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https://archive.org/details/plainliteraltran01unse

*TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE*

(Paris omnia pura)

—Arab Proverb

'* Niuna cor rot ta mente intcsc mai sanamente parole.”

—“Decameron ”— conclusion*

99 Erubuit, posuitque meura Lucretia Hbrum

Sed coram Bruto. Brute ! recede, leget. "

—Martial

M Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,

Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.

—Rabelais*.

M The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One
Stones makes us regret that we possess only a comparatively small
part of these truly enchanting fictions. ”

—Crichton's "History of Arabia,

PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE

ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS . NOW

p .r

ENT ITU LED I

THE BOOK OF THE

©ftouSairt jSUsfttsi anB a fitgftt

WITH INTRODUCTION EXPLANATORY NOTES ON THE
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF MOSLEM MEN AND A
TERMINAL ESSAY UPON THE HISTORY OF THE

NIGHTS

VOLUME I.

RICHARD F. BURTON

PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE

SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Limited to one thousand numbered sets,
of which this is

Number

THE TRANSLATOR'S FOREWORD.

T HIS work, laborious as it may appear, has been to me a
labour of love, an unfailing source of solace and satisfac¬
tion. During my long years of official banishment to the
luxuriant and deadly deserts of Western Africa, and to the dull
and dreary half-clearings of South America, it proved itself a
charm, a talisman against ennui and despondency. Impossible
even to open the pages without a vision starting into view; with¬
out drawing a picture from the pinacothek of the brain; without
reviving a host of memories and reminiscences which are not the
common property of travellers, however widely they may have
travelled. From my dull and commonplace and "respectable”
surroundings, the Jinn bore me at once to the land of my pre¬
dilection, Arabia, a region so familiar to my mind that even at
first sight, it seemed a reminiscence of some by-gone metem-
psychic life in the distant Past. Again I stood under the
diaphanous skies, in air glorious as aether, whose every breath
raises men’s spirits like sparkling wine. Once more I saw the
evening star hanging like a solitaire from the pure front of the
western firmament; and the after-glow transfiguring and trans¬
forming, as by magic, the homely and rugged features of the
scene into a fairy-land lit with a light which never shines on other
soils or seas. Then would appear the woollen tents, low and
black, of the true Badawin, mere dots in the boundless waste of

A If Lay la h wa Laylah.

• • •

Vlli

lion-tawny clays and gazelle-brown gravels, and the camp-fire
dotting like a glow-worm the village centre. Presently, sweetened
by distance, would be heard the wild weird song of lads and
lasses, driving or rather pelting, through the gloaming their sheep
and goats; and the measured chant of the spearsmen gravely
stalking behind their charge, the camels ; mingled with the bleating
of the flocks and the bellowing of the humpy herds ; while the rere¬
mouse flitted overhead with his tiny shriek, and the rave of the
jackal resounded through deepening glooms, and—most musical
of music—the palm-trees answered the whispers of the night-
breeze with the softest tones of falling water.

And then a shift of scene. The Shaykhs and “ white-beards”
of the tribe gravely take their places, sitting with outspread skirts
like hillocks on the plain, as the Arabs say, around the camp-fire,
whilst I reward their hospitality and secure its continuance by
reading or reciting a few pages of their favourite tales. The women
and children stand motionless as silhouettes outside the ring; and
all are breathless with attention ; they seem to drink in the words
with eyes and mouths as well as with ears. The most fantastic
flights of fancy, the wildest improbabilities, the most impossible of
impossibilities, appear to them utterly natural, mere matters of
every-day occurrence. They enter thoroughly into each phase of
feeling touched upon by the author : they take a personal pride in
the chivalrous nature and knightly prowess of Taj al-Muluk ; they
are touched with tenderness by the self-sacrificing love of Azfzah ;
their mouths water as they hear of heaps of untold gold given
away in largesse like clay ; they chuckle with delight every time a
Kdzi or a Fakir—a judge or a reverend—is scurvily entreated by
some Pantagruelist of the Wilderness ; and, despite their normal
solemnity and impassibility, all roar with laughter, sometimes
rolling upon the ground till the reader’s gravity is surely tried,
at the tales of the garrulous Barber and of Ali and the Kurdish
Sharper. To this magnetising mood the sole exception is when

The Translator’s Foreword.

a Badawi of superior accomplishments, who sometimes says his
prayers, ejaculates a startling “ Astaghfaru’llah ”—I pray Allah’s
pardon!—for listening, not to Carlyle’s u downright lies,” but to
light mention of the sex whose name is never heard amongst the
nobility of the Desert.

Nor was it only in Arabia that the immortal Nights did me such
notable service: I found the wildlings of Somali-land equally
amenable to its discipline; no one was deaf to the charm and the
two women-cooks of my caravan, on its way to Harar, were in¬
continently dubbed by my men " Shahrazad ” and “ Dinazad.”

It may be permitted me also to note that this translation is a
natural outcome of my Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah.
Arriving at Aden in the (so-called) winter of 1852, I put up with
my old and dear friend, Steinhaeuser, to whose memory this
volume is inscribed ; and, when talking over Arabia and the
Arabs, we at once came to the same conclusion that, while the
name of this wondrous treasury of Moslem folk-lore is familiar to
almost every English child, no general reader is aware of the
valuables it contains, nor indeed will the door open to any but
Arabists. Before parting we agreed to u collaborate ” and pro¬
duce a full, complete, unvarnished, uncastrated copy of the great
original, my friend taking the prose and I the metrical part ; and
we corresponded upon the subject for years. But whilst I was in
the Brazil, Steinhaeuser died suddenly of apoplexy at Berne in
Switzerland and, after the fashion of Anglo-India, his valuable
MSS. left at Aden were dispersed, and very little of his labours
came into my hands.

Thus I was left alone to my work, which progressed fitfully
amid a host of obstructions. At length, in the spring of 1879,
the tedious process of copying began and the book commenced
to take finished form. But, during the winter of 1881-82, I saw
in the literary journals a notice of a new version by Mr. John
Payne, well known to scholars for his prowess in English verse.

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

especially for his translation of “ The Poems of Master Fra nds
Villon, of Paris." Being then engaged on an expedition to the
Gold Coast (for gold), which seemed likely to cover some months,
I wrote to the “Athenaeum" (Nov. 13, 1881) and to Mr. Payne,
who was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same
work, and freely offered him precedence and possession of the
field till no longer wanted. He accepted my offer as frankly, and
his priority entailed another delay lasting till the spring of 1885.
These details will partly account for the lateness of my appearing,
but there is yet another cause. Professional ambition suggested
that literary labours, unpopular with the vulgar and the half-
educated, are not likely to help a man up the ladder of promotion.
But common sense presently suggested to me fhat, professionally
speaking, I was not a success ; and, at the same time, that I had
no cause to be ashamed of my failure. In our day, when we live
under a despotism of the lower “ middle-class ” Philisfer who can
pardon anything but superiority, the prizes of competitive services
are monopolised by certain “ pets ” of the Mtdiocrcitie y and prime
favourites of that jealous and potent majority—the Mediocrities
who know “ no nonsense about merit.” It is hard for an outsider
to realise how perfect is the monopoly of commonplace, and to
comprehend how fatal a stumbling-stone that man sets in the way
of his own advancement who dares to think for himself, or who
knows more or who does more than the mob of gentlemen-
employes who know very little and who do even less.

Yet, however behindhand I may be, there is still ample room
and verge for an English version of the “ Arabian Nights’ Enter¬
tainments.”

Our century of translations, popular and vernacular, from
(Professor Antoine) Qalland’s delightful abbreviation and adapta¬
tion (A.D. 1704), in po wise represent the eastern original. The
best and latest, the Rev. Mr. Foster’s, which is diffuse and verbose,
and Mr. G. Moir Bussey’s, which is a re-correction, abound in

The Translator s Foreword , xi

gallicisms of style and idiom ; and one and all degrade a chef-
d'ceuvre of the highest anthropological and ethnographical interest
and importance to a mere fairy-book, a nice present for little
boys.

After nearly a century had elapsed, Dr. Jonathan Scott (LL.D.
H.E.I.C/s S., Persian Secretary to the G. G. Bengal ; Oriental Pro¬
fessor, etc., etc.), printed his “ Tales, Anecdotes, and Letters,
translated from the Arabic and Persian,” (Cadell and Davies, Lon¬
don, A.D. 1800) ; and followed in 1811 with an edition of “The
Arabian Nights’ Entertainments” from the MS. of Edward Wortley
Montague (in 6 vols., small 8vo, London : Longmans, etc.). This
work. he (and he only) describes as “ Carefully revised and
occasionally corrected from the Arabic.” The reading public did
not wholly reject it, sundry texts were founded upon the Scott
version and it has been imperfectly reprinted (4 vols., 8vo, Nimmo
and Bain, London, 1883). But most men, little recking what a small
portion of the original they were reading, satisfied themselves with
the Anglo-French epitome and metaphrase. At length in 1838, Mr.
Henry Torrens, B.A., Irishman, lawyer (“of the Inner Temple”)
and Bengal Civilian, took a step in the right direction ; and began

to translate, “ The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night,”
(1 voh, 8vo, Calcutta : W. Thacker and Co.) from the Arabic of
the ^Egyptian (!) MS. edited by Mr. (afterwards Sir) William H.
Macnaghten.” The attempt, or rather the intention, was highly
creditable; the copy was carefully moulded upon the model and
offered the best example of the verbatim et literatim style. But

the plucky author knew little of Arabic, and least of what is most
wanted, the dialect of Egypt and Syria. His prose is so con¬
scientious as to offer up spirit at the shrine of letter; and his verse,
always whimsical, has at times a manner of Hibernian whoop
which is comical when it should be pathetic. Lastly he printed
only one volume of a series which completed would have contained

• s’*

rune or ten.

xn A If Laylah wa Laylah.

That amiable and devoted Arabist, the late Edward William
Lane does not score a success in his “ New Translation of th#
Tales of a Thousand and One Nights ” (London: Charles Knight
and Co., MDCCCXXXIX.) of which there have been four English
editions, besides American, two edited by E. S. Poole. He chose
the abbreviating Bulak Edition ; and, of its two hundred tales, he

has omitted about half and by far the more characteristic half: the
work was intended for “ the drawing-room table;” and,consequently,
the workman was compelled to avoid the “objectionable’' and
aught “ approaching to licentiousness.” He converts the Arabian
Nights into the Arabian Chapters, arbitrarily changing the division
and, worse still, he converts some chapters into notes. He renders
poetry by prose and apologises for not omitting it altogether : he
neglects assonance and he is at once too Oriental and not Oriental
enough. He had small store of Arabic at the time—Lane of the
Nights is not Lane of the Dictionary—and his pages are disfigured
by many childish mistakes. Worst of all, the three handsome
volumes are rendered unreadable as Sale’s Koran by their anglicised
Latin, their sesquipedalian un-English words, and the stiff and
stilted style of half a century ago when our prose was, perhaps,

the worst in Europe. Their cargo of Moslem learning was most
valuable to the student, but utterly out of place for readers of
4 ‘ The Nights; ” re-published, as these notes have been separately
(London, Chatto, 1883), they are an ethnological text-book.

Mr. John Payne has printed, for the Villon Society and for
private circulation only, the first and sole complete translation of
the great compendium, “ comprising about four times as much
matter as that of Galland, and three times as much as that of
any other translator ; ” and I cannot but feel proud that he has
honoured me with the dedication of “ The Book of The Thou¬
sand Nights and One Night.” His version is most readable : his
English, with a sub-flavour of the Mabinogionic archaicism, is
admirable ; and his style gives life and light to the nine volumes.

The Translator’s Foreword .

xiii

whose matter is frequently heavy enough He succeeds admirably
in the most difficult passages and he often hits upon choice and
special terms and the exact vernacular equivalent of the foreign
word, so happily and so picturesquely that all future translators
must perforce use the same expression under pain of falling far
short. But the learned and versatile author bound himself to issue
only five hundred copies, and “not to reproduce the work in its
complete and uncastrated form.” Consequently his excellent ver¬
sion is caviaire to the general—practically unprocurable.

And here I hasten to confess that ample use has been made ot
the three versions above noted, the whole being blended by a callida
junctures into a homogeneous mass. But in the presence of so
many predecessors a writer is bound to show some raison d*etre
for making a fresh attempt and this I proceed to do with due
reserve.

Briefly, the object of this version is to show what “ The Thou¬
sand Nights and a Night ” really is. Not, however, for reasons to
be more fully stated in the terminal Essay, by straining verbum
reddere verbo , but by writing as the Arab would have written in
English. On this point I am all with Saint Jerome (Pref. in Jobum)
“ Vel verbum e verbo, vel sensum e sensu, vel ex utroque commix-
turn, et medie temperatum genus translationis.” My work claims
to be a faithful copy of the great Eastern Saga-book, by preserving
intact, not only the spirit, but even the mtcanique , the manner and
the matter. Hence, however prosy and long-drawn out be the
formula, it retains the scheme of the Nights because they are a
prime feature in the original. The Rdwi or reciter, to whose wits
the task of supplying details is left, well knows their value: the
openings carefully repeat the names of the dramatis persona and
thus fix them in the hearer's memory. Without the Nights no
Arabian Nights! Moreover it is necessary to retain the whole
apparatus: nothing more ill-advised than Dr. Jonathan Scott's
strange device of garnishing The Nights with fancy head-pieces
VOL. L

A If Laylah wa Lay lah.

xiv

and tail-pieces or the splitting-up of Galland’s narrative by merely
prefixing u Nuit,” etc., ending moreover, with the ccxxxiv tfc Night:
yet this has been done, apparently with the consent of the great
Arabist Sylvestre de Sacy (Paris, Ernest Bourdin). Moreover,
holding that the translator’s glory is to add something to his native
tongue, while avoiding the hideous hag-like nakedness of Torrens
and the bald literalism of Lane, I have carefully Englished the
picturesque turns and novel expressions of the original in all their
outlandishness ; for instance, when the dust-cloud raised by a
tramping host is described as tc walling the horizon.” Hence pecu¬
liar attention has been paid to the tropes and figures which the
Arabic language often packs into a single term ; and I have never
hesitated to coin a word when wanted, such as “ she snorted and
snarked,” fully to represent the original. These, like many in
Rabelais, are mere barbarisms unless generally adopted ; in which
case they become civilised and common currency.

Despite objections manifold and manifest, I have preserved
the balance of sentences and the prose rhyme and rhythm which
Easterns look upon as mere music. This “Saj’a,” or cadence
of the cooing dove, has in Arabic its special duties. It adds a
sparkle to description and a point to proverb, epigram and
dialogue ; it corresponds with our u artful alliteration ” (which
in places I have substituted for it) and, generally, it defines the
boundaries between the classical and the popular styles which
jostle each other in The Nights. If at times it appear strained
and forced, after the wont of rhymed prose, the scholar will
observe that, despite the immense copiousness of assonants and
consonants in Arabic, the strain is often put upon it intentionally,
like the Rims cars of Dante and the Troubadours. This rhymed
prose may be “ un-English ” and unpleasant, even irritating to the
British ear; still I look upon it as a sine qud non for a com¬
plete reproduction of the original In the terminal Essay I shah
revert to the subject.

The Translator s Foreward\ x\

On the other hand when treating the versical portion, which
may represent a total of ten thousand lines, I have not always
bound myself by the metrical bonds of the Arabic, which are
artificial in the extreme, and which in English can be made
bearable only by a tour de force . I allude especially to the
monorhyme, Rim continual or tirade monorime , whose monotonous
simplicity was preferred by the Troubadours for threnodies. It
may serve well for three or four couplets but, when it extends,
as in the Ghazal-canzon, to eighteen, and in the Kasidah, elegy
or ode, to more, it must either satisfy itself with banal rhyme-
words, when the assonants should as a rule be expressive and
emphatic; or, it must display an ingenuity, a smell of the oil,
which assuredly does not add to the reader’s pleasure. It can
perhaps be done and it should be done; but for me the task
has no attractions: I can fence better in shoes than in sabots.
Finally I print the couplets in Arab form separating the hemistichs
by asterisks.

And now to consider one matter of special importance in the
book—its turpiloquium* This stumbling-block is of two kinds,
completely distinct One is the simple, naive and child-like
indecency which, from Tangiers to Japan, occurs throughout
general conversation of high and low in the present day. It
Uses, like the holy books of the Hebrews, expressions “ plainly
descriptive of natural situations;” and it treats in an unconven¬
tionally free and naked manner of subjects and matters which
are usually, by common consent, left undescribed. As Sir
William Jones observed long ago, “ that anything natural can be
offensively obscene never seems to have occurred to the Indians
or to their legislators; a singularity (?) pervading their writings
and conversation, but no proof of moral depravity.” Another
justly observes, Les peuples priniitifs riy entendent pas malice: ils
appellent les ckoses par leurs noms et ne trouvent pas con damnable
ce qui est natureL And they are prying as children. For instance

Alf Laylah wa Laylak .

the European novelist marries off his hero and heroine and leaves
them to consummate marriage in privacy; even Tom Jones has
the decency to bolt the door. But the Eastern story-teller, espe¬
cially this unknown “ prose Shakespeare,” must usher you, with a
flourish, into the bridal chamber and narrate to you, with infinite
gusto, everything he sees and hears. Again we must remember
that grossness and indecency, in fact Us turpitudes , are matters
of time and place; what is offensive in England is not so in
Egypt; what scandalises us now would have been a tame joke
tempore Elisa. Withal The Nights will not be found in this
matter coarser than many passages of Shakspeare, Sterne, and
Swift, and their uncleanness rarely attains the perfection of Alco-
fribas Nasier, “ divin maltre et atroce cochon.” The other element
is absolute obscenity, sometimes, but not always, tempered by
wit, humour and drollery; here we have an exaggeration of
Petronius Arbiter, the handiwork of writers whose ancestry, the
most religious and the most debauched of mankind, practised every
abomination before the shrine of the Canopic Gods.

In accordance with my purpose of reproducing the Nights, not
virginibus puerisque y but in as perfect a picture as my powers
permit, I have carefully sought out the English equivalent of
every Arabic word, however low it may be or “ shocking ” to ears
polite; preserving, on the other hand, all possible delicacy where
the indecency is not intentional; and, as a friend advises me to
state, not exaggerating the vulgarities and the indecencies which,
indeed, can hardly be exaggerated. For the coarseness and
crassness are but the shades of a picture which would otherwise
be all lights. The general tone of The Nights is exceptionally
high and pure. The devotional fervour often rises to the boiling-
point of fanaticism. The pathos is sweet, deep and genuine ;
tender, simple and true, utterly unlike much of our modem tinseL
Its life, strong, splendid and multitudinous, is everywhere flavoured
with that unaffected pessimism and constitutional melancholy

The Translator’s Foreword.

xvi!

which strike deepest root under the brightest skies and which
sigh in the face of heaven:—

Vita quid est hominis ? Viridis floriscula mortis ;

Sole Oriente oriens, sole cadente cade ns.

Poetical justice is administered by the literary Kdzf with exemplary
impartiality and severity; “denouncing evil doers and eulogising
deeds admirably achieved.” The morale is sound and healthy;
and at times we descry, through the voluptuous and libertine
picture, vistas of a transcendental morality, the morality of
Socrates in Plato. Subtle corruption and covert licentiousness
are utterly absent; we find more real “vice” in many a short
French roman, say La Dame aux Camelias, and in not a few
English novels of our day than in the thousands of pages of the
Arab. Here we have nothing of that most immodest modern
modesty which sees covert implication where nothing is implied,
and “ improper ” allusion when propriety is not outraged ; nor
do we meet with the Nineteenth Century refinement; innocence
of the word not of the thought; morality of the tongue not of
the heart, and the sincere homage paid to virtue in guise of
perfect hypocrisy. It is, indeed, this unique contrast of a quaint
element, childish crudities and nursery indecencies and “vain and
amatorious” phrase jostling the finest and highest views of life
and character, shown in the kaleidoscopic shiftings of the marvel¬
lous picture with many a “ rich truth in a tale’s pretence ”;
pointed by a rough dry humour which compares well with
u wut; ” the alternations of strength and weakness, of pathos and
bathos, of the boldest poetry (the diction of Job) and the baldest
prose (the Egyptian of to-day); the contact of religion and
morality with the orgies of African Apuleius and Petronius
Arbiter—at times taking away the reader’s breath—and, finally,
the whole dominated everywhere by that marvellous Oriental
fancy, wherein the spiritual and the supernatural are as common

xviii A If Laylah wa Laylah .

as the material and the natural; it is this contrast, I say, which
forms the chiefest charm of The Nights, which gives it the most
striking originality and which makes it a perfect expositor of the
medieval Moslem mind.

Explanatory notes did not enter into Mr. Payne’s plan. They do
with mine: I can hardly imagine The Nights being read to any
profit by men of the West without commentary. My annotations
avoid only one subject, parallels of European folk-lore and
fabliaux which, however interesting, would overswell the bulk of
a book whose speciality is anthropolgy. The accidents of my
life, it may be said without undue presumption, my long dealings
with Arabs and other Mahommedans, and my familiarity not only
with their idiom but with their turn of thought, and with that
racial individuality which baffles description, have given me cer¬
tain advantages over the average student, however deeply 1 he may
have studied. These volumes, moreover, afford me a long-sought
opportunity of noticing practices and customs which interest all
mankind and which “ Society M will not hear mentioned. Grote,
the historian, and Thackeray, the novelist, both lamented that the
Wgueulcrie of their countrymen condemned them to keep silence
where publicity was required ; and that they could not even claim
the partial licence of a Fielding and a Smollett. Hence a score of
years ago I lent my best help to the late Dr. James Hunt in found¬
ing the Anthropological Society, whose presidential chair I first
occupied (pp. 2-4 Anthropologia; London, Balliere, vol.!., No. 1,
1873). My motive was to supply travellers with an organ which
would rescue their observations from the outer darkness of manu¬
script, and print their curious information on social and sexual
matters out of place in the popular book intended for the Nipptisch
and indeed better kept from public view. But, hardly had we
begun when ** Respectability,*' that whited sepulchre full of all
uncleanness, rose up against us. " Propriety w cried us down with
her brazen blatant voice, and the weak-kneed brethren fell away.

The Translator's Foreword . xix

Yet the organ was much wanted and is wanted still. All now
known barbarous tribes in Inner Africa, America and Australia,
whose instincts have not been overlaid by reason, have a ceremony
which they call rt making men.” As soon as the boy shows proofs
of puberty, he and his coevals are taken in hand by the mediciner
and the Fetisheer; and, under priestly tuition, they spend months
in the “ bush,” enduring hardships and tortures which impress the
memory till they have mastered the ** theorick and practick ” of
social and sexual relations. Amongst the civilised this fruit of
the knowledge-tree must be bought at the price of the bitterest
experience, and the consequences of ignorance are peculiarly cruel
Here, then, I find at last an opportunity of noticing in explanatory
notes many details of the text which would escape the reader’s
Observation, and I am confident that they will form a repertory of
Eastern knowledge in its esoteric phase. The student who adds
the notes of Lane (“Arabian Society,” etc., before quoted) to mine
will know as much of the Moslem East and more than many
Europeans who have spent half their lives in Orient lands. For
facility of reference an index of anthropological notes is appended
to each volume.

The reader will kindly bear with the following technical details.
Steinhaeuser and I began and ended our work with the first Bulak
(“BuL”) Edition printed at the port of Cairo in A.H. 1251 =
AD. 1835. But when preparing my MSS. for print I found the
text incomplete, many of the stories being given in epitome and
not a few ruthlessly mutilated with head or feet wanting. Like
most Eastern scribes the Editor could not refrain from 44 improve¬
ments,” which only debased the book ; and his sole title to excuse
is that the second Bulak Edition (4vols. A.H. 1279 = A.D. 1863),
despite its being “ revised and corrected by Sheik Mahommed
Qotch Al-Adewi,” is even worse ; and the same may be said of
the Cairo Edit. (4 vols. A.H. 1297 = A.D. 1881). The Calcutta
(“ Calc.”) Edition, with ten lines of Persian preface by the Editor,

A If Lay lah wa Laylah.

Ahmed al-Shirwani (A.D. 1814), was cut short at the end of the
first two hundred Nights, and thus made room for Sir William
Hay Macnaghten’s Edition (4 vols. royal 4to) of 1839-42. This
(“ Mac/’), as by far the least corrupt and the most complete, has
been assumed for my basis with occasional reference to the Breslau
Edition ( u Bres.”) wretchedly edited from a hideous Egyptian
MS. by Dr. Maximilian Habicht (1825-43). The Bayrut Text
H Alif-Leila we Leila ” (4 vols. gt. 8vo, Beirut. 1881-83) is a
melancholy specimen of The Nights taken entnely from the
Bulak Edition by one Khalil Sarkis and converted to Christianity;
beginning without Bismillah, continued with scrupulous castration
and ending in ennui and disappointment. I have not used this
missionary production.

As regards the transliteration of Arabic words I deliberately
reject the artful and complicated system, ugly and clumsy withal,
affected by scientific modern Orientalists. Nor is my sympathy
with their prime object, namely to fit the Roman alphabet for
supplanting all others. Those who learn languages, and many do
so, by the eye as well as by the ear, well know the advantages of
a special character to distinguish, for instance, Syriac from Arabic,
Gujrati from Marathi. Again this Roman hand bewitched may
have its use in purely scientific and literary works; but it would
be wholly out of place in one whose purpose is that of the novel,
to amuse rather than to instruct. Moreover the devices perplex the
simple and teach nothing to the learned. Either the reader knows
Arabic, in which case Greek letters, italics and “ upper case,*
diacritical points and similar typographic oddities are, as a rule
with some exceptions, unnecessary; or he does not know Arabic,
when none of these expedients will be of the least use to him*
Indeed it is a matter of secondary consideration what system we
prefer, provided that we mostly adhere to one and the same, for
the sake of a consistency which saves confusion to the reader. I
have especially avoided that of Mr. Lane, adopted by Mr. Payne

The Translator s Foreword. xxi

for special reasons against which it was vain to protest: it repre¬
sents the debased brogue of Egypt or rather of Cairo ; and such a
word as Kemer (ez-Zeman) would be utterly unpronounceable to
a BadawL Nor have I followed the practice of my learned friend,
Reverend G. P. Badger, in mixing bars and acute accents; the
former unpleasantly remind man of those hateful dactyls and
spondees, and the latter should, in my humble opinion, be applied
to long vowels which in Arabic double, or should double, the
length of the shorts. Dr. Badger uses the acute symbol to denote
accent or stress of voice; but such appoggio is unknown to those
who speak with purest articulation ; for instance whilst the Euro¬
pean pronounces Mus-cat', and the Arab villager Mas'-kat; the
Children of the Waste, “on whose tongues Allah descended, w
articulate Mas-kat. I have therefore followed the simple system
adopted in my u Pilgrimage,” and have accented Arabic words
only when first used, thinking it unnecessary to preserve through¬
out what is an eyesore to the reader and a distress to the printer.
In the main I follow “Johnson on Richardson,” a work known to
every Anglo-Orientalist as the old and trusty companion of his
studies early and late; but even here I have made sundry devia¬
tions for reasons which will be explained in the terminal Essay.
As words are the embodiment of ideas and writing is of words, so
the word is the spoken word ; and we should write it as pro¬
nounced. Strictly speaking, the ^-sound and the o- sound (viz.
the Italian <?-sound not the English which is peculiar to us and
unknown to any other tongue) are not found in Arabic, except
When the figure Imdlah obliges: hence they are called “Yd al-
Majhui ” and M Waw al-Majhul ” the unknown y (i) and u. But
in all tongues vowel-sounds, the flesh which clothes the bones
(consonants) of language, are affected by the consonants which
precede and more especially which follow them, hardening and
softening the articulation ; and deeper sounds accompany certain
letters as the sdd (^) compared with the sin ^). None save

xxii A If Laylah wa Lay la h*

a defective ear would hold, as Lane does, * Maulid ** ( = birth*
festival) “more properly pronounced ‘ Molid.’” Yet I prefer
Khokh (peach) and Jokh (broad-cloth) to Khukh and Jukh;
Ohod (mount) to Uhud ; Obayd (a little slave) to Ubayd ; and
Hosayn (a fortlet, not the P. N. Al-Husayn) to Husayn. As for
the short e in such words as a Memluk ” for “ Mamluk ” (a white
slave), “Eshe” for “Asha” (supper), and “Yemen” for “ Al-
Yaman,” I consider it a flat Egyptianism, insufferable to an ear
which admires the Badawi pronunciation. Yet I prefer “ Shelebi"
(a dandy) from the Turkish Chelebi, to “ Shalabi f “Zebdani ” (the
Syrian village) to u Zabdani,” and “ Fes and Miknes ” (by the figure
Cmalah) to “ Fds and Miknds,” our u Fez and Mequinez.”

With respect to proper names and untranslated Arabic words I
have rejected all system in favour of common sense. When a term
is incorporated in our tongue, I refuse to follow the purist and
mortify the reader by startling innovation. For instance, Aleppo,
Cairo and Bassorah are preferred to Halab, Kahirah and Al-Basrah ;
when a word is half-naturalised, like Alcoran or Koran, Bashaw or
Pasha, which the French write Pacha; and Mahomet or Moham¬
med (for Muhammad), the modern form is adopted because the
more familiar. But I see no advantage in retaining, simply because
they are the mistakes of a past generation, such words as “ Roc ”
(for Rukh), Khalif (a pretentious blunder for Khalffah and better
written Caliph) and “genie” (= Jinn) a mere Gallic corruption
not so terrible, however, as “ a Bedouin ” (= Badawi). As little too
would I follow Mr. Lane in foisting upon the public such Arabisms
as “ Khuff ” (a riding-boot), “ Mikra’ah (a palm-rod) and a host
of others for which we have good English equivalents. On the
other hand I would use, but use sparingly, certain Arabic exclama¬
tions, as u Bismillah" (= in the name of Allah !) and “ Inshallah ’*
(= if Allah please 1 ), which have special applications and which
have been made familiar to English ears by the genius of Fraser
and Moricr*

The Translator*s Foreword\

xxm

1 here end these desultory but necessary details to address the
reader in a few final words. He will not think lightly of my work
when I repeat to him that with the aid of my annotations supple¬
menting Lane’s, the student will readily and pleasantly learn more
of the Moslem’s manners and customs, laws and religion than is
known to the average Orientalist; and, if my labours induce him
to attack the text of The Nights he will become master of much
more Arabic than the ordinary Arab owns. This book is indeed a
legacy which I bequeath to my fellow-countrymen in their hour of
need. Over devotion to Hindu* and especially to Sanskrit litera-,
ture, has led them astray from those (so-called) u Semitic M studies,
which are the more requisite for us as they teach us to deal success¬
fully with a race more powerful than any pagans—the Moslem*
Apparently England is ever forgetting that she is at present the
greatest Mohammedan empire in. the world. Of late years she has
systematically neglected Arabism and, indeed, actively discouraged
it in examinations for the Indian Civil Service, where it is incom¬
parably more valuable than Greek and Latin. Hence, when
suddenly compelled to assume the reins of government in Moslem
lands, as Afghanistan in times past and Egypt at present, she fails
after a fashion which scandalises her few (very few) friends; and
her crass ignorance concerning the Oriental peoples which should
most interest her, exposes her to the contempt of Europe as well as
of the Eastern world. When the regretable raids of 1883-84, cul¬
minating in the miserable affairs of Tokar, Teb and Tamasi, were
made upon the gallant Sudani negroids, the Bisharin outlying
Sawakin, who were battling for the holy cause of liberty and
religion and for escape from Turkish task-masters and Egyptian
tax-gatherers, not an English official in camp, after the death of
the gallant and lamented Major Morice, was capable of speaking
Arabic. Now Moslems are not to be ruled by raw youths who
should be at school and college instead of holding positions of trust
and emolument- He who would deal with them successfully must

xxiV

A If Laylak wa LayJah.

be, firstly, honest and truthful and, secondly, familiar with and
favourably inclined to their manners and customs if not to their
law and religion. We may, perhaps, find it hard to restore to
England those pristine virtues, that tone and temper, which made
her what she is ; but at any rate we (myself and a host of others)
can offer her the means of dispelling her ignorance concerning the
Eastern races with whom she is continually in contact.

In conclusion I must not forget to notice that the Arabic orna¬
mentations of these volumes were designed by my excellent friend
Yacoub Artin Pasha, of the Ministry of Instruction, Cairo, with
the aid of the well-known writing-artist, Shaykh Mohammed
Muunis the Cairene. My name, Al-Hajj Abdullah (= the Pilgrim
Abdallah) was written by an English calligrapher, the lamented
Professor Palmer who found a premature death almost within
sight of Suez.

RICHARD F. BURTON,

Wanderers* Club, August 15, 1885.

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

*AOB

INTRODUCTION.* i

STORY OF KING SHAHRYAR AND HIS BROTHER ... 2

a . Tale of the Bull and the Ass.16

(Latte, vot. /., 1-16 .)

l. TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI. 24

( Chapt. I. Story of the Merchant and the Jinnee: p. 4$ )

a . The First Shaykh’s Story.27

(Story of the First Sheykh and the Gazelle: p. 48,)

h . The Second Shaykh’s Story.32

(Story of the Second Sheykh and the two Black Hounds : p. 5 2 .)

*. The Third Shaykh’s Story. 36

(Story of ike Third Sheykh and the Mule: p. J> )

3 THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI.38

(Chapt. II. Story of the Fisherman : p.

a . Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban ..... 45

(Story of King Yoonan and the Sage Dooban : p. 84.)

ad . Story of Kino Sindibad and his Falcon .... 50

ae . Tale of the Husband and the Parrot . •.> . 52

( Story of the Husband and the Parrot: /. 89.^

ad . Tale of the Peinoe and the Ogress.54

(Story of the Envious tVezeer and the Prince atid the G hoof ah : p. $ 1 .)

h . Talk of the Ensq&cellbd Prince.69

(Story of the Young King qf the Black Islands: p. 10 6 .J

xxvil

A If Laylah wa Lay!ah.

%. THE PORTER AND THE THREE LADIES OF BAGHDAD

(Chapt . III. Story of the Porter and the Ladies of Baghdad, and of the three

Royal Mendicants , etc.: p. 136 .)

a . The First Kalandar’s Tale.

(Story of the First Royal Mendicant: p. I $0.)

A. The Second Kalandar’s Tale.* * *

(Story of the Second Royal Mendicant: p. 1 57 - }

ba . Tale of the Envier and the Envied • •

(Story of the Envitr and the Envied: p. 166.J

c . The Third Kalandar’s Tale

(Story of the Third Royal Mendicant: p. 1 7 )

d. The Eldest Lady’s Tale

«... Tale of the Portress «•#«•••»«

8 s

fOif

i*3

S23

*39

3-62

*73

Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and Three Ladies . 184

4, TALE OF THE THREE APPLES .186

( Chapt. IV. Story of the Three Apples , etc.: p. 250 ■)

5. TALE OF NUR AL-DIN ALI AND HIS SON BADR AL-DIN

HASAN. 19 S

(Story of Noor cd-Deen and his Son, and of Slums ed-Dccn and

pis Daughter : p. 253.^

* • * •

6. THE HUNCHBACK’S TALE .

(Chapt. V. Story of the Humpback', p. 238. J

&. The Nazarene Broker’s Story ....

(Story told by the Christian Broker; p. 334 .)

t >. The Reeve’s Tale

(Story told by the Sultan s Steward: p. 34S.J

• ♦

« •

c . Tale of the Jewish Doctor

(Story told by the Jewish Physician: p. 359. J

d . Tale of the Tailor « ...

(Story told by the Tailor : p. 36Z.J

• *

255

26a

278

288

300

c . The Barber’:* Tale of Himself 317

(The Barber s Story of Himself: /. 383.^

Contents .

xxvii

#«. The Barber’s Tale of his First Brother ,

(The Barber's Story of His First Brother . p. 385 .)

eb . The Barber’s Tale of his Second Brother .

( The Barber’s Story of His Second Brother : p. 389.^

ec . The Barber’s Tale of his Third Brother .

( The Barber's Story of His Third Brother: p. 392.)

ed . The Barber’s Tale of his Fourth Brother .

( The Barber's Story of His Fourth Brother: p, 396.^

ee . The Barber’s Tale of his Fifth Brother .

(The Barber's Story of His Fifth Brother: p. 400. )

tf » The Barber’s Tale of his Sixth Brother .

( The Barber*s Story of His Sixth Brother.)

The End of the Tailor’s Tale .

• 3*9

• m

. 328

• 332

• 335

• M

. 348

THE BOOK OF THE

THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT

(ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAS.)

- .

In tje J2ame of glial),
tie ^Compassionating, tfyz Compassionatef

'RAISE BE TO ALLAH e THE BENEFICENT KING •
|| THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE o LORE OF THE
THREE WORLDS © WHO SET UP THE FIRMAMENT
WITHOUT PILLARS IN ITS STEAD © AND WHO STRETCHED
OUT THE EARTH EVEN AS A BED © AND GRACE, AND
PRA YER - BLESSING BE UPON OUR LORD MOHAMMED ©
LORD OF APOSTOLIC MEN © AND UPON HIS FAMILY AND
COMPANION-TRAIN © PRAYER AND BLESSINGS ENDURING
AND GRACE WHICH UNTO THE DAY OF DOOM SHALL
REMAIN o AMEN! o 0 THOU OF THE THREE WORLDS
SOVEREIGN!

And afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone
before us have become instances and examples to men of our
modem day, that folk may view what admonishing chances befel
other folk and may therefrom take warning; and that they may
peruse the annals of antique peoples and all that hath betided them,
and be thereby ruled and restrained :—Praise, therefore, be to Him
who hath made the histories of the Past an admonition unto the
Present ! Now of such instances are the tales called “A Thousand
Nights and a Night/' together with their far-famed legends and
vol. I. A

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

wonders. Therein it is related (but Allah is All-knowing of Hi$
hidden things and All-ruling and All-honoured and All-giving and
All-gracious and All-merciful! that, in tide-of yore and in time
long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu Sdsin
in the Islands of India and China, a Lord of armies and guards
and servants and dependents. 1 2 He left only two sons, one in the
prime of manhood and the other yet a youth, while both were
Knights and Braves, albeit the. elder was a doughtier horseman
than the younger. So he succeeded to the empire; when he
ruled the land and lorded it over his lieges with justice so exem¬
plary that he was beloved by all the peoples of his capital and of
his kingdom. His name was King Shahrydr, 3 and he made his
younger brother, Shah Zaman hight, King of Samarcand in
Barbarian-land. These two ceased not to abide in their several
realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions; and
each ruled his own kingdom, with equity and fair-dealing to his
subjects, in extreme solace and enjoyment; and this condition
continually endured for a score of years. But at the end of the
twentieth twelvemonth the elder King earned for a sight of his
younger brother and felt that he must look upon him once more
So he took counsel with his Wazir 4 about visiting him, but the

1 Ailaho A’alam, a deprecatory formula, used because the writer is going to indulge in
a series of what may possibly be untruths.

2 The “Sons of Sasan” arc the famous Sassanides whose dynasty ended with the
Arabian Conquest (a.d. 641). “Island” (Jazirah) in Arabic also means “ Peninsula,”
and causes much confusion in geographical matters.

3 Shahryar not Shahriyar (Persian) = “ City-friend.” The Eulak edition corrupts it to
Shahrbaz (City-hawk), and the Breslau to Shahrban or “Defender of the City,” like
Marz-ban ~ Warden of the Marshes. Shah Zarr.an (Persian) = “ King of the Age:”
Galland prefers Shah Zenan, or “ King of women,” and the Bui. edit, changes it to Shah
Rumman, “ Pomegranate King.” Al-Ajarh denotes all regions not Arab (Gentiles opposed
to Jews, Mlechchhas to Hindus, Tajiks to Turks, etc., etc.), and especially Persia ; Ajami
(a man of Ajam) being an equivalent of the Or. Bdp£apo<;. See Vol. ii., p. 1.

t Galland writes “ Vizier,” a wretched fienchification of a mincing Turkish mispro¬
nunciation ; Toriens, “Wuzeer” (Anglo-Indian and Gilchristian) ; Lane, “ Wezeer ”
(Egyptian or rather Cairene) ; Payne, “ Vizier,” according to his system ; Burckhardt
(Proverbs), “Vizir;” and Mr. Keith-Falconer, “Vizir.” The root is popularly sup¬
posed to be “ wizr ” (burden) and the meaning “Minister,” Wazic al-Wuzara being
44 Premier.” In the Koran (chapt. xx., 30) Moses says, “ Give me a Wazir of my family,
Harun (Aaron) my brother.” Sale, followed by the excellent version of the Rev. J. M.
Rodwell, translates a “ Counsellor.” and explains by “ One who has the chief adminis
tration of affairs under a prince.” But both learned Koranists learnt their Orientalism
jn London, and, like such students generally, fail only upon the easiest points, familiar
\o all old dwellers in the East.

Story Shakryar and his Brother,

Minister, finding tiu project unadvisable, recommended that a
letter be written and a present be sent under his charge to the
younger brother with an invitation to visit the elder. Having
accepted this advice the King forthwith bade prepare handsome
gifts, such as horses with saddles of gem-encrusted gold ; Mame¬
lukes, or white slaves; beautiful handmaids, high-breasted virgins,
and splendid stuffs and costly. He then wrote a letter to Shah
Zaman expressing his warm love and great wish to see him,
ending with these words, “ We therefore hope of the favour and
'affection of the beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir
himself and turn his face us-wards. Furthermore we have sent
our Wazir to make all ordinance for the march, and our one and
only desire is to see thee ere we die; but if thou delay or dis¬
appoint us we shall not survive the blow. Wherewith peace be upon
thee !” Then King Shahryar, having sealed the missive and given
it to the Wazir with the offerings aforementioned, commanded
him to shorten his skirts and strain his strength and make all
expedition in going and returning. " Harkening and obedience! ”
quoth the Minister, who fell to making ready without stay and
packed up his loads and prepared all his requisites without delay.
This occupied him three days, and on the dawn of the fourth he
took leave of his King and marched right away, over desert and
hill-way, stony waste and pleasant lea without halting by night or
by day. But whenever he entered a realm whose ruler was subject
to his Suzerain, where he was greeted with magnificent gifts of
gold and silver and all manner of presents fair and rare, lie would
tarry there three days, 5 the term of the guest-rite; and, when he
left on the fourth, he would be honourably escorted for a whole
day’s march As soon as the Wazir drew near Shah Zaman’s
court in Samarcand he despatched to report his arrival one of his
high officials, who presented himself before the King; and, kissing
ground between his hands, delivered his message. Hereupon the
King commanded sundry of his Grandees ?tnd Lords of his realm to
fare forth and meet his brother’s Wazir at the distance of a full
day’s journey'; which they 'did, greeting him respectfully and
wishing him all prosperity and forming an escort and a procession.
When he entered the city he proceeded straightway to the palace,
where he presented himself in the royal presence; and, after kissing

1 This three-days term (rest-day, drest-day and departure day)<seems to be an instinct-
made rule in hospitality. Among Moslems it is a Sunnat or practice of the Prophet.

4 Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

ground and praying for the King’s health and happiness and for
victory over all his enemies, he informed him that his'brother was
yearning to see him, and prayed for the pleasure of a visffc. He
thfcn delivered the letter which Shah Zaman took from his hand
and read : it contained sundry hints and allusions which required
thought; but, when the King had fully comprehended its im¬
port, he said, “I hear and I obey the commands of the beloved
brother!” adding to the Wazir, “But we will not march till afte£
the third day’s hospitality.” He appointed for the Minister fitting*
quarters of the palace ; and, pitching tents for the troops, rationed
them with whatever they might require of meat and drink and
other necessaries. On the fourth day he made ready for wayfare
and got together sumptuous presents befitting his elder brother’s
majesty, and stablished his chief Wazir viceroy of the land during
his absence. Then he caused his tents and camels and mules to be
brought forth and encamped, with their bales and loads, attendants
and guards, within sight of the city, in readiness to set out next
morning for his brother’s capital. But when the night was half
spent he bethought him that he had forgotten in his palace
somewhat which he should have brought with him, so be
returned privily and entered his apartments, where he found
the Queen, his wife, asleep on his own carpet-bed, embracing
with both arms a black cook of loathsome aspect and foul "\vith
kitchen grease and grime. When he saw this the world waxed
black before his sight and he said,“If such case happen while I
am yet within sight of the city what will be the doings of this
damned whore during my long absence at my brother’s court ? ”
So he drew his scymitar and, cutting the two in four pieces with
a single blow, left them on the carpet and returned presently to
his camp without letting anyone know of what had happened.
Then he gave orders for immediate departure and set out at once
and began his travel ; but he could not help thinking over his wife’s
treason and he kept ever saying to himself, “ How could she do this
deed by me ? How could she work her own death ?,” till excessive
grief seized him, his colour changed to yellow, his body waxed
weak and he was threatened with a dangerous malady, such an
one as bringeth men to die. So the Wazir shortened his stages and
tarried long at the watering-stations and did his best to solace
the King. Now when Shah Zaman drew near the capital of his
brother he despatched vaunt-couriers and messengers of glad

Story of King Shahryar and his Brother .

tidings to announce his arrival, and Shahryar came forth to meet
him with his Wazirs and Emirs and Lords and Grandees of his
realm ; and saluted him and joyed with exceeding joy and caused
the city to be decorated in his honour. When, however,.the brothers
met, the elder could not but see the change of .complexion in the
younger and questioned him of his case whereto he replied, “ Tis
caused by the travails of wayfare and my case needs care, for I
have suffered from the change of water and air! but Allah be
praised for reuniting me with a brother so dear and so rare! ”
On this wise he dissembled and kept his secret, adding, “ O King
of the time and Caliph of the tide, only toil and moil have tinged
my face yellow with bile and hath made my eyes sink deep in my
head.” Then the two entered the capital in all honour; and the
elder brother lodged the younger in a palace -overhanging the
pleasure garden; and, after a time, seeing his condition still un¬
changed, he attributed it to his separation from his country and
kingdom. So he let him wend his own ways and asked no
questions of him till one day when he again said, *' O my brother,
I see that^art grown weaker of body and yellower of colour.” u O
my brother,” replied Shah Zaman “ I have an internal wound : *' 1
still he would not tell him what he had witnessed in his wife.
Thereupon Shahryar summoned doctors and surgeons and bade
them treat his brother according to the rules of art, which they
did for a whole month ; but their sherbets and potions naught
availed, for he would dwell upon the deed of his wife, and despond¬
ency, instead of diminishing, prevailed, and leach-craft treatment
utterly failed. One day his elder brother said to him, “ I am
going forth to hunt and course and to take my pleasure and
pastime ; maybe this would lighten thy heart.” Shah Zaman, how¬
ever, refused, saying, ° Q my brother, my soul yearneth for naught
of this sort and I entreat thy favour to suffer me tarry quietly in
this place, being wholly taken up with my malady.” So King
Shah Zaman passed his night in the palace and, next morning,
when his brother had fared forth, he removed from his room
and sat him down at one of the lattice-windows overlooking the
pleasure grounds ; and there he abode thinking with saddest thought
over his wife’s betrayal and burning sighs issued from his tortured
breast.. And as he continued in this case lo! a postern of the

1 />., 1 am -sick at heart.

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

palace, which was carefully kept private, swung open and out of it
came twenty slave girls surrounding his brother's wife who was
wondrous fair, a model of beauty and comeliness and symmetry
and perfect loveliness and who paced with the grace of a gazelle
which panteth for the cooling stream. Thereupon Shah Zaman drew
back from the window, but he kept the bevy in sight espying them
from a place whence he could not be espied. They walked under
the very lattice and advanced a little way into the garden till they
came to a jetting fountain amiddlemost a great basin of water ;
then they stripped off their clothes and behold, ten of them were
women, concubines of the King, and the other ten were white
slaves. Then they ail paired off, each with each : but the Queen,
who was left alone, presently cried out in a loud voice, “ Here to
me, O my lord Saeed! '* and then sprang with a drop-leap from
one of the trees a big slobbering blackamoor with rolling eyes
which showed the* whites, a truly hideous sight . 1 He walked
boldly up to her and threw his arms round her neck while she
embraced him as warmly ; then he bussed her and winding his
legs round hers, as a button-loop clasps a button, he threw her
and enjoyed her. On like wise did the other slaves with the
girls till all had satisfied their passions, and they ceased not from
kissing and clipping, coupling and carousing till day began to
wane; when the Mamelukes rose from the damsels’ bosoms and the
blackamoor slave dismounted from the Queen's breast; the men
resumed their disguises and all, except the negro who swarmed up
the tree, entered the palace and closed the postern-door as before.
Now, when Shah Zaman saw this conduct of his sister-in-law he
said in himself, “ By Allah, my calamity is lighter than this ! My
brother is a greater King among the kings than I am, yet this
infamy goeth on in his very palace, and his wife is in love with that
filthiest of filthy slaves. But this only showeth that they all do

1 Debauched women prefer negroes on account of the size of their parts. I measured
one man in Somali-land who, when quiescent, numbered neatly six inches. This is
a characteristic of the negro race and of African animals; e.g. the horse; whereas
the pure Arab, man and beast, is below the average of Europe ; one of the best
proofs by the by, that the Egyptian is not an Asiatic, but a negro partially white¬
washed. Moreover, these imposing parts do not increase proportionally during erection ;
consequently, the “deed of kind ” takes a much longer time and adds greatly to the
woman's enjoyment. In my time no honest Hindi Moslem would take his women¬
folk to Zanzibar on account of the huge attractions and enormous temptations there
and thereby offered to them. Upon the subject of Imsak = retention of semen and
“prolongation of pleasure,” I shall find it necessary to say more.

Story of King Shahryar and his Brother .

it 1 and that there is no woman but who cuckoldeth her husband ,
then the curse of Allah upon one and all and upon the fools who lean
against them for support or who place the reins of conduct in their
hands. So he put away his.melancholy and despondency, regret
and repine, and allayed his sorrow by constantly repeating those
words, adding “ ’Tis my conviction that no man in this world is
safe Irom their malice! ** When supper-time came they brought
him the trays and he ate with voracious appetite, for he had
long refrained from meat, feeling unable to touch any dish how¬
ever dainty. Then he returned grateful thanks to Almighty Allah,
praising Him and blessing Him, and he spent a most restful
night, it having been long since he had savoured the sweet food
of sleep. Next day he broke his fast heartily and began to
recover health and strength, and presently regained excellent con¬
dition. His brother came back from the chase ten days after, when
he rode out to meet him and they saluted each other; and when
King Shahryar looked.at King Shah Zaman he saw how the hue
of health had returned to him, how his face had waxed ruddy and
how he ate with an appetite after his late scanty diet. He wondered
much and said, “ O my brother, I was so anxious that thou wouldst
join me in hunting and chasing, and wouldst take thy pleasure and
pastime in my dominion ! He thanked him and excused himself;
then the two took horse and rode into the city and, when they
were seated at their ease in the palace, the food-trays were set
before them and they ate their sufficiency. After the meats were
removed and they had washed their hands, King Shahryar turned
to his brother and said, “ My mind is overcome with wonderment
at thy condition. I was desirous to carry thee with me to the
chase but I saw thee changed in hue, pale and wan to view, and
in sore trouble of mind too. But now Alhamdolillah—glory be to
God!—I see thy natural colour hath returned to thy face and that
thou art again in the best of case. It was my belief that thy sick¬
ness came of severance from thy family and friends, and absence
from capital and country, so I refrained from troubling thee with
further questions. But now I beseech thee to expound to me the
cause of• thy complaint and thy change of colour, and to explain'
the reason of thy recovery and the return to the ruddy hue of
health which I am wont to view. So speak out and hide naught!

. _ _— - ■

-- .«

* The very same words were lately spoken in England proving the eternal truth of
The Nights which the ignorant call u downright lies.”

A If Laylali wa Laylah.

When Shah Zaman heard this he bowed groundwards awhile bis
head, then raised it and said, “ I will tell thee what caused my com¬
plaint and my loss of colour;' but excuse my acquainting thee with
the cause of its return to me and the reason of my complete
recovery : indeed I pray thee not to press me for a reply. Said
Shahryar, who was much surprised by these words, “ Let me hear
first what produced thy pallor and thy poor condition.” tl Know>
then, O my brother,” rejoined Shah Zaman, “ that when thou
sentest thy Wazir with the invitation to place, myself between thy
hands, I made ready and marched out of my city ; but presently
I minded me having left behind me in the palace a string of jewels
intended as a gift to thee. I returned for it alone and found my
wife on my carpet-bed and in the arms of a hideous black cook.
So I slew the twain and came to thee, yet my thoughts brooded over
this business and I lost my bloom and became weak. But excuse me
if I still refuse to tell thee what was the reason of my complexion
returning.” Shahryar shook his head, marvelling with extreme
marvel, and with the fire of wrath flaming up from his heart, he
cried, “ Indeed, the malice of woman is mighty ! ” Then he took
refuge from them with Allah and said, “In very sooth, O my
brother, thou hast escaped many an evil by putting thy wife to
death, 1 and right excusable were thy wrath and grief for such
mrshap which never yet befel crowned King like thee. By Allah,
had the case been mine, I would not have been satisfied without
slaying a thousand women and that way madness lies! But now'
praise be to Allah who. hath tempered to thee thy tribulation, and
must thou acquaint me with that which so suddenly restored
to thee complexion and health, and explain to me what causeth this
concealment.” “ O King of the Age, again I pray thee excuse npry
so doing!” “Nay,, but thou must/' “I fear, O my brother, test
the'recital cause thee more anger and sorrow than afflicted me.”
“ That were but a better reason,” quoth Shahryar, “ for telling me
the whole history, and I conjure thee by Allah not to keep back
aught from me.” Thereupon Shah Zaman told him all he had seen,
from commencement to conclusion, ending with these words,When
I beheld thy calamity and the treason of thy wife, O my brother,
and I reflected that thou art in years my senior and in sovereignty
my superior, mine own sorrow was belittled by the comparison,
and my mind recovered tone and temper : so throwing off .melan-

1 The Arab’s Tue lal

Story of King Shahryar and his Brother .

choly and despondency, I was able to eat and drink and sleep, and
thus I speedily regained health and strength. Such is the truth
and the whole truth,” When King Shahryar heard this he waxed
wroth with exceeding wrath, and rage was like to strangle him;
but presently he recovered himself and said, 4t O my brother, J
would not give thee the lie in this matter, but I cannot credit it
till I see it with mine own eyes.” “ An thou wouldst look upon
thy calamity,” quoth Shah Zaman, “rise at once and make ready
again for hunting and coursing, 1 and then hide thyself with me, So
shalt thou witness it and thine eyes shall verify it.” 4< True,” quoth
the King; whereupon he let make proclamation of his intent to
travel, and the troops and tents fared forth without the city, camping
within sight, and Shahryar sallied out with them and took seat
amidmost his host, bidding the slaves admit no man to him. When
night came on he summoned his Wazir and said to him, * Sit thou
in my stead and let none wot of my absence till the term of three
days.” Then the brothers disguised themselves and returned by
night with all secrecy to the palace, where they passed the dark
hours: and at dawn they seated themselves at the lattice over¬
looking the pleasure grounds,fwhen presently the Queen and her
handmaids came out as before, and passing under the windows made
for the fountain. Here they stripped, ten of them being men to ten
women, and the King's wife cried out, “ Where art thou, O Saeed ? ”
The hideous blackamoor dropped from the tree straightway; and,
rushing into her arms without stay or delay, cried out, “ I am
Sa’ad al-Din Saood ! ” 2 The lady laughed heartily, and all fell to
satisfying their lusts, and remained so occupied for a couple of
hours, when the white slaves rose up from the handmaidens’ breasts
and the blackamoor dismounted from the Queen’s bosom : then
they went into the basin and, after performing the Ghusl, or com¬
plete ablution, donned their dresses and retired as they had done
before. When King Shahryar saw this infamy of his wife and
concubines he became as one distraught and he cried out, •* Only
in utter solitude can man be safe from the doings of this vile world !
By Allah, life is naught but one great wrong.” Presently he added.

1 Arab. “ Sayd wa kanas” : the former usually applied to fishing; hence Sayda
(Sidon) == fish-town. But noble Arabs (except the Caliph Al-Amin) do not fish; so
here it means simply “sport.’- chasing, coursing, birding (oiselej), and so forth.

2 In the Mac. Edit, the negro is called “Mas’ud”; here he utters a kind of war-
cxy and plays upon the name, “Sa’ad, Sa’id, Sa’ud, and Mas’ud, all being derived
from one root, “ Sa’ad ” = auspiciousness, prosperity.

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

u Do dot thwart me, O my brother, in what I proposeand the
other answered, “I Will not.” So he said, <( Let us up as we are
and depart forthright hence, for we have no concern with Kingship,
and let us overwander Allah's earth, worshipping the Almighty till
we find some one to whom the like calamity hath happened ; and
if we find none then will death be more welcome to us than life.”
So the two brothers issued from a second ^private postern of the
palace ; and they never stinted wayfaring by day and by night,
until they reached a tree a-middle of a,meadow hard by a spring
of sweet water on the shore of the salt sea. Both drank of
it and sat down to take their rest; and' when an hour of the
day had gone by, lo! they heard a mighty roar and uproar in
the middle of the main as though the heavens were falling upon
the earth; and the sea brake with waves before them, and from
it towered a black pillar, which grew and grew till it rose sky¬
wards and began making for that meadow. Seeing it, they waxed
fearful exceedingly and climbed to the top of the tree, which was a
lofty; whence they gazed to see what might be the matter. And
behold, it was a Jinni, 1 huge of height and burly of breast and bulk,
broad of brow and black of blee, bearing on his head a coffer o£
crystal. He strode to land, wading through the deep, and coming
to the tree whereupon were the two Kings, seated himself beneath
it. He then set down the coffer on its bottom and out of it drew a
casket, with seven padlocks of steel, which he unlocked with seven
keys of steel he took from beside his thigh, and out of it a young
lady to come was seen, white-skinned and of winsomest mien, of
stature fine and thin, and bright as though a moon of the fourteenth

1 The Arab singular (whence Ihe French “genie”); fem. Jinniyah; the Div and
Rakshah of old Guebre-land and the “ Rakshasa,’ or “ Yaksha,” of Hinduism. It would
be interesting'lo trace the evident connection, by no means “accidental,” of “Jinn”
with the “Genius” who came to the Romans through the Asiatic Etruscans, and whose
name I cannot derive from “gignomai ” or “genitus.” He was unknown to the Greeks,
who had the Daimon (oat/xoov), a family- which separated, like the Jinn and the Genius,
into two categories, the good (Agatho-dsemons) and the bad (Kako-daemons). We know
nothing concerning the status of the Jinn amongst the pre-Moslemitic or pagan Arabs: the
Moslems made, him a supernatural anthropoid being, created of subtile fire (Koran*
chapts. xv. 27; lv. 14), not of earth like man, propagating his kind, ruled by mighty
kings, the last being Jdn bin Jan, missionarised by Prophets and subject to death and
Judgment. From the same root are “ Junun ” = madness (i.e., possession or obsession
by,the Jinn) and “Majnun” = a madman. According to R. Jeremiah bin Eliazar in
Psalm xli. 5, Adam was excommunicated for one hundred and thirty years, during which
he begat children in his own image (Gen. v. 3) and these were Mazikeen or Shedeem—
Jions. Further details anent the Jinn will presently occur.

Story of King Shahryar and his Brother. 11

night she had been, or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the
poet Utayyah hath excellently said :—

Sht rose like the mom as she shone through the night © And she gilded the
grove with her gracious sight:

Front her radiance the sun taketh increase when * She unveileth and shameth
the moonshine bright.

Bow down all beings between her hands © As she showeth charms with her
veil undight.

And . she floodeth cities * 1 with torrent tears o When she flasheth her look of
leven-light.

The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and looking at her
said, “O choicest love of this heart of mine! O dame of noblest
line, whom I snatched away on thy bride night that none might
prevent me taking thy maidenhead or tumble thee before I did,
and whom none save myself hath loved or hath enjoyed: O my
sweetheart! I would lief sleep a little while.” He then laid
his head upon the lady’s thighs ; and, stretching out his legs which
extended down to the sea, slept and snored and snarked like the

roll of thunder. Presently she raised her head towards the tree-top

✓

and saw the two Kings perched near the summit; then she softly
lifted off her lap the Jinni’s pate which she was tired of supporting
and placed it upon the ground; then standing upright under the
tree signed to the Kings, “ Come ye down, ye two, and fear
naughf from this I frit.” 2 They were in a terrible fright when they
.found that she had seen them and answered her in the same
manner, “Allah upon thee 3 and by thy modesty, O'lady, excuse
us from coming down ! ” But she rejoined by saying, “ Allah upon
you both that ye come down forthright, and if ye come not, I will
rouse upon you my husband, this Ifrit, and he shall do you to die
by the illest of deathsand she continued making signals to them.
So, being afraid, they came down to her and she rose before them
and said, “ Stroke me a strong stroke, without stay or delay, other-

1 Arab “ Arnsar” (cities) : in Bui. Edit. “ Amtdr” (rains), as in Mac. Edit. So Mr.
Payne (I., 5) translates:—

And when she flashes forth the lightning of her glance, She maketh eyes
to rain, like showers, with many a tear.

1 would render it, “She makes whole cities shed tears; ” and prefer it for a reason which
will generally influence me—its superior exaggeration and impossibility.

* Not “ A-frit,” pronounced Aye-frit, as our poets have it. This variety of the Jinn,
who, as will be shown, are divided into two races like mankind, is generally, out not
always, a malignant being, hostile and injurious to mankind (Koran xxvii. 39).

* i.e. % “ I conjure thee by Allah the formula is technically called “Inshdd. , ‘

Alf Laylah wa Laylak

wise will I arouse and set upon you this Ifrit who shall slay yo«
straightway.” They said to her, “ O our lady, we conjure thee by
Allah, let us off this work, for we are fugitives from such and in
extreme dread and terror of this thy husband. How then can we
do it in such a way as thou desirest?” **Leave this talk: it needs
must be so; ” quoth she, and she swore them by Him 1 who raised
the skies on high, without prop or pillar, that, if they worked not
her will, she would cause them to be slain and cast into the sea.
Whereupon out of fear King Shahryar said to King Shah Zaman,
M 0 my brother, do thou what she biddeth thee do ; ” but he replied,)
44 1 will not do it till thou do it before I do. And they began dis¬
puting about futtering her. Then quoth she to the twain, “ How is
it I see you disputing and demurring ; if ye do not come forward
like men and do the deed of kind ye two, I will arouse upon you
the Ifrit” At this, by reason of their sore dread of the Jinni, both
did by her what she bade them do; and, when they had dismounted
from her, she said, “ Well done! ” She then took from her pocket a
purse and drew out a knotted string, whereon were strung five
hundred and seventy* * seal rings, and asked. u Know ye what be
these ? ” They answered her saying, “We know not! *' Then
quoth she; u These be the signets of five hundred and seventy men
who have all futtered me upon the horns of this foul, this foolish, this
filthy Ifrit; so give me also your two seal rings, ye pair of brothers.
When they had drawn their two rings from their hands and given
them to her, she said to them, “ Of a truth this Ifrit bore me off on
my bride-night, and put me into a casket and set the casket in a coffer
and to the coffer he affixed seven strong padlocks of steel and
deposited me on the deep bottom of the sea that raves, dashing
and clashing with waves ; and guarded me so that I might remain
chaste and honest, quotha! that none save himself might have
connexion with me. But I have lain under as many of my kind
as I please, and this wretched Jinni wotteth not that Destiny may

1 This introducing the name of Allah into an indecent tale is essentially Egyptian and
Cairene. But see Boccacio ii. 6 ; and vii. 9.

* So in the Mac. Edit ; in others “ ninety.” I prefer the greater number as exaggera¬
tion is a part of the humour. In the Hindu “ Kathi Sirit Sigara ** (Sea of the Streams ol
Story), the rings are one hundred and the catastrophe is more moral; the good youth
Yasbodhara rejects the wicked one’s advances ; she awakes the water-sprite, who is about
to slay him, but the rings are brought as testimony and the improper young person’s nose
U duly cut off. (Chap, briii.,* p. 80, of the excellent translation by Prof. C. H. Tawney:
for the Bibliotheca Indica: Calcutta, 1881.) The Kathi, etc., by Somadeva (century xi),

2 » a poetical version of the prose compendium, the “Vrihat Kathi” (Great Story) bf
Gunadhya (cent. vi).

Story of King Skahryar and his Brother .

not be averted nor hindered by aught, and that whatso woman
willeth the same she fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even so
saith one of them:—

Rely not on women ; * * Trust not to their hearts,

Whose joys and whose sorrows • Are hung to their parts!

Lying love they will swear thee • Whence guile ne’er departs:

Take Yusuf 1 for sample • ’Ware sleights and ’ware smarts f

Iblis* ousted Adam • (See ye not ?) thro’ their arts.

And another saith:—

Stint thy blame, man ! Twill drive to a passion without bound ; o My fault is
not so heavy as fault in it hast found.

If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not o Save what happened
unto many in the by-gone stouncL

For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise o Who from wiles of female
wits kept him safe and kept him sound."

Hearing these words they marvelled with exceeding marvel, and
she went from them to the Ifrit and, taking up his head on her
thigh as before, said to them softly, “Now wend your ways and
bear yourselves beyond the bounds of his malice.” So they fared
forth saying either to otheK, “ Allah ! Allah ! ” and, “ There be no
Majesty and there be no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great; and with Him we seek refuge from women’s malice and
sleight, for of a truth it hath no mate in might. Consider, O my
brother, the ways of this marvellous lady with an Ifrit who is so
much more powerful than we are. Now since there hath happened
to him a greater mishap than that which befel us and which
should bear us abundant consolation, so return we to our countries
and capitals, and let U9 decide never to intermarry with woman¬
kind and presently we will show them what will be our action.”
Thereupon they rode back to the tents of King Shahryar, which
they reached on the morning of the third day ; and, having mustered

1 The Joseph of the Koran, very different from him of Genesis. We shall meet him
often enough in The Nights.

* “ Iblis,” vulgarly written ** Eblis,” from a root meaning The Despairer, with a sus¬
picious likeness to Diabolos; possibly from “ Balas,” a profligate. Some translate it
The Calumniator, as Satan is the Hater. Iblis (who appears in the Arab, version of the

N. Testament) succeeded another revolting angel Al-Haris ; and his story of pride,
refusing to worship Adam, is told four times in the KoraD from the Talmud (San¬
hedrim 29). He caused Adam and Eve to lose Paradise (ii. 34); he still betrays
mankind (xxv. 31), and at the end of time he, with the other devils, will be ** gathered
together on their knees round Hell " (xix. 69). He has -evidently had the worst of
the game and we wonder, with Origen, Tillotson, Burns and many others, that he
4 ocs not throw up the cards.

Alf Laylak wa Laylak.

the Wazirs and Emirs, the Chamberlains and high officials, he gave
a robe of honour to his Viceroy and issued orders for an immediate
return to the city. There he sat him upon his throne and sending
for the Chief Minister, the father of the two damsels who (Insh-
allah!) will presently be mentioned, he said, “ I command thee to
take my wife and smite her to death ; for she hath broken her
plight and her faith.” So he carried her to the place of execution
and did her die. Then King Shahryar took brand in hand and
repairing to the Serraglio slew all the concubines and their Mame¬
lukes. 1 He also sware himself by a binding oath that whatever
wife he married he would abate her maidenhead at night and slay
her next morning to make sure of his honour; “ For,” said he,
“ there never was nor is there one chaste woman upon the face of
earth.” Then Shah Zaman prayed for permission to fare home¬
wards ; and he went forth equipped and escorted and travelled
till he reached his own country. Meanwhile Shahryar commanded
his Wazir to bring him the bride of the night that he might go in
to her; so he produced a most beautiful girl, the daughter of one
of the Emirs and the King went in unto her at eventide and when
morning dawned he bade his Minister strike off her head ; and the
Wazir did accordingly for fear of the Sultan. On this wise he
continued for the space of three years; marrying a maiden
every night and killing her the next morning, till folk raised an
outcry against him and cursed him, praying Allah utterly to
destroy him and his rule; and women made an uproar and mothers
wept and parents fled with their daughters till there remained not
?n the city a young person fit for carnal copulation. Presently the
King ordered his Chief Wazir, the same who was charged with the
executions, to bring him a virgin as was his wont; and the Minister
went forth and searched and found none; so he returned home
in sorrow and anxiety fearing for his life from the King. Now he
had two daughters, Shahrdzdd and Dunyazdd hight, 2 of whom the

1 A similar tale is still told at Akka (St. John d’Acre) concerning the terrible
“ butcher”—Jazzar (Djezzar) Pasha. One can-hardly pity women who are fools enough
to run such risks. According to Frizzi, Niccolb, Marquis of Este, after beheading
Parisina, ordered all the faithless wives of Ferrara to be treated in like manner.

2 ** Shahrdzdd (Persian) sz City-freer ; in the older version Scheherazade (probably both
from Shirzadcr:lion-born). “ Dunyazdd — World-freer. The Bres. Edit, corrupts the
former to Shahrzad or Shdhrazad ; and the Mac. and Calc, to Shahrzdd or Shehr2dd. I
have ventured to restore the name as it should be. Galland for the second prefers
Dinarzade (?) and Richardson Dinazade (Dindzad ~ Religion-freer): here I have followed
Lane and Payne ; though in “ First Footsteps ” I was misled by Galland. See VoL ii. p. I.

1 $

Story of King Shahryar and his Brotfor.

elder had perused the books, annals and legends of preceding
Kings, and the stories, examples and instances of by-gone men
and things ; indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand
books of histories relating to antique races and departed rulers.
She had perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart;
she had studied philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplish¬
ments ; and she was pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read
and well bred. Now on that day she said to her father, “ Why
do I see thee thus changed and laden with cark and care ? Con-
cerning this matter quoth one of the poets :—

Tell whoso hath sorrow o Grief never shall last:

E’en as joy hath no morrow a So woe shall go past.”

When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words he related
to her, from first to last, all that had happened between him and
the King. Thereupon said she, “ By Allah, O my father, how
long shall this slaughter of women endure ? Shall I tell thee what
is in my mind in order to save both sides from destruction ? ”
“ Say on, O my daughter,” quoth he, and quoth she, “ I wish thou
wouldst give me in marriage to this King Shahryar; either I shall
live or I shall be a ransom for the virgin daughters of Moslems and
the cause of their deliverance from his hands and thine.” 1 “Allah
upon thee! ” cried he in wrath exceeding that lacked no feeding,
“ O scanty of wit, expose not thy life to such peril! How durst
thou address me in words so wide from wisdom and un-far from
foolishness ? Know that one who lacketh experience in worldly
matters readily falleth into misfortune; and whoso considereth not
the end keepeth not the world to friend, and the vulgar say:-I
was lying at mine ease: nought but my officiousness brought me
unease.” “ Needs must thou,” she broke in, “ make me a doer of
this good deed, and let him kill me an he will: I shall only die a
ransom for others.” “ O my daughter,” asked he, “ and how shall
that profit thee when thou shalt have thrown away thy life ? ”
and she answered, “ O my father it must be, come of it what will! ”
The Wazir was again moved to fury and blamed and reproached
her, ending with, “In very deed I fear lest the same befal thee
which befel the Bull and the Ass with the Husbandman.” “ And

1 Probably she proposed to “Judith” the King. These learned and clever young
ladies are very dangerous in the East.

16 Alf Laylak wa Laylah,

what,” asked she, “ befel them, O my father ? ” Whereupon the
Wazir began the

TALE OF THE FUZZ 1 AND THE ASS,

Know, O my daughter, that there was once a merchant who
owned much money and many men, and who was rich in cattle
and camels; he had also a wife and family and he dwejit in the
country, being experienced in husbandry and devoted to agriculture.
Now Allah Most High had endowed him with understanding the
tongues of beasts and birds of every kind, but under pain of death
if he divulged the gift to any. So he kept it secret for very fear.
He had in his cow-house a Bull and an Ass each tethered in his own
Stall one hard by the other. As the merchant was sitting near
hand one day with his servants and his children tvere playing
about him, he heard the Bull say to the Ass, “ Hail and health to
thee O Father of Waking! 2 for that thou enjoyest rest and good
ministering ; all under thee is clean-swept and fresh-sprinkled ;
men wait upon thee and feed thee, and thy provaunt is sifted barley
and thy drink pure spring-water, while I (unhappy creature !) am
led forth in the middle of the night, when they set on my neck the
plough and a something called Yoke ; and I tire at cleaving the
earth from dawn of day till set of sun. I am forced to do more
than I can and to bear all manner of ill-treatment from night to
night; after which they take me back with my sides torn, my neck
flayed, my legs aching and mine eyelids sored with tears. Then
they shut me up in the byre and throw me beans and crushed-
straw, 3 mixed with dirt and chaff; and I lie in dung and filth and
foul stinks through the livelong night. But thou art ever in a place
swept and sprinkled and cleansed, and thou art always lying at
ease, save when it happens (and seldom enough!) that the master

1 In Egypt, etc., the bull takes the place of the Western ox. The Arab, word is
“Taur” (Thaur, Saur) ; in old Persian “Tora” 'and Lat. “Taurus,” a venerable
remnant of the days before the “Semitic” and “Aryan” families of speech had split
into two distinct growths. “Taur” ends in the Saxon “Steor” and the English
“ Steer.”

2 Arab. “ Abu Yakzan ” = the Wakener ; because the ass brays at dawn.

8 Arab. “ Tibn straw crushed under the sledge : the hay of Egypt, Arabia, Syria,
etc. The old country custom is to pull up the com by handfuls from the roots, leaving
the land perfectly bare r hence the “ plucking up ” of Hebretf Holy Writ. The
is to preserve rjery atom of “ Tibn.”

Tale of the Bull and the Ass*

hath some business, when he mounts thee and rides thee to town
and returns with thee forthright. So it happens that I am toiling
and distrest while thou takest thine ease and thy rest; thou sleepest
while I am sleepless; I hunger still while thou eatest thy fill, and
I win contempt while thou winnest good will.” When the Bull
ceased speaking, the Ass turned towards him and said, “ O Broad-
o’-Brow, 1 O thou lost one! he lied not who dubbed thee Bull-head,
for thou, O father of a Bull, hast neither forethought nor con¬
trivance ; thou art the simplest of simpletons, 2 3 * and thou knowest
naught of good advisers. Hast thou not heard the saying of the
wise:—

For others these hardships and labours I bear o And theirs is the pleasure
and mine is the care ;

As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun o To whiten the raiment
which other men wear . 8

But thou, O fool, art full of zeal and thou toilest and moilest
before the master; and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thy¬
self for the comfort of another. Hast thou never heard the saw
that saith, None to guide and from the way go wide ? Thou
wendest forth at the call to dawn-prayer and thou returnest not
till sundown ; and through the livelong day thou endurest all
manner hardships ; to wit, beating and belabouring and bad lan¬
guage. Now hearken to me, Sir Bull! when they tie thee to thy
stinking manger, thou pawest the ground with thy forehand and
lashest out with thy hind hoofs and pushest with thy horns and
bellowest aloud, so they deem thee contented. And when they
throw thee thy fodder thou fallest on it with greed and hastenest
to line thy fair fat paunch. But if thou accept my advice it will
be better for thee and thou wilt lead an easier life even than mine.
When thou goest a-field and they lay the thing called Yoke on
thy neck, lie down and rise not again though haply they swinge
thee; and, if thou rise, lie down a second time; and when they
bring thee home and offer thee thy beans, fall backwards and only
sniff at thy meat and withdraw thee and taste it not, and be satis¬
fied with thy crushed straw and chaff; and on this wise feign thou

1 Arab. “ Yd Aftah ,f : Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, also of the chameleon.

2 Arab. “ Ball'd,” a favouiite Egyptianism often pleasantly confounded with “Wali *
(a Santon) ; hence the latter comes to mean “an innocent,” A “ninny.”

3 From the Cale. Edit., Vol. I., p. 29.

VOL- I.

A If Laylah zva Lay l ah.

art sick, and cease not doing thus for a day or two days or even
three days, so shalt thou have rest from toil and moil.” When
the Bull heard these words he knew the Ass to be his friend and
thanked him, saying, “ Right is thy rede and prayed that all
blessings might requite him, and cried, “ O Father Wakener! 1 thou
hast made up for my failings.” (Now 2 the merchant, O my
daughter, understood all that passed between them.) Next day
the driver took the Bull, and settling th£ plough on his neck, 3
made him work as wont; but the Bull began to shirk his plough¬
ing, according to the advice of the Ass, and the ploughman
drubbed him till he broke the yoke and made off; but the man
caught him up and leathered him till he despaired of his life. Not
the less, however, would he do nothing but stand still and drop
down till the evening. Then the herd led him home and stabled
him in his stall : but he drew back from his manger and neither
stamped nor ramped nor butted nor bellowed as he was wont to do ;
whereat the man wondered. He brought him the beans and husks,
but he sniffed at them and left them and lay down as far from
them as he could and passed the whole night fasting. The peasant
came next morning; and, seeing the manger full of beans, the
crushed-straw untasted and the ox lying on his back in sorriest
plight, with legs outstretched and swollen belly, he was concerned
for him, and said to himself, “ By Allah, he hath assuredly sickened
and this is the cause why he would not plough yesterday.” Then
he went to the merchant and reported, “ O my master, the Bull is
ailing; he refused his fodder last night; nay more, he hath not
tasted a scrap of it this morning.” Now the merchant-farmer
understood what all this meant, because he had overheard the talk
between the Bull and the Ass, so quoth he, “ Take that rascal
donkey, and set the yoke on his neck, and bind him to the
plough and make him do Bull’s work.” Thereupon the ploughman
took the Ass, and worked him through the livelong day at the
Bull’s task; and, when he failed for weakness, he made him eat
Stick till his ribs were sore and his sides were sunken and his neck
was flayed by the yoke; and when he came home in the evening
he could hardly drag his limbs along, either forehand or hind-legs
But as for the Bull, he had passed the day lying at full length and

& Arab. “ Abu Yakzin ” is hardly equivalent with “Pere l’Eveille.”

* In Arab, the wa ('5) is the sign of parenthesis.

• In the nearer East the light little plough is carried afield by the bull or ass#

Tale of the Bull and the Ass.

had eaten his fodder with an excellent appetite, and he ceased not
calling down blessings on the Ass for his good advice, unknowing
what had come to him on his account. So when night set in and
the Ass returned to the byre the Bull rose up before him in
honour, and said, “ May good tidings gladden thy heart, O Father
Wakener ! through thee I have rested all this day and I have
eaten my meat in peace and quiet.” But the Ass returned no
reply, for wrath and heart-burning and fatigue and the beating
he had gotten; and he repented with the most grievous of repent¬
ance ; and quoth he to himself: “ This cometh of my folly in
giving good counsel; as. the saw saith, I was in joy and gladness,
nought save my officiousness brought me this sadness. But I will
bear in mind my innate worth and the nobility of my nature; lor
what saith the poet ?

Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil 1 fail c Tho’ the beetle's foot o’er the Basil
crawl ?

And though spider and fly be its denizens © Shall disgrace attach to the
royal hall?

The cowrie , 2 I ken, shall have currency © But the pearl’s clear drop, shall
its value fall?

And now I must take thought and put a trick upon him and
return him to his place, else I die.” Then he went aweary to his
manger, while the Bull thanked him and blessed him. And even
so, O my daughter, said the Wazir, thou wilt die for lack of wits ;
therefore sit thee still and say naught and expose not thy life to
such stress ; for, by Allah, I offer thee the best advice, which cometh
of my affection and kindly solicitude for thee. “ O my father,” she
answered, “ needs must I go up to this King and be married to
him.” Quoth he, “Do not this deed ; ” and quoth she, “ Of a truth
I will: ” whereat he rejoined, “ If thou be not silent and bide
still, I wild do with thee even what the merchant did with his
wife.” “And what did he?” asked she. Know then, answered the

1 Ocymum basilicum, the “royal herb,” so much prized all over the East, especially
in India, where, under the name of “Tulsi, ’ it is a shrub sacred to the merry god
Krishna. I found the verses in a MS. copy of the Nights.

2 Arab. “ Sadaf,” the Kauri, or cowrie, brought from the Maidive and Lakdive
Archipelago. The Kamus describes this “ Wada’ ” or Concha Veneris as “ a white shell
[whence to “ shell out ”] which is taken out of the sea, the fissure of which is white like
that of the date-stone. It is hung about the neck to avert the evil eye.” The pearl io
Arab, is “ Murwand,” hence evidently “ Margarita ” and Margaris (woman’s name).

A If Laylah wa Laylatu

Wazir, that after the return of the Ass the merchant came out on
the terrace-roof with his wife and family, for it was a moonlit night
and the moon at its full. Now the terrace overlooked the cowhouse
and presently, as he sat there with his children playing about him,
the trader heard the Ass say to the Bull, “ Tell me, O father Broad
o' Brow, what thou purposest to do to-morrow ? ” The Bull
answered, “ What but continue to follow thy counsel, O Aliboron ?
Indeed it was as good as good could be and it hath given me rest
and repose; nor will I now depart from it one tittle : so, when they
bring me my meat, I will refuse it and blow out my belly and
counterfeit crank." The Ass shook his head and said, “ Beware of
so doing, O Father of a Bull! ” The Bull asked, “ Why," and the Ass
answered, “ Know that I am about to give thee the best of counsel,
for verily I heard our owner say to the herd, If the Bull rise not
from his place to do his work this morning and if he retire from his
fodder this day, make him over to the butcher that he may slaughter
him and give his flesh to the poor, and fashion a bit of leather 1
from his hide. Now I fear for thee on account of this. So take
my advice ere a calamity befal thee ; and when they bring thee thy
fodder eat it and rise up and bellow and paw the ground, or our
master will assuredly slay thee : and peace be with thee ! ” There¬
upon the Bull arose and lowed aloud and thanked the Ass, and said,
“ To-morrow I will readily go forth with them ; ” and he at once
ate up all his meat and even licked the manger. (All this took
place and the owner was listening to their talk.) Next morning
the trader and his wife went to the Bull’s crib and sat down, and
the driver came and led forth the Bull who, seeing his owner,
whisked his tail and brake wind, and frisked about so lustily that
the merchant laughed a loud laugh and kept laughing till he fell on
his back. His wife asked him, ‘‘Whereat laughest thou with such
loud laughter as this ? "; and he answered her, I laughed at a secret
something which I have heard and seen but cannot say lest I die
my death." She returned, “ Perforce thou must discover it to me,
and disclose the cause of thy laughing even if thou come by thy
death ! " But he rejoined, “ I cannot reveal what beasts and birds
say in their lingo for fear I die. Then quoth she. “ By Allah, thou
liest! this is a mere pretext: thou laughest at none save me, and
now thou wouldest hide somewhat from me. But by the Lord of

1 Arab “Kat’a” (bit of leather) : some read “ Nat’a,*’’ a leather used by way of
table-cloth, and forming a bag for victuals ; but it is never made of bull’s hide.

Tab of tkt Bull and the Ass .

the Heavens! an thou disclose not the cause I will no longer cohabit
with thee: I will leave thee at once.” And she sat down and
cried. Whereupon quoth the merchant, “ Woe betide thee ! what
means thy weeping ? Fear Allah and leave these words and query
me no more questions.” “ Needs must thou tell me the cause of
that laugh,” said she, and he replied, “Thou wottest that when I
prayed Allah to vouchsafe me understanding of the tongues of
beasts and birds, I made a vow never to disclose the secret to any
under pain of dying on the spot.” “No matter,” cried she, “tell
me what secret passed between the Bull and the Ass and die this
very hour an thou be so minded ; ” and she ceased not to impor¬
tune him till he was worn out and clean distraught. So at last he
said, “ Summon thy father and thy mother and our kith and kin
and sundry of our neighbours,” which she did; and he sent for the
Kazi 1 and his assessors, intending to make his will and reveal to
her his secret and die the death ; for he loved her with love exceed¬
ing because she was his cousin, the daughter of his father’s brother,
and the mother of his children, and he had lived with her a life of
an hundred and twenty years. Then, having assembled all the
family and the folk of his neighbourhood, he said to them, “ By me
there hangeth a strange story, and ’tis such that if I discover the
secret to any, I am a dead man.” Therefore quoth every one of
those present to the woman, “Allah upon thee, leave this sinful
obstinacy and recognise the right of this matter, lest haply thy
husband and the father of thy children die.” But she rejoined, “ I
will not turn from it till he tell me, even though he come by his
death.” So they ceased to urge her; and the trader rose from
amongst them and repaired to an outhouse to perform the Wuzu-
ablution, 2 and he purposed thereafter to return and to tell them his
secret and to die. Now, daughter Shahrazad, that merchant had
in his out* *houses some fifty hens under one cock, and whilst making
ready to farewell his folk he heard one of his many farm-dogs thus
address in his own tongue the Cock, who was flapping his wings
and crowing lustily and jumping from one hen’s back to another
and treading all in turn, saying “ O Chanticleer! how mean is thy
wit and how shameless is thy conduct! Be he disappointed who

1 The older “ Cadi/' a judge in religious matters. The Shuhud, or Assessors, art
officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi’s Court.

* Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself ceremonially befog

death.

Alf Laylah wa Laylak .

brought thee up P 1 Art thou not ashamed of thy doings on such
a day as this ? ” “ And what/’ asked the Rooster, “ hath occurred

this day ?,” when the Dog answered, “ Dost thou not know that
bur master is this day making ready for his death ? His wife is
resolved that he shall disclose the secret taught to him by Allah,
and the moment he so doeth he shall surely die. We dogs are all
a-mourning; but thou clappest thy wings and clarionest thy
loudest and treadest hen after hen. Is this an hour for pastime
and pleasuring ? Art thou not ashamed of thyself ?” 2 “Then by
Allah,” quoth the Cock, “ is our master a lack-wit and a man
scanty of sense : if he cannot manage matters with a single wife,
his life is not worth prolonging. Now I have some fifty Dame
Partlets ; and I please this and provoke that and starve one and
Stuff another; and through my good governance they are all well
under my control. This our master pretendeth to wit and wisdom,
and he hath but one wife, and yet knoweth not how to manage
her.” Asked the Dog, “ What then, O Cock, should the master
do to win clear of his strait?" “He should arise forthright,"
answered the Cock, “ and take some twigs from yon mulberry-tree
and give her a regular back-basting and rib-roasting till she cry:—
I repent, O my lord! I will never ask thee a question as long as
I live! Then let him beat her once more and soundly, and when
he shall have done this he shall sleep free from care and enjoy life.
But this master of ours owns neither sense nor judgment.” “Now,
daughter Shahrazad,” continued the Wazir, “ I will do to thee as
did that husband to that wife.” Said Shahrazad, “ And what did
^he do ? ” He replied, “ When the merchant heard the wise words
spoken by his Cock to his Dog, he arose in haste and sought his
wife's chamber, after cutting for her some mulberry-twigs and hiding
them there; and then he called to her, “ Come into the closet that
I may tell thee the secret while no one seeth me and then die.” She
entered with him and he locked the door and came down upon her
with so sound a beating of back and shoulders, ribs, arms and legs,
saying the while, “ Wilt thou ever be asking questions about what
concerneth thee not ?” that she was well nigh senseless. Presently
she cried out, “ I am of the repentant! By Allah, I will ask thee no
more questions, and indeed I repent sincerely and wholesomely.”

• This is Christian rather than Moslem: a favourite Maltese curse is “ Yahrak
Kiddlsak roan rabba-k \ ,T =r burn the Saint who brought thee up !

* A popular Egyptian phrase ; the dog and the cock speak like Fellah**

Tale of the Bull and the Ass .

Then she kissed his hand and feet and he led her out of the room
submissive as a wife should be. Her parents and all the company
rejoiced and sadness and mourning were changed into joy and glad¬
ness. Thus the merchant learnt family discipline from his Cock
and he and his wife lived together the happiest of lives until
death. And thou also, O my daughter! continued the Wazir,
4< Unless thou turn from this matter I will do by thee what that
trader did to his wife.” But she answered him with much decision,
“ I will never desist, O my father, nor shall this tale change my
purpose. Leave such talk and tattle. I will not listen to thy words
and, if thou deny me, I will marry myself to him despite the nose
of thee. And first I will go up to the King myself and alone and
I will say to him :—I prayed my father to wive me with thee,
but he refused, being resolved to disappoint his lord, grudging the
like of me to the like of thee.” Her father asked, “ Must this
needs be ?” and she answered, “ Even so.” Hereupon the Wazir
being weary of lamenting and contending, persuading and dis¬
suading her, all to no purpose, went up to King Shahryar and,
after blessing him and kissing the ground before him, told him all
about his dispute with his daughter from first to last and how he
designed to bring her to him that night. The King wondered
with exceeding wonder; for he had made an especial exception
of the Wazir's daughter, and said to him, “ O most faithful of
Counsellors, how is this ? Thou wottest that I have sworn by the
Raiser of the Heavens that after I have gone into her this night I
shall say to thee on the morrow’s morning:—Take her and slay
her! and, if thou slay her not, I will slay thee in her stead without
fail.” “Allah guide thee to glory and lengthen thy life, O King of
the age,” answered the Wazir, “ it is she that hath so determined :
all this have I told her and more; but she will not hearken to me
and she persisteth in passing this coming night with the King’s
Majesty.” So Shahryar rejoiced greatly and said, “ ’Tis well; go
get her ready and this night bring her to me.” The Wazir returned
to his daughter and reported to her the command saying, “ Allah
make not thy father desolate by thy loss ! ” But Shahrazad rejoiced
with exceeding joy and gat ready all she required and said to her
younger sister, Dunyazad, " Note well what directions I entrust
to thee ! When I have gone into the King I will send for thee
and when thou comest to me and seest that he hath had his
carnal will of me, do thou say to me O my sister, an thou be not
sleepy, relate to me some new story, delectable and delightsome,

A If Laylah ua Laylah.

the better to speed our waking hours; ” and I will tell thee a tale
which shall be our deliverance, if so Allah please, and which shall
turn the King from his blood-thirsty custom.” Dunyazad answered
“ With love and gladness.” So when it was night their father the
Wazir carried Shahrazad to the King who was gladdened at the
sight and asked, “ Hast thou brought me my need ? ” and he
answered, “ I have.” But when the Kifig took her to his bed and
fell to toying with her and wished to go in to her she wept; which
made him ask, “ What aileth thee ? ” She replied, “ O King of the
age, I have a younger sister and lief would I take leave of her
this night before I see the dawn.” So he sent at once for Dun¬
yazad and she came and kissed the ground between his hands,
when he permitted her to take her seat near the foot of the couch.
Then the King arose and did away with his bride’s maidenhead
and the three fell asleep. But when it was midnight Shahrazad
awoke and signalled to her sister Dunyazad who sat up and said,
“Allah upon thee, O my sister, recite to us some new story, delight¬
some and delectable, wherewith to while away the waking hours of
our latter night.” 1 “With joy and goodly gree,” answered Shah¬
razad, “ if this pious and auspicious King permit me.” “ Tell on,”
quoth the King who chanced to be sleepless and restless and
therefore was pleased with the prospect of hearing her story. So
Shahrazad rejoiced ; and thus, on the first night of the Thousand
Nights and a Night, she began with the

TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI.

It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a merchant of
the merchants who had much wealth, and business in various
cities. Now on a day he mounted horse and went forth to recover
monies in certain towns, and the heat sore oppressed him ; so he
sat beneath a tree and, putting his hand into his saddle-bags, took
thence some broken bread and dry dates and began to break his
fast. When he had ended eating the dates he threw away the
stones with force and lo! an Ifrit appeared, huge of stature and
brandishing a drawn sword, wherewith he approached the merchant
and said, “ Stand up that I may slay thee, even as thou slewest my

1 m. belwata the Iasi deep and dawn when they would rise to wash and pray.

tfafe of the Trader ant*the Jinnp^ 2 $

son ! ” Asked the merchant, “ How have I slain thy son ? ” and he
answered, 4< When thou atest dates and threwest away the stones
they struck my son full in the breast as he was walking by, so that
he died forthwith.” 1 Quoth the merchant, “ Verily from Allah we
proceeded and unto Allah are we returning. There is no Majesty,
and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! If
I slew thy son, I slew him by chance medley. I pray thee now
pardon me.” Rejoined the Jinni, “ There is no help but I must
slay thee.” Then he seized him and dragged him along and, cast¬
ing him to the earth, raised the sword to strike him ; whereupon
the merchant wept, and said, “ I commit, my case to Allah,” and
began repeating these couplets :—

Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing that of barie o And holdeth
Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure that of pain.

See’st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking strong o
None save the forest giant feels the suffering of the strain ?

How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green o Yet none but
those which bear the fruits for cast of stone complain.

See’st not how corpses rise and float on the surface of the tide o While pearls
o’ price lie hidden in the deepest of the main !

In Heaven are unnumbered the many of the stars a Yet ne’er a star but Sun
and Moon by eclipse is overta’en.

Well judgedst thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well a And countedst
not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever fain.

The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride a But bliss
and blessings of the night are ’genderers of bane !

When the merchant ceased repeating his verses the Jinni said to
him, “ Cut thy words short, by Allah ! needs must I slay thee.” But
the merchant spake him thus, “ Know, O thou I frit, that I have
debts due to me and much wealth and children and a wife and
many pledges in hand ; so permit me to go home and discharge to
every claimant his claim; and I will come back to thee a^ the head
of the new year. Allah be my testimony and surety that I will
return to thee; and then thou mayest do with me as thou wilt
and Allah is witness to what I say.” The Jinni took sure promise
of him and let him go; so he returned to his own city and trans¬
acted. his business and rendered to all men their dues and after

* Travellers tell of a peculiar knack of jerking the date-stone, which makes it strike

with great force: I never saw this ** Inwl ** practised, but it reminds me of the want*
splashing with one baad in the German baths.

A If Laylah wa Laylcih.

informing his wife and children of what had betided him* he
appointed a guardian and dwelt with them for a full year. Then
he arose, and made the Wuzu-ablution to purify himself before
death and took his shroud under his arm and bade farewell to his
people, his neighbours and all his kith and kin, and went forth
despite his own nose. 1 They then began weeping and wailing and
beating their breasts over him ; but he travelled until he arrived at
the same garden, and the day of his arrival was the head of the
New Year. As he sat weeping over what had befallen him,
behold, a Shaykh, 2 a very ancient man, drew near leading a
chained gazelle; and he saluted that merchant and wishing him
long life said, “ What is the cause of thy sitting in this place and
thou alone and this be a resort of evil spirits ? ” The merchant
related to him what had come to pass with the Ifrit, and the old
man, the owner of the gazelle, wondered and said, “ By Allah, O
brother, thy faith is none other than exceeding faith and thy story
right strange; were it graven with gravers on the eye-corners, it
were a warner to whoso would be warned/* Then seating himself
near the merchant he said, “ By Allah, O my brother, I will not
leave thee until I see what may come to pass with thee and this
Ifrit.” And presently as he sat and the two were at talk the
merchant began to feel fear and terror and exceeding grief and
sorrow beyond relief and ever-growing care and extreme despair.
And the owner of the gazelle was hard by his side ; when behold,
a second Shaykh approached them, and with him were two dogs
both of greyhound breed and both black. The second old man
after saluting them with the salam, also asked them of their
tidings and said “ What causeth you to sit in this place, a dwelling
of the Jdnn ?” 3 So they told him the tale from beginning to end,

1 i.e., sorely against his will.

2 Arab. “ Shaykh ”= an old man (primarily), an elder, a chief (of the tribe, guild,
etc.); and honourably addressed to any man. Comp, among the neo-Latins “ Sieur,”
** Signqre,” “ Senor,” “ Senhor,” etc. from Lat. “ Senior,” which gave our “ Sire ” and
•* Sir.” Like many in Arabic the word has a host of different meanings and most of them
will occur in the course of The Nights. Ibrahim (Abraham) was the first Shaykh or man
who became grey. Seeing his hairs whiten he cried, “O Allah what is this?” and the
answer came that it was a sign of dignified gravity. Hereupon he exclaimed, “ O
Lord increase this to me l” and so it happened till his locks waxed snowy white at the
age of one hundred and fifty. He was the first who parted his hair, trimmed his
mustachios, cleaned his teeth with the Misw^k (tooth-stick), pared his nails, shaved his
pecten, snuffed up water, used ablution after stool and wore a shirt (Tabari).

3 The word is mostly plural = Jinnis : it is sftao singular = a demon ; and Jan bin Jan
has been noticed.

The First Shayktis Story.

4nd their stay there had not lasted long before there came up a
third Shaykh > and with him a she-mule of bright bay coat; and he
saluted them and asked them why they were seated in that place.
So they told him the story from first to last:, and of no avail, O
my master, is a twice-told tale! There he sat down with them,
and lo! a dust-cloud advanced and a mighty sand-devil appeared
amidmost of the waste. Presently the cloud opened and behold,
within it was that Jinni hending in hand a drawn sword, while his
eyes were shooting fire-sparks of rage. He came up to them and,
haling away the merchant from among them, cried to him, “ Arise
that I may slay thee, as thou slewest my son, the life-stuff of my
liver." 1 The merchant wailed and wept, and the three old men
began sighing and crying and weeping and wailing with their com¬
panion. Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle)
came out from among them and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and
said, <( 0 Jinni, thou Crown of the Kings of the Jann! were I to
tell thee the story of me and this gazelle and thou shouldst
consider it wondrous wouldst thou give me a third part of this
merchant’s blood ?’’ Then quoth the Jinni “ Even so, O Shaykh!
if thou tell me this tale, and I hold it a marvellous, then will I
give thee a third of his blood.” Thereupon the old man began
to tell

THE FIRST SHA YKH 'S STOR Y.

Know O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal
uncle, my own flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a
young maid, and I lived with her well-nigh thirty years, yet was I
not blessed .with issue by her. So I took me a concubine, 2 who

1 With us moderns “ liver ” suggests nothing but malady : in Arabic and Persian as in
the classic literature of Europe it is the seat of passion, the heart being that of
affection. Of this more presently.

* Originally in Al-Islam the concubine (Surriyat, etc.) was a captive taken in war and
the Koran says nothing about buying slave-girls. But if the captives were true believer* *
the Moslem was ordered to marry not to keep them.' In modern days concubinage has
become an extensive subject. Practically the disadvantage is that the slave-girls,
knowing themselves to be the master’s property, consider him bound to sleep with
them ; which is by no means the mistress’s view. Some wives, however, when old and
childless, insist, after the fashion of Sarah, upon the husband taking a young concubine
and treat her like a daughter—which is rare. The Nights abound in tales of concubines,
but these are chiefly owned by the Caliphs and high officials who did much as they
pleased. The only redeeming point in the system is that it obviated the necessity <jl
prostitution which is, perhaps, the greatest evil known to modern society.

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

brought to me the boon of a male child fair as the full moon, with
eyes of lovely shine and eyebrows which formed one line, and
limbs of perfect design. Little by little he grew in stature and
waxed tall; and when he was a lad fifteen years old, it became
needful I should journey to certain cities and I travelled with
great store of goods. But the daughter of my uncle (this gazelle)
had learned gramarye and egromancy ^nd clerkly craft 1 from her
childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a calf, and my
handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over ta the
herdsman’s care. Now when I returned after a long time from
my journey and asked for my son and his mother, she answered
me, saying “ Thy slave-girl is dead, and thy son hath fled and I
know not whither he is sped.” So I remained for a whole year
with grieving heart, and streaming eyes until the time came for
the Great Festival of Allah. 2 Then sent I to my herdsman bidding
him choose for me a fat heifer; and he brought me one which was
the damsel, my handmaid, whom this gazelle had ensorcelled. I
tucked up my sleeves and skirt and, taking a knife, proceeded to
cut her throat, but she lowed aloud and wept bitter tears. Thereat
I marvelled and pity seized me and I held my hand, saying to the
herd, “ Bring me other than this.” Then cried my cousin, “ Slay
her, for I have not a fatter nor a fairer!” Once more I went
forward to sacrifice her, but she again lowed aloud, upon which in
ruth I refrained and commanded the herdsmen to slay her and flay*
her. He killed her and skinned her but found in her neither fat
nor flesh, only hide and bone; and I repented when penitence
availed me naught. I gave her to the herdsman and said to him,
“ Fetch me a fat calf; ” so he brought my son ensorcelled. When
the calf saw me, he brake his tether and ran to me, and fawned
upon me and wailed and shed tears ; so that I took pity on him
and said to the herdsman, “ Bring me a heifer and let this calf go! ”
Thereupon my cousin (this gazelle) called aloud at me, saying,
“ Needs mast thou kill this calf; this is a holy day and a blessed,

1 Arab. “ Al-Kahdnah” =: the craft of a “ Kilim” (Heb. Cohen) a diviner, sooth¬
sayer, etc.

•Arab. “Id al-kabir** = The Great Festival; the Turkish Bayrdm and Indian
Bakar-eed (Kine-fete), the pilgrimage-time, also termed “Festival of the Kurbin ”
(sacrifice) because victims are slain; Al-Zuha (of Undum or forenoon), Al-Azhd (of
serene night) and Al-Nahr (of throat-cutting). For full details I must refer readers
my “Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah” (3 tols. 8vo.
London, Longmans, 1855). I shall have often to refer to it.

7 he First Shaykh's Story.

whereon naught is slain save what be perfect-pure ; and we have
not amongst our calves any fatter or fairer than this! " Quoth I,
“ Look thou upon the condition of the heifer which I slaughtered
at thy bidding and how we turn from her in disappointment and
she profited us on no wise; and I repent with an exceeding repent¬
ance of having killed her: so this time I will not obey thy bidding
for the sacrifice of this calf.” Quoth she, “ By Allah the Most
Great, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! there is no help
for it ; thou must kill him on this holy day, and if thou kill him
not. to me thou art no man and I to thee am no wife.” Now when
I heard those hard words, not knowing her object I went up to the

calf, knife in hand-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day

and ceased to say her permitted say. 1 Then quoth her sister to
her, “ How fair is thy tale, and how grateful, and how' sweet and
how tasteful ! ” And Shahrazad answered her, “ What is this to
that I could tell thee on the coming night, were I to live and the
King would spare me ? ” Then said the King in himself, “ By
Allah, I will not slay her, until I shall have heard the rest of her
tale.” So they slept the rest of that night in mutual embrace till
day fully brake. Then the King went forth to his audience-hall 2
and the Wazir went up with his daughter’s shroud under his arm.
The King issued his orders, and promoted this and deposed that,
until th^end of the day ; and he told the Wazir no whit of what
had happened. But the Minister wondered thereat with exceeding
wonder; and when the Court broke up King Shahryar entered his
palace.

jEofo foljen it foas tfje gbccontf Jifg&t,

said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, “O my sister, finish for us
that story of the Merchant and the Jinni;” and she answered,
“ With joy and goodly gree, if the King permit me.” Then quoth

1 Arab. “ Kalam al-mubah,” i.e., that allowed or permitted to her by the King, her
husband.

2 Moslem Kings are expected, like the old Guebre Monarchs, to hold “ Darbar ” (i.c.,
give public audience) at least twice a day, morning and evening. Neglect of this practice
caused the ruin of the Caliphate and of the Persian and Moghul Empires : the great
lords were left uncontrolled and the lieges revolted to obtain justice. The Guebre Kings
had two levee places, the Rozistan (day station) and the Shabistan (night-station—istan
or stdn being a nominal form of istadan, to stand, as Hindo-stdn). Moreover one day in
the week the sovereign acted as u Mufti” or Supreme Judge.

JO Alf Laylah wa Layla //.

the King, “Tell thy tale;” and Shahrazad began in these words!
It hath reached me, O auspicious King and Heaven-directed Ruler!
that when the merchant purposed the sacrifice of the calf but saw it
weeping, his heart relented and he said to the herdsman , a Keep the
calf among my cattle.” All this the old Shaykh told the Jinni who
marvelled much at these strange words. Then the owner of the
gazelle continued :—O Lord of the Kings of the Jann, this much
took place and my uncle’s daughter, ihis gazelle, looked on and
saw it, and said, “ Butcher me this calf, for surely it is a fat one ; ”
but I bade the herdsman take it away and he took it and turned
his face homewards. On the next day as I was sitting in my own
house, To! the herdsman came and, standing before me said, “ O
my master., I will tell thee a thing which shall gladden thy soul, and
shall gain me the gift of good tidings.” 1 I answered, “ Even so.”
Then said he, ° O merchant, I have a daughter, and she learned
magic in her childhood from an old woman who lived with us.
Yesterday when thou gavest me the calf, I went into the house to
her, and she looked upon it and veiled her face ; then she wept and
laughed alternately and at last she said :—O my father, hath mine
honour become so cheap to thee that thou bringest in to me strange
men ? I asked her:—Where be these strange men and why wast
thou laughing, and crying ?; and she answered, Of a truth this
calf which is with thee is the son of our master, the merchant; but
he is ensorcelled by his stepdame who bewitched both him and his
mother: such is the cause of my laughing ; now the reason of his
weeping is his mother, for that his father slew her unawares. Then
I marvelled at this with exceeding marvel and hardly made sure
that day had dawned before I came to tell thee.” When I heard,
O Jinni, my herdsman’s words, I went out with him, and I was
drunken without wine, from the excess of joy and gladness which
came upon me, until I reached his house. There his daughter wel¬
comed me and kissed my hand, and forthwith the calf came ,and
fawned upon me as before. Quoth I to the herdsman’s daughter,
“ Is this true that thou sayest of this calf?” Quoth she, “ Yea, O
my master, he is thy son, the very core of thy heart.” I rejoiced
and said to her, “ O maiden, if thou wilt release him thine shall
be whatever cattle and property of mine are under thy father’s

1 Arab. “ Al-Basharah,” the gift everywhere claimed in the East and in Boccaccio’s
Italy by one who brings good news. Those who do the reverse expose themselves to a
sound strappado..

The First Shaykh's Story .

hand.” She smiled and answered, u O my master, I have no greed
for the goods nor will I take them save on two conditions; the
first that thou marry me to thy son and the second that I
may bewitch her who bewitched him and imprison her, other¬
wise I cannot be safe from her malice and malpractices/*
Now when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words of the herdsman's
daughter, I replied, “ Beside what thou askest all the cattle
and the household stuff in thy father’s charge are thine and, as
for the daughter of my uncle, her blood is lawful to thee.” When
I had spoken* she took a cup and filled it with water : then she
recited a spell over it and sprinkled it upon the calf, saying, “ If
Almighty Allah created thee a calf, remain so shaped, and change
not; but if thou be enchanted, return to thy whilom form, by com¬
mand of Allah Most Highest ! 19 and lo ! he trembled and became
a man. Then I fell on his neck and said, “ Allah upon thee, tell
me all that the daughter of my uncle did by thee and by thy
mother.” And when he told me what had come to pass between
them I said, “ O my son, Allah favoured thee with one to restore
thee, and thy right hath returned to thee.” Then, O Jinni, I mar¬
ried the herdsman’s daughter to him, and she transformed my wife
into this gazelle, saying:—Her shape is a comely and by no means
loathsome. After this she abode with us night and day, day and
night, till the Almighty took her to Himself. When she deceased,
my son fared forth to the cities of Hind, even to the city o»f this
man who hath done to thee what hath been done ; l and I also took
this gazelle (my cousin) and wandered with her from town to town
seeking tidings of my son, till Destiny drove me to this place
where I saw the merchant sitting in tears. Such is my tale !
Quoth the Jinni, “ This story is indeed strange, and therefore I grant
thee the third part of his blood.” Thereupon the second old man,
who owned the two greyhounds, came up and said, “ O Jinni, if I
recount to thee what befel me from my brothers, these two hounds,
and thou see that it is a tale even more wondrous and marvellous
than what thou hast heard, wilt thou grant to me also the third of
this man’s blood?” Replied the Jinni, “ Thou hast my word for
it, if thine adventures be more marvellous and wondrous.” There¬
upon he thus began

1 A euphemistic formula, to avoid mentioning unpleasant matters. I shall note
these for the benefit of students who would honestly prepare for the public service in
Moslem lands.

3 P

Alf Laylah wa Lay la ft.

THE SECOND SHAYKH'S STORY.

Know, O lord of the Kings of the Jann! that these two dogs
are my brothers and I am the third. Now when our father died
and left us a capital of three thousand gold pieces, 1 2 I opened a
shop with my share, and bought and sold therein, and in like guise
did my two brothers, each setting up a shop. But I had been in
business no long while before the elder sold his stock for a thousand
dinars, and after buying outfit and merchandise, went his ways to
foreign parts. He was absent one whole year with the caravan;
but one day as I sat in my shop, behold, a beggar stood before me
asking alms, and I said to him, “ Allah open thee another door ! ” *
Whereupon he answered, weeping the while, “ Am I so changed
that thou knowest me not ? ” Then I looked at him narrowly,
and lo! it was my brother, so I rose to him and welcomed him ;
then I seated him in my shop and put questions concerning his
case. “ Ask me not/’ answered he ; “ my wealth is awaste and
my state hath waxed un* stated ! ” So I took him to the Hammam-
bath 3 and clad him in a suit of my own and gave him lodging in
my house. Moreover, after looking over the accounts of my stock-
in-trade and the profits of my business, I found that industry had
gained me one thousand dinars, while my principal, the head of
my wealth, amounted to two thousand. So I shared the whole
with him, saying, “ Assume that thou hast made no journey abroad
but hast remained at home; and be not cast down by thine ill-
luck.” He took the share in great glee and opened for himself a

1 Arab. “ Dinar,” from the Latin denarius (a silver coin worth ten ounces of brass)
through the Greek Srjvapiov: it is a Koranic word (chapt. iii.) though its Arab equiva¬
lent is “Miskal.” It also occurs in the Katha before quoted, clearly showing the
derivation. In the “Book of Kalilah and Dimnah” it is represented by the Daric or
Persian Dinar, CapaKog, from Daraima King (whence Darius). The Dinar, sequin or
ducat, contained at different times from io and 12 (Abu Hanifah’s day) to 20 and even
25 dirhams or drachmas ; and, as a weight, represented a drachma and a half. Its value
greatly varied, but we may assume it here at nineshillirgs or ten francs to half a sovereign.
For an elaborate article on the Dinar see Yule’s “ Cathay and the Way Thither” (ii.,
PP* 439 * 443 )-

2 The formula used in refusing alms to an “ asker ” or in rejecting an insufficient offer :
44 Allah will open to thee ! ” (some door of gain—not mine) ! Another favourite ejacu¬
lation is “Allah Karim” (which Turks pronounce “Kyereem”) == Allah is All-beneficenl •
meaning Ask Him, not me.

