The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (82 page)

So we fled in the dead of night and came

To Baghdad, where we found refuge from our woes.

As we were banqueting and drinking here,

You came to visit unexpectedly.

And caught me with little money to give

For the fine gift you had given kindly.

But I give you, fisherman, my sole love,

And 'tis from my wish, hope, idol I part.

Accept then from me this, my precious gift,

Certain that I have given you my heart.

The caliph said, “My lord Nur al-Din, tell me the story in detail,” and Nur al-Din told him the story from beginning to end. Then the caliph asked him, “Where do you intend to go from here?” Nur al-Din replied, “God's world is wide.” The caliph said, “I will write a letter to give to King Muhammad ibn-Sulaiman, and when he reads it, he will no longer bother you or harm you.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence.

T
HE
T
WO
H
UNDRED AND
T
WENTY
-T
HIRD
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the caliph, who was disguised as a fisherman, said “I will write a letter to the king, and he will no longer harm you.” Nur al-Din asked, “Is there in the whole world a fisherman who corresponds with kings?” The caliph replied, “The king and I studied together under the same tutor. I was above him, but he became a king, while I became a fisherman. Yet whenever I write to ask him for a favor, he fulfills my wish.” When Nur al-Din heard this, he said, “Very well, write and show me.” The caliph took paper and ink and, after the invocation to God, wrote the following:

This letter is from Harun al-Rashid son of al-Mahdi to His Highness Muhammad ibn-Sulaiman al-Zainabi, my cousin, seedling of my bounty, and shareholder in my estate. The bearer of this letter is Nur al-Din Ali son of ibn-Khaqan the vizier. As soon as you receive it, abdicate and, let Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Khaqan take your place. Fail not to carry out my command, and peace be on you.

Then the caliph gave the letter to Nur al-Din, who took it, kissed it, then put it in his turban and departed.

When Nur al-Din was gone, Ibrahim the keeper turned to the caliph and said, “Enough, enough! You have brought us a couple of fish worth no more than twenty fils,
⁶
yet you received a full purse for them and now you intend to get the girl too.” It happened that when the caliph had earlier gone to fry the fish and bring them back, he had said to Ja'far, “Go to my palace, bring back one of my royal robes, and return with Masrur and four armed officers and wait below the window. When you hear me cry out, ‘Help, help!' come up at once with the officers, dress me in the robe, and stand in attendance,” and Ja'far had done the caliph's bidding and stood waiting below the window. When the old man spoke with the caliph, the caliph replied, “Shaikh, I will give you half of the money in the purse, but I will keep the girl.” The old man said, “By God, you will keep no more than one-half of the girl. As for the purse, open it and let me see what is in it. If it is silver, take a dirham for yourself and give me the rest, but if it is gold, give it all to me, and for your fish I will give you a dirham's worth of change, which I have in my pocket.” The caliph replied, “I will give you nothing.” The old man took a porcelain plate and hurled it at the caliph, who evaded it and let it smash against the wall. Then the old man went into a storeroom to fetch a stick.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence.

T
HE
T
WO
H
UNDRED AND
T
WENTY
-F
OURTH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the old man went into a storeroom to fetch a stick with which to beat the fisherman, who was the caliph, while the caliph cried out from the window, “Help, help!” and was at once joined by Ja'far and the officers, who dressed him in his royal robe, seated him on a chair, and stood in attendance. When the old man came out of the storeroom with the stick, rushing toward the fisherman, he was stunned to see instead the caliph seated on a chair and Ja'far standing in attendance. He began to bite his nails in bewilderment and to exclaim, “Am I asleep or awake?” The caliph turned to him and said, “O Shaikh Ibrahim, what state do I see you in?” The old man became sober at once and, rolling on the ground, recited the following verses:

Forgive my error, for it was a slip,

And grant your slave, O lord, your clemency.

I have confessed, as my own sin requires;

Where is the act expected of mercy?

The caliph forgave him and bade Anis al-Jalis be carried to the palace, where he assigned her a separate lodging and servants to attend her, saying to her. “You should know that I have sent your lord to be king in Basra, and, God willing, when I send him the order of investiture and the deed of bestowal, I will send you along.”

In the meantime Nur al-Din ibn-Khaqan journeyed on until he reached Basra and went to the king's palace and gave the king the caliph's letter. When the king read it, he kissed it and stood up three times, saying, “I hear and obey God and the Commander of the Faithful.” But when he was about to abdicate, the vizier arrived, and when the king showed him the letter, the vizier read it, then tore out the invocation to God, put it in his mouth, and chewed it. The king asked, “Why did you do that?” The vizier said, “My lord, did you think that this was the handwriting of the caliph?” The king asked. “Is it not?” The vizier replied, “No. by your life, O King of the age. It is nothing but a forgery by this devil. Would the caliph have sent him all by himself to assume the kingship without an order of investiture or a deed of bestowal?” The king asked, “What do you advise?” The vizier replied, “I advise you to hand this fellow over to me and wait, and if neither order of investiture nor deed of bestowal arrives, you will know that I am right and will punish him for what he did to me.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence.

T
HE
T
WO
H
UNDRED AND
T
WENTY
-F
IFTH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related, O happy King, that when the king heard the advice of the vizier ibn-Sawi, he replied, “Take him.” The vizier took Nur al-Din, and when he brought him to his own palace, he shouted to his servants, “Throw him to the ground,” and the servants threw him to the ground and beat him until he fainted. Then the vizier shackled him and threw him into jail, shouting to the jailer, whose name was Qutait, “Qutait, throw him into a deep cell and punish him.” The jailer beat Nur al-Din well into the night, until he fainted, and when he came to himself in the dark. he recited the following verses:

I will endure until I patience shock

And God fulfills my fate and His decree.

He who says that life is made of sweetness,

A day more bitter than aloes will see.

Nur al-Din suffered the same treatment for ten days until the vizier decided to strike off his head. So he took some gifts and gave them to a group of unknown bedouins, saying, “Give these gifts to the king,” and when they presented the gifts to the king, the vizier said, “My lord, these gifts were not meant for you but for Nur al-Din, the new king.” The king replied, “You have reminded me of him. Bring him and let us strike off his head.” The vizier said, “When he beat me that time, my enemies gloated. Will you permit me to proclaim in the city, ‘Whoever wishes to watch the beheading of Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Khaqan, let him come to the royal palace'? Then the public will come to watch and I will be satisfied.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence.

T
HE
T
WO
H
UNDRED AND
T
WENTY
-S
IXTH
N
IGHT

The following night Shahrazad replied, “Very well,” and said:

I heard, O happy King, that the vizier said, “And I will be satisfied.” The king replied, “Do as you wish.” The vizier departed and bade the crier make the proclamation, and the crier did, and when the people heard it, they mourned and wept for Nur al-Din.

Then the vizier went to the jail with ten Mamluks and said to the jailer, “Bring me that young prisoner.” The jailer brought Nur al-Din, and when he opened his smarting eyes and saw his enemy the vizier preparing to kill him, he asked him, “Are you secure against fate; have you heard what the poet says?

For long they ruled us arbitrarily,

But suddenly vanished their powerful rule.”

The vizier said, “Do you threaten me, you good-for-nothing? After I strike off your head, despite the people of Basra, let fate do with me what it will, for the poet says:

He who outlives his foe one single day

Will have attained his wish and had his way.”

Then he ordered his attendants to set Nur al-Din on the back of a mule, and as they took him away, the people wept and, flocking around him, said, “O our lord Nur al-Din, even though we may endanger our lives, give us your permission and let each of us pick a stone and stone to death this wretched old vizier and his attendants and save you; and let whatever happens happen.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence.