Thus far concerning them; but as regards the Mamelukes, they went to Nur
al-Din's mansion and, breaking open the doors, entered and searched the
whole place, but could find no trace of him and the damsel; so they
demolished the house and, returning to the Sultan, reported their
proceedings; whereupon quoth he, "Make search for them both, wherever
they may be;" and they answered, "Hearing is obeying." The Wazir
Al-Mu'in had also gone home after the Sultan had bestowed upon him a
robe of honour, and had set his heart at rest by saying, "None shall
take blood-wreak for thee save I;" and he had blessed the King and
prayed for his long life and prosperity. Then the Sultan bade proclaim
about the city, "Oyez, O ye lieges one and all! It is the will of our
lord the Sultan that whoso happeneth on Nur al-Din Ali son of Al-Fazl
bin Khakan, and bringeth him to the Sultan, shall receive a robe of
honour and one thousand gold pieces; and he who hideth him or knoweth
his abiding place and informeth not, deserveth whatsoever pains and
penalties shall befal him." So all began to search for Nur al-Din Ali,
but they could find neither trace nor tidings of him. Meanwhile he and
his handmaid sailed on with the wind right aft, till they arrived in
safety at Baghdad, and the captain said to them, "This is Baghdad and
'tis the city where security is to be had: Winter with his frosts hath
turned away and Prime hath come his roses to display; and the flowers
are a-glowing and the trees are blowing and the streams are flowing." So
Nur al-Din landed, he and his handmaid and, giving the captain five
dinars, walked on a little way till the decrees of Destiny brought them
among the gardens, and they came to a place swept and sprinkled, with
benches along the walls and hanging jars filled with water.[41] Overhead
was a trellis of reed-work and canes shading the whole length of the
avenue, and at the upper end was a garden gate, but this was locked. "By
Allah," quoth Nur al-Din to the damsel, "right pleasant is this place!";
and she replied, "O my lord sit with me a while on this bench and let us
take our ease." So they mounted and sat them down on the bench, after
which they washed their faces and hands; and the breeze blew cool on
them and they fell asleep and glory be to Him who never sleepeth! Now
this garden was named the Garden of Gladness[42] and therein stood a
belvedere hight the Palace of Pleasure and the Pavilion of Pictures, the
whole belonging to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid who was wont, when his
breast was straitened with care, to frequent garden and palace and there
to sit. The palace had eighty latticed windows and fourscore lamps
hanging round a great candelabrum of gold furnished with wax-candles;
and, when the Caliph used to enter, he would order the handmaids to
throw open the lattices and light up the rooms; and he would bid Ishak
bin Ibrahim the cup-companion and the slave-girls to sing till his
breast was broadened and his ailments were allayed. Now the keeper of
the garden, Shaykh Ibrahim, was a very old man, and he had found from
time to time, when he went out on any business, people pleasuring about
the garden gate with their bona robas; at which he was angered with
exceeding anger.[43] But he took patience till one day when the Caliph
came to his garden; and he complained of this to Harun al-Rashid who
said, "Whomsoever thou surprisest about the door of the garden, deal
with him as thou wilt." Now on this day the Gardener chanced to be
abroad on some occasion and returning found these two sleeping at the
gate covered with a single mantilla; whereupon said he, "By Allah, good!
These twain know not that the Caliph hath given me leave to slay anyone
I may catch at the door; but I will give this couple a shrewd whipping,
that none may come near the gate in future." So he cut a green
palm-frond[44] and went up to them and, raising his arm till the white
of his arm-pit appeared, was about to strike them, when he bethought
himself and said, "O Ibrahim, wilt thou beat them unknowing their case?
Haply they are strangers or of the Sons of the Road,[45] and the decrees
of Destiny have thrown them here. I will uncover their faces and look at
them." So he lifted up the mantilla from their heads and said, "They are
a handsome couple; it were not fitting that I should beat them." Then he
covered their faces again and, going to Nur al-Din's feet, began to rub
and shampoo them,[46] whereupon the youth opened his eyes and, seeing an
old man of grave and reverend aspect rubbing his feet, he was ashamed
and drawing them in, sat up. Then he took Shaykh Ibrahim"s hand and
kissed it. Quoth the old man, "O my son, whence art thou?"; and quoth
he, "O my lord, we two are strangers," and the tears started from his
eyes. "O my son," said Shaykh Ibrahim, "know that the Prophet (whom
Allah bless and preserve!) hath enjoined honour to the stranger;" and
added, "Wilt not thou arise, O my son, and pass into the garden and
solace thy self by looking at it and gladden thy heart?" "O my lord,"
said Nur al-Din, "to whom doth this garden belong?;" and the other
replied, "O my son, I have inherited it from my folk." Now his object in
saying this was to set them at their ease and induce them to enter the
garden. So Nur al-Din thanked him and rose, he and the damsel, and
followed him into the garden: and lo! it was a garden, and what a
garden! The gate was arched like a great hall and over walls and roof
ramped vines with grapes of many colours; the red like rubies and the
black like ebonies; and beyond it lay a bower of trelliced boughs
growing fruits single and composite, and small birds on branches sang
with melodious recite, and the thousand-noted nightingale shrilled with
her varied shright; the turtle with her cooing filled the site; the
blackbird whistled like human wight[47] and the ring-dove moaned like a
drinker in grievous plight. The trees grew in perfection all edible
growths and fruited all manner fruits which in pairs were bipartite;
with the camphor-apricot, the almond-apricot and the apricot "Khorasani"
hight; the plum, like the face of beauty, smooth and bright; the cherry
that makes teeth shine clear by her sleight, and the fig of three
colours, green, purple and white. There also blossomed the violet as it
were sulphur on fire by night; the orange with buds like pink coral and
marguerite; the rose whose redness gars the loveliest cheeks blush with
despight; and myrtle and gilliflower and lavender with the blood-red
anemone from Nu'uman hight. The leaves were all gemmed with tears the
clouds had dight; the chamomile smiled showing teeth that bite, and
Narcissus with his negro[48] eyes fixed on Rose his sight; the citrons
shone with fruits embowled and the lemons like balls of gold; earth was
carpeted with flowers tinctured infinite; for Spring was come
brightening the place with joy and delight; and the streams ran ringing,
to the birds' gay singing, while the rustling breeze upspringing
attempered the air to temperance exquisite. Shaykh Ibrahim carried them
up into the pavilion, and they gazed on its beauty, and on the lamps
aforementioned in the latticed windows; and Nur al-Din, remembering his
entertainments of time past, cried, "By Allah, this is a pleasant place;
it hath quenched in me anguish which burned as a fire of
Ghazá-wood.[49]" Then they sat down and Shaykh Ibrahim set food before
them; and they ate till they were satisfied and washed their hands:
after which Nur al-Din went up to one of the latticed windows, and,
calling to his handmaid fell to gazing on the trees laden with all
manner fruits. Presently he turned to the Gardener and said to him, "O
Shaykh Ibrahim hast thou no drink here, for folk are wont to drink after
eating?" The Shaykh brought him sweet water, cool and pleasant, but he
said, "This is not the kind of drink I wanted." "Perchance thou wishest
for wine?" "Indeed I do, O Shaykh!" "I seek refuge from it with Allah:
it is thirteen years since I did this thing, for the Prophet (Abhak[50])
cursed its drinker, presser, seller and carrier!" "Hear two words of
me." "Say on." "If yon cursed ass[51] which standeth there be cursed,
will aught of his curse alight upon thee?" "By no means!" "Then take
this dinar and these two dirhams and mount yonder ass and, halting afar
from the wine-shop, call the first man thou seest buying liquor and say
to him:—Take these two dirhams for thyself, and with this dinar buy me
some wine and set it on the ass. So shalt thou be neither the presser,
nor the buyer, nor the carrier; and no part of the curse will fall upon
thee." At this Shaykh Ibrahim laughed and said, "By Allah, O my son, I
never saw one wilier of wit than thou art, nor heard aught sweeter than
thy speech." So he did as he was bidden by Nur al-Din who thanked him
and said, "We two are now dependent on thee, and it is only meet that
thou comply with our wishes; so bring us here what we require." "O my
son," replied he, "this is my buttery before thee" (and it was the
store-room provided for the Commander of the Faithful); "so go in, and
take whatso thou wilt, for there is over and above what thou wantest."
