The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (23 page)

T
HE
F
ORTIETH
N
IGHT

The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:

It is related, O happy King, that those who were present marveled at the tale of the first dervish. The caliph said to Ja'far, “In all my life I have never heard a stranger tale.” Then the second dervish came forward and said:

 

3.
Arab nomads of the desert.

[The Second Dervish's Tale]

BY GOD, MY
lady, I was not born one-eyed. My father was a king, and he taught me how to write and read until I was able to read the Magnificent Quran in all the seven readings. Then I studied jurisprudence in a book by al-Shatibi
⁴
and commented on it in the presence of other scholars. Then I turned to the study of classical Arabic and its grammar until I reached the height of eloquence, and I perfected the art of calligraphy until I surpassed all my contemporaries and all the leading calligraphers of the day, so that the fame of my eloquence and calligraphic art spread to every province and town and reached all the kings of the age.

One day the king of India sent my father gifts and rarities worthy of a king and asked him to send me to him. My father fitted me with six riding horses and sent me along with the posted couriers. I bade him good-bye and set out on my journey. We rode for a full month until one day we came upon a great cloud of dust, and when a little later the wind blew the dust away and cleared the air, we saw fifty horsemen who, looking like glowering lions in steel armor . . .

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then her sister said, “Sister, what an amazing and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”

T
HE
F
ORTY
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IRST
N
IGHT

The following night Dinarzad said, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”:

I heard, O happy King, that the second dervish, the young son of the king, said to the girl:

When we looked at them closely, we discovered that they were highwaymen, and when they saw that we were a small company with ten loads of goods—these were gifts—they thought that we were carrying loads of money, drew their swords, and pointed their spears at us. We signaled to them, saying, “We are messengers to the great king of India; you cannot harm us.” They replied, “We are neither within his dominions nor under his rule.” Then they killed all my men and wounded me. But while the highwaymen were scrambling for the gifts that were with us, I escaped and wandered away without knowing where I was heading or in which direction to go. I was mighty and became lowly; I was rich and became poor.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then her sister said, “What a strange 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!”

T
HE
F
ORTY
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ECOND
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the second dervish said to the girl:

After I was robbed, I fared on, and when night approached, I climbed the side of a mountain and took shelter for the night in a cave till daybreak. Then I journeyed till nightfall, feeding on the plants of the earth and the fruits of the trees, and slept till daybreak. For a month I traveled in this fashion until I came to a fair, peaceful, and prosperous city, teeming with people and full of life. It was the time when winter had departed with its frost and spring had arrived with its roses. The streams were flowing, the flowers blooming, and the birds singing. It was like the city of which the poet said:

Behold a peaceful city, free from fear,

Whose wonders make it a gorgeous heaven appear.

I felt both glad and sad at the same time, glad to reach the city, sad to arrive in such a wretched condition, for I was so tired from walking that I was pale with exhaustion. My face and my hands and feet were chapped, and I felt overwhelmed with worry and grief. I entered the city, not knowing where to go, and chanced to pass by a tailor sitting in his shop. I greeted him, and he returned my greeting, and detecting in me traces of better days, he welcomed me and, inviting me to sit with him, talked freely to me. He asked me who I was, and I told him about myself and what had happened to me. He felt sad for me and said, “Young man, do not reveal your secret to anyone, for the king of this city is your father's greatest enemy, and there is a blood feud between them.” Then he brought some food, and we ate together. When it was dark, he gave me a recess next to his in the shop, and brought me a blanket and other necessities.

It stayed with him for three days; then he asked me, “Don't you have any skill with which you can earn your living?” I replied, “I am a jurist, a man of letters, a poet, a grammarian, and a calligrapher.” He said, “Such skills are not much in demand in our city.” I replied, “By God, I have no other skills, save what I have mentioned to you.” He said, “Gird yourself, take an axe and a rope, and go and hew wood in the wilderness for your livelihood. But lest you perish, keep your secret to yourself and don't let anyone know who you are, until God sends you relief.” Then he bought me an axe and a rope and put me under the charge of certain woodcutters. I went out with them, cut wood all day long, and came back, carrying my bundle on my head. I sold the wood for half a dinar and brought the money to the tailor. In such work I spent an entire year.

One day I went out into the wilderness, and having penetrated deep, I came to a thick patch of trees in a meadow irrigated by running streams. When I entered the patch, I found the stump of a tree, and when I dug around it with my axe and shoveled the earth away, I came upon a ring that was attached to a wooden plank. I raised the plank and beneath it I found a staircase. I descended the steps, and as I reached the bottom, I came to a subterranean palace, solidly built and beautifully designed, a palace so splendid that a better one I have never seen. I walked inside and saw a beautiful girl who looked as radiant as a brilliant pearl or the shining sun and whose speech banished all sorrow and captivated even the sensible and the wise. She was about five feet tall, with a beautiful figure, firm breasts, soft cheeks, and a fair complexion. Through the night of her tresses, her face beamed, and above her smooth bosom, her mouth gleamed, as the poet said of one like her:

Four things that never meet do here unite

To shed my blood and to ravage my heart,

A radiant brow and tresses that beguile

And rosy cheeks and a glittering smile.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange 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!”

T
HE
F
ORTY
-T
HIRD
N
IGHT

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

I heard, O happy King, that the second young dervish said to the girl:

When the girl looked at me, she asked, “What are you, a man or a demon?” I replied, “I am a human being.” She asked, “What brought you here? I have lived in this place for twenty-five years without ever seeing any human being. I said—for I found her words sweet and touching and she captivated my heart—“My good fortune brought me here to dispel my care, or perhaps your good fortune, to banish your sorrow.” Then I related to her my mishaps, and she felt sad for me and said, “I too shall tell you my tale. I am the daughter of Aftimarus, king of the Ebony Island. He married me to one of my cousins, but on my wedding night a demon snatched me up, flew away with me, and a while later set me down in this place. Then he brought me all I needed of food and drink and sweets and the like. Once every ten days he comes to spend a night with me—for he took me after he had already a family. If ever I need him for anything by night or by day, I have only to touch the two lines engraved on the doorstep, and he will be with me before I lift my fingers. He has been away for four days, so there remain only six days before he comes again. Would you like to spend five days with me and leave on the day before he arrives?” I replied, “Yes, indeed, ‘if only dreams were true!'”

She was pleased and she rose and took me by the hand through an arched doorway that led to a bath. She took off my clothes and took off hers and, entering the bath, she bathed me and washed me. When we came out, she dressed me with a new gown, seated me on a couch, and, giving me a large cup of juice to drink, sat conversing with me for a while. Then she set some food before me, and I ate my fill. Then she offered me a pillow, saying, “Lie down and rest, for you are tired.” I lay down and slept, forgetting every care in the world and regaining my energy. When I awoke, some time later, I found her massaging me. I sat up, thanked her, and commended her to God, feeling very much refreshed. Then she asked, “Young man, are you ready to drink?” I replied, “Yes, let us drink,” and she went to a cupboard and took out a sealed flask of old wine and, setting a sumptuous table, began to sing the following lines:

Had we known of your coming, our dark eyes

Or throbbing heart for you we would have spread,

Or with our cheeks would have covered the earth,

So that over the eyelids you might tread.

My love for her began to possess my whole being and my sorrow departed. We sat drinking till nightfall, and I spent with her a delightful night the like of which I never spent in all my life. When we awoke, delight followed delight till midday, and I was so drunk that I almost lost consciousness and began to stagger right and left. I said, “My beautiful one, let me carry you up and deliver you from this prison.” She laughed and replied, “O my lord, sit still, hold your peace, and be content, for of every ten days only one is for the demon and nine for you.” I said—as drink had got the better of me—“This very instant I shall smash the doorstep with the engraved inscription and let the demon come, so that I may kill him, for I am used to killing demons by the tens.” When she heard my words, she grew pale and said, “No, for God's sake, don't do it.” Then she recited the following lines:

You, who seek separation, hold your reins,

For its horses are much too swift and free.

Hold, for betrayal is the rule of life

And severance the end of amity.

But in my drunkenness, I kicked the step with my foot.