with the ceremonies usual among men of note; nor did he cease to weep
the loss of his father till his mother died also, not long afterwards,
when he did with her as he had done with his sire. Then he sat in the
shop, selling and buying and consorting with none of Almighty Allah’s
creatures, in accordance with his father’s injunction. This wise he
continued to do for a year, at the end of which time there came in to
him by craft certain whoreson fellows and consorted with him, till he
turned after their example to lewdness and swerved from the way of
righteousness, drinking wine in flowing bowls and frequenting fair women
night and day; for he said to himself, “Of a truth my father amassed
this wealth for me, and if I spend it not, to whom shall I leave it? By
Allah, I will not do save as saith the poet:—
An through the whole of life ✿ Thou gett’st and gain’st for self;
Say, when shalt thou enjoy ✿ Thy gains and gotten pelf?”
And Ali Shar ceased not to waste his wealth all whiles of the day and
all watches of the night, till he had made away with the whole of his
riches and abode in pauper case and troubled at heart. So he sold his
shop and lands and so forth, and after this he sold the clothes off his
body, leaving himself but one suit; and, as drunkenness quitted him and
thoughtfulness came to him, he fell into grief and sore care. One day,
when he had sat from daybreak to mid-afternoon without breaking his
fast, he said in his mind, “I will go round to those on whom I spent my
monies: perchance one of them will feed me this day.” So he went the
round of them all; but, as often as he knocked at any one’s door of
them, the man denied himself and hid from him, till his stomach ached
with hunger. Then he betook himself to the bazar of the merchants——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Tenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ali Shar feeling
his stomach ache with hunger, betook himself to the merchants’ bazar
where he found a crowd of people assembled in ring, and said to himself,
“I wonder what causeth these folk to crowd together thus? By Allah, I
will not budge hence till I see what is within yonder ring!” So he made
his way into the ring and found therein a damsel exposed for sale who
was five feet tall,[262] beautifully proportioned, rosy of cheek and
high of breast; and who surpassed all the people of her time in beauty
and loveliness and elegance and grace; even as saith one, describing
her:—
As she willèd she was made, and in such a way that when ✿ She was cast
in Nature’s mould neither short nor long was she:
Beauty woke to fall in love with the beauties of her form, ✿ Where
combine with all her coyness her pride and pudency:
The full moon is her face[263] and the branchlet is her shape, ✿ And the
musk-pod is her scent—what like her can there be?
‘Tis as though she were moulded from water of the pearl, ✿ And in every
lovely limblet another moon we see!
And her name was Zumurrud—the Smaragdine. So when Ali Shar saw her, he
marvelled at her beauty and grace and said, “By Allah, I will not stir
hence till I see how much this girl fetcheth, and know who buyeth her!”
So he took standing-place amongst the merchants, and they thought he had
a mind to buy her, knowing the wealth he had inherited from his parents.
Then the broker stood at the damsel’s head and said, “Ho, merchants! Ho,
ye men of money! Who will open the gate of biddings for this damsel, the
mistress of moons, the union pearl, Zumurrud the curtain-maker, the
sought of the seeker and the delight of the desirous? Open the biddings’
door and on the opener be nor blame nor reproach for evermore.”
Thereupon quoth one merchant, “Mine for five hundred dinars;” “and ten,”
quoth another. “Six hundred,” cried an old man named Rashíd al-Din, blue
of eye[264] and foul of face. “And ten,” cried another. “I bid a
thousand,” rejoined Rashid al-Din; whereupon the rival merchants were
tongue-tied, and held their peace and the broker took counsel with the
girl’s owner, who said, “I have sworn not to sell her save to whom she
shall choose: so consult her.” Thereupon the broker went up to Zumurrud
and said to her, “O mistress of moons, this merchant hath a mind to buy
thee.” She looked at Rashid al-Din and finding him as we have said,
replied, “I will not be sold to a greybeard, whom decrepitude hath
brought to such evil plight. Allah inspired his saying who saith:—
I craved of her a kiss one day; but soon as she beheld ✿ My hoary
hairs, though I my luxuries and wealth display’d;
She proudly turned away from me, showed shoulders, cried aloud:— ✿ ‘No!
no! by Him, whose hest mankind from nothingness hath made,
For hoary head and grizzled chin I’ve no especial love: ✿ What! stuff my
mouth with cotton[265] ere in sepulchre I’m laid?’”
