continued:—So I sold all that was behind and before me, but could
collect no more than an hundred thousand dinars and remained in great
perplexity. Now one night, as I sat at home in this state, behold, there
came a knocking; so I said to one of my servants, “See who is at the
door.” He went out and returned, wan of face, changed in countenance and
with his side-muscles a-quivering; so I asked him, “What aileth thee?”;
and he answered, “There is a man at the door; he is half naked, clad in
skins, with sword in hand and knife in girdle, and with him are a
company of the same fashion and he asketh for thee.” So I took my sword
and going out to see who these were, behold, I found them as the boy had
reported and said to them, “What is your business?” They replied, “Of a
truth we be thieves and have done fine work this night; so we appointed
the swag to thy use, that thou mayst pay therewith the debts which
sadden thee and deliver thee from thy distress.” Quoth I, “Where is the
plunder?”; and they brought me a great chest, full of vessels of gold
and silver; which when I saw, I rejoiced and said to myself, “Herewith I
will settle all claims upon me and there will remain as much again.” So
I took the money and going inside said in my mind, “It were ignoble to
let them fare away empty-handed.” Whereupon I brought out the hundred
thousand dinars I had by me and gave it to them, thanking them for their
kindness; and they pouched the monies and went their way, under cover of
the night so that none might know of them. But when morning dawned I
examined the contents of the chest, and found them copper and tin[402]
washed with gold worth five hundred dirhams at the most; and this was
grievous to me, for I had lost what monies I had and trouble was added
to my trouble. Such, then, is the most remarkable event which befel me
during my term of office. Then rose the Chief of the Police of Old Cairo
and said, “O our lord the Sultan, the most marvellous thing that
happened to me, since I became Wali, was on this wise;” and he began
_THE STORY OF THE CHIEF OF THE OLD CAIRO POLICE._
I once hanged ten thieves each on his own gibbet, and especially charged
the guards to watch them and hinder the folk from taking any one of them
down. Next morning when I came to look at them, I found two bodies
hanging from one gallows and said to the guards, “Who did this, and
where is the tenth gibbet?” But they denied all knowledge of it, and I
was about to beat them till they owned the truth, when they said, “Know,
O Emir, that we fell asleep last night, and when we awoke, we found that
some one had stolen one of the bodies, gibbet and all; so we were
alarmed and feared thy wrath. But, behold, up came a peasant-fellow
driving his ass; whereupon we laid hands on him and killed him and
hanged his body upon this gallows, in the stead of the thief who had
been stolen.”[403] Now when I heard this, I marvelled and asked them,
“What had he with him?”; and they answered, “He had a pair of
saddle-bags on the ass.” Quoth I, “What was in them?”; quoth they, “We
know not.” So I said, “Bring them hither;” and when they brought them to
me I bade open them, behold, therein was the body of a murdered man, cut
in pieces. Now as soon as I saw this, I marvelled at the case and said
in myself, “Glory to God! The cause of the hanging of this peasant was
none other but his crime against this murdered man; and thy Lord is not
unjust towards His servants.”[404] And men also tell the tale of
-----
Footnote 398:
Lit. “The conquering King;” a dynastic title assumed by Saláh al-Dín
(Saladin) and sundry of the Ayyúbi (Eyoubite) sovereigns of Egypt,
whom I would call the “Soldans.”
Footnote 399:
“Káhirah” (_i.e._ City of Mars—the Planet) is our Cairo: Bulak is the
port-suburb on the Nile, till 1858 wholly disjoined from the City; and
Fostat is the outlier popularly called Old Cairo. The latter term is
generally translated “town of leathern tents;” but in Arabic “fustát”
is an abode of Sha’ar = hair, such as horse-hair, in fact any hair but
“Wabar” = soft hair, as the camel’s. See Lane, Lex.
Footnote 400:
Arab. “Adl” = just: a legal witness to whose character there is no
tangible objection—a prime consideration in Moslem law. Here “Adl” is
evidently used ironically for a hypocritical rascal.
Footnote 401:
Lane (ii. 503) considers three thousand dinars (the figure in the
Bres. Edit) “a more probable sum.” Possibly: but, I repeat,
exaggeration is one of the many characteristics of The Nights.
Footnote 402:
Calc. Edit. “Kazír”: the word is generally written “Kazdír,” Sansk.
Kastira, both probably from the Greek κασσιτέρος.
Footnote 403:
This would have passed for a peccadillo in the “good old days.” As
late as 1840 the Arnaut soldiers used to “pot” any peasant who dared
to ride (instead of walking) past their barracks. Life is cheap in hot
countries.
Footnote 404:
Koran, xli. 46—a passage expounding the doctrine of free will: “He who
doth right, doth it to the advantage of his own soul; and he who doth
evil, doth it against the same; for thy Lord,” etc.
THE THIEF AND THE SHROFF.
A certain Shroff, bearing a bag of gold pieces, once passed by a company
of thieves, and one of these sharpers said to the others, “I, and I
only, have the power to steal yonder purse.” So they asked, “How wilt
thou do it?”; and he answered, “Lookye all!”; and followed the
money-changer, till he entered his house, when he threw the bag on a
shelf[405] and, being affected with diabetes, went into the chapel of
ease to do his want, calling to the slave-girl, “Bring me an ewer of
water.” She took the ewer and followed him to the privy, leaving the
door open, whereupon the thief entered and, seizing the money-bag, made
off with it to his companions, to whom he told what had passed.——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Forty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the thief took the
money-bag and made off with it to his companions to whom he told what
had passed. Said they, “By Allah, thou hast played a clever trick! ‘tis
not every one could do it; but, presently the money-changer will come
out of the privy; and, missing the bag of money, he will beat the
slave-girl and torture her with grievous torture. ‘Tis as though thou
hast at present done nothing worthy of praise; so, if thou be indeed a
sharper, return and save the girl from being beaten and questioned.”
Quoth he, “Inshallah! I will save both girl and purse.” Then the prig
went back to the Shroff’s house and found him punishing the girl because
of the purse; so he knocked at the door and the man said, “Who is
there?” Cried the thief, “I am the servant of thy neighbour in the
Exchange;” whereupon he came out to him and said, “What is thy
business?” The thief replied, “My master saluteth thee and saith to
thee:—Surely thou art deranged and thoroughly so, to cast the like of
this bag of money down at the door of thy shop and go away and leave it.
Had a stranger hit upon it he had made off with it and, except my master
had seen it and taken care of it, it had assuredly been lost to thee.”
So saying, he pulled out the purse and showed it to the Shroff who on
seeing it said, “That is my very purse,” and put out his hand to take
it; but the thief said, “By Allah, I will not give thee this same, till
thou write me a receipt declaring that thou hast received it! for indeed
I fear my master will not believe that thou hast recovered the purse,
unless I bring him thy writing to that effect, and sealed with thy
signet-seal.” The money-changer went in to write the paper required; and
in the meantime the thief made off with the bag of money and thus was
the slave-girl saved her beating. And men also tell a tale of
-----
Footnote 405:
Arab. “Suffah”; whence our Sofa. In Egypt it is a raised shelf
generally of stone, about four feet high and headed with one or more
arches. It is an elaborate variety of the simple “Ták” or niche, a
mere hollow in the thickness of the wall. Both are used for such
articles as basin, ewer and soap; coffee-cups, water-bottles, etc.
THE CHIEF OF THE KUS POLICE AND THE SHARPER.
It is related that Alá al-Dín, Chief of Police at Kús,[406] was sitting
one night in his house, when behold, a personage of handsome appearance
and dignified aspect came to the door, accompanied by a servant bearing
a chest upon his head and, standing there said to one of the Wali’s
young men, “Go in and tell the Emir that I would have audience of him on
some privy business.” So the servant went in and told his master, who
bade admit the visitor. When he entered, the Emir saw him to be a man of
handsome semblance and portly presence; so he received him with honour
and high distinction, seating him beside himself, and said to him, “What
is thy wish?” Replied the stranger, “I am a highwayman and am minded to
repent at thy hands and turn to Almighty Allah; but I would have thee
help me to this, for that I am in thy district and under thine
inspection. Now I have here a chest, wherein are matters worth some
forty thousand dinars; and none hath so good a right to it as thou; so
do thou take it and give me in exchange a thousand dinars, of thine own
monies lawfully gotten, that I may have a little capital, to aid me in
my repentance,[407] and save me from resorting to sin for my
subsistence; and with Allah Almighty be thy reward!” Speaking thus he
opened the chest and showed the Wali that it was full of trinkets and
jewels and bullion and ring-gems and pearls, whereat he was amazed and
rejoiced with great joy. So he cried out to his treasurer, saying,
“Bring hither a certain purse containing a thousand dinars,”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Forty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wali cried out
to his treasurer, saying, “Bring hither a certain purse containing a
thousand dinars”; and gave it to the highwayman, who took it and
thanking him, went his way under cover of the night. Now when it was the
morrow, the Emir sent for the chief of the goldsmiths and showed him the
chest and what was therein; but the goldsmith found it nothing but tin
and brass, and the jewels and bezel-stones and pearls all of glass;
whereat the Wali was sore chagrined and sent in quest of the highwayman;
but none could come at him. And men also tell the tale of
-----
Footnote 406:
In Upper Egypt (Apollinopolis Parva) pronounced “Goos,” the Coptic
Kos-Birbir, once an emporium of the Arabian trade.
Footnote 407:
This would appeal strongly to a pious Moslem.
IBRAHIM BIN AL-MAHDI AND THE MERCHANT’S SISTER.
The Caliph Al-Maamún once said to his uncle Ibrahim bin Al-Mahdí, “Tell
us the most remarkable thing that thou hast ever seen.” Answered he:—I
hear and obey, O Commander of the Faithful. Know that I rode out one
day, a-pleasuring, and my ride brought me to a place where I smelt the
reek of food. So my soul longed for it and I halted, O Prince of True
Believers, perplexed and unable either to go on or to go in. Presently,
I raised my eyes and lo! I espied a lattice-window and behind it a
wrist, than which I never beheld aught lovelier. The sight turned my
brain and I forgot the smell of the food and began to plan and plot how
I should get access to the house. After awhile, I observed a tailor hard
by and going up to him, saluted him. He returned my salam and I asked
him, “Whose house is that?” And he answered, “It belongeth to a merchant
called such an one, son of such an one, who consorteth with none save
merchants.” As we were talking, behold, up came two men, of comely
aspect with intelligent countenances, riding on horseback; and the
tailor told me that they were the merchant’s most intimate friends and
acquainted me with their names. So I urged my beast towards them and
said to them, “Be I your ransom! Abu Fulán[408] awaiteth you!”; and I
rode with them both to the gate, where I entered and they also. Now when
the master of the house saw me with them he doubted not but I was their
friend; so he welcomed me and seated me in the highest stead. Then they
brought the table of food and I said in myself, “Allah hath granted me
my desire of the food; and now there remain the hand and the wrist.”
After awhile, we removed for carousal to another room, which I found
tricked out with all manner of rarities; and the host paid me particular
attention, addressing his talk to me, for that he took me to be a guest
of his guests; whilst in like manner these two made much of me, taking
me for a friend of their friend the house-master. Thus I was the object
of politest attentions till we had drunk several cups of wine and there
came into us a damsel as she were a willow-wand of the utmost beauty and
elegance, who took a lute and playing a lively measure, sang these
couplets:—
Is it not strange one house us two contain ✿ And still thou draw’st not
near, or talk we twain?
Only our eyes tell secrets of our souls, ✿ And broken hearts by lovers’
fiery pain;
Winks with the eyelids, signs the eyebrow knows; ✿ Languishing looks and
hand saluting fain.
When I heard these words my vitals were stirred, O Commander of the
Faithful, and I was moved to delight, for her excessive loveliness and
the beauty of the verses she sang; and I envied her her skill and said,
“There lacketh somewhat to thee, O damsel!” Whereupon she threw the lute
from her hand in anger, and cried, “Since when are ye wont to bring
ill-mannered louts into your assemblies?” Then I repented of what I had
done, seeing the company vexed with me, and I said in my mind, “My hopes
are lost by me”; and I weeted no way of escaping blame but to call for a
lute, saying, “I will show you what escaped her in the air she played.”
