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Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp

John Payne

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Title: Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp

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Zein Ul Asnam and the King of the Jinn:

Two Stories Done into English from the Recently

Discovered Arabic Text

by John Payne

London 1901

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, K.C.M.G.,

H.B.M. CONSUL, TRIESTE.

My Dear Burton,

I give myself the pleasure of placing your name in the forefront

of another and final volume of my translation of the Thousand and

One Nights, which, if it have brought me no other good, has at

least been the means of procuring me your friendship.

Believe me,

Yours always,

John Payne.

Twelve years this day,--a day of winter, dreary

With drifting snows, when all the world seemed dead

To Spring and hope,--it is since, worn and weary

Of doubt within and strife without, I fled

From the mean workday miseries of existence,

From spites that slander and from hates that lie,

Into the dreamland of the Orient distance

Under the splendours of the Syrian sky,

And in the enchanted realms of Eastern story,

Far from the lovelessness of modern times,

Garnered the rainbow-remnants of old glory

That linger yet in those ancestral climes;

And now, the tong task done, the journey over,

From that far home of immemorial calms,

Where, as a mirage, on the sky-marge hover

The desert and its oases of palms,

Lingering, I turn me back, with eyes reverted

To this stepmother world of daily life,

As one by some long pleasant dream deserted,

That wakes anew to dull unlovely strife:

Yet, if non' other weal the quest have wrought me.

ads:

The long beloved labour now at end,

This gift of gifts the untravelled East hath brought me,

The knowledge of a new and valued friend.

5th Feb. 1889.

INTRODUCTION.

The readers of my translation of the Book of the Thousand Nights

and One Night will remember that, in the terminal essay (1884) on

the history and character of the collection, I expressed my

conviction that the eleven (so-called) "interpolated"

tales, [FN#1] though, in my judgment, genuine Oriental stories,

had (with the exception of the Sleeper Awakened and Aladdin) no

connection with the original work, but had been procured by

Galland from various (as yet) unidentified sources, for the

purpose of supplying the deficiencies of the imperfect MS. of the

Nights from which he made his version. [FN#2] My opinion as to

these talcs has now been completely confirmed by the recent

discovery (by M. Zotenberg, Keeper of Oriental MSS. in the

Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris) of two Arabic MSS. of the

Nights, both containing three of the missing stories, i.e. (1)

Zeyn Alasnam, (3) The Sleeper Awakened and (4) Aladdin, and by

the publication (also by M. Zotenberg) of certain extracts from

Galland's diary, giving particulars of the circumstances under

which the "interpolated" tales were incorporated with his

translation of the Arabian Nights. The Arabic text of the Story

of Aladdin, as given by the completer and more authentic of the

newly-discovered MSS., has recently been made by M. Zotenberg the

subject of a special publication, [FN#3] in the preface to which

(an exhaustive bibliographical essay upon the various Texts of

the Thousand and One Nights, considered in relation to Galland's

translation) he gives, in addition to the extracts in question

from Galland's Diary, a detailed description of the two MSS.

aforesaid, the more interesting particulars of which I now

proceed to abstract for the benefit of my readers.

II.

The first MS. commences precisely where the third volume of

Galland's MS. ends, to wit, (see my Terminal essay, p. 265,

note1) with the 281st Night, in the middle of the story of

Camaralzaman [FN#4] and contains, (inter alia) besides the

continuation of this latter (which ends with Night CCCXXIX), the

stories of the Sleeper Awakened (Nights CCCXXX-CCCC), Ganem

(Nights CCCCXXVIII-CCCCLXX1V), Zeyn Alasnam (Nights CCCCLXXV-

CCCCXCI), Aladdin (Nights CCCCXCII-DLXIX) and three others not

found in Galland's version. The MS. ends in the middle of the

631st night with the well-known Story of King Bekhtzad

(Azadbekht) and his son or the Ten Viziers, (which will be found

translated in my " Tales from the Arabic," Vol. I. pp. 61 et

seq.) and contains, immediately after Night CCCCXXVII and before

the story of Ganem, a note in Arabic, of which the following is a

translation:

"The fourth volume of the wonders and marvels of the stories of

the Thousand Nights and One Night was finished by the hand of the

humblest of His' servants in the habit of a minister of religion

(Kahin, lit. a diviner, Cohen), the [Christian] priest Dionysius

Shawish, a scion (selil) of the College of the Romans (Greeks,

Europeans or Franks, er Roum), by name St. Athanasius, in Rome

the Greatest (or Greater, utsma, fem. of aatsem, qu re

Constantinople ?) on the seven-and-twentieth of the month Shubat

(February) of the year one thousand seven hundred fourscore and

seven, [he being] then teacher of the Arabic tongue in the

Library of the Sultan, King of France, at Paris the Greatest."

From this somewhat incoherent note we may assume that the MS. was

written in the course of the year 1787 by the notorious Syrian

ecclesiastic Dom Denis Chavis, the accomplice of Cazotte in the

extraordinary literary atrocity shortly afterward perpetrated by

the latter under the name of a sequel or continuation of the

Thousand and One Nights [FN#6] (v. Cabinet des Fees, vols.

xxxviii--xli), [FN#7] and in all probability (cf. the mention in

the above note of the first part, i.e. Nights CCLXXXI-CCCCXXVII,

as the fourth volume) to supply the place of Galland's missing

fourth volume for the Bibliotheque Royale; but there. is nothing,

except a general similarity of style and the occurrence in the

former of the rest of Camaralzaman and (though not in the same

order) of four of the tales supposed to have been contained in

the latter, to show that Dom Chavis made his copy from a text

identical with that used by the French savant. In the notes to

his edition of the Arabic text of Aladdin, M. Zotenberg gives a

number of extracts from this MS., from which it appears that it

is written in a very vulgar modern Syrian style and abounds in

grammatical errors, inconsistencies and incoherences of every

description, to say nothing of the fact that the Syrian

ecclesiastic seems, with the characteristic want of taste and

presumption which might be expected from the joint-author of "Les

Veillees Persanes," to have, to a considerable extent, garbled

the original text by the introduction of modern European phrases

and turns of speech a la Galland. For the rest, the MS. contains

no note or other indication, on which we can found any opinion as

to the source from which the transcriber (or arranger) drew his

materials; but it can hardly be doubted, from internal evidence,

that he had the command of some genuine text of the Nights,

similar to, if not identical with, that of Galland, which he

probably "arranged" to suit his own (and his century's) distorted

ideas of literary fitness. The discovery of the interpolated

tales contained in this MS. (which has thus presumably lain

unnoticed for a whole century, under, as one may say, the very

noses of the many students of Arabic literature who would have

rejoiced in such a find) has, by a curious freak of fortune, been

delayed until our own day in consequence of a singular mistake

made by a former conservator of the Paris Bibliotheque, the

well-known Orientalist, M. Reinaud, who, in drawing up the

Catalogue of the Arabic MSS. in the collection described (or

rather misdescribed) it under the following heading:

"Supplement Arabe 1716. Thousand and One Nights, 3rd and 4th

parts. This volume begins with Night CCLXXXII and ends with Night

DCXXXI. A copy in the handwriting of Chavis. It is from this copy

and in accordance with the instructions (d'apres la indications)

of this Syrian monk that Cazotte composed (redigea) the Sequel to

the Thousand and One Nights, Cabinet des Fees, " xxxvii et xl

(should be tt. xxxviii-xli)."

It is of course evident that M. Reinaud had never read the MS. in

question nor that numbered 1723 in the Supplement Arabe, or he

would at once have recognized that the latter, though not in the

handwriting of the Syrian ecclesiastic, was that which served for

the production of the "Sequel" in question; but, superficial as

was the mistake, it sufficed to prevent the examination by

students of the MS. No. 1716 and so retarded the discovery of the

Arabic originals of Aladdin and its fellows till the acquisition

(some two years ago) by the Bibliotheque Nationale of another

(and complete) MS. of the Thousand and One Nights, which appears

to have belonged to the celebrated Orientalist M. Caussin de

Perceval, although the latter could not have been acquainted with

it at the time (1806) he published his well-known edition and

continuation of Galland's translation, in the eighth and ninth

volumes of which, by the by, he gives a correct version of the

tales so fearfully garbled by Chavis and Cazotte in their

so-called translation as well nigh to defy recognition and to

cause Orientalists in general to deny the possibility of their

having been derived from an Oriental source until the discovery

of the actual Arabic originals so barbarously maltreated [FN#8]

This MS. is in the handwriting of of Sebbagh, the well-known

Syrian collaborator of Silvestre de Sacy, and is supposed to have

been copied by him at Paris between the years 1805 and 1810 for

some European Orientalist (probably de Perceval himself) from a

Baghdad MS. of the early part of the 18th century, of which it

professes to be an exact reproduction, as appears from a terminal

note, of which the following is a translation:

"And the finishing of it was in the first tenth (decade) of

Jumada the Latter [in the] year one thousand one hundred and

fifteen of the Hegira (October, 1703) in the handwriting of the

neediest of the faithful [FN#9] unto God [FN#10] the Most High,

Ahmed ibn Mohammed et Teradi, in the city of Baghdad, and he the

Shafiy by sect and the Mosuli by birth and the Baghdadi by

sojourn, and indeed he wrote it for himself and set upon it his

seal, and God bless and keep our lord Mohammed and his

companions! Kebikej [FN#11] (ter)."

This MS. contains the three "interpolated" tales aforesaid, i.e.

the Sleeper Awakened (Nights CCCXXXVII-LXXXVI), Zeyn Alasnam

(Nights CCCCXCVII-DXIII) and Aladdin (Nights DXIV-XCI), the last

two bearing traces of a Syrian origin, especially Aladdin, which

is written in a much commoner and looser style than Zeyn Alasnam.

The two tales are evidently the work of different authors, Zeyn

Alasnam being incomparably superior in style and correctness to

Aladdin, which is defaced by all kinds of vulgarisms and

solecisms and seems, moreover, to have been less correctly copied

than the other. Nevertheless, the Sebbagh text is in every

respect preferable to that of Shawish (which appears to abound in

faults and errors of every kind, general and particular,) and M.

Zotenberg has, therefore, exercised a wise discretion in

selecting the former for publication.

III.

Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of M. Zorenberg's long and

interesting introduction is a series of extracts from the (as yet

unpublished) MS. Diary regularly kept by Galland, the last four

volumes (1708-15) of which are preserved in the Bibliotheque

Nationale. These extracts effectually settle the question of the

origin of the interpolated tales, as will be seen from the

following abstract.

On the 25th March, 1709, Galland records having that day made the

acquaintance of a Maronite scholar, by name Youhenna Diab, [FN#12]

who had been brought from Aleppo to Paris by Paul Lucas, the

celebrated traveller, and with whom he evidently at once broached

the question of the Nights, [FN#13] probably complaining to him of

the difficulty (or rather impossibility) of obtaining a perfect

copy of the work; whereupon Hanna (as he always calls him)

appears to have volunteered to help him to fill the lacune by

furnishing him with suitable Oriental stories for translation in

the same style as those already rendered by him and then and

there (says Galland) "told me some very fine Arabian tales, which

he promised to put into writing for me." There is no fresh entry

on the subject till May 5 following, when (says Galland) "The

Maronite Hanna finished telling me the tale of the Lamp." [FN#14]

Hanna appears to have remained in Paris till the autumn of the

year 1709 and during his stay, Galland's Diary records the

communication by him to the French savant of the following

stories, afterwards included in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and

twelfth volumes of the latter's translation, (as well as of

several others which he probably intended to translate, had he

lived,) [FN#15] i.e. (May 10, 1709) "Babe Abdalla" and "Sidi

Nouman," (May 13, 1709) "The Enchanted Horse," (May 22, 1709) "

Prince Ahmed and Pari Banou," (May 25, 1709) " The Two Sisters

who envied their younger Sister," (May 27, 1709) "All Baba and

the Forty Thieves," (May 29, 1709) "Cogia Hassan Alhabbal" and

(May 31, 1709) "Ali Cogia." The Maronite seems to have left for

the East in October, 1709, (Galland says under date October 25,

"Received this evening a letter from Hanna, who writes me from

Marseilles, under date the 17th, in Arabic, to the effect that he

had arrived there in good health,") but not without having at

least in part fulfilled his promise to put in writing the tales

communicated by him to Galland, as appears by the entry of

November 3, 1710, "Began yesterday to read the Arabian story of

the Lamp, which had been written me in Arabic more than a year

ago by the Maronite of Damascus [FN#16] whom M. Lucas brought with

him, with a view to putting it into French. Finished reading it

this morning. Here is the title of this tale, 'Story of Aladdin,

son of a tailor, and that which befell him with an African

Magician on account of (or through) a lamp.'" (The Diary adds

that he began that evening to put his translation into writing

and finished it in the course of the ensuing fortnight.) And that

of January 10, 1711, "Finished the translation of the tenth

volume of the 1001 Nights after the Arabic text which I had from

the hand (de la main) of Hanna or Jean Dipi, [FN#17] whom M. Lucas

brought to France on his return from his last journey in the

Levant." The only other entry bearing upon the question is that

of August 24, 1711, in which Galland says, "Being quit of my

labours upon the translation etc. of the Koran, I read a part of

the Arabian Tales which the Maronite Hanna had told me and which

I had summarily reduced to writing, to see which of them I should

select to make up the eleventh volume of the Thousand and One

Nights."

From these entries it appears beyond question that Galland

received from the Maronite Hanna, in the Spring and Summer of

1709, the Arabic text of the stories of Aladdin, Baba Abdalla,

Sidi Nouman and Cogia Hassan Alhabbal, i.e. the whole of the

tales included in his ninth and tenth volumes (with the exception

of The Sleeper Awakened, of which he does not speak) and that he

composed the five remaining tales contained in his eleventh and

twelfth volumes (i.e. Ali Baba, Ali Cogia, The Enchanted Horse,

Prince Ahmed and Pari Banou and The Two Sisters who envied their

younger Sister,) upon the details thereof taken down from Hanna's

lips and by the aid of copious summaries made at the time. These

entries in Galland's diary dispose, therefore, of the question of

the origin of the "interpolated" tales, with the exception (1) of

The Sleeper Awakened (with which we need not, for the present,

concern ourselves farther) and (2) of Nos. 1 and 2a and b, i.e.

Zeyn Alasnam, Codadad and his brothers and The Princess of

Deryabar (forming, with Ganem, his eighth volume), as to which

Galland, as I pointed out in my terminal essay (p. 264), cautions

us, in a prefatory note to his ninth volume, that these two

stories form no part of the Thousand and One Nights and that they

had been inserted and printed without the cognizance of the

translator, who was unaware of the trick that had been played him

till after the actual publication of the volume, adding that care

would be taken to expunge the intrusive tales from the second

edition (which, however, was never done, Galland dying before the

republication and it being probably found that the stranger tales

had taken too firm a hold upon public favour to be sacrificed, as

originally proposed); and the invaluable Diary supplies the

necessary supplemental information as to their origin. "M. Petis

de la Croix," says Galland under date of January 17, 1710,

"Professor and King's Reader of the Arabic tongue, who did me the

honour to visit me this morning, was extremely surprised to see

two of the Turkish [FN#18] Tales of his translation printed in the

eighth volume of the 1001 Nights, which I showed him, and that

this should have been done without his participation."

Petis de la Croix, a well-known Orientalist and traveller of the

time, published in the course of the same year (1710) the first

volume of a collection of Oriental stories, similar in form and

character to the 1001 Nights, but divided into "Days" instead of

"Nights" and called "The Thousand and One Days, Persian Tales,"

the preface to which (ascribed to Cazotte) alleges him to have

translated the tales from a Persian work called Hezar [o] Yek

Roz, i.e. "The Thousand and One Days," the MS. of which had in

1675 been communicated to the translator by a friend of his, by

name Mukhlis, (Cazotte styles him "the celebrated Dervish Mocles,

chief of the Soufis of Ispahan") during his sojourn in the

Persian capital. The preface goes on to state that Mukhlis had,

in his youth, translated into Persian certain Indian plays, which

had been translated into all the Oriental languages and of which

a Turkish version existed in the Bibliotheque Royale, under the

title of Alfaraga Badal-Schidda (i.e. El Ferej bad esh Shiddeh),

which signified "Joy after Affliction"; but that, wishing to give

his work an original air, he converted the aforesaid plays into

tales. Cazotte's story of the Indian plays savours somewhat of

the cock and the bull and it is probable that the Hezar o Yek Roz

(which is not, to my knowledge, extant) was not derived from so

recondite a source, but was itself either the original of the

well-known Turkish collection or (perhaps) a translation of the

latter. At all events, Zeyn Alasnam, Codadad and the Princess of

Deryabar occur in a copy (cited by M. Zotenberg), belonging to

the Bibliotheque Nationale, of El Ferej bad esh Shidded (of which

they form the eighth, ninth and sixth stories respectively) and

in a practically identical form, except that in Galland's vol.

viii. the two latter stories are fused into one. Sir William

Ouseley is said to have brought from Persia a MS. copy of a

portion of the Hezar o Yek Roz which he describes as agreeing

with the French version, but, in the absence of documentary proof

and in view of the fact that, notwithstanding the unauthorized

incorporation of three of the tales of his original with

Galland's Vol. viii, the published version of the Thousand and

One Days is apparently complete and shows no trace of the

omission, I am inclined to suspect Petis de la Croix of having

invented the division into Days, in order to imitate (and profit

by the popularity of) his fellow savant's version of the Thousand

and One Nights. Galland's publisher was doubtless also that of

Petis de la Croix and in the latter capacity had in hand a

portion of the MS. of the 1001 Days, from which, no doubt weary

of waiting till Galland (who was now come to the end of his

genuine Arabic MS. of the 1001 Nights and was accordingly at a

standstill, till he met with Hanna,) should have procured fresh

material to complete the copy for his eighth volume, of which

Ganem only was then ready for publication, he seems to have

selected (apparently on his own responsibility, but, it must be

admitted, with considerable taste and judgment,) the three tales

in question from the MS. of the 1001 Days, to fill up the lacune.

It does not appear whether he found Codadad and the Princess of

Deryabar arranged as one story ready to his hand or himself

performed (or procured to be performed) the process of fusion,

which, in any case, was executed by no unskilful hand. Be this as

it may, Galland was naturally excessively annoyed at the

publisher's unceremonious proceeding, so much so indeed as for a

time to contemplate renouncing the publication of the rest of the

work, to spare himself (as he says in his Diary, under date of

Dec. 12, 1709) similar annoyances (mortifications) to that which

the printing of the eighth volume had caused him. Indeed, the

effect of this incident was to induce him, not only to change his

publisher, but to delay the publication of the next volume

(which, as we learn from the Diary, was ready for the press at

the end of November or the beginning of December, 1709) for a

whole year, at the end of which time (Diary, November 21, 1710)

he made arrangements with a new (and presumably more trustworthy)

publisher, M. Florentin de Laune, for the printing of Vol. ix.

IV.

Notwithstanding the discovery, as above set out, of three of the

doubtful tales, Zeyn Alasnam, Aladdin and The Sleeper Awakened,

in two MSS. (one at least undoubtedly authentic) of the Thousand

Nights and One Night, I am more than ever of opinion that none of

the eleven "interpolated" stories properly belongs to the

original work, that is to say, to the collection as first put

into definite form somewhere about the fourteenth century. [FN#19]

"The Sleeper Awakened" was identified by the late Mr. Lane as a

historical anecdote given by the historian El Ishaki, who wrote

in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, and the frequent

mention of coffee in both MSS. of Aladdin justifies us in

attributing the composition of the story to (at earliest) the

sixteenth century, whilst the modern vulgarisms in which they

abound point to a still later date. Zeyn Alasnam (in the Sebbagh

MS. at least) is written in a much purer and more scholarly style

than Aladdin, but its pre-existence in El Ferej bad esh Shiddeh

(even if we treat as apocryphal Petis de la Croix's account of

the Hezar o Yek Roz) is sufficient, in the absence of contrary

evidence, to justify us in refusing to consider it as belonging

to the Thousand Nights and One Night proper. As shown by

Galland's own experience, complete copies of the genuine work

were rarely to be met with, collections of "silly stories" (as

the Oriental savant, who inclines to regard nothing in the way of

literature save theology, grammar and poetry, would style them),

being generally considered by the Arab bibliographer undeserving

of record or preservation, and the fragmentary copies which

existed were mostly in the hands of professional story-tellers,

who were extremely unwilling to part with them, looking upon them

as their stock in trade, and were in the habit of incorporating

with the genuine text all kinds of stories and anecdotes from

other sources, to fill the place of the missing portions of the

original work. This process of addition and incorporation, which

has been in progress ever since the first collection of the

Nights into one distinct work and is doubtless still going on in

Oriental countries, (especially such as are least in contact with

European influence,) may account for the heterogeneous character

of the various modern MSS. of the Nights and for the immense

difference which exists between the several texts, as well in

actual contents as in the details and diction of such stories as

are common to all. The Tunis MS. of the 1001 Nights (which is

preserved in the Breslau University Library and which formed the

principal foundation of Habicht's Edition of the Arabic text)

affords a striking example of this process, which we are here

enabled to see in mid-operation, the greater part of the tales of

which it consists having not yet been adapted to the framework of

the Nights. It is dated A.H. 1144 (A.D. 1732) and of the ten

volumes of which it consists, i, ii (Nights I--CCL) and x (Nights

DCCCLXXXV-MI) are alone divided into Nights, the division of the

remaining seven volumes (i.e. iii--ix, containing, inter alia, the

Story of the Sleeper Awakened) being the work of the German

editor. It is my belief, therefore, that the three "interpolated"

tales identified as forming part of the Baghdad MS. of 1703 are

comparatively modern stories added to the genuine text by Rawis

(story-tellers) or professional writers employed by them, and I

see no reason to doubt that we shall yet discover the Arabic text

of the remaining eight, either in Hanna's version (as written

down for Galland) or in some as yet unexamined MS. of the Nights

or other work of like character.

M. Zotenberg has, with great judgment, taken as his standard for

publication the text of Aladdin given by the Sebbagh MS.,

inasmuch as the Shawish MS. (besides being, as appears from the

extracts given. [FN#20] far inferior both in style and general

correctness,) is shown by the editor to be full of modern

European phrases and turns of speech and to present so many

suspicious peculiarities that it would be difficult, having

regard, moreover, to the doubtful character and reputation of the

Syrian monkish adventurer who styled himself Dom Denis Chavis, to

resist the conviction that his MS. was a forgery, i.e.

professedly a copy of a genuine Arabic text, but in reality only

a translation or paraphrase in that language of Galland's

version,--were it not that the Baghdad MS. (dated before the

commencement, in 1704, of Galland's publication and transcribed

by a man--Mikhail Sebbagh--whose reputation, as a collaborator of

Silvestre de Sacy and other distinguished Orientalists, is a

sufficient voucher for the authenticity of the copy in the

Bibliotheque Nationale,) contains a text essentially identical

with that of Shawish. Moreover, it is evident, from a comparison

with Galland's rendering and making allowance for the latter's

system of translation, that the Arabic version of Aladdin given

him by Hanna must either have been derived from the Baghdad text

or from some other practically identical source, and it is

therefore probable that Shawish, having apparently been employed

to make up the missing portion of Galland's Arabic text and not

having the Hanna MS. at his command, had (with the execrable

taste and want of literary morality which distinguished Cazotte's

monkish coadjutor) endeavoured to bring his available text up to

what he considered the requisite standard by modernizing and

Gallicizing its wording and (in particular) introducing numerous

European phrases and turns of speech in imitation of the French

translator. The whole question is, of course, as yet a matter of

more or less probable hypothesis, and so it must remain until

further discoveries and especially until the reappearance of

Galland's missing text, which I am convinced must exist in some

shape or other and cannot much longer, in the face of the revived

interest awakened in the matter and the systematic process of

investigation now likely to be employed, elude research.

M. Zotenberg's publication having been confined to the text of

Aladdin, I have to thank my friend Sir R. F. Burton for the loan

of his MS. copy of Zeyn Alasnam, (the Arabic text of which still

remains unpublished) as transcribed by M. Houdas from the Sebbagh

MS.

ZEIN UL ASNAM AND THE KING OF THE JINN.

There [FN#21] was [once] in the city of Bassora a mighty Sultan

and he was exceeding rich, but he had no child who should be his

successor [FN#22] after him. For this he grieved sore and fell to

bestowing alms galore upon the poor and the needy and upon the

friends [FN#23] of God and the devout, seeking their intercession

with God the Most High, so He to whom belong might and majesty

should of His favour vouchsafe him a son. And God accepted his

prayer, for his fostering of the poor, and answered his petition;

so that one night of the nights he lay with the queen and she

went from him with child. When the Sultan knew this, he rejoiced

with an exceeding joy, and as the time of her child-bearing drew

nigh, he assembled all the astrologers and those who smote the

sand [FN#24] and said to them, "It is my will that ye enquire

concerning the child that shall be born to me this month, whether

it will be male or female, and tell me what will betide it of

chances and what will proceed from it." [FN#25] So the geomancers

smote their [tables of] sand and the astrologers took their

altitudes [FN#26] and observed the star of the babe [un]born and

said to the Sultan, "O King of the age and lord of the time and

the tide, the child that shall be born to thee of the queen is a

male and it beseemeth that thou name him Zein ul Asnam." [FN#27]

And as for those who smote upon the sand, they said to him,

"Know, O King, that this babe will become a renowned

brave, [FN#28] but he shall happen in his time upon certain

travail and tribulation; yet, an he endure with fortitude against

that which shall befall him, he shall become the richest of the

kings of the world." And the King said to them, "Since the babe

shall become valiant as ye avouch, the toil and travail which

will befall him are nought, for that tribulations teach the sons

of kings."

Accordingly, after a few days, the queen gave birth to a male

child, extolled be the perfection of Him who created him

surpassing in grace and goodliness! His father named him Zein ul

Asnam, and he was as say of him certain of his praisers [FN#29] in

verse: [FN#30]

He shows and "Now Allah be blessed!" men say: "Extol we his Maker

and Fashioner aye!

The king of the fair [FN#31] this is, sure, one and all; Ay, his

thralls, every one, and his liegemen are they."

The boy grew and flourished till he came to the age of

five [FN#32] years, when his father the Sultan assigned him a

governor skilled and versed in all sciences and philosophies, and

he proceeded to teach him till he excelled in all manner of

knowledge and became a young man. [FN#33] Then the Sultan bade

bring him before himself, and assembling all the grandees of his

realm and the chiefs of his subjects, proceeded to admonish him

before them, saying to him, "O my son Zein ul Asnam, behold, I am

grown stricken in years and am presently sick; and belike this

sickness will be the last of my life in this world and thou shalt

sit in my stead; [wherefore I desire to admonish thee]. Beware, O

my son, lest thou oppress any or turn a deaf ear to the

complaining of the poor; but do thou justify the oppressed after

the measure of thy might. And look thou believe not all that

shall be said to thee by the great ones of the people, but trust

thou still for the most part to the voice of the common folk; for

the great will deceive thee, seeing they seek that which

befitteth themselves, not that which befitteth the subject."

Then, after a few days, the Sultan's sickness redoubled on him

and he accomplished his term and died; and as for his son Zein ul

Asnam, he arose and donning the raiment of woe, [mourned] for his

father the space of six days. On the seventh day he arose and

going forth to the Divan, sat down on the throne of the sultanate

and held a court, wherein was a great assemblage of the

folk, [FN#34] and the viziers came forward and the grandees of the

realm and condoled with him for his father and called down

blessings upon him and gave him joy of the kingship and the

sultanate, beseeching God to grant him continuance of glory and

prosperity without end.

When [FN#35] Zein ul Asnam saw himself in this great might and

wealth, and he young in years, he inclined unto prodigality and

to the converse of springalds like himself and fell to

squandering vast sums upon his pleasures and left governance and

concern for his subjects. The queen his mother proceeded to

admonish him and to forbid him from his ill fashions, bidding him

leave that manner of life and apply himself governance and

administration and the ordinance of the realm, lest the folk

reject him and rise up against him and expel [FN#36] hira; but he

would hear not a word from her and abode in his ignorance and

folly. At this the people murmured, for that the grandees of the

realm put out their hands unto oppression, whenas they saw the

king's lack of concern for his subjects; so they rose up in

rebellion against Zein ul Asnam and would have laid violent hands

upon him, had not the queen his mother been a woman of wit and

judgment and address, and the people loved her; so she appeased

the folk and promised them good. Then she called her son Zein ul

Asnam to her and said to him, "See, O my son; said I not to thee

that thou wouldest lose thy kingship and eke thy life, an thou

persistedst in this thine ignorance and folly, in that thou

givest the ordinance of the sultanate into the hands of raw

youths and eschewest the old and wastest thy substance and that

of the realm, squandering it all upon lewdness and the lust of

thy soul?"

Zein ul Asnam hearkened to his mother's rede and going out

forthright to the Divan, committed the manage of the realm into

the hands of certain old men of understanding and experience;

save that he did this only after Bassora had been ruined,

inasmuch as he turned not from his folly till he had spent and

squandered all the treasures of the sultanate and was become

exceeding poor. Then he betook himself to repentance and to

sorrowing over that which he had done, [FN#37] so that he lost the

solace of sleep and eschewed meat and drink, till one night of

the nights,--and indeed he had spent it in mourning and

lamentation and melancholy thought until the last of the night,--

his eyes closed for a little and there appeared to him in his

sleep a venerable old man, who said to him, "O Zein ul Asnam,

grieve not, for that nought followeth after grief save relief

from stress, and an thou desire to be delivered from this thine

affliction, arise and betake thee to Cairo, where thou wilt find

treasuries of wealth which shall stand thee in stead of that thou

hast squandered, ay, and twofold the sum thereof." When he awoke

from his sleep, he acquainted his mother with all that he had

seen in his dream, and she fell to laughing at him; but he said

to her, "Laugh not, for needs must I journey to Cairo." "O my

son," answered she, "put not thy trust in dreams, for that they

are all vain fancies and lying imaginations." And he said to her,

"Nay, my dream was a true one and the man whom I saw is of the

Friends of God [FN#38] and his speech is very sooth."

Accordingly, he left the sultanate and going forth a-journeying

one night of the nights, took the road to Egypt [and fared on]

days and nights till he came to the city of Cairo. So he entered

it and saw it a great and magnificent city; then, being perished

for weariness, he took shelter in one of its mosques. When he had

rested awhile, he went forth and bought him somewhat to eat; and

after he had eaten, he fell asleep in the mosque, of the excess

of his weariness, nor had he slept but a little when the old man

appeared to him in his sleep and said to him, "O Zein ul

Assam, [FN#39] thou hast done as I said to thee, and indeed I made

proof of thee, that I might see an thou wert valiant or not; but

now I know thee, inasmuch as thou hast put faith in my rede and

hast done according thereto. So now return to thine own city and

I will make thee a king rich after such a measure that neither

before thee nor after thee shall [any] of the kings be like unto

thee." So Zein ul Asnam arose from his sleep and said, "In the

name of God. the Compassionate, the Merciful! What is this old

man who hath wearier me, so that I came to Cairo, [FN#40] and I

trusted in him and deemed of him that he was the Prophet (whom

God bless and keep) or one of the pious Friends of God? But there

is no power and no virtue save in God the Most High, the Supreme.

By Allah. I did well in that I acquainted none with my sallying

forth neither related my dream unto any! [FN#41] Indeed. I

believed in this old man and meseemed. by that which appeared to

me, he was none of mankind, [FN#42] extolled be His perfection and

magnified be He who [alone] knoweth the truth! By Allah, I will

leave trusting in this old man [neither will I comply with him]

in that which he would have me do!" Accordingly, he lay [the rest

of] that night [in the mosque] and at daybreak he arose and

mounting his courser, set out on his return to Bassora, [the seat

of] his kingship, where, after a few days, he arrived and went in

that same night to his mother, who asked him if aught had

befallen him of that which the old man had promised him. He

acquainted her with that which he had seen [in his sleep] and she

fell to condoling with him and comforting him, saying, "Grieve

not, O my son, for, an God the Most High have appointed thee

aught of [good] fortune, thou wilt attain thereto without either

travail or toil; but I would have thee be understanding and

discreet and leave these things which have brought thee to

poverty, O my son, and eschew singing-wenches and the commerce of

youths and women; all this is for the baser sort, not for kings'

sons like thee." And he swore to her that he would never more

gainsay her commandment, but would observe all that she should

say to him and would turn his mind to the governance and the

kingship and leave that wherefrom she forbade him. Then he slept

that night and what while he was on sleep, the old man appeared

to him and said to him, "O Zein ul Asnam, O valiant one, whenas

thou arisest from thy sleep this day, I will accomplish my

promise to thee; wherefore take thou a pickaxe and go to the

palace of thy father Such-an-one [FN#43] in such a place and dig

there in the earth and thou wilt find that which shall enrich

thee."

When Zein ul Asnam awoke from his sleep, he hastened to his

mother, rejoicing, and acquainted her with his dream; whereupon

she fell again to laughing at him and said to him, "O my son,

indeed this old man laugheth at thee, nought else; wherefore do

thou turn thy thought from him." But he said to her, "Nay, mother

mine, indeed he is soothfast and lieth not; for that, in the

first of his dealing, he tried me and now his intent is to

accomplish unto me his promise." "In any case," rejoined she,

"the thing is not toilsome; [FN#44] so do that which thou wilt,

even as he said to thee, and make proof of the matter, and God

willing, thou shalt [FN#45] return to me rejoicing; but methinketh

thou wilt return to me and say, 'Thou saidst sooth, O my mother,

in thy rede."' The prince accordingly took a pickaxe and going

down to the palace where his father was buried, fell a-delving in

the earth; nor had he dug long when, behold, there appeared to

him a ring fixed in a slab of marble. He raised the slab and

seeing a stair, descended thereby and found a great vault, all

builded with columns of marble and alabaster; then, proceeding

innerward, he found within the vault a hall which ravished the

wit, and therein eight jars of green jasper; [FN#46] and he said,

"What be these jars and what is in them?" So [FN#47] he went up

and uncovering them, found them all full of old gold ; [FN#48]

whereupon he took a little in his hand and going to his mother,

gave her thereof and said to her, "Thou seest, O my mother." She

marvelled at this thing and said to him, "Beware, O my son, lest

thou squander it, like as thou squanderedst other than this." And

he swore to her, saying, "Be not concerned, O my mother, and let

not thy heart be other than easy on my account, for I would fain

have thee also content with me." [FN#49]

Then she arose and went with him, and they descended into the

vault and entered the [underground] hall, [FN#50] where she beheld

that which ravished the wit and saw the jars of gold. What while

they diverted themselves with gazing upon these latter, behold,

they espied a little jar of fine jade; so Zein ul Asnam opened it

and found in it a golden key. Whereupon quoth his mother to him,

"O my son, needs must there be a door here which this key will

open." Accordingly they sought in all parts of the vault and the

hall, so they might see an there were a door or what not else to

be found there, and presently espied a bolted lock, to which they

knew that this must be the key. So Zein ul Asnam went up and

putting the key in the lock, turned it and opened a door which

admitted them into a second hall, [FN#51] more magnificent than

the first; and it was all full of a light which dazzled the

sight, yet was there no flambeau kindled therein, no, nor any

window [FN#52] there, whereat they marvelled and looking farther,

saw eight images of jewels, each one piece, and that of noble

jewels, pure and precious.

Zein ul Asnam was amazed at this and said to his mother, "How

came my father by these things?" And they fell to looking and

considering, till presently the queen espied a curtain of silk,

whereon were these words written: "O my son, marvel not at these

great riches, whereto I have won by dint of sore travail; but

know that there existeth also another image whose worth is more

than that of these [eight] images twenty times told. Wherefore,

an thou wouldst come thereby, get thee to Cairo, where thou wilt

find a slave of mine, by name Mubarek, who will take thee and

bring thee in company [FN#53] with the ninth image. When thou

enterest Cairo, the first man whom thou encounterest will direct

thee to Mubarek's house, for he is known in all Egypt." [FN#54]

When Zein ul Asnam read this inscription, he said, "O my mother,

it is my wish to journey to Cairo, so I may make search for the

ninth image. Tell me, how deemest thou of my dream? Was it true

or was it not? Wilt thou still say [FN#55] to me, 'These be idle

tales'? But I, O my mother, needs must I journey to Cairo." "O my

son," answered the queen, "since thou art under the safeguard of

the Apostle of God [FN#56] (whom God bless and keep), go thou in

peace, and I [and] thy Vizier, we will govern the realm in thine

absence, against thou shalt return."

So Zein ul Asnam went forth and equipping himself [for travel,

set out] and journeyed till he came to Cairo, where he enquired

for Mubarek's house and the folk said to him, "O my lord, this is

a man than whom there is none richer in [all Cairo]; no, nor is

there a more abounding than he in bounty and beneficence, and his

house is [still] open to the stranger." So they directed him

thither and he went till he came to the house and knocked at the

door; whereupon there came out to him one of Mubarek's slaves

and [FN#57] opening the door, said to him, "Who art thou and what

wiliest thou?" Quoth Zein ul Asnam, "I am a stranger, a man from

a far country, and I heard tell of your lord, Mubarek, and how he

is renowned for hospitality and beneficence; so I came to him,

that I may be a guest with him." The slave entered and told his

lord Mubarek; then returned and said to Zein ul Asnam, " O my

lord, blessing hath descended upon us in thy coming. [FN#58]

Enter, for my lord Mubarek awaiteth thee." So Zein ul Asnam

entered into a courtyard, exceeding spacious and all [full] of

trees and waters, and the slave brought him into the

pavilion [FN#59] where Mubarek sat. When he entered, the latter

arose forthright and coming to meet him, received him with

cordiality and said to him, "Blessing hath descended upon us and

this night is the most auspicious of nights in thy coming to us!

But who art thou, O youth, and whence comest thou and whither art

thou bound?" The prince answered him, saying, "I am Zein ul Asnam

and I seek Mubarek, slave to the Sultan of Bassora, who died a

year agone and whose son I am." "What sayst thou? " cried

Mubarek. "Art thou the king's son of Bassora?" "Yea, verily,"

replied Zein ul Asnam; "I am his son." Quoth Mubarek, "Nay, my

lord the king of Bassora left no son; but what is thine age, O

youth?" "About twenty years," replied Zein ul Asnam. "And thou,"

added he, "how long is it since thou wentest out from my father's

house?" "I went out eighteen years agone," answered Mubarek.

"But, O my son Zein ul Asnam, by what token canst thou certify me

that thou art the son of my lord the king of Bassora?" Quoth Zein

ul Asnam, "Thou knowest that my father builded under his palace a

vault and therein [a hall in which] he set forty [FN#60] jars of

fine jade and filled them with ancient gold; [FN#61] and within

this hall he made a second hall, wherein he placed eight images

of precious stones, each wroughten of a single jewel and seated

upon a throne of virgin gold. [FN#62] Moreover, he wrote upon a

curtain of silk there and I read the writ, whereby I found that

he bade me come to thee, saying that thou wouldst acquaint me of

the ninth image and where it is, the which, said he, was worth

the eight, all of them."

When Mubarek heard these words, he threw himself at Zein ul

Asnam's feet and fell to kissing them and saying, "Pardon me, O

my lord! Verily, thou art the son of my lord." Then said he to

the prince, "O my lord, I make to-day a banquet unto all the

chief men of Cairo and I would fain have thy highness honour me

[with thy presence] thereat." And Zein ul Asnam said, "With all

my heart." [FN#63] So Mubarek arose and foregoing Zein ul Asnam,

brought him into the saloon, which was full of the chief men of

Cairo, assembled therein. There he sat down and seating the

prince in the place of honour, called for the evening-meal. So

they laid the tables and Mubarek stood to serve Zein ul Asnam,

with his hands clasped behind him [FN#64] and whiles seated upon

his knees [and heels]. [FN#65] The notables of Cairo marvelled at

this, how Mubarek, the chiefest of them, should serve the youth,

and [FN#66] were sore amazed thereat, knowing not [who or] whence

he was. But, after they had eaten and drunken and supped and were

of good cheer, Mubarek turned to the company and said to them, "O

folk, marvel not that I serve this youth with all worship and

assiduity, for that he is the son of my lord the Sultan of

Bassora, whose slave I was, for that he bought me with his money

and died without setting me free; wherefore it behoveth me serve

my lord, and all that my hand possesseth of monies and gear is

his, nor is anywhit thereof mine." When the notables of Cairo

heard this speech, they arose to Zein ul Asnam and did him

exceeding great worship and saluted him with all reverence and

prayed for him; [FN#67] and he said, "O company, I am before your

presence and ye are witnesses [of that which I am about to do."

Then, turning to his host,] "O Mubarek, [quoth he,] thou art free

and all that is with thee of monies and gear appertaining unto us

shall henceforth be thine and thou art altogether acquitted

thereof [FN#68] and of every part thereof. Moreover, do thou ask

of me whatsoever thou desirest by way of boon, [FN#69] for that I

will nowise gainsay thee in aught thou mayst seek." [FN#70]

Thereupon Mubarek arose and kissed the prince's hand and thanked

him, saying, "O my lord, I will nought of thee save that thou be

well; for indeed the wealth that I have is exceeding abundant

upon me."

So Zein ul Asnam abode with Mubarek four days and every day the

chief men of Cairo came to salute him, whenas it reached them

that this was Mubarek's lord, the Sultan of Bassora; then, after

he was rested, he said to his host, "O Mubarek, indeed the time

is long upon me;" [FN#71] and Mubarek said to him, ``Thou must

know, O my lord, that this whereof thou art come in quest is a

hard [FN#72] matter, nay, even unto danger of death, and I know

not if thy fortitude may suffice thee for the achievement

thereof." [FN#73] "Know, O Mubarek," rejoined Zein ul Asnam, "that

wealth [is gotten] by blood [FN#74] and there betideth a man

nought except by the will and foreordinance of the Creator (to

whom belong might and majesty ); so do thou take heart and

concern not thyself on my account." Accordingly Mubarek

forthright commended his slaves equip them for travel; so they

made all ready and taking horse, journeyed days and nights in the

foulest of deserts, [FN#75] witnessing daily things and matters

which confounded their wits,--things such as never in their time

had they seen,--until they drew near the place [of their

destination]; whereupon they lighted down from their steeds and

Mubarek bade the slaves and servants abide there, saying to them,

"Keep watch over the beasts of burden and the horses till we

return to you."

Then the twain set out together afoot and Mubarek said to Zein ul

Asnam, "O my lord, now behoveth fortitude, for that thou art in

the land of the image whereof thou comest in quest." And they

gave not over walking till they drew near a great lake and a

wide, whereupon quoth Mubarek to Zein ul Asnam, "Know, O my lord,

that there will presently come to us a little boat, bearing a

blue flag and builded all with planks of sandal and Comorin

aloes-wood of price; and [thereanent] I have a charge to give

thee, which it behoveth thee observe." "What is this charge?"

asked the prince and Mubarek said to him, "In this boat thou wilt

see a boatman, [FN#76] but his make is monstrous; [FN#77] wherefore

be thou ware and again, I say, beware lest thou speak aught, for

that he will incontinent drown us; and know that this place

appertaineth to the King of the Jinn and that all thou seest is

their handiwork." Then [FN#78] they came to the lake and behold, a

little boat with planks of sandal and Comorin aloes-wood and in

it a boatman, whose head was [as] the head of an elephant and the

rest of his body [as that of] a wild beast. [FN#79] When he drew

near them, he wrapped his trunk about them both and taking them

with him into the boat, rowed out with them to the midst of the

lake, then fared on with them [FN#80] till he brought them to the

other shore, where they landed and walking on, saw there trees of

ambergris [FN#81] and aloes and sandal-wood and cloves and

jessamine, [FN#82] full-grown and laden with ripe fruits and

flowers [FN#83] whose fragrance dilated the breast and cheered the

spright; and there [they heard] the voices of the birds

twittering their various notes and ravishing the wit with their

warblings. So Mubarek turned to Zein ul Asnam and said to him,

"How deemest thou of this place, O my lord?" And the prince

answered him, saying, "Methinketh, O Mubarek, this is the

paradise which the Prophet (whom God bless and keep) promised us

withal."

Then they fared on till they came to a magnificent palace,

builded all with stones of emerald and rubies, and its doors were

of sheer gold. Before it was a bridge, the length whereof was an

hundred and fifty cubits and its breadth fifty cubits, and it was

[wroughten] of the rib of a fish; whilst at the other end of the

bridge were many warriors [FN#84] of the Jinn, gruesome and

terrible of aspect, and all of them bore in their hands javelins

of steel that flashed in the sun like winter lightning. [FN#85]

Quoth Zein ul Asnam to Mubarek, "This is a thing that taketh the

wits;" and Mubarek said to him, "It behoveth us abide in our

place neither fare forward, lest a mischance betide us. O God,

[vouchsafe us] safety!" Therewith he brought out of his pocket

four pieces of yellow silken stuff and girded himself with one

thereof; the second he laid on his shoulders and gave Zein ul

Asnam other two pieces, with which he girded himself [and covered

his shoulders] on like wise. Moreover, he spread before each of

them a sash of white silk and bringing forth of his pocket

precious stones and perfumes, such as ambergris and aloes-wood,

[set them on the edges thereof ; [FN#86]] after which they sat

down, each on his sash, and Mubarek taught Zein ul Asnam these

words, which he should say to the King of the Jinn, to wit: "O my

lord King of the Jinn, we are in thy safeguard." And Zein ul

Asnam said to him, "And I will instantly conjure him that he

accept of us."

Then said Mubarek, "O my lord, by Allah, I am exceeding fearful.

But now hearken; an he be minded to accept of us without hurt, he

will come to us in the semblance of a man accomplished in grace

and goodliness; but, an he have no mind to us, he will come to us

in a gruesome and a frightful aspect. An thou see him surpassing

in beauty, arise forthright and salute him, but beware lest thou

overpass thy sash." And Zein ul Asnam said to him, "Hearkening

and obedience." "And be this thy salutation to him," continued

Mubarek; "thou shalt say, 'O King of the Jinn and lord of the

earth, my father, the Sultan of Bassora, the angel of death hath

removed, as indeed is not hidden from thee. Now Thy Grace was

still wont to take my father under thy protection, and I come to

thee likewise to put myself under thy safeguard, even as did he.'

Moreover, [FN#87] O my lord Zein ul Asnam," added he, "an the King

of the Jinn receive us with a cheerful favour, he will without

fail ask thee and say to thee, 'Seek of me that which thou

wiliest and thou shalt forthright be given [it].' [FN#88] So do

thou seek of him and say to him, 'O my lord, I crave of Thy Grace

the ninth image, than which there is not the world a more

precious; and indeed Thy Grace promised my father that thou

wouldst give it to me."'

Having thus taught his lord how he should speak with the King of

the Jinn and seek of him the ninth image and how he should make

his speech seemly and pleasant, Mubarek fell to conjuring and

fumigating and reciting words that might not be understanded; and

no great while passed ere the world lightened [FN#89] and rain

fell in torrents [FN#90] and it thundered and darkness covered the

face of the earth; and after this there came a tempestuous wind

and a voice like an earthquake of the earthquakes [FN#91] of the

Day of Resurrection. When Zein ul Asnam saw these portents, his

joints trembled and he was sore affrighted, for that he beheld a

thing he had never in all his life seen nor heard. But Mubarek

laughed at him and said to him, "Fear not, O my lord; this

whereat thou art affrighted is that which we seek; nay, it is a

presage of good to-us. So take heart and be of good cheer." After

this there came a great clearness and serenity and there breathed

pure and fragrant breezes; then, presently, behold, there

appeared the King of the Jinn in the semblance of a man comely of

favour, there was none like unto him in his goodliness, save He

who hath no like and to whom belong might and majesty. He looked

on Zein ul Asnam and Mubarek with a cheerful, smiling

countenance; whereupon the prince arose forthright and proffered

him his petition in the words which Mubarek had taught him.

The King of the Jinn turned to him, smiling, and said to him, "O

Zein ul Asnam, indeed I loved thy father the Sultan of Bassora,

and I used, whenassoever he came to me, to give him an image of

those which thou hast seen, each wroughten of a single jewel, and

thou also shalt stand in thy father's stead with me and shalt

find favour in mine eyes, even as did he, ay, and more. Before he

died, I caused him write the writ which thou sawest on the

curtain of silk and promised him that I would take thee under my

protection, even as himself, and would give thee the ninth image,

which is more of worth than those which thou hast seen. Now it is

my intent to perform the promise which I made to thy father, that

I would take thee under my protection, and [FN#92] [know that] I

was the old man whom thou sawest in thy sleep and it was I bade

thee dig in the palace for the vault wherein thou foundest the

jars of gold and the images of jewels. I know also wherefore thou

art come hither; nay, I am he that was the cause of thy coming,

and I will give thee that which thou seekest, albeit I had not

given it to thy father; but on condition that thou swear to me a

solemn oath and abide me constant thereto, to wit, that thou wilt

return and bring me a girl of the age of fifteen years, with whom

there shall be none to match in loveliness, and she must be a

clean maid, who shall never have lusted after man, nor shall man

have lusted after her. Moreover, thou must swear to me that thou

wilt keep faith with her, coming, and beware lest thou play me

false with her by the way."

So Zein ul Asnam swore a solemn oath to him of this and said to

him, "O my lord, indeed, thou honourest me with this service; but

methinketh it will be hard to find a girl like this. Nay,

supposing I find a damsel fifteen years of age and beautiful

exceedingly, according to Thy Grace's requirement, how shall I

know that she hath never in her time lusted after man nor hath

man lusted after her?" "O Zein ul Asnam," replied the King of the

Jinn, "thou art in the right and certain it is that this

knowledge is a thing unto which the sons of man may not avail;

but I will give thee a mirror of my fashion, and when thou seest

a girl and her beauty pleaseth thee and her grace, do thou open

this mirror that I shall give thee, and if thou find her image

therein clear and bright, thou shalt know forthright that she is

pure without default and that all good qualities are in her; so

do thou take her for me. If thou find her image in the mirror

other than this, to wit, an it be troubled and clothed with

uncleanness, know that the girl is sullied and beware of her;

but, an thou find one such as she whose qualities I have set out

to thee, bring her to me and watch over her [by the way;] yet

beware and again I say, beware of treason and bethink thee that,

an thou keep not faith with me, thou wilt assuredly lose thy

life."

So Zein ul Asnam made with him a stable and abiding covenant, the

covenant of the sons of kings, that he would keep the plighted

faith and never play him false, but [FN#93] would bring him the

damsel with all continence. Then the King of the Jinn delivered

him the mirror and said to him, "O my son, take this mirror

whereof I bespoke thee, and now depart." Accordingly Zein ul

Asnam and Mubarek arose and calling down blessings upon the King,

returned upon their steps till they came to the lake, where they

sat a little and behold, up came the boat which had brought them

and the genie rowing therein, whose head was as [FN#94] the head

of an elephant. Now this was by the commandment of the King of

the Jinn; so they embarked with the genie and crossed with him to

the other shore; after which they returned to Cairo and entering

Mubarek's house, abode there awhile till they were rested from

the fatigue of the journey.

Then Zein ul Asnam turned to Mubarek and said to him, "Come, let

us go to the city of Baghdad, so we may seek for a girl who shall

be according to the requirement of the King of the Jinn." And

Mubarek said to him, "O my lord, we are in Cairo, the city of

cities and the wonder of the world. [FN#95] I shall without fail

find a girl here and it needeth not that we go to a far city."

"Thou sayst sooth, O Mubarek," rejoined the prince; "but how

shall we set about the matter and how shall we do to come

by [FN#96] a girl like this and who shall go seeking her for us?"

"O my lord," replied Mubarek, "concern not thyself [FN#97] for

that, for I have with me here an old woman (upon her, [to speak]

figuratively, [FN#98] be the malediction [of God] [FN#99]) who is a

mistress of wiles and craft and guile and not to be baulked by

any hindrance, however great." Then he sent to fetch the old

woman and telling her that he wanted a damsel fifteen years old

and fair exceedingly, so he might marry her to the son of his

lord, promised her largesse galore, an she did her utmost

endeavour in the matter; whereupon, "O my lord," answered she,

"be easy; I will accomplish unto thee thy desire beyond thy wish;

for that under my hand are damsels unpeered in grace and

goodliness and all of them daughters of men of condition." But, O

King of the time, [FN#100] the old woman had no knowledge of the

affair of the mirror.

Then she arose and went out to go round about in the city and to

run along its ways, [FN#101] seeking [FN#102] the girl for Prince

Zein ul Asnam, and whenassoever she saw a fair damsel,

accomplished in beauty, she proceeded to bring her to Mubarek;

but, when he looked at her in the mirror, he would see her image

troubled exceedingly and would leave her; so that the old woman

brought him all the damsels of Cairo, but there was not found

among them one whose image in the mirror was clear; wherefore he

bethought him to go to Baghdad, since he found not one in Cairo

who pleased him [or] who was a clean maid, like as the King of

the Jinn had enjoined him. So he arose and equipping himself,

[set out and] journeyed, he and Zein ul Asnam, till they came to

the city of Baghdad, where they hired them a magnificent palace

amiddleward the city and took up their abode therein. There the

chief men of the city used to come to them every day and sat at

their table, even to the comer and goer by night and by

day. [FN#103] Moreover, when there remained aught from their

table, they distributed it to the poor and the afflicted and all

the strangers in the mosques [FN#104] would come and eat with

them. So the report was noised abroad in the land of their

generosity and bounty and they became in high repute and fair

fame throughout all Baghdad, nor did any talk but of Zein ul

Asnam and his bounty and wealth.

Now it chanced that in one of the mosques was an Imam, [FN#105]

corrupt, envious and despiteful in the extreme, and his lodging

was near the palace wherein Mubatek and Zein ul Asnam had taken

up their abode. When he heard of their bounty and generosity and

of the goodliness of their repute, envy get hold upon him and

jealousy of them, and he fell to bethinking himself how he should

do, so he might bring some calamity upon them and despoil them of

that their fair fortune, for it is of the wont of envy that it

falleth not but upon the rich. So, one day of the days, as he

stood in the mosque, after the mid-afternoon prayer, he came

forward into the midst of the folk and said, "O my brethren, O ye

of the True Faith, ye who ascribe unity to God, know that in this

our quarter there be two men dwelling, strangers, and most like

you are acquainted with them. Now these twain spend and squander

wealth galore, passing all measure, and in my belief they are

none other than thieves and highwaymen and are come hither with

that which they stole from their own country, so they may

squander it." Then [FN#106] "O people of Mohammed," added he, "I

rede you for God's sake keep yourselves from these

tricksters, [FN#107] lest belike the Khalif come presently to know

of these two men and ye also fall with them into calamity. Now I

have warned you and I wash my hands of your affair, for that I

have forewarned and awakened you; so do that which you deem

well." And they said to him, all who were present, with one

voice, "We will do whatsoever thou wiliest, O Aboubekr!" When the

Imam heard this from them, he arose and taking inkhorn and pen

and paper, fell to writing a letter to the Commander of the

Faithful, setting forth to him [the case] against Zein ul Asnam

and Mubarek.

Now, as destiny willed it, the latter chanced to be in the mosque

among the folk and heard the accursed Imam's discourse and that

which he did by way of writing the letter to the Khalif;

whereupon he tarried not, but, returning home forthwith, took an

hundred diners and made him a parcel of price, all of silken

clothes, [FN#108] wherewith he betook himself in haste to

Aboubekr's house and knocked at the door. The Imam came out to

him and opened the door; and when he saw him, he asked him

surlily who he was and what he would; whereupon quoth the other,

"O my lord the Imam Aboubekr, I am thy slave Mubarek and I come

to thee on the part of my lord the Amir Zein ul Asnam. He hath

heard of thy learning and of the excellence of thy repute in the

city and would fain become acquainted with thee and do that which

behoveth unto thee; wherefore he hath presently sent me with

these things and this money for thine expenses and hopeth of thee

that thou wilt not blame him, inasmuch as this is little for thy

worth, but hereafter, God willing, he will not fail of that which

is due unto thee." Aboubekr looked at [the coins and] at their

impress and yellowness [FN#109] and at the parcel of clothes and

said to Mubarek, "O my lord, [I crave] pardon of thy lord the

Amir, for that I am presently abashed before him [FN#110] and it

irketh me sore that I have not done my duty towards him; [FN#111]

but I hope of thee that thou wilt intercede with him on my

behalf, so he may of his favour pardon me my default; and (the

Creator willing) I will to-morrow do that which behoveth me and

will go do my service to him [FN#112] and proffer him the respect

which is due from me to him." "O my lord Aboubekr," replied

Mubarek, "the extreme of my lord's desire is to look upon thy

worship, so he may be honoured by thy presence and get of thee a

blessing." So saying, he kissed the Imam's hand and returned to

his lodging.

On the morrow, whilst Aboubekr was [engaged] in the Friday

prayers at dawn, he stood up amongst the folk, in the midst of

the mosque, and said, "O our brethren of the Muslims and people

of Mohammed, all of you, verily envy falleth not save upon the

rich and the noble and passeth by the poor and those of low

estate. Know that of the two stranger men against whom I spoke

yesterday one is an Amir, a man of great rank and noble birth,

and the case is not as certain of the envious [FN#113] informed me

concerning him, to wit, that he was a thief and a robber; for I

have enquired into the matter and find that the report lieth. So

beware lest any of you missay of the Amir or speak aught of evil

against him, such as that which I heard yesterday, or you will

cause me and yourselves fall into the gravest of calamities with

the Commander of the Faithful; for that a man of high degree like

this cannot sojourn in the city of Baghdad without the Khalif's

knowledge." On [FN#114] this wise, then, the Imam Aboubekr did

away from the minds of the folk the ill thought [FN#115] which he

had planted [there] by his speech concerning Zein ul Asnam.

Moreover, when he had made an end of the prayers, he returned to

his own house and donned his gabardine; then, weightening his

skirts and lengthening his sleeves, [FN#116] he went forth and

took his way to the prince's house. When he came in to Zein ul

Asnam, the latter rose to him and received him with the utmost

reverence. Now he was by nature religious, [FN#117] for all he was

a youth of tender age; so he proffered the Imam all manner of

honour and seating him by his side on a high divan, let bring him

coffee with ambergris. Then the servants spread the table for

breakfast and they took their sufficiency of meat and drink, and

when they had finished, they fell to talking and making merry

together. Presently the Imam asked the prince and said to him,

.'O my lord Zein ul Asnam, doth your highness purpose to sojourn

long here in Baghdad?" "Yea, verily, O our Lord the Imam,"

answered Zein ul Asnam; "my intent is to sojourn here awhile,

till such time as my requirement be accomplished." "And what,"

asked Aboubekr, "is the requirement of my lord the Amir? Belike,

an I know it, I may avail to further him to his wish, though I

sacrifice my life for him." [FN#118] And the prince said to him,

"I seek a damsel fifteen years of age and fair exceedingly, that

I may marry her; but she must be pure and chaste and a clean

maid, whom no man hath anywise defiled nor in all her life hath

she thought upon a man; [FN#119] and she must be unique in grace

and goodliness."

"O my lord," rejoined the Imam, "this is a thing exceeding hard

to find; but I know a damsel unique in her loveliness and her age

is fifteen years. Her father was a Vizier, who resigned office of

his own motion, and he abideth presently at home in his palace

and is exceeding jealous over his daughter and her bringing

up. [FN#120] Methinketh this damsel will suit your Highness's

mind, and she will rejoice in an Amir like your Highness, as also

will her parents." Quoth Zein ul Asnam, "God willing, this damsel

whereof thou speakest will answer my requirement and the

accomplishment of our desire shall be at thy hands; [FN#121] but,

O our lord the Imam, before all things my wish is to see her, so

I may know an she be chaste or not. As for her beauty, I am

assured of [FN#122] your worship's sufficiency and am content to

trust to your word concerning her loveliness, to wit, that she is

surpassing; but, for her chastity, you cannot avail to testify

with certitude of her case." "And how," asked the Imam, "can it

be possible unto you, O my lord the Amir, to know from her face

that she is pure? An this be so, your highness is skilled in

physiognomy. However, an your highness will vouchsafe to

accompany me, I will carry you to her father's palace and make

you known to the latter, and he shall bring her before you."

Accordingly, [FN#123] the Imam Aboubekr took Zein ul Asnam and

carried him to the Vizier's house; and when they went in to him,

the Vizier rose and welcomed the prince, especially when he knew

that he was an Amir and understood from the Imam that he wished

to marry his daughter. So he let bring the damsel before him, and

when she came, he bade her raise the veil from her face.

Accordingly she unveiled herself and Zein ul Asnam, looking upon

her, was amazed at her grace and goodliness, for that never had

he seen one to match with her in beauty; and he said in himself,

"I wonder if I shall [FN#124] happen upon one like this damsel,

since it is forbidden that she should be mine!" Then he brought

out the mirror from his pocket and looked thereon; when, behold,

its crystal was clear exceedingly, as it were virgin silver; and

he observed her image in the mirror and saw it like a white dove.

So he forthright concluded the match and sent for the Cadi and

the witnesses, who wrote the writ [FN#125] and enthroned the

bride; [FN#126] after which Zein ul Asnam took the Vizier, the

bride's father, home with him to his house and sent the young

lady jewels of great price. Then they celebrated the wedding and

held high festival, never was the like thereof, whilst Zein ul

Asnam proceeded to entertain the folk and made them banquets for

the space of eight days. Moreover, he honoured Aboubekr the Imam

and gave him gifts galore and brought the Vizier, the bride's

father, presents and great rarities.

Then, the wedding festivities being ended, Mubarek said to Zein

ul Asnam, "Come, O my lord, let us set out on our way, lest we

waste the time in sloth, now we have found that whereof we were

in search." And the prince answered him, saying, "Thou art in the

right." So Mubarek arose and fell to equipping them for the

journey; moreover, he let make the young lady a

camel-litter [FN#127] with a travelling couch, [FN#128] and they

set out. But Mubarek knew that Zein ul Asnam was sunken deep in

love of the damsel; so he took him and said to him, "O my lord

Zein ul Asnam, I would fain remind thee to watch over thyself;

nay, again I say, have a care and keep the faith which thou

plightedst to the King of the Jinn." "O Mubarek," answered the

prince, "an thou knewest the transport which possesseth me for

the love of this young lady [FN#129] and how I still think of

nothing but of taking her to Bassora and going in [to her]!" And

Mubarek said to him, "Nay, O my lord; keep thy troth and play not

the traitor to thine oath, lest there befall thee a sore calamity

and thou lose thy life and the young lady lose hers also. Bethink

thee of the oath which thou sworest and let not lust get the

mastery over thine understanding, lest thou lose guerdan [FN#130]

and honour and life." "O Mubarek," rejoined Zein ul Asnam, "keep

thou watch over her thyself and let me not see her." So [FN#131]

Mubarek fell to keeping watch and ward over the bride in the

prince's stead and guarded the latter also, lest he should look

on her; and so they journeyed on past the road leading unto Egypt

and fared on their way to the Island of the Jinn.

When the bride beheld the journey (and indeed it was long upon

her) and saw not her husband in all this time since the night of

the bridal, she turned to Mubarek and said to him, "God upon

thee, O Mubarek, tell me, I conjure thee by the life of thy lord

the Amir, are we yet far from the dominions [FN#132] of my

bridegroom, the Amir Zein ul Asnam?" And he said to her, "Alack,

O my lady, it irketh me for thee and I will discover to thee that

which is hidden. To wit, thou deemest that Zein ul Asnam, King of

Bassora, is thy bridegroom. Far be it! [FN#133] He is not thy

bridegroom. The writing of the writ of his marriage with

thee [FN#134] was but a pretext before thy parents and the folk;

and now thou art going for a bride to the King of the Jinn, who

sought thee from the Amir Zein ul Asnam." When the young lady

heard these words, she fell a-weeping and Zein ul Asnam heard her

and fell a-weeping also, a sore weeping, of the excess of his

love for her. And she said to them, "Is there no pity in you and

no clemency and have you no fear of God, that I, a stranger maid,

you cast me into a calamity like this? What answer will you give

unto God [FN#135] concerning this treason that you have wroughten

with me?"

But her weeping and her words availed her nothing, and they

ceased not to fare on with her till they came to the King of the

Jinn, to whom they straightway presented her. When he beheld her,

she pleased him and he turned to Zein ul Asnam and said to him.

"Verily, the girl whom thou hast brought me is exceeding in

beauty and surpassing in loveliness; but the goodliness of thy

loyalty and shine overmastering of thyself for my sake is fairer

than she in mine eyes. So return now to thy place and the ninth

image that thou seekest of me thou shalt find, on thy return,

beside the other images; for I will send it to thee by one of my

slaves of the Jinn." Accordingly, Zein ul Asnam kissed the King's

hand and returned with Mubarek to Cairo; but, when they came

thither, he chose not to abide with Mubarek longer than a

resting-while, of the excess of his longing and his yearning to

see the ninth image. Withal he ceased not from mourning,

bethinking him of the young lady and her grace and goodliness;

and he fell to lamenting and saying, "Alas for the loss of my

delights that were because of thee, O pearl of beauty and

loveliness, thou whom I took from thy parents and presented to

the King of the Jinn! Alack, the pity of it!" And [FN#136] he chid

himself for the deceit and the perfidy which he had practised

upon the young lady's parents and how he had brought her to the

King of the Jinn.

Then he set out and gave not over journeying till he came to

Bassora and entering his palace, saluted his mother and told her

all that had befallen him; whereupon quoth she to him, "Arise, O

my son, so thou mayst [FN#137] see this ninth image, for that I am

exceeding rejoiced at its presence with us." So they both

descended into the underground hall, wherein were the eight

images, and found there a great marvel; to wit, instead of the

ninth image, they beheld the young lady, resembling the sun in

her loveliness. The prince knew her, when he saw her, and she

said to him, "Marvel not to find me here in place of that which

thou soughtest; methinketh thou wilt not repent thee an thou take

me in the stead of the ninth image." "No, by Allah, oh my

beloved!" replied Zein ul Asnam, "For that thou art the end of my

seeking and I would not exchange thee for all the jewels in the

world. Didst thou but know the grief which possessed me for thy

separation, thou whom I took from thy parents by fraud and

brought thee to the King of the Jinn!" [FN#138]

Scarce had the prince made an end of his speech when they heard a

noise of thunder rending the mountains and shaking the earth and

fear get hold upon the queen, the mother of Zein ul Asnam, yea,

and sore trembling; but, after a little, the King of the Jinn

appeared and said to her, "O lady, fear not, it is I who am thy

son's protector and I love him with an exceeding love for the

love his father bore me. Nay, I am he who appeared to him in his

sleep and in this I purposed to try his fortitude, whether or not

he might avail to subdue himself for loyalty's sake. Indeed the

beauty of this young lady beguiled him and he could not avail to

keep his covenant with me so strictly but [FN#139] that he desired

her for his bride. However, I know the frailty of human nature

and withal I think greatly of him that he guarded her and kept

her unsullied and withdrew himself from her; [FN#140] wherefore I

accept this his constancy and bestow her on him as a bride. She

is the ninth image, which I promised him should be with him, and

certes she is fairer than all these images of jewels, inasmuch as

her like is rarely found in the world." Then the King of the Jinn

turned to Zein ul Asnam and said to him, "O Prince Zein ul Asnam,

this is thy bride; take her and go in to her, on condition that

thou love her and take not unto her a second [wife]; and I

warrant thee of the goodliness of her fidelity to-thee-ward."

Therewithal he vanished from them and Zein ul Asnam went out,

glad and rejoicing in the young lady; [FN#141] and of [the excess

of] his love for her he went in to her that night and let

celebrate the bridal and hold high festival in all the kingdom.

Then he abode upon the throne of his kingship, judging and

commanding and forbidding, whilst his bride became queen of

Bassora; and after a little his mother died. So he made her

funeral obsequies [FN#142] and mourned for her; after which he

lived with his bride in all content till there came to them the

Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Societies.

ALAEDDIN AND THE ENCHANTED LAMP. [FN#143]

There [FN#144] was [once] in a city of the cities of China a man,

a tailor and poor, and he had a son by name Alaeddin, who was

perverse and graceless from his earliest childhood. When he came

to ten years of age, his father would fain have taught him his

own craft, for that, because he was poor, he could not spend

money upon him to have him taught [another] trade or art [FN#145]

or the like; [FN#146] so he carried him to his shop, that he might

teach him his craft of tailoring; but, forasmuch as the lad was

perverse and wont still to play with the boys of the

quarter, [FN#147] he would not sit one day in the shop; nay, he

would watch his father till such time as he went forth the place

to meet a customer [FN#147] or on some other occasion, when he

would flee forth incontinent and go out to the gardens with the

good-for-nothing lads like himself. This, then, was his

case, [FN#148] and he would not obey his parents, nor would he

learn a craft. His father sickened of his grief and chagrin for

his son's perversity and died, whilst A]aeddin abode on that his

wise. When his mother saw that her husband had departed this

life [FN#149] and that her son was a scapegrace and a good-for-

nought, she sold the shop and all she found therein and fell to

spinning cotton and feeding herself and her graceless son

Alaeddin with her toil. The latter, seeing himself quit of his

father's danger, [FN#150] redoubled in his gracelessness and his

perversity and would not abide in their house save eating-whiles;

and his poor wretched mother supported him [FN#151] by the

spinning of her hands till he came to fifteen years of age.

One [FN#152] day of the days, as he sat in the street, playing

with the vagabond boys, behold, a Maugrabin [FN#153] dervish came

up and stopping to look at the lads, singled out Alaeddin from

his comrades and fell to gazing upon him and straitly considering

his favour. Now this dervish was from the land of Hither

Barbary [FN#154] and he was an enchanter who would cast mountain

upon mountain with his sorcery and was skilled to boot in

physiognomy. [FN#155] When he had well considered Alaeddin, he

said in himself, "Certes, this boy is he whom I seek and he it is

in quest of whom I came forth from my country." So he took one of

the lads apart and asked him of Alaeddin, whose son he was, and

questioned him of all his affairs; after which he went up to

Alaeddin and taking him aside, said to him, "Harkye, boy, art

thou not the son of such an one the tailor?" And he answered him,

saying "Yes, O my lord; but my father died awhile agone." When

the Maugrabin magician heard this, he threw himself upon Alaeddin

and embracing him, fell to kissing him and weeping, that his

tears ran down upon his cheek.

Alaeddin was astonished at the Maugrabin's behaviour; so he asked

him and said to him, "What is the cause of thy weeping, O my

lord, and whence knewest thou my father?" The Maugrabin answered

him, in a mournful, broken voice, [FN#156] saying, "How, O my son,

canst thou ask me this question, after telling me that thy

father, my brother, is dead, for thy father was [indeed] my

brother [FN#157] and I am newly come from my country and was

rejoicing exceedingly, after this my strangerhood, of my

expectation that I should see him and solace myself with

him; [FN#158] and now thou tellest me that he is dead! Marry,

blood discovered unto me that [FN#159] thou wast the son of my

brother, and indeed I knew thee from amongst all the lads;

although thy father, when I left him, was not yet married.

And [FN#160] now, O my son Alaeddin," continued he, "I have lost

my consolation [FN#161] and my joy in thy father, my brother, whom

I had hoped, after my strangerhood, to see ere I died; but

separation hath afflicted me in him [FN#162] and there is no

fleeing from that which is [FN#163] nor is there any resource

against the ordinance of God the Most High."

Then he took Alaeddin and said to him, "O my son, I have no

comfort [FN#163] but in thee [FN#164] and thou art [to me] in the

stead of thy father, since thou art his successor and whoso

leaveth [a successor] is not dead, O my son." With this he put

his hand [to his pocket] and bringing out ten diners, gave them

to Alaeddin, saying, "O my son, where is your house and where is

thy mother, my brother's wife?" So Alaeddin took him and showed

him the way to their house; and the magician said to him, "O my

son, take these monies and give them to thy mother and salute her

on my behalf and tell her that thine uncle is come back from his

strangerhood; and God willing, to-morrow I will come visit you,

so I may salute her and look upon the house wherein my brother

dwelt and see where his tomb is." Alaeddin kissed his hand and

hastened home, running in his joy, to his mother and entered,

contrary to his wont, for that he was not used to go in to her

save at eating-times. So he went in to her, rejoicing, and said

to her, "O my mother, I bring thee glad news of my uncle, in that

he is come back from his absence, and he saluteth thee." "O my

son," quoth she, meseemeth thou makest mock of me. Who is thine

uncle and whence hast thou an uncle on life?" And he said to her,

"O my mother, why didst thou tell me that I had no uncles and no

kinsfolk on life? Indeed, this man is my uncle and he embraced me

and kissed me, weeping, and bade me tell thee of this." And she

answered him, saying, "Yes, O my son, I knew thou hadst an uncle,

but he is dead and I know not that thou hast a second uncle."

As [FN#166] for the Maugrabin enchanter, he went forth at dawn and

fell to searching for [FN#167] Alaeddin, for that he might not

brook parting from him; [FN#168] and as he went about in the

thoroughfares of the city, he came upon the lad, who was playing

with the vagabonds, as of his wont. So he went up to him and

taking him by the hand, embraced him and kissed him; then he

brought out of his purse two diners and said to Alaeddin, "Go to

thy mother and give her these two diners and say to her, 'My

uncle would fain sup with us; so take these two diners and make a

good supper.' But first show me once more the way to your house."

"On my head and eyes, O my uncle," answered Alaeddin and

foregoing him, showed him the way to the house. Then the

Maugrabin left him and went his way, whilst Alaeddin returned

home and telling his mother [what had passed], gave her the two

diners and said to her, " My uncle would fain sup with us." So

she arose forthright and went out to the market, where she bought

all that was needful and returning home, borrowed of her

neighbours that which she required of platters and the like and

proceeded to make ready for supper.

When the time of the evening-meal came, she said to Alaeddin, " O

my son, the supper [FN#169] is ready and maybe shine uncle knoweth

not the way to the house. Go thou and meet him." And he answered

her with "Hearkening and obedience." But, whilst they were in

talk, behold, there came a knocking at the door; whereupon

Alaeddin went out and opening, found the Maugrabin enchanter, and

with him a slave bearing wine and fruits. So he brought them in

and the slave went his way, whilst the Maugrabin entered and

saluted Alaeddin's mother; then he fell a-weeping and said to

her, "Where is the place in which my brother was wont to sit?"

She pointed him to her husband's sitting-place, whereupon he went

thither and prostrating himself, fell to kissing the earth and

saying, "Alas, how scant is my delight and how sorry my fortune,

since I have lost thee, O my brother and apple [FN#170] of mine

eye!" And the abode on this wise, weeping and lamenting, till

Alaeddin's mother was certified that he was in earnest and that

he was like to swoon of the excess of his wailing and his

lamentation. So she came to him and raised him from the ground,

saying, "What profiteth it that thou shouldst kill thyself?"

And [FN#171] she proceeded to comfort him and made him sit down.

Then, before she laid the table, the Maugrabin fell to relating

to her [his history] and said to her, "O wife of my brother, let

it not amaze thee that in all thy days thou never sawest me

neither knewest of me in my late brother's lifetime, for that I

left this country forty years agone and became an exile from my

native land. I journeyed to the lands of Hind and Sind and all

the country of the Arabs and coming presently into Egypt,

sojourned awhile in the magnificent city [of Cairo], which is the

wonder of the world. [FN#172] Ultimately I betook myself to the

land of Hither Barbary [FN#173] and sojourned there thirty years'

space, [FN#174] till one day of the days, as I sat, [FN#175] O wife

of my brother, I bethought me of my country and my native place

and of my late brother and longing waxed on me to see him and I

fell a-weeping and lamenting over my strangerhood and distance

from him. In fine, my yearning for him importuned me till I

resolved to journey to this country, the which was the falling-

place of my head [FN#176] and my native land, that I might see my

brother. And I said in myself, "O man, how long wilt thou be an

exile [FN#177] from thy country and thy native place, whenas thou

hast an only brother and no more? Arise and journey and look upon

him ere thou die. Who knoweth the calamities of fate and the

vicissitudes of the days? Sore pity 'twere that thou shouldst die

and not see thy brother. Moreover, Allah (praised be He) hath

given thee abundant wealth and it may be thy brother is in poor

case and straitened, and thou wilt help him, an [FN#178] thou see

him." So I arose forthright and equipped myself for travel; then,

reciting the Fatiheh [FN#179], I took horse, after the Friday

prayer, and came, after many hardships and fatigues,--which I

suffered, till the Lord (to whom belong might and majesty)

protected [me],--to this city. I entered it and as I went about

its thoroughfares the day before yesterday, I saw my brother's

son Alaeddin playing with the boys; and by Allah the Great, O

wife of my brother, when I saw him, my heart crave to him, for

that blood yearneth unto blood, and my soul foreboded me he was

my brother's son. At his sight I forgot all my toils and troubles

and was like to fly for joy; then, when he told me that my late

brother had departed to the mercy of God the Most High, I swooned

away for stress of grief and chagrin; and most like he hath told

thee of that which overcame me. [FN#180] But I comforted myself

somewhat with Alaeddin, who standeth in stead of [FN#181] the

departed, for that whoso leaveth [a successor] [FN#182] dieth

not."

Then, [FN#183] when he saw her weeping at this speech, he turned

to Alaeddin, by way of making her forget the mention of her

husband and feigning to comfort her, so he might the better

accomplish his device upon her, and said to him, "O my son

Alaeddin, what hast thou learned of crafts and what is thy

business? Hast thou learned thee a trade whereby thou mayst live,

thou and thy mother?" At this Alaeddin was confounded and abashed

and hung down his head, bowing it to the ground, whilst his

mother said to the Maugrabin, "How? By Allah, he knoweth nought

at all! So graceless a lad I never saw. All day long he goeth

about with the vagabond boys of the quarter like himself; nay,

his father, woe is me, died not but of his chagrin concerning

him; and now, as for me, my case is woeful. I spin cotton and

toil night and day, to earn two cakes of bread, that we may eat

them together. This, then, is his condition, O my brother-in-law,

and by thy life, he cometh not in to me save at eating-times, and

I am thinking to bolt the door of my house and not open to him

and let him go seek his living for himself, for that I am grown

an old woman and have no strength left to toil and provide for

the maintenance of a fellow like this. [FN#184] By Allah, I get

mine own livelihood, I that need one who shall maintain

me." [FN#185]

Therewithal the Maugrabin turned to Alaeddin and said to him,

"How is this, O son of my brother? It is a disgrace to thee to go

vagabonding about in this abjection. This befitteth not men like

thee. Thou art gifted with understanding, O my son, and the child

of [reputable] folk; [FN#186] I and it is a shame upon thee that

thy mother, who is an old woman, should toil for thy maintenance,

now thou art grown a man. Nay, it behoveth thee get thee some

means whereby thou mayst maintain thyself, O my son. See, by

God's grace, (praised be He) here in our city be masters of

crafts, nowhere is there a place more abounding in them: choose,

then, the craft which pleaseth thee and I will establish thee

therein, so that, when thou growest up, O my son, thou mayst find

thee thy craft whereby thou shalt live. Belike thou hast no mind

to thy father's trade; so choose other than it. Tell me the craft

which pleaseth thee and I will help thee in all that is possible,

O son of my brother." Then, seeing that Alaeddin was silent and

answered him nothing, he knew that he had no mind to any craft at

all and recked of nothing but vagabondage and said to him, "O son

of my brother, be not abashed at me; [FN#187] if so be

withal [FN#188] thou caress not to learn a trade, I will open thee

a merchant's shop of the costliest stuffs and thou shalt make

thyself acquainted with [FN#189] the folk [FN#190] and shalt give

and take and sell and buy and become known in the city."

When Alaeddin heard these words of his uncle the Maugrabin, to

wit, that it was his intent to make him a merchant, [FN#191] a

trader, [FN#192] he rejoiced exceedingly, well knowing that all

merchants' apparel is neat and elegant; [FN#193] so he looked at

the Maugrabin and smiled and bowed his head, as who should say,

"I am content." The [FN#194] magician, seeing him smile, knew that

he was content to be a merchant and said to him, "Since thou art

content that I should make thee a merchant and open thee a shop,

be a man, O son of my brother, and to-morrow, God willing, I will

take thee first to the market and let cut thee an elegant suit of

clothes such as merchants wear; and after that I will look thee

out a shop and perform my promise to thee." Now Alaeddin's mother

was in some little doubt as to the Maugrabin; but, when she heard

his promise to her son that he would open him a shop as a

merchant with stuffs and capital and what not else, she concluded

that he was in very deed her brother-in-law, inasmuch as a

stranger would not do thus with her son. So she fell to

admonishing her son and exhorting him to put away ignorance and

folly from his head and be a man, and bade him still yield

obedience to his uncle, as he were his father, and apply himself

to make up the time which he had wasted in idleness [with] those

who were like him, after which she arose and laying the table,

spread the evening-meal and they all sat down and fell to eating

and drinking, whilst the Maugrabin talked with Alaeddin upon

matters of merchandry and the like. Then, when he saw that the

night was far spent, [FN#195] he arose and went to his lodging,

promising to return in the morning and take Alaeddin, so he might

let cut him a merchant's suit.

Alaeddin slept not that night for joy and when it was morning,

behold, the Maugrabin knocked at the door. The lad's mother arose

and opened to him; however, he would not enter, but sought

Alaeddin, that he might take him with him to the market. So

Alaeddin went out to him and gave him good-morning and kissed his

hand; whereupon the Maugrabin took him by the hand and going with

him to the market, entered the shop of a seller of all manner of

clothes and demanded a suit of costly stuffs. The merchant

brought him what he sought, all sewn and ready, and the Maugrabin

said to Alaeddin, "Choose that which pleaseth thee, O my son."

Alaeddin rejoiced exceedingly, when he saw that his uncle gave

him his choice, and chose clothes to his mind, such as pleased

him. The Maugrabin at once paid the merchant their price and

going out, carried Alaeddin to the bath, where they bathed and

came forth and drank wine. [FN#196] Then Alaeddin arose and donned

the new suit; whereat he rejoiced and was glad and coming up to

his uncle, kissed his hand and thanked him for his bounties.

After [FN#197] this the Maugrabin carried him to the bazaar of the

merchants and showed him the market and the selling and buying

and said to him, " O my son, it behoveth thee consort with the

folk, especially with the merchants, so thou mayst learn of them

merchandry, since this is become thy craft."

Then he took him again and showed him the city and the mosques

and all the sights of the place; after which he carried him to a

cook's shop, where the morning-meal was set before them in silver

platters. So they ate and drank till they had enough and going

forth, fared on, whilst the Maugrabin proceeded to show Alaeddin

the pleasaunces and fine buildings, [FN#198] going in with him to

the Sultan's palace and showing him all the fair and fine

quarters [FN#199] [of the city]; after which he carried him to the

Khan of the stranger merchants, where he himself lodged. and

invited certain of the merchants who were in the Khan.

Accordingly they came and sat down to supper, and he informed

them that this was his brother's son and that his name was

Alaeddin. Then, after they had eaten and drunken, the night being

now come, the Maugrabin arose and taking Alaeddin, carried him

back to his mother.

When she saw her son as he were one of the merchants, her wit

fled [and she waxed] sorrowful for gladness and fell to extolling

the Maugrabin's bounty and saying to him, "O my brother-in-law, I

might not suffice [to thy deserts,] though I thanked thee all my

life long and praised thee for the good thou hast done with my

son." "O wife of my brother," answered he, "this is no manner of

kindness in me, [FN#200] for that this is my son and it behoveth

me stand in the stead of my brother his father; so be thou easy."

Quoth she, "I pray God, by the glory of the ancients [FN#201] and

the moderns, that He let thee [live] and continue thee, O my

brother-in-law, and prolong me thy life, so thou mayst be [as] a

wing [FN#202] to this orphan boy; and he shall still be under

thine obedience and thy commandment and shall do nought but that

which thou biddest him." "O wife of my brother," rejoined the

Maugrabin, "Alaeddin is a man of understanding and [the son of]

decent folk, and my hope is in God that he will follow in his

father's footsteps and be the solace of shine eyes; [FN#203] but

it irketh me that, to-morrow being Friday, I cannot open him a

shop. It being congregation day, all the merchants will go out

after prayers to the gardens and pleasaunces; but, God willing,

on Saturday, an it please the Creator, we will do our business.

Tomorrow I will come to you and take Alaeddin, that I may show

him the gardens and pleasaunces without the city,--it may be he

hath not yet seen them,--and he shall see the merchant-folk and

the notables a-pleasuring there, so he may become acquainted with

them and they with him." [FN#204]

The [FN#205] Maugrabin lay the night in his lodging; and on the

morrow he came to the tailor's house and knocked at the door.

Alaeddin--of the excess of his joy in the clothes he had donned

and of the pleasures he had enjoyed on the past day, what with

the bath and eating and drinking and viewing the folk and the

thought that his uncle was coming in the morning to take him and

show him the gardens--slept not that night neither closed an eye

and thought the day would never break. [FN#206] So, when he heard

a knocking at the door, he went out at once in haste, like a

spark of fire, and opening, found his uncle the Maugrabin. The

latter embraced him and kissed him and took him by the hand,

saying, "O son of my brother, to-day I will show thee a thing

such as thou never sawest in thy life." Then they went off

together and the Maugrabin fell to making merry with [FN#207]

Alaeddin and amusing him with familiar talk. They went forth the

gate of the city and the Maugrabin proceeded to walk with him

among the gardens and to show him the fine pleasaunces and

marvellous high-builded palaces; and whenassoever they looked

upon a garden or a palace [FN#208] or a pavilion, [FN#209] he would

stand and say to Alaeddin, "Doth this please thee, O my son

Alaeddin?"

Alaeddin was like to fly for joy, inasmuch as he saw that which

he had never in his life seen, and they gave not over walking and

gazing till they were weary, when they entered a fine garden

there, that cheered the heart and brightened the eye with its

springs [FN#210] welling up among flowers and its waters issuing

from the mouths of lions of brass like unto gold, and sitting

down by a lake, rested awhile. As for Alaeddin, he rejoiced and

was exceeding glad and fell a-jesting with the Mangrabin and

making merry with him, as he were his uncle in very deed. Then

the latter arose and loosing his girdle, brought out therefrom a

bag full of victual and fruit and the like and said to Alaeddin,

"O son of my brother, thou art maybe anhungred; come, eat what

thou wilt." So Alaeddin proceeded to eat and the Maugrabin with

him and they were gladdened and refreshed and their souls were

cheered. Then said the Maugrabin, "Rise, O my son, an thou be

rested, so we may walk a little and fare onward." [FN#211] So

Alaeddin arose and the Maugrabin walked on with him from garden

to garden till they had passed them all and came to a high

mountain. [FN#212]

Now Alaeddin had never gone forth the gate of the city nor in all

his life had he walked the like of that walk; so he said to the

Maugrabin, "O my uncle, whither are we going? See, we have left

all the gardens behind us and are come to the foot of a

mountain. [FN#213] If the way be [yet] far, I have no strength

left me for walking, for that I am worn out with fatigue and

there remain no more gardens before us; so let us turn back and

return to the city." "O my son," replied the Maugrabin, "this is

the way and the gardens are not yet at an end, for we are

going [FN#214] to view a garden, whose like is not with the kings

and compared with which all these which thou hast seen are as

nothing. So gird up thy loins [FN#215] for walking; praised be

God, thou art a man." And he fell to amusing him with fair words

and telling him rare stories, true and false, till they reached

the place at which this Maugrabin enchanter aimed and in quest

whereof he was come from Barbary [FN#216] to the land of China;

whereupon, "O son of my brother," quoth he to Alaeddin, "sit and

rest thee; this is the place for which we were making; and now,

please God, I will show thee marvellous things, the like whereof

no one in the world hath seen, nor hath any looked upon that

which thou art about to behold. But [FN#217] do thou, after thou

art rested, arise and seek sticks and grass and reeds and such

like matters as are small and dry, so we may kindle a fire, and I

will cause thee look, O son of my brother, upon a thing which

passeth understanding." [FN#218]

When Alaeddin heard this, he yearned to see what his uncle was

about to do; so he forgot his fatigue and rising forthright, fell

to gathering brushwood and dry sticks and gathered till the

Maugrabin said to him, "Enough, O son of my brother." Then he

brought out of his pocket a casket, from which he took what he

needed of perfumes, and proceeded to make fumigations and

conjurations, speaking words that might not be understanded; and

straightway it darkened and thundered and the earth quaked and

opened. At this Alaeddin was sore affrighted and would have fled;

which when the Maugrabin enchanter saw, he was exceeding,

incensed at him, for that without Alaeddin his labour was of none

avail, since the treasure whereat he sought to come might not be

opened save by means of the lad. So, when he saw him offer to

flee, he rose to him and lifting his hand, smote him on his head,

that he came nigh to knock out his teeth; whereupon Alaeddin

swooned away and fell upon the earth; but, after a little, he

recovered his senses, by the virtue of the Maugrabin's

enchantments, and falling a-weeping, said to him, "O my uncle,

what have I done to deserve from thee this blow?" The Maugrabin

proceeded to soothe him and said to him, "O my son, it is my

desire to make thee a man; so cross me not, for that I am thine

uncle and as it were thy father; wherefore do thou obey me in

that which I shall say to thee, and after a little thou shalt

forget all this travail and annoy, whenas thou lookest upon

things marvellous."

Now, when the earth clove in sunder before the enchanter, there

appeared to him an alabaster slab and in it a ring of molten

brass; [FN#219] so he turned to Alaeddin and said to him, "An thou

do that which I shall tell thee, thou shalt become richer than

all the kings; and on this account, O my son, I beat thee, for

that here is a treasure and it is in thy name, and thou, thou

wouldst fain have passed it by and fled. But now collect thy

wits [FN#220] and see how I have opened the earth by my

conjurations and incantations. Under [FN#221] yonder stone,

wherein is the ring, is the treasure whereof I have told thee; so

do thou put thy hand to the ring and lift the slab, for that none

of mankind can open it but thou and none but thou can set his

foot within this treasure, since it is guarded for thee. But

needs must thou hearken from me that which I shall teach thee and

lose not [FN#222] a syllable of my speech. Marry, all this, O my

son, is for thy good, for that this is an exceeding great

treasure, the kings of the world possess not its like, and it is

thine and mine." So poor Alaeddin forgot fatigue and beating and

weeping, of his amazement at the Maugrabin's speech and joy that

he should become rich after such a measure that even the kings

would be no wealthier than he, and said to him, "O my uncle,

command me all thou wilt, for I will be obedient unto thy

commandment." And the Maugrabin said to him, "O son of my

brother, thou art as my very son, nay, dearer, for being my

brother's son. I have no kindred other than thyself and thou art

my natural heir and successor, O my son."

Therewith he came up to Alaeddin and kissed him. saying, "All

these my toils, whom do they concern? [FN#223] They are all for

thy sake, O my son, that I may make [FN#224] thee a man rich and

great [FN#225] exceedingly; so gainsay me not in aught that I

shall tell thee; but go up to yonder ring and raise it, as I bade

thee." "O my uncle," quoth Alaeddin, "this stone is heavy; I

cannot raise it of myself, [FN#226] so come thou also and help me

raise it, for I am little of years." "O son of my brother,"

replied the Maugrabin, "it will not be possible for us to do

aught, an I help thee, and our toil will be wasted in vain; but

do thou put thy hand to the ring and raise it and it will

immediately come up with thee; for, as I said to thee, none may

handle it but thou. But, when thou raisest it, name thine own

name and those of thy father and mother and it will straightway

rise with thee, nor shalt thou feel its weight."

Accordingly, Alaeddin took courage and summoning his resolution,

did as the Maugrabin bade him and raised the slab with all ease,

whenas he pronounced his own name and those of his father and his

mother. So the stone came up and he threw it aside;

whereupon [FN#227] there appeared to him an underground place and

its door, whereas one entered by a stair of some dozen steps, and

the Maugrabin said to him, "O Alaeddin, give heed [FN#228] and do

punctually that which I shall tell thee, neither fail of aught

thereof. Go down with all circumspection into yonder vault till

thou come to the bottom thereof and thou wilt find there a place

divided into four chambers, [FN#229] in each of which thou wilt

see four jars of gold and others of native ore and silver. Beware

lest thou handle them or take aught therefrom, but pass them by

till thou come to the fourth chamber, and let not thy clothes or

thy skirts touch the jars, no, nor the walls, and stay not one

moment; for, an thou do contrary to this, thou wilt forthright be

transformed and wilt become a black stone. When thou comest to

the fourth chamber, thou wilt find there a door; open it and

speak the names which thou spokest over the slab; then enter and

thou wilt find thyself in a garden, all adorned with trees and

fruits. Thence do thou fare on some fifty cubits in the path thou

wilt find before thee and thou wilt come to a dais, [FN#230]

with [FN#231] a stair of some thirty steps. Above the dais

thou [FN#232] wilt find a lamp hung up; take it and pour out the

oil that is therein and put it in thy sleeve; [FN#233] and fear

not for thy clothes therefrom, for that it [FN#234] is not oil.

And as thou returnest, thou mayst pluck from the trees what thou

wilt, for that it is thine, what while the lamp abideth in thy

hand."

When the Maugrabin had made an end of his speech, he drew from

his finger a ring and putting it on Alaeddin's finger, said to

him, "And this ring, O, my son, shall deliver thee from all hurt

and all fear that may betide thee, provided thou observe all that

I have said to thee. So now arise and go down; gird thy loins and

summon up thy resolution and fear not, for that thou art a man

and not a child; and after this, O my son, thou shalt in a little

time become the richest of mankind." So Alaeddin arose and going

down into the underground, found the four chambers and in each

four jars of gold. He passed them by with all care and

precaution, even as the Maugrabin had bidden him, and entering

the garden, fared on there through till he came to the dais and

mounting the stair, entered [FN#235] and found the lamp. So he

quenched it and pouring out the oil that was therein, put it in

his sleeve; then, going down into the garden, he fell to gazing

upon its trees, whereon were birds extolling with their

songs [FN#236] the perfection of the Great Creator, and he had not

seen them as he entered. Now the fruits of these trees were all

precious stones, each tree bearing fruit of one colour and kind

of jewel, and these fruits were of all colours, green and white

and yellow and red and what not else of colours. Their

glitterance outshone the rays of the sun in its forenoon

splendour and the bigness of each jewel overpassed description;

suffice it that not one of them might be found with the greatest

of the kings of the world, [FN#237] no, nor a gem half the bigness

of the smallest that was there.

Alaeddin [FN#238] entered among the trees and proceeded to gaze

upon them and upon these things which amazed the sight and

ravished the sense and observing them, saw that, instead of

fruits, they bore magnificent jewels from the mines, emeralds and

diamonds and rubies and pearls and topazes [FN#239] and the like

of precious stones, such as confounded the wit. Now, for that

this was a thing Alaeddin had never in his life seen, neither was

he of ripe age, so he should know the value of these jewels, by

reason of his being yet a young lad, he thought that they were

all glass or crystal; so he gathered of them what filled his

sleeves [FN#240] and fell to looking an they were grapes or figs

and the like of fruits that might be eaten or not; but, finding

them like glass, he proceeded to gather in his sleeve [FN#241] of

every kind that was upon the trees, albeit he knew not jewels nor

their worth, saying in himself, since he had been baulked in his

intent of eating, "I will gather of these fruits of glass and

will play with them at home." Accordingly he proceeded to pluck

and put in his pockets [FN#242] and his sleeves [FN#243] till he

filled them; after which he filled his girdle with the fruits and

girt himself withal; in fine, he carried off as much as he might,

purposing to lay them up with him in the house by way of

ornament, for that he thought them glass, as I have said. Then he

quickened his pace, of his fear of his uncle the Maugrabin, and

hastened through the four chambers and the [outer] vault nor

looked, as he returned, at the jars of gold, albeit he might now

have taken of them. [FN#244]

When he came to the stair [FN#245] and ascended it and there

remained to him but a small matter, to wit, the last step, which

was much higher than the others, he could not avail to mount it

of himself, having regard to that which he was carrying; so he

said to the Maugrabin, "O my uncle, give me thy hand and help me

up." Quoth he, "O my son, give me the lamp and lighten thyself;

maybe it is that which hindereth thee." "Nay, O my uncle,"

answered Alaeddin, "the lamp hindereth me nought; but do thou

give me thy hand and when I am up, I will give thee the lamp."

The enchanter, who wanted the lamp and that only, fell to urging

Alaeddin to give it him; but the latter, having wrapped it within

his clothes, with purses [FN#246] of jewel-fruits atop of

it, [FN#247] could not reach it with his hand, so he might give it

him. [FN#248] The [FN#249] Maugrabin was instant with him to give

him the lamp and was like to lose his wits for rage, seeing he

attained not his object, albeit Alaeddin still promised him that

he would give it him as soon as he was forth of the vault, [and

that] without lying thought or ill intent. Then, when he saw that

Alaeddin would not give it him, he was angry with an exceeding

anger and abandoning all hope of the lamp, conjured and enchanted

and cast perfumes into the midst of the fire; whereupon the slab

immediately turned over [FN#250] and shut [FN#251] of itself by the

might of his enchantments; the earth covered it like as it was

before and Alaeddin abode under the ground, unable to come forth.

Thus the enchanter--forasmuch as he was a stranger and no uncle of

Alaeddin, as he said, but had counterfeited himself and avouched

leasing, so he might get the lamp by means of the lad, unto whom

that treasure was fortuned by the stars-shut up [FN#252] the earth

upon him and left him to die of hunger. Now this accursed

Maugrabin wizard was from the city of Africa [FN#253] in Hither

Barbary and had from his childhood been addicted to magic and all

the occult arts, for which the city in question is renowned. He

ceased not from his tenderest years to study and learn in his

native land Africa till he became versed in all sciences, and of

the much skill and proficiency which he acquired, by dint of

study and application for the space of forty years, in the matter

of incantations and conjurations, it was discovered to

him, [FN#254] one day of the days, that among the uttermost of the

cities of China was a city called El Kelaas and in this city a

vast treasure, the like whereof no king of the kings of the world

ever possessed; but the rarest [was] that in this treasure

[was] [FN#255] a wonderful lamp, [FN#256] whereat if one should

come, there might no man be found on earth richer than he,

whether in might or in wealth, nor might the greatest king in the

world avail unto aught of the riches of this lamp and its

puissance and virtue. Moreover [FN#257] he saw that this treasure

was to be achieved by means of a lad of mean birth, by name

Alaeddin, who was of the city aforesaid, and that it was eath to

take and unarduous: so he tarried not, but equipped himself

forthright for the voyage to China, as we have said, and did that

which he did with Alaeddin, thinking to come by the lamp. But his

endeavour was baffled and his expectation baulked and his toil

wasted in vain; whereupon he sought to kill Alaeddin and closed

up the earth upon him by his sorcery, so he might die (and the

live hath no slayer [FN#258]); moreover, he purposed by this that

Alaeddin should not come forth and that the lamp should not be

brought up from under the earth. Then he went his ways and

returned to his country Africa, woeful and despairing of his

hope.

So much for the enchanter and as for what came of Alaeddin, after

the earth closed over him, he fell to calling upon the Maugrabin,

whom he thought his uncle, to give him his hand, so he might come

forth the underground to the surface of the earth; but, when he

found that none returned him an answer, he was ware of the cheat

which the Maugrabin had put upon him and knew that he was none of

his uncle, but a liar and a sorcerer. Therewith he despaired of

his life and knew, to his woe, that there was no more going forth

for him upon the face of the earth; so he fell to weeping and

lamenting over that which had befallen him. Then, after a little,

he arose and went down, that he might see if God the Most High

had vouchsafed him a door whereby he might go forth; and he went

seeking right and left, but saw nought save darkness and four

walls shut upon him; for that the Maugrabin sorcerer had by his

enchantments locked all the doors and had even shut up the

garden, so he might leave him no door whereby he should come

forth upon the face of the earth and so hasten his death upon

him. Alaeddin's weeping redoubled and his lamentation waxed when

he saw all the doors shut and eke the garden, for that he thought

to solace himself with them [FN#259] a little; but he found them

locked, so he fell to crying out and weeping, as he whose hope is

cut off, and returning, sat down upon the steps of the stair

whereby he had entered the vault, weeping [FN#260] and wailing;

and indeed he had lost hope.

But it is a small matter for God (extolled be His perfection and

exalted be He) whenas He willeth a thing, to say to it "Be," and

it is; for that He createth relief out of the midst of stress; by

token that, when the Maugrabin enchanter sent Alaeddin down into

the vault, he gave him a ring and put it on his finger, saying,

"This ring will deliver thee from all stress, an thou be in

calamities or vicissitudes, and will remove from thee troubles;

yea, it will be thy helper whereassoever thou art;" and this was

by the foreordinance of God the Most High, so it might be the

means of Alaeddin's deliverance. So, as he sat weeping and

bewailing his case and indeed his hope was cut off of life and

despair was heavy upon him, he fell, of the excess of his

anguish, to wringing [FN#261] his hands, after the wont of the

woeful; then, raising them [to heaven], he made supplication to

God, saying, "I testify that there is no God but Thou alone, the

Mighty, the Powerful, the Conquering, the Giver of Life and

Death, [FN#262] Creator and Accomplisher [FN#263] of necessities,

Resolver of difficulties and perplexities and Dispeller

thereof, [FN#264] Thou my sufficiency, Thou the most excellent

Guardian, and I testify that Mohammed is Thy servant and Thine

apostle. O my God, I conjure Thee, by his [FN#265] glory with

Thee, deliver me from my extremity."

Whilst he was thus supplicating God and wringing his hands in the

excess of his affliction for that which had befallen him of

calamity, he chanced to rub upon the ring, and immediately,

behold, a genie [FN#266] rose up before him and said to him, "Here

am I; thy slave is before thee. Seek whatsoever thou wilt, for

that I am his slave who hath the ring in hand, the ring of my

lord." [FN#267] Alaeddin looked and saw a Marid, [FN#268] as he

were of the Jinn of our lord Solomon, standing before him, and

shuddered at his frightful aspect; but, when he heard the genie

say to him, "Seek whatsoever thou wilt, for that I am thy slave,

since the ring of my lord is on thy hand," he took heart and

bethought him of the Maugrabin's speech to him, whenas he gave

him the ring. So he rejoiced exceedingly and took courage and

said to him, "O slave of the lord of the ring, I will of thee

that thou bring me out upon the face of the earth." Hardly had he

made an end of that his speech when, behold, the earth opened and

he found himself without, at the door of the treasure, to wit,

upon the surface of the earth.

Now, he had been three days under the earth, sitting in the

treasure in the dark; so, when the light of day smote on his face

and the rays of the sun, he might not unclose his eyes, but took

to opening them little by little and shutting them again. till

they became stronger and grew used to the light and were cleared

of the darkness. Then, [FN#269] seeing himself upon the surface of

the earth, he rejoiced exceedingly, but marvelled to find himself

overagainst the entrance of the treasure, whereby he went down,

whenas the Maugrabin enchanter opened it; and now the stone was

shut down and the earth levelled, nor was there any sign therein

of a door. So he redoubled in wonderment and thought himself

otherwhere; nor was he assured that he was in the very place,

till he saw whereas they had kindled the fire of sticks and

brushwood and whereas the Maugrabin enchanter had made his

fumigations and conjurations. Then he turned right and left and

saw the gardens afar off and looked at the way and knew it for

that by which they had come. So he gave thanks to God the Most

High, who had brought him out on the earth's face and had

delivered him from death, after he had given up hope of life.

Then he arose and fared homeward, by the way which he knew, till

he came to the city and entering, betook himself to their house

and went in to his mother. When he saw her, he fell down before

her, of the greatness of the joy which possessed him for his

deliverance, and swooned away for the affright and the weariness

which he had suffered, more by token that he was weak with

hunger.

Now his mother had been woebegone since he left her and sat

wailing and weeping for him; so, when she saw him come in to her,

she rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy, but grief overwhelmed

her, whenas she saw him fall aswoon upon the earth. However, she

wasted no time in vain lamentation, but hastened to sprinkle

water on his face and sought of her neighbours somewhat of

perfumes, to which she made him smell. When he was a little

recovered, he prayed her bring him somewhat to eat, saying to

her, "O my mother, these three days past I have eaten nothing."

So she arose and setting before him that which she had ready,

said to him, " Rise, O my son, eat and restore thyself; and when

thou art rested, tell me what hath happened to thee and what

calamity hath befallen thee. I will not question thee now,

because thou art weary." So, [FN#270] when he had eaten and

drunken and had refreshed himself and was rested and restored, he

said to her, "Alack, mother mine, I have a sore grief against

thee in that thou leftest me to yonder accursed man, who strove

for my destruction. Indeed, he sought to kill me; nay, I saw

death face to face from that accursed wretch, whom thou deemedst

mine uncle, and but for God the Most High, who delivered me from

him, [I had perished]. Marry, both I and thou, O my mother,

suffered ourselves to be deluded by him after the measure of that

which the accursed promised to do with me of good and of the love

which he professed for me. Know, then, O my mother, that this man

is an accursed Maugrabin enchanter, a liar, a deceiver, an

impostor and a hypocrite; methinketh the devils that be under the

earth are not his match, may God put him to shame in every

book! [FN#271] Hear, O my mother, what this accursed did; nay, all

I shall tell thee is truth and soothfastness. Do but see the

villain's duplicity; bethink thee of the promises he made me that

he would do me all manner of good [FN#272] and the love he

professed to me, and how he did all this that he might accomplish

his purpose; nay, his intent was to kill me, and praised be God

for my deliverance! Hearken, O my mother, and learn what this

accursed one did."

Then he told her all that had befallen him from the time of his

leaving her, weeping the while for excess of joy; how the

Maugrabin brought him to the hill, wherein was the treasure, and

how he conjured and fumigated. "And indeed. O my mother," said

he, "there overcame me exceeding fear, whenas the hill clove in

sunder and the earth opened before me by his enchantments; and I

quaked with terror at the voice of the thunder which I heard and

the darkness which befell of his spells and fumigations, and of

my dismay at these portents, I would have fled. When he saw me

offer to flee, he reviled me and smote me, dealing me a buffet

which caused me swoon for pain [FN#273] but, inasmuch as the

treasure was opened and he could not go down into it himself,

seeing he had opened it by my means and that it was in name and

not for him, he knew, being a foul sorcerer, that it might [only]

be achieved through me and that this adventure was [reserved] for

me. [FN#274] Accordingly [FN#275] he applied himself to make his

peace with me, that he might send me down into the treasure, now

it was opened, and attain his object by my means; and when he

sent me down, he gave me a ring, which he had on his hand, and

put it on my finger. So I descended into the treasure and found

four chambers, all full of gold and silver and the like; but this

all was nothing and the accursed one charged me take nought

thereof. Thence I entered a magnificent garden, [FN#276] all full

of high trees, whose fruits ravished the wits, O my mother, for

that they were all of various-coloured crystal, [FN#277] and I

fared on till I came to the pavilion [FN#278] wherein was this

lamp; whereupon I took it forthright and quenching it, poured out

that which was therein."

[So saying,] he pulled out the lamp from his sleeve and showed it

to his mother. Moreover, he showed her the jewels which he had

brought from the garden. Now there were two great purses [FN#279]

full of these jewels, whereof not one was to be found with the

kings of mankind; and Alaeddin knew not their value, but thought

that they were glass or crystal. "Then, O my mother," continued

he, "after I had fetched the lamp and had gone forth [the garden]

and came to the door of the treasure, I cried out to the accursed

Maugrabin, who feigned himself my uncle, to give me his hand and

pull me up, for I was laden with things which weighed me down, so

that it was not possible for me to mount alone. However, he would

not give me his hand, but said to me, 'Reach me the lamp that is

with thee, and after I will give thee my hand and pull thee up.'

I, seeing that I had put the lamp within my sleeve and the purses

atop [FN#280] of it, could not reach it to give it to him and said

to him, 'O my-uncle, I cannot give thee the lamp. When I come up,

I will give it to thee.' But he would not help me up; nay, he

would e'en have the lamp, and his intent was to take it from me

and turn back the earth over me and destroy me, even as he did

with me in the end. This, then, O my mother, was what befell me

from that foul wizard." And he told her all that had passed

between them from first to last and fell to reviling the

Maugrabin with all rancour and heat of heart, saying, "Out on

this accursed one, this foul sorcerer, this hard-hearted

oppressor, this inhuman, perfidious, hypocritical villain,

lacking [FN#281] all mercy and ruth!"

When [FN#282] Alaeddin's mother heard her son's speech and that

which the accursed Maugrabin did with him, she said to him, "Yea,

verily, O my son, he is a misbeliever and a hypocrite, who

destroyeth folk with his sorcery; but glory [FN#283] to God the

Most High, who hath delivered thee from the perfidy and guile of

this accursed sorcerer, of whom I thought that he was in very

deed thine uncle." Now, Alaeddin had passed three days without

sleep and found himself drowsy; so he [withdrew to his chamber

and] slept. His mother did likewise and Alaeddin ceased not to

sleep till next day, [FN#284] near noontide, when he awoke and

immediately sought somewhat to eat, for that he was anhungred;

and his mother said to him, "O my son, I have nought to give thee

to eat, for that all I had by me thou atest yesterday. But wait

awhile; I have here a little yarn by me and I am going down to

the market, so I may sell it and buy thee withal somewhat thou

mayst eat." "O my mother," rejoined Alaeddin, "keep the yarn and

sell it not; but give me the lamp which I brought home, so I may

arise and sell it and with its price buy somewhat we may eat.

Methinketh it will fetch more than the yarn." So she arose and

fetched the lamp; but, finding it exceeding dirty, she said to

him, "O my son, this lamp is dirty, and if we wash it and furbish

it, it will sell for a better price." Accordingly she took a

little sand and fell to scouring the lamp withal; but scarce had

she begun to rub it when there appeared to her one of the Jinn,

foul of favour and monstrous of make as he were of the giants,

and said to her, "Say what thou wilt of me. Here am I, thy slave

and the slave of whoso hath in his hand the lamp; and not I

alone, but all the slaves of the wonderful lamp that is in thy

hand." When she saw his frightful aspect, she trembled and fear

get hold upon her and her tongue was tied, nor could she return

an answer, for that she was not used to look upon apparitions

like unto this; so [FN#285] she fell down aswoon of her terror.

Now Alaeddin her son was standing afar off and he had seen the

slave of the ring which he had rubbed in the treasure; so, when

he heard the genie's speech to his mother, he hastened to take

the lamp from her hand and said to him, "O slave of the lamp, I

am hungry; my will is that thou bring me somewhat I may eat, and

be it somewhat good past conceit." [FN#286] The genie was absent

the twinkling of an eye and [returning,] brought him a great

costly tray of sheer silver, whereon were twelve platters of

various kinds and colours [FN#287] of rich meats and two silver

cups and two flagons [FN#288] of clarified old wine and bread

whiter than snow; all which he set before him and disappeared. So

Alaeddin arose and sprinkled rosewater on his mother's face and

made her smell to strong [FN#289] perfumes; whereupon she revived

and he said to her, "Rise, O my mother, so we may eat of this

food that God the Most High hath vouchsafed us." [FN#290] When she

saw the great silver tray, she marvelled and said to Alaeddin, "O

my son, who is the generous, the bountiful one that hath sought

out our hunger [FN#291] and our poverty? Indeed, we are beholden

to him. [FN#292] Apparently the Sultan hath heard of our case and

our wretchedness and hath sent us this tray." "O my mother,"

answered Alaeddin, "this is no time for questioning; rise, so we

may eat, for we are anhungred."

So they arose and sitting down to the tray, proceeded to eat,

whilst Alaeddin's mother tasted food such as she had never in all

her life eaten. And they ate diligently [FN#293] with all

appetite, for stress of hunger, more by token that the food [was

such as] is given to kings, nor knew they if the tray were

precious or not, for that never in their lives had they seen the

like of these things. When they had made an end of eating and

were full (and there was left them, over and above what sufficed

them, [enough] for the evening-meal and for the next day also),

they arose and washing their hands, sat down to talk; whereupon

Alaeddin's mother turned to her son and said to him, "O my son,

tell me what befell of [FN#294] the genie, now that, praised be

God, we have eaten of His bounty and are satisfied and thou hast

no pretext for saying to me, 'I am anhungred.'" So he told her

all that had passed between himself and the genie, whenas she

fell down aswoon of her affright; whereat exceeding wonderment

took her and she said to him, "It is true, then, [FN#295] that the

Jinn appear to the sons of Adam, though I, O my son, in all my

days, I have never seen them, and methinketh this is he who

delivered thee, whenas thou west in the treasure." "Nay, O my

mother," answered he, "this was not he; he who appeared to thee

is the slave of the lamp." "How so, [FN#296] O my son?" asked she;

and he said, "This slave is other of make than that. That was the

servant of the ring and this thou sawest is the slave of the lamp

which was in thy hand." When [FN#297] his mother heard this,

"Well, well!" cried she. "Then the accursed who appeared to me

and came nigh to kill me for affright is of the lamp?" "Ay is

he," answered Alaeddin; and she said to him, "I conjure thee, O

my son, by the milk thou suckedst of me, that thou cast away from

thee both lamp and ring, for that they will be to us a cause of

exceeding fear and I could not endure to see them [FN#298] a

second time; nay, their commerce is forbidden unto us, for that

the prophet (whom God bless and keep) warneth us against

them." [FN#299] "O my mother," answered Alaeddin, "thy speech is

on my head and eyes; [FN#300] but, as for this that thou sayest,

it may not be that I should cast away either the lamp or the

ring; nay, thou seest that which it [FN#301] did with us of good,

whenas we were anhungred, and know, O my mother, that the lying

Maugrabin enchanter, what time I went down into the treasure,

sought nought of gold nor of silver, whereof the four places were

full, but charged me bring him the lamp and that only, for that

he knew the greatness of its virtues; [FN#302] and except he knew

it to be exceeding of might, he had not toiled and travailed and

come from his land to this in quest of it, nor had he shut the

treasure on me, whenas he failed of the lamp, seeing I gave it

him not. Wherefore, O my mother, it behoveth us keep this lamp

and guard it with all care, for that this is our support and this

it is shall enrich us; and it behoveth us show it not unto any.

On like wise, as for the ring, it may not be that I should put it

off from my finger, forasmuch as, but for this ring, thou hadst

not seen me again on life; nay, I had died under the earth within

the treasure; so how can I put it off from my hand and who

knoweth what may happen to me in time to come of error or

calamity or shift of the shifts of mischance, from which the ring

might deliver me? However, of regard for thy wish, I will lay up

the lamp and let thee not see it henceforth." When his mother

heard his words and pondered them, she saw them to be just and

true and said to him, "O my son, do what thou wilt. For my part,

I wish never to see them nor ever again to behold that loathsome

aspect [FN#303] which I saw [but now]."

Alaeddin [FN#304] and his mother abode two days eating of the food

which the genie had brought, and when it was finished and he knew

that there was left them nothing to eat, he arose and taking a

platter of those which the slave had brought on the tray (now

they were of fine gold, but Alaeddin knew it not) went with it to

the market, where a Jew, a man viler than devils themselves,

accosted [FN#305] him and he gave him the platter. When the Jew

saw it, he took Alaeddin aside, so none might see him, and

examining the platter, found it of fine gold, [FN#306] but knew

not if Alaeddin was ware of its worth or if he was ignorant

thereof; so he said to him, "How much, O my lord, for this

platter?" And Alaeddin answered him, saying, "Thou knowest how

much it is worth." The Jew was perplexed how much he should give

Alaeddin for the platter, by reason of his having made him an

adroit answer, and bethought himself to give him little, but

feared lest he should be aware of its value and debated with

himself if he should give him much. Then said he in himself,

"Most like he knoweth not its value;" so he brought out of his

pocket a gold diner and gave it to him. When Alaeddin saw the

diner in his hand, he took it and went off in haste, whereby the

Jew knew that the lad was unaware of the value of the plate and

repented him sore that he had given him a gold diner and not a

carat of three-score: [FN#307]

Meanwhile Alaeddin tarried not, but went forthright to the baker

and bought of him bread and changed the diner; then, returning to

his mother, he gave her the bread and the rest of the money and

said to her, "O my mother, go and buy us what we need." So she

arose and going to the market, bought all that they needed and

they ate and were cheered. Then, whenassoever the price of a

platter was spent, Alaeddin would take another and carry it to

the Jew; on which wise the accursed Jew bought them all of him

for a small matter and would fain also have reduced the price;

but, since he had given him a diner the first time, he feared to

offer him less, lest the lad should go and sell to

another [FN#308] and he lose that excessive profit. Accordingly,

Alaeddin ceased not to sell him platter after platter till he had

sold them all and there was left him only the tray whereon they

had been; then, for that it was big and heavy, he went and

fetched the Jew to the house and brought out to him the tray.

When he saw it and noted its bigness, he gave Alaeddin ten

diners, which he took, and the Jew went his way.

Alaeddin and his mother lived upon the ten diners till they came

to an end; then he arose and bringing out the lamp, rubbed it,

whereupon the slave of the lamp, to wit, the genie whom he had

seen before, appeared to him and [FN#309] said to him, "Seek what

thou wilt, O my lord, for that I am thy slave and the slave of

whoso hath with him the lamp." Quoth Alaeddin, "It is my will

that thou bring me a tray of food like unto that which thou

broughtest me erewhen, for that I am hungry;" and the slave

brought him, in the twinkling of an eye, a tray like unto that

which he had brought him before, and on it twelve magnificent

platters full of rich meats, together with flagons [FN#310] of

clarified wine and bread of the finest. Now Alaeddin's mother,

when she knew that her son was minded to rub the lamp, had gone

out, so she might not see the genie again; but, after a little,

she came in to him and seeing the tray full of silver platters,

whilst the whole house reeked with the fragrance of the rich

meats, marvelled and rejoiced; and Alaeddin said to her, "O my

mother, thou badest me throw away the lamp. See now its uses." "O

my son," answered she, "may God prosper him; [FN#311] but fain

would I not see him." Then they sat down to the tray and ate and

drank till they were satisfied, laying up that which remained

with them against the morrow.

Then, when that which was with them of food was finished,

Alaeddin arose and taking one of the platters under his clothes,

went in quest of the Jew, so he might sell it to him; but, as

chance willed it, he passed by the shop of a goldsmith, an

honest, pious man, who feared God. When the latter saw Alaeddin,

he accosted him and said to him, "O my son, what wilt thou? This

many a time have I seen thee pass hereby and betake thyself to

such an one, a Jew, and I have seen thee give him certain things.

Nay, methinketh even now thou hast somewhat with thee and art

seeking him, so thou mayst sell it to him. But thou knowest not,

O my son, that the good of the Muslims, believers in the unity of

God the Most High, is lawful spoil in the eyes of Jews; nay, they

still cheat the Muslims and especially this accursed one with

whom thou dealest and into whose hands thou hast fallen.

Wherefore, O my son, an thou have with thee aught thou wouldst

sell, show it to me and fear nothing, for that, by the truth of

God the Most High, I will give thee its price." Accordingly,

Alaeddin brought out the platter to the old man, who took it and

weighing it in his scales, said to him, "Was it the like of this

thou usest to sell to the Jew?" "Ay," replied Alaeddin, "its like

and its brother." "And how much," asked the goldsmith, "useth he

to give thee to its price?" And Alaeddin said, "He useth to give

me a diner."

When [FN#312] the goldsmith heard this, "Out on this accursed

one," cried he, "who fleeceth the servants of God the Most High!"

Then he looked at Alaeddin and said to him, "O my son, this Jew

is a cheat, who hath cheated thee and laughed at thee, for that

the silver of this thy platter is pure and fine; and I have

weighed it and find its worth threescore diners and ten; so, an

it please thee take its price, take [it]." Accordingly, he

counted out to him seventy diners and he took them and thanked

him for his kindness, in that he had shown him the Jew's

trickery. Thenceforward, whenassoever the price of one platter

was spent, he would carry another to the old goldsmith, and on

this wise he and his mother increased in substance; but they

ceased not to live at their sufficiency, [FN#313] midwise [betwixt

rich and poor], [FN#314] without excessive spending [FN#315] or

squandering. As for Alaeddin, he left idleness and the commerce

of striplings and took to consorting with grown men; [FN#316] nay,

he would go every day to the market of the merchants and sit with

the great and the small of them and question of the ways and

fashions of commerce and the prices of articles of

merchandise [FN#317] and otherwhat. He used also to go to the

market of the goldsmiths and the market of the jewellers, and

there he would sit and look upon the different kinds of jewels

and see them bought and sold; whereby he became aware that the

fruits of the trees, wherewith he had filled the purses, [FN#318]

whenas he was in the treasure, were neither glass nor crystal,

but jewels, and knew that he had happened upon great wealth, such

as kings might nowise compass. Moreover, he noted all the jewels

that were in the jewellers' market, but saw not [among] the

biggest [of them] one to match with the smallest of those he had

at home.

He ceased not to go daily to the market of the jewellers and to

clap up acquaintance with the folk, making friends with them and

questioning them of buying and selling and giving and taking and

dear and cheap, till, one day of the days, he arose in the

morning and donning his clothes, went forth, intending, as of

wont, for the jewellers' market; but, as he went, he heard the

crier proclaiming aloud on this wise, "By commandment of the Lord

of Beneficence, the king of the age and monarch of the time and

the tide, let all the folk shut their shops and stores and enter

their houses, for that the Lady Bedrulbudour, daughter of the

Sultan, purposeth to go to the bath, and whoso transgresseth the

commandment, his punishment shall be death and his blood be on

his own head." [FN#319] When Alaeddin heard this proclamation, he

longed to look upon the Sultan's daughter and said in himself,

"All the folk talk of her grace and goodliness, and the uttermost

of my desire is to see her." So [FN#320] he cast about for a

device how he might contrive to see the Lady Bedrulbudour and

him-seemed he were best stand behind the door of the bath, that

he might see her face, as she entered. Accordingly he betook

himself to the bath, awhile in advance, and posted himself behind

the door, whereas none of the folk might see him.

Presently, the Sultan's daughter came forth and went round about

the city and its thoroughfares and diverted herself by viewing

it; then she repaired to the bath and when she came thither, she

lifted her face-veil, as she entered; whereupon her face shone

out, as it were the resplendent sun or a precious pearl, and she

was as saith of her one of her describers:

Who sprinkled the kohl of enchantment upon her eyes

And gathered the bloom of the rose from her cheeks,

fruit-wise?

And who was it let down the curtained night of her hair

And eke through its glooms made the light of her forehead

rise?

When she raised the veil from her face and Alaeddin saw her, he

said, "Verily, her fashion glorifieth the Great Creator and

extolled be the perfection of Him who made her and graced her

with this beauty and goodliness!" And his back was cloven in

sunder, [FN#321] when he saw her; his thought was confounded and

his understanding [FN#322] dazed and the love of her gat hold upon

his whole heart; so he turned back and returning home, went in to

his mother, like one distraught. She bespoke him and he answered

her neither yea nor nay; then she brought him the morning-meal,

as he abode on this wise, and said to him, "O my son, what hath

betided thee? Doth there ail thee aught? Tell me what hath

befallen thee, for that, against thy wont, I bespeak thee and

thou answerest me not."

Now Alaeddin had been used to think that women were all like his

mother and he had heard of the beauty of the Lady Bedrulbudour,

daughter of the Sultan, but had not known what beauty and grace

were; so he turned to his mother and said to her, "Leave me;" but

she was instant with him to come and eat. Accordingly, he came

forward and ate a little; then, rising, he threw himself on his

bed and lay musing till break of morn; and on this wise he abode

all next day. His mother was perplexed at his case, unknowing

what had befallen him, and bethought herself that belike he was

sick; so she came up to him and questioned him, saying, "O my

son, an thou feel aught of pain or otherwhat, tell me, that I may

go fetch thee a physician, more by token there is presently in

the city a physician from the land of the Arabs, whom the Sultan

hath sent to bring hither, and report saith of him that he is

exceeding skilful; so [tell me] if thou art sick, that I may go

and call him to thee."

When [FN#323] Alaeddin heard his mother offer to fetch him the

physician, he said to her, "O my mother, I am well and not sick,

but I had thought that women were all like unto thee. However,

yesterday, I saw the Lady Bedrulbudour, the Sultan's daughter, as

she went to the bath;" and he told her all that had happened to

him, adding, "And most like thou heardest the crier proclaiming

that none should open his shop nor stand in the road, so the Lady

Bedrulbudour might pass to the bath; but I saw her even as she

is, for that, when she came to the door of the bath, she lifted

her veil, and when I noted her favour and viewed that noble form

of hers, there befell me, O my mother, a passion of yearning for

love of her and desire of her [FN#324] usurped mine every part;

nor can I ever more have ease, except I get her, and I purpose,

therefore, to demand her of the Sultan her father in the way of

law and righteousness."

When Alaeddin's mother heard her son's speech, she thought little

of his wit and said to him, "O my son, the name of God encompass

thee! Meseemeth thou hast lost thy wit; return to thy

senses, [FN#325] O my son, and be not like the madmen!" "Nay, O my

mother," replied he, "I have not lost my wits nor am I mad; and

this thy speech shall not change that which is in my mind, nor is

rest possible to me except I get the darling of my heart, the

lovely Lady Bedrulbudour. And my intent is to demand her of her

father the Sultan." So she said to him, "O my son, my life upon

thee, speak not thus, lest one hear thee and say of thee that

thou art mad. Put away from thee this extravagance: [FN#326] who

shall undertake an affair like this and demand it of the Sultan?

Meknoweth not how thou wilt do to make this request of the

Sultan, and if thou speak sooth, [FN#327] by whom wilt thou make

it?" "O my mother," rejoined Alaeddin, "by whom [should I make] a

request like this, when thou art at hand, and whom have I

trustier [FN#328] than thyself? Wherefore my intent is that thou

shalt make this request for me." "O my son," quoth she, "God

deliver me from this! What, have I lost my wits like thee? Put

away this thought from thy mind and bethink thee who thou art, O

my son,--the son of a tailor, the poorest and least of the

tailors in this city, and I also am thy mother and my folk are

exceeding poor; so how wilt thou dare to demand the Sultan's

daughter, whom her father would not vouchsafe to marry with

kings' sons and Sultans, except they were his peers in puissance

and rank and noblesse; nay, were they one degree less than he, he

would not give them his daughter."

Alaeddin [FN#329] waited till his mother had made an end of her

speech and said to her, "O my mother, all that thou thinkest I

know; marry, I know full well that I am the son of poor folk, nor

may all this thy talk anywise avail to move me from my purpose;

but I beseech thee, an I be thy very son and thou love me, do me

this kindness; else wilt thou lose me, for death hasteneth upon

me, an I attain not my wish of the beloved of my heart. In any

case, O my mother, I am thy son." When his mother heard his

speech, she wept of her concern for him and said to him, "Yes, O

my son, I am thy mother and thou art my son and the darling of my

heart; [FN#330] I have none other than thee and the extreme of my

desire is to rejoice in thee and marry thee. So, an thou wilt, I

will seek thee a bride of our own rank. But suppose [I do this],

they [FN#331] [will] ask at once an thou have craft or land or

trade or garden, so thou mayst live, and what shall I answer them

" And if I cannot answer poor folk like ourselves, how, O my son,

shall I dare to seek the King's daughter of China, who hath none

before him and none after him? Wherefore do thou ponder this

matter in thine understanding. And who seeketh her? The son of a

tailor. [FN#332] Indeed, I know that, an I speak of this, it will

but be for the increase of our ill luck, for that this affair

will bring us in great danger with the Sultan and belike there

will be death therein for thee and for me. As for me, how can I

adventure upon this danger and this effrontery? Moreover, O my

son, on what wise shall I demand thee his daughter of the Sultan

and how shall I avail to go in to him? Nay, if they question me,

what shall I answer them? Most like they will deem me a madwoman.

And suppose I gain admission to the presence, what shall I take

by way of offering to the Sultan's highness? It [FN#333] is true,

O my son, that the Sultan is clement and rejecteth none that

cometh to him for protection or craveth a boon of him, for that

he is bountiful and beneficent unto all, great and small; [FN#334]

but he bestoweth his favours upon those who are deserving thereof

or who have done some feat of arms before him or have wrought for

the service or defence of the realm; and thou, O my son, tell me,

what hast thou done for [FN#335] the Sultan or the realm, that

thou shouldst merit of him this boon? Again, this that thou

cravest is beyond thy condition; [FN#336] so it cannot be that the

king will grant thee that which thou seekest. Moreover, whoso

presenteth himself before the Sultan and craveth favours of him,

it behoveth him take in his hand somewhat that sorteth with the

royal dignity; and as I said to thee, how canst thou presume to

present thyself before the Sultan and seek of him his daughter,

without aught thou mayst proffer him of that which sorteth with

his rank?"

"O my mother," replied Alaeddin, "thou speakest justly and

deemest that which is true, [FN#337] and it behoveth me consider

all that whereof thou mindest me; but, O my mother, the love of

the Sultan's daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour, hath entered into

the innermost of my heart; and there can be no rest for me,

except I obtain her. Moreover, thou mindest me of somewhat I had

forgotten, and that a thing which emboldeneth me to seek of him

his daughter by thee. Thou sayst, O my mother, that I have no

gift to present to the Sultan, according to the wont of the folk,

whilst in fact I have by me a gift and an offering, the like

whereof methinketh no king ever possessed, no, nor aught to match

therewith; for [FN#338] thou must know, O my mother, that the

fruits, which I brought in the purses [FN#339] from the treasure

and which I deemed glass or crystal, are very jewels, methinketh

all the kings of the world may not compass the least of them, and

I, of my companying with the jewellers, know that they are

precious stones. Wherefore, an thou please, have the goodness to

rise and bring me such a China dish which we have by us, [FN#340]

that I may fill it with these jewels, and thou shalt take it as a

present to the Sultan. By this means I am assured that the thing

will be easy to thee, and do thou stand before the Sultan and

seek of him my desire; but, O my mother, an thou refuse to

further me with thine endeavour for the attainment of my wish of

the Lady Bedrulbudour, know that I am a dead man. Be not

concerned for the gift, for these be exceeding precious jewels,

and know, O my mother, that I have gone many a time to the market

of the jewellers and have seen them sell jewels, that had not an

hundredth part [FN#341] of the beauty of these of ours, at

exceeding high prices such as man's wit cannot conceive. When,

therefore, I saw this, I said [in myself], 'Verily, the jewels

that are with us are exceeding precious.' So now, O my mother,

arise, as I bade thee, and fetch me the China dish whereof I

bespoke thee, that we may range of these jewels therein and see

how they show."

Accordingly, she arose and brought the China dish, saying in

herself, "Let us see if my son's speech be true concerning these

jewels or not." So she set the dish before Alaeddin and he

brought out jewels of all kinds from the purses and proceeded to

range them in the dish till he filled it. When it was full, his

mother looked at the dish, but could not gaze fixedly thereon,

for the radiance of the jewels and their lustre and the excess of

their flashing; so she shut her eyes and her wit was confounded

at them; yet was she not certified that their value was in very

deed so great as her son had said, but bethought her that his

speech might be true in that their like was not found with kings.

Then Alaeddin turned to her and said, "See, O my mother, this is

a magnificent present for the Sultan and I am assured that thou

wilt get of him exceeding honour and that he will receive thee

with all consideration. And now, O my mother, there remaineth to

thee no excuse; so be good enough [FN#342] to take this dish and

go with it to the palace."

"O my son," replied she, " true it is that the present is

exceedingly costly and precious and as thou sayest, none hath the

like thereof; but who shall dare to come forward and seek of the

Sultan his daughter Bedrulbudour? Nay, I dare not adventure

myself and say to him, 'I want thy daughter,' whenas he asketh

me, 'What wouldst thou?' Marry, O my son,, my tongue will be

tied. And grant that Allah make [the thing] possible and I take

courage and say to him, 'I desire to ally myself to thee by

[marrying] thy daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour with my son

Alaeddin,' they will straightway deem me mad and will put me out

with ignominy and reproach; nay, I need not tell thee that by

this I shall fall into danger of death, and not I only, but thou

also. Withal, O my son, of regard for thy wish, needs must I take

courage and go; but, O my son, if the King receive me and honour

me for the gift's sake and I seek of him that which thou wilt

in [FN#343] the matter of marrying his daughter and he ask me,

after the wont of the folk, what are thy possessions and thy

revenues, what shall I say to him? And most like, O my son, he

will ask me of this ere he ask me of thyself." And Alaeddin said

to her, "Nay, it cannot be that the Sultan will ask this, whenas

he seeth the jewels and their magnificence, and it booteth not to

think of a thing that will not happen. Do thou but rise and seek

me his daughter of him and proffer him these jewels and sit not

magnifying the affair in thy thought beforehand. Moreover, O my

mother, thou knowest of the lamp which is with me and which

presently provideth for our livelihood; [FN#344] nay, all that I

seek of it it will bring me, and I trust by its means I shall

know how to answer the Sultan, an he ask me of this."

They abode in talk of the matter all that night and when the

morning morrowed, Alaeddin's mother arose and fortified her

heart, more by token that her son expounded to her somewhat of

the properties of the lamp and its uses, in that it would bring

them all they sought. But, when he saw that she heartened herself

for that which he set forth to her of its virtues, he feared lest

she should talk of this to the folk, so he said to her, " O my

mother, beware lest thou bespeak any of the lamp and its uses,

for that this is our fortune; be careful [FN#345] and exceed not

in speech thereof to any one, lest we lose it and lose this our

present prosperity, for that it is from it." [FN#346] "Have no

fear for that, O my son," answered she and rising, took the dish

wherein were the jewels and wrapping it in a fine handkerchief,

went forth betimes, so she might reach the Divan and enter, ere

it became crowded. When she came to the palace, the Divan was not

yet assembled [FN#347] and she saw the Vizier and certain of the

chiefs of the state entering the presence-chamber. After a while,

the Divan being complete with the Viziers and the chiefs of the

state and officers and Amirs and grandees, the Sultan appeared

and the Viziers and other the officials and notables ranged

themselves before him, whilst he sat down on the throne of his

kingship and all who were present in the Divan stood before him,

with hands clasped behind them, [FN#348] awaiting his commandment

to sit. So he bade them be seated and they all sat down, each in

his several room; then the petitioners [FN#349] presented

themselves before the Sultan and each affair was decided in its

course, [FN#350] till the Divan came to an end, when the King rose

and entered the palace and each went his way.

As [FN#351] for Alaeddin's mother, having come before all, she

found room to enter, but withal none bespoke her, so he should

bring her in before the Sultan; wherefore she ceased not standing

till the Divan broke up and the Sultan rose and entered the

palace and all went their ways. When she saw the Sultan rise from

his throne and enter the harem, she took her way homeward and

returning on her steps, entered her house. Alaeddin, seeing her

with the dish in her hand, knew that most like some mischance had

betided her, but cared not to question her till she entered and

setting down the dish, told him what had passed and finally said

to him, "God be praised, O my son, I mustered courage to find

myself a place in the Divan, albeit I could not win to speak with

the Sultan to day; but to-morrow, an it please God the Most High,

I will bespeak him. To-day there were many other folk, like

myself, unable to get speech of the Sultan; but be easy, O my

son; to-morrow I will without fail bespeak him on thy behalf, and

what happened not shall happen." When Alaeddin heard his mother's

words, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy, albeit, of the excess

of his love and longing for the Lady Bedrulbudour, he had looked

for the matter to be accomplished then and there; nevertheless,

he used patience.

They slept that night and on the morrow Alaeddin's mother arose

and went with the dish to the Sultan's Divan, but found it

closed; so she asked the folk and they said to her, "The Sultan

holdeth a Divan but thrice a week;" wherefore she was

compelled [FN#352] to return home. Then she proceeded to go every

day, and whenas she found the Divan open, she would stand before

the door, [FN#353] till it broke up, when she would return home;

and whiles she went and found the Divan closed. [FN#354] On this

wise she abode a week's space [FN#355] and the Sultan saw her at

each Divan; so, when she went on the last day [of the week] and

stood, according to her wont, before the Divan, till it was

ended, but could not muster courage to enter [FN#356] or say

aught, the Sultan arose and entering the harem, turned to his

chief Vizier, who was with him, and said to him, " O Vizier,

these six or seven days [FN#357] past I have seen yonder old woman

come hither at every Divan and I note that she still carrieth

somewhat under her veil. [FN#358] Hast thou any knowledge of her,

O Vizier, and knowest thou what is her want?" "O our lord the

Sultan," replied the Vizier, "verily women are little of wit; and

most like this woman cometh to complain to thee of her husband or

one of her folk," The Sultan was not content with the Vizier's

reply, but bade him, an she came again to the Divan, bring her

before him forthright; [FN#359] whereupon the Vizier laid his hand

on his head and answered, "Hearkening and obedience, O our lord

the Sultan."

Meanwhile, [FN#360] Alaeddin's mother, albeit she was grown

exceeding weary and dejected, yet made light of all weariness,

for her son's sake, and continued, as of her wont, to go every

court-day and stand in the Divan before the Sultan. [FN#361]

Accordingly, one day of the days, she went to the Divan, as of

her wont, and stood before the Sultan; and when he saw her, he

called his Vizier and said to him, "Yonder is the woman of whom I

bespoke thee yesterday; bring her now before me, so I may see

what her suit is and accomplish unto her her occasion." So the

Vizier arose forthright and let bring Alaeddin's mother in before

the Sultan. When she came into the latter's presence, she made

her obeisance to him and did him reverence, wishing him glory and

continuance and eternity of prosperity and kissing the ground

before him. Then said he to her, "O woman, I see thee come every

day to the Divan and thou speakest not of aught. Tell me an thou

have a want, that I may accomplish it unto thee;" whereupon she

kissed the earth a second time and called down blessings upon

him, then answered, "Ay, O King of the Age, as thy head liveth, I

have indeed a want; but before all things do thou give me thine

assurance, [FN#362] so I may make bold to prefer my suit to the

hearing of our lord the Sultan, for that belike Thy Grace will

find it a strange one."

The Sultan, that he might learn what her suit was and for that he

was of his nature exceeding clement, gave her his assurance and

bidding all who were with him go out forthright, abode alone

[with her], he and the Grand Vizier. Then he turned to her and

said, "Tell me thy suit, and the assurance [FN#363] of God the

Most High be upon thee." Quoth she, "O King of the Age, I wish

thy pardon also." And he said to her, "God pardon thee!" [FN#364]

Then said she to him, "O our lord the Sultan, I have a son, whose

name is Alaeddin, and one day of the days he heard the crier

proclaim that none should open his shop nor show himself in the

thoroughfares of the city, [FN#365] for that the Lady

Bedrulbudour, the daughter of our lord the Sultan, was going to

the bath. When my son heard this, he wished. to see her; so he

hid himself in a place, whence he might see her well, and this

was behind the door of the bath. Accordingly, when she came up,

he saw her and viewed her well, beyond his wish; and from that

time till now, O King of the Age, life hath not been pleasant to

him [FN#366] and he will e'en have me seek her of Thy

Grace, [FN#367] so thou mayst marry her with him, and I cannot do

away this conceit from his wit, for that the love of her hath

gotten possession of his vitals, so that he saith to me, 'Know, O

mother mine, that, except I attain my desire, assuredly I am a

dead man.' Wherefore I crave Thy Grace's clemency and hope that

thou wilt pardon me and my son this effrontery neither be wroth

with us therefor."

When the King heard her story, he fell a-laughing, of his

clemency, [FN#368] and asked her, "What is that thou hast with

thee and what is that bundle?" [FN#369] Whereupon she, seeing that

he was not angered at her words, but laughed, opened the

handkerchief forthright and proffered him the dish of jewels.

When the Sultan saw the jewels (and indeed, whenas she raised the

handkerchief from them, the Divan became as it were all illumined

with lamp-clusters and candlesticks), he was amazed and

confounded at their radiance and fell a-marvelling at their

lustre and bigness and beauty; and [FN#370] he said, "Never saw I

the like of these jewels for beauty and bigness and perfection,

nor methinketh is one of them found in my treasuries." Then he

turned to his Vizier and said to him, "How sayst thou, O Vizier?

Sawest thou ever in thy life the like of these magnificent

jewels?" "Never, O our lord the Sultan," replied the Vizier,

"nor, methinketh, is the least of those which be here found in

the treasuries of our lord the King." Quoth the Sultan, "Doth not

he who giveth me these jewels deserve to be bridegroom to my

daughter Bedrulbudour? Marry, by what I see, meseemeth none is

worthier of her than he."

When the Vizier heard the Sultan's words, his tongue was tied for

despite and he was overcome with exceeding chagrin, forasmuch as

the King had promised him that he would marry his daughter to his

son; so, after a little, he said to him, "O King of the age, Thy

Grace condescended to promise me [FN#371] that the Lady

Bedrulbudour should be my son's; wherefore it behoveth thine

exalted highness appoint a delay of three months, [FN#372] and God

willing, my son's present shall be greater than this." The King,

for all he knew that this was a thing whereto the Vizier might

not avail, no, nor the greatest King, [FN#373] nevertheless

exercised his clemency [FN#374] and granted him the delay he

sought; then, turning to the old woman, he said to her, "Go to

thy son and tell him I give him [my] word that my daughter shall

be in his name; [FN#375] but needs must I take order for her

equipment; [FN#376] wherefore it behoveth him grant us a delay of

three months."

Alaeddin's mother took the answer and thanked the Sultan and

prayed for him, then went forth and fared homeward in haste,

flying of her joy, till she came to the house and entered. Her

son saw her laughing-faced and foreboded good news; more by token

that she returned forthright and tarried not, as on each day

past, neither brought back the dish. Accordingly he asked her and

said to her, "God willing, O my mother, thou bringest me good

news; the jewels and their value have wrought their work and thou

wilt have found acceptance with the Sultan; yea, he will have

shown thee favour and given ear unto thy suit." So she told him

all that had passed and how the Sultan had received her and had

marvelled, both he and his Vizier, at the size and beauty of the

jewels, and how he had promised her that [quoth she] "his

daughter shall be in thy name. But, O my son, ere he promised me,

the Vizier whispered [FN#377] him somewhat, whereupon he appointed

me for three months hence; and I am fearful lest the Vizier be a

man of evil disposition, [FN#378] who will change the King's

mind."

When [FN#379] Alaeddin heard his mother's words and how the Sultan

had appointed her for [FN#380] three months [thence], his heart

was lightened and he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and said,

"Since the Sultan hath promised for [FN#381] three months [hence],

true, it [FN#382] is long, but in any case my joy is great." Then

he thanked her for her kindness and the pains she had

taken [FN#383] and said to her, "By Allah, O my mother, it is as I

were in a tomb and now thou hast raised me up therefrom; and I

praise God the Most High, for I am presently certified that there

is none richer or happier than I in the world." Then he waited

till two of the three months were past, when his mother went out

one day of the days, at sundown, to buy oil, and saw the markets

closed and the city all decorated and the folk setting candles

and flowers in their windows and saw troops, horse and foot, and

mounted eunuchs drawn up in state, with cressets and lustres

burning. At this wonder took her; [FN#384]he went to an oilman's

shop there open and buying oil of him, said to him, "[I conjure

thee] by thy life, O uncle, tell me what is toward to-day in this

city, that the folk are making this decoration and the markets

[are shut] and the houses all adorned and the troops drawn up in

state?" Quoth he, "O woman, methinketh thou art a stranger and

art not of this city." "Nay," answered she, "but I am of this

city;" and he said to her, "Thou art of this city and knowest not

that this is the night of the going in of the Grand Vizier's son

to the Lady Bedrulbudour, the Sultan's daughter? Nay, he is

presently in the bath and yonder Amirs and troops are drawn up

awaiting him, against he come forth, so they may carry him in

procession to the palace of the Sultan's daughter."

When Alaeddin's mother heard this, she was troubled and perplexed

in her wit how she should do to acquaint her son with this woeful

news, for that the poor wretch was counting the hours till the

three months should be ended. So she returned home forthright and

going in to Alaeddin, said to him, "O my son, I have news to tell

thee, but it irketh me for thy chagrin therefrom." Quoth he,

"Speak; what is the news?" And she said to him, "The Sultan hath

gone from his promise to thee in the matter of his daughter, the

Lady Bedrulbudour, for that this very night the Vizier's son

goeth in to her; and indeed methought at the time, [FN#385] O my

son, the Vizier would change the Sultan's mind, even as I told

thee that he bespoke him privily before me." "How knewest thou

this," asked Alaeddin, "that the Vizier's son goeth in this night

to the Lady Bedrulbudour?" So she told him all she had seen of

the decorations in the city, whenas she went to buy the oil, and

how the eunuchs and chiefs of the state were drawn up awaiting

the Vizier's son, against he should come forth of the bath, for

that this was the night of his going in. When Alaeddin heard

this, he fell into a fever of chagrin; [FN#386] but presently he

bethought him of the lamp and rejoiced and said to his mother,

"By thy life, O my mother, methinketh the Vizier's son shall not

rejoice in her, as thou deemest. But now leave us be with this

talk and go lay us the evening-meal, so we may sup; then, when I

shall have passed a while in my chamber, all shall yet be well."

Accordingly, [FN#387] after he had supped, he went into his

chamber and locking the door on himself, fetched the lamp and

rubbed it; whereupon the genie at once appeared to him and said,

"Seek what thou wilt, for I am thy slave and the slave of whoso

hath in his hand the lamp, I and all the slaves of the lamp." And

Alaeddin said to him, "Harkye, I sought of the Sultan to marry

his daughter, and he appointed me for [FN#388] three months' time;

however, he abode not by his promise, but gave her to the

Vizier's son, and the latter purposeth to go in [to her] this

night. Wherefore I do presently command thee, as thou art a loyal

servant of the lamp, that this night, whenas thou seest the bride

and bridegroom abed together, thou take them up in their bed [and

bring them] hither. This is what I seek of thee." "Hearkening and

obedience," answered the genie, "and if thou have a service [to

require of me] other than this, command me whatsoever thou

seekest." And Alaeddin said to him, "I have no present

requirement save that whereof I have bespoken thee." So the slave

disappeared and Alaeddin returned to finish his supper [FN#389]

with his mother.

When he deemed it time for the genie's coming, he arose and

entered his chamber; and after a little, the Marid appeared with

the bridal pair in their bed; whereat Alaeddin rejoiced with

exceeding great joy and said to the slave, "Bear this gallowsbird

hence and couch him in the house of easance." [FN#390] The genie

accordingly took up the bridegroom and couched him in the

draught-house; moreover, ere he left him, he blew on him a blast

wherewith he dried him up, and the Vizier's son abode in woeful

case. Then he returned to Alaeddin and said to him, "An thou need

otherwhat, tell me." And Alaeddin said to him, "Return in the

morning, so thou mayst take them [back] to their place."

"Hearkening and obedience," answered the genie and was gone;

whereupon Alaeddin arose,--and indeed he had scarce believed that

the thing should succeed with him,--and when he saw the Lady

Bedrulbudour in his house, he entreated her with respect, albeit

he had long burned for love of her, and said to her, "O princess

of the fair, think not that I have brought thee hither to soil

shine honour. God forbid! Nay, it was that I might not let

others [FN#391] enjoy thee, for that thy father the Sultan gave me

his word upon thee; so be thou in peace and assurance."

As [FN#392] for the princess, when she found herself in that mean

dark; house and heard Alaeddin's words, fear and trembling get

hold upon her and she was confounded and could return him no

answer. Then he arose and putting off his clothes, placed a sword

between himself and her and lay down by her side in the bed,

without treason; [FN#393] it sufficed him to prevent [the

consummation of] her marriage with the Vizier's son.

Nevertheless, the Lady Bedrulbudour passed the sorriest of

nights, never in her life had she known a worse; whilst the

Vizier's son lay in the draught-house and dared not stir for fear

of the genie.

When it was morning, the genie presented himself before Alaeddin,

without his rubbing the lamp, and said to him, "O my lord, an

thou wish aught, command me withal, so I may do it on my head and

eyes." And Alaeddin bade him go carry the bride and bridegroom to

their own place. The genie did his bidding in the twinkling of an

eye and laying the Vizier's son with the Lady Bedrulbudour, took

them up and set them down in their place in the palace, without

their seeing any one; but they were like to die of fright, when

they felt themselves carried from place to place. Hardly had the

genie set them down and gone out when the Sultan came to visit

his daughter; and when the Vizier's son heard the door open, he

straightway sprang out of bed, knowing that none might enter but

the Sultan, and donned his clothes, [FN#394] albeit this irked him

sore, for that he would fain have warmed himself a little, having

had no time [to do so] since he left the draught-house.

The [FN#395] Sultan came in to his daughter and kissing her

between the eyes, gave her good-morrow and asked her of her

bridegroom and if she was content with him; but she returned him

no answer and looked at him with a dejected air. [FN#396] He

bespoke her several times, but she was silent and answered him

not a word; so he went out from her and going in to the Queen,

told her what had passed between himself and the Lady

Bedrulbudour.

The Queen, so she might not leave the Sultan angry with the Lady

Bedrulbudour, said to him, `'O King of the Age, this is the wont

of most brides, on their wedding-day, to be shamefast and show

somewhat of coyness. So be not vexed with her and after a day or

two she will return to herself and proceed to speak with the

folk; but now, O King of the Age, shame hindereth her from

speaking. However, I purpose to go to her and see her."

Accordingly she arose and donning her clothes, repaired to her

daughter's apartment. Then, going up to her, she gave her

good-morrow and kissed her between the eyes; but the Lady

Bedrulbudour returned her no manner of answer and the Queen said

in herself, "Needs must some strange thing have befallen her, to

trouble her thus." So she asked her, saying, "O my daughter, what

is the cause of this thy behaviour? Tell me what aileth thee,

that I come to thee and give thee good-morrow and thou returnest

me no answer."

The Lady Bedrulbudour raised her head and said to her, "Blame me

not, O my mother; indeed, it behoved me receive thee with all

reverence and worship, since thou honourest me by coming to me;

but I beseech thee hear the cause of this my case and see how

this night I have passed hath been for me the sorriest of nights.

Hardly had we lain down, O my mother, when one, whose fashion I

know not, took up the bed and transported us to a place dark,

foul [FN#397] and mean." Then she told her mother the queen all

that had betided her that night and how they had taken her

bridegroom, leaving her alone, and how after a little there came

another youth and lay down in the place of her bridegroom,

putting a sword between himself and her; "and in the morning"

[quoth she] "he who had brought us thither returned and taking us

up, carried us back to our place here: and hardly had he brought

us hither and left us when my father the Sultan entered and I had

neither heart nor tongue to answer him for stress of fright and

trembling which possessed me. And belike my father is vexed with

me; wherefore I prithee, O my mother, tell him the cause of this

my case, so he be not wroth with me for my failure to answer him

neither blame me, but excuse me."

When [FN#398] the queen heard the princess's story, she said to

her, "O my daughter, beware of [FN#399] telling this tale before

any, lest they [FN#400] say, 'Verily the Sultan's daughter hath

lost her wits.' Marry, thou diddest well in that thou

acquaintedst not thy father with this; and beware, yea [again I

say,] beware, O my daughter, of telling him thereof." "O my

mother," rejoined the Lady Bedrulbudour, "indeed, I bespoke thee

in sober earnest and have not lost my wits; nay, this is what

happened to me, and an thou believe it not from me, ask my

bridegroom." Quoth the queen, "Rise, O my daughter, and put away

these illusions from thy thought; nay, don thy clothes and see

the rejoicing that is toward in the town on thine account and the

festivities that they celebrate in the kingdom for thy sake and

hear the drums and the singing and look upon the decorations, all

in honour of thy nuptials, O my daughter." Accordingly, she

summoned the tirewomen, who dressed the Lady Bedrulbudour and

busked her; whilst the Queen went in to the Sultan and told him

that there had that night betided the princess a dream and

illusions, saying, "BIame her not for her failure to answer

thee." Moreover, she sent for the Vizier's son privily and

questioned him of the affair, whether the Lady Bedrulbudour's

speech was true or not; but he, of his fear to lose his bride,

lest she should go from his hand, said to her, "O my lady, I know

nothing of that which thou sayest;" wherefore the queen was

certified that there had betided her daughter illusions and a

dream.

The wedding rejoicings continued all that day, with dancing-women

and singing-women, and all the instruments of mirth and

minstrelsy were smitten, whilst the queen and the Vizier and his

son were exceeding assiduous in keeping up the festivities, so

the Lady Bedrulbudour should rejoice and her chagrin be

dispelled; nay, they left nought that day of that which exciteth

unto liesse but they did it before her, so she should leave what

was in her mind and be cheered. But all this had no effect on her

and she was silent and thoughtful and confounded at that which

had befallen her that night. True, the Vizier's son had fared

worse than she, for that he was couched in the draught-house; but

he belied [FN#401] the matter and put away that tribulation from

his thought, of his fear lest he should lose his bride and his

rank, [FN#402] more by token that all the folk envied him his lot,

for the much increase of honour it brought him, as also for the

exceeding beauty and loveliness of the Lady Bedrulbudour.

As for Alaeddin, he went out that day and saw the rejoicings

toward in the city and the palace and fell a-laughing, especially

when he heard the folk speak of the honour which had betided the

Vizier's son and the greatness of his good luck, in that he was

become the Sultan's son-in-law, and the exceeding pomp used in

his marriage and bridal festivities; and he said in himself, "Ye

know not, good simple folk that ye are, [FN#403] what befell him

last night, that ye envy him." Then, when the night came in and

it was the season of sleep, Alaeddin arose and entering his

chamber, rubbed the lamp, whereupon the genie appeared to him

forthright and [FN#404] he bade him bring the princess and her

bridegroom, as on the past night, ere the Vizier's son should

take her maidenhead. The genie delayed not, but was absent a

little while; and when it was the appointed time, he returned

with the bed and therein the Lady Bedrulbudour and the Vizier's

son. With the latter he did as he had done the past night, to

wit, he took him and couched him in the draught- house, where he

deft him parched for excess of fright and dismay; whilst Alaeddin

arose and placing the sword between himself and the Lady

Bedrulbudour, lay down and slept till the morning, when the genie

appeared and restored the twain to their place, leaving Alaeddin

full of joy at [the discomfiture of] the Vizier's son.

When the Sultan arose in the morning, he bethought himself to

visit his daughter Bedrulbudour and see an she should do with him

as she had done on the past day; so, as soon as he awoke from his

sleep, he rose and donning his clothes, went to his daughter's

chamber and opened the door. Whereupon the Vizier's son arose

forthright and coming down from the bed, fell to donning his

clothes, with ribs cracking for cold; for that, when the Sultan

entered, it was no great while since the genie had brought them

back. The Sultan went up to his daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour,

as she lay abed, and raising the curtain, gave her good morning

and kissed her between the eyes and asked her how she did. She

frowned and returned him no answer, but looked at him sullenly,

as she were in sorry case. He was wroth with her, for that she

made him no answer, and thought that something had betided her;

so he drew the sword and said to her, "What hath befallen thee?

Either thou shalt tell me what aileth thee or I will do away thy

life this very moment. Is this the respect that is due to my rank

and the honour in which thou holdest me, that I bespeak thee and

thou answerest me not a word?"

When the Lady Bedrulbudour knew that her father was angry and saw

the naked sword in his hand, she was like to swoon for

fear; [FN#405] so she raised her head and said to him,

"Dear [FN#406] my father, be not wroth with me, neither be thou

hasty in thine anger, for that I am excusable in that which thou

hast seen from me. [FN#407] Do but hearken what hath betided me

and I am well assured that, whenas thou hearest my story of that

which hath happened to me these two nights past, thou wilt excuse

me and Thy Grace will be moved to compassion upon me, as I know

from thy love for me." [FN#408] Then she acquainted him with all

that had befallen her and said to him, "O my father, an thou

believe me not, ask my bridegroom and he will resolve Thy Grace

of everything, albeit I know not what they did with him, when

they took him from my side, nor where they set him." When [FN#409]

the Sultan heard his daughter's story, he was sore concerned and

his eyes brimmed with tears; then, sheathing the sword and coming

up to her, he kissed her and said to her, "O my daughter, why

didst thou not tell me yesterday, so I might have warded off from

thee the torment and affright which have befallen thee this

night? But no matter; arise and put away from thee this thought,

and to-night I will set over thee those who shall guard thee, so

there shall not again befall thee that which befell yesternight."

Then he returned to his pavilion and sent at once for the Vizier,

who came and stood before him, awaiting his commands; and the

Sultan said to him, "O Vizier, how deemest thou of this affair?

Most like thy son hath told thee what happened to him and to my

daughter." "O King of the Age," answered the Vizier, "I have not

seen my son or yesterday or to-day." Whereupon the Sultan

acquainted him with all that his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour

had told him and said to him, "It is now my will that thou

enquire of thy son the truth of the case, for it may be my

daughter knoweth not for fright what happened to her, though

methinketh her tale is all true." So the Vizier arose and sending

for his son, asked him of all that the Sultan had told him, if it

were true or not. Whereupon, "O my father the Vizier," replied

the youth, "[God] preserve the Lady Bedrulbudour from

leasing! [FN#410] Indeed, all she saith is true and these two

nights past have been for us the sorriest of nights, instead of

being nights of pleasance and delight. Marry, that which befell

me was yet worse, for that, instead of sleeping with my bride in

bed, I lay in the draught-house, a place dark and frightful,

noisome of smell and accursed, and my ribs were straitened

[FN#411] with cold." Brief, he told the Vizier all that had

befallen him and ultimately said to him; "Dear [FN#412] my father,

I beseech thee speak with the Sultan that he release me from this

marriage. True, it is great honour for me to be the Sultan's

son-in-law, more by token that the love of the Lady Bedrulbudour

hath gotten possession of my vitals, but I cannot avail to endure

one more night like the two that are past."

When [FN#413] the Vizier heard his son's words, he grieved and was

exceeding chagrined, for that he had thought to greaten his son

and advance him by making him the King's son-in-law; so he

bethought himself and was perplexed anent the matter and what was

to do therein; [FN#414] and indeed it irked him sore that the

marriage should be dissolved, for that he had long

besought [FN#415] the Ten [FN#416] that he might compass the like

of that affair; [FN#417] so he said to his son, "Have patience, O

my son, so we may see [how it will be] to-night, and we will set

over you guards to guard you; but do not thou let slip this great

honour, for that it hath fallen to none other than thyself."

Therewith he left him and returning to the Sultan, told him that

the Lady Bedrulbudour's story was true; whereupon quoth the

Sultan, "Since the case is thus, we need no

wedding-festivities." [FN#418] And he bade forthright break off

the rejoicings and the marriage was dissolved. The folk and the

people of the city marvelled at this strange thing, especially

when they saw the Vizier and his son go forth the palace in a

pitiable plight for stress of chagrin and despite, and they fell

to asking, "What hath happened and why is the marriage avoided

and the rejoicings broken off?" But none knew what was to do save

Alaeddin, the suitor, [FN#419] who laughed in his sleeve. So the

marriage was annulled; but the Sultan had forgotten his promise

to Alaeddin's mother and never again bethought him thereof,

neither he nor the Vizier; nor knew they whence came that which

had happened.

Alaeddin waited till the three months had elapsed, after which

the Sultan had promised that he would marry him to his daughter,

the Lady Bedrulbudour, then despatched his mother to the Sultan

to require him of the performance of his promise. So she repaired

to the palace and when the Sultan came to the Divan and saw her

standing before him, he remembered his promise to her, that after

three months he would marry his daughter to her son, and turning

to the Vizier, said to him, "O Vizier, yonder is the woman who

presented us with the jewels and we gave her our word that after

three months [we would marry our daughter to her son]. Bring her

before me forthright." So the Vizier went and brought Alaeddin's

mother before the Sultan; and when she came into the presence,

she made her obeisance to him and prayed God to vouchsafe him

glory and endurance of prosperity. The Sultan asked her if she

had a need, and she said to him, "O King of the Age, the three

months are ended, after which thou didst promise me thou wouldst

marry my son Alaeddin to thy daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour." The

Sultan was perplexed at this her claim, more by token that he saw

her in poor case, as she were the meanest of the folk; but the

present which she had made him was exceeding magnificent [and

indeed] beyond price; [FN#420] so he turned to the Vizier and said

to him, "How deemest thou? What shall we do? [FN#421] It is true I

gave her my word, but meseemeth they are poor folk and not of the

chiefs of the people."

The [FN#422] Vizier, who was like to die of envy and chagrin for

that which had befallen his son, said in himself, "How shall one

like this marry the Sultan's daughter and my son lose this

honour?" So he said to the Sultan, [FN#423] "O my lord, it is an

easy matter to rid ourselves of [FN#424] this vagabond, [FN#425]

for that it would not beseem Thy Grace to give thy daughter to a

man like this, of whom it is not known what he is." Quoth the

Sultan, "On what wise shall we rid ourselves of this man, seeing

I have given him my word and a King's word is his bond?" "O my

lord," answered the Vizier, "my counsel is that thou require of

him forty dishes of pure virgin gold, full of jewels, such as

she [FN#426] brought thee the other day, [FN#427] and forty

slave-girls to bear the dishes and forty black slaves." "By

Allah, O Vizier," rejoined the Sultan, "'thou speakest rightly;

for that this is a thing to which he may not avail and so we

shall be rid of him by [fair] means." [FN#428] So he said to

Alaeddin's mother, "Go and tell thy son that I abide by the

promise which I made him, but an if he avail unto my daughter's

dowry; to wit, I require of him forty dishes of pure gold, which

must all be full of jewels [such as] thou broughtest me [erst],

together with forty slave-girls to carry them and forty male

slaves to escort and attend them. If, then; thy son avail unto

this, I will marry him to my daughter."

Alaeddin's mother returned home, shaking her head and saying,

"Whence shall my poor son get these dishes of jewels? Supposing,

for the jewels and the dishes, that he return to the treasure and

gather the whole from the trees,--and withal methinketh not it is

possible to him; but say that he fetch them,--whence [shall he

get] the slaves and slave-girls?" And she gave not over talking

to herself till she reached the house, where Alaeddin awaited

her, and when she came in to him, she said to him, "O my son,

said I not to thee, 'Think not to attain to the Lady

Bedrulbudour'? Indeed, this is a thing that is not possible unto

folk like ourselves." Quoth he, "Tell me what is the news." And

she said to him, "O my son, the Sultan received me with all

courtesy, according to his wont, and meseemeth he meant fairly by

us, but [for] thine accursed enemy the Vizier; for that, after I

had bespoken the Sultan in thy name, even as thou badest me,

reminding him that the term for which he had appointed us was

past and saying to him, 'If Thy Grace would vouchsafe to give

commandment for the marriage of thy daughter the Lady

Bedrulbudour with my son Alaeddin,'--he turned to the Vizier and

spoke to him. The Vizier replied to him in a whisper and after

that the Sultan returned me an answer." Then she told him what

the Sultan required of him and added, "O my son, he would fain

have present answer of thee; but methinketh we have no answer to

give him."

When [FN#429] Alaeddin heard his mother's speech, he laughed and

said, "O my mother, thou sayest we have no answer to make him and

deemest the thing exceeding hard; but now be good enough to

rise [FN#430] and fetch us somewhat to eat, and after we have

dined, thou shalt (an it please the Compassionate) see the

answer. The Sultan like thyself, thinketh he hath sought of me an

extraordinary matter, so he may divert me from the Lady

Bedrulbudour; but the fact is that he seeketh a thing less than I

had looked for. But go now and buy us somewhat we may eat and

leave me to fetch thee the answer." Accordingly, she arose and

went out to buy her need from the market, so she might make ready

the morning-meal; whilst Alaeddin entered his chamber and taking

the lamp, rubbed it. The genie immediately appeared to him and

said, "Seek what thou wilt, O my lord;" whereupon quoth Alaeddin,

"I seek the Sultan's daughter in marriage and he requireth of me

forty dishes of pure gold, each ten pounds in weight and full of

the jewels which be in the garden of the treasure, the forty

dishes to be borne by forty slave girls and each slave-girl to be

accompanied by a male slave; wherefore I will have thee bring me

this, all of it." "Hearkening and obedience, O my lord," replied

the genie and disappearing, was absent awhile, then returned with

the forty slave-girls, each attended by a male slave and bearing

on her head a dish of pure gold, full of precious jewels. So he

brought them before Alaeddin and said to him, "Here is that which

thou soughtest. Tell me an thou need thing or service other than

this." Quoth Alaeddin, "I need nothing [more]; if I need aught, I

will summon thee and tell thee."

Accordingly, the genie vanished and after a little, Alaeddin's

mother returned and entering the house, saw the slaves and

slave-girls; whereat she marvelled and said, "All this is of the

Lamp; God continue it unto my son!" Then, before she put off her

veil, Alaeddin said to her, "O my mother, this is thy time, ere

the Sultan enter his palace [and withdraw] to his harem. Take him

what he seeketh, and that forthright, so he may know that I can

avail unto that which he requireth, ay, and more, and that he was

deluded by the Vizier; albeit he thought to baffle me, he and his

Vizier." Then he arose and opening the house-door, let out the

damsels and the slaves, pair by pair, each damsel with a slave by

her side, so that they filled the street. His mother forewent

them and the people of the quarter, when they saw that rare and

magnificent sight, stood looking and marvelling and gazing upon

the faces of the slave-girls and their grace and goodliness [and

their apparel], for that they were clad in clothes all inwoven

with gold and studded with jewels; nay, the least one's clothes

of them were worth thousands. Moreover they looked at the

dishes [FN#431] and saw flashing therefrom a radiance that

outshone the light of the sun, albeit each dish was covered with

a piece of brocade, gold-inwrought and studded eke with precious

jewels. Alaeddin's [FN#432] mother fared on and the damsels and

slaves followed after her, in all fair ordinance and disposition,

whilst the folk stood to gaze on the beauty of the slave-girls

and extolled the perfection of the Almighty Creator, till she

reached the palace and entered it with them.

When the eunuchs and chamberlains and captains of the guard saw

them, wonder took them and they were breathless for amaze at this

sight, the like whereof they had never in their lives seen, and

especially at the slave girls, each one of whom would ravish the

wit of an anchorite. Withal, the chamberlains and captains of the

Sultan's guards were all of them sons of grandees and Amirs; and

they marvelled yet more at the damsels' costly raiment and the

dishes which they bore on their heads and on which they might not

open their eyes, [FN#433] for the excess of their flashing and

radiance. Then the guards [FN#434] entered and told the Sultan,

who bade bring them before him forthright into the Divan. So

Alaeddin's mother entered with them and when they came before the

Sultan, they all did obeisance to him with the utmost courtliness

and gravity and invoked on him glory and prosperity; then,

raising the dishes from their heads, they set them down before

him and stood with their hands clasped behind them, after they

had removed the covers.

The Sultan wondered with an exceeding wonderment and was

confounded at the beauty of the girls and their loveliness, which

overpassed description; his wit was bewildered, when he saw the

golden dishes, full of jewels that dazzled the sight, and he was

amazed at this marvel, so that he became as one dumb, unable to

speak aught, of the excess of his wonderment; nay, his wit was

the more perplexed, forasmuch as this had all been accomplished

in an hour's time. Then he bade carry the slave-girls and their

burdens to the pavilion of the Lady Bedrulbudour; so the damsels

took up the dishes and entered; whereupon Alaeddin's mother came

forward and said to the Sultan, "O my lord, this is no great

matter for the Lady Bedrulbudour's exalted rank; nay, she

deserveth manifold this." So the Sultan turned to the Vizier and

said to him, "How sayst thou, O Vizier? He that can in so short a

time avail unto riches like these, is he not worthy to be the

Sultan's son-in-law and to have his daughter to bride?" Now the

Vizier marvelled at the greatness of these riches yet more than

the Sultan, but envy was killing him and waxed on him more and

more, when he saw that the Sultan was content with the

bride-gift [FN#435] and the dowry; withal he could not gainstand

the [manifest] truth and say to the Sultan, "He is not worthy;"

so he cast about to work upon him by practice, that he might

hinder him from giving his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour to

Alaeddin, and accordingly said to him, [FN#436] "O my lord, all

the treasures of the world were not worth a paring of thy

daughter Bedrulbudour's nails; indeed, Thy Highness overrateth

this upon her." [FN#437]

When [FN#438] the Sultan heard the Vizier's words, he knew that

this his speech arose from the excess of his envy; so he turned

to Alaeddin's mother and said to her, "O woman, go to thy son and

tell him that I accept of him the marriage-gift and abide by my

promise to him and that my daughter is his bride and he my

son-in-law; so bid him come hither, that I may make acquaintance

with him. There shall betide him from me nought but all honour

and consideration and this night shall be the beginning of the

bridal festivities. But, as I said to thee, let him come hither

to me without delay." So she returned home swiftlier than the

wind, [FN#439] of her haste to bring her son the good news; and

she was like to fly for joy at the thought that her son was to

become the Sultan's son-in-law. As soon as she had taken her

leave, the Sultan bade break up the Divan and entering the Lady

Bedrulbudour's pavilion, commanded to bring the damsels and the

dishes before his daughter and himself, so she should see them.

So they brought them and when the Lady Bedrulbudour saw the

jewels, she was amazed and said, " Methinketh there is not one of

these jewels found in the treasuries of the world." Then she

looked at the damsels and marvelled at their beauty and grace and

knew that this was all from her new bridegroom and that he had

proffered it to her service. So she rejoiced, albeit she had been

sad and sorry for her [whilom] bridegroom the Vizier's son,--she

rejoiced, [I say], with an exceeding joy, when she saw the jewels

and the beauty of the damsels, and was cheered; whilst her father

rejoiced exceedingly in her joy, in that he saw her put off

chagrin and dejection. Then he said to her, "O my daughter

Bedrulbudour, doth this please thee? Indeed, methinketh this thy

bridegroom is goodlier [FN#440] than the Vizier's son, and God

willing, O my daughter, thou shalt rejoice with him

abundantly." [FN#441]

So much for the Sultan and as for Alaeddin, when his mother came

to the house and entered and he saw her laughing of the excess of

her joy, he foreboded good news and said, " To God

Everlasting [FN#442] be praise! Accomplished is that which I

sought." And she said to him, "Glad tidings, O my son! Let thy

heart rejoice and thine eye be solaced in the attainment of thy

desire, for that the Sultan accepteth thine offering, to wit, the

bride gift and the dowry of the Lady Bedrulbudour, and she is thy

bride and this, O my son, is the night of your [FN#443] bridal and

thy going in to the Lady Bedrulbudour. Nay, the Sultan, that he

might certify me of his word, proclaimed thee his son-in-law

before the folk and declared that this should be the

wedding-night; but he said to me, 'Let thy son come hither to me,

so I may make acquaintance with him, and I will receive him with

all honour and worship.' And now, O my son, my office [FN#444] is

ended, whatsoever remaineth is a matter for thee." [FN#445]

Alaeddin kissed his mother's hand and thanked her amain for her

kindness; [FN#446] then he arose and entering his chamber, took

the lamp and rubbed it; whereupon the genie presented himself and

said to him, "Here am I; seek what thou wilt." Quoth Alaeddin,

"My will is that thou take me to a bath, whose like is not in the

world, and fetch me a suit of royal raiment and exceeding costly,

such as no king can boast." "Hearkening and obedience," replied

the Marid and taking him up, brought him intro a bath, never saw

King nor Kisra [FN#447] its like, for it was of alabaster and

agate and full of marvellous limnings that ravished the sight,

and therein was a saloon all embossed with precious jewels. None

was there; but, when Alaeddin entered, there came in to him one

of the Jinn in human semblance and washed him and bathed him to

the utmost of the wish: after [FN#448] which he went forth the

bath to the outer saloon, where he found his clothes taken away

and in their stead a suit of the richest royal apparel. Then

sherbets were brought him and coffee with ambergris and he drank

and arose; whereupon there came to him a troop of slaves and clad

him in those [FN#449] sumptuous clothes [FN#450] and he dressed and

perfumed himself with essences and sweet-scented smoke. [FN#451]

Now thou knowest [FN#452] that Alaeddin was the son of a poor man,

a tailor: yet now none had thought it, [FN#453] but had said,

"This is the chiefest of the sons of the kings," extolled be the

perfection of Him who changeth and is not changed!

Then the slave of the lamp came to him and taking him up, set him

down in his house and said to him, "O my lord, dost thou need

aught?" "Yes," answered Alaeddin; "I will have thee bring me

eight-and-forty mamelukes, [FN#454] four-and-twenty to walk before

me and four-and-twenty to walk behind me, with their horses and

clothes and arms, and let all that is upon them and their horses

be of stuffs costly and precious exceedingly, such as are not

found in kings' treasuries. Then bring me a stallion fit for the

riding of the Chosroes and be his trappings all of gold, embossed

with noble jewels; and bring me eight-and-forty thousand diners,

in each mameluke's hand a thousand, for that I purpose presently

to visit the Sultan; wherefore delay thou not on me, since I

cannot go thither without all that whereof I have bespoken thee.

Bring me also twelve slave-girls, who must be unique in

loveliness and clad in the richest of raiment, so they may attend

my mother to the Sultan's palace, and let each slave-girl have

with her a suit of apparel fit for the wearing of kings'

wives." [FN#455]

"Hearkening and obedience," replied the genie and disappearing,

brought him in the twinkling of an eye all that he had commanded

him withal, whilst in his hand he held a stallion, whose like is

not among the horses of the Arabs of the Arabs, [FN#456] with

housings of the richest stuffs brocaded with gold; whereupon

Alaeddin called his mother forthright and delivered her the

twelve slave-girls and gave her the [twelve] suits, [FN#457] so

she might dress herself [FN#458] and go with them to the Sultan's

palace. Then he despatched one of the mamelukes thither, to see

an the Sultan were come forth of the harem or not; so he went and

returning, swiftlier than lightning, said to him, "O my lord, the

Sultan awaiteth thee." Accordingly he arose and mounting, [set

forth], whilst the mamelukes rode before him and after him,

(extolled be the perfection of the Lord who created them

with [FN#459] that which clothed them of beauty and grace!),

strewing gold upon the folk before their lord Alaeddin, who

overpassed them all of his grace and goodliness, and ask thou not

of kings' sons, [FN#460] extolled be the perfection of the Giver,

the Eternal! Now all this was of the virtue of the wonderful

lamp, [FN#461] which gifted whoso possessed it with goodliness and

grace and wealth and wisdom.

The folk marvelled at Alaeddin's bounty and at the excess of his

munificence and were amazed when they saw that which graced him

of beauty and goodliness and his courtliness and dignity; yea,

they extolled the perfection of the Compassionate One for this

His noble creature and all of them great and small [FN#462] called

down blessings on him, albeit they knew him for the son of such

an one the tailor; yet none envied him, but all said, "He is

deserving." So [FN#463] he fared on his way, with the mamelukes

before him and behind him, scattering gold upon the folk, till he

came to the palace.

Now the Sultan had summoned to his presence the chiefs of his

state and telling them that he had passed his word for the

marriage of his daughter to Alaeddin, bade them await the latter,

commanding them that, when he came, they should all go out to

meet him; moreover, he assembled the amirs and viziers and

chamberlains and guards and captains of the troops and they were

all awaiting Alaeddin at the door of the palace. When he arrived,

he would have dismounted at the door, but there came up to him

one of the Amirs, whom the Sultan had deputed to that office, and

said to him, "O my lord, the commandment is that thou enter,

riding on thy charger, so thou mayst alight at the door of the

Divan." So they all forewent him and he entered till they brought

him to the door of the Divan. There sundry of them came forward

and held his stirrup, whilst some supported him on both sides and

other some took him by the hand, and so they dismounted him. Then

the Amirs and officers of state forewent him and brought him into

the Divan, till he drew near the Sultan's throne; whereupon the

latter came down forthright from his seat and embracing him,

hindered him from kissing the carpet and seated him beside

himself on his right hand. Alaeddin did that which behoveth and

befitteth unto kings of obeisance and invocation and said to him,

"O our lord the Sultan, thy Grace's munificence hath

vouchsafed [FN#464] to accord me the Lady Bedrulbudour thy

daughter, albeit I am unworthy of this great favour, for that I

am of the lowliest of thy slaves; wherefore I beseech God that He

keep and continue thee. Indeed, O King, my tongue faileth to

thank thee [as were behoving] for the greatness of this boon,

overpassing its competence, [FN#465] wherewith thou hast favoured

me, and I beseech Thy Grace to vouchsafe me ground, such as is

meet, so I may build thereon a palace that shall be fit for the

Lady Bedrulbudour."

The Sultan was amazed when he saw Alaeddin in this regal array

and beheld his grace and goodliness and the mamelukes standing in

attendance upon him in all their comeliness and fair favour; yea,

and his wonderment redoubled when Alaeddin's mother came up

attired in rich and costly raiment, as she were a queen, and he

saw twelve slave-girls in her service, preceding her, their hands

clasped behind their backs, with all worship and observance.

Moreover, he noted Alaeddin's eloquence and the elegance of his

speech and was amazed thereat, he and all who were present with

him in the Divan, whilst fire was kindled in the Vizier's heart

for envy of Alaeddin, so that he was like to die. Then, after the

Sultan had heard Alaeddin's compliment and had seen the greatness

of his quality and his modesty and eloquence, he strained him to

his bosom and kissed him, saying, "It irketh me, O my son, that I

have not known thee [FN#466] before to-day." So, [FN#467] when he

saw Alaeddin on this fashion, he rejoiced in him with an

exceeding joy and at once bade the music [FN#468] and the

drums [FN#469] strike up; then, rising, he took him by the hand

and carried him into the palace, where the evening-meal had been

made ready and the servants set the tables. There he sat down and

seated Alaeddin on his right hand; whereupon the viziers and

chiefs of the state and the grandees of the realm sat also, each

in his several room, whilst the drums beat and they held high

festival in the palace. [FN#470]

The Sultan proceeded to make familiar with Alaeddin and to talk

with him, and Alaeddin answered him with all courtliness and

fluency, as he had been bred in kings' palaces or as he were

their constant associate; [FN#471] and the more the talk was

prolonged between them, the more gladness and joy redoubled on

the Sultan for that which he heard of the goodliness of

Alaeddin's answers and the sweetness of his speech. Then, when

they had eaten and drunken and the tables were removed, the

Sultan bade fetch the Cadis and the witnesses; so they came and

knotted the knot and wrote the writ [of marriage] between

Alaeddin and the Lady Bedrulbudour. Therewith Alaeddin arose and

would have taken leave; but the Sultan laid hold on him and said

to him, "Whither away, O my son? The bride-feast is toward and

the bride present; the knot is knotted and the writ written." "O

my lord the king," answered Alaeddin, "I would fain build the

Lady Bedrulbudour a palace, besorting her rank and station, and

it may not be that I should go in to her without this; but, God

willing, the building shall, by the diligent endeavour of thy

slave and by Thy Grace's auspice, [FN#472] be right speedily

despatched. Indeed, I long for present enjoyment of the Lady

Bedrulbudour; but it behoveth me [first] apply myself to that

which is incumbent on me for her service." [FN#473] Quoth the

Sultan, "O my son, look thyself out the ground which thou deemest

apt to thine end and take it. All is in thy hand; [FN#474], but

here before my palace is a spacious piece of ground, which

meseemeth were best; so, if it please thee, build thou the palace

thereon." And Alaeddin answered him, saying, "Indeed, it is my

utmost desire to be near Thy Grace."

Then he took leave of the Sultan and going forth, mounted and

rode, with his mamelukes before him and behind him, whilst the

folk all prayed for him and said, "By Allah, he is deserving!"

till he came to his house and alighting from his stallion,

entered his chamber and rubbed the lamp; whereupon the genie

stood before him and said to him, "Seek what thou wilt, O my

lord" Quoth Alaeddin, "I desire of thee an important service, to

wit, that thou build me with all speed a palace before that of

the Sultan, which shall be marvellous in its building, never saw

kings its like, and be it complete with all its requisites of

kingly and magnificent furniture and so forth." "Hearkening and

obedience," replied the genie and [FN#475] disappeared; but,

before the dawn broke, he came to Alaeddin and said to him, "O my

lord, the palace is finished to the utmost of the wish;

wherefore, an thou wouldst see it, arise forthright and look on

it." So Alaeddin arose and the genie carried him, in the

twinkling of an eye, to the palace, which when he saw, he was

amazed at its building, for that all its stones were of jade and

alabaster and porphyry and mosaic. The genie carried him into a

treasury full of all manner of gold and silver and precious

jewels past count or reckoning, price or estimation; then he

brought him into another place, where he saw all the requisites

of the table, platters and spoons and ewers and basins and cups,

of gold and silver, and thence to the kitchen, where he found

cooks, [FN#476] with their cooking-gear and utensils, all on like

wise of gold and silver. Moreover, he brought him into a place,

which he found full of coffers overflowing with royal raiment,

such as ravished the wit, gold-inwoven stuffs, Indian and

Chinese, and brocades, and he showed him also many other places,

all full of that which beggareth description, till at last he

brought him into a stable, wherein were horses whose like is not

found with the kings of the world; and therewithin he showed him

a storehouse, full of housings and saddles of price, all

broidered with pearls and precious stones and so forth.

Alaeddin was amazed and bewildered at the greatness of these

riches, whereunto the mightiest king in the world might not

avail, and all the work of one night; more by token that the

palace was full of slaves and slave girls such as would bewitch a

saint with their loveliness. But the most marvellous of all was

that he saw in the palace an upper hall [FN#477] and [FN#478] a

belvedere [FN#479] with four-and-twenty oriels, all wroughten of

emeralds and rubies and other jewels, and of one of these oriels

the lattice-work was by his desire left unfinished, [FN#480] so

the Sultan should fail of its completion. When he had viewed the

palace, all of it, he rejoiced and was exceeding glad; then he

turned to the genie and said to him, "I desire of thee one thing

which is lacking and whereof I had forgotten to bespeak thee."

Quoth the slave, " Seek what thou wilt, O my lord;" and Alaeddin

said to him, "I will have thee bring me a carpet Of fine brocade,

all inwoven with gold, and spread it from my palace to that of

the Sultan, so the Lady Bedrulbudour, whenas she cometh hither,

may walk thereon and not upon the earth." So the genie was absent

a little and returning, said to him, ''O my lord, that which thou

soughtest Of me is here." Therewithal he took him and showed him

the carpet, which ravished the wit, and it was spread from the

Sultan's palace to that of Alaeddin; then taking him up, he set

him down in his own house.

It [FN#481] was now grown high day; so the Sultan arose from sleep

and opening a window of his pavilion, looked forth and saw

buildings [FN#482] before his palace; whereupon he fell to rubbing

his eyes and opening them wide and looking farther, saw a

magnificent palace, that bewildered the wits, and a carpet spread

therefrom to his own palace; as on like wise did the doorkeepers

and all who were in the palace, and their wits were bewildered at

the sight. At this juncture the Vizier presented himself and as

he entered, he espied the new palace and the carpet and marvelled

also; so, when he came in to the Sultan, the twain fell to

talking of this strange matter and marvelling, for that they saw

a thing which amazed the beholder and dilated the heart; and they

said, "Verily, methinketh kings may not avail unto the building

of the like of this palace." Then the Sultan turned to the Vizier

and said to him, "How now? Deemest thou Alaeddin worthy to be

bridegroom to my daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour? Hast thou seen

and considered this royal building and all these riches which

man's wit cannot comprehend?" The Vizier, of his envy of

Alaeddin, answered him, saying, "O King of the Age, indeed this

palace and its building and all these riches may not be but by

means of enchantment, for that no man among men, no, not the

mightiest of them in dominion or the greatest in wealth, might

avail to upraise and stablish [the like of] this building in one

night." Quoth the Sultan, "I marvel at thee how thou still

deemest evil of Alaeddin; but methinketh it ariseth from thine

envy of him, for that thou wast present when he sought of me a

place whereon to build a palace for my daughter and I accorded

him, before thee, [leave to build] a palace on this ground; and

he who brought me, to my daughter's dower, jewels such that no

kings possess one thereof, shall he lack ableness to build a

palace like this?" When [FN#483] the Vizier heard the Sultan's

speech and understood that he loved Alaeddin greatly, his envy of

him increased; withal he availed not to do aught against him, so

he was dumb and could make the Sultan no answer.

Meanwhile Alaeddin--seeing that it was high day and that the time

was come when he should go to the palace, for that his

wedding-festivities were toward and the Amirs and Viziers and

chiefs of the state were all with the Sultan, so they might be

present at the bridal--arose and rubbed the lamp; whereupon the

genie presented himself and said to him, "O my lord, seek what

thou wilt, for that I am before thee, at thy service." Quoth

Alaeddin, "I purpose presently to go to the Sultan's palace, and

to-day is the wedding; wherefore I have occasion for ten thousand

diners, which I will have thee bring me." The slave was absent

the twinkling of an eye and returned to him with the money;

whereupon Alaeddin arose and taking horse, with his mamelukes

behind him and before him, rode to the palace, scattering gold

upon the folk, as he passed, so that they were fulfilled with the

love of him and the greatness of his munificence. [FN#484] When he

came to the palace and the Amirs and eunuchs and soldiers, who

were standing awaiting him, saw him, they hastened forthright to

the Sultan and told him; whereupon he arose and coming to meet

him, embraced him and kissed him; then he took him by the hand

and carried him into the palace. where he sat down and seated him

on his right hand.

Now the city was all adorned and the instruments [of music] were

smiting in the palace and the singing-women singing. Then the

Sultan trade serve the morning-meal; so the slaves and mamelukes

hastened to spread the table and it was such as kings might take

example by. [FN#485] The Sultan sat with Alaeddin and the officers

of state and the chiefs of the realm and they ate and drank till

they were satisfied; and great was the rejoicing in the palace

and the city. Glad were all the chiefs of the state and the folk

rejoiced in all the realm, whilst there came from far regions the

notables of the provinces and the governors of the cities, so

they might see Alaeddin's wedding and his bride-feast. The Sultan

still marvelled in himself at Alaeddin's mother, how she had come

to him in poor clothes, whilst her son had command of this

exceeding wealth; and as for the folk, who came to the Sultan's

palace, to gaze upon the wedding-festivities, when they saw

Alaeddin's palace and the goodliness of its building, there took

them great wonderment how so magnificent a building had been

upreared in one night and they fell all to praying for Alaeddin

and saying, "God prosper him! By Allah, he is deserving. God's

blessing on his days!"

Meanwhile [FN#486] Alaeddin, having made an end of the

morning-meal, arose and taking leave of the Sultan, mounted with

his mamelukes and rode to his palace, so he might prepare for the

reception of his bride, the Lady Bedrulbudour. As he passed, all

the folk cried out to him with one voice, saying, " God gladden

thee! God increase thee in glory! God continue thee!" And so they

brought him home in great procession, what while he showered gold

on them. When he came to his palace, he alighted and entering,

sat down in the Divan, whilst the mamelukes stood before him with

clasped hands. After a little they brought him sherbets and he

gave commandment to his mamelukes and slave-girls and eunuchs and

all who were in his palace that they should make ready to receive

the Lady Bedrulbudour, his bride. Then, when it was the time of

the midafternoon prayer [FN#487] and the air grew cool and the

heat of the sun abated, [FN#488] the Sultan bade the troops and

the Amirs and the Viziers go down to the horse-course. So they

all repaired thither and with them the Sultan himself; whereupon

Alaeddin also arose and mounting with his mamelukes, went down

into the plain and showed his horsemanship; then he fell to

playing [FN#489] in the tilting-ground and there was none could

stand before him. Now he was riding a stallion whose like is not

among the horses of the Arabs of the Arabs [FN#490] and his bride

the Lady Bedrulbudour was looking upon him from the window of her

pavilion, and when she saw his grace and goodliness and knightly

prowess, she was overcome with his love and was like to fly for

joy in him. Then, after they had played [some] bouts [FN#491] in

the plain and each had shown what was in him of horsemanship,

(but Alaeddin overpassed them all,) the Sultan went to his palace

and Alaeddin on like wise returned home.

When it was eventide, the chiefs of the state and the Viziers

went and taking Alaeddin, carried him in procession to the Royal

Bath, the Renowned ; [FN#492] so he entered and bathed and

perfumed himself, then, coming forth, he donned a suit yet richer

than the first and mounted, whilst the troops rode before him and

the Amirs and Viziers. So they fared on with him in great state,

with four of the Viziers for his sword-bearers, whilst all the

troops and people of the city, both townsfolk and strangers,

walked in procession before him, carrying flambeaux and drums and

flutes and instruments of mirth and music, till they brought him

to his palace, when he alighted and entering, sat down, as did

also the Viziers and Amirs who were in his company, whilst the

mamelukes brought sherbets and sweetmeats [FN#493] and gave all

who were with him in the procession to drink, albeit they were a

multitude of folk whose number might not be told. Moreover, he

gave commandment unto his mamelukes, and they went out to the

door of the palace and fell to showering gold upon the folk.

Meanwhile, [FN#494] when the Sultan returned from the horse-course

and entered his palace, he bade forthright carry his daughter the

Lady Bedrulbudour in procession to the palace of her bridegroom

Alaeddin. So the troops forthright mounted with the officers of

state, who had been in Alaeddin's procession, and the slave-girls

and eunuchs went out with flambeaux and carried the Lady

Bedrulhudour in great state to her bridegroom's palace,

Alaeddin's mother by her side and before her the women of the

Viziers and Amirs and grandees and notables. Moreover, she had

with her eight and-forty slave-girls, whom Alaeddin had presented

to her, in each one's hand a great candle of camphor and

ambergris, set in a candlestick of gold, studded with jewels; and

all the men and women in the palace went out with her and fared

on before her, till they brought her to her bridegroom's palace

and carrying her up to her pavilion, [FN#495] attired her in

various robes [FN#496] and displayed her. Then, after they had

made an end of displaying her, they carried her to the pavilion

of her groom Alaeddin and he went in to her. Now his mother was

with the Lady Bedrulbudour, and when he came up and did off her

veil, she fell to gazing upon the bride's beauty and grace and

looked at the pavilion, the which was all wroughten [FN#497] of

gold and jewels and therein were golden lustres, all embossed

with emeralds and rubies; and she said in herself, "Methought the

Sultan's palace was magnificent; but, for this pavilion [FN#498]

alone, I doubt me the greatest of the Chosroes and the kings

never owned its match; nor, methinketh, might all mankind avail

to make the like thereof." And the Lady Bedrulbudour also fell to

looking and marvelling at the palace [FN#499] and its

magnificence. Then the table was laid and they ate and drank and

made merry; and presently there appeared before them fourscore

slave-girls, each with an instrument in her hand of the

instruments of mirth and music. So they plied their finger-tips

and touching their strings, struck up with plaintive airs, till

they clove in sunder the hearts of the listeners, whilst the Lady

Bedrulbudour redoubled in wonderment and said in herself, "Never

in my life heard I the like of these songs;" so that she forgot

to eat and fell to listening. As for Alaeddin, he proceeded to

pour to her the wine and give her to drink with his own hand, and

mirth and good cheer and delight went round among them and it was

a rare night, such as Iskender of the Horns [FN#500] never in his

time spent. Then, after they had made an end of eating and

drinking, the tables were removed from before them and Alaeddin

arose and went in to his bride.

When it was the morning, Alaeddin arose and his treasurer brought

him a costly suit of the richest of kings' raiment; so he donned

it and sat down; whereupon coffee was brought him with ambergris

and he drank thereof and called for the horses. Accordingly, they

were saddled and he mounted and rode, with his mamelukes behind

him and before him, to the Sultan's palace. When he reached it

and entered, the eunuchs went in and acquainted the Sultan with

his presence; which [FN#501] when he heard, he arose forthwith and

coming to meet Alaeddin, embraced him and kissing him, as he were

his son, seated him on his right hand. Moreover the Viziers and

Amirs and officers of state and grandees of the realm invoked

blessings on him and the Sultan gave him joy [FN#502] and prayed

God prosper him. Then he bade lay breakfast; [FN#503] so they laid

[it] and they all broke their fast; and after they had eaten and

drunken their sufficiency and had finished and the servants had

removed the tables from before them, Alaeddin turned to the

Sultan and said to him, "O my lord, [belike] Thy Grace will

vouchsafe to honour me this day at the morning-meal [FN#503] with

the Lady Bedrulbudour, thy precious daughter, and be Thy Grace's

company all thy viziers and the chief officers of thy state."

Quoth the Sultan, (and indeed he rejoiced in him),

"Gladly, [FN#504] O my son," and bidding the Viziers and officers

of state and grandees attend him, arose forthright and mounted;

whereupon Alaeddin and the others mounted also and they all rode

till they came to Alaeddin's palace.

When the Sultan entered the palace and viewed its building and

ordinance and saw its stones, which were of jade and agate, he

was amazed [FN#505] and his wit was bewildered at that affluence

and wealth and magnificence; so he turned to the Vizier and said

to him, "How sayst thou, O Vizier? Hast thou in all thy days seen

aught like this? Are there found with the greatest of the kings

of the world riches and gold and jewels such as these we see in

this palace?" "O my lord the King," answered the Vizier, "this is

a thing beyond the competence of a king of the sons of Adam, nor

might all the people of the earth together avail to build a

palace like this; nay, there are no craftsmen living able to do

work like this, except ;it be, as I said to Thy Grace, by might

of magic." The Sultan knew that the Vizier, in seeking to

convince him that this was not by might of men, but all of it

enchantment, still spoke not but of his envy of Alaeddin; so he

said to him, "Enough, O Vizier; let us have no more of thy talk.

I know the cause which maketh thee speak on this wise."

Then Alaeddin forewent the Sultan till he brought him to the high

pavilion [FN#507] and he looked at the belvedere [FN#508] and its

oriols [FN#509] and lattices, [FN#510] all wroughten of emeralds

and rubies and other precious stones, and was amazed and

astonied; his wit was bewildered and he abode perplexed in his

thought. Then he fell to going round about the pavilion and

viewing these things that ravished the sight, till presently he

espied the casement [FN#511] which Alaeddin had purposely left

wanting and unfinished. When the Sultan examined it and saw that

it was unfinished, he said, "Woe is me for thee, O casement, that

thou art not perfect!" Then, turning to the Vizier, he said to

him, "Knowest thou the reason of the lack of completion of this

casement and its lattices?" "O [FN#512] my lord," answered the

Vizier, "methinketh it is because Thy Grace hastened upon

Alaeddin with the wedding and he had no time to complete it." Now

Alaeddin had meanwhile gone in to his bride, the Lady

Bedrulbudour, to acquaint her with the coming of her father the

Sultan; and when he returned, the Sultan said to him, "O my son

Alaeddin, what is the reason that the lattice[-work] of yonder

oriel [FN#513] is not completed?" "O King of the Age," replied

Alaeddin, "by reason of the haste made with the bridal, the

craftsmen might not avail to [FN#514] finish it." Quoth the Sultan

to him, "It is my wish to finish it myself." And Alaeddin

answered, saying, "God prolong thy glory, O King; so shall there

remain unto thee a remembrance [FN#515] in thy daughter's palace."

Accordingly the Sultan bade straightway fetch jewellers and

goldsmiths and commanded to give them from the treasury all that

they needed of gold and jewels and [precious] metals; so they

came and he bade them do that which was wanting of the

lattice-work of the [unfinished] oriel. [FN#516] Meanwhile, the

Lady Bedrulbudour came out to receive her father the Sultan, and

when she came up to him and he saw her smiling-faced he embraced

her and kissed her and taking her [by the hand], went in with her

to her pavilion. So they entered all, for that it was the

appointed time of the morning-meal and they had set one table for

the Sultan and the Lady Bedrulbudour and Alaeddin and another for

the Vizier and the officers of state and grandees of the realm

and captains and chamberlains and deputies. The Sultan sat

between his daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour, and his son-in- law

Alaeddin, and when he put his hand to the food and tasted it,

wonder took him at the richness of the meats and the

exquisiteness of their seasonings. [FN#517] Now there stood before

them fourscore damsels, each as it were she said to the full

moon, "Rise, so I may sit in thy place;" and in each one's hand

was an instrument of mirth and music. So they tuned their

instruments and touched their strings and struck up with

plaintive [FN#518] airs that dilated the mourning heart. [FN#519]

The Sultan was cheered and the time was pleasant to him and he

rejoiced and said, " Verily, Kings and Kaisers would fail

of [FN#520] this thing;"

Then they fell to eating and drinking and the cup went round

among them till they had taken their sufficiency, when there came

sweetmeats [FN#521] and various kinds of fruits and so forth; and

these were laid in another saloon. So they removed thither and

took their fill of those dainties; after which the Sultan arose,

that he might see if the work of the jewellers and goldsmiths

likened that of the palace. So he went up to them and viewed

their work and how they wrought and saw that they were far from

availing to do work like that [of the rest] of Alaeddin's

palace. [FN#522] Moreover [FN#523] they told him that all they

found in his treasury they had brought and it sufficed not;

whereupon he bade open the Great Treasury and give them what they

needed and that, if it sufficed not, they should take that which

Alaeddin had given him. So they took all the jewels assigned them

by the Sultan and wrought with them, but found that these also

sufficed them not, nor might they complete withal the half of

that which lacked of the lattice work of the oriel; [FN#524]

whereupon the Sultan bade take all the jewels which should be

found with the Viziers and chiefs of the state; and accordingly

they took them all and wrought therewith; but this also sufficed

not.

When it was morning, Alaeddin went up to view the jewelers' work

and saw that they had not completed half the lacking

lattice-work; whereupon he bade them incontinent undo all that

they had wrought and restore the jewels to their owners.

Accordingly, they undid it all and sent to the Sultan that which

was his and to the Viziers [and others] that which was theirs.

Then they went to the Sultan and told him that Alaeddin had

commanded them of this; whereupon he asked them, "What said he to

you and why would he not have the lattice-work finished and why

undid he that which you had done?" And they said to him, "O my

lord, we know nothing, save that he bade us undo all that we had

done." Whereupon the Sultan immediately called for the horses and

arising, mounted and rode to Alaeddin's palace.

Meanwhile Alaeddin, after dismissing the goldsmiths and the

jewellers, entered his closet and rubbed the lamp; whereupon the

genie forthwith appeared and said to him, "Seek what thou wilt;

thy slave is before thee." And Alaeddin said to him, "It is my

will that thou complete the lacking lattice-work of the

oriel." [FN#525] "On my head and eyes [be it]," replied the slave

and disappearing, returned after a little and said to him, "O my

lord, that whereof thou commandedst me I have performed." So

Alaeddin went up to the belvedere [FN#526] and found all its

lattices [FN#527] perfect; and whilst he was viewing them, behold

the [chief] eunuch [FN#528] came in to him and said to him, "O my

lord, the Sultan cometh to visit thee and is at the palace-door."

So he came down forthright and went to meet the Sultan,

who [FN#529] said to him, when he saw him, "Wherefore, O my son,

hast thou done thus, and why sufferedst thou not the jewellers

complete the lattice-work of the oriel, [FN#530] so there might

not remain a place in thy palace [FN#531] defective?" "O King of

the Age," answered Alaeddin, "I left it not imperfect but of my

free will, nor did I lack of ableness to complete it. However, I

could not brook that Thy Grace should honour me [with thy

presence] in a palace [FN#532] wherein there was somewhat lacking;

wherefore, so thou mayst know that it was not for lack of

ableness that I left it uncomplete, [FN#533] let Thy Grace go up

and see the lattice-work of the kiosk, [FN#534] an there be aught

lacking thereto."

The Sultan accordingly went up to the pavilion [FN#535] and

entering the kiosk, [FN#536] viewed it right and left and saw no

manner defect in its lattices, but found them all perfect;

whereat he was astounded and embracing Alaeddin, fell a-kissing

him and saying, "O my son, what is this extraordinary thing? In

one night thou dost a work wherefrom the jewellers would fail in

months! By Allah, methinketh thou hast not thy fellow [FN#536] in

the world!" Quoth Alaeddin, "God prolong thy life and perpetuate

thy continuance! Thy slave is not worthy of this praise." "By

Allah, O my son," rejoined the Sultan, "thou deservest all

praise, in that thou hast done a thing wherefrom [all the]

craftsmen of the world would fail." Then he went down and

entering the pavilion of his daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour,

found her rejoicing exceedingly over this great magnificence

wherein she was; and after he had rested with her awhile, he

returned to his palace.

Now Alaeddin used every day to mount and ride through the town,

with his mamelukes behind him and before him, strewing gold upon

the people, right and left, and the folk, stranger and neighbour,

near and far, were fulfilled with the love of him for the excess

of his munificence and his bounty. Moreover he exceeded in

benefaction of the poor and the indigent [FN#538] and used himself

to distribute his alms to them with his own hand. After this

fashion he won himself great renown in all the realm and the most

of the chiefs of the state and the Amirs used to eat at his table

and swore not but by his precious life. Moreover, he fell to

going everywhile [FN#539] to the chase and the horse course and to

practicing horsemanship and archery [FN#540] before the Sultan,

whilst the Lady Bedrulbudour redoubled in love of him,

whenassoever she saw him disporting himself a horseback, and

thought in herself that God had wrought exceeding graciously by

her in that there had befallen her what befell with the Vizier's

son, so He might keep her for her true bridegroom Alaeddin.

So [FN#541] he went daily waxing in goodliness of repute and in

praise and the love of him redoubled in the hearts of the common

folk and he was magnified in men's eyes.

Now in those days certain of the Sultan's enemies took horse

against him; so he levied troops to repel them and made Alaeddin

chief thereof. Alaeddin set out with his host and fared on till

he drew near the enemy, whose troops were exceeding many; where

upon he drew his sword and fell upon them and there befell battle

and slaughter and sore was the stress of the mellay; but Alaeddin

broke them and routed them and slew the most part of them.

Moreover, he plundered their goods and possessions and gat him

spoil beyond count or reckoning, wherewith he returned in

triumph, [having gained] a great victory, and entered the city,

which had adorned itself for him of its joy in him. The Sultan

came out to meet him and give him joy and embraced him and kissed

him, and there was high festival holden in the kingdom and great

rejoicing. Then the Sultan and Alaeddin betook themselves to the

latter's palace; [FN#542] whereupon his bride, the Lady

Bedrulbudour, came out to meet him, rejoicing in him, and kissed

him between the eyes, and he went in with her to her

pavilion; [FN#543] whither after a little came the Sultan and they

sat down and the slave-girls brought sherbets. [FN#544] So they

drank and the Sultan commanded that all the realm should be

decorated for Alaeddin's victory over the enemy; whilst it became

[a saying] with the commons and the troops and the folk, all of

them, "Allah in heaven and Alaeddin on earth." and they loved him

yet more, having regard not only to the excess of his bounty and

munificence, but to his knightly prowess, in that he had done

battle for the kingdom and had routed the enemy.

So much for Alaeddin, and now to return to the Mangrabin

enchanter. When he returned to his country, he abode all this

time, bewailing that which he had endured of toil and stress, so

he might compass the lamp, yet had his travail all been wasted

and the morsel had escaped from his hand, after it had reached

his mouth; and he still thought upon all this, bemoaning himself

and reviling Alaeddin of the excess of his anger against him; and

whiles he said in himself, "Since yonder whoreson is dead under

the earth, I am content withal and I have hopes of the lamp, that

I may yet achieve it, inasmuch as it is still safeguarded." Then,

one day of the days, he smote the sand and extracting the

figures, set them down after the most approved fashion [FN#545]

and adjusted [FN#546] them, so he might see and certify himself of

the death of Alaeddin and the safe keeping of the lamp under the

earth; and he looked well into [FN#547] the figures, both mothers

and daughters, [FN#548] but saw not the lamp, whereupon rage

overrode him and he smote the sand a second time, that he might

certify himself of Alaeddin's death, but saw him not in the

treasure; whereat he redoubled in wrath, and yet more when it was

certified to him that the lad was alive upon the surface of the

earth and he knew that he had come forth from under the ground

and had gotten the lamp, on account whereof he himself had

suffered toil and torment such as passeth man's power to endure.

So he said in himself, "I have suffered many hardships for the

sake of the lamp and have endured fatigues such as none but I

might brook, [FN#549] and now yonder accursed one taketh it

without stress and it is evident [FN#550] [that], an he have

learned the use thereof, there will be none in the world richer

than he."

Then, [FN#551] when he saw and was certified that Alaeddin had

come forth from under the earth and had happened upon the good of

the Lamp, [FN#552] he said in himself, "Needs must I go about to

kill him." So he smote the sand once more and examining its

figures, saw that Alaeddin had gotten him exceeding wealth and

had married the Sultan's daughter; whereat he was all afire for

rage and envy and arising then and there, equipped himself for

travel and set out for the land of China. When he came to the

city of the sultanate, [FN#553] wherein was Alaeddin, he entered

and alighting at one of the khans, heard the folk talking of

nought but the magnificence of Alaeddin's palace; then, after he

was rested from his journey, he changed [FN#554] his clothes and

went down to go round about in the thoroughfares of the city. He

passed no folk but they were descanting upon the palace and its

magnificence and talking of Alaeddin's grace and comeliness and

his bounty and munificence and the goodliness of his manners and

disposition; so [FN#555] he went up to one of those who were

extolling Alaeddin on this wise and said to him, "Prithee, fair

youth, who is this whom you describe and praise? "O man," replied

the other, "meseemeth thou art a stranger and comest from afar;

but, granting thou art from a far country, hast thou not heard of

the Amir Alaeddin, whose repute, methought, filled the earth, and

of his palace, a wonder of the world, whereof both far and near

have heard? How is it thou hast heard nought of this nor of the

name of Alaeddin, whom Our Lord increase in glory and prosper?"

Quoth the Maugrabin, " Marry, it is the utmost of my wish to look

upon the palace; so, an thou wouldst do me a kindness, direct me

thither, for that I am a stranger." "Hearkening and obedience,"

replied the other and going before him, guided him to Alaeddin's

palace.

The Maugrabin fell to examining it and knew that this all of it

was the work of the Lamp; so he said, "Alack! Alack! Needs must I

dig a pit for this accursed one, this tailor's son, who could not

come by a night's supper; but, an destiny enable me, I will send

his mother back to spin at her wheel, like as she did erst, and

as for him, it shall cost him [FN#556] his life." Then he returned

to the khan in a woeful state of chagrin and colour and despite,

for envy of Alaeddin, and [FN#557] taking his geomantic

instruments, [FN#558] smote his [tablet of] sand, so he might

learn where the lamp was, and found that it was in the palace and

not with Alaeddin; [FN#559] whereat he rejoiced with an exceeding

joy and said, "Now it will be an easy matter for me to bereave

this accursed of his life and I have a way to come at the lamp."

Accordingly he went to a coppersmith and said to him, "Make me so

many [FN#560] lamps [FN#561] and take of me their worth in

full; [FN#562] but I will have thee despatch them quickly."

"Hearkening and obedience," replied the smith and falling to work

on them, speedily despatched them for him. When they were

finished, the Maugrabin paid him their price, even that which he

sought, and taking the lamps, carried them to the khan, where he

laid them in a basket and fell to going round about in the

markets and thoroughfares of the city and crying out, "Ho! who

will barter an old lamp for a new lamp?" When the folk heard him

crying this, they laughed at him and said, "Certes, this man is

mad, since he goeth about, bartering new lamps for old."

Moreover, people [FN#563] followed him and the street-boys caught

him up from place to place [FN#564] and laughed at him. However,

he fended not himself neither took heed of this, but ceased not

to go round about the city till he came under Alaeddin's palace,

where he fell to crying his loudest, whilst the children called

after him, "Madman! Madman!"

Now as fate willed it, the Lady Bedrulbudour was in the kiosk and

hearing one crying out and the boys calling after him and

understanding not what was toward, bade one of the slave-girls

"Go see what is this man who crieth out and what he crieth." So

the girl went and looking, saw one crying out, "Ho, who will

barter an old lamp for a new lamp?" with the boys after him,

laughing at him; so she returned and told her mistress, saying,

"O my lady, this man crieth, 'Ho! who will barter an old lamp for

a new lamp?' and the boys are following him and laughing at him;"

and the Lady Bedrulbudour laughed also at this marvel. Now

Alaeddin had forgotten the lamp in his pavilion, [FN#565] without

locking it up in his treasury [as was his wont], and one of the

girls had seen it; so she said to the princess, "O my lady,

methinketh I have seen an old lamp in my lord Alaeddin's

pavilion; let us barter it with this man for a new one, so we may

see an his speech be true or leasing." And [FN#566] the princess

said to her, "fetch the lamp whereof thou speakest." Now the Lady

Bedrulbudour had no knowledge of the lamp and its properties,

neither knew she that this it was which had brought Alaeddin her

husband to that great estate, and it was the utmost of her desire

to prove and see the wit of this man who bartered new for old,

nor was any one aware of the Maugrabin enchanter's craft and

trickery. So the slave-girl went up into Alaeddin's pavilion and

returned with the lamp to the Lady Bedrulbudour, who bade the Aga

of the eunuchs [FN#567] go down and exchange it for a new one; so

he took it and going down, gave it to the Maugrabin and took of

him a new lamp, with which he returned to the princess, who

examined it and finding it new and real, fell to laughing at the

Maugrabin's [lack of] wit. Meanwhile, when the enchanter had

gotten the lamp and knew it for that of the Treasure, he thrust

it forthwith into his sleeve [FN#568] and leaving the rest of the

lamps to the folk who were in act to barter of him, set off

running, till he came without the city, and walked about the

waste places, awaiting the coming of the night. Then, when he saw

himself alone in the open country, he brought out the lamp from

his sleeve and rubbed it; whereupon the Marid immediately

appeared to him and said, "Here am I; thy slave [is] before thee.

Seek of me what thou wilt." Quoth the Maugrabin, "My will is that

thou take up Alaeddin's palace from its place, with its

inhabitants and all that [FN#569] is therein and myself also, and

set it down in my country of Africa. [FN#570] Thou knowest my town

and I will have this palace be thereby among the gardens."

"Hearkening and obedience," replied the Marid. "Shut [thine] eye

and open [thine] eye, and thou wilt find thyself in thine own

country with the palace." And immediately this befell in the

twinkling of an eye and the Maugrabin was transported, with

Alaeddin's palace and all that was therein, to the land of

Africa.

So much for the enchanter, and now let us return to the Sultan

and Alaeddin. The Sultan, of his love and affection for his

daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour, was wont, every day, when he

awoke from his sleep, to open the window and look at her

therefrom; so he arose on the morrow, according to his wont, and

opened his chamber-window, so he might see his daughter;

but [FN#571] when he put out his head and looked for Alaeddin's

palace, he beheld nothing but a place swept [and level], like as

it was aforetime, and saw neither palace nor inhabitants; [FN#572]

whereat amazement clad him and his wit was bewildered and he fell

to rubbing his eyes, so haply they were bleared or dimmed. Then

he proceeded to look closely till at last he was certified that

there was neither trace nor sign left of the palace and knew not

what was come of it; whereupon he redoubled in perplexity and

smote hand upon hand and his tears ran down upon his beard, for

that he knew not what had befallen his daughter. So he sent

forthright to fetch the Vizier, who came in to him and seeing him

in that woeful state, said to him, "Pardon, O King of the Age

(God keep thee from harm!) why art thou woeful?" Quoth the

Sultan, "Meseemeth thou knowest not of my affair." And the Vizier

said to him, "By Allah, O my lord, I have no knowledge of aught

whatsoever." "Then," rejoined the Sultan, "thou hast not looked

towards Alaeddin's palace." "Nay, O my lord," replied the Vizier,

"it is yet shut." And the Sultan said to him, "Since thou hast no

news of aught, rise and look at it from the window and see where

it is, this palace of Alaeddin's, whereof thou sayest that it is

yet shut." The Vizier arose and looked from the window towards

Alaeddin's palace, but could see nothing, neither palace nor

aught else; so his wit was bewildered and he was amazed and

returned to the Sultan, who said to him, "Now knowest thou the

cause of my distress and seest Alaeddin his palace, whereof thou

saddest that it was shut." "O King of the Age," rejoined the

Vizier, "I told Thy Grace aforetime that this palace and these

affairs were all of them [the work of] enchantment."

At this the Sultan was fired with wrath and said to him, "Where

is Alaeddin?" And he answered, "He is at the chase." Whereupon

the Sultan bade sundry of his eunuchs and officers go straightway

fetch him bound and shackled. So they went till they came to

Alaeddin and said to him, "O our lord Alaeddin, blame us not, for

that the Sultan hath bidden us carry thee to him, bound and

shackled; wherefore we beseech thee of excusement, for that we

are under a royal commandment and may not gainsay it." When

Alaeddin heard their speech, wonderment took him and his tongue

was tied, for that he knew not the cause; then he turned to the

eunuchs and officers and said, "Prithee, sirs, [FN#573] have you

no knowledge of the cause of this commandment of the Sultan? I

know myself guiltless, forasmuch as I have done no sin against

the Sultan nor against his realm." And they said to him, "O our

lord, we have no manner of knowledge thereof." So Alaeddin

lighted down from his stallion and said to them, "Do with me that

which the Sultan biddeth you, for that his commandment is upon

the head and eyes." Accordingly [FN#574] the officers shackled him

and pinioning him, haled him along in irons and entered the city

with him.

The folk, seeing Alaeddin pinioned and shackled with iron, knew

that the Sultan was minded to cut off his head, and forasmuch as

he was extraordinarily beloved of them, they all gathered

together and taking up arms, came forth their houses and followed

the troops, so they might see what was to do. When the officers

came with Alaeddin to the palace, they entered and told the

Sultan, who immediately bade the headsman go and cut off his

head. But the commons, hearing of this his commandment, shut the

gates of the palace and sent to say to the Sultan, "This very

moment we will overthrow the palace upon thee and all who are

therein, an the least harm happen to Alaeddin." So the Vizier

went and told the Sultan and said to him, "O King of the Age, all

will be over with us forthright; [FN#575] wherefore thou wert best

pardon Alaeddin, lest some calamity befall us, for that the

commons love him more than us." Now the headsman had spread the

carpet of blood and seating Alaeddin thereon, had bound his eyes

and gone round him three times, [FN#576] awaiting the King's final

commandment. The Sultan looked at his subjects and seeing them

swarming upon him and climbing up to the palace, that they might

overthrow it, commanded the headsman to hold his hand from

Alaeddin and bade the crier go forth among the people and

proclaim that he pardoned Alaeddin and took him [again] into

favour.

When Alaeddin found himself released and saw the Sultan sitting,

he went up to him and said to him, "O my lord, since Thy Grace

hath bountifully vouchsafed me my life, [FN#577] favour me [yet

farther] and tell me the manner of my offence." "O traitor,"

replied the Sultan, "till [but] now I knew not thine offence;"

then, turning to the Vizier, he said to him, "Take him, that he

may see from the windows where his palace is." Accordingly the

Vizier took him and Alaeddin looked from the windows in the

direction of his palace and finding the place swept and clear,

like as it was before he built the palace thereon, neither seeing

any trace of the latter, he was amazed and bewildered, unknowing

what had happened. When he returned, the King said to him, "What

hast thou seen? Where is thy palace and where is my daughter, my

heart's darling and mine only one, than whom I have none other?"

And Alaeddin answered him, saying, "O King of the Age, I have no

knowledge thereof, neither know I what hath befallen." And the

Sultan said to him, "Know, O Alaeddin, that I have pardoned thee,

so thou mayst go and look into this affair and make me search for

my daughter; and do not thou present thyself but with her; nay,

an thou bring her not back to me, as my head liveth, I will cut

off thine." "Hearkening and obedience, O King of the Age,"

replied Alaeddin. "Grant me but forty days' grace, and an I bring

her not after that time, cut off my head and do what thou wilt."

Quoth [FN#578] the Sultan to him, "I grant thee, according to thy

request, the space of forty days; but think not to flee from my

hand, for that I will fetch thee back, though thou wert above the

clouds, not to say upon the face of the earth." "O my lord the

Sultan," rejoined Alaeddin, "as I said to Thy Grace, an I bring

her not to thee in this space of time, I will present myself

before thee, that thou mayst cut off my head."

Now the commons and the folk, one and all, when they saw

Alaeddin, rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy and were glad for

his deliverance; but the ignominy which had befallen him and

shame and the exultation of the envious had bowed down his head;

so he went forth and fell to going round about the city,

perplexed anent his case and unknowing how all this had happened.

He abode in the city two days in the woefullest of case, knowing

not how he should do to find his palace and the Lady

Bedrulbudour, his bride, what while certain of the folk used to

come to him privily with meat and drink. Then he went forth,

wandering in the deserts and knowing not whitherward he should

aim, and ceased not going till he came to a river; whereupon, his

hope being cut off for stress of chagrin that possessed him, he

thought to cast himself into the stream; but, for that he was a

pious Muslim, professing the unity of God, he feared God in

himself and stood on the bank; of the stream to perform the

ablution. [FN#579] So he took of the water in his hands and

proceeded to rub between his fingers; and in doing this, his

rubbing chanced upon the ring, whereupon a Marid appeared to him

and said to him, "Here am I; thy slave is before thee. Seek what

thou wilt."

When Alaeddin saw the Marid, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy

and said to him, "O slave, I will have thee bring me my palace,

with my bride, the Lady Bedrulbudour, and all that is therein."

"O my lord," replied the Marid, "it irketh me sore that what thou

seekest of me is a thing unto which I cannot avail, for that it

pertaineth unto the slaves of the Lamp and I may not adventure

upon it." "Then," said Alaeddin, "since this is not possible unto

thee, take me and set me down beside my palace, in what land

soever it is." "Hearkening and obedience, O my lord," replied the

Marid and taking. him up, set him down, in the twinkling of an

eye, beside his palace in the land of Africa and before his

wife's pavilion. By this time, the night was come; so he looked

at his palace and his cares and sorrows were dispelled from him

and he trusted in God, after he had forsworn hope, that he should

see his bride once again. Then he fell to thinking upon the

hidden mercies of God (glorified be His might!) and how He had

vouchsafed [FN#580] him the ring and how his hope had been cut

off, except God had provided him with the slave of the Ring. So

he rejoiced and all chagrin ceased from him; then, for that he

had been four days without sleeping, of the stress of his chagrin

and his trouble and his grief and the excess of his melancholy,

he went to the side of the palace and lay down under a tree; for

that, as I have said, the palace was among the gardens of Africa

without the city. [FN#581] He [FN#582] lay that night under the

tree in all ease; but he whose head is in the headsman's hand

sleepeth not anights. [FN#583] However, fatigue and lack of sleep

for four days past caused slumber get the mastery over

him; [FN#584] so he slept till break of morn, when he awoke at the

chirp [FN#585] of the sparrows. He arose and going to a stream

there which flowed into the city, washed his hands and face;

then, making the ablution, he prayed the morning-prayer and after

returned and sat under the windows of the Lady Bedrulbudour's

pavilion.

Now the princess, of the excess of her grief for her separation

from her husband and the Sultan her father and of her sore

distress at that which had betided her with the accursed

Maugrabin enchanter, used every day to arise, at the first peep

of dawn, [FN#586] and sit weeping; nay, she slept not anights and

forswore meat and drink. Her handmaid used to go in to her at the

time of the Salutation, [FN#587] so she might dress her, and that

morning, by the decree of destiny, the damsel opened the window

at that time, thinking to solace her mistress with the sight of

the trees and streams. So she looked out and seeing her lord

Alaeddin sitting under the windows of the pavilion, said to the

princess, "O my lady, my lady, here is my lord Alaeddin sitting

under the pavilion!" Whereupon the Lady Bedrulbudour arose in

haste and looking from the window, saw Alaeddin, and he raised

his head and saw her; so she saluted him and he her and they were

both like to fly for joy. Then said she to him, "Arise and come

in to me by the privy door, for that the accursed one [FN#588] is

not now here;" and she bade her handmaid go down and open the

door. So the damsel went down and opened to Alaeddin, who arose

and entered thereby. His wife, [FN#589] the Lady Bedrulbudour, met

him at the door and they embraced and kissed each other with all

joyance, till they fell a-weeping of the excess of their

gladness.

Then they sat down and Alaeddin said to her, "O Lady

Bedrulbudour, there is somewhat whereof I would ask thee, before

all things. I used to lay an old copper lamp in such a place in

my pavilion . . ." When the princess heard this, she sighed and

answered him, saying, "O my beloved, it was that which was the

cause of our falling into this calamity." [FN#590] Quoth he, "How

came this about?" So she acquainted him with the whole matter

from first to last, telling him how they had bartered the old

lamp for a new one; "and next morning," added she, "we found

ourselves in this country and he who had cozened me and changed

the lamp told me that he had wroughten these tricks upon us of

the might of his magic, by means of the lamp and that he is a

Maugrabin from Africa [FN#591] and that we are now in his native

land." When [FN#592] she had made an end of her story, Alaeddin

said to her, "Tell me, what does this accursed one purpose with

thee; what saith he to thee and of what doth he bespeak thee and

what is his will of thee?" "Every day," answered the princess,

"he cometh to me once and no more and seeketh to draw me to his

love, willing me take him in thy stead and forget and renounce

thee; nay, he told me that my father the Sultan had cut off thy

head. Moreover, he useth to say to me of thee that thou art the

son of poor folk and that he was the cause of thine enrichment

and seeketh to cajole me with talk, but never hath he seen of me

aught but tears and weeping or heard from me one soft

word." [FN#593] Quoth Alaeddin, "Tell me where he layeth the lamp,

an thou knowest." And she said, "He still carrieth it [about him]

nor will part with it a moment; nay, when he acquainted me with

that whereof I have told thee, he brought out the lamp from his

sleeve and showed it to me"

When Alaeddin heard this, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and

said to her, "Harkye, Lady Bedrulbudour; it is my present intent

to go out and return in disguise. [FN#594] Marvel thou not at this

and let one of thy slave-girls abide await at the privy door, to

open to me forthright, when she seeth me coming; and I will cast

about for a device whereby I may slay this accursed one." Then he

rose and going forth the [privy] door of his palace, walked on

till he encountered a peasant by the way and said to him,

"Harkye, sirrah, take my clothes and give me thine." The man

demurred, but Alaeddin enforced him and taking his clothes from

him, donned them and gave him his own costly apparel. Then he

fared on in the high road till he came to the city and entering,

betook himself to the drug-market, where for two diners he bought

of [one of] the druggists two drachms of rare strong henbane, the

son of its minute, [FN#595] and retracing his steps, returned to

the palace. When the damsel saw him, she opened him the privy

door and he went in to the Lady Bedrulbudour [FN#596] and said to

her, "Harkye, I will have thee dress and tire thyself and put

away melancholy from thee; and when the accursed Maugrabin cometh

to thee, do thou receive him with 'Welcome and fair welcome' and

go to meet him with a smiling face and bid him come sup with thee

and profess to him that thou hast forgotten thy beloved Alaeddin

and thy father and that thou lovest him with an exceeding love.

Moreover, do thou seek of him wine, and that red, [FN#597] and

make him a show of all joy and gladness and drink to his

health. [FN#598] Then, when thou hast filled him two or three cups

of wine, [FN#599] [watch] till thou take him off his guard; then

put him this powder [FN#600] in the cup and fill it up with wine,

and an he drink it, he will straightway turn over on his back,

like a dead man." When the Lady Bedrulbudour heard Alaeddin's

words, she said! to him, "This is a thing exceeding hard on me to

do; but it is lawful to slay this accursed, so we may be

delivered from his uncleanness who hath made me rue thy

separation and that of my father." Then Alaeddin ate and drank

with his wife that which stayed his hunger and rising at once,

went forth the palace; whereupon the Lady Bedrulbudour summoned

her tirewoman, who busked her and adorned her, and she rose and

donned fine clothes and perfumed herself. Whilst she was thus

engaged, the accursed Maugrabin presented himself and was

exceeding rejoiced to see her on this wise, more by token that

she received him with a smiling face, contrary to her wont; so he

redoubled in distraction for her love and longing for her. Then

she took him and seating him by her side, said to him, "O my

beloved, an thou wilt, come hither to me this night and we will

sup together. Enough of mourning; for that, an I sat grieving a

thousand years, what were the profit? Alaeddin cannot return from

the tomb and I have considered and believe [FN#601] that which

thou saidst to me yesterday, to wit, that most like my father the

Sultan hath slain him, in the excess of his grief for my loss.

Nay, marvel not at me to-day, that I am changed since yesterday,

for that I have bethought me to take thee to beloved and

companion in Alaeddin's stead, seeing there is left me no man

other than thou. Wherefore it is my hope that thou wilt come

to-night, so we may sup together and drink somewhat of wine with

each other, and I will have thee let me taste of the wine of thy

country Africa, for that belike it is better [than ours]. Wine,

indeed, I have by me; but it is that of our country, and I desire

exceedingly to taste the wine of your country."

When [FN#602] the Maugrabin saw the love which the Lady

Bedrulbudour professed to him and that she was changed from her

whilom plight of grief, he thought that she had given up her hope

of Alaeddin; so he rejoiced greatly and said to her, "O my soul,

hearkening and obedience unto all that which thou wiliest and

biddest me withal. I have with me in my house a jar of the wine

of our country, the which I have kept stored these eight years

under the earth; so I go now to fill from it our sufficiency and

will return to thee forthright." Therewithal the Lady

Bedrulbudour, that she might beguile him more and more, said to

him, "O my beloved, do not thou go thyself and leave me. Send one

of thy servants to fill us from the jar and abide thou sitting

with me, that I may take comfort in thee." "O my lady," answered

he, "none knoweth the place of the jar save myself; but I will

not keep thee waiting." [FN#603] So saying, he went out and

returned after a little with their sufficiency of wine; and the

Lady Bedrulbudour said to him, "Thou hast been at pains [FN#604]

[for me], and I have put thee to unease, [FN#605] O my beloved."

"Nay," answered he, "O [thou that art dear to me as] mine eyes, I

am honoured by thy service." Then she sat down with him at table

and they both fell to eating. Presently, the princess called for

drink and the handmaid immediately filled her the cup; then she

filled for the Maugrabin and the Lady Bedrulbudour proceeded to

drink to his life and health, [FN#606] and he also drank to her

life and she fell to carousing [FN#607] with him. Now she was

unique in eloquence and sweetness of speech and she proceeded to

beguile him and bespeak him with words significant [FN#608] and

sweet, so she might entangle him yet straitlier in the toils of

her love. The Maugrabin thought that all this was true [FN#609]

and knew not that the love she professed to him was a snare set

for him to slay him. So he redoubled in desire for her and was

like to die for love of her, when he saw from her that which she

showed him of sweetness of speech and coquetry; [FN#610] his head

swam with ecstasy [FN#611] and the world became changed [FN#612] in

his eyes.

When they came to the last of the supper and the princess knew

that the wine had gotten the mastery in his head, she said to

him, "We have in our country a custom, meknoweth not if you in

this country use it or not." "And what is this custom?" asked the

Maugrabin. "It is," answered she, "that, at the end of supper,

each lover taketh the other's cup and drinketh it." So saying,

she took his cup and filling it for herself with wine, bade the

handmaid give him her cup, wherein was wine mingled with henbane,

even as she had taught her how she should do, for that all the

slaves and slave-girls in the palace wished his death and were at

one against him with the Lady Bedrulbudour. So the damsel gave

him the cup, and he, hearing the princess's words and seeing her

drink in his cup and give him to drink in hers, deemed himself

Iskender of the Horns, whenas he saw from her all this love. Then

she bent towards him, swaying gracefully from side to side, and

laying her hand on his, said, "O my life, here is thy cup with me

and mine is with thee; thus do lovers drink one from other's

cup." Then she kissed [FN#613] his cup and drinking it off, set it

down and came up to him and kissed him on the cheek; [FN#614]

whereat he was like to fly for joy and purposing to do even as

she had done, raised the cup to his mouth and drank it all off,

without looking if there were aught therein or not; but no sooner

had he done this than he turned over on his back, like a dead

man, and the cup fell from his hand.

The Lady Bedrulbudour rejoiced at this and the damsels ran, vying

with each other in their haste, [FN#615] and opened the

palace-door [FN#616] to Alaeddin, their lord; whereupon he entered

and [FN#617] going up to his wife's pavilion, [FN#618] found her

sitting at the table and the Maugrabin before her, as one slain.

So he went up to the princess and kissed her and thanked her for

this [that she had done] and rejoiced with an exceeding joy. Then

said he to her, "Get thee now into thine inner chamber, thou and

thy damsels, and leave me alone, so I may consider of that which

I have to do." Accordingly, the Lady Bedrulbudour tarried not,

but entered the inner pavilion, she and her women; whereupon

Alaeddin arose and locked the door on them and going up to the

Maugrabin, put his hand to his sleeve and pulled out the lamp;

after which he drew his sword and cut off the sorcerer's head.

Then he rubbed the lamp and the Marid, its slave, appeared to him

and said, "Here am I, O my lord; what wiliest thou?" Quoth

Alaeddin, "I will of thee that thou take up this palace from this

country and carry it to the land of China and set it in the place

where it was erst, before the Sultan's palace." "Hearkening and

obedience, O my lord," replied the Marid [and disappeared],

whilst Alaeddin went in and sat with the Lady Bedrulbudour his

bride and embraced her and kissed her and she him; and they sat

talking and making merry, what while the Marid took up the palace

with [FN#619] them and set it down in its place before the

Sultan's palace.

Presently Alaeddin called for food; so the slave-girls set the

tray before him and he sat, he and the Lady Bedrulbudour his

wife, and ate and drank in all joy and gladness till they had

taken their sufficiency. Then they removed to the chamber of wine

and carousel, where they sat drinking and making merry and

kissing one another with all eagerness, for that it was long

since they had had easance together; and they ceased not from

this till the sun of wine rose in their heads and sleep took

them; whereupon they arose and lay down on their bed in all rest

and delight. In the morning Alaeddin arose and aroused his wife,

whereupon her women came to her and dressed her and busked her

and adorned her; whilst he, on his part, donned the richest of

raiment, [FN#620] and both were like to fly for joy at their

reunion with each other, after their separation, whilst the Lady

Bedrulbudour was especially glad, for that she looked to see her

father that day.

So much for Alaeddin and the Lady Bedrulbudour; and as for the

Sultan, after he had released Alaeddin, he ceased not to mourn

for the loss of his daughter and to sit and weep for her, like a

woman, at every time and tide; for that she was his only one and

he had none other than her. And every day, whenas he arose from

his sleep in the morning, he would go hastily to the window and

opening it, look towards the place where Alaeddin's palace was

erst and weep till his eyes were dried up and their lids ulcered.

He arose that day at dawn, according to his wont, and opening the

window, looked out and saw before him a building; so he fell to

rubbing his eyes and looking closelier, was certified that it was

Alaeddin's palace; whereupon he immediately called for the

horses. Accordingly, they saddled them and he went down and

mounting, rode to Alaeddin's palace. When the latter saw him

coming, he went down and meeting him half-way, took him by the

hand and carried him up to the pavilion of the Lady Bedrulbudour,

his daughter. Now she also longed sore for her father; so she

came down and met him at the stair-foot door, over against the

lower hall; whereupon he embraced her and fell to kissing her and

weeping and on this wise did she also. Then Alaeddin brought them

up to the upper pavilion, [FN#621] where they sat down and the

Sultan proceeded to question the princess of her case and of that

which had befallen her, whilst [FN#622] she acquainted him with

all that had happened to her and said to him, "O my father, I

breathed not till yesterday, when I saw my husband, and he it is

who delivered me from the bondage of a Maugrabin, an accursed

sorcerer, methinketh there is not a filthier than he on the face

of the earth; and but for my beloved Alaeddin, I had not won free

of him and thou hadst not seen me all thy life. Indeed, O my

father, there possessed me grief and sore chagrin, not only for

my severance from thee, but also for the loss of my husband, to

whom I shall be beholden all the days of my life, seeing he

delivered me from that accursed enchanter."

Then she went on to acquaint her father with all that had

befallen her and to tell him of the Maugrabin's dealings and what

he did with her and how he feigned himself a lampseller, who

bartered new for old. "And when," [quoth she]; "I saw this

[seeming] lack of wit in him, I fell to laughing at him,

unknowing his perfidy and his intent; so I took an old lamp that

was in my husband's pavilion and sent it by the eunuch, who

exchanged it with him for a new lamp; and next day, O my father,

at daybreak, we found ourselves in Africa, with the palace and

all that was therein; and I knew not the properties of the lamp

which I had exchanged, till my husband Alaeddin came to us and

contrived against the Maugrabin a device whereby he delivered us

from him. Now, except my husband had won to us, it was the

accursed one's intent to go in to me perforce; but Alaeddin, my

husband. gave me a powder, the which I put for him in a cup of

wine and gave it him to drink. So he drank it and fell-back as

one dead; whereupon my husband Alaeddin came in to me and

meknoweth not how he wrought, so that he transported us back from

the land of Africa to our place here." And Alaeddin said to the

Sultan, "O my lord, when I came up and saw him cast down like one

slain and sleeping for the henbane, I said to the Lady

Bedrulbudour, 'Go in, thou and thy women, to the inner pavilion.'

So she arose and went in, she and her damsels, from that

loathsome sight; whilst I went up to the accursed Maugrabin and

putting my hand to his sleeve, pulled out the lamp, for that the

Lady Bedrulbudour had told me he still carried it there. Then,

when I had gotten it, I drew my sword and cut [off] the

accursed's [head] and making use of the lamp, bade its servants

take us up, with the palace and all that was therein, and set us

down here in our place. And if Thy Grace be in doubt of my words,

do thou come with me and see the accursed Maugrabin."

So the King arose and going in with Alaeddin to the pavilion, saw

the Maugrabin [Iying ]: whereupon he bade forthright take the

carcase and burn it and scatter its ashes [to the winds]. Then he

embraced Alaeddin and fell to kissing him and said to him,

"Excuse me, O my son, for that I was going [FN#623] to bereave

thee of thy life, through the wickedness of yonder accursed

sorcerer who cast thee into this pit; and indeed, O my son, I was

excusable in that which I did with thee, inasmuch as I saw myself

bereft of my daughter and mine only one, who is dearer to me than

my kingdom, and thou knowest how fathers' hearts yearn upon their

children, more by token that I have but the Lady Bedrulbudour."

And he went on to excuse himself to him and kiss him; and [FN#624]

Alaeddin said to him, "O Lord of the Age, thou didst with me

nothing contrary to the law and I also was guiltless of offence;

but the thing came all of that vile Maugrabin enchanter." Then

the Sultan bade decorate the city and hold festival and

rejoicings and commanded the crier to cry in the city that that

day was a great festival, wherefore rejoicings should be holden

in all the realm during the space of a month, [to wit,] thirty

days' time, for the return of the Lady Bedrulbudour his daughter

and her husband Alaeddin.

This, then, is what befell Alaeddin with the Maugrabin; but

Alaeddin, for all this, was not altogether [FN#625] quit of the

accursed enchanter, withal his body had been burned and given to

the winds; for that the accursed one had a brother viler than he

[and yet more skilled] in magic and geomancy and astrology; [nay,

they were even] as saith the proverb, "A bean and it was cloven

in twain;" [FN#626] and each dwelt in one quarter of the world, so

they might fill it [FN#627] with their sorcery and craft and

guile. It chanced one day that the Maugrabin's brother was minded

to know how it was with his brother; so he fetched his sand-board

and smote it and extracted its figures; then he considered them

and examining them throughly, found his brother in the house of

the tomb; [FN#628] whereat he mourned and was certified that he

was indeed dead. Then he smote the sand a second time, so he

might learn how and where he died, and found that he had died in

the land of China and by the foulest of deaths and knew that he

who slew him was a youth by name Alaeddin. So he rose at once and

equipping himself for travel, set out and traversed plains and

deserts and mountains months and months, till he came to the land

of China [and entering] the city of the sultanate, wherein was

Alaeddin, repaired to the Strangers' Khan, where he hired him a

lodging and rested there a little.

Then he arose to go round about the thoroughfares of the city,

that he might spy him out a means of compassing his fell purpose,

the which was to take vengeance of his brother on Alaeddin. So he

entered a coffee-house in the market, a mighty fine place whither

there resorted great plenty of folk, some to play tables, [FN#629]

some draughts [FN#630] and other some chess and what not else.

There he sat down and heard those who sat beside him talk of an

old woman, an anchoress, by name Fatimeh, who still abode in her

place without the city, serving [God], and came not down into the

town but two days in the month, avouching her to be possessed of

divine gifts galore. [FN#631] When the Maugrabin enchanter heard

this, he said in himself, "Now have I found that which I sought.

An it please God the Most High, I shall achieve my quest by means

of this woman." So [FN#632] he went up to the folk who were

speaking of the devout old woman's supernatural powers and said

to one of them, "O uncle, I hear you talk of the divine gifts of

one she-saint, [FN#633] by name Fatimeh. Who [FN#634] is she and

where is her place?" "Wonderful!" cried the man. "What, thou art

in our city and hast not heard of the divine gifts of my

Lady [FN#635] Fatimeh? Apparently, good man, [FN#636] thou art a

stranger, since thou hast never chanced to hear of the fasts of

this holy woman and her abhorrence of the world and the

goodliness of her piety." "Ay, my lord," replied the Maugrabin,

"I am indeed a stranger and arrived but yesternight in this your

town; wherefore I beseech thee tell me of the divine gifts of

this holy woman and where her place is, for that I have fallen

into a calamity and would fain go to her and crave her of prayer,

so haply God (to whom belong might and majesty) may deliver me

from my stress, by means of her intercession." The man

accordingly told him of the divine gifts of the holy woman

Fatimeh and her piety and the excellence of her devotion; then,

taking him by the hand, he carried him without the city and

showed him the way to her abiding-place, which was in a cavern on

the top of a little hill; whereupon the Maugrabin thanked him

amain for his kindness [FN#636] and returned to his place in the

Khan.

Now, by the decree of destiny, Fatimeh came down on the morrow to

the city and the enchanter, going forth the Khan in the morning,

saw the folk crowding together; so he went up, to see what was

toward, and found Fatimeh standing, whilst every one who had a

pain or an ache came to her, seeking her blessing and soliciting

her prayers, and whenas she stroked him, he was made whole of his

ailment. The Maugrabin followed her, till she returned to her

cavern, and waited till nightfall, when he arose and entering a

sherbet-sellers [FN#637] shop, drank a cup of liquor, [FN#638] then

went forth the city, intending for the cavern of Fatimeh the

recluse. When he came thither, he entered and saw her sleeping on

her back on a piece of matting; so he went up to her and sitting

down [FN#639] on her breast, [FN#640] drew his dagger and cried out

at her; whereupon she awoke and opening her eyes, saw a man, a

Maugrabin, with a drawn dagger, sitting on her breast [FN#641] and

offering to kill her. So she feared and trembled and he said to

her, "Harkye, an thou say aught or cry out, I will kill thee on

the spot. Arise now and do all that I shall bid thee." And he

swore an oath to her that, if she did for him that which he

should bid her, he would not kill her.

Then he rose from her and she rose also, and he said to her,

"Give me thy clothes and take mine." So she gave him her clothes

and head-bands and her kerchief and veil; and he said to her,

"Now must thou anoint me, to boot, with somewhat, so my face may

become like unto shine in colour." Accordingly Fatimeh went

within the cavern and bringing out a vial of ointment, took

thereof in her palm and anointed his face withal, whereupon it

became like unto hers in colour. Then she gave him her staff and

taught him how he should walk and how he should do, whenas he

went down into the city; moreover, she put her rosary on his neck

and finally giving him the mirror, said to him, "Look now; thou

differest not from me in aught." So he looked and saw himself as

he were Fatimeh herself. [FN#642] Then, when he had gotten his

desire, he broke his oath and sought of her a rope; so she

brought him a rope and he took her and strangled her therewith in

the cavern. When she was dead, he dragged her forth and cast her

into a pit therewithout; then, [FN#643] returning to her cavern,

he slept there till the day broke, when he arose and going down

into the city, came under Alaeddin's pavilion. [FN#644]

The folk gathered about him, believing him to be Fatimeh the

Recluse, and he proceeded to do like as she had been used to do,

laying hands on those in pain and reciting for this one the

Fatiheh [FN#645] and for that a[nother] chapter of the Koran and

praying for a third. Then, for the much crowding upon him and the

clamour of the folk, the Lady Bedrulbudour heard and said to her

women, "See what is to do and what is the cause of this noise."

So the Ada of the eunuchs went to see what was toward and

returning, said to her, "O my lady, this clamour is because of

the Lady Fatimeh. An it please thee bid me fetch her to thee, so

thou mayst ask a blessing of her ...." And the Lady Bedrulbudour

said to him, "Go and bring her to me; marry, this long while past

I have still heard of her gifts and excellences and have yearned

to see her, so I may ask a blessing of her, for that the folk are

beyond measure abundant [in talk] of her [FN#646] virtues." So the

Aga went and brought the enchanter, disguised as Fatimeh, before

the Lady Bedrulbudour; whereupon the Maugrabin offered up

abundance of prayers for her, and none misdoubted of him but that

he was Fatimeh the recluse. The princess rose and saluting him,

seated him by her side and said to him, "O my Lady Fatimeh, I

will have thee with me alway, that I may be blessed in thee and

eke that I may learn of thee the ways of God-service and piety

and model myself on thee."

Now this was what the accursed sorcerer aimed at; however, the

better to accomplish his perfidious intent, [FN#647] he

[dissembled and] said to her, "O my lady, I am a poor woman

sitting in the desert and it beseemeth not that the like of me

should abide in kings' palaces." Quoth the Lady Bedrulbudour,

"Have no manner of care, O my lady Fatimeh; I will give thee a

place in my house, where thou shalt do thy devotions, and none

shall ever go in to thee; nay, here shalt thou serve God better

than in thy cavern." And the Maugrabin said to her, "Hearkening

and obedience, O my lady; I will not gainsay thy commandment, for

that the speech of princes may not be crossed neither disputed;

but I beg of thee that my eating and drinking and sitting may be

in my closet alone [and] that none may come in upon me. Moreover,

I need no rich viands, but every day do thou favour me and send

me by thy handmaid a piece of bread and a draught of water to my

closet; and when I am minded to eat, I will eat in my closet

alone." (Now this the accursed did, of his fear lest his chin

veil should be raised, when he ate, and so his case be exposed

and they know him for a man by his beard and moustaches.) "O my

lady Fatimeh," rejoined the princess, "be easy; nothing shall

betide save that which thou wiliest; so rise now [and come] with

me, that I may show thee the pavilion [FN#648] which I purpose to

order for thine inhabitance with us." So [FN#649] saying, she

arose and carrying the sorcerer to the place which she had

appointed him wherein to abide, said to him, "O my lady Fatimeh,

here shalt thou dwell; this pavilion is in thy name and thou

shalt abide therein in all quiet and ease of privacy." And the

Maugrabin thanked her for her bounty and prayed for her.

Then the Lady Bedrulbudour took him and showed him the

belvedere [FN#650] and the kiosk of jewels, with the four-and-

twenty oriels, [FN#651] and said to him, "How deemest thou, O my

Lady Fatimeh, of this wonderful pavilion?" [FN#652] "By Allah, O

my daughter," replied he, "it is indeed marvellous in the

extreme, [FN#653] nor methinketh is its like found in the world;

nay, it is magnificent exceedingly; but oh, for one thing which

would far increase it in beauty and adornment!" And the princess

said to him, "O my Lady Fatimeh, what is lacking to it and what

is this thing which would adorn it? Tell me of it; I had thought

that it was altogether perfect." "O my lady," answered the

sorcerer, "that which lacketh to it is the egg of the bird Roc,

which being hung in its dome, there were no like unto this

pavilion in all the world." "What is this bird." asked the

princess, "and where shall we find its egg?" And the Moor said to

her, "O my lady, this is a great bird that taketh up camels and

elephants in its talons and flieth with them, of its bigness and

greatness; it is mostly to be found in the mountain Caf and the

craftsman who builded this palace [FN#654] is able to bring its

egg." Then they left that talk and it was the time of the

morning-meal. So the slave-girls laid the table and the Lady

Bedrulbudour sat down and sought of the accursed sorcerer that he

should eat with her; but he refused and rising, entered the

pavilion which she had given him, whither the slave-girls carried

him the morning-meal.

When it was eventide and Alaeddin returned from the chase, the

Lady Bedrulbudour met him and saluted him: whereupon he embraced

her and kissed her and looking in her face, saw that she was

somewhat troubled and smiled not, against her wont. So he said to

her, "What aileth thee, O my beloved? Tell me, hath there

befallen thee aught to trouble thee?" And she answered him,

saying, "There aileth me nothing; but, O my beloved, I had

thought that our palace [FN#655] lacked of nought; however, O my

eyes [FN#656] Alaeddin, were there hung in the dome of the upper

pavilion [FN#657] an egg of the bird Roc, there were not its like

in the world." "And wast thou concerned anent this?" rejoined

Alaeddin. "This is to me the easiest of all things; so be easy,

for it is enough that thou tell me of that which thou wishest and

I will fetch it thee from the abysses of the world on the

speediest wise." Then [FN#658] after he had comforted the princess

and promised her all she sought, he went straight to his closet

and taking the lamp rubbed it; whereupon the Marid at once

appeared and said to him, "Seek what thou wilt;" and Alaeddin, "I

will have thee bring me a Roc's egg and hang it in the dome of

the [upper] pavilion." [FN#659]

When the Marid heard Alaeddin's words, his face frowned and he

was wroth and cried out with a terrible great voice, saying, "O

denier of benefits, doth it not suffice thee that I and all the

slaves of the Lamp are at thy service and wouldst thou eke have

me bring thee our liege lady, for thy pleasure, and hang her in

the dome of thy pavilion, to divert thee and thy wife? By Allah,

ye deserve that I should forthright reduce you both to ashes and

scatter you to the winds! But, inasmuch as ye are ignorant, thou

and she, concerning this matter and know not its inward from its

outward, [FN#660] I excuse you, for that ye are innocent. As for

the guilt, it lieth with the accursed one, the surviving [FN#661]

brother of the Maugrabin enchanter, who feigneth himself to be

Fatimeh the Recluse; for lo, he hath slain Fatimeh in her cavern

and hath donned her dress and disguised himself after her favour

and fashion and is come hither, seeking thy destruction, so he

may take vengeance on thee for his brother; and he it is who

taught thy wife to seek this of thee." [FN#662] Therewith he

disappeared, and as for Alaeddin, when he heard this, his wit

fled from his head and his joints trembled at the cry wherewith

the Marid cried out at him; but he took heart and leaving his

closet, went in straightway to his wife and feigned to her that

his head irked him, of his knowledge that Fatimeh was renowned

for the secret of healing [FN#663] all aches and pains. When the

Lady Bedrulbudour saw him put his hand to his head and complain

of its aching, [FN#664] she asked him what was the cause and he

said, "I know not, except that my head irketh me sore."

Accordingly she sent forthwith to fetch Fatimeh, so she might lay

her hand on his head; whereupon quoth Alaeddin, "Who is this

Fatimeh?" And the princess told him how she had lodged Fatimeh

the recluse with her in the palace. [FN#665]

Meanwhile the slave-girls went and fetched the accursed

Maugrabin, and Alaeddin arose to him, feigning ignorance of his

case, and saluted him, as he had been the true Fatimeh. Moreover

he kissed the hem of his sleeve and welcomed him, [FN#666] saying,

"O my Lady Fatimeh, I beseech thee do me a kindness, since I know

thy usances in the matter of the healing of pains, for that there

hath betided me a sore pain in my head." The Maugrabin could

scarce believe his ears of this speech, [FN#667] for that this was

what he sought; so he went up to Alaeddin, as he would lay his

hand on his head, after the fashion of Fatimeh the recluse, and

heal him of his pain. When he drew near-him, he laid one hand on

his head and putting the other under his clothes, drew a dagger,

so [FN#668] he might slay him withal. But Alaeddin was watching

him and waited till he had all to-drawn the dagger, when he

gripped him by the hand and taking the knife from him,

planted [FN#669] it in his heart.

When the Lady Bedrulbudour saw this, she cried out and said to

him, "What hath this holy anchoress done, that thou burthenest

thyself with the sore burden of her blood? Hast thou no fear of

God, that thou dost this and hast slain Fatimeh, who was a holy

woman and whose divine gifts were renowned?" Quoth he to her, "I

have not slain Fatimeh; nay, I have slain him who slew her; for

that this is the brother of the accursed Maugrabin enchanter, who

took thee and by his sorcery transported the palace with thee to

the land of Africa. Yea, this accursed one was his brother and

came to this country and wrought these frauds, slaying Fatimeh

and donning her clothes and coming hither, so he might take

vengeance on me for his brother. Moreover, it was he who taught

thee to seek of me a Roc's egg, so my destruction should ensue

thereof; and if thou misdoubt of my word, come and see whom I

have slain." So saying, he did off the Maugrabin's chin veil and

the Lady Bedrulbudour looked and saw a man whose beard covered

his face; whereupon she at once knew the truth and said to

Alaeddin, "O my beloved, twice have I cast thee into danger of

death;" and he said to her, "O Lady Bedrulbudour, thanks to thine

eyes, [FN#670] no harm [hath betided me thereof; nay,] I accept

with all joy everything that cometh to me through thee." When the

princess heard this, she hastened to embrace him and kissed him,

saying, "O my beloved, all this was of my love for thee and I

knew not what I did; [FN#671] nor indeed am I negligent of thy

love." [FN#672] Whereupon Alaeddin kissed her and strained her to

his breast and love redoubled between them.

Presently, in came the Sultan; so they told him of all that had

passed with the Maugrabin enchanter's brother and showed him the

latter, as he lay dead; whereupon he bade burn him and scatter

his ashes to the winds. Thenceforward Alaeddin abode with his

wife the Lady Bedrulbudour in all peace and pleasure and was

delivered from all perils. Then, after a while, the Sultan died

and Alaeddin sat down on the throne of the kingdom and ruled and

did justice among the people; and all the folk loved him and he

lived with his wife, the Lady Bedrulbudour, in all cheer and

solace and contentment till there came to them the Destroyer of

Delights and the Sunderer of Societies.

Footnotes

[FN#1] i.e. (1) Zeyn Alasnam, (2) Codadad. (3) The Sleeper

Awakened. (4) Aladdin. (5) Baba Abdallah. (6) Sidi Nouman. (7)

Cogia Hassan Alhabbah (8) Ali Baba. (9) Ali Cogia. (10) Prince

Ahmed and Pari-Banou. (11) The Sisters who envied their younger

Sister.

[FN#2] "M. Galland was aware of the imperfection of the MS. used

by him and (unable to obtain a more perfect copy) he seems to

have endeavoured to supply the place of the missing portions by

incorporating in his translation a number of Persian, Turkish and

Arabic Tales, which had no connection with his original and for

which it is generally supposed that he probably had recourse to

Oriental MSS. (as yet unidentified) contained in the Royal

Libraries of Paris." Vol. IX. p. 263. "Of these the Story of the

Sleeper Awakened is the only one which has been traced to an

Arabic original and is found in the Breslau edition of the

complete work, printed by Dr. Habicht from a MS. of Tunisian

origin, apparently of much later date than the other known

copies.....Galland himself cautions us that the Stories of Zeyn

Alasnam and Codadad do not belong to the Thousand and One Nights

and were published (how he does not explain) without his

authority." p. 264. " It is possible that an exhaustive

examination of the various MS. copies of the Thousand and One

Nights known to exist in the public libraries of Europe Might yet

cast some light upon the origin of the interpolated tales; but,

in view of the strong presumption afforded by internal evidence

that they are of modern composition and form no part of the

authentic text, it can hardly be expected, where the result and

the value of that result are alike so doubtful, that any

competent person will be found to undertake so heavy a task,

except as incidental to some more general enquiry. The only one

of the eleven which seems to me to bear any trace of possible

connection with the Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night is

Aladdin, and it may be that an examination of the MS. copies of

the original work within my reach will yet enable me to trace the

origin of that favourite story." pp. 268-9.

[FN#3] Histoire d' 'Ala Al-Din ou la Lampe Merveilleuse. Texte

Arabe, Publie avec une notice de quelques Manuscrits des Mille et

Une Nuits et la traduction de Galland. Par H. Zotenberg. Paris,

Imprimerie Nationale, 1888.

[FN#4] For the sake of uniformity and convenience of reference,

I use, throughout this Introduction, Galland's spelling of the

names which occur in his translation, returning to my own system

of transliteration in my rendering of the stories themselves.

[FN#5] i.e. God's.

[FN#6] "La suite des Mille et une Nuits, Contes Arabes trafluits

par Dom Chavis et M. Cazotte. Paris 1788." The Edinburgh Review

(July, 1886) gives the date of the first edition as 1785; but

this is an error, probably founded upon the antedating of a copy

of the Cabinet des Fees, certain sets of which (though not

actually completed till 1793) are dated, for some publisher's

reason, 1785. See also following note.

[FN#7] These four (supplemental) vols. of the Cabinet des Fees

(printed in 1793, though antedated 1788 and 1789) do not form the

first edition of Chavis and Cazotte's so-called Sequel, which was

in 1793 added, by way of supplement, to the Cabinet des Fees,

having been first published in 1788 (two years after the

completion-in thirty-seven volumes-of that great storehouse of

supernatural fiction) under the title of "Les Veillees Persanes"

or "Les Veillees du Sultan Schahriar avec la Sultane

Scheherazade, histoires incroyables, amusantes et morales,

traduites par M. Cazotte et D. Chavis, faisant suite aux Mille et

Une Nuits."

[FN#8] I cannot agree with my friend Sir R. F. Burton in his

estimate of these tales, which seem to me, even in Caussin de

Perceval's corrector rendering and in his own brilliant and

masterly version, very inferior, in style, conduct and diction,

to those of "the old Arabian Nights," whilst I think "Chavis and

Cazotte's Continuation" utterly unworthy of republication,

whether in part or "in its entirety." Indeed, I confess the

latter version seems to me so curiously and perversely and

unutterably bad that I cannot conceive how Cazotte can have

perpetrated it and can only regard it as a bad joke on his part.

As Caussin de Perceval remarks, it is evident that Shawish

(whether from ignorance or carelessness) must, in many instances,

have utterly misled his French coadjutor (who had no knowledge of

Arabic) as to the meaning of the original, whilst it is much to

be regretted that a writer of exquisite genius and one of the

first stylists of the 18th century, such as the author of the

Diable Amoureux, (a masterpiece to be ranked with Manon Lescaut

and Le Neveu de Rameau,) should have stooped to the commission of

the flagrant offences against good taste and artistic morality

which disfigure well nigh every line of the so-called "Sequel to

the 1001 Nights." "Far be it" (as the Arabs say) that we should

do so cruel a wrong to so well and justly beloved a memory as

that of Jacques Cazotte as to attempt to perpetuate the

remembrance of a literary crime which one can hardly believe him

to have committed in sober earnest! Rather let us seek to bury in

oblivion this his one offence and suffer kind Lethe with its

beneficent waters to wash this "adulterous blot " from his else

unsullied name.

[FN#9] Lit. "Servants" (ibad) i.e. of God.

[FN#10] i.e. he who most stands in need of God's mercy.

[FN#11] Kebikej is the name of the genie set over the insect

kingdom. Scribes occasionally invoke him to preserve their

manuscripts from worms.-Note by M. Zotenberg.

[FN#12] Galland calls him "Hanna, c'est ... dire Jean Baptiste,"

the Arabic Christian equivalent of which is Youhenna and the

Muslim Yehya, "surnomme Diab." Diary, October 25, 1709.

[FN#13] At this date Galland had already published the first six

(of twelve) volumes of his translation (1704-5) and as far as I

can ascertain, in the absence of a reference copy (the British

Museum possessing no copy of the original edition), the 7th and

8th volumes were either published or in the press. Vol. viii. was

certainly published before the end of the year 1709, by which

time the whole of vol. ix. was ready for printing.

[FN#14] i.e. Aladdin.

[FN#15] Galland died in 1715, leaving the last two volumes of

his translation (which appear by the Diary to have been ready for

the prep on the 8th June, 1713) to be published in 1717.

[FN#16] Aleppo.

[FN#17] i.e. Yonhenna Diab.

[FN#18] For "Persian." Galland evidently supposed, in error,

that Petis de la Croix's forthcoming work was a continuation of

his "Contes Turcs" published in 1707, a partial translation

(never completed) of the Turkish version of "The Forty Viziers,"

otherwise "The Malice of Women," for which see Le Cabinet des

Fees, vol. xvi. where the work is, curiously enough, attributed

(by the Table of Contents) to Galland himself.

[FN#19] See my terminal essay. My conclusions there stated as to

the probable date of the original work have since been completely

confirmed by the fact that experts assign Galland's original

(imperfect) copy of the Arabic text to the latter part of the

fourteenth century, on the evidence of the handwriting, etc.

[FN#20] In M. Zotenberg's notes to Aladdin.

[FN#21] Night CCCCXCVII.

[FN#22] Khelifeh.

[FN#23] Or 'favourites" (auliya), i.e. holy men, devotees,

saints.

[FN#24] i.e. the geomancers. For a detailed description of this

magical process, (which is known as "sand-tracing," Kharu 'r

reml,) see posl, p. 199, note 2.{see FN#548}

[FN#25] i.e. "What it will do in the course of its life"

[FN#26] Or "ascendants" (tewali).

[FN#27] i.e. "Adornment of the Images." This is an evident

mistake (due to some ignorant copyist or reciter of the story) of

the same kind as that to be found at the commencement of the

story of Ghanim ben Eyoub, (see my Book of the Thousand Nights

and One Night, Vol I. p. 363 et seq.), where the hero is absurdly

stated to have been surnamed at birth the "Slave of Love," a

sobriquet which could only have attached itself to him in

after-life and as a consequence of his passion for Fitoeh. Sir R.

F. Burton suggests, with great probability, that the name, as it

stands in the text, is a contraction, by a common elliptical

process, of the more acceptable, form Zein-ud-din ul Asnam, i.e.

Zein-ud-din (Adornment of the Faith) [he] of the Images, Zein

(adornment) not being a name used by the Arabic-speaking races,

unless with some such addition as ud-Din ("of the Faith"), and

the affix ul Asnam ( "[He] of the Images") being a sobriquet

arising from the circumstances of the hero's after-life, unless

its addition, as recommended by the astrologers, is meant as an

indication of the latter's fore-knowledge of what was to befall

him thereafter. This noted, I leave the name as I find it in the

Arabic MS.

[FN#28] Sheji nebih. Burton, "Valiant and intelligent."

[FN#29] Syn. "his describers" (wasifihi).

[FN#30] Wa huwa hema caiou fihi bads wasifihi shiran. Burton

(apparently from a different text), "and presently he became even

as the poets sang of one of his fellows in semblance."

[FN#31] Milah, plural of melih, a fair one.

[FN#32] Khemseh senin. Burton, "fifteen."

[FN#33] Shabb, adult, man between sixteen and thirty.

[FN#34] Femu ghefir min el aalem. Burton, "All the defenders of

the realm."

[FN#35] Night CCCCXCVIII.

[FN#36] Syn. "depose."

[FN#37] Lit. "that which proceeded from him."

[FN#38] See ante, p. 3, note.{see FN#23}

[FN#39] Night CCCCXCIX.

[FN#40] i.e. imposed on me the toil, caused me undertake the

weariness, of coming to Cairo for nothing.

[FN#41] Forgetting his mother.

[FN#42] i.e. no mortal.

[FN#43] Keszr abouka 'l fulani (vulg. for abika'l fulan).

Burton, "Such a palace of thy sire."

[FN#44] i.e. it is not like the journey to Cairo and back.

[FN#45] i.e. in God grant thou mayst.

[FN#46] Or "jade" (yeshm).

[FN#47] Night D.

[FN#48] "Edh dheheb el atic. Burton, "antique golden pieces";

but there is nothing to show that the gold was coined.

[FN#49] The "also" in this clause seems to refer to the old man

of the dream.

[FN#50] Keszr, lit. palace, but commonly meaning, in modem

Arabic, an upper story or detached corps de logis (pavilion in

the French sense, an evident misnomer in the present case).

[FN#51] Lit. "put the key in the lock and opened it and behold,

the door of a palace (hall) opened."

[FN#52] Takeli, sing. form of tac, a window. Burton, "recess for

lamps."

[FN#53] Lit. "till he join thee with."

[FN#54] Or "Cairo," the name Misr being common to the country

and its capital.

[FN#55] Badki tecouli[na]. Badki (lit. after thee) is here used

in the modern sense of "still" or "yet." The interrogative prefix

A appears to have dropped out, as is not uncommon in manuscripts

of this kind. Burton, "After thou assuredst me, saying, &c."

[FN#56] Here she adopts her son's previous idea that the old man

of the dream was the Prophet in person.

[FN#57] Night DI.

[FN#58] Cudoum. The common form of welcome to a guest.

[FN#59] Or "upper room" (keszr).

[FN#60] Eight; see ante, p. 14. {see FN#46}

[FN#61] Edh dheheb el kedim.

[FN#62] Edh dhelieb er yemli, lit. sand. (i.e. alluvial) gold,

gold in its native state, needing no smelting to extract it.

This, by the way, is the first mention of the thrones or

pedestals of the images.

[FN#63] Lit. "[With] love and honour" (hubban wa kerametan). a

familar phrase implying complete assent to any request. It is by

some lexicologists supposed to have arisen from the circumstance

of a man answering another, who begged of him a wine-jar (hubb),

with the words, "Ay, I will give thee a jar and a cover (kerameh)

also," and to have thus become a tropical expression of ready

compliance with a petition, as who should say, "I will give thee

what thou askest and more."

[FN#64] The slave's attitude before his master.

[FN#65] The like.

[FN#66] Night DII.

[FN#67] i.e. invoked blessings upon him in the manner familiar

to readers of the Nights.

[FN#68] Lit. thou [art] indulged therein (ent musamih fiha).

[FN#69] Mehmy (vulg. for mehma, whatsoever) telebtaha minni min

en miam. Burton, "whatso of importance thou wouldst have of me."

[FN#70] Lit. "in a seeking (request) ever or at all" (fi tilbeti

abdan). Burton, "in thy requiring it."

[FN#71] Tal aleyya " wect, i.e. I am weary of waiting. Burton,

"My tarrying with thee hath been long."

[FN#72] Or "difficult" (aziz); Burton, "singular-fare."

[FN#73] Lit. "If the achievement thereof (or attainment

thereunto) will be possible unto thee [by or by dint of]

fortitude,"

[FN#74] Lit. "Wealth [is] in (or by) blood."

[FN#75] El berr el atfer. Burton translates, "the wildest of

wolds," apparently supposing atfer to be a mistranscription for

aefer, which is very possible.

[FN#76] Kewaribji, a word formed by adding the Turkish affix ji

to the Arabic kewarib, plural of carib, a small boat. The common

form of the word is caribji. Burton reads it, "Kewariji, one who

uses the paddle."

[FN#77] Lit "inverted " (mecloubeh). Burton, "the reverse of

man's."

[FN#78] Night DIII.

[FN#79] Wehsh. Burton, "a lion."

[FN#80] Lit. "then they passed on till" (thumma fatou ila [an]).

[FN#81] Sic (ashjar anber); though what the Arabic author meant

by "trees of ambergris" is more than I can say. The word anber

(pro. pounced amber) signifies also "saffron"; but the obbligato

juxtaposition of aloes and sandal-wood tends to show that what is

meant is the well- known product of the sperm-whale. It is

possible that the mention of this latter may be an interpolation

by some ignorant copyist, who, seeing two only of the three

favourite Oriental scents named, took upon himself to complete

the odoriferous trinity, so dear to Arab writers, by the addition

of ambergris.

[FN#82] Yas, Persian form of yasm, yasmin or yasimin. Sir R. F.

Burton reads yamin and supposes it to be a copyist's error for

yasmin, but this is a mistake; the word in the text is clearly

yas, though the final s, being somewhat carelessly written in the

Arabic MS, might easily be mistaken for mn with an undotted noun.

[FN#83] Lit. "perfect or complete (kamil) of fruits and

flowers."

[FN#84] Lit. "many armies" (asakir, pl. of asker, an army), but

asker is constantly used in post-classical Arabic (and notably in

the Nights) for "a single soldier," and still more generally the

plural (asakir), as here, for "soldiers."

[FN#85] Syn. "the gleaming of a brasier" (berc kanoun). Kanoun

is the Syrian name of two winter months, December (Kanoun el

awwal or first) and January (Kanoun eth thani or second).

[FN#86] So as to form a magic barrier against the Jinn, after

the fashion of the mystical circles used by European

necromancers.

[FN#87] Night DIV.

[FN#88] Fe-halan tuata, the time-honoured "Ask and it shall be

given unto thee."

[FN#89] Sic (berec ed dunya); but dunya (the world) is perhaps

meant to be taken here by synecdoche m the sense of "sky."

[FN#90] Syn. "darkness was let down like a curtain."

[FN#91] Lit. "like an earthquake like the earthquakes"; but the

second "like " (mithl) is certainly a mistranscription for "of"

(min).

[FN#92] Night DV.

[FN#93] Night DVI.

[FN#94] Here we have the word mithl (as or like) which I

supplied upon conjecture in the former description of the genie;

see ante, p. 24, note.

[FN#95] Medinetu 'l meda<n wa ujoubetu 'l aalem. It is well known

(see the Nights passim) that the Egyptians considered Cairo the

city of cities and the wonder of the world.

[FN#96] Lit. "How [is] the contrivance and the way the which we

shall attain by (or with) it to. . . ."

[FN#97] I.a tehtenim; but the text may also be read la tehettem

and this latter reading is adopted by Burton, who translates, "Be

not beaten and broken down."

[FN#98] Or "in brief" (bi-tejewwuz). Burton translates, "who

maketh marriages," apparently reading bi-tejewwuz as a

mistranscription for tetejewwez, a vulgar Syrian corruption of

tetezewwej.

[FN#99] Said in a quasi-complimentary sense, as we say,

"Confound him, what a clever rascal he is!" See the Nights passim

for numerous instances of this.

[FN#100] Quoth Shehrzad to Shehriyar.

[FN#101] Syn. "to work upon her traces or course" (tesaa ala

menakibiha).

[FN#102] Night DVII.

[FN#103] Lit. "the thirsty one (es szadi) and the goer-forth by

day or in the morning,, (el ghadi); but this is most probably a

mistranscription for the common phrase es sari (the goer by

night) wa 'l ghadi, often used in the sense of "comers and goers"

simply. This would be quite in character with the style of our

present manuscript, which constantly substitutes sz (sad) for s

(sin), e.g. szerai for serai (palace), szufreh, for sufreh

(meal-tray), for hheresza for hheresa(he guarded), etc., etc.,

whilst no one acquainted with the Arabic written character need

be reminded how easy it is to mistake a carelessly written-r (ra)

for d (dal) or vice-versa

[FN#104] The mosque being the caravanserai of the penniless

stranger.

[FN#105] The person specially appointed to lead the prayers of

the congregation and paid out of the endowed revenues of the

mosque to which he is attached.

[FN#106] Night DVIII.

[FN#107] Burton translates, "these accurseds," reading melaa<n

(pl. of melaoun, accursed); but the word in the text is plainly

mulaa<bein (objective dual of mulaa<b, a trickster, malicious

joker, hence, by analogy, sharper).

[FN#108] Eth thiyab el heririyeh. Burton "silver-wrought."

[FN#109] Netser ila necshetihim (lit. their image, cf.

Scriptural "image and presentment") wa szufretihim, i.e. he

satisfied himself by the impress and the colour that they were

diners, i.e. gold.

[FN#110] Lit. I am now become in confusion of or at him

(lianneni alan szirtu fi khejaleh (properly khejleh) minhu).

Burton, "for that I have been ashamed of waiting upon him."

[FN#111] Lit. "That which was incumbent on me to him."

[FN#112] Lit. "go to (or for) his service," or, as we should

say, "attend him."

[FN#113] Burton, "one of the envious;" but the verb is in the

plural.

[FN#114] Night DIX.

[FN#115] Et tsenn er redi. Burton, "the evil."

[FN#116] So that they might hang down and hide his feet and

hands, it being a point of Arab etiquette for an inferior

scrupulously to avoid showing either of these members in

presenting himself (especially for the first time) before his

superior.

[FN#117] Lit., "religiousness or devoutness (diyaneh) was by

nature in him," i.e. he was naturally inclined to respect

religion and honour its professors. Burton, "He was by nature

conscientious," which does not quite express the meaning of the

text; conscientiousness being hardly an Oriental virtue.

[FN#118] Lit, "I may (or shall) ransom him with m' life till I

(or so that I may) unite him therewith."

[FN#119] Iftekeret fi rejul.

[FN#120] Terbiyeh. This word is not sufficiently rendered by

"education," which modern use has practically restricted to

scholastic teaching, though the good old English phrase "to bring

up" is of course a literal translation of the Latin educare.

[FN#121] i.e. "I shall owe it to thee."

[FN#122] Lit. "It is certain to me," Constat mihi, fe-meikeni

(vulg. for fe-yekin) indi.

[FN#123] Night DX.

[FN#124] Or perhaps "Would I might."

[FN#125] i.e. the contract of marriage.

[FN#126] See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night"

passim, especially Vol. I pp. 190 et seq.

[FN#127] Miheffeh, a kind of howdah with a flat roof or top.

[FN#128] Tekht-rewan, a sort of palanquin drawn or carried by

mules or camels wherein she could recline at length. Burton

renders Miheffeh bi-tekhtrewan "a covered litter to be carried by

camels."

[FN#129] Burton adds here, "Thou wouldst feel ruth for me."

[FN#130] Lit. profit, gain (meksib), i.e. the ninth image, which

he was to receive as a reward for the faithful execution of his

commission.

[FN#131] Night DXI.

[FN#132] [A] nehnu bedna baud an hukm. The word hukm, which

commonly signifies the exercise of government or judicial power,

is here used metonymically in the sense of the place of dominion,

the seat of government. Burton, "Have we fared this far distance

by commandment of my bridegroom?"

[FN#133] Or "God forbid!" (Hhasha), a common interjection,

implying unconditional denial.

[FN#134] Lit. "The writing of (or he wrote) his writ upon thee"

(ketb kitabiki aleiki).

[FN#135] i.e.. at the Last Day, when men will be questioned of

their actions.

[FN#136] Night DXII.

[FN#137] Sic (tentsur), but this is probably a copyist's error

for "we may see" (nentsur), the difference being only a question

of one or two diacritical points over the initial letter.

[FN#138] Here Burton adds, "Indeed I had well nigh determined to

forfeit all my profit of the Ninth Statue and to bear thee away

to Bassorah as my own bride, when my comrade and councillor

dissuaded me from so doing, lest I should bring about my death."

[FN#139] Night DXIII.

[FN#140] Or (vulg.) "I thank him, etc." (istekthertu aleihi

elladhi hefitsaha wa sanaha wa hejeba rouhaku anha). Burton,

"Albeit I repeatedly enjoined him to defend and protect her until

he concealed from her his face."

[FN#141] Or we may read "went out, glad and rejoicing, with (bi)

the young lady;" but the reading in the test is more consonant

with the general style of the Nights.

[FN#142] Azaa, strictly the formal sitting in state to receive

visits of condolence for the death of a relation, but in modern

parlance commonly applied, by extension, to the funeral

ceremonies themselves.

[FN#143] El kendil el meshhour. The lamp is however more than

once mentioned in the course of the tale by the name of

"wonderful" (ajib, see post, p. 88, note 4) so familiar to the

readers of the old version.

[FN#144] Night DXIV.

[FN#145] Khilafahu, lit. "the contrary thereof;" but the

expression is constantly used (instead of the more correct

gheirahu) in the sense of "other than it," "the take," etc.

[FN#146] Or "street-boys" (auladu 'l hhareh).

[FN#147] Zeboun.

[FN#148] Burton adds here, "Counsel and castigation were of no

avail."

[FN#149] Lit. "had been recalled" (tuwouffia), i.e. by God to

Himself.

[FN#150] This old English and Shakspearean expression is the

exact equivalent of the Arabic phrase Khelesza min sherr

walidihi. Burton, "freed from [bearing] the severities of his

sire."

[FN#151] Kanet wayyishuhu. Burton, "lived only by."

[FN#152] Night DXV.

[FN#153] I prefer this old English form of the Arabic word

Meghrebiy (a native of El Meghreb or North-Western Africa) to

"Moor," as the latter conveys a false impression to the modern

reader, who would naturally suppose him to be a native of

Morocco, whereas the enchanter came, as will presently appear,

from biladu 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy, otherwise Ifrikiyeh, i.e. "the

land of the Inner West" or Africa proper, comprising Tunis,

Tripoli and part of A]geria.

[FN#154] Min biladi 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy. The Muslim provinces

of North-Western Africa, extending from the north-western

boundary of Egypt to Cape Nun on the Mogador Coast, were known

under the general name of El Meghreb (modern Barbary) and were

divided into three parts, to wit (1) El Meghreb el Jewwaniy,

Inner, i.e. Hither or Nearer (to Egypt) Barbary or Ifrikiyeh,

comprising Tripoli, Tunis and Constantine (part of Algeria), (2)

El Meghreb el Aouset, Central Barbary. comprising the rest of

Algeria, and (3) El Meghreb el Acszaa, Farther or Outer Barbary,

comprising the modern empire of Morocco.

[FN#155] El hieh. Burton translates, "astrology," and astrology

(or astronomy);) is the classical meaning of the word; but the

common meaning in modern Arabic is "the science of physiognomy,"

cf. the Nights passim. See especially ante, p. 42. {see FN#

[FN#156] Bi-szaut hezin meksour. Burton, "in a soft voice

saddened by emotion."

[FN#157] Burton, "brother- german."

[FN#158] Or "comfort myself in him" (ateazza bihi). Burton

"condole with him [over the past]."

[FN#159] Lit. "hid not unto me that" (ma ekhfa aleyya an).

[FN#160] Night DXVI.

[FN#161] Teaziyeti. Burton, "I have now railed in the mourning

ceremonies."

[FN#162] El bein ked efjaani fihi, i e. "I have been stricken

with separation from him." Burton, "Far distance wrought me this

trouble."

[FN#163] Lit. "the being (el ka<n, i.e. that which is, the

accomplished fact) there is not from it a refuge or place of

fleeing" (mehreb). Burton, "nor hath the creature aught of asylum

from the Creator."

[FN#164] Or "consolation" (azaa).

[FN#165] Burton, "I have none to condole with now save thyself"

[FN#166] Night DXVII.

[FN#167] Burton, "finding out."

[FN#168] Lit. "He had no longer a heart to part with him," i.e..

he could not bear him out of his sight, Alaeddin being necessary

for the achievement of the adventure of the lamp. See post.

[FN#169] El asha. Burton, "the meat."

[FN#170] Lit. "vein" (irc).

[FN#171] Night DXVIII.

[FN#172] Ujoubetu 'l aalem. See ante, p. 32, note. {see FN#95}

[FN#173] Ila biladi 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy.

[FN#174] Burton, "to the regions of the Setting Sun and abode

for a space of thirty years in the Moroccan interior." See ante,

p. 57, notes. {see FN#154}

[FN#175] Burton adds, "Alone at home."

[FN#176] i.e. birthplace, a child being bow head-foremost.

[FN#177] Burton, "wander like a wild Arab."

[FN#178] Lit. "and "; but this is the error of some copyist,

who, by leaving out an initial l, has turned lau (if) into wa

(and).

[FN#179] The first chapter of the Koran; a common usage in

anticipation of travel or indeed before commencing any enterprise

of moment.

[FN#180] Istehhweda (vulg. for istehhwedha) aleyya. Burton, "of

the pains which prevailed upon me."

[FN#181] Or "succeedeth" (yekklufu). Burton, "the legacy

bequeathed to us by."

[FN#182] Khellefa.

[FN#183] Night DXIX.

[FN#184] Lit. "abide in the subsistence of the like of this one

" (acoumu fi ma"sh mithl hadha). Burton, "go about for a

maintenance after this fashion."

[FN#185] Uhheszszilu ana ma"ski ana buddi men yuayyishani.

Burton, "I am compelled to provide him with daily bread when I

require to be provided."

[FN#186] Ibn nas generally signifies "a man of good family" (Fr.

fils de famille), but here the sense seems to be as in the text.

[FN#187] Or "constrain not thyself for me," in do not be ashamed

to say what thou wishes", lit. "let it not be hard or grievous

upon thee from or on account of me" (la yesubu aleika minni).

Burton, "Let not my words seem hard and harsh to thee."

[FN#188] Fe-in kana keman (vulg. for kema anna). Burton, "if

despite all I say."

[FN#189] Fi, lit. "in," but here used, as is common in Syria,

instead of bi "with."

[FN#190] Burton, "Shalt become famous among the folk."

[FN#191] Khwaja (Persian).

[FN#192] Tajir (Arabic equivalent of khwaja).

[FN#193] Burton, "that such folk dress handsomely and fare

delicately."

[FN#194] Night DXX.

[FN#195] Lit. "was past" (fata). Burton, "the dark hours were

passing by and the wine was drunken."

[FN#196] Sherab. Burton, "sherbets."

[FN#197] Night DXXI.

[FN#198] Or "places" (amakin).

[FN#199] Or "streets" (mehellat). Burton, "apartments."

[FN#200] i.e. "It is no merit in me that I do what I have done."

[FN#201] Bi-jahi 'l awwelin. Burton, "by the honour of the

Hallows."

[FN#202] i.e.. "a protection."

[FN#203] Lit. "that thine eye will be cooled with (or by) him."

[FN#204] Likai yetearrefa fihim wa yetearrefou fihi. This

passage confirms my reading of a former one; see ante, p. 68,

note 3. {see FN#189}

[FN#205] Nighs DXXII.

[FN#206] Lit. "believed not what time (ayyumetn) the day broke;"

but ayyumeta (of which ayyumeta is a vulgar corruption) supposes

the future and should be used with the aorist. The phrase, as I

have translated common in the Nights.

[FN#207] Or, "laughing at" (yudsahiku).. Burton, "he began to

make the lad laugh."

[FN#208] Szeraya (for seraya).

[FN#209] Keszr.

[FN#210] Newafir, an evident mistranscription, probably for some

such word as fewawir, irregular form of fewwarat, pl. of

fewwareh, a spring or jet of water.

[FN#211] Burton adds, "and reach the end of our walk."

[FN#212] Jebel aali. Burton, "the base of a high and naked hill."

[FN#213] Lit. "before or in front of a mountain." Burton, "we

have reached the barren hill-country."

[FN#214] Ra<hhin, a vulgarism of frequent occurrence in this

story.

[FN#215] Shudd heilek.

[FN#216] Lit. the land of the West (biladu 'l gherb); see ante,

p. 57, notes. {see FN#153}

[FN#217] Night DXXIII.

[FN#218] Lit. "without aught " (bilash), i e. without [visible]

cause or reason. Burton, "beyond the range of matter."

[FN#219] Nuhhas szebb (for szebeb min er) reml, lit. "brass

poured [forth from] sand," i.e. cast in a mould of sand. Cf. 1

Kings, vii 16, "two chapiters of molten brass."

[FN#220] Dir balek, lit. "turn thy thought (i.e. be attentive)

[to that which I shall say to thee]."

[FN#221] Night DXXIV.

[FN#222] Lit. "pass not by" (la tuferwwit). Burton, "nor

gainsay."

[FN#223] Yani li-min (vulg. for tani li-men), i.e. on whose

behalf do I undertake all these my toils?

[FN#224] Lit. "leave"; but the verb khella (II. of khela is

constantly used in the present text in the sense of "he made."

[FN#225] There is some mistake here in the text. The word which

I translate "great" is akabir (pl. of akber, most great),

apparently inserted by mistake for kebir, great. But that akabir

is followed by jiddan (exceedingly), I should be inclined to read

the phrase [kebiru 'l] akabir, greatest of the great.

[FN#226] Wehdi, lit. "my lone," a Scotch expression, which might

be usefully acclimatized in English prose and verse.

[FN#227] Night DXXV.

[FN#228] Or "pay attention," dir (vulg. for adir) balek. See

ante, p. 78, note. {see FN#220}

[FN#229] Lit. "a place divided into four places" I take the

variant aweds, chambers. from Chavis's copy of the MS., as quoted

by M. Zotenberg.

[FN#230] Liwan, i.e. an estrade or recessed room, raised above

the level of the ground and open in front.

[FN#231] Lit. "in it" (fihi); but the meaning is as in the text,

i.e. connected with it or leading thereto. This reading is

confirmed by the terms in which the stair is afterwards

mentioned, q.v. post, p. 83, and note. {see FN#235}

[FN#232] Night DXXVI.

[FN#233] Ubb. Burton, "breast-pocket," the usual word for which

is jeib. Ubb is occasionally used in this sense; but it is

evident from what follows (see post, p. 85. {see FN#243}

"Alaeddin proceeded to pluck and put in his pockets (ajyab, pl.

of jeib), and his sleeves " (ibab), and note) that ubb is here

used in the common sense of "sleeve."

[FN#234] i.e. "that which is in the lamp."

[FN#235] Burton transposes, "where he entered the saloon and

mounted the ladder;" but the context shows that the stair was a

flight of steps leading up to the dais and not a ladder in it.

The word fihi in the magician's instructions might indeed be

taken in this latter sense, but may just as well be read

"thereto" or "pertaining thereto" as "therein." See also below,

where Alaeddin is made to descend from the dais into the garden.

[FN#236] Lit. voices (aswat). Burton, "fond voices"

[FN#237] Burton, "Furthermore the size of each stone so far

surpassed description that no king of the kings of the world

owned a single gem of the larger sort."

[FN#238] Night DXXVII.

[FN#239] Toubasi. I insert this from the Chavis MS. Burton adds,

"spinels and balasses."

[FN#240] Ibab.

[FN#241] Ubb.

[FN#242] Ajyab, pl. of jeib, the bosom of a shirt, hence a

breast or other pocket.

[FN#243] Ibab. Burton, "pokes and breast-pockets."

[FN#244] The possession of the lamp rendering him superior to

the spells by which they were enchanted.

[FN#245] Burton says here, "The text creates some confusion by

applying sullem to staircase and ladder; hence probably the

latter is not mentioned by Galland and Co., who speak only of an

'escalier de cinquante marches.'" As far as I can see, Galland

was quite right, a staircase (and not a ladder) being, in my

judgment, meant in each case, and Sir Richard Burton's

translation of sullem min thelathin derejeh as "a ladder of

thirty rungs" (see ante p. 82, note {see FN#231}) seems to me

founded on a misconception, he being misled by the word "fihi"

(see my note ante, p. 83 {see FN#235}). He adds, "sullem in

modern Egyptian is used for a flight of steps;" but it signifies

both "ladder" and "flight of steps" in the classic tongue; see

Lane, p. 1416, colt 2, "sullem, a ladder or a series of stairs or

steps, either of wood or clay, etc." His remark would apply

better to derej (class. "a way," but in modern parlance "a

ladder" or "staircase" which the story-teller uses

interchangeably with sullem, in speaking of the stair leading

down into the underground, thus showing that he considered the

two words synonymous.

[FN#246] Akyas. This is the first mention of purses.

[FN#247] Lit. "without" (kharijan).

[FN#248] Burton, "Forasmuch as he had placed it at the bottom of

his breast-pocket and his other pockets being full of gems bulged

outwards."

[FN#249] Night DXXVIII.

[FN#250] Lit. "was locked," inkefelet, but I take this to be a

mistranscription of inkelebet, "was turned over."

[FN#251] Lit. "was covered over, shut like a lid" (intebeket).

[FN#252] Tebbeca, i.e. caused (by his enchantments) to become

covered or closed up like a lid.

[FN#253] Ifrikiyeh, see ante, p. 57, note 1. {see FN#153} Here

the story-teller takes the province for a city.

[FN#254] Burton adds, "by devilish inspiration."

[FN#255] Wa [kan] el aghreb an fi hadha 'l kenz [kana]. Burton

"the most marvellous article in this treasure was, etc."

[FN#256] Kendil ajib.

[FN#257] Night DXXIX.

[FN#258] A proverbial expression, meaning that, as he did not

absolutely kill Alaeddin, though doing what was (barring a

miracle) certain to cause his death, he could not be said to be

his slayer; a piece of casuistry not peculiar to the East, cf.

the hypocritical show of tenderness with which the Spanish

Inquisition was wont, when handing over a victim to the secular

power for execution by burning alive, to recommend that there

should be "no effusion of blood." It is possible, however, that

the proverb is to be read in the sense of "He who is destined to

live cannot be slain."

[FN#259] i.e. with the contents of the chambers and the garden.

[FN#260] Night DXXX.

[FN#261] Lit. rubbing in or upon.

[FN#262] Lit. "The Quickener, the Deadener" (el muhheyyi, el

mumit), two of the ninety-nine names of God.

[FN#263] Or "Judge" (cadsi).

[FN#264] Farijuha. Burton, "Bringer of joy not of annoy."

[FN#265] i.e. Mohammed's.

[FN#266] Lit. a servant or slave, i.e. that of the ring. Burton,

"its Familiar."

[FN#267] i.e. Solomon.

[FN#268] See my Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol.

1. p 33, note. {see Payne's Book of the Thousand Nights and One

Night, Vol. 1 FN#16}

[FN#269] Night DXXXI.

[FN#270] Night DXXXII.

[FN#271] i.e.. in all the registers of men's actions fabled to

be kept in heaven.

[FN#272] Lit. "see the accursed his duplicity and his promises

that he promised me withal in that he would do all good with me."

Burton, "see how the dammed villain broke every promise he made,

certifying that be would soon work all good with me."

[FN#273] Lit. "on account of my pain therefrom when I was absent

from the world."

[FN#274] Hatha 'l metleb li, lit. "this quest (or object of

quest) [was] mine (or for me)." Metleb is often used in the

special technical sense of "buried treasure."

[FN#275] Night DXXXIII.

[FN#276] Bustan.

[FN#277] Bilaur.

[FN#278] Keszr, instead of liwan (dais), as in previous

description.

[FN#279] Keisan. Burton, "bag-pockets."

[FN#280] Lit. "without" (kharij).

[FN#281] Aadim, present participle of adima, he lacked.

[FN#282] Night DXXXIV.

[FN#283] Lit. the pre-eminence (el fedsl).

[FN#284] Thani youm, Burton, "the second day," which, though

literal, conveys a false impression.

[FN#285] Night DXXXV.

[FN#286] Or "beyond desire" (fauca 'l khatir), i.e.

inconceivably good. Burton, "beyond our means."

[FN#287] It is a favourite device with Oriental cooks to colour

dishes (especially those which contain rice) in various ways, so

as to please the eye as well as the palate.

[FN#288] Lit. "black bottles" (museunvedetein). Burton, "black

jacks."

[FN#289] Zekiyyeh (pure) for dhekiyyeh (strong, sharp, pungent),

a common vulgar corruption.

[FN#290] Burton, "wherewith Allah Almighty hath eased our

poverty."

[FN#291] Elladhi iftekeda juana. Burton, "who hath abated our

hunger pains."

[FN#292] Lit. "we are under his benefit."

[FN#293] Hhizana for hhezzaza?

[FN#294] Lit. "whet proceeded from."

[FN#295] Lit. "but" (lakin for Iekan, "then").

[FN#296] Keif dhalik. Lit. "How this?" Burton, " Who may this

be?

[FN#297] Night DXXXVI.

[FN#298] i.e. the Jinn of the lamp and the ring.

[FNE299] Apparently referring to chap. xxiii, verses 99, l00, of

the Koran, "Say, 'Lord, I take refuge in Thee from the

suggestions of the devils, and I take refuge in thee, Lord, that

(i.e. Iest) they appear!'" Mohammed is fabled by Muslim

theologians to have made a compact with the Jinn that they should

not enter the houses of the faithful unless expressly summoned..

[FN#300] i.e. "I am, in general, ready to obey all thy

commandments"

[FN#301] i.e. the lamp.

[FN#302] Lit. "uses," "advantages " (menafi).

[FN#303] Referring, of course, to the slave of the lamp.

[FN#304] Night DXXXVII.

[FN#305] Lit. "saw."

[FN#306] Afterwards "silver"; see pp. 108 and l10.

[FN#307] A carat is generally a twenty-fourth part of a diner,

i.e. about 5d.; but here it appears to be a sixtieth part or

about 2d. Burton, "A copper carat, a bright polished groat."

[FN#308] Lit. "to the contrary of him" (ila khilafihi). See

ante, p. 55, note 4. {see FN#145}

[FN#309] Night DXXXVIII.

[FN#310] Kenani, pl. of kinnineh, a bottle or phial.

[FN#311] i.e. the genie.

[FN#312] Night DXXXIX.

[FN#313] Ala kedhum. Burton, "after their olden fashion."

[FN#314] Lit. "[in] middling case" (halet[an]

mustewessitet[an]). Burton translates, "as middle-class folk,"

adding in a note, "a phrase that has a European touch."

[FN#315] Burton adds, "on diet."

[FN#316] "Er rijal el kamiloun, lit. "complete men." Burton,

"good men and true."

[FN#317] Bedsa<a. Burton, "investments,"

[FN#318] Keisein. Burton, "his pockets."

[FN#319] Lit. "neck." The Muslims fable that all will appear at

the Day of Resurrection with their good and evil actions in

visible form fastened about their necks. "And each man, we

constrain him to carry his actions (ta<r, lit. bird, i.e. fortune

as told by augury from the flight of birds, according to the

method so much in favour with the ancients, but interpreted by

the scholiasts as 'actions,' each man's actions being, according

to them, the cause of his good and evil fortune, happiness or

misery), on (or about,.fi) his neck."--Koran, xvii, 14.

[FN#320] Night DXL

[FN#321] An idiomatic expression, equivalent to our vulgar

English phrase, "He was struck all of a heap."

[FN#322] Beszireh, mental (as opposed to bodily) vision.

[FN#323] Night DXLI.

[FN#324] Gheramuha.

[FN#325] Lit. "be rightly guided," "return to the right way."

[FN#326] Heds, Syrian for hheds.

[FN#327] i.e.. if thou be in earnest.

[FN#328] Aamin. Burton, "fonder and more faithful."

[FN#329] Night DXLII.

[FN#330] Lit. "blood of my liver."

[FN#331] i.e. the bride's parents.

[FN#332] Burton, "Also who shall ask her to wife for the son of

a snip?"

[FN#333] Night DXLIII.

[FN#334] Lit. "near and far," the great being near to the king's

dignity, and the small far from it.

[FN#335] Lit. "before" (cuddam).

[FN#336] Lit. "thou art not of its measure or proportion"

(kedd).

[FN#337] Ijreker ti bi 'l hhecc. Burton. "thou hast reminded me

aright."

[FN#338] Night DXLIV.

[FN#339] Kiyas, a mistake for akyas, pl.of keis, a purse.

[FN#340] Lit. "So, an thou wilt, burden thy mind (i.e. give

thyself the trouble, kellifi khatiraki,) and with us [is] a China

dish; rise and come to me with it." Kellifi (fem.) khatiraki is

an idiomatic expression equivalent to the French, "donnez-vous

(or prenez) la peine" and must be taken in connection with what

follows, i.e. give yourself the trouble to rise and bring me,

etc. (prenez la peine de vous lever et de m'apporter, etc.).

Burton, "Whereupon, an-thou please, compose thy mind. We have in

our house a bowl of china porcelain: so arise thou and fetch it."

[FN#341] Lit. "were not equal to one quarter of a carat," i.e. a

ninety-sixth part, "carat" being here used in its technical sense

of a twenty-fourth part of anything.

[FN#342] Kellifi khatiraki (prenez la peine) as before. Burton,

"Compose thy thoughts."

[FN#343] Night DXLV.

[FN#344] Elladhi hu alan ca<m bi maashina. Burton, "Ere this

thou hast learned, O mother mine, that the Lamp which we possess

hath become to us a stable income."

[FN#345] Or "pay attention" (diri balek); see ante, pp. 78 and

81. {see FN#220 and FN#228}

[FN#346] Minhu. Burton translates, "for that 'tis of him," and

says, in a note, "Here the MS. text is defective, the allusion

is, I suppose, to the Slave of the Lamp." I confess I do not see

the defect of which he speaks. Alaeddin of course refers to the

lamp and reminds his mother that the prosperity they enjoy "is

(i.e. arises) from it."

[FN#347] Lit. "completed," "fully constituted."

[FN#348] The attitude implied in the word mutekettif and

obligatory in presence of a superior, i.e. that of a schoolboy in

class.

[FN#349] Or "complainants," "claimants."

[FN#350] Fi teriketihi, apparently meaning "in its turn."

Burton, "Who (i.e. the Sultan) delivered sentence after his

wonted way."

[FN#351] Night DXLVI.

[FN#352] Illezemet. Burton, "she determined."

[FN#353] Lit. "the Divan;" but the door of the presence-chamber

is meant, as appears by the sequel.

[FN#354] Burton, "and when it was shut, she would go to make

sure thereof."

[FN#355] Muddeh jumah. Burton, "the whole month."

[FN#356] Burton, "come forward."

[FN#357] Burton, "levee days"

[FN#358] Izar. Burton, "mantilla."

[FN#359] Here the copyist, by the mistaken addition of fe (so),

transfers the "forthright" to the Vizier's action of submission

to the Sultan's order.

[FN#360] Night DXLVII.

[FN#361] I have arranged this passage a little, to make it read

intelligibly. In the original it runs thus, "Alaeddin's mother,

whenas she took a wont and became every Divan-day going and

standing in the Divan before the Sultan, withal that she was

dejected, wearying exceedingly, but for Alaeddin's sake, her son,

she used to make light of all weariness."

[FN#361] Aman; i.e. promise or assurance of indemnity,

permission to speak freely, without fear of consequences.

[FN#362] Aman in secondary sense of "protection" or "safeguard."

[FN#363] i.e. I pardon thee, under God, ("then I" being

understood). The right of pardon residing with God, the pious

Muslim can only say, "God pardon thee first and then I pardon

thee."

[FN#364] Burton, "shun the streets."

[FN#365] Arad. Burton, "felt an uncontrollable longing."

[FN#366] Or "food (aish, bread) hath not been pleasant (or had

any savour) for him."

[FN#367] Seadetuk, lit. "thy felicity;" this and jenabuk (lit.

"thy side"), "thine excellence" or "thy highness," and hhedsretuk

"thy highness," (lit. "thy presence") are the titles commonly

given to kings in Arabic-speaking countries, although hhedsretuk

is strictly applicable only to the Prophet and other high

spiritual dignitaries. They are often, but erroneously, rendered

"thy majesty"; a title which does not exist in the East and which

is, as is well known to students of history, of comparatively

recent use in Europe.

[FN#368] Lit, "having regard to his clemency, he took to

laughing and asked her." Burton, "He regarded her with kindness,

and laughing cloud, asked her."

[FN#369] Surreh, lit. purse and by extension, as here, anything

tied up in bag-shape.

[FN#370] Night DXLVIII.

[FN#371] Lit. "Be clement unto me, Thy Grace promised me."

[FN#372] Lit. "Forbearance (hhilm, clemency, longanimity, delay

in requiting an evil-doer) is incumbent from thine exalted

highness unto (ila) three months'

[FN#373] Aatsem melik, an ungrammatical construction of common

occurrence in the present MS., properly aatsemu 'l mulouk.

[FN#374] Syn. "his clemency required."

[FN#375] i.e. shall he reserved for him alone.

[FN#376] i.e. the marriage trousseau.

[FN#377] Lit. "Except that, O my son, the Vizier bespoke him a

privy word (kelam sirriyy) ere he promised me; then, after the

Vizier bespoke him a word privily (sirran), he promised me to

(ila) three months."

[FN#378] Lit. an ill presence (mehhdser sau). This expression has

occurred before in the Nights, where I have, in deference to the

authority of the late M. Dozy (the greatest Arabic scholar since

Silvestre de Sacy) translated it "a compend of ill," reading the

second word as pointed with dsemmeh (i.e. sou, evil, sub.)

instead of with fetheh (i.e. sau, evil, adj.), although in such a

case the strict rules of Arabic grammar require sou to be

preceded by the definite article (i.e. mehhdseru's sou). However,

the context and the construction of the phrase, in which the

present example of the expression occurs, seem to show that it is

not here used in this sense.

[FN#379] Night DXLIX.

[FN#380] Lit. (as before) "promised her to" (ila).

[FN#381] Lit. "to" (ila), as before.

[FN#382] i.e. the delay.

[FN#383] Lit. "he thanked his mother and thought (or made) much

of her goodness (istekthera bi-kheiriha, a common modern

expression, signifying simply 'he thanked her') for her toil."

Burton, "Then he thanked his parent, showing her how her good

work had exceeded her toil and travail "

[FN#384] Lit. "Wonder took her at this wonder and the

decoration." Burton amplifies, "She wondered at the marvellous

sight and the glamour of the scene." Me judice, to put it in the

vernacular, she simply wondered what the dickens it was all

about.

[FN#385] Min wectiha. Burton, "And for some time, O my son, I

have suspected." See ante, p. 134. {see FN#378}

[FN#386] Lit. "fever seized him of his chagrin."

[FN#387] Night DL.

[FN#388] Lit. "promised me to" (ila), as before.

[FN#389] Eshaa; or, if we take the word as pointed with kesreh

(i.e. ishaa), we may read, with Burton, "to pass the rest of the

evening," though this expression seems to me hardly in character

with the general tone of the MS.

[FN#390] Musterah.

[FN#391] Sic (el gheir).

[FN#392] Night DLI.

[FN#393] Min doun khiyaneh i.e. without offering her any

affront. Burton, "and he did no villain deed."

[FN#394] Galland adds, "et passe dans une garde-robe o-- il

s'etoit deshabille le soir." Something of the kind appears to

have dropped out of the present MS.

[FN#395} Night DLII.

[FN#396] Lit. "with the eye of anger." Ghedseb (anger) and its

synonym ghaits are frequently used in the Nights in this sense;

see especially Vol. II. of my translation, p. 234, " she smiled a

sad smile," lit. a "smile of anger," (twice) and p. 258, "my

anguish redoubled," lit. "I redoubled in anger."

[FN#397] Wesikh. Burton, "fulsome."

[FN#398] Night DLIII.

[FN#399] Diri balek an [la]. Burton, "compose thy thoughts. If,

etc." See ante, passim.

[FN#400] Sic.

[FN#401] Kedhebaka.

[FN#402] i.e. that which he derived from such an alliance.

[FN#403] Lit. "Wretches" (mesakin).

[FN#404] Night DLIV.

[FN#405] Inketaet (lit. "she was cut or broken") min el khauf.

Burton, "She was freed from her fear of the past."

[FN#406] Or "honoured" (azlz)

[FN#407] i.e. "in my behaviour to thee."

[FN#408] Kema akedu min mehebbetika li. Burton, "even as I

claim of thee affection for thy child."

[FN#409] Night DLV.

[FN#410] Hhashaha min el kidhb; lit. "Except her from lying!"

Hhasha (which commonly signifies, "Far be it," "God forbid!") is

here used in a somewhat unusual manner. The sense seems to be,

"God forbid that the Lady Bedrulbudour should be suspected of

lying! "

[FN#411] Or "shrunken" (kusziret). Burton, "bursten."

[FN#412] Or "honoured" (aziz).

[FN#413] Night DLVI.

[FN#414] Lit. "how [was] the device therein;" i.e how he should

do for an expedient thereanent. Burton, "the device whereby he

should manage it."

[FN#415] Or "called upon" (nedeh).

[FN#416] El ashreh [mubeshshereh understood], "the ten [who were

rejoiced with glad tidings]," i.e. ten of Mohammed's companions

(Abou Bekr, Omar, Othman, Ali, Telheh, Zubeir, Saad ibn Abi

Weccas, Abdurrehman ibn Auf, Abou Ubeideh ibnu'l Jerrah and Said

ibn Zeid), to whom (and to whom alone) he is said to have

promised certain entrance into Paradise. They are accordingly

considered to have pre-eminence over the Prophet's other

disciples and are consequently often invoked by the less orthodox

Muslims as intercessors with him, much after the fashion of the

Quatuordecim Adjutores, the Fourteen Helpers [in time of need],

(i.e. Saints Catherine, Margaret, Barbara, Pantaleon, Vitus,

Eustace, Blase, Gregory, Nicholas, Erasmus, Giles, George,

Leonard and Christopher) of Romish hagiology.

[FN#417] i.e the marriage of his son to the Sultan's daughter.

Burton, "it having been a rare enjoyment to him that he had

fallen upon such high good fortune."

[FN#418] Lit. "marriage," i.e. "wedding festivities are out of

place." The word (zijeh) here used is a dialectic (Syrian)

variant of zewaj, marriage. Burton, "we require no delay,"

[FN#419] Lit. "the lord (i.e. he) of the suit or claim" (sahibu

'd dewat).

[FN#420] Or "inestimable," lit. "might not be measured by (or

appraised at) a price or value." Burton, "far beyond his power to

pay the price."

[FN#421] Lit. "How is the management or contrivance (tedbir)

with thee?" i.e. "canst thou suggest to us any expedient?"

[FN#422] Night DLVII.

[FN#423] Burton adds, "speaking privily."

[FN#424] Or perhaps, "we may with impunity rebut," etc.

[FN#425] Gherib, lit. a stranger, an exile, but vulg. by

extension, a poor, homeless wretch.

[FN#426] i.e Alaeddin's mother.

[FN#427] Lit. "that day."

[FN#428] Fr. "... l'aimable." Lit. "by a way or means"

(bi-terikeh). It may be we should read bi [hatheti'l]] terikeh, "

by [this] means; " but the rendering in the text seems the more

probable one, the Sultan meaning that he would thus get rid of

Alaeddin's importunity by practice, without open breach of faith

or violence.

[FN#429] Night DLVIII.

[FN#430] Lit. "Burden thyself (prenez la peine) and rise",

(kellifi khatiraki, etc., as before).

[FN#431] Here szewani (trays) instead of, as before, szuhoun

(dishes).

[FN#432] Night DLIX.

[FN#433] i.e. "look with open eyes"

[FN#434] En nuwwab, i.e. those whose turn it was to be on guard.

[FN#435] Need (lit. coin), a vulgar Syrian corruption of neket,

customary gift of money or otherwhat to a bride on the

marriage-day.

[FN#436] The whole of the foregoing passage is so confused that

I think it well to add here (l) a literal translation, as I read

it: " So the Vizier, yea, indeed, he marvelled at the greatness

of that wealth more than the Sultan, but envy was killing him and

waxed on him more and more when he saw the Sultan that he was

satisfied with (or accepted of) the bride-gift and the dowry;

however, it was not possible to him that he should gainsay the

truth and should say to the Sultan, 'He is not worthy;' only, he

practised with a device upon the Sultan so he should not let him

give his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour to Alaeddin, and this

[was] that he said to him, etc ,"--and also (2)) the version given

by Sir K. F. Burton, who takes a different view of the passage: "

Then the Minister (although he marvelled at these riches even

more than did the Sultan), whose envy was killing him and growing

greater hour by hour, seeing his liege lord satisfied with the

moneys and the dower and yet being unable to fight against fact,

made answer, 'Tis not worthy of her.' Withal he fell to devising

a device against the King, that he might withhold the Lady

Badr-al-Budur from Alaeddin, and accordingly he continued, etc."

[FN#437] Or "in comparison with her" (ent hhedsretuk istatsemet

hatha aleiha). This is an ambiguous passage and should perhaps be

read, " Thou magnifiest this (i.e. the gift) over her."

[FN#438] Night DLX.

[FN#439] Lit. "swiftly, the winds overtook her not."

[FN#440] Aksen. Burton, "more suitable to thee."

[FN#441] Kethir[an]. Burton, "And right soon (Inshallah !) O my

daughter, thou shalt have fuller joy with him."

[FN#442] Muebbed. Burton, "alone."

[FN#443] Sic (kum),

[FN#444] Or "commission" (mishwar).

{FN#445] Bekia ma bekia hatha shey aleik, lit. "remaineth what

remaineth this is a thing upon (or for) thee." Burton, "Happen

whatso may happen; the rest is upon thy shoulders." The first

bekia is perhaps used in the common colloquial sense of "then."

[FN#446] Shekeraha wa istekthera bi-kheiriha. See ante, p. 155,

note 3. Burton, "enhancing her kindly service."

[FN#447] Surname of the ancient Kings of Persia, vulg. Chosroes.

[FN#448] Night DLXI.

[FN#449] Lit. "the."

[FN#450] Burton, "the costliest of clothes.

[FN#451] Generally that of aloes-wood.

[FN#452] Quoth Shehrzad to Shehriyar.

[FN#453] Yetsunnuhu; quare a clerical error for yentsuruku ("had

seen him" )?

[FN#454] i.e. male white slaves (memlouk, whence our "mameluke,"

sing. for plural memalik).

[FN#455] Lit. "and let there be with each slave-girl a suit,

etc." Burton "And let every handmaid be robed in raiment that

befitteth queens wearing." The twelve suits of clothes to be

brought by the slave-girls were of course intended for the

wearing of Alaeddin's mother; see post, p. 167. {see FN#457 in

text}

[FN#456] i.e. the genuine Arabs of the unmixed blood.

[FN#457] See ante, p. 166, note 2. {see FN#455}

[FN#458] Likai telbesa (tetelebbesa ?) hiya. Burton, "she should

wear."

[FN#459] Sic, the meaning seeming to be that kings' sons were

out of comparison with Alaeddin, as who should say (in Cockney

parlance, "Don't talk to me about kings' sons."

[FN#460] Lit. "upon."

[FN#461] El kendil el ajib.

[FN#462] Syn. "old and young."

[FN#463] Night DLXII.

[FN#464] Ictedsa an tesmuha li bi, lit. "decided (or demanded)

that thou be bountiful to (or grace) me with;" but icledsa is

here used in the colloquial sense of "willed, vouchsafed."

[FN#465] i.e. that of his tongue, lit. "its bounds or reach"

(kheddahu). Burton, "passing all measure."

[FN#466] Lit. "acquired, gotten, come by thee" (khetsitu bika).

[FN#467] Night DLXIII.

[FN#468] Nuweb (properly naubat).

[FN#469] Musica.

[FN#470] Acamou el fereh el atsim. Burton, "a mighty fine

marriage-feast was dispread in the palace."

[FN#471] Muashir.

[FN#472] Netser.

[FN#473] Lit. "but the behoving on me for her service engageth

(or enforceth) me to apply myself "hereunto."

[FN#474] i.e. at thy disposition.

[FN#475] Night DLXIV.

[FN#476] Tebakhin. Burton, "kitcheners."

[FN#477] Keszr.

[FN#478] Wa, but quaere au ("or")?

[FN#479] Kushk.

[FN#480] The description of the famous upper hall with the

four-and- twenty windows is one of the most contused and

incoherent parts of the Nights and well-nigh defies the efforts

of the translator to define the exact nature of the building

described by the various and contradictory passages which refer

to it. The following is a literal rendering of the above passage:

"An upper chamber (keszr) and (or?) a kiosk (kushk, a word

explained by a modern Syrian dictionary as meaning '[a building]

like a balcony projecting from the level of the rest of the

house,' but by others as an isolated building or pavilion erected

on the top of a house, i.e. a keszr, in its classical meaning of

'upper chamber,' in which sense Lane indeed gives it as

synonymous with the Turkish koushk, variant kushk,) with

four-and-twenty estrades (liwan, a raised recess, generally a

square-shaped room, large or small, open on the side facing the

main saloon), all of it of emeralds and rubies and other jewels,

and one estrade its kiosk was not finished." Later on, when the

Sultan visits the enchanted palace for the first time, Alaeddin

"brought him to the high kiosk and he looked at the belvedere

(teyyareh, a square or round erection on the top of a house,

either open at the sides or pierced with windows, =our

architectural term 'lantern') and its casements (shebabik,, pl.

of shubbak, a window formed of grating or lattice-work) and their

lattices (she"ri for she"rir, pl. of sheriyyeh, a lattice), all

wroughten of emeralds and rubies and other than it of precious

jewels." The Sultan "goes round in the kiosk" and seeing "the

casement (shubbak), which Alaeddin had purposely left defective,

without completion," said to the Vizier, "Knowest thou the reason

(or cause) of the lack of completion of this casement and its

lattices?" (shearihi, or quaere, "[this] lattice," the copyist

having probably omitted by mistake the diacritical points over

the final ha). Then he asked Alaeddin, "What is the cause that

the lattice of yonder kiosk (kushk) is not complete?" The

defective part is soon after referred to, no less than four

times, as "the lattice of the kiosk" (sheriyyetu 'l kushk), thus

showing that, in the writer's mind, kushk, liwan and shubbak were

synonymous terms for the common Arab projecting square-sided

window, made of latticework, and I have therefore rendered the

three words, when they occur in this sense, by our English

"oriel," to whose modern meaning (a window that juts out, so as

to form a small apartment), they exactly correspond. Again, in

the episode of the Maugrabin's brother, the princess shows the

latter (disguised as Fatimeh) "the belvedere (teyyarrh) and the

kiosk (kushk) of jewels, the which [was] with (i.e. had) the

four-and-twenty portals" (mejouz, apparently a Syrian variant of

mejaz, lit. a place of passage, but by extension a porch, a

gallery, an opening, here (and here only) used by synecdoche for

the oriel itself), and the famous roe's egg is proposed to be

suspended from "the dome (cubbeh) of the upper chamber" (el keszr

el faucaniyy), thus showing that the latter was crowned with a

dome or cupola. It is difficult to extricate the author's exact

meaning from the above tangle of confused references; but, as far

as can be gathered. in the face of the carelessness with which

the text treats kushk as synonymous now with keszr or teyyareh

and now with liwan or shubbak, it would seem that what is

intended to be described is a lofty hall (or sorer), erected on

the roof of the palace, whether round or square we cannot tell,

but crowned with a dome or cupola and having four-and-twenty deep

projecting windows or oriels, the lattice or trellis-work of

which latter was formed (instead of the usual wood) of emeralds,

rubies and other jewels, strung, we may suppose, upon rods of

gold or other metal I have, at the risk of wearying my reader,

treated this point at some length, as well because it is an

important one as to show the almost insuperable difficulties that

beset the. conscientious translator at well-nigh every page of

such works as the "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night."

[FN#481] Night DLXV.

[FN#482] The text has imar (an inhabited country), an evident

mistake for emair (buildings).

[FN#483] Night DLXVI.

[FN#484] Atsm sekhahu. Burton. "his dignity was enhanced."

[FN#485] Or "imitate" (yetemathelou bihi). Burton, "which are

such as are served to the kings."

[FN#486] Night DLXVII.

[FN#487] Wectu 'l asr, i.e. midway between noon and nightfall.

[FN#488] Lit. "was broken" (inkeseret).

[FN#489] Burton, "with the jerid," but I find no mention of this

in the text. The word used (le<ba, lit. "he played") applies to

all kinds of martial exercises; it may also mean simply,

"caracoling."

[FN#490] See ante, p. 167, note 1. {see FN#456}

[FN#491] Or "turns" (adwar).

[FN#492] El hemmam a sultaniyy el meshhour. Burton, "the royal

Hammam (known as the Sult ni)."

[N#493] Muhliyat. Burton, "sugared drinks."

[FN#494] Night DLXVIII.

[FN#495] Keszriha. Burton, "her bower in the upper story."

[FN#496] Lit. "changed the robes (khila) upon her." For the

ceremony of displaying (or unveiling) the bride, see my "Book of

the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. I. pp. 192 et seq., and

"Tales from the Arabic," Vol. III. pp. 189 et seq.

[FN#497] Meshghoul.

[FN#498] Keszr.

[FN#499] Szeraya, properly serayeh.

[FN#500] i.e. Alexander the Great; see my "Book of the Thousand

Nights and One Night," Vol. V. p. 6, note.

[FN#501] Night DLXIX.

[FN#502] Henahu.

[FN#503] Fetour, the slight meal eaten immediately on rising,

answering to the French "premier dejeuner," not the

"morning-meal" (gheda), eaten towards noon and answering to the

French "dejeuner ... la fourchette."

[FN#504] Gheda.

[FN#505] Tekerrum (inf. of V of kerem), lit. "being liberal to

any one." here an idiomatic form of assent expressing

condescension on the part of a superior. Such at least is the

explanation of the late Prof. Dozy; but I should myself incline

to read tukremu (second person sing. aorist passive of IV), i.e.

" Thou art accorded [that which thou seekest]."

[FN#506] Indhehela.

[FN#507] Or "upper hall, gallery." Lit. "kiosk." See ante,

p.l75, note 4. {see FN#480}

[FN#508] Teyyareh. See ante, l.c. The etymology of this word is

probably [caah] teyyareh, "a flying [saloon]."

[FN#509] Shebabik, pl. of shubbak; see ante, l.c.

[FN#510] Sheari, see ante, l.c.

[FN#511] Shubbak.

[FN#512] Night DLXX.

[FN#513] Lit. "kiosk" (kushk); see ante, p. 175, note 4.{see

FN#480}

[FN#514] Ma lehiket el muallimin (objective for nom. muallimoun,

as usual in this text) an.

[FN#515] Yebca lika dhikra. Burton, "So shall thy memory

endure."

[FN#516] Lit. "kiosk."

[FN#517] ? (teba<kh).

[FN#518] Or "melodious."

[FN#519] El kelb el hhezin.

[FN#520] i.e. "might not avail unto."

[FN#521] Muhlivat, as before; see ante. p. 183, note 2. {see

FN#493}

[FN#522] Szeraya.

[FN#523] Night DLXXI.

[FN#524] Sheriyyetu 'l kushk.

[FN#525] Lit. "the lattice of the kiosk which (i.e. the lattice)

is lacking or imperfect." The adjective (nakiszeh) is put in the

feminine, to agree with "lattice" (sheriyyeh), which is

femminine, kiosk (kushk) being masculine.

[FN#526] Kushk.

[FN#527] She"rihi.

[FN#528] Et tewashiyy, a term here used for the first time in

the present text, where we generally find the Turkish Aga in this

sense.

[FN#529] Night DLXXII.

[FN#530] Lit. "kiosk" (kushk).

[FN#531] Fi szerayyetika.

[FN#532] Szeraya.

[FN#533] Lit. "that I was not lacking in ableness to complete

it."

[FN#534] Kushk, here used in sense of "belvedere."

[FN#535] Or "upper chamber" (keszr).

[FN#536] Kushk. From this passage it would seem as if the

belvedere actually projected from the side of the upper story or

soler (keszr), instead of being built on the roof, lantern-wise,

or being (as would appear from earlier passages) identical with

the hall itself, but the whole description is as before remarked.

so full of incoherence and confusion of terms that it is

impossible to reconcile its inconsistencies.

[FN#537] Lit. "a brother resembling thee."

[FN#538] Lit. "he increased (or exceeded) in the salaries (or

allowances) of the poor and the indigent " (zada fi jewanicki 'l

fukera wa 'l mesakin). Jewamek is an Arabicized Persian word,

here signifying systematic or regular almsgivings.

[FN#539] Kull muddeh.

[FN#540] Labu 'l andab, lit. "arrow-play."

[FN#541] Night DLXXIII.

[FN#542] Szerayeh.

[FN#543] Keszr.

[FN#544] Burton adds, "and confections."

[FN#545] Lit. "he set them down the stablest or skilfullest

(mustehhkem) setting down."

[FN#546] Hherrem, i.e. arranged them, according to the rules of

the geomantic art.

[FN#547] Netsera jeyyidan fi. Burton, "He firmly established the

sequence of."

[FN#548] Technical names of the primary and secondary figures.

The following account of the geomantic process, as described by

Arabic writers de re magicf, is mainly derived from the

Mukeddimat or Prolegomena of Abdurrehman ibn Aboubekr Mohammed

(better known as Ibn Khaldoun) to his great work of universal

history. Those (says he) who seek to discover hidden things and

know the future have invented an art which they call tracing or

smiting the sand; to wit, they take paper or sand or flour and

trace thereon at hazard four rows of points, which operation,

three times repeated (i.e. four times performed), gives sixteen

rows. These points they eliminate two by two, all but the last

(if the number of the points of a row be odd) or the last two (if

it he even) of each row. by which means they obtain sixteen

points, single or double. These they divide into four figures,

each representing the residual points of four lines, set one

under another, and these four figures, which are called the

mothers or primaries, they place side by side in one line. From

these primaries they extract four fresh figures by confronting

each point with the corresponding point in the next figure, and

counting for each pair a single or double point, according to one

of two rules, i.e. (1) setting down a single point for each

single point being on the same line with another point, whether

single or double, and a double point for. each pair of double

points in line with each other, or (2) reckoning a double point

for each pair of like points (single or double), corresponding

one with another on the same line' and a single point for each,

unlike pair. These new figures (as well as those that follow) are

called the daughters or secondaries and are placed beside the

primaries, by confrontation with which (i,e, 5 with 1, 6 with 2,

7 with 3 and " with 4) four fresh figures are obtained after the

same fashion and placed side by side below the first eight. From

this second row a thirteenth and fourteenth figure are obtained

in the same way (confronting 9 with lo and 1 l with 12)) and

placed beneath them, as a third row. The two new figures,

confronted with each other, in like manner, furnish a fifteenth

figure, which, being confronted with the first of the primaries,

gives a sixteenth and last figure, completing the series. Then

(says our author), the geomant proceeds to examine the sixteen

figures thus obtained (each of which has its name and its

mansion, corresponding to one of the twelve signs of the zodiac

or the four cardinal points, as well as its signification, good

or bad, and indicates also, in a special way, a certain part of

the elemental world) and to note each figure according to its

presage of weal or ill; and so, with the aid of an astrological

table giving the explanations of the various signs and

combinations, according to the nature of the figure, its aspect,

influence and temperament (astrologically considered) and the

natural object it indicates, a judgment is formed upon the

question for a solution of which the operation was undertaken. I

may add that the board or table of sand (tekht reml), so

frequently mentioned in the Nights, is a shallow box filled with

fine sand, carefully levelled, on which the points of the

geomantic operation are made with a style of wood or metal. (The

name tekht reml is however now commonly applied to a mere board

or tablet of wood on which the necessary dots are made with ink

or chalk. ) The following scheme of a geomantic operation will

show the application of the above rules. Supposing the first

haphazard dotting to produce these sixteen rows of points,

1 ......... (9) 5 ..... (6) 9 ......... (9) 13 ...... (6)

2 ......... (9) 6 .... (4) 10 ........ (8) 14 .... (4)

3 ........ (8) 7 ....... (7) 11 ......... (9) 15 ........ (8)

4 ....... (7) 8 ..... (5) 12 ....... (7) 16 ..... (5)

By the process of elimination we get the following four primaries:

Fig. 1 x Fig. 2 x x Fig. 3 x Fig. 4 x x

x x x x x x x

x x x x x x

x x x x

The process of confrontation of the corresponding points of these

four figures (according to rule 2) gives the following four

secondaries:

Fig. 5 x Fig. 6 x Fig. 7 x Fig. 8 x

x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x

By confrontation of the points of each secondary with those of

its corresponding primary, the following four fresh figures are

obtained:

Fig. 9 x x Fig. 10 x Fig. 11 x x Fig. 12 x

x x x x x x x

x x x x x x

x x x x

Fig. 9, confronted with Fig. 10 gives a thirteenth figure x

x x

And Fig. 11 confronted with Fig. 12, a fourteenth x

x x

Figures 13 and 14, similarly treated, yield a fifteenth figure

x x

Which, in its turn, confronted with Fig. 1, gives a sixteenth

and last figure, x

x x

Completing the scheme, which shows the result of the operation as

follows:

(1) x (2) x x (3) x (4) x x (5) x (6) x (7) x (8) x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x

(9) x x (10) x (11) x x (12) x

x x x x x x x

x x x x x x

x x x x

(13) x (14) x

x x x

x x x x

(15) x x

x x

(16) x

x x

[FN#549] Burton adds here, "in order that other than I may carry

it off."

[FN#550] Min el meloum, lit. "[it is] of the known (i.e. that

which is known)." Burton, "who knoweth an he wot, etc."

[FN#551] Night DLXXIV.

[FN#552] Sic, meaning of course that he had discovered its

properties and availed himself thereof.

[FN#553] Medinetu 's seltaneh, i e. the seat of government or

capital.

[FN#554] Lit. "donned " (lebesa).

[FN#555] Here Galland says, " Il entra dans le lien le plus

fameux et le plus frequente par les personnel de grande

distinction, ou l'on s'assembloit pour boire d'une certaine

boisson chance qui luy etoit connue des son premier voyage. Il

n'y e-t pas plust"t pris place qu'on lay versa de cette boisson

dans une tasse et qu'on la luy presenta. En la prenant, comme il

prestoit l'oreille ... droite et ... gauche, il entendit qu'on

s'entretenoit du palais d'Aladdin." The Chavis MS. says, "He

entered a coffee-house (kehweh, Syrian for kehawi), and there

used to go in thereto all the notables of the city, and he heard

a company, all of them engaged in (ammalin bi, a very vulgar

expression) talking of the Amir Alaeddin's palace, etc." This (or

a similar text) is evidently the original of Galland's

translation of this episode and it is probable, therefore, that

the French translator inserted the mention "of a certain warm

drink"(tea), out of that mistaken desire for local colouring at

all costs which has led so many French authors (especially those

of our own immediate day) astray. The circumstance was apparently

evolved (alla tedesca) from his inner consciousness, as, although

China is a favourite location with the authors of the Nights, we

find no single mention of or allusion to tea in the rest of the

work.

[FN#556] Lit. "I will make him lose."

[FN#557] Night DLXXV.

[FN#558] Lit. "Instruments of astronomy or astrology" (tenjim);

but tenjim is also used in the sense of geomancy, in which

operation, as before explained, astrology plays an important

part, and the context shows that the word is here intended to

bear this meaning. Again, the implements of a geomancer of the

higher order would include certain astrological instruments, such

as an astrolabe, star-table, etc., necessary, as I have before

explained, for the elucidation of the scheme obtained by the

sand-smiting proper.

[FN#559] He had apparently learned (though the Arabic author

omits, with characteristic carelessness, to tell us so) that

Alaeddin was absent a. hunting.

[FN#560] Akemm, vulg. for kemm, a quantity.

[FN#561] Minareh, lit. "alight-stand," i.e. either a lamp-stand

or a candlestick.

[FN#562] Bi-ziyadeh, which generally means "in excess, to boot,"

but is here used in the sense of "in abundance."

[FN#563] Aalem.

[FN#564] After the wont of "the natural enemy of mankind' in all

ages.

[FN#565] Keszr.

[FN#566] Night DLXXVI.

[FN#567] Aghatu 't tuwashiyeh.

[FN#568] Ubb.

[FN#569] Lit. "who" (men), but this is probably a mistake for ma

(that which).

[FN#570] Ifrikiyeh.

[FN#571] Night DLXXVII.

[FN#572] Ummar. This may, however, be a mistake (as before, see

ante p. 177, note 2 {see FN#482}) for ema<r (buildings).

[FN#573] Lit. "O company" (ya jema"t), a polite formula of

address, equivalent to our "Gentlemen."

[FN#574] Night DLXXVIII.

[FN#575] Lit. "the affair (or commandment, amr) is going to be

sealed upon us."

[FN#576] Sic (dara haulahu thelatheta dauratin); but qu're

should it not rather be, "gave three sweeps or whirls with his

sword round his head"? See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and

One Night," Vol. VI. p. 355.

[FN#577] Lit. "hath been bountiful unto me ;" [the matter of] my

life."

[FN#578] Night DLXXIX.

[FN#579] Previous to prayer.

[FN#580] Lit. made easy to (yessera li).

[FN#581] The name of the province is here applied to an

imaginary city.

[FN#582] Night DLXXX.

[FN#583] Lit. "who hath a head with the head-seller or dealer in

heads, etc." The word here employed (rewwas) commonly signifies

"a man who cooks and sells sheepsheads, oxheads, etc." M.

Zotenberg makes the following note on this passage in. his

edition of Alaeddin; "Rewwas (for raa"s) signifies not only 'he

who sells cooked heads,' but also 'he who makes a business of

cooking heads.' Consequently whoso entrusteth a head to the

rewwas is preoccupied and sleeps not." M. Zotenberg's note is

unintelligible, in consequence of his having neglected to explain

that the passage in question is a common Egyptian proverb,

meaning (says Burckhardt), "the person whose fortune is entrusted

to the hands of strangers cannot enjoy repose." "The poor," adds

he, "at Cairo buy sheepsheads and for a trifle have them boiled

in the bazaar by persons who are not only cooks, but sellers of

sheepsheads, and are therefore called raa"s, or in the Egyptian

dialect rewwas." The proverb is in the present case evidently

meant as a play upon the literal meaning ("headsman," hence by

implication "executioner") of the word rewwas, although I cannot

find an instance of the word being employed in this sense. It is,

however, abundantly evident from the general context that this is

the author's intention in the passage in question, Alaeddin's

head being metaphorically in the hands of (or pledged to) the

headsman, inasmuch as he had engaged to return and suffer

decapitation in case he should not succeed in recovering the

princess within forty days.

[FN#584] I suppose the verb which I render "caused [sleep] get

the mastery," to be ghelleba, II of gheleba, as the only way of

making sense of this passage, though this reading involves some

irregularity from a grammatical point of view. This, however, is

no novelty in the present text. Burton, "But whoso weareth head

hard by the headsman may not sleep o'nights save whenas slumber

prevail over him."

[FN#585] Zeczekeh, a word which exactly renders the sparrow's

dawn-cheep.

[FN#586] Lit. "From (as Fr. des) the deep or remote dawn" (min

el fejri 'l ghemic, Syr. for emic), cf. Matthew Arnold's

"Resignation ;" "The cockoo, loud on some high lawn, Is answered

from the depth of dawn.."

[FN#587] The terminal formula of the dawn-prayer.

[FN#588] i.e. the magician

[FN#589] Lit. "bride'' (arouseh). She is always, to the end of

the tale, spoken of as Alaeddin's " bride," never as his "wife,"

whilst he, in like manner, is called her "bridegroom" (arous).

[FN#590] This, at first sight, appears a contradiction, as we

are distinctly told (see ante, p. 207) that the princess was

unaware of the properties of the lamp; but the sequel shows that

she had learned them, in the mean time. from the magician

himself. See post.

[FN#591] Ifrikiyeh.

[FN#592] Night DLXXXI.

[FN#593] Lit. "a spit (ric) of sweet." We may also read reic or

reyyic, "the first part of anything" (especially "the first drop

of rain").

[FN#594] Lit. "having changed the clothes of this my dress."

[FN#595] i.e. taking effect the moment of its administration.

[FN#596] Night DLXXXII.

[FN#597] Because white wine would have been visibly troubled by

the drug.

[FN#598] Ishebi bi-surrihi (lit. "drink by his pleasure or

gladness;" surr or surour). Burton, "Pledge him to his secret in

a significant draught."

[FN#599] Kasein thelatheh, lit. two cups three (unusual way of

putting it).

[FN#600] Reshoush (for reshash), "anything sprinkled," i.e.

powder or drops. I translate "powder," as I find no mention in

the Nights of the use of this narcotic in a liquid form.

[FN#601] Takkeltu, lit. "I have conceived in my mind." Sir R.

Burton is apparently inclined to read tallectu by transposition,

as he translates, "I depend upon thy say."

[FN#602] Night DLXXXIII.

[FN#603] Lit. "I will not delay upon thee."

[FN#604] Lit. "Thou hast burdened or incommoded thyself"

(kellefta khatiraka), see previous note, p. 120, {see FN#340} on

this idiomatic expression.

[FN#605] Ana atebtu mizajaka, lit. "I have wearied thy

temperament."

[FN#606] Lit. "pleasure" (surr), see ante, p. 223, note 2. {see

FN#598}

[FN#607] Or "playing the boon-companion."

[FN#608] Syn. "equivocal, a double entente."

[FN#609] Lit. "proceeded from her in truth."

[FN#610] Tih, lit. pride, haughtiness, but, by analogy,

"coquetry."

[FN#611] Lit. "Gaiety, ecstasy or intoxication (keif) whirled

(dara) in his head."

[FN#612] Lit. "not itself exactly with him" (ma hiya bi-eimhi

indahu.)

[FN#613] Lit. "turned over" (kelebet, a clerical error for

kebbelel).

[FN#614] Tekeddemet lihi wa basethu fi kheddihi. Burton, "again

she kissed its lip and offered it to him."

[FN#615] Terakedsou, lit. raced with one another.

[FN#616] Babu 'sz szeray.

[FN#617] Night DLXXXIV.

[FN#618] Keszr.

[FN#619] Lit. "in" (fi); but fi is evidently used here in

mistake for bi, the two prepositions being practically

interchangeable in modern Arabic of the style of our present

text.

[FN#620] Burton, "his costliest raiment."

[FN#621] Or chamber (keszr).

[FN#622] Night DLXXXV.

[FN#623] Sic (raihh), a common vulgarism in this text.

[FN#624] Night DLXXXVI.

[FN#625] Lit. "also" (eidsan).

[FN#626] i.e. the two were as like as two halves of a bean.

[FN#627] i.e. the world.

[FN#628] Or death (Saturn), the eighth division of the common

astrological figure.

[FN#629] Menkeleh. See my Book of the Thousand Nights and One

Night, Vol. I. p. 129, note 1. {see Vol. 1 of Payne's Book of the

Thousand Nights and One Night, FN#41}

[FN#630] Dsameh.

[FN#631] Liha keramat kethireh. Kerameh (sing. of keramat),

properly a favour or mark of grace, a supernatural gift bestowed

by God upon His pious servants, by virtue whereof they perform

miracles, which latter are also by derivation called keramat. Cf.

Acts viii. 28: "Thou hast thought that the gift of God," i.e. the

power of performing miracles, "may be purchased with money."

[FN#632] Night DLXXXVII.

[FN#633] Weliyeh.

[FN#634] Fe-ain (where), probably a mistranscription for fe-men

(who).

[FN#635] Sitti, fem. of Sidi, "my lord," the common title of a

saint among modern Arabic-speaking peoples.

[FN#635] Meskin, lit. "poor wretch," but used as our "good man"

and the French "bonhomme," in a sense of somewhat contemptuous

familiarity.

[FN#636] Lit. "wished the man increase of his good (istekthera

bi-kheirihi, for which idiomatic expression= "he thanked him,"

see ante, p. 135, note 3 {see FN#383}), and thanked his

excellence" (favour or kindness, fedsl).

[FN#637] Sherabati. Burton, "vintner."

[FN#638] Keniz, a word which I cannot find in any dictionary,

but which appears to be the past participle (in the secondary

form for mecnouz, as ketil, slain, for mertoul,) of keneza, a

lost verb of which only the fourth form acneza, he drank from a

cup (kinz), survives, and to mean "something drunk from a cup."

Burton, "wine."

[FN#639] Ca"da. Burton translates "he mounted," apparently

reading szfida for ca"da.

[FN#640] Lit. "belly " (betn); but that "breast" is meant is

shown by the next line, which describes Fatimeh as finding the

enchanter seated on her heart.

[FN#641] Lit. "heart" (kelb).

[FN#642] The text adds here, "she went not and came not" (la

rahet wa la jaet). Burton translates, "as though she had never

gone or come" and adds, in a note, by way of gloss, "i.e. as she

was in her own home;" but I confess that his explanation seems to

me as obscure as the text.

[FN#643] Night DLXXXVIll.

[FN#644] Keszr.

[FN#645] The first or "opening" chapter of the Koran.

[FN#646] En nas bi 'l ghewali kethir an, lit. "The folk in

[things] precious (or dear or high-priced, ghewali, pl. of

ghalin, also of ghaliyeh, a kind of perfume) are abundant anent."

This is a hopelessly obscure passage, and I can only guess at its

meaning. Bi 'l ghewali may be a clerical error for bi 'l ghalibi,

"for the most part, in general," in which case we may read, "Folk

in general abound [in talk] anent her virtues;" or bi 'l ghewali

may perhaps be used in the sense (of which use, however, I know

no instance) of " in excessive estimation,' in which latter case

the passage might be rendered, "Folk abound in setting a high

value on (or extolling) her virtues." Burton boldly amplifies,

"the folk recount her manifestations in many cases of

difficulty."

[FN#647] Lit. "That he might complete his deceit the more." The

meaning is that he dissembled his satisfaction at the princess's

proposal and made a show of refusal, so he might hoodwink her the

more effectually.

[FN#648] Keszr.

[FN#649] Night DLXXXIX.

[FN#650] Teyyareh.

[FN#651] Lit. "openings for passage" (mejous). See ante, p. 176,

note. {see FN#480}

[FN#652] Keszr.

[FN#653] Lit. "an extreme" (ghayeh).

[FN#654] Szeraya.

[FN#655] Szeraya.

[FN#656] i.e. "O thou that art dear to me as mine eyes."

[FN#657] Keszr.

[FN#658] Night DLXC.

[FN#659] Keszr.

[FN#660] i.e. its apparent from its real import.

[FN#661] Mustekim.

[FN#662] Minka. Burton, "of me."

[FN#663] Lit. "for that secret that she healed." Burton, "for

the art and mystery of healing."

[FN#664] Min wejaihi.

[FN#665] Szeraya.

[FN#666] Terehhhheba bihi.

[FN#667] Lit. "believed not in."

[FN#668] Night DLXCI.

[FN#669] Ghereza (i.q.. gheresa).

[FN#670] Lit. "Out of regard to or respect for thine eyes."

(Keramet[an] li-uyouniki), i.e. "Thanks to the favourable

influence of thine eyes." When "the eye" is spoken of without

qualification, the "evil eye" is commonly meant; here, however,

it is evident that the reverse is intended.

[FN#671] Lit. "I had no news or information (ma indi kkeber) [of

the matter]."

[FN#672] Lit. "neglectful of the love of thee." This is a

difficult passage to translate, owing to its elliptical form; but

the meaning is that the princess wished to assure Alaeddin that

what had happened was not due to any slackening in the warmth of

her affection for him.

End of Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp

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