spoke first, "do not you know your mother who brought you up, and
with whom you have always lived?" "Be gone, you are impertinent
vagabonds," replied Abou Hassan; "I neither knew her nor you, and
will not know her. I am not Abou Hassan; I am the commander of
the faithful, and will make you feel it to your cost."
At this speech the neighbours no longer doubted that he was mad:
and to prevent his repeating his outrages, seized him,
notwithstanding his resistance, and bound him hand and foot, But
though apparently disabled from doing any mischief, they did not
choose to leave him alone with his mother. Two of them ran for
the keeper of the hospital for insane persons, who came presently
with chains, handcuffs, a bastinado, and many attendants. When
they entered the room, Abou Hassan, who little expected such
treatment, struggled to unloose himself; but after his keeper had
given him two or three smart strokes upon the shoulders, he lay
so quiet, that the keeper and his people did what they pleased
with him. As soon as they had bound and manacled him, they took
him with them to the hospital. When he was got out of the house
into the street, the people crowded round him, one buffeted him,
another boxed him, and others called him fool and madman. To all
this treatment he replied, "There is no greatness and power but
in God most high and almighty. I am treated as a fool, though I
am in my right senses. I suffer all these injuries and
indignities for the love of God." He was conducted to the
hospital, where he was lodged in a grated cell; but before he was
shut up, the keeper, who was hardened to such terrible execution,
regaled him without pity with fifty strokes of the bastinado on
his shoulders, which he repeated every day for three weeks,
bidding him remember that he was not the commander of the
faithful. "I am not mad," said Abou Hassan, "but if I wanted your
assistance, nothing would so effectually make me mad as your
cruel treatment. I want not your advice."
Abou Hassan's mother went every day to visit her son, and could
not forbear weeping at beholding him fall away, and sigh and
complain at the hardships he endured. In short, his shoulders,
back, and sides were so black and bruised, that he could not turn
himself. His mother would willingly have talked with him, to
comfort him, and to sound him whether he still retained the
notion of being caliph; but whenever she opened her mouth, he
stopped her with so much fury, that she was forced to leave him,
and return home inconsolable at his obstinacy.
By degrees, however, those strong and lively ideas, which Abou
Hassan had entertained, of having been clothed in the caliph's
habit, having exercised his authority, and been punctually obeyed
and treated like the true caliph, the assurance of which had
persuaded him that he was so, began to wear away. Sometimes he
would say to himself, "If I was the caliph and commander of the
believers, how came I, when I awoke, to find myself at home
dressed in my own apparel? Why should I not have been attended by
eunuchs, and their chief, and a crowd of beautiful ladies? Why
should the grand vizier, and all those emirs and governors of
provinces, who prostrated themselves at my feet, forsake me?
Undoubtedly if I had any authority over them, they would have
delivered me long ago out of the miserable condition I am in;
certainly I ought to look upon all as a dream. It is true,
however, that I commanded the judge of the police to punish the
imaum, and the four old men his companions; I ordered the grand
vizier to carry my mother a thousand pieces of gold; and my
commands were executed. All these points are obstacles to my
believing it a dream; but there are so many things that I cannot
comprehend, nor ever shall, that I will put my trust in God, who
knows all things."
Abou Hassan was taken up with these thoughts and reflections when
his mother came to see him. She found him so much altered and
emaciated that she shed a torrent of tears; in the midst of which
she saluted him as she used to do, and he returned her
salutation, which he had never done before since he had been in
the hospital. This she looked upon to be a good sign. "Well, my
son," said she, wiping her tears, "how do you do, and how do you
find yourself? Have you renounced all those whims and fancies
which the devil had put into your head?" "Indeed, mother,"
replied Abou Hassan, very rationally and calmly, and in a tone
expressive of his grief for the excesses he had been transported
to against her, "I acknowledge my error, and beg of you to
forgive the execrable crime which I have been guilty of towards
you, and which I detest. I ask pardon also of my neighbours whom
I have abused. I have been deceived by a dream; but by so
extraordinary a one, and so like to truth, that I venture to
affirm any other person, to whom such a thing might have
happened, would have been guilty of as great or greater
extravagancies; and I am this instant so much perplexed about it,
that while I am speaking I can hardly persuade myself but that
what befell me was matter of fact, so like was it to what happens
to people who are broad awake. But whatever it was, I do, and
shall always regard it as a dream and an illusion. I am convinced
that I am not that shadow of a caliph and commander of the
faithful, but Abou Hassan your son, the son of a person whom I
always honoured till that fatal day, the remembrance of which
will cover me with confusion, and whom in future I shall honour
and respect all my life as I ought."
At this rational declaration, the tears of sorrow and affliction
which the mother of Abou Hassan had so long shed were changed
into those of joy. "My son!" cried she, transported with
pleasure, "my satisfaction and comfort to hear you talk so
reasonably is inexpressible: and it gives me as much joy as if I
had brought you into the world a second time; but I must tell you
my opinion of this adventure, and observe one thing which you may
not have noticed; the stranger whom you brought home the evening
before your illness to sup with you went away without shutting
your chamber-door after him, as you desired; which I believe gave
the devil an opportunity to enter, and throw you into the
horrible illusion you have been in: therefore, my son, you ought
to return God thanks for your deliverance, and beseech him to
keep you from falling again into the snares of the evil spirit."
"You have found out the source of our misfortunes," answered Abou
Hassan. "It was that very night I had this dream which turned my
brain. I bade the merchant expressly to shut the door after him;
and now I find he did not do it. I am persuaded, as well as you,
the devil finding it open came in, and filled my head full of
these fancies. The people of Moussul, from whence this merchant
came, may not know how we at Bagdad are convinced from experience
that the devil is the cause of troublesome dreams when we leave
our chamber-doors open. But since, mother, you see I am, by the
grace of God, so well recovered, for God's sake get me out of
this horrible place, which will infallibly shorten my days if I
stay here any longer." The mother, glad to hear her son was so
well cured of his foolish imagination of being caliph, went
immediately to the keeper, and assuring him that he was very
sensible and well, he came, examined, and released him in her
presence.
When Abou Hassan came home, he stayed within doors some days to
recover his health by better living than he had found at the
hospital. But when he had recovered his strength, and felt no
longer the effect of the harsh treatment he had suffered in his
confinement, he began to be weary of spending his evenings alone.
He accordingly entered again upon the same plan as he had before
pursued; which was, to provide enough every day to regale a
stranger at night.
The day on which Abou Hassan renewed his custom of going about
sun-set to the end of Bagdad bridge to stop the first stranger
thee offered, and invite him to do him the honour of supping with
him, happened to be the first day of the month, that which the
caliph always set apart to go in disguise out of some one of the
gates to observe what was committed contrary to the good
government of the city, as established and regulated at the
beginning of his reign. Abou Hassan had not been long arrived at
the bridge, when, looking about him, he perceived the Moussul
merchant, followed by the same slave. Persuaded that all his
misfortunes were owing to the merchant's having left his door
open, he shuddered at the sight of him. "God preserve me," said
he to himself; "if I am not deceived, there is again the magician
who enchanted me!" He trembled with agitation, and looked over
the side railing into the river, that he might not see him till
he was past.
The caliph, who wished to renew the diversion he had received,
had taken care to inform himself of all that had happened to Abou
Hassan, and enjoyed much pleasure at the relation given him,
especially at his being sent to a mad-house. But as this monarch
was both just and generous, and had taken a great liking to Abou
Hassan, as capable of contributing further to his amusement, and
had doubted whether, after renouncing his frenzied character of a
caliph, he would return to his usual manner of living; with a
view therefore to bring him to his palace, he disguised himself
again like a merchant of Moussul, the better to execute his plan.
He perceived Abou Hassan at the same time that he saw him, and
presently guessed by his action that he was angry, and wished to
shun him. This made him walk close to the side railing; and when
he came nigh him, he put his head over to look him in the face.
"Ho, brother Abou Hassan," said he, "is it you? I greet you! Give
me leave to embrace you?"
"Not I," replied Abou Hassan, pettishly, without looking at the
pretended Moussul merchant; "I do not greet you; I will have
neither your greeting nor your embraces. Go along!"
"What!" answered the caliph, "do you not know me? Do you not
remember the evening we spent together at your house this day
month, where you did me the honour to treat me very generously?"
"No," replied Abou Hassan in the same tone, "I do not know you,
nor what you talk about; go, I say again, about your business."
The caliph was not to be diverted from his purpose by this rude
behaviour. He well knew the law Abou Hassan had imposed on
himself, never to have commerce again with a stranger he had once
entertained; but pretended to be ignorant of it. "I cannot
believe," said he, "but you must know me again; it is not
possible that you should have forgotten me in so short a time.
Certainly some misfortune has befallen you, which inspires you
with this aversion for me. However, you ought to remember, that I
shewed my gratitude by my good wishes, and that I offered you my
interest, which is not to be slighted, in an affair which you had
much at heart."
"I do not know," replied Abou Hassan, "what your interest may be,
and I have no desire to make use of it: but I am sensible the
utmost of your good wishes ended in making me mad. In God's name,
I say once more, go your way, and trouble me no more."
"Ah! brother Abou Hassan," replied the caliph, embracing him, "I
do not intend to part with you thus, since I have had the good
fortune to meet with you a second time; you must exercise the
same hospitality towards me again that you shewed me a month ago,
when I had the honour to drink with you."
"I have protested against this," said Abou Hassan, "and have so
much power over myself, as to decline receiving a second time as
my guest, a man like you who carries misfortunes with him. You
know the proverb, 'Take up your drum and begone.' Make the
application to yourself. How often must I repeat my refusal. God
be with you! You have been the cause of my sufferings, and I will
not trust myself with you again." "My good friend Abou Hassan,"
said the caliph, embracing him, "you treat me in a way I little
expected. I beg of you not to speak to me thus harshly, but be
persuaded of my friendship. Do me the favour to tell me what has
happened to you; for I assure you I wished you well, and still do
so; and would be glad of an opportunity to make you any amends
for the trouble I have caused you, if it has been really my
fault." Abou Hassan yielded to the solicitations of the caliph.
"Your incredulity and importunity," said he, "have tired my
patience; and what I am going to relate will shew you that I do
not accuse you wrongfully."
The caliph seated himself by Abou Hassan, while he told him all
that had happened to him, from his waking in the palace to his
waking again in his own house, all which he described as a mere
dream, and recounted all the circumstances, which the caliph knew
as well as himself, and which renewed his pleasure. He enlarged
afterwards on the impression which the dream of being caliph and
commander of the faithful had made upon him, which, he said,
threw him into such extravagancies, that his neighbours were
obliged to carry him to a mad-house, where he was treated in a
manner which he deemed most barbarous and inhuman. "But," said
he, "what will surprise you, and what you little think of, is,
that it was altogether your fault that these things happened to
me; for, if you remember, I desired you to shut the door after
you, which you neglected, and the devil, finding it open, entered
and put this dream into my head, which, though it was very
agreeable, was the cause of the misfortune I complain of: you
therefore, for your negligence, are answerable for the horrid and
detestable crime I have committed in lifting my hand against my
mother, whom I might have killed (I blush for shame when I think
of it), because she said I was her son, and would not acknowledge
me for commander of the faithful, as I thought and positively
insisted on to her that I was. You are the cause of the offence I
have given my neighbours, when, running in at the cries of my
poor mother, they surprised me in the horrid act of felling her
at my feet; which would never have happened, if you had taken
care to shut my door when you went away, as I desired you. They
would not have come into my house without my leave; and, what
troubles me most of all, they would not have been witnesses of my
folly. I should not have been obliged to strike them in my own
defence, and they would not have bound and fettered me, to carry
and shut me up in the hospital for madmen, where I assure you
every day that I remained confined in that hell, I received a
score of strokes with a bastinado." Abou Hassan recounted his
complaints with great warmth and vehemence to the caliph, who
knew as well as himself what had passed, and was delighted to
find that he had succeeded so well in his plan to throw him into
the vagaries from which he still was not entirely free. He could
not help laughing at the simplicity wherewith he related them.
