what he wanted, and received a written warrant to enter and perforce
search the houses; so he fared forth, taking in his hand a rod[98] made
of bronze and copper, iron and steel, of each three equal parts. He
first searched the palace of the Caliph, then that of the Wazir Ja’afar;
after which he went the round of the houses of the Chamberlains and the
Viceroys till he came to that of Ala al-Din. Now when the Chief of the
Sixty heard the clamour before his house, he left his wife Jessamine and
went down and, opening the door, found the Master of Police without in
the midst of a tumultuous crowd. So he said, “What is the matter, O Emir
Khalid?” Thereupon the Chief told him the case and Ala al-Din said,
“Enter my house and search it.” The Governor replied, “Pardon, O my
lord; thou art a man in whom trust is reposed and Allah forfend that the
trusty turn traitor!” Quoth Ala al-Din, “There is no help for it but
that my house be searched.” So the Chief of Police entered, attended by
the Kazi and his Assessors; whereupon Ahmad Kamakim went straight to the
depressed floor of the saloon and came to the slab, under which he had
buried the stolen goods and let the rod fall upon it with such violence
that the marble broke in sunder and behold something glittered
underneath. Then said he, “Bismillah; in the name of Allah! Mashallah;
whatso Allah willeth! By the blessing of our coming a hoard hath been
hit upon; wait while we go down into this hiding-place and see what is
therein.” So the Kazi and Assessors looked into the hole and finding
there the stolen goods, drew up a statement[99] of how they had
discovered them in Ala al-Din’s house, to which they set their seals.
Then, they bade seize upon Ala al-Din and took his turband from his
head, and officially registered all his monies and effects which were in
the mansion. Meanwhile, arch-thief Ahmad Kamakim laid hands on
Jessamine, who was with child by Ala al-Din, and committed her to his
mother, saying, “Deliver her to Khatun, the Governor’s lady:” so the old
woman took her and carried her to the wife of the Master of Police. Now
as soon as Habzalam Bazazah saw her, health and heart returned to him
and he arose without stay or delay and joyed with exceeding joy and
would have drawn near her; but she pluckt a dagger from her girdle and
said, “Keep off from me, or I will kill thee and kill myself after.”
Exclaimed his mother, “O strumpet, let my son have his will of thee!”
But Jessamine answered “O bitch, by what law is it lawful for a woman to
marry two men; and how shall the dog be admitted to the place of the
lion?” With this, the ugly youth’s love-longing redoubled and he
sickened for yearning and unfulfilled desire; and refusing food returned
to his pillow. Then said his mother to her, “O harlot, how canst thou
make me thus to sorrow for my son? Needs must I punish thee with
torture; and as for Ala al-Din, he will assuredly be hanged.” “And I
will die for love of him,” answered Jessamine. Then the Governor’s wife
arose and stripped her of her jewels and silken raiment and, clothing
her in petticoat-trousers of sack-cloth and a shift of hair-cloth, sent
her down into the kitchen and made her a scullery-wench, saying, “The
reward for thy constancy shall be to break up fire-wood and peel onions
and set fire under the cooking-pots.” Quoth she, “I am willing to suffer
all manner of hardships and servitude, but I will not suffer the sight
of thy son.” However, Allah inclined the hearts of the slave-girls to
her and they used to do her service in the kitchen. Such was the case
with Jessamine; but as regards Ala al-Din they carried him, together
with the stolen goods, to the Divan where the Caliph still sat upon his
throne. And behold, the King looked upon his effects and said, “Where
did ye find them?” They replied, “In the very middle of the house
belonging to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat;” whereat the Caliph was filled
with wrath and took the things, but found not the lanthorn among them
and said, “O Ala al-Din, where is the lanthorn?” He answered “I stole it
not; I know naught of it; I never saw it; I can give no information
about it!” Said the Caliph, “O traitor, how cometh it that I brought
thee near unto me and thou hast cast me out afar, and I trusted in thee
and thou betrayest me?” And he commanded to hang him. So the Chief of
Police took him and went down with him into the city, whilst the crier
preceded them proclaiming aloud and saying, “This is the reward and the
least of the reward he shall receive who doth treason against the
Caliphs of True Belief!” And the folk flocked to the place where the
gallows stood. Thus far concerning him; but as regards Ahmad al-Danaf,
Ala al-Din’s adopted father, he was sitting making merry with his
followers in a garden, and carousing and pleasuring when lo! in came one
of the water-carriers of the Divan and, kissing the hand of Ahmad
al-Danaf, said to him, “O Captain Ahmad, O Danaf! thou sittest at thine
ease with water flowing at thy feet,[100] and thou knowest not what hath
happened.” Asked Ahmad, “What is it?” and the other answered, “They have
gone down to the gallows with thy son Ala al-Din, adopted by a covenant
before Allah!” Quoth Ahmad, “What is the remedy here, O Hasan Shuuman,
and what sayst thou of this?” He replied, “Assuredly Ala al-Din is
innocent and this blame hath come to him from some one enemy.”[101]
Quoth Ahmad, “What counsellest thou?” and Hasan said, “We must rescue
him, Inshallah!” Then he went to the jail and said to the gaolor, “Give
us some one who deserveth death.” So he gave him one that was likest of
men to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat; and they covered his head and carried
him to the place of execution between Ahmad al-Danaf and Ali al-Zaybak
of Cairo.[102] Now they had brought Ala al-Din to the gibbet, to hang
him, but Ahmad al-Danaf came forward and set his foot on that of the
hangman, who said, “Give me room to do my duty.” He replied, “O
accursed, take this man and hang him in Ala al-Din’s stead; for he is
innocent and we will ransom him with this fellow, even as Abraham
ransomed Ishmael with the ram.”[103] So the hangman seized the man and
hanged him in lieu of Ala al-Din; whereupon Ahmad and Ali took Ala
al-Din and carried him to Ahmad’s quarters and, when there, Ala al-Din
turned to him and said, “O my sire and chief, Allah requite thee with
the best of good!” Quoth he, “O Ala al-Din”——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Calamity Ahmad
cried, “O Ala al-Din, what is this deed thou hast done? The mercy of
Allah be on him who said:—Whoso trusteth thee betray him not, e’en if
thou be a traitor. Now the Caliph set thee in high place about him and
styled thee ‘Trusty’ and ‘Faithful’; how then couldst thou deal thus
with him and steal his goods?” “By the Most Great Name, O my father and
chief,” replied Ala al-Din, “I had no hand in this, nor did I such deed,
nor know I who did it.” Quoth Ahmad, “Of a surety none did this but a
manifest enemy and whoso doth aught shall be requited for his deed; but,
O Ala al-Din, thou canst sojourn no longer in Baghdad, for Kings, O my
son, may not pass from one thing to another, and when they go in quest
of a man, ah! longsome is his travail.” “Whither shall I go, O my
chief?” asked Ala al-Din; and he answered, “O my son, I will bring thee
to Alexandria, for it is a blessed place; its threshold is green and its
sojourn is agreeable.” And Ala al-Din rejoined, “I hear and I obey, O my
chief.” So Ahmad said to Hasan Shuuman, “Be mindful and, when the Caliph
asketh for me, say:—He is gone touring about the provinces.” Then,
taking Ala al-Din, he went forth of Baghdad and stayed not going till
they came to the outlying vineyards and gardens, where they met two Jews
of the Caliph’s tax-gatherers, riding on mules. Quoth Ahmad Al-Danaf to
these, “Give me the black-mail;”[104] and quoth they, “Why should we pay
thee black-mail?” whereto he replied, “Because I am the watchman of this
valley.” So they gave him each an hundred gold pieces, after which he
slew them and took their mules, one of which he mounted, whilst Ala
al-Din bestrode the other. Then they rode on till they came to the city
of Ayás[105] and put up their beasts for the night at the Khan. And when
morning dawned, Ala al-Din sold his own mule and committed that of Ahmad
to the charge of the doorkeeper of the caravanserai, after which they
took ship from Ayas port and sailed to Alexandria. Here they landed and
walked up to the bazar and behold, there was a broker crying a shop and
a chamber behind it for nine hundred and fifty dinars. Upon this Ala
al-Din bid a thousand which the broker accepted, for the premises
belonged to the Treasury; and the seller handed over to him the keys and
the buyer opened the shop and found the inner parlour furnished with
carpets and cushions. Moreover, he found there a store-room full of
sails and masts, cordage and seamen’s chests, bags of beads and
cowrie[106]-shells, stirrups, battle-axes, maces, knives, scissors and
such matters, for the last owner of the shop had been a dealer in
second-hand goods.[107] So he took his seat in the shop and Ahmad
al-Danaf said to him, “O my son, the shop and the room and that which is
therein are become thine; so tarry thou here and buy and sell; and
repine not at thy lot for Almighty Allah blesseth trade.” After this he
abode with him three days and on the fourth he took leave of him,
saying, “Abide here till I go back and bring thee the Caliph’s pardon
and learn who hath played thee this trick.” Then he shipped for Ayas,
where he took the mule from the inn and, returning to Baghdad met
Pestilence Hasan and his followers, to whom said he, “Hath the Caliph
asked after me?”; and he replied, “No, nor hast thou come to his
thought.” So he resumed his service about the Caliph’s person and set
himself to sniff about for news of Ala al-Din’s case, till one day he
heard the Caliph say to the Wazir, “See, O Ja’afar, how Ala al-Din dealt
with me!” Replied the Minister, “O Commander of the Faithful, thou hast
requited him with hanging and hath he not met with his reward?” Quoth
he, “O Wazir, I have a mind to go down and see him hanging;” and the
Wazir answered, “Do what thou wilt, O Commander of the Faithful.” So the
Caliph, accompanied by Ja’afar, went down to the place of execution and,
raising his eyes, saw the hanged man to be other than Ala al-Din Abu
al-Shamat, surnamed the Trusty, and said, “O Wazir, this is not Ala
al-Din!” “How knowest thou that it is not he?” asked the Minister, and
the Caliph answered, “Ala al-Din was short and this one is tall.” Quoth
Ja’afar, “Hanging stretcheth.” Quoth the Caliph, “Ala al-Din was fair
and this one’s face is black.” Said Ja’afar, “Knowest thou not, O
Commander of the Faithful, that death is followed by blackness?” Then
the Caliph bade take down the body from the gallows-tree and they found
the names of the two Shaykhs, Abu Bakr and Omar, written on its
heels;[108] whereupon cried the Caliph, “O Wazir, Ala al-Din was a
Sunnite, and this fellow is a Rejecter, a Shi’ah.” He answered, “Glory
be to Allah who knoweth the hidden things, while we know not whether
this was Ala al-Din or other than he.” Then the Caliph bade bury the
body and they buried it; and Ala al-Din was forgotten as though he never
had been. Such was his case; but as regards Habzalam Bazazah, the Emir
Khalid’s son, he ceased not to languish for love and longing till he
died and they joined him to the dust. And as for the young wife
Jessamine, she accomplished the months of her pregnancy and, being taken
with labour-pains, gave birth to a boy-child like unto the moon. And
when her fellow slave-girls said to her, “What wilt thou name him?” she
answered, “Were his father well he had named him; but now I will name
him Aslán.”[109] She gave him suck for two successive years, then weaned
him, and he crawled and walked. Now it so came to pass that one day,
whilst his mother was busied with the service of the kitchen, the boy
went out and, seeing the stairs, mounted to the guest-chamber.[110] And
the Emir Khalid who was sitting there took him upon his lap and
glorified his Lord for that which he had created and fashioned; then
closely eyeing his face, the Governor saw that he was the likest of all
creatures to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat. Presently, his mother Jessamine
sought for him and finding him not, mounted to the guest-chamber, where
she saw the Emir seated, with the child playing in his lap, for Allah
had inclined his heart to the boy. And when the child espied his mother,
he would have thrown himself upon her; but the Emir held him tight to
his bosom and said to Jessamine, “Come hither, O damsel.” So she came to
him, when he said to her, “Whose son is this?”; and she replied, “He is
my son and the fruit of my vitals.” “And who is his father?” asked the
Emir; and she answered, “His father was Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat, but
now he is become thy son.” Quoth Khalid, “In very sooth Ala al-Din was a
traitor.” Quoth she, “Allah deliver him from treason! the Heavens
forfend and forbid that the ‘Trusty’ should be a traitor!” Then said he,
“When this boy shall grow up and reach man’s estate and say to thee:—Who
is my father? say to him:—Thou art the son of the Emir Khalid, Governor
and Chief of Police.” And she answered, “I hear and I obey.” Then he
circumcised the boy and reared him with the goodliest rearing, and
engaged for him a professor of law and religious science, and an expert
pensman who taught him to read and write; so he read the Koran twice and
learnt it by heart and he grew up, saying to the Emir, “O my father!”
Moreover, the Governor used to go down with him to the tilting-ground
and assemble horsemen and teach the lad the fashion of fight and fray,
and the place to plant lance-thrust and sabre-stroke; so that by the
time he was fourteen years old, he became a valiant wight and
accomplished knight and gained the rank of Emir. Now it chanced one day
that Aslan fell in with Ahmad Kamakim, the arch-thief, and accompanied
him as cup-companion to the tavern[111] and behold, Ahmad took out the
jewelled lanthorn he had stolen from the Caliph and, setting it before
him, pledged the wine cup to its light, till he became drunken. So Aslan
said to him, “O Captain, give me this lanthorn;” but he replied, “I
cannot give it to thee.” Asked Aslan, “Why not?”; and Ahmad answered,
“Because lives have been lost for it.” “Whose life?” enquired Aslan; and
Ahmad rejoined, “There came hither a man who was made Chief of the
Sixty; he was named Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat and he lost his life
through this lanthorn.” Quoth Aslan, “And what was that story, and what
brought about his death?” Quoth Ahmad Kamakim, “Thou hadst an elder
brother by name Habzalam Bazazah, and when he reached the age of sixteen
and was ripe for marriage, thy father would have bought him a slave-girl
named Jessamine.” And he went on to tell him the whole story from first
to last of Habzalam Bazazah’s illness and what befel Ala al-Din in his
innocence. When Aslan heard this, he said in thought, “Haply this
slave-girl was my mother Jessamine, and my father was none other than
Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat.” So the boy went out from him sorrowful, and
met Calamity Ahmad, who at sight of him exclaimed, “Glory be to Him unto
whom none is like!” Asked Hasan the Pestilence, “Whereat dost thou
marvel, O my chief?” and Ahmad the Calamity replied, “At the make of
yonder boy Aslan, for he is the likest of human creatures to Ala al-Din
Abu al Shamat.” Then he called the lad and said to him, “O Aslan what is
thy mother’s name?”; to which he replied, “She is called the damsel
Jessamine;” and the other said, “Harkye, Aslan, be of good cheer and
keep thine eyes cool and clear; for thy father was none other than Ala
al-Din Abu al-Shamat: but, O my son, go thou in to thy mother and
question her of thy father.” He said, “Hearkening and obedience,” and,
going in to his mother put the question; whereupon quoth she, “Thy sire
is the Emir Khalid!” “Not so,” rejoined he, “my father was none other
than Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat.” At this the mother wept and said, “Who
acquainted thee with this, O my son?” And he answered “Ahmad Al-Danaf,
Captain of the Guard.” So she told him the whole story, saying, “O my
son, the True hath prevailed and the False hath failed:[112] know that
Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat was indeed thy sire, but it was none save the
Emir Khalid who reared thee and adopted thee as his son. And now, O my
child, when thou seest Ahmad al-Danaf the captain, do thou say to him:—I
conjure thee, by Allah, O my chief, take my blood-revenge on the
murderer of my father Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat!” So he went out from his
mother——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Aslan went out
from his mother and, betaking himself to Calamity Ahmad, kissed his
hand. Quoth the captain, “What aileth thee, O Aslan?” and quoth he, “I
know now for certain that my father was Ali al-Din Abu al-Shamat and I
would have thee take my blood-revenge on his murderer.” He asked, “And
who was thy father’s murderer?” whereto Aslan answered, “Ahmad Kamakim
the Arch-thief.” “Who told thee this?” enquired he, and Aslan rejoined,
“I saw in his hand the jewelled lanthorn which was lost with the rest of
the Caliph’s gear, and I said to him:—Give me this lanthorn! but he
refused, saying, Lives have been lost on account of this; and told me it
was he who had broken into the palace and stolen the articles and
deposited them in my father’s house.” Then said Ahmad al-Danaf, “When
thou seest the Emir Khalid don his harness of war say to him:—Equip me
like thyself and take me with thee. Then do thou go forth and perform
some feat of prowess before the Commander of the Faithful, and he will
say to thee:—Ask a boon of me, O Aslan! And do thou make answer, I ask
of thee this boon, that thou take my blood-revenge on my father’s
murderer. If he say, Thy father is yet alive and is the Emir Khalid, the
Chief of the Police; answer thou:—My father was Ala al-Din Abu
al-Shamat, and the Emir Khalid hath a claim upon me only as the
foster-father who adopted me. Then tell him all that passed between thee
and Ahmad Kamakim and say:—O Prince of True Believers, order him to be
searched and I will bring the lanthorn forth from his bosom.” Thereupon
said Aslan to him, “I hear and obey;” and, returning to the Emir Khalid,
found him making ready to repair to the Caliph’s court and said to him,
“I would fain have thee arm and harness me like thyself and take me with
thee to the Divan.” So he equipped him and carried him thither. Then the
Caliph sallied forth of Baghdad with his troops and they pitched tents
and pavilions without the city; whereupon the host divided into two
parties and forming ranks fell to playing Polo, one striking the ball
with the mall, and another striking it back to him. Now there was among
the troops a spy, who had been hired to slay the Caliph; so he took the
ball and smiting it with the bat drove it straight at the Caliph’s face,
when behold, Aslan fended it off and catching it drove it back at him
who smote it, so that it struck him between the shoulders and he fell to
the ground. The Caliph exclaimed, “Allah bless thee, O Aslan!” and they
all dismounted and sat on chairs. Then the Caliph bade them bring the
smiter of the ball before him and said, “Who tempted thee to do this
thing and art thou friend or foe?” Quoth he, “I am thy foe and it was my
purpose to kill thee.” Asked the Caliph, “And wherefore? Art not a
Moslem?” Replied the spy; “No! I am a Rejecter.”[113] So the Caliph bade
them put him to death and said to Aslan, “Ask a boon of me.” Quoth he,
“I ask of thee this boon, that thou take my blood-revenge on my father’s
murderer.” He said, “Thy father is alive and there he stands on his two
feet.” “And who is he?” asked Aslan; and the Caliph answered, “He is the
Emir Khalid, Chief of Police.” Rejoined Aslan, “O Commander of the
Faithful, he is no father of mine, save by right of fosterage; my father
was none other than Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat.” “Then thy father was a
traitor,” cried the Caliph. “Allah forbid, O Commander of the Faithful,”
rejoined Aslan, “that the ‘Trusty’ should be a traitor! But how did he
betray thee?” Quoth the Caliph, “He stole my habit and what was
therewith.” Aslan retorted, “O Commander of the Faithful, Allah forfend
that my father should be a traitor! But, O my lord, when thy habit was
lost and found didst thou likewise recover the lanthorn which was stolen
from thee?” Answered the Caliph, “We never got it back;” and Aslan said,
“I saw it in the hands of Ahmad Kamakim and begged it of him; but he
refused to give it me, saying:—Lives have been lost on account of this.
Then he told me of the sickness of Habzalam Bazazah, son of the Emir
Khalid, by reason of his passion for the damsel Jessamine, and how he
himself was released from bonds and that it was he who stole the habit
and the lamp: so do thou, O Commander of the Faithful, take my
blood-revenge for my father on him who murdered him.” At once the Caliph
cried, “Seize ye Ahmad Kamakim!” and they seized him; whereupon he
asked, “Where be the Captain, Ahmad al-Danaf?” And when he was summoned
the Caliph bade him search Kamakim; so he put his hand into the thief’s
bosom and pulled out the lanthorn. Said the Caliph, “Come hither, thou
traitor: whence hadst thou this lanthorn?” and Kamakim replied, “I
bought it, O Commander of the Faithful!” The Caliph rejoined, “Where
didst thou buy it?” Then they beat him till he owned that he had stolen
the lanthorn, the habit and the rest, and the Caliph said “What moved
thee to do this thing O traitor, and ruin Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat, the
Trusty and Faithful?” Then he bade them lay hands on him and on the
Chief of Police, but the Chief said, “O Commander of the Faithful,
indeed I am unjustly treated; thou badest me hang him, and I had no
knowledge of this trick, for the plot was contrived between the old
woman and Ahmad Kamakim and my wife. I crave thine intercession,[114] O
Aslan.” So Aslan interceded for him with the Caliph, who said, “What
hath Allah done with this youngster’s mother?” Answered Khalid, “She is
with me,” and the Caliph continued, “I command that thou order thy wife
to dress her in her own clothes and ornaments and restore her to her
former degree, a lady of rank; and do thou remove the seals from Ala
al-Din’s house and give his son possession of his estate.” “I hear and
obey,” answered Khalid; and, going forth, gave the order to his wife who
clad Jessamine in her own apparel; whilst he himself removed the seals
from Ala al-Din’s house and gave Aslan the keys. Then said the Caliph,
“Ask a boon of me, O Aslan;” and he replied, “I beg of thee the boon to
unite me with my father.” Whereat the Caliph wept and said, “Most like
thy sire was he that was hanged and is dead; but by the life of my
forefathers, whoso bringeth me the glad news that he is yet in the
bondage of this life, I will give him all he seeketh!” Then came forward
Ahmad al-Danaf and, kissing the ground between his hands, said, “Grant
me indemnity, O Commander of the Faithful!” “Thou hast it,” answered the
Caliph; and Calamity Ahmad said, “I give thee the good news that Ala
al-Din Abu al-Shamat, the Trusty, the Faithful, is alive and well.”
Quoth the Caliph “What is this thou sayest?” Quoth Al-Danaf, “As thy
head liveth I say sooth; for I ransomed him with another, of those who
deserved death; and carried him to Alexandria, where I opened for him a
shop and set him up as dealer in second-hand goods.” Then said the
Prince of True Believers——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night,