One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  He agreed to this and ate and drank; after which he said, ‘I am of the people of Medina and I went forth one day a-pleasuring with my friends and following the road to El Akic, saw a company of girls and amongst them a damsel as she were a branch pearled with dew, with eyes whose glances stole away his soul who looked on them. They rested in the shade till the end of the day, when they went away, leaving in my heart wounds slow to heal. I returned [next day], to seek news of her, but found none who could tell me of her; so I sought her in the streets and markets, but could come on no trace of her; wherefore I fell ill of grief and told my case to one of my kinsmen, who said to me, “No harm shall befall thee: the days of spring are not yet past and by and by it will rain, whereupon she will go forth, and I will go out with thee, and do thou thy will.” His words comforted my heart and I waited till El Akic ran [with water], when I went forth with my friends and kinsmen and sat in the same place as before. We had not sat long before up came the women, like horses running for a wager; and I said to a girl of my kindred, “Say to yonder damsel, ‘Quoth yonder man to thee, “He did well who said:

  She shot a shaft at me that pierced my bosom through and through Then turned away and by that act did wound and scars renew.” ‘“

  So she went to her and repeated my words, to which she replied, saying, “Tell him that he said well who answered thus:

  ‘There is with us the like of that whereof thou dost complain: Patience belike, to heal our hearts relief shall soon ensue.’”

  I refrained from further speech for fear of scandal and rose to go away. She rose at my rising, and I followed and she looked back at me, till she saw I had noted her abode. Then she began to come to me and I to go to her, so that we foregathered and met often, till the thing was noised abroad and grew notorious and her father came to know it. However, I ceased not to do my endeavour to meet her and complained of my case to my father, who assembled our kindred and repaired to her father, to ask her in marriage for me. But her father said, “Had this been proposed to me before he dishonoured her, I would have consented; but now the thing is notorious and I am loath to verify the saying of the folk.”’

  Then (continues Ibrahim) I repeated the air to him and he went away, after having acquainted me with his abode, and we became friends. Now I was devoted to the Barmecides; so next time Jaafer ben Yehya sat [to receive visits], I attended, as of my wont, and sang to him the young man’s verses. They pleased him and he drank some cups of wine and said, ‘Out on thee! Whose song is that?’ So I told him the young man’s story and he bade me ride to him and give him assurance of the attainment of his desire. Accordingly I fetched him to Jaafer, who asked him to repeat his story. He did so and Jaafer said, ‘Trust me, I will marry thee to her.’ So his heart was comforted and he abode with us.

  On the morrow, Jaafer mounted and went in to Er Reshid, to whom he related the story. The Khalif was pleased with it and sending for the young man and myself, commanded me to repeat the air and drank thereto. Then he wrote to the governor of the Hejaz, bidding him send the girl’s father and his household to his court in honourable fashion and spare no expense for their outfit. So, in a little while, they came and the Khalif, sending for the man, commanded him to marry his daughter to her lover; after which he gave him a hundred thousand dinars, and the man returned to his people. As for the young man, he abode one of Jaafer’s boon-companions, till there happened what happened; whereupon he returned with his household to Medina, may God the Most High have mercy upon all their souls!

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  EL MELIK EN NASIR AND HIS VIZIER

  There was given to Abou Aamir ben Merwan, Vizier [to El Melik en Nasir of Egypt], a boy of the Christians, than whom never fell eyes on a handsomer. En Nasir saw him and said to the Vizier, ‘Whence comes this boy?’ ‘From God,’ answered Abou Aamir; whereupon, ‘Wilt thou fright us with stars,’ quoth the King, ‘and captive us with moons?’ Abou Aamir excused himself to him and making up a present, sent it to him with the boy, to whom he said, ‘Be thou part of the present: were it not of necessity, my soul had not consented to give thee away.’ And he wrote with him these verses:

  Behold the full moon, O my lord, that cometh to thy sky; For none, that heaven than earth of moons is worthier, may deny.

  My soul, to pleasure thee, I give, nor ever yet of one, His soul to pleasure one who gave, before myself, heard I.

  The thing pleased En Nasir and he requited him with much treasure and the Vizier became high in favour with him. After this, a slave-girl, one of the loveliest women in the world, was presented to the Vizier, and he feared lest this should come to the King’s ears and he desire her, and the like should happen as with the boy. So he made up a present still costlier than the first and sent it with her to the King, together with these verses:

  My lord, the very sun is this; the moon thou hadst before: So now these planets twain shall meet and glitter side by side;

  A combination presaging fair fortune to my life. Do thou with them in all delight of Paradise abide;

  For they, by Allah, have no third in beauty nor hast thou A second dominion in all the world so wide.

  Wherefore his credit redoubled with En Nasir; but after awhile, one of his enemies maligned him to the King, alleging that there still lurked in him desire for the boy and that he ceased not to lust after him, whenever the North wind moved him, and to gnash his teeth for that he had given him away. Quoth the King, ‘Wag not thou thy tongue at him, or I will cut off thy head.’ However, he wrote Abou Aamir a letter, as from the boy, to the following effect: ‘O my lord, thou knowest that thou wast all and one to me and that I never ceased from delight with thee. Albeit I am with the Sultan, yet would I choose rather solitude with thee, but that I fear the King’s mischief: wherefore contrive thou to demand me of him.’ This letter he sent to Abou Aamir by a little page, whom he enjoined to say, ‘This is from such an one: the King never speaks to him.’ When the Vizier read the letter and heard the cheating message, he smelt a rat and wrote on the back of the scroll the following lines:

  After experience’s laws, doth it become a man Of sense unto the lion’s lair his steps foolwise to bend?

  I’m none of those whose reason love and passion overcrow; Nor am I ignorant of that the envious do pretend.

  Wert thou my soul, I gave thee up obediently, and now Shall soul, from body sundered, back again thereunto wend ?

  When En Nasir knew of this answer, he marvelled at the Vizier’s quickness of wit and would never again lend ear to any insinuation against him. Then said he to him, ‘How didst thou escape falling into the snare?’ And he answered, saying, ‘Because my reason is unentangled in the toils of passion.’

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE ROGUERIES OF DELILEH THE CRAFTY AND HER DAUGHTER ZEYNEB THE TRICKSTRESS.

  There lived in the Khalifate of Haroun er Reshid two men named Ahmed ed Denef and Hassan Shouman, past masters in trick and cunning, who had done rare things in their time; wherefore the Khalif invested them with dresses of honour and made them captains of the watch for Baghdad, Ahmed of the right hand and Hassan of the left hand. Moreover, to Ahmed he committed the ward of [the district] without [the city walls] and appointed each of them a stipend of a thousand dinars a month and forty men to be at their commandment. So Ahmed and Hassan went forth in company of the Amir Khalid, the Master of Police, attended each by his forty followers on horseback and preceded by the crier, proclaiming aloud and saying, ‘By order of the Khalif, none is captain of the watch of the right hand but Ahmed ed Denef and none is captain of the watch of the left hand but Hassan Shouman, and it behoveth all to give ear to their word and pay them respect.’

  Now there was in the city an old woman called Delileh the Crafty, who had a daughter by name Zeyneb the Trickstress. They heard the proclamation aforesaid and Zeyneb said to her mother, ‘O my mother, see yonder fellow, Ahmed ed Denef. He came hither from Cairo, a fugitive,
and played the double-dealer in Baghdad till he foisted himself into the Khalif’s favour and is now become captain of the watch of the right hand, whilst that mangy knave Hassan Shouman is captain of the left hand, and each has a monthly wage of a thousand dinars and a table spread morning and evening, whilst we abide unemployed and neglected in this house, without estate and without honour, and have none to ask of us.’

  Now Delileh was a past mistress in all manner of craft and trickery and double-dealing; she could wile the very serpents out of their holes and Iblis himself might have learnt deceit of her. Her father had been governor of the carrier-pigeons to the Khalif and used to rear them to carry letters and messages, wherefore each bird in time of need was dearer to the Khalif than one of his sons; and in this capacity he had a stipend of a thousand dinars a month. Moreover, her husband had been town captain of Baghdad and had a monthly wage from the Khalif of a thousand dinars; but he died, leaving two daughters, one of whom was married and had a son, by name Ahmed el Lekit, and the other, Zeyneb, unmarried. So Zeyneb said to her mother, ‘Up and play off some trick that may make us notorious in Baghdad, so haply we may get our father’s stipends for ourselves.’ ‘As thy head liveth, O my daughter,’ answered the old woman, ‘I will play off such rogueries in Baghdad as never did Ahmed ed Denef nor Hassan Shouman!’

  So saying, she rose and bound her face with the chinveil and donned clothes such as the Soufi Fakirs wear, trousers of white wool falling over her heels, and a gown of the like stuff and a broad girdle. Moreover, she took an ewer and filled it to the neck with water; after which she set three dinars in the mouth and stopped it up with palm fibre. Then she threw round her neck a rosary as big as a load of firewood and taking in her hand a flag, made of parti-coloured rags, red and yellow and green, went out, saying, ‘Allah! Allah!’ with tongue celebrating the praises of God, whilst her heart galloped in the race-course of abominations, seeking how she might play some sharping trick in the town. She fared on from street to street, till she came to an alley swept and watered and paved with marble, where she saw a vaulted gateway, with a threshold of alabaster, and a Moorish porter standing at the door, which was of sandal-wood, plated with brass and furnished with a ring of silver.

  Now this house belonged to the Chief of the Khalif’s Ushers, a man of great wealth in lands and houses and stipends, and he was called the Amir Hassan Sherr et Teric for that his blow forewent his word. He was married to a handsome girl, whom he loved and who had made him swear, on the night of his going in to her, that he would take none other to wife nor lie abroad from her a night. One day, he went to the Divan and saw that each Amir had with him a son or two. Then he entered the bath and looking at his face in the mirror, saw that the white hairs in his beard outnumbered the black and said in himself, ‘Will not He who took thy father vouchsafe thee a son?’ So he went in to his wife, in an angry mood, and she said to him, ‘Good-even to thee.’ ‘Away from my sight!’ answered he. ‘From the day I saw thee I have seen nothing of good.’ ‘How so?’ asked she. Quoth he, ‘On the night of my going in to thee, thou madest me swear to take no other wife than thee, and to-day I have seen each Amir with a son and some with two. So I bethought me of death and called to mind that I had been blessed with neither son nor daughter and that he who leaves no male child is not remembered. This, then, is the reason of my anger, for thou art barren and conceivest not by me.’ ‘The name of God be upon thee!’ answered she. ‘Indeed, I have worn out the mortars with beating wool and pounding drugs, and I am not to blame; the fault of my barrenness is with thee, for that thou art a snub-nosed mule and thy sperm is thin and impregnateth not neither getteth children.’ Quoth he, ‘When I return from my journey, I will take another wife.’ And she said, ‘My portion is with God!’ Then he went out from her and each of them repented of the sharp words spoken to the other.

  As the Amir’s wife looked forth of her lattice, as she were a bride of the treasures, for the jewellery upon her, Delileh espied her and seeing her clad in costly clothes and ornaments, said to herself, ‘O Delileh, it would be a rare trick to entice yonder young lady from her husband’s house and strip her of all her clothes and jewels and make off with them!’ So she took up her stand under the windows of the Amir’s house, and fell to calling aloud upon the name of God and saying, ‘Be present, O ye friends of God!’ Whereupon all the women of the street looked from their lattices and seeing the old woman clad, after the Soufi manner, in clothes of white wool, as she were a pavilion of light, said, ‘God vouchsafe us a blessing by the intermission of this pious old woman, from whose face issueth light!’ And Khatoun, the wife of the Amir Hassan, wept and said to her maid, ‘Go down and kiss the hand of Sheikh Abou Ali, the porter, and say to him, “ Let yonder pious old woman enter, so haply we may get a blessing of her.”’ So she went down to the porter and kissing his hand, said to him, ‘Quoth my mistress to thee, “Let yonder pious old woman come in to her, so she may get a blessing of her;” and belike her benediction may extend to us likewise.’ Accordingly, he went up to Delileh and kissed her hand, but she forbade him, saying, ‘Away from me, lest my ablution be avoided! Thou, also, O Abou Ali, art absorbed [in the contemplation of the Deity,] one of the elect of God and under His especial guardianship. Verily, He shall deliver thee from this servitude.’

  Now the Amir owed the porter three months’ wage and he was straitened for want thereof, but knew not how to recover it from him; so he said to the old woman, ‘O my mother, give me to drink from thy pitcher, so I may have a blessing through thee.’ So she took the pitcher from her shoulder and waved it in the air, so that the stopper flew out and the three diners fell to the ground. The porter saw them and picked them up, saying in himself, ‘Glory to God! This old woman is one of the saints that have hidden treasures at their commandment! It hath been revealed to her that I am in want of money; so she hath conjured me these three diners out of the air.’ Then said he to her, ‘O my aunt, take these three diners that fell from thy pitcher.’ ‘Away with them from me!’ answered she. ‘I am of the folk that occupy not themselves with the things of the world. Take them and use them for thine own benefit, in lieu of those the Amir owes thee.’ Quoth he, ‘Glory to Allah for succour! This is of the chapter of revelation!’

  Then the maid accosted her and kissing her hands; carried her up to her mistress, whom she found as she were a treasure, whose guardian spells had been done away; and Khatoun bade her welcome and kissed her hand. ‘O my daughter,’ said Delileh, ‘I come not to thee but by God’s [especial] advertisement.’ Then Khatoun set food before her; but she said, ‘O my daughter, I eat but of the food of Paradise and fast continually, breaking my fast but five days in the year. But I see thee troubled and desire that thou tell me the cause of thy trouble.’ ‘O my mother,’ answered Khatoun, ‘I made my husband swear, on my wedding-night, that he would take none other than me to wife, and he saw others with children and longed for them and said to me, “ Thou art barren.” And I answered, “ Thou art a mule that begetteth not.” Whereupon he left me in anger, saying, “When I come back from my journey, I will take another wife.” So, O my mother, I fear lest he put me away and take another wife, for he hath houses and lands and stipends galore, and if he have children by another, they will possess the property from me.’ ‘O my daughter,’ said Delileh, ‘knowest thou not of my master, the Sheikh Abouihemlat, whom if a debtor visit, God quiteth him his debt, and if a barren woman, she conceiveth?’ ‘O my mother,’ answered Khatoun, ‘since the day of my wedding, I have not gone forth the house, no, not even to pay visits of congratulation or condolence.’ Quoth the old woman, ‘I will carry thee to him and do thou cast thy burden on him and make a vow to him; so peradventure, when thy husband returns from his journey, he will lie with thee and thou shalt conceive by him and bear a girl or a boy: but, be it male or female, it shall be a dervish of the Sheikh Aboulhemlat.’

  So Khatoun rose and arraying herself in her richest clothes, donned all her jewellery and said to her maid, ‘Keep
thou an eye on the house.’ And she said, ‘I hear and obey, O my lady.’ Then she went down and the porter met her and said to her, ‘Whither away, O my lady?’ ‘I go to visit the Sheikh Aboulhemlat,’ answered she; and he said, ‘Be a year’s fast incumbent on me! Verily yon old woman is of the saints of God and full of holiness! Moreover, O my lady, she hath hidden treasure at her commandment, for she gave me three diners of red gold and divined my case, without my asking her, and knew that I was needy.’ Then the old woman went out with Khatoun, saying to her, ‘God willing, O my daughter, when thou hast visited the Sheikh Aboulhemlat, there shall betide thee solace of soul and by God’s leave thou shalt conceive, and thy husband shall love thee by the blessing of the Sheikh and shall never again say a despiteful word to thee.’ Quoth Khatoun, ‘I will go with thee to him, O my mother!’ But Delileh said in herself, ‘Where shall I strip her and take her clothes and jewellery, with the folk coming and going?’ Then she said to her, ‘O my daughter, walk thou behind me, within sight of me, for thy mother is a woman sorely burthened; every one who hath a burden casteth it on me and all who have pious offerings to make give them to me and kiss my hand.’

  So the lady followed her at a distance, whilst her anklets tinkled and the coins and ornaments plaited in the tresses of her hair clinked as she went, till they reached the bazaar of the merchants. Presently, they came to the shop of a young merchant, by name Sidi Hassan, who had no hair on his face and was very handsome. He saw the lady coming and fell to casting stolen glances at her, which when the old woman saw, she beckoned to her and said, ‘Sit down in this shop, till I return to thee.’ So Khatoun sat down before the shop of the young merchant, who cast one glance at her, that cost him a thousand sighs. Then the old woman accosted him and saluted him, saying, ‘Is not thy name Sidi Hassan,son of the merchant Muhsin?’ ‘Yes,’ answered he; ‘who told thee my name?’ Quoth she, ‘Folk of repute directed me to thee. Know that this young lady is my daughter and her father was a merchant, who died and left her much good. She is come of marriageable age and the wise say, “ Offer thy daughter in marriage and not thy son; “ and all her life she hath not come forth the house till this day. Now I have had a divine advertisement and it hath been commanded me in secret to marry her to thee; so, if thou art poor, I will give thee capital and will open thee two shops, instead of one.’