The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2

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When it was the Sixty-eighth night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar
bin al-Nu'uman wrote in his letter, "My absence while sporting
and hunting endured for a whole month, and when I returned I
found that thy brother and sister had taken somewhat of money and
had set out with the pilgrim caravan for pilgrimage by stealth.
When I knew this, the wide world narrowed on me, O my son! but I
awaited the return of the caravan, hoping that haply they would
come back with it. Accordingly, when the palmers appeared I
asked concerning the twain, but they could give me no news of
them; so I donned mourning for them, being heavy at heart, and in
sleep I have no part and I am drowned in the tears of my eyes."
Then he wrote in verse,

"That pair in image quits me not one single hour, * Whom in my
heart's most honourable place I keep:
Sans hope of their return I would not live one hour, * Without my
dreams of them I ne'er would stretch me in sleep."

The letter went on, "And after the usual salutations to thee and
thine, I command thee neglect no manner of seeking news of them
for indeed this is a shame to us." When Sharrkan read the letter
he felt grief for his father and joy for the loss of his brother
and sister. Then he took the missive and went in with it to
Nuzhat al-Zaman who knew not that he was her brother, nor he that
she was his sister, albeit he often visited her both by night and
by day till the months were accomplished and she sat down on the
stool of delivery. Allah made the child birth easy to her and
she bare a daughter, whereupon she sent for Sharrkan and seeing
him she said to him, "This is thy daughter: name her as thou
wilt." Quoth he, "It is usual to name children on the seventh day
after birth.[FN#300]" Then he bent over the child to kiss it and
he saw, hung about its neck, a jewel, which he knew at once for
one of those which Princess Abrizah had brought from the land of
the Greeks. Now when he saw the jewel hanging from his babe's
neck he recognised it right well, his senses fled and wrath
seized on him; his eyes rolled in rage and he looked at Nuzhat
al- Zaman and said to her, "Whence hadst thou this jewel, O slave
girl?" When she heard this from Sharrkan she replied, "I am thy
lady, and the lady of all in thy palace! Art thou not ashamed to
say to me Slave girl? I am a Queen, daughter of King Omar bin
al-Nu'uman." Hearing this, he was seized with trembling and hung
his head earthwards,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Sixty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Sharrkan heard these words, his heart fluttered and his colour
waxed yellow and he was seized with trembling and he hung his
head earthwards, for he knew that she was his sister by the same
father. Then he lost his senses; and, when he revived, he abode
in amazement, but did not discover his identity to her and asked,
O my lady, say, art thou in sooth the daughter of King Omar bin
al- Nu'uman?" "Yes," answered she; and he continued, "Tell me the
cause of thy leaving thy sire and of thy being sold for a slave."
So she related to him all that had befallen her from beginning to
end, how she had left her brother sick in the Sanctified City,
Jerusalem, and how the Badawi had kidnapped her and had sold her
to the trader. When Sharrkan heard this, he was certified of her
being his sister on the sword side and said to himself, "How can
I have my sister to wife? By Allah, needs must I marry her to
one of my chamberlains; and, if the thing get wind, I will
declare that I divorced her before consummation and married her
to my Chief Chamberlain." Then he raised his head and sighing
said, "O Nuzhat al-Zaman, thou art my very sister and I cry: 'I
take refuge with Allah from this sin whereinto we have fallen,'
for I am Sharrkan, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman." She looked at him
and knew he spoke the truth; and, becoming as one demented, she
wept and buffeted her face, exclaiming, "There is no Majesty and
there is no Might save in Allah! Verily have we fallen into
mortal sin![FN#301] What shall I do and what shall I say to my
father and my mother when they ask me, Whence hadst thou thy
daughter?" Quoth Sharrkan, "It were meetest that I marry thee to
my Chamberlain and let thee bring up my daughter in his house,
that none may know thou be my sister. This hath befallen us from
Almighty Allah for a purpose of his own, and nothing shall cover
us but thy marriage with this Chamberlain, ere any know." Then he
fell to comforting her and kissing her head and she asked him,
"What wilt thou call the girl?" "Call her Kuzia Fakan,"[FN#302]
answered he. Then he gave the mother in marriage to the Chief
Chamberlain, and transferred her to his house with the child,
which they reared on the laps of the slave girls, and fed with
milk and dosed with powders. Now all this occurred whilst the
brother, Zau al-Makan, still tarried with the Fireman at
Damascus. One day there came to King Sharrkan a courier from his
father, with a letter which he took and read and found therein,
"After the Bismillah know, O beloved King, that I am afflicted
with sore affliction for the loss of my children: sleep ever
faileth me and wakefulness ever assaileth me. I send thee this
letter that, as soon as thou receivest it, thou make ready the
monies and the tribute, and send them to us, together with the
damsel whom thou hast bought and taken to wife; for I long to see
her and hear her discourse; more especially because there hath
