One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Its hue is that of virgin gold, its shape the full moon’s

  round.

  Thence I passed to the pear, whose taste surpasses rose-water and sugar, and the plum, whose beauty delights the eye, as it were a polished ruby. When I had taken my fill of looking on the place, I went and locked the door again. Next day, I opened the second door and found myself in a great pleasaunce, set with many palm-trees and watered by a running stream, whose borders were decked with bushes of rose and jessamine and henna and camomile and marjoram and sweetbriar and carpeted with narcissus and ox-eye and violets and lilies and gillyflowers. The breeze fluttered over all these sweet-smelling plants and scattered their scents right and left, possessing me with complete delight. I took my pleasure in the place awhile, and my chagrin was somewhat lightened. Then I went out and locked the door and opening the third door, found therein a great hall paved with vari-coloured marbles and other precious stones and hung with cages of sandal and aloes wood, full of singing-birds, such as the thousand-voiced nightingale and the cushat and the blackbird and the turtle-dove and the Nubian warbler. My heart was ravished by the song of the birds and I forgot my cares and slept in the aviary till the morning. Then I opened the fourth door and saw a great hall, with forty cabinets ranged on either side. The doors of the latter stood open; so I entered and found them full of pearls and rubies and chrysolites and beryls and emeralds and corals and carbuncles and all manner of precious stones and jewels of gold and silver, such as the tongue fails to describe. I was amazed at what I saw and said in myself “Methinks, if all the kings of the earth joined together they could not produce the like of these treasures!” And my heart dilated and I exclaimed, “Now am I king of my time, for all these riches are mine by the favour of God, and I have forty young ladies under my hand, nor is there any with them but myself!” In short, I passed nine-and-thirty days after this fashion, exploring the riches of the place, till I had opened all the doors, except that which the princesses had charged me not to open, but my thoughts ran ever on this latter and Satan urged me, for my ruin, to open it, nor had I patience to forbear; though there remained but one day of the appointed time. So I opened the hundredth door, that which was plated with red gold, and was met by a perfume, whose like I had never before smelt and which was of so subtle and penetrating a quality, that it invaded my head and I fell down, as if intoxicated, and lay awhile unconscious. Then I revived and took heart and entering, found myself in a place strewn with saffron and blazing with light shed by lamps of gold and candles, that diffused a scent of musk and aloes. In the midst stood two great censers, full of burning aloes wood and ambergris and other perfumes, and the place was full of their fragrance. Presently I espied a horse, black as night at its darkest, girt and bridled and saddled with red gold, standing before two mangers of white crystal, one full of winnowed sesame and the other of rose-water flavoured with musk. When I saw this, I was amazed and said to myself, “Surely this horse must be of extraordinary value!” and the devil tempted me, so that I took him out and mounted him, but he would not stir. So I spurred him with my heel, but he did not move; and I took a. switch and struck him with it. When he felt the blow, he gave a neigh like the roaring thunder, and spreading a pair of wings flew up with me high into the air. After awhile, he descended and set me down on the terrace of a palace; then, shaking me off his back, he smote me on the face with his tail and struck out my right eye and flew away, leaving me there. I went down into the palace and found myself again among the ten one-eyed youths, who exclaimed, when they saw me, “An ill welcome to thee!” Quoth I, “Behold, I am become like unto you, and now I would have you give me a dish of soot, that I may blacken my face and admit me to your company.” “By Allah,” answered they, “thou shalt not abide with us! Depart hence!” And they drove me away. I was grieved at their rejection of me and went out from them, mourning-hearted and tearful-eyed, saying to myself, “Of a truth, I was sitting at my ease, but my impertinent curiosity would not let me be.” Then I shaved my beard and eyebrows and renouncing the world, became a Calender and wandered about God’s earth, till by His blessing, I arrived at Baghdad in safety this evening and met with these two other Calenders standing bewildered. So I saluted them, saying, “I am a stranger;” to which they replied, “We also are strangers.” And, as it chanced, we were all Calenders and each blind of the right eye. This, then, O my lady, is my story and the manner of the shaving of my face and the loss of my eye.’ Quoth the mistress of the house, ‘Begone about thy business.’ But he said, ‘By Allah, I will not go, till I hear the others’ stories!’ Then she turned to the Khalif and his companions and said, ‘Give me an account of yourselves.’ So Jaafer came forward and repeated the story he had told the portress; whereupon the lady said, ‘I pardon you all: go your ways.’ So they all went out; and when they reached the street the Khalif said to the Calenders, ‘O folk, whither are you bound now, seeing that it is not yet day?’ ‘By Allah, O my lord,’ answered they, ‘we know not where to go!’ ‘Then come and pass the rest of the night with us,’ said the Khalif, and turning to Jaafer, said to him, ‘Take them home with thee and to-morrow bring them before me, that we may cause their adventures to be recorded.’ Jaafer did as the Khalif bade him, and the latter returned to his palace. Sleep did not visit him that night, but he lay awake, pondering the adventures of the three Calenders and full of impatience to know the history of the two ladies and the black bitches; and no sooner had the day dawned than he went out and sat down on his chair of estate. Then his courtiers presented themselves and withdrew, whereupon he turned to Jaafer and said to him, ‘Bring me the three ladies and the bitches and the Calenders, and make haste.’ So Jaafer went out and brought them all before him and seated the ladies behind a curtain; then turned to them and said, speaking for the Khalif, ‘O women, we pardon you your rough usage of us, in consideration of your previous kindness and for that ye knew us not: and now I would have you to know that you are in the presence of the fifth of the sons of Abbas, the Commander of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid, son of El Mehdi Mohammed, son of Abou Jaafer el Mensour. So do ye acquaint him with your stories and tell him nothing but the truth.’ When the ladies heard Jaafer’s speech, the eldest came forward and said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, my story is one which, were it graven with needles on the corners of the eye, would serve for an example to those who can profit by example and a warning to those who can take warning. And it is that

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  The Eldest Lady’s Story.

  These two bitches are my elder sisters by the same mother and father, and these two others, she on whom are the marks of blows and the cateress, are my sisters by another mother. When my father died, each took her portion of the heritage, and after awhile my mother died also and left me and my sisters-german a thousand dinars each. After awhile my two sisters married and lived with their husbands for a time; then the latter bought merchandise with their wives’ money and set out on their travels, and I heard no more of them for five years: for their husbands spent their wives’ fortunes and became bankrupt and deserted them in a foreign land. Presently, my eldest sister came back to me in the guise of a beggar, with tattered clothes and a dirty old veil, and altogether in so sorry a plight, that at first I knew her not; but when I recognised her, I asked her how she came in such a state. “O my sister,” answered she, “talking profits not now: the pen hath written what was decreed.” Then I sent her to the bath and clothed her in a suit of my own and entreated her kindly and said to her, “O my sister, thou standest to me in the stead of my father and mother; and God has blessed me in the share of the inheritance that fell to me and prospered it to me, so that I am now in flourishing case; and thou shalt share with me in my increase.” So she abode with me a whole year, during which time we were much concerned to know what was become of our other sister. At last, she too came back to me, in a worse plight than the other, and I dealt still more kindly by her than by the first, and each o
f them had a share of my substance. After awhile, they said to me, “O sister, we desire to marry again, for we can no longer endure to live without husbands.” “O my dear ones,” answered I, “there is no good in marriage, for now-a-days good men are rare to find; nor do I see the advantage of marrying again, since ye have already made trial of matrimony and it has profited you nothing.” They would not listen to me, but married without my consent; nevertheless I equipped them and portioned them with my own money and they went away with their husbands. After a little, the latter cheated them of all they had and went away and left them. Then they came to me, in abject case, and made their excuses to me, saying, “Do not reproach us; thou art younger than we, but riper of wit, so take us as thy handmaids, that we may eat our mouthful; and we will never again speak of marriage.” Quoth I, “Ye are welcome, O my sisters: there is nothing dearer to me than you.” And I took them in and redoubled in kindness to them. We lived thus for a whole year, at the end of which time I was minded to travel. So I fitted out a great ship at Bassora and loaded her with merchandise and victual and other necessaries for a voyage, and said to my sisters, “Will you come with me or abide at home till I return?” “We will go with thee,” answered they, “for we cannot endure to be parted from thee.” So I took them and set sail, after dividing my money into two parts, one of which I deposited with a trusty person, saying, “Maybe ill-hap shall betide the ship and yet we remain alive; but now, if we return, we shall find what will be of service to us.” We sailed days and nights, till the captain missed the true course and the ship went astray with us and entered a sea other than that we aimed at. We knew not of this awhile and the wind blew fair for us ten days, at the end of which time, the watch went up to the mast-head, to look out, and cried, “Good news!” Then he came down, rejoicing, and said to us, “I see a city in the distance as it were a dove.” At this we rejoiced and before an hour of the day was past, the city appeared to us afar off: and we said to the captain, “What is the name of yonder city?” “By Allah!” replied he, “I know not, for I never saw it before nor have I ever sailed this sea in my life; but since the affair has issued in safety, ye have nought to do but to land your goods, and if ye find a market, sell and buy and barter, as the occasion serves; if not, we will rest here two days, re-victual and depart.” So we entered the harbour and the captain landed and was absent awhile, after which he returned and said to us, “Arise, go up into the city and marvel at God’s dealings with His creatures and seek to be preserved from His wrath.” So we landed and going up to the city, saw at the gate men with staves in their hands; but when we drew near them, behold, they had been stricken by the wrath of God and were become stones. Then we entered the city and found all its in habitants changed into black stones: there was not a living soul therein, no, not a blower of the fire. At this we were amazed and passed on through the bazaars, where we found all the goods and gold and silver left lying in their places, and rejoiced and said, “Doubtless, there is some mystery in all this.” Then we dispersed about the streets of the city and each busied himself with making prize of the wealth and stuffs lying about and took no heed of his comrades, whilst I went up to the citadel and found it goodly of fashion. I entered the king’s palace and saw all the vessels of gold and silver and the king himself seated in the midst of his officers and grandees, clad in raiment such as confounded the wit. The throne on which he sat was encrusted with pearls and jewels and his robes were of cloth of gold, adorned with all manner jewels, that shone like stars. Around him stood fifty white slaves, with drawn swords in their hands and clad in divers sorts of silken stuffs; but when I drew near to them, behold, they were all black stones. My understanding was confounded at the sight, but I went on and came to the saloon of the harem, which I found hung with tapestries of gold-striped silk and spread with carpets of the same, embroidered with flowers of gold. Here I saw the queen lying, arrayed in a robe covered with fresh pearls as big as hazel-nuts and crowned with a diadem set with all manner jewels. Her neck was covered with collars and necklaces and all her clothes and ornaments were unchanged, but she herself had been smitten of God and was become black stone. Presently I spied an open door, with seven steps leading to it, and going up, found myself in a place paved with marble and hung and carpeted with gold-embroidered stuffs. At the upper end stood an alcove with drawn curtains and I saw a light issuing thence. So I went up to the alcove and found therein a couch of juniper wood, inlaid with pearls and diamonds and set with bosses of emeralds, with silken coverings of bewildering richness and curtains of the same, looped up with pearls. At the head of the bed stood two lighted candles and in the midst of the alcove was a little stool, on which lay a jewel, the size of a goose’s egg, that shone like a lamp and lighted the whole place; but there was no one to be seen. When I saw these things, I wondered and said, “Some one must have lighted these candles.” Then I went out and came to the kitchen and thence to the buttery and the king’s treasuries and continued to explore the palace and to go from place to place; and for wonderment at what I saw, I forgot myself and wandered on, lost in thought, till the night overtook me. Then I would have gone out, but lost my way and could not find the gate; so I returned to the alcove, where I lay down on the bed and covering myself with a quilt, repeated somewhat of the Koran and would have slept, but could not, for restlessness possessed me. In the middle of the night, I heard a low sweet voice reciting the Koran, whereat I rejoiced and rising, followed the sound, till it led me to a chamber with the door ajar. I looked through the chink of the door and saw an oratory, wherein was a prayer-niche, with candles burning and lamps hanging from the ceiling. In the midst was spread a prayer-carpet, on which sat a handsome youth, with a copy of the Koran open before him, from which he was reading. I wondered to see him alone alive of all the people of the city and entered and saluted him; whereupon he raised his eyes and returned my salutation. Then said I, “I implore thee, by the truth of that thou readest from the book of God, to answer me my questions.” He looked at me with a smile and said, “O handmaid of God, tell me first how thou camest hither, and I will tell thee what has befallen me and the people of this city and the manner of my preservation.” So I told him my story, at which he marvelled, and questioned him of the people of the city. Quoth he, “Have patience with me a little, O my sister!” and shutting the Koran, laid it in a bag of satin. Then he made me sit down by his side, and I looked at him and behold, he was like the moon at its full, bright-faced, soft-sided, well-shaped and fair to look upon, as he were a figure of sugar, even as says the poet of the like of him:

  A seer of the stars one night was reading the book of the skies,

  When lo, in his scroll he saw a lovely youth arise.

  Saturn had dyed his hair the hue of the raven’s wing And

  sprinkled upon his face the musk of Paradise:

  The rose of his cheeks from Mars its ruddy colour drew, And the

  Archer winged the shafts that darted from his eyes.

  Hermes dowered the youth with his own mercurial wit, And the

  Great Bear warded off the baleful glance of spies.

  Wonder seized on the sage at the sight of the lovely boy, For the

  full moon kissed the earth before him, servant-wise.

  And indeed God the Most High had clad him in the garment of

  perfection and broidered it with the shining fringes of his

  cheeks, even as says the poet of him:

  By the perfume of his eyelids and his slender waist I swear, By

  the arrows that he feathers with the witchery of his air,

  By his sides so soft and tender and his glances bright and keen,

  By the whiteness of his forehead and the blackness of his

  hair,

  By his arched imperious eyebrows, chasing slumber from my eyes,

  With their yeas and noes that hold me ‘twixt rejoicing and

  despair,

  By the myrtle of his whiskers and the roses of his cheeks, By his


  lips’ incarnate rubies and his teeth’s fine pearls and rare,

  By his neck and by its beauty, by the softness of his breast And

  the pair of twin pomegranates that my eyes discover there,

  By his heavy hips that tremble, both in motion and repose, And

  the slender waist above them, all too slim their weight to

  bear,

  By his skin’s unsullied satin and the quickness of his spright,

  By the matchless combination in his form of all things fair,

  By his hand’s perennial bounty and his true and trusty speech, By

  the stars that smile upon him, favouring and debonair,

  Lo, the smell of musk none other than his very fragrance is, And

  the ambergris’s perfume breathes around him everywhere.

  Yea, the sun in all its splendour cannot with his grace compare,

  Seeming but a shining fragment that he from his nail doth

  pare.

  I stole a look at him, which cost me a thousand sighs, for my heart was taken with his love, and I said to him, “O my lord, tell me what I asked thee.” “I hear and obey,” answered he. “Know, O handmaid of God, that this city was the capital of my father, who is the king thou sawest on the throne, changed to a black stone, and as for the queen on the bed, she was my mother; and they and all the people of the city were Magians, worshipping the fire, instead of the All-powerful King, and swearing by the fire and the light and the shade and the heat and the revolving sphere. My father had no child, till I was vouchsafed to him in his old age, and he reared me and I grew up and flourished. Now, as my good star would have it, there was with us an old woman stricken in years, who was at heart a Muslim, believing in God and His prophet, but conforming outwardly to the religion of my people. My father had confidence in her, supposing her to be of his own belief, and showed her exceeding favour, for that he knew her to be trusty and virtuous; so when I grew to a fitting age, he committed me to her charge, saying, ‘Take him and do thy best to give him a good education and teach him the things of our faith.’ So she took me and taught me the tenets of Islam and the ordinances of ablution and prayer and made me learn the Koran by heart, bidding me worship none but God the Most High and charging me to keep my faith secret from my father, lest he should kill me. So I hid it from him, and I abode thus till, in a little while, the old woman died and the people of the city redoubled in their impiety and frowardness and in the error of their ways. One day, they heard a voice from on high, proclaiming aloud, with a noise like the resounding thunder, so that all heard it far and near, and saying, ‘O people of the city, turn from your worship of the fire and serve God the Compassionate King!’ At this, fear fell on the people of the city and they crowded to my father and said to him; ‘What is this awful voice that we have heard and that has confounded us with the excess of its terror?’ But he said, ‘Let not a voice fright you nor turn you from your faith.’ Their hearts inclined to his word and they ceased not to worship the fire, but redoubled in their frowardness, till the anniversary of the day on which they had heard the supernatural voice. When they heard it anew, and so again a third time at the end of the second year. Still they persisted in their evil ways, till one day, at break of dawn, judgment descended on them and wrath from heaven, and they were all turned into black stones, they and their beasts and cattle; and none was spared, save myself. From that day to this, I have remained as thou seest me, occupying myself with prayer and fasting and reading the Koran aloud; and indeed I am grown weary of solitude, having none to bear me company.” Then said I to him (and indeed he had won my heart), “O youth, wilt thou go with me to the city of Baghdad and foregather with men of learning and theologians and grow in wisdom and understanding and knowledge of the Law? If so, I will be thy handmaid, albeit I am head of my family and mistress over men and slaves and servants. I have here a ship laden with merchandise; and indeed it was providence drove us to this city, that I might come to the knowledge of these things, for it was fated that we should meet.” And I ceased not to speak him fair and persuade him, till he consented to go with me, and I passed the night at his feet, beside myself for joy. When it was day, we repaired to the treasuries and took thence what was little of weight and great of value; then went down into the town, where we met the slaves and the captain seeking for me. When they saw me, they rejoiced and I told them all I had seen and related to them the story of the young man and of the curse that had fallen on the people of the city. At this they wondered: but when my sisters saw me with the prince, they envied me on his account and were enraged and plotted mischief against me in their hearts. Then we took ship again, beside ourselves for joy in the booty we had gotten, though the most of my joy was in the prince, and waited till the wind blew fair for us, when we set sail and departed. As we sat talking, my sisters said to me, “O sister, what wilt thou do with this handsome young man?” “I purpose to make him my husband,” answered I; and I turned to the prince and said, “O my lord, I have that to propose to thee, in which I will not have thee cross me: and it is that, when we reach Baghdad, I will give myself to thee as a handmaid in the way of marriage, and thou shalt be my husband and I thy wife.” Quoth he, “I hear and obey; thou art my lady and my mistress, and whatever thou dost, I will not cross thee.” Then I turned to my sisters and said to them, “This young man suffices me; and those who have gotten aught, it is theirs.” “Thou sayest well,” replied they; but in their hearts they purposed me evil. We sailed on with a fair wind, till we left the sea of peril and came into safe waters, and in a few days, we came in sight of the walls of Bassora, even as night overtook us. My sisters waited till the prince and I were asleep, when they took us up, bed and all, and threw us into the sea. The prince, who could not swim, was drowned and God wrote him of the company of the martyrs. As for me, would I had been drowned with him! But God decreed that I should be of the saved; so He threw in my way a piece of wood and I got astride of it, and the waters tossed me about till they cast me up on an island. I landed and walked about the island the rest of the night, and when the day broke, I saw a footway, leading to the mainland. By this time, the sun had risen; so I dried my clothes in its rays and ate of the fruits of the island and drank of its waters. Then I set out and fared on till I reached the mainland and found myself but two hours’ distant from the city. So I sat down to rest and presently I saw a great serpent, the bigness of a palm-tree, come fleeing towards me, with all her might, whilst her tongue for weariness hung from her mouth a span’s length and swept the dust as she went. She was pursued by a dragon, as long and thin as a spear, which presently overtook her and seized her by the tail whereat the tears streamed from her eyes and she wriggled from side to side. I took pity on her and catching up a stone, threw it at the dragon’s head and killed him on the spot. Then the serpent spread a pair of wings and flew away out of sight, leaving me wondering. Now I was tired and drowsiness overcoming me, I slept where I was for awhile. When I awoke, I found a damsel sitting at my feet, rubbing them, and with her, two black bitches, and I was ashamed before her; so I sat up and said to her, “O my sister, who art thou?” “How quickly thou hast forgotten me!” answered she. “I am the serpent, whom thou didst deliver from my enemy by killing him, for I am a Jinniyeh and the dragon was a genie; and I was only saved from him by thy kindness. As soon as thou hadst done me this service, I flew on the wind to your ship and transported all that was therein to thy house. Then I sank the vessel and changed thy sisters into two black bitches, for I know all that has passed between thee and them: but as for the young man, he is drowned.” So saying, she flew up with me and the two bitches and presently set us down on the roof of my house, where I found all the goods that were in my ship, nor was aught missing. Then she said to me, “By that which is written on the seal of our lord Solomon (on whom be peace!) except thou give each of these bitches three hundred lashes every day, I will come and make thee like unto them.” “I hear and obey,” answered I; and since then I have neve
r failed to beat them thus, O Commander of the Faithful, pitying them the while; and they know it is no fault of mine that they are beaten and accept my excuse. And this is my story.’ The Khalif marvelled at her story and said to the portress, ‘And thou, how camest thou by the weals on thy body?’ ‘O Commander of the Faithful,’ answered she: