The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1

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O King of the age, I came to this thy country with merchandise
and Destiny stayed me here with you: but my place of birth was
Cairo, in Egypt, where I also was brought up, for I am one of the
Copts and my father was a broker before me. When I came to man's
estate he departed this life and I succeeded to his business. One
day, as I was sitting in my shop, behold, there came up to me a
youth as handsome as could be, wearing sumptuous raiment and
riding a fine ass.[FN#511] When he saw me he saluted me, and I
stood up to do him honour: then he took out a kerchief containing
a sample of sesame and asked, "How much is this worth per
Ardabb?";[FN#512] whereto I answered, "An hundred dirhams." Quoth
he, "Take porters and gaugers and metesmen and come tomorrow to
the Khan al-Jawali,[FN#513] by the Gate of Victory quarter where
thou wilt find me." Then he fared forth leaving with me the
sample of sesame in his kerchief; and I went the round of my
customers and ascertained that every Ardabb would fetch an
hundred and twenty dirhams. Next day I took four metesmen and
walked with them to the Khan, where I found him awaiting me. As
soon as he saw me he rose and opened his magazine, when we
measured the grain till the store was empty; and we found the
contents fifty Ardabbs, making five thousand pieces of silver.
Then said he, "Let ten dirhams on every Ardabb be thy brokerage;
so take the price and keep in deposit four thousand and five
hundred dirhams for me; and, when I have made an end of selling
the other wares in my warehouses, I will come to thee and receive
the amount." "I will well," replied I and kissing his hand went
away, having made that day a profit of a thousand dirhams. He was
absent a month, at the end of which he came to me and asked,
"Where be the dirhams?" I rose and saluted him and answered to
him, "Wilt thou not eat somewhat in my house?" But he refused
with the remark, "Get the monies ready and I will presently
return and take them." Then he rode away. So I brought out the
dirhams and sat down to await him, but he stayed away for another
month, when he came back and said to me, "Where be the dirhams?"
I rose and saluting him asked, "Wilt thou not eat some thing in
my house?" But he again refused adding, "Get me the monies ready
and I will presently return and take them." Then he rode off. So
I brought out the dirhams and sat down to await his return; but
he stayed away from me a third month, and I said, "Verily this
young man is liberality in incarnate form." At the end of the
month he came up, riding a mare mule and wearing a suit of
sumptuous raiment; he was as the moon on the night of fullness,
and he seemed as if fresh from the baths, with his cheeks rosy
bright, and his brow flower white, and a mole spot like a grain
of ambergris delighting the sight; even as was said of such an
one by the poet:--

Full moon with sun in single mansion * In brightest sheen and
fortune rose and shone,
With happy splendour changing every sprite: * Hail to what
guerdons prayer with blissful! boon!
Their charms and grace have gained perfection's height, * All
hearts have conquered and all wits have won.
Laud to the Lord for works so wonder strange, * And what th'
Almighty wills His hand hath done!

When I saw him I rose to him and invoking blessings on him asked,
O my lord, wilt thou not take thy monies?" "Whence the
hurry?"[FN#514] quoth he, "Wait till I have made an end of my
business and then I will come and take them." Again he rode away
and I said to myself, "By Allah, when he comes next time needs
must I make him my guest; for I have traded with his dirhams and
have gotten large gains thereby." At the end of the year he came
again, habited in a suit of clothes more sumptuous than the
former; and, when I conjured him by the Evangel to alight at my
house and eat of my guest food, he said, "I consent, on condition
that what thou expendest on me shall be of my monies still in thy
hands. I answered, "So be it," and made him sit down whilst I got
ready what was needful of meat and drink and else besides; and
set the tray before him, with the invitation "Bismillah"![FN#515]
Then he drew near the tray and put out his left hand[FN#516] and
ate with me; and I marvelled at his not using the right hand.
When we had done eating, I poured water on his hand and gave him
wherewith to wipe it. Upon this we sat down to converse after I
had set before him some sweetmeats; and I said to him, "O my
master, prithee relieve me by telling me why thou eatest with thy
left hand? Perchance something aileth thy other hand?" When he
heard my words, he repeated these verses:--

"Dear friend, ask not what burneth in my breast, * Lest thou see
fiery pangs eye never saw:
Wills not my heart to harbour Salma in stead * Of
Layla's[FN#517] love, but need hath ne'er a law!"

And he put out his right arm from his sleeve and behold, the hand
was cut off, a wrist without a fist. I was astounded at this but
he said, "Marvel not, and think not that I ate with my left hand
for conceit and insolence, but from necessity; and the cutting
off my right hand was caused by an adventure of the strangest."
Asked I, "And what caused it?"; and he answered:--"Know that I am
of the sons of Baghdad and my father was of notables of that
city. When I came to man's estate I heard the pilgrims and
wayfarers, travellers and merchants talk of the land of Egypt and
their words sank deep into my mind till my parent died, when I
took a large sum of money and furnished myself for trade with
stuffs of Baghdad and Mosul and, packing them up in bales, set
out on my wanderings; and Allah decreed me safety till I entered
this your city. Then he wept and began repeating:--

The blear eyed 'scapes the pits * Wherein the lynx eyed fall:
A word the wise man slays * And saves the natural:
The Moslem fails of food * The Kafir feasts in hall:
What art or act is man's? * God's will obligeth all!

Now when he had ended his verse he said, So I entered Cairo and
took off my loads and stored my stuffs in the Khan "Al-
Masrur."[FN#518] Then I gave the servant a few silvers wherewith
to buy me some food and lay down to sleep awhile. When I awoke I
went to the street called "Bayn al-Kasrayn"--Between the two
Palaces--and presently returned and rested my night in the Khan.
When it was morning I opened a bale and took out some stuff
saying to myself, "I will be off and go through some of the
bazaars and see the state of the market." So I loaded the stuff
on some of my slaves and fared forth till I reached the
Kaysariyah or Exchange of Jaharkas;[FN#519] where the brokers who
knew of my coming came to meet me. They took the stuffs and cried
them for sale, but could not get the prime cost of them. I was
vexed at this, however the Shaykh of the brokers said to me, "O
my lord, I will tell thee how thou mayest make a profit of thy
goods. Thou shouldest do as the merchants do and sell thy
merchandise at credit for a fixed period, on a contract drawn up
by a notary and duly witnessed; and employ a Shroff to take thy
dues every Monday and Thursday. So shalt thou gain two dirhams
and more, for every one; and thou shalt solace and divert thyself
by seeing Cairo and the Nile." Quoth I, "This is sound advice,"
and carried the brokers to the Khan. They took my stuffs and went
with them on 'Change where I sold them well taking bonds for the
value. These bonds I deposited with a Shroff, a banker, who gave
me a receipt with which I returned to the Khan. Here I stayed a
whole month, every morning breaking my fast with a cup of wine
and making my meals on pigeon's meat, mutton and sweetmeats, till
the time came when my receipts began to fall due. So, every
Monday and Thursday I used to go on 'Change and sit in the shop
of one or other of the merchants, whilst the notary and money
changer went round to recover the monies from the traders, till
after the time of mid afternoon prayer, when they brought me the
amount, and I counted it and, sealing the bags, returned with
them to the Khan. On a certain day which happened to be a
Monday,[FN#520] I went to the Hammam and thence back to my Khan,
and sitting in my own room[FN#521] broke my fast with a cup of
wine, after which I slept a little. When I awoke I ate a chicken
and, perfuming my person, repaired to the shop of a merchant
hight Badr al-Din al-Bostani, or the Gardener,[FN#522] who
welcomed me; and we sat talking awhile till the bazaar should
open. Presently, behold, up came a lady of stately figure wearing
a head-dress of the most magnificent, perfumed with the sweetest
of scents and walking with graceful swaying gait; and seeing me
she raised her mantilla allowing me a glimpse of her beautiful
black eyes. She saluted Badr al-Din who returned her salutation
and stood up, and talked with her; and the moment I heard her
speak, the love of her got hold of my heart. Presently she said
to Badr al-Din, "Hast thou by thee a cut piece of stuff woven
with thread of pure gold?" So he brought out to her a piece from
those he had bought of me and sold it to her for one thousand two
hundred dirhams; when she said, "I will take the piece home with
me and send thee its price." "That is impossible, O my lady," the
merchant replied, "for here is the owner of the stuff and I owe
him a share of profit." "Fie upon thee!" she cried, "Do I not use
to take from thee entire rolls of costly stuff, and give thee a
greater profit than thou expectest, and send thee the money?"
"Yes," rejoined he; "but I stand in pressing need of the price
this very day." Hereupon she took up the piece and threw it back
upon his lap, saying "Out on thee! Allah confound the tribe of
you which estimates none at the right value;" and she turned to
go. I felt my very soul going with her; so I stood up and stayed
her, saying, "I conjure thee by the Lord, O my lady, favour me by
retracing thy gracious steps." She turned back with a smile and
said, "For thy sake I return," and took a seat opposite me in the
shop. Then quoth I to Badr al-Din, "What is the price they asked
thee for this piece?"; and quoth he, "Eleven hundred dirhams." I
rejoined, "The odd hundred shall be thy profit: bring me a sheet
of paper and I will write thee a discharge for it." Then I wrote
him a receipt in my own handwriting and gave the piece to the
lady, saying, "Take it away with thee and, if thou wilt, bring me
its price next bazaar day; or better still, accept it as my guest
gift to thee." "Allah requite thee with good," answered she, "and
make thee my husband and lord and master of all I have!"[FN#523]
And Allah favoured her prayer. I saw the Gates of Paradise swing
open before me and said, "O my lady, let this piece of stuff be
now thine and another like it is ready for thee, only let me have
one look at thy face." So she raised her veil and I saw a face
the sight of which bequeathed to me a thousand sighs, and my
heart was so captivated by her love that I was no longer ruler of
my reason. Then she let fall her face veil and taking up the
piece of stuff said, "O my lord make me not desolate by thine
absence!" and turned away and disappeared from my sight. I
remained sitting on 'Change till past the hour of after noon
prayer, lost to the world by the love which had mastered me, and
the violence of my passion compelled me to make enquiries
concerning her of the merchant, who answered me, "This is a lady
and a rich: she is the daughter of a certain Emir who lately died
and left her a large fortune." Then I took leave of him and
returned home to the Khan where they set supper before me; but I
could not eat for thinking of her and when I lay down to sleep,
sleep came not near me. So I watched till morning, when I arose
and donned a change of raiment and drank a cup of wine and, after
breaking my fast on some slight matter, I went to the merchant's
shop where I saluted him and sat down by him. Presently up came
the lady as usual, followed by a slave girl and wearing a dress
more sumptuous than before; and she saluted me without noticing
Badr al-Din and said in fluent graceful speech (never heard I
voice softer or sweeter), "Send one with me to take the thousand
and two hundred dirhams, the price of the piece." "Why this
hurry?" asked I and she answered, "May we never lose
thee!"[FN#524] and handed me the money. Then I sat talking with
her and presently I signed to her in dumb show, whereby she
understood that I longed to enjoy her person,[FN#525] and she
rose up in haste with a show of displeasure. My heart clung to
her and I went forth from the bazaar and followed on her track.
As I was walking suddenly a black slave girl stopped me and said,
"O my master, come speak with my mistress."[FN#526] At this I was
surprised and replied, "There is none who knows me here;" but she
rejoined, "0 my lord, how soon hast thou forgotten her! My lady
is the same who was this day at the shop of such a merchant."
Then I went with her to the Shroff's, where I found the lady who
drew me to her side and said, "O my beloved, thine image is
firmly stamped upon my fancy, and love of thee hath gotten hold
of my heart: from the hour I first saw thee nor sleep nor food
nor drink hath given me aught of pleasure." I replied, "The
double of that suffering is mine and my state dispenseth me from
complaint." Then said she, "O my beloved, at thy house, or at
mine?" "I am a stranger here and have no place of reception save
the Khan, so by thy favour it shall be at thy house." "So be it;
but this is Friday[FN#527] night and nothing can be done till
tomorrow after public prayers; go to the Mosque and pray; then
mount thine ass, and ask for the Habbaniyah[FN#528] quarter; and,
when there, look out for the mansion of Al-Nakib[FN#529] Barakat,
popularly known as Abu Shamah the Syndic; for I live there: so do
not delay as I shall be expecting thee." I rejoiced with still
greater joy at this; and took leave of her and returned to my
Khan, where I passed a sleepless night. Hardly was I assured that
morning had dawned when I rose, changed my dress, perfumed myself
with essences and sweet scents and, taking fifty dinars in a
kerchief, went from the Khan Masrur to the Zuwaylah[FN#530] gate,
where I mounted an ass and said to its owner, "Take me to the
Habbaniyah." So he set off with me and brought up in the
twinkling of an eye at a street known as Darb al-Munkari, where I
said to him, "Go in and ask for the Syndic's mansion." He was
absent a while and then returned and said, "Alight." "Go thou
before me to the house," quoth I, adding, "Come back with the
earliest light and bring me home;" and he answered, "In Allah's
name;" whereupon I gave him a quarter dinar of gold, and he took
it and went his ways. Then I knocked at the door and out came two
white slave girls, both young; high-bosomed virgins, as they were
moons, and said to me, "Enter, for our mistress is expecting thee
and she hath not slept the night long for her delight in thee." I
passed through the vestibule into a saloon with seven doors,
floored with parti-coloured marbles and furnished with curtains
and hangings of coloured silks: the ceiling was cloisonne with
gold and corniced with inscriptions[FN#531] emblazoned in lapis
lazuli; and the walls were stuccoed with Sultani gypsum[FN#532]
which mirrored the beholder's face. Around the saloon were
latticed windows overlooking a garden full of all manner of
fruits; whose streams were railing and riffling and whose birds
were trilling and shrilling; and in the heart of the hall was a
jetting fountain at whose corners stood birds fashioned in red
gold crusted with pearls and gems and spouting water crystal
clear. When I entered and took a seat.--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Twenty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
merchant continued, When I entered and took a seat, the lady at
once came in crowned with a diadem[FN#533] of pearls and jewels;
her face dotted with artificial moles in indigo,[FN#534] her
eyebrows pencilled with Kohl and her hands and feet reddened with
Henna. When she saw me she smiled in my face and took me to her
embrace and clasped me to her breast; then she put her mouth to
my mouth and sucked my tongue[FN#535] (and I did likewise) and
said, "Can it be true, O my little darkling, thou art come to
me?" adding, "Welcome and good cheer to thee! By Allah, from the
day I saw thee sleep hath not been sweet to me nor hath food been
pleasant." Quoth I, "Such hath also been my case: and I am thy
slave, thy negro slave." Then we sat down to converse and I hung
my head earthwards in bashfulness, but she delayed not long ere
she set before me a tray of the most exquisite viands, marinated
meats, fritters soaked in bee's[FN#536] honeys and chickens
stuffed with sugar and pistachio nuts, whereof we ate till we
were satisfied. Then they brought basin and ewer and I washed my
hands and we scented ourselves with rose water musk'd and sat
down again to converse. So she began repeating these
couplets[FN#537]:

"Had we wist of thy coming, thy way had been strewn
With the blood of our heart and the balls of our sight:
Our cheek as a foot cloth to greet thee been thrown,
That thy step on our eyelids should softly alight."

And she kept plaining of what had befallen her and I of what had
betided me; and love of her got so firm hold of my heart that all
my wealth seemed a thing of naught in comparison with her. Then
we fell to toying and groping and kissing till night fall, when
the handmaidens set before us meats and a complete wine service,
and we sat carousing till the noon of night, when we lay down and
I lay with her; never in my life saw I a night like that night.
When morning morrowed I arose and took leave of her, throwing
under the carpet bed the kerchief wherein were the dinars[FN#538]
and as I went out she wept and said, "O my lord, when shall I
look upon that lovely face again?" "I will be with thee at
sunset," answered I, and going out found the donkey boy, who had
brought me the day before, awaiting at the door. So I mounted ass
and rode to the Khan of Masrur where I alighted and gave the man
a half dinar, saying, "Return at sunset;" and he said "I will."
Then I breakfasted and went out to seek the price of my stuffs;
after which I returned, and taking a roast lamb and some
sweetmeats, called a porter and put the provision in his crate,
and sent it to the lady paying the man his hire.[FN#539] I went
back to my business till sunset, when the ass driver came to me
and I took fifty dinars in a kerchief and rode to her house where
I found the marble floor swept, the brasses burnisht, the branch
lights burning, the wax candles ready lighted, the meat served up
and the wine strained.[FN#540] When my lady saw me she threw her
arms about my neck, and cried, "Thou hast desolated me by thine
absence." Then she set the tables before me and we ate till we
were satisfied, when the slave girls carried off the trays and
served up wine. We gave not over drinking till half the night was
past; and, being well warmed with drink, we went to the sleeping
chamber and lay there till morning. I then arose and fared forth
from her leaving the fifty dinars with her as before; and,
finding the donkey boy at the door, rode to the Khan and slept
awhile. After that I went out to make ready the evening meal and
took a brace of geese with gravy on two platters of dressed and
peppered rice, and got ready colocasia[FN#541]-roots fried and
soaked in honey, and wax candles and fruits and conserves and
nuts and almonds and sweet scented cowers; and I sent them all to
her. As soon as it was night I again tied up fifty dinars in a
kerchief and, mounting the ass as usual, rode to the mansion
where we ate and drank and lay together till morning when I threw
the kerchief and dinars to her[FN#542] and rode back to the Khan.
I ceased not doing after that fashion till, after a sweet night,
I woke one fine morning and found myself beggared, dinar-less and
dirhamless. So said I to myself "All this be Satan's work;" and
began to recite these couplets:--

"Poverty dims the sheen of man whate'er his wealth has been, *
E'en as the sun about to set shines with a yellowing light
Absent he falls from memory, forgotten by his friends; * Present
he shareth not their joys for none in him delight
He walks the market shunned of all, too glad to hide his head, *
In desert places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight
By Allah, 'mid his kith and kin a man, however good, * Waylaid
by want and penury is but a stranger wight!"

I fared forth from the Khan and walked down "Between the Palaces"
street till I came to the Zuwaylah Porte, where I found the
people crowding and the gateway blocked for the much folk. And by
the decree of Destiny I saw there a trooper against whom I
pressed unintentionally, so that my hand came upon his bosom
pocket and I felt a purse inside it. I looked and seeing a string
of green silk hanging from the pocket knew it for a purse; and
the crush grew greater every minute and just then, a camel laden
with a load of fuel happened to jostle the trooper on the
opposite side, and he turned round to fend it off from him, lest
it tear his clothes; and Satan tempted me, so I pulled the string
and drew out a little bag of blue silk, containing something
which chinked like coin. But the soldier, feeling his pocket
suddenly lightened, put his hand to it and found it empty;
whereupon he turned to me and, snatching up his mace from his
saddle bow, struck me with it on the head. I fell to the ground,
whilst the people came round us and seizing the trooper's mare by
the bridle said to him, "Strikest thou this youth such a blow as
this for a mere push!" But the trooper cried out at them, "This
fellow is an accursed thief!" Whereupon I came to myself and
stood up, and the people looked at me and said, "Nay, he is a
comely youth: he would not steal anything;" and some of them took
my part and others were against me and question and answer waxed
loud and warm. The people pulled at me and would have rescued me
from his clutches; but as fate decreed behold, the Governor, the
Chief of Police, and the watch[FN#543] entered the Zuwaylah Gate
at this moment and, seeing the people gathered together around me
and the soldier, the Governor asked, "What is the matter?" "By
Allah! O Emir," answered the trooper, "this is a thief! I had in
my pocket a purse of blue silk lined with twenty good gold pieces
and he took it, whilst I was in the crush." Quoth the Governor,
"Was any one by thee at the time?"; and quoth the soldier, "No."
Thereupon the Governor cried out to the Chief of Police who
seized me, and on this wise the curtain of the Lord's. protection
was withdrawn from me. Then he said "Strip him;" and, when they
stripped me, they found the purse in my clothes. The Wali took
it, opened it and counted it; and, finding in it twenty dinars as
the soldier had said, waxed exceeding wroth and bade his guard
bring me before him. Then said he to me, "Now, O youth, speak
truly: didst thou steal this purse?"[FN#544] At this I hung my
head to the ground and said to myself, "If I deny having stolen
it, I shall get myself into terrible trouble." So I raised my
head and said, "Yes, I took it." When the Governor heard these
words he wondered and summoned witnesses who came forward and
attested my confession. All this happened at the Zuwaylah Gate.
Then the Governor ordered the link bearer to cut off my right
hand, and he did so; after which he would have struck off my left
foot also; but the heart of the soldier softened and he took pity
on me and interceded for me with the Governor that I should not
be slain.[FN#545] Thereupon the Wali left me, and went away and
the folk remained round me and gave me a cup of wine to drink. As
for the trooper he pressed the purse upon me, and said, "Thou art
a comely youth and it befitteth not thou be a thief." So I
repeated these verses:--

"I swear by Allah's name, fair sir! no thief was I, * Nor, O thou
best of men! was I a bandit bred:
But Fortune's change and chance o'erthrew me suddenly, * And
cark and care and penury my course misled:
I shot it not, indeed, 'twas Allah shot the shaft * That rolled
in dust the Kingly diadem from my head."[FN#546]

The soldier turned away after giving me the purse; and I also
went my ways having wrapped my hand in a piece of rag and thrust
it into my bosom. My whole semblance had changed, and my colour
had waxed yellow from the shame and pain which had befallen me.
Yet I went on to my mistress's house where, in extreme
perturbation of spirit I threw myself down on the carpet bed. She
saw me in this state and asked me, "What aileth thee and why do I
see thee so changed in looks?"; and I answered, "My head paineth
me and I am far from well." Whereupon she was vexed and was
concerned on my account and said, "Burn not my heart, O my lord,
but sit up and raise thy head and recount to me what hath
happened to thee today, for thy face tells me a tale." "Leave
this talk," replied I. But she wept and said, "Me seems thou art
tired of me, for I see thee contrary to thy wont." But I was
silent; and she kept on talking to me albeit I gave her no
answer, till night came on. Then she set food before me, but I
refused it fearing lest she see me eating with my left hand and
said to her, "I have no stomach to eat at present." Quoth she,
"Tell me what hath befallen thee to day, and why art thou so
sorrowful and broken in spirit and heart?" Quoth I, "Wait awhile;
I will tell thee all at my leisure." Then she brought me wine,
saying, "Down with it, this will dispel thy grief: thou must
indeed drink and tell me of thy tidings." I asked her, "Perforce
must I tell thee?"; and she answered, "Yes." Then said I, "If it
needs must be so, then give me to drink with thine own hand." She
filled and drank,[FN#547] and filled again and gave me the cup
which I took from her with my left hand and wiped the tears from
my eyelids and began repeating:

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