Nur al-Din then entered the pantry and found therein vessels of gold and
silver and crystal set with all kinds of gems, and was amazed and
delighted with what he saw. Then he took out what he needed and set it
on and poured the wine into flagons and glass ewers, whilst Shaykh
Ibrahim brought them fruit and flowers and aromatic herbs. Then the old
man withdrew and sat down at a distance from them, whilst they drank and
made merry, till the wine got the better of them, so that their cheeks
reddened and their eyes wantoned like the gazelle's; and their locks
became dishevelled and their brightness became yet more beautiful. Then
said Shaykh Ibrahim to himself, "What aileth me to sit apart from them?
Why should I not sit with them? When shall I ever find myself in company
with the like of these two that favour two moons?" So he stepped forward
and sat down on the edge of the daïs, and Nur al-Din said to him, "O my
lord, my life on thee, come nearer to us!" He came and sat by them, when
Nur al-Din filled a cup and looked towards the Shaykh and said to him,
"Drink, that thou mayest try the taste of it!" I take refuge from it
with Allah!" replied he; "for thirteen years I have not done a thing of
the kind." Nur al-Din feigned to forget he was there and, drinking off
the cup, threw himself on the ground as if the drink had overcome him;
whereupon Anis al-Jalis glanced at him and said, "O Shaykh Ibrahim see
how this husband of mine treateth me;" and he answered, "O my lady, what
aileth him?" "This is how he always serveth me," cried she, "he drinketh
awhile, then falleth asleep and leaveth me alone with none to bear me
company over my cup nor any to whom I may sing when the bowl goeth
round." Quoth the Shaykh (and his mien unstiffened for that his soul
inclined towards her), "By Allah, this is not well!" Then she crowned a
cup and looking towards him said, "By my life thou must take and drink
it, and not refuse to heal my sick heart!" So he put forth his hand and
took it and drank it off and she filled a second and set it on the
chandelier and said, "O master mine, there is still this one left for
thee." "By Allah, I cannot drink it;" cried he, "what I have already
drunk is enough for me;" but she rejoined, "By Allah, there is no help
for it." So he took the cup and drank; and she filled him a third which
he took and was about to drink when behold, Nur al-Din rolled round and
sat upright——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Thirty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nur al-Din sat
upright and said, "Ho, Shaykh Ibrahim, what is this? Did I not adjure
thee a while ago and thou refusedst, saying:—What, I! 'tis thirteen
years ago since I have done such a thing!" "By Allah," quoth the Shaykh
(and indeed he was abashed), "no sin of mine this, she forced me to do
it." Nur al-Din laughed and they sat down again to wine and wassail, but
the damsel turned to her master and said in a whisper, "O my lord, drink
and do not press him, that I may show thee some sport with him." Then
she began to fill her master's cup and he hers and so they did time
after time, till at last Shaykh Ibrahim looked at them and said, "What
fashion of good fellowship is this? Allah curse the glutton who keepeth
the cup to himself! Why dost thou not give me to drink, O my brother?
What manners are these, O blessed one?" At this the two laughed until
they fell on their backs; then they drank and gave him to drink and
ceased not their carousal till a third part of the night was past. Then
said the damsel, "O Shaykh Ibrahim, with thy leave I will get up and
light one of these candles." "Do so," he replied, "but light no more
than one." So she sprang to her feet and, beginning with one candle,
lighted all the eighty and sat down again. Presently Nur al-Din said, "O
Shaykh Ibrahim, in what favour am I with thee? May I not light one of
these lamps?" "Light one," replied he, "and bother me no more in thy
turn!" So he rose and lighted one lamp after another, till he had
lighted the whole eighty and the palace seemed to dance with brilliancy.
Quoth the Shaykh (and indeed intoxication had overcome him), "Ye two are
bolder than I am." Then he rose to his feet and opened all the lattices
and sat down again; and they fell to carousing and reciting verses till
the place rang with their noisy mirth. Now Allah, the Decreer who
decreeth all things and who for every effect appointeth a cause, had so
disposed that the Caliph was at that moment sitting in the light of the
moon at one of the windows of his palace overlooking the Tigris. He saw
the blaze of the lamps and wax candles reflected in the river and,
lifting his eyes, perceived that it came from the Garden Palace which
was all ablaze with brilliancy. So he cried, "Here to me with Ja'afar
the Barmaki!"; and the last word was hardly spoken ere the Wazir was
present before the Commander of the Faithful, who cried at him, "O dog
of a Minister, hast thou taken from me this city of Baghdad without
saying aught to me?" "What words are these words?" asked Ja'afar; and
the Caliph answered, "If Baghdad city were not taken from me, the Palace
of Pictures would not be illuminated with lamps and candles, nor would
its windows be thrown open. Woe to thee! who durst do a deed like this
except the Caliphate had been taken from me?" Quoth Ja'afar (and indeed
his side-muscles trembled as he spoke), "Who told thee that the Palace
of Pictures was illuminated and the windows thrown open?" Come hither
and see," replied the Caliph. Then Ja'afar came close to the Caliph and,
looking towards the garden, saw the palace blazing with illumination
that rayed through the gloom of the night; and, thinking that this might
have been permitted by the keeper for some reason of his own, he wished
to make an excuse for him; so quoth he, "O Commander of the Faithful,
Shaykh Ibrahim said to me last week:—O my lord Ja'afar, I much wish to
circumcise my sons during the life of the Commander of the Faithful and
thy life. I asked:—What dost thou want?; and he answered:—Get me leave
from the Caliph to hold the festival in the Garden Palace. So said I to
him:—Go circumcise them and I will see the Caliph and tell him.
Thereupon he went away and I forgot to let thee know." "O Ja'afar," said
the Caliph, "thou hast committed two offences against me; first in that
thou didst not report to me, secondly, thou didst not give him what he
sought; for he came and told thee this only as excuse to ask for some
small matter of money, to help him with the outlay; and thou gavest him
nothing nor toldest me." "O Commander of the Faithful," said Ja'afar, "I
forgot." "Now by the rights of my forefathers and the tombs of my
forbears," quoth the Caliph, "I will not pass the rest of this night
save in company with him; for truly he is a pious man who frequenteth
the Elders of the Faith and the Fakirs and other religious mendicants
and entertaineth them; doubtless they are now assembled together and it
may be that the prayer of one of them will work us weal both in this
world and in the next. Besides, my presence may profit and at any rate
be pleasing to Shaykh Ibrahim." "O Commander of the Faithful," quoth
Ja'afar, "the greater part of the night is passed, and at this time they
will be breaking up." Quoth the Caliph, "It matters not: I needs must go
to them." So Ja'afar held his peace, being bewildered and knowing not
what to do. Then the Caliph rose to his feet and, taking with him
Ja'afar and Masrur the eunuch sworder, the three disguised themselves in
merchants' gear and leaving the City-palace, kept threading the streets
till they reached the garden. The Caliph went up to the gate and finding
it wide open, was surprised and said, "See, O Ja'afar, how Shaykh
Ibrahim hath left the gate open at this hour contrary to his custom!"
They went in and walked on till they came under the pavilion, when the
Caliph said, "O Ja'afar, I wish to look in upon them unawares before I
show myself, that I may see what they are about and get sight of the
elders; for hitherto I have heard no sound from them, nor even a Fakir
calling upon the name of Allah.[52]" Then he looked about and, seeing a
tall walnut-tree, said to Ja'afar, "I will climb this tree, for its
branches are near the lattices and so look in upon them." Thereupon he
mounted the tree and ceased not climbing from branch to branch, till he
reached a bough which was right opposite one of the windows, and here he
took seat and looked inside the palace. He saw a damsel and a youth as
they were two moons (glory be to Him who created them and fashioned
them!), and by them Shaykh Ibrahim seated cup in hand and saying, "O
Princess of fair ones, drinking without music is nothing worth; indeed I
have heard a poet say:—
Round with big and little, the bowl and cup, ✿ Take either
that moon[53] in his sheen hath crowned:
Nor drink without music, for oft I've seen, ✿ The horse drink best
to the whistle's sound!
When the Caliph saw this, the vein of wrath started up between his eyes
and he came down and said to the Wazir, "O Ja'afar, never beheld I yet
men of piety in such case; so do thou mount this tree and look upon
them, lest the blessings of the blest be lost to thee." Ja'afar, hearing
the words of the Commander of the Faithful and being confounded by them,
climbed to the tree-top and looking in, saw Nur al-Din and the damsel,
and Shaykh Ibrahim holding in his hand a brimming bowl. At this sight he
made sure of death and, descending, stood before the Commander of the
Faithful, who said to him, "O Ja'afar, praise be to Allah who hath made
us of those that observe external ordinances of Holy Law and hath
averted from us the sin of disguising ourselves after the manner of
hypocrites!"[54] But Ja'afar could not speak a word for excess of
confusion; so the Caliph looked at him and said, "I wonder how they came
hither, and who admitted them into my pavilion! But aught like the
beauty of this youth and this damsel my eyes never yet saw!" "Thou
sayest sooth, O our Lord the Sultan!" replied Ja'afar (and he hoped to
propitiate the Caliph Harun al-Rashid). Then quoth the Caliph, "O
Ja'afar, let us both mount the branch opposite the window, that we may
amuse ourselves with looking at them." So the two climbed the tree and,
peering in, heard Shaykh Ibrahim say, "O my lady, I have cast away all
gravity mine by the drinking of wine, but 'tis not sweet save with the
soft sounds of the lute-strings it combine." "By Allah," replied Anis
al-Jalis, "O Shaykh Ibrahim, an we had but some instrument of music our
joyance were complete." Hearing this he rose to his feet and the Caliph
said to Ja'afar, "I wonder what he is about to do!" and Ja'afar
answered, "I know not." The Shaykh disappeared and presently reappeared
bringing a lute; and the Caliph took note of it and knew it for that of
Abu Ishak the Cup-companion.[55] "By Allah," said the Caliph, "if this
damsel sing ill I will crucify all of you; but if she sing well I will
forgive them and only gibbet thee." "O Allah cause her to sing vilely!"
quoth Ja'afar. Asked the Caliph, "Why so?"; and he answered, "If thou
crucify us all together, we shall keep one another company." The Caliph
laughed at his speech. Presently the damsel took the lute and, after
looking at it and tuning it, she played a measure which made all hearts
yearn to her; then she sang these lines:—
O ye that can aid me, a wretched lover, ✿ Whom longing burns nor
can rest restore me!
Though all you have done I have well deserved, ✿ I take refuge
with you, so exult not o'er me:
True, I am weak and low and vile, ✿ But I'll bear your will and
whatso you bore me:
My death at your hands what brings it of glory? ✿ I fear but your
sin which of life forlore me!
Quoth the Caliph, "By Allah, good! O Ja'afar, never in my life have I
heard a voice so enchanting as this." "Then haply the Caliph's wrath
hath passed away," said Ja'afar, and he replied, "Yes, 'tis gone."
Thereupon they descended from the tree, and the Caliph said to Ja'afar,
"I wish to go in and sit with them and hear the damsel sing before me."
