thereupon Nur
al-Din, who was stout of heart as he was stalwart of limb, went up to
the Wazir and, dragging him over the pommel of his saddle, threw him to
the ground. Now there was in that place a puddling-pit for
brick-clay,[34] into the midst of which he fell, and Nur al-Din kept
pummelling and fisti-cuffing him, and one of the blows fell full on his
teeth, and his beard was dyed with his blood. Also there were with the
minister ten armed slaves who, seeing their master entreated after this
fashion, laid hand on sword-hilt and would have bared blades and fallen
on Nur al-Din to cut him down; but the merchants and bystanders said to
them, "This is a Wazir and that is the son of a Wazir; haply they will
make friends some time or other, in which case you will forfeit the
favour of both. Or perchance a blow may befal your lord, and you will
all die the vilest of deaths; so it were better for you not to
interfere." Accordingly they held aloof and, when Nur al-Din had made an
end of thrashing the Wazir, he took his handmaid and fared homewards.
Al-Mu'in also went his ways at once, with his raiment dyed of three
colours, black with mud, red with blood and ash coloured with
brick-clay. When he saw himself in this state, he bound a bit of
matting[35] round his neck and, taking in hand two bundles of coarse
Halfah-grass,[36] went up to the palace and standing under the Sultan's
windows cried aloud, "O King of the age, I am a wronged man! I am foully
wronged!" So they brought him before the King who looked at him; and
behold, it was the chief Minister; whereupon he said, "O Wazir who did
this deed by thee?" Al-Mu'in wept and sobbed and repeated these lines:—
Shall the World oppress me when thou art in't? ✿ In the lion's
presence shall wolves devour?
Shall the dry all drink of thy tanks and I ✿ Under rain-cloud
thirst for the cooling shower?
"O my lord," cried he, "the like will befal every one who loveth and
serveth thee well." "Be quick with thee," quoth the Sultan, "and tell me
how this came to pass and who did this deed by one whose honour is part
of my honour." Quoth the Wazir, "Know, O my lord, that I went out this
day to the slave-market to buy me a cookmaid, when I saw there a damsel,
never in my life long saw I a fairer; and I designed to buy her for our
lord the Sultan; so I asked the broker of her and of her owner, and he
answered, "She belongeth to Ali son of Al-Fazl bin Khakan. Some time ago
our lord the Sultan gave his father ten thousand dinars wherewith to buy
him a handsome slave-girl, and he bought this maiden who pleased him; so
he grudged her to our lord the Sultan and gave her to his own son. When
the father died, the son sold all he had of houses and gardens and
household gear, and squandered the price till he was penniless. Then he
brought the girl to the market that he might sell her, and he handed her
over to the broker to cry and the merchants bid higher and higher on
her, until her price reached four thousand dinars; whereupon quoth I to
myself:—I will buy this damsel for our lord the Sultan, whose money was
paid for her. So I said to Nur al-Din:—O my son, sell her to me for four
thousand dinars. When he heard my words he looked at me and cried:—O
ill-omened oldster, I will sell her to a Jew or to a Nazarene, but I
will not sell her to thee! I do not buy her for myself, said I, I buy
her for our lord and benefactor the Sultan. Hearing my words he was
filled with rage; and, dragging me off my horse (and I a very old man),
beat me unmercifully with his fists and buffeted me with his palms till
he left me as thou seest, and all this hath befallen me only because I
thought to buy this damsel for thee!" Then the Wazir threw himself on
the ground and lay there weeping and shivering. When the Sultan saw his
condition and heard his story, the vein of rage started out between his
eyes[37] and he turned to his body-guard who stood before him, forty
white slaves, smiters with the sword, and said to them, "Go down
forthright to the house built by the son of Khakan and sack it and raze
it and bring to me his son Nur al-Din with the damsel; and drag them
both on their faces with their arms pinioned behind them." They replied,
"To hear is to obey;" and, arming themselves, they set out for the house
of Nur al-Din Ali. Now about the Sultan was a Chamberlain, Alam[38]
al-Din Sanjar hight, who had aforetime been Mameluke to Al-Fazl; but he
had risen in the world and the Sultan had advanced him to be one of his
Chamberlains. When he heard the King's command and saw the enemies make
them ready to slay his old master's son, it was grievous to him: so he
went out from before the Sultan and, mounting his beast, rode to Nur
al-Din's house and knocked at the door. Nur al-Din came out and knowing
him would have saluted him: but he said, "O my master this is no time
for greeting or treating. Listen to what the poet said:—
Fly, fly with thy life if by ill overtaken!
Let thy house speak thy death by its builder forsaken!
For a land else than this land thou may'st reach, my brother,
But thy life tho'lt ne'er find in this world another.[39]
"O Alam al-Din what cheer?" asked Nur al-Din, and he answered, "Rise
quickly and fly for thy life, thou and the damsel; for Al-Mu'in hath set
a snare for you both; and, if you fall into his hands, he will slay you.
The Sultan hath despatched forty sworders against you and I counsel you
to flee ere harm can hurt you." Then Sanjar put his hand to his purse
and finding there forty gold pieces took them and gave them to Nur
al-Din, saying, "O my lord receive these and journey with them. Had I
more I would give them to thee, but this is not the time to take
exception." Thereupon Nur al-Din went in to the damsel and told her what
had happened, at which she wrung her hands. Then they fared forth at
once from the city, and Allah spread over them His veil of protection,
so that they reached the river-bank where they found a vessel ready for
sea. Her skipper was standing amidships and crying, "Whoso hath aught to
do, whether in the way of provisioning or taking leave of his people; or
whoso hath forgotten any needful thing, let him do it at once and
return, for we are about to sail"; and all of them saying, "There is
naught left to be done by us, O captain!", he cried to his crew, "Hallo
there! cast off the cable and pull up the mooring-pole!"[40] Quoth Nur
al-Din, "Whither bound, O captain?" and quoth he, "To the House of
Peace, Baghdad,"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Thirty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the skipper
answered, "To the House of Peace, Baghdad," Nur al-Din Ali and the
damsel went on board, and they launched the craft and shook out the
sails, and the ship sped forth as though she were a bird on wing; even
as said one of them and said right well:—
Watch some tall ship, she'll joy the sight of thee, ✿ The
breeze outstripping in her haste to flee;
As when a bird, with widely-spreading wings, ✿ Leaveth the sky
to settle on the sea.