The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (50 page)

I wrapped my hand in a rag, thrust it into my bosom, and walked until I reached my mistress's house and threw myself on the bed. When she saw that I was pale from the bleeding, she asked, “My darling, what ails you?” I replied, “I have a headache.” Worried about me, she said, “Sit up and tell me what has happened to you today, for it is written on your face.” When I wept without reply, she said, “It seems as if you are tired of me. For God's sake, tell me what is the matter with you.” But even though I kept silent and did not reply, she continued to talk to me till nightfall. Then she brought me food, but I refused it, for fear that she would see me eat with my left hand, and I said to her, “I don't care to eat anything.” Again she asked, “Tell me what happened to you today and what is troubling you.” I said, “Must I tell you?” Then she gave me wine to drink, saying, “Drink it, for it will make you feel better and help you tell me what happened.” I replied, “If I must, then give me the wine.” She drank, gave me the cup, and I took it with my left hand.

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

When she gave me the cup, I took it with my left hand with tears in my eyes. She let out a loud cry and said, “My lord, why do you weep, and why do you hold the cup with your left hand?” I replied, “I have a boil on my right hand.” She said, “Put it out, and I will lance it for you.” I replied, “It is not ready yet.” She kept forcing me to drink until I got drunk and fell asleep. Then she examined my right arm and found it a wrist without a hand, and when she searched me and found the purse and my severed hand wrapped in a handkerchief, she grieved for me and lamented till the morning.

When I awoke, I found that she had made me a dish of broth of five boiled chickens, and after I ate some and drank a cup of wine, I laid down the purse and was about to go out, when she said to me, “Where are you going? Sit down.” Then she added, “Has your love for me been so great that you have spent all your substance on me until you finally lost even your hand? I pledge to you that I will die nowhere but at your feet, and you shall soon see the truth of my words.” Then she sent for witnesses and drew up a marriage contract, saying, “Write down that everything I own belongs to this young man.” After she paid the witnesses their fee, she took me by the hand and, leading me to a chest, said to me, “Look at all these handkerchiefs inside; they contain all the money you brought me. Take your money back, for I can never reward you enough for your precious and dear self,” repeating, “Take your money.” I locked the money in the chest, forgetting my sorrow and feeling happy, and thanked her. She said to me, “By God, even if I gave my life for you, it would be less than you deserve.”

We lived together, but in less than a month, she fell ill and continued to get worse because of her grief for me, and in less than fifty days, she was dead. After I buried her, I found that she had left me countless bequests, including the storeroom and the crop of sesame that you, Christian, sold for me.

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 the Christian broker told the king of China that the young man said:

“It was because I was busy selling the rest of the goods that I did not have the time to pay attention to you and receive my money from you, but now I have at last sold everything she left me. This then is the reason why I ate with my left hand. Now, by God, Christian, you must not object to what I am about to do, for I have entered your home and eaten your food. I make you a present of all the money you are holding for me from the sale of the sesame, for it is only a portion of what the Supreme God has bestowed on me.”

The young man added, “Christian, I have prepared a load of merchandise for trading; will you go aboard with me?” I replied, “Yes, indeed,” and agreed to go with him at the beginning of the month. Then after I too bought merchandise, I set out with the young man until we came to your city, O King, where he bought merchandise and went back to Egypt. But it was my lot to stay here. This then is my adventure and strange story. Isn't it, O King, more amazing than the hunchback's story?

The king of China replied, “No, it is not more amazing than the hunchback's story, and I must hang all four of you for the hunchback's death.”

Then the steward of the king's kitchen came forward and said to the king of China, “O happy King, if I tell you a story that happened to me last night, before I found the hunchback in my house, and you find it to be more amazing than the hunchback's story, will you grant us our lives and let us go?” The king of China replied, “Yes, if I find it to be more amazing than the story of the hunchback, I will grant all four of you your lives.” The steward said:

 

7.
Egyptian Christian.

8.
Inn with a large courtyard, where caravans could rest during the night.

9.
Considered a lapse in manners, since the left hand is used for toilet hygiene.

1.
Leyla: the beloved cousin of the Arab poet Kais, known as “Majnun,” who went mad because of his unrequited love for her; she is a legendary figure in Arabic and Persian poetry and art.

2.
Representative of a guild or corporation.

[The Steward's Tale: The Young Man from Baghdad and Lady Zubaida's Maid]

O KING OF
the age, last night I was invited to hear a recitation of the Quran, where the doctors of the law, as well as a great many citizens of your city, were assembled. After the reciters finished their recitation, the table was spread, and among the dishes set before us there was a ragout spiced with cumin. But when one of the guests saw the ragout, he held back and abstained from eating. We entreated him to eat of the ragout, but he swore that he would not, and we pressed him until he said, “Don't force me to eat, for I have suffered enough from eating this dish.” Then he repeated the following verses:

Shoulder your drum, my man, and

leave your home

And use the kohl if 'tis the

kohl you like,

We said to him, “Tell us the reason of your refusal to eat of the ragout,” and as the host insisted, saying, “I swear that you must eat of it,” the guest replied, “There is no power and no strength, save in God. If I must eat, then I will first have to wash my hands forty times with soap, forty times with potash, and forty times with galingale,
³
all in all one hundred and twenty times.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “What a strange and entertainining 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 happy King, that the steward said to the king:

O King of the age, the host ordered his servants to bring the guest water and all that he required to wash his hands, and he washed his hands as he had said. Then he came reluctantly and sat down with us, as if in fear, and dipping his hand into the ragout, began to eat, but with repugnance, while we looked at him with surprise, for his hand and indeed his whole body were shaking, and we noticed that his thumb was cut off and that he ate with four fingers only, so that the food kept slipping awkwardly from his hand. We asked him in amazement, “What happened to your thumb? Did God create you like this, or did you have an accident?” He replied, “By God, it is not only this thumb that is missing, but also that of the other hand, and the great toe of each of my feet, as you will see.” Then he bared his left hand and his two feet, and we saw that the left hand was like the right and that each of his feet lacked the great toe. When we saw this, our amazement increased, and we said to him, “We are impatient to hear your story and the reason for cutting off your thumbs and toes and for washing your hands one hundred and twenty times.” He said:

My father was one of the most prominent merchants of Baghdad, in the days of the caliph Harun al-Raschid, but he was fond of wine and the lute, so that when he died, he left me nothing. I held a mourning ceremony for him, arranged for recitations of the Quran, and continued to mourn for him for a long time. Then I opened the shop and found that he had left little substance and many debts. So I arranged with his creditors to pay them in installments, and I began to buy and sell and to pay the creditors week by week, until at last I paid off all his debts and began to increase my capital. One day, as I was sitting in the shop early in the morning, there came to the market a beautiful young lady, the like of which I had never seen before, richly dressed and bedecked with jewelry. She was riding a she-mule, with one black slave walking before and another behind her. She dismounted and, leaving the she-mule by the entrance, entered the market. No sooner had she done so, when a well-groomed eunuch followed her and said, “My lady, go in, but don't let anyone recognize you, or we will be in trouble.” Then he stood guard before her, while she looked at the shops and, finding none open but mine, came up to my shop, followed by the eunuch, greeted me, and sat down.

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