Now when the broker heard her words he said, “By Allah, thou art
excusable, and thy price is ten thousand gold pieces!” So he told her
owner that she would not accept of old man Rashid al-Din, and he said,
“Consult her concerning another.” Thereupon a second man came forward
and said, “Be she mine for what price was offered by the oldster she
would have none of;” but she looked at him and seeing that his beard was
dyed, said “What be this fashion lewd and base and the blackening of the
hoary face?” And she made a great show of wonderment and repeated these
couplets:—
Showed me Sir Such-an-one a sight and what a frightful sight! ✿ A neck,
by Allah, only made for slipper-sole to smite:[266]
A beard the meetest racing-ground where gnats and lice contend, ✿ A brow
fit only for the ropes thy temples chafe and bite.[267]
O thou enravisht by my cheek and beauties of my form, ✿ Why so translate
thyself to youth and think I deem it right?
Dyeing disgracefully that white of reverend aged hairs, ✿ And hiding for
foul purposes their venerable white!
Thou goest with one beard and comest back with quite another, ✿ Like
Punch-and-Judy man who works the Chinese shades by night.[268]
And how well saith another:—
Quoth she, “I see thee dye thy hoariness:”[269] ✿ “To hide, O ears and
eyes! from thee,” quoth I:
She roared with laugh and said, “Right funny this; ✿ Thou art so lying
e’en thy hair’s a lie!”
Now when the broker heard her verse he exclaimed, “By Allah thou hast
spoken sooth!” The merchant asked what she said: so the broker repeated
the verses to him; and he knew that she was in the right while he was
wrong and desisted from buying her. Then another came forward and said,
“Ask her if she will be mine at the same price;” but, when he did so,
she looked at him and seeing that he had but one eye, said, “This man is
one-eyed; and it is of such as he that the poet saith:[270]—
Consort not with the Cyclops e’en a day; ✿ Beware his falsehood and his
mischief fly:
Had this monocular a jot of good, ✿ Allah had ne’er brought blindness to
his eye!”
Then said the broker, pointing to another bidder, “Wilt thou be sold to
this man?” She looked at him and seeing that he was short of
stature[271] and had a beard that reached to his navel, cried, “This is
he of whom the poet speaketh:—
I have a friend who hath a beard ✿ Allah to useless length unroll’d:
‘Tis like a certain[272] winter night, ✿ Longsome and darksome, drear
and cold.”
Said the broker, “O my lady, look who pleaseth thee of these that are
present, and point him out, that I may sell thee to him.” So she looked
round the ring of merchants, examining one by one their physiognomies,
till her glance fell on Ali Shar,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Eleventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the girl’s
glance fell on Ali Shar, she cast at him a look with longing eyes, which
cost her a thousand sighs, and her heart was taken with him; for that he
was of favour passing fair and pleasanter than zephyr or northern air;
and she said, “O broker, I will be sold to none but to this my lord,
owner of the handsome face and slender form whom the poet thus
describeth:—
Displaying that fair face ✿ The tempted they assailed;
Who, had they wished me safe ✿ That lovely face had veiled!”
For none shall own me but he, because his cheek is smooth and the water
of his mouth sweet as Salsabil;[273] his spittle is a cure for the sick
and his charms daze and dazzle poet and proser, even as saith one of
him:—
His honey-dew of lips is wine; his breath ✿ Musk and those teeth, smile
shown, are camphor’s hue:
Rizwán[274] hath turned him out o’ doors, for fear ✿ The Houris lapse
from virtue at the view;
Men blame his bearing for its pride, but when ✿ In pride the full moon
sails, excuse is due.
Lord of the curling locks and rose-red cheeks and ravishing look of whom
saith the poet:—
The fawn-like one a meeting promised me ✿ And eye expectant waxed and
heart upstirred:
His eyelids bade me hold his word as true; ✿ But, in their
languish,[275] can he keep his word?
And as saith another:—
Quoth they, “Black letters on his cheek are writ! ✿ How canst thou love
him and a side-beard see?”
Quoth I, “Cease blame and cut your chiding short; ✿ If those be letters
‘tis a forgery:”
Gather his charms all growths of Eden-garth ✿ Whereto those
Kausar[276]-lips bear testimony.
When the broker heard the verses she repeated on the charms of Ali Shar,
he marvelled at her eloquence, no less than at the brightness of her
beauty; but her owner said to him, “Marvel not at her splendour which
shameth the noonday sun, nor that her memory is stored with the choicest
verses of the poets; for, besides this, she can repeat the glorious
Koran, according to the seven readings,[277] and the august Traditions,
after ascription and authentic transmission; and she writeth the seven
modes of handwriting[278] and she knoweth more learning and knowledge
than the most learned. Moreover, her hands are better than gold and
silver; for she maketh silken curtains and selleth them for fifty gold
pieces each; and it taketh her but eight days to make a curtain.”
Exclaimed the broker, “O happy the man who hath her in his house and
maketh her of his choicest treasures!”; and her owner said to him, “Sell
her to whom she will.” So the broker went up to Ali Shar and, kissing
his hands, said to him, “O my lord, buy thou this damsel, for she hath
made choice of thee.”[279] Then he set forth to him all her charms and
accomplishments, and added, “I give thee joy if thou buy her, for this
be a gift from Him who is no niggard of His giving.” Whereupon Ali bowed
his head groundwards awhile, laughing at himself and secretly saying,
“Up to this hour I have not broken my fast; yet I am ashamed before the
merchants to own that I have no money wherewith to buy her.” The damsel,
seeing him hang down his head, said to the broker, “Take my hand and
lead me to him, that I may show my beauty to him and tempt him to buy
me; for I will not be sold to any but to him.” So the broker took her
hand and stationed her before Ali Shar, saying, “What is thy good
pleasure, O my lord?” But he made him no answer, and the girl said to
him, “O my lord and darling of my heart, what aileth thee that thou wilt
not bid for me? Buy me for what thou wilt and I will bring thee good
fortune.” So he raised his eyes to her and said, “Is buying perforce?
Thou art dear at a thousand dinars.” Said she, “Then buy me, O my lord,
for nine hundred.” He cried, “No,” and she rejoined, “Then for eight
hundred;” and though he again said, “Nay,” she ceased not to abate the
price, till she came to an hundred dinars. Quoth he, “I have not by me a
full hundred.” So she laughed and asked, “How much dost thou lack of an
hundred?” He answered, “By Allah, I have neither an hundred dinars, nor
any other sum; for I own neither white coin nor red cash, neither dinar
nor dirham. So look out thou for another and a better customer.” And
when she knew that he had nothing, she said to him, “Take me by the hand
and carry me aside into a by-lane, as if thou wouldst examine me
privily.” He did so and she drew from her bosom a purse containing a
thousand dinars, which she gave him, saying, “Pay down nine hundred to
my price and let the hundred remain with thee by way of provision.” He
did as she bid him and, buying her for nine hundred dinars, paid down
the price from her own purse and carried her to his house. When she
entered it, she found a dreary desolate saloon without carpets or
vessels; so she gave him other thousand dinars, saying, “Go to the bazar
and buy three hundred dinars’ worth of furniture and vessels for the
house and three dinars’ worth of meat and drink.”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Twelfth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the
slave-girl, “Bring us meat and drink for three dinars; furthermore a
piece of silk, the size of a curtain, and bring golden and silvern
thread and sewing-silk of seven colours.” Thus he did, and she furnished
the house and they sat down to eat and drink; after which they went to
bed and took their pleasure one of the other. And they lay the night
embraced behind the curtain and were even as saith the poet:[280]—
Cleave fast to her thou lovest and let the envious rail amain; For
calumny and envy ne’er to favour love were fain.
Lo, whilst I slept, in dreams I saw thee lying by my side And, from thy
lips the sweetest, sure, of limpid springs did drain.
Yea, true and certain all I saw is, as I will avouch, And ‘spite the
envier, thereto I surely will attain.
There is no goodlier sight, indeed, for eyes to look upon. Than when one
couch in its embrace enfoldeth lovers twain.
Each to the other’s bosom clasped, clad in their twinned delight. Whilst
hand with hand and arm with arm about their necks enchain,
Lo, when two hearts are straitly knit in passion and desire, But on cold
iron smite the folk who chide at them in vain.
Thou, that for loving censurest the votaries of love, canst thou assain
a heart diseased or heal a cankered brain?
If in thy time thou find but one to love thee and be true, I rede thee
cast the world away and with that one remain.
So they lay together till the morning and love for the other waxed
firmly fixed in the heart of each. And on rising, Zumurrud took the
curtain and embroidered it with coloured silks and purfled it with
silver and gold thread and she added thereto a border depicting round
about it all manner birds and beasts; nor is there in the world a feral
but she wrought his semblance. This she worked in eight days, till she
had made an end of it, when she trimmed it and glazed and ironed it and
gave it to her lord, saying, “Carry it to the bazar and sell it to one
of the merchants at fifty dinars; but beware lest thou sell it to a
passer-by, as this would cause a separation between me and thee, for we
have foes who are not unthoughtful of us.” “I hear and I obey,” answered
he and, repairing to the bazar, sold the curtain to a merchant, as she
bade him; after which he bought a piece of silk for another curtain and
gold and silver and silken thread as before and what they needed of
food, and brought all this to her, giving her the rest of the money. Now
every eight days she made a curtain, which he sold for fifty dinars, and
on this wise passed a whole year. At the end of that time, he went as
usual to the bazar with a curtain, which he gave to the broker; and
there came up to him a Nazarene who bid him sixty dinars for it; but he
refused, and the Christian continued bidding higher and higher, till he
came to an hundred dinars and bribed the broker with ten ducats. So the
man returned to Ali Shar and told him of the proffered price and urged
him to accept the offer and sell the article at the Nazarene’s
valuation, saying, “O my lord, be not afraid of this Christian for that
he can do thee no hurt.” The merchants also were urgent with him; so he
sold the curtain to the Christian, albeit his heart misgave him; and,
taking the money, set off to return home. Presently, as he walked, he
found the Christian walking behind him; so he said to him, “O
Nazarene,[281] why dost thou follow in my footsteps?” Answered the other
“O my lord, I want a something at the end of the street, Allah never
bring thee to want!”; but Ali Shar had barely reached his place before
the Christian overtook him; so he said to him, “O accursed, what aileth
thee to follow me wherever I go?” Replied the other, “O my lord, give me
a draught of water, for I am athirst; and with Allah be thy
reward!”[282] Quoth Ali Shar to himself, “Verily, this man is an Infidel
who payeth tribute and claimeth our protection[283] and he asketh me for
a draught of water; by Allah, I will not baulk him!”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Thirteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth Ali Shar to
himself, “This man is a tributary Unbeliever and he asked me for a
draught of water; by Allah, I will not baulk him!” So he entered the
house and took a gugglet of water; but the slave-girl Zumurrud saw him
and said to him, “O my love, hast thou sold the curtain?” He replied,
“Yes;” and she asked, “To a merchant or to a passer-by? for my heart
presageth a parting.” And he answered, “To whom but to a merchant?”
Thereupon she rejoined, “Tell me the truth of the case, that I may order
my affair; and why take the gugglet of water?” And he, “To give the
broker to drink,” upon which she exclaimed, “There is no Majesty and
there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!”; and she
repeated these two couplets:[284]—
O thou who seekest separation, act leisurely, and let not the embrace of
the beloved deceive thee!
Act leisurely; for the nature of fortune is treacherous, and the end of
every union is disjunction.
Then he took the gugglet and, going out, found the Christian within the
vestibule and said to him, “How comest thou here and how darest thou, O
dog, enter my house without my leave?” Answered he, “O my lord, there is
no difference between the door and the vestibule, and I never intended
to stir hence, save to go out; and my thanks are due to thee for thy
kindness and favour, thy bounty and generosity.” Then he took the mug
and emptying it, returned it to Ali Shar, who received it and waited for
him to rise up and to go; but he did not move. So Ali said to him, “Why
dost thou not rise and wend thy way?”; and he answered, “O my lord, be
not of those who do a kindness and then make it a reproach, nor of those
of whom saith the poet:[285]—
They’re gone who when thou stoodest at their door ✿ Would for thy wants
so generously cater:
But stand at door of churls who followed them, ✿ They’d make high favour
of a draught of water!”
And he continued, “O my lord, I have drunk, and now I would have thee
give me to eat of whatever is in the house, though it be but a bit of
bread or a biscuit with an onion.” Replied Ali Shar, “Begone, without
more chaffer and chatter; there is nothing in the house.” He persisted,
“O my lord, if there be nothing in the house, take these hundred dinars
and bring us something from the market, if but a single scone, that
bread and salt may pass between us.”[286] With this, quoth Ali Shar to
himself, “This Christian is surely mad; I will take his hundred dinars
and bring him somewhat worth a couple of dirhams and laugh at him.” And
the Nazarene added, “O my lord, I want but a small matter to stay my
hunger, were it but a dry scone and an onion; for the best food is that
which doeth away appetite, not rich viands”; and how well saith the
poet:—
Hunger is sated with a bone-dry scone, ✿ How is it then[287] in woes of
want I wone?
Death is all-justest, lacking aught regard ✿ For Caliph-king and beggar
woebegone.
Then quoth Ali Shar, “Wait here, while I lock the saloon and fetch thee
somewhat from the market;” and quoth the Christian, “To hear is to
obey.” So Ali Shar shut up the saloon and, locking the door with a
padlock, put the key in his pocket: after which he went to market and
bought fried cheese and virgin honey and bananas[288] and bread, with
which he returned to the house. Now when the Christian saw the
provision, he said, “O my lord, this is overmuch; ‘tis enough for half a
score of men and I am alone; but belike thou wilt eat with me.” Replied
Ali, “Eat by thyself, I am full;” and the Christian rejoined, “O my
lord, the wise say, Whoso eateth not with his guest is a son of a
whore.” Now when Ali Shar heard these words from the Nazarene, he sat
down and ate a little with him, after which he would have held his
hand;——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Fourteenth Night,