Kohl in its native country, too, is but a kind of stone;

  Cast out and thrown upon the ways, it lies unvalued quite;

  But, when from home it fares, forthright all glory it attains And

  ‘twixt the eyelid and the eye incontinent ’tis dight.

  Then he could brook this no longer; so he went forth from the dominions of the Commander of the Faithful, under pretence of visiting certain of his kinsmen, and took with him servant nor companion, neither acquainted any with his intent, but betook himself to the road and fared on into the desert and the sandwastes, knowing not whither he went. After awhile, he fell in with travellers intending for the land of Hind [and journeyed with them]. When he came thither, he lighted down [in a city of the cities of the land and took up his abode] in one of the lodging-places; and there he abode a while of days, tasting not food neither solacing himself with the delight of sleep; nor was this for lack of dirhems or dinars, but for that his mind was occupied with musing upon [the reverses of] destiny and bemoaning himself for that the revolving sphere had turned against him and the days had decreed unto him the disfavour of our lord the Imam.

  On this wise he abode a space of days, after which he made himself at home in the land and took to himself comrades and got him friends galore, with whom he addressed himself to diversion and good cheer. Moreover, he went a-pleasuring with his friends and their hearts were solaced [by his company] and he entertained them with stories and civilities and diverted them with pleasant verses and told them abundance of histories and anecdotes. Presently, the report of him reached King Jemhour, lord of Cashghar of Hind, and great was his desire [for his company]. So he went in quest of him and Abdallah repaired to his court and going in to him, kissed the earth before him. Jemhour welcomed him and entreated him with kindness and bade commit him to the guest-house, where he abode three days, at the end of which time the king sent [to him] a chamberlain of his chamberlains and let bring him to his presence. When he came before him, he greeted him [with the usual compliment], and the interpreter accosted him, saying, “King Jemhour hath heard of thy report, that thou art a goodly boon-companion and an eloquent story-teller, and he would have thee company with him by night and entertain him with that which thou knowest of anecdotes and pleasant stories and verses.” And he made answer with “Hearkening and obedience.”

  (Quoth Abdallah ben Nan) So I became his boon-companion and entertained him by night [with stories and the like]; and this pleased him to the utmost and he took me into especial favour and bestowed on me dresses of honour and assigned me a separate lodging; brief, he was everywise bountiful to me and could not brook to be parted from me a single hour. So I abode with him a while of time and every night I caroused with him [and entertained him], till the most part of the night was past; and when drowsiness overcame him, he would rise [and betake himself] to his sleeping-place, saying to me, “Forsake not my service for that of another than I and hold not aloof from my presence.” And I made answer with “Hearkening and obedience.”

  Now the king had a son, a pleasant child, called the Amir Mohammed, who was comely of youth and sweet of speech; he had read in books and studied histories and above all things in the world he loved the telling and hearing of verses and stories and anecdotes. He was dear to his father King Jemhour, for that he had none other son than he on life, and indeed he had reared him in the lap of fondness and he was gifted with the utterest of beauty and grace and brightness and perfection. Moreover, he had learnt to play upon the lute and upon all manner instruments of music and he was used to [carouse and] company with friends and brethren. Now it was of his wont that, when the king rose to go to his sleeping-chamber, he would sit in his place and seek of me that I should entertain him with stories and verses and pleasant anecdotes; and on this wise I abode with them a great while in all cheer and delight, and the prince still loved me with an exceeding great love and entreated me with the utmost kindness.

  It befell one day that the king’s son came to me, after his father had withdrawn, and said to me, “Harkye, Ibn Nafil” “At thy service, O my lord,” answered I; and he said, “I would have thee tell me an extraordinary story and a rare matter, that thou hast never related either to me or to my father Jemhour.” “O my lord,” rejoined I, “what story is this that thou desirest of me and of what kind shall it be of the kinds?” Quoth he, “It matters little what it is, so it be a goodly story, whether it befell of old days or in these times.” “O my lord,” said I, “I know many stories of various kinds; so whether of the kinds preferrest thou, and wilt thou have a story of mankind or of the Jinn?” “It is well,” answered he; “if thou have seen aught with thine eyes and heard it with thine ears, [tell it me.”Then he bethought himself] and said to me, “I conjure thee by my life, tell me a story of the stories of the Jinn and that which thou hast heard and seen of them!” “O my son,” replied I, “indeed thou conjurest [me] by a mighty conjuration; so [hearken and thou shalt] hear the goodliest of stories, ay, and the most extraordinary of them and the pleasantest and rarest.” Quoth the prince, “Say on, for I am attentive to thy speech.” And I said, “Know, then, O my son, that

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  STORY OF THE DAMSEL TUHFET EL CULOUB AND THE KHALIF HAROUN ER RESHID.

  The Vicar of the Lord of the Worlds Haroun er Reshid had a boon-companion of the number of his boon-companions, by name Ishac ben Ibrahim en Nedim el Mausili, who was the most accomplished of the folk of his time in the art of smiting upon the lute; and of the Commander of the Faithful’s love for him, he assigned him a palace of the choicest of his palaces, wherein he was wont to instruct slave-girls in the arts of lute-playing and singing. If any slave-girl became, by his instruction, accomplished in the craft, he carried her before the Khalif, who bade her play upon the lute; and if she pleased him, he would order her to the harem; else would he restore her to Ishac’s palace.

  One day, the Commander of the Faithful’s breast was straitened; so he sent after his Vizier Jaafer the Barmecide and Ishac the boon-companion and Mesrour the eunuch, the swordsman of his vengeance; and when they came, he changed his raiment and disguised himself, whilst Jaafer [and Ishac] and Mesrour and El Fezll and Younus (who were also present) did the like. Then he went out, he and they, by the privy gate, to the Tigris and taking boat, fared on till they came to near Et Taf, when they landed and walked till they came to the gate of the thoroughfare street. Here there met them an old man, comely of hoariness and of a venerable and dignified bearing, pleasing of aspect and apparel. He kissed the earth before Ishac el Mausili (for that be knew but him of the company, the Khalif being disguised, and deemed the others certain of his friends) and said to him, ‘O my lord, there is presently with me a slave-girl, a lutanist, never saw eyes the like of her nor the like of her grace, and indeed I was on my way to pay my respects to thee and give thee to know of her; but Allah, of His favour, hath spared me the trouble. So now I desire to show her to thee, and if she be to thy liking, well and good: else I will sell her.’ Quoth Ishac, ‘Go before me to thy barrack, till I come to thee and see her.’

  The old man kissed his hand and went away; whereupon quoth Er Reshid to him, ‘O Ishac, who is yonder man and what is his occasion?’ ‘O my lord,’ answered the other, ‘this is a man called Said the Slave-dealer, and he it is who buyeth us slave-girls and mamelukes. He avoucheth that with him is a fair [slave-girl, a] lutanist, whom he hath withheld from sale, for that he could not fairly sell her till he had shown her to me.’ ‘Let us go to him,’ said the Khalif,’so we may look on her, by way of diversion, and see what is in the slave-dealer’s barrack of slave-girls.’ And Ishac answered, ‘Commandment belongeth to God and to the Commander of the Faithful.’ Then he went on before them and they followed in his track till they came to the slave-dealer’s barrack and found it high of building and spacious of continence, with sleeping-cells and chambers therein, after the number of the slave-girls, and folk sitting upon the benches.

  Ishac entered, he and his company, and seating themselves in the place of honour, amused themselves by looking on the slave-girls and mamelukes and watching how they were sold, till the sale came to an end, when some of the folk went away and other some sat. Then said the slave-dealer, ‘Let none sit with us except him who buyeth by the thousand [dinars] and upwards.’ So those who were present withdrew and there remained none but Er Reshid and his company; whereupon the slave-dealer called the damsel, after he had caused set her a chair of fawwak, furnished with Greek brocade, and it was as she were the sun shining in the clear sky. When she entered, she saluted and sitting down, took the lute and smote upon it, after she had touched its strings and tuned it, so that all present were amazed. Then she sang thereto the following verses:

  Wind of the East, if thou pass by the land where my loved ones

  dwell, I pray, The fullest of greetings bear to them from

  me, their lover, and say

  That I am the pledge of passion still and that my longing love

  And eke my yearning do overpass all longing that was aye.

  O ye who have withered my heart and marred my hearing and my

  sight, Desire and transport for your sake wax on me night

  and day.

  My heart with yearning is ever torn and tortured without cease,

  Nor can my lids lay hold on sleep, that Sees from them away.

  ‘Well done, O damsel!’ cried Ishac. ‘By Allah, this is a fair hour!’ Whereupon she rose and kissed his hand, saying, ‘O my lord, the hands stand still in thy presence and the tongues at thy sight, and the eloquent before thee are dumb; but thou art the looser of the veil.’ Then she clung to him and said, ‘Stand.’ So he stood and said to her, ‘Who art thou and what is thy need?’ She raised a corner of the veil, and he beheld a damsel as she were the rising full moon or the glancing lightning, with two side locks of hair that fell down to her anklets. She kissed his hand and said to him, ‘O my lord, know that I have been in this barrack these five months, during which time I have been withheld from sale till thou shouldst be present [and see me]; and yonder slave-dealer still made thy coming a pretext to me and forbade me, for all I sought of him night and day that he should cause thee come hither and vouchsafe me thy presence and bring me and thee together.’ Quoth Ishac, ‘Say what thou wouldst have.’ And she answered, ‘I beseech thee, by God the Most High, that thou buy me, so I may be with thee, by way of service.’ ‘Is that thy desire?’ asked he, and she replied, ‘ Yes.’

  So Ishac returned to the slave-dealer and said to him, ‘Harkye, Gaffer Said!*’ ‘At thy service, O my lord,’ answered the old man; and Ishac said, ‘In the corridor is a cell and therein a damsel pale of colour. What is her price in money and how much dost thou ask for her?, Quoth the slave-dealer, ‘She whom thou mentionest is called Tuhfet el Hemca.’ ‘What is the meaning of El Hemca?’ asked Ishac, and the old man replied, ‘Her price hath been paid down an hundred times and she still saith, “Show me him who desireth to buy me;” and when I show her to him, she saith, “This fellow is not to my liking; he hath in him such and such a default.” And in every one who would fain buy her she allegeth some default or other, so that none careth now to buy her and none seeketh her, for fear lest she discover some default in him.’ Quoth Ishac, ‘She seeketh presently to sell herself; so go thou to her and enquire of her and see her price and send her to the palace.’ ‘O my lord,’ answered Said, ‘her price is an hundred dinars, though, were she whole of this paleness that is upon her face, she would be worth a thousand; but folly and pallor have diminished her value; and behold, I will go to her and consult her of this.’ So he betook himself to her, and said to her, ‘Wilt thou be sold to Ishac ben Ibrahim el Mausili?’ ‘Yes,’ answered she, and he said, ‘Leave frowardness, for to whom doth it happen to be in the house of Ishac the boon-companion?’

  Then Ishac went forth of the barrack and overtook Er Reshid [who had foregone him]; and they walked till they came to their [landing-]place, where they embarked in the boat and fared on to Theghr el Khanekah. As for the slave-dealer, he sent the damsel to the house of Ishac en Nedim, whose slave-girls took her and carried her to the bath. Then each damsel gave her somewhat of her apparel and they decked her with earrings and bracelets, so that she redoubled in beauty and became as she were the moon on the night of its full. When Ishac returned home from the Khalifs palace, Tuhfeh rose to him and kissed his hand; and he saw that which the slave-girls had done with her and thanked them therefor and said to them, ‘Let her be in the house of instruction and bring her instruments of music, and if she be apt unto singing, teach her; and may God the Most High vouchsafe her health and weal!’ So there passed over her three months, what while she abode with him in the house of instruction, and they brought her the instruments of music. Moreover, as time went on, she was vouchsafed health and soundness and her beauty waxed many times greater than before and her pallor was changed to white and red, so that she became a ravishment to all who looked on her.

  One day, Ishac let bring all who were with him of slave-girls from the house of instruction and carried them up to Er Reshid’s palace, leaving none in his house save Tuhfeh and a cookmaid; for that he bethought him not of Tuhfeh, nor did she occur to his mind, and none of the damsels remembered him of her. When she saw that the house was empty of the slave-girls, she took the lute (now she was unique in her time in smiting upon the lute, nor had she her like in the world, no, not Ishac himself, nor any other) and sang thereto the following verses:

  Whenas the soul desireth one other than its peer, It winneth not

  of fortune the wish it holdeth dear.

  Him with my life I’d ransom whose rigours waste away My frame and

  cause me languish; yet, if he would but hear,

  It rests with him to heal me; and I (a soul he hath Must suffer

  that which irks it), go saying, in my fear

  Of spies, “How long, O scoffer, wilt mock at my despair, As

  ‘twere God had created nought else whereat to jeer?”

  Now Ishac had returned to his house upon an occasion that presented itself to him; and when he entered the vestibule, he heard a sound of singing, the like whereof he had never heard in the world, for that it was [soft] as the breeze and richer than almond oil. So the delight of it gat hold of him and joyance overcame him, and he fell down aswoon in the vestibule, Tuhfeh heard the noise of steps and laying the lute from her hand, went out to see what was to do. She found her lord Ishac lying aswoon in the vestibule; so she took him up and strained him to her bosom, saying, ‘I conjure thee in God’s name, O my lord, tell me, hath aught befallen thee?’ When he heard her voice, he recovered from his swoon and said to her, ‘Who art thou? ‘ Quoth she, ‘I am thy slave-girl Tuhfeh.’ And he said to her, ‘Art thou indeed Tuhfeh?’ ‘Yes,’ answered she; and he, ‘By Allah, I had forgotten thee and remembered thee not till now!’ Then he looked at her and said, ‘Indeed, thy case is altered and thy pallor is grown changed to rosiness and thou hast redoubled in beauty and lovesomeness. But was it thou who was singing but now?’ And she was troubled and affrighted and answered, ‘Even I, O my lord.’

  Then Ishac seized upon her hand and carrying her into the house, said to her, ‘Take the lute and sing; for never saw I nor heard thy like in smiting upon the lute; no, not even myself!’ ‘O my lord,’ answered she, ‘thou makest mock of me. Who am I that thou shouldst say all this to me? Indeed, this is but of thy kindness.’ ‘Nay, by Allah,’ exclaimed he, ‘I said but the truth to thee and I am none of those on whom pretence imposeth. These three months hath nature not moved thee to take the lute and sing thereto, and this is nought but an extraordinary thing. But all this cometh of strength in the craft and self-restraint.’ Then he bade her sing; and she said, ‘Hearkening and obedience.’ So she took the lute and tightening its strings, smote thereon a number of airs, so that she confounded Ishac’s wit and he was like to fly for delight. Then she returned to the first mode and sang thereto the following verses:

  Still by your ruined camp a dweller I abide; Ne’er will I change

  nor e’er shall distance us divide.

  Far though you dwell, I’ll ne’er your neighbourhood forget, O

  friends, whose lovers still for you are stupefied.

  Your image midst mine eye sits nor forsakes me aye; Ye are my

  moons in gloom of night and shadowtide.

  Still, as my transports wax, grows restlessness on me And woes

  have ta’en the place of love-delight denied.

  When she had made an end of her song and laid down the lute, Ishac looked fixedly on her, then took her hand and offered to kiss it; but she snatched it from him and said to him, ‘Allah, O my lord, do not that!’ Quoth he, ‘Be silent. By Allah, I had said that there was not in the world the like of me; but now I have found my dinar in the craft but a danic, “for thou art, beyond comparison or approximation or reckoning, more excellent of skill than I! This very day will I carry thee up to the Commander of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid, and whenas his glance lighteth on thee, thou wilt become a princess of womankind. So, Allah, Allah upon thee, O my lady, whenas thou becomest of the household of the Commander of the Faithful, do not thou forget me!’ And she replied, saying, ‘Allah, O my lord, thou art the source of my fortunes and in thee is my heart fortified.’ So he took her hand and made a covenant with her of this and she swore to him that she would not forget him.

  Then said he to her, ‘By Allah, thou art the desire of the Commander of the Faithful! So take the lute and sing a song that thou shalt sing to the Khalif, whenas thou goest in to him.’ So she took the lute and tuning it, sang the following verses:

  His love on him took pity and wept for his dismay: Of those that

  him did visit she was, as sick he lay.

  She let him taste her honey and wine before his death:

  This was his last of victual until the Judgment Day.

 

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