One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  “O Shehrzad,” said the Sultan, “how excellent and delightful are these thy stories! Hast thou more of the like edifying tales?” “It is said,” answered she, “that

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE HEDGEHOG AND THE PIGEONS.

  A hedgehog once took up his abode under a palm-tree, on which roosted a pair of wood-pigeons, that had made their nest there and lived an easy life, and he said to himself, ‘These pigeons eat of the fruit of the palm-tree, and I have no means of getting at it; but needs must I go about with them.’ So he dug a hole at the foot of the palm-tree and took up his lodging there, he and his wife. Moreover, he made a place of prayer beside the hole, in which he shut himself and made a show of piety and abstinence and renunciation of the world. The male pigeon saw him praying and worshipping and inclined to him for his much devoutness and said to him, ‘How long hast thou been thus?’ ‘Thirty years,’ replied the hedgehog. ‘What is thy food?’ asked the bird and the other answered, ‘What falls from the palm-tree.’ ‘And what is thy clothing?’ asked the pigeon. ‘Prickles,’ replied the hedgehog; ‘I profit by their roughness.’ ‘And why,’ continued the bird, ‘hast thou chosen this place rather than another?’ ‘I chose it,’ answered the hedgehog, ‘that I might guide the erring into the right way and teach the ignorant.’ ‘I had thought thee other-guise than this,’ rejoined the pigeon; but now I feel a yearning for that which is with thee.’ Quoth the hedgehog, ‘I fear lest thy deed belie thy speech and thou be even as the husbandman, who neglected to sow in season, saying, “I fear lest the days bring me not to my desire, and I shall only waste my substance by making haste to sow.” When the time of harvest came and he saw the folk gathering in their crops, he repented him of what he had lost by his tardiness and died of chagrin and vexation.’ ‘What then shall I do,’ asked the pigeon, ‘that I may be freed from the bonds of the world and give myself up altogether to the service of my Lord?’ ‘Betake thee to preparing for the next world,’ answered the hedgehog, ‘and content thyself with a pittance of food.’ ‘How can I do this,’ said the pigeon, ‘I that am a bird and may not go beyond the palm-tree whereon is my food? Nor, could I do so, do I know another place, wherein I may abide.’ Quoth the hedgehog, ‘Thou canst shake down of the fruit of the palm what shall suffice thee and thy wife for a year’s victual; then do ye take up your abode in a nest under the tree, that ye may seek to be guided in the right way, and do ye turn to what ye have shaken down and store it up against the time of need; and when the fruits are spent and the time is long upon you, address yourselves to abstinence from food.’ ‘May God requite thee with good,’ exclaimed the pigeon, ‘for the fair intent with which thou hast reminded me of the world to come and hast directed me into the right way!’ Then he and his wife busied themselves in knocking down the dates, till nothing was left on the palm-tree, whilst the hedgehog, finding whereof to eat, rejoiced and filled his den with the dates, storing them up for his subsistence and saying in himself, ‘When the pigeon and his wife have need of their provant, they will seek it of me, trusting in my devoutness and abstinence; and from what they have heard of my pious counsels and admonitions, they will draw near unto me. Then will I seize them and eat them, after which I shall have the place and all that drops from the palm-tree, to suffice me.’ Presently the pigeon and his wife came down and finding that the hedgehog had carried off all the dates, said to him, ‘O pious and devout-spoken hedgehog of good counsel, we can find no sign of the dates and know not on what else we shall feed.’ ‘Belike,’ replied the hedgehog, ‘the winds have carried them away; but the turning from the provision to the Provider is of the essence of prosperity, and He who cut the corners of the mouth will not leave it without victual.’ And he gave not over preaching to them thus and making a show of piety and cozening them with fine words, till they put faith in him and entered his den, without suspicion, where-upon he sprang to the door and gnashed his tusks, and the pigeon, seeing his perfidy manifested, said to him, ‘What has to-night to do with yester-night? Knowest thou not that there is a Helper for the oppressed? Beware of treachery and craft, lest there befall thee what befell the sharpers who plotted against the merchant.’ ‘What was that?’ asked the hedgehog. ‘I have heard tell,’ answered the pigeon, ‘that

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  The Merchant and the Two Sharpers.

  There was once in a city called Sendeh a very wealthy merchant, who made ready merchandise and set out with it for such a city, thinking to sell it there. There followed him two sharpers, who had made up into bales what goods they could get and giving out to him that they also were merchants, companied with him by the way. At the first halting-place, they agreed to play him false and take his goods; but, at the same time, each purposed inwardly foul play to the other, saying in himself, “If I can cheat my comrade, it will be well for me and I shall have all to myself.” So each took food and putting therein poison, brought it to his fellow; and they both ate of the poisoned mess and died. Now they had been sitting talking with the merchant; so when they left him and were long absent from him, he sought for them and found them both dead; whereby he knew that they were sharpers, who had plotted to play him foul, but their treachery had recoiled upon themselves; so the merchant was preserved and took what they had.’”

  “O Shehrzad,” said the Sultan, “verily thou hast aroused me to all whereof I was negligent! Continue to edify me with these fables.” Quoth she, “It has come to my knowledge, O King, that

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE THIEF AND HIS MONKEY.

  A certain man had a monkey and was a thief, who never entered one of the markets of the city in which he dwelt, but he made off with great purchase. One day, he saw a man offering for sale worn clothes, and he went calling them in the market, but none bid for them, and all to whom he showed them refused to buy of him. Presently, the thief saw him put the clothes in a wrapper and sit down to rest for weariness; so he made the ape sport before him, and whilst he was busy gazing at it, stole the parcel from him. Then he took the ape and made off to a lonely place, where he opened the wrapper and taking out the old clothes, wrapped them in a piece of costly stuff. This he carried to another market and exposed it for sale with what was therein, making it a condition that it should not be opened and tempting the folk with the lowness of the price he set on it. A certain man saw the wrapper and it pleased him; so he bought the parcel on these terms and carried it home, doubting not but he had gotten a prize. When his wife saw it, she said, ‘What is this?’ And he answered, ‘It is precious stuff, that I have bought below its worth, meaning to sell it again and take the profit.’ ‘O dupe,’ rejoined she, ‘would this stuff be sold under its value, except it were stolen? Dost thou not know that he who buys a ware, without examining it, erreth? And indeed he is like unto the weaver.’ ‘What is the story of the weaver?’ asked he; and she said, ‘I have heard tell that

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  The Foolish Weaver.

  There was once in a certain village a weaver who could not earn his living save by excessive toil. One day, it chanced that a rich man of the neighbourhood made a feast and bade the folk thereto. The weaver was present and saw such as were richly clad served with delicate meats and made much of by the master of the house, for what he saw of their gallant array. So he said in himself, “If I change this my craft for another, easier and better considered and paid, I shall amass store of wealth and buy rich clothes, that so I may rise in rank and be exalted in men’s eyes and become like unto these.” Presently, one of the mountebanks there climbed up to the top of a steep and lofty wall and threw himself down, alighting on his feet; which when the weaver saw, he said to himself, “Needs must I do as this fellow hath done, for surely I shall not fail of it.” So he climbed up on to the wall and casting himself down to the ground, broke his neck and died forthright. I tell thee this (continued
the woman) that thou mayst get thy living by that fashion thou knowest and throughly understandest, lest greed enter into thee and thou lust after what is not of thy competence.’ Quoth he, ‘Not every wise man is saved by his wisdom nor is every fool lost by his folly. I have seen a skilful charmer versed in the ways of serpents, bitten by a snake and killed, and I have known others prevail over serpents, who had no skill in them and no knowledge of their ways.’ And he hearkened not to his wife, but went on buying stolen goods below their value, till he fell under suspicion and perished.

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE SPARROW AND THE PEACOCK.

