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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 9

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 9





When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-second Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old crone, he related to her
what had passed, saying, "She spake to me this and that, and I
answered her thus and thus. Now say me, hast thou any farther
device for bringing me to enjoy her publicly?" Quoth she, "O my
son, here endeth my contrivance, and now I am at the term of my
devices." Upon this he left her and returned to the Khan where,
as eventide evened, the jeweller came to him and invited him. He
said, "I cannot go with thee." Asked the merchant, "Why so? I
love thee and cannot brook separation from thee. Allah upon thee
come with me!" The other replied, "An it be thy wish to continue
our comradeship and keep up the friendship betwixt thee and me,
take me a house by the side of thine own and when thou wilt, thou
shalt pass the evening with me and I with thee; but, as soon as
the time of sleep cometh, each of us shall hie him to his own
home and lie there." Quoth Obayd, "I have a house adjoining mine,
which is my own property: so go thou with me to night and to-
morrow I will have the house untenanted for thee." Accordingly he
went with him and they supped and prayed the night prayer, after
which the jeweller drank the cup of drugged[FN#422] liquor and
fell asleep: but in Kamar al-Zaman's cup there was no trick; so
he drank it and slept not. Then came the jeweller's wife and sat
chatting with him through the dark hours, whilst her husband lay
like a corpse. When he awoke in the morning as of wont, he sent
for his tenant and said to him, "O man, quit me the house, for I
have need of it." "On my head and eyes," answered the other and
voided the house to him, whereupon Kamar al-Zaman took up his
abode therein and transported thither all his baggage. The
jeweller passed that evening with him, then went to his own
house. On the next day, his wife sent for a cunning builder and
bribed him with money to make her an underground-way[FN#423] from
her chamber to Kamar al-Zaman's house, with a trap-door under the
earth. So, before the youth was ware, she came in to him with two
bags of money and he said to her, "Whence comest thou?" She
showed him the tunnel and said to him, "Take these two bags of
his money." Then she sat with him, the twain toying and tumbling
together till the morning, when she said, "Wait for me, till I go
to him and wake him, so he may go to his shop, and I return to
thee." He sat expecting her, whilst she went away and awoke her
husband, who made the Wuzu ablution and prayed and went to his
shop. As soon as he was gone, she took four bags and, carrying
them through the Souterrain to Kamar al-Zaman, said to him,
"Store these up;" then she sat with him awhile, after which she
retired to her home and he betook himself to the bazar. When he
returned at sundown, he found in his house ten purses and jewels
and much besides. Presently the jeweller came to him and carried
him to his own house, where they passed the evening in the
saloon, till the handmaid came in according to custom, and
brought them the drink. Her master drank and fell asleep, whilst
naught betided Kamar al-Zaman for that his cup was wholesome and
there was no trick therein. Then came Halimah who sat down
atoying with him, whilst the slave-girl transported the
jeweller's goods to Kamar al-Zaman's house by the secret passage.
Thus they did till morning, when the handmaid awoke her lord and
gave them to drink coffee, after which they went each his own
way. On the third day the wife brought out to him a knife of her
husband's, which he had chased and wrought with his own hand, and
which he priced at five hundred diners. But there was no knife
like it and because of the eagerness with which folk sought it of
him, he had laid it up in a chest and could not bring himself to
sell it to any one in creation. Quoth she, "Take this knife and
set it in thy waist shawl and go to my husband and sit with him.
Then pull out the knife and say to him, 'O master, look at this
knife I bought to day and tell me if I have the worst or the best
of the bargain.' He will know it, but will be ashamed to say to
thee, 'This is my knife;' so he will ask thee, 'Whence didst thou
buy it and for how much?'; and do thou make answer, 'I saw two
Levantines[FN#424] disputing and one said to the other, 'Where
hast thou been?' Quoth his companion, 'I have been with my
mistress, and whenever I foregather with her, she giveth me ten
dirhams; but this day she said to me, 'My hand is empty of silver
for thee to day, but take this knife of my husband's.' So I took
it and intend to sell it.' The knife pleased me and hearing his
tale I said to him, 'Wilt thou sell it to me?' when he replied,
'Buy.' So I got it of him for three hundred gold pieces and I
wonder whether it was cheap or dear.' And note what he will say
to thee. Then talk with him awhile and rise and come back to me
in haste. Thou wilt find me awaiting thee at the tunnel mouth,
and do thou give me the knife." Replied Kamar al-Zaman, "I hear
and I obey," and taking the knife set it in his waist-shawl. Then
he went to the shop of the jeweller, who saluted him with the
salam and welcomed him and made him sit down. He spied the knife
in his waist shawl, at which he wondered and said to himself,
"That is my knife: who can have conveyed it to this merchant?"
And he fell a musing and saying in his mind, "I wonder an it be
my knife or a knife like it!" Presently Kamar al-Zaman pulled it
out and said to him, "Harkye, master; take this knife and look at
it." Obayd took it and knew it right well, but was ashamed to
say, "This is my knife;" And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-third Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
jeweller took the knife from Kamar al-Zaman, he knew it, but was
ashamed to say, "This is my knife." So he asked, "Where didst
thou buy it?" Kamar al-Zaman answered as Halimah had charged him,
and the jeweller said, "The knife was cheap at that price, for it
is worth five hundred diners." But fire flamed in his heart and
his hands were tied from working at his craft. Kamar al-Zaman
continued to talk with him, whilst he was drowned in the sea of
solicitudes, and for fifty words wherewith the youth bespoke him,
he answered him but one; for his heart ached and his frame was
racked and his thoughts were troubled and he was even as saith
the poet,

"I have no words though folk would have me talk * And who bespeak
me find me thought waylaid:
Plunged in the Care-sea's undiscovered depths, * Nor aught of
difference see 'twixt man and maid!"


When Kamar al-Zaman saw his case thus changed, he said to him
"Belike thou art busy at this present," and leaving him, returned
in hottest haste to his own house, where he found Halimah
standing at the passage door awaiting him. Quoth she "Hast thou
done as I bade thee?"; and quoth he, "Yes." She asked, "What said
he to thee?"; and he answered, "He told me that the knife was
cheap at that price, for that it was worth five hundred diners:
but I could see that he was troubled; so I left him and know not
what befel him after that." Cried she, "Give me the knife and
reck thou not of him." Then she took the knife and restoring it
to its place, sat down. Now after Kamar al-Zaman's departure fire
flamed in the jeweller's heart and suspicion was sore upon him
and he said to himself, "Needs must I get up and go look for the
knife and cut down doubt with certainty." So he rose and repaired
to his house and went in to his wife, snorting like a
dragon;[FN#425] and she said to him, "What mattereth thee, O my
lord?" He asked, "Where is my knife?" and she answered, "In the
chest," and smote hand upon breast, saying, "O my grief! Belike
thou hast fallen out with some one and art come to fetch the
knife to smite him withal." Said he, "Give me the knife. Let me
see it." But said she, "Not till thou swear to me that thou wilt
not smite any one therewith." So he swore this to her and she
opened the chest and brought out to him the knife and he fell to
turning it over, saying, "Verily, this is a wondrous thing!" Then
quoth he to her, "Take it and lay it back in its place;" and she,
"Tell me the meaning of all this." He answered, "I saw with our
friend a knife like this," and told her all that had passed
between himself and the youth, adding, "But, when I saw it in the
chest, my suspicion ended in certainty." Said she, "Haply thou
misdoubtedest of me and deemedst that I was the Levantine's
mistress and had given him the knife." He replied, "Yes, I had my
doubts of this; but, when I saw the knife, suspicion was lifted
from my heart." Rejoined she, "O man, there is now no good in
thee!" And he fell to excusing himself to her, till he appeased
her; after which he fared forth and returned to his shop. Next
day, she gave Kamar al-Zaman her husband's watch, which he had
made with his own hand and whereof none had the like, saying, "Go
to his shop and sit by his side and say to him, 'I saw again to-
day him whom I saw yesterday. He had a watch in his hand and said
to me, 'Wilt thou buy this watch?' Quoth I, 'Whence hadst thou
it?'; and quoth he, 'I was with my mistress and she gave me this
watch.' So I bought it of him for eight-and-fifty gold pieces.
Look at it: is it cheap at that price or dear?' Note what he
shall say to thee; then return to me in haste and give me the
watch." So Kamar al-Zaman repaired to the jeweller and did with
him as she had charged him. When Obayd saw the watch, he said,
"This is worth seven hundred ducats;" and suspicion entered into
him. Then the youth left him and returning to the wife, gave her
back the watch. Presently, her husband suddenly came in snorting,
and said to her, "Where is my watch?" Said she, "Here it is;" and
he cried, "Give it to me." So she brought it to him and he
exclaimed, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!"; and she too exclaimed, "O man,
there is something the matter with thee. Tell me what it is." He
replied, "What shall I say? Verily, I am bewildered by these
chances!" And he recited these couplets,[FN#426]

"Although the Merciful be doubtless with me,
Yet am I sore bewildered, for new griefs
Have compassed me about, or ere I knew it
I have endured till Patience self became
Impatient of my patience.--I have endured
Waiting till Heaven fulfil my destiny.--
I have endured till e'en endurance owned
How I bore up with her; (a thing more bitter
Than bitter aloes) yet though a bitterer thing
Is not, than is that drug it were more bitter
To me should Patience leave me unsustained."

Then said he to his wife, "O woman, I saw with the merchant our
friend, first my knife, which I knew, for that its fashion was a
device of my own wit, nor cloth its like exist; and he told me of
it a story that troubled the heart: so I came back and found it
at home. Again to day I see him with the watch, whose fashion
also is of my own device, nor is there the fellow of it in
Bassorah, and of this also he told me a story that saddened my
heart. Wherefore I am bewildered in my wit and know not what is
to come to me." Quoth she, "The purport of thy speech is that
thou suspectedst me of being the friend of that merchant and his
leman, and eke of giving him thy good; so thou camest to question
me and make proof of my perfidy; and, had I not shown thee the
knife and the watch, thou hadst been certified of my treason. But
since, O man, thou deemest me this ill deme, henceforth I will
never again break with thee bread nor drain with thee drink, for
I loathe thee with the loathing of prohibition.[FN#427]" So he
gentled her and excused himself till he had appeased her and
returned, repenting him of having bespoken her thus, to his shop,
where he sat, And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
jeweller quitted his wife, he repented having bespoken her thus
and, returning to his shop, he sat there in disquiet sore and
anxiety galore, between belief and unbelief. About eventide he
went home alone, not bringing Kamar al-Zaman with him: whereupon
quoth his wife, "Where is the merchant?"; and quoth he, "In his
lodgings." She asked, "Is the friendship between thee and him
grown cold?" and he answered, "By Allah, I have taken a dislike
to him, because of that which hath betided me from him."[FN#428]
Quoth she, "Go fetch him, to please me." So he arose and went in
to Kamar al-Zaman in his house; where he saw his own goods strewn
about and knew them. At this sight, fire was kindled in his heart
and he fell asighing. Quoth the youth, "How is it that I see thee
melancholy?" Obayd was ashamed to say, "Here are my goods in thy
house: who brought them hither?"; so he replied only, "A vexation
hath betided me; but come thou with me to my house, that we may
solace ourselves there." The other rejoined, "Let me be in my
place: I will not go with thee." But the jeweller conjured him to
come and took him to his house, where they supped and passed the
evening together, Kamar al-Zaman talking with the jeweller, who
was drowned in the sea of solicitude and for a hundred words,
wherewith the guest bespoke him, answered him only one word.
Presently, the handmaid brought them two cups of drink, as usual,
and they drank; whereupon the jeweller fell asleep, but the youth
abode on wake, because his cup was not drugged. Then came Halimah
and said to her lover, "How deemest thou of yonder cornuted, who
is drunken in his heedlessness and weeteth not the wiles of
women? There is no help for it but that I cozen him into
divorcing me. To-morrow, I will disguise myself as a slave-girl
and walk after thee to his shop, where do thou say to him, 'O
master, I went to-day into the Khan of Al-Yasirjiyah, where I saw
this damsel and bought her for a thousand diners. Look at her for
me and tell me whether she was cheap at that price or dear.' Then
uncover to him my face and breasts and show all of me to him;
after which do thou carry me back to thy house, whence I will go
to my chamber by the secret passage, so I may see the issue of
our affair with him." Then the twain passed the night in mirth
and merriment, converse and good cheer, dalliance and delight
till dawn, when she returned to her own place and sent the
handmaid to arouse her lawful lord and her lover. Accordingly
they arose and prayed the dawn-prayer and brake their fast and
drank coffee, after which Obayd repaired to his shop and Kamar
al-Zaman betook himself to his own house. Presently, in came
Halimah to him by the tunnel, in the guise of a slave-girl, and
indeed she was by birth a slave-girl.[FN#429] Then he went out
and she walked behind him, till he came to the jeweller's shop
and saluting him, sat down and said, "O master, I went into the
Khan of Al-Yasirjiyah to-day, to look about me, and saw this
damsel in the broker's hands. She pleased me; so I bought her for
a thousand diners and I would have thee look upon her and see if
she be cheap at that price or no." So saying, he uncovered her
face and the jeweller saw her to be his own wife. clad in her
costliest clothes, tricked out in her finest trinkets and kohl'd
and henna'd, even as she was wont to adorn herself before him in
the house. He knew with full knowledge her face and dress and
trinkets, for those he had wrought with his own hand, and he saw
on her fingers the seal rings he had newly made for Kamar al-
Zaman, whereby he was certified with entire assurance that she
was indeed his very wife. So he asked her, "What is thy name, O
slave-girl?"; and she answered, "Halimah," naming to him her own
name; whereat he was amazed and said to the youth, "For how much
didst thou buy her?" He replied, "For a thousand diners"; and the
jeweller rejoined, "Thou hast gotten her gratis; for her rings
and clothes and trinkets are worth more than that." Said Kamar
al-Zaman, "May Allah rejoice thee with good news! Since she
pleaseth thee, I will carry her to my house;" and Obayd said, "Do
thy will." So he took her off to his house, whence she passed
through the secret passage to her own apartment and sat there.
Meanwhile, fire flamed in the jeweller's heart and he said to
himself, "I will go see my wife. If she be at home, this slave-
girl must be her counterpart, and glory be to Him who alone hath
no counterpart! But, if she be not at home, 'tis she herself
without a doubt." Then he set off running, and coming to his
house, found his wife sitting in the same clothes and ornaments
he had seen upon her in the shop; whereupon he beat hand upon
hand, saying, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" "O man," asked she, "art thou
mad or what aileth thee? 'Tis not thy wont to do thus, and needs
must it be that something hath befallen thee." Answered he, "If
thou wilt have me tell thee be not vexed." Quoth she, "Say on";
so he said, "Our friend the merchant hath bought a slave-girl,
whose shape is as thy shape and her height as thy height; more-
over, her name is even as thy name and her apparel is the like of
thine apparel. Brief, she resembleth thee in all her attributes,
and on her fingers are seal rings like thy seal rings and her
trinkets are as thy trinkets. So, when he displayed her to me,
methought it was thyself and I was perplexed concerning my case.
Would we had never seen this merchant nor companied with him; and
would he had never left his own country and we had not known him,
for he hath troubled my life which before was serene, causing ill
feeling to succeed good faith and making doubt to enter into my
heart." Said she, "Look in my face, belike I am she who was with
him and he is my lover and I disguised myself as a slave-girl and
agreed with him that he should display me to thee, so he might
lay a snare for thee." He replied, "What words are these? Indeed,
I never suspected that thou wouldst do the like of this deed."
Now this jeweller was unversed in the wiles of women and knew not
how they deal with men, nor had he heard the saying of him who
said,

"A heart bore thee off in chase of the fair, * As fled Youth and
came Age wi' his hoary hair:
Layla troubles me and love joys are far; * And rival and risks
brings us cark and care.
An would'st ask me of woman, behold I am * In physic of womankind
wise and ware:
When grizzleth man's head and his monies fail, * His lot in their
love is a poor affair."

Nor that of another,[FN#430]

"Gainsay women; he obeyeth Allah best, who saith them nay And he
prospers not who giveth them his bridle rein to sway
For they'll hinder him from winning to perfection in his gifts,
Though a thousand years he study, seeking after wisdom's
way."

And a third,

"Women Satans are, made for woe of man: * To Allah I fly from
such Satanesses!
Whom they lure by their love he to grief shall come * And lose
bliss of world and the Faith that blesses."

Said she, "Here am I sitting in my chamber; so go thou to him
forthright and knock at the door and contrive to go in to him
quickly. An thou see the damsel with him 'tis a slave-girl of his
who resembleth me (and Glory be to Him who hath no
resemblance[FN#431]) But, an thou see no slave-girl with him,
then am I myself she whom thou sawest with him in the shop, and
thine ill thought of me will be stablished." "True," answered
Obayd, and went out leaving her, whereupon she passed through the
hidden passage and seating herself by Kamar al-Zaman, told him
what had passed, saying, "Open the door quickly and show me to
him." Now, as they were talking, behold, there came a knocking at
the door. Quoth Kamar al-Zaman, "Who is at the door?"; and quoth
the jeweller, "I, thy friend; thou displayedst to me thy slave-
girl in the bazar, and I rejoiced for thee in her, but my joy in
her was not completed; so open the door and let me look at her
again." Rejoined he, "So be it," and opened the door to him,
whereupon he saw his wife sitting by him. She rose and kissed
their hands; and he looked at her; then she talked with him
awhile and he saw her not to be distinguished from his wife in
aught and said, "Allah createth whatso He will." Then he went
away more disheartened than before and returned to his own house
where he saw his wife sitting, for she had foregone him thither
by the souterrain. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
lady forewent her spouse by the souterrain as he fared through
the door and sat down in her upper chamber;[FN#432] so as soon as
he entered she asked him, "What hast thou seen?" and he answered,
"I found her with her master; and she resembleth thee." Then said
she, "Off to thy shop and let this suffice thee of ignoble
suspicion and never again deem ill of me." Said he, "So be it:
accord me pardon for what is past." And she, "Allah grant thee
grace!"[FN#433] whereupon he kissed her right and left and went
back to his shop. Then she again betook herself to Kamar al-Zaman
through the underground passage, with four bags of money, and
said to him, "Equip thyself at once for the road and be ready to
carry off the money without delay, against I devise for thee the
device I have in mind." So he went out and purchased mules and
loaded them and made ready a travelling litter, he also bought
Mamelukes and eunuchs and sending, without let or hindrance, the
whole without the city, returned to Halimah and said to her, "I
have made an end of my affairs." Quoth she, "And I on my side am
ready; for I have transported to thy house all the rest of his
monies and treasures and have left him nor little nor much,
whereof he may avail himself. All this is of my love for thee, O
dearling of my heart, for I would sacrifice my husband to thee a
thousand times. But now it behoveth, thou go to him and farewell
him, saying, 'I purpose to depart after three days and am come to
bid thee adieu; so do thou reckon what I owe thee for the hire of
the house that I may send it to thee and acquit my conscience.'
Note his reply and return to me and tell me; for I can no more; I
have done my best, by cozening him, to anger him with me and
cause him to put me away, but I find him none the less infatuated
with me. So nothing will serve us but to depart to thine own
country." And quoth he, "O rare! an but swevens prove
true!"[FN#434] Then he went to the jeweller's shop and sitting
down by him, said to him, "O master, I set out for home in three
days' time, and am come to farewell thee. So I would have thee
reckon what I owe thee for the hire of the house, that I may pay
it to thee and acquit my conscience." Answered Obayd, "What talk
is this? Verily, 'tis I who am indebted to thee. By Allah, I will
take nothing from thee for the rent of the house, for thou hast
brought down blessings upon us! However, thou desolatest me by
thy departure, and but that it is forbidden to me, I would
certainly oppose thee and hinder thee from returning to thy
country and kinsfolk." Then he took leave of him, whilst they
both wept with sore weeping and the jeweller went with him, and
when they entered Kamar al-Zaman's house, there they found
Halimah who stood before them and served them; but when Obayd
returned home, he found her sitting there; nor did he cease to
see her thus in each house in turn, for the space of three days,
when she said to Kamar al-Zaman, "Now have I transported to thee
all that he hath of monies and hoards and carpets and things of
price, and there remaineth with him naught save the slave-girl,
who used to come in to you with the night drink: but I cannot
part with her, for that she is my kinswoman and she is dear to me
as a confidante. So I will beat her and be wroth with her and
when my spouse cometh home, I will say to him, 'I can no longer
put up with this slave-girl nor stay in the house with her; so
take her and sell her.' Accordingly he will sell her and do thou
buy her, that we may carry her with us." Answered he, "No harm in
that." So she beat the girl and when the jeweller came in, he
found her weeping and asked her why she wept. Quoth she, "My
mistress hath beaten me." He then went in to his wife and said to
her, "What hath that accursed girl done, that thou hast beaten
her?" She replied, "O man, I have but one word to say to thee,
and 'tis that I can no longer bear the sight of this girl; so
take her and sell her, or else divorce me." Quoth he, "I will
sell her that I may not cross thee in aught;" and when he went
out to go to the shop he took her and passed with her by Kamar
al-Zaman. No sooner had he gone out than his wife slipped through
the under ground passage to Kamar al-Zaman, who placed her in the
litter, before the Shaykh her husband reached him. When the
jeweller came up and the lover saw the slave-girl with him, he
asked him, "What girl is this?"; and the other answered, "'Tis my
slave-girl who used to serve us with the night drink; she hath
disobeyed her mistress who is wroth with her and hath bidden me
sell her." Quoth the youth, "An her mistress have taken an
aversion to her, there is for her no abiding with her; but sell
her to me, that I may smell your scent in her, and I will make
her handmaid to my slave Halimah." "Good," answered Obayd: "take
her." Asked Kamar al-Zaman, "What is her price?"; but the
jeweller said, "I will take nothing from thee, for thou hast been
bountiful to us." So he accepted her from him and said to
Halimah, "Kiss thy lord's hand." Accordingly, she came out from
the litter and kissing Obayd's hand, remounted, whilst he looked
hard at her. Then said Kamar al-Zaman, "I commend thee to Allah,
O Master Obayd! Acquit my conscience of responsibility.[FN#435]"
Answered the jeweller, "Allah acquit thee! and carry thee safe to
thy family!" Then he bade him farewell and went to his shop
weeping, and indeed it was grievous to him to part from Kamar al-
Zaman, for that he had been friend and friendship hath its
debtorship; yet he rejoiced in the dispelling of the doubts which
had befallen him anent his wife, since the young man was now gone
and his suspicions had not been stablished. Such was his case;
but as regards Kamar al-Zaman, the young lady said to him, "An
thou wish for safety, travel with me by other than the wonted
way." And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.

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