The Gardener and His Son

“In the by-gone time an old gardener had mounted his son upon an ass and was proceeding to the garden, himself on foot. They met some men who said, ‘See this old pederast, how he has mounted the boy upon the ass; and is himself running alongside.’ Whenever the old man heard this he made the boy alight and mounted himself. Again they met some other folk, these likewise said, ‘Look at this heartless old man, he rides the ass himself and makes the poor child go on foot.’ Whenever the old man heard this he took his son up in front of him. Then some people saw them and said, ‘See this old pederast, how he has taken the boy up in front of him.’ The old man heard this, and he put his son up behind him. Again certain folks saw them and said, ‘See this old catamite, how he has taken the boy up behind him.’ The old man knew not what to do, so he put his son down and alighted himself and drove the ass before them. The garden was near, and both of them were on foot, and they reached the garden before meeting with any others.

“Now, O king, I have told this story that thou mayst know that no one in the world can escape the tongue of the folk. Each one says a different thing. It is even as when a boil came out on the foot of a certain king who showed it to someone and said, ‘Come, look at this boil; is it ripe or unripe?’ He looked and said, ‘It is ripe.’ Then he showed it to another person, and he said, ‘It is unripe.’ Then the king said, ‘We cannot get sure information concerning even one foot.’ Do thou too, O king, go by no one’s word, lose not the opportunity; no good will come to thee from this youth.” When the king heard this story from the lady he said, “To-morrow will I kill him.”

When it was morning the king came and sat upon his throne, and he caused the youth to be brought and ordered the executioner, “Smite off his head.” The twentieth vezir came forward and said, “O king of the world, I will speak a good word to thee: all these vezirs who have spoken these many words are well-wishers to thee. The holy Apostle of God hath said, ‘Whoso hath believed in God and the last day; when he witnesseth to aught, let him speak with good or lethim be silent,’ Now, what is best for thee in this thy affair is this, as all thy vezirs say, ‘Slay not the prince,’ I too say, have patience, else the end of this will be care and sorrow. Mayhap the king has not heard the story of a certain king.” The king said, “Tell on, let us hear.” Quoth the vezir:

“Of old time there was a great king. One day, when returning from the chase, he saw a dervish sitting by the way, crying, ‘I have a piece of advice; to him who will give me 1,000 sequins I will tell it.’ When the king heard these words of the dervish he drew in his horse’s head and halted, and he said to the dervish, ‘What is thy counsel?’ The dervish replied, ‘Bring the sequins and give me them that I may tell my counsel.’ The king ordered that they count 1,000 sequins into the dervish’s lap. The dervish said, ‘O king, my advice to thee is this, whenever thou art about to do a deed, consider the end of that deed, and then act.’ The nobles who were present laughed together at these words and said, ‘Anyone knows that.’ But the king rewarded that poor man. He was greatly pleased with the words of the dervish and commanded that they wrote them on the palace gate and other places.

“Now that king had an enemy, a great king; and this hostile king was ever watching his opportunity; but he could find no way save this, he said in himself, ‘Let me go and promise the king’s barber some worldly good and give him a poisoned lancet; some day when the king is sick he can bleed him with that lancet.’ So he disguised himself, and went and gave the barber a poisoned lancet and 10,000 sequins. And the barber was covetous and undertook to bleed the king with that lancet what time it should be needful. One day the king was sick, and he sent word to the barber to come and bleed him. Thereupon the barber took that poisoned lancet with him and went. The attendants prepared the basin, and the barber saw written on the rim of the basin, ‘Whenever thou art about to perform a deed, think on the end thereof.’

“When the barber saw this he said in himself, ‘I am now about to bleed the king with this lancet and doubtless he will perish, then they will not leave me alive, but will inevitablykill me; after I am dead what use will these sequins be to me?’ And he took up that lancet and put it in its place and drew out another lancet that he might bleed the king. When he took his arm a second time, the king said, ‘Why didst thou not bleed me with the first lancet?’ The barber answered, ‘O king, there was some dust on its point.’ Then the king said, ‘I saw it, it is not the treasury lancet; there is some secret here, quick, tell it, else I will slay thee.’ When the barber saw this importunity, he related the story from beginning to end and how he had seen the writing on the basin and changed his intention. The king put a robe of honor on the barber and let him keep the sequins which his enemy had given him. And the king said, ‘The dervish’s counsel is worth not 1,000 sequins but 100,000 sequins.’

“Now, O king, I have told this story for that the king may know that it is as when the dervish said, ‘Whatsoever deed thou doest, consider the end thereof, then act.’ If thou slay the prince, at last thou shalt be repentant. The rest the king knows.” And he made intercession for the prince. When the king heard these words from the vezir he sent the prince to the prison and himself mounted for the chase.

When it was evening the king returned from the chase and came to the palace, and the lady rose to greet him, and they sat down. After the repast the lady again asked for news of the youth. The king said, “To-day such an one of my vezirs made intercession for him and I sent him to the prison.” The lady said, “O king, it is related of the Caliph Ma’mūn[51]that he said, ‘Four things are hurtful to kings; the first is the nobles being negligent, the second is the ministers being envious, the third is the mean being bold, and the fourth is the vezirs being treacherous.’ And the Moorish sages say, ‘In nobles there is no friendship, in liars there is no fidelity, in the envious there is no peace, in the indifferent there is no generosity, and in the evil-natured there is no greatness.’ O king, these thy vezirs are, like thy traitor son, liars and evil-natured. Thou believest the words of these. The story of thee and this youth altogether resembles the story of those Turkman children.” The king said, “Tell that story, let us hear it.” Quoth the lady:

“Certain Turkmans from an encampment went one day into a city. When they were returning from the city to the encampment they were an hungered, and when they were come near they ate some bread and onions at a spring-head. The juice of the onions went into the Turkmans’ eyes, and the tears came forth from their eyes. Now the children of the Turkmans had gone out to meet them, and they saw that the tears were streaming from their fathers’ eyes and they thought that some one of them had died in the city. So without asking and without knowing, they ran back and came to the encampment and said to their mothers, ‘One of ours is dead in the city, our fathers are coming weeping,’ All the women and children of that encampment came forth to meet them, weeping together. The Turkmans who were coming from the city thought that one of theirs had died in the encampment; so were they without knowledge one of the other, and they raised a weeping and crying together such that it cannot be described.

“At length the elders of the camp stood up in the midst and said, ‘May all ye remain whole; the command is God’s, there is none other help than patience.’ And they questioned them. The Turkmans who were coming from the city asked, ‘Who is dead in the encampment?’ The others said, ‘No one is dead in the encampment; who has died in the city?’ Those coming from the city answered, ‘No one has died in the city.’ They said, ‘Then for whom are we wailing and lamenting?’ At length they perceived that all this tumult arose from their thus trusting the words of children.

“Now, O king, I have told this story for that the king may know that confusion like to that is brought about by youths. What I know is this, if thou slay not the youth he will slay thee.” When the king heard these words from the lady he said, “To-morrow will I kill him.”

When it was morning the king came and sat upon his throne, and he caused the youth to be brought and ordered the executioner, “Smite off his head.” The twenty-first vezir came forward and said, “O king of the world, yesterday, when reading in a book, I saw that they had written that there was a great king in the land of Hindustan, and in his time there wasa work on wisdom, and they laded three camels with it and brought it to him. One day the king said to the sages, ‘Abridge this book for me, that I may study it.’ Then all the sages of Hind came together and collected the necessary words from that work and made a book. When the king read it he was pleased. And the words that they wrote were these: ‘O king, be not presumptuous, being deceived by the world; for the world showeth itself like a fair woman and fondleth men in its bosom; and when they are asleep and heedless, of a sudden it woundeth and slayeth them. Knowing of a surety that it is thus, have care if it offer itself to thee, that thou keep thyself from it, so that thou be prosperous. And expend what thou gainest of wealth in the way of God most high, and guard against iniquity, and show forth thy name through generosity, and abandon avarice.

“‘O king, the light of the world is darkness, and its newness is oldness, and its being is non-being. O king, strive that thou save thyself from it; and incline not to the amassing of unlawful wealth, for it will pass from thy hand and be a woe to thee. Strive to collect wealth lawfully, and expend it on good works, and show thyself just among the folk to the utmost of thy power, that all the people of the world may love thee, and that thou be secured against the punishment of God most high. And guard thy faith for the hereafter. And love not women and tell not them thy secrets. O king, be not deceived by womankind; for in body are they weak, but in guile are they strong.’ Now, O king, these counsels are exceeding good counsels, and it behooves the king to keep them; and their saying is true that women are weak in body but strong in guile. Mayhap the king has not heard what befell a certain king with a woman.” The king said, “Relate it, let us hear.” Quoth the vezir:

“There was in the palace of the world a great king, and he had a beautiful wife, such that many a soul dangled in the tresses on her cheek. That lady had a secret affair with a youth, and she used to hide the youth in a chest in the palace. One day that youth said to the lady, ‘If the king were aware of this our work, he would slay the two of us.’ The lady said, ‘Leave that thought, I can do so that I shall hide thee in thechest and say to the king, “Lo, my lover is lying in this chest;” and then, when the king is about to kill thee, I shall make him repentant by one word.’ While the youth and the lady were saying these words, the king came, and the lady straightway put the youth into the chest and locked it. The king said, ‘Why lockest thou that chest thus hastily? What is in the chest?’ The lady answered, ‘By God, it is my lover; I saw thee coming and I put him into the chest and locked it.’ Then was the king wroth, and he bared his sword and thought to slay him who was in the chest, when the lady said, ‘O king, art thou mad, where is gone thine understanding? Am I mad that I should advance a strange man to thy couch and then say to thee, “Lo, he is in the chest?” In truth, I wondered if thou were sincere in thy trust of me, and I tried thee, and now I know that thou thinkest evil concerning me.’ And she ceased and sat in a corner.

“Then did the king repent him of what he had done; and he begged and besought of his wife, saying, ‘Forgive me,’ And he gave her many things, and craved pardon for his fault. When the king had gone out from the harem into the palace the lady took that youth forth of the chest and said, ‘Didst thou see what a trick I played the king?’ And they gave themselves up to mirth and merriment.

“Now, O king, I have told this story for that the king may know that guile and trickery such as this abound in women. O king, beware, slay not the prince on the woman’s word, else afterward thou shalt be repentant, and too late repentance profits not.” And he made intercession for the prince for that day. When the king heard this story from the vezir he sent the prince to the prison and himself mounted for the chase.

When it was evening the king returned from the chase and came to the palace, and the lady rose to greet him, and they sat down. After the repast the lady again began to speak about the youth. The king said, “To-day too such an one of my vezirs made intercession for him and I sent him to the prison.” The lady said, “O king, this youth is ignoble. It is even as when God most high told Noah (peace on him!) of the impurity of his son: said God most high, ‘He is not of thy family; verily, it is a work that is not right.’[52]Then it is knownthat if a person follow not the way of his father, and be not endowed with the nature of his father, he cannot be called a lawful son. Therefore, when the wise see a fault in others they hinder and cover it, and if they see that fault in themselves they strive to banish it far from them. There is no help for the ignoble that he should follow the path of the noble. Mayhap the king has not heard the story of a certain abdal and a king.” The king said, “Tell on, let us hear.” Quoth the lady:

“There was of old time a great king, and there was by him an abdal. One day the king mounted for the chase, and the abdal said, ‘O king, I am able for soldiering and hunting; give me too horse and gear and bird, that I may go forth with thee to ride about and hunt.’ So the king gave the abdal a horse and gear, and gave him a falcon on his wrist, and took him along with him to the chase, and they went off. While they were riding, the king saw a bird go into a bush, and he said to the abdal, ‘Go, cast the falcon at the bird.’ And the king stood to look on. The abdal went up close to the bush with the falcon, and a man stirred the bush, and the bird came out and flew off. The king said to the abdal, ‘The bird is away, throw off the falcon.’ And the abdal threw off the falcon from his wrist without slipping the leash, and he swung it round and round his head. The king shouted, ‘Out on thee! throw off the falcon!’ The abdal said, ‘O king, I have thrown it off, what am I to do?’ But he left not to swing the falcon round his head. The king shouted, ‘Out on thee! let the falcon go!’ And the abdal let go the leash; but the falcon’s eyes were darkened from its having been turned round, and it could not fly, and fell to the ground. And the king was angry and ill-pleased. Then the abdal said, ‘O king, wherefore art thou angry? thou saidest, “Throw off the falcon,” and I threw it off; then thou saidest, “Let it go,” and I let it go; this falcon knows not how to fly: what fault is mine?’ These words of the abdal were pleasant to the king and he fainted from laughing; and he perceived how no good comes from anything ignoble.[53]

“Now, O king, I have told this story for that the king may know that no good comes from the ignoble man who follows not the path of his father and mother. Beware, O king, be not negligent in the affair of this youth, or in the end some hurt will befall thee from him; the rest thou knowest.” When the king heard this story from the lady he said, “On the morrow will I kill the youth.”

When it was morning the king came and sat upon his throne, and he caused the youth to be brought and commanded the executioner, “Smite off his head.”

Thus did the king, day after day, order the execution of his innocent son, being temporarily diverted from committing this crime by the stories and wise advice of the forty vezirs, only to be urged again at night to commit the crime by the false accusations of his baffled and revengeful wife.

The story of the fortieth vezir demonstrated how the crafty wife of a tailor played him false and then deceived him with a lying and plausible version of what had happened. After relating this story the fortieth vezir said:

“Now, O king, I have told this story for that the king may know that tricks like to these and all manner of craftiness abound in women. Beware, slay not the prince on the woman’s word, or afterward thou shalt be repentant.” And he kissed the ground, and made intercession for the prince for that day. And the king granted it, and sent the youth to the prison, and went himself to the chase.

When it was evening the king returned from the chase and came to the palace, and the lady rose to greet him, and they sat down. After the repast the lady asked for news of the youth. The king said, “To-day, too, such an one of my vezirs made intercession for him and I sent him to the prison.” The lady said, “O king, be it known that not one of those vezirs is thy friend; God knows what pact they have with the youth. Mayhap the king has not heard what befel between the Sultan of Egypt and his vezirs.” The king said, “Tell on, let us hear.” Quoth the lady:

“There was of old time in the city of Cairo a great sultan, and he had a youthful son. And that youth made a pact withthe vezirs, saying, ‘If ye make me sultan, I will give you leave to do whatever ye may please.’ When they had agreed to this, he sowed enmity between the king and the vezirs and nobles; and each of them rose in revolt in a different quarter, and they took the youth for their chief, and waged war and did battle with the king. The king could not overcome them, and at length they made the youth king. They began to feast with the new king every day, and to accomplish their desires. And the king’s father saw that the purpose of the vezirs and the youth was evil, and he called a confidant, and one night they fled in disguise and entered a cave; and for seven days and seven nights the king went not forth from that cave. The new king heard of his father having fled, and he and the vezirs began to seek him and to send out criers, who proclaimed, ‘Whoso seizes my father and brings him to me, him will I honor.’ And the old king and his courtier went forth from the cave and came to a village, and were guests of an old woman in that village; and that old woman sowed seed. And she bestirred herself to entertain them, and brought them a mat, and they sat down. The king was hungry, and he pulled out a sequin and gave it to the old woman, and said, ‘Mother, go, fetch us food that we may eat.’ The woman said, ‘What will ye do with a sequin’s worth of food?’ The king replied, ‘No harm, fetch it.’ And the woman went and brought all manner of delicacies and set them before the king. And they sat down and ate. After the repast they began to talk with the woman; and the woman said, ‘What youths be ye?’ The king said, ‘We are of the servants of the fugitive king; we are seeking our master.’ The woman said, ‘I fear that ye too are followers of that unworthy youth, and would seize the king and take him.’ The king asked, ‘Does that unworthy youth seek his father?’ The woman replied, ‘Does he seek him? What means that? Those traitor vezirs and nobles every day cause criers to proclaim, “To him who seizes and brings that fugitive sultan we will give the lordship of whatever place he may wish; but of him who conceals him, or in whose house he is found, are the head and family gone.”’

“When the king heard these words from the woman his soul was troubled, and he said to her, ‘And are the nobles also submissive to the youth?’ The woman answered, ‘He hasdeposed many nobles, and appointed other nobles; these new nobles are all of them submissive to him.’ The king said, ‘Is there any of those old nobles whom thou knowest?’ The woman replied, ‘There is a vezir who was deposed by the fugitive sultan; I go about his house on business—I know him.’ As soon as the king heard this he turned and said to his confidant, ‘What sayest thou, shall I tell this woman that I am the sultan?’ The confidant replied, ‘Command is the king’s.’ The sultan turned and said to the woman, ‘O mother, I have a secret; if I tell it thee, canst thou keep it?’ The woman said, ‘I will give my head, but I will not give your secret,’ The king made the woman swear, and then said, ‘O mother, dost thou know me who I am?’ She answered, ‘Nay,’ Then the king said, ‘Lo, I am the fugitive sultan; be it not that this word escape thy mouth,’ When the woman heard this the blood went from her face, and she fell at the king’s feet. The king said, ‘Hast thou son or daughter?’ She replied, ‘I have a son,’ The king said, ‘If God most high seat me on my throne, I will give thy son whatever lordship he please,’ The woman bowed down and fell at the king’s feet. Then the king said to her, ‘Go now to the house of that vezir, and call him to a private place and salute him from me, and say, “The king is now seated in my house and wants thee, be it not that thou flinchest and comest not.”’

“When it was evening the woman went to the vezir’s house, and took the vezir to a private place, and gave him the king’s greeting, and told him all and how that he was sitting in her house. The vezir was glad, and he said, ‘Do thou now be off, I too will come now;’ and he sent her away. The woman came and told these things to the king. After a little he saw the vezir in the dress of an Arab, and he came and fell at the king’s feet and mourned and wept. The king said, ‘O vezir, I wronged thee and took thy wealth and deposed thee; ah! the past is past, the gone is gone. Befriend me as much as in thee lies, and if God most high raise me to my throne, I know the honor I will do thee.’ The vezir said, ‘O king, if thou tookest my wealth, it was thine own wealth; if thou didst depose me, I was thy slave and had done wrong; thou didst well. Now this is the way, that thou follow my words and lay aside kingship till our plan be accomplished; if afterwardthou art wroth with me, then command; now let us work.’ The king said, ‘Do what thou wilt; now is not the time for words.’ The vezir said, ‘O king, arise and take my lamp in thine hand, and go on through the desert before thee till thou comest to my house; if anyone see thee he will think thee my man and recognize thee not.’ The king took the vezir’s lamp in his hand, and they went on and passed through the bazaars of Cairo, and came to the vezir’s house; and the vezir prepared a private room for the king.

“The king remained there some days, and the vezir secretly sent word to all the great nobles who had been deposed, and assembled them. And one night he brought them to the king and reconciled them, and said, ‘On the morrow be ye ready and show zeal each one of you for his estate.’ That night they gathered together all the disbanded soldiers who were there; and when it was morning they beat the kettledrums on every side, and ere those traitor nobles and vezirs had arisen they put many of them to the sword; and they seized the king’s son and all the rest of his vezirs, and brought them before the king. And the king executed the whole of them, slaying each of them with a different torment. Thenceforth he sat upon his throne with tranquillity of heart, and enjoyed happiness and delight.

“Now, O king, I have told this story for that the king may know that vezirs are not to be altogether trusted; and be thou ready, for these vezirs purpose evil against the king, and the like of this story shall befall thee. I have watched for my king and told him. And I know of a surety that they have made a pact if left till the morrow to seat the youth upon the throne, and to seize thee and to give thee into the youth’s hands. God knows what will happen to ill-fortuned me. Woe is me!” And she wept full bitterly. When the king heard this story from the lady, and beheld this plight, he believed the lady’s words, and held them to be true; and fear for his life fell upon the king. He said: “O lady, weep not; on the morrow will I seize the whole of the vezirs, and, after I have put the youth to death, I will give to each of them, one by one, his due.” When the lady heard these words from the king she was glad, and said, “O king, when thou hast slain the whole of them, appoint nobles vezirs in their stead, and thenlean thy back against the wall of retirement, and give thyself up to mirth and merriment: till thou hast done thus thou shalt not be at ease.” And the king consented to this proposal, and they passed that night till the morning conversing.

When it was morning the king was wrathful, and he came and sat upon his throne, and he said, “Where is the youth? let him come.” They brought him, and the king said, “Ask ye him if he confesses to the charge of his mother.” Thereupon the grand vezir said, “Let him come before you and be asked, and it will be well; bring him, let us ask him.” The king commanded that they brought him, and he said, “Youth, speak; how hast thou done by thy mother?” The youth was silent. The king turned and said, “Be not silent, there is leave to thee, speak.” The youth was silent. Again the grand vezir said, “Perchance his governor might make him tell.”

Straightway the king commanded that they should bring his governor; and they sought him but found him not, and came and told the king. The king said, “This day it is needful to make manifest my justice; let the executioner come.” He came; and the king commanded, saying, “Take the youth and all those vezirs; and kill them.” And they took the whole of them from the presence of the king; and they made clean the judgment-square and sprinkled it with sand. And they made the vezirs sit down by tens, and they brought the youth too. Then the executioner set the prince upon his knees and bound his eyes, and he drew his sword from its scabbard and bared it, and said, “Is there leave, O king? In thy glory is my arm strong and my sword keen. The cut-off head grows not again, and too late repentance profits not.” And he went twice round the divan and asked leave of the king; and the king commanded him, saying, “Smite off his head.” The executioner went round the divan once more, and as he was again asking leave of the king, the bearer of glad tidings came, crying, “The prince’s governor comes!” The king said, “Quick, seize and bring him.”

Forthwith the slaves brought the governor, not letting his feet touch the ground. When the king saw the governor hewas wroth, and said, “Kill him!” The governor said, “O king, wherefore art thou angry? If it be thy desire to make the youth speak, bring him and let him speak.” Quoth the king, “Is it thou who saidest to the youth, ‘Speak not’?” The governor answered, “Yea.” The king said, “Why?” The governor said, “O king of the world, I saw the prince’s ruling star in the astrolabe that for forty days it was in evil aspect, such evil aspect that if he uttered the least word he should perish, but that if he spake not he should escape. I taught him a Name, and charged him straitly that he should not speak the least word. Now is the time accomplished, and I am come; command that they bring him, and I shall give him leave to speak.” The king commanded that they brought the youth, and the governor said, “My prince, be my life a ransom for thy father and for thee! Praise be to God! the evil aspect of thy star is accomplished; loose thy nightingale tongue and speak; what is this plight?”

Straightway the youth said, “In the name of God!” And he related what befell him with the lady from its beginning to its end; and then he fell upon the ground and began to weep. And the king put his finger to his mouth and wondered. And the members of the divan marvelled at this deed of the woman, and they said, “The prince’s words are with reason and truth, and such like trickery comes from womankind.”

Then the king asked the slave-girls, and they bare witness that they had been behind the wall and had heard the thing, and that the prince spake truly. And the king saw that the right was the prince’s, and he repented him of what he had done. And he besought pardon, and kissed the prince’s two eyes, and pressed him to his heart and wept full bitterly. And straightway he commanded that they bring the vezirs; and the king made many excuses to them, and clad each of them in sumptuous robes, and bestowed boundless gifts and favors upon them, and begged forgiveness of all of them. And the vezirs said, “My king, whatsoever cruelty and injustice thou hast done us, be it all forgiven thee; our fear was lest thou should slay the prince, acting on the woman’s word; for our vezirship is by the health and safety of our king and our prince; and their existence is a mercy to the world; after they were perished the perishing of the whole of us were a thing assured.” And they all kissed the ground together, and asked for retribution on the woman.

And the king commanded that they bring a wild ass; and they took the lady to the square of judgment and set her upon that ass, and bound her fast to his tail and legs, and took her forth to the desert. And they smote the ass with a whip, and the ass began to gallop and the woman fell from his back to the ground; and the wild ass looked, and when he saw the woman behind him he shied and ran off. And the woman was torn into pieces small even as her ear, and left upon the shrubs and stones. Thus that which she had purposed against the prince befel herself. The sires say, “Wish good that good may come to thee: if thou dig a pit for another, dig it deep; for it is like thou shalt fall therein thyself; then thou needest not trouble trying to get out.” And from that time has the saying been among the folk, “May I see thee on the ass!” After that the king summoned all the vezirs and the nobles and the commonalty, and he made a great feast with all manner of minstrels and music, and for forty days and forty nights they feasted and made merry gratefully. And then they lived for many years, and did justice and dealt with equity.

FOOTNOTES:[1]A fabulous bird, a species of vulture or gigantic condor.[2]Drugs.[3]Koran, lii. 15.[4]Ib. xii. 31.[5]Not necessarily a Chinese woman, simply a beauty; China and Chinese Tartary being regarded as pre-eminent for the beauty of their women.[6]A term of endearment.[7]Probably he was afraid lest the king should put him to death for giving such bad news.[8]The Prophet Mahomet.[9]I.e., beautiful.[10]Koran, iv. 94.[11]As servants do.[12]In the time of Murad II an aspre was worth about 2½d. stg. Turkish sequins were not struck till the time of his successor, Mahomet II, when they were equivalent to about 12s. 6d. Foreign gold coins, especially Venetian, were used previously.[13]Qāf is the name of a fabled mountain chain, formerly supposed to encircle the world: “the castle” is simply a metaphor for the mountain peaks.[14]This famous speech is usually attributed to ‘Omar, the second caliph.[15]Bal’am-bin-Bā’ūr.[16]‘Uj-bin-‘Unuq. He is said, in the Talmud, to have been a monstrous giant. The ‘Adīs, we are told, were from sixty to one hundred cubits high. Compare Numbers xiii. 33.[17]Koran, v. 29.[18]Koran, vii. 175.[19]A mysterious being, of the number of the prophets, who appears to and aids Moslems in distress; he is frequently mentioned in Mahometan fiction, where he plays a part similar to that of Elijah in the Talmud.[20]Compare Boethius thus translated by Chaucer: All thynges seken ayen to hir propre course, and all thyngs rejoysen on hir retourninge agayne to hir nature.[21]The emerald was supposed to have the effect of blinding snakes when they looked upon it.[22]There is an Eastern myth to that effect.[23]Joseph is the type of youthful beauty.[24]A fabulous bird of great size. Solomon, it should be said, according to the Talmudic and Koranic legends, was acquainted with the language of beasts and birds, with whom he used often to converse.[25]Koran, iii. 128.[26]The celebrated Caliph of Bagdad, and hero of so many of the stories in the “Thousand and One Nights.”[27]Koran, iii. 128.[28]D’Herbelot relates the same story in his “Bibliothèque Orientale,” but substitutes Hasan son of ‘Ali, the Prophet’s son-in-law, for Harun-er-Reshid.[29]Bāyezīd of Bestam was a famous saint who, according to Ibn-Khallikān, died in 261 or 264 (A.D.875 or 878).[30]One of the most famous kings of pre-Islamitic Persia, he reigned fromA.D.531 to 579.[31]The Cubical (House), i.e., the Sacred Temple at Mecca.[32]One of the ceremonies performed by the pilgrims at Mecca.[33]For a description of it see Captain Burton’s “Pilgrimage,” vol. iii, p. 164.[34]Such as is required by the Mahometan law in case of a triple divorce.[35]Koran, xxi. 23.[36]Koran, xxvii. 66.[37]The ram is a type of courage.[38]A legendary sage. He here pretends to kill the boy, that the king may recover through joy on finding his son alive.[39]An adherent of the Shī’a sect, which acknowledges ‘Alī, but rejects Abu-Bekr, ‘Othmān and ‘Omar as lawful caliphs.[40]So the point of this story turns upon an untranslatable pun.[41]Koran, viii. 128, and lxiv. 15.[42]To prevent their spreading the report of the king’s disappearance.[43]Sultan Mahmūd, the son of Sebuktekīn, of Ghazni.[44]Hasan of Maymand was a minister, not of Sultan Mahmūd, but of that monarch’s father. Hasan’s son, Ahmed, was Mahmūd’s vezir.[45]I have thought it best to leave the uncivil remark of the owner of the black ass in the inimitable simplicity of the uncivil remark of the original.[46]In Belletēte this courtier is said to be Firdausī of Tūs, and he is made to tell Mahmūd the following story of the khoja and the abdal, for which the Sultan rewards him with a purse of gold.[47]A kind of religious mendicant.[48]The original is somewhat more explicit here; Vālidesi qizin muhrini teftīsh eyledi, chun muhrini muhrlu buldi, qizin iki guzinden updi.[49]Hasan of Basra was a very pious and learned man. He died in 110 (A.D.728).[50]The dervish’s cloak.[51]El-Ma’mūn, the son of Hārūn-er-Reshīd, was proclaimed caliph in 198 (A.D.813); he died in 218 (A.D.833).[52]Koran, xi. 48.[53]The point of this story is lost in the translation. To let fly a falcon at game, is, in Turkish, to swing a falcon; the king says to the abdal, “Swing the falcon,” meaning, let it fly at the bird; but the abdal understands him literally, and swings the falcon round his head.

FOOTNOTES:

[1]A fabulous bird, a species of vulture or gigantic condor.

[2]Drugs.

[3]Koran, lii. 15.

[4]Ib. xii. 31.

[5]Not necessarily a Chinese woman, simply a beauty; China and Chinese Tartary being regarded as pre-eminent for the beauty of their women.

[6]A term of endearment.

[7]Probably he was afraid lest the king should put him to death for giving such bad news.

[8]The Prophet Mahomet.

[9]I.e., beautiful.

[10]Koran, iv. 94.

[11]As servants do.

[12]In the time of Murad II an aspre was worth about 2½d. stg. Turkish sequins were not struck till the time of his successor, Mahomet II, when they were equivalent to about 12s. 6d. Foreign gold coins, especially Venetian, were used previously.

[13]Qāf is the name of a fabled mountain chain, formerly supposed to encircle the world: “the castle” is simply a metaphor for the mountain peaks.

[14]This famous speech is usually attributed to ‘Omar, the second caliph.

[15]Bal’am-bin-Bā’ūr.

[16]‘Uj-bin-‘Unuq. He is said, in the Talmud, to have been a monstrous giant. The ‘Adīs, we are told, were from sixty to one hundred cubits high. Compare Numbers xiii. 33.

[17]Koran, v. 29.

[18]Koran, vii. 175.

[19]A mysterious being, of the number of the prophets, who appears to and aids Moslems in distress; he is frequently mentioned in Mahometan fiction, where he plays a part similar to that of Elijah in the Talmud.

[20]Compare Boethius thus translated by Chaucer: All thynges seken ayen to hir propre course, and all thyngs rejoysen on hir retourninge agayne to hir nature.

[21]The emerald was supposed to have the effect of blinding snakes when they looked upon it.

[22]There is an Eastern myth to that effect.

[23]Joseph is the type of youthful beauty.

[24]A fabulous bird of great size. Solomon, it should be said, according to the Talmudic and Koranic legends, was acquainted with the language of beasts and birds, with whom he used often to converse.

[25]Koran, iii. 128.

[26]The celebrated Caliph of Bagdad, and hero of so many of the stories in the “Thousand and One Nights.”

[27]Koran, iii. 128.

[28]D’Herbelot relates the same story in his “Bibliothèque Orientale,” but substitutes Hasan son of ‘Ali, the Prophet’s son-in-law, for Harun-er-Reshid.

[29]Bāyezīd of Bestam was a famous saint who, according to Ibn-Khallikān, died in 261 or 264 (A.D.875 or 878).

[30]One of the most famous kings of pre-Islamitic Persia, he reigned fromA.D.531 to 579.

[31]The Cubical (House), i.e., the Sacred Temple at Mecca.

[32]One of the ceremonies performed by the pilgrims at Mecca.

[33]For a description of it see Captain Burton’s “Pilgrimage,” vol. iii, p. 164.

[34]Such as is required by the Mahometan law in case of a triple divorce.

[35]Koran, xxi. 23.

[36]Koran, xxvii. 66.

[37]The ram is a type of courage.

[38]A legendary sage. He here pretends to kill the boy, that the king may recover through joy on finding his son alive.

[39]An adherent of the Shī’a sect, which acknowledges ‘Alī, but rejects Abu-Bekr, ‘Othmān and ‘Omar as lawful caliphs.

[40]So the point of this story turns upon an untranslatable pun.

[41]Koran, viii. 128, and lxiv. 15.

[42]To prevent their spreading the report of the king’s disappearance.

[43]Sultan Mahmūd, the son of Sebuktekīn, of Ghazni.

[44]Hasan of Maymand was a minister, not of Sultan Mahmūd, but of that monarch’s father. Hasan’s son, Ahmed, was Mahmūd’s vezir.

[45]I have thought it best to leave the uncivil remark of the owner of the black ass in the inimitable simplicity of the uncivil remark of the original.

[46]In Belletēte this courtier is said to be Firdausī of Tūs, and he is made to tell Mahmūd the following story of the khoja and the abdal, for which the Sultan rewards him with a purse of gold.

[47]A kind of religious mendicant.

[48]The original is somewhat more explicit here; Vālidesi qizin muhrini teftīsh eyledi, chun muhrini muhrlu buldi, qizin iki guzinden updi.

[49]Hasan of Basra was a very pious and learned man. He died in 110 (A.D.728).

[50]The dervish’s cloak.

[51]El-Ma’mūn, the son of Hārūn-er-Reshīd, was proclaimed caliph in 198 (A.D.813); he died in 218 (A.D.833).

[52]Koran, xi. 48.

[53]The point of this story is lost in the translation. To let fly a falcon at game, is, in Turkish, to swing a falcon; the king says to the abdal, “Swing the falcon,” meaning, let it fly at the bird; but the abdal understands him literally, and swings the falcon round his head.

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