The Four Hundred and Forty-third Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that I walked under the bier packing-needle in hand, and thrust it into the Shaykh of the Vagabonds, whereat he cried out and sprang up and sat upright upon his shell.338 Now when the King heard this tale he laughed and was cheered and the Larrikin resumed:?By Allah, when I thrust the needle into him and he sat upright in his coffin all the folk fell to wondering and cried, “Verily the dead hath come to life.” Hereupon, O my lord, my fear waxed great and I said to myself, “All adventures are not like one another: haply the crowd339 will recognise me and slay me.” So I went forth the city and came hither. Cried the King, “Of a truth, this tale is marvellous;” when the second Larrikin exclaimed, “By Allah, O my lord, my tale is rarer and stranger than this, for indeed therein I did deeds worthy of the Jinn-mad and amongst the many tricks that came from my hand I died and was buried and I devised a device whereby they drew me from my tomb.” Quoth the King, “Walláhi, if thy tale be more wondrous than that which forewent it I needs must reward thee with somewhat. But now tell us of what betided thee.” So the man began to relate the
Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents
History of the Second Larrikin.
I was living, O my lord, under the same roof with my father’s wife and I had with me some bundles of sesame cobs, but no great quantity, which I stored in a little basket hanging up in the great ceiling-vault of our house. Now one day of the days a party of merchants, numbering five or so, together with their head man, came to our village and began asking for sesame; and they happened to meet me on the road hard by our place, so they put me the same question. I asked them, “Do you want much of it?” and they answered, “We require340 about an hundred ardabbs.”341 Quoth I, “By me is a large quantity thereof;” and quoth they, “Have the kindness to show us the muster;”342 whereto I rejoined, “Upon the head and the eye!” Hereat I led them into the room wherein the basket was suspended with a few cobs of sesame (there being none other) and I went up by an outside staircase to the top of the vault, which I pierced, and putting forth my hand, took up a palm-full and therewith returned to them and showed the specimen. They saw that the sesame was clean grain, and said one to other, “This house is naught but full to the vault,343 for had there been a small quantity there he would have opened the door and shown us the heaps.” Hereupon I conversed with them and settled the price and they paid me as earnest money for an hundred ardabbs of sesame six hundred reals. I took the coin and gave it to the wife of my father, saying to her, “Cook for us a supper that shall be toothsome.” Then I slaughtered for her five chickens and charged her that, after she should have cooked the supper, she must prepare for us a pot of Baysárah344 which must be slab and thick. She did as I bade her and I returned to the merchants and invited them to sup with us and night in our house. Now when sunset time came I brought them in for the evening meal and they supped and were cheered, and as soon as the hour for night-prayer had passed I spread for them sleeping-gear and said to them, “O our guests, be careful of yourselves lest the wind come forth from your bellies, for with me dwelleth the wife of my father, who disgusteth fizzles and who dieth if she hear a fart.” After this they slept soundly from the stress of their fatigue and were overwhelmed with slumber; but when it was midnight, I took the pot of Baysarah and approached them as they still slumbered and I besmeared345 their backsides with the Baysarah and returned and slept until dawn of day in my own stead hard beside them. At this time all five were awake, and as each one arose before his companions he sensed a somewhat soft below him and putting forth his hand felt his bum bewrayed346 with the stuff, and said to his neighbour, “Ho, such an one, I have skited!” and the other said, “I also have conskited myself;” and then all said together, “We have skited.” But when I heard this, O my lord, I arose forthwith and cried out saying, “Haste ye to my help, O ye folk, for these guests have killed my father’s wife.”?And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I should relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was
The Four Hundred and Forty-fifth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale, that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that quoth the second Larrikin to the King:?O my lord, I cried out saying, “The guests have slain the wife of my father.” But when they heard me the merchants arose and ran away, each following other, so I rushed after them, shouting aloud, “Ye have killed my father’s wife,” till such time as they had disappeared from sight. Then said I to myself, “Inshallah! they will never more come back.” But after they had disappeared for a whole year they returned and demanded their coin, to wit, six hundred reals; and I, when the tidings reached me, feigned myself dead and ordered my father’s wife to bury me in the cemetery and I took to my grave a portion of charcoal and a branding-iron. Now when the five merchants came and asked after me the folk said, “He hath deceased and they have graved him in his grave;” whereupon the creditors cried, “By Allah, there is no help but that we go and piss upon his fosse.” Now I had made a crevice in the tomb347 and I had lighted the charcoal and I had placed the branding-iron ready till it became red hot and, when they came to piddle upon my grave, I took the iron and branded their hinder cheeks with sore branding, and this I did to one and all till the five had suffered in the flesh. Presently they departed to their own country, when my father’s wife came and opened the tomb and drew me forth and we returned together to our home. After a time, however, the news reached these merchants in their towns that I was living and hearty, so they came once more to our village and demanded of the Governor that I be given up to them. So the rulers sent for and summoned me, but when the creditors made a claim upon me for six hundred reals, I said to the Governor, “O my lord, verily these five fellows were slaves to my sire in bygone-times.” Quoth the ruler, “Were ye then in sooth chattels to his sire?” and said they to me, “Thou liest!” Upon this I rejoined, “Bare their bodies; and, if thou find a mark thereupon, they be my father’s serviles, and if thou find no sign then are my words false.” So they examined them and they found upon the rumps of the five, marks of the branding-iron, and the Governor said, “By Allah, in good sooth he hath told the truth and you five are the chattels of his father.” Hereupon began dispute and debate between us, nor could they contrive aught to escape from me until they paid me three hundred reals in addition to what I had before of them. When the Sultan heard these words from the Larrikin he fell to wondering and laughing at what the wight had done and he said, “By Allah, verily thy deed is the deed of a vagabond who is a past-master in fraud.” Then the third Larrikin spoke and said, “By Allah, in good sooth my story is more marvellous and wondrous than the tales of this twain, for that none (methinketh) save I could have done aught of the kind.” The King asked him, “And what may be thy story?” so he began to relate
Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents
The Tale of the Third Larrikin.
O my lord, I was once an owner of herds whereof naught remained to me but a single bull well advanced in years and unhealthy of flesh and of hide; and when I sought to sell him to the butchers none was
willing to buy him of me, nor even to accept him as a gift. So I was disgusted with the beast and with the idea of eating him; and, as he could not be used either to grind348 or to plough, I led him into a great courtyard, where I slaughtered him and stripped off his hide. Then I cut the flesh into bittocks?And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I should relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was
The Four Hundred and Forty-seventh Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the whilome owner of the bull said to the King:?O my lord, I cut his flesh into bittocks and went forth and cried aloud upon the dogs of the quarter, when they all gathered together nor did one remain behind. Then I caused them to enter the court and having bolted the door gave to each dog a bit of the meat weighing half a pound.349 So all ate and were filled, after which I shut them up in the house which was large, for a space of three days when, behold, the folk came seeking their tykes and crying, “Whither can the curs have gone?” So I related how I had locked them up within the house and hereupon each man who had a hound came and took it away. Then quoth I, “Thy dog hath eaten a full pound of flesh,” and I took from each owner six faddahs and let him have his beast until I had recovered for the meat of that bull a sum of two thousand faddahs.350 At last of these dogs there remained to me but one unclaimed and he had only a single eye and no owner. So I took up a staff and beat him and he ran away and I ran after him to catch him until he came upon a house with the door open and rushed within. Now by the decree of the Decreer it so happened that the mistress of the house had a man living with her who was one-eyed and I ran in and said to her, “Bring out the one-eyed that is with thee,” meaning the dog. But when the house mistress heard me say, “Bring out the one-eyed,” she fancied that I spoke of her mate, so knowing naught about the matter of the tyke she came up to me and cried, “Allah upon thee, O my lord, do thou veil what Allah hath veiled and rend not our reputation and deal not disgrace to us;”351 presently adding, “Take this bangle from me and betray us not.” So I took it and left her and went my ways, after which she returned to the house and her heart was heaving and she found that her man had been in like case ever since he heard me say, “Bring out the one-eyed.” So I went away carrying off the bracelet and fared homeward. But when she looked about the room, lo and behold! she espied the one-eyed dog lying in a corner and, as soon as she caught sight of him, she was certified that I had alluded to the beast. So she buffeted her face and regretted the loss of her bangle and following me she came up and said to me, “O my lord, I have found the one-eyed dog, so do thou return with me and take him;” whereat I had pity upon the woman and restored to her the ornament. However, when this had befallen me, fear possessed my heart lest she denounce me, and I went away from my village and came to this place where the three of us forgathered and have lived ever since. When the King had given ear to this story he was cheered and said, “By Allah, verily the adventures of you three are wondrous, but my desire of you is to know if any of you have heard aught of the histories of bygone Sultans; and, if so, let him relate them to me. First, however, I must take you into the city that you may enjoy your rest.” “O my lord,” quoth they, “who art thou of the citizens?” and quoth he, “I am the King of this country, and the cause of my coming hither was my design to hunt and chase and the finding you here hath diverted me therefrom.” But when they heard his words, they forthwith rose to their feet and did him obeisance saying, “Hearing and obeying,” after which the three repaired with him to the city. Here the King commanded that they set apart for them an apartment and appointed to them rations of meat and drink and invested them with robes of honour; and they remained in company one with other till a certain night of the nights when the Sultan summoned them and they made act of presence between his hands and the season was after the King had prayed the Isha352 prayers. So he said to them, “I require that each and every of you who knoweth an history of the Kings of yore shall relate it to me,” whereat said one of the four, “I have by me such a tale.” Quoth the King, “Then tell it to us;” when the first Larrikin began to relate the
Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents
Story of a Sultan of Al-Hind and his Son Mohammed.353
There was in days of yore a King in the land of Al-Hind, who reigned over wide dominions (and praise be to Him who ruleth the worlds material and spiritual!), but this Sultan had nor daughter nor son. So once upon a time he took thought and said, “Glory to Thee! no god is there save Thyself, O Lord; withal Thou hast not vouchsafed to me a child either boy or girl.” On the next day he arose a-morn wholly clad in clothes of crimson hue,354 ?And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I should relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was
The Four Hundred and Forty-ninth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the King of Al-Hind arose a-morn wholly clad in clothes of crimson hue, and the Wazir, coming into the Divan, found him in such case. So he salam’d to him and blessed him with the blessing due to Caliphs, and said to him, “O King of the Age, doth aught irk thee that thou art robed in red?” whereto he replied, “O Wazir, I have risen with my heart gript hard.” Said the other, “Go into thy treasury of moneys and jewels and turn over thy precious ores, that thy sorrow be dispersed.” But said the Sultan, “O Wazir, verily all this world is a transitory, and naught remaineth to any save to seek the face of Allah the Beneficent: withal the like of me may never more escape from cark and care, seeing that I have lived for this length of time and that I have not been blessed with or son or daughter, for verily children are the ornament of the world.” Hereupon a wight dark of hue, which was a Takrúri355 by birth, suddenly appeared before the Sultan and standing between his hands said to him, “O King of the Age, I have by me certain medicinal roots the bequeathal of my forbears and I have heard that thou hast no issue; so an thou eat somewhat thereof haply shall they gladden thy heart.” “Where be these simples?” cried the King, whereat the Takruri man drew forth a bag and brought out from it somewhat that resembled a confection and gave it to him with due injunctions. So when it was night-time the Sultan ate somewhat of it and then slept with his wife who, by the Omnipotence of Allah Almighty, conceived of him that very time. Finding her pregnant the King was rejoiced thereat and fell to distributing alms to the Fakirs and the mesquin and the widows and the orphans, and this continued till the days of his Queen’s pregnancy were completed. Then she bare a man-child fair of face and form, which event caused the King perfect joy and complete; and on that day when the boy was named Mahommed,356 Son of the Sultan, he scattered full half his treasury amongst the lieges. Then he bade bring for the babe wet-nurses who suckled him until milktime ended, when they weaned him, after which he grew every day in strength and stature till his age reached his sixth year. Hereupon his father appointed for him a Divine to teach him reading and writing and the Koran a
nd all the sciences, which he mastered when his years numbered twelve. And after this he took to mounting horses and learning to shoot with shafts and to hit the mark, up to the time when he became a knight who surpassed all other knights. Now one day of the days Prince Mohammed rode off a-hunting, as was his wont, when lo and behold! he beheld a fowl with green plumage wheeling around him in circles and rocketing in the air and seeing this he was desirous to bring it down with an arrow. But he found this impossible so he ceased not following the quarry with intent to catch it but again he failed and it flew away from his ken; whereat he was sore vexed and he said to himself, “Needs must I seize this bird,” and he kept swerving to the right and the left in order to catch sight of it but he saw it not. This endured until the end of day when he returned to the city and sought his father and his mother, and when they looked upon him they found his case changed and they asked him concerning his condition, so he related to them all about the bird and they said to him, “O our son, O Mohammed, verily the creations of Allah be curious and how many fowls are like unto this, nay even more wondrous.” Cried he, “Unless I catch her357 I will wholly give up eating.” Now when morning dawned he mounted according to his custom and again went forth to the chase; and presently he pushed into the middle of the desert when suddenly he saw the bird flying in air and he pushed his horse to speed beneath her and shot at her a shaft with the intent to make her his prey, but again was unable to kill the bird. He persisted in the chase from sunrise until sundown when he was tired and his horse was aweary, so he turned him round purposing a return city-wards, when behold, he was met in the middle of the road by an elderly man who said to him, “O son of the Sultan, in very sooth thou art fatigued and on like wise is thy steed.” The Prince replied, “Yes,” and the Elder asked him, “What is the cause thereof?” Accordingly he told him all anent the bird and the Shaykh replied to him, “O my son, an thou absent thyself and ride for a whole year in pursuit of yonder fowl thou wilt never be able to take her; and, O my child, where is this bird!358 I will now inform thee that in a City of the Islands hight of Camphor there is a garden wide of sides wherein are many of such fowls and far fairer than this, and of them some can sing and others can speak with human speech; but, O my son, thou art unable to reach that city. However, if thou leave this bird and seek another of the same kind, haply I can show thee one and thou wilt not weary thyself any more.” When Mohammed, Son of the Sultan, heard these words from the Elder he cried, “By Allah, ’tis not possible but that I travel to that city.” Hereupon he left the Shaykh and returned to his own home, but his heart was engrossed with the Capital of the Camphor Islands, and when he went in to his sire, his case was troubled. The father asked him thereof and he related to him what the oldster had said. “O my son,” quoth the sire, “cast out this accident from thy heart and weary not thy soul, inasmuch as whoso would seek an object he cannot obtain, shall destroy his own life for the sake thereof and furthermore he shall fail of his gain. Better therefore thou set thy heart at rest359 and weary thyself no more.” Quoth the Son, “Walláhi, O my sire, verily my heart is hung to yonder fowl and specially to the words of the Elder; nor is it possible to me to sit at home until I shall have reached the city of the Camphor Islands and I shall have gazed upon the gardens wherein such fowls do wone.” Quoth his father, “But why, O my child, wouldst thou deprive us of looking upon thee?” And quoth the son, “There is no help but that I travel.”?And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I should relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was
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