The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (41 page)

Meanwhile, the father of the bride went back inside the house, amazed and bewildered, not knowing what to make of his daughter. He went to her and said, “Damn it, tell me your secret!” She replied, “Ah, father, what secret? By God, last night I was presented to a young man who spent the night with me, took my virginity, and made me pregnant. Here on this chair is his turban, and here are his robe and his dagger, and here under the mattress are his trousers, wrapped around something. The vizier took his nephew's turban and, turning it in his hand, examined it and said, “By God, this is a vizier's turban, tied in the style of Mosul.” When he examined it further, he felt inside it a scroll, folded, sealed, and sewn into the lining. Then he unfolded the trousers and found the purse with the thousand dinars and the piece of paper. When he unfolded the paper, he read, “Badr al-Din Hasan al-Basri has sold to Isaac the Jew the cargo of the first ship to arrive for a thousand dinars and has received the money,” and as soon as he read it, he screamed and fell into a swoon.

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!”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related, O King, that Ja'far said to the caliph:

O Commander of the Faithful, when the vizier Shams al-Din came to himself and recalled what he had discovered, he was amazed, and when he opened the sealed paper and saw that it was in his brother's handwriting, he was even more amazed and said, “Daughter, do you know who the man who took your virginity really was? By God, he is none other than your cousin, and these thousand dinars are your dowry. Glory be to the Omnipotent God who controls everything, for He has turned the cause of my quarrel with my brother Nur al-Din into a just resolution. I wonder how all this came about?” Then he looked at the letter again, and when he saw the date in his brother's handwriting, he kissed it many times, and as he kept looking at the handwriting, he wept, lamented, and repeated these verses:

I see their traces and with longing pine

In their empty dwelling, and my tears flow.

And Him who had decreed their loss I beg

That He may on me their return bestow.

Then he read the letter and saw the dates of his brother's arrival in Basra, the marriage contract, the consummation of the marriage, the birth of his son Badr al-Din-Hasan, and the year of his death. When the vizier realized what these dates meant, he shook with amazement and delight, for when he compared the events of his life with those of his brother's, he found them parallel, and when he compared the dates of his brother's marriage in Basra, the consummation of that marriage, and the birth of his son, he found them to be identical with his own in Cairo, and when he pondered how shortly thereafter his nephew had arrived and consummated the marriage with his daughter, he concluded that all of this was planned by Providence. Then he took the letter and the piece of paper that he had found inside the purse, went at once to the king, and told him the whole story. The king was very much amazed and ordered that these events be dated and recorded.

Then the vizier went home and waited for his nephew all day long, but he did not show up, and when he waited a second and a third day and kept waiting until the seventh day, without any news or any trace of his nephew, he said, “By God, I will do what has never been done before.” He took an inkwell and a sheet of paper and wrote down a description of the entire wedding chamber and its contents. Then he ordered everything put aside, including the turban, the trousers, and the purse.

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!”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that Ja'far said to the caliph:

Days and months went by, and when her time came, the daughter of the vizier of Egypt gave birth to a boy, who had a face as round as the full moon or the rising sun, a radiant brow, and rosy cheeks. They cut his navel cord and applied kohl to his eyelids, and his grandfather named him 'Ajib and committed him to the care of the nurses, stewardesses, and servants.

'Ajib grew, and when he was seven, his grandfather sent him to school, bidding the tutor educate him and teach him good manners. 'Ajib remained at the school about four years. Then he began to bully, beat, and abuse the other children. At last they got together and complained to the monitor about their maltreatment at the hands of 'Ajib. The monitor said, “I will tell you what you should do tomorrow, so that he will stop coming to school and you will never see him again. When he comes tomorrow, gather around him to play a game and say to each other, ‘No one can join us in this game, unless he tells us the names of his mother and father, for he who does not know the names of his parents is a bastard and shall not play with us.” The children were pleased, and the next day they came to school, and when 'Ajib arrived, they gathered around him and one of them said, “We will play a game, but no one can join in unless he tells us the names of his mother and father.” Everyone said, “Very well.” Then one said, “My name is Majid, my mother's name is Sittita, and my father's name is 'Iz al-Din,” and others said the like, until it was 'Ajib's turn. He said, “My name is 'Ajib, my mother's name is Sit al-Husn, and my father's name is Shams al-Din, the vizier.” They said, “How can that be? By God, he is not your father!” He said to them, “Damn you, the Vizier Shams al-Din is indeed my father.” But they laughed at him and clapped their hands and said, “May God help him! He does not know his father! By God, he cannot play or sit with us.” Then they laughed, and dispersed, leaving him choking with tears. Then the monitor came to him and said, “'Ajib, don't you know that the Vizier Shams al-Din is your mother's father, your grandfather, and not your father? As for your father, neither you nor we know who he is. For the king married your mother to a hunchback, but the demons came and slept with her, and your father is unknown. Unless you find out who he is, you will not be able to face the schoolchildren, for they will treat you as a bastard. Don't you see that even though your grandfather is the vizier of Egypt, the merchant's son knows his own father and the grocer's son knows his, but you don't know your father? 'Ajib, this is a strange business!”

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 I stay alive!”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that Ja'far said to the caliph:

When 'Ajib heard the insulting remarks of the children and the monitor, he left at once and came crying to his mother Sit al-Husn. When she saw him, her heart was on fire for him, and she asked him, “Son, why do you cry? May God never let you cry again!” Sobbing, he told her what had happened; then he asked her, “Who, then, is my father?” She replied, “Your father is the vizier of Egypt.” He said, “You are lying. The vizier is your own father; he is my grandfather. Who, then, is my father?” When Sit al-Husn heard him speak of his father, her cousin and husband Badr al-Din Hasan, and recalled her wedding night, she wept bitterly and recited these verses:

Love in my breast he lit and went away

And left behind an empty hearth and heart.

His shrine is too distant to visit now,

A distance that has kept us worlds apart!

And when he left, my patience also left,

So did endurance, so did self-control.

And when he went away, he took with him

My joy, my peace, my rest, all; he took all

And left me my tears of unhappy love,

Which from my burning eyes profusely flow.

And when I long to see him once again,

And with vain longing wait for him to show,

I trace his image in my empty heart,

Which wells with thoughts, longing, and deep passion.

You, whose remembrance wraps me in its warmth,

Whose love I show, a sign of devotion,

Is there no ransom for the captive heart,

And for the afflicted no remedy,

And for the sick with love no medicine,

And for the defeated no victory?

O my dear love, how long this coy disdain?

When will you come back and be mine again?

While she wept and made her son weep with her, the vizier came in, and when he saw them, he asked, “Why do you weep?” His daughter told him what had happened to her son, and when he remembered his brother and nephew and his daughter's puzzling story, he wept with them. Then he went at once to the king of Egypt and, kissing the ground before him, begged him leave to go eastward to the city of Basra to inquire about his nephew; he also begged him for royal edicts to all the provinces and cities, authorizing him to take custody of Badr al-Din wherever he found him. And he wept before the king, who took pity on him and wrote him letters and edicts to all the provinces and cities. The vizier rejoiced, thanked the king, and invoked God's blessing on him. Then he returned at once to his house, and after he made preparations for the journey, he took his daughter and her son 'Ajib with him and departed.

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!”