The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 13 by Sir Richard Francis Burton (summer reading list txt) 📕

sides stood camphorated wax candles,[FN#286] and before the table were gathered musicians singing and playing on various instruments of mirth and merriment, whilst in the upper part of the saloon men and women were dancing and making much diversion. When we had supped we went to bed, and rising early we prayed the dawn-prayer, and presently embarked on a large and well-appointed boat, and the rowers rowing with a flowing tide soon landed us at my country seat. Then we strolled in a body about the grounds and entered the house, when I showed them our new buildings and displayed to them all that appertained thereto; and hereat they marvelled with great marvel. Thence we repaired to the garden and saw, planted in rows along the walks, fruit-trees of all kinds with ripe fruit bowed down, and watered with water from the river by means of brick-work channels. All round were flowering shrubs whose perfume gladdened the Zephyr; here and there fountains and jets of water shot high in air; and sweet-voiced birds made melody amid the leafy branches hymning the One, the Eternal; in short, the sights and scents on every side filled the soul with joy and gladness. My two friends walked about in joyance and delight, and thanked me again and again for bringing them to so lovely a site and said, “Almighty Allah prosper thee in house and garth.” At last I led them to the foot of a tall tree near to one of the garden walls and shewed them a little summer-house wherein I was wont to take rest and refreshment; and the room was furnished with cushions and divans and pillows purfled with virgin gold.—And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till

 

The end of The Six Hundred and Twenty-third Night.

 

Then said she:—I have heard, O auspicious King, that Hasan al-Habbal thus pursued his tale:—Now so it happened that, as we sat at rest within that summer house, two sons of mine, whom I had sent together with their governor to my country place for change of water and air,[FN#287] were roaming about the garden seeking birds’ nests. Presently they came across a big one upon the top most boughs and tried to swarm up the trunk and carry it off, but by reason of their lack of strength and little practice they durst not venture so high; whereupon they bade a slave boy who ever attended on them, climb the tree. He did their bidding, but when looking into the nest he was amazed with exceeding amazement to see it mainly made of an old turband. So he brought down the stuff and handed it to the lads. My eldest son took it from his hands and carried it to the arbour for me to see, and set it at my feet saying in high glee, “O my father, look here; this nest is made of cloth.” Sa’d and Sa’di wondered with all wonderment at the sight and the marvel grew the greater when I, after considering it closely, recognised it for the very turband whereon the kite had swooped and which had been borne off by the bird. Then quoth I to my two friends “Examine well this turband and certify yourselves that it is the selfsame one worn upon my head when first ye honoured me with your presence.” Quoth Sa’d, “I know it not,” and quoth Sa’di, “An thou find within it the hundred and ninety gold pieces, then shalt thou be assured that is thy turband in very sooth.” I said, “O my lord, this is, well I wot, that very turband.” And as I held it in my hand, I found it heavy of weight, and opening out the folds felt somewhat tied up in one of the corners of the cloth;[FN#288] so I unrolled the swathes when lo and behold! I came upon the purse of gold pieces.

Hereat, shewing it to Sa’di, I cried, “Canst thou not recognise this purse?” and he replied, “‘Tis in truth the very purse of Ashrafis which I gave thee when first we met.” Then I opened the mouth and, pouring out the gold in one heap upon the carpet, bade him count his money; and he turned it over coin by coin and made the sum there of one hundred and ninety Ashrafis. Hereat waxing sore ashamed and confounded, he exclaimed, “Now do I believe thy words: nevertheless must thou admit that thou hast earned one half of this thy prodigious wealth with the two hundred gold pieces I gave thee after our second visit, and the other half by means of the mite thou gottest from Sa’d.” To this I made no answer, but my friends ceased not to dispute upon the matter. We then sat down to meat and drink, and when we had eaten our sufficiency, I and my two friends went to sleep in the cool arbour; after which when the sun was well nigh set we mounted and rode off to Baghdad leaving the servants to follow. However, arrived at the city we found all the shops shut and nowhere could we get grain and forage for the horses, and I sent off two slave boys who had run alongside of us to search for provender. One of them found a jar of bran in the shop of a corn-dealer and paying for the provision brought it, together with the jar, under promise that on the morrow he would carry back the vessel. Then he began to take out the bran by handfuls in the dark and to set it before the horses.�And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till

 

The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night.

 

Then said she:—I have heard, O auspicious king, that Hasan al-Habbal thus continued his story:—So as the slave boy took out the bran by handfuls and set it before the horses, suddenly his hand came upon a piece of cloth wherein was somewhat heavy. He brought it to me even as he found it and said, “See, is not this cloth the very one of whose loss thou hast ofttimes spoken to us?” I took it and wondering with great wonder knew it was the self same piece of stuff wherein I had tied up the hundred and fourscore and ten Ashrafis before hiding them in the jar of bran. Then said I to my friends, “O my lords, it hath pleased Almighty Allah, ere we parted, I and you, to bear me witness of my words and to stablish that I told you naught save whatso was very sooth.” And I resumed, addressing Sa’di, “See here the other sum of money, that is, the hundred and ninety Ashrafis which thou gayest me and which I tied up in this very piece of cloth I now recognise.” Then I sent for the earthen jar that they might see it, and also bade carry it to my wife that she also might bear witness, an it be or be not the very bran-jar which she gave in exchange for fuller’s earth. Anon she sent us word and said, “Yea verily I know it well. ‘Tis the same jar which I had filled with bran.” Accordingly Sa’di owned that he was wrong and said to S’ad, “Now I know that thou speakest truth, and am convinced that wealth cometh not by wealth; but only by the grace of Almighty Allah doth a poor man become a rich man.” And he begged pardon for his mistrust and unbelief. We accepted his excuses whereupon we retired to rest and early on the morrow my two friends bade me adieu and journeyed home wards with full persuasion that I had done no wrong and had not squandered the moneys they had given me.—Now when the Caliph Harun al-Rashid had heard the story of Khwajah Hasan to the end, he said, “I have known thee of old by fair report of thee from the folk who, one and all, declare that thou art a good man and true. Moreover the self same diamond whereby thou hast attained to so great riches is now in my treasury; so I would fain send for Sa’di forthright that he may see it with his own eyes, and weet for certain that not by means of money do men become or rich or poor.” The Prince of True Believers said moreover to Khwajah Hasan al-Habbal, “Go now and tell thy tale to my treasurer that he may take it down in writing for an everlasting memorial, and place the writ in the treasury together with the diamond.” Then the Caliph with a nod dismissed Khawajah Hasan; and Sidi Nu’uman and Baba Abdullah also kissed the foot of the throne and departed. So when Queen Shahrazad had made an end of relating this history she was about to begin the story of ‘All Baba and the Forty Thieves, but King Shahryar prevented her, