The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2
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Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2
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"Let days their folds and plies deploy, * And shun the house that
deals annoy!
Full oft when joy seems farthest far * Thou nighmost art to hour
of joy."'
Then she drew near to me and began to comfort me with soothing
speech, but dared not bring me aught of food, fearing lest I be
angry with her and hoping I might incline to her; so when coming
to me she only took off my upper garment and said to me, "Sit O
my cousin, that I may divert thee with talk till the end of the
day and, Almighty Allah willing, as soon as it is night thou
shalt be with thy beloved." But I paid no heed to her and ceased
not looking for the approach of darkness, saying, "O Lord, hasten
the coming of the night!" And when night set in, the daughter of
my uncle wept with sore weeping and gave me a crumb of pure musk,
and said to me, "O my cousin, put this crumb in thy mouth, and
when thou hast won union with thy beloved and hast taken thy will
of her and she hath granted thee thy desire, repeat to her this
couplet,
'Ho, lovers all! by Allah say me sooth * What shall he do when
love sore vexeth youth?'"[FN#499]
And she kissed me and swore me not to repeat this couplet till I
should be about to leave my lover and I said, "Hearing is
obeying!" And when it was supper-tide I went out and ceased not
walking on till I came to the flower garden whose door I found
open. So I entered and, seeing a light in the distance, made
towards it and reaching it, came to a great pavilion vaulted over
with a dome of ivory and ebony, and the lamp hung from the midst
of the dome. The floor was spread with silken carpets
embroidered in gold and silver, and under the lamp stood a great
candle, burning in a candelabrum of gold. In mid pavilion was a
fountain adorned with all manner of figures;[FN#500] and by its
side stood a table covered with a silken napkin, and on its edge
a great porcelain bottle full of wine, with a cup of crystal
inlaid with gold. Near all these was a large tray of silver
covered over, and when I uncovered it I found therein fruits of
every kind, figs and pomegranates, grapes and oranges, citrons
and shaddocks[FN#501] disposed amongst an infinite variety of
sweet scented flowers, such as rose, jasmine, myrtle, eglantine,
narcissus and all sorts of sweet smelling herbs. I was charmed
with the place and I joyed with exceeding joy, albeit I found not
there a living soul and my grief and anxiety ceased from me.--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Sixteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
merchant continued to Taj al-Muluk: "I was charmed with the place
and joyed with great joy albeit there I found not a living soul
of Almighty Allah's creatures, and saw nor slave nor hand maid to
oversee these things or to watch and ward these properties. So I
sat down in the pavilion to await the coming of the beloved of my
heart; but the first hour of the night passed by, and the second
hour, and the third hour, and still she came not. Then hunger
grew sore upon me, for that it was long since I had tasted food
by reason of the violence of my love: but when I found the place
even as my cousin had told me, and saw the truth of her in
terpretation of my beloved's signs, my mind was set at rest and I
felt the pangs of hunger; moreover, the odour of the viands on
the table excited me to eat. So making sure of attaining my
desire, and being famished for food I went up to the table and
raised the cover and found in the middle a china dish containing
four chickens reddened with roasting and seasoned with spices,
round the which were four saucers, one containing sweetmeats,
another conserve of pomegranate seeds, a third almond
pastry[FN#502] and a fourth honey fritters; and the contents of
these saucers were part sweet and part sour. So I ate of the
fritters and a piece of meat, then went on to the almond cakes
and ate what I could; after which I fell upon the sweetmeats,
whereof I swallowed a spoonful or two or three or four, ending
with part of a chicken and a mouthful of something beside. Upon
this my stomach became full and my joints loose and I waxed too
drowsy to keep awake; so I laid my head on a cushion, after
having washed my hands, and sleep over came me; I knew not what
happened to me after this, and I awoke not till the sun's heat
scorched me, for that I had never once tasted sleep for days
past. When I awoke I found on my stomach a piece of salt and a
bit of charcoal; so I stood up and shook my clothes and turned to
look right and left, but could see no one; and discovered that I
had been sleeping on the marble pavement without bedding beneath
me. I was perplexed thereat and afflicted with great affliction;
the tears ran down my cheeks and I mourned for myself. Then I
returned home, and when I entered, I found my cousin beating her
hand on her bosom and weeping tears like rain shedding clouds;
and she versified with these couplets,
"Blows from my lover's land a Zephyr cooly sweet, * And with its
every breath makes olden love new glow:
O Zephyr of the morning hour, come show to us * Each lover hath
his lot, his share of joy and woe:
Could I but win one dearest wish, we had embraced * With what
embrace and clip of breast fond lovers know.
Allah forbids, while bides unseen my cousin's face, * All joys
the World can give or hand of Time bestow.
Would Heaven I knew his heart were like this heart of me, *
Melted by passion-flame and charged with longing owe."
When she saw me, she rose in haste and wiped away her tears and
addressed me with her soft speech, saying, "O son of my uncle,
verily Allah hath been gracious to thee in thy love, for that she
whom thou lovest loveth thee, whilst I pass my time in weeping
and bewailing my severance from thee who blamest me and chidest
me; but may Allah not punish thee for my sake!" Thereupon she
smiled in my face a smile of reproach and caressed me; then
taking off my walking clothes, she spread them out and said, "By
Allah, this is not the scent of one who hath enjoyed his lover!
So tell me what hath befallen thee, O my cousin." I told her all
that had passed, and she smiled again a smile of reproach and
said, "Verily, my heart is full of pain; but may he not live who
would hurt thy heart! Indeed, this woman maketh herself
inordinately dear and difficult to thee, and by Allah, O son of
my uncle, I fear for thee from her.[FN#503] Know, O my cousin,
that the meaning of the salt is thou west drowned in sleep like
insipid food, disgustful to the taste; and it is as though she
said to thee; 'It behoveth thou be salted lest the stomach eject
thee; for thou professes to be of the lovers noble and true; but
sleep is unlawful and to a lover undue; therefore is thy love but
a lie.' However, it is her love for thee that lieth; for she saw
thee asleep yet aroused thee not and were her love for thee true,
she had indeed awoken thee. As for the charcoal, it means 'Allah
blacken thy face'[FN#504] for thou makest a lying presence of
love, whereas thou art naught but a child and hast no object in
life other than eating and drinking and sleeping! such is the
interpretation of her signs, and may Allah Almighty deliver thee
from her!" When I heard my cousin's words, I beat my hand upon my
breast and cried out, "By Allah, this is the very truth, for I
slept and lovers sleep not! Indeed I have sinned against myself,
for what could have wrought me more hurt than eating and
sleeping? Now what shall I do?" Then I wept sore and said to the
daughter of my uncle, "Tell me how to act and have pity on me, so
may Allah have pity on thee: else I shall die." As my cousin
loved me with very great love,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Seventeenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
merchant continued his tale to Taj al-Muluk: "Thereupon quoth I
to the daughter of my uncle, "Tell me what to do and have pity on
me, so may Allah have pity on thee!" As the daughter of my uncle
loved me with great love, she replied, "On my head and eyes!
But, O my cousin, I repeat what I have told thee oftentimes, if I
could go in and out at will, I would at once bring you two
together and cover you both with my skirt: nor would I do this
but hoping to win thy favour. Inshallah, I will do my utmost
endeavour to unite you; but hear my words and do my bidding. Go
thou to the very same place and sit down where thou sattest
before and at supper tide look thou eat not, for eating induceth
sleep; and have a care-thou slumber not, for she will not come to
thee till a fourth part of the night be passed. And the Almighty
avert her mischief from thee!" Now when I heard these words I
rejoiced and besought Allah to hasten the night; and, as soon as
it was dark, I was minded to go, and my cousin said to me, "When
thou shalt have met her, repeat to her the couplet I taught thee
before, at the time of thy leave taking." Replied I, "On my head
and eyes!" and went out and repaired to the garden, where I found
all made ready in the same state as on the previous night, with
every requisite of meat and drink, dried fruits, sweet scented
flowers and so forth. I went up into the pavilion and smelt the
odour of the viands and my spirit lusted after them; but I
possessed my soul in patience for a while, till at last I could
no longer withstand temptation. So I arose from my seat and went
up to the table and, raising its cover, found a dish of fowls,
surrounded by four saucers containing four several meats. I ate
a mouthful of each kind and as much as I would of the sweetmeats
and a piece of meat: then I drank from the saucer a sauce
yellowed with saffron[FN#505] and as it pleased me, I supped it
up by the spoonful till I was satisfied and my stomach was full.
Upon this, my eyelids drooped; so I took a cushion and set it
under my head, saying, "Haply I can recline upon it without going
to sleep." Then I closed my eyes and slept, nor did I wake till
the sun had risen, when I found on my stomach a cube of
bone,[FN#506] a single tip-cat stick,[FN#507] the stone of a
green date[FN#508] and a carob pod. There was no furniture nor
aught else in the place, and it was as if there had been nothing
there yesterday. So I rose and shaking all these things off me,
fared forth in fury; and, going home, found my cousin groaning
and versifying with these couplets,
"A wasted body, heart enpierced to core, * And tears that down my
poor cheeks pour and pour:
And lover cure of access; but, but still * Naught save what's
fair can come from fairest flow'r:
O cousin mine thou fill'st my soul with pate, * And from these
tears mine eyelids ache full sore!"
I chid the daughter of my uncle and abused her, whereat she wept;
then, wiping away her tears, she came up to me and kissed me and
began pressing me to her bosom, whilst I held back from her
blaming myself. Then said she to me, "O my cousin, it seemeth
thou sleptest again this night?" Replied I, "Yes; and when I
awoke, I found on my stomach a cube of bone, a single tip-cat
stick, a stone of a green date and a carob pod, and I know not
why she did this." Then I wept and went up to her and said,
"Expound to me her meaning in so doing and tell me how shall I
act and aid me in my sore strait." She answered, "On my head and
eyes! By the single tip cat stick and the cube of bone which she
placed upon thy stomach she saith to thee 'Thy body is present
but thy heart is absent'; and she meaneth, 'Love is not thus: so
do not reckon thyself among lovers.' As for the date stone, it is
as if she said to thee, 'An thou wert in love thy heart would be
burning with passion and thou wouldst not taste the delight of
sleep; for the sweet of love is like a green date[FN#509] which
kindleth a coal of fire in the vitals.' As for the carob
pod[FN#510] it signifieth to thee, 'The lover's heart is
wearied'; and thereby she saith, 'Be patient under our separation
with the patience of Job.' " When I heard this interpretation,
fires darted into my vitals like a dart and grief redoubled upon
my heart and I cried out, saying, "Allah decreed sleep to me for
my ill fortune." Then I said to her, "O my cousin, by my life,
devise me some device whereby I may win my will of her!" She wept
and answered, "O Aziz, O son of my uncle, verily my heart is full
of sad thought which I cannot speak: but go thou again to night
to the same place and beware thou sleep not, and thou shalt
surely attain thy desire. This is my counsel and peace be with
thee!" Quoth I, "If Allah please I will not sleep, but will do as
thou biddest me." Then my cousin rose, and brought me food,
saying, "Eat now what may suffice thee, that nothing may divert
thy heart." So I ate my fill and, when night came, my cousin rose
and bringing me a sumptuous suit of clothes clad me therein.
Then she made me swear I would repeat to my lover the verse
aforesaid and bade me beware of sleeping. So I left her and
repaired to the garden and went up into that same pavilion where
I occupied myself in holding my eyelids open with my fingers and
nodding my head as the night darkened on me."--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Eighteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
merchant continued to Taj al Muluk: "So I repaired to the garden
and went up into that same pavilion and occupied myself in gazing
upon the flower beds and in holding my eyelids open with my
fingers and nodding my head as the night darkened on me. And
presently I grew hungry with watching and the smell of the meats
being wafted towards me, my appetite increased: so I went up to
the table and took off the cover and ate a mouthful of every dish
and a bit of meat; after which I turned to the flagon of wine,
saying to myself, I will drink one cup. I drank it, and then I
drank a second and a third, till I had drunk full ten, when the
cool air smote me and I fell to the earth like a felled man. I
ceased not to lie thus till day arose, when I awoke and found
myself out side the garden, and on my stomach were a butcher's
knife and a dram-weight of iron.[FN#511] Thereat I trembled and,
taking them with me, went home, where I found my cousin saying,
"Verily, I am in this house wretched and sorrowful, having no
helper but weeping." Now when I entered, I fell down at full
length and throwing the knife and the dram weight from my hand, I
fainted clean away. As soon as I came to myself, I told her what
had befallen me and said, Indeed, I shall never enjoy my desire."
But when she saw my tears and my passion, they redoubled her
distress on my account, and she cried, "Verily, I am helpless! I
warned thee against sleeping; but thou wouldst not hearken to my
warning, nor did my words profit thee aught." I rejoined, "By
Allah, I conjure thee to explain to me the meaning of the knife
and the iron dram-weight." "By the dram weight," replied my
cousin, "she alludeth to her right eye,[FN#512] and she sweareth
by it and saith, 'By the Lord of all creatures and by my right
eye! if thou come here again and sleep, I will cut thy throat
with this very knife.' And indeed I fear for thee, O my cousin,
from her malice; my heart is full of anguish for thee and I
cannot speak. Nevertheless, if thou can be sure of thyself not
to sleep when thou returnest to her, return to her and beware of
sleeping and thou shalt attain thy desire; but if when returning
to her thou wilt sleep, as is thy wont, she will surely slaughter
thee." Asked I, "What shall I do, O daughter of my uncle: I beg
thee, by Allah, to help me in this my calamity." Answered she,
"On my head and eyes! if thou wilt hearken to my words and do my
bidding, thou shalt have thy will." Quoth I, "I will indeed
hearken to thy words and do thy bidding;" and quoth she, "When it
is time for thee to go, I will tell thee." Then she pressed me to
her bosom and laying me on the bed, shampoo'd my feet, till
drowsiness overcame me and I was drowned in sleep, then she took
a fan and seated herself at my head with the fan in her hand and
she was weeping till her clothes were wet with tears. Now when
she saw that I was awake, she wiped away the drops and fetched me
some food and set it before me. I refused it, but she said to
me, "Did I not tell thee that thou must do my bidding? Eat!" So
I ate and thwarted her not and she proceeded to put the food into
my mouth and I to masticate it, till I was full. Then she made
me drink jujube sherbet[FN#513] and sugar and washed my hands and
dried them with a kerchief; after which she sprinkled me with
rose water, and I sat with her awhile in the best of spirits.
When the darkness had closed in, she dressed me and said to me,
"O son of my uncle, watch through the whole night and sleep not;
for she will not come to thee this tide till the last of the dark
hours and, Allah willing, thou shalt be at one with her this
night; but forget not my charge." Then, she wept, and my heart
was pained for her by reason of her over much weeping, and I
asked, "What is the charge thou gayest me?" She answered, "When
thou takest leave of her repeat to her the verse before
mentioned." So, full of joy I left her and repairing to the
garden, went up into the pavilion where, being satiated with
food, I sat down and watched till a fourth part of the dark hours
was past. That night seemed longsome to me as it were a year:
but I remained awake till it was three quarters spent and the
cocks crew and I was famished for long watching. Accordingly I
went up to the table and ate my fill, whereupon my head grew
heavy and I wanted to sleep, when behold, a light appeared making
towards me from afar. I sprang up and washed my hands and mouth
and roused myself; and before long she came with ten damsels, in
whose midst she was like the full moon among the stars. She was
clad in a dress of green satin purfled with red gold, and she was
as saith the poet,
"She lords it o'er our hearts in grass green gown, * With
buttons[FN#514] loose and locks long flowing down.
Quoth I, 'What is thy name?' Quoth she, 'I'm she, * Who burns the
lover-heart live coals upon:'
I made my plaint to her of loving lowe; * Laughed she, 'To stone
thou moanest useless moan!'
Quoth I, 'An be of hardest stone thy heart, * Allah drew sweetest
spring from hardest stone.' "
When she saw me she laughed and said, "How is it that thou art
awake and that sleep overcame thee not? Forasmuch as thou hast
watched through the night, I know that thou art a lover; for
night watching is the mark of lovers displaying brave endurance
of their desires." Then she turned to her women and signed to
them and they went away from her, whereupon she came up to me and
strained me to her breast and kissed me, whilst I kissed her, and
she sucked my upper lip whilst I sucked her lower lip. I put my
hand to her waist and pressed it and we came not to the ground
save at the same moment. Then she undid her petticoat trousers
which slipped down to her anklets, and we fell to clasping and
embracing and toying and speaking softly and biting and inter
twining of legs and going round about the Holy House and the
corners thereof,[FN#515] till her joints became relaxed for love
delight and she swooned away. I entered the sanctuary, and
indeed that night was a joy to the sprite and a solace to the
sight even as saith the poet,
"Sweetest of nights the world can show to me, that night * When
cups went round and round as fed by ceaseless spring:
There utter severance made I 'twixt mine eyes and sleep, * And
joined, re joined mine ear drop with the anklet
ring."[FN#516]
We lay together in close embrace till the morning when I would
have gone away, but she stopped me and said, "Stay till I tell
thee something"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Nineteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
merchant continued his recital to Taj al Muluk: "When I would
have gone away, she stopped me and said, "Stay, till I tell thee
something and charge thee with a charge." So I stayed whilst she
unfolded a kerchief and drew out this piece of linen and spread
it open before me. I found worked on it these two figures of
gazelles and admired it with great admiration. Then I took the
piece of linen and went away, joyful, after we had agreed that I
should visit her every night in the garden; but in my joy I
forgot to repeat to her the verse my cousin had taught me. For
when giving me the piece of linen with the gazelles she had said
to me, "Keep this carefully, as it is my sister's handiwork." I
asked her, "What is thy sister's name?"; and she answered, "Her
name is Nur al-Huda." When I went to my cousin, I found her lying
down; but as soon as she saw me, she rose, with the tears running
from her eyes, and came up to me, and kissed me on the breast and
said, "Didst thou do as I enjoined thee? and repeat the verse to
her?" "I forgot it," replied I; "and nothing drove it out of my
mind but these two figured gazelles." And I threw the piece of
linen on the floor before her. She rose and sat down again, but
was unable to contain herself for impatience, and her eyes ran
over with tears, whilst she repeated these two couplets,
"O thou who seekest parting, softly fare! * Let not the Pair
delude with cunning art:
Pare softly, Fortune's nature is to 'guile, * And end of every
meeting is to part."
And when she ended her recitation she said, "O my cousin, give me
this piece of linen." So I gave it to her and she took it and
unfolding it, saw what was therein. When the tryst time came for
my going to my lover, the daughter of my uncle said to me, "Go,
and peace attend thee; and when thou art about to leave her,
recite to her the verse I taught thee long ago and which thou
didst forget." Quoth I, "Tell it me again"; and she repeated it.
Then I went to the garden and entered the pavilion, where I found
the young lad, awaiting me. When she saw me, she rose and kissed
me and made me sit in her lap; and we ate and drank and did our
desire as before. In the morning, I repeated to her my cousin's
verse which was this,
"Ho, lovers all! by Allah say me sooth * What shall he do when
Love sor' vexeth youth?"
When she heard this, her eyes filled with tears and she answered
and said,
"Strive he to cure his case, to hide the truth, * Patiently
humble self and sue for rush!"
I committed it to memory and returned home rejoicing at having
done my cousin's bidding. When I entered the house I found her
lying down and my mother at her head weeping over her case; but
as soon as I went in to her my mother said to me, "A foul plague
on such a cousin! How couldst thou leave the daughter of thy
uncle ailing and not ask what ailed her?" But when my cousin saw
me she raised her head and sat up and asked me, "O Aziz, didst
thou repeat to her the couplet I taught thee?" I answered, "Yes,
and when she heard it she wept and recited in answer another
couplet which I committed to memory." Quoth my cousin, "Tell it
me." I did so; and when she heard it she wept with much weeping
and repeated the following verses,
'How shall youth cure the care his life undo'th, * And every day
his heart in pieces hew'th?
In sooth he would be patient, but he findeth * Naught save a
heart which love with pains imbu'th."
Then added my cousin, "When thou goest to her as of wont, repeat
to her also these two couplets which thou hast heard." I replied,
"Hearkening and obedience!" and I went at the wonted time, to the
garden, where there passed between my mistress and myself what
tongue faileth to describe. When I was about to leave her, I
repeated to her those two couplets of my cousin's; whereupon the
tears streamed from her eyes and she replied,
"If he of patience fail the truth to hide * For him no cure save
Death my vision view'th!"
I committed them to memory and returned home, and when I went in
to my cousin I found her fallen into a fit and my mother sitting
at her head. When she heard my voice, she opened her eyes and
asked, "O Aziz! didst thou repeat the two couplets to her?"
whereto I answered, "Yes; but she wept on hearing them and she
replied with this couplet beginning, If he of patience fail, to
the end." And I repeated it; whereupon my cousin swooned again,
and when she came to herself, she recited these two couplets,
"Hearkening, obeying, with my dying mouth * I greet who joy of
union ne'er allow'th:
Pair fall all happy loves, and fair befal * The hapless lover
dying in his drowth!"
Again when it was night, I repaired to the garden as usual where
I found the young lady awaiting me. We sat down and ate and
drank, after which we did all we wanted and slept till the
morning; and, as I was going away, I repeated to her the saying
of my cousin. When she heard the couplet she cried out with a
loud cry and was greatly moved and exclaimed, "Awah!
Awah![FN#517] By Allah, she who spake these lines is dead!" Then
she wept and said to me, "Woe to thee! How is she who spoke thus
related to thee?" Replied I, "She is the daughter of my father's
brother." "Thou liest," rejoined she; "by Allah, were she thy
cousin, thou hadst borne her the same love as she bore thee! It
is thou who hast slain her and may the Almighty kill thee as thou
killedst her! By Allah, hadst thou told me thou hadst a cousin,
I would not have admitted thee to my favours!" Quoth I, "Verily
it was she who interpreted to me the signs thou madest and it was
she who taught me how to come to thee and how I should deal with
thee; and, but for her, I should never have been united to thee."
She then asked me, "Did thy cousin then know of us?"; and I
answered, "Yes;" whereupon she exclaimed, "Allah give thee sorrow
of thy youth, even as thou hast sorrowed her youth!" Then she
cried to me, "Go now and see after her." So I went away troubled
at heart, and ceased not walking till I reached our street, when
I heard sounds of wailing, and asking about it, was answered,
"Azizah, we found her dead behind the door." I entered the house,
and when my mother saw me, she said, "Her death lieth heavy on
thy neck and may Allah not acquit thee of her blood!"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
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