THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF Peter Scott ."TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE* (Paris omnia pura) Arab Proverb. Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole." "Decameron " conclusion. *' Erubui t, posuitque meutn Lucretia librum Sed coram Bruto. Brute I recede, leget. " Martial. " Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre, Pour ce que rire est le propre des homtnes. " RABELAIS. 'The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-Gae Stones makes iis regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of these truly eachantiag fictions. " CRICHTON'S "History of Arabia. ' f - TO THE BOOK OF THE Nt^ts anfc a Nt NOTES ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND EXPLANATORY VOLUME I. BY RICHARD F. BURTON PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Shammar Edition Limited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is NmnW GENERAL STUDHOLME J. HODGSOK. MY DEAR GENERAL, To whom with more pleasure or propriety can I inscribe this volume than to my preceptor of past times ; my dear old friend, whose deep study and vast experience of such light literature as The Nights made me so often resort to him for good counsel and right direction ? Accept this little token of gratitude, and believe me, with the best of wishes and the kindest of memories, Ever your sincere and attached RICHARD F. BURTON. LONDON, July 15, 1886. 2227721 THE TRANSLATOR'S FOREWORD. AFTER offering my cordial thanks to friends and subscribers who have honoured " THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NlGHT " (Kama Shastra Society) with their patronage and approbation, I would inform them that my " Anthropological Notes " are by no means exhausted, and that I can produce a complete work only by means of a somewhat extensive Supplement. I therefore propose to print (not publish), for private circulation only, five volumes, bearing title SUPPLEMENTAL NIGHTS TO THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT. This volume and its successor (Nos. i. and ii.) contain Mr. John Payne's Tales from the Arabic ; his three tomes, being included in my two. The stories are taken from the Breslau Edition where they are distributed among the volumes between Nos. iv. and xii., and from the Calcutta fragment of 1814. I can say little for the style of the story-stuff contained in this Breslau text, which has been edited with phenomenal incuriousness. Many parts are hopelessly corrupted, whilst at present we have no means of amending the commissions and of supplying the omissions by comparison with other manuscripts. The Arabic vKi The Translator's Foreword. is not only faulty, but dry and jejune, comparing badly with that of the "Thousand Nights and a Night,'* as it appears in the Macnaghten and the abridged Bulak Texts. Sundry of the tales are futile ; the majority has little to recommend it, and not a few require a diviner rather than a translator. Yet they are valuable to students as showing the different sources and the hetero- geneous materials from and of which the great Saga-book has been compounded. Some are, moreover, striking and novel, especially parts of the series entitled King Shah Bakht and his Wazir Al-Rahwan (pp. 191-355). Interesting also is the Tale of the "Ten Wazirs " (pp. 55-155), marking the transition of the Persian Bakhtiydr-Nameh into Arabic. In this text also and in this only is found Galland's popular tale " Abou-Hassan ; or, the Sleeper Awakened," which I have entitled " The Sleeper and the Waker." In the ten volumes of " The Nights " proper, I mostly avoided parallels of folk-lore and fabliaux which, however interesting and valuable to scholars, would have over-swollen the bulk of a work especially devoted to Anthropology. In the " Supplemental," however it is otherwise ; and, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, the " Storiologist," has obligingly agreed to collaborate with me, I shall pay marked attention to this subject, which will thus form another raison d'etre for the additional volumes. RICHARD F. BURTON. JUNIOR TRAVELLERS' CLUB, December i, 1886. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. Bnslau Cert* MM 1. THE SLEEPER AND THE WAKER (Lane, ii. pp. 352-79, The Story of Abu-l- Hasan the Wag, or the Sleeper Awakened), a. STORY OF THE LARRIKIN AND THE COOK 4 2. THE CALIPH OMAR BIN ADD AL-AZIZ AND THE POETS . . 39 3. AL-HAJJAJ AND THE THREE YOUNG MEN .... 47 4. HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE WOMAN OF THE BARMECIDES 51 5. THE TEN WAZIRS; OR THE HISTORY OF KING AZADBAKHT AND HIS SON 55 a. OF THE USELESSNESS OF ENDEAVOUR AGAINST THE PERSIS- TENT ILL FORTUNE '63 aa. STORY OF THE MERCHANT WHO LOST His LUCK . . 6 b. OF LOOKING TO THE ENDS OF AFFAIRS 73 bb. TALE OF THE MERCHANT AND His SONS . . . it. c. OF THE ADVANTAGES OF PATIENCE 81 cc. STORY OF ABU SABIR .... ib. d. OF THE ILL EFFECTS OF IMPATIENCE ..... 89 dd. STORY OF PRINCE BIHZAD ...... ib. e. OF THE ISSUES OF GOOD AND VIL ACTIONS * 93 ee. STORY OF KING DADBIN AND His WAZIRS ... 94 b x Contents. /. OF TRUST IN ALLAH . .... 4 .. 102 ff. STORY OF KING BAKHTZAMAN ....& g. OF CLEMENCY 107 gg. STORY OF KING BIHKARD . . . . . . ib. A. OF ENVY AND MALICE in hh. STORY OF AYLAN SHAH AND ABU TAMMAM . . .112 t. OF DESTINY OR THAT WHICH is WRITTEN ON THE FOREHEAD 120 ii. STORY OF KING IBRAHIM AND HIS SON ... . lai j. OF THE APPOINTED TERM, WHICH, IF IT BE ADVANCED, MAY NOT BE DEFERRED, AND IF ir BE DEFERRED, MAY NOT BE ADVANCED 129 jj. STORY OF KING SULAYMAN SHAH AND HIS NIECE . . 131 k. OF THE SPEEDY RELIEF OF ALLAH 151 kk. STORY OF THE PRISONER AND HOW ALLAH GAVE HIM RELIEF i*. 6. JA'AFAR BIN YAHYA AND ABD AL-MALIK BIN SALIH THE ABBASIDE -159 7. AL-RASHID AND THE BARMECIDES 165 8. IBN AL-SAMMAK AND AL-RASHID i? 9. AL-MAAMUN AND ZUBAYDAH 175 10. AL-NU'UMAN AND THE ARAB OF THE BANU TAY . . .179 11. FIRUZ AND HIS WIFE 185 12. KING SHAH BAKHT AND HIS WAZIR AL-RAHWAN . . . 191 a. TALE OF THE MAN OF KHORASAN, HIS SON AND HIS TUTOR . 194 f>. TALE OK THE SINGER AND THE DRUGGIST 203 c. TALE OF THE KING WHO KENNED THE QUINTESSENCE OF THINGS 212 d. TALE OF THE RICHARD WHO MARRIED HIS BEAUTIFUL DAUGH- TER TO THE POOR OLD MAN 218 <. TALE OF THE SAGE AND HIS THREE SONS 222 Contents. xi /. TALE OP THE PRINCE WHO FELL IN LOVE WITH THE PICTURE 226 g. TALE OF THE FULLER AND HIS WIFE AND THE TROOPER . . 231 k. TALE OP THE MERCHANT, THE CRONE, AND THE KING . . 235 i. TALE OF THE SIMPLETON HUSBAND ...... 239 / TALE OF THE UNJUST KING AND THE TITHER .... 242 jj. STORY OF DAVID AND SOLOMON . 244 *. TALE OF THE ROBBER AND THE WOMAN * 246 /. TALE OF THE THREE MEN AND OUR LORD ISA . . . 250 //. THE DISCIPLE'S STORY 251 m. TALE OF THE DETHRONED RULER WHOSE REIGN AND WEALTH WERE RESTORED TO HIM 253 ft. TALE OF THE MAN WHOSE CAUTION SLEW HIM . . . 258 . TALE OF THE MAN WHO WAS LAVISH OF HIS HOUSE AND HIS PROVISION TO ONE WHOM HE KNEW NOT 259 /. TALE OF THE MELANCHOLIST AND THE SHARPER . . . 264 q. TALE OF KHALBAS AND HIS WIFE AND THE LEARNED MAN . 267 r. TALE OF THE DEVOTEE ACCUSED OF LEWDNESS . . . 270 t. TALE OF THE HIRELING AND THE GIRL 279 /. TALE OF THE WEAVER WHO BECAME A LEACH BY ORDER OF HIS WIFE 282 u. TALE OF THE Two SHARPERS WHO EACH COZENED HIS COMPEER 288 v TALE OF THE SHARPERS WITH THE SHROFF AND THE Ass . 298 w. TALE OF THE CHEAT AND THE MERCHANTS .... 302 wa. STORY OF THE FALCON AND THE LOCUST. . . . 305 *. TALE OF THE KING AND HIS CHAMBERLAIN'S WIFE . . . 308 xa. STORY OF THE CRONE AND THE DRAPER'S WIFE . . 309 y. TALE OF THE UGLY MAN AND HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFB . -315 x. TALE OF THE KING WHO LOST KINGDOM AND WIFE AND WEALTH AND ALLAH RESTORED THEM TO HIM . . . 319 aa. TALE OF SALIM THE YOUTH OF KHORASAN AND SALMA, HIS SISTER 332 M. TALE OF THE KING OF HIND AND HIS WAZIR .... 352 SUPPLEMENTAL NIGHTS TO THE BOOK OF THI THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT. THE SLEEPER AND THE WAKER. IT hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was once at Baghdad, in the Caliphate of Harun al-Rashid, a man and a merchant, who had a son Abu al-Hasan-al-Khah"a by name. 2 The merchant died leaving great store of wealth to his heir who 1 Arab. " Al-Naim wa al-Yakzdn." This excellent story is not in the Mac. or Bresl. Edits.; but is given in the Breslau Text, iv. 134-189 (Nights cclxxii.-ccxci). It is familiar to readers of the old "Arabian Nights Entertainments " as " Abou- Hassan or the Sleeper Awakened ; " and as yet it is the only one of the eleven added by Galland whose original has been discovered in Arabic : the learned Frenchman, however, supplied it with embel- lishments more suo, and seems to have taken it from an original fuller than our text as is shown by sundry poetical and other passages which he apparently did not invent. Lane (vol. ii. chap. 12.), noting that its chief and best portion is an historical anecdote related as a fact, is inclined to think that it is not a genuine tale of The Nights. He finds it in Al-Ishaki who finished his history about the close of Sultan Mustafa the Osmanli's reign, circa A.H. 1032 (= 1623) and he avails himself of this version as it is " narrated in a simple and agreeable manner." Mr. Payne remarks, (' The above title (Asleep and Awake) is of course intended to mark the contrast between the everyday (or waking) hours of Aboulhusn and his fantastic life in the Khalifs palace, sup- posed by him to have passed in a dream ; " I may add that amongst frolicsome Eastern despots the adventure might often have happened and that it might have given a hint to Cervantes. i.e. The Wag. See vol. i. 311 : the old version calls him "the Debauche*." VOL. I. A '2 Supplemental Nights. divided it into two equal parts, whereof he laid up one and spent of the other half; and he fell to companying with Persians 1 and 'with the sons of the merchants and he gave himself up to good drink- ing and good eating, till all the wealth 2 he had with him was wasted and wantoned ; whereupon he betook himself to his friends and comrades and cup-companions and expounded to them his case, dis- covering to them the failure of that which was in his hand of wealth. But not one of them took heed of him or even deigned answer him. So he returned to his mother (and indeed his spirit was broken) and related to her that which had happened to him and what had befallen him from his friends, how they had neither shared with him nor requited him with speech. Quoth she, "O Abu al- Hasan, on this wise are the sons 3 of this time : an thou have aught, they draw thee near to them, 4 and if thou have naught, they put thee away from them." And she went on to condole with him, what while he bewailed himself and his tears flowed and he I repeated these lines : An wane my wealth, no man will succour me, o When my wealth waxeth all men friendly show : How many a friend, for wealth showed friendliness o Who, when my wealth departed, turned to foe! Then he sprang up and going to the place wherein was the other half of his good, took it and lived with it well ; and he sware that he would never again consort with a single one of those he had known, but would company only with the stranger nor entertain even him but one night and that, when it morrowed, he would never know him more. Accordingly he fell to sitting every eventide on the bridge over Tigris and looking at each one who passed by him; 1 Arab. "Al-Fars"; a people famed for cleverness and debauchery. I cannot see why Lane omitted the Persians, unless he had Persian friends at Cairo. * i.*. the half he intended for spending-money. J i.e. "men,'' a characteristic Arab idiom : here it applies to the sons of all time. i.e. make much of thee. The Sleeper and the Waker. 3 and if he saw him to be a stranger, he made friends with him and carried him to his house, where he conversed and caroused with him all night till morning. Then he dismissed him and would never more salute him with the Salam nor ever more drew near unto him neither invited him again. Thus he continued to do for the space of a full year, till, one day, while he sat on the bridge, as was his wont, expecting who should come to him so he might take him and pass the night with him, behold, up came the Caliph and Masrur, the Sworder of his vengeance 1 disguised in merchants' dress, according to their custom. So Abu al-Hasan looked at them and rising, because he knew them not, asked them, " What say ye ? Will ye go with me to my dwelling-place, so ye may eat what is ready and drink what is at hand, to wit, platter- bread 2 and meat cooked and wine strained ?" The Caliph refused this, but he conjured him and said to him, " Allah upon thee, O my lord, go with me, for thou art my guest this night, and baulk not my hopes of thee ! " And he ceased not to press him till he consented ; whereat Abu al-Hasan rejoiced and walking on before him, gave not over talking with him till they came to his house and he carried the Caliph into the saloon. Al-Rashid entered a hall such as an thou sawest it and gazedst upon its walls, thou hadst beheld marvels ; and hadst thou looked narrowly at its water-conduits thou wouldst have seen a fountain cased with gold. The Caliph made his man abide at the door; and, as soon as he was seated, the host brought him somewhat to eat ; so he ate, and Abu al-Hasan ate with him that eating might be grateful to him. Then he removed the tray and they washed their hands and the Commander of the Faithful sat down 1 In Lane the Caliph is accompanied by " certain of his domestics." 2 Arab. " Khubz Mutabbak," = bread baked in a platter, instead of in an oven, an earthen jar previously heated, to the sides of which the scones or bannocks of dough are applied : " it is lighter than oven-bread, especially if it be made thin and leavened." See Al-Shakuri, a medical writer quoted by Dozy. 4 Supplemental Nights. again ; whereupon Abu al-Hasan set on the drinking vessels and seating himself by his side, fell to filling and giving him to drink 1 and entertaining him with discourse. And when they had drunk their sufficiency the host called for a slave-girl like a branch of Ban who took a lute and sang to it these two couplets : O thou aye dwelling in my heart, o Whileas thy form is far from sight, Thou art my sprite by me unseen, o Yet nearest near art thou, my sprite. His hospitality pleased the Caliph and the goodliness of his manners, and he said to him, " O youth, who art thou ? Make me acquainted with thyself, so I may requite thee thy kindness." But Abu al-Hasan smiled and said, " O my lord, far be it, alas ! that what is past should again come to pass and that I company with thee at other time than this time ! " The Prince of True Believers asked, " Why so ? and why wilt thou not acquaint me with thy case ? " and Abu al-Hasan answered, " Know, O my lord, that my story is strange and that there is a cause for this affair." Quoth Al-Rashid, " And what is the cause ? " and quoth he, " The cause hath a tail." The Caliph 2 laughed at his words and Abu al-Hasaa said, " I will explain to thee this saying by the tale of the Larrikin and the Cook. So hear thou, O my lord, the STORY OF THE LARRIKIN * AND THE COOK." One of the ne'er-do-wells found himself one fine morning without aught and the world was straitened upon him and patience 1 In other parts of The Nights Harun al-Rashid declines wine-drinking. * The 'Allamah (doctissimus) Sayce (p. 212, Comparative Philology, London, Triibner, 1885) goes far back for Khalifah = a deputy, a successor. He begins with the Semitic (Hebrew P) root " Khaliph " = to change, exchange : hence " Khaleph " = agio- From this the Greeks got their icoAAvgos and Cicero his " Collybus," a money-lender. 8 Arab. " Harfush," (in Bresl. Edit. iv. 138, " Kharfush "), in popular parlance a "blackguard." I have to thank Mr. Alexander J. Cotheal, of New York, for sending me a MS. copy of this tale. Story of the Larrikin and the Cook. 5 failed him ; so he lay down to sleep and ceased not slumbering till the sun stang him and the foam came out upon his mouth, whereupon he arose, and he was penniless and had not even so much as a single dirham. Presently he arrived at the shop of a Cook, who had set his pots and pans over the fire and washed his saucers and wiped his scales and swept his shop and sprinkled it ; and indeed his fats and oils were clear and clarified and his spices fragrant and he himself stood behind his cooking-pots ready to serve customers. So the Larrikin, whose wits had been sharpened by hunger, went in to him and saluting him, said to him, " Weigh me half a dirham's worth of meat and a quarter of a dirham's worth of boiled grain 1 and the like of bread." So the Kitchener weighed it out to him and the good-for-naught entered the shop, whereupon the man set the food before him and he ate till he had gobbled up the whole and licked the saucers and sat perplexed, knowing not how he should do with the Cook concerning the price of that he had eaten, and turning his eyes about upon every- thing in the shop ; and as he looked, behold, he caught sight of an earthen pan lying arsy-versy upon its mouth ; so he raised it from the ground and found under it a horse's tail, freshly cut off and the blood oozing from it ; whereby he knew that the Cook adulterated his meat with horseflesh. When he discovered this default, he rejoiced therein and washing his hands, bowed his head and went out ; and when the Kitchener saw that he went and gave him naught, he cried out, saying, " Stay, O pest, O 1 Arab. " Ta'am," in Egypt and Somaliland = millet seed (Holcus Sorghum) cooked in various ways. In Barbary it is applied to the local staff oflife, Kuskusu, wheaten or other flour damped and granulated by hand to the size of peppercorns, and lastly steamed (as we steam potatoes), the cullender-pot being placed over a long-necked jar full of boiling water. It is served with clarified butter, shredded onions and meat ; and it represents the Risotto of Northern Italy. Europeans generally find it too greasy for digestion. This Barbary staff of life is of old date and is thus mentioned by Leo Africanus in early sixth century. "It is made of a lump of Dow, first set upon the fire, in a vessel full of holes and afterwards tempered with Butter and Pottage." So says good Master John Pory, "A Geographical Historie of Africa, by John Leo, a Moor," London, 1600, Impensis George Bishop. 6 Supplemental Nights. burglar!" So the Larrikin stopped and said to him, " Dost thou cry out upon me and call to me with these words, O cornute ? " Whereat the Cook was angry and coming down from the shop, cried, " What meanest thou by thy speech, O low fellow, thou that devourest meat and millet and bread and kitchen and goest forth with ' the Peace 1 be on thee ! ' as it were the thing had not been, and payest down naught for it ? " Quoth the Lackpenny, " Thou liest. O accursed son of a cuckold ! " Whereupon the Cook cried out and laying hold of his debtor's collar, said, " O Moslems, this fellow is my first customer 2 this day and he hath eaten my food and given me naught." So the folk gathered about them and blamed the Ne'er-do-well and said to him, " Give him the price of that which thou hast eaten." Quoth he, " I gave him a dirham before I entered the shop ; " and quoth the Cook, " Be everything I sell this day forbidden to me, if he gave me so much as the name of a coin ! By Allah, he gave me naught, but ate my food and went out and would have made off, without aught said." Answered the Larrikin, " I gave thee a dirham," and he reviled the Kitchener, who returned his abuse ; whereupon he dealt him a buffet and they gripped and grappled and throttled each other. When the folk saw them fighting, they came up to them and asked them, " What is this strife between you, and no cause for it ? " and the Lackpenny answered, " Ay, by Allah, but there is a cause for it, and the cause hath a tail ! " Whereupon, cried the Cook, " Yea, by Allah, now thou mindest me of thyself and thy dirham ! Yes, he gave me a dirham and but a quarter of the coin is spent. Come back and take the rest of the price of thy dirham." For he understood what was to do, at the mention of the tail ; "and I, O my brother" (added Abu al-Hasan), " my story hath a cause, which I will tell thee." The Caliph laughed at his speech Arab. " Bi al-Salam " (pron. " Bissalam ") = in the Peace (of Allah). * And would bring him bad luck if allowed to go without paying. The Sleeper and the Waker. ? and said, " By Allah, this is none other than a pleasant tale ! Tell me thy story and the cause." Replied the host, " With love and goodly gree ! Know, O my lord, that my name is Abu al-Hasan al-Khalfa and that my father died and left me abundant wealth, of which I made two parts. One I laid up and with the other I betook myself to enjoying the pleasures of friendship and con- viviality and consorting with intimates and boon-companions and with the sons of the merchants, nor did I leave one but I caroused with him and he with me, and I lavished all my money on comrades and good cheer, till there remained with me naught; 1 whereupon I betook myself to the friends and fellow-topers upon whom I had wasted my wealth, so perhaps they might provide for my case ; but, when I visited them and went round about to them all, I found no vantage in one of them, nor would any so much as break a bittock of bread in my face. So I wept for myself and re- pairing to my mother, complained to her of my case. Quoth she : Such are friends; an thou have aught, they frequent thee and devour thee, but, an thou have naught, they cast thee off and chase thee away. Then I brought out the other half of my money and bound myself by an oath that I would never more entertain any save one single night, after which I would never again salute him nor notice him ; hence my saying to thee : Far be it, alas ! that what is past should again come to pass, for I will never again company with thee after this night." When the Commander of the Faithful heard this, he laughed a loud laugh and said, " By Allah, O my brother, thou art indeed excused in this matter, now that I know the cause and that the cause hath a tail. Nevertheless, Inshallah,! will not sever myself from thee." Replied Abu al-Hasan, " O my guest, did I not say to thee, Far be it, alas ! that what is past should again come to pass ? For indeed I will never agafra foregather with any ! " Then the Caliph rose and the host set 1 i.e. of the first half, as has been shown. 8 Supplemental Nights. before him a dish of roast goose and a bannock of first-bread 1 and sitting down, fell to cutting off morsels and morselling the Caliph therewith. They gave not over eating till they were filled, when Abu al-Hasan brought basin and ewer and potash 2 and they washed their hands. Then he lighted three wax-candles and three lamps, and spreading the drinking-cloth, brought strained wine, clear, old and fragrant, whose scent was as that of virgin musk. He filled the first cup and saying, " O my boon-companion, be ceremony laid aside between us by thy leave ! Thy slave is by thee ; may I not be afflicted with thy loss ! " drank it off and filled a second cup, which he handed to the Caliph with due reverence. His fashion pleased the Commander of the Faithful, and the goodliness of his speech and he said to himself, " By Allah, I will assuredly requite him for this ! " Then Abu al-Hasan filled the cup again and handed it to the Caliph, reciting these two couplets : 3 Had we thy coming known, we would for sacrifice o Have poured thee out heart's blood or blackness of the eyes ; Ay, and we would have spread our bosoms in thy way, o That so thy feet might fare on eyelids, carpet-wise. When the Caliph heard his verses, he took the cup from his hand and kissed it and drank it off and returned it to Abu al-Hasan, who make him an obeisance and filled and drank. Then he filled again and kissing the cup thrice, recited these lines : Your presence honoureth the base, * And we confess the deed of grace ; An you absent yourself from us, No freke we find to fill your place. Then he gave the cup to the Caliph, saying, "Drink it in health and soundness ! It doeth away malady and bringeth 1 Arab. "Kumajah" from the Persian Kum^sh = bread unleavened and baked in ashet. Egyptians use the word for bannocks of fine flour. * Arab. " Kali," our "alcali" : for this and other abstergents see vol. i. 279. * These lines have occurred twice in vol. i. 117 (Night xii.); I quote Mr. Payne. The Sleeper and the Waker. 9 remedy and setteth the runnels of health to flow free." So they ceased not carousing and conversing till middle-night, when the Caliph said to his host, " O my brother, hast thou in thy heart a concupiscence thou wouldst have accomplished or a contingency thou wouldst avert ? " Said he, " By Allah, there is no regret in my heart save that I am not empowered with bidding and for- bidding, so I might manage what is in my mind ! " Quoth the Commander of the Faithful, " By Allah, and again by Allah, 1 my brother, tell me what is in thy mind ! " And quoth Abu al-Hasan, " Would Heaven I might be Caliph for one day and avenge myself on my neighbours, for that in my vicinity is a mosque and therein four shaykhs, who hold it a grievance when there cometh a guest to me, and they trouble me with talk and worry me in words and menace me that they will complain of me to the Prince of True Believers, and indeed they oppress me exceedingly, and I crave of Allah the Most High power for one day, that I may beat each and every of them with four hundred lashes, as well as the Imdm of the mosque, and parade them round about the city of Baghdad and bid cry before them : This is the reward and the least of the reward of whoso exceedeth in talk and vexeth the folk and turneth their joy to annoy. This is what I wish, and no more." Said the Caliph, " Allah grant thee that thou seekest ! Let us crack one test cup and rise ere the dawn draw near, and to-morrow night I will be with thee again." Said Abu al-Hasan, " Far be it ! " Then, the Caliph crowned a cup, and putting therein a piece of Cretan Bhang, 2 gave it to his host and said to him, "My life on thee, O my brother, drink this cup from my hand ! " and Abu al-Hasan answered, " Ay, by thy life, I will drink it from thy hand.'* So he took it and drank it off ; but hardly had it settled in his stomach, when his head forewent his heels and he fell to the ground like one 1 Arab. " Ya 'Hah, ya 'lldh;" vu!g. used for "Look sharp!" e.g. "Ya 'Hah jirf, y& walad " = " Be off at once, boy." 8 Arab. " Banj akrflashf," a term which has occurred before. IO Supplemental Nights. slain ; whereupon the Caliph went out and said to his slave Masrur, " Go in to yonder young man, the house master, and take him up and bring him to me at the palace ; and when thou goest out, shut the door." So saying, he went away, whilst Masrur entered, and taking up Abu al-Hasan, shut the door behind him, and made after his master, till he reached with him the palace what while the night drew to an end and the cocks began crowing, 1 and set him down before the Commander of the Faithful, who laughed at him. 2 Then he sent for Ja'afar the Barmecide and when he came before him, said to him, " Note thou yonder young man" (pointing to Abu al-Hasan), "and when thou shalt see him to-morrow seated in my place of estate and on the throne * of my Caliphate and clad in my royal clothing, stand thou in attendance upon him and enjoin the Emirs and Grandees and the folk of my household and the officers of my realm to be upon their feet, as in his service and obey him in whatso he shall bid them do; and thou, if he speak to thee of aught, do it and hearken unto his say and gainsay him not in anything during this coming day." Ja'afar acknowledged the order with " Hearkening and obedience " and withdrew, whilst the Prince of True Believers went in to the palace women, who came up to him, and he said to them, "When this sleeper shall awake to-morrow, kiss ye the ground between his hands, and do ye wait upon him and gather round about him and clothe him in the royal clothing and serve him with the service of the Caliphate and deny not aught of his estate, but 1 A natural dock, called by West Africans Cokkerapeek = Cock -speak. All the world over it is the subject of superstition : see Giles's " Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio " (i. 177), where Miss Li, who is a devil, hears the cock crow and vanishes. 3 In Lane Al-Rashid " found at the door his young men waiting for him and ordered them to convey Abu-1-Hasaa upon a mule and returned to the palace ; Abu-1-Hasan being intoxicated and insensible. And when the Khaleefeh had rested himself in the palace, he called for," etc. 3 Arab. " Kursi," Assyrian " Kussii "=throne ; and " Korsai " in Aramaic (or Nabathea as Al-Mas'udi calls it), the second growth-period of the "Semitic" family, which supplanted Assyrian and Babylonian, and became, as Arabic now is, the common speech of the " Semitic " world. . The Sleeper and the Waker, it say to him, Thou art the Caliph." Then he taught them what they should say to him and how they should do with him and withdraw- ing to a retired room, 1 let down a curtain before himself and slept. Thus fared it with the Caliph ; but as regards Abu al- Hasan, he gave not over snoring in his sleep till the day brake clear, and the rising of the sun drew near, when a woman in waiting came up to him and said to him, " O our lord, the morning prayer ! " Hearing these words he laughed and opening his eyes, turned them about the palace and found himself in an apartment whose walls were painted with gold and lapis lazuli and its ceiling dotted and starred with red gold. Around it were sleeping chambers, with curtains of gold-embroidered silk let down over their doors, and all about vessels of gold and porcelain and crystal and furniture and carpets dispread and lamps burning before the niche wherein men prayed, and slave-girls and eunuchs and Mamelukes and black slaves and boys and pages and attendants. When he saw this he was bewildered in his wit and said, " By Allah, either I am dream- ing a dream, or this is Paradise and the Abode of Peace ! " 2 And he shut his eyes and would have slept again. Quoth one of the eunuchs, " O my lord, this is not of thy wont r O Commander of the Faithful!" Then the rest of the handmaids of the palace came up to him and lifted him into a sitting posture, when he found himself upon a mattrass, raised a cubit's height from the ground and all stuffed with floss silk. So they seated him upon it and propped his elbow with a pillow, and he looked at the apartment and its vastness and saw those eunuchs and slave-girls *Arab. "Makan mahjub," which Lane renders by "a private closet, "and Payne by A " privy place," suggesting that the Caliph slept in a numero cent. So, when starting for the " Trakki Campaign," Sir Charles Napier (of Sind), in bis zeal for lightening officers' baggage, inadvertently chose a water-closet tent for his head-quarters magno cum risu not of the staff, who had a strange fear of him, but of the multitude who had not. 2 Arab. "Dar al-Salam," one of the seven "Gardens" into which the Mohammedan Paradise is divided. Man's fabled happiness began in a Garden (Eden) and the sugges- tion came naturally that it would continue there. For the seven Heavens, see vol. via. , 1 1 1 *2 Supplemental Nights. m attendance upon him and standing about his head, whereupon fce laughed at himself and said, " By Allah, 'tis not as I were on wake, yet I am not asleep ! " And in his perplexity he bowed his chin upon his bosom and then opened his eyes, little by little, smiling and saying, " What is this state wherein I find myself ? " Then he arose and sat up, whilst the damsels laughed at him privily ; and he was bewildered in his wit, and bit his finger ; and as the bite pained him, he cried " Oh ! " and was vexed ; and the Caliph watched him, whence he saw him not, and lawghed. Presently Abu al-Hasan turned to a damsel and called to her ; whereupon she answered, " At thy service, O Prince of True Believers ! " Quoth he, what is thy name ? " and quoth she, Shajarat al-Durr." 1 Then he said to her, " By the protection of Allah, O damsel, am I Commander of the Faithful ? " She replied, "Yes, indeed, by the protection of Allah thou in this time art Commander of the Faithful." Quoth he, " By Allah, thou liest, O thousandfold whore ! " 2 Then he glanced at the Chief Eunuch and called to him, whereupon he came to him and kissing the ground before him, said, " Yes, O Commander of the Faithful." Asked Abu al-Hasan, "Who is Commander of the Faithful?" and the Eunuch answered "Thou." And Abu al-Hasan said, "Thou liest, thousandfold he-whore that thou art!" Then he turned to another eunuch and said to him, " O my chief, 3 by the protection of Allah, am I Prince of the True Believers?" Said he, " Ay, by Allah, O my lord, thou art in this time Com- mander of the Faithful and Viceregent of the Lord of the three Worlds." Abu al-Hasan laughed at himself and doubted of his reason and was bewildered at what he beheld, and said, " In one night do I become Caliph ? Yesterday I was Abu al-Hasan the 1 Branch of Pearl, see vol. ii. 57. 'Arab. " Kabbah," the lowest word (vol. i. 70), effectively used in contrast with the Speaker's surroundings. ' Arab. " Ya kabiri," = mon brave, my good man. Tht Sleeper and the Waker. 13 Wag, and to day I am Commander of the Faithful." Then the Chief Eunuoh came up to him and said, "O Prince of True Believers (the name of Allah encompass thee !) thou art indeed Commander of the Faithful and Viceregent of the Lord of the three Worlds ! " And the slave-girls and eunuchs flocked round about him, till he arose and abode wondering at his case. Hereupon the Eunuch brought him a pair of sandals wrought with raw silk and green silk and purfled with red gold, and he took them and after examining them set them in his sleeve ; whereat the Castrato cried out and said, " Allah ! Allah ! O my lord, these are sandals for the treading of thy feet, so thbu mayst wend to the wardrobe." Abu al-Hasan was confounded, and shaking the sandals from his sleeve, put them on his feet, whilst the Caliph died 1 of laughter at him. The slave forewent him to the chapel of ease, where he entered and doing his job, 2 came out into the chamber, whereupon the slave-girls brought him a basin of gold and an ewer of silver and poured water on his hands 3 and he made the Wuzu-ablution. Then they spread him a prayer-carpet and he prayed. Now he knew not how to pray* and gave not over bowing and prostrating for twenty inclinations, 5 pondering in himself the while and saying, "By Allah, I am none other than the Commander of the Faithful in very truth ! This is assuredly no dream, for all these things happen not in a dream." And he was convinced and determined in himself that he was Prince of True Believers ; so he pronounced 1 This exaggeration has now become familiar to English speech. 2 Like an Eastern he goes to the water-closet the first thing in the morning, or rather dawn, and then washes ceremonially before saying the first prayer. In Europe he would probably wait till after breakfast. See vol. iii. 242. 3 I have explained why an Eastern does not wash in the basin as Europeans do in vol. i. p. 241. 4 i.e. He was so confused that he forgot. All Moslems know how to pray, whether they pray or not. s The dawn-prayer consists of only four inclinations (raka'at) ; two"Farz" (divineiy appointed), and two Sunnah (the custom of the Apostle). For the Raka'ah see Lane, M.E. chapt. iii. ; it cannot be explained without illustrations. 14 Supplemental Nights. the Salam 1 and finished his prayers ; whereupon the Mamelukes and slave-girls came round about him with bundled suits of silken and linen stuffs and clad him in the costume of the Caliphate and gave the royal dagger in his hand. Then the Chief Eunuch came in and said, " O Prince of True Believers, the Chamberlain is at the door craving permission to enter." Said he, " Let him enter ! " whereupon he came in and after kissing ground offered the salutation, " Peace be upon thee, O Commander of the Faithful ! " At this Abu al-Hasan rose and descended from the couch to the floor ; whereupon the official exclaimed " Allah ! Allah ! O Prince of True Believers, wottest thou not that all men are thy lieges and under thy rule and that it is not meet for the Caliph to rise to any man ? " Presently the Eunuch went out before him and the little white slaves behind him, and they ceased not going till they raised the curtain and brought him into the hall of judgment and the throne-room of the Caliphate. There he saw the curtains and the forty doors and Al-'Ijli and Al-Rakashi the poet, and 'Ibdan and Jadim and Abu Ishak 2 the cup-companion and beheld swords drawn and the lions 3 compassing the throne as the white of the eye encircleth the black, and gilded glaives and death-dealing bows and Ajams and Arabs and Turks and Daylamites and folk and peoples and Emirs and Wazirs and Captains and Grandees and Lords of the land and men of war in band, and in very sooth there appeared the might of the house of Abbas 4 and the majesty of the Prophet's family. So he sat down upon the throne of the Caliphate and set the dagger 6 on his lap, 1 After both sets of prayers, Farz and Sunnah, the Moslem looks over his right shoulder and says " The Peace (of Allah) be upon you and the ruth of Allah," and repeats the words over the left shoulder. The salutation is addressed to the Guardian Angels or to the bystanders (Moslems) who, however, do not return it. 2 i.e. Ibrahim of Mosul the musician. See vol. iv. 108. 3 Arab. "Liytith "plur. of "Layth," a lion : here warriors are meant. 4 The Abbasides traced their descent from Al-Abbas, Mohammed's uncle, and justly held themselves as belonging to the family of the Prophet. See vol. ii. 6l. 5 Arab. " Nirashah " = "half-sword." See vol ii. p. 193. The Sleeper and the Waker. 15 whereupon all present came up to kiss ground between his hands and called down on him length of life and continuance of weal. Then came forward Ja'afar the Barmecide and kissing the ground, said, " Be the wide world of Allah the treading of thy feet and may Paradise be thy dwelling-place and the Fire the home of thy foes ! Never may neighbour defy thee nor the lights of fire die out for thee,' O Caliph of all cities and ruler of all countries ! " Therewithal Abu al-Hasan cried out at him and said, " O dog of ihe sons of Barmak, go down forthright, thou and the chief of the city police, to such a place in such a street and deliver an hundred dinars of gold to the mother of Abu al-Hasan the Wag and bear her my salutation. Then, go to such a mosque and take the four Shaykhs and the Imlm and scourge each of them with a thousand 2 lashes and mount them on beasts, face to tail, and parade them round about all the city and banish them to a place other than this city ; and bid the crier make cry before them, saying : This is the reward and the least of the reward of whoso multiplieth words and molesteth his neighbours and damageth their delights and stinteth their eating and drinking ! " Ja'afar received the command and answered "With obedience"; after which he went down from before Abu al-Hasan to the city and did all he had ordered him to do. Meanwhile, Abu al-Hasan abode in the CalipTiate, taking and giving, bidding and forbidding and carrying out his command till the end of the day, when he gave leave and permission to withdraw, and the Emirs and Officers of state departed to their several occupations and he looked towards the Chamberlain and 1 i.e. May thy dwelling-place never fall into ruin. The prayer has, strange to say, been granted. " The present city on the Eastern bank of the Tigris was built by Haroun al-Rashid, and his house still stands there and is an object of reverent curiosity." So says my friend Mr. Grattan Geary (vol. i. p. 212, "Through Asiatic Turkey", London: Low, 1878). He also gives a sketch of Zubaydah's tomb on the western bank of the Tigris near the suburb which represents old Baghdad ; it is a pineapple dome springing from an octagon, both of brick once revetted with white stucco. 2 In the Bresl. Edit., four hundred. I prefer the exaggerated total. 1 6 Supplemental Nights. the rest of the attendants and said, "Begone!" Then the Eunuchs came to him and calling down on him length of life and continuance of weal, walked in attendance upon him and raised the curtain, and he entered the pavilion of the Harem, where he found candles lighted and lamps burning and singing-women smiting on instruments, and ten slave-girls, high-bosomed maids. When he saw this, he was confounded in his wit and said to himself, " By Allah, I am in truth Commander of the Faithful ! " presently adding, " or haply these are of the Jdnn and he who was my guest yesternight was one of their kings who saw no way to requite my favours save by commanding his Ifrits to address me as Prince of True Believers. But an these be of the Jann may Allah deliver me in safety from their mischief ! " As soon as he appeared, the slave-girls rose to him and carrying him up on to the dais, 1 brought him a great tray, bespread with the richest viands. So he ate thereof with all his might and main, till he had gotten his fill, when he called one of the handmaids and said to her, " What is thy name ? " Replied she, " My name is Miskah," 2 and he said to another, " What is thy name?" Quoth she, " My name is Tarkah." 3 Then he asked a third, " What is thy name ? " who answered, " My name is Tohfah ; " 4 and he went on to question the damsels of their names, one after other, till he had learned the ten, when he rose from that place and removed to the wine-chamber. He found it every way complete and saw therein ten great trays, covered with all fruits and cates and every sort of sweetmeats. So he sat down and ate thereof after the measure of his competency, and finding there three troops of singing-girls, was 1 i.e. the raised recess at the upper end of an Oriental saloon, and the place of honour, which Lane calls by its Egyptian name "Llwan." See his vol. i. 312 and his M.E. chapt. i : also my vol. iv. p. 71. 2 " Bit o'Musk." 3 " A gin, "a snare. 4 " A gift," a present. It is instructive to compare Aba al- Hasan with Sancho Panza, sprightly Arab wit with grave Spanish humour. The Sleeper and the Waker. if amazed and made the girls eat. Then he sat and the singers also seated themselves, whilst the black slaves and the white slaves and the eunuchs and pages and boys stood, and of the slave-girls some sat and others stood. The damsels sang and warbled all varieties of melodies and the place rang with the sweetness of the songs, whilst the pipes cried out and the lutes with them wailed, till it seemed to Abu al-Hasan that he was in Paradise and his heart was heartened and his breast broadened. So he sported and joyance grew on him and he bestowed robes of honour on the damsels and gave and bestowed, challenging this girl and kissing that and toying with a third, plying one with wine and morselling another with meat, till nightfall. All this while the Commander of the Faithful was diverting himself with watching him and laughing, and when night fell he bade one of the slave-girls drop a piece of Bhang in the cup and give it to Abu al-Hasan to drink. So she did his bidding and gave him the cup, which no sooner had he drunk than his head forewent his feet. 1 Therewith the Caliph came forth from behind the curtain, laughing, and calling to the attendant who had brought Abu al-Hasan to the palace, said to him, " Carry 2 this man to his own place." So Masrur took him up, and carrying him to his own house, set him down in the saloon. Then he went forth from him, and shutting the saloon-door upon him, returned to the Caliph, who slept till the morrow. As for Abu al-Hasan, he gave not over slumbering till Almighty Allah brought on the morning, when he recovered from the drug and awoke, crying out and saying, " Ho, Tuffahah ! Ho, Rahat al-Kulub ! Ho, Miskah ! Ho, Tohfah ! " 3 And he ceased not calling upon the palace hand-maids 1 i.e. he fell down senseless. The old version has " his head knocked against ,his knees." 2 Arab. "Waddf" vulg. Egyptian and Syrian for the classical "Addi" (ii. of Adii = preparing to do). No wonder that Lane complains (iii. 376) of the "vulgar style, abounding in errors." * O Apple, O Repose o' Hearts, O Musk, O Choice Gift. VOL. I. B 1 8 Supplemental Nights. till his mother heard him summoning strange damsels, and rising, came to him and said, " Allah's name encompass thee ! Up with thee, O my son, O Abu al-Hasan ! Thou dreamest." So he opened his eyes, and finding an old woman at his head, raised his eyes and said to her, " Who art thou ? " Quoth she, " I am thy mother ; " and quoth he, " Thou liest ! I am the Commander of the Faithful, the Viceregent of Allah." Whereupon his mother shrieked aloud and said to him, " Heaven preserve thy reason ! Be silent, O my son, and cause not the loss of our lives and the wasting of thy wealth, which will assuredly befal us if any hear this talk and carry it to the Caliph.'* So he rose from his sleep, and finding himself in his own saloon and his mother by him, had doubts of his wit, and said to her, " By Allah, O my mother, I saw myself in a dream in a palace, with slave-girls and Mamelukes about me and in attendance upon me, and I sat upon the throne of the Caliphate and ruled. By Allah, O my mother, this is what I saw, and in very sooth it was no dream ! " Then he bethought himself awhile and said, " Assuredly, 1 I am Abu al-Hasan al-Khali'a, and this that I saw was only a dream when I was made Caliph and bade and forbade." Then he bethought himself again and said, " Nay, but 'twas not a dream, and I am none other than the Caliph, and indeed I gave gifts and bestowed honour-robes." Quoth his mother to him, " O my son, thou sportest with thy reason : thou wilt go to the mad-house 2 and become a gazing- stock. Indeed, that which thou hast seen is only from the foul Fiend, and it was an imbroglio of dreams, for at times Satan sporteth with men's wits in all manner of ways." 3 Then said she to him, " O my son, was there any one with thee yesternight ? " And he reflected and said, " Yes ; one lay the night with me and I 1 Arab. " Doghri," a pure Turkish word, in Egypt meaning " truly, with truth," Straightforwardly ; in Syria = straight (going), directly. 2 Arab. " Maristan," see vol. i. 288. .* Tbe scene is a rechauffe of Badral-Din Hasan and bis wife, i. 247. The Sleeper and the Waker. 19 acquainted him with my case and told him my tale. Doubtless, he was of the Devils, and I, O my mother, even as thou sayst truly, am Abu al-Hasan al-Khali'a." She rejoined, " O my son, rejoice in tidings of all good, for yesterday's record is that there came the Wazir Ja'afar the Barmecide and his many, and beat the Shaykhs of the mosque and the Imam, each a thousand lashes ; after which they paraded them round about the city, making pro- clamation before them and saying : This is the reward and the least of the reward of whoso faileth in goodwill to his neigh- bours and troubleth on them their lives ! And he banished them from Baghdad. Moreover, the Caliph sent me an hundred dinars and sent to salute me." Whereupon Abu al-Hasan cried out and said to her, " O ill-omened crone, wilt thou contradict me and tell me that I am not the Prince of True Believers ? 'Twas I who commanded Ja'afar the Barmecide to beat the Shaykhs and parade them about the city and make proclamation before them and 'twas I, very I, who sent thee the hundred dinars and sent to salute thee, and I, O beldam of ill-luck, am in very deed the Commander of the Faithful, and thou art a liar, who would make me out an idiot." So saying, he rose up and fell upon her and beat her with a staff of almond-wood, till she cried out, " Help, Moslems ! " and he increased the beating upon her, till the folk heard her cries and coming to her, found Abu al-Hasan bashing his mother and saying to her, " O old woman of ill-omen, am I not the Commander of the Faithful ? Thou hast ensor- celled me ! " When the folk heard his words, they said, " This man raveth," and doubted not of his madness. So they came in upon him, and seizing him, pinioned his elbows, and bore him to the Bedlam. Quoth the Superintendant, " What aileth this youth ? " and quoth they, " This is a madman, afflicted of the Jinn." " By Allah," cried Abu al-Hasan, " they lie against me! 1 am no madman, but the Commander of the Faithful." And the Superintendant answered him, saying, " None lieth but thou, O 2O Supplemental Nights. foulest of the Jinn-maddened ! " Then he stripped him of his clothes, and clapping on his neck a heavy chain, 1 bound him to a high lattice and fell to beating him two bouts a day and two anights ; and he ceased not abiding on this wise the space of ten days. Then his mother came to him and said, " O my son, O Abu al-Hasan, return to thy right reason, for this is the Devil's doing." Quoth he, "Thou sayst sooth, O my mother, and bear thou witness of me that I repent me of that talk and turn me from my madness. So do thou deliver me, for I am nigh upon death." Accordingly his mother went out to the Superin- tendant 2 and procured his release and he returned to his own house. Now this was at the beginning of the month, and when it ended, Abu al-Hasan longed to drink liquor and, returning to his former habit, furnished his saloon and made ready food and bade bring wine ; then, going forth to the bridge, he sat there, expecting one whom he should converse and carouse with, according to his custom. As he sat thus, behold, up came the Caliph and Masrur to him ; but Abu al-Hasan saluted them not and said to Al-Rashid, " No friendly welcome to thee, O King of the Jann ! " Quoth Al-Rashid, ' What have I done to thee ? " and quoth Abu al-Hasan, " What more couidst thou do than what thou hast done to me, O foulest of the Jann ? I have been beaten and thrown into Bedlam, where all said I was Jinn-mad and this was caused by none save thyself. I brought thee to my house and fed thee with my best ; after which thou didst empower thy Satans and Marids to disport themselves with my wits from morning to evening. So avaunt and aroynt thee and wend thy ways ! " The Caliph smiled and, seating himself by his side said to him, " O my brother, did I not tell thee that I would return to thee ? " Quoth 1 Arab. "Janzfr," another atrocious vulgarism for "Zanjfr," which, however, has occurred before. 2 Arab. " Arafshah." The Sleeper and the Waker. 21 Abu al-Hasan, "I have no need of thee; and as the byword; sayeth in verse : Fro* my friend, 'twere meeter and wiser to part, * For what eye sees not bora shall ne'er sorrow heart. And indeed, O my brother, the night thou earnest to me and we conversed and caroused together, I and thou, 'twas as if the Devil came to me and troubled me that night." Asked the Caliph, " And who is he, the Devil ? " and answered Abu al-Hasan, " He is none other than thou ; " whereat the Caliph laughed and coaxed him and spake him fair, saying, " O my brother, when I went out from thee, I forgot the door and left it open and perhaps Satan came in to thee." * Quoth Abu al-Hasan, " Ask me not of that which hath betided me. What possessed thee to leave the door open, so that the Devil came in to me and there befel me with him this and that ? M And he related to him all that had betided him, first and last (and in repetition is no fruition) ; what while the Caliph laughed and hid his laughter. Then said he to Abu al-Hasan, " Praised be Allah who hath done away from thee whatso irked thee and that I see thee once more in weal ! " And Abu al-Hasan said, " Never again will I take thee to cup-companion or sitting-comrade ; for the pro- verb saith : Whoso stumbleth on a stone and thereto returneth, upon him be blame and reproach. And thou, O my brother, nevermore will I entertain thee nor company with thee, for that I have not found thy heel propitious to me." 2 But the Caliph coaxed him and said, " I have been the means of thy winning to thy wish anent the Imam and the Shaykhs." Abu al-Hasan replied, 1 In the " Mishkat al-Masabih" (ii. 341), quoted by Lane, occurs the Hadis, "Shut your doors anights and when so doing repeat the Basmalah ; for the Devil may not open a door shut in Allah's name." A pious Moslem in Egypt always ejaculates, " In the name of Allah, the Compassionating," etc. , when he locks a door, covers up bread, doff* his clothes, etc., to keep off devils and daemons. z An Arab idiom meaning, " I have not found thy good fortune (Ka'b= heel, glory, prosperity) do me any good." 22 Supplemental Nights. " Thou hast ;" and Al-Rashid continued, " And haply somewhat may betide which shall gladden thy heart yet more* * Abu al- Hasan asked, " What dost thou require of me ? " and the Com- mander of the Faithful answered, "Verily, I am thy guest ; reject not the guest." Quoth Abu al-Hasan, "On condition that thou swear to me by the characts on the seal of Solomon David's son (on the twain be the Peace !) that thou wilt not suffer thine Ifrits to make fun of me." He replied, " To hear is to obey ! " Where- upon the Wag took him and brought him into the saloon and set food before him and entreated him with friendly speech. Then he told him all that had befallen him, whilst the Caliph was like to die of stifled laughter ; after which Abu al-Hasan removed the tray of food and bringing the wine-service, filled a cup and cracked it three times, then gave it to the Caliph, saying, " O boon-com- panion mine, I am thy slave and let not that which I am about to say offend thee, and be thou not vexed, neither do thou vex me.** And he recited these verses : Hear one that wills thee well ! Lips none shall bless o Save those who drink for drunk and all transgress. Ne'er will I cease to swill while night falls dark o Till lout my forehead low upon my tasse : In wine like liquid sun is my delight o Which clears all care and gladdens allegresse. When the Caliph heard these his verses and saw how apt he was at couplets, he was delighted with exceeding delight and taking the cup, drank it off, and the twain ceased not to converse and carouse till the wine rose to their heads. Then quoth Abu al-Hasan to the Caliph, " O boon-companion mine, of a truth I am perplexed concerning my affair, for meseemed I was Commander of the Faithful and ruled and gave gifts and largesse, and in very deed, O my brother, it was not a dream." Quoth the Caliph, " These were the imbroglios of sleep," and crumbling a bit of Bhang into the cup, said to him, u By my life, do thou drink this cup ;" and said Abu The Sleeper and the Waker. 23 al-Hasan, " Surely I will drink it from thy hand." Then he took the cup and drank it off, and no sooner had it settled in his stomach than his head fell to the ground before his feet. Now his manners and fashions pleased the Caliph and the excel- lence of his composition and his frankness, and he said in himself, " I will assuredly make him my cup-companion and sitting-com- rade." So he rose forthright and saying to Masrur, " Take him up," returned to the palace. Accordingly, the Eunuch took up Abu al-Hasan and carrying him to the palace of the Caliphate, set him down before Al-Rashid, who bade the slaves and slave-girls compass him about, whilst he himself hid in a place where Abu al-Hasan could not see him. Then he commanded one of the hand-maidens to take the lute and strike it over the Wag's head, whilst the rest smote upon their instruments. So they played and sang, till Abu al-Hasan awoke at the last of the night and heard the symphony of lutes and tambourines and the sound of the flutes and the singing of the slave-girls, whereupon he opened his eyes and finding himself in the palace, with the hand-maids and eunuchs about him, exclaimed, " There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great ! Come to my help this night which meseems more unlucky than the former ! Verily, I am fearful of the Madhouse and of that which I suffered therein the first time, and I doubt not but the Devil is come to me again, as before. O Allah, my Lord, put thou Satan to shame ! " Then he shut his eyes and laid his head in his sleeve, and fell to laugh- ing softly and raising his head bytimes, but still found the apart- ment lighted and the girls singing. Presently, one of the eunuchs sat down at his head and said to him, " Sit up, O Prince of True Believers, and look on thy palace and thy slave-girls." Said Abu al-Hasan, " Under the veil of Allah, am I in truth Com- mander of the Faithful, and dost thou not lie ? Yesterday I rode not forth neither ruled, but drank and slept, and this eunuch cometh to make me rise." Then he sat up and recalled to *4 Supplemental Nights. thought that which had betided him with his mother and how he had beaten her and entered the Bedlam, and he saw the marks of the beating, wherewith the Superintendant had beaten him, and was perplexed concerning his affair and pondered in himself, saying, " By Allah, I know not how my case is nor what is this that betideth me ! " Then, gazing at the scene around him, he said privily, " All these are of the Jann in human shape, and I commit my case to Allah." Presently he turned to one of the damsels and said to her, " Who am I ? " Quoth she, " Thou art the Commander of the Faithful;" and quoth he, "Thou liest, O calamity ! * If I be indeed the Commander of the Faithful, bite my finger." So she came to him and bit it with all her might, and he said to her, " It doth suffice." Then he asked the Chief Eunuch, " Who am I ? " and he answered, " Thou art the Commander of the Faithful." So he left him and returned to his wonderment : then, turning to a little white slave, said to him, " Bite my ear ; " and he bent his head low down to him and put his ear to his mouth. Now the Mameluke was young and lacked sense ; so he closed his teeth upon Abu al-Hasan's ear with all his might, till he came near to sever it ; and he knew not Arabic, so, as often as the Wag said to him, " It doth suffice," he concluded that he said, " Bite like a vice," and redoubled his bite and made his teeth meet in the ear, whilst the damsels were diverted from him with hearkening to the singing-girls, and Abu al-Hasan cried out for succour from the boy and the Caliph lost his senses for laughter. Then he dealt the boy a cuff, and he let go his ear, whereupon all present fell down with laughter and said to the little Mameluke, "Art mad that thou bitest the Caliph's ear on this wise ? " And Abu al-Hasan cried to them, " Sufficeth ye not, O ye wretched Jinns, that which hath befallen me ? But the fault is not yours : the fault is of your Chief who transmewed you from Jinn shape to mortal shape. I seek 1 Arab. " Ya Nakbah " = a calamity to those who have to do with thee ! The Sleeper and the Waker. 2$ refuge against you this night by the Throne-verse and the Chapter of Sincerity * and the Two Preventives ! " 2 So saying the Wag put off his clothes till he was naked, with prickle and breech exposed, and danced among the slave-girls. They bound his hands and he wantoned among them, while they died of laughing at him and the Caliph swooned away for excess of laughter. Then he came to himself and going forth the curtain to Abu al- Hasan, said to him, " Out on thee, O Abu al-Hasan ! Thou slayest me with laughter." So he turned to him and knowing him, said to him, " By Allah, 'tis thou slayest me and slayest my mother and slewest the Shaykhs and the Imam of the Mosque 1 " After which he kissed ground before 'him and prayed for the permanence of his prosperity and the endurance of his days. The Caliph at once rob.ed him in a rich robe and gave him a thousand dinars ; and presently he took the Wag into especial favour and married him and bestowed largesse on him and lodged him with himself in the palace and made him of the chief of his cup- companions, and indeed he was preferred with him above them and the Caliph advanced him over them all. Now they were ten in number, to wit, Al-'Ijli and Al-Rakashi and 'Ibdan and Hasan al-Farazdak and Al-Lauz and Al-Sakar and Omar al-Tartis and Abu Nowas and Abu Ishak al-Nadim and Abu al-Hasan al- Khali'a, and by each of them hangeth a story which is told in other than this book. 3 And indeed Abu al-Hasan became high in honour with the Caliph and favoured above all, so that he sat with him and the Lady Zubaydah bint al-Kasim, whose treasuress Nuzhat al-Fuad 4 hight, was given to him in marriage. After this Abu al-Hasan the Wag abode with his wife in eating and drinking 1 Koran cxii., the "Chapter of Unity." See vol. iii. 307. 1 See vol. iii. 222. 3 Here the author indubitably speaks for himsdf, forgetting that he ended Night cclxxxi. (Bresl. iv. 168), and began that following with Shahrazad's usual formula. * i.e. " Delight of the vitals " (or heart). 26 Supplemental Nights. and all delight of life, till whatso wa$ with them went the way of money, when he said to her, " Harkye, O Nuzhat al-Fuad ! " Said she, " At thy service ; " and he continued, " I have it in mind to play a trick on the Caliph ! and thou shalt do the like with the Lady Zubaydah, and we will take of them at once, to begin with, two hundred dinars and two pieces of silk." She rejoined, "As thou wiliest, but what thinkest thou to do ? " And he said, " We will feign ourselves dead and this is the trick. I will die before thee and lay myself out, and do thou spread over me a silken napkin and loose my turban over me and tie my toes and lay on my stomach a knife and a little salt. 2 Then let down thy hair and betake thyself to thy mistress Zubaydah, tearing thy dress and slapping thy face and crying out. She will ask thee, What aileth thee? and do thou answer her, May thy head outlive Abu al- Hasan the Wag ; for he is dead. She will mourn for me an.d weep and bid her new treasuress give thee an hundred dinars and a piece of silk 3 and will say to thee : Go, lay him out and carry him forth. So do thou take of her the hundred dinars and the piece of silk and come back, and when thou returnest to me, I will rise up and thou shalt lie down in my place, and I will go to the Caliph and say to him, May thy head outlive Nuzhat al-Fuad, and rend my raiment and pluck out my beard. He will mourn for thee and say to his treasurer, Give Abu al-Hasan an hundred dinars and a piece of silk. Then he will say to me, Go ; lay her out and carry her forth ; and I will come back to thee." There- with Nuzhat al-Fuad rejoiced and said, " Indeed, this is an excel- lent device." Then Abu al-Hasan stretched himself out forthright and she shut his eyes and tied his feet and covered him with the 1 The trick is a rechauffe of the Irick played on Al-Rashid and Zubaydah. 1 "Kalb" here is not heart, but stomach. The big toes of the Moslem corpse are still tied in most countries, and in some a sword is placed upon the body ; but I am not aware that a knife and salt (both believed to repel evil spirits) are so used in Cairo. 8 The Moslem, who may not wear unmixed silk during his lifetime, may be shrouded, in it. I have noted that the " Shukkah," or piece, averages six feet in length. The Sleeper and the Waker. 27 napkin and did whatso her lord had bidden her; after which she tare her gear and bared her head and letting down her hair, went in to the Lady Zubaydah, crying out and weeping. When the Princess saw her in this state, she cried, " What plight is this ? What' is thy story and what maketh thee weep?" And Nuzhat al-Fuad answered, weeping and loud-wailing the while, " O my lady, may thy head live and mayst thou survive Abu al-Hasan al Khali'a ; for he is dead ! " The Lady Zubaydah mourned for him and said, " Alas, poor Abu al-Hasan the Wag ! " and she shed tears for him awhile. Then she bade her treasuress give Nuzhat al-Fuad an hundred dinars and a piece of silk and said to her, " O Nuzhat al-Fuad, go, lay him out and carry him forth." So she took the hundred dinars and the piece of silk and returned to her dwelling, rejoicing, and went in to her spouse and acquainted him what had befallen, whereupon he arose and rejoiced and girdled his middle and danced and took the hundred dinars and the piece of silk and 'laid them up. Then he laid out Nuzhat al-Fuad and did with her as she had done with him ; after which he rent his raiment and plucked out his beard and disordered his turban and ran out nor ceased running till he came in to the Caliph, who was sitting in the judgment-hall, and he in this plight, beating his breast. The Caliph asked him, " What aileth thee, O Abu al-Hasan ? " and he wept and answered, " Would heaven thy cup companion had never been and would his hour had never come !" * Quoth the Caliph, " Tell me thy case : " and quoth Abu al-Hasan, " O my lord, may thy head outlive Nuzhat al-Fuad ! " The Caliph exclaimed, " There is no god but God ; " and smote hand upon hand. Then he comforted Abu al-Hasan and said to him, " Grieve not, for we will bestow upon thee a bed-fellow other than she." And he ordered the treasurer to give him an hundred dinars and a piece 1 A \ulgar ejaculation ; the " houj " referring either to birth or to his being made one of the Caliph's equerries. 28 Supplemental Nights. of silk. Accordingly the treasurer did what the Caliph bade him, and Al-Rashid said to him, " Go, lay her out and carry her forth and make her a handsome funeral." So Abu al-Hasan took that which he had given him and returning to his house, rejoicing, went in to Nuzhat al-Fifad and said to her, "Arise, for our wish is won." Hereat she arose and he laid before her the hundred ducats and the piece of silk, whereat she rejoiced, and they added the gold to the gold and the silk to the silk and sat talking and laughing each to other. Meanwhile, when Abu al-Hasan fared forth the presence of the Caliph and went to lay out Nuzhat al-Fuad, the Commander of the Faithful mourned for her and dismissing the divan, arose and betook himself, leaning upon Masrur, the Sworder of his vengeance, to the Lady Zubaydah, that he might condole with her for 'her hand-maid. He found her sitting weeping and awaiting his coming, so she might condole with him for his boon- companion Abu al-Hasan the Wag. So he said to her, "May thy head outlive thy slave-girl Nuzhat al-Fuad ! " and said she, " O my lord, Allah preserve my slave-girl ! Mayst thou live and long survive thy boon-companion Abu al-Hasan al-Khali'a ; for he Is dead." The Caliph smiled and said to his eunuch, " O Masrur, verily women are little of wit. Allah upon thee, say, was not Abu al-Hasan with me but now ? " * Quoth the Lady Zubaydah, laughing from a heart full of wrath, " Wilt thou not leave thy jesting ? Sufficeth thee not that Abu al-Hasan is dead, but thou must put to death my slave-girl also and bereave us of the twain, and style me little of wit ? " The Caliph answered, " Indeed, 'tis Nuzhat al-Fuad who is dead." And the Lady Zubaydah said, " Indeed he hath not been with -\ thee, nor hast thou seen him, and none was with me but now save Nuzhat al-Fuad, and she sorrowful, weeping, with her clothes 1 Here the story-teller omils to say that Masrur bore witness to the Caliph's state' teat. The Sleeper and the Waker. 29 torn to tatters. I exhorted her to patience and gave her an hundred dinars and a piece of silk ; and indeed I was awaiting thy coming, so I might console thee for thy cup-companion Abu al-Hasan al-Khali'a, and was about to send for thee." ' The Caliph laughed and said, " None is dead save Nuzhat al-Fuad ; " and she, " No, no, good my lord ; none is dead but Abu al-Hasan the Wag." With this the Caliph waxed wroth, and the Hashimi vein 2 started out from between his eyes and throbbed : and he cried out to Masrur and said to him, " Fare thee forth to the house of Abu al-Hasan the Wag, and see which of them is dead." So Masrur went out, running, and the Caliph said to the Lady Zubaydah, " Wilt thou lay me a wager ? " And said she, " Yes, I will wager, and I say that Abu al-Hasan is dead." Rejoined the Caliph, " And I wager and say that none is dead save Nuzhat al-Fuad ; and the stake between me and thee shall be the Garden of Pleasance 3 against thy palace and the Pavilion of Pictures." * So they agreed upon this and sat awaiting Masrur's return with the news. As for the Eunuch, he ceased not running till he came to the by-street, wherein was the stead of Abu al-Hasan al- Khali'a. Now the Wag was comfortably seated and leaning back against the lattice, 5 and chancing to look round, saw Masrur running along the street and said to Nuzhat al-Fuad, " Meseemeth the Caliph, when I went forth from him dismissed the Divan and went in to the Lady Zubaydah, to condole with her ; whereupon she arose and condoled with him, saying, Allah increase thy 1 Arab. "Wakuntu raihah ursil warak," the regular Fellah language. 8 Arab. "'Irk al-Hashimi," See vol. ii. 19. Lane remarks, "Whether it was so in Hashim himself (or only in his descendants), I do not find ; but it is mentioned amongst the characteristics of his great-grandson, the Prophet." 3 Arab. " Bostan al-Nuzhah," whose name made the stake appropriate. See vol. ii. 81. * Arab. " Tamasil " = generally carved images, which, amongst Moslems, always suggest idols and idolatry. 6 The " Shubbak" here would be the " Mashrabiyah," or latticed balcony, projecting from the saloon-wall, and containing room for three or more sitters. It is Lane's " Meshrebeeyeh," sketched in M.E. (Introduction) and now has become familiar to Englishmen. 30 Supplemental Nights. recompense for the loss of Abu al-Hasan al-Khali'a ! And he said to her, None is dead save Nuzhat al-Fuad, may thy head outlive her ! Quoth she, "Tis not she who is dead, but Abu al-Hasan al-Khali'a, thy boon companion. And quoth he, None is dead save Nuzhat al-Fuad. And they waxed so obstinate that the Caliph became wroth and they laid a wager, and he hath sent Masrur the Sworder to see who is dead. Now. therefore, 'twere best that thou lie down, so he may sight thee and go and acquaint the Caliph and confirm my saying." 1 So Nuzhat al-Fuad stretched herself out and Abu al-Hasan covered her with her mantilla and sat weeping at her head. Presently, Masrur the eunuch suddenly came in to him and saluted him, and seeing Nuzhat al-Fuad stretched out, uncovered her face and said, " There is no god but God ! Our sister Nuzhat al-Fuad is dead indeed. How sudden was the stroke of Destiny ! Allah have ruth on thee and acquit thee of all charge ! " Then he returned and related what had passed before the Caliph and the Lady Zubaydah, and he laughing as he spoke. " O accursed one," cried the Caliph, " this is no time for laughter ! Tell us which is dead of them." Masrur replied, " By Allah, O my lord, Abu al-Hasan is well, and none is dead but Nuzhat al-Fuad." Quoth the Caliph to Zubaydah, "Thou hast lost thy pavilion in thy play," and he jeered at her and said, " O Masrur, tell her what thou sawest." Quoth the Eunuch,. " Verily, O my lady, I ran without ceasing till I came in to Abu al-Hasan in his house and found Nuzhat al-Fuad lying dead and Abu al-Hasan sitting tearful at her head. I saluted him and condoled with him and sat down by his side and uncovered the face of Nuzhat al-Fuad and saw her dead and her face swollen. 2 1 This is to show the cleverness of Abu al-Hasan, who had calculated upon the difference between Al-Rashid and Zubaydah. Such marvels of perspicacity are frequent enough in the folk-lore of the Arabs. 2 An artful touch, showing how a tale grows by repetition. In Abu al-Hasan's case (infra) the eyes are swollen by the swathes. The Sleeper and the Waker. 31 x So I said to him : Carry her out forthwith, so we may pray over her. He replied : Tis well ; and I left him to lay her out and came hither, that I might tell you the news." The Prince of True Believers laughed and said, " Tell it again and again to thy lady Little-wits." When the Lady Zubaydah heard Masrur's words and those of the Caliph she was wroth and said, " None is little of wit save he who believeth a black slave." And she abused Masrur, whilst the Commander of the Faithful laughed : and the Eunuch, vexed at this, said to the Caliph, " He spake sooth who said : Women are little of wits and lack religion." * Then said the Lady Zubaydah to the Caliph, " O Commander of the Faithful, thou sportest and jestest with me, and this slave hoodwinketh me, the better to please thee ; but I will send and see which of them be dead." And he answered, saying, " Send one who shall see which of them is dead." So the Lady Zubaydah cried out to an old duenna, and said to her, " Hie thee to the house of Nuzhat al-Fuad in haste and see who is dead and loiter not." And she used hard words to her. 2 So the old woman went out running, whilst the Prince of True Believers and Masrur laughed, and she ceased not running till she came into the street. Abu al-Hasan saw her, and knowing her, said to his wife, " O Nuzhat al-Fuad, meseemeth the Lady Zubaydah hath sent to us to see who is dead and hath not given credit to Masrur's report of thy death : accordingly, she hath despatched the old crone, her duenna, to discover the truth. So it behoveth me to be dead in my turn for the sake of thy credit with the Lady Zubaydah." Hereat he lay down and stretched himself out, and she covered him and bound his eyes and feet and sat in tears at his head. Presently ,the old woman came in to her and saw Jier sitting at Abu al-Hasan's head, weeping and recounting his fine qualities; and 1 A Hadis attributed to the Prophet, and very useful to Moslem husbands whe wives differ overmuch with them in opinion. 2 Arab. " Masarat n'-ha," which Lane rnders, " And she threw money to hex.U 32 Supplemental Nights. when she saw the old trot, she cried out and said to her, tf See what hath befallen me ! Indeed Abu al-Hasan is dead and hath kft me lone and lorn ! " Then she shrieked out and rent her raiment and said to the crone, There was once a merchant man, who prospered in trade, and at one time his every dirham won him fifty. Presently, his luck turned against him and he knew it not ; so he said to himself, " I have wealth galore, yet do I toil and travel from country to country ; so better had I abide in my own land and rest myself in my own house from this travail and trouble and sell and buy at home." Then he made two parts of his money, and with one bought wheat in summer, saying " Whenas winter cometh, I shall sell it at a great profit." But, when the cold set in wheat fell to 1 In Chavis and Cazotte "Story of Kaskas ; or the Obstinate Man." For ill-luck, see Miss Frere's " Old Deccan Days" (p. 171), and Giles's "Strange Stories," &c. (p. 430), where the young lady says to Ma, " You often asked me for money ; but oa account of your weak luck I hitherto refrained from giving it." VOL. L 66 Supplemental Nights. half the price for which he had purchased it, whereat he was con- t cerned with sore chagrin and left it till the next year. However, the price then fell yet lower and one of his intimates said to him, * Thou hast no luck in this wheat ; so do thou sell it at whatso- ever price." Said the merchant, " Ah, long have I profited ! so 'tis allowable that I lose this time. Allah is all-knowing ! An it abide with me ten full years, I will not sell it save for a gaining bargain." 1 Then he walled up in his anger the granary-door with clay, and by the ordinance of Allah Almighty, there came a great rain and descended from the terrace-roofs of the house wherein was the wheat so that the grain rotted ; and the merchant had to pay the porters from his purse five hundred dirhams for them to carry it forth and cast it without the city, the smell of it having become fulsome. So his friend said to him, " How often did I tell thee thou hadst no luck in wheat ? But thou wouldst not give ear to my speech, and now it behoveth thee to go to the astrologer 2 and question him of thine ascendant." Accordingly the trader betook himself to the astrologer and questioned him of his star, and astrophil said to him, " Thine ascendant is adverse. Put not forth thy hand to any business, for thou wilt not prosper thereby." However, he paid no heed to the astrologer's words and said in himself, " If I do my business, 1 am not afraid of aught." Then he took the other half of his money, after he had spent the first in three years, and builded him a ship, which he loaded with a cargaison of whatso seemed good to him and all that was with him and embarked on the sea, so he might voyage questing gain. The ship remained in port some days, till he should be certified whither he would wend, and he said, " I will ask the traders what this merchandise profiteth and in what land 'tis wanted and how much can it gain." They directed him to a far country, where his 1 True to life in the present day, as many a standing hay-rick has shown. 2 The " Munajjim " is a recognised authority in Egyptian townlets, and in the village- epublics of Southern India the " Jyoshi " is one of the paid officials. The Story of the Merchant who Lost his Luck. 67 dirham should produce an hundredfold. So he set sail and made for the land in question ; but, as he went, there blew on him a furious gale, and the ship foundered. The merchant saved him- self on a plank and the wind cast him up, naked as he was, on the sea-shore, where stood a town hard by. He praised Allah and gave Him thanks for his preservation ; then, seeing a great village nigh hand, he betook himself thither and saw, seated therein, a very old man, whom he acquainted with his case and that which had betided him. The Shaykh grieved for him with sore grieving, when he heard his tale and set food before him. He ate of it and the old man said to him, " Tarry here with me, so I may make thee my overseer 1 and factor over a farm I have here, and thou shalt have of me five dirhams a day." Answered the mer- chant, "Allah make fair thy reward, and requite thee with His boons and bounties." So he abode in this employ, till he had sowed and reaped and threshed and winnowed, and all was clean in his hand and the Shaykh appointed neither agent nor inspector, but relied utterly upon him. Then the merchant bethought himself and said, " I doubt me the owner of this grain will never give me my due ; so the better rede were to take of it after the measure of my wage ; and if he give me my right, I will return to him that I have taken." So he laid hands upon the grain, after the measure of that which fell to him, and hid it in a hiding place. Then he carried the rest and meted it out to the old man, who said to him " Come, take thy wage, for which I conditioned \vith thee, and sell the grain and buy with the price clothes and what not else ; and though thou abide with me ten years, yet shalt thou still have this hire and I will acquit it to thee on this wise." Quoth the merchant in himself, " Indeed, I have done a foul deed by taking it without his permission." ' Then he went to fetch that 1 Arab. " Amin " sub. and adj. In India it means a Government employe' who collects revenue ; in Marocco a commissioner sent by His Sharifian Majesty. 63 Supplemental Nights^ which he had hidden of the grain, but founcl it not and returned, perplexed, sorrowful, to the Shaykh, who asked him, "What aileth thec to be mournful ? " and he answered, " Methought thou wouldst not pay me my due ; so I took of the grain, after the measure of my hire ; and now thou hast paid me all my right and I went to bring back to thee that which I had hidden from thee, but found it gone, for those who had come upon it have stolen it." The Shaykh was wroth, when he heard these words, and said to the merchant, " There is no device against ill luck ! I had given thee this but, of the sorriness of thy doom and thy fortune, thou hast done this deed, O oppressor of thine own self! Thou deemedst I would not fulfil to thee thy wage ; but, by Allah, nevermore will I give thee aught." Then he drove him away from him. So the merchant went forth, woeful, grieving, weeping-eyed, and wandered along the sea-shore, till he came to a sort of duckers 1 diving in the sea for pearls. They saw him weeping and wailing 1 and said to him, " What is thy case and what garreth thee shed tears' ?" So he acquainted them with his history, from incept to conclusion, whereby the duckers knew him and asked him " Art thou Such-an-one, son of Such-an-one ? " He answered "Yes;" whereupon they condoled with him and wept sore for him and said to him, " Abide here till we dive upon thy luck this next time and whatso betideth us shall be between us and thee." 2 Accord- ingly, they ducked and brought up ten oyster-shells, in each two great unions : whereat they marvelled and said to him, " by Allah, thy luck hath re-appeared and thy .good star is in the ascendant !" Then the pearl-fishers gave him the ten pearls and said to him, " Sell two of them and make them thy stock-in-trade : and hide the rest against the time of thy straitness." So he took them, joyful and 1 Our older word for divers = Arab " Ghawwasun " : a single pearl (in the text Jauhar = the Port. Aljofar) is called " habbah" = grain or seed. 2 The kindly and generous deed of one Moslem to another, and by no means rare ia real life. The Story of the Merchant who Lost his Luck. 69 contented, and applied himself to sewing eight of them in his gown, keeping the two others in his mouth ; but a thief saw him and went and advertised his fellows of him ; where- upon they gathered together upon him, and took his gown and departed from him. When they were gone away, he arose, saying, "The two unions I have will suffice me," and made for the nearest city, where he brought out the pearls for sale. Now as Destiny would have it, a certain jeweller of the town had been robbed of ten unions, like those which were with the merchant ; so, when he saw the two pearls in the broker's hand, he asked him, "To whom do these belong?" and the broker answered, " To yonder man." The jeweller, seeing the merchant in pauper case and clad in tattered clothes, suspected him and said to him, " Where be the other eight pearls ?" The merchant thought he asked him of those which were in the gpwn, whenas the man had purposed only to surprise him into confession, and replied, "The thieves stole them from me." When the jeweller heard his reply, he was certified that it was the wight who had taken his good ; so he laid hold of him and haling him before the Chief of Police, said to him, "This is the man who stole my unions : I have found two of them upon him and he confesseth to the other eight." Now the Wali knew of the theft of the pearls ; so he bade throw the merchant into jail. Accordingly they imprisoned him and whipped him, and he lay in trunk a whole year, till, by the ordinance of Allah Almighty, the Chief of Police arrested one of the divers aforesaid, and imprisoned him in the prison where the merchant was jailed. The ducker saw him and knowing him, questioned him of his case; whereupon he told them his tale, and that which had befallen him ; and the diver marvelled at the lack of his luck. So, when he came forth of the prison, he acquainted the Sultan with the merchant's case and told him that it was he who had given him the pearls. The Sultan bade bring him forth of the jail, and asked him of his story, JO Supplemental Nights. whereupon he told him all that had befallen him, and the Sovran pitied him and assigned him a lodging in his own palace, together with pay and allowances for his support. Now the lodging in question adjoined the king's house, and whilst the merchant was rejoicing in this and saying, "Verily, my luck hath returned, and I shall live in the shadow of this king the rest of my life," he espied an opening walled up with clay and stones. So he cleared the opening the better to see what was behind it, and behold, it was a window giving upon the lodging of the king's women. When he saw this, he was startled and affrighted and rising in haste, fetched clay and stopped it up again. But one of the eunuchs 1 saw him, and suspecting him, repaired to the Sultan, and 1 " Eunuch," etymologically meaning chamberlain (eun) + ?X ctv ) a bed-chamber- servant or slave, was presently confined to castrated men found useful for special purposes, like gelded horses, hounds, and cockerels turned to capons. Some writers told that the creation of the semivir or apocopus began as a punishment in Egypt and elsewhere ; and so under the Romans amputation of the " peccant part " was frequent : others trace the Greek " invalid," i.e., impotent man, to marital jealousy, and not a few to the wife who wished to use the sexless for hard work in the house without danger to the slave-girls. The origin of the mutilation is referred by Ammianus Marcellinu* (lib. iv., chap. I7_), and the Classics generally, to Semiramis, an "ancient queen" of decidedly doubtful epoch, who thus prevented the propagation of weaklings. But in Genesis (xxxvii. 36 ; xxxix. I, margin) we find Poliphar termed a "Sarfm" (castrato), an " attenuating circumstance " for Mrs. P. Herodotus (lii. chap. 48) tells us that Periander, tyrant of Corinth, sent three hundred Corcyrean boys to Alyattes for castra- tion cVlflT cKTO/xfl, and that Pamonios of Chios sold caponised lads for high prices, (viii. 105) : he notices (viii. 104 and other places) that eunuchs " of the Sun, of Heaven, of the hand of God," were looked upon as honourable men amongst the Persians whom Stephanus and Brissonius charge with having invented the name (Dabislan i. 171). Ctesias also declares that the Persian kings were under the influence of eunuchs. In the debauched ages of Rome the women found a new use for these effeminates, who had lost only the testes or testiculi =: the witnesses (of generative force) : it is noticed by Juvenal (i. 22 ; ii. 365-379 ; vi. 366.) sunt quos imbelles et mollia semper Oscula delectant,. So Martial, vult futui Gallia, non parere, And Mirabeau knew (see Kadfsah) " qu'ils mordent les femmes et les liment avac une precieuse continuitS." (Compare my vol. ii. 90; v. 46). The men also used them as catamites (Horace i. Od. xxxvii.) ' Contaminate cum grege turpium Morbo virorum." 7 'he Story of the Merchant who Lost his Luck. 71 told him of this. So he came and seeing the stones pulled out," was wroth with the merchant and said to him, "Be this my In religion the intestabilis or intestatus was held ill-omened, and not permitted to become a priest (Seneca Controv. ii. 4), a practice perpetuated in the various Christian churches. The manufacture was forbidden, to the satisfaction of Martial, by Domitian, whose edict Nero confirmed ; and was restored by the Byzantine empire, which advanced eunuchs, like Eutropius and Narses, to the highest dignities of the realm. The cruel custom to the eternal disgrace of mediaeval Christianity was revived in Rome for providing the choirs in the Sistine Chapel and elsewhere with boys' voices. Isaiah mentions the custom (Ivi. 3-6,). Mohammed, who notices in the Koran (xxiv. 31), ''such men as attend women and have no need of women" i.e. "have no natural force," expressly forbade (iv. 118), "changing Allah's creatures," referring, say the commentators, to superstitious ear-cropping of cattle, tattooing, teeth-sharpening, sodomy, tribadism, and slave-gelding. See also the " Hidayah," vol. iv. 121 ; and the famous divine Al-Siyiiti, the last of his school, wrote a tractate Fi '1-Tahrfmi Khidmati '1-Khisyan = on the illegality of using eunuchs. Yet the Harem perpetuated the practice throughout Al-Islam and African jealousy made a gross abuse of it. To quote no other instance, the Sultan of Dr-For had a thousand eunuchs under a Malik or king, and all the chief offices of the empire, such as Ab (father) and Bib (door), were monopolised by these neutrals. The centre of supply was the Upper Nile, where the operation was found dangerous after the age of fifteen, and when badly performed only one in four survived. For this reason, during the last century the Coptic monks of Girgah and Zawy al-Dayr, near Assiout, engaged in this scandalous traffic, and declared that it was philanthropic to operate scientifically (Prof. Panuri and many others). Eunuchs are now made in the Suddn, Nubia, Abyssinia, Kordofan, and Dar-For, especially the Messalmiyah district: one of those towns was called " Tawashah " (eunuchry) from the traffic there conducted by Fukaha" or religious teachers. Many are supplied by the district between Majarah (Majarash?) and the port Masawwah ; there are also depots' at Mbadr, near Tajurrah-harbour, where Yusuf Bey, Governor in 1880, caponised some forty boys, including the brother of a hostile African chief: here also the well-known Abu Bakr was scandalously active. It is calculated that not less than eight thousand of these unfortunates are annually exported to Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey. Article IV. of the Anglo- Egyptian Convention punishes the offence with death, and no one would object to hanging the murderer under whose mutilating razor a boy dies. Yet this, like most of our modern "improvements" in Egypt, is a mere brutum fulmen. The crime is committe'd under our very eyes, but we will not see it. The Romans numbered three kinds of eunuchs: I. Castrati, clean-shaved, from Gr. Korpo?. 2. Spadones, from > when the testicles are torn out, not from "Spada," a town of Persia ; and, 3. Thlibii, from #Xiu>, to press, squeeze, when the testicles are bruised, &c. In the East also, as I have stated (v. 46), eunuchs are of three kinds : i. Sandali, or the clean-shaved, the classical apocopus. The parts are swept o^ 1 by a single cut of a razor, a tube (tin or wooden) is set in the urethra, the wound is caute rised with boiling oil, and the patient is planted in a fresh dunghill- His diet is milk ; anc> and if under puberty, he often survives. This is the eunuque aqueduc, who must pass his water through a tube. 2. The eunuch whose penis is removed : he retains all the power of copulation and procreation without the wherewithal ; and this, since the discovery of caoutchouc, has often been supplied. 3. The eunuch, or classical Thlibias and Semivir, who has been rendered sexless by removing the testicles (as the priests oC ?2 Supplemental Nights. reward from thee, that thou seekest to unveil my Harim ? '* Thereupon he bade pluck out his eyes ; and they did as he commanded. The merchant took his eyes in his hand and said, '" How long, O star of ill-omen, wilt thou afflict me ? First my wealth and now my life ! " And he bewailed himself, saying, " Striving profiteth me naught against evil fortune. The Compassionate aided me not, and effort was worse than useless.'' 1 " On like wise," O king, continued the youth, " whilst fortune was favourable to me, all that I did came to good ; but now that it hath turned against me, everything turnethto mine ill." IWhen the youth had made an end of his tale, the king's anger subsided a little, and he said, "Return him to the prison, for the day draweth to an end, and to-morrow we will look into his affair, and punish him for his ill-deeds." Cybele were castrated with a stone knife), or by bruising (the Greek Thldsias), twisting, searing, or bandaging them. A more humane process has lately been introduced : a horsehair is tied round the neck of the scrotum and tightened by slow degrees till the circulation of the part stops and the bag drops off without pain. This has been adopted in sundry Indian regiments of Irregular Cavalry, and it succeeded admirably : the animals rarely required a day's rest. The practice was known to the ancients. See notes on Kadlsah in Mirabeau. The Eunuehata virgo was invented by the Lydians, according to their historian Xanthus. Zachias (Quaest. medico-legal.) declares that the process was one of infibulation or simple sewing up the vulva ; but modern experience has suggested an operation like the "spaying" of bitches, or mutilation of the womb, in modern euphuism "baby-house." Dr. Robert (''Journey from Delhi to Bombay, Miiller's Archiv. 1843") speaks of a eunuch'd woman who after ovariotomy had no breasts, no pubes, no rotundities, and no desires. The Australians practise exsection of the ovaries systematically to make women barren. Miklucho Maclay learned from the traveller Retsch that about Lake Parapitshurie men's urethras were split, and the girls were spayed : the latter showing two scars in the groin. They have flat bosoms, but feminine forms, and are slightly bearded ; they mix with the men, whom they satisfy mechanically, but without enjoyment (?). MacGillivray, of the " Rattlesnake," saw near Cape York a woman with these scars : she was a surdo-mute, and had probably been spayed to prevent increase. The old Scandinavians, from Norway to Iceland, systemati- cally gelded "sturdy vagrants," in order that they might net beget bastards. The Hottentots before marriage used to cut off the left testicle, meaning by such semi- castration to prevent the begetting of twins. This curious custom, mentioned by the Jesuit Tochard, Boeving, and Kolbe, is now apparently obsolete at least, the traveller Fritsch did not nnd it. 1 Arab. " Harim " = " forbidden," sinful. n OF LOOKING TO THE ENDS OF AFFAIRS. WHEN it was the next day, the second of the king's Wazirs, whose name was Baharun, came in to him and said, " Allah advance the king ! This deed which yonder youth hath done is a grave matter, and a foul misdeed and a heinous against the household of the king." So Azadbakht bade fetch the youth, because of the Minister's speech; and when he came into the presence, said to him, " Woe to thee, O youth ! There is no help but that I do thee die by the dreadest of deaths, for indeed thou hast committed a grave crime, and I will make thee a warning to the folk." The youth replied, "O king, hasten not, for the looking to the ends of affairs is a column of the kingdom, and a cause of continuance and assurance for the kingship. Whoso looketh not to the issues of actions, there befalleth him that which befel the merchant, and whoso looketh to the consequences of actions, there betideth him of joyance that which betideth the merchant's son." The king asked, " And what is the story of the merchant and his sons ? " and the youth answered, " Hear, O king, THE TALE OF THE MERCHANT AND HIS SONS."* There was once a merchant, who had abundant wealth, and a wife to boot. He set out one day on a business journey, leaving his wife big with child, and said to her, " Albeit, I now leave thee, 1 In Chavis and Cazotte, who out-galland'd Galland in transmogrifying the Arabic, this is the " Story of Illage (Al-Hajj) Mahomet and his sons ; or, the Imprudent Man." The tale occurs in many forms and with great modifications : See, for instance, the Gesta Romanorum " Of the miraculous recall of sinners and of the consolation which piety offers to the distressed," the adventures of the knight Placidus, vol. ii. 99. Charles Swan, London. Rivington, 1824. 74 Supplemental Nights. yet I will return before the birth of the babe, Inshallah ! " Then he farewelled her and setting out, ceased not faring from country to country till he came to the court of one of the kings and fore- gathered with him. Now this king needed one who should order his affairs and those of his kingdom and seeing the merchant well-bred and intelligent, he required him to abide at court and entreated him honourably. After some years, he sought his Sovran's leave to go to his own house, but the king would not consent to this ; whereupon he said to him, " O king, suffer me go and see my children and come again." So he granted him permission for this and, taking surety of him for his return, gave him a purse, wherein were a thousand gold dinars. Accordingly, the merchant embarked in a ship and set sail, intending for his mother-land. On such wise fared it with the trader ; but as re- gards his wife, news had reached her that her husband had accepted service with King Such-an-one ; so she arose and taking her two sons, (for she had borne twins in his absence,) set out seeking those parts. As Fate would have it, they happened upon an island and her husband came thither that very night in the ship. So the woman said to her children, " The ship cometh from the country where your father is : hie ye to the sea-shore, that ye may enquire of him." Accordingly, they repaired to the sea-shore and going up into the ship, fell to playing about it and busied themselves with their play till evening evened. Now the merchant -their sire lay asleep in the ship, and the noisy disport of the boys troubled him ; whereupon he rose to call out to them " Silence " and let the purse with the thousand dinars fall among the bales of merchandise. He sought for it and finding it not, buffeted his head and seized upon the boys, saying, " None took the purse but you : ye were playing all about the bales, so ye might steal somewhat, and there was none here but you twain." Then he took his staff, and laying hold of the children, fell to beating them and flogging them, whilst they wept, and the crew came round about them saying, " The The Tale of the Merchant and his Sons. 7 5 bo>'b of this island are all rogues and robbers." Then, of the greatness of the merchant's anger, he swore an oath that, except they brought out the purse, he would drown them in the sea ; so when by reason of their denial his oath demanded the deed, he took the two boys and binding them each to a bundle of reeds, cast them into the water. Presently, finding that they tarried from her, the mother of the two boys went searching for them, till she came to the ship and fell to saying, " Who hath seen two boys of mine? Their fashion is so and so and their age thus and thus." When the crew heard her words, they said, " This is the description of the two boys who were drowned in the sea but now." Their mother hearing this began calling on them and crying, " Alas, my anguish for your loss, O my sons ! Where was the eye of your father this day, that it might have seen you ? " Then one of the sailors asked her, "Whose wife art thou ?" and she answered, "Ii am the wife of Such-an-one the trader. I was on my way to him,- and there hath befallen me this calamity." When the merchant! heard her words, he knew her and rising to his feet, rent his. raiment and beat his head and said to his wife, " By Allah, I have destroyed my children with mine own hand ! This is the end of whoso looketh not to the endings of affairs. This is his reward who taketh not time to reflect." Then he took to wailing and weeping over them, he and his wife, and he said to his shipmates, " By Allah, I shall never enjoy my life, till I light upon news of them ! " And he began to go round about the sea, in quest of his, sons, but found them not. Meanwhile, the wind carried the two, children from the ship towards the land, and cast them up on the" sea-shore. As for one of them, a company of the guards of the! king of those parts found him and carried him to their lord, who marvelled at him with exceeding marvel and adopted him, giving i out to the folk that he was his own son, whom he had hidden, 1 of 1 i.e. For fear of the " eye " : see vol. i. 123 and passim. In these days the practice ' 76 Supplemental Nights, his love for him. So the folk rejoiced in him with joy exceeding, for their lord's sake, and the king appointed him his heir-apparent and the inheritor of his kingdom. On this wise a number of years passed, till the king died and they enthroned the youth sovran in his stead, when he sat down on the seat of his kingship and his estate flourished and his affairs prospered with all regularity. Meanwhile, his father and mother had gone round about, in quest of him and his brother, all the islands of the sea, hoping that the tide might have cast them up, but found no trace of them ; so they, despaired of them and took up their abode in a certain of the islands. One day, the merchant, being in the market, saw a broker, and in his hand a boy he was crying for sale, and said in himself, ** I will buy yonder boy, so I may solace myself with him for my sons-." 1 So he bought him and bore him to his house ; and, when his wife saw him, she cried out and said, " By Allah, this is mj^ son ! " Accordingly his father and mother rejoiced in him with exceeding joy and asked him of his brother ; but he answered, " The waves parted us and I knew not how it went with him." Therewith his father and mother consoled themselves with him and on this wise a number of years passed by. Now the merchant and his wife had homed them in a city of the land where their other son was king, and when the boy they had recovered grew up, his father assigned unto him merchandise, to the end that he might travel therewith. Upon this he fared forth and entered the city wherein his brother ruled and anon news reached the king that a merchant had come thither with merchandise befitting royalties ; so he sent for him and the young trader obeyed the summons and going in to him, sat down before him. Neither of them knew the is rare ; but, whenever you see at Cairo an Egyptian dame daintily dressed and leading by the hand a grimy little boy whose eyes are black with flies and whose dress is orn and unclean, you see what has taken its place. And if you would praise the brat you must not say " Oh, what a pretty boy ! " but " Inshallah ! " the Lord doth as he pleaseth. J The adoption of slave lads and lasses was and is still common among Moslems. The Taie of the Merchant and his Sons. 77 other ; but blood moved between them 1 and the king said to the merchant youth, " I desire of thee that thou tarry with me and I will exalt thy station and give thee all that thou requirest and cravest." Accordingly, he abode with him awhile, never quitting him ; and when he saw that he would not surfer him to depart from him, he sent to his father and mother and bade them remove thither to him. Hereat they resolved upon moving to that island, and their son still increased in honour with the king, albeit he knew not that he was his brother. Now it chanced one night that the king sallied forth without the city and drank and the wine got the mastery of him and he became drunken. So, of the youth's fear for his safety, he said, " I will keep watch myself over the king this night, seeing that he deserveth this from me, for that which he hath done with me of kindly deeds ; " and he arose forthright and baring his brand, stationed himself at the door of the king's pavilion. But one of the royal pages saw him standing there, with the drawn sword in his hand, and he was of those who envied him his favour with the king ; therefore, he said to him, "Why dost thou on this wise at this time and in the like of this place ? " Said the youth, " I am keeping watch and ward over the king myself, in requital of his bounties to me." The page said no more to him ; however, when it was morning, he acquainted a number of the king's servants with the matter, and they said, "This is an opportunity for us. Come, let us assemble together and acquaint the king therewith, so the young merchant may lose regard with him 2 and he rid us of him and we be at rest from him." So they assembled together and going in to the king, said to him, " We have a warning wherewith we would warn thee." Quoth he, " And what is your warning ? " and quoth they, " This 1 I have elsewhere noted this " pathetic fallacy" which is a lieu commun of Eastern folk-lore and not less frequently used in the mediaeval literature of Europe before statistics were invented. 8 Arab. " Yaskut min 'Aynayh," lit. = fall from his two eyes, lose favour. 78 Supplemental Nights. youth, the trader, whom thou hast taken into favour and whose rank thou hast exalted ab'ove the chiefest of thy lords, we saw yesterday bare his brand and design to fall upon thee, to the end that he might slay thee." Now when the king heard this, his colour changed and he said to them, " Have ye proof of this ? " They rejoined, " What proof wouldst thou have ? An thou desirest this, feign thyself drunken again this night and lie down as if asleep, and privily watch him and thou wilt see with thine eyes all that we have mentioned to thee." Then they went to the youth and said to him, " Know that the king thanketh thee for thy dealing yesternight and exceedeth in commendation of thy good deed ; " and they prompted him again to do the like. Accordingly, when the next night came, the king abode on wake, watching the youth ; and as for the latter, he went to the door of the pavilion and unsheathing his scymitar, stood in the doorway. When the king saw him do thus, he was sore disquieted and bade seize him and said to him, " Is this my reward from thee ? I showed thee favour more than any else and thou wouldst do with me this abominable deed." Then arose two of the king's pages and said to him, "O our lord, an thou order it, we will smite his neck." But the king said, " Haste in killing is a vile thing, for 'tis ! a grave matter ; the quick we can kill, but the killed we cannot quicken, and needs must we look to the end of affairs. The slaying of this youth will not escape us." 2 Therewith he bade imprison him, whilst he himself went back to the city and, his duties done, fared forth to the chase. Then he returned to town and forgot the youth ; so the pages went in to him and said to him, " O king, an thou keep silence concerning yonder youth, who designed to slaughter thee, all thy servants will presume upon the king's majesty, and indeed the folk talk of this matter." Hereat the king waxed wroth and 1 i.e. killing a man. 1 i.e. we can slay him whenever we will. The Tale of t tie Merchant and his Sons. 79 cried, " Fetch him hither ; " and bade the headsman strike off his head. So they brought the youth and bound his eyes ; and the sworder stood at his head and said to the king, " By thy leave, O my lord, I will smite his neck." But the king cried, " Stay, till I look into his affair. Needs must I put him to death and the dispatching of him will not escape me." Then he restored him to the prison and there he abode till it should be the king's will to do him die. Presently, his parents heard of the matter ; whereupon his father arose and going up to the palace, wrote a letter and presented it to the king, who read it, and behold, therein was written, saying, " Have ruth on me, so may Allah have ruth on thee, and hasten not in the slaughter of my son ; for indeed I acted hastily in a certain affair and drowned his brother in the sea, and to this day I bemourn him. An thou must needs kill him, kill me in his stead." Therewith the old merchant, weeping bitterly, prostrated himself before that king, who said to him, " Tell me thy tale." Said the merchant, " O my lord, this youth had a brother and I in my haste cast the twain into the sea." And he related to him his story, first and last, whereupon the king cried with a mighty loud cry and casting himself down from the throne, embraced his father and brother and said to the merchant. " By Allah, thou art my very father and this is my brother and thy wife is our mother." And they abode weeping, all three of them. Then the king acquainted his people with the matter and said to them, " O folk, how deem ye of my looking to the consequences of action?;" and they all marvelled at his wisdom and foresight. Then he turned to his sire and said to him, " Hadst thou looked to the issue of thine affair and made due delay in whatso thou didst, there had not betided thee this repentance and chagrin all this time." Thereupon he sent for his mother and they rejoiced one in other and lived all their days in joy and gladness." " What then " (continued the young treasurer), " is more grievous than the lack of looking to the ends of things ? Wherefore hasten thou not in the slaying 8o Supplemental Nights. of me, lest penitence betide thee and sore chagrin." When the king heard this, he said, " Return him to the prison till the morrow, so we may look into his affair ; for that deliberation in such is advisable and the slaughter of this youth shall not escape us." 8f OF THE ADVANTAGES OF PATIENCE. 1 WHEN it was the third day, the third Wazir came in to the king and said to him, " O king, delay not the matter of this youth, because his deed hath caused us fall into the mouths of folk, and it behoveth that thou slay him forthright, that the talk may be cut from us and it be not said : The king saw on his bed a man with his wife and spared him." The king was chagrined by these words and bade bring the youth. Accordingly, they fetched him in fetters, and indeed the king's anger was upstirred against him by the Minister's speech and he was troubled ; so he said to him, " O base of birth, thou hast dishonoured us and marred our mention, and needs must I do away thy life from the world." Quoth the youth, " O king, make use of patience in all thine affairs, so wilt thou win to thy wish, for that Allah Almighty hath appointed the issue of long-suffering to be in abounding good, and indeed by patience Abu Sabir ascended from the pit and sat down upon the throne." Asked the king, " Who was Abu Sabir, and what is his tale ? " and the youth answered, saying, " Hear thou, O king, THE STORY OF ABU SABIR.* There was once a man, a village headman,* Abu Sabir hight, and he had much black cattle and a buxom wife, who had borne 1 In Chavis and Cazotte " Story of Abosaber the Patient." " Abu Sabir " would mean " Father of the Patient (one)." 2 Arab. " Dihkan," in Persian a villager ; but here something more, a village-elder or chief. Al-Mas'udi (chap, xxiv.), and other historians apply the term to a class of noble Persians descended from the ten sons of Wahkert, the first " Dihkan," the fourth generation from King Kayomars. VOL. I. F 82 Supplemental Nights. him two sons. They abode in a certain hamlet and there used to come thither a lion and rend and devour Abu Sabir's herd, so that the most part thereof was wasted and his wife said to him one day, " This lion hath wasted the greater part of our property. Arise, mount thy horse and take thy host and do thy best to kill him, so we may be at rest from him." Bat Abu Sabir said, " Have patience, O woman, for the issue of patience is praised. This lion it is which transgresseth against us, and the transgressor, perforce must Almighty .Allah destroy him. Indeed, 'tis our long-suffer- ing that shall slay him, 1 and he that doth evil needs must it recoil upon him." A few days after, the king went forth one morning to hunt and falling in with the lion, he and his host, gave chase to him and ceased not pursuit till they slew him. This news reached Abu Sabir who improved the occasion to his wife, " Said I not to thee, O woman, that whoso doth evil, it shall recoil upon him ? Haply an I sought to slay the lion myself, I had not prevailed against him, and this is the issue of patience." It befel, after this, that a man was slain in Abu Sabir's village; wherefore the Sultan bade plunder the village, and they spoiled the patient one's goods with the rest. Thereupon his wife said to him, " All the king's officers know thee ; so do thou prefer thy plaint to the sovran, that he may bid thy beasts to be restored to thee. But he said to her, " O woman, said I not to thee that he who worketh wrong shall be wronged.? Indeed, the king hath done evil, and right soon he shall suffer the issues of his deed, for whoso taketh the goods of the folk, needs must his goods be taken." A man of his neighbours heard his speech, and he was an envier of his ; so he went to the Sultan and acquainted him therewith, whereupon the king sent and plundered all the rest of his goods and drave him forth from the village, and his wife and family with him. They 1 Reminding one not a little of certain anecdotes anent Quakers, current in England and English-speaking lands. The Story of Abu Sabir. 83 went wandering in the waste grounds about the hamlet and his wife said to him, "All that hath befallen us cometh of thy slowness in affairs and thy helplessness." But he said to her, " Have patience, for the issue of patience is good." Then they walked on a little way, and thieves met them and despoiling them of whatso remained with them, stripped them of their raiment and took from them the two children ; whereupon the woman wept and said to her husband, " Hearkye, my good man, put away from thee this folly and up with us to follow the thieves, so, peradventure they may have com- passion on us and restore the children to us." He replied, " O woman, have patience, for he who doth evil shall be requited with evil and his frowardness shall revert upon him. Were I to follow them, belike one of them would take his sword and smite my neck and slay me ; but have patience, for the issue of patience is praised." Then they fared on till they made a village l in the land of Kirman, and by it a river of water ; so the man said to his wife, " Tarry thou here, whilst I enter the village and look us out a place wherein we may home ourselves." And he left her by the water and entered the village. Presently, up came a horseman in quest of water, wherewith to water his horse : he saw the woman and she was pleasing in his eyes ; so quoth he to her, " Arise, mount with me and I will take thee to wife and entreat thee kindly." Quoth she, " Spare me, so may Allah spare thee ! In- deed I have a husband." But he drew his dudgeon and said to her, " An thou obey me not, I will smite thee and slay thee." When she saw his frowardness, she wrote on the ground in the sand with her finger, saying, " O Abu Sabir, thou hast not ceased to be patient, till thy good is gone from thee and thy children and now 1 Arab. " Kary ah," a word with a long history. The root seems to be Karaha, he met ; in Chald. Karih and Karia (emphatic Karita) a town or city ; and in Heb. Kirjath, Kiryithayira, etc. We find it in Carthage = Karti hadisah, or New Town as opposed to Utica (Atikah) = Old Town ; in Carchemish and in a host of similar com- pounds. In Syria and Egypt Kariyah, like Kafr, now means a hamlet, a village. 84 Supplemental Nights. thy wife, who was more precious in thy sight than everything and than all thy monies, and indeed thou abidest in thy sorrow the whole of thy life long, so thou mayest see what thy patience will profit thee," Then the horseman took her, and setting her behind him, went his way. As for Abu Sabir, when he returned, he saw not his wife but he read what was writ upon the ground, wherefore he wept and sat awhile sorrowing. Then said he to himself, " O Abu Sabir, it behoveth thee to be patient, for haply there shall betide thee an affair yet sorer than this and more grievous ; " and he went forth a-follovving his face, 1 like to one love-distraught and passion-madded, till he came to a gang of labourers working upon the palace of the king, by way of forced labour. 2 When the over- seers saw him, they laid hold of him and said to him, " Work thou with these folk at the palace of the king ; else we will imprison thee for life." So he fell to working with them as a labourer and every day they gave him a bannock of bread. He wrought with them a month's space, till it chanced that one of the labourers mounted a ladder and falling, brake his leg ; whereupon he cried out and shed tears. Quoth Abu Sabir to him, " Have patience and weep not ; for in thine endurance thou shalt find ease." But the man said to him, " How long shall I have patience ? " And he answered, saying, " Long- suffering bringeth a man forth of the bottom of the pit and seateth him on the throne of the kingdom." It so. fortuned that the king was seated at the lattice, hearkening to their talk, and Abu Sabir's words angered him for the moment ; where- fore he bade bring him before him and they brought him forthright. Now there was in the king's palace an underground dungeon and therein a vast silo 3 and a deep, into which the king caused cast Abu Sabir, saying to him, " O little of wit, soon shall we aee 1 i.e. wandering at a venture. * Arab. ' Sakhrah," the old French Corvee, and the " Begr " of India. 3 Arab. " Malmurah : " see vol. ii. 39, where it is used as an " underground celt " The word is extensively used in the Maghrib or Western Africa. The Story of Abu Sabir. 85 how thou wilt come forth of the pit to the throne of the kingdom.*' Then he used continuously to come and stand at the mouth of the pit and say, " O little of wit, O Abu Sabir, 1 I see thee not come forth of the pit and sit down on the king's throne ! " And he assigned him each day two bannocks of bread, whilst Abu Sabir kept silence and spake not, but patiently bore whatso betided him. Now the king had a brother, whom he had im- prisoned in that pit of old time, and he had died there ; but the folk of the realm deemed him still alive, and when his durance grew long, the courtiers of the king used to talk of this and of the tyranny of their liege Lord, and the bruit spread abroad that the sovran was a tyrant, so they fell upon him one day and slew him. Then they sought the silo and brought out therefrom Abu Sabir, deeming him the king's brother, for that he was the nearest of folk to him in favour and the likest, and he had been long in the pit. So they doubted not but that he was the Prince and said to him, " Reign thou in thy brother's room, for we have slairt him and thou art sovran in his stead." But Abu Sabir was silent and spoke not a word ; 2 and he knew that this was the result of his patience. Then he arose and sitting down on the king's throne, donned the royal dress and dispensed justice and equity, and affairs prospered ; wherefore the lieges obeyed him and the subjects inclined to him and many were his soldiers. Now the king, who erst had plundered Abu Sabir's goods and driven him forth of his village, had an enemy ; and the foe mounted horse against him and overcame him and captured his capital ; wherefore he betook him to flight and came to Abu Sabir's city, craving support 1 Arab. " Ya Aba Sabir." There are five vocative particles in Arabic ; " Ya," com- mon to the near and far ; " Aya " (ho !) and " Hayd" (holla !) addressed to the far, and " Ay " and "A" (A-'Abda-llahi, O Abdullah), to those near. All govern the accusative of a noun in construction in the literary language only ; and the vulgar use none but the first named. The English-speaking races neglect the vocative particle, and I never heard it except in the Southern States of the Anglo-American Union = Oh, Mr. Smith. 2 He was not honest enough to undeceive them ; a neat Quaker-like touch. 86 Supplemental Nights. of him and seeking that he should succour him. He knew not that the king of the city was the headman whom he had spoiled ; so he presented himself before him and made complaint to him ; but Abu Sabir knew him and said to him, " This is somewhat of the issue of patience. Allah the Most High hath given me power over thee." Then he commanded his guards to plunder the unjust king and his suite ; so they spoiled them and stripping them of their clothes, put them forth of his country. When Abu Sabir's troops saw this, they marvelled and said, " What be this deed the king doth ? There cometh a king to him, craving pro- tection, and he spoileth him ! This is not the fashion of kings." But they dared not speak of this. Presently, news came to the king of highwaymen in his land ; so he set out in quest of them and ceased not to follow after them, till he seized on them all, and behold, they were the very thieves who had plundered him and his wife by the way and had carried off his children. Accordingly he bade bring them before him, and when they came into his presence, he questioned them, saying, " Where are the two boys ye took on such a day ? '' Said they, " They are with us and we will present them to our lord the king for Mamelukes to serve him and give him wealth galore that we have gotten together and doff all we own and repent from lawlessness and fight in thy service." Abu Sabir, however, paid no heed to their words, and seized all their good and bade put them all to death. Furthermore, he took his two boys and rejoiced in them with exceeding joy, whereat the troops murmured among themselves, saying, " Verily, this is a greater tyrant than his brother ! There cometh to him a gang of thieves, and they seek to repent and proffer two boys by way of peace-offering, and he taketh the two lads and all their good and slayeththem! Indeed this be violent oppression." After this came the horseman, who had seized Abu Sabir's wife, and complained of her to the king that she would not give him possession of her person, and solemnly declared that she was his wife. The king The Story of Abu Sabir. 87 bade bring her before him, that he might hear her plea and pronounce judgment upon her. So the horseman came with her before him, and when the king saw her, he knew her and taking her from her ravisher, bade put him to death. Then he became aware of the troops, that they murmured against him and spake of him as a tyrant ; so he turned to his courtiers and ministers and said to them, " As for me, by Allah of All-might, 1 I am not the king's brother ! Nay, I am but one whom the king im- prisoned upon a word he heard from me and he used every day to come and taunt me therewith. Ye deem me the king's brother ; but I am Abu Sabir and the Lord hath given me the kingship in virtue of my patience. As for the king who sought protection of me and I plundered him, 'twas he who first wronged me, for that he plundered me aforetime and drave me forth of my native land and banished me, without due cause ; wherefore I requited him with that which he had done to me, in the way of lawful retribution. As for the highwaymen who proffered repentance, there was no repentance for them with me, because they began upon me with foul dealing and waylaid me by the road and despoiled me and seized my good and my sons, the two boys that I took of them, and those ye deemed Mamelukes are my very sons ; so I avenged myself on the thieves of that which they did with me whilome and requited them with strict justice. As for the horseman whom I slew, this woman I took from him was my wife and he seized her by force, but Allah the Most High hath restored her to me ; so this was my right, and my deed that I have done was righteous, albeit ye, judging by the externals of the matter, deemed that I had done this by way of tyranny." When 1 Here the oath is justified ; but the reader will have remarked that the name of Allah is often taken in vain. Moslems, however, so far from holding this a profanation deem il an acknowledgment of the Omnipotence and Omnipresence. The Jews from whom the Christians have borrowed had an interest in concealing the name of their tribal divinity; and therefore made it ineffable. 88 Supplemental Nights. the folk heard these words, they marvelled and fell prostrate before him ; and they redoubled in esteem for him and exceeding affection and sued pardon of him, admiring that which Allah had done with him and how He had given him the kingship by reason of his longsuffering and his patience and how he had raised himself by his endurance from the bottom of the pit to the throne of the kingdom, what while Allah cast down the late king from the throne into the pit. 1 Then Abu Sabir foregathered with his wife and said to her, " How deemest thou of the fruit of patience and its sweetness and the fruit of haste and its bitterness ? Verily, all that a man doth of good and evil, he shall assuredly encounter the same." " On like wise, O king " (continued the young treasurer), " it besitteth thee to practise patience, whenever it is possible to thee, for that longsuffering is the wont of the noble, and it is the chiefest of their reliance, especially for kings." When the king heard this from the youth, his wrath subsided ; so he bade return him to the prison, and the folk dispersed that day. 1 i.e. the grave, the fosse commune of slain men. OF THE ILL EFFECTS OF IMPATIENCE. WHEN it was the fourth day, the fourth Wazir, whose name was Zushcid, 1 made his appearance and prostrating himself to his liege lord, said to him, " O king, let not the talk of yonder youth delude thee, for that he is not a truth-teller. As long as he shall remain alive, the folk will not leave talking nor will thy heart cease to be occupied with him." Cried the king, " By Allah, thou sayst sooth and I will cause fetch him this day and slay him between my hands." Then bade he bring the youth ; so they fetched him in fetters and he said to him, " Woe to thee ! Thinkest thou to appease my heart with thy prate, whereby the days are spent in talk? I mean to do thee die this day and be quit of thee." Said the youth, " O king, 'tis in thy power to put me out of the world whenso thou wilt, but haste is the wont of the ignoble and patience the sign of the noble. An thou do me to death, thou wilt repent, and when thou desire to bring me back to life, thou wilt not be able. Indeed, whoso acteth hastily in an affair, there befalleth him what befel Bihzad, son of the king." Quoth the king, " And what is his tale ? " Replied the treasurer, " O king, hear THE STOR Y OF PRINCE BIHZA Z>." * There was once, of olden time, a king and he had a son Bihzad hight, there was not in his tide a fairer than he and he loved to 1 A fancy name ; "Zawash" in Pers. is = Zeus, the planet Jupiter, either borrowed from Greece, or both descended from some long forgotten ancestor. * In Chavis and Cazotte " Story of Bhazad (!) the Impatient. The name is Persian, Bih (well, good) Zad (born). In the adj. bih we recognise a positive lost in English and German which retain the comparative (bih-tar = better) and superlative (bih-tarin = best). 9O Supplemental Nights. fellow with the folk and to mix with the merchants and sit and talk with them. One day, as he was seated in an assembly, amongst a number of people, he heard them talking of his own beauty and loveliness, and saying, " There be not in his time a fairer than he." But one of the company said, " Indeed, the daughter of King Such-an-one is seemlier than he." When Bihzad heard this saying, his reason fled and his heart fluttered and he called the last speaker and said to him, " Repeat to me that which thou saidst and tell me the truth concerning her whom thou avouchest to be goodlier than I and whose daughter she is." Quoth the man, " She is the daughter of King Such-an-one ;" whereupon Bihzad's heart clave to her and his colour changed. Presently the news reached his sire, who said to him, " O my son, this maiden to whom thy heart cleaveth is at thy command and we have power over her ; so wait till I demand her in wedlock for thee." But the Prince said, " I will not wait." So the king hastened in the matter and sent to demand her of her sire, who required of him an hundred thousand dinars paid down to his daughter's dowry. Quoth Bihzad's father, " So be it," and weighed out what was in his treasuries, and there remained to his charge but a little of the dower. 1 So he said, " Have patience, O my son, till we gather together the rest of the money and send to fetch her for thee, since now she is become thine." Therewith the Prince waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and cried, " I will not have patience ; " so he took his sword and his lance 2 and mounting his horse, went forth and fell to cutting the way 3 . It chanced one day that he fell upon a com pany of folk who overcame him by dint of numbers and taking him 1 i.e. the moiety kept by the bridegroom, a contingent settlement paid at divorce or on the death of the husband. 3 Arab. " Rumh" = the horseman's lance not the footman's spear. 3 i.e. became a highwayman (a time-honoured and honourable career) in order to collect money for completing the dowry. The Story oj Prince Bihzad. 91 prisoner, pinioned him and carried him to the lord of that land wherein he was a-highwaying. This king saw his semblance and loveliness and misdoubting of him, said. " This be no robber's favour. Tell me truly, O youth, who thou art." Bihzad was ashamed to acquaint him with his condition and preferred death for himself; so he answered, " I am naught but a thief and a bandit." Quoth the king, " It behoveth us not to act hastily in the matter of this youth, but that we look into his affair, for that impatience gendereth penitence." So he imprisoned him in his palace and assigned him one to serve him. Meanwhile the news spread abroad that Bihzad, son of the sovran, was lost, whereupon his father sent letters in quest of him to all the kings including him with whom he was imprisoned. When the letter reached the latter, he praised Almighty Allah for that he had not anyways hastened in Bihzad's affair and bidding them bring him before himself, said to hfm, "Art thou minded to destroy thy life ? " Quoth Bihzad, " I did this for fear of shame ;" and the king said, " An thou fear shame, thou shouldst not practise haste in thy doings ; knowest thou not that the fruit of impatience is repentance ? Had we hasted, we also, like thee, had repented.'* Then he conferred on him a robe of honour and engaged to him for the completion of the dowry and sent to his father, giving him the glad tidings and comforting his heart with news of his son'* safety ; after which he said to Bihzad, " Arise, O my son, and go to thy sire." Rejoined the Prince, " O king, complete thy kindness to me by hastening my going-in to my wife ; for, an I go back to my sire, the time will be long till he send a messenger and he return, promising me dispatch. The king laughed and marvelled at him and said to him, " I fear for thee from this precipitancy, lest thou come to shame and win not thy wish." Then he gave him muchel of wealth and wrote him letters, com- mending him to the father of the Princess, and despatched him to them. When he drew near their country, the king came forth to 92 Supplemental Nights. meet him with the people of his realm and assigned him a fine lodging and bade hasten the going-in of his daughter to him, in compliance with the other king's letter. He also advised the Prince's father of his son's coming and they busied themselves with the affair of the young lady." When it was the day of the bride's going-in 1 Bihzad, of his impetuosity and lack of patience, betook himself to the wall, which was between himself and her lodging and wherein was a hole pierced, and of his haste looked through it, so he might see his bride. But her mother espied him 2 and this was grievous to her ; so she took from one of the pages two red- hot iron spits and thrust them into the hole through which the Prince was looking. The spits ran into his eyes and put them out and he fell down fainting and the wedding-festival was changed to mourning and sore concern. " See, then, O king " (continued the youth), "the issue of the Prince's haste and lack of deliberation, for indeed his impatience bequeathed him long penitence and his joy turned to annoy ; and on like wise was it with the woman who hastened to put out his eyes and delayed not to deliberate. All this was the doing of haste ; wherefore it behoveth the king not to be hasty in putting me to death, for that I am under the hold of his hand, and whatso time thou desirest my slaughter, it shall not escape thee." When the king heard this his anger subsided and he said, " Return him back to the prison till to-morrow, so we may look into his case/' 1 -i.e. to the bride, the wedding-day; hot to be confounded with "going in unto" etc. 2 Probably meaning that she saw the eyes espying through the crevice without knowing whose they were. 93 OF THE ISSUES OF GOOD AND EVIL ACTIONS. WHEN it was the fifth day, the fifth Wazir, whose name was Jahrbaur, 1 came in to the king and prostrating himself before him, said, " O king, it behoveth thee, an thou see or hear one look on thy house, 2 that thou pluck out his eyes. How then should it be with him whom thou sawest a middlemost thy palace and on thy royal bed, and he suspected with thy Harim, and not of thy lineage or of thy kindred ? So do thou away this shame by putting him to death. Indeed, we urge thee not to this, except for the assurance of thine empire and of our zeal for thy loyal counselling and of our affection to thee. How can it be lawful that this youth should live for a single hour?" Therewith the king was filled with fury and cried, " Bring him forthright." So they fetched the youth whom they set before him in fetters, and the king said to him, " Woe to thee ! Thou hast sinned a great sin and the time of thy survival hath been long ; 3 but needs must we put thee to death, because there is no ease for us in thy life till we take it," Quoth the youth, >f Know O king, that I, by Allah, am guiltless, and by reason of this I hope for life, for that he who is innocent of all offence goeth not in fear of pains and penalties, neither greateneth his mourning and his concern ; but whoso hath sinned, needs must his sin be expiated upon him, though his life be prolonged, and it shall overtake him, even as it overtook Dadbfn the king and his Wazir." Asked Azadbakht, " How was 1 A fancy name intended to be Persian. 2 i.e, thy Harem, thy women. * i.e. thy life hath been unduly prolonged. 94 Supplemental Nights. that ? " and the youth said, " Hear, O King (whose days may Allah increase!), THE STORY OF XING DADBIN AND HIS WAZIR&" There was once a king in the land of Tabaristan, 2 by name Dddbfn, and he had two Wazirs, one called Zorkhan and the other Kardan. 3 The Minister Zorkhan had a daughter, there was not in her day a fairer than she nor yet a chaster or a more pious, for she was a faster, a prayer and an adorer of Allah the Almighty, and her name was Arwa. 4 Now Dadbin, the king, heard tell of her praises ; so his heart clave to her and he called the Wazir her sire and said to him, " I desire of thee that thou marry me to thy daughter." Quoth Zorkhan, " O my liegest lord, suffer me to consult her, and if she consent, I will marry thee with her." And the king said, " Haste thee with this." So the Minister went in to his daughter and said to her, "O my daughter, the king seeketh thee of me and desireth to marry thee." She said, " O my father, I desire not a husband, and if thou wilt marry me, marry me not but with a mate who shall be mine inferior in rank and I nobler than he, so he may not turn to other than myself nor lift his eyes upon me, 5 and marry me not to one who is nobler than I, lest I be with him as a slave-girl and a serving-woman." Accord- ingly the Wazir returned to the king arid acquainted him with that which his daughter had said, whenas he redoubled in desire and 1 See Chavis and Gazette, "Story of Ravia (Arwa!) the Resigned." Dad-bfn (Persian) =: one who looks to justice, a name hardly deserved in this case. 2 For this important province and city of Persia, see Al-Mas'udl, ii. 2\ iv. 86, etc. It gave one of many names to the Caspian Sea. The adjective is Tabari, whereas Tabardni = native of Tiberias (Tabariyah) . 8 Zor-khan = Lord Violence, and Ka>-dan = Business-knower ; both Persian, * " Arwa" written with a terminal of yd is a woman's P.N. in Arabic. 5 i.e. Not look down upon me with eyes of contempt. This " marrying belov one ** is still an Eastern idea, very little known to women in the West. The Story of King Dadbin and his Wazirs. 9$ love-longing for her, and said to her sire, " An thou marry me not to her of good grace, I will take her in thy despite and by force." The Minister again betook himself to his daughter and repeated to her the king's words, but she replied, " I want no husband." So he returned to the king and told him what she said, and he was wroth and threatened him, whereupon the father took his daughter and fled with her. When this came to the king's knowledge, he despatched troops in pursuit of Zorkhan, to stop the road upon him, whilst he himself went out and overtaking the Wazir, smote him on the head with his mace l and slew him. Then he took his daughter by force and returning to his dwelling place, went in to her and married her. Arwa resigned herself with patience to that which betided her and committed her case to Allah Almighty ; and indeed she was used to serve Him night and day with a goodly service in the house of King Dadbin her husband. It befel one day that the king had occasion to make a journey ; so he called his second Wazir Kardan and said to him, " I have a charge to commit to thy care, and it is yonder lady, my wife, the daughter of the Wazir Zorkhan, and I desire that thou keep her and guard her thy very self, because I have not in the world aught dearer than she." Quoth Kardan in his mind, "Of a truth, the king honoureth me with an exceeding honour in entrusting me with this lady." And he answered, " With love and all gladness." When the king had departed on his journey, Kardan said in himself, "Needs must I look upon this lady whom the king loveth with all this love." So he hid himself in a place, that he might espy her, and saw her surpassing description ; wherefor he was confounded at her and his wit was wildered and love gat the lordship of him, so that he sent to her, 1 Chavis and Cazotte call the Dabbus a " dabour " and explain it as a "sort of scepter used by Eastern Princes, which serves also as a weapon." For the Dabbus, or mace, see vol. vi. 249. 9<5 Supplemental Nights. saying, " Have pity on me, for indeed I perish for the love of thee." She sent back to him and replied, "O Wazir, thou art in the place of faith and confidence, so do not thou betray thy trust, but make thine inward life like unto thine outward ! and occupy thyself with thy wife and that which is lawful to thee. As for this, 'tis mere lust and women are all of one and the same taste. 1 And if thou wilt not be forbidden from this talk, I will make thee a byword and a reproach among folk." When the Minister heard her answer, he knew that she was chaste of soul and body ; wherefore he repented with the utmost of repentance and feared for himself from the king and said, " Needs must I devise a device whereby I may destroy her ; else shall I be disgraced with the king." Now when the king returned from his journey, he questioned Kardan of the affairs of his kingdom, and the Wazir answered, " All is right well, O king, save a vile matter, which I have espied here and with which I am ashamed to confront the sovran ; but, if I hold my peace thereof, I fear lest other than I discover it and I shall have played traitor to the king in the matter of my warning and my trust." Quoth Dadbin, " Speak, for to me thou art none other than a truth-teller, a trustworthy and a loyal counsellor in whatso thou sayest, undistrusted in aught" And the Minister said, " O king, this woman to whose love thy heart cleaveth and of whose piety thou talkest and her fasting and her praying, I will plainly prove to thee that this is craft and guile." Hereat the king was troubled and said, " What may be the matter ? " and the Wazir replied, " I would have thee wot that some days after thy departure, one came to me and said to me, Come, O Wazir, and look. So I went to the door of the queen's sleeping-chamber and behold, she was sitting with 1 i.e. Let thy purposes be righteous as thine outward profession. 8 See vol. vi. 130. This is another lieu commun amongst Moslems ; and its unfaol requires only statement. The Story of King Dadbin and his Wazirs. 9 7 Abu al-Khayr, her father's page, whom she favoureth, and she did with him what she did, and such is the manner of that which 1 saw and heard." When Dadbin heard this, he burnt with rage and said to one of his eunuchs, 1 " Go and slay her in her chamber." But the eunuch said to him, " O king, Allah prolong thy life ! Indeed, the killing of her may not be in this way neither at this time ; but do thou bid one of thine Castrates take her up on a camel and carry her to one of the trackless wolds and cast her down there ; so, if she be guilty, Allah shall cause her to perish, and if she be innocent, He will deliver her, and the king shall be free from default against her ; for that this lady is dear to thee and thou slewest her father by reason of thy love for her." Quoth the king, " By Allah, thou sayst sooth ! " Then he bade one of his eunuchs carry her on a camel to one of the far-off wilds and cut-off wolds and there leave her and wend his ways, and he forbad her torment to be prolonged. So he took her up and betaking himself with her to the desert, left her there without provaunt or water and returned, whereupon she made for one of the hills, and ranging stones before her in form of prayer-niche, stood praying. Now it chanced that a camel-driver, belonging to Kisr& 2 the king, lost certain camels, and his lord threatened him, if he found them not, that he would slay him. Accordingly he set out and plunged into the wastes till he came to the place where the lady was, and seeing her standing at prayer utterly alone, waited till she had made an end of her orisons, when he went up to her and saluted her with the salam, saying, " Who art thou ? " Quoth she, " I am a hand-maid of the Almighty." He asked, " What doest thou in this desolate place ? " and she answered, " I serve Allah the Most High." When he saw her beauty and loveliness, he fell in love with her, and said to her, " Harkye! Do thou 1 Afterwards called his " chamberlain," i.e. guardian of the Harem-dooi. * i.e. Chosroes, whom Chavis and Cazotte make " Cyrus." VOL. I. Q 93 Supplemental Nights. take me to mate and I will be tender to thee and use thee with exceeding ruth, and I will further thee in obedience to Allah Almighty." But she answered, saying, '' I have no need of wed- lock and I desire to abide here alone with my Lord and His worship ; but an thou wouldst have ruth upon me and further me in the obedience of Allah the Most High, carry me to a place where there is water and thou wilt have done me a kindness." Thereupon he took her to a place wherein was running water and setting her down on the ground, left her and went his ways, marvelling at her. After he left her, he found his camels, by her blessing, and when he returned, King Kisra asked him, " Hast thou found the camels ? " He answered " Yes," and acquainted him with the affair of the damsel, and detailed to him her beauty and love- liness : whereupon the king's heart clave to her and he mounted with a few men and betook himself to that place, where he found the lady and was amazed at her, because he saw her surpassing the description wherewith the camel-driver had described her to him. So he accosted her and said to her, " I am King Kisra, greatest of the kings. Wilt thou not have me to husband ?" Quoth she, " What wilt thou do with me, O king, and I a woman abandoned in the waste ? " And quoth he, " Needs must this be, and if thou wilt not consent to me, I will take up my abode here and devote myself to Allah's service and thy service, and with thee worship the Almighty." Then he bade set up for her a tent and another for himself, facing hers, so he might adore Allah with her, and fell to sending her food ; and she said in herself, " This is a king, and 'tis not lawful for me that I suffer him for my sake to forsake his lieges and his land." Presently she said to the serving-woman, who used to bring her the food, " Speak the king that he return to his women, for he hath no need of me, and I desire to abide in this place, so I may worship therein Allah the Most High." The slave-girl returned to the king and told him this, whereupon he sent back to her, saying, " I have no The Story of King Dadbin and his Wazirs. 99 need of the kingship and I also desire to tarry here and worship Allah with thee in this waste." When she found this earnestness in him, she fell in with his wishes, and said, " O king, I will consent to that which thou desirest and will be to thee a wife, but on condition that thou bring me Dadbin the king and his Wazir Kardan and his Chamberlain the chief Eunuch, and that they be present in thine assembly, so I may speak a word with them in thy presence, to the intent that thou mayst redouble in affection for me." Quoth Kisra, " And what is thy want unto this ? " So she related to him her story from first to last, how she was the wife of Dadbin the king and how the Wazir Kardan had misspoken of her honour. When King Kisra heard this, he redoubled in love-longing for her and affection and said to her, " Do whatso thou wiliest : " then he let bring a litter J and carrying her therein to his dwelling-place, entreated her with the utmost honour and espoused her. Presently he sent a great army to King Dadbin and fetching him and his Wazir Kardan and the Eunuch- chamberlain, caused bring them before him, they unknowing the while what he might purpose to do with them. Moreover, he caused set up for Arwa a pavilion 2 in the courtyard of his palace, and she entered it and let down the curtain before herself. When the servants had set their seats and they had seated them- selves, Arwa raised a corner of the curtain and said, " O Kardan, rise to thy feet, for it besitteth not that thou sit in the like of this assembly, before this mighty King Kisra." When the Wazir heard these words, his heart fluttered and his joints were loosened and he rose to his- feet of his fear Then said she to him, " By the virtue of Him who hath made thee stand up to judgment in this standing-stead, and thou abject and humiliated, I conjure thee speak the truth and say what egged thee on to lie against me and 1 Arab. " Takiyah," used for the Persian Takhtrawan, common in The Nights. 2 Arab. " Kubbah," a dome-shaped tent, as elsewhere. loo Supplemental Nights. drive me from my home and from the land of my husband and made thee practise thus against a man and a Moslem so as to slay him. 1 This is no place wherein lying availeth nor may artifice be herein." When the Wazir was Vare that she was Arwa and heard her speech, he knew that it behoved him not to lie and that naught would avail him save truth ; so he bowed his head ground- wards and wept and said, "Whoso doth evil, needs must he incur it, albe his day be prolonged. By Allah, I am he who hath sinned and transgressed, and naught prompted me unto this but fear and overmastering desire and the misery writ upon my brow. a And indeed this woman is pure and chaste and free from all fault." When King Dadbin heard this, he beat his face and said to Kardan, his Wazir, " Allah slay thee ! " 3 'Tis thou that hast parted me and my wife and wronged me ! " But Kisra the king said to him, " Allah shall assuredly slay thee, because thou hastenedst and lookedst not into thine affair, and knewest not the guilty from the guiltless, Hadst thou wrought deliberately, the unright had been made manifest to thee from the right ; so when this villain Wazir purposed thy ruin, where was thy judgment and whither went thy sight ? " Then he asked Arwa,- " What wilt thou that I do with them ?" and she answered, " Accomplish on them the ordinance of Almighty Allah -. 4 let the slayer be 1 This can refer only to Abu al-Khayr's having been put to death on Kardan's charge, although the tale-teller, with characteristic inconsequence, neglected to mention the event. 2 Not referring to skull sutures, but to the forehead, which is poetically compared with a page of paper upon which Destiny writes her irrevocable decrees. 3 Said in the grimmest earnest, not jestingly, as in vol. iv. 264. * i.e. the lex talionis, which is the essence of Moslem, and indeed, of all criminal jurisprudence. We cannot wonder at the judgment of Queen Arwa : even Confucius, the mildest and most humane of lawgivers, would not pardon the man who allowed his father's murderer to live. The Moslem lex talionis (Koran ii. 173) is identical with that of the Jews (Exod. xxi. 24), and the latter probably derives from immemorial usage. But many modern Rabbins explain away the Mosaical command as rather a demand for a pecuniary mulct than literal retaliation. The well-known Isaac Aburbanel cites many arguments in proof of this position : he asks, for instance, supposing the accused have but one eye, should he lose it for having struck out one of another man's two ? The Story of King Dadbin and his Wazirs. IOI slain and the transgressor transgressed against, even as he trans- gressed against us ; yea, and to the well-doer weal shall be done even as he did unto us." So she gave her officers order concerning Dadbin and they smote him on the head with a mace and slew him, and she said, <: This is for the slaughter of my sire." Then she bade set the Wazir on a beast and bear him to the desert whither he had caused her to be borne, and leave him there without pro- vaunt or water ; and she said to him, " An thou be guilty, thou shalt suffer the punishment of thy guilt and die in the desert of hunger and thirst ; but an there be no guilt in thee, thou shalt be delivered, even as I was delivered." As for the Eunuch-chamber- lain, who had counselled King Dadbin not to slay her, but to cause carry her to the desert, she bestowed on him a costly robe of honour and said to him, " The like of thee it befitteth kings to hold in favour and promote to high place, for that thou spakest loyally and well, and a man is requited according to his deed.*' And Kisra the King made him Wali in a certain province of his empire. " Know, therefore, O king " (continued the youth), '* that whoso doeth good is requited with good, and he who is guiltless of sin and offence feareth not the issue of his affair. And I, O my liege lord, am free from guilt, wherefore I hope in Allah that He will show forth the truth to mine auspicious king, and vouchsafe me the victory over enemies and enviers." When the king heard this, his wrath subsided and he said, " Return him to the prison till the morrow, so we may look into his case." Moreover, he dwells upon the impossibility of inflicting a punishment the exact equivalent of the injury ; like Sbylock's pound of flesh without drawing blood. Moslems, how- ever, know nothing of these frivolities, and if retaliation be demanded the judge must grant it. There is a legend in Morocco of an English merchant who was compelled to forfeit tooth for tooth at the instance of an old woman, but a profitable concession gilded the pill. IO2 iitt Bap. OF TRUST IN ALLAH. WHEN it was the sixth day, the wrath of the Wazirs redoubled, because they had not won their will of the youth and they feared for their lives from the liege lord ; so three of them went in to him and prostrating themselves between his hands, said to him, " O king, indeed we are loyal counsellors to thy dignity and fondly solicitous for thy weal. Verily, thou persistest long in leaving this youth alive and we know not what is thine advantage therein. Every day findeth him yet on life and the talk of folk redoubleth suspicion on thee ; so do thou do him dead, that the talk may be made an end of." When the king heard this speech, he said, " By Allah, verily ye say sooth and speak rightly ! " Then he bade them bring the young treasurer and when he came into the presence said to him, " How long shall I look into thy case, and find no helper for thee and see them athirst for thy blood ? " The youth answered, " O king, I hope for succour only from Allah, not from created beings : an He aid me, none shall have power to harm me, and if He be with me and on my side, because of the truth, from whom shall I fear, because of untruth ? Indeed, I have made my intent with Allah a pure intent and a sincere, and I have severed my expectation from the help of the creature ; and whoso seeketh aid of Allah findeth of his desire that which Bakhtzaman found." Quoth the king, " Who was Bakhtzaman and what is his story ?" and quoth the youth, " Hear, O king, THE STOR Y OF KING BAKHTZAMAN." ' There was once a king of the kings, whose name was Bakhtza- 1 In Chavis and Cazotte "Story of Bhazmant (!) ; or the Confident Man." " Btkht (-i-)Zaman " in Pers. would = Luck of the Time. The Story of King Bdkhtzaman. 103 man, and he was a great eater and drinker and carouser. Now enemies of his made their appearance in certain parts of his realm, which they coveted ; and one of his friends said to him, " O king, the foe intendeth for thee : be on thy guard against him." Quoth Bakhtzaman, " I reck not of him, for that I have weapons and wealth and warmen and am not afraid of aught." Then said his friends to him, "Ask aid of Allah, O king, for He will help thee more than thy wealth and thy weapons and thy warriors." But he turned a deaf ear to the speech of his loyal counsellors, and presently the enemy came upon him and waged war upon him and got the victory over him and profited him naught his trust in other than Allah the Most High. So he fled from him and seeking one of the sovrans, said to him, " I come to thee and lay hold upon thy skirts and take refuge with thee, so thou mayst help me against my foe." The king gave him money and men and a mighty many and Bakhtzaman said in himself, " Now am I fortified with this force and needs must I conquer my foe with such combatants and overcome him ;" but he said not, " With the aid of Allah Almighty." So his enemy met him and overcame him again and he was defeated and put to the rout and fled at random : his troops were dispersed from him and his money lost and the enemy pursued him. Thereupon he sought the sea and passing over to the other side, saw a great city and therein a mighty citadel. He asked its name and that of its owner, and they said to him, " It belongeth to Khadi'ddn l the king." So he fared on till he came to the royal palace and concealing his condition, passed himself off for a horseman 2 and sought service with King Khadidan, who attached him to his attendance and entreated him with honour ; but his heart still clung to his mother-land and his 1 Chavis and Gazette change the name to "Abadid," which, like " Khadfdan," is non-significant. 2 Arab. " Paris," here a Reiter, or Dugald Dolgetti, as mostly were the hordes led by the mediaeval Italian Condottieri. 1O4 Supplemental Nights. home. Presently, it chanced that an enemy came out against King. Khadidan ; so he sent his troops to meet him and made Bakhtzaman head of the host. Then they went forth to the field and Khadidan also came forth and ranged his troops and levelled lance and sallied out in person and fought a sore fight and overcame his foe, who with his troops ignominiously fled. When the king and his army returned in triumph, Bakhtzaman said to him, " Harkye, O king ! This be a strange thing I see in thee that thou art compassed about with this mighty great army, yet dost thou apply thyself in person to battle and adventurest thy life." Quoth the king, " Dost thou call thyself a knight and a learned wight and deemest that victory is in the many of men ? J> Quoth Bakhtzaman, " Such is indeed my belief." And Khadidan the king cried, "By Allah, then, thou errest in this thy belief! " presently adding, " Woe and again woe to him whose trust is in other than Allah ! Indeed, this army is appointed only for phantasy and majesty, and victory is from Allah alone. I too, O Bakhtzaman, whilome believed that victory was in the number of men, 1 and an enemy came out against me with eight hundred head, whilst I had eight hundred thousand. I trusted in the tale of my troops, whilst my foe trusted in Allah, so he defeated me and routed me and I was put to a shameful flight and hid myself in one of the mountains, where I met with a Religious who had withdrawn himself from the world. So I joined myself to him and complained to him of my case and acquainted him with all that had befallen me. Quoth the Recluse, Wottest thou why this befel thee and thou wast defeated ? Quoth I, I know not ; and he said, Because thou didst put thy trust in the multitude of thy war- men and reliedst not upon AJlah the Most High. Hadst thou put thy trust in the Almighty arid believed of Him that it is He alone 1 So Napoleon the Great also believed that Providence is mostly favourable to "gro$ balaillons." The Story of King Bakhtmman. 105 who advantageth and endamageth thee, never had thy foe availed to cope with thee. Return unto Allah. So I returned to my right senses, and repented at the hands of that Religious, who said to me : Turn back with what remaineth to thee of troops and confront thy foes, for, if their intents be changed and turned away from Allah, thou wilt overcome them, e'en wert thou alone. When I heard the Solitary's words, I put my trust in Allah of All-Might ; and, gathering together those who remained with me, fell upon mine enemies at unawares in the night. They deemed us many and fled with the shamefullest flight, whereupon I entered my city and repossessed myself of my place by the might of Almighty Allah, and now I fight not but trusting in His aid." When Bakhtzaman heard these words he awoke from his heedlessness and cried, " Extolled be the perfection of God the Great ! O king, this is my case and my story, nothing added and naught subtracted, for I am King Bakhtzaman and all this happened to me : wherefore I will seek the gate of Allah's mercy and repent unto Him." So he went forth to one of the mountains and worshipped Allah there awhile, till one night, as he slept, a personage appeared to him in a dream and said to him, "O Bakhtzaman, Allah accepteth thy repentance and openeth on thee the door of succour and will aid thee against thy foe." When he was assured of this in the dream, he arose and turned back, intending for his own city ; and when he drew near thereunto, he saw a company of the king's retainers, who said to him, " Whence art thou ? We see that thou art a foreigner and fear for thee from this king, for that every stranger who entereth this city, he destroyeth him, of his dread of King Bakhtzaman." Said Bakhtzaman, " None shall prejudice him nor profit him save Allah the Most High." And they replied, " Indeed, he hath a vast army and his heart is fortified in the multitude of his many." When King Bakhtzaman heard this, his mind was comforted and he said to himself, " I place my trust in 106 Supplemental Nights. Allah. An He will, I shall overcome mine enemy by the might of the Lord of Omnipotence." So he said to the folk, " Wot ye not who I am ? " and they said, " No, by Allah." Cried he, " I am King Bakhtzaman." When they heard this and knew that it was indeed he, they dismounted from their horses and kissed his stirrup, to do him honour, and said to him, "O king, why thus risk thy life ? " Quoth he, " Indeed, my life is a light matter to me and I set my trust in Almighty Allah, looking to Him for protection." And quoth they, " May that suffice thee !" presently adding, " We will do with thee that which is in our power and whereof thou art worthy: hearten thy heart, for we will succour thee with our substance and our existence, and we are his chief officers and the most in favour with him of all folk. So we will take thee with us and cause the lieges follow after thee, because the inclination of the people, all of them, is thee-wards." Said he, " Do whatso Allah Almighty enableth you to do." So they carried him into the city and hid him with them. Then they agreed with a company of the king's chief officers, who had aforetime been those of Bakhtzaman, and ac- quainted them with this ; whereat they rejoiced with joy exceeding. Then they assembled together to Bakhtzaman, and made a cove- nant and handfast of fealty with him and fell upon the foe and slew him and seated King Bakhtzaman again on the throne of his kingship. And his affairs prospered and Allah amended his estate and restored to him His bounty, and he ruled his subjects justly and abode in the obedience of the Almighty. " On this wise, O king," (continued the young treasurer), " he with whom Allah is and whose intent is pure, meeteth naught save good. As for me, I have no helper other than the Almighty, and I am content to sub- mit myself to His ordinance, for that He knoweth the purity of my intent.'* With this the king's wrath subsided and he said, " Return him to the prison till the morrow, so we may look into his case." 107 Sbrbent!) Bag. OF CLEMENCY. WHEN it was the seventh day, the seventh Wazir, whose name was Bihkamal, 1 came in to the king and prostrating himself to him, said, "O king, what doth thy long-suffering with this youth profit thee ? Indeed the folk talk of thee and of him. Why, then, dost thou postpone the putting him to death?" The Minister's words aroused the anger of the king, and he bade bring the youth. So they fetched him before him in fetters., and Azadbakht said to him, "Ho, woe to thee! By Allah, after this day there abideth no deliverance for thee from my hand, by reason that thou hast outraged mine honour, and there can be no forgiveness for thee." The youth replied, " O king, there is no great forgiveness save in case of a great default, for according as the offence is great in so much magnified is mercy ; and it is no grace to the like of thee if he spare the like of me. Verily, Allah knoweth that there is no crime in me, and indeed He commandeth to clemency, and no clemency is greater than that which spareth from slaughter, for that thy pardon of him whom thou purposest to put to death is as the quickening of a dead man ; and whoso doth evil shall find it before him, even as it was with King Bihkard." Asked the king, " And what is the story of King Bihkard ? " And the youth answered, " Hear, O king, THE STOR Y OF KING BIHKARD." ' There was once a king named Bihkard and he had mickle of 1 Pers. and Arab. = " Good perfection." 2 In Chavis and Cazotte "Story of Baharkan." Bihkard (in Shiiaz pronounced Kyard)" = "Wellhedid." 1 08 Supplemental Nights. wealth and many troops ; but his deeds were evil and he would punish for a slight offence, and he never forgave any offender. He went forth one day to hunt and a certain of his pages shot a shaft, which lit on the king's ear and cut it off. Bihkard cried, " Who shot that arrow ?" So the guards brought him in haste the misdemeanant, whose name was Yatru, 1 and he of his fear fell down on the ground in a fainting fit. Then quoth the king, " Slay him ; " but Yatru said, " O king, this which hath befallen was not of my choice nor of my knowledge ; so do thou pardon me, in the hour of thy power over me, for that mercy is of the goodliest of deeds and belike it shall be in this world a provision and a good work for which thou shalt be repaid one of these days, and a treasure laid up to thine account with Allah in the world to come. Pardon me, therefore, and fend off evil from me, so shall Allah fend off from thee the like evil." When the king heard this, it pleased him and he pardoned the page, albeit he had never before par- doned any. Now this page was of the sons of the kings and had fled from his sire on account of a sin he had committed : then he went and took service with Bihkard the king, and there hap- pened to him what happened. After a while, it chanced that a man recognized him and went and told his father, who sent him a letter, comforting his heart and mind and calling upon him to return to him. Accordingly he returned to his father, who came forth to meet him and rejoiced in him, and the Prince's affairs were set right with his sire. Now it befel, one day of the days, that king Bihkard shipped him in a ship and put out to sea, so he might fish : but the wind blew on them and the craft sank. The king made the land upon a plank, unknown of any, and came forth, mother-naked, on one of the coasts ; and it chanced that he landed in the country whereof the father of the page aforesaid was king. So he came in the night to the gate of the sovran's capital, and 1 See "Katru " in the Introduction to the Bakhliyar-namah. The Story of King Bihkard. 109 finding it shut, lodged him in a burying-place there. When the morning morrowed and the folk came forth of the city, behold, they found a man lately murthered and cast down in a corner of the burial ground, and seeing Bihkard there, doubted not but it was he who had slain him during the night ; so they laid hands on him and carried him up to the king and said to him, "This fellow hath slain a man." The king bade imprison him ; where- upon they threw him in jail, and he fell to-saying in himself, what while he was in the prison, " All that hath befallen me is of the abundance of my sins and my tyranny, for, indeed, I have slain much people unrighteously and this is the requital of my deeds and that which I have wrought whilome of oppression. As he was thus pondering in himself, there came a bird and lighted down on the pinnacle of the prison, whereupon, of his passing eagerness in the chase, he took a stone and threw it at the bird. Now the king's son was playing in the exercise-ground with the ball and the bat, 1 and the stone lit on his ear and cut it off, whereupon the Prince fell down in a fit. So they enquired who had thrown the stone and finding that it was Bihkard, took him and carried him before the king's son, who bade do him die. Accordingly, they cast the turband from his head and were about to fillet his eyes, when the Prince looked at him and seeing him cropped of an ear, said to him, " But for thy villainies thine ear had not been cut off.** Said Bihkard, " Not so, by Allah ! Nay, but the story of the loss of my car is so and so, and I pardoned him who smote me with an arrow and cut off my ear." When the prince heard this, he looked in his face and knowing him, cried out and said, " Art thou not Bihkard the king ?" " Yes," replied he, and the Prince said to him, " What ill chance threw thee here ? " Thereupon he told him all that had betided him and the folk wondered and 1 The text has "Jaukalan" for Saulajan, the Persian " Chaugan " = lhe crooked bat osed in Polo. See vol. I. 46. HO Supplemental Nights. extolled the perfection of the Almighty, crying " Subhana 'llah ! laud to the Lord ! " Then the Prince rose to him and embraced him and kissed him and, entreating him with respect, seated him in a chair and bestowed on him a robe of honour ; and he turned to his sire and said to him, " This be the king who pardoned me and this be his ear which I cut off with a shaft ; and indeed he deserveth my pardon by having pardoned me." Then said he to Bihkard, " Verily, the issue of mercy hath been a provision for thee in such hour as this." And they entreated him with the utmost kindness and sent him back to his own country in all honour. " Know, then, O king " (continued the youth), "that there is no goodlier quality than mercy and that all thou dost of clemency, thou shalt find before thee a treasure for thee treasured up." When the king heard this, his wrath subsided and he said, " Return him to the prison till the morrow* so we may look into his case;" Ill Bap. OF ENVY AND MALICE. WHEN it was the eighth day, the Wazirs all assembled and had speech together and said, " How shall we do with this youth, who vercometh us with his much talk ? Indeed, we fear lest he be saved and we fall into destruction. So, let us all go in to the king and unite our efforts to gain our cause, ere he appear without guilt and come forth and get the better of us." Accordingly they all went in to the king and prostrating themselves before him, said to him, " O king, beware lest this youth ensorcell thee with his sorcery and beguile thee with his wiles. An thou heardest what we hear, thou wouldst not suffer him live ; no, not a single day. Wherefore heed not his speech, for we are thy Ministers, who endeavour for thy permanence, and if thou hearken not to our word, to whose word wilt thou hearken ? See, we are ten Wazirs who testify against this youth that he is guilty and entered not the king's sleeping chamber save with ill intent, so he might put the king to shame and outrage his honour ; and if the king slay him not, let him banish him his realm, that the tongue of the folk may desist from him." When the king heard his Ministers' words, he was wroth with exceeding wrath and bade bring the youth, and when he came in to the king, the Wazirs all cried out with one voice, saying, "O Lack-wits, thinkest thou to save thyself from, slaughter by guile and sleight, that thou wilest the king with thy talk and hopest pardon for the like of this mighty great crime thou hast committed ? " Then the king bade fetch the sworder, so he might smite his neck ; whereupon each of the Wazirs fell to saying, " I will slay him ; " and they sprang upon him. Quoth the youth, " O king, consider and ponder the eagerness of these thy 112 Supplemental Nights, Ministers. Is this of envy or is it not ? They would fain make sever- ance between me and thee, so there may fall to them what they shall plunder, as aforetime." And the king said to him, " Consider 4 their witness against thee." The young man said, " O king, how shall they testify of that which they saw not ? 1 This is but envy and despight ; and thou, an thou slay me, wilt indeed regret me,, and I fear lest there betide thee of repentance that which betided Aylan Shah, by reason of the malice of his Wazirs." Asked Azadbakht, " And what is his story ? " and the youth answered, " Hear, O king, THE STORY OF A YLAN SHAH AND ABU TAMMAM."* Whilome there was a merchant named Abu Tammam, and he was a clever man and a well-bred, quick-witted and truthful in all his affairs, and he was monied to boot. Now there was in his land a king as unjust as he was jealous, and Abu Tammam feared for his wealth from this king and said, " I will remove hence to another place where I shall not be in dread." So he made for the city of Aylan Shah and built himself a palace therein and trans- porting his wealth thither, took up his abode there. Presently, the news of him reached King Aylan Shah ; so he sent to invite him to his presence and said to him, " We know of thy coming to us and thine entering under our allegiance, and indeed we have heard of thine excellence and wit and generosity; so welcome to thee and fair welcome ! The land is thy land and at thy command, and whatsoever need thou needest of us, 'tis already accomplished to thee ; and it behoveth that thou be near our person and of our 1 Amongst Moslems, I have noted, circumstantial evidence is not lawful : the witness must swear to what he has seen. A curious consideration, how many innocent men have been hanged by "circumstantial evidence." See vol. v. 97. 2 In Chavis and Cazotte " Story of Abattamant (!), or the Prudent Man ; " also Aylan Shah becomes Olensa after Italian fashion. The Story of Ay Ian Shah and Abu Tarn-mam. 1 1 3 assembly." Abu Tammam prostrated himself before the king, and said to him, " O king, I will serve thee with my monies and with my life, but do thou excuse me from nearness to thee, for that an I took office about thee, I should not be safe from enemies and enviers." Then he applied himself to the royal service with presents and largesses, and the king saw him to be intelligent, well- bred and of good counsel ; so his heart inclined to him and he committed to him the ordinance of his affairs and the power to bind and to loose was in his hand. Now Aylan Shah had three Wazirs, in whose hands public affairs were wont to be and they had been accustomed not to quit the king night or day ; but they became shut out from him by reason of Abu Tammam and the king was occupied with him to their exclusion. Herewith the Ministers took counsel together upon the matter and said, " What is your rede we should do, seeing that the king is occupied from us with yonder man, and indeed he honoureth him with more honour than us ? But now come, let us devise some device whereby we may alienate him from the king." So each of them spoke forth that which was in his mind, and one of them said, " The king of the Turks hath a daughter, whose like there is not in the world, and whatso messenger goeth to demand her in marriage, him her father slaughtereth. Now our king hath no knowledge of this ; so, come, let us foregather with him and bring up the mention of her : when his heart is taken with her, we will advise him to dispatch Abu Tammam to seek her hand in marriage; whereupon her father will slay him and we shall be quit of him and settle his affair once for all." Accordingly, they went in to the king one day (Abu Tammam being present among them,) and mentioned the affair of the damsel, the daughter of the Turks' king, and enlarged upon her charms, till the king's heart was taken with her and he said to them, " We will send one to demand her to wife for us ; but who shall be our messenger ? " Quoth the Wazirs, " There is none fit for this business but Abu Tammam. by reason of his wit and good VOL. I. H Supplemental Nights. breeding ; " and the king said, " Indeed, even as ye say, none is fitting for this affair save he." Then he turned to Abu Tammam and said to him, " Wilt thou not go with my message and seek me in marriage the daughter of the Turks* king?" and he answered, " To hear is to obey, O my Sovran ! " So they made ready his affair and the king conferred on him a robe of honour, and he took with him a present and a letter under the king's hand and setting out, fared on till he came to the capital city of Turkistan. When the king of the Turks knew of his coming, he despatched his officers to receive him and entreated him with honour and lodged him as befitted his rank. Then he guested him three days, after which time he summoned him to his presence and Abu Tammam went in to him; and, prostrating himself as beseemeth before kings, laid that present before him and gave him the letter. The king read the writ and said to Abu Tammam, " We will do what behoveth in the matter ; but, O Abu Tammam, needs must thou view my daughter and she view thee, and needs must thou hear her speech and she hear thine." So saying, he sent him to the lodging of the Princess, who had had notice of this ; so that they had adorned her sitting-room with the costliest that might be of vessels of gold and silver and the like, and she seated herself on a chair of gold, clad in the richest of royal robes and ornaments. When Abu Tammam entered, he took thought and said, " The wise declare that whoso governeth his sight shall suffer naught un- right and he who guardeth his tongue shall hear naught of foul taunt, and he who keepeth watch over his hand, it shall be lengthened and not shortened." * So he entered and seating him- self on the floor, cast down his eyes and covered his hands and feet with his dress. 2 Quoth the king's daughter to him, " Raise 1 In Arab, idiom a long hand or arm means power, a phrase not wholly unused in European languages. Chavis and Carotte paraphrase " He who keeps bis hands crossed upon his breast, shall not see them cut off." 1 Arab. "Jama' a atrafah," liu = he drew in his extremities, it being contrary to The Story of Ay Ian Shah and Abu Tammam. 1 1 5 thy head, O Abu Tammam, and look on me and speak with ffle. u But he spake not neither raised his head, and she continued, " They sent thee only to view me and talk with me, and yet behold thou sayest not a word ; " presently adding, " Take of these union- pearls that be round thee and of these jewels and gold and silver." But he put not forth his hand to aught, and when she saw that he paid no heed to anything, she was angry and cried, " They have messaged me with a messenger, blind, dumb, deaf." Then she sent to acquaint her father with this ; whereupon the king called Abu Tammam to him and said to him, " Thou earnest not save to view my daughter : why, then, hast thou not looked upon her ? " Quoth Abu Tammam, " I saw everything ; " and quoth the king, " Why didst thou not take somewhat of that which thou sawest of jewels and the like ? Indeed they were set out for thee." But he answered, " It behoveth me not to put out my hand to aught that is not mine." When the king heard his speech, he gave him a sumptuous robe of honour and loved him muchly 1 and said to him, " Come, look at this well." So Abu Tammam went up to the pit- mouth and looked, and behold, it was full of heads of the sons of Adam, and the king said to him, "These are the heads of envoys whom I slew, because I saw them without loyalty to their lords, and I was used, whenas I beheld an envoy without good manners, to say, He who sent him is worse-mannered than he, because the messenger is the tongue of him who sendeth him and his breeding is of his master's breeding ; and whoso is after this fashion, it befitteth not that he be akin to me." 2 For this reason I used to put the envoys to death ; but, as for thee, "etiquette" in the presence of a superior not to cover hands and feel. In the wild Argentine Republic the savage Gaucho removes his gigantic spurs when coming into the presence of his master. 1 About the equivalent to the Arab, or rather Egypto-Syrian form " Jiddan," used in the modern slang sense. * i,t. that he become my son-in-law. 1 16 Supplemental Nights. thou hast overcome us and won my daughter, of the excellence of thy manners ; so hearten thy heart, for she is thy lord's." Then he sent him back to King Aylan Shah with presents and rarities and a letter, saying, " This that I have done is in honour of thee and of thine envoy." When Abu Tammam returned after accom- plishing his mission and brought the presents and the letter, King Aylan Shah rejoiced in this and redoubled all his favours and showed him honour the highest. Some days after, the King of Turkistan sent his daughter and she went in to King Aylan Shah, who rejoiced in her with exceeding joy and Abu Tammam's worth was exalted in the royal sight. When the Wazirs saw this, they redoubled in envy and despite and said, " An we contrive us not a contrivance to rid us of this man, we shall die of rage." So they bethought them and agreed upon a device they should practise. Then they betook themselves to two boys, pages affected to the service of the king, who slept not but on their knee, 1 and they lay at his head, for that they were his bed- chamber pages. So the Ministers gave them each a thousand dinars of gold, saying, " We desire of you that ye do somewhat we require and take this gold as a provision against your time of need." Quoth the lads, " What is it ye would have us do ? " and quoth the Wazirs, " This Abu Tammam hath marred matters for us, and if his case abide in this way, he will remove us all from the king's favour ; and what we want of you twain is that, when ye are alone with the king and he leaneth back, as he were asleep, one of you say to his fellow: Verily, the king hath taken Abu Tammam into high favour and hath advanced him to exalted rank, yet he is a transgressor against the king's honour and an accursed wight Then let the other of you ask : And what is his trans- 1 For the practice of shampooing often alluded to in The Nights, see vol. Hi. 17. The king "sleeping on the boys' knees" means that he dropped off whilst bis feet were OB the laps of the lads. The Story of Ay Ian Shah and Abu Tammam. n/ gression ? and let the first answer : He outrageth the king's honour and saith, the King of Turkistan was used, when a messenger went to him to seek his daughter in marriage, to slay him ; but me he spared, because she liked me, and by reason of this her sire sent her hither, for that she loved me. Then let the other say, Knowest thou this for truth ? and let the first reply : By Allah, this is familiar to all the folk, but, of their fear of the king, they dare not divulge it to him ; and as often as the king is absent a-hunting or a-wayfaring, Abu Tammam cometh to her and is private with her." Whereupon the boys answered, " We will say this." Accordingly, one night, when they were alone with the king and he leant back, as he were asleep, they said these words and the king heard all and was like to die of fury and despite and said to himself, " These are young boys, not come to years of discretion, and have no business with any ; and unless they had heard these words from some one, they had not spoken thereof each with other." When it was morning wrath overmastered him, so that he stayed not neither deliberated, but summoned Abu Tammam and taking him apart, said to him, " Whoso guardeth not the honour of his liege lord 1 , what deserveth he?" Said Abu Tammam, " He deserveth that his lord guard not his honour." Aylan Shah continued, " And whoso entereth the king's house and playeth traitor with him, what behoveth unto him ? " and Abu Tammam replied, " He shall not be left alive." Whereupon the king spat in his face and said to him, " Both these deeds hast tko* done." Then he drew his poinard on him in haste and smiting him in the belly, slit it and Abu Tammam died forthright ; where- upon the king dragged him along and cast him into a well that was in his palace. After he had slain him, he fell into repentance and mourning increased and chagrin waxed sore upon him, and he would acquaint none who questioned him with the cause, nor, 1 Meaning the honour of his Harem. 1 1 8 Supplemental Night*. of his love for his wife, did he tell her of this, and whenever she asked him wherefore he grieved, he answered her not. When the Wazirs knew of Abu Tammam's death, they rejoiced with exceed- ing joy and knew that the king's sorrow arose from regret for him. As for Aylan Shah, after this he used to betake himself by night to the sleeping-chamber of the two boys and spy upon them, that he might hear what they said concerning his wife. As he stood one night privily at the door of their chamber, he saw them spread out the gold between their hands and play with it and heard one of them say, *' Woe to us ! What doth this gold profit us? Indeed we cannot buy therewith any thing nor spend it upon ourselves. Nay, but we have sinned against Abu Tammam and done him dead unjustly." And said the other, " Had we known that the king would slay him on the spot, we had not done what we did." When the king heard that, he could not contain himself, but rushed in upon them and said to them, "Woe to you ! What did ye? Tell me." And they cried, " Aman 1 , O king! " He cried, " An ye would have pardon from Allah and me, you are bound to tell me the truth, for nothing shall save you from me but soothfastness." Hereat they prostrated themselves before him and said, " By Allah, O king, the Wazirs gave us this gold and taught us to lie against Abu Tammam, so thou mightest kill him, and what we said was their speech." When the king heard this, he plucked at his beard, till he was like to tear it up by the roots and bit upon his fingers, till he well nigh cut them in twain, for repent- ance and sorrow that he had wrought hastily and had not delayed with Abu Tammam, so he might consider his case. Then he sent for the Ministers and said to them, " O villainous Wazirs, ye deemed that Allah was heedless of your deed, but right soon shall 1 Pardon, lit. = security : the cry for quarter already introduced into English " Or raise the craven cry Aman." It was Mohammed's express command that this prayer for mercy should be respected even in the fury of fight. See vol. i. 342. The Story of Ay Ian Shah and Abu Tammam. 119 your wickedness revert upon you. Know ye not that Whoso diggeth for his brother a pit shall himself fall into it ? * Take from me the punishment of this world and to-morrow ye shall receive the punishment of the next world and requital from Allah." Then he bade put them to death ; so the headsman smote off their heads before the king, and he went in to his wife and acquainted her with whatso he had misdone to Abu Tammam ; whereupon she grieved for him with mighty great grief and the king and his household ceased not weeping and repenting all their lives. More- over, they brought Abu Tammam forth of the well and the king built him a dome 2 in his palace and buried him therein. " See, then, O auspicious king" (continued the youth), "what jealousy doth and injustice and how Allah caused the Wazirs' malice to revert upon their own necks ; and I trust in the Almighty that He will empower me over all who envy me my favour with the king and show forth the truth unto him. Indeed, I dread naught for my life from death ; only I fear lest the king repent of my slaughter, for that I am guiltless of offence, and if I knew that I were guilty on any wise, my tongue would be dumb-struck." When the king heard this, he bowed his head groundwards in perplexity and con- fusion and said, " Restore him to the prison till the morrow, so we may look into his case." 1 A saying found in every Eastern language beginning with Hebrew ; Proverbs xxvi. 27, "Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein." * i.e. a domed tomb where prayers and prelections of the Koran could be made. " Kubbah " in Marocco is still the term for a small square building with a low media naranja cupola under which a Santon lies interred. It is the "little Waly " of our '' bliad travellers" in the unholy " Holy Land." Supplemental Nights. OF DESTINY OR THAT WHICH IS WRITTEN ON THE FOREHEAD. Now when it was the ninth day, the Wazirs met and said one to other, " Verily, this youth baffleth us, for as often as the king is minded to kill him, he beguileth him and bewitcheth him with a story ; so what be your rede we should do, that we may slay him and be at rest from him ? " Then they advised together and agreed that they should go to the king's wife. 1 So they betook themselves to her and said to her, " Thou art careless of this affair wherein thou art and this uncare shall not profit thee ; whilst the king, occupied with eating and drinking and diversion, for- getteth that the folk beat upon tambourines and sing of thee and say, The wife of king loveth the youth ; and as long as he abideth alive the talk will increase and not diminish." Quoth she, "By Allah, 'twas ye egged me on against him, and what shall I do now ? " and quoth they, " Go thou in to the king and weep and say to him, Verily, the women come to me and inform me that I am dishonoured throughout the city, and what is thine advantage in the sparing of this youth ? An thou wilt not slay him, slay me to the end that this talk may be cut off from us. So the woman arose and rending her raiment, went in to the king, in the presence of the Wazirs, and cast herself upon him, saying, " O king, is my shame not upon thee or fearest thou not shame ? Indeed, this is not of the fashion of kings that their jealousy over their women should be such as this. 2 Thou art heedless and all the folk of the realm 1 i.e. to secure her assistance in arousing the king's wrath. 2 i.e. so slow to avenge itself. . The Story of King Ibrahim and his Son. 1 2 1 prate of thee, men and women. Either slay him, that the talk may be cut off, or slay me, if thy soul will not consent to his slaughter." Thereupon the king's wrath waxed hot and he said to her, " I have no pleasure in his continuance and needs must I slay him this very day. So return to thy palace and solace thy heart." Then he bade fetch the youth; whereupon they brought him before him and the Wazirs said, " O base of base, fie upon thee ! Thy life-term is at hand and earth hungereth for thy flesh, so it may make a meal of it." But he said to them, " Death is not in your word or in your envy ; nay, it is a destiny written upon the forehead : wherefore, if aught be writ upon my front, there is no help but it come to pass, and neither striving nor thought-taking nor precaution-seeking shall deliver me therefrom ; even as hap- pened to King Ibrahim and his son." Quoth the king, " Who was King Ibrahim and who was his son?" and quoth the youth " Hear, O king, THE STOR Y OF KING IBRAHIM AND HIS SON" , There was once a king of the kings, Sultan Ibrahim hight, to whom the sovrans abased themselves and did obedience ; but he had no son and was straitened of breast because of that, fearing' lest the kingship go forth of his hand. He ceased not to long for a son and to buy slave-girls and lie with them, till one of them conceived, whereat he rejoiced with passing joy and gave great gifts and the largest largesse. When the girl's months were com- plete and the time of her lying-in drew near, the king summoned the astrologers and they watched for the hour of child-bearing and raised their astrolabes and carefully noted the time. The 1 Story of Sultan Hebriam (!), and his Son" (Chavis and Cazotte). Unless they greatly enlarged upon the text, they had a much fuller copy than that found in the Bresl. Edit. 122 Supplemental Nights. hand-maid gave birth to a man-child, whereat the king rejoiced exceedingly, and the people congratulated one another with this glad news. Then the astrophils made their calculations and looked into his nativity and his ascendant, whereupon their colour changed and they were confounded. Quoth the king to them, " Acquaint me with his horoscope and ye shall have assurance of pardon and have naught to fear." * They replied, " O king, this princely child's nativity denoteth that, in the seventh year of his age, there is fearful danger for him from a lion, which shall attempt to rend him : and if he be saved from the lion, there will betide a matter yet sorer and more grievous even than that." Asked the king, " What is it ? " and they answered, " We will not speak, except the king command us and give us assurance from fear." Quoth the king, " Allah assure you ! " and quoth they, " An he be saved from the lion, the king's destruction shall be at his hand." When the king heard this, his complexion changed and his breast was straitened ; but he said to himself, " I will be watchful and do my endeavour and suffer not the lion to eat him. It cannot be that he will kill me, and indeed * The astrologers lied.'" 2 Then he caused rear him among the wet-nurses and the noble matrons ;* but withal he ceased not to ponder the prediction of the astro- phils and verily his life was troubled. So he betook himself to the top of a high mountain and hollowed there a deep excavation 4 and made in it many dwelling-places and rooms and filled it with all that was needful of rations and raiment and what not else and laid in it pipe-conduits of water from the mountain and lodged 1 A right kingly king, in the Eastern sense of the word, would strike off their heads for daring to see omens threatening his son and heir : this would be constructive treason of the highest because it might be expected to cause its own fulfilment. 2 Mahommed's Hadis " Kazzibu M-Munajjimuna br Rabbi 'l-Ka'abah" = the As- trologers lied, by the Ka'abah's Lord! 3 Arab. " Khawatin," plur. of Khatun, a matron, a lady, vol. iv. 66. 4 See Al-Mas'udi, chapt. xvii. (Fr. Transl. ii. 48-49) of the circular cavity two miles deep and sixty in circuit inhabited by men and animals on the Caucasus near Derbeud. . The Story of King Ibrahim and his Son. 123 the boy therein, with a nurse who should rear him. Moreover, at the first of each month he used to go to the mountain and stand at the mouth of the hollow and let down a rope he had with him and draw up the boy to him and strain him to his bosom and kiss him and play with him awhile, after which he would let him down again to his place and return ; and he was wont to count the days till the seven years should pass by. Now when arrived the time of the Fate foreordered and the Fortune graven on the forehead and there remained for the boy but ten days till the seven years should be complete, there came to that mountain hunters chasing wild beasts and, seeing a lion, they attacked him. He fled from them and seeking refuge in the mountain, fell into the hollow in its midst. The nurse saw him forthwith and escaped from him into one of the chambers ; upon which the lion made for the lad and seizing upon him, tare his shoulder, after which he sought the room wherein was the nurse and falling upon her, devoured her, whilst the boy lay in a swoon. Meanwhile, when the huntsmen saw that the lion had fallen into the pit, they came to the mouth and heard the shrieking of the boy and the woman ; and after awhile the cries died away, whereby they knew that the lion had slain them. Presently, as they stood by the mouth of the excava- tion behold, the lion came scrambling up the sides and would have issued forth : but, as often as he showed his head, they pelted him with stones, till they beat him down and he fell ; whereupon one of the hunters descended into the pit and despatched him and saw the boy wounded ; after which he went to the chamber, where he found the woman dead, and indeed the lion had eaten his fill of her. Then he noted that which was therein of clothes and what not else, and notifying his mates, fell to passing the stuff up to them : lastly, he took up the boy and bringing him forth of the pit, carried him to their dwelling-place, where they dressed his wounds. He grew up with them, but acquainted them not with his affair ; and indeed, when they questioned him, he 1 24 Supplemental Nights. knew not what he should say, because they let him down into the pit when he was a little one. The hunters marvelled at his speech and loved him with exceeding love and one of them took him to son and abode rearing him by his side and training him in hunting and horse-riding, till he reached the age of twelve and became a brave, going forth with the folk to the chase and to the cutting of the way. Now it chanced one day that they sallied forth to stop the road and fell in with a caravan during the night : but its stout fellows were on their guard ; so they joined battle with the robbers and overcame .them and slew them and the boy fell wounded and tarried cast down in that place till the morrow, when he opened his eyes and finding his comrades slain, lifted himself up and arose to walk the road. Presently, there met him a man, a trea- sure-seeker, and asked him, " Whither away, O lad ? " So he told him what had betided him and the other said, " Be of good heart, for that the tide of thy good fortune is come and Allah bringeth thee joy and gladness. I am one who am in quest of a hidden treasure, wherein is a mighty mickle of wealth. So come with me that thou mayst help me, and I will give thee monies with which thou shalt provide thyself all thy life long." Then he carried the youth to his dwelling and dressed his wounds, and he tarried with him some days till he was rested ; when the treasure-seeker took him and two beasts and all that he needed, and they fared on till they came to a towering highland. Here the man brought out a book and reading therein, dug in the crest of the mountain five cubits deep, whereupon there appeared to him a stone. He pulled it up and behold it was a trap-door covering the mouth of a pit. So he waited till the foul air * was come forth from the midst of the pit, when he bound a rope about the lad's middle and let him down bucket-wise to the bottom, and with him a lighted waxen taper. 1 Arab. " Nafas" lit. = breath. Arabs living in a land of caverns know by experience the danger of asphyxiation in such places. The Story of King Ibrahim and his Son. 125 The boy looked and beheld, at the upper end of the pit, wealth abundant ; so the treasure-seeker let down a rope and a basket and the boy fell to filling and the man to drawing up, till the fellow had got his sufficiency, when he loaded his beasts and ceased working, whilst the boy looked for him to let down the rope and draw him up ; but he rolled a great stone to the mouth of the pit and went his ways. When the boy saw what the treasure-seeker had done with him, he relied upon Allah (extolled and exalted be He !) and abode perplexed concerning his case and said, " How bitter be this death ? " for indeed the world was darkened on him and the pit was blinded to him. So he fell a-weeping and saying, " I escaped the lion and the robbers and now is my death to be in this pit, where I shall die by slow degrees." And he abode per- plexed and looked for nothing but death. But as he stood pon- dering, behold, he heard a sound of water rushing with a thunder- ous noise ; so he arose and walked in the pit, following the sound, till he came to a corner and heard the mighty coursing of water. Then he laid his ear to the sound of the current and hearing it rushing in great strength, said to himself, " This is the flowing of a mighty watercourse and needs must I depart life in this place, be it to-day or to-morrow ; so I will throw myself into the stream and not die a slow death in this pit." Thereupon he called up his courage and gathering up his skirts, cast himself into the water, and it bore him along with force exceeding and carrying him under the earth, stayed not till it brought him out into a deep Wady, adown which ran a great river, that welled up from under the ground. When he found himself on the face of earth, he abode dazed and a-swoon all that day ; after which he came to himself and rising, fared on along that valley ; and he ceased not his way- fare, praising Almighty Allah the while, till he came to an inhabited land and a great village in the reign of the king his sire. So he entered and foregathered with the villagers, who questioned him of his case ; whereupon he told them his tale, and they admired 1 26 Supplemental Nights. how Allah had delivered him from all those dangers. Then he took up his abode with them and they loved him much. On this wise happened it to him ; but as regards the king, his father, when he went to the pit, as was his wont, and called the nurse, she returned him no answer, whereat his breast was straitened and he let down a man who found the woman dead and the boy gone and acquainted therewith the king, who when he heard this, buffeted his head and wept with sore weeping and descended into the midst of the pit that he might see how the case stood. There he espied the nurse slain and the lion dead, but beheld not the boy ; so he returned and acquainted the astrologers with the soothfastness of their saying, and they replied, " O King, the lion hath eaten him ; destiny hath been wroughten upon him and thou art delivered from his hand ; for, had he been saved from the lion, we indeed, by Allah, had feared for thee from him, because the king's destruction would have been at his hand." So the king ceased to sorrow for this and the days passed by and the affair was forgotten. Mean- while the boy grew up and abode with the people of the village, and when Allah willed the accomplishing of His commandment, which no endeavour availeth to avert, he went forth with a party of the villagers to cut the way. The folk complained to King Ibrahim his father, who sallied out with a company of his men and surrounded the highwaymen. Now that boy was with them, and he drew forth an arrow and launched it at them, and it smote the king and wounded him in a mortal place. So they carried him to his palace, after they had laid hands upon the youth and his comrades and brought them before the sovran, saying, " What biddest us to do with them ? " Quoth he, " I am presently in trouble for myself, so bring me the astrologers." Accordingly, they brought them before him and he said to them, " Ye said to me Thy death shall be by slaying at the hand of thy son : how, then, befaileth it that I have got my death-hurt by yonder thieves ? " The astrologers marvelled and said to him, " O The Story of King Ibrahim and his Son. 127 king, 'tis not beyond the lore of the stars, together with the doom of Allah, that he who hath smitten thee should be thy son. When King Ibrahim heard this, he bade fetch the thieves and said to them, " Tell me truly, which of you shot the shaft that wounded me." Said they, " 'Twas this youth that is with us." Where- upon the king fell to considering him and said, " O youth, acquaint me with thy case and tell me who was thy father and thou shalt have assurance of safety from Allah." The youth replied, " O my lord, I know no father ; as for me, my father lodged me in a pit, with a nurse to rear me, and one day, there fell in upon us a lion, which tare my shoulder, then left me and occupied himself with the nurse and rent her in pieces ; and Allah vouchsafed me one who brought me forth the pit." Then he related to him all that had befallen him, first and last ; which when King Ibrahim heard, he cried out and said, " By Allah, this is my son ! " presently adding, " Bare thy shoulder." So he uncovered it, and behold, it was scarred. Then the king assembled his lords and lieges and the astrologers and said to them, " Know that what Allah hath writ upon the forehead, be it fair fortune or misfortune, none may efface, and all that is decreed to a man must perforce befal him. Indeed, this my care-taking and my endeavour profited me naught, for what weird Allah decreed for my son, he .hath dreed and whatso He decreed to me I have endured. Nevertheless, I praise Allah and thank Him because this was at my son's hand, and not at the hand of another, and Alhamdolillah laud to the Lord for that the kingship is come to my son ! " And he strained the youth to his bosom and embraced him and kissed him, saying " O my son, this matter was after such fashion, and of my watchful- ness over thee from Fate, I lodged thee in that pit ; but caretaking availed not." Then he took the crown of the kingship and set it on his son's head and caused the lieges and the people do homage to him and commended the subjects to his care and enjoined to him justice and equity. And he farewelled him that night and died 1 28 Supplemental Nights. and his son reigned in his stead. 1 " On like wise, O king" (continued the young treasurer), " 'tis with thee. If Allah have written aught on my forehead, needs must it befal me and my speech to the king shall not avail me ; no, nor my illustrating it to him with instances, against the doom of Allah. And so it is with these Wazirs, for all their eagerness and endeavour for my destruction, this shall not profit them ; because, if Allah determine to save me, He will give me the victory over them." When the king heard these words he became perplexed and said, " Return him to the prison till the morrow, so we may look into his affair, for the day draweth to an end and I mean to do him dead in foulest sort, and to-morrow we will visit him with that which he meriteth." 1 This simple tale is told with much pathos not of words but of sense. 129 OF THE APPOINTED TERM, 1 WHICH, IF IT BE ADVANCED, MAY NOT BE DEFERRED, AND IF IT BE DEFERRED, MAY NOT BE ADVANCED. WHEN it was the tenth day (now this day was called Al-Mihrjan* and it was the day of the coming in of the folk, gentle and simple, to the king, so they might give him joy and salute him and go forth), the council of the Wazirs agreed that they should speak with a company of the city notables. So they said to them, " When ye go in to-day to the king and salute him, do ye say to him : O king, (to the Lord be the laud !) thou art praiseworthy of policy and procedure and just to all thy subjects ; but respecting this youth whom thou hast favoured and who nevertheless hath reverted to his base origin and done this foul deed, what is thy purpose in his continuance ? Indeed, thou hast prisoned him in thy palace, and every day thou hearest his palaver and thou knowest not what the folk say." And they answered, " Hearing is obeying." Accordingly, when they entered with the folk and had prostrated themselves before the king and congratulated his majesty, he raised their several degrees. Now it was the custom of the folk to salute 1 Arab. " Ajal" = the appointed day of death; also used for sudden death. See vol. i. 74. 2 i.e. the Autumnal Equinox, one of the two great festival days (the other being the New Year) of the Persians, and surviving in our Michaelmas. According to Al-Mas'udi (chap, xxi.), it was established to commemorate the capture of Zahhak (Azhi-Dahaka),the biting snake (the Hindu Ahi) of night and darkness, the Greek Astyages, by Furaydun or Feridun. Prof. Sayce (Principles of Comparative Philology, p. u) connects the latter with the Vedic deity Trita, who harnessed the Sun-horse (Rig. v. i. 163, 2, 3), the TpiToyevaa of Homer, a title of Athene, the Dawn-goddess, and Bumouf proved the same Trita to be Thraetaona, son of Athwya, of the Avesta, who finally became Furaydun, the Greek Kyrus. See vol. v. I. VOL. I. I X3 Supplemental Nights. and go forth ; but they took seat, and die king knew that they had a word they would fain address to him : so he turned to them (the Wazirs being also present) and said, " Ask your need." There- fore they repeated to him all that the Ministers had taught them and the Wazirs also spoke with them ; and Azadbakht said to them, " O folk, I would have it known to you that there is no doubt with me concerning this your speech proceeding from love and loyal counsel to me, and ye ken that, were I inclined to kill half these folk, I could do them die and this would not be hard to me ; so how shall I not slay this youth and he in my power and in the hending of my hand ? Indeed, his crime is manifest and he hath incurred death penalty ; and I have deferred it only by reason of the greatness of the offence ; for, an I do this with him and my proof against him be strengthened, my heart is healed and the heart of my whole folk ; and if I slay him not to-day, his slaying shall not escape me to-morro\v." Then he bade fetch the youth who, when present between his hands, prostrated to him and blessed him; whereupon quoth the king, "Woe to thee ! How long shall the folk upbraid me on thine account and blame me for delaying thy death ? Even the people of my city reproach me because of thee, so that I am grown a prating-stock amongst them, and indeed they come in to me and reproach me for not putting thee to death. How long shall I delay this ? Verily, this very day I mean to shed thy blood and rid the folk of thy prattling." The youth replied, " O king, an there have betided thee talk because of me, by Allah, and again by Allah the Great, those who have brought on thee this talk from the folk are none but these wicked Wazirs, who chatter with the crowd and tell them foul tales and ill things of the king's house , but I hope in the Most High that He will cause their malice to recoil upon their own heads. As for the king's menace of slaying me, I am in the grip of his hand ; so let not the king occupy his mind with my slaughter, because I am like the sparrow in the grasp of the fowler ; if he will, he cutteth The Story of King Sulayman Shah -i.nd his Niece. 1 3 1 his throat, and if he will, he letteth him go. As for the delaying of my death, 'tis not from the king, but from Him in whose hand is my life ; for, by Allah, O king, an the Almighty willed my slaughter, thou couldst not postpone it ; no, not for a single hour. And, indeed, man availeth not to fend off evil from himself, even as it was with the son of King Sulayman Shah, whose anxiety and care- fulness for the winning of his wish in the matter of the new-born child availed him naught, for his last hour was deferred how many a time ! and Allah saved him until he had accomplished his period and had fulfilled his life-term." Cried the king, " Fie upon thee, how great is thy craft and thy talk ! Tell me, what was their tale." And the youth said, " Hear, O king, THE STOR Y OF KING SULA YM AN SHAH AND HIS NIECE* There was once a king named Sulayman Shah, who was goodly of policy and rede, and he had a brother who died and left a daughter ; so Sulayman Shah reared her with the best of rearing and the girl became a model of reason and perfection, nor was there in her time a more beautiful than she. Now the king had two sons, one of whom he had appointed in his mind to wed her, while the other purposed to take her. The elder son's name was Bahluwdn 2 and that of the younger Malik Shdh, 3 and the girl was called Shdh Khdtun. Now one day, King Sulayman Shah went in to his brother's daughter and kissing her head, said to her, " Thou art my daughter and dearer to me than a child, for the love 1 In Chavis and Gazette, " Story of Selimansha and his Family." 1 Arab, for Pers. Pahluwan (from Pahlau) a brave, a warrior, an athlete, applied in India to a champion in any gymnastic exercise, especially in wrestling. The Frenchman calls him "Balavan"; and the Bresl. text in more than one place (p. 312) calls him "Bahwan." 3 i.e. King (Arab.) King (Persian): we find also Sultan Malik Shah = King King King. 132 Supplemental Nights. of thy late father who hatn found mercy ; wherefore I purpose 1 espousing thee to one of my sons and appointing him my heir apparent, so he may be king after me. Look, then, which thou wilt have of my sons, 1 for that thou hast been reared with them and knowest them." The maiden arose and kissing his hand, said to him, " O my lord, I am thine hand-maid and thou art the ruler over me ; so whatever liketh thee do that same, inasmuch as thy wish is higher and honourabler and holier than mine and if thou wouldst have me serve thee as a hand-maid for the rest of my life, 'twere fairer to me than any mate." The king commended her speech and con- ferred on her a robe of honour and gave her magnificent gifts ; after which, his choice having fallen upon his younger son, Malik Shah, he wedded her with him and made him his heir apparent and bade the folk swear fealty to him. When this reached his brother Bahluwan and he was ware that his younger brother had by favour been preferred over him, his breast was straitened and the affair was sore to him and envy entered into him and hate ; but he hid this in his heart, whilst fire raged therein because of the damsel and the dominion. Meanwhile Shah Khatun went in bridal splendour to the king's son and conceived by him and bare a son, as he were the illuming moon. When Bahluwan saw this betide his brother, envy and jealousy overcame him ; so he went in one night to his father's palace and coming to his brother's chamber, saw the nurse sleeping at the door, with the cradle before her and therein his brother's child asleep. Bahluwan stood by him and fell to looking upon his face, whose radiance was as that of the ^ moon, and Satan insinuated himself into his heart, so that he bethought himself and said, " Why be not this babe mine ? Verily, I am worthier of him than my brother ; yea, and of the damsel and the dominion." Then the idea got the mastery of him and anger drave nim. so that he took out a knife and setting it to 1 Arab. " Aulad-i," a vulgarism, plural for dual. The Story of King Sulayman Shah and his Niece. 133 the child's gullet, cut his throat and would have severed his wind- pipe. So he left him for dead and entering his brother's chamber, saw him asleep, with the Princess by his side, and thought to slay her, but said to himself, " I will leave the girl-wife for myself." Then he went up to his brother and cutting his throat, parted head from body, after which he left him and went away. But now the world was straitened upon him and his life was a light matter to him and he sought the lodging of his sire Sulayman Shah, that he might slay him also, but could not get admission to him. So he went forth from the palace and hid himself in the city till the morrow, when he repaired to one of his father's fortalices and therein fortified himself. On this wise it was with him ; but as regards the nurse, she presently awoke that she might give the child suck, and seeing the cradle running with blood, cried out ; whereupon the sleepers started up and the king was aroused and making for the place, found the child with his throat cut and the bed running over with blood and his father dead with a slit weasand in his sleeping chamber. They examined the child and found life in him and his windpipe whole and they sewed up the place of the wound : then the king sought his son Bahluwan, but found him not and saw that he had fled ; so he knew that it was he who had done this deed, and this was grievous to the king and to the people of his realm and to the lady Shah Khatun. Thereupon the king laid out his son Malik Shah and buried him and made him a mighty funeral and they mourned with passing sore mourning ; after which he applied himself to rearing the infant. As for Bahluwan, when he fled and fortified himself, his power waxed amain and there remained for him but to make war pon his father, who had cast his fondness upon the child and used to rear him on his knees and supplicate Almighty Allah that fce might live, so he might commit the command to him. When be came to five years of age, the king mounted him on horseback and the people of the city rejoiced in him and prayed for him 1 34 Supplemental Nights. length of life, that he might take vengeance for his father 1 and heal his grandsire's heart. Meanwhile, Bahluwan the rebel* addressed himself to pay court to Caesar, king of the Roum 8 and crave aid of him in debelling his father, and he inclined unto him and gave him a numerous army. His sire the king hearing of this sent to Caesar, saying, " O glorious king of might illustrious, succour not an evil doer. This is my son and he hath done so and so and cut his brother's throat and that of his brother's son in the cradle." But he told not the king of the Roum that the child had recovered and was alive. When Caesar heard the truth of the matter, it was grievous to him as grievous could be, and he sent back to Sulayman Shah, saying, " An it be thy wish, O king, I will cut off his head and send it to thee." But he made answer, saying, " I care naught for him : soon and surely the reward of his deed and his crimes shall overtake him, if not to-day, then to-morrow." And from that date he continued to exchange letter* and presents with Caesar. Now the king of the Roum heard tell of the widowed Princess 4 and of the beauty and loveliness where- \vith she was endowed, wherefore his heart clave to her and he sent to seek her in wedlock of Sulayman Shah, who could not refuse him. So he arose and going in to Shah Khatun, said to her, " O my daughter, the king of the Roum hath sent to me to 1 Mr. Payne translates, " so he might lake his father's leavings " i.e. heritage, reading " Asar" which I hold to be a clerical error for Sar = Vendetta, blood revenge (Bresl. Edit. vi. 310). 2 Arab. " Al-'Asi " the pop. term for one who refuses to obey a constituted authority and syn. with Pers. " Yaghi." "Ant 'Asi?" Wilt thou not yield thyself? says a policeman to a refractory Fellah. 3 i.e. of the Greeks : so in Kor. xxx. i. " Alif Lam Mim, the Greeks (Al-Roum) have been defeated." Mr. Rodwell curiously remarks that " the vowel-points for 'defeated ' not being originally written, would make the prophecy true in either event, according as the verb received an active or passive sense in pronunciation." But in discovering this mare's nest, a rank piece of humbug like Aio te Aeacida etc., he forgets that all the Pro- phet's "Companions," numbering some 5,000, would pronounce it only in one way and ilhat no man could mistake "ghalabal " (active) for " ghulibat " (passive). 4 The text peisistently uses" Jariyah " = damsel, slave-girl, for the politer " Sabiyafc" \s=. young lady, being written in a rude and uncourtly style. The Story of King Sulayman Shah and his Niece. 135 seek thee in marriage. What sayst thou ? " She wept and replied, " O king, how canst thou find it in thy heart to address me thus ? As for me, abideth there husband for me, after the son of my uncle ? " Rejoined the king, " O my daughter, 'tis indeed as thou sayest ; but here let us look to the issues of affairs. I must now take compt of death, for that I am a man shot in years and fear not save for thee and for thy little son ; and indeed I have written to the king of the Roum and others of the kings and said, His uncle slew him, and said not that he hath recovered and is living, but concealed his affair. Now the king of the Roum hath sent to demand thee in marriage, and this is no thing to be refused and fain would we have our back strengthened with him." 1 And she was silent and spake not. So King Sulayman Shah made answer to Caesar with " Hearing and obeying." Then he arose and despatched her to him, and Caesar went in to her and found her passing the description wherewith they had described her ; wherefore he loved her every day more and more and preferred her over all his women and his affection for Sulayman Shah was increased ; but Shah Khatun's heart still clave to her child and she could say naught. i As for Sulayman Shah's son, the rebel Bahluwan, when he saw that Shah Khatun had married the king of the Roum, this was grievous to him and he despaired of her. Meanwhile, his father Sulayman Shah watched over the child and cherished him and named him Malik Shah, after the name of his sire. When he reached the age of ten, he made the folk do homage to him and appointed him his heir apparent, and after some days, the old king's time for paying the debt of nature drew near and he died. Now a party of the troops had banded themselves together for Bahluwan ; so they sent to him, and bringing him privily, went in to the little Malik Shah and seized him and seated his uncle Bahluwan on the throne of kingship. Then they proclaimed him 1 So our familar phrase " Some one to back us. 1 ' 1 36 Supplemental Night. king and did homage to him all, saying, " Verily, we desire thee and deliver to thee the throne of kingship ; but we wish of thee that thou slay not thy brother's son, because we are still bounden by the oaths we sware to his sire and his grandsire and the covenants we made with them," So Bahluwan granted this to them and imprisoned the boy in an underground dungeon and straitened n. him. Presently, the grievous news reached his mother and this was to her a fresh grief ; but she could not speak and committed her affair to Allah Almighty, for that she durst not name this to King Caesar her spouse, lest she should make her uncle King Sulayman Shah a liar. But as regards Bahluwan the Rebel, he abode king in his father's place and his affairs prospered, while young Malik Shah lay in the souterrain four full-told years, till his favour faded and his charms changed. When He (extolled and exalted be He !) willed to relieve him and to bring him forth of the prison, Bahluwan sat one day with his chief Officers and the Lords of his land and discoursed with them of the story of his sire, King Sulayman Shah and what was in his heart. Now there were present certain Wazirs, men of worth, and they said to him, w O king, verily Allah hath been bountiful to thee and hath brought thee to thy wish, so that thou art become king in thy father's place and hast won whatso thou wishedst. But, as for this youth, there is no guilt in him, because he, from the day of his coming into the world, hath seen neither ease nor pleasure, and indeed his favour is faded and his charms changed. What is his crime that he should merit such pains and penalties ? Indeed, others than he were to blame, and hereto Allah hath given thee the victory over them, and there is no fault in this poor lad." Quoth Bahluwan, " Verily, 'tis as ye say ; but I fear his machinations and am not safe from his mischief ; haply the most part of the folk will incline unto him." They replied, " O king, what fe this boy and what power hath he ? An thou fear him, send him to one of the frontiers." And Bahluwan said, " Ye The Story of King Sulayman Shah and his Niece. 1 37 speak sooth ; so we will send him as captain of war to reduce one of the outlying stations." Now over against the place in question was a host of enemies, hard of heart, and in this he designed the slaughter of the youth : so he bade bring him forth of the underground dungeon and caused him draw near to him and saw his case. Then he robed him, whereat the folk rejoiced, and bound for him the banners 1 and, giving him a mighty many, des- patched him to the quarter aforesaid, whither all who went or were slain or were taken. Accordingly Malik Shah fared thither with his force and when it was one of the days, behold, the enemy attacked them in the night ; whereupon some of his men fled and the rest the enemy captured ; and they seized Malik Shah also and cast him into a pit with a company of his men. His fellows mourned over his beauty and loveliness and there he abode a whole twelve- month in evillest plight. Now at the beginning of every year it was the enemy's wont to bring forth their prisoners and cast them down from the top of the citadel to the bottom ; so at the customecf time they brought them forth and cast them down, and Malik Shah with them. However, he fell upon the other men and the ground touched him not, for his term was God-guarded. But those who were cast down there were slain upon the spot and their bodies ceased not to lie there till the wild beasts ate them and the winds scattered their bones. Malik Shah abode strown in his place and aswoon, all that day and that night, and when he revived and found himself safe and sound, he thanked Allah the Most High for his safety and rising, left the place. He gave not over walking, unknowing whither he went and dieting upon the leaves of the trees ; and by day he hid himself where he might and fared on at hazard all his night ; and thus he did for some days, till he came to a populous part and seeing folk there, accosted them. He acquainted them with his case, giving * Arab. " 'Akkada lahu ray," plur. of ray at, a banner. See vol. iii. 307. 1 3 8 Supplemental Nights. them to know that he had been prisoned in the fortress and that they had thrown him down, but Almighty Allah had saved him and brought him off alive. The people had ruth on him and gave him to eat and drink and he abode with them several days ; then he questioned them of the way that led to the kingdom of his uncle Bahluwan, but told them not that he was his father's brother. So they showed him the road and he ceased not to go barefoot, till he drew near his uncle's capital, naked, anhungered, and indeed his limbs were lean and his colour changed. He sat down at the city gate, when behold, up came a company of King Bah- luwan's chief officers, who were out a-hunting and wished to water their horses. They lighted down to rest and the youth accosted them, saying, " I would ask you of somewhat that ye may acquaint me therewith/' Quoth they, "Ask what thou wilt ;" and quoth he, " Is King Bahluwan well ? " They derided him and replied, "What a fool art thou, O youth! Thou art a stranger and a beggar, and whence art thou that thou should'st question concerning the king ? " x Cried he, " In very sooth, he is- my uncle ;" whereat they marvelled and said, " 'Twas one catch- question 2 and now 'tis become two." Then said they to him, " O youth, it is as if thou wert Jinn-mad. Whence comest thou to claim kinship with the king? Indeed, we know not that he hath any kith and kin save a nephew, a brother's son, who was prisoned with him, and he despatched him to wage war upon the infidels, so that they slew him." Said Malik Shah, " I am he and they slew me not, but there befel me this and that." They knew him forthwith and rising to him, kissed his hands and rejoiced in him and said to him, " O our lord, thou art indeed a king and the son of a king, and we desire thee naught 1 i.e. "What concern hast thou with the king's health ?" The question is offensively put. 8 Arab. " Masalah," a question ; here an enigma. The Story of King Sulayman Shah and his Niece. \ 39 but good and we pray for thy continuance. Look how Allah hath rescued thee from this wicked uncle, who sent thee to a place whence none ever came off safe and sound, purposing not in this but thy destruction ; and indeed thou fellest upon death from which Allah delivered thee. How, then, wilt thou return and cast thyself again into thine foeman's hand ? By Allah, save thyself and return not to him this second time. Haply thou shalt abide upon the face of the earth till it please Almighty Allah to receive thee; but, an thou fall again into his hand, he will not suffer thee to live a single hour." The Prince thanked them and said to them, " Allah reward you with all weal, for indeed ye give me loyal counsel ; but whither would ye have me wend ?" Quoth they, " To the land of the Roum, the abiding-place of thy mother." " But," quoth he, "My grandfather Sulayman Shah, when the king of the Roum wrote to him demanding my mother in marriage, hid my affair and secreted my secret ; and she hath done the same, and I cannot make her a liar." Rejoined they, " Thou sayst sooth, but we desire thine advantage, and even wert thou to take service with the folk, 'twere a means of thy continuance." Then each and every of them brought out to him money and gave him a modicum and clad him and fed him and fared on with him the length of a parasang, till they brought him far from the city, and letting him know that he was safe, departed from him, whilst he journeyed till he came forth of his uncle's reign and entered the dominion of the Roum. Then he made a village and taking up his abode therein, applied himself to serving one there in earing and seeding and the like. As for his mother, Shah Khatun, great was her longing for her child and she thought of him ever and news of him was cut off from her, so her life was troubled and she foresware sleep and could not make mention of him before King Caesar her spouse. Now she had a Castrato who had come with her from the court of 540 Supplemental Nights, her uncle King Sulayman Shah, and he was intelligent, quick- witted, right-reded. So she took him apart one day and said to him, shedding tears the while, " Thou hast been my Eunuch from my childhood to this day ; canst thou not therefore get me tidings of my son, seeing that I cannot speak of his matter ? " He replied, " O my lady, this is an affair which thou hast concealed from the commencement, and were thy son here, 'twould not be possible for thee to entertain him, lest 1 thine honour be smirched with the king ; for they would never credit thee, since the news hath been bruited abroad that thy son was slain by his uncle." Quoth she, "The case is even as thou sayst and thou speakest sooth ; but, provided I know that my son is alive, let him be in these parts pasturing sheep and let me not sight him nor he sight me." He asked, " How shall we manage in this matter ? " and she answered, "Here be my treasures and my wealth : take all thou wilt and bring me my son or else tidings of him." Then they devised a device between them, which was that they should feign some business in their own country, to wit that she had wealth there buried from the time of her husband, Malik Shah, and that none knew of it but this Eunuch who was with her, so it behoved him to go fetch it. Accordingly she acquainted the king her hdsband with that and sought his permit for the Eunuch to fare: and the king granted him leave of absence for the journey and charged him devise a device, lest he come to grief. The Castrato, therefore, disguised himself in merchant's habit and repairing to Bahluwan's city, began to make espial concerning the youth's case ; whereupon they told him that he had been prisoned in a souterraia and that his uncle had released him and despatched him to such a place, where they had slain him. When 1 Arab. "Lialli" (*>. li, an, H) lest ; but printed here and elsewhere with the y& as if it were " laylan,'' = for a single night. The Story of King Su lay man Sftah and his Niece. 141 the Eunuch heard this, the mishap was grievous to him and his breast was straitened and he knew not what to do. It chanced one day of the days that a certain of the horsemen, who had fallen in with the young Malik Shah by the water and clad him and given him spending-money, saw the Eunuch in the city, habited as a merchant, and recognising him, questioned him of his case and of the cause of his coming. Quoth he, " I came to sell mer- chandise ; " and quoth the horseman, " I will tell thee somewhat, an thou canst keep it secret." Answered the Neutral, "That I can ! What is it ? " and the other said, " We met the king's son Malik Shah, I and sundry of the Arabs who were with me, and saw hitp by such a water and gave him spending-money and sent him towards the land of the Roum, near his mother, for that we feared for him lest his uncle Bahluwan slay him." Then he told him all that had passed between them, whereat the Eunuch's countenance changed and he said to the cavalier " Thou art safe ! " The knight replied, "Thou also art safe though thou come in quest of him." And the Eunuch rejoined, saying, " Truly, that is my errand : there is no rest for his mother, lying down or rising up, and she hath sent me to seek news of him." Quoth the cavalier, " Go in safety, for he is in a quarter of the land of the Roum, even as I said to thee." The Castrato thanked him and blessed him and mounting, returned upon his road, following the trail, whilst the knight rode with him to a certain highway, when he said to him, " This is where we left him." Then he took leave of him and returned to his own city, whilst the Eunuch fared on along the road, enquiring in every village he entered of the youth, by the description which the rider had given him, and he ceased not thus to do till he came to the village wherein was young Malik Shah. So he entered, and dis- mounting, made enquiry after the Prince, but none gave him news of him ; whereat he abode perplexed concerning his affair and made ready to depart. Accordingly he mounted his horse ; but, as 142 Supplemental Nights. he passed through the village, he saw a cow bound with a rope and a youth asleep by her side, hending the halter in hand ; so he looked at him and passed on and heeded him not in his heart ; but presently he halted and said to himself, " An the youth whom I am questing have become the like of this sleeping youth whom I passed but now, how shall I know him ? Alas, the length of my travail and travel ! How shall I go about in search of a somebody I know not, one whom, if I saw him face to face I should not know ? " So saying he turned back, musing anent that sleeping youth, and coming to him, he still sleeping, dismounted from his mare and sat down by his side. He fixed his eyes upon his face and considered him awhile and said in himself, " For aught I wot, this youth may be Malik Shah ; " then he began hemming and saying, " Harkye, O youth ! " Whereupon the sleeper awoke and sat up ; and the Eunuch asked him, " Who be thy father in this village and where be thy dwelling ? " The youth sighed and replied, " I am a stranger ; " and quoth the Castrate, " From what land art thou and who is thy sire ? " Quoth the other, " I am from such a land," and the Eunuch ceased not to question him and he to answer his queries, till he was certified of him and knew him. So he rose and embraced him and kissed him and wept over his case : he also told him that he was wandering about in search of him and informed him that he was come privily from the king, his mother's husband, and that his mother would be satisfied to weet that he was alive and well, though she saw him not. Then he re-entered the village and buying the Prince a horse, mounted him and they ceased not going till they came to the frontier of their own country, where there fell robbers upon them by the way and took all that was with them and pinioned them ; after which they threw tnem into a pit hard by the road and went their ways and left them to die there ; and indeed they had cast many folk into that pit and they had perished. The Eunuch fell a weeping in the pit and the youth said to him, " What is this weeping and The" Story of King Sulayman Shah and his Niece. 143 what shall it profit here ? " Quoth the Castrato, " I weep not for lear of death, but of ruth for thee and the cursedness of thy case and because of thy mother's heart and for that which thou hast suffered of horrors and that thy death should be this ignoble death, after the endurance of all manner dire distresses." But the youth said, " That which hath betided me was writ to me and that which is written none hath power to efface ; and if my life- term be advanced, none may defer it." ! Then the twain passed that night and the following day and the next night and the next day in the hollow, till they were weak with hunger and came nigh upon death and could but groan feebly. Now it fortuned by the decree of Almighty Allah and His destiny, that Caesar, king of the Greeks, the spouse of Malik Shah's mother Shah Khatun, went forth a-hunting that morning. He flushed a head of game, he and his company, and chased it, till they came up with it by that pit, whereupon one of them lighted down from his horse, to slaughter it, hard by the mouth of the hollow. He heard a sound of low moaning from the sole of the pit ; whereat he arose and mounting his horse, waited till the troops were assembled. Then he acquainted the king with this and he bade one of his servants descend into the hollow : so the man climbed down and brought out the youth and the Eunuch in fainting condition. They cut their pinion-bonds and poured wine down their throats, till they came to themselves, when the king looked at the Eunuch and recognizing him, said, " Harkye, Such-an-one ! " The Castrato replied, " Yes, O my lord the king," and prostrated himself to him ; whereat the king wondered with exceeding wonder and asked him, " How earnest thou to this place and what hath befallen thee ?" The Eunuch answered, " I went and took out the treasure and brought it thus far ; but the evil eye was behind me and I unknowing. So the thieves took us alone here and seized the . ' ./. if ray death be fated to befai to-day, none may postpone it to a later date. 144 Supplemental Nights. . money and cast us into this pit that we might die the slow death of hunger, even as they had done with others ; but Allah the Most High sent thee, in pity to us." The king marvelled, he and his, and praised the Lord for that he had come thither ; after which he turned to the Castrate and said to him, " What is this youth thou hast with thee ? " He replied, " O king, this is the son of a nurse who belonged to us and we left him when he was a little one. I saw him to-day and his mother said to me, ' Take him with thee : J so this morning I brought him that he might be a servant to the king, for that he is an adroit youth and a clever," Then the king fared on, he and his company, and with them the Eunuch and the youth, who questioned his companion of Bahluwan and his dealing with his subjects, and he replied, saying, "As thy head liveth, O my lord the king, the folk are in sore annoy with him and not one of them wisheth a sight of him, be they high or low." When the king returned to his palace, he went in to his wife Shah Khatun and said to her, " I give thee the glad tidings of thine Eunuch's return ; " and he told her. what had betided and of the youth whom he had brought with him. When she heard this, her wits fled and she would have screamed, but her reason restrained her, and the king said to her, " What is this ? Art thou overcome with grief for the loss of the monies or for that which hath befallen the Eunuch ? " Said she, " Nay, as thy head liveth, O king ! but women are weaklings." Then came the Castrato and going in to her, told her all that had happened to him and also acquainted her with her son's case and with that which he had suffered of distresses and how his uncle had exposed him to slaughter, and he had been taken prisoner and they had cast him into the pit and hurled him from the highmost of the citadel and how Allah had delivered him from these perils, all of them ; and whilst he recounted to her all this, she wept. Then she asked him, "When the king saw him and questioned thee of him, what was it thou saidst him ? " and he answered, " I said to The Story of King Su lay man Shah and his Niece. 145 him : This is the son of a nurse who belonged to us. We left him a little one and he grew up; so I brought him, that he might be servant to the king." Cried she, " Thou didst well ; " and she charged him to serve the Prince with faithful service. As for the king, he redoubled in kindness to the Castrato and appointed the youth a liberal allowance and he abode going in to and coming out of the king's house and standing in his service, and every day he waxed better with him. As for Shah Khatun, she used to station herself at watch for him at the windows and in the balconies and gaze upon him, and she frying on coals of fire on his account ; yet could she not speak. In such condition she abode a long while and indeed yearning for him was killing her ; so she stood and watched for him one day at the door of her chamber and straining him to her bosom, bussed him on the breast and kissed him on either cheek. At this moment, behold, out came the major-domo of the king's household and seeing her embracing the youth, started in amazement. Then he asked to whom that chamber belonged and was answered, " To Shah Khatun, wife of the king," whereupon he turned back, quaking as one smitten by a leven-bolt. The king saw him in a tremor and said to him, " Out on thee ! what is the matter ? " Said he, " O King, what matter can be more grievous than that which I see ? " Asked the king, " What seest thou ? " and the officer answered, " I see that the youth, who came with the Eunuch, was not brought with him save on account of Shah Khatun ; for I passed but now by her chamber door, and she was standing, watching ; and when the youth came up, she rose to him and clipped him and kissed him on his cheek." When the king heard this, he bowed his head amazed, perplexed, and sinking into a seat, clutched at his beard and shook it till he came nigh upon plucking it out. Then he arose forthright and laid hands on the youth and clapped him in jail he also took the Eunuch and cast them both into a souterrain under his palace. After this he went in to Shah VOL. I. K 146 Supplemental Nights. Khatun and said to her, " Brava, by Allah, daughter of nobles. O thou whom kings sought to wed, for the purity of thy repute and the fairness of the fame of thee ! How seemly is thy semblance ! Now may Allah curse her whose inward contrarieth her outward, after the likeness of thy base favour, whose exterior is handsome and its interior fulsome, face fair and deeds foul ! Verily, I mean to make of thee and of yonder ne'er-do-well an example among the lieges, for that thou sentest not thine Eunuch but of intent on his account, so that he took him and brought him into my palace and thou hast trampled 1 my head with him ; and this is none other than exceeding boldness ; but thou shalt see what I will do with you all." So saying, he spat in her face and went out from her ; whilst Shah Khatun said nothing, well knowing that, an she spoke at that time, he would not credit her speech: Then she humbled herself in supplication to Allah Almighty and said, " O God the Great, Thou knowest the things by secrecy ensealed and their outwards revealed and their inwards concealed ! If an advanced life-term be appointed to me, let it not be deferred, and if a deferred one, let it not be advanced ! " On this wise she passed some days, whilst the king fell into bewilderment and forsware meat and drink and sleep, and abode, knowing not what he should do and saying to himself, " An I slay the Eunuch and the youth, my soul will not be solaced, for they are not to blame, seeing that she sent to fetch him, and my heart careth not to kill them all three. But I will not be hasty in doing them die, for that I fear repentance." Then he left them, so he might look into the affair. Now he had a nurse, a foster-mother, on whose knees he had been reared, and she was a woman of understanding and suspected him, yet dared not question him. So she went in 1 Arab. "Dnstl": so the ceremony vulgarly called "Doseh" and by the Italo- Egyptians "Dosso," the riding over disciples' backs by the Shaykh of the Sa'diyah Darwayshes (Lane M.E. chapt. xxv.) which took place for the last time at Cairo in 1881. The Story of King Sulayman Shah and his Niece. 147 to Shah Khatun and finding her in yet sadder plight than he, asked her what was to do ; but she refused to answer. However, the nurse gave not over coaxing and questioning her, till she swore her to concealment. Accordingly, the old woman made oath that she would keep secret all that she should say to her, whereupon the Queen to her related her history, first and last, and told her that the youth was her son. With this the old woman prostrated herself before her and said to her, " This is a right easy matter." But the Queen replied, " By Allah, O my mother, I prefer my destruction and that of my son to defending myself by a plea which they will not believe ; for they will say : She pleadeth this only that she may fend off shame from herself. And naught will profit me save long-suffering." The old woman was moved by her speech and her wisdom and said to her, " Indeed, O my daughter, 'tis as thou sayest, and I hope in Allah that He will show forth the truth. Have patience and I will presently go in to the king and hear his words and machinate somewhat in this matter, Inshallah ! " Thereupon the ancient dame arose and going into the king, found him with his head between his knees in sore pain of sorrow. She sat down by him awhile and bespake him with soft words and said to him, 1 " Indeed, O my son, thou consumest my vitals, for that these many days thou hast not mounted horse, and thou grievest and I know not what aileth thee." He replied, " O my mother, all is due to yonder accursed, of whom I deemed so well and who hath done this and that." Then he related to her the whole story from beginning to end, and she cried to him, " This thy chagrin is on account of a no-better-than-she-should-be ! " Quoth he, " I was but considering by what death I should slay them, so the folk may take warning and repent" And quoth she, " O my son, 'ware precipitance, for it gendereth repentance and the 1 In Chavis and Cazotte she conjures him " by the great Maichonarblatha Sarsourat (Mlat wa arba'at ashar Surat) = the 114 chapters of the Alcoran. 148 Supplemental Nights. slaying of them shall not escape thee. When thou art assured of this affair, do whatso thou wiliest." He rejoined, " O my mother, there needeth no assurance anent him for whom she despatched her Eunuch and he fetched him." But she retorted, " There is a thing wherewith we will make her confess, 1 and all that is in her heart shall be discovered to thee." Asked the king, " What is that ? " and she answered, " I will bring thee the heart of a hoopoe, 2 which, when she sleepeth, do thou lay upon her bosom and question her of everything thou wouldest know, and she will discover the same unto thee and show forth the truth to thee." The king rejoiced in this and said to his nurse, " Hasten thou and let none know of thee." So she arose and going in to the Queen, said to her, " I have done thy business and 'tis as follows. This night the king will come in to thee and do thou seem asleep ; and if he ask thee of aught, do thou answer him, as if in thy sleep." The Queen thanked her and the old dame went away and fetching the bird's heart, gave it to the king. Hardly was the night come, when he went in to his wife and found her lying back, a-slumbering ; so he sat down by her side and laying the hoopoe's heart on her breast, waited awhile, so he might be assured that she slept. Then 1 I have noted that Moslem law is not fully satisfied without such confession which, however, may be obtained by the bastinado. It is curious to compare English procedure with what Moslem would be in such a case as that of the famous Tichborne Claimant. What we did need hardly be noticed. An Arab judge would in a case so suspicious at once have applied the stick and in a quarter of an hour would have settled the whole business ; but then what about the " Devil's own," the lawyers and lawyers' fees? And he would have remarked that the truth is not less true because obtained by such compul- sory means. * The Hudhud, so called from its cry " Hood ! Hood ! " It is the Lat. upupa, Or. CTO^I from its supposed note epip or upup ; the old Egyptian Kukufa ; Heb. Dukiphath and Syriac Kikupha (Bochart Hierozoicon, part ii. 347). The Spaniards call it Gallo de Marzo (March-Cock) from its returning in that month, and our old writers "lapwing" (Deut. xiv. 18). This foul-feeding bird derives her honours from chapt. xxvii. of the Koran (q.v.) t the Hudhud was sharp-sighted and sagacious enough to discover water underground which the devils used to draw after she had marked the place by her bilL The Story of King Sulayman Shah and his Niece. 149 said he to her, " Shah Khatun, 1 Shah Khatun, is this my reward from thee ? " Quoth she, " What offence have I committed ? " and quoth he, " What offence can be greater than this ? Thou sentest after yonder youth and broughtest him hither, on account of the lust of thy heart, so thou mightest do with him that for which thou lustedst." Said she, " I know not carnal desire. Verily, among thy pages are those who are comelier and seemlier than he ; yet have I never desired one of them." He asked " Why, then, didst thou lay hold of him and kiss him ? " And she answered, "This youth is my son and a piece of my liver ; and of my longing and affection for him, I could not contain myself, but sprang upon him and kissed him." When the king heard this, he was dazed and amazed and said to her, " Hast thou a proof that this youth is thy son ? Indeed, I have a letter from thine uncle King Sulayman Shah, informing me that his uncle Bahluwan cut his throat." Said she "Yes, he did indeed cut his throat, but severed not the wind- pipe ; so my uncle sewed up the wound and reared him, for that his life-term was not come." When the king heard this, he said, " This proof sufficeth me," and rising forthright in the night, bade bring the youth and the Eunuch. Then he examined his stepson's throat with a candle and saw the scar where it had been cut from ear to ear, and indeed the place had healed up and it was like a thread stretched out. Thereupon the king fell down prostrate before Allah, who had delivered the Prince from all these perils anH from the distresses he had suffered, and rejoiced with joy exceeding because he had delayed and had not made haste to slay him, in which case mighty sore repentance had betided him. 8 "As for the youth " continued the young treasurer, " he was not saved but 1 Here the vocative Ya is designedly omitted in poetical fashion {e.g., Khaliliyya my friend !) to show the speaker's emotion. See p. 113 of Captain A. Lockett's learned and curious work the " Miet Amil "( = Hundred Regimens) Calcutta, 1814. a The story-teiler introduces this last instance with considerable art as a prefac- to the denotement. 1 50 Supplemental Nights. because his life-term was deferred, and in like manner, O king, 'tis with me : I too have a deferred term, which I shall attain, and a period which I shall accomplish, and I trust in Almighty Allah that He will give me the victory over these villain Wazirs." When the youth had made an end of his speech, the king said, " Restore him to the prison ; " and when they had done this, he turned to the Ministers and said to them, "Yonder youth lengtheneth his tongue upon you, but I know your tenderness for the weal of mine empire and your loyal counsel to me ; so be of good heart, for all that ye advise me I will do." They rejoiced when they heard these words, and each of them said his say. Then quoth the king, " I have not deferred his slaughter but to the intent that the talk might be prolonged and that words might abound, yet shall he now be slain without let or stay, and I desire that forthright ye set up for him a gibbet without the town and that the crier cry among the folk bidding them assemble and take him and carry him in procession to the gibbet, with the crier crying before him and saying : This is the reward of him whom the king delighted to favour and who hath betrayed him ! " The Wazirs rejoiced when they heard this, and for their joy slept not that night ; and they made proclamation in the city and set up the gallows. 151 ebentf) Btgfjt of tf>e Jttontfr. AT eventide the king sat in his wonted seat and sending for the Wazir, said to him, " Tell me the story of the Fuller and his Wife." The Minister replied, " With joy and goodly gree ! " So he came forward and said, " Hear, O king of the age, THE TALE OF THE FULLER AND HIS WIFE AND THE TOOPER. nl There was once in a city of the cities a woman fair of favour, who took to lover a trooper wight.. Her husband was a fuller, and when he went out to his work, the trooper used to come to her and tarry with her till the time of the fuller's return, when he would go away. After this fashion they abode awhile, till one day the trooper said to his mistress, " I mean to take me a tenement close to thine and dig a Sardab-souterrain from my house to thy house, and do thou say to thy spouse : My sister hath been absent with her husband and now they have returned from their travels ; and I have made her home herself in my neighbourhood, in order that I may foregather with her at all times. So go thou to her mate the trooper and offer him thy wares for sale, and thou wilt see my sister with him and wilt see that she is I and I am she, without a doubt. Now, Allah, Allah, 2 go to my sister's husband and give 1 Mr. Clouston refers to the " Miles Gloriosus" (Plautus) ; to "Orlando Innamorato" of Berni (the Daughter of the King of the Distant Isles); to the "Seven Wise Masters" ("The Two Dreams," or "The Crafty Knight of Hungary") ; to his Book of Sindibad, p. 343 ff.; to Miss Busk's Folk-Lore of Rome, p. 399 ("The Grace of the Hunchback"); to Prof. Crane's "Italian Popular Tales," p. 167, and "The Elope- ment," from Pitre's Sicilian collection. 2 In sign of impatience ; " Look sharp 1 " 232 Supplemental Nights. ear to that which he shall say to thee." So the trooper bought him a house near hand and made therein a tunnel abutting upon his mistress's house. When he had accomplished his affair, the wife bespoke her husband as her lover had lessoned her and he went out to go to the trooper's house, but turned back by the way, whereupon said she to him, "By Allah, go at once, for my sister asketh of thee." The fool of a fuller went out and made for the trooper's house, whilst his wife forewent him thither by the under- ground passage, and going up, sat down beside the soldier her leman. Presently, the fuller entered and saluted the trooper and salamed to his own wife and was confounded at the coincidence of the case. 1 Then, doubt befalling him, he returned in haste to his dwelling ; but she preceded him by the Sardab to her chamber and donning her wonted clothes, sat awaiting him and said to him, " Did I not bid thee go to my sister and greet her husband and make friends with them ? " Quoth he, " I did this, but I mis- doubted of my affair, when I saw his wife ; " and quoth she, " Did I not tell thee that she favoureth me and I her, and there is naught to distinguish between us but our clothes ? Go back to her and make sure." Accordingly, of the heaviness of his wit, he believed her, and returning on his way, went in to the trooper ; but she had foregone him, and when he saw her by the side of her lover, he began looking on her and pondering. Then he saluted her and she returned him the salam; and when she spoke he was clean bewildered. So the trooper asked him, " What aileth thee to be thus?" and he answered, "This woman is my wife, and the speech is her speech." Then he rose in haste and, returning to his own house, saw his wife, who had preceded him by the secret passage. So he went back to the trooper's house and found her sitting as before ; whereupon he was abashed in her presence and 1 i.e. the resemblance of the supposed sister to his wife. This is a rechauffe of Katnar ai-Zaman iid. The Tale of the Fuller and his Wife and the Trooper. 233 seating himself in the trooper's sitting-chamber, ate and drank with him and became drunken and abode senseless all that day till nightfall, when the trooper arose and, the fuller's hair being long and flowing, he shaved off a portion of it after the fashion of the Turks, 1 clipped the rest short and clapped a Tarbush on his head. Then he thrust his feet into walking-boots and girt him with a sword and a girdle and bound about his middle a quiver and a bow and arrows. He also put some silvers in his poke and thrust into his sleeve letters-patent addressed to the governor of Ispahan, bidding him assign to Rustam Khamdrtakani a monthly allowance of an hundred dirhams and ten pounds of bread and five pounds of meat and enrol him among the Turks under his commandment. After which he took him up and carrying him forth, left him in one of the mosques. The fuller ceased not sleeping till sunrise, when he awoke and finding himself in this plight, misdoubted of his affair and fancied that he was a Turk and fell a-putting one foot forward and drawing the other back. Then said he in him- self, " I will go to my dwelling, and if my wife know me, then am I Ahmad the fuller ; but an she know me not, I am a Turk." So he betook himself to his house ; but when his wife, the cunning witch, saw him, she cried out in his face, saying, " Whither now, O trooper ? Wilt thou break into the house of Ahmad the fuller, and he a man of repute, having a brother-in-law a Turk, a man of rank with the Sultan ? An thou depart not, I will acquaint my husband and he will requite thee thy deed." When he heard her words, the dregs of his drink wobbled in his brain and he fancied that he was indeed a Turk. So he went out from her and putting his hand to his sleeve, found therein a writ and gave it to one who 1 This leaving a long lock upon the shaven poll is a very ancient practice : we find it amongst the old Egyptians. For the Shushah or top-knot of hair, see vol. i. 308. It is differently worn in the several regions of the Moslem world : the Maroccans of the Rif country grow it not on the pole but on one side of the head. As a rule, however, it is confined to boys, and is shaved off at puberty. 234 Supplemental Nights. read it to him. When he heard that which was in the scroll, his mind was confirmed in his phantasy ; but he said to himself, " My wife may be seeking to put a cheat on me ; so I will go to my fellows the fullers ; and if they recognise me not, then am I for sure Khamartakani the Turk." So he betook himself to the fullers and when they espied him afar off, they thought that he was really Khamartakani or one of the Turks, who used to send their washing to them without payment and give them never a stiver. Now they had complained of them aforetime to the Sultan, and he said, " If any one of the Turks come to you, pelt him with stones." Accordingly, when they saw the fuller, they fell upon him with sticks and stones and pelted him ; whereupon quoth he, " Verily, I am a Turk and knew it not." Then he took of the dirhams in his pouch and bought him victual for the way and hired a hackney and set out for Ispahan, leaving his wife to the trooper. " Nor," continued the Wazir, " is this stranger than the story of the Merchant and the Crone and the King." The Minister's tale pleased King Shah Bakht and his heart clave to the story cf the merchant and the old woman ; so he bade Al-Rahwan withdraw to his lodging, and he went away to his house and abode there the next day till he should be summoned to the presence. 235 Ntg&t of tfje WHEN the evening evened, the king sat private in his chamber and bade fetch the Wazir, who presented himself before him, and the king required of him the story. So the Wazir answered " With love and gladness. Hear, O king, THE TALE OF THE MERCHANT, THE CRONE, AND THE There was once a family of affluence and distinction, in a city of Khorasan, and the townsfolk used to envy them for that which Allah had vouchsafed them. As time went on, their fortune ceased from them and they passed away, till there remained of them but one old woman. When she grew feeble and decrepit, the townsfolk succoured her not with aught, but thrust her forth of the city, saying, " This old woman shall not neighbour with us, for that we do good to her and she requiteth us with evil." 1 ; So she took shelter in a ruined place and strangers used to bestow alms upon her, and in this way she tarried a length of time. Now the king of that city 'had aforetime contended for the king- ship with his uncle's son, and the people disliked the king ; but Allah Almighty decreed that he should overcome his cousin. However, jealousy of him abode in his heart and he acquainted the Wazir, who hid it not and sent him money. Furthermore, he 1 Suspecting her to be a witch because she was old and poor. The same was the case in Europe when these unfortunates were burned during the early part of the last century and even now the country-folk are often ready to beat or drown them. The abominable witchcraft acts, which arose from bibliolatry and belief in obsolete superstitions, can claim as many victims in "Protestant" countries, England and the Anglo- American States as the Jesuitical Inquisition. 236" Supplemental Nights. fell to summoning all strangers who came to the town, man after man, and questioning them of their creed and their goods, and whoso answered him not satisfactory, he took his wealth. 1 Now a certain wealthy man of the Moslems was way-faring, without know- ing aught of this, and it befel that he arrived at that city by night, and coming to the ruin, gave the old woman money and said to her, " No harm upon thee." Whereupon she lifted up her voice and blessed him : so he set down his merchandise by her and abode with her the rest of the night and the next day. Now highwaymen had followed him that they might rob him of his monies, but succeeded not in aught : wherefore he went up to the old woman and kissed her head and exceeded in bounty to her. Then she warned him of that which awaited strangers entering the town and said to him, " I like not this for thee and I fear mischief for thee from these questions that the Wazir hath appointed for addressing the ignorant." And she expounded to him the case according to its conditions : then said she to him, " But have thou no concern : only carry me with thee to thy lodging, and if he ques- tion thee of aught enigmatical, whilst I am with thee, I will expound the answers to thee." So he carried the crone with him to the city and lodged her in his lodging and entreated her honourably. Presently, the Wazir heard of the merchant's coming ; so he sent to him and bade bring him to his house and talked with him awhile of his travels and of whatso had befallen him therein, and the merchant answered his queries. Then said the Minister, " I will put certain critical questions to thee, which an thou answer me, 'twill be well for thee," and the merchant rose and made him no answer. Quoth the Wazir, " What is the weight of the elephant ? " The merchant was perplexed and returned him no reply, giving himself up for lost ; however, at last he said, " Grant me three days of delay." The minister granted him 1 It is not easy to make sense of this passage especially when the Wazir is- spoken of. The Tale of the MercJiant, the Crone and the King. 237 the time he sought and he returned to his lodging and related what had passed to the old woman, who said, " When the morrow cometh, go to the Wazir and say to him, Make a ship and launch it on the sea and put in it an elephant, and when it sinketh in the water, mark the place whereunto the water riseth. Then take out the elephant and cast in stones in its place, till the ship sink to that same mark ; whereupon do thou take out the stones and weigh them and thou wilt presently know the weight of the elephant." 1 Accordingly, when he arose in the morning, he went to the Wazir and repeated to him that which the old woman had taught him; whereat the Minister marvelled and said to him, " What sayest thou of a man, who seeth in his house four holes, and in each hole a viper offering to sally out upon him and slay him, and in his house are four sticks and each hole may not be stopped but with the ends of two sticks ? How, then, shall he stop all the holes and deliver himself from the vipers ? " When the merchant heard this, there befel him such concern that it garred him forget the first and he said to the Wazir, "Grant me delay, so I may reflect on the reply " ; and the Minister cried, " Go out, and bring me the answer, or I will seize thy monies." The merchant fared forth and returned to the old woman who, seeing him changed of complexion, said to him, " What did his hoariness ask thee ? " So he acquainted her with the case and she cried, " Fear not ; I will bring thee forth of this strait." Quoth he, " Allah requite thee with weal ! " Then quoth she, " To-morrow go to him with a stout heart and siy : The answer to that whereof thou asketh me is this. Put the heads of two sticks into one of the holes ; then take the other two sticks and lay them across the middle of the first two and stop with their two heads the second hole and with their ferrules the fourth hole. Then take the ferrules 1 This is a rechauffe of the Sandal-Wood Merchant and the Shaipers. Vol. vi. 202. 238 Supplemental Nights. of the first two sticks and stop with them the third hole." 1 So he repaired to the Wazir and repeated to him the answer ; and he marvelled at its justness and said to him, "Go; by Allah ; I will ask thee no more questions, for thou with thy skill marrest my foundation." 2 Then he treated him as a friend and the merchant acquainted him with the affair of the old woman ; whereupon quoth the Wazir, " Needs must the intelligent company with the intelligent." Thus did this weak woman restore to that man his life and his monies on the easiest wise ; " Nor," con- tinued the Wazir, 'Ms this stranger than the story of the Simpleton Husband." When the king heard this, he said, " How like it must be to this our own case!'* Then he bade the Minister retire to his lodging ; so he withdrew and on the morrow he abode at home till the king should summon him to his presence. 1 I have followed Mr. Payne's adaptation of the text as he makes sense, whilst the Arabic does not. I suppose that the holes are disposed crosswise. 9 i.e. Thy skill is so great that thou wilt undermine my authority with the king. 239 Hint!) Xtfl&t of tijc WHEN the night came, the king sat private in his chamber and sending after the Wazir, sought of him the story ; and he said, 4< Hear, O august king, THE TALE OF THE SIMPLETON HUSBAND."* There was once in olden time a foolish man and an ignorant, who had abounding wealth, and his wife was a beautiful woman, who loved a handsome youth. The Cicisbeo used to watch for her husband's absence and come to her, and on this wise he abode a long while. One day of the days, as the woman was closeted with her lover, he said to her, " O my lady and my beloved, an thou desire me and love me, give me possession of thy person and satisfy my need in the presence of thy husband ; otherwise I will never again come to thee nor draw near thee while I live my life." Now she loved him with exceeding love and c&uld not suffer his sepa- ration an hour nor could endure to anger him ; so, when she heard his words, she said to him, " Bismillah, so be it, in Allah's name, 1 This famous tale is first found in a small collection of Latin fables (Adolphi Fabul* apud Leyser Hist. Poet. Medii SEvi, p. 200-8), beginning Csecus erat quidam, cui pulcra virago, etc. The date is 1315, and Caxton printed it in English in 1483; hence it was adopted by Boccaccio, Day vii., Novella 9 ; whence Chaucer's " Marchaundes Tale": this, by-the-by, was translated by Pope in his sixteenth or seventeenth year, and christened "January and May." The same story is inserted in La Fontaine (Contes, lib. ii., No. 8), " La Gageure des trois Commtres," with the normal poirier ; and lastly it appears in Wieland's " Oberon," canto vi. ; where the Fairy King restores the old husband's sight, and Titania makes the lover on the pear-tree invisible. Mr. Clouston refers me also to the Bahdr-i- Danish, or Prime of Knowledge (Scott's transla- tion, vol. ii., pp. 64-68) ; " How the Brahman learned theTirrea Bede " ; to the Turkish, "Kirk Wazir" (Forty Wazirs) of Shaykh-Zadeh (xxivth Wazir's story)"; to the " Comcedia Lydiae," and to Barbazan's "Fabliaux et Contes t. iii., p. 451, "La Saineresse," ihe cupping-woman. 240 Supplemental Nights. O my darling and coolth of mine eyes : may he not live who would vex thee ! " Quoth he, " To-day ? " and quoth she, " Yes, by thy life," and made an appointment with him for this. When her hus- band came home, she said to him, " I want to go a-pleasuring," and he said, " With all my heart." So he went, till he came to a goodly place, abounding in vines and water, whither he carried her and pitched her a tent by the side of a tall tree ; and she betook herself to a place alongside the tent and made her there a Sarddb, in which she hid her lover. Then said she to her husband, " I want to climb this tree 1 "; and he said, " Do so." So she clomb it and when she came to the tree-top, she cried out and slapped her face, saying, " O thou lecher, are these thy lewd ways ? Thou swarest faith to me, and thou liedest." And she repeated her speech twice and thrice. Then she came down from the tree and rent her raiment and said, " O lecher, an these be thy dealings with me before my eyes, how dost thou when thou art absent from me ? " Quoth he, " What aileth thee ? " and quoth she, " I saw thee futter the woman before my very eyes." Cried he, " Not so, by Allah ! But hold thy peace till I go up and see." So he clomb the tree and no sooner did he begin to do so than out came the lover from his hiding-place and taking the woman by the legs, fell to shagging her. When the husband came to the top of the tree, he looked and beheld a man futtering his wife ; so he called out, " O whore, what doings are these ? " and he made haste to come down from the tree to the ground. But meanwhile the lover had returned to his hiding- place and his wife asked him, " What sawest thou ? " and he answered, " I saw a man shag thee ; " but she said, " Thou liest ; thou sawest naught and sayst this only by way of phantasy." The same they did three several times, and every time he clomb the tree the lover came up out of the underground place and 1 In the European versions it is always a pear-tree. The Tale of the Simpleton Husband. 241 mounted her, whilst her husband looked on and she still said, " Seest thou aught, O liar ? " " Yes," would he answer, and came down in haste, but saw no one and she said to him, " By my life, look and speak naught but sooth ! " Then he cried to her, " Arise, let us depart this place, for 'tis full of Jinn and Marids." 1 Accordingly, they returned to their house and nighted there, and the man arose in the morning, assured that this was all but phan- tasy and fascination. And so the lover won his wicked will. " Nor, O king of the age," continued the Wazir, " is this stranger than the story of the King and the Tither." When the king heard this from the Minister, he bade him go away, and he went 1 This supernatural agency, ever at hand and ever credible to Easterns, makes this the most satisfactory version of the world-wide tale. tEentf) j&igbt of tfte WHEN it was eventide, the king summoned the Wazir and sought of him the story of the King and the Tither, and he said,, " Hear, O king, THE TALE OF THE UNJUST KING AND THE TITHER." There was once a king of the kings of the earth, who dwelt in a flourishing city, abounding in good ; but he wronged its people and entreated them foully, so that he ruined the city ; and he was named naught else but tyrant and oppressor. Now he was wont, wheneas he heard of a violent man in another land, to send after him and lure him with lucre to take service with him ; and there was a certain Tither, who exceeded all other Tithers in oppression of the people and foul dealing. So the king sent after him and when he stood before him, he found him a man of mighty fine presence and said to him, "Thou hast been described to me, but I see thou surpassest the description. Set out to me some of thy doings and sayings, so I may be dispensed therewith from enquiring into the whole of thy case." Answered the other, " With all my heart ! Know, O King, that I oppress the folk and people the land, whilst other than I ruineth it and peopleth it not." Now the king was leaning back : but presently he sat upright and said, " Tell me of this." The Tither replied, " Tis well : I go to the man whom I purpose to tithe and cozen him and feign to be busied with certain business, so that I seclude myself therewith from the people ; and meanwhile the man is squeezed with the foulest of extortion, till naught of money is left him. Then I appear and they come in to me and questions arise concerning him and I say : Indeed, I was ordered worse than this, for some one (may Allah curse him !) hath The Tale of the Unjust King and the Tither. 243 slandered him to the king. Presently I take half of his good and return him the rest publicly before the folk and dismiss him to his house, in all honour and worship, and he garreth the money returned be carried before him, whilst he blesseth me and all who are with him also bless me. So is it bruited abroad in the city that I have restored to him his monies and he himself notifieth the like, to the intent that he may have a claim on me for the favour due to those who praise me. On this wise I keep half his property. Then I seem to forget him till the year 1 hath passed over him, when I send for him and recall to him somewhat of that which hath befallen aforetime and require of him somewhat of money in secret ; accordingly he doth this and hasteneth to his house and forwardeth whatso I bid him, with a contented heart. Then I send to another man, between whom and the first is enmity, and lay hands upon him and feign to the other man that it is he who hath slandered him to the king and hath taken the half of his good ; and the people praise me." 2 The King wondered at this and at his wily dealing and clever contrivance and made him con- troller of all his affairs and of his kingdom and the land was placed under his governance, and he said to him, " Take and people." 8 One day, the Tither went out and saw an old man, a woodcutter, and with him wood ; so he said to him, " Pay a dirham tithe for thy load." Quoth the Shaykh, " Behold, thou killest me and killest my family ; " and quoth the Tither, " What ? Who killeth the folk ? " And the oldster answered, " An thou let me enter the city, I shall there sell the load for three dirhams, whereof I will give thee one and buy with the other two silvers what will support my family ; 1 i.e. till next harvest time. 2 The "'AshshaV or Tither, is most unpopular in the Nile-valley as in Wales ; and ne generally merits his ill-repute. Tales concerning the villainy of these extortioners abound in Egypt and Syria. The first step in improvement will be so to regulate the tithes that the peasants may not be at the mercy of these " publicans and sinners" who, however, can plead that they have paid highly for appointment to office and must recoup themselves. 8 Arab. "'Ammir "= cause to flourish. 244 Supplemental Nights. but, an thou press me for the tithe outside the city, the load will sell but for one dirham and thou wilt take it and I shall abide without food, I and my family. Indeed, thou and I in this circumstance are like unto David and Solomon (on the twain be the Peace ! ") " How so ? " asked the Tither, and the woodcutter answered, " Do thou hear THE STORY OF DAVID AND SOLOMON." Certain husbandmen once made complaint to David (on whom be the Peace !) against some sheep-owners, whose flocks had come down upon their crops by night and had devoured them, and he bade value the crops and that the shepherds should make good the damage. But Solomon (on whom be the Peace !) rose and said, " Nay, but let the sheep be delivered to the husbandmen, so they may take their milk and wool, till they have recouped the value of their crops ; then let the sheep return to their owners." Accordingly David reversed his own decision and caused execute that of Solomon ; yet was David no oppressor ; but Solomon's judgment was the juster and he showed himself therein better versed in jurisprudence and Holy Law. 1 When the Tither heard the old man's speech, he felt ruthful and said to him, " O Shaykh, I make thee a gift of that which is due from thee, and do thou cleave to me and leave me not, so haply I may get of thee gain which shall do away from me my wrongousness and guide me on the path of righteousness." So the old man followed him, and there met him another with a load of wood. Quoth the Tither to him, " Pay me that which thou owest me ; " and quoth he, " Have patience with me till to-morrow, for I owe the hire of a 1 Arab. " Afkah," a better Fakih or theologian ; all Moslem law being based upon the Koran, the Sayings (Hadis) and Doings (Sunnat) of the Prophet ; and, lastly, the Rasrw or immemorial custom of the country provided that it be not opposed to the other three. The Tale of the Unjust King and the Tither. 24$ house, and I will sell another load of fuel and pay thee two days' tithe." But he refused him this and the Shaykh said to him, " An thou constrain him unto this, thou wilt compel him quit thy country, because he is a stranger here and hath no domicile ; and if he remove on account of one dirham, thou wilt forfeit of him three hundred and sixty dirhams a year. 1 Thus wilt thou lose the mickle in keeping the little." Quoth the Tither, " Verily 2 will I give him a dirham every month to the rent of his lodging." Then he went on and presently there met him a third woodcutter and he said to him, " Pay thy due ; " but he said, " I will pay thee a dirham, when I enter the city ; or take of me four daniks 3 now." Quoth the Tither, " I will not do it," but the Shaykh said to him, " Take of him the four daniks presently, for 'tis easy to take and hard to give back." Exclaimed the Tither, " By Allah 'tis good ! " and he arose and hied on, crying out at the top of his voice and saying, " I have no power this day to do evil." 4 Then he doffed his dress and went forth wandering at a venture, repenting unto his Lord. " Nor" (continued the Wazir), " is this story stranger than that of the Robber who believed the Woman and sought refuge with Allah against falling in with her like, by reason of her cunning contrivance for herself." When the king heard this, he said to himself, " Since the Tither repented, in consequence of the woodcutter's warnings, it behoveth I leave this Wazir on life so I may hear the story of the Robber and the Woman." And he bade Al-Rahwan return to his lodging. 1 If the number represent the days in the Moslem year it should be 354 (=6 months of 29 days and the rest of 30). 2 The affirmative particle " kad " preceding a verb in the past gives it a present and at times a future signification. 3 A danik, the Persian " Ddng," is one-sixth of a dirham, t.t. about one penny. See vol. ii. 204. 4 It would mightily tickle 1 an Eastern audience to hear of a Tither being unable to do any possible amount of villainy. 246 ISlcbemf) Nt'gfjt of tfje WHEN the evening came and the king had taken his seat, he summoned the Wazir and required of him the story of the Robber and the Woman. Quoth the Minister, " Hear, O king, THE TALE OF THE ROBBER AND THE WOMAN? A certain Robber was a cunning workman and used not to steal aught, till he had wasted all that was with him ; moreover, he stole not from his neighbours, neither companied with any of the thieves, for. fear lest some one should betray him, and his case become public. After this fashion he abode a great while, in. flourishing condition, and his secret was concealed, till Almighty Allah decreed that he broke in upon a beggar, a poor man whom he deemed rich. When he gained access to the house, he found naught, whereat he was wroth, and necessity prompted him to wake that man, who lay asleep alongside of his wife. So he aroused him and said to him, " Show me thy treasure." Now he had no treasure to show ; but the Robber believed him not and was instant upon him with threats and blows. When he saw that he got no profit of him, he said to him, " Swear by the oath of divorce 1 from thy wife that thou hast nothing." So he sware and his wife said to him, c< Fie on thee ! Wilt thou divorce me ? Is not the hoard buried in yonder chamber ? " Then she turned to the Robber and conjured him to be weightier of blows upon her husband, till he should deliver to him the treasure, anent which 1 i.e. The oath of triple divorce which is, I have said irrevocable, and the divorcee may not be taken again by her husband till her marriage with another man (the .Mustahill of The Nights) has been consummated. Sec vol. iv., 48. The Tale of the Robber and the Woman. 247 he had forsworn himself. So he drubbed him with a grievous drubbing, till he carried him to a certain chamber, wherein she signed to him that the hoard was and that he should take it up. So the Robber entered, he and the husband ; and when they were both in the chamber, she locked on them the door, which was a stout and strong, and said to the Robber, " Woe to thee, O fool ! Thou hast fallen into the trap and now I have but to cry out and the officers of police will come and take thee and thou wilt lose thy life, O Satan ! " Quoth he, " Let me go forth ;" and quoth she, " Thou art a man and I am a woman ; and in thy hand is a knife, and I am afraid of thee." He cried, " Take the knife from me." So she took it and said to her husband, " Art thou a woman and he a man ? Pain his neck-nape with tunding, even as he tunded thee ; and if he put out his hand to thee, I will cry out a single cry and the policemen will come and take him and hew him in two." So the husband said to him, " O thousand-horned, 1 O dog, O dodger, I owe thee a deposit 2 wherefor thou hast dunned me." And he fell to bashing him grievously with a stick of holm-oak, 3 whilst he called out to the woman for help and prayed her to deliver him : but she said, " Keep thy place till the morning, and thou shalt see queer things." And her husband beat him within the chamber, till he killed 4 him and he swooned away. Then he left beating him and when the Robber came to himself, the woman said to her husband, " O man, this house is on hire and we owe its owners much money, and we have naught ; so how wilt thou do ? " And she went on to bespeak him thus. The Robber asked " And what is the amount of the rent ? " The 1 i.e. thousandfold cuckold. 2 Arab. " Wadi'ah"=r the blows which the Robber had given him. ' Arab. " Sindiyan " (from the Persian) gen. used for the holm-oak, the Qutrcus pseudo-coccifera, vulgarly termed ilex, or native oak, and forming an extensive scrub in Syria. For this and other varieties of Querctts, as the Mallul and the Ballut, see Unexplored Syria, i. 68. * Hibernice. 248 Supplemental Nights. husband answered, " Twill be eighty dirhams ; " and the thief said, " I will pay this for thee and do thou let me go my way." Then the wife enquired, " O man, how much do we owe the baker and the greengrocer ? " Quoth the Robber, " What is the sum of this ? " And the husband said, " Sixty dirhams." Rejoined the other, " That makes two hundred dirhams ; let me go my way and I will pay them." But the wife said, " O my dear, and the girl groweth up and needs must we marry her and equip her and do what else is needful." So the Robber said to the husband, " How much dost thou want ? " and he rejoined, " An hundred dirhams in a modest way." 1 Quoth the Robber, " That maketh three hundred dirhams." Then the woman said, "O my dear, when the girl is married, thou wilt need money for winter expenses, charcoal and firewood and other necessaries." The Robber asked " What wouldst thou have ? " And she answered, " An hundred dirhams." He rejoined, " Be it four hundred dirhams." And she continued, " O my dear and O coolth of mine eyes, needs must my husband have capital in hand, 2 wherewith he may buy goods and open him a shop." Said he, " How much will that be ? " And she, "An hundred dirhams." Quoth the Robber, " That maketh five hundred dirhams ; I will pay it ; but may I be triply divorced from my wife if all my possessions amount to more than this, and they be the savings of twenty years ! Let me go my way, so I may deliver them to thee." Cried she, " O fool, how shall I let thee go thy way ? Utterly impossible ! Be pleased to give me a right token." 3 So he gave her a token for his wife and she cried out to her young daughter and said to her, " Keep this door." Then she charged her husband to watch over the Robber, till she 1 Lit. " In the way of moderation " = at least, at the most moderate reckoning. 3 Arab. "RasmaV the vulg. Syrian and Egyptian form of Raas al-mal = stock-in- trade. 3 Usually a ring or something from his person to show that all was fair play ; here however, it was a watchword. The Tale of the Robber and the Woman. 249 should return, and repairing to his wife, acquainted her with his case and told her that her husband the thief had been taken and had compounded for his release, at the price of seven hundred dirhams, and named to her the token. Accordingly, she gave her the money and she took it and returned to her house. By this time, the dawn had dawned ; so she let the thief go his way, and when he went out, she said to him, " O my dear, when shall I see thee come and take the treasure ? " And he, " O indebted one, 1 when thou needest other seven hundred dirhams, wherewith to amend thy case and that of thy children and to pay thy debts." And he went out, hardly believing in his deliverance from her. " Nor," continued the Wazir, " is this stranger than the story of the Three Men and our Lord Isa." So the king bade him hie to his own home. Arab. " Ya Madyubah," prob. a clerical error for " Madyiinah," alluding to her many debts which he had paid. Here, however, I suspect the truly Egyptian term " Ya Manyukah !" = O thou berogered ; a delicate term of depreciation which maybe heard a dozen times a day in the streets of Cairo. It has also a masculine form, " Yi Manyuk ! " 250 Jitcj&t of t&e WHEN it was eventide, the king summoned the Minister and bade him tell the promised tale. He replied, " Hearing and obeying. Give ear, O glorious king, to THE TALE OF THE THREE MEN AND OUR LORD ISA." Three men once went out questing treasure and came upon a nugget of gold, weighing fifty maunds. 1 When they saw it, they took it up on their shoulders and carried it till they drew near a certain city, when one of them said, " Let us sit in the cathedral- mosque, 2 whilst one of us shall go and buy us what we may eat." So they sat down in the mosque and one of them arose and entered the city. When he came therein, his soul promted him to false his two fellows and get the gold to himself alone. Accordingly, he bought food and poisoned it : but, when he returned to his comrades, they sprang upon him and slew him, in order that they might enjoy the gold without him. Then they ate of the poisoned food and died, and the gold lay cast down over against them. 1 About=ioo Ib. Mr. Sayce (Comparative Philol. p. 210) owns that Mn is old Egyptian but makes it a loan from the " Semites," like Siis (horse), Sar (prince), Sepet (lip) and Murcabutha (chariot), and goes to its origin in the Acratan column, because " it is not found before the times when the Egyptians borrowed freely from Palestine." But surely it is premature to draw such conclusion when we have so much still to learn con- cerning the dates of words in Egyptian. 2 Arab. Jami'. This anachronism, like many of the same kind, is only apparent. The faith preached by Sayyidn Isi was the Islam of his day and dispensation, and it abrogated all other faiihs till itself abrogated by the mission of Mahommed. It is therefore logical to apply to it terms which we should hold to be purely Moslem. On the other hand it is not logical to paint the drop-curtain of the Ober-Ammergau " Miracle-play " with the Mosque of Omar and the minarets of Al-Islam. I humbly represented this fact to the mechanicals of the village whose performance brings them in so large a sum every decade ; but Snug, Snout and Bottom turned up the nose of contempt and looked upon me as a mere "shallow sceptic." The Disciple s Story. 251 Presently, fsa bin Maryam (on whom be the Peace !) passed by and seeing this, besought Allah Almighty for tidings of their case ; so He told him what had betided them, whereat great was his surprise and he related to his disciples 1 what he had seen. Quoth one of them, " O Spirit of Allah, 2 naught resembleth this but my own adventure." Quoth Isa, " How so ? " and the other began to tell THE DISCIPLES STORY. Once I was in such a city, where I hid a thousand dirhams in a monastery. After a while, I went thither and taking the money, bound it about my waist. Then I set out to return and when I came to the Sahara 3 - waste, the carrying of the money was heavy upon me. Presently, I espied a horseman pushing on after me ; so I waited till he came up and said to him, " O rider, carry this money for me and earn reward and recompense in Heaven." Said he, " No, I will not do it, for I should tire myself and tire out my horse." Then he went on but, before he had gone far, he said in his mind, " An I take up the money and put my steed to speed and devance him, how shall he overtake me ?" And I also said in my mind, "Verily, I erred ; for, had he taken the money and made off, what could I have done ? " Then he turned back to me and cried to me, " Hand over the money, that I may carry it for thee." But I replied to him, " That which hath occurred to thy mind hath oc- curred to mine also ; so go thou and go safe." Quothlsa (on whom 1 Arab. " Talamizah," plur. of Tilmfz, a disciple, a young attendant. The word is Syriac t Lc_iiZ : and there is a Heb. root -^ but no Arabic. In the Durrat al-Ghawwds, however, Tilmfz, Bilkis, and similar words are Arabic in the form of Fa'lfl and Fi'lil. 2 Run Allah, lit. = breath of Allah, attending to the miraculous conception according to the Moslems. See vol. v. 238. 3 Readers will kindly pronounce this word " Sahra." not Sahara. 252 Supplemental Nights. be the Peace !), " Had these done prudently, they had taken thought for themselves ; but they unheeded the issues of events ; for that whoso acteth cautiously is safe and winneth his wish, and whoso neglecteth precaution is lost and repenteth." * " Nor," continued the Wazir, " is this stranger or rarer than the story of the King, whose kingdom was restored to him and his wealth, after he had become poor, possessing not a single dirham." When the king heard this, he said in himself, " How like is this to my own story in the matter of the Minister and his slaughter! Had I not used deliberation, I had done him dead." And he bade Al-Rahwan hie to his own home. 1 Mr. Clouston refers for analogies to this tale to his " Oriental Sources of some of Chaucer's Tales" (Notes and Queries, 1885-86), and he finds the original of The Pardoner's Tale in one of the Jatakas or Bhuddist Birth-stories entitled Vedabbha Jataka. The story is spread over all Europe ; in the Cento Novelle Antiche ; Morlini ; Hans Sachs, etc. And there are many Eastern versions, e.g. a Persian by Farfd al-Din " 'Attar" who died at a great age in A.D. 1278; an Ajrabic version in The Orientalist (Kandy, 1884); a Tibetan in Rollston's Tibetan Tales; a Cashmirian in Knowles' Diet, of Kashmiri Proverbs, etc., etc., etc. TOrtecntf) ^Bigfjt of tf)e WHEN the evening evened, the king sent for the Wazir to his sitting chamber and bade him tell the promised tale. So he said, " Hearkening and obedience. They relate, O king, THE TALE OF THE DETHRONED RULER WHOSE REIGN AND WEALTH WERE RESTORED TO HIM:' There was once, in a city of the cities of Al-Hind, a just king and a beneficent, and he had a Wazir, a man of understand- ing, upright in his rede, and praiseworthy in his policy, a Minister in whose hand was the handling of all the affairs of the realm ; for he was firmly based on the Sultan's favour and high in esteem with the folk of his time, and the king set great store by him and entrusted himself to him in all his transactions, by reason of his excellent management of the lieges, and he had guards l who were content with him and grateful to him. Now that king had a brother, who envied him and would lief have taken his place ; and when he was a-weary of looking for his death and the term of his life seemed distant, he took counsel with certain of his par- tisans and they said, " The Minister is the monarch's counsellor and but for this Wazir the king were kingdomless." So the pretender cast about for the ruin of the defender, but could find no means of furthering his design ; and when the affair grew long- some upon him, he said to his wife, " What deemest thou will gar us gain herein?" "What is it?" "I mean in the matter of 1 Arab. " 'Avvan " lit. =aids, helpers ; the " Aun of the Jinn " has often occurred. 254 Supplemental Nights. yonder Minister, who inciteth my brother to worship with all his might and biddeth him unto devoutness, and indeed the king doteth upon his counsel and stablisheth him governor of all monies and matters." " True ; but how shall we devise with him ? " " I have a device, so thou wilt help me in that which I shall say to thee." c< Thou shalt have my help in whatsoever thou desirest." " I mean to dig him a pit in the vestibule and conceal it artfully." Accordingly, he did this, and when it was night, he covered the pit with a light covering, so that, when the Wazir trod upon it, it would give way under his tread. Then he sent to him and sum- moned him to the Court in the king's name, and the messenger bade him enter by the private wicket-way. So he came in alone, and when he stepped upon the covering of the pit, it caved in with him and he fell to the bottom ; whereupon the king's brother fell to pelting him with stones. When the Minister beheld what had betided him he gave himself up for lost ; so he stirred not for a while and lay still. The Prince, seeing him make no sign deemed him dead ; so he took him forth and wrapping him up in his robes, cast him into the surges of the sea in the middle night. When the Wazir felt the water, he awoke from the swoon and swam for an hour or so, till a ship passed by him, whereupon he shouted to the sailors and they took him up. Now when the morning morrowed, the people went seeking for him, but found him not ; and the king learning this, was perplexed concerning his affair and abode unknowing whatso he should do. Then he sought for a Minister to stand in his stead, and the king's brother said, " I have for Wazir an efficient man." Said the king, " Bring him to me." So he brought him a man, whom he set at the head of affairs ; but he seized upon the kingdom and threw the king in fetters and made his brother king in lieu of him. The new ruler gave himself up to all manner of froward- ness, whereat the folk murmured and his Minister said to him, " I fear lest the Hindians take the old king and restore him to The Tale of the Dethroned Ruler. the kingship and we both come to ruin : so, if we seize him and cast him into the sea, we shall be at rest from him ; and we will 'publish among the folk that he is dead.'* And they, agreeing upon this, took him up and carrying him out to sea, cast him in. When he felt the water, he struck out, and ceased not swim- ming till he landed upon an island, where he tarried five days finding nothing which he might eat or drink ; but, on the sixth day, when he despaired of his life, behold, there passed a ship ; so he made signals to the crew and they came and took him up and fared on with him to an inhabited country, where they set him ashore, mother-naked as he was. There, seeing a man seeding, he sought guidance of him and the husbandman asked, " Art thou a foreigner ? " " Yes," answered the king and sat with him and they talked. The peasant found him clever and quick-witted and said to him, " An thou beheld a comrade of mine, thou wouldst see him the like of what I see thee, for his case is even as thy case, and he is at this present my friend." Quoth the king, " Verily, thou makest me long to look at him. Canst thou not bring us together, me and him ? " Quoth the husbandman, " With joy and goodly gree ; " and the king sat with him till he had made an end of his seeding, when he carried him to his homestead and brought him in company with the other stranger, and behold it was his Wazir. When each saw other, the twain wept and embraced, and the sower wept for their weeping ; but the king hid their affair and said to him, " This man is from my mother-land and he is as my brother." So they homed with the husbandman and helped him for a hire, wherewith they supported themselves a long spell, Meanwhile, they sought news of their patrial stead and learned that which its people suffered of straitness and severity. One day there came a ship and in it a merchant from their own country, who knew them and rejoiced in them with joy exceeding and clad them in goodly clothing. He also acquainted them with the manner of the treachery that had been practised upon them. 256 Supplemental Nights. and counselled them to return to their own land, they and he witlv whom they had made friends, 1 assuring them that Almighty Allah would restore them to their former rank. So the king returned and the folk joined themselves to him and he fell upon his brother and his Wazir and took them and threw them into jail. Then he sat down again upon the throne of his kingship, whilst the Minister stood between his hands and they returned to their former estate, but they had naught of worldly wealth. Presently the king said' to his Wazir, " How shall we continue tarrying in this city, and we thus poorly conditioned ? " and he answered, " Be at thine ease and have no concern." Then he singled out one of the soldiers J and said to him, " Send us thy service 3 for the year." Now there were in the city fifty thousand subjects 4 and in the hamlets and villages 5 a like number ; and the Minister sent to each of these, saying, " Let each and every of you get an egg and set it under a hen." They did this and it was neither burden nor grievance to them ; and when twenty days had passed by, each egg was hatched, and the Wazir bade them pair the chickens, male with female, and rear them well. They did accordingly and it was found a charge unto no one. Then they waited for them awhile and after this the Minister asked of the chickens and was answered that they were become fowls Furthermore, they brought him all their eggs and he bade set them ; and after twenty days there were hatched from each pair of them thirty or five-and-twenty or fifteen chickens at the least. The Wazir bade note against each man the number of chickens which pertained to him, and after two months, he took the old partlets and the cockerels, and there came to him from each man some half a score, and he left the young partlets with them. 1 i.e. the peasant. 2 i.e. those serving on the usual feudal tenure ; and bound to suit and service for their fiefs. 3 i.e. the yearly value of his fief. 4 i.e. men who paid (axes. Arab. " Rasatfk" plur. of Rustak. See vol. vi. 289. The Tale of the Dethroned RuUr. 2 $7 Even so he sent to the country folk and let the cocks remain with them. Thus he got him whole broods of young poultry and appro- priated to himself the sale of the fowls, and on this wise he gained for him, in the course of a year, that which the kingly estate required of the King, and his affairs were set right for him by the cunning contrivance of the Minister. And he caused the country to thrive and dealt justly by his subjects and returned to them all that he took from them and lived a grateful and prosperous life. Thus right counsel and prudence are better than wealth, for that under- standing profiteth at all times and seasons. " Nor," continued the Wazir, " is this stranger than the story of the Man whose cautiom slew him." When the king heard the Words of his Wazir, he wondered with the uttermost wonder and bade him retire to his lodging. of WHEN the Minister returned to the presence, the King sought of him the story of the Man whose caution slew him and he said, " Hear, O auspicious King, THE TALE OF THE MAN WHOSE CAUTION SLEW HIM." There was once a man who was cautious exceedingly con- cerning himself, and he set out one day on a journey to a land abounding in wild beasts. The caravan wherewith he fared came by night to the gate of a city ; but the warders would not open to them, for there were lions there ; so they nighted without the walls. Now that man, of the excess of his caution, could not determine a place wherein he should pass the night, for fear of the wild beasts and reptiles ; so he went about seeking an empty stead wherein he might lie. At last, as there was a ruined building hard by, he climbed up on to a high wall and ceased not clambering hither and thither, of the excess of his carefulness, till his feet betrayed him and he slipped and fell to the bottom and died, whilst his companions arose in the morning safe and sound. Now, had he overmastered his wrongous rede and had he submitted himself to Fate and Fortune, it had been safer and better for him ; but he made light of the folk and belittled their wit and was not content to take example by them ; for his soul whispered him that he was a man of wits and he fancied that, an he abode with them, he would perish ; so his folly cast him into perdition. "Nor," continued the Wazir, "is this stranger than the story of the Man who was lavish of his house and his provision to one he knew not" When the King heard this, he said, " I will not separate myself from the folk and slay my Minister." And he bade him hie to his own house. 259 of WHEN the evening evened, the King bade fetch the Wazir and required of him the story. So he said, " Hear, O King, THE TALE OF THE MAN WHO WAS LAVISH OF HIS HOUSE AND HIS PROVISION TO ONE WHOM HE KNEW NOT." There was once an Arab of high rank and noble presence, a model of magnanimity and exalted generosity, and he had brethren, with whom he consorted and caroused, and they were wont to assemble by rotation at one another's homes. When it came to his turn, he gat ready in his house all manner goodly meats and pleasant and dainty drinks and the fairest flowers and the finest fruits, and he provided all kinds of instru- ments of music and store of wondrous dictes and marvellous stories and pleasant instances and histories and witty anecdotes and verses and what not else, for there was none among those with whom he was wont to company but enjoyed this in every goodly fashion, and the entertainment he had provided contained all whereof each had need. Then he sallied forth in quest of his friends, and went round about the city, so he might assemble them ; but found none of them at home. Now in that town was a man of pleasant conversation and large generosity, a merchant of condition, young of years and bright of blee, who had come to that place from his own country with merchandise in great store and wealth galore. He took up his abode therein and the town was pleasant to him and he was large in lavishing, so that he came to the end of all his wealth and there remained 26o Supplemental Nights. in his hand naught save what was upon him of raiment. So he left the lodging which had homed him in the days of his prosperity ; after he had wasted that which was therein of furniture, and fell to finding refuge in the houses of the towns- folk from night to night. One day, as he went wandering about the streets, he beheld a woman of the uttermost beauty and loveliness, and what he saw of her charms amazed him and there happened to him what made him forget his sorry plight. She accosted him and jested with him and he besought her of union and intimacy ; so she consented to this and said to him, " Let us go to thy lodging." Herewith he repented and was perplexed concerning his procedure and grieved for that which must escape him of her company by reason of the straitness of his hand, for that he had not a whit of spending-money. But he was ashamed to say " No," after he had sued and wooed her ; wherefore he went on before her, bethinking him how he should rid himself of her and seeking some excuse which he might put off on her, and gave not over going from street to street, till he entered one that had no issue and saw, at the farther end, a door, whereon was a padlock Then said he to her, " Do thou excuse me, for my lad hath locked the door and how shall we open it ? " Said she, " O my lord, the padlock is worth only some ten dirhams ;" and presently she tucked up her sleeves from fore- arms as they were crystal and taking a stone, smote the padlock and broke it ; and, opening the door, said to him, " Enter, O my lord." Accordingly he went in, committing his affair to Allah (to whom belong Honour and Glory), and she entered after him and locked the door from within. They found themselves- in a pleasant house, collecting all good and gladness; and the young man fared forwards, till he came to the sitting-chamber, 1 This adventure is a rechauffe" of Amjad's adventure (vol. iii. 333) without, however its tragic catastrophe. Tke Tale of the Man who was lavish of his House. 