One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Presently, they came to the Vizier’s house, and he said to Hasib, ‘Come in with me.’ So he entered and set down the platter, whilst the troops dispersed and went each his own way, and the Vizier bade him kill the Queen of the Serpents; but he said, ‘I am no butcher and never in my life killed I aught. An thou wilt have her slaughtered, kill her with thine own hand.’ So Shemhour took the Queen from the platter and slew her, whereat Hasib wept sore and the Vizier laughed at him, saying, ‘O wittol, how canst thou weep for the killing of a serpent?’ Then he cut her in three and laying the pieces in a brass pot, set it on the fire and sat down to await the cooking of the flesh.

  Presently, there came a messenger from the King, who said to him, ‘The King calls for thee forthright;’ and he answered, ‘I hear and obey.’ So he gave Hasib two phials and bade him drink the first scum and keep the second against his return, even as the Queen of the Serpents had foretold; after which he went away and Hasib tended the fire under the pot, till the first scum rose, when he skimmed it off and set it aside in one of the phials. After a while, the second scum rose; so he skimmed it off and putting it in the other phial, kept it for himself.

  When the meat was done, he took the cauldron off the fire and sat waiting, till the Vizier came back and said to him, ‘Hast thou done as I told thee?’ ‘Yes,’ answered Hasib. Quoth the Vizier, ‘What hast thou done with the first scum?’ ‘I drank it but now,’ replied Hasib, and Shemhour said, ‘Feelst thou no change in thy body?’ ‘Yes,’ answered Hasib; ‘I feel as I were on fire from head to foot.’ The crafty Vizier made no reply, but said, ‘Give me the second phial, that I may drink what is therein, so haply I may be made whole of this ailment in my loins.’ So Hasib brought him the first phial and he drank it off, thinking it contained the second scum. Hardly had he done this, when the phial fell from his hand and he swelled out and dropped down dead; and thus was exemplified in him the saying, ‘He, who diggeth a pit for his brother, falleth into it himself.’

  When Hasib saw this, he wondered and feared to drink of the second phial; but he remembered the Queen’s injunction and bethought him that the Vizier would not have reserved the second scum for himself, had there been aught of hurt therein. So he said, ‘I put my trust in God,’ and drank off the contents of the phial. No sooner had he done so than God the Most High made the fountains of wisdom to well up in his heart and opened to him the sources of knowledge, and joy and gladness overcame him. Then he laid the serpent’s flesh on a platter of brass and went forth to carry it to the palace.

  On his way thither, he raised his eyes and saw the seven heavens and all that therein is, even to the lote-tree, beyond which there is no passing and the manner of the revolution of the spheres. Moreover, God discovered to him the ordinance of the planets and the scheme of their movements and the fixed stars, and he saw the conformation of the sea and land and understood the causes and consequences of eclipses of the sun and moon, whereby be became informed with the knowledge of the arts of geometry and cosmography, as well as those of astrology and astronomy and mathematics and all that hangs thereby. Then he looked at the earth and saw all minerals and vegetables that are therein and knew their virtues and properties, so that he became in an instant versed in medicine and chemistry and natural magic and the art of making gold and silver.

  When he came to the palace, he went in to the King and kissing the earth before him, said, ‘Thou hast outlived thy Vizier Shemhour.’ The King was sore troubled at the news of the Grand Vizier’s death and wept sore for him, whilst his grandees and officers wept also. Then said Kerezdan, ‘He was with me but now, in all health, and went away to fetch me the flesh of the Queen of the Serpents, if it should be cooked; what befell him, that he is now dead, and what calamity hath betided him?’ So Hasib told him how he had drunk the contents of the phial and had forthwith swelled out and died. The King mourned sore for his loss and said, ‘What shall I do without him?’ ‘Grieve not, O King of the age,’ rejoined Hasib; ‘for I will cure thee in three days and leave no whit of disease in thy body.’ At this the King’s breast dilated and he said, ‘I will well to be made whole of this affliction, though after years.’

  So Hasib set the platter before the King and made him eat a piece of the flesh of the Queen of the Serpents. Then he covered him up and spreading a napkin over his face, bade him sleep. He slept from noon till sundown, when, his stomach having digested the piece of flesh, he awoke. Hasib gave him to drink and bade him sleep again. So he slept till the morning, and on the morrow, Hasib made him eat another piece of the flesh; and thus he did with him three days following, till he had eaten the whole, when his skin began to shrivel up and peel off in scales and he sweated, so that the sweat ran down from his head to his feet. Therewith he became whole and there abode in him no whit of disease, which when Hasib saw, he carried him to the bath and washed his body; and when he came forth, it was like a wand of silver and he was restored to perfect health, nay, sounder than he had ever been.

  So he donned his richest robes and seating himself on his throne, made Hasib sit beside him. Then he called for food, and they ate and drank and washed their hands; after which all his Viziers and Amirs and captains and the grandees of his realm and the chiefs of the people came in to him and gave him joy of his recovery; and they beat the drums and decorated the city in token of rejoicing. Then said the King to the assembly, ‘O Viziers and Amirs and grandees, this is Hasib Kerimeddin, who hath healed me of my sickness, and I make him my chief Vizier in the room of the Vizier Shemhour. He who loves him loves me and he who honours him honours me and he who obeys him obeys me.’ ‘We hear and obey;’ answered they and flocked to kiss Hasib’s hand and give him joy of the Vizierate.

  Then the King bestowed on him a splendid dress of honour of cloth of gold, set with pearls and jewels, the least of which was worth five thousand dinars. Moreover, he gave him three hundred male white slaves and the like number of concubines, as they were moons, and three hundred Abyssinian slave-girls, beside five hundred mules laden with treasure and sheep and oxen and buffaloes and other cattle, beyond count, and commanded all his Viziers and Amirs and grandees and notables and the officers of his household and his subjects in general to bring him gifts.

  Then Hasib took horse and rode, followed by the Viziers and Amirs and grandees and all the troops, to the house which the King had set apart for him, where he sat down on a chair and the Viziers and Amirs came up to him and kissed his hand and gave him joy of the Vizierate, vying with each other in paying court to him. When his mother and household knew what had happened, they rejoiced greatly and congratulated him on his good fortune, and the woodcutters also came and gave him joy. Then he mounted again and riding to the house of the late Vizier, laid hands on all that was therein and transported it to his own abode.

  Thus did Hasib, from a know-nothing, unskilled to read writing, become, by the decree of God the Most High, proficient in all sciences and versed in all manner of knowledge, so that the fame of his learning was blazed abroad in all the land and he became renowned for profound skill in medicine and astronomy and geometry and astrology and alchemy and natural magic and the Cabala and all other arts and sciences.

  One day, he said to his mother, ‘My father Daniel was exceeding wise and learned; tell me what he left by way of books or what not.’ So his mother brought him the chest and taking out the five leaves aforesaid, gave them to him, saying, ‘These five scrolls are all thy father left thee.’ So he read them and said to her, ‘O my mother, these leaves are part of a book. Where is the rest?’ Quoth she, ‘Thy father was shipwrecked a while before thy birth and lost all his books, save these five scrolls.’Then she told him how Daniel had committed them to her care, enjoining her, if she bore a male child, to give them to him, when he grew up and asked what his father had left him. And Hasib abode in all delight and solace of life, till there came to him the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies.

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents
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br />   SINDBAD THE SAILOR AND SINDBAD THE PORTER.

  There lived in the city of Baghdad, in the reign of the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, a porter named Sindbad, a poor man who carried [burdens] on his head for hire. One day of great heat he was carrying a heavy load and what with the heat and the burden, he became exceeding weary and sweated amain. Presently he came to the gate of a merchant’s house, before which the ground was swept and watered, and there the air was temperate. There was a wide bench beside the door; so he set his load thereon, to rest and take breath, and there came out upon him from the porch a pleasant breeze and a delicious fragrance. He sat down on the edge of the bench, to enjoy this, and heard from within the melodious sound of lutes and other stringed instruments and heart-delighting voices singing and reciting all manner verses with clear and goodly speech, together with the song of birds warbling and glorifying God the Most High in various voices and tongues, turtles and mocking-birds and merles and nightingales and cushats and curlews, whereat he marvelled in himself and was moved to great delight.

  Then he went up to the gate and saw within a great garden, wherein were slaves and pages and such a train of servants and attendants and so forth as is only found with kings and sultans, and there was wafted to him the fragrance of all manner rich and delicate meats and generous wines. So he raised his eyes to heaven and said, ‘Glory to Thee, O Lord, O Creator and Provider, who providest whom Thou wilt without stint! O my God, I cry Thee pardon for all sins and repent to Thee of all offences! O Lord, there is no gainsaying Thee in Thine ordinance and Thy dominion, neither wilt Thou be questioned of that Thou dost, for Thou indeed art Almighty, extolled be Thy perfection! Whom Thou wilt Thou makest rich and whom Thou wilt Thou makest poor! Whom Thou wilt Thou exaltest and whom Thou wilt Thou abasest and there is no god but Thou! How great is Thy majesty and how mighty Thy dominion and how excellent Thy governance! Verily, Thou favourest whom Thou wilt of Thy servants, whereby the owner of this place abideth in all delight of life and taketh his ease of pleasant scents and delicious meats and generous wines of all kinds. For indeed Thou appointest unto Thy servants that which Thou wilt and that which Thou hast foreordained unto them; wherefore are some weary and some easeful and some enjoy fair fortune and delight, whilst other some suffer the extreme of travail and misery, even as do I.’ And he recited the following verses:

  How many by my toil, unresting and unstayed, Do joy in pleasant food and cool, delightful shade!

  Indeed, I pass my days in weariness galore; Strange is my case and sore the load upon me laid;

  Whilst others, who ne’er knew a burden like to mine, Delight in fortune fair, untroubled nor dismayed.

  They take their ease of life and eat and drink at Will, With affluence and power by favouring Fate purveyed;

  Yet am I like to these and they are like to me, And of a drop of sperm each living soul is made.

  Natheless. ‘twixt them and me a difference there is, As ‘twere ‘twixt vinegar and wine, when all is said.

  Yet, nowise, O my God, I think to rail at Thee; Thou’rt wise and just Thy sway and none may Thee upbraid.

  When he had made an end of his verses, he took up his burden and was about to fare on, when there came forth the gate to him a little fair-faced page, well-shaped and richly clad, who caught him by the hand, saying, ‘Come in and speak with my lord, for he calls for thee.’ The porter would have excused himself, but the page would take no refusal; so he left his load with the doorkeeper in the vestibule and followed the boy into the house, which he found goodly of ordinance and full of majesty and cheer, till he brought him to a vast and splendid saloon, wherein he saw a company of nobles and great lords, seated, each according to his rank, at tables heaped with all manner flowers and sweet-scented herbs, besides great plenty of rich meats and fruits and confections and wines of the choicest vintages. There also were fair maids, singing and playing upon instruments of music, and in the highest room sat a man of reverend and majestic aspect, whose cheeks hoariness had smitten, and he was well-made and fair of favour, stately of aspect and full of gravity and venerance and dignity.

