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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 Eighty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah,
when Sa'idah warned him and blessed him and went her ways, passed
the rest of the night with his brothers and on the morrow, he
sent them to the Hammam and clad each of them, on his coming
forth, in a suit worth a hoard of money. Then he called for the
tray of food and they set it before him and he ate, he and his
brothers. When his attendants saw the twain and knew them for his
brothers they saluted them and said to him, "O our lord, Allah
give thee joy of thy reunion with thy dear brothers! Where have
they been this while?" He replied, "It was they whom ye saw in
the guise of dogs; praise be to Allah who hath delivered them
from prison and grievous torment!" Then he carried them to the
Divan of the Caliph and kissing ground before Al-Rashid wished
him continuance of honour and fortune and surcease of evil and
enmity. Quoth the Caliph, "Welcome, O Emir Abdullah! Tell me what
hath befallen thee." And quoth he, "O Commander of the Faithful
(whose power Allah increase!) when I carried my brothers home to
my lodging, my heart was at rest concerning them, because thou
hadst pledged thyself to their release and I said in myself,
'Kings fail not to attain aught for which they strain, inasmuch
as the divine favour aideth them.' So I took off the collars from
their necks, putting my trust in Allah, and ate with them from
the same tray, which when my suite saw, they made light of my wit
and said each to other, 'He is surely mad! How can the governor
of Bassorah who is greater than the Wazir, eat with dogs?' Then
they threw away what was in the tray, saying, 'We will not eat
the dogs' orts.' And they went on to befool my reason, whilst I
heard their words, but returned them no reply because of their
unknowing that the dogs were my brothers. When the hour of sleep
came, I sent them away and addressed myself to sleep; but, ere I
was ware, the earth clave in sunder and out came Sa'idah, the Red
King's daughter, enraged against me, with eyes like fire." And he
went on to relate to the Caliph all what had passed between him
and her and her father and how she had transmewed his brothers
from canine to human form, adding, "And here they are before
thee, O Commander of the Faithful!" The Caliph looked at them and
seeing two young men like moons, said, "Allah requite thee for me
with good, O Abdullah, for that thou hast acquainted me with an
advantage[FN#546] I knew not! Henceforth, Inshallah, I will never
leave to pray these two-bow orisons before the breaking of the
dawn, what while I live." Then he reproved Abdullah's brothers
for their past transgressions against him and they excused
themselves before the Caliph, who said, "Join hands[FN#547] and
forgive one another and Allah pardon what is past!" Upon which he
turned to Abdullah and said to him, "O Abdullah, make thy
brothers thine assistants and be careful of them." Then he
charged them to be obedient to their brother and bade them return
to Bassorah after he had bestowed on them abundant largesse. So
they went down from the Caliph's Divan whilst he rejoiced in this
advantage he had obtained by the action aforesaid, to wit,
persistence in praying two inclinations before dawn, and
exclaimed, "He spake truth who said, 'The misfortune of one tribe
fortuneth another tribe.'"[FN#548] On this wise befel it to them
from the Caliph; but as regards Abdullah, he left Baghdad
carrying with him his brothers in all honour and dignity and
increase of quality, and fared on till they drew near Bassorah,
when the notables and chief men of the place came out to meet
them and after decorating the city brought them thereinto with a
procession which had not its match and all the folk shouted out
blessings on Abdullah as he scattered amongst them silver and
gold. None, however, took heed to his brothers; wherefore
jealousy and envy entered their hearts, for all he entreated them
tenderly as one tenders an ophthalmic eye; but the more he
cherished them, the more they redoubled in hatred and envy of
him: and indeed it is said on the subject,

"I'd win good will of every one, but whoso envies me * Will not
be won on any wise and makes mine office hard:
How gain the gree of envious wight who coveteth my good, * When
naught will satisfy him save to see my good go marr'd?"

Then he gave each a concubine that had not her like, and eunuchs
and servants and slaves white and black, of each kind forty. He
also gave each of them fifty steeds all thoroughbreds and they
got them guards and followers; and he assigned to them revenues
and appointed them solde and stipends and made them his
assistants, saying to them, "O my brothers, I and you are equal
and there is no distinction between me and you twain,"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Abdullah assigned stipends to his brothers and made them his
assistants, saying, "O my brothers, I and you are equal and there
is no distinction between me and you twain, and after Allah and
the Caliph, the commandment is mine and yours. So rule you at
Bassorah in my absence and in my presence, and your commandments
shall be effectual; but look that ye fear Allah in your
ordinances and beware of oppression, which if it endure
depopulateth; and apply yourselves to justice, for justice, if it
be prolonged, peopleth a land. Oppress not the True Believers, or
they will curse you and ill report of you will reach the Caliph,
wherefore dishonour will betide both me and you. Go not therefore
about to violence any, but whatso ye greed for of the goods of
the folk, take it from my goods, over and above that whereof ye
have need; for 'tis not unknown to you what is handed down in the
Koran of prohibition versets on the subject of oppression and
Allah-gifted is he who said these couplets,

'Oppression ambusheth in sprite of man * Whom naught withholdeth
save the lack of might:
The sage shall ne'er apply his wits to aught * Until befitting
time direct his sight:
The tongue of wisdom woneth in the heart; * And in his mouth the
tongue of foolish wight.
Who at occasion's call lacks power to rise * Is slain by feeblest
who would glut his spite.
A man may hide his blood and breed, but aye * His deeds on
darkest hiddens cast a light.
Wights of ill strain with ancestry as vile * Have lips which
never spake one word aright:
And who committeth case to hands of fool * In folly proveth self
as fond and light;
And who his secret tells to folk at large * Shall rouse his foes
to work him worst despight.
Suffice the generous what regards his lot * Nor meddles he with
aught regards him not'"

And he went on to admonish his brothers and bid them to equity
and forbid them from tyranny, doubting not but they would love
him the better for his boon of good counsel[FN#549] and he relied
upon them and honoured them with the utmost honour; but
notwithstanding all his generosity to them, they only waxed in
envy and hatred of him, till, one day, the two being together
alone, quoth Nasir to Mansur, "O my brother, how long shall we be
mere subjects of our brother Abdullah, and he in this estate of
lordship and worship? After being a merchant, he is become an
Emir, and from being little, he is grown great: but we, we grow
not great nor is there aught of respect or degree left us; for,
behold, he laugheth at us and maketh us his assistants! What is
the meaning of this? Is it not that we are his servants and under
his subjection? But, long as he abideth in good case, our rank
will never be raised nor shall we be aught of repute; wherefore
we shall not fulfil our wish, except we slay him and win to his
wealth, nor will it be possible to get his gear save after his
death. So, when we have slain him, we shall become lords and will
take all that is in his treasuries of gems and things of price
and divide them between us. Then will we send the Caliph a
present and demand of him the government of Cufah, and thou shalt
be governor of Cufah and I of Bassorah. Thus each of us shall
have formal estate and condition, but we shall never effect this,
except we put him out of the world!" Answered Mansur, "Thou
sayest sooth, but how shall we do to kill him?" Quoth Nasir, "We
will make an entertainment in the house of one of us and invite
him thereto and serve him with the uttermost service. Then will
we sit through the night with him in talk and tell him tales and
jests and rare stories till his heart melteth with sitting up
when we will spread him a bed, that he may lie down to sleep.
When he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and throttle him and
throw him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say, 'His
sister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with us, and
said to him, 'O thou scum of mankind, who art thou that thou
shouldst complain of me to the Commander of the Faithful? Deemest
thou that we dread him? As he is a King, so we too are Kings, and
if he mend not his manners in our regard we will do him die by
the foulest of deaths. But meantime I will slay thee, that we may
see what the hand of the Prince of True Believers availeth to
do.' So saying, she caught him up and clave the earth and
disappeared with him which when we saw, we swooned away. Then we
revived and we reck not what is become of him.' And saying this
we will send to the Caliph and tell him the case and he will
invest us with the government in his room. After awhile, we will
send him a sumptuous present and seek of him the government of
Cufah, and one of us shall abide in Bassorah and the other in
Cufah. So shall the land be pleasant to us and we will be down
upon the True Believers and win our wishes." And quoth Mansur,
"Thou counsellest well, O my brother," and they agreed upon the
murther. So Nasir made an entertainment and said to Abdullah, "O
my brother, verily I am thy brother, and I would have thee
hearten my heart thou and my brother Mansur and eat of my banquet
in my house, so I may boast of thee and that it may be said, The
Emir Abdullah hath eaten of his brother Nasir's guest meal; when
my heart will be solaced by this best of boons." Abdullah
replied, "So be it, O my brother; there is no distinction between
me and thee and thy house is my house; but since thou invitest
me, none refuseth hospitality save the churl." Then he turned to
Mansur and said to him, "Wilt thou go with me to thy brother
Nasir's house and we will eat of his feast and heal his heart?"
Replied Mansur, "As thy head liveth, O my brother, I will not go
with thee, unless thou swear to me that, after thou comest forth
of brother Nasir's house, thou wilt enter my house and eat of my
banquet! Is Nasir thy brother and am not I thy brother? So, even
as thou heartenest his heart, do thou hearten mine." Answered
Abdullah, "There is no harm in that: with love and gladly gree!
When I come out from Nasir's house, I will enter thine, for thou
art my brother even as he." So he kissed his hand and going forth
of the Divan, made ready his feast. On the morrow, Abdullah took
horse and repaired, with his brother Mansur and a company of his
officers, to Nasir's house, where they sat down, he and Mansur
and his many. Then Nasir set the trays before them and welcomed
them; so they ate and drank and sat in mirth and merriment; after
which the trays and the platters were removed and they washed
their hands. They passed the day in feasting and wine-drinking
and diversion and delight till night-fall, when they supped and
prayed the sundown prayers, and the night orisons; after which
they sat conversing and carousing, and Nasir and Mansur fell to
telling stories whilst Abdullah hearkened. Now they three were
alone in the pavilion, the rest of the company being in another
place, and they ceased not to tell quips and tales and rare
adventures and anecdotes, till Abdullah's heart was dissolved
within him for watching and sleep overcame him.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Abdullah was a-wearied with watching and wanted to sleep, they
also lay beside him on another couch and waited till he
wasdrowned in slumber and when they were certified thereof they
arose and knelt upon him: whereupon he awoke and seeing them
kneeling on his breast, said to them, "What is this, O my
brothers?" Cried they, "We are no brothers of thine, nor do we
know thee unmannerly that thou art! Thy death is become better
than thy life." Then they gripped him by the throat and throttled
him, till he lost his senses and abode without motion; so that
they deemed him dead. Now the pavilion wherein they were
overlooked the river; so they cast him into the water; but, when
he fell, Allah sent to his aid a dolphin[FN#550] who was
accustomed to come under that pavilion because the kitchen had a
window that gave upon the stream; and, as often as they
slaughtered any beast there, it was their wont to throw the
refuse into the river and the dolphin came and picked it up from
the surface of the water; wherefore he ever resorted to the
place. That day they had cast out much offal by reason of the
banquet; so the dolphin ate more than of wont and gained
strength. Hearing the splash of Abdullah's fall, he hastened to
the spot, where he saw a son of Adam and Allah guided him so that
he took the man on his back and crossing the current made with
him for the other bank, where he cast his burthen ashore. Now the
place where the dolphin cast up Abdullah was a well-beaten
highway, and presently up came a caravan and finding him lying on
the river bank, said, "Here is a drowned man, whom the river hath
cast up;" and the travellers gathered around to gaze at the
corpse. The Shaykh of the caravan was a man of worth, skilled in
all sciences and versed in the mystery of medicine and, withal,
sound of judgment: so he said to them, "O folk, what is the
news?" They answered, "Here is a drowned man;" whereupon he went
up to Abdullah and examining him, said to them, "O folk, there is
life yet in this young man, who is a person of condition and of
the sons of the great, bred in honour and fortune, and Inshallah
there is still hope of him." Then he took him and clothing him in
dry clothes warmed him before the fire; after which he nursed him
and tended him three days' march till he revived; but he was
passing feeble by reason of the shock, and the chief of the
caravan proceeded to medicine him with such simples as he knew,
what while they ceased not faring on till they had travelled
thirty days' journey from Bassorah and came to a city in the land
of the Persians, by name 'Auj.[FN#551] Here they alighted at a
Khan and spread Abdullah a bed, where he lay groaning all night
and troubling the folk with his groans. And when morning morrowed
the concierge of the Khan came to the chief of the caravan and
said to him, "What is this sick man thou hast with thee? Verily,
he disturbeth us." Quoth the chief, "I found him by the way, on
the river-bank and well nigh drowned; and I have tended him, but
to no effect, for he recovereth not." Said the porter, "Show him
to the Shaykhah[FN#552] Rajihah." "Who is this Religious?" asked
the chief of the caravan, and the door-keeper answered, "There is
with us a holy woman, a clean maid and a comely, called Rajihah,
to whom they present whoso hath any ailment; and he passeth a
single night in her house and awaketh on the morrow, whole and
ailing nothing." Quoth the chief, "Direct me to her;" quoth the
porter, "Take up thy sick man." So he and took up Abdullah and
the doorkeeper forewent him, till he came to a hermitage, where
he saw folk entering with many an ex voto offering and other folk
coming forth, rejoicing. The porter went in, till he came to the
curtain,[FN#553] and said, "Permission, O Shaykhah Rajihah! Take
this sick man." Said she, "Bring him within the curtain;" and the
porter said to Abdullah, "Enter." So he entered and looking upon
the holy woman, saw her to be his wife whom he had brought from
the City of Stone. And when he knew her she also knew him and
saluted him and he returned her salam. Then said he, "Who brought
thee hither?"; and she answered, "When I saw that thy brothers
had cast thee away and were contending concerning me, I threw
myself into the sea; but my Shaykh Al-Khizr Abu al-'Abbas took me
up and brought me to this hermitage, where he gave me leave to
heal the sick and bade cry in the city, 'Whoso hath any ailment,
let him repair to the Shaykhah Rajihah;' and he also said to me,
'Tarry in this hermitage till the time betide, and thy husband
shall come to thee here.' So all the sick used to flock to me and
I rubbed them and shampoo'd them and they awoke on the morrow
whole and sound; whereby the report of me became noised abroad
among the folk, and they brought me votive gifts, so that I have
with me abundant wealth. And now I live here in high honour and
worship, and all the people of these parts seek my prayers." Then
she rubbed him and by the ordinance of Allah the Most High, he
became whole. Now Al-Khizr used to come to her every Friday
night, and it chanced that the day of Abdullah's coming was a
Thursday.[FN#554] Accordingly, when the night darkened he and she
sat, after a supper of the richest meats, awaiting the coming of
Al-Khizr, who made his appearance anon and carrying them forth of
the hermitage, set them down in Abdullah's palace at Bassorah,
where he left them and went his way. As soon as it was day,
Abdullah examined the palace and knew it for his own; then,
hearing the folk clamouring without, he looked forth of the
lattice and saw his brothers crucified, each on his own cross.
Now the reason of this was as ensueth. When they had thrown him
into the Tigris, the twain arose on the morrow, weeping and
saying, "Our brother! the Jinniyah hath carried off our brother!"
Then they made ready a present and sent it to the Caliph,
acquainting him with these tidings and suing from him the
government of Bassorah. He sent for them and questioned them and
they told him the false tale we have recounted, whereupon he was
exceeding wroth.[FN#555] So that night he prayed a two-bow prayer
before daybreak, as of his wont, and called upon the tribes of
the Jinn, who came before him subject-wise, and he questioned
them of Abdullah: when they sware to him that none of them had
done him aught of hurt and said, "We know not what is become of
him." Then came Sa'idah, daughter of the Red King, and acquainted
the Caliph with the truth of Abdullah's case, and he dismissed
the Jinn. On the morrow, he subjected Nasir and Mansur to the
bastinado till they confessed, one against other: whereupon the
Caliph was enraged with them and cried, "Carry them to Bassorah
and crucify them there before Abdullah's palace." Such was their
case; but as regards Abdullah, when he saw his brothers
crucified, he commanded to bury them, then took horse and
repairing to Baghdad, acquainted the Caliph with that which his
brothers had done with him, from first to last and told him how
he had recovered his wife; whereat Al-Rashid marvelled and
summoning the Kazi and the witnesses, bade draw up the marriage-
contract between Abdullah and the damsel whom he had brought from
the City of Stone. So he went in to her and woned with her at
Bassorah till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and
the Severer of societies; and extolled be the perfection of the
Living, who dieth not! Moreover, O auspicious King, I have heard
a tale anent





End of Volume 9.





Arabian Nights, Volume 9
Footnotes



[FN#1] Arab. "Wa la rajma ghaybin:" lit. = without stone-throwing
(conjecture) of one latent.

[FN#2] i.e. saying Bismillah, etc. See vol. v. 206.

[FN#3] Where he was to await her.

[FN#4] As a rule, amongst Moslems the rider salutes the man on
foot and the latter those who sit. The saying in the text
suggests the Christian byword anent Mohammed and the Mountain,
which is, I need hardly say, utterly unknown to Mahommedans.

[FN#5] The story-teller does not remember that "the city-folk
trust to the locking of the gates" (dccclxxxix.); and forgets to
tell us that the Princess took the keys from the Wazir whom she
had hocussed. In a carefully corrected Arabic Edition of The
Nights, a book much wanted, the texts which are now in a
mutilated state would be supplied with these details.

[FN#6] Which probably would not be the last administered to him
by the Amazonian young person, who after her mate feared to
approach the dead blackamoor must have known him to be cowardly
as Cairenes generally are. Moreover, he had no shame in his
poltroonery like the recreant Fellah-soldiers, in the wretched
Sawakin campaign against the noble Sudani negroids, who excused
their running away by saying, "We are Egyptians" i.e. too good
men and Moslems to lose our lives as becomes you Franks and
dog-Christians. Yet under Mohammed Ali the Great, Fellah-soldiers
conquered the "colligated" Arabs (Pilgrimage iii. 48) of Al-Asir
(Ophir) at Bissel and in Wahhabi-land and put the Turks to flight
at the battle of Nazib, and the late General Johnmus assured me
that he saved his command, the Ottoman cavalry in Syria, by
always manoeuvring to refuse a pitched battle. But Mohammed Ali
knew his men. He never failed to shoot a runaway, and all his
officers, even the lieutenants, were Turks or Albanians. Sa'id
Pasha was the first to appoint Fellah-officers and under their
command the Egyptian soldier, one of the best in the East, at
once became the worst. We have at last found the right way to
make them fight, by officering them with Englishmen, but we must
not neglect the shooting process whenever they dare to turn tail.

[FN#7] "Al-walhan" (as it should be printed in previous places,
instead of Al-walahan) is certainly not a P.N. in this place.

[FN#8] Arab. "Kundur," Pers. and Arab. manna, mastich,
frankincense, the latter being here meant.

[FN#9] So Emma takes the lead and hides her lover under her cloak
during their flight to the place where they intended to lie
concealed. In both cases the women are the men.

[FN#10] Or "Bartut," in which we recognise the German Berthold.

[FN#11] i.e. Head of Killaut which makes, from the Muhit, "the
name of a son of the sons of the Jinn and the Satans."

[FN#12] i.e. attacked her after a new fashion: see vol. i. 136.

[FN#13] i.e. Weevil's dung; hence Suez = Suways the little
weevil, or "little Sus" from the Maroccan town: see The Mines of
Midian p. 74 for a note on the name. Near Gibraltar is a fuimara
called Guadalajara i.e. Wady al-Khara, of dung. "Bartus" is
evidently formed "on the weight" of "Bartut;" and his metonym is
a caricature, a chaff fit for Fellahe.

[FN#14] Arab. "Al-Din al-a'raj," the perverted or falsified
Faith, Christianity having been made obsolete and abolished by
the Mission of Mohammed, even as Christianity claims to have
superseded the Mosaic and Noachian dispensations. Moslems are
perfectly logical in their deductions, but logic and truth do not
always go together.

[FN#15] The "Breaker of Wind" (faswah - a fizzle, a silent
crepitus) "son of Children's dung."

[FN#16] Arab. "Amma laka an 'alayk" lit. = either to thee (be the
gain) or upon thee (be the loss). This truly Arabic idiom is
varied in many ways.

[FN#17] In addition to what was noted in vol. iii. 100 and viii.
51, I may observe that in the "Masnavi" the "Baghdad of
Nulliquity" is opposed to the Ubiquity of the World. The popular
derivation is Bagh (the idol-god, the slav "Bog") and dad a gift,
he gave (Persian). It is also called Al-Zaura = a bow, from the
bend of the Tigris where it was built.

[FN#18] Arab. "Jawasis" plur. of Jasus lit. the spies.

[FN#19] The Caliph could not "see" her "sweetness of speech"; so
we must understand that he addressed her and found out that she
was fluent of tongue. But this idiomatic use of the word "see" is
also found in the languages of Southern Europe: so Camoens (Lus.
1. ii.), "Ouvi * * * vereis" lit. = "hark, you shall see" which
sounds Hibernian.

[FN#20] Here "Farz" (Koranic obligation which it is mortal sin to
gainsay) follows whereas it should precede "Sunnat" (sayings and
doings of the Apostle) simply because "Farz" jingles with "Arz"
(earth).

[FN#21] Moslems, like modern Agnostics, hold that Jesus of
Nazareth would be greatly scandalized by the claims to Godship
advanced for him by his followers.

[FN#22] Koran ix. 33: See also v. 85. In the passage above quoted
Mr. Rodwell makes the second "He" refer to the deity.

[FN#23] Koran xxvi. 88, 89. For a very indifferent version (and
abridgment) of this speech, see Saturday Review, July 9, 1881.

[FN#24] Koran iv. 140.

[FN#25] Arab. "Furat" from the Arab. "Faruta" = being sweet, as
applied to water. Al-Furatani = the two sweet (rivers), are the
Tigris and Euphrates. The Greeks, who in etymology were satisfied
with Greek, derived the latter from {Greek} (to gladden,
laetificare, for which see Pliny and Strabo, although both are
correct in explaining "Tigris") and Selden remarks hereon,
"Talibus nugis nugantur Graeculi." But not only the "Graeculi";
e.g. Parkhurst's good old derivations from the Heb. "Farah" of
fero, fructus, Freya (the Goddess), frayer (to spawn), friand,
fry (of fish), etc., etc.

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