‘It is good to see you again, my piper!’ he cried. ‘But was it right to go away and leave me by the river all alone with the fish, and never return? Know, then, that thanks to your absence I was attacked by a band of mounted rogues, who carried off the entire catch. Had you returned promptly with the baskets we would have made a handsome profit. And what is worse, the ruffians have now put me under arrest. But tell me, who has imprisoned you in this dungeon?’
Al-Rashid smiled and held out the slips to the fisherman.
‘Come closer, Khalifah,’ he said, ‘and draw me one of these papers.’
‘Only yesterday you were a fisherman,’ Khalifah remarked. ‘Now I see that you have turned fortuneteller. Have you not heard the proverb “A rolling stone gathers no moss”?’
‘Enough of this chatter,’ said Jaafar sternly.
‘Come, do as you are told: draw one of these papers.’
The fisherman picked out one paper and handed it to the Caliph.
‘Good piper,’ he said, ‘read me my fortune and keep nothing from me.’
Al-Rashid passed the paper to his vizier and ordered him to read it aloud. Such was Khalifah’s luck, however, that his choice was a hundred blows of the stick. Accordingly he was thrown down on the floor and given a hundred strokes.
‘Commander of the Faithful,’ Jaafar said, ‘this unfortunate man has come to drink from the river of your charity and goodness. Do not send him away thirsty.’
The vizier persuaded the Caliph to let the fisherman draw once more. The second paper decreed that Khalifah should be given nothing at all. Jaafar, however, prevailed upon the Caliph to let the fisherman draw a third. Khalifah drew again, and the vizier unfolded the paper and announced, ‘One gold piece.’
‘What!’ cried the angry fisherman. ‘One piece for a hundred strokes? May Allah justly repay you for your wickedness!’
The Caliph laughed, and Jaafar took the fisherman by the hand and led him away from his master’s presence. As Khalifah was leaving the palace, Sandal called out to him.
‘Come, my friend,’ he said, ‘give me my share of the Caliph’s reward.’
‘You want your share, rascal, do you?’ broke out the fisherman. ‘All I earned was a hundred strokes and one piece of gold. You would indeed be welcome to one half of my beating; as for the miserable coin, why, you can have that, too!’
He flung the coin at him and rushed off angrily. Moved with pity, Sandal ordered some slaves to run after him and bring him back. Sandal took out a red purse and emptied a hundred gold coins into Khalifah’s hands.
‘Here,’ he said, ‘take this in payment of my debt, and go home in peace.’
Khalifah rejoiced. He put the gold into his pocket, together with the coin that Al-Rashid had given him, and went out of the palace.
Now, it so happened that as he was walking home, lost in happy fancies, he came across a large crowd in the market place. Pushing his way among the merchants, he found that the center of attention was a large chest on which a young slave was sitting. Beside the chest stood an old man, who was calling out, ‘Gentlemen, merchants, worthy citizens! Who will bid first for this chest of unknown treasure from the harem of the Lady Zubaidah wife of the Commander of the Faithful?’
‘By Allah,’ said one of the merchants, ‘I will bid twenty pieces of gold.’
‘Fifty,’ another cried.
‘A hundred,’ shouted a third.
‘Who will give more?’ inquired the auctioneer.
Breathless with excitement, Khalifah the fisherman shouted, ‘Let it be mine for a hundred and one pieces!’
‘The chest is yours,’ the auctioneer replied. ‘Hand in your gold, and may Allah bless the bargain!’
Khalifah paid the slave, lifted the heavy chest with difficulty onto his shoulders, and carried it home. As he staggered along, he wondered what the precious contents might be. Presently he reached his dwelling, and after he had managed to get the chest through the door, he set to work to open it. But the chest was securely locked.
‘What the devil possessed me to buy a box that cannot even be opened!’ he cried.
Then he decided to break the chest to pieces, but it stoutly resisted all his blows and kicks. Utterly exhausted by the effort, he stretched himself out on the chest and fell asleep.
About an hour later he was awakened by a sound of movement underneath him. Out of his mind with terror, he leaped to his feet, crying, ‘This chest must be haunted by demons! Praise be to Allah, who prevented me from opening it! Had I freed them in the dark they would surely have put me to a miserable death!’
His terror increased as the noise became more distinct. He searched in vain for a lamp, and finally rushed out into the street yelling at the top of his voice, ‘Help! Help, good neighbors!’
Roused from their sleep, his neighbors peered from their doors and windows.
‘What has happened?’ they shouted.
‘Devils!’ the fisherman cried. ‘My house is haunted by devils! Give me a lamp and a hammer, in the name of Allah!’
The neighbors laughed. One gave him a lamp and another a hammer. His confidence restored, he returned home determined to break open the chest. In the light of the lamp he battered the locks with the hammer and lifted the lid. What was this? – a girl as lovely as the moon. Her eyes were half open, as if she had just wakened from a heavy sleep. Khalifah marveled at her beauty.
‘In Allah’s name, who are you?’ he whispered, kneeling down before her.
When she heard his words the girl regained her senses.
‘Who are you? Where am I?’ she asked, looking intently into his face.
‘I am Khalifah, the fisherman, and you are in my house.’ he answered.
‘Am I not in the palace of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid?’ asked the girl.
‘Are you out of your mind?’ the fisherman exclaimed. ‘Let me tell you at once that you belong to no one but me; it was only this morning that I bought you for a hundred and one pieces of gold. Allah be praised for this lucky bargain!’
The girl was hungry. ‘Give me something to eat,’ she said.
‘Alas,’ the fisherman replied. ‘There is nothing to eat or drink in this house. I myself have hardly tasted anything these two days.’
‘Have you any money?’ she asked
‘God preserve this chest!’ he answered bitterly.
‘This bargain has taken every coin I had.’
‘Then go to your neighbors,’ she said, ‘and bring me something to eat, for I am famished.’
The fisherman rushed into the street again. ‘Good neighbors,’ he cried, ‘who will give a hungry man something to eat?’
This he repeated several times at the top of his voice, until the unfortunate neighbors, awakened once more by his cries, opened their windows and threw down food to him; one gave him half a loaf of bread, another a piece of cheese, a third a cucumber. Returning home, he set the food before Kut-al-Kulub and invited her to eat.
‘Bring me a drink of water,’ she now said. ‘I am very thirsty.’
So Khalifah took his empty pitcher and ran again into the street, begging the neighbors for some water. They replied with angry curses; but unable to stand his cries any longer, they carried water to him in buckets, jugs, and ewers. He filled his pitcher and took it to the slave girl.
When she had eaten and drunk, the fisherman asked her how she came to be locked inside the chest. She told him all that had happened at the Caliph’s palace. ‘This will make your fortune,’ she added, ‘for when Al-Rashid hears of my rescue, I know he will reward you.’
‘But is not this Al-Rashid the foolish piper whom I taught how to fish?’ Khalifah cried. ‘Never in all my life have I met such a miserly rascal!’
‘My friend,’ said the girl, ‘you must stop this senseless talk and make yourself worthy of the new station that awaits you. Above all, you must bear yourself respectfully and courteously in the presence of the Commander of the Faithful.’
Such was the
influence of Kut-al-Kulub’s words on Khalifah that a new world seemed to unfold before him. The dark veil of ignorance was lifted from his eyes and he became a wiser man.
Early the next morning Kut-al-Kulub asked Khalifah to bring her pen, ink, and paper. She wrote to Sheikh Kirnas, the Caliph’s jeweler, telling him where she was and all that had happened. Then she sent the fisherman off with the letter
Straight to the jeweler’s he went and, on entering, bowed to the ground before the merchant and wished him peace. But, taking Khalifah for a beggar, the merchant ordered a slave to give him a copper and show him out. Khalifah refused the coin, saying, ‘I beg no charity. Read this, I pray you.’
As soon as he finished reading the girl’s letter, Sheikh Kirnas raised it to his lips; then he got up and gave the fisherman a courteous welcome.
‘Where do you live, my friend?’ he asked.
Khalifah took him to his house, where he found the lovely Kut-al-Kulub waiting. The jeweler ordered two of his servants to accompany Khalifah to a money-changer’s shop, where the fisherman was rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold. When he returned, Khalifah found the jeweler mounted on a magnificent mule with all his servants gathered around him. Nearby stood another splendid mule, richly saddled and bridled, which Sheikh Kirnas invited Khalifah to ride. The fisherman, who had never been on a mule’s back in all his life, at first refused, but having finally been persuaded by the merchant, he decided to risk a trial and resolutely leaped upon the animal’s back – facing the wrong way and grasping its tail instead of the bridle. The mule reared, and Khalifah was thrown off to the ground to the cheers and shouts of the onlookers.
Sheikh Kirnas left the fisherman behind and rode off to the Caliph’s palace. Al-Rashid was overjoyed to hear the news of his favorite’s rescue and ordered the merchant to bring her immediately to his court.
The girl kissed the ground before the Caliph, and he rose and welcomed her with all his heart. Kut-al-Kulub told him the story of her adventure. Her rescuer was a fisherman called Khalifah, she said who was now waiting at the door of the palace.
Al-Rashid sent for the fisherman, who, on entering, kissed the ground before him and humbly wished the Caliph joy.
The Caliph marveled at the fisherman’s humility and politeness. He bestowed on him a generous reward: fifty thousand pieces of gold, a magnificent robe of honor, a noble mare, and slaves from the Sudan.
His audience with the Caliph over, the fisherman again kissed the ground before him and left the court a proud, rich man. As Khalifah passed through the gates of the palace, Sandal went up to him and congratulated him on his new fortune. The fisherman produced from his pocket a purse containing a thousand gold coins and offered it to the footman. But Sandal refused the gold and marveled at the man’s generosity and kindness of heart.
Then Khalifah mounted the mare that Al-Rashid had given him, and, with the help of two slaves holding the bridle, rode majestically through the streets of the city until he reached his house. As he dismounted, his neighbors flocked around him inquiring about his sudden prosperity. He told them all that had happened, and they marveled at his story.
Khalifah became a frequent visitor at the court of Al-Rashid, who continued to lavish on him high dignities and favors. He bought a magnificent house and had it furnished with rare and costly objects. Then he married a beautiful, well-born maiden, and lived happily with her for the rest of his life.
THE DREAM
There once lived in Baghdad a rich merchant who lost all his money by spending it unwisely. He became so poor that he could live only by doing the hardest work for very little pay.
One night he lay down to sleep with a heavy heart, and as he slept he heard a voice saying, ‘Your fortune lies in Cairo. Go and seek it there.’
The very next morning he set out for Cairo and, after traveling many weeks and enduring much hardship on the way, arrived in that city. Night had fallen, and as he could not afford to stay at an inn, he lay down to sleep in the courtyard of a mosque.
Now, as chance would have it, a band of robbers entered the mosque and from there broke into an adjoining house. Awakened by the noise, the owners raised the alarm and shouted for help, whereupon the thieves made off. Presently the chief of police and his men arrived on the scene and entered the mosque. Finding the merchant from Baghdad in the courtyard, they seized him and beat him with their clubs until he was nearly dead. Then they threw him into prison.
Three days later, the chief of police ordered his men to bring the stranger before him.
‘Where do you come from?’ asked the chief.
‘From Baghdad.’
‘And what has brought you to Cairo?’
‘I heard a voice in my sleep saying, “Your fortune lies in Cairo. Go and seek it there.” But when I came to Cairo, the fortune I was promised proved to be the beating I received at the hands of your men.’
When he heard this, the chief of police burst out laughing. ‘Know then, you fool,’ he cried, ‘that I, too, have heard a voice in my sleep, not just once but on three occasions. The voice said, “Go to Baghdad, and in a cobbled street lined with palm trees you will find a three-story house, with a courtyard of green marble; at the far end of the garden there is a fountain of white marble. Under the fountain a large sum of money lies buried. Go there and dig it up.” But did I go? Of course not. Yet, fool that you are, you have come all the way to Cairo on the strength of a silly dream.’
Then the chief of police gave the merchant some money. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘take this. It will help you on the way back to your own country.’ From the policeman’s description, the merchant realized at once that the house and garden were his own. He took the money and set out promptly on his homeward journey.
As soon as he reached his house he went into the garden, dug beneath the fountain, and uncovered a great treasure of gold and silver.
Thus the words of the dream were wondrously fulfilled, and Allah made the ruined merchant rich again.
THE EBONY HORSE
A long time ago there lived in the land of Persia a great and powerful king named Sabur. Not only was he rich and wise, just and honorable, but he also surpassed all the rulers of his time in generosity, courage, and kindness. He had three daughters, each fairer than the full moon, and a son called Prince Kamar, who was a gallant and handsome youth.
Every year it was the King’s custom to celebrate two feasts in his capital: one at the beginning of spring, and the other in the fall. During these two festivals the gates of the palace were thrown open, and alms were given to the needy and the poor. From the remotest parts of the kingdom people came to lay their presents at the King’s feet.
On one of these occasions, the King was seated on his throne, surrounded by all his courtiers, when three wise men presented themselves. They were skilled in the arts and sciences and had invented many rare and curious objects. The first was an Indian, the second a Greek, and the third a Persian.
The Indian kissed the ground before the King, wished him joy, and laid before him a truly splendid gift: the golden image of a man, encrusted with precious stones and holding a golden trumpet in his hand.
‘Wise Indian,’ the King said, ‘what is the purpose of this figure?’
‘Your Majesty,’ he answered, ‘if you set this golden figure at the gate of your capital, he will be a guardian over it; for if your enemies march against you, he will raise the trumpet to his lips and with one shrill blast put them to flight.’
‘By Allah,’ the King cried, ‘if what you say is true, I promise to grant you all that you desire.’
Then the Greek came forward, kissed the ground before the King, and offered him a great silver basin, which had in it a gold peacock surrounded by twenty-four gold chicks.
‘Honored Greek,’ said the King, ‘tell us what this peacock can do.’
‘Your Majesty,’ he replied, ‘at the stroke of every hour of the day or night the peacock pecks one of the four and twenty chicks. Furthermore, at the
end of every month, it will open its mouth and you will see the crescent moon within it.’
‘By Allah,’ exclaimed the King in wonderment, ‘if what you say is true, you have but to name the price and it will be paid.’
Now the old Persian came forward, kissed the ground before the King, and presented him with a horse made from the blackest ebony, inlaid with gold and jewels, and harnessed with a saddle, bridle, and stirrups such as no king ever possessed. King Sabur marveled at the creature’s perfection and at the excellence of the workmanship.
‘Tell us what it can do,’ he said.
‘My lord,’ the Persian answered, ‘this horse will carry its rider through the air wherever he fancies, and cover a whole year’s journey in a single day.’
‘By Allah,’ he cried to the Persian, ‘if your claim proves true, I promise to fulfill your dearest wish and utmost desire.’
The wise men were entertained at the palace for three days, during which time the King put the presents to the test. He found, to his great joy, that all the claims were true: the golden image blew his gold trumpet, the gold peacock pecked its golden chicks, and the Persian mounted the ebony horse, turned a little peg near the saddle, and soared swiftly through the air, finally alighting on the very spot from which he had taken off.
‘Now that I have seen these wondrous things in action,’ said the King to the wise men, ‘it only remains for me to fulfill my promise. Therefore ask what you desire and it shall be granted.’
‘Your Majesty,’ the three answered, ‘these presents are beyond all price and can be exchanged only for things of immeasurable value. Since you have given us the choice of our rewards, our request is this: your daughters’ hands in marriage.’
At these words the young Prince, who was sitting his father’s side, sprang to his feet.
‘Father,’ he cried, ‘these men are old and wicked sorcerers. They are unworthy of my sisters. Surely you will never agree.’
Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights Page 13
