There was given to Abú Ámir bin Marwán,[FN#177] a boy of the
Christians, than whom never fell eyes on a handsomer. Al-Nasir the
conquering Soldan saw him and said to Abu Amir, who was his Wazir,
“Whence cometh this boy?” Replied he, “From Allah;” whereupon the
other, “Wilt thou terrify us with stars and make us prisoner with
moons?” Abu Amir excused himself to him and preparing a present, sent
it to him with the boy, to whom he said, “Be thou part of the gift:
were it not of necessity, my soul had not consented to give thee away.”
And he wrote with him these two couplets,
“My lord, this full moon takes in Heaven of thee new birth; *
Nor can deny we Heaven excelleth humble earth:
Thee with my soul I please and—oh! the pleasant case! * No man
e’er saw I who to give his soul prefer’th.”
The thing pleased Al-Nasir and he requited him with much treasure and
the Minister became high in favour with him. After this, there was
presented to the Wazir a slave-girl, one of the loveliest women in the
world, and he feared lest this should come to the King’s ears and he
desire her, and the like should happen as with the boy. So he made up a
present still costlier than the first and sent it with her to the
King,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-eighth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Abu
Amir, when presented with the beautiful slave-girl, feared lest it come
to the Conquering King’s ears and that the like should happen as with
the boy, so he made up a present still costlier than the first and sent
it with her to his master, accompanying it with these couplets,
“My lord, this be the Sun, the Moon thou hadst before; * So
the two greater lights now in thy Heaven unite:
Conjunction promising to me prosperity, * And Kausar draught
to thee and Eden’s long delight.
Earth shows no charms, by Allah, ranking as their third, * Nor
King who secondeth our Conquering King in might.”
Wherefore his credit redoubled with al-Nasir; but, after a while, one
of his enemies maligned him to the King, alleging that there still
lurked in him a hot lust for the boy and that he ceased not to desire
him, whenever the cool northern breezes moved him, and to gnash his
teeth for having given him away. Cried the King, “Wag not thou thy
tongue at him, or I will shear off thy head.” However, he wrote Abu
Amir a letter, as from the boy, to the following effect: “O my lord,
thou knowest that thou wast all and one to me and that I never ceased
from delight with thee. Albeit I am with the Sultan, yet would I choose
rather solitude with thee, but that I fear the King’s majesty:
wherefore devise thou to demand me of him.” This letter he sent to Abu
Amir by a little foot page, whom he enjoined to say, “This is from such
an one: the King never speaketh to him.” When the Wazir read the letter
and heard the cheating message, he noted the poison draught[FN#178] and
wrote on the back of the note these couplets,
“Shall man experience-lectured ever care * Fool-like to thrust
his head in lion’s lair?
I’m none of those whose wits to love succumb * Nor witless of
the snares my foes prepare:
Wert thou my sprite, I’d give thee loyally; * Shall sprite,
from body sundered, backwards fare?”
When al-Nasir knew of this answer, he marvelled at the Wazir’s
quickness of wit and would never again lend ear to aught of
insinuations against him. Then said he to him, “How didst thou escape
falling into the net?” And he replied, “Because my reason is
unentangled in the toils of passion.” And they also tell a tale of
THE ROGUERIES OF DALILAH THE CRAFTY AND HER DAUGHTER ZAYNAB THE
CONEY-CATCHER.[FN#179]
There lived in the time of Harun al-Rashid a man named Ahmad al-Danaf
and another Hasan Shúmán[FN#180] hight, the twain past masters in fraud
and feints, who had done rare things in their day; wherefore the
Caliph invested them with caftans of honour and made them Captains of
the Watch for Baghdad (Ahmad of the right hand and Hasan of the left
hand); and appointed to each of them a stipend of a thousand dinars a
month and forty stalwart men to be at their bidding. Moreover to
Calamity Ahmad was committed the watch of the district outside the
walls. So Ahmad and Hasan went forth in company of the Emir Khalid,
the Wali or Chief of Police, attended each by his forty followers on
horseback, and preceded by the Crier, crying aloud and saying, “By
command of the Caliph! None is captain of the watch of the right hand
but Ahmad al-Danaf and none is captain of the watch of the left hand
but Hasan Shuman, and both are to be obeyed when they bid and are to
be held in all honour and worship.” Now there was in the city an old
woman called Dalílah the Wily, who had a daughter by name Zaynab the
Coney-catcher. They heard the proclamation made and Zaynab said to
Dalilah, “See, O my mother, this fellow, Ahmad al-Danaf! He came
hither from Cairo, a fugitive, and played the double-dealer in
Baghdad, till he got into the Caliph’s company and is now become
captain of the right hand, whilst that mangy chap Hasan Shuman is
captain of the left hand, and each hath a table spread morning and
evening and a monthly wage of a thousand dinars; whereas we abide
unemployed and neglected in this house, without estate and without
honour, and have none to ask of us.” Now Dalilah’s husband had been
town-captain of Baghdad with a monthly wage of one thousand dinars;
but he died leaving two daughters, one married and with a son by name
Ahmad al-Lakít[FN#181] or Ahmad the Abortion; and the other called
Zaynab, a spinster. And this Dalilah was a past mistress in all manner
of craft and trickery and double dealing; she could wile the very
dragon out of his den and Iblis himself might have learnt deceit of
her. Her father[FN#182] had also been governor of the carrier-pigeons
to the Caliph with a solde of one thousand dinars a month. He used to
rear the birds to carry letters and messages, wherefore in time of
need each was dearer to the Caliph than one of his own sons. So Zaynab
said to her mother, “Up and play off some feint and fraud that may
haply make us notorious”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Zaynab thus
addressed her dam, “Up and play off some feint and fraud which may
haply make us notorious in Baghdad, so perchance we shall win our
father’s stipend for ourselves.” Replied the old trot, “As thy head
liveth, O my daughter, I will play off higher-class rogueries in
Baghdad than ever played Calamity Ahmad or Hasan the Pestilent.” So
saying, she rose and threw over her face the Lisam-veil and donned
clothes such as the poorer Sufis wear, petticoat-trousers falling over
her heels, and a gown of white wool with a broad girdle. She also took
a pitcher[FN#183] and filled it with water to the neck; after which
she set three dinars in the mouth and stopped it up with a plug of
palm fibre. Then she threw round her shoulder, baldrick-wise, a rosary
as big as a load of firewood, and taking in her hand a flag, made of
parti-coloured rags, red and yellow and green, went out, crying,
“Allah! Allah!” with tongue celebrating the praises of the Lord,
whilst her heart galloped in the Devil’s race-course, seeking how she
might play some sharping trick upon town. She walked from street to
street, till she came to an alley swept and watered and marble-paved,
where she saw a vaulted gateway, with a threshold of alabaster, and a
Moorish porter standing at the door, which was of sandal-wood plated
with brass and furnished with a ring of silver for knocker. Now this
house belonged to the Chief of the Caliph’s Serjeant-ushers, a man of
great wealth in fields, houses and allowances, called the Emir Hasan
Sharr al-Tarík, or Evil of the Way, and therefor called because his
blow forewent his word. He was married to a fair damsel,
Khátún[FN#184] hight, whom he loved and who had made him swear, on the
night of his going in unto her, that he would take none other to wife
over her nor lie abroad for a single night. And so things went on till
one day, he went to the Divan and saw that each Emir had with him a
son or two. Then he entered the Hammam-bath and looking at his face in
the mirror, noted that the white hairs in his beard overlay its black,
and he said in himself, “Will not He who took thy sire bless thee
with a son?” So he went in to his wife, in angry mood, and she said to
him, “Good evening to thee”; but he replied, “Get thee out of my
sight: from the day I saw thee I have seen naught of good.” “How so?”
quoth she. Quoth he, “On the night of my going in unto thee, thou
madest me swear to take no other wife over thee, and this very day I
have seen each Emir with a son and some with two. So I minded me of
death[FN#185]; and also that to me hath been vouchsafed neither son nor
daughter and that whoso leaveth no male hath no memory. This, then, is
the reason of my anger, for thou art barren; and knowing thee is like
planing a rock.” Cried she, “Allah’s name upon thee. Indeed, I have
worn out the mortars with beating wool and pounding drugs,[FN#186] and
I am not to blame; the barrenness is with thee, for that thou art a
snub-nosed mule and thy sperm is weak and watery and impregnateth not
neither getteth children.” Said he, “When I return from my journey, I
will take another wife;” and she, “My luck is with Allah!” Then he
went out from her and both repented of the sharp words spoken each to
other. Now as the Emir’s wife looked forth of her lattice, as she were
a Bride of the Hoards[FN#187] for the jewellery upon her, behold,
there stood Dalilah espying her and seeing her clad in costly clothes
and ornaments, said to herself, “’Twould be a rare trick, O Dalilah,
to entice yonder young lady from her husband’s house and strip her of
all her jewels and clothes and make off with the whole lot.” So she
took up her stand under the windows of the Emir’s house, and fell to
calling aloud upon Allah’s name and saying, “Be present, O ye Walis,
ye friends of the Lord!” Whereupon every woman in the street looked
from her lattice and, seeing a matron clad, after Sufi fashion, in
clothes of white wool, as she were a pavilion of light, said, “Allah
bring us a blessing by the aidance of this pious old person, from
whose face issueth light!” And Khatun, the wife of the Emir Hasan,
burst into tears and said to her handmaid, “Get thee down, O Makbúlah,
and kiss the hand of Shaykh Abú Alí, the porter, and say to him, ‘Let
yonder Religious enter to my lady, so haply she may get a blessing of
her.’” So she went down to the porter and kissing his hand, said to
him, “My mistress telleth thee, ‘Let yonder pious old woman come in to
me, so may I get a blessing of her’; and belike her benediction may
extend to us likewise.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundredth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
handmaid went down and said to the porter, “Suffer yonder Religious
enter to my lady so haply she may get a blessing of her, and we too
may be blessed, one and all,” the gate-keeper went up to Dalilah and
kissed her hand, but she forbade him, saying, “Away from me, lest
my ablution be made null and void.[FN#188] Thou, also, art of the
attracted God-wards and kindly looked upon by Allah’s Saints and under
His especial guardianship. May He deliver thee from this servitude,
O Abu Ali!” Now the Emir owed three months’ wage to the porter who
was straitened thereby, but knew not how to recover his due from his
lord; so he said to the old woman, “O my mother, give me to drink from
thy pitcher, so I may win a blessing through thee.” She took the ewer
from her shoulder and whirled it about in air, so that the plug flew
out of its mouth and the three dinars fell to the ground. The porter
saw them and picked them up, saying in his mind, “Glory to God! This
old woman is one of the Saints that have hoards at their command! It
hath been revealed to her of me that I am in want of money for daily
expenses; so she hath conjured me these three dinars out of the air.”
Then said he to her, “Take, O my aunt, these three dinars which fell
from thy pitcher;” and she replied, “Away with them from me! I am of
the folk who occupy not themselves with the things of the world, no
never! Take them and use them for thine own benefit, in lieu of those
the Emir oweth thee.” Quoth he, “Thanks to Allah for succour! This is
of the chapter of revelation!” Thereupon the maid accosted her and
kissing her hand, carried her up to her mistress. She found the lady
as she were a treasure, whose guardian talisman had been loosed; and
Khatun bade her welcome and kissed her hand. Quoth she, “O my daughter,
I come not to thee save for thy weal and by Allah’s will.” Then Khatun
set food before her; but she said, “O my daughter, I eat naught except
of the food of Paradise and I keep continual fast breaking it but five
days in the year. But, O my child, I see thee chagrined and desire
that thou tell me the cause of thy concern.” “O my mother,” replied
Khatun, “I made my husband swear, on my wedding-night, that he would
wive none but me, and he saw others with children and longed for them
and said to me, ‘Thou art a barren thing!’ I answered, ‘Thou art a
mule which begetteth not’; so he left me in anger, saying, ‘When I
come back from my journey, I will take another wife,’ for he hath
villages and lands and large allowances, and if he begat children by
another, they will possess the money and take the estates from me.”
Said Dalilah, “O my daughter, knowest thou not of my master, the Shaykh
Abú al-Hamlát,[FN#189] whom if any debtor visit, Allah quitteth him his
debt, and if a barren woman, she conceiveth?” Khatun replied, “O my
mother, since the day of my wedding I have not gone forth the house,
no, not even to pay visits of condolence or congratulation.” The old
woman rejoined, “O my child, I will carry thee to him and do thou cast
thy burden on him and make a vow to him: haply when thy husband shall
return from his journey and lie with thee thou shalt conceive by him
and bear a girl or a boy: but, be it female or male, it shall be a
dervish of the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat.” Thereupon Khatun rose and arrayed
herself in her richest raiment, and donning all her jewellery said,
“Keep thou an eye on the house,” to her maid, who replied, “I hear and
obey, O my lady.” Then she went down and the porter Abu Ali met her
and asked her, “Whither away, O my lady?” “I go to visit the Shaykh
Abu al-Hamlat;” answered she; and he, “Be a year’s fast incumbent on
me! Verily yon Religious is of Allah’s saints and full of holiness,
O my lady, and she hath hidden treasure at her command, for she gave
me three dinars of red gold and divined my case, without my asking
her, and knew that I was in want.” Then the old woman went out with
the young lady Khatun, saying to her, “Inshallah, O my daughter, when
thou hast visited the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat, there shall betide thee
solace of soul and by leave of Almighty Allah thou shalt conceive, and
thy husband the Emir shall love thee by the blessing of the Shaykh
and shall never again let thee hear a despiteful word.” Quoth Khatun,
“I will go with thee to visit him, O my mother!” But Dalilah said to
herself, “Where shall I strip her and take her clothes and jewellery,
with the folk coming and going?” Then she said to her, “O my daughter,
walk thou behind me, within sight of me, for this thy mother is a woman
sorely burdened; everyone who hath a burden casteth it on me and all
who have pious offerings[FN#190] to make give them to me and kiss my
hand.” So the young lady followed her at a distance, whilst her anklets
tinkled and her hair-coins[FN#191] clinked as she went, till they
reached the bazar of the merchants. Presently, they came to the shop
of a young merchant, by name Sídí Hasan who was very handsome[FN#192]
and had no hair on his face. He saw the lady approaching and fell
to casting stolen glances at her, which when the old woman saw, she
beckoned to her and said, “Sit down in this shop, till I return to
thee.” Khatun obeyed her and sat down in the shop-front of the young
merchant, who cast at her one glance of eyes that cost him a thousand
sighs. Then the old woman accosted him and saluted him, saying, “Tell
me, is not thy name Sidi Hasan, son of the merchant Mohsin?” He
replied, “Yes, who told thee my name?” Quoth she, “Folk of good repute
direct me to thee. Know that this young lady is my daughter and her
father was a merchant who died and left her much money. She is come of
marriageable age and the wise say, ‘Offer thy daughter in marriage and
not thy son’; and all her life she hath not come forth the house till
this day. Now a divine warning and a command given in secret bid me wed
her to thee; so, if thou art poor, I will give thee capital and will
open for thee instead of one shop two shops.” Thereupon quoth the young
merchant to himself, “I asked Allah for a bride, and He hath given me
three things, to wit, coin, clothing, and coynte.” Then he continued to
the old trot, “O my mother, that whereto thou directest me is well;
but this long while my mother saith to me, ‘I wish to marry thee,’ but
I object replying, ‘I will not marry except on the sight of my own
eyes.’” Said Dalilah, “Rise and follow my steps, and I will show her to
thee, naked.”[FN#193] So he rose and took a thousand dinars, saying in
himself, “Haply we may need to buy somewhat”——And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and First Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old
woman said to Hasan, son of Mohsin the merchant, “Rise up and follow
me, and I will show her naked to thee.” So he rose and took with him a
thousand dinars, saying in himself, “Haply we may need to buy somewhat
or pay the fees for drawing up the marriage contract.” The old woman
bade him walk behind the young lady at a distance but within shot
of sight and said to herself, “Where wilt thou carry the young lady
and the merchant that thou mayest strip them both whilst his shop is
still shut?” Then she walked on and Khatun after her, followed by the
young merchant, till she came to a dyery, kept by a master dyer, by
name Hajj Mohammed, a man of ill-repute; like the colocasia[FN#194]
seller’s knife cutting male and female, and loving to eat both figs
and pomegranates.[FN#195] He heard the tinkle of the ankle rings
and, raising his head, saw the lady and the young man. Presently the
old woman came up to him and, after salaming to him and sitting down
opposite him, asked him, “Art thou not Hajj Mohammed the dyer?” He
answered, “Yes, I am he: what dost thou want?” Quoth she, “Verily,
folks of fair repute have directed me to thee. Look at yonder handsome
girl, my daughter, and that comely beardless youth, my son; I brought
them both up and spent much money on both of them. Now, thou must know
that I have a big old ruinous house which I have shored up with wood,
and the builder saith to me, ‘Go and live in some other place, lest
belike it fall upon thee; and when this is repaired return hither.’
So I went forth to seek me a lodging, and people of worth directed me
to thee, and I wish to lodge my son and daughter with thee.” Quoth
the dyer in his mind, “Verily, here is fresh butter upon cake come to
thee.” But he said to the old woman, “’Tis true I have a house and
saloon and upper floor; but I cannot spare any part thereof, for I want
it all for guests and for the indigo-growers my clients.” She replied,
“O my son, ’twill be only for a month or two at the most, till our
house be repaired, and we are strange folk. Let the guest-chamber be
shared between us and thee, and by thy life, O my son, an thou desire
that thy guests be ours, we will welcome them and eat with them and
sleep with them.” Then he gave her the keys, one big and one small
and one crooked, saying to her “The big key is that of the house, the
crooked one that of the saloon and the little one that of the upper
floor.” So Dalilah took the keys and fared on, followed by the lady
who forwent the young merchant, till she came to the lane wherein was
the house. She opened the door and entered, introducing the damsel to
whom said she, “O my daughter, this (pointing to the saloon) is the
lodging of the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat; but go thou into the upper floor
and loose thy outer veil and wait till I come to thee.” So she went
up and sat down. Presently appeared the young merchant, whom Dalilah
carried into the saloon, saying, “Sit down, whilst I fetch my daughter
and show her to thee.” So he sat down and the old trot went up to
Khatun who said to her, “I wish to visit the Shaykh, before the folk
come.” Replied the beldame, “O my daughter, we fear for thee.” Asked
Khatun, “Why so?” and Dalilah answered, “Because here is a son of mine,
a natural who knoweth not summer from winter, but goeth ever naked. He
is the Shaykh’s deputy and, if he saw a girl like thee come to visit
his chief, he would snatch her earrings and tear her ears and rend her
silken robes.[FN#196] So do thou doff thy jewellery and clothes and I
will keep them for thee, till thou hast made thy pious visitation.”
Accordingly the damsel did off her outer dress and jewels and gave them
to the old woman, who said, “I will lay them for thee on the Shaykh’s
curtain, that a blessing may betide thee.” Then she went out, leaving
the lady in her shift and petticoat-trousers, and hid the clothes and
jewels in a place on the staircase; after which she betook herself to
the young merchant, whom she found impatiently awaiting the girl, and
he cried, “Where is thy daughter, that I may see her?” But she smote
palm on breast and he said “What aileth thee?” Quoth she, “Would there
were no such thing as the ill neighbour and the envious! They saw thee
enter the house with me and asked me of thee; and I said, ‘This is a
bridegroom I have found for my daughter.’ So they envied me on thine
account and said to my girl, ‘Is thy mother tired of keeping thee,
that she marrieth thee to a leper?’ Thereupon I swore to her that she
should not see thee save naked.” Quoth he, “I take refuge with Allah
from the envious,” and baring his forearm, showed her that it was like
silver. Said she, “Have no fear; thou shalt see her naked, even as
she shall see thee naked;” and he said, “Let her come and look at me.
Then he put off his pelisse and sables and his girdle and dagger and
the rest of his raiment, except his shirt and bag-trousers, and would
have laid the purse of a thousand dinars with them, but Dalilah cried,
“Give them to me, that I may take care of them.” So she took them and
fetching the girl’s clothes and jewellery shouldered the whole and
locking the door upon them went her ways.——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Second Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old
woman had taken the property of the young merchant and the damsel and
wended her ways, having locked the door upon them, she deposited her
spoils with a druggist of her acquaintance and returned to the dyer,
whom she found sitting, awaiting her. Quoth he, “Inshallah, the house
pleaseth thee?”; and quoth she, “There is a blessing in it; and I go
now to fetch porters to carry hither our goods and furniture. But my
children would have me bring them a _panade_ with meat; so do thou take
this dinar and buy the dish and go and eat the morning meal with
them.” Asked the dyer, “Who shall guard the dyery meanwhile and the
people’s goods that be therein?”; and the old woman answered, “Thy
lad!” “So be it,” rejoined he, and taking a dish and cover, went out
to do her bidding. So far concerning the dyer who will again be
mentioned in the tale; but as regards the old woman, she fetched the
clothes and jewels she had left with the druggist and going back to
the dyery, said to the lad, “Run after thy master, and I will not stir
hence till you both return.” “To hear is to obey,” answered he and
went away, while she began to collect all the customers’ goods.
Presently, there came up an ass-driver, a scavenger, who had been out
of work for a week and who was an Hashish-eater to boot; and she
called him, saying, “Hither, O donkey-boy!” So he came to her and she
asked, “Knowest thou my son the dyer?”; whereto he answered, “Yes, I
know him.” Then she said, “The poor fellow is insolvent and loaded
with debts, and as often as he is put in prison, I set him free. Now
we wish to see him declared bankrupt and I am going to return the
goods to their owners; so do thou lend me thine ass to carry the load
and receive this dinar to its hire. When I am gone, take the handsaw
and empty out the vats and jars and break them, so that if there come
an officer from the Kází’s court, he may find nothing in the dyery.”
Quoth he, “I owe the Hajj a kindness and will do something for Allah’s
love.” So she laid the things on the ass and, the Protector protecting
her, made for her own house; so that she arrived there in safety and
went in to her daughter Zaynab, who said to her, “O my mother, my heart
hath been with thee! What hast thou done by way of roguery?” Dalilah
replied, “I have played off four tricks on four wights; the wife of
the Serjeant-usher, a young merchant, a dyer and an ass-driver, and
have brought thee all their spoil on the donkey-boy’s beast.” Cried
Zaynab, “O my mother, thou wilt never more be able to go about the
town, for fear of the Serjeant-usher, whose wife’s raiment and
jewellery thou hast taken, and the merchant whom thou hast stripped
naked, and the dyer whose customers’ goods thou hast stolen and the
owner of the ass.” Rejoined the old woman, “Pooh, my girl! I reck not
of them, save the donkey-boy, who knoweth me.” Meanwhile the dyer
bought the meat-panade and set out for the house, followed by his
servant with the food on head. On his way thither, he passed his shop,
where he found the donkey-boy breaking the vats and jars and saw that
there was neither stuff nor liquor left in them and that the dyery
was in ruins. So he said to him, “Hold thy hand, O ass-driver;” and
the donkey-boy desisted and cried, “Praised be Allah for thy safety, O
master! Verily my heart was with thee.” “Why so?” “Thou art become
bankrupt and they have filed a docket of thine insolvency.” “Who told
thee this?” “Thy mother told me, and bade me break the jars and empty
the vats, that the Kazi’s officers might find nothing in the shop, if
they should come.” “Allah confound the far One!”[FN#197] cried the
dyer; “My mother died long ago.” And he beat his breast, exclaiming,
“Alas, for the loss of my goods and those of the folk!” The donkey-boy
also wept and ejaculated, “Alas, for the loss of my ass!”; and he said
to the dyer, “Give me back my beast which thy mother stole from me.”
The dyer laid hold of him by the throat and fell to buffeting him,
saying, “Bring me the old woman;” whilst the other buffeted him in
return saying, “Give me back my beast.” So they beat and cursed each
other, till the folk collected around them——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Third Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the dyer
caught hold of the donkey-boy and the donkey-boy caught hold of the
dyer and they beat and cursed each other till the folk collected round
them and one of them asked, “What is the matter, O Master Mohammed?”
The ass-driver answered, “I will tell thee the tale,” and related to
them his story, saying, “I deemed I was doing the dyer a good turn;
but, when he saw me he beat his breast and said, ‘My mother is dead.’
And now, I for one require my ass of him, it being he who hath put
this trick on me, that he might make me lose my beast.” Then said the
folk to the dyer, “O Master Mohammed, dost thou know this matron, that
thou didst entrust her with the dyery and all therein?” And he
replied, “I know her not; but she took lodgings with me to-day, she
and her son and daughter.” Quoth one, “In my judgment, the dyer is
bound to indemnify the ass-driver.” Quoth another, “Why so?”
“Because,” replied the first, “he trusted not the old Woman nor gave
her his ass save only because he saw that the dyer had entrusted her
with the dyery and its contents.” And a third said, “O master, since
thou hast lodged her with thee, it behoveth thee to get the man back
his ass.” Then they made for the house, and the tale will come round
to them again. Meanwhile, the young merchant remained awaiting the old
woman’s coming with her daughter, but she came not nor did her
daughter; whilst the young lady in like manner sat expecting her
return with leave from her son, _the_ God-attended one, the Shaykh’s
deputy, to go in to the holy presence. So weary of waiting, she rose
to visit the Shaykh by herself and went down into the saloon, where she
found the young merchant, who said to her, “Come hither! where is thy
mother, who brought me to marry thee?” She replied, “My mother is dead,
art thou the old woman’s son, the ecstatic, the deputy of the Shaykh
Abu al-Hamlat?” Quoth he, “The swindling old trot is no mother of mine;
she hath cheated me and taken my clothes and a thousand dinars.” Quoth
Khatun, “And me also hath she swindled for she brought me to see the
Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat and in lieu of so doing she hath stripped me.”
Thereupon he, “I look to thee to make good my clothes and my thousand
dinars;” and she, “I look to thee to make good my clothes and
jewellery.” And, behold, at this moment in came the dyer and seeing
them both stripped of their raiment, said to them, “Tell me where your
mother is.” So the young lady related all that had befallen her and the
young merchant related all that had betided him, and the Master-dyer
exclaimed, “Alas, for the loss of my goods and those of the folk!”;
and the ass-driver ejaculated, “Alas, for my ass! Give me, O dyer, my
ass!” Then said the dyer, “This old woman is a sharper. Come forth,
that I may lock the door.” Quoth the young merchant, “’Twere a disgrace
to thee that we should enter thy house dressed and go forth from it
undressed.” So the dyer clad him and the damsel and sent her back to
her house where we shall find her after the return of her husband.
Then he shut the dyery and said to the young merchant, “Come, let us
go and search for the old woman and hand her over to the Wali,[FN#198]
the Chief of Police.” So they and the ass-man repaired to the house of
the master of police and made their complaint to him. Quoth he, “O
folk, what want ye?” and when they told him he rejoined, “How many old
women are there not in the town! Go ye and seek for her and lay hands
on her and bring her to me, and I will torture her for you and make
her confess.” So they sought for her all round the town; and an
account of them will presently be given.[FN#199] As for old Dalilah the
Wily, she said, “I have a mind to play off another trick,” to her
daughter who answered, “O my mother, I fear for thee;” but the beldam
cried, “I am like the bean husks which fall, proof against fire and
water.” So she rose, and donning a slave-girl’s dress of such as serve
people of condition, went out to look for some one to defraud.
Presently she came to a by-street, spread with carpets and lighted
with hanging lamps, and heard a noise of singing-women and drumming of
tambourines. Here she saw a handmaid bearing on her shoulder a boy,
clad in trousers laced with silver and a little Abá-cloak of velvet,
with a pearl embroidered Tarbush-cap on his head, and about his neck a
collar of gold set with jewels. Now the house belonged to the Provost
of the Merchants of Baghdad, and the boy was his son. He had a virgin
daughter, to boot, who was promised in marriage, and it was her
betrothal they were celebrating that day. There was with her mother a
company of noble dames and singing-women, and whenever she went
upstairs or down, the boy clung to her. So she called the slave-girl
and said to her, “Take thy young master and play with him, till the
company break up.” Seeing this, Dalilah asked the handmaid, “What
festivities are these in your mistress’s house;” and was answered “She
celebrates her daughter’s betrothal this day, and she hath
singing-women with her.” Quoth the old woman to herself, “O Dalilah,
the thing to do is to spirit away this boy from the maid,”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old trot
said to herself, “O Dalilah, the thing to do is to spirit away this
boy from the maid!” she began crying out, “O disgrace! O ill luck!”
Then pulling out a brass token, resembling a dinar, she said to the
maid, who was a simpleton, “Take this ducat and go in to thy mistress
and say to her, ‘Umm al-Khayr rejoiceth with thee and is beholden to
thee for thy favours, and on the day of assembly she and her daughters
will visit thee and handsel the tiring-women with the usual gifts.’”
Said the girl, “O my mother, my young master here catcheth hold of
his mamma, whenever he seeth her;” and she replied “Give him to me,
whilst thou goest in and comest back.” So she gave her the child and
taking the token, went in; whereupon Dalilah made off with the boy to
a by-lane, where she stripped him of his clothes and jewels, saying
to herself, “O Dalilah, ’twould indeed be the finest of tricks, even
as thou hast cheated the maid and taken the boy from her, so now to
carry on the game and pawn him for a thousand dinars.” So she repaired
to the jewel-bazar, where she saw a Jew goldsmith seated with a cage
full of jewellery before him, and said to herself, “’Twould be a rare
trick to chouse this Jew fellow and get a thousand gold pieces worth of
jewellery from him and leave the boy in pledge for it.” Presently the
Jew looked at them and seeing the boy with the old woman, knew him for
the son of the Provost of the Merchants. Now the Israelite was a man of
great wealth, but would envy his neighbour if he sold and himself did
not sell; so espying Dalilah, he said to her, “What seekest thou, O my
mistress?” She asked, “Art thou Master Azariah[FN#200] the Jew?” having
first enquired his name of others; and he answered, “Yes.” Quoth she,
“This boy’s sister, daughter of the Shahbandar of the Merchants, is a
promised bride, and to-day they celebrate her betrothal; and she hath
need of jewellery. So give me two pair of gold ankle-rings, a brace of
gold bracelets, and pearl ear-drops, with a girdle, a poignard and a
seal-ring.” He brought them out and she took of him a thousand dinars’
worth of jewellery, saying, “I will take these ornaments on approval;
and whatso pleaseth them, they will keep and I will bring thee the
price and leave this boy with thee till then.” He said, “Be it as thou
wilt!” So she took the jewellery and made off to her own house, where
her daughter asked her how the trick had sped. She told her how she
had taken and stripped the Shahbandar’s boy, and Zaynab said, “Thou
wilt never be able to walk abroad again in the town.” Meanwhile, the
maid went in to her mistress and said to her, “O my lady, Umm al-Khayr
saluteth thee and rejoiceth with thee and on assembly-day she will
come, she and her daughters, and give the customary presents.” Quoth
her mistress, “Where is thy young master?” Quoth the slave-girl, “I
left him with her lest he cling to thee, and she gave me this, as
largesse for the singing-women.” So the lady said to the chief of
the singers, “Take thy money;” and she took it and found it a brass
counter; whereupon the lady cried to the maid, “Get thee down, O whore,
and look to thy young master.” Accordingly, she went down and finding
neither boy nor old woman, shrieked aloud and fell on her face. Their
joy was changed into annoy, and behold, the Provost came in, when his
wife told him all that had befallen and he went out in quest of the
child, whilst the other merchants also fared forth and each sought his
own road. Presently, the Shahbandar, who had looked everywhere, espied
his son seated, naked, in the Jew’s shop and said to the owner, “This
is my son.” “’Tis well,” answered the Jew. So he took him up, without
asking for his clothes, of the excess of his joy at finding him; but
the Jew laid hold of him, saying, “Allah succour the Caliph against
thee!”[FN#201] The Provost asked, “What aileth thee, O Jew?”; and he
answered, “Verily the old woman took of me a thousand dinars’ worth of
jewellery for thy daughter, and left this lad in pledge for the price;
and I had not trusted her, but that she offered to leave the child
whom I knew for thy Son.” Said the Provost, “My daughter needeth no
jewellery, give me the boy’s clothes.” Thereupon the Jew shrieked out,
“Come to my aid, O Moslems!” but at that moment up came the dyer and
the ass-man and the young merchant, who were going about, seeking the
old woman, and enquired the cause of their jangle. So they told them
the case and they said, “This old woman is a cheat, who hath cheated us
before you.” Then they recounted to them how she had dealt with them,
and the Provost said, “Since I have found my son, be his clothes his
ransom! If I come upon the old woman, I will require them of her.” And
he carried the child home to his mother, who rejoiced in his safety.
Then the Jew said to the three others “Whither go ye?”; and they
answered, “We go to look for her.” Quoth the Jew, “Take me with you,”
presently adding, “Is there any one of you knoweth her?” The donkey-boy
cried, “I know her;” and the Jew said, “If we all go forth together,
we shall never catch her; for she will flee from us. Let each take a
different road, and be our rendezvous at the shop of Hajj Mas’úd, the
Moorish barber.” They agreed to this and set off, each in a different
direction. Presently, Dalilah sallied forth again to play her tricks
and the ass-driver met her and knew her. So he caught hold of her and
said to her, “Woe to thee! Hast thou been long at this trade?” She
asked, “What aileth thee?”; and he answered, “Give me back my ass.”
Quoth she, “Cover what Allah covereth, O my son! Dost thou seek thine
ass and the people’s things?” Quoth he, “I want my ass; that’s all;”
and quoth she, “I saw that thou wast poor: so I deposited thine ass for
thee with the Moorish barber. Stand off, whilst I speak him fair, that
he may give thee the beast.” So she went up to the Maghrabi and kissed
his hand and shed tears. He asked her what ailed her and she said, “O
my son, look at my boy who standeth yonder. He was ill and exposed
himself to the air, which injured his intellect. He used to buy asses
and now, if he stand he saith nothing but, My ass! if he sit he crieth,
My ass! and if he walk he crieth, My ass! Now I have been told by a
certain physician that his mind is disordered and that nothing will
cure him but drawing two of his grinders and cauterising him twice on
either temple. So do thou take this dinar and call him to thee, saying,
‘Thine ass is with me.’” Said the barber, “May I fast for a year,
if I do not give him his ass in his fist!” Now he had with him two
journeymen, so he said to one of them “Go, heat the irons.” Then the
old woman went her way and the barber called to the donkey-boy,[FN#202]
saying, “Thine ass is with me, good fellow! come and take him, and as
thou livest, I will give him into thy palm.” So he came to him and
the barber carried him into a dark room, where he knocked him down
and the journeymen bound him hand and foot. Then the Maghrabi arose
and pulled out two of his grinders and fired him on either temple;
after which he let him go, and he rose and said, “O Moor, why hast
thou used me with this usage?” Quoth the barber, “Thy mother told me
that thou hadst taken cold whilst ill, and hadst lost thy reason, so
that, whether sitting or standing or walking, thou wouldst say nothing
but My ass! So here is thine ass in thy fist.” Said the other, “Allah
requite thee for pulling out my teeth.” Then the barber told him all
that the old woman had related and he exclaimed, “Allah torment her!”;
and the twain left the shop and went out, disputing. When the barber
returned, he found his booth empty, for, whilst he was absent, the
old woman had taken all that was therein and made off with it to her
daughter, whom she acquainted with all that had befallen and all she
had done. The barber, seeing his place plundered, caught hold of the
donkey-boy and said to him, “Bring me thy mother.” But he answered,
saying, “She is not my mother; she is a sharper who hath cozened much
people and stolen my ass.” And lo! at this moment up came the dyer and
the Jew and the young merchant, and seeing the Moorish barber holding
on to the ass-driver who was fired on both temples, they said to him,
“What hath befallen thee, O donkey-boy?” So he told them all that had
betided him and the barber did the like; and the others in turn related
to the Moor the tricks the old woman had played them. Then he shut up
his shop and went with them to the office of the Police-master to whom
they said, “We look to thee for our case and our coin.”[FN#203] Quoth
the Wali, “And how many old women are there not in Baghdad! Say me,
doth any of you know her?” Quoth the ass-man, “I do; so give me ten of
thine officers.” He gave them half a score archers and they all five
went out, followed by the sergeants, and patrolled the city, till they
met the old woman, when they laid hands on her and carrying her to the
house of the Chief of Police, stood waiting under his office windows
till he should come forth. Presently, the warders fell asleep, for
excess of watching with their chief, and old Dalilah feigned to follow
their example, till the ass-man and his fellows slept likewise, when
she stole away from them and, going in to the Wali’s Harim, kissed the
hand of the mistress of the house and asked her “Where is the Chief of
Police?” The lady answered, “He is asleep; what wouldst thou with him?”
Quoth Dalilah, “My husband is a merchant of chattels and gave me five
Mamelukes to sell, whilst he went on a journey. The Master of Police
met me and bought them of me for a thousand dinars and two hundred for
myself, saying, ‘Bring them to my house.’ So I have brought them.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Fifth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old
woman, entering the Harim of the Police-Master, said to his wife,
“Verily the Wali bought of me five slaves for one thousand ducats and
two hundred for myself, saying, ‘Bring them to my quarters.’ So I have
brought them.” Hearing the old woman’s story she believed it and asked
her, “Where are the slaves?” Dalilah replied, “O my lady, they are
asleep under the palace window”; whereupon the dame looked out and
seeing the Moorish barber clad in a Mameluke habit and the young
merchant as he were a drunken Mameluke[FN#204] and the Jew and the
dyer and the ass-driver as they were shaven Mamelukes, said in herself,
“Each of these white slaves is worth more than a thousand dinars.” So
she opened her chest and gave the old woman the thousand ducats,
saying, “Fare thee forth now and come back anon; when my husband
waketh, I will get thee the other two hundred dinars from him.”
Answered the old woman, “O my lady, an hundred of them are thine,
under the sherbet-gugglet whereof thou drinkest,[FN#205] and the other
hundred do thou keep for me against I come back,” presently adding,
“Now let me out by the private door.” So she let her out, and the
Protector protected her and she made her way home to her daughter, to
whom she related how she had gotten a thousand gold pieces and sold
her five pursuers into slavery, ending with, “O my daughter, the one
who troubleth me most is the ass-driver, for he knoweth me.” Said
Zaynab, “O my mother, abide quiet awhile and let what thou hast done
suffice thee, for the crock shall not always escape the shock.” When
the Chief of Police awoke, his wife said to him, “I give thee joy of
the five slaves thou hast bought of the old woman.” Asked he, “What
slaves?” And she answered, “Why dost thou deny it to me? Allah
willing, they shall become like thee people of condition.” Quoth he,
“As my head liveth, I have bought no slaves! Who saith this?” Quoth
she, “The old woman, the brokeress, from whom thou boughtest them; and
thou didst promise her a thousand dinars for them and two hundred for
herself.” Cried he, “Didst thou give her the money?” And she replied,
“Yes; for I saw the slaves with my own eyes, and on each is a suit of
clothes worth a thousand dinars; so I sent out to bid the sergeants
have an eye to them.” The Wali went out and, seeing the five
plaintiffs, said to the officers, “Where are the five slaves we bought
for a thousand dinars of the old woman?” Said they, “There are no
slaves here; only these five men, who found the old woman, and seized
her and brought her hither. We fell asleep, whilst waiting for thee,
and she stole away and entered the Harim. Presently out came a maid
and asked us:—Are the five with you with whom the old woman came?”;
and we answered, “Yes.” Cried the Master of Police, “By Allah, this
is the biggest of swindles!”; and the five men said, “We look to thee
for our goods.” Quoth the Wali, “The old woman, your mistress, sold
you to me for a thousand gold pieces.” Quoth they, “That were not
allowed of Allah; we are free-born men and may not be sold, and we
appeal from thee to the Caliph.” Rejoined the Master of Police, “None
showed her the way to the house save you, and I will sell you to the
galleys for two hundred dinars apiece.” Just then, behold, up came the
Emir Hasan Sharr al-Tarik who, on his return from his journey, had
found his wife stripped of her clothes and jewellery and heard from her
all that had passed; whereupon quoth he, “The Master of Police shall
answer me this” and repairing to him, said, “Dost thou suffer old women
to go round about the town and cozen folk of their goods? This is thy
duty and I look to thee for my wife’s property.” Then said he to the
five men, “What is the case with you?” So they told him their stories
and he said, “Ye are wronged men,” and turning to the Master of
Police, asked him, “Why dost thou arrest them?” Answered he, “None
brought the old wretch to my house save these five, so that she took a
thousand dinars of my money and sold them to my women.” Whereupon the
five cried, “O Emir Hasan, be thou our advocate in this cause.” Then
said the Master of Police to the Emir, “Thy wife’s goods are at my
charge and I will be surety for the old woman. But which of you
knoweth her?” They cried, “We all know her: send ten apparitors with
us, and we will take her.” So he gave them ten men, and the ass-driver
said to them, “Follow me, for I should know her with blue
eyes.”[FN#206] Then they fared forth and lo! they met old Dalilah
coming out of a by-street: so they at once laid hands on her and
brought her to the office of the Wali who asked her, “Where are the
people’s goods?” But she answered, saying, “I have neither gotten them
nor seen them.” Then he cried to the gaoler, “Take her with thee and
clap her in gaol till the morning;” but he replied, “I will not take
her nor will I imprison her lest she play a trick on me and I be
answerable for her.” So the Master of Police mounted and rode out with
Dalilah and the rest to the bank of the Tigris, where he bade the
lamp-lighter crucify her by her hair. He drew her up by the pulley and
bound her on the cross; after which the Master of Police set ten men to
guard her and went home. Presently, the night fell down and sleep
overcame the watchmen. Now a certain Badawi had heard one man say to a
friend, “Praise be to Allah for thy safe return! Where hast thou been
all this time?” Replied the other, “In Baghdad where I broke my fast
on honey-fritters.”[FN#207] Quoth the Badawi to himself, “Needs must I
go to Baghdad and eat honey-fritters therein”; for in all his life he
had never entered Baghdad nor seen fritters of the sort. So he mounted
his stallion and rode on towards Baghdad, saying in his mind, “’Tis a
fine thing to eat honey-fritters! On the honour of an Arab, I will
break my fast with honey-fritters and naught else!”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Sixth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the wild Arab
mounted horse and made for Baghdad saying in his mind, “’Tis a fine
thing to eat honey-fritters! On the honour of an Arab I will break my
fast with honey-fritters and naught else;” and he rode on till he came
to the place where Dalilah was crucified and she heard him utter these
words. So he went up to her and said to her, “What art thou?” Quoth
she, “I throw myself on thy protection, O Shaykh of the Arabs!” and
quoth he, “Allah indeed protect thee! But what is the cause of thy
crucifixion?” Said she, “I have an enemy, an oilman, who frieth
fritters, and I stopped to buy some of him, when I chanced to spit and
my spittle fell on the fritters. So he complained of me to the Governor
who commanded to crucify me, saying, ‘I adjudge that ye take ten
pounds of honey-fritters and feed her therewith upon the cross. If she
eat them, let her go, but if not, leave her hanging.’ And my stomach
will not brook sweet things.” Cried the Badawi, “By the honour of the
Arabs, I departed not the camp but that I might taste of
honey-fritters! I will eat them for thee.” Quoth she, “None may eat
them, except he be hung up in my place.” So he fell into the trap and
unbound her; whereupon she bound him in her stead, after she had
stripped him of his clothes and turband and put them on; then covering
herself with his burnouse and mounting his horse, she rode to her
house, where Zaynab asked her, “What meaneth this plight?”; and she
answered, “They crucified me;” and told her all that had befallen her
with the Badawi. This is how it fared with her; but as regards the
watchmen, the first who woke roused his companions and they saw that
the day had broken. So one of them raised his eyes and cried,
“Dalilah.” Replied the Badawi, “By Allah! I have not eaten all night.
Have ye brought the honey-fritters?” All exclaimed, “This is a man and
a Badawi,” and one of them asked him, “O Badawi, where is Dalilah and
who loosed her?” He answered, “’Twas I; she shall not eat the
honey-fritters against her will; for her soul abhorreth them.” So they
knew that the Arab was ignorant of her case, whom she had cozened, and
said to one another, “Shall we flee or abide the accomplishment of
that which Allah hath written for us?” As they were talking, up came
the Chief of Police, with all the folk whom the old woman had cheated,
and said to the guards, “Arise, loose Dalilah.” Quoth the Badawi, “We
have not eaten to-night. Hast thou brought the honey-fritters?”
Whereupon the Wali raised his eyes to the cross and seeing the Badawi
hung up in the stead of the old woman, said to the watchmen, “What is
this?” “Pardon, O our lord!” “Tell me what hath happened.” “We were
weary with watching with thee on guard and said:—Dalilah is crucified.
So we fell asleep, and when we awoke, we found the Badawi hung up in
her room; and we are at thy mercy.” “O folk, Allah’s pardon be upon
you! She is indeed a clever cheat!” Then they unbound the Badawi, who
laid hold of the Master of Police, saying, “Allah succour the Caliph
against thee! I look to none but thee for my horse and clothes!” So the
Wali questioned him and he told him what had passed between Dalilah
and himself. The magistrate marvelled and asked him, “Why didst thou
release her?”; and the Badawi answered, “I knew not that she was a
felon.” Then said the others, “O Chief of Police, we look to thee in
the matter of our goods; for we delivered the old woman into thy hands
and she was in thy guard; and we cite thee before the Divan of the
Caliph.” Now the Emir Hasan had gone up to the Divan, when in came the
Wali with the Badawi and the five others, saying, “Verily, we are
wronged men!” “Who hath wronged you?” asked the Caliph; so each came
forward in turn and told his story, after which said the Master of
Police, “O Commander of the Faithful, the old woman cheated me also
and sold me these five men as slaves for a thousand dinars, albeit they
are free-born.” Quoth the Prince of True Believers, “I take upon
myself all that you have lost”; adding to the Master of Police, “I
charge thee with the old woman.” But he shook his collar, saying, “O
Commander of the Faithful, I will not answer for her; for, after I had
hung her on the cross, she tricked this Badawi and, when he loosed
her, she tied him up in her room and made off with his clothes and
horse.” Quoth the Caliph, “Whom but thee shall I charge with her?”;
and quoth the Wali, “Charge Ahmad al-Danaf, for he hath a thousand
dinars a month and one-and-forty followers, at a monthly wage of an
hundred dinars each.” So the Caliph said, “Harkye, Captain Ahmad!” “At
thy service, O Commander of the Faithful,” said he; and the Caliph
cried, “I charge thee to bring the old woman before us.” Replied Ahmad,
“I will answer for her.” Then the Caliph kept the Badawi and the five
with him,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Seventh Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Caliph said to Calamity Ahmad, “I charge thee to bring the old woman
before us,” he said, “I will answer for her, O Commander of the
Faithful!” Then the Caliph kept the Badawi and the five with him,
whilst Ahmad and his men went down to their hall,[FN#208] saying to one
another, “How shall we lay hands on her, seeing that there are many old
women in the town?” And quoth Ahmad to Hasan Shuman, “What counsellest
thou?” Whereupon quoth one of them, by name Ali Kitf al-Jamal,[FN#209]
to Al-Danaf, “Of what dost thou take counsel with Hasan Shuman? Is the
Pestilent one any great shakes?” Said Hasan, “O Ali, why dost thou
disparage me? By the Most Great Name, I will not company with thee at
this time!”; and he rose and went out in wrath. Then said Ahmad, “O my
braves, let every sergeant take ten men, each to his own quarter and
search for Dalilah.” All did his bidding, Ali included, and they said,
“Ere we disperse let us agree to rendezvous in the quarter Al-Kalkh.”
It was noised abroad in the city that Calamity Ahmad had undertaken to
lay hands on Dalilah the Wily, and Zaynab said to her, “O my mother,
an thou be indeed a trickstress, do thou befool Ahmad al-Danaf and
his company.” Answered Dalilah, “I fear none save Hasan Shuman;” and
Zaynab said, “By the life of my browlock, I will assuredly get thee the
clothes of all the one-and-forty.” Then she dressed and veiled herself
and going to a certain druggist, who had a saloon with two doors,
salamed to him and gave him an ashrafí and said to him, “Take this gold
piece as a douceur for thy saloon and let it to me till the end of the
day.” So he gave her the keys and she fetched carpets and so forth on
the stolen ass and furnishing the place, set on each raised pavement a
tray of meat and wine. Then she went out and stood at the door, with
her face unveiled and behold, up came Ali Kitf al-Jamal and his men.
She kissed his hand; and he fell in love with her, seeing her to be
a handsome girl, and said to her, “What dost thou want?” Quoth she,
“Art thou Captain Ahmad al-Danaf?”; and quoth he, “No, but I am of his
company and my name is Ali Camel-shoulder.” Asked she, “Whither fare
you?”; and he answered, “We go about in quest of a sharkish old woman,
who hath stolen folk’s good, and we mean to lay hands on her. But who
art thou and what is thy business?” She replied, “My father was a
taverner at Mosul and he died and left me much money. So I came hither,
for fear of the Dignities, and asked the people who would protect
me, to which they replied, ‘None but Ahmad al-Danaf.’” Said the men,
“From this day forth, thou art under his protection”; and she replied,
“Hearten me by eating a bit and drinking a sup of water.”[FN#210] They
consented and entering, ate and drank till they were drunken, when she
drugged them with Bhang and stripped them of their clothes and arms;
and on like wise she did with the three other companions. Presently,
Calamity Ahmad went out to look for Dalilah, but found her not, neither
set eyes on any of his followers, and went on till he came to the door
where Zaynab was standing. She kissed his hand and he looked on her and
fell in love with her. Quoth she, “Art thou Captain Ahmad al-Danaf?”;
and quoth he, “Yes: who art thou?” She replied, “I am a stranger from
Mosul. My father was a vintner at that place and he died and left me
much money wherewith I came to this city, for fear of the powers that
be, and opened this tavern. The Master of Police hath imposed a tax
on me, but it is my desire to put myself under thy protection and pay
thee what the police would take of me, for thou hast the better right
to it.” Quoth he, “Do not pay him aught: thou shalt have my protection
and welcome.” Then quoth she, “Please to heal my heart and eat of my
victual,” So he entered and ate and drank wine, till he could not sit
upright, when she drugged him and took his clothes and arms. Then
she loaded her purchase on the Badawi’s horse and the donkey-boy’s
ass and made off with it, after she had aroused Ali Kitf al-Jamal.
Camel-shoulder awoke and found himself naked and saw Ahmad and his men
drugged and stripped: so he revived them with the counter-drug and
they awoke and found themselves naked. Quoth Calamity Ahmad, “O lads,
what is this? We were going to catch her, and lo! this strumpet hath
caught us! How Hasan Shuman will rejoice over us! But we will wait till
it is dark and then go away.” Meanwhile Pestilence Hasan said to the
hall-keeper, “Where are the men?”; and as he asked, up they came naked;
and he recited these two couplets[FN#211]:—
Men in their purposes are much alike, * But in their issues
difference comes to light:
Of men some wise are, others simple souls; * As of the stars
some dull, some pearly bright.
Then he looked at them and asked, “Who hath played you this trick and
made you naked?”; and they answered, “We went in quest of an old woman,
and a pretty girl stripped us.” Quoth Hasan, “She hath done right
well.” They asked, “Dost thou know her?”; and he answered, “Yes, I know
her and the old trot too.” Quoth they, “What shall we say to the
Caliph?”; and quoth he, “O Danaf, do thou shake thy collar before him,
and he will say, ‘Who is answerable for her’; and if he ask why thou
hast not caught her; say thou, ‘We know her not; but charge Hasan
Shuman with her.’ And if he give her into my charge, I will lay hands
on her.” So they slept that night and on the morrow they went up to
the Caliph’s Divan and kissed ground before him. Quoth he, “Where is
the old woman, O Captain Ahmad?” But he shook his collar. The Caliph
asked him why he did so, and he answered, “I know her not; but do thou
charge Hasan Shuman to lay hands on her, for he knoweth her and her
daughter also.” Then Hasan interceded for her with the Caliph, saying,
“Indeed, she hath not played off these tricks, because she coveted the
folk’s stuff, but to show her cleverness and that of her daughter, to
the intent that thou shouldst continue her husband’s stipend to her
and that of her father to her daughter. So an thou wilt spare her life
I will fetch her to thee.” Cried the Caliph, “By the life of my
ancestors, if she restore the people’s goods, I will pardon her on
thine intercession!” And said the Pestilence, “Give me a pledge, O
Prince of True Believers!” Whereupon Al-Rashid gave him the kerchief of
pardon. So Hasan repaired to Dalilah’s house and called to her. Her
daughter Zaynab answered him and he asked her, “Where is thy mother?”
“Upstairs,” she answered; and he said, “Bid her take the people’s
goods and come with me to the presence of the Caliph; for I have
brought her the kerchief of pardon, and if she will not come with a
good grace, let her blame only herself.” So Dalilah came down and
tying the kerchief about her neck gave him the people’s goods on the
donkey-boy’s ass and the Badawi’s horse. Quoth he, “There remain the
clothes of my Chief and his men”; and quoth she, “By the Most Great
Name, ’twas not I who stripped them!” Rejoined Hasan, “Thou sayst
sooth, it was thy daughter Zaynab’s doing, and this was a good turn
she did thee.” Then he carried her to the Divan and laying the
people’s goods and stuff before the Caliph, set the old trot in his
presence. As soon as he saw her, he bade throw her down on the carpet
of blood, whereat she cried, “I cast myself on thy protection, O
Shuman.” So he rose and kissing the Caliph’s hands, said, “Pardon, O
Commander of the Faithful! Indeed, thou gavest me the kerchief of
pardon.” Said the Prince of True Believers, “I pardon her for thy
sake: come hither, O old woman; what is thy name?” “My name is Wily
Dalilah,” answered she, and the Caliph said “Thou art indeed crafty
and full of guile.” Whence she was dubbed Dalilah the Wily One. Then
quoth he, “Why hast thou played all these tricks on the folk and
wearied our hearts?” and quoth she, “I did it not of lust for their
goods, but because I had heard of the tricks which Ahmad al-Danaf and
Hasan Shuman played in Baghdad and said to myself, ‘I too will do the
like.’ And now I have returned the folk their goods.” But the
ass-driver rose and said “I invoke Allah’s law[FN#212] between me and
her; for it sufficed her not to take my ass, but she must needs egg on
the Moorish barber to tear out my eye-teeth and fire me on both
temples.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
donkey-boy rose and cried out, “I invoke Allah’s law between me and
her; for it sufficed her not to take my ass, but she must needs egg on
the barber to tear out my eye-teeth and fire me on both temples;”
thereupon the Caliph bade give him an hundred dinars and ordered the
dyer the like, saying, “Go; set up thy dyery again.” So they called
down blessings on his head and went away. The Badawi also took his
clothes and horse and departed, saying, “’Tis henceforth unlawful and
forbidden me to enter Baghdad and eat honey-fritters.” And the others
took their goods and went away. Then said the Caliph, “Ask a boon of
me, O Dalilah!”; and she said, “Verily, my father was governor of the
carrier-pigeons to thee and I know how to rear the birds; and my
husband was town-captain of Baghdad. Now I wish to have the reversion
of my husband and my daughter wisheth to have that of her father.” The
Caliph granted both their requests and she said, “I ask of thee that I
may be portress of thy Khan.” Now he had built a Khan of three stories,
for the merchants to lodge in, and had assigned to its service forty
slaves and also forty dogs he had brought from the King of the
Sulaymániyah,[FN#213] when he deposed him; and there was in the Khan a
cook-slave, who cooked for the chattels and fed the hounds for which
he let make collars. Said the Caliph, “O Dalilah, I will write thee a
patent of guardianship of the Khan, and if aught be lost therefrom,
thou shalt be answerable for it.” “’Tis well,” replied she; “but do
thou lodge my daughter in the pavilion over the door of the Khan, for
it hath terraced roofs, and carrier-pigeons may not be reared to
advantage save in an open space.” The Caliph granted her this also and
she and her daughter removed to the pavilion in question, where Zaynab
hung up the one-and-forty dresses of Calamity Ahmad and his company.
Moreover, they delivered to Dalilah the forty pigeons which carried
the royal messages, and the Caliph appointed the Wily One mistress
over the forty slaves and charged them to obey her. She made the place
of her sitting behind the door of the Khan, and every day she used to
go up to the Caliph’s Divan, lest he should need to send a message by
pigeon-post and stay there till eventide whilst the forty slaves stood
on guard at the Khan; and when darkness came on they loosed the forty
dogs that they might keep watch over the place by night. Such were the
doings of Dalilah the Wily One in Baghdad and much like them were