A friend of mine once invited me to an entertainment; so I went
with him, and when we came into his house and sat down on his
couch, he said to me, "This is a blessed day and a day of
gladness, and [blessed is] he who liveth to [see] the like of
this day. I desire that thou practise with us and deny[FN#124] us
not, for that thou hast been used to hearken unto those who
occupy themselves with this."[FN#125] I fell in with this and
their talk happened upon the like of this subject.[FN#126]
Presently, my friend, who had invited me, arose from among them
and said to them, "Hearken to me and I will tell you of an
adventure that happened to me. There was a certain man who used
to visit me in my shop, and I knew him not nor he me, nor ever in
his life had he seen me; but he was wont, whenever he had need of
a dirhem or two, by way of loan, to come to me and ask me,
without acquaintance or intermediary between me and him, [and I
would give him what he sought]. I told none of him, and matters
abode thus between us a long while, till he fell to borrowing ten
at twenty dirhems [at a time], more or less.
One day, as I stood in my shop, there came up to me a woman and
stopped before me; and she as she were the full moon rising from
among the stars, and the place was illumined by her light. When I
saw her, I fixed my eyes on her and stared in her face; and she
bespoke me with soft speech. When I heard her words and the
sweetness of her speech, I lusted after her; and when she saw
that I lusted after her, she did her occasion and promising me
[to come again], went away, leaving my mind occupied with her and
fire kindled in my heart. Then I abode, perplexed and pondering
my affair, whilst fire flamed in my heart, till the third day,
when she came again and I scarce credited her coming. When I saw
her, I talked with her and cajoled her and courted her and strove
to win her favour with speech and invited her [to my house]; but
she answered, saying, 'I will not go up into any one's house.'
Quoth I, 'I will go with thee;' and she said, 'Arise and come
with me.'
So I arose and putting in my sleeve a handkerchief, wherein was a
good sum of money, followed the woman, who went on before me and
gave not over walking till she brought me to a by-street and to a
door, which she bade me open. I refused and she opened it and
brought me into the vestibule. As soon as I had entered, she
locked the door of entrance from within and said to me, 'Sit
[here] till I go in to the slave-girls and cause them enter a
place where they shall not see me.' 'It is well,' answered I and
sat down; whereupon she entered and was absent from me a moment,
after which she returned to me, without a veil, and said, 'Arise,
[enter,] in the name of God.'[FN#127] So I arose and went in
after her and we gave not over going till we entered a saloon.
When I examined the place, I found it neither handsome nor
agreeable, but unseemly and desolate, without symmetry or
cleanliness; nay, it was loathly to look upon and there was a
foul smell in it.
I seated myself amiddleward the saloon, misdoubting, and as I
sat, there came down on me from the estrade seven naked men,
without other clothing than leather girdles about their waists.
One of them came up to me and took my turban, whilst another took
my handkerchief, that was in my sleeve, with my money, and a
third stripped me of my clothes; after which a fourth came and
bound my hands behind me with his girdle. Then they all took me
up, pinioned as I was, and casting me down, fell a-dragging me
towards a sink-hole that was there and were about to cut my
throat, when, behold, there came a violent knocking at the door.
When they heard this, they were afraid and their minds were
diverted from me by fear; so the woman went out and presently
returning, said to them, 'Fear not; no harm shall betide you this
day. It is only your comrade who hath brought you your
noon-meal.' With this the new-comer entered, bringing with him a
roasted lamb; and when he came in to them, he said to them, 'What
is to do with you, that ye have tucked up [your sleeves and
trousers]?' Quoth they, '[This is] a piece of game we have
caught.'
When he heard this, he came up to me and looking in my face,
cried out and said, 'By Allah, this is my brother, the son of my
mother and father! Allah! Allah!' Then he loosed me from my bonds
and kissed my head, and behold it was my friend who used to
borrow money of me. When I kissed his head, he kissed mine and
said, 'O my brother, be not affrighted.' Then he called for my
clothes [and money and restored to me all that had been taken
from me] nor was aught missing to me. Moreover, he brought me a
bowl full of [sherbet of] sugar, with lemons therein, and gave me
to drink thereof; and the company came and seated me at a table.
So I ate with them and he said to me, 'O my lord and my brother,
now have bread and salt passed between us and thou hast
discovered our secret and [become acquainted with] our case; but
secrets [are safe] with the noble.' Quoth I, 'As I am a
lawfully-begotten child, I will not name aught [of this] neither
denounce [you!*]' And they assured themselves of me by an oath.
Then they brought me out and I went my way, scarce crediting but
that I was of the dead.
I abode in my house, ill, a whole month; after which I went to
the bath and coming out, opened my shop [and sat selling and
buying as usual], but saw no more of the man or the woman, till,
one day, there stopped before my shop a young man, [a Turcoman],
as he were the full moon; and he was a sheep-merchant and had
with him a bag, wherein was money, the price of sheep that he had
sold. He was followed by the woman, and when he stopped at my
shop, she stood by his side and cajoled him, and indeed he
inclined to her with a great inclination. As for me, I was
consumed with solicitude for him and fell to casting furtive
glances at him and winked at him, till he chanced to look round
and saw me winking at him; whereupon the woman looked at me and
made a sign with her hand and went away. The Turcoman followed
her and I counted him dead, without recourse; wherefore I feared
with an exceeding fear and shut my shop. Then I journeyed for a
year's space and returning, opened my shop; whereupon, behold,
the woman came up to me and said, 'This is none other than a
great absence.' Quoth I, 'I have been on a journey;' and she
said, 'Why didst thou wink at the Turcoman?' 'God forbid!'
answered I. 'I did not wink at him.' Quoth she, 'Beware lest thou
cross me;' and went away.
Awhile after this a friend of mine invited me to his house and
when I came to him, we ate and drank and talked. Then said he to
me, 'O my friend, hath there befallen thee in thy life aught of
calamity?' 'Nay,' answered I; 'but tell me [first], hath there
befallen thee aught?' ['Yes,'] answered he. 'Know that one day I
espied a fair woman; so I followed her and invited her [to come
home with me]. Quoth she, "I will not enter any one's house; but
come thou to my house, if thou wilt, and be it on such a day."
Accordingly, on the appointed day, her messenger came to me,
purposing to carry me to her; so I arose and went with him, till
we came to a handsome house and a great door. He opened the door
and I entered, whereupon he locked the door [behind me] and would
have gone in, but I feared with an exceeding fear and foregoing
him to the second door, whereby he would have had me enter,
locked it and cried out at him, saying, "By Allah, an thou open
not to me, I will kill thee; for I am none of those whom thou
canst cozen!" Quoth he, "What deemest thou of cozenage?" And I
said, "Verily, I am affrighted at the loneliness of the house and
the lack of any at the door thereof; for I see none appear." "O
my lord," answered he, "this is a privy door." "Privy or public,"
answered I, "open to me."
So he opened to me and I went out and had not gone far from the
house when I met a woman, who said to me, "Methinks a long life
was fore-ordained to thee; else hadst thou not come forth of
yonder house." "How so?" asked I, and she answered, "Ask thy
friend [such an one," naming thee,] "and he will acquaint thee
with strange things." So, God on thee, O my friend, tell me what
befell thee of wonders and rarities, for I have told thee what
befell me.' 'O my brother,' answered I, 'I am bound by a solemn
oath.' And he said, 'O my friend, break thine oath and tell me.'
Quoth I, 'Indeed, I fear the issue of this.' [But he importuned
me] till I told him all, whereat he marvelled. Then I went away
from him and abode a long while, [without farther news].
One day, another of my friends came to me and said 'A neighbour
of mine hath invited me to hear [music]. [And he would have me go
with him;] but I said, 'I will not foregather with any one.'
However, he prevailed upon me [to accompany him]; so we repaired
to the place and found there a man, who came to meet us and said,
'[Enter,] in the name of God!' Then he pulled out a key and
opened the door, whereupon we entered and he locked the door
after us. Quoth I, 'We are the first of the folk; but where are
their voices?'[FN#128] '[They are] within the house,' answered
he. 'This is but a privy door; so be not amazed at the absence of
the folk.' And my friend said to me, 'Behold, we are two, and
what can they avail to do with us?' [Then he brought us into the
house,] and when we entered the saloon, we found it exceeding
desolate and repulsive of aspect Quoth my friend, 'We are fallen
[into a trap]; but there is no power and no virtue save in God
the Most High, the Supreme!' And I said, 'May God not requite
thee for me with good!'
Then we sat down on the edge of the estrade and presently I
espied a closet beside me; so I looked into it and my friend said
to me, 'What seest thou?' Quoth I, 'I see therein good galore and
bodies of murdered folk. Look.' So he looked and said, 'By Allah,
we are lost men!' And we fell a-weeping, I and he. As we were
thus, behold, there came in upon us, by the door at which we had
entered, four naked men, with girdles of leather about their
middles, and made for my friend. He ran at them and dealing one
of them a buffet, overthrew him, whereupon the other three fell
all upon him. I seized the opportunity to escape, what while they
were occupied with him, and espying a door by my side, slipped
into it and found myself in an underground chamber, without
window or other issue. So I gave myself up for lost and said,
'There is no power and no virtue save in God the Most High, the
Supreme!' Then I looked to the top of the vault and saw in it a
range of glazed lunettes; so I clambered up for dear life, till I
reached the lunettes, and I distracted [for fear]. I made shift
to break the glass and scrambling out through the frames, found a
wall behind them. So I bestrode the wall and saw folk walking in
the road; whereupon I cast myself down to the ground and God the
Most High preserved me, so that I reached the earth, unhurt. The
folk flocked round me and I acquainted them with my story.
As fate would have it, the chief of the police was passing
through the market; so the people told him [what was to do] and
he made for the door and burst it open. We entered with a rush
and found the thieves, as they had overthrown my friend and cut
his throat; for they occupied not themselves with me, but said,
'Whither shall yonder fellow go? Indeed, he is in our grasp.' So
the prefect took them with the hand[FN#129] and questioned them,
and they confessed against the woman and against their associates
in Cairo. Then he took them and went forth, after he had locked
up the house and sealed it; and I accompanied him till he came
without the [first] house. He found the door locked from within;
so he bade break it open and we entered and found another door.
This also he caused burst in, enjoining his men to silence till
the doors should be opened, and we entered and found the band
occupied with a new victim, whom the woman had just brought in
and whose throat they were about to cut.
The prefect released the man and gave him back all that the
thieves had taken from him; and he laid hands on the woman and
the rest and took forth of the house treasures galore. Amongst
the rest, they found the money-bag of the Turcoman
sheep-merchant. The thieves they nailed up incontinent against
the wall of the house, whilst, as for the woman, they wrapped her
in one of her veils and nailing her [to a board, set her] upon a
camel and went round about the town with her. Thus God razed
their dwelling-places and did away from me that which I feared.
All this befell, whilst I looked on, and I saw not my friend who
had saved me from them the first time, whereat I marvelled to the
utterest of marvel. However, some days afterward, he came up to
me, and indeed he had renounced[FN#130] [the world] and donned a
fakir's habit; and he saluted me and went away.
Then he again began to pay me frequent visits and I entered into
converse with him and questioned him of the band and how he came
to escape, he alone of them all. Quoth he, 'I left them from the
day on which God the Most High delivered thee from them, for that
they would not obey my speech; wherefore I swore that I would no
longer consort with them.' And I said, 'By Allah, I marvel at
thee, for that thou wast the cause of my preservation!' Quoth he,
'The world is full of this sort [of folk]; and we beseech God the
Most High for safety, for that these [wretches] practise upon men
with every kind of device.' Then said I to him, 'Tell me the most
extraordinary adventure of all that befell thee in this villainy
thou wast wont to practise.' And he answered, saying, 'O my
brother, I was not present when they did on this wise, for that
my part with them was to concern myself with selling and buying
and [providing them with] food; but I have heard that the most
extraordinary thing that befell them was on this wise.