One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  When it was the Eight Hundred and Seventieth Night,

  She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nur al-Din entered Alexandria he found it a city goodly of pleasaunces, delightful to its inhabitants and inviting to inhabit therein. Winter had fared from it with his cold and Prime was come to it with his roses: its flowers were kindly ripe and welled forth its rills. Indeed, it was a city goodly of ordinance and disposition; its folk were of the best of men, and when the gates thereof were shut, its folk were safe.443 And it was even as is said of it in these couplets,

  “Quoth I to a comrade one day, * A man of good speech and rare,

  ‘Describe Alexandria.’ * Quoth he, ’Tis a march-town fair.’

  Quoth I, ‘Is there living therein?’ * And he, ‘An the wind blow

  there.’”

  Or as saith one of the poets,

  “Alexandria’s a frontier;444 Whose dews of lips are sweet

  and clear;

  How fair the coming to it is, * So one therein no raven speer!”

  Nur al-Din walked about the city and ceased not walking till he came to the merchants’ bazar, whence he passed on to the mart of the money-changers and so on in turn to the markets of the confectioners and fruiterers and druggists, marvelling, as he went, at the city, for that the nature of its qualities accorded with its name.445 As he walked in the druggists’ bazar, behold, an old man came down from his shop and saluting him, took him by the hand and carried him to his home. And Nur al-Din saw a fair bystreet, swept and sprinkled, whereon the zephyr blew and made pleasantness pervade it and the leaves of the trees overshaded it. Therein stood three houses and at the upper end a mansion, whose foundations were firm sunk in the water and its walls towered to the confines of the sky. They had swept the space before it and they had sprinkled it freshly; so it exhaled the fragrance of flowers, borne on the zephyr which breathed upon the place; and the scent met there who approached it on such wise as it were one of the gardens of Paradise. And, as they had cleaned and cooled the by-street’s head, so was the end of it with marble spread. The Shaykh carried Nur al-Din into the house and setting somewhat of food before him ate with his guest. When they had made an end of eating, the druggist said to him, “When camest thou hither from Cairo?”; and Nur al-Din replied, “This very night, O my father.” Quoth the old man, “What is thy name?”; and quoth he, “Ali Nur al-Din.” Said the druggist, “O my son, O Nur al-Din, be the triple divorce incumbent on me, an thou leave me so long as thou abidest in this city; and I will set thee apart a place wherein thou mayst dwell.” Nur al-Din asked, “O my lord the Shaykh, let me know more of thee”; and the other answered, “Know, O my son, that some years ago I went to Cairo with merchandise, which I sold there and bought other, and I had occasion for a thousand dinars. So thy sire Taj al-Din weighed them out446 for me, all unknowing me, and would take no written word of me, but had patience with me till I returned hither and sent him the amount by one of my servants, together with a gift. I saw thee, whilst thou wast little; and, if it please Allah the Most High, I will repay thee somewhat of the kindness thy father did me.” When Nur al-Din heard the old man’s story, he showed joy and pulling out with a smile the purse of a thousand dinars, gave it to his host the Shaykh and said to him, “Take charge of this deposit for me, against I buy me somewhat of merchandise whereon to trade.” Then he abode some time in Alexandria city taking his pleasure every day in its thoroughfares, eating and drinking ad indulging himself with mirth and merriment till he had made an end of the hundred dinars he had kept by way of spending-money; whereupon he repaired to the old druggist, to take of him somewhat of the thousand dinars to spend, but found him not in his shop and took a seat therein to await his return. He sat there gazing right and left and amusing himself with watching the merchants and passers-by, and as he was thus engaged behold, there came into the bazar a Persian riding on a she-mule and carrying behind him a damsel; as she were argent of alloy free or a fish Balti447 in mimic sea or a doe-gazelle on desert lea. Her face outshone the sun in shine and she had witching eyne and breasts of ivory white, teeth of marguerite, slender waist and sides dimpled deep and calves like tails of fat sheep;448 and indeed she was perfect in beauty and loveliness, elegant stature and symmetrical grace, even as saith one, describing her,449

  “’Twas as by will of her she was create * Nor short nor long, but

  Beauty’s mould and mate:

  Rose blushes reddest when she sees those cheeks * And fruits the

  bough those marvel charms amate:

  Moon is her favour, Musk the scent of her * Branch is her shape:

  she passeth man’s estate:

  ’Tis e’en as were she cast in freshest pearl * And every limblet

  shows a moon innate.”

  Presently the Persian lighted down from his she-mule and making the damsel also dismount loudly summoned the broker and said to him as soon as he came, “Take this damsel and cry her for sale in the market.” So he took her and leading her to the middlemost of the bazar disappeared for a while and presently he returned with a stool of ebony, inlaid with ivory, and setting it upon the ground, seated her thereon. Then he raised her veil and discovered a face as it were a Median targe450 or a cluster of pearls:451 and indeed she was like the full moon, when it filleth on its fourteenth night, accomplished in brilliant beauty. As saith the poet,

  “Vied the full moon for folly with her face, * But was

  eclipsed452 and split for rage full sore;

  And if the spiring Bán with her contend * Perish her hands who

  load of fuel bore!”453

  And how well saith another,

  “Say to the fair in the wroughten veil * How hast made that

  monk-like worshipper ail?

  Light of veil and light of face under it * Made the hosts of

  darkness to fly from bale;

  And, when came my glance to steal look at cheek. * With a

  meteor-shaft the Guard made me quail.”454

  Then said the broker to the merchants,455 “How much do ye bid for the union-pearl of the diver and prize-quarry of the fowler?” Quoth one, “She is mine for an hundred dinars.” And another said, “Two hundred,” and a third, “Three hundred”; and they ceased not to bid, one against other, till they made her price nine hundred and fifty dinars, and there the biddings stopped awaiting acceptance and consent.456 — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

  When it was the Eight Hundred and Seventy-first Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the merchants bid one against other till they made the price of the girl nine hundred and fifty dinars. Then the broker went up to her Persian master and said to him, “The biddings for this thy slave-girl have reached nine hundred and fifty dinars: so say me, wilt thou sell her at that price and take the money?” Asked the Persian, “Doth she consent to this? I desire to fall in with her wishes, for I sickened on my journey hither and this handmaid tended me with all possible tenderness, wherefore I sware not to sell her but to him whom she should like and approve, and I have put her sale in her own hand. So do thou consult her and if she say, ‘I consent,’ sell her to whom thou wilt: but an she say, ‘No,’ sell her not.” So the broker went up to her and asked her, “O Princess of fair ones, know that thy master putteth thy sale in thine own hands, and thy price hath reached nine hundred and fifty dinars; dost thou give me leave to sell thee?” She answered, “Show me him who is minded to buy me before clinching the bargain.” So he brought her up to one of the merchants a man stricken with years and decrepit; and she looked at him a long while, then turned to the broker and said to him, “O broker, art thou Jinn-mad or afflicted in thy wit?” Replied he, “Why dost thou ask me this, O Princess of fair ones?”; and said she, “Is it permitted thee of Allah to sell the like of me to yonder decrepit old man, who saith of his wife’s case these couplets,

  ‘Quoth she to me, — and sore enraged for wounded pride was s
he, *

  For she in sooth had bidden me to that which might not be, —

  ‘An if thou swive me not forthright, as one should swive his

  wife, * Thou be made a cuckold straight, reproach it not to

  me.

  Meseems thy yard is made of wax, for very flaccidness; * For when

  I rub it with my hand, it softens instantly.’457

  And said he likewise of his yard,

  ‘I have a yard that sleeps in base and shameful way * When grants

  my lover boon for which I sue and pray:

  But when I wake o’ mornings458 all alone in bed, * ’Tis fain

  o’ foin and fence and fierce for futter-play.’

  And again quoth he thereof of his yard,

  ‘I have a froward yard of temper ill * Dishonoring him who shows

  it most regard:

  It stands when sleep I, when I stand it sleeps * Heaven pity not

  who pitieth that yard!’”

  When the old merchant heard this ill flouting from the damsel, he was wroth with wrath exceeding beyond which was no proceeding and said to the broker, “O most ill-omened of brokers, thou hast not brought into the market this ill-conditioned wench but to gibe me and make mock of me before the merchants.” Then the broker took her aside and said to her, “O my lady, be not wanting in self-respect. The Shaykh at whom thou didst mock is the Syndic of the bazar and Inspector459 thereof and a committee-man of the council of the merchants.” But she laughed and improvised these two couplets,

  “It behoveth folk who rule in our time, * And ’tis one of the

  duties of magistrateship,

  To hand up the Wali above his door * And beat with a whip the

  Mohtasib!”

  Adding, “By Allah, O my lord, I will not be sold to yonder old man; so sell me to other than him, for haply he will be abashed at me and vend me again and I shall become a mere servant460 and it beseemeth not that I sully myself with menial service; and indeed thou knowest that the matter of my sale is committed to myself.” He replied, “I hear and I obey,” and carried her to a man which was one of the chief merchants. And when standing hard by him the broker asked, “How sayst thou, O my lady? Shall I sell thee to my lord Sharíf al-Dín here for nine hundred and fifty gold pieces?” She looked at him and, seeing him to be an old man with a dyed beard, said to the broker, “Art thou silly, that thou wouldst sell me to this worn out Father Antic? Am I cotton refuse or threadbare rags that thou marchest me about from greybeard to greybeard, each like a wall ready to fall or an Ifrit smitten down of a fire-ball? As for the first, the poet had him in mind when he said,461

  ‘I sought of a fair maid to kiss her lips of coral red, But, ‘No,

  by Him who fashioned things from nothingness!’ she said.

  Unto the white of hoary hairs I never had a mind, And shall my

  mouth be stuffed, forsooth, with cotton, ere I’m dead?’

  And how goodly is the saying of the poet,

  ‘The wise have said that white of hair is light that shines and

  robes * The face of man with majesty and light that awes the

  sight;

  Yet until hoary seal shall stamp my parting-place of hair * I

  hope and pray that same may be black as the blackest night.

  Albe Time-whitened beard of man be like the book he bears462

  * When to his Lord he must return, I’d rather ‘twere not

  white,’

  And yet goodlier is the saying of another,

  ‘A guest hath stolen on my head and honour may he lack! * The

  sword a milder deed hath done that dared these locks to

  hack.

  Avaunt, O Whiteness,463 wherein naught of brightness

  gladdens sight * Thou ‘rt blacker in the eyes of me than

  very blackest black!’

  As for the other, he is a model of wantonness and scurrilousness and a blackener of the face of hoariness; his dye acteth the foulest of lies: and the tongue of his case reciteth these lines,464

  ‘Quoth she to me, ‘I see thou dy’st thy hoariness;’ and I, ‘I do

  but hide it from thy sight, O thou mine ear and eye!’

  She laughed out mockingly and said, ‘A wonder ’tis indeed! Thou

  so aboundest in deceit that even thy hair’s a lie.’

  And how excellent is the saying of the poet,

  ‘O thou who dyest hoariness with black, * That youth wi’ thee

  abide, at least in show;

  Look ye, my lot was dyčd black whilome * And (take my word!) none

  other hue ‘twill grow.’”

  When the old man with dyed beard heard such words from the slave-girl, he raged with exceeding rage in fury’s last stage and said to the broker, “O most ill-omened of brokers, this day thou hast brought to our market naught save this gibing baggage to flout at all who are therein, one after other, and fleer at them with flyting verse and idle jest?” And he came down from his shop and smote on the face the broker who took her an angered and carried her away saying to her, “By Allah, never in my life saw I a more shameless wench than thyself!465 Thou hast cut off my daily bread and thine own this day and all the merchants will bear me a grudge on thine account.” Then they saw on the way a merchant called Shihab al-Dín who bid ten dinars more for her, and the broker asked her leave to sell her to him. Quoth she, “Trot him out that I may see him and question him of a certain thing, which if he have in his house, I will be sold to him; and if not, then not.” So the broker left her standing there and going up to Shihab al-Din, said to him, “O my lord, know that yonder damsel tells me she hath a mind to ask thee somewhat, which an thou have, she will be sold to thee. Now thou hast heard what she said to thy fellows, the merchants,” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

  When it was the Eight Hundred and Seventy-second Night,

  She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the broker said to the merchant, “Thou hast heard what this handmaid said to thy fellows, the traders, and by Allah, I fear to bring her to thee, lest she do with thee like as she did with thy neighbours and so I fall into disgrace with thee: but, an thou bid me bring her to thee, I will bring her.” Quoth the merchant, “Hither with her to me.” “Hearing and obeying,” answered the broker and fetched for the purchaser the damsel, who looked at him and said, “O my lord, Shihab al-Din, hast thou in thy house round cushions stuffed with ermine strips?” Replied Shihab al-Din, “Yes, O Princess of fair ones, I have at home half a score such cushions; but I conjure thee by Allah, tell me, what will thou do with them?” Quoth she, “I will bear with thee till thou be asleep, when I will lay them on thy mouth and nose and press them down till thou die.” Then she turned to the broker and said to him, “O thou refuse of brokers, meseemeth thou art mad, in that thou showest me this hour past, first to a pair of greybeards, in each of whom are two faults, and then thou proferrest me to my lord Shihab al-Din wherein be three defects; firstly, he is dwarfish, secondly, he hath a nose which is big, and thirdly, he hath a beard which is long. Of him quoth one of the poets,