One Thousand and One Nights, page 463
Then he commanded to decorate the city and sent to fetch the vizier from the prison. [So they brought him], and as he passed by the troops, they cursed him and reviled him and upbraided him, till he came to the king, who commanded to put him to the vilest of deaths. So they slew him and after burned his body, and he went to Hell, after the sorriest of fashions; and right well quoth one of him:
God to the tomb wherein his bones are laid no mercy show And Munker and Nekir therein be present evermo’!
The king made Marouf his Vizier of the Right and the times were pleasant to them and their joys untroubled. They abode thus five years, till, in the sixth year, the king died and the princess made Marouf Sultan in her father’s stead, but gave him not the ring. During this time she had conceived by him and borne him a boy of surpassing loveliness, excelling in beauty and perfection, who was reared in the laps of the nurses till he reached the age of five, when his mother fell ill of a mortal sickness and calling her husband to her, said to him, ‘I am ill.’ Quoth he, ‘May God preserve thee, O beloved of my heart!’ ‘Belike,’ said she, ‘I shall die and thou needest not that I commend thy son to thy care: wherefore I charge thee but be careful of the ring, for thine own and the boy’s sake.’ And he answered, ‘No harm shall befall him whom God preserveth!’ Then she pulled off the ring and gave it to him, and on the morrow she was admitted to the mercy of God the Most High, whilst Marouf abode in possession of the kingship and applied himself to the governance.
One day, he shook the handkerchief and [dismissed the divan, whereupon] the troops withdrew to their places and he betook himself to the sitting-chamber, where he sat till the day departed and the night came with the darkness Then came in to him his boon-companions of the notables [of the kingdom], according to their wont,, and sat with him, by way of solace and diversion, till midnight, when they craved leave to withdraw. He gave them leave and they retired to their houses; after which there came in to him a slave-girl affected to the service of his bed, who spread him the mattress and doing off his apparel, clad him in his sleeping-gown Then he lay down and she kneaded his feet, till he tell asleep; whereupon she withdrew to her own chamber and slept.
Presently, he felt something beside him in the bed and starting up in alarm, said, ‘I seek refuge with God from Satan the Stoned!’ Then he opened his eyes and seeing by his side a woman foul of favour, said to her, ‘Who art thou?’ ‘Fear not,’ answered she. ‘I am thy wife Fatimeh.’ Whereupon he looked in her face and knew her by her misshapen form and the length of her dog teeth: so he said to her, ‘Whence camest thou in to me and who brought thee to this country?’ Quoth she, ‘In what country art thou at this present?’ And he said, ‘In the city of Ikhtiyan el Khuten. But thou, when didst thou leave Cairo?’ ‘But now,’ answered she. ‘How can that be?’ asked he. ‘Know,’ said she ‘that, when I fell out with thee and Satan prompted me to do thee a mischief, so that I complained of thee to the magistrates, they sought for thee and the Cadis enquired of thee, but found thee not. When two days were past, repentance get hold upon me and I knew that the fault was with me; but repentance availed me not, and I abode awhile weeping for thy loss, till what was in my hand failed and needs must I beg my bread. So I fell to begging of all, rich and poor, and since thou leftest me, I have eaten of the humiliation of beggary and have been in the sorriest of plights. Every night I sat weeping for thy loss and for that which I suffered, since thy departure, of contempt and humiliation and abjection and misery.’
And she went on to tell him what had befallen her, whilst he stared at her in amazement, till she said, ‘Yesterday, I went about all day, begging, but none gave me aught; and as often as I accosted any one and begged of him a morsel of bread, he reviled me and gave me nought. When night came, I went to bed supperless, and hunger consumed me and sore on me was that which I suffered, and I sat weeping. Presently, one appeared to me and said, “O woman, why weepest thou?” Quoth I, “I had a husband who used to provide for me and fulfil my wishes; but he is lost to me and I know not whither he is gone and have been in sore straits since he left me.” “What is thy husband’s name?” asked he, and I answered, “His name is Marouf.” “I know him,” said he. “Know that thy husband is now Sultan in a certain city, and if thou wilt, I will carry thee to him.” Quoth I, “I conjure thee of thy bounty to bring me to him!” So he took me up and flew with me between heaven and earth, till he brought me to this pavilion and said to me, “Enter yonder chamber, and thou wilt see thy husband asleep on the couch.” So I entered and found thee in this estate or lordship. Indeed, I thought not that thou wouldst forsake me, who am thy mate, and praised be God who hath united me with thee!’
