One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Hasib Karim al-Din saw the flagstone with the ring, he was glad and called his comrades the woodcutters, who came to him and, finding it was fact, soon pulled up the stone and discovered under it a trap-door, which, being opened, showed a cistern full of bees’ honey.510 Then said they to one another, “This is a large store and we have nothing for it but to return to the city and fetch vessels wherein to carry away the honey, and sell it and divide the price, whilst one of us stands by the cistern, to guard it from outsiders.” Quoth Hasib, “I will stay and keep watch over it till you bring your pots and pans.” So they left him on guard there and, repairing to the city, fetched vessels, which they filled with honey and loading their asses therewith, carried them to the streets and sold the contents. They returned on the morrow and thus they did several days in succession, sleeping in the town by night and drawing off the stuff by day, whilst Hasib abode on guard by it till but little remained, when they said one to other, “It was Hasib Karim al-Din found the honey, and tomorrow he will come down to the city and complain against us and claim the price of it, saying, Twas I found it;’ nor is there escape for us but that we let him down into the cistern, to bale out the rest of the honey, and leave him there; so will he die of hunger, and none shall know of him.” They all fell in with this plot as they were making for the place; and, when they reached it, one said to him, “O Hasib, go down into the pit and bale out for us the rest of the honey.” So he went down and passed up to them what remained of the honey, after which he said to them, “Draw me up, for there is nothing left.” They made him no answer; but, loading their asses, went off to the city and left him alone in the cistern. Thereupon he fell to weeping and crying, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” Such was his case; but as regards his comrades, when they reached the city and sold the honey, they repaired to Hasib’s mother, weeping, and said to her, “May thy head outlive thy son Hasib!” She asked, “What brought about his death?” and they answered, “We were cutting wood on the mountain- top, when there fell on us a heavy downfall of rain and we took shelter from it in a cavern; and suddenly thy son’s ass broke loose and fled into the valley, and he ran after it, to turn it back, when there came out upon them a great wolf, who tore thy son in pieces and ravined the ass.” When the mother heard this, she beat her face and strewed dust on her head and fell to mourning for her son; and she kept life and soul together only by the meat and drink which they brought her every day. As for the woodcutters they opened them shops and became merchants and spent their lives in eating and drinking and laughing and frolicking. Meanwhile Hasib Karim al-Din, who ceased not to weep and call for help, sat down upon the cistern edge when behold, a great scorpion fell down on him; so he rose and killed it. Then he took thought and said, “The cistern was full of honey; how came this scorpion here?” Accordingly he got up and examined the well right and left, till he found a crevice from which the scorpion had fallen and saw the light of day shining through it. So he took out his woodman’s knife and enlarged the hole, till it was big as a window, then he crept through it and, after walking for some time, came to a vast gallery, which led him to a huge door of black iron bearing a padlock of silver wherein was a key of gold. He stole up to the door and, looking through the chink, saw a great light shining within; so he took the key and, opening the door, went on for some time, till he came to a large artificial lake, wherein he caught sight of something that shimmered like silver. He walked up to it and at last he saw, hard by a hillock of green jasper and on the hill top, a golden throne studded with all manner gems, — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

  When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-fifth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Hasib reached the hillock he found it of green jasper surmounted by a golden throne studded with all manner gems, round which were set many stools, some of gold, some of silver and others of leek green emerald. He clomb the hillock and, counting the stools, found them twelve thousand in number; then he mounted the throne which was set on the centre and, seating himself thereon, fell to wondering at the lake and the stools, and he marvelled till drowsiness overcame him and he drops asleep. Presently, he was aroused by a loud snorting and hissing and rustling, so he opened his eyes; and, sitting up, saw each stool occupied by a huge serpent, an hundred cubits in length. At this sight, great fear get hold of him; his spittle dried up for the excess of his dread and he despaired of life, as all their eyes were blazing like live coals. Then he turned towards the lake and saw that what he had taken for shimmering water was a multitude of small snakes, none knoweth their compt save Allah the Most High. After awhile, there came up to him a serpent as big as a mule, bearing on its back a tray of gold, wherein lay another serpent which shone like crystal and whose face was as that of a woman511 and who spake with human speech. And as soon as she was brought up to Hasib, she saluted him and he returned the salutation. There upon, one of the serpents seated on the stools came up and, lifting her off the tray, set her on one of the seats and she cried out to the other serpents in their language, whereupon they all fell down from their stools and did her homage. But she signed to them to sit and they did so. Then she addressed Hasib, saying, “Have no fear of us, O youth; for I am the Queen of the Serpents and their Sultαnah.” When he heard her speak on this wise, he took heart and she bade the serpents bring him somewhat of food.512 So they brought apples and grapes and pomegranates and pistachio-nuts and filberts and walnuts and almonds and bananas and set them before him, and the Queen-serpent said, “Welcome, O youth! What is thy name?” Answered he, “Hasib Karim al-Din;” and she rejoined, “O Hasib, eat of these fruits, for we have no other meat and fear thou have nothing from us at all.” Hearing this, he ate his fill and praised Allah Almighty; and presently they took away the trays from before him, and the Queen said, “Tell me, O Hasib, whence thou art and how camest thou hither and what hath befallen thee.” So he told her his story from first to last, the death of his father; his birth; his being sent to school where he learnt nothing; his becoming a wood cutter; his finding the honey- cistern; his being abandoned therein; his killing the scorpion; his widening the crevice; his finding the iron door and his coming upon the Queen, and he ended his long tale with saying, “These be my adventures from beginning to end and only Allah wotteth what will betide me after all this!” Quoth the Queen, after listening to his words, “Nothing save good shall betide thee:” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

  When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Serpent-queen had heard his story she said, “Nothing save good shall betide thee: but I would have thee, O Hasib, abide with me some time, that I may tell thee my history and acquaint thee with the wondrous adventures which have happened to me.” “I hear and obey thy hest,” answered he; and she began to tell in these words,

  Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents

  The Adventures of Bulukiya.

  “Know thou, O Hasib, there was once in the city of Cairo a King of the Banu Isra’νl, a wise and a pious, who was bent double by poring over books of learning, and he had a son named Bulϊkiyα. When he grew old and weak and was nigh upon death, his Grandees and Officers of state came up to salute him, and he said to them, ‘O folk, know that at hand is the hour of my march from this world to the next, and I have no charge to lay on you, save to commend to your care my son Bulukiya.’ Then said he, ‘I testify that there is no god save the God;’ and, heaving one sigh, departed the world the mercy of Allah be upon him! They laid him out and washed him and buried him with a procession of great state. Then they made his son Bulukiya Sultan in his stead; and he ruled the kingdom justly and the people had peace in his time. Now it be
fell one day that he entered his father’s treasuries, to look about him, and coming upon an inner compartment and finding the semblance of a door, opened it and passed in. And lo! he found himself in a little closet, wherein stood a column of white marble, on the top of which was a casket of ebony; he opened this also and saw therein another casket of gold, containing a book. He read the book and found in it an account of our lord Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!) and how he should be sent in the latter days513 and be the lord of the first Prophets and the last. On seeing the personal description Bulukiya’s heart was taken with love of him, so he at once assembled all the notables of the Children of Israel, the Cohens or diviners, the scribes and the priests, and acquainted them with the book, reading portions of it to them and, adding, ‘O folk, needs must I bring my father out of his grave and burn him.’ The lieges asked, ‘Why wilt thou burn him?’; and he answered, ‘Because he hid this book from me and imparted it not to me.’ Now the old King had excerpted it from the Torah or Pentateuch and the Books of Abraham; and had set it in one of his treasuries and concealed it from all living. Rejoined they, ‘O King, thy father is dead; his body is in the dust and his affair is in the hands of his Lord; thou shalt not take him forth of his tomb.’ So he knew that they would not suffer him to do this thing by his sire and leaving them he repaired to his mother, to whom said he, ‘O my mother, I have found, in one of my father’s treasuries, a book containing a description of Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!), a prophet who shall be sent in the latter days; and my heart is captivated with love of him. Wherefore am I resolved to wander over the earth, till I foregather with him; else I shall die of longing for his love.’ Then he doffed his clothes and donned an Aba gown of goat’s hair and coarse sandals, saying, ‘O my mother, forget me not in thy prayers.’ She wept over him and said, ‘What will become of us after thee?’; but Bulukiya answered, ‘I can endure no longer, and I commit my affair and thine to Allah who is Almighty.’ Then he set out on foot Syria wards without the knowledge of any of his folk, and coming to the sea board found a vessel whereon he shipped as one of the crew. They sailed till he made an island, where Bulukiya landed with the crew, but straying away from the rest he sat down under a tree and sleep got the better of him. When he awoke, he sought the ship but found that she had set sail without him, and in that island he saw serpents as big as camels and palm trees, which repeated the names of Allah (be He extolled and exalted!) and blessed Mohammed (whom the Lord assain and save!), proclaiming the Unity and glorifying the Glorious; whereat he wondered.” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

  When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that “when Bulukiya saw the serpents glorifying God and proclaiming the Unity, he wondered with extreme wonder. When they saw him, they flocked to him and one of them said to him, ‘Who and whence art thou and whither goest thou. and what is thy name?’ Quoth he, ‘My name is Bulukiya; I am of the Children of Israel and, being distracted for love of Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!), I come in quest of him. But who are ye, O noble creatures?’ Answered they, ‘We are of the dwellers in the Jahannam-hell; and Almighty Allah created us for the punishment of Kafirs.’ ‘And how came ye hither?’ asked he, and the Serpents answered, ‘Know, O Bulukiya, that Hell514 of the greatness of her boiling, breatheth twice a year, expiring in the summer and inspiring in the winter, and hence the summer heat and winter cold. When she exhaleth, she casteth us forth of her maw, and we are drawn in again with her inhaled breath.’ Quoth Bulukiya, ‘Say me, are there greater serpents than you in Hell?’; and they said, ‘Of a truth we are cast out with the expired breath but by reason of our smallness; for in Hell every serpent is so great, that were the biggest of us to pass over its nose it would not feel us.515 ‘ Asked Bulukiya, ‘Ye sing the praises of Allah and invoke blessings on Mohammed, whom the Almighty assain and save! Whence wot ye of Mohammed?’; and they answered, ‘O Bulukiya, verily his name is written on the gates of Paradise; and, but for him, Allah had not created the worlds516 nor Paradise, nor heaven nor hell nor earth, for He made all things that be, solely on his account, and hath conjoined his name with His own in every place; wherefore we love Mohammed, whom Allah bless and preserve!’ Now hearing the serpents’ converse did but inflame Bulukiya’s love for Mohammed and yearning for his sight; so he took leave of them; and, making his way to the sea-shore, found there a ship made fast to the beach; he embarked therein as a seaman and sailed nor ceased sailing till he came to another island. Here he landed and walking about awhile found serpents great and small, none knoweth their number save Almighty Allah, and amongst them a white Serpent, clearer than crystal, seated in a golden tray borne on the back of another serpent as big as an elephant. Now this, O Hasib, was the Serpent-queen, none other than myself.” Quoth Hasib, “And what answer didst thou make him?” Quoth she, “Know, O Hasib, that when I saw Bulukiya, I saluted him with the salam, and he returned my salutation, and I said to him, ‘Who and what art thou and what is thine errand and whence comest thou and whither goest thou?’ Answered he, ‘I am of the Children of Israel; my name is Bulukiya, and I am a wanderer for the love of Mohammed, whose description I have read in the revealed scriptures, and of whom I go in search. But what art thou and what are these serpents about thee?’ Quoth I, ‘O Bulukiya, I am the Queen of the Serpents; and when thou shalt foregather with Mohammed (whom Allah assain and save!) bear him my salutation.’ Then Bulukiya took leave of me and journeyed till he came to the Holy City which is Jerusalem. Now there was in that stead a man who was deeply versed in all sciences, more especially in geometry and astronomy and mathematics, as well as in white magic517 and Spiritualism; and he had studied the Pentateuch and the Evangel and the Psalms and the Books of Abraham. His name was Affan; and he had found in certain of his books, that whoso should wear the seal ring of our lord Solomon, men and Jinn and birds and beasts and all created things would be bound to obey him. Moreover, he had discovered that our lord Solomon had been buried in a coffin which was miraculously transported beyond the Seven Seas to the place of burial;” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

  When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that “Affan had found in certain books that none, mortal or spirit, could pluck the seal ring from the lord Solomon’s finger; and that no navigator could sail his ship upon the Seven Seas over which the coffin had been carried. Moreover, he had found out by reading that there was a herb of herbs and that if one express its juice and anoint therewith his feet, he should walk upon the surface of any sea that Allah Almighty had created without wetting his soles, but none could obtain this herb, without he had with him the Serpent-queen. When Bulukiya arrived at the Holy City, he at once sat down to do his devotions and worship the Lord; and, whilst he was so doing, Affan came up and saluted him as a True Believer. Then seeing him reading the Pentateuch and adoring the Almighty, he accosted him saying, ‘What is thy name, O man; and whence comest thou and whither goest thou?’ He answered, ‘My name is Bulukiya; I am from the city of Cairo and am come forth wandering in quest of Mohammed, whom Allah bless and preserve!’ Quoth Affan, ‘Come with me to my lodging that I may entertain thee.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ replied Bulukiya So the devotee took him by the hand and carried him to his house where he entreated him with the utmost honour and presentry said to him, ‘Tell me thy history, O my brother, and how thou camest by the knowledge of Mohammed (whom Allah assain and save!) that thy heart hath been taken with love of him and compelled thee to fare forth and seek him; and lastly tell me who it was directed thee in this road.’ So he related to him his tale in its entirety; whereupon Affan, who well nigh lost his wits for wonder, said to him, ‘Make tryst for me with the Queen of the Serpents and I will bring thee in company with Mohammed, albeit the date of his mission is yet far distant. We have only to preva
il upon the Queen and carry her in a cage to a certain mountain where the herbs grow; and, as long as she is with us, the plants as we pass them will parley with human speech and discover their virtues by the ordinance of Allah the Most High. For I have found in my books that there is a certain herb and all who express its juice and anoint therewith their feet shall walk upon whatsoever sea Almighty Allah hath made, without wetting sole. When we have found the magical herb, we will let her go her way; and then will we anoint our feet with the juice and cross the Seven Seas, till we come to the burial place of our lord Solomon. Then we will take the ring off his finger and rule even as he ruled and win all our wishes; we will enter the Main of Murks518 and drink of the Water of Life, and so the Almighty will let us tarry till the End of Time and we shall foregather with Mohammed, whom Allah bless and preserve!’ Hearing these words Bulukiya replied, ‘O Affan, I will make tryst for thee with the Serpent-queen and at once show thee her abiding place.’ So Affan made him a cage of iron; and, providing himself with two bowls, one full of wine and the other of milk, took ship with Bulukiya and sailed till they came to the island, where they landed and walked upon it. Then Affan set up the cage, in which he laid a noose and withdrew after placing in it the two bowls; when he and Bulukiya concealed themselves afar off. Presently, up came the Queen of the Serpents (that is, myself) and examined the cage. When she (that is I) smelt the savour of the milk, she came down from the back of the snake which bore her tray and, entering the cage, drank up the milk. Then she went to the bowl of wine and drank of it, whereupon her head became giddy and she slept. When Affan saw this, he ran up and locking the cage upon her, set it on his head and made for the ship, he and Bulukiya. After awhile she awoke and finding herself in a cage of iron on a man’s head and seeing Bulukiya walking beside the bearer, said to him, ‘This is the reward of those who do no hurt to the sons of Adam.’ Answered he, ‘O Queen, have no fear of us, for we will do thee no hurt at all. We wish thee only to show us the herb which, when pounded and squeezed yieldeth a juice, and this rubbed upon the feet conferreth the power of walking dryshod upon what sea soever Almighty Allah hath created; and when we have found that, we will return thee to thy place and let thee wend thy way.’ Then Affan and Bulukiya fared on for the hills where grew the herbs; and, as they went about with the Queen, each plant they passed began to speak and avouch its virtues by permission of Allah the Most High. As they were thus doing and the herbs speaking right and left, behold, a plant spoke out and said, ‘I am the herb ye seek, and all who gather and crush me and anoint their feet with my juice, shall fare over what sea soever Allah Almighty hath created and yet ne’er wet sole.’ When Affan heard this, he set down the cage from his head and, gathering what might suffice them of the herb, crushed it and filling two vials with the juice kept them for future use; and with what was left they anointed their feet. Then they took up the Serpent-queen’s cage and journeyed days and nights, till they reached the island, where they opened the cage and let out her that is me. When I found myself at liberty, I asked them what use they would make of the juice; and they answered, ‘We design to anoint our feet and to cross the Seven Seas to the burial place of our lord Solomon519 and take the seal ring from his finger.’ Quoth I, ‘Far, far is it from your power to possess yourselves of the ring!’ They enquired, ‘Wherefore?’ and I replied, ‘Because Almighty Allah vouchsafed unto our lord Solomon the gift of this ring and distinguished him thereby, for that he said to him, ‘O Lord, give me a kingdom which may not be obtained after me; for Thou verily art the Giver of kingdoms.520 ‘ ‘So that ring is not for you.’ And I added, ‘Had ye twain taken the herb, whereof all who eat shall not die until the First Blast,521 it had better availed you than this ye have gotten; for ye shall nowise come at your desire thereby.’ Now when they heard this, they repented them with exceeding penitence and went their ways.” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.