One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  “Said I to Slim-waist who the wine engraced * Brought in

  musk-scented bowl and a superfine,

  ‘Was it prest from thy cheek?’ He replied ‘Nay, nay! * When did

  man from Roses e’er press the Wine?’”

  And the damsel ceased not to carouse with her lord and ply him with cup and bowl and require him to fill for her and give her to drink of that which sweeteneth the spirits, and whenever he put forth hand to her, she drew back from him, out of coquetry. The wine added to her beauty and loveliness, and Nur al-Din recited these two couplets,

  “Slim-waist craved wine from her companeer; * Cried (in meeting

  of friends when he feared for his fere,)

  ‘An thou pass not the wine thou shalt pass the night, * A-banisht

  my bed!’ And he felt sore fear.”

  They ceased not drinking till drunkenness overpowered Nur al-Din and he slept; whereupon she rose forthright and fell to work upon a zone, as was her wont. When she had wrought it to end, she wrapped it in paper and doffing her clothes, lay down by his side and enjoyed dalliance and delight till morn appeared. — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

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

  She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Miriam the Girdle-girl, having finished her zone and wrapped it in paper doffed her dress and lay down by the side of her lord; and then happened to them what happened of dalliance and delight; and he did his devoir like a man. On the morrow, she gave him the girdle and said to him, “Carry this to the market and sell it for twenty dinars, even as thou soldest its fellow yesterday.” So he went to the bazar and sold the girdle for twenty dinars, after which he repaired to the druggist and paid him back the eighty dirhams, thanking him for the bounties and calling down blessings upon him. He asked, “O my son, hast thou sold the damsel?”; and Nur al-Din answered, “Wouldst thou have me sell the soul out of my body?” and he told him all that had passed, from commencement to conclusion, whereat the druggist joyed with joy galore, than which could be no more and said to him, “By Allah, O my son, thou gladdenest me! Inshallah, mayst thou ever be in prosperity! Indeed I wish thee well by reason of my affection for thy father and the continuance of my friendship with him.” Then Nur al-Din left the Shaykh and straightway going to the market, bought meat and fruit and wine and all that he needed according to his custom and returned therewith to Miriam. They abode thus a whole year in eating and drinking and mirth and merriment and love and good comradeship, and every night she made a zone and he sold it on the morrow for twenty dinars, wherewith he bought their needs and gave the rest to her, to keep against a time of necessity. After the twelvemonth she said to him one day, “O my lord, whenas thou sellest the girdle to-morrow, buy for me with its price silk of six colours, because I am minded to make thee a kerchief to wear on thy shoulders, such as never son of merchant, no, nor King’s son, ever rejoiced in its like.” So next day he fared forth to the bazar and after selling the zone brought her the dyed silks she sought and Miriam the Girdle-girl wrought at the kerchief a whole week, for, every night, when she had made an end of the zone, she would work awhile at the kerchief till it was finished. Then she gave it to Nur al-Din, who put it on his shoulders and went out to walk in the market-place, whilst all the merchants and folk and notables of the town crowded about him, to gaze on his beauty and that of the kerchief which was of the most beautiful. Now it chanced that one night, after this, he awoke from sleep and found Miriam weeping passing sore and reciting these couplets,

  “Nears my parting fro’ my love, nigher draws the Severance-day *

  Ah well-away for parting! and again ah well-away!

  And in tway is torn my heart and O pine I’m doomed to bear * For

  the nights that erst witnessed our pleasurable play!

  No help for it but Envier the twain of us espy * With evil eye

  and win to us his lamentable way.

  For naught to us is sorer than the jealousy of men * And the

  backbiter’s eyne that with calumny affray.”

  He said, “O my lady Miriam,487 what aileth thee to weep?”; and she replied, “I weep for the anguish of parting for my heart presageth me thereof.” Quoth he, “O lady of fair ones, and who shall interpose between us, seeing that I love thee above all creatures and tender thee the most?”; and quoth she, “And I love thee twice as well as thou me; but fair opinion of fortune still garreth folk fall into affliction, and right well saith the poet,488

  ‘Think’st thou thyself all prosperous, in days which prosp’rous

  be,

  Nor fearest thou impending ill, which comes by Heaven’s decree?

  We see the orbs of heav’n above, how numberless they are,

  But sun and moon alone eclips’d, and ne’er a lesser star!

  And many a tree on earth we see, some bare, some leafy green,

  Of them, not one is hurt with stone save that has fruitful been!

  See’st not th’ refluent ocean, bear carrion on its tide,

  While pearls beneath its wavy flow, fixed in the deep, abide?’”

  Presently she added, “O my lord Nur al-Din, an thou desire to nonsuit separation, be on thy guard against a swart-visaged oldster, blind of the right eye and lame of the left leg; for he it is who will be the cause of our severance. I saw him enter the city and I opine that he is come hither in quest of me.” Replied Nur al-Din, “O lady of fair ones, if my eyes light on him, I will slay him and make an example of him.” Rejoined she, “O my lord, slay him not; but talk not nor trade with him, neither buy nor sell with him nor sit nor walk with him nor speak one word to him, no, not even the answer prescribed by law,489 and I pray Allah to preserve us from his craft and his mischief.” Next morning, Nur al-Din took the zone and carried it to the market, where he sat down on a shop-bench and talked with the sons of the merchants, till the drowsiness preceding slumber overcame him and he lay down on the bench and fell asleep. Presently, behold, up came the Frank whom the damsel had described to him, in company with seven others, and seeing Nur al-Din lying asleep on the bench, with his head wrapped in the kerchief which Miriam had made for him and the edge thereof in his grasp, sat down by him and hent the end of the kerchief in hand and examined it, turning it over for some time. Nur al-Din sensed that there was something and awoke; then, seeing the very man of whom Miriam had warned him sitting by his side, cried out at him with a great cry which startled him. Quoth the Frank, “What aileth thee to cry out thus at us? Have we taken from thee aught?”; and quoth Nur al-Din, “By Allah, O accursed, haddest thou taken aught from me, I would carry thee before the Chief of Police!” Then said the Frank, “O Moslem, I conjure thee by thy faith and by that wherein thou believest, inform me whence thou haddest this kerchief;” and Nur al-Din replied, “Tis the handiwork of my lady mother,” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

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

  She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Frank asked Nur al-Din anent the maker of the kerchief, he answered, saying, “In very sooth this kerchief is the handiwork of my mother, who made it for me with her own hand.” Quoth the Frank “Wilt thou sell it to me and take ready money for it?,” and quoth Nur al-Din, “By Allah, I will not sell it to thee or to any else, for she made none other than it.” “Sell it to me and I will give thee to its price this very moment five hundred dinars, money down; and let her who made it make thee another and a finer.” “I will not sell it at all, for there is not the like of it in this city.” “O my lord, wilt thou sell it for six hundred ducats of fine gold?” And the Frank went on to add to his offer hundred by hundred, till he bid nine hundred dinars; but Nur al-Din said, “Allah will open to me otherwise than by my vending it. I will never sell it, not for two thousand dinars nor more than that; no, never.” The Frank ceased not to tempt him with money, till he bid him a thous
and dinars, and the merchants present said, “We sell thee the kerchief at that price:490 pay down the money.” Quoth Nur al-Din, “I will not sell it, I swear by Allah!”491 But one of the merchants said to him, “Know thou, O my son, that the value of this kerchief is an hundred dinars at most and that to an eager purchaser, and if this Frank pay thee down a thousand for it, thy profit will be nine hundred dinars, and what gain canst thou desire greater than this gain? Wherefore ’tis my rede that thou sell him this kerchief at that price and bid her who wrought it make thee other finer than it: so shalt thou profit nine hundred dinars by this accursed Frank, the enemy of Allah and of The Faith.” Nur al-Din was abashed at the merchants and sold the kerchief to the Frank, who, in their presence, paid him down the thousand dinars, with which he would have returned to his handmaid to congratulate her on what had passed; but the stranger said, “Harkye, O company of merchants, stop my lord Nur al-Din, for you and he are my guests this night. I have a jar of old Greek wine and a fat lamb, fresh fruit, flowers and confections; wherefore do ye all cheer me with your company to-night and not one of you tarry behind.” So the merchants said, “O my lord Nur al-Din, we desire that thou be with us on the like of this night, so we may talk together, we and thou, and we pray thee, of thy favour and bounty, to bear us company, so we and thou, may be the guests of this Frank, for he is a liberal man.” And they conjured him by the oath of divorce492 and hindered him by main force from going home. Then they rose forthright and shutting up their shops, took Nur al-Din and fared with the Frank, who brought them to a goodly and spacious saloon, wherein were two daďses. Here he made them sit and set before them a scarlet tray-cloth of goodly workmanship and unique handiwork, wroughten in gold with figures of breaker and broken, lover and beloved, asker and asked, whereon he ranged precious vessels of porcelain and crystal, full of the costliest confections, fruits and flowers, and brought them a flagon of old Greek wine. Then he bade slaughter a fat lamb and kindling fire, proceeded to roast of its flesh and feed the merchants therewith and give them draughts of that wine, winking at them the while to ply Nur al-Din with drink. Accordingly they ceased not plying him with wine till he became drunken and took leave of his wits; so when the Frank saw that he was drowned in liquor, he said to him, “O my lord Nur al-Din, thou gladdenest us with thy company to-night: welcome, and again welcome to thee.” Then he engaged him awhile in talk, till he could draw near to him, when he said, with dissembling speech, “O my lord, Nur al-Din, wilt thou sell me thy slave-girl, whom thou boughtest in presence of these merchants a year ago for a thousand dinars? I will give thee at this moment five thousand gold pieces for her and thou wilt thus make four thousand ducats profit.” Nur al-Din refused, but the Frank ceased not to ply him with meat and drink and lure him with lucre, still adding to his offers, till he bid him ten thousand dinars for her; whereupon Nur al-Din, in his drunkenness, said before the merchants, “I sell her to thee for ten thousand dinars: hand over the money.” At this the Frank rejoiced with joy exceeding and took the merchants to witness the sale. They passed the night in eating and drinking, mirth and merriment, till the morning, when the Frank cried out to his pages, saying, “Bring me the money.” So they brought it to him and he counted out ten thousand dinars to Nur al-Din, saying, “O my lord, take the price of thy slave-girl, whom thou soldest to me last night, in the presence of these Moslem merchants.” Replied Nur al-Din, “O accursed, I sold thee nothing and thou liest anent me, for I have no slave-girls.” Quoth the Frank, “In very sooth thou didst sell her to me and these merchants were witnesses to the bargain.” Thereupon all said, “Yes, indeed! thou soldest him thy slave-girl before us for ten thousand dinars, O Nur al-Din and we will all bear witness against thee of the sale. Come, take the money and deliver him the girl, and Allah will give thee a better than she in her stead. Doth it irk thee, O Nur al-Din, that thou boughtest the girl for a thousand dinars and hast enjoyed for a year and a half her beauty and loveliness and taken thy fill of her converse and her favours? Furthermore thou hast gained some ten thousand golden dinars by the sale of the zones which she made thee every day and thou soldest for twenty sequins, and after all this thou hast sold her again at a profit of nine thousand dinars over and above her original price. And withal thou deniest the sale and belittlest and makest difficulties about the profit! What gain is greater than this gain and what profit wouldst thou have profitabler than this profit? An thou love her thou hast had thy fill of her all this time: so take the money and buy thee another handsomer than she; or we will marry thee to one of our daughters, lovelier than she, at a dowry of less than half this price, and the rest of the money will remain in thy hand as capital.” And the merchants ceased not to ply him with persuasion and special arguments till he took the ten thousand dinars, the price of the damsel, and the Frank straightway fetched Kazis and witnesses, who drew up the contract of sale by Nur al-Din of the handmaid hight Miriam the Girdle-girl. Such was his case; but as regards the damsel’s, she sat awaiting her lord from morning till sundown and from sundown till the noon of night; and when he returned not, she was troubled and wept with sore weeping. The old druggist heard her sobbing and sent his wife, who went in to her and finding her in tears, said to her, “O my lady, what aileth thee to weep?” Said she, “O my mother, I have sat waiting the return of my lord, Nur al-Din all day; but he cometh not, and I fear lest some one have played a trick on him, to make him sell me, and he have fallen into the snare and sold me.” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

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

  She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Miriam the Girdle-girl said to the druggist’s wife, “I am fearful lest some one have been playing a trick on my lord to make him sell me, and he have fallen into the snare and sold me.” Said the other, “O my lady Miriam, were they to give thy lord this hall full of gold as thy price, yet would he not sell thee, for what I know of his love to thee. But, O my lady, belike there be a company come from his parents at Cairo and he hath made them an entertainment in the lodging where they alighted, being ashamed to bring them hither, for that the place is not spacious enough for them or because their condition is less than that he should bring them to his own house; or belike he preferred to conceal thine affair from them, so passed the night with them; and Inshallah! to-morrow he will come to thee safe and sound. So burden not thy soul with cark and care, O my lady, for of a certainty this is the cause of his absence from thee last night and I will abide with thee this coming night and comfort thee, until thy lord return to thee.” So the druggist’s wife abode with her and cheered her with talk throughout the dark hours and, when it was morning, Miriam saw her lord enter the street followed by the Frank and amiddlemost a company of merchants, at which sight her side-muscles quivered and her colour changed and she fell a-shaking, as ship shaketh in mid-ocean for the violence of the gale. When the druggist’s wife saw this, she said to her, “O my lady Miriam what aileth thee that I see thy case changed and thy face grown pale and show disfeatured?” Replied she, “By Allah, O my lady, my heart forebodeth me of parting and severance of union!” And she bemoaned herself with the saddest sighs, reciting these couplets,493

  “Incline not to parting, I pray; * For bitter its savour is aye.

  E’en the sun at his setting turns pale * To think he must part

  from the day;

  And so, at his rising, for joy * Of reunion, he’s radient and

  gay.”

  Then Miriam wept passing sore wherethan naught could be more, making sure of separation, and cried to the druggist’s wife, “O my mother, said I not to thee that my lord Nur al-Din had been tricked into selling me? I doubt not but he hath sold me this night to yonder Frank, albeit I bade him beware of him; but deliberation availeth not against destiny. So the truth of my words is made manifest to thee.” Whilst they were talking, behold, in came Nur al-Din, and the damsel looked at him and saw that his colour was changed and that
he trembled and there appeared on his face signs of grief and repentance: so she said to him, “O my lord Nur al-Din, meseemeth thou hast sold me.” Whereupon he wept with sore weeping and groaned and lamented and recited these couplets,494