The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 6

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 6

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

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the eunuch
having put to flight the Emir Othman, the King's officer, and his
men, till they were driven far from Judar's gate, returned and
sat down on his chair at the door, caring for none. But as for
the Emir and his company, they returned, discomfited and funded,
to King Shams al-Daulah, and Othman said, "O King of the age,
when I came to the palace gate, I espied an eunuch seated there
in a chair of gold and he was passing proud for, when he saw me
approach, he stretched himself at full length albeit he had been
sitting in his chair and entreated me contumeliously, neither
offered to rise to me. So I began to speak to him and he answered
without stirring, whereat wrath get hold of me and I drew the
mace upon him, thinking to smite him. But he snatched it from me
and beat me and my men therewith and overthrew us. So we fled
from before him and could not prevail against him." At this, the
King was wroth and said, "Let an hundred men go down to him."
Accordingly, the hundred men went down to attack him; but he
arose and fell upon them with the mace and ceased not smiting
them till he had put them to the rout; when he regained his
chair; upon which they returned to the King and told him what had
passed, saying, "O King of the age, he beat us and we fled for
fear of him." Then the King sent two hundred men against him, but
these also he put to the rout, and Shams Al-Daulah said to his
Minister, "I charge thee, O Wazir, take five hundred men and
bring this eunuch in haste, and with him his master Judar and his
brothers." Replied the Wazir, "O King of the age, I need no
soldiers, but will go down to him alone and unarmed." "Go," quoth
the King, "and do as thou seest suitable." So the Wazir laid down
his arms and donning a white habit,[FN#304] took a rosary in his
hand and set out afoot alone and unattended. When he came to
Judar's gate, he saw the slave sitting there; so he went up to
him and seating himself by his side courteously, said to him,
"Peace be with thee!"; whereto he replied, "And on thee be peace,
O mortal! What wilt thou?" When the Wazir heard him say "O
mortal," he knew him to be of the Jinn and quaked for fear; then
he asked him, "O my lord, tell me, is thy master Judar here?"
Answered the eunuch, "Yes, he is in the palace." Quoth the
Minister, "O my lord, go thou to him and say to him, 'King Shams
Al-Daulah saluteth thee and biddeth thee honour his dwelling with
thy presence and eat of a banquet he hath made for thee;'" Quoth
the eunuch, "Tarry thou here, whilst I consult him. So the Wazir
stood in a respectful attitude, whilst the Marid went up to the
palace and said to Judar, "Know, O my lord, that the King sent to
thee an Emir and fifty men, and I beat them and drove them away.
Then he sent an hundred men and I beat them also; then two
hundred, and these also I put to the rout. And now he hath sent
thee his Wazir unarmed, bidding thee visit him and eat of his
banquet. What sayst thou?" Said Judar, "Go, bring the Wazir
hither." So the Marid went down and said to him, "O Wazir, come
speak with my lord." "On my head be it.", replied he and going in
to Judar, found him seated, in greater state than the King, upon
a carpet, whose like the King could not spread, and was dazed and
amazed at the goodliness of the palace and its decoration and
appointments, which made him seem as he were a beggar in
comparison. So he kissed the ground before Judar and called down
blessings on him; and Judar said to him, "What is thy business, O
Wazir?" Replied he, "O my lord, thy friend King Shams Al-Daulah
saluteth thee with the salaam and longeth to look upon thy face;
wherefore he hath made thee an entertainment. So say, wilt thou
heal his heart and eat of his banquet?" Quoth Judar, "If he be
indeed my friend, salute him and bid him come to me." "On my head
be it," quoth the Minister. Then Judar bringing out the ring
rubbed it and bade the Jinni fetch him a dress of the best, which
he gave to the Wazir saying, "Don this dress and go tell the King
what I say." So the Wazir donned the dress, the like whereof he
had never donned, and returning to the King told him what had
passed and praised the palace and that which was therein, saying,
"Judar biddeth thee to him." So the King called out, "Up, ye men;
mount your horses and bring me my steed, that we may go to
Judar!" Then he and his suite rode off for the Cairene palace.
Meanwhile Judar summoned the Marid and said to him, "It is my
will that thou bring me some of the Ifrits at thy command in the
guise of guards and station them in the open square before the
palace, that the King may see them and be awed by them; so shall
his heart tremble and he shall know that my power and majesty be
greater than his." Thereupon Al-Ra'ad brought him two hundred
Ifrits of great stature and strength, in the guise of guards,
magnificently armed and equipped, and when the King came and saw
these tall burly fellows his heart feared them. Then he entered
the palace, and found Judar sitting in such state as nor King nor
Sultan could even. So he saluted him and made his obeisance to
him, yet Judar rose not to him nor did him honour nor said "Be
seated," but left him standing,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
King entered, Judar rose not to him, nor did him honour nor even
said "Be seated!"; but left him standing,[FN#305] so that fear
entered into him and he could neither sit nor go away and said to
himself, "If he feared me, he would not leave me thus unheeded
peradventure he will do me a mischief, because of that which I
did with his brothers." Then said Judar, "O King of the age, it
beseemeth not the like of thee to wrong the folk and take away
their good." Replied the King, "O my lord, deign excuse me, for
greed impelled me to this and fate was thereby fulfilled; and,
were there no offending, there would be no forgiving." And he
went on to excuse himself for the past and pray to him for pardon
and indulgence till he recited amongst other things this poetry,

"O thou of generous seed and true nobility, * Reproach me not for
that which came from me to thee
We pardon thee if thou have wrought us any wrong * And if I
wrought the wrong I pray thee pardon me!"

And he ceased not to humble himself before him, till he said,
"Allah pardon thee!" and bade him be seated. So he sat down and
Judar invested him with garments of pardon and immunity and
ordered his brothers spread the table. When they had eaten, he
clad the whole of the King's company in robes of honour and gave
them largesse; after which he bade the King depart. So he went
forth and thereafter came every day to visit Judar and held not
his Divan save in his house: wherefore friendship and familiarity
waxed great between them, and they abode thus awhile, till one
day the King, being alone with his Minister, said to him, "O
Wazir, I fear lest Judar slay me and take the kingdom away from
me." Replied the Wazir, "O King of the age, as for his taking the
kingdom from thee, have no fear of that, for Judar's present
estate is greater than that of the King, and to take the kingdom
would be a lowering of his dignity; but, if thou fear that he
kill thee, thou hast a daughter: give her to him to wife and thou
and he will be of one condition." Quoth the King, "O Wazir, be
thou intermediary between us and him"; and quoth the Minister,
"Do thou invite him to an entertainment and pass the night with
him in one of thy saloons. Then bid thy daughter don her richest
dress and ornaments and pass by the door of the saloon. When he
seeth her, he will assuredly fall in love with her, and when we
know this, I will turn to him and tell him that she is thy
daughter and engage him in converse and lead him on, so that thou
shalt seem to know nothing of the matter, till he ask her to thee
to wife. When thou hast married him to the Princess, thou and he
will be as one thing and thou wilt be safe from him; and if he
die, thou wilt inherit all he hath, both great and small."
Replied the King, "Thou sayst sooth, O my Wazir," and made a
banquet and invited thereto Judar who came to the Sultan's palace
and they sat in the saloon in great good cheer till the end of
the day. Now the King had commanded his wife to array the maiden
in her richest raiment and ornaments and carry her by the door of
the saloon. She did as he told her, and when Judar saw the
Princess, who had not her match for beauty and grace, he looked
fixedly at her and said, "Ah!"; and his limbs were loosened; for
love and longing and passion and pine were sore upon him; desire
and transport get hold upon him and he turned pale. Quoth the
Wazir, "May no harm befall thee, O my lord! Why do I see thee
change colour and in suffering?" Asked Judar, "O Wazir, whose
daughter is this damsel? Verily she hath enthralled me and
ravished my reason." Replied the Wazir, "She is the daughter of
thy friend the King; and if she please thee, I will speak to him
that he marry thee to her." Quoth Judar, "Do so, O Wazir, and as
I live, I will bestow on thee what thou wilt and will give the
King whatsoever he shall ask to her dowry; and we will become
friends and kinsfolk." Quoth the Minister, "It shall go hard but
thy desire be accomplished." Then he turned to the King and said
in his ear, "O King of the age, thy friend Judar seeketh alliance
with thee and will have me ask of thee for him the hand of thy
daughter, the Princess Asiyah; so disappoint me not. but accept
my intercession, and what dowry soever thou askest he will give
thee." Said the King, "The dowry I have already received, and as
for the girl, she is his handmaid; I give her to him to wife and
he will do me honour by accepting her."--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Wazir whispered the King, "Judar seeketh alliance with thee by
taking thy daughter to wife," the other replied, "The dowry I
have already received, and the girl is his handmaid: he will do
me honour by accepting her." So they spent the rest of that night
together and on the morrow the King held a court, to which he
summoned great and small, together with the Shaykh
al-Islam.[FN#306] Then Judar demanded the Princess in marriage
and the King said, "The dowry I have received." Thereupon they
drew up the marriage contract and Judar sent for the saddle bags
containing the jewels and gave them to the King as settlement
upon his daughter. The drums beat and the pipes sounded and they
held high festival, whilst Judar went in unto the girl.
Thenceforward he and the King were as one flesh and they abode
thus for many days, till Shams al-Daulah died; whereupon the
troops proclaimed Judar Sultan, and he refused; but they
importuned him, till he consented and they made him King in his
father in law's stead. Then he bade build a cathedral mosque over
the late King's tomb in the Bundukaniyah[FN#307] quarter and
endowed it. Now the quarter of Judar's house was called
Yamaniyah; but, when he became Sultan he built therein a
congregational mosque and other buildings, wherefore the quarter
was named after him and was called the Judariyah[FN#308] quarter.
Moreover, he made his brother Salim his Wazir of the right and
his brother Salim his Wazir of the left hand; and thus they abode
a year and no more; for, at the end of that time, Salim said to
Salim, "O my brother, how long is this state to last? Shall we
pass our whole lives in slavery to our brother Judar? We shall
never enjoy luck or lordship whilst he lives," adding, "so how
shall we do to kill him and take the ring and the saddle bags?"
Replied Salim, "Thou art craftier than I; do thou devise, whereby
we may kill him." "If I effect this," asked Salim, "wilt thou
agree that I be Sultan and keep the ring and that thou be my
right hand Wazir and have the saddle bags?" Salim answered, "I
consent to this;" and they agreed to slay Judar their brother for
love of the world and of dominion. So they laid a snare for Judar
and said to him, "O our brother, verily we have a mind to glory
in thee and would fain have thee enter our houses and eat of our
entertainment and solace our hearts." Replied Judar, "So be it,
in whose house shall the banquet be?" "In mine," said Salim "and
after thou hast eaten of my victual, thou shalt be the guest of
my brother." Said Judar, " 'Tis well," and went with him to his
house, where he set before him poisoned food, of which when he
had eaten, his flesh rotted from his bones and he died.[FN#309]
Then Salim came up to him and would have drawn the ring from his
finger, but it resisted him; so he cut off the finger with a
knife. Then he rubbed the ring and the Marid presented himself,
saying, "Adsum! Ask what thou wilt." Quoth Salim, "Take my
brother Salim and put him to death and carry forth the two
bodies, the poisoned and the slaughtered, and cast them down
before the troops." So the Marid took Salim and slew him; then,
carrying the two corpses forth, he cast them down before the
chief officers of the army, who were sitting at table in the
parlour of the house. When they saw Judar and Salim slain, they
raised their hands from the food and fear get hold of them and
they said to the Marid, "Who hath dealt thus with the Sultan and
the Wazir Replied the Jinni, "Their brother Salim." And behold,
Salim came up to them and said, "O soldiers, eat and make merry,
for Judar is dead and I have taken to me the seal ring, whereof
the Marid before you is the servant; and I bade him slay my
brother Salim lest he dispute the kingdom with me, for he was a
traitor and I feared lest he should betray me. So now I am become
Sultan over you; will ye accept of me? If not, I will rub the
ring and bid the Marid slay you all, great and small."--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Salim said to the officers, "Will ye accept me as your Sultan,
otherwise I will rub the ring and the Marid shall slay you all,
great and small?"; they replied, "We accept thee to King and
Sultan." Then he bade bury his brothers and summoned the Divan;
and some of the folk followed the funeral, whilst others forewent
him in state procession to the audience hall of the palace, where
he sat down on the throne and they did homage to him as King;
after which he said, "It is my will to marry my brother Judar's
wife." Quoth they, "Wait till the days of widowhood are
accomplished.[FN#310] Quoth he, "I know not days of widowhood nor
aught else. As my head liveth, I needs must go in unto her this
very night." So they drew up the marriage contract and sent to
tell the Princess Asiyah, who replied, "Bid him enter."
Accordingly, he went in to her and she received him with a show
of joy and welcome; but by and by she gave him poison in water
and made an end of him. Then she took the ring and broke it, that
none might possess it thenceforward, and tore up the saddle bags;
after which she sent to the Shaykh al-Islam and other great
officers of state, telling them what had passed and saying to
them, "Choose you out a King to rule over you." And this is all
that hath come down to us of the Story of Judar and his
Brethren.[FN#311] But I have also heard, O King, a tale called
the

HISTORY OF GHARIB AND HIS BROTHER AJIB.[FN#312]

There was once in olden time a King of might, Kundamir highs, who
had been a brave and doughty man of war, a Kahraman,[FN#313] in
his day, but was grown passing old and decrepit. Now it pleased
Allah to vouchsafe him, in his extreme senility, a son, whom he
named Ajib[FN#314]--the Wonderful--because of his beauty and
loveliness; so he committed the babe to the midwives and wet-
nurses and handmaids and serving-women, and they reared him till
he was full seven years old, when his father gave him in charge
to a divine of his own folk and faith. The priest taught him the
laws and tenets of their Misbelief and instructed him in
philosophy and all manner of other knowledge, and it needed but
three full told years ere he was proficient therein and his
spirit waxed resolute and his judgment mature; and he became
learned, eloquent and philosophic[FN#315]; consorting with the
wise and disputing with the doctors of the law. When his father
saw this of him, it pleased him and he taught him to back the
steed and stab with spear and smite with sword, till he grew to
be an accomplished cavalier, versed in all martial exercises;
and, by the end of his twentieth year, he surpassed in all things
all the folk of his day. But his skill in weapons made him grow
up a stubborn tyrant and a devil arrogant, using to ride forth a-
hunting and a-chasing amongst a thousand horsemen and to make
raids and razzias upon the neighbouring knights, cutting off
caravans and carrying away the daughters of Kings and nobles;
wherefore many brought complaints against him to his father, who
cried out to five of his slaves and when they came said, "Seize
this dog!" So they seized Prince Ajib and, pinioning his hands
behind him, beat him by his father's command till he lost his
senses; after which the King imprisoned him in a chamber so dark
one might not know heaven from earth or length from breadth; and
there he abode two days and a night. Then the Emirs went in to
the King and, kissing the ground between his hands, interceded
with him for the Prince, and he released him. So Ajib bore with
his father for ten days, at the end of which he went in to him as
he slept by night and smote his neck. When the day rose, he
mounted the throne of his sire's estate and bade his men arm
themselves cap-a-pie in steel and stand with drawn swords in
front of him and on his right hand and on his left. By and by,
the Emirs and Captains entered and finding their King slain and
his son Ajib seated on the throne were confounded in mind and
knew not what to do. But Ajib said to them, "O folk, verily ye
see what your King hath gained. Whoso obeyeth me, I will honour
him, and whoso gainsayeth me I will do with him that which I did
with my sire." When they heard these words they feared lest he do
them a mischief; so they replied, "Thou art our King and the son
of our King;" and kissed ground before him; whereupon he thanked
them and rejoiced in them. Then he bade bring forth money and
apparel and clad them in sumptuous robes of honour and showered
largesse upon them, wherefore they all loved him and obeyed him.
In like manner he honoured the governors of the Provinces and the
Shaykhs of the Badawin, both tributary and independent, so that
the whole kingdom submitted to him and the folk obeyed him and he
reigned and bade and forbade in peace and quiet for a time of
five months. One Night, however, he dreamed a dream as he lay
slumbering; whereupon he awoke trembling, nor did sleep visit him
again till the morning. As soon as it was dawn he mounted his
throne and his officers stood before him, right and left. Then he
called the oneiromants and the astrologers and said to them
"Expound to me my dream!" "What was the dream?" asked they; and
he answered, "As I slept last Night, I saw my father standing
before me, with his yard uncovered, and there came forth of it a
thing the bigness of a bee, which grew till it became as a mighty
lion, with claws like hangers. As I lay wondering at this lo! it
ran upon me and smiting me with its claws, rent my belly in
sunder; whereupon I awoke startled and trembling. So expound ye
to me the meaning of this dream." The interpreters looked one at
other; and, after considering, said, "O mighty King, this dream
pointeth to one born of thy sire, between whom and thee shall
befal strife and enmity, wherein he shall get the better of thee:
so be on thy guard against him, by reason of this thy vision."
When Ajib heard their words, he said, "I have no brother whom I
should fear; so this your speech is mere lying." They replied,
"We tell thee naught save what we know;" but he was an angered
with them and bastinadoed them. Then he rose and, going in to the
paternal palace, examined his father's concubines and found one
of them seven months gone with child; whereupon he gave an order
to two of his slaves, saying, "Take this damsel, ye twain, and
carry her to the sea-shore and drown her." So they took her
forthright and, going to the sea-shore, designed to drown her,
when they looked at her and seeing her to be of singular beauty
and loveliness said to each other, "Why should we drown this
damsel? Let us rather carry her to the forest and live with her
there in rare love-liasse." Then they took her and fared on with
her days and nights till they had borne her afar off and had
brought her to a bushy forest, abounding in fruit-trees and
streams, where they both thought at the same time to win their
will of her; but each said, "I will have her first." So they fell
out one with the other concerning this, and while so doing a
company of blackamoors came down upon them, and they drew their
swords and both sides fell to laying on load. The mellay waxed
hot with cut and thrust; and the two slaves fought their best;
but the blacks slew them both in less than the twinkling of an
eye. So the damsel abode alone and wandered about the forest,
eating of its fruits and drinking of its founts, till in due time
she gave birth to a boy, brown but clean limbed and comely, whom
she named Gharib, the Stranger, by reason of her strangerhood.
Then she cut his navel-string and wrapping him in some of her own
clothes, gave him to suck, harrowed at heart, and with vitals
sorrowing for the estate she had lost and its honour and solace.
And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel
abode in the bush harrowed at heart and a-sorrowed; but she
suckled her babe albeit she was full of grief and fear for her
loneliness. Now behold, one day, there came horsemen and footmen
into the forest with hawks and hounds and horses laden with
partridges and cranes and wild geese and divers and other
waterfowl; and young ostriches and hares and gazelles and wild
oxen and lynxes and wolves and lions.[FN#316] Presently, these
Arabs entered the thicket and came upon the damsel, sitting with
her child on her breast a-suckling him: so they drew near and
asked her, "Say art thou a mortal or a Jinniyah?" Answered she,
"I am a mortal, O Chiefs of the Arabs." Thereupon they told their
Emir, whose name was Mardas, Prince of the Banu Kahtan,[FN#317]
and who had come forth that day to hunt with five hundred of his
cousins and the nobles of his tribe, and who in the course of the
chase had happened upon her. He bade them bring her before him,
which they did and she related to him her past from first to
last, whereat he marvelled. Then he cried to his kinsmen and
escort to continue the chase, after which they took her and
returned to their encampment, where the Emir appointed her a
separate dwelling-place and five damsels to serve her; and he
loved her with exceeding love and went in to her and lay with
her. She conceived by him straightway, and, when her months were
accomplished, she bare a man child and named him Sahim al-
Layl.[FN#318] He grew up with his brother Gharib among the nurses
and throve and waxed upon the lap of the Emir Mardas who, in due
time committed the two boys to a Fakih for instruction in the
things of their faith; after which he gave them in charge to
valiant knights of the Arabs, for training them to smite with
sword and lunge with lance and shoot with shaft; so by the time
they reached the age of fifteen, they knew all they needed and
surpassed each and every brave of their tribe; for Gharib would
undertake a thousand horse and Sahim al-Layl no fewer. Now Mardas
had many enemies, and the men of his tribe were the bravest of
all the Arabs, being doughty cavaliers, none might warm himself
at their fire.[FN#319] In his neighbourhood was an Emir of the
Arabs, Hassan bin Sabit hight, who was his intimate friend; and
he took to wife a noble lady of his tribe and bade all his
friends to the wedding, amongst them Mardas lord of the Banu
Kahtan, who accepted his invitation and set forth with three
hundred riders of his tribe, leaving other four hundred to guard
the women. Hassan met him with honour and seated him in the
highest stead. Then came all the cavaliers to the bridal and he
made them bride-feasts and held high festival by reason of the
marriage, after which the Arabs departed to their dwelling-
places. When Mardas came in sight of his camp, he saw slain men
lying about and birds hovering over them right and left; and his
heart sank within him at the sight. Then he entered the camp and
was met by Gharib, clad in complete suit of ring-mail, who gave
him joy of his safe return. Quoth Mardas, "What meaneth this
case, O Gharib?"; and quoth Gharib, "Al-Hamal bin Majid attacked
us with five hundred horsemen of his tribe." Now the reason of
this was that the Emir Mardas had a daughter called Mahdiyah,
seer never saw fairer than she, and Al-Hamal, lord of the Banu
Nabhan,[FN#320] heard of her charms; whereupon he took horse with
five hundred of his men and rode to Mardas to demand her hand;
but he was not accepted and was sent away disappointed.[FN#321]
So he awaited till Mardas was absent on his visit to Hassan, when
he mounted with his champions and, falling upon the camp of the
Banu Kahtan, slew a number of their knights and the rest fled to
the mountains. Now Gharib and his brother had ridden forth a-
hunting and chasing with an hundred horse and returned not till
midday, when they found that Al-Hamal had seized the camp and all
therein and had carried off the maidens, among whom was Mahdiyah,
driving her away with the captives. When Gharib saw this, he lost
his wits for rage and cried out to Sahim, saying, "O my brother,
O son of an accursed dam,[FN#322] they have plundered our camp
and carried off our women and children! Up and at the enemy, that
we may deliver the captives!" So Gharib and Sahim and their
hundred horse rushed upon the foe, and Gharib's wrath redoubled,
and he reaped a harvest of heads slain, giving the champions
death-cup to drain, till he won to Al-Hamal and saw Mahdiyah
among the captives. Then he drave at the lord of the Banu Nabhan
braves; with his lance lunged him and from his destrier hurled
him; nor was the time of mid-afternoon prayer come before he had
slain the most part of the foe and put to rout the rest and
rescued the captives; whereupon he returned to the camp in
triumph, bearing the head of Al-Hamal on the point of his lance
and improvising these couplets,

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