* The public bath. London knows the word through ‘* The Hummums.”

The Second Shayklis Story.

shop; and matters went on quietly for a few nights and days. But
presently my second brother (yon other dog), also setting his heart
upon travel, sold off what goods and stock-in-trade he had, and
albeit we tried to stay him he would not be stayed : he laid in an
outfit for the journey, and fared forth with certain wayfarers. After
an absence of a whole year he came back to me, even as my elder
brother had come back; and when I said to him, “ O my brother,
did I not dissuade thee from travel ? ” he shed tears and cried, “ O
my brother, this be destiny’s decree : here I am a mere beggar,
penniless 1 and without a shirt to my back.” So I led him to the
bath, O Jinni, and clothing him in new clothes of my own wear, I
went with him to my shop and served him with meat and drink.
Furthermore I said to him, “ O my brother, I am wont to cast up
my shop-accounts at the head of every year, and whatso I shall
find of surplusage is between me and thee.” 2 So I proceeded, O
Ifrit, to strike a balance and, finding two thousand dinars of profit,
I returned praises to the Creator (be He extolled and exalted!) and
made over one half to my brother, keeping the other to myself.
Thereupon he busied himself with opening a shop and on this wise
we abode many days. After a time my brothers began pressing
me to travel with them ; but I refused, saying, “ What gained ye
by your voyage that I should gain thereby ? ” As I would not
give ear to them we went back each to his own shop where we
bought and sold as before. They kept urging me to travel for a
whole twelvemonth, but I refused to do so till full six years were
past and gone when I consented with these words, “O my brothers,
here am I, your companion of travel : now let me see what monies
you have by you.” I found, however, that they had not a doit,
having squandered their substance in high diet and drinking and
carnal delights. Yet I spoke not a word of reproach ; so far
from it I looked over my shop accounts once more, and sold what
goods and stock-in trade were mine ; and, finding myself the
owner of six thousand ducats, I gladly proceeded to divide that

1 Arab. “Dirham” (Plur. dirdhim, also used in the sense of money, “siller”), the
Gr. Zpa'xjxrj and the drachuma of Plautus (Trin. 2, 4, 23). The word occurs in the
Panchatantra also showing the derivation ; and in the Syriac Kalilah wa Dimnah it
is “ Zuz.” This silver piece was = 6 obols (9fd.) and as a weight = 66j grains. The
Dirham of The Nights was worth six “ Ddnik,” each of these being a fraction over %
penny. The modern Greek Drachma is one franc.

2 In Arabic the speaker always puts himself first, even if he address the King, without
intending incivility.

VOL. I.

A If Laylah w 'a Laylah .

sum into halves, saying to my brothers, “ These three thousand
gold pieces are for me and for you to trade withal/’ adding, “ Let
us bury the other moiety underground that it may be of service in
case any harm befal us, in which case each shall take a thousand
wherewith to open shops.” Both replied, “ Right is thy recking
and I gave to each one his thousand gold pieces, keeping the same
sum for myself, to wit, a thousand dinars. We then got ready
suitable goods and hired a ship and, having embarked our mer¬
chandise, proceeded on our voyage,day following day, a full month,
after which we arrived at a city, where we sold our venture ; and
for every piece of gold we gained ten. And as we turned again to
our voyage we found on the shore of the sea a maiden clad in
worn and ragged gear, and she kissed my hand and said, “ O
master, is there kindness in thee and charity ? I can make thee a
fitting return for them.” I answered, “Even so; truly in me are
benevolence and good works, even though thou render me no
return.” Then she said, “Take me to wife, O my master, and
carry me to thy city, for I have given myself to thee; so do me a
kindness and I am of those who be meet for good works and
charity: I will make thee a fitting return for these and be thou
not shamed by my condition.” When I heard her words, my
heart yearned towards her, in such sort as willed it Allah (be He
extolled and exalted !); and took her and clothed her and made
ready for her a fair resting-place in the vessel, and honourably
entreated her. So we voyaged on, and my heart became attached
to her with exceeding attachment, and I was separated from her
neither night nor day, and I paid more regard to her than to my
brothers. Then they were estranged from me, and waxed jealous
of my wealth and the quantity of merchandise I had, and their
eyes were opened covetously upon all my property. So they took
counsel to murder me and seize my wealth, saying, “ Let us slay
our brother and all his monies will be ours ;” and Satan made this
deed seem fair in their sight; so when they found me in privacy
(and I sleeping by my wife’s side) they took us both up and cast
us into the sea. My wife awoke startled from her sleep and, forth¬
right becoming an Ifritah, 1 she bore me up and carried me to an
island and disappeared for a short time ; but she returned in the
morning and, said “ Here am I, thy faithful slave, who hath made
thee due recompense; for I bore thee up in the waters and saved

1 A she-Ifrit, not necessarily an evil spirit.

The Second Shaykh's Story.

thee from death by command of the Almighty. Know that I am
a Jinniyah, and as I saw thee my heart loved thee by will of the
Lord, for I am a believer in Allah and in His Apostle (whom
Heaven bless and preserve!). Thereupon I came to thee con¬
ditioned as thou sawest me and thou didst marry me, and see now
I have saved thee from sinking. But I am angered against thy
brothers and assuredly I must slay them.” When I heard her
story I was surprised and, thanking her for all she had done, I
said, “ But as to slaying my brothers this must not be.” Then I
told her the tale of what had come to pass with them from the
beginning of our lives to the end, and on hearing it quoth she,
fi This night will I fly as a bird over them and will sink their ship
and slay them.” Quoth I, “ Allah upon thee, do not thus, for the
proverb saith, O thou who doest good to him that doth evil, leave
the evil doer to his evil deeds. Moreover they are still my
brothers.” But she rejoined, “ By Allah, there is no help for it but
I slay them.” I humbled myself before her for their pardon,
whereupon she bore me up and flew away with me till at last she
set me down on the terrace-roof of my own house. I opened the
doors and took up what I had hidden in the ground ; and after I
had saluted the folk I opened my shop and bought me merchan¬
dise. Now when night came on I went home, and there I saw
these two hounds tied up; and, when they sighted me, they arose
and whined and fawned upon me; but ere I knew what happened
my wife said, u These two dogs be thy brothers ! ” I answered,
“ And who hath done this thing by them ? ” and she rejoined, “ I
sent a message to my sister and she entreated them on this wise,
nor shall these two be released from their present shape till ten
years shall have passed.” And now I have arrived at this place
on my way to my wife’s sister that she may deliver them from
this condition, after their having endured it for half a score of years.
As I was wending onwards I saw this young man, who acquainted
me with what had befallen him, and I determined not to fare
hence until I should see what might occur between thee and him.
Such is my tale! Then said the Jinni, Surely this is a strange
story and therefor I give thee the third portion of his blood and his
crime.” Thereupon quoth the third Shaykh, the master of the
mare-mule, to the Jinni, “ I can tell thee a tale more wondrous
than these two, so thou grant me the remainder of his blood and
of his offence,” and the Jinni answered, “ So be it! ” Then the old
man began

3«

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

THE THIRD SHA YKHS STORY,

KNOW, O Sultan and head of the Jann, that this mule was my
wife. Now it so happened that I went forth and was absent one
whole year ; and when I returned from my journey I came to her
by night, and saw a black slave lying with her on the carpet-bed,
and they were talking, and dallying, and laughing, and kissing and
playing the close-buttock game. When she saw me, she rose and
came hurriedly at me with a gugglet 1 of water; and, muttering spells
over it, she besprinkled me and said, “Come forth from this thy
shape into the shape of a dog ; ” and I became on the instant a dog.
She drove me out of the house, and I ran through the doorway nor
ceased running until I came to a butcher’s stall, where I stopped and
began to eat what bones were there. When the stall-owner saw
me, he took me and led me into his house, but as soon as his daughter
had sight of me she veiled her face from me, crying out, “ Dost thou
bring men to me and dost thou come in with them to me ?” Her
father asked, “Where is the man ? ” ; and she answered, “This dog
is a man whom his wife hath ensorcelled and I am able to release
him.” When her father heard her words, he said, “Allah upon
thee, O my daughter, release him.” So she took a gugglet of water
and, after uttering words over it, sprinkled upon me a few drops,
saying, “ Come forth from that form into thy former form.” And I
returned to my natural shape. Then I kissed her hand and said,
“ I wish thou wouldest transform my wife even as she transformed
me.” Thereupon she gave me some water, saying, “As soon as
thou see her asleep, sprinkle this liquid upon her and speak what
words thou heardest me utter, so shall she become whatsoever thou
desirest.” I went to my wife and found her fast asleep ; and, while
sprinkling the water upon her, I said, “ Come forth from that form
into the form of a mare-mule.” So she became on the instant
a she-mule, and she it is whom thou seest with thine eyes, O Sultan

1 Arab. “Kullah” (in Egypt pron. “gulleh”), the wide-moulhed jug, called in the
Hijaz“baradiyah;” “daurak” being the narrow. They are used either for water or sherbet
and, being made of porous clay, * ‘ sweat,” and keep the contents cool; hence all old Anglo-
Egyptians drink from them, not from bottles. Sometimes they are perfumed with smoke
of incense, mastich or Kafal (Amyris Kafal). For their graceful shapes See Lane’s
“Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians” (chapt. v). I quote,
here and elsewhere, from the fifth edition, London, Murray, i86o»

The Third Shayktis Story.

and head of the Kings of the Jann ! Then the Jinni turned towards
her and said, “ Is this sooth ? ” And she nodded her head and
replied by signs, “ Indeed, ’tis the truth: for such is my tale and
this is what hath befallen me.” Now when the old man had ceased
speaking the Jinni shook with pleasure and gave him the third

of the merchant’s blood.-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of

day and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad.
“ O, my sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful; how
sweet and how grateful!” She replied, “And what is this com¬
pared with that I could tell thee, the night to come, if I live and
the King spare me ? >n Then thought the King, “ By Allah, I will
not slay her until I hear the rest of her tale, for truly it is wondrous.”'
So they rested that night in mutual embrace until the dawn. After
this the King went forth to his Hall of Estate, and the Wazir and
the troops came in and the court was crowded, and the King
gave orders and. judged and appointed and deposed, bidding and
forbidding during the rest of the day. Then the Divan broke up,
and King Shahryar entered his palace.

jiofo fofjttx it foas ft iStg&t,

And the King had had his will of the Wazir’s daughter, Dunyazad }
her sister, said to her, “ Finish for us that tale of thine ; ” and she
replied, “With joy and goodly gree! It hath reached me, O
auspicious King, that when the third old man told a tale to the
Jinni more wondrous than the two preceding, the Jinni marvelled
with exceeding marvel; and, shaking with delight, cried, “ Lo!
I have given thee the remainder of the merchant’s punishment
and for thy sake have I released him.” Thereupon the merchant
embraced the old men and thanked them, and these Shaykhs
wished him joy on being saved and fared forth each one for his
own city. Yet this tale is not more wondrous than the fisherman’s
story” Asked the King, “ What is the fisherman’s story ?” And
she answered by relating the tale of

1 “ And what is ? u etc. A popular way of expressing great difference. So in India ■
“Where is Rajah Bhoj (the great King) and where is Gang£ the oilman?”

3 §

A If Laylah wa Laylck .

THE FISHERMAN AND THE jrNNI.

IT hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was a Fisher¬
man well stricken in years who had a wife and three children, and
withal was of poor condition. Now it was his custom to cast his
net every day four times, and no more. On a day he went forth
about noontide to the sea shore, where he laid down bis basket;
and, tucking up his shirt and plunging into the water, made a cast
with his net and waited till it settled to the bottom. Then he
gathered the cords together and haled away at it, but found it
weighty; and however much he drew it landwards, he could not
pull it up; so he carried the ends ashore and drove a stake into
the ground and made the net fast to it Then he stripped and
dived into the water all about the net, and left not off working
hard until he had brought it up. He rejoiced thereat and, donning
his clothes, went to the net, when he found in it a dead jackass
which had torn the meshes. Now when he saw it, he exclaimed in
his grief, “ There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah
the Glorious, the Great ! 99 Then quoth he, “ This is a strange
manner of daily breadand he began reciting in extempore verse:—

0 toiler through the glooms of night in peril and in pain © Thy toiling stint for
daily bread comes not by might and main !

Seest thou not the fisher seek afloat upon the sea © His bread, while glimmer
stars of night as set in tangled skein.

Anon he plungeth in despite the buffet of the waves * The while to sight the
bellying net his eager glances strain;

Till joying at the night’s success, a fish he bringeth home o Whose gullet by the
hook of Fate was caught and cut in twain.

When buys that fish of him a man who spent the hours of night © Reckless
of cold and wet and gloom in ease and comfort fain,

Laud to the Lord who gives to this, to that denies his wishes © And dooms one
toil and catch the prey and other eat the fishes . 1

Then quoth he, “ Up and to it; I am sure of His beneficence,
Inshallah ! 99 So he continued :—

When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume o The noble soul’s long-suffering:
*tis thy best:

Complain not to the creature; this be ’plaint o From one most Ruthful to the
ruthlessest

1 Here) as in other places, I have not preserved the monorhyme, bat have ended like the
English sonnet with a couplet; as a rule the last two lines contain a “ Husn makta* M or

Tali of thi Fisherman and the Jinnu

The Fisherman, when he had looked at the dead ass, got It free of
the toils and wrung out and spread his net; then he plunged into
the sea, saying, “In Allah’s name!” and made a cast and pulled
at it, but it grew heavy and settled down more firmly than the
first time. Now he thought that there were fish in it, and he made
it fast, and doffing his clothes went into the water, and dived and
haled until he drew it up upon dry land. Then found he in it a
large earthen pitcher which was full of sand and mud; and seeing
this he was greatly troubled and began repeating these verses 1 :—

Forbear, O troubles of the world, ©And pardon an ye nill forbear:

I went to seek my daily bread o I find that breadless I must fare:

For neither handcraft brings me aught © Nor Fate allots to me a share :

How many fools the Pleiads reach o While darkness whelms the wise and
ware.

So he prayed pardon of Allah and, throwing away the jar, wrung
his net and cleansed it and returned to the sea the third time to
cast his net and waited till it had sunk. Then he pulled at it and
(bund therein potsherds and broken glass; whereupon he began to
speak these verses:—

He is to thee that daily bread thou canst nor loose nor bind © Nor pen nor
writ avail thee aught thy daily bread to find:

For joy and daily bread are what Fate deigneth to allow ; © This soil is sad and
sterile ground, while that makes glad the hind.

The shafts of Time and Life bear down full many a man of worth o While
bearing up to high degree wights of ignoble mind.

So come thou, Death ! for verily life is not worth a straw o When low the
falcon falls withal the mallard wings the wind :

No wonder ’tis thou seest how the great of soul'and mind ©Are poor, and
many a losel carle to height of luck designed.

This bird shall overfly the world from east to furthest west o And that shall
win her every wish though ne’er she leave the nest.

Then raising his eyes heavenwards he said, u O my God !* verily

1 Lit. “he began to say (or speak) poetry,** such improvising being still common
amongst the Badawin as I shall afterwards note. And although Mohammed severely
censured profane poets, who “rove as bereft of their senses through every valley“
and were directly inspired by devils (Koran xxvi.), it is not a little curious to note that
he himself spoke in “Rajaz” (which see) and that the four first Caliphs all “ spoke
poetry.** In early ages the verse would not be written, if written at all, till after
the maker’s death. I translate “ inshid “ by *• versifying “or 14 repeating “or 44 reciting,**
leaving it doubtful if the composition be or be not original. In places, however, it
b clearly improvised and then as a rule it is model doggrel.

* Arab. “ Allahumma “ YA Allah (O Allah) bat with emphasis; the Path being a

A If Laylah zva Laylalt .

Thou wottest that I cast not my net each day save four times ; 1
the third is done and as yet Thou hast vouchsafed me nothing.
So this time, O my God, deign give me my daily bread. Then,
having called on Allah’s name , 2 he again threw his net and waited
its sinking and settling ; whereupon he haled at it but could not
draw it in for that it was entangled at the bottom. He cried out
in his vexation “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save
in Allah! ” and he began reciting :-* *•

Fie on this wretched world, an so it be o I must be whelmed by grief and
misery :

Tho’ gladsome be man’s lot when dawns the mom o He drains the cup of
woe ere eve he see :

Yet was I one of whom the world when asked • “Whose lot is happiest?**
oft would say “ ’Tis he ! w

Thereupon he stripped and, diving down to the net, busied himself
with it till it came to land. Then he opened the meshes and
found therein a cucumber-shaped jar of yellow copper , 8 evidently
full of something, whose mouth was made fast with a leaden cap,
stamped with the seal-ring of our Lord Sulayman son of David
(Allah accept the twain !). Seeing this the Fisherman rejoiced and
said, “ If I sell it in the brass-bazar ’tis worth ten golden dinars."
He shook it and finding it heavy continued, “Would to Heaven I
knew what is herein. But I must and will open it and look to its
contents and store it in my bag and sell it in. the brass-market"
And taking out a knife he worked at the lead till he had loosened
it from the jar; then he laid the cup on the ground and shook
the vase to pour out whatever might be inside. He found nothing
in it; whereat he marvelled with an exceeding marvel. But
presently there came forth from the jar a smoke which spired
heavenwards into aether (whereat he again marvelled with mighty
marvel), and which trailed along earth's surface till presently,
having reached its full height, the thick vapour condensed, and

substitute for the voc. part. Some connect it with the Heb. ** Alihim,” but that fancy
is not Arab. In Al-Hariri and the rhetoricians it sometimes means to be surQ; of
course ; unless indeed ; unless possibly = Greek vtj Sea-

1 Probably in consequence of a vow. These superstitious practices, which have many
a parallel amongst ourselves, are not confined to the lower orders in the East.

* i.e. t saying “ t Bismillah !” the pious ejaculation which should precede every act. In
Boccaccio (viii., $) it is “remembering Iddio e’ Santi.”

* Arab. Nahds asfar ~ brass, opposed to " Nali^ls*' and “ N alias ah mar,” — copper.

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni.

became an I frit, huge of bulk, whose crest touched the clouds
while his feet were on the ground. His head was as a dome, his
hands like pitchforks, his legs long as masts and his mouth big as
a cave ; his teeth were like large stones, his nostrils ewers, his eyes
two lamps and his look was fierce, and lowering. Now when the
fisherman saw the Ifrit his side muscles quivered, his teeth
chattered, his spittle dried up and he became blind about what
to do. Upon this the Ifrit looked at him and cried, “ There is
no god but the God, and Sulayman is the prophet of God; M
presently adding, “O Apostle of Allah, slay me not; never again
will I gainsay thee in word nor sin against thee in deed .” 1 Quoth
the Fisherman, “ O Marid , 2 diddest thou say, Sulayman the Apostle
of Allah; and Sulayman is dead some thousand and eight
hundred years ago , 3 and we are now in the last days of the world!
What is thy story, and what is thy account of thyself, and what is
the cause of thy entering into this cucurbit ? ” Now when the Evil
Spirit heard the words of the Fisherman, quoth he; “ There is no
god but the God : be of good cheer, O Fisherman! ” Quoth the
Fisherman, “ Why biddest thou me to be of good cheer ? ” and he
replied, “ Because of thy having to die an ill death in this very
hour.” Said the Fisherman, “ Thou deservest for thy good tidings
the withdrawal of Heaven’s protection, O thou distant one ! 4
Wherefore shouldest thou kill me and what thing have I done to
deserve death, I who freed thee from the jar, and saved thee from
the depths of the sea, and brought thee up on the dry land ? ”
Replied the Ifrit, “Ask of me onlywhat mode of death thou wilt
die, and by what manner of slaughter shall I slay thee.” Rejoined
the Fisherman, “ What is my crime and wherefore such retribu-

1 This alludes to the legend of Sakhr al-Jinni, a famous fiend cast by Solomon David¬
son into Laloe Tiberias whose storms make it a suitable place. Hence the “ Bottle imp,”
a world-wide fiction of folk-lore : we shall find it in the " Book of Sindibad,” and
I need hardly remind the reader of Le Sage’s “ Diable Boiteux,” borrowed from “El
Diablo Cojuelo,” the Spanish novel by Luiz Velez de Guevara.

2 Marid (lit. contumacious “ from the Heb. root Marad to rebel, whence “ Nimrod ”
in late Semitic) is one of the tribes of the Jinn, generally but not always hostile to man.
His female is Mdridah.”

3 As Solomon began to reign (’according to vulgar chronometry) in B.C. 1015. the
text would place the tale circ. A.D. 785,= A.H. 169. But we can lay no stress on
this date which may be merely fanciful. Professor Tawney very justly compares this
Moslem Solomon with the Hindu King, Vikramaditya, who ruled over the seven divisions
of the world and who had as many devils to serve him as he wanted.

4 Arab. “ Ya Ba’id a euphemism here adopted to prevent using grossly abusive
language. Others will occur in the course of these pages.

A If Laylak wa Laylah .

tion ? ” Quoth the Ifrit, “ Hear my story, O Fisherman ! ” and he
answered, M Say on, and be brief in thy saying, for of very sooth
my life-breath is in my nostrils.”* Thereupon quoth the Jinni,
“ Know, that I am one among the heretical Jann and I sinned
against Sulayman, David-son (on the twain be peace!) I together
with the famous Sakhr al-Jinni ; 1 2 whereupon the Prophet sent his
minister, Asaf son of Barkhiyi, to seize me; and this Wazir
brought me against my will and led me in bonds to him (I being
downcast despite my nose) and he placed me standing before him
like a suppliant. When Sulayman saw me, he took refuge with
Allah and bade me embrace the True Faith and obey his behests;
but I refused, so sending for this cucurbit 3 * 5 he shut me up
therein, and stopped it over with lead whereon he impressed the
Most High Name, and gave his orders to the Jann who carried me
off, and cast me into the midmost of the ocean. There I abode an
hundred years, during which I said in my heart, “ Whoso shall
release me, him will I enrich for ever and ever.” But the full cen¬
tury went by and, when no one set me free, I entered upon the
second five score saying, “ Whoso shall release me, for him I will
open the hoards of the earth.” Still no one set me free and thus
four hundred years passed away. Then quoth I, u Whoso shall
release me, for him will I fulfil three wishes.” Yet no one set me
free. Thereupon I waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and said
to myself, “ Whoso shall release me from this time forth, him will
I slay and I will give him choice of what death he will die; and
now, as thou hast released me, I give thee full choice of dea ths.”
The Fisherman, .hearing the words of the Ifrit, said, “ O A llah l

1 i. e. about to fly out; “ My heart is in my mouth.” The Fisherman speaks with the
dry humour of a Fellah.

* “ Sulayman,” when going out to ease himself, entrusted his seal-ring upon which his
kingdom depended to a concubine “ Aminah ” (the “Faithful”), when Sakhr, trans¬
formed to the King’s likeness, came in and took it. The prophet was reduced to beggary,
but after forty days the demon fled throwing into the sea the ring which was swallowed
by a fish and eventually returned to Sulayman. This Talmudic fable is hinted at in the

Koran (chapt. xxxviii.), and commentators' have extensively embroidered it. Asaf, son
oi Barkhiya, was Wazir to Sulayman and is supposed to be the “ one with whom was the
knowledge of the Scriptures” (Koran, chapt. xxxvii.), i e. who knew the Ineffable Name
of Allah. See the manifest descendant of the Talmudic-Koranic fiction in the “ Tale of

the Emperor Jovinian” (No. lix.) of the Gesta Romanorum, the most popular book of
mediaeval Europe composed in England (of Germany) about the end of the thirteenth
century.

5 Arab. “ Kumkum,” a gourd-shaped, bottle, of metal, china or glass, still used for
sprinkling scents. Lane gives an illustration (chapt. viii., Mod. Egypt.).

Fate of the Fisherman and the Jinni.

the wonder of it that I have not come to free thee save in these
days ! ” adding, “ Spare my life, so Allah spare thine ; and slay me
not, lest Allah set one to slay thee” Replied the Contumacious
One, “ There is no help for it; die thou must; so ask me by way of
boon what manner of death thou wilt die.” Albeit thus certified
the Fisherman again addressed the Ifrit saying, “ Forgive me this
my death as a generous reward for having freed thee ; ” and the
Ifrit, “ Surely I would not slay thee save on account of that same
release.” “ O Chief of the Ifrits,” said the Fisherman, “ I do thee
good and thou requitest me with evil! in very sooth the old saw
lieth not when it saith :—

We wrought them weal, they met ou'r weal with ill; © Such, by my life ! is every
bad man’s labour:

To him who benefits unworthy wights © Shall hap what hapt to Ummi-Amir’s
neighbour . 1

Now when the Ifrit heard these words he answered, “ No more of
this talk, needs must I kill thee.” Upon this the Fisherman said
to himself, “ This is a^ Jinni; and I am a man to whom Allah hath
given a passably cunning wit, so I will now cast about to compass
his destruction by my contrivance and by mine intelligence; even
as he took counsel only of his malice and his frowardness .” 2 He
began by asking the Ifrit, “ Hast thou indeed resolved to kill me ? ”
and, receiving for all answer, “Even so,” he cried, ‘‘Now in the Most
Great Name, graven on the seal-ring of Sulayman the Son of David
(peace be with the holy twain!), an I question thee on a certain
matter wilt thou give me a true answer?” The Ifrit replied
“Yea;” but, hearing mention of the Most Great Name, his wits
were troubled and he said with trembling, “Ask and be brief.”
Quoth the Fisherman, “ How didst thou fit into this bottle which
would not hold thy hand; no, nor even thy foot, and how came it
to be large enough to contain the whole of thee ? ” Replied the
Ifrit, “What! dost not believe that I was all there?” and the
Fisherman rejoined, “ Nay! I will never believe it until I see thee

inside with my own eyes.”-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn

of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

1 Arab, meaning ** the Mother of Amir," a nickname for the hyena, which bites the
hand that feeds it.

2 The intellect of man is stronger than that of the Jinni; the Ifrit, however,
enters the jar because he has been adjured by the Most Great Name and not from
mere stupidity. The seal-ring of Solomon according to the Rabbis contained a chased
stone which told him everything he wanted to know.

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

J2ofo fojjen ft tons tje Jpourtf)

Her sister said to her, “ Please finish us this tale, an thou be not
sleepy ! ” so she resumed :—It hath reached me, O auspicious King,
that when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, “ I will never and nowise
believe thee until I see thee inside it with mine own eyes; ” the Evil
Spirit on the instant shook 1 2 and became a vapour, which condensed,
and entered the jar little and little, till all was well inside when lo !
the Fisherman in hot haste took the leaden cap with the seal and
stoppered therewith the mouth of the jar and called out to the
Ifrit, saying, “ Ask me by way of boon what death thou wilt die !
By Allah, I will throw thee into the sea before us and here will
I build me a lodge ; and whoso cometh hither I will warn him
against fishing and will say :—In these waters abideth an Ifrit who
giveth as a last favour a choice of deaths and fashion of slaughter
to the man who saveth him ! ” Now when the Ifrit heard this from
the Fisherman and saw himself in limbo, he was minded to escape,
but this was prevented by Solomon’s seal ; so he knew that the
Fisherman had cozened and outwitted him, and he waxed lowly
and submissive and began humbly to say, “ I did but jest with
thee.” But the other answered, “ Thou liest, O vilest of the Ifrits,
and meanest and filthiest! ” and he set off with the bottle for the
seaside; the Ifrit calling out “Nay! Nay!” and he calling out
“ Aye ! Aye ! ” Thereupon the Evil Spirit softened his voice and
smoothed his speech and abased himself, saying, “ What wouldest
thou do with me, O Fisherman ? ” “ I will throw thee back into the
sea,” he answered ; “ where thou hast been housed and homed for
a thousand and eight hundred years ; and now I will leave thee
therein till Judgment-day: did I not say to thee :—Spare me and
Allah shall spare thee ; and slay me not lest Allah slay thee ? yet
thou spurnedst my supplication and hadst no intention save to
deal ungraciously by me, and Allah hath now thrown thee into my
hands and I am cunninger than thou.” Quoth the Ifrit, “ Open for
me that I may bring thee weal.” Quoth the Fisherman, “ Thou
liest, thou accursed ! my case with thee is that of the Wazir of

1 The Mesmerist will notice this shudder which is familiar to him as preceding the
“magnetic” trance.

2 Arab. “ Bahr “ which means a sea, a large river, a sheet of water, etc., lit. water cut
or trenched in the earth. Bahri in Egypt means Northern ; so Yamm (Sea, Mediterranean)
in Hebrew is West.

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni.

4 $

King Yundn with the sage Dub&n .” 1 " And who was the Wazir of
King Yunan and who was the sage Duban; and what was the
story about them ? ” quoth the Ifrit, whereupon the Fisherman
began to tell

THE TALE OF THE WAZIR AND THE SAGE DC/BAN.

u KNOW, O thou Ifrit, that in days of yore and in ages long gone
before, a King called Yunan reigned over the city of Fars of the
land of the Roum . 2 He was a powerful ruler and a wealthy, who
had armies and guards and allies of all nations of men ; but his
body was afflicted with a leprosy which leaches and men of science
failed to heal. He drank potions and he swallowed powders and
he used unguents, but naught did him good and none among the
host of physicians availed to procure him a cure. At last there
came to his city a mighty healer of men and one well stricken in
years, the sage Duban hight. This man was a reader of books,
Greek, Persian, Roman, Arabian, and Syrian ; and he was skilled in
astronomy and in leechcraft, the theorick as well as the practick ;
he was experienced in all that healeth and that hurteth the body;
conversant with the virtues of every plant, grass and herb, and their
benefit and bane ; and he understood philosophy and had com¬
passed the whole range of medical science and other branches of
the knowledge-tree. Now this physician passed but few days in
the city, ere he heard of the King’s malady and all his bodily
sufferings through the leprosy with which, Allah had smitten him ;
and how all the doctors and wise men had failed to heal him.
Upon this he sat up through the night in deep thought and, when
broke the dawn and appeared the morn and light was again born,
and the Sun greeted the Good whose beauties the world adorn , 3 he
donned his handsomest dress and going in to King Yunan, he
kissed the ground before him : then he prayed for the endurance

1 In the Bui. Edit “ Ruyan,” evidently a clerical error. The name is fanciful not
significant.

2 Thegeography is ultra-Shakspearean. “ Fars ” (whence “ Persia ”) is the central Pro¬
vince of the grand old Empire now a mere wreck; “ Rum ” (which I write Roum, in
order to avoid Jamaica) is the neo-Roman or Byzantine Empire; while “Yunan ’
is the classical Arab term for Greece (Ionia) which, unlearned Moslems believe to be
now under water.

3 The Sun greets Mohammed every morning even as it dances on Easter-Day Cot
Christendom. Risum teneatis?

Alf Laylah wa Lay la ft.

of his honour and prosperity in fairest language and made himself
known saying, " O King, tidings have reached me of what befel
thee through that which is in thy person ; and how the host of
physicians have proved themselves unavailing to abate it; and lol
I can cure thee, O King ; and yet will I not make thee drink of
draught or anoint thee with ointment.” Now when King Yunan
heard his words he said in huge surprise, “ How wilt thou do
this ? By Allah, if thou make me whole I will enrich thee even to
thy son’s son and I will give thee sumptuous gifts ; and whatso
thou wishest shall be thine and thou shalt be to me a cup-
companion 1 and a friend.” The King then robed him with a
dress of honour and entreated him graciously and asked him,
“ Canst thou indeed cure me of this complaint without drug and
unguent?” and he answered, “Yes! I will heal thee without the
pains and penalties of medicine.” The King marvelled with ex¬
ceeding marvel and said, “ O physician., when shall be this whereof
thou speakest, and in how many days shall it take place ? Haste
thee, O my son ! ” He replied, “ I hear and I obey ; the cure shall
begin to-morrow.” So saying he went forth from the presence, and
hired himself a house in the city for the better storage of his books
and scrolls, his medicines and his aromatic roots. Then he set to
work at choosing the fittest drugs and simples and he fashioned a
bat hollow within, and furnished with a handle without, for which
he made a ball; the two being prepared with consummate art. On
the next jday when both were ready for use and wanted nothing
more, he went up to the King ; and, kissing the ground between his
hands bade him ride forth on the parade ground 2 there to play at
pall and mall. He was accompanied by his suite, Emirs and
Chamberlains, Wazirs and Lords of the realm and, ere he was

1 Arab. “Nadim,” a term often occurring. It denotes one who was intimate enough
to drink with the Caliph, a very high honour and a dangerous. The last who sat with
“Nudama” was Al-Razi bi’llah A.H. 329 = 940. See Al-Siyuti’s famous “History
of the Caliphs” translated and admirably annotated by Major H. S. Jarrett, for the
Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1880.

2 Arab. Maydan (from Persian); Lane generally translates it “ hoi se-course,” and
Payne “ tilting-yard.” It is both and something more; an open space, in or near the
city, used for reviewing troops, races, playing the Jerid (cane-spear) and other sportf
and exercises : thus Al-Maydan = Gr. hippodrome. The game here alluded to is our
“ polo,*’ or hockey on horseback, a favourite with the Persian Kings, as all old illustrations
of the Shahnamah show. Maydan is also a natural plain for which copious Arabic has many
terms; Fayhah or Sath (a plain generally), Khabt (a low lying plain), Bat’ha (a low
candy flat), Mahattah (a plain fit for halting) and so forth. (Pilgrimage in., 11.)

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni.

seated, the sage Duban came up to him, and handing him the bat
said, “ Take this mall and grip it as I do; so ! and now push for
the plain and leaning well over thy horse drive the ball with all thy
might until thy palm be moist and thy body perspire: then the
medicine will penetrate through thy palm and will permeate thy
person. When thou hast done with playing and thou feelest the
effects of the medicine, return to thy palace, and make the Ghusl*'
ablution 1 in the Hammam-bath, and lay thee down to sleep; so
shalt thou become whole ; and now peace be with thee! ” There^
upon King Yunan took the bat from the Sage and grasped it firmly;
then, mounting steed, he drove the ball before him and gallopped
after it till he reached it, when he struck it with all his might, his
palm gripping the bat handle the while; and he ceased not mailing
the ball till his hand waxed moist and his skin, perspiring, imbibed
the medicine from the wood. Then the sage Duban knew that the
drugs had penetrated his person and bade him return to the palace
and enter the Hammam without stay or delay; so King Yunan
forthright returned and ordered them to clear for him the bath.
They did so, the carpet spreaders making all haste, and the slaves
all hurry and got ready a change of raiment for the King. He
^entered the bath and made the total ablution long and thoroughly ;
then donned his clothes within the Hammam and rode therefrom
to his palace where he lay him down and slept. Such, was the case
with King Yunan, but as regards the sage Duban, he returned home
and slept as usual and when morning dawned he repaired to the
palace and craved audience. The King ordered him to be admitted;
then, having kissed the ground between his hands, in allusion to the
King he recited these couplets with solemn intonation :—

Happy is Eloquence when thou art named her sire » But mourns she whenas
other man the title claimed.

£) Lord of fairest presence, whose illuming rays * Clear Off the fogs of doubt
aye veiling deeds high famed,

Ne’er cease thy face to shine like Dawn and rise of Morn « And never show
Time’s face with heat of ire inflamed !

Thy grace hath favoured us with gifts that worked such wise « As rain-clouds
raining on the hills by wolds enframed :

Freely thou lavishedst thy wealth to rise on high $ Till won from Time the
heights whereat thy grandeur aimed.

Now when the Sage ceased reciting, the King rose quickly to

u m — - ■ — ■ .— — ——-- ““•—~*

1 For details concerning the “ Ghusl ” see Night jdiv.

Alf Laylah wa Laylah ..

his feet and fell on his neck ; then, seating him by his side he
bade dress him in a sumptuous dress; for it had so happened
that when the King left the Hammam he ^looked on his body
and saw no trace of leprosy : the skin wassail clean as virgin
silver. He joyed thereat with exceeding joy, his breast broad¬
ened * 1 with delight and he felt thoroughly happy. Presently,
when it was full day he entered his audience»hali and sat upon
the throne of his kingship whereupon i his Chamberlains and
Grandees flocked to the presence and with them the sage Duban.
Seeing the leach the King rose to him in honour and seated him
by his side; then the food trays f furnished with' the daintiest

• f i

viands were brought and the physician atelwith the King, nor
did he cease companying him all that day. Moreover, at night¬
fall he gave the physician Duban two thousand gold pieces,
besides the usual dress of honour and other gifts galore, and sent
him home on his own steed. After the Sage had fared forth
King Yunan again expressed his amazement at the leach’s art,
.saying, “ This man medicined my body from without nor anointed
: xne with aught of ointments: by Allah, surely this is none other
4han consummate skill! I am bound to honour such a man with
rewards and distinction, and take him to my companion and my
friend during the remainder of my days.” So King Yunar* passed
the night in joy and gladness for, that his body had been made
whole and had thrown off so pernicious a malady. On the morrow
the King went forth from his Serraglio and sat upon his throne,
and the Lords of Estate stood about him, and the Emirs and
Wazirs sat as was their wont on his right hand and on his left.
Then he asked for the Sage Duban, who came in and kissed the
ground before him, when the King rose to greet-him and, seating
him by his side, ate with him and wished him long life. Moreover
he robed him and gave him gifts, and ceased not conversing with
him until night approached. Then the King ordered him, by way
of salary, five dresses of honour and a thousand dinars. 2 The
physician returned to his own house full of gratitude to the
King. Now when next morning dawned the King repaired to his

1 A popular idiom and highly expressive, contrasting the upright bearing of the sel
satisfied man with the slouch of the miserable and the skirtrtrailing of the woman in grief.

I do not see the necessity of such Latinisms as “ dilated ” or “ expanded.”

* All these highest signs of favour foreshow, in Eastern tales and in Eastern life, an
approaching downfall of the heaviest ; they are so great they arouse general jealousy.,
Many of us have seen this at native courts..

Tale of the Wazzr and the Sage Dub an.

audience-hall, and his Lords and nobles surrounded him and his
Chamberlains and his Ministers, as the white encloseth the black of
the eye. 1 Now the King had a Wazir among his Wazirs, unsightly
to look upon, an ill-omened spectacle; sordid, ungenerous, full of
envy and evil will. When this Minister saw the King place the
physician near him and give him all these gifts, he jaloused him and
planned to do him a harm, as in the saying on such subject, “Envy
lurks in every body;” and the saying, “ Oppression hideth in every
heart; power revealeth it and weakness concealeth it.” Then the
Minister came before the King and, kissing the ground between)
his hands, said, “ O King of the age and of all time, thou in whose
benefits I have grown to manhood, I have weighty advice to offer
thee, and if I withhold it I were a son of adultery and no true-'
born man ; wherefore an thou order me to disclose it I will so do
forthwith.” Quoth the King (and he was troubled at the words of
the Minister), “And what is this counsel of thine?” Quoth he,
“ O glorious monarch, the wise of old have said :—Whoso regardeth
not the end, hath not Fortune to friend ; and indeed I have lately
seen the King on far other than the right way ; for he lavisheth
largesse on his enemy, on one whose object is the decline and fall
of his kingship: to this man he hath shown favour, honouring
him with over honour and making of him an intimate. Wherefore
I fear for the King’s life.” The King, who was much troubled and
changed colour, asked, “ Whom dost thou suspect and anent whom
doest thou hint?” and'the Minister answered, “O King, an thou
be asleep, wake up ! I point to the physician Duban.” Rejoined
the King, “ Fie upon thee ! This is a true friend who is favoured
by me above all men, because he cured me with something which I
held in my hand, and he healed my leprosy which had baffled all
physicians ; indeed he is one whose like may not be found in these
days—no, not in the whole world from furthest east to utmost
west! And it is of such a man thou sayest such hard sayings.
Now from this day forward I allot him a settled solde and allow¬
ances, every month a thousand gold pieces; and, were I to share
with him my realm ’twere but a little matter. Perforce I must
suspect that thou speakest on this wise from mere envy and

jealousy as they relate of the King Sindibad.”-And Shahrazad

perceived the dawn of day, and ceased saying her permitted say.

1 This phrase is contained in the word “ ihddk ” = encompassing, as the conjunctiva 1
<ioes the pupil.

VOL I.

Alf Laylah wa Lryla;..

Then quoth Dunyazad, il 0 my sister, how pleasant is thy tale,
and how tasteful, how sweet, and how grateful! ” She replied,
** And where is this compared with what I could tell thee on the
coming night if the King deign spare my life?” Then said the
King in himself, “ By Allah, I will not slay her until I hear the
rest of her tale, for truly it is wondrous.” So they rested that
night in mutual embrace until the dawn. Then the King went
forth to his Hall of Rule, and the Wazir and the troops came in,
and the audience-chamber was thronged; and the King gave
orders and judged and appointed and deposed and bade and
forbade during the rest of that day till the Court broke up, and
King Shahryar returned to his palace.

jgofo fojtn it foas t&e Jptfif)

Her sister said, “ Do finish for us thy story if thou be not
sleepy,” and she resumed :—It hath reached me, O auspicious King
and mighty Monarch, that King Yunan said to his Minister, “ O
Wazir, thou art one whom the evil spirit of envy hath possessed
because of this physician, and thou plottest for my putting him to
death, after which I should repent me full sorely, even as repented
King Sindibad for killing his falcon.” Quoth the Wazir, “ Pardon
me, O King of the age, how was that ? ” So the King began the
story of

KING SINDIBAD AND HIS FALCON

It is said (but Allah is All-knowing!*) that there was a King
of the Kings of Fars, who was fond of pleasuring and diversion,
especially coursing and hunting. He had reared a falcon which he
carried all night on his fist, and whenever he went a-chasing he
took with him this bird; and he bade make for her a golden cuplet
hung round her neck to give her drink therefrom. One day as the
King was sitting quietly in his palace, behold, the high falconer of
the household suddenly addressed him, “ O King of the age, this
is indeed a day fit for birding.” The King gave orders accord¬
ingly and set out taking the hawk on fist; and they fared merrily

1 I have noted this formula, which is used even in conversation when about to relai*
some great unfact.

Tale of King Sindibad and his Falcon . 51

forwards till they made a Wady 1 where they planted a circle of
nets for the chase ; when lo! a gazelle came within the toils and
the King cried, “ Whoso alloweth yon gazelle to spring over his
head and loseth her, that man will I surely slay.” They narrowed
the nets about the gazelle when she drew near the King’s station ;
and, planting herself on her hind quarter, crossed her forehand over
her breast, as if about to kiss the earth before the King. He
bowed his brow low in acknowledgment to the beast; when she
bounded high over his head and took the way of the waste.
Thereupon the King turned towards his troops and, seeing them
winking and pointing at him, he asked , <( O Wazir, what are my
men saying ? ” and the Minister answered, “ They say thou didst
proclaim that whoso alloweth the gazelle to spring over his head,
that man shall be put to death.” Quoth the King, “ Now, by the
life of my head ! I will follow her up till I bring her back.” So
he set off gallopping on the gazelle’s trail and gave not over track¬
ing till he reached the foot-hills of a mountain-chain where the
quarry made for a cave. Then the King cast off at it the falcon
which presently caught it up and, swooping down, drove her talons
into its eyes, bewildering and blinding it ; 2 and the King drew his
mace and struck a blow which rolled the game over. He then dis¬
mounted ; and, after cutting the antelope’s throat and flaying the
body, hung it to the pommel of his saddle. Now the time was
that of the siesta 3 and the wold was parched and dry, nor was
any water to be found anywhere; and the King thirsted and his
horse also ; so he went about searching till he saw a tree dropping
water, as it were melted butter, from its boughs. Thereupon the
King who wore gauntlets of skin to guard him against poisons
took the cup from the hawk’s neck, and filling it with the water set
it before the bird, and lo! the falcon struck it with her pounces
and upset the liquid. The King filled it a second time with the
dripping drops, thinking his hawk was thirsty; but the bird again
struck at the cup with her talons and overturned it. Then the King

1 We are obliged to English the word by ** valley/’ which is about as correct as the
brook Kedron,” applied to the grisliest of ravines. The Wady (in old Coptic wah,

oah, whence “ Oasis”) is the bed of a watercourse which flows only after rains, I have
rendered it by “Fiumara” (Pilgrimage i., 5> an< ^ “•» e ^ c -)» an Italian or rather

a Sicilian word which exactly describes the “ wady.”

2 I have described this scene which Mr. T. Wolf illustrated by an excellent lithograph
in “ Falconry, etc. ” (London, Van Voorst, MDCCCLt?*^

* Arab. “ Kaylulab,” mid-day sleep;

sixth canonical hour.

A If Laylah iva Laylah .

waxed wroth with the hawk and filling the cup a third time offered it
to his horse : but the hawk upset it with a flirt of wings. Quoth the
King, “Allah confound thee, thou unluckiest of flying things! thou
keepest me from drinking, and thou deprivest thyself also, and the
horse.” So he struck the falcon with his sword and cut off her
wing ; but the bird raised her head and said by signs, “ Look at
that which hangeth on the tree! ” The King lifted up his eyes
accordingly and caught sight of a brood of vipers, whose poison-
drops he mistook for water; thereupon he repented him of having
struck off his falcon’s wing, and mounting horse, fared on with
the dead gazelle, till he arrived at the camp, his starting place.
He threw the quarry to the cook saying, “Take and broil it,”
and sat down on his chair, the falcon being still on his fist when
suddenly the bird gasped and died ; whereupon the King cried
out in sorrow and remorse for having slain that falcon which had
saved his life. Now this Is what occurred in the case of King
Sindibad; and I am assured that were I to do as thou desirest I
should repent even as the man who killed his parrot. Quoth the
Wazir, “ And how was that ?"” And the King began to tell

THE TALE OF THE HUSBAND AND THE PARROT 1

A CERTAIN man and a merchant to boot had married a fair wife,
a woman of perfect beauty and grace, symmetry and loveliness, of
whom he was mad-jealous, and who contrived successfully to keep
him from travel. At last an occasion compelling him to leave her,
he went to the bird-market and bought him for one hundred gold
pieces a she-parrot which he set in his house to act as duenna,
expecting her to acquaint him on his return with what had passed
during the whole time of his absence; for the bird was kenning

1 This parrot-story is world-wide in folk-lore and the belief in metempsychosis, which
prevails more or less over all the East, there lends it probability. The “Book of
Sindibad” (see Night dlxxix. and “The Academy,” Sept. 20, 1884, No. 646) converts
it into the “Story of the Confectioner, his Wife and the Parrot;” and it is the base of
the Hindostani text-book, “ Tota-Kahani ” (Parrot-chat), an abridgement of the Tuti-
namah (Parrot-book) of Nakhshabi (circ. A.D. 1300), a congener of the Sanskrit “Suka
Saptati,” or Seventy Parrot-stories. The tale is not in the Bui. or Mac. Edits, but occurs
in the Bresl. (i., pp. 90, 91) much mutilated ; and better in the Calc. Edit. I cannot
here refrain from noticing how vilely the twelve vofs. of the Breslau Edit, have been
edited ; even a table of contents being absent from the first four volumes.

Tale of the Hus.ha?id and the Parrot .

and cunning and never forgot what she had seen and heard* *
Now his fair wife had fallen in love with a young Turk, 1 who used
to visit her, and she feasted him by day and lay with him by night.
When the man had made his journey and won his wish he came
home; and, at once causing the Parrot be brought to him, questioned
her concerning the conduct of.his consort whilst he was in foreign
parts. Quoth she, “ Thy wife hath a man-friend who passed every
night with her during thine absence.” Thereupon the husband went
to his wife in a violent rage and bashed her with a bashing severe
enough to satisfy any body. The woman, suspecting that one of the
slave-girls had been tattling to the master, called them together
and questioned them upon their oaths, when all swore that they
had kept the secret, but that the Parrot had not, adding, “ And we
heard her with our own ears.” Upon this the woman bade one of
the girls to set a hand-mill under the cage and grind therewith and
a second to sprinkle water through the cage-roof and a third to run
about, right and left, flashing a mirror of bright steel through the
livelong night. Next morning when the husband returned home
after being entertained by one of his friends, he bade bring the
Parrot before him and asked what had taken place whilst he was
away. “ Pardon me, O my master,” quoth the bird, u I could
neither hear nor see aught by reason of the exceeding murk and
the thunder and lightning which lasted throughout the night”
As it happened to be the summer-tide the master was astounded
and cried, “ But we are now in mid Tammuz, 2 and this is not the
time for rains and storms.” “ Ay, by Allah,” rejoined the bird, “ I
saw with these eyes what my tongue hath told thee.” Upon this
the man, not knowing the case nor smoking the plot, waxed ex¬
ceeding wroth ; and, holding that his wife had been wrongously
accused, put forth his hand and pulling the Parrot from her cage
dashed her upon the ground with such force that he killed her on
the spot Some days afterwards one of his slave-girls confessed to
him the whole truth, 3 yet would he not believe it till he saw the

1 The young “Turk ” is probably a late addition,, as it does not appear in many of the
MSS., e.g. the Bresl, Edit. The wife usually spreads a cloth over the cage ; this in the
Turkish translation becomes a piece of leather.

* The Hebrew-Syrian month J uly used to express the height of summer. As Herodotus
tells us (ii. 4) the Egyptians claimed to be the discoverers of the solar year and the por«
tioners of its course into twelve parts.

* This proceeding is thoroughly characteristic of the servile class ; they conscientiously
conceal everything from the master till he finds a clew ; after which they tell him every*
thing and something more.

Alf Laylak wa Laylah.

young Turk, his wife's lover, coming out of her chamber, when he
bared his blade * 1 and slew him by a blow on the back of the neck;
and he did the same by the adulteress; and thus the twain, laden
with mortal sin, went straightways to Eternal Fire, Then the mer¬
chant knew that the Parrot had told him the truth anent all she
had seen and he mourned grievously for her loss, when mourning
availed him not. The Minister, hearing the words of King Yunan,
rejoined,' “ O Monarch, high in dignity, and what harm have I
done him, or what evil have I seen from him that I should compass
his death ? I would not do this thing,save to serve thee, and soon
shalt thou sight that it is right; and if thou accept my advice thou
shalt be saved, otherwise thou shalt be destroyed even as a certain
Wa 2 ir who acted treacherously by the young Prince.” Asked the
King, “ How was that ? ” and the Minister thus began

THE TALE OF THE PRINCE AND THE OGRESS.

A CERTAIN King, who had a son over much given to hunting and
coursing, ordered one of his Wazirs to be in attendance upon him
whithersoever he might wend. One day the youth set out for the
chase accompanied by his father’s Minister; and, as they jogged
on together, a big wild beast came in sight. Cried the Wazir to
the King’s son, “ Up and at yon noble quarry! ” So the Prince
followed it until he was lost to every eye and the chase got away
frt>m him in the waste; whereby he was confused and he knew not
which way to turn, when lo! a damsel appeared ahead and she
was in tears. The King’s son asked, u Who art thou ? ” and she
answered, “ I am daughter to a King among the Kings of Hind,
and I was travelling with a caravan in the desert when drowsiness
overcame me, and I fell from my beast unwittingly ; whereby I
am cut off from my people and sore bewildered.” The Prince,
hearing these words, pitied her case and, mounting her on his
horse’s crupper, travelled until he passed by an old ruin, 2 when the
damsel said to him, “ O my master, I wish to obey a call of
nature ” : he therefore set her down at the ruin where she delayed so
long that the King’s son thought that she was only Wasting time;

1 Until Tate years, merchants and shopkeepers in the nearer East all carried awofdi,
and held it a disgrace to leave the house unarmed.

1 The Bresl. Edit, absurdly has Jazfrah (an island).

Tale of the Prince and the Ogress,

so he followed her without her knowledge and behold, she. was a
Ghulah , 1 a wicked Ogress, who was saying to her brood, “ O my
children, this day I bring you a fine fat youth 2 for dinner where¬
to they answered, “ Bring him quick to us, O our mother, that
we may browse upon him our bellies full.” The Prince hearing
their talk, made sure of death? and his side-muscles quivered in
fear for his life, so he turned away and was about to fly. The
Ghulah came out and seeing him in sore affright (for he was trem¬
bling in every limb) cried, “Wherefore art thou afraid?” and he
replied, “ I have hit upon an enemy whom I greatly fear.” Asked
the Ghulah, “ Diddest thou not say :—I am a King’s son ? ” and he
answered, u Even so.” Then quoth she, “ Why dost not give thine
enemy something of money and so satisfy him?” Quoth he,
° He will not be satisfied with my purse but only with my life, and
I mortally fear him and am a man under oppression.” She replied,
4t If thou be so distressed, as thou deemest, ask aid against him
from Allah, who will surely protect thee from his ill-doing and from
the evil whereof thou art afraid.” Then the Prince raised his eyes
heavenwards and cried, “O Thou who answerest the necessitous
when he calleth upon Thee and dispellest his distress; O my God!
grant me victory over my foe and turn him from me, for Thou over
all things art Almighty.” The Ghulah, hearing his prayer, turned
away from him, and the Prince returned to his father, and told him
the tale of the Wazir ; whereupon the King summoned the Minister
to his presence and then and there slew him. Thou likewise, O
King, if thou continue to trust this leach', shalt be made to die the
worst of deaths. He verily thou madest much of and whom thou
entreatedest as an intimate, will work thy destruction. Seest thou
not how he healed the disease from outside thy body by something
grasped in thy hand ? Be not assured that he will not destroy
thee by something held in like manner!” Replied King Yunan,
“Thou hast spoken sooth, O Wazir, it may well be as thou hintest

1 The Ghulah (fem., ol Ghul) is the Heb. Lilith or Lilis ; the classical Lamia ; the
Hindu Yogini and Dakini ; the Chaldean Utug and Gigim (desert-demons) as opposed
to the Mas (hill-demon) and Telal (who steal into towns) ; the Ogress of our tales and
the Bala yaga (Granny-witch) of Russian folk-lore. - Etymologically “ Ghul ” is %
calamity, a panic fear ; and the monster is evidently the embodied horror of the grave
and the graveyard.

a Arab. “ Shdbb ” (Lat. juvenis) between puberty and forty or according to some
fifty ; when the patient becomes a “ Rajul ikhtiy^t” (man of free will) politely termed,
and then a Shaykh or Shaybah (grey*beard, oldster).

5<5

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

, ifly well-advising Minister; and belike this Sage hath come as
a spy searching to put me to death; for assuredly if he cured me
by a something held in my hand, he can kill me by a something
given me to smell.” Then asked King Yunan, “ O Minister, what
must be done with him?” and the Wazir answered, “Send after
him this very instant and summon him to thy presence ; and when
he shall come strike him across the neck; and thus shalt thou rid
thyself of him and his wickedness, and deceive him ere he can
deceive thee.” “ Thou hast again spoken sooth, O Wazir,” said
the King and sent one to call the Sage who came in joyful mood
for he knew not what had appointed for him the Compassionate ;
as a certain poet saith by way of illustration :—

0 Thou who fearest Fate, confiding fare, o Trust all to Him who built the
world, and wait:

What Fate saith “Be” perforce must be, my lord ! o And safe art thou from
th’ undecreed of Fate.

As Duban the physician entered he addressed the King in these
lines

An fail I of my thanks to thee nor thank thee day by day o For whom com¬
posed I prose and verse, for whom my say and lay ?

Thou lavishedst thy generous gifts ere they were craved by me o Thou
lavishedst thy boons unsought sans pretext or delay :

How shall I stint my praise of thee, how shall I cease to laud o The grace of
thee in secresy and patentest display ?

Hay ; I will thank thy benefits, for aye thy favours lie o Light on my thought
and tongue, though heavy on my back they weigh.

And he said further on the same theme:—

Turn thee from grief nor care a jot! o Commit thy needs to Fate and Lot !

Enjoy the Present passing well o And let the Past be clean forgot;

For whatso haply seemeth worse o Shall work thy weal as Allah wot:

Allah shall do whate’er He wills o And in His will oppose Him not

And further still:—

Toth* All-wise Subtle One trust worldly things o Rest thee from all wheretfc
the worldling clings :

Hearn wisely well naught cometh by thy will o But e’en as willeth Allah, King
gi Kings.

Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban.

5 7

And lastly :—

Gladsome and gay forget thine every grief o Full often grief the wisest hearts
outwore :

Thought is but folly in the feeble slave o Shun it and so be sav&d evermore.

Said the King for sole return, “ Knowest thou why I have sum¬
moned thee?” and the Sage replied, “Allah Most Highest alone
kenneth hidden things!” But the King rejoined, “I summoned
thee only to take thy life and utterly to destroy thee.” Duban the
Wise wondered at this strange address with exceeding wonder and
asked, “O King, and wherefore wouldest thou slay me, and what
ill have I done thee ?” and the King answered, “ Men tell me thou
art a spy sent hither with intent to slay me; and lo ! I will kill
thee ere I be killed by thee; ” then he called to his Sworder, and
said, “ Strike me off the head of this traitor and deliver us from
his evil practices.” Quoth the Sage, “ Spare me and Allah will
spare thee ; slay me not or Allah shall slay thee.” And he repeated
to him these very words, even as I to thee, O Ifrit, and yet thou
wouldst not let me go, being bent upon my death. King Yunan
only rejoined, “ I shall not be safe without slaying thee ; for, as thou
healedst me by something held in hand, so am I not secure againsi
thy killing me by something given me to smell or- otherwise.” Said
the physician, “ This then, O King, is thy requital and reward ;
thou returnest only evil for good.” The King replied, “ There is
no help for it; die thou must and without delay.” Now when the
physician was certified that the King would slay him without
waiting, he wept and regretted the good he had done to other than
the good. As one hath said on this subject:—

Of wit and wisdom is Maymunah 1 bare o Whose sire in wisdom all the wits
outstrippeth :

Man may not tread on mud or dust or clay o Save by good sense, else trippeth
he and slippeth.

Hereupon the Sworder stepped forward and bound the Sage
Duban’s eyes and bared his blade, saying to the King, “ By thy
leave ; ” while the physician wept and cried, “ Spare me and Allah

1 Some proverbial name now forgotten. Torrens (p. 48) translates it “the giglot
(Fortune?) but “cannot discover the drift.”

58 Alf Lay lah wa Lay la h.

will spare thee, and slay me not or Allah shall slay thee,” and
began repeating:—

I was kind and ’scapM not, they were cruel and escaped ; o And my kindness
only led me to Ruination Hall ;

If I live I’ll ne’er be kind ; if I die, then all be damned o Who follow me, and
curses their kindliness befal.

u Is this,” continued Duban, “ the return T meet from thee ? Thou
givest me, meseems, but crocodile-boon.” Quoth the King, “ What
is the tale of the crocodile?”, and quoth the physician, “ Im¬
possible for me to tell it in this my state; Allah upon thee, sp^re
me, as thou hopest Allah shall spare thee.” And he wept with
exceeding weeping. Then one of the King’s favourites stood up
and said, “ O King! grant me the blood of this physician; we
have never seen him sin against thee, or doing aught save healing
thee from a disease which baffled every leach and man of science.”
Said the King, “ Ye wot not the cause of my putting to death this
physician, and this it is. If I spare him, I doom myself to certain
death ; for one who healed me of such a malady by something held
in my hand, surely can slay me by something held to my nose;
and I fear lest he kill me for a price, since haply he is some spy
whose sole purpose in coming hither was to compass my destruc¬
tion. So there is no help for it; die he must, and then only shall I
be sure of my own life.” Again cried Duban, w Spare me and Allah
shall spare thee; and slay me not or Allah shall slay thee.” But
it was in vain. Now when the physician, O I frit, knew for certain
that the King would kill him, he said, “ O King, if there be no help
but I must die, grant me some little delay that I may go down to
my house and release myself from mine obligations and direct my
folk and my neighbours where to bury me and distribute my books
of medicine. Amongst these I have one, the rarest of rarities,
which I would present to thee as an offering: keep it as a treasure
in thy treasury.” “And what is in the book?” asked the King
and the Sage answered, “Things beyond compt; and the least
of secrets is that if, directly after thou hast cut off my head, thou
open three leaves and read three lines of the page to thy left hand,
my head shall speak and answer every question thou deignest ask
of it.” The King wondered with exceeding wonder and shaking®

1 Arab. “ lhtiz£z,” that natural and instinctive movement caused by good news
suddenly given, etc.

Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban. 59

with delight at the novelty, said, “ O physician, dost thou really tell
me that when I cut off thy head it will speak to me ?” He replied,
“ Yes, O King! ” Quoth the King, “ This is indeed a strange
matter! ” and forthwith sent him closely guarded to his house,
and Duban then and there settled all his obligations. Next day
he went up to the King’s audience hall, where Emirs and Wazirs,
Chamberlains and Nabobs. Grandees and Lords of Estate were
gathered together, leaking the presence-chamber gay as a garden
of flower-beds. And lo ! the physician came up and stood before
the King, bearing a worn old volume and a little £tui of metal full
of powder, like that used for the eyes . 1 Then he sat down and
said, “ Give me a tray.” So they brought him one and he poured
the powder upon it and levelled it and lastly spake as follows : “O
King, take this book but do not open it till my head falls; then set
it upon this tray, and bid press it down upon the powder, when
forthright the blood will cease flowing. That is the time to open
the book.” The King thereupon took the book and made a sign
to the Sworder, who arose and struck off the physician’s head, and
placing it on the middle of the tray, pressed it down upon the
powder. The blood stopped flowing, and the Sage Duban unclosed
his eyes and said, “ Now open the book, O King! ” The King
opened the book, and found the leaves stuck together; so he put
his finger to his mouth and, by moistening it, he easily turned over
the first leaf, and in like way the second, and the third, each leaf
opening with much trouble; and when he had unstuck six leaves
he looked over them and, finding nothing written thereon, said,
O physician, there ^s no writing here!” Duban replied, “Turn

1 Arab “Kohl,” in India, Surmah, not a “collyrium,” but powdered antimony for
the eyelids. That sold in the bazars is not the real grey ore of antimony but a galena
or sulphuret of lead. Its use arose as follows. When Allah showed Himself to Moses on
Sinai through an opening the size of a needle, the Prophet fainted and the Mount took
fire : thereupon Allah said, “ Henceforth shalt thou and thy seed grind the earth of this
mountain and apply it to your eyes ! ” The powder is kept in an etui called Makhalah
and applied with a thick blunt needle to the inside of the eyelid, drawing it along the rim ;
hence etui and probe denote the sexual rem in re and in cases of adultery the question
will be asked, “Didst thou see the needle in the Kohl-pou?” Women mostly use a
preparation of soot or lamp-black (Hind. ICajala, Kajjal) whose colour is easily dis¬
tinguished from that of Kohl. The latter word, with the article (Al-Kohl) is the origin
of our “alcohol;” though even M. Littre fails to show how “fine powder” became
“spirits of wine.” I found this powder (wherewith Jezebel “ painted ” her eyes) a great
preservative from ophthalmia in desert-travelling: the use in India was universal, but
now European example is gradually abolishing it.

A If Laylah wa Layl ah.

over yet more;” and he turned over three others in the same way.
Now the book was poisoned ; and before long the venom penetrated
his system, and he fell into strong convulsions and he cried ort,
“ The poison hath done its work ! ” Whereupon the Sage Duban’s
head began to improvise:—

There be rulers who have ruled with a foul tyrannic sway o But they soon
became as though they had never, never been :

Just, they had won justice : they oppressed and were opprest o By Fortune, who
requited them with ban and bane and teen :

So they faded like the morn, and the tongue of things repeats o “ Take this foi
that, nor vent upon Fortune’s ways thy spleen.”

No sooner had the head ceased speaking than the King rolled over
dead. Now I would have thee know, O Ifrit, that if King Yunan
had spared the Sage Duban, Allah would have spared him; but he
refused so to do and decreed to do him dead, wherefore Allah slew
him ; and thou too, O Ifrit, if thou hadst spared me, Allah would

have spared thee.-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day

and ceased saying her permitted say: then quoth Dunyazad, “O my
sister, how pleasant is thy tale and how tasteful; how sweOt, and
how grateful! ” She replied, “And where is this compared with
what I could tell thee this coming night, if I live and the King
spare me ? ” Said the King in himself, “ By Allah, I will not slay
her until I hear the rest of her story, for truly it is wondrous.’*
They rested that night in mutual embrace until dawn: then the
King went forth to his Darbar; the Wazirs and troops came in and
the audience-hall was crowded; so the King gave orders and
judged and appointed and deposed and bade and forbade the rest
of that day, when the court broke up, and King Shahryar entered
his palace.

j&ofo fo&en ft foas t^t fetxtf) JitoJt,

Her sister, Dunyazad, said to her. “ Pray finish for us thy story; ”
and she answered, “ I will if the King give me leave.” “ Say on,”
quoth the King. And she continued :—It hath reached me, O
auspicious King, that when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, “If
thou hadst spared me I would have spared thee, but nothing
would satisfy thee save my death; so now I will do thee die by
jailing thee in this jar and I will hurl thee into this sea.” Then
the Marid roared aloud and cried, “ Allah upon thee, O Fisherman

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni . 6 1

don't! Spare me, and pardon my past doings; and, as I have been
tyrannous, so be thou generous, for it is said among sayings that
go currentO thou who doest good to him who hath done thee
evil, suffice for the ill-doer his ill-deeds, and do not deal with me as
did Umamah to ’Atikah .” 1 Asked the Fisherman, “And what
was their case ?” and the Ifrit answered, “ This is not the time fop
story-telling and I in this prison ; but set me free and I will tell
thee the tale/’ Quoth the Fisherman, “Leave this language;
there is no help but that thou be thrown back into the sea nor is
there any way for thy getting out of it for ever and ever. Vainly
I placed myself under thy protection , 2 and I humbled myself to
thee with weeping, while thou soughtest only to slay me, who had
done thee no injury deserving this at thy hands; nay, so far from
injuring thee by any evil act, I worked thee nought but weal in
releasing thee from that jail of thine. Now I knew thee to be an
evil-doer when thou diddest to me what thou didst, and know, that
when I have cast thee back into this sea, I will warn whomsoever may
fish thee up of what hath befallen me with thee, and I will advise
him to toss thee back again ; so shalt thou abide here under these
waters till the End of Time shall make an end of thee.” But the
Ifrit cried aloud, “ Set me free; this is a noble occasion for gene¬
rosity and I make covenant with thee and vow never to do thee
hurt and harm ; nay, I will help thee to what shall put thee out of
want.” The Fisherman accepted his promises on both conditions,
not to trouble him as before, but on the contrary to do him
service ; and, after making firm the plight and swearing him a
solemn oath by Allah Most Highest he opened the cucurbit.
Thereupon the pillar of smoke rose up till all of it was fully out;
then it thickened and once more became an Ifrit of hideous
presence, who forthright administered a kick to the bottle and
sent it flying into the sea. The Fisherman, seeing how the cucurbit
was treated and making sure of his own death, piddled in his
clothes and said to himself, “ This promiseth badly; ” but he
fortified his heart, and cried, “ O Ifrit, Allah hath said 3 :—Perform
your covenant; for the performance of your covenant shall be

1 The tale of these two women is now forgotten.

2 Arab. “ Atadakhkhal ”. When danger threatens it is customary to seize a man’s
skirt and cry “ Dakhil-ak ! ” (r= under thy protection). Among noble tiibes the Badawi
thus invoked will defend the stranger with his life. Foreigners have brought themselves
into contempt by thus applying to women or to mere youths.

* The formula of ^uoting^ from the Koran*.

Alf Laylak wa Laylak .

inquired into hereafter. Thou hast rnade a vow to me and hast
sworn an oath not to play me false lest Allah play thee false, for
verily he is a jealous God who respiteth the sinner, but Ietteth him
not escape. I say to thee as said the Sage Duban to King Yunan,
“Spare me so Allah may spare thee!” The I frit burst into
laughter and stalked away, saying to the Fisherman, “ Follow
me;” and the man paced after him at a safe distance (for he was
not assured of escape) till they had passed round the suburbs of
the city. Thence they struck into the uncultivated grounds, and
Crossing them descended into a broad wilderness, and lo! in the
midst of it stood a mountain-tarn. The Ifrit waded in to the
middle and again cried, “ Follow me ;” and when this was done he
took his stand in the centre and bade the man cast his net and

catch his fish. The Fisherman looked into the water and was
'much astonished to see therein vari-coloured fishes, white and red,
blue and yellow ; however he cast his net and, hauling it in, saw
that he had netted four fishes, one of each colour. Thereat he

irejoiced greatly and more when the Ifrit said to him, “ Carry these
(to the Sultan and set them in his presence; then he will give thee
What shall make thee a wealthy man ; and now accept my excuse,
for by Allah at this time I wot none other way of benefiting thee,
(inasmuch I have lain in this sea eighteen hundred years and have
,not seen the face of the world save within this hour. But I would
;not have thee fish here save once a day.” The Ifrit then gave him
^Godspeed, saying, “Allah grant we meet again 1 and struck the
earth with one foot, whereupon the ground clove asunder and
Swallowed him up. The Fisherman, much marvelling at what had
happened to him with the Ifrit, took the fish and made for the
city; and as soon as he reached home he filled an earthen bowl
with water and therein threw the fish which began to struggle
and wriggle about. Then he bore off the bowl upon his head and,
repairing to the King’s palace (even as the Ifrit had bidden him)
laid' the fish before the presence; and the King wondered with
exceeding wonder at the sight, for never : in his lifetime had
he seen fishes like these in quality or in conformation. So he
said, “ Give those fish to the stranger slave-girl who now cooketh

1 Lit. “ Allah not desolate me ” (by thine absence). This is still a popular phrase—
La tawahishn&= Do not make me desolate, i.e\ by staying away too long ; and friends
meeting after a term of days exclaim “ Auhashtani l .** = thou hast made me desolate^

fe suis desoli.

Talc of the Fisherman and the Jinni. 63

for us,” meaning the bond-maiden whom the King of Roum had
sent to him only three days before, so that he had not yet made
trial of her talents in the dressing of meat. Thereupon the Wazir
carried the fish to the cook and bade her fry them , 1 saying, “ O
damsel, the King sendeth this say to thee :—I have not treasured
thee, O tear o’ me! save for stress-time of me; approve, then, to
us this day thy delicate handiwork and thy savoury cooking; for
this dish of fish is a present sent to the Sultan and evidently a
rarity.” The Wazir, after he had carefully charged her, returned
to the King, who commanded him to give the Fisherman four
hundred dinars: he gave them accordingly, and the man took
them to his bosom and ran off home stumbling and falling and
rising again and deeming the. whole thing to be a dream. How¬
ever, he bought for his family all they wanted and lastly he went to
his wife in huge joy and gladness. So far concerning him ; but as
regards the cookmaid/ she took the fish and cleansed them and set
them in the frying-pan, basting them with oil till one side was
dressed. Then she turned them over and, behold, the kitchen wall
clave asunder, and therefrom came a young lady, fair of form,
oval of face, perfect in grace, with eyelids which Kohl-lines
enchase . 2 Her dress was a silken head-kerchief fringed and
tasseled with blue : a large ring hung from either ear; a pair of
bracelets adorned her wrists ; rings with bezels of priceless gems
were on her fingers ; and she hent in hand a long rod of rattan-
cane which she thrust into the frying-pan, saying, “ O fish ! O fish !
be ye constant to your covenant ? ” When the cookmaiden saw
this apparition she swooned away. The young lady repeated her
words a second time and a third time, and at last the. fishes raised
their heads from the pan, and saying in articulate speech “ Yes!
Yes ! ” began with one voice to recite :—

Come back and so will I ! Keep faith and so will I ! o And if ye fain fo/sake,
I’ll requite till quits we cry !

1 Charming simplicity of manners when the Prime Minister carries the fish (shade of
Vattel!) to the cookmaid. The “ Gesta Fo.r.anarum” is nowhere more naive.

2 Arab. “ Kahilat al-taraf = lit. eyelids lined with Kohl; and figuratively “with
black lashes and languorous look.” This is a phrase which frequently occurs in The
Nights and which, as will appear, applies to the “lower animals ” as well as to men.
Moslems in Central Africa apply Kohl not to the thickness of the eye-lid but upon both
outer lids, fixing it with some greasy substance. The peculiar Egyptian (and Syrian)
eye with its thick fringes of jet-black lashes, looking like lines of black drawn with soot,
easily suggests the simile. In England I have seen the same appearance amongst
miners fresh from the colliery.

6 4

A If Laytah wa Laylah.

After this the young lady upset the frying-pan and went forth by
the way she came in and the kitchen wall closed upon her. When
the cook-maiden recovered from her fainting-fit, she saw the four
fishes charred black as charcoal, and crying out, “ His staff brake
in his first bout,” 1 she again fell swooning to the ground. Whilst
she was in this case the Wazir came for the fish, and looking upon
her as insensible she lay, not knowing Sunday from Thursday,
shoved her with his foot and said, “ Bring the fish for the Sultan !*'
Thereupon recovering from her fainting-fit she wept and informed
Him of her case and all that had befallen her. The Wazir marvelled,
greatly and exclaiming, “This is none other than a right strange
matter! ”, he sent after the Fisherman and said to him, “Thou, O
Fisherman, must needs fetch us four fishes like those thou broughtest
before.” Thereupon the man repaired to the tarn and cast his net;
and when he landed it, lo! four fishes were therein exactly like the
first. These he at once carried to the Wazir, who went in with
them to the cook-maiden and said, “ Up with thee and fry these in
my presence, that I may see this business.” The damsel arose
and cleansed the fish, and set them in the frying-pan over the fire;
however they remained there but a little while ere the wall clave
asunder and the young lady appeared, clad as before and holding
in hand the wand which she again thrust into the frying-pan,
saying, “ O fish! O fish! be ye constant to your olden covenant ? *
And behold, the fish lifted their heads, and repeated “Yes! Yes!”
and recited this couplet:

Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I ! o But if ye fain forsake,
I’ll requite till quits we cry !

And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

jSofo foljtn it foa % tlje ^ebentl) jlfgjt,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
the fishes spoke, and the young lady upset the frying-pan with
her rod, and went forth by the way she came and the wall closed
up, the Wazir cried out, “This is a thing not to be hidden from
the King.” So he went and told him what had happened, where¬
upon quoth the King, “There is no help for it but that I see this

1 Of course applying to her own case-.

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni. 65

with mine own eyes." Then he sent for the Fisherman and com*
manded him to bring four other fish like the first and to take with
him three men as witnesses. The Fisherman at once brought the
fish : and the King, after ordering them to give him four hundred
gold pieces, turned to the Wazir and said, “ Up and fry me the
fishes here before me!” The Minister, replying“To hear is to
obey,” bade bring the frying-pan, threw therein the cleansed fish
and set it over the fire; when lo! the wall clave asunder, and out
burst a black slave like a huge rock or a remnant of the tribe Ad 1
bearing in hand a branch of a green tree; and he cried in loud
and terrible tones, ’‘O fish! O fish! be ye all constant to your
antique covenant ?** whereupon the fishes lifted their heads from
the frying-pan and said, " Yes! Yes! we be true to our vow;" and
they again recited the couplet s

Com* back and so will I! Keep faith and so will 1 ! • But if ye Cain forsake.
I’ll requite till quits we cry f

Then the huge blackamoor approached the frying-pan and upset
it with the branch and went forth by the way he came in. When
he vanished from their sight the King inspected the fish; and,
finding them all charred black as charcoal, was utterly bewildered
and said to the Wazir, “ Verily this is a matter whereanent silence
cannot be kept, and as for the fishes, assuredly some marvellous
adventure connects with them.” So he bade bring the Fisherman
and asked him, saying “ Fie on thee, fellow! whence come these
fishes ? ” and he answered, “ From a tarn between four heightj
lying behind this mountain which is in sight of thy city. Quoth
the King, “ How many days’ march ? ” Quoth he, u O our lord th 6
Sujfan, a walk of half hour.” The King wondered and, straight¬
way ordering his men to march and horsemen to mount, led off the
Fisherman who went before as guide, privily damning the Ifrit.
They fared on till they had climbed the mountain and descended
unto a great desert which they had never seen during all their
lives; and the Sultan and his merry men marvelled much at the
wold set in the midst of four mountains, and the tarn and its
fishes of four colours, red and white, yellow and blue. The King
stood fixed to the spot in wonderment and asked his troops and
all present, .“Jdath any one among you ever seen this piece of

* Prehistoric Arabs who measured from 60 to 100 cubits high ; Koran, chapt. xxvi.,
:tc. They will often be mentioned in The Nights.

VOL. I. %

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

water before now ? ” and all made answer, “ O King of the age,
never did we set eyes upon it during all our days.” They also
questioned the oldest inhabitants they met, men well stricken in
years, but they replied, each and every, “ A lakelet like this we
never saw in this place.” Thereupon quoth the King, “ By Allah
I will neither return to my capital nor sit upon the throne of my
forbears till I learn the truth about this tarn and the fish therein.”
He then ordered his men to dismount and bivouac all around the
mountain ; which they did ; and summoning his Wazir, a Minister
of much experience, sagacious, of penetrating wit and well versed
in affairs, said to him, “ ’Tis in my mind to do a certain thing,
whereof I will inform thee; my heart telleth me to fare forth
alone this night and root out the mystery of this tarn and its
fishes. Do thou take thy seat at my tent-door, and say to the
Emirs and Wazirs, the Nabobs and the Chamberlains, in fine to
all who ask thee:—The Sultan is ill at ease, and he hath ordered
me to refuse all admittance ; 1 and be careful thou let none know
my design.” And the Wazir could not oppose him. Then the
King changed his dress and ornaments and, slinging his sword
over his shoulder, took a path which led up one of the mountains
and marched for the rest of the night till morning dawned ; nor
did he cease wayfaring till the heat was too much for him. After
his long walk he rested for a while, and then resumed his march
and fared on through the second night till dawn, when suddenly
there appeared a black point in the far distance. Hereat he
rejoiced and said to himself, “ Haply some one here shall acquaint
me with the mystery of the tarn and its fishes.” Presently,
drawing near the dark object he found it a palace built of swart
stone plated with iron; and, while one leaf of the gate stood wide
open, the other was shut. The King’s spirits rose high as he stood

1 Arab. “ Daslur n (from Persian) =: leave, permission. The word has two meanings
(see Burckhardt, Arab. Prov. No. 609) and is much used, e.g. before walking up stairs
or entering a room where strange women might be met. So “ Tank ” nr Clear the way
(Pilgrimage, iii., 319). The old Persian occupation of Egypt, not to speak of the Persian¬
speaking Circassians and other rulers has left many such traces in popular language.
One of them is that horror of travellers—“ Bakhshish ” pron. bakh-sheesh and shortened
10 shish from the Pers. “ bakhshish.” Our “Christmas tar” has been most unnece*-
sarily derived from the same, despite our reading:—

Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand.

And, as will be seen, Persians have bequeathed to the outer world worse things than
bad language, e.g. heresy and sodomy.

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni .

before the gate and rapped a light rap; but hearing no answer he
knocked a second knock and a third ; yet there came no sign.
Then he knocked his loudest but still no answer, sc> he said,
" Doubtless ’tis empty.” Thereupon he mustered up resolution,
and boldly walked through the main gate into the great hall and
there cried out aloud, “Holla, ye people of the palace! I am a
stranger and a wayfarer; have you aught here of victual ?** He
Repeated his cry a second time and a third but still there came no
reply; so strengthening his heart and making up his mind he
stalked through the vestibule into the very middle of the palace
and found no man in it. Yet if was furnished with silken stuffs
gold-starred ; and the hangings were let down over the door-ways.
In the midst was a spacious court off which set four open saloons
each with its raised dais, saloon, facing saloon; a canopy shaded
the court and in the centre was a jetting fount with four figures of
lions made of red gold, spouting from their mouths water clear as
pearls and diaphanous gems. Round about the palace birds were
let loose and over it stretched a net of golden wire, hindering them
from flying off; in brief there was everything but human beings.
The King marvelled mightily thereat, yet felt he sad at heart for
that he saw no one to give him an account of the waste and its
tarn, the fishes, the mountains and the palace itself. Presently as
he sat between the doors in deep thought behold, there came ,a
voice of lament, as from a heart grief-spent and he heard the voice
chanting these verses <■

I hid what I endured of him 1 and yet it came to light, © And nightly sleep
mine eyelids fled and changed to sleepless night:

Oh world ! Oh Fate ! withhold thy hand and cease thy hurt and harm o Look
and behold my hapless sprite in dolour and affright :

Wilt ne’er show ruth to highborn youth who lost him on the way o Of Love,
and fell from wealth and fame to lowest basest wight.

Jealous of Zephyr’s breath was I as on your form he breathed o But whenas
Destiny descends she blindeth human sight, 2
What shall the hapless archer do who when he fronts his foe o And bends his'
bow to shoot the shaft shall find his string undight?

When cark and care so heavy bear on youth 3 of generous soul o How shall he
’scape his lot and where from Fate his place of flight?

1 He, speaks of his wife, but euphemistically in the masculine.

2 A popular saying throughout Ablslam.

8 Arab. “ Fata” : lit. = a youth ; a generous man, one of noble mind (as youth«tide
should be). It corresponds with the Lat. 44 vir,” and bas much the meaning of the
Ital. 44 Giovanc,” the Germ. “Junker” and our “gentleman.”

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

Now when the Sultan heard the mournful voice he sprang to his
feet: and, following the sound, found a curtain let down over a
chamber^door. He raised it and saw behind it a young man
sitting upon a couch about a cubit above the ground ; and he
fair to the sight, a well shaped wight, with eloquence dight; his
forehead was flower-white, his cheek rosy bright, and a mole'on
his cheek-breadth like an ambergris-mite ; even as the poet doth
indite:—

A youth slim-waisted from whose locks and brow o The world in blackness and
in light is set.

Throughout Creation’s round no fairer show o No rarer sight thine eye hath
ever met:

A nut-brown mole sits throned upon a cheek o Of rosiest red beneath an eye
of jet 1

A,'

The King rejoiced and saluted him, but he remained sitting in his,
caftan of silken stuff purfled with Egyptian gold and his crown-
studded with gems of sorts; but his face was sad with the traces
of sorrow. He returned the royal salute in most courteous wise
adding, " O my lord, thy dignity demartdeth my rising to thee;
and my sole excuse is to crave thy pardon.” 2 Quoth the King,
“ Thou art excused, O youth ; so look upon me as thy guest come
hither on an especial object. I would thou acquaint me with the
secrets of this tarn and its fishes and of this palace and thy loneli¬
ness therein and the cause of thy groaning and wailing.” When
the young man heard these words he wept with sore weeping; * *
till his bosom was drenched with tears and began reciting:—

Say him who careless sleeps what while the shaft of Fortune flies o How many
doth this shifting world lay low and raise to rise ?

Although thine eye be sealed in sleep, sleep not th* Almighty’s eyes • And who
hath found Time ever fair, or Fate in constant guise?

Then he sighed a long-fetched sigh and recited :—

Confide thy case to Him, the Lord who made mankind; e Quit cark and care
and cultivate content of mind ;

Ask not the Past or how or why it came to pass: o All human things by Fate
and Destiny were designed 1

1 From the Bui. Edit.

* The vagueness of his statement is euphemistic.

8 This readiness of shedding tears contrasts strongly with the external stoicism of
modem civilization ; but it is true to Arab character; and Easterns, like the heroes of
Homer and Italians of Boccaccio, are not ashamed of what we look upon as the result
of ferninine hysteria— u a good cry.”

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni. 6g

The King marvelled and asked him, “ What maketh thee weep, O
young man ? ” and he answered, “ How should I not weep, when
this is my case!” Thereupon he put out his hand and raised the
skirt of his garment, when lo! the lower half of him appeared
stone down to his feet while from his navel to the hair of his head
he was man. The King, seeing this his plight, grieved with sore
grief and of his compassion cried, “ Alack and well-away! in very
sooth, O youth, thou heapest sorrow upon my sorrow. I was
minded to ask thee the mystery of the fishes only: whereas now
I am concerned to learn thy story as well as theirs. But there is
no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great! 1 Lose no time, O youth, but tell me forthright thy whole
talc.” Quoth he, “ Lend me thine ears, thy sight and thine insight; ”
and quoth the King, “ All are at thy service!” Thereupon the
youth began, “ Right wondrous and marvellous is my case and
that of these fishes; and were it graven with gravers upon the
eye-corners it were a warner to whoso would be warned.” “ How
is that ?” asked the King, and the young man began to.tell

THE TALE OF THE ENSORCELLED PRINCE,

Know then, O my lord, that whilome my sire was King of this
city, and his name was Mahmud, entitled Lord of the Black
Islands, and owner of what are now these four mountains. He
ruled threescore and ten years, after which he went to the mercy
of the Lord and I reigned as Sultan in his stead. I took to wife
my cousin, the daughter of my paternal uncle, 2 and she loved me
with such abounding love that whenever I was absent she ate not

1 The formula (constantly used by Moslems) here denotes displeasure, doubt how to
act and so forth. Pronounce, ** Ld haula wa Id kuwwatailld bi ’lldhi T-Aliyyi ’ 1 -Azirn.”
As a rule mistakes are marvellous: Mandeville (chapt. xii.) for u Ld ildha ilia ‘Jldhu wa
Muhammadun Rasulu ’llah ” writes “ La ellec sila, Machomete rores alia.” The former
(ld haula, etc.), on account of the four peculiar Arabic letters, is everywhere pronounced
differently j and the exclamation is called “ Haulak ” or 11 Haukal.”

2 An Arab holds that he has a right to marry his first cousin, the daughter of his father’#
brother, and if any win her from him a death and. a blood-feud may result. It was the
same in a modified form amongst the Jews and in both races the consanguineous marriage
was not attended by the evil results (idiotcy, congenital deafness, etc.) observed in mixed
races like the English and the Anglo-American. When a Badawi speaks of “ the daughter
•f my uncle ” he means wife ; and the fonner is the dearer title, os a wife can be divorced,
but blood is thicker than water.

A If Laylah wa Layla/i.

and she drank not until she saw me again. She cohabited with me
for five years till a certain day when she went forth to the Ham-
mam bath ; and I bade the cook hasten to get ready all requisites
for our supper. And I entered this palace and lay down on the
bed where I was wont to sleep and bade two damsels to fan my
face, one sitting by my head and the other at my feet. But I was
troubled and made restless by'my wife’s absence and could not
sleep; for although my eyes were closed my mind and thoughts
were wide awake. Presently I heard the slave-girl at my head say
to her at my feet, “ O Mas’udah, how miserable is our master and
how wasted in his youth and oh ! the pity of his being so be¬
trayed by our mistress, the accursed whore ! M1 The other replied,
“Yes indeed: Allah curse all faithless women and adulterous;
but the like of our master, with his fair gifts, deserveth something
better than this harlot who lieth abroad every night.” Then quoth
she who sat by my head, “ Is our lord dumb or fit only for bubbling
that he questioneth her not P’ and quoth the other, (% Fie on thee I
doth our lord know her ways or doth she allow him his choice ?
Nay, more, doth she not drug every night the cup she giveth him
to drink before sleep-time, and put Bhang 1 2 into it ? So he sleepeth

1 Arab. “ Kahbah ; ’’the coarsest possible term. Hence the unhappy “Cava” of
Don Roderick the Goth, which simply means The Whore.

2 The Arab “ Banj ” and Hindu “ Bhang ” (which I use as most familiar) both derive
from the old Coptic “ Nibanj ” meaning a preparation of hemp ( Cannabis saliva seu
Jndica) ; and here it is easy to recognise the Homeric “ Nepenthe.” Al-Kazwini explains
the term by “garden hemp (Kinnab bostani or Shahdanaj). On the other hand not a
few apply the word to the henbane ( hyoscyamus niger) so much used in mediaeval Europe.
The Ramus evidently means henbane distinguishing it from Hashish al hardfish”=3
rascals’grass, i.e. the herb Pantagruelion. The “ Alfaz Adwiya ” (French translation)
explains “ Tabannuj ” by “ Endonnir quelqu’un en lui faisant avaler de la jusquiame.”
In modern parlance Tabannuj is = our anaesthetic administered before an opera¬
tion, a deadener of pain like myrrh and a number of other drugs. For this purpose
hemp is always used (at least I never heard of henbane); and various preparations of the
drug are sold at an especial bazar in Cairo. See the “powder of marvellous virtue ” in
Boccaccio, iii., 8 ; and iv., io. Of these intoxicants, properly so termed, I shall have-
something to say in a future page*

The use of Bhang doubtless dates from the dawn of civilisation, whose earliest social
pleasures would be inebriants. Herodotus (iv. c. 75) shows the Scythians burning the
seeds (leaves and capsules) in worship and becoming drunken with the fumes, as do the
S. African Bushmen of the present day. This would be the earliest form of smoking : it
is still doubtful whether the pipe was used or not. Galen also mentions intoxication by
hemp. Amongst Moslems, the Persians adopted the drink as an ecstatic, and about our
thirteenth century Egypt, which began the practice, introduced a number of preparations
to be noticed in the course of The Nights.

Tale of the Ensarcelled Prince .

and wotteth not whither she goeth, nor what she doeth; but we
know that, after giving him the drugged wine, she donneth her
richest raiment and perfumeth herself and then she fareth out frorq
him to be away till break of day; then she cometh to him, and
burneth a pastile under his nose and he awaketh from his death?
like sleep.” When I heard the slave-girls* words, the light became
black before my sight and I thought night would never fall*
Presently the daughter of my uncle came from the baths; and they
set the table for us and we ate and sat together a fair half-hour
quaffing our wine as was ever our wont. Then she called for the
particular wine I used to drink before sleeping and reached me the
cup; but, seeming to drink it according to my wont, I poured the
contents into my bosom; and, lying down, let her hear that I was
asleep. Then, behold, she cried, “ Sleep out the night, and never
wake again ; by .Allah, I loathe thee and I loathe thy whole body,
and my soul turneth in disgust from cohabiting with thee; and I
see not the moment when Allah shall snatch away thy life! ” Then
she rose and donned her fairest dress and perfumed her person and
slung my sword over her shoulder; and, opening the gates of the
palace, went her ill way. I rose and followed her as she left the
palace and she threaded the streets until she came to the city gate,
where she spoke words. I understood not, and the padlocks dropped
of themselves as if broken and the gate-leaves opened. She went
forth (and I after her without her noticing aught) till she came
at last to the outlying mounds 1 and a reed fence built about
a round-roofed hut of mud-bricks. As she entered the door, I
climbed upon the roof which commanded a view of the interior.
And lo l my fair cousin had gone in to a hideous negro slave with
his upper lip like the cover of a pot, and his lower like an open pot;
lips which might sweep up sand from the gravel-floor of the cot.
He was to boot a leper and a paralytic, lying upon a strew of
sugar-cane trash and wrapped in an old blanket and the foulest
rags and tatters. She kissed the earth before him, and he raised
his head so as to see her and said, “ Woe to thee ! what call hadst
thou to stay away all this time ? . Here have been with me sundry
of the black brethren, who drank their wine and each had his
young lady, and I was not content to drink because of thine,
absence.” Then she, “ O my lord, my heart’s love and coolth of,

* The rubbish heaps which outlie Eastern cities, some, (near Cairo) are over a
hundred feet high;

7 *

Alf Laylah wa Laylak.

my eyes,' knowest thou not that I am married to my cousin
whose very look I loathe, and hate myself when in his company ?
And did not I fear for thy sake, I would not let a single sun arise
before making his city a ruined heap wherein raven should croak
and howlet hoot, and jackal and wolf harbour and loot; nay I had
removed its very stones to the back side of Mount Kdf„ ,,f Re¬
joined the slave, “ Thou liest, damn thee ! Now 1 swear an oath
by the valour and honour of blackamoor men (and deem not our
manliness to be the poor manliness of white men), from to¬
day forth if thou stay away till this hour, I will not keep com¬
pany with thee nor will I glue my body with thy body and strum
and belly-bump. Dost play fast and loose with us, thou cracked
pot, that we may satisfy thy dirty lusts ? stinkard ! bitch ! vilest of
the vile whites! ” When I heard his words, and saw with my own
eyes what passed between these two wretches, the world waxed
dark before my face and my soul knew not in what place it was.
But my wife humbly stood up weeping before and wheedling the
slave, and saying, “ O my beloved, and very fruit of my heart,
there is norie left to cheer me but thy dear self; and, if thou cast
me off who shall take me in, O my beloved, O light of my eyes ? ”
And she ceased not weeping and abasing herself to him until he
deigned be reconciled with her. Then was she right glad and
stood up and doffed her clothes, even to her petticoat-trousers,
and said, " O my master what hast thou here for thy handmaiden
to eat ? * *' “ Uncover the basin,” he grumbled, " and thou shalt find
at the bottom the broiled bones of some rats we dined on; pick
at them, and then go to that slop-pot where thou shalt find some
leavings of beer 3 which thou mayest drink." So she ate and drank

* Arab. “Kurrat al*ayn;" coolness of eyes as opposed to a hot eye (“ sakhin ”)/.*.
one red with tears. The term is true and picturesque so I translate it literally. All
coolness is pleasant to dwellers in burning lands: thus in Al*Hariri Abu Zayd says of
Bassorah, "I found there whatever could fill the eye with coolness." And a “cool
booty " (or prize) is one which has been secured without plunging into the flames of war,
or simply a pleasant prize.

2 Popularly rendered Caucasus (see Night cdxcvi) : it corresponds so far with the
Hindu 11 Udaya ” that the sun rises behind it; and the *• false dawn ’* is caused by a hole
or gap. It is also the Persian Alborz, the Indian Meru (Sumeru), the Greek Olympus,
and the Rhiphsean Range (Veliki Camenjpoys) or great starry girdle of the world, etc.

* Arab. “ Mizr n or “ Mizar ; ” vulg. Buzah; hence the medical Lat. Buza, the Russian

Buza (millet beer), our ** booze/* the O. Dutch “buyzen” and the German “busen.”
This is the old iroros 0€ioi of negro and negroid Africa ; the beer of Osiris, of which
dried remains have been found in jars amongst Egyptian tombs. In Equatorial Africa it
U known as “ Pombe; ** on the Upper Nile* ** Merissa ” or “Mirisi" and amongst the

Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince.

and washed her hands, and went and lay down by the side of the
slave, upon the cane-trash and, stripping herself stark naked, she
crept in with him under his foul coverlet and his rags and tatters.
When I saw my wife, my cousin, the daughter of my uncle, do
this deed * 1 I clean lost my wits, and climbing down from the roof, I
entered and took the sword which she had with her and drew it,
determined to cut down the twain. I first struck at the slave’s

neck and thought that the death decree had fallen on him : ”-

And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

J&ofo fofjen it foas tfje jfifg&t,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
young ensorcelled Prince said to the King, “When I smote the
slave with intent to strike off his head, I thought that I had slain
him; for he groaned a loud hissing groan, but I had cut only the
skin and flesh of the gullet and the two arteries! It awoke the
daughter of my uncle, so I sheathed the sword and fared forth for
the city ; and, entering the palace, lay upon my bed and slept till

Kafirs (Caffers) 44 Tshuala,” 44 Oala” or 44 Boyala: " I have also heard of 44 Buswa ” in
Central Africa which may be the origin of 44 Buzah.” In the West it became £v6*09, (Romaic
irippa), Xythum and cerevisia or cervisia, the humor ex hordeo, long before the day*
of King Gambrinus. Central Afiicans drink it in immense quantities : in Unyamwezi the
standing bedsteads, covered with bark-slabs, are all made sloping so as to drain off the
liquor. A chief lives wholly on beef and Pombe which is thick as gruel below. Hops
are unknown : the grain, mostly Holcus, is made to germinate, then pounded, boiled and
left to ferment. In Egypt the drink is affected chiefly by Berbers, Nubians and slaves
from the Upper Nile; but it is a superior article and more like that of Europe than the
44 Pombe.” I have given an account of the manufacture in The Lake Regions of Central
Africa, vol. ii., p. 286. There are other preparations, Umm-bulbul (mother nightin*
gale), Dinzayah and Subiyah, for which I must refer to the Shaykh El-Tounsy.

1 There is a terrible truth in this satire, which reminds us of the noble dame who pre¬
ferred to her hand*ome husband the palefrenier laid, ord et inf&me of Queen Margaret
of Navarre (Heptameron No. xx.) We have all known women who sacrificed every¬
thing despite themselves, as it were, for the most worthless of men. The world stares
and scoffs and blames and understands nothing. There is for every woman one man and
one only in whose slavery she is 44 ready to sweep the floor.” Fate is mostly opposed to
her meeting him but, when she does^ adieu husband and children, honour and religion,
life and 44 soul.” Moreover Nature (human) commands the union of contrasts, such as
fair and foul, dark and light, tall and short ; otherwise mankind would be like the
canines, a race of extremes, dwarf as toy-terriers, giants like mastiffs, bald as Chinese
44 remedy dogs,” or hairy as Newfoundlands. The famous Wilkes said only a half-truth
when he backed himself, with an hour’s start, against the handsomest man in England ;
his uncommon and remarkable ugliness (he was, as the Italians say, tin del brutte), was the
highest recommendation in the eyes of very beautiful women.

A If Laylah wa Laylah %

morning when my wife aroused me and I saw that she had cut off
her hair and had donned mourning garments. Quoth she :—O son
of my uncle, blame me not for what I do; it hath just reached me
that my mother is dead, and my father hath been killed in holy
war, and of my brothers one hath lost his life by a snake-sting and
the other by falling down some precipice ; and I can and should do
naught save weep and lament. When I heard her words I refrained
from all reproach and said only:—Do as thou list; I certainly will
not thwart thee. She continued sorrowing, weeping and wailing
one whole year from the beginning of its circle to the end, and
when it was finished she said to me:—I wish to build me in thy
palace a tomb with a cupola, which I will set apart for my mourning
and will name the House of Lamentations . 1 Quoth I again:—
Do as thou list! Then she builded for herself a cenotaph
wherein to mourn, and set on its centre a dome under which
showed a tomb like a Santon’s sepulchre. Thither she carried the
slave and lodged him ; but he was exceeding weak by reason of
his wound, and finable to do her love-service ; he could only drink
wine and from the day of his hurt he spake not a word, yet he
lived on because his appointed hour 2 was not come. Every day,
morning and evening, my wife went to him and wept and wailed
over him and gave him wine and strong soups, and left not off
doing after this manner a second year; and I bore with her
patiently and paid no heed to her. One day, however, I went in to
her unawares ; and I found her weeping and beating her face
and crying :—Why art thou absent from my sight, O my heart’s
delight ? Speak to me, O my life; talk with me, O my love ?
Then she recited these verses :—

For your love my patience fails and albeit you forget o I may not; nor to
other love my heart can make reply :

1 Every Moslem burial-ground has a place of the kind where honourable women may
sit and weep unseen by the multitude. These visits are enjoined by the Apostle:—
Frequent the cemetery, ’twill make you think of futurity ! Also :—Whoever visiteththe
graves of his parents (or one of them) every Friday, he shall be written a pious son, even
though he might have been in the world, before that, a disobedient. (Pilgrimage ii., 71.)
The buildings resemble our European “mortuary chapels.” Said, Pasha of Egypt, was
kind enough to erect one on the island off Suez, for the “ use of English ladies who would
like shelter whilst weeping and wailing for their dead.” But I never heard that any of
the ladies went there.

* Arab “Ajal”=the period of life, the appointed time of death : the word is of
constant recurrence and is also applied to sudden death. See Lane’s Dictionary, s.v w

Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince . 75

Bear my body, bear my soul wheresoever you may fare « And where you pitch
the camp let my body buried lie :

Cry my name above my grave, and an answer shall return o The moaning of
my bones responsive to your cry . 1 * * * * *

Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:—

The day of my delight is the day when draw you near o And the day of mine
affright is the day you turn away :

Though I tremble through the night in my bitter dread of death o When I hold
you in my arms I am free from all affray.

Once more she began reciting :—

Though a-morn I may awake with all happiness in hand © Though the world
all be mine and like Kisra-kings 7 I reign ;

To me they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat o When I fail to see thy
form, when I look for thee in vain.

When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said
to her:—O my cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring
forth tears there is little profit! Thwart me not, answered she,
in aught I do, or I will lay violent hands on myself! So I held
my peace and left her to go her own way; and she ceased not to

1 “ The dying Badawi to his tribe ” (and lover) appears to me highly pathetic. The
wild-people love to be buried upon hill-slopes whence they can look down upon the camp ;
and they still cal! out the names of kinsmen and friends as they pass by the grave-yards.
A similar piece occurs in Wetzstein (p. 27, ** Reisebericht ueber Hauran,” etc.) : —

O bear with you my bones where the camel bears his load • And bury me before you, if
buried I must be ;

And let me not be buried ’neath the burden of the vine » But high upon the hill whence
your sight I ever see !

As you pass along my grave cry aloud and name your names ♦ The crying of your names

shall revive the bones of me :

I have fasted through my life with my friends, and in my death, * I will feast when we
meet, on that day of joy and glee.

7 The Akasirah (plur. of Kasra=Chosroes) is here a title of the four great dynasties of
Persian Kings. 1. The Peshdadian or Assyrian race, proto-historics for whom dates
fail; 2, The Kayaman (Medes and Persians) who ended with the Alexandrian invasion
in B.C. 331 ; 3. The Ashkanian (Parthenians or Arsacides) who ruled till A.D. 202;
and 4. The Sassanides which have already been mentioned. But strictly speaking
** KiSri” and “ Kasra ” are titles applied only to the latter dynasty and especially to the
great King Anushirwan. They must not be confounded with “Khusrau* (P. N. Cyrus,
Ahasuerus ? Chosroes ?); and yet the three seem to have combined in “ Caesar,” Kaysar
and Czar. For details especially connected with Zoroaster see vol. I, p. 380 of the
Dabistan or School of Manners, translated by David Shea and Anthony Troyer, Paris,
1843. The book is most valuable, but the proper names are so carelessly and incorrectly
printed that the student is led into perpetual error.

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

cry and keen and indulge her affliction for yet another year. At
the end of the third year I waxed aweary of this longsome
mourning, and one day I happened to enter the cenotaph when
vexed and angry with some matter which had thwarted me, and
suddenly I heard her say:—O my lord, I never hear thee vouch¬
safe a single word to me! Why dost thou not answer me, O
my master ? and she began reciting:—

O thou tomb ! O thou tomb ! be his beauty set in shade? • Hast thou darkened
that countenance all-sheeny as the noon ?

O thou tomb ! neither earth nor yet heaven art to me • Then how cometh it in
thee are conjoined my sun and moon ?

When I heard such verses as these rage was heaped upon my rage ;
I cried out:—Well-away! how long is this sorrow to last ? and I
began repeating:—

O thou tomb ! O thou tomb ! be his horrors set in blight ? • Hast thou dark¬
ened his countenance that sickeneth the soul ?

O thou tomb ! neither cess-pool nor pipkin art to me o Then how cometh it
in thee are conjoined soil and coal ?

When she heard my words she sprang to her feet crying:—Fie
upon thee, thou cur! all this is of thy doings; thou hast wounded
my heart’s darling and thereby worked me sore woe and thou hast
wasted his youth so that these three years he hath lain abed more
dead than alive! In my wrath I cried :—O thou foulest of harlots
and filthiest of whores ever futtered by negro slaves who are hired
to have at thee l 1 Yes indeed it was I who did this good deed ;
and snatching up my sword I drew it and made at her to cut her
down. But she laughed my words and mine intent to scorn crying :
To heel, hound that thou art! Alas 2 for the past which shall no
more come to pass nor shall any one avail the dead to raise. Allah
hath indeed now given into my hand him who did to me this
thing, a deed that hath burned my heart with a fire which died not
and a flame which might not be quenched ! Then she stood up;
and, pronouncing some words to me unintelligible, she said :—By
virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and half man ;

1 The words are the very lowest and coarsest; but the scene is true to Arab life.

5 Arab. “ Hayhat :** the word, written in a variety of ways is onomatopoetic, Klur
our “heigh-ho!” it sometimes means “far from «ne (or you) be itP* but in popular
usage it is simply “ Alas.”

Tale of the Ens or celled Prince ,

whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and
neither dead not alive. Moreover she ensorcelled the city with all
its streets and garths, and she turned by her gramarye the four
islands into four mountains around the tarn whereof thou questionest
me; and the citizens, who were of four different faiths, Moslem,
Nazarene, Jew and Magian, she transformed by her enchantments
into fishes; the Moslems are the white, the Magians red, the Chris¬
tians blue and the Jews yellow . 1 And every day she tortureth me
and scourgeth me with an hundred stripes, each of which draweth
floods of blood and cutteth the skin of my shoulders to strips ; and
lastly she clotheth my upper half with a hair-cloth and then throweth
over them these robes.” Hereupon the young man again shed
tears and began reciting:—

In patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate ; o I will bear at will of Thee
whatsoever be my state :

They oppress me; they torture me; they make my life a woe © Yet haply
Heaven’s happiness shall compensate my strait:

Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate o’ foes © But Mustaft and
Murtasd * * shall ope me Heaven’s gate.

After this the Sultan turned towards the young Prince and said,
“ O youth, thou hast removed one grief only to add another grief;
but now, O my friend, where is she ; and where is the mausoleum
•wherein lieth the wounded slave ? ” “ The slave lieth under yon

dome,” quoth the young man, “and she sitteth in the chamber
fronting yonder door. And every day at sunrise she cometh forth,
and first strippeth me, and whippeth me with an hundred strokes
of the leathern scourge, and I weep and shriek; but there is no

1 Lane (i., 134) finds a date for the book in this passage. The Soldan of Egypt,
Mohammed ibn Kala’un, in the early eighth century (Hijrahrrour fourteenth), issued®
sumptuary law compelling Christians and Jews to wear indigo-blue and saffron-yellow
turbans, the white being reserved for Moslems. But the custom was much older and
Mandeville (chapt. ix.) describes it in A.D. 1322 when it had become the rule. And it
still endures; although abolished in the cities it is the rule for Christians, at least in the
country parts of Egypt and Syria. I may here remark that such detached passages as these
are absolutely useless for chronology : they may be simply the additions of editors or mere
copyists.

* The ancient “ Mustapha ”= the Chosen (prophet, i.e. Mohammed), also titled
Al-Mujtab£, the Accepted (Pilgrimage, ii., 309). il Murtaza ”== the Elect, i.e. the
Caliph Ali is the older “ Mortada ” or “ Mortadi” of Ockley and his day, meaning

**one pleasing to (or acceptable to) Allah.” Still older writers corrupted it to ** Moxtii
All” and readers supposed this to be the Caliph's name-

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

power of motion in my lower limbs to keep her off me. After
ending her tormenting me she visiteth the slave, bringing him wine
and boiled meats. And to-morrow at an early hour she will be
here.” Quoth the King, “ By Allah, O youth, I will assuredly do
thee a good deed which the world shall not willingly let die, and
an act of derring-do which shall be chronicled long after I am dead
and gone by.” Then the King sat him by the side of the young
Prince and talked till nightfall, when he lay down and slept; but,
as soon as the false dawn 1 showed, he arose and doffing his outer
garments 2 bared his blade and hastened to the place wherein lay
the slave. Then was he ware of lighted candles and lamps, and
the perfume of incenses and unguents; and, directed by these, he
made for the slave and struck him one stroke killing him on the
spot: after which he lifted him on his back and threw him into a
well that was in the palace. Presently he returned and, donning
the slave’s gear, lay down at length within the mausoleum with the
drawn sword laid close to and along his side. After an hour or so
the accursed witch came ; and, first going to her husband, she
stripped off' his clothes and, taking a whip, flogged him cruelly
while he cried out, “Ah! enough for me the case I am in ! take
pity on me, O my cousin!” But she replied, “Didst thou take pity
on me and spare the life of my true love on whom I doated ? ”
Then she drew the cilice over his raw and bleeding skin and threwc
the robe upon all and went down to the slave with a goblet of wine
and a bowl of meat-broth in her hands. She entered under the
dome weeping and wailing, “Well-away!” and crying, “O my
lord ! speak a word to me! O my master ! talk awhile with me ! ”
and began to recite these couplets:—

How long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide ? o Suffice thee not tear-floods
thou hast espied ?

Thou dost prolong our parting purposely © And if wouldst please my foe,
thou’rt satisfied!

Then she wept again and said, “ O my lord ! speak to me, talk with
me !” The King lowered his voice and, twisting his tongjue, spoke

1 The gleam (zodiacal light) preceding the true dawn ; the Persians call the former
Subh-i-kazib (false or lying dawn) opposed to Subh-i-sadik (true dawn) and suppose that
it is caused by the sun shining through a hole in the world-encircling Mount Kaf.