  There was once a sparrow, that used every day to visit a certain king of the birds and was the first to go in to him and the last to leave him. One day, a company of birds assembled on a high mountain, and one of them said to another, ‘Verily, we are waxed many and many are the differences between us, and needs must we have a king to order our affairs, so shall we be at one and our differences will cease.’ Thereupon up came the sparrow and counselled them to make the peacock, — that is, the prince he used to visit, — king over them. So they chose the peacock to their king and he bestowed largesse on them and made the sparrow his secretary and vizier. Now the sparrow was wont bytimes to leave his assiduity [in the personal service of the king] and look into affairs [in general]. One day, he came not at the usual time, whereat the peacock was sore troubled; but presently, he returned and the peacock said to him, ‘What hath delayed thee, that art the nearest to me of all my servants and the dearest?’ Quoth the sparrow, ‘I have seen a thing that is doubtful to me and at which I am affrighted.’ ‘What was it thou sawest?’ asked the king; and the sparrow answered, ‘I saw a man set up a net, hard by my nest, and drive its pegs fast into the ground. Then he strewed grain in its midst and withdrew afar off. As I sat watching what he would do, behold, fate and destiny drove thither a crane and his wife, which fell into the midst of the net and began to cry out; whereupon the fowler came up and took them. This troubled me, and this is the reason of my absence from thee, O king of the age; but never again will I abide in that nest, for fear of the net.’ ‘Depart not thy dwelling,’ rejoined the peacock; ‘for precaution will avail thee nothing against destiny.’ And the sparrow obeyed his commandment, saying, ‘I will take patience and not depart, in obedience to the king.’ So he continued to visit the king and carry him food and water, taking care for himself, till one day he saw two sparrows fighting on the ground and said in himself, ‘How can I, who am the king’s vizier, look on and see sparrows fighting in my neighbourhood? By Allah, I must make peace between them!’ So he flew down to them, to reconcile them; but the fowler cast the net over them and taking the sparrow in question, gave him to his fellow, saying, ‘Take care of him, for he is the fattest and finest I ever saw.’ But the sparrow said in himself, ‘I have fallen into that which I feared and it was none but the peacock that inspired me with a false security. It availed me nothing to beware of the stroke of fate, since for him who taketh precaution there is no fleeing from destiny; and how well says the poet:

  That which is not to be shall by no means be brought To pass, and

  that which is to be shall come, unsought,

  Even at the time ordained; but he that knoweth not The truth is

  still deceived and finds his hopes grown nought.’

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  STORY OF ALI BEN BEKKAR AND SHEMSENNEHAR.

  There lived once [at Baghdad] in the days of the Khalif Haroun er Reshid a merchant named Aboulhusn Ali ben Tahir, who was great of goods and grace, handsome and pleasant-mannered, beloved of all. He used to enter the royal palace without asking leave, for all the Khalif’s concubines and slave-girls loved him, and he was wont to company with Er Reshid and recite verses to him and tell him witty stories. Withal he sold and bought in the merchants’ bazaar, and there used to sit in his shop a youth named Ali ben Bekkar, a descendant of the ancient kings of Persia, who was fair of face and elegant of shape, with rosy cheeks and joined eyebrows, sweet of speech and laughing-lipped, a lover of mirth and gaiety. It chanced one day, as they sat laughing and talking, there came up ten damsels like moons, every one of them accomplished in beauty and symmetry, and amongst them a young lady riding on a mule with housings of brocade and golden stirrups. She was swathed in a veil of fine stuff, with a girdle of gold-embroidered silk, and was even as says the poet:

  She hath a skin like very silk and a soft speech and sweet;

  Gracious to all, her words are nor too many nor too few.

  Two eyes she hath, quoth God Most High, “Be,” and forthright they

  were; They work as wine upon the hearts of those whom they

  ensue.

  Add to my passion, love of her, each night; and, solacement Of

  loves, the Resurrection be thy day of rendezvous!

  The lady alighted at Aboulhusn’s shop and sitting down there, saluted him, and he returned her salute. When Ali ben Bekkar saw her, she ravished his understanding and he rose to go away; but she said to him, ‘Sit in thy place. We came to thee and thou goest away: this is not fair.’ ‘O my lady,’ answered he, ‘by Allah, I flee from what I see; for the tongue of the case saith:

  She’s the sun and her dwelling’s in heaven on high; Look, then,

  to thine heart thou fair patience commend.

  Thou mayst not climb up to her place in the sky, Nor may she to

  thee from her heaven descend.’

  When she heard this, she smiled and said to Aboulhusn, ‘What is the name of this young man?’ ‘He is a stranger,’ answered he. ‘What countryman is he?’ asked she, and the merchant replied, ‘He is a descendant of the (ancient) kings of Persia; his name is Ali ben Bekkar, and indeed it behoves us to use strangers with honour.’ ‘When my damsel comes to thee,’ rejoined she, ‘come thou at once to us and bring him with thee, that we may entertain him in our abode, lest he blame us and say, “There is no hospitality in the people of Baghdad:” for niggardliness is the worst fault that a man can have. Thou hearest what I say to thee and if thou disobey me, thou wilt incur my displeasure and I will never again visit thee or salute thee.’ ‘On my head and eyes,’ answered Aboulhusn; ‘God preserve me from thy displeasure, fair lady!’ Then she rose and went away, leaving Ali ben Bekkar in a state of bewilderment. Presently, the damsel came and said to the merchant, ‘O my lord Aboulhusn, my lady Shemsennehar, the favourite of the Commander of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid, bids thee to her, thee and thy friend, my lord Ali ben Bekkar.’ So he rose and taking Ali with him, followed the girl to the Khalif’s palace, where she carried them into a chamber and made them sit down. They talked together awhile, till she set trays of food before them, and they ate and washed their hands. Then she brought them wine, and they drank and made merry; after which she bade them rise and carried them into another chamber, vaulted upon four columns and adorned and furnished after the goodliest fashion with various kinds of furniture and decorations, as it were one of the pavilions of Paradise. They were amazed at the rarities they saw and as they were gazing at these marvels, up came ten damsels, like moons, with a proud and graceful gait, dazzling the sight and confounding the wit, and ranged themselves in two ranks, as they were of the houris of Paradise. After awhile, in came ten other damsels, with lutes and other instruments of mirth and music in their hands, who saluted the two guests and sitting down, fell to tuning their instruments. Then they rose and standing before them, played and sang and recited verses: and indeed each one of them was a seduction to the faithful. Whilst they were thus occupied, there entered other ten damsels like unto them, high-bosomed and of an equal age, with black eyes and rosy cheeks, joined eyebrows and languorous looks, a seduction to the faithful and a delight to all who looked upon them, clad in various kinds of coloured silks, with ornaments that amazed the wit. They took up their station at the door, and there succeeded them yet other ten damsels, fairer than they, clad in g
orgeous apparel, such as defies description; and they also stationed themselves by the door. Then in came a band of twenty damsels and amongst them the lady Shemsennehar, as she were the moon among the stars, scarved with the luxuriance of her hair and dressed in a blue robe and a veil of silk, embroidered with gold and jewels. About her middle she wore a girdle set with various kinds of precious stones, and she advanced with a graceful and coquettish gait, till she came to the couch that stood at the upper end of the chamber and seated herself thereon. When Ali ben Bekkar saw her, he repeated the following couplets:

  Yes, this is she indeed, the source of all my ill, For whom with

  long desire I languish at Love’s will.

  Near her, I feel my soul on fire and bones worn waste For

  yearning after her that doth my heart fulfih

  Then said he to Aboulhusn, ‘Thou hadst dealt more kindly with me to have forewarned me of these things; that I might have prepared my mind and taken patience to support what hath befallen me ;’ and he wept and groaned and complained. ‘O my brother,’ replied Aboulhusn, ‘I meant thee nought but good; but I feared to tell thee of this, lest such transport should overcome thee as might hinder thee from foregathering with her and intervene between thee and her: but take courage and be of good heart, for she is well disposed to thee and inclineth to favour thee.’ ‘What is the lady’s name?’ asked Ali ben Bekkar. ‘She is called Shemsennehar,’ answered Aboulhusn ‘she is one of the favourites of the Commander of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid and this is the palace of the Khalifate.’ Then Shemsennehar sat gazing upon Ali ben Bekkar’s charms and he upon hers, till each was engrossed with love of the other. Presently, she commanded the damsels to sit; so they sat down, each in her place, on a couch before one of the windows, and she bade them sing; whereupon one of them took a lute and sang the following verses: