The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (49 page)

I walked with her until we came to the lane of the moneychangers, and when the lady saw me, she drew me aside and said to me, “My dear, you have found a place in my heart, and from the day I first laid eyes on you, I have been unable to eat and drink.” I replied, “I feel the same, and my condition speaks for my plight.” She asked, “My dear, your place or mine?” I replied, “I am a stranger here and have no lodging but the caravansary.”

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
O
NE
H
UNDRED AND
S
IXTEENTH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related, O happy King, that the Christian broker told the king of China that the young man said:

“I have no lodging but the caravansary. Do me a favor and let me come to your place.” She replied, “Very well, my lord. Tonight is Friday night, and nothing can be done, but tomorrow, after you perform the morning prayer, ride an ass and ask for the house of the syndic
²
Barqut abu-Shamah, in the Habbaniya quarter, and do not delay, for I will be waiting for you.” I said, “Very well,” and I bade her good-bye.

I waited impatiently for morning, and as soon as it was daylight, I arose, put on my clothes, and perfumed myself. Then I took fifty dinars in a handkerchief and walked from the Masrur Caravansary to the Zuwayla Gate, where I hired an ass, bidding the driver take me to the Habbaniya quarter. He set off with me and in no time brought me to a side street called al-Taqwa Lane. I bade him go in and inquire about the house of the syndic Barqut, known as abu-Shamah, and he disappeared and soon returned and said, “Very well, dismount.” I dismounted and said to him, “Guide me to the house, so that you can find it when you return tomorrow to take me back to the Masrur Caravansary.” He took me to the house, and I gave him a quarter-dinar and bade him go.

I knocked at the gate, and there came out two little white maids who said, “Please come in, for our mistress, being overjoyed with you, was unable to sleep last night.” I walked through the hallway and came to a hall, raised seven steps above the ground and surrounded by windows, overlooking a garden that delighted the eye with running streams and all kinds of fruits and birds. In the middle of the hall there was a square fountain at whose corners stood four snakes made of red gold, spouting water, as if it were jewels and pearls.

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

T
HE
O
NE
H
UNDRED AND
S
EVENTEENTH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the Christian broker told the king of China that the young man said:

I entered the hall, and hardly had I sat down, when the lady came up to me, bedecked in fine clothes and ornaments, with a diadem on her head. Her face was made up, and her eyes were penciled. When she saw me, she smiled at me, pressed me hard to her bosom and, setting her mouth to mine, sucked my tongue, and I did likewise. Then she said, “Can it be true, my little lord, that you have indeed come to me?” I replied, “Yes, I am with you and I am your slave.” She said, “By God, since I first saw you, I have enjoyed neither food nor sleep.” I said, “I have felt the same.” Then we sat down to converse, while I kept my head bowed. Soon she set before me a tray with the most sumptuous dishes, such as ragout, fricassee, fritters soaked in honey, and chickens stuffed with sugar and pistachio nuts, and we ate until we were satisfied. Then the servants removed the tray, and after we washed our hands and they sprinkled them with rosewater scented with musk, we sat down again to converse, and my love for her took such hold of me that all my wealth seemed little to me in comparison with her. We passed the time in dalliance till nightfall, when the servants set before us a banquet of food and wine, and we sat drinking till midnight. Then we went to bed, and I lay with her till the morning, having never spent a better night. When it was day, I arose and, slipping under the mattress the handkerchief containing the fifty dinars, took my leave of her. She wept and asked, “My lord, when shall I see you again?” I replied, “I will be with you this evening.” She saw me to the door and said, “My lord, bring our supper with you.”