2 So the Heb. u A run ” = naked, means wearing the lower robe only; c= our “ in
his shirt.”

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni.

after the fashion of the blackamoors and said “ ’lack ! ’lack ! there be
no Ma’esty and there be no Might save in Allauh, the Gloriose, the
Great! ” Now when she heard these words she shouted for joy, and
fell to the ground fainting; and when her senses returned she
asked, " O my lord, can it be true that thou hast power of speech ? ”
and the King making his voice small and faint answered, “ O my
cuss! dost thou deserve that I talk to thee and speak with thee ? ”
u Why and wherefore ? ” rejoined she ; and he replied “ The why
is that all the livelong day thou tormentest thy hubby; and he
keeps calling on ’eaven for aid until sleep is strange to me even
from evenin’ till mawnin’, and he prays and damns, cussing us two,
me and thee, causing me disquiet and much bother: were this not so,
I should long ago have got my health ; and it is this which prevents
my answering thee.” Quoth she, “ With thy leave I will release
him from what spell is on him ; ” and quoth the King, “ Release him
and let’s have some rest! ” She cried, “ To hear is to obey ; ” and,
going from the cenotaph to the palace, she took a metal bowl and
filled it with water and spake over it certain words which made the
contents bubble and boil as a cauldron seetheth over the fire. With
this she sprinkled her husband saying, tc By virtue of the dread
words 1 have spoken, if thou becamest thus by my spells, come
forth out of that form into thine own former form.” And lo and
behold ! the young man shook and trembled; then he rose to
his feet and, rejoicing at his deliverance, cried aloud, “ I testify
that there is no god but the God, an$ in very truth Mohammed
is His Apostle, whom Allah bless and keep ! ” Then she said to
him, “ Go forth and return not hither, for if thou do I will surely
slay thee; ” screaming these words in his face. So he went from
between her hands; and she returned to the dome and, going down
to the sepulchre, she said, " O my lord, come forth to me that I
may look upon thee and thy goodliness! ” The King replied in
faint low words, “ What 1 thing hast thou done ? Thou hast rid
me of the branch but not of the -root.” She asked, “ O my dar¬
ling ! O my negroling! what is the root ? ” And he answered,
“ Fie on thee, O my cuss! The people of this city and of the four
islands every night when it’s half passed lift their heads from the
tank in which thou hast turned them to fishes and cry to Heaven
and call down its anger on me and thee; and this is the reason

1 Here we have the vulgar Egyptian colloquialism “ Aysh” (== Ayyu shayyin) for the
classical “ Mi ” = what.

Alf Laylah wet Laylah,

why. my body’s baulked from health. Go at once and set them
free; then come to me and take my hand, and raise me up, for a
little strength is already back in me.” When she heard the King’s
words (and she still supposed him to be the slave) she cried joy¬
ously, “ O my master, on my head and on my eyes be thy com¬
mand, Bismillah 1 ! ” So she sprang to her feet and, full of joy
and gladness, ran down to the tarn and look a little of its water

in the palm of her hand-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of

day and ceased to say her permitted say.

j&oto fof)cn ft foas tfre jStntf) Jifgftt,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
young woman, the sorceress, took in hand some of the tarn-water
and spake over it words not to be understood, the fishes lifted
their heads and stood up on the instant like men, the spell on the
people of the city having been removed. What was the lake again
became a crowded capital; the bazars were thronged with folk who
bought and sold ; each citizen was occupied with his own calling
and the four hills became islands as they were whilome. Then the
young woman, that wicked sorceress, returned to the King and
(still thinking he was the negro) said to him, “ O my love! stretch
forth thy honoured hand that I may assist thee to rise." “ Nearer
to me,” quoth the King in a faint and feigned tone. She eatne
close as to embrace him when he took up the sword lying hid by
his side and smote her across the breast, so that the point showed
gleaming behind her back. Then he smote her a second time and
cut her in twain and cast her to the ground in two halves. After
which he fared forth and found the young man, now freed from
the spell, awaiting him and gave him joy of his happy release
while the Prince kissed his hand with abundant thanks. Quoth
the King, “ Wilt thou abide in this city or go with me to my
capital ? ” Quoth the youth, “ O King of the age, wottest thou
not what journey is between thee and thy city ? ” “Two days
and a half,” answered he ; whereupon said the other, “ An thou
be sleeping, O King, awake ! Between thee and thy city is a
year’s march for a well-girt walker, and thou haddest not come
hither in two days and a half save that the city was under en¬
chantment. And I, O King, will never part from thee; no, not

1 “In the name of Allah ! ” here said before taking action.

Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni. 8f

even for the twinkling of an eye/’ The King rejoiced at his
words and said, “ Thanks be to Allah who hath bestowed thee
upon me ! From this hour thou art my son and my only son, for
that in all my life I have never been blessed with issue.” There¬
upon they embraced and joyed with exceeding great joy; and,
reaching the palace, the Prince who had been spell-bound in¬
formed his lords and his grandees that he was about to visit the
Holy Places as a pilgrim, and bade them get ready all things
necessary for the occasion. The preparations lasted ten days,
after which he set out with the Sultan, whose heart burned in
yearning for his city whence he had been absent a whole twelve-
month. They journeyed with an escort of Mamelukes * 1 carrying
all manners of precious gifts and rarities, nor stinted they way¬
faring day and night for a full year until they approached the
Sultan’s capital, and sent on messengers to announce their coming.
Then the Wazir and the whole army came out to meet him in joy
and gladness, for they had given up all hope of ever seeing their
King; and the troops kissed the ground before him and wished him
joy of his safety. He entered and took seat upon his throne and
the Minister came before him and, when acquainted with all that
had befallen the young Prince, he congratulated him on his narrow
escape. When order was restored throughout the land the King
gave largesse to many of his people, and said to the Wazir,
“ Hither the Fisherman who brought us the fishes!” So he sent
for the man who had been the first cause of the city and the
citizens being delivered from enchantment and, when he came into
the presence, the Sultan bestowed upon him a dress of honour, and
questioned him of his condition and whether he had children.
The Fisherman gave him to know that he had two daughters and
a son, so the King sent for them and, taking one daughter to wife,
gave the other to the young Prince and made the son his head-
treasurer. Furthermore he invested his Wazir with the Sultanate

1 Arab. “ Mamhik ” (plur. Mamalik) lit. a chattel; and in The Nights a white slave
trained to arms. The “ Mameluke Beys ” of Egypt were locally called the “ Ghuz2 ,f

I use the convenient word in ils old popular sense ;

’Tis sung, there’s a valiant Mameluke
In foreign lands ycleped (Sir Luke )—

Hudibras.

And hence, probably, Moliere’s “ Mamamouchi and the modern French use “Man*’
luc.” See Savary’s Letters, No. xl.

VOL. I.

Alf Laylah wa Laylah,

of the City in the Black Islands whilome belonging to the young
Prince, and dispatched with, him the escort of fifty armed slaves
together with dresses of honour for all the Emirs and Grandees.
The Wazir kissed hands and fared forth on his way ; while the
Sultan and the Prince abode at home in all the solace and the delight
of life; and the Fisherman became the richest man of his age, and
his daughters wived with the Kings, until death came to them.
And yet, O King! this is not more wondrous than the story of

THE PORTER AND THE THREE LADIES OF BAGHDAD.

ONCE upon a time there was a Porter in Baghdad, who was a
bachelor and who would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a
certain day, as he stood about the street leaning idly upon his crate,
behold, there stood before him an honourable woman in a mantilla
of Mosul 1 silk, broidered with gold and bordered with brocade ;
her walking-shoes were also purfled with gold and her hair floated
in long plaits. She raised her face-veil 2 and, showing two black
eyes fringed with jetty lashes, whose glances were soft and lan¬
guishing and whose perfect beauty was ever blandishing, she
accosted the Porter and said in the suavest tones and choicest
language, “Take up thy crate and follow me.” The Porter was so
dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard her aright, but he
shouldered his basket in hot haste saying in himself, “ O day of
good luck ! O day of Allah’s grace !” and walked after her till she
stopped at the door of a house. There she rapped, and presently
came out to her an old man, a Nazarene, to whom she gave a gold
piece, receiving from him in return what she required of strained
wine clear as olive oil ; and she set it safely in the hamper, saying,
“ Lift and follow.” Quoth the Porter, “ This, by Allah, is indeed
an auspicious day, a day propitious for the granting of all a man
wisheth.” He again hoisted up the crate and followed her ; till she

1 The name of this celebrated successor of Nineveh, where some suppose The Nights
were written, is orig. Mccro7rvA.ai (middle-gates) because it stood on the way where four
great highways meet. The Arab, form “ Mausil ” (the vulgar “ Mosul”) is also signifi¬
cant, alluding to the “junction ” of Assyria and Babylonia. Hence our “ muslin.”

2 This is Mr. Thackeray’s “nose-bag.” I translate by “walking-shoes” the Arab
“ Khuff ” which are a manner of loose boot covering the ankle ; they are not usually
embroidered, the ornament being reserved for the inner shoe.

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad.

stopped at a fruiterer’s shop and bought from him Shami 1 apples
and Osmani quinces and Omani 2 peaches, and cucumbers of Nile
growth, and Egyptian limes and Sultani oranges and citrons;
besides Aleppine jasmine, scented myrtle berries, Damascene
nenuphars, flower of privet 3 and camomile, blood-red anemones,
violets, and pomegranate-bloom, eglantine and narcissus, and set
the whole in the Porter’s crate,saying, “Up with it.” So he lifted and
followed her till she stopped at a butcher’s booth and said, “ Cut me
off ten pounds of mutton.” She paid him his price and he wrapped it
in a banana-leaf, whereupon she laid it in the crate and said “ Hoist,
O Porter.” He hoisted accordingly, and followed her as she walked
on till she stopped at a grocer’s, where she bought dry fruits and
pistachio-kernels, Tihamah raisins, shelled almonds and all wanted
for dessert, and said to the Porter, “ Lift and follow me.” So he up
with his hamper and after her till she stayed at the confectioner’s,
and she bought an earthen platter, and piled it with all kinds of
sweetmeats in his shop, open-worked tarts and fritters scented with
musk and “ soap-cakes,” and lemon-loaves and melon-preserves, 4
and “Zaynab’s combs,”and “ladies’ fingers,’’and “Kazi’s tit-bits”and
goodies of every description ; and placed the platter in the Porter’s

* i.a Syria (says Abulfeda) the “land on the left ” (of one facing the east) as opposed
to Al-Yaman the “land on the right.” Osmani would mean Turkish, Ottoman. When
Bernard the Wise (Bohn, p. 24) speaks of “ Bagada and Axiam ” (Mabillon’s text)
or “Axinarri” (still worse), he means Baghdad and Ash-Sham (Syria, Damascus),
the latter word puzzling his Editor. Richardson (Dissert, lxxii.) seems to support a
hideous attempt to derive Sham from Shamat, a mole or wart, because the country
is studded with hillocks \ Al-Sham is often applied to Damascus-city whose proper
name Dimishk belongs to books: this term is generally derived from Dimashik b. Kili
b. Malik b. Sham -(Shem). Lee (Ibn Batutah, 29) denies that ha-Dimishki means
“ Eliezer of Damascus.”

2 From Oman = Eastern Arabia.

3 Arab. “Tamar Hanna” lit. date of Henna, but applied to the dower of the eastern
privet (Lawsonia inermis) which has the sweet scent of freshly mown hay. The use of
Henna as a dye is known even in England. The “ myrtle ” alluded to may either have
been for a perfume (as it is held an anti-intoxicant) or for eating, the bitter aromatic
berries of the “As ” being supposed to flavour wine and especially Raki (raw brandy).

* Lane (i. 211) pleasantly remarks, “A list of these sweets is given in my original,
but I have thought it better to omit the names” (!) Dozy does not shirk his duty, but
he is not much more satisfactory in explaining words interesting to students because they
are unfound in dictionaries and forgotten by the people “ Akris ” (cakes) Laymunfyah
(of limes) wa Maymuniyah ” appears in the Bresl. Edit, as “ Ma’amuniyah” which may
mean “Ma’amun’s cakes” or '“delectable cakes.” “Amsh£t”=(combs) perhaps refers
to a fine kind of Kunafah (vermicelli) known in Egypt and Syria as “Ghazl al-banat”
—girl’s spinning.

8 4

A If Laylah wa Lay /ah.

crate. Thereupon quoth he (being a merry man), u Thou shouldest
have told me, and I would have brought with me a pony or a she*
camel to carry all this market-stuff.” She smiled and gave him a
little cuff on the nape saying, " Step out and exceed not in words t
for (Allah willing!) thy wage will not be wanting.” Then she
stopped at a perfumer’s and took from him ten sorts of waters, rose
scented with musk, orange-flower, water-lily, willow-flower, violet
and five others; and she also bought two loaves of sugar, a bottle
for perfume-spraying, a lump of male incense, aloe-wood, ambergris
and musk, with candles of Alexandria wax ; and she put the whole
into the basket, saying, “ Up with thy crate and after me.” He did
so and followed until she stood before the greengrocer’s, of whom
she bought pickled safflower and olives, in brine and in oil; with
tarragon and cream-cheese and hard Syrian cheese ; and she stowed
them away in the crate saying to the Porter, “ Take up-thy basket
and follow me.” He did so and went after her till she came to a
fair mansion fronted by a spacious court, a tall, fine place to which
columns gave strength and grace: and the gate thereof had two
leaves of ebony inlaid with plates of red gold. The lady stopped
at the door and, turning her face-veil sideways, knocked softly with
her knuckles whilst the Porter stood behind her, thinking of naught
save her beauty and loveliness. Presently the door swung back
and both leaves were opened, whereupon he looked to see who had
opened it; and behold, it was a lady of tall figure, some five feet
high; a model of beauty and loveliness, brilliance and symmetry
and perfect grace. Her forehead was flower-white; her cheeks like
the anemone ruddy bright; her eyes were those of the wild heifer
or the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent-moon which ends
Sha’abdn and begins Ramazdn j 1 her mouth was the ring of
Sulayman, 2 * her lips coral-red, and her teeth like a line of strung
pearls or of camomile petals. Her throat recalled the antelope’s,
and her breasts, like two pomegranates of even size, stood at
bay as it were ; s her body rose and fell in waves below her dress
like the rolls of a piece of brocade, and her navel 4 would hold an

* The new moon carefully looked for by all Moslems because it begins the Ramazin-fast.

* Solomon’s signet ring has before been noticed.

* The ** high-bosomed ” damsel, with breasts firm as a cube, is a favourite with Arab
tale-tellers. Fanno baruffa is the Italian term for hard breasts pointing outwards.

4 A large hollow navel is looked upon not only as a beauty, but ia children it is held a

promise of good growth.

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad . 85 ,,

ounce of benzoin ointment. In fine she was like her of whom the
poet said:—

On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight «* Enjoy her flower-like face, her
fragrant light :

Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black o Beauty encase a brow so purely
white :

The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim o Though fail her name whose
beauties we indite :

As sways her gait I smile at hips so big o And weep to see the waist they bear
so slight.

When the Porter looked upon her his wits were waylaid, and his
senses were stormed so that his crate went nigh to fall from his
head, and he said to himself, “ Never have I in my life seen a day
more blessed than this day ! ” Then quoth the lady-portress to the
Iady-cateress, “ Come in from the gate and relieve this poor man of
his load.” So the provisioner went in followed by the portress and
the Porter and went on till they reached a spacious ground-floor
hall, 1 built with admirable skill and beautified with all manner
colours and carvings; with upper balconies and groined arches and
galleries and cupboards and recesses whose curtains hung before
them. In the midst stood a great basin full of water surrounding
a fine fountain, and at the upper end on the raised dais was a
couch of juniper-wood set with gems and pearls, with a canopy
like mosquito-curtains of red satin-silk looped up with pearls as
big as filberts and bigger. Thereupon sat a lady bright of blee,
with brow beaming brilliancy, the dream of philosophy, whose eyes
were fraught with Babel’s gramarye 2 and her eyebrows were arched as
for archery ; her breath breathed ambergris and perfumery and her
lips were sugar to taste and carnelian to see. Her stature was
straight as the letter ) 3 and her face shamed the noon-sun’s radiancy;

1 Arab. “ Ka’ah,” a high hall opening upon the central court : we shall find the
word used for a mansion, barrack, men’s quarters, etc.

2 BabelrzGate of God (El), or Gate of Ilu (P.N. of God), which the Jews ironically
interpreted “Confusion.” The tradition of Babylonia being the very centre of witch¬
craft and enchantment by means of its Seven Deadly Spirits, has survived in Al-lslam ;
the two fallen angels (whose names will occur) being confined in a well; Nimrod at¬
tempting to reach Heaven from the Tower in a magical car drawn by monstrous birds
and so forth. See p. 114, Francois Lenormant’s “Chaldean Magic,” London, Bagsters.

3 Arab. “ Kamat Alfiyyah ” rz: like the letter Alif, a straight perpendicular stroke.
In the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the origin of every alphabet (not syllabarium) known to
man, one form was a flag or leaf of water-plant standing upright. Hence probably the
Arabic Alif-shape ; while other nations preferred other modifications of the letter (ox’s
head, etc.), which in Egyptian number some thirty-six varieties, simple and compound*

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

and she was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden marquetry or
a bride displayed in choicest finery or a noble maid of Araby. 1 2
Right well of her sang the bard when he said :—

Her smiles twin rows of pearls display o Chamomile-buds or rimey spray
Her tresses stray as night let down o And shames her light the dawn o’ day.

2 The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with grace¬
ful swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon, when
she said to her sisters, " Why stand ye here ? take it down from
this poor man’s head ! ” Then the cateress went and stood before
him, and the portress behind him while the third helped them, and
they lifted the load from the Porter’s head ; and, emptying it of all
that was therein, set everything in its place. Lastly they gave him
two gold pieces, saying, “ Wend thy ways, O Porter.” But he went
not, for he stood looking at the ladies and admiring what uncommon
beauty was theirs, and their pleasant manners and kindly dispo¬
sitions (never had he seen goodlier) ; and he gazed wistfully at that
good store of wines and sweet-scented flowers and fruits and other
matters. Also he marvelled with exceeding marvel, especially to
see no man irt the place and delayed his going ; whereupon quoth
the eldest lady, “ What aileth thee that goest not; haply thy wage
be too little ? ” And, turning to her sister the cateress, she said,
“ Give him another dinar! ” But the Porter answered, “ By A^ah,
my lady, it is not for the wage ; my hire is never more than two
dirhams ; but in very sooth my heart and my soul are taken up
with you and your condition. I wonder to see you single with
ne’er a man about you and not a soul to bear you company ; and
well you wot that the minaret toppleth o’er unless it stand upon
four, and you want this same fourth ; and women’s pleasure with¬
out man is short of measure, even as the poet said :—

Seest not we want for joy four things all told o The harp and lute, the flute and
flageolet;

And be they companied with scents four-fold o Rose, myrtle, anemone and
violet;

Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withold o Good wine and youth and
gold and pretty pet.

1 I have not attempted to order this marvellous confusion of metaphors so charac»
teristic of The Nights and the exigencies of Al-Saj’ar= rhymed prose.

2 Here and elsewhere I omit the “kdla (dice Turpino)" of the original: Torrens
preserves “Thus goes the tale” (which it only interiupts). This is simply letter-'»osc
and sense-foolish.

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad.

You be three and want a fourth who shall be a person of good
sense and prudence; smart witted, and one apt to keep careful
counsel.” His words pleased and amused them much ; and they
laughed at him and said, “ And who is to assure us of that ? We
are maidens and we fear to entrust our secret where it may not be
kept, for we have read in a certain chronicle the lines of one I bn
al-Sumam:—

Hold last thy secret and to none unfold © Lost is a secret when that secret's
told:

An fail thy breast thy secret to conceal © How canst thou hope another's breast
shall hold ?

And Abu Now&s 1 said well on the same subject:—

Who trusteth secret to another's hand o Upon his brow deserveth burn of
brand! * *

When the Porter heard their words he rejoined, “ By your lives !
I am a man of sense and a discreet, who hath read books and
perused chronicles ; I reveal the fair and conceal the foul and I act
as the poet ad vise th :—

None but the good a secret keep © And good men keep it unrevealed :

It is to me a well-shut house © With keyless locks and door ensealed."*

When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application ad¬
dressed to them they said, u Thou knowest that we have laid out
all our monies on this place. Now say, hast thou aught to offer us
in return for entertainment? For surely we will not suffer thee to
sit in our company and be our cup-companion, and gaze upon our
faces so fair and so rare without paying a round sum. 5 Wottest
thou not the saying:—

Sans hope of gain
Love’s not worth a grain?"

Whereto the lady-portress added, “ If thou bring anything thou
art a something; if no thing, be off with thee, thou art a nothing;”
but the procuratrix interposed, saying, “ Nay, O my sisters, leave

1 Of this worthy more at a future time.

• 4/., sealed with the Kazi or legal authority’s seal of office.

* **Nothing for nothing” is a fixed idea with the Eastern woman : not so much for

greed as for a sexual point cThontuiir when dealing with the adversary—man.

Alf Laylah wa Laylak .

teasing him, for by Allah he hath not failed us this day, and had
he been other he never had kept patience with me, so whatever be
his shot and scot I will take it upon myself.” The Porter, over¬
joyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her saying, “ By
Allah, these monies are the first fruits this day hath given me.”
Hearing this they said, “Sit thee down and welcome to thee,” and
the eldest lady added, “ By Allah, we may not suffer thee to join
us save on one condition, and this it is, that no questions be asked
as to what concemeth thee not, and frowardness shall be soundly
flogged.” Answered the Porter, “ “ I agree to this, O my lady, on
my head and my eyes be it! Lookye, I am dumb, I have n.o
tongue.” Then arose the provisioneress and tightening her girdle
set the table by the fountain and put the flowers and sweet herbs
in their jars, and strained the wine and ranged the flasks in row
and made ready every requisite. Then sat she down, she and her
sisters, placing amidst them the Porter who kept deeming himself
in a dream ; and she took up the wine flagon, and poured out the
first cup and drank it off, and likewise a second and a third. 1
After this she filled a fourth cup which she handed to one of her
sisters ; and, lastly, she crowned a goblet and passed it to the
Porter, saying:—

Drink the dear draught, drink free and fain o What healeth every grief and
pain.

He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best
thanks and improvised :—

Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend o A man of worth whose good old
blood all know:

For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet o And stinks when over
stench it haply blow :

Adding:—

Drain not the bowl, save from dear hand like thine o The cup recalls thy giftsj
thou, gifts of wine.

1 She drinks first, the custom of the universal East, to show that the wine she had
bought was unpoisoned. Easterns, who utterly ignore the “social glass*’ of Western
ci rilisation, drink honestly to get drunk; and, when far gone are addicted to horse*play (in
Pers, “ Bad mas ti ’* = & vin mauvais) which leads to quarrels and bloodshed. Hence it
is held highly irreverent to assert of patriarchs, prophets and saints that they “ drank
wine;** end Moslems agree with our “Teatotallers ” in denying that, except in the case
Noah, inchoatives are anywhere mentioned »n Holy Writ.

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad I 89

After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and
was drunk and sat swaying from side to side and pursued>

All drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean o Doth hold save one, the Hood-
shed of the vine :

Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won o Thou fawn 1.awillingna;
som for those eyne.

Then the cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the portress,'who
took it from her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she
poured again and passed to the eldest lady who sat on the couch,
and filled yet another and handed it to the Porter. He kissed the
ground before them; and, after drinking and thanking the m, h e
again began to recite:—

Here! Here! by Allah, here! o Cups of the sweet, the deayt
Fill me a brimming bowl o The Fount o* life I speer

Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and
said, “ O lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, thy
very bondsman and he began reciting:—

A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door o Lauding thy generous boons and
gifts galore:

Beauty I may he come in awhile to ^joy o Thy charms ? for Love and I part
nevermore 1

She said to him, “ Drink ;* and health and happiness attend thy
drink.” So he took the cup and kissed her hand and recited these
lines in sing-song:—

I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks • Blushed red or flame from
furnace flaring up :

She bussed the brim and said with many a smile • How durst thou deal folk 1 *
cheek for folk to sup ?

* Drink I * (sard I) M these are tears of mine whose tinct • Is heart-blood sighs
have bolted in the cup. 1 *

She answered him in the following couplet

m An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed o Suffer me sup them, by thy
head and eyes I ”

Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sisters' health,

A If Laylak wa Laylah.

and they ceased not drinking (the Porter being in the midst of
them), and dancing and laughing and reciting verses and singing
ballads and ritornellos. All this time the Porter was carrying on
with them, kissing, toying, biting, handling, groping, fingering;
whilst one thrust a dainty morsel in his mouth, and another slapped
him ; and this cuffed his cheeks, and that threw sweet flowers at
him; and he was in the very paradise of pleasure, as though he
were sitting in the seventh sphere among the Houris 1 of Heaven.
They ceased not doing after this fashion until the wine played
tricks in their heads and worsted their wits; and, when the drink
got the better of them, the portress stood up and doffed her clothes
till she was mother-naked. However, she let down her hair about
her body by way of shift, and throwing herself into the basin dis¬
ported herself and dived like a duck and swam up and down, and
took water in her mouth, and spurted it all over the Porter, and
washed her limbs; and between her breasts, and inside her thighs
and all around her navel. Then she came up out of the cistern
and throwing herself on the Porter's lap said, “ O my lord, O my
love, what callest thou this article?" pointing to her slit, her
solution of continuity. “ I call that thy cleft," quoth the Porter,
and she rejoined, “ Wah f wah! art thou not ashamed to use such a
word ? ” and she caught him by the collar and soundly cuffed him.
Said he again, “ Thy womb, thy vulva; ” and she struck him a
second slap crying, “ O fie, O fie, this is another ugly word ; is
there no shame in thee ? ” Quoth he, " Thy coynte; ” and she
cried, “ O thou ! art wholly destitute of modesty ? ” and thumped
him and bashed him. Then cried the Porter, “Thy clitoris,” 2
whereat the eldest lady came down upon him with a yet sorer
beating, and said, “No;” and he said, “’Tis so,” and the Porter
went on calling the same commodity by sundry other names, but
whatever he said they beat him more and more till his neck ached
and swelled with the blows he had gotten; and on this wise they
made him a butt and a laughing-stock. At last he turned upon
them asking, “And what do you women call this article ? ” Whereto

1 Arab. “ Hur al-Ayn,” lit. (maids) with eyes of lively white and black, applied to
the virgins of Paradise who will wive with the happy Faithful. I retain our vulgar
“Houri,” warning the reader that it is a masc. for a fem. (“Huriyah”) in Arab,
although accepted in Persian, a genderless speech.

a Arab. “Zambur," whose head is amputated in female circumcision. See Night
cccdxxiv.

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad\ 91

the damsel made answer, “ The basil of the bridges.” 1 Cried the
Porter, 44 Thank Allah for my safety: aid me and be thou pro¬
pitious, 0 basil of the bridges! ” They passed round the cup and
tossed off the bowl again, when the second lady stood up; and,
stripping off all her clothes, cast herself into the cistern and did as
the first had done; then she came out of the water and throwing
her naked form on the Porter’s lap pointed to her machine and
said, 44 O light of mine eyes, do tell me what is the name of this
concern ? M He replied as before, 44 Thy slit; ” and she rejoined,
m Hath such term no shame for thee ? ” and cuffed him and
buffeted him till the saloon rang with the blows. Then quoth she,
44 O fie! O fie! how canst thou say this without blushing ? ” He
suggested, 44 The basil of the bridges; ” but she would not have it
and she said, 44 No! no!” and struck him and slapped him on the
back of the neck. Then he began calling out all the names he
knew, 44 Thy slit, thy "womb, thy coynte, thy clitoris ; ” and the
girls kept on saying, 44 No! no!" So he said, 44 1 stick to the
basil of the bridges;” and all the three laughed till they fell on
their backs and laid slaps on his neck and said, 44 No! no! that’s
not its proper name.” Thereupon he cried, 44 O my sisters, what is
its name ? ” and they replied, 44 What sayest thou to the husked
sesame-seed ? ” Then the catferess donned her clothes and they’ fell
again to carousing, but the Porter kept moaning, 44 Oh ! and Oh ! ”
for his neck and shoulders, and the cup passed merrily round and
round again for a full hour. After that time the eldest and hand¬
somest lady stood up and stripped off her garments, whereupon
the Porter took his neck in band, and rubbed and shampoo’d
it, saying, 44 My neck and shoulders are on the way of Allah!
Then she threw herself into the basin, and swam and dived,
sported and washed; and the Porter looked at her naked figure
as though she had been a slice of the moon 3 and at her face with
the sheen of Luna when at full, or like the dawn when it bright-
eneth, and he noted her noble stature and shape, and those

1 Ocyroum * basilicum noticed in Introduction; the bassilico of Boccaccio hr. 5 * 'The
Book of KalEah and Dimnah represents it as 44 sprouting with something also whose
smell is foul and disgusting and the sower at once sets to gather H and bum it with fire. 44
(The Fables of Bidpai translated from the later Syriac version by I. C. N. Keith-
Falconer, etc., etc., etc., Cambridge University Press, 1885). Here, ho w e ver, Habit
ira pennyroyal {mentka pttligium ), and probably alludes to the pectea*.

9 iu. common property for all to beat
* 44 A digit of the moon '* is the Hindu equivalent*,

A If Laylah v a Lay lah*

glorious forms that quivered as she went; for she was naked as
the Lord made her. Then he cried “ Alack ! Alack ! ” and began
to address her, versifying in these couplets :—

M If I liken thy shape to the bough when green o My likeness errs and I sore
mistake it;

For the bough is fairest when clad the most • And thou art fairest when
mother-naked.* *

When the lady heard his verses she came up out of the basin and,
seating herself upon his lap and knees, pointed to her genitory and
said, “ O my lordling, what be the name of this ? ” Quoth he, “ The
basil of the bridgesbut she said, “ Bah, bah ! ” Quoth he, “ The
husked sesame ; ” quoth she, “ Pooh, pooh ! ” Then said he, “ Thy
womb;" and she cried, “Fie, Fie! art thou not ashamed of
thyself?” and cuffed him on the nape of the neck. And whatever
name he gave declaring “Tis so,” she beat him and cried “No!
no! ” till at last he said, “ O my sisters, and what is its name ? ”
She replied, “ It is entitled the Khan 1 of Abu Mansur; ” whereupon
the Porter replied, “ Ha! ha! O Allah be praised for safe deliver¬
ance ! O Khan of Abu Mansur! ” Then she came forth and
dressed and the cup went round a full hour. At last the Porter
rose up, and stripping off all his clothes, jumped into the tank and
swam about and washed under his bearded chin and armpits, even
as they had done. Then he came out and threw himself into the
first lady’s lap and rested his arms upon the lap of the portress,
and reposed his legs in the lap of the cateress and pointed to his
prickle 2 and said, “O my mistresses, what is the name of this
article ? ” All laughed at his words till they fell on their backs,
and one said, “ Thy pintle ! ” But he replied, “ No ! ” and gave
each one of them a bite by way of forfeit. Then said they, “ Thy

pizzle!”'but he cried “No,” and gave each of them a hug'-

And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

1 Better known to us as Caravanserai, the “Travellers’ Bungalow ** of India : in the
Khan, however, shelter is to be had, but neither bed nor board.

* Arab. “ Zubb.” I would again note that this and its synonyms are the equivalents
of the Arabic, which is of the lowest. The tale-teller’s evident object is to accentuate

the contrast with the tragical stories to follow.^

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad .

jBofo tofren (t teas t it 2Fcnt!)

Quoth her sister Dunyazad, “ Finish for us thy story; ” and she
answered, “ With joy and goodly gree.” It hath reached me, O
auspicious King, that the damsels stinted not saying to the Porter
" Thy prickle, thy pintle, thy pizzle,” and he ceased not kissing and
biting and hugging until his heart was satisfied, and they laughed
on till they could no more. At last one said, “ O our brother, what,
then, is it called ? ” Quoth he, " Know ye not ? ” Quoth they,.
“ No!” “ Its veritable name,” said he, "is mule Burst-all, which
browseth on the basil of the bridges, and muncheth the husked
sesame, and nighteth in the Khan of Abu Mansur.” Then laughed
they till they fell on their backs, and returned to their carousal, and
ceased not to be after this fashion till night began to fall. Thereupon
said they to the Porter, “ Bismillah, 1 O our master, up and on with
those sorry old shoes, of thine and turn thy face and show us the
breadth of thy shoulders 1 ” Said he, “ By Allah, to part with my
soul would be easier for me than departing from you: come let us
join night to day, and to-morrow morning we will each wend our own
way.” “My life on you,” said the procuratrix, “suffer him to tarry
with us, that we may laugh at him: we may live out our lives and
never meet with his like, for surely he is a right merry rogue and a
witty.” 2 3 * So they said, “Thou must not remain with us this night
save on condition' that thou submit to our commands, and that
whatso thou seest, thou ask no questions thereanent, nor enquire of
its cause.” “ All right, 0 rejoined he, and they said, “ Go read the
writing over the door.” So he rose and went to the entrance and
there found written in letters of gold wash ; WHOSO SPEAICETH OF
WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT, SHALL HEAR WHAT PLEASETH
HIM NOT ! ” 5 The Porter said, “ Be ye witnesses against me that I

1 M In the name of Allah,** is here a civil form of dismissal.

• Lane (l 124) is scandalized and naturally enough by this scene, which is the only blot
in an admirable tale admirably told. Yet even here the grossness is but little more pro*
nounced than what we find in our old drama [c.g. t Shakspeare’s King Henry V.) written for
the stage, whereas tales like The Nights are not read or recited before both sexes. Lastly
“ nothing follows all this palming work : ” in Europe the orgie would end very differently.
These “ nuns of Theleme ” are physically pure: their debauchery is of the mind, not the
body. Galland makes them five, including the two doggesses.

3 So Sir Francis Walsingham*s “ They which do that they should not, should hoar that

they v/cmld not.*'

Alf Laylah wa Laylak .

will not speak on whatso concemeth me not” Then the cateress
arose > and set food before them and they ate; after which they
changed their drinking-place for another, and she lighted the lamps
and candles and burned ambergris and aloes-wood, and set on fresh
fruit and the wine service, when they fell to carousing and talking
of their lovers. And they ceased, not to eat and drink and chat,
nibbling dry fruits and laughing and playing tricks for the space of
a full hour when lo! a knock was heard at the gate. The knocking
in no wise disturbed the seance, but one of them rose and went to
see what it was and presently returned, saying, “Truly our pleasure
for this night is to be perfect.” “ How is that ? ” asked they; and
she answered, “At the gate be three Persian Kalandars 1 with their
beards and heads and eyebrows shaven ; and all three blind of the
left eye—which is surely a strange chance. They are foreigners
from Roum-land with the mark of travel plain upon them; they
have just entered Baghdad, this being their first visit to our city;
and the cause of their knocking at our door is simply because they
cannot find a lodging. Indeed one of them said to me:—Haply
the owner of this mansion will let us have the key of his stable or
some old out-house wherein we may pass this night; for evening had
surprised them and, being strangers in the land, they knew none
who would give them shelter. And, O my sisters, each of them is
a figure o’ fun after his own fashion; and if we let them in we shall
have matter to make sport of.” She gave not over persuading
them till they said to her, “ Let them in, and make thou the usual
condition with them that they speak not of what concerneth them
not, lest they hear what pleaseth them not.” So she rejoiced and
going to the door presently returned with the three monoculars

1 The old “ Calendar,’* pleasantly*associated with that form of almanac. The Mac.
Edit, has “ Karan dally ah,” a vile corruption, like Ibn Batutah’s “Karandar:” and
Torrens’ “ Kurundul: ” so in English we have the accepted vulgarism of “ Kernel ” for
Colonel. The Bui. Edit, uses for synonym “ Su’uluk ” =r an asker, a beggar. Of these
mendicant monks, for such they are, much like the Sarabaites of mediaeval Europe, I have
treated, and of their institutions and its founder, Shaykh Sharif Bu Ali Kalandar (ob.
A.H. 724= 1323-24), at some length in my “ History of Sindh,” chapt. viii. See also
the Dabistan (i, 136) where the good Kalandar exclaims :—

If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!

But how sorely I feel for the poor broken thorn !

D’Herbelot is right when he says that the Kalandar is not generally approved by Moslems :
he labours to win free from every form and observance and he approaches the Malamati
who conceals all his good deeds and boasts of his evil doings—ou* “ Devil’s hypocrite.”

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad\ 95

whose beards and mustachios were clean shaven. 1 They salam’d and
stood afar off by way of respect; but the three ladies rose up to them
and welcomed them and wished them joy of their safe arrival and
made them sit down. The Kalandars looked at the room and saw ,
that it was a pleasant place, clean swept and garnished with flowers;
and the lamps were burning and the smoke of perfumes was spireing
in air; and beside the dessert and fruits and wine, there were three
fair girls who might be maidens ; so they exclaimed with one voice,

“ By Allah, ’tis good ! ” Then they turned to. the Porter and saw
that he was a merry-faced wight, albeit he was by no means sober
and was sore after his slappings. So they thought that he was one
of themselves and said, “ A mendicant like us! whether Arab or
foreigner.” 2 But when the Porter heard these words, he rose up,
.and fixing his eyes fiercely upon them, said, “ Sit ye here without
[exceeding in talk! Have you not read what is writ over the door?
[surely it befitteth not fellows who come to us like paupers to wag
fyour tongues at us.” w We crave thy pardon, O Fakir,” 3 rejoined
they, “and our heads are between thy hands.” The ladies laughed
^pnsumedly at the squabble; and, making peace between the
j^alandars and the Porter, seated the new guests before meat and
r tney ate. Then they sat together, and the portress served them
with drink; and, as the cup went round merrily, quoth the Porter
to the askers, “And you, O brothers mine, have ye no story or
rare adventure to amuse us withal ? ” Now the warmth of wine
having mounted to their heads they called for musical infetru* *
ments; and the portress brought them a tambourine of Mosul,
and a lute of Irdk, and a Persian harp; and each mendicant
took one and tuned it; this the tambourine and those the lute
and the harp, and struck up a merry tune while the ladies sang
so lustily that there was a great noise. 4 And whilst they were*
carrying on, behold, some one knocked at the gate, and the
portress went to see what was the matter there. Now the cause
of that knocking, O King (quoth Shahrazad) was this, the Caliph,
Hdrun al-Rashfd, had gone forth from the palace, as was his wont

s The “ Kalandar” disfigures himself in this manner to show “ mortification.”

* Arab. “Gharib-” the porter is offended because the word implies “poor devil
csp. one out of his own country..
f A religious mendicant generally.

' Very scandalous to Moslem “respectability”: Mohammed said the house was
accursed when the voices of women could be heard out of doors. Moreover the neigh¬
bours have a right to interfere and abate the scandal.

Alf Laylah wa Laylah .

now and then, to solace himself in the city that night, and to see
and hear what new thing was stirring ; he was in merchant’s gear,
and he was attended by Ja’afar, his Wazir, and by Masrur his
Sw’order of Vengeance. 1 As they walked about the city, their way
led them towards the house of the three ladies ; where they heard
the loud noise of musical instruments and singing and merriment;
so quoth the Caliph to Ja’afar, “I long to enter this house and
hear those songs and see who sing them. ,> Quoth Ja* *ufar, “O
Prince of the Faithful; these folk are surely drunken with wine,
and I fear some mischief betide us if we get amongst them."
4< There is no help but that I go in there," replied the Caliph, “and
I desire thee to contrive some pretext for our appearing among
them." Ja’afar replied, “I hear and I obey;’’ 2 and knocked at
the door, whereupon the portress came out and opened. Then
Ja’afar came forward and kissing the ground before her said, “ O
my lady, we be merchants from Tiberias-town: we arrived at
Baghdad ten days ago; and, alighting at the merchants’ caravan*
serai, we sold all our merchandise. Now a certain trader invited
us to an entertainment this night; so we went to his house and he
set food before us and we ate: then we sat at wine and wassail
with him for an hour or so when he gave us leave to depart; and
we went out from him in the shadow of the night and, being
strangers, we could not find our way back to our Khan. So haply
of your kindness and courtesy you will suffer us to tarry with you
this night, and Heaven will reward you!"* The portress looked
upon them and seeing them dressed like merchants and men of
grave looks and solid, she returned to her sisters and repeated to
them Ja’afar’s story; and they took compassion upon the strangers
and said to her, “ Let them enter." She opened the door to them,
when said they to her, i( Have we thy leave to come in ?" “ Come

in," quoth she; and the Caliph entered followed by Ja’afar anc
Masrur; and when the girls saw them they stood up to them in
respect and made them sit down and looked to their wants, saying,
‘'Welcome, and well come and good cheer to the guests, but with

1 I need hardly say that these are both historical personages : they will often be men*
tioned, and Ja’afar will be noticed in the terminal Essay.

* Arab. “ Sama ’an wa ta’atan ; a popular phiase of assent generally translated u to
hear is to obey; ” but this formula may be and must be greatly varied. In places it means
“ Hearing (the word o( Allah) and obeying” (His prophet, vicoregent, etc.)

* Arab. ** Sawab’ 1 *— reward in Heaven. This word for which we have no equivalent

bas been naturalised in all tongues (e.y. Hindostani) spoken by Moslems.

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad\

9 /

one condition!" “What is that?” asked they, and one of the
ladies answered, “ Speak not of what concerneth you not, lest ye
hear what pleaseth you not." “Even so," said they ; and sat down
to their wine and drank deep. Presently the Caliph looked on the
three Kalandars and, seeing them each and every blind of the left
eye, wondered at the sight; then he gazed upon the girls and he
was startled and he marvelled with exceeding marvel at their
beauty and loveliness. They continued to carouse and to converse
and said to the Caliph, “ Drink !" but he replied, " I am vowed to
Pilgrimage ; V1 and drew back from the wine. Thereupon the
portress rose and spreading before him a table-cloth worked with
gold, set thereon a porcelain bowl into which she poured willow
flower water with a lump of snow and a spoonful of sugar-candy.
The Caliph thanked her and said in himself, “ By Allah, I will
recompense her to-morrow for the kind deed she hath done." The
others again addressed themselves to conversing and carousing ; and,
when the wine gat the better of them, the eldest lady who ruled
the house rose and making obeisance to them took the cateress by
the hand, and said, “ Rise, O my sister and let us do what is our
devoir.” Both answered “ Even so !" Then the portress stood up
and proceeded to remove the table-service and the remnants of the
banquet; and renewed the pastiles and cleared the middle of the
saloon. Then she made the Kalandars sit upon a sofa at the side
of the estrade, and seated the Caliph and Ja’afar and Masrur on
the other side of the saloon ; after which she called the Porter, and
said, “ How scant is thy courtesy ! now thou art no stranger ; nay,
thou art one of the household ” So he stood up and, tightening
his waist-cloth, asked, “ What would ye I do ? " and she answered,
“ Stand in thy place." Then the procuratrix rose and set in the
midst of the saloon a low chair and, opening a closet, cried to the
Porter, “Come help me," So he went to help her and saw two
black bitches with chains round their necks ; and she said to him,
“Take hold of them ;" and he took them and led them into the
middle of the saloon. Then the lady of the house arose and tucked
up her sleeves above her wrists and, seizing a scourge, said to the
Porter, “ Bring forward one of the bitches." He brought her for¬
ward, dragging her by the chain, while the bitch wept, and shook

1 Wine-drinking, at all times forbidden to Moslems, vitiates the Pilgrimage-rite : the
Pilgrim is vowed to a strict observance of the ceremonial law and many men date their
“reformation*’ from the “ Hajj.” Pilgrimage, iii., 126.

9 *

A If LaylaJi wa LaylaJu

her head at the lady who, however, came down upon her with blows
on the sconce ; and the bitch howled and the lady ceased not beating
her till her forearm failed her. Then, casting the scourge from her
hand, she pressed the bitch to her bosom and, wiping away her tears
with her hands, kissed her head. Then said she to the Porter,
" Take her away and bring the secondand, when he brought her,
she did with her as she had done with the first Now the heart of
the Caliph was touched at these cruel doings ; his chest straitened
and he lost all patience in his desire to know why the two bitches
were so beaten. He threw a wink at Jaafar wishing him to ask,
but the Minister turning towards him said by signs, “ Be silent 1 •
Then quoth the portress to the mistress of the house, “ O my lady,
arise and go *° thy place that I in turn may do my devoir.” 1 * * * 5 She
answered, " Even so”; and, taking her seat upon the couch of
juniper-wood, pargetted with gold and silver, said to the portress
and cateress, “ Now do ye what ye have to do.” Thereupon the
portress sat upon a low seat by the couch side; but the procuratrix,
entering a closet, brought out of it a bag of satin with green fringes
and two tassels of gold. She stood up before the lady of the house
and shaking the bag drew out from it a lute which she tuned by
tightening its pegs ; and when it was in perfect order, she began to
sing these quatrains

Ye are the wish, the aim of me • And when, 0 love, thy sight I see *

The heavenly mansion openeth ; * © But Hell I see when lost thy sight
From thee comes madness ; nor the less © Comes highest joy, comes ecstasy J
Nor in my love for thee I fear © Or shame and blame, or hate and spite.
When Love was throned within my heart © I rent the veil of modesty ;

And stints not Love to rend that veil © Garring disgrace on grace to alight p
The robe of sickness then I donned © But rent to rags was secrecy :
Wherefore my love and longing heart o Proclaim your high supremest might ;
The tear-drop railing adown my cheek © Telleth my tale of ignomy :

And all the hid was seen by all © And all my riddle ree’d aright

1 Here some change has been necessary; as the original text confuses the three

-ladies."

* In Arab, the plural masc is used by way of modesty when a girl addresses her lover *
and for the same reason she speaks of herself as a man.

5 Arab. “ Al-Na’im ; m full 44 Jannat al-Na’im ” = the Garden of Delights, i.e. the
fifth Heaven made of white silver. The generic name of Heaven (the place of reward)
is “Jannat,” lit a garden ; " Ftrdaus ** being evidently derived from the Persian through
the Greek irapaScuros, and meaning a chase, a hunting-park. Writers on this subject
should bear in mind Mandeville's modesty, 44 Of Paradise 1 cannot speak properly, for
I was not there.'*

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad .

Heal then my malady, for thou
But she whose cure is m thy hand
Burn me those eyne that radiance rain
How many hath the sword of Love
Yet will I never cease to pine
Love is my health, my faith, my joy
O happy eyes that sight thy charms
Yea, of my purest wish and will

© Art malady and remedy 1
© Shall ne’er be free of bane and blight;
© Slay me the swords of phantasy;
o Laid low, their high degree despite ?

When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains she cried out
'* Alas! ” Alas! ” and rent her raiment, and fell to the ground
.fainting; and the Caliph saw scars of the palm-rod 1 on her back
and welts of the whip ; and marvelled with exceeding wonder.
Then the portress arose and sprinkled water on her and brought
her a fresh and very fine dress and put it on her. But when the
company beheld these doings their minds were troubled* for they
had no inkling of the case nor knew the story thereof; so the
Caliph said to Ja’afar, “ Didst thou not see the scars upon the
damsel's body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till I learn
the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and
the secret of the two black bitches.” But Ja’afar answered, “0
our lord, they made it a condition with us that we speak not of
what concerneth us not, lest we come to hear what pleaseth us
not.” Then said the portress, “ By Allah, O my sister, come to
me and complete this service for me.” Replied the procuratrix,
“ With joy and goodly gree so she took the lute; and leaned it
against her breasts and swept the strings with her finger-tips, and
began singing:—

Give back mine eyes their sleep long ravished o And say me whither be my
reason fled :

I learnt that lending to thy love a place o Sleep to mine eyelids mortal foe
was made.

They said, “ We held thee righteous, who waylaid © Thy soul?” “ Go ask his
glorious eyes,” I said.

1 pardon all my blood he pleased to spill o Owning his troubles drove him
blood to shed.

On my mind’s mirror sun-like sheen he cast © Whose keen reflection fire in
vuals bred

Waters of Life let Allah w&6te at will © Suffice my wage those lips of dewy red :

1 Arab. “ Mikra’ah,” the dried mid-rib of a date-frond used for many purposes,
especially the bastinado.

IOO Alf Laylak wa Laylah.

An thou address my love thoult find a cause ©For plaint and tears or rath or
lustihed.

In water pure his form shall greet your eyne • When fails the bowl nor need
ye drink of wine. 1

Then she quoted from the same ode :—

I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wane ; © And his swaying gait swayed
to sleep these eyne :

Twas not grape-juice gript me but grasp of Past © Twas not bowl o’erbowled
me but gifts divine :

His coiling curl-lets my soul ennetted © And his cruel will all my

wits outwitted.* *

After a pause she resumed

If we ’plain of absence what shall we say ? © Or if pain afflict us where wend
our way ?

An I hire a truchman * to tell my tale o The lovers’ plaint is not told for pay :

If I put on patience, a lover’s life o After loss of love will not last a day :
Naught is left me now but regret, repine © And tears flooding cheeks for ever
and aye:

O thou who the babes of these eyes 4 hast fled • Thou art homed in heart that
shall never stray ;

Would heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact • Long as stream shall flow, to
have firmest fay ?

Or hast forgotten the weeping slave © Whom groans afflict and whom griefs
waylay ?

Ah, when severance ends and we side by side © Couch, I’ll blame thy rigours
and chide thy pride !

Now when the portress heard her second ode she shrieked aloud
and said, " By Allah! *tis right good 1 * ; and laying hands on her
garments tore them, as she did the first time, and fell to the
ground fainting. Thereupon the procuratrix rose and brought her
a second change of clothes after she had sprinkled water on her.
She recovered and sat upright and said to her sister the cateress,

1 According to Lane (i., 229) these and the immediately following verses are from an
ode by Ibn Sahl al-IshbilL They are in the Bui Edit, not the Mac. Edit.

* The original is full of conceits and plays on words which are not easily rendered in
English.

1 Arab. ** Tarjumdn,” same root as Chald. Targum (= a translation), the old

•* Truchman,” and through the Ital. ** tergomano ” our “ Dragoman here a messenger.

4 Lit. the ** person of the eyes,” our “ babe of the eyes,” a favourite poetical conceit
In all tongues; much used by the Elizabethans, but now neglected as a silly kind of
conceit See Night ccitu

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. lot

•Onwards, and help me in my duty, for there remains but this
one song.” So the provisioneress again brought out the lute and
began to sing these verses:—

How long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe • May not suffice thee
all these tears thou seest flow ?

Our parting thus with purpose fell thou dost prolong • Is* *t not enough to glad
the heart of envious foe ?

Were but this lying world once true to lover-heart o He had not watched the
weary night in tears of woe :

Ch pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will • My lord, my king, *tis time
some ruth to me thou show :

To whom reveal my wrongs, O thou who murdered me ? o Sad, who of broken
troth the pangs must undergo 1

Increase wild love for thee and phrenry hour by hour © And days of exile
minute by so long, so slow ;

O Moslems, claim vendetta 1 for this slave of Love • Whose sleep Love ever
wastes, whose patience Love lays low :

Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish 1 to lie • Lapt in another's arms and
unto me cry u Go 1 0 ?

Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy © When he I love but works
my love to overthrow ?

When the portress heard the third song she cried aloud; and,
laying hands on her garments, rent them down to the very skirt
and fell to the ground fainting a third time, again showing the
scars of the scourge. Then said the three Kalandars, " Would
Heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather nighted
on the mounds and heaps outside the city! for verily our visit
hath been troubled by sights which cut to the heart” The
Caliph turned to them and asked,* Why so?” and they made
answer, "Our minds are sore troubled by this mktter.” Quoth the
Caliph," Are ye not of the household ?” and quoth they," No ; nor
indeed did we ever set eyes on the place till within this hour.”
Hereat theC^diph marvelled and rejoined, “ This man who sitteth
by you, would he not know the secret of the matter ? ” and so
saying he winked and made signs at the Porter. So they ques¬
tioned the man but he replied," By the All-might of Allah, in love
all are alike! 1 lam the growth of Baghdad, yet never in my bora
days did I darken these doors till to-day and mycompanying with

1 Arab. ’“Sir** (Thir) the revenge-right recognised bylaw and custom (Pilgrimage,

B-t 69)

* That b “ We all twin is the same boat.'*

102

A If Lqylah wa Laylah .

them was a curious matter.” “ By Allah,” they rejoined," we took
thee for one of them and now we see thou art one like ourselves.'* *
Then said the Caliph, “ We be seven men, and they only three
women without even a fourth to help them; so let us question
them of their case; and, if they answer us not, fain we will ba
answered by force.” All of them agreed to this except Ja’afar
who said, 1 * This is not my recking ; let them be; for we are their
guests and, as ye know, they made a compact and condition with
us which we accepted and promised to keep: wherefore it is
better that we be silent concerning this matter ; and, as but little of
the night remaineth, let each and every of us gang his own gait.”
Then he winked at the Caliph and whispered to him, “ There is
but one hour of darkness left and I can bring them before thee
tc-morrow, when thou canst freely question them all concerning
their story.” But the Caliph raised his head haughtily and cried
out at him in wrath, saying, “ I have no patience left for my long*
ing to hear of them : let the Kalandars question them forthri ght.”
Quoth Ja’afar, “ This is not my rede.” Then words ran high and
talk answered talk , and they disputed as to who should first put
the question, but at last all fixed upon the Porter. And as the
jangle increased the house-mistress could not but notice it and
asked them, “ O ye folk! on what matter are ye talking so
loudly ? ” Then the Porter stood up respectfully before her and
said, “ O my lady, this company earnestly desire that thou ac¬
quaint them with the story of the two bitches and what maketh
thee punish them so cruelly; and then thou fallest to weeping over
them and kissing them ; and lastly they want to hear the tale of
thy sister and why she hath been bastinado’d with palm-sticks like
a man. These are the questions they charge me to put, and peace
be with thee.” 2 Thereupon quoth she who was the lady of the
house to^the guests , 1 * Is this true that he saith on your part ?”
and all replied, “Yes ! ” save Ja’afar who kept silence. When she
heard these words she cried, “ By Allah, ye have wronged us, O
our guests, with grievous wronging ; for when you came before us
we made compact and condition with you, that whoso should

1 Ja’afar ever acts, on such occasions, the part of a wise and sensible maD compelled
to join in a foolish frolic. He contrasts strongly with the Caliph, a headstrong despot
who will not be gainsaid, whatever be the whim of the moment. But Easterns would
look upon this as a proof of his “ kingliness.”

* Arab. “ Wa’l-Salam ” (pronounce Was-Salam); meaning “and here ends tha
matter.” In our slang we say, “ All light, and the child’s name is Antony.”

103

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad\

speak of what concerneth him not should hear what pleaseth him
not. Sufficeth ye not that we took you into our house and fed
you with our best food ? But the fault is not so much yours as
hers who let you in.” Then she tucked up her sleeves from her
wrists and struck the floor thrice with her hand crying, " Come ye
quicklyand lo ! a closet door opened and out of it came seven
negro slaves with drawn swords in hand to whom she said, “ Pinion
me those praters’ elbows and bind them each to each.” They did
her bidding and asked her, “O veiled and virtuous! is it thy
high command that we strike off their heads ?”; but she answered,
u Leave them awhile that I question them of their condition, before
their necks feel the sword.” “ By Allah, O my lady ! ” cried the
Porter, “ slay me not for other’s sin ; all these men offended and
deserve the penalty of crime save myself. Now by Allah, our
night had been charming had we escaped the mortification of those
monocular Kalandars whose entrance into a populous city would
convert it into a howling wilderness.” Then he repeated these
verses:—

How fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother ! © And fairest fair when
shown to weakest brother :

By Love’s own holy tie between us twain, o Let one not suffer for the sin of
other.

When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed-And Shah-

razad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.

Noto fo&en ft foas tlje Iclebentf) Ntgftt,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lady,
after laughing at the Porter despite her wrath, came up to the
party and spake thus, “Tell me who ye be, for ye have but an
hour of .life ; and were ye not men of rank and, perhaps, notables
of your tribes, you had not been so froward and I had hastened
your doom.” Then said the Caliph, “Woe to thee, O Ja’afar, tell
her who we are lest we be slain by mistake; and speak her fair before
some horror befal us.” “ ’Tis part of thy deserts.” replied he;
whereupon the Caliph cried out at him saying, “ There is a time
for witty words and there is a time for serious work.” Then the
lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked them, “ Are ye

104

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

brothers ? ”; when they answered, " No, by Allah, we be naught
but Fakirs and foreigners.” Then quoth she to one among
them, “Wast thou born blind of one eye ? and quoth he, “No,
by Allah, ’twas a marvellous matter and a wondrous mischance
which caused" my eye to be torn out, and mine is a tale which, if
it were written upon the eye-corners with needle-gravers, were a
warner to whoso would be warned.” 1 She questioned the second
and third Kalandar; but all replied like the first, “ By Allah, O
our mistress, each one of us cometh from a different country, and
we are all three the sons of Kings, sovereign Princes ruling over
suzerains and capital cities.” Thereupon she turned towards
them and said, “ Let each and every of you tell me his tale in
due order and explain the cause of his coming to our place ; and
if his story please us let him stroke his head 2 and wend his way.”
The first to come forward was the Mammal, the Porter, who said,
“ O my lady, I am a man and a porter. This dame, the cateress,
hired me to carry a load and took me first to the shop of a
vintner; then to the booth of a butcher; thence to the stall of
a fruiterer; thence to a grocer who also sold dry fruits; thence
to a confectioner and a perfumer-cum-druggist and from him to
this place where there happened to me with you what happened.
Such is my story and peace be on us all ! ” At this the lady
laughed and said, “ Rub thy head and wend thy ways! but he
cried, “ By Allah, I will not stump it till I hear the stories of my
companions.” Then came forward one of the Monoculars and
began to tell hqr

THE FIRST KALANDAR'S TALE.

KNOW, O my lady, that the cause of my beard being shorn and
my eye being out-torn was as follows. My father was a King and
he had a brother who was a King over another city; and it came
to pass that I and my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle, were

J This is a favourite jingle; the play being upon “ibrat” (a needle-graver) and
“’ibrat” (an example, a warning).

2 That is “ make his bow ; ” as the English peasant pulls his forelock. Lane (:., 249)
suggests, as an afterthought, that it means :— u Recover thy senses; in allusion to a
person's drawing his hand over his head after sleep or a fit.” But it occurs elsewhere m
the sense of “cut thy stick.”

The First Kalandar's Tale.

105

both bom on one and the same day. And years and days rolled
on ; and, as we grew up, I used to visit my uncle every now and
then and to spend a certain number of months with him. Now
my cousin and I were-sworn friends ; for he ever entreated me with
exceeding kindness ; he killed for me the fattest sheep and strained
the best of his wines, and we enjoyed long conversing and carous¬
ing. One day-when the wine had gotten the better of us, the son
of my uncle said to me, “ O my cousin, I have a great service to
ask of thee; and I desire that thou stay me not in whatso I desire
to do! ” And I replied, “With joy and goodly will.” Then he
made me swear the most binding oaths and left me; but after a
little while he returned leading a lady veiled and richly apparelled
with ornaments worth a large sum of money. Presently he turned
to me (the woman being still behind him) and said, “ Take this
lady with thee and go before me to such a burial ground ”
(describing it, so that I knew the place), “and enter with her
into such a sepulchre 1 and there await my coming." The oaths I
swore to him made me keep silence and suffered me not to oppose
him ; so I led the woman to the cemetery and both I and she
took our seats in the sepulchre ; and hardly had we sat down when
in came my uncle’s son, with a bowl of water, a bag of mortar
and an adze somewhat like a hoe. He went straight to the tomb
in the midst of the sepulchre and, breaking it open with the adze
set the stones on one side; then he fell to digging into the earth
of the tomb till he came upon a large iron plate, the size of a
wicket-door; and on raising it there appeared below it a staircase
vaulted ahd winding. Then he turned to the lady and said to her,
" Come now and take thy final choice!” She at once went down
by the staircase and disappeared; then quoth he to me, “ O son of
my uncle, by way of completing thy kindness, when I shall have
descended into this place, restore the trap-door to where it was,
and heap back the earth upon it as it lay before ; and then of thy
great goodness mix this unslaked lime which is in the bag with
this water which is in the bowl and, after building up the stones,
plaster the outside so that none looking upon it shall say:—This is

1 This would be a separate building like our family tomb and probably domed,
resembling that mentioned in “The King of the Black Islands.” Europeans usually
call it “ a little Wall; ” or, as they write it, “ Wely ; ” the contained for the container ;
the “ Santon ” for the “ Santon’s tomb.” I have noticed this curious confusion (which
begins with Robinson, ». 322) in “ Unexplored Syria,” i. j6i.

Alf Laylah wa Laybxk.

106

a new opening fn an old tomb. For a whole year have I worked
at this place whereof none knoweth but Allah, and this is the
need I have of thee; ” presently adding, “ May Allah never
bereave- thy friends of thee nor make them desolate by thine
absence, O son of my uncle, O rpy dear cousin! ” And he went
down the stairs and disappeared for even When he was lost to
sight I replaced the iron plate and did all his bidding till the tomb
became as it was before; and I worked almost unconsciously for
my head was heated with wine. Returning to the palace of my
uncle, I was told that he had gone forth a-sporting and hunting;
so I slept that night without seeing him ; and, when the morning
dawned, I remembered the scenes of the past evening and what
happened between me and my cousin; I repented of having
obeyed him when penitence was of no avail, I still thought, however,
that it was a dream. So I fell to asking for the son of my uncle ; but
there was none to answer me concerning him ; and I went out to
the grave-yard and the sepulchres, and sought for the tomb under
which he was, but could not find it; and I ceased not wandering
about from sepulchre to sepulchre, and tomb to tomb, all with¬
out success, till night set in. So I returned to the city, yet I
could neither eat nor drink ; my thoughts being engrossed with
my cousin, for that I knew not what was become of him ; and I
grieved with exceeding grief and passed another sorrowful night,
watching until, the morning. Then went I a second time to the
cemetery, pondering over what the son of mine uncle had done ;
and, sorely repenting my hearkening to him, went round among
all the tombs, but could not find the tomb I sought. I mourned
over the past, and remained in my mourning seven days, seeking
the place and ever missing the path. Then my torture of scruples 1
grew upon me till I well nigh went mad, and I found no way to
dispel my grief save travel and return to my father. So I set out
and journeyed homeward; but as I was entering my father’s
capital a crowd of rioters sprang upon me and pinioned me. 2 I
wondered thereat with all wonderment, seeing that I was the son
of the Sultan, and these men were my father’s subjects and
amongst them were some of my own slaves. A great fear fell

1 Arab. “ Wiswds ; ” diabolical temptation or suggestion. The “Wiswasi” is a
man with scruples (scrupulus, a pebble in the shoe), e.g. one who fears that his ablutions
were deficient, etc.

2 Arab. “ Katf^rr pinioning by tying the arms behind the tack and shoulders (Kitf),
a dire J ifgrace to free-born men.

The First Kalandar's Tale .

107

upon me, and I said to my soul, 1 “Would heaven I knew what
hath happened to my father! ” I questioned those that bound me
of the cause of their so doing, but they returned me no answer
However, after a while one of them said to me (and he had been
a hired servant of' our house), “Fortune hath been false to thy
father ; his troops betrayed him and the Wazir who slew him now
reigneth in his stead and we lay in wait to seize thee by the
bidding of him.” I was well-nigh distraught and felt ready to
faint on hearing of my father’s death ; when they carried me off and
placed me in presence of the usurper. Now between me and him
there was an olden grudge, the cause of which was this. I was
fond of shooting with the stone-bow, 2 and it befel one day, as I was
standing on the terrace-roof of the palace, that a bird lighted on
the top of the Wazir’s house when he happened to be there. I
shot at the bird and missed the mark; but I hit the Wazir’s eye

and knocked it out as fate and fortune decreed. Even so saith

the poet:—*

We tread the path where Fate hath led o The path Fate writ we fain must
tread:

And mart in one land doomed to die » Death no where else shall do him
dead.

And on like wise saith another:—

Let Fortune have her wanton way o Take heart and all her words obey:

Nor joy nor mourn at anything o For all things pass and no things stay.

Now when I knocked out the Wazir’s eye he could not say a single
word, for that my father was King of the city; but he hated me
ever after and dire was the grudge thus caused between us twain.
So when 1 was set before him hand-bound and pinioned, he
straightway gave orders for me to be beheaded. I asked, “ For
what crime wilt thou put me to death ? whereupon he answered,
“ What crime is greater than this ? ” pointing the while to the place

1 Arab. “ Nafs.” = Hebr. Nephesh (Nafash) = soul, life; as opposed to “ Ruach” =
spirit and breath. In these places it is equivalent to “ I said to myself.” Another
form of the root is “ Nafas,” breath, with an idea of inspiration: so “Sahib Nafas ”
(— master of breath) is a minor saint who heals by expiration, a matter familiar to
mesmerists (Pilgrimage, i. 86).

2 Arab. “ Kaus al-Banduk*; ” the “pellet-bow” of modern India; with two strings
joined by a bit of cloth which supports a ball of dry clay or stone. It- is chiefly used
^or birding.

lo8

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

where his eye had been. Quoth I, u This I did by accident not of
malice prepense; ” and quoth he, “ If thou didst it by accident, I
will do the like by thee with intention.” 1 Then cried he, “ Bring
him forward,” and they brought me up to him, when he thrust his
finger into my left eye and gouged it out; whereupon I became
one-eyed as ye see me. Then he bade bind me hand and foot, and
put me into a chest and said to the sworder, “ Take charge of this
fellow, and go off with him to the waste lands about the city ; then
draw thy scymitar and slay him, and leave him to feed the beasts
and birds.” So the headsman fared forth with me and when he
was in the midst of the desert, he took me out of the chest (and I
with both hands pinioned and both feet fettered) and was about to
bandage my eyes before striking off my head. But I wept with
exceeding weeping until I made him weep with me and, looking at

him I began to recite these couplets :—

I deemed you coat-o’-mail that should withstand o The foeman’s shafts ; and
you proved foeman’s brand ;

I hoped your aidance in mine every chance o Though fail my left to aid
my dexier hand:

Aloof you stand and hear the rafter's gibe o Whjle rain their shafts on

me the giber-band :

But an ye will not guard me from my foes • Stand clear, and succour
neither these nor those 1

And I also quoted

I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel • And so they were—from foes
to fend my dart!

I deemed their arrows surest of their aim ; o And so they were — when
aiming at my heart!

When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my
sire and he owed me a debt of gratitude) he cried, 11 O my lord,
what can I do, being but a slave under orders ?” presently adding.

1 In the East blinding was a common practice, especially in the case of junior princes

not required as heirs. A deep perpendicular incision was made down each corner of the
eyes ; the lids were lifted and the balls removed by cutting the optic nerve and the muscles.
The later Caliphs blinded their victims by passing a red-hot sword blade close to the orbit
or a needle over the eye-ball. About the same time in Europe the operation was per¬
formed with a heated metal basin—the well-known bacinare (used by Ariosto), as
happened to Pier delle Vigne (Petrus de VineS), the •• godfather of modern Italian.’*

The First Kalandar's Tale .

109

u Fly for thy life and nevermore return to this land, or they will
slay thee and slay me with thee, even as the poet said:—

Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; o Let the ruined house tell its
owner’s fate :

New land for the old thou shalt seek and find o But to find new life thou must
not await.

Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, o When Allah’s world is so
wide and great!

And trust not other, in matters grave o Life itself must act for a life beset:
Ne’er would prowl the lion with maned neck, o Did he reckon on aid or of
others reck.”

Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the
loss of my eye a light matter in consideration of my escaping from
being slain. I arrived at my uncle’s capital; and, going in to him,
told him of what had befallen my father and myself; whereat he
wept with sore weeping and said, “Verily thou addest grief to my
grief, and woe to my woe ; for thy cousin hath been missing these
many days ; I wot not what hath happened to him, and none can
give me news of him.” And he wept till he fainted. I sorrowed
and condoled with him ; and he would have applied certain medi¬
caments to my eye, but he saw that it was become as a walnut with
the shell empty. Then said he, “ O my son, better to lose eye and
keep life!” After that I could no longer remain silent about my
cousin, who was his only son and one dearly loved , so I told him
all that had happened. He rejoiced with extreme joyance to hear
news of his son and said, “ Come now and show me the tomb ; ”
but I replied, 4< By Allah, O my uncle, I know not its place, though
I sought it carefully full many times, yet could not find the site.”
However, I and my uncle went to the graveyard and looked right
and left, till at last I recognised the tomb and we both rejoiced with
exceeding joy. We entered the sepulchre and loosened the earth
about the grave ; then, upraising the trap-door, descended some fifty
steps till we came to the foot of the staircase when lo! we were
stopped by a blinding smoke. Thereupon said my uncle that say¬
ing whose sayer shall never come to shame, “There is.no Majesty
and there is no Might, save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! ” and
we advanced till we suddenly came upon a saloon, whose floor was
strewed with flour and grain and provisions and all manner neces¬
saries ; and in the midst of it stood a canopy sheltering a couch.
Thereupon my uncle went up to the couch and inspecting it found

A If Laylah wa Laylak

his son and the lady who had gone down with him into the tomb,
lying in each other’s embrace; but the twain had become black as
Charred wood ; it was as if they had been cast into a pit of fire.
When my uncle saw this spectacle, he spat in his son’s face and said,
** Thou hast thy deserts, O thou hog l l this is thy judgment in the
transitory world, and yet remaineth the judgment in the world to

£ome, a durer and a more enduring.”-And Shahrazad perceived

the dawn of day and ceased 'Saying her permitted say.

Veto fofcen (t foas the

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Kalandar thus went on with his story before the lady and the
Caliph and Ja’afar:—My uncle struck his son with his slipper 2 as
he lay there a black heap of coal. I marvelled at his hardness of
heart, and grieving for my cousin and the lady, said, “ By Allah,
O my uncle, calm thy wrath: dost thou not see that all my
thoughts are occupied with this misfortune, and how sorrowful I
am for what hath befallen thy son, and how horrible it is that
naught of him remaineth but a black heap of charcoal ? And is not
that enough, but thou must smite him with thy slipper ? ” Answered
he, “ O son of my brother, this youth from his boyhood was madly
In love with his own sister; • and often and often I forbade him

m ■ '■ 1 1 " * * 1 ■ ' - — 1 ■ . .—. . .— 1

1 Arab. •* Khinxir ” (by Europeans pronounced M Hanzir prop, a wild-boar ; but
popularly used like our “ you pig l ”

* Striking with the shoe, the pipe-stick and similar articles is highly insulting, because
they are not made, like whips and scourges, lor such purpose. Here the East and
the West differ diametrically. ** Wounds which are given by instruments which are in
one's hands by chance do not disgrace a man,” says Cervantes (D. Q. i., chapt. 15),
and goes on to prove that if a Zapatero (cobbler) cudgel another with his form or last,
the latter must not consider himself cudgelled. The reverse in the East where a blow
of a pipe-stick cost Mahommed Ali Pasna’s son his life: Ishmail Pasha was burned to
death by MalQcNimr, chief of Shendy (Pilgrimage, i., 203). Moreover, the actual wound
Is less considered in Moslem law than the instrument which caused it: so sticks and
stones are venial weapons, whilst sword and dagger, gun and pistol are felonious. See
ibid, (i., 336) for a note upon the weapons with which nations are policed.

• Incest is now abominable everywhere except amongst the overcrowded poor of great

*nd civilised cities. Yet such unions were common and lawful amongst ancient and

highly cultivated peoples, as the Egyptians (Isis and Osiris), Assyrians and ancient
Persians. Physiologically they are injurious only when the parents have constitutional
defects: if both are sound, the issue, as amongst the so-called "lower animals,” is
liable and healthy.

The First Kalandar's Tale.

Ill

from her, saying to myself:—They are but little ones. However,
when they grew up sin befel between them ; and, although I could
hardly believe it, I confined him and chided him and threatened
him with the severest threats ; and the eunuchs and servants said
to him :—Beware of so foul a thing which none before thee ever
did, and which none after thee will ever do ; and have a care lest
thou' be dishonoured and disgraced among the Kings of the day,
even to the end of time. And I added:—Such a report as this
will be spread abroad by caravans, and take heed not to give them
cause to talk or I will assuredly curse thee and do thee to death.
After that I lodged them apart and shut her up ; but the accursed
girl loved him with passionate love, for Satan had got the mastery
of her as well as of him and made their foul sin seem fair in their
sight. Now when my son saw that I separated them, he secretly
built this souterrain and furnished it and transported to it victuals,
even as thou seest; and, when I had gone out a-sporting, came here
with his sister and hid from me. Then His righteous judgment fell
upon the twain and consumed them with fire from Heaven ; and
verily the last judgment will deal them durer pains and more en¬
during ! ° Then he wept and I wept with him ; and he looked at
me and said, “ Thou art my son in his stead.” And I bethought
me awhile of the world and of its chances, how the Wazir had
slain my father and had taken his place and had put out my eye ;
and how my cousin had come to his death by the strangest chance :
and I wept again and my uncle wept with me. Then we mounted
the steps and let down the iron plate and heaped up the earth over
it ; and, after restoring the tomb to its former condition, we returned
to the palace. But hardly had we sat down ere we heard the tom-
toming of the kettle-drum and tantara of trumpets and clash of
cymbals; and the rattling of war-men's lances ; and the clamours of
assailants and the clanking of bits and the neighing of steeds ;
while the world was canopied with dense dust and sand-clouds
raised by the horses’ hoofs. 1 We were amazed at sight and sound,
knowing not what could be the matter; so we asked and were
told us that the Wazir who had usurped my father's kingdom
had marched his men ; and that after levying his soldiery and

’ Dwellers in the Northern Temperates can hardly imagine what a dust-storm is in
sun-parched tropical lands. In Sind we were often obliged to use candles at mid-day,
while above the dust was a sun that would roast an egg.

112

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

taking a host of wild Arabs 1 into service, he had come down upon
us with armies like the sands of the sea ; their number none could
tell and against them none could prevail. They attacked the city
unawares ; and the citizens, being powerless to oppose them, sur¬
rendered the place : ray uncle was slain and I made for the suburbs
saying to myself, If thou fall into this villain’s hands he will
assuredly kill thee.” On this wise all my troubles were renewed ;
and I pondered all that had betided my father and my uncle and
I knew not what to do; for if the city people or my father's troops
had recognised me they would have done their best to win favour
by -destroying me ; and I could think of no way to escape save by
shaving off my beard and my eyebrows. So I shore them off and,
changing my fine clothes for a Kalandar's rags, I fared forth from
my uncle’s capital and made for this city ; hoping that peradven-
ture some one would assist me to the presence of the Prince of
the Faithful, 2 and the Caliph who is the Viceregent of Allah upon

* Arab. 44 ’Urban/’ now always used of the wild people, whom the French have

taught us to call Us Bedouins; “Badw” being a waste or desert; and Badawi (fem.

^ _

Badawiyah, plur. Badawi and Bidwan), a man of the waste. .Europeans have also
learnt to miscall the Egyptians 44 Arabs”: the difference is as great as between an
Englishman and a Spaniard. Arabs proper divide their .race into sundry successive
families. 44 The Arab al-Arabd ” (or al-.Aribah, or al-Urubiyat) are the autochthones, pre¬
historic, proto-historic and extinct tribes; for instance, a few of the Adites who being at
hleccah escaped the destruction of their wicked nation, but mingled with other classes.
The 44 Arab al-Muta’arribah,” (Arabised Arabs) are the first advense represented by
each noble strains as the Koraysh (Koreish), some still surviving. The 44 Arab
al-Musta’aribah ” (insititious, naturalised or instituted Arabs, men who claim to be
Arabs) are Arabs like the Sinaites, the Egyptians and the Maroccans descended by
intermarriage with other races. Hence our 44 Mosarabians ” and the 44 Marrabais ” of
Rabelais (not, 44 a word compounded of Maurus and Arabs”). Some genealogists,
however, make the Muta’arribuh descendants of Kahtan (possible the Joktan of
Genesis x., a comparatively modern document, B.C. 700 ?)j and the Musta’aribah those
descended from Adnin the origin of Arab genealogy. And, lastly, are the 44 Arab al-
Musta’ajimah,” barbarised Arabs, like the present population of Meccah and
Al-Medinah. Besides these there are other tribes whose origin is still unknown; such
as the Mahrah tribes of Hazramaut, the “ Akhdam ” (:=: serviles) of Oman (Maskat) ;
and the 44 Ebna” of Al-Yaman : Ibn Ishak supposes the latter to be descended Irom
the Persian soldiers of Anushirwan who expelled the Abyssinian invader from Southern
Arabia. (Pilgrimage, iii., 31, etc.).

3 Arab. 44 Amir al-Muuminin.” The title was assumed by the Caliph Omar to obviate
the inconvenience of calling himself 4 * Khalifah” (successor) of the Khalifah of the
Apostle of Allah {i e. Abu Bakr); which after a few generations would become impos»
sible. It means 44 Emir (chief or prince) of the Muumins men who hold to the (true
Moslem) Faith, the 44 1 man ” (theory, fundamental articles) as opposed to the 44 Din,”
ordinance or practice of the religion. It once became a Wazirial time conferred by
Sultan Malikshah (King King-king) on his Nizam al-Mulk. (Richardson’s Dissert. Iviii).

The Second Kalandar s Tale . 113

earth. Thus have I come hither that I might tell him my tale
and lay my case before him. I arrived here this very night, and
was standing in doubt whither I should go, when suddenly I saw
this second Kalandar ; so I salam’d to him, saying:—I am a
stranger! and he answered:—I too am a stranger! And. as we
were conversing behold, up came our companion, this third
Kalandar, and saluted us saying :—I am a stranger ! And we
answered :—We too be strangers ! Then we three walked on and
together till darkness overtook us and Destiny drave us to your
house. Such, then, is the cause of the shaving of my beard and
mustachios and eyebrows; and the manner of my losing my right
eye. They marvelled much at this tale and the Caliph said to
Ja’afar, “ By Allah, I have not seen nor have I heard the like of
what hath happened to this Kalandar! ’* Quoth the lady of the
house, u Rub thy head and wend thy ways; ” but he replied, “ I
will not go, till I hear the history of the two others.” Thereupon
the second Kalandar came forward ; and, kissing the ground, began
to tell

THE SECOND KALANDAR'S TALE .

Know, O my lady, that I was not born one-eyed and mine is a
strange story; an it were graven with needle-graver on the eye-
corners, it were a vvarner to whoso would be warned. I am a King,
son of a King, and was brought up like a Prince. I learned in¬
toning the Koran according the seven schools; 1 and I read all
manner books, and held disputations on their contents with the
doctors and men of science; moreover I studied star-lore and the
fair sayings of poets and I exercised myself in all branches of
learning until I surpassed the people of my time ; my skill in calli¬
graphy exceeded that of all the scribes; and my fame was bruited
abroad over all climes and cities, and all the kings learned to know
my name. Amongst others the King of Hind heard of me and
sent to my father to invite me to his court, with offerings and
presents and rarities such as befit royalties. So my father fitted
out six ships for me and my people ; and we put to sea and sailed

1 This may also n:^an ** according to the seven editions of the Koran,” the old revisions
and so forth (Sale, Sect. iii. and D’Herbelot “Alcoran.”) The schools of the ” Mukri,”
who teach the right pronunciation wherein a mistake might be sinful, are seven, Ham*
xah, Ibn Katir, Ya’akub, Ibn Amir, Kisai, Asim and Hafs, the latter being the favourite
with the Hanafis and the only one now generally known in Al-Islam.

VOI.. I.

A If Laylak wa lspUk

!T4

for the space of a full month till we made the land. Then we
brought out the horses that were with us in the ships; and, after
loading the camels with our presents for the Prince, we set forth
inland. But we had marched only a little way, when behold, a
dust-cloud up-flew, apd grew until it walled 1 the horizon from
view. After an hour or so the veil lifted and discovered beneath
it fifty horsemen, ravening lions to the sight, in steel armour dight.
We observed them straightly and lo! they were cutters-off of the
highway, wild as wild Arabs. When they saw that we were only
four and had with us but the ten camels carrying the presents,
they dashed down upon us with lances at rest. We signed to
them, with our fingers, as it were saying, “We be messengers
of the great King of Hind, so harm us not! ” but they answered
on like wise, “ We are not in his dominions to obey nor are we
subject to his sway." Then they set upon us and slew some
of my slaves and put the lave to flight; and I also fled after I had
gotten a wound, a grievous hurt, whilst the Arabs were taken up
with the money and the presents which were with us. I went forth
unknowing whither I went, having become mean as 1 was mighty ;
and I fared on until I came to the crest of a mountain where I took
shelter for the night in a cave. When day arose I set out again,
nor ceased after this fashion till I arrived at a fair city and a well-
filled. Now it was the season when Winter was turning away
with his rime and to greet the world with his flowers came Prime,
and the young blooms were springing and the streams flowed
ringing, and the birds were sweetly singing, as saith the poet
concerning a certain city when describing it:—

A place secure from every thought of fear e Safety and peace for ever lord it
here:

Its beauties seem to beautify its sons • And as in Heaven its happy folk
appear.

1 Arab. “ Sadd”=*wall, dyke, etc. the “bund” or “band” of Anglo-India. Hence
the “Sadd” on the Nile, the banks of grass and floating islands which “wall” the
Stream. There are few sights more appalling than a sandstorm in the desert, the
“ Zauba’ah ” as the Arabs call it. Devils, or pillars of sand, vertical and inclined,
measuring a thousand feet high, rush over the plain lashing the sand at their base like a
sea surging under a furious whirlwind ; shearing the grass clean away from the roots,
tearing up trees, which are whirled like leaves and sticks in air, and sweeping away tents
and houses as if they were bits of paper. At last the columns join at the top and form,
perhaps three thousand feet above the earth,a gigantic cloud of yellow sand which obliterates
not only the horizon but even the mid-day sun. These sand-spouts are the terror of
travellers. In Sind and the Punjab we have the dust-storm which for darkness, I have
said, beats the blackest London fog.

The Second Kalandars Tale .

I was glad of my arrival for I was wearied with the way, and
yellow of face for weakness and want; but my plight was pitiable
and I knew not whither to betake me. So I accosted a Tailor
sitting in his little shop and saluted him ; he returned my salam,
and bade me kindly welcome and wished me well and entreated
me gently and asked me of the cause of my strangerhood. I told
him all my past from first to last; and he was concerned on my
account and said, “ O youth, disclose not thy secret to any : the
King of this city is the greatest enemy thy father hath, and there
is blood-wit 1 between them and thou hast cause to fear for thy
life."* Then he set meat and drink before me ; and I ate and
drank and he with me ; and we conversed freely till night-fall,
when he cleared me a place in a corner of his shop and brought
me a carpet and a coverlet. I tarried with him three days; at the
end of which time he said to me, “Knowest thou no calling
whereby to win thy living, O my son ? ” I am learned in the law,”
I replied, “and a doctor of doctrine ; an adept in art and science,a
mathematician and a notable penman.” He rejoined, “Thy calling
is of no account in our city, where not a soul understandeth science
or even writing or aught save money-making.” Then said I, “ By
Allah, I know nothing but what I have mentioned;” and he
answered, “Gird thy middle and take thee a hatchet and a cord, and
go and hew wood in the wold for thy daily bread, till Allah send
thee relief; and tell none who thou art lest they slay thee.” Then
he bought me an axe and a rope and gave me in charge to certain
wood-cutters; and with these guardians I went forth into the
forest, where I cut fuel-wood the whole of my day and came back
in the evening bearing my bundle on my head. I sold it for half
a dinar, with part of which I bought provision and laid by the rest.
In such work I spent a whole year and when this was ended I went
out one day, as was my wont, into the wilderness; and. wandering
away from my companions, I chanced on a thickly grown lowland 2

1 Arab. Sdr == the vendetta, before mentioned, as dreaded in Arabia as in Corsica.

2 Arab. “ Ghutah,” usually a place where irrigation is abundant. It especially applies
(in books) to the Damascus-plain because u it abounds with water and fruit trees.'”
Bochart (Geog. Sacra, p. 90) derives no'JJ (utah) from py Uz, son of Arab, who
(he says) founded Damascus. The Ghutah is one of the four earthly paradises, the others
being Basrah (Bassorah), Shiraz and Samarcand. Its peculiarity is/the likeness to a sea¬
port ; the Desert which rolls up almost to its doors being the sea and its ships being the
camels. The first Arab to whom we owe this admirable term for the ” Companion of
Job” is “Tarafah” one of the poets of the Suspended Poems: he likens (v.v. 3, 4)
the camels which bore away his beloved to ships sailing from Aduli. But “ ships of the
desert” is doubtless a .term of the highest antiquity.

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

II6

in which there was an abundance of wood. So I entered and I
found the gnarled stump of a great tree and loosened the ground
about it and shovelled away the earth. Presently my hatchet rang
upon a copper ring ; so I cleared away the soil and behold, the
ring was attached to a wooden trap-door. This I raised and there
appeared beneath it a staircase. I descended the steps to the
bottom and came to a door, which I opened and found myself in a
noble hall strong of structure and beautifully built, where was a
damsel like a pearl of great price, whose favour banished from my
heart all grief and cark and care; and whose soft speech healed
the soul in despair and captivated the wise and ware. Her figure
measured five feet in height; her breasts were firm and upright; her
cheek a very garden of delight; her colour lively bright ; her face
gleamed like dawn through curly tresses which gloomed like night,
and above the snows of her bosom glittered teeth of a pearly
white. 1 As the poet said of one like her :—

Slim-waisted leveling, jetty hair-encrowned o A wand of willow on a sandy
mound :

And as saith another

Four things that meet not, save they here unite o To shed my heart-blood and
to rape my sprite :

Brilliantest forehead ; tresses jetty bright ; o Cheeks rosy red and stature

beauty-dight.

When I looked upon her I prostrated myself before Him who had
created her, for the beauty and loveliness He had shaped in her,
and she looked at me and said, “ Art thou man or Jinni ? ” “ I am
a man," answered I, and she, “Now who brought thee to this
place where I have abided five-and-twenty years without even yet
seeing man in it." Quoth I (and indeed I found her words wonder-
sweet, and my heart was melted to the core by them), “O my lady,
my good fortune led me hither for the dispelling of my cark and
care." Then I related to her all my mishap from first to last, and
my case appeared to her exceeding grievous; so she wept and said,
“ I will tell thee my story in my turn. I am the daughter of the
King Ifitamus, lord of the Islands of Abnus, 2 who married me to
my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle; but on my wedding

1 The exigencies of the “ Saj’a, or rhymed prose, disjoint this and many similar

passages.

a The “ Ebony” Islands ; Scott's “ Isle of Ebene,” i., 217.

The Second Kalandars Tale.

11/

night an I frit named J irjfs 1 bin Rajmiis, first cousin that is,
mother’s sister’s son, of Iblis, the Foul Fiend, snatched me up
and, flying away with me like a bird, set me down in this place,
whither he conveyed all I needed of fine stuffs, raiment and
jewels and furniture, and meat and drink and other else. Once
in every ten days he comes here and lies a single night with me,
and then wends his way, for he took me without the consent of
this family; and he hath agreed with me that if ever I need him by
night or by day, I have only to pass my hand over yonder two
lines engraved upon the alcove, and he will appear to me before
my fingers cease touching. Four days have now passed since he
was here ; and, as there remain six days before he come again, say
me, wilt thou abide with me five days, and go hence the day
before his coming?” I replied “Yes, and yes again! O rare, if
all this be not a dream ! ” Hereat she was glad and, springing to
her feet, seized my hand and carried me through an arched door¬
way to a Hammam-bath, a fair hall and richly decorate. I doffed
rny clothes, and she doffed hers; then we bathed and she washed me;
and when this was done we left the bath, and she seated me by her
side upon a high divan, and brought me sherbet scented with
musk. When we felt cool after the bath, she set food before me
and we ate and fell to talking ; but presently she said to me, “ Lay
thee down and take thy rest, for surely thou must be weary.” So I
thanked her, my lady, and lay down and slept soundly, forgetting
all that had happened to me. When I awoke I found her rubbing
and shampooing my feet; 2 so I again thanked her and blessed her
and we sat for a while talking. Said she, “ By Allah, I was sad at
heart, for that I have dwelt alone underground for these five-and-
twenty years; and praise be to Allah, who hath sent me some one
with whom I can converse! ” Then she asked, “ O youth, what
sayest thou to wine ? ” and I answered, “ Do as thou wilt.” Where¬
upon she went to a cupboard and took out a sealed flask of right
old wine and set off the table with flowers and scented herbs and
began to sing these lines :—

Had we known of thy coming we fain had dispread o The cores of our hearts
or the balls of our eyes ;

Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown o And our eyelids had strown
for thy feet to betread.

1 “Jarjans” in the Bui. Edit.

* Arab. “Takbis.” Many Easterns can hardly sleep without this kneading of the
muscles, this “rubbing” whose hygienic properties England is now learning.

A if Laylah wa Laylah.

I IS

Now when she finished her verse I thanked her, for indeed love of
her had gotten hold of my heart and my grief and anguish were
gone. We sat at converse and carousal till nightfall, and with her
I spent the night—-such night never spent I in all my life! On the
morrow delight followed delight till midday, by which time I
had drunken wine so freely that I had lost my wits, and stood up,
staggering to the right and to the left, and said “ Come, O my
charmer, and I will carry thee up from this underground vault and
deliver thee from the spell of thy Jinni.” She laughed and replied
“Content thee and hold thy peace: of every ten days one is for the
Ifrit and the other nine are thine." Quoth I (and in good sooth
drink had got the better of me), “This very instant will I break
down the alcove whereon is graven the talisman and summon
the Ifrit that I may slay him, for it is a practise of mine to slay
Ifrits ! ” When she heard my words her colour waxed wan and she
said, “ By Allah, do not! ” and she began repeating:—

This is a thing wherein destruction lies o I *ede thee shun it an thy wits be
wise.

And these also :—

O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein o Of thy swift steed nor seek

o’ermuch t’ advance ;

Ah stay ! for treachery is the rule of life, » And sweets of meeting end
in severance.

I heard her verse but paid no heed to her words, nay, I raised

my foot and administered to the alcove a mighty kick-And

Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her per¬
mitted say.

jBofo foljm it foas tfje 'JEfwttentf)

She said, It hath reacned me, O auspicious King, that the second
Kalandar thus continued his tale to the lady:—But when, O my
mistress, I kicked that alcove with a mighty kick, behold, the air
starkened and darkened and thundered and lightened ; the earth
trembled and quaked and the world became invisible. At once the
fumes of wine left my head : I cried to her, “What is the matter?’*
and she replied, “ The Ifrit is upon us! did I not warn thee of
this ? By Allah, thou hast brought ruin upon me; but fly for thy

The Second Kalandars Tale.

119

life and go up by the way thou earnest down ! ” So I fled up the
staircase; but, in the excess of my fear, I forgot sandals and
hatchet. And when I had mounted two steps I turned to look
for them, and lo! I saw the earth cleave asunder, and there arose
from it an I frit, a monster of hideousness, who said to the damsel,
"What trouble and pother be this wherewith thou disturbest me ?
What mishap hath betided thee ? ” “ No mishap hath befallen me ”
she answered, “save that my breast was straitened 1 and my heart
heavy with sadness ! so I drank a little wine to broaden it and to
hearten myself; then I rose to obey a call of Nature, but the wine
had gotten into my head and I fell against the alcove.” 0 Thou
liest, like the whore thou art! ” shrieked the Ifrit; and he looked
around the hall right and left till he caught sight of my axe and
sandals and said to her, “ What be these but the belongings of
some mortal who hath been in thy society ? ” She answered,
“ I never set eyes upon them till this moment: they must have
been brought by thee hither cleaving to thy garments.” Quoth the
Ifrit, “ These words are absurd; thou harlot! thou strumpet!"
Then he stripped her stark naked and, stretching her upon the floor,
bound her hands and feet to four stakes, like one crucified ; 2 and
set about torturing and trying to make her confess. I could not
bear to stand listening to her cries and groans; so I climbed the
stair on the quake with fear ; and when I reached the top I replaced
the trap-door and covered it with earth. Then repented I of what
I had done with penitence exceeding ; and thought of the lady and
her beauty and loveliness, and the tortures she was suffering at the
hands of the accursed Ifrit, after her quiet life of five-and-twenty
years ; and how all that had happened to her was for cause of me.
I bethought me of my father and his kingly estate and how I had
become a woodcutter; and how, after my time had been awhile
serene, the world had again waxed turbid and troubled to me. So
I wept bitterly and repeated this couplet:—

What time Fate’s tyranny shall most oppress thee © Perpend! one day shall
joy thee, one distress thee !

Then I walked till I reached the home of my friend, the Tailor,

1 The converse of the breast being broadened, the drooping, “draggle-tail” gait
compared with the head held high and the chest inflated.

2 This penalty is mentioned in the Koran (chapt. v.) as fit for those who fight against
Allah and his Apostle; but commentators are not agreed if the sinners are first to be put
to death or to hang on the cross till they die. Pharaoh (chapt xx.) threatens to crucify
his magicians on palm-trees, and is held to be the first crucificr.

120

A If Lay I ah wa Lay/ah.

whom I found most anxiously expecting me; indeed he was, as the
saying goes, on coals of fire for my account. And when he saw me
he said, “ All night long my heart hath been heavy, fearing for thee
from wild beasts or other mischances. Now praise be to Allah for
thy safety ! ” I thanked him for his friendly solicitude and, retiring
to my corner, sat pondering and musing on what had befallen me ;
and I blamed and chided myself for my meddlesome folly and my
frowardness in kicking the alcove. I was calling myself to account
when behold, my friend, the Tailor, came to me and said, “O
youth, in the shop there is an old man, a Persian, 1 who seeketh
thee : he hath thy hatchet and thy sandals which he had taken to
the woodcutters, 2 saying, I was going out at what time the Mu’azzin
began the call to dawn-prayer, when I chanced upon these things
and know not whose they are ; so direct me to their owner. The
woodcutters recognised thy hatchet and directed him to thee : he
is sitting in my shop, so fare forth to him and thank him and take
thine axe and sandals.” When I heard these words I turned yellow
with fear and felt stunned as by a blow ; and, before I could recover
myself, lo! the floor of my private room clove asunder, and out of
it rose the Persian who was the Ifrit. He had tortured the lady
with exceeding tortures, natheless she would not confess to him
aught; so he took the hatchet ajnd sandals and said to her, " As
surely as I am Jirjis of the seed of Iblis, I will bring thee back
the owner of this and these ! ” 3 Then he w r ent to the woodcutters
with the pretence aforesaid and, being directed to me, after waiting
a while in the shop till the fact was confirmed, he suddenly snatched
me up as a hawk snatcheth a mouse and flew high in air; but
presently descended and plunged with me under the earth (I being
aswoon the while), and lastly set me down in the subterranean
palace wherein I had passed that blissful night. And there I saw
the lady stripped to the skin, her limbs bound to four stakes and* *
blood welling from her sides. At the sight my eyes ran over with
tears; but the Ifrit covered her person and said, “O wanton, is

1 Arab. ’Ajami” — foreigner, esp. a Persian : the latter in The Nights is mostly a
villain. I must here remark that the contemptible condition of Persians in Al-Hij£*
(which I noted in 1852, Pilgrimage i. 327) has completely changed. They are no longer,
“ The slippers of Ali and hounds of Omar : ” they have learned the force of union and
now, instead of being bullied, they bully.

* The Calc. Edit, turns them into Tailors (Khayyatin) and Torrens does not see the
misprint.

* i./v Axe and sandals.

The Second KalandaTs Tale.

1 2i

not this man thy lover ?” She looked upon me and replied, "I
wot him not nor have I ever seen him before this hour!" Quoth
the Ifrit, *• What! this torture and yet no confessing ;” and quoth
she, “ I never saw this man in my born days, and it is not lawful in
Allah’s sight to tell lies on him.” “If thou know him not,” said
the Ifrit to her, “take this sword and strike off his head .” * 1 She
Kent the sword in hand and came close up to me ; and I signalled
to her with my eyebrows, my tears the while flowing adown my
cheeks. She understood me and made answer, also by signs,
“ How couldest thou bring all this evil upon me ?" and I rejoined
after the same fashion, “ This is the time for mercy and forgive¬
ness." And the mute tongue of my case 2 spake aloud saying :—

Mine eyes were dragomans for my tongue betied © And told full clear the love
I fain would hide :

When last we met and tears in torrents railed o For tongue struck dumb my
glances testified :

She signed with eye-glance while her lips were mute o I signed with fingers
and she kenned th’ implied :

Our eyebrows did all duty ’twixt us twain ; © And we being speechless Love
spake loud and plain.

Then, O my mistress, the lady threw away the sword and said,
“ How shall I strike the neck of one I wot not, and who hath done me
no evil T Such deed were not lawful in my law ! ” and she held her
hand. Said the Ifrit, “’Tis grievous to thee to slay thy lover ; and,
because he hath lain with thee, thou endurest these torments and
obstinately refusest to confess. After this it is clear to me that
only like loveth and pitieth like.” Then he turned to me and asked
me, “ O man, haply thou also dost not know this woman ; ” whereto
I answered, “And pray who may she be ? assuredly I never saw
her till this instant.” “ Then take the sword,” said he “ and strike
off her head and I will believe that thou wottest her not and will
leave thee free to go, and will not deal hardly with thee.” I replied,
“That will I do and, taking the sword went forward sharply and
raised my hand to smite. But she signed to me with her eyebrows,
u Have I failed thee in aught of love; and is it thus that thou
requitest me ? ” I understood what her looks implied and answered

f i. 1 . r

1 Lit. “ S rike hit neck.”

1 A phrase which will frequently recur ; meaning the situation suggested such words as

fh&sa.

122

A If Laylak wa Laylah.

her with an eye-glance, “ I will sacrifice my soul for thee.** And
the tongue of the case wrote in our hearts these lines :—

How many a lover with his eyebrows speaketh o To his beloved, as his passion

pleadeth :

With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth o And well she seeth what his

pleading needeth .

How sweet the look when each on other gazeth; o And with what swiftness

and how sure it speedeth :

And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth ; o And that with eyeballs all his

passion readeth.

Then my eyes filled with tears to overflowing and I cast the sword
from my hand saying, “ O mighty Ifrit and hero, if a woman lack*
Ing wits and faith deem it unlawful to strike off my head, how can
it be lawful for me, a man, to smite her neck whom I never saw in
my whole life. I cannot do such misdeed though thou cause me
drink the cup of death and perdition.” Then said the Ifrit, 44 Ye
twain show the good understanding between you ; but I will let
you sec how such doings end.'* He took the sword, and struck off
the lady’s hands first, with four strokes, and then her feet; whilst
I looked on and, made sure of death and she farewelled me with
her dying eyes. So the Ifrit cried at her, “Thou whorest and
makest me a wittol with thine eyes;” and struck her so that her
head went flying. Then turned he to me and said, 44 O mortal, we
have it in our law that, when the wife committeth advowtry it is
lawful for us to slay her. As for this damsel I snatched her away
on her bride-night when she was a girl of twelve and she knew no
one but myself. I used to come to her once in every ten days and
lie with her the night, under the semblance of a man, a Persian;
and when I was well assured that she had cuckolded me, I slew
her. But as for thee I am not well satisfied that thou hast
wronged me in her; nevertheless I must not let thee go un¬
harmed ; so ask a boon of me and I will grant it.” Then I
rejoiced, O my lady, with exceeding joy and said, 44 What boon
shall I crave of thee?” He replied, “ Ask me this boon; into
what shape I shall bewitch thee ; wilt thou be a dog, or an ass
or an ape ? ” I rejoined (and indeed I had hoped that mercy
might be shown me) , 44 By Allah, spare me, that Allah spare thee
for sparing a Moslem and a man who never wronged thee.” And
I humbled myself before him with exceeding humility, and re*
mained standing in his presence, saying, 44 1 am sore oppressed by

The Tale of the Envier and the Envied ’ 123

circumstance.” He replied “ Talk me no long talk, it is in my
power to slay thee ; but I give thee instead thy choice.” Quoth
I, “O thou Ifrit, it would besit thee to pardon me even as the
Envied pardoned the Envier.” Quoth he, “ And how was that ? >p
and I began to tell him

THE TALE OF THE ENVIER AND THE ENVIED .

They relate, O I frit, that in a certain city were two men who"
dwelt in adjoining houses, having a common party-wall; and one
of them envied the other and looked on him with an evil eye, 1 and
did his utmost endeavour to injure him ; and, albeit at all times he
was jealous of his neighbour, his malice at last grew on him till he
could hardly eat or enjoy the sweet pleasures of sleep. But the
Envied did nothing save prosper; and the more the other strove
to injure him, the more he got and gained and throve. At last the
malice of his neighbour and the man's constant endeavour to work
him a harm came to his knowledge; so he said, “ By Allah ! God's
earth is wide enough for its people; ” and, leaving the neighbour¬
hood, he repaired to another city where he bought himself a piece
of land in which was a dried up draw-well, 2 old and in ruinous
condition. Here he built him an oratory and, furnishing it with
a few necessaries, took up his abode therein, and devoted himself
to prayer and worshipping Allah Almighty; and Fakirs and holy
mendicants flocked to him from all quarters; and his fame went
abroad through the city and that country side. Presently the
news reached his envious neighbour, of what good fortune had
befallen him and how the city notables had become his disciples;
so he travelled to the place and presented himself at the holy
man's hermitage, and was met by the Envied with welcome and
greeting and all honour. Then quoth the Envier, “ I have a word
to say to thee; and this is the cause of my faring hither, and I
wish to give thee a piece of good news; so come with me to thy

1 The smiter with the evil eye is called “ A’in” and the person smitten * ** Ma’fn ” or

** Ma’un.”

* Arab. “ Sikiyah,” the well-known Persian wheel wdth pots and buckets attached to
the tire. It is of many kinds, the boxed, etc., etc. ; and it is possibly alluded to in the
u pitcher broken at the fountain ” (Ecclesiastes xii. 6) an accident often occurring to the
modern “Noria.” Travellers mostly abuse its “dismal creaking" and “mournful
tnonotony " : I have defended the music of the water-wlieel in Pilgrimage ii. 198.

124

A If Laylah wa Laylak.

cell.” Thereupon the Envied arose and took the Envier by the
hand, and they went in to the inmost part of the hermitage; but
the Envier said, “ Bid thy Fakirs retire to their cells, for I will not
tell thee what I have to say, save in secret where none may hear
us.” Accordingly the Envied said to his Fakirs, “ Retire to your
private cells ; ” and, when all had done'as he bade them, he set out
with his visitor and walked a little way until the twain reached the
ruinous old well. And as they stood upon the brink the Envier
gave the Envied a push which tumbled him headlong into it,
unseen of any; whereupon he fared forth, and went his ways,
thinking to have had slain him. Now this well happened to be
haunted by the Jann who, seeing the case, bore him up and let
him down little by little, till he reached the bottom, when they
seated him upon a large stone. Then one of them asked his
fellows, “ Wot ye who be this man ? ” and they answered, “ Nay.”
“ This man,” continued the speaker, “ is the Envied hight who,
flying from the Envier, came to dwell in our city, and here founded
this holy house, and he hath edified us by his litanies 1 and his
lections of the Koran ; but the Envier set out and journeyed till he
rejoined him, and cunningly contrived to deceive him and cast him
into the well where we now are. But the fame of this good man
hath this very night come to the Sultan of our city who designeth
to visit him on the morrow on account of his daughter.” “ What
aileth his daughter?” asked one, and another answered “ She is
possessed of a spirit; for Maymun, son of Damdam, is madly in love
with her; but, if this pious man knew the remedy, her cure would
be as easy as could be.” Hereupon one of them inquired, “ And
what is the medicine ? ” and he replied, “ The black tom-cat which
is with him in the oratory hath, on the end of his tail, a white spot,
the size of a dirham ; let him pluck seven white hairs from the
spot, then let him fumigate her therewith and the Marid will flee
from her and not return; so she shall be sane for the rest of her

1 Arab. “Zikr’* lit. remembering, mentioning (i.e. the names of Allah), here refers to
the meetings of religious for devotional exercises ; the “Zikkirs,” as they are called, mostly
standing or sitting in a circle while they ejaculate the Holy Name. These “ rogations ”
are much affected by Darwayshes, or begging friars, whom Europe politely divides into
“dancing ” and “howling”; and, on one occasion, greatly to the scandal of certain.
Englanderinns to whom I was showing the Ezbekiyah I joined the ring of “howlers.”
Lane (Mod. Egypt, see index) is profuse upon the subject of “ Zikrs” and Zikki'fs. It
must not be supposed that they are uneducated men : the better class, however, prefers
more privacy.

The Tale of the Envier and the Envied.

125

Ufe. All this took place, O Ifrit, within earshot of the Envied who
listened readily. When dawn broke and morn arose in sheen and
shone, the Fakirs went to seek the Shaykh and found him climbing
up the wall of the well; whereby he was magnified in their eyes. 1
Then, knowing that naught save the black tom-cat could supply
him with the remedy required, he plucked the seven tail-hairs from
the white spot and laid them by him ; and hardly had the sun risen
ere the Sultan entered the hermitage, with the great lords of his
estate, bidding the rest of his retinue to remain standing outside.
The Envied gave him a hearty welcome, and seating him by his
side asked him, “ Shall I tell thee the cause of thy coming?"
The King answered “ Yes.” He continued, “ Thou hast come upon
pretext of a visitation ; 2 but it is in thy heart to question me of thy
daughter." Replied the King, “ ’Tis even so, O thou holy Shaykh
and the Envied continued, “ Send and fetch her, and I trust to heal
her forthright (an such it be the will of Allah !). The King in great
joy sent for his daughter, and they brought her pinioned and
fettered. The Envied made her sit down behind a curtain and
taking out the hairs fumigated her therewith; whereupon that
which was in her head cried out and departed from her. The girl
was at once restored to her right mind and veiling her face, said,
“What hath happened and who brought me hither?" The Sultan
rejoiced with a joy which nothing could exceed, and kissed his
daughter’s eyes, 3 and the holy man’s hand; then, turning to his
great lords, he asked, “ How say ye ! What fee deserveth he who
hath made my daughter whole?" and all answered “ He deserveth
her to wife;” and the King said, “Ye speak sooth!” So he
married him to her and the Envied thus became son-in-law to the
King. And after a little the Wazir died and the King said,
“Whom can I make Minister in his stead ? " “ Thy son-in-law,"
replied the courtiers. So the Envied became a Wazir; and after a
while the Sultan also died and the lieges said, “ Whom shall we
make King?” and all cried, “The Wazir." So the Wazir was
forthrigth made Sultan, and he became King regnant, a true ruler of
men. One day as he had mounted his horse; and,in the eminence

1 As they thought he had been there for prayer or penance.
a Arab. “ Ziyarat,” a visit to a pious person or place.

8 This is a paternal salute in the East where they are particular about the part kissed.
A witty and not unusually gross Persian book, called the “Al-Namah” because all
questions begin with “Al” (the Arab article) contains one “ Al-Wajib al-busidan?”
(what best deserves bussing!) and the answer is u Kus-i-nau-pashm,” (a bob&dilla with
ft joung bush).

126

Alf Laylah wa Laylak .

of his kinglihood, was riding amidst his Emirs and Wazirs and tbe
Grandees of his realm his eye fell upon his old neighbour, th#
Envier, who stood afoot on his path; so he turned to one of his
Ministers, and said, “ Bring hither that man and cause him no
affright.” The Wazir brought him and the King said, “ Give him
a thousand miskdls 1 of gold from the treasury, and load him ten
camels with goods for trade, and send him under escort to his own
town.” Then he bade his enemy farewell and sent him away and
forbore to punish him for the many and great evils he had done.
See, O Ifrit, the mercy of the Envied to the Envter, who had hated
him from the beginning and had borne him such bitter malice and
never met him without causing him trouble; and had driven him
from house and home, and then had journeyed for the sole purpose
of taking his life by throwing him into the well. Yet he did not
requite his injurious dealing, but forgave him and was bountiful to
him. 2 3 Then I wept before him, O my lady, with sore weeping,
never was there sorer, and I recited :—

•Pardon my fault, for *tis the wise man’s wont o All faults to pardon and
revenge forgo:

In sooth all manner faults in me contain o Then deign of goodness mercy-grace
to show:

Whoso imploreth pardon from on High o Should hold his hand from sinners
here below.

Said the Ifrit, “Lengthen not thy words! As to my slaying thee
fear it not, and as to my pardoning thee hope it not; but from my
bewitching thee there is no escape.” Then he tore me from the
ground which closed under my feet and flew with me into the
firmament till I saw the earth as a large white cloud or a saucer 5
in the midst of the waters. Presently he set me down on a mountain,
and taking a little dust, over which he muttered some magical
words, sprinkled me therewith, saying, “Quit that shape and
take thou the shape of an ape! ” And on the instant I became an
ape, a tail-less baboon, the son of a century 4 . Now when he had
left me and I saw myself in this ugly and hateful shape, I wept for
myself, but resigned my soul to the tyranny of Time and Circum¬
stance, well weeting that Fortune is fair and constant to no man. I

1 A weight of 71-72 English grains in gold ; here equivalent to the dinar.

7 Compare the tale of The Three Crows in Gammer Grethel, Evening ix.

3 The comparison is peculiarly apposite; the earth seen from above appears hollow

With a raised rim.

A hundred years old.

The Second K < v * vt- / Tale.

127

descended the mountain and found at the foot a desert plain, long
and broad, over which I travelled for the space of a month till my
course brought me to the brink of the briny sea. 1 After standing
there awhile, I was ware of a ship in the offing which ran before a
fair wind making for the shore : I hid myself behind a rock on the
beach and waited till the ship drew near, when I leaped on board.
I found her full of merchants and passengers and one of them
cried, “ O Captain, this ill-omened brute will bring us ill-luck! ”
and another said, “Turn this ill-omened beast out from among us
the Captain said, “ Let us kill it! ” another said, “ Slay it with the
sword;” a third, ‘‘Drown it;” and a fourth, “Shoot it with an
arrow.” But I sprang up and laid hold of the Rais’s 2 skirt, and
shed tears which poured down my chops. The Captain took pity
on me, and said, “ O merchants! this ape hath appealed to me for
protection and I will protect him ; henceforth he is under my
charge : so let none do him aught hurt or harm, otherwise there will
be bad blood between us.” Then he entreated me kindly and what¬
soever he said I understood and ministered to his every want and
served him as a servant, albeit my tongue would not obey my
wishes; so that he came to love me. The vessel sailed on, the wind
being fair, for the space of fifty days ; at the end of which we cast
anchor under the walls of a great city wherein was a world of
people, especially learned men, none could tell their number save
Allah. No sooner had we arrived than we were visited by certain
Mameluke-officials from the King of that city; who, after boarding
us, greeted the merchants and giving them joy of safe arrival said,
“ Our King welcometh you, and sendeth you this roll of paper,
whereupon each and every of you must write a line. For ye shall
know that the King’s Minister, a calligrapher of renown, is dead,
and the King hath sworn a solemn oath that he will make none
Wazir in his stead who cannot write as well as he could.” He then
gave us the scroll which measured ten cubits long by a breadth of
one, and each of the merchants who knew how to write wrote a line
thereon, even to the last of them ; after which I stood up (still in
the shape of an ape) and snatched the roll out of their hands.
They feared lest I should tear it or throw it overboard; so they
tried to stay me and scare me, but I signed to them that I could
write, whereat all marvelled, saying, “ We never yet saw an ape

1 “ Bahr" in Atab. means sea, river, piece of water ; hence the adjective is needed.

* The Captain or Master of the ship (not the owner). In Al* * Yamao the word aUo
Jneans a “ barber,’* in virtue of the root, Raas, a head.

A If Laytah wa Laylah.

123

write." And the Captain cried, “ Let him write ; and if he scribble
and scrabble we will kick him out and kill him ; but if he write
fair and scholarly I will adopt him as my son ; for surely I never
yet saw a more intelligent and well-mannered monkey than ha.
Would Heaven my real son were his match in morals and manners/'
I took the reed, and stretching out my paw, dipped it in ink and
wrote, in the hand used for letters/ these two couplets :—

Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great ; o But none recorded thine which
be far higher ;

Allah ne’er orphan men by loss of thee • Who be of Goodness mother.
Bounty’s sire.

And I wrote in Rayhani or larger letters elegantly curved :— a

Thou hast a reed * * 3 of rede to every land, o Whose driving causeth all the world
to thrive ;

Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons o Who makest misery smile with fin¬
gers five.

Then I wrote in the Suls 4 character :—

There be no writer who from Death shall fleet, o But what his hand hath writ
men shall repeat :

Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when o Thou see’t on
Judgment-Day an so thou see’t !

Then I wrote in the character Naskh :— 5

* The text has “ in the character Ruka’i,” or Rika'i, the correspondence-hand.

3 A curved character .supposed to be like the basil-leaf (rayhan). Richaidson calls it

Rohani.”

3 I need hardly say that Easterns use a reed, a Calamus' (Kalam applied Only to the
cut reed) for our quills and steel pens.

* Famous for being inscribed on the Kiswah (cover) of Mohammed’s tomb ; a large
and more formal hand still used for engrossing and for mural inscriptions. Only seventy-
two varieties of it are known (Pilgrimage, ii., 82).

* The copying and transcribing hand which is either Arabi or Ajami. A great discovery
has lately been made which upsets all our old ideas of Cufic, etc. Mr. Loytved of
Bayrut has found, amongst the Hauranic inscriptions, one in pure Naskhi, dating A.D.
568, or fifty years before the Hijrah; and it is accepted as authentic by my learned friend
M. Ch. Clermont-Ganneau (p. 193, Pal. Explor. Fund ; July 1884). In D’Herbelc!
and Sale’s day the Koran was supposed to have been written in rude characters, like those
subsequently called “ Cufic,” invented shortly belore Mohammed’s birth by Muramir ibn
Murrah of Anbar in Irak, introduced into Meccah by Bashar the Kindian, and perfected
by Ibn Muklah (Al-Wazir, ob. A.H. 328 = 940). We must now change all that. See
Catalogue of Oriental Caligraphs, etc., by G. P Badger, London, Whiteley, 1885.

The Second Kalandar's Tale.

1-9

When to sore parting Fate our love shall doom, • To distant life by Destiny
decreed,

We cause the inkhorn’s lips to ’plain our pains, • And tongue our utterance
with the talking reed.

And I wrote in the Tumir character 1 :—

Kingdom with none endures ; if thou deny o This truth, where be the Kings
of earlier earth ?

Set trees of goodliness while rule endures, • And when thou art fallen they
shall tell thy worth.

And I wrote in the character Muhakkak * *:—

When oped the inkhom of thy wealth and fame • Take ink of generems heart

and gracious hand ;

Write brave and noble deeds while write thou can • And win thee praise from
point of pen and brand.

Then I gave the scroll to the officials and, after we all had written
our line, they carried it before the King. When he saw the paper
no writing pleased him save my writing; and he said to the
assembled courtiers, “ Go seek the writer of these lines and dress
him in a splendid robe of honour; then mount him on a she-mule,*

1 Capital and uncial letters; the hand hi which the Ka *ahah veil is inscribed (PiV
grim age iii. 299, 300).

• A “ Court hand ” says Mr. Payne (i. 112) : I know nothing of it Other hands arc:
die Ta’alik ; hanging or oblique, ttsed for finer MSS. a md having, according ta Richard*
son, “the same analogy to the Naskhi as our Italic has to the Roman.’* The Nasta*
Hk (not Naskh-Ta’alik) much used ia India, is, as the name suggests, a mixture of the
Naskhi (writing of transactions) and the Ta’alik. The Shikastah (broken hand) every*
where represents our running band and becomes a hard task to the reader. The Kirafi
is another cursive character, mostly confined ta tat receipts and disbursements of tha
Turkish treasury. The Divini, or Coart (of Justice) is the official hand, bold and
round, a business character, the lines often rising with a sweep or curve towards the
(left) end. The J£li or polished has a variety, the Jali-Ta’alik : the Salsi (known in many
books) is adopted for titles of volumes, royal edicts, diplomas and so forth; 44 answering
much the same purpose as capitals with us, or the flourished letters in illuminated manat*
scripts” (Richardson). The Tughrii is that of the Tughrfi, the Prince’s cypher or
flourishing signature in ceremonial writings, and containing some such sentence as: Let
this be executed. There axe others t.g. Yfikuti and Sirenkil known only by name.
Finally the Maghribi (Moorish) hand differs' in form and diacritical points from the
characters used further east almost as much as German running hand does from English.
It is curious that Richardson omits the Jali (intricate and convoluted) and the divisions
of the Sulosi, Sulsi or Stilus (Thainth) character, the Stilus al-Khafif, etc.

* Arab. “ Baghlah ”; the male (Baghl) is used only for loads. This is everywhere the
rule: nothing is more unmanageable than a restive “ Macho ” ; and be knows that he
can always get you off his back when so minded. From “Baghlah” is derived th#
name of the native craft Anglo-Iodic* a “ Buggalow.”

VOL. L

130 A If Laylah wa Laylalu

let a band of music precede him and bring him to the
presence.” At these words they smiled and the King was wroth
with them and cried “ 0 accursed ! I give you an order and you
laugh at me?” 44 O King,” replied they, 41 if we laugh 'tis not at
thee and not without a cause.” 44 And what is it ? ” asked he; and
they answered, 44 O King, thou orderest us to bring to thy presence
the man who wrote these lines ; now the truth is that he who wrote
them is not of the sons of Adam, 1 but an ape, a tailless baboon,
belonging to the ship-Captain ” Quoth he, 44 Is this true that you
say?" Quoth they 44 Yea! by the rights of thy munificence!"
The King marvelled at their words and shook with mirth and
said, 44 1 am minded to buy this ape of the Captain.” Then he
sent messengers to the ship with the mule, the dress, the guard
and the state-drums, saying, 44 Not the less do you clothe him in
the robe of honour and mount him on the mule and let him be
surrounded by the guards and preceded by the band of music.”
They came to the ship and took me from the Captain and robed
me in the robe of honour and, mounting me on the she-mule #
carried me in state-procession through the streets; whilst the
people were amazed and amused. And folk said to one another
44 Halloo! is our Sultan about to make an a£>e hi's Minister ? ” ; and
came all agog crowding to gaze at me, and the town was astir and
turned topsy-turvy on my account. When they brought me up
to the King and set me in his presence, I kissed the ground before
him three times, and once before the High Chamberlain and great
officers, and he bade me be seated, and I sat respectfully on shins
and knees, 2 and all who were present marvelled at my fine manners,
and the King most of all. Thereupon he ordered the lieges to
retire; and, when none remained save the King’s majesty, the
Eunuch on duty and a little white slave, he bade them set before
me the table of food, containing all manner of birds, whatever
hoppeth and flieth and treadeth in nest, such as quail and sand-
grouse. Then he signed to me to eat with him; so I rose and
kissed ground before him, then sat me down and ate with him.
And when the table was removed I washed my hands in seven

1 In Heb. “Ben-Adam” is any man opp. to “Beni ish" (Psalm iv. 3)=/$/« viri,
not homines .

2 This posture is terribly trying to European legs; and few white men (unless brought
up to it) can squat for any time on their heels. The ** tailor-fashion,“ with crossed legs
is held to be free and easy.

The Second Kalandars Tale, IJl

'waters and took the reed-case and reed; and wrote instead of
speaking these couplets:—

Wail for the little partridges on porringer and plate ; • Cry for the ruin of the
fries and stews well marinate :

Keen as I keen for loved, lost daughters of the Katd-grouse, 1 * * o And omelette-
round the fair enbrownM fowls agglomerate :

O fire in heart of me for fish, those deux poissons I saw, o Bedded on new made
scones * and cakes in piles to laniate.

For thee, O vermicelli! aches my very maw! I hold o Without thee every
taste and joy are clean annihilate.

Those eggs have rolled their yellow eyes in torturing pains of fire © Ere served
with hash and fritters hot, that delicatest cate.

Praised be Allah for His baked and roast and ah ! how good © This pulse, these
pot-herbs steeped in oil with eysill combinate !

When hunger sated was, I elbow-propt fell back upon • Meat-pudding* wherein
gleamed the bangles that my wits amate.

Then woke I sleeping appetite to eat as though in sport • Sweets from brocaded
trays and kickshaws most elaborate.

Be patient, soul of me 1 Time is a haughty, jealous wight; • To-day he seems
dark-lowering and to-morrow fair to sight* 4

Then I rose and seated myself at a respectful distance while the
King read what I had written, and marvelled, exclaiming, " O the
miracle, that an ape should be gifted with this graceful style and
this power of penmanship ! By Allah, ’tis a wonder of wonders 1 ”

1 Arab. 44 Kata” = Pterocles Alchata, the well-known sand-grouse of the desert. If
is very poor white flesh.

’Arab. “Khubz” which I do not translate 44 cake” or 44 bread/’ as that would
suggest the idea of our loaf. The staff of life in the East is a thin flat circle of dough
baked in the oven or on the griddle, and corresponding with the Scotch 44 scone,” the
Spanish 44 tortilla ” and the Australian 44 flap-jack.”

* Arab. 44 Harisah,” a favourite dish of wheat (or rice) boiled and reduced to a paste
with shredded meat, spices and condiments. The 44 bangles” is a pretty girl eating
with him.

4 These lines are repeated with a difference in Night cecxxx. They affect Rims cart,
out of the way, heavy rhymes: c.g. here S&kdrfj (plur. of Sakrdj, platters, porringers);
Tayahij (plur. of Tayhuj, the smaller caccabis-partridge); Tabdhfj (Persian Tabahjah, an
omelet or a stew of meat, onions, eggs, etc.) Ma’arij (“ in stepped piles ” like the pyramids;
which Lane ii. 495, readers 44 on the stairs”); Makdrij (plur. of Makraj, a small pot);
Damdlfj (plur. of dumluj, a bracelet, a bangle); Dayabfj (brocades) and Tafarij (openings,
enjoyments). In Night cccxxx. we find also Sikribfj (plur. of Sikbdj, marinated meat else¬
where explained) ; Fardrlj (plur. of farruj, a chicken, vulg. farkh) and Dakdkfj (plur. of
dakujah, a small jar). In the first line we have also (though not a rhyme) Ghardnik
Gr.T'cpcu'O?, a crane, preserved in Romaic. The weeping and wailing are caused by the
lemtmbrance that all these delicacies have been demolished like a Badawi camp-

132

A If Laylah zua Laylah .

Presently they set before the King choice wines in flagons of glass
and he drank: then he passed on the cup to me; and I kissed the
ground and drank and wrote on it:—

With fire they boiled me to loose my tongue, 1 o And pain and patience, gave
for fellowship :

Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high o And honey-dew from lips of
maid I sip !

And these also :—

Mom saith to Night, “ withdraw and let me shine ; ” o So drain we draughts that
dull all pain and pine : 2

1 doubt, so fine the glass, the wine so cleai t o If ’tis the wine in glass or

glass in wine.

The King read my verse and said with a sigh, “ Were these gifts 3 *
in a man, he would excel all the folk of his time and age! ” Then
he called for the chess-board, and said, “ Say, wilt thou play with
me ? and I signed with my head, “ Yes.” Then I came forward
and ordered the pieces and played with him two games, both of
which I won. He was speechless with surprise; so I took the
pen-case and, drawing forth a reed, wrote on the board these two
couplets:—

Two hosts fare fighting thro’ the livelong day o Nor is their battling ever
finished,

Until, when darkness girdeth them about, ® The twain go sleeping in a

single bed. 1

The King read these lines with wonder and delight and said to his
Eunuch, 5 “ O Mukbil, go to thy mistress, Sitt al-Husn, 6 and say
her, “ Come, speak the King who biddeth thee hither to take thy

1 This is the vinum cocturn , the boiled wine, still a favourite in Southern Italy and
Greece.

8 Eastern topers delight in drinking at dawn: upon this subject I shall have more to
say in other Nights.

8 Arab. “ Adab,” a crux to translators, meaning anything between good education arid
good manners. In mod. Turk. “ Edibiyyet” (Adabiyat) = belles lettres and “ Edebi ”
or “ Edib ” — a. litterateur.

* The Caliph Al-Maamun, who was a bad player, used to say, “ I have the administra¬
tion of the world and am equal to it, whereas I am straitened in the ordering of a space
of two spans by two spans.” The ‘‘board” was then “a square field of well-dressed
leather.”

5 The Rabbis (after Matth. xix. 12) count three kinds of Eunuchs; (1) Seris
chammahnrof the sun, i.e. natural: (2) Seris Adam = manufactured per homines ; and
(3) Seris Chammayimrr of God {i.e. religious abstainer). Seris (castrated) or Abd (slave)

th« general Hebrew name.

* The ” Lady of Beauty/

The Second Kalandars Tale.

*33

Solace in seeing this right wondrous ape ! ” So the Eunuch went
out and presently returned with the lady who, when she saw me
veiled her face and said, “ O my father! hast thou lost all sense of
honour? Howcometh it thou art pleased to send for me and show
me to strange men ? ” u O Sitt al-Husn,” said he, “ no man is
here save this little foot-page and the Eunuch who reared thee and
I, thy father. From whom, then, dost thou veil thy face ? ” She
answered, “This whom thou deemest an ape is a young man, a
clever and polite, a wise and learned and the son of a King; but
he is ensorcelled and the Ifrit Jirjaris, who is of the seed of Iblis,
cast a spell upon him, after putting to death his own wife the
daughter of King Ifitamus lord of the Islands of Abnus.” The
King marvelled at his daughter’s words and, turning to me, said,
“ Is this true that she saith of thee ?”; and I signed by a nod of my
head the answer “ Yea, verily ; ” and wept sore. Then he asked
his daughter “ Whence knewest thou that he is ensorcelled ? ”; and
she answered “ O my dear papa, there was with me in my childhood
an old woman, a wily one and a wise and a witch to boot, and she
taught me the theory of magic and its practice; and I took notes
in writing and therein waxed perfect, and have committed to
memory an hundred and seventy chapters of egromantic formulas,
by the least of which I could transport the stones of thy city behind
the Mountain Kaf and the Circumambient Main, 1 or make its site
an abyss of the sea and its people fishes swimming in the midst of
it.” “O my daughter,” said her father, “I conjure thee, by my
life, disenchant this young man, that I may make him my Wazir
and marry thee to him, for indeed he is an ingenious youth and a
deeply learned.” “ With joy and goodly gree,” she replied and,
hending in hand an iron knife whereon was inscribed the name of

Allah in Hebrew characters, she described a wide circle--And

Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her per¬
mitted say.

KToto fojen ft foas tfje Jpourtcentl) Ntgjt,

She said, It hath reached me,0 auspicious King, that the Kalandar
continued his tale thus :—O my lady, the King’s daughter hent in

1 “Kdf ” has been noticed as the mountain vthich surrounds earth as a ring does the
finger : it is popularly used like our Alp and Alpine. The “circumambient Ocean”
(Bahr al-mvhit) is the Homeric Ocean-stream.

*34

A If Laylah zva Laytah.

hand a knife whereon were inscribed Hebrew characters and
described a wide circle in the midst of the palace-hall, and therein
wrote in Cufic letters mysterious names and talismans; and she
uttered words and muttered charms,, some of which we understood
and others we understood not. Presently the world waxed dark
before our sight till we thought that the sky was falling upon our
heads, and lo! the Ifrit presented himself in his own shape and
aspect. His hands were like many-pronged pitch-forks, his legs
like the masts of great ships, and his eyes like cressets of gleaming
fire. We were in terrible fear of him but the King’s daughter
cried at him, “No welcome to thee and no greeting, O dog!’*
whereupon he changed to the form of a lion and said, “ O traitress,
how is it thou hast broken the oath we sware that neither should
contraire other!” “O accursed one,” answered she, “how could
there be a compact between me and the like of thee ? ” Then said
he, “Take what thou has brought on thyself;’* and the lion opened
his jaws and rushed upon her; but she was too quick for him ; and,
plucking a hair from her head, waved it in the air muttering over it
the while ; and the hair straightway became a trenchant sword-
blade, wherewith she smote the lion and cut him in twain. Then
the two halves flew away in air and the head changed to a scorpion
and the Princess became a huge serpent and set upon the accursed
scorpion, and the two fought, coiling and uncoiling, a stiff fight for
an hour at least. Then the scorpion changed to a vulture and the
serpent became an eagle which set upon the vulture, and hunted
him for an hour’s time, till he became a black tom-cat, which
miauled and grinned and spat. Thereupon the eagle changed into
a piebald wolf and these two battled in the palace for a long time,
when the cat, seeing himself overcome, changed into a worm and
crept into a huge red pomegranate, 1 which lay beside the jetting
fountain in the midst of the palace hall. Whereupon the pome¬
granate swelled to the size of a water-melon in air; and, falling upon
the marble pavement of the palace, broke to pieces, and all the
grains fell out and were scattered about till they covered the whole
floor. Then the wolf shook himself and became a snow-white
cock, which fell to picking up the grains purposing not to leave

1 The pomegranate is probably chosen here because each fruit is supposed to contain
one seed from Eden-garden. Hence a host of superstitions (Pilgrimage iii., 104) possibly
Connected with the Chaldaic-Babylonian god Rimmon or Ramanu. Hence Persephone or
Ishtar tasted the “ rich pomegranate’s seed.'* Lenormant, loc. cit. pp. 166, i82.

6.0..° c

ine second itatanoars late.

one; but by doom of destiny one seed rolled to the fountain-edge
and there lay hid. The cock fell to crowing and clapping his wing 3
and signing to us with his beak as if to ask, “ Are any grains left ? **
But we understood not what he meant, and he cried to us with so
loud a cry that we thought the palace would fall upon us. Then
he ran over all the floor till he saw the grain which had rolled to
the fountain edge, and rushed eagerly to pick it up when behold,
It sprang into the midst of the water and became a fish and dived
to the bottom of the basin. Thereupon the cock changed to a big
fish, and plunged in after the other, and the two disappeared for a
while and lo! we heard loud shrieks and cries of pain which made
us tremble. After this the I frit rose out of the water, and he was
as a burning flame; casting fire and smoke from his mouth and
eyes and nostrils. And immediately the Princess likewise came
forth from the basin and she was one live coal of flaming lowe;
and these two, she and he, battled for the space of an hour, until
their fires entirely compassed them about and their thick smoke
filled the palace. As for us we panted for breath, being well-nigh
suffocated, and we longed to plunge into the water fearing lest we
be burnt up and utterly destroyed ; and the King said, “ There is
no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah the Glorious, the
Great! Verily we are Allah’s and unto Him are we returning!
Would Heaven I had not urged my daughter to attempt the dis¬
enchantment of this ape-fellow, whereby I have imposed upon her
the terrible task of fighting yon accursed Ifrit against whom all
the I frits in the world could not prevail. And would Heaven we
had never seen this ape, Allah never assain nor bless the day of
his coming! We thought to do a good deed by him before the
face of Allah, 1 and to release him from enchantment, and now we
have brought this trouble and travail upon our heart.” But I, O
my lady, was tongue-tied and powerless to say a word to him.
Suddenly, ere we were ware of aught, the Ifrit yelled out from
under the flames and, coming up to us as we stood on the estrade,
blew fire in our faces. The damsel overtook him and breathed
blasts of fire at his face and the sparks from her and from him
rained down upon us, and her sparks did us no harm, but one of
his sparks alighted upon my eye and destroyed it making me a
monocular ape; and another fell on the King’s face scorching the
lower half, burning off his beard and mustachios and causing

1 i.e. for the love of God — a favourite Moslem phrase.

13$

A If Laylak ma Lay la k.

his under teeth to fall out; while a third alighted on the Castrato's
breast, killing him on the spot. So we despaired of life and made
sure of death when lo! a voice repeated the saying, “ Allah is most
Highest! Allah is most Highest! Aidance and victory to all who
the Truth believe; and disappointment and disgrace to all who
the religion of Mohammed, the Moon of Faith, unbelieve.” The
speaker was the Princess who had burnt the Ifrit, and he was
Decome a heap of ashes. Then she came up to us and said,
“ Reach me a cup of water.” They brought it to her and she
spoke over it words we understood not, and sprinkling me with it
cried, “By virtue of the Truth, and by the Most Great name of
Allah, I charge thee return to thy former shape.” And behold, I
shook and became a man as before, save that I had utterly lost an
eye. Then she cried out, “ The fire ! The fire! O my dear papa
an arrow from the accursed hath wounded me to the death, for I
am not used to fight with the Jann ; had he been a man I had slain
him in the beginning. I had no trouble till the time when the
pomegranate burst and the grains scattered, but I overlooked the
seed wherein was the very life of the Jinni. Had I picked it up he
had died on the spot, but as Fate and Fortune decreed, I saw it
not; so he came upon me all unawares and there befel between
him and me a sore struggle under the earth and high in air and in
the water; and, as often as I opened on him a gate, 1 he opened on
me another gate and a stronger, till at last he opened on me the
gate of fire, and few are saved upon whom the door of fire
openeth. But Destiny willed that my cunning prevail over his
cunning; and I burned him to death after I vainly exhorted him
to embrace the religion of Al-Islam. As for me I am a dead
woman ; Allah supply my place to you ! ” Then she called upon
Heaven for help and ceased not to implore relief from the fire ;
when lo ! a black spark shot up from her robed feet to her thighs ;
then it flew to her bosom and thence to her face. When it reached
her face she wept and said, “ I testify that there is no god but the
God and that Mahommed is the Apostle of God! ” And we looked
at her and saw naught but a heap of ashes by the side of the heap
that had been the Ifrit. We mourned for her and I wished I had
been in her place, so had I not seen her lovely face who had

1 'Arab. 44 Bib,” also meaning a chapter (of magic, of war, etc.), corresponding with
the Persian 44 Dar *' as in Sad-dar, the Hundred Doors. Here, however, it is figurative
“ I tried a new mode.*' This scene U in the Mabindgion-

The Second Kalandar s Tale .

137

worked me such weal become ashes; but there is no gainsaying
the will of Allah. When the King saw his daughter’s terrible
death, he plucked out what was left of his beard and beat his face
and rent his raiment; and I did as he did and we both wept over
her. Then came in the Chamberlains and Grandees and were
amazed to find two heaps of ashes and the Sultan in a fainting
fit; so they stood round him till he revived and told them what
had befallen his daughter from the Ifrit; whereat their grief was
right grievous and the women and the slave-girls shrieked and
keened, 1 and they continued their lamentations for the space of
seven days. Moreover the King bade build over his daughter’s
ashes a vast vaulted tomb, and burn therein wax tapers and
sepulchral lamps : but as for the Ifrit’s ashes they scattered them
on the winds, speeding them to the curse of Allah. Then the
Sultan fell sick of a sickness that well nigh brought him to his
death for a month’s space; and, when health returned to him and
his beard grew again and he had been converted by the mercy of
Allah to Al-Islam, he sent for me and said, “ O youth, Fate had
decreed for us the happiest of lives, safe from all the chances and
changes of Time, till thou earnest to us, when troubles fell upon us
Would to Heaven we had never seen thee and the foul face of
thee ! For we took pity on thee and thereby we have lost our all.
I have on thy account first lost my daughter who to me was well
worth an hundred men , secondly I have suffered that which befel
me by reason of the fire and the loss of my teeth, and my Eunuch
also was slain. I blame thee not, for it was out of thy power to
prevent this: the doom of Allah was on thee as well as on us and
thanks be to the Almighty for that my daughter delivered thee, albeit
thereby she lost her own life ! Go forth now, O my son, from this
my city, and suffice thee what hath befallen us through thee, even
although ’twas decreed for us. Go forth in peace, and if I ever
see thee again I will surely slay thee.” And he cried out at me.
So I went forth from his presence, O my lady, weeping bitterly

1 I use this Irish term = crying for the dead ; as English wants the word for the
pnefica or myrialogist. The practice is not encouraged in Al-Islam ; and Caliph Abu
Bakr said, “ Verily a corpse is sprinkled with boiling water by reason of the lamentations
of the living,” /.<?. punished for not having taken measures to prevent their profitless
lamentations. But the practice is from Negroland whence it reached Egypt; and the
people have there developed a curious system in the “ weeping-song ” : I have noted this
in “The Lake-Regions of Central Africa.” In Zoroastrianism (Dabistan, chapt xcvii.)
tears shed for the dead form a river in hell, black and frigid.

138 A If Laylak wa Laylah.

and hardly believing in my escape and knowing not whither I
should wend. And I recalled all that had befallen me, my
meeting the tailor, my love for the damsel in the palace beneath
the earth, and my narrow escape from the Ifrit, even after he had
determined to do me die ; and how I had entered the city as
an ape and was now leaving it a man once more. Then I gave
thanks to Allah and said, “ My eye and not my life ! ” and before
leaving the place I entered the bath and shaved my poll and
beard and mustachios and eyebrows ; and cast ashes on my head
and donned the coarse black woollen robe of a Kalandar. Then
I fared forth, O my lady, and every day I pondered all the
calamities which had betided me, and I wept and repeated these
couplets :—

“ I am distraught, yet verily His ruth abides with me, o Tho’ round me gather
hosts of ills, whence come I cannot see :

Patient I’ll be till Patience self with me impatient wax; o Patient for ever till
the Lord fulfil my destiny :

Patient I’ll bide without complaint, a wronged and vanquisht man ; o Patient as
sunparcht wight that spans the desert’s sandy sea:

Patient I’ll be till Aloe’s 1 self unwittingly allow o I’m patient under bitterer
things than bitterest aloe :

No bitterer things than aloes or than patience for mankind j o Yet bitterer than
the twain to me were Patience’ treachery :

My sere and seamed and seared brow would dragoman my sore o If soul could
search my sprite and there unsecret secrecy :

Were hills to bear the load I bear they’d crumble ’neath the weight; o ’Twould
still the roaring wind, ’twould quench the flame-tongue’s flagrancy,

And whoso saith the world is sweet cert£s a day he’ll see o With more than
aloes’ bitterness and aloes’ pungency.”

Then I journeyed through many regions and saw many a city
intending for Baghdad, that I might seek audience, in the House

1 These lines are hardly translateable. Arab. “ Sabr ” means “ patience ” as well as
“ aloes,” hereby lending itself to a host of puns and double entendres more or less vile.
The aloe, according to Burckhardt, is planted in graveyards as a lesson of patience: it
is also slung, like the dried crocodile, over nouse-doors to prevent evil spirits entering :
“ thus hung without earth and water,” says Lane (M.E., chapt, xi.),‘‘it will live for
several years and even blossom. Hence (?) it is called Sabr, which signifies patience.”
But Sibr as well as Sabr (a root) means “ long-sufferance.” I hold the practise to be
one of the many Inner African superstitions. The wild Gallas to the present day plant
aloes on graves, and suppose that when the plant sprouts the deceased has been admitted
to the gardens of Wak, the Creator. (Pilgrimage iii. 350).

i ne 1 mrcr A aiandar*s / ale.

139

of Peace, 1 * * with the Commander of the Faithful and tell him all that
had befallen me. I arrived here this very night and found my
brother in Allah, this first Kalandar, standing about as one per¬
plexed ; so I saluted him with “ Peace be upon thee,” and entered
into discourse with him. Presently up came our brother, this third
Kalandar, and said to us, “ Peace be with you! I am a stranger; ”
whereto we replied, '* And we too be strangers, who have come
hither this blessed night.” So we all three walked on together,
none of us knowing the other’s history, till Destiny drave us to this
door and we,came in to you. Such then is my story and my
reason for shaving my beard and mustachios, and this is what
caused the loss of my eye. Said the house-mistress “Thy tale
is indeed a rare; so rub thy head and wend thy ways;” but
he replied, “ I will not budge till I hear my companions’ stories.”
Then came forward the third Kalandar, and said, “O illustrious
lady! my history is not like that of these my comrades, but more
wondrous and far more marvellous. In their case Fate and
Fortune came down on them unawares ; but I drew down destiny
upon my own head and brought sorrow on mine own soul, and
shaved my own beard and lost my own eye. Hear then

THE THIRD KALANDAR'S TALE.

KNOW, O my lady, that I also am a King and the Son of a King
and my name is Ajfb son of Khazfb. When my father died I
succeeded him; and I ruled and did justice and dealt fairly by all
my lieges. I delighted in sea trips, for my capital stood on the
shore, before which the ocean stretched far and wide; and near¬
hand were many great islands with sconces and garrisons in the
midst of the main. My fleet numbered fifty merchantmen, and as
many yachts for pleasance, and an hundred and fifty sail ready fitted
for holy war with the Unbelievers. It fortuned that I had a mind
to enjoy myself on the islands aforesaid, so I took ship with my
people in ten keel; and, carrying with me a month’s victual, I set out
on a twenty days voyage. But one night a head wind struck us,
and the sea rose against us with huge waves; the billows sorely
buffetted us and a dense darkness settled round us. We gave our-

1 Every city in the East has its specific title : this was given to Baghdad either on

account of its superior police or simply because it was the Capital of the Caliphate. The

Tigris was also called the 4 ‘ River of Peace (or Security)."

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

140

selves up for lost and I said, u Whoso endangereth his days, e’en
an he 'scape deserveth no praise." Then we prayed to Allah and
besought Him ; but the storm-blasts ceased not to blow against us
nor the surges to strike us till morning broke, when the gale fell,
the seas sank to mirrory stillness and the sun shone upon us kindly
clear. Presently we made an island where we landed and cooked
somewhat of food, and ate heartily and took our rest for a couple of
days. Then we set out again and sailed other twenty days, the
seas broadening and the land shrinking. Presently the current ran
counter to us, and we found ourselves in strange waters, where the
Captain had lost his reckoning, and was wholly bewildered in this
sea ; so said we to the look-out man, 1 “ Get thee to the mast-head
and keep thine eyes open.” He swarmed up the mast and looked
out and cried aloud, “ O Rais, I espy to starboard something dark,
very like a fish floating on the face of the sea, and to larboard there is
a loom in the midst of the main, now black and now bright.” When
the Captain heard the look-out’s words he dashed his turband on
the deck and plucked out his beard and beat his face saying, “ Good
news indeed ! we be all dead men ; not one of us can be saved.”
And he fell to weeping and all of us wept for his weeping and also
for our lives; and I said, “ O Captain, tell us what it is the look-out
saw.” “ O my Prince,” answered he, “ know that we lost our
course on the night of the storm, which was followed on the morrow
by a two-days' calm during which we made no way ; and we have
gone astray eleven days reckoning from that night, with ne'er a
wind to bring us back to our true course. To-morrow by the end
of the day we shall come to a mountain of black stone, hight the
Magnet Mountain ; 2 for thither the currents carry us willy-nilly.

1 This is very characteristic: the passengers finding themselves in difficulties at once
take command. See in my Pilgrimage (I. chapt. xi.) how we beat and otherwise
maltreated the Captain of the “Golden Wire.”

2 The fable is probably based on the currents which, as in Eastern Africa, will carry a
ship fifty miles a day out of her course. We first find it in Ptolemy (vii. 2) whose
Manidlai Islands, of India extra Gangem, cause iron nails to fly out of ships, the effect of
the Lapis Herculeus (Loadstone). Rabelais (v. c.37) alludes to it and to the vulgar idea
of magnetism being counteracted by Skordon {Scordon or garlic). Hence too the Adamant
(Loadstone) Mountain's of Mandeville (chapt. xxvii.) and the “Magnetic Rock’’ in Mr.
Puttock’s clever “ Peter Wilkins.” I presume that the myth also arose from seeing craft
built, as on the East African Coast, without iron nails.- We shall meet with the legend
again. The word Jabal (“ Jebel” in Egypt) often occurs in these pages. The Arabs
apply it to any rising ground or heap of rocks ; so it is not always = our mountain. It
has found its way to Europe e.g. Gibraltar and Monte Gibello (or Mongibel in poetry) ~

Mt. Ethne that men clepen Mounte Gybeile,” Other special senses of Jabal will occur.

The Third Kalandar s Talc .

14 !

As soon as we are under its lea, the ship’s sides will open and every
nail in plank will fly out and cleave fast to the mountain; for that
Almighty Allah hath gifted the loadstone with a mysterious virtue
and a love for iron, by reason whereof all which is iron travelleth
towards it; and on this mountain is much iron, how much none
knoweth save the Most High, from the many vessels which have
been lost there since the days of yore. The bright spot upon its
summit is a dome of yellow laton from Andalusia, vaulted upon ten
columns; and on its crown is a horseman who rideth a horse of
brass and holdeth in hand a lance of laton ; and there hangeth on
his bosom a tablet of lead graven with names and talismans.” And
he presently added, “ And, O King, none destroyeth folk save the
rider on that steed, nor will the egromancy be dispelled till he fall
from his horse.” 1 Then, O my lady, the Captain wept with exceeding
weeping and we all made sure of death-doom and each and every
one of us farewelled his friend and charged him with his last will
and testament in case he might be saved. We slept not that night
and in the morning we found ourselves much nearer the Loadstone
Mountain, whither the waters drave us with a violent send. When
the ships were close under its lea they opened and the nails flew
out and all the iron in them sought the Magnet Mountain and
clove to it like a network ; so that by the end of the day we were
all struggling in the waves round about the mountain. Some of us
were saved, but more were drowned and even those who had es¬
caped knew not one another, so stupefied were they by the beating
of the billows and the raving of the winds. As for me, O my lady,
Allah (be His name exalted !) preserved my life that I might suffer
whatso He willed to me of hardship, misfortune and calamity ; for
I scrambled upon a plank from one of the ships, and the wind and
waters threw it at the feet of the Mountain. There I found a

k As we learn from the Nubian Geographer the Arabs in early ages explored the Fortu*
»ate Islands, Jazfrdt al-Khalidat r= Eternal Isles), or Canaries, on one of which were
reported a horse and horseman in bronze with his spear pointing west. Ibn al-Wardi
notes “ two images of hard stone, each an hundred cubits high, and upon the top of each
a figure of copper pointing with its hand backwards, as though it would say :—Return
for there is nothing behind me!” But this legend attaches to older doings. The 23rd
Tobba (who succeeded Bilkis), Malik bin Sharhabil, (or Sharabil or Sharahil) surnamed
N£shir al-Ni’dm = seatterer of blessings, lost an army in attempting the Western sands
set up a statue of copper upton whose breast was inscribed in antique characters :—

There is no access behind me,

Nothing beyond,

(S&iih) The Son of Sharabil.

142

A If Lay [ah wa Lay [ah,

practicable path leading by steps carven out of the rock to the

summit, and I called on the name of Allah Almighty 1 -And

Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her per* j
mitted say.

Notu fofjen it foas tfie Jdfttcntl)

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
third Kalandar said to the lady (the rest of the party sitting
fast bound and the slaves standing with swords drawn over their
heads) :—And after calling on the .name of Almighty Allah and
passionately beseeching Him, I breasted the ascent, clinging to
the steps and notches hewn in the stone, and mounted little by
little. And the Lord stilled the wind and aided me in the ascent,
so that I succeeded in reaching the summit. There I found no
resting-place save the dome, which I entered/joying with excecd-
ing joy at my escape; and made the Wuzu-ablution 2 and prayed
a two-bow prayer 3 a thanksgiving to God for my preservation.
Then I fell asleep under the dome, and heard in my dream a mys¬
terious Voice 4 saying, “ O son of Khazib! when thou wakest
from thy sleep dig under thy feet and thou shalt find a bow
of brass and three leaden arrows, inscribed with talismans and
characts. Take the bow and shoot the arrows at the horseman
on the dome-top and free mankind from this sore calamity. When
thou hast shot him he shall fall into the sea, and the horse will
also drop at thy feet: then bury it in the place of the bow. This
done, the main will swell and rise till it is level with the mountain-
head, and there will appear on it a skiff carrying a man of laton
(other than he thou shalt have shot) holding in his hand a pair of
paddles. He will come to thee and do thou embark with him
but beware of saying Bismillah or of otherwise naming Allah
Almighty. He will row thee for a space of ten days, till he bring
thee to certain Islands called the Islands of Safety, and thence
thou shalt easily reach a port and find those who will convey thee

* i.e. I exclaimed “Bismillah !”

3 The lesser ablution of hands, face and feet; a kind of “ washing the points.” More
in Night ccccxl.

3 Arab. “ Ruka’layn the number of these bows which are followed by the prostra-
tions distinguishes the five daily prayers.

4 The “ Beth Kol ” of the Hebrews; also called by the Moslems “ Hitif for which
ask the Spiritualists. It is the Hindu “ voice divine” or “voice from heaven.”

The Third Kalandars Tale .

143

to thy native land ; and all this shall be fulfilled to thee so thou
call not on the name of Allah. ,, Then I started up from my
sleep in joy and gladness and, hastening to do the bidding of the
mysterious Voice, found the bow and arrows and shot at the
horseman and tumbled him into the main, whilst the horse dropped
at my feet; so I took it and buried it. Presently the sea surged
up and rose till it reached the top of the mountain ; nor had 1
long to wait ere I saw a skiff in the offing coming towards me. I
gave thanks to Allah ; and, when the skiff came up to me, I saw
therein a man of brass with a tablet of lead on his breast in¬
scribed with talismans and characts; and I embarked without
uttering a word. The boatman rowed on with me through the
first day and the second and the third, in all ten whole days, till I
caught sight of the Islands of Safety; whereat I joyed with exceed-
ing joy and for stress of gladness exclaimed, “ Allah ! Allah ! In
the name of Allah! There is no god but the God and Allah is
Almighty/’ 1 Thereupon the skiff forthwith upset and cast me
upon the sea ; then it righted and sank deep into the depths.
Now I am a fair swimmer, so I swam the whole day till nightfall,
when my forearms and shoulders were numbed with fatigue and I
felt like to die; so I testified to my Faith, expecting naught but
death. The sea was still surging under the violence of the winds,
and presently there came a billow like a hillock; and, bearing me
up high in air, threw me with a long cast on dry land, that His will
might be fulfilled. I crawled up the beach and doffing my raiment
wrung it out to dry and spread it in the sunshine: then I lay me
down and slept the whole night. As soon as it was day, I donned
my clothes and rose to look whither I should walk. Presently I
came to a thicket of low trees; and, making a cast round it, found
that the spot whereon I stood was an islet, a mere holm, girt on
all sides by the ocean ; whereupon I said to myself, “ Whatso
freeth me from one great calamity casteth me into a greater! ”
But while I was pondering my case and longing for death behold,
I saw afar off a ship making for the island ; so I clomb a tree and
hid myself among the branches. Presently the ship anchored and
landed ten slaves, blackamoors, bearing iron hoes and baskets, who
walked on till they reached the middle of the island. Here they
dug deep into the ground, until they uncovered a plate of metal

* These formulae are technically called Tasmiyab, Tahlil (before noted) and Takbir :

the * ** testifying ” is Tashhid.

144

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

which they lifted, thereby opening a trap-door. After this they
returned to the ship and thence brought bread and flour, honey
and fruits, clarified butter, 1 leather bottles containing liquors and
many household stuffs ; also furniture, table-service and mirrors ;
rugs, carpets and in fact all needed to furnish a dwelling; and
they kept going to and fro, and descending by the trap-door, till
they had transported into the dwelling all that was in the ship.
After this the slaves again went on board and brought back with
them garments as rich as may be, and in the midst of them came
an old old man, of whom very little was left, for Time had dealt
hardly and harshly with him, and all that remained of him was
a bone wrapped in a rag of blue stuff, through which the winds
whistled west and east. As saith the poet of him :—

Time gars me tremble Ah, how sore the baulk ! o While Time in pride of
strength doth ever stalk :

Time was 1 walked nor ever felt I tired . © Now am I tired albe I

never walk !

And the Shaykh held by the hand a youth cast in beauty’s
mould, all elegance and perfect grace ; so fair that his comeliness
deserved to be proverbial ; for he was as a green bough or the
tender young of the roe, ravishing every heart with his loveliness
and subduing every soul with his coquetry and amorous ways. 2
It was of him the poet spake when he said :—

Beauty they brought with him to make compare ; © But Beauty hung her head
in shame and care :

Quoth they, u O Beauty,hast thou seen his like? " o And Beauty cried, “ His
like ? not anywhere ! M

They stinted not their going, O my lady, till all went down by the
trap-door and did not reappear for an hour, or rather more ; at the
end of which ^me the slaves and the old man came up without

1 Arab.. “ Samn,” (Pers. “ Raughan ” Hind. “ Ghi ”) the “ single sauce ” of the East;
fresh butter set upon the fire,’ skimmed and kept (for a century if required) in leather
bottles and demijohns. Then it becomes a hard black mass, considered a panacea for
wounds and diseases. It is very “ filling you say jocosely to an Eastern threatened
with a sudden inroad of guests, “Go, swamp thy rice with Raughan.” I once tried
training, like a Hindu Pahlawan or athlete, on Gur (raw sugar), milk and Ghi; and the
result was being blinded by bile before the week ended.

* These handsome youths are always described in the terms we should apply to
women.

The Third Kalandars Tale .

the youth and, replacing the iron plate and carefully closing the
door-slab, as it was before, they returned to the ship and made sail
and were lost to my sight. When they turned away to depart, I
came down from the tree and, going to the place I had seen them
fill up, scraped off and removed the earth ; and in patience
possessed my soul till I had cleared the whole of it away. Then
appeared the trap-door which was of wood, in shape and size like
a millstone; and when I lifted it up it disclosed a winding stair¬
case of stone. At this I marvelled and, descending the steps till
I reached the last, found a fair hall, spread with various kinds of
carpets and silk stuffs, wherein was a youth sitting upon a raised
couch and leaning back on a round cushion with a fan in his hand
and nosegays and posies of sweet scented herbs and flowers before
him ; l but he was alone and not a soul near him in the great
vault. When he saw me he turned pale ; but I saluted him cour¬
teously and said, u Set thy mind at ease and calm thy fears; no
harm shall come near thee ; I am a man like thyself and the son of
a King to boot; whom the decrees of Destiny have sent to bear
thee company and cheer thee in thy loneliness. But now tell me,
what' is thy story and what causeth thee to dwell thus in solitude
under the ground ? ” When he was assured that I was of his kind
and no Jinni, he rejoiced and his fine colour returned ; and, making
me draw near to him he said, “O my brother, my story is a strange
story and ’tis this. My father is a merchant-jeweller possessed
of great wealth, who hath white and black slaves travelling and
trading on his account in ships and on camels, and trafficking
with the most distant cities ; but he was not blessed with a child,
not even one. Now on a certain night he dreamed a dream that

1 The Bui. Edit. (i. 43) reads otherwise :—I found a garden and a second and a third
and so on till they numbered thirty and nine; and, in each garden, I saw what praise
will not expfess, of trees and rills and fruits and treasures. At the end of the last I
sighted a door and said to myself, “ What may be in this place ?; needs must I open it
and look in !** I did so accordingly and saw a courser ready saddled and bridled and
picketed so I loosed and mounted him ; and he flew with me like a bird till he set ma
down on a terrace-roof ; and, having landed me, he struck me a whisk with his tail and
put out mine eye and fled from me. Thereupon I descended from the roof and found ten
youths all blind of one eye who, when they saw me exclaimed, “ No welcome to thee, and
no good cheer ! ” I asked them, 41 Do ye admit me to your home and society ? M and they
answered, 44 No, by Allah, thou shalt not live amongst us.” So I went forth with weeping
eyes and grieving heart, but Allah had written my safety on the Guarded Tablet so I
reached Baghdad in safety, etc. This is a fair specimen of how the work has been cur¬
tailed in that issue.

VOL. I.

146

A If Laylak wa Laylafu

he should be favoured with a son, who would be short lived ; so
the morning dawned on my father bringing him woe and weeping.
On the following night my mother conceived and my father noted
down the date of her becoming pregnant. 1 Her time being ful¬
filled she bare me; whereat my father rejoiced and made banquets
and called together the neighbours and fed the Fakirs and the
poor* for that he had been blessed with issue near the end of his
days. Then he assembled the astrologers and astronomers who
knew the places of the planets, and the wizards and wise ones of
the time, and men learned in horoscopes and nativities; 2 and they
drew out my birth scheme and said to my father:—Thy son shall
live to fifteen years, but in his fifteenth there is a sinister aspect;
an he safely tide it over he shall attain a great age. And the
cause that threateneth him with death is this. In the Sea of Peril
standeth the Mountain Magnet hight; on whose summit is a
horseman of yellow laton seated on a horse also of brass and
bearing on his breast a tablet of lead. Fifty days after this rider
shall fall from his steed thy son will die and his slayer will be he
who shoots down the horseman, a Prince named Ajib son of King
Khazib. My father grieved with exceeding grief to hear these
words; but reared me in tenderest fashion and educated me excel¬
lently well till my fifteenth year was told. Ten days ago news
came to him that the horseman had fallen into the sea and he who
shot him down was named Ajib son of King Khazib. My father
thereupon wept bitter tears at the need of parting with me and
became like one possessed of a Jinni. However, being in mortal
fear for me, he built me this place under the earth ; and, stocking it
with all required for the few days still remaining, he brought me
bither in a ship and left me here. Ten are already past and, when
the forty shall have gone by without danger to me, he will come
and take me away; for he hath done all this only in fear of Prince

1 Arabs date pregnancy from the stopping of the menses, upon which the foetus is
supposed to feed. Kalilah wa Dlmnah says, “ The child’s navel adheres to that of his
mother and thereby he sucks ” (i. 263).

8 This is contrary to the commands of Ablslam ; Mohammed expressly said 11 The
Astrologers are liars, by the Lord of the Ka’abah ! ” ; and his saying is known to almost
all Moslems, lettered or unlettered. Yet, the further we go East (Indiawards) the mow
we find these practises held in honour. Turning westwards we have :

Iuridicis, Erebo, Fisco, fas vivere rapto r

Militibus, Medicis, Tortori occidere ludo est;

Mentiri Astronomis, Pictoribus atque Poetis.

The Third Kalandars Tale.

14 7

Ajib. Such, then, is my story and the cause of my loneliness.”
When I heard his history I marvelled and said in my mind, “I am the
Prince Ajib who hath done all this ; but as Allah is with me I will
surely not slay him ! ** So said I to him, O my lord, far from thee
be this hurt and harm and then, please Allah, thou shalt not suffer
cark nor care nor aught disquietude, for I will tarry with thee and
serve thee as a servant, and then wend my ways ; and, after having
borne thee company during the forty days, I will go with thee to
thy home where thou shalt give me an escort of some of thy Mame¬
lukes with whom I may journey back to my own city; and the
Almighty shall requite thee for me. He was glad to hear these
words, when I rose and lighted a large wax-candle and trimmed the
lamps and the three lanterns ; and I set on meat and drink and
sweetmeats. We ate and drank and sat talking over various
matters till the greater part of the night was gone ; when he lay
down to rest and I covered him up and went to sleep myself.
Next morning I arose and warmed a little water, then lifted him
gently so as to awake him and brought him the warm water
wherewith he washed his face 1 and said to me, “ Heaven requite
thee for me with every blessing, O youth ! By Allah, if I get quit
of this danger and am saved from him whose name is Ajib bin
Khazib, I will make my father reward thee and send thee home
healthy and wealthy ; and, if I die, then my blessing be upon thee.”
I answered, “ May the day never dawn on which evil shall betide
thee ; and may Allah make my last day before thy last day ! ”
Then I set before him somewhat of food and we ate ; and I got
ready perfumes for fumigating the hall, wherewith he was pleased.
Moreover I made him a Mankalah-cloth ; 2 and we played and ate
sweetmeats and we played again and took our pleasure till nightfall,
when I rose and lighted the lamps, and set before him somewhat
to eat, and sat telling him stories till the hours of darkness were far
spent. Then he lay down to rest and I covered him up and rested
also. And thus I continued to do, O my lady for days and nights
and affection for him took root in my heart and my sorrow was

1 He does not perform the Wuzu or lesser ablution because he neglects his dawn
prayers.

2 For this game see Lane (M. E. Chapt. xvii.) It is usually played on a
checked cloth not on a board like our draughts ; and Easterns are fond of eating,
drinking and smoking between and even during the games. Torrens (p. 142) translates
“I made up some dessert,” confounding "Mankalah” with “Nukl” (dried fruit,
quatre-mendiants).

143

A If Laylah wa Laylak.

eased, and I said to myself, The astrologers lied 1 when they pre¬
dicted that he should be slain by Ajib bin Khazib: by Allah, I will
not slay him. I ceased not ministering to him and conversing and
carousing with him and telling him all manner tales for thirty-nine
days. On the fortieth night 2 the youth rejoiced and said, “ O my
brother, Alhamdolillah!—praise be to Allah—who hath preserved
me from death and this is by thy blessing and the blessing of thy
coming to me; and I pray God that He restore thee to thy native
land. But now, O my brother, I would thou warm me some water
for the Ghusl-ablution and do thou kindly bathe me and change my
clothes.” I replied, ‘‘With love and gladness;” and I heated
water in plenty and carrying it in to him washed his body all over,
the washing of health, 3 with meal of lupins 4 and rubbed him well
and changed his clothes and spread him a high bed whereon he lay
down to rest, being drowsy after bathing. Then said he, “O my
brother, cut me up a water-melon, and sweeten it with a little
sugar-candy. 5 So I went to the store-room and bringing out a fine
water-melon I found there, set it on a platter and laid it before
him saying, “ O my master hast thou not a knife ? ” “ Here it is/*
answered he, “over my head upon the high shelf.” So I got up in
haste and taking the knife drew it from its sheath; but my foot
slipped in stepping down and I fell heavily upon the youth holding
in my hand the knife which hastened to fulfil what had been
written on the Day that decided the destinies of man, and buried
itself, as if planted, in the youth’s heart. He died on the instant.
When I saw that he was slain and knew that I had slain him,
maugre myself, I cried out with an exceeding loud and bitter cry
and beat my face and rent my raiment and said, “Verily we be
Allah’s and unto Him we be returning, O Moslems! O folk fain
of Allah! there remained for this youth but one day of the forty
dangerous days which the astrologers and the learned had foretold
for him; and the predestined death of this beautiful one was to be
at my hand. Would Heaven I had not tried to cut the water-

1 Quoted from Mohammed whose saying has been given.

2 We should say “ the night of the thirty-ninth.”

3 The bath first taken after sickness.

4 Arab. “ Dik£k” used by way of soap or raiher to soften the skin : the meal is
usually of lupins, Adas ” = ** Revalenta Arabica ,” which costs a penny in Egypt
and half-a*crown in England.

5 Arab. “ Sukkar-nabit.” During my day (1842-49) we had no other sugar in the
Bombay Presidency.

The Third Kalandar's Tale .

*49

melon. What dire misfortune is this I must bear lief or loath
What a disaster ! What an affliction ! O Allah mine, I implore thy
pardon and declare to Thee my innocence of his death. But what

God willeth let that come to pass.” 1 --And Shahrazad perceived

the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

'NTofo tofjen it m% tfje Jbfxtecntl) Xt'gljt,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ajib thus
continued his tale to the lady :—When I was certified that I had
slain him, I arose and ascending the stairs replaced the trap-door
and covered it with earth as before. Then I looked out seawards
and saw the ship cleaving the wafers and making for the island ,
wherefore I was afeard and said, “ The moment they come and see
the youth done to death, they will l^now ’twas I who slew him and
will slay me without respite.” So I climbed up into a high tree
and concealed myself among its leaves; and hardly had I done so
when the ship anchored and the slaves landed with the- ancient
man, the youth’s father, and made direct for the place and when
they removed the earth they were surprised to see it soft. 2 Then
they raised the trap-door and went down and found the youth
lying at full length, clothed in fair new garments with a face beam¬
ing after the bath, and the knife deep in his heart. At the sight
they shrieked and wept and beat their faces, loudly cursing the
murderer; whilst a swoon came over the Shaykh so that the slaves
deemed him dead, unable to survive his son. At last they wrapped
the slain youth in his clothes and carried him up and laid him on
the ground covering him with a shroud of silk. Whilst they were
making for the ship the old man revived ; and, gazing on his son
who was stretched out, fell on the ground and strewed dust over
his head and smote his face and plucked out his beard; and his
weeping redoubled as he thought of his murdered son and he
swooned away once more. After awhile a slave went and fetched
a strip of silk whereupon they lay the old man and sat down at his
head. All this took place and I was on the tree above them

1 This is one of the myriad Arab instances that the decrees of “ Anagk£, M Fate,
Destiny, Weird, are inevitable. The situation is highly dramatic ; and indeed The
Nights, as will appear in the terminal Essay, have already suggested a national drama.

2 Having lately been moved by Ajib.

A If Layiah wa Lay?ah.

150

watching everything that came to pass; and my heart became
hoary before my head waxed grey, for the hard lot which was
mine, and for the distress and anguish I had undergone, and I fell
to reciting:—

How many a joy by Allah’s will hath fled o With flight escaping sight of
wisest head !

How many a sadness shall, begin the day, o Yet grow right gladsome ere
the day is sped !

How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, o Causing the mourner’s heart
with joy to thrill ’ ” 1

But the old man, O my lady, ceased not from his swoon till near
sunset, when he came to himself and, looking upon his dead son, he
recalled what had happened, and how what he had dreaded had
come to pass; and he beat his face and head and recited these
couplets:—

“ Racked is my heart by parting fro’ my friends o And two rills ever fro’ my
eyelids flow :

With them 2 went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! o What shift remaineth me
to say or do ?

Would I had never looked upon their sight, o What shift, fair sirs, when paths
e’er straiter grow ?

What charm shall calm my pangs when this wise burn © Longings of love
which in my vitals glow ?

Would I had trod with them the road of Death! © Ne’er had befel us twain
this parting-blow :

Allah : I pray the Ruthful show me ruth o And mix our lives nor part them
evermo’e!

How blest were we as ’neath one roof we dwelt o Conjoined in joys nor
recking aught of woe ;

Till Fortune shot us with the severance shaft; o Ah who shall patient bear such
parting throe ?

And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe o The age’s pearl that Morn
saw brightest show :

1 cried the while his case took speech and said:— o Would Heaven, my son,
Death mote his doom foreslow !

Which be the readiest road wi’ thee to meet o My Son! for whom I would my
soul bestow ?

If sun I call him no! the sun doth set; o If moon I call him, wane the
moons ; Ah no!

1 Mr. Payne (i. 131.) omits these lines which appear out of place; but this mode
of inappropriate quotation is a characteristic of Eastern tales* *

* Anglic^ “ him.”

The Third KalandaSs Tate,

1 51

O sad mischance o’ thee, O doom of days, o Thy place none other love shall

ever know :

Thy sire distracted sees thee, but despairs © By wit or wisdom Fate to
overthrow :

Some evil eye this day hath Cast its spell o And foul befal him as it foul
befel 1 w

Then he sobbed a single sob and his soul fled his flesh. The
slaves shrieked aloud “Alas, our lord!” and showered dust on
their heads and redoubled their weeping and wailing. Presently
they carried their dead master to the ship side by side with his
dead son and, having transported all the stuff from the dwelling to
the vessel, set sail and disappeared from mine eyes. I descended
from the tree and, raising the trap-door, went down into the under¬
ground dwelling where everything reminded me of the youth; and
I looked upon the poor remains of him and began repeating these
verses:—

Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang © And on deserted hearths l
weep and yearn :

And Him 1 pray who doomed them depart o Some day vouchsafe the boon of
safe return.* *

Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trap-door, and every day
I used to wander round about the island and every night I returned
to the underground hall. Thus I lived for a month, till at last,
looking at the western side of the island, I observed that every day
the tide ebbed, leaving shallow water for which the flow did not
compensate; and by the end of the month the sea showed dry
land in that direction. At this I rejoiced making certain of my
safety; so I arose and fording what little was left of the water got
me to the main land, where I fell in with great heaps of loose sand
in which even a camel's hoof would sink up to the knee. 2 How¬
ever I emboldened my soul and wading through the sand behold,
a fire shone from afar burning with a blazing light. 3 So I made for
it hoping haply to find succour and broke out into these verses;—

1 This march of the tribe is a lieu commurt of Arab verse eg. the poet Labid’s noble
elegy on the “Deserted Camp. 1 ’ We shall find scores of instances in The Nights.

a l have heard of such sands in the Desert east of Damascus which can be crossed
only on boards or camel furniture; and the same is reported of the infamous Region
“Al-Ahk£f” (“Unexplored Syria”).

* Hence the Arab, saying “ The bark of a dog and not the gleam of a fire ; n the tired
traveller knows from the former that the camp is near, whereas the latter shows from
gfeat distances.

152

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

“ Belike my Fortune may her bridle turn o And Time bring weal although he’s
jealous hight;

Forward my hopes, and further all my needs, o And passed ills with present
weals requite.”

And when I drew near the fire aforesaid lo! it was a palace with
gates of copper burnished red which, when the rising sun shone
thereon, gleamed and glistened from afar showing what had
seemed to me a fire. I rejoiced in. the sight, and sat down over
against the gate, but I was hardly settled in my seat before there
met me ten young men clothed in sumptuous gear and all were
blind of the left eye which appeared as plucked out. They were
accompanied by a Shaykh, an old, old man, and much I marvelled
at their appearance, and their all being blind of the same eye.
When they saw me, they saluted me with the Salam and asked
me of my case and my history; whereupon I related to them all
what had befallen me, and what full measure of misfortune was
mine. Marvelling at my tale they took me to the mansion, where
I saw ranged round the hall ten couches each with its blue
bedding and coverlet of blue stuff 1 and amiddlemost stood a
smaller couch furnished like them with blue and nothing else. As
vve entered each of the youths took his seat on his own couch
and the old man seated himself upon the smaller one in the middle
saying to me, “ O youth, sit thee down on the floor and ask not of
our case nor of the loss of our eyes.” Presently he rose up and set
before each young man some meat in a charger and drink in a
large mazer, treating me in like manner; and after that they sat
questioning me concerning my adventures and what had betided
me: and I kept telling them my tale till the night was far spent.
Then said the young men, “ O our Shaykh, wilt not thou set before
us our ordinary ? The time is come.” He replied, “ With love
and gladness,” and rose and entering a closet disappeared, but
presently returned bearing on his head ten trays each covered with
a strip of blue stuff. He set a tray before each youth and, lighting

1 Dark blue is the colour of mourning in Egypt as it was of the Roman Republic.
The Persians hold that this tint was introduced by Kay Kawus (B.C. 600) when
mourning for his son Siydwush. It was continued till the death of Husayn on the 10th
of Muharram (the first month, then representing the vernal equinox) when it was
changed for black. As a rule Moslems do not adopt this symbol of sorrow (called
“Hidad”), looking upon the practice as somewhat idolatrous and foreign to Arab
manners. In Egypt and especially on the Upper Nile women dye their hands with
Indigo and stain their faces black or blacker.

The Third Kalandar's Tale .

*53

ten wax candles, he stuck one upon each tray, and drew off the
covers and lo ! under them was naught but ashes and powdered
charcoal and kettle soot. Then all the young men tucked up their
sleeves to the elbows and fell a-weeping and wailing and they
blackened their faces and smeared their clothes and buffetted their
brows and beat their breasts, continually exclaiming, “ We were
sitting at our ease but our frowardness brought us unease ! ” They
ceased not to do thus till dawn drew nigh, when the old man rose
and heated water for them; and they washed their faces, and
donned other and clean clothes. Now when I saw this, O my lady,
for very wonderment my senses left me and my wits went wild and
heart and head were full of thought, till I forgot what had betided
me and I could not keep silence feeling I fain must speak out and
question them of these strangenesses; so I said to them, “ How
come ye to do this after we have been so open-hearted and frolick-
some ? Thanks be to Allah ye be all sound and sane, yet actions
such as these befit none but mad men or those possessed of an evil
spirit. I conjure you by all that is dearest to you, why stint ye
to tell me your history, and the cause of your losing your eyes
and your blackening your faces with ashes and soot ? ” Hereupon
they turned to me and said, “ O young man, hearken not to thy
youthtide’s suggestions and question us no questions.” Then they
slept and I with them and when they awoke the old man brought
us somewhat of food ; and, after we had eaten and the plates and
goblets had been removed, they sat conversing till night-fall.when
the old man rose and lit the wax candles and lamps and set meat
and drink before us. After we had eaten and drunken we sat
conversing and carousing in companionage till the noon of night,
when they said to the old man, “ Bring us our ordinary, for the hour
of sleep is at hand ! ” So he rose and brought them the trays of
soot and ashes; and they did as they had done on the preceding
night, nor more, nor less. I abode with them after this fashion for
the space of a month during which time they used to blacken their
faces with ashes every night, and to wash and change their raiment
when the morn was young; and I but marvelled the more and my
scruples and curiosity increased to such a point that I had to forego
even food and drink. At last, I lost command of myself, for my
heart was aflame with fire unquenchable and lowe unconcealable
and I said, “ O young men, will ye not relieve my trouble and
acquaint me with the reason of thus blackening your faces and the
meaning of your words:—We were sitting at our case but our

154

A If Laylah wa Laylak.

frowardness brought us unease ? ” Quoth they^’Twere better to
keep these things secret/’ Still I was bewildered by their doings to
the point of abstaining from eating and drinking and, at last wholly
losing patience, quoth I to them, “ There is no help for it: ye must
acquaint me with what is the reason of these doings/’ They
replied, “ We kept our secret only for thy good: to gratify thee
will bring down evil upon thee and thou wilt become a monocular
even as we are.” I repeated, “ There is no help for it and, if ye
will not, let me leave you and return to mine own people and be
at rest from seeing these things, for the proverb saith:—

Better ye ’bide and I take my leave : c For what eye sees not heart shall never

grieve.

Thereupon they said to me, “ Remember, O youth, that should ill
befal thee we will not again harbour thee nor suffer thee to abide
amongst us; ” and bringing a ram they slaughtered it and skinned it.
Lastly they gave me a knife saying, “ Take this skin and stretch
thyself upon it and we will sew it around thee; presently there shall
come to thee a certain bird, hight Rukh, 1 that will catch thee up in
his pounces and tower high in. air and then set thee down on a
mountain. When thou feelest he is no longer flying, rip open the
pelt with this blade and come out of it; the bird will be scared
and will fly away and leave thee free. After this fare for half a
day, and the march will place thee at a palace wondrous fair to
behold, towering high in air and builded of Khalanj, 2 lign-aloes and
sandal-wood, plated with red gold, and studded with *all manner
emeralds and costly gems fit for seal-rings. Enter it and thou
shalt win to thy wish for we have all entered that palace; and such
is the cause of our losing our eyes and of our blackening our faces.
Were we now to tell thee our stories it would take too long a time ;
for each and every of us lost his left eye by an adventure of his
own. I rejoiced at their words and they did with me as they
said ; and the bird Rukh bore me off and set me down on the

1 The older Roc, of which more in the Tale of Sindbad. Meanwhile the reader
curious about the Persian Simurgh (thirty lL*a) will consult the Dabistan, i., 55, 191 and
iii., 237, and Richardson’s Diss. p. xlviii. For the Anka (Enka or Unka= long-necked
bird; see Dab. iii., 249 and for the Huma (bird of Paradise) Richardson kx.v. We still
lack details concerning the Ben or Bennu (nycticorax) of Egypt which with the Article pi
gave rise to the Greek “ phoenix.”

2 Probably the Halcdj of Forskal (p.'xcvi. Flor. .Egypt. Arab.), “ lignum tenax, durum,
obscuri generis.” The Bres. Edit, has “ akul” = teak wood, vulg. “ Sij.”

The Third Kalandar s Tale.

*55

mountain. Then I came out of the skin and walked on till I
reached the palace. The door stood open as I entered and found
myself in a spacious and goodly hall, wide exceedingly, even as a
horse-course ; and around it were an hundred chambers with doors
of sandal and aloes woods plated with red gold and furnished with
silver rings by way of knockers. 1 * 3 * At the head or upper end * of the
hall I saw forty damsels, sumptuously dressed and ornamented and
one and all bright as moons; none could ever tire of gazing upon
them and all so lovely that the most ascetic devotee on seeing them
would become their slave and obey their will. When they saw me
the whole bevy came up to me and said “ Welcome and well come
and good cheer 5 to thee, O our lord! This whole month have we
been expecting thee. Praised be Allah who hath sent us one who
is worthy of us, even as we are worthy of him! w Then they made me
sit down upon a high divan and said to me, “This day thou art
our lord and master, and we are thy servants and thy handmaids, so
order us as thou wilt” And I marvelled at their case. Presently
one of them arose and set meat before me and I ate and they ate
with me; whilst others warmed water and washed my hands and
feet and changed my clothes, and others made ready sherbets and
gave us to drink ; and all gathered around me being full of joy
and gladness at my coming. Then they sat down and conversed
with me till nightfall, when five of them arose and laid the trays
and spread them with flowers and fragrant herbs and fruits, fresh
and dried, and confections in profusion. At last they brought out
a fine wine-service with rich old wine; and we sat down to drink
and some sang songs and others played the lute and psaltery and
recorders and other instruments, and the bowl went merrily round.
Hereupon such gladness possessed me that I forgot the sorrows of
the world one and all and said, ** This is indeed life; O sad that
# tis fleeting ! ” 1 enjoyed their company till the time came for rest;
and our heads were all warm with wine, when they said, a O our
lord, choose from amongst us her who shall be thy bed-fellow this
night and not lie with thee again till forty days be past.” So I
chose a girl fair of face and perfect in shape, with eyes Kohl-edged

1 The knocker ring is an invention veil known to the Romans.

* Arab. “Sadr”; the place of honour; hence the “Sadder Adawhrt** (Supreme
Court) in the Anglo-Indian jargon.

3 Arab. ~ Ahian wa gahhn va marharhd,” the words still popularly addressed to a

guest.

A If Laylah wa LaylaA .

by natcreV/ hand; 1 hair long and jet black with stightTy^parted
teeth 5 and joining brows: ’twas as if she were some limber graceful
jbranchlet or the slender stalk of sweet basil to amaze and to
bewilder man’s fancy ; even as the poet said of such an one

(To even her with greeny bough were vain © Fool he who finds her beauties in
the roe:

'When hath the roe those lively lovely limbs © Or honey dews those lips alone
bestow ?

iThose eyne, soul-piercing eyne, which slay with hrre, • Which bind the victim
by their shafts laid low ?

Jdy' heart to second childhood they beguiled o No wonder: Jove-sick man again
is child!

/And I repeated to her the maker’s words who said

None other charms bat thine shall greet mine eyes, © Nor other image can my
heart surprize:

iThy love, my lady, c aptives all my thoughts • And on that love I’ll die and I’ll
arise.

So I lay with her that night; none fairer I ever knew; and, when
it was morning, the damsels carried me to the Hammam-bath and
bathed me and robed me in fairest appareL Then they served up
food, and we ate and drank and the cup went round till nightfall
when I chose from among them one fair of form and face, soft-
sided and a model of grace, such an one as the poet described
bvhen he said:—

On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, • Sealed fast with musk-seals loven

to withstand;

'With arrowy glances stand on guard her eyes, • Whose shafts would shoot who
dares put forth a hand.

'With her I spent a most goodly night; and, to be brief, O my
mistress, I remained with them in all solace and delight of life,
eating and drinking, conversing and carousing and every night

1 This may mean “liquid blade eyes"; bat also, as I have noticed, that the lashes
Were long and thick enough to make the eyelids appear as if Kohl-powder had been
applied to the inner rims.

* A slight parting between the two front incisors, the upper only, is considered a
beauty by Arabs ; why it is hard to say except for the racial love of variety. “ Sughr **
(Thugr) in the text means, primarily, the opening of the mouth, the gape: hence the
front teeth.

The Third Kalandat’s TaU*

157

lying with one or other of them. But at the head of the new year
they came to me in tears and bade me farewell, weeping and crying
out and clinging about me; whereat I wondered and said, “ What
may be the matter? verily you break my heart I” They ex¬
claimed, “Would Heaven we had never known thee; for, though
we have companied with many, yet never saw we a pleasanter than
thou or a more courteous.* And they wept again. “ But tell me
more clearly,* asked I, ** what causeth this weeping which maketh
my gall-bladder 1 like to burst ; * and they answered, M O our lord
and master, it is severance which maketh us weep; and thou, and
thou only, art the cause of our tears. If thou hearken to us we
need never be parted and if thou hearken not we part for ever; but
our hearts tell us that thou wilt not listen to our words and this
Is the cause of our tears and cries.* "Tell me how the case
standeth ?* “ Know, O our lord, that we are the daughters of
Kings who have met here and have lived together for years; and
once in every year we are perforce absent for forty days ; and
afterwards we return and abide here for the rest of the twelve-
month eating and drinking and taking our pleasure and enjoying
delights: we are about to depart according to our custom; and we
fear lest after we be gone thou contraire our charge and disobey
our injunctions. Here now we commit to thee the keys of the
palace which containeth forty chambers and thou mayest open of
these thirty and nine, but beware (and we conjure thee by Allah
and by the lives of us!) lest thou open the fortieth door, for
therein is that which shall separate us for ever.* 1 Quoth I,
u Assuredly I will not open it, if it contain the cause of severance
from you.* Then one among them came up to me and falling on
my neck wept and recited these verses:—

* If Time unite us after absent-while, • The world harsh frowning on our lot
shall smile;

And if thy semblance deign adorn mine eyes,* • FH pardon Time past wrongs
and by-gone guile.”

* makes me taste the bitterness of death, “b an ti ng the gall-bladder” (Mardrah)
being our **breaking the heart”

9 Almost needless to say that forbidden doors and rooms form a in

Fairie: they are found in the Hindu Katha Sarit Sagarm and became familiar to our
childhood by ** Bluebeard.’*

3 Lit. ** apply Kohl to my eyes,** even as Jeaehsl “ painted her feat,” in Hcb. put
her eyes in painting (a Kings bn, 30).

153 Alf Laylak wa Laylak .

And I recited the following:—

* When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, o While care and longing
on that day her bosom wrun g ;

Wet pearls she wept and mine like red camelians rolled o And, joined in sad
rivib'C) around her neck they hung.”

f When I saw her weeping I said, “ By Allah I will never open that
fortieth door, never and no wise! 99 and I bade her farewell.
Thereupon all departed flying away like birds; signalling with
their hands farewells as they went and leaving me alone in the
palace. When evening drew near I opened the door of the first
chamber and entering it found myself in a place like one of the
pieasaunces of Paradise. It was a garden with trees of freshest
green and ripe fruits of yellow sheen ; and its birds were singing
clear and keen and rills ran wimpling through the fair terrene.
The sight and sounds brought solace to my sprite ; and I walked
among the trees, and I smelt the breath of the flowers on the
breeze; and heard the birdies sing their melodies hymning the
One, the Almighty in sweetest litanies; and I looked upon the
apple whose hue is parcel red and parcel yellow; as said the
poet:—

Apple whose hue combines in union mellow • My fair’s red cheek, her hapless
lover’s yellow.

Then I looked upon the quince, and inhaled its fragrance which
putteth to shame musk and ambergris, even as the poet hath
said:—

Quince every taste conjoins ; in her are found a Gifts which for queen cf fruits
the Quince have crowned;

Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk ; o Pure gold her hue, her shape
the Moon’s fair round.

Then I looked upon the pear whose taste surpasseth sherbet and
sugar; and the apricot 1 whose beauty striketh the eye with admira¬
tion, as if she were a polished ruby. Then I went out of the place
and locked the door as it was before. When it was the morrow I
ppened the second door; and entering found myself in a spacious

1 Arab. ** Al-Barkuk,” whence our older “ Apncock.” Classically it is “Burkuk**
and Pers. for Arab. “ Mishmisk,” and it also denotes a small plum or damson. In Syria
the “ side next the sun ” shows a glowing red flush.

The Third KalandaSs Tale .

159

plain set with tall date-palms and watered by a running stream
whose banks, were shrubbed with bushes of rose and jasmine, while
privet and eglantine, oxe-eye, violet and lily, narcissus, origane
and the winter gilliflower carpeted the borders ; and the breath of
the breeze swept over these sweet-smelling growths diffusing their
delicious odours right and left, perfuming the world and filling my
soul with delight. After taking my pleasure there awhile I went
from it and, having closed the door as it was before, opened the
third door wherein I saw a high open hall pargetted with parti-
coloured marbles and pietra dura of price and other precious stones,
and hung with cages of sandal-wood and eagle-wood; full of birds
which made sweet music, such as the “Thousand-voiced,” 1 and the
cushat, the merle, the turtle-dove and the Nubian ring-dove.. My
heart was filled with pleasure thereby; my grief was dispelled and
I slept in that aviary till dawn. Then I unlocked the door of the
fourth chamber and therein found a grand saloon with forty smaller
chambers giving upon it. All their doors stood open : so I entered
and found them full of pearls and jacinths and beryls and emeralds
and corals and carbuncles, and all manner precious gems and jewels,
such as tongue of man may not describe. My thought was stunned
at the sight and I said to myself, “ These be things methinks
united which could not be found save in the treasuries of a King of
Kings, nor could the monarchs of the world have collected the like
of these ! ” And my heart dilated and my sorrows ceased, “ For,”
quoth I, “ now verily am I the monarch of the age, since by Allah's
grace this enormous wealth is mine; and I have forty damsels
under my hand nor is there any to claim them save myself.” Then
1 gave not over opening place after place until nine and thirty days
were passed and in that time I had entered every chambe’r except
that one whose door the Princesses had charged me not to open.
But my thoughts, O my mistress, ever ran on that forbidden
fortieth 2 and Satan urged me to open it for my own undoing;
nor had I patience to forbear, albeit there wanted of the trysting
time but a single day. So I stood before the chamber aforesaid
and, after a moment’s hesitation, opened the door which was plated
with red gold, and entered. I was met by a perfume whose like I

1 Arab, 4< Hatar” (in Persian, a thousand) = a kind of mocking bird.

2 Some Edits, make the doors number a hundred, but the Princesses were forty and
these coincidences, which seem to have significance and have none save for Arab sym-
metromania, are common in Arab stories.

l6o

A If Laylak wa Laylah.

had never before smelt; and so sharp and subtle was the odour
that it made my senses drunken as with strong wine, and I fell to
the ground in a fainting iit which lasted a full hour. When I came
to myself I strengthened my heart and, entering, found myself in a
chamber, whose floor was bespread with saffron and blazing with
light from branched candelabra of gold and lamps fed with costly
oils, which diffused the scent of musk and ambergris. I saw there
also two great censers each big as a mazer-bowl, 1 flaming with
lign-aloes, nadd-perfume, 2 ambergris and honied scents; and the
place was full of their fragrance. Presently, O my lady, I espied a
noble steed, black as the murks of night when murkiest, standing,
ready saddled and bridled (and his saddle was of red gold) before
itwo mangers, one of clear crystal wherein was husked sesame, and
the other also of crystal containing water of the rose scented with
musk. When I saw this I marvelled and said to myself, “ Doubt¬
less in this animal must be some wondrous mystery; ” and Satan
cozened me, so I led him without the palace and mounted him; but
he would not stir from his place. So I hammered his sides with my
heels, but he moved not, and then I took the rein-whip’ 3 and struck
him withal. When he felt the blow, he neighed a neigh with a sound
like deafening thunder and, opening a pair of wings 4 flew up with me
in the firmament of heaven far beyond the eyesight of man. After a
full hour of flight he descended and alighted on a terrace roof and
shaking me off his back lashed me on the face with his tail
and gouged out my left eye causing it roll. along my cheek.
Then he flew away. I went down from the terrace and found
myself again amongst the ten one-eyed youths sitting upon their
ten couches with blue covers ; and they cried out when they saw
me, “ No welcome to thee, nor aught of good cheer! We all
lived of lives the happiest and we ate and drank of the best;
upon brocades and cloths of gold we took our rest, and we slept
with our heads on beauty’s breast, but we could not await one day
to gain the delights of a year!" Quoth I," Behold I have become
one like unto you and now I would have you bring me a tray full
of blackness, wherewith to blacken my face, and receive me into

■ * *•

1 Arab. M Mljt&r *• hence possibly our “ mater,” which is popularly derived from
Masarn, a maple.

* A compound scent of ambergris, musk and aloes.

* The ends of the bridle*reins forming the whip.

, S The flying horse is Pegasus which is a Greek travesty of an Egyptian myth developed
in India.

The Third Kalandars Tale .

161

your society” "No, by Allah,” quoth they, "thou shalt not
sojourn with us and now get thee hence! ” So they drove me
away. Finding them reject me thus I foresaw that matters would
go hard with me, and I remembered the many miseries which
Destiny had written upon my forehead; and I fared forth from
among them heavy-hearted and tearful-eyed, repeating to myself
these words, "I was sitting at mine ease but my frowardness
brought me to unease.” Then I shaved beard and mustachios and
eye-brows, renouncing the world, and wandered in Kalandar-garb
about Allah’s earth ; and the Almighty decreed safety for me till
I arrived at Baghdad, which was on the evening of this very night*
Here I met these two other Kalandars standing bewildered; so I
saluted them saying, " I am a stranger! ” and they answered,
"And we likewise be strangers!” By the freak of Fortune we
were like to like, three Kalandars and three monoculars all blind
of the left eye. Such, O my lady, is the cause of the shearing of
my beard and the manner of my losing an eye. Said the lady to
him, " Rub thy head and wend thy ways ; ” but he answered, “By
Allah, I will not go until I hear the stories of these others.” Then
the lady, turning towards the Caliph and Ja’afar and Masrur, said
to them, “ Do ye also give an account of yourselves, you men! ”
Whereupon Ja’afar stood forth and told her what he had told the
portress as they were entering the house ; and when she heard his
story of their being merchants and Mosul-men who had outran the
watch, she said, “ I grant you your lives each for each sake, and
now away with you all.” So they all went out and when they
were in the street, quoth the Caliph to the Kalandars, “ O com¬
pany, whither go ye now, seeing that the morning hath not yet
dawned ? ” Quoth they, " By Allah, O our lord, we know not
where to go.” " Come and pass the rest of the night with us,” said
the Caliph and, turning to Ja’afar, “ Take them home with thee and
to-morrow bring them to my presence that we may chronicle their
adventures.” Ja’afar did as the Caliph bade him and the Com¬
mander of the Faithful returned to his palace; but sleep gave no
sign of visiting him that night and he lay awake pondering the
mishaps of the three Kalandar-princes and impatient to know the
history of the ladies and the two black bitches. No sooner had
morning dawned than he went forth and sat upon the thfone of his
sovereignty; and, turning to Ja’afar, after all his Grandees and
Officers of state were gathered together, he said, " Bring me the
three ladies and the two bitches and the three Kalandars.” So
TOL. I. L

1 62

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

Ja’afar fared forth and brought them all before him (and the ladies
were veiled); then the Minister turned to them and said in the
Caliph’s name, “ We pardon you your maltreatment of us and your
want of courtesy, in consideration of the kindness which forewent
it, and for that ye knew us not: now however I would have you
to know that ye stand in presence of the fifth 1 of the sons of
Abbas, Harun al-Rashid, brother of Caliph Musa al-Hadi, son
of Al-Mansur; son of Mohammed the brother of Al-Saffah bin
Mohammed who was first of the royal house. Speak ye therefore
before him the truth and the whole truth!” When the ladies heard
Ja’afar’s words touching the Commander of the Faithful, the eldest
came forward and said, “ O Prince of True Believers, my story is
one which, were it graven with needle-gravers upon the eye-corners
were a warner for whoso would be warned and an example for

whoso can take profit from example.”-And Shahrazad perceived

the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Nofo foljm it foas tfje gbtbmtcentl)

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that she stood
forth before the Commander of the Faithful and began to tell

THE ELDEST LADY’S TALE.

VERILY a strange tale is mine and ’tis this :—Yon two black
bitches are my eldest sisters by one mother and father; and these
two others, she who beareth upon her the signs of stripes and the
third our procuratrix are my sisters by another mother. When my
father died, each took her share of the heritage and, after a while
my mother also deceased, leaving me and my sisters-german
three thousand dinars; so each daughter received her portion
of a thousand dinars and I the same, albe the youngest. In due
course of time my sisters married with the usual festivities and
lived with their husbands, who bought merchandise with their
wives' monies and set out on their travels together. Thus they
threw me off. My brothers-in-law were absent with their wives
five years, during which period they spent all the money they
had and, becoming bankrupt, deserted my sisters in foreign parts
amid stranger folk. After five years my eldest sister returned to

1 The Bres. Edit, wrongly says “the seventh.”

The Eldest Lady's Tale .

16 $

me in beggar’s gear with her clothes in rags and tatters 1 and a
dirty old mantilla; 2 and truly she was in the foulest and sorriest
plight. At first sight I did not know my own sister; but presently
I recognised her and said “ What state is this ? ” “ O our sister,”

she replied, “ Words cannot undo the done; and the reed of
Destiny hath run through what Allah decreed.” Then I sent
her to the bath and dressed her in a suit of mine own, and boiled
for her a bouillon and brought her some good wine and said
to her, “ O my sister, thou art the eldest, who still standest to us
in the stead of father and mother; and, as for the inheritance
which came to me as to you twain, Allah hath blessed it and pros¬
pered it to me with increase ; and my circumstances are easy, for I
have made much money by spinning and cleaning silk ; and I and
you will share my wealth alike.” I entreated her with all kindliness
and she abode with me a whole year, during which our thoughts
and fancies were always full of our other sister. Shortly after she
too came home in yet fouler and sorrier plight than that of my
eldest sister; and I dealt by her still more honorably than I had
done by the first, and each of them had a share of my substance.
After a time they said to me, “ O our sister, we desire to marry
again, for indeed we have not patience to drag on our days with¬
out husbands and to lead the lives of widows bewitched; ” and
I replied, “O eyes of me! 3 * * * * * 9 ye have hitherto seen scanty weal in
wedlock, for now-a-days good men and true are become rareties
and curiosities ; nor do I deem your projects advisable, as ye have
already made trial of matrimony and have failed.” But they
would not accept my advice and married without my consent :
nevertheless I gave them outfit and dowries out of my money;
and they fared forth with their mates. In a mighty little time
their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they could
lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch. Thereupon
they came to me ashamed and in abject case and made their

1 Arab. “Sharmutah” (plur. Shar^mit) from the root Sharmat, to shred, a favourite

Egyptian word also applied in vulgar speech to a strumpet, a punk, a piece. It is also

the popular term for strips of jerked or boucaned meat hung up in the sun to dry, and

classically called “Kadid.”

* Arab. “ Iz£r,” the man’s waistcloth opposed to the Rid£ or shoulder-cloth, is also

the sheet of white calico worn by the poorer Eygptian women out of doors and covering

head and hands. See Lane (M. E., chapt. i). The rich prefer a " HaMrah" of black

silk, and the poor, when they have nothing else, use a bed-sheet.

9 i.e. 44 My dears.”

it>4

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

excuses to me, saying, “ Pardon our fault and be not wroth with
us; 1 for although thou art younger in years yet art thou older in
wit; henceforth we will never make mention of marriage ; so take
us back as thy hand-maidens that we may eat our mouthful.”
Quoth I, ‘‘Welcome to you, O my sisters, there is naught dearer to
me than you.” And I took them in and redoubled my kindness to
them. We ceased not to live after this loving fashion for a full
year, when I resolved to sell my wares abroad and first to fit me a
conveyance for Bassorah ; so I equipped a large ship, and loaded
her with merchandise and valuable goods for traffic, and with
provaunt and all needful for a voyage, and said to my sisters, “ Will
ye abide at home whilst I travel, or would ye prefer to accompany
me on the voyage ? ” “ We will travel with thee,” answered they,

“ for we cannot bear to be parted from thee.” So I divided my
monies into two parts, one to accompany me and the other to be
left in charge of a trusty person, for, as I said to myself, “ Haply
some accident may happen to the ship and yet we remain alive; in
which case we shall find on our return what may stand us in good
stead. I took my two sisters and we went a-voyaging some days
and nights ; but the master was careless enough to miss his course,
and the ship went astray with us and entered a sea other than the
sea we sought. For a time we knew naught of this ; and the wind
blew fair for us ten days, after which the look-out man went aloft
to see about him and cried, “ Good news ! ” Then he came down
rejoicing and said, “ I have seen what seemeth to be a city as ’twere
a pigeon.” Hereat we rejoiced and, ere an hour of the day had
passed, the buildings showed plain in the offing and we asked the
Captain, “ What is the name of yonder city and he answered,
u By Allah I wot not, for I never saw it before and never sailed
these seas in my life : but, since our troubles have ended in safety,
remains for you only to land there with your merchandise and, if
you find selling profitable, sell and make your market of what is
there ; and if not, we will rest here two days and provision ourselves
and fare away. So we entered the port and the Captain went up
town and was absent awhile, after which he returned to us and
said, “ Arise ; go up into the city and marvel at the works of Allah
with His creatures and pray to be preserved from His righteous
wrath 1 ” So we landed and going up into the city, saw at the
gate men hending staves in hand; but when we drew near them,

1 Arab. “ Li tawdkhizna: ” lit. “ do not chastise (or blame) ais; ” the pop. expression
fat," excuse (or pardon) us.”

The Eldest Lady's Tale .

behold, they had been translated 1 by the anger of Allah and had
become stones. Then we entered the city and found all who
therein woned into black stones enstoned : not an inhabited house
appeared to the espier, nor was there a blower of fire. 2 3 We were
awe struck at the sight and threaded the market streets where we
found the goods and gold and silver left lying in their places; and
we were glad and said, " Doubtless there is some mystery in all
this.” Then we dispersed about the thoroughfares and each busied
himself with collecting the wealth and money and rich stuffs,
taking scanty heed of friend or comrade. As for myself I went up
to the castle which was strongly fortified ; and, entering the King's
palace by its gate of red gold, found all the vaiselle of gold and
silver, and the King himself seated in the midst of his Chamber¬
lains and Nabobs and Emirs and Wazirs ; all clad in raiment which
confounded man’s art. I drew nearer and saw him sitting on a throne
incrusted and inlaid with pearls and gems ; and his robes were of
gold-cloth adorned with jewels of every kind, each one flashing like
a star. Around him stood fifty Mamelukes, white slaves, clothed in
silks of divers sorts holding their drawn swords in their hands ; but
when I drew near to them lo ! all were black stones. My understand¬
ing was confounded at the sight, but I walked on and entered the
great hall of the Harfm, 8 whose walls I found hung with tapestries
of gold-striped silk and spread with silken carpets embroidered
with golden flowers. Here I saw the Queen lying at full length
arrayed in robes purfled with fresh young 4 pearls; on her head was
a diadem set with many sorts of gems each fit for a ring 5 * and
around her neck hung collars and necklaces. All her raiment and
her ornaments were in natural state but she had been turned into a
black stone by Allah’s wrath. Presently I espied an open door for
which I made straight and found leading to it a flight of seven

1 Arab. ** Maskhfit,** mostly applied to change of shape as nun enchanted to monkey,
and in vulgar parlance applied to a statue (of stone, etc.). The list of metamorphoses
in Al* Islam is longer than that known to Ovid. Those who have seen Petra, the Greek
town of the Ilaurdn and the Roman ruins in Northern Africa will readily detect the basis
open which these stories are built. I shall return to this subject in The City of I ram
(Night cclxxvi.) and The City of Brass (dlxvii.).

* A picturesque phrase enough to express a deserted site, a spectacle familiar to tha
Nomades and always abounding in pathos to the citizens.

3 The olden “ Harem ” (or gynaeceum, Pers. Zenanah, Serraglio): Harim is also
used by synecdoche for the inmates; especially the wife.

4 The pearl is supposed in the East to lose \% per ann. of its splendour and value.

4 Arab. “ Fass,” properly the bezel of a ring; also a gem cut tn uioochon and

generally the contcnant for the contcnu

A If Laylah wa Laylak .

166

steps. So I walked up and came upon a place pargetted with
marble and spread and hung with gold-worked carpets and
tapestry, amiddlemost of which stood a throne of juniper-wood
inlaid with pearls and precious stones and set with bosses of
emeralds. In the further wall was an alcove whose curtains, be-
strung with pearls, were let down and I saw a light issuing there¬
from ; so I drew near and perceived that the light came from a
precious stone as big as an ostrich-egg, set at the upper end of the
alcove upon a little chryselephantine couch of ivory and gold; and
this jewel, blazing like the sun, cast its rays wide and side. The
couch also was spread with all manner of silken stuffs amazing the
gazer with their richness and beauty. I marvelled much at all this,
especially when seeing in that place candles ready lighted ; and
I said in my mind, " Needs must some one have lighted these
candles.” Then I went forth and came to the kitchen and thence
to the buttery and the King’s treasure-chambers; and continued to
explore the palace and to pace from place to place; I forgot my¬
self in my awe and marvel at these matters and I was drowned in
thought till the night came on. Then I would have gone forth,
but knowing not the gate I lost my way, so I returned to the
alcove whither the lighted candles directed me and sat down upon
the couch; and wrapping myself in a coverlet, after I had repeated
somewhat from the Koran, I would have slept but could not, for
restlessness possessed me. When night was at its noon I heard a
voice chanting the Koran in sweetest accents; but the tone thereof
was-weak ; so I rose, glad to hear the silence broken, and followed
the sound until I reached a closet whose door stood ajar. Then
peeping through a chink I considered the place and lo! it was an
oratory wherein was a prayer-niche 1 with two wax candles burning

1 Arab. “ Mihrib " — the arch-beaded niche in the Mosque-wall facing Meccah-wards.
Here, with his back to the people and fronting the Ka’abah or Square House of Meccah
(hence called the “ Kiblah direction of prayer), stations himself the Im£m, antistes
or fugleman, lit. ” one who stands before others; ” and his bows and prostrations give the
time to the congregation. I have derived the Mihrab from the niche in which the
Egyptian God was shrined : the J ews ignored it, but the Christians preserved it for their
statues and altars. Maundrell suggests that the empty niche denotes an invisible God.
As the niche (symbol of Venus) and the minaret (symbol of Priapus) date only from the
days of the tenth Caliph, Al-Walid (A.H. 86 — 96 = 105 — !*$)> the Hindus charge the
Moslems with having borrowed the two from their favourite idols—The Linga-Yoni or
Cunnus-phallus (Pilgrimage ii. 140), and plainly call the Mihrab a Bhaga— Cunmts
(Da bi stan tt. 152.) The Guebres further term Meccah “ Mah-gab,” locus Loose, tad Al-
Meiinab, * Mahdinah,” = Mooo ot religion. See Dabfrtan i* 49, etc.

The Eldest Lady's Tale .

167

and lamps hanging from the ceiling. In it too was spread a prayer-
carpet whereupon sat a youth fair to see; and before him on its
stand 1 was a copy of the Koran, from which he was reading. I
marvelled to see him alone alive amongst the people of the city
and entering saluted him ; whereupon he raised his eyes and
returned my salam. Quoth I, 44 Now by the Truth fcf what thou
readest in Allah’s Holy Book, I conjure thee to answer my
question.” He looked upon me with, a smile and said, rt O hand¬
maid of Allah, first tell me the cause of thy coming hither, and I
in turn will tell what hath befallen both me and the people of this
city, and what was the reason of my escaping their doom.” So I
told him my story whereat he wondered; and I questioned him of
the people of the city, when he replied, 44 Have patience with me
for awhile, O my sister 1 ” and, reverently closing the Holy Book, he
laid it up in a satin bag. Then he seated me by his side; and I
looked at him and behold, he was as the moon at its full, fair of
face and rare of form, soft-sided and slight, of well-proportioned
height, and cheek smoothly bright and diffusing light; in brief a
sweet, a sugar-sticlq 2 3 even as saith the poet of the like of him in
these couplets:—

That night th’ astrologer a scheme of planets drew, o And lo I a graceful shape
of youth appeared in view :

Saturn had stained his locks with Saturninest jet, o And spots of nut-brown
musk on rosy side-face blew :*

Mars tinctured either cheek with tinct of martial red © Sagittal shots from
eyelids Sagittarius threw :

Dowered him Mercury with bright mercurial wit; o Bore off the Bear 4 what all
man’s evil glances grew :

Amazed stood Astrophil to sight the marvel-birth o When louted low the Moon
at full to buss the Earth.

And of a truth Allah the Most High had robed him in the raiment

1 Arab. “ Kursi,” a stool of palm-fronds, etc., X* s haged (see Lane’s illustration.
Nights i., 197), before which the reader sits. Good Moslems will not hold the Holy
Volume below the waist nor open it except when ceremonially pure. Englishmen in the
East should remember this, for to neglect the ** Adah al-Kuran ” (respect due to Holy
Writ) gives great scandal.

2 Mr. Payne (i. 148) quotes the German Zuckerpiippchen.

3 The Persian poets have a thousand conceits in praise of the “ mole,” (Khal or
Shimah) for which Hafiz offered “ Samarkand and Bokhara’’ (they not being fus, as his
friends remarked). Another u topic ” is the flight of arrows shot by eyelashes.

* Arab “ Suhi ” a star in the Great Bear introduced only to balance ** Wiii'vat ” =s
cpies, enviers, enemies, whose “ evil eye ” it will ward off.

168

A If Laylah wa Laylah

of perfect grace and had pu-rfled and fringed it with a cheek aB
beauty and loveliness, even as the poet saith of such an one

By his eyelids shedding perfume and his fine slim waist I swear, • By die
shooting of his shafts barbed with sorcery passing rare ;

By the softness of his sides , 1 and glances’ lingering light; o And brow of dialin g
day-tide ray and night within his hair ;

By his eyebrows which deny to who look upon them rest, o Now bidding now
forbidding, ever dealing joy and care ;

By the rose that decks his cheek, and the myrtle of its moss f ® By ja cin t h s
bedded in his lips and pearl his smile lays ^are ;

By his graceful bending neck and the curving of his breast; o Whose polished
surface beareth those granados, lovely pair;

By his heavy hips that quiver as he passeth in his pride ; o Or he resteth with
that waist which is slim beyond compare ;

By the satin of his skin, by that fine unsullied sprite j 0 By the beauty that con¬
tained! all things bright and debonnair;

By that ever-open hand ; by the candour of his tongue ; o By noble blood and
high degree whereof he’s hope and heir;

Musk from him borrows muskiness she loveth to exhale o And all the airs of
ambergris through him perfume the air;

The sun, methinks, the broad bright sun, before my love would pale o And saxxs
his splendour would appear a paring of his nail.*

I glanced at him with one glance of eyes which caused me a
thousand sighs ; and my heart was at once taken captive-wise ; so
I asked him, 44 3 O my lord and my love, tell me that whereof I
questioned thee ; 99 and he answered, “ Hearing is obeying! Know,
O handmaid of Allah, that this city was the capital of my father
who is the King thou sawest on the throne transfigured by Allah's
wrath to a black stone, and the Queen thou foundest in the alcove
is my mother. They and all the people of the city were Magians
who fire adored in lieu of the Omnipotent Lord 4 and were wont to
swear by lowe and heat and shade and light, and the spheres
revolving day and night. My father had ne’er a son till he was
blest with me near the last of his days; and he reared me till I

1 In Arab tales beauty is always soft-sided,” and a smooth skin is valued in pro¬

portion to its rarety.

3 The myrtle is the young hair upon the side-face.

* In other copies of these verses the fourth couplet swears ‘ 4 by the scorpions of his
brow” w. the accr<xke-c<rurs t the beau-catchers, bell-ropes or 11 aggravators.” as the
B.P. calls them. In couplet eight the poet alludes to his love’s ** Unsur,” or element,
his nature made up of the four classicals, and m the last couplet he makes the nail-,
paring refer to the moon not the sun.

4 This is regular lormula when speaking of Guebxca*

The Eldest Lady s Tale .

160

grew up and prosperity anticipated me in all things. Now it so
fortuned there was with us an old woman well stricken in years, a
Moslemah who, inwardly believing in Allah and His Apostle, con¬
formed outwardly with the religion of my people; and my father
placed thorough confidence in her for that he knew her to be trust¬
worthy and virtuous ; and he treated her with ever-increasing kind¬
ness believing her to be of his own belief. So when I was well-nigh
grown up my father committed me to her charge saying:—Take him
and educate him and teach him the rules of our faith ; let him have
the best instructions and cease not thy fostering care of him. So
she took me and taught me the tenets of Al-Islam with the divine
ordinances 1 of the Wuzu-ablution and the five daily prayers and
she made me learn the Koran by rote, often repeating:—Serve
none save Allah Almighty ! When I had mastered this much of
knowledge she said to meO my son, keep this matter concealed
from thy sire and reveal naught to him lest he slay thee. So I hid
it from him and I abode on this wise for a term of days when the
old woman died, and the people of the city redoubled in their
impiety 2 and arrogance and the error of their ways. One day,
while they were as wont, behold, they heard a loud and terrible
sound and a crier crying cut with a voice like roaring thunder so
every ear could hear, far and near:—O folk of this city leave ye
your fire-worshipping and adore Allah the All-compassionate
King! At this, fear and terror fell upon the citizens and they
crowded to my father (he being King of the city) and asked him :—
What is this awesome voice we have heard, for it hath confounded
us with the excess of its terror ?; and he answered :—Let not a
voice fright you nor shake your steadfast sprite nor turn you back
from the faith which is right. Their hearts inclined to his words
and they ceased not to worship the fire and they persisted in rebel-

1 Arab. “Faraiz”; the orders expressly given in the Koran which the reader will
remember, is Uncreate and Eternal. In India “Farz” is applied to injunctions thrice
repeated ; and “ Wajib ” to those given twice over. Elsewhere scanty difference is made
between them.

7 Arab. “ Kufr ” = rejecting the True Religion, i.e. Al-Islam, such rejection being
“Tughyan” or rebellion against the Lord. The ** terrible sound ” is taken from the
legend of the prophet Salih and the proto-historic tribe of Thamiid which for its impiety
was struck dead by an earthquake and a noise from heaven. The latter, according to
some commentators, was the voice of the Archangel Gabriel crying “ Die all of you ”
(Koran, chapts. vii. xviii., etc.). We shall hear more of it in the “ City of many-coloured
Iram.” According to some, Salih, a mysterious Badawi prophet, is buried in the Wady
al-Shaykh of the so-called Sinaitic Peninsula.

170

JUJ Laylah iva LaylaJi.

lion for a full year from the time they heard the first voice; and
on the anniversary came a second cry and a third at the head of the
third year, each year once. Still they persisted in their malprac-
tises till one day at break of dawn, judgment and the wrath of
Heaven descended upon them with all suddenness, and by the
visitation of Allah all were metamorphosed into black stones , 1 they
and their beasts and their cattle ; and none was saved save myself
who at the time was engaged in my devotions. From that day to
this I am in the case thou seest, constant in prayer and fasting and
reading and reciting the Koran ; but I am indeed grown weary by
reason of my loneliness, having none to bear me company.” Then
said I to him (for in very sooth he had won my heart and was the
lord of my life and soul), “ O youth, wilt thou fare with me to
Baghdad city and visit the Olema and men learned in the law and
doctors of divinity and get thee increase of wisdom and under¬
standing and theology ? And know that she who standeth in thy
presence will be thy handmaid, albeit she be head of her family
and mistress over men and eunuchs and servants and slaves.
Indeed my life was no life before it fell in with thy youth. I have
here a ship laden with merchandise ; and in very truth Destiny
drove me to this city that I might come to the knowledge of these
matters, for it was fated that we should meet.” And I ceased not
to persuade him and speak him fair and use every art till he con¬
sented.”-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased

to say her permitted say.

Nob) tofjcn it foas tty (JBtgfjteeml) Ntgf)t,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
lady ceased not persuading with soft speech the youth to depart
with her till he consented and said “Yes.” She slept that night
lying at his feet and hardly knowing where she was for excess of
joy. As soon as the next morning dawned (she pursued, address¬
ing the Caliph), I arose and we entered the treasuries and took
thence whatever was light in weight and great in worth ; then we
went down side by side from the castle to the city, where we were
met by the Captain and my sisters and slaves who had been seek-

1 Yet they kept the semblance of man, showing that the idea arose from the basaltic
statues found in Hauranic ruins. Mohammed in his various marches to Syria must
have seen remnants of Greek and Roman settlements ; and as has been noticed
“Scsostris” left his mark near Meccah. (Pilgrimage iii. 137).

1 he Eldest Ladys Tale.'

17 *

ing for me. When they saw me they rejoiced and asked what had
stayed me, and I told them all I had seen and related to them the
story of the young Prince and the transformation wherewith the
citizens had been justly visited. Hereat all marvelled, but when
my two sisters (these two bitches, O Commander of the Faithful!)
saw me by the side of my young lover they jaloused me on his
account and were ~wroth and plotted mischief against me. We
awaited a fair wind and went on board rejoicing and ready to fly for
joy by reason of the goods we had gotten, but my own greatest joy-
ance was in the youth ; and we waited awhile till the wind blew fair
for us and then we set sail and fared forth. Now as we sat talking,
my sisters asked me, “ And what wilt thou do with this handsome
young man ? and I answered, “ I purpose to make him my hus¬
band ! ” Then I turned to him and said, “ O my lord, I have that
to propose to thee wherein thou must not cross me; and this it is
that, when we reach Baghdad, my native city, I offer thee my life
as thy handmaiden in holy matrimony, and thou shalt be to me
baron and I will be femme to thee.” He answered, “ I hear and I
obey !; thou art my lady and my mistress and whatso thou doest i
will not gainsay.” Then I turned to my sisters and said, “ This is
my gain ; I content me with this youth and those who have gotten
aught of my property let them keep it as their gain with my
good will.” “ Thou sayest and doest well,” answered the twain, but
they imagined mischief against me. We ceased not spooning
before a fair wind till we had exchanged the sea of peril for the
seas of safety and, in a few days, we made Bassorah-city, whose
buildings loomed clear before us as evening fell. But after we had
retired to rest and were sound asleep, my two sisters arose and
took me up, bed and all, and threw me into the sea: they did
the same with the young Prince who, as he could not swim, sank
and was drowned and Allah enrolled him in the noble army of
Martyrs . 1 As for me would Heaven I had been drowned with

* l Arab. “Shuhada”; highly respected by Moslems as by other religionists; although
their principal if not only merit seems as a rule to have been intense obstinacy and devo¬
tion to one idea for which they were ready to sacrifice even life. The Martyrs-category
is extensive including those killed by falling walls ; victims to the plague, pleurisy and
pregnancy; travellers drowned or otherwise lost when journeying honestly, and chaste
lovers who die of “broken hearts” i.e. impaired digestion. Their souls are at once
stowed away in the crops of green birds where they remain till Resurrection Day,
“ eating of the fruits and drinking of the streams of Paradise,” a place however, whose
topography is wholly uncertain. Thus the young Prince was rewarded with a manner of
anti-Purgatory, a preparatory heaven.

I J2 Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

him, but Allah deemed that I should be of the saved ; so when
I awoke and found myself in the sea and saw the ship making
off like a flash of lightning, He threw in my way a piece of timber
which I bestrided* and the waves tossed me to and fro till they
cast me upon an island coast, a high land and an uninhabited.
I landed and walked about the island the rest of the night and,
when morning dawned, I saw a rough track barely fit for child of
Adam to tread, leading to what proved a shallow ford connecting
island and mainland. As soon as the sun had risen I spread my
garments to dry in its rays; and ate of the fruits of the island and
drank of its waters; then I set out along the foot-track and
ceased not walking till I reached the mainland. Now when there
remained between me and the city but a two hours’ journey
behold, a great serpent, the bigness of a date-palm,,came fleeing
towards me in all haste, gliding along now to the right then to
the left till she was close upon me, whilst her tongue lolled
' ground-wards a span long and swept the dust as she went. She
was pursued by a Dragon 1 who was not longer than two lances,
and of slender build about the bulk of a spear and, although her
terror lent her speed, and she kept wriggling from side to side, he
overtook her and seized her by the tail, whereat her tears streamed
down and her tongue was thrust out in her agony. I took pity
on her and, picking, up a stone and* calling upon Allah for aid,
threw it at the Dragon's head with such force that he died then
and there; and the serpent opening a pair of wings flew into the
lift and disappeared from before my eyes. I sat down marvelling
over that adventure, but I was weary and, drowsiness overcoming
me, I slept where I was for a while. When I awoke I found a
jet-black damsel sitting at my feet shampooing them ; and by her
side stood two black bitches (my sisters, O.Commander of the
Faithful!). I was ashamed before her 2 and, sitting up, asked
her, “ O my sister, who and what art thou ? and she answered,
“ How soon hast thou forgotten me! I am she for whom thou
wroughtest a good deed and sowedest the seed of gratitude and
slewest her foe; for I am the serpent whom by Allah’s aidance

1 Arab. “ Su ’uban :” the Badawin give the name to a variety of serpents all held to
be venomous; but in tales the word, like “Tannin.” expresses our “dragon” or
“ cockatrice.”

2 She was ashamed to see the lady doing servile duty by rubbing her feet. This
massage, which B. de la Brocquiere describes in 1452 as “kneading and pinching,” has
already been noticed. The French term is apparently derived from the Arab. “ Mas-h.”

WSl 1

Tale of the Portress .

thou didst just now deliver from the Dragon. I am a Jinniyah
and he was a Jinn who hated me, and none saved my life from him
save thou. As soon as thou freedest me from him I flew on the
wind to the ship whence thy sisters threw thee, and removed all
that was therein to thy house. Then I ordered my attendant
Marids to sink the ship and I transformed thy two sisters into
these black bitches; for I know all that hath passed between
them and thee; but as for the youth, of a truth he is drowned. So
saying she flew up with me and the bitches, and presently set us
down on the terrace-roof of my house, wherein I found ready stored
the whole of what property was in my ship, nor was aught of it
missing. Now (continued the serpent that was), I swear by all
engraven on the seal-ring of Solomon 1 (with whom be peace!)
unless thou deal to each of these bitches three hundred stripes
every day I will come and imprison thee for ever under the earth .”
I answered , 44 Hearkening and obedience! ”; and away she flew.
But before going she again charged me saying, “ I again swear by
Him who made the two seas flow 2 (and this be my second oath) if
thou gainsay me I will come and transform thee like thy sisters.”
Since then I have never failed, O Commander of the Faithful, to
beat them with that number of blows till their blood flows with
my tears, I pitying them the while, and well they wot that their
being scourged is no fault of mine and they accept my excuses.
And this is my tale and my history! The Caliph marvelled at
her adventures and then signed to Ja’afar who said to the second
lady, the Portress, “ And thou, how earnest thou by the welts and
wheals upon thy body ? ” So she began the

TALE OF THE PORTRESS.

KNOW, O Commander of the Faithful, that I had a father who,
after fulfilling his time, deceased and left me great store of wealth.
I remained single for a short time and presently married one of
the richest of his day. I abode with him a year when he also died,
and my share of his property amounted to eighty thousand dinars

T Alluding to the Most High Name, the hundredth name of God, the Ileb. Shemham* *^
phorash, unknown save to a favoured few who by using it perform all manner of,
miracles.

* j-r. the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.,

174

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

in gold according to the holy law of inheritance. 1 Thus I became
passing rich and my reputation spread far and wide, for I had made
me ten changes of raiment, each worth a thousand dinars. One
day as I was sitting at home, behold, there came in to me an old
woman 2 3 with lantern jaws and cheeks sucked in, and eyes rucked
up, and eyebrows scant and scald, and head bare and bald ; and
teeth broken by time and mauled, and back bending and neck-
nape nodding, and face blotched, and rheum running, and hair like
a snake black-and-white-speckled, in complexion a very fright, even
as saith the poet of the like of her :—

Ill-omened hag ! unshriven be her sins o Nor mercy visit her on dying bed :
Thousand head-strongest he-mules would her guiles, o Despite their bolting,
lead with spider thread.

And as saith another :—

A hag to whom th’ unlawful lawfullest o And witchcraft wisdom in her sight are
grown :

A mischief-making brat, a demon-maid, o A whorish woman and a pimping
crone.*

When the old woman entered she salamed to me and kissing the
ground before me, said, “ I have at home an orphan daughter and
this night are her wedding and her displaying. 4 We be poor folks
and strangers in this city knowing none inhabitant and we are
broken-hearted. So do thou earn for thyself a recompense and a
reward in Heaven by being present at her displaying and, when
the ladies of this city shall hear that thou art to make act of
presence, they also will present themselves ; so shalt thou comfort
her affliction, for she is sore bruised in spirit and she hath none to

1 i.e. Settled by the Koran.

* The uglier the old woman the better procuress she is supposed to make. See the
Santa Verdiana in Boccaccio v., 10. In Arab. “ Ajuz” (old woman) is highly insulting
and if addressed to an Egyptian, whatever be her age she will turn fiercely and resent it.
The polite term is Shaybah (Pilgrimage iii., 200).

3 The four ages of woman, considered after Demosthenes in her three-fold character,
prostitute for pleasure, concubine for service and wife for breeding.

4 Arab. 4 ‘Jild” (the Hindostani Julwa) = the displaying of the bride before the bride¬
groom for the first time, in different dresses, to the number of seven which are often
borrowed for the occasion. The happy man must pay a fee called “the tax of face-
unveiling” before he can see her features. Amongst Syrian Christians he sometimes
tries to lift the veil by a sharp movement of the sword which is parried by the women
present, and the blade remains entangled in the cloth. At last he succeeds, the bride sinks
to the ground covering her face with her hands and the robes of her friends : presently
the is raised up, her veil is readjusted and her face is left bare.

Tale of the Portress .

175

look to save Allah the Most High.” Then she wept and kissed my
feet reciting these couplets :—

Thy presence bringeth us a grace o We own before thy winsome face :

And wert thou absent ne’er an one a Could stand in stead or take thy place.

So pity gat hold on me and compassion and I said, “ Hearing is
consenting and, please Allah, I will do somewhat more for her ;
nor shall she be shown to her bridegroom save in my raiment
and ornaments and jewelry.” At this the old woman rejoiced and
bowed her head to my feet and kissed them, saying, “ Allah requite
thee weal, and comfort thy heart even as thou has comforted mine!
But, O my lady, do not trouble thyself to do me this service at
this hour; be thou ready by supper-time, when I will come and
fetch thee." So saying she kissed my hand and went her ways.
I set about stringing my pearls and donning my brocades and
making my toilette, little recking what Fortune had in womb for
me, when suddenly the old woman stood before me, simpering and
smiling till she showed every tooth-stump, and quoth she, “ O my
mistress, the city madams have arrived and when I apprized them
that thou promisedst to be present, they were glad and they are
now awaiting thee and looking eagerly for thy coming and for the
honour of meeting thee." So I threw on my mantilla and, making
the old crone walk before me and my handmaidens behind me, I
fared till we came to a street well watered and swept neat, where
the winnowing breeze blew cool and sweet. Here we were stopped
by a gate arched over with a dome of marble stone firmly seated
on solidest foundation, and leading to a Palace whose walls from
earth rose tall and proud, and whose pinnacle was crowned by the
clouds , 1 2 3 and over the doorway were writ these couplets :—

I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile ; o The home of Joyance through
my lasting while:

And ’mid my court a fountain jets and flows, o Nor tears nor troubles shall that
fount defile :

The marge with royal Nu’umanV bloom is dight, o Myrtle, Narcissus-flower
and Chamomile.

1 Arab. Isha ” = the first watch of the night, twilight, supper-time, supper.
Moslems have borrowed the four watches of the Romans from 6 (a.m. or p.m.) to 6;
and ignore the three original watches of the Jews, even, midnight and cockcrow (Sam.
ii. 19, Judges vii. 19, and Exodus xiv. 24).

2 A popular Arab hyperbole.

3 Arab. ** Shakdik al-Nu’uman,” lit.- the fissures of Nu’uman, the beautiful anemone,
which a tyrannical King of Hirah, Nu’uman ibn Ai-Munzir, a contemporary of Moham¬
med, attempted to monopolize.

176

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

Arrived at the gate, before which hung a black curtain, the old
woman knocked and it was opened to us; when we entered and
found a vestibule spread with carpets and hung around with lamps
all alight and wax candles in candelabra adorned with pendants of
precious gems and noble ores. We passed on through this passage
till we entered a saloon, whose like for grandeur and beauty is not
to be found in this world. It was hung and carpeted with silken
stuffs, and was illuminated with branches, sconces and tapers
ranged in double row, an avenue abutting on the upper or noble
end of the saloon, where stood a couch of juniper-wood en¬
crusted with pearls and gems and surmounted by a baldaquin
with mosquito-curtains of satin looped up with margarites. And
hardly had we taken note of this when there came forth from the
baldaquin a young lady and I looked, O Commander of the
Faithful, upon a face and form more perfect than the moon
when fullest, with a favour brighter than the dawn gleaming with
saffron-hued light, even as the poet sang when he said:—

Thou pacest the palace a marvel-sight, o A bride for a Kisrd’s or Kaisar's
night !

Wantons the rose on thy roseate cheek, © O cheek as the blood of the dragon 1
bright!

Slim-waisted, languorous, sleepy-eyed, © With charms which promise all love-
delight :

And the tire which attires thy tiara’d brow © Is a night of woe on a mom’s glad
light.

The fair young girl came down from the estrade and said to me,
4t Welcome and well come and good cheer to my sister, the dearly-
beloved, the illustrious, and a thousand greetings 1" Then she
recited these couplets :—

An but the house could know who cometh ’twould rejoice, © And kiss the very
dust whereon thy foot was placed ;

And with the tongue of circumstance the walls would say, © u Welcome and
hail to one with generous gifts engraced ! ”

Then sat she down and said to me, “ O my sister, I have a brother
who hath had sight of thee at sundry wedding-feasts and festive
seasons : he is a youth handsomer than I, and he hath fallen

1 Arab. “ Andam ” = here the gum called dragon's blood; ia other places the dye*,
wood known as brazil.

Tale of the Portress.

177

desperately in love with thee, for that bounteous Destiny hath
garnered in thee all beauty and perfection; and he hath given
silver to this old woman that she might visit thee; and she hath
contrived on this wise to foregather us twain. He hath heard that
thou art one of the nobles of thy tribe nor is he aught less in his;
and, being desirous to ally his lot with thy lot, he hath practised
this device to bring me in company with thee; for he is fain to
marry thee after the ordinance of Allah and his Apostle ; and in
what is lawful and right there is no shame.” When I heard these
words and saw myself fairly entrapped in the house, I said,
" Hearing is consenting.” She was delighted at this and clapped
her hands; 1 * whereupon a door opened and out of it came a young
man blooming in the prime of life, exquisitely dressed, a model of
beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace, with gentle
winning manners and eyebrows like a bended bow and shaft on
cord, and eyes which bewitched all hearts with sorcery lawful in
the sight of the Lord ; even as saith some rhymer describing the
like of him:—

His face as the face of the young moon shines o And Fortune stamps him with
pearls for signs . 3

And Allah favour him who said :—

Blest be his beauty ; blest the Lord’s decree o Who cast and shaped a thing so
bright of blee:

All gifts of beauty he conjoins in one ; © Lost in his love is all humanity;

For Beauty’s self inscribed on his brow © “ I testify there be no Good but he! ” 3

When I looked at him my heart inclined to him -and T loved him ;
and he sat by my side and talked with me a while, when the young
lady again clapped her hands and behold, a side-door opened and
out of it came the Kazi with his four assessors as witnesses; and
they saluted us and, sitting down, drew up and wrote out the mar¬
riage-contract between me and the youth and retired. Then he
turned to me and said, “ Be our night blessed,” presently adding,
“ O my lady, I have a condition to lay on thee.” Quoth I, “ O

1 I need hardly say that in the East, where bells are unused, clapping the hands sum¬
mons the servants. In India men cry “ Quy hye” (Koi hdi ?) and in the Brazil whistle

“ Pst! ” after the fashion of Spain and Portugal.

3 The moles are here compared with pearls; a simile by no means common o»
appropriate.

3 A parody on the testification of Allah’s Unity.

VOL I.

*7®

A If Laylah wa Layiak.

my lord, what is that ? ” Whereupon he arose and fetching a copy*
of the Holy Book presented it to me saying, “ Swear hereon thou
wilt never look at any other than myself nor incline thy body or
thy heart to him.” I swore readily enough to this and he joyed
with exceeding joy and embraced me round the neck while love
for him possessed my whole heart. Then they set the table 1 before
us and we ate and drank till we were satisfied ; but I was dying
for the coming of the night. And when night did come he led me
to the bride-chamber and slept with me on the bed and continued
to kiss and embrace me till the morning—such a night I had never
seen in my dreams. I lived with him a life of happiness and
delight for a full month, at the end of which I asked his leave 2 to
go on foot to the bazar and buy me certain especial stuffs and
he gave me permission. So I donned my mantilla and, taking
with me the old woman and a slave-girl, 3 I went to the khan of
the siik-mercers, where I seated myself in the shop-front of a
young merchant whom the old woman recommended, saying to
me, “ This youth’s father died when he was a boy and left him
great store of wealth : he hath by him a mighty fine 4 stock of
goods and thou wilt find what thou seekest with him, for none in
the bazar hath better stuffs than he.” Then, she said to him,
“ Show this lady the most costly stuffs thou hast by thee; ” and he
replied, “ Hearkening and obedience!” Then she whispered me,
“ Say a civil word to him ! ”; but I replied, “ I am pledged to address
no man save my lord.” And as she began to sound his praise I
said sharply to her, “ We want nought of thy sweet speeches; our
wish is to buy of him whatsoever we need, and return home.” So

1 Arab. “Sim&t” (prop. “Sumat”); the “dinner-table,” composed of a round
wooden stool supporting a large metal tray, the two being called “Sufrah” (or
“ Simat”) :.thus, “Sufrah hdzirah!” means dinner is on the table. After the meal
they are at Once removed.

7 In the text “ Dastur,” the Persian word before noticed ; “ Izn *' would be the
proper Arabic equivalent.

3 In the Moslem East a young woman, single or married, is not allowed to appear
alone in the streets; and the police has a right to arrest delinquents. As a preventive
of intrigues the precaution is excellent. During the Crimean war hundreds of officers,
English, French and Italian, became familiar with Constantinople; and not a few
flattered themselves on their success with Turkish women. I do not believe that a
single bond fide case occurred; the “conquests” were all Greeks, Wallachians,
Armenians or Jewesses.

4 Arab. “Azfm”: translators do not seem to know that this word in The Nights
often bears its Egyptian and slang sense, somewhat equivalent to our “deuced” of
“mighty” or “awfully floe.”

Tale of the Portress.

179

he brought me all I sought and I offered him his money, but he
refused to take it saying, “ Let it be a gift offered to my guest this
day ! ” Then quoth I to the old woman, “ If he will not take the
money, give him back his stuff.” “ By Allah,” cried he, “ not a
thing will I take from thee: I sell it not for gold or for silver,
but I give it all as a gift for a single kiss ; a kiss more precious to
me than everything the shop containeth.” Asked the old woman,
u What will the kiss profit thee and, turning to me, whispered,
“ O my daughter, thou hearest what this young fellow saith ? What
harm will it do thee if he get a kiss from thee and thou gettest
what thou seekest at that price ? ” Replied I, e< I take refuge with
Allah from such action ! Knowest thou not that I am bound by
an oath?” 1 But she answered, “Now whist! just let him kiss
thee and neither speak to him nor lean over him, so shalt thou
keep thine oath and thy silver, and no harm whatever shall befal
thee.” And she ceased not to persuade me and importune me
and make light of the matter till evil entered into my mind and I
put my head in the poke 2 and f declaring I would ne’er consent,
consented. So I veiled my eyes and held up the edge of my
mantilla between me and the people passing and he put his mouth
to my cheek under the veil. But while kissing me he bit me
so hard a bite that it tore the flesh from my cheek, 3 and blood
flowed fast and faintness came over me. The old woman caught
me in her arms and, when I came to myself, I found the shop shut
up and her sorrowing over me and saying “ Thank Allah for
averting which might have been worse! ” Then she said to me,
Come, take heart and let us go home before the matter become
public and thou be dishonoured. And when thou art safe inside
the house feign sickness and lie down and cover thyself up ; and
I will bring thee powders and plasters to cure this bite withal,
and thy wound will be healed at the latest in three days.” So
after a while I arose and I was in extreme distress and terror came
full upon me ; but I went on little by little till l reached the house
when I pleaded illness and lay me down. When it was night my
husband came in to me and said, “ What hath befallen thee, O my

1 This is a very serious thing amongst Moslems and scrupulous men often make great
sacrihces to avoid taking an oath.

2 We should say ** into the noose.”

r ’ The man had fallen in love with her and determined to mark her so that she might
be his.

180

A If Laylah wd Lay lah ,

darling, in this excursion of thine ?”; and I replied, “I am not
well : my head acheth badly.” Then he lighted a candle and
drew near me and looked hard at me and asked, “ What is that
wound I see on thy cheek and in the tenderest part too ? ” And I
answered, “ When I went out to-day with thy leave to buy stuffs,
a camel laden with firewood jostled me and one of the pieces tore
my veil and wounded my cheek as thou seest; for indeed the ways
of this city are strait.” “ To-morrow,” cried he, “ I will go com¬
plain to the Governor, so shall he gibbet every fuel-seller in
Baghdad.” “ Allah upon thee,” said I, “ burden not thy soul with
such sin against any man. The fact is I was riding on an ass and
it stumbled, throwing me to the ground ; and my cheek lighted
upon a stick or a bit of glass and got this wound.” “ Then,” said
he, “ to-morrow I will go up to Ja’afar the Barmaki and tell him -
the story, so shall he kill every donkey-boy in Baghdad.” “ Wouldst
thou destroy all these men because of my wound,” said I, “ when
this which befel me was by decree of Allah and His destiny ?” But
he answered, “There is no help for itand, springing to his feet,
plied me with words and pressed me till I was perplexed and
frightened; and I stuttered and stammered and my speech waxed
thick and I said, “This is a mere accident by decree of Allah.”
Then, O Commander of the Faithful, he guessed my case and said,
“ Thou hast been false to thine oath.” He at once cried out with
a loud cry, whereupon a door opened and in came seven black
slaves whom he commanded to drag me from my bed and throw
me down in the middle of the room. Furthermore, he ordered
one of them to pinion my elbows and squat upon my head ; and a
second to sit upon my knees and secure my feet; and drawing his
sword he gave it to a third and said, “ Strike her, O Sa’ad, and
cut her in twain and let each one take half and cast it into the
Tigris 1 that the fish may eat her ; for such is the retribution due
to those who violate their vows and are unfaithful to their love.”
And he redoubled in wrath and recited these couplets :—

An there be one who shares with me her love, o I’d strangle Love tho’ life by
Love were slain ;

Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, o For ill is Love when shared
’twixt partners twain.

Then he repeated to the slave, “ Smite her, O Sa’ad !” And when
the slave who was sitting upon me made sure of the command he

1 Arab. “Dajlah,” in which we find the Heb. Hid-dekel.

Tale of the Portress . i8f

bent down to me and said, “ O my mistress, repeat the profession
of Faith and bethink thee if there be any thing thou wouldst have
done; for verily this is the last hour of thy life.” “ O good slave,”
said I, “ wait but a little while and get off my head that I may
charge thee with my last injunctions.” Then I raised my head
and saw the state I was in, how I had fallen from high degree into
lowest disgrace ; and into death after life (and such life!) and how
I had brought my punishment on myself by my own sin ; where*
upon the tears streamed from mine eyes and I wept with exceeding
weeping. But he looked on me with eyes of wrath, and began
repeating :—

Tell her who turneth from our love to work it injury sore, o And taketh her a
fine new love the old love tossing o’er :

We cry enough o’ thee ere thou enough of us shalt cry ! e What past between
us doth suffice and haply something more . 1 2

When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and
looked at him and began repeating these couplets:—

To severance you doom my love and all unmoved remain; « My tear-sore
lids you sleepless make and sleep while I complain :

You make firm friendship reign between mine eyes and insomny; o Yet can my
heart forget you not, nor tears can I restrain :

You made me swear with many an oath my troth to hold for aye; » But when
you reigned my bosom’s lord you wrought me traitor-bane :

I loved you like a silly child who wots not what is Love ; o Then spare
the learner, let her not be by the master slain !

By Allah’s name I pray you write, when I am dead and gone, o Upon my
tomb, This died of Love whose senses Love had ta’en :

Then haply one shall pass that way who fire of Love hath felt, o And tread¬
ing on a lover’s heart with ruth and woe shall melt.

When I ended my verses tears came again ; but the poetry and the
weeping only added fury to his fury, and he recited

’Twas not satiety bade me leave the dearling of my soul, o But that she sinned
a mortal sin which dipt me in its clip :

She sought to let another share the love between us twain, o But my True Faith
of Unity refuseth partnership . 1

1 Such an execution would be contrary to Moslem law : but people would look
leniently upon the peccadillo of beheading or sacking a faithless wife. Moreover the
youth was of the blood royal and A qnoi bon Stre prince ? as was said by a boy of viceroyal
family in Egypt to his tut'or who reproached him for unnecessarily shooting down a poor
old man.

2 Arab. “Shirk,” partnership, evening or associating gods with God ; polytheism:
especially levelled at the Hindu triadism, Guebre dualism and Christian Trinitarianism.

I*$2

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

When he ceased reciting I wept again and prayed his pardon and
humbled myself before him and spoke him softly, saying to myself,

“ I will work on him with words ; so haply he will refrain from
slaying me, even though he take all I have.” So I complained of
my sufferings and began to repeat these couplets :—

Now, by thy life and wert thou just my life thou hadst not ta’en, o But who can
break the severance-law which parteth lovers twain !

Thou loadest me with heavy weight of longing lore, when I o Can hardly
bear my chemisette for weakness and for pain :

I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin Iain : o I marvel much to see my
frame such severance-pangs sustain.

When I ended my verse I wept again; and he looked at me and
reviled me in abusive language, 1 repeating these couplets : —

Thou wast all taken up with love of other man, not me ; o ’Twas thine to show
me severance-face, ’twas only mine to see :

I’ll leave thee for that first thou wast of me to take thy leave o And patient bear
that parting blow thou borest so patiently :

E’en as thou soughtest other love, so other love I’ll seek, o And make the crime
of murdering love thine own atrocity.

When he had ended his verses he again cried out to the slave, “ Cut
her in half and free us from her, for we have no profit of her.” So
the slave drew near me, O Commander of the Faithful, and I ceased
bandying verses and made sure of death and, despairing of life,
committed my affairs to Almighty Allah, when behold, the old
woman rushed in and threw herself at my husband’s feet and kissed
them and wept and said, “ O my son, by the rights of my fosterage
and by my long service to thee, I conjure thee pardon this young
lady, for indeed she hath done nothing deserving such doom. Thou
art a very young man and I fear lest her death be laid at thy door ;
for it is said :—Whoso slayeth shall be slain. As for this wanton
(since thou deemest her such) drive her out from thy doors, from
thy love and from thy heart.” And she ceased not to weep and
importune him till he relented and said, “ I pardon her, but needs
must I set on her my mark which shall show upon her all her life.”
Then he bade the slaves drag me along the ground and lay me out

* Arab. “ Shatm ” m abuse, generally couched in foulest language with especial reference
tc the privy paris of female relatives.

Tale of the Portress .

183

lc full length, after stripping me of all my clothes; 1 and when the
slaves had so sat upon me that I could not move, he fetched in a
rod of quince-tree and came down with it upon my body, and con¬
tinued beating me on the back and sides till I lost consciousness
from excess of pain, and I despaired of life. Then he commanded
the slaves to take me away as soon as it was dark, together with
the old woman to show them the way and throw me upon the floor
of the house wherein I dwelt before my marriage. They did their
lord’s bidding and cast me down in my old home and went their
ways. I did not revive from my swoon till dawn appeared, when
I applied myself to the dressing of my wounds with ointments and
other medicaments ; and I medicined myself, but my sides and ribs
still showed signs of the rod as thou hast seen. I lay in weakly
case and confined to my bed for four months before I was able to
rise and health returned to me. At the end of that time I went to
the house where all this had happened and found it a ruin; the
street had been pulled down endlong and rubbish-heaps rose where
the building erst was ; nor could I learn how this had come about.
Then I betook myself to this my sister on my father’s side and
found with her these two black bitches. I saluted her and told her
what had betided me and the whole of my story and she said, “ O
my sister, who is safe from the despite of Time and secure ?
Thanks be to Allah who hath brought thee off safely;" and she
began to say : —

Such is the World, so bear a patient heart o When riches leave thee and
when friends depart!

Then she told me her own story, and what had happened to her
with her two sisters and how matters had ended ; so we abode
together and the subject of marriage was never on our tongues for
all these years. After a while we were joined by our other sister,
the procuratrix, who goeth out every morning and buyeth all we
require for the day and night; and we continued in such condition
till this last night. In the morning our sister went out, as usual,
to make her market and then befel us what befel from bringing the
Porter into the house and admitting these three Kalandar-men.

1 When a woman is bastinadoed in the East they leave her some portion of dress and
pour over her sundry buckets of water for a delicate consideration. When the hands are
beaten they are passed through holes in the curtain separating the sufferer from mankind,
and made fast to a ** falakah ” or pole.

184

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

We entreated them kindly and honourably and a quarter of the
night had not passed ere three grave and respectable merchants
from Mosul joined us and told us their adventures. We sat talking
with them but on one condition which they violated, whereupon
we treated them as sorted with their breach of promise, and made
them repeat the account they had given of themselves. They did
our bidding and we forgave their offence; so they departed from
us and this morning we were unexpectedly summoned to thy
presence. And such is our story! The Caliph wondered at her
words and bade the tale be recorded and chronicled and laid up in

his muniment-chambers.-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn

of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

jEoto fcfjcn it foas tfje jEineteentf) JEigfrt,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Caliph commanded this story and those of the sister and the
Kalandars to be recorded in the archives and be set in the royal
muniment-chambers. Then he asked the eldest lady, the mistress
of the house, “Knowest thou the whereabouts of the Ifritah who
spelled thy sisters?”; and she answered, “O Commander of the
Faithful, she gave me a ringlet of her hair saying:—Whenas thou
wouldest see me, burn a couple of these hairs and I will be with
thee forthright, even though I were beyond Caucasus-mountain.”
Quoth the Caliph, “ Bring me hither the hair.” So she brought it
and he threw the whole lock upon the fire. As soon as the odour
of the burning hair dispread itself, the palace shook and trembled,
and all present heard a rumbling and rolling of thunder and a noise
as of wings and lo! the Jinniyah who had been a serpent stood in
the Caliph’s presence. Now she was a Moslemah, so she saluted
him and said, “ Peace be with thee O Vicar 1 of Allah ; ” whereto he
replied, “ And with thee also be peace and the mercy of Allah and
His blessing.” Then she continued, “ Know that this damsel sowed
for me the seed of kindness, wherefor I cannot enough requite her,
in that she delivered me from death and destroyed mine enemy.
Now I had seen how her sisters dealt with her and felt myself

1 Arab. “ Khalifah,” Caliph. The word is also used for the successor of a Santoo 01

holy man.

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad . 185

bound to avenge her on them. At first I was minded to slay them,
but I feared it would be grievous to her,'so I transformed them to
bitches; but if thou desire their release, O Commander of the
Faithful, I will release them to pleasure thee and her for I am
of the Moslems.* *’ Quoth the Caliph, “ Release them and after we
will look into the affair of the beaten lady and consider her case
carefully; and if the truth of her story be evidenced I will exact
retaliation 1 from him who wronged her.” Said the Ifritah, “ O
Commander of the Faithful, I will forthwith release them and will
discover to thee the man who did that deed by this lady and
wronged her and took her property, and he is the nearest of all
men to thee L” So saying she took a cup of water and muttered a
spell over it and uttered words there was no understanding; then
she sprinkled some of the water over the faces of the two bitches,
saying, “ Return to your former human shape! ” whereupon they
were restored to their natural forms and fell to praising their
Creator. Then said the Ifritah, “ O Commander of the Faithful,
of a truth he who scourged this lady with rods is thy son Al-Amin
brother of Al-Maamun ; 2 for he had heard of her beauty and loveli¬
ness and he played a lover’s stratagem with her and married her
according to the law and committed the crime (such as it is) of
scourging her. Yet indeed he is not to be blamed for beating her,
for he laid a condition on her and swore her by a solemn oath not
to do a certain thing; however, she was false to her vow and he was
minded to put her to death, but he feared Almighty Allah and
contented himself with scourging her, as thou hast seen, and with
sending her back to her own place. Such is the story of the second
lady and the Lord knoweth all.” When the Caliph heard these
words of the Ifritah,. and knew who had beaten the damsel, he
marvelled with mighty marvel and said, “ Praise be to Allah, the
Most High, the Almighty, who hath shown His exceeding mercy
towards me, enabling me to.deliver these two damsels from sorcery
and torture, and vouchsafing to let me know the secret of this lady’s
history! And now by Allah, we will do a deed which shall be re¬
corded of us after we are no more.” Then he summoned his son
Al-Amin and questioned him of the story of the second lady, the

1 Arab. “ Sar; M here the Koranic word for carrying out the venerable and undying
Ux talionis, the original basis of all criminal jurisprudence. Its main fault is that justice
repeats the offence.-

* Both these sons of Harun became Caliphs, as we shall see in The Nights.

Alf Laylah wa Laylah .

186

portress ; and he told it in the face of truth ; whereupon the Caliph
bade call into presence the Kazis and their witnesses and the three
Kalandars and the first lady with her. sisters german who had been
ensorcelled ; and he married the three to the three Kalandars
whom he knew to be princes and sons of Kings and he appointed
them chamberlains about his person, assigning to them stipends
and allowances and all that they required, and lodging them in his
palace at Baghdad. He returned the beaten lady to his son,
Al-Amin, renewing the marriage-contract between them and gave
her great wealth and bade rebuild the "house fairer than it was
before. As for himself he took to wife the procuratrix and lay with
her that night: and next day he set apart for her an apartment in
his Serraglio, with handmaidens for her service and a fixed daily
allowance. And the people marvelled at their Caliph’s generosity
and natural beneficence and princely wisdom; nor did he forget
to send all these histories to be recorded in his annals. When
Shahrazad ceased speaking Dunyazad exclaimed, “ O my own
sister, by Allah in very sooth this is a right pleasant tale and a
delectable; never was heard the like of it, but prithee tell me now
another story to while away what* yet remaineth of the waking
hours of this our night.” She replied, “ With love and gladness if
the King give me leave ; ” and he said , 49 Tell thy tale and tell it
quickly.” So she began, in these words,

THE TALE OF THE THREE APPLES.

They relate, O King of the age and lord of the time and of these
days, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned his Wazir
Ja’afar one night and said to him, “ I desire to go down into the
city and question the common folk concerning the conduct of those
charged with its governance ; and those of whom they complain
we will depose from office and those whom they commend we will
promote.” Quoth Ja’afar, “ Hearkening and obedience ! ” So the
Caliph went down with Ja’afar and Eunuch Masrur to the town
and walked about the streets and markets and, as they were thread¬
ing a narrow alley, they came upon a very old man with a fishing- •
net and crate to carry small fish on his head, and in his hand a staff;
and, as he walked at a leisurely pace, he repeated these lines

The Tale of the Three Apples. 187

They say me:—Thou shinest a light to'mankind © With thy lore as the night
which the Moon doth uplight !

I answer, “A truce to your jests and your gibes ; • Without luck what is learn¬
ing ?—a poor-devil wight!

If they take me to pawn with my lore in my pouch, o With my volumes to read
and my ink-case to write,

For one day’s provision they never could pledge me ; o As likely on Doomsday
to draw bill at sight : ”

How poorly, indeed, doth it fare wr the poor, * With his pauper existence and
beggarly plight:

In summer he faileth provision to find ; * In winter the fire-pot’s his only
delight :

The street-dogs with bite and with bark to him rise, * And each losel receives
him with bark and with bite :

If he lift up his voice and complain of his wrong, © None pities or heeds him,-
however he’s right;

And when sorrows and evils like these he must brave ©His happiest home¬
stead were down in the grave.

When the Caliph heard his verses he said to Ja’afar, “See this
poor man and note his verses, for surely they point to his neces¬
sities.” Then he accosted him and asked, “ O Shaykh, what be
thine occupation ? ” and the poor man answered, “ O my lord, I
am a fisherman with a family to keep and I have been out between
mid-day and this time; and not a thing hath Allah made my portion
wherewithal to feed my family. I cannot even pawn myself to buy
them a supper and I hate and disgust my life and I hanker after
death.” Quoth the Caliph, “ Say me, wilt thou return with us to
Tigris’ bank and cast thy net on my luck, and whatsoever turneth
up I will buy of thee for an hundred gold pieces ? ” The man
rejoiced when he heard these words and said, “ On my head be it!
I will go back with you ; ” and, returning with them river-wards,
made a cast and waited a while; then he hauled in the rope and
dragged the net ashore and there appeared in it a chest padlocked
and heavy. The Caliph examined it and lifted it finding it
weighty ; so he gave the fisherman two hundred dinars and sent
him about his business : whilst Masrur. aided by the Caliph, carried
the chest to the palace and set it down and lighted the candles.
Ja’afar and Masrur then broke it open and found therein a basket
of palm-leaves corded with red worsted. This they cut open and
saw within it a piece of carpet which they lifted out, and under it
was a woman’s mantilla folded in four, which they pulled out; and at
the bottom of the chest they came upon a young lady, fair as a silver
ingot, slain and cut into nineteen pieces. When the Caliph looked

188

Alf Laylak wa Laylah .

upon her he cried, “ Alas! ” and tears ran down his cheeks and
turning to Ja’afar he said, “ O dog of Wazirs, 1 shall folk be
murdered in our reign and be cast into the river to be a burden
and a responsibility for us on the Day of Doom ? By Allah, we
must avenge this woman on her murderer and he shall be made
die the worst of deaths! ” And presently he added, “ Now, as
surely as we are descended from the Sons of Abbas, 2 if thou bring
us not him who slew her, that we do her justice on him, I will hang
thee at the gate of my palace, thee and forty of thy kith and kin
by thy side.” And the Caliph was wroth with exceeding rage.
Quoth Ja’afar, “Grant me three days delay;” and quoth the
Caliph, “ We grant thee this.” So Ja’afar went out from before
him and returned to his own house, full of sorrow and saying to
himself, “ How shall I find him who murdered this damsel, that I
may bring him before the Caliph ? If I bring other than the
murderer, it will be laid to my charge by the Lord : in very sooth I
wot not what to do.” He kept his house three days and on the
fourth day the Caliph sent one of the Chamberlains for him and,
as he came into the presence, asked him, “ Where is the murderer
of the damsel?” to which answered Ja’afar, “O Commander of

ithe Faithful, am I inspector of murdered folk that I should ken
who killed her?” The Caliph \was furious at his answer and
bade hang him before the palace-gate and commanded that
a crier cry through the streets of Baghdad, “Whoso would see
the hanging of Ja’afar, the Barmaki, Wazir of the Caliph, with
forty of the Barmecides, 3 his cousins and kinsmen, before the
palace-gate, let him come and let him look 1 ” The people flocked
out from all the quarters of the city to witness the execution of
Ja’afar and his kinsmen, not knowing the cause. Then they set
up the gallows and made Ja’afar and the others stand underneath

1 “Dog” and “hog” are still highly popular terms of abuse. The Rabbis will not
defile their lips with pigbut say “ Dabhar akhir ” = “ another thing.”

2 The “hero eponymus ” of the Abbaside dynasty, Abbas having been the brother
of Abdullah, the father of Mohammed. He is a famous personage in Al-Islam
(D’Herbelot).

3 Europe translates the word “ Barmecides.” It is Persian from bar (up) and
makldatt ( to suck). The vulgar legend is that Ja’afar, the first of the name, appeared
before the Caliph Abd al-Malik with a ring poisoned for his own need; and that the
Caliph, warned of it by the clapping of two stones which he wore ad hoc , charged the
visitor with intention to murder him. He excused himself and in hi& speech occurred
the Persian word “ Barmakam,” which may mean “ I shall sup it up,” or, “ I am a
Barmak,” that is, a high priest among the Guebres. See D’Herbelot s.v.

The Tale of the Three Apples 189

te readiness for execution , but whilst every eye was looking for.
the Caliph’s signal, and the crowd wept for Ja'afar and his cousins
of the Barmecides, lo and behold ! a young man fair of face and
aeat of dress and of favour like the moon raining light, with eyes
black and bright, and brow flower-white, and cheeks red as rose
a»d young down where the beard grows, and a mole like a grain
of ambergris, pushed his way through the people till he stood
immediately before the Wazir and said to him, “ Safety to thee
from this strait, O Prince of the Emirs and Asylum of the poor!
I am the man who slew the woman ye found in the chest, so hang
me for her and do her justice on me!” When Ja'afar heard the
youth’s confession he rejoiced at his own deliverance, but grieved
and sorrowed for the fair youth , and whilst they were yet talking
behold, another man well stricken in years pressed forwards
through the people and thrust his way amid the populace till he
came to Ja’afar and the youth, whom he saluted saying, “ Ho
thou the Wazir and Prince sans-peer? believe not the words of
this youth. Of a surety none murdered the damsel but I; take
her wreak on me this moment; for, an thou do not thus, I will
require it of thee before Almighty Allah.” Then quoth the young
man, “ O Wazir, this is an old man in his dotage who wotteth not
whatso he saith ever, and I am he who murdered her, so do thou
avenge her on me! ” Quoth the old man, “ O my son, thou art
young and desirest the joys of the world and I am old and weary
and surfeited with the world: I will offer my life as a ransom for
thee and for the Wazir and his cousins. No one murdered the
damsel but I, so Allah upon thee, make haste to hang me, for no
life is left in me now that hers is gone.” The Wazir marvelled
much at all this strangeness and, taking the young man and the
old man, carried them before the Caliph, where, after kissing the
ground seven times between his hands, he said, “ O Commander of
the Faithful, I bring thee the murderer of the damsel! ” “ Where

is he?”; asked the Caliph and Ja’afar answered, “This young
man saith, I am the murderer, and this old man giving him the lie
saith, I am the murderer, and behold, here are the twain standing
before thee.” The Caliph looked at the old man and the young
man and asked, “Which of you killed the girl ?” The young man
replied, “No one slew her save I;” and the old man answered,
“ Indeed none killed her but myself.” Then said the Caliph to
Ja’afar, “Take the twain and hang them both;” but Ja’afar
rejoined, “ Since one of them was the murderer, to hang the other

190

A If Lay la k wa Laylah.

were mere injustice.“By Him who raised the firmament and
dispread the earth like a carpet,” cried the youth* “1 am he who
slew the damsel ; ” and he went on to describe the manner of her
murder and the basket, the mantilla and the bit of carpet, in fact
all that the Caliph had found upon her. So the Caliph was
certified that the young man was the murderer; whereat he
wondered and asked him, “ What was the cause of thy wrongfully
doing this damsel to die and what made thee confess the murder
without the bastinado, and what brought thee here to yield up thy
life, and what made thee say Do her wreak upon me?” The
youth answered, “ Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that this
woman was my wife and the mother of my children ; also my first
cousin and the daughter of my paternal uncle, this old man who is
my father's own brother. When I married her she was a maid * 2
and Allah blessed me with three male children by her; she loved
me and served me and I saw no evil in her, for I also loved her
with fondest love. Now on the first day of this month she fell ill
with grievous sickness and I fetched in physicians to her ; but
recovery came to her little by little and, when I wished her to go
to the Hammam-bath, she said :—There is a something I tong for
before I go to the bath and I long for it with an exceeding longing.
To hear is to comply, said I, And what is it ? Quoth she, I have
a queasy craving for an apple, to smell it and bite a bit of it. I
replied ;—Hadst thou a thousand longings I would try to satisfy
them ! So I went on the instant into the city and sought for apples
but could find none ; yet, had they cost a gold piece each, would I
have bought them. I was vexed at this and went home and said : —
O daughter of my uncle, by Allah I can find none 1 She was dis¬
tressed, being yet very weakly, and her weakness increased greatly
on her that night and I felt anxious and alarmed on her account.
As soon as morning dawned I went out again and made the round
of the gardens, one by one, but found no apples anywhere. At last
there met me an old gardener, of whom I asked about them and
be answered :—O my son, this fruit is a rarity with us and is not

‘ Arab. “Zuhra,” the deadliest of monarch’s sins. One of the sayings of Mohammed,
popularly quoted, is, “ Kingdom endureth with Kufr or infidelity (i.e. without accepting
Al-Islam) but endureth not with Zulm or injustice.” Hence the good Moslem will not
complain of the rule of Kafirs or Unbelievers, like the English, so long as they cate him
righteously and according to his own law.

2 All this aggravates his crime : had she been a widow she would not have had upon
him ** the claims of maidenhead,” the premio della verginitzt ofBoccaccio, x. io.

The Tale of the Three Apples . J91

now to be found save in the garden of the Commander of the
Faithful at Bassorah, where the gardener keepeth it for the
Caliph s eating. I returned to my house troubled by my ill-success;
and my love for my wife and my affection moved me to undertake
the journey. So I gat me ready and set out and travelled fifteen
days and nights, going and coming, and brought her three apples
which I bought from the gardener for three dinars. But when I
went in to my wife and set them before her, she took no pleasure
in them and let them lie by her side; for her weakness and fever
had increased on her and her malady lasted without abating ten
days, after which time she began to recover health. So I left my
house and betaking me to my shop sat there buying and selling ;
and about midday behold, a great ugly black slave, long as a
lance and broad as a bench, passed by my shop holding in hand
One of the three apples wherewith he was playing. Quoth I :—O
my good slave, tell me whence thou tookest that apple, that I may
get the like of it ? He laughed and answered :—I got it from my
mistress, for I had been absent and on my return. I found her
lying ill with three apples by her side, and she said to me :—My
horned wittol of a husband made a journey for them to Bassorah
and bought them for three dinars. So I ate and drank with her
and took this one from her. 1 When I heard such words from the
slave, O Commander of the Faithful, the world grew black before
my face , and I arose and locked up my shop and went home
beside myself for excess of rage. I looked for the apples and
finding only two of the three asked my wife :—O my cousin, where
is the third apple ?; and raising her head languidly she answered:
— I wot not, O son of my uncle, where ’tis gone ! This convinced
me that the slave had spoken the truth, so I took a knife and
coming behind her got upon her breast without.a word said and cut
her throat. Then I hewed off her head and her limbs in pieces and,
wrapping her in her mantilla and a rag of carpet, hurriedly sewed
up the whole which I set in a chest and, locking it tight, loaded

1 It is supposed that slaves cannot help telling these fatal lies. Arab story-books are
full of ancient and modern instances and some have become “Joe Millers.” Moreover
it is held unworthy of a free-born man to take over-notice of these servile villanies ;
hence the scoundrel in the story escapes unpunished. I have already noticed the predi¬
lection of debauched women for these “skunks of the human race;” and the young
man in the text evidently suspected that his wife had passed herself this “ little caprice.”
The excuse which the Caliph would find for him is the pundonor shown in killing one he
loved so fondly.

192

A/f Laylah wa Laylah .

it on my he-mule and threw it into the Tigris with my own hands.
So Allah upon thee, O Commander of the Faithful, make haste tc*
hang me, as I fear lest she appeal for vengeance on Resurrection
Day. For, when I had thrown her into the river and none knew
aught of it, as I went back home I found my eldest son crying and
yet he knew naught of what I had done with his mother. I asked
him :—What hath made thee weep, my boy ?; and he answered
I took one of the three apples which were by my mammy and
went down into the lane to play with my brethren when behold, a
big long black slave snatched it from my hand and said, Whence
hadst thou this ? Quoth I, My father travelled far for it, and
brought it from Bassorah for my mother who was ill and two other
apples for which he paid three ducats. He took no heed of my
words and I asked for the apple a second and a third time, but he
cuffed me and kicked me and went off with it. I was afraid lest
my mother should swinge me on account of the apple, so for fear
of her I went with my brother outside the city and stayed there till
evening closed in upon us ; and indeed I am in fear of her; and
now by Allah, 0 my father, say nothing to her of this or it may
add to her ailment! When I heard what my child said I knew
that the slave was he who had foully slandered my wife, the
daughter of my uncle, and was certified that I had slain her wrong¬
fully. So I wept with exceeding weeping and presently this old
man, my paternal uncle and her father, came in ; and I told him
what had happened and he sat down by my side and wept and we
ceased not weeping till midnight. We have kept up mourning for
her these last five days and we lamented her in the deepest sorrow
for that she was unjustly done to die. This came from the
gratuitous lying of the slave, the blackamoor, and this was the
manner of my killing her; so I conjure thee, by the honour of
thine ancestors, make haste to kill me and do her justice upon me,
as there is no living for me after her! ” The Caliph marvelled at
his words and said, “By Allah the young man is excusable : I will
hang none but the accursed slave and I will do a deed which shall
comfort the ill-at-ease and suffering, and which shall please the

All-glorious King.-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day

and ceased saying her permitted say.

The Tale of the Three Apples,

*93

iEofo fo&en ft bias tfje

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph
swore he would hang none but the slave, for the youth was excusa¬
ble. Then he turned to Ja’afar and said to him, “ Bring before me
this accursed slave who was the sole cause of this calamity; and, if
thou bring him not before me within three days, thou shalt be slain
in his stead.” So Ja’afar fared forth weeping and saying, “Two
deaths have already beset me, nor shall the crock come off safe from
every shock. 1 2 In this matter craft and cunning are of no avail;
but He who preserved my life the first time can preserve it a second
time. By Allah, I will not leave my house during the three days
of life which remain to me and let the Truth (whose perfection be
praised!) do een as He will/' So he kept his house three days,
and on the fourth day he summoned the Kazis and legal witnesses
and made his last will and testament, and took leave of his children
weeping. Presently in came a messenger from the Caliph and said
to him, The Commander of the Faithful is in the most violent
rage that can be, and he sendeth to seek thee and he sweareth that
the day shall certainly not pass without thy being hanged unless
the slave be forthcoming/' When Ja'afar heard this he wept, and
his children and slaves and all who were in the house wept with
him. After he had bidden adieu to everybody except his youngest
daughter, he proceeded to farewell her; for he loved this wee one,
who was a beautiful child, more than all his other children; and he
pressed her to his breast and kissed her and wept bitterly at part¬
ing from her; when he felt something round inside the bosom of
her dress and asked her, “ O my little maid, what is in thy bosom
pocket ? “ O my father,” she replied, “ it is an apple with the

name of our Lord the Caliph written upon it. Rayhan our slave
brought it to me four days ago and would not let me have it till I
gave him two dinars for it/' When Ja’afar heard speak of the
slave and the apple, he was glad and put his hand into his child’s
pocket 2, and drew out the apple and knew it and rejoiced saying,
“ O ready Dispeller of trouble! ” 3 Then he bade them bring the

1 The Arab equivalent of our pitcher and well.

2 i.e. Where the dress sits loosely about the bust.

2 He had trusted in Allah and his trust was justified.

VOL. I.

194

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

slave and said to him, “ Fie upon thee, Rayhan! whence haddest
thou this apple ? ” " By Allah, O my master." he replied, “ though
a lie may get a man once off, yet may truth get him off, and well
off, again and again. I did not steal this apple from thy palace
nor from the gardens of the Commander of the Faithful. The
fact is that five days ago, as I was walking along one of the
alleys of this city, I saw some little ones at play and this apple in
hand of one of them. So I snatched it from him and beat him
and he cried and said, O youth this apple is my mother’s and
she is HI. She told my father how she longed for an apple, so he
travelled to Bassorah and bought her three apples for three gold
pieces, and I took one of them to play withal. He wept again,
but I paid no heed to what he said and carried it off and brought
it here, and my little lady bought it of me for two dinars of gold.
And this is the whole story.” When Ja’afar heard his words he
marvelled that the murder of the damsel and all this misery should
have been caused by his slave; he grieved for the relation of the
slave to himself, while rejoicing over his own deliverance, and he
repeated these lines :—

If ill betide thee through thy slave, o Make him forthright thy sacrifice :

A many serviles thou shalt find, • But life comes once and never twice.

Then he took the slave’s hand and, leading him to the Caliph,
related the story from first to last and the Caliph marvelled with
extreme astonishment, and laughed till he fell on his back and
ordered that the story be recorded and be made public amongst
the people. But Ja'afar said, “ Marvel not, O Commander of the
Faithful, at this adventure, for it is not more wondrous than the
History of the Wazir Nur al-Dfn Ali of Egypt and his brother
Shams al-D/n Mohammed.” Quoth the Caliph,“Out with it; but
what can be stranger than this story?” And Ja’afar answered,
<e O Commander of the Faithful, I will not tell it thee, save on com
dition that thou pardon my slave;” and the Caliph rejoined, “If
it be indeed more wondrous than that of the three apples, I grant
thee his blood, and if not I will surely slay thy slave." So Ja’afar
began in these words the

Tale of NiHr al-Din All and his Son.

*95

TALE OF NUR AL-DIN ALL &* HIS SON BADR AL-DIN HASAN

Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times of yore the
land of Egypt was ruled by a Sultan endowed with justice and
generosity, one who loved the pious poor and companied with the
Olema and learned men ; and he had a Wazir, a wise and an ex¬
perienced, well versed in affairs and in the art of government.
This Minister, who was a very old man, had two sons, as they were
two moons ; never man saw the like of them for beauty and grace, the
elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the younger Nur al-Din
Ali; but the younger excelled the elder in seemliness and pleasing
semblance, so that folk heard his fame in far countries and men
flocked to Egypt for the purpose of seeing him. In course of time
their father, the Wazir, died and was deeply regretted and mourned
by the Sultan, who sent for his two sons and, investing them with
dresses of honour, 1 2 said to them, “ Let not your hearts be troubled,
for ye shall stand in your father’s stead and be joint Ministers of
Egypt.” At this they rejoiced and kissed the ground before him
and performed the ceremonial mourning^ for their father during a
full month ; after which time they entered upon the Wazirate, and
the power passed into their hands as it had been in the hands of
their father, each doing duty for a week at a time. They lived
.under the same roof and their word was one; and whenever the
Sultan desired to travel they took it by turns to be in attendance
on him. It fortuned one night that the Sultan purposed setting
out on a journey next morning, and the elder, whose turn it was to
accompany him, was sitting conversing with his brother and said
to him, “ O my brother, it is my wish that we both marry, I
and thou, two sisters ; and go in to our wives on one and the
same night.” “ Do, O my brother, as thou desirest,” the younger
replied, “ for right is thy recking and surely I will comply with

1 Arab. “ Kliila’ah ” prop, what a man strips from his person: gen. an honorary
gift. It is something more than the “ robe of honour ” of our chivalrous romances, as it
includes a horse, a sword (often gold-hilted), a black turban (amongst the Abbesidea)
embroidered with gold, a violet-coloured mantle, a waist-shawl and a gold neck-chain
and shoe-buckles.

2 Arab. “ Iza,” i.e. the visits of condolence and so forth which are long and terribly
wearisome in the Moslem East.

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

196

thee in whatso thou sayest.” So they agreed upon this and quoth
Shams al-Din, “If Allah decree that we marry two damsels and
go in to them on the same night, and they shall conceive on their
bride-nights and bear children to us on the same day, and by
Allah's will thy wife bear thee a son and my wife bear me a
daughter, let us wed them either to other, for they will be cousins.”
Quoth Nur al-Din, a O my brother, Shams al-Din, what dower 1
wilt thou require from my son for thy daughter ? ” Quoth Shams
al-Din, u I will take three thousand dinars and three pleasure gar*
dens and three farms ; and it would not be seemly that the youth
make contract for less than this.” When Nur al-Din heard such
demand he said, 41 What manner of dower is this thou wouldest
impose upon my son ? Wottest thou not that we are brothers and
both by Allah's grace Wazirs and equal in office ? It behoveth
thee to offer thy daughter to my son without marriage settlement;
or, if one need be, it should represent a mere nominal value by
way of show to the world : for thou knowest that the masculine is
worthier than the feminine, and my son is a male and our memory
will be preserved by him, not by thy daughter.” “ But what,” said
Shams al-Din, “is she to have?”; and Nur al-Din continued,
* Through her we shall not be remembered among the Emirs of
the earth; but I see thou wouldest do with me according to the
saying:—An thou wouldst bluff off a buyer, ask him high price
and higher ; or as did a man who, they say, went to a friend and
asked something of him being in necessity and was answered*
Bismillah , 2 in the name of Allah, I will do all what thou requirest
but come to-morrow! Whereupon the other replied in this
verse:—

When he who is asked a favour saith w To-morrow,” • The wise man wots 'tis
vain to beg or borrow.

Quoth Shams al-Din, '* Basta ! * * * * * 8 I see thee fail in respect to me by
making thy son of more account than my daughter; and ’tis plain

1 Arab. “ Mahr,” the money settled by the man before marriage on the woman and

without which the contract is not valid. Usually half of it is paid down on the marriage-

day and the other half when the husband dies or divorces his wife. But if she take a

divorce she forfeits her right to it, and obscene fellows, especially Persians, often compel

her to demand divorce by unnatural and preposterous use of her person.

8 Bismillah here means “ Thou art welcome to it.”

# Arab. “Bassak,” half Pers. (basrr:enough) and—akrzthou; for thee. “Bas”
sounds like our tf buss ” (to kiss) and there are sundry good old Anglo-Indian jokes of
feminine mistakes on the subject.

Tale of Nur al-Din Ali and his Son.

197

that thine understanding is of the meanest and that thou lackest
manners. Thou remindest me of thy partnership in the Wazirate,
when I admitted thee to share with me only in pity for thee, and
not wishing to mortify thee; and that thou mighest help- me as a
manner of assistant. But since thou talkest on this wise, by Allah,
I will never marry my daughter to thy son ; no, not for her weight
in gold ! ” When Nur al-Din heard his brother's words he waxed
wroth and said, “And I too, I will never, never marry my son to
thy daughter; no, not to keep from my lips the cup of death.”
Shams al-Din replied, “ I would not accept him as a husband for
her, and he is not worth a paring of her nail. Were I not about to
travel I would make an example of thee; however when I return
thou shalt see, and I will show thee, how I can assert my dignity
and vindicate my honour. But Allah doeth whatso He willeth.” 1
When Nur al-Din heard this speech from his brother, he was filled
with fury and lost his wits for rage; but he hid what he felt and
held his peace; and each of the brothers passed the night in a place
far apart, wild with wrath against the other. As soon as morning
dawned the Sultan fared forth in state and crossed over from Cairo 2
to Jizah 3 and made for the Pyramids, accompanied by the
Wazir Shams al-Din, whose turn of duty it was, whilst his brother
Nur al-Din, who passed the night in sore rage, rose with the light
and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then he betook himself to his
treasury and, taking a small pair of saddle-bags, filled them with
gold ; and he called to mind his brother’s threats and the contempt
wherewith he had treated him, and he repeated these couplets:—

Travel ! and thou shalt find new friends for old ones left behind ; o Toil ! for
the sweets of human life by toil and moil are found :

The stay-at-home no honour wins nor aught attains but want; o So leave
thy place of birth 4 and wander all the world around !

1 This saving clause makes the threat worse. The scene between the two brothers is

written with characteristic Arab humour ; and it is true to nature. In England we have
heard of a man who separated from his wife because he wished to dine at six and she
preferred half-past six.

3 Arab. “ Misr ” (vulg. Masr). The word, which comes of & very ancient house,
was applied to the present Capital about the time of its conquest by the Osmanli
Turks A.H. 923=1517.

* The Arab. “Jizah,” = skirt, edge; the modem village is the site of an ancient
Egyptian city, as the “ Ghizah inscription” proves (Brugsch, History of Egypt, ii. 415).

4 Arab. “ Watan ” literally meaning “birth-place ” but also used for “ patria, native
country”; thus “ Hubb al-Watan” = patriotism* The Turks pronounce it “Vatan,”
which the French have turned into Va-t’en!

Alf Laylah vuct Laylah .

198

I’ve seen, and very oft I’ve seen, how standing water stinks, * And only flowing
sweetens it and trotting makes it sound :

And were the moon for ever full and ne’er to wax or wane, o Man would not
strain his watchful eyes to see its gladsome round :

Except the lion leave his lair he ne’er would fell his game ; o Except the arrow
leave the bow ne’er had it reached its bound :

Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine, o And aloes-wood
mere fuel is upon its native ground :

And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal’d ; o And aloes
sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold.

When he ended his verse he bade one of his pages saddle him his
Nubian mare-mule with her padded selle. Now she was a dapple-
grey, 1 with ears like reed-pens and legs like columns and a back
high and strong as a dome builded on pillars; her saddle was of
gold-cloth and her stirrups of Indian steel, and her housing of
Ispahan velvet; she had trappings which would serve the Chosroes,
and she was like a bride adorned for her wedding night. Moreover
he bade lay on her back a piece of silk for a seat, and a prayer-
carpet under which were his saddle-bags. When this was done he
said to his pages and slaves, “ I purpose going forth apleasuring
outside the city on the road to Kalyub-town, 2 and I shall lie three
nights abroad ; so let none of you follow me, for there is something
straiteneth my breast.” Then he mounted the mule in haste; and,
taking with him some provaunt for the way, set out from Cairo and
faced the open and uncultivated country lying around it. 3 About
noontide he entered Bilbays-city, 4 where he dismounted and stayed
awhile to rest himself and his mule and ate some of his victual.
He bought at Bilbays all he wanted for himself and forage for his
mule and then fared on the way of the waste. Towards night-fall
he entered a town called Sa'adiyah 5 where he alighted and took
out somewhat of his viaticum and ate; then he spread his strip of
silk on the sand and set the saddle-bags under his head and slept
in the open air; for he was still overcome with anger. When

1 Arab. “ Zarzariyah ” the colour of a stare or starling (Zurzur).

x Now a Railway Station on the Alexandria-Cairo line.

3 Even as late as 1852, when I first saw Cairo, the city was girt by waste lands and
the climate was excellent. Now cultivation comes up to the house walls; while the
Mahmudiyah Canal, the planting the streets with avenues and over-watering have
seriously injured it; those who want the air of former Cairo must go to Thebes. Gout,
rheumatism and hydrophobia (before unknown) have become common of late years.

4 This is the popular pronunciation : Yakut calls it “Bilbis.”

1 An outlying village on the “ Long Desert,” between Cairo and Palestine.

Tale of Nur at-Din All and his Son .

199

morning dawned he mounted and rode onward till he reached the
Holy City, 1 Jerusalem, and thence he made Aleppo, where he dis¬
mounted at one of the caravanserais and abode three days to rest
himself and the mule and to smell the air. 2 Then, being determined
to travel afar and Allah having written safety in his fate, he set out
again, wending without wotting whither he was going ; and, having
fallen in with certain couriers, he stinted not travelling till he had
reached Bassorah-citv albeit he knew not what the place was. It
was dark night when he alighted at the Khan, so he spread out his
prayer-carpet and took down the saddle-bags from the back of the
mule and gave her with her furniture in charge of the door-keeper
that he might walk her about. The man took her and did as he
was bid. Now it so happened that the Wazir of Bassorah, a man
shot in years, was sitting at the lattice-window of his palace
opposite the Khan and he saw the porter walking the mule up
and down. He was struck by her trappings of price and thought
her a nice beast fit for the riding of Wazirs or even of royalties ;
and the more he looked the more was he perplexed till at last he
said to one of his pages, “ Bring hither yon door-keeper.” The
page went and returned to the Wazir with the porter who kissed
the ground between his hands, and the Minister asked him, “ Who
is the owner of yonder mule and what manner of man is he ? ”;
and he answered, “ O my lord, the owner of this mule is a comely
young man of pleasant manners, withal grave and dignified, and
doubtless one of the sons of the merchants.” When the Wazir

1 Arab. “AI-Kuds”rrholiness. There are few cities which in our day have less
claim to this title than Jerusalem ; and, curious to say, the “ Holy Land” shows Jews*
Christians and Moslems all in their worst form. The only religion (if it can be called
one) which produces men in Syria is the Druse. “ Heiligen-landes Jiiden” are pro¬
verbial and nothing can be meaner than the Christians while the Moslems are famed for
treachery.

2 Arab. “ Shamm al-hawa.” In vulgar parlance to “smell the air" is to take a walk
especially out of town. There is a peculiar Egyptian festival called **Shamm al-Nasim”
(smelling the Zephyr) which begins on Easter-Monday (O.S.), thus corresponding with
the Persian Nau-roz, vernal equinox and introducing the fifty days of “Khammasm”
or “ Mirisi ” (hot desert winds). On awaking, the people smell and bathe their temples
with vinegar in which an onion has been soaked and break their fast with a “ fisikh” or
dried “ buri ” rcr mullet from Lake Menzalah: the late Hekekiyan Bey had the fish-
heads counted in one public garden and found 70,000. The rest of the day is spent out
of doors “ Gypsying,” and families greatly enjoy themselves on these occasions. For a
longer description see a paper by my excellent friend Yacoub Artin Pasha, in the Bulletin
de l’lnstitut Egyptien, 2nd series. No. 4, Cairo, 1884. I have noticed the Mirisi (South-
wester) and other winds in the Land of Midian, i.» 23.

200

Alf Laylak wa Laylaft.

heard the door-keeper’s words he arose forthright; and, mounting
his horse, rode to the Khan 1 and went in to Nur al-Din who,
seeing the Minister making towards him, rose to his feet and
advanced to meet him and saluted him. The Wazir welcomed
him to Bassorah and dismounting, embraced him and made him
sit down by his side and said, “ O my son, whence comest thou
and what dost thou seek?” “O my lord,” Nur al-Din replied,
“ I have come from Cairo-city of which my father was whilome
Wazir; but he hath been removed to the grace of Allah and he
informed him of all that had befallen him from beginning to end,
adding, “ I am resolved never to return home before I have seen
all the cities and countries of the world.” When the Wazir heard
this, he said to him, “ O my son, hearken not to the voice of passion
lest it cast thee into the pit; for indeed many regions be waste
places and I fear for thee the turns of Time.” Then he let load
the saddle-bags and the silk and prayer-carpets on the mule and
carried Nur al-Din to his own house, where he lodged him in a
pleasant place and entreated him honourably and made much of
him, for he inclined to love him with exceeding love. After a
while he said to him, “ O my son, here am I left a man in years
and have no male children, but Allah hath hlessed me with a
daughter who eveneth thee in beauty ; and I have rejected all her
many suitors, men of rank and substance. But affection for thee
hath entered into my heart; say me, then, wilt thou be to her a
husband ? If thou accept this, I will go up with thee to the
Sultan of Bassorah 2 and will tell him that thou art my nephew,
the son of my brother, and bring thee to be appointed Wazir in
my place that I may keep the house for, by Allah, O my son, I am

‘ So in the days of the “Mameluke Beys” in Egypt a man of rank would not cross
the street on foot.

2 Arab. Basrah. The city now in decay and not to flourish again till the advent of the
Euphrates Valley R.R., is a modern, place, founded in A.H. 15, by the Caliph Omar
upon the Aylah, a feeder of the Tigris. Here, according to Al-Hariri, the “ whales and
the lizards meet; M and, as the tide affects the river,

Its stream shows prodigy, ebbing and flowing.

In its far-famed market-place, Al-Marbad, poems used to be recited ; and the city was
famous for its mosques and Saint-shrines, fair women and school of Grammar which
rivalled that of Kufah. But already in Al-Hariri’s day (naL A.H. 446 = A.D. 1030)
Baghdad had drawn off much of its population.

Tale of Nur al-Din All and his Son. 201

stricken in years and aweary.” When Nur al-Din heard the Wazir’s
words, he bowed his head in modesty and said, “ To hear is to
obey! ” At this the Wazir rejoiced and bade his servants prepare
a feast and decorate the great assembly-hall, wherein they were
wont to celebrate the marriages of Emirs and Grandees. Then he
assembled his friends and the notables of the reign and the
merchants of Bassorah and when all stood before him he said to
them, " I had a brother who was Wazir in the land of Egypt, and
Allah Almighty blessed him with two sons, whilst to me, as well
ye wot, He hath given a daughter. My brother charged me to
marry my daughter to one of his sons, whereto I assented ; and,
when my daughter was of age to marry, he sent me one of his
sons, the young man now present, to whom I purpose marrying
her, drawing up the contract and celebrating the night of unveiling
with due ceremony: for he is nearer and dearer to me than a
stranger and, after the wedding, if he please he shall abide with
me, or if he desire to travel I will forward him and his wife to
his father’s home.” Hereat one and all replied, “ Right is thy
recking;” and they looked at the bridegroom and were pleased
with him. So the Wazir sent for the Kazi and legal witnesses and
they wrote out the marriage contract, after which the slaves per¬
fumed the guests with incense, 1 and served them with sherbet of
sugar and sprinkled rose-water on them and all went their ways.
Then the Wazir bade his servants take Nur al-Din to the Ham-
mam-baths and sent him a suit of the best of his own especial
raiment, and napkins and towelry and bowls and perfume-burners
and all else that was required. And after the bath, when he came
out and donned the dress, he was even as the full moon on the
fourteenth night; and he mounted his mule and stayed not till
he reached the Wazir’s palace. There he dismounted and went in
to the Minister and kissed his hands, and the Wazir bade him

welcome.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and

ceased to say her permitted say.

1 This fumigation (Bukhur) is still used. A little incense or perfumed wood is burnt
upon an open censer (Mibkharah) of earthenware or metal, and passed round, each guest
holding it for a few moments under his beard. In the Somali Country, the very home
of incense, both sexes fumigate the whole person after carnal intercourse. Lane (Mod.
Egypt, chapt. viii.) gives an illustration of the Mibkharah.

202

A If LaylaJi wa Laylah.

i&oto tofrcn It teas tfje ®toentp-Jpirst jBtgjjt,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir
stood up to him and welcoming him said, “ Arise and go in to thy
wife this night, and on the morrow I will carry thee to the Sultan,
and pray Allah bless thee with all manner of weal.” So Nur
al-Din left him and went in to his wife the Wazir’s daughter.
Thus far concerning him, but as regards his elder brother, Shams
al-Din, he was absent with the Sultan a long time and when he
returned from his journey he found not his brother; and he asked
of his servants and slaves who answered, “ On the day of thy
departure with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his mule fully
caparisoned as for state procession saying:—I am going towards
Kalyub-town and I shall be absent one day or at most two days ;
for my breast is straitened, and let none of you follow me. Then
he fared forth and from that time to this we have heard no tidings
of him. Shams al-Din was greatly troubled at the sudden dis¬
appearance of his brother and grieved with exceeding grief at the
loss and said to himself, “ This is only because I chided and
upbraided him the night before my departure with the Sultan
haply his feelings were hurt and he fared forth a-travelling; but
I must send after him,” Then he went in to the Sultan and
acquainted him with what had happened and wrote letters and
dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his deputies in
every province. But during the twenty days of his brother’s
absence Nur al-Din had travelled far and had reached Bassorah;
so after diligent search the messengers failed to come at any
news of him and returned. Thereupon Shams al*Din despaired of
findingJiis brother and said, “Indeed I went beyond all bounds in
what I said to him with reference to the marriage of our children.
Would that L had not done so! This all cometh of my lack of
wit and want of caution.” Soon after this he sought in marriage
the daughter of a Cairene merchant 1 and drew up the marriage
contract and went in to her. And it so chanced that, on the very

‘ The reader of The Nighls will remark that the merchant is often a merchant-prince,
consorting and mating with the highest dignitaries. Even amongst the Romans, a race
of soldiers, statesmen and lawyers, “mercatura” on a large scale was “not to be
vituperated.” In Boccaccio (x. 19) they are netti e delicati uomini. England is per¬
haps the only country which has made her fortune by trade, and much of it illicit trade,
like that in slaves which built Liverpool and Bristol, and which yet disdains or affect* to
disdain the trader. But the unworthy prejudice is disappearing with the last generation,
and men who formerly would have half starved as curates and ensigns, barristers and
<arabins are now only too glad to become merchants.

Tale of Nur al-DUi Alt and his Son .

203

same night when Shams al-Din went in to his wife, Nur ai-Din
also went in to his wife the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah ;
this being in accordance with the will of Almighty Allah, that He
might deal the decrees of Destiny to His creatures. Furthermore,
it was as the two brothers had said ; for their two wives became
pregnant by them on the same night and both were brought to
bed on the same day; the wife of Shams al-Din, Wazir of Egypt,
of a daughter, never in Cairo was seen a fairer; and the wife of
Nur al-Din of a son, none more beautiful was ever seen in his time,
as one of the poets said concerning the like of him :—

That jetty hair, that glossy brow,

My slender waisted youth, of thine.

Can darkness round creation throw,

Or make it brightly shine.

The dusky mole that faintly shows

Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not ;

The tulip-flower never blows
Undarkened by its spot. 1 2

And as another also said :—

His scent was musk and his cheek was rose; o His teeth are pearls and his
lips drop wine ;

His form is a brand and his hips a hill; o His hair is night and his face moon¬
shine.

They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the
Wazir of Bassorah, rejoiced in him and, on the seventh day after
liis birth, made entertainments and spread banquets which would
befit the birth of Kings’ sons and heirs. Then he took Nur al Din
and went up with him to the Sultan, and his son-in-law, when he
came before the presence of the King, kissed the ground between his
hands and repeated these verses, for he was ready of speech, firm
of sprite and good in heart as he was goodly in form : —

The world’s best joys long be thy lot, my lord ! o And last while darkness and
the dawn o’erlap :

O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts, o The world to dance and Time
his palms to clap.'

1 These lines in the Calc, and Bui. Edits, have already occurred (Night vii.) but such
carelessness is characteristic despite the proverb, “ In repetition is no fruition.” I quote
Torrens (p. 60) by way of variety. As regards the anemone (here called a tulip) being
named “ Shakik ” zz Assure, I would conjecture that it derives from the flower often
forming long lines of red like stripes of blood in the landscape. Travellers in Syr:a
always, observe this.

2 Such an address to a royalty (Eastern) even in the present day, would be a passport
to future favours.

204

A If Laylah wa Layla ft.

Then the Sultan rose up to honour them and, thanking Nur al-Din
for his fine compliment, asked the Wazir, “Who maybe this young
man?”; and the Minister answered, “This is my brother's son,"
and related his tale from first to last. Quoth the Sultan, “And
how comes he to be thy nephew and we have never heard speak of
him ? ” Quoth the Minister, u O our lord the Sultan, I had a
brother who was Wazir in the land of Egypt and he died, leaving
two sons, whereof the elder hath taken his father's place and the
younger, whom thou seest, came to me. I had sworn I would not
marry my daughter to any but to him ; so when he came I married
him to her ? 1 Now he is young and I am old ; my hearing is
dulled and my judgment is easily fooled; wherefore I would solicit
our lord the Sultan 2 to set him in my stead, for he is my brother’s
son and my daughter’s husband ; and he is fit for the Wazirate,
being a man of good counsel and ready contrivance." The Sultan
looked at Nur al-Din and liked him, so he stablished him in office
as the Wazir had requested and formally appointed him, present¬
ing him with a splendid dress of honour and a she-mule from his
private stud ; and assigning to him solde, stipends and supplies.
Nur al-Din kissed the Sultan’s hand and went home, he and his
father-in-law, joying with exceeding joy and saying, “All this
followeth on the heels of the boy Hasan’s birth!” Next day he
presented himself before the King and, kissing the ground, began
repeating:—

Grow thy weal and thy welfare day by day : o And thy luck prevail o’er the
envier’s spite ;

And ne’er cease thy days to be white as day, o And thy foeman’s day to be
black as night!

The Sultan bade him be seated on the Wazir’s seat, so he sat
down and applied himself to the business of his- office and went

1 In England the man marries and the woman is married: there is no such distinction
in Arabia.

2 “Sultan” (and its corruption “ Soldan ”) etymologically means lord, victorious,
ruler, ruling over. In Arabia it is a not uncommon proper name; and as a title it is
taken by a host of petty kinglets. The Abbaside Caliphs (as Al-Wdsik who has
been noticed) formally created these Sultans as their regents. Al-Ta’i bi’llah (regn-
A.H. 363 = 974), invested the famous Sabuktagin with the office ; and, as Alexander-
Sikandar was wont to do, fastened for him two flags, one of silver, after the fashion of
nobles, and the other of gold, as Viceroy-designate. Sabuktagin’s son, the famous
Mahmud of the Ghaznavite dynasty in A.H. 393 — 1002, was the -first to adopt
“Sultan” as an independent title some two hundred years after the death of Harun
al-Rashid. In old writers we have the Soldan of Egypt, the Soudan of Persia, and the
Sowdao of Babylon ; three modifications of one word.

TdU of Nur al-Din Alt and his Son.

205

Into the cases of the lieges and their suits, as is the wont of
Ministers ; while the Sultan watched him and wondered at his
wit and good sense, judgment and insight. Wherefor he loved
him and took him into intimacy. When the Divan was dis¬
missed Nur al-Din returned to his house and related what had
passed to his father-in-law who rejoiced. And thenceforward Nur
al-Din ceased not so to administer the Wazirate that the Sultan
would not be parted from him night or day; and increased his
stipends and supplies till his means were ample and he became
the owner of ships that made trading voyages at his command, as
well as of Mamelukes and blackamoor slaves; and he laid out
many estates and set up Persian wheels and planted gardens.
When his son Hasan was four years of age, the old Wazir deceased,
and he made for his father-in-law a sumptuous funeral ceremony
ere he was laid in the dust. Then he occupied himself with the
education of this son and, when the boy waxed strong and came
to the age of seven, he brought him a Fakih, a doctor of law and
religion, to teach him in his own house and charged him to give
him a good education and instruct him in politeness and good
manners. So the tutor made the boy read and retain all varieties
of useful knowledge, after he had spent some years in learning the
Koran by heart ; l and he ceased not to grow in beauty and stature
and symmetry, even as saith the poet

In his face-sky shines the fullest moon; • In his checks* anemone glows
the sun :

He so conquered Beauty that he hath won © AH charms of humanity one by
one.

The professor brought him up in his father's palace teaching him
reading, writing and cyphering, theology and belles lettres. His
grandfather the old Wazir had bequeathed to him the whole of his
property when he was but four years of age. Now during all the time
of his earliest youth he had never left the house, till on a certain
day his father, the Wazir Nur al-Din, clad him in his best clothes
and, mounting him on a she-mule of the finest, went up with him to
the Sultan. The King gazed at Badr al-Din.Hasan and marvelled

1 ir. he was a ** Hifix,** one who commits to memory the whole of the Koran. It b
a serious task and must be begun early. I learnt by rote the last “ Jurw ” (or thirtieth
part) and found that quite enough. This is the vulgar tias of “ Hafiz ” : technically and
theologically it means the third order of Traditionists (the total being five) who know by
heart 300,000 traditions of the Prophet with their ascriptions. A curious ** spiritualist *
hook calls itself ** Hafed, Prince of Persia,” proving by the very title that the Spirits art
equally ignorant of Arabic and Persian.

206

Alf Laylah 'wa Laylah .

at his comeliness and loved him. As for the city-folk, when he
first passed before them with his father, they marvelled at his
exceeding beauty and sat down on the road expecting his return,
that they might look their fill on his beauty and loveliness and
symmetry and perfect grace; even as the poet said in these
verses:—

As the sage watched the stars, the semblance clear
Of a fair youth on ’s scroll he saw appear.

Th ose jetty looks Canopus o’er him threw,

And tinged his temple curls a musky hue ;

Mars dyed his ruddy cheek ; and from his eyes
The Archer-star his glittering arrow flies ;

His wit from Hermes came ; and Soha’s care,

(The half-seen star that dimly haunts the Bear)

Kept off all evil eyes that threaten and ensnare,

The sage stood mazed to see such fortunes meet.

And Luna kissed the earth beneath his feet. 1 '

And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty
Allah to bless him , 2 The Sultan entreated the lad with especial
favour and said to his father, “ O Wazir, thou must needs bring
him daily to my presence ; ” whereupon he replied, “ I hear and
I obey.” Then the Wazir returned home with his son and ceased
not to carry him to court till he reached the age of twenty. At
that time the Minister sickened and, sending for Badr al-Din Hasan,
said to him, “ Know, O my son, that the world of the Present is
but a house of mortality, while that of the Future is a house of
eternity. I wish, before I die, to bequeath thee certain charges
and do thou take heed of what I say and incline thy heart to my
words.” Then he gave him his last instructions as to the propere^t
way of dealing with his neighbours and the due management of his
affairs ; after which he called to mind his brother and his home
and his native land and wept over his separation from those he had
first loved. Then he wiped away his tears and, turning to his son,
said to him, “ Before I proceed, O my son, to my last charges and
injunctions, know that I have a brother, and thou hast an uncle,
Shams al-Din hight, the Wazir of Cairo, with whom I parted,
leaving him against his will. Now take thee a sheet of paper and

1 Here again the Cairo Edit, repeats the six couplets already given in Night xvii. I
take them from Torrens (p. 163).

2 This naive admiration of beauty in either sex characterised our chivalrous times.
Now it is mostly confined to “ professional beauties ” of what is conventionally called
the “ fair sex ” ; as if there could be any comparison between the beauty of man and the
booty of woman, the Apollo Bdvidere with the Venus dc Medici.

Tale of Nur al-Din All and his Son.

207

write upon it whatso I say to thee Badr al-Din took a fair leaf
and set about doing his father’s bidding and he wrote thereon a
full account of what had happened to his sire first and last; the
dates of his arrival at Bassorah and of his foregathering with the
Wazir; of his marriage, of his going in to the Minister’s daughter
and of the birth of his son ; brief, his life of forty years from the
day of his dispute with his brother, adding the words, “And this is
written at my dictation and may Almighty Allah be with him
when I am gone ! ” Then he folded the paper and sealed it and
said, “ O Hasan, O my son, keep this paper with all care ; for it
will enable thee to stablish thine origin and rank and lineage and,
if anything contrary befal thee, set out for Cairo and ask for thine
uncle and show him this paper and say to him that I died a
stranger far from mine own people and full of yearning to see him
and them.” So Badr al-Din Hasan took the document and folded
it; and, wrapping it up in a piece of waxed cloth, sewed it like a
talisman between the inner and outer cloth of his skull-cap and
wound his light turband * 1 round it. And he fell to weeping over
his father and at parting with him, and he but a boy. Then Nur
al-Din lapsed into a swoon, the forerunner of death ; but presently
recovering himself he said, “ O Hasan, O my son, I will now
bequeath to thee five last behests. The First Behest is, Be over¬
intimate with none, nor frequent any, nor be familiar with any; so
shalt thou be safe from his mischief ; 2 * for security lieth in seclusion
of thought and a certain retirement from the society of thy fellows ;
and I have heard it said by a poet:—

In this world there is none thou mayst count upon o To befriend thy case in
the nick of need :

So live for thyself nursing hope of none o Such counsel I give thee : enow, take
heed !

The Second Behest is, O my son: Deal harshly with none
lest fortune with thee deal hardly; for the fortune of this world is
one day with thee and another day against thee and all worldly
goods are but a loan to be repaid. And I have heard a poet say:—

Take thought nor haste to win the thing thou wilt; © Have ruth on man for
ruth thou may’st require :

No hand is there but Allah’s hand is higher; © No tyrant but shall rue worse
tyrant’s ire!

1 Arab. 4 ‘Shash M (in Pers. urine), a light turband generally of muslin*

1 This is a lieu commun of Eastern worldly wisdom. Quite true i Very unadvis&ble io

dive below the surface of one's acquaintances, but such intimacy is like marriage of which

Johnson said, “ Without it there is no pleasure in life.’

to8

A If LaylaJi wa Laylah.

The Third Behest is, Learn to be silent in society and let thine
own faults distract thine attention from the faults of other men :
for it is said:—In silence dwelleth safety, and thereon I have
beard the lines that tell us :—

Reserve’s a jewel, Silence safety it; • Whenas thou speakest many a word

withhold :

For an of Silence thou repent thee once, a Of speech thou shall repent times
manifold

The Fourth Behest, O my son, is-Beware of wine-bibbing, for
wine is the head of all frowardness and a fine solvent of human
wits. So shun, and again I say, shun mixing strong liquor ; for I
have heard a poet say .— 1

From wine* I turn and whoso wine-cups swill; o Becoming one of those who
deem it ill:

Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way, • And opes the gateway whk
to sins that kilt

The Fifth Behest, O my son, is Keep thy wealth and it will
keep thee; guard thy money and it will guard thee; and waste
not thy substance lest haply thou come to want and must fare
a-begging from the meanest of mankind. Save thy dirhams and
deCm them the sovereignest salve for the wounds of the world.
And here again I have heard that one of the poets said :—

When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend : o When wealth abounds
all friends their friendship tender :

How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend ; o But friends to lack of
wealth no friendship render.

* The lines are attributed to the famous Al-Mutanabbi = the claimant to “Prophecy,"
of whom I have given a few details in my Pilgrimage (iii. 60, 62). He led the life of
a true poet, somewhat Chauvinistic withal; and, rather than run away, was killed in
A.H. 354 = 965.

* Arab. “ Nabis” =wine of raisins or dates; any fermented liquor; from a root to

** press out ” in Syriac, like the word ** Talmia ” (or Tilmiz, says the Kashf al-Ghurmh)
a pupil, student, Date-wine (fermented from the fruit, not the Tadi, or juice of the
stem, our “toddy”) is called Fazikh. Hence the Masjid al-Fazikh at Al-Medinah
where the Ansar or Auxiliaries of that city were sitting cup in hand when they heard
of the revelation forbidding inebriants and poured the liquor upon the ground (Pil¬
grimage il. 322).

* Arab. “ Huda ” = direction (to the right way), salvation, a word occurring in the
Opening Chapter of the Koran. Hence to s Kafir who offers the Salam-salutation
many Moslems reply “ Allah yahdik ”= Allah direct thee! (A/, make thee a Moslem),
Instead of Allah yusallimak = Allah lead thee to salvation. It is the root word of the

Mahdi and Mohdi,

Tale of Nut al-Dln All and kii Son . 209

On this wise Nur al-Din ceased not to counsel his son Badr al-Din
Hasan till his hour came and, sighing one sobbing sigh, his life
went forth. Then the voice of mourning and keening rose high in
his house and the Sultan and all the grandees grieved for him and
buried him ; but his son ceased not lamenting his loss for two
months, during which he never mounted horse, nor attended the
Divan nor presented himself before the Sultan. At last the
King, being wroth with him, stablished in his stead one of his
Chamberlains and made him Wazir, giving orders to seize and set
seals on all Nur al-Din’s houses and goods and domains. So the
new Wazir went forth with a mighty posse of Chamberlains and
people of the Divan, and watchmen and a host of idlers to do this
and to seize Badr al-Din Hasan and carry him before the King,
who would deal with him as he deemed fit. Now there was among
the crowd of followers a Mameluke of the deceased Wazir who,
when he had heard this order, urged his horse and rode at full
speed to the house of Badr al-Din Hasan ; for he could not endure
to see the ruin of his old master’s son. He found him sitting at the
gate with head hung down and sorrowing, as was his wont, for the
loss of his father; so he dismounted and kissing his hand said to
him, “ O my lord and son of my lord, haste ere ruin come and lay
waste ! ” When Hasan heard this he trembled and asked, “ What
may be the matter ? and the man answered, “ The Sultan is
angered with thee and hath issued a warrant against thee, and evil
cometh hard upon my track ; so flee with thy life ! ” At these words
Hasan’s heart flamed with the fire of bale, and his rose-red cheek
turned pale, and he said to the Mameluke, “ O my brother, is there
time for me to go in and get me some worldly gear which may
stand me in stead during my strangerhood ? ” But the slave
replied, “ O my lord, up at once and save thyself and leave this
house, while it is yet time.” And he quoted these lines :—

Escape with thy life, if oppression betide thee, © And Jet the house tell of fts
builder’s fate !

Country tor country thou’lt find, if thou seek it; © Life for life never, early or
late.

It is strange men should dwell in the house of abjection, © When the plain of
God’s earth is so wide and so great l * 1

At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head

1 These lines have aiready occurred in .The First Kalandar’s Story (Night xi).

I quote by way of change and with permission Mr. Payne’s version (i. 93).

VOL. I.

210

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

with the skirt of his garment and went forth on foot till he stood
outside of the city, where he heard folk saying, “ The Sultan hath
sent his new Wazir to the house of the old Wazir, now no more, to
seal his property and seize his son Badr al-Din Hasan and take
him before the presence, that he may put him to death ;” and all
cried, “ Alas for his beauty and his loveliness ! ” When he heard
this he fled forth at hazard, knowing not whither he was going, and
gave not over hurrying onwards till Destiny drove him to his
father’s tomb. So he entered the cemetery and, threading his way
through the graves, at last he reached the sepulchre where he sat
down and let fall from his head the skirt of his long robe 1 which
was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem whereon were
worked these couplets:—

O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East, o Tells of the stars of Heaven
and bounteous dews :

Endure thine honour to the latest day, o And Time thy growth of
glory ne’er refuse 1

While he was sitting by his father’s tomb behold, there came to
fiim a Jew as he were a Shroff , 2 a money-changer, with a pair of
saddle-bags containing much gold, who accosted him and kissed
his hand, saying, “ Whither bound, O my lord : ’tis late in the day
and thou art clad but lightly and I read signs of trouble in thy
face ? ” “ I was sleeping within this very hour,” answered Hasan,
<r when my father appeared to me and chid me for not having
visited his tomb ; so I awoke trembling and came hither forthright
lest the day should go by without my visiting him, which would
have been grievous to me.” “ O my lord,” rejoined the Jew 3 " thy
father had many merchantmen at sea and, as some of them are
now due, it is my wish to buy of thee the cargo of the first ship
that cometh into port with this thousand dinars of gold.” " I
consent,” quoth Hasan, whereupon the Jew took out a bag full
of gold and counted out a thousand sequins which he gave to

1 Arab. “ Farajiyah,” a long-sleeved robe worn by the learned (Lane, M. E.,
chapt. i.)

* Arab. “ Sarrdf ” (vulg. Sayrafi), whence the Anglo-Indian “Shroff,” a familiar
corruption.

* Arab. “ Yahudf ” which is less polite than “ Band I srdil” “Children of Israel.,
So in Christendom “ Israelite ” when in favour and “ Jew ” (with an adjective or •
participle) when nothing is wanted of him.

TaU of Nur a/- Din Ali and kis Son.

211

Hasan, the son of the Wazir, saying, “Write me a letter of sale
and seal it” So Hasan took a pen and paper and wrote these
words in duplicate, “The writer, Hasan Badr al-Din, son of Wazir
Nur al-Din, hath sold to Isaac the Jew all the cargo of the first of
his father’s ships which cometh into port, for a thousand dinars,
and he hath received the price in advance.** And after he had
taken one copy the Jew put it into his pouch and went away; but
Hasan fell a-weeping as he thought of the dignity and prosperity
which had erst been his and he began reciting:—

Th is house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more o For me, nor
neighbours, since you left, prove, kind and neighbourly :

The friend, whilere I took to heart, alas! no more to me © Is friend ; and even
Luna’s self displayeth lunacy :

You left and by your going left the world a waste, a wold, o And lies a gloomy
murk upon the face of hill and lea :

O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked o Find ne’er a
nesty home and eke shed all his plumery !

At length my patience fails me ; and this absence wastes my flesh; o How many
a veil by severance rent our eyes are doomed see:

Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of yore ; o And shall a single
house become a home for me once more ?

Then he wept with exceeding weeping and night came upon him ;
so he leant his head against his father’s grave and sleep overcame
him : Glory to Him who sleepeth not! He ceased not slumbering
till the moon rose, when his head slipped from off the tomb and he
lay on his back, with limbs outstretched, his face shining bright in
the moonlight. Now the cemetery was haunted day and night by
Jinns who were of the True Believers, and presently came out a
Jinniyah who, seeing Hasan asleep, marvelled at his beauty and
loveliness and cried, “ Glory to God ! this youth can be none other
than one of the Wuldan of Paradise .” 1 Then she flew firmament-
wards to circle it, as was her custom, and met an Ifrit on the wing

1 Also called “ Ghilmdn ” = the beautiful ycuths appointed to serve the True
Believers in Paradise. The Koran says (chapt. lvi. 9 etc.) “Youths, which shall
continue in their bloom for ever, shall go round about to attend them, with goblets, and
beakers, and a cup of flowing wine,” etc. Mohammed was an Arab (not a Persian, a
born pederast) and he was loo fond of women to be charged with love of boys : even
Tristram Shandy (vol. vii. chapt. 7 ; “ No, quoth a third; the gentleman has been com¬
mitting-”) knew that the two tastes are incompatibles. But this and other passages

in the Koran have given the Chevaliers de la Paibe a hint that the use of boys, like that
©f wine, here forbidden, will be permitted in Paradise.

212

Alf Laylah wa Lay lab.

who saluted her and she said to him, “ Whence comest thou ? *
u From Cairo,” he replied. “ Wilt thou come with me and look
upon the beauty of a youth who sleepeth in yonder burial place ?**
she asked, and he answered, “I will.” So they flew till they lighted
at the tomb and she showed him the youth and said, “Now diddest
thou ever in thy born days see aught like this ?” The I frit looked
upon him and exclaimed, “ Praise be to Him that hath no equal!
But, O my sister, shall I tell thee what I have seen this day ? **
Asked she, “ What is that ? ” and he answered, “ I have seen the
counterpart of this youth in the land of Egypt. She is the
daughter of the Wazir Shams al-Din and she is a model of beauty
and loveliness, of fairest favour and formous form, and dight with,
symmetry and perfect grace. When she had reached the age of
nineteen , 1 the Sultan of Egypt heard of her and, sending for the
Wazir her father, said to him:—Hear me, O Wazir: it hath
reached mine ear that thou hast a daughter and I wish to demand
her of thee in marriage. The Wazir replied :—O our lord the
Sultan, deign accept my excuses and Take compassion on my
sorrows, for thou knowest that my brother, who was partner with
me in the Wazirate, disappeared from amongst us many years ago
and we wot not where he is. Now the cause of his departure was
that one night, as we were sitting together and talking of wives
and children to come, we had words on the matter and he went off
in high dudgeon. But I swore that I would marry my daughter
to none save to the son of my brother on the day her mother gave
her birth, which was nigh upon nineteen years ago. I have lately
heard that my brother died at Bassorah, where he had married the
daughter of the Wazir and that she bare him a son ; and I will not
marry my daughter but to him in honour of my brother’s memory
I recorded the date of my marriage and the conception of my wife
and the birth of my daughter ; and from her horoscope I find that

1 Which, by the by, is the age of an oldish old maid in Egypt. I much doubt
puberty being there earlier than in England where our grandmothers married at fourteen.
But Orientals are aware that the period of especial feminine devilry is between the first
menstruation and twenty when, according to some, every girl is a “ possible murderess.’*
So they wisely marry her and get rid of what is called the “lump of grief,” the
“domestic calamity”—a daughter. Amongst them we never hear of the abominable
egotism and cruelty of the English mother, who disappoints her daughter’s womanly
cravings in order to keep her at home for her own comfort; and an “ old maid” in the
house, especially a stout, plump old maid, is considered not “respectable.” The
indent virgin is known by being lean and scraggy; and perhaps this diagnosis is correct*'

Tale of Nur al-Din All and kis Son*

her name is conjoined with that of her cousin ; 1 and there are
damsels in foison for our lord the Sultan. The King, hearing hi*
Minister’s answer and refusal, waxed wroth with exceeding wrath
and cried:—When the like of me asketh a girl in marriage of the like
of thee, he conferreth an honour, and thou rejectest me and puttest
me off with cold 2 * excuses! Now, by the life of my head I will
marry her to the meanest of my men in spite of the nose of thee P
There was in the palace a horse-groom which was a Gobbo with a
bunch to his breast and a hunch to his back; and the Sultan sent
for him and married him to the daughter of the Wazif, lief or
loath, and hath ordered a pompous marriage procession for him
and that he go in to his bride this very night. I have now just
flown hither from Cairo, where I left the Hunchback at the door of
the Hammam-bath amidst the Sultan’s white slaves who were
waving lighted flambeaux about him. As for the Minister’s
daughter she sitteth among her nurses and tire-women, weeping
and wailing; for they have forbidden her father to come near her.
Never have I seen, O my sister, more hideous being than this
Hunchback 4 whilst the young lady is the likest of all folk to this
young man, albeit even fairer than he. M ——And Shahrazad per¬
ceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

fo&en (t teas t&t ^Tfoentg-Seconh Nt'sfjt,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Jinni narrated to the Jinniyah how the King had caused the wedding
contract to be drawn up between the hunchbacked groom and the
lovely young lady who was heart-broken for sorrow; and how she

1 This prognostication of destiny by the stars and a host of follies that end in -mancy is
nn intricate and extensive subject. Those who would study it are referred to chapt. xiv.
of the “Qanoon-e-Islam, or the Customs of the Mussulmans of India; etc., etc., by
Jaffur Shurreeff and translated by G. A. Herklots, M.D. of Madras.” This excellent
work first appeared in 1S32 (Allen and Co., London) and thus it showed the way to
Lane’s ‘‘Modern Egyptians” (1833-35). The name was unfortunate as “ Kuzzilbash ”
(which rhymed to guzzle and hash), and kept the book back till a second edition
appeared in 1863 (Madras: J. Higginbotham).

* Arab. “B£rid,” lit. cold : metaph. vain, foolish, insipid.

* Not to “spite thee” but “in spite of thee.” The phrase is still used by high
and low.

4 Arab. “Ahdab,”the common hunchback', in classical language the Gobbo in the
text would be termed “ Ak’as ” from “ Ka’as,” one with protruding back and breast j
sometimes us<ed for hollow back and protruding breast.

A If Laylah wa Laylak .

*14

was the fairest of created things and even more beautiful than this
youth, the Jinniyah cried at him “Thou liest! this youth is hand¬
somer than any one of his day.” The Ifrit gave her the lie again,
adding, “ By Allah, O my sister, the damsel I speak of is fairer than
this ; yet none but he deservelh her, for they resemble each other
like brother and sister or at least cousins. And, well-away ! how
she is wasted upon that Hunchback! ” Then said she, “O my
brother, let us get under him and lift him up and carry him to Cairo,
that we may compare him with the damsel of whom thou speakest
and so determine whether of the twain is the fairer.” “ To hear is
to obey 1” replied he, “thou speakest to the point; nor is there a
fighter recking than this of thine, and I myself will carry him.” So
he raised him from the ground and flew with him like a bird
soaring in upper air, the Ifritah keeping close by his side at equal
speed, tiU he alighted with him in the city of Cairo and set him down
on a stone bench and woke him up. He roused himself and find¬
ing that he was no longer at his father's tomb in Bassorah-city he
looked right and left and saw that he was in a strange place; and
he would have cried out; but the Ifrit gave him a cuff which per¬
suaded him to keep silence. Then he brought him rich raiment
and clothed him therein and, giving him a lighted flambeau, said,
* Know that I have brought thee hither, meaning to do thee a good
turn for the love of Allah : so take this torch and mingle with the
people at the Hammam-door and walk on with them without stop¬
ping till thou reach the house of the wedding-festival; then go
boldly forward and enter the great saloon ; and fear none, but take
thy stand at the right hand of the Hunchback bridegroom ; and,
as often as any of the nurses and tirewomen and singing-girls come
up to thee, 1 put thy hand into thy pocket which thou wilt find filled

1 This is the custom with such gentry, who, when they see a likely man sitting, are
allowed by custom to ride astraddle upon his knees with most suggestive movements, till
he buys them off. These Ghawdri are mostly Gypsies who pretend to be Moslems; and
they have been confused with the Almahs or Moslem dancing-girls proper (Awalim, plot,
of Alimah, a learned feminine) by a host of travellers. They call themselves Bardmikah
or Barmecides only to affect Persian origin. Under native rule they were perpetually
being banished from and returning to Cairo (Pilgrimage i., 202). Lane (M. E., chapts®
xviii. and xix.) discusses the subject, and would derive Al’mah, often so pronounced, from
Heb. Almah, girl, virgin, singing girl, hence he would translate Al-Alamoth shir (Psalm
xlvi.) and Nebalim el-alamoth (1 Chron., xv. 20) by a “ song for singing-girls ” and
“harps for singing-girls.” He quotes also St. Jerome as authority that Alma in Punic
(Phoenician) signified a virgin, not a common article, I may observe, amongst singing-
gills. I shall notice in a future page Burckhardt’s description of the Ghawazi, p. I 73 »
“Arabic Proverbsetc., etc. Second Edition. London: Qu&citck, iSyS-

Tale of Nur al-Din All and his Son* 215

with gold. Take it out and throw to them and spare not; for as
often as thou thrustest fingers in pouch thou shaft find it full of
coin. Give largesse by handsful and fear nothing, but set thy trust
upon Him who created thee, for this is not by thine own strength
but by that of Allah Almighty, that His decrees may take effect
upon his creatures.’' When Badr al-Din Hasan heard these words
from the Ifrit he said to himself, “Would Heaven I knew what all
this means and what is the cause of such kindness !” However, he
mingled with the people and, lighting his flambeau, moved on with
the bridal procession till he came to the bath where he found the
Hunchback already on horseback. Then he pushed his way in
among the crowd, a veritable beauty of a man in the finest apparel,
wearing tarbush 1 and turband and a long-sleeved robe purfled with
gold ; and, as often as the singing women stopped for the people to
give them largesse, he thrust his hand into his pocket and, finding it
full of gold, took out a handful and threw it on the tambourine 2 till he
had filled it with gold pieces for the music-girls and the tirewomen.
The singers were amazed by his bounty and the people marvelled at
his beauty and loveliness and the splendour of his dress. He ceased
not to do thus till he reached the mansion of the Wazir (who was
his uncle), where the Chamberlains drove back the peopb and for¬
bade them to go forward; but the singing-girls and the tirewomen
said, “ By Allah we will not enter unless this young man enter with
us, for he hath given us length o’ life with his largesse and we will
not display the bride unless he be present/’ Therewith they carried
him into the bridal hall and made him sit down defying the evil
glances of the hunchbacked bridegroom. The wives of the Emirs
and Wazirs and Chamberlains and Courtiers all stood in double
line, each holding a massy cierge ready lighted ; all wore thin face-
veils and the two rows right and left extended from the bride’s
throne 3 to the head of the hall adjoining the chamber whence she
was to come forth. When the ladies saw Badr al-Din Hasan and

1 I need hardly describe the Tarbush, a corruption of the Pers. ** Sar-push ” (head-
cover) also called “ Fez,” from its old home ; and “ Tarbrush ” by the travelling Briton.
In old days it was a calotte worn under the turban ; and it was protected from scalp-per*
epiration by an “ Arakiyah ” (Pers. Arak-chin), a white skull-cap. Now it is worn without
either and as a head-dress nothing can be worse (Pilgrimage ii. 275.)

2 Arab. Tar.”: the custom still prevails. Lane (M. E., chapt. xviii.) describes and
figures this hoop-drum.

3 The couch on which she sits while being displayed. It is her throne, for she is dw*
Queen of the occasion, with all the Majesty of Virginity.

216

A If Laylah wa Laylak,

noted his beauty and loveliness and his face that shone lilce the new
moon, their hearts inclined to him and the singing-girls said to all
that were present, “ Know that this beauty crossed our hands with
naught but red gold ; so be not chary to do him womanly service
and comply with all he says, no matter what he ask /* * 1 So all the
women crowded round Hasan with their torches and gazed on his
loveliness and envied him his beauty ; and one and all would gladly
have lain on his bosom an hour or rather a year. Their hearts were
so troubled that they let fall their veils from before their faces and
said, “ Happy she who belongeth to this youth or to whom he be-
longeth! and they called down curses on the crooked groom and
on him who was the cause of his marriage to the girl-beauty; and
as often as they blessed Badr al-Din Hasan they damned the
Hunchback, saying, “Verily this youth and none else deserveth our
Bride : all, well-away for such a lovely one with this hideous Quasi¬
modo ; Allah’s curse light on his head and on the Sultan who com¬
manded the marriage ! ” Then the singing-girls beat their tabrets
and luililoo’d with joy, announcing the appearing of the bride ;
and the Wazir’s daughter came in surrounded by her tirewomen
who had made her goodly to look upon ; for they had perfumed
her and incensed her and adorned her hair; and they had robed her
in raiment and ornaments befitting the mighty Chosroes Kings*
The most notable part of her dress was a loose robe worn over her
other garments : it was diapered in red gold with figures of wild
beasts, and birds whose eyes and beaks were of gems, and claws of
red rubies and green beryl; and her neck was graced with a neck¬
lace of Yamani work, worth thousands of gold pieces, whose bezels
were great round jewels of sorts, the like of which was never owned
by Kaysar or by Tobba King . 2 And the bride was as the full moon
when at fullest on fourteenth night; and as she paced into the haD

1 This is a solemn “ chaff; ” such liberties being permitted at weddings and festive
occasions.

* The pre-Islamitic dynasty of Al-Yaman in Arabia. Felix, a region formerly famed for
wealth and luxury. Hence the mention of Yamani work. The caravans from Sana’ 4 ,
the capital, used to carry patterns of vases to be made in China and bring back the porce¬
lains at the end of the third year : these are the Arabic inscriptions which have puzzled so
many collectors. The Tobba, or Successors, were the old Ilimyarite Kings, a dynastic
name like Pharaoh, Kisra (Persia), Negush (Abyssinia), Khakan or Khan (Tartary), etc.,
who claimed to have extended their conquests to Samarcand and made war on China.
Any history of Arabia (as Crichton I., chapt iv.) may be consulted for their names and
annals. I have been told by Arabs that “Tobba” (ox Tubba) is still used in the old
Himyar-land — the Great or the Chief.

Tale oj Nur at-Din All and kis Son. 2\J

she was like one of the Houris of Heaven—praise be to Him who
created her in such splendour of beauty ! The ladies encompassed
her as the white contains the black of the eye, they clustering like
stars whilst she shone amongst them like the moon when it eats up
the clouds. Now Badr al-Din Hasan of Bassorah was sitting in
full gaze of the folk, when the bride came forward with her graceful
Swaying and swimming gait, and her hunchbacked bridegroom stood
up to meet 1 and receive her: she, however, turned away from the
wight and walked forward till she stood before her cousin Hasan,
the son of her uncle. Whereat the people laughed. But when the
wedding-guests saw her thus attracted towards Badr Al-Din they
made a mighty clamour and the singing-women shouted their
loudest; whereupon he put his hand into his pocket and, pulling
out a handful of gold, cast it into their tambourines and the girls
rejoiced and said, “ Could we win our wish this bride were thine !”
At this he smiled and the folk came round him, flambeaux in hand
like the eyeball round the pupil, while the Gobbo bridegroom was
left sitting alone much like a tail-less baboon ; for every time they
lighted a candle for him it went out willy-nilly, so he was left in
darkness and silence and looking at naught but himself . 2 When
Badr al-Din Hasan saw the bridegroom sitting lonesome in the dark,
and all the wedding-guests with their flambeaux and wax candles
crowding about himself, he was bewildered and marvelled much ;
but when he looked at his cousin, the daughter of his uncle, he re¬
joiced and felt an inward delight: he longed to greet her and gazed
intently on her face which was radiant with light and brilliancy.
Then the tirewomen took off her veil and displayed her in the first
bridal dress which was of scarlet satin ; and Hasan had a view of
her which dazzled his sight and dazed his wits, as she moved to and
fro, swaying with graceful gait ; 3 and she turned the heads of all the
guests, women as well as men, for she was even as saith the sur¬
passing poet:—

A sun oh wand in knoll of sand she showed, Clad in her cramoisy-hued
chemisette:

Of her lips honey-dew she gave me drink, o And with her rosy cheeks
quencht fire she set

' Lane and Payne (as well as the Bres. Edit.) both render the word " to kiss her,” bat
this would be clean contrary to Moslem usage.

2 i.e. he was full of rage which he concealed.

3 The Hindus (as the Katha shows) compare this swimming gait with an elephant
roll.

Alf Laylak wa Laylah .

ai8

Then they changed that dress and displayed her in a robe of
azure ; and she reappeared like the full moon when it riseth over
the horizon, with her coal-black hair and cheeks delicately fair;
and teeth shown in sweet smiling and breasts firm rising and
crowning sides of the softest and waist of the roundest And
in this second suit she was as a certain master of high conceits
saith of the like of her:—

She came apparelled in an azure vest, o Ultramarine, as skies are deckt and
dight:

I view’d th> unparallefd sight, which showki my eyes o A moon of Summer on
a Winter-night.

Then they changed that suit for another and, veiling her face in
the luxuriance of her* hair, loosed her lovelocks, so dark, so long
that their darkness and length outvied the darkest nights, and she
shot through all hearts .with the magical shaft of her eye-babes.
They displayed her in the third dress and she was as said of her
the sayer:—

Veiling her cheeks with hair a-mom she comes, © And I her mischiefs with
the cloud compare:

Saying, “ Thou veilest morn with night! lf “ Ah no! ” o Quoth she, “ I shroud
full moon with darkling aid ”

Then they displayed her in the fourth bridal dress and she came
forward shining like the rising sun and swaying to and fro with
lovesome grace and supple ease like a gazelle-fawn. And she
clave all hearts with, the arrows of her eyelashes, even as saith
one who described a charmer like her:-—

The sun of beauty she to' sight' appears © And, lovely-eby, she mocks all
loveliness ;

And when he fronts her favour and her smile o A-morn, the Sun of day in
clouds must dress.

Then she came forth in the fifth dress, a ve'ry light of loveliness

r i

like a wand of waving willow or a gazelle of the thirsty wold.
Those locks which stung like scorpions along her cheeks were
bent, and her neck was bowed in blandishment, and her hips
quivered as she went. As saith one of the poets describing her
in verse:—

She comes like fullest moon on happy night; © Taper of waist, with shape
of magic might:

She hath an eye whose glances quell mankind, o And Ruby on her cheeks
reflects his light:

Tale of Nitr al-Din AH and his Son . 2 19

F.nvells her hips the blackness of her hair; © Beware of curls that bite with
viper-bite !

Her sides are silken-soft, the while the heart o Mere rock behind that surface
lurks from sight:

From the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots © Shafts which at farthest
range on mark alight:

When round her neck or waist I throw my arms o Her breasts repel me with
their hardened height.

Ah, how her beauty all excels ! ah how o That shape transcends the graceful
waving bough!

Then they adorned her with the sixth toilette, a dress which was
green. And now she shamed in her slender straightness the nut-
brown spear; her radiant face dimmed the brightest beams of full
moon and she outdid the bending branches in gentle movement
and flexile grace. Her loveliness exalted the beauties of earth’s
four quarters and she broke men’s hearts by the significance of her
semblance; for she was even as saith one of the poets in these
lines

A damsel ’twas the tireris art had decked with snares and sleight :* 0 And robed
in rays as though the sun from her had borrowed light:

She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green, o As veiled by its
leafy screen pomegranate hides from sight :

And when he said “How callest thou the manner of thy dress?” o She answered
us in pleasant way with double meaning dight;

“ We call this garment crtve-cceur; and rightly is it hight, 0 For many a heart
wi’ this we broke 1 2 and conquered many a sprite !

Then they displayed her in the seventh dress, coloured between
afflower 3 * 5 and saffron, even as one of the poets saith:—

in vest of saffron pale and safflower red © Musk’d, sandal’d, ambergris’d, she
came to front:

“Rise !” cried her youth, “go forth and show thyself!” o “Sit!” said her
hips, “we cannot bear the brunt!”

And when I craved a bout, her Beauty said o “Do, do!” and said her pretty
shame, * Don’t, don’t! ”

1 Arab. “Fitnab,” a word almost as troublesome as “Adah.” Primarily, revolt
•seduction, mischief: then a beautiful girl (or boy), and lastly a certain aphrodisiac

perfume extracted from mimosa-flowers (Pilgrimage i., 118).

8 Lit. burst the “gall-bladder: ” In this and in the “liver“-allusions I dare not

be baldly literal.

5 Arab. “Usfur“ the seeds of Carthamus tmetorius*»Safflower (Forskal, Flora,
etc. lv.). The seeds are crushed for oil and the flowers, which must be gathered by
virgins or the colour will fail, art extensively used for dyeing in Southern Arabia and
Eastern Africa.

220

A If Laylak wa LaylaJL

Thus they displayed the bride in all her seven toilettes before
Hasan al-Basri, wholly neglecting the Gobbo who sat moping
alone; and, when she opened her eyes 1 she said,“0 Allah make
this man my good man and deliver me from the evil of this hunch¬
backed groom.” As soon as they had made an end of this part of
the ceremony they dismissed the wedding guests who went forth,
women children and all, and none remained save Hasan and the
Hunchback, whilst the tire-women led the bride into an inner room
to change her garb and gear and get her ready for the bridegroom.
Thereupon Quasimodo came up to Badr al-Din Hasan and said, “O
my lord, thou hast cheered us this night with thy good company and
overwhelmed us with thy kindness and courtesy; but now why not
get thee up and go ?” “Bismillah;” he answered, “In Allah’s name
so be it!”; and rising, he went forth by the door, where the Ifrit met
him and said, “ Stay in thy stead, O Badr al-Din, and when the
Hunchback goes out to the closet of ease go in without losing time
and seat thyself in the alcove; and when the bride comes say to
her:—’Tis I am thy husband, for the King devised this trick only
fearing for thee the evil eye, and he whom thou sawest is but a
Syce, a groom, one of our stablemen. Then walk boldly up to
her and unveil her face ; for jealousy hath taken us of this matter.”
While Hasan was still talking with the Ifrit behold, the groom fared
forth from the hall and entering the closet of ease sat down on
the stool. Hardly had he done this when the Ifrit came out of
the tank, 5 wherein the water was, in semblance of a mouse and
squeaked out “ Zeek! ” Quoth the Hunchback, “ What ails
thee ? ”; and the mouse grew and grew till it became a coal-
black cat and caterwauled “Meeaol Meeao* *”! Then it grew
still more and more till it became a dog and barked out w Owh!
Owh!” When the bridegroom saw this he was frightened and

1 On such occasions Miss Modesty shuts her eyes and looks as if about to faint.

* After either evacuation the Moslem is bound to wash or sand the part; first however
he should apply three pebbles, or potsherds or clods of earth. Hence the allusion in
the Koran (chapt. ix.), “men who love to be purified.” When the Prophet was ques¬
tioning the men of Kuba, where he founded a mosque (Pilgrimage ii., 215), he asked
them about their legal ablutions, especially after evacuation ; and they told him that they
used three stones before washing. Moslems and Hindus (who prefer water mixed with
earth) abhor the unclean and unhealthy use of paper without ablution; and the people of
India call Europeans draught-houses, by way of opprobrium, “ Kighax-khinah M = paper
closets. Most old Anglo-Indians, however, learn to use water.

* “ Miao ” or “ Mau ’’ is the generic name of the cat in the Egyptian of the hiero¬
glyphs.

Tale of Niir al-Dtn All and his Sort.

221

exclaimed “ Out with thee, O unlucky one ! ” 1 But the dog grew
and swelled till it became an ass-colt that brayed and snorted in
his face“Haukt 2 Hauk!” Whereupon the Hunchback quaked
and cried, * *• Come to my aid, O people of the house ! ” But
behold, the ass-colt grew and became big as a buffalo and walled
the way before him and spake with the voice of the sons of Adam,
saying, “ Woe to thee, O thou Bunch-back, thou stinkard, O thou
filthiest of grooms! ” Hearing this the groom was seized with
a colic and he sat down on the jakes in his clothes with teeth
chattering and knocking together. Quoth the Ifrit, “ Is the world
so strait to thee thou findest none to marry save my lady-love ? ”
But as he was silent the Ifrit continued, “Answer me or I will do
thee dwell in the dust!” “By Allah,” replied the Gobbo, “O
King of the Buffaloes, this is no fault of mine, for they forced me
to wed her; and verily I wot not that she had a lover amongst the
buffalos ; but now I repent, first before Allah and then before
thee.” Said the Ifrit to him, “I swear to thee that If thou fare
forth from this place, or thou utter a word before sunrise, I
assuredly will wring thy neck. When the sun rises wend thy
went and never more return to this house.” So saying, the Ifrit
took up the Gobbo bridegroom and set him head downwards and
feet upwards in the slit of the privy, 3 and said to him, u I will
leave thee here but I shall be on the look-out for thee till sunrise ;
and, if thou stir before then, I will seize thee by the feet and dash
out thy brains against the wall: so look out for thy life!" Thus
far concerning the Hunchback, but as regards Badr al-Din Hasan
of Bassorah he left the Gcbbo and the Ifrit jangling and wrangling
and, going into the house, sat him down in the very middle of the
alcove; and behold, in came the bride attended by an old woman
who stood at the door and said, “ O Father of Uprightness, 4

1 Arab. "Ya Mash’um” addressed to an evil spirit.

* ** Heehaw ! ” as we should say. The Bresl. Edit, makes the cat cry 4t Nauh !
Nauh ! ,f and the ass-colt “ Manu ! Manu !” I leave these onomatopceics as they are
in Arabic ; they are curious, showing the unity in variety of hearing inarticulate sounds.
The bird which is called “ Whip poor Will* in the U.S., is known to the Brazilians as

**Joam corta pdo” (John cut wood); so differently do they hear the same notes.

* It is usually a slab of marble with a long slit in front and a round hole behind. The
text speaks of a Kursi (= stool) ; but this is now unknown to native houses which have
not adopted European fashions.

4 This again is chaff as she addresses the Hunchback. The Bui Edit, has u O Abu
Shihib” (Father of the shooting-star = evil spirit); the Bresl. Edit. '* O ion of a heap 1
O son of a Something! ” (al-Afsh, a vulgarism).

222

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

arise and take what God giveth thee.” Then the old woman went
away and the bride, Sitt al-Husn or the Lady of Beauty hight,
entered the inner part of the alcove broken-hearted and saying in
herself, “ By Allah I will never yield my person to him ; no, not
even were he to take my life! ” But as she came to the further
end she saw Badr al-Din Hasan and she said, “ Dearling! art thou
still sitting here ? By Allah I was wishing that thou wert my
bridegroom or, at least, that thou and the hunchbacked horse-
groom were partners in me.” He replied, “O beautiful lady, how
should the Syce have access to thee, and how should he share in
thee with me ? ” “ Then,” quoth she, “ who is my husband, thou

or he?” “ Sitt al-Husn,” rejoined Hasan, “we have not done
this for mere fun, 1 but only as a device to ward off the evil eye
from thee; for when the tirewomen and singers and wedding
guests saw thy beauty being displayed to me, they feared fascina*
tion and thy father hired the horse-groom for ten dinars and a
porringer of meat to take the evil eye off us ; and now he hath
received his hire and gone his gait.” When the Lady of Beauty
heard these words she smiled and rejoiced and laughed a pleasant
laugh. Then she whispered him, “ By the Lord thou hast
quenched a fire which tortured me and now, by Allah, O my little
dark-haired darling, take me to thee and press me to thy bosom! ”
Then she began singing:—

By Allah, set thy foot upon my soul; o Since long, long years for this alone
I long :

And whisper tale of love in ear of me ; c To me ’tis sweeter than the sweetest
song!

No other youth upon my heart shall lie ; o So do it often, dear, and do it long.

Then she stripped off her outer gear and she threw open her
chemise from the neck downwards and showed her parts genital
and all the rondure of her hips. When Badr al-Din saw the
glorious sight his desires were roused, and he arose and doffed his
clothes, and wrapping up in his bag-trousers 2 3 the purse of gold

1 As the reader will see, Arab ideas of “ fun ” and practical jokes are of the largest,
putting the Hibernian to utter rout, and comparing favourably with those recorded in

Don Quixote.

3 Arab. “ Sarawil ” a corruption of the Pers. “Sharwal”; popularly called “libds”
which, however, may also mean clothing in general and especially outer-clothing. I
translate “ bag-trousersand “petticoat-trousers,” the latter being the. divided skirt of
our future. In the East, where Common Sense, not Fashion, rules dress, men, who have

Tale of Nur al-Dln All and his Son.

223

which he had taken from the Jew and which contained the thou¬
sand dinars, he laid it under the edge of the bedding. Then he
took oft* his turband and set it upon the settle * 1 atop of his other
clothes, remaining in his skull-cap and fine shirt of blue silk laced
with gold. Whereupon the Lady of Beauty drew him to her and
he did likewise. Then he took her to his embrace and set her
legs round his waist and point-blanked that cannon 2 placed where
it battereth down the bulwark of maidenhead and layeth it waste.
And he found her a pearl unpierced and unthridden and a filly
by all men save himself unridden; and he abated her virginity and
had joyance of her youth in his virility and presently he with¬
drew sword from sheath ; and then returned to the fray right
eath ; and when the battle and the siege had finished, some fifteen
assaults he had furnished and she conceived by him that very
night. Then he laid his hand under her head and she did the
same and they embraced and fell asleep in each other’s arms, as a
certain poet said of such lovers in these couplets :—

Visit thy lover, spurn what envy told ; © No envious churl shall smile on love
ensoul’d

Merciful Allah made no fairer sight o Than coupled lovers single couch doth
hold ;

Breast pressing breast and robed in joys their own, o With pillowed forearms
cast in finest mould :

And when heart speaks to heart with tongue of love, 0. Folk who would part
them hammer steel ice-cold :

If a fair friend 3 thou find who cleaves to thee, 0 Live for that friend, that
friend in heart enfold.

O ye who blame for love us lover kind 0 Say, can ye minister to diseased
mind ?

This much concerning Badr al-Din Hasan and Sitt al-Husn his

a protuberance to be concealed, wear petticoats and women wear trousers. The feminine
article is mostly baggy but sometimes, as in India, collant- tight. A quasi-sacred part cf
it is the inkle, tape or string, often a most magnificent affair, with tassels of pearl and
precious stones; and “laxity in the trouser-string” is equivalent to the loosest conduct.
Upon the subject of “libas,” “ sarwdl ” and its variants the curious reader will consult
Dr. Dozy’s “ Dictionnaire Detaille des Noms des Vetements chez les Arabes,” a most
valuable work.

1 The turban out of respect is not put upon the ground (Lane, M. E., chapt. i.).

2 Arab. “ Madfa'” showing the modern date or the modernization of the tale. In
Lebid “ Madafi’ ” (plur. of Madfa’) means water-courses or leats.

s In Arab, the “he” is a “she;” and Habib (“friend”) is the Attic <KXo$ t a
euphemism for lover. This will occur throughout The Nights. So the Arabs use s
phrase corresponding with the Stoic i.e. is wont, is fain.

224

Alf Laylah wa Laylak .

cousin ; but as regards the Ifrit, as soon as he saw the twain asleep,
he said to the Ifritah, “Arise; slip thee under the youth and let
us carry him back to his place ere dawn overtake us ; for the day
is nearhand.” Thereupon she came forward and, getting under
him as he lay asleep, took him up clad only in his fine blue shirt,
leaving the rest of his garments ; and ceased not flying (and the
Ifrit vying with her in flight) till the dawn advised them that it
had come upon them mid-way, and the Muezzin began his call
from the Minaret, “ Haste ye to salvation! 1 Haste ye to salvation! ”
Then Allah suffered His angelic host to shoot down the Ifrit
with a shooting star, 2 so he was consumed, but the Ifritah escaped
and she descended with Badr al-Din at the place where the Ifrit
was burnt, and did not carry him back to Bassorah, fearing lest he
come to harm. Now by the order of Him who predestmeth all
things, they alighted at Damascus of Syria, and the Ifritah set down
her burden at one of the city-gates and flew away. When day
arose and the doors were opened, the folk who came forth saw a
handsome youth, with no other raiment but his blue shirt of gold-
embroidered silk and skull-cap, 3 lying upon the ground drowned
in sleep after the hard labour of the night which had not suffered
him to take his rest. So the folk looking at him said, “ O her luck
with whom this one spent the night! but would he had waited to
don his garments.” Quoth another, “ A sorry lot are the sons of
great families! Haply he but now came forth of the tavern on
some occasion of his own and his wine flew to his head, 4 whereby
he hath missed the place he was making for and strayed till he
came to the gate of the city; and finding it shut lay him down and
went to by-by 1 ” As the people were bandying guesses about him
suddenly the morning breeze blew upon Badr al-Din and raising
his shirt to his middle showed a stomach and navel with something
below it, 5 and legs and thighs clear as crystal and smooth as cream.
Cried the people, “ By Allah he is a pretty fellow! ”; and at the

* Part of the Az£n, or call to prayer.

* Arab. “Shihab,” these meteors being the flying shafts shot at evil spirits who
approach too near Heaven. The idea doubtless arose from the showers of August and

November meteors (The Perseides and Taurides) which suggest a battle raging in upper
air. Christendom also has its superstitton concerning them and called those of August

the “ fiery tears of Saint Lawrence,” whose festival was on August to.

5 Arab. *‘Tdkiyah ” Pers. Arak-chin ; the calotte worn under the Fez It is, I
have said, now obsolete and the red woollen cap (mostly made in Europe) is worn 6vef
the hair ; an unclean practice.

4 Often the effect of cold air after a heated room.

* i.t. He was not a Eunuch, as the people guessed.

Tale of Nur al-Dln All and his Son.

cry Badral-Din awoke and found himself lying at a city-gate with
a crowd gathered around him. At this he greatly marvelled and
asked, “ Where am I, O good folk ; and what causeth you thus to
gather round me, and what have I had to do with you?”; and they
answered, “ We found thee lying here asleep during the call to dawn-
prayer and this is all we know of the matter, but where diddest
thou lie last night ? ” l “By Allah, O good people,” replied he, “ I
lay last night in Cairo.” Said somebody, “ Thou hast surely been
eating Hashish ; ” 2 and another, “ He is a fool ; ” and a third, “ He
is a citrouille ;” and a fourth asked him, “Art thou out of thy
mind ? thou sleepest in Cairo and thou wakest in the morning at
the gate of Damascus-city!” 3 Cried he, “By Allah, my good
people, one and all, I lie not to you: indeed I lay yesternight in,
the land of Egypt and yesternoon I was at Bassorah.” Quoth,
one, “ Well! well! ”; and quoth another, “ Ho ! ho ! and a third,
“So! so!;”; and a fourth cried, “This youth is mad, is possessed
of the Jinni !” So they clapped hands at him and said to one,
another, “ Alas, the pity of it for his youth: by Allah a madman I
and madness is no respecter of persons.” Then said they to him,
<( Collect thy wits and return to thy reason ! How couldest thou
be in Bassorah yesterday and in Cairo yesternight and withal
awake in Damascus this morning ? ” But he persisted, “ Indeed I
was a bridegroom in Cairo last night.” “ Belike thou hast been
dreaming,” rejoined they, “and sawest all this in thy sleep.” So
Hasan took thought for a while and said to them, “ By Allah, this
is no dream; nor vision-like doth it seem ! I certainly was in
Cairo where they displayed the bride before me, in presence of a
third person, the Hunchback groom who was sitting hard by. By
Allah, O my brother, this be no dream, and if it were a dream,
where is the bag of gold I bore with me and where are my turband
and my robe, and my trousers ? ” Then he rose and entered the
city, threading its highways and by-ways and bazar-streets ; and
the people pressed upon him and jeered at him, crying out “ Mad^
man ! madman ! ” till he, beside himself with rage, took refuge in

1 In Arab, “this night'” for the reason before given.

2 Meaning especially the drink prepared of the young leaves and florets of Cannabis
Sativa. The word literally means “dry grass” or “herbage.” This intoxicant was
much used by magicians to produce ecstacy and thus to “deify themselves and receive
the homage of the genii and spirits of nature.”

3 Torrens, being an Irishman, translates “and woke in the morning sleeping at
Damascus,”

VOX. r

226

A If Laylah wa Laylah •

a cook’s shop. Now that Cook had been a trifle too clever, that
is, a rogue and thief; but Allah had made him repent and turn
from his evil ways and open a cook-shop ; and all the people of
Damascus stood in fear of his boldness and his mischief. So when
the crowd saw the youth ente/ his shop, they dispersed being afraid
of him, and went their ways. The Cook looked at Badr al-Din and,
noting his beauty and loveliness, fell in love with him forthright and
said, “ Whence comest thou, O youth ? Tell me at once thy tale, for
thou art become dearer to me than my soul.” So Hasan recounted
to him all that had befallen him from beginning to end (but in repe¬
tition there is no fruition) and the Cook said, “ O my lord Badr al-
Din, doubtless thou knowest that this case is wondrous and this story
marvellous ; therefore, O my son, hide what hath betided thee, till
Allah dispel what ills be thine ; and tarry with me here the mean¬
while, for I have no child and I will adopt thee.” Badr al-Din
replied, “ Be it as thou wilt, O my uncle! ” Whereupon the Cook
went to the bazar and bought him a fine suit of clothes and made
him don it; then fared with him to the Kazi, and formally declared
that he was his son. So' Badr al-Din Hasan became known in
Damascus-city as the Cook’s son and he sat with him in the shop
to take the silver, and on this wise he sojourned there for a time.
Thus far concerning him; but as regards his cousin, the Lady of
Beauty, when morning dawned she awoke and missed Badr al-Din
Hasan from her side ; but she thought that he had gone to the
privy and she sat expecting him for an hour or so; when behold,
entered her father Shams al-Din Mohammed, Wazir of Egypt. Now
he was disconsolate by reason of what had befallen him through
the Sultan, who had entreated him harshly and had married his
daughter by force to the lowest of his menials and he too a lump
of a groom bunch-backed withal, and he said to himself, " I will
slay this daughter of mine if of her own free will she have yielded
her person to this accursed carle.” So he came to the door of the
bride’s private chamber, and said, " Ho! Sitt al-Husn.” She
answered him, “ Here am I! here am I ! 1 O my lord,” and came

1 Arab. “ Labbayka,” the cry technically called “Talbiyah” and used by those
entering Meccah (Pilgrimage iii. 125—232). I shall also translate it by “Adsum.”
The full cry is

Here am I, O Allah, here am I!

No partner hast Thou, here am I:

Verily the praise and the grace and the kingdom are thine:

No partner hast Thou : here am I!

A single Talbiyah is a “ Shart ” or positive condition: and its repetition is a .Sannaf OTj
Custom of the Prophet. See Night xci«.

Tale of Nur al-Din Alt and his Son . 227

out unsteady of gait after the pains and pleasures of the night; and
she kissed his hand, her face showing redoubled brightness and
beauty for having lain in the arms of that gazelle, her cousin.
When her father, the Wazir, saw her in such case, he asked her,
“ O thou accursed, art thou rejoicing because of this horse-groom ?”,
and Sitt al-Husn smiled sweetly and answered, 0 By Allah, don’t
ridicule me : enough of what passed yesterday when folk laughed
at me, and evened me with that groom-fellow who is not worthy
to bring my husband’s shoes or slippers; nay who is not worth the
paring of my husband’s nails! By the Lord,'never in my life
have I nighted a night so sweet as yesternight! > so don’t mock by
reminding me of the Gobbo.” When her parent heard her words
he was filled with fury, and his eyes glared and stared, so that little
of them showed save the whites and he cried, “Fie upon thee!
What words are these ? Twas the hunchbacked horse-groom who
passed the night with thee!” “Allah upon thee,” replied the
Lady of Beauty, <( do not worry me about the Gobbo, Allah damn
his father; 1 and leave jesting with me; for this groom was only
hired for ten dinars and a porringer of meat and he took his wage
and went his way. As for me I entered the bridal-chamber, where
1 found fny true bridegroom sitting, after the singer-women had
displayed me to him ; the same who had crossed their hands with
red gold, till every pauper that was present waxed wealthy ; and I
passed the night on the breast of my bonny man, a most lively
darling, with his black eyes and joined eyebrows.” 2 When her
parent heard these words the light before his face became night,
and he cried out at her saying, “ O thou whore! What is this
thou tellest me ? Where be thy wits ? ” " O my father,” she
rejoined, “ thou breakest my heart; enough for thee that thou hast
been so hard upon me! Indeed my husband who took my vir¬
ginity is but just now gone to the draught house and I feel that I
have conceived by him.” 3 * * * * 8 The Wazir rose in much marvel and

1 The staple abuse of the vulgar is cursing parents and relatives, especially feminine,

with specific allusions to their 44 shame.** And when dames of high degree are angTy,

Nature, in the East as in the West, sometimes speaks out clearly enough, despite Mistress

Chapone and all artificial restrictions.

8 A great beauty in Arabia and the reverse in Denmark, Germany and Slav-land,

where it is a sign of being a were-wolf or a vampire. In Greece also it denotes a

“Brukolak** or vampire.

8 This is not physiologically true : a bride rarely conceives the first night, and certainly
would not know that she had conceived. Moreover the number of courses furnished by
the bridegroom would be against conception. It is popularly said that a young coupU
often undoes in the morning what it has done during the night

2 28

Alf Laylah wa Lay la k .

entered the privy where he found the hunchbacked horse-groom
with his head in the hole and hi^ heels in the air. At this sight he
was confounded and said, ° This is none other than he, the rascal
Hunchback!” So he called to him, 44 Ho, Hunchback!” The
Gobbo grunted out, 44 Taghum ! Taghum /” l thinking it was the
I frit spoke to him ; so the Wazir shouted at him and said, “ Speak
out, or I’ll strike off thy pate with this sword.” Then quoth the
Hunchback, “ By Ailah, O Shaykh of the Ifrits, ever since thoa
settest me in this place, I have not lifted my head ; so Allah upon
thee, take pity and entreat me kindly ! ” When the Wazir heard
this he asked, ls What is this thou sayest ? I’m the bride's father
and no Ifrit.” “Enough for thee that thou hast well nigh done me
die,” answered Quasimodo ; “ now go thy ways before he come
upon thee who hath served me thus. Could ye not marry me to
any save the lady-love of buffaloes and the beloved of Ifrits?
Allah curse her and curse him who married me to her and was the

cause of this my case.”-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of

day, and ceased to say her permitted say.

jEofo tojen (t foas tje iSfg&t,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the hunch¬
backed groom spake to the bride’s father saying, 44 Allah curse him
who was the cause of this my easel” Then said the Wazir to
him, 44 Up and out of this place ! ” 44 Am I mad,” cried the groom,
44 that I should go with thee without leave of the Ifrit whose last
words to me were:—When the sun rises, arise and go thy gait.
So hath the sun risen or no ?; for I dare not budge from this place
till then.” Asked the Wazir, 4f Who brought thee hither? ”; and
he answered 44 1 came here yesternight for a call of nature and to
do what none can do for me, when lo! a mouse came out of the

1 Torrens (Notes, xxiv.) quotes Fleisher ” upon the word Jt Ghamghama” (Diss. Crit.
de Glossis Habichtionis), which ho compares with “Dumduma” and "Humbuma”
determining them to be onomatopoeics, “ an incomplete and an obscure murmur of a
sentence as it were lingering between the teeth and lips and therefore difficult to be
understood.” Of this family is “Taghum”; not used in modern days. In my
Pilgrimage (i. 313) I have noticed another, “ Khyas’, Khyas !” occurring in a Hirb
al-Babr (Spell of the Sea). Herklots gives a host of them ; and their sole characteristics
are harshness and strangeness of sound, uniting consonants which are not joined in Arabic.
The old Egyptians and Chaldeans had many such words composed at will for theurgit
operations.

Tale of Nur al-Din All and his Sen .

229

water, and squeaked at me and swelled and waxed gross till it was
big as a buffalo, and spoke to me words that entered my ears.
Then he left me here and went away, Allah curse the bride and
him who married me to her!” The Wazir walked up to him and
lifted his head out of the cesspool hole ; and he fared forth run¬
ning for dear life and hardly crediting that the sun had risen ; and
repaired to the Sultan to whom he told all that had befallen him
with the Ifrit. But the Wazir returned to the bride’s private
chamber, sore troubled in spirit about her, and said to her, “0 my
daughter, explain this strange matter to me ! ” Quoth she, “ ’Tis
simply this. The bridegroom to whom they displayed me yester-
eve lay with me all night, and took my virginity and I am with
child by him. He is my husband and if thou believe me not, there
are his turband, twisted as it was, lying on the settle and his dagger
and his trousers beneath the bed with a something, I wot not
what, wrapped up in them/* When her father heard this he
entered the private chamber and found the turband which had been
left there by Badr al Din Hasan, his brother’s son, and he took it
in hand and turned it over, saying, “ This is the turband worn by
Wazirs, save that it is of Mosul stuff.” 1 So he opened it and, find¬
ing what seemed to be an amulet sewn up in the Fez, he unsewed
the lining and took it out; then he lifted up the trousers wherein
was the purse of the thousand gold pieces and, opening that also,
found in it a written paper. This he read and it was the sale-
receipt of the jew in the name of Badr al-Din Hasan, son of
Nur al-Din Ali, the Egyptian ; and the thousand dinars were also
there. No sooner had Shams al-Din read this than he cried out
with a loud cry and fell to the ground fainting ; and as soon as he
revived and understood the gist of the matter he marvelled and
said, “ There is no god, but the God, whose All-might is over all
things! Knowest thou, O my daughter, who it was that became
the husband of thy virginity?” “No,” answered she, and he said k
“ Verily he is the son of my brother, thy cousin, and this thousand
dinars is thy dowry. Praise be to Allah! and would I wot how
this matter came about! ” Then opened he the amulet which was
sewn up and found therein a paper in the handwriting of his
deceased brother, Nur al-Din the Egyptian, father of Badr al-Din
Hasan ; and, when he saw the hand-writing, he kissed it again and

1 This may mean either “ it b of Mosul fashion ” or, it is cf muslin.

230 Alf Laylak wa Laylah .

again ; and he wept and wailed over his dead brother and impro¬
vised these lines:—

I see their traces and with pain I melt, o And on their whilome homes I
weep and yearn:

And Him I pray who dealt this parting-blow © Some day he deign vouchsafe a
safe return . 1

When he ceased versifying, he read the scroll and found in it
recorded the dates of his brother’s marriage with the daughter of
the Wazir of Bassorah, and of his going in to her, and her concep¬
tion, and the birth of Badr al-Din Hasan and all his brother’s his¬
tory and doings up to his dying day. So he marvelled much and
shook with joy and, comparing the dates with his own marriage
and going in unto his wife and the birth of his daughter, Sitt al-
Husn, he found that they perfectly agreed. So he took the docu¬
ment and, repairing with it to the Sultan, acquainted him with
what had passed, from first to last; whereat the King marvelled
and commanded the case to be at once recorded. 2 The Wazir
abode that day expecting to see his brother’s son but he came
not; and he waited a second day, a third day and so on to the
seventh day, without any tidings of him. So he said, “ By Allah, I
will do a deed such as none hath ever done before me! and he
took reed-pen and ink and drew upon a sheet of paper the plan of
the whole house, showing whereabouts was the private chamber
with the curtain in such a place and the furniture in such another
and so on with all that was in the room. Then he folded up the
sketch and, causing all the furniture to be collected, he took Badr
al-Din’s garments and the turband and Fez and robe and purse,
and carried the whole to his house and locked them up, against the
coming of his nephew, Badr al-Din Hasan, the son of his lost
brother, with an iron padlock on which he set his seal. As for the
Wazir’s daughter, when her tale of months was fulfilled, she bare a
son like the full moon, the image of his father in beauty arid loveli-

1 To the English reader these lines would appear the reverse of apposite ; but Orientals
have their own ways of application, and all allusions to Badawi partings are effective and
affecting. The civilised poets of Arab cities throw the charm of the Desert over their
verse by images borrowed from its scenery, the dromedary, the mirage and the well, as
naturally as certain of our bards who hated the country, babbled of purling rills, etc.
Thoroughly to feel Arabic poetry one must know the Desert (Pilgrimage iii., 63).

2 In those days the Arabs and the Portuguese recorded everything which struck them,
as the Chinese and Japanese do i" our times. And yet we complain of the amount of
our modern writing!

Tale of Nur al-Dln All and his Son .

ness and fair proportions and pertcct grace. They cut his navc^
string 1 and Kohl’d his eyelids to strengthen his eyes, and gave
him over to the nurses and nursery governesses, 2 naming him Ajib,
the Wonderful. His day was as a month and his month was as a
year; 3 and, when seven years had passed over him, his grandfather
sent him to school, enjoining the master to teach him Koran-
reading, and to 1 educate him well. He remained at the school four
years, till he began to bully his schoolfellows and abuse them and
bash them and thrash them and say, “ Who among you is like me?
I am the son of the Wazir of Egypt 1 ” .At last the boys came in
a body to complain to the Monitor 4 of what hard usage they were
wont to have from Ajib, and he said to them, “ I will tell you
somewhat you may do to him so that he shall leave off coming
to the school, and it is this. When he enters to-morrow, sit ye
down about him and say some one of you to some other :—By
Allah none shall play with us at this game except he tell us the
names of his mamma and his papa; for he who knows not the
names of his mother and his father is a bastard, a son. of adultery, 5
and he shall not play with us.” When morning dawned the boys
came to school, Ajib being one of them, and all flocked round him
saying, “We will play a game wherein none shall join save he can
tell the name of his mamma and his papa.” And they all cried,
“ By Allah, good ! ” Then quoth one of them, “ My name is Majid
and my mammy’s name is Alawiyah and my daddy’s Izz al-Din. w
Anotlier spoke in like guise and yet a third, till Ajib’s turn came,
and he said, “My name is Ajib, and my mother’s is Sitt al-Husn,
and my father’s Shams al-Din, the Wazir of Cairo.” “By Allah/*
cried they, “ the Wazir is not thy true father.” Ajib answered,
u The Wazir is my father in very deed.” Then the boys all laughed
and clapped their hands at him, saying “ He does not know who is
his papa: get out from among us, for none shall play with us except
he know his father’s name.” Thereupon they dispersed from around
him and laughed him to scorn; so his breast was straitened and he

1 This is mentioned because it is the act preliminary to naming the babe.

2 Arab. “ Kahramanat ” from Kahraman, an old Persian hero who conversed with the
Simurgh-Griffon. Usually the word is applied to women-at-arms who defend the Harem,
like the Urdu-begani of India, whose services were lately offered to England (1885), or
the “ Amazons ” of Dahome.

3 Meaning he grew as fast in one day as other children in a month.

4 Arab. Al-Arif ; the tutor, the assistant-master.

6 Arab. “ Ibn haram,” a common term of abuse ; and not a factual reflection on th«
parent. I have heard a mother apply the term to her own son.

A If Laylak wa Laytah .

well nigh choked with tears and hurt feelings. Then said the
Monitor to him, “ We know that the Wazir is thy grandfather, tne
father of thy mother, Sitt al-Husn, and not thy father. As for thy
father, neither dost thou know him nor yet do we; for the Sultan
married thy mother to the hunchbacked horse-groom; but the Jinni
tame and slept with her and thou hast no known father. Leave,
then, comparing thyself too advantageously with the little ones of
the school, till thou know that thou hast a lawful father ; for until
then thou wilt pass for a child of adultery amongst them. Secst
thou not that even a hucksters son knoweth his own sire ? Thy
grandfather is the Wazir of Egypt; but as for thy father we wot
bim not and we say indeed that thou hast none. So return to thy
sound senses !” When, Ajib heard these insulting words from the
Monitor and the school boys and understood the reproach they
put upon him, he went out at once and ran to his mother, Sitt al-
Husn, to complain; but he was crying so bitterly that his tears
prevented his speech fpr a while. When she heard his sobs and
saw his tears her heart burned as though with fire for him, and she
said, “ 0 my son, why dost thou weep ? Allah keep the tears from
thine eyes! Tell me what hath betided thee ? ” So he told her all
that he heard from the boys and from the Monitor and ended with
asking, “ And who, O my mother, is rny father ? ” She answered,
“Thy father is the Wazir of Egypt but he said, “ Do not lie to
me. The Wazir is thy father, not mine! who then is my father ?
Except thou tell me the very truth I will kill myself with this
hunger.” 1 * * 4 When his mother heard him speak of his father she
wept, remembering her cousin and her bridal night with him
and all that occurred there and then, and she repeated these
couplets

Love in my heartthey lit and went their ways, 0 And all 1 love to furthest lands

withdrew ;

And when they left me sufferance also left, © And when we parted Patience

bade adieu :

They fled and flying with my joys they fled, © In very constancy rny spirit flew:
They made my eyelids flow with severance tears o And to the parting-pang
these drops are due :

And when I long to see reunion-day,© My groans prolonging sore for ruth.
I sue :

1 Arab. “ Khaidar ” from the Persian, a syn. with the Arab. “ Jambiyah,” It is

noticed in my Pilgrimage iii., pp. 72, 75. To •* silver the dagger,'* means to become a

rich man. From Khanjar,” not from its fringed loop or strap, I derive our silly word

4 hangar.” Dr. Stcingass would connect it with Gcrra. Finger, Hirschfangc*.

Tate of Nur al-Din All and his Son .

233

TFten in my heart of hearts their shapes I trace, © And love and longing care

and carle renew :

O ye, whose names cling round me like a cloak, © Whose love yet closer than a
shirt I drew,

BelovM ones! how long this hard despite ? o How long this severance and
this coy shy flight?

Then she wailed and shrieked aloud and her son did the like ; and
behold, in came the Wazir whose heart burnt within him at the
sight of their lamentations and he said, “What makes you weep ?”
So the Lady of Beauty acquainted him with what happened
between her son and the school boys; and he also wept, calling
to mind his brother and what had past between them and what
had betided his daughter and how he had failed to find out what
mystery there was in the matter. Then he rose at once and,
repairing to the audience-hall, went straight to the King and told
his tale and craved his permission 1 to travel eastward to the city*
of Bassorah and ask after his brother’s son. Furthermore he be¬
sought the Sultan to write for him letters patent, authorising him
to seize upon B^dr al-Din, his nephew and son-in-law, wheresoever
he might find him. And he wept before the King, who had pity on
him and wrote royal autographs to his deputies in all climes 2 and
countries and cities ; whereat the Wazir rejoiced and prayed for
blessings on him. Then, taking leave of his Sovereign, he returned
to his house, where he equipped himself and his daughter and his
adopted child Ajib, with all things meet for a long march ; and set
out and travelled the first day and the second and the third and so
forth till he arrived at Damascus-city. He found it a fair place
abounding in trees and streams, even as the poet said, of it:—

When I nighted and dayed in Damascus-town, o Time sware such

another he ne’er should view :

And careless we slept under wing of night-, 0 Till dappled Mom

’gan her smiles renew :

And dew-drops on branch in their beauty hung, ©Like pearls to be

dropt when the Zephyr blew :

And the.Lake 3 was the page where birds read and note, © And the clouds set
points to what breezes wrote.

1 Again we have “ Dastur” for “ Izn.*’

3 Arab. “ Iklim ” ; the seven climates of Ptolemy.

3 Arab. “ Al-Chadlr,” lit. a place where water sinks, a lowland : here the drainage-
lakes east of Damascus into which the Baradah (Abana ?) discharges. The higher eastern
plain is “Al*Ghutah” before*noticed.

234

Alf Lay lab wa Laylah.

The Wazir encamped cm the open space called Al-Hasd ; 1 and,
after pitching tents, said to his servants, “A halt here for two
days! ” So they went into the city upon their several occasions,
this to sell and that to buy ; this to go to the Hammam and
that to visit the Cathedral-mosque of the Banu Umayyah, the
Ommiades, whose like is not in this world . 2 Ajib also went, with
his attendant eunuch, for solace and diversion to the city and the
servant followed with a quarter-staff 3 of almond-wood so heavy
that if he struck a camel therewith the beast would never rise
again . 4 When the people of Damascus saw Ajib’s beauty and
brilliancy and perfect grace and symmetry (for he was a marvel
of comeliness and winning loveliness, softer than the cool breeze of
the North, sweeter than limpid waters to man in drowth, and
pleasanter than the health for which sick man sueth), a mighty
many followed him, whilst others ran on before and sat down on
the road until he should come up, that they might gaze on him,
till, as Destiny had decreed, the Eunuch stopped opposite the shop
of Ajib’s father, Badr al-Din Hasan. Now his beard had grown
long and thick and his wits had ripened during the twelve years
which had passed over him, and the Cook and ex-rogue having
died, the so-called Hasan of Bassorah had succeeded to his goods
and shop, for that he had been formally adopted before the Kazi
and witnesses. When his son and the Eunuch stepped before him
he gazed on Ajib and, seeing how very beautiful he was, his heart
fluttered and throbbed, and blood drew to blood and natural,
affection spake out and his bowels yearned over him. He had
just dressed a conserve of pomegranate grains with sugar, and
Heaven-implanted love wrought within him ; so he called to his
son Ajib and said, “O my lord, O thou who hast gotten the
mastery of my heart and my very vitals and to whom my bowels
yearn; say me, wilt thou enter my house and solace my soul by
eating of my meat ? ” Then his eyes streamed with tears which
he could not stay, for he bethought him of what he had been and
what he had become. When Ajib heard his father’s words his

1 The “Plain of Pebbles ” still so termed at Damascus; an open space west of
the city.

2 Every Guide-book, even the Reverend Porter’s “ Murray,” gives a long account of
this Christian Church ’verted to a Mosque.

3 Arab. “Nabut”; Pilgrimage i. 336.

1 The Bres. Edit, says, “would have knocked him into Al-Yaman ” (Southern Arabia^
something tike our slang phrase “ into the middle of next week.”

Tale of Nur al-Dln All and kis Son ,

235

heart also yearned himwards and he looked at the Eunuch and said
to him, “ Of a truth, O my good guard, my heart yearns to this
cook; he is as one that hath a son far away from him : so let us
enter and gladden his heart by tasting of his hospitality. Per¬
chance for our so doing Allah may reunite me with my father.”
When the Eunuch heard these words he cried, “ A fine thing this,
by Allah! Shall the sons of Wazirs be seen eating in a common
cook-shop ? Indeed I keep off the folk from thee with this quarter-
staff lest they even look upon thee; and I dare not suffer thee tcy
enter this shop at all.” When Hasan of Bassorah heard his speech
he marvelled and turned to the Eunuch with the tears pouring
down his cheeks; and Ajib said, “ Verily my heart loves him ! ”
But he answered, “ Leave this talk, thou shalt not go in.” There¬
upon the father turned to the Eunuch and said, u O worthy sir,
why wilt thou not gladden my soul by entering my shop ? O thou
who art like a chesnut, dark without but white of heart within!
O thou of the like of whom a certain poet said • • * ” The
Eunuch burst out a-laughing and asked —** Said what ? Speak out
by Allah and be quick about it 99 So Hasan the Bassorite began
reciting these couplets:—

If not master of manners or aught but discreet o In the household of Kings
no trust could he take :

And then for the Harem 1 What Eunuch' is he © Whom angels would serve
for his service sake.

The Eunuch marvelled and was pleased at these words, so he took
Ajib by the hand and went into the cook’s shop: whereupon
Hasan the Bassorite ladled into a saucer some conserve of
pomegranate-grains wonderfully good, dressed with almonds , and
sugar, saying, “ You have honoured me with your company: eat
then and health and happiness to you! ” Thereupon Ajib said to
his father, “ Sit thee down and eat with us ; so perchance Allah
may unite us with him we long for.” Quoth Hasan, “ O my son,
hast thou then been afflicted in thy tender years with parting from
those thou lovest ¥* Quoth Ajib, “ Even so, O nuncle mine ; my
heart bums for the loss of a beloved one who is none other than

■ 1 - — -— — - - —

1 Arab. “Khadhn”: lit. a servant, politely applied (like Agh£ = master) to a
C&strato. These gentry wax furious if baldly called “ Taw^shi ” = Eunuch. A mauvais
plaisant in Egypt used to call me The Agha because a friend had placed his wife under
my. charge.

A If Laylak wa Laylak .

my father; and indeed I come forth, I and my grandfather , 5 to
circle and search the world for him. Oh, the pity of it, and how
I long to meet him! ” Then he wept with exceeding weeping, and
his father also wept seeing him weep and for his own bereavement,
which recalled to him his long separation from dear friends and
from his mother; and the Eunuch was moved to pity for him.
Then they ate together till they were satisfied ; and Ajib and the
slave rose and left the shop. Hereat Hasan the Bassorite felt as
though his soul had departed his body and had gone with them ;
for he could not lose sight of the boy during the twinkling of an
eye, albeit he knew not that Ajib was his son. So he locked up
his shop and hastened after them ; and he walked so fast that he
came up with them before they had gone out of the western gate.
The Eunuch turned and asked him, “ What ails thee ? and Badr
al-Din answered, “ When ye went from, me, meseemed my soul
had gone with you ; and, as I had business without the city-gate,.

I purposed to bear you company till my matter was ordered and
so return.” The Eunuch was angered and said to Ajib, “This is
just what I feared ! we ate that unlucky mouthful (which we are
bound to respect), and here is the fellow following us from place
to place; for the vulgar are ever the vulgar.” Ajib, turning and
seeing the Cook just behind him, was wroth and his face reddened
with rage and he said to the servant, “ Let him walk the highway
of the Moslems ,* but, when we turn off it to our tents, and find
that he still follows us, we will send him about his business with a
flea in his ear.” Then he bowed his head and walked on, the
Eunuch walking behind him. But Hasan of Bassorah followed
them to the plain Al-Hasa; and, as they drew near to the tents,
they turned round and saw him close on their heels ; so Ajib
was very angry, fearing that the Eunuch might tell his grand¬
father what had happened. His indignation was the hotter for
apprehension lest any say that after he had entered a cook-shop
the cook had followed him. So he turned and looked at Hasan
of Bassorah and found his eyes fixed on his own, for the father
had become a body without a soul ; and it seemed to Ajib that
his eye was a treacherous eye or that he was some lewd fellow.
So his rage redoubled and, stooping down, he took up a stone
weighing half a pound and threw it at his father. It struck him

1 This sounds absurd enough in English, but Easterns always put themselves first for
respect.

Tale of Nur al-Din All and his Son*

*37

on the forehead, cutting it open from eye-brow to eye-brow and
causing the blood to stream down : and Hasan fell to the ground
in a swoon whilst Ajib and the Eunuch made for the tents. When
the father came to himself he wiped away the blood and tore off a
strip from his turband and bound up his head, blaming himself the
while, and saying, “ I wronged the lad by shutting up my shop
and following) so that he thought I was some evil-minded fellow.”
Then he returned to his place where he busied himself with the
sale of his sweetmeats; and he yearned after his mother at
Bassorah, and wept over her and broke out repeating:—

Unjust it were to bid the World 1 be just © And blame her not: She ne^
was made for justice :

Take what she gives thee, leave all grief aside, ©For now to fair and then to foul
her lust is.

So Hasan of Bassorah set himself steadily to sell his sweetmeats;
but the Wazir, his uncle, halted in Damascus three days and then
marched upon Emesa, and passing through that town he made
enquiry thefe and at every place where he rested. Thence he fared
on by way of Hamah and Aleppo and thence through Diydr Bakr
and Mdridin and Mosul, still enquiring, till he arrived at Bassorah-
city. Here, as soon as he had secured a lodging, he presented him¬
self before the Sultan, who entreated him with high honour and the
respect due to his rank, and asked the cause of his coming. The
Wazir acquainted him with his history and told him that the Minister
Nur al-Din was his brother; whereupon the Sultan exclaimed,
M Allah have mercy upon him ! * * and added, “ My good Sahib l*j
he was my Wazir for fifteen years and I loved him exceedingly.
Then he died leaving a son who abode only a single month after his
father’s death ; since which time he has disappeared and we could
gain no tidings of him. But his mother, who is the daughter of
my former Minister, is still among us.” When the Wasir Shams
al-Din heard that his nephew’s mother was alive and well, he re¬
joiced and said, “ O King I much desire to meet her.” The King on

1 In Arabic the World is feminine.

* Arab. “ Sahib lit. a companion ; also a friend and especially applied to the Con*
panions of Mohammed. Hence the Sunnis claim for them the honour of “friendship"
with the Apostle ; but the Shia’hs reply that the Arab says “ Sahaba-hu’l-himir ° (the
Ass was his Sahib or companion). In the text it is a Wazirial title, in modern India it
is ~ gentleman, e.g. “ Sahib log ” (the Sahib people) means their white conquerors, wb©t
by the by, mostly mispronounce the word “ Sib,”

* 3 $

Alf Laylah zva Laylah ,

the instant gave him leave to visit her ; so he betook himself to tb6
mansion of his brother, Nur al-Din, and cast sorrowiul glances on
all things in and around it and kissed the threshold. Then he
bethought him of his brother, Nur al-Din AH, and how he had died
in a strange land far from kith and kin and friends; and he wept
and repeated these lines :—

I wander ’mid these walls, my Lavla’s walls, o And kissing this and other wall
I roam:

Tis not the walls or roof my heart so loves, o But those who in this house had
made their home.

Then he passed through the gate into a courtyard and found &
vaulted doorway builded of hardest syenite 1 inlaid with sundry kinds
of multi-coloured marble. Into this he walked and wandered about
the house and, throwing many a glance around, saw the name of
his brother, Nur al-Din, written in gold wash upon the walls. So
he went up to the inscription and kissed it and wept and thought of
how he had been separated from his brother and had now lost him
for ever, and he recited these couplets :—

1 ask of you from every rising sun, © And eke I ask when flasheth
leven-light:

Restless I pass my nights in passion-pain, © Yet ne’er I ’plain me of my pain¬
ful plight:

My love ! if longer last this parting throe o Little by Httle shall it waste my
sprite.

An thou wouldst bless these eyne with sight of thee o One day on earth, I
crave none other sight:

Think not another could possess my mind © Nor length nor breadth for other
love I find.

Then he walked on till he came to the apartment of his brother's
widow, the mother of Badr al-Din Hasan, the Egyptian. Now
from the time of her son’s disappearance she had never ceased
weeping and wailing through the light hours and the dark; and,
when the years grew longsome with her, she built for him a tomb
of marble in the midst of the saloon and there used to weep for him
day and night, never sleeping save thereby. When the Wazir drew
near her apartment, he heard her voice and stood behind the door
while she addressed the sepulchre in verse and said :—

1 Arab. ** Suw&>,” prop. Syenite, from Syene (Al-Suwan) but applied to fiint and any

bard stoo a.

Tale of Ni'ir at-Din All and his Son.

239

Answer, by Allah! Sepulchre, are all his beauties ? o Hath change the
power to blight his charms, that Beauty’s paragon?

Thou art not earth, O Sepulchre! nor art thou sky to me ; 0 How comes it,
then, in thee I see conjoint the branch and moon ?

While she was bemoaning herself after this fashion, behold, the
Wazir went in to her and saluted her and informed her that he was
her husband’s brother ; and, telling her all that had passed between
them, laid open before her the whole story, how her son Badr al-Din
Hasan had spent a whole night with his daughter full ten years ago
but had disappeared in the morning. And he ended with saying,
“ My daughter conceived by thy son and bare a male child who is
now with «ae, and he is thy son and thy son’s son by my daughter.”
When she heard the tidings that her boy, Badr al*Din, was still
alive and saw her brother-in-law, she rose up to him and threw her¬
self at his feet and kissed them, reciting these lines :■—

Allah be good to him that gives glad tidings of thy steps ; o In very sooth for
better news mine ears would never sue :

Were he content with worn-out robe, upon his back I’d throw o A heart to pieces
rent and torn when heard the word Adieu.

Then the Wazir sent for Ajib and his grandmother stood up and
fell on his neck and wept; but Shams al-Din said to her, “ This is
no time for weeping ; this is the time to get thee ready for travelling
with us to the land of Egypt; haply Allah will reunite me and thee
with thy son and my nephew.” Replied she, “Hearkening and
obedience;” and, rising at once, collected her baggage and trea¬
sures and her jewels, and equipped herself and her slave-girls for the
march, whilst the Wazir went to take his leave of the Sultan of
Bassorah, who sent by him presents and rarities for the Soldan of
Egypt. Then he set out at once upon his homeward march and
journeyed till he came to Damascus-city where he alighted in the
usual place and pitched tents, and said to his suite, “ We will halt
a se’nnight here to buy presents and rare things for the Soldan.”
Now Ajib bethought him of the past so he said to the Eunuch, <f O
Ldik, I want a little diversion; come, let us go down to the great
bazar of Damascus, 1 and see what hath become of the cook whose
sweetmeats we ate and whose head we broke, for indeed he was kind

1 It was famous in the middle ages, and even now it is, perhaps, the most interesting
to travellers after that “ Sentina Gentium,” the “ Bhendi Bazar” of unromantic
Bombay.

240

A If Laylak wa Laylak .

to us and we entreated him soundly.” The Eunuch answered*

“ Hearing is obeying 1 ” So they went forth from the tents ; and the
tie of blood drew A jib towards his father, and forthwith they
passed through the gateway, Bab al-Faradfs 1 hight, and entered
the city and ceased not walking through the streets till they
reached the cookshop, where they found Hasan of Bassorah
standing at the door. It was near the time of mid-afternoon
prayer 2 and it so fortuned that he had just dressed a confection
of pomegranate-grains. When the twain drew near to him and
Ajib saw him, his heart yearned towards him, and noticing the
scar of the blow, which time had darkened on his brow, he said
to him, “ Peace be on thee, O man! 3 ; know that my heart is
with thee.” But when Badr al-Din looked upon his son his vitals
yearned and his heart fluttered, and he hung his head earthwards
and sought to make his tongue give utterance to his words, but he
could not. Then he raised his head humbly and suppliant-wise
towards his boy and repeated these couplets :—

I longed for my beloved but when I saw his face, « Abashed I held my tongue
and stood with downcast eye ;

And hung my head In dread and would have hid my love, o But do whatso I
would hidden it would not lie :

Volumes of plaints I had prepared, reproach and blame, o But when we met,
no single word remembered I.

And then said he to them, “ Heal my broken heart and eat of my
sweetmeats ; for, by Allah, I cannot look at thee but my heart
flutters. Indeed I should not have followed thee the other day,
but that I was beside myself.” “ By Allah,” answered Ajib, “thou
dost indeed love us! We ate in thy house a mouthful when we
were here before and thou madest us repent of it, for that thou
foliowedst us and wouldst have disgraced us; so now we will not
eat aught with thee save on condition that thou make oath not to
go out after us nor dog us. Otherwise we will not visit thee again
during our present stay; for we shall halt a week here, whilst my

1 “The Gate of the Gardens,” in the northern wall, a Roman archway of the usual
solid construction shaming not only our modem shams, but our finest masonry.

2 Arab. “Al-Asr,” which may mean either the hour or the prayer. It is abo the
moment at which the Guardian Angels relieve each other (Sale’s Koran, chapt. v.).

3 Arab. *‘Ya h&zi”=r :0 this (one)! a somewhat slighting address equivalent to
“ Heus tu ! O thou, whoever thou art-” Another form is “ Y i hd ”:=:0 he l Can his
have originated Swift’s “Yahoo?”

241

)TaUj?f Nur al Din AH and his Son*

grandfather buys certain presents for the King.* Quoth Hasan of
Basso rah, w I promise you this.* So A jib and the Eunuch entered
the shop, and his father set before them a saucer-full of conserve of
pomegranate-grains. Said Ajib, “ Sit thee down and eat with us,
so haply shall Allah dispel our sorrows.” Hasan the Bassorite was
joyful and sat down and ate with them; but his eyes kept gazing
fixedly on Ajib’sface, for his very heart and vitals clove to him;
and at last the boy said to him, “ Did I not tell thee thou art a
most noyous dotard ?; so do stint thy staring in my face! ” But
when Hasan of JBassorah heard his son’s words he repeated these
lines:—

Thou hast some art the hearts of men to clip; © Close-veiled, far-hidden
mystery dark and deep:

O thou whose beauties shame the lustrous moon, © Wherewith the saffron
Morn fears rivalship!

Thy beauty is a shrine shall ne’er decay; • Whose signs shall grow until they

all outstrip; 1 2 * * * * *

Must I be thirst-burnt by that Eden-brow © And die of pine to taste that

Kausar 8 -lip ?

Hasan kept putting morsels into Ajib’s mouth at one time am! at
another time did the same by the Eunuch and they ate till they
were satisfied and could no more. Then all rose up and the cook
poured water on their hands ; 9 and, loosing a silken waist-shawl,
dried them and sprinkled them with rose-water from a casting-
bottle he had by him. Then he went out and presently returned
with a gugglet of sherbet flavoured with rose-water, scented with
musk and cooled with snow; and he set this before them saying.

9 Alluding to the rrjpara (“ minor miracles which cause surprise ”) performed by
Saints’ tombs, the mildest form of thaumaturgy. One of them gravely recorded in tlie
Dabistan (ii. 226) is that of the holy Jamen, who opened the Sdmran or bead-bracelet
from the arm of the beautiful Chistdpi with member erect, ** thus evincing his manly
strength and his command over himself” (1)

2 The River of Paradise, a Seu commun of poets (Koran, dtacpL cmi) : the water ts

whiter than milk or silver, sweeter than honey, smoother than cream, more odorous than

music; its banks are of chrysolite and it is drunk out of silver cops set around it thick ad

stars. Two pipes conduct it to the Prophet’s Pond which is an exact square, one

month’s journey in compass. Kausar is spirituous like wine ; Salsabil sweet like clarified

honey; the Fount of Mildness is like milk and the Fount of Mercy like liquid crystal.

8 The Moslem does not use the European basin because water which has touched an
Impure skin becomes impure. Hence it is poured out from a ewer (“ Ebrik ” Pcrs. Ab-
dz) upon the hands and falls into s basin (“ tisht ”) with an open-worked cover.

vol. l q

242

Alf Layiah tva Laylak.

u Complete your kindness to me!" So Ajib took the gugglet and
drank and passed it to the Eunuch ; and it went round till their
stomachs were full and they were surfeited with a meal larger than
their wont. Then they went away and made haste in walking till
they reached the tents, and Ajib went in to his grandmother, who
kissed him and, thinking of her son, Badr al-Din Hasan, groaned
aloud and wept and recited these lines:—

I still had hoped to see thee and enjoy thy sight, • For in thine absence life
had lost its kindly light:

I swear my vitals wot none other love but thine o By Allah, who can read the
secrets of the sprite t

Then she asked Ajib, “O my son! where hast thou been ?*; and
fee answered, * In Damascus-city;" Whereupon she rose and set
before him a bit of scone and a saucer of conserve of pomegranate-
grains (which was too little sweetened), and she said to the Eunuch,
* Sit down with thy master 1 * Said the servant to himself, “ By
Allah, we have no mind to eat: I cannot bear the smell of bread; ”
but he sat down and so did Ajib, though his stomach was full of
what he had eaten already and drunken. Nevertheless he took a
bit of the bread and dipped it in the pomegranate-conserve and
made shift to eat it, but he found it too little sweetened, for he was
doyed and surfeited, $o he said, “ Faugh ; what be this wild-beast 1
stuff?" u O my son," cried his grandmother, “dost thou find
fault with my cookery? I cooked this myself and none can cook
it as niedy as I can save thy father, Badr al-Din Hasan." “ By
Allah, O my lady," Ajib answered, “ this dish is nasty stuff; for we
saw but now in the city of Bassorah a cook who so dresseth pome¬
granate-grains that the very smell openeth a way to the heart and
the taste would make a full man long to eat; and, as for this mess
compared with his, ’tis not worth either much or little.” When his
grandmother heard his words she waxed wroth with exceeding

wrath and looked at the servant-And Shahrazad perceived the

dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

1 Arab. “ Wahsh,* a word of many meanings; nasty, insipid, savage, etc. The off-
iide of a horse is called Wahshi opposed to Insi, the near side. The Amir Tayruur
(** Lord Iron **) whom Europeans unwittingly call after his Persian enemies* nickname,
•‘Tamerlane,** ie. Taymur-i-lang, or limping Taymur, is still known as “Al-Wahsh"
(the wild beast) at Damascus, where his Tartars used to bury men up to their necks and
0b? at bowls with their heads for ninepins.

TaU of Ntr al-Din AH and his Son.

*43

Koto fofctn ft foas t£e ®foent£.Jfouttf)

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ajlb # *
grandmother heard his words, she waxed wroth and looked at the
servant and said, u Woe to thee! dost thou spoil my son, 1 and
dost take him into common cookshops ?" The Eunuch was
frightened and denied, saying, “ We did not go into the shop; we
only passed by it.” “ By Allah,” cried Ajib, “ but we did go in
and we ate till it came out of our nostrils, and the dish was better
than thy dish 1 ” Then his grandmother rose and went and told
her brother-in-law, who was incensed against the Eunuch, and
sending for him asked him, “ Why didst thou take my son into a
cookshop ? ” ; and the Eunuch being frightened answered, u We d^S
not go in.” But Ajib said, u We did go inside and ate conserve of
pomegranate-grains till we were full; and the cook gave us to drink
of iced and sugared sherbet” At this the Waziris indignation
redoubled and he questioned the Castrato but, as he still denied, the
Wazir said to him, * If thou speak sooth, sit down and eat before
us.” So he came forward and tried to eat, but could not and threw
away the mouthful crying “ O my lord ! I am surfeited since
yesterday.” By this the Wazir was certified that he had eaten at
the cook’s and bade the slaves throw him 2 which they did. Then
they came down on him with a rib-basting which burned him till
he cried for mercy and help from Allah, saying, u O my master
beat me no more and I will tell thee the truth ; ” whereupon the
Wazir stopped the bastinado and said, “ Now speak thou sooth.”
Quoth the Eunuch, u Know then that we did enter the shop of a
cook while he was dressing conserve of pomegranate-grains and he
set some of it before us: by Allah ! I never ate in my life its like,
p.or tasted aught nastier than this stuff which is now before us.”*
Badr al-Din Hasan’s mother was angry at this and said, " Needs
must thou go back to the cook and bring me a saucer of conserved
pomegranate-grains from that which is in his shop and show it to
thy master, that he may say which be the better and the nicer,

1 For “ grandson ” as being more affectionate. Easterns hare not yet learned that

clever Western saying:—The enemies of our enemies are our friends.

2 This was a simple bastinado on the back, not the more ceremonious affair of beating
the feet-soles. But it is surprising what the Egyptians can bear; some of the rods used
in the time of the Mameluke Beys are nearly as thick as a man’s wrist.

* The woman-like spite of the eunuch intended to hurt the grandmothers feelings.

244

A If Laylah wa Laylak*

mine or his.* * Said the unsexed “ I will.” So on the instant she
gave him a saucer and a half dinar and he returned to the shop and
said to the cook, “ O Shaykh of all Cooks, 1 we have laid a
wager concerning thy cookery in my lord’s house, for they have
conserve of pomegranate-grains there also; so give me this half¬
dinar’s worth and look to it; for I have eaten a full meal of stick
on account of thy cookery, and so do not let me eat aught more
thereof.” Hasan of Bassorah laughed and answered, “ By Allah,
none can dress this dish as it should be dressed save myself and
my mother, and she at this time is in a far country.” Then he
ladled out a saucer-fuil; and, finishing it off with musk and rose¬
water, put it in a cloth which he sealed 8 and gave it to the Eunuch,
who hastened back with it. No sooner had Badr al-Din Hasan’s
mother tasted it and perceived its fine flavour and the excellence
of the cookery, than she knew who had dressed it, and she screamed
and fell down fainting. The Wazir, sorely startled, sprinkled rose¬
water upon her and after a time she recovered and said, u If my
son be yet of this world, none dressed this conserve of pomegranate-
grains but he; and this Cook is my very son Badr al-Din Hasan ;
there is no doubt of it nor can there be any mistake, for only I and
he knew how to prepare it and I taught him.” When the Wazir
heard her words he joyed with exceeding joy and said, “ Oh the
longing of me for a sight of my brother’s son ! I wonder if the
days will ever unite us with him! Yet it is to Almighty Allah
alone that we look for bringing about this meeting.” Then he
rose without stay or delay and, going to his suite said to them,
“ Be off, some fifty of you with sticks and staves to the Cook’s shop
and demolish it; then pinion his arms behind him with his own
turband, saying:—It was thou madest that foul mess of pome¬
granate-grains ! and drag him here perforce but without doing him
a harm.” And they replied, “ It is weU.” Then the Wazir rode
off without losing an instant to the Palace and, foregathering with
the Viceroy of Damascus, showed him the Sultan’s orders. After
careful perusal he kissed the letter, and placing it upon his head
said to his visitor, “Who is this offender of thine?” Quoth the
Wazir, u A man which is a cook.” So the Viceroy at once sent
his apparitors to the shop; which they found demolished and

5 The usual Cairene 11 chaff.”

* A necessary precaution against poison (Pilgrimage i. 84, and iii. 4j).

Tale of Nitr al-Dln All and his Son,

245

everything in it broken to pieces ; for whilst the Wazir was riding
to the palace his men had done his bidding. Then they awaited
his return from the audience, and Hasan of Bassorah who was their
prisoner kept saying, <c I wonder what they have found in the
conserve of pomegranate-grains to bring things to this pass! 1 ' 1
When the Wazir returned to them, after his visit to the Viceroy
who had given him formal permission to take up his debtor and
depart with him, on entering the tents he called for the Cock.
They brought him forward pinioned with his turband ; and, when
Badr al-Din Hasan saw his uncle, he w r ept with exceeding weeping
and said, “ O my lord, what is my offence against thee ? ” “ Art

thou the man who dressed that conserve of pomegranate-grains?”;
asked the Wazir, and he answered “ Yes ! didst thou find in it
aught to call for the cutting off of my head ? ” Quoth the Wazir,
“ That were the least of thy deserts! ” Quoth the cook, “ O my
lord, wilt thou not tell me my crime and what aileth the conserve of
pomegranate-grains ? ” “Presently,” replied the Wazir and called
aloud to his men, saying “ Bring hither the camels.” So they
struck the tents and by the Wazir’s orders the servants took Badr
al-Din Hasan, and set him in a chest which they padlocked and
put on a-camel. Then they departed and stinted not journeying
till nightfall, when they halted and ate some victual, and took
Badr al-Din Hasan out of his chest and gave him a meal and
locked him up again. They set out once more and travelled till
they reached Kimrah, where they took him out of the box. and
brought him before the Wazir who asked him, “Art thou he
who dressed that conserve of pomegranate-grains ? ” He answered
“ Yes, O my lord ! and the Wazir said “ Fetter him ! ” So they
fettered him and returned him to the chest and fared on again
till they reached Cairo and lighted at the quarter called Al-
Raydamyah. 2 Then the Wazir gave order to take Badr al-Din
Hasan out of the chest and sent for a carpenter and said to him,
“Make me a cross of wood 3 for this fellow!” Cried Badr al-

3 The JBresl. Edit. (ii. 108) describes the scene at greater length.

2 The Bui. Edit, gives by mistake of diacritical points, (t Zabdaoiyah RaydaDiyah
is or rather was a camping ground to the North of Cairo.

3 Arab. tl La’abat ” — a plaything, a puppet, a lay figure. Lane (i. 326) conjectures
that the cross is so called because it resembles a man with arms extended. But Moslems
never heard of the fanciful ideas of mediaeval Christian divines who saw the cross every¬
where and in everything. The former hold, that Pharaoh invented the painful and
ignominious punishment. (Koran, chapt. vit.)

246 A If Laylah u/a Laylah*

Din Hasan * And what wilt thou do with it ? **; and the Wa zif
replied, " I mean to crucify thee thereon, and nail thee thereto
and parade thee all about the city.” “ And why wilt thou use me
after this fashion ?” “ Because of thy villanous cookery of con¬

served pomegranate-grains; how durst thou dress it and sell it
lacking pepper ? " “ And for that it lacked pepper wilt thou do

all this to me ? Is it not enough that thou hast broken my shop
and smashed my gear and boxed me up in a chest and fed me
©nly once a day ? ” tf Too little pepper 1 too little pepper! this
is a crime which can be expiated only upon the cross!” Then
Badr al-Din Hasan marvelled and fell a-mouming for his life;
whereupon the Wazir asked him, w Of what thinkest thou ? **; and
he answered him, "Of maggoty heads like thine; 1 for an thou had
one ounce of sense thou hadst not treated me thus.” Quoth the
Wazir, "It is our duty to punish thee lest thou do the like
again." Quoth Badr al-Din Hasan, u Of a truth my offence were
over-punished by the least of what thou hast already done to me;
and Allah damn all conserve of pomegranate-grains and curse the
hour when I cooked it and would I had died ere this! ” But the
Wazi^lprejouaed, * There is no help for it: I must crucify a man
who sells conserve of pomegranate*grains lacking pepper.” All this
time the carpenter was shaping the wood and Badr al-Din looked
on ; and thus they did till night, when his uncle took him and
clapped him into the chest, saying, “ The thing shall be done to¬
morrow!” Then he waited till he knew Badr al-Din Hasan to be
asleep, when he mounted; and, taking the chest up before him,
entered the city and rode on to his own house, where he alighted
and said to his daughter, Sitt al-Husn, "Praised be Allah who
hath reunited thee with thy husband, the son of thine uncle ! Up
now, and order the house as it was on thy bridal night” So the
servants arose and lit the candles; and the Wazir took out his
plan of the nuptial chamber, and directed them what to do till
they had set everything in its stead, so that whoever saw it
would have no doubt but it was the very night of the marriages
Then he bade them put down Badr al-Din Hasan’s turband on the

1 Here good blood, driven to bay, speaks oat boldly. But, as a rale the humblest and
mildest Eastern when in despair turns round upon his oppressors like a wild cat. Some
Df the criminals whom Path Ali Shah of Persia put to death by chopping down the fork,
beginning at the scrotum, abused his mother (ill the knife reached their vitals and thqgf
mold no

Tale of Nur al-Din AH and his Son ..

247

settle, as he had deposited it with his own hand, and in like manner
his bag-trousers and the purse which were under the mattress
and told his daughter to undress herself and go to bed in the!
private chamber as on her wedding-night, adding, “ When the son 1
of thine uncle comes in to thee, say to him:—Thou hast loitered
while going to the privy; and call him to lie by thy side and keep
him in converse till daybreak, when we will explain the whole
matter to him.” Then he bade take Badr al-Din Hasan out of the
chest, after loosing the fetters from his feet and stripping off all
that was on him save the fine shirt of blue silk in which he had
slept on. his wedding-night; so that he was well nigh naked and
trouserless. All this was done whilst he was sleeping on utterly
unconscious. Then, by doom of Destiny, Badr al-Din Hasan
turned over and awoke; and, finding himself in a lighted vestibule^ 1
said to himself, “Surely I am in the mazes of some dream.” So he
rose and went on a little to an inner door and looked in and lo!
he was in the very chamber wherein the bride had been displayed
to him ; and there he saw the bridal alcove and the settle and his
turband and all his clothes. When he saw this he was confounded
and kept advancing with one foot, and retiring with the other,
saying, “Am I sleeping or waking ? ” And he began rubbing his
forehead and saying (for indeed he was thoroughly astounded),
“ By Allah, verily this is the chamber of the bride who was dis¬
played before me! Where am I then ? I was surely but now in a
box!” Whilst he was talking with himself Sitt al-Husn suddenly
lifted the comer of the chamber-curtain and said, “O my lord, wilt
thou not come in ? Indeed thou hast loitered long in the water-
closet.” When he heard her words and saw her face he burst out
laughing and said, “Of a truth this is a very nightmare among
dreams!” Then he went in sighing, and pondered what had come
to pass with him and was perplexed about his case, and his affair
became yet more obscure to him when he saw his turband and
bag-trousers and when, feeling the pocket, he found the purse con¬
taining the thousand gold pieces. So he stood still and muttered,
“ Allah is all knowing ! Assuredly I am dreaming a wild waking
dream!” Then said the Lady of Beauty to him, “What ails thee to
look puzzled and perplexed?”; adding, “Thou wast a very different
man during the first of the night! ” He laughed and asked her,
w How long have I been away from thee?”; and she answered him,
* Allah preserve thee and His Holy Name be about thee! Thou
didst but go out an hour ago for an occasion and return, Are thy

243

A If Laylah wa Lay I ah.

wits clean gone ? * When Badr al-Din Hasan heard this, he laughed, 1
and said, “ Thou hast spoken truth; but, when I went out from
thee, I forgot myself awhile in the draught-house and dreamed that
I was a cook at Damascus and abode there ten years ; and there
came to me a boy who was of the sons of the great, and with him
an Eunuch.” Here he passed his hand over his forehead and,
feeling the scar, cried, u By Allah, O my lady, it must have been
true, for he struck my forehead with a stone and cut it open from
eye-brow to eye-brow; and here is the mark: so it must have been
on wake.” Then he added, “ But perhaps I dreamt it when we fell
asleep, I and thou, in each other’s arms, for meseems it was as
though I travelled to Damascus without tarbush and trousers and
set up as a cook there.” Then he was perplexed and considered
for awhile, and said, “ By Allah, I also fancied that I dressed a
conserve of pomegranate-grains and put too little pepper in it. By
Allah, I must have slept in the numero-cent and have seen the
whole of this in a dream ; but how long was that dream! ”
*Allah upon thee,” said Sitt al-Husn, "and what more sawest
thou ? ” So he related all to her; and presently said, u By Allah
had I not woke up they would have nailed me to a cross of
wood 1 ” “Wherefore?” asked she; and he answered, “For patting
too little pepper in the conserve of pomegranate-grains, and me*
seemed they demolished my shop and dashed to pieces my pots
and pans, destroyed all my stuff and put me in a box ; then they
sent for the carpenter to fashion a cross for me and would have
crucified me thereon. Now Alhamdolillah! thanks be to Allah,
for that all this happened to me in sleep, and not on wake ” Sitt
al-Husn laughed and clasped him to her bosom and he her to his:
then he thought again and said, “ By Allah, it could not be save
while I was awake: truly I know not what to think of it.” Then
he lay him down and all the night he was bewildered about his
case, now saying, M I was dreaming 1 ” and then saying, “ I was
awake 1 ”, till morning, when his uncle Shams al-Din, the Wazir,
came to him and saluted him. When Badr al-Din Hasan saw him
he said, u By Allah, art thou not he who bade bind my hands
behind me and smash my shop and nail me to a cross on a matter of
conserved pomegranate-grains because the dish lacked a sufficiency

- - ' - T —

i •_ v q? far )r.n **!>«' )

1 These repealed “ laughs ** prove the trouble of his spirit. Noble Arabs " show their
back-teeth ” so rarely that their laughter is held worthy of being recorded by their
biographers*.

Tale of Nur at-Din All and his Son .

*49

of pepper?" Whereupon the Wazir said to him, u Know, O my
son, that truth hath shown it soothfast and the concealed hath been
revealed ! l Thou art the son of my brother, and I did all this with
thee to certify myself that thou wast indeed he who went in unto my
daughter that night. I could not be sure of this, till I saw that
thou knewest the chamber and thy turband and thy trousers and
thy gold and the papers in thy writing and in that of thy father,
my brother; for I had never seen thee afore that and knew thee
not; and as to thy mother I have prevailed upon her to come
with me from Bassorah.” So saying, he threw himself on his
nephew's breast and wept for joy; and Badral-Din Hasan, hearing
these words from his uncle, marvelled with exceeding marvel and
fell on his neck and also shed tears for excess of delight. Then
said the Wazir to him, “ O my son, the sole cause of all this is
what passed between me and thy sire;” and he told him the
manner of his father wayfaring to Bassorah and all that had
occurred to part them. Lastly the Wazir sent for Ajib; and
when his father saw him he cried, “And this is he who struck me
with the stone!” Quoth the Wazir " This is thy son !” And Badr
al-Din Hasan threw himself upon his boy and began repeating:—

Long have 1 wept o’er severance’ ban and bane, © Long from mine eyelids
tear-rills rail and rain :

And vowM I if Time re-union bring o My tongue from name of “ Severance "
I’D restrain:

Joy hath o’ercome me to this stress that I o From joy’s revulsion to shed tears
am fain :

Ye are so trained to tears, O eyne of me! © You weep with pleasure as you
weep with pain.*

When he had ended his verse his mother came in and threw ner-
self upon him and began reciting :—

When we met we complained, o Our hearts were sore wrung:

But plaint is not pleasant © Fro’ messenger’s tongue.

Then she wept and related to him what had befallen her since his
departure, and he told her what he had suffered, and they thanked

1 A popular phrase, derived from the Koranic “Truth is come, and falsehood is
vanished: for falsehood is of short continuance ” (chapt. xvii.). It is an equivalent of
our adaptation from i Esdras iv. 41, “Magna est veritas et prsevalebit.” But the
great question still remains, What is Truth?

a In Night Ixxv. these lines will occur with variants.

2$0

Alf Laplah met LapTak.

Allah Almighty for their reunion. Two days after his arrival the
Wazir Shams al-Din went in to the Sultan and, kissing the ground
between his hands, greeted him with the greeting due to Kings*
The Sultan rejoiced at his return and his face brightened and,
placing him hard by his side, 1 * asked him to relate all he had seen
in his wayfaring and whatso had betided him in his going and
coming. So the Wazir told him all that had passed from first to
last and the Sultan said, a Thanks be to Allah for thy victory 3 and
the winning of thy wish and thy safe return to thy children and
thy people! And now I needs must see the son of thy brother^
Hasan of Basso rah, so bring him to the audience-hall to-morrow.**
Shams al-Din replied, “ Thy slave shall stand in thy presence to-*
morrow, Inshallah, if it be God’s will.” Then he saluted him and tJ
returning to his own house, informed his nephew of the Sultan’*
desire to see him, whereto replied Hasan, whilome the Bassorite,
“ The slave is obedient to the orders of his lord.” And the result
was that next day he accompanied his uncle, Shams al-Din, to the
Divan ; and, after saluting the Sultan and doing him reverence in
most ceremonious obeisance and with most courtly obsequiousness*
he began improvising these verses:—

The first in rank to kiss the ground shall deign © Before you, and all ends
and aims attain :

You are Honours fount; and all that hope of you, • Shall gain more honour
than Hope hoped to gain.

The Sultan smiled and signed to him to sit down. So he took a
seat close to his uncle. Shams al-Din, and the King asked him his
name. Quoth Badr al-Din Hasan, a The meanest of thy slaves is
known as Hasan the Bassorite, who is instant in prayer for thee
day and night.” The Sultan was pleased at his words and, being
minded to test his learning and prove his good breeding, asked
him, “ Dost thou remember any verses in praise of the mole on the
cheek ? ” He answered, " I do,” and began reciting:—

When I think of my love and our parting-smart, © My groans go forth and

my tears upstart:

He’s a mole that reminds me in colour and charms © O’ the black the ey*
and the grain 3 of the heart.

1 This is always mentioned : the nearer the seat the higher the honour.

9 Alluding to the phrase ** Al-safar zafar ” = voyaging is victory (Pilgrimage i., 127).

3 Arab. “ Habb ; ” alluding to the black drop in the human heart which the Archangel
Gabriel removed from Mohammed by opening his breast.

Tale of Nun al-Din All and his Son. 2 51

The King admired and praised the two couplets and said to him,
“Quote something else ; Allah- bless thy sire and may thy tongue
never tire! ” So he began :—

That cheek-mole’s spot they evened with a grain » Of musk, nor did they here
the simile strain :

Nay, marvel at the face comprising all * Beauty, nor falling short by single
grain.

The King shook with pleasure 1 and said to him, “ Say more r Allah
bless thy days ! ” So he began :—

O you whose mole on cheek enthroned recalls o A dot of musk upon a stone
of ruby,

Grant me your favours ! Be not stone at heart ! o Core of my heart whose only
sustenance be!

Quoth the King, “Fair comparison, O Hasan ! 2 thou hast spoken
excellently well and hast proved thyself accomplished in every
accomplishment! Now explain to me how many meanings be
therein the Arabic language 3 for the word Khdl or molel' He
replied, “Allah keep the King! Seven and fifty and some by
tradition say fifty.” Said the Sultan, “ Thou sayest sooth,” pre¬
sently adding, “ Hast thou knowledge as to the points of excel¬
lence in beauty?” “Yes,” answered Badr al-Din Hasan, “ Beauty
consisteth in brightness of face, clearness of complexion, shapeli¬
ness of nose, gentleness of eyes, sweetness of mouth, cleverness of
speech, slenderness of shape and seemliness of all attributes. But
the acme of beauty is in the hair and, indeed, al-Shihab the Hijazi
hath brought together all these items in his doggrel verse of the
metre Rajaz 4 and it is this :—

1 This phrase, I have said, often occurs : it alludes to the horripilation (Arab.
Kush’arfrah), horror or gooseflesh which, in Arab as in Hindu fables, is a symptom of
great joy. So Boccaccio’s “pelo arriciato ” v., 8: Germ. Gansehaut.

2 Arab. “ Hasanta ya Hasan ” zz: Bene detto, Benedetto ! the usual word-play vulgarly
called “ pun : ” Hasan (not Hassan, as we will write it) meaning “beautiful.”

3 Arab. r ‘ Loghah ” alsozra vocabulary, a dictionary; the Arabs had them by camel-
loads.

4 The seventh of the sixteen “ Bahr ” (metres) in Arabic prosody ; the easiest because
allowing the most licence and, consequently, a favourite for didactic, homiletic and
gnomic themes. It means literally “ agitated ” and was originally applied to the rude
song of the Cameleer. De Sacy calls this doggrel “ the poet’s ass ” (Torrens, Notes xxvi.).
It was the only metre in which Mohammed the Apostle ever spoke : he was no poet
(Koran xxxvi., 69) but he occasionally recited a verse and recited it wrongly (Dabistan
iii., 212). In Persian prosody Rajaz is the seventh of nineteen and has six distinct
varieties (pp. 79—81, “ Gladwin’s Dissertations on Rhetoric,” etc< Calcutta, »8ot). I
shall have more to say about it in the terminal Essay.

252 A If Laylak wa LayZih*

Say thon to stem soft/ to face M Be fair ;" • And gaxe,»or'shaB tHcyblam^

howso thou stare :

Fine nose in Beauty’s list is high esteemed ;' • Nor_lessjyii Cye_(^lJ» turight as4

debonnair :

Eke did they well to Laud the lovely lips • (Which cPcil.jJfc£
will never spare) ;

A winning tongue, a stature tall and straight ;* * o A seemly union of gifts J&T&4
rare :

But Beauty^ acme in the hair one views it; © So hear my strain and^with,
some few excuse it!

The Sultan was captivated by his converse and, regarding
a friend, asked, u What meaning is there in the saw * Shurayh^ft
foxier than the fox ?” And he answered* “ Know, O King (whom
Almighty Allah keep!) that the legist Shurayh 2 was wont, during
the days of the plague, to make a visitation to Al-Najaf; and, when-,
ever he stood up to pray, there came a fox which would plant him¬
self facing him and which, by mimicking his movements, distracted
him from his devotions. Now when this became longsome to him,
one day he doffed his shirt and set it upon a cane and shook out
the sleeves; then placing his turband on the top and girding its
middle with a shawl, he stuck it up in the place where he used ta
pray. Presently up trotted the fox according to his custom and
stood over against the figure, whereupon Shurayh came behind
him, and took him. Hence the sayer saith, “ Shurayh foxier than
the fox.” When the Sultan heard Badral-Din Hasan’s explanation
he said to his uncle. Shams al*Din, u Truly this the son of thy
brother is perfect in courtly breeding and I do not think that his 1
like can be found in Cairo.” At this Hasan arose and kissed the

ground before him and sat down again as a Mameluke should sit
before his master. When the Sultan had thus assured himself of
his courtly breeding and bearing and his knowledge of the liberal
arts and belles-lettres, he joyed with exceeding joy and invested
him with a splendid robe of honour and promoted him to an, 1

1 “ Her stature tall—I hate a dumpy woman ’* (Don Joan).

* A worthy who was Kazi of Kufah (Cufa) in the seventh century. Al-Najaf; gene-
rally entitled ** Najaf al-Ashraf ” (the Venerand) is the place where Ali, the son-in-law
of Mohammed, lies or is supposed to lie buried, and has ever been a holy place to that

Shi’alis. I am not certain whether to translate “ Sa’alab ” by fox or jackal; the Arabs
make scant distinction between them. ** Abu Hosayn ** (Father of the Fortlet) is cer¬
tainly the fox, and as certainly •* Sha’arhax ” is the jackal from the Pehlcvi Shagal or,
Shaghal*

Tale of Nur al-Din AH and his Sam

2 $ 3

office whereby he might better his condition. 1 Then Badr al-Din
Hasan arose and, kissing the ground before the King, wished him
continuance of giory and asked leave to retire with his uncle, the
Wazir Shams al-Din. The Sultan gave him leave and he issued
forth and the two returned home, where food was set before them
and they ate what Allah had given them. After finishing his meal
Hasan repaired to the sitting-chamber of his wife, the Lady of
Beauty, and told her what had past between him and the Sultan;
whereupon quoth she, “He cannot fail to make thee a cup-com¬
panion and give thee largesse in excess and load thee with favours
and bounties; so shalt thou, by Allah’s blessing, dispread, like the
greater light, the rays of thy perfection wherever thou be, on shore
or on sea.” Said he to her, “ I purpose to recite a Kasidah, an ode,
in his praise, that he may redouble in affection for me.” “ Thou art
right in thine intent,” she answered, “ so gather thy wits together
and weigh thy words, and I shall surely see my husband favoured
with his highest favour.” Thereupon Hasan shut himself up and
composed these couplets on a solid base and abounding in inner
grace and copied them out in a hand-writing of the nicest taste.
They are as follows:—

Mine is a Chief who reached most hanght estate, © Treading the pathways ol
the good and great:

His justice makes all regions safe and sure, © And against froward foes bars
every gate :

Bold lion, hero, saint, e’en if you call © Seraph or Sovran* he with all may
rate!

The poorest suppliant rich from him returns, • All words to praise him were
inadequate.

* Usually by all manner of extortions and robbery, corruption and bribery, the ruler's
motto being

Fiat mjustitia ruat Coelum.

There is no more honest man than the Turkish peasant or the private soldier ; but the
process of deterioration begins when he is made a corporal and culminates in the
Pasha. Moreover official dishonesty is permitted by public opinion, because it belongs
to the condition of society. A man buys a place (as in England two centuries ago)
and retains it by presents to the heads of offices. Consequently he must recoup himself
in some way, and he mostly does so by grinding the faces of the poor and by spoiling
the widow and the orphan. The radical cure is high pay; bat that phase of society
refuses to afford it.

8 Arab. “Malik • (King) and “ Malak ” (angel) the words being written the mam
when lacking vowels and justifying the jingle.

Alf Laylah wa Lay la k>

He to the <&y of peace is saffron Morn, • And murky Night in furious warfare*!
bate.

Bow ’neath his gifts our necks, and by his deeds o As King of freeborn 1 11 souls
he ’joys his state:

Allah increase for os his term of years, • And from his lot avert all risks and
fears t

When he had finished transcribing the lines, he despatched them,
in charge of one of his uncled slaves, to the Sultan, who perused
them and his fancy was pleased; so he read them to those present
and all praised them with the highest praise. Thereupon he sent
for the writer to his sitting chamber and said to him, u Thou art
from this day forth my boon-companion and I appoint to thee a
monthly solde of a thousand dirhams, over and above that I
bestowed on thee aforetime. v So Hasan rose and, kissing the
ground before the King several times, prayed for the continuance
of his greatness and glory and length of life and strength. Thus
Badr al-Din Hasan the Bassorite waxed high in honour and his
fame flew forth to many regions and he abode in all comfort and
solace and delight of life with his uncle and his own folk till Death
overtook him. When the Caliph Harun al-Rashid heard this story
from the mouth of his Wazir, Ja’afar the Barmecide, he marvelled
much and said, “ It behoves that these stories be written in letters of
liquid gold.” Then he set the slave at liberty and assigned to the
youth who had slain his wife such a monthly stipend as sufficed to
make his life easy; he also gave him a concubine from amongst his
own slave-girls and the young man became one of his cup-corn*
panions. “Yet this story (continued Shahrazad) “is in no wise
stranger than the tale of the Tailor and the Hunchback and the
Jew and the Reeve and the Nazarene, and what betided them.*
Quoth the King, “ And what may that be ? ” So Shahrazad began,
in these words, 2

1 Arab. ** Hurr 99 ; the Latin “ ingenuus,** lit. freeborn j metaph. noble as opp. to
ft slave who is not expected to do great or good deeds. In pop. use it corresponds, like
** FatA/* with oar “ gentleman.**

* This is one of the best tales for humour and movement, and Douce and Madden
show what a rich crop of fabliaux, whose leading incident was the disposal of a dead body,

1 1 produced.

The Hunchback's TdlL

THE HUNCH BA CIVS TALE .

IT hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there dwelt during
times of yore, and years and ages long gone before, in a certain
dty of China, 1 a Tailor who was an open-handed man that loved
pleasuring and merry making; and who was wont, he and his
wife, to solace themselves from time to time with public diversions
and amusements. One day they went out with the first of the
light and were returning in the evening when they fell in with a
Hunchback, whose semblance would draw a laugh from care and
dispel the horrors of despair. So they went up to enjoy looking
at him and invited him to go home with them and converse and
carouse with them that night He consented and accompanied
them afoot to their home; whereupon the Tailor fared forth to the
bazar (night having just set in) and bought a fried fish and bread
and lemons and dry sweetmeats for dessert; and set the victuals
.before the Hunchback and they ate. Presently the Tailor’s wife
took a great fid of fish and gave it in a gobbet to the Gobbo,
stopping his mouth with her hand and saying, “By Allah, thou
must down with it at a single gulp; and I will not give thee time
to chew it” So he bolted it; but therein was a stiff bone which

stuck in his gullet and, his hour being come* he died.-And

Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her per¬
mitted say.

JBtoto fofjen it foas t?)e ®cent2=J r fftf)

She said. It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Tailor’s wife gave the Hunchback that mouthful of fish which
ended his term of days he died on the instant. Seeing this the
Tailor cried aloud, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might
save in Allah! Alas, that this poor wretch should have died in
so foolish fashion at our hands!” and the woman rejoined,
M Why this idle talk ? Hast thou not heard his saying who
said ?—

1 Other editions read, “at Bassorah” and the Bresl. (iu 123) “at Bassorah and
Kijkir ” (Kashghir): somewhat like in Dover and Sebastopol. I prefer China because
farther off and making the improbabilities more notable.

256 A If Laylah wa Laylah .

Why then waste I my time in grief, until © I find no friend to bear my
weight of woe ?

How sleep upon a fire that flames unquenched? o Upon the flames t© rest were
hard enow!

Asked har busband, “ And what shall I do with him ? "; and .she
answered, “ Rise and take him in thine arms and spread a silken
kerchief over him ; then I will fare forth, with thee following me,
this very night and if thou meet any one say:—This is my son,
and his mother and I are carrying him to the doctor that he may
look at him.” So he rose and taking the Hunchback in his arms
bore him along the streets, preceded by his wife who kept crying,
04 O my son, Allah keep thee! what part paineth thee and where
hath this small-pox 1 attacked thee ? " So all who saw them said
44 *Tis a child sick of small-pox. * 2 They went along asking for
the physician's house till folk directed them to that of a leach
which was a Jew. They knocked at the door, and there came
down to them a black slave-girl who opened and, seeing a man
bearing a babe, and a woman with him, said to them, M What is
the matter?” "We have a little one with us,” answered the
Tailor’s wife "and we wish to show him to die physician: so take
this quarter dinar and give it to thy master and let him come
down and see my son who is sore sick.” The girl went up to tell
her master, whereupon the Tailor’s wife walked into the vestibule
and said to her husband, "Leave the Hunchback here and let us
fly for our lives.” So the Tailor carried the dead man to the top
of the stairs and propped him upright against the wall and ran
away, he and his wife. Meanwhile the girl went in to the Jew

I . . . ...... . - .— ■ ' . . . . . ■■ ■ - . . .

1 Arab. 44 Judri,” lit* 44 small stones” from the hard gravelly feeKng of the pustules
(Rodwell, p. 20). Thb<a 3 sease is generally supposed to be the growth of Central Africa
& b «tfll a plague and passed over to Arabia about the birth-time of Mohammed*
Thus ts usually explained the 44 war of the elephant” (Koran, chapt. cv.) when the
Abyssinian army of Abrahah, the Christian, was destroyed by swallows (Abibfl which
Major Price makes the plural of Abilah =a vesicle) which dropped upon them “ stones
of baked clay,” like vetches (Pilgrimage u. 175). See for details Sale (m loco) who seems
to accept the miraculous defence of the Ka’abah. For the horrors of small-pox in
Central Inter tropical Africa the inoculation, known also to the Badawin of Al-Hijiz and
other details, readers will consult M The Lake Regions of Central Africa ” (u. 318). The
Hindus 44 take the bull by (he boras” and boldly make **Sitl£” (smallpox) a goddess,
an incarnation of Bhawini, deess of destruction-reproduction. In China small pox is
believed to date from B.C. 1200; but the chronology of the Middle Kingdom sliH
©waits the sceptic.

* In Europe we should add 44 and all fled, especially the women.” JBut the fatalism
Inher ent in the Eastern mind makes the great difference*

Story of tht Hunchback

*57

and said to lum," At the door are a man and a woman with a sick
child and they have given me a quarter-dinar for thee, that thou
mayest go down and look at the little one and prescribe for it"
As soon as the Jew saw the quarter-dinar he rejoiced and rose
quickly in his greed of gain and went forth hurriedly in the dark;
but hardly had he made a step when he stumbled on the corpse
and threw it over, when it rolled to the bottom of the staircase.
So he cried out to the girl to hurry up with the light, and she
brought it, whereupon he went down and examining the Hunch¬
back found that he was stone dead. So he cried out, “O for
Esdras ! 1 * * 4 O for Moses! O for Aaron! O for Joshua, son of
Nun! O the Ten Commandments! I have stumbled against the
sick one and he hath fallen downstairs and he is dead ! How shall
I get this man I have killed out of my house ? O by the hoofs of
the ass of Esdras! ” Then he took up the body and, carrying it
into the house, told his wife what had happened and she said to
him, 44 Why dost thou sit still ? If thou keep him here till day¬
break we shall both lose our lives. Let us two carry him to the
terrace-roof and throw him over into the house of our neighbour,
the Moslem, for if he abide there a night die dogs will come down
on him from the adjoining terraces and eat him up." Now his
neighbour was a Reeve, the controller of the Sultan’s kitchen, and
was wont to bring back great store of oil and fat and broken
meats ; but the cats and rats used to eat it, or, if the dogs scented
a fat sheep’s tail they would come down from the nearest roofs
and tear at it; and on this wise the beasts had already damaged
much of what he brought home. So the Jew and his wife carried
the Hunchback up to the roof; and, letting him down by his hands
and feet through the wind-shaft * into the Reeve’s house, propped

1 Arab. ** UzayT.” Esdras was a manner of Ripp van Winkle. He was riding over

the rains of Jerusalem when it had been destroyed by the Chaldeans and he doubted by

what means Allah would restore it; whereupon he died and at the end of a hundred
years he revived. He found his basket of figs and erase of wine as they - were ; but of
his ass only the bones remained. These were raised to life as Ezra looked on and the
ass began at once to bray. Which was a lesson to Esdras. (Koran, chapt. n). The
oath by the ass’s hoofs is to ridicule the Jew. Mohammed seems to hare had an idh
fixe that “ the Jews say, Ezra is the son of God ** (Koran ix.); it may have arisen from
the heterodox Jewish belief that Ezra, when the Law was utterly lost, dictated the whole
anew to the scribes of his own memory. His tomb with the huge green dome is still
visited by the Jews of Baghdad.

4 Arab. “Bidhanj,” the Pers. Bid (wind)-gir (catcher); a wooden pent-house on the
terrace-roof universal is the nearer East.

VOL. I. R

25 »

A// Lay la ft wa Laylah.

him up against the wall and went their ways. Hardly had they
done this when the Reeve, who had been passing an evening with
his friends hearing a recitation of the Koran, came home and
opened the door and, going up with a lighted candle, found a son
of Adam standing in the corner under the ventilator. When he
saw this, he said, “ Wah ! by Allah, very good forsooth ! He who
robbeth my stuff is none other than a man.” Then he turned to the
Hunchback and said, “ So ’tis thou that stealest the meat and the
fat! I thought it was the cats and dogs, and I kill the dogs and
cats of the quarter and sin against them by killing them. And ail
the while ’tis thou comest down from the house terrace through the
wind-shaft. But I will avenge myself upon thee with my own
hand ! ” So he snatched up a heavy hammer and set upon him
and smote him full on the breast and he fell down. Then he
examined him and, finding that he was dead, cried out in horror,
thinking that he had killed him, and said, “ There is no Majesty
and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! ”
And he feared for his life, and added, “ Allah curse the oil and the
meat and the grease and the sheep’s tails to boot! How hath fate
given this man his quietus at my hand ! ” Then he looked at the
body and seeing it was that of a Gobbo, said, “ Was it not
enough for thee to be a hunchback, 1 but thou must likewise be a
thief and prig flesh and fat! O thou Veiler, 2 deign to veil me with
Thy curtain of concealment! ” So he took him up on his shoulders
and, going forth with him from his house about the latter end of
the night, carried him to the nearest end of the bazar, where he set
him up on his feet against the wall of a shop at the head of a dark
lane, and left him and went away. After a while up came a
Nazarene, 3 the Sultan’s broker who, much bemused with liquor, was
purposing for the Hammam-bath as his drunkenness whispered in
his ear, u Verily the call to matins 4 is nigh.” He came plodding
along and staggering about till he drew near the Hunchback and

1 The hunchback, in Arabia as in Southern Europe, is looked upon by the vulgar with
fear and aversion: The reason is that he is usually sharper-witted than his neighbours.

2 Arab. “ Yd Sattdr ” = Thou who veilest the discreditable secrets of Thy creature?.

* Arab. “ NasnfaV’a follower of Him of Nazareth and an older name than “Christian u
which (Acts xi. r 26) was first given at Antioch about A.D. 43. The cry in Alexandria
used to be “ Ya Nasrdni, Kalb awdni !” = 0 Nazarene ! O dog obscene ! (Pilgrimage,
i., 160). “Christian ” in Arabic can be expressed only by “ Masihi** =:follower of the
Messiah.

4 Arab. “ Tasbih,” =r Saluting in the Subh (morning).

story of me Hunchback.

259

squatted down to make water 1 over against him ; when he happened-
to glance around and saw a man standing against the wall. Now
some person had snatched off the Christian’s turband 2 in the first of
the night; so when he saw the Hunchback hard by he fancied that
he also meant to steal his head-dress. Thereupon he clenched
his fist and struck him on the neck, felling him to the ground, and
called aloud to the watchman of the bazar, and came down on the
body in his drunken fury and kept on belabouring and throttling
the corpse. Presently the Charley came up and, finding a Nazarene
kneeling on a Moslem and frapping him, asked, “ What harm hath
this one done?”; and the Broker answered, “ The fellow meant to
snatch off my turband.” “ Get up from him,” quoth the watchman.
So he arose and the Charley went up to the Hunchback and finding
him dead, exclaimed, “ By Allah, good indeed ! A Christian killing
a Mahometan ! ” Then he seized the Broker and, tying his hands
behind his back, carried him to the Governor’s house , 3 and all the
while the Nazarene kept saying to himself, “ O Messiah ! O Virgin !
how came I to kill this fellow ? And in what a hurry he must
have been to depart this life when he died of a single blow ! ”
Presently, as his drunkenness fled, came dolour in its stead. So the
broker and the body were kept in the Governor’s place till morning
morrowed, when' the Wali came out and gave order to hang the
supposed murderer and commanded the executioner 4 make pro-

1 In the East women stand on minor occasions while men squat on their hunkers in a
way hardly possible to an untrained European. The custom is old. Herodotus (ii., 35)
says, “ The women stand up when they make water, but the men sit down.’* Will it be
believed that Canon Rawlinson was too modest to leave this passage in his translation ?
The custom was perpetuated by Al-Islam because the position prevents the ejection
touching the clothes and making them ceremonially impure ; possibly they borrowed it
from the Guebres. Dabistan, Gate xvi. says, “ It is improper, whilst in an erect posture,
to make wafer; it is therefore necessary to sit at squat and force it to some distance,
repeating the Avesta mentally.’'

2 This is still a popular form of the “ Kinchin lay,” and as the turbands are often of fine
Stuff, the petite industrie pays well.

3 Arab. “ Wali ” rr: Governor; the term still in use for the Governor-General of a
Province as opposed to the “ Muhafiz,”or district-governor. In Eastern Arabia the Wali
is the Civil Governor opposed to the Amir or Military Commandant. Under the
Caliphate the Wali acted also as Prefect of Police (the Indian Faujdar), who is now
called “Zabit.” The older name for the latter was “Sahib al-Shartah” (rrchief of
the watch) or “ Mutawalli ” ; and it was his duty to go the rounds in person. The old
** Charley,” with nis lantern and cudgel, still guards the bazars in Damascus.

4 Arab. “ Al-Masha ill ” = the bearer of a cresset (Mash’al) who was also Jack Ketch.
In Anglo-India the name is given to a lower body-servant. The “Mash’al” which
Lane (M. E., chapt vi.) calls “Mesh’al” and illustrates, must not be confounded with
Sts congener the “ Sha’ilah ” or link (also lamp, wick, etc.).

2 6o

A If Laylah wa Lay I ah.

clamation of the sentence. Forthwith they set up a gallows undear
which they made the Nazarene stand and the torch-bearcr, who
was hangman, threw the rope round his neck and passed one end
through the pulley, and was about to hoist him up 1 when lo! the
Reeve, who was passing by, saw the Broker about to be hanged ;
and, making his way through the people, cried out to the execu¬
tioner, “ Hold ! Hold ! I am he who killed the Hunchback! ”
Asked the Governor, “ What made thee kill him ? ”; and he
answered, “ I went home last night and there found this man who
had come down the ventilator to steal my property; so I smote
him with a hammer on the breast and he died forthright. Then I
took him up and carried him to the bazar and set him up against
the wall in such a place near such a lane;" adding, “ Is it not
enough for me to have killed a Moslem without also killing a
Christian ? So hang none other but me.” When the Governor
heard these words he released the Broker and said to the torch-
bearer, “ Hang up this man on his own confession.” So he loosed
the cord from the Nazarene's neck and threw it round that of
the Reeve and, making him stand under the gallows-tree, was
about to string him up when behold, the Jewish physician
pushed through the people and shouted to the executioner,
“ Hold! Hold ! It was I and none else killed the Hunchback !
Last night I was sitting at home when a man and a woman
knocked at the door carrying this Gobbo who was sick, and gave
my handmaid a quarter-dinar, bidding her hand me the fee and
tell me to come down and see him. Whilst she was gone the man
and the woman brought him into the house and, setting him on the
stairs, went away; and presently I came down and not seeing him,
for I was in the dark, stumbled over him and he fell to the foot of
the staircase and died on the moment. Then we took him up, I and
my wife, and carried him on to the top terrace; and, the house of
this Reeve being next door to mine, we let the body down through
the ventilator. When he came home and found the Hunchback in
his house, he fancied he was a thief and struck him with a hammer,
so that he fell to the ground, and our neighbour made certain that
he had slain him. Now is it not enough for me to have killed one
Moslem unwittingly, without burdening myself with taking the life
of another Moslem wittingly ?” When the Governor heard this he
said to the hangman, “Set free the Reeve, and hang the Jew.”

1 I need hardly say that the civilised “ drop ” is unknown to the East where men are
strung up as to a yardarm. This greatly prolongs the suffering.

Story of the Hunchback . 261

Thereupon the torch-bearer took him and slung the cord round his
neck when behold, the Tailor pushed through the people, and
shouted to the executioner, u Hold ! Hold ! It was I and none
else killed the Hunchback ; and this was the fashion thereof. I
had been out a-pleasuring yesterday and, coming back to supper,
fell in with this Gobbo, who was drunk and drumming away and
singing lustily to his tambourine. So I accosted him and carried
him to my house and bought a fish, and we sat down to eat.
Presently my wife took a fid of fish and, making a gobbet of it , 1
crammed it into his mouth ; but some of it went down the wrong
way or stuck in his gullet and he died on the instant So we
lifted him up, I and my wife, and carried him to the Jew’s house
where the slave-girl came down and opened the door to us and I
said to her:—Tell thy master that there are a man and a woman
and a sick person for thee to see ! I gave her a quarter-dinar and
she went up to tell her master ; and, whilst she was gone, I carried
the Hunchback to the head of the staircase and propped him up
against the wall, and went off with my wife. When the Jew came
down he stumbled over him and thought that he had killed him.”
Then he asked the Jew, “ Is this the truth?”; and the Jew
answered, “Yes.” Thereupon the Tailor turned to the Governor,
and said, Leave go the Jew and hang me.” When the Governor
heard the Tailor’s tale he marvelled at the matter of this Hunch*
back and exclaimed, “ Verily this is an adventure which should be
recorded in books! ” Then he said to the hangman, u Let the Jew
go and hang the Tailor on his own confession.” The executioner
took the Tailor and put the rope around his neck and said, “ I am
tired of such slow work: we bring out this one and change him for
that other, and no one is hanged after all! ” Now the Hunchback
in question was, they relate, jester to the Sultan of China who
could not bear him out of his sight; so when the fellow got drunk
and did not make his appearance that night or the next day till
noon, the Sultan asked some of his courtiers about hrm and they
answered, w O our lord, the Governor hath come upon him dead
and hath ordered his murderer to be hanged; but, as the hang¬
man was about to hoist him up there came a second and a third
and a fourth and each one said :—It is I, and none else killed the

1 Arab. ** Lukmah M : = i mouthfuL It is still the fashion amongst Easterns of
primitive manners to take np a handful of rice, etc., hall it and pu? it into a friend's
mouth honoris caust. When the friend is a European the expression of his fact il
generally 9 study.

262

Alf Laylah wa Laylak.

Hunchback!; and each gave a full and circumstantial account of
the manner of the jester being killed/’ When the King heard this
he cried aloud to the Chamberlain-in-waiting, “ Go down to the
Governor and bring me all four of them.” So the Chamberlain
went down at once to the place of execution, where he found the
torch-bearer on the point of hanging the Tailor and shouted to
him, “ Hold ! Hold ! ” Then he gave the King’s command to the
Governor who took the Tailor, the Jew, the Nazarene and the
Reeve (the Hunchback’s body being borne on men’s shoulders)
and went up with one and all of them to the King. When he
came into the presence, he kissed the ground and acquainted the
ruler with the whole story which it is needless to relate for, as they
say:—There is no avail in a thrice-told tale. The Sultan hearing
it marvelled and was moved to mirth and commanded the story to
be written in letters of liquid gold, saying to those present, “ Did
ye ever hear a more wondrous tale than that of my Hunchback ? ”
Thereupon the Nazarene broker came forward and said, “ O King
of the age, with thy leave I will tell thee a thing which happened
to myself and which is still more wondrous and marvellous and
pleasurable and delectable than the tale of the Hunchback.”
Quoth the King, " Tell us what thou hast to say 1 ” So he began
in these words

THE NAZARENE BROKERS STORY .

O KING of the age, I came to this thy country with merchandise
and Destiny stayed me here with you : but my place of birth was
Cairo, in Egypt, where I also was brought up, for I am one of the
Copts and my father was a broker before me. When I came to
man’s estate he departed this life and I succeeded to his business.
One day, as I was sitting in my shop, behold, there came up to me
a youth as handsome as could be, wearing sumptuous raiment and
riding a fine ass. 1 When he saw me he saluted me, and I stood up

1 I need hardly note that this is an old Biblical practice. The ass b used far city-work
as the horse for fighting and travelling, the mule for burdens and the dromedary for the
desert. But the Badawi, like the Indian, despises the monture and sings:—

The back of the steed is a noble place ;

But the mule’s dishonour, the ass disgrace !

The fine white asses, often thirteen hands high, sold by the Banu Salib and other Badawi
tribes, will fetch and more. I rode a little brute from Meocah to Jedda (42 miles)

in one night and it came in with me cantering.

The Nazarene Broker's Story .

263

to do him honour : then he took out a kerchief containing a sample
of sesame and asked, “ How much is this worth per Ardabb 1 2 ?”;
whereto I answered,' “An hundred dirhams.” Quoth he, “ Take
porters and gaugers and metesmen and come to-morrow to the
Khan al-Jawali , 1 by the Gate of Victory quarter where thou wilt
find me.” Then he fared forth leaving with me the sample of
sesame in his kerchief; and I went the round of my customers and
ascertained that every Ardabb would fetch an hundred and twenty
dirhams. Next day I took four metesmen and walked with them to
the Khan, where I found him awaiting me. As soon as he saw me
he rose and opened his magazine, when we measured the grain till
the store was empty; and we found the contents fifty Ardabbs,
making five thousand pieces of silver. Then said he, “ Let ten
dirhams on every Ardabb be thy brokerage ; so take the price and
keep in deposit four thousand, and five hundred dirhams for me;
and, when I have made an end of selling the other wares in my
warehouses, I will come to thee and receive the amount.” “ I will
well,” replied I and kissing his hand went away, having made that
day a profit of a thousand dirhams. He was absent a month, at
the end of which he came to me and asked, “ Where be the
dirhams?” I rose and saluted him and answered to him, “Wilt
thou not eat somewhat in my house ? ” But he refused with the
remark, “Get the monies ready and I will presently return and
take them.” Then he rode away. So I brought out the dirhams
and sat down to await him, but he stayed away for another month,
when he came back and said to me, “ Where be the dirhams ? ” I
rose and saluting him asked, “ Wilt thou not eat something in my
house ? ” But he again refused adding, “ Get me the monies ready
and I will presently return and take them.” Then he rode off. So
I brought out the dirhams and sat down to await his return ; but
he stayed away from me a third month, and I said, “Verily this
young man is liberality in incarnate form.” At the end of the
month he came up, riding a mare-mule and wearing a suit of
sumptuous raiment; he was as the moon on the night of fullness,
and he seemed as if fresh from the baths, with his cheeks rosy *
bright, and his brow flower-white, and a mole-spot like a grain of

1 A dry measure c« about five bushels (Cairo). The classical pronunciation is Irdabb
and it measured 24 sa*a (gallons) each filling four outstretched hands.

2 “ Al-Jawali ” should be Al-Jawali (Al-Makrizi) and the Bab al-Nasr (Gate of Victory)
is that leading to Suez. I lived in that quarter as shown by my Pilgrimage (i. 62).

*64 Alf Laylah wa LojIoJl

ambergris delighting the sight; even as was said of such an one by
the poet:—

Full moon with sun in single mansion • In brightest sheen and fortune rose
and shone,

With happy splendour changing every sprite: • Hail to what guerdons prayer
with blissfull boon!

Their charms and grace have gained perfection’s height* * o AH hearts have
conquered and all wits have won.

Laud to the Lord for works so wonder-strange, © And what th* Almighty wills
His hand hath done !

When I saw him I rose to him and invoking blessings on him
asked, " O my lord, wilt thou not take thy monies ? ” “ Whence the
hurry ? ” J quoth he, “ Wait till I have made an end of my business
and then I will come and take them.” Again he rode away and I
said to myself, u By Allah, when he comes next time needs must
I make him my guest; for I have traded with his dirhams and
have gotten large gains thereby.” At the end of the year he came
again, habited in a suit of clothes more sumptuous than the former;
and, when I conjured him by the Evangel to alight at my house
and eat of my guest-food, he said, “ I consent, on condition that
what thou expendest on me shall be of my monies still in thy
hands.” I answered, “ So be it,” and made him sit down whilst I
got ready what was needful of meat and drink and else besides;
and set the tray before him, with the invitation “ Bismillah ”! *
Then he drew near the tray and put out his left hand 8 and ate
with me; and I marvelled at his not using the right hand. When
we had done eating, I poured water on his hand and gave him
wherewith to wipe it. Upon this we sat down to converse after I
had set before him some sweetmeats; and I said to him, “ O my
master, prithee relieve me by telling me why thou eatest with thy

1 Arab. * f Al-’ajalah,” referring to a saying in every Moslem mouth, “ Patience is from
the Protector (Allah) : Hurry is from Hell.” That and 4 ‘ InshaJlah bukra 1 ” (Pleas©
God to-morrow!) are the traveller’s bites noires.

* Here it is a polite equivalent for “ fall to! **

* The left hand is used throughout the East for purposes of ablution and is considered
unclean To offer the left hand would be most insulting and no man ever strokes his
beard with it or eats with it: hence, probably, one never sees a left-handed man
throughout the Moslem east. In the Brazil for the same reason old-fashioned people
will not take snuff with the right hand. And it is related of the Khataians that they

prefer the left hand, “ Because the heart, which is the Sultan of the city of th«Bo4y» hath
his mansion on that side ” (Rauzat al-Safa).

The Nazarene Brokers Story . 26 $

left hand ? Perchance something aileth thy other hand? H When
he heard my words, he repeated these verses* *

Dear friend, ask not what bumeth in my breast, • Lest thou see fiery pangs
eye never saw:

Wills not my heart to harbour Salmi in stead © Of Layii's 1 lore, but need
hath ne’er a law!

And he put out his right arm from his sleeve and behold, the hand
was cut off, a wrist without a fist S was astounded at this but he
said, * Marvel not, and think not that I ate with my left hand for
conceit and insolence, but from necessity; and the cutting off my
right hand was caused by an adventure of the strangest* Asked
I, “ And what caused it ? *; and he answered :—Know that I am
of the sons of Baghdad and my father was of notables of that city.
When I came to man’s estate I heard the pilgrims and wayfarers,
travellers and merchants talk of the land of Egypt and their words
sank deep into my mind till my parent died, when I took a large
sum of money and furnished myself for trade with stuffs of
Baghdad and Mosul and, packing them up in bales, set out on my
wanderings; and Allah decreed me safety till I entered this your
city. Then he wept and began repeating.—

The blear-eyed scapes the pits o Wherein the lynx-eyed fell j
A word the wise man slays • And saves the natural:

The Moslem fails of food © The Kdfir feasts in hall:

What art or act is man’s ? o God’s will obligeth all!

Now when he had ended his verse he said, So I entered Cairo and
took off my loads and stored my stuffs in the Khan M Al-Masrur.” 1
Then I gave the servant a few silvers wherewith to buy me some
food and lay down to sleep awhile. When I awoke I went to the
street called u Bayn al-Kasrayn ”—Between the two Palaces—and
presently returned and rested my night in the Khan. When it
was morning I opened a bale and took out some stuff saying to
myself, 44 1 will be off and go through some of the bazars and see
the state of the market.” So I loaded the stuff on some of my
slaves and fared forth till I reached the Kaysariyah or Exchange

1 Two feminine name* j n* we might say Mary and Martha.

* It was near the Caliph’s two Palaces (Al-Kasrayn); and was famous in the 15th
century A.D. The K&zi’s Mahkaraah (Court-house) now occupies the place of the Two
Palaces.

266

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

of Jahdrkas where the brokers who knew of my coming came to
meet me. They took the stuffs and cried them for sale, but could
not get the prime cost of them. I was vexed at this, however the
Shaykh of the brokers said to me, “ O my lord, I will tell thee
how thou mayest make a profit of thy goods. Thou shouldest
do as the merchants do and sell thy merchandise at credit for a
fixed period, on a contract drawn up by a notary and duly wit¬
nessed ; and employ a Shroff to take thy dues every Monday
and Thursday. So shalt thou gain two dirhams and more, for
every one; and thou shalt solace and divert thyself by seeing
Cairo and the Nile.” Quoth I, u This is sound advice,” and carried
the brokers to the Khan. They took my stuffs and went with
them on ’Change where I sold them well taking bonds for the
value. These bonds I deposited with a Shroff, a banker, who
gave me a receipt with which I returned to the Khan. Here I
stayed a whole month, every morning breaking my fast with a
cup of wine and making my meals on pigeon’s meat, mutton and
sweetmeats, till the time came when my receipts began to fall
due. So, every Monday and Thursday I used to go on ’Change
and sit in the shop of one or other of the merchants, whilst the
notary and money-changer went round to recover the monies from
the traders, till after the time of mid-afternoon prayer, when
they brought me the amount, and I counted it and, sealing the
bags, returned with them to the Khan. On a certain day which
happened to be a Monday, 1 2 * I went to the Hammam and thence
back to my Khan, and sitting in my own room 8 broke my fast
with a cup of wine, after which I slept a little. When I awoke
I ate a chicken and, perfuming my person, repaired to the shop
of a merchant hight Badr al-Din al-Bostdni, or the Gardener, 4 who
welcomed me; and we sat talking awhile till the bazar should
open. Presently, behold, up came a lady of stately figure wearing

1 A Kaysariah is a superior kind of bazar, a ** bezestein.” That in the text stood to
the east of the principal street in Cairo and was built in A. H. 502 (— 1108—9) by a
Circassian Emir, known as Fakhr al-Din Jahirkas, a corruption of the Persian “ Chehir-
kas ” — four persons (Lane, L 422, from Al-Makrizi and I bn Khallikan). For Jaharkas
the Mac. Edit, has Jirjis (George) a common Christian name. I once lodged in #
** Wakilah (the modern Khan) Jirjis.” Pilgrimage, i. 255.

* Arab. “ Second Day,” ix. after Saturday, the true Sabbath, so marvellously ignored
by Christendom.

• Readers who wish to know how a traveller is lodged in a Wakilah, Khan, or Cara¬
vanserai, will consult my Pilgrimage, i. 60.

4 The original occupation of the family had given it a name, as amongst us.

Tht Nazarene Broker’s Story .

267

a headdress of the most magnificent,, perfumed with the sweetest
of scents and walking with graceful swaying gait; and seeing me
she raised her mantilla allowing me a glimpse of her beautiful
black eyes. She saluted Badr al-Din who returned her salutation
and stood up, and talked with her ; and the moment I heard her
speak, the love of her gat hold of my heart. Presently she said
to Badr al-Din “ Hast thou by thee a cut piece of stuff woven
with thread of pure gold ? ” So he brought out to her a piece from
those he had bought of me and sold it to her for one thousand two
hundred dirhams; when she said, “ I will take the piece home with
me and send thee its price/’ “ That is impossible, O my lady,”
the merchant replied, “ for here is the owner of the stuff and I owe
him a share of profit.” Fie upon thee ! ” she cried, “ Do I not
use to take from thee entire rolls of costly stuff, and give thee a
greater profit than thou expectest, and send thee the money ? ”
“Yes,” rejoined he; “but I stand in pressing need of the price
this very day.” Hereupon she took up the piece and threw it
back upon his lap, saying “ Out on thee ! Allah confound the
tribe of you which estimates none at the right value;” and she
turned to go. I felt my very soul going with her; so I stood
up and stayed her, saying, “ I conjure thee by the Lord, O my
lady, favour me by retracing thy gracious steps.” She turned back
with a smile and said, u For thy sake I return,” and took a seat
opposite me in the shop. Then quoth I to Badr al-Din “ What is
the price they asked thee for this piece ?”; and quoth he, “Eleven
hundred dirhams.” I rejoined, “The odd hundred shall be thy
profit: bring me a sheet of paper and I will write thee a discharge
for it” Then I wrote him a receipt in my own handwriting and
gave the piece to the lady, saying, “ Take it away with thee and,
if thou wilt, bring me its price next bazar-day; or better still,
accept it as my guest-gift to thee.” “ Allah requite thee with
good,” answered she, “ and make thee my husband and lord and
master of all I have ! ” 1 And Allah favoured her prayer. I saw
the Gates of Paradise swing open before me and said, “ O my lady,
let this piece of stuff be now thine and another like it is ready for
thee; only let me have one look at thy face.” So she raised her
veil and I saw a face the sight of which bequeathed to me a thou¬
sand sighs, and my heart was so captivated by her love that I was

1 The usual “ chaff ” or banter allowed even to modest women when shopping* and—
many a true word is spoken in jest.

<68

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

no longer ruler of my reason. Then she let fall her face-veil and
taking up the piece of stuff said, “ O my lord make me not desolate
by thine absence! ” and turned away and disappeared from my
sight. I remained sitting on 'Change till past the hour of after¬
noon prayer, lost to the world by the love which had mastered me;
and the violence of my passion compelled me to make enquiries
concerning her of the merchant, who answered me, “This is a
lady and a rich: she is the daughter of a certain Emir who lately
died and left her a large fortune.” Then I took leave of him and
returned home to the Khan where they set supper before me ; but
I could not eat for thinking of her and when I lay down to sleep,
sleep came not near me. So I watched till morning, when I arose
and donned a change of raiment and drank a cup of wine ; and,
after breaking my fast on some slight matter, I went to the mer¬
chant’s shop where I saluted him and sat down by him. Presently
up came the lady as usual, followed by a slave-girl and wearing a
dress more sumptuous than before ; and she saluted me without
noticing Badr al-Din and said in fluent graceful speech (never
heard I voice softer or sweeter), “ Send one with me to take the
thousand and two hundred dirhams, the price of the piece.” “Why
this hurry ? ” asked I and she answered, “ May we never lose
thee!” 1 and handed me the money. Then I sat talking with her
and presently I signed to her in dumb show, whereby she under¬
stood that I longed to enjoy her person, 2 and she rose up in haste
with a show of displeasure. My heart clung to her and I went
forth from the bazar and followed on her track. As I was walking
suddenly a black slave-girl stopped me and said, “ O my master,
come speak with my mistress.” 3 At this I was surprised and
replied, “There is none who knows me here;” but she rejoined,
“ O my lord, how soon hast thou forgotten her! My lady is the
same who was this day at the shop of such a merchant.” Then I
went with her to the Shroff’s, where I found the lady who drew
me to her side and said, “ O my beloved, thine image is firmly
stamped upon my fancy, and love of thee hath gotten hold of my
heart: from the hour I first saw thee nor sleep nor food nor drink
hath given me aught of pleasure.” I replied, “ The double of that

1 “ La adamndk ” =: Heaven deprive us not of thee, i.e. grant I see thee often !

2 This is a somewhat cavalier style of advance; but Easterns under such circumstance#
go straight to the point, hating to filer the parfait amour.

2 The peremptory formula of a slave delivering such a message.

The Nazarene Broker's Story.

269

suffering is mine and my state dispenseth me from complaint.”
Then said she, “ O my beloved, at thy house, or at mine ? ” “ I

am a stranger here and have no place of reception save the Khan,,
so by thy favour it shall be at thy house.” “ So be it; but this is
Friday 1 night and nothing can be done till to-morrow after public
prayers; go to the Mosque and pray; then mount thine ass*
and ask for the Habbdniyah 2 * quarter ; and, when there, look out
for the mansion of Al-Nakib s Barakdt, popularly known as Abu
Shdmah the Syndic; for I live there: so do not delay as I shall
be expecting thee/' I rejoiced with still greater joy at this ; and 1
took leave of her and returned to my Khan, where I passed a
sleepless night. Hardly was I assured that morning had dawned
when I rose, changed my dress, perfumed myself with essences
and sweet scents and, taking fifty dinars in a kerchief, went from
the Khan Masrur to the Zuwaylah 4 gate, where I mounted an ass
and said to its owner, “ Take me to the Habbaniyah.” So he set
off with me and brought up in the twinkling of an eye at a street
known as Darb al-Munkari, where I said to him, “ Go in and ask
for the Syndic’s mansion.” He was absent a while and then
returned and said, “Alight.” “ Go thou before me to the house,”
quoth I, adding, “ Come back with the earliest light and bring me
home and he answered, “In Allah's name whereupon I gave
him a quarter-dinar of gold, and he took it and went his ways.
Then I knocked at the door and out came two white slave-girls,
both young; high-bosomed virgins, as they were moons, and said
to me, “ Enter, for our mistress is expecting thee and she hath not

1 This would be our Thursday night, preceding the day of public prayers which can
be performed only when in a state of ceremonial purity. Hence many Moslems go to
the Hammam on Thursday and have no connection with their wives till Friday night.

* Lane (i. 423) gives ample details concerning the Habbaniyah, or grain-sellers’ quartet
in the southern part of Cairo ; and shows that when this tale was written (or transcribed ?)
the city was almost as extensive as it is now.

9 Nakib is a caravan-leader, a chief, a syndic; and “Abu Shamah ” = Father of a
cheek mole, while “Abu Shammah ” — Father of a smeller, a nose, a snout. The
“ Kuniyah,” bye-name, patronymic or matronymic, is necessary amongst Moslems whose
list of names, all connected more or less with religion, is so scanty. Hence Buckingham
the traveller was known as Abu Kidr, the Father of a Cooking-pot and Hajj Abdullah
as Abu Shawdrib, Father of Mustachios (Pilgrimage, iii., 263).

4 More correctly Bab Zawilah from the name of a tribe in Northern Africa. This
gate dates from the same age as the Eastern or Desert gate, Bab al-Nasr (A.D. 1087)’
and is still much admired. M. Jomard describes it (Description, etc., ii. 670) and lately
my good friend Yacoub Artin Pasha has drawn attention to it in the Bulletin de Plnst.
Egypt., Deuxi£me S£rie, No. 4, 1883.

2/0

A If Lay lah wa Laylak.

slept the night long for her delight in thee.” I passed through
the vestibule into a saloon with seven doors, floored with parti¬
coloured marbles and furnished with curtains and hangings of
coloured silks: the ceiling was cloisonne with gold and corniced
with inscriptions 1 emblazoned in lapis lazuli; and the walls were
stuccoed with Sultdnf gypsum 2 * which mirrored the beholder’s face.
Around the saloon were latticed windows overlooking a garden
full of all manner of fruits; whose streams were railing and rilling
and whose birds were trilling and shrilling; and in the heart of the
hall was a jetting fountain at whose corners stood birds fashioned
in red gold crusted with pearls and gems and spouting water

crystal-clear. When I entered and took a seat,-And Shahrazad

perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
merchant continued, When I entered and took a seat, the lady at
once came in crowned with a diadem 8 of pearls and jewels; her
face dotted with artificial moles in indigo, 4 her eyebrows pencilled
with Kohl and her hands and feet reddened with Henna. When
she saw me she smiled in my face and took me to her embrace
and clasped me to her breast ; then she put her mouth to my
mouth and sucked my tongue 5 * * (and I did likewise) and said.

1 This ornament is still seen in the older saloons of Damascus: the inscriptions are
usually religious sentences, extracts from the Koran, etc., in uncial characters. They
take the place of our frescos ; and, as a work of art, are generally far superioi.

2 Arab. “ Bayaz al-Sultam,” the best kind of gypsum which shines like polished
marble. The stucco on the walls of Alexandria, built by Alexander of the two Horns,
was so exquisitely tempered and beautifully polished that men had to wear masks lor
fear of blindness.

8 This Iklil, a complicated affair, is now obsolete, its place having been taken by the
“ Kurs,” a gold plate, some five inches in diameter, set with jewels, etc. Lane (M.
E. Appendix A) figures it.

4 The woman-artist who applies the dye is called “ Munakkishah.”

6 “Kissing with th’ inner lip,” as Shakespeare calls it ; the French langue fourrtc :
and Sankrit “ Samputa.” The subject of kissing is extensive in the East. Ten different

varieties are duly enumerated in the “ Ananga-Ranga ;** or, The Hindu Art of Love
(Ars Amoris Indica) translated from the Sanscrit, and annotated by A. F. F. and B. F. R.

It is also connected with unguiculation, or impressing the nails, of which there are seven
kinds; morsication (seven kinds); handling the hair and tapping or pattings with tho

fingers and palm (eight kinds).

The Nazarene Broker’s Story.

271

* Can it be true, O my little darkling, thou art come to me ? ”
adding, “ Welcome and good cheer to thee! By Allah, from the
day I saw thee sleep hath not been sweet to me nor hath food
been pleasant.” Quoth I, “ Such hath also been my case: and I
am thy slave, thy negro slave.” Then we sat down to converse
and I hung my head earthwards in bashfulness, but she delayed
not long ere she set before me a tray of the most exquisite viands,
marinated meats, fritters soaked in bee’s honey 1 and chickens
stuffed with sugar and pistachio-nuts, whereof we ate till we were
satisfied.. Then they brought basin and ewer and I washed my
bands and we scented ourselves with rose-water musk’d and
sat down again to converse. So she began repeating these
couplets: 2 —

Had we wist of thy coming, thy way had been strown
With the blood of our heart and the balls of our sight:

Our cheek as a foot-cloth to greet thee been thrown,

That thy step on our eyelids should softly alight.

And she kept plaining of what had befallen her and I of what
had betided me ; and love of her gat so firm hold of my heart
that all my wealth seemed a thing of naught in comparison with
her. Then we fell to toying and groping and kissing till night¬
fall, when the handmaidens set before us meats and a complete
wine service, and we sat carousing till the noon of night ; when
we lafy down and I lay with her, never in my life saw I a night
like that night. When morning morrowed I arose and took leave
of her, throwing under the carpet-bed the kerchief wherein were
the dinars 3 and as I went out she wept and said, “ O my lord,
when shall I look upon that lovely face again ? ” a I will be with
thee at sunset,” answered I, and going out found the donkey-boy,
who had brought me the day before, awaiting at the door. So I
mounted ass and rode to the Khan of Masrur where I alighted
and gave the man a half-dinar, saying, “ Return at sunsetand
he said “ I will.” Then I breakfasted and went out to seek the
price of my stuffs ; after which I returned, and taking a roast lamb
and some sweet-meats, called a porter and put the provision in his

'Arab “ asal-nahl,” to distinguish it from “honey” i.e. syrup of sugar-cane and
fruits.

2 The lines have occurred in Night xii. By way of variety I give Torrens’ version
P- 273 -

3 The way of carrying money in the corner of a pocket-handkerchief is still common.

2/2

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

crate, and sent it to the lady paying the man his hue. 1 I went
back to my business till sunset, when the ass-driver came to me;
and I took fifty dinars in a kerchief and rode to her house where
I found the marble floor swept, the brasses burnisht, the branch-
lights burning, the wax-candles ready lighted, the meat served up
and the wine strained. 2 * 4 When my lady saw me she threw her
arms about my neck, and cried, “ Thou hast desolated me by thine
absence.” Then she set the tables before me and we ate till we
were satisfied, when the slave girls carried off the trays and served
up wine. We gave not over drinking till half the night was
past; and, being well warmed with drink, we went to the sleeping-
chamber and lay there till morning. I then arose and fared forth
from her leaving the fifty dinars with her as before; and, finding
the donkey-boy at the door, rode to the Khan and slept awhile.
After that I went out to make ready the evening meal and took a
brace of geese with gravy on two platters of dressed and peppered
rice, and got ready colocasia *-roots fried and soaked in honey, and
wax-candles and fruits and conserves and nuts and almonds and
sweet-scented flowers; and I sent them all to her. As soon as it
was night I again tied up fifty dinars in a kerchief and, mounting
the ass as usual, rode to the mansion where we ate and drank and
lay together till morning when I threw the kerchief and dinars 1 to
her and rode back to the Khan. I ceased not doing after that
fashion till, after a sweet night, I woke one fine morning and found
myself beggared, dinar-less and dirham-less. So said I to myself
* All this be Satan's work and began to recite these couplets:—

Boverty dims the sheen of man whatever his wealth has been, © E’en as the
sun about to set shines with a yellowing light:

Absent l^e falls from memory, forgotten by his friends; © Present he shareth
not their joys for none in him delight:

He walks the market shunned of all, too glad to hide his head; o In desert
places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight:

By Allah, ’mid his kith and kin a man, however good, o Waylaid by want and
penury is but a stranger-wight!

1 He sent the provisions not to be under an obligation to her in this matter. And she
received them to judge thereby of his liberality.

* Those who have seen the process of wine-making in the Libanus will readily under*
Stand why it is always strained.

s Arab. ** Kulkasa,” a kind of arum or yam, eaten boiled like our potatoes.

4 At first he slipped the money into the bed-clothes: now he gives it openly and she
Accepts H for a reason.

The Nazarene Broke/s Story, 273

I fared forth from the Khan and walked down “Between the
Palaces ” street till I came to the Zuwaylah Porte, where I found
the people crowding and the gateway blocked for the much folk.
And by the decree of Destiny I saw there a trooper against whom
I pressed unintentionally, so that my hand came upon his bosonL
pocket and I felt a purse inside it I looked and seeing a string
of green silk hanging from the pocket knew it for a purse ; and
the crush grew greater every minute and just then, a camel laden
with a load of fuel happened to jostle the trooper on the opposite
side, and he turned round to fend it off from him, lest it tear his
clothes; and Satan tempted me, so I pulled the string and drew
out a little bag of blue silk, containing something which chinked
like coin. But the soldier, feeling his pocket suddenly lightened,
put his hand to it and found it empty ; whereupon he turned to
me and, snatching up his mace from his saddle-bow, struck me
with it on the head. I fell to the ground, whilst the people came
round us and seizing the trooper’s mare by the bridle said to him,
44 Strikest thou this youth such a blow as this for a mere push!’*
But the trooper cried out at them, “This fellow is an accursed
thief!” Whereupon I came to myself and stood up, and the
people looked at me and said, “ Nay, he is a comely youth: he
would not steal anythingand some of them took my part and
others were against me and question and answer waxed loud and
warm. The people pulled at me and would have rescued me
from his clutches ; but as fate decreed behold, the Governor, the
Chief of Police, and the watch 1 entered the Zuwaylah Gate at this
moment and, seeing the people gathered together around me and
the soldier, the Governor asked, “ What is the matter ? ” “ By

Allah! O Emir,” answered the trooper, “this is a thief! I had
in my pocket a purse of blue silk lined with twenty good gold
pieces and he took it, whilst I was in the crush.” Quoth the
Governor, u Was any one by thee at the time ? ”; and quoth the
soldier, “ No.” Thereupon the Governor cried out to the Chief of
Police who seized me, and on this wise the curtain of the Lord’s
protection was withdrawn from me. Then he said “ Strip him ; H
and, when they stripped me, they found the purse in my clothes*
The Waii took it, opened it and counted it; and, finding in it
twenty dinars as the soldier had said, waxed exceeding wroth and

1 Arab. Al-Zalamah: lit. = tyrants, oppressors, applied to the police and generally to
the employes of Government. It is a word which tells s history.

VOU I.

274

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

bade his guard bring me before him. Then said he to me, ‘‘Now,
O youth, speak truly: didst thou steal this purse?” 1 At this I
hung my head to the ground and said to myself, “ If I deny
having stolen it, I shall get myself into terrible trouble.” So I
raised my head and said, “ Yes, I took it.” When the Governor
heard these words he wondered and summoned witnesses who
came forward and attested my confession. All this happened at
the Zuwaylah Gate. Then the Governor ordered the link-bearer to
cut off my right hand, and he did so; after which he would have
struck off my left foot also; but the heart of the soldier softened
and he took pity on me and interceded for me with the Governor
that I should not be slain. 2 3 Thereupon the Wall left me, and
went away and the folk remained round me and gave me a cup
of wine to drink. As for the trooper he pressed the purse upon
me, and said, “ Thou art a comely youth and it befitteth not thou
be a thief.” So I repeated these verses :—

I swear by Allah’s name, fair sir! no thief was I, o Nor, O thou best of men !
was I a bandit bred :

But Fortune’s change and chance oerthrewme suddenly, o And cark and care
and penury my course misled :

I shot it not, indeed, ’twas Allah shot the shaft e That rolled in dust

the Kingly diadem from my head. 8

The soldier turned away after giving me the purse ; and I also
went my ways having wrapped my hand in a piece of rag and
thrust it into my bosom. My whole semblance had changed, and
my colour had waxed yellow from the shame and pain which had
befallen me. Yet I went on to my mistress’s house where, in
extreme perturbation of spirit I threw myself down on the carpet-

1 Moslem law is never completely satisfied till the criminal confess. It also utterly
ignores circumstantial evidence and for the best of reasons: amongst so sharp-witted
a people the admission would lead to endless abuses. I greatly surprised a certain
Governor-General of India by giving him this simple information.

2 Cutting off the right hand is the Koranic punishment (chapt. v.) for one who robs an
article worth four dinars, about forty francs to shillings. The left foot is to be cut off at
the ankle for a second offence and so on ; but death is reserved for a hardened criminal.
The practice is now obsolete and theft is punished by the bastinado, fine or imprison¬
ment. The old Guebres were as severe. For stealing one dirham’s worth they took a
fine of two, cut off the ear-lobes, gave ten stick-blows and dismissed the ciiminal who
had been subjected to an hour’s imprisonment. A second theft caused the penalties to be
doubled ; and after that the right hand was cut off or death was inflicted according to the
proportion stolen.

3 Koran viii. 17.

The Nazarene Broker's Story.

bed. She saw me in this state and asked me, “ What aileth thee
and why do I see thee so changed in looks ? ”; and I answered,
“ My head paineth me and I am far from well.” Whereupon she was
vexed and was concerned on my account and said, “ Burn not my
heart, O my lord, but sit up and raise thy head and recount to me
what hath happened to thee to day, for thy face tells me a tale.”
“ Leave this talk,” replied I. But she wept and said, “ Meseems
thou art tired of me, for I see thee contrary to thy wont.” But I
was silent ; and she kept on talking to me albeit I gave her n<?
answer, till night came on. Then she set food before me, but 1
refused it fearing lest she see me eating with my left hand and said
to her, “ I have no stomach to eat at present.” Quoth she, “ Tell
me what hath befallen thee to-day, and why art thou so sorrowful
and broken in spirit and heart ?” Quoth I, “ Wait awhile ; I will
tell thee all at my leisure.” Then she brought me wine, saying,
“ Down with it, this will dispel thy grief: thou must indeed drink
and tell me of thy tidings.” I asked her, “ Perforce must I tell
thee ? ” ; and she answered, “ Yes.” Then said I, “If it needs must
be so, then give me to drink with thine own hand.” She filled and
drank, 1 and filled again and gave me the cup which I took from hei
with my left hand and wiped the tears from my eyelids and began
repeating:—

When Allah willeth aught befal a roan o Who hath of ears and eyes and

wits full share ;

H is ears He deafens and his eyes He blinds o And draws his wits e’en as we
draw a hair 2

Till, having wrought His purpose, He restores o Man’s wits, that warned more
circumspect he fare.

When I ended my verses I wept, and she cried out with an exceed¬
ing loud cry, “ What is the cause of thy tears ? Thou burnest my
heart 1 What makes thee take the cup with thy left hand ? ” Quoth
I, “Truly I have on my right hand a boiland quoth she, “Put
it out and I will open it for thee.” 3 “ It is not yet time to open it,”
I replied, “So worry me not with thy words, for I will not take it
out of the bandage at this hour.” Then I drank off the cup, and

1 A universal custom in the East, the object being originally to show that the draught
was not poisoned.

2 Out of paste or pudding.

3 Boils and pimples are supposed to be caused by broken hair-roots and in Hindostani
are called Bal-tor.

*76

A If Laylak wa Laylak.

she gave not over plying me with drink until drunkenness overcame
me and I fell asleep in the place where I was sitting ; whereupon
she looked at my right hand and saw a wrist without a fist. So she
searched me closely and found with me the purse of gold and my
severed hand wrapped up in the bit of rag. 1 With this such sorrow
came upon her as never overcame any and she ceased not lament¬
ing on my account till the morning. When I awoke I found that
she had dressed me a dish of broth of four boiled chickens, which
she brought to me together with a cup of wine. I ate and drank
and laying down the purse, would have gone out; but she said to
me, “ Whither away ? "; and I answered, “ Where my business calleth
me ;’ f and said she, “Thou shalt not go : sit thee down." So I sat
down and she resumed, “ Hath thy love for me so overpowered
thee that thou hast wasted all thy wealth and hast lost thine hand
on my account ? I take thee to witness against me and also Allah
be my witness that I will never part with thee, but will die under
thy feet; and soon thou shalt see that my words are true." Then
she sent for the Kazi and witnesses and said to them, “ Write my
contract of marriage with this young man, and bear ye witness that
I have received the marriage-settlement.” 2 When they had drawn
up the document she said, “ Be witness that all my monies which
are in this chest and all I have in slaves and handmaidens and
other property is given in free gift to this young man.” So they
took act of this statement enabling me to assume possession in right
of marriage; and then withdrew, after receiving their fees. There¬
upon she took me by the hand and, leading me to a closet, opened
a large chest and said to me, “ See what is herein ; ” and I looked
and behold, it was full of kerchiefs. Quoth she/' This is the money
I had from thee and every kerchief thou gavest me, containing
fifty dinars, I wrapped up and cast into this chest; so now take
thine own, for it returns to thee, and this day thou art become of
high estate. Fortune and Fate afflicted thee so that thou didst
lose thy right hand for my sake; and I can never requite thee;
nay, although I gave my life’t were but little and I should still

1 He intended to bury it decently, a respect which Moslems always show even to the
exuviae of the body, as hair and nail parings. Amongst Guebres the latter were
collected and carried to some mountain. The practice was intensified by fear of demons
or wizards getting possession of the spoils.

2 Without which the marriage was not valid. The minimum is ten dirhams (drachmas)
now valued at abcnt five francs to shillings ; and if a man marry without naming the sum,
the woman, after consummation, can compel him to pay this rainimuiii.

The Nazarerte Brokers Story.

2 ,77

remain thy debtor.” Then she added, " Take charge of thy pro¬
perty so I transferred the contents of her chest to my chesty
and added my wealth to her wealth which I had given her, and
my heart was eased and my sorrow ceased. I stood up and kissed
her and thanked her ; and she said, “ Thou hast given thy hand
for love of me and how am I able to give thee an equivalent ? ,r
By Allah, if I offered my life for thy love, it were indeed but little
and would not do justice to thy claim upon me.” Then she made
over to me by deed all that she possessed in clothes and ornaments
of gold and pearls, and goods and farms and chattels, and lay not
down to sleep that night, being sorely grieved for my grief, till
I told her the whole of what had befallen me. I passed the night
with her. But before we had lived together a month’s time she
fell sorely sick and illness increased upon her, by reason of her
grief for the loss of my hand, and she endured but fifty days
before she was numbered among the folk of futurity and heirs of
immortality. So I laid her out and buried her body in mother
earth and let make a pious perlection of the Koran 1 for the
health of her soul, and gave much money in alms for her; after
which I turned me from the grave and returned to the house.
There I found that she had left much substance in ready money
and slaves, mansions, lands and domains, and among her store¬
houses was a granary of sesame-seed, whereof I sold part to thee;
and I had neither time nor inclination to take count with thee till I
had sold the rest of the stock in store; nor, indeed, even now have
I made an end of receiving the price. So I desire thou baulk
me not in what I am about to say to thee: twice have I eaten of
thy food and I wish to give thee as a present the monies for the
sesame which are by thee. Such is the cause of the cutting of
my right hand and my eating with my left " Indeed,” said I,

“ thou hast shown me the utmost kindness and liberality.” Then
he asked me, “ Why shouldst thou not travel with me to my native
country whither I am about to return with Cairene and Alex¬
andrian stuffs ? Say me, wilt thou accompany me ?; ” and I
answered “ I will.” So I agreed to go with him at the head of
the month, and I sold all I had and bought other merchandise;
then we set out and travelled, I and the young man, to this country

1 Arab. * r Khatmah ” =r reading or reciting the whole Koran, by one or snore persons,
usually in the house, not over the tomb. Like the ** Zikr,” Litany or Rogation, It is a
pious act confined to certain occasions.

278

Alf Lay/ah wa Laylah.

of yours, where he sold his venture and bought other investment
of country stuffs and continued his journey to Egypt But it
was my lot to abide here, so that these things befel me in my
strangerhood which befel last night, and is not this tale, O King
of the age, more wondrous and marvellous than the story of the
Hunchback ? “ Not so,” quoth the King, “ I cannot accept

it : there is no help for it but that you be hanged, every one of

you.”-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased

saying her permitted say.

J2ote tefjen it teas ti )t ®fomtg-gcbentf)

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
King of China declared u There is no help for it but that you be
hanged,” the Reeve of the Sultan’s Kitchen came forward and said,
* If thou permit me I will tell thee a tale of what befel me just
before I found this Gobbo ; and, if it be more wondrous than his
story, do thou grant us our lives.” And when the King answered
44 Yes ” he began to recount

THE REEVES TALE.

Know, 0 King, that last night I was at a party where they made
a perfection of the Koran and got together doctors of law and
religion skilled in recitation and intoning; and, when the readers
ended, the table was spread and amongst other things they set
before us was a marinated ragout * 1 flavoured with cumin-seed. So
we sat down, but one of our number held back and refused to
touch it We conjured him to eat of it but he swore he would
not; and, when we again pressed him,he said, “ Be not instant with
me; sufficeth me that which hath already befallen me through
eating it *; and he began reciting:—

Shoulder thy tray and go straight to thy goal; © And, if suit thee this Kohl,
why,—use this Kohl !*

When he ended his verse we said to him, “ Allah upon thee, tell
us thy mason for refusing to eat of the cumin-ragout ? ” “ If so it

1 Arab. “Zirbijah ” armeat dressed with vinegar, cumin-seed (Pers. Zfr) and hot
apices. More of it in the sequel of the tale.

1 A saying ncrt uncommon meaning, let each man do as he seems fit; also= ** age
quod agis ” ; and at times corresponding with our saw about the cap-fitting.

The Reeve's Tale .

279

be,” he replied, M and needs must I eat of it, I will not do so except
I wash my hand forty times with soap, forty times with potash
and forty times with galangale, 1 the total being one hundred and
twenty washings.” Thereupon the hospitable host bade his slaves
bring water and whatso he required ; and the young man washed
his hand as afore mentioned. Then he sat down, as if disgusted
and frightened withal, and dipping his hand in the ragout, began;
eating and at the same time showing signs of anger. And we
wondered at him with extreme wonderment, for his hand trembled
and the morsel in it shook and we saw that his thumb had been
cat off and he ate with his four fingers only. So we said to him,
* Allah upon thee, what happened to thy thumb ? Is thy hand'
thus by the creation of God or hath some accident befallen k ? * j
“ O my brothers,” he answered, u it is not only thus with this thumb,
but also with my other thumb and with both my great toes, as.
you shall see.” So saying he uncovered his left hand and his feet,
and we saw that the left hand was even as the right and in like
manner that each of his feet lacked its great toe. When we saw’
him after this fashion, our amazement waxed still greater and we
said to him, “ We have hardly patience enough to await thy
history and to hear the manner of the cutting off of thy thumbs,
and the reason of thy washing both hands one hundred and
twenty times.” Know then, said he, that my father was chief of
the merchants and the wealthiest of them all in Baghdad-city
during the reign of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid ; and he was much
given to wine-drinking and listening to the lute and the other
instruments of pleasaunce; so that when he died he left nothing.

I buried him and had perlections of the Koran made for him, and
mourned for him days and nights: then I opened his shop and
found that he had left in it few goods, while his debts were many.
However I compounded with his creditors for time to settle their
demands and betook myself to buying and selling, paying them '
something from week to week on account; and I gave not over
doing this till I had cleared off his obligations in full and began
adding to my principal. One day, as I sat in my shop, suddenly
and unexpectedly there appeared before me a young lady, than
whom I never saw a fairer, wearing the richest raiment and orna^
cnents and riding a she mule, with one negro-slave walking before

Arab. M Sa*4d,* m Alpinu. w Hh ***►—.- bke ginger; here used a* •

oounier-odotou

A If Laylah wa Laylaiu

280

her and another behind her. She drew rein at the head of the
exchange-bazar and entered followed by an eunuch who said to
her, “ O my lady come out and away without telling any one, lest
thou light a fire which will burn us all up.” Moreover he stood
before her guarding her from view whilst she looked at the mer¬
chants’ shops. She found none open but mine ; so she came up
with the eunuch behind her and sitting down in my shop saluted
me ; never heard I aught fairer than her speech or sweeter than her
voice. Then she unveiled her face, and I saw that she was like the
moon and I stole a glance at her whose sight caused me a thousand
sighs, and my heart was captivated with love of her, and I kept
looking again and again upon her face repeating these verses:—

Say to the charmer in the dove-hued veil, o Death would be welcome to abate
thy bale!

Favour me with thy favours that I live : © See, 1 stretch forth my palm to
take thy vaill

When she heard my verse she answered me saying :—

I’ve lost all patience by despite of you; o My heart knows nothing save lor®*
plight to you 1

If aught I sight save charms so bright of you; o My parting end not in tb®
sight of you !

I swear I'll ne’er forget the right of you; • And fain this breast would soar to
height of you :

You made me drain the love-cup, and I lief © A love-cup tender for delight of

you :

Take this my form where’er you go, and when • You die, entomb mo in the
site of you :

Call on me in my grave, and hear my bones © Sigh their responses to tho
shright of you:

And were I asked u Of God what wouldst thou see?* • I answer, “first His will
then Thy decree ! *

When she ended her verse she asked me, “ O youth, hast thou any
fair stuffs by thee?”; and I answered, u O my lady, thy slave is
poor ; but have patience till the merchants open their shops, and
I will suit thee with what thou wilt” Then we sat talking, I and
she (and I was drowned in the sea of her love, dazed in the desert 1
of my passion for her), till the merchants opened their shops ; when
I rose and fetched her all she sought to the tune of five thousand
dirhams. She gave the stuff to the eunuch and, going forth by

* Arab. “ Ti’ih = lost in the “ Tfh,” a desert wherein man may lose himself
translated in our maps “The Desert of the Wanderings,” sciL of the children of
lurael. “Credat Judaeus.*

Th* Reeves Tali .

281

the door of the Exchange, she mounted mule and went away,
without telling me whence she came, and I was ashamed to speak
of such trifle. When the merchants dunned me for the price, l
made myself answerable for five thousand dirhams and went home,
drunken with the love of her. They set supper before me and I
ate a mouthful, thinking only of her beauty and loveliness, and
sought to sleep, but sleep came not to me. And such was my
condition for a whole week, when the merchants required their
monies of me, but I persuaded them to have patience for another
week, at the end of which time she again appeared mounted on a
she-mule and attended by her eunuch and two slaves. She saluted
me and said, “ O my master, we have been long in bringing thee
the price of the stuffs; but now fetch the Shroff* * and take thy
monies.” So I sent for the money-changer and the eunuch counted
out the coin before him and made it over to me. Then we sat
talking, I and she, till the market opened, when she said to me,
“ Get me this and that” So I got her from the merchants whatso
•he wanted, and she took it and went away without saying a word
to me about the price. As soon as she was out of sight, I repented
me of what I had done; for the worth of the stuffs bought for her
amounted to a thousand dinars, and I said in my soul, * What
manner of love is this ? She hath brought me five thousand
dirhams, and hath taken goods for a thousand dinars. 1 I feared
lest I should be beggared through having to pay the merchants
their money, and I said, “ They know none other but me; this
lovely lady is naught but a cheat and a swindler, who hath diddled
me with her beauty and grace; for she saw that I was a mere
youth, and laughed at me for not asking her address. I ceased
not to be troubled by these doubts and fears, as she was absent
more than a month, till the merchants pestered me for their money
and were so hard upon me that I put up my property for sale and
stood on the very brink of ruin. However, as I was sitting in
my shop one day, drowned in melancholy musings, she suddenly
rode up and, dismounting at the bazar-gate, came straight towards
me. When I saw her all my cares fell from me and I forgot every
trouble. She came close up to me and greeted me with her sweet
voice and pleasant speech and presently said, “ Fetch me the Shroff*
and weigh thy money. 2 ” So she gave me the price of what goods

1 ^125 and £S°°'

* A large sum was weighed by a professional instead of being counted, the reason
being that the coin is mostly old and worn : hence our words “pound” and “pension”
(or what is weighed out).

282

A If Laylak wa LaytaJu

I had gotterl for her and more, and fell to talking freely with me,
till I was like to die of joy and delight. Presently she asked me,
“ Hast thou a wife ?” ; and I answered ".No, indeed : I have never
known woman ”; and began to shed tears. Quoth she * Why
weepest thou ? ” Quoth I “ It is nothing! ” Then giving the eunuch
some of the gold pieces, I begged him to be go-between 1 2 in the
matter ; but he laughed and said, “ She is more in love with thee
than thou with her: she hath no occasion for the stuffs she hath
bought of thee and did all this only for the love of thee; so ask
of her what thou wilt and she will deny thee nothing.” When she
saw me giving the dinars to the eunuch, she returned and sat down
again ; and I said to her, “ Be charitable to thy slave and pardon
him what he is about to say.” Then I told her what was in my
mind and she assented and said to the eunuch, u Thou shalt carry
my message to him,” adding to me, “ And do thou whatso the
eunuch biddeth thee.” Then she got up and went away, and I paid
the merchants their monies and they all profited; but as for me,
regret at the breaking off of our intercourse was all my gain ; and
I slept not the whole of that night. However, before many days
passed her eunuch came to me, and I entreated him honourably
and asked him after his mistress. " Truly she is sick with love of
thee,” he replied and I rejoined, "Tell me who and what she is/*
Quoth he, "The Lady Zubaydah, queen-consort of Harun al-Rashid,
bought her up as a reading 3 and hath advanced her to be stewardess
of the Harim, and gave her the right of going in and out of her
own sweet will. She spoke to her lady of thee and begged her to
marry her to thee ; but she said: -I will not do this, till I see the
young man ; and, if he be worthy of thee, I will marry thee to him. So
now we look for the moment to smuggle, thee. Into the Palace and
if thou succeed in entering privily thou wilt win thy wish to wed
her ; but if the affair get wind, the Lady Zubaydah will strike off
thy head. 3 What sayest thou to this” ? I answered, "T will go

1 The eunuch is the best possible go-between on account of hk almost unlimited
power over the Harem.

2 i.e. a slave-girl brought up in the house and never sold except for some especial
reason, as habitual drunkenness, etc.

* Smuggling men into the Harem is a stock “ topic *’ of eastern tales. ** By means of
their female attendants, the ladies of the royal harem generally get men into their apart*
ments in the disguise of women.” Says Vatsyayana in The Kama Sutra, Part V.,
London: Printed for the Hindoo Kamashastca^Society, 38S3. For private circulation
only.

The Reeve's Tale.

233

with thee and abide the risk whereof thou speakest.” Then said he,
u As soon as it is night, go to the Mosque built by the Lady
Zubaydah on the Tigris and pray the night-prayers and sleep
there.” “ With love and gladness,” cried I. So at nightfall I
repaired to the Mosque, where I prayed and passed the night. With
earliest dawn, behold, came sundry eunuchs in a skiff with a number
of empty chests which they deposited in the Mosque , then all of
them went their ways but one, and looking curiously at him,
I saw he was our go-between. Presently in came the handmaiden,
my mistress, walking straight up to us ; and I rose to her and
embraced her while she kissed me and shed tears. 1 We talked
awhile ; after which she made me get into one of the chests which
she locked upon me. Presently the other eunuchs came back with
a quantity of packages and she fell to stowing them in the chests,
which she locked down, one by one, till all were shut. When all
was done the eunuchs embarked the chests in the boat and made
for the Lady Zubaydah’s palace. With this, thought began to beset
me and I said to myself, ** Verily thy lust and wantonness will be
the death of thee; and the question is after all shalt thou win to
thy wish or not ? ” And I began to weep, boxed up as I was in
the box and suffering from cramp ; and I prayed Allah that He
deliver me from the dangerous strait I was in, whilst the boat gave
not over going on till it reached the Palace-gate where they lifted
out the chests and amongst them that in which I was. Then they
carried them in, passing through a troop of eunuchs, guardians of
the Harim and of the ladies behind the curtain, till they came to
the post of the Eunuch-in-Chief 2 who started up from his slumbers
and shouted to the damsel “ What is in those chests ? ” “ They

are full of wares for the Lady Zubaydah ! ” ** Open them, one by

1 These tears are shed over past separation. So the ** Indians’® of the New World
never meet after long parting without beweeping mutual friends they have lost.

2 A most important Jack in office whom one can see with his smooth chin and blubber
lips, starting up from his lazy snooze in the shade and delivering his orders more
peremptorily than any Dogberry. These epicenes are as curious and exceptional in
character as in external conformation. Disconnected, after a fashion, with humanity,
they are brave, fierce and capable of any villany or barbarity (as Agha Mohammed Khan
in Persia 1795-98). The frame is unnaturally long and lean, especially the arms and legs ;
with high, flat, thin shoulders ; big protruding joints and a face by contrast extraordinarily
Urge, a veritable mask ; the Castrato is expert in the use of weapons and sits his horse
ftdmirably, riding well “home” in the saddle for the best of reasons; and his hoarse
thick voice, which apparently does not break, as in the European “Ca'ppone,” invests hint
with all the circumstance of command.

2«4

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

one, that I may see what is in them.” “And wherefore wouldst thoil
open them ? ” “ Give me no words and exceed not in talk! these
chests must and shall be opened.” So saying, he sprang to his feet,
and the first which they brought to him to open was that wherein
I was; and, when I felt his hands upon it, my senses failed me and
I bepissed myself in my funk, the water running out of the box.
Then said she to the Eunuch-in-Chief, “ O steward! thou wilt
cause me to be killed and thyself too, for thou hast damaged goods
worth ten thousand dinars. This chest contains coloured dresses,
and four gallon flasks of Zemzem water ; 1 and now one of them
hath got unstoppered and the water is running out over the clothes
and it will spoil their colours.” The eunuch answered, “ Take up
thy boxes and get thee gone to the curse of God ! ” So the slaves
carried off all the chests, including mine; and hastened on with
them till suddenly I heard the voice of one saying, “ Alack, and
alack ! the Caliph ! the Caliph! ” When that cry struck mine ears
I died in my skin and said a saying which never yet shamed the
tsayer, “ There is no Majesty and there is no Might save jn Allah,

F- r

;the Glorious, the Great! I and only I have brought this calamity
upon myself.” Presently I heard the Caliph say to my mistress,
4t A plague on thee, what is in those boxes ? ”; and she answered,
“ Dresses for the Lady Zubaydah ” ; 2 3 whereupon he, “ Open them
before me ! ” When I heard this I died my death outright and
said to myself, “ By Allah, to-day is the very last of my days in
this world : if I come safe out of this I am to marry her and
no more words, but detection stares me in the face and my head is
as good as stricken off.” Then I repeated the profession of Faith,
saying, “ There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is the
Apostle of God! ”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.

Note fofan tt foas tfje ®foentn*lEtQbtf)

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
merchant continued as follows: Now when I testified, “ I bear
witness that there is no god save the God, I heard my mistress the

1 From the Meccan well used by Moslems much like Eau de Lourdes by Christians;'

the water is saltish, hence the touch of Arab humour {Pilgrimage III., 201-2J2.)

3 Such articles would be 6 acred from Moslem eyes.

The Reeve's Tale.

285

handmaid declare to the Caliph, “These chests, 0 Commander of the
Faithful, have been committed to my charge by the Lady Zubaydah,
and she doth not wish their contents to be seen by any one.” “ No
matter! ” quoth the Caliph , (i needs must they be opened, I will see
what is in them ”; and he cried aloud to the eunuchs, “ Bring the
chests here before me/’ At this I made sure of death (without
benefit of a doubt) and swooned away. Then the eunuchs brought
the chests up to him one after another and he fell to inspecting the
contents, but he saw in them only ottars and stuffs and fine dresses;
and they ceased not opening the chests and he ceased not looking
to see what was in them, finding only clothes and such matters, till
none remained unopened but the box in which I was boxed. They
put forth their hands to open it, but my mistress the handmaid
made haste and said to the Caliph, “ This one thou shalt see only
in the presence of the Lady Zubaydah, for that which is in it is her
secret.” When he heard this he gave orders to carry in the chests;
so they took up that wherein I was and bore it with the rest into
the Harim and set it down in the midst of the saloon ; and indeed
my spittle was dried up for very fear. 1 Then my mistress opened
the box and took me out, saying, “ Fear not: no harm shall betide
thee now nor dread ; but broaden thy breast and strengthen thy
heart and sit thee down till the Lady Zubaydah. come, and surely
thou shalt win thy wish of me.” So I sat down and, after a while,
in came ten handmaidens, virgins like moons, and ranged them¬
selves in two rows, five facing five; and after them twenty other
damsels, high-bosomed virginity, surrounding the Lady Zubaydah
who could hardly walk for the weight of her raiment and ornaments.
As she drew near, the slave-girls dispersed from around her, and I
advanced and kissed the ground between her hands. She signed
to me to sit and, when I sat down before her chair, she began ques¬
tioning me of my forbears and family and condition, to which I
made such answers that pleased her, and she said to my mistress,
u Our nurturing of thee, O damsel, hath not disappointed us.” Then
she said to me, “ Know that this handmaiden is to us even as our
own child and she is a trust committed to thee by Allah.” I again
kissed the ground before her, well pleased that I should marry my
mistress, and she bade me abide ten days in the palace. So I abode
there ten days, during which time I saw not my mistress nor any
body save one of the concubines, who brought me the morning and

.. - - -- - - - ■ ■ — ■«nr

* Physiologically true, bat not generally mentioned in describing the emotipptr

286

A If Lay lah wa Laylafu

evening meals. After this the Lady Zubaydah took counsel with the
Caliph on the marriage of her favourite handmaid, and he gave leave
and assigned to her a wedding portion of ten thousand gold pieces.
So the Lady Zubaydah sent for the Kazi and witnesses who wrote
our marriage-contract, after which the women made ready sweet¬
meats and rich viands and distributed them among all the Odahs 1 *
of the Harim. Thus they did other ten days, at the end of which
time my mistress went to the baths. 3 Meanwhile, they set before
me a tray of food whereon were various meats and among those
dishes, which were enough to daze the wits, was a bowl of cumin-
ragout containing chickens' breasts, fricandoed • and flavoured
with sugar, pistachios, musk and rose-water. Then, by Allah, fair
sirs, I did not long hesitate; but took my seat before the ragout
and fell to and ate of it till I could no more. After this I wiped
my hands, but forgot to wash them ; and sat till it grew dark, when
the wax-candles were lighted and the singing women came in with
their tambourines and proceeded to display the bride in various
dresses and to carry her in procession from room to room all round
the palace, getting their palms crossed with gold. Then they
brought her to me and disrobed her. When I found myself alone
with her on the bed I embraced her, hardly believing in our union ;
but she smelt the strong odours of the ragout upon my hands and
forthwith cried out with an exceeding loud cry, at which the slave-
jgirls came running to her from all sides. I trembled with alarm,
unknowing what was the matter, and the girls asked her, “ What
aileth thee, O our sister ? ” She answered them, “ Take this madman
laway from me: I had thought he was a man of sense! ” Quoth
I to her, “What makes thee think me mad?” Quoth she,

Thou madman! what made thee eat of cumin-ragout and
forget to wash thy hand ? By Allah, I will requite thee for thy
misconduct. Shall the like of thee come to bed with the like of
me with unclean hands ? 4 * * ” Then she took from her side a plaited
scourge and came down with it on my back and the place where I
sit till her forearms were benumbed and I fainted away from the
much beating; when she said to the handmaids, “ Take him and

1 Properly “ Uta,” the different rooms, each Odalisque,” or concubine, having her
own.

, 8 Showing that her monthly ailment was over.

8 Arab. “ Muhammarah ” =r either browned before the fire or artificially reddened.

4 The insolence and licence of these palace-girls was (and is) unlimited ; especially

when, as in the present case, they have to deal with a “ softy.” On this subject numbes*

less stories are current throughout the East.

The Reeve's Tale .

carry him to the Chief of Police, that he may strftce off the hand
wherewith he ate of the cumin-ragout, and which he did not wash.”
When I heard this I said, “There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah ! Wilt thou cut off my band, because I ate of a
cumin-ragout and did not wash ? ” The handmaidens also inter¬
ceded with her and kissed her hand saying, “ O our sister, this man
is a simpleton, punish him not for what he hath done this nonce;”
but she answered, u By Allah, there is no help but that I dock him
of somewhat, especially the offending member.” Then she went
away and I saw no more of her for ten days, during which time
she sent me meat and drink by a slave-girl who told me that she
had fallen sick from the smell of the cumin-ragout. After that
. time she came to me and said, “ O black of face 1 ! I will teach
thee how to eat cumin-ragout without washing thy hands ! ” Then
she cried out to the handmaids, who pinioned me; and she took
a sharp razor and cut off my thumbs and great toes ; even as
you see, O fair assembly! Thereupon I swooned away, and she
sprinkled some powder of healing herbs upon the stumps and
when the blood was staunched, I said, “ Never again will I eat of
cumin-ragout without washing my hands forty times with potash
and forty times with galangale and forty times with soap ! ” And
she took of me an oath and bound me by a covenant to that effect.
When, therefore, you brought me the cumin-ragout my colour
changed and I said to myself, M It was this very dish that caused
the cutting off of my thumbs and great toes; ” and, when you
forced me, I said, “ Needs must I fulfil the oath I have sworn.”
“And what befel thee after this?” asked those present; and he
answered, When I swore to her, her anger was appeased and I
slept with her that night. We abode thus awhile till she said to
me one day, “ Verily the Palace of the Caliph is not a pleasant
place for us to live in, and none ever entered it save thyself; and
thou only by grace of the Lady Zubaydah. Now she hath given
me fifty thousand dinars,” adding, “Take this money and go out
and buy us a fair dwelling-house.” So I fared forth and bought a
fine and spacious mansion, whither she removed all the wealth she
owned and what riches I had gained in stuffs and costly rarities.
Such is the cause of the cutting off of my thumbs and great toes.”
We ate, (continued the Reeve) and were returning to our homes
when there befel me with the Hunchback that thou wottest of.

* u, blackened by the fires ofjehannara.

288

A If Laylah wa Laylak.

TTits then fslhy story, and peace be with thee! Qnoth the King
"This story is on no wise more delectable than the story of the
Hunchback; nay, it is even less so, and there is no help for the
hanging of the whole of you/' Then came forward the Jewish
physician and kissing the ground said, u O King of the age, I will
tell thee an history more wonderful than that of the Hunchback**
“ Tell on,” said the King of China; so he began the

TALE OF THE JEWISH DOCTOR.

Right marvellous was a matter which came to pass to me in my
you til. I lived in Damascus of Syria studying my art and, one
day, as I was sitting at home behold, there came to me a Mame¬
luke from the household of the Sdhib and said to me,“ Speak with
my lord ! ” So I followed him to the Viceroy’s house and, entering
the great hall, saw at its head a couch of cedar plated with gold
whereon lay a sickly youth beautiful withal; fairer than he one
could not see. I sat down by his head and prayed to Heaven for
a cure; and he made me a sign with his eyes, so I said to him,

* O my lord l favour me with thy hand, and safety be with thee!” 1
Then he put forth his left hand and I marvelled thereat and said,

* By Allah, strange that this handsome youth, the son of a great
house, should so lack good manners. This can be nothing but
pride and conceit 1” However I felt his pulse and wrote him a pre¬
scription and continued to visit him for ten days, at the end of
which time he recovered and went to the Hammam, 1 whereupon
the Viceroy gave me a handsome dress of honour and appointed
me superintendent of the hospital which is in Damascus* * 5 I ac-

1 Arab. 14 Bi’l-Salamah ” = in safely (to avert the evil eye). When visiting the sick
it is usual to say something civil;” 14 The Lord heal thee ! No evil befal thee!” etc.

* Washing during sickness is held dangerous by Arabs; and 44 going to the Ham*
mam” is, I have said, equivalent to convalescence.

a Arab. “Maristin” (pronounced Muristan) a corruption of the Pers. “ Bi'ird-
ristin ” = place of sickness, a hospital much aflected by the old Guebres (Dabistan,
i., 165, 166). That of Damascus was the first Moslem hospital, founded by AUWalid
Son of Abd al-Malik the Ommiade in A.H. 88 = 706-7. Benjamin of Tudela (A.D.
1 164) calls it 44 Dar-al-Maraphtan ’* which his latest Editor explains by 41 Dar-al-Mora«
bittan ” (abode of those who require being chained). Al-Makrizi (Khitat) ascribes
the invention of 44 Spitals ** to Hippocrates ; another historian to an early Pharaoh
* Manikiyush;" thus ignoring the Persian Kings, Saint Ephrem (or Ephraim) Syru
etc. In modern parlance 14 Maristaa " is a madhouse where the maniacs are treated

Tale of the Jewish Doctor .

289

companled bim to the baths, the whole of which they had kept
private for his accommodation ; and the servants came in with
him and took off his clothes within the bath, and when he was
stripped I saw that his right hand had been newly cut off, and
this was the cause of his weakliness. At this I was amazed and
grieved for him : then, looking at his body, I saw on it the scars of
scourge-stripes whereto he had applied unguents. I was troubled at
the sight and my concern appeared in my face. The young man
looked at me and, comprehending the matter, said, “O Physician
of the age, marvel not at my case; I will tell thee my story as soon
as we quit the baths.” Then we washed and, returning to his house,
ate somewhat of food and took rest awhile; after which he asked
me, “What sayest thou to solacing thee by inspecting the supper-
hall ?”; and I answered “ So let it be.” Thereupon he ordered the
slaves to carry out the carpets and cushions required and roast a
Iamb and bring us some fruit. They did his bidding and we ate
together, he using the left hand for the purpose. After a while I
said to him , u Now tell me thy tale.” “ O Physician of the age,”
replied he, " Hear what befel me. Know that I am of the sons of
Mosul, where my grandfather died leaving nine children of whom
my father was the eldest. All grew up and took to them wives,
but none of them was blessed with offspring except my father, to
whom Providence vouchsafed me. So I grew up amongst my
uncles who rejoiced in me with exceeding joy, till I came to man’s
estate. One day which happened to be a Friday, I went to the
Cathedral-mosque of Mosul with my father and my uncles, and we
prayed the congregational prayers, after which the folk went forth,
except my father and uncles, who sat talking of wondrous things in
foreign parts and the marvellous sights of strange cities. At last
they mentioned Egypt, and one of my uncles said, “ Travellers tell
us that there is not on earth’s face aught fairer than Cairo and her

'with all the horrors which were universal in Europe till within a few years and of
which occasional traces occur to this day. In A.D. 1399 Katherine de la Court held
a “hospital in the Court called Robert de Paris; ” but the first madhouse in Christendom
was built by the legate Ortiz in Toledo A.D. 1483, and was therefore called Casa del
Nuncio. The Damascus “ Maristan ” was described by every traveller of the last
century: and it showed a curious contrast between the treatment of the maniac and
the idiot or omadhaun, who is humanely allowed to wander about unharmed, if not
held a Saint. When I saw it last (1870) it wa9 all but empty and mostly in ruins.
As far as my experience goes, the United States is the only country where the insane
are .rationally treated by the sane.

VOL. I.

290

Alf Laylah wa Layl ah.

Nile;” and these words made me long to see Cairo. Quoth my
father, “Whoso hath not seen Cairo hath not seen the world. Her
dust is golden and her Nile a miracle holden ; and her women are
as Houris fair; puppets, beautiful pictures ; her houses are palaces
rare ; her water is sweet and light 1 and her mud a commodity and
a medicine beyond compare, even as said the poet in this his
poetry:—

The Nile 2 -flood this day is the gain you own ; o You alone in such gain and
bounties wone :

The Nile is my tear-flood of severance, © And here none is forlorn
but I alone.

Moreover temperate is her air, and with fragrance blent, which sur¬
passed aloes-wood in scent; and how should it be otherwise, she
being the Mother of the World ? And Allah favour him who wrote
these lines :—

An I quit Cairo and her pleasaunces, o Where can I wend to find so glad¬
some ways ?

Shall I desert that site, whose grateful scents © Joy every soul and call for
loudest praise ?

Where every palace, as another Eden, o Carpets and cushions richly wrought
displays;

A city wooing sight and sprite to glee, o Where Saint meets Sinner and
each ’joys his craze;

Where friend meets friend, by Providence united o In greeny garden and
in palmy maze:

People of Cairo, an by Allah’s doom © I fare, with you in thoughts I wone
always 1

Whisper not Cairo in the ear of Zephyr, o Lest for her like of garden scent*
he reave her.*

And if your eyes saw her earth, and the adornment thereof with
bloom, and the purfling of it with all manner blossoms, and the
islands of the Nile and how much is therein of wide-spread and

1 Hence the trite saying “Whoso drinks the water of the Nile will ever long to
drink it again. “ Light ” means easily digested water; and the great test is being
able to drink it at night between the sleeps, without indigestion.

t «* Nil M in popular parlance is the Nile in flood, although also used for the River as a
proper name. Egyptians (modern as well as ancient), have three .seasons Al-Shitd
(winter), Al-Sayf (summer) and Al-Nfl (the Nile ue. flood season, our mid-summer)*
corresponding with the Growth-months; Housing (or granary) months and Flood-month®
of the older race

• These lines are in the Mac. Edit.

Tale of the Jewish Doctor .

29$

goodly prospect, and if you bent your sight upon the Abyssinian
Pond 1 2 * , your glance would not revert from the scene quit of wonder 1
for nowhere would you behold the fellow of that lovely view; and,
indeed, the two arms of the Nile embrace most luxuriant verdure a ,
as the white of the eye encompasseth its black or like filagree’d
silver surrounding chrysolites. And divinely gifted was the poet
who thereanent said these couplets

By th* Abyssinian Pond, O day divine! « In morning twilight and in

sunny shine:

The water prisoned in its verdurous walls, © Like sabre flashes before
shrinking eyne :

And in The Garden sat we while it drains © Slow draught, with purfled
sides dyed finest fine :

The stream is rippled by the hands of clouds ; © We too, a-rippling, on our
rugs recline,

Passing pure wine, and whoso leaves us there © Shall ne*er arise from fall his
woes design:

Draining long draughts from large and brimming bowls, © Administ’ring thirsts
only medicine—wine.

And what is there to compare with the Rasad, the Observatory,
and its charms whereof every viewer as he approacheth saith
Verily this spot is specialised with all manner of excellence! And
if thou speak of the Night of Nile-full, 5 give the rainbow and dis¬
tribute it! 4 And if thou behold The Garden at eventide, with the
cool shades sloping far and wide, a marvel thou wouldst see and
wouldst incline to Egypt in ecstacy. And wert thou by Cairo’s
river-side, 5 when the sun is sinking and the stream dons mail-coat
and habergeon 6 over its other vestments, thou wouldst be quickened
to new life by its gentle zephyrs and by its all-sufficient shade.” So

1 Arab. “ Birkat al-Habash, M a tank formerly existing in Southern Cairo: Galland
(Night 128) says “en remontant vers l’fSthiopie.”

2 The Bres. Edit, (ii, 190) from which I borrow this description, here alludes tp the
well-known Island, ABRauzah (Rodah) = The Garden.

8 Arab. “ Laylat aL-Wafd/ 5 the night of the completion or aburdance of the Nile
(rflood), usually between August 6th and 16th, when the government proclaims that the
Nilometer shows a rise of 16 cubits. Of course it is a great festival and a high ceremony,
for Egypt is still the gift of the Nile (Lane M.E. chapt. xxvi—a work which would be
much improved by a better index).

4 s.i. admiration will be complete.

* Arab. “ Sahil Masr ” (Misr) : hence I suppose Galland’s villes maritimes.

• A favourite simile, suggested by the broken glitter and shimmer of the stream under
the level rays and the breeze of eventide.

292

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

spake he and the test fell to describing Egypt and her Nile. As I
heard their accounts, my thoughts dwelt upon the subject and when,
after talking their fill, all arose and went their ways, I lay down to
sleep that night, but sleep came not because of my violent longing
for Egypt; and neither meat pleased me nor drink. After a few
days my uncles equipped themselves for a trade-journey to Egypt;
and J wept before my father till he made ready for me fitting
merchandise, and he consented to my going with them, saying
however, “ Let him not enter Cairo, but leave him to sell his wares
at Damascus.” So I took leave of my father and we fared forth
from Mosul and gave not over travelling till we reached Aleppo 1
where we halted certain days. Then we marched onwards till we
made Damascus and we found her a city as though she were a
Paradise, abounding in trees and streams and birds and fruits of all
.kinds. We alighted at one of the Khans, where my uncles tarried
awhile selling and buying; and they bought and sold also on my
account, each dirham turning a profit of five on prime cost, which
pleased me mightily. After this they left me alone and set their
faces Egyptwards; whilst I abode at Damascus, where I had hired
from a jeweller, for two dinars a month, a mansion 2 whose beauties
would beggar the tongue. Here I remained, eating and drinking
and spending what monies I had in hand till one day, as I wa3
sitting at the door of my house behold, there came up a young
lady clad in costliest raiment—never saw my eyes richer. I
winked 3 at her and she stepped inside without hesitation and
stood within. I entered with her and shut the door upon myself
and her; whereupon she raised her face-veil and threw off her
mantilla, when I found her like a pictured moon of rare and mar¬
vellous loveliness; and love of her gat hold of my heart. So I
rose and brought a tray of the most delicate eatables and fruits and
whatso befitted the occasion, and we ate and played and after
that we drank till the wine turned our heads. Then I lay with her
the sweetest of nights and in the morning I offered her ten gold
pieces; when her face lowered and her eye-brows wrinkled and

4 Arab. “Halab,” derived by Moslems from “He (Abraham) milked (- halaba)
the white and dun cow.” But the name of the city occurs in the Cuneiforms as Halbun
or Khalbun, and the classics knew it as B epoia, Beroea, written with variants.

* Arab. “ Kl’atn” usually a saloon; but also applied to a fine house here and elsewhere
in The Nights.

5 Arab. “ Ghamz ”= winking, signing with the eye which; amongst Moslems, is not

held “vulgar.”

Tale of the Jewish Doctor. 293

shaking with wrath she cried, " Fie upon thee, O my swe et com¬
panion ! dost thou deem that I covet thy money ? ” Then she
took out from the bosom of her shift 1 fifteen dinars and, laying
them before me, said, “ By Allah! unless thou take them I will
never come back to thee.” So I accepted them and she said to
me, " O my beloved ! expect me again in three days’ time, when I
will be with thee between sunset and supper-tide; and do thou
prepare for us with these dinars the same entertainment as yester¬
night” So saying, she took leave of me and went away and all
my senses went with her. On the third day she came again, clad
in stuff weft with gold wire, and wearing raiment and ornaments
finer than before. I had prepared the place for her ere she arrived
and the repast was ready; so we ate and drank and lay together,
as we had done, till the morning, when she gave me other fifteen
gold pieces and promised to come again after three days. Ac¬
cordingly, I made ready for her and, at the appointed time, she
presented herself more richly dressed than on the first and second
occasion, and said to me, w O my lord, am I not beautiful ? * ** Yea,
by Allah thou art!” answered I, and she went on, "Wilt thou
allow me to bring with me a young lady fairer than I, and younger
in years, that she may play with us and thou and she may laugh,
and make merry and rejoice her heart, for she hath been very sad
this long time past, and hath asked me to take her out and let her
spend the night abroad with me ? * " Yea, by Allah! ” I replied ;
and we drank till the wine turned our heads and slept till the
morning, when she gave me other fifteen dinars, saying, “Add
something to thy usual provision on account of the young lady who
will come with me.” Then she went away, and on the fourth day
I made ready the house as usual, and soon after sunset behold, she
came, accompanied by another damsel carefully wrapped in her
mantilla. They entered and sat down ; and when I saw them I
repeated these verses:—

How dear is our day and how lucky our lot, • When the cynic** away
with his tongue malign!

When love and delight and the swimming of head © send cleverness trotting,—
the best boon of wine.

1 Arab. 14 Kami* ** from low Lat. ** Camicia,** found in St. Jerome“ Soles*
mflitantes habere tineas, quas Camicias voca oL** Our shirt, chemise, ch e m iset te, eta
was unknown to the Ancients of Europe.

294

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

When the full moon shines from the cloudy veil, o And the branchlet sways in
her greens that shine :

When the red rose mantles in freshest cheek, o And Narcissus 1 opeth hi»
love-sick eyne :

When pleasure with those I love is so sweet, o When friendship with those
I love is complete I

I rejoiced to see them, and lighted the candles after receiving them
with gladness and delight They doffed their heavy outer dresses
and the new damsel uncovered her face when I saw that she was
like the moon at its full—never beheld I aught more beautiful.
Then I rose and set meat and drink before them, and we ate and
drank; and I kept giving mouthfuls to the new comer, crowning
her cup and drinking with her till the first damsel, waxing inwardly
jealous, asked me, “ By Allah, is she not more delicious than I ? ” ;
whereto I answered, “ Ay, by the Lord ! ” " It is my wish that

thou lie with her this night; for I am thy mistress but she is our
visitor.” fi Upon my head be it, and my eyes.” Then she rose and
spread the carpets for our bed 2 and I took the young lady and lay
with her that night till morning, when I awoke and found myself
wet, as I thought, with sweat. I sat up and tried to arouse the
damsel; but when I shook her by the shoulders my hand became
crimson with blood and her head rolled off the pillow. Thereupon
my senses fled and I cried aloud, saying, “O All-powerful Protector,
grant me Thy protection! ” Then finding her neck had teen
severed, I sprung up and the world waxed black before my eyes,
and I looked for the lady, my former love, but could not find her.
So I knew that it was she who had murdered the damsel in her

1 Arab. “Narjis.’* * The Arabs borrowed nothing, but the Persians much, from Greek
Mythology. Hence the eye of Narcissus, an idea hardly suggested by the look of the
daffodil- (or asphodel) flower, is at times the glance of a spy and at times the die-away look
of a mistress. Some scholars explain it by the form of the flower, the internal calyx
resembling the iris, and the stalk being bent just below the petals suggesting drooping
eyelids and languid eyes. Hence a poet addresses the Narcissus:—

O Narjis, look away 1 Before those eyes • I may not kiss her as a-breast she lies.
What! Shall the lover close his eyes in sleep • While thine watch all things between
earth and skies ?

The fashionable lover in the East must affect a frantic jealousy if he does not feel it.

* In Egypt there are neither bedsteads nor bed-rooms: the carpets and mattresses,
pillows and Cushions (sheets being unknown) are spread out when wanted, and during
the day are put into chests or cupboards, or only rolled up in a corner of the room
(Pilgrimage i., 53).

*95

Tale of the Jewish Doctor .

jealousy 1 * * , and said, M There is no Majesty and there is no Might
save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! What is to be done now ?”
I considered awhile then, doffing my clothes, dug a hole in the
middle of the court-yard, wherein I laid the murdered girl with her
jewellery and golden ornaments ; and, throwing back the earth on
her, replaced the slabs of the marble* pavement. After this I
made the Ghusl or total ablution, 8 and put on pure clothes ; then,
taking what money I had left, locked up the house and summoned
courage and went to its owner to whom I paid a year’s rent, saying,
* I am about to join my uncles in Cairo.” Presently I set out and,
journeying to Egypt, foregathered with my uncles who rejoiced
in me, and I found that they had made an end of selling their
merchandise. They asked me, w What is the cause of thy coming ?
and I answered * I longed for a sight of youbut did not let them
know that I had any money with me, I abode with them a year,
enjoying the pleasures of Cairo and her Nile, 4 and squandering the
rest of my money in feasting and carousing till the time drew near
for the departure of my uncles, when I fled from them and hid
myself. They made enquiries and sought for me, but hearing no
tidings they said, * He will have gone back to Damascus.” When
they departed I came forth from my hiding-place and abode in
Cairo three years, until naught remained of my money. Now
every year I used to send the rent of the Damascus house to its
owner, until at last I had nothing left but enough to pay him for
one year’s rent and my breast was straitened. So I travelled to
Damascus and alighted at the house whose owner, the jeweller,
was glad to see me and I found everything locked up as I had left
it I opened the closets and took out my clothes and necessaries
and came upon, beneath the carpet-bed whereon I had lain that
night with the girl who had been beheaded, a golden necklace set

1 The women of Damascus have always been famed for the sanguinary jealousy with
which European story-books and novels credit the “Spanish lady.” The men were as
celebrated for intolerance and fanaticism, which we first read of in the days of Bertrandon
de la Brocquifcre and which culminated in the massacre of 186a Yet they are a
notoriously timid race and make, physically and morally, the worst of soldiers: we
proved that under my late friend Fred. Walpole in the Bashi-Buzuks during the old
Crimean war. The men looked very fine fellows and after a month in camp fell off to
riie condition of old women.

* Arab. “Rukhdm,” properly = alabaster and M Mannar ” = marble; but the two

are often confounded.

* He was ceremonially impure after touching a corpse.

4 The phrase is perfectly appropriate : Cairo without “her Nile” would be nothing.

A If Laylah ica Laylah.

296

with ten gems of passing beauty. I took it up and, cleansing it of
the blood, sat gazing upon it and wept awhile. Then I abode in
the house two days and on the third I entered the Hammam and
changed my clothes. I had no money by me now ; so Satan whis¬
pered temptation to me that the Decree of Destiny be carried out.
Next day I took the jewelled necklace to the bazar and handed it
to a broker who made me sit down in the shop of the jeweller, my
landlord, and bade me have patience till the market was full * l ,
when he carried off the ornament and proclaimed it for sale, privily
and without my knowledge. The necklet was priced as worth two
thousand dinars but the broker returned to me and said, “This
collar is of copper, a mere counterfeit after the fashion of the
Franks* and a thousand dirhams have been bidden for it.” “Yes,”
I answered, " I knew it to be copper, as we had it made for a
certain person that we might mock her: now my wife hath inherited
it and we wish to sell it ; so go and take over the thousand dir¬
hams.”-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased

to say her permitted say.

Nob fofjcn it foas tfje tJTfo?ntg--ntnth Nfgijt,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the beautiful
youth said to the broker, “Take over the thousand dirhams”; and
when the broker heard this, he knew that the case was suspicious.
So he carried the collar to the Syndic of the bazar, and the Syndic
took it to the Governor who was also prefect of police, and said to
him falsely enough, “ This necklet was stolen from my house, and
we have found the thief in traders' dress.” So before I was aware
of it the watch got round me and, making me their prisoner, carried
me before the Governor who questioned me of the collar. I told
him the tale I had told to the broker ; but he laughed and said,
* These words are not true.” Then, before I knew what was doing,
the guard stripped off my clothes and came down with palm-rods
upon my ribs, till for the smart of the stick I confessed, " It was I
who stole itsaying to myself, “' Tis better for thee to say, I stole

1 “ The market was hot ” say the Hindustanis. This would begin between 7 and S a. m.

1 Arab. Ai-Faranj, Europeans generally. It is derived from “ Gens Francorum/*
and dates from Crusading days when the French played the leading part. Hence ih«
Lingua Franca, the Levantine jargon, of which Moliere has left such a witty specimen.

29 7

Tale of the Jewish Doctor.

ft, than to let them know that its owner was murdered in thy
house, for then would they slay thee to avenge her.” So they
wrote down that I had stolen it and they cut off my hand and
scalded the stump in oil, 1 when I swooned away for pain ; but they
gave me wine to drink and I recovered and, taking up my hand, was
going to my fine house, when my landlord said to me, u Inasmuch,
O my son, as this hath befallen thee, thou must leave my house and
look out for another lodging for thee, since thou art convicted of
theft. Thou art a handsome youth, but who will pity thee after
this ?" " O my master ” said I, “ bear with me but two days or

three, till I find me another place.” He answered, * So be it,” and
went away and left me. I returned to the house where I sat weep¬
ing and saying, •‘Howshall I go back to my own people with my
hand lopped off and they know not that I am innocent ? Perchance
even after this Allah may order some matter for me.” And I
wept with exceeding weeping ; grief beset me and I remained in
sore trouble for two days; but on the third day my landlord came
suddenly in to me, and with him some of the guard and the Syndic
of the bazar, who had falsely charged me with stealing the necklet.
I went up to them and asked, “ What is the matter ? ” however, they,
pinioned me without further parley and threw a chain about my
neck, saying, M The necklet which was with thee hath proved to be
the property of the Wazir of Damascus who is also her Viceroy;”
and they added, “ It was missing from his house three years ago
at the same time as his younger daughter.” When I heard these
words, my heart sank within me and I said to myself, “ Thy life is
gone beyond a doubt! By Allah, needs must I tell the Chief my
story; and, if he will, let him kill me, and if he please, let him
pardon me.” So they carried me to the Wazir’s house and made
me stand between his hands. When he saw me, he glanced at
me out of the corner of his eye and said to those present, u Why
did ye lop off his hand ? This man is unfortunate, and there is no
fault in him; indeed ye have wronged him in cutting off his hand.”
When I heard this, I took heart and, my soul presaging good, I
said to him, “By Allah, O my lord, I am no thief; but they calum¬
niated me with a vile calumny, and they scourged me midmost
the market, bidding me confess till, for the pain of the rods, I lied
against myself and confessed the theft, albeit I am altogether

A process familiar to European surgery ot the sa me

2g8

Alf Laylah wa Laylah^

innocent of it* 9 * Fear not,” quoth the Viceroy, a no harm shall
come to thee/* Then he ordered the Syndic of the bazar to be im¬
prisoned and said to him, “ Give this man the blood-money for his
hand; and, if thou delay I will hang thee and seize all thy
property.” Moreover he called to his guards who took him and
dragged him away, leaving me with the Chief. Then they loosed
by his command the chain from my neck and unbound my arms ;
and he looked at me, and said, * O my son, be true with me, and
tell me how this necklace came to thee.” And he repeated these
verses:—

*By Allah, O my lord,” answered I, u l will tell thee nothing but
the truth.” Then I related to him all that had passed between me
and the first lady, and how she had brought me the second and had
slain her out of jealousy, and I detailed for him the tale to its full.
When he heard my story, he shook his head and struck his right
hand upon the left, 1 and putting his kerchief over his face wept
awhile and then repeated :—

7 see the woes of the world abound, o And worldings sick with spleen and
teen ;

Then he turned to me and said, M Know, O my son, that the elder
damsel who first came to thee was my daughter whom I used to
keep closely guarded. When she grew up, I sent her to Cairo
and married her to her cousin, my brother’s son. After a while he
died and she came back: but she had learnt wantonness and
Ungraciousness from the people of Cairo 2 ; so she visited thee four

1 In sign of disappointment, regret, vexation ; a gesture still common amongst Moslems
and corresponding in significance to a certain extent with our Stamping, wringing the
hands and so forth. It is not mentioned in the Koran where, however, we find “biting
fingers’ ends oat of wrath ” against a man (chapt. iii).

8 This is no unmerited scandal. The Cairenes, especially the feminine half (for
reasons elsewhere given), have always been held exceedingly debauched. Even the
modest Lane gives a “ shocking ” story of a woman enjoying her lover under the nose of
her husband and confining the latter in a madhouse (chapt. xiii.) With civilisation,
which objects to the good old remedy, the sword, they become worse: and the KatPs
court is crowded with would-be divorcees. Under English rule the evil has reached iU

Tale of the Jewish Doctor .

299

times and at last brought her younger sister. Now they were
sisters german and much attached to each other ; and, when that
adventure happened to the elder, she disclosed her secret to her
sister who desired to go out with her. So she asked thy leave and
carried her to thee ; after which she returned alone and, finding her
weeping, I questioned her of her sister, but she said:—I know
nothing of her. However, she presently told her mother privily
of what had happened and how she had cut off her sister’s head
and her mother told me. Then she ceased not to weep and say:
—By Allah! I shall cry for her till I die. Nor did she give over
mourning till her heart broke and she died ; and things fell out
after that fashion. See then, O my son, what hath come to pass ;
and now I desire thee not to thwart me in what I am about to
offer thee, and it is that I purpose to marry thee to my youngest
daughter; for she is a virgin and born of another mother * 1 ; and I
will take no dower of thee but, on the contrary, will appoint thee
an allowance, and thou shalt abide with me in my house in the
stead of my son.” “ So be it,” I answered, “ and how could I
hope for such good fortune ? ” Then he sent at once for the Kazi
and witnesses, and let write my marriage-contract with his daughter
and I went in to her. Moreover, he got me from the Syndic of the
bazar a large sum of money and I became in high favour with
him. During this year news came to me that my father was dead
and the Wazir despatched a courier, with letters bearing the
royal sign-manual, to fetch me the money which my father had left
behind him, and now I am living in all the solace of life. Such

acme because it goes unpunished : in the avenues of the new Isma’iliyah Quarter,
inhabited by Europeans, women, even young women, will threaten to expose their
persons unless they receive 4< bakhshish.” It was the same in Sind when husbands were
assured that they would be hanged for cutting down adulterous wives : at once after its
conquest the women broke loose ; and in 1843—50, if a young officer sent to the baza*
for a girl, half-a-dozen would troop to his quarters. Indeed more than once the profes¬
sional prostitutes threatened to memorialise Sir Charles Napier because the ‘‘modest
women,” the “ ladies” were taking the bread out of their mouths. The same was the
case at Kabul (Caboul) of Afghanistan in the old war of 1840 ; and here *he women had
more excuse, the husbands being notable sodomites as the song has it:—

The worth of slit the Afghan knows;

The worth of hole the Kabul-man.

1 So that he might not have to do with three sisters german. Moreover amongst
Moslems a girl’s conduct is presaged by that of her mother ; and if one sister go wrong,
the other is expected to follow suit. Practically the rule applies everywhere: “lik®
mother like daughter.”

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

JOO

*ras the manner of the cutting off my right hand. " I marvelled at
his story (continued the Jew), and I abode with him three day*
after which he gave me much wealth, and I set out and travelled
Eastward till I reached this your city and the sojourn suited me
right well; so I took up my abode here and there befel me what
thou knowest with the Hunchback.” Thereupon the King of
China shook his head 1 2 and said, “ This story of thine is not
stranger and more wondrous and marvellous and delectable than
the tale of the Hunchback; and so needs must I hang the whole
number of you. However there yet remains the Tailor who is the
head of all the offence and he added, “ O Tailor, if thou canst
tell me any thing more wonderful than the story of the Hunchback,
I will pardon you all your offences.” Thereupon the man came
forward and began to tell the

TALE OF THE TAILOR .

KNOW, O King of the age, that most marvellous was that which
befel me but yesterday, before I foregathered with the Hunchback.
It so chanced that in the early day I was at the marriage-feast of
one of my companions, who had gotten together in his house some
twenty of the handicraftsmen of this city, amongst them tailors and
silk-spinners and carpenters and others of the same kidney. As
soon as the sun had risen, they set food 1 before us that we might
eat when behold, the master of the house entered, and with him a
foreign youth and a well-favoured of the people of Baghdad,
wearing clothes as handsome as handsome could be; and he was
of right comely presence save that he was lame of one leg. He
came and saluted us and we stood up to receive him ; but when he
was about to sit down he espied amongst us a certain man which
was a Barber; whereupon he refused to be seated and would have

1 In sign of dissent; as opposed to nodding the head which signifies assent. These
are two items, apparently instinctive and universal, of man’s gesture-language which has
been so highly cultivated by sundry North American tribes and by the surdo-mut« estab¬
lishments of Europe.

2 This “Futur” is the real “breakfast** of the East, the “Chhoti hizri ** (petit
d^jefiner) of India, a bit of bread, a cup of coffee or tea and a pipe on rising. In the
text, however it is a ceremonious affair.

Tale of the Tailor .

301

gone away. But we stopped him and our host also stayed him #
making oath that he should not leave us and asked him, “ What is
the reason of thy coming in and going out again at once?";
whereto he answered, “By Allah, O my lord, do not hinder me;
for the cause of my turning back is yon Barber of bad omen, 1 yon
black o’ face, yon ne’er-do-well!” When the house-master heard
these words he marvelled with extreme marvel and said, “ How
cometh this young man, who haileth from Baghdad, to be so troubled
and perplexed about this Barber?” Then we looked at the
stranger and said, " Explain the cause of thine anger against the
Barber.” u O fair company,” quoth the youth, “ there befel me a
strange adventure with this Barber in Baghdad (which is my
native city) ; he was the cause of the breaking of my leg and of my
lameness, and I have sworn never to sit in the same place with
him, nor even tarry in any town where he happens to abide ; and
I have bidden adieu to Baghdad and travelled far from it and
came to stay in this your city; yet I have hardly passed one night
before I meet him again. But not another day shall go by ere I
fare forth from here.” Said we to him, “ Allah upon thee, tell us
the tale ; and the youth replied (the Barber changing colour from
brown to yellow as he spoke):—Know, O fair company, that my
father was one of the chief merchants of Baghdad, and Almighty
Allah had blessed him with no son but myself When I grew up
and reached man's estate, my father was received into the mercy
of Allah (whose Name be exalted!) and left me money and
eunuchs, servants and slaves; and I used to dress well and diet
well* * Now Allah had made me a hater of women-kind and one
day, as I was walking along a street in Baghdad a party of females
met me face to face in the footway; so I fled from them and,
entering an alley which was no thoroughfare, sat down upon a
stone-bench at its other end. I had not sat there long before the
latticed window of one of the houses opposite was thrown open,
and there appeared at it a young lady, as she were the full moon
at its fullest; never in my life saw I her like; and she began to
water some flowers on the window-silL 2 She turned right and left
and, seeing me watching her, shut the window and went away.

1 Arab. 44 Nabs,” a word of many meanings; a sinister aspect of the stars (as in Hebr.
tad Aram.) or, adjectively, sinister, of ill-omen. Vulgarly it is used as the reverse 0/
nice and corresponds, after a fashion with our 44 nasty.”

* 44 Window-gardening,” new in England, is an old practise in the East.

302

A/f Laylah wa LaylaJu

Thereupon fire was suddenly enkindled in my heart; my mind
was possessed with her and my woman-hate turned to woman-
love. I continued sitting there, lost to the world, till sunset when
lo 1 the Kazi of the city came riding by with his slaves before him
and his eunuchs behind him, and dismounting entered the house
in which the damsel had appeared. By this I knew that he was
her father; so I went home sorrowful and cast myself upon my
carpet-bed in grief. Then my handmaids flocked in and sat about
me, unknowing what ailed me; but I addressed no speech to them,
and they wept and wailed over me. Presently in came an old
woman who looked at me and saw with a glance what was the
matter with me: so she sat down by my head and spoke me fair,
saying, “ O my son, tell me all about it and I will be the means of
thy union with her." 1 So I related to her what had happened and
she answered, “ O my son, this one is the daughter of the Kazi
of Baghdad who keepeth her in the closest seclusion ; and the
window where thou sawest her is her floor, whilst her father
occupies the large saloon in the lower story. She is often there
alone and I am wont to visit at the house; so thou shalt not
win to her save through me. Now set thy wits to work and
be of good cheer.” With these words she went away and I
took heart at what she said and my people rejoiced that day,
seeing me rise in the morning safe and sound. By and by the
old woman returned looking chopfallen 2 * * , and said, “O my son,
do not ask me how I fared with her ! When I told her that, she
cried at me;—If thou hold not thy peace, O hag of ill-omen, and
leave not such talk, I will entreat thee as thou deservest and do
thee die by the foulest of deaths. But needs must I have at her
a second time. 5 ” When I heard this it added ailment to my
ailment and the neighbours visited me and judged that I was not
long for this world ; but after some days, the old woman came to
me and, putting her mouth close to my ear, whispered, “ O my son ;
I claim from thee the gift of good news.” With this my soul
returned to me and I said, “Whatever thou wilt shall be thine.”
Thereupon she began, “Yesterday I went to the young lady who,
seeing me broken in spirit and shedding tears from reddened eyes,

1 Her pimping instinct at once revealed the case to her.

* The usual “ pander-dodge ” to get more money.

* The writer means that the old woman’s account was all false, to increase apparent

difficulties and pour s< faire xraloir .

Tale of the Tailor .

303

asked me O naunty 1 mine, what ails thee, that I see thy breast
so straitened ?”; and I answered her, weeping bitterly, “O my lady,
I am just come from the house of a youth who loves thee and who
is about to die for sake of thee! ” Quoth she (and her heart was
softened)/* And who is this youth of whom thou speakest ?”; and
quoth I, “ He is to me as a son and the fruit of my vitals. He saw
thee, some days ago, at the window watering thy flowers and espying
thy face and wrists he fell in love at first sight. I let him know
what happened to me the last time I was with thee, whereupon his
ailment increased, he took to the pillow and he is naught now but
a dead man, and no doubt whatever of it.” At this she turned
pale and asked, “All this for my sake ?”; and I answered, “Ay, by
Allah ! 2 what wouldst thou have me do?” Said she,“Go back to
him and greet him for me and tell him that I am twice more heart¬
sick than he is. And on Friday, before the hour of public prayer,
bid him here to the house, and I will come down and open the
door for him. Then I will carry him up to my chamber and fore¬
gather with him for awhile, and let him depart before my father
return from the Mosque.” When I heard the old woman's words,
all my sickness suddenly fell from me, my anguish ceased and my
heart was comforted, I took off what clothes were on me and gave
them to her and, as she turned to go, she said; “ Keep a good
heart!” “ I have not a jot of sorrow left” I replied. My household
and intimates rejoiced in my recovery and I abode thus till Friday,
when behold, the old woman came in and asked me how I did, to
which I answered that I was well and in good case. Then I
donned my clothes and perfumed myself and sat down to await the
congregation going in to prayers, that I might betake myself to
her. But the old woman said to me, “Thou hast time and to
spare: so thou wouldst do well to go to the Hammam and have
thy hair shaven off (especially after thy ailment), so as not to show
traces of sickness.” “ This were the best way,” answered I, a J

1 Arab. U Y& Khdlati ”= mother’s sister ; a familiar address to the old, as uncle or

nuncle (father’s brother) to a man. The Arabs also hold that as a girl resembles her
mother so a boy follows his uncle (mother’s brother): hence the address “Ya tayyib
al-Khai! ” = O thou nephew of a good uncle. I have noted that physically this is
often fact. %

2 “ Ay w’ Allahi,” contracted popularly to Aywa, a word in every Moslem mouth and
shunned by Christians because against orders Hebrew and Christian. The better
educated Turks now eschew that eternal reference to Allah which appears in The Nights
and which is still the custom of the vulgar throughout the world of Al-Islara.

304

A!/ Lay la k wa Layla \.

have just now bathed in hot water; but I will have my head
shaved/ 1 2 Then I said to my page, “ Go to the bazar and bring
me a barber, a discreet fellow and one not inclined to meddling
or impertinent curiosity or likely to split my head with his excessive
talk/’ 1 The boy went out at once and brought back with him this
wretched old man, this Shaykh of ill-omen. When he came in he
saluted me and I returned his salutation ; then quoth he, “ Of a
truth I see thee thin of body;” and quoth I,“I have been ailing.”
He continued, “Allah drive far away from thee thy woe and thy
sorrow and thy trouble and thy distress.” “Allah grant thy
prayer 1 ” said I. He pursued, “ All gladness to thee, O my
master, for indeed recovery is come to thee. Dost thou wish to be
polled or to be blooded ? Indeed it was a tradition of Ibn Abbas*
(Allah accept of him !) that the Apostle said :—Whoso cutteth his
hair on a Friday, the Lord shall avert from him threescore and ten
calamities ; and again is related of him also that he said :—Cupping
on a Friday keepeth from loss of sight and a host of diseases/*
u Leave this talk,” I cried ; “ come, shave me my head at once for
I can't stand it.” So he rose and put forth his hand in most
leisurely way and took out a kerchief and unfolded it, and lo ! it
it contained an astrolabe 3 with seven parallel plates mounted in
silver. Then he went to the middle of the court and raised head
and instrument towards the sun’s rays and looked for a long while.
When this was over, he came back and said to me, “ Know that
there have elapsed of this our day, which be Friday, and this
Friday be the tenth of the month Safar in the six hundred and
fifty-third year since the Hegira or Flight of the Apostle (on whom
be the bestest of blessings and peace !) and the seventh thousand
three hundred and twentieth year of the era of Alexander, eight
degrees and six minutes. Furthermore the ascendant of this our

1 The “ Muzayyin ” or barber in the East brings his basin and budget under his arm :
he is not content only to shave, he must scrape the forehead, trim the eyebrows, pass
the blade lightly over the nose arid correct the upper and lower lines of the mustachios,
opening the central parting and so forth. He is not a whit less a tattler and a scandal*
monger than the old Roman tonsor or Figaro his confrere in Southern Europe. The
whole scene of the Barber is admirable, an excellent specimen of Arab humour and not
over-caricatured. We all have met him.

2 Abdullah ibn Abbas was a cousin and a companion of the Apostle; also a well-
known Commentator on the Koran and conserver of the traditions of Mohammed.

3 I have noticed the antiquity of this father of our sextant, a fragment of which was
found in the Palace of Sennacherib. More concerning the " Arstable ” (a? Chaucer
calls it} is given in my “ Camoens : his Life and his Lusiads” p. 381.

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<4f. •*“*-• •

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Tale of the Tailor.

305

day is, according to the exactest science of computation, the planet
Mars; and it so happeneth that Mercury is in conjunction with him,
denoting an auspicious moment for hair-cutting; and this also maketh
manifest to me that thou desirest union with a certain person and
that your intercourse will not be propitious. But after this there
occurreth a sign respecting a matter which will befal thee and where¬
of I will not speak.” “ O thou,” cried I, “ by Allah, thou weariest
me and scatterest my wits and thy forecast is other than good ; I
sent for thee to poll my head and naught else : so up and shave
me and prolong not thy speech.” “ By Allah,” replied he, “ if thou
but knew what is about to befal thee, thou wouldst do nothing this
day, and I counsel thee to act as I tell thee by computation of the
constellations.” “ By Allah,” said I, “ never did I see a barber
who excelled in judicial astrology save thyself: but I think and I
know that thou art most prodigal of frivolous talk. I sent for thee
only to shave my head, but thou comest and pesterest me with this
sorry prattle.” “ What more wouldst thou have ? ” replied he.
“ Allah hath bounteously bestowed on thee a Barber, who is an
astrologer, one learned in alchemy and white magic 1 ; syntax,
grammar, and lexicology ; the arts of logic, rhetoric and elocution ;
mathematics, arithmetic and algebra ; astronomy, astromancy and
geometry; theology, the Traditions of the Apostle and the Com¬
mentaries on the Koran. Furthermore, I have read books galore
and digested them and have had experience of affairs and compre¬
hended them. In short I have learned the theorick and the practick
of all the arts and sciences; I know everything of them by rote
and I am a past master in totd re scibili. Thy father loved me
for my lack of officiousness, argal, to serve thee is a religious duty
incumbent on me. I am no busy-body as thou seemest to suppose,
and on this account I am known as The Silent Man, also, The
Modest Man. Wherefore it behoveth thee to render thanks to
Allah Almighty and not cross me, for I am a true counsellor to
thee and benevolently minded towards thee. Would that I were

1 Arab. “ Sfmiya ” to rhyme with Kimiyd (alchemy proper). It is a subordinate
branch cf the Ilm al-Ruhani which I would translate “Spiritualism,” and which is
divided into two great branches, “ IIwi or Rahmani ” (the high or related to the Deity)
and Sifli or Shaytani (low, Satanic). To the latter belongs Al-Sahr, magic or the black
art proper, gramarye, egromancy, while Al-Simiyd is white magic, electro-biology, a kind
of natural and deceptive magic, in which drugs and perfumes exercise an important action.
One of its principal branches is the Darb al-Mandal or magic mirror.; of which more in a
future page. See Boccaccio’s Day x. Novel 5.

VOL. I.

30 6

A If Laylah wa LaylaJu

In thy service a whole year that thou mightest do me justice; and
I would ask thee no wage for all this.” When I heard his flow of
words, I said to him, M Doubtless thou wilt be my death this
day!—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

TX ofo foften ft teas tje STfctrtfttf)

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
man said to the Barber, ° Thou certainly wilt be the death of me
this very day! ” * O master mine,” replied he, “ I am he, The

Silent Man hight, by reason of the fewness of my words, to
distinguish me from my six brothers. For the eldest is called
Al-Bakbuk, the prattler; the second Al-Hadddr, the babbler; the
third Al-Fakfk, the gabbler; the fourth, his name is Al-Kuz
al-aswdni, the long-necked Gugglet, from his eternal chattering;
the fifth is Al-Nashshdr, the tattler and tale-teller; the sixth
Shakdshik, or many-clamours; and the seventh is famous as
Al-Sdmit, the Silent Man, and this is my noble self! ” Whilst he
redoubled his talk, I thought my gall-bladder would have burst ;
so I said to the servant, “ Give him a quarter-dinar and dismiss
him and let him go from me in the name of God who made him*
I won’t have my head shaved to-day.” “ What words be these, O
my lord ? ” cried he. “ By Allah ! I will accept no hire of thee till
I have served thee and have ministered to thy wants ; and I
care not if I never take money of thee. If thou know not my
quality, I know thine; and I owe thy father, honest man, on
whom Allah Almighty have mercy! many a kindness, for he was
a liberal soul and a generous. By Allah, he sent for me one day,
as it were this blessed day, and I went in to him and found a
party of his intimates about him. Quoth he to me, “ Let me
blood ;” so I pulled out my astrolabe and, taking the sun's alti¬
tude for him, I ascertained that the ascendant was inauspicious
and the hour unfavourable for blooding. I told him of this,
and he did according to my bidding and awaited a better oppor¬
tunity. So I made these lines in honour of him :—

I went to my patron some blood to let him, • But found that the moment was
far from good :

So I sat and I talked of all strangenesses, o And with jests and jokes his good
will I wooed :

They pleased him and cried he, ‘ 0 man of wit, a Thou hast proved thee per¬
fect in merry mood l *

Tale of the Tailor , 307

In thee gather grace, boon, bounty, suavity ; o And I guerdon the world with
lore, science and gravity.

Thy father was delighted and cried out to the servant, “ Give him
an hundred and three gold pieces with a robe of honour! ” The
man obeyed his orders, and I awaited an auspicious moment, when
I blooded him ; and he did not baulk me; nay he thanked me and
I was also thanked and praised by all present. When the blood¬
letting was over I had no power to keep silence and asked him,
" By Allah, O my lord, what made thee say to the servant:—Give
him an hundred and three dinars ?”; and he answered, “ One dinar
was for the astrological observation, another for thy pleasant con¬
versation, the third for the phlebotomisation, and the remaining
hundred and the dress were for thy verses in my commendation.”
“ May Allah show small mercy to my father,” exclaimed I, “for
knowing the like of thee.” He laughed and ejaculated, “ There is
no god but the God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God!
Glory to Him that changeth and is changed not! I took thee
for a man of sense, but I see thou babblest and dotest for illness,
Allah hath said in the Blessed Book 1 :—Paradise is prepared for
the goodly who bridle their anger and forgive men, and so forth ;
and in any case thou art excused. Yet I cannot conceive the
cause of thy hurry and flurry; and thou must know that thy
father and thy grandfather did nothing without consulting me,
and indeed it hath been said truly enough:—Let the adviser be
prized; and :—There is no vice in advice; and it is also said in
certain saws. Whoso hath no counsellor elder than he, will never
himself an elder be 2 ; and the poet says :—

And indeed thou shalt never find a man better versed in affairs
than I, and I am here standing on my feet to serve thee. I am
not vexed with thee : why shouldest thou be vexed with me ? But
whatever happen I will bear patiently with thee in memory of the
much kindness thy father shewed me. ,, “ By Allah,” cried I, “ O

1 Chap. iii. 128. See Sale (in loco) for the noble application of this text by the Imam
Hasan, son of the Caliph Ali.

2 These proverbs at once remind us of our old friend Sancho Panza and are equally
true to nature in the mouth of the Arab and of the Spaniard.

308

Alf Laylah wa LaylaJu

thou with tongue long as the tail of a jackass, thou persisted in
pestering me with thy prate and thou becomest more longsome in
thy long speeches, when all I want of thee is to shave my head and
wend thy way 1 ” Then he lathered my head saying, 14 1 perceive
thou art vexed with me, but I will not take it ill of thee, for thy wit
is weak and thou art but a laddy : it was only yesterday I used to
take thee on my shoulder 1 and carry thee to school/* “O my
brother,” said I, “for Allah’s sake do what I want and go thy
gait!” And I rent my garments. 2 3 When he saw me do this he
took the razor and fell to sharpening it and gave not over strop¬
ping it until my senses were well nigh leaving me. Then he came
up to me and shaved part of my head ; then he held his hand and
then he said, “ O my lord, haste is Satan’s gait whilst patience is
of Allah the Compassionate. But thou, O my master, I ken thou
knowest not my rank; for verily this hand alighteth upon the
heads of Kings and Emirs and Wazirs, and sages and doctors
learned in the law, and the poet said of one like me :— ^

All crafts are like necklaces strung on a string, o But this Barber’s the union
pearl of the band :

1 Our nurses always carry in the arms: Arabs place the children astraddle upon the
hip and when older on the shoulder.

2 Eastern clothes allow this biblical display of sorrow and vexation, which with our
European garb would look absurd : we must satisfy ourselves with maltreating our hats.

3 Koran xlviii., 8. It may be observed that according to the Ahddis (sayings of the
Prophet) and the Sunnat (sayings and doings of Mahommed), all the hair should be
allowed to grow or the whole head be clean shaven. Hence the “Shushah,” or top-
knot supposed to be left as a handle for drawing the wearer into Paradise ; and the Zulf,
or side-locks, somewhat like the ringlets of the Polish Jews, are both vain “ Bida’at,” or
innovations, and therefore technically termed “ Makruh,” a practice not laudable, neither
“Halal” (perfectly lawful) nor Haram ” (forbidden by the law). When boy9 are first
shaved, generally in the second or third year, a tuft is left on the crown and another
over the forehead ; but this is not the fashion amongst adults. Abu Hanifah, if I am
rightly informed, wrote a treatise on the Shushah or long lock growing from the
Nisiyah (head-poll) which is also a precaution lest the decapitated Moslem's mouth be
defiled by an impure hand ; and thus it would resemble the chivalry-lock by which the
Redskin brave (and even the “cowboy” of better times) facilitated the removal of hii
own scalp. Possibly the Turks had learned the practice from the Chinese and intro¬
duced it into Baghdad (Pilgrimage i., 240). The Badawi plait their locks in Kunia
(horns) or Jadiil (ringlets) which are undone only to be washed with the water ol the
she-camel. The wild Sherifs wear Haflah, long elf-locks hanging down both sides of
the throat, and shaved away about a finger's breadth round the forehead and behind tb«
neck (Pilgrimage iii., 35-36). I have elsewhere noted the accrocJu-taurs, the : * idiot-
fringe,” etc.

Tale of the Tailor.

30 $

Then said I, “Do leave off talking about what concerneth thee
not: indeed thou hast straitened my breast and distracted my
mind.” Quoth he, “Meseems thou art a hasty man;” and quoth
I, " Yes ! yes ! yes ! ” and he, “ I rede thee practise restraint of self,
for haste is Satan’s pelf which bequeatheth only repentance and
ban and bane, and He (upon whom be blessings and peace!) hath
said, The best of works is that wherein deliberation lurks: but I,
by Allah! have some doubt about thine affair; and so I should
like thee to let me know what it is thou art in such haste to do
for I fear me it is other than good.” Then he continued, u It wanteth
three hours yet to prayer-time; but I do not wish to be in doubt
upon this matter; nay, I must know the moment exactly, for'
truly:—A guess shot in times of doubt, oft brings harm about;
especially in the like of me, a superior person whose merits are
famous amongst mankind at large; and it doth not befit me to
talk at random, as do the common sort of astrologers." So saying,
he threw down the razor and taking up the astrolabe, went forth
under the sun and stood there a long time; after which he returned
and counting on his fingers said to me, “ There remain still to
prayer-time three full hours and complete, neither more nor yet
less, according to the most learned astronomicals and the wisest
makers of almanacks.” “ Allah upon thee,” cried I, “ hold thy
tongue with me, for thou breakest my liver in pieces.” So he took
the razor and, after sharpening it as before and shaving other
two hairs of my head, he again held his hand and said, “ I am con¬
cerned about thy hastiness and indeed thou wouldst do well to let
me into the cause of it;’t were the better for thee, as thou knowest
that neither thy father nor thy grandfather ever did a single thing
save by my advice.” When I saw that there was no escape from
him I said to myself, “ The time for prayer draws near and I wish
to go to her before the folk come out of the mosque. If I am
delayed much longer, I know not how to come at her.” Then said
I aloud, “Be quick and stint this talk and impertinence, for I
have to go to a party at the house of some of my intimates.”
When he heard me speak of the party, he said, “ This thy day is a
blessed day for me ! In very sooth it was but yesterday I invited
a company of my friends and I have forgotten to provide anything
for them to eat. This very moment I was thinking of it: Alas,
how I shall be disgraced in their eyes! ” . “ Be not distressed about
this matter,” answered 1 ; “ have I not told thee that J am bidden
to an entertainment this day? So everything in my,house, eatable

/ilj Lay [aft wa Lay la ft.

310

and drinkable, shall be thine, if thou wilt only get through thy
work and make haste to shave my head.” He replied, “Allah
requite thee with good ! Specify to me what is in thy house for my
guests that I may be ware of it.” Quoth I, “ Five dishes of meat
and ten chickens with reddened breasts 1 and a roasted lamb.”
“ Set them before me,” quoth he, “.that I may see them.” So I
told my people to buy, borrow or steal them and bring them in
anywise, and had all this set before him. When he saw it he cried,
“ The wine is wanting,” and I replied, “ I have a flagon or two of
good old grape-juice in the house,” and he said, “ Have it brought
out! ” So I sent for it and he exclaimed, “ Allah bless thee for a
generous disposition! But there are still the essences and per¬
fumes.” So I bade them set before him a box containing
Nadd, 2 the best of compound perfumes, together with fine lign-
aloes, ambergris and musk unmixed, the whole worth fifty dinars.
Now the time waxed strait and my heart straitened with it; so I
said to him, “Take it all and finish shaving my head by the life of
Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!).” “By Allah,” said he,
“ I will not take it till I see all that is in it.” So I bade the page
open the box and the Barber laid down the astrolabe, leaving the
greater part of my head unpolled ; and, sitting on the ground, turned
over the scents and incense and aloes-wood and essences till I was
well nigh distraught. Then he took the razor and coming up to
me shaved off some few hairs and repeated these lines:—

The boy like his father shall surety show, o As the tree from its parent root
shall grow. 3

Then said he, “ By Allah, O my son, I know not whether to thank
thee or thy father ; for my entertainment this day is all due to thy
bounty and beneficence; and, although none of my company be
worthy of it, yet I have a set of honourable men, to wit Zantut
the bath-keeper and Salfia the corn-chandler; and Silat the bean-

1 Meats are rarely coloured in modern days; hut Persian cooks are great adepts in
staining rice for the “ Pulao ” (which we call after its Turkish corruption “pilaff”): it
sometimes appears in rainbow-colours, red, yellow and blue ; and in India is covered
with gold and silver leaf. Europe retains the practice in tinting Pasch (Easter) eggs, the
survival of the mundane ovum which was hatched at Easter-tide; and they are dyed red
in allusion to the Elood of Redemption.

2 As I have noticed this is a mixture.

3 We say :— ’Tis rare the father in the son we see :

He sometimes rises in the third degree.

Tale of the Tailor .

Gil

seller; and Akrashah the greengrocer; and Humayd the scavenger;
and Sa’fd the camel-man; and Suwayd the porter; and Abu
Makdrish the bathman 1 ; and Kasim the watchman ; and Karim
the groom. There is not among the whole of them a bore or a
bully in his cups; nor a meddler nor a miser of his money, and
each and every hath some dance which he danceth and some of his
own couplets which he caroleth; and the best of them is that, like
thy servant, thy slave here, they know not what much talking is
nor what forwardness means. The bath-keeper sings to the tom¬
tom 2 a song which enchants; and he stands up and dances and
chants,

I am going, O mammy, to fill up my pot.

As for the corn-chandler he brings more skill to it than any; he
dances and sings,

O Keener,* * O sweetheart, thou fallest not short

and he leaves no one’s vitals sound for laughing at him. But the
scavenger sings so that the birds stop to listen to him and dancea
and sings,

News my wife wots is not locked in a box ! 4

And he hath privilege, for J tis a shrewd rogue and a witty; 5 and
speaking of his excellence I am wont to say:—

j 1 Arab. “ Ballan ” *>. the body-servant: “ Ballanah.’* is a tire-woman.

* Arab. “Darabukkah ” a drum made of Wood or earthen-ware (Lane, M. E., xviii.),
3 tnd used by all in Egypt.

* Arab. “Naihah” more generally “Naddabah” Lat. pra?fica or carina, a hired
mourner, the Irish “ Keener ” at the conclamatio or coronach, where the Hullabaloo,
Hulululu or Ululoo showed the survivors’ sorrow.

* These doggrels, which are like our street melodies, are now forgotten and others have
taken their place. A few years ago one often heard, “Dus ya lalli(tread, O my joy)
and “ Nazil il’al-Ganinah” (Down into the garden) and these in due turn become obsolete.
Lane (M. E. chapt. xviii.) gives the former e.g.

Tread, O my joy 1 Tread, O my joy!

Love of my love brings sore annoy,

A chorus to such stanzas as : —

Alexandrian damsels rare ! • Daintily o’er the floor ye fare :

Your lips are sweet, are sugar-sweet, * And purfled Cashmere shawls ye wear !

It maybe noted that “humming” is not a favourite practice with Moslems; if one of
the company begin, another will say, “Go to the Kahwah ” (the coffee-house, the
proper music-hall) “and sing there ! ” I have elsewhere observed their dislike to Ai-sifir
or whistling.

* Arab. Khali’a~ worn out, crafty, an outlaw ; used like Span. “ Perdido.’*

JI2 A If Laylak wa Laylah .

My life for the scavenger! right well I love him, o Like a waving bough he is
sweet to my sight :

Fate joined us one night, when to him quoth I o (The while I grew weak and
love gained more might)

‘ Thy love burns my heart ! ’ ‘And no wonder,* quoth he o ‘When the drawer
of dung turns a stoker wight/ 1

And indeed each is perfect in whatso can charm the wit with joy
and jollity;” adding presently, “But hearing is not seeing; and
indeed if thou make up thy mind to join us and put off going to thy
friends, ’t will be better for us and for thee. The traces of illness are
yet upon thee and haply thou art going among folk who be mighty
talkers, men who commune together of what concerneth them not;
or there may be amongst them some forward fellow who will split
thy head, and thou half thy size from sickness.” “ This shall be
for some other day,” answered I, and laughed with heart an¬
gered : “ finish thy work and go, in Allah Almighty’s guard, to
thy friends, for they will be expecting thy coming.” “ O my lord,”
replied he, “ I seek only to introduce thee to these fellows of infinite
mirth, the sons of men of worth, amongst whom there is neither
procacity nor dicacity nor loquacity ; for never, since I grew to
years of discretion, could I endure to consort with one who asketh
questions concerning what concerneth him not, nor have I ever fre¬
quented any save those who are, like myself, men of few words.
In sooth if thou were to company with them or even to see them
once, thou wouldst forsake all thy intimates.” “ Allah fulfil thy
joyance with them,” said I, “ needs must I come amongst them
some day or other.” But he said, “ Would it were this very day,
for I had set my heart upon thy making one of us; yet if thou
must go to thy friends to-day, I will take these good things, where¬
with thou hast honoured and favoured me, to my guests and leave
them to eat and drink and not wait for me ; whilst I will return to
thee in haste and accompany thee to thy little party ; for there is
no ceremony between me and my intimates to prevent my leaving
them. Fear not, I will soon be back with thee and wend with thee
whithersoever thou wendest. There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! ” I shouted ; “ Go
thou to thy friends and make merry with them ; and do let me go

1 “ Zabbal ” is the scavenger, lit. a dung-drawer, especially for the use of the Hammam
'vhich is heated with the droppings of animals. “ Wakkad ” (stoker) is the servant
v/ho turns the fire. The verses are mere nonsense to suit the Barber’s humour.

Talc of the Tailor .

3*3

to mine and be with them this day, for they expect me.’’ But the
Barber cried, " I will not let thee go alone; ” and I replied, “ The
truth is none can enter where I am going save myself.” He
rejoined, “ I suspect that to-day thou art for an assignation with
some woman, else thou hadst taken me with thee; yet am I the
right man to take, one who could aid thee to the end thou wishest.
But I fear me thou art running after strange women and thou wilt
lose thy life ; for in this our city of Baghdad one cannot do any
thing in this line, especially on a day like Friday : our Governor is
an angry man and a mighty sharp blade.” u Shame on thee, thou
wicked, bad, old man!” cried I, “Be off! what words are these
thou givest me ? w O cold of wit ,” 1 cried he, " thou sayest to me
what is not true and thou hidest thy mind from me, but I know the
whole business for certain and I seek only to help thee this day
with my best endeavour.” I was fearful lest my people or my
neighbours should hear the Barber’s talk, so I kept silence for a
long time whilst he finished shaving my head ; by which time the
hour of prayer was come and the Khutbah, or sermon, was about
to follow. When he had done, I said to him, “ Go to thy friends
with their meat and drink, and I will await thy return. Then we
will fare together.” In this way I hoped to pour oil on troubled
waters and to trick the accursed loon, so haply I might get quit of
him; but he said, “Thou art cozening me and thou wouldst g°
alone to thy appointment and cast thyself into jeopardy, whence
there will be no escape for thee. TJow by Allah! and again by
Allah! do not go till I return, that I may accompany thee and
watch the issue of thine affair.” u So be it,” I replied, u do not be
long absent” Then he took all the meat and drink I had given
him and the rest of it and went out of my house ; but the accursed
carle gave it in charge of a porter to carry to his home but hid
himself in one of the alleys. As for me I rose on the instant, for
the Muezzins had already called the Salim of Friday, the salutation
to the Apostle ; 2 and I dressed in haste and went out alone and,

‘ Arab. w Yi birid ”=0 fooL

* This form of blessing is chaunted from the Minaret about half-an-hour before midday,
vrhen the worshippers take their places in the mosque. At noon there is the usual Azin
or prayer-call, and each man performs a two-bow, in honour of the mosque and its
gathering, as it were. The Prophet is then blessed and a second Salim is called from the

raised ambo or platform (“dikkah”) by the divines who repeat the midday-call. Then
an Imam recites the first Khutbah, or sermon ** of praise”; and the congregation
worship* * in silence. This is followed by tbe second exhortation “ of Wa ax,” dispensing

314

A If Laylah zva LaylaJu

hurrying to the street, took my stand by the house wherein I had
seen the young lady. I found the old woman on guard at the door
awaiting me, and went up with her to the upper story, the damsels
apartment Hardly had I reached it when behold, the master of
the house returned from prayers and entering the great saloon,
closed the door. I looked down from the window and saw this
Barber (Allah’s curse upon him!) sitting over against the door and
said, “ How did this devil find me out ? ” At this very moment, as
Allah had decreed it for rending my veil of secrecy, it so happened
that a handmaid of the house-master committed some offence for
which he beat her. She shrieked out and his slave ran in to inter¬
cede for her, whereupon the Kazi beat him to boot, and he also
roared out. The damned Barber fancied that it was I who was
being beaten ; so he also fell to shouting and tore his garments and
scattered dust on his head and kept on shrieking and crying Help !
Help! So the people came round about him and he went on
yelling, u My master is being murdered in the Kazi’s house!”
Then he ran clamouring to my place with the folk after him, and
told my people and servants and slaves ; and, before I knew what
was doing, up they came tearing their clothes and letting loose
their hair 1 and shouting, “Alas, our master!”; and this Barber
leading the rout with his clothes rent and in sorriest plight; and he
also shouting like a madman and saying, “ Alas for our murdered
master! v And they all npde an assault upon the house in which
I was. The Kazi, hearing the yells and the uproar at his door
said to one of his servants, “ See what is the matter ”; and the man
went forth and returned and said, “ O my master, at the gate there
are more than ten thousand souls what with men and women, and
all crying out, Alas for our murdered master!; and they keep
pointing to our house.” When the Kazi heard this, the matter
seemed serious and he waxed wroth; so he rose and opening the
door saw a great crowd of people ; whereat he was astounded and

the words of wisdom. The Imam now stands up before the Mihrdb (prayer niche) and
recites the Ikimah which is the common Azan with one only difference : after “Hie ye
to salvation ” it adds “Come is the time of supplication ” ; whence the name, “causing
(prayer) to stand (i.£. to begin). Hereupon the worshippers recite the Farz or Koran*
commanded noon-prayer of Friday; and the unco’guid add a host of superogatories.
Those who would study the subject may consult Lane (M. J£. chapf. iii. and its abstract
in his “Arabian Nights,” I, p. 430, or note 69 to Chapt. ▼.)

1 i.<., The women loosed their hair; an immodesty sanctioned only by a great
calamity.

Tale of the Tailor .

315

taid, " O folk ! what is there to do ? * “ O accursed ! O dog ! O
hog! ” my servants replied ; “ ’Tis thou who hast killed our
master! ” Quoth he, “ O good folk, and what hath your master
done to me that I should kill him ? ,f —And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

jSofo fcrtien ft teas tfje ^Jtrtp*hrst

She sard, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kazi
said to the servants, “ What hath your master done to me that I
should kill him ? This is my house and it is open to you all.”
Then quoth the Barber, “Thou didst beat him and I heard him
cry outand quoth the Kazi, “ But what was he doing that I
should beat him, and what brought him in to my house; and
whence came he and whither went he ?” “ Be not a wicked, per¬
verse old man ! ” cried the Barber, “ for I know the whole story;
and the long and short of it is that thy daughter is in love with
him and he loves her ; and when thou knewest that he had entered
the house, thou badest thy servants beat him and they did so: by
Allah, none shall judge between us and thee but the Caliph; or
else do thou bring out our master that his folk may take him,
before they go in and save him perforce from thy house, and thou
be put to shame.” Then said the Kazi (and his tongue was bridled
and his mouth was stopped by confusion before the people), “ An
thou say sooth, do thou come in and fetch him out.” Whereupon
the Barber pushed forward and entered the house. When I saw
this I looked about for a means of escape and flight, but saw no
hiding-place except a great chest in the upper chamber where I
was. So I got into it and pulled the lid down upon myself and
held my breath. The Barber was hardly in the room before he
began to look about for me, then turned him right and left and
came straight to the place where I was, and stepped up to the chest
and, lifting it on his head, made off as fast as he could. At this, my
reason forsook me, for I knew that he would not let me be; so I
took courage and opening the chest threw myself to the ground.
My leg was broken in the fall, and the door being open I saw a
great concourse of people looking in. Now I carried in my sleeve
much gold and some silver, which I had provided for an ill day
like this and the like of such occasion ; so I kept scattering it
amongst the folk to divert their attention from me and, whilst

3 i6

Alf Laylak wa LaylaJu

they were busy scrambling for it, I set off, hopping as fast as I
could, through the by-streets of Baghdad, shifting and turning right
and left. But whithersoever I went this damned Barber would go
in after me, crying aloud, “They would have bereft me of my
maa-a-ster! They would have slain him who was a benefactor to
me and my family and my friends! Praised be Allah who made
me prevail against them and delivered my lord from their hands!”
Then to me, u Where wilt thou go now ? Thou wouldst persist in
following thine own evil devices, till thou broughtest thyself to this
ill pass ; and, had not Allah vouchsafed me to thee, ne'er hadst
thou escaped this strait into which thou hast fallen, for they would
have cast thee into a calamity whence thou never couldest have
won free. But I will not call thee to account for thine ignorance, as
thou art so little of wit and inconsequential and addicted to hasti¬
ness !” Said I to him, u Doth not what thou hast brought upon me
suffice thee, but thou must run after me and talk me such talk in
the bazar-streets ? w And I well-nigh gave up the ghost for excess
of rage against him. Then I took refuge in the shop of a weaver
amiddlemost of the market and sought protection of the owner
who drove the Barber away; and, sitting in the back-room, 1 I said
to myself, “ If I return home I shall never be able to get rid of this
curse of a Barber, who will be with me night and day; and I can¬
not endure the sight of him even for a breathing-space.” So I sent
out at once for witnesses and made a will, dividing the greater part
of my property among my people, and appointed a guardian over
them, to whom I committed the charge of great and small, direct¬
ing him to sell my houses and domains. Then I set out on my
travels that I might be free of this pimp 2 ; and I came to settle in
your town where I have lived some time. When you invited me
and I came hither, the first thing I saw was this accursed pander
seated in the place of honour. How then can my heart be glad
and my stay be pleasant in company with this fellow who brought
all this upon me, and who was the cause of the breaking of my leg
and of my exile from home and native land ? And the youth
refused to sit down and went away. When we heard his story
(continued the Tailor) we were amazed beyond measure and
amused and said to the Barber, u By Allah, is it true what this

1 These small shop* * are composed of a M bat ” and a “ ben ” (Pilgrimage i. 99.)

* Arab. “Kaww&d,” a popular term of abuse; hence the Span, and Port. “ Alco»
nteiro." The Italian “Galeotto” is from Galahalt, not Galahad.

The Barber’s Tale of Himself

young man saith of thee ?* * "By Allah , 199 replied he, *1 dealt thus
by him of my courtesy and sound sense and generosity. Had it
not been for me he had perished and none but I was the cause of
his escape. Well it was for him that he suffered in his leg and not
in his life! Had I been a man of many words, a meddler, a busy
body, I had not acted thus kindly by him ; but now I will tell you
a tale which befel me, that you may be well assured I am a man
sparing of speech in whom is no forwardness and a very different
person from those six Brothers of mine; and this it is.

THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIMSELF.

I WAS living in Baghdad -during the times of Al-Mustansir bi’llah, 1
son of Al-Mustazi bi’llah the then Caliph, a prince who loved the
poor and needy and companied with the learned and pious. One day
it happened to him that he was wroth with ten persons, highwaymen
who robbed on the Caliph’s highway, and he ordered the Prefect of
Baghdad to bring them into the presence on the anniversary of the
Great Festival. 3 So the Prefect sallied out and, making them his
prisoners, embarked with them in a boat. I caught sight of them
as they were embarking and said to myself, “ These are surely
assembled for-a marriage-feast; methinks they are spending their
day in that boat eating and drinking, and none shall be companion
of their cups but I myself. ,, So I rose, O fair assembly; and, of
the excess of my courtesy and the gravity of my understanding, I
embarked with them and entered into conversation with them.
They rowed across to the opposite bank, where they landed and
there came up the watch and guardians of the peace with chains,
which they put round the robbers’ necks. They chained me among
the rest of them; and, O people, is it not a proof of my courtesy

1 ue. one seeding assistance in Allah.’* He was the son of Al-Zahir bi’llah (one
pre-eminent by the decree of Allah). Lane says (i. 430;), “ great-grandson of Harun
al-Rashid,” alluding to the first Mustansir son of Al-Mutawakkil (regn. A.H. 247-248=:
861-2). But this is the 56th Abbaside and regn. A.H. 623-640 ( = 1226-1242).

* Arab. ** Yaum al-Id, M the Kurban Bairam of the Turks, the Pilgrimage festival.
The story is historical. In the“Akd,” a miscellany compiled by Ibn Abd Rabbuh

(vulg. Rabbi-hi) of Cordova, who ob. A.H. 328 = 940 we read :—A spunger found ten
criminals and followed them, imagining they were going to a feast; but lo, they were
going to their deaths And when they were slain and he remained, he was brought before
the Khalifah (Al-Maamun) and Ibrahim son of Al-Mahdi related a tale to procure pardon
for the man, whereupon the Kh*UIah pardoned him. Lane u, 506.

318

Alf Laylah wa LaylaJu

and spareness of speech, that I held my peace and did not please
to speak ? Then they took us away in bilbos and next morning
carried us all before Al-Mustansir bi’llah, Commander of the
Faithful, who bade smite the necks of the ten robbers. So the
Sworder came forward after they were seated on the leather of
blood ; l then drawing his blade, struck off one head after another
until he had smitten the neck of the tenth ; and I alone remained
The Caliph looked at me and asked the Headsman, saying,
w What ails thee that thou hast struck off only nine heads ? and
he answered, “Allah forbid that I should behead only nine, when
thou biddest me behead ten ! ” Quoth the Caliph, “ Meseems thou
hast smitten the necks of only nine, and this man before thee is
the tenth.” “ By thy beneficence ! ” replied the Headsman, “ I have
beheaded ten.” “ Count them! ” cried the Caliph and whenas
they counted heads, lo ! there were ten. The Caliph looked at me
and said, “ What made thee keep silence at a time like this and
how earnest thou to company with these men of blood. Tell me
the cause of all this, for albeit thou art a very old man, assuredly
thy wits are weak.” Now when I heard these words from the
Caliph I sprang to my feet and replied, “ Know, O Prince of the
Faithful, that I am the Silent Shaykh and am thus called to dis¬
tinguish me from my six brothers. I am a man of immense
learning whilst, as for the gravity of my understanding, the
wiliness of my wits and the spareness of my speech, there is no
end to them ; and my calling is that of a barber. I went out
early on yesterday morning and saw these men making for a skiff;
and, fancying they were bound for a marriage-feast, I joined them
and mixed with them. After a while up came the watch and
guardians of the peace, who put chains round their necks and
round mine with the rest; but, in the excess of my courtesy, I
held my peace and spake not a word ; nor was this other but
generosity on my part. They brought us into thy presence, and
thou gavest an order to smite the necks of the ten ; yet did I not
make myself known to thee and remained silent before the
Sworder, purely of my great generosity and courtesy which led

* Arab. “Nata* al*Dam **; the former word was noticed in the Tale of the Bull and
the Ass. The leather of blood was not unlike the Sufrah and could be folded into a

bag by a string running through rings round the edges. Moslem executioners wero
very expert and seldom failed to strike off the head with a single blow of the thin
narrow blade with razor-edge, hard as diamond withal, which contrasted so strongly
with the great coarse chopper of the European headsman.

The Barber's Tale of his First Brother, 319

me to share with them in their death. But all my life long have I
dealt thus nobly with mankind, and they requite me the foulest
and evillest requital! ” When the Caliph heard my words and
knew that I was a man of exceeding generosity and of very few
words, one in whom is no forwardness (as this youth would have
it whom I rescued from mortal risk and who hath so scurvilv
repaid me), he laughed with excessive laughter till he fell upon
his back. Then said he to me, “ O Silent Man, do thy six brothers
favour thee in wisdom and knowledge and spareness of speech ?

I replied, “ Never were they like me ! Thou puttest reproach upon
me, O Commander of the Faithful, and it becomes thee not to
even my brothers with me ; for, of the abundance of their speech
and their deficiency of courtesy and gravity, each one of them
hath gotten some maim or other. One is a monocular, another
palsied, a third stone-blind, a fourth cropped of ears and nose and
a fifth shorn of both lips, while the sixth is a hunchback and a
cripple. And conceive not, O Commander of the Faithful, that I
am prodigal of speech; but I must perforce explain to thee that I
am a man of greater worth and fewer words than any of them.
From each one of my brothers hangs a tale of how he came by
his bodily defect and these I will relate to thee. So the Caliph
gave ear to

THE BARBEES TALE OF HIS FIRST BROTHER,

Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that my first brother,
Ad-Bakbuk, the prattler, is a Hunchback who took to tailoring in
Baghdad, and he used to sew in a shop hired from a man of much
wealth, who dwelt over the shop, 1 and there was also a flour-mill
in the basement. One day as my brother, the Hunchback, was
sitting in his shop a-tailoring, he chanced to raise his head and
saw a lady like the rising full moon at a balconied window of his
landlord's house, engaged in looking out at the passers-by. 2 When
my brother beheld her, his heart was taken with love of her and he
passed his whole day gazing at her and neglected his tailoring till

1 The ground floor, which in all hot countries is held, and rightly so, unwholesome
during sleep, is usually let for shops. This is also the case throughout Southern Europe,
and extends to the Canary Islands and the Brazil.

8 This serious contemplation of street-scenery is one of the pleasures of the Harems.

320

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

eventide. Next morning he opened his shop and sat him down to
sew ; but, as often as he stitched a stitch, he looked to the window
and saw her as before ; and his passion and infatuation for her
increased. On the third day as he was sitting in his usual place,
gazing on her, she caught sight of him and, perceiving that he had
been captivated with love of her, laughed in his face, 1 and he
smiled back at her. Then she disappeared and presently sent her
slave-girl to him with a bundle containing a piece of red flowered
silk. The handmaid accosted him and said, “ My lady salameth to
thee and desireth thee, of thy skill and good will, to fashion for her
a shift of this piece and to sew it handsomely with thy best
sewing.” He replied, “ Hearkening and obedience ” ; and shaped
[for her a chemise and finished sewing it the same day. When the
[morning morrowed the girl came back and said to him, “ My lady
salameth to thee and asks how thou hast passed yesternight; for she
hath not tasted sleep by reason of her heart being taken up with
thee.” Then she laid before him a piece of yellow satin and said,
u My lady biddeth thee cut her two pair of petticoat-trousers out
of this piece and sew them this very day. “ Hearkening and
obedience! ” replied he, greet her for me with many greetings
and say to her, Thy slave is obedient to thine order; so com¬
mand him as thou wilt.” Then he applied himself to cutting out
and worked hard at sewing the trousers ; and after an hour the
lady appeared at the lattice and saluted him by signs, now casting
down her eyes, then smiling in his face, and he began to assure
himself that he would soon make a conquest. She did not let him
stir till he had finished the two pair of trousers, when she with¬
drew and sent the handmaid to whom he delivered them; and
she took them and went her ways. When it was night, he threw
himself on his carpet-bed, and lay tossing about from side to side
till morning, when he rose and sat down in his place. Presently
the damsel came to him and said, ‘ My master calleth for thee.”
Hearing these words he feared with exceeding fear; but the slave-
girl, seeing his affright, said to him, “ No evil is meant to thee:
naught but good awaiteth thee. My lady would have thee make
acquaintance with my lord.” So my brother the tailor, rejoicing
with great joy, went with her; and when he came into the presence
of his landlord, the lady’s husband, he kissed the ground before
him, and the master of the house returned his greeting and gave

* We should say smiled at him”: the laugh was not intended as an affront.

The Barbels Tale of his First Brother.

$21

him a great piece of linen saying, “ Shape me shirts out of this
stuff and sew them welland my brother answered, “To hear is
to obey.” Thereupon he fell to work at once, snipping, shaping
and sewing till he had finished twenty shirts by supper time,
without stopping to taste food. The house-master asked him,
“ How much the wage for this?”; and he answered, “Twenty
dirhams.” So the gentleman cried out to the slave-girl, “ Bring
me twenty dirhams,” and my brother spake not a word; but the
lady signed, “Take nothing from him;” whereupon my brother
said, 44 by Allah I will take naught from thy hand.” And he
carried off his tailor’s gear and returned to his shop, although he
was destitute even to a red cent. 1 Then he applied himself to do
their work; eating, in his zeal and diligence, but a bit of bread
and drinking only a little water for three days. At the end of this
time came the handmaid and said to him, “What hast thou
done?” Quoth he, “They are finished,” and carried the shirts to
the lady's husband, who would have paid him his hire: but he
said, “I will take nothing/’ for fear of her and, returning to his
shop, passed the night without sleep because of his hunger. Now
the dame had informed her husband how the case stood (my
brother knowing naught of this); and the two had agreed to make
him tailor for nothing, the better to mock and laugh at him. Next
morning he went to his shop, and, as he sat there, the handmaid
came to him and said , 44 Speak with my master ” So he accom¬
panied her to the husband who said to him, 44 1 wish thee to cut
out for me five long-sleeved robes. 2 * * ” So he cut them out 5 * * * 9 * and
took the stuff and went away. Then he sewed them and carried
them to the gentleman, who praised his sewing and offered him a
purse of silver. He put out his hand to take it, but the lady
signed to him from behind her husband not to do so, and he
replied, “O my lord, there is no hurry, we have time enough for
this.” Then he went forth from the house meaner and meeker

1 Arab. “ Fals ahmar.” Fa’s is a fish-scale, also the smaller coin and the phiral

w Fains” is the vulgar term for money (— Ital. q-uattrini) without specifying the-coin.

It must not be confounded with the “ Fazzah,” alias ** Nuss,” alias 11 Pdrdh” (Turk.) ;

the latter beiDg made, not of “ red copper ” but of a vile alloy containing like the

Greek “ Asper,” some silver; and representing, when at par, the fortieth of a piastre,

the latter being = 2d. |ths.

* Arab. “ Farajiyah,” a long-sleeved robe ; Lane’s “ Farageeyeh,” M. E., chapt !.

9 The tailor in the East, as in Southern Europe, is made to cut out the cloth in

presence of its owner to prevent ** cabbaging.* 1

VOL. I. X

12 2

A If Laylah wa LaytafL

than a donkey, for verily five things were gathered together In him
viz:—love, beggary, hunger, nakedness and hard labour. Never¬
theless he heartened himself with the hope of gaining the lady’s
favours. When he had made an end of all their jobs, they played
him another trick and married him to their slave-girl; but, on the
night when he thought to go in to her, they said to him, “ Lie this
night in the mill; and to-morrow all will go well. 0 My brother
concluded that there was some good cause for this and nighted
alone in the milL Now the husband had set on the miller to make
the tailor turn the mill: so when night was half spent the man
came into him and began to say, “ This bull of ours hath become
useless and stan.deth still instead of going round: he will not turn
the mill this night, and yet we have great store of com to be
ground. However, I’ll yoke him perforce and make him finish
grinding it before morning, as the folk are impatient for their
flour.” So he filled the hoppers with grain and, going up to my
brother with a rope in his hand, tied it round his neck and said to
him, “ Gee up 1 Round with the mill 1 thou, O bull, wouldst do
nothing but grub and stale and dung! ° Then he took a whip and
laid it on the shoulders and calves of my brother, who began to
howl and bellow ; but none came to help him; and he was forced
to grind the wheat till hard upon dawn, when the house-master
came in and, seeing my brother still tethered to the yoke and the
man flogging him, went aw r ay. At day-break the miller returned
home and left him still yoked and half dead; and soon after in
came the slave-girl who unbound him, and said to him, “ I and my
lady are right sorry for what hath happened and we have borne
thy grief with thee.” But he had no tongue wherewith to answer
her from excess of beating and mill-turning. Then he retired to
his lodging and behold, the clerk who had drawn up the marriage-
deed came to him 1 and saluted him, saying, “ Allah give thee long
life I May thy espousal be blessed ! This face telleth of pleasant
doings and dalliance and kissing and clipping from dusk to dawn.**
* Allah grant the liar no peace, O thou thousandfold cuckold! ”,
my brother replied, w by Allah, I did nothing but turn the mill in
the place of the bull all night till morning 1 u “ Tell me thy tale,**
quoth he; and my brother recounted what had befallen him and
he said, M Thy star agrees not with her star; but an thou wilt I can
alter the contract for thee,” adding, “ ’Ware lest another cheat be

1 Expecting a present..

The Barber’s Tale of his First Brother .

323

not in store for thee.” And my brother answered him, “ See if
thou have not another contrivance.” Then the clerk left him and
he sat in his shop, looking for some one to bring him a job whereby
he might earn his day’s bread. Presently the handmaid came to
him and said, “ Speak with my lady.” “ Begone, O my good girl,”
replied he, " there shall be no more dealings between me and thy
lady.” The handmaid returned to her mistress and told her what
my brother had said and presently she put her head out of the
window, weeping and saying, “ Why, O my beloved, are there to be
no more dealings ’twixt me and thee ? ” But he made her no
answer. Then she wept and conjured him, swearing that ail which
had befallen him in the mill was not sanctioned by her and that
she was innocent of the whole matter. When he looked upon
her beauty and loveliness and heard the sweetness of her speech,
the sorrow which had possessed him passed from his heart; he
accepted her excuse and he rejoiced in her sight. So he saluted
her and talked with her and sat tailoring awhile, after which the
handmaid came to him and said, “ My mistress greeteth thee and
informeth thee that her husband purposeth to lie abroad this night
in the house of some intimate friends of his; so, when he is gone,
do thou come to us and spend the night with my lady in delight-
somest joyance till the morning.” Now her husband had asked
her, “ How shall we manage to turn him away from thee?;” and
she answered, “ Leave me to play him another trick and make him
a laughing-stock for all the town.” But my brother knew naught
of the malice of women. As soon as it was dusk, the slave-girl
came to him and carried him to the house, and when the lady saw
him she said to him, “ By Allah, O my lord, I have been longing
exceedingly for thee." ** By Allah,” cried he, “ kiss me quick before
thou give me aught else. 1 ” Hardly had he spoken, when the lady’s
husband came in from the next room 5 and seized him, saying, “ By
Allah, I will not let thee go, till I deliver thee to the chief of the
town watch.” My brother humbled himself to him ; but he would
not listen to him and carried him before the Prefect who gave him
an hundred lashes with a whip and, mounting him on a camel,
promenaded him round about the city, whilst the guards pro¬
claimed aloud, “This is his reward who violateth the Harims of

1 Alluding to the saying, Kiss is the key to Kitty.”

* The “ panel-dodge ” is fatally common throughout the East, where a man found ia
the house of another is helpless.

A If Laylah wa Laylafu

honourable men!” Moreover, he fell off the camel and broke his
leg and so became lame. Then the Prefect banished him from the
city; and he went forth unknowing whither he should wend; but
I heard of him and fearing for him went out after him, and brought
him back secretly to the city and restored him to health and took
him into my house where he still liveth.” The Caliph laughed at
my story and said, 44 Thou hast done well, O Samit, O Silent Man,
O spare of speech! ”; and he bade me take a present and go
away. But I said, 44 I will accept naught of thee except I tell thee
what befel all my other brothers; and do not think me a man of
many words.” So the Caliph gave ear to,

THE BARBERS TALE OF HIS SECOND BROTHER ,.

)

Know, 0 Commander of the Faithful, that my second brother's
name was Al-Haddar, that is the babbler, and he was the paralytic*
Now it happened to him one day, as he was going about his
business, that an old woman accosted him and said, 44 Stop a little,
my good man, that I may tell thee of somewhat which, if it be to
thy liking, thou shalt do for me and I will pray Allah to give thee
good of it! ” My brother stopped and she went on, 44 I will put
thee in the way of a certain thing, so thou not be prodigal of
speech.” 44 On with thy talk," quoth he ; and she, 44 What sayest
thou to handsome quarters and a fair garden with flowing waters,
flowers blooming, and fruit growing, and old wine going and a
pretty young face whose owner thou mayest embrace from dark
till dawn ? If thou do whatso I bid thee thou shalt see something
greatly to thy advantage.” * And is all this in the world ? ” asked
my brother; and she answered, “ Yes, and it shall be thine, so thou
be reasonable and leave idle curiosity and many words, and do my
bidding,” 44 1 will indeed, O my lady,” said he, 44 how is it thou
hast preferred me in this matter before all men and what is it that
so much pleaseth thee in me ? ” Quoth she, 44 Did I not bid thee
be spare of speech ? Hold thy peace and follow me. Know, that
the young lady, to whom I shall carry thee, loveth to have her own
way and hateth being thwarted and all who gainsay; so, if thou
humour her, thou shalt come to thy desire of her.” And my
brother said, 44 1 will not cross her in anything.” Then she went on
and my brother followed her, an-hungering after what she described

The Barbels Tale oj his Second Brother 325

to him till they entered a fine large house, handsome and dioicely
furnished, full of eunuchs and servants and showing signs of pros¬
perity from top to bottom. And she was carrying him to the
upper story when the people of the house said to him, “ What dost
thou here ? ” But the old woman answered them, u Hold your
peace and trouble him not: he is a workman and we have occasion
for him.” Then she brought him into a fine great pavilion, with a
garden in its midst, never eyes saw a fairer; and made him sit upon
a handsome couch. He had not sat long, before he heard a loud
noise and in came a troop of slave-girls surrounding a lady like the
moon on the night of its fullest When he saw her, he rose up and
made an obeisance to her, whereupon she welcomed him and bade
him be seated. So he sat down and she said to him, “Allah
advance thee to honour! Is all well with thee ? ” “ O my lady,”

he answered, “all with me is right well.” Then she bade bring in
food, and they set before her delicate viands; so she sat down to
eat, making a show of affection to my brother and jesting with him,
though all the while she could not refrain from laughing; but as
often as he looked at her, she signed towards her handmaidens as
though she were laughing at them. My brother (the ass!) under¬
stood nothing ; but, in the excess of his ridiculous passion, he fancied
that the lady was in love with him and that she would soon grant
him his desire. When they had done eating, they set on the wine
and there came in ten maidens like moons, with lutes ready strung
in their hands, and fell to singing with full voices, sweet and sad,
whereupon delight gat hold upon him and he took the cup from
the lady’s hands and drank it standing. Then she drank a cup of
wine and my brother (still standing) said to her “Health,” and
bowed to her. She handed him another cup and he drank it off,
when she slapped him hard on the nape of his neck . 1 Upon this
my brother would have gone out of the house in anger; but the
old woman followed him and winked to him to return. So he
came back and the lady bade him sit and he sat down without a
word. Then she again slapped him on the nape of his neck; and
the second slapping did not suffice her, she must needs make all
her handmaidens also slap and cuff him, while he kept saying to
the old woman, u I never saw aught nicer than this.” She on her
side ceased not exclaiming, “ Enough, enough, I conjure thee, O

*Thi* vu the beginning of horvcpUj which often ends in a bastinado.

326

Alf Laylah iva Laylah.

my mistress !”; but the women slapped him till he well nigh
swooned away. Presently my brother rose and went out to obey a
call of nature, but the old woman overtook him, and said, “ Be
patient a little and thou shalt win to thy wish.” “ How much
longer have I. to wait,” my brother replied, “ this slapping hath
made me feel faint” “ As soon as she is warm with wine,” answered
she, “ thou shalt have thy desire,” So he returned to his place and
sat down, whereupon all the handmaidens stood up and the lady
bade them perfume him with pastiles and besprinkle his face with
rose-water. Then said she to him,“Allah advance thee to honour!
Thou hast entered my house and hast borne with my conditions,
for whoso thwarteth me I turn him away, and whoso is patient hath
his desire.” “ O mistress mine,” said he, “ I am thy slave and in the
hollow of thine hand! ” “ Know, then,” continued she, “ that Allah

hath made me passionately fond of frolic; and whoso falleth in with
my humour cometh by whatso he wisheth.” Then she ordered
her maidens to sing with loud voices till the whole company was
delighted ; after which she said to one of them, “Take thy lord*
and do what is needful for him and bring him back to me forth¬
right.” So the damsel took my brother (and he not knowing what
she would do with him) ; but the old woman overtook him and
said, “ Be patient; there remaineth but little to do.” At this his face
brightened and he stood up before the lady while the old woman
kept saying, “ Be patient; thou wilt now at once win to thy wish ! ”;
till he said, “ Tell me what she would have the maiden do with
me?” “Nothing but good,” replied she, “as I am thy sacrifice I
She wisheth only to dye thy eyebrows and pluck out thy mus-
tachios.” Quoth he, “As for the dyeing of my eyebrows, that will
come off with washing, 1 but for the plucking out of my mustachio3
that indeed is a somewhat painful process.” “ Be cautious how
thou cross her,” cried the old woman; “ for she hath set her heart
on thee.” So my brother patiently suffered her to dye his eye¬
brows and pluck out his mustachios; after which the maiden
returned to her mistress and told her. Quoth she, “ Remaineth now
only one other thing to be done; thou must shave his beard and

*i »•»

4 —... . -----

- - •• ' •

1 Hair-dyes, in the East, are all of vegetable matter, henna, indigo-leaves, galls, etc.:
our mineral dyes are, happily for them, unknown. Herklots will supply a host of recipes.
The Egyptian mixture which I quoted in Pilgrimage (ii., 274) is sulphate of iron and
ammoniure of iron one part and gall nuts two parts, infused in eight parts of distilled water.
It is innocuous but very poor as a dye.

The Barber s Tale of his Second Brother . 327

make him a smooth o’ face. 1 ” So the maiden went back and told
him what her mistress had bidden her do; and my brother (the
blockhead !) said to her, “ How shall I do what will disgrace me
before the folk ? ” But the old woman said, “ She would do on
this wise only that thou mayst be as a beardless youth and that no
hair be left on thy face to scratch and prick her delicate cheeks;
for indeed she is passionately in love with thee. So be patient and
thou shalt attain thine object.” My brother was patient and did
her bidding and let shave off his beard and, when he was brought
back to the lady, lo! he appeared dyed red as to his eyebrows,
plucked of both mustachios, shorn of his beard, rouged on both
cheeks. At first she was affrighted at him; then she made
mockery of him and, laughing till she fell upon her back, said,
“ O my lord, thou hast indeed won my heart by thy good nature ! ”
Then she conjured him, by her life, to stand up and dance, and he
arose, and capered about, and there was not a cushion in the house
but she threw it at his head, and in like manner did all her women
who also kept pelting him with oranges and lemons and citrons
till he fell down senseless from the cuffing on the nape of the neck,
the pillowing and the fruit-pelting. “ Now thou hast attained thy
wish,” said the old woman when he came round ; “ there are no
more blows in store for thee and there remaineth but one little thing
to do. It is her wont, when she is in her cups, to let no one have
her until she put off her dress and trousers and remain stark
naked. 2 Then she will bid thee doff thy clothes and run; and
she will run before thee as if she were flying from thee; and do
thou follow her from place to place till thy prickle stands at fullest
point, when she will yield to thee 3 ;” adding, “ Strip off thy clothes
at once.” So he rose, well nigh lost in ecstacy and, doffing his
raiment, showed himself mother-naked.-And Shahrazad per¬

ceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

1 Arab. Amrad, etymologically “beardless and handsome,** but often used in a bad
iense, to denote an effeminate, a catamite.

2 The Hindus prefer “having the cardinal pointsas her sole garment.** V£tu declimat,
says Madame de StaeL In Paris nude statues are “ draped in cerulean blue.** Rabelais
(iv., 29) robes King Shrovetide in grey and gold of a comical cut, nothing before, nothing
behind with sleeves of the same.

3 This scene used to be enacted a few years ago in Paris for the benefit of concealed
spectators, a young American being the victim. It was put down when one of the lookers’
00 lost his eye by a pen-knife thrust into the “ crevice.**

^28

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

Nofo fcoljcn (t foas tfjc ®fwty--&£con& NtjjJt,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old
woman said to the Barber’s second brother, “ Doff thy clothes/’ he
rose, well nigh lost in ecstacy ; and, stripping off his raiment, showed
himself mother-naked. Whereupon the lady stripped also and said
to my brother, “If thou want anything run after me till thou catch
me.” Then she set out at a run and he ran after her while she
rushed into room after room and rushed out of room after room,
my brother scampering after her in a rage of desire like a veritable
madman, with yard standing terribly tall. After much of this kind
she dashed into a darkened place, and he dashed after her; but
suddenly he trod upon a yielding spot, which gave way under his
weight; and, before he was aware where he was, he found himself
in the midst of a crowded market, part of the bazar of the leather-
sellers who were crying the prices of skins and hides and buying
and selling When they saw him in his plight, naked, with stand¬
ing yard, shorn of beard and moustachios, with eyebrows dyed red,
and cheeks ruddled with rouge, they shouted and clapped their
hands at him, and set to flogging him with skins upon his bare
body till a swoon came over him. Then they threw him on the
back of an ass and carried him to the Chief of Police. Quoth the
Chief “ What is this ? ” Quoth they, “ This fellow fell suddenly
upon us out of the Wazir’s house 1 in this state.” So the Prefect
gave him an hundred lashes and then banished him from Baghdad.
However I went out after him and brought him back secretly into
the city and made him a daily allowance for his living: although,
were it not for my generous humour, I could not have put up with
the like of him. Then the Caliph gave ear to

THE BARBEES TALE OF HIS THIRD BROTHER,

My third brother’s name was Al-Fakfk, the Gabbler, who was
blind. One day Fate and Fortune drove him to a fine large house,
and he knocked at the door, desiring speech of its owner that he

1 Meaning that the trick had been played by the Wazir’s wife or daughter. I could
mention sundry names at Cairo whose charming owners have done worse things than
this unseemly frolic.

The Barber's Tale of his Third Brother.

329

might beg somewhat of him. Quoth the master of the house,
“ Who is at the door ? ” But my brother spake not a word and
presently he heard him repeat with a loud voice, “ Who is this ? ’*
Still he made no answer and immediately heard the master walk
to the door and open it and say, “ What dost thou want?” My
brother answered “ Something for Allah Almighty’s sake. 1 ” “ Art

thou blind ? ^ asked the man, and my brother answered "Yes”
Quoth the other, '‘Stretch me out thy hand.” So my brother put
out his hand thinking that he would give him something; but he
took it and, drawing him into the house, carried him up from stair
to stair till they reached the terrace on the house-top, my brother
thinking the while that he would surely give him something of
food or money. Then he asked my brother, “ What dost thou
want, O blind man ? ” and he answered, “ Something for the
Almighty’s sake.” “ Allah open for thee some other door (” “ O

thou ! why not say so when I was below stairs ?” “ O cadger,

why not answer me when I first called to thee?” “And what
meanest thou to do for me now?” “There is nothing in the
house to give thee.” “ Then take me down the stair.” “ The path
is before thee.” So my brother rose and made his way downstairs,
till he came within twenty steps of the door, when his foot slipped
and he rolled to the bottom and broke his head. Then he went
out, unknowing whither to turn, and presently fell in with two other
blind men, companions of his, who said to him, “What didst thou
gain to-day ? ” He told them what had befallen him and added,
“ O my brothers, I wish to take some of the money in my hands
and provide myself with it.” Now the master of the house had
followed him and was listening to what they said ; but neither my
brother nor his comrades knew of this. So my brother went to his
lodging and sat down to await his companions, and the house-owner
entered after him without being perceived. When the other blind
men arrived, my brother said to them, “Bolt the door and search
the house lest any stranger have followed us.” The man, hearing
this, caught hold of a cord that hung from the ceiling and clung to
it, whilst they went round about the house and searched but found
no one. So they came back, and, sitting beside my brother, brought
out their money which they counted and lo ! it was twelve thousand
dirhams. Each took what he wanted and they buried the rest in

1 Arab. “Shayyun li’lUhi,” a beggar’s formulae per amor di Dio.

35°

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

a corner of the room. Then they set on food and sat down, to eat.
Presently my brother, hearing a strange pair of jaws munching by
his side, 1 said to his friends, “ There is a stranger amongst us; ”
and, putting forth his hand, caught hold of that of the house-master.
Thereupon all fell on him and beat him; 2 and when tired of
belabouring him they shouted, “ O ye Moslems ! a thief is come in
to us, seeking to take our money!” A crowd gathered around
them, whereupon the intruder hung on to them; and complained
with them as they complained ; and, shutting his eyes like them, so
that none might doubt his blindness, cried out, “ O Moslems, I take
refuge with Allah and the Governor, for I have a matter to make
known to him ! ” Suddenly up came the watch and, laying hands
on the whole lot (my brother being amongst them), drove them 3 to
the Governor’s who set them before him and asked, “What news
with you ? ” Quoth the intruder, “ Look and find out for thyself,
not a word shall be wrung from us save by torture, so begin by
beating me and after me beat this man our leader.” 4 And he pointed
to my brother. So they threw the man at full length and gave
him four hundred sticks on his backside. The beating pained
him, whereupon he opened one eye and, as they redoubled their
blows, he opened the other eye. When the Governor saw this
he said to him, “What have we here, O accursed?”; whereto
he replied, “ Give me the seal-ring of pardon ! We four have
shammed blind, and we impose upon people that we may enter
houses and look upon the unveiled faces of the women and con¬
trive for their corruption. In this way we have gotten great gain

1 Noting how sharp-eared the blind become.

2 The blind in Egypt are notorious for insolence and violence, fanaticism and rapacity.
Not a few foreigners have suffered from them (Pilgrimage i. 148). In former times
many were blinded in infancy by their mothers, and others blinded themselves to escape
conscription of honest hard work. They could always obtain food, especially as Mu’ezzins ;
and were preferred because they could not take advantage of the minaret by spying into
their neighbours’ households. The Egyptian race is chronically weak-eyed, the effect of
the damp hot climate of the valley, where ophthalmia prevailed even during the pre-
Pharaohnic days. The great Sesostris died stone-blind and his successor lost his sight
for ten years (Pilgrimage ii., 176). That the Fellahs are now congenitally weak-eyed,
may by seen by comparing them with negroes imported from Central Africa. Ophthalmia
rages, especially during the damp season, in the lower Nile-valley; and the best cure for
it is a fortnight’s trip to the Desert where, despite glare, sand and wind, the $ye readily
recovers tone.

3 i.e. With kicks and cuffs, and blows, as is the Custom. (Pilgrimage T., 1 74.)

* Arab. Kdid (whence “ Alcayde”) a word still much used in North Western Africa.

The Barber s Tale of his Fourth Brother .

331

ana our store amounts to twelve thousand dirhams. Said I to my
company:—Give me my share, three thousand ; but they rose and
beat me and took away my money, and I seek refuge with Allah
and with thee; better thou have my share than they. So, if thou
wouldst know the truth of my words, beat one and every of the
others more than thou hast beaten me, and he will surely open his
eyes. The Governor gave orders for the question to begin with
my brother, and they bound him to the whipping-post , 1 and the
Governor said, “ O scum of the earth, do ye abuse the gracious
gifts of Allah and make as if ye were blind !” “ Allah ! Allah !”

cried my brother, “ by Allah, there is none among us who can
see.” Then they beat him till he swooned away and the Governor
cried,-“ Leave him till he come to and then beat him again.”
After this he caused each of the companions to receive more than
three hundred sticks, whilst the sham-abraham kept saying to them
“ Open your eyes or you will be beaten afresh.” At last the man
said to the Governor, “Dispatch some one with me to bring'thee
the money ; for these fellows will not open their eyes, lest they
incur disgrace before the- folk.” So the Governor sent to fetch
the money and gave the man his pretended share, three thousand
dirhams; and, keeping the rest for himself, banished the three
blind men from the city. But I, O Commander of the Faithful,
went out and overtaking my brother questioned him of his case;
whereupon he told me of what I have told thee; so I brought him
secretly into the city, and appointed him (in the strictest privacy)
an allowance for meat and drink ! The Caliph laughed at my
story and said, “ Give him a gift and let him go ;” but I said, “ By
Allah! I will take naught till I have made known to the Com¬
mander of the Faithful what came to pass with the rest of my
brothers ; for truly I am a man of few words and spare of speech.”
Then the Caliph gave ear to

THE BARBERS TALE OF HIS FOURTH BROTHER.

Now as for my fourth brother, O Commander of the Faithful,
Al-Kuz al-aswani, or the long-necked Gugglet hight, from his
brimming over with words, the same who was blind of one eye, he

1 Arab. “ Sullam" =JL{. a ladder; a frame* work of sticks, used by way of our triangles
or -whipping-posts..

33 *

4/f Laylah wa Laylah.

became a butcher in Baghdad and he sold flesh and fattened rams ;
and great men and rich bought their meat of him, so that he
amassed much wealth and got him cattle and houses. He fared
thus a long while, till one day, as he was sitting in his shop, there
came up an old man and long o* the beard, who laid down
some silver and said, " Give me meat for this.” He gave him his
money's worth of flesh and the oldster went his ways. My brother
examined the Shaykh’s silver, and, seeing that the dirhams were
white and bright, he set them in a place apart. The greybeard
continued to return to the shop regularly for five months, and my
brother ceased not to lay up all the coin he received from him in its
own box. At last he thought to take out the money to buy sheep;
so he opened the box and found in it nothing, save bits of white
paper cut round to look like coin 1 ; so he buffetted his face and
cried aloud till the folk gathered about him, whereupon he told
them his tale which made them marvel exceedingly. Then he
rose as was his wont, and slaughtering a ram hung it up inside his
shop; after which he cut off some of the flesh, and hanging it
outside kept saying to himself, “ O Allah, would the ill-omened
old fellow but come! ” And an hour had not passed before the
Shaykh came with his silver in hand ; whereupon my brother rose
and caught hold of him calling out, <f Come aid me, O Moslems, and
learn my story with this villain ! ” When the old man heard this,
he quietly said to him, “ Which will be the better for thee, to let
go of me or to be disgraced by me amidst the folk ? ” “ In what
wilt thou disgrace me?” “In that thou sellest man's flesh for
mutton ! ” “ Thou liest, thou accursed! ” “ Nay, he is the accursed

who hath a man hanging up by way of meat in his shop.” “ If
the matter be as thou sayest, I give thee lawful leave to take my
money and my life.” Then the old man cried out aloud, “ Ho, ye
people! if you would prove the truth of my words, enter this man’s
shop.” The folk rushed in and found that the ram was become
a dead man 2 hung up for sale. So they set upon my brother
crying out, “ O Infidel! O villain!”; and his best friends fell to
cuffing and kicking him and kept saying, “ Dost thou make us eat
flesh of the sons of Adam ?” Furthermore, the old man struck

1 This is one of the feats of Al-Simiya rr white magic; fascinating the eyes.- In
Europe it has lately taken the name of “ Electro-biology. 0

-Again by means of the “Simiyi” or power of fascination possessed by the old
scoundrel.

The Barber* s Tale of his Fourth Brother.

333

him on the eye and put it out. Then they carried the carcass,
with the throat cut, before the Chief of the city-watch, to whom the
old man said, “ O Emir, this fellow butchers men and sells their
flesh for mutton and we have brought him to thee; so arise and
execute the judgments of Allah (to whom be honour and glory !) w
My brother would have defended himself, but the Chief refused to
hear him and sentenced him to receive five hundred sticks and to
forfeit the whole of his property. And, indeed, had it not been for
that same property which he expended in bribes, they would have
surely slain him. Then the Chief banished him from Baghdad ;
and my brother fared forth at a venture, till he came to a great
town, where he thought it best to set up as a cobbler; so he opened
a shop and sat there doing what he could for his livelihood. One
day, as he went forth on his business, he heard the distant tramp of
horses and, asking the cause, was told that the King was going out
to hunt and course; so my brother stopped to look at the fine
suite. It so fortuned that the King's eye met my brother’s; where¬
upon the King hung down his head and said, 44 1 seek refuge with
Allah from the evil of this day! l ; and turned the reins of his steed
and returned home with all his retinue. Then he gave orders to
his guards, who seized mjt brother and beat him with a beating so
painful that he was well-nigh dead; and my brother knew not
what could be the cause of his maltreatment, after which he returned
to his place in sorriest plight Soon afterwards he went to one of
the King's household and related what had happened to him;
and the man laughed till he fell upon his back and cried, 44 O
brother mine, know that the King cannot bear to look at a monocu¬
lar, especially if he be blind of the right eye, in which case he doth
not let him go without killing him.*' When my brother heard this,
he resolved to fly from that city; so he went forth from it to
another wherein none knew him and there he abode a long while.
One day, being full of sorrowful thought for what had befallen him,
he sallied out to solace himself; and, as he was walking along, he
heard the distant tramp of horses behind him and said, "The
judgment of Allah is upon me 1 ” and looked about for a hiding-

1 A formula for averting ** Al-Ayn," the evil eye. It is always unlucky to meet a one-
eyed man, especially the first thing in the morning and when setting out on any errand.
The idea is that the fascinated one will suffer from some action of the physical eye.
Monoculars also are held to be rogues : so the Sanskrit saying M Few one-eyed men to
honest men.’'

334

A If Laylah wa Laylah.

place but found none. At last he saw a closed door which he
pushed hard : it yielded and he entered a long gallery in which he
took refuge, but hardly had he done so, when two men set upon
him crying out, “ Allah be thanked for having delivered thee into
our hands, O enemy of God! These three nights thou hast robbed
us of our rest and sleep, and verily thou hast made us taste of the
death-cup." My brother asked, “ O folk, what ails you?"; and
they answered, “ Thou givest us the change and goest about to
disgrace us and plannest some plot to cut the throat of the house¬
master! Is it not enough that thou hast brought him to beggary,
thou and thy fellows ? But now give us up the knife wherewith
thou threatenest us every night." Then they searched him and
found in his waist-belt the knife used for his shoe-leather; and he
said, “O people, have the fear of Allah before your eyes and mal¬
treat me not, for know that my story is a right strange!" “And
what is thy story ? ” said they : so he told them what had befallen
him, hoping they would let him go ; however they paid no heed to
what he said and, instead of showing some regard, beat him
grievously and tore off his clothes : then, finding on his sides the
scars of beating with rods, they said, “ O accursed ! these marks
are the manifest signs of thy guilt!" They carried him before the
Governor, whilst he said to himself, “ I am now punished for my
sins and none can deliver me save Allah Almighty!" The Governor
addressing my brother asked him, “O villain, what led thee to
enter their house with intention to murther?"; and my brother
answered, “ I conjure thee by Allah, O Emir, hear my words and
be not hasty in condemning me ! " But the Governor cried, “ Shall
we listen to the words of a robber who hath beggared these people,
and who beareth on his back the scar of his stripes ? ” adding, “ They
surely had not done this to thee, save for some great crime, 0 So
he sentenced him to receive an hundred cuts with the scourge, after
which they set him on a camel and paraded him about the city,
proclaiming, “ This is the requital and only too little to requite him
who breaketh into people’s houses." Then they thrust him out of
the city, and my brother wandered at random, till I heard what had
befallen him ; and, going in search of him, questioned him of his
case; so he acquainted me with his story and all his mischances,
and I carried him secretly to the city where I made him an allow¬
ance for his meat and drink. Then the Caliph gave ear to

335

The Barbels Tale of his Fifth Brother ,;

THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS FIFTH BROTHER.

My fifth brother Al-Nashshir, 1 the Babbler, the same who was
cropped of both ears, 0 Commander of the Faithful, was an asker
wont to beg of folk by night and live on their alms by day. Now
when our father, who was an old man well stricken in years,
sickened and died, he left us seven hundred dirhams whereof
each son took his hundred ; but, as my fifth brother received his
portion, he was perplexed and knew not what to do with it*
While in this uncertainty he bethought him to lay it out on glass¬
ware of all sorts and turn an honest penny on its price. So he
bought an hundred dirhams worth of verroterie and, putting it into
a big tray, sat down to sell it on a bench at the foot of a wall
against which he leant back. As he sat with the tray before him
he fell to musing and said to himself, " Know, O my good Self,
that the head of my wealth, my principal invested in this glass-ware,
is an hundred dirhams. I will assuredly sell it for two hundrec^
with which I will forthright buy other glass and make by it four
hundred ; nor will I cease to sell and buy on this wise, till I have
gotten four thousand and soon find myself the master of much
money. With these coins I will buy merchandize and jewels and
ottars* and gain great profit on them ; till, Allah willing, I will
make my capital an hundred thousand dirhams. Then I wilL
purchase a fine house with white slaves and eunuchs and horses;
and I will eat and drink and disport myself; nor will I leave a
singing man or a singing woman in the city, but I will summon

1 Al-Nashshar from Nashr= sawing : so the fiddler in Italian is called the “ village-
saw ” (Sega del villaggio) He is the Alnaschaur of the Englished Galland and Richard¬
son. The tale is very old. It appears as the Brahman and the Pot of Rice in the
Panchatantra; and Professor Benfey believes (as usual with him) that this, with many
others, derives from a Buddhist source. But I would distinctly derive it from /Esop’s
market-woman who kicked over her eggs ; whence the Lat. prov. Ante victoriam cancre
triumphum = to sell the skin before you have caught the bear. In the “ Kalilah and
Dimnah” and its numerous offspring it is the “Ascetic with his Jar of oil and honey
in Rabelais (i, 33) Echephron’s shoemaker spills his milk, and so La Perette in La
Fontaine. See M. Max Muller’s “Chips,” vol. iii., appendix. The curious reader will
compare my version with that which appears at the end of Richardson’s Arabic Grammar
(Edit, of l8n) r bthad a better, or rather a fuller MS. (p. 199) than any yet printed.

* Arab. “Atr” = any perfume especially oil of roses; whence our word “ Ottar,’*
through the Turkish corruption.

336

A If Laylah wa Laylah .

them to my palace and make them perform before me.** All this
he counted over in his mind, while the tray of glassware, worth an
hundred dirhams, stood on the bench before him , and, after
looking at it, he continued, “And when, Inshallah! my capital shall
have become one hundred thousand 1 dinars, I will send out
marriage-brokeresses to require for me in wedlock the daughters of
Kings and Wazirs; and I will demand to wife the eldest daughter
of the Prime Minister; for it hath reached me that she is perfect
in beauty and prime in lovelinesss and rare in accomplishments. I
will give a marriage-settlement of one thousand dinars; and, if her
father consent, well: but if not I will take her by force from under
his very nose. When she is safely homed in my house, I will buy
ten little eunuchs 2 and for myself a robe of the robes of Kings and
Sultans; and get me a saddle of gold and a bridle set thick with
gems of price. Then I will mount with the Mamelukes preceding
me and surrounding me, and I will make the round of the city
whilst the folk salute me and bless me; after which I will repair to
the Wazir (he that is father of the girl), with armed white slaves
before and behind me and on my right and on my left. When he
sees me, the Wazir stands up, and seating me in his own place sits
down much below me; for that I am to be his son-in-law. Now I
have with me two eunuchs carrying purses, each containing a
thousand dinars; and of these I deliver to him the thousand, his
daughter's marriage-settlement, and make him a free gift of the
other thousand, that he may have reason to know my generosity
and liberality and my greatness of spirit and the littleness of the
world in.my eyes. And for ten words he addresses to me I answer
him two. Then back I go to my house, and if one come to me on
the bride's part, I make him a present of money and throw on him
a dress of honour ; but if he bring me a gift, I give it back to him
and refuse to accept it, 3 that they may learn what a proud spirit is
mine which never condescends to derogate. Thus I establish my
rank and status. When this is done I appoint her wedding night
and adorn my house showily! gloriously! And as the time for

1 The texts give “dirhams ” (ioo,ooo — 5,000 dinars) for tl dinars,** a clerical error as
the sequel shows.

2 “ Young slayes,” says Richardson, losing “ colour.**

3 Nothing more calculated to give affront than such a refusal. Richardson (p. 204)
who, however, doubts his own version (p. 208) here translates, “and I will not give
liberty to my soul (spouse) but in her apartments.” The Arabic or rather Cairene, is,
“ wa la akhalli rtfhi ” =21 will not let myself go i.e. be my everyday self, etc.

The Barber’s Tale of his Fifth Brother .

337

parading the bride is come, I don my finest attire and sit down on
a mattress of gold brocade, propping up my elbow with a pillow,
and turning neither to the right nor to the left; but looking only
straight in front for the haughtiness of my mind and the gravity of
my understanding. And there before me stands my wife in her
raiment and ornaments, lovely as the full moon; and I, in my
loftiness and dread lordliness, 1 will not glance at her till those
present say to me, “ O our lord and our master, thy wife, thy
handmaid, standeth before thee ; vouchsafe her one look for
standing wearieth her.” Then they kiss the ground before me
many times ; whereupon I raise my eyes and cast at her one single
glance and turn my face earthwards again. Then they bear her
off to the bride-chamber, 2 and I arise and change my clothes for a
far finer suit; and, when they bring in the bride a second time, I
deign not to throw her a look till they have begged me many times;
after which I glance at her out of the corner of one eye, and then
bend down my head. I continue acting after this fashion till the
parading and displaying are completed 3 ——And Shahrazad per¬
ceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Nob) fofjtn tt teas tbe ®i)trigJuft Ntgbt,

She said. It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Barber's
fifth brother proceeded :—Then I bend down my head and continue
acting after this fashion till her parading and displaying are com¬
pleted. Thereupon I order one of my eunuchs to bring me a bag
of five hundred dinars which I give as largesse to the tirewomen
present and bid them one and all lead me to the bride-chamber.
When they leave me alone with her I neither look at her nor speak
to her, but lie 4 by her side with my face to the wall showing my
contempt, that each and every may again remark how high and
haughty I am. Presently her mother comes in to me ; and kissing *
my head and hand, says to me, “ O my lord, look upon thine
handmaid who longs for thy favour; so heal her broken spirit!”
I give her no answer ; and when she sees this she rises and busses

1 ” Whilst she is in astonishment and terror.” (Richardson).

2 “ Chamber of robes,” Richardson whose text has “ Nam ” for “ Man£m.”

* “Till I compleat her distress,” Richardson, whose text is corrupt.

4 ** Sleep by her side,” R. the word “ N6ma” bearing both senses.

4 ** Will take my hand,” R. “ takabbal" being also ambiguous.

VOL I.

33«

Alf Laylak wa Laylah-

my feet many times and says, “ O my lord, in very sooth my
daughter is a beautiful maid, who hath never known man ; and if
thou show her this backwardness and aversion, her heart will
break; so do thou incline to her and speak to her and soothe her
mind and spirit.” Then she rises and fetches a cup of wine ; and
says to her daughter, “ Take it and hand it to thy lord.” But as
she approaches me I leave her standing between my hands and sit,
propping my elbow on a round cushion purfled with gold thread,
leaning lazily back, and without looking at her in the majesty of
my spirit, so that she may deem me indeed a Sultan and a mighty
man. Then she says to me, “ O my lord, Allah upon thee, do not
refuse to take the cup from the hand of thine handmaid, for verily
I am thy bondswoman.” But I do not speak to her and she
presses me, saying, “ There is no help but that thou drink it; ” and
she puts it to my lips. Then I shake my fist in her face and
kick her with my foot thus. So he let out with his toe and
knocked over the tray of glass-ware which fell to the ground
and, falling from the bench, all that was on it was broken to bits.
“ O foulest of pimps, 1 this comes from the pride of my spirit! ”
cried my brother; and then, O Commander of the Faithful, he
buffeted his face and rent his garments, and kept on weeping and
beating himself. The folk who were flocking to their Friday
prayers saw him ; and some of them looked at him and pitied
him, whilst others paid no heed to him, and in this way my
brother lost both capital and profit. He remained weeping a long
while, and at last up came a beautiful lady, the scent of musk ex¬
haling from her, who was going to Friday prayers riding a mule
with a gold saddle and followed by several eunuchs. When she
saw the broken glass and my brother weeping, her kind heart was
moved to pity for him, and she asked what ailed him and was told
that he had a tray full of glass-ware by the sale of which he hoped
to gain his living, but it was broken, and (said they), " there befel
him what thou seest.” Thereupon she called up one of her eunuchs
and said to him, “ Give what thou hast with thee to this poor
fellow! ” And he gave my brother a purse in which he found five
hundred dinars ; and when it touched his hand he was well-nigh

1 Arab. “Mu’arras” one who brings about “ ’Ars,” marriages, etc. So the Germ.
** Kupplerinn,” a Coupleress. It is one of the many synonyms for a pimp, and a word
in general use (Pilgrimage i., 276). The most insulting term, like Dayyus, insinuates
that the man panders for his own wife.

The Barber's Tale of his Fifth Brother.

339

dying for excess of joy and he offered up blessings for her. Then
he returned to his abode a substantial man ; and, as he sat con¬
sidering, some one rapped at the door. So he rose and opened
and saw an old woman whom he had never seen. u O my son,”
said she, “ know that prayertide is near and I have not yet made
my Wuzu-ablution 1 ; so kindly allow me the use of thy lodging for
the purpose.” My brother answered, “ To hear is to comply and
going in bade her follow him. So she entered and he brought her
an ewer wherewith to wash, and sat down like to fly with joy
because of the dinars which he had tied up in his belt for a purse.
When the old woman had made an end of her ablution, she came
up to where he sat, and prayed a two-bow prayer; after which she
blessed my brother with a godly benediction, and he while thank¬
ing her put his hand to the dinars and gave her two, saying to
himself “ These are my voluntaries.” 2 When she saw the gold she
cried, “ Praise be to Allah ! why dost thou look on one who loveth
thee as if she were a beggar? Take back thy money: I have no
need of it; or, if thou want it not, return it to her who gave it thee
when thy glass-ware was broken. Moreover, if thou wish to be
united with her, I can manage the matter, for she is my mistress.”
“ O my mother,” asked my brother, “ by what manner of means
can I get at her ? and she answered, 4< O my son! she hath an
inclination for thee, but she is the wife of a wealthy man ; so take
the whole of thy money with thee and follow me, that I may guide
thee to thy desire: and when thou art in her company spare
neither persuasion nor fair words, but bring them all to bear
upon her; so shalt thou enjoy her beauty and wealth to thy heart s
content.” My brother took all his gold and rose and followed the
old woman, hardly believing in his luck. She ceased not faring
on, and my brother following her, till they came to a tall gate at
which she knocked and a Roumi slave-girl 3 * * * * * 9 came out and opened
to them. Then the old woman led my brother into a gr eat sitting-

1 Of hands and face, etc. See Night ccccixiv.

* Arab. ** Sadakah ” (sincerity), voluntary or superogatory alms, opposed to “ Zakdt **

(purification) legal alms which are indispensable. “ Prayer carries us half way to Allah ;

fasting brings us to the door of His palace and alms-deeds (Sadakah) causes us to enter***

For “ Zakdt ** no especial rate is fixed ; but it should not be less than one-fortieth of

property or two and a half per cent. Thus Al-Islam is, as far as I know, the only faith

which makes a poor-rate (Zakdt) obligatory and which has invented a property-rax, a»

opposed to the unjust and unfair income-tax upon which England prides herself.

9 A Greek girl

340

Alf Laylah wa Laylah.

room spread with wondrous fine carpets and hung with curtains* *
where he sat down with his gold before him, and his turband on his
knee. 1 He had scarcely taken seat before there came to him a
young lady (never eye saw fairer) clad in garments of the most
sumptuous ; whereupon my brother rose to his feet, and she smiled
in his face and welcomed him, signing to him to be seated. Then
she bade shut the door and, when it was shut, she turned to my
brother, and taking his hand conducted him to a private chamber
furnished with various kinds of brocades and gold-cloths. Here he
sat down and she sat by his side and toyed with him awhile; after
which she rose and saying, “ Stir not from thy seat till I come back
to thee; ” disappeared. Meanwhile as he was on this wise, lo!
there came in to him a black slave big of body and bulk and hold¬
ing a drawn sword in hand, who said to him, w Woe to thee! Who
brought thee hither and what dost thou want here ? ” My brother
could not return him a reply, being tongue-tied for terror; so the
blackamoor seized him and stripped him of his clothes and bashed
him with the flat of his sword-blade till he fell to the ground,
swooning from excess of belabouring. The ill-omened nigger
fancied that there was an end of him and my brother heard him
cry, u Where is the salt-wench ?”* Whereupon in came a handmaid
holding in hand a large tray of salt, and the slave kept rubbing it
into my brother’s wounds f but he did not stir fearing lest the
slave might find out that he was not dead and kill him outright.
Then the salt-girl went away, and the slave cried “ Where is the
souterrain 4 -guardianess ? ” Hereupon in came the old woman and
dragged my brother by his feet to a souterrain and threw him down
upon a heap of dead bodies. In this place he lay two full days,
but Allah made the salt the means of preserving his life by staunch¬
ing the blood and staying its flow. Presently, feeling himself able

* This was making himself very easy; and the idea is that the gold in pouch caused

him to be so bold. Lane’s explanation (in loco) is atl wrong. The pride engendered by
sudden possession of money is a lieu commun amongst Eastern story-tellers; even in the
beast-fables the mouse which has stolen a few gold pieces becomes confident and stout¬
hearted. '

* Arab. ** At-Milihah ** also means the beautiful (fem.), from 44 Milk ** — salt,
splendour, etc. the Mae. Edit, has 44 Mumallihah” = a salt-vessel.

* ijt. to see if he felt the smart.

4 Arab. 44 Sardibeh ” (Persian) = an underground room used for coolness m the hot
season. It is unknown in Cairo but every house in Baghdad, in fact throughout the

Mesopotamian cities, has one. It is on the principle of the underground cellar without
which wine will not keep : Lane (i., 406) calls it a 44 vault***

The Barber * *s Tale of his Fifth Brother.

34 *

to move, Al-Nashshar rose and opened the trap-door in fear and
trembling and crept out into the open ; and Allah protected him,
so that he went on in the darkness and hid himself in the vestibule
till dawn, when he saw the accursed beldam sally forth in quest of
other quarry. He followed in her wake without her knowing it,
and made for his own lodging where he dressed his wounds and
medicined himself till he was whole. Meanwhile he used to watch
the old woman, tracking her at all times and seasons, and saw her
accost one man after another and carry them to the house. How¬
ever he uttered not a word ; but, as soon as he waxed hale and
hearty, he took a piece of stuff and made it into a bag which he
filled with broken glass and bound about his middle. He also dis¬
guised himself as a Persian that none might know him, and hid a
sword under his clothes of foreign cut. Then he went out and
presently, falling in with the old woman, said to her, speaking
Arabic with a Persian accent, “ Venerable lady, 1 I am a stranger
arrived but this day here where I know no one. Hast thou a pair
of scales wherein I may weigh eleven hundred dinars ? I will give
thee somewhat of them for thy pains.” “I have a son, a money¬
changer, who keepeth all kinds of scales,” she answered, <e so come
with me to him before he goeth out and he will weigh thy gold.”
My brother answered " Lead the way !” She led him to the house
and the young lady herself came out and opened it, whereupon the
old woman smiled in her face and said, “1 bring thee fat meat
to-day.” 2 Then the damsel took my brother by the hand, and led
him to the same chamber as before ; where she sat with him awhile
then rose and went forth saying, “ Stir not from thy seat till I come
back to thee.” Presently in came the accursed slave with the drawn
sword and cried to my brother, u Up and be damned to thee ! ”
So he rose, and as the slave walked on before him he drew the
sword from under his clothes and smote him with it, making head
fly from body. Then he dragged the corpse by the feet to the
souterrain and called out, “ Where is the salt-wench ? ” Up came
the girl carrying the tray of salt and, seeing my brother sword in
hand, turned to fly ; but he followed her and struck off her head.
Then he called out “ Where is the souterrain-guardianess ? ”; and
in came the old woman to whom he said, “ Dost know me again, O
ill-omened hag ? ” “ No my lord,” she replied, and he said, “ I am the

1 In the orig. “ O old woman ! ” which is insulting.

* So the Italians say “a quail to skin.”

34?

Alf Laylak wa Laylah.

owner of the five hundred gold pieces, whose house thou enteredst
to make the ablution and to pray, and whom thou didst snare
hither and betray.” “ Fear Allah and spare me,” cried she ; but
he regarded her not and struck her with the sword till he had cut
her in four. Then he went to look for the young lady ; and when
she saw him her reason and she cried out piteously “ Aman ! 1
Mercy ! ” So he spared her and asked, “ What made thee consort
with this blackamoor ?; ” and she answered, “ I was slave to a
certain merchant, and the old woman used to visit me till I took a
liking to her. One day she said to me:—We have a marriage
festival at our house the like of which was never seen and I wish
thee to enjoy the sight. To hear is to obey, answered I and
rising arrayed myself in my finest raiment and ornaments, and took
with me a purse containing an hundred gold pieces. Then she
brought me hither and hardly had I entered the house when the
black seized on me, and I have remained in this case three whole
years through the perfidy of the accursed beldam.” Then my
brother asked her, “ Is there anything of his in the house ? 99 ;
whereto she answered, “ Great store of wealth, and if thou art able
to carry it away, do so and Allah give thee good of it! ” My
brother went with her and she opened to him sundry chests wherein
were money bags, at which he was astounded ; then she said to him,
“ Go now and leave me here, and fetch men to remove the money.”
He went out and hired ten men, but when he returned he found the
door wide open, the damsel gone and nothing left but some small
matter of coin and the household stuffs. 2 By this he knew that the
girl had overreached him ; so he opened the store rooms and seized
what was in them, together with the rest of the money, leaving
nothing in the house. He passed the night rejoicing, but when morn¬
ing dawned he found at the door some twenty troopers who laid
hands on him saying, “ The Governor wants thee ! 9t My brother
implored them hard to let him return to his house ; and even
offered them a large sum of money ; but they refused and, binding
him fast with cords, carried him off. On the way they met a friend
of my brother who clung to his skirt and implored his protection,
begging him to stand by him and help to deliver him out of their
hands. The man stopped, and asked them what was the natter,

1 “ Atndn is the word used for quarter on the battle-field ; and there arc Joe Millers
about our soldiers in India mistaking it for “ a man ” or {Scottict) “ a mon.”

8 Illustrating the Persian saying “Allah himself cannot help a fool.**

The Barber's Tale of his Sixth Brother.

343

and they answered, u The Governor hath ordered us to bring this
fellow before him and, look ye, we are doing so.” My brother's
friend urged them to release him, and offered them five hundred
dinars to let him go, saying, “When ye return to the Governor tell
him that you were unable to find him.” But they would not listen
to his words and took my brother, dragging him along on his face,
and set him before the Governor who asked him, “ Whence gottest
thou these stuffs and monies ? 99 ; and he answered, “ I pray for
mercy ! ” So the Governor gave him the kerchief of mercy ; 1 and
he told him all that had befallen him from first to last with the old
woman and the flight of the damsel; ending with, u Whatso I have
taken, take of it what thou wilt, so thou leave me sufficient to
support life/’ 2 * But the Governor took the whole of the stuffs and
all the money for himself; and, fearing lest the affair come to the
Sultan's ears, he summoned my brother and said, “ Depart from this
city, else I will hang thee.' “ Hearing and obedience ” quoth my

brother and set out for another town. On the way thieves fell foul
of him and stripped and beat him and docked his ears; but I
heard tidings of hft misfortunes and went out after him taking him
clothes ; and brought him secretly into the city where I assigned
to him an allowance for meat and drink. And presently the Caliph
gave ear to,

THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS SIXTH BROTHER.

My sixth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Shakashik,* or
Many-clamours, the shorn of both lips, was once rich and became
poor; so one day he went out to beg somewhat to keep life in him.
As he was on the road he suddenly caught sight of a large and
handsome mansion, with a detached building wide and lofty at the
entrance, where sat sundry eunuchs bidding and forbidding. 4 My
brother enquired of one of those idling there and he replied, “ The

1 Any article taken from the person and given to a criminal is a promise of pardon, of
course on the implied condition of plenary confession and of becoming “ King’s
evidence.”

* A naive proposal to share the plunder.

* In popular literature ** Schacabac.” And from this tale comes our saying a a
Barmecide’s Feast,” i.e. ua illusion.

4 The Castrato at the door is still (I have said,) the fashion of Cairo and he acts
4 Suisse ” with a witness*

544

Aif Laytah wa Laylah.

palace belongs to a scion of the Barmaki house; ” so he stepped up
to the door-keepers and asked an alms of them. “ Enter/' said
they, “ by the great gate and thou shalt get what thou seekest from
the Wazir our master.’' Accordingly he went in and, passing
through the outer entrance, walked on a while and presently came
to a mansion of the utmost beauty and elegance, paved with
marble, hung with curtains and having in the midst of it a
flower garden whose like he had never seen. 1 My brother stood
awhile as one bewildered not knowing whither to turn his steps;
then, seeing the farther end of the sitting-chamber tenanted, he
walked up to it and there found a man of handsome presence and
comely beard. When this personage saw my brother he stood up
to him and welcomed him and asked him of his case ; whereto he
replied that he was in want and needed charity. Hearing these
words the grandee showed great concern and, putting his hand to
his fine robe, rent it exclaiming, “What! am I in a city, and thou
here an-hungered ? I have not patience to bear such disgrace!'* *
Then he promised him all manner of good cheer and said, “ There
is no help but that thou stay with me and eat of my salt. 2 ” “O
my lord,” answered my brother, “ I can wait no longer ; for I am
indeed dying of hunger/* So he cried, “ Ho boy ! bring basin and
ewerand, turning to my brother, said, “ O my guest come for¬
ward and wash thy hands.” My brother rose to do so but he saw
neither ewer nor basin ; yet his host kept washing his hands with
invisible soap in imperceptible water and cried, “ Bring the table!"
But my brother again saw nothing. Then said the host, “ Honour
me by eating of this meat and be not ashamed.” And he kept
moving his hand to and fro as if he ate and saying to my brother,
“ I wonder to see thee eating thus sparely: do not stint thyself for
I am sure thou art famished/* So my brother began to make as

1 As usual in the East, the mansion was a hollow square surrounding what in Spain b
called Patio : the outer entrance was far from the inner, showing the extent of th*
grounds.

* ** Nahnu malibin M = we are on terms of salt, said and say the Arabs. But the
traveller must not trust in these days to the once sacred tie; there are tribes which will
give bread with one hand and sub with the other. The Eastern use of salt is a curioua
contrast with that of Westerns, who made it an invidious and inhospitable distinction,
e.g. to sit above the salt-cellar and below the salt. Amongst the ancients, however, “ he
took bread and salt ” means he swore, the food being eaten when an oath was taken*

Hence the ** Bride cake ” of salt, wafer and dour.

The Barber s Tale of his Sixth Brother.

345

though he were eating whilst his host kept saying to him, “ Fall
to, and note especially the excellence of this bread and its white¬
ness ! ” But still my brother saw nothing. Then said he to
himself, “ This man is fond of poking fun at people;” and replied,
“ O my lord, in all my days I never knew aught more winsome than
its whiteness or sweeter than its savour.” The Barmecide said,
“ This bread was baked by a handmaid of mine whom I bought
for five hundred dinars.” Then he called out, “ Ho boy, bring in
the meat pudding 1 for our first dish, and let there be plenty of fat
in itand, turning to my brother said, “ O my guest, Allah upon
thee, hast ever seen anything better than this meat-pudding?
Now by my life, eat and be not abashed.” Presently he cried out
again, “ Ho boy, serve up the marinated stew 2 with the fatted sand-
grouse in it;” and he said to my brother, “ Up and eat, O my
guest, for truly thou art hungry and needest food.” So my
brother began wagging his jaws and made as if champing and
chewing , 3 whilst the host continued calling for one dish after
another and yet produced nothing save orders to eat. Presently
he cried out, “ Ho boy, bring us the chickens stuffed with pistachio
nuts; ” and said to my brother, “ By thy life, O my guest, I have
fattened these chickens upon pistachios; eat, for thou hast never
eaten their like.” “O my lord,” replied my brother, “they are
indeed first-rate.” Then the host began motioning with his hand
as though he were giving my brother a mouthful; and ceased not
to enumerate and expatiate upon the various dishes to the hungry
man whose hunger waxt still more violent, so that his soul lusted
after a bit of bread, even a barley-scone . 4 Quoth the Barmecide,
“ Didst thou ever taste anything more delicious than the seasoning
of these dishes?”; and quoth my brother, “Never O my lord!”
“ Eat heartily and be not ashamed,” said the host, and the guest,

1 Arab. “ Harisah,” the meat-pudding before explained.

2 Arab. “Sikbaj,” before explained; it is held to be a lordly dish, invented by
Khusraw Parwiz. “Fatted duck” says the Bresl. Edit. ii. 308, with more reason.

3 I was reproved in Southern Abyssinia for eating without this champing, “Thou
feedest like a beggar who muncheth silently in his corner; ” and presently found that it
was a sign of good breeding to eat as noisily as possible.

< Barley in Arabia is, like our oats, food for horses: it fattens at the same time that
it cools them. Had this been known to our cavalry when we first occupied Egypt in
1883-4 our losses in horse-flesh would have been far less; but official ignorance persisted
in feeding the cattle upon heating oats and the riders upon beef, which is indigestible,
instead of mutton, which is wholesome.

346

A If Lay la Pi wa Lay la h.

“ I have eaten my fill of meat.” So the entertainer cried, “ Take
away and bring in the sweets ; and turning to my brother said,
“ Eat of this almond conserve for it is prime and of these honey
fritters ; take this one, by my life, the syrup runs out of it.” “ May
I never be bereaved of thee, O my lord,” replied the hungry one
and began to ask him about the abundance of musk in the fritters.
“ Such is my custom,” he answered : “ they put me a dinar-weight
of musk in every honey-fritter and half that quantity of amber¬
gris.” All this time my brother kept wagging head and jaws till
the master cried, “ Enough of this. Bring us the dessert! ” Then
said he to him, “ Eat of these almonds and walnuts and raisins;
and of this and that (naming divers kinds of dried fruits), and be
not abashed.” But my brother replied, “ O my lord, indeed I am
full: I can eat no more.” “ O my guest,” repeated the host, “ it
thou have a mind to these good things eat: Allah! Allah! 1 do not
remain hungry ; ” but my brother rejoined, “ O my lord, he who hath
eaten of all these dishes how can he be hungry ? ” Then he con¬
sidered and said to himself, “ I will do that shall make him repent
of these pranks.” Presently the entertainer called out “ Bring me
the wine; ” and, moving his hands in the air, as though they had
set it before them, he gave my brother a cup and said, “Take this
cup and, if it please thee, let me know.” “ O my lord,” he replied,
“it is notable good as to nose but I am wont to drink wine some
twenty years old.” “ Knock then at this door, 2 ” quoth the host,,
“for thou canst not drink of aught better.” “By thy kindness,”
said my brother, motioning with his hand as though he were
drinking. “ Health and joy to thee,” exclaimed the house-master
and feigned to fill a cup and drink it off; then he handed another
to my brother who quaffed it and made as if he were drunken.
Presently he took the host unawares; and, raising his arm till the
white of his armpit appeared, dealt him such a cuff on the nape
of his neck that the palace echoed to it. Then he came down
upon him with a second cuff and the entertainer cried aloud,
“ What is this, O thou scum of the earth ? ” “ O my lord,”
replied my brother, “ thou hast shown much kindness to thy slave,
and admitted him into thine abode and given him to eat of thy
victual; then thou madest him drink of thine old wine till he

1 i.e. “ I conjure thee by God.’*

3 i.e. “ This is the very thing for thee.'*

The Barber s Tale of his Sixth Bvcther. 347

became drunken and boisterous; but thou art too noble not to
bear with his ignorance and pardon his offence.” When the Bar-
maki heard my brother’s words he laughed his loudest and said,
“ Long have I been wont to make mock of men and play the
madcap among my intimates, but never yet have I come across a
single one who had the patience and the wit to enter into all my
humours save thyself: so I forgive thee, and thou shalt be my
boon-companion in very sooth and never leave me.” Then he
ordered the servants to lay the table in earnest and they set on all
the dishes of which he had spoken in sport; and he and my
brother ate till they were satisfied ; after which they removed to
the drinking-chamber, where they found damsels like moons who
sang all manner songs and played on all manner instruments.
There they remained drinking till their wine got the better of
them and the host treated my brother like a familiar friend, so
that he became as it were his brother, and bestowed on him a robe
of honour and loved him with exceeding love. Next morning
the two fell again to feasting and carousing, and ceased not to
lead this life for a term of twenty years ; at the end of which the
Barmecide died and the Sultan took possession of all his wealth
and squeezed my brother of his savings, till he was left a pauper
without a penny to handle. So he quitted the city and fled forth
following his face j 1 but, when he was half way between two towns,
the wild Arabs fell on him and bound him and carried him to their
camp, where his captor proceeded to torture him, saying, “ Buy
thy life of me with thy money, else I will slay thee! ” My brother
began to weep and replied, “ By Allah, I have nothing, neither
gold nor silver; but I am thy prisoner; so do with me what thou
wilt.” Then the Badawi drew a knife, broad-bladed and so sharp-
grided that if plunged into a camels throat 2 it would sever it clean
across from one jugular to the other, and cut off my brother’s lips
and waxed more instant in requiring money. Now this Badawi
had a fair wife who in her husband’s absence used to make
advances to my brother and offer him her favours, but he held off
from her. One day she began to tempt him as usual and he

1 * *>., at random.

* This is the way of slaughtering the camel, whose throat is never cut on account of
the thickness of the muscles. “Egorgcr un chameau’’ is a mistake often made in
French books.

348

A If Laylak wa Lay lah.

played with her and made her sit on his lap, when behold, In came
the Badawi who, seeing this, cried out, “ Woe to thee, O accursed
villain, wouldest thou debauch my wife for me ? ” Then he took out
a knife and cut off my brother’s yard, after which he bound him on
the back of a camel and, carrying him to a mountain, left him
there. He was at last found by some who recognised him and
gave him meat and drink and acquainted me with his condition ;
whereupon I went forth to him and brought him back to Baghdad
where I made him an allowance sufficient to live on. This, then,
O Commander of the Faithful, is the history of my six brothers
and I feared to go away without relating it all to thee and leave
thee in the error of judging me to be like them. And now thou
knowest that I have six brothers upon my hands and, being more
upright than they, I support the whole family. When the Caliph
heard my story and all I told him concerning my brothers, he
laughed and said, “Thou sayest sooth, O Silent Man! thou art
indeed spare of speech nor is there aught of forwardness in thee ;
but now go forth out of this city and settle in some other.” And he
banished me under edict I left Baghdad and travelled in foreign
parts till I heard of his death and the accession of another to the
Caliphate. Then I returned to Baghdad where I found all my
brothers dead and chanced upon this young man, to whom I
rendered the kindliest sendee, for without me he had surely been
killed. Indeed he slanders me and accuses me of a fault which
is not in my nature ; and what he reports concerning impudence
and meddling and forwardness is idle and false ; for verily on his
account I left Baghdad and travelled about full many a country
till I came to this city and met him here in your company. And
was not this, O worthy assemblage, of the generosity of my
nature ?

THE END OF THE TAILORS TALE.

Then quoth the Tailor to the King of China:—When we heard
the Barber’s tale and saw the excess of his loquacity and the way
in which he had wronged this young man, we laid hands on him
and shut him up, after which we sat down in peace,, and ate and
drank and enjoyed the good things of the marriage-feast till the

The End of the Tailor's Tale .

349

time of the call to mid-afternoon prayer, when I left the party and
returned home. My wife received me with sour looks and said,
44 Thou goest a-pleasuring among thy friends and thou leavest me
to sit sorrowing here alone. So now, unless thou take me abroad
and let me have some amusement for the rest of the day, I will
cut the rope 1 and it will be the cause of my separation from
thee.” So I took her out and we amused ourselves till supper
time, when we returned home and fell in with this Hunchback
who was brimful of drink and trolling out these rhymes:— •

Clear’s the wine, the cup’s fine; o Like to like they combine t

It is wine and not cup ! o ’Tis a cup and not wine!

So I invited him to sup with us and went out to buy fried fish;
after which we sat down to eat; and presently my wife took a
piece of bread and a fid of fish and stuffed them into his mouth
and he choked; and, though I slapped him long and hard between
the shoulders, he died. Then I carried him off and contrived to
throw him into the house of this leach, the Jew; and the leach
contrived to throw him into the house of the Reeve; and the
Reeve contrived to throw him on the way of the Nazarene broker.
This, then, is my adventure which befel me but yesterday. Is not
it more wondrous than the story of the Hunchback ? When the
King of China heard the Tailor’s tale he shook his head for
pleasure; and, showing great surprise, said, “This that passed
beiween the young man and the busy-body of a Barber is indeed
more pleasant and wonderful than the story of my lying knave of
a Hunchback." Then he bade one of his Chamberlains go with
the Tailor and bring the Barber out of jail, saying, M I wish to hear
the talk of this Silent Man and it shall be the cause of your de¬
liverance one and all: then we will bury the Hunchback, for that

he is dead since yesterday, and set up a tomb over him."-And

Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her per¬
mitted say.

Note fo|)?n ft tons tf)t {Efjfrtp-foimf) Nfgfjt,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King of
China bade , 44 Bring me the Barber who shall be the cause of your

1 m. I w&U break bounds.

A If Laylah wa Laylak.

350

deliverance; then we will bury this Hunchback, for that he is dead
since yesterday and set up a tomb over him.” So the Chamberlain
and the Tailor went to the jail and, releasing the Barber, presently
returned with him to the King. The Sultan of China looked at
him and considered him carefully and lo and behold! he was an
ancient man, past his ninetieth year; swart of face, white of beard,
and hoar of eyebrows; lop-eared and proboscis-nosed, 1 with a vacant,
silly and conceited expression of countenance. The King laughed
at this figure o’ fun and said to him, “ O Silent Man, I desire thee
to tell me somewhat of thy history. ,, Quoth the Barber, “ O King
of the age, allow me first to ask thee what is the tale of this Naza-
rene and this Jew and this Moslem and this Hunchback (the
corpse) I see among you ? And prithee what may be the object
of this assemblage ? ” Quoth the King of China, “ And why dost
thou ask ? ” “I ask,” he replied, “ in order that the King’s majesty
may know that I am no forward fellow or busy-body or impertinent
meddler; and that I am innocent of their calumnious charges of
overmuch talk ; for I am he whose name is the Silent Man, and
indeed peculiarly happy is my sobriquet, as saith the poet:—

When a nickname or little name men design, o Know that nature with name
shall full oft combine.”

Then said the King, “ Explain to the Barber the case of this
Hunchback and what befel him at supper-time ; also repeat to him
the stories told by the Nazarene, the Jew, the Reeve, and the
Tailor ; and of no avail to me is a twice told tale.” They did his
bidding, and the Barber shook his head and said, “ By Allah, this
is a marvel of marvels! Now uncover me the corpse of yonder
Hunchback.” They undid the winding-sheet and he sat down and,
taking the Hunchback’s head in his lap, looked at his face, and
laughed and guffaw’d 2 till he fell upon his back and said, “ There

1 The Arabs have a saying corresponding with the dictum of the Salernitan school

Noscitur a labiis quantum sit virginis antrum :

Noscitur a naso quanta sit hasta viro ;

(A maiden’s mouth shows what’s the make of her chose ;

And man’s mentule one knows by the length of his nose.)

VvTiereto I would add

And the eyebrows disclose how the lower wig grows.

The observations are purely empirical but, as far as my experience extends, correct.

2 Arab. “ Kahkahah,” a very low proceeding.

The End of the Tailor's Tale .

35 1

is wonder in every death , 1 but the death of this Hunchback is
worthy to be written and recorded in letters of liquid gold ! ” The
by-standers were astounded at his words and the King marvelled
and said to him, “What ails thee O Silent Man ? Explain to us
thy words! * * M O King of the age,” said the Barber, “ I swear by
thy beneficence that there is still life in this Gobbo Golightly l”
Thereupon he pulled out of his waist-belt a barber’s budget, whence
he took a pot of ointment and anointed therewith the neck of the
Hunchback and its arteries. Then he took a pair of iron tweezers
and, inserting them into the Hunchback’s throat, drew out the fid
of fish with its bone; and, when it came to sight, behold, it was
soaked in blood. Thereupon the Hunchback sneezed a hearty
sneeze and jumped up as if nothing had happened and passing his
hand over his face said, M I testify that there is no god, but the God,
and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God.” At this
sight all present wondered ; the King of China laughed till he
fainted and in like manner did the others. Then said the Sultan,
" By Allah, of a truth this is the most marvellous thing I ever saw!
O Moslems, O soldiers aU t did you ever in the lives of you see a
.man die and be quickened again ? Verily had not Allah vouchsafed
to him this Barber, he had been a dead man !” Quoth they, “ By
Allah, ’tis a marvel of marvels.” Then the King of China bade
record this tale, so they recorded it and placed it in the royal
muniment-rooms ; after which he bestowed costly robes of honour
upon the Jew, the Nazarene and the Reeve, and bade them depart
in all esteem. Then he gave the Tailor a sumptuous dress and
appointed him his own tailor, with suitable pay and allowances;
and made peace between him and the Hunchback, to whom also he
presented a splendid and expensive mil with a suitable stipend.
He did as generously with the Barbel giving him a gift and a dress
of honour; moreover he settled on him a handsome solde and
created him Barber-surgeon 2 of state And made him one of his cup-
companions. So they ceased not to live the most pleasurable life
and the most delectable, till there came to them the Destroyer of

1 Or ‘‘for every death there is a cause i * 1 but the older Arabs had a saying correspond¬
ing with “ Deus non fecit mortem.”

* The King’s barber is usually a man of rank for the best of reasons that he holds hia
Sovereign’s life between his fingers. One of these noble Figaros in India married an
English lady who was, they say, unpleasantly surprised to find out what were her ho*-
hand’s official duties.

352

Alf Laylak wa Laylah .

all delights and the Sunderer of all societies, the Depopulator of
palaces and the Garnerer for graves. Yet, O most auspicious King!
(continued Shahrazad) this tale is by no means more wonderful than
that of the two Wazirs and Anis al-Jall's. Quoth her sister
Dunyazad, “ And what may that be?”; whereupon she began to
relate the following tale of

END OF VOL. I.

INDEX.

PAGE

Abbas ** hero eponymus ” of the
Abbaside dynasty . . .188

Abdullah ibn Abbas, companion and

traditioner.304

Abu Kidrzz father of the cooking-

pot . a.

Abu Shamah ~ father of a cheek-

mole .269

Abu Shammah zz father of a smeller
or nose . . . . . ib.

Abii Shawarib zz: father of mustachios ib.
Abu Shihab, father of the shooting

star zz evil spirit. . . .221

Abu Yakzanzzthe wakener zzass . 16

zzcock 18

Ad zz tribe of prehistoric Arabs . 65

Adabzz anything between good edu¬
cation and good manners . . 132

Agha zz master, politely applied to an

Eunuch . . * 235

Ahdab, hunchback zz classical Ak’as 213
Ain —Smiter with the evil eye . 123

Ajalzz appointed period oflife . 74

*A) ami zz foreigner, esp. Persian . 120

Ajuz, for old woman, highly insulting;

use Shaybah . . . . 174

AkasirahzZ: Kisra-Kings . . . 75

Akrdszz cakes . . . - 83

Al-Aftah zz Broad-’o-Brow . . 17

Al-Ajam zz region not Arab, Persia . 2

,\1-Amin, son and successor of Harun

al-Rashid.185

Al-Arifzz monitor . . * *231

Al-Asr zz time or prayer of mid-

afternoon ..... 24O

VOL. I.

PAG*

Al-Basharahrzgift of good tidings,

guerdon.30

Al'Bostani — gardener, family name

from original occupation . . 266

Al-Faranj zz European . . . 296

Al-Hasazz plain of pebbles, west of

Damascus .... • 234

Al-Kahanah zz the craft of a Kahin

or soothsayer .... 28

Al-Maamun, son and successor of
Harun al-Rashid . 183

Al-Malihah zz salt-girl; beautiful . 340

Al-Mustansir bi’llah zz one seeking
help in Allah .... 315

Al-Nashshar zz sawing . . . 335

Al-Nilzz flood season corresponding

to mid-summer .... 290

Al-Bauzah zz the gardens . . 291

Al-Safar Zafar zz voyaging is victory 250
Al-Sahr zz magic, black art . . 305

Al-Zahir bi’llah zz one pre-eminent
by the decree of Allah . -317

Al-Zalamah (tyrants, oppressors) zz

police and employes . . . 273

Allah! Allah ! zz: I conjure thee by

God . i Passim

Allah hath said, formula of quoting

the Koran. 61

Allah Karim zz: Allah is all beneficent 32
Allah will open thee, a formula of re¬
fusing . ib.

Allaho a’alam zz God is all knowing 2 ; 50
Allahumma zz Ya Allah with empha-

sis *•••«# 35

Aman zz quarter, mercy . . . 34$

35 *

Alf Laylah wa Layiah*.

Amir = Military Commandant • 259

Amfr al-Muumimn = Prince of the

Faithful.112

Amrad = beardless and handsome,

effeminate.327

Amsar zr cities . . . .II

Amshdt (combs) perhaps Kundfah

(vermicelli) .... 83

Andam = the gum called dragon’s

blood; brazilwood . . .176

Arab al-Arabd = prehistoric tribes

of the Arabs . . . .112

Arab al-Musta’ajimah = barbarised

Arabs . . . . . ib.

Arab al-Musta’aribah ~ naturalised

-Arabs ..... zb.

Arab al-Muta’arribah = Arabised

Arabs . - . . . ib.

Araki'yah = white scull-cap . . 215

Ardabb (Irdabb) = about five bushels 263
Arun (Heb.) —in his shirt . . 78

Asal-nahl bee’s honey . . . 271

Ashkaoidn = race of Persian Kings. 78
Astrolabe, father of our sextant . 304

Atr~ any perfume . . . . 335

Auhashtani =r thou hast made me

desolate . . . . 62

Awalim pi. of Alimah rr dancing
girls ...... 2.14

Aysh (Egypt.) ~ Ayyu clia yybk for

classical " Ma ” — what . . 79

Aywa (for Ay wa’lllhi) — Ay, by
Allah . 303

Azlm=" deuced ** or “ mighty fine” 178

BAb =r gate ; chapter
Bab al-Faradis *= gate of the gardens
at Damascus .

Babel = Gate of God
Babes of the eyes — pupils
Badawi’s dying farewell .

Bddhanj wind-shaft, ventilator
Badmasti le vin mauvais
Baghlah = she-mule
Bahr = water cm or trenched in the
earth, sea, large river
Bahr ai-muhit — circumambient

ocean.

Balidrr simpleton .

Ballan “body servant . . ♦

Balianah — tire-woman . *

B36

240

100

257

129

133

311

ib.

Banj = Nibanj = Nepenthe, hemp . JO

Baradiyah = wide-mouthed jug . 36

Barid — vain, foolish, insipid . . 213

Barley, food for horses . . • 345

Barmecides.188

Basaltic statues in Hauranic ruins
give rise to the idea of men meta¬
morphosed into black stones . IJO
Basil the Indian Tulsi, Ocymum

basilicum ..... 19

Basil of the bridges = pennyroyal . 91

Bastinado of women . . .183

Bayaz al-Sultani =:the best kind of

gypsum ..... 2 JO

Bazar of Damascus famous in the

Middle Ages .... a
Beheading or sacking a faithless wife
unlawful but leniently looked upon I Si
Before the face of Allah— for the

love of God . . . . 13S

Bi’l-Sal&mah = in safety (to avert

the evil eye) .... 288

Birkat al-Habash = Abyssinian pond 391
Bismillah in the name of God . 40

-said before taking action . 80

-a civil form of dismissal . 98

-= "fall to!”. . . 264

Blackamoors preferred by debauched

women.6

Blind notorious for insolence, etc. . 330

Blinding a common practice in the

East, how done .... 108

Blue and yellow turbans prescribed

to Christians and Jews . . 77

Boils and pimples supposed to be

caused by broken hair-roots . 275

Breast broadening with delight. . 48

Breast straitened, the converse of

breast broadening (48) . . 119

Bride’s throne . . . . 215

Buzahrrrbeer . * . . 73

Cairenes held exceedinglydebauched 29S
Cairo nothing without the Nile. . 295
Camel, how slaughtered . • . 347

Carpet-beds ..... 294

Chaff or banter allowed even to

modest women • * 267

Chess-anecdote . . * 13a

Children carried astraddle upon hip
or shoulder. • * * . 308

Index.

35S

Claims of maidenhead ~z y ".190
Clapping of hands to samrnoD

servants ..... 177

Clever young ladies dangerous in the
East ..... 15

Conception on the bride-night rare . 227
Confession after concealment a cha¬
racteristic of the servile class . 53

Confession on the criminal's part

required by Moslem Law . . 274

Confusion of metaphors characteristic
of The Nights .... 86

Contemplation of street-scenery one

of the pleasures of the Harem • . 319
Corpse pollutes him who touches it . 295
Champing sign of good breeding . 345

Cutting off the right hand Koranic
punishment for theft . . . 274

Cutting of the navel string preliminary
to naming the babe . . .231

Cutting the rope = breaking
bounds . • • • 349

Dajlah =2 Tigris, Heb. Hid-dekel . 180
Dakhil-ak = under thy protection . 61

Damascus women famed for san¬
guinary jealousy. . • . 295

Darabukka ~ tom-tom . v . 3j 1

Darbar — public audience V * 29

Dastur = leave, permission . . 66

Daughter of my uncle = my wife • 69

Daurak = narrow-mouthed j ug . 36

Despite his nose = against his will . 26

Destiny blindeth human sight . . 67

Dindr == gold piece, Daric, Misldd . 32

Dirham 2= silver piece . . . 33

* * Dog ” and u hog ** popular terms

of abuse.188

Drinking first to show that the draught
is not poisoned . . . 8,8:295

** Drop 99 unknown to the Eastern
gallows . * . . . z66

Bunydzad — world-free . /V 14

Dust-storm in tropical lands • . III

Eyebrows joined a great beauty in

Arabia.227

Elephant’s roll (to Hindu) =2swaying
and graceful gait . . .217

Exotic inferences drawn from parts of

bod ; 350

Eternal truth of The Nights m ® 7

Eunuch best go-between • . r. 282

Eunuch employed as porter , . 343

Eunuch-in-Chief a most important
Jack in office .... 283

Eunuchs, different kinds of . .132

Euphemistic formulas to avoid men¬
tioning unpleasant matters . . 31

Exaggeration part of humour . . 12

Eyes of me = my dears . J • 163

Face- veil — “ nose-bag ** ‘. . 82

Fakir— religious mendicant gene¬
rally .95

Falcon = blinding the quarry • . 5 1

Fals ahmar = a red cent . .321

Faraiz = orders expressly given in

the Koran.169

Farajiyah — a. long sleeved robe 210, 321
Fass — bezel of a ring, gem cut en

cabochon, contenant for contenu 165
Fata = a youth ; generous man, etc. 67
Favours foreshadowing downfall . 48

Female depravity going hand in hand

with perversity of taste . . 73

Fiat mjustitia ruat ccelum . . 253

First personal pronoun placed first
for respect .... 237

Fitnah = revolt, seduction, mischief j
beautiful girl; aphrodisiac per¬
fume ...... 219

Following one’s face—.at random . 347

Friday night = our Thursday night . 269

Friday Service described . . . 3*3

Frolics of high-born ladies . . 328

<c Fun ”2= practical jokes of the

largest.220

Futur =2 breakfast .... 300

Gall-bladder and liver allusions . 219

Ghadir — a place where water sinks,

lowland .233

Ghamz 2= winking, signing with the
eye • • • • • • • 2^2

Gharib — foreigner • • • 95

Ghaw&ri = singing girls . . .214

Ghazl al-banat (spinning of girls) z=

vermicelli . 83

Ghilman =2 Wulddn, the beautiful

youths of Paradise . . .211

Ghutah 2= thickly grown lowland . 11$

Alf Laylah wa Laylah,

Ghulah r= ogress • . . . 55

Going straight to the point preferred

to filer le parfait amour . . 268

Gold makes bold .... 340
Ground-floor usually let for shops . 319

Habb = grain of the heart . 250

Habbdniyah zzz grain-seller’s quarter 269
Habib, euphemism for lover . . 223

Haihat, onomatopoetic zzz heigh-ho ! 76

Hair should be allowed all to grow

or be shaven off. . 308

Hair-dyes all vegetable matter . 326

Halab zzz Aleppo . 292

Hamraam, going to the = conva¬
lescence .... 288

Jr , showing that a woman’s

monthly ailment is over . . 286

Harim zzz Harem, used for the in¬
mates, wife, etc. . . , 165

Harlsah, a favourite dish . . 131

Hasanta ya Hasan zzz bene detto,

Benedetto ! . . . .251

Hashish, intoxicant prepared of hemp 225
Haste ye to salvation, part of the

Azin *...,. 224
Hatif zzz mysterious voice . 142

Hauk 1 Hauk ! zzz heehaw ! . . 221

Head in the poke zzz into the noose . 179

High-bosomed damsel a favourite
with Arab tale-tellers . . 84

Hog, popular term of abuse . . 188

Horoscopes, etc. . . . . 213

Horseplay frequently ending in bas¬
tinado .325

House of Peace zzz Baghdad . . 139

Houses of Lamentation in Moslem
burial-grounds .... 94

HummiAg not a favourite practice
with Moslems . . . . 311

Hunchback looked upon with fear

and aversion .... 258

Hut al-Ayn ~ with, eyes of lively
white and black ... 90

Hurr zzz gentleman .... 254
Hurry is from Hell . . . . 264

Ibrat — needle-graver and Ibrat —

warning, a favourite jingle . 104

Ibrik zzz ewer, and Tisht — basin, used

for washing the hands . 241

Ifrit, divided into two races like

mankind . . . . .II

I frit ah zzz she-Ifrit .... 34

Ihdak zzz encompassing, as the white

encloses the black of the eye . 49

Ihtizaz zzz shaking with delight . 50

Iklfl =z diadem, now obsolete . . 270

Iklim zzz the seven climates of Ptolemy 233
Ilm al-Ruhdnl zzz Spiritualism . . 305

Improvising still common amongst

the Badawin • • • • 39

Incest lawful amongst ancient peo¬
ples . • . . • . 1 to

Inheritance, law of, settled by the

Koran . . . . .174

Inshad zzz conjuring by Allah . . II

Insolence and licence of palace girls 286
Intellect of man stronger thaui a
Jinni’s ... ... 43

Internally wounded zzz sick at heart 5
Inwa zzz jerking the date-stone . 25

Id al-Kabirzzz the Great Festival . 28

Ishdzzzthe first w^atch of the night . 175

Izar zz: sheet worn aS veil . 163

Ja’afar zzz contrasting strongly with

his master . . . .103

Jaharkas = Pers. Cheh£r-kas, four

persons ..... 266

Jannat al-Na’im zzz The Garden of

Delights i.e. Heaven ... 98

Jazirah — Peninsula, Arabia . . 2

Jazlrat al-KhalicHt — Eternal Isles =2

Canaries ..... 14 s

Jila “ displaying the bride before the

bridegroom . . . 174

Jinn zzz the French genie, the Hindu

Rakshasa or Yaksha 10

Joseph of the Koran very different

from him of Genesis • . * 13

Judri zzz small-pox .... 256

Junun zzz madness . *j <• 10

Iblis = Despairer . . . . 13

Ibn Haram zzz son of adultery, abuse
not necessarily reflecting on the

paxeat « a A . 331

KA’ah zz: ground-floor hall *- . 85

Kd’ah (saloon) zzz fine house, mansion 292
Kabul-men noted for Sodomy . 299

Kaf, popularly zzz Caucasus .. 73, 133

Index.

S5T

Kabbah = whose

KAhflat al-atrAf rr having the eyelids
lined with Kohl ....
Kahlcahah rr horse-laughter
KahramAnat “ nursery governess
Kaid — leader ....
Malam reed-pen ....
Kalam al-Mubah ~ the permitted

s^y m • • • •

Kalanuar = mendicant, monk .
Karnat Alfiyyah = straight stature .

Karols rr: shift, etc.

Kdt’a = bit ofleather . . .

Kata = sand-grouse . . .

Katf ~ pinioning ....
KathA-Sarit-SAgara — poetical ver¬
sion of the Yrihat-Katha .

Kaus al-Banduk r= pellet-bow
Kausar = a lieu commun of poets .
Kawwad pimp ....
KAyanian race of Persian Kings
Kaylulah r= siesta ....
Kaysarlyah superior kind of Bazar
Kazi ~ judge in religious matters
Kerchief of mercy ....
Khadim ~ servant, politely applied
to a castr&to ....
Khall’a worn out ; wag
Khallfah — Vicar of Allah ; suc¬
cessor of a Sant on
Khan “ caravanserai
Khan Al-Masrur, in Cairo, fatpous
in the 15th century
Khanjar = hanger ...

Khatmah — reading or reciting the
whole Koran ....
Khinzir = hog . • .

Khubz = scones . . *

Khuff = walking shoes .

Khyas, Khyas, onomatopoetic, used
in a sea-speLl . . . .

King’s barber a man of rank .

“ Kiss, key to Kitty ”...
Kissing the eyes a paternal salute
Kohl ~ powdered antimony for the
eyelids

-proverbially used

Koran quoted (xx.) .

-(‘i- 34)

(xxv. 32)
(xix. 69)
(xxvi.) .

6 3

350

231
330
128

293

131

106

241

316

266

343

235

3 11

184

265

232

277
108
S3*

§2

228

351

323

325

278
2

ib.

Koran quoted (xxviL) 5

-(v., xx.) . .

-— (vu., xviu.) . •

(i.) . • «

-(Ivi. 9) . I

————— {lx ) • •

-(v.) .

(xviL) .
(xxxvi. 69)
(cv.) .

(ii., ix.)
(v.) .

(viii. 17)
(iii ) .

{iii. 128)

• •

• ♦

# •

• 4 *

• 119
« 169
, 208
. 211

• 220

. 24O

. 241
. 249
• 251
. 256

* 257
. 274

. ib.

• 298
307

Kufr = rejecting the True Religion. 169

KuIkasA = colocasia roots . . 272

Kullah m guggiet .... 36

Kumkum — a gourd-shaped hottle

for sprinkling scents ... 42

Kari = teacher of the correct pro¬
nunciation of the Koran . - 113

Kurrat al-Ayn — coolness of the eye 72

Kurs has taken the place of Iklfl . 270
Kursi (choir, throne) — desk or stool

for the Koran .... i6y
KAsh’arirah =: horripilation, symp¬
tom of great joy or fear . . 251

La’abah = a plaything, a puppet, a

lay figure.245

La adamnak — Heaven deprive us
not of thee .... 26S

Labbayka — Here am I, called
Talbiyah ..... 226

Laylat al-WafA = the night of com¬
pletion of the Nile-flood . . 291

La Haula, etc. — there is no Majesty
etc. ... . « . 69

LA tawihishna = do not make us

desolate ..... 62

LA tawakhiznA = do not chastise us
“ excuse us ... 164

Latter night — hours between the

last sleep and dawn . . 24

Laughing in one’s face not intended

as an affront .... 33$

Laughter rare and sign of a troubled

spirit.248

Life-breath in the nostrils =r heart

in the mouth . ... 44

Alf Laflah wa Laylak.

SS*

JLike mother like daughter • . 299

Liver — seat of passion . . . 27

Loghah Arabic language, also a

vocabulary, dictionary . .251

Loosening the hair an immodesty in
women sanctioned only by a great
calamity . . . • « 314

Lokmah — mouthful « 261

Madfa* — cannon, showing modem
date • • • • • • 223

Magnet Mountains, fable probably

based on the currents. . . 140

Mail-coat and habergeon simile for a
glittering stream . . .291

Ma’in, Ma’un = smitten with the

evil eye.123

Majnun = madman ... 10

Making water.259

Mahkamah = Kan’s Court . . 21

Malik or Malak = Seraph or Sovran
Mamluk = white slaves trained to

arms.Si

Mirid = contumacious Jinni . . 41

Miristin (from Pers. Bfmdristan ~

place of sickness. . . “x. 288

Marmar = marble .... 295

Marriage not valid withoat receipt of
settlement ..... 276
Masha’ili = bearer of a cresset

(Mash’al).259

Masihi = follower of the Messiah . 258

Maskhut = transformed (mostly into
something hideous); a statue . 165

Massage (shampooing) . . .172

Mausil (Mosul) alluding to the

junction of Assyria and Babyloma 82
May dan = parade ground . . 46

Maymunah, proverbial name now

forgotten.57

Meat rarely coloured in modern days 310
Merchants and shopkeepers carrying

swords . • ... 54

Miao or Mau — cat . . . 220

Mikra’ah = palm-rod ... 99

Mihrib and Minaret, symbols of
Venus and Priapus ? . . . 166

Milh salt .... 340
Miracles performed by Saints’ tombs 241
Miskal = 71—72 grams in gold, used
for dinar • 1 » , .126

Mizr, Mizar m beer • •

Moles compared with pearls .
Monday = second day, reckoninj
from Sabbath (Saturday)

Money carried in the corner of
handkerchief

Monoculars unlucky to meet .
Mosul stuff == muslin
Mounds = rubbish heaps outlying
Eastern cities
Mouth compared to the ring of
Sulayman ....
Mu’arras == pimp . . •

Muhafiz =: district-governor
Muhakk&h == “Court-hand **.
Muhammarah “ fricandoed
Mujtaba = the Accepted
Munakkishah = woman who applies
the dye to a face
Murtaz a = the Elect . .

Mustapha = the Chosen .

Mutawalli = Prefect of Police .
Muzayyin =2 Figaro of the East

7 *

177

266

27*

353

229

7 <

338

*59

129

286

270

* 3 .

259

304

N ABUT = quarter-staff . . . 234

Nadd, a compound perfume . . 310

Nad da bah “ mourning woman * 311

Nadim = cup-companion . • 46

Nafas = breath .... 107

Nais = soul, life .... ib.
Nahas as far = brass ... 40

Nahis (aswad) = copper. . . tb .

Nahnu malihin — we are on term of
salt ...... 344

Nahs := nasty.301

Naihah = keener, hired mourner . 311

Nakedness paraphrased . . . 327

Nakfb a caravan-leader, chief, syndic 269
Name of Allah introduced into an
indecent tale essentially Egyptian 12
Narjis = Narcissus .... 294

Naskh = copying hand . . .128

Nasr&ni ~ follower of Him of

Nazareth.258

Nat’a = leather used by way of table¬
cloth ...... 20

Nata’ al-dam — the leather of blood 3 I«
Navel as to beauty and health . . 84

Nearness of seat a mark of honour . 250

Negroes preferred by debauched

women . • • • • 6

Index . 359

New-moon beginning RamazAn care¬
fully looked for. . . .84

Nile-water sweet and light . . 290

Nineteen the age of an oldish old

maid in Egypt .... 212

Noisy merriment scandalous to

Moslem “ respectability ” . *95

Nothing for nothing a sexual point
(Thonneur .... .87

Oath a serious thiog amongst

Moslems . . . . .179

Oman ~ Eastern Arabia ... 83

Oriental orgie different from European 93

Pander-dodge to get more money 302
Panel-dodge fatally common . . 323

Pans Jockey-club scene anticipated . 327

Parody on the testification of Allah’s

Unity . . . . .177

Parrot-story a world-wide folk-lore 52
Passengers in difficulties take com¬
mand .140

Pearl, supposed to lose one per cent.

per ann. of its splendour • .165

Peshdadians, race of Persian Kings . 75

Plain (ground), synonyms for . . 46

Plural masc. used by way of modesty

when a girl addresses her lover . 98

Poetry of the Arabs requires know¬
ledge of the Desert to be under¬
stood ..... 230

Pomegranate fruit supposed to contain

seed from Eden garden . .134

Prime Minister carrying fish to the

cookmaid ... . , 63

Privy, a slab with slit in front and a

round hole behind . . . 221

Proverbs true to nature . . . 307

Qanoon-e-Islam quoted on the
subject of horoscopes, etc. . . 213

Kay DAN f YAH, a camping ground near
*L'airo ...... 245

Rayhani = a curved character . .128

Rais = captain of a ship . . . 127

Rajar=r; the seventh Bahr of Arabic
prosody . . . . .251

Rajul rkhtiydr sc middle-aged man 55

Refusal of a gift greatest affront . 33 $

Rending of garments as sign of

sorrow or vexation . . . 308

Respect shown to parts of the body,

exuviae, etc. .... 276
Riding on the ass an old Biblical

practice ..... 261
Rims cars .... • * 3 t

Rozistan rr day station . . • 29

Rukd’im correspondence band • 128

Rukhim — alabaster . « « 295

Ruka’layn ~ two-bow paayer . • 142

Sa’ad = auspiciousness, prosperity;
derivatives ..... 9

Sabr ~ patience and aloes, source of
puns ...... 138

Sadaf— cowrie .... 19

Sadakah rr voluntary alms, opposed

to ZaHt ..... 339

Sadd ~ wall, dyke .... 114

Sayd wa Kanas = hunting and
coursing ..... 9

Sahibczrcompanion, used asaWazirial
title ...... 237

Sahib al-Shartah rz: chief of the watch

(Prefect of Police) . . . 259

Sahib Nafas = master of breath, a

minor saint healing by expiration 107
Sahil Masrm the river side (at Cairo) 291
Saj’arz: rhymed prose . . .116

Sakhr al-Jinni alluded to . . *41

Sakiyah the Persian water wheel . 123

Salih, prophet sent to Thamud . 169

Salma and Layla =our “ Mary and

Martha ”.265

Sama’an wa ta atan to be translated

variously.96

Samn = clarified butter . . . 144

Sir zz: vendetta . . . IOI, 114

SarAwil — bag or petticoat trousers 222
Sarddb = underground room . . 340

Sarrdf= Anglo-Indian “ Shroff’* . 210

Sassanides .... • 75

Sawdb = reward in Heaven . . 96

Scalding a stump in oil common

surgery practice .... 297
Scorpions of the brow = accroche-

coeurs, etc. . 168

Sealing a covered dish a necessary

precaution against poison • • 244

360

Alf Laylah wa Laylak.

Seas, the two—the Mediterranean

and the Indian Ocean . . 173

Sepulchre, erroneously called “ a little

Wali” .. . . .105

Seven schools or editions of the

Koran.113

Shdbb rr youth between puberty and

forty . . . . . *55

Shabistdn zz night station . 29

Shakdik al-Nu’um£nzz anemone . 175

Shahr^zid zz city-freer . . . 14

Shahryarzz city friend ... -2

Shah Ziman = King of the Age . ib.
Shaykh = an old man, elder, chief . 26

Shaykh, Shaybahzzgrey-beardjOldster, 55
Sha’ilahzzlink (also lamp, wick, etc) 259
Shaking and nodding the head, uni¬
versal items of gesture language . 300

Sham (Syria) zz land on the left,
opposed to Al-Yaman— land on

the right.S3

44 Shame” alluded to in cursing

parents of an abused person . 227

Shampooing the feet . . .117

Sharmutahzzrags, tatters; strumpets;

shreds of meatrz Kadid . . 163

Shamah zz Khal, mole on the cheek 167
Shartzza single Tal’biyah or cry

Labbayka ..... 226

Shatm zz obscene abuse . . .182

Shayyun li’llahi =r per amor di Dio 329
Shedding tears no disgrace for a man 68
Sham hamphorash — the hundredth
name of God, engraved on the
seal-ring of Solomon . . . x 73

Shibahzz shooting stars . . . 224

Shirk (partnership) — Syntheism,

Dualism, Trinitarianisra . . 181

Shops composed of a li but ” and a

‘‘ben” ..... 316

Shudder preceding the magnetic

trance .... . 44

Shuhada, martyrs, extensive cate¬
gory . . . . . . 171

Shuhud zz assessors of the Kazi s

Court ..... 21

Shurayh, foxier than the fox • . 252

Shtishah zz top-knot of hair . . 308

Simat zz dinner table . . .178

Simiyarz. white magic . . 305, 332

Sitting on shins and knees a trying

posture • • • . 130

Slaves fancied by debauched women f-9f

Slice of the moon — digit of the

moon ..... pr
Smuggling men into the Harem . 282

Snatching off the turband a paying

industry . . , 259

Soft-sided, attribute of beauty . 168

Solomon’s death fixing the date of a

tale.* 41

“Son” used for .“grandson” .as.

more affectionate . . . 243

Son of a century zz hundred years old 126
Sons of Adam zz men . . . 130

Sons of Sasan zz Sassanides . . 2

Speaker puts himself first * • 33

Spittle dried up from fear , . 285

Staff broken in the first bout rr
failure in the first attempt . . 64

Street melodies changing with fashion 311
Striking the right hand upon the left

sign of vexation . . . 298

Striking with the shoe, the pipe-

stick, etc., highly insulting . no
Subh-i-kazib — false dawn . . 78

Subb-i-sadik zz true dawn . . ib

Sucking the tonguezz “ kissing with

th’inner lip ” .... 270

Sufrah zz dinner table . .178

Sugar-stick zz German Zucker-

piippchen ..... 167

Suha, star in the Great Bear . • ib

Sulayman and Sakhr al-Jinni . . 42

Sullam = ladder ; whipping-post • 331
Stilus zz engrossing hand . . 128

Sums of large amount weighed . 281
Sun greeting Mohammed . . 45

Superstitious practices not confined

to the lower orders . 40

Surriyah—concubine ... 27

Su’uban zz dragon, cockatrice zz

Tannin . . . . .172

Su’ud used as a counter odour . , 279

Suwanzz syenite • . • « 238

Taghum a kind of onomatopoetic

grunt.228

Tailor made to cut out the cloth in

owner’s presence . „ . 32?

T&kiyah, calotte worn under the

Fez, scull-cap .... 224

Talbiyah zz the cry Labbayka . • 226

Tammuz zz: July . . . . 53

Tamar Hanna—flower of privet . 83

Tar zz: tambourine . . . .215

Tarbush — Pers. Sar-push, head
cover . . . . ib.

Tarlk z= clear the way ... 66

T&ijuman truchman dragoman . too
Tasbfh = saluting in the Subh . . 358*

Tanr (Thaur, Saur), a venerable

remnant of un-split speech . . 16

TawAshi, obnoxious name for a

Eunuch.235

Tears shed over past separation 283

Thousand dirhams and thousand
dinars = ^125 and AS 00 re¬
spectively .2S1

Three days term of hospitality . 3

Throwing one = bastinado on the
b a c k ... ... 243

Tibn =r crashed straw ... 16

Tobba (Himyaritic) “the Great or

Chief.216

Tongue of the case — words sug¬
gested by the circumstances . 121

Tughyan = Kuff, rejection of the

True Religion . . . .169

Tumarzn uncial letters . . =129

Turband not put upon the ground out
of respect ..... 223
** Turk ’’ probably a late addition . 52

Turning round in despair against an

oppressor ..... 246

Udah, properly Uta = private room

of a concubine ....

Ultza-Shaksperean geography,** Fars

of Roum ” ....

Umamah arid Atikah. tale of two

women now forgotten
*

Umm Amir rr Mother of Amir,

nickname for the hyena .

'Urban —v/ild Arabs • • ,

Usfur — safflower . • . .

Uzayr zz: Esdras ....

286

112

219

*S 7

Varieties of handwriting .129

Wakkad = stoker * s .312

Wali =0 (civil) Governor . . . 259

Wa’l-Salam — and here ends the

matter.soa

Washings after evacuation . . 220

Way of Allah zz: comraoB property . 91

W«ir rzz Minister . . . - 4

“ What is it compared with," popular

way of expressing great difference 37
Wife euphemistically spoken of in the

masculine .... • 67

Window-gardening, old practice in
the East .... 301

Wine boiled =: vinum coctura . . 132

Wine-drinking vitiates the Pilgrimage-
rite . . . . . 97

Wine flying to the head, effect of the
cold after a heated room . . 224

Wine why strained ? ... 37

Wiswas — diabolical temptation or

suggestion . . . .106

Women bastinadoed . . . 183

Wonder (—cause) in every death . 351

Wuldan — Ghilman, the beautiful
youths of Paradise . . .211

Wuzu-ablutionzr: lesser ablutions ♦ 142

YA Bk’iz) — O- distant one, euphe¬
mism for gross abuse ... 41

Ya band —O fool .... 313

If a hu rz O he ! Swift’s Yahoo ? . 240

Yahudi for Jew, less polite than Bana

Israel . * . . .2 to

Yi Khalati zz: mother’s sister, in ad¬
dressing the old .... 303

Y i Mash’um z= O unlucky one . 221

YA haza —O this (one), somewhat

slightingly ..... 240

Ya Sattar zz: Thou who veriest the
discreditable secrets of Thy crea¬
tures ...... 258

Ya Taiyyib al-Khal — O thou nephew

of a good uncle .... 303

Yaum al-Id — the great festival . 317

Youth described in terms applying to

women . . . * • 144

Wady, Anglice ** valley” . 7

Wahsh rz v/i!d-beast and synonyms .
Wakalah ; d escribed in Pilgrimage
i« 60 ..»•*.
VOL. L

51 ZAbIt— Prefect of Police

242 Zakat zz: legal alms .

Zamhurzr: clitoris .

266 ] Zemzem — water saltish .

• *59

• 339

. 90

• 284

A A

302

A If Layiah wa Lay/ah.

Zikr — litanies .... 124

Zirbajab — meat dressed with cumin-

seed, etc . 278

Ziyarat == visit to a pious person or

place .(25

Zauba’ah =r sand-storm in the
d esert . . « ♦, « « 114

Zubb = penis . . -? ? *

Zabbdl zzz scavenger . . * %t2

Zulf sr side-lock .... 308

Zulm, injustice, tyranny; worst of a

monarch’s crimes . . . 190

Zuwaylah gate, more correctly Bib
Zawilah . . .

Stt ^