Quoth Marouf, ‘Did I forsake thee or thou me? Thou complainedst of me from Cadi to Cadi and endedst by denouncing me to the Supreme Court and bringing down on me the men of violence from the citadel: so I fled in my own despite.’ And he went on to tell her all that had befallen him and how he was become Sultan and had married the king’s daughter and how the latter had died, leaving him a son, who was then seven years old. Quoth she, That which happened was fore-ordained of God the Most High; but I repent me and cast myself on thy generosity, beseeching thee not to forsake me, but suffer me eat bread with thee by way of alms.’
And she ceased not to humble herself to him and supplicate him till his heart relented towards her and he said to her, ‘Repent from mischief and abide with me, and nought shall betide thee save what shall pleasure thee: but, if thou do any wickedness, I will slay thee and fear no on. And think not that thou canst complain of me to the Supreme Court and that the men of violence will come down on me from the citadel; for I am become Sultan and the folk fear me: but I fear none save God the Most High, for that I have an enchanted ring, which when I rub, the servant of the ring appeareth to me His name is Aboussaadat, and whatsoever I demand of him he bringeth to me. So, if thou desire to return to thine own country, I will give thee what shall suffice thee all thy life and will send thee thither speedily; but, if thou desire to abide with me, I will assign thee a palace and furnish it with the choicest of silks and appoint thee twenty slave girls to serve thee and provide thee with dainty food and sumptuous apparel, and thou shalt be a queen and live in all delight, till thou or I die. What sayst thou of this?’ ‘I wish to abide with thee,’ answered she and kissed his hand and made profession of repentance from wickedness. So he assigned her a palace for her sole use and gave her slave-girls and eunuchs, and she became a queen.
The young prince used to visit her, even as he visited his father; but she hated him for that he was not her son; and when the boy saw that she looked on him with the eye of despite and hatred, he shunned her and took an aversion to her. As for Marouf, he occupied himself with the love of fair slave-girls and bethought him not of his wife Fatimeh, for that she was grown a grizzled old woman, foul of favour and bald-headed, loathlier than the speckled snake, the more that she had beyond measure evil entreated him aforetime; and as saith the adage, ‘III-usage rooteth up desire and soweth hatred in the soil of hearts ;’ and gifted of God is he who saith:
Be careful not to hurt men’s hearts nor work them aught of dole, For hard it is to bring again a once estranged soul;
And hearts, the love whereof hath ta’en alarm and fled away, Are like a broken glass, whose breach may never be made whole.
And indeed he had not given her shelter by reason of any praiseworthy quality in her, but he dealt with her thus generously only of desire for the approval of God the Most High; wherefore he occupied not himself with her by way of marriage. When she saw that he held aloof from her bed and occupied himself with others, she hated him and jealousy gat the mastery of her and Satan prompted her to take the ring from him and kill him and make herself queen in his stead. So she went forth one night from her pavilion, intending for that in which was her husband the king; and it chanced, by the ordinance of fate and written destiny, that Marouf lay that night with one of his favourites, a damsel endowed with beauty and grace and symmetry.
Now it was his wont, of the excellence of his piety, that, when he was minded to have to do with a woman, he would put off the enchanted ring from his finger, in reverence to the holy names engraved thereon, and lay it on the pillow, nor would he don it again till he had purified himself [according to the law]. Moreover, when he had lain with a woman, he was used to bid her go forth from him [before daybreak], of his fear for the ring; and when he went forth to the bath, he locked the door of the pavilion till his return, when he put on the ring, and after this, all were free to enter as of wont. Fatimeh knew of all this and went not forth from her place till she had certified herself that the case was as we have said. So she sallied out, purposing to go in to him, whilst he was drowned in sleep, and steal the ring, unseen of him.
Now it chanced at this time that the kings son had gone out, without light, to the draught-house, to do an occasion, and sat down on the jakes in the dark, leaving the door open. Presently, he saw Fatimeh come forth of her pavilion and make stealthily for that of his father and said in himself, ‘What ails this witch to leave her lodging in the dead of the night and make for my father’s pavilion? Needs must there be some reason for this.’ So he went out after her and followed in her steps unseen of her. Now he had a short sword of watered steel, which he held dear, so that he went not to his father’s divan, except he were girt therewith; and his father used to laugh at him and say, ‘What God will! This is a fine sword of thine, O my son! But thou hast not gone down with it to battle nor cut off a head therewith.’ Whereupon the boy would reply, ‘I will not fail to cut off with it some head worth the cutting.’ And Marouf would laugh at his words.
So he drew the sword from its sheath and followed her till she came to his father’s pavilion and entered, whilst he stood and watched her from the door. He saw her searching about and heard her say [to herself], ‘Where hath he laid the ring?’ Whereby he knew that she was looking for the ring and waited till she found it and said, ‘Here it is.’ Then she picked it up and turned to go out; but he hid behind the door. As she came forth, she looked at the ring and turning it about in her hand, was about to rub it, when he raised his hand with the sword and smote her on the neck; and she gave one cry and fell down dead.
With this Marouf awoke and seeing his wife lying on the ground, with her blood flowing, and his son standing with the drawn sword in his hand, said to him, ‘What is this, O my son?’ ‘O my father,’ answered the prince, ‘how often hast thou said to me, “Thou hast a fine sword; but thou hast not gone down with it to battle nor cut off a head.” And I have answered thee, saying, “I will not fail to cut off with it a head worth the cutting.” And now, behold, I have cut off for thee therewith a head worth the cutting!’ And he told him what had yessed. Marouf sought for the ring, but found it not; so he searched the dead woman’s body till he saw her hand closed upon it; whereupon he took it from her hand and said to the boy, ‘Thou art indeed my very son, without doubt; may God ease thee in this world and the next, even as thou hast eased me of this vile woman! Her endeavour led but to her own destruction, and gifted of God is he who saith:
When God His aid unto a. man vouchsafes, good hap is his And still his wish of everything he cloth fulfil, ywis;
But’ if the Almighty’s countenance to any be denied, The first to against the wight his own endeavour is.’
Then he called to some of his attendants, who came in haste, and he told them what his wife Fatimeh had done and bade them take her and lay her in a place till the morning. They did as he bade them and [on the morrow] he gave her in charge to a number of eunuchs who washed her and shrouded her and made her a tomb and buried her. Thus her coming from Cairo was but to her grave, and gifted of God is he who saith:
We tread the steps to us of destiny forewrit; For he to whom a way is decreed must needs submit
To walk therein, and he whose death is fore-ordained To be in such a land shall die in none but it
And how excellent is the saying of the poet:
When to a land I fare in quest of good, perdie, I know not, of the twain, which fortune mine shall be;
Whether the good ‘twill prove, “hereafter I do seek, Or else the evil hap that seeketh after me.
After this, he sent for the husbandman, whose guest he had been, when he was a fugitive, and made him his Vizier of the Right and his chief counsellor. Then, learning that he had a daughter of surpassing beauty and grace, of noble parts and high of worth and birth, he took her to wife; and in due time he married his son. So they abode awhile in all delight and solace of life and their days were serene and their joys untroubled, till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies, he who layeth waste flourishing houses and orphaneth sons and daughters. And glory be to the [Ever-]Living One who dieth not and in whose hand are the keys of the Seen and the Unseen!”
* * * * *
Now, during this time, Shehrzad had borne the King three male children: so, when she had made an end of the story of Marouf, she rose to her feet and kissing the earth before him, said, “O king of the age and unique pearl of the time and the day, I am thine handmaid and these thousand nights and one have I entertained thee with stories of foregone peoples and admonitory instances of the ancients. May I then make bold to crave a boon of Thy Majesty?” “Ask, O Shehrzad,” answered he, “and it shall be given unto thee.” Whereupon she cried out to the nurses and the eunuchs, saying, “Bring me my children.” So they brought them to her in haste, and they were three male children, one walking, one crawling and one sucking [at the breast]. She took them and setting them before the King, kissed the ground and said, “O king of the age, these are thy children and I crave that thou release me from the doom of death, for the sake of these infants; for, if thou slay me, they will become motherless and will find none among women to rear them aright.”
When the King heard this, he wept and straining the children to his bosom, said, “By Allah, O Shehrzad, I pardoned thee before the coming of these children, for that I found thee chaste, pure, noble and pious! May God bless thee and thy father and thy mother and thy root and thy branch! I take God to witness against me that I exempt thee from aught that can harm thee.” So she kissed his hands and feet and rejoiced with an exceeding joy, saying, “May God make thy life long and increase thee in reverence and majesty!” Therewith joy spread throughout the palace of the King and the good news was bruited abroad in the city; it was a night not to be counted among lives and its colour was whiter than the face of day.
On the morrow, the King arose, full of joy and contentment, and summoning all his troops, bestowed on his vizier Shehrzad’s father, a rich and splendid robe of honour and said to him, “God protect thee, for that thou gavest me to wife thy noble daughter, who hath been the means of my repentance from slaying the daughters of the people. Indeed, I have found her noble, pure, chaste and virtuous, and God hath vouchsafed me three male children by her; wherefore praised be He for this exceeding bounty!” Then he bestowed dresses of honour upon all his viziers and amirs and the grandees of his realm and bade decorate the city thirty days; nor did he put one of the townsfolk to aught of charge on account thereof, but the whole of the expenditure was from the Kings treasury. So they decorated the city in splendid fashion, never before was seen the like thereof, and the drums beat and the pipes sounded, whilst all the mimes and mountebanks and players plied their various arts and the King lavished on them gifts and largesse. Moreover, he gave alms to the poor and needy and extended his bounty to all his subjects and the people of his realm. And he and they abode in pleasance and delight and happiness and contentment, till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies So glory be to Him whom the vicissitudes of time waste not away nor cloth aught of change betide Him? whom one case diverteth not from other and who is unique in the attribute of perfection! And blessing and pea e upon the High Priest of His Majesty and His Elect among His creatures, our lord MOHAMMED, the chief of mankind, through whom we beseech Him for a goodly end!
John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents
INDEX TO THE TALES.
N.B. — The Roman numerals denote the volume.
Aaisheh, Musab ben ez Zubeir and his wife, iv.
Abdallah the Fisherman and Abdallah the Merman, viii.
Abdallah ben Fazil and his brothers, ix.
Abdallah ben Maamer with the Man of Bassora and his slave-girl, iv.
Abdurrehman the Moor’s story of the Roc, iv.
Abou Hassan ez Ziyadi and the Man from Khorassan, iv.
Abou Isa and Curret el Ain, The Loves of, iv.
Abou Jaafer the Leper, Aboulhusn ed Durraj and, v.
Aboukir the Dyer and Abousir the Barber, viii.
Aboulaswed and his squinting slave-girl, iv.
Aboulhusn and his slave-girl Taweddud, iv.
Aboulhusn ed Durraj and Abou Jaafer the Leper, v.
Aboulhusn of Khorassan, ix.
Abou Mohammed the Lazy, iv.
Abou Nuwas, Haroun er Reshid with .be damsel and, iv.
Abou Nuwas and the Three Boys, iv.
Abousir the Barber, Aboukir the Dyer and, viii.
Abou Suweid and the handsome old woman, iv.
Abou Yousuf with Haroun er Reshid and his Vizier Jaafer, The Imam, iv.
Abou Yousuf with Er Reshid and Zubeideh, The Imam, iv.
Adam, The Birds and Beasts and the Son of, iii.
Adi ben Zeid and the Princess Hind, iv.