Quoth the folk, “We hear and obey”; so they brought me a lute and I
tuned the strings and sang these verses:—
This is thy friend perplexed for pain and pine, ✿ Th’ enamoured, down
whose breast course drops of brine:
He hath this hand to the Compassionate raised ✿ For winning wish, and
that on hearts is lien:
O thou who seest one love-perishing, ✿ His death is caused by those
hands and eyne![409]
Whereupon the damsel sprang up and throwing herself at my feet, kissed
them and said, “It is thine to excuse, O my Master! By Allah, I knew not
thy quality nor heard I ever the like of this performance!” And all
began extolling me and making much of me, being beyond measure
delighted, and at last they besought me to sing again. So I sang a merry
air, whereupon they all became drunken with music and wine, their wits
left them and they were carried off to their homes, while I abode alone
with the host and the girl. He drank some cups with me and then said, “O
my lord, my life hath been lived in vain for that I have not known the
like of thee till the present. Now, by Allah, tell me who thou art, that
I may ken who is the cup-companion whom Allah hath bestowed on me this
night.” At first I returned him evasive answers and would not tell him
my name; but he conjured me till I told him who I was; whereupon he
sprang to his feet——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Forty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ibrahim son of
Al-Mahdi continued:—Now when the house-master heard my name he sprang to
his feet and said, “Indeed I wondered that such gifts should belong to
any but the like of thee; and Fortune hath done me a good turn for which
I cannot thank her too much. But, haply, this is a dream; for how could
I hope that one of the Caliphate house should visit my humble home and
carouse with me this night?” I conjured him to be seated; so he sat down
and began to question me as to the cause of my visit in the most
courteous terms. So I told him the whole affair, first and last, hiding
naught, and said to him, “Now as to the food I have had my will, but of
the hand and wrist I have still to win my wish.” Quoth he, “Thou shalt
have thy desire of the hand and wrist also, Inshallah!” Then said he to
the slave-girl, “Ho, such an one, bid such an one come down.” And he
called his slave-girls down, one by one and showed them to me; but I saw
not my mistress among them, and he said, “O my lord, there is none left
save my mother and sister; but, by Allah, I must needs have them also
down and show them to thee.” So I marvelled at his courtesy and
large-heartedness and said, “May I be thy sacrifice! Begin with the
sister;” and he answered, “With joy and goodwill.” So she came down and
he showed me her hand and behold, she was the owner of the hand and
wrist. Quoth I, “Allah make me thy ransom! this is the damsel whose hand
and wrist I saw at the lattice.” Then he sent his servants without stay
or delay for witnesses and bringing out two myriads[410] of gold pieces,
said to the witnesses, “This our lord and master, Ibrahim son of
Al-Mahdi, paternal uncle of the Commander of the Faithful, seeketh in
marriage my sister such an one; and I call you to witness that I give
her in wedlock to him and that he hath settled upon her ten thousand
dinars.” And he said to me, “I give thee my sister in marriage, at the
portion aforesaid.” “I consent,” answered I, “and am herewith content.”
Whereupon he gave one of the bags to her and the other to the witnesses,
and said to me, “O our lord, I desire to adorn a chamber for thee, where
thou mayst sleep with thy wife.” But I was abashed at his generosity and
was ashamed to lie with her in his house; so I said, “Equip her and send
her to my place.” “And by thy being, O Commander of the Faithful, he
sent me with her such an equipage that my house, for all its greatness,
was too strait to hold it! And I begot on her this boy that standeth in
thy presence.” Then Al-Maamun marvelled at the man’s generosity and
said, “Gifted of Allah is he! Never heard I of his like.” And he bade
Ibrahim bin al-Mahdi bring him to court, that he might see him. He
brought him and the Caliph conversed with him; and his wit and good
breeding so pleased him that he made him one of his chief officers. And
Allah is the Giver, the Bestower! Men also relate the tale of
-----
Footnote 408:
_i.e._ “the father of a certain person”; here the merchant whose name
may have been Abu’l Hasan, etc. The useful word (thingumbob, what d’ye
call him, donchah, etc.) has been bodily transferred into Spanish and
Portugese—Fulano. It is of old genealogy, found in the Heb. Fuluní
which applies to a person only in Ruth iv. 1; but is constantly so
employed by Rabbinic writers. The Greek use ὁ δεῖνα.
Footnote 409:
Lit. “by his (_i.e._ her) hand,” etc. Hence Lane (ii. 507) makes
nonsense of the line.
Footnote 410:
Arab. “Badrah,” as has been said, is properly a weight of 10,000
dirhams or drachmas; but popularly used for largesse thrown to the
people at festivals.
THE WOMAN WHOSE HANDS WERE CUT OFF FOR GIVING ALMS TO THE POOR.
A certain King once made proclamation to the people of his realm saying,
“If any of you give alms of aught, I will verily and assuredly cut off
his hand;” wherefore all the people abstained from alms-deed, and none
could give anything to any one. Now it chanced that one day a beggar
accosted a certain woman (and indeed hunger was sore upon him), and said
to her, “Give me an alms”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King that, quoth the beggar
to the woman, “Give me an alms however small.” But she answered him,
“How can I give thee aught, when the King cutteth off the hands of all
who give alms?” Then he said, “I conjure thee by Allah Almighty, give me
an alms;” so when he adjured her by the Holy Name of Allah, she had ruth
on him and gave him two scones. The King heard of this; whereupon he
called her before him and cut off her hands, after which she returned to
her house. Now it chanced after a while that the King said to his
mother, “I have a mind to take a wife; so do thou marry me to a fair
woman.” Quoth she, “There is among our female slaves one who is
unsurpassed in beauty; but she hath a grievous blemish.” The King asked,
“What is that?” and his mother answered, “She hath had both her hands
cut off.” Said he, “Let me see her.” So she brought her to him, and he
was ravished by her and married her and went in unto her; and begat upon
her a son. Now this was the woman who had given two scones as an alms to
the asker, and whose hands had been cut off therefor; and when the King
married her, her fellow-wives envied her and wrote to the common husband
that she was an unchaste, having just given birth to the boy; so he
wrote to his mother, bidding her carry the woman into the desert and
leave her there. The old Queen obeyed his commandment and abandoned the
woman and her son in the desert; whereupon she fell to weeping for that
which had befallen her and wailing with exceeding sore wail. As she went
along, she came to a river and knelt down to drink, being overcome with
excess of thirst, for fatigue of walking and for grief; but, as she bent
her head, the child which was at her neck fell into the water. Then she
sat weeping bitter tears for her child, and as she wept, behold came up
two men, who said to her, “What maketh thee weep?” Quoth she, “I had a
child at my neck, and he hath fallen into the water.” They asked, “Wilt
thou that we bring him out to thee?” and she answered, “Yes.” So they
prayed to Almighty Allah, and the child came forth of the water to her,
safe and sound. Then said they, “Wilt thou that Allah restore thee thy
hands as they were?” “Yes,” replied she: whereupon they prayed to Allah
(extolled and exalted be He!) and her hands were restored to her,
goodlier than before. Then said they, “Knowest thou who we are?” and she
replied, “Allah is all-knowing;”[411] and they said, “We are thy two
Scones of Bread, which thou gavest in alms to the asker and which were
the cause of the cutting off of thy hands.[412] So praise thou Allah
Almighty for that He hath restored to thee thy hands and thy child.”
Then she praised Almighty Allah and glorified Him. And men relate a tale
of
-----
Footnote 411:
Arab. “Allaho A’alam”; (God knows!) here the popular phrase for our,
“I know not;” when it would be rude to say bluntly “M’adri” = “don’t
know.”
Footnote 412:
There is a picturesque Moslem idea that good deeds become incarnate
and assume human shapes to cheer the doer in his grave, to greet him
when he enters Paradise and so forth. It was borrowed from the highly
imaginative faith of the Guebre, the Zoroastrian. On Chinavad or
Chanyud-pul (Sirát), the Judgement bridge 37 rods (_rasan_) long,
straight and 37 fathoms broad for the good, and crooked and narrow as
sword-edge for the bad, a nymph-like form will appear to the virtuous
and say, “I am the personification of thy good deeds!” In Hell there
will issue from a fetid gale a gloomy figure with head like a minaret,
red eyeballs, hooked nose, teeth like pillars, spear-like fangs, snaky
locks etc., and when asked who he is he will reply, “I am the
personification of thine evil acts!” (Dabistan i. 285.) The Hindus
also personify everything.
THE DEVOUT ISRAELITE.
There was once a devout man of the children of Israel,[413] whose family
span cotton-thread; and he used every day to sell the yarn and buy fresh
cotton, and with the profit he laid in daily bread for his household.
One morning he went out and sold the day’s yarn as wont, when there met
him one of his brethren, who complained to him of need; so he gave him
the price of the thread and returned, empty-handed, to his family, who
said to him, “Where is the cotton and the food?” Quoth he, “Such an one
met me and complained to me of want; whereupon I gave him the price of
the yarn.” And they said, “How shall we do? We have nothing to sell.”
Now they had a cracked trencher[414] and a jar; so he took them to the
bazar but none would buy them of him. However presently, as he stood in
the market, there passed by a man with a fish——And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Forty-ninth Night,