come to us from Roumland an old woman of saintly bearing and with
her be five damsels high bosomed virgins, endowed with knowledge
and good breeding and all arts and sciences befitting mortals to
know; and indeed tongue faileth me to describe this old woman and
these who with her wend; for of a truth they are compendiums of
perfections in learning and accomplishments. As soon as I saw
them I loved them, and I wished to have them in my palace and in
the compass of my hand; for none of the Kings owneth the like of
them; so I asked the old woman their price and she answered, 'I
will not sell them but for the tribute of Damascus.' And I, by
Allah, did not hold this price exorbitant, indeed it is but
little, for each one of them is worth the whole valuation. So I
agreed to that and took them into my palace, and they remain in
my possession. Wherefore do thou forward the tribute to us that
the woman may return to her own country; and send to us the
damsel to the end that she may dispute with them before the
doctors; and, if she prevail over them, I will return her to thee
accompanied by the tribute of Baghdad."--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Seventieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar
son of Al-Nu'uman said in his letter, "And send to us the damsel
to the end that she may dispute with them before the doctors and,
if she prevail over them, I will return her to thee accompanied
with the tribute of Baghdad." As soon as Sharrkan knew the
contents, he went in to his brother in law and said to him,
"Bring the damsel to whom I married thee;" and when she came he
showed her the letter and said, "O my sister! what answer
wouldst thou advise me make to this letter?" Replied she, "Seek
advice from thyself!" and presently added (for she yearned after
her people and her native land), "Send me together with my
husband the Chamberlain, to Baghdad, that I may tell my father my
tale and let him know whatso befel me with the Badawi who sold me
to the merchant, and that I also inform him how thou boughtest me
of the trader and gavest me in marriage to the Chamberlain, after
setting me free." "Be it so," replied Sharrkan. Then Sharrkan
took his daughter, Kuzia Fakan, and committed her to the charge
of the wet nurses and the eunuchs, and he made ready the tribute
in haste, bidding the Chamberlain travel with the Princess and
the treasure to Baghdad. He also furnished him two travelling
litters one for himself and the other for his wife. And the
Chamberlain replied, "To hear is to obey." Moreover Sharrkan
collected camels and mules and wrote a letter to his father and
committed it to the Chamberlain; then he bade farewell to his
sister, after he had taken the jewel from her and hung it round
his daughter's neck by a chain of pure gold; and she and her
husband set out for Baghdad the same night. Now it so happened
that Zau al-Makan and his friend the Fireman had come forth from
the hut in which they were, to see the spectacle, and they beheld
camels and Bukhti[FN#303] dromedaries and bat-mules and torches
and lanterns alight; and Zau al-Makan enquired about the loads
and their owner and was told that it was the tribute of Damascus
going to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of the City of Baghdad.
He then asked, "Who be the leader of the caravan?" and they
answered, "The Head Chamberlain who hath married the damsel so
famous for learning and science." Thereupon Zau al-Makan wept
with bitter weeping and was minded of his mother and his father
and his sister and his native land, and he said to the Stoker, "I
will join this caravan and, little by little, will journey
homewards." Quoth the Fireman, "I would not suffer thee to travel
single handed from the Holy City to Damascus, then how shall I be
sure of thy safety when thou farest for Baghdad? But I will go
with thee and care for thee till thou effectest thine object."
"With joy and good will," answered Zau al-Makan. Then the
Fireman get him ready for the journey and hired an ass and threw
saddle bags over it and put therein something of provaunt; and,
when all was prepared, he awaited the passage of the caravan.
And presently the Chamberlain came by on a dromedary and his
footmen about him. Then Zau al-Ma ken mounted the ass and said
to his companion, "Do thou mount with me." But he replied, "Not
so: I will be thy servant." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "There is no help
for it but thou ride awhile." "'Tis well," quoth the Stoker; "I
will ride when I grow tired." Then said Zau al-Makan, "O my
brother, soon shalt thou see how I will deal with thee, when I
come to my own folk." So they fared on till the sun rose and,When
it was the hour of the noonday sleep[FN#304] the Chamberlain
called a halt and they alighted and reposed and watered their
camels. Then he gave the signal for departure and, after five
days, they came to the city of Hamah,[FN#305] where they set down
and made a three days' halt;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Seventy-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that they halted
in the city of Hamah three days; they then fared forwards and
ceased not travelling till they reached another city. Here also
they halted three days and thence they travelled till they
entered the province Diyar Bakr. Here blew on them the breezes
of Baghdad, and Zau al-Makan bethought him of his father and
mother and native land, and how he was returning to his sire
without his sister: so he wept and sighed and complained, and his
regrets grew on him, and he began improvising these couplets,

"Sweetheart! How long must I await by so long suffering teed? *
Nor cometh messenger to tell me where thou dost abide:
Ah me! in very sooth our meeting time was short enow: * Would
Heaven shorter prove to me the present parting-tide!
Now trend my hand and open my robe and thou within shall sight *
How wasted are the limbs of me and yet the waste I hide:
When say they 'Comfort take for loss of love' I but reply * 'By
Allah, till the Day of Doom no comfort shall betide!' "

Thereupon said to him the Fireman, "Leave this weeping and
wailing, for we are near the Chamberlain's tent." Quoth Zau al-
Makan, "Needs must I recite somewhat of verse; haply it may
quench the fire of my heart." "Allah upon thee," cried the other,
"cease this lamentation till thou come to shine own country; then
do what thou wilt, and I will be with thee wherever thou art."
Replied Zau al-Makan, "By Allah! I cannot forbear from this!"
Then he turned his face towards Baghdad and the moon was shining
brightly and shedding her light on the place, and Nuzhat al-Zaman
could not sleep that night, but was restless and called to mind
her brother and wept. And while she was in tears, he heard Zau
al-Makan weeping and improvising the following distichs,

'Al-Yaman's[FN#306] leven-gleam I see, * And sore despair
despaireth me
For friend who erst abode wi' me * Crowning my cup with gladdest
gree:
It minds me o' one who jilted me * To mourn my bitter liberty.
Say sooth, thou fair sheet lightning! shall * We meet once more
in joy and glee?
O blamer! spare to me thy blame * My Lord hath sent this dule to
dree,
Of friend who left me, fain to flee; * Of Time that breeds
calamity:
All bliss hath fled the heart of me * Since Fortune proved mine
enemy.
He[FN#307] brimmed a bowl of merest pine, * And made me drain the
dregs, did he:
I see me, sweetheart, dead and gone * Ere I again shall gaze on
thee.
Time! prithee bring our childhood back, * Restore our happy
infancy,
When joy and safety 'joyed we * From shafts that now they shoot
at me!
Who aids the hapless stranger wight, * That nights in fright and
misery,
That wastes his days in lonely grief, * For 'Time's
Delight'[FN#308] no more must be?
Doomed us despite our will to bear * The hands of base bores cark
and care."

When he ended his verse he cried out and fell down in a fainting
fit. This is how it fared with him; but as regards Nuzhat al-
Zaman, when she heard that voice in the night, her heart was at
rest and she rose and in her joy she called the Chief Eunuch, who
said to her, "What is thy will?" Quoth she, "Arise and bring me
him who recited verses but now." Replied he, "Of a truth I did
not hear him"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.

When it was the Seventy-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat
Al-Zaman heard her brother reciting, she called the Chief Eunuch
and said to him, "Go, fetch me the man who is repeating this
poetry!" Replied he, "Of a truth I heard him not and I wot him
not and folks are all sleeping." But she said, "Whomsoever thou
seest awake, he is the reciter." So he went, yet found none on
wake save the Stoker; for Zau al-Makan was still insensible, and
when his companion saw the Eunuch standing by his head he was
afraid of him. Then said the Eunuch, "Art thou he who repeated
poetry but now and my lady heard him?" The Stoker fancied that
the dame was wroth with the reciter; and, being afraid, he
replied, "By Allah, 'twas not I!" Rejoined the Eunuch, "Who then
was the reciter?: point him out to me. Thou must know who it
was, seeing that thou art awake." The Fireman feared for Zau al-
Makan and said in himself, "Haply the Eunuch will do him some
hurt"; so he answered, "By Allah, I know not who it was." Said
the Eunuch, "By Allah, thou liest, for there is none on wake here
but thou! So needs must thou know him." "By Allah," replied the
Fireman, "I tell thee the truth!: some passer by, some wayfarer
must have recited the verses and disturbed me and kept me awake;
Allah requite him!" Quoth the Eunuch, "If thou happen upon him,
point him out to me and I will lay hands on him and bring him to
the door of our lady's litter[FN#309] or do thou take him with
thine own hand." Said the Fireman, "Go thou back and I will bring
him to thee." So the Eunuch left him and went his ways; and,
going in to his mistress, told her all this and said to her,
"None knoweth who it was; it must have been some passer by, some
wayfarer." And she was silent. Meanwhile, Zau al-Makan came to
himself and saw that the moon had reached the middle Heavens; the
breath of the dawn breeze[FN#310] breathed upon him and his heart
was moved to longing and sadness; so he cleared his throat and
was about to recite verses, when the Fire man asked him, "What
wilt thou do?" Answered Zau al-Makan, "I have a mind to repeat
somewhat of poetry, that I may quench therewith the fire of my
heart." Quoth the other, "Thou knowest not what befel me whilst
thou wast a faint, and how I escaped death only by beguiling the
Eunuch." "Tell me what happened," quoth Zau al-Makan. Replied
the Stoker, "Whilst thou wast aswoon there came up to me but now
an Eunuch, with a long staff of almond tree wood in his hand, who
took to looking in all the people's faces, as they lay asleep,
and asked me who it was recited the verses, finding none awake
but myself. I told him in reply it was some passerby, some
wayfarer; so he went away and Allah delivered me from him; else
had he killed me. But first he said to me, 'If thou hear him
again, bring him to us.'" When Zau al-Makan heard this he wept
and said, "Who is it would forbid me to recite? I will surely
recite, befal me what may; for I am near mine own land and care
for none." Rejoined the Fireman, "Thy design is naught save to
lose thy life;" and Zau al-Makan retorted, "Needs must I recite
verses." "Verily," said the Stoker, "needs must there be a
parting between me and thee in this place, albeit;I had intended
not to leave thee, till I had brought thee to thy native city and
reunited thee with thy mother and father. Thou hast now tarried
with me a year and a half and I have never harmed thee in aught.
What ails thee, then, that thou must needs recite verses, seeing
that we are tired out with walking and watching and all the folk
are asleep, for they require sleep to rest them of their
fatigue?" But Zau al-Makan answered, "I will not be turned away
from my purpose."[FN#311] Then grief moved him and he threw off
concealment and began repeating these couplets,

"Stand thou by the homes and hail the lords of the ruined stead;
* Cry thou for an answer, belike reply to thee shall be
sped:
If the night and absence irk thy spirit kindle a torch * Wi'
repine; and illuminate the gloom with a gleaming greed:
If the snake of the sand dunes hiss, I shall marvel not at all!
* Let him bite so I bite those beauteous lips of the
luscious red:
O Eden, my soul hath fled in despite of the maid I love: * Had I
lost hope of Heaven my heart in despair were dead."

And he also improvised the two following distichs,

"We were and were the days enthralled to all our wills, *
Dwelling in union sweet and homed in fairest site:
Who shall restore the home of the beloved, where showed * Light
of the Place for aye conjoined with Time's
Delight?''[FN#312]

And as he ceased his verses, he shrieked three shrieks and fell
senseless to the ground and the Fireman rose and covered him.
When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard the first improvisation, she called to
mind her father and her mother and her brother and their whilome
home; then she wept and cried at the Eunuch and said to him, "Woe
to thee! He who recited the first time hath recited a second
time and I heard him hard by. By Allah, an thou fetch him not to
me, I will assuredly rouse the Chamberlain on thee, and he shall
beat thee and cast thee out. But take these hundred diners and
give them to the singer and bring him to me gently, and do him no
hurt. If he refuse, hand to him this purse of a thousand diners,
then leave him and return to me and tell me, after thou hast
informed thyself of his place and his calling and what countryman
he is. Return quickly and linger not."--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Seventy-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-
Zaman sent the Eunuch to make enquiries concerning the singer and
said, "Beware how thou come back to me and report, I could not
find him." So the Eunuch went out and laid about the people and
trod in their tents, but found none awake, all being asleep for
weariness, till he came to the Stoker and saw him sitting up,
with his head uncovered. So he drew near and seizing him by the
hand, said to him, "It was thou didst recite the verses!" The
Fireman was afeard for his life and replied, "No, by Allah, O
chief of the people, it was not I!" But the Eunuch said, "I will
not leave thee till thou show me who it was that recited the
verses, for I dread returning to my lady without him." Now when
the Fireman heard these words he feared for Zau al-Makan and wept
with exceeding weeping and said to the Eunuch, "By Allah, it was
not I, and I know him not. I only heard some passer by, some
wayfarer, recite verses: so do not thou commit sin on me, for I
am a stranger and come from the Holy City of Jerusalem; and
Abraham, the friend of Allah, be with you all." "Rise up and fare
with me," rejoined the Eunuch, "and tell my lady this with thine
own mouth, for I have seen none awake save thyself." Quoth the
Stoker, "Hast thou not come and seen me sitting in the place
where I now am, and dost thou not know my station? Thou wottest
none can stir from his place, except the watchman seize him. So
go thou to thy station and if thou again meet any one after this
hour reciting aught of poetry, whether he be near or far, it will
be I or some one I know, and thou shalt not learn of him but by
me." Then he kissed the Eunuch's head and spake him fair till he
went away; but the Castrato fetched a round and, returning
secretly, came and stood behind the Fireman, fearing to go back
to his mistress without tidings. As soon as he was gone, the
Stoker arose and aroused Zau al-Makan and said to him, "Come, sit
up, that I may tell thee what hath happened." So Zau al-Makan sat
up, and his companion told him what had passed, and he answered,
"Let me alone; I will take no heed of this and I care for none,
for I am mine own country."[FN#313] Quoth the Stoker, "Why wilt
thou obey thy flesh and the devil? If thou fear no one, I fear
for thee and for my life, so Allah upon thee! recite nothing
more of verses till thou come to thine own land. Indeed, I had
not deemed thee so ill conditioned. Dost thou not know that this
lady is the wife; of the Chamberlain and is minded to chastise
thee for disturbing her? Belike, she is ill or restless for
fatigue of the journey and the distance of the place from her
home, and this is the second time she hath sent the Eunuch to
look for thee." However Zau al-Makan paid no heed to the
Fireman's words but cried out a third time and began versifying
with these couplets,

"I fly the carper's injury,* Whose carping sorely vexeth me:
He chides and taunts me, wotting not * He burns me but more
grievously.
The blamer cries 'He is consoled!' * I say, 'My own dear
land[FN#314] to see:'
They ask, 'Why be that land so dear?' * I say, 'It taught me in
love to be:'
They ask, 'What raised its dignity?' * I say, 'What made my
ignomy:'
Whate'er the bitter cup I drain, * Far be fro' me that land to
flee:
Nor will I bow to those who blame, * And for such love would deal
me shame.

Hardly had he made an end of his verses and come to a conclusion,
when the Eunuch (who had heard him from his hiding place at his
head) came up to him; whereupon the Fireman flea end stood afar
off to see what passed between them. Then said the Eunuch to Zau
al-Makan, "Peace be with thee, O my lord!" "And on thee be
peace," replied Zau al-Makan, "and the mercy of Allah and His
blessings!" "O my lord," continued the Eunuch---And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say,

When it was the Seventy-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Eunuch
said to Zau al-Makan, "O my lord, I have sought thee these
several times this night, for my mistress biddeth thee to her."
Quoth Zau al- Makan, "And who be this bitch that seeketh for me?
Allah curse her and curse her husband with her!"[FN#315] And he
began to revile the Eunuch, who could make him no answer, because
his mistress had charged him to do Zau al-Makan no hurt, nor
bring him save of his own especial free will; and, if he would
not accompany him, to give him the thousand diners. So the
Castrato began to speak him fair and say to him, "O my lord, take
this purse and go with me. We will do thee no upright, O my son,
nor wrong thee in aught; but our object is that thou bend thy
gracious steps with me to my mistress, to receive her answer and
return in weal and safety: and thou shalt have a handsome present
as one who bringeth good news." When Zau al- Makan heard this, he
arose and went with the Eunuch and walked among the sleeping
folk, stepping over them; whilst the Fireman followed after them
from afar, and kept his eye upon him and said to himself, "Alas
the pity of his youth! Tomorrow they will hang him." And he
ceased not following them till he approached their
station,[FN#316] without any observing him. Then he stood still
and said, "How base it will be of him, if he say it was I who
bade him recite the verses!" This was the case of the Stoker; but
as regards what befel Zau al-Makan, he ceased not walking with
the Eunuch till he reached his station and the Castrato went in
to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said, "O my lady, I have brought thee him
whom thou soughtest, and he is a youth, fair of face and bearing
the marks of wealth and gentle breeding." When she heard this,
her heart fluttered and she cried, "Let him recite some verses,
that I may hear him near hand, and after ask him his name and his
condition and his native land." Then the Eunuch went out to Zau
al-Makan and said to him, "Recite what verses thou knowest, for
my lady is here hard by, listening to thee, and after I will ask
thee of thy name and thy native country and thy condition."
Replied he, "With love and gladness but, an thou ask my name, it
is erased and my trace is unplaced and my body a waste. I have a
story, the beginning of which is not known nor can the end of it
be shown, and behold, I am even as one who hath exceeded in wine
drinking and who hath not spared himself; one who is afflicted
with distempers and who wandereth from his right mind, being
perplexed about his case and drowned in the sea of thought." When
Nuzhat al-Zaman heard this, she broke out into excessive weeping
and sobbing, and said to the Eunuch, "Ask him if he have parted
from one he loveth even as his mother or father." The Castrato
asked as she bade him, and Zau al-Makan replied, "Yes, I have
parted from every one I loved: but the dearest of all to me was
my sister, from whom Fate hath separated me." When Nuzhat al-
Zaman heard this, she exclaimed, "Allah Almighty reunite him with
what he loveth!"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.

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