The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (33 page)

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the flogged girl said to the Commander of the Faithful:

 

9.
Then and now a port city in southern Iraq, situated on the Shat al-Arab, a waterway formed by the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates and going into the Arabian, or Persian, Gulf.

1.
Zoroastrian priests; see n. 1, p. 74.

[The Tale of the Second Lady, the Flogged One]

When my father died, he left me a great deal of money. Shortly thereafter, I married the wealthiest man in Baghdad, and for a year I lived with him the happiest of lives. Then he too died and left me my legal share of the inheritance, which was ninety thousand dinars. I lived a prosperous life, buying so much gold jewelry, clothes, and embroideries that I had ten complete changes of clothes, each costing one thousand dinars, and my reputation spread in the city. One day, as I was sitting at home, an old woman came to me, and what an old woman she was, with a pallid, scabby skin; a bent body; matted gray hair; a gray, freckled face; broken teeth; plucked-out eyebrows; hollow, bleary eyes; and a runny nose. She was like the one of whom the poet said:

Seven defects are planted in her face,

The least of which is but the curse of fate

A bleary frown that covers all the face,

A mouth full of stones, or a mowed-down pate.

She greeted me and, kissing the ground before me, said, “My lady, I have an orphan daughter, and tonight is her unveiling and wedding night, but we are brokenhearted, for we are strangers in this city, and we do not know anyone. If you come to her wedding, you will earn a reward in Heaven, for when the ladies of this city will hear that you are coming, they too will come, and you shall honor us with your presence and make her happy.” Then the old woman repeated the following verses:

We own that your visit is an honor

That cannot be performed by another.

She wept and implored me until I felt pity for her and agreed to her request. I said, “Yes, I shall do it for the sake of the Almighty God, and she will not be unveiled to her bridegroom, save in my clothes, ornaments, and jewelry.” Overjoyed, the old woman bent and kissed my feet, saying, “May God reward you and comfort you, as you have comforted me, but my lady, do not trouble yourself yet. Be ready at suppertime, and I shall come and fetch you.” When she left, I proceeded to string the pearls, assemble the embroideries, and pack the ornaments and jewelry, not knowing what God had in store for me. At nightfall the old woman arrived with a happy smile and, kissing my hand, said, “Most of the ladies of the city are already assembled in our house, and they are waiting for you and looking forward to your coming.” I rose, put on my outer garment, and, wrapping myself in my cloak, followed the old lady with my maids behind me. We walked on until we came to a well-swept and -watered alley and stood before a door draped with a black curtain hung with a lamp covered with gold filigree, bearing the following inscription in letters of gold:

I am the house of mirth

And eternal laughter.

Inside a fountain flows

With a healing water,

With myrtle, daisy, rose,

And clove pink for border.

The old woman knocked at the door, and when it was opened we entered and saw silk carpets covering the floor and saw two rows of lighted candles that formed an avenue leading from the door to the upper end of the hall. There stood a couch of juniper wood, encrusted with gems and hung with a canopylike red-speckled silk curtain. Suddenly, O Commander of the Faithful, a girl came out from behind the curtain, shining like the half moon. Indeed, her face was as radiant as the full moon or the rising sun, just like her of whom the poet said:

To her inferior Caesar she was sent,

A gift nobler than all her Persian kings.

The roses blossomed on her rosy cheeks,

Staining with crimson dye such lovely things.

Slender and sleepy-eyed and languorous,

She won from Beauty all of Beauty's ploys,

As if her forelock sat upon her brow

A night of gloom before a dawn of joys.

The girl came down from the couch and said to me, “Welcome and greetings to my dear and illustrious sister.” Then she recited the following verses:

If the house could know who has visited,

It would rejoice and kiss the very dust,

As if to say, “Only the generous

Has by his gifts such welcome merited.”

Then she came up to me, O Commander of the Faithful, and said, “O my lady, I have a brother who is more handsome by far than I. He has noticed you at some wedding feasts and other festive occasions, and, seeing your great beauty and charm and hearing that, like him, you are the head of your clan, he has decided that he would like to tie his knot with you, so that you may become husband and wife.” I replied, “Yes, I hear and obey.” O Commander of the Faithful, no sooner had I uttered these words than she clapped her hands and a door opened and out came a finely dressed young man in the bloom of youth, all beauty and perfect grace. He was sweetly coquettish, with a fine figure, eyebrows arching like a bow, and eyes that bewitched the heart with their holy magic. He was like him of whom the poet said:

He has a face as bright as the young moon,

And joys as pearls he scatters as a boon.

As soon as I looked at him, I was attracted to him. He sat beside me and chatted with me for a while; then the girl clapped her hands a second time, and a door opened and out came a judge and four witnesses, who sat and wrote the marriage contract. Then the young man made me pledge that I would not look at any other man, and he was not satisfied until I took a solemn oath. I was feeling very happy and impatient for the night to come. When it finally came, we retired to our room, and I spent with him the best of nights. In the morning he slaughtered many sheep in thanksgiving, showed me favors, and treated me lovingly. For a full month thereafter, I lived with him a most happy life.

One day, wishing to buy certain fabric, I asked him for permission to go to the market. He consented, and I went with the old woman and two maids. When we entered the silk-mercers' market, the old woman said, “O my lady, here is a very young merchant who has a large stock of goods and every kind of fabric you may desire, and no one in the market has better goods. Let us go into his shop, and there you can buy whatever you wish.” We entered his shop, and I saw that he was slender, handsome, and very young, like him of whom the poet said:

Here is a slender youth whose hair and face

All mortals envelope with light or gloom.

Mark on his cheek the mark of charm and grace,

A dark spot on a red anemone.

I said to the old lady, “Let him show us some nice fabric.” She replied, “Ask him yourself.” I said, “Don't you know that I have sworn not to speak to any man except my husband?” So she said to him, “Show us some fabric,” and he showed us several pieces, some of which I liked. I said to the old woman, “Ask him for the price.” When she asked him, he replied, “I will sell them for neither silver nor gold but for a kiss on her cheek.” I said, “God save me from such a thing.” But the old woman said, “O my lady, you needn't talk to him or he to you; just turn your face to him and let him kiss it; that is all there is to it.” Tempted by her, I turned my face to him. He put his mouth on my cheek and bit off with his teeth a piece of my flesh. I fainted, and when I came to myself, a long time later, I saw that he had locked the shop and departed, while the old woman, in a display of grief, sorrowed over my bleeding face.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence.

T
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The following night Shahrazad said:

I have heard, O happy King, that the flogged girl said to the Commander of the Faithful:

The old woman, expressing anguish, grief, and sorrow, said, “O my lady, God has saved you from something worse. Take heart and let us go, before the matter becomes public. When you get home, pretend to be sick, and cover yourself up, and I will bring you powders and plasters that will heal your cheek within three days.” I rose, and we walked slowly until we reached the house, where I collapsed on the floor with pain. Then I lay in bed, covered myself up, and drank some wine.

In the evening my husband came in and asked, “O my darling, what is the matter with you?” I replied, “I have a headache.” He lighted a candle and, coming close to me, looked at my face and, seeing the wound on my cheek, asked, “What caused this?” I replied, “When I went today to the market to buy some fabric, a camel driver with a load of firewood jostled me in a narrow passage, and one of the pieces tore my veil and cut my cheek, as you see.” He said, “Tomorrow I shall ask the governor of the city to hang every camel driver in this city.” I replied, “O my lord, this does not warrant hanging innocent men and bearing the guilt of their death.” He asked, “Then who did it?” I replied, “I was riding a rented donkey, and when the donkey driver drove it hard, it stumbled and threw me to the ground, and I fell on a piece of glass that happened to be there and cut my cheek.” He said, “By God, I shall not let the sun rise before I go to Ja'far the Barmakid
²
and ask him to hang every donkey driver and every sweeper in this city.” I said, “By God, my lord, this is not what really happened to me. Don't hang people because of me.” He asked, “What then is the real cause of your wound?” I replied, “I suffered what God had foreordained for me.” He kept pressing me relentlessly, and I kept mumbling and resisting him until he drove me to speak rudely to him. At that moment, O Commander of the Faithful, he cried out and a door opened and out came three black slaves who, at his bidding, dragged me out of my bed and threw me down on my back in the middle of the room. Then he ordered one slave to sit on my knees, the other to hold my head, and the third to draw his sword, saying to him, “You, Sa'd, strike her and with one blow cut her in half and let each of you carry one half and throw it into the Tigris river for the fish to feed upon. This is the punishment of those who violate the vow.” Then he grew angrier and recited the following verses:

If there be one who shares the one I love,

I'll kill my love even though my soul dies,

Saying, “Better nobly to die, O soul,

Than share a love for which another vies.”

Then he ordered the slave to strike me with the sword. When the slave was sure of the command, he bent down to me and said, “O my lady, have you any wish, for this is the last moment of your life?” I replied, “Get off me, so that I may tell him something.” I raised my head and, thinking of my condition and how I had fallen from high esteem into disgrace and from life into death, I wept bitterly and choked with sobs. But my husband looked at me angrily and recited the following verses:

Tell her who for another lover left,

Bored with me, and repaid me with disdain,

That even though I suffered first, I found

Contentment in what was between us twain.

When I heard his words, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and, looking at him, replied with the following verses:

You set my poor heart burning with your love

And left my eyes to smart and went to sleep,

While all alone I thought of you and wept

And in my sorrow did a vigil keep.

You promised to be faithful to the end,

But when you had my heart, you broke the vow.

I loved you in all childish innocence;

Kill not that love, for I am learning now.

But when he heard my verses, O Commander of the Faithful, he grew even angrier and, giving me a furious look, recited the following verses:

'Twas not boredom that bid me leave my love,

But a sin that imposed such fate on me.

She wished to let another share our love,

But faith forbade me such a blasphemy.

I wept and implored and, looking at him, recited the following verses:

You left me burdened with the weight of love,

Being too weak even a shirt to wear.

I marvel not that my soul wastes away

But that my body can your absence bear.

When he heard my words, he cursed me and scolded me. Then looking at me, he recited the following verses:

You left me to enjoy another love

And showed disdain, a deed I could not do.

If you dislike my presence, I will leave

And rue the end of love, as you did rue,

And take another lover for myself,

For love was killed not by me but by you.

Then he yelled at the slave, saying, “Cut her in half and rid me of her, for her life is worthless.” O Commander of the Faithful, as we argued in verse, I grew certain of death and gave up myself for lost, but suddenly the old woman rushed in and, throwing herself at my husband's feet, said tearfully, “O son, by the rights of rearing you up, by the breasts that nursed you, and by my service to you, pardon her for my sake. You are still young, and you should not bear the guilt of her death, for as it is said, ‘Whoever slays shall be slain.' Why bother with such a worthless woman? Drive her out of your hearth and heart.” She kept weeping and imploring until he relented and said, “But I must brand her and leave a permanent mark on her.” Then he ordered the slaves to strip me of all my clothes and stretch me on the floor, and when they sat on me to pin me down, he rose and, fetching a quince rod, fell with blows on my sides until I despaired of life and lost consciousness. Then he bade the slaves take me to my own home as soon as it was dark and let the old woman show them the way.