One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Truth and Injustice lived in the same country, and one day they happened to meet, and agreed to be friends. But as Injustice brought many people into trouble, Truth declared that she would have no more to do with her, upon which Injustice grew angry, and put out the eyes of Truth. Truth wandered about for a long time at random, and at last she came to a walnut-tree, and climbed up it to rest awhile in safety from wild beasts. During the night a wolf and a mouse came to the foot of the tree, and held the following conversation. The wolf began, “I am very comfortable in the land where I am now living, for there are so many blind people there that I can steal almost any animal I like without anybody seeing me. If the blind men knew that they had only to rub their eyes with the moss which grows on the stones here in order to recover their sight, I should soon get on badly with them.”

  The mouse responded, “I live in a district where the people have no water, and are obliged to fetch it from a great distance. When they are away from home I can enjoy as much of their provisions as I like; indeed, I can heap together as large a store as I please without being disturbed. If the people knew that they had only to cut down a great oak tree, and a great lime tree which grow near their houses, in order to find water, I should soon be badly off.”

  As soon as the wolf and the mouse were gone, Truth came down from her tree, and groped about until she found a moss-covered stone, when she rubbed her eyes with the moss. She recovered her sight immediately, and then went her way till she came to the country where most of the people were blind. Truth demanded that the blind people should pay her a fixed sum of money, when she would tell them of a remedy by which they could recover their sight. The blind men gave her the money, and Truth supplied them with the remedy which had cured herself.

  After this, Truth proceeded further till she came to the district where the people had no water. She told them that if they would give her a carriage and horses, she would tell them where to find water. The people were glad to agree to her proposal.

  When Truth had received the carriage and horses, she showed the people the oak and the lime tree, which they felled by her directions, when water immediately flowed from under the roots in great abundance.

  As Truth drove away she met Injustice, who had fallen into poverty, and was wandering from one country to another in rags. Truth knew her immediately, and asked her to take a seat in her carriage. Injustice then recognised her, and asked her how she had received the light of her eyes, and how she had come by such a fine carriage. Truth told her everything, including what she had heard from the wolf and the mouse. Injustice then persuaded her to put out her eyes, for she wanted to be rich, and to have a fine carriage too; and then Truth told her to descend. Truth herself drove away, and seldom shows herself to men.

  Injustice wandered about the country till she found the walnut tree, up which she climbed. When evening came, the wolf and the fox met under the tree again to talk. Both were now in trouble, for the wolf could not steal an animal without being seen and pursued by the people, and the mouse could no longer eat meat or collect stores without being disturbed, for the people were no longer obliged to leave their home for a long time to fetch water. Both the wolf and the mouse suspected that some one had overheard their late conversation, so they looked up in search of the listener, and discovered Injustice in the tree. The animals supposed that it was she who had betrayed them, and said in anger, “May our curse be upon you that you may remain for ever blind, for you have deprived us of our means of living.”

  After thus speaking, the animals ran away, but Injustice has ever since remained blind, and does harm to everybody who chances to come in her way.

  Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents

  II. — NOTES ON THE STORIES CONTAINED IN VOLUME XV.

  By W. F. KIRBY.

  History of the King’s Son of Sind and the Lady Fatimah (p-18).

  P. 3. — This mixture of seeds, &c., is a very common incident in folk-tales.

  P. 7. — Compare the well-known incident in John xviii. 1-11, which passage, by the way, is considered to be an interpolation taken from the lost Gospel of the Hebrews.

  History of the Lovers of Syria (p-36).

  P. 18. — Divination by the flight or song of birds is so universal that it is ridiculous of Kreutzwald (the compiler of the Kalevipoeg) to quote the fact of the son of Kalev applying to birds and beasts for advice as being intended by the composers as a hint that he was deficient in intelligence.

  In Bulwer Lytton’s story of the Fallen Star (Pilgrims of the Rhine, ch. xix.) he makes the imposter Morven determine the succession to the chieftainship by means of a trained hawk.

  P. 26, note 2. — Scott may possibly refer to the tradition that the souls of the dead are stored up in the trumpet of Israfil, when he speaks of the “receiving angel.”

  History of Al-Hajjaj Bin Yusuf and the Young Sayyid (p-60).

  P. 43, note 1. — I doubt if the story-teller intended to represent Al-Hajjaj as ignorant. The story rather implies that he was merely catechising the youth, in order to entangle him in his talk.

  P. 46. — Compare the story of the Sandal-wood Merchant and the Sharpers (Nights, vi. ) in which the Merchant is required to drink up the sea [or rather, perhaps, river], and requires his adversary to hold the mouth of the sea for him with his hand.

  P. 52, note 3. — It is well known that children should not be allowed to sleep with aged persons, as the latter absorb their vitality.

  Night Adventure of Harun Al-Rashid and the Youth Manjab

  (p-105).

  P. 102. — In the Danish ballads we frequently find heroes appealing to their mothers or nurses in cases of difficulty. Compare “Habor and Signild,” and “Knight Stig’s Wedding,” in Prior’s Danish Ballads, i. and ii. .

  Story of the Darwaysh and the Barber’s Boy and the

  Greedy Sultan (p-114).

  This story belongs to the large category known to students of folk-lore as the

  Sage and his Pupil; and of this again there are three main groups:

  1. Those in which (as in the present instance) the two remain on friendly terms.

  2. Those in which the sage is outwitted and destroyed by his pupil (e.g., Cazotte’s story of the Maugraby; or Spitta Bey’s tales, No. 1).

  3. Those in which the pupil attempts to outwit or to destroy the sage, and is himself outwitted or destroyed (e.g., The Lady’s Fifth Story, in Gibb’s Forty Vezirs, p-80; and his App. B. note v., ).

  The Loves of Al-Hayfa and Yusuf (p-210).

  P. 149, note 1. — I believe that a sudden attack of this kind is always speedily fatal.

  The Goodwife of Cairo and Her Four Gallants (p-294).

  P. 255, note. — It may be worth while to note that Swedenborg asserts that it is unlawful in Heaven for any person to look at the back of the head of another, as by so doing he interrupts the divine influx. The foundation of this idea is perhaps the desire to avoid mesmeric action upon the cerebellum.

  Tale of Mohsin and Muss (p-241).

  The notes on the story of Abu Niyyat and Abu Niyyateen (supra, p) will apply still better to the present story.

  The Merchant’s Daughter, and the Prince of Al-irak (pp.

  264-317).

  P-312. — The case of Tobias and Sara (Tobit, chaps. iii.-viii.) was very similar: but in this instance the demon Asmodeus was driven away by fumigating with the liver and heart of a fish.

  Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents

  FOOTNOTES SUPPLEMENTAL VOLUME V.

  1 In the same volume (ii. 161) we also find an “Introductory Chapter of the Arabian Tales,” translated from an original manuscript by Jonathan Scott, Esq.; neither MS nor translation having any merit. In p, 35 (ibid.) are noticed the “Contents of a Fragment of the Arabian Nights procured in India by James Anderson, Esq., a copy of which” (made by his friend Scott) “is now in the possession of Jonathan Scott, Esq.” (See Scott, vol. vi. .) For a short but sufficient noti
ce of this fragment cf. the Appendix (vol. x. ) to my Thousand Nights and a Night, the able and conscientious work of Mr. W. F. Kirby. “The Labourer and the Flying Chain” (No. x.) and “The King’s Son who escaped death by the ingenuity of his Father’s seven Viziers” (No. xi.) have been translated or rather abridged by Scott in his “Tales, Anecdotes and Letters” before alluded to, a vol. of p containing scraps from the Persian “Tohfat al-Majális” and “Hazliyát’ Abbíd Zahkání” (Facetić of ‘Abbíd the Jester), with letters from Aurangzeb and other such padding much affected by the home public in the Early XIXth Century.

  2 So called from Herr Uri, a Hungarian scholar who first catalogued “The Contents.”

  3 W. M. MS. iv. 165189: Scott (vi. 238245), “Story of the Prince of Sind, and Fatima, daughter of Amir Bin Naomaun”: Gauttier (vi. 342348) Histoire du Prince de Sind et de Fatime. Sind is so called from Sindhu, the Indus (in Pers. Sindáb), is the general name of the riverine valley: in early days it was a great station of the so-called Aryan race, as they were migrating eastwards into India Proper, and it contains many Holy Places dating from the era of the Puránás. The Moslems soon made acquaintance with it, and the country was conquered and annexed by Mohammed bin Kásim, sent to attack it by the famous or infamous Hajjáj bin Yúsuf the Thakafite, lieutenant of Al-’Irák under the Ommiade Abd al-Malik bin Marwán. For details, see my “Sind Re-visited”: vol. i. chapt. viii.

  4 [In MS. “shakhat,” a modern word which occurs in Spitta

  Bey’s “Contes Arabes Modernes,” spelt with the palatal instead of the dental, and is translated there by “injurier.” — ST.]

  5 In the text “Sahríj”; hence the “Chafariz” (fountain) of

  Portugal, which I derived (Highlands of the Brazil, i. 46) from

  “Sakáríj.” It is a “Moghrabin” word = fonte, a fountain, preserved in the Brazil and derided in the mother country, where a New World village is described as

  — Chafariz,

  Joam Antam e a Matriz:

  which may be roughly rendered

  — Parish church,

  Pump on the Green and Johnny Birch.

  6 [Here I suppose the scribe dropped a word, as “yahtáj,” or the like, and the sentence should read: it requires, etc. — ST.]

  7 In text “Sárayah,” for “Saráyah,” Serai, Government House: vol. ix. 52.

  8 A manner of metonymy, meaning that he rested his cheek upon his right hand.

  9 For the sig. of this phrase = words suggested by the circumstances, see vol. i. 121.

  10 Mr. Charles M. Doughty (“Arabia Deserta,” i. 223) speaks of the Badawin who “sit beating the time away, and for pastime limning with their driving-sticks (the Bákúr) in the idle land.”

  11 In text “Lam yanúb al-Wáhidu min-hum nisf haffán.” [I cannot explain this sentence satisfactory to myself, but by inserting “illá” after “min-hum.” Further I would read “nassaf” = libavit, delibavit, degustavit (Dozy, Suppl. s. v.) and “Hifán,” pl. of “Hafna” = handful, mouthful, small quantity, translating accordingly: “and none took his turn without sipping a few laps.” — ST.]

  12 “Tarajjama”: Suppl. vol. iv. 188. I shall always translate it by “he deprecated” scil. evil to the person addressed.

  13 [The text, as I read it, has: “In wahadtu (read wajadtu) fí házih al-Sá’áh shayyan naakul-hu wa namút bi-hi nartáh min házá al-Taab wa’l-mashakkah la-akultu-hu” = if I could find at this hour a something (i.e. in the way of poison) which I might eat and die thereby and rest from this toil and trouble, I would certainly eat it, etc. — ST.]

  14 See vol. i. 311 for this “tom-tom” as Anglo-Indians call it.

  15 i.e. Whereinto the happy man was able to go, which he could not whilst the spell was upon the hoard.

  16 Here ends this tale, a most lame and impotent conclusion, in the W. M. MS. iv. 189. Scott () copied by Gauttier (vi. 348) has, “His father received him with rapture, and the prince having made an apology to the sultana (!) for his former rude behaviour, she received his excuses, and having no child of her own readily adopted him as her son; so that the royal family lived henceforth in the utmost harmony, till the death of the sultan and sultana, when the prince succeeded to the empire.”

  17 W. M. MS. iv. 189. Scott (vi. 246-258) “Story of the Lovers of Syria; or, the Heroine:” Gauttier (iv. 348-354) Histoire des Amans de Syrie.

  18 Scott (vi. 246) comments upon the text:— “The master of the ship having weighed anchor, hoisted sail and departed: the lady in vain entreating him to wait the return of her beloved, or send her on shore, for he was captivated with her beauty. Finding herself thus ensnared, as she was a woman of strong mind . . . she assumed a satisfied air; and as the only way to preserve her honour, received the addresses of the treacherous master with pretended complacency, and consented to receive him as a husband at the first port at which the ship might touch.”

  19 The captain, the skipper, not the owner: see vols. i. 127; vi. 12; the fem. (which we shall presently find) is “Ra’isah.”

  20 Scott () has:— “At length the vessel anchored near a city, to which the captain went to make preparations for his marriage; but the lady, while he was on shore, addressed the ship’s crew, setting forth with such force his treacherous conduct to herself, and offering such rewards if they would convey her to her lover at the port they had left, that the honest sailors were moved in her favour, agreed to obey her as their mistress, and hoisting sail, left the master to shift for himself.”

  21 In text “Kamrah,” = the chief cabin, from the Gr. ?aľ??a = vault; Pers. Kamar; Lat. “Camera” or “Camara”; Germ. “Kammer.” It is still the popular term in Egypt for the “cuddy,” which is derived from Pers. “Kadah” = a room.

  22 Scott makes the doughty damsel (), “relate to them her own adventures, and assure them that when she should have rejoined her lover, they should, if they chose it, be honourably restored to their homes; but in the mean time she hoped they would contentedly share her fortunes.”

  23 In text “Fidáwi,” see “Fidá’i” and “Fidawíyah,” suppl. vol. iv. 281.

  24 [In the text “Al-Kázánát,” pl. of “Kázán,” which occurs in Spitta Bey’s tales under the form “Kazán” on account of the accent. It is the Turkish “Kazghán,” vulgarly pronounced “Kazan,” and takes in Persian generally the form “Kazkán.” In Night 652 it will be met again in the sense of crucibles. — ST.]

  25 In text “Banj al-tayyár,” i.e. volatile: as we should say, that which flies fastest to the brain.

  26 This marvellous bird, the “Ter-il-bas” (Tayr Táús?), is a particular kind of peacock which is introduced with a monstrous amount of nonsense about “Dagon and his son Bil-il-Sanan” and made to determine elections by alighting upon the head of one of the candidates in Chavis and Cazotte, “History of Yamalladdin (Jamál al-Din), Prince of Great Katay” (Khátá = Cathay = China). See Heron, iv. 159.

  27 Lit. “hath given it to him.”

  28 Arab. “Jiház,” the Egypt. “Gaház,” which is the Scotch “tocher,” and must not be confounded with the “Mahr” = dowry, settled by the husband upon the wife. Usually it consists of sundry articles of dress and ornament, furniture (matting and bedding carpets, divans, cushions and kitchen utensils), to which the Badawi add “Girbahs” (water-skins), querns, and pestles with mortars. These are usually carried by camels from the bride’s house to the bridegroom’s: they are the wife’s property, and if divorced she takes them away with her and the husband has no control over the married woman’s capital, interest or gains. For other details see Lane M.E. chapt. vi. and Herklots chapt. xiv. sec. 7.

  29 [Arab. “Shuwár” = trousseau, whence the verb “shawwara binta-hu” = he gave a marriage outfit to his daughter. See Dozy Suppl. s. v. and Arnold’s Chrestom. 157, 1. — ST.]

  30 Arab. “Ghashím,” see vol. ii. 330. It is a favourite word in Egypt extending to Badawi-land, and especially in Cairo, where it is looked upon as slighting if not insulting.


  31 The whole of the scene is a replica of the marriage between Kamar al-Zamán and that notable blackguard the Lady Budúr (vol. iii. 211), where also we find the pigeon slaughtered (). I have mentioned that the blood of this bird is supposed throughout the East, where the use of the microscope is unknown, and the corpuscles are never studied, most to resemble the results of a bursten hymen, and that it is the most used to deceive the expert eyes of midwives and old matrons. See note to vol. iii. .

  32 Scott () makes his heroine “erect a most magnificent caravanserai, furnished with baths hot and cold, and every convenience for the weary traveller.” Compare this device with the public and royal banquet () contrived by the slave-girl sultaness, the charming Zumurrud or Smaragdine in the tale of Ali Shár, vol. iv. 187.

  33 In text “Shakhs,” see vol. iii. 26; viii. 159.

  34 This assemblage of the dramatis personć at the end of the scene, highly artistic and equally improbably, reminds us of the ending of King Omar bin al-Nu’uman (vol. iii. 112).

  35 The King and the Minister could not have recognised the portrait as neither had seen the original.

  36 In text “Ishtalaka” = he surmised, discovered (a secret).

  37 In the Arab. “she knew them,” but the careless storyteller forgets the first part of his own story.

  38 Story-telling being servile work.

  39 [In the MS. “istanatú lá-ha.” The translation in the text presupposes the reading “istanattú” as the 10th form of “natt” = he jumped, he leaped. I am inclined to take it for the 8th form of “sanat,” which according to Dozy stands in its 2nd form “sannat” for “sannat,” a transposition of the classical “nassat” = he listened to. The same word with the same meaning of “listening attentively,” recurs in the next line in the singular, applying to the captain and the following pronoun “la-há” refers in both passages to “Hikáyah,” tale, not to the lady-sultan who reveals herself only later, when she has concluded her narrative. — ST.]

  40 Here the converse is probably meant, as we have before seen.