The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4

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When it was the Three Hundred and Fifteenth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Zumurrud
called for succour upon our Lord Mohammed (whom Allah bless and
keep!). Such was her case; but as regards Ali Shar, he ceased not
sleeping till next day, when the Bhang quitted his brain and he
opened his eyes and cried out, "O Zumurrud"; but no one answered
him. So he entered the saloon and found the empty air and the
fane afar;[FN#291] whereby he knew that it was the Nazarene who
had played him this trick. And he groaned and wept and lamented
and again shed tears, repeating these couplets,

"O Love thou'rt instant in thy cruellest guise; * Here is my
heart 'twixt fears and miseries:
Pity, O lords, a thrall who, felled on way * Of Love, erst
wealthy now a beggar lies:
What profits archer's art if, when the foe * Draw near, his
bowstring snap ere arrow {lies:
And when griefs multiply on generous man * And urge, what fort
can fend from destinies?
How much and much I warded parting, but * 'When Destiny descends
she blinds our eyes?'"

And when he had ended his verse, he sobbed with loud sobs and
repeated also these couplets,

"Enrobes with honour sands of camp her foot step wandering lone,
* Pines the poor mourner as she wins the stead where wont to
wane
She turns to resting-place of tribe, and yearns thereon to view *
The spring-camp lying desolate with ruins overstrown
She stands and questions of the site, but with the tongue of case
* The mount replies, 'There is no path that leads to union,
none!
'Tis as the lightning flash erewhile bright glittered o'er the
camp * And died in darkling air no more to be for ever
shown.'"

And he repented when repentance availed him naught, and wept and
rent his raiment. Then he hent in hand two stones and went round
about the city, beating his breast with the stones and crying "O
Zumurrud!" whilst the small boys flocked round him, calling out,
"A madman! A madman!" and all who knew him wept for him, saying,
"This is such an one: what evil hath befallen him?" Thus he
continued doing all that day and, when night darkened on him, he
lay down in one of the city lanes and sleet till morning On the
morrow, he went round about town with the stones till eventide,
when he returned to his saloon to pass therein the night.
Presently, one of his neighbours saw him, and this worthy old
woman said to him, "O my son, Heaven give thee healing! How long
hast thou been mad?" And he answered her with these two
couplets,[FN#292]

"They said, Thou revest upon the person thou lovest. * And I
replied, The sweets of life are only for the mad.
Drop the subject of my madness, and bring her upon whom I rave *
If she cure my madness do not blame me."

So his old neighbour knew him for a lover who had lost his
beloved and said, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might,
save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! O my son, I wish thou
wouldest acquaint me with the tale of thine affliction.
Peradventure Allah may enable me to help thee against it, if it
so please Him." So he told her all that had befallen him with
Barsum the Nazarene and his brother the wizard who had named
himself Rashid al-Din and, when she understood the whole case,
she said, "O my son, indeed thou hast excuse." And her eyes
railed tears and she repeated these two couplets,

"Enough for lovers in this world their ban and bane: * By Allah,
lover ne'er in fire of Sakar fries:
For, sure, they died of love-desire they never told * Chastely,
and to this truth tradition testifies."[FN#293]

And after she had finished her verse, she said, "O my son, rise
at once and buy me a crate, such as the jewel-pedlars carry; buy
also bangles and seal-rings and bracelets and ear-rings and other
gewgaws wherein women delight and grudge not the cash. Put all
the stock into the crate and bring it to me and I will set it on
my head and go round about, in the guise of a huckstress and make
search for her in all the houses, till I happen on news of her--
Inshallah!" So Ali Shar rejoiced in her words and kissed her
hands, then, going out, speedily brought her all she required;
whereupon she rose and donned a patched gown and threw over her
head a honey-yellow veil, and took staff in hand and, with the
basket on her head, began wandering about the passages and the
houses. She ceased not to go from house to house and street to
street and quarter to quarter, till Allah Almighty led her to the
house of the accursed Rashid al-Din the Nazarene where, hearing
groans within, she knocked at the door,--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Sixteenth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
old woman heard groans within the house, she knocked at the door,
whereupon a slave-girl came down and opening to her, saluted her.
Quoth the old woman, "I have these trifles for sale: is there any
one with you who will buy aught of them?" "Yes," answered the
damsel and, carrying her indoors, made her sit down; whereupon
all the slave-girls came round her and each bought something of
her. And as the old woman spoke them fair and was easy with them
as to price, all rejoiced in her, because of her kind ways and
pleasant speech. Meanwhile, she looked narrowly at the ins and
outs of the place to see who it was she had heard groaning, till
her glance fell on Zumurrud, when she knew her and she began to
show her customers yet more kindness. At last she made sure that
Zumurrud was laid prostrate; so she wept and said to the girls,
"O my children, how cometh yonder young lady in this plight?"
Then the slave-girls told her all what had passed, adding,
"Indeed this matter is not of our choice; but our master
commanded us to do thus, and he is now on a journey." She said,
"O my children, I have a favour to ask of you, and it is that you
loose this unhappy damsel of her bonds, till you know of your
lord's return, when do ye bind her again as she was; and you
shall earn a reward from the Lord of all creatures." "We hear and
obey," answered they and at once loosing Zumurrud, gave her to
eat and drink. Thereupon quoth the old woman, "Would my leg had
been broken, ere I entered your house!" And she went up to
Zumurrud and said to her, "O my daughter, Heaven keep thee safe;
soon shall Allah bring thee relief." Then she privily told her
that she came from her lord, Ali Shar, and agreed with her to be
on the watch for sounds that night, saying, "Thy lord will come
and stand by the pavilion-bench and whistle[FN#294] to thee; and
when thou hearest him, do thou whistle back to him and let
thyself down to him by a rope from the window, and he will take
thee and go away with thee." So Zumurrud thanked the old woman,
who went forth and returned to Ali Shar and told him what she had
done, saying, "Go this night, at midnight, to such a quarter, for
the accursed carle's house is there and its fashion is thus and
thus. Stand under the window of the upper chamber and whistle;
whereupon she will let herself down to thee; then do thou take
her and carry her whither thou wilt." He thanked her for her good
offices and with flowing tears repeated these couplets,

"Now with their says and saids[FN#295] no more vex me the chiding
race; * My heart is weary and I'm worn to bone by their
disgrace:
And tears a truthful legend[FN#296] with a long ascription-chain
* Of my desertion and distress the lineage can trace.
O thou heart-whole and free from dole and dolours I endure, * Cut
short thy long persistency nor question of my case:
A sweet-lipped one and soft of sides and cast in shapeliest mould
* Hath stormed my heart with honied lure and honied words of
grace.
No rest my heart hath known since thou art gone, nor ever close *
These eyes, nor patience aloe scape the hopes I dare to
trace:
Ye have abandoned me to be the pawn of vain desire, * In squalid
state 'twixt enviers and they who blame to face:
As for forgetting you or love 'tis thing I never knew; * Nor in
my thought shall ever pass a living thing but you."

And when he ended his verses, he sighed and shed tears and
repeated also these couplets,

"Divinely were inspired his words who brought me news of you; *
For brought he unto me a gift was music in mine ear:
Take he for gift, if him content, this worn-out threadbare robe,
* My heart, which was in pieces torn when parting from my
fete."

He waited till night darkened and, when came the appointed time,
he went to the quarter she had described to him and saw and
recognised the Christian's house; so he sat down on the bench
under the gallery. Presently drowsiness overcame him and he slept
(Glory be to Him who sleepeth not!?, for it was long since he had
tasted sleep, by reason of the violence of his passion, and he
became as one drunken with slumber. And while he was on this
wise,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Seventeenth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that while he
lay asleep, behold, a certain thief, who had come out that night
and prowled about the skirts of the city to steal-somewhat,
happened by the decree of Destiny, on the Nazarene's house. He
went round about it, but found no way of climbing up into it, and
presently on his circuit he came to the bench, where he saw Ali
Shar asleep and stole his turband; and, as he was taking it
suddenly Zumurrud looked out and seeing the thief standing in the
darkness, took him for her lord; whereupon she let herself down
to him by the rope with a pair of saddle-bags full of gold. Now
when the robber saw that, he said to himself, "This is a wondrous
thing, and there must needs be some marvellous cause to it." Then
he snatched up the saddle-bags, and threw Zumurrud over his
shoulders and made off with both like the blinding lightening.
Quoth she, "Verily, the old woman told me that thou west weak
with illness on my account; and here thou art, stronger than a
horse." He made her no reply; so she put her hand to his face and
felt a beard like the broom of palm-frond used for the
Hammam,[FN#297] as if he were a hog which had swallowed feathers
and they had come out of his gullet; whereat she took fright and
said to him, "What art thou?" "O strumpet," answered he, "I am
the sharper Jawan[FN#298] the Kurd, of the band of Ahmad
al-Danaf; we are forty sharpers, who will all piss our tallow
into thy womb this night, from dusk to dawn." When she heard his
words, she wept and beat her face, knowing that Fate had gotten
the better of her and that she had no resource but resignation
and to put her trust in Allah Almighty. So she took patience and
submitted herself to the ordinance of the Lord, saying, "There is
no god but the God! As often as we escape from one woe, we fall
into a worse." Now the cause of Jawan's coming thither was this:
he had said to Calamity-Ahmad, "O Sharper-captain,[FN#299] I have
been in this city before and know a cavern without the walls
which will hold forty souls; so I will go before you thither and
set my mother therein. Then will I return to the city and
steal-somewhat for the luck of all of you and keep it till you
come; so shall you be my guests and I will show you hospitality
this day." Replied Ahmad al-Danaf, "Do what thou wilt." So Jawan
went forth to the place before them and set his mother in the
cave; but, as he came out he found a trooper lying asleep, with
his horse picketed beside him; so he cut his throat and, taking
his clothes and his charger and his arms, hid them with his
mother in the cave, where also he tethered the horse. Then he
betook himself to the city and prowled about, till he happened on
the Christian's house and did with Ali Shar's turband and
Zumurrud and her saddle-bags as we have said. He ceased not to
run, with Zumurrud on his back, till he came to the cavern, where
he gave her in charge of his mother, saying, "Keep thou watch
over her till I return to thee at first dawn of day," and went
his ways.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Eighteenth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth
Kurdish Jawan to his mother, "Keep thou watch over her till I
come back to thee at first dawn of day," and went his ways. Now
Zumurrud said to herself, "Why am I so heedless about saving my
life and wherefore await till these forty men come?: they will
take their turns to board me, till they make me like a water-
logged ship at sea." Then she turned to the old woman, Jawan's
mother, and said to her, "O my aunt, wilt thou not rise up and
come without the cave, that I may louse thee in the sun?"[FN#300]
Replied the old woman, "Ay, by Allah, O my daughter: this long
time have I been out of reach of the bath; for these hogs cease
not to carry me from place to place." So they went without the
cavern, and Zumurrud combed out her head hair and killed the lice
on her locks, till the tickling soothed her and she fell asleep;
whereupon Zumurrud arose and, donning the clothes of the murdered
trooper, girt her waist with his sword and covered her head with
his turband, so that she became as she were a man. Then, mounting
the horse after she had taken the saddle-bags full of gold, she
breathed a prayer, "O good Protector, protect me I adjure thee by
the glory of Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!)," adding
these words in thought, "If I return to the city belike one of
the trooper's folk will see me, and no good will befal me." So
she turned her back on the town and rode forth into the wild and
the waste. And she ceased not faring forth with her saddle-bags
and the steed, eating of the growth of the earth and drinking of
its waters, she and her horse, for ten days and, on the eleventh,
she came in sight of a city pleasant and secure from dread, and
established in happy stead. Winter had gone from it with his cold
showers, and Prime had come to it with his roses and orange-
blossoms and varied flowers; and its blooms were brightly
blowing; its streams were merrily flowing and its birds warbled
coming and going. And she drew near the dwellings and would have
entered the gate when she saw the troops and Emirs and Grandees
of the place drawn up, whereat she marvelled seeing them in such
unusual-case and said to herself, "The people of the city are all
gathered at its gate: needs must there be a reason for this."
Then she made towards them; but, as she drew near, the soldiery
dashed forward to meet her and, dismounting all, kissed the
ground between her hands and said, "Aid thee Allah, O our lord
the Sultan!" Then the notables and dignitaries ranged themselves
before her in double line, whilst the troops ordered the people
in, saying, "Allah aid thee and make thy coming a blessing to the
Moslems, O Sultan of all creatures! Allah establish thee, O King
of the time and union-pearl of the day and the tide!" Asked
Zumurrud, "What aileth you, O people of this city?" And the Head
Chamberlain answered, "Verily, He hath given to thee who is no
niggard in His giving; and He hath been bountiful to thee and
hath made thee Sultan of this city and ruler over the necks of
all who are therein; for know thou it is the custom of the
citizens, when their King deceaseth leaving no son, that the
troops should sally forth to the suburbs and sojourn there three
days: and whoever cometh from the quarter whence thou hast come,
him they make King over them. So praised be Allah who hath sent
us of the sons of the Turks a well-favoured man; for had a lesser
than thou presented himself, he had been Sultan." Now Zumurrud
was clever and well-advised in all she did: so she said, "Think
not that I am of the common folk of the Turks! nay, I am of the
sons of the great, a man of condition; but I was wroth with my
family, so I went forth and left them. See these saddle-bags full
of gold which I have brought under me that, by the way, I might
give alms thereof to the poor and the needy." So they called down
blessings upon her and rejoiced in her with exceeding joy and she
also joyed in them and said in herself, "Now that I have attained
to this"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Nineteenth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth
Zumurrud to herself, "Now that I have attained to this case,
haply Allah will reunite me with my lord in this place, for He
can do whatso He willeth." Then the troops escorted her to the
city and, all dismounting, walked before her to the palace. Here
she alighted and the Emirs and Grandees, taking her under both
armpits,[FN#301] carried her into the palace and seated her on
the throne; after which they all kissed ground before her. And
when duly enthroned she bade them open the treasuries and gave
largesse to all the troops, who offered up prayers for the
continuance of her reign, and all the townsfolk accepted her rule
and all the lieges of the realm. Thus she abode awhile bidding
and forbidding, and all the people came to hold her in exceeding
reverence and heartily to love her, by reason of her continence
and generosity; for taxes she remitted and prisoners she released
and grievances she redressed; but, as often as she bethought her
of her lord, she wept and besought Allah to reunite her and him;
and one night, as she chanced to be thinking of him and calling
to mind the days she had passed with him, her eyes ran over with
tears and she versified in these two couplets,

"My yearning for thee though long is fresh, * And the tears which
chafe these eyelids increase
When I weep, I weep from the burn of love, * For to lover
severance is decease."[FN#302]

And when she had ended her verse, she wiped away her tears and
repairing to the palace, betook herself to the Harim, where she
appointed to the slave-girls and concubines separate lodgings and
assigned them pensions and allowances, giving out that she was
minded to live apart and devote herself to works of piety. So she
applied herself to fasting and praying, till the Emirs said,
"Verily this Sultan is eminently devout;" nor would she suffer
any male attendants about her, save two little eunuchs to serve
her. And on this wise she held the throne a whole year, during
which time she heard no news of her lord, and failed to hit upon
his traces, which was exceeding grievous to her; so, when her
distress became excessive, she summoned her Wazirs and
Chamberlains and bid them fetch architects and builders and make
her in front of the palace a horse-course, one parasang long and
the like broad. They hastened to do her bidding, and lay out the
place to her liking; and, when it was completed, she went down
into it and they pitched her there a great pavilion, wherein the
chairs of the Emirs were ranged in due order. Moreover, she bade
them spread on the racing-plain tables with all manners of rich
meats and when this was done she ordered the Grandees to eat. So
they ate and she said to them, "It is my will that, on seeing the
new moon of each month, ye do on this wise and proclaim in the
city that no man shall open his shop, but that all our lieges
shall come and eat of the King's banquet, and that whoso
disobeyeth shall be hanged over his own door."[FN#303] So they
did as she bade them, and ceased not so to do till the first new
moon of the second year appeared; when Zumurrud went down into
the horse-course and the crier proclaimed aloud, saying, "Ho, ye
lieges and people one and all, whoso openeth store or shop or
house shall straight way be hanged over his own door; for it
behoveth you to come in a body and eat of the King's banquet."
And when the proclamation became known, they laid the tables and
the subjects came in hosts; so she bade them sit down at the
trays and eat their fill of all the dishes. Accordingly they sat
down and she took place on her chair of state, watching them,
whilst each who was at meat said to himself, "Verily the King
looketh at none save me." Then they fell to eating and the Emirs
said to them, "Eat and be not ashamed; for this pleaseth the
King." So they ate their fill and went away, blessing the
Sovereign and saying, one to the other, "Never in our days saw we
a Sultan who loved the poor as doth this Sultan." And they wished
him length of life. Upon this Zumurrud returned to her palace,--
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Twentieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Queen
Zumurrud returned to her palace, rejoicing in her device and
saying to herself, "Inshallah, I shall surely by this means
happen on news of my lord Ali Shar." When the first day of the
second month came round, she did as before and when they had
spread the tables she came down from her palace and took place on
her throne and commanded the lieges to sit down and fall to. Now
as she sat on her throne, at the head of the tables, watching the
people take their places company by company and one by one,
behold her eye fell on Barsum, the Nazarene who had bought the
curtain of her lord; and she knew him and said in her mind, "This
is the first of my joy and the winning of my wish." Then Barsum
came up to the table and, sitting down with the rest to eat,
espied a dish of sweet rice, sprinkled with sugar; but it was far
from him, so he pushed up to it through the crowd and, putting
out his hand to it, seized it and set it before himself. His next
neighbour said to him, "Why dost thou not eat of what is before
thee? Is not this a disgrace to thee? How canst thou reach over
for a dish which is distant from thee? Art thou not ashamed?"
Quoth Barsum, "I will eat of none save this same." Rejoined the
other, "Eat then, and Allah give thee no good of it!" But another
man, a Hashish-eater, said, "Let him eat of it, that I may eat
with him." Replied his neighbour, "O unluckiest of Hashish-
eaters, this is no meat for thee; it is eating for Emirs. Let it
be, that it may return to those for whom it is meant and they eat
it." But Barsum heeded him not and took a mouthful of the rice
and put it in his mouth; and was about to take a second mouthful
when the Queen, who was watching him, cried out to certain of her
guards, saying, "Bring me yonder man with the dish of Sweet rice
before him and let him not eat the mouthful he hath read but
throw it from his hand."[FN#304] So four of the guards went up to
Barsum and haled him along on his face, after throwing the
mouthful of rice from his hand, and set him standing before
Zumurrud, whilst all the people left eating and said to one
another, By Allah, he did wrong in not eating of the food meant
for the likes of him." Quoth one, "For me I was content with this
porridge[FN#305] which is before me." And the Hashish-eater said,
"Praised be Allah who hindered me from eating of the dish of
sugared rice for I expected it to stand before him and was
waiting only for him to have his enjoyment of it, to eat with
him, when there befel him what we see." And the general said, one
to other, "Wait till we see what shall befal him." Now as they
brought him before Queen Zumurrud she cried, "Woe to thee, O blue
eyes! What is thy name and why comest thou to our country?" But
the accursed called himself out of his name having a white
turband[FN#306] on, and answered, "O King, my name is Ali; I work
as a weaver and I came hither to trade." Quoth Zumurrud, "Bring
me a table of sand and a pen of brass," and when they brought her
what she sought, she took the sand and the pen, and struck a
geomantic figure in the likeness of a baboon; then, raising her
head, she looked hard at Barsum for an hour or so and said to
him, "O dog, how darest thou lie to Kings? Art thou not a
Nazarene, Barsum by name, and comest thou not hither in quest of
somewhat? Speak the truth, or by the glory of the Godhead, I will
strike off thy head!" At this Barsum was confounded and the Emirs
and bystanders said, "Verily, this King understandeth geomancy:
blessed be He who hath gifted him!" Then she cried out upon the
Christian and said, 'Tell me the truth, or I will make an end of
thee!" Barsum replied, "Pardon, O King of the age; thou art right
as regards the table, for the far one[FN#307] is indeed a
Nazarene,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Twenty-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Barsum
replied, "Pardon, O King of the age; thou art right as regards
the table, for thy slave is indeed a Nazarene." Whereupon all
present, gentle and simple, wondered at the King's skill in
hitting upon the truth by geomancy, and said, "Verily this King
is a diviner, whose like there is not in the world." Thereupon
Queen Zumurrud bade flay the Nazarene and stuff his skin with
straw and hang it over the gate of the race-course. Moreover, she
commended to dig a pit without the city and burn therein his
flesh and bones and throw over his ashes offal and ordure. "We
hear and obey," answered they, and did with him all she bade;
and, when the folk saw what had befallen the Christian, they
said, "Serve him right; but what an unlucky mouthful was that for
him!" And another said, "Be the far one's wife divorced if this
vow be broken: never again to the end of my days will I eat of
sugared rice!"; and the Hashish-eater cried "Praised be Allah,
who spared me this fellow's fate by saving me from eating of that
same rice!" Then they all went out, holding it thenceforth
unlawful to sit over against the dish of sweet rice as the
Nazarene had sat. Now when the first day of the third month came,
they laid the tables according to custom, and covered them with
dishes and chargers, and Queen Zumurrud came down and sat on her
throne, with her guards in attendance, as of wont, in awe of her
dignity and majesty. Then the townsfolk entered as before and
went round about the tables, looking for the place of the dish of
sweet rice, and quoth one to another, "Hark ye, O Haji[FN#308]
Khalaf!"; and the other answered, "At thy service, O Haji
Khalid." Said Khalid, "Avoid the dish of sweet rice and look thou
eat not thereof; for, if thou do, by early morning thou will be
hanged."[FN#309] Then they sat down to meat around the table;
and, as they were eating, Queen Zumurrud chanced to look from her
throne and saw a man come running in through the gate of the
horse-course; and having considered him attentively, she knew him
for Jawan the Kurdish thief who murdered the trooper. Now the
cause of his coming was this: when he left his mother, he went to
his comrades and said to them, "I did good business yesterday;
for I slew a trooper and took his horse. Moreover there fell to
me last night a pair of saddle-bags, full of gold, and a young
lady worth more than the money in pouch; and I have left all that
with my mother in the cave." At this they rejoiced and repaired
to the cavern at night-fall, whilst Jawan the Kurd walked in
front and the rest behind; he wishing to bring them the booty of
which he had boasted. But he found the place clean empty and
questioned his mother, who told him all that had befallen her;
whereupon he bit his hands for regret and exclaimed, "By Allah, I
will assuredly make search for the harlot and take her, wherever
she is, though it be in the shell of a pistachio-nut,[FN#310] and
quench my malice on her!" So he went forth in quest of her and
ceased not journeying from place to place, till he came to Queen
Zumurrud's city. On entering he found the town deserted and,
enquiring of some women whom he saw looking from the windows,
they told him that it was the Sultan's custom to make a banquet
for the people on the first of each month and that all the lieges
were bound to go and eat of it. Furthermore the women directed
him to the racing-ground, where the feast was spread. So he
entered at a shuffling trot; and, finding no place empty, save
that before the dish of sweet rice already noticed, took his seat
right opposite it and stretched out his hand towards the dish;
whereupon the folk cried out to him, saying, "O our brother, what
wouldst thou do?" Quoth he, "I would eat my fill of this dish."
Rejoined one of the people, "If thou eat of it thou wilt
assuredly find thyself hanged to-morrow morning." But Jawan said,
"Hold thy tongue and talk not so unpleasantly." Then he stretched
out his hand to the dish and drew it to him; but it so chanced
that the Hashish-eater of whom we have spoken, was sitting by
him; and when he saw him take the dish, the fumes of the Hashish
left his head and he fled from his place and sat down afar off,
saying, "I will have nothing to do with yonder dish." Then Jawan
the Kurd put out his hand (which was very like a raven's
claws,[FN#311] scooped up therewith half the dishful and drew out
his neave as it were a camel's hoof,--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

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