"O Commander of the Faithful," replied Ja'afar, "if thou go in to them
they will be terribly troubled, and Shaykh Ibrahim will assuredly die of
fright." But the Caliph answered, "O Ja'afar, thou must teach me some
device wherewith to delude them and whereby I can foregather with them
without their knowing me." So they walked towards the Tigris pondering
the matter, and presently came upon a fisherman who stood fishing under
the pavilion windows. Now some time before this, the Caliph (being in
the pavilion) had called to Shaykh Ibrahim and asked him, "What noise is
this I hear under the windows?" and he had answered, "It is voices of
fisher folk catching fish:" so quoth the Caliph, "Go down and forbid
them this place;" and he forbade them accordingly. However that night a
fisherman named Karim, happening to pass by and seeing the garden gate
open, said to himself, "This is a time of negligence; and I will take
advantage of it to do a bit of fishing." So he took his net and cast it,
but he had hardly done so when behold, the Caliph came up single-handed
and, standing hard by, knew him and called aloud to him, "Ho, Karim!"
The fisherman, hearing himself named, turned round, and seeing the
Caliph, trembled and his side-muscles quivered, as he cried, "By Allah,
O Commander of the Faithful, I did it not in mockery of the mandate; but
poverty and a large family drove me to what thou seest!" Quoth the
Caliph, "Make a cast in my name." At this the fisherman was glad and
going to the bank threw his net, then waiting till it had spread out at
full stretch and settled down, hauled it up and found in it various
kinds of fish. The Caliph was pleased and said, "O Karim, doff thy
habit." So he put off a gaberdine of coarse woollen stuff patched in an
hundred places whereon the lice were rampant, and a turband which had
never been untwisted for three years but to which he had sewn every rag
he came upon. The Caliph also pulled off his person two vests of
Alexandrian and Ba'lbak silk, a loose inner robe and a long-sleeved
outer coat, and said to the fisherman, "Take them and put them on,"
while he assumed the foul gaberdine and filthy turband and drew a corner
of the head-cloth as a mouth-veil[56] before his face. Then said he to
the fisherman, "Get thee about thy business!"; and the man kissed the
Caliph's feet and thanked him and improvised the following couplets:—
Thou hast granted more favours than ever I craved; ✿ Thou
hast satisfied needs which my heart enslaved:
I will thank thee and thank whileas life shall last, ✿ And my
bones will praise thee in grave engraved!
Hardly had the fisherman ended his verse, when the lice began to crawl
over the Caliph's skin, and he fell to catching them on his neck with
his right and left and throwing them from him, while he cried, "O
fisherman, woe to thee! what be this abundance of lice on thy
gaberdine." "O my lord," replied he, "they may annoy thee just at first,
but before a week is past thou wilt not feel them nor think of them."
The Caliph laughed and said to him, "Out on thee! Shall I leave this
gaberdine of thine so long on my body?" Quoth the fisherman, "I would
say a word to thee but I am ashamed in presence of the Caliph!"; and
quoth he, "Say what thou hast to say." "It passed through my thought, O
Commander of the Faithful," said the fisherman, "that, since thou
wishest to learn fishing so thou mayest have in hand an honest trade
whereby to gain thy livelihood, this my gaberdine besitteth thee right
well."[57] The Commander of the Faithful laughed at this speech, and the
fisherman went his way. Then the Caliph took up the basket of fish and,
strewing a little green grass over it, carried it to Ja'afar and stood
before him. Ja'afar thinking him to be Karim the fisherman feared for
him and said, "O Karim, what brought thee hither? Flee for thy life, for
the Caliph is in the garden to-night and, if he see thee, thy neck is
gone." At this the Caliph laughed and Ja'afar recognized him and asked,
"Can it be thou, our lord the Sultan?"; and he answered, "Yes, O
Ja'afar, and thou art my Wazir and I and thou came hither together; yet
thou knowest me not; so how should Shaykh Ibrahim know me, and he drunk?
Stay here, till I come back to thee." "To hear is to obey," said
Ja'afar. Then the Caliph went up to the door of the pavilion and knocked
a gentle knock, whereupon said Nur al-Din, "O Shaykh Ibrahim, some one
taps at the door." "Who goes there?" cried the Shaykh and the Caliph
replied, "It is I, O Shaykh Ibrahim!" "Who art thou," quoth he, and
quoth the other, "I am Karim the fisherman: I hear thou hast a feast, so
I have brought thee some fish, and of a truth 'tis good fish." When Nur
al-Din heard the mention of fish, he was glad, he and the damsel, and
they both said to the Shaykh, "O our lord, open the door and let him
bring us his fish." So Shaykh Ibrahim opened and the Caliph came in (and
he in fisherman guise), and began by saluting them. Said Shaykh Ibrahim,
"Welcome to the blackguard, the robber, the dicer! Let us see thy fish."
So the Caliph showed them his catch and behold, the fishes were still
alive and jumping, whereupon the damsel exclaimed, "By Allah! O my lord,
these are indeed fine fish: would they were fried!" and Shaykh Ibrahim
rejoined, "By Allah, O my lady, thou art right." Then said he to the
Caliph, "O fisherman, why didst thou not bring us the fish ready fried?
Up now and cook them and bring them back to us." "On my head be thy
commands!" said the Caliph, "I will fry thee a dish and bring it." Said
they, "Look sharp." Thereupon he went out and ran till he came up to
Ja'afar when he called to him, "Hallo, Ja'afar!"; and he replied, "Here
am I, O Commander of the Faithful, is all well?" "They want the fish
fried," said the Caliph, and Ja'afar answered, "O Commander of the
Faithful, give it to me and I'll fry it for them." "By the tombs of my
forbears," quoth the Caliph, "none shall fry it but I, with mine own
hand!" So he went to the gardener's hut, where he searched and found all
that he required, even to salt and saffron and wild marjoram and else
besides. Then he turned to the brasier and, setting on the frying-pan,
fried a right good fry. When it was done, he laid it on a banana-leaf,
and gathering from the garden wind-fallen fruits, limes and lemons,
carried the fish to the pavilion and set the dish before them. So the
youth and the damsel and Shaykh Ibrahim came forward and ate; after
which they washed their hands and Nur al-Din said to the Caliph, "By
Allah, O fisherman, thou hast done us a right good deed this night."
Then he put hand in pouch and, taking out three of the dinars which
Sanjar had given him, said, "O fisherman, excuse me. By Allah had I
known thee before that which hath lately befallen me, I had done away
the bitterness of poverty from thy heart; but take thou this as the best
I can do for thee." Then he threw the gold pieces to the Caliph, who
took them and kissed them and put them in pouch. Now his sole object in
doing all this was to hear the damsel sing; so he said to Nur al-Din,
"Thou hast rewarded me most liberally, but I beg of thy boundless bounty
that thou let this damsel sing an air, that I may hear her."[58] So Nur
al-Din said, "O Anis al-Jalis!" and she answered "Yes!" and he
continued, "By my life, sing us something for the sake of this fisherman
who wisheth so much to hear thee." Thereupon she took the lute and
struck the strings, after she had screwed them tight and tuned them, and
sang these improvised verses:—
The fawn of a maid hent her lute in hand ✿ And her music made us
right mettlesome:
For her song gave hearing to ears stone-deaf, ✿ While Brava!
Brava! exclaimed the dumb.
Then she played again and played so ravishingly, that she charmed their
wits and burst out improvising and singing these couplets:—
You have honoured us visiting this our land, ✿ And your
splendour illumined the glooms that blent:
So 'tis due that for you I perfume my place ✿ With rose-water, musk
and the camphor-scent!
Hereupon the Caliph was agitated, and emotion so overpowered him that he
could not command himself for excess of pleasure, and he exclaimed, "By
Allah, good! by Allah, good! by Allah, good!"[59] Asked Nur al-Din, "O
fisherman, doth this damsel please thee?" and the Caliph answered, "Ay,
by Allah!" Whereupon said Nur al-Din, "She is a gift to thee, a gift of
the generous who repenteth him not of his givings and who will never
revoke his gift!" Then he sprang to his feet and, taking a loose robe,
threw it over the fisherman and bade him receive the damsel and be gone.
But she looked at him and said, "O my lord, art thou faring forth
without farewell? If it must be so, at least stay till I bid thee
good-bye and make known my case." And she began versifying in these
verses:—