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

‘O bibber of liquor, art not ashamed * To drink what Allah forbade thee drain?

Put it far from thee and approach it not; * It holds what Allah forbade as bane.’

And quoth another to the same purport, ‘I drank the sin till my reason fled: * Ill drink that reason to loss misled!’

As for the advantages that be therein, it disperseth stone and gravel from the kidneys and strengtheneth the viscera and banisheth care, and moveth to generosity and preserveth health and digestion; it conserveth the body, expelleth disease from the joints, purifieth the frame of corrupt humours, engendereth cheerfulness, gladdeneth the heart of man and keepeth up the natural heat: it contracteth the bladder, enforceth the liver and removeth obstructions, reddeneth the cheeks, cleareth away maggots from the brain and deferreth grey hairs. In short, had not Allah (to whom be honour and glory!) forbidden it,[FN#407]

there were not on the face of the earth aught fit to stand in its stead. As for gambling by lots, it is a game of hazard such as diceing, not of skill.” Q “What wine is best?” “That which is pressed from white grapes and kept eighty days or more after fermentation: it resembleth not water and indeed there is nothing on the surface of the earth like unto it.” Q “What sayest thou of cupping?” “It is for him who is over full of blood and who hath no defect therein; and whoso would be cupped, let it be during the wane of the moon, on a day without cloud, wind or rain and on the seventeenth of the month. If it fall on a Tuesday, it will be the more efficacious, and nothing is more salutary for the brain and eyes and for clearing the intellect than cupping.”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-third Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel enumerated the benefits of cupping, quoth the doctor, “What is the best time for cupping?” “One should be cupped ‘on the spittle,’ that is, in the morning before eating, for this fortifieth the wit and the memory. It is reported of the Prophet that, when anyone complained to him of a pain in the head or legs, he would bid him be cupped and after cupping not eat salt food, fasting, for it engendereth scurvy; neither eat sour things as curded milk[FN#408] immediately after cupping.” Q “When is cupping to be avoided?” “On Sabbaths or Saturdays and Wednesdays; and let him who is cupped on these days blame none but himself.

Moreover, one should not be cupped in very hot weather nor in very cold weather; and the best season for cupping is springtide.” Quoth the doctor, “Now tell me of carnal copulation.” Hereupon Tawaddud hung her head, for shame and confusion before the Caliph’s majesty; then said, “By Allah, O

Commander of the Faithful, it is not that I am at fault, but that I am ashamed; though, indeed, the answer is on the edge of my tongue.” Said the Caliph; “Speak, O damsel,” whereupon said she, “Copulation hath in it many and exceeding virtues and praiseworthy qualities, amongst which are, that it lighteneth a body full of black bile and calmeth the heat of love and induceth affection and dilateth the heart and dispelleth the sadness of solitude; and the excess of it is more harmful in summer and autumn than in spring and winter.” Q “What are its good effects?”

“It banisheth trouble and disquiet, calmeth love and wrath and is good for ulcers, especially in a cold and dry humour; on the other hand excess of it weakeneth the sight and engendereth pains in the legs and head and back: and beware, beware of carnal connection with old women, for they are deadly. Quoth the Iman Ali[FN#409] (whose face Allah honour!), ‘Four things kill and ruin the body: entering the Hammam on a full stomach; eating salt food; copulation on a plethora of blood and lying with an ailing woman; for she will weaken thy strength and infect thy frame with sickness; and an old woman is deadly poison.’ And quoth one of them, ‘Beware of taking an old woman to wife, though she be richer in hoards than K�r�n’”[FN#410] Q “What is the best copulation?” “If the woman be tender of years, comely of shape, fair of face, swelling of breast and of noble race, she will add to thee strength and health of body; and let her be even as saith a certain poet describing her,

‘Seeing thy looks wots she what thou desir’st, * By inspiration; wants nor word nor sign;

And, when thou dost behold her rarest grace, * The charms of every garden canst decline.’

Q “At what time is copulation good?” “If by night, after food digested and if by day, after the morning meal.” Q “What are the most excellent fruits?” “Pomegranate and citron.” Q “Which is the most excellent of vegetables?” “Endive.[FN#411]” Q “Which of sweet-scented flowers?” “Rose and Violet.” Q “How is the seed of man secreted?” “There is in man a vein which feedeth all the other veins. Now water is collected from the three hundred and sixty veins and, in the form of red blood, entereth the left testicle, where it is decocted, by the heat of temperament inherent in the son of Adam, into a thick, white liquid, whose odour is as that of the palm-spathe.” Q “What flying thing is it that emitteth seed and menstruateth?” “The flitter-mouse,[FN#412]

that is the bat.” Q “What is that which, when confined and shut out from the air liveth, and when let out to smell the air dieth?” “The fish.” Q “What serpent layeth eggs?” “The Su’ban or dragon.[FN#413]” With this the physician waxed weary with much questioning, and held his peace, when Tawaddud said to the Caliph, “O Commander of the Faithful, he hath questioned me till he is tired out and now I will ask him one question, which if he answer not, I will take his clothes as lawful prize.”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night, She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel said to the Commander of the Faithful, “Verily he hath questioned me till he is tired out, and now I will ask him one question, which if he answer not I will take his clothes as lawful prize,” the Caliph cried, “Ask on.” So quoth she to the physician, “What is that thing which resembleth the earth in roundness, whose resting-place and whose spine are hidden from men’s eyes; little of price and estimation; narrow of chest and shackled as to throat though it be nor runaway slave nor pestilent thief; thrust through and through, though not in fray, and wounded, though not in fight: time eateth its vigour and water wasteth it away; now it is beaten without blemish, and then made to serve without stint; united after separation; submissive, but not to him who caresseth it; pregnant without child in belly; drooping, yet not leaning on its side; becoming dirty yet purifying itself; cleaving to its fere, yet changing; copulating without a yard, wrestling without arms: resting and taking its ease; bitten, yet not crying out: now more complaisant than a cup-companion and then more troublesome than summer-heat; leaving its mate by night and embracing her by day and having its abode in the corners of the mansions of the noble?” The physician was silent awhile in perplexity and his colour changed and he bowed his head and made no reply; whereupon she said to him, “Ho, sir doctor, speak or doff thy dress.” At this, he rose and said, “O

Commander of the Faithful, bear witness against me that this damsel is more learned than I in medicine and what else, and that I cannot cope with her.” And he put off his clothes and fled forth. Quoth the Caliph to Tawaddud, “Ree us thy riddle,” and she replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, it is the button and the button-loop.[FN#414]”—Then she undertook the astronomers and said, “Let him of you who is an astronomer rise and come forward.” So the astronomer advanced and sat down before her; and, when she saw him, she laughed and said, “Art thou the astronomer, the mathematician, the scribe?” “Yes,” answered he.

Quoth she, “Ask of what thou wilt; success resteth with Allah.”

So he said, “Tell me of the sun and its rising and setting.” And she replied: “Know that the sun riseth from the shadows in the Eastern hemisphere and setteth in the shadows of the Western, and each hemisphere compriseth one hundred and eighty degrees. Quoth Allah Almighty, ‘I swear by the Lord of the East and of the West.’[FN#415] And again, ‘He it is who hath ordained the sun to shine by day, and the moon for a light by night; and hath appointed her station that ye might know the number of years and the computation of time.’[FN#416] The moon is Sultan of the night and the sun Sultan of the day, and they vie with each other in their courses and follow without overtaking each other. Quoth Almighty Allah, ‘It is not expedient that the sun overtake the moon in her course; neither doth the night outstrip the day, but each of these luminaries moveth in a peculiar orbit.’”[FN#417] Q

“When the day cometh, what becometh of the night; and what of the day, when the night cometh?” “He causeth the night to enter in upon the day, and He causeth the day to enter in upon the night.”[FN#418] Q “Enumerate to me the mansions of the moon?”[FN#419] “They number eight-and-twenty, to wit, Sharat�n, Butayn, Suray�, Dabar�n, Hak’ah, Han’ah, Zir�‘a, Nasrah, Tarf, Jabhah, Zubrah, Sarfah, ‘Aww�, Sim�k, Ghafar, Zub�n�, Ikl�l, Kalb, Shaulah, Na’am, Baldah, Sa’ad al-Z�bih, Sa’ad al-Bul’a, Sa’ad al-Su’�d, Sa’ad al-Akhbiyah, Fargh the Former and Fargh the Latter; and Rish�a. They are disposed in the order of the letters of the Abjad-hawwaz or older alphabet,[FN#420] according to their numerical power, and in them are secret virtues which none knoweth save Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) and the stablished in science. They are divided among the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, two Mansions and a third of a Mansion to each Sign.

Thus Sharatan, Butayn and one-third of Sur�y�, belong to Aries, the other two-thirds of Sur�y�, Dabaran and two-thirds of Hak’ah to Taurus, the other third of Hak’ah, Han’ah and Zira’a to Gemini; Nasrah, Tarf and a third of Jabhah to Cancer, the other two-thirds of Jabhah, Zubrah and two-thirds of Sarfah to Leo; the other third of Sarfah, ‘Aww� and Sim�k to Virgo; Ghafar, Zub�ni and one-third of Ikl�l to Libra; the other two-thirds of Iklil, Kalb and two-thirds of Shaulah to Scorpio; the other third of Shaulah, Na’�im and Baldah to Sagittarius; Sa’ad al-Z�bih, Sa’ad al-Bul’a and one-third of Sa’ad al-Su’ud to Capricorn, the other two-thirds of Sa’ad al-Su’dd, Sa’ad al-Akhbiyah and two-thirds of Fargh the Former to Aquarius, the other third of Fargh the Former, Fargh the Latter and Rish�a to Pisces.”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night, She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel enumerated the Mansions and distributed them into their Signs, the astronomer said, “Thou hast replied aright; now tell me of the planets and their natures, also of their sojourn in the Zodiacal Signs, their aspects, auspicious and sinister, their houses, ascendants and descendants. She answered, “The sitting is narrow for so large a matter, but