The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (52 page)

All this time I sat with my mouth dry from fear until the young lady came upstairs and said to me, “There is no longer anything to fear. Be cheerful and wait until the Lady Zubaida comes to see you, and you may be fortunate and win me.” I went downstairs, and as soon as I sat down in the small hall, there came in ten maids, like moons, and stood in two rows, and they were followed by twenty high-bosomed virgins, with the Lady Zubaida, who could hardly walk under the weight of her dresses and ornaments. When she drew near, the maids dispersed and brought her a chair, on which she sat. Then she cried out to the girls, who in turn cried out to me, and I advanced and kissed the ground before her. She motioned me to sit down, and I sat down before her, as she conversed with me and I answered her questions about my condition. She was pleased with me and finally said, “By God, I have not raised this girl in vain. She is like my own child, a trust committed to you by God.” Then she bade me stay for ten days in the palace.

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 the king spares me and lets me live!”

T
HE
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UNDRED AND
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WENTY
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IGHTH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard that the steward told the king of China that the young man said:

I stayed in the palace ten days and nights, without seeing the young lady. Then the Lady Zubaida consulted the caliph about the marriage of her waiting-woman, and he gave permission and assigned ten thousand dirhams for that purpose. Then the Lady Zubaida sent for the judge and witnesses, and they drew up the marriage contract, performed the ceremony, and for ten days thereafter celebrated our wedding with sumptuous meals and sweets. At the end of the ten days, the young lady entered the bath. In the meantime they set before me the supper tray, and as there was among the dishes a great platter of ragout cooked with pistachio nuts, white sugar, rosewater, and cumin, I did not hesitate but, by God, fell upon the ragout and ate until I was satisfied. Then I wiped my hands, for God had willed that I should forget to wash them.

I sat until it grew dark, when they lit the candles and all the musicians and singing women of the palace came in a procession, beating the tambourines and singing all kinds of melodies and songs. They kept parading from room to room, displaying the bride and receiving gifts of money and pieces of silk, until they made the round of the whole palace and brought her to my room. They disrobed her and left her with me, but no sooner did I enter the bed with her and embrace her, hardly believing that she was mine, than, smelling the ragout spiced with cumin on my hand, she let out such a loud scream that the maids rushed in from all sides and stood around her, while I sat alarmed and trembled from fear, not knowing why she had screamed. The maids asked her, “Sister, what is the matter with you?” She replied, “Take this madman away from me.” I got up, afraid and bewildered, and asked her, “My lady, what makes you think me mad?” She replied, “Madman, didn't you eat the ragout spiced with cumin without washing your hands? By God, I will punish you for it. Shall the like of you consummate marriage with one like me, with a hand smelling of ragout spiced with cumin?” Then she yelled at the girls, saying, “Throw him to the ground,” and they threw me to the ground, and she took a braided whip and fell with it on my back and buttocks until her arm was tired. Then she said to the girls, “Take him and send him to the chief of the police; so that he may cut off the hand with which he ate the ragout without washing it and sparing me the stench.” When I heard this, still smarting from the blows, I said to myself. “There is no power and no strength, save in God, the Almighty, the Magnificent.” What a calamity! What a great calamity! Did I suffer such a painful beating and will my hand be cut off, just because I ate the ragout spiced with cumin and forgot to wash my hands? May god curse this ragout and its very existence.”

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
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UNDRED AND
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WENTY
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INTH
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IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related that the steward told the king of China that the young man said:

The girls interceded with her, saying, “Our lady, this man does not know your worth. Forgive him for our sake.” But she said, “He is a madman, and I must punish his hand, so that he may never again eat the ragout without washing it.” When the girls interceded again and kissed her hands, saying, “Our lady, for God's sake, don't blame him for what he forgot to do,” she yelled at me, cursed me, and went away, and they followed her.

She was gone for ten days, during which a maid brought me food and drink everyday and informed me that the lady was not feeling well because I had eaten the ragout without washing my hands. I was very much amazed and burst out with anger, saying to myself, “What a cursed temper!” adding, “There is no power and no strength, save in God, the Almighty, the Magnificent.” When the ten days passed, the maid brought me the food and informed me that the lady was going to the bath, adding, “Bear her anger patiently, for tomorrow she will come to you.” When the lady finally came in, she looked at me and said, “May God shame you; couldn't you be patient even for one moment? I will not make peace with you until I punish you for eating the ragout without washing your hands.” Then crying out to the girls, who surrounded me and bound me, she took out a sharp blade and, coming up to me, cut off my two thumbs, as you people can see for yourselves, and I fell into a swoon. Meanwhile, she sprinkled the wounds with powder and a store of drugs to stop the flow of blood, and when the blood stopped, the maids gave me wine to drink. As soon as I opened my eyes, I said to her, “I pledge to you that I will never again eat ragout spiced with cumin without washing my hands one hundred and twenty times.” The lady replied, “Bravo,” and made me take an oath to that effect. So when the food was brought in here, and I saw the ragout spiced with cumin, I turned pale and said to myself, “It was this dish that was the cause of cutting off my thumbs”; so when you forced me to eat of it, I had to fulfill the oath.

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
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UNDRED AND
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HIRTIETH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related that the steward told the king of China that the guests asked the young man, “What happened to you after that?” and he said:

When my wounds healed and I recovered, she came to me, and I slept with her. Then I spent the rest of the month with her in the palace until I began to feel depressed, and she finally said to me, “Listen! The caliph's palace is no place for us to live. The Lady Zubaida has given me fifty thousand dinars. Take some money with you and go and buy us a good house.” Then she gave me ten thousand dinars, and I took them and went out and bought a beautiful house. Then she moved in with me, and for many years we lived like kings until she died. This then is the cause of the cutting off of my thumbs and the washing of my hands.

After we ate, the party ended and we departed, and afterward I had my adventure with the hunchback.

The king of China said, “By God, this is not more amazing than the story of the roguish hunchback.” Then the Jewish physician rose and, kissing the ground before the king, said, “O my lord, I have a story to tell, which is more amazing than this one.” The king said, “Let us hear it.”

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
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H
UNDRED AND
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HIRTY
-F
IRST
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related, O King, that the Jew said:

 

3.
Aromatic root of certain East Indian herbs of the ginger family; “potash”: a crude potassium carbonate obtained from wood or other vegetable ashes.

4.
From a sacred well in Mecca.

[The Jewish Physician's Tale: The Young Man from Mosul and the Murdered Girl]

O KING OF
the age, the most amazing thing that ever happened to me occurred when I was studying medicine in Damascus. One day a Mamluk from the house of the governor came to take me there. I went to the house, and when I entered, I saw lying on a bed at the upper end of the hall a sick young man, so handsome that I have seen none handsomer. I sat at his head and offered a prayer for his recovery, and he responded by making a sign with his eyes. I said to him, “My lord, give me your hand, and may you recover speedily.” He put forth his left hand, and I wondered and said to myself, “By God, it is strange that such a handsome young man of such a high family should lack good manners. How very strange!” I felt his pulse and wrote him a prescription, and for ten days I continued to visit him until he recovered and I took him to the bath. Then when I came out, the governor bestowed on me a robe of honor and appointed me superintendent of the hospital.

But when I was with him in the bath, which was cleared for our private use, and the servants and valets came in and took off his clothes, I saw that his right hand had been recently cut off and realized that this was the cause of his illness. When I saw this, I was filled with amazement, worry, and sorrow for him. I looked closely at his body and saw marks of beating with rods, for which he had used ointments, drugs, and plasters, leaving only faint traces on the sides. As my worry increased and began to show on my face, the young man looked at me and, reading my thought, said, “Doctor, don't wonder about my case. I will tell you my strange story at the appropriate time.” Then we washed and, returning to the house, ate some boiled food and rested a while. Then the young man said to me, “Would you like to go for a walk in the Damascus Gardens?” I replied, “Yes, I would.” He bade the servants take a few necessities, in addition to a roasted lamb and fruits, and we went to the gardens, where we enjoyed the sights for a while, then sat to eat. When we finished, they offered us some sweets and, after we had some, I was about to open the subject, when he anticipated me and said: