Chapter 7

"Live long in safe enjoyment of thy desires, under the shadow of lofty palaces!"

"Well said!" exclaimed Er-Rasheed: "and what next?"

"May thy wishes be abundantly fulfilled, whether at eventide or in the morning!"

"Well!" again said the Khaleefeh: "then what next?"

"But when the rattling breath struggles in the dark cavity of the chest.Then shalt thou know surely, that thou hast been only in the midst of illusions."

—Er-Rasheed wept; and Faḍl, the son of Yaḥyà, said, "The Prince of the Faithful sent for thee to divert him, and thou hast plunged him into grief." "Suffer him," said the prince; "for he hath beheld us in blindness, and it displeased him to increase it."146

The family of the Barmekees (one of the most brilliant ornaments of which was the Wezeer Jaạfar, who has been rendered agreeably familiar to us by the many scenes in which he is introduced in the present work) earned a noble and enduring reputation by their attachment to literature, and the magnificent rewards they conferred on learned men. It was peculiarly hard, therefore, that literature contributed to their melancholy overthrow. Poets were employed by their enemies to compose songs artfully pointed against them, to be sung before the prince to whom they owed their power. Of one of these songs, the following lines formed a part:—

"Would that Hind had fulfilled the promises she made us, and healed the disease under which we suffer!That she had once, at least, acted for herself! for imbecile, indeed, is he who doth not so."

"Yea! By Allah! Imbecile!" exclaimed the Khaleefeh, on hearing these verses: his jealousy was roused; and his vengeance soon after fell heavily upon his former favourites.147

One of the Khaleefehs having invited the poets of his day to his palace, a Bedawee, carrying a water-jar to fill at the river, followed them, and entered with them. The Khaleefeh, seeing this poor man with the jar on his shoulder, asked him what brought him thither. He returned for answer these words:—

"Seeing that this company had girded on the saddlesTo repair to thy overflowing river, I came with my jar."

The Khaleefeh, delighted with his answer, gave orders to fill his jar with gold.148

In the present declining age of Arabian learning (which may be said to have commenced about the period of the conquest of Egypt by the 'Osmánlees), literary recreations still exert a magic influence upon the Arabs. Compositions of a similar nature to the tales of a Thousand and One Nights (though regarded by the learned as idle stories unworthy of being classed with their literature) enable numbers of professional story-tellers to attract crowds of delighted listeners to the coffee-shops of the East; and now that the original of the present work is printed, and to be purchased at a moderate price, it will probably soon, in a great measure, supersede the romances of Aboo-Zeyd, Eẓ-Ẓáhir, and 'Antar. As a proof of the powerful fascinations with which the tales of a Thousand and One Nights affect the mind of a highly-enlightened Muslim, it may be mentioned that the latest native historian of Modern Egypt, the sheykh 'Abd-Er-Raḥmán El-Jabartee, so delighted in their perusal that he took the trouble of refining the language of a copy of them which he possessed, expunging or altering whatever was grossly offensive to morality without the somewhat redeeming quality of wit, and adding many facetiæ of his own, and of other literati. What has become of this copy, I have been unable, though acquainted with several of his friends, to discover.

Note19.It is a common custom among the Muslims to give a present to a person who brings good tidings. The word (bishárah) which I render "a reward for bringing good news," literally signifies merely "good news;" but it is often used, as in this case, in the former sense.

Note20.A Mohammadan woman is not allowed to show her face to any men excepting certain near relations and others whom the law prohibits her from marrying. Who these are will be mentioned in a future note, descriptive of the general laws and ceremonies of marriage. Respectable females consider it a great disgrace to be seen unveiled by any men but those above alluded to.

Note21.—On theDeenárandDirhem. The standards of gold and silver coin, among the Arabs, were the deenár and the dirhem: therefore, in this work, I call the former "a piece of gold," and the latter "a piece of silver." Their values have varied considerably at different periods; but in the present work, we shall sufficiently approximate to the truth, if we understand the average value of the former to be about ten shillings or half a guinea; and that of the latter, about sixpence.

Note22.—Description of Shops.In Eastern cities, most of the great thoroughfare-streets, and many others, have a row of shops along each side, not communicating with the superstructures; which latter are divided into separate lodgings, inhabited by different families, and seldom by the persons who rent the shops beneath. These streets are called, in Arabic, "Sooḳs;" and are generally termed by us, "Bázárs." A whole street of this description, or a portion of such a street, commonly contains only or chiefly shops appropriated to a particular trade; and is called the Sooḳ of that trade. In general, the shop is a small recess or cell, about six or seven feet high, and between three and four feet wide, the floor of which is even with the top of a raised seat of stone or brick, called "maṣṭabah," between two and three feet high, and about the same in breadth; upon which the shopkeeper usually sits.149The front of the shop is furnished with shutters; which, when closed, at night, are secured by a wooden lock. Several of the engravings in this work will convey a better notion of shops of different kinds than a more detailed description.

Note23.Distrust in his governors and relations and acquaintance often induces an Arab to hide his money under the paved floor of a room, or in some other place, in his house.

Note24.These words, "I give myself to thee," uttered by a woman to a man, even without the presence of witnesses, if they cannot be easily procured, render her his lawful wife, if he replies that he accepts her, and gives her a dowry.

Note25.I have substituted "Jinneeyeh" (agreeably with the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, and because the context requires it) for "'Efreeteh," which signifies a powerful and evil female genie.—The tale to which this note refers may be illustrated by the following anecdote, which was related to me by a Persian with whom I was acquainted in Cairo, named Abu-l-Ḳásim, a native of Geelán, then superintendent of the Báshà's Printing-office at Booláḳ.

One of this person's countrymen, whom he asserted to be a man of indubitable veracity, was sitting on the roof of a house which he had hired, overlooking the Ganges, and was passing the closing hour of the day, according to his usual custom, smoking his Persian pipe, and feasting his eyes by gazing at the beautiful forms of Indian maidens bathing in the river, when he beheld among them one so lovely that his heart was overpowered with desire to have her for his wife. At nightfall she came to him, and told him that she had observed his emotion, and would consent to become his wife; but on the condition that he should never admit another female to take or share her place, and that she should only be with him in the night-time. They took the marriage-vow to each other, with none for their witness but God; and great was his happiness, till, one evening, he saw again, among a group of girls in the river, another who excited in him still more powerful emotions. To his surprise, this very form stood before him at the approach of night. He withstood the temptation, mindful of his marriage-vow: she used every allurement; but he was resolute. His fair visiter then told him that she was his wife; that she was a Jinneeyeh; and that she would always thenceforward visit him in the form of any female whom he might chance to prefer.

Note26.This form of benediction is almost always added when the Prophet is mentioned in a book by any of his followers, and often also in conversation.

Note27.Perhaps it is needless to explain this proverb by the words of the Bible—"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." (Romans, xii. 19.) For the honour of the Muslims I must say that this maxim is often observed by them, excepting in cases to which the law of retaliation applies.

Note28.The houses in Arabian countries generally have flat roofs, upon which, in the summer, some of the inhabitants often sleep: the interior, therefore, is as accessible from the roof as from the common entrance.

Note29.I here steer a middle course between my usual standard copy—which gives the story of the third sheykh more fully than I have done—and the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, which omits it altogether, as does also the copy from which the old translation was made, perhaps on account of its uninteresting nature.

Tail-piece to Notes to Chapter I.

111Ḳur-án, ch. xiii. v. 39.

112"El-Insán el-Kámil," by 'Abd-El-Kereem El-Jeelee, quoted by El-Is-ḥáḳee, in his account of Ibráheem Báshà el-Maḳtool.

113Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. i. pp. 26-34.

114Ibid.

115Idem, vol. ii. p. 373.

116Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil, section 7.

117Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. ii. p. 381.

118For a translation of the whole of this prayer, see "Modern Egyptians," vol. ii. ch, xii.

119Ḳur-án, ch. v. v. 35.

120See "Modern Egyptians," vol. ii. ch. xv.

121These degrees of relationship will be explained when I describe the customs relating to marriage.

122Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil, section 9.

123Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. ii. pp. 140 and 141.

124Nuzhet El-Mutaämmil, &c.,loco laudato.

125See "Modern Egyptians," vol. i. ch. vii.

126Events of the year 227.

127Ḳur-án, ch. xxvii. v. 40; and Commentary of the Jeláleyn.

128See "Mishḳát el-Maṣábeeḥ," vol. ii. p. 374.

129Idem, vol ii. pp. 384, et seqq.

130Account of the early Arabs, in the "Mir-át ez-Zemán."

131During his last residence in Egypt, Mr. Lane thought he had discovered a clue to the means employed in these performances, but he afterwards found that there were cases which remained to him inexplicable.—Ed.

132Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ,loco laudato.

133Mir-át ez-Zemán,loco laudato.

134El-Is-ḥáḳee, in his account of the reign of El-Moạtaṣim, the son of Hároon.

135Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. ii. p. 388.

136Vulgarly pronounced Nemrood.

137El-Is-ḥáḳee, close of his account of the reign of El-Emeen.

138El-Jabartee's Modern Egyptian History (MS. in my possession); account of the death of Yoosuf Bey, in the year of the Flight 1191; and account of the death of the sheykh Ḥasan El-Kafráwee, in the year 1202.

139Hence it has been called by many travellers, and even by some learned Orientalists, the Great Feast; but it is never so called by the Arabs.

140Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. ii. p. 424.

141Genesis ix. 5.

142Lettres sur l'Histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme, par Fulgence Fresnel. Paris, 1836, pp. 31, et seqq.

143El-Is-háḳee.

144El-Is-ḥáḳee.

145Idem.

146Fakhr-ed-Deen, in De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i. p. 3 of the Arabic Text: 2nd edition.

147Ibn-Khaldoon,ubi supra, vol. i. p. 124 of the Arabic text.

148Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt (MS. in my possession), chap. vii.

149The maṣṭabah, with the picturesque Arab architecture of which it forms a part, is fast disappearing from Egypt. In Cairo and Alexandria, Moḥammad 'Alee ordered that the maṣṭabahs in the thoroughfare-streets should be removed, or reduced to about a foot in width; and interdicted the erection of new meshrebeeyehs (projecting windows of lattice-work), although he allowed the old ones to remain.—Ed.

Head-piece to Chapter II.--The Fisherman.--Motto, 'Small things stir up great'

There was a certain fisherman, advanced in age, who had a wife and three children; and though he was in indigent circumstances, it was his custom to cast his net, every day, no more than four times. One day he went forth at the hour of noon to the shore of the sea, and put down his basket, and cast his net, and waited until it was motionless in the water, when he drew together its strings, and found it to be heavy: he pulled, but could not draw it up: so he took the end of the cord, and knocked a stake into the shore, and tied the cord to it. He then stripped himself, and dived round the net, and continued to pull until he drew it out: whereupon he rejoiced, and put on his clothes; but when he came to examine the net, he found in it the carcass of an ass. At the sight of this he mourned, andexclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great! This is a strange piece of fortune!—And he repeated the following verse:—

O thou who occupiest thyself in the darkness of night, and in peril! Spare thy trouble; for the support of Providence is not obtained by toil!1

He then disencumbered his net of the dead ass, and wrung it out; after which he spread it, and descended into the sea, and—exclaiming, In the name of God!—cast it again, and waited till it had sunk and was still, when he pulled it, and found it more heavy and more difficult to raise than on the former occasion. He therefore concluded that it was full of fish: so he tied it, and stripped, and plunged and dived, and pulled until he raised it, and drew it upon the shore; when he found in it only a large jar, full of sand and mud; on seeing which, he was troubled in his heart, and repeated the following words of the poet:—

O angry fate, forbear! or, if thou wilt not forbear, relent!Neither favour from fortune do I gain, nor profit from the work of my hands,I came forth to seek my sustenance, but have found it to be exhausted.How many of the ignorant are in splendour! and how many of the wise, in obscurity!

So saying, he threw aside the jar, and wrung out and cleansed his net; and, begging the forgiveness of God for his impatience, returned to the sea the third time, and threw the net, and waited till it had sunk and was motionless: he then drew it out, and found in it a quantity of broken jars and pots.

Upon this, he raised his head towards heaven, and said, O God, Thou knowest that I cast not my net more than four times; and I have now cast it three times! Then—exclaiming, In the name of God!—he cast the net again into the sea, and waited till it was still; when he attempted to draw it up, but could not, for it clung to the bottom. And he exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God!—and stripped himself again, and dived round the net, and pulled it until he raised it upon the shore; when he opened it, and found in it a bottle2of brass, filled with something, and having its mouth closed with a stopper of lead, bearing the impression of the seal of our lord Suleymán.3At the sight of this, the fisherman was rejoiced, and said, This I will sell in the copper-market; for it is worth ten pieces of gold. He then shook it, and found it to be heavy, and said, I must open it, and see what is in it, and store it in my bag; and then I will sell the bottle in the copper-market. So he took out a knife, and pickedat the lead until he extracted it from the bottle. He then laid the bottle on the ground, and shook it, that its contents might pour out; but there came forth from it nothing but smoke, which ascended towards the sky, and spread over the face of the earth; at which he wondered excessively. And after a little while, the smoke collected together, and was condensed, and then became agitated, and was converted into an 'Efreet, whose head was in the clouds, while his feet rested upon the ground:4his head was like a dome: his hands were like winnowing forks;5and his legs, like masts: his mouth resembled a cavern: his teeth were like stones; his nostrils, like trumpets;6and his eyes, like lamps; and he had dishevelled and dust-coloured hair.

The 'Efreet liberated from the Bottle

When the fisherman beheld this 'Efreet, the muscles of his sides quivered, his teeth were locked together, his spittle dried up, and he saw not his way. The 'Efreet, as soon as he perceived him, exclaimed, There is no deity but God: Suleymán is the Prophet of God. O Prophet of God, slay me not; for I will never again oppose thee in word, or rebel against thee in deed!—O Márid,7said the fisherman, dost thou say, Suleymán is the Prophet of God? Suleymán hath been dead a thousand and eight hundred years; and we are now in the end of time. What is thy history, and what is thy tale, and what was the cause of thy entering this bottle? When the Márid heard these words of the fisherman, he said, There is no deity but God! Receive news, O fisherman!—Of what, said the fisherman, dost thou give me news? He answered, Of thy being instantly put to a most cruel death. The fisherman exclaimed, Thou deservest, for this news, O master of the 'Efreets, the withdrawal of protection from thee, O thou remote!8Wherefore wouldst thou kill me? and what requires thy killing me, when I have liberated thee from the bottle, and rescued thee from the bottom of the sea, and brought thee up upon the dry land?—The 'Efreet answered, Choose what kind of death thou wilt die, and in what manner thou shalt be killed.—What is my offence, said the fisherman, that this should be my recompense from thee? The 'Efreet replied, Hear my story, O fisherman.—Tell it then, said the fisherman, and be short in thy words; for my soul hath sunk down to my feet.

Know then, said he, that I am one of the heretical Jinn: I rebelled against Suleymán the son of Dáood: I and Ṣakhr the Jinnee;9and he sent to me his Wezeer, Áṣaf the son of Barkhiyà, who came upon me forcibly, and took me to him in bonds, and placed me before him: and when Suleymán saw me, he offered up a prayer for protection against me, and exhorted me to embrace the faith, and to submit to his authority; but I refused; upon which he called for this bottle, and confined me in it, and closed it upon me with the leaden stopper, which he stamped with the Most Great Name: he then gave orders to the Jinn, who carried me away, and threw me into the midst of the sea. There I remained a hundred years; and I said in my heart, Whosoever shall liberate me, I will enrich him for ever:—but the hundred years passed over me, and no one liberated me: and I entered upon another hundred years; and I said, Whosoever shall liberate me, I will open to him the treasures of the earth;—but no one did so: and four hundred years more passed over me, and I said,Whosoever shall liberate me, I will perform for him three wants:—but still no one liberated me. I then fell into a violent rage, and said within myself, Whosoever shall liberate me now, I will kill him; and only suffer him to choose in what manner he will die. And lo, now thou hast liberated me, and I have given thee thy choice of the manner in which thou wilt die.

The Fisherman enclosing the 'Efreet in the Bottle

When the fisherman had heard the story of the 'Efreet, he exclaimed, O Allah! that I should not have liberated thee but in such a time as this! Then said he to the 'Efreet, Pardon me, and kill me not, and so may God pardon thee; and destroy me not, lest God give power over thee to one who will destroy thee. The Márid answered, I must positively kill thee; therefore choose by what manner of death thou wilt die. The fisherman then felt assured of his death; but he again implored the 'Efreet, saying, Pardon me by way of gratitude for my liberating thee.—Why, answered the 'Efreet, I am not going to kill thee but for that very reason, because thou hast liberated me.—O Sheykh of the 'Efreets, said the fisherman, do I act kindly towards thee, and dost thou recompense me with baseness? But the proverb lieth not that saith,—

We did good to them, and they returned us the contrary; and such, by my life, is the conduct of the wicked.Thus he who acteth kindly to the undeserving is recompensed in the same manner as the aider of Umm-'Ámir.10

The 'Efreet, when he heard these words, answered by saying, Covet not life, for thy death is unavoidable. Then said the fisherman within himself, This is a Jinnee, and I am a man; and God hath given me sound reason; therefore, I will now plot his destruction with my art and reason, like as he hath plotted with his cunning and perfidy. So he said to the 'Efreet, Hast thou determined to kill me? He answered, Yes. Then said he, By the Most Great Name engraved upon the seal of Suleymán, I will ask thee one question; and wilt thou answer it to me truly? On hearing the mention of the Most Great Name, the 'Efreet was agitated, and trembled, and replied, Yes; ask, and be brief. The fisherman then said, How wast thou in this bottle? It will not contain thy hand or thy foot; how then can it contain thy whole body?—Dost thou not believe that I was in it? said the 'Efreet. The fisherman answered, I will never believe thee until I see thee in it. Upon this, the 'Efreet shook, and became converted again into smoke, which rose to the sky, and then became condensed, and entered the bottle by little and little, until it was all enclosed; when the fishermanhastily snatched the sealed leaden stopper, and, having replaced it in the mouth of the bottle, called out to the 'Efreet, and said, Choose in what manner of death thou wilt die. I will assuredly throw thee here into the sea, and build me a house on this spot; and whosoever shall come here, I will prevent his fishing in this place, and will say to him, Here is an 'Efreet, who, to any person that liberates him, will propose various kinds of death, and then give him his choice of one of them. On hearing these words of the fisherman, the 'Efreet endeavoured to escape; but could not, finding himself restrained by the impression of the seal of Suleymán, and thus imprisoned by the fisherman as the vilest and filthiest and least of 'Efreets. The fisherman then took the bottle to the brink of the sea. The 'Efreet exclaimed, Nay! nay!—to which the fisherman answered, Yea, without fail! yea, without fail! The Márid then addressing him with a soft voice and humble manner, said, What dost thou intend to do with me, O fisherman? He answered, I will throw thee into the sea; and if thou hast been there a thousand and eight hundred years, I will make thee to remain there until the hour of judgment. Did I not say to thee, Spare me, and so may God spare thee; and destroy me not, lest God destroy thee? But thou didst reject my petition, and wouldest nothing buttreachery; therefore God hath caused thee to fall into my hand, and I have betrayed thee.—Open to me, said the 'Efreet, that I may confer benefits upon thee. The fisherman replied, Thou liest, thou accursed! I and thou are like the Wezeer of King Yoonán11and the sage Doobán.12—What, said the 'Efreet, was the case of the Wezeer of King Yoonán and the sage Doobán, and what is their story? The fisherman answered as follows:—

Know, O 'Efreet, that there was, in former times, in the country of the Persians,13a monarch who was called King Yoonán, possessing great treasures and numerous forces, valiant, and having troops of every description; but he was afflicted with leprosy, which the physicians and sages had failed to remove; neither their potions, nor powders, nor ointments were of any benefit to him; and none of the physicians was able to cure him. At length there arrived at the city of this king a great sage, stricken in years, who was called the sage Doobán: he was acquainted with ancient Greek, Persian, modern Greek, Arabic, and Syriac books, and with medicine and astrology, both with respect to their scientific principles and the rules of their practical applications for good and evil; as well as the properties of plants, dried and fresh, the injurious and the useful: he was versed in the wisdom of the philosophers, and embraced a knowledge of all the medical and other sciences.

After this sage had arrived in the city, and remained in it a few days, he heard of the case of the King, of the leprosy with which God had afflicted him, and that the physicians and men of science had failed to cure him. In consequence of this information, he passed the next night in deep study; and when the morning came, and diffused its light, and the sun saluted the Ornament of the Good,14he attired himself in the richest of his apparel, and presented himself before the King. Having kissed the ground before him, and offered up a prayer for the continuance of his power and happiness, and greeted him in the best manner he was able, he informed him who he was, and said, O King, I have heard of the disease which hath attacked thy person, and that many of the physicians are unacquainted with the means of removing it; and I will cure thee without giving thee to drink any potion, or anointing thee with ointment. When King Yoonán heardhis words, he wondered, and said to him, How wilt thou do this? By Allah, if thou cure me, I will enrich thee and thy children's children, and I will heap favours upon thee, and whatever thou shalt desire shall be thine, and thou shalt be my companion and my friend.—He then bestowed upon him a robe of honour,15and other presents, and said to him, Wilt thou cure me of this disease without potion or ointment? He answered, Yes; I will cure thee without any discomfort to thy person. And the King was extremely astonished, and said, O Sage, at what time, and on what day, shall that which thou hast proposed to me be done? Hasten it, O my Son.—He answered, I hear and obey.

He then went out from the presence of the King, and hired a house, in which he deposited his books, and medicines, and drugs. Having done this, he selected certain of his medicines and drugs, and made a goff-stick, with a hollow handle, into which he introduced them; after which he made a ball for it, skilfully adapted; and on the following day, after he had finished these, he went again to the King, and kissed the ground before him, and directed him to repair to the horse-course, and to play with the ball and goff-stick. The King, attended by his Emeers and Chamberlains and Wezeers, went thither, and, as soon as he arrived there, the sage Doobán presented himself before him, and handed to him the goff-stick, saying, Take this goff-stick, and grasp it thus, and ride along the horse-course, and strike the ball with it with all thy force, until the palm of thy hand and thy whole body become moist with perspiration, when the medicine will penetrate into thy hand, and pervade thy whole body; and when thou hast done this, and the medicine remains in thee, return tothy palace, and enter the bath,16and wash thyself, and sleep: then shalt thou find thyself cured: and peace be on thee. So King Yoonán took the goff-stick from the sage, and grasped it in his hand, and mounted his horse; and the ball was thrown before him, and he urged his horse after it until he overtook it, when he struck it with all his force; and when he had continued this exercise as long as was necessary, and bathed and slept, he looked upon his skin, and not a vestige of the leprosy remained: it was clear as white silver. Upon this he rejoiced exceedingly; his heart was dilated, and he was full of happiness.

King Yoonán playing at Goff

On the following morning he entered the council-chamber, and sat upon his throne; and the Chamberlains and great officers of his court came before him. The sage Doobán also presented himself; and when the King saw him, he rose to him in haste, and seated him by his side. Services of food were then spread before them, and the sage ate with the King, and remained as his guest all the day;17and when the night approached, the King gave him two thousand pieces of gold, besides dresses of honour and other presents, and mounted him on his own horse, and so the sage returned to his house.18And the King was astonished at his skill; saying, This man hath cured me by an external process, without anointing me with ointment: by Allah, this is consummate science; and it is incumbent on me to bestow favours and honours upon him, and to make him my companion and familiar friend as long as I live. He passed the night happy and joyful on account of his recovery, and when he arose, he went forth again, and sat upon his throne; the officers of his court standing before him, and the Emeers and Wezeers sitting on his right hand and on his left; and he called for the sage Doobán, who came, and kissed the ground before him; and the King rose, and seated him by his side, and ate with him, and greeted him with compliments: he bestowed upon him again a robe of honour and other presents, and, after conversing with him till the approach of night, gave orders that five other robes of honour should be given to him, and a thousand pieces of gold; and the sage departed, and returned to his house.

Doobán in his Dress of Honour

Again, when the next morning came, the King went as usual to his council-chamber, and the Emeers and Wezeers and Chamberlains surrounded him. Now there was, among his Wezeers, one of ill aspect, and of evil star;19sordid, avaricious, and of an envious and malicious disposition; and when he saw that the King had made the sage Doobán his friend, and bestowed upon him these favours, heenvied him this distinction, and meditated evil against him; agreeably with the adage which saith, There is no one void of envy;20—and another, which saith, Tyranny lurketh in the soul: power manifesteth it, and weakness concealeth it. So he approached the King, and kissed the ground before him, and said, O King of the age, thou art he whose goodness extendeth to all men, and I have an important piece of advice to give thee: if I were to conceal it from thee, I should be a base-born wretch: therefore, if thou order me to impart it, I will do so. The King, disturbed by these words of the Wezeer, said, What is thy advice? He answered, O glorious King, it hath been said, by the ancients, He who looketh not to results, fortune will not attend him:—now I have seen the King in a way that is not right; since he hath bestowed favours upon his enemy, and upon him who desireth the downfall of his dominion: he hath treated him with kindness, and honoured him with the highest honours, and admitted him to theclosest intimacy: I therefore fear, for the King, the consequence of this conduct.—At this the King was troubled, and his countenance changed; and he said, Who is he whom thou regardest as mine enemy, and to whom I shew kindness? He replied, O King, if thou hast been asleep, awake! I allude to the sage Doobán.—The King said, He is my intimate companion, and the dearest of men in my estimation; for he restored me by a thing that I merely held in my hand, and cured me of my disease which the physicians were unable to remove, and there is not now to be found one like to him in the whole world, from west to east. Wherefore, then, dost thou utter these words against him? I will, from this day, appoint him a regular salary and maintenance, and give him every month a thousand pieces of gold; and if I gave him a share of my kingdom it were but a small thing to do unto him. I do not think that thou hast said this from any other motive than that of envy. If I did what thou desirest, I should repent after it, as the man repented who killed his parrot.21

The Intelligent Parrot

There was a certain merchant, of an excessively jealous disposition, having a wife endowed with perfect beauty, who had prevented him from leaving his home; but an event happened which obliged him to make a journey; and when he found his doing so to be indispensable, he went to the market in which birds were sold, and bought a parrot, which he placed in his house to act as a spy, that, on his return, she might inform him of what passed during his absence; forthis parrot was cunning and intelligent, and remembered whatever she heard.22So, when he had made his journey, and accomplished his business, he returned, and caused the parrot to be brought to him, and asked her respecting the conduct of his wife. She answered, Thy wife has a lover, who visited her every night during thy absence:—and when the man heard this, he fell into a violent rage, and went to his wife, and gave her a severe beating.

The woman imagined that one of the female slaves had informed him of what had passed between her and her paramour during his absence: she therefore called them together, and made them swear; and they all swore that they had not told their master anything of the matter; but confessed that they had heard the parrot relate to him what had passed. Having thus established, on the testimony of the slaves, the fact of the parrot's having informed her husband of her intrigue, she ordered one of these slaves to grind with a hand-mill under the cage, another to sprinkle water from above, and a third to move a mirror from side to side, during the next night on which her husband was absent; and on the following morning, when the man returned from an entertainment at which he had been present, and inquired again of the parrot what had passed that night during his absence, the bird answered, O my master, I could neither see nor hear anything, on account of the excessive darkness, and thunder, and lightning, and rain. Now this happened during summer: so he said to her, What strange words are these? It is now summer, when nothing of what thou hast described ever happens.—The parrot, however, swore by Allah the Great that what she had said was true; and that it had so happened: upon which the man, not understanding the case, nor knowing the plot, became violently enraged, and took out the bird from the cage, and threw her down upon the ground with such violence that he killed her.

But after some days, one of his female slaves informed him of the truth; yet he would not believe it, until he saw his wife's paramour going out from his house; when he drew his sword,23and slew the traitor by a blow on the back of his neck: so also did he to his treacherous wife; and thus both of them went, laden with the sin which they had committed, to the fire; and the merchant discovered that the parrot had informed him truly of what she had seen; and he mourned grievously for her loss.

When the Wezeer heard these words of King Yoonán, he said, O King of great dignity, what hath this crafty sage—this man fromwhom nought but mischief proceedeth—done unto me, that I should be his enemy, and speak evil of him, and plot with thee to destroy him? I have informed thee respecting him in compassion for thee, and in fear of his despoiling thee of thy happiness; and if my words be not true, destroy me, as the Wezeer of Es-Sindibád was destroyed.—The King asked, How was that? And the Wezeer thus answered:—

The King above mentioned had a son who was ardently fond of the chase;24and he had a Wezeer whom he charged to be always with this son wherever he went. One day the son went forth to hunt, and his father's Wezeer was with him; and as they rode together, they saw a great wild beast; upon which the Wezeer exclaimed to the Prince, Away after this wild beast! The King's son pursued it until he was out of the sight of his attendants, and the beast also escaped from before his eyes in the desert; and while the Prince wandered in perplexity, not knowing whither to direct his course, he met in his way a damsel, who was weeping. He said to her, Who art thou?—and she answered, I am a daughter of one of the kings of India; I was in the desert, and slumber overtook me, and I fell from my horse in a state of insensibility, and being thus separated from my attendants, I lost my way. The Prince, on hearing this, pitied her forlorn state, and placed her behind him on his horse; and as they proceeded, they passed by a ruin,25and the damsel said to him, O my master, I would alight here for a little while. The Prince therefore lifted her from his horse at this ruin; but she delayed so long to return, that he wondered wherefore she had loitered so, and entering after her, without her knowledge, perceived that she was a Ghooleh,26and heard her say, My children, I have brought you to-day a fat young man:—on which they exclaimed, Bring him in to us, O mother! that we may fill our stomachs with his flesh. When the Prince heard their words, he felt assured of destruction; the muscles of his sides quivered, and fear overcame him, and he retreated. The Ghooleh then came forth, and, seeing that he appeared alarmed and fearful, and that he was trembling, said to him, Wherefore dost thou fear? He answered, I have an enemy of whom I am in fear. The Ghooleh said, Thou assertest thyself to be the son of the King. He replied, Yes.—Then, said she, wherefore dost thou notgive some money to thine enemy, and so conciliate him? He answered, He will not be appeased with money, nor with anything but life; and therefore do I fear him: I am an injured man. She then said to him, If thou be an injured man, as thou affirmest, beg aid of God against thine oppressor, and He will avert from thee his mischievous design, and that of every other person whom thou fearest. Upon this, therefore, the Prince raised his head towards heaven, and said, O thou who answerest the distressed when he prayeth to Thee, and dispellest evil, assist me, and cause mine enemy to depart from me; for Thou art able to do whatsoever Thou wilt!—and the Ghooleh no sooner heard his prayer, than she departed from him. The Prince then returned to his father, and informed him of the conduct of the Wezeer; upon which the King gave orders that the minister should be put to death.

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