The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 5 by Sir Richard Francis Burton (best romance novels of all time txt) 📕

When it was the Four Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the sons of the merchants went in to Ali the Cairene, son of Hasan the Jeweller, they recommended him to accompany them to the bazar, till he yielded, that the will of Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) might be fulfilled; and he left the house of mourning with them. Presently they said, “Mount thy she-mule and ride with us to such a garden, that we may solace us there and that thy grief and despondency may depart from thee.” So he mounted and taking his slave, went with them to the garden in question; and when they entered one of them went and making ready the morning-meal, brought it to them there. So they ate and were merry and sat in talk, till the end of the day, when they mounted and returned each to his own lodging, where they passed the night. As soon as the morrow dawned, they again visited Ali and said, “Come with us.” Asked he, “Whither?”; and they answered, “To such a garden; for it is finer than the first and more pleasurable.” So he went with them to the garden, and one of them, going away, made ready the morning-meal and brought it to them, together with strong heady wine; and after eating, they brought out the wine, when quoth Ali, “What is this? and quoth they, “This is what dispelleth sadness and brighteneth gladness.

And they ceased not to commend it to him, till they prevailed upon him and he drank with them. Then they sat, drinking and talking, till the end of the day, when each returned home. But as for Ali, the Cairene, he was giddy with wine and in this plight went in to his wife, who said to him, “What aileth thee that thou art so changed?” He said, “We were making merry to-day, when one of my companions brought us liquor; so my friends drank and I with them, and this giddiness came upon me.” And she replied, “O

my lord, say me, hast thou forgotten thy father’s injunction and done that from which he forbade thee, in consorting with doubtful folk?” Answered he, “These be of the sons of the merchants; they are no suspicious folk, only lovers of mirth and good cheer.” And he continued to lead this life with his friends, day after day, going from place to place and feasting with them and drinking, till they said to him, “Our turns are ended, and now it is thy turn.” “Well come, and welcome and fair cheer!” cried he; so on the morrow, he made ready all that the case called for of meat and drink, twofold what they had provided, and taking cooks and tent-pitchers and coffee-makers,[FN#262] repaired with the others to Al-Rauzah[FN#263] and the Nilometer, where they abode a whole month, eating and drinking and hearing music and making merry. At the end of the month, Ali found that he had spent a great sum of money; but Iblis the Accursed deluded him and said to him, “Though thou shouldst spend every day a like sum yet wouldst thou not miss aught of it.” So he took no account of money expenses and continued this way of life for three years, whilst his wife remonstrated with him and reminded him of his father’s charge; but he hearkened not to her words, till he had spent all the ready monies he had, when he fell to selling his jewels and spending their price, until they also were all gone. Then he sold his houses, fields, farms and gardens, one after other, till they likewise were all gone and he had nothing left but the tenement wherein he lived. So he tore out the marble and wood-work and sold it and spent of its price, till he had made an end of all this also, when he took thought with himself and, finding that he had nothing left to expend, sold the house itself and spent the purchase-money. After that, the man who had bought the house came to him and said “Seek out for thyself a lodging, as I have need of my house.” So he bethought himself and, finding that he had no want of a house, except for his wife, who had borne him a son and daughter (he had not a servant left), he hired a large room in one of the mean courts[FN#264] and there took up his abode, after having lived in honour and luxury, with many eunuchs and much wealth; and he soon came to want one day’s bread. Quoth his wife, “Of this I warned thee and exhorted thee to obey thy father’s charge, and thou wouldst not hearken to me; but there is no Majesty and there is no Might, save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Whence shall the little ones eat? Arise then, go round to thy friends, the sons of the merchants: belike they will give thee somewhat on which we may live this day.” So he arose and went to his friends one by one; but they all hid their faces from him and gave him injurious words revolting to hear, but naught else; and he returned to his wife and said to her, “They have given me nothing.” Thereupon she went forth to beg of her neighbours the wherewithal to keep themselves alive,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Four Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the wife of Ali the Cairene, seeing her husband return empty-handed, went forth to beg of her neighbours the wherewithal to keep themselves alive and repaired to a woman, whom she had known in former days.

When she came in to her and she saw her case, she rose and receiving her kindly, wept and said, “What hath befallen you?” So she told her all that her husband had done, and the other replied, “Well come and welcome and fair cheer!; whatever thou needest, Seek it of me, without price.” Quoth she, “Allah requite thee abundantly!”[FN#265] Then her friend gave her as much provision as would suffice herself and her family a whole month, and she took it and returned to her lodging. When her husband saw her, he wept and asked, “Whence hadst thou that?”; and she answered, “I got it of such a woman; for, when I told her what had befallen us, she failed me not in aught, but said, ‘Seek of me all thou needest.’” Whereupon her husband rejoined, “Since thou hast this much I will betake myself to a place I have in my mind; peradventure Allah Almighty will bring us relief.”[FN#266]

With these words he took leave of her and kissed his children and went out, not knowing whither he should go, and he continued walking on till he came to Bul�k, where he saw a ship about to sail for Damietta.[FN#267] Here he met a man, between whom and his father there had been friendship, and he saluted him and said to him, “Whither now?” Replied Ali, “To Damietta: I have friends there, whom I would enquire after and visit them and then return.” The man took him home and treated him honourably; then, furnishing him with vivers for the voyage and giving him some gold pieces, embarked him on board the vessel bound for Damietta.

When they reached it, Ali landed, not knowing whither to go; but as he was walking along, a merchant saw him and had pity on him, and carried him to his house. Here he abode awhile, after which he said in himself, “How long this sojourning in other folk’s homes?” Then he left the merchant’s place and walked to the wharf where, after enquiry, he found a ship ready to sail for Syria.

His hospitable host provided him with provision and embarked him in the ship; and it set sail and Ali reached in due season the Syrian shores where he disembarked and journeyed till he entered Damascus. As he walked about the great thoroughfare behold, a kindly man saw him and took him to his house, where he tarried for a time till, one day, going abroad, he saw a caravan about to start for Baghdad and bethought himself to journey thither with it. Thereupon he returned to his host and taking leave of him, set out with the Cafilah. Now Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) inclined to him the heart of one of the merchants, so that he took him with him, and Ali ate and drank with him, till they came within one day’s journey of Baghdad. Here, however, a company of highwaymen fell upon the caravan and took all they had and but few of the merchants escaped. These made each for a separate place of refuge; but as for Ali the Cairene he fared for Baghdad, where he arrived at sundown, as the gatekeepers were about to shut the gates, and said to them, “Let me in with you.” They admitted him and asked him, “Whence come, and whither wending?”

and he answered, “I am a man from Cairo-city and have with me mules laden with merchandise and slaves and servants. I forewent them, to look me out a place wherein to deposit my goods: but, as I rode along on my she-mule, there fell upon me a company of banditti, who took my mule and gear; nor did I escape from them but at my last gasp.” The gate-guard entreated him honourably and bade him be of good cheer, saying, “Abide with us this night, and in the morning we will look thee out a place befitting thee.”

Then he sought in his breast-pocket and, finding a dinar of those given to him by the merchant at Bulak, handed it to one of the gatekeepers, saying, “Take this and change it and bring us something to eat.” The man took it and went to the market, where he changed it, and brought Ali bread and cooked meat: so he ate, he and the gate-guards, and he lay the night with them. Now on the morrow, one of the warders carried him to a certain of the merchants of Baghdad, to whom he told the same story, and he believed him, deeming that he was a merchant and had with him loads of merchandise. Then he took him up into his shop and entreated him with honour; moreover, he sent to his house for a splendid suit of his own apparel for him and carried him to the Hammam. “So,” quoth Ali of Cairo: “I went with him to the bath, and when we came out, he took me and brought me to his house, where he set the morning-meal before us, and we ate and made merry. Then said he to one of his black slaves, ‘Ho Mas’dd, take this thy lord: show him the two houses standing in such a place, and whichever pleaseth him, give him the