Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics)

by Malcolm C (Tr Lyons

  Permission was asked for him to enter, and when this had been granted he entered and kissed the ground before Harun, who welcomed him and told him to be seated. When he had taken his seat he said: ‘Let the Commander of the Faithful ask whatever he wants.’ And as he did so he put his hand in his sleeve, took out the kerchief and placed it in front of himself. He then presented a number of gifts, including a golden bird with eyes of rubies and feet of emeralds, which Harun admired, as there was nothing like it in his treasuries. ‘There is something inside it that is finer than what is outside, master,’ said Abu Muhammad. Harun ran his hand over the bird’s back, which turned, and as it moved from a crack a weighty pearl fell out, gleaming like a star in the sky. Its beauty and radiant light illumined the room and it was followed by another. This went on until seven had come out, dazzling the eyes, each one worth the revenue of Baghdad.

  ‘Fine, by God, fine!’ exclaimed Harun and he then called for the crown that his sister had sent him and placed one of the pearls in it. To his great delight it filled the space as though it had been made for it, and he asked Abu Muhammad, who had told him that he needed such a gem. ‘No one told me, Commander of the Faithful,’ Abu Muhammad replied, ‘and had the emir Muhammad allowed me to go back to my house, I would have brought a finer present than this.’ ‘By God,’ said Harun, ‘whoever named you “the Idle” made a mistake. How was it that you got all this wealth? Tell me your story.’

  ‘To hear is to obey, Commander of the Faithful,’ replied Abu Muhammad and he went on: ‘Know, master, that my father was a wretchedly poor man who acted as a servant and who brought me up until I was ten years old. I would never move from where I was and I was so lazy that I would eat and drink lying on my side. Whenever people gave any food to my mother she would bring it to me and tell me to eat, but I was too lazy to do this, and my mother would feed me with her own hands. I found it hard to speak but I would say: “Chew it before giving it to me, mother,” and she would chew the bread until it became smooth as broth before putting it in my mouth. All this was because I was too idle to move my jaws.’

  This angered Harun, and he said: ‘There could have been no other boy like you, but go on and tell me the rest of your story.’ Abu Muhammad continued: ‘We lived in a place without walls or a roof and we had nothing with which to build it up apart from straw and reeds, which we used as a shelter from the heat of the sun. My mother would go out to look for food for me, and I would sit without stirring from where I was. She would tell me to go out and play with the other children as, if I went off with them, I might lose some of my idleness. I would pay no attention, and she would bring some of them in to me, hoping that they might pull me out, but I would burst into tears and not stir from where I was, until she lost patience and dragged away my waist wrapper from under me. I would leave half my body to burn in the sun while the other half was in the shade and because I was so lazy I couldn’t move into the shade, and I would stay like that until my mother came and, seeing the state I was in, she would feel sorry for me and move me out of the sun into the shade. She was bitterly distressed that I was too lazy to earn myself a living.’ ‘By God,’ exclaimed the caliph, ‘whoever called you Idle was quite right.’

  Abu Muhammad went on: ‘I stayed like that until one day my mother got hold of a genuine dirham. She brought it to me and said: “Get up, my son, and go out to look at what the people are doing. ‘Abd Allah al-Basri has made a pious endowment in order to win a reward from God. He is about to set off for India, and the whole city and its people are in an uproar. Everyone, high and low alike, has gone out to look at the procession that he has ordered to move to the great square. There are many ships nearby, and the master of the procession is seated on an iron chair surrounded by servants, retainers and slaves.”

  ‘My mother kept pressing me to go and told me to take the dirham and go out to enjoy looking at the people. I got on my feet, thinking that the earth would not be able to support me. I was knocked, pushed and jostled but I didn’t raise my head or speak to anyone. Mucus was dribbling down my face, and I was in the depth of misery, with people laughing at me as I cried. Eventually I got to ‘Abd Allah al-Basri, surrounded as he was by people. I greeted him and said: “Master, take this dirham and buy me something that will do me some good, for I am a boy without a father.” I was then overcome by tears and started back home. ‘Abd Allah asked the people round him angrily whether they knew me. “Yes,” they told him, “he is known as Abu Muhammad the Idle.”

  ‘The ships then put to sea, making for India and China. God decreed that they should have a safe voyage, and they were successful in their trading, while ‘Abd Allah made a great profit on what he bought and sold. They had with them a quantity of dates, both dried and unripe, and these he presented to the ruler of China, who was ill and had been told by his doctors to eat Iraqi dates. He was delighted by ‘Abd Allah’s gift and presented him with a magnificent robe of honour as well as other gifts, including a huge quantity of money.

  ‘The traders put back to sea and sailed for twenty days, but on the twenty-first the ships came to a halt and were unable to move in any direction. “There is no might and no power except with the Great and Glorious God!” exclaimed ‘Abd Allah. Then he noticed a rag tied to the mast and remembered Abu Muhammad the Idle. He told the merchants that it was because of Abu Muhammad’s dirham that the ships had halted, as he had been told to buy something that might be of use to him. The merchants asked him to take any of their goods that he wanted and give this to him, but ‘Abd Allah said: “I can’t take anything from any of you, even if you were to give me all the ships’ cargoes, as I have to buy something he will find useful.”

  ‘The ships were lying close to one of the islands of the Zanj, and so ‘Abd Allah boarded a small boat and left his ship with some of his slaves, taking the dirham with him. He came across a feeble old man who had with him a number of apes, amongst whom was one that was weak, ugly and sickly. “What are you asking for one of these apes?” ‘Abd Allah asked him, and the man told him: “Ten dirhams.” “I want a cheap one,” ‘Abd Allah told him, and the man said: “There is this sickly one.” “How much is it?” asked ‘Abd Allah. “Two dirhams,” said the man. “We have only one,” ‘Abd Allah told him, “which is on deposit for a poor man, so sell it for him.” The man took the dirham and handed over the ape, but said: “It will only eat a sweet made of sugar, with almonds and poppies, so don’t feed it on anything else.” ‘Abd Allah’s men agreed, and a slave took it and carried it on board.

  ‘When this had been done, the ships moved off with the permission of Almighty God and sailed on until they reached Basra, but before they had got to the coast none of those on board had been able to eat a single mouthful without the ape on the rigging above them snatching some of it. Because it caused them such trouble they thought of throwing it overboard, but ‘Abd Allah told them to let it be, saying: “It gives you amusement, and you laugh at it. God has nearly brought us home in safety thanks to the blessing of its orphan master.” So they sailed on to Oman, where they saw men diving and bringing out jewels and pearls, all of which the merchants bought.’

  The narrator continued: ‘While they were doing this, the ape jumped up, removed its collar and jumped into the sea to the delight of the merchants, who said: “Now we’ve got rid of this destructive creature.” They told ‘Abd Allah about this and when he accused them of having thrown it in deliberately they denied it and said that they knew nothing about it. ‘Abd Allah was saddened, but just then up came the ape with two oysters in its paws and another in its mouth. It took these to ‘Abd Allah and then, quick as a flash, it dived again and after a time it came back with three more. It went on doing this until after ten dives it had brought out thirty oysters.

  ‘Everyone on board was astonished at this, and when the ape jumped back to its place beneath the mast they began to covet the gems. ‘Abd Allah opened the oysters and in each one of them to his astonishment and that of the others he found a pearl
worth the revenue of Syria and Iraq. He took these into his keeping, and the merchants, who were amazed at what the ape had done and astonished by the pearls, asked him to sell them some of them. “I can’t dispose of them,” ‘Abd Allah told them, “as they belong to the ape’s owner.”

  ‘They sailed on towards Basra, which God had decreed that they should reach in safety, and when word spread of their arrival the people flocked out joyfully to meet their relatives. My mother told me to get up to go to look at the ships and greet ‘Abd Allah and ask him what Indian treasures he had bought with my dirham. All this brought out my energy. I got up, not wanting to stay where I was, and when I had gone to ‘Abd Allah and exchanged greetings, I asked him what he had bought for me in the way of merchandise. “Here it is,” he said, and he produced a small box from which he removed something wrapped up. Out of this he took the thirty pearls, each worth the revenues of Iraq.

  ‘I was overjoyed, and my laziness left me. I got up full of energy, immeasurably happy and fortunate, as God had opened the door for me. ‘What do you think of my advice?’ my mother asked. ‘Abd Allah told me about the ape and how it had dived into the sea, telling me to keep it and to be sure not to sell it. It was worth a hundred qintars of gold, he said, and was the cause of my fortune. He told me only to feed it on sweets made of sugar with almonds and poppies, and he advised me with the greatest earnestness not to neglect it. He sold some of the pearls for me to the merchants for fifty thousand dinars and handed the rest to me.

  ‘I took them and went home with my mother, bringing the ape with us, and we called down blessings on ‘Abd Allah. After we had repaired our own house we bought other houses, as well as property, orchards and slaves both male and female. I then went to a fine ship and sailed to Oman with the ape, accompanied by ‘Abd Allah and other merchants. When we got there we found the divers at work, and I let the ape go. It dived down and came up with three oysters, one in its mouth and one in each paw. It did this twenty times and fetched sixty oysters. I sold them all and went back to Basra having made a hundred thousand dinars. I built a villa with a fine orchard next to it, watered by a number of streams, and I constructed baths and two mills, one for saffron and the other for wheat. I bought estates, orchards, khans and whole districts. I had slaves of both sexes; I became the wealthiest man in Basra; in a short time I had become proverbial and I was the master of men.

  ‘One day I was sitting with the ape seated in front of me on a chair of red gold, studded with pearls and other gems, eating its fill of its sweets. When it had had enough it shook itself, got down from the chair and sat down before me. Then it spoke to me in eloquent Arabic and said: “Damn you, Abu Muhammad, how long am I going to act as your servant, getting money for you until I have made you the wealthiest man of your time?” When I heard it speak, I quaked with fear and said to myself: “By God, it would be a wonder if this ape were not a king of the jinn,” and I asked it who it was. “I have been good to you,” the ape replied, “so that you may relieve me of the pain of love and the distress of passion that has sickened and inflamed me.” “Master,” I repeated, “who are you? What do you want and whom do you love?”

  ‘The ape said: “You should know that I am a jinn king and I love a Basran girl called Badr al-Sama’, the daughter of Marhab al-Tamimi.” “You can do things that I can’t, master,” I told it, but it said: “Things are not as you think. Had I power over her, I would not have served you and given you all this wealth, but she is kept from me by spells, magic books and formulae, sacred names and talismans which keep me away from her house, and love for her is killing me.” “How can she be reached?” I asked, and it said: “If you do what I tell you, you will get to her, but if you disobey me, you will die.” “Say on,” I told him, “for I shall certainly never disobey.”

  ‘He told me: “Go off tomorrow, taking a purse with a thousand dinars in it. Go to the qadi, greet him and give him a hundred dinars and give another hundred to the official witnesses. Tell them to accompany you to her father and ask him for her hand, giving him whatever money he asks for, and I shall replace it for you.” “To hear is to obey,” I said.

  ‘Next day I took the thousand dinars and went to greet the qadi. He got up to welcome me gladly, saying: “This is a blessed day.” I gave him two hundred dinars and divided another two hundred amongst the witnesses, telling them that I wanted them to ask the hand of Badr al-Sama’, the daughter of Marhab al-Tamimi, on my behalf. “To hear is to obey,” they said, “for who has a better right to her than you who are today the wealthiest person of your time?”

  ‘They went off with the qadi to a mosque by the door of Marhab’s house. When we went in, Marhab came to us and, on seeing the qadi, he went up to greet him and kissed his hand. The qadi and the witnesses jumped up to greet him, and the qadi then led them in prayer. After that he went up to Marhab and, addressing him with respect, he said: “We have come to ask for the hand of the sheltered pearl, the guarded jewel, on behalf of this honourable man, Abu Muhammad. You know all about him, his reputation and his riches.” He said that he would gladly accept but on condition that I hand over as dowry ten thousand dinars, ten satin robes, ten maid-servants, a thousand sheep, a hundred cows, ten thousand hens, a thousand ratls of sugar, ten ratls of saffron, ten of qamari aloes, ten of musk and a thousand of henna for the wedding. I told him that I had all that he wanted and more, so I could do this. He added: “and she is not going to leave my house,” to which I said: “I agree to that.”

  ‘I then got up and went home, where I told the ape everything that Marhab had asked for, and it promised to produce it. It rose and went into the sitting room, where I didn’t know what it was doing, as it was out of sight. When it did not appear I went into the room to see what was happening, but I could not find it and remained perplexed, saying to myself: “It has gone, and I don’t think that it will come back.” I then went out and sat for a time, when suddenly there it was coming up to me. “What are you doing sitting here?” it said. “Get up and come into the sitting room.” “What am I supposed to do?” I asked, and it repeated: “Get up and come into the sitting room.”

  ‘When I did, I discovered ten trays of gold and ten of silver piled with dinars, as well as ten packages of satin. When I saw this I went out again and asked what I was to do with them. “Send Marhab what he asked from you,” the ape said, “and add another thousand dinars.” I got the boys, girls and servants to carry these on their heads and I saw to it that Marhab got all that he had asked for and a thousand dinars more. He was delighted and summoned the qadi and the witnesses, drew up the girl’s marriage contract and went happily home.

  ‘On the night of the wedding the ape came to sit in front of me and asked me what I intended to do. “Whatever you tell me,” I replied, and he said: “Take care not to covet the girl, or I shall come back and burn you up and leave you as a lesson for those who can learn.” I agreed to this and when evening came I found the world full of candles and torches burning in holders of gold and silver. There were servants and serving girls, and everyone who saw me congratulated me on my good fortune, as there was no girl on the face of the earth more beautiful than my bride.

  ‘They then brought me to her house and sat me on a seat of honour, covered with silk and Rumi brocade. There was incense, ambergris and aloes, as well as singing, with drums and pipes, and everything was filled with splendour. Then ten maids, beautiful as moons, came in holding the train of the bride, who was like the moon at its full, more lovely than a statue and standing out more clearly than a banner, with hair dark as night. Above was the narrow path to Paradise; her eyebrows were curved like bows; magic lay in her eyes, and the Pleiades rose from her brow. Copies of the Qur’an were scattered round about her; she was wearing golden bracelets with pearls, together with necklaces and pendants of red gold, while the maids were shouting out praises to God and blessings on the Prophet, the bringer of good news and the warner.

  ‘When I stole a glance at her I could see that she
was indescribably beautiful, with a net of large pearls on her head. At the sight I looked down at the ground, not daring to stare at her again, and I said to myself: “By God, I have never seen and never will see a girl like this.” I wished that she were mine, as she was worth the wealth of the whole world, and I remained regretful that I would have to part from her. People were telling me to look up and see what Almighty God had given me, but I was too frightened of the ape to do this. Then they pushed her towards me and went away, leaving her with me. I sat at the side of the hall and fell asleep without having approached her.

  ‘Next morning I went out to the market, and people went in and asked her how the night had been. “He never looked up at me,” she told them. Then, when it was afternoon, I went to my house, where the ape was sitting by the door. “Tell me what you did,” it said, and I told it: “By God, I did not learn and do not know whether this was a man or a girl.” “That’s what I want,” it said.

  ‘It then left, and I was praying to God that he would not come back, but back it came at midnight with servants, both negroes and Indians, carrying on their heads trays of gold and silver, filled with dinars, pearls, gems, musk, aloes, incense and other things passing all description. I remained astonished and amazed at all these riches and I went up to the ape and asked it what it wanted me to do with them. It said: “When you get to the house tonight and see the girl asleep, I want you to go to the top of the room and remove the brocade that is covering an iron door. Open the door and you will see an iron couch with four legs inscribed with talismans. Over the door is a white crested cock; kill it; wrap it in the tablecloth and put the four poles from the couch over it and you will be protected from any harm that I or any other jinni could do you.”