One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Presently, he espied ten birds making for the pavilion from the direction of the desert, and knew that they were bound for the pool, to drink of its waters: so he hid himself lest they should see him and fly from him. They lighted on a great and goodly tree and circled round about it; and he saw amongst them an exceeding great and beautiful bird, the goodliest of them all, and the rest encompassed it and did it worship; whilst it pecked them with its bill and flouted them, and they fled from it. Then they entered the pavilion and perched on the couch; after which each bird rent open its skin with its claws and came forth therefrom; and behold, it was but a garment of feathers, and there came forth therefrom ten maidens, whose beauty shamed the lustre of the moon. They all put off their clothes and plunging into the pool, washed and fell to playing and sporting with one another; whilst the chief of them threw the others down and ducked them, and they fled from her and dared not put out their hands to her.

  When Hassan beheld her thus, he took leave of his wits and his reason was enslaved, and he knew that the princess had not forbidden him to open the door, save by reason of this; for he fell passionately in love with her, for what he saw of her beauty and grace and symmetry, as she played and sported and splashed the others with the water. His mind was amazed at her beauty and his heart taken in the snare of her love; fires were loosed in his heart for her sake and there waxed on him a flame, whose raging might not be quenched, and desire, whose signs might not be hidden. So he stood, looking upon them, whilst they saw him not, with eye gazing and heart burning and soul prompting to evil; and he sighed to be with them and wept for longing, because of the beauty and grace of the chief damsel.

  Presently, they came up out of the pools whilst Hassan marvelled at their beauty and loveliness and the grace and elegance of their movements. Then he cast a glance at the chief damsel and there was manifest to him what was between her thighs, a goodly rounded dome, like a bowl of silver or crystal, which recalled to him the saying of the Poet:

  When I took up her shift and discovered the terrace-roof of her kaze, I found it as strait as my humour or eke my worldly ways:

  I thrust it, incontinent, in, halfway, and she heaved a sigh. “For What dost thou sigh?” quoth I. “For the rest of it sure,” she says.

  Then they all put on their dresses and ornaments, and the chief maiden donned a green dress, wherein she excelled all the fair ones of the world for loveliness and the lustre of her face outshone the resplendent full moons: she outdid the branches with the grace of her swaying gait and confounded the wit with apprehension of disdain; and indeed she was as saith the poet:

  A damsel lithe and slim and full of agile grace; Thou’dst deem the very sun had borrowed from her face.

  She came in robes of green, the likeness of the leaf That the pomegranate’s flower doth in the bud encase.

  “How call’st thou this thy dress?” asked we, and she replied A word wherein the wise a lesson well might trace.

  “Breaker of Hearts,” quoth she, “I call it; for therewith I’ve broken many a heart among the amorous race.”

  Then they sat talking and laughing, whilst he stood gazing on them, drowned in the sea of passion and wandering in the valley of melancholy thought. And he said in himself, ‘By Allah, my sister forbade me not to open the door, but because of these maidens and lest I should fall in love with one of them!’ And he continued to gaze on the charms of the chief damsel, who was the loveliest creature God had made in her time, and indeed she outdid all mortals in beauty. She had a mouth like Solomon’s seal and hair blacker than the night of estrangement to the despairing lover; her forehead was as the new moon of the Feast of Ramazan and her eyes were like unto gazelles’ eyes. She had a polished aquiline nose and cheeks like blood-red anemones, lips like coral and teeth like strung pearls in carcanets of virgin gold and a neck like an ingot of silver, above a shape like a willow-wand. Her belly was full of folds and dimples, such as enforce the distracted lover to magnify God and extol Him therefor, and her navel held an ounce of musk, most sweet of savour. She had thighs great and plump, like columns of marble or bolsters stuffed with ostrich- down, and between them somewhat as it were a great hummock or a hare with ears laid back; and indeed she surpassed the willow-wand and the bamboo-cane with her beauty and symmetry, for she was even as saith the poet of her:

  There came a lovely maid, whose mouth did dews like honey bear, Yea, and her glances keener far than Indian sabres were.

  She put the willow-wand to shame with graceful swaying gait; The lightning from her teeth did flash, whenas she smiled, my fair.

  Her cheeks I likened to the rose in blossom; but she laughed In scorn and answered, “He who to the rose doth me compare

  And eke pomegranates with my breasts likeness, hath he no shame? How should pomegranates branches have, my breasts for fruit that wear?

  Now, by my grace, my eyes, my soul, ay, and the paradise Of my possession and the hell of my disdain, I swear,

  If he to these comparisons return, I will my grace To him deny, nor with my scorn to blast him will I spare!

  They say, ‘A rose in garth a-bloom [is she;]’ but, nay, its flower Is not my cheek nor yet its branch my shape so straight and rare.

  If in the gardens of his land the like of me there be, Why then, in quest thereof, forsooth, doth he to me repair?”

  They ceased not to laugh and play, whilst Hassan stood watching them, forgetting meat and drink, till near the hour of afternoon-prayer, when the chief damsel said to her mates, ‘O kings’ daughters, it grows late and our country is distant and we have had enough of this place. Come, therefore, let us depart to our own place.’ So they put on their feather vests, and becoming birds as before, flew away all together, with the chief damsel in their midst. Then Hassan, despairing of their return, would have arisen and gone away, but could not move; wherefore the tears ran down his cheeks and passion was sore on him and he recited the following verses:

  May I be denied the fulfilment o’ the troth that to me thou didst plight, If, since you departed and left me, I’ve tasted of slumber’s delight!

  Mine eyes, since the days of your parting, have never been shut in repose, Nor, since you forsook me, hath slumber been pleasant or sweet to my spright.

  Meseemeth, indeed, that I see you, bytimes, in illusions of sleep: Ah would that the visions were real we see in the dreams of the night!

  Indeed, I’m desirous of slumber, I crave after sleep, without need, So haply, therein, with the loved one a dream may the lover unite.

  Then he walked on, little by little, heeding not how he went, till he reached the foot of the stirs, whence he dragged himself to his own chamber and shutting the door, lay there, sick and drowned in the sea of his solicitude, eating not nor drinking. He passed the night thus, weeping and bemoaning himself, till the morning, when he repeated the following verses:

  The birds took wing at nightfall and far away did fly, And whoso dies of passion, no blame on him may lie.

  I’ll keep love’s tidings secret, what while I keep it may; But, if fierce longing conquer, ‘twill out unto the spy.

  A loved one’s image haunts me, whose face is like the moon, Anights; there comes no morning, for passion. in my sky.

  I mourn for my beloved, what while the heart-free sleep, And all the winds of passion their sports upon me ply.

  I lavish tears and riches and soul and wit and life; For lavishness is profit in love, as well know I.

  The foulest of all evils and woes that may betide Is when a man disfavour from fair ones must aby.

  They say that to show favour’s forbidden to the fair And that their blood ’tis lawful to shed for love that sigh;

  And so unto the lovesick, for alt resource, remains His life for love to lavish, in jest, and jesting die.

  I cry aloud, distracted with longing for my love; For all the lover’s effort is weeping and outcry.

  When the sun rose, he went forth of the chamber and ascending to the roof, sat down before the pavilion a
nd awaited the return of the birds, till nightfall; but they came not; wherefore he wept till he fell down in a swoon. When he came to himself he dragged himself down the stairs to his chamber; and indeed, the night was come and the whole world was straitened upon him and he ceased not to weep and bemoan himself, till the day broke and the sun rose over hill and plain. He ate not nor drank nor slept, nor was there any rest for him; but by day he was distracted and by night wakeful, delirious and drunken with melancholy and excess of passion. And he repeated the verses of the poet El Welhan:

  Thou that confoundest outright the sun of the morning, heigho! That puttest the branches to shame, though wherefore thou dost not know,

  I wonder if fortune and time will ever vouchsafe thy return And will the fires ever be quenched for aye in my bosom that glow?

  And will the days ever on me, to hold thee embraced in mine arms, Cheek to cheek, breast to breast, at the hour of meeting and union, bestow?

  Who saith there is sweetness in Love? I warrant, he lieth, for lo! In Love there are bitterer days, believe me, than aloes can show.

  As he abode thus in the stress of his love-distraction, alone and finding none to cheer him with company, there arose a cloud of dust from the desert, wherefore he knew that the princesses had returned and ran down and hid himself. Before long, the troops halted round the palace and the seven princesses alighted and entering, put off their arms and harness. As for the youngest, she stayed not to doff her armour, but went straight to Hassan’s chamber, where finding him not, she sought for him till she lighted on him in one of the cabinets, thin and feeble, with wasted bones and emaciated body; and indeed his colour was changed and his eyes sunken for lack of food and much weeping, by reason of his love and longing for the damsel. When she saw him in this plight, she was confounded and [well-nigh] lost her wits [for amazement]; and she questioned him of his case and what had befallen him, saying, ‘Tell me what ails thee, O my brother, that I may cast about to do away thine affliction, and I will be thy ransom.’ Whereupon he wept sore and answered her with these verses:

  Whenas a lover from his love to sever Fate hath wrought; For him saw weariness and woe and misery there’s nought.

  Within him sickness is, without is burning fire of love: His first is memory, his last is melancholy thought.

  When she heard this, she marvelled at his eloquence and ready wit and goodliness of speech and at his answering her in verse and said to him, ‘O my brother, when didst thou fall into this case and what hath befallen thee, that I find thee speaking in verse and shedding plenteous tears? I conjure thee by Allah, O my brother, by the love that is between us, tell me what ails thee and discover thy secret to me, nor hide from me aught of that which hath befallen thee in our absence; for my breast is straitened and my life troubled on thine account.’ He sighed and shed tears like rain, after which he said, ‘O my sister, I fear, if I tell thee, that thou will not help me to my desire, but wilt leave me to perish miserably in my anguish.’ ‘No, by Allah, O my brother,’ answered she, ‘I will not abandon thee, though it cost me my life!’

  So he told her all that had befallen him in her absence and that the cause of his distress and affliction was the passion he had conceived for the damsel whom he had seen, when he opened the forbidden door, and how he had not tasted meat nor drink for ten days past. Then he wept sore and recited the following verses:

  Restore the heart as it used to be to the bosom and the lids Give back again to sleep and then forsake me, an ye list.

  Do ye pretend that the nights have changed the covenant of love? May he [or she] who would change be held unworthy to exist!

  The princess wept for his weeping and was moved to compassion for him; so she said to him, ‘O my brother, take comfort and be of good cheer, for I will venture my life to content thee and contrive thee a device wherewith thou mayst get possession of her and accomplish thy desire, if it be the will of God, though it cost me my life and all I hold dear. But I charge thee keep the matter secret and discover not thy case to any of my sisters, lest we both lose our lives. If they question thee of the forbidden door, answer them, “I opened it not, being troubled at heart for your absence and my loneliness here and yearning for you.”’ And he replied, ‘Yes: this is the right course.’ So he kissed her head and his heart was comforted and his bosom dilated, and his life returned to him, after he had been nigh upon death for excess of affright, for he had gone in fear of her by reason of his having opened the forbidden door.

  Then he sought food of her [and she set it before him]; after which she left him and went in to her sisters, weeping and mourning for him. They questioned her of her case and she told them how she was heavy at heart for her brother, for that he was sick and for ten days no food had entered his stomach. So they enquired the cause of his sickness and she said, ‘The cause was our absence from him and our leaving him desolate; for these days we have been absent from him were longer to him than a thousand years, and no wonder, seeing he is a stranger, and solitary and we left him alone, with none to company with him or cheer his heart; more by token that he is but a youth and it is like he called to mind his family and his mother, who is an old woman, and bethought him that she weeps for him all tides of the day and watches of the night; and we used to solace him with our society and divert him from thinking of her.’

  When her sisters heard this, they wept in the excess of their sorrow for him and said, “Fore Allah, he is excusable!’ Then they went out to the troops and dismissed them after which they went in to Hassan and saluted him. When they saw him in sorry case, with his colour paled and his body wasted, they wept for very pity and sat with him and comforted him and cheered him with discourse, relating to him all the wonders and rarities they had seen by the way and what had befallen the bridegroom with the bride. They abode with him thus a whole month, soothing and caressing him; but every day sickness was added to his sickness, which when they saw, they wept sore for him, and the youngest more than any of them.

  At the end of this time, the princesses were minded to ride forth a-hunting and invited their sister to accompany them; but she said, ‘By Allah, O my sisters, I cannot go forth with you, whilst my brother is in this plight. Rather will I sit with him and comfort him, till he be restored to health and there cease from him that which is with him of affliction.’ They thanked her for her humanity and said to her, ‘God will requite thee all thou dost with this stranger.’ Then they rode forth, taking with them twenty days’ victual; and as soon as the youngest princess knew that they were far from the palace, she went in to Hassan and said to him, ‘Come, show me where thou sawest the maidens.’ He rejoiced in her words, making sure of attaining his desire, and answered, ‘In the name of God! On my head!’ Then he essayed to rise and show her the place, but could not walk; so she took him in her arms, and opening the staircase door, carried him up to the top of the palace, and he showed her the pavilion and the pool of water, where he had seen the girls.

  Then she said to him, ‘O my brother, set forth to me their case and how they came.’ So he described them to her and especially the damsel of whom he was enamoured; whereupon she knew her and her colour changed and she was troubled. ‘O my sister,’ quoth he, ‘what ails thee to change color and be troubled?’ And she answered, ‘Know, O my brother, that this damsel is the daughter of one of the most puissant kings of the Jinn, and her father hath dominion over men and Jinn and wizards and diviners and tribesmen and guards and countries and islands and cities galore and hath wealth in plenty. Our father is one of his vassals and none can avail against him, for the multitude of his troops and the vastness of his empire and his much wealth. He hath assigned to his daughters a tract of country, a whole year’s journey in length and breadth, compassed about with a great river; and thereto none may win, nor man nor genie. He hath an army of women, smiters with swords and thrusters with spears, five-and-twenty thousand in number, each of whom, whenas she mounteth her charger and donneth her battle-harness, is a match for a thousand stout
horsemen. Moreover, he hath seven daughters, who equal and even excel their sisters in valour and prowess, and the eldest of them, the damsel whom thou sawest, he hath made queen over the country aforesaid. She is the wisest of her sisters and excels all the folk of her dominions in valour and horsemanship and craft and skill in magic. The damsels thou sawest with her are her guards and favourites and the grandees of her empire, and the feathered skins wherewith they fly are the handiwork of enchanters of the Jinn.

  Now they resort to this place on the first day of each month; so, if thou wouldst get possession of this princess and unique jewel and enjoy her beauty and grace, do thou pay heed to my words and keep them in thy memory. Thou must sit here and watch for them; and when thou seest them coming, do thou hide near the pavilion, whereas thou mayst see them, without being seen of them, and beware lest thou show thyself or we shall all lose our lives. When they put off their clothes, note which is the feather-suit of the princess, her of whom thou art enamoured, and take it, and it only, for this it is that carries her to her country, and when thou hast it, thou hast her. And beware lest she beguile thee, saying, “O thou who hast stolen my dress, restore it to me, for I am here in thine hands and at thy mercy!! For, if thou give it her, she will kill thee and break down the palace over our heads and slay our father. Know then thy case and how thou shalt do. When her companions see that her feather-suit is stolen, they will leave her and fly away, and beware lest thou show thyself to them, but wait till they have flown away and she despaireth of them: whereupon do thou go in to her and seize her by the hair of her head and drag her to thee; which being done, she will be at thy mercy. Then carry her down to thy chamber and I rede thee discover not to her that thou hast taken the feather-suit, but keep it with care; for, so long as thou hast it, she is thy prisoner and in thy power, seeing that she cannot fly to her country save with it.’