Abou Hassan, who thought that his story should rather have moved
compassion, and that every one ought to be as much concerned at
it as himself, warmly resented the pretended Moussul merchant's
laughter. "What!" said he, "do you make a jest of me and laugh in
my face, or do you believe I laugh at you when I speak seriously?
If you want proof of what I advance, look yourself and see
whether or no I tell you the truth;" with that, stooping down
and baring his shoulders, he shewed the caliph the scars and
weals which the bastinado had left.
The caliph could not behold these marks of cruelty without horror. He
pitied Abou Hassan, and felt sorry he had carried the jest so far.
"Come, rise, dear brother," said he to him eagerly, and embracing Abou
Hassan heartily in his arms; "let me go to your house, and enjoy the
happiness of being merry with you to-night; and to-morrow, if it
please God, all things will go well."
Abou Hassan, notwithstanding his resolution never to admit the
same stranger a second time, could not resist the caresses of the
caliph, whom he still took for a merchant of Moussul. "I will
consent," said he, "if you will swear to shut my door after you,
that the devil may not come in to distract my brain again." The
caliph promised that he would; upon which they both arose, walked
towards the city, and, followed by the caliph's slave, reached
Abou Hassan's house by the time it was dark.
The caliph, the more to blind Abou Hassan, said to him, "Place
confidence in me; I promise you on my honour I will not break my
word. You need not hesitate to trust a person who wishes you all
happiness and prosperity, of which confidence you will see the
effects." "I desire not that," said Abou Hassan, stopping him
short. "I yield to your importunity; but I dispense with your
good wishes, and beg you in God's name to form none for me. All
the mischief that has hitherto befallen me arose from those you
expressed for me, and from your leaving the door open." "Well,"
replied the caliph, still laughing at the misguided imagination
of Abou Hassan, "since you will have it so, I promise you I will
form none." "You give me pleasure by speaking so," said Abou
Hassan; "I desire no more; I shall be more than satisfied
provided you keep your word, and I shall forgive you all the
rest."
As soon as Abou Hassan entered his house, he called for his
mother and for candles, desired his guest to sit down upon a
sofa, and then placed himself by him. A little time after, supper
was brought up, and they both began to eat without ceremony. When
they had done, Abou Hassan's mother cleared the table, set on a
small dessert of fruit, wine, and glasses by her son, then
withdrew, and appeared no more. Abou Hassan first filled out his
own glass, and then the caliph's: and after they had drunk some
time, and talked of indifferent matters, the caliph, perceiving
that his host grew warm with liquor, began to talk of love, and
asked him if he had ever felt that passion.
"Brother," replied Abou Hassan, familiarly thinking his guest was
his equal, "I never looked upon love or marriage but as a
slavery, to which I was always unwilling to submit; and must own
to you, that I never loved any thing but good cheer and good
wine; in short, to divert and entertain myself agreeably with my
friends. Yet I do not tell you that I am indifferent to marriage,
or incapable of attachment, if I could meet with a woman of such
beauty and sweetness of temper as her I saw in my dream that
fatal night in which I first received you into my house, and you,
to my misfortune, left my door open, who would pass the whole
night with me drinking, singing, and playing on some instrument,
and in agreeable conversation, and who would study to please and
divert me: I believe, on the contrary, I should change all my
indifference into a perfect attachment to such a person, and, I
think, should live very happily with her. But where is such a
woman to be found except in the caliph's palace, or in those of
the grand vizier or some great lords of the court, who want not
money to provide them? I choose therefore to stick to my bottle,
which is a much cheaper pleasure, and which I can enjoy as well
as the greatest." Saying these words, he filled out his own and
the caliph's glass, and said, "Come, take your glass, and let us
pursue this charming pleasure."
When they had drunk off their wine, "It is great pity," said the
caliph, "that so gallant a man as you, who owns himself not
insensible of love, should lead so solitary a life." "I prefer
the easy quiet life I live," replied Abou Hassan, "before the
company of a wife, whose beauty might not please me, and who,
besides, might create me a great deal of trouble by her
imperfections and ill-humour." The conversation lasted a long
time, and the caliph seeing Abou Hassan had drunk to the pitch he
desired, said, "Let me alone, since you have the same good taste
as every other honest man, I warrant you I will find you a wife
that shall please you." Then taking Abou Hassan's glass, and
putting a pinch of the same powder into it, filled him up a
bumper, and presenting it to him, said, "Come, let us drink
beforehand the fair lady's health, who is to make you happy. I am
sure you will like her."
Abou Hassan took the glass laughing, and shaking his head, said,
"Be it so; since you desire it, I cannot be guilty of so great a
piece of incivility, nor disoblige a guest of so much merit in
such a trifling matter. I will drink the health of the lady you
promise me, though I am very well contented as I am, and do not
rely on your keeping your word." No sooner had Abou Hassan drank
off his bumper, than he was seized with as deep a sleep as
before; and the caliph ordered the same slave to take him and
carry him to the palace. The slave obeyed, and the caliph, who
did not intend to send back Abou Hassan as before, shut the door
after him, as he had promised, and followed.
When they arrived at the palace, the caliph ordered Abou Hassan
to be laid on a sofa, in the fourth hall, from whence he had been
carried home fast asleep a month before; but first he bade the
attendants to put him on the same habit in which he had acted the
caliph, which was done. He then charged all the eunuchs,
officers, ladies, and musicians who were in the hall, when he
drank the last glass of wine which had put him to sleep, to be
there by daybreak, and to take care to act their parts well when
he should awake. He then retired to rest, charging Mesrour to
awake him before they went into the hall, that he might conceal
himself in the closet as before.
Mesrour, at the hour appointed, awakened the caliph, who
immediately rose, and went to the hall where Abou Hassan lay
still asleep, and when he had placed himself in his closet,
Mesrour and the other officers, ladies, and musicians, who waited
for him, went in, and placed themselves about the sofa, so as not
to hinder the caliph from seeing what passed, and noticing all
his actions.
Things being thus disposed, and the caliph's powder having had
its effect, Abou Hassan began to awake without opening his eyes,
and threw off the phlegm, which was received in a gold basin as
before. At that instant, the seven bands of singers joined their
voices to the sound of hautboys, fifes, flutes, and other
instruments, forming a very agreeable concert. Abou Hassan was in
great surprise to hear the delightful harmony; but when he opened
his eyes, and saw the ladies and officers about him, whom he
thought he recognized, his amazement increased. The hall that he
was in seemed to be the same he had seen in his first dream, and
he observed the same lustres, and the same furniture and
ornaments.
The concert ceased, to give the caliph an opportunity of
attending to the countenance of his guest, and all that he might
say in his surprise. The ladies, Mesrour, and all the officers of
the chamber, waited in profound and respectful silence. Abou
Hassan bit his finger, and cried loud enough for the caliph to
hear him, "Alas! I am fallen again into the same dream and
illusion that happened to me a month ago, and must expect again
the bastinado and grated cell at the mad-house. Almighty God,"
added he, "I commit myself into the hands of thy divine
providence. He was a wicked man that I entertained at my house
last night, who has been the cause of this illusion, and the
hardships I must again undergo. The base wretch swore to shut the
door after him, but did not, and the devil came in and has turned
my brain with this wicked dream of being commander of the
faithful, and other phantoms which bewitch my eyes. God confound
thee, Satan? and crush thee under some mountain of stones."