The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (18 page)

Then she stopped at the butcher's and said, “Cut me off ten pounds of fresh mutton.” She paid him, and he cut off the pieces she desired, wrapped them, and handed them to her. She placed them in the basket, together with some charcoal, and said, “Porter, take your basket and follow me.” The porter, wondering at all these purchases, placed his basket on his head and followed her until she came to the grocer's, where she bought whatever she needed of condiments, such as olives of all kinds, pitted, salted, and pickled, tarragon, cream cheese, Syrian cheese, and sweet as well as sour pickles. She placed the container in the basket and said, “Porter, take your basket and follow me.” The porter carried his basket and followed her until she came to the dry grocer's, where she bought all sorts of dry fruits and nuts: Aleppo raisins, Iraqi sugar canes, pressed Ba'albak figs, roasted chick-peas, as well as shelled pistachios, almonds, and hazelnuts. She placed everything in the porter's basket, turned to him, and said, “Porter take your basket and follow me.”

The porter carried the basket and followed her until she came to the confectioner's, where she bought a whole tray full of every kind of pastry and sweet in the shop, such as sour barley rolls, sweet rolls, date rolls, Cairo rolls, Turkish rolls, and open-worked Balkan rolls, as well as cookies, stuffed and musk-scented kataifs, amber combs, ladyfingers, widows' bread, Kadi's tidbits, eat-and-thanks, and almond pudding. When she placed the tray in the basket, the porter said, to her, “Mistress, if you had let me know, I would have brought with me a nag or a camel to carryall these purchases.” She smiled and walked ahead until she came to the druggist's, where she bought ten bottles of scented waters, lilywater, rosewater scented with musk, and the like, as well as ambergris, musk, aloewood, and rosemary. She also bought two loaves of sugar and candles and torches. Then she put everything in the basket, turned to the porter, and said, “Porter, take your basket and follow me.” The porter carried the basket and walked behind her until she came to a spacious courtyard facing a tall, stately mansion with massive pillars and a double door inlaid with ivory and shining gold. The girl stopped at the door and knocked gently.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then her sister said, “Sister, what a lovely and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live! May God grant him long life.”

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WENTY
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IGHT

The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your little tales to while away the night.” Shahrazad replied, “I hear and obey”:

I heard, O wise and happy King, that as the porter stood with the basket, at the door, behind the girl, marveling at her beauty, her charm, and her elegant, eloquent, and liberal ways, the door was unlocked, and the two leaves swung open. The porter, looking to see who opened the door, saw a full-bosomed girl, about five feet tall. She was all charm, beauty, and perfect grace, with a forehead like the new moon, eyes like those of a deer or wild heifer, eyebrows like the crescent in the month of Sha'ban,
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cheeks like red anemones, mouth like the seal of Solomon, lips like red carnelian, teeth like a row of pearls set in coral, neck like a cake for a king, bosom like a fountain, breasts like a pair of big pomegranates resembling a rabbit with uplifted ears, and belly with a navel like a cup that holds a pound of benzoin ointment. She was like her of whom the poet aptly said:

On stately sun and full moon cast your sight;

Savor the flowers and lavender's delight.

Your eyes have never seen such white in black,

Such radiant face with hair so deeply dark.

With rosy cheeks, Beauty proclaimed her name,

To those who had not yet received her fame.

Her swaying heavy hips I joyed to see,

But her sweet, slender waist brought tears to me.

When the porter saw her, he lost his senses and his wits, and the basket nearly fell from his head, as he exclaimed, “Never in my life have I seen a more blessed day than this!” Then the girl who had opened the door said to the girl who had done the shopping, “Sister, what are you waiting for? Come in and relieve this poor man of his heavy burden.” The shopper and the porter went in, and the doorkeeper locked the door and followed them until they came to a spacious, well-appointed, and splendid hall. It had arched compartments and niches with carved woodwork; it had a booth hung with drapes; and it had closets and cupboards covered with curtains. In the middle stood a large pool full of water, with a fountain in the center, and at the far end stood a couch of black juniper wood, covered with white silk and set with gems and pearls, with a canopylike mosquito net of red silk, fastened with pearls as big as hazelnuts or bigger. The curtain was unfastened, and a dazzling girl emerged, with genial charm, wise mien, and features as radiant as the moon, She had an elegant figure, the scent of ambergris, sugared lips, Babylonian eyes, with eyebrows as arched as a pair of bent bows, and a face whose radiance put the shining sun to shame, for she was like a great star soaring in the heavens, or a dome of gold, or an unveiled bride, or a splendid fish swimming in a fountain, or a morsel of luscious fat in a bowl of milk soup. She was like her of whom the poet said:

Her smile reveals twin rows of pearls

Or white daisies or pearly hail.

Her forelock like the night unfurls;

Before her light the sun is pale.

The third girl rose from the couch and strutted slowly until she joined her sisters in the middle of the hall, saying, “Why are you standing? Lift the load off this poor man,” The doorkeeper stood in front of the porter, and the shopper stood behind him, and with the help of the third girl, they lifted the basket down and emptied its contents, stacking up the fruits and pickles on one side and the flowers and fresh herbs on the other. When everything was arranged, they gave the porter one dinar and said . . .

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “What an amazing and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “If I am alive tomorrow night, I shall tell you something stranger and more amazing than this.”

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HIRTIETH
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The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, tell us the rest of the story of the three girls.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:

I heard, O King, that when the porter saw how charming and beautiful the girls were and saw how much they had stacked of wine, meat, fruits, nuts, sweets, fresh herbs, candles, charcoal, and the like for drinking and carousing, without seeing any man around, he was very astonished and stood there, hesitant to leave. One of the girls asked him, “Why don't you go? Do you find your pay too little?” and, turning to her sister, said, “Give him another dinar.” The porter replied, “By God, ladies, my pay is not little, for I deserve not even two dirhams, but I have been wondering about your situation and the absence of anyone to entertain you. For as a table needs four legs to stand on, you being three, likewise need a fourth, for the pleasure of men is not complete without women, and the pleasure of women is not complete without men. The poet says:

For our delight four things we need, the lute,

The harp, the zither, and the double flute,

Blending with the scent of four lovely flowers,

Roses, myrtles, anemones, and gillyflowers.

Only in four such things join together,

Money, and wine, and youth, and a lover.

You are three and you need a fourth, a man.” His words pleased the girls, who laughed and said, “How can we manage that, being girls who keep our business to ourselves, for we fear to entrust our secrets where they may not be kept. We have read in some book what ibn al-Tammam
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has said:

Your own secret to none reveal;

It will be lost when it is told.

If your own breast cannot conceal,

How can another better hold?”

When the porter heard their words, he replied, “Trust me; I am a sensible and wise man. I have studied the sciences and attained knowledge; I have read and learned, and presented my knowledge and cited my authorities. I reveal the good and conceal the bad, and I am well-behaved. I am like the man of whom the poet said:

Only the faithful does a secret keep;

None but the best can hold it unrevealed.

I keep a secret in a well-shut house

Of which the key is lost and the lock sealed.”

When the girls heard what he said, they replied, “You know very well that this table has cost us a lot and that we have spent a great deal of money to get all these provisions. Do you have anything to pay in return for the entertainment? For we shall not let you stay unless we see your share; otherwise you will drink and enjoy yourself with us at our expense.” The mistress of the house said, “‘Without gain, love is not worth a grain.'” The doorkeeper added, “Have you got anything, my dear? If you are emptyhanded, go emptyhanded.” But the shopper said, “Sisters, stop teasing him, for by God, he served me well today; no one else would have been as patient with me. Whatever his share will come to, I shall pay for him myself.” The porter, overjoyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her, saying, “By God, it was you who brought me my first business today and I still have the dinar you gave me; take it back and take me, not as a companion but as a servant.” The girls replied, “You are very welcome to join us.”

Then the shopper, girding herself, began to arrange this and that. She first tidied up, strained the wine, stacked up the flasks, and arranged the bowls, goblets, cups, decanters, plates, and serving spoons, as well as various utensils in silver and gold. Having prepared all the requisites, she set the table by the pool and laid it with all kinds of food and drink. Then she invited them to the banquet and sat down to serve. Her sisters joined her, as did the porter, who thought that he was in a dream. She filled the first cup and drank it, filled the second and offered it to one of her sisters, who drank it, filled a third and gave it to the other sister to drink, and filled a fourth and gave it to the porter, who held it in his hand and, saluting with a bow, thanked her and recited the following verses:

Drink not the cup, save with a friend you trust,

One whose blood to noble forefathers owes.

Wine, like the wind, is sweet if o'er the sweet,

And foul if o'er the foul it haply blows.

Then he emptied his cup, and the doorkeeper returned his salute and recited the following verses:

Cheers, and drink it in good health;

This wine is good for your health.

The porter thanked her and kissed her hand. After the girls had drunk again and had given the porter more to drink, he turned to his companion, the shopper, saying, “My lady, your servant is calling on you,” and recited the following verses:

One of your slaves is waiting at your door,

With ample thanks for your ample favor.

She replied “By God, you are welcome. Drink the wine and enjoy it in good health, for it relieves pain, hastens the cure, and restores health.” The porter emptied his cup and, pouring out another, kissed her hand, offered it to her, and proceeded to recite the following verses:

I gave her pure old wine, red as her cheeks,

Which with red fire did like a furnace glow.

She kissed the brim and with a smile she asked,

“How can you cheeks with cheeks pay what you owe?”

I said, “Drink! This wine is my blood and tears,

And my soul is the fragrance in the cup.”

She said, “If for me you have shed your blood,

Most gladly will I on this red wine sup.”

The girl took the cup, drank it off, then sat by her sister.