The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (70 page)

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her 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! It will be even stranger than this.”

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IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that when the maid came in, she greeted Ali ibn-Bakkar and, coming close to him, talked to him privately, while he swore and exclaimed from time to time that he had no knowledge of what she claimed. Then she took her leave and went away, leaving him like a madman in Hell. The jeweler related later: “As soon as I found the opportunity to speak, I said to him, ‘Doubtless, some members of the caliph's household have some dealings with you or some claim upon you.' He asked, ‘How do you know?' I replied, ‘I know by this maid.' He asked, ‘To whom does she belong?' I replied, ‘She belongs to Shams al-Nahar, the slave-girl of the Caliph al-Rashid, who has none dearer, wiser, lovelier, or livelier than her. A few days ago the same maid showed me a letter that she suspected to have been addressed to her lady by one of her lady's maids.' Then I repeated to him the contents of the letter, and he was so upset and worried that I feared that he was going to collapse. But he recovered his composure and said, ‘I conjure you by God to tell me truly how you know the girl.' I replied, ‘Do not press me.' He said, ‘I will not leave you until you tell me the truth.' I replied, ‘I will tell you all, so that I may not cross you or keep any secret from you, so that you may not entertain suspicion and wrong impressions of me, and so that you may not feel diffidence, apprehension, or anxiety; moreover, I swear to you by God that, as long as I live, I will never reveal your secrets or betray your confidence, never mislead you or keep any advice from you.' He said, ‘Tell me what you know,' and I told him everything from beginning to end, adding, ‘All this I did for no reason save my affection for you and my concern and compassion for your suffering. It is my wish to place myself and my possessions at your service and to be your friend, in place of your other friend, your ally against the rest of the world, and your confidant and comforter. So take heart and be cheerful,' and I repeated the oath. He responded by invoking blessings on me and said, ‘I do not know what to say, save to trust in your generosity and to commend you to God.' Then he recited the following verses:

If I claim to be patient since she went away,

May tears and loud lament give me the lie.

I wonder whether 'tis for a mere friend

Or for my true love that I mourn and cry

With bitter tears that flow and pour fore'er

For a banished friend or distant lover.

“When he finished, he remained silent for a while; then he asked me, ‘Do you know what that girl said?' I replied, ‘No, I do not.' He said, ‘She claimed that I had been in collusion with Abu al-Hasan and that it was I who had instigated him to go to Basra. She refused to listen to my protestation and persisted in accusing me and chiding me. Now I do not know what to do in Abu al-Hasan's absence, for she liked him, listened to him, and accepted his word.' I replied, ‘If I understand the situation correctly, I will take care of the problem.' He said, ‘How can you, when she bolts away like a wild beast?' I replied, ‘I will do my best to support you and help you and to resolve the problem in every way possible, without exposing you, causing you any distress, or bringing you any harm, with the help of the Kind, the Beneficent, and the Almighty God. Do not worry, for, by God, I will do everything possible to help you fulfill your wish.' Then I asked leave to depart, and he said, ‘My lord, you have treated me with singular kindness, and you have offered me your help freely and without hesitation. You understand my situation; make me an offering of your friendship and a gift of your intimacy, and I will rely on your honor to keep my secret and depend on your support to help me attain my wish!' Then he embraced me and I kissed him, as we bade each other farewell.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her 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! It will be even stranger than this.”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the jeweler said, “I bade him farewell and went out, not knowing where to go, what to do, or how to manage to let the girl know that I was in on the secret of the two lovers. As I went along, pondering the matter, I saw a letter lying on the road. I picked it up, and opening it, found the following:

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful:

My envoy came bringing me hope and joy,

But I surmised that he misunderstood.

Therefore, instead of joy, my grief increased,

Knowing that he mistook bad news for good.

O my lord—may God preserve you—you yourself may know the cause of breaking the bonds of trust between us and interrupting our correspondence. If the fault is yours, I will remain faithful, and if you are inconstant, I will forbear, forgive, and remain constant. If you succeeded in instigating our friend to depart, then you have succeeded in winning a loving companion, a confidant, and a loyal bosom-friend. Indeed, I am not the first one to lose her way and suffer weariness or to desire something and be doomed to failure. May the Almighty God grant me a quick remedy and a speedy relief. Peace be with you.

“While I read the letter in astonishment, wondering who could have dropped it, the maid approached, looking right and left in perplexity and alarm and, seeing the letter in my hand, came up to me and said, ‘O my lord, this is the letter I dropped. Be kind and give it back to me.' I did not answer her but walked on, and she followed me until I came to my house and entered, and she entered behind me. When I was seated, she approached me and said, ‘Listen! This letter is of no use to you, since you do not know from whom it came or to whom it is going. Why do you hang on to it and refuse to give it back to me?' I replied, ‘Calm down, sit quietly, and listen.' When she sat down, I asked her, ‘Is this letter not in the handwriting of your mistress Shams al-Nahar, and is it not for Ali ibn-Bakkar?' Her face turned ashen, and she burst out in alarm. ‘He has exposed us and exposed himself; his feverish passion must have made him delirious, and he must have talked about his love to his friends and companions, without being careful about whom to trust with the truth and without thinking about the consequences.'

“Then she rose to go, but, thinking that her departure in that condition might bring injury and harm to Ali ibn-Bakkar, I said, ‘Listen! The heart bears witness that one must and can conceal, disavow, or deny every secret, save for love, for one feels most pressed to reveal it and seek advice from others, in order to relieve its torments; besides, love has its telltale signs that make it hard to conceal. You have wrongfully suspected Abu al-Hasan and accused him of an offense of which he is innocent. As for Ali ibn-Bakkar, he has never betrayed your confidence, revealed your secret, or behaved ungraciously. Yet you reward him with accusations and distrust. I will acquaint you with something that will justify his behavior, relieve your anxiety, and please you, but first you must give me a firm pledge that you will hide nothing of your lady's affair from me. I am a man who keeps a secret, stands firm under stress, fulfills diligently the obligations of friendship, and follows the rules of manliness and the code of chivalry in everything I undertake and every task I assume.' When she heard my words, she sighed and said, ‘None loses a secret in your trust and no one suffers disappointment under your care. You are in possession of a treasure that should not be entrusted save to the one for whom it was meant and to whom it was sent. But proceed with your explanation, and if you tell me the truth, as God and His angels are my witness . . .'”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her 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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IGHTH
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IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the girl said to the jeweler, “If you tell me the truth, I too, as God is my witness, will tell you the truth and entrust my lady's secret to your care.” The jeweler related later: “I told her what I had told young Ali ibn-Bakkar, how I acted with Abu al-Hasan ibn-Tahir until I won him over, how I went to see Ali ibn-Bakkar, and how I found the letter that she had dropped, adding, ‘All of this shows my good will in this affair in which I have been reluctant to meddle.' The girl was astonished, and she enjoined me to swear again to keep the secret of the lovers, while I too made her swear to hide nothing of their affair from me. Then she took the letter and, sealing it up, said, ‘I will tell him that it was given to me sealed and that I would like him to seal his own answer with his own seal, so that I may assume no responsibility. I will go to him now, get his answer, and stop to see you before I take it to Shams al-Nahar.' Then she bade me good-bye, and went away, leaving my heart on fire.

“But she was not gone for long before she returned with a sealed letter, which read:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful:

Our messenger, who did our secrets keep,

Has now in anger betrayed me and you.

Choose then for messenger one we can trust,

One who shuns falsehood and loves to be true.

I have neither committed a breach nor betrayed a trust, neither broken a vow nor severed a friendship. I have met with nothing but affliction after parting nor ever parted from sorrow; nor have I received any news or found any trace of the one you have mentioned. I long to be with my love, but the one I love is far away, and I desire reunion, but how can a lover attain his desire? You will know from my looks my disposition, from my disposition my plight, and from my words my sad state. Peace be with you.

“When I read the letter, I wept.” The girl, who shared the jeweler's feeling and wept with him, said, “Do not meet with Ali ibn-Bakkar or leave your house until I return to you tomorrow. He suspects me and he is to be excused, and I in turn have suspected him and I too am to be excused, as I will explain later. I will endeavor in every way possible to bring you together with my lady, whom I left lying prostrate, awaiting news from his confidant.” Then the girl departed.