One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  “Breeze of East254 an thou breathe o’er the dear ones’ land

  * Speed, I pray thee, my special salute and salam:

  And say them I’m pledged to love them and * In pine that passeth

  all pine I am.”

  Thereat Queen Al-Shahba rejoiced and with her all who were present; and they admired her speech and fell to kissing her; and when she had made an end of her song, Queen Kamariyah said to her, “O my sister, ere thou go to thy palace, I would fain bring thee to look upon Al-’Anká,255 daughter of Bahram Júr, whom Al-’Anka, daughter of the wind, carried off, and her beauty; for that there is not her fellow on earth’s face.” And Queen Al-Shahba said, “O Kamariyah, I also think it were well an I beheld her.” Quoth Kamariyah, “I saw her three years ago; but my sister Wakhimah seeth her at all times, for she is near to her people, and she saith that there is not in the world fairer than she. Indeed, this Queen Al-Anka is become a byword for beauty and comeliness.” And Wakhimah said, “By the mighty inscription on the seal-ring of Solomon, there is not her like for loveliness here below.” Then said Queen Al-Shahba, “An it needs must be and the affair is as ye say, I will take Tohfah and go with her to Al-Anka, so she may look upon her!” So they all arose and repaired to Al-Anka, who abode in the Mountain Kaf. When she saw them, she drew near to them and saluted them, saying, “O my ladies, may I not be bereaved of you!” Quoth Wakhimah to her, “Who is like unto thee, O Anka? Behold, Queen Al-Shahba is come to thee.” So Al-Anka kissed the Queen’s feet and lodged them in her palace; whereupon Tohfah came up to her and fell to kissing her and saying, “Never saw I a seemlier than this semblance.” Then she set before them somewhat of food and they ate and washed their hands; after which the Songstress took the lute and smote it well; and Al-Anka also played, and they fell to improvising verses in turns, whilst Tohfah embraced Al-Anka every moment. Al-Shahba cried, “O my sister, each kiss is worth a thousand dinars;” and Tohfah replied, “And a thousand dinars were little therefor;” whereat Al-Anka laughed and after nighting in her pavilion on the morrow they took leave of her and went away to Maymun’s palace. Here Queen Al-Shahba farewelled them and taking her troops, returned to her capital, whilst the kings also went away to their abodes and the Shaykh Abu al-Tawáif applied himself to diverting Tohfah till nightfall, when he mounted her on the back of one of the Ifrits and bade other thirty gather together all that she had gotten of treasure and raiment, jewels and robes of honour. Then they flew off, whilst Iblis went with her, and in less than the twinkling of an eye he set her down in her sleeping room, where he and those who were with him bade adieu to her and went away. When Tohfah found herself in her own chamber256 and on her couch, her reason fled for joy and it seemed to her as if she had never stirred thence: then she took the lute and tuned it and touched it in wondrous fashion and improvised verses and sang. The Eunuch heard the smiting of the lute within the chamber and cried, “By Allah, that is the touch of my lady Tohfah!” So he arose and went, as he were a madman, falling down and rising up, till he came to the Castrato on guard at the gate of the Commander of the Faithful and found him sitting. When his fellow neutral saw him, and he like a madman, slipping down and stumbling up, he asked him, “What aileth thee and what bringeth thee hither at this hour?” The other answered, “Wilt thou not make haste and awaken the Prince of True Believers?” And he fell to crying out at him; whereupon the Caliph awoke and heard them bandying words together and Tohfah’s slave crying to the other, “Woe to thee! Awaken the Commander of the Faithful in haste.” So quoth he, “O Sawab, what hast thou to say?” and quoth the Chief Eunuch, “O our lord, the Eunuch of Tohfah’s lodging hath lost his wits and crieth, ‘Awaken the Commander of the Faithful in haste!’ “ Then said Al-Rashid to one of the slave-girls, “See what may be the matter.” Accordingly she hastened to admit the Castrato, who entered at her order; and when he saw the Commander of the Faithful, he salamed not neither kissed ground, but cried in his hurry, “Quick: up with thee! My lady Tohfah sitteth in her chamber, singing a goodly ditty. Come to her in haste and see all that I say to thee! Hasten! She sitteth awaiting thee.” The Caliph was amazed at his speech and asked him, “What sayst thou?” He answered, “Didst thou not hear the first of the speech? Tohfah sitteth in the sleeping-chamber, singing and lute-playing. Come thy quickest! Hasten!” Accordingly Al-Rashid sprang up and donned his dress; but he believed not the Eunuch’s words and said to him, “Fie upon thee! What is this thou sayst? Hast thou not seen this in a dream?” Quoth the Eunuch, “By Allah, I wot not what thou sayest, and I was not asleep;” and quoth Al-Rashid, “An thy speech be soothfast, it shall be for thy good luck, for I will free thee and give thee a thousand gold pieces; but, an it be untrue and thou have seen this in dream-land, I will crucify thee.” The Eunuch said within himself, “O Protector, let me not have seen this in vision!” then he left the Caliph and running to the chamber-door, heard the sound of singing and lute-playing; whereupon he returned to Al-Rashid and said to him, “Go and hearken and see who is asleep.” When the Prince of True Believers drew near the door of the sleeping-chamber, he heard the sound of the lute and Tohfah’s voice singing; whereat he could not restrain his reason and was like to faint for excess of delight. Then he pulled out the key, but his hand refused to draw the bolt: however, after a while, he took heart and applying himself, opened the door and entered, saying, “Methinks this is none other than a vision or an imbroglio of dreams.” When Tohfah saw him, she rose and coming to meet him, pressed him to her breast; and he cried out a cry wherein his sprite was like to depart and fell down in a fit. She again strained him to her bosom and sprinkled on him rose-water mingled with musk, and washed his face, till he came to himself, as he were a drunken man, and shed tears for the stress of his joy in Tohfah’s return to him, after he had despaired of her returning. Then she took the lute and smote thereon, after the fashion she had learnt from Shaykh Iblis, so that Al-Rashid’s wit was bewildered for excess of joy and his understanding was confounded for exultation; after which she improvised and sang these couplets,

  “That I left thee my heart to believe is unlief; * For the life

  that’s in it ne’er leaveth; brief,

  An thou say ‘I went,’ saith my heart ‘What a fib!’ * And I bide

  ‘twixt believing and unbelief.”

  When she had made an end of her verses, Al-Rashid said to her, “O Tohfah, thine absence was wondrous, yet is thy presence still more marvellous.” She replied, “By Allah, O my lord, thou sayst sooth;” then, taking his hand, she said to him, “O Commander of the Faithful, see what I have brought with me.” So he looked and spied treasures such as neither words could describe nor registers could document, pearls and jewels and jacinths and precious stones and unions and gorgeous robes of honour, adorned with margarites and jewels and purfled with red gold. There he beheld what he never had beheld all his life long, not even in idea; and she showed him that which Queen Al-Shahba had bestowed on her of those carpets, which she had brought with her, and that throne, the like whereof neither Kisrŕ possessed nor Cćsar, and those tables inlaid with pearls and jewels and those vessels which amazed all who looked on them, and that crown which was on the head of the circumcised boy, and those robes of honour, which Queen Al-Shahba and Shaykh Abu al-Tawáif had doffed and donned upon her, and the trays wherein were those treasures; brief, she showed him wealth whose like he had never in his life espied and which the tongue availeth not to describe and whereat all who looked thereon were bewildered, Al-Rashid was like to lose his wits for amazement at this spectacle and was confounded at that he sighted and witnessed. Then said he to Tohfah, “Come, tell me thy tale from beginning to end, and let me know all that hath betided thee, as if I had been present.” She answered, “Hearkening and obedience,” and acquainting him with all that had betided her first and last, from the time when she first saw the Shaykh Abu al-Tawáif, how he took her and descended with her through the side of the Chapel of Ease; and she told him of the horse she had ridde
n, till she came to the meadow aforesaid and described it to him, together with the palace and that was therein of furniture, and related to him how the Jinn rejoiced in her, and whatso she had seen of their kings, masculine and feminine, and of Queen Kamariyah and her sisters and Queen Shu’a’ah, Regent of the Fourth Sea, and Queen Al-Shahba, Queen of Queens, and King Al-Shisban, and that which each one of them had bestowed upon her. Moreover, she recited to him the story of Maymun the Sworder and described to him his fulsome favour, which he had not deigned to change, and related to him that which befel her from the kings of the Jinn, male and female, and the coming of the Queen of Queens, Al-Shahba, and how she had loved her and appointed her her vice-reine and how she was thus become ruler over all the kings of the Jann; and she showed him the writ of investiture which Queen Al-Shahba had written her and told him what had betided her with the Ghulish Head, when it appeared to her in the garden, and how she had despatched it to her palace, beseeching it to bring her news of the Commander of the Faithful and of what had betided him after her. Then she described to him the flower-gardens, wherein she had taken her pleasure, and the Hammam-baths inlaid with pearls and jewels and told him that which had befallen Maymun the Sworder, when he bore her off, and how he had slain himself; in fine, she related to him everything she had seen of wonders and marvels and that which she had beheld of all kinds and colours among the Jinn. Then she told him the story of Al-Anka, daughter of Bahram Jur, with Al-Anka, daughter of the wind, and described to him her dwelling-place and her island, whereupon quoth Al-Rashid, “O Tohfat al-Sadr,257 tell me of Al-Anka, daughter of Bahram Jur; is she of the Jinn-kind or of mankind or of the bird-kind? For this long time have I desired to find one who should tell me of her.” Tohfah replied, “’Tis well, O Commander of the Faithful. I asked the queen of this and she acquainted me with her case and told me who built her the palace.” Quoth Al-Rashid, “Allah upon thee, tell it me;” and quoth Tohfah, “I will well,” and proceeded to tell him. And he was amazed at that which he heard from her and what she reported to him and at that which she had brought back of jewels and jacinths of various hues and precious stones of many sorts, such as amazed the beholder and confounded thought and mind. As for this, Tohfah was the means of the enrichment of the Barmecides and the Abbasides, and they had endurance in their delight. Then the Caliph went forth and bade decorate the city: so they decorated it and the drums of glad tidings were beaten; and they made banquets to the people for whom the tables were spread seven days. And Tohfah and the Commander of the Faithful ceased not to enjoy the most delightsome of life and the most prosperous till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of societies; and this is all that hath come down to us of their story.

  Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents

  WOMEN’S WILES258

  On the following night Dunyazad said to her sister Shahrazad, “O sister mine, an thou incline not unto sleep, prithee tell us a tale which shall beguile our watching through the dark hours.” She replied: — With love and gladness.259 It hath reached me, O magnificent King, that whilome there was in the city of Baghdad, a comely youth and a well-bred, fair of favour, tall of stature, and slender of shape. His name was Alá al-Dín and he was of the chiefs of the sons of the merchants and had a shop wherein he sold and bought. One day, as he sat in his shop, there passed by him a merry girl260 who raised her head and casting a glance at the young merchant, saw written in a flowing hand on the forehead261 of his shop door these words, “THERE BE NO CRAFT SAVE MEN’S CRAFT, FORASMUCH AS IT OVERCOMETH WOMEN’S CRAFT.” When she beheld this, she was wroth and took counsel with herself, saying, As my head liveth, there is no help but I show him a marvel-trick of the wiles of women and put to naught this his inscription!” Thereupon she hied her home; and on the morrow she made her ready and donning the finest of dress, adorned herself with the costliest of ornaments and the highest of price and stained her hands with Henna. Then she let down her tresses upon her shoulders and went forth, walking with coquettish gait and amorous grace, followed by her slave-girl carrying a parcel, till she came to the young merchant’s shop and sitting down under pretext of seeking stuffs, saluted him with the salam and demanded of him somewhat of cloths. So he brought out to her various kinds and she took them and turned them over, talking with him the while. Then said she to him, “Look at the shapeliness of my shape and my semblance! Seest thou in me aught of default?” He replied, “No, O my lady;” and she continued, “Is it lawful in any one that he should slander me and say that I am humpbacked?” Then she discovered to him a part of her bosom, and when he saw her breasts his reason took flight from his head and his heart clave to her and he cried, “Cover it up,262 so may Allah veil thee!” Quoth she, “Is it fair of any one to decry my charms?” and quoth he, “How shall any decry thy charms, and thou the sun of loveliness?” Then said she, “Hath any the right to say of me that I am lophanded?” and tucking up her sleeves, she showed him forearms as they were crystal; after which she unveiled to him a face, as it were a full moon breaking forth on its fourteenth night, and said to him, “Is it lawful for any to decry me and declare that my face is pitted with smallpox or that I am one-eyed or crop-eared?” and said he, “O my lady, what is it moveth thee to discover unto me that lovely face and those fair limbs, wont to be so jealously veiled and guarded? Tell me the truth of the matter, may I be thy ransom!” And he began to improvise,263

  “White Fair now drawn from sheath of parted hair, * Then in the

  blackest tresses hid from sight,

  Flasheth like day irradiating Earth * While round her glooms the

  murk of nightliest night.”

  — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. Whereupon cried Dunyazad her sister, “O sister mine, how delectable is this tale and how desirable!” She replied, saying, “And where is this compared with that which I will recount to thee next night, Inshallah?”

  Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents

  The Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night.

  Now when came the night, quoth Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, “O sister mine, an thou incline not unto sleep, prithee finish thy tale which shall beguile our watching through the dark hours.” She replied: — With love and gladness! It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the girl said to the young merchant, “Know, O my lord, that I am a maid oppressed of my sire, who speaketh at me and saith to me, Thou art loathly of looks and semblance and it besitteth not that thou wear rich raiment; for thou and the slave-girls are like in rank, there is no distinguishing thee from them. Now he is a richard, having a mighty great store of money and saith not thus save because he is a pinchpenny, and grudgeth the spending of a farthing; wherefore he is loath to marry me, lest he be put to somewhat of expense in my marriage, albeit Almighty Allah hath been bounteous to him and he is a man puissant in his time and lacking naught of worldly weal.” The youth asked, “Who is thy father and what is his condition?” and she answered, “He is the Chief Kazi of the well- known Supreme Court, under whose hands are all the Kazis who administer justice in this city.” The merchant believed her and she farewelled him and fared away, leaving in his heart a thousand regrets, for that the love of her had prevailed over him and he knew not how he should win to her; wherefore he woned enamoured, love-distracted, unknowing if he were alive or dead. As soon as she was gone, he shut up shop and walked straightway to the Court, where he went in to the Chief Kazi and saluted him. The magistrate returned his salam and treated him with distinction and seated him by his side. Then said Ala al-Din to him, “I come to thee seeking thine alliance and desiring the hand of thy noble daughter.” Quoth the Kazi, “O my lord merchant, welcome to thee and fair welcome; but indeed my daughter befitteth not the like of thee, neither beseemeth she the goodliness of thy youth and the pleasantness of thy compostition and the sweetness of thy speech;” but Ala al-Din replied, “This talk becometh thee not, neither is it seemly in th
ee; if I be content with her, how should this vex thee?” So the Kazi was satisfied and they came to an accord and concluded the marriage contract at a dower precedent of five purses264 ready money and a dower contingent of fifteen purses, so it might be hard for him to put her away, her father having given him fair warning, but he would not be warned. Then they wrote out the contract document and the merchant said, “I desire to go in to her this night.” Accordingly they carried her to him in procession that very evening, and he prayed the night prayer and entered the private chamber prepared for him; but, when he lifted the head gear from the bride’s head and the veil from her face and looked, he saw a foul face and a favour right fulsome; indeed he beheld somewhat whereof may Allah never show thee the like! loathly, dispensing from description, inasmuch as there were reckoned in her all legal defects.265 So he repented, when repentance availed him naught, and knew that the girl had cheated him. — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. Whereupon cried Dunyazad, her sister, “O sister mine, how delectable is thy story and how sweet!” She replied, saying, “And where is this compared with that which I will recount to thee next night an I be spared and suffered to live by the King, whom Almighty Allah preserve?”