261 and, behold, it was furnished with the finest of furniture as hath before been set out. 1 He seated himself and leant upon a cushion, whilst she put out her hand to her veil and doffed it. Then she threw off her heavy outer clothes till she was clad in the thinnest which showed her charms, whereupon the young man embraced her and kissed her and enjoyed her ; after which they washed with the Ghusl-ablution and returned to their place and he said to her, " Know that I have little knowledge of what goeth on in my own house, for that I trust to my servant : so arise thou and see what the lad hath made ready in the kitchen." Accordingly, she arose and going down into the kitchen, saw cooking pots over the fire, wherein were all manner of dainty viands, and firsts- bread 3 and fresh almond cakes. s So she set bread on a dish and ladled out what she would from the pots and brought it to him. They ate and drank and played and made merry a while of the day; and as they were thus engaged, suddenly up came the master of the house, with his friends, whom he had brought with him, that they might converse together, as of wont. He saw the door opened and knocked a light knock, saying to his company, " Have patience with me, for some of my family are come to visit me : wherefore excuse belongeth first to Allah Almighty, and then to you." 4 So they farewelled him and fared their ways, whilst he rapped another light rap at the door. When the young man heard this, he changed colour and the woman said to him, *' Methinks thy lad hath returned." He answered, " Yes ;" and she arose and opening the door to the master of the house, said to 1 The text is so concise as to be enigmatical. The house was finely furnished for a feast, as it belonged to the Man who was lavish, etc. 3 Arab. " Khubz Samiz ;" the latter is the Arabisation of the Pers. Samid, fine white bread, simnel, Germ, semmel. 3 The text has " Bakulat " es pot-herbs ; but it is probably a clerical error for " Baklawit." See vol. ii. 311. * Egyptian-like he at once calls upon Allah to witness a lie and bis excuse would be that the lie was well-intentioned. 262 Supplemental Nights. him, "Where hast thou been? Indeed, thy master is angry with thee ? " and he said, " O my lady, I have not been save about his business. " Then he girt his waist with a kerchief and entering, saluted the young merchant, who said to him, " Where hast thou been ? " Quoth he, " I have done thine errands ; " and quoth the youth, " Go and eat and come hither and drink." So he went away, as he bade him, and ate ; then he washed hands and returning to the sitting-room, sat down on the carpet and fell to talking with them ; whereupon the young merchant's heart was heartened and his breast broadened and he applied himself to pleasure. They were in all joyance of life and the most abounding pleasance till a third part of the night was past, when the house-master arose, and spreading them a bed, invited them to take their rest. So they lay down and the youth wide awake, pondering their affair till daybreak, when the woman roused herself from sleep and said to her companion, " I wish to go." He farewelled her and she departed ; whereupon the master of the house followed her with a purse of silver and gave it to her, saying, " Blame not my lord," and made his excuse to her for his master. Then he returned to the youth and said to him, " Arise and come to the Hammam ;" * and he fell to shampooing his hands and feet, whilst the youth called down blessings on him and said "O my lord, who art thou ? Methinks there is not in the world the like of thee ; no, nor a pleasanter in thy disposition." Then each of the twain acquainted the other with his case and condition and they went to the bath ; after which the master of the house conjured the young merchant to return with him and summoned his friends. So they ate and drank and he told them the tale, wherefore they thanked the house-master and praised him ; and their friendship was complete while the young merchant abode in the town, till Allah made easy to him a means of travel, whereupon 1 i.e. The private bagnio which in old days every grand bouse possessed* King Shak Bakkt and his Wazir Al-Rakwan. 263 they farewelled him and he departed ; and this is the end of his tale. "Nor," continued the Wazir, "O king of the age, is this stranger than the story of the Richard who lost his wealth and his wit" When the king heard the Minister's story, it pleased him and he bade him hie to his home. 264 of tf>e WHEN the evening evened, the King sat in his sitting-chamber and sending for his Wazir, bade him relate ..the story of the Wealthy Man who lost his wealth and his' = rideo. 8 Arab. ' Sahah" the clear space before the house as opposed to the "Bathah" (Span. Patio) the inner court. 1 * A naive description of the naive tjr le of reclame adopted b> the EasUin Bob Sawyer. The Tale of the Weaver who became a Leach. 285 him their ailments, 1 and he would answer them thereof, hitting the mark one while and missing it another while, so that naught ap- peared to Jalinus of his fashion whereby his mind might be assured that he had justly estimated his skill. Presently, up came a woman with a urinal, 2 and when the Weaver saw the phial afar off, he said to her, " This is the water of a man, a stranger." Said she, " Yes ;" and he continued. " Is he not a Jew and is not his ailment flatulence?" " Yes," replied the woman, and the folk marvelled at this ; wherefore the man was magnified in the eyes of Jalinus, for that he heard speech such as was not of the usage of doctors, seeing that they know not urine but by shaking it and looking straitly thereon, neither wot they a man's water from a woman's water, nor a stranger's from a countryman's, nor a Jew's from a Sharif's. 3 Then the woman asked, " What is the remedy ? " and trie Weaver answered, " Bring the honorarium." 4 So she paid him a dirham and he gave her medicines contrary to that ailment and such as would only aggravate the complaint. When Jalinus saw what appeared to him of the man's incapacity, he turned to his disciples and pupils and bade them fetch the mock doctor, with all his gear and drugs. Accordingly they brought him into his presence without stay or delay, and when Jalinus saw him before him, he asked him, " Knowest thou me ? " and the other answered, " No, nor did I ever set eyes on thee before this day." Quoth the Sage, " Dost thou know Jalinus?" and quoth the Weaver, " No." Then said Jalinus, " What drave thee to do that which thou dost ?" So he acquainted him with his adventure, especially with the dowry and the obligation by which he was bound with regard to his wife 1 Which they habitually do, by the by, with an immense amount of unpleasant detail.' See Pilgrimage i. 18. 2 The old French name for the phial or bottle in which the patient's water is sent. 3 A descendant from Mohammed, strictly through his grandson Husayn. See vol.' iv. 170. 4 Arab. " Al-Futuh " lit. the victories; a euphemistic term for what is submitted to the " musculus guineaouim." 286 Supplemental Nights* whereat the Sage marvelled and certified himself anent the matter of the marriage-settlement. Then he bade lodge him near himself and entreated him with kindness and took him. apart and said to him, " Expound to me the story of the urine-phial and whence thou knewest that the water therein was that of a man, and he a stranger and a Jew, and that his ailment was flatulence ? " The Weaver replied, " 'Tis well. Thou must know that we people of Persia are skilled in physiognomy, 1 and I saw the woman to be rosy-cheeked, blue^eyed and tall-statured. Now these qualities belong to women who are enamoured of a man and are distracted for love of him ; 2 moreover, I saw her burning with anxiety ; so I knew that the patient Was her husband. 8 As for his strangerhood, I noted that the dress of the woman differed from that of the townsfolk, wherefore I knew that she was a foreigner ; and in the mouth of the phial I saw a yellow rag, 4 which garred me wot that the sick man was a Jew and she a Jewess. Moreover, she came to me on first day ; 8 and 'tis the Jews' custom to take 1 Arab. " Firlsah " lit. judging the points of a mare (/aras). Of physiognomy, or rather judging by externals, curious tales are told by the Arabs. In Al-Mas'udi's (chapt. Ivi.) is the original of the camel blind of one eye, etc., which the genius of Voltaire has made famous throughout Europe. 2 I here quote Mr. Payne's note. "Sic in the text; but the passage is apparently corrupt. It is not plain why a rosy complexion, blue eyes and tallness should be peculiar to women in love. Arab women being commonly short, swarthy and black-eyed, the attributes mentioned appear rather to denote the foreign origin of the woman ; and it is probable, therefore, that this passage has by a copyist's error, been mixed up with that which relates to the signs by which the mock physician recognized her strangerhood, the clause specifying the symptoms of her love-lorn condition having been crowded out in the process, an accident of no infrequent occurrence in the transcription of Oriental works." 3 Most men would have suspected that it was her lover. 4 The sumptuary laws, compelling for instance the Jews to wear yellow turbans, and the Christians to carry girdles date from the Capture of Jerusalem in A.D. 636 by Caliph Omar. See vol. i. 77 ; and Terminal Essay } i. 8 i.e. Our Sunday : the Jewish week ending with the Sabbath (Saturday). I have already noted this term for Saturn's day, established as a God's rest by Commandment No. iv. How it lost its honours amongst Christians none can say : the text in Col. ii. 16, 17, is insufficient to abolish an order given with such pomp and circumstance to, and obeyed, so strictly and universally by, the Hebrews, including the Founder of Christianity. The general idea is that the Jewish Sabbath was done away with by the Christian dis- pensation (although Jesus kept it with the usual scrupulous care), and that sundry of the The Tale of the Weaver who became a Leach. 287 jyieat-puddings 1 and food that hath passed the night 2 and eat them on the Saturday their Sabbath, hot and cold, and they exceed in eating ; wherefore flatulence and indigestion betide them. Thus I was directed and guessed that which thou hast heard." Now when Jalinus heard this, he ordered the Weaver the amount of his wife's dowry and bade him pay it to her and said to him, " Divorce her.*' Furthermore, he forbade him from returning to the practice of physic and warned him never again to take to wife a woman of rank higher than his own ; and he gave him his spending-money and charged him return to his proper craft. " Nor " (continued the Wazir), " is this tale stranger or rarer than the story of the Two Sharpers who each cozened his Compeer." When King Shah Bakht heard this, he said to himself, " How like is this story to my present case with this Minister, who hath not his like ! " Then he bade him hie to his own house and come again at eventide. Councils at Cclossae and Laodicea anathematised those who observed the Saturday after Israelitish fashion. With the day its object changed ; instead of "keeping it holy," as all pious Jews still do, the early Fathers converted it into the " Feast of the Resurrec- tion," which could not be kept too joyously. The " Sabbatismus " of the Sabbatarian Protestant who keeps holy the wrong day is a marvellous perversion and the Sunday feast of France, Italy, and Catholic countries generally is far more logical than the mortification day of England and the so-called Reformed countries. 1 Harais plur. of Harisah : see vol. i. 131. * It would have been cooked on our Thursday night, or the Jewish Friday nighJ and would be stale and indigestible on the next day. 288 of WHENAS nighted the night, the Wazir presented himself before the King, who bade him relate the promised story. So he said, 11 Hearkening and obedience. Give ear, O King, to THE TALE OF THE TWO SHARPERS WHO RACH COZENED HIS COMPEER." There was once, in the city of Baghdad, a man hight AU Marwazf, 1 who was a sharper and ruined the folk with his rogueries and he was renowned in all quarters for knavery. He went out one day, carrying a load of sheep's droppings, and sware to himself that he would not return to his lodging till he had sold it at the price of raisins. Now there was in another city a second sharper, hight Al-Razf, 2 one of its worst, who went out the same day, bearing a load of goat's droppings, 3 anent which he had sworn to himself that he would not sell it but at the price of sun- dried figs. So the twain fared on with that which was by them and ceased not going till they met in one of the khans 4 and 1 Marw (Margiana), which the Turkomans pronounce " Mavn-," is derived by Bournouf from the Sansk. Maru or Marw ; and by Sir H. Rawlinson from Marz of Marj, the Lat. Margo ; Germ. Mark ; English March ; Old French Marche and Neo-Lat. Marca. So Marzban, a Warden of the Marches : vol. iii. 256. The adj. is not Marazi, as stated in vol. iii. 222 ; but Marwazi, for which see Jbn Khallikan, vol. i. p. 7, etc. : yet there are good writers who use " Marazi" as Razi for a native of Rayy. a i.e. native of Rayy city. See vol. iv. 104. 3 Normally used for fuel and at times by funny men to be put into sweetmeats by way of practical joke : these are called " Nukl-i-Pishkil " = goat-dung bonbons. The tale will remind old Anglo-Indians of the two Bengal officers who were great at such "sells" and who "swopped" a spavined horse for a broken-down "buggy." 4 In the text "khanddik," ditches, trenches; probably (as Mr. Payne suggests) a clerical or typographical error for " Fanadik," inns or caravanserais ; the plural of | " Funduk" (Span. Fonda), for which see vol. viii. 184. The Tale of the Two Sharpers who each cozened his Compeer. 289 one complained to other of what he had suffered on travel in quest of gain and of the little demand for his wares. Now each of them had it in mind to cheat his fellow ; so the man of Marw said to the man of Rayy, " Wilt thou sell me that ? " He said, " Yes," and the other continued, " And wilt thou buy that which is with me ? " The man of Rayy consented ; so they agreed upon this and each of them sold to his mate that which was with him in exchange for the other's ; after which they bade farewell and both fared forth. As soon as the twain were out of sight, they examined their loads, to see what was therein, and one of them found that he had a load of sheep's droppings and the other that he had a load of goat's droppings ; whereupon each of them turned back in quest of his fellow. They met again in the khan and laughing at each other cancelled their bargain ; then they agreed to enter into partnership and that all they had of money and other good should be in common, share and share alike. Then quoth Al-Razi to Al-Marwazi. " Come with me to my city, for that 'tis nearer than thine." So he went with him, and when he arrived at his quarters, he said to his wife and household and neighbours, " This is my brother, who hath been absent in the land of Khorasan and is come back." And he abode with him in all honour for a space of three days. On the fourth day, Al-Razi said to him, " Know, O my brother, that I purpose to do some- thing." The other asked, " What is it ? " and the first answered, " I mean to feign myself dead and do thou go to the bazar and hire two porters and a bier. Then take me up and go about the streets and markets with my body and collect alms on my account. 1 " Accordingly the Marw man repaired to the market and, fetching that which he sought, returned to the Rayy man's house, 1 This sentence is supplied by Mr. Payne to remedy the incoherence of the text. Moslems are bound to see True Believers decently buried and the poor often beg alms for the funeral. Here the tale resembles the opening of Hajji Baba by Mr. Morier, that admirable picture of Persian manners and morals. VOL. I. T 290 Supplemental Nights. where he found his fellow cast down in the entrance-passage, with his beard tied and his eyes shut, and his complexion was paled and his belly was blown and his limbs were loose. So he deemed him really dead and shook him but he spoke not ; then he took a knife and pricked his feet, but he budged not. Presently said Al-Razi, "What is this, O fool?" and said Al-Marwazi, " I deemed thou wast dead in very deed." Al-Razi cried, " Get thee to business, and leave funning." So he took him up and went with him to the market and collected alms for him that 'day till eventide, when he bore him back to his abode and waited till the morrow. Next morning, he again took up the bier and walked round with it as before, in quest of charity. Presently, the Chief of Police, who was of those who had given him alms on the previous day, met him ; so he was angered and fell on the porters and beat them and took the dead body, saying, " I will bury him and win reward in Heaven." ! So his followers took him up and carrying him to the Police- officer, fetched grave-diggers, who dug him a grave. Then they brought him a shroud and perfumes 2 and fetched an old man of the quarter, to wash him : so the Shaykh recited over him the appointed prayers 3 and laying him on the bench, washed him and shrouded him. After he had been shrouded he skited ; 4 so the grey beard renewed the washing and went away to make the Wuzu- ablution, whilst all the folk departed to do likewise, before the orisons 1 Arab. "Al-ajr" which has often occurred. 2 Arab. " Haniit," i.e. leaves of the lotus-tree to be infused as a wash for the corpse ; camphor used with cotton to close the mouth and other orifices ; and, in the case of a wealthy man, rose-water, musk, ambergris, sandal-wood, and lign-aloes for fumigation. * Which always begin with four " Takbirs " and differ in many points from the usual orisons. See Lane (M. E. chapt. xxviii.) who is, however, very superficial upon an intricate and interesting subject. He even neglects to mention the number of Ruk'at (bows) usual at Cairo and the absence of prostration (sujud) for which see vol. ii. 10. 4 Thus requiring all the ablutional offices to be repeated. The Shaykh, by handling the corpse, became ceremonially impure and required " Wuzvj " before he could pray either at home or in the Mosque. The Tale of the Two Sharpers who each cozened his Compeer* 29! of the funeral. When the dead man found himself alone, he sprang up, as he were a Satan ; and, donning the corpse-washer's dres.s 4 l took the cups and water-can 2 and wrapped them up in the napkins ; then he clapped his shroud under his armpit and went out. The doorkeepers thought that he was the washer and asked him," Hast thou made an end of the washing, so we may acquaint the Emir ? '* The sharper answered " Yes," and made off to his abode, where he found the Marw man a-wooing his wife and saying to her, " By thy life, thou wilt never again look upon his face for the best reason that by this time he is buried : I myself escaped not from them but after toil and trouble, and if he speak, they will do him to death." Quoth she, " And what wouldst thou have of me ? " and quoth he, "Satisfy my desire and heal my disorder, for I am better than thy husband." And he began toying with her as a prelude to possession. Now when the Rayy man heard this, he said, "Yonder wittol-pimp lusteth after my wife; but I will at once do him a damage." Then he rushed in upon them, and when Al-Marwazi saw him, he wondered at him and said to him, " How didst thou make thine escape ? " Accordingly he told him the trick he had played and they abode talking of that which they had collected from the folk, and indeed they had gotten great store of money. Then said the man of Marw, " In very sooth, mine absence hath been prolonged and lief would I return to my own land." Al-Razi said, " As thou wiliest ; " and the other rejoined, " Let us divide the monies we have made and do thou go with me to my home, so I may show thee my tricks and my works." Replied the man of Rayy, " Come to-morrow, and we will divide the coin." So the Marw man went away and the other turned to his wife and said to her, " We have collected us great plenty of money, and the dog would fain talce the half of it ; but such thing 1 The Shaykh had left it when he went out to perform Wuzu. 2 Arab. " Satl " = the Lat. and Etruscan " Situla" and " Situlus," a water-pot. 292 Supplemental Nights. shall never be, for my mind hath been changed against him, since I heard him making love to thee ; now, therefore, I propose to play him a trick and enjoy all the money ; and do thou not oppose me." She replied, " Tis well ; " and he said to her, " To-morrow, at peep o' day I will feign myself dead, and do thou cry aloud and tear thy hair, whereupon the folk will flock to me. Then lay me out and bury me ; and, when the folk are gone away from the grave, dig down to me and take me ; and fear not for me, as I can abide without harm two days in the tomb-niche." 1 Whereto she made answer, " Do e'en whatso thou wilt." Accordingly, when it was the dawn-hour, she bound his beard and spreading a veil over him, shrieked aloud, whereupon the people of the quarter flocked to her, men and women. Presently, up came Al-Marwazi, for the division of the money, and hearing the keening asked, *' What may be the news? " Quoth they, " Thy brother is dead ; " and quoth he in himself, " The accursed fellow cozeneth me, so he may get all the coin for himself, but I will presently do with him what shall soon re-quicken him." Then he tare the bosom of his robe and bared his head, weeping and saying, " Alas, my brother, ah ! Alas, my chief, ah ! Alas, my lord, ah ! " And he went in to the men, who rose and condoled with him. Then he accosted the Rayy man's wife and said to her, " How came his death to occur ? " Said she, " I know nothing except that, when I arose in the morning, I found him dead." Moreover, he questioned her of the money which was with her, but she cried, " I have no knowledge of this and no tidings." So he sat down at his fellow-sharper's head, and said to him, " Know, O Razi, that I will not leave thee till after ten days with their nights, wherein I will wake and sleep by thy grave. So rise and don't be a fool." But he answered him not, and the man 1 Arab. " Lalid, Luhd," the niche or cell hollowed out in the side of the oblong trench : here the corpse is deposited and covered with palm-fronds etc. to prevent the earth touching it. See my Pilgrimage ii. 304. The Tale of the Two Sharpers who each cozened his Compeer. 293 of Marw drew his knife and fell to sticking it into the other's hands and feet, purposing to make him move; but he stirred not and he presently grew weary of this and determined that the sharper was really dead. However, he still had his suspicions and said to himself, " This fellow is falsing me, so he may enjoy all the money." Therewith he began to prepare the body for burial and bought for it perfumes and whatso was needed. Then they brought him to the washing-place and Al-Marwazi came to him ; and, heating water till it boiled and bubbled and a third of it was evaporated, fell to pouring it on his skin, so that it turned bright red and lively blue and was blistered ; but he abode still on one case. 1 Presently they wrapped him in the shroud and set him on the bier, which they took up and bearing him to the burial-place, placed him in the grave-niche and filled in the earth ; after which the folk dispersed. But the Marw man and the widow abode by the tomb, weeping, and ceased not sitting till sundown, when the woman said to him, " Come, let us hie us home, for this weeping will not profit us, nor will it restore the dead." He replied to her, " By Allah, I will not budge hence till I have slept and waked by this tomb ten days with their nights ! " When she heard this his speech, she feared lest he should keep his word and his oath, and so her husband perish ; but she said in her mind, " This one dis- sembleth : an I leave him and return to my house, he will tarry by him a little while and go away." And Al-Marwazi said to her, " Arise, thou, and hie thee home." So she arose and repaired to her house, whilst the man of Marw abode in his place till the night was half spent, when he said to himself, " How long ? Yet how can I let this knavish dog die and lose the money ? Better I open the tomb on him and bring him forth and take my due of him by dint of grievous beating and torment." Accordingly, he 1 For the incredible amount of torture which Eastern obstinacy will sometimes endure, see Al-Mas'udi's tale of the miserable little old man who stole the ten purses, vol. viii. 153 tt icq. 294 Supplemental Night*. dug him up and pulled him forth of the grave ; after which he betook himself to a garden hard by the burial-ground and cut thence staves and palm-fronds. 1 Then he tied the dead man's legs and laid on to him with the staff and beat him a grievous beating ; but the body never budged. When the time grew long- some on him, his shoulders became a-weary and he feared lest some one of the watch passing on his round should surprise and seize him. So he took up Al-Razi and carrying him forth of the cemetery, stayed not till he came to the Magians' mortuary-place and casting him down in a Tower of Silence, 2 rained heavy blows upon him till his shoulders failed him, but the other stirred not. Then he seated him by his side and rested ; after which he rose and renewed the beating upon him ; and thus he did till the end of the night, but without making him move. Now, as Destiny decreed, a band of robbers whose wont it was, when they had stolen anything, to resort to that place and there divide their loot, came thither in early-dawn, according to their custom ; they numbered ten and they had with them much wealth which they were carrying. When they approached the Tower of Silence, they heard a noise of blows within it and their captain cried, " This is a Magian whom the Angels 3 are tormenting." So they entered the cemetery and as soon as they arrived over against him, the man of Marw feared lest they should be the watchmen come upon him, therefore he fled 1 Arab. " Jaridah " (whence the Jarid-game) a palm-frond stripped of its leaves and used for a host of purposes besides flogging, chairs, sofas, bedsteads, cages etc. etc. Tales of heroism in " eating stick " are always highly relished by the lower orders of Egyptians who pride themselves upon preferring the severest bastinado to paying the smallest amount of " rint." 2 Arab. "Nawus," the hollow tower of masonry with a grating over the central well upon which the Magian corpse is placed to be torn by birds of prey: His kept up by the Parsi population of Bombay and is known to Europeans as the " Tower of Silence." Nils and Nawus also mean a Pyrethrum, a fire-temple and have a whimsical resem- blance to the Greek Naos. 3 For Munkar and Nakir* the Interrogating Angels, see vol. v. III. According to Al^ Mas'udi (chapt. xxxi.) these names were given by the Egyptians to the thirteenth and fourteenth cubits marked on the Milometer which, in his day, was expected to shew seventeen. The Tale of the Two Sharpers u/ko each cozened his Compeer. 29$ and stood among the tombs. 1 The robbers advanced to the place and finding the man of Rayy bound by the feet and by him some seventy sticks, wondered at this with exceeding wonder and said, ." Allah confound thee ! This was a miscreant, a man of many crimes ; for earth hath rejected him from her womb, and by my life, he is yet fresh ! This is his first night in the tomb and the Angels were tormenting him but now ; so whoso of you hath a sin upon his soul, let him beat him, by way of offering to Almighty Allah." The robbers said, " We be sinners one and all ; " so each of them went up to the corpse and dealt it about an hundred blows, one saying the while, " This is for my father ! " 2 and another laid on to him crying, " This is for my grandfather ! " whilst a third muttered, " This is for my brother ! " and a fourth exclaimed, " This is for my mother ! " And they gave not taking turns at him and beating him till they were weary, whilst Al-Marwazi stood laughing and saying in himself, "'Tis not I alone who have entered into default against him. There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great ! " 3 Then the robbers applied themselves to sharing their loot wherein was a sword which caused them to fall out anent the man who should take it. Quoth the Captain, " 'Tis my rede that we make proof of it ; so, an it be a fine blade, we shall know its worth, and if it be worthless we shall know that ; " whereto they said, " Try it on this corpse, for it is fresh." So the Captain took the sword and drawing it, brandished and made a false cut with it ; but, when the man of Rayy saw this, he 1 The text (xi. 227) has " Tannur " = an oven, evidently a misprint for " Kubiir" = tombs. 2 Arab. "'An Abi " = (a propitiatory offering) for my father. So in Marocco the "Powder-players" dedicate a shot to a special purpose or person, crying, "To my sweetheart ! " " To my dead ! " " To my horse ! " etc. 3 For this formula see vol. i. 6$. It is technically called "Haukalah" and " Hau- lakah " words in the third conjugation of increased triliterals, corresponding with the quadriliteral radicals and possessing the peculiar power of Kasr = abbreviation. Of this, same class is Basmalah (vol. v. 206 ; ix. i). 296 Supplemental Nights. felt sure of death and said in his mind, " I have borne the washing- slab and the boiling water and the pricking with the knife-point and the grave-niche and its straitness and all this, trusting in Allah that I might be delivered from death, and indeed I have been delivered ; but the sword I may not suffer seeing that one stroke of it will make me a dead man." So saying, he sprang to his feet and seizing a thigh-bone of one departed, shouted at the top of his voice, " O ye dead ones, take them to yourselves ! " And he smote one of them, whilst his mate of Marw smote another and they cried out at them and buffeted them on their neck-napes : whereupon the robbers left that which was with them of loot and ran away ; and indeed their wits took flight for terror and they ceased not running till they came forth of the Magians mortuary-ground and left it a parasang's length behind them, when they halted, trembling and affrighted for the muchness of that which had befallen them of fear and awe of the dead. 1 As for Al-Razi and Al-Marwazi, they made peace each with other and sat down to share the spoil. Quoth the man of Marw, " I will not give thee a dirham of this money, till thou pay me my due of the monies that be in thy house." And quoth the man of Rayy, " I will do naught of the kind, 2 nor will I withdraw this from aught of my due." So they fell out thereupon and disputed each with other and either of the twain went saying to his fellow, " I will not give thee a dirham ! " Wherefore words ran high between them and the brawl was prolonged. Meanwhile, when the robbers halted, one of them said to the others, " Let us go back and see ; " and the Captain said, ' This thing is impossible of the dead : never heard we that they came to life in such way. Return we 1 This scene with the watch would be relished in the coffee-house, where the tricks of robbers, like a gird at the police, are always acceptable. 2 Arab. " La af al " ; more commonly Ma aPal. M and L are synonymous negative particles, differing, however, in application. Md (Gr. prf) precedes definite*, or indefinites : La and Lam (Gr. ov) only indefinites as " La ilaha " etc. The Tale of the Two Sharpers who each cozened Ids Compeer. 297 and take our monies, for that the dead have no need of money.*' And they were divided in opinion as to returning : but presently one said, " Indeed, our weapons are gone and we may not prevail against them and will not draw near the place : only let one of us go look at it, and if he hear no sound of them, let him suggest to us what we shall do." At this they agreed that they should send a man of them and assigned him for such mission two parts of the plunder. Accordingly he returned to the burial-ground and gave not over going till he stood at the door of the Tower of Silence, when he heard the words of Al-Marwazi to his fellow, " I will not give thee a single dirham of the money ! " The other said the same and they were occupied with brawling and abuse and talk. So the robber returned in haste to his mates, who said, " What is behind thee ? " * Quoth he, " Get you gone and run for your lives, O fools, and save yourselves : much people of the dead are come to life and between them are words and brawls." Hereat the robbers fled, whilst the two sharpers returned to the man of Rayy's house and made peace and added the robbers' spoil to the monies they had gained and lived a length of time. " Nor, O king of the age " (continued the Wazir), " is this stranger or rarer than the story of the Polar Sharpers with the Shroff and the Ass." When the king heard this story, he smiled and it pleased him and he bade the Minister to his own house. 1 Alluding to the proverb, "What hast thou left behind thee, O Asim?" i.e., what didst thou see?. of tfje WHEN the evening evened, King Shah Bakht summoned the Wazir and required of him the hearing of the story. So Al- Rahwan said, " Hearkening and obedience. Give ear, O King, to THE TALE OF THE SHARPERS WITH THE SHROFF^ AND THE ASS." Four sharpers once plotted against a Shroff, a man of much wealth, and agreed upon a sleight for securing some of his coins. So one of them took an ass and laying on it a bag, wherein were dirhams, lighted down at the shop of the Shroff and sought of him small change. The man of monies brought out to him the silver bits and bartered them with him, whilst the sharper was easy with him in the matter of the exchange, so he might gar him long for more gain. As they were thus, up came the other three sharpers and surrounded the donkey ; and one of them said, " Tis he," and another said, " Wait till I look at him." Then he took to considering the ass and stroking him from crest 2 to tail ; whilst the third went up to him and handled him and felt him from head to rump, saying, " Yes, 'tis in him." Said another, " No, 'tis not in him ; " and they left not doing the like of this for some time. Then they accosted the donkey's owner and chaf- fered with him and he said, "I will not sell him but for ten thousand dirhams." They offered him a thousand dirhams ; but he refused and swore that he would not vend the ass but for that which he had said. They ceased not adding to their offer till 1 Arab. " Sayrafi," s.s. as " Sarraf " : see vol. i. 2IO. * Arab. " Al-Ma'rafah " = the place where the man* grows. The Tale of the Sharpers with the Shroff and the Ass. 299 the price reached five thousand dirhams, whilst their mate still said, " I'll not vend him save for ten thousand silver pieces." The Shroff advised him to sell, but he would not do this and said to him, " Ho, shaykh ! Thou wottest not the case of this donkey. Stick to silver and gold and what pertaineth thereto of exchange and small change ; because indeed the virtue of this ass is a mystery to thee. For every craft its crafty men and for every means of livelihood its peculiar people." When the affair was prolonged upon the three sharpers, they went away and sat down aside ; then they came up privily to the money-changer and said to him, " An thou can buy him for us, do so, and we will give thee twenty dir- hams." Quoth he, " Go away and sit down at a distance from him." So they did as he bade and the Shroff went up to the owner of the ass and ceased not luring him with lucre and say- ing, " Leave these wights and sell me the donkey, and I will reckon him a present from thee," till he sold him the animal for five thousand and five hundred dirhams. Accordingly the money- changer weighed out to him that sum of his own monies, and the owner of the ass took the price and delivered the beast to him, saying, " Whatso shall betide, though he abide a deposit upon thy neck, 1 sell him not to yonder cheats for less than ten thousand dirhams, for that they would fain buy him because of a hidden hoard they know, whereto naught can guide them save this donkey. So close thy hand on him and cross me not, or thou shalt repent." With these words he left him and went away, whereupon up came the three other sharpers, the comrades of him of the ass, and said to the Shroff, " God requite thee for us with good, in that thou hast bought him ! How can we reward thee ? " Quoth he, " I will not sell him but for ten thousand dirhams." When they heard that they returned to the ass and fell again to examining him like buyers and handling him. Then said they to the money-changer, 1 i.e. though the ass remain on thy hands. 3 Supplemental Nights. " Indeed we were deceived in him. This is not the ass we sought and he is not worth to us more than ten nusfs." 1 Then they left him and offered to go away, whereat the Shroff was sore chagrined and cried out at their speech, saying, " O folk, ye asked me to buy him for you and now I have bought him, ye say, we were deceived in him, and he is not worth to us more than ten nusfs." They replied, " We thought that in him was whatso we wanted ; but, behold, in him is the contrary of that which we wish ; and indeed he hath a blemish, for that he is short of back." Then they made long noses 2 at him and went away from him and dis- persed. The money-changer deemed they did but play him off, that they might get the donkey at their own price ; but, when they walked away from him and he had long awaited their return, he cried out, saying, " Well-away ! " and " Ruin ! " and " Sorry case I am in ! " and shrieked aloud and rent his raiment. So the market-people assembled to him and questioned him of his case ; whereupon he acquainted them with his condition and told them what the knaves had said and how they had cozened him and how they had cajoled him into buying an ass worth fifty dirhams 3 for five thousand and five hundred. 4 His friends blamed him and a gathering of the folk laughed at him and admired his folly and over-faith in believing the talk of the sharpers without sus- picion, and meddling with that which he understood not and thrusting himself into that whereof he had no sure knowledge. " On this wise, O King Shah Bakht " (continued the Wazir), " is the issue of greed for the goods of the world and indeed coveting that which our knowledge containeth not shall lead to ruin and repentance. Nor, O King of the age (added he), is this story stranger than that of the Cheat and the Merchants." When the King heard 1 " Halves," i.e. of dirhams: see vol. ii. 37. 7 Arab. " Taannafii," = the Germ, lange Nase. 3 About forty shillings. 4 About 220. King Shah Bukht and his Wazir Al-Rahwan. 301 these words, he said in himself, " Indeed, had I given ear to the sayings of my courtiers and inclined to their idle prate in the matter of my Minister, I had repented to the utterest of penitence, but Alhamdolillah laud be to the Lord who hath disposed me to endurance and long-suffering and hath vouchsafed to me patience !" Then he turned to the Wazir and dismissed him to his dwelling and gave conge* those who were present, according to his custom. 302 ETtg&t of tip WHEN the evening evened, the King summoned the Minister and when he presented himself before him, he required of him the hearing of the story. So he said, " Hearing and obeying. Give ear, O illustrious lord, to THE TALE OF THE CHEAT AND THE MERCHANTS." There was once in olden time a certain Cheat, who could turn the ear inside out by his talk, and he was a model of cleverness and quick wit and skill and mischief. It was his wont to enter a town and make a show of being a trader and engage in intimacy with people of worth and sit in session with the merchants, for his name was noted as a man of virtue and piety. Then he would put a sleight on them and take of them what he might spend and fare forth to another stead ; and he ceased not to do thus for a while of time. It chanced one day that he entered a certain city and sold somewhat that was with him of merchandise and made friends of the merchants of the place and took to sitting with them and entertaining them and inviting them to his quarters and his assembly, whilst they also invited him to their houses. He abode after such fashion a long time until he was minded to quit the city; and this was bruited among his intimates, who grieved for parting from him. Then he betook himself to one of them who was the richest in substance and the most conspicuous for generosity, and sat with him and borrowed his goods ; and when rising to depart, he bade him return the deposit that he had left with him. Quoth the merchant. " And what is the deposit ? " and quoth the Cheat, " Tis such a purse, with the thousand dinars The Tale of the Cheat and the Merchants. 303 therein." The merchant asked, "And when didst thou give me that same ? " and the Cheat answered, " Extolled be Allah of All Might ! Was it not on such a day, by such a token which is thus and thus ? " The man rejoined, " I know naught of this/' and words were bandied about between them, whilst the folk who heard them disputed together concerning their sayings and doings, till their voices rose high and the neighbours had know- ledge of that which passed between them. 1 Then said the Cheat, " O people, this is my friend and I deposited with him a deposit which he denieth having received : so in whom shall men put trust after this ? " And they said, " This person is a man of worth and we have known in him naught but trustiness and good faith and the best of breeding, and he is endowed with sense and manliness. 2 Indeed, he affirmeth no false claim, for that we have consorted and associated with him and he with us and we know the sincerity iof his religion." Then quoth one of them to the merchant, " Ho, Such-an-one ! Bethink thee of the past and refresh thy memory. It cannot be that thou hast forgotten." But quoth "he, "O people, I wot nothing of what he saith, for indeed he deposited naught with me : " and the matter was prolonged between them. Then said the Cheat to the merchant, " I am about to travel and I have, praised be Allah Almighty, much wealth, and this money shall not escape me ; but do tjiou make 1 Characteristically Eastern and Moslem is this action of the neighbours and bystanders. A walk through any Oriental city will show a crowd of people screaming and gesticu- lating, with thundering yells and lightning glances, as if about to close in mortal fight, concerning some matter which in no way concerns them. Our European cockneys and