The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (34 page)

Following their master's command, they took me away, threw me into my house, and departed. I remained unconscious till the morning. Then I treated myself with ointments and drugs, but my body remained disfigured from the beating and my sides bore the marks of the rod. I lay sick in bed for four months, and when I recovered and was able to get up, I went to look for my husband's house but found it in ruin. The entire alley, from beginning to end, was torn down, and on the site of the house stood piles of rubbish. Unable to find out how this had come about, I went to this woman, my sister on my father's side, and found her with these two black bitches. I greeted her and told her my story, and she said, “O my sister, who is safe from the accident of life and the misfortunes of the world?” Then she repeated the following verses:

Such is the world; with patience it is best

The loss of wealth or loss of love to breast.

Then, O Commander of the Faithful, she told me her story, what her sisters had done to her, and what had become of them.

We lived together without thinking of any man, and everyday, this girl, the shopper, would come by and go to the market to buy for us what we needed for the day and the night. We lived like this for a long time until yesterday, when our sister went to shop as usual and returned with the porter, whom we allowed to stay to divert us. Less than a quarter of the night had passed when these three dervishes joined us, and we sat to converse, and when a third of the night had gone by, three respectable merchants from Mosul joined us and told us about their adventures. We had pledged the guests to accept a condition, and when they broke the pledge, we treated them accordingly. Then we questioned them about themselves, and when they told us their tales, we pardoned them and they departed. This morning we were unexpectedly summoned to your presence. This is our story.

The caliph, O happy King, marveled at their tales and their adventures.

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

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The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related, O glorious King, that the caliph, marveling at these adventures, turned to the first girl and said, “Tell me what happened to the demon serpent who had cast a spell on your sisters and turned them into bitches. Do you know her whereabouts, and did she set with you the date of her return to you?” The girl replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, she gave me a tuft of hair, saying ‘Whenever you need me, burn two of the hairs, and I will be with you at once, even if I am beyond Mount Qaf.'” The caliph asked, “Where is the tuft of hair?” She brought it, and he took it and burned the entire tuft. Suddenly the whole palace began to tremble, and the serpent arrived and said, “Peace be with you, O Commander of the Faithful! This woman has sown with me the seed of gratitude, and I cannot reward her amply enough, for she killed my enemy and saved me from death. Knowing what her sisters had done to her, I felt bound to reward her by avenging her. At first, I was about to destroy them once and for all, but I feared that their deaths would be hard on her; therefore, I cast a spell on them and turned them into bitches. Now, if you wish me to release them, O Commander of the Faithful, I will do it gladly, for your wish is my command, O Commander of the Faithful!” The caliph replied, “O spirit, release them and let us deliver them from their misery. After you release them, I will look into the case of this flogged girl, and may the Almighty God help me and make it easy for me to solve her case and discover who wronged her and usurped her rights, for I am sure that she is telling the truth.” The she-demon replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, not only will I release these two bitches, but I will also reveal to you who abused and beat this girl. In fact, he is the nearest of all men to you.” Then she took, O King, a bowl of water, and muttering a spell over it in words no one could understand, sprinkled the two sisters with the water and turned them back into their original form.

Then the she-demon said, “O Commander of the Faithful, the man who beat this girl is your son al-Amin brother of al-Ma'mun. He had heard of her beauty and charm, and he tricked her into a legal marriage. But he is not to blame for beating her, for he pledged her and bound her by a solemn oath not to do a certain thing, but she broke the pledge. He was about to kill her but, reflecting on the sin of murder and fearing the Almighty God, contented himself with flogging her and sending her back to her home. Such is the story of the second girl, and God knows all.” When the caliph heard what the she-demon said and found out who had flogged the girl, he was exceedingly amazed and said, “Praise be to the Almighty God who has blessed me and helped me to release these two women and deliver them from sorcery and torture and who has blessed me a second time and revealed to me the cause of that woman's misfortune. By God, I am now going to do a deed by which I will be remembered.” Then the caliph, O King, summoned his son al-Amin and questioned him to confirm the truth of the story. Then he assembled together the judge and witnesses, the three dervishes, the first girl and her two sisters who had been cast under a spell, and the flogged girl and the shopper. When they were all assembled, he married the first girl and her sisters who had been cast under a spell to the three dervishes, who were the sons of kings. He made the three dervishes chamberlains and members of his inner circle, giving them money, clothes, horses, a palace in Baghdad, and everything they needed. He married the flogged girl to his son al-Amin, under a new marriage contract, showered her with wealth and ordered the house to be rebuilt and made even better than before. Then the commander of the Faithful himself married the third girl, the shopper. The people marveled at the caliph's wisdom, tolerance, and generosity and, when all the facts were revealed, recorded these stories.

 

2.
Harun al-Rashid's vizier; see n. 3, p. 5.

[The Story of the Three Apples]

A FEW DAYS
later the caliph said to Ja'far, “I wish to go into the city to find out what is happening and to question the people about the conduct of my administrators, so that I may dismiss those of whom they complain and promote those they praise.” Ja'far replied, “As you wish.” When it was night, the caliph went into the City with Ja'far and Masrur and walked about the streets and markets, and as they made their way through an alley, they met a very old man carrying a basket and a fishnet on his head and holding a staff in his hand. The caliph said to Ja'far, “This is a poor man in need.” Then he asked the old man, “Old man, what is your trade?” and the old man replied, “My lord, I am a fisherman with a family, and I have been out fishing since midday without luck or anything with which to buy supper for my family; I feel helpless and disgusted with life, and I wish that I was dead.” The caliph said to him, “Fisherman, would you go back with us to the Tigris,
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stand at the riverbank, and cast the net for me, and whatever you happen to catch, I shall buy from you for one hundred dinars?”

Delighted, the old fisherman replied, “Yes, my lord,” and went back with them to the Tigris. He cast his net, and when he gathered his rope and pulled it up, he found inside the net a locked, heavy chest. The caliph gave the fisherman one hundred dinars and bade Masrur carry the chest back to the palace. When they broke it open, they found inside a basket of palm leaves sewn with a red woolen thread. Cutting the basket open, they saw inside a piece of carpet and, lifting it out, saw a woman's cloak folded in four. When they removed the cloak, they found at the bottom of the chest a girl in the bloom of youth, as fair as pure silver. She had been slain and cut to pieces.

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

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the girl had been cut into nineteen pieces. When the caliph looked at her, he felt sad and sorry for her, and with tears in his eyes turned to Ja'far and said angrily, “You dog of a vizier, people are being killed and thrown into the river in my city, while I bear the responsibility till Doomsday. By God, I will avenge this girl and put her murderer to the worst of deaths. If you do not find me her killer, I will hang you and hang forty of your kinsmen with you.” He was exceedingly angry and cried a disquieting cry at Ja'far, who said, “O Commander of the Faithful, grant me three days' delay.” The caliph replied, “Granted.” Then Ja'far withdrew and went into the city, vexed and sad, not knowing what to do. He said to himself, “Where shall I find the murderer of this girl, so that I may bring him before the caliph? If I bring him one of the men from jail, I will be guilty of his blood. I don't know what to do, but there is no power and no strength, save in God, the Almighty, the Magnificent.” He stayed at home the first day, and the second, and by noon of the third day the caliph sent some of his chamberlains to fetch him. When he came into the presence of the caliph, the caliph asked him, “Where is the murderer of the girl?” Ja'far replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, am I an expert in detecting a murder?” The caliph was furious at his answer. He yelled at him and commanded that he be hanged before the palace, bidding a crier to cry throughout Baghdad, “Whoever wishes to see the hanging of the vizier Ja'far with forty of his Barmaki kinsmen let him come before the palace and look at the spectacle.” Then the governor of the city and the chamberlains brought Ja'far and his kinsmen and made them stand under the gallows.

But while they waited to see the handkerchief at the window (this was the usual signal), and while the crowd wept for Ja'far and his kinsmen, a neatly dressed young man pushed his way through the crowd toward Ja'far. He had a bright face, with dark eyes, fair brow, and rosy cheeks covered with a downy beard, and graced with a mole like a disk of ambergris. When he finally made his way and stood before Ja'far, he kissed his hand and said, “May I spare you from such a horrible fate, O Grand Vizier, most eminent prince, and refuge of the poor? Hang me for the murder of the girl, for I am the one who murdered her.” When Ja'far heard the young man's confession, he rejoiced at his own deliverance but grieved for the young man. But while Ja'far was talking to him, an old man, well-advanced in years, pushed his way through the crowd until he reached Ja'far and said, “O Vizier and mighty lord, do not believe what this young man is saying, for none has murdered the girl but I. Punish me for her death, for if you do not, I will call you to account before the Almighty God.” But the young man cried out, “O Vizier, none murdered her but I.” The old man said, “Son, you are still very young, while I am an old man who has had enough of life; I will give my life for you.” And turning to Ja'far, he continued, “None murdered the girl but I. Hurry up and hang me, for my life is over, now that she is dead.”

When Ja'far heard the conversation, he was amazed, and he took both the young man and the old man with him and went to the caliph. After kissing the ground before him seven times, he said, “O Commander of the Faithful, I have brought you the murderer of the girl. Each of these two men, the young man and the old man, claims that he is the murderer. Here they stand before you.” The caliph, looking at the young man and the old man, asked, “Which of you killed the girl and threw her into the river?” The young man replied, “I murdered her,” and the old man said, “None killed her but I.” Then the caliph said to Ja'far, “Hang them both.” But Ja'far said, “O Commander of the Faithful, since only one of them is guilty, it will be unjust to hang the other too.” The young man said, “By Him who raised the firmament, I am the one who four days ago killed the girl, placed her in a basket of palm leaves, covered her with a woman's cloak, placed a piece of carpet over it, sewed the basket with a red woolen thread, and threw her into the river. In the name of God and His Judgment Day, I ask you to punish me for her death; do not let me live after her.” The caliph, marveling at what the young man said, asked him, “What caused you to kill her wrongfully, and what caused you to come forward on your own?” The young man replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, our story is such that were it engraved with needles at the corner of the eye, it would be a lesson to those who would consider.” The caliph said, “Relate to us what happened to you and her.” The young man replied, “I hear and obey the command of God and the Commander of the Faithful.” Then the young man . . .