  The porter was confounded at that which he beheld and said in himself, ‘By Allah, this must be either one of the pavilions of Paradise or some king’s palace!’ Then he saluted the company respectfully, wishing them all kinds of prosperity, and kissing the earth before them, stood in a humble attitude, with his head bowed down. The master of the house bade him draw near and be seated and bespoke him kindly, bidding him welcome. Then he set before him various kinds of rich and delicate meats, and the porter called upon the name of God and ate his fill, after which he exclaimed, ‘Praised be God, come what may!’ and washing his hands, returned thanks to the company for his entertainment. Quoth the host, ‘Thou art welcome and thy day is a blessed one. But what is thy name and condition?’ ‘O my lord,’ answered the other, ‘my name is Sindbad the porter, and I carry folk’s goods on my head for hire.’ The host smiled and rejoined, ‘Know, O porter, that my name is even as thine, for I am Sindbad the Sailor; and now I would have thee repeat to me the verses thou didst recite at the gate but now.’ The porter was abashed and replied, ‘God on thee! Excuse me, for toil and misery and lack of good teach a man ill manners and indiscretion.’ ‘Be not ashamed,’ said the host; ‘thou art become my brother; but repeat to me the verses, for they pleased me, when I heard thee recite them at the gate.’ So the porter repeated the verses and they pleased the merchant, who said to him, ‘Know, O porter, that my story is a wonderful one, and thou shalt hear all that befell me and all I underwent before I won to this state of prosperity and became stablished whereas thou seest me; for I came not to this high estate but after sore travail and great weariness and perils galore, and how much toil and trouble have I not suffered aforetime! Indeed, I have made seven voyages, by each of which hangs a marvellous history, such as confounds the reason, and all this came to pass by the decree of fortune and fore-ordained fate; for there is neither flight nor refuge from that which is written. Know, then, O my lords,’ continued he, turning to his guests, ‘that

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  The First Voyage Of’ Sindbad the Sailor.

  My father was one of the richest and most considerable merchants of my native place and died, whilst I was yet a child, leaving me much wealth in money and lands and houses. When I grew up, I laid hands on the whole and ate and drank freely and wore rich clothes and lived lavishly with my friends and companions of my own age, thinking this way of life would last for ever. Thus did I a great while, till, at last, when I returned to my senses and awoke from my heedlessness, I found my wealth wasted and my case changed, and gone was all I had. At this I was stricken with dismay and confusion and bethought me of a saying of our lord Solomon, son of David (on whom be peace), which I had heard aforetime from my father, “Three things are better than other three; the day of death is better than the day of birth, a live dog than a dead lion and the grave than poverty.” Then I sold the remains of my property and got together three thousand dirhems, with which I resolved to travel to foreign countries, remembering the saying of the poet:

  By sheer endeavour, one winneth to fortune’s height, And he who craveth advancement must watch anight.

  In midmost ocean the seeker of pearls must plunge And so attaineth to wealth and lordship and might;

  And he sans travail who seeketh eminence His life in the quest of vanity wasteth quite.

  So I bought me merchandise and what not else was needed for a seavoyage and embarked, with a company of merchants, on board a ship bound for Bassora. There we took ship again and putting out to sea, sailed days and nights and passed from island to island and ocean to ocean and place to place, buying and selling and bartering every-where, till we came to an island as it were one of the pleasaunces of Paradise. Here the captain cast anchor and making fast to the shore, put out the landing-stage. So all on board landed and made furnaces and lighting fires therein, busied themselves in various w
ays, some cooking and some washing, whilst other some walked about the island for their pleasure and the rest fell to eating and drinking and making merry. I was one of those who explored the place, but, as we were thus variously engaged, behold, the captain cried out to us from the deck at the top of his voice, saying, “Ho, passengers, flee for your lives and leave your gear and hasten back to the ship and save yourselves from destruction, God preserve you! For this is no island, but a great fish stationary in the midst of the sea, on which the sand has settled and trees have sprung up of old time, so that it is become like unto an island; but, when we lighted fires on it, it felt the heat and moved; and presently it will sink with you into the sea and ye will all be drowned. So leave your gear and save yourselves ere ye perish!”

  When we heard the captain’s warning, we left our gear and fled back to the ship for our lives and some reached it; but, before the rest, of whom I was one, could do so, the island shook and sank into the abysses of the deep, with all that were thereon, and the surging sea closed over it with its clashing billows. I sank with the others, but God the Most High preserved me from drowning and threw in my way a great wooden tub of those that had served the ship’s company for washing. I gripped it for dear life and bestriding it, paddled with my feet, whilst the waves sported with me right and left. Meanwhile the captain made sail and departed with those who had reached the ship, regardless of the drowning men, and I followed the vessel with my eyes, till she disappeared from sight and I looked for nothing but death.