One thousand and one nig.., p.333
One Thousand and One Nights, page 333
When the King heard this, he bade put his son to death; but the second vizier came forward and kissing the earth before him, said, ‘O King, hasten not to slay thy son, tor he was not vouchsafed to his mother but after she had despaired, and we trust that he will live to become a treasure to thy realm and a guardian of thy good. Wherefore, have patience, O King; belike he will speak and excuse himself; and if thou make haste to slay him, thou wilt surely repent, even as the merchant repented.’ Quoth the King, ‘And how was it with the merchant, O vizier?’ ‘O King,’ answered the vizier, ‘I have heard that
John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents
The Niggard and the Loaves of Bread.
There was once a merchant, who was niggardly in his eating and drinking. One day, he went on a journey to a certain town and as lie walked in the market streets, he came upon an old woman with two cakes of bread. He asked her if they were for sale, and she said, “Yes.” So he chaffered with her and bought them at a low price and took them home to his lodging, where he ate them that day. On the morrow, he returned to the same place and finding the old woman there with other two cakes, bought these also; and thus he did twenty days’ space, at the end of which time the old woman disappeared. He made enquiry for her, but could hear nothing of her, till, one day, as he was walking about the streets, he chanced upon her; so he accosted her and asked why she had ceased to attend the market and bring him the two cakes of bread. At first, she evaded giving him a reply; but he conjured her to tell him; so she said, “Know, O my lord, that I was attending upon a certain man, who had an ulcer on his spine, and his doctor used to knead flour with butter into a plaster and lay it on the place of the pain, where it abode all night. In the morning, I used to take the flour and make it into two cakes, which I sold to thee or another; but presently the man died and I was cut off from making the cakes.” When the merchant heard this, he repented, whenas repentance availed nothing, saying, “Verily, we are God’s and to Him we return! There is no power and no virtue but in Him, the Most High, the Supreme!” And he repeated the saying of the Most High, “Whatsoever betideth thee of good, it is from God, and whatsoever betideth thee of ill, it is from thyself,” and vomited till he fell sick.
Moreover, O King,’ continued the second vizier, ‘I have heard tell, of the malice of women, that
John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents
The Lady and Her Two Lovers.
There was once a man, who was swordbearer to one of the kings, and he loved a certain woman of the common people. One day, he sent his page to her with a message, as of wont between them, and the latter sat down with her and toyed with her. She inclined to him and pressed him to her bosom, whereupon he sought to lie with her and she consented unto him; but, as they were thus, the sword bearer knocked at the door. So she clapped the young man into an underground chamber there and opened the door to his master, who came in, sword in hand, and sat down on her bed. Then she came to him and sported and toyed with him, kissing him and pressing him to her bosom, and he took her and lay with her.
Presently her husband knocked at the door and he said to her, “Who is that?” “My husband,” replied she. Quoth he, “How shall I do?” And she, “Draw thy sword and stand in the vestibule and rail at me and revile me; and when my husband comes in to thee, do thou go forth and go thy ways.” He did as she bade him, and when the husband entered, he saw the king’s swordbearer standing with his drawn sword in his hand, reviling and threatening his wife; but, when the other saw him, he was ashamed and sheathing his sword, went forth the house. Quoth the man to his wife, “What means this?” And she answered, saying, “O man, how blessed is the hour of thy coming! Thou hast saved a true believer from death; and it was on this wise. I was on the housetop, spinning, when there came up to me a youth, panting and distracted for fear of death, fleeing from yonder man, who followed hard upon him with his drawn sword. The young man fell down before me, and kissed my hands and feet, saying, ‘O my lady, save me from him who would kill me without just cause!’ So I hid him in the underground chamber there and presently in came yonder man to me with his naked sword in his hand, demanding the youth. But I denied him to him, whereupon he fell to reviling and threatening me as thou sawest. And praised be God who sent thee to me, for I was at my wits’ end and had none to deliver me!”
“Well hast thou done, O woman!” answered the husband. “Thy reward is with God and may He abundantly requite thee!” Then he went to the trapdoor and called to the page, saying, “Come forth and fear not; no harm shall befall thee.” So he came out, trembling for fear, and the husband condoled with him on what had befallen him, saying, “Be of good cheer: none shall hurt thee;” whilst the page called down blessings on his head. Then they both went forth, nor was either aware of that which the woman had contrived. This, then, O King,’ said the vizier, ‘is one of the tricks of women; so beware lest thou put faith in their speech.’
The King was persuaded and turned from putting his son to death, but, next day, the favourite came in to him and kissing the earth before him, said, ‘O King, do me justice on thy son and be not turned from thy purpose by thy Vizier’s prate, for there is no good in wicked viziers, and be not as the king, who relied on the word of a certain wicked vizier of his.’ ‘And how was that? asked the King. Quoth she, ‘It hath been told me, O august and well-advised King, that
John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents
The King’s Son and the Ogress.
A certain king had a son, whom he loved and favoured over all his other children; and this son said to him one day, “O my father, I have a mind to go a-hunting.” So the king bade furnish him and commanded one of his viziers to bear him company and do all he needed during his absence. The vizier accordingly took all that was necessary for the journey and they set out with a retinue of slaves and servants and officers, and fared on till they came to a green and well-watered champaign abounding in pasture and game. Here the prince called a halt and they loosed the hawks and lynxes and dogs and caught great plenty of game, whereat they rejoiced and abode there some days, in all pleasance and delight of life. Then the prince gave the signal for departure, but, as they went along, a beautiful gazelle, as if the sun shone from her forehead, that had strayed from the herd, sprang up before the prince, whereupon his soul longed to make prize of her and he coveted her. So he said to the vizier, “I have a mind to follow yonder gazelle.” “Do what seemeth good to thee,” said the vizier. So the prince rode after the gazelle, till he lost sight of his companions, and chased her all that day till dusk, when she took refuge in the mountains and the darkness closed in upon him. Then he would have turned back, but knew not the way; whereat he was sore concerned and said, “There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme!”
He rode on all night, in quest of relief, but found none, and when the day appeared, he fared on at hazard, fearful and exhausted with hunger and thirst and the heat of the sun, until midday, when he came in sight of a great city, with massive walls and lofty turrets; but it was ruined and desolate, nor was there any live thing therein save the owl and the raven. As he stood among the ruins, marvelling at their ordinance, his eyes fell on a young and beautiful damsel sitting weeping, under one of the city walls. So he went up to her and said, “Who art thou and who brought thee hither?” “I am called Bint et Temimeh, daughter of Et Tiyakh, King of the Gray Country,” answered she. “I went out one day on an occasion, when an Afrit of the Jinn snatched me up and soared with me between heaven and earth; but as he flew, there fell on him a flame of fire and consumed him, and I dropped here, where I have hungered and thirsted these three days; but, when I saw thee, I coveted life.”
The prince was smitten with compassion for her and took her up behind him, saying, “Take heart and be of good cheer; for, if God (blessed and exalted be He!)restore me to my people and family, I will send thee back to thine own people.” Then he rode on, praying to God for deliverance, and presently she said to him, “O King’s son, put me down, that I may do an occasion under yonder wall.” So he drew bridle and she alighted and hid herself behind the wall. He waited for her a long while and she came back, with the foulest of favours; which when he saw, he quaked for fear of her and his hair stood on end and he turned pale. Then she sprang up behind him, wearing the most hideous of aspects, and presently she said to him, “O King’s son, what ails thee that I see thee troubled and thy favour changed?” Quoth he, “I have bethought me of somewhat that troubles me.” And she, ‘‘ Seek aid against it of thy father’s troops and warriors.” “He whom I fear,” answered the prince, “cares nothing for troops, neither can warriors affright him.” “Then,” rejoined she, “aid thyself against him with thy father’s wealth and treasures.” Quoth he, “He whom I fear will not be satisfied with wealth and treasures.” And she, “Ye pretend that ye have in heaven a God who sees and is not seen and who can do all things.” “Yes,” answered he; “we have none but Him.” “Then,” said she, “pray thou to Him; haply He will deliver thee from thine enemy.” So he raised his eyes to heaven and began to pray with his whole heart, saying, “O my God, I implore Thee to succour me against that which troubles me.” Then he pointed to her with his hand, and she fell to the ground, burnt and black as a coal. Therewith he thanked God and praised Him and fared onward. And God (blessed and exalted be He!) of His grace made the way easy to him and guided him into the right road, so that he reached his father’s capital, after he had despaired of life. Now all this befell by the contrivance of the vizier, who travelled with him to the end that he might cause him to perish by the way; but God the Most High succoured him. ‘And this,’ said the damsel, ‘have I told thee, O King, that thou mayst know that wicked viziers deal not honestly by their kings neither counsel them with sincere intent, wherefore be thou ware of them in this matter.’
The King gave ear to her speech and commanded to put his son to death; but the third vizier said [to his brother viziers,] ‘I will warrant you from the King’s mischief this day;’ and going in to him, kissed the earth before him and said, ‘O King, I am thy loyal counsellor and affectionately solicitous for thee arid thine estate, and indeed, I give thee a true counsel; it is that thou hasten not to slay thy son, the solace of thine eyes and the fruit of thine entrails. Belike his offence is but a slight matter, which this damsel hath made great to thee; and indeed I have heard tell that the people of two villages once destroyed each other, because of a drop of honey.’ ‘How was that?’ asked the King, and the Vizier answered, saying, ‘Know, O King, that
John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents
The Drop of Honey.
A certain man used to hunt the wild beasts in the desert, and one day he came upon a grotto in the mountains, where he found a hollow full of bees’ honey. So he took somewhat thereof in a water-skin he had with him and throwing it over his shoulder, carried it to the city, followed by a hunting dog which was dear to him. He stopped at the shop of an oilman and offered him the honey for sale and he bought it. Then he emptied it out of the skin that he might see it, and in the act a drop fell to the ground, whereupon the flies flocked to it and a bird swooped down upon the flies. Now the oilman had a cat, which pounced upon the bird, and the huntsman’s dog, seeing the cat, sprang upon it and killed it; whereupon the oilman ran at the dog and killed it and the huntsman in turn leapt upon the oilman and killed him. Now the oilman was of one village and the huntsman of another; and when the people of the two places heard what had passed, they took up arms and rose on one another in anger, and there befell a sore battle; nor did the sword leave to play amongst them, till there died of them much people, none knoweth their number save God the Most High. And amongst other stories of the malice of women,’ continued the Vizier, ‘I have heard tell, O King, that
John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents
The Woman Who Made Her Husband Sift Dust.
A man once gave his wife a dirhem to buy rice; so she went to the rice-seller, who gave her the rice and began to jest with her and ogle her, for she was fair and graceful, saying, “Rice is not good but with sugar, which if thou wilt have, come in with me awhile.” So she went in with him into his shop and he did his will of her and said to his slave, “Weigh her out a dirhem’s worth of sugar.” But he made the slave a privy sign, and the latter, taking the napkin, in which was the rice, emptied it out and put in its place earth, and for the sugar stones, after which he knotted the napkin up again and left it by her. Now the man’s object, in doing this, was that she should come to him a second time; so, when she went forth of the shop, he gave her the napkin and she took it, thinking to have in it rice and sugar, and went her way; but when she returned home and set it before her husband, he found in it earth and stones. So, when she came back with the cooking-pot, he said to her, “Did I tell thee that I had aught to build, that thou bringest me earth and stones? When she saw this, she knew that the rice-seller’s slave had tricked her; so she said to her husband, “O man, in my trouble of mind for what hath befallen me, I went to fetch the sieve and brought the cooking-pot.” “What hath troubled thee?” asked he; and she said, “I dropped the dirhem thou gayest me in the market and was ashamed to search for it before the folk; yet I grudged to lose the money, so I gathered up the earth from the place where it fell and brought it away, thinking to sift it [when I came home]. Wherefore I went to fetch the sieve, but brought the cooking-pot instead.” Then she fetched the sieve and gave it to her husband, saying, “Do thou sift it; for thine eyes are better than mine.” So he sat, sifting the earth, till his face and beard were covered with dust; and he discovered not her trick, neither knew what had befallen her. This then, O King, ‘said the Vizier, ‘is an instance of the malice of women, and consider the saying of God the Most High, “Verily, the malice of you [women] is great!” And again, “Indeed, the malice of Satan is weak [in comparison with that of women].”’
The King gave ear to his Vizier’s speech and was persuaded thereby and by what he cited to him of the sayings of God and the lights of good counsel arose and shone in the firmament of his understanding and he turned from his purpose of putting his son to death. But, on the fourth day, the favourite came in to him and kissing the earth before him, said, ‘O august King and lord of good counsel, I have made plainly manifest to thee my grievance and thou bast dealt unjustly by me and hast forborne to avenge me on him who hath wronged me, for that he is thy son and the darling of thy heart; but God (blessed and exalted be He!) will succour me against him, even as he succoured the king’s son against his father’s vizier.’ ‘And how was that?’ asked the King. ‘I have heard tell., O King,’ replied she, ‘that
John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents
The Enchanted Springs.
There was once a king who had an only son; and when the latter grew up to man’s estate, he contracted him in marriage to another king’s daughter. Now she was beautiful and graceful and her cousin had sought her in marriage of her father, but she would none of him. So, when he knew that she was to be married to another, despite and jealousy gat hold on him and he bethought himself and sent a rich present to the vizier of the bride-groom’s father, desiring him to use craft to make an end of the prince or go about with him, to bring him to leave his intent of marrying the princess and adding that he was the lady’s cousin and that it was jealousy of her that moved him to this. The vizier accepted the present and sent an answer, saying, “Be of good cheer, for I will do all that thou wishest.”
Presently, the bride’s father wrote to the prince, bidding him to his capital, that he might go in to his daughter, whereupon the king his father despatched him thither, sending with him the vizier aforesaid and a thousand horse, besides presents and litters and tents and pavilions. The vizier set out with the prince, plotting the while in his heart to do him a mischief; and when they came into the desert, he called to mind a certain spring of running water in the mountains there, called Ez Zehra, whereof what man soever drank became a woman. So he called a halt near the place and presently mounting again, said to the prince, “Hast thou a mind to go with me and look upon a spring of water nigh at hand?” The prince assented, knowing not what should befall him in the future, and they rode on, unattended, till they came to the spring. The prince alighted and washed his hands and drank, whereupon he straightway became a woman. When he knew what had befallen him, he cried out and wept till he swooned away, and the vizier came up to him and said, “What ails thee?” So he told him what had happened, and the vizier feigned to condole with him and weep for his affliction, saying, “God the Most High succour thee in thine affliction! How came this grievous calamity upon thee, and we carrying thee, rejoicing, that thou mightest go in to the king’s daughter? Verily, now I know not whether we shall go to her or not; but it is thine to decide. What dost thou hid me do?” Quoth the prince, “Go back to my father and tell him what hath befallen me, for I will not stir hence till this affliction be removed from me or I die in my grief.” So he wrote a letter to his father, telling him what had happened, and the vizier took it and set out to return, leaving the troops with the prince and glad at heart for the success of his plot. As soon as he reached the king’s capital, he went in to him and telling him what had passed, delivered to him the prince’s letter. The king mourned sore for his son and sent for the wise men and masters of hidden arts, that they might discover to him this thing that had happened to the prince, but none could give him an answer. As for the vizier, he sent to the lady’s cousin, giving him the glad news of the prince’s misfortune, which when he heard, he rejoiced greatly and thought to marry the princess and wrote to the vizier, thanking him exceedingly and sending him rich presents and great store of treasure.
