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[Illustration]

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                   "TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE."
                           (Puris omnia para)

                                                        —_Arab Proverb._

          "Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole."

                                            —"_Decameron_"—_conclusion_.

              "Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum
                  Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget."

                                                             —_Martial._

            "Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,
                Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes."

                                                              —RABELAIS.

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

                                      —CRICHTON'S "_History of Arabia_."

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_A PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS.
NOW ENTITULED_




                           _THE BOOK OF THE_
                     =Thousand Nights and a Night=

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

                               VOLUME I.


                                   BY
                           RICHARD F. BURTON

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                 PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE
                            SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

                            Shammar Edition

Limited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is

                              Number _547_




                          PRINTED IN U. S. A.

                       =Inscribed to the Memory=

                                   OF

                           MY LAMENTED FRIEND

                     =John Frederick Steinhaeuser,=

                         (CIVIL SURGEON, ADEN)

                                  WHO

                       A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO

                    ASSISTED ME IN THIS TRANSLATION.




                       THE TRANSLATOR'S FOREWORD.


This work, laborious as it may appear, has been to me a labour of love,
an unfailing source of solace and satisfaction. 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;
without 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 predilection, Arabia, a region so familiar to my
mind that even at first sight, it seemed a reminiscence of some by-gone
metempsychic life in the distant Past. Again I stood under the
diaphanous skies, in air glorious as æther, 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 transforming, 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 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-Mulúk; they are touched with tenderness by the self-sacrificing
love of Azízah; their mouths water as they hear of heaps of untold gold
given away in largesse like clay; they chuckle with delight every time a
Kázi or a Fakír—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 sorely tried, at the tales of the garrulous
Barber and of Ali and the Kurdish Sharper. To this magnetising mood the
sole exception is when 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 "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 incontinently 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 "collaborate" and produce
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, especially for his translation of "The Poems of Master
Francis 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 "Athenæum" (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 that,
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" Philister who can
pardon anything but superiority, the prizes of competitive services are
monopolised by certain "pets" of the _Médiocratie_, 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-employés 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' Entertainments."

Our century of translations, popular and vernacular, from (Professor
Antoine) Galland's delightful abbreviation and adaptation (A.D. 1704),
in no 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 gallicisms of style and idiom; and
one and all degrade a chef-d'œuvre 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 Professor, etc.,
etc.), printed his "Tales, Anecdotes, and Letters, translated from the
Arabic and Persian," (Cadell and Davies, London, 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 vol., 8vo, Calcutta:
W. Thacker and Co.) from the Arabic of the Ægyptian (!) 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
conscientious 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 nine or ten.

That amiable and devoted Arabist, the late Edward William Lane does not
score a success in his "New Translation of the 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
"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 Thousand 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 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 version is caviaire to
the general—practically unprocurable.

And here I hasten to confess that ample use has been made of the three
versions above noted, the whole being blended by a _callida junctura_
into a homogeneous mass. But in the presence of so many predecessors a
writer is bound to show some _raison d'être_ 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 Thousand 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 commixtum, 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 _mécanique_, 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 Ráwí 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 personæ_
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 and tail-pieces or the splitting-up of
Galland's narrative by merely prefixing "Nuit," etc., ending moreover,
with the ccxxxiv^{th} 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 "walling the horizon." Hence peculiar 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 "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 quâ non_ for a complete reproduction of
the original. In the terminal Essay I shall revert to the subject.

On the other hand when treating the versicle 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 continuat_ 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, naïve 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 unconventionally 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 primitifs n'y entendent pas malice: ils appellent les
choses par leurs noms et ne trouvent pas condamnable ce qui est
naturel._ And they are prying as children. For instance 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, especially 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 _les
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 Elisæ_. 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 Alcofribas Nasier, "divin
maître 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_, 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 modern
tinsel. Its life, strong, splendid and multitudinous, is everywhere
flavoured with that unaffected pessimism and constitutional melancholy
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 cadens.

Poetical justice is administered by the literary Kází 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
marvellous picture with many a "rich truth in a tale's pretence";
pointed by a rough dry humour which compares well with "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
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 anthropology. 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 certain
advantages over the average student, however deeply 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"
will not hear mentioned. Grote, the historian, and Thackeray, the
novelist, both lamented that the _bégueulerie_ 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 founding the Anthropological Society, whose presidential
chair I first occupied (pp. 2-4 Anthropologia; London, Balliere, vol.
i., No. 1, 1873). My motive was to supply travellers with an organ which
would rescue their observations from the outer darkness of manuscript,
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" cried us down with her brazen blatant voice, and the
weak-kneed brethren fell away. 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 "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=A.D. 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 "improvements," which only debased the book; and his
sole title to excuse is that the second Bulak Edition (4 vols. 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, 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 ("Bres.") wretchedly edited
from a hideous Egyptian MS. by Dr. Maximilian Habicht (1825-43). The
Bayrut Text "Alif-Leila we Leila" (4 vols. gt. 8vo, Beirut. 1881-83) is
a melancholy specimen of The Nights taken entirely 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 for special reasons against which it was vain
to protest: it represents the debased brogue of Egypt or rather of
Cairo; and such a word as Kemer (ez-Zeman) would be utterly
unpronounceable to a Badawi. 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 European pronounces Mus-cat´, and
the Arab villager Mas´-kat; the Children of the Waste, "on whose tongues
Allah descended," articulate Mas-kat. I have therefore followed the
simple system adopted in my "Pilgrimage," and have accented Arabic words
only when first used, thinking it unnecessary to preserve throughout
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 deviations 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 pronounced. Strictly speaking, the _e_-sound and the
_o_-sound (viz. the Italian _o_-sound not the English which is peculiar
to us and unknown to any other tongue) are not found in Arabic, except
when the figure Imálah obliges: hence they are called "Yá al-Majhúl" and
"Waw al-Majhúl" the unknown y (í) 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 sád (ص) compared with
the sín (س). None save 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 "Memlúk" for "Mamlúk" (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;"
"Zebdani" (the Syrian village) to "Zabdani," and "Fes and Miknes" (by
the figure Imálah) to "Fás and Miknás," our "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 Mohammed (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
Khalífah 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 exclamations, as "Bismillah" (=in
the name of Allah!) and "Inshallah" (=if Allah please!), which have
special applications and which have been made familiar to English ears
by the genius of Fraser and Morier.

I 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 supplementing 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
literature, has led them astray from those (so-called) "Semitic"
studies, which are the more requisite for us as they teach us to deal
successfully 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 incomparably 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, culminating 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 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 ornamentations
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.


                                                                  PAGE

  INTRODUCTION                                                       1

  STORY OF KING SHAHRYAR AND HIS BROTHER                             2

     _a._ TALE OF THE BULL AND THE ASS                              16

                     (_Lane, vol. I._, 1-16.)


  1. TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI                               24

    (_Chapt. I. Story of the Merchant and the Jinnee: p. 43._)

     _a._ THE FIRST SHAYKH'S STORY                                  27

       (_Story of the First Sheykh and the Gazelle: p. 48._)

     _b._ THE SECOND SHAYKH'S STORY                                 32

  (_Story of the Second Sheykh and the two Black Hounds: p. 52._)

     _c._ THE THIRD SHAYKH'S STORY                                  36

        (_Story of the Third Sheykh and the Mule: p. 56._)


  2. THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI                                    38

           (_Chapt. II. Story of the Fisherman: p. 78._)

     _a._ TALE OF THE WAZIR AND THE SAGE DUBAN                      45

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

          _ab._ STORY OF KING SINDIBAD AND HIS FALCON               50

          _ac._ TALE OF THE HUSBAND AND THE PARROT                  52

          (_Story of the Husband and the Parrot: p. 89._)

          _ad._ TALE OF THE PRINCE AND THE OGRESS                   54

   (_Story of the Envious Wezeer and the Prince and the Ghoolah:
                             p. 91._)

     _b._ TALE OF THE ENSORCELLED PRINCE                            69

     (_Story of the Young King of the Black Islands: p. 106._)



  3. THE PORTER AND THE THREE LADIES OF BAGHDAD                     82

   (_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                                104

          (_Story of the First Royal Mendicant: p. 150._)

     _b._ THE SECOND KALANDAR'S TALE                               113

         (_Story of the Second Royal Mendicant: p. 157._)

          _ba._ TALE OF THE ENVIER AND THE ENVIED                  123

          (_Story of the Envier and the Envied: p. 166._)

     _c._ THE THIRD KALANDAR'S TALE                                139

          (_Story of the Third Royal Mendicant: p. 178._)

     _d._ THE ELDEST LADY'S TALE                                   162

     _e._ TALE OF THE PORTRESS                                     173

          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          195

   (_Story of Noor ed-Deen and his Son, and of Shems ed-Deen and
                      his Daughter: p. 253._)


  6. THE HUNCHBACK'S TALE                                          255

           (_Chapt. V. Story of the Humpback: p. 238._)

     _a._ THE NAZARENE BROKER'S STORY                              262

          (_Story told by the Christian Broker: p. 334._)

     _b._ THE REEVE'S TALE                                         278

          (_Story told by the Sultan's Steward: p. 348._)

     _c._ TALE OF THE JEWISH DOCTOR                                288

          (_Story told by the Jewish Physician: p. 359._)

     _d._ TALE OF THE TAILOR                                       300

               (_Story told by the Tailor: p. 368._)

     _e._ THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIMSELF                             317

            (_The Barber's Story of Himself: p. 383._)

          _ea._ THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS FIRST BROTHER             319

       (_The Barber's Story of His First Brother: p. 385._)

          _eb._ THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS SECOND BROTHER            324

       (_The Barber's Story of His Second Brother: p. 389._)

          _ec._ THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS THIRD BROTHER             328

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

          _ed._ THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS FOURTH BROTHER            331

       (_The Barber's Story of His Fourth Brother: p. 396._)

          _ee._ THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS FIFTH BROTHER             335

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

          _ef._ THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS SIXTH BROTHER             343

           (_The Barber's Story of His Sixth Brother._)

                THE END OF THE TAILOR'S TALE                       348




                            THE BOOK OF THE
                      THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT.
                       (_ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH._)


                          In the Name of Allah,
                 the Compassionating, the Compassionate!

 _PRAISE BE TO ALLAH ✿ THE BENEFICENT KING ✿ THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE
 ✿ LORD 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 PRAYER-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 ✿
 AMEN! ✿ O 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 modern 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 wonders. Therein it is related (but Allah is All-knowing of His
 hidden things and All-ruling and All-honoured and All-giving and
 All-gracious and All-merciful![1]) that, in tide of yore and in time
 long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu Sásán in
 the Islands of India and China, a Lord of armies and guards and
 servants and dependents.[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 exemplary that he was beloved by all the peoples
 of his capital and of his kingdom. His name was King Shahryár,[3] and
 he made his younger brother, Shah Zamán 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 yearned 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 Minister, finding the 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; Mamelukes, 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 disappoint 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, he
 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 and 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 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 visit. He then 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 import,
 he said, "I hear and I obey the commands of the beloved brother!"
 adding to the Wazir, "But we will not march till after 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 he 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 with 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
 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
 unchanged, 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." "O my brother," replied Shah
 Zaman "I have an internal wound:"[6] 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 despondency,
 instead of diminishing, prevailed, and leechcraft 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, however, refused, saying, "O 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 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 all 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.[7] 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 it[8] 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 from 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 however 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 condition. 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 sickness 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! When Shah Zaman heard
 this he bowed ground-wards awhile his head, then raised it and said, "I
 will tell thee what caused my complaint 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." "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,[9] and right
 excusable were thy wrath and grief for such mishap 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 needs 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
 my so doing!" "Nay, but thou must." "I fear, O my brother, lest 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 melancholy 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, "O my brother, I 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,[10] and then hide thyself with me, so shalt thou witness it
 and thine eyes shall verify it." "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
 overlooking the pleasure grounds, when 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!"[11]
 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 complete 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, "Do not thwart
 me, O my brother, in what I propose;" and 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 over-wander 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,[12] huge of height and burly of
 breast and bulk, broad of brow and black of blee, bearing on his head a
 coffer of 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 night she had been,
 or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the poet Utayyah hath
 excellently said:—

 She rose like the morn as she shone through the night ✿ And she gilded
    the grove with her gracious sight:
 From 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[13] with torrent tears ✿ When she flasheth her
    look of leven-light.

[Illustration]

 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 naught from this Ifrít."[14] They were in a terrible fright when
 they found that she had seen them and answered her in the same manner,
 "Allah upon thee[15] 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 deaths;" and
 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, otherwise will I arouse and set upon you this
 Ifrit who shall slay you 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[16] 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, "O my brother, do
 thou what she biddeth thee do;" but he replied, "I will not do it till
 thou do it before I do." And they began disputing 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[17] seal rings, and asked, "Know ye
 what be these?" They answered her saying, "We know not!" Then quoth
 she; "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 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[18] for sample ✿ 'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts!
      Iblis[19] ousted Adam ✿ (See ye not?) thro' their arts.

 And another saith:—

 "Stint thy blame, man! 'Twill drive to a passion without bound; ✿ My
    fault is not so heavy as fault in it hast found.
 If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not ✿ Save what
    happened unto many in the by-gone stound.
 For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise ✿ 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 other,
 "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 us decide never to intermarry with womankind 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 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 (Inshallah!) 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
 Mamelukes.[20] 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 homewards; 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 in 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, Shahrázád and Dunyázád hight,[21] of
 whom the 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 accomplishments; 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? Concerning this matter quoth one of the
 poets:—

           Tell whoso hath sorrow ✿ Grief never shall last:
           E'en as joy hath no morrow ✿ 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."[22] "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 what,"
 asked she, "befel them, O my father?" Whereupon the Wazir began the


                  _TALE OF THE BULL[23] 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 dwelt 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 cowhouse 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 were
 playing about him, he heard the Bull say to the Ass, "Hail and health
 to thee O Father of Waking![24] 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,[25] 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 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,[26] O thou lost
 one! he lied not who dubbed thee Bull-head, for thou, O father of a
 Bull, hast neither forethought nor contrivance; thou art the simplest
 of simpletons,[27] and thou knowest naught of good advisers. Hast thou
 not heard the saying of the wise:—

 For others these hardships and labours I bear ✿ And theirs is the
    pleasure and mine is the care;
 As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun ✿ To whiten the
    raiment which other men wear."[28]

 But thou, O fool, art full of zeal and thou toilest and molest before
 the master; and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thyself 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 language. 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 satisfied with thy crushed straw and chaff; and on
 this wise feign thou 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![29] thou
 hast made up for my failings." (Now[30] the merchant, O my daughter,
 understood all that passed between them.) Next day the driver took the
 Bull, and settling the plough on his neck,[31] made him work as wont;
 but the Bull began to shirk his ploughing, 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 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 repentance; 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; for
 what saith the poet?

 Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil[32] fail ✿ 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,[33] 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 will do with thee even what the merchant did
 with his wife." "And what did he?" asked she. Know then, answered the
 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[34] 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!" Thereupon 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 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 importune 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[35] and his assessors, intending to make his will and
 reveal to her his secret and die the death; for he loved her with love
 exceeding 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,[36] 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 brought thee
 up?[37] 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 our 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?"[38] "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." 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 gladness. 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, "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 dissuading 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, 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 King 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 Dunyazad 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,
 delightsome and delectable, wherewith to while away the waking hours of
 our latter night."[39] "With joy and goodly gree," answered Shahrazad,
 "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

-----

Footnote 1:

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

Footnote 2:

   The "Sons of Sásán" are the famous Sassanides whose dynasty ended
   with the Arabian Conquest (A.D. 641). "Island" (Jazírah) in Arabic
   also means "Peninsula," and causes much confusion in geographical
   matters.

Footnote 3:

   Shahryár not Shahriyar (Persian)="City-friend." The Bulak edition
   corrupts it to Shahrbáz (City-hawk), and the Breslau to Shahrbán or
   "Defender of the City," like Marz-ban=Warden of the Marshes. Shah
   Zamán (Persian)="King of the Age:" Galland prefers Shah Zenan, or
   "King of women," and the Bul. edit. changes it to Shah Rummán,
   "Pomegranate King." Al-Ajam 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 Gr. Βάρβαρος. See Vol. ii., p. 1.

Footnote 4:

   Galland writes "Vizier," a wretched frenchification of a mincing
   Turkish mispronunciation; Torrens, "Wuzeer" (Anglo-Indian and
   Gilchristian); Lane, "Wezeer" (Egyptian or rather Cairene); Payne,
   "Vizier," according to his system; Burckhardt (Proverbs), "Vizír;"
   and Mr. Keith-Falconer, "Vizir." The root is popularly supposed to be
   "wizr" (burden) and the meaning "Minister;" Wazír al-Wuzará being
   "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 administration
   of affairs under a prince." But both learned Koranists learnt their
   Orientalism in London, and, like such students generally, fail only
   upon the easiest points, familiar to all old dwellers in the East.

Footnote 5:

   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.

Footnote 6:

   _i.e._, I am sick at heart.

Footnote 7:

   Debauched women prefer negroes on account of the size of their parts.
   I measured one man in Somali-land who, when quiescent, numbered
   nearly 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
   whitewashed. 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 womenfolk to
   Zanzibar on account of the huge attractions and enormous temptations
   there and thereby offered to them. Upon the subject of
   Imsák=retention of semen and "prolongation of pleasure," I shall find
   it necessary to say more.

Footnote 8:

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

Footnote 9:

   The Arab's _Tue la!_

Footnote 10:

   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 (oiseler), and so forth.

Footnote 11:

   In the Mac. Edit, the negro is called "Mas'úd"; here he utters a kind
   of war-cry and plays upon the name, Sa'ád, Sa'íd, Sa'úd, and Mas'ud,
   all being derived from one root, "Sa'ad"=auspiciousness, prosperity.

Footnote 12:

   The Arab singular (whence the French "génie"); fem. Jinniyah; the Div
   and Rakshah of old Guebre-land and the "Rakshasa," or "Yaksha," of
   Hinduism. It would be interesting to 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 (δαίμον), a family which separated, like the Jinn and the
   Genius, into two categories, the good (Agatho-dæmons) and the bad
   (Kako-dæmons). 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 Ján bin Ján, missionarised by
   Prophets and subject to death and Judgment. From the same root are
   "Junún"=madness (_i.e._, possession or obsession by the Jinn) and
   "Majnún"=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—Jinns. Further details anent the Jinn will
   presently occur.

Footnote 13:

   Arab "Amsár" (cities): in Bul. Edit. "Amtár" (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.

   I 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.

Footnote 14:

   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, but not always, a malignant being, hostile and
   injurious to mankind (Koran xxvii. 39).

Footnote 15:

   _i.e._, "I conjure thee by Allah;" the formula is technically called
   "Inshád."

Footnote 16:

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

Footnote 17:

   So in the Mac. Edit.; in others "ninety." I prefer the greater number
   as exaggeration is a part of the humour. In the Hindu "Kathá Sárit
   Ságara" (Sea of the Streams of Story), the rings are one hundred and
   the catastrophe is more moral; the good youth Yashodhara 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 is duly cut off. (Chapt. lxiii.; p. 80, of the
   excellent translation by Prof. C. H. Tawney: for the Bibliotheca
   Indica: Calcutta, 1881.) The Kathá, etc., by Somadeva (century xi),
   is a poetical version of the prose compendium, the "Vrihat Kathá"
   (Great Story) by Gunadhya (cent. vi).

Footnote 18:

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

Footnote 19:

   "Iblis," vulgarly written "Eblis," from a root meaning The Despairer,
   with a suspicious 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 Koran from the
   Talmud (Sanhedrim 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
   does not throw up the cards.

Footnote 20:

   A similar tale is still told at Akká (St. John d'Acre) concerning the
   terrible "butcher"—Jazzár (Djezzar) Pasha. One can·hardly pity women
   who are fools enough to run such risks. According to Frizzi, Niccolò,
   Marquis of Este, after beheading Parisina, ordered all the faithless
   wives of Ferrara to be treated in like manner.

Footnote 21:

   "Shahrázád (Persian)=City-freer; in the older version Scheherazade
   (probably both from Shirzád=lion-born). "Dunyázád=World-freer. The
   Bres. Edit. corrupts the former to Sháhrzád or Sháhrazád; and the
   Mac. and Calc. to Shahrzád or Shehrzád. I have ventured to restore
   the name as it should be. Galland for the second prefers Dinarzade
   (?) and Richardson Dinazade (Dinázád=Religion-freer): here I have
   followed Lane and Payne; though in "First Footsteps" I was misled by
   Galland. See Vol. ii. p. 1.

Footnote 22:

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

Footnote 23:

   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."

Footnote 24:

   Arab. "Abú Yakzán"=the Wakener; because the ass brays at dawn.

Footnote 25:

   Arab. "Tibn"; straw crushed under the sledge: the hay of Egypt,
   Arabia, Syria, etc. The old country custom is to pull up the corn by
   handfuls from the roots, leaving the land perfectly bare: hence the
   "plucking up" of Hebrew Holy Writ. The object is to preserve every
   atom of "Tibn."

Footnote 26:

   Arab. "Yá Aftah": Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, also of the
   chameleon.

Footnote 27:

   Arab. "Balid," a favourite Egyptianism often pleasantly confounded
   with "Wali" (a Santon); hence the latter comes to mean "an innocent,"
   a "ninny."

Footnote 28:

   From the Calc. Edit., Vol. I., p. 29.

Footnote 29:

   Arab. "Abu Yakzán" is hardly equivalent with "Père l'Eveillé."

Footnote 30:

   In Arab. the wa (وَ) is the sign of parenthesis.

Footnote 31:

   In the nearer East the light little plough is carried a-field by the
   bull or ass.

Footnote 32:

   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.

Footnote 33:

   Arab. "Sadaf," the Kauri, or cowrie, brought from the Maldive and
   Lakdive Archipelago. The Kámús 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 in Arab. is "Murwarid," hence evidently "Margarita" and
   Margaris (woman's name).

Footnote 34:

   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.

Footnote 35:

   The Older "Cadi," a judge in religious matters. The Shuhúd, or
   Assessors, are officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi's Court.

Footnote 36:

   Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself ceremonially
   before death.

Footnote 37:

   This is Christian rather than Moslem: a favourite Maltese curse is
   "Yahrak Kiddísak man rabba-k!"=burn the Saint who brought thee up!

Footnote 38:

   A popular Egyptian phrase: the dog and the cock speak like Fellahs.

Footnote 39:

   _i.e._ between the last sleep and dawn when they would rise to wash
   and pray.




                   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 son!" Asked the merchant, "How have I slain thy son?" and he
 answered, "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."[40] 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, casting 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 bane ✿ 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
    ✿ None save the forest giant feels the suffering of the strain?
 How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green ✿ 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 ✿
    While pearls o' price lie hidden in the deepest of the main!
 In Heaven are unnumberèd the many of the stars ✿ Yet ne'er a star but
    Sun and Moon by eclipse is overta'en.
 Well judgest thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well ✿ And
    countedst not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever fain.
 The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride ✿ 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 Ifrit, 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 at 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 transacted his business and rendered to all men their dues and
 after 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.[41] 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,[42] 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
 Jánn?"[43] So they told him the tale from beginning to end, and 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."[44] The merchant wailed and wept, and the three old men began
 sighing and crying and weeping and wailing with their companion.
 Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle) came out from
 among them and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and said, "O 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 SHAYKH'S STORY._

 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,[45] who 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 and clerkly craft[46] 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 to 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.[47] 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
 must thou kill this calf; this is a holy day and a blessed, 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 repentance 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.[48] 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[49] 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 the 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.

                    Now when it was the Second Night,

 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 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, "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, this
 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, lo! 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."[50] 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 welcomed 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 hand." She smiled and answered, "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, otherwise 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 command of Allah Most
 Highest!" 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
 married 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 of this man who hath done
 to thee what hath been done;[51] 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."
 Thereupon he thus began


                      _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,[52] 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!"[53] 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 Hammám-bath[54] 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
 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[55] 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."[56] 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 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 merchandise,
 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, forthright becoming an Ifritah,[57] 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 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 conditioned 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, "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 merchandise. 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,
 "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


                      _THE THIRD SHAYKH'S 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[58] 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 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 compared with that I
 could tell thee, the night to come, if I live and the King spare
 me?"[59] 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.

                    Now when it was the Third Night,

 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

-----

Footnote 40:

   Travellers tell of a peculiar knack of jerking the date-stone, which
   makes it strike with great force: I never saw this "Inwá" practised,
   but it reminds me of the water-splashing with one hand in the German
   baths.

Footnote 41:

   _i.e._, sorely against his will.

Footnote 42:

   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," "Signore," "Señor," "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!" 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 Miswák (tooth-stick), pared
   his nails, shaved his pecten, snuffed up water, used ablution after
   stool and wore a shirt (Tabari).

Footnote 43:

   The word is mostly plural=Jinnís: it is also singular=a demon; and
   Ján bin Ján has been noticed.

Footnote 44:

   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.

Footnote 45:

   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 believers 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 of prostitution which is, perhaps, the
   greatest evil known to modern society.

Footnote 46:

   Arab. "Al-Kahánah"=the craft of a "Káhin" (Heb. Cohen) a diviner,
   soothsayer, etc.

Footnote 47:

   Arab. "Id al-kabír"=The Great Festival; the Turkish Bayrám and Indian
   Bakar-eed (Kine-fête), the pilgrimage-time, also termed "Festival of
   the Kurbán" (sacrifice) because victims are slain; Al-Zuha (of Undurn
   or forenoon), Al-Azhá (of serene night) and Al-Nahr (of
   throat-cutting). For full details I must refer readers to my
   "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah" (3
   vols. 8vo. London, Longmans, 1855). I shall have often to refer to
   it.

Footnote 48:

   Arab. "Kalám al-mubáh," _i.e._, that allowed or permitted to her by
   the King, her husband.

Footnote 49:

   Moslem Kings are expected, like the old Guebre Monarchs, to hold
   "Darbar" (_i.e._, 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 levée places, the Rozistan (day station) and the
   Shabistan (night-station—istán or stán being a nominal form of
   istádan, to stand, as Hindo-stán). Moreover one day in the week the
   sovereign acted as "Mufti" or Supreme Judge.

Footnote 50:

   Arab. "Al-Bashárah," 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.

Footnote 51:

   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.

Footnote 52:

   Arab. "Dinár," from the Latin denarius (a silver coin worth ten
   ounces of brass) through the Greek δηνάριον: it is a Koranic word
   (chapt. iii.) though its Arab equivalent is "Miskál." It also occurs
   in the Kathá before quoted, clearly showing the derivation. In the
   "Book of Kalilah and Dimnah" it is represented by the Daric or
   Persian Dinár, δαρεικός, from Dárá=a King (whence Darius). The Dinar,
   sequin or ducat, contained at different times from 10 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 nine shillings 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).

Footnote 53:

   The formula used in refusing alms to an "asker" or in rejecting an
   insufficient offer: "Allah will open to thee!" (some door of gain—not
   mine)! Another favourite ejaculation is "Allah Karim" (which Turks
   pronounce "Kyereem")=Allah is All-beneficent: meaning Ask Him, not
   me.

Footnote 54:

   The public bath. London knows the word through "The Hummums."

Footnote 55:

   Arab. "Dirham" (Plur. diráhim, also used in the sense of money,
   "siller"), the Gr. δραχμή 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 "Zúz." This silver piece
   was=6 obols (9¾d.) and as a weight=66½ grains. The Dirham of The
   Nights was worth six "Dánik," each of these being a fraction over a
   penny. The modern Greek Drachma is=one franc.

Footnote 56:

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

Footnote 57:

   A she-Ifrit, not necessarily an evil spirit.

Footnote 58:

   Arab. "Kullah" (in Egypt pron. "gulleh"), the wide-mouthed 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, 1860.

Footnote 59:

   "And what is?" etc. A popular way of expressing great difference. So
   in India:—"Where is Rajah Bhoj (the great King) and where is Gangá
   the oilman?"




                      THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI.


 It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was a Fisherman 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 his 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!" Then quoth he, "This is a strange manner of
 daily bread;" and he began reciting in extempore verse:—

 O 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 ✿ 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.[60]

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

 When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume ✿ The noble soul's
    long-suffering: 'tis thy best:
 Complain not to the creature; this be 'plaint ✿ From one most Ruthful
    to the ruthlessest.

 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[61]:—

 Forbear, O troubles of the world, ✿ And pardon an ye nill forbear:
 I went to seek my daily bread ✿ 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 ✿ 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 found 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 ✿ While
    bearing up to high degree wights of ignoble mind.
 So come thou, Death! for verily life is not worth a straw ✿ 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 ✿ And that
    shall win her every wish though ne'er she leave the nest.

 Then raising his eyes heavenwards he said, "O my God!"[62] verily Thou
 wottest that I cast not my net each day save four times;[63] 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,[64] 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 ✿ I must be whelmed by grief
    and misery:
 Tho' gladsome be man's lot when dawns the morn ✿ 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!"

[Illustration]

 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,[65] 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
 æther (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 became an Ifrit, 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;" presently
 adding, "O Apostle of Allah, slay me not; never again will I gainsay
 thee in word nor sin against thee in deed."[66] Quoth the Fisherman, "O
 Márid,[67] diddest thou say, Sulayman the Apostle of Allah; and
 Sulayman is dead some thousand and eight hundred years ago,[68] 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![69]
 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 only what 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 retribution?"

 Quoth the Ifrit, "Hear my story, O Fisherman!" and he answered, "Say
 on, and be brief in thy saying, for of very sooth my life-breath is in
 my nostrils."[70] 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;[71]
 whereupon the Prophet sent his minister, Asaf son of Barkhiyá, 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[72] 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 century 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, "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 deaths." The Fisherman, hearing the words of
 the Ifrit, said, "O Allah! 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 our 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.[73]

 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."[74] 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.

                    Now when it was the Fourth Night,

 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[75] 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[76] 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 sea
 side; 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 King Yúnán with the
 sage Dúbán."[77] "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 DUBAN._

 "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."[78] 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 compassed
 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,[79] he donned his handsomest dress and going in to King
 Yunan, he kissed the ground before him: then he prayed for the
 endurance 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 lo! 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[80] 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 exceeding 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 day 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[81] 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 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[82]
 in the Hammam-bath, and lay thee down to sleep; so shalt thou become
 whole; and now peace be with thee!" Thereupon 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 malling 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.
 O 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.

[Illustration]

 Now when the Sage ceased reciting, the King rose quickly to 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
 was all clean as virgin silver. He joyed thereat with exceeding joy,
 his breast broadened[83] with delight and he felt thoroughly happy.
 Presently, when it was full day he entered his audience-hall and sat
 upon the throne of his kingship whereupon 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 furnished with the daintiest viands were brought and the
 physician ate with the King, nor did he cease companying him all that
 day. Moreover, at nightfall 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 me with aught of
 ointments: by Allah, surely this is none other than 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 Yunan 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.[84] The physician returned to his own house full of gratitude
 to the King. Now when next morning dawned the King repaired to his
 audience-hall, and his Lords and nobles surrounded him and his
 Chamberlains and his Ministers, as the white encloseth the black of the
 eye.[85] 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 allowances, 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.

 Then quoth Dunyazad, "O 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.

                    Now when it was the Fifth Night,

 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![86]) 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 cup-let 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 accordingly and set out taking the hawk on fist; and
 they fared merrily forwards till they made a Wady[87] 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 tracking 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;[88] and the King drew his mace
 and struck a blow which rolled the game over. He then dismounted; 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[89] 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
 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._[90]

 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 and cunning and never forgot what she
 had seen and heard. Now his fair wife had fallen in love with a young
 Turk,[91] 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, "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
 Tammúz,[92] 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 exceeding 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,[93] yet would he not believe it till he saw the young
 Turk, his wife's lover, coming out of her chamber, when he bared his
 blade[94] 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 merchant 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 Wazir 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 from 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, "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,[95] 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; so he followed her without her knowledge and behold, she was a
 Ghúlah,[96] a wicked Ogress, who was saying to her brood, "O my
 children, this day I bring you a fine fat youth[97] for dinner;"
 whereto 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 trembling 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, "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, "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 O my 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:—

 O Thou who fearest Fate, confiding fare, ✿ Trust all to Him who built
    the world, and wait:
 What Fate saith "Be" perforce must be, my lord! ✿ 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 ✿ For whom
    composed I prose and verse, for whom my say and lay?
 Thou lavishedst thy generous gifts ere they were craved by me ✿ Thou
    lavishedst thy boons unsought sans pretext or delay
 How shall I stint my praise of thee, how shall I cease to laud ✿ The
    grace of thee in secresy and patentest display?
 Nay; I will thank thy benefits, for aye thy favours lie ✿ 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! ✿ Commit thy needs to Fate and
    Lot!
 Enjoy the Present passing well ✿ And let the Past be clean forgot;
 For whatso haply seemeth worse ✿ Shall work thy weal as Allah wot:
 Allah shall do whate'er He wills ✿ And in His will oppose Him not.

 And further still:—

 To th' All-wise Subtle One trust worldly things ✿ Rest thee from all
    whereto the worldling clings:
 Learn wisely well naught cometh by thy will ✿ But e'en as willeth
    Allah, King of Kings.

 And lastly:—

 Gladsome and gay forget thine every grief ✿ Full often grief the wisest
    hearts outwore:
 Thought is but folly in the feeble slave ✿ Shun it and so be savèd
    evermore.

 Said the King for sole return, "Knowest thou why I have summoned 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 against 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 Maymúnah[98] bare ✿ Whose sire in wisdom all the
    wits outstrippeth:
 Man may not tread on mud or dust or clay ✿ 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 will spare thee, and slay
 me not or Allah shall slay thee," and began repeating:—

 I was kind and 'scapèd not, they were cruel and escaped; ✿ 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 ✿ Who follow
    me, and curses their kindliness befal.

 "Is this," continued Duban, "the return I meet from thee? Thou givest
 me, meseems, but crocodile-boon." Quoth the King, "What is the tale of
 the crocodile?", and quoth the physician, "Impossible for me to tell it
 in this my state; Allah upon thee, spare 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 destruction. So there is no
 help for it; die he must, and then only shall I be sure of my own
 life." Again cried Duban, "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 Ifrit, 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[99] 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, making 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 étui of metal full of powder,
 like that used for the eyes.[100] 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 is no writing here!" Duban replied, "Turn 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 out, "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 ✿ But they
    soon became as though they had never, never been:
 Just, they had won justice: they oppressed and were opprest ✿ By
    Fortune, who requited them with ban and bane and teen:
 So they faded like the morn, and the tongue of things repeats ✿ "Take
    this for 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 sweet, 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.

                    Now when it was the Sixth Night,

 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 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 current:—O 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."[101] Asked the Fisherman, "And what was their
 case?" and the Ifrit answered, "This is not the time for 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,[102] 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
 generosity 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"[103]:—Perform your covenant; for
 the performance of your covenant shall be inquired into hereafter. Thou
 hast made 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 letteth him not escape. I say to thee as said the Sage
 Duban to King Yunan, "Spare me so Allah may spare thee!" The Ifrit
 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
 rejoiced 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;"[104] 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 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,[105] 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. However, 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.[106] 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 cook-maiden 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! ✿ And if ye fain
    forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!

 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,"[107] 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! ✿ 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.

                   Now when it was the Seventh Night,

 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, whereupon quoth the King, "There is no help
 for it but that I see this with mine own eyes." Then he sent for the
 Fisherman and commanded 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[108] 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:

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

 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
 heights lying behind this mountain which is in sight of thy city."
 Quoth the King, "How many days' march?" Quoth he, "O our lord the
 Sultan, a walk of half hour." The King wondered and, straightway
 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, "Hath any one among you ever seen
 this piece of 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;[109] 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 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, so 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 it 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 daïs, 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[110] 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 ✿ Look
    and behold my hapless sprite in dolour and affright:
 Wilt ne'er show ruth to highborn youth who lost him on the way ✿ 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 ✿ But
    whenas Destiny descends she blindeth human sight,[111]
 What shall the hapless archer do who when he fronts his foe ✿ And bends
    his bow to shoot the shaft shall find his string undight?
 When cark and care so heavy bear on youth[112] of generous soul ✿ How
    shall he 'scape his lot and where from Fate his place of flight?

 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 ✿ The world in blackness
    and in light is set.
 Throughout Creation's round no fairer show ✿ No rarer sight thine eye
    hath ever met:
 A nut-brown mole sits throned upon a cheek ✿ Of rosiest red beneath an
    eye of jet.[113]

 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 demandeth my rising to thee; and my sole excuse is to crave
 thy pardon."[114] 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 loneliness therein and the cause of thy groaning and
 wailing." When the young man heard these words he wept with sore
 weeping;[115] till his bosom was drenched with tears and began
 reciting:—

 Say him who careless sleeps what while the shaft of Fortune flies ✿ 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; ✿ Quit cark and
    care and cultivate content of mind;
 Ask not the Past or how or why it came to pass: ✿ All human things by
    Fate and Destiny were designed!

 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.[116] Lose no time, O youth, but tell me forthright thy whole
 tale." 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 Mahmúd, 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,[117] and she loved me with such abounding love that whenever I
 was absent she ate not 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 Hammam 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'údah, how
 miserable is our master and how wasted in his youth and oh! the pity of
 his being so betrayed by our mistress, the accursed whore!"[118] 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!" and quoth the other, "Fie on
 thee! 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[119] into it? So he sleepeth 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 from 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 deathlike 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[120] 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! 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 my eyes,[121] 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 Káf."[122] Rejoined the
 slave, "Thou liest, damn thee! Now I 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 company 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 none 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[123] which thou mayest drink." So she ate and drank 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[124] "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.

[Illustration]

                    Now when it was the Eighth Night,

 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 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."[125] 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 unable 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[126] 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 ✿ I may not; nor
    to other love my heart can make reply:
 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 ✿ The moaning of
    my bones responsive to your cry.[127]

 Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:—

 The day of my delight is the day when draw you near ✿ And the day of
    mine affright is the day you turn away:
 Though I tremble through the night in my bitter dread of death ✿ 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[128] I reign;
 To me they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat ✿ 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 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
 vouchsafe 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
    darkenèd his countenance that sickeneth the soul?
 O thou tomb! neither cess-pool nor pipkin art to me ✿ Then how cometh
    it in thee are conjoinèd 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![129] 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[130] 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; whereupon I became what
 thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and neither dead nor 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 Christians blue and the Jews yellow.[131] "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; ✿ 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 Mustapha
    and Murtazá[132] 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 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[133] showed,
 he arose and doffing his outer garments[134] 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 threw 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? ✿ 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 tongue, spoke 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 Greät!" 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?" "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, "By virtue of the dread words I 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, and 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[135] thing hast
 thou done? Thou hast rid me of the branch but not of the root." She
 asked, "O my darling! 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 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 joyously, "O my master, on my head and
 on my eyes be thy command, Bismillah[136]!" 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.

                    Now when it was the Ninth Night,

 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
 came 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 enchantment. And I, O King, will
 never part from thee; no, not 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."
 Thereupon they embraced and joyed with exceeding great joy; and,
 reaching the palace, the Prince who had been spell-bound informed 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 twelvemonth. They journeyed with an escort of
 Mamelukes[137] carrying all manners of precious gifts and rarities, nor
 stinted they wayfaring 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 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

-----

Footnote 60:

   Here, as in other places, I have not preserved the monorhyme, but
   have ended like the English sonnet with a couplet; as a rule the last
   two lines contain a "Husn makta'" or climax.

Footnote 61:

   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
   "inshád" by "versifying" or "repeating" or "reciting," leaving it
   doubtful if the composition be or be not original. In places,
   however, it is clearly improvised and then as a rule it is model
   doggrel.

Footnote 62:

   Arab. "Allahumma"=Yá Allah (O Allah) but with emphasis; the Fath
   being a substitute for the voc. part. Some connect it with the Heb.
   "Alihím," but that fancy is not Arab. In Al-Hariri and the
   rhetoricians it sometimes means to be sure; of course; unless indeed;
   unless possibly=Greek νὴ δἰα.

Footnote 63:

   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.

Footnote 64:

   _i.e._, saying "Bismillah!" the pious ejaculation which should
   precede every act. In Boccaccio (viii., 9) it is "remembering Iddio
   e' Santí."

Footnote 65:

   Arab. Nahás asfar=brass, opposed to "Nahás" and "Nahás
   ahmar,"=copper.

Footnote 66:

   This alludes to the legend of Sakhr al-Jinni, a famous fiend cast by
   Solomon David-son into Lake 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.

Footnote 67:

   Márid (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 "Máridah."

Footnote 68:

   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, Vikramáditya, who ruled over the seven divisions of the
   world and who had as many devils to serve him as he wanted.

Footnote 69:

   Arab. "Yá Ba'íd" a euphemism here adopted to prevent using grossly
   abusive language. Others will occur in the course of these pages.

Footnote 70:

   _i.e._ about to fly out; "My heart is in my mouth." The Fisherman
   speaks with the dry humour of a Fellah.

Footnote 71:

   "Sulayman," when going out to ease himself, entrusted his seal-ring
   upon which his kingdom depended to a concubine "Amínah" (the
   "Faithful"), when Sakhr, transformed 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 of 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 mediæval
   Europe composed in England (or Germany) about the end of the
   thirteenth century.

Footnote 72:

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

Footnote 73:

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

Footnote 74:

   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.

Footnote 75:

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

Footnote 76:

   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.

Footnote 77:

   In the Bul. Edit. "Ruyán," evidently a clerical error. The name is
   fanciful not significant.

Footnote 78:

   The geography is ultra-Shakspearean. "Fars" (whence "Persia") is the
   central Province of the grand old Empire now a mere wreck; "Rúm"
   (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.

Footnote 79:

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

Footnote 80:

   Arab. "Nadím," 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 "Nudamá" 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.

Footnote 81:

   Arab. Maydán (from Persian); Lane generally translates it
   "horse-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 Jeríd (cane-spear) and other sports 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'há (a low sandy
   flat), Mahattah (a plain fit for halting) and so forth. (Pilgrimage
   iii., 11.)

Footnote 82:

   For details concerning the "Ghusl" see Night xliv.

Footnote 83:

   A popular idiom and highly expressive, contrasting the upright
   bearing of the self-satisfied man with the slouch of the miserable
   and the skirt-trailing of the woman in grief. I do not see the
   necessity of such Latinisms as "dilated" or "expanded."

Footnote 84:

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

Footnote 85:

   This phrase is contained in the word "ihdák"=encompassing, as the
   conjunctiva does the pupil.

Footnote 86:

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

Footnote 87:

   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, and ii., 196, etc.), an Italian or
   rather a Sicilian word which exactly describes the "wady."

Footnote 88:

   I have described this scene which Mr. T. Wolf illustrated by an
   excellent lithograph in "Falconry, etc." (London, Van Voorst,
   MDCCCLII.).

Footnote 89:

   Arab. "Kaylúlah," midday sleep; called siesta from the sixth
   canonical hour.

Footnote 90:

   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-Kaháni" (Parrot-chat), an abridgement
   of the Tutinámah (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 Bul. or Mac. Edit. 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 vols. of the
   Breslau Edit. have been edited; even a table of contents being absent
   from the first four volumes.

Footnote 91:

   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.

Footnote 92:

   The Hebrew-Syrian month July 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 portioners of its course into
   twelve parts.

Footnote 93:

   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 everything and something more.

Footnote 94:

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

Footnote 95:

   The Bresl. Edit. absurdly has Jazírah (an island).

Footnote 96:

   The Ghúlah (fem. of Ghúl) 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 a
   calamity, a panic fear; and the monster is evidently the embodied
   horror of the grave and the grave-yard.

Footnote 97:

   Arab. "Shább" (Lat. juvenis) between puberty and forty or according
   to some fifty; when the patient becomes a "Rajul ikhtiyár" (man of
   free will) politely termed, and then a Shaykh or Shaybah (grey-beard,
   oldster).

Footnote 98:

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

Footnote 99:

   Arab. "Ihtizáz," that natural and instinctive movement caused by good
   news suddenly given, etc.

Footnote 100:

   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 étui 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-pot?"
   Women mostly use a preparation of soot or lamp-black (Hind. Kajala,
   Kajjal) whose colour is easily distinguished from that of Kohl. The
   latter word, with the article (Al-Kohl) is the origin of our
   "alcohol;" though even M. Littré 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.

Footnote 101:

   The tale of these two women is now forgotten.

Footnote 102:

   Arab. "Atadakhkhal". When danger threatens it is customary to seize a
   man's skirt and cry "Dakhíl-ak!" (=under thy protection). Among noble
   tribes 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.

Footnote 103:

   The formula of quoting from the Koran.

Footnote 104:

   Lit. "Allah not desolate me" (by thine absence). This is still a
   popular phrase—Lá tawáhishná=Do not make me desolate, _i.e._ by
   staying away too long; and friends meeting after a term of days
   exclaim "Auhashtani!"=thou hast made me desolate, _Je suis désolé_.

Footnote 105:

   Charming simplicity of manners when the Prime Minister carries the
   fish (shade of Vattel!) to the cookmaid. The "Gesta Romanorum" is
   nowhere more naive.

Footnote 106:

   Arab. "Kahílat 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 eyelid 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.

Footnote 107:

   Of course applying to her own case.

Footnote 108:

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

Footnote 109:

   Arab. "Dastúr" (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 "Tarík"=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—"Bakhshísh" pron. bakh-sheesh and shortened to shísh from
   the Pers. "baksheesh." Our "Christmas _box_" has been most
   unnecessarily 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.

Footnote 110:

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

Footnote 111:

   A popular saying throughout Al-Islam.

Footnote 112:

   Arab. "Fata": lit=a youth; a generous man, one of noble mind (as
   youth-tide should be). It corresponds with the Lat. "vir," and has
   much the meaning of the Ital. "Giovane," the Germ. "Junker" and our
   "gentleman."

Footnote 113:

   From the Bul. Edit.

Footnote 114:

   The vagueness of his statement is euphemistic.

Footnote 115:

   This readiness of shedding tears contrasts strongly with the external
   stoicism of modern 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 feminine
   hysteria—"a good cry."

Footnote 116:

   The formula (constantly used by Moslems) here denotes displeasure,
   doubt how to act and so forth. Pronounce, "Lá haula wa lá kuwwata
   illá bi 'lláhi 'l-Aliyyi 'l-Azim." As a rule mistakes are marvellous:
   Mandeville (chapt. xii.) for "Lá iláha illa 'lláhu wa Muhammadun
   Rasúlu 'llah" writes "La ellec sila, Machomete rores alla." The
   former (lá haula, etc.), on account of the four peculiar Arabic
   letters, is everywhere pronounced differently; and the exclamation is
   called "Haulak" or "Haukal."

Footnote 117:

   An Arab holds that he has a right to marry his first cousin, the
   daughter of his father's 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 of my uncle" he means wife; and the
   former is the dearer title, as a wife can be divorced, but blood is
   thicker than water.

Footnote 118:

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

Footnote 119:

   The Arab "Banj" and Hindú "Bhang" (which I use as most familiar) both
   derive from the old Coptic "Nibanj" meaning a preparation of hemp
   (_Cannabis sativa_ seu _Indica_); and here it is easy to recognise
   the Homeric "Nepenthe." Al-Kazwini explains the term by "garden hemp"
   (Kinnab bostáni or Sháhdánaj). On the other hand not a few apply the
   word to the henbane (_hyoscyamus niger_) so much used in mediæval
   Europe. The Kámús evidently means henbane distinguishing it from
   "Hashish al haráfísh"=rascals' grass, _i.e._ the herb Pantagruelion.
   The "Alfáz Adwiya" (French translation) explains "Tabannuj" by
   "Endormir quelqu'un en lui faisant avaler de la jusquiame." In modern
   parlance Tabannuj is=our anæsthetic administered before an operation,
   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., 10. 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.

Footnote 120:

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

Footnote 121:

   Arab. "Kurrat al-ayn;" coolness of eyes as opposed to a hot eye
   ("sakhin") _i.e._ 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.

Footnote 122:

   Popularly rendered Caucasus (see Night cdxcvi): it corresponds so far
   with the Hindu "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 Rhiphæan Range
   (Veliki Camenypoys) or great starry girdle of the world, etc.

Footnote 123:

   Arab. "Mizr" or "Mizar;" vulg. Búzah; hence the medical Lat. Buza,
   the Russian Buza (millet beer), our "booze," the O. Dutch "buyzen"
   and the German "busen." This is the old ποθὸς θεῖος 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 is
   known as "Pombe;" on the Upper Nile "Merissa" or "Mirisi" and amongst
   the Kafirs (Caffers) "Tshuala," "Oala" or "Boyala:" I have also heard
   of "Buswa" in Central Africa which may be the origin of "Buzah." In
   the West it became ζῦθος, (Romaic πίῤῥα), Xythum and cerevisia or
   cervisia, the humor ex hordeo, long before the days of King
   Gambrinus. Central Africans 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 "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
   nightingale), Dinzáyah and Súbiyah, for which I must refer to the
   Shaykh El-Tounsy.

Footnote 124:

   There is a terrible truth in this satire, which reminds us of the
   noble dame who preferred to her handsome husband the palefrenier
   laid, ord et infâme of Queen Margaret of Navarre (Heptameron No. xx.)
   We have all known women who sacrificed everything 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 "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 "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 "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, _un bel brutto_), was the highest recommendation in the
   eyes of very beautiful women.

Footnote 125:

   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 visiteth the 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." Saíd, 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.

Footnote 126:

   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.

Footnote 127:

   "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 call 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.

Footnote 128:

   The Akásirah (plur. of Kasrá=Chosroës) 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 Káyánián (Medes and
   Persians) who ended with the Alexandrian invasion in B.C. 331; 3. The
   Ashkánián (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? Chosroës?); and yet
   the three seem to have combined in "Cæsar," 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.

Footnote 129:

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

Footnote 130:

   Arab. "Hayhát:" the word, written in a variety of ways is
   onomatopoetic, like our "heigh-ho!" it sometimes means "far from me
   (or you) be it!" but in popular usage it is simply "Alas."

Footnote 131:

   Lane (i., 134) finds a date for the book in this passage. The Soldan
   of Egypt, Mohammed ibn Kala'ún, in the early eighth century
   (Hijrah=our fourteenth), issued a 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.

Footnote 132:

   The ancient "Mustapha"=the Chosen (prophet, _i.e._ Mohammed), also
   titled Al-Mujtabá, the Accepted (Pilgrimage, ii., 309). "Murtazá"=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 "Mortis Ali" and readers
   supposed this to be the Caliph's name.

Footnote 133:

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

Footnote 134:

   So the Heb. "Arún"=naked, means wearing the lower robe only;=our "in
   his shirt."

Footnote 135:

   Here we have the vulgar Egyptian colloquialism "Aysh" (= Ayyu
   shayyin) for the classical "Má" = what.

Footnote 136:

   "In the name of Allah!" here said before taking action.

Footnote 137:

   Arab. "Mamlúk" (plur. Mamálik) lit. a chattel; and in The Nights a
   white slave trained to arms. The "Mameluke Beys" of Egypt were
   locally called the "Ghuzz." I use the convenient word in its old
   popular sense;

                  'Tis sung, there's a valiant Mameluke
                  In foreign lands ycleped (_Sir Luke_)—

                                               HUDIBRAS.

   And hence, probably, Molière's "Mamamouchi"; and the modern French
   use "Mamaluc." See Savary's Letters, No. xl.




              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[138] 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[139] and, showing two black eyes fringed with jetty
 lashes, whose glances were soft and languishing 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 stopped at a
 fruiterer's shop and bought from him Shámi[140] apples and Osmáni
 quinces and Omani[141] peaches, and cucumbers of Nile growth, and
 Egyptian limes and Sultáni oranges and citrons; besides Aleppine
 jasmine, scented myrtle berries, Damascene nenuphars, flower of
 privet[142] 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,
 Tihámah 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,[143] 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 crate. Thereupon
 quoth he (being a merry man), "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 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'abán and begins
 Ramazán;[144] her mouth was the ring of Sulayman,[145] 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;[146] her body rose
 and fell in waves below her dress like the rolls of a piece of brocade,
 and her navel[147] would hold an 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 ✿ Beauty encase a brow so
    purely white:
 The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim ✿ Though fail her name whose
    beauties we indite:
 As sways her gait I smile at hips so big ✿ 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 lady-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,[148] 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[149] 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 ا[150] and her face shamed the noon-sun's
 radiancy; 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.[151]
 Right well of her sang the bard when he said:—

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

 [152] The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with
 graceful 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 dispositions (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 in 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 Allah, 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 without man is short of measure, even
 as the poet said:—

 Seest not we want for joy four things all told ✿ The harp and lute, the
    flute and flageolet;
 And be they companied with scents four-fold ✿ Rose, myrtle, anemone and
    violet;
 Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withhold ✿ Good wine and
    youth and gold and pretty pet.

 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 Ibn al-Sumam:—

 Hold fast 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 Nowás[153] said well on the same subject:—

 Who trusteth secret to another's hand ✿ 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 adviseth:—

 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."[154]

 When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application addressed
 to them they said, "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.[155] 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 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, overjoyed, 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 concerneth 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 no
 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.[156] 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 ✿ 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 ✿ A man of worth whose
    good old blood all know:
 For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet ✿ And stinks when
    over stench it haply blow:

 Adding:—

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

 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 ✿ Doth hold save one, the
    bloodshed of the vine:
 Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won ✿ Thou fawn! a willing
    ransom 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 them, he again began to recite:—

       Here! Here! by Allah, here! ✿ Cups of the sweet, the dear!
       Fill me a brimming bowl ✿ 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 ✿ Lauding thy generous
    boons and gifts galore:
 Beauty! may he come in awhile to 'joy ✿ Thy charms? for Love and I part
    nevermore!

 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's cheek for folk to sup?
 "Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tinct ✿ Is heart-blood
    sighs have boilèd in the cup."

 She answered him in the following couplet:—

 "An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed ✿ Suffer me sup them,
    by thy head and eyes!"

[Illustration]

 Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sisters' health,
 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[157] 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 disported 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! 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,"[158] 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 the damsel made answer, "The basil of
 the bridges."[159] Cried the Porter, "Thank Allah for my safety: aid me
 and be thou propitious, O 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, "O
 light of mine eyes, do tell me what is the name of this concern?" He
 replied as before, "Thy slit;" and she rejoined, "Hath such term no
 shame for thee?" and cuffed him and buffeted him till the saloon rang
 with the blows. Then quoth she, "O fie! O fie! how canst thou say this
 without blushing?" He suggested, "The basil of the bridges;" but she
 would not have it and she said, "No! no!" and struck him and slapped
 him on the back of the neck. Then he began calling out all the names he
 knew, "Thy slit, thy womb, thy coynte, thy clitoris;" and the girls
 kept on saying, "No! no!" So he said, "I 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, "No! no! that's not its proper name."
 Thereupon he cried, "O my sisters, what _is_ its name?" and they
 replied, "What sayest thou to the husked sesame-seed?" Then the
 cateress donned her clothes and they fell again to carousing, but the
 Porter kept moaning, "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 handsomest lady stood up and stripped off her
 garments, whereupon the Porter took his neck in hand, and rubbed and
 shampoo'd it, saying, "My neck and shoulders are on the way of
 Allah!"[160] 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[161] and at her face with the sheen of
 Luna when at full, or like the dawn when it brighteneth, and he noted
 her noble stature and shape, and those 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:—

 "If I liken thy shape to the bough when green ✿ 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 bridges;" but 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[162] of
 Abu Mansur;" whereupon the Porter replied, "Ha! ha! O Allah be praised
 for safe deliverance! 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[163] 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.

                    Now when it was the Tenth Night,

 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,[164] 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!" 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."[165]
 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," 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 SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT, SHALL
 HEAR WHAT PLEASETH HIM NOT!"[166] The Porter said, "Be ye witnesses
 against me that I will not speak on whatso concerneth 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[167] 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 outhouse 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 whose beards and
 mustachios were clean shaven.[168] 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 spiring 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."[169] 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 your
 tongues at us." "We crave thy pardon, O Fakír,"[170] rejoined they,
 "and our heads are between thy hands." The ladies laughed consumedly at
 the squabble; and, making peace between the Kalandars and the Porter,
 seated the new guests before meat and they 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
 instruments; and the portress brought them a tambourine of Mosul, and a
 lute of Irák, 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.[171] 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, Hárún al-Rashíd, had gone forth from the palace, as was his
 wont 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 Masrúr his Sworder of
 Vengeance.[172] 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'afar, "O Prince of the Faithful; these folk
 are surely drunken with wine, and I fear some mischief betide us if we
 get amongst them." "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;"[173] 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' caravanserai, 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!"[174] 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,
 "Have we thy leave to come in?" "Come in," quoth she; and the Caliph
 entered followed by Ja'afar and 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 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;"[175] 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 forward, dragging her by the chain,
 while the bitch wept, and shook 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 second;" and, 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 Ja'afar wishing him to ask, but the Minister
 turning towards him said by signs, "Be silent!" Then quoth the portress
 to the mistress of the house, "O my lady, arise and go to thy place
 that I in turn may do my devoir."[176] 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, O love, thy sight I see[177]
 The heavenly mansion openeth;[178] ✿ But Hell I see when lost thy
    sight.
 From thee comes madness; nor the less ✿ Comes highest joy, comes
    ecstasy:
 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;
 The robe of sickness then I donned ✿ But rent to rags was secrecy:
 Wherefore my love and longing heart ✿ 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.
 Heal then my malady, for thou ✿ Art malady and remedy!
 But she whose cure is in thy hand ✿ Shall ne'er be free of bane and
    blight;
 Burn me those eyne that radiance rain ✿ Slay me the swords of phantasy;
 How many hath the sword of Love ✿ Laid low, their high degree despite?
 Yet will I never cease to pine ✿ Nor to oblivion will I flee.
 Love is my health, my faith, my joy ✿ Public and private, wrong or
    right.
 O happy eyes that sight thy charms ✿ That gaze upon thee at their gree!
 Yea, of my purest wish and will ✿ The slave of Love I'll aye be hight.

 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[179] 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, "O 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 ravishèd ✿ And say me whither be
    my reason fled:
 I learnt that lending to thy love a place ✿ 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.
 I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill ✿ Owning his troubles drove
    him blood to shed.
 On my mind's mirror sun-like sheen he cast ✿ Whose keen reflection fire
    in vitals bred
 Waters of Life let Allah waste at will ✿ Suffice my wage those lips of
    dewy red:
 An thou address my love thou'lt find a cause ✿ For plaint and tears or
    ruth or lustihed.
 In water pure his form shall greet your eyne ✿ When fails the bowl nor
    need ye drink of wine.[180]

 Then she quoted from the same ode:—

 I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine; ✿ 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.[181]

 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[182] to tell my tale ✿ The lovers' plaint is not
    told for pay:
 If I put on patience, a lover's life ✿ 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[183] 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!"; 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, "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 ✿ He had not watched
    the weary night in tears of woe:
 Oh 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? ✿ Sad, who of broken
    troth the pangs must undergo!
 Increase wild love for thee and phrenzy hour by hour ✿ And days of
    exile minute by so long, so slow;
 O Moslems, claim _vendetta_[184] for this slave of Love ✿ Whose sleep
    Love ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low:
 Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie ✿ Lapt in another's arms
    and unto me cry "Go!"?
 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 matter." 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 the Caliph
 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 questioned the man but he replied, "By the
 All-might of Allah, in love all are alike![185] I am the growth of
 Baghdad, yet never in my born days did I darken these doors till to-day
 and my companying with 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 be answered by
 force." All of them agreed to this except Ja'afar who said,[186] "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 to-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
 longing to hear of them: let the Kalandars question them forthright."
 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 acquaint 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."[187] Thereupon quoth she who was the lady of
 the house to the guests, "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 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
 quickly;" and 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, "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, ✿ Let one not suffer for the
    sin of other.

 When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed——And Shahrazad
 perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

                   Now when it was the Eleventh Night,

 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 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."[188] 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[189] and
 wend his way." The first to come forward was the Hammál, 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 her


                      _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· both born 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 carousing. 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[190] 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 and 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 a new opening
 in 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 my dear cousin!" And he
 went down the stairs and disappeared for ever. 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 without 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[191] 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.[192] 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 upon me, and I said to my soul,[193] "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,[194] 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 ✿ The path Fate writ we fain must
    tread:
 And man 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 ✿ Take heart and all her words obey:
 Nor joy nor mourn at anything ✿ 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 I 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 where his eye had been. Quoth I, "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."[195] 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 ✿ The foeman's shafts;
    and you proved foeman's brand;
 I hoped your aidance in mine every chance ✿ Though fail my left to aid
    my dexter hand:
 Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe ✿ While 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!

 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; ✿ 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, "O my lord, what can I do, being
 but a slave under orders?" presently adding, "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; ✿ Let the ruined house tell
    its owner's fate:
 New land for the old thou shalt seek and find ✿ But to find new life
    thou must not await.
 Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, ✿ When Allah's world
    is so wide and great!
 And trust not other, in matters grave ✿ Life itself must act for a life
    beset:
 Ne'er would prowl the lion with maned neck, ✿ 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 medicaments 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, "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 grave-yard 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 saying 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
 necessaries; and in the midst of it stood a canopy sheltering a couch.
 Thereupon my uncle went up to the couch and inspecting it found 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![196] this is thy judgment in the transitory world, and yet
 remaineth the judgment in the world to come, a durer and a more
 enduring."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
 her permitted say.

                   Now when it was the Twelfth Night,

 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[197] 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;[198] and often and often
 I forbade him 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 enduring!" 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.[199] 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 taking a host of wild Arabs[200]
 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, surrendered the place: my 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 peradventure some
 one would assist me to the presence of the Prince of the Faithful,[201]
 and the Caliph who is the Viceregent of Allah upon 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, "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 warner to whoso would be warned. I am a King, son of a King, and was
 brought up like a Prince. I learned intoning the Koran according the
 seven schools;[202] 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 calligraphy 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 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, and grew until it walled[203]
 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 I 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 ✿ Safety and peace for ever
    lord it here:
 Its beauties seem to beautify its sons ✿ And as in Heaven its happy
    folk appear.

 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[204] 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 nightfall, 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 woodcutters; 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[205] 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.[206] As the poet said of one like
 her:—

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

 And as saith another:—

 Four things that meet not, save they here unite ✿ To shed my
    heart-blood and to rape my sprite:
 Brilliantest forehead; tresses jetty bright; ✿ 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 Abnús,[207] who
 married me to my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle; but on my
 wedding night an Ifrit named Jirjís[208] bin Rajmús, first cousin that
 is, mother's sister's son, of Iblís, 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 his 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 doorway to a Hammam-bath, a fair hall
 and richly decorate. I doffed my 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;[209] 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." Whereupon 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 ✿ The cores of our
    hearts or the balls of our eyes;
 Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown ✿ And our eyelids had
    strown for thy feet to betread.

 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 ✿ I rede thee shun it an thy
    wits be wise.

 And these also:—

 O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein ✿ 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 permitted say.

                  Now when it was the Thirteenth Night,

 She said, It hath reached 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 life and go up by the way thou camest 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 Ifrit, 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[210] 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." "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;[211] 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, 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,[212]
 who seeketh thee: he hath thy hatchet and thy sandals which he had
 taken to the woodcutters,[213] 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 and 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!"[214] Then he went 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 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."[215] She hent
 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 forgiveness." And the mute tongue of my case[216] 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 ✿ For tongue struck dumb
    my glances testified:
 She signed with eye-glance while her lips were mute ✿ 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? 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, "Have I failed thee in aught of love; and is it thus that
 thou requitest me?" I understood what her looks implied and answered
 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 ✿ To his beloved, as his
    passion pleadeth:
 With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth ✿ And well she seeth what
    his pleading needeth.
 How sweet the look when each on other gazeth; ✿ And with what swiftness
    and how sure it speedeth:
 And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth; ✿ 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 lacking 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, "Ye twain show the good understanding
 between you; but I will let you see 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, "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 unharmed; so ask a boon of me and I will grant it."
 Then I rejoiced, O my lady, with exceeding joy and said, "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), "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 remained standing in his presence, saying, "I am sore
 oppressed by 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?" and I began to tell
 him


                _THE TALE OF THE ENVIER AND THE ENVIED._

 They relate, O Ifrit, 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,[217] 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 neighbourhood, he repaired to another city where he bought
 himself a piece of land in which was a dried up draw-well,[218] 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 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[219] 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 life. 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.[220] 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;[221] 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,[222] 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
 forthright made Sultan, and he became King regnant, a true ruler of
 men. One day as he had mounted his horse; and, in the eminence of his
 kinglihood, was riding amidst his Emirs and Wazirs and the Grandees of
 his realm his eye fell upon his old neighbour, the 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 miskáls[223] 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 Envier, 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.[224] 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 ✿ All faults to pardon
    and revenge forgo:
 In sooth all manner faults in me contain ✿ Then deign of goodness
    mercy-grace to show:
 Whoso imploreth pardon from on High ✿ 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[225] 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[226]. 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
 Circumstance, well weeting that Fortune is fair and constant to no man.
 I 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.[227] 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[228] 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
 whatsoever 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 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 he. 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,[229] these
 two couplets:—

 Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great; ✿ 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 Rayháni or larger letters elegantly curved:—[230]

 Thou hast a reed[231] of rede to every land, ✿ Whose driving causeth
    all the world to thrive;
 Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons ✿ Who makest misery smile with
    fingers five.

 Then I wrote in the Suls[232] character:—

 There be no writer who from Death shall fleet, ✿ But what his hand hath
    writ men shall repeat:
 Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when ✿ Thou see't
    on Judgment-Day an so thou see't!

 Then I wrote in the character Naskh:—[233]

 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 Túmár character[234]:—

 Kingdom with none endures; if thou deny ✿ 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[235]:—

 When oped the inkhorn of thy wealth and fame ✿ Take ink of generous
    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,[236] 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 "O accursed! I
 give you an order and you laugh at me?" "O King," replied they, "if we
 laugh 'tis not at thee and not without a cause." "And what is it?"
 asked he; and they answered, "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,[237] but an ape, a tail-less
 baboon, belonging to the ship-Captain." Quoth he, "Is this true that
 you say?" Quoth they "Yea! by the rights of thy munificence!" The King
 marvelled at their words and shook with mirth and said, "I 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, "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 "Halloo! is our Sultan about to
 make an ape his 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,[238] 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 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 Katá-grouse,[239] ✿ And
    omelette round the fair enbrownèd fowls agglomerate:
 O fire in heart of me for fish, those _deux poissons_ I saw, ✿ Bedded
    on new made scones[240] and cakes in piles to laniate.
 For thee, O vermicelli! aches my very maw! I hold ✿ 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,
 Praisèd 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[241]
    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! Time is a haughty, jealous wight; ✿ To-day he
    seems dark-lowering and to-morrow fair to sight.[242]

 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!"

 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 boilèd me to loose my tongue,[243] ✿ And pain and
    patience gave for fellowship:
 Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high ✿ And honey-dew from lips of
    maid I sip!

 And these also:—

 Morn saith to Night, "withdraw and let me shine;" ✿ So drain we
    draughts that dull all pain and pine:[244]
 I doubt, so fine the glass, the wine so clear, ✿ If 'tis the wine in
    glass or glass in wine.

 The King read my verse and said with a sigh, "Were these gifts[245] 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 ✿ Nor is their battling
    ever finishèd,
 Until, when darkness girdeth them about, ✿ The twain go sleeping in a
    single bed.[246]

 The King read these lines with wonder and delight and said to his
 Eunuch,[247] "O Mukbil, go to thy mistress, Sitt al-Husn,[248] and say
 her, Come, speak the King who biddeth thee hither to take thy 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? How cometh it thou
 art pleased to send for me and show me to strange men?" "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,[249] 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 permitted say.

                  Now when it was the Fourteenth Night,

[Illustration]

 She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kalandar
 continued his tale thus:—O my lady, the King's daughter hent in 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
 pitchforks, 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,[250] which lay beside the
 jetting fountain in the midst of the palace hall. Whereupon the
 pomegranate 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 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 wings 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 Ifrit 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 disenchantment of this ape-fellow, whereby I have imposed
 upon her the terrible task of fighting yon accursed Ifrit against whom
 all the Ifrits 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,[251] 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 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 become 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,[252] 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 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,[253] 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 camest 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 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, ✿ Tho' round me
    gather hosts of ills, whence come I cannot see:
 Patient I'll be till Patience self with me impatient wax; ✿ Patient for
    ever till the Lord fulfil my destiny:
 Patient I'll bide without complaint, a wronged and vanquisht man; ✿
    Patient as sunparcht wight that spans the desert's sandy sea:
 Patient I'll be till Aloe's[254] self unwittingly allow ✿ I'm patient
    under bitterer things than bitterest aloë:
 No bitterer things than aloes or than patience for mankind; ✿ Yet
    bitterer than the twain to me were Patience' treachery:
 My sere and seamed and seared brow would dragoman my sore ✿ If soul
    could search my sprite and there unsecret secrecy:
 Were hills to bear the load I bear they'd crumble 'neath the weight; ✿
    'Twould still the roaring wind, 'twould quench the flame-tongue's
    flagrancy,
 And whoso saith the world is sweet certès a day he'll see ✿ 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 of Peace,[255] 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 perplexed; 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 Ajíb son of Khazíb. 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 nearhand 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 ourselves
 up for lost and I said, "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,[256]
 "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;[257] for thither the currents carry
 us willy-nilly. 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."[258] 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 escaped 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 practicable path leading by steps carven out
 of the rock to the summit, and I called on the name of Allah
 Almighty[259]——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
 say her permitted say.

                  Now when it was the Fifteenth Night,

 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 exceeding joy at my escape; and made the Wuzu-ablution[260] and
 prayed a two-bow prayer[261] a thanksgiving to God for my preservation.
 Then I fell asleep under the dome, and heard in my dream a mysterious
 Voice[262] 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 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 I 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 inscribed 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 exceeding 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."[263] 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 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,[264]
 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! ✿ While Time in pride of
    strength doth ever stalk:
 Time was I 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.[265] 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, "O Beauty, hast thou seen his like?" ✿ And Beauty cried,
    "His like? not anywhere!"

 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 time the slaves and the old man came up without 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
 staircase 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;[266]
 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 courteously and said, "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 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.[267] Her time being fulfilled 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;[268] 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 excellently 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 hither 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 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
 Mamelukes 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[269] 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;[270] 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 eased,
 and I said to myself, The astrologers lied[271] when they predicted
 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[272] 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,[273] with meal of
 lupins[274] 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."[275] 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-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."[276]——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
 her permitted say.

                  Now when it was the Sixteenth Night,

 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 waters and making for the island, wherefore I was
 afeard and said, "The moment they come and see the youth done to death,
 they will know '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.[277] 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
 beaming 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
 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 ✿ With flight escaping sight
    of wisest head!
 How many a sadness shall begin the day, ✿ Yet grow right gladsome ere
    the day is sped!
 How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, ✿ Causing the mourner's
    heart with joy to thrill!"[278]

 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 ✿ And two rills ever
    fro' my eyelids flow:
 With them[279] went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! ✿ What shift
    remaineth me to say or do?
 Would I had never looked upon their sight, ✿ 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 ✿ And mix our lives nor part
    them evermo'e!
 How blest were we as 'neath one roof we dwelt ✿ Conjoined in joys nor
    recking aught of woe;
 Till Fortune shot us with the severance shaft; ✿ Ah who shall patient
    bear such parting throe?
 And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe ✿ The age's pearl that
    Morn saw brightest show:
 I cried the while his case took speech and said:—✿ Would Heaven, my
    son, Death mote his doom foreslow!
 Which be the readiest road wi' thee to meet ✿ My Son! for whom I would
    my soul bestow?
 If sun I call him no! the sun doth set; ✿ If moon I call him, wane the
    moons; Ah no!
 O sad mischance o' thee, O doom of days, ✿ 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 ✿ And foul befal him as it
    foul befel!"

 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 underground 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 I weep and yearn:
 And Him I pray who doomèd them depart ✿ Some day vouchsafe the boon of
    safe return.[280]

 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.[281] However I emboldened my soul and wading
 through the sand behold, a fire shone from afar burning with a blazing
 light.[282] So I made for it hoping haply to find succour and broke out
 into these verses:—

 "Belike my Fortune may her bridle turn ✿ And Time bring weal although
    he's jealous hight;
 Forward my hopes, and further all my needs, ✿ And passèd 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[283] and amiddlemost stood a smaller couch furnished like them
 with blue and nothing else. As we 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 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 frolicksome? 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 nightfall 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 ease but our 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: ✿ 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,[284] 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,[285] 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 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.[286] At the head or upper end[287] 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[288] 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!" 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!" I enjoyed their company till the time came for rest; and our
 heads were all warm with wine, when they said, "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 by nature's hand;[289] hair long
 and jet black with slightly parted teeth[290] and joining brows: 'twas
 as if she were some limber graceful branchlet 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?
 Those eyne, soul-piercing eyne, which slay with love, ✿ Which bind the
    victim by their shafts laid low?
 My heart to second childhood they beguiled ✿ No wonder: love-sick man
    again is child!

 And I repeated to her the maker's words who said:—

 None other charms but thine shall greet mine eyes, ✿ Nor other image
    can my heart surprize:
 Thy love, my lady, captives 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 when he said:—

 On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, ✿ Sealed fast with
    musk-seals lovers 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 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!" They exclaimed, "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[291] like to burst;" and they answered, "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
 twelvemonth 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."[292] Quoth I, "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,[293] ✿ I'll pardon Time
    past wrongs and by-gone guile."

 And I recited the following:—

 "When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, ✿ While care and
    longing on that day her bosom wrung;
 Wet pearls she wept and mine like red carnelians rolled ✿ And, joined
    in sad _rivière_, around her neck they hung."

 When I saw her weeping I said, "By Allah I will never open that
 fortieth door, never and no wise!" 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 pleasaunces 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 ✿ Gifts which for queen
    of fruits the Quince have crowned;
 Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk; ✿ 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[294] whose beauty striketh the eye with admiration, 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 opened the second
 door; and entering found myself in a spacious 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 particoloured 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,"[295] 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 I gave not over opening
 place after place until nine and thirty days were passed and in that
 time I had entered every chamber 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[296] 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
 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 fit 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,[297] flaming with lign-aloes, nadd-perfume,[298]
 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 two 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, "Doubtless 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[299] 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[300] 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
 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 eyebrows,
 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 outrun 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 company, 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 Commander 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 throne
 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 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[301] of the sons of Abbas, Harun al-Rashid, brother of
 Caliph Músá al-Hádi, son of Al-Mansúr; son of Mohammed the brother of
 Al-Saffáh 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.

                 Now when it was the Seventeenth Night,

 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 me in beggar's gear
 with her clothes in rags and tatters[302] and a dirty old
 mantilla;[303] 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
 prospered 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 without husbands and to lead the lives of widows
 bewitched;" and I replied, "O eyes of me![304] 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 excuses to me, saying, "Pardon our fault and be not wroth
 with us;[305] 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 handmaidens 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, "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!" So we landed and
 going up into the city, saw at the gate men hending staves in hand; but
 when we drew near them, behold, they had been translated[306] 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.[307] 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 Chamberlains
 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 understanding was confounded at the
 sight, but I walked on and entered the great hall of the Harím,[308]
 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[309] pearls; on her head was a diadem set with many sorts of gems
 each fit for a ring[310] 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 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, bestrung with pearls, were let down
 and I saw a light issuing therefrom; 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 myself 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[311] with two wax candles burning
 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[312] 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, "Now by the Truth of what thou readest in Allah's Holy
 Book, I conjure thee to answer my question." He looked upon me with a
 smile and said, "O handmaid 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, "Have patience with me for
 awhile, O my sister!" 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-stick,[313] even as saith the poet of the like of him in these
 couplets:—

 That night th' astrologer a scheme of planets drew, ✿ And lo! a
    graceful shape of youth appeared in view:
 Saturn had stained his locks with Saturninest jet, ✿ And spots of
    nut-brown musk on rosy side-face blew:[314]
 Mars tinctured either cheek with tinct of martial red; ✿ Sagittal shots
    from eyelids Sagittarius threw:
 Dowered him Mercury with bright mercurial wit; ✿ Bore off the Bear[315]
    what all man's evil glances grew:
 Amazed stood Astrophil to sight the marvel-birth ✿ 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 of
 perfect grace and had purfled and fringed it with a cheek all 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
    the shooting of his shafts barbed with sorcery passing rare;
 By the softness of his sides,[316] and glances' lingering light; ✿ And
    brow of dazzling day-tide ray and night within his hair;
 By his eyebrows which deny to who look upon them rest, ✿ Now bidding
    now forbidding, ever dealing joy and care;
 By the rose that decks his cheek, and the myrtle of its moss;[317] ✿ By
    jacinths bedded in his lips and pearl his smile lays bare;
 By his graceful bending neck and the curving of his breast; ✿ Whose
    polished surface beareth those granados, lovely pair;
 By his heavy hips that quiver as he passeth in his pride; ✿ Or he
    resteth with that waist which is slim beyond compare;
 By the satin of his skin, by that fine unsullied sprite; ✿ By the
    beauty that containeth all things bright and debonnair;
 By that ever-open hand; by the candour of his tongue; ✿ By noble blood
    and high degree whereof he's hope and heir;
 Musk from him borrows muskiness she loveth to exhale; ✿ And all the
    airs of ambergris through him perfume the air;
 The sun, methinks, the broad bright sun, before my love would pale; ✿
    And sans his splendour would appear a paring of his nail.[318]

 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, "O
 my lord and my love, tell me that whereof I questioned thee;" 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[319] 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
 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, conformed outwardly with
 the religion of my people; and my father placed thorough confidence in
 her for that he knew her to be trustworthy and virtuous; and he treated
 her with ever-increasing kindness 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[320] 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 me:—O 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[321] 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 out 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 rebellion 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 malpractices 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,[322] 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 understanding
 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 consented."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
 to say her permitted say.

                  Now when it was the Eighteenth Night,

 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, addressing 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 seeking 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 joyance 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 husband!" 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.[323] As for me would Heaven
 I had been drowned with 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[324] 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[325] 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 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[326] (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, "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[327] (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 camest thou by
 the welts and wheals upon thy body?" So she began the

[Illustration]


                        _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 in gold
 according to the holy law of inheritance.[328] 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[329] 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 ✿ Nor mercy visit her on dying
    bed:
 Thousand head-strongest he-mules would her guiles, ✿ Despite their
    bolting, lead with spider thread.

 And as saith another:—

 A hag to whom th' unlawful lawfullest ✿ And witchcraft wisdom in her
    sight are grown:
 A mischief-making brat, a demon-maid, ✿ A whorish woman and a pimping
    crone.[330]

 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.[331] 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 look to save Allah the Most High." Then she wept
 and kissed my feet reciting these couplets:—

 Thy presence bringeth us a grace ✿ We own before thy winsome face:
 And wert thou absent ne'er an one ✿ 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,[332] 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,[333] and over the doorway were writ these
 couplets:—

 I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile; ✿ The home of Joyance
    through my lasting while:
 And 'mid my court a fountain jets and flows, ✿ Nor tears nor troubles
    shall that fount defile:
 The marge with royal Nu'uman's[334] bloom is dight, ✿ Myrtle,
    Narcissus-flower and Chamomile.

 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 encrusted 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, ✿ A bride for a Kisrá's or
    Kaisar's night!
 Wantons the rose on thy roseate cheek, ✿ O cheek as the blood of the
    dragon[335] 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
    morn's glad light.

 The fair young girl came down from the estrade and said to me, "Welcome
 and well come and good cheer to my sister, the dearly-beloved, the
 illustrious, and a thousand greetings!" 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, ✿ "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 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;[336] 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 ✿ And Fortune stamps him
    with pearls for signs.[337]

 And Allah favour him who said:—

 Blest be his beauty; blest the Lord's decree ✿ 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!"[338]

[Illustration]

 When I looked at him my heart inclined to him and I 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 marriage-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 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[339] 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[340] 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,[341] I went to the khan
 of the silk-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[342] 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 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, "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, "I
 take refuge with Allah from such action! Knowest thou not that I am
 bound by an oath?"[343] 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[344] and, 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,[345] 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 I 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 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 complain 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 it;" and, 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[346] 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, ✿ I'd strangle Love tho'
    life by Love were slain;
 Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, ✿ 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 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; whereupon 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, ✿ 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! ✿ What past
    between us doth suffice and haply something more.[347]

 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; ✿ 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; ✿ 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, ✿ 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, ✿ And
    treading 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, ✿ But that she
    sinned a mortal sin which clipt me in its clip:
 She sought to let another share the love between us twain, ✿ But my
    True Faith of Unity refuseth partnership.[348]

 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, ✿ But
    who can break the severance-law which parteth lovers twain!
 Thou loadest me with heavy weight of longing love, when I ✿ Can hardly
    bear my chemisette for weakness and for pain:
 I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin Iain ✿ 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,[349] repeating these couplets:—

 Thou wast all taken up with love of other man, not me; ✿ '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 ✿ And
    patient bear that parting blow thou borest so patiently:
 E'en as thou soughtest other love, so other love I'll seek, ✿ 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
 at full length, after stripping me of all my clothes;[350] 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 continued 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 ✿ 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.

 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.

                  Now when it was the Nineteenth Night,

 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[351] 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 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[352] 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!" 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;[353] for he had heard of her beauty and
 loveliness 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
 recorded 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 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, "Tell
 thy tale and tell it quickly." So she began, in these words,

-----

Footnote 138:

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

Footnote 139:

   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.

Footnote 140:

   _i.e._ 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-Shám (Syria, Damascus), the latter
   word puzzling his Editor. Richardson (Dissert. lxxii) seems to
   support a hideous attempt to derive Shám from Shámat, a mole or wart,
   because the country is studded with hillocks! Al-Shám is often
   applied to Damascus-city whose proper name Dimishk belongs to books:
   this term is generally derived from Dimáshik b. Káli b. Málik b. Sham
   (Shem). Lee (Ibn Batútah, 29) denies that ha-Dimishki means "Eliezer
   of Damascus."

Footnote 141:

   From Oman=Eastern Arabia.

Footnote 142:

   Arab. "Tamar Hanná" lit. date of Henna, but applied to the flower 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 "Ás" being supposed to flavour wine and especially Raki (raw
   brandy).

Footnote 143:

   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 "Akrás" (cakes) Laymuníyah
   (of limes) wa "Maymuníyah" appears in the Bresl. Edit. as
   "Ma'amuniyah" which may mean "Ma'amun's cakes" or "delectable cakes."
   "Amshát"=(combs) perhaps refers to a fine kind of Kunáfah
   (vermicelli) known in Egypt and Syria as "Ghazl al-banát"=girl's
   spinning.

Footnote 144:

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

Footnote 145:

   Solomon's signet ring has before been noticed.

Footnote 146:

   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.

Footnote 147:

   A large hollow navel is looked upon not only as a beauty, but in
   children it is held a promise of good growth.

Footnote 148:

   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.

Footnote 149:

   Babel=Gate 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 witchcraft and enchantment by means of its Seven
   Deadly Spirits, has survived in Al-Islam; the two fallen angels
   (whose names will occur) being confined in a well; Nimrod attempting
   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.

Footnote 150:

   Arab. "Kámat Alfiyyah"=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.

Footnote 151:

   I have not attempted to order this marvellous confusion of metaphors
   so characteristic of The Nights and the exigencies of Al-Saj'a=rhymed
   prose.

Footnote 152:

   Here and elsewhere I omit the "kála (_dice Turpino_)" of the
   original: Torrens preserves "Thus goes the tale" (which it only
   interrupts). This is simply letter-wise and sense-foolish.

Footnote 153:

   Of this worthy more at a future time.

Footnote 154:

   _i.e._, sealed with the Kazi or legal authority's seal of office.

Footnote 155:

   "Nothing for nothing" is a fixed idea with the Eastern woman: not so
   much for greed as for a sexual _point d'honneur_ when dealing with
   the adversary—man.

Footnote 156:

   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 civilisation, drink honestly to get drunk;
   and, when far gone are addicted to horseplay (in Pers. "Badmasti"=_le
   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;" and Moslems agree with our "Teatotallers" in
   denying that, except in the case of Noah, inebriatives are anywhere
   mentioned in Holy Writ.

Footnote 157:

   Arab. "Húr 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. ("Huríyah") in Arab, although accepted in Persian,
   a genderless speech.

Footnote 158:

   Arab. "Zambúr," whose head is amputated in female circumcision. See
   Night cccclxxiv.

Footnote 159:

   Ocymum basilicum noticed in Introduction; the bassilico of Boccaccio
   iv. 5. The Book of Kalilah and Dimnah represents it as "sprouting
   with something also whose smell is foul and disgusting and the sower
   at once sets to gather it and burn it with fire." (The Fables of
   Bidpai translated from the later Syriac version by I. G. N.
   Keith-Falconer, etc., etc., etc., Cambridge University Press, 1885).
   Here, however, Habk is a pennyroyal (_mentha puligium_), and probably
   alludes to the pecten.

Footnote 160:

   _i.e._ common property for all to beat.

Footnote 161:

   "A digit of the moon" is the Hindú equivalent.

Footnote 162:

   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.

Footnote 163:

   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.

Footnote 164:

   "In the name of Allah," is here a civil form of dismissal.

Footnote 165:

   Lane (i. 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 pronounced than what we find in
   our old drama (_e.g._, 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.

Footnote 166:

   So Sir Francis Walsingham's "They which do that they should not,
   should hear that they would not."

Footnote 167:

   The old "Calendar," pleasantly associated with that form of almanac.
   The Mac. Edit. has "Karandaliyah," a vile corruption, like Ibn
   Batutah's "Karandar" and Torrens' "Kurundul:" so in English we have
   the accepted vulgarism of "Kernel" for Colonel. The Bul. Edit. uses
   for synonym "Su'ulúk"=an asker, a beggar. Of these mendicant monks,
   for such they are, much like the Sarabaites of mediæval 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 Malámati who conceals all his good
   deeds and boasts of his evil doings—our "Devil's hypocrite."

Footnote 168:

   The "Kalandar" disfigures himself in this manner to show
   "mortification."

Footnote 169:

   Arab. "Gharíb:" the porter is offended because the word implies "poor
   devil;" esp. one out of his own country.

Footnote 170:

   A religious mendicant generally.

Footnote 171:

   Very scandalous to Moslem "respectability": Mohammed said the house
   was accursed when the voices of women could be heard out of doors.
   Moreover the neighbours have a right to interfere and abate the
   scandal.

Footnote 172:

   I need hardly say that these are both historical personages; they
   will often be mentioned, and Ja'afar will be noticed in the terminal
   Essay.

Footnote 173:

   Arab. "Sama'an wa tá'atan;" a popular phrase of assent generally
   translated "to hear is to obey;" but this formula may be and must be
   greatly varied. In places it means "Hearing (the word of Allah) and
   obeying" (His prophet, viceregent, etc.)

Footnote 174:

   Arab. "Sawáb"=reward in Heaven. This word for which we have no
   equivalent has been naturalised in all tongues (_e.g._ Hindostani)
   spoken by Moslems.

Footnote 175:

   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.

Footnote 176:

   Here some change has been necessary; as the original text confuses
   the three "ladies."

Footnote 177:

   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.

Footnote 178:

   Arab. "Al-Na'im;" in full "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; "Firdaus"
   being evidently derived from the Persian through the Greek
   παράδεισος, and meaning a chase, a hunting-park. Writers on this
   subject should bear in mind Mandeville's modesty, "Of Paradise I
   cannot speak properly, for I was not there."

Footnote 179:

   Arab. "Mikra'ah," the dried mid-rib of a date-frond used for many
   purposes, especially the bastinado.

Footnote 180:

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

Footnote 181:

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

Footnote 182:

   Arab. "Tarjumán," same root as Chald. Targum (=a translation), the
   old "Truchman," and through the Ital. "tergomano" our "Dragoman;"
   here a messenger.

Footnote 183:

   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 ccix.

Footnote 184:

   Arab. "Sár" (Thár) the revenge-right recognised by law and custom
   (Pilgrimage, iii., 69)

Footnote 185:

   That is "We all swim in the same boat."

Footnote 186:

   Ja'afar ever acts, on such occasions, the part of a wise and sensible
   man 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."

Footnote 187:

   Arab. "Wa'l-Salám" (pronounce Was-Salám); meaning "and here ends the
   matter." In our slang we say, "All right, and the child's name is
   Antony."

Footnote 188:

   This is a favourite jingle; the play being upon "ibrat" (a
   needle-graver) and "'ibrat" (an example, a warning).

Footnote 189:

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

Footnote 190:

   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 Wali;" 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, i. 322) in "Unexplored Syria," i. 161.

Footnote 191:

   Arab. "Wiswás;"=diabolical temptation or suggestion. The "Wiswásí" is
   a man with scruples (scrupulus, a pebble in the shoe), _e.g._ one who
   fears that his ablutions were deficient, etc.

Footnote 192:

   Arab. "Katf"=pinioning by tying the arms behind the back and
   shoulders (Kitf), a dire disgrace to freeborn men.

Footnote 193:

   Arab. "Nafs."=Heb. 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 "Sáhib Nafas" (=master of breath) is a minor
   saint who heals by expiration, a matter familiar to mesmerists
   (Pilgrimage, i. 86).

Footnote 194:

   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 for birding.

Footnote 195:

   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 eyeball. About the same time in
   Europe the operation was performed with a heated metal basin—the
   well-known _bacinare_ (used by Ariosto), as happened to Pier delle
   Vigne (Petrus de Vineâ), the "godfather of modern Italian."

Footnote 196:

   Arab. "Khinzír" (by Europeans pronounced "Hanzír"), prop. a
   wild-boar; but popularly used like our "you pig!"

Footnote 197:

   Striking with the shoe, the pipe-stick and similar articles is highly
   insulting, because they are not made, like whips and scourges, for
   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 Malik
   Nimr, 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.

Footnote 198:

   Incest is now abominable everywhere except amongst the overcrowded
   poor of great and 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 viable and healthy.

Footnote 199:

   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 midday, while above the dust was a sun that
   would roast an egg.

Footnote 200:

   Arab. "'Urban," now always used of the wild people, whom the French
   have taught us to call _les Bedouins_; "Badw" being a waste or
   desert; and Badawi (fem. Badawíyah, plur. Badáwi and Bidwán), a man
   of the waste. Europeans have also learnt to miscall the Egyptians
   "Arabs": the difference is as great as between an Englishman and a
   Spaniard. Arabs proper divide their race into sundry successive
   families. "The Arab al-Arabá" (or al-Aribah, or al-Urubíyat) are the
   autochthones, prehistoric, proto-historic and extinct tribes; for
   instance, a few of the Adites who being at Meccah escaped the
   destruction of their wicked nation, but mingled with other classes.
   The "Arab al-Muta'arribah," (Arabised Arabs) are the first advenæ
   represented by such noble strains as the Koraysh (Koreish), some
   still surviving. The "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 "Mosarabians" and the
   "Marrabais" of Rabelais (not, "a word compounded of Maurus and
   Arabs"). Some genealogists, however, make the Muta'arribah
   descendants of Kahtan (possible the Joktan of Genesis x., a
   comparatively modern document, B.C. 700?); and the Musta'aribah those
   descended from Adnán the origin of Arab genealogy. And, lastly, are
   the "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 "Akhdám" (=serviles) of Oman (Maskat); and the "Ebná"
   of Al-Yaman: Ibn Ishak supposes the latter to be descended from the
   Persian soldiers of Anushirwan who expelled the Abyssinian invader
   from Southern Arabia. (Pilgrimage, iii., 31, etc.).

Footnote 201:

   Arab. "Amír al-Muuminín." The title was assumed by the Caliph Omar to
   obviate the inconvenience of calling himself "Khalífah" (successor)
   of the Khalífah of the Apostle of Allah (_i.e._ Abu Bakr); which
   after a few generations would become impossible. It means "Emir
   (chief or prince) of the Muumins;" men who hold to the (true Moslem)
   Faith, the "Imán" (theory, fundamental articles) as opposed to the
   "Dín," ordinance or practice of the religion. It once became a
   Wazirial title conferred by Sultan Malikshah (King King-king) on his
   Nizám al-Mulk. (Richardson's Dissert. lviii).

Footnote 202:

   This may also mean "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, Hamzah,
   Ibn Katír, Ya'akúb, Ibn Amir, Kisái, Asim and Hafs, the latter being
   the favourite with the Hanafis and the only one now generally known
   in Al-Islam.

Footnote 203:

   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 midday 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.

Footnote 204:

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

Footnote 205:

   Arab. "Ghútah," usually a place where irrigation is abundant. It
   especially applies (in books) to the Damascus-plain because "it
   abounds with water and fruit trees." Bochart (Geog. Sacra, p. 90)
   derives עוטה (utah) from עוץ 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 seaport; 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.

Footnote 206:

   The exigencies of the "Saj'a," or rhymed prose, disjoint this and
   many similar passages.

Footnote 207:

   The "Ebony" Islands; Scott's "Isle of Ebene," i., 217.

Footnote 208:

   "Jarjarís" in the Bul. Edit.

Footnote 209:

   Arab. "Takbís." Many Easterns can hardly sleep without this kneading
   of the muscles, this "rubbing" whose hygienic properties England is
   now learning.

Footnote 210:

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

Footnote 211:

   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 crucifier.

Footnote 212:

   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-Hijáz (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.

Footnote 213:

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

Footnote 214:

   _i.e._ Axe and sandals.

Footnote 215:

   Lit. "Strike his neck."

Footnote 216:

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

Footnote 217:

   The smiter with the evil eye is called "A'in" and the person smitten
   "Ma'ín" or "Ma'ún."

Footnote 218:

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

Footnote 219:

   Arab. "Zikr" lit. remembering, mentioning (_i.e._ the names of
   Allah), here refers to the meetings of religious for devotional
   exercises; the "Zikkírs," 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 Engländerinns 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 Zikkírs.
   It must not be supposed that they are uneducated men: the better
   class, however, prefers more privacy.

Footnote 220:

   As they thought he had been there for prayer or penance.

Footnote 221:

   Arab. "Ziyárat," a visit to a pious person or place.

Footnote 222:

   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-Námah" because all questions begin with "Al" (the Arab
   article) contains one "Al-Wajib al-busídan?" (what best deserves
   bussing?) and the answer is "Kus-i-nau-pashm," (a bobadilla with a
   young bush).

Footnote 223:

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

Footnote 224:

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

Footnote 225:

   The comparison is peculiarly apposite; the earth seen from above
   appears hollow with a raised rim.

Footnote 226:

   A hundred years old.

Footnote 227:

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

Footnote 228:

   The Captain or Master of the ship (not the owner). In Al Yaman the
   word also means a "barber," in virtue of the root, Raas, a head.

Footnote 229:

   The text has "in the character Ruká'í," or Riká'í, the
   correspondence-hand.

Footnote 230:

   A curved character supposed to be like the basil-leaf (rayhán).
   Richardson calls it "Rohani."

Footnote 231:

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

Footnote 232:

   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).

Footnote 233:

   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. Löytved 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'Herbelot and Sale's day the Koran was supposed to have
   been written in rude characters, like those subsequently called
   "Cufic," invented shortly before Mohammed's birth by Murámir ibn
   Murrah of Anbar in Irák, 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.

Footnote 234:

   Capital and uncial letters; the hand in which the Ka'abah veil is
   inscribed (Pilgrimage iii. 299, 300).

Footnote 235:

   A "Court hand" says Mr. Payne (i. 112): I know nothing of it. Other
   hands are: the Ta'alík; hanging or oblique, used for finer MSS. and
   having, according to Richardson, "the same analogy to the Naskhi as
   our Italic has to the Roman." The Nasta' lík (not Naskh-Ta'alík) much
   used in India, is, as the name suggests, a mixture of the Naskhi
   (writing of transactions) and the Ta'alík. The Shikastah (broken
   hand) everywhere represents our running hand and becomes a hard task
   to the reader. The Kirmá is another cursive character, mostly
   confined to the receipts and disbursements of the Turkish treasury.
   The Diváni, or Court (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 Jáli or polished has a variety, the
   Jali-Ta'alik: the Sulsi (known in many books) is adopted for titles
   of volumes, royal edicts, diplomas and so forth; "answering much the
   same purpose as capitals with us, or the flourished letters in
   illuminated manuscripts" (Richardson). The Tughrái is that of the
   Tughrá, the Prince's cypher or flourishing signature in ceremonial
   writings, and containing some such sentence as: Let this be executed.
   There are others _e.g._ Yákuti 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 Sulusí,
   Sulsi or Sulus (Thuluth) character, the Sulus al-Khafíf, etc.

Footnote 236:

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

Footnote 237:

   In Heb. "Ben-Adam" is any man opp. to "Beni ish" (Psalm iv. 3)=_filii
   viri_, not _homines_.

Footnote 238:

   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.

Footnote 239:

   Arab. "Katá"=Pterocles Alchata, the well-known sand-grouse of the
   desert. It is very poor white flesh.

Footnote 240:

   Arab. "Khubz" which I do not translate "cake" or "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 "scone," the Spanish "tortilla" and the
   Australian "flap-jack."

Footnote 241:

   Arab. "Harísah," a favourite dish of wheat (or rice) boiled and
   reduced to a paste with shredded meat, spices and condiments. The
   "bangles" is a pretty girl eating with him.

Footnote 242:

   These lines are repeated with a difference in Night cccxxx. They
   affect _Rims cars_, out of the way, heavy rhymes: _e.g._ here Sakáríj
   (plur. of Sakrúj, platters, porringers); Tayáhíj (plur. of Tayhúj,
   the smaller caccabis-partridge); Tabáhíj (Persian Tabahjah, an omelet
   or a stew of meat, onions, eggs, etc.) Ma'áríj ("in stepped piles"
   like the pyramids; which Lane ii. 495, renders "on the stairs");
   Makáríj (plur. of Makraj, a small pot); Damálíj (plur. of dumlúj, a
   bracelet, a bangle); Dayábíj (brocades) and Tafáríj (openings,
   enjoyments). In Night cccxxx. we find also Sikábíj (plur. of Sikbáj,
   marinated meat elsewhere explained); Faráríj (plur. of farrúj, a
   chicken, vulg. farkh) and Dakákíj (plur. of dakújah, a small jar). In
   the first line we have also (though not a rhyme) Gharánik Gr.
   Τερανὸς, a crane, preserved in Romaic. The weeping and wailing are
   caused by the remembrance that all these delicacies have been
   demolished like a Badawi camp.

Footnote 243:

   This is the _vinum coctum_, the boiled wine, still a favourite in
   Southern Italy and Greece.

Footnote 244:

   Eastern topers delight in drinking at dawn: upon this subject I shall
   have more to say in other Nights.

Footnote 245:

   Arab. "Adab," a _crux_ to translators, meaning anything between good
   education and good manners. In mod. Turk. "Edibiyyet"
   (Adabiyat)=belles lettres and "Edebi" or "Edíb"=a littérateur.

Footnote 246:

   The Caliph Al-Maamún, who was a bad player, used to say, "I have the
   administration 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."

Footnote 247:

   The Rabbis (after Matth. xix. 12) count three kinds of Eunuchs; (1)
   Seris chammah=of the sun, _i.e._ natural: (2) Seris Adam=manufactured
   _per homines_; and (3) Seris Chammayim=of God (_i.e._ religious
   abstainer). Seris (castrated) or Abd (slave) is the general Hebrew
   name.

Footnote 248:

   The "Lady of Beauty."

Footnote 249:

   "Káf" has been noticed as the mountain which surrounds earth as a
   ring does the finger: it is popularly used like our Alp and Alpine.
   The "circumambient Ocean" (Bahr al-muhít) is the Homeric
   Ocean-stream.

Footnote 250:

   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.
   166,182.

Footnote 251:

   _i.e._ for the love of God—a favourite Moslem phrase.

Footnote 252:

   Arab. "Báb," also meaning a chapter (of magic, of war, etc.),
   corresponding with the Persian "Dar" as in Sad-dar, the Hundred
   Doors. Here, however, it is figurative "I tried a new mode." This
   scene is in the Mabinogion.

Footnote 253:

   I use this Irish term=crying for the dead; as English wants the word
   for the præfica 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,"
   _i.e._ 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.

Footnote 254:

   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 grave-yards as a lesson of patience: it is
   also slung, like the dried crocodile, over house-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 Wák, the Creator. (Pilgrimage iii. 350).

Footnote 255:

   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
   "River of Peace (or Security)."

Footnote 256:

   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."

Footnote 257:

   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 Maniólai 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) Mountains 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 Gybelle." Other special
   senses of Jabal will occur.

Footnote 258:

   As we learn from the Nubian Geographer the Arabs in early ages
   explored the Fortunate Islands, Jazírát al-Khálidát (=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 Sharhabíl, (or Sharabíl or Sharahíl) surnamed Náshir
   al-Ni'ám=scatterer of blessings, lost an army in attempting the
   Western sands and set up a statue of copper upon whose breast was
   inscribed in antique characters:—

                       There is no access behind me,
                       Nothing beyond,
                       (Saith) The Son of Sharabíl.

Footnote 259:

   _i.e._ I exclaimed "Bismillah!"

Footnote 260:

   The lesser ablution of hands, face and feet; a kind of "washing the
   points." More in Night ccccxl.

Footnote 261:

   Arab. "Ruka'tayn"; the number of these bows which are followed by the
   prostrations distinguishes the five daily prayers.

Footnote 262:

   The "Beth Kol" of the Hebrews; also called by the Moslems "Hátif";
   for which ask the Spiritualists. It is the Hindu "voice divine" or
   "voice from heaven."

Footnote 263:

   These formulæ are technically called Tasmiyah, Tahlíl (before noted)
   and Takbír: the "testifying" is Tashhíd.

Footnote 264:

   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.

Footnote 265:

   These handsome youths are always described in the terms we should
   apply to women.

Footnote 266:

   The Bul. 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 express, 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 me 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, "Do ye admit me to
   your home and society?" and they answered, "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 curtailed in that issue.

Footnote 267:

   Arabs date pregnancy from the stopping of the menses, upon which the
   fœtus is supposed to feed. Kalilah wa Dimnah says, "The child's navel
   adheres to that of his mother and thereby he sucks" (i. 263).

Footnote 268:

   This is contrary to the commands of Al-Islam; Mohammed expressly said
   "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 more we find these practises
   held in honour. Turning westwards we have:

              Iuridicis, Erebo, Fisco, fas vivere rapto;
              Militibus, Medicis, Tortori occidere ludo est;
              Mentiri Astronomis, Pictoribus atque Poetis.

Footnote 269:

   He does not perform the Wuzu or lesser ablution because he neglects
   his dawn prayers.

Footnote 270:

   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).

Footnote 271:

   Quoted from Mohammed whose saying has been given.

Footnote 272:

   We should say "the night of the thirty-ninth."

Footnote 273:

   The bath first taken after sickness.

Footnote 274:

   Arab. "Dikák" used by way of soap or rather 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.

Footnote 275:

   Arab. "Sukkar-nabát." During my day (1842-49) we had no other sugar
   in the Bombay Presidency.

Footnote 276:

   This is one of the myriad Arab instances that the decrees of
   "Anagké," 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.

Footnote 277:

   Having lately been moved by Ajib.

Footnote 278:

   Mr. Payne (i. 131.) omits these lines which appear out of place; but
   this mode of inappropriate quotation is a characteristic of Eastern
   tales.

Footnote 279:

   Anglicè "him."

Footnote 280:

   This march of the tribe is a _lieu commun_ of Arab verse _e.g._ the
   poet Labid's noble elegy on the "Deserted Camp." We shall find scores
   of instances in The Nights.

Footnote 281:

   I 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-Ahkáf" ("Unexplored Syria").

Footnote 282:

   Hence the Arab. saying "The bark of a dog and not the gleam of a
   fire;" the tired traveller knows from the former that the camp is
   near, whereas the latter shows from great distances.

Footnote 283:

   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
   Kawús (B.C. 600) when mourning for his son Siyáwush. 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
   "Hidád"), 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.

Footnote 284:

   The older Roc, of which more in the Tale of Sindbad. Meanwhile the
   reader curious about the Persian Símurgh (thirty bird) 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 Humá (bird of Paradise) Richardson lxix. We still
   lack details concerning the Ben or Bennu (nycticorax) of Egypt which
   with the Article pi gave rise to the Greek "phœnix."

Footnote 285:

   Probably the _Haledj_ of Forskal (p. xcvi. Flor. Ægypt. Arab.),
   "lignum tenax, durum, obscuri generis." The Bres. Edit, has
   "ákúl"=teak wood, vulg. "Sáj."

Footnote 286:

   The knocker ring is an invention well known to the Romans.

Footnote 287:

   Arab. "Sadr"; the place of honour; hence the "Sudder Adawlut"
   (Supreme Court) in the Anglo-Indian jargon.

Footnote 288:

   Arab. "Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhabá," the words still popularly
   addressed to a guest.

Footnote 289:

   This may mean "liquid black eyes"; but 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.

Footnote 290:

   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.

Footnote 291:

   _i.e._ makes me taste the bitterness of death, "bursting the
   gall-bladder" (Marárah) being our "breaking the heart."

Footnote 292:

   Almost needless to say that forbidden doors and rooms form a _lieu
   commun_ in Fairie: they are found in the Hindu Katha Sarit Sagara and
   became familiar to our childhood by "Bluebeard."

Footnote 293:

   Lit. "apply Kohl to my eyes," even as Jezebel "painted her face," in
   Heb. put her eyes in painting (2 Kings ix., 30).

Footnote 294:

   Arab. "Al-Barkúk," whence our older "Apricock." Classically it is
   "Burkúk" and Pers. for Arab. "Mishmish," and it also denotes a small
   plum or damson. In Syria the "side next the sun" shows a glowing red
   flush.

Footnote 295:

   Arab. "Hazáṙ" (in Persian, a thousand)=a kind of mocking bird.

Footnote 296:

   Some Edit. 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 symmetromania, are common in Arab stories.

Footnote 297:

   Arab. "Májúr": hence possibly our "mazer," which is popularly derived
   from Masarn, a maple.

Footnote 298:

   A compound scent of ambergris, musk and aloes.

Footnote 299:

   The ends of the bridle-reins forming the whip

Footnote 300:

   The flying horse is Pegasus which is a Greek travesty of an Egyptian
   myth developed in India.

Footnote 301:

   The Bres. Edit. wrongly says "the seventh."

Footnote 302:

   Arab. "Sharmutah" (plur. Sharámít) 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
   "Kadíd."

Footnote 303:

   Arab. "Izár," the man's waist-cloth opposed to the Ridá or
   shoulder-cloth, is also the sheet of white calico worn by the poorer
   Egyptian women out of doors and covering head and hands. See Lane (M.
   E., chapt. i). The rich prefer a "Habárah" of black silk, and the
   poor, when they have nothing else, use a bed-sheet.

Footnote 304:

   _i.e._ "My dears."

Footnote 305:

   Arab. "Lá tawákhizná:" lit. "do not chastise (or blame) us;" the pop.
   expression for, "excuse (or pardon) us."

Footnote 306:

   Arab. "Maskhút," mostly applied to change of shape as man 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
   Haurán and the Roman ruins in Northern Africa will readily detect the
   basis upon which these stories are built. I shall return to this
   subject in The City of Iram (Night cclxxvi.) and The City of Brass
   (dlxvii.).

Footnote 307:

   A picturesque phrase enough to express a deserted site, a spectacle
   familiar to the Nomades and always abounding in pathos to the
   citizens.

Footnote 308:

   The olden "Harem" (or gynæceum, Pers. Zenanah, Serraglio): Harím is
   also used by synecdoche for the inmates; especially the wife.

Footnote 309:

   The pearl is supposed in the East to lose 1% per ann. of its
   splendour and value.

Footnote 310:

   Arab. "Fass," properly the bezel of a ring; also a gem cut _en
   cabochon_ and generally the _contenant_ for the _contenu_.

Footnote 311:

   Arab. "Mihráb"=the arch-headed 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 Imám, 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 Jews
   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=105-115), 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=Cunnus
   (Dabistan ii. 152.) The Guebres further term Meccah "Mah-gah," locus
   Lunæ, and Al-Medinah, "Mahdinah,"=Moon of religion. See Dabistan i.,
   49, etc.

Footnote 312:

   Arab. "Kursi," a stool of palm-fronds, etc., ❌-shaped (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 "Adab al-Kúran" (respect due to Holy Writ)
   gives great scandal.

Footnote 313:

   Mr. Payne (i. 148) quotes the German Zuckerpüppchen.

Footnote 314:

   The Persian poets have a thousand conceits in praise of the "mole,"
   (Khál or Shámah) for which Hafiz offered "Samarkand and Bokhara"
   (they not being his, as his friends remarked). Another "topic" is the
   flight of arrows shot by eyelashes.

Footnote 315:

   Arab. "Suhá" a star in the Great Bear introduced only to balance
   "wushát"=spies, enviers, enemies, whose "evil eye" it will ward off.

Footnote 316:

   In Arab tales beauty is always "soft-sided," and a smooth skin is
   valued in proportion to its rarety.

Footnote 317:

   The myrtle is the young hair upon the side-face.

Footnote 318:

   In other copies of these verses the fourth couplet swears "by the
   scorpions of his brow" _i.e._ the _accroche-cœurs_, the
   beau-catchers, bell-ropes or "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 in the last couplet he
   makes the nail-paring refer to the moon not the sun.

Footnote 319:

   This is regular formula when speaking of Guebres.

Footnote 320:

   Arab. "Faráiz"; 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 "Wájib" to those given
   twice over. Elsewhere scanty difference is made between them.

Footnote 321:

   Arab. "Kufr"=rejecting the True Religion, _i.e._ Al-Islam, such
   rejection being "Tughyán" or rebellion against the Lord. The
   "terrible sound" is taken from the legend of the prophet Sálih and
   the proto-historic tribe of Thámúd 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.

Footnote 322:

   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 "Sesostris" left his mark near
   Meccah. (Pilgrimage iii. 137).

Footnote 323:

   Arab. "Shuhadá"; 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 devotion 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.

Footnote 324:

   Arab. "Su 'ubán:" the Badawin give the name to a variety of serpents
   all held to be venomous; but in tales the word, like "Tannín."
   expresses our "dragon" or "cockatrice."

Footnote 325:

   She was ashamed to see the lady doing servile duty by rubbing her
   feet. This _massage_, which B. de la Brocquière describes in 1452 as
   "kneading and pinching," has already been noticed. The French term is
   apparently derived from the Arab. "Mas-h."

Footnote 326:

   Alluding to the Most High Name, the hundredth name of God, the Heb.
   Shem hamphorash, unknown save to a favoured few who by using it
   perform all manner of miracles.

Footnote 327:

   _i.e._ the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.

Footnote 328:

   _i.e._ Settled by the Koran.

Footnote 329:

   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).

Footnote 330:

   The four ages of woman, considered after Demosthenes in her
   three-fold character, prostitute for pleasure, concubine for service
   and wife for breeding.

Footnote 331:

   Arab. "Jilá" (the Hindostani Julwa)=the displaying of the bride
   before the bridegroom 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 she is raised
   up, her veil is readjusted and her face is left bare.

Footnote 332:

   Arab. "Ishá"=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).

Footnote 333:

   A popular Arab hyperbole.

Footnote 334:

   Arab. "Shakáik al-Nu'umán," lit. the fissures of Nu'uman, the
   beautiful anemone, which a tyrannical King of Hirah, Nu'uman ibn
   Al-Munzir, a contemporary of Mohammed, attempted to monopolize.

Footnote 335:

   Arab. "Andam"=here the gum called dragon's blood; in other places the
   dye-wood known as brazil.

Footnote 336:

   I need hardly say that in the East, where bells are unused, clapping
   the hands summons the servants. In India men cry "Quy hye" (Koi hái?)
   and in the Brazil whistle "Pst!" after the fashion of Spain and
   Portugal.

Footnote 337:

   The moles are here compared with pearls; a simile by no means common
   or appropriate.

Footnote 338:

   A parody on the testification of Allah's Unity.

Footnote 339:

   Arab. "Simát" (prop. "Sumát"); the "dinner-table," composed of a
   round wooden stool supporting a large metal tray, the two being
   called "Sufrah" (or "Simat"): thus, "Sufrah házirah!" means dinner is
   on the table. After the meal they are at once removed.

Footnote 340:

   In the text "Dastúr," the Persian word before noticed; "Izn" would be
   the proper Arabic equivalent.

Footnote 341:

   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 _bonâ fide_ case occurred; the "conquests"
   were all Greeks, Wallachians, Armenians or Jewesses.

Footnote 342:

   Arab. "Azím": translators do not seem to know that this word in The
   Nights often bears its Egyptian and slang sense, somewhat equivalent
   to our "deuced" or "mighty" or "awfully fine."

Footnote 343:

   This is a very serious thing amongst Moslems and scrupulous men often
   make great sacrifices to avoid taking an oath.

Footnote 344:

   We should say "into the noose."

Footnote 345:

   The man had fallen in love with her and determined to mark her so
   that she might be his.

Footnote 346:

   Arab. "Dajlah," in which we find the Heb. Hid-dekel.

Footnote 347:

   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 quoi
   bon être prince?_ as was said by a boy of viceroyal family in Egypt
   to his tutor who reproached him for unnecessarily shooting down a
   poor old man.

Footnote 348:

   Arab. "Shirk," partnership, evening or associating gods with God;
   polytheism: especially levelled at the Hindu triadism, Guebre dualism
   and Christian Trinitarianism.

Footnote 349:

   Arab. "Shatm"=abuse, generally couched in foulest language with
   especial reference to the privy parts of female relatives.

Footnote 350:

   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.

Footnote 351:

   Arab. "Khalifah," Caliph. The word is also used for the successor of
   a Santon or holy man.

Footnote 352:

   Arab. "Sár;" here the Koranic word for carrying out the venerable and
   undying _lex talionis_, the original basis of all criminal
   jurisprudence. Its main fault is that justice repeats the offence.

Footnote 353:

   Both these sons of Harun became Caliphs, as we shall see in The
   Nights.




                    _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 threading 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:—

 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
    learning?—a poor-devil wight!
 If they take me to pawn with my lore in my pouch, ✿ With my volumes to
    read and my ink-case to write,
 For one day's provision they never could pledge me; ✿ As likely on
    Doomsday to draw bill at sight:"
 How poorly, indeed, doth it fare wi' 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
    homestead 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 necessities." 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 midday 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 upon
 her he cried, "Alas!" and tears ran down his cheeks and turning to
 Ja'afar he said, "O dog of Wazirs,[354] 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,[355] 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 the 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,[356] his cousins and kinsmen, before the palace-gate, let
 him come and let him look!" 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 in 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 neat of dress and of favour like the moon
 raining light, with eyes black and bright, and brow flower-white, and
 cheeks red as rose and 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 were mere injustice."[357]
 "By Him who raised the firmament and dispread the earth like a carpet,"
 cried the youth, "I 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[358] 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 long 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! She was distressed, 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 he
 answered:—O my son, this fruit is a rarity with us and is not 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.[359] 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 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 to
 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, O 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
 wrongfully. 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.

                  Now when it was the Twentieth Night,

 She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph swore
 he would hang none but the slave, for the youth was excusable. 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.[360] 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 e'en 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 parting 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. Rayhán 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[361] and drew out the apple and knew it
 and rejoiced saying, "O ready Dispeller of trouble!"[362] Then he bade
 them bring the 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 ill. 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, ✿ 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 Núr al-Dín Ali of
 Egypt and his brother Shams al-Dín Mohammed." Quoth the Caliph, "Out
 with it; but what can be stranger than this story?" And Ja'afar
 answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, I will not tell it thee, save
 on condition 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

-----

Footnote 354:

   "Dog" and "hog" are still highly popular terms of abuse. The Rabbis
   will not defile their lips with "pig;" but say "Dabhar
   akhir"="another thing."

Footnote 355:

   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).

Footnote 356:

   Europe translates the word "Barmecides." It is Persian from _bar_
   (up) and _makídan_ (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 his
   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.

Footnote 357:

   Arab. "Zulm," 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 rule
   him righteously and according to his own law.

Footnote 358:

   All this aggravates his crime: had she been a widow she would not
   have had upon him "the claims of maidenhead," the premio della
   verginità of Boccaccio, x. 10.

Footnote 359:

   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 freeborn man
   to take over-notice of these servile villanies; hence the scoundrel
   in the story escapes unpunished. I have already noticed the
   predilection 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.

Footnote 360:

   The Arab equivalent of our pitcher and well.

Footnote 361:

   _i.e._ Where the dress sits loosely about the bust.

Footnote 362:

   He had trusted in Allah and his trust was justified.




          _TALE OF NÚR AL-DÍN ALÍ & HIS SON BADR AL-DÍN 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 experienced, 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,[363] 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[364] 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 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, "O my brother, Shams al-Din, what
 dower[365] wilt thou require from my son for thy daughter?" Quoth Shams
 al-Din, "I will take three thousand dinars and three pleasure gardens
 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, "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,[366] 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 "To-morrow," ✿ The wise man wots
    'tis vain to beg or borrow.

 Quoth Shams al-Din, "Basta![367] I see thee fail in respect to me by
 making thy son of more account than my daughter; and 'tis plain 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 mightest 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."[368] 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[369] to Jízah[370] 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; ✿
    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; ✿ So leave
    thy place of birth[371] and wander all the world around!
 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, ✿ 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; ✿ 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, ✿ And
    aloes-wood mere fuel is upon its native ground:
 And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal'd; ✿ 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,[372] 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 Chosroës, 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 a-pleasuring outside the city on the road to
 Kalyúb-town,[373] 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.[374] About noontide he entered Bilbays-city,[375]
 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
 nightfall he entered a town called Sa'adiyah[376] 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 morning dawned
 he mounted and rode onward till he reached the Holy City,[377]
 Jerusalem, and thence he made Aleppo, where he dismounted at one of the
 caravanserais and abode three days to rest himself and the mule and to
 smell the air.[378] 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-city
 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 heard the door-keeper's words he arose
 forthright; and, mounting his horse, rode to the Khan[379] 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 blessed 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[380]
 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 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 perfumed the guests with incense,[381]
 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 Hammam-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.

                 Now when it was the Twenty-First Night,

 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 disappearance 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 finding his 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 I 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[382] and drew up
 the marriage contract and went in to her. And it so chanced that, on
 the very same night when Shams al-Din went in to his wife, Nur al-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.[383]

 And as another also said:—

 His scent was musk and his cheek was rose; ✿ His teeth are pearls and
    his lips drop wine;
 His form is a brand and his hips a hill; ✿ His hair is night and his
    face moonshine.

 They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the Wazir of
 Bassorah, rejoiced in him and, on the seventh day after his 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! ✿ And last while
    darkness and the dawn o'erlap:
 O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts, ✿ The world to dance and
    Time his palms to clap.[384]

 Then the Sultan rose up to honour them and, thanking Nur al-Din for his
 fine compliment, asked the Wazir, "Who may be 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, "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.[385] 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[386] 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, presenting 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: ✿ And thy luck prevail o'er
    the envier's spite;
 And ne'er cease thy days to be white as day, ✿ 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 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 dismissed 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;[387] 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 cheeks' anemone glows
    the sun:
 He so conquered Beauty that he hath won ✿ All 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 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.
           Those 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.[388]

 And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty Allah
 to bless him.[389] 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
 properest 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 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[390] 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;[391] 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 ✿ To befriend thy
    case in the nick of need:
 So live for thyself nursing hope of none ✿ 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!

 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 heard the lines
 that tell us:—

 Reserve's a jewel, Silence safety is; ✿ Whenas thou speakest many a
    word withhold:
 For an of Silence thou repent thee once, ✿ Of speech thou shalt 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:—[392]

 From wine[393] I turn and whoso wine-cups swill; ✿ Becoming one of
    those who deem it ill:
 Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way,[394] ✿ And opes the gateway
    wide to sins that kill.

 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 deem 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: ✿ When wealth
    abounds all friends their friendship tender:
 How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend; ✿ But friends to lack of
    wealth no friendship render.

 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 let the house
    tell of its builder's fate!
 Country for 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![395]

 At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head 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[396] which was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem whereon
 were worked these couplets:—

 O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East, ✿ Tells of the stars of
    Heaven and bounteous dews:
 Endure thine honour to the latest day, ✿ And Time thy growth of glory
    ne'er refuse!

 While he was sitting by his father's tomb behold, there came to him a
 Jew as he were a Shroff,[397] 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, "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[398] "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 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:—

 This house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more ✿ 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, ✿ And lies a
    gloomy murk upon the face of hill and lea:
 O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked ✿ Find ne'er
    a nesty home and eke shed all his plumery!
 At length my patience fails me; and this absence wastes my flesh; ✿ How
    many a veil by severance rent our eyes are doomèd see:
 Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of yore; ✿ 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 Wuldán of Paradise."[399] Then
 she flew firmament-wards to circle it, as was her custom, and met an
 Ifrit on the wing who saluted her and she said to him, "Whence comest
 thou?" "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 Ifrit 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,[400] 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 her name is conjoined with
 that of her cousin;[401] and there are damsels in foison for our lord
 the Sultan. The King, hearing his 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[402] 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![403] 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 Wazir, 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 tirewomen, 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[404] whilst the young lady is the
 likest of all folk to this young man, albeit even fairer than he."——And
 Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
 say.

                Now when it was the Twenty-Second Night,

 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 was the fairest of created
 things and even more beautiful than this youth, the Jinniyah cried at
 him "Thou liest! this youth is handsomer 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 deserveth 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!" replied he, "thou speakest to the point; nor is there a
 righter 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, till
 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 finding 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 persuaded 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
 stopping 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,[405]
 put thy hand into thy pocket which thou wilt find filled with gold.
 Take it out and throw to them and spare not; for as often as thou
 thrustest fingers in pouch thou shalt 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[406] 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[407] 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
 people and forbade 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[408] to the
 head of the hall adjoining the chamber whence she was to come forth.
 When the ladies saw Badr al-Din Hasan and noted his beauty and
 loveliness and his face that shone like 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."[409] 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 belongeth!"; 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: ah, well-away for such a lovely one with this hideous Quasimodo;
 Allah's curse light on his head and on the Sultan who commanded the
 marriage!" Then the singing-girls beat their tabrets and lulliloo'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
 necklace 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.[410] And the bride was as the full moon when
 at fullest on fourteenth night; and as she paced into the hall 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[411] 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.[412] 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 rejoiced 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;[413] and
 she turned the heads of all the guests, women as well as men, for she
 was even as saith the surpassing poet:—

 A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed, ✿ Clad in her cramoisy-hued
    chemisette:
 Of her lips honey-dew she gave me drink, ✿ And with her rosy cheeks
    quencht fire she set.

 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, ✿ Ultramarine, as skies are deckt
    and dight:
 I view'd th' unparallel'd sight, which show'd my eyes ✿ 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-morn she comes, ✿ And I her mischiefs
    with the cloud compare:
 Saying, "Thou veilest morn with night!" "Ah no!" ✿ Quoth she, "I shroud
    full moon with darkling air!"

 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-coy, she mocks all
    loveliness;
 And when he fronts her favour and her smile ✿ A-morn, the Sun of day in
    clouds must dress.

 Then she came forth in the fifth dress, a very light of loveliness 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, ✿ And Ruby on her cheeks
    reflects his light:
 Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair; ✿ Beware of curls that bite
    with viper-bite!
 Her sides are silken-soft, the while the heart ✿ 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 ✿ Her breasts repel me
    with their hardened height.
 Ah, how her beauty all excels! ah how ✿ 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 tirer's art had decked with snares and sleight:[414]
    ✿ And robed in rays as though the sun from her had borrowed light:
 She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green, ✿ As veilèd by
    its leafy screen pomegranate hides from sight:
 And when he said "How callest thou the manner of thy dress?" ✿ She
    answered us in pleasant way with double meaning dight;
 "We call this garment _crève-cœur_; and rightly is it hight, ✿ For many
    a heart wi' this we broke[415] and conquered many a sprite!"

 Then they displayed her in the seventh dress, coloured between
 safflower[416] 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!" ✿ "Sit!" said her
    hips, "we cannot bear the brunt!"
 And when I craved a bout, her Beauty said ✿ "Do, do!" and said her
    pretty shame, "Don't, don't!"

 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[417] she said, "O Allah make this man my goodman
 and deliver me from the evil of this hunchbacked 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 tirewomen 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,[418] 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 "Meeao! Meeao[419]"! Then it grew still more and more till
 it became a dog and barked out "Owh! Owh!" When the bridegroom saw this
 he was frightened and exclaimed "Out with thee, O unlucky one!"[420]
 But the dog grew and swelled till it became an ass-colt that brayed and
 snorted in his face "Hauk![421] 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
 buffaloes; 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,[422] and
 said to him, "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 Gobbo 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,[423] 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,[424] 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 fascination 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; ✿ Since long, long years for this
    alone I long:
 And whisper tale of love in ear of me; ✿ To me 'tis sweeter than the
    sweetest song!
 No other youth upon my heart shall lie; ✿ 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[425] the purse of gold which he had taken from
 the Jew and which contained the thousand dinars, he laid it under the
 edge of the bedding. Then he took off his turband and set it upon the
 settle[426] 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[427]
 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 withdrew 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 ✿ Than coupled lovers single couch
    doth hold;
 Breast pressing breast and robed in joys their own, ✿ With pillowed
    forearms cast in finest mould:
 And when heart speaks to heart with tongue of love, ✿ Folk who would
    part them hammer steel ice-cold:
 If a fair friend[428] thou find who cleaves to thee, ✿ Live for that
    friend, that friend in heart enfold.
 O ye who blame for love us lover kind ✿ Say, can ye minister to
    diseasèd mind?

 This much concerning Badr al-Din Hasan and Sitt al-Husn his 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![429] Haste ye to salvation!" Then Allah suffered His angelic
 host to shoot down the Ifrit with a shooting star,[430] 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
 predestineth 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,[431] 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,[432] 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!" 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,[433] and legs and thighs clear as crystal and
 smooth as cream. Cried the people, "By Allah he is a pretty fellow!";
 and at the cry Badr al-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?"[434]
 "By Allah, O good people," replied he, "I lay last night in Cairo."
 Said somebody, "Thou hast surely been eating Hashísh;"[435] 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!"[436] 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! 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 "Madman! madman!" till he, beside himself
 with rage, took refuge in 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 enter 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 repetition 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 meanwhile, 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 hunchbacked 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![437] O my lord," and came 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, "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;[438] 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 I found my 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."[439]
 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 virginity is but just now gone to the
 draught house and I feel that I have conceived by him."[440] The Wazir
 rose in much marvel and entered the privy where he found the
 hunchbacked horse-groom with his head in the hole and his 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, "Ho, Hunchback!" The
 Gobbo grunted out, "_Taghúm! Taghúm!_"[441] thinking it was the Ifrit
 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
 Allah, O Shaykh of the Ifrits, ever since thou 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, "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.

                 Now when it was the Twenty-third Night,

 She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the hunchbacked
 groom spake to the bride's father saying, "Allah curse him who was the
 cause of this my case!" Then said the Wazir to him, "Up and out of this
 place!" "Am I mad," cried the groom, "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, "Who brought
 thee hither?"; and he answered "I 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 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
 cess-pool hole; and he fared forth running 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, "O 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."[442] So he opened it and, finding 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, "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 handwriting, he kissed it again
 and again; and he wept and wailed over his dead brother and improvised
 these lines:—

 I see their traces and with pain I melt, ✿ 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.[443]

 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 conception, and the birth
 of Badr al-Din Hasan and all his brother's history 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 document 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.[444] 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 and loveliness
 and fair proportions and perfect grace. They cut his navel-string[445]
 and Kohl'd his eyelids to strengthen his eyes, and gave him over to the
 nurses and nursery governesses,[446] naming him Ajíb, the Wonderful.
 His day was as a month and his month was as a year;[447] and, when
 seven years had passed over him, his grandfather sent him to school,
 enjoining the master to teach him Koran-reading, and to 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!" At last
 the boys came in a body to complain to the Monitor[448] 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,[449] 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
 Májid and my mammy's name is Alawiyah and my daddy's Izz al-Din."
 Another 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, "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 well nigh choked with tears and hurt
 feelings. Then said the Monitor to him, "We know that the Wazir is thy
 grandfather, the 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 came 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. Seest thou not
 that even a huckster's son knoweth his own sire? Thy grandfather is the
 Wazir of Egypt; but as for thy father we wot him 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 for a while. When she heard his
 sobs and saw his tears her heart burned as though with fire for him,
 and she said, "O 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 my 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 hanger."[450] 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 heart they lit and went their ways, ✿ And all I 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 my
    spirit flew:
 They made my eyelids flow with severance tears ✿ 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:
 Then in my heart of hearts their shapes I trace, ✿ And love and longing
    care and cark renew:
 O ye, whose names cling round me like a cloak, ✿ Whose love yet closer
    than a shirt I drew,
 Belovèd ones! how long this hard despite? ✿ 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[451] to travel eastward to the city
 of Bassorah and ask after his brother's son. Furthermore he besought
 the Sultan to write for him letters patent, authorising him to seize
 upon Badr 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[452] 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, ✿ Time sware such another he
    ne'er should view:
 And careless we slept under wing of night, ✿ Till dappled Morn '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[453] was the page where birds read and note, ✿ And the
    clouds set points to what breezes wrote.

 The Wazir encamped on the open space called Al-Hasá;[454] 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.[455] Ajib also went, with his attendant eunuch, for
 solace and diversion to the city and the servant followed with a
 quarter-staff[456] of almond-wood so heavy that if he struck a camel
 therewith the beast would never rise again.[457] 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 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. Perchance 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 to 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." Thereupon the
 father turned to the Eunuch and said, "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." So Hasan
 the Bassorite began reciting these couplets:—

 If not master of manners or aught but discreet ✿ In the household of
    Kings no trust could he take:
 And then for the Harem! What Eunuch[458] 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 burns for
 the loss of a beloved one who is none other than my father; and indeed
 I come forth, I and my grandfather,[459] 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 grandfather 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 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[460] be just ✿ And blame her not: She
    ne'er 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 there and at
 every place where he rested. Thence he fared on by way of Hamah and
 Aleppo and thence through Diyár Bakr and Máridin and Mosul, still
 enquiring, till he arrived at Bassorah-city. Here, as soon as he had
 secured a lodging, he presented himself 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, "Allah have mercy upon him!" and added,
 "My good Sáhib![461]; 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 Wazir Shams al-Din heard
 that his nephew's mother was alive and well, he rejoiced and said, "O
 King I much desire to meet her." The King on the instant gave him leave
 to visit her; so he betook himself to the mansion of his brother, Nur
 al-Din, and cast sorrowful glances on all things in and around it and
 kissed the threshold. Then he bethought him of his brother, Nur al-Din
 Ali, 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, ✿ And kissing this and
    other wall I roam:
 'Tis not the walls or roof my heart so loves, ✿ But those who in this
    house had made their home.

 Then he passed through the gate into a courtyard and found a vaulted
 doorway builded of hardest syenite[462] 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:—

 I 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 painful plight:
 My love! if longer last this parting throe ✿ Little by little shall it
    waste my sprite.
 An thou wouldst bless these eyne with sight of thee ✿ 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:—

 Answer, by Allah! Sepulchre, are all his beauties gone? ✿ Hath change
    the power to blight his charms, that Beauty's paragon?
 Thou art not earth, O Sepulchre! nor art thou sky to me; ✿ 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 me, 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 herself at his feet and
 kissed them, reciting these lines:—

 Allah be good to him that gives glad tidings of thy steps; ✿ In very
    sooth for better news mine ears would never sue:
 Were he content with worn-out robe, upon his back I'd throw ✿ 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 treasures 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,
 "O Láik, I want a little diversion; come, let us go down to the great
 bazar of Damascus,[463] and see what hath become of the cook whose
 sweetmeats we ate and whose head we broke, for indeed he was kind to us
 and we entreated him scurvily." The Eunuch answered, "Hearing is
 obeying!" So they went forth from the tents; and the tie of blood drew
 Ajib towards his father, and forthwith they passed through the gateway,
 Báb al-Farádís[464] hight, and entered the city and ceased not walking
 through the streets till they reached the cook-shop, where they found
 Hasan of Bassorah standing at the door. It was near the time of
 mid-afternoon prayer[465] 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![466]; 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, ✿ But do whatso I
    would hidden it would not lie:
 Volumes of plaints I had prepared, reproach and blame, ✿ 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 followedst 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 grandfather buys certain presents for the King." Quoth
 Hasan of Bassorah, "I promise you this." So Ajib 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's
 face, 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 Bassorah 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;[467]
 Must I be thirst-burnt by that Eden-brow ✿ And die of pine to taste
    that Kausar[468]-lip?

 Hasan kept putting morsels into Ajib's mouth at one time and 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;[469] 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, "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 ✿ By Allah, who can
    read the secrets of the sprite!

 Then she asked Ajib, "O my son! where hast thou been?"; and he
 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!" 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 cloyed and surfeited, so he said, "Faugh;
 what be this wild-beast[470] stuff?" "O my son," cried his grandmother,
 "dost thou find fault with my cookery? I cooked this myself and none
 can cook it as nicely 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
 pomegranate-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.

                Now when it was the Twenty-Fourth Night,

 She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ajib's
 grandmother heard his words, she waxed wroth and looked at the servant
 and said, "Woe to thee! dost thou spoil my son,[471] 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!" 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
 cook-shop?"; and the Eunuch being frightened answered, "We did not go
 in." But Ajib said, "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 Wazir's 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[472] 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,
 "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, "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, nor
 tasted aught nastier than this stuff which is now before us."[473] 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, 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,[474] 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-full; and, finishing it off with musk and rose-water, put it in
 a cloth which he sealed[475] 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, "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 pomegranate-grains! and drag him here perforce
 but without doing him a harm." And they replied, "It is well." 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, "A man which is a cook." So the Viceroy at once sent his
 apparitors to the shop; which they found demolished and 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, "I
 wonder what they have found in the conserve of pomegranate-grains to
 bring things to this pass!"[476] 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
 Cook. They brought him forward pinioned with his turband; and, when
 Badr al-Din Hasan saw his uncle, he wept 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-Raydaniyah.[477] 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[478] for this
 fellow!" Cried Badr al-Din Hasan, "And what wilt thou do with it?"; and
 the Wazir 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 conserved
 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 only once a day?" "Too little pepper!
 too little pepper! this is a crime which can be expiated only upon the
 cross!" Then Badr al-Din Hasan marvelled and fell a-mourning for his
 life; whereupon the Wazir asked him, "Of what thinkest thou?"; and he
 answered him, "Of maggoty heads like thine;[479] 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, "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 Wazir rejoined, "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
 marriage. Then he bade them put down Badr al-Din Hasan's turband on the
 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 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 day-break, 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, 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
 displayed 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
 corner 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 containing 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, "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 wits clean gone?" When Badr al-Din Hasan
 heard this, he laughed,[480] 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, "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, "By Allah, had I not woke up
 they would have nailed me to a cross of wood!" "Wherefore?" asked she;
 and he answered, "For putting too little pepper in the conserve of
 pomegranate-grains, and meseemed 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, "I was dreaming!"
 and then saying, "I was awake!", 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, "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 of
 pepper?" Whereupon the Wazir said to him, "Know, O my son, that truth
 hath shown it soothfast and the concealed hath been revealed![481] 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 Badr al-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 I wept o'er severance' ban and bane, ✿ Long from mine eyelids
    tear-rills rail and rain:
 And vowèd I if Time re-union bring ✿ My tongue from name of "Severance"
    I'll restrain:
 Joy hath o'ercome me to this stress that I ✿ 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.[482]

 When he had ended his verse his mother came in and threw herself upon
 him and began reciting:—

        When we met we complained, ✿ 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 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,[483]
 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, "Thanks be to Allah for
 thy victory[484] 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 Bassorah, 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, returning to his own house, informed his nephew of the
 Sultan's 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 Honour's 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, "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 o' the
    eye and the grain[485] of the heart.

 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[486] and said to him, "Say more: Allah
 bless thy days!" So he began:—

 O you whose mole on cheek enthroned recalls ✿ A dot of musk upon a
    stone of ruby,
 Grant me your favours! Be not stone at heart! ✿ Core of my heart whose
    only sustenance _you_ be!

 Quoth the King, "Fair comparison, O Hasan![487] thou hast spoken
 excellently well and hast proved thyself accomplished in every
 accomplishment! Now explain to me how many meanings be there in the
 Arabic language[488] for the word _Khál_ or _mole_." He replied, "Allah
 keep the King! Seven and fifty and some by tradition say fifty." Said
 the Sultan, "Thou sayest sooth," presently adding, "Hast thou knowledge
 as to the points of excellence in beauty?" "Yes," answered Badr al-Din
 Hasan, "Beauty consisteth in brightness of face, clearness of
 complexion, shapeliness 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-Shiháb the Hijazi hath brought together all these items in his
 doggrel verse of the metre Rajaz[489] and it is this:—

 Say thou to skin "Be soft," to face "Be fair;" ✿ And gaze, nor shall
    they blame howso thou stare:
 Fine nose in Beauty's list is high esteemed; ✿ Nor less an eye full,
    bright and debonnair
 Eke did they well to laud the lovely lips ✿ (Which e'en the sleep of me
    will never spare);
 A winning tongue, a stature tall and straight;[490] ✿ A seemly union of
    gifts rarest rare:
 But Beauty's 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 him as a
 friend, asked, "What meaning is there in the saw "Shurayh is foxier
 than the fox"?" And he answered, "Know, O King (whom Almighty Allah
 keep!) that the legist Shurayh[491] was wont, during the days of the
 plague, to make a visitation to Al-Najaf; and, whenever he stood up to
 pray, there came a fox which would plant himself 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 to 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 is foxier than the
 fox." When the Sultan heard Badr al-Din Hasan's explanation he said to
 his uncle, Shams al-Din, "Truly this the son of thy brother is perfect
 in courtly breeding and I do not think that his 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 office whereby he might better his condition.[492]
 Then Badr al-Din Hasan arose and, kissing the ground before the King,
 wished him continuance of glory 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-companion 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 Kasídah, 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 handwriting of the
 nicest taste. They are as follows:—

 Mine is a Chief who reached most haught estate, ✿ Treading the pathways
    of 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[493] he
    with all may rate!
 The poorest suppliant rich from him returns, ✿ All words to praise him
    were inadequate.
 He to the day of peace is saffron Morn, ✿ And murky Night in furious
    warfare's bate.
  Bow 'neath his gifts our necks, and by his deeds ✿ As King of
     freeborn[494] souls he 'joys his state:
 Allah increase for us his term of years, ✿ And from his lot avert all
    risks and fears!

 When he had finished transcribing the lines, he despatched them, in
 charge of one of his uncle's 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, "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." 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-companions. "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,[495]

-----

Footnote 363:

   Arab. "Khila'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 Abbasides) embroidered with
   gold, a violet-coloured mantle, a waist-shawl and a gold neck-chain
   and shoe-buckles.

Footnote 364:

   Arab. "Izá," _i.e._ the visits of condolence and so forth which are
   long and terribly wearisome in the Moslem East.

Footnote 365:

   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.

Footnote 366:

   Bismillah here means "Thou art welcome to it."

Footnote 367:

   Arab. "Bassak," half Pers. (bas=enough) and—ak=thou; for thee. "Bas"
   sounds like our "buss" (to kiss) and there are sundry good old
   Anglo-Indian jokes of feminine mistakes on the subject.

Footnote 368:

   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.

Footnote 369:

   Arab. "Misr" (vulg. Masr). The word, which comes of a very ancient
   house, was applied to the present Capital about the time of its
   conquest by the Osmanli Turks A.H. 923=1517.

Footnote 370:

   The Arab. "Jízah,"=skirt, edge; the modern village is the site of an
   ancient Egyptian city, as the "Ghizah inscription" proves (Brugsch,
   History of Egypt, ii. 415).

Footnote 371:

   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!

Footnote 372:

   Arab. "Zarzariyah"=the colour of a stare or starling (Zurzúr).

Footnote 373:

   Now a Railway Station on the Alexandria-Cairo line.

Footnote 374:

   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.

Footnote 375:

   This is the popular pronunciation: Yákút calls it "Bilbís."

Footnote 376:

   An outlying village on the "Long Desert," between Cairo and
   Palestine.

Footnote 377:

   Arab. "Al-Kuds"=holiness. 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 Jüden" are proverbial and
   nothing can be meaner than the Christians while the Moslems are famed
   for treachery.

Footnote 378:

   Arab. "Shamm al-hawá." 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-Nasím" (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 "Khammasín" 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 "búri"=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'Institut Égyptien,
   2nd series, No. 4, Cairo, 1884. I have noticed the Mirisi
   (Southwester) and other winds in the Land of Midian, i., 23.

Footnote 379:

   So in the days of the "Mameluke Beys" in Egypt a man of rank would
   not cross the street on foot.

Footnote 380:

   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;" 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 Kúfah. But already in
   Al-Hariri's day (nat. A.H. 446=A.D. 1030) Baghdad had drawn off much
   of its population.

Footnote 381:

   This fumigation (Bukhúr) 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.

Footnote 382:

   The reader of The Nights 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
   perhaps 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 affects 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 _carabins_ are now only too glad to become merchants.

Footnote 383:

   These lines in the Calc. and Bul. Edit. 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
   "Shakík"=fissure, I would conjecture that it derives from the flower
   often forming long lines of red like stripes of blood in the
   landscape. Travellers in Syria always observe this.

Footnote 384:

   Such an address to a royalty (Eastern) even in the present day, would
   be a passport to future favours.

Footnote 385:

   In England the man marries and the woman is married: there is no such
   distinction in Arabia.

Footnote 386:

   "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-Wásik who has been noticed) formally created
   these Sultans as their regents. Al-Tá'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 Mahmúd 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 Sowdan of Babylon; three modifications of
   one word.

Footnote 387:

   _i.e._ he was a "Háfiz," one who commits to memory the whole of the
   Koran. It is a serious task and must be begun early. I learnt by rote
   the last "Juzw" (or thirtieth part) and found that quite enough. This
   is the vulgar use 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" book calls itself "Hafed, Prince of Persia,"
   proving by the very title that the Spirits are equally ignorant of
   Arabic and Persian.

Footnote 388:

   Here again the Cairo Edit. repeats the six couplets already given in
   Night xvii. I take them from Torrens (p. 163).

Footnote 389:

   This naïve 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
   beauty of woman, the Apollo Belvidere with the Venus de Medici.

Footnote 390:

   Arab. "Shásh" (in Pers. urine), a light turband generally of muslin.

Footnote 391:

   This is a _lieu commun_ of Eastern worldly wisdom. Quite true! Very
   unadvisable to 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."

Footnote 392:

   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.

Footnote 393:

   Arab. "Nabíz"=wine of raisins or dates; any fermented liquor; from a
   root to "press out" in Syriac, like the word "Talmiz" (or Tilmiz,
   says the Kashf al-Ghurrah) a pupil, student. Date-wine (fermented
   from the fruit, not the Tádi, 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 (Pilgrimage ii. 322).

Footnote 394:

   Arab. "Huda"=direction (to the right way), salvation, a word
   occurring in the Opening Chapter of the Koran. Hence to a Kafir who
   offers the Salam-salutation many Moslems reply "Allah yahdík"=Allah
   direct thee! (_i.e._ make thee a Moslem), instead of Allah
   yusallimak=Allah lead thee to salvation. It is the root word of the
   Mahdi and Mohdi.

Footnote 395:

   These lines have already occurred in The First Kalandar's Story
   (Night xi). I quote by way of change and with permission Mr. Payne's
   version (i. 93).

Footnote 396:

   Arab. "Farajíyah," a long-sleeved robe worn by the learned (Lane, M.
   E., chapt. i.)

Footnote 397:

   Arab. "Sarráf" (vulg. Sayrafi), whence the Anglo-Indian "Shroff," a
   familiar corruption.

Footnote 398:

   Arab. "Yahúdí" which is less polite than "Banú Isráíl"=Children of
   Israel. So in Christendom "Israelite" when in favour and "Jew" (with
   an adjective or a participle) when nothing is wanted of him.

Footnote 399:

   Also called "Ghilmán"=the beautiful youths 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 too 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 committing——") knew that the two tastes are
   incompatibles. But this and other passages in the Koran have given
   the Chevaliers de la Paille a hint that the use of boys, like that of
   wine, here forbidden, will be permitted in Paradise.

Footnote 400:

   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 ancient virgin is known by being lean and scraggy; and perhaps
   this diagnosis is correct.

Footnote 401:

   This prognostication of destiny by the stars and a host of follies
   that end in-mancy is. an 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 1832 (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).

Footnote 402:

   Arab. "Bárid," lit. cold: metaph. vain, foolish, insipid.

Footnote 403:

   Not to "spite thee" but "in spite of thee." The phrase is still used
   by high and low.

Footnote 404:

   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; sometimes used for hollow back and protruding
   breast.

Footnote 405:

   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 Ghawází are
   mostly Gypsies who pretend to be Moslems; and they have been confused
   with the Almahs or Moslem dancing-girls proper (Awálim, plur. of
   Alimah, a learned feminine) by a host of travellers. They call
   themselves Barámikah 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 al-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 (Phœnician) signified a virgin, not a common article, I may
   observe, amongst singing-girls. I shall notice in a future page
   Burckhardt's description of the Ghawazi, p. 173, "Arabic Proverbs;"
   etc., etc. Second Edition. London: Quaritch, 1875.

Footnote 406:

   I need hardly describe the Tarbúsh, a corruption of the Pers.
   "Sar-púsh" (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-perspiration
   by an "Arakiyah" (Pers. Arak-chín), a white skull-cap. Now it is worn
   without either and as a head-dress nothing can be worse (Pilgrimage
   ii. 275.)

Footnote 407:

   Arab. "Tár.": the custom still prevails. Lane (M. E., chapt. xviii.)
   describes and figures this hoop-drum.

Footnote 408:

   The couch on which she sits while being displayed. It is her throne,
   for she is the Queen of the occasion, with all the Majesty of
   Virginity.

Footnote 409:

   This is a solemn "chaff;" such liberties being permitted at weddings
   and festive occasions.

Footnote 410:

   The pre-Islamític 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'á, the capital, used to carry patterns
   of vases to be made in China and bring back the porcelains 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
   Himyarite 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" (or
   Tubba) is still used in the old Himyar-land=the Great or the Chief.

Footnote 411:

   Lane and Payne (as well as the Bres. Edit.) both render the word "to
   kiss her," but this would be clean contrary to Moslem usage.

Footnote 412:

   _i.e._ he was full of rage which he concealed.

Footnote 413:

   The Hindus (as the Katha shows) compare this swimming gait with an
   elephant's roll.

Footnote 414:

   Arab. "Fitnah," a word almost as troublesome as "Adab." Primarily,
   revolt seduction, mischief: then a beautiful girl (or boy), and
   lastly a certain aphrodisiac perfume extracted from mimosa-flowers
   (Pilgrimage i., 118).

Footnote 415:

   Lit. burst the "gall-bladder:" In this and in the "liver" allusions I
   dare not be baldly literal.

Footnote 416:

   Arab. "Usfur" the seeds of Carthamus tinctorius=Safflower (Forskål,
   Flora, etc. lv.). The seeds are crushed for oil and the flowers,
   which must be gathered by virgins or the colour will fail, are
   extensively used for dyeing in Southern Arabia and Eastern Africa.

Footnote 417:

   On such occasions Miss Modesty shuts her eyes and looks as if about
   to faint.

Footnote 418:

   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 questioning 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, "Kághaz-khánah"=paper closets.
   Most old Anglo-Indians, however, learn to use water.

Footnote 419:

   "Miao" or "Mau" is the generic name of the cat in the Egyptian of the
   hieroglyphs.

Footnote 420:

   Arab. "Ya Mash'úm" addressed to an evil spirit.

Footnote 421:

   "Heehaw!" as we should say. The Bresl. Edit. makes the cat cry "Nauh!
   Nauh!" and the ass-colt "Manu! Manu!" I leave these onomatopoeics 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 páo"
   (John cut wood); so differently do they hear the same notes.

Footnote 422:

   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.

Footnote 423:

   This again is chaff as she addresses the Hunchback. The Bul. Edit.
   has "O Abu Shiháb" (Father of the shooting-star=evil spirit); the
   Bresl. Edit. "O son of a heap! O son of a Something!" (al-Aísh, a
   vulgarism).

Footnote 424:

   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.

Footnote 425:

   Arab. "Saráwil" a corruption of the Pers. "Sharwál"; popularly called
   "libás" which, however, may also mean clothing in general and
   especially outer-clothing. I translate "bag-trousers" and
   "petticoat-trousers," the latter being the divided skirt of our
   future. In the East, where Common Sense, not Fashion, rules dress,
   men, who have 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 of 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 "libás," "sarwál" and its variants the curious reader will
   consult Dr. Dozy's "Dictionnaire Détaillé des Noms des Vêtements chez
   les Arabes," a most valuable work.

Footnote 426:

   The turban out of respect is not put upon the ground (Lane, M. E.,
   chapt. i.).

Footnote 427:

   Arab. "Madfa'" showing the modern date or the modernization of the
   tale. In Lebid "Madáfi'" (plur. of Madfa') means water-courses or
   leats.

Footnote 428:

   In Arab, the "he" is a "she;" and Habíb ("friend") is the Attic
   φίλος, a euphemism for lover. This will occur throughout The Nights.
   So the Arabs use a phrase corresponding with the Stoic φιλε~ι _i.e._
   is wont, is fain.

Footnote 429:

   Part of the Azán, or call to prayer.

Footnote 430:

   Arab. "Shiháb," 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 superstition concerning them and called those of August
   the "fiery tears of Saint Lawrence," whose festival was on August 10.

Footnote 431:

   Arab. "Tákiyah"=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 over the hair; an unclean practice.

Footnote 432:

   Often the effect of cold air after a heated room.

Footnote 433:

   _i.e._ He was not a Eunuch, as the people guessed.

Footnote 434:

   In Arab, "this night" for the reason before given.

Footnote 435:

   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."

Footnote 436:

   Torrens, being an Irishman, translates "and woke in the morning
   sleeping at Damascus."

Footnote 437:

   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 Sunnat or Custom of the Prophet. See Night xci.

Footnote 438:

   The staple abuse of the vulgar is cursing parents and relatives,
   especially feminine, with specific allusions to their "shame." And
   when dames of high degree are angry, Nature, in the East as in the
   West, sometimes speaks out clearly enough, despite Mistress Chapone
   and all artificial restrictions.

Footnote 439:

   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.

Footnote 440:

   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 couple often undoes in
   the morning what it has done during the night.

Footnote 441:

   Torrens (Notes, xxiv.) quotes "Fleisher" upon the word "Ghamghama"
   (Diss. Crit. de Glossis Habichtionis), which he 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 "Taghúm"; not used in modern days. In my Pilgrimage
   (i. 313) I have noticed another, "Khyas, Khyas!" occurring in a Hizb
   al-Bahr (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 theurgic
   operations.

Footnote 442:

   This may mean either "it is of Mosul fashion" or, it is of muslin.

Footnote 443:

   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).

Footnote 444:

   In those days the Arabs and the Portuguese recorded everything which
   struck them, as the Chinese and Japanese do in our times. And yet we
   complain of the amount of our modern writing!

Footnote 445:

   This is mentioned because it is the act preliminary to naming the
   babe.

Footnote 446:

   Arab. "Kahramánát" from Kahramán, 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.

Footnote 447:

   Meaning he grew as fast in one day as other children in a month.

Footnote 448:

   Arab. Al-Aríf; the tutor, the assistant-master.

Footnote 449:

   Arab. "Ibn harám," a common term of abuse; and not a factual
   reflection on the parent. I have heard a mother apply the term to her
   own son.

Footnote 450:

   Arab. "Khanjar" 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 "hanger." Dr.
   Steingass would connect it with Germ. Fänger, _e.g._, Hirschfänger.

Footnote 451:

   Again we have "Dastur" for "Izn."

Footnote 452:

   Arab. "Iklím"; the seven climates of Ptolemy.

Footnote 453:

   Arab. "Al-Ghadir," 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.

Footnote 454:

   The "Plain of Pebbles" still so termed at Damascus; an open space
   west of the city.

Footnote 455:

   Every Guide-book, even the Reverend Porter's "Murray," gives a long
   account of this Christian Church 'verted to a Mosque.

Footnote 456:

   Arab. "Nabút"; Pilgrimage i. 336.

Footnote 457:

   The Bres. Edit. says, "would have knocked him into Al-Yaman"
   (Southern Arabia) something like our slang phrase "into the middle of
   next week."

Footnote 458:

   Arab. "Khádim": lit. a servant, politely applied (like Aghá=master)
   to a castrato. These gentry wax furious if baldly called
   "Tawáshi"=Eunuch. A mauvais plaisant in Egypt used to call me The
   Agha because a friend had placed his wife under my charge.

Footnote 459:

   This sounds absurd enough in English, but Easterns always put
   themselves first for respect.

Footnote 460:

   In Arabic the World is feminine.

Footnote 461:

   Arab. "Sáhib"=lit. a companion; also a friend and especially applied
   to the Companions 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-himár" (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, who, by the by, mostly mispronounce the word "Sáb."

Footnote 462:

   Arab. "Suwán," prop. Syenite, from Syene (Al-Suwan) but applied to
   flint and any hard stone.

Footnote 463:

   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.

Footnote 464:

   "The Gate of the Gardens," in the northern wall, a Roman archway of
   the usual solid construction shaming not only our modern shams, but
   our finest masonry.

Footnote 465:

   Arab. "Al-Asr," which may mean either the hour or the prayer. It is
   also the moment at which the Guardian Angels relieve each other
   (Sale's Koran, chapt. v.).

Footnote 466:

   Arab. "Ya házá"=O this (one)! a somewhat slighting address equivalent
   to "Heus tu! O thou, whoever thou art." Another form is "Yá hú"=O he!
   Can this have originated Swift's "Yahoo?"

Footnote 467:

   Alluding to the τήρατα ("minor miracles which cause surprise")
   performed by Saints' tombs, the mildest form of thaumaturgy. One of
   them gravely recorded in the Dabistan (ii. 226) is that of the holy
   Jamen, who opened the Sámran or bead-bracelet from the arm of the
   beautiful Chistápá with member erect, "thus evincing his manly
   strength and his command over himself"(!)

Footnote 468:

   The River of Paradise, a _lieu commun_ of poets (Koran, chapt.
   cviii.): the water is whiter than milk or silver, sweeter than honey,
   smoother than cream, more odorous than musk; its banks are of
   chrysolite and it is drunk out of silver cups set around it thick as
   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.

Footnote 469:

   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 ("ibrík" Pers. Abríz) upon the hands and falls into a basin
   ("tisht") with an open-worked cover.

Footnote 470:

   Arab. "Wahsh," a word of many meanings; nasty, insipid, savage, etc.
   The offside of a horse is called Wahshi opposed to Insi, the near
   side. The Amir Taymur ("Lord Iron") whom Europeans unwittingly call
   after his Persian enemies' nickname, "Tamerlane," _i.e._
   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 play at bowls with their heads for ninepins.

Footnote 471:

   For "grandson" as being more affectionate. Easterns have not yet
   learned that clever Western saying:—The enemies of our enemies are
   our friends.

Footnote 472:

   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.

Footnote 473:

   The woman-like spite of the eunuch intended to hurt the grandmother's
   feelings.

Footnote 474:

   The usual Cairene "chaff."

Footnote 475:

   A necessary precaution against poison (Pilgrimage i. 84, and iii.
   43).

Footnote 476:

   The Bresl. Edit. (ii. 108) describes the scene at greater length.

Footnote 477:

   The Bul. Edit. gives by mistake of diacritical points, "Zabdaniyah:"
   Raydaniyah is or rather was a camping ground to the North of Cairo.

Footnote 478:

   Arab. "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
   mediæval Christian divines who saw the cross everywhere and in
   everything. The former hold that Pharaoh invented the painful and
   ignominious punishment. (Koran, chapt. vii.)

Footnote 479:

   Here good blood, driven to bay, speaks out boldly. But, as a rule the
   humblest and mildest Eastern when in despair turns round upon his
   oppressors like a wild cat. Some of the criminals whom Fath Ali Shah
   of Persia put to death by chopping down the fork, beginning at the
   scrotum, abused his mother till the knife reached their vitals and
   they could no longer speak.

Footnote 480:

   These repeated "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.

Footnote 481:

   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 1 Esdras iv. 41,
   "Magna est veritas et prævalebit." But the great question still
   remains, What is Truth?

Footnote 482:

   In Night lxxv. these lines will occur with variants.

Footnote 483:

   This is always mentioned: the nearer the seat the higher the honour.

Footnote 484:

   Alluding to the phrase "Al-safar zafar"=voyaging is victory
   (Pilgrimage i., 127).

Footnote 485:

   Arab. "Habb;" alluding to the black drop in the human heart which the
   Archangel Gabriel removed from Mohammed by opening his breast.

Footnote 486:

   This phrase, I have said, often occurs: it alludes to the
   horripilation (Arab. Kush'arírah), horror or gooseflesh which, in
   Arab as in Hindu fables, is a symptom of great joy. So Boccaccio's
   "pelo arriciato" v., 8: Germ. Gänsehaut.

Footnote 487:

   Arab. "Hasanta ya Hasan"=Bene detto, Benedetto! the usual word-play
   vulgarly called "pun:" Hasan (not Hassan, as we _will_ write it)
   meaning "beautiful."

Footnote 488:

   Arab. "Loghah" also=a vocabulary, a dictionary; the Arabs had them by
   camel-loads.

Footnote 489:

   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, 1801). I shall have more to say about it in the terminal
   Essay.

Footnote 490:

   "Her stature tall—I hate a dumpy woman" (Don Juan).

Footnote 491:

   A worthy who was Kazi of Kufah (Cufa) in the seventh century.
   Al-Najaf, generally 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 the Shi'ahs. 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 certainly the fox, and as certainly "Sha'arhar" is the
   jackal from the Pehlevi Shagál or Shaghál.

Footnote 492:

   Usually by all manner of extortions and robbery, corruption and
   bribery, the ruler's motto being

                       Fiat _in_justitia ruat Cœlum.

   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; but that phase of society refuses to afford
   it.

Footnote 493:

   Arab. "Malik" (King) and "Malak" (angel) the words being written the
   same when lacking vowels and justifying the jingle.

Footnote 494:

   Arab. "Hurr"; the Latin "ingenuus," lit. freeborn; metaph. noble as
   opp. to a slave who is not expected to do great or good deeds. In
   pop. use it corresponds, like "Fatá," with our "gentleman."

Footnote 495:

   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, it produced.




                        _THE HUNCHBACK'S 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 city of
 China,[496] 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
 permitted say.

                 Now when it was the Twenty-Fifth Night,

 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, "Why this idle talk? Hast thou not heard his saying who
 said?—

 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? ✿ Upon the flames to rest
    were hard enow!"

 Asked her husband, "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, "O my son, Allah keep thee! what part
 paineth thee and where hath this small-pox[497] attacked thee?" So all
 who saw them said "'Tis a child sick of small-pox."[498] 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, "What is the matter?" "We
 have a little one with us," answered the Tailor's wife "and we wish to
 show him to the 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 and said
 to him, "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
 Hunchback found that he was stone dead. So he cried out, "O for
 Esdras![499] 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, "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 the 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[500] into
 the Reeve's house, propped 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 all 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,[501] but thou must
 likewise be a thief and prig flesh and fat! O thou Veiler,[502] 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,[503] the Sultan's broker who, much bemused with liquor, was
 purposing for the Hammam-bath as his drunkenness whispered in his ear,
 "Verily the call to matins[504] is nigh." He came plodding along and
 staggering about till he drew near the Hunchback and squatted down to
 make water[505] 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[506] 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,[507] 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[508] make proclamation of the sentence. Forthwith they set
 up a gallows under which they made the Nazarene stand and the
 torch-bearer, who was hangman, threw the rope round his neck and passed
 one end through the pulley, and was about to hoist him up[509] 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 executioner, "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."

 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, "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,[510]
 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 Hunchback and
 exclaimed, "Verily this is an adventure which should be recorded in
 books!" Then he said to the hangman, "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 him
 and they answered, "O our lord, the Governor hath come upon him dead
 and hath ordered his murderer to be hanged; but, as the hangman 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 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!" So he
 began in these words


                     _THE NAZARENE BROKER'S 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.[511] When he saw me he
 saluted me, and I stood up to do him honour: then he took out a
 kerchief containing a sample of sesame and asked, "How much is this
 worth per Ardabb[512]?"; whereto I answered, "An hundred dirhams."
 Quoth he, "Take porters and gaugers and metesmen and come to-morrow to
 the Khan al-Jawáli,[513] 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
 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, ✿ All 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?"[514] 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, "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"![515] Then he drew
 near the tray and put out his left hand[516] 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 left hand? Perchance something aileth thy other hand?"
 When he heard my words, he repeated these verses:—

 Dear friend, ask not what burneth in my breast, ✿ Lest thou see fiery
    pangs eye never saw:
 Wills not my heart to harbour Salmá in stead ✿ Of Laylá's[517] love,
    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. I 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 ✿ Wherein the lynx-eyed fall:
      A word the wise man slays ✿ And saves the natural:
      The Moslem fails of food ✿ The Káfir feasts in hall:
      What art or act is man's? ✿ 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 "Al-Masrúr."[518] 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 "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, "I 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
 of Jahárkas;[519] 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 witnessed; 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, "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,[520] I went to the Hammam and thence
 back to my Khan, and sitting in my own room[521] 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-Bostáni, or the Gardener,[522] who welcomed me; and we sat
 talking awhile till the bazar should open. Presently, behold, up came a
 lady of stately figure wearing a head-dress 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, "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!"[523] 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 thousand sighs, and my heart was so captivated by her love that I
 was 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 afternoon 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
 merchant'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!"[524] and handed me the money. Then
 I sat talking with her and presently I signed to her in dumb show,
 whereby she understood that I longed to enjoy her person,[525] 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."[526] 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 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[527]
 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
 Habbániyah[528] quarter; and, when there, look out for the mansion of
 Al-Nakib[529] Barakát, popularly known as Abu Shámah 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 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 Masrúr to the Zuwaylah[530] 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
 slept the night long for her delight in thee." I passed through the
 vestibule into a saloon with seven doors, floored with particoloured
 marbles and furnished with curtains and hangings of coloured silks: the
 ceiling was _cloisonné_ with gold and corniced with inscriptions[531]
 emblazoned in lapis lazuli; and the walls were stuccoed with Sultání
 gypsum[532] 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.

                 Now when it was the Twenty-Sixth Night,

 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[533] of pearls and jewels; her face
 dotted with artificial moles in indigo,[534] 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[535]
 (and I did likewise) and said, "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[536] 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 hands and we scented ourselves
 with rose-water musk'd and sat down again to converse. So she began
 repeating these couplets:[537]—

        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 nightfall, when the
 handmaidens set before us meats and a complete wine service, and we
 sat carousing till the noon of night; when we lay 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[538] and as I went
 out she wept and said, "O my lord, when shall I look upon that
 lovely face again?" "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 sunset;" and 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 sweetmeats, called a porter and
 put the provision in his crate, and sent it to the lady paying the
 man his hire.[539] 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.[540] 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[541]-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[542] 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:—

 Poverty dims the sheen of man whate'er his wealth has been, ✿ E'en as
    the sun about to set shines with a yellowing light:
 Absent he 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; ✿ In
    desert places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight:
 By Allah, 'mid his kith and kin a man, however good, ✿ Waylaid by want
    and penury is but a stranger-wight!

 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 bosom 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, "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 anything;" and 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[543] 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, "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;" and, when
 they stripped me, they found the purse in my clothes. The Wali took it,
 opened it and counted it; and, finding in it twenty dinars as the
 soldier had said, waxed exceeding wroth and bade his guard bring me
 before him. Then said he to me, "Now, O youth, speak truly: didst thou
 steal this purse?"[544] 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.[545] Thereupon the Wali 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, ✿ Nor, O thou best
    of men! was I a bandit bred:
 But Fortune's change and chance o'erthrew me suddenly, ✿ And cark and
    care and penury my course misled:
 I shot it not, indeed, 'twas Allah shot the shaft ✿ That rolled in dust
    the Kingly diadem from my head.[546]

 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-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 no answer, till night came on. Then she set food before me, but I
 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,[547] and filled again and gave me the cup
 which I took from her with my left hand and wiped the tears from my
 eyelids and began repeating:—

 When Allah willeth aught befal a man ✿ Who hath of ears and eyes and
    wits full share;
 His ears He deafens and his eyes He blinds ✿ And draws his wits e'en as
    we draw a hair[548]
 Till, having wrought His purpose, He restores ✿ Man's wits, that warned
    more circumspect he fare.

 When I ended my verses I wept, and she cried out with an exceeding loud
 cry, "What is the cause of thy tears? Thou burnest my heart! What makes
 thee take the cup with thy left hand?" Quoth I, "Truly I have on my
 right hand a boil;" and quoth she, "Put it out and I will open it for
 thee."[549] "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 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.[550]
 With this such sorrow came upon her as never overcame any and she
 ceased not lamenting 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;" 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."[551]
 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. Thereupon 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 'twere but
 little and I should still remain thy debtor." Then she added, "Take
 charge of thy property;" so I transferred the contents of her chest to
 my chest, 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? 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[552] 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 storehouses 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 Alexandrian 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 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.

                Now when it was the Twenty-seventh Night,

 She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the King of
 China declared "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 "Yes" he began to recount


                          _THE REEVE'S TALE._

 Know, O King, that last night I was at a party where they made a
 perlection 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[553] 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![554]

 When he ended his verse we said to him, "Allah upon thee, tell us thy
 reason for refusing to eat of the cumin-ragout?" "If so it be," he
 replied, "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,[555] 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
 cut 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 it?" "O my brothers," he
 answered, "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 ornaments and riding a she mule, with
 one negro-slave walking before 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
 merchants' 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, ✿ Death would be welcome to
    abate thy bale!
 Favour me with thy favours that I live: ✿ See, I stretch forth my palm
    to take thy vail!

 When she heard my verse she answered me saying:—

 I've lost all patience by despite of you; ✿ My heart knows nothing save
    love-plight to you!
 If aught I sight save charms so bright of you; ✿ My parting end not in
    the 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 me in the
    site of you:
 Call on me in my grave, and hear my bones ✿ Sigh their responses to the
    shright of you:
 And were I asked "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, "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[556] 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 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, I 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 she 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."[557] 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.[558]" So she gave me the price of what
 goods I had gotten 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[559] 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, "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 rearling[560] 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.[561]
 What sayest thou to this?" I answered, "I will go with thee and abide
 the risk whereof thou speakest." Then said he, "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.[562] 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[563] 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 one, that I may see what is in them." "And wherefore
 wouldst thou 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;[564] 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
 sayer, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the
 Glorious, the Great! I and only I have brought this calamity upon
 myself." Presently I heard the Caliph say to my mistress, "A plague on
 thee, what is in those boxes?"; and she answered, "Dresses for the Lady
 Zubaydah";[565] 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.

                Now when it was the Twenty-Eighth Night,

 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 handmaid
 declare to the Caliph, "These chests, O 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,
 "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.[566] 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 themselves 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 questioning me of
 my forbears and family and condition, to which I made such answers that
 pleased her, and she said to my mistress, "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 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 sweetmeats and
 rich viands and distributed them among all the Odahs[567] of the Harim.
 Thus they did other ten days, at the end of which time my mistress went
 to the baths.[568] 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[569] 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-girls 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 away 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?[570]" 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 carry him to the Chief of Police, that
 he may strike 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 hand, because
 I ate of a cumin-ragout and did not wash?" The handmaidens also
 interceded 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, "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[571]! 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, "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.

 This then is my story, and peace be with thee! Quoth 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, "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 youth. I
 lived in Damascus of Syria studying my art and, one day, as I was
 sitting at home behold, there came to me a Mameluke from the household
 of the Sáhib 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! favour me with thy hand, and safety be with
 thee!"[572] 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!" However I felt his pulse and wrote him a prescription and
 continued to visit him for ten days, at the end of which time he
 recovered and went to the Hammam,[573] whereupon the Viceroy gave me a
 handsome dress of honour and appointed me superintendent of the
 hospital which is in Damascus.[574] I accompanied him 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 lamb 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, "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 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[575] and her mud a commodity and a
 medicine beyond compare, even as said the poet in this his poetry:—

 The Nile[576]-flood this day is the gain you own; ✿ 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
 surpasseth 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, ✿ Where can I wend to find so
    gladsome ways?
 Shall I desert that site, whose grateful scents ✿ Joy every soul and
    call for loudest praise?
 Where every palace, as another Eden, ✿ Carpets and cushions richly
    wrought displays;
 A city wooing sight and sprite to glee, ✿ Where Saint meets Sinner and
    each 'joys his craze;
 Where friend meets friend, by Providence united ✿ In greeny garden and
    in palmy maze:
 People of Cairo, an by Allah's doom ✿ I fare, with you in thoughts I
    wone always!
 Whisper not Cairo in the ear of Zephyr, ✿ Lest for her like of garden
    scents he reave her.[577]

 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 goodly prospect, and if
 you bent your sight upon the Abyssinian Pond[578], your glance would
 not revert from the scene quit of wonder; for nowhere would you behold
 the fellow of that lovely view; and, indeed, the two arms of the Nile
 embrace most luxuriant verdure[579], 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
    thirst's 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,[580] give the rainbow and distribute it![581] 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,[582] when the sun is
 sinking and the stream dons mail-coat and habergeon[583] over its other
 vestments, thou wouldst be quickened to new life by its gentle zephyrs
 and by its all-sufficient shade." So spake he and the rest 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 I 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[584]
 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[585] 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 was 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[586] 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 marvellous
 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
 eyebrows wrinkled and shaking with wrath she cried, "Fie upon thee, O
 my sweet companion! dost thou deem that I covet thy money?" Then she
 took out from the bosom of her shift[587] 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 yesternight." 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.
 Accordingly, 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, "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's away with
    his tongue malign!
 When love and delight and the swimming of head ✿ send cleverness
    trotting,—the best boon of wine.
 When the full moon shines from the cloudy veil, ✿ And the branchlet
    sways in her greens that shine:
 When the red rose mantles in freshest cheek, ✿ And Narcissus[588] opeth
    his love-sick eyne:
 When pleasure with those I love is so sweet, ✿ When friendship with
    those I love is complete!

 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." "Upon my head be it, and my eyes." Then she rose
 and spread the carpets for our bed[589] 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 been 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 jealousy[590], and said, "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 courtyard, 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[591] pavement. After
 this I made the Ghusl or total ablution,[592] 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, "What is the cause of thy coming?;" and I answered "I
 longed for a sight of you;" but 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,[593] 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 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
 whispered 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[594], 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[595] 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 dirhams."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
 of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

                 Now when it was the Twenty-ninth Night,

 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 it;" saying to myself, "'Tis better
 for thee to say, I stole it, 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,[596] 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, "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 weeping and saying, "How shall 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, "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, "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 calumniated 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 innocent
 of it." "Fear not," quoth the Viceroy, "no harm shall come to thee."
 Then he ordered the Syndic of the bazar to be imprisoned 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:—

 Truth best befits thee, albeit truth ✿ Shall bring thee to burn on the
    threatened fire.

 "By Allah, O my lord," answered I, "I 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,[597] and putting his kerchief over his face wept awhile and then
 repeated:—

 I see the woes of the world abound, ✿ And worldings sick with spleen
    and teen;
 There's One who the meeting of two shall part, ✿ And who part not are
    few and far between!

 Then he turned to me and said, "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[598]; so she visited thee four 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[599]; 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 was the manner of the cutting off my right
 hand. "I marvelled at his story (continued the Jew), and I abode with
 him three days 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[600] 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[601] 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 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,[602] 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." "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.[603] She
 turned right and left and, seeing me watching her, shut the window and
 went away.

 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! 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."[604] 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[605], 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.[606]" 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, asked me:—O
 naunty[607] 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![608] 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
 heartsick 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 foregather 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, "I have just now bathed in hot
 water; but I will have my head shaved." 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."[609] 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!" 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[610] (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." "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
 contained an astrolabe[611] 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 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 whereof 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[612]; 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 Commentaries on the Koran. Furthermore, I have read books galore
 and digested them and have had experience of affairs and comprehended
 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 totâ 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 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, "Doubtless thou wilt be my death this
 day!"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
 permitted say.

[Illustration]

                  Now when it was the Thirtieth Night,

 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-Bakbúk, the prattler; the second
 Al-Haddár, the babbler; the third Al-Fakík, the gabbler; the fourth,
 his name is Al-Kuz al-aswáni, the long-necked Gugglet, from his eternal
 chattering; the fifth is Al-Nashshár, the tattler and tale-teller; the
 sixth Shakáshik, or many-clamours; and the seventh is famous as
 Al-Sámit, 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 altitude 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 opportunity. 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, ✿ And with jests and jokes
    his good will I wooed:
 They pleased him and cried he, 'O man of wit, ✿ Thou hast proved thee
    perfect in merry mood!'
 Quoth I, 'O thou Lord of men, save thou ✿ Lend me art and wisdom I'm
    fou and wood:
 In thee gather grace, boon, bounty, suavity; ✿ 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 bloodletting 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 conversation, 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[613]:—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[614]; and the poet says:—

 Whatever needful thing thou undertake, ✿ Consult th' experienced and
    contraire him not!"

 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 thou with tongue long as the tail
 of a jackass, thou persistest 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!" Then he lathered my head saying, "I
 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[615] 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.[616] When he saw me do this he took the razor
 and fell to sharpening it and gave not over stropping 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, ✿ But this Barber's
    the union pearl of the band:
 High over all craftsmen he ranketh, and why? ✿ The heads of the Kings
    are under his hand!"[617]

 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, "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 concerned about thy hastiness and indeed thou wouldst do well to let
 me into the cause of it; 'twere 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 I; "have I not told thee that I am bidden
 to an entertainment this day? So everything in my house, eatable 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[618] 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
 perfumes." So I bade them set before him a box containing Nadd,[619]
 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 surely show, ✿ As the tree from its
    parent root shall grow.[620]

 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 Zantút the bath-keeper and Salí'a
 the corn-chandler; and Sílat the bean-seller; and Akrashah the
 greengrocer; and Humayd the scavenger; and Sa'íd the camel-man; and
 Suwayd the porter; and Abu Makárish the bathman[621]; and Kasím the
 watchman; and Karím 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[622] 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,[623] 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 dances and
 sings,

             News my wife wots is not locked in a box![624]

 And he hath privilege, for 'tis a shrewd rogue and a witty;[625] and
 speaking of his excellence I am wont to say:—

 "My life for the scavenger! right well I love him, ✿ Like a waving
    bough he is sweet to my sight:
 Fate joined us one night, when to him quoth I ✿ (The while I grew weak
    and love gained more might)
 'Thy love burns my heart!' 'And no wonder,' quoth he ✿ 'When the drawer
    of dung turns a stoker wight.'[626]

 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,
 'twill 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 angered: "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
 frequented 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, wherewith 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 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." "Shame on thee, thou wicked,
 bad, old man!" cried I, "Be off! what words are these thou givest me?"
 "O cold of wit,"[627] 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 go alone to thy
 appointment and cast thyself into jeopardy, whence there will be no
 escape for thee. Now by Allah! and again by Allah! do not go till I
 return, that I may accompany thee and watch the issue of thine affair."
 "So be it," I replied, "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 Salám of Friday, the
 salutation to the Apostle;[628] and I dressed in haste and went out
 alone and, 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 damsel's
 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 intercede 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, "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[629] 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!" And they all made 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 said, "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?"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
 ceased saying her permitted say.

                 Now when it was the Thirty-first Night,

 She said, 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 out;" and 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,
 perverse 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 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, "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
 hastiness!" Said I to him, "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?" 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,[630] 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 cannot 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, directing him to sell my houses and domains. Then I
 set out on my travels that I might be free of this pimp[631]; 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, "By Allah, is
 it true what this young man saith of thee?" "By Allah," replied he, "I
 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,[632]
 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.[633] 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 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:[634] 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, "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 camest 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 distinguish 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 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 scurvily 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 BARBER'S TALE OF HIS FIRST BROTHER._

[Illustration]

 Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that my first brother,
 Al-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,[635] 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.[636] 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 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,[637] 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, "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 command 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 withdrew 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 him a great piece of
 linen saying, "Shape me shirts out of this stuff and sew them well;"
 and 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, "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.[638] 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, "Speak with my
 master." So he accompanied her to the husband who said to him, "I wish
 thee to cut out for me five long-sleeved robes.[639]" So he cut them
 out[640] 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 than a donkey, for verily five things
 were gathered together in him viz:—love, beggary, hunger, nakedness and
 hard labour. Nevertheless 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." 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 standeth still
 instead of going round: he will not turn the mill this night, and yet
 we have great store of corn 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! Round with the mill! 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 away. 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[641] and saluted him, saying, "Allah give
 thee long life! 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, "by Allah, I did nothing but turn the mill in the
 place of the bull all night till morning!" "Tell me thy tale," quoth
 he; and my brother recounted what had befallen him and he said, "Thy
 star agrees not with her star; but an thou wilt I can alter the
 contract for thee," adding, "'Ware lest another cheat be 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 all 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 delightsomest 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.[642]" Hardly had he spoken, when the lady's husband
 came in from the next room[643] 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 proclaimed aloud, "This is his reward who
 violateth the Harims of 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, "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, "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 BARBER'S TALE OF HIS SECOND BROTHER._

[Illustration]

 Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my second brother's name was
 Al-Haddár, 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, "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, "I will put thee in the way of a certain
 thing, so thou not be prodigal of speech." "On with thy talk," quoth
 he; and she, "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,"
 "I will indeed, O my lady," said he, "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, "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, "I will not cross her in anything." Then she went
 on and my brother followed her, an-hungering after what she described
 to him till they entered a fine large house, handsome and choicely
 furnished, full of eunuchs and servants and showing signs of prosperity
 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, "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!) understood 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.[644] 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, "I never saw aught nicer than this." She on
 her side ceased not exclaiming, "Enough, enough, I conjure thee, O 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 forthright." 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! She wisheth only to dye thy
 eyebrows and pluck out thy mustachios." Quoth he, "As for the dyeing of
 my eyebrows, that will come off with washing,[645] but for the plucking
 out of my mustachios 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
 eyebrows 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 make him a smooth o'
 face.[646]" 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.[647] 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[648];" 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 perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
 say her permitted say.

[Illustration]

                Now when it was the Thirty-Second Night,

 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 standing 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[649] 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 BARBER'S TALE OF HIS THIRD BROTHER._

 My third brother's name was Al-Fakík, 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 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.[650]" "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 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,[651] 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;[652] 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[653] 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."[654] 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 contrive for their corruption. In this
 way we have gotten great gain and 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,[655] 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 Commander 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 BARBER'S TALE OF HIS FOURTH BROTHER._

 Now as for my fourth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Al-Kuz
 al-aswáni, or the long-necked Gugglet hight, from his brimming over
 with words, the same who was blind of one eye, he 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 grey-beard
 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[656]; 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, "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[657] 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 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!)" 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; whereupon the King hung down his head and
 said, "I seek refuge with Allah from the evil of this day!"[658]; and
 turned the reins of his steed and returned home with all his retinue.
 Then he gave orders to his guards, who seized my 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, "O brother mine,
 know that the King cannot bear to look at a monocular, 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!" and looked about for a
 hiding-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 maltreat
 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." 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 allowance for his meat and
 drink. Then the Caliph gave ear to


               _THE BARBER'S TALE OF HIS FIFTH BROTHER._

 My fifth brother Al-Nashshár,[659] the Babbler, the same who was
 cropped of both ears, O 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
 hundred, 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[660] 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 them to my palace
 and make them perform before me." All this he counted over in his
 mind, while the tray of glass-ware, 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[661] 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 loveliness 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[662] 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,[663] 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 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,[664] 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,[665] 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"[666]——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
 day and ceased saying her permitted say.

                 Now when it was the Thirty-Third Night,

 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 completed.
 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[667] 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[668] 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 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,[669] 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 exhaling 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 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 considering, some one
 rapped at the door. So he rose and opened and saw an old woman whom he
 had never seen. "O my son," said she, "know that prayertide is near and
 I have not yet made my Wuzu-ablution[670]; 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 thanking her put his
 hand to the dinars and gave her two, saying to himself "These are my
 voluntaries."[671] 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, "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[672] came out and opened to them. Then the old woman
 led my brother into a great sitting-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.[673] 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 holding a drawn sword in hand,
 who said to him, "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, "Where is the salt-wench?"[674] Whereupon in came a handmaid
 holding in hand a large tray of salt, and the slave kept rubbing it
 into my brother's wounds;[675] 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[676]-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 staunching the blood
 and staying its flow. Presently, feeling himself able to move,
 Al-Nashshár 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. However 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 disguised 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,[677] 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, "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, "I bring thee fat meat to-day."[678]
 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, "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 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 fled and she cried out
 piteously "Amán![679] 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?"; 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.[680] 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 morning dawned he found at the door some
 twenty troopers who laid hands on him saying, "The Governor wants
 thee!" 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 matter, and
 they answered, "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?";
 and he answered, "I pray for mercy!" So the Governor gave him the
 kerchief of mercy;[681] 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, "Whatso I have taken, take of it what thou wilt, so thou leave me
 sufficient to support life."[682] 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 his 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,[683] 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.[684] My brother enquired of one
 of those idling there and he replied. "The 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.[685] 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.[686]"
 "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 ewer;"
 and, turning to my brother, said, "O my guest come forward 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 though he were eating whilst his host kept saying to him, "Fall
 to, and note especially the excellence of this bread and its
 whiteness!" 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[687] for our first dish,
 and let there be plenty of fat in it;" and, 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[688] 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,[689] 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.[690] 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, "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 ambergris." 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, "if thou have a mind to
 these good things eat: Allah! Allah![691] 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 considered 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,[692]" 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 became drunken and
 boisterous; but thou art too noble not to bear with his ignorance and
 pardon his offence." When the Barmaki 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;[693] 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-grinded that if plunged into a camel's throat[694] 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 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
 service, 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 TAILOR'S 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 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, "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[695] 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; ✿ Like to like they combine:
     It is wine and not cup! ✿ '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 between
 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, "I wish to hear the talk of this Silent Man and it
 shall be the cause of your deliverance 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 permitted say.

                Now when it was the Thirty-fourth Night,

 She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King of China
 bade, "Bring me the Barber who shall be the cause of your 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,[696] 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 Nazarene 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, ✿ 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[697] till he fell upon his back and
 said, "There is wonder in every death,[698] 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!" "O King of the age," said the Barber, "I swear by thy
 beneficence that there is still life in this Gobbo Golightly!"
 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, "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 all, 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
 suit with a suitable stipend. He did as generously with the Barber
 giving him a gift and a dress of honour; moreover he settled on him a
 handsome solde and created him Barber-surgeon[699] 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 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 Anís al-Jalís. Quoth her
 sister Dunyazad, "And what may that be?"; whereupon she began to relate
 the following tale of

-----

Footnote 496:

   Other editions read, "at Bassorah" and the Bresl. (ii. 123) "at
   Bassorah and Kájkár" (Káshghár): somewhat like in Dover and
   Sebastopol. I prefer China because further off and making the
   improbabilities more notable.

Footnote 497:

   Arab. "Judri," lit. "small stones" from the hard gravelly feeling of
   the pustules (Rodwell, p. 20). The disease is generally supposed to
   be the growth of Central Africa where it is still a plague and passed
   over to Arabia about the birth-time of Mohammed. Thus is usually
   explained the "war of the elephant" (Koran, chapt. cv.) when the
   Abyssinian army of Abrahah, the Christian, was destroyed by swallows
   (Abábíl which Major Price makes the plural of Abilah=a vesicle) which
   dropped upon them "stones of baked clay," like vetches (Pilgrimage
   ii. 175). See for details Sale (_in loco_) who seems to accept the
   miraculous defence of the Ka'abah. For the horrors of small-pox in
   Central Intertropical Africa the inoculation, known also to the
   Badawin of Al-Hijáz and other details, readers will consult "The Lake
   Regions of Central Africa" (ii. 318). The Hindus "take the bull by
   the horns" and boldly make "Sítlá" (small-pox) a goddess, an
   incarnation of Bhawáni, deëss of destruction-reproduction. In China
   small pox is believed to date from B.C. 1200; but the chronology of
   the Middle Kingdom still awaits the sceptic.

Footnote 498:

   In Europe we should add "and all fled, especially the women." But the
   fatalism inherent in the Eastern mind makes the great difference.

Footnote 499:

   Arab. "Uzayr." Esdras was a manner of Ripp van Winkle. He was riding
   over the ruins 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 cruse 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. ii). The oath by the ass's hoofs is to ridicule the
   Jew. Mohammed seems to have had an _idée 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.

Footnote 500:

   Arab. "Bádhanj," the Pers. Bád (wind)-gír (catcher): a wooden
   pent-house on the terrace-roof universal in the nearer East.

Footnote 501:

   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.

Footnote 502:

   Arab. "Yá Sattár"=Thou who veilest the discreditable secrets of Thy
   creatures.

Footnote 503:

   Arab. "Nasráni," a follower of Him of Nazareth and an older name than
   "Christian" which (Acts xi., 26) was first given at Antioch about
   A.D. 43. The cry in Alexandria used to be "Ya Nasráni, Kalb awáni!"=O
   Nazarene! O dog obscene! (Pilgrimage, 1., 160). "Christian" in Arabic
   can be expressed only by "Masíhi"=follower of the Messiah.

Footnote 504:

   Arab. "Tasbíh,"=Saluting in the Subh (morning).

Footnote 505:

   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
   water; it is therefore necessary to sit at squat and force it to some
   distance, repeating the Avesta mentally."

Footnote 506:

   This is still a popular form of the "Kinchin lay," and as the
   turbands are often of fine stuff, the _petite industrie_ pays well.

Footnote 507:

   Arab. "Wali"=Governor; the term still in use for the Governor-General
   of a Province as opposed to the "Muháfiz," 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 Faujdár), who is now called "Zábit."
   The older name for the latter was "Sáhib al-Shartah" (=chief of the
   watch) or "Mutawalli"; and it was his duty to go the rounds in
   person. The old "Charley," with his lantern and cudgel, still guards
   the bazars in Damascus.

Footnote 508:

   Arab. "Al-Mashá ilí"=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 its congener the "Sha'ílah"
   or link (also lamp, wick, etc.).

Footnote 509:

   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.

Footnote 510:

   Arab. "Lukmah":=a mouthful. It is still the fashion amongst Easterns
   of primitive manners to take up a handful of rice, etc., ball it and
   put it into a friend's mouth _honoris causâ_. When the friend is a
   European the expression of his face is generally a study.

Footnote 511:

   I need hardly note that this is an old Biblical practice. The ass is
   used for 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
   Salíb and other Badawi tribes, will fetch £100, and more. I rode a
   little brute from Meccah to Jedda (42 miles) in one night and it came
   in with me cantering.

Footnote 512:

   A dry measure of about five bushels (Cairo). The classical
   pronunciation is Irdabb and it measured 24 sa'a (gallons) each
   filling four outstretched hands.

Footnote 513:

   "Al-Jawáli" should be Al-Jáwali (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).

Footnote 514:

   Arab. "Al-'ajalah," referring to a saying in every Moslem mouth,
   "Patience is from the Protector (Allah): Hurry is from Hell." That
   and "Inshallah bukra!" (Please God to-morrow!) are the traveller's
   _bêtes noires_.

Footnote 515:

   Here it is a polite equivalent for "fall to!"

Footnote 516:

   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 the Body, hath his mansion on that side"
   (Rauzat al-Safá).

Footnote 517:

   Two feminine names; as we might say Mary and Martha.

Footnote 518:

   It was near the Caliph's two Palaces (Al-Kasrayn); and was famous in
   the 15th century A.D. The Kazi's Mahkamah (Court-house) now occupies
   the place of the Two Palaces.

Footnote 519:

   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
   Jahárkas, a corruption of the Persian "Chehár-kas"=four persons
   (Lane, i. 422, from Al-Makrizi and Ibn Khallikan). For Jahárkas the
   Mac. Edit. has Jirjís (George) a common Christian name. I once lodged
   in a "Wakálah (the modern Khan) Jirjis." Pilgrimage, i. 255.

Footnote 520:

   Arab. "Second Day," _i.e._ after Saturday, the true Sabbath, so
   marvellously ignored by Christendom.

Footnote 521:

   Readers who wish to know how a traveller is lodged in a Wakálah,
   Khan, or Caravanserai, will consult my Pilgrimage, i. 60.

Footnote 522:

   The original occupation of the family had given it a name, as amongst
   us.

Footnote 523:

   The usual "chaff" or banter allowed even to modest women when
   shopping, and—many a true word is spoken in jest.

Footnote 524:

   "La adamnák"=Heaven deprive us not of thee, _i.e._ grant I see thee
   often!

Footnote 525:

   This is a somewhat cavalier style of advance; but Easterns under such
   circumstances go straight to the point, hating to filer the parfait
   amour.

Footnote 526:

   The peremptory formula of a slave delivering such a message.

Footnote 527:

   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.

Footnote 528:

   Lane (i. 423) gives ample details concerning the Habbániyah, or
   grain-sellers' quarter 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.

Footnote 529:

   Nakíb is a caravan-leader, a chief, a syndic; and "Abú Shámah"=Father
   of a cheek mole, while "Abú Shámmah"=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 Shawárib, Father of Mustachios (Pilgrimage, iii., 263).

Footnote 530:

   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
   l'Inst. Egypt., Deuxième Série, No. 4, 1883.

Footnote 531:

   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 superior.

Footnote 532:

   Arab. "Bayáz al-Sultání," 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 for fear of
   blindness.

Footnote 533:

   This Iklíl, 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.

Footnote 534:

   The woman-artist who applies the dye is called "Munakkishah."

Footnote 535:

   "Kissing with th' inner lip," as Shakespeare calls it; the French
   _langue fourrée_; 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 tappings or pattings with the fingers and palm (eight
   kinds).

Footnote 536:

   Arab. "asal-nahl," to distinguish it from "honey" _i.e._ syrup of
   sugar-cane and fruits.

Footnote 537:

   The lines have occurred in Night xii. By way of variety I give
   Torrens' version p. 273.

Footnote 538:

   The way of carrying money in the corner of a pocket-handkerchief is
   still common.

Footnote 539:

   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.

Footnote 540:

   Those who have seen the process of wine-making in the Libanus will
   readily understand why it is always strained.

Footnote 541:

   Arab. "Kulkasá," a kind of arum or yam, eaten boiled like our
   potatoes.

Footnote 542:

   At first he slipped the money into the bed-clothes: now he gives it
   openly and she accepts it for a reason.

Footnote 543:

   Arab. Al-Zalamah: lit.=tyrants, oppressors, applied to the police and
   generally to the employés of Government. It is a word which tells a
   history.

Footnote 544:

   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.

Footnote 545:

   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 imprisonment. 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 criminal 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.

Footnote 546:

   Koran viii. 17.

Footnote 547:

   A universal custom in the East, the object being originally to show
   that the draught was not poisoned.

Footnote 548:

   Out of paste or pudding.

Footnote 549:

   Boils and pimples are supposed to be caused by broken hair-roots and
   in Hindostani are called Bál-tor.

Footnote 550:

   He intended to bury it decently, a respect which Moslems always show
   even to the exuviæ 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.

Footnote 551:

   Without which the marriage was not valid. The minimum is ten dirhams
   (drachmas) now valued at about five francs to shillings; and if a man
   marry without naming the sum, the woman, after consummation, can
   compel him to pay this minimum.

Footnote 552:

   Arab. "Khatmah"=reading or reciting the whole Koran, by one or more
   persons, usually in the house, not over the tomb. Like the "Zikr,"
   Litany or Rogation, it is a pious act confined to certain occasions.

Footnote 553:

   Arab. "Zírbájah"=meat dressed with vinegar, cumin-seed (Pers. Zír)
   and hot spices. More of it in the sequel of the tale.

Footnote 554:

   A saying not 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.

Footnote 555:

   Arab. "Su'úd," an Alpinia with pungent rhizome like ginger; here used
   as a counter-odour.

Footnote 556:

   Arab. "Tá'ih"=lost in the "Tíh," a desert wherein man _may_ lose
   himself, translated in our maps "The Desert of the Wanderings," scil.
   of the children of Israel. "Credat Judæus."

Footnote 557:

   _i.e._, £125 and £500.

Footnote 558:

   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).

Footnote 559:

   The eunuch is the best possible go-between on account of his almost
   unlimited power over the Harem.

Footnote 560:

   _i.e._ a slave-girl brought up in the house and never sold except for
   some especial reason, as habitual drunkenness, etc.

Footnote 561:

   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 apartments in the disguise of women."
   Says Vatsyayana in The Kama Sutra, Part V., London: Printed for the
   Hindoo Kamashastra Society, 1883. For private circulation only.

Footnote 562:

   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.

Footnote 563:

   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 large, a
   veritable mask; the Castrato is expert in the use of weapons and sits
   his horse admirably, 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 "Cáppone," invests him with all the circumstance
   of command.

Footnote 564:

   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., 201-202.)

Footnote 565:

   Such articles would be sacred from Moslem eyes.

Footnote 566:

   Physiologically true, but not generally mentioned in describing the
   emotions.

Footnote 567:

   Properly "Uta," the different rooms, each "Odalisque," or concubine,
   having her own.

Footnote 568:

   Showing that her monthly ailment was over.

Footnote 569:

   Arab. "Muhammarah"=either browned before the fire or artificially
   reddened.

Footnote 570:

   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 numberless stories are current
   throughout the East.

Footnote 571:

   _i.e._ blackened by the fires of Jehannam.

Footnote 572:

   Arab. "Bi'l-Salámah"=in safety (to avert the evil eye). When visiting
   the sick it is usual to say something civil; "The Lord heal thee! No
   evil befal thee!" etc.

Footnote 573:

   Washing during sickness is held dangerous by Arabs; and "going to the
   Hammam" is, I have said, equivalent to convalescence.

Footnote 574:

   Arab. "Máristán" (pronounced Múristan) a corruption of the Pers.
   "Bímáristán"=place of sickness, a hospital much affected by the old
   Guebres (Dabistan, i., 165, 166). That of Damascus was the first
   Moslem hospital, founded by Al-Walid Son of Abd al-Malik the Ommiade
   in A.H. 88=706-7. Benjamin of Tudela (A.D. 1164) calls it
   "Dar-al-Maraphtan" which his latest Editor explains by
   "Dar-al-Mora-bittan" (abode of those who require being chained).
   Al-Makrizi (Khitat) ascribes the invention of "Spitals" to
   Hippocrates; another historian to an early Pharaoh "Manákiyush;" thus
   ignoring the Persian Kings, Saint Ephrem (or Ephraim) Syru etc. In
   modern parlance "Maristan" is a madhouse where the maniacs are
   treated 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 was 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.

Footnote 575:

   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.

Footnote 576:

   "Níl" 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-Shitá (winter), Al-Sayf (summer) and
   Al-Níl (the Nile _i.e._ flood season, our mid-summer); corresponding
   with the Growth-months; Housing (or granary) months and Flood-months
   of the older race.

Footnote 577:

   These lines are in the Mac. Edit.

Footnote 578:

   Arab. "Birkat al-Habash," a tank formerly existing in Southern Cairo:
   Galland (Night 128) says "en remontant vers l'Éthiopie."

Footnote 579:

   The Bres. Edit. (ii., 190) from which I borrow this description, here
   alludes to the well-known Island, Al-Rauzah (Rodah)=The Garden.

Footnote 580:

   Arab. "Laylat al-Wafá," the night of the completion or abundance of
   the Nile (flood), 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).

Footnote 581:

   _i.e._ admiration will be complete.

Footnote 582:

   Arab. "Sáhil Masr" (Misr): hence I suppose Galland's _villes
   maritimes_.

Footnote 583:

   A favourite simile, suggested by the broken glitter and shimmer of
   the stream under the level rays and the breeze of eventide.

Footnote 584:

   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
   Βέροια, Beroea, written with variants.

Footnote 585:

   Arab. "Ká'ah," usually a saloon; but also applied to a fine house
   here and elsewhere in The Nights.

Footnote 586:

   Arab. "Ghamz"=winking, signing with the eye which, amongst Moslems,
   is not held "vulgar."

Footnote 587:

   Arab. "Kamís" from low Lat. "Camicia," first found in St.
   Jerome:—"Solent militantes habere lineas, quas Camicias vocant." Our
   shirt, chemise, chemisette, etc. was unknown to the Ancients of
   Europe.

Footnote 588:

   Arab. "Narjís." 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! 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.

Footnote 589:

   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).

Footnote 590:

   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
   Brocquière and which culminated in the massacre of 1860. 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 the condition of old
   women.

Footnote 591:

   Arab. "Rukhám," properly=alabaster and "Marmar"=marble; but the two
   are often confounded.

Footnote 592:

   He was ceremonially impure after touching a corpse.

Footnote 593:

   The phrase is perfectly appropriate: Cairo without "her Nile" would
   be nothing.

Footnote 594:

   "The market was hot" say the Hindustanis. This would begin between 7
   and 8 a.m.

Footnote 595:

   Arab. Al-Faranj, Europeans generally. It is derived from "Gens
   Francorum," and dates from Crusading days when the French played the
   leading part. Hence the Lingua Franca, the Levantine jargon, of which
   Molière has left such a witty specimen.

Footnote 596:

   A process familiar to European surgery of the same date.

Footnote 597:

   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
   out of wrath" against a man (chapt. iii).

Footnote 598:

   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 Kazi's
   court is crowded with would-be divorcees. Under English rule the evil
   has reached its 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 "bakhshísh." 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 bazar for a girl, half-a-dozen would
   troop to his quarters. Indeed more than once the professional
   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 the 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 Kábul-man.

Footnote 599:

   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: "like mother like daughter."

Footnote 600:

   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-mute establishments of Europe.

Footnote 601:

   This "Futur" is the real "breakfast" of the East, the "Chhoti házri"
   (petit déjeûner) 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.

Footnote 602:

   Arab. "Nahs," a word of many meanings; a sinister aspect of the stars
   (as in Heb. and Aram.) or, adjectively, sinister, of ill-omen.
   Vulgarly it is used as the reverse of nice and corresponds, after a
   fashion with our "nasty."

Footnote 603:

   "Window-gardening," new in England, is an old practise in the East.

Footnote 604:

   Her pimping instinct at once revealed the case to her.

Footnote 605:

   The usual "pander-dodge" to get more money.

Footnote 606:

   The writer means that the old woman's account was all false, to
   increase apparent difficulties and _pour se faire valoir_.

Footnote 607:

   Arab. "Yá Khálati"=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-Khál!"=O thou nephew of a
   good uncle. I have noted that physically this is often fact.

Footnote 608:

   "Ay w' Alláhi," 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-Islam.

Footnote 609:

   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 and
   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
   scandalmonger than the old Roman tonsor or Figaro his _confrère_ 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.

Footnote 610:

   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.

Footnote 611:

   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" (as Chaucer calls it) is given in my
   "Camoens: his Life and his Lusiads" p. 381.

Footnote 612:

   Arab. "Simiyá" to rhyme with Kímiyá (alchemy proper). It is a
   subordinate branch of the Ilm al-Ruháni which I would translate
   "Spiritualism," and which is divided into two great branches, "Ilwí
   or Rahmáni" (the high or related to the Deity) and Siflí or Shaytáni
   (low, Satanic). To the latter belongs Al-Sahr, magic or the black art
   proper, gramarye, egromancy, while Al-Simiyá 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.

Footnote 613:

   Chapt. iii. 128. See Sale (in loco) for the noble application of this
   text by the Imam Hasan, son of the Caliph Ali.

Footnote 614:

   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.

Footnote 615:

   Our nurses always carry in the arms: Arabs place the children
   astraddle upon the hip and when older on the shoulder.

Footnote 616:

   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.

Footnote 617:

   Koran xlviii., 8. It may be observed that according to the Ahádis
   (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 "Shúshah," or topknot 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
   "Makrúh," a practice not laudable, neither "Halál" (perfectly lawful)
   nor "Harám" (forbidden by the law). When boys 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 Násiyah (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 his own scalp. Possibly the Turks had
   learned the practice from the Chinese and introduced it into Baghdad
   (Pilgrimage i., 240). The Badawi plait their locks in Kurún (horns)
   or Jadáil (ringlets) which are undone only to be washed with the
   water of the she-camel. The wild Sherifs wear Haffah, long elf-locks
   hanging down both sides of the throat, and shaved away about a
   finger's breadth round the forehead and behind the neck (Pilgrimage
   iii., 35-36). I have elsewhere noted the _accroche-cœurs_, the
   "idiot-fringe," etc.

Footnote 618:

   Meats are rarely coloured in modern days; but Persian cooks are great
   adepts in staining rice for the "Puláo" (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 Blood of
   Redemption.

Footnote 619:

   As I have noticed this is a mixture.

Footnote 620:

   We say:—

                  'Tis rare the father in the son we see:
                  He sometimes rises in the third degree.

Footnote 621:

   Arab. "Ballán" _i.e._ the body-servant: "Ballánah" is a tire-woman.

Footnote 622:

   Arab. "Darabukkah" a drum made of wood or earthenware (Lane, M. E.,
   xviii.), and used by all in Egypt.

Footnote 623:

   Arab. "Naihah" more generally "Naddábah" Lat. præfica or carina, a
   hired mourner, the Irish "Keener" at the conclamatio or coronach,
   where the Hullabaloo, Hulululu or Ululoo showed the survivors'
   sorrow.

Footnote 624:

   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 lallí" (tread, O my joy) and "Názil il'al-Ganínah" (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! 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 Al-sifr or whistling.

Footnote 625:

   Arab. Khalí'a=worn out, crafty, an outlaw; used like Span. "Perdido."

Footnote 626:

   "Zabbál" is the scavenger, lit. a dung-drawer, especially for the use
   of the Hammam which is heated with the droppings of animals. "Wakkád"
   (stoker) is the servant who turns the fire. The verses are mere
   nonsense to suit the Barber's humour.

Footnote 627:

   Arab. "Yá bárid"=O fool.

Footnote 628:

   This form of blessing is chaunted from the Minaret about half-an-hour
   before midday, when the worshippers take their places in the mosque.
   At noon there is the usual Azán 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 Salám 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 worships in silence. This is followed
   by the second exhortation "of Wa'az," dispensing the words of wisdom.
   The Imam now stands up before the Mihráb (prayer niche) and recites
   the Ikámah 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.e._ to begin).
   Hereupon the worshippers recite the Farz or Koran-commanded
   noon-prayer of Friday; and the unco'guid add a host of
   supererogatories. Those who would study the subject may consult Lane
   (M. E. chapt. iii. and its abstract in his "Arabian Nights," I, p.
   430, or note 69 to Chapt. v.)

Footnote 629:

   _i.e._, The women loosed their hair; an immodesty sanctioned only by
   a great calamity.

Footnote 630:

   These small shops are composed of a "but" and a "ben" (Pilgrimage i.
   99.)

Footnote 631:

   Arab. "Kawwád," a popular term of abuse; hence the Span. and Port.
   "Alcoviteiro." The Italian "Galeotto" is from Galahalt, not Galahad.

Footnote 632:

   _i.e._ "one seeking assistance in Allah." He was the son of Al-Záhir
   bi'lláh (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).

Footnote 633:

   Arab. "Yaum al-Id," 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 Khalifah
   pardoned him. Lane ii, 506.

Footnote 634:

   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 were 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.

Footnote 635:

   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.

Footnote 636:

   This serious contemplation of street-scenery is one of the pleasures
   of the Harems.

Footnote 637:

   We should say "smiled at him": the laugh was not intended as an
   affront.

Footnote 638:

   Arab. "Fals ahmar." Fals is a fish-scale, also the smaller coin and
   the plural "Fulús" is the vulgar term for money (=Ital. _quattrini_)
   without specifying the coin. It must not be confounded with the
   "Fazzah," alias "Nuss," alias "Páráh" (Turk.); the latter being 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. ⅖ths.

Footnote 639:

   Arab. "Farajiyah," a long-sleeved robe; Lane's "Farageeyeh," M. E.,
   chapt. i.

Footnote 640:

   The tailor in the East, as in Southern Europe, is made to cut out the
   cloth in presence of its owner to prevent "cabbaging."

Footnote 641:

   Expecting a present.

Footnote 642:

   Alluding to the saying, "Kiss is the key to Kitty."

Footnote 643:

   The "panel-dodge" is fatally common throughout the East, where a man
   found in the house of another is helpless.

Footnote 644:

   This was the beginning of horseplay which often ends in a bastinado.

Footnote 645:

   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.

Footnote 646:

   Arab. Amrad, etymologically "beardless and handsome," but often used
   in a bad sense, to denote an effeminate, a catamite.

Footnote 647:

   The Hindus prefer "having the cardinal points as her sole garment."
   Vêtu de climat, 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.

Footnote 648:

   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-on lost his eye by a
   pen-knife thrust into the "crevice."

Footnote 649:

   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.

Footnote 650:

   Arab. "Shayyun li'lláhi," a beggar's formula=per amor di Dio.

Footnote 651:

   Noting how sharp-eared the blind become.

Footnote 652:

   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
   or 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 eye readily recovers tone.

Footnote 653:

   _i.e._ With kicks and cuffs, and blows, as is the custom. (Pilgrimage
   i., 174.)

Footnote 654:

   Arab. Káid (whence "Alcayde") a word still much used in North Western
   Africa.

Footnote 655:

   Arab. "Sullam"=lit. a ladder; a frame-work of sticks, used by way of
   our triangles or whipping-posts.

Footnote 656:

   This is one of the feats of Al-Simiyá=white magic; fascinating the
   eyes. In Europe it has lately taken the name of "Electro-biology."

Footnote 657:

   Again by means of the "Simiyá" or power of fascination possessed by
   the old scoundrel.

Footnote 658:

   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 "Few one-eyed men be honest
   men."

Footnote 659:

   Al-Nashshár from Nashr=sawing: so the fiddler in Italian is called
   the "village-saw" (_Sega del villaggio_). He is the Alnaschar of the
   Englished Galland and Richardson. 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
   Æsop's market-woman who kicked over her eggs; whence the Lat. prov.
   Ante victoriam canere 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 1811): he
   had a better, or rather a fuller MS. (p. 199) than any yet printed.

Footnote 660:

   Arab. "Atr"=any perfume especially oil of roses; whence our word
   "Ottar," through the Turkish corruption.

Footnote 661:

   The texts give "dirhams" (100,000=5,000 dinars) for "dinars," a
   clerical error as the sequel shows.

Footnote 662:

   "Young slaves," says Richardson, losing "colour."

Footnote 663:

   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 lá akhalli
   rúhi"=I will not let myself go _i.e._ be my every-day self, etc.

Footnote 664:

   "Whilst she is in astonishment and terror." (Richardson).

Footnote 665:

   "Chamber of robes," Richardson whose text has "Nám" for "Manám."

Footnote 666:

   "Till I compleat her distress," Richardson, whose text is corrupt.

Footnote 667:

   "Sleep by her side," R. the word "Náma" bearing both senses.

Footnote 668:

   "Will take my hand," R. "takabbal" being also ambiguous.

Footnote 669:

   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 Dayyús, insinuates that the man panders for his
   own wife.

Footnote 670:

   Of hands and face, etc. See Night cccclxiv.

Footnote 671:

   Arab. "Sadakah" (sincerity), voluntary or superogatory alms, opposed
   to "Zakát" (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
   "Zakát" 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 (Zakát)
   obligatory and which has invented a property-tax, as opposed to the
   unjust and unfair income-tax upon which England prides herself.

Footnote 672:

   A Greek girl.

Footnote 673:

   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 all
   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
   stouthearted.

Footnote 674:

   Arab. "Al-Málihah" also means the beautiful (fem.), from "Milh"=salt,
   splendour, etc. The Mac. Edit. has "Mumallihah"=a salt-vessel.

Footnote 675:

   _i.e._ to see if he felt the smart.

Footnote 676:

   Arab. "Sardábeh" (Persian)=an underground room used for coolness in
   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 "vault."

Footnote 677:

   In the orig. "O old woman!" which is insulting.

Footnote 678:

   So the Italians say "a quail to skin."

Footnote 679:

   "Amán" is the word used for quarter on the battle-field; and there
   are Joe Millers about our soldiers in India mistaking it for "a man"
   or (_Scotticè_) "a mon."

Footnote 680:

   Illustrating the Persian saying "Allah himself cannot help a fool."

Footnote 681:

   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."

Footnote 682:

   A naive proposal to share the plunder.

Footnote 683:

   In popular literature "Schacabac." And from this tale comes our
   saying "a Barmecide's Feast," _i.e._ an illusion.

Footnote 684:

   The Castrato at the door is still (I have said,) the fashion of Cairo
   and he acts "Suisse" with a witness.

Footnote 685:

   As usual in the East, the mansion was a hollow square surrounding
   what in Spain is called _Patio_: the outer entrance was far from the
   inner, showing the extent of the grounds.

Footnote 686:

   "Nahnu málihín"=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 stab with
   the other. The Eastern use of salt is a curious 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,
   water and flour.

Footnote 687:

   Arab. "Harísah," the meat-pudding before explained.

Footnote 688:

   Arab. "Sikbáj," 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.

Footnote 689:

   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.

Footnote 690:

   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 heated oats and the riders upon beef, which is
   indigestible, instead of mutton, which is wholesome.

Footnote 691:

   _i.e._ "I conjure thee by God."

Footnote 692:

   _i.e._ "This is the very thing for thee."

Footnote 693:

   _i.e._, at random.

Footnote 694:

   This is the way of slaughtering the camel, whose throat is never cut
   on account of the thickness of the muscles. "Égorger un chameau" is a
   mistake often made in French books.

Footnote 695:

   _i.e._ I will break bounds.

Footnote 696:

   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.)

   Whereto 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.

Footnote 697:

   Arab. "Kahkahah," a very low proceeding.

Footnote 698:

   Or "for every death there is a cause;" but the older Arabs had a
   saying corresponding with "Deus non fecit mortem."

Footnote 699:

   The King's barber is usually a man of rank for the best of reasons
   that he holds his 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 husband's official
   duties.




                             END OF VOL. I.

                                 وآلسلام




                                 INDEX.


 Abbas "hero eponymus" of the Abbaside dynasty, 188

 Abdullah ibn Abbas, companion and traditioner, 304

 Abú Kidr=father of the cooking-pot, _ib._

 Abú Shámah=father of a cheek-mole, 269

 Abú Shámmah=father of a smeller or nose, _ib._

 Abú Shawárib=father of mustachios, _ib._

 Abu Shiháb, father of the shooting star=evil spirit, 221

 Abú Yakzán=the wakener=ass, 16
   =cock, 18

 Ad=tribe of prehistoric Arabs, 65

 Adab=anything between good education and good manners, 132

 Aghá=master, politely applied to an Eunuch, 235

 Ahdab, hunchback=classical Ak'as, 213

 A'in=Smiter with the evil eye, 123

 Ajal=appointed period of life, 74

 'Ajami=foreigner, esp. Persian, 120

 Ajuz, for old woman, highly insulting; use Shaybah, 174

 Akásirah=Kisra-Kings, 75

 Akrás=cakes, 83

 Al-Aftah=Broad-o'-Brow, 17

 Al-Ajam=region not Arab, Persia, 2

 Al-Amin, son and successor of Hárún al-Rashíd, 185

 Al-Aríf=monitor, 231

 Al-Asr=time or prayer of mid-afternoon, 240

 Al-Bashárah=gift of good tidings, guerdon, 30

 Al-Bostáni=gardener, family name from original occupation, 266

 Al-Faranj=European, 296

 Al-Hasá=plain of pebbles, west of Damascus, 234

 Al-Kahánah=the craft of a Káhin or soothsayer, 28

 Al-Maamún, son and successor of Hárún al-Rashíd, 185

 Al-Málihah=salt-girl; beautiful, 340

 Al-Mustansir bi'llah=one seeking help in Allah, 317

 Al-Nashshár=sawing, 335

 Al-Níl=flood season corresponding to mid-summer, 290

 Al-Rauzah=the gardens, 291

 Al-Safar Zafar=voyaging is victory, 250

 Al-Sahr=magic, black art, 305

 Al-Záhir bi'llah=one pre-eminent by the decree of Allah, 317

 Al-Zalamah (tyrants, oppressors)=police and employés, 273

 Allah! Allah!=I conjure thee by God, _Passim_

 Allah hath said, formula of quoting the Koran, 61

 Allah Karím=Allah is all beneficent, 32

 Allah will open thee, a formula of refusing, _ib._

 Ailaho a'alam=God is all knowing, 2; 50

 Allahumma=Yá Allah with emphasis, 39

 Amán=quarter, mercy, 342

 Amír=Military Commandant, 259

 Amír al-Muuminín=Prince of the Faithful, 112

 Amrad=beardless and handsome, effeminate, 327

 Amsár=cities, 11

 Amshát (combs) perhaps=Kunáfah (vermicelli), 83

 Andam=the gum called dragon's blood; brazilwood, 176

 Arab al-Arabá=prehistoric tribes of the Arabs, 112

 Arab al-Musta'ajimah=barbarised Arabs, _ib._

 Arab al-Musta'aribah=naturalised Arabs, _ib._

 Arab al-Muta'arribah=Arabised Arabs, _ib._

 Arakiyah=white scull-cap, 215

 Ardabb (Irdabb)=about five bushels, 263

 Arún (Heb.)=in his shirt, 78

 Asal-nahl=bee's honey, 271

 Ashkánián=race of Persian Kings, 78

 Astrolabe, father of our sextant, 304

 Atr=any perfume, 335

 Auhashtani=thou hast made me desolate, 62

 Awálim pl. of Alimah=dancing girls, 214

 Aysh (Egypt.)=Ayyu shayyin for classical "Má"=what, 79

 Aywa (for Ay w' Alláhi)=Ay, by Allah, 303

 Azim="deuced" or "mighty fine", 178


 Báb=gate; chapter, 136

 Báb al-Farádís=gate of the gardens at Damascus, 240

 Babel=Gate of God, 85

 Babes of the eyes=pupils, 100

 Badawi's dying farewell, 75

 Bádhanj=wind-shaft, ventilator, 257

 Badmasti=le vin mauvais, 88

 Baghlah=she-mule, 129

 Bahr=water cut or trenched in the earth, sea, large river, 44

 Bahr al-muhít=circumambient ocean, 133

 Balid=simpleton, 17

 Ballán=body servant, 311

 Ballánah=tire-woman, _ib._

 Banj=Nibanj=Nepenthe, hemp, 70

 Baradiyah=wide-mouthed jug, 36

 Bárid=vain, foolish, insipid, 213

 Barley, food for horses, 345

 Barmecides, 188

 Basaltic statues in Hauranic ruins give rise to the idea of men
    metamorphosed into black stones, 170

 Basil=the Indian Tulsi, Ocymum basilicum, 19

 Basil of the bridges=pennyroyal, 91

 Bastinado of women, 183

 Bayáz al-Sultáni=the best kind of gypsum, 270

 Bazar of Damascus famous in the Middle Ages, 2

 Beheading or sacking a faithless wife unlawful but leniently looked
    upon, 181

 Before the face of Allah=for the love of God, 135

 Bi'l-Salámah=in safety (to avert the evil eye), 288

 Birkat al-Habash=Abyssinian pond, 291

 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

 Búzah=beer, 72


 Cairenes held exceedingly debauched, 298

 Cairo nothing without the Nile, 295

 Camel, how slaughtered, 347

 Carpet-beds, 294

 Chaff or banter allowed even to modest women, 267

 Champing sign of good breeding, 345

 Chess-anecdote, 132

 Children carried astraddle upon hip or shoulder, 308

 Claims of maidenhead, 190

 Clapping of hands to summon servants, 177

 Clever young ladies dangerous in the East, 15

 Conception on the bride-night rare, 227

 Confession after concealment a characteristic 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

 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=Tigris, Heb. Hid-dekel, 180

 Dakhíl-ak=under thy protection, 61

 Damascus women famed for sanguinary jealousy, 295

 Darabukkah=tom-tom, 311

 Darbar=public audience, 29

 Dastúr=leave, permission, 66

 Daughter of my uncle=my wife, 69

 Daurak=narrow-mouthed jug, 36

 Despite his nose=against his will, 26

 Destiny blindeth human sight, 67

 Dinár=gold piece, Daric, Miskál, 32

 Dirham=silver piece, 33

 "Dog" and "hog" popular terms of abuse, 188

 Drinking first to show that the draught is not poisoned, 88; 295

 "Drop" unknown to the Eastern gallows, 260

 Dunyázád=world-free, 14

 Dust-storm in tropical lands, 111


 Elephant's roll (to Hindu)=swaying and graceful gait, 217

 Erotic inferences drawn from parts of body, 350

 Eternal truth of The Nights, 7

 Eunuch best go-between, 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 mentioning unpleasant matters, 31

 Exaggeration part of humour, 12

 Eyebrows joined a great beauty in Arabia, 227

 Eyes of me=my dears, 163


 Face-veil="nose-bag", 82

 Fakír=religious mendicant generally, 95

 Falcon=blinding the quarry, 51

 Fals ahmar=a red cent, 321

 Faráiz=orders expressly given in the Koran, 169

 Farajíyah=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 _in_justitia ruat cœlum, 253

 First personal pronoun placed first for respect, 237

 Fitnah=revolt, seduction, mischief; beautiful girl; aphrodisiac
    perfume, 219

 Following one's face=at random, 347

 Friday night=our Thursday night, 269

 Friday Service described, 313

 Frolics of highborn ladies, 328

 "Fun"=practical jokes of the largest, 20

 Futur=breakfast, 300


 Gall-bladder and liver allusions, 219

 Ghadir=a place where water sinks, lowland, 233

 Ghamz=winking, signing with the eye, 292

 Gharíb=foreigner, 95

 Ghawází=singing girls, 214

 Ghazl al-banát (spinning of girls)=vermicelli, 83

 Ghilmán=Wuldán, the beautiful youths of Paradise, 211

 Ghútah=thickly grown lowland, 115

 Ghúlah=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

 Habbániyah=grain-seller's quarter, 269

 Habíb, euphemism for lover, 223

 Hayhát, onomatopoetic=heigh-ho!, 76

 Hair should be allowed all to grow or be shaven off, 308

 Hair-dyes all vegetable matter, 326

 Halab=Aleppo, 292

 Hammam, going to the=convalescence, 288

 ——, showing that a woman's monthly ailment is over, 286

 Harím=Harem, used for the inmates, wife, etc., 165

 Harísah, a favourite dish, 131

 Hasanta ya Hasan=bene detto, Benedetto!, 251

 Hashísh, intoxicant prepared of hemp, 225

 Haste ye to salvation, part of the Azán, 224

 Hátif=mysterious voice, 142

 Hauk! Hauk!=heehaw!, 221

 Head in the poke=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 bastinado, 325

 House of Peace=Baghdad, 139

 Houses of Lamentation in Moslem burial-grounds, 94

 Humming not a favourite practice with Moslems, 311

 Hunchback looked upon with fear and aversion, 258

 Húr al-Ayn=with eyes of lively white and black, 90

 Hurr=gentleman, 254

 Hurry is from Hell, 264


 Iblis=Despairer, 13

 Ibn Harám=son of adultery, abuse not necessarily reflecting on the
    parent, 231

 Ibrat=needle-graver and Ibrat=warning, a favourite jingle, 104

 Ibrík=ewer, and Tisht=basin, used for washing the hands, 241

 Id al-Kabír=the Great Festival, 28

 Ifrít, divided into two races like mankind, 11

 Ifritah=she-Ifrit, 34

 Ihdák=encompassing, as the white encloses the black of the eye, 49

 Ihtizáz=shaking with delight, 50

 Iklíl=diadem, now obsolete, 270

 Iklím=the seven climates of Ptolemy, 233

 Ilm al-Ruháni=Spiritualism, 305

 Improvising still common amongst the Badawin, 39

 Incest lawful amongst ancient peoples, 110

 Inheritance, law of, settled by the Koran, 174

 Inshád=conjuring by Allah, 11

 Insolence and licence of palace girls, 286

 Intellect of man stronger than a Jinni's, 43

 Internally wounded=sick at heart, 5

 Inwá=jerking the date-stone, 25

 Ishá=the first watch of the night, 175

 Izár=sheet worn as veil, 163


 Ja'afar=contrasting strongly with his master, 102

 Jahárkas=Pers. Chehár-kas, four persons, 266

 Jannat al-Na'ím=The Garden of Delights _i.e._ Heaven, 98

 Jazírah=Peninsula, Arabia, 2

 Jazírát al-Khálidát=Eternal Isles=Canaries, 141

 Jilá=displaying the bride before the bridegroom, 174

 Jinn=the French génie, the Hindu Rakshasa or Yaksha, 10

 Joseph of the Koran very different from him of Genesis, 13

 Judri=small-pox, 256

 Junún=madness, 10


 Ká'ah=ground-floor hall, 85

 Ká'ah (saloon)=fine house, mansion, 292

 Kábul-men noted for Sodomy, 299

 Káf, popularly=Caucasus, 72, 133

 Kahbah=whore, 70

 Kahílat al-taraf=having the eyelids lined with Kohl, 63

 Kahkahah=horse-laughter, 350

 Kahramánát=nursery governess, 231

 Káid=leader, 330

 Kalam=reed-pen, 128

 Kalám al-Mubáh=the permitted say, 29

 Kalandar=mendicant monk, 94

 Kámat Alfiyyah=straight stature, 85

 Kamís=shift, etc., 293

 Kat'a=bit of leather, 20

 Katá=sand-grouse, 131

 Katf=pinioning, 106

 Kathá-Sarit-Ságara=poetical version of the Vrihat-Kathá, 12

 Kaus al-Banduk=pellet-bow, 10

 Kausar=a lieu commun of poets, 241

 Kawwád=pimp, 316

 Káyánián race of Persian Kings, 75

 Kaylúlah=siesta, 51

 Kaysariyah=superior kind of Bazar, 266

 Kazi=judge in religious matters, 21

 Kerchief of mercy, 343

 Khádim=servant, politely applied to a castrato, 235

 Khalí'a=worn out; wag, 311

 Khalífah=Vicar of Allah; successor of a Santon, 184

 Khan=caravanserai, 92

 Khan Al-Masrúr, in Cairo, famous in the 15th century, 265

 Khanjar=hanger, 232

 Khatmah=reading or reciting the whole Koran, 277

 Khinzír=hog, 108

 Khubz=scones, 131

 Khuff=walking shoes, 82

 Khyas, Khyas, onomatopoetic, used in a sea-spell, 228

 King's barber a man of rank, 351

 "Kiss, key to Kitty", 323

 Kissing the eyes a paternal salute, 125

 Kohl=powdered antimony for the eyelids, 89

 —— proverbially used, 278

 Koran quoted (xx.), 2

 —— (ii. 34), 13

 —— (xxv. 31), _ib._

 —— (xix. 69), _ib._

 —— (xxvi.), 39

 —— (xxvii.), 42

 —— (v., xx.), 119

 —— (vii., xviii.), 169

 —— (i.), 208

 —— (lvi. 9), 211

 —— (lx.), 220

 —— (v.), 240

 —— (cviii.), 241

 —— (xvii.), 249

 —— (xxxvi. 69), 251

 —— (cv.), 256

 —— (ii., ix.), 257

 —— (v.), 274

 —— (viii. 17), _ib._

 —— (iii.), 298

 —— (iii. 128), 307

 Kufr=rejecting the True Religion, 169

 Kulkasá=colocasia roots, 272

 Kullah=gugglet, 36

 Kumkum=a gourd-shaped bottle for sprinkling scents, 42

 Kári=teacher of the correct pronunciation of the Koran, 113

 Kurrat al-Ayn=coolness of the eye, 72

 Kurs has taken the place of Iklíl, 270

 Kursi (choir, throne)=desk or stool for the Koran, 167

 Kush'arírah=horripilation, symptom of great joy or fear, 251


 La'abat=a plaything, a puppet, a lay figure, 245

 Lá adamnák=Heaven deprive us not of thee, 268

 Labbayka=Here am I, called Talbiyah, 226

 Laylat al-Wafá=the night of completion of the Nile-flood, 291

 Lá Haula, etc.=there is no Majesty etc., 69

 Lá tawáhishná=do not make us desolate, 62

 Lá tawákhizná=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, 320

 Laughter rare and sign of a troubled spirit, 248

 Life-breath in the nostrils=heart in the mouth, 42

 Like 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

 Lukmah=mouthful, 261


 Madfa'=cannon, showing modern date, 223

 Magnet Mountains, fable probably based on the currents, 140

 Mail-coat and habergeon simile for a glittering stream, 291

 Ma'ín, Ma'ún=smitten with the evil eye, 123

 Majnún=madman, 10

 Making water, 259

 Mahkamah=Kazi's Court, 21

 Malik or Malak=Seraph or Sovran, 253

 Mamlúk=white slaves trained to arms, 81

 Márid=contumacious Jinni, 41

 Máristán (from Pers. Bímáristán=place of sickness), 288

 Marmar=marble, 295

 Marriage not valid without receipt of settlement, 276

 Mashá ilí=bearer of a cresset (Mash'al), 259

 Masíhi=follower of the Messiah, 258

 Maskhút=transformed (mostly into something hideous); a statue, 165

 Massage (shampooing), 172

 Mausil (Mosul) alluding to the junction of Assyria and Babylonia, 82

 Maydán=parade ground, 46

 Maymúnah, 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

 Mihráb and Minaret, symbols of Venus and Priapus?, 166

 Milh=salt, 340

 Miracles performed by Saints' tombs, 241

 Miskál=71-72 grams in gold, used for dinar, 126

 Mizr, Mizar=beer, 72

 Moles compared with pearls, 177

 Monday=second day, reckoning from Sabbath (Saturday), 266

 Money carried in the corner of a handkerchief, 271

 Monoculars unlucky to meet, 333

 Mosul stuff=muslin, 229

 Mounds=rubbish heaps outlying Eastern cities, 71

 Mouth compared to the ring of Sulayman, 84

 Mu'arras=pimp, 338

 Muháfiz=district-governor, 259

 Muhakkak="Court-hand", 129

 Muhammarah=fricandoed, 286

 Mujtabá=the Accepted, 77

 Munakkishah=woman who applies the dye to a face, 270

 Murtazá=the Elect, 77

 Mustapha=the Chosen, _ib._

 Mutawalli=Prefect of Police, 259

 Muzayyin=Figaro of the East, 304


 Nabút=quarter-staff, 234

 Nadd, a compound perfume, 310

 Naddábah=mourning woman, 311

 Nadím=cup-companion, 46

 Nafas=breath, 107

 Nafs=soul, life, _ib._

 Nahás asfar=brass, 40

 Nahás (ahmar)=copper, _ib._

 Nahnu málihín=we are on term of salt, 344

 Nahs=nasty, 301

 Naihah=keener, hired mourner, 311

 Nakedness paraphrased, 327

 Nakíb a caravan-leader, chief, syndic, 269

 Name of Allah introduced into an indecent tale essentially Egyptian, 12

 Narjis=Narcissus, 294

 Naskh=copying hand, 128

 Nasráni=follower of Him of Nazareth, 258

 Nat'a=leather used by way of table-cloth, 20

 Nata' al-dam=the leather of blood, 318

 Navel as to beauty and health, 84

 Nearness of seat a mark of honour, 250

 Negroes preferred by debauched women, 6

 New-moon beginning Ramazán carefully 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 d'honneur_, 87


 Oath a serious thing 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

 Paris 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 command, 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 knowledge of the Desert to be understood,
    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


 Raydaniyah, a camping ground near Cairo, 245

 Rayháni=a curved character, 128

 Rais=captain of a ship, 127

 Rajaz=the seventh Bahr of Arabic prosody, 251

 Rajul ikhtiyár=middle-aged man, 55

 Refusal of a gift greatest affront, 336

 Rending of garments as sign of sorrow or vexation, 308

 Respect shown to parts of the body, exuviæ, etc., 276

 Riding on the ass an old Biblical practice, 262

 Rims cars, 131

 Rozistan=day station, 29

 Ruká'í=correspondence hand, 128

 Rukhám=alabaster, 295

 Ruka'tayn=two-bow prayer, 142


 Sa'ad=auspiciousness, prosperity; derivatives, 9

 Sabr=patience and aloes, source of puns, 138

 Sadaf=cowrie, 19

 Sadakah=voluntary alms, opposed to Zakát, 339

 Sadd=wall, dyke, 114

 Sáhib=companion, used as a Wazirial title, 237

 Sáhib al-Shartah=chief of the watch (Prefect of Police), 259

 Sáhib Nafas=master of breath, a minor saint healing by expiration, 107

 Sáhil Masr=the river side (at Cairo), 291

 Saj'a=rhymed prose, 116

 Sakhr al-Jinni alluded to, 41

 Sákiyah=the Persian water wheel, 123

 Sálih, prophet sent to Thámúd, 169

 Salmá and Layla=our "Mary and Martha", 265

 Sama'an wa ta atan to be translated variously, 96

 Samn=clarified butter, 144

 Sár=vendetta, 101, 114

 Saráwil=bag or petticoat trousers, 222

 Sardábeh=underground room, 340

 Sarráf=Anglo-Indian "Shroff", 210

 Sassanides, 75

 Sawáb=reward in Heaven, 96

 Sayd wa Kanas=hunting and coursing, 9

 Scalding a stump in oil common surgery practice, 297

 Scorpions of the brow=accroche-cœurs, etc., 168

 Sealing a covered dish a necessary precaution against poison, 244

 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

 Shább=youth between puberty and forty, 55

 Shabistan=night station, 29

 Shakáik al-Nu'umán=anemone, 175

 Shahrázád=city-freer, 14

 Shahryár=city friend, 2

 Shah Zamán=King of the Age, _ib._

 Shaykh=an old man, elder, chief, 26

 Shaykh, Shaybah=grey-beard, oldster, 55

 Sha'ílah=link (also lamp, wick, etc.), 259

 Shaking and nodding the head, universal items of gesture language, 300

 Shám (Syria)=land on the left, opposed to Al-Yaman=land on the right,
    83

 "Shame" alluded to in cursing parents of an abused person, 227

 Shampooing the feet, 117

 Sharmutah=rags, tatters; strumpets; shreds of meat=Kadíd, 163

 Shámah=Khál, mole on the cheek, 167

 Shart=a single Talbiyah or cry Labbayka, 226

 Shatm=obscene abuse, 182

 Shayyun li'lláhi=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, 173

 Shiháb=shooting stars, 224

 Shirk (partnership)=Syntheism, Dualism, Trinitarianism, 181

 Shops composed of a "but" and a "ben", 316

 Shudder preceding the magnetic trance, 44

 Shuhadá, martyrs, extensive category, 171

 Shuhúd=assessors of the Kazi's Court, 21

 Shurayh, foxier than the fox, 252

 Shúshah=topknot of hair, 308

 Simát=dinner table, 178

 Simiyá=white magic, 305, 332

 Sitting on shins and knees a trying posture, 130

 Slaves fancied by debauched women, 191

 Slice of the moon=digit of the moon, 91

 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" more affectionate, 243

 Son of a century=hundred years old, 126

 Sons of Adam=men, 130

 Sons of Sásán=Sassanides, 2

 Speaker puts himself first, 33

 Spittle dried up from fear, 285

 Staff broken in the first bout=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, 110

 Subh-i-kázib=false dawn, 78

 Subh-i-sádik=true dawn, _ib._

 Sucking the tongue="kissing with th' inner lip", 270

 Sufrah=dinner table, 178

 Sugar-stick=German Zuckerpüppchen, 167

 Suhá, star in the Great Bear, _ib._

 Sulayman and Sakhr al-Jinni, 42

 Sullam=ladder; whipping-post, 331

 Sulus=engrossing hand, 128

 Sums of large amount weighed, 281

 Sun greeting Mohammed, 45

 Superstitious practices not confined to the lower orders, 40

 Surriyat=concubine, 27

 Su 'ubán=dragon, cockatrice=Tannín, 172

 Su'úd used as a counter odour, 279

 Suwán=syenite, 238


 Taghúm a kind of onomatopoetic grunt, 228

 Tailor made to cut out the cloth in owner's presence, 321

 Tákiyah, calotte worn under the Fez, scull-cap, 224

 Talbiyah=the cry Labbayka, 226

 Tammúz=July, 53

 Tamar Hanná=flower of privet, 83

 Tár=tambourine, 215

 Tarbúsh=Pers. Sar-púsh, head cover, _ib._

 Tarík=clear the way, 66

 Tarjumán=truchman, dragoman, 100

 Tasbíh=saluting in the Subh, 258

 Taur (Thaur, Saur), a venerable remnant of un-split speech, 16

 Tawáshi, obnoxious name for a Eunuch, 235

 Tears shed over past separation, 283

 Thousand dirhams and thousand dinars=£125 and £500 respectively, 281

 Three days term of hospitality, 3

 Throwing one=bastinado on the back, 243

 Tibn=crushed straw, 16

 Tobba (Himyaritic)=the Great or Chief, 216

 Tongue of the case=words suggested by the circumstances, 121

 Tughyán=Kufr, rejection of the True Religion, 169

 Túmár=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


 Odah, properly Uta=private room of a concubine, 286

 Ultra-Shakspearean geography, "Fars of Roum", 45

 Umamah and Atikah, tale of two women now forgotten, 61

 Umm Amir=Mother of Amir, nickname for the hyena, 43

 'Urban=wild Arabs, 112

 Usfur=safflower, 219

 Uzayr=Esdras, 257


 Varieties of handwriting, 129


 Wady, Anglicè "valley", 51

 Wahsh=wild-beast and synonyms, 242

 Wakálah; described in Pilgrimage i. 60, 266

 Wakkád=stoker, 312

 Wali=(civil) Governor, 259

 Wa'l-Salám=and here ends the matter, 102

 Washings after evacuation, 220

 Way of Allah=common property, 91

 Wazir=Minister, 2

 "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 coctum, 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? 27

 Wiswás=diabolical temptation or suggestion, 106

 Women bastinadoed, 183

 Wonder (=cause) in every death, 351

 Wuldán=Ghilmán, the beautiful youths of Paradise, 211

 Wuzu-ablution=lesser ablutions, 142


 Yá Ba'íd=O distant one, euphemism for gross abuse, 41

 Yá bárid=O fool, 313

 Yá hú=O he! Swift's Yahoo? 240

 Yahúdí for Jew, less polite than Banu Isráíl, 210

 Yá Khálati=mother's sister, in addressing the old, 303

 Yá Mash'úm=O unlucky one, 221

 Yá házá=O this (one), somewhat slightingly, 240

 Yá Sattár=Thou who veilest the discreditable secrets of Thy creatures,
    258

 Yá Tayyib al-Khál=O thou nephew of a good uncle, 303

 Yaum al-Id=the great festival, 317

 Youth described in terms applying to women, 144


 Zábit=Prefect of Police, 259

 Zakát=legal alms, 339

 Zambúr=clitoris, 90

 Zemzem=water saltish, 284

 Zikr=litanies, 124

 Zírbájah=meat dressed with cumin-seed, etc., 278

 Ziyárat=visit to a pious person or place, 125

 Zauba'ah=sandstorm the desert, 114

 Zubb=penis, 92

 Zabbál=scavenger, 312

 Zulf=side-lock, 308

 Zulm, injustice, tyranny; worst of a monarch's crimes, 190

 Zuwaylah gate, more correctly Báb Zawilah, 269

[Illustration]




                          TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES


  1. Added missing anchors for footnotes on p. 44, p. 87, p. 181, p.
     208, and p. 218.
  2. Corrected footnote numbering on p. 181 and p. 182.
  3. Corrected footnote anchor numbering on p. 263 and p. 272.
  4. Added footnote number on p. 297.
  5. Added missing page number 253 to Index entry "Malik or Malak=Seraph
     or Sovran" on p. 358.
  6. The dates ("A.H. 86-96=105-115") on p. 208 are probably incorrect
     as the Caliph lived from 691-743 CE per Wikipedia.
  7. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical
     errors.
  8. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
  9. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
 10. Enclosed bold font in =equals=.