When I stepped out, I found the driver with whom I had ridden the previous day waiting for me, and I mounted, and he drove the ass to the caravansary. I dismounted but did not pay him, saying, “Come back for me at sunset,” and he replied, “Very well,” and went away. After I had a little breakfast, I went out to collect the money from the sale of my merchandise. In the meantime I ordered a roasted lamb on a bed of rice, as well as some sweets and, giving a porter directions to the lady's house, sent the food to her. Thus I occupied myself with my business till the end of the day, and when at sunset the driver came for me, I took fifty dinars in a handkerchief, adding two quarter-dinars, and rode the ass, spurring it until in no time I reached the lady's house. I dismounted and gave the driver half a dinar. Then I entered and found that the house was better prepared than ever. When she saw me, she kissed me and said, “I have missed you all day long.” Then the servants set the table, and we ate until we were satisfied. Then they brought us wine, and we drank till midnight; then we went to the bedroom and lay together till daylight. When I arose, I left with her the fifty dinars in the handkerchief and went out, finding the driver waiting. I rode to the caravansary, where I slept a while. Then I went out and bought from a delicatessen a pair of home-grown geese on two platters of peppered rice. I also bought colocassia roots, fried and soaked in honey, fruits and nuts, as well as aromatic herbs and candles, and sent them all with a porter to her house. Then I waited impatiently till nightfall, when I again took fifty dinars in a handkerchief and rode with the driver to the house. Again she and I conversed, ate, and lay together, and when I arose in the morning, I again left the hand-kerchief with her and rode back with the driver to the Masrur Caravansary.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “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
O
NE
H
UNDRED AND
E
IGHTEENTH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the Christian broker told the king of China that the young man said:

I continued like this, eating and drinking and giving her fifty dinars every night until one day I found myself penniless. Not knowing where to find money and saying to myself, “There is no power and no strength save in God, the Almighty, the Magnificent. This is Satan's doing,” I left my lodging at the caravansary and walked along Bain al-Qasran Street until I came to the Zuwayla Gate, where it was so crowded that the gate was blocked up with people. As it had been foreordained, I found myself pressed against a soldier, so that my hand came upon his breast pocket and I felt a purse inside. I looked and, seeing a green tassel hanging from the pocket, realized that it was attached to the purse. The crush grew greater every moment, and just then, a camel, bearing a load of wood, jostled the soldier on the other side, and he turned to ward it off from him, lest it should tear his clothes. And Satan tempted me, and I pulled the tassel and drew out a little blue silk purse, with something clinking inside. Hardly had I held the purse in my hand, when the soldier felt something and, touching his pocket with his hand, found it empty. He turned to me and, raising his mace, struck me with it on the head. I fell to the ground, while the people gathered around us and, holding the soldier back, asked him, “Is it because he pushed you that you struck him with such a blow?” But he shouted at them with curses and said, “This fellow is a thief!” At that moment, I came to myself and got up, and the people looked at me and said, “This nice young man would not steal anything.” Some believed him while others did not, and after much debate, some of them were about to rescue me from him, when the chief of the police and the captain and the watchmen entered through the gate and saw the crowd gathered around me and the soldier. The chief asked, “What is the matter?” and they told him what had happened [and the soldier said, “He stole from my pocket a blue silk purse containing twenty dinars”]. The chief asked him, “Was there anyone else with him?” and the soldier replied, “No.” Then the chief cried out to the captain, bidding him seize me. Then he said, “Strip him naked,” and when they did so and found the purse hidden in my clothes, I fell into a swoon. When the chief saw 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!”

T
HE
O
NE
H
UNDRED AND
N
INETEENTH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the Christian broker told the king of China that the young man said:

When the chief saw the purse, he seized it and took out the gold coins, and when he counted, he found twenty dinars. He was angry and, yelling at the officers to bring me before him, said to me, “Young man, there is no need to force it out of you if you tell me the truth. Did you steal this purse?” I bowed my head and said to myself, “I cannot deny it, for they found the purse in my clothes, but if I confess, I will be in trouble.” At last I raised my head and said, “Yes, I took it.” When the chief heard my words, he called for witnesses, and they attested my confession. (All of this took place at the Zuwayla Gate.) Then he summoned the executioner, who cut off my right hand, and he would have bidden him cut off my foot too, but as the people said to him, “This is a pitiful young man,” and as I implored the soldier, who finally took pity on me and interceded for me with him, the chief left me and went away, while the people remained around me and gave me a cup of wine to drink. As for the soldier, he gave me the purse, saying, “You are a nice young man, and it does not become you to be a thief.” Then he left me and went away.