One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  “Breeze-wavèd branch, full moon O’ murk or sun of undurn sheeny

  bright, * Which is she hight who all the three hath might to

  place in pauper plight, ah!

  Where on the bending branch alight with grace of stature like to

  hers * Tho’ be the branch by Zephyr deckt and in its

  ornaments bedight, ah!

  And how can fellowèd be her brow with fullest moon that lights

  the darks * When sun must borrow morning light from that

  fair forehead dazzling bright, ah!

  Were set in scales the fairest fair and balanced with a long

  compare * heir boasts, thou haddest over-weight for beauty

  and their charms were light, ah!”

  Now when he considered her straitly, she captured the whole of his heart. But the young lady had not upon her clothes enough for concealment, and here and there her body showed bare; so when she came forth and espied the young man standing by the old woman she withdrew into her bower and said to her mother, “Allah requite121 thee for that thou hast done. How can it be allowed thee by the Almighty to set me in this state before a stranger?” “Hold thy peace,” said her parent; “man is allowed to look, and if he have any art or part in the object looked at ’tis well; but thereafter if he look without its being his lot, then ‘twere unlawful. This youth hath gazed upon thee, and if he prove to have a portion in thee let him take it, otherwise he may wend his ways, nor is there a flaw in aught of legal observance.” Hereat the Caliph’s heart was cheered, for he knew that the ancient dame meant to marry the maid. Anon quoth the old mother to the merchant, “Hast thou seen her?” and quoth he, “Yes.” “Did she please thee?” asked the crone, and he answered, “Yea verily,” adding, “How much may be her actual marriage-settlement and her contingent dower?” She replied, “The first shall consist of four thousand dinars and the second shall be the same.”’ “This be overmuch,” rejoined the youth, “and more than all my good; to wit, four thousand gold pieces, the gift of which will send me forth to beg; but do thou take of me a thousand dinars, and upon me be the arraying of the house and the maiden’s raiment for another thousand; so will I do business and trade with the remainder.” But the crone sware to him by Allah the Almighty,122 that an the four thousand failed of a single gold piece he should never see of the damsel a single hair. He replied, “I have no power thereto and — good day to both of you;” and he made for the door, but the Caliph forewent him to the street and standing in a corner suffered him to pass and gang his gait. After this Harun went back to the old woman, and entering salam’d to her and she, returning his salutation, asked him, “What dost thou want and what may be thy wish?” He answered, “The young trader who went forth hence sent me to say that he hath no intent to wed,” and she rejoined, “On this mind the man hied away from us.” Then quoth the Caliph, “I will marry the maid, and by me is all thou canst desire of gold and what not.” She retorted, “O Robber,123 all I see upon thee is not worth two hundred dirhams: whence then canst thou procure four thousand dinars?” Quoth he, “Hast thou grapes to sell, or wishest thou only to breed a quarrel between me and the vineyard-keeper?”124 and quoth she, “Doubtless I have and hold the grapes.” “Then, I possess all thou canst desire, said he, and said she, “Then, we will wed thee when thou shalt have weighed out the gold.” The Caliph cried, “I accept;” and anon entering the lodging he took seat at the head of the chamber and in its place of honour, and said to the house-mistress, “Go thou to Kází Such-an-one and tell him that Al-Bundukáni requireth him.” “O Robber,” said she, “will the Kazi be content to come at thy bidding?” The Commander of the Faithful laughed at these words and said, “Do thou go without danger and bid him bring his ink-case and pens and paper.” So she went off saying to herself, “Verily, an the Judge accompany me, this my son-in-law must be a Captain of Robbers.”125 But when at last she arrived at the Kazi’s mansion she saw him sitting in the middle of the room and surrounded by doctors of divinity and a host of learned wights: so she feared to enter, and fell to looking in through the doorway and she dreaded to fare farther and stepped backwards; withal she kept saying, “How shall I go home without speaking a word to the Kazi?” and the thought would hearten her heart, so she would return to the entrance and thrust in her head and then withdraw it. On such wise she had done many a time when the Kazi, catching sight of her, bade one of his messengers bring her within; so the man went to her and said, “Bespeak the Kazi!” So she went in full of affright and salam’d to the Judge who, returning her salutation, asked her, “What is thy want, O woman?” She answered, “There is a young man in my house who desireth that thou come to him;” whereat he rejoined, “And who may be this youth that I in person should hie to him; and what may be his name?” She replied, “He pretendeth to the name of Al-Bundukani — the Arbalestrier” (which was a by-name of the Caliph kept concealed from the folk but well known to all officials). Hereat the Kazi sprang to his feet without stay or delay and said to her, “O my lady, do thou forego me,” whilst all present asked him, “O our lord, whither away?” and he, answering them, “A need hath suddenly occurred,” went forth. Then quoth the crone in her mind, “Hapless the Kazi who is a pleasant person, haply this son-in-law of mine hath given him to drink of clotted gore126 by night in some place or other and the poor man hath yet a fear of him; otherwise what is the worth of this Robber that the Judge should hie to his house?” When they reached the door, the Kazi bade the ancient dame precede him;127 so she went in and called to him and he on entering saw the Caliph seated at the head of the chamber. He would have kissed ground but Harun signed to him silence with a wink; so he made his salam and sat him down saying, “’Tis well,128 O my lord, what may be thy want?” The Prince of True Believers replied, “I desire thou marry me to the daughter of this ancient dame, so do thou write out the writ.” Hereupon the Judge asked the assent of the old woman and of her daughter; and, when they both granted it, he enquired, “What may be the amount of the dower?” The mother replied, “Four thousand dinars of gold and the like sum in ready coin.” “Dost thou accept?” quoth the Kazi to the Caliph, and quoth he, “Yes.” Accordingly, the Judge wrote out the writ upon the skirt of his Farajiyah-robe for in his agitation he had forgotten to bring paper, and he set down the name of the Sovran and his father and his grandfather without question for that he knew them well; after which he enquired of the old woman her daughter’s name129 and that of her sire and grandsire. She wailed and cried, “Why and wherefore?130 Oh miserable that we are! Had her father been living how would this Robber have availed to stand at our door, much less to marry her? but ’twas Death that did with us this deed.” “Allah bless the wronged,”131 quoth the Kazi and busied himself with writing out the writ; but whatever question he put to the crone, she wailed in reply and buffeted her cheeks, whilst the Judge wagged his head and his heart was like to burst and the Caliph laughed long and loud. And when the writ was written and finished, the writer cut off from the skirt of his gown according to the measure of the writing and gave it to Harun; then he rose up to fare forth but he was ashamed to wear a robe in rags, so he stripped it off and said to the old woman, “O my mother, present this to anyone deserving it.” And so saying he left the house. Hereupon quoth the old woman to the Caliph, “Dost thou not pay unto the Kazi his fee for coming to thee in person and writing the writ upon his robe which he was obliged to throw away?” “Let him go,” said the Caliph, “I will not give him aught.” Cried she, “And why? Oh, how greedy are these robbers! the man came to us in hopes of gain and we have stripped him instead of robing him.” Harun laughed again, then he arose and said to her, “I now hie me home to fetch thee the gold and the stuffs wherewith to clothe my bride,” and the crone cried out, “Robber, whence shalt thou find cloth and coin? unhappy some one whom thou designest to seize and deprive of his daily bread and reduce to poverty and penury!” The Commander of the Faithful held his peace and went forth intending for his Palace, wher
e he donned the royal robes and taking seat upon his throne bade summon marble-cutters and carpenters and plasterers and house- painters. Then, as they came to the presence and kissed ground and blessed him and prayed for the permanence of his empire, he had them thrown and bade administer to them a bastinado of two hundred sticks a head.132 And when they prayed for mercy and said to him, “O our lord, the Commander of the Faithful, what be our crime?” he said to the artizans, “The hall such-and-such in the Darb-al-Záji,133 do ye wot it well?” They replied, “Yes,” and he resumed, “I desire that ye fare thither forthright and ye repair the walls with marble-slabs and should mid- afternoon come on and ye leave unfinished a place as big as a man’s palm, I will hack off your hands and place them in lieu thereof.” “O Prince of True Believers,” asked they, “how shall we do seeing that we have no marble?”134 He answered, “Take it from the government stores135 and collect each and every stone-cutter in Baghdad. But do you all bear in mind that, if the household enquire who sent you, ye must reply, ‘Thy son-in-law;’ and should they demand, ‘What is his craft,’ say, ‘We ken not;’ and when they require to know his name declare it to be Al- Bundukani. And whoso of you shall speak aught beyond this him will I crucify.” So the master-mason went forth and gathered together the stone-cutters and took marble and ashlar from the stores and set the material on the backs of beasts with all other needs and he repaired to the hall,136 and entered with his company. Hereat the old woman asked “What is’t ye want?” “We would slab the floors and walls of this dwelling with marble!” “And who was it sent you?” “Thy son-in-law!” “And what may be his business?” “We know not.” “Then what is his name?” “A1- Bundukani,” they replied. So she said to herself, “He is naught but a Robber and Captain of thieves.” Then the masons divided and marked out the ground, and each found that each and every had to pave and slab a surface of a cubit or less. Such was their case; but as concerneth the Caliph, he turned him to the chief Carpenter, and looking at him keenly said, “Go thou likewise and assemble all thy fellows in the capital: then do thou repair to the dwelling of Such-an-one and make the doors and so forth, in fact everything needed of carpentry and joinery, taking thee all the requisites from the public warehouses; nor let the afternoon come on ere thou shalt have finished, and if all be not done I will strike thy neck.” He also charged them even as he had charged the marble-cutters never to divulge his dignity or even his name other than Al-Bundukani. So the chief Carpenter went and, gathering his craftsmen, took planks and nails and all his needs, after which they repaired to the lodging and entered, and setting up their scaffoldings137 fell to work while the head man marked off a task for each hand. But the crone was consterned and cried to the men, “And why? Who hath sent you?” “Thy son-in- law!” “And what may be his trade?” “We know not.” “Then what may be his name?” “Al-Bundukani.” So they pushed on their work, each urging his fellow, whilst the old woman well-nigh waxed Jinn- mad,138 and said to herself, “This my son-in-law, the Robber, is naught save a viceroy of the Jánn; and all this is of their fear, so that none dareth or deemeth it safe to disclose the craft or even the name of him, so much do they hold him in awe.” Lastly, the Caliph bade the plasterers and house-painters call a meeting of their brother-craftsmen and go to the government stores and thence take all their requirements of quicklime and hemp139 and so forth; and lastly, charging them as he had charged the others who forewent them, he said, “As soon as the Izán of mid-afternoon prayer shall be cried, if any one of you shall have left in the lodging work unwrought, be it only the size of a man’s palm, I will hack off his hand and set it upon the unfinished stead.” Accordingly, they kissed ground and fared forth carrying with them all their requirements; and, repairing to the tenement, entered therein and slaked their lime and set up their ladders, and four or five artificers fell to working at every wall whilst the house-painters followed them. But when the ancient dame beheld this, her wits were wildered and she was utterly bedazed: so said she to her daughter, “This son- in-law of mine is none save one whose word is heard, and folk abide in awe of him; otherwise who could work all this work in a single day whenas none other than himself could have wrought the same within a twelve-month? But pity ’tis he be a Robber.” Anon she went to the plasterers and said, “Who was it sent you?” “Thy son-in-law!” “And what may be his trade?” “We know not.” “Then what is his name?” “Al-Bundukani.” After this she passed on to the house-painters and asked the same question and receiving the same reply, quoth she to one of them, “I demand of thee, by God the Great, O my son, why thou wilt not disclose to me concerning my son-in-law his name and his craft?” Thereupon quoth the wight addressed, “No man hath power to speak out, otherwise his life is lost;” and she repeated to herself, “Indeed he is none but a mighty Robber, for that the Moslems one and all dread him and his mischief.”140 Now when mid-afternoon came, the artizans had done the whole of their work; so they donned their outer dresses and went forth intending for the Commander of the Faithful, Harun the Orthodox. And when they entered all kissed ground and said, “Under the good auspices of our lord the Prince of True Believers we have wroughten the work of the house.” So he bestowed robes of honour upon them and gave them gifts that contented them, after which they fared forth about their business. Then the Caliph summoned Hammáls or porters and set in their crates articles of furniture such as carpets and counterpanes and sofa-cushions and hangings of arras and prayer-rugs, besides gear of brass and all such necessaries for the household; and to this he added two baskets containing body-raiment and kimcob or gold cloth and stuffs inworked and studded with gems; also jewellery and precious stones, pearls and what not: nor did he forget a coffer containing the eight thousand pieces of gold.141 Then he sent them upon their errand, saying, “Take up all this and bear it to such a house in the Darb al-Zaji and make it over to the ancient dame who owneth the hall; and when she asketh, ‘Who was it sent you?’ do ye answer, ‘Thy son-in-law;’ and should she enquire, ‘What is his craft?’ respond, ‘We know it not;’ and should she demand the name, declare, ‘Al-Bundukani.’ Accordingly the porters fared forth, and reaching the tenement rapped at the door, when the old woman came out and cried, “Who knocketh here?” and they replied “Open and take what we have brought of cloth and clothes and so forth.” But when she looked upon the loads she wailed and cried, “Indeed ye have wandered from the way: whence could all this prosperity have befallen us? return with it to the owner thereof.” They asked her, “Is not this hall that which was builded this day?” And when she answered, “Yes,” quoth they, “Then ’twas hither thy son-in-law sent us.” With these words they went in and set down whatso was with them, but the old woman wailed and cried aloud, “’Tis not for us: ye have wandered from your way.” “It is for you, indeed,” they rejoined, “and thy son- in-law saith, ‘Adorn your dwelling and don the stuffs and dress therewith whomso you choose:’ as for him, he hath much business yet will he come to you what time the folk sleep.” “Yes, indeed,” quoth she to herself, “Robbers never do come save by night.” And when the Hammals went their ways the old woman fared forth to her neighbours and summoned them to assist her in ranging the furniture and vaiselle;142 so they gathered together and entered; and, when they beheld what had befallen, their eyes were dazed and dazzled by seeing the restoration of the hall and by the stuffs and vases therein. So they asked her, “Whence camest thou by all this, and who set for thee this dwelling in such condition and at what time? Yesterday ’twas a ruin and showed neither marble nor whitewash nor stencilling. Can it not be that we are sleeping and haply that we see a dream-house?” She replied, “No vision is this, but evidence of eye-sight: and what work ye behold was wrought by my son-in-law during this one day and to-day also he sent me these stuffs and other matters whereon ye look.” “And who may be thy son-in-law?” asked they, “and when didst thou wed thy daughter while we wotted naught thereof?” Answered she, “To-day all this happened;” and they rejoined, “And what may be the br
idegroom’s calling? haply he is a mighty merchant or an Emir.” “Nor merchant nor Emir,” quoth she, “but a Robber and the Head and Captain of Bandits!” Hereat the women were startled and cried, “Allah upon thee, do thou charge him anent us that he plunder not aught from our houses, seeing that we have a claim of neighbourhood and gossipry upon you.” “Never fear,” she replied, “he is not wont to take aught of neighbours albeit he be a Viceregent of the Jann.” So their hearts were heartened, and they fell to ordering the furniture and decorations; and, when they had ended the ordinance of the house, they applied themselves to dressing the bride; and they brought her a tirewoman and robed her in the finest robes and raiment and prepared her and adorned her with the choicest ornaments. And while they did thus behold, up came other porters carrying crates of meat, such as pigeon-poults and poultry, Katás,143 and quails,144 lambs and butcher’s meat, clarified butter and other cooking material, with all manner of edibles and delicacies such as sugar and Halwá-confections and the like thereof. The Hammals then said to the household, “‘Take ye this which your son-in-law hath sent to you saying, ‘Do ye eat and feed your neighbours and whomso ye please.’” Quoth the old woman, “I ask you, for Allah’s sake, to let me know what may be my son-in-law’s craft and his name;” and quoth they, “His name is Al-Bundukani, but what his business may be we know not;” and so saying they went their ways. Hereupon exclaimed certain of the women who were present, “By the Apostle, he is naught but a robber;” while others who had claims upon the old housemistress cried, “Be whatever may be, before the man who can do after this fashion all the folk in Baghdad are helpless.” Presently they served the provision and all ate their sufficiency; then they removed the trays and set on others loaded with the confections which they also enjoyed; and at last after dividing the orts amongst the neighbours they reserved some of the best of meats and sweetmeats for the bridegroom’s supper. In due time a report was bruited about the quarter that the old woman had wedded her daughter with a robber who had enriched them with what booty he had brought them. And these tidings spread from folk to folk till they reached the young merchant of whom mention hath been made, the same who had sought the maiden to wife and who had not wedded her because refused by her mother. Also he was told that the damsel had been married to a robber who had rebuilt the hall with marble, and the plasterers and painters and carpenters and joiners had wrought therein works which astounded the beholders; moreover that the bridegroom had sent them of stuffs and jewellery a matter beyond count or compute. Hearing this report he found the matter grievous on him and the fire of envy flamed in his heart and he said to himself, “Naught remaineth to me except that I wend me to the Wálí145 and tempt him with promises and thereby work the ruin of this robber and take the damsel to myself.” With these words he rose up sans stay or delay and, going to the Chief of Police related to him all that occurred and promised him a muchel of money, saying, “Whatso thou wantest can be gotten from this robber inasmuch as he owneth good galore.” The Wali rejoiced and replied, “Be patient until after supper-tide when the thief shall have returned home and we will go and catch him and thou shalt carry away the young lady.” So the trader blessed him and took himself off and waited at home until it was supper-time and the streets were void of folk. Presently Názúk146 the Wali mounted horse with four hundred headsmen and smiters of the sword, link-boys and low fellows,147 bearing cressets and paper-lanthorns under four head constables and rode to the house of the old woman. Now all the gossips had departed to their abodes and were dispersed, nor did one of them remain behind; but the household had lighted wax candles and was expecting the bridegroom with bolted doors when behold, the Chief of Police came up and finding all shut bade his men knock with an easy rap. This was heard by those within the hall and the ancient dame sprang up and went to the entrance, whence she espied gleams of light athwart the door-chinks and when she looked out of the window she saw the Wali and his merry men crowding the street till the way was cut. Now the Chief had a lieutenant Shamámah148 hight, which was a meeting-place of ill manners and morals; for naught was dearer to him save the straitening of a Moslem, nor was there upon his body a single hair which affected or aided the veiling of Allah.149 Brief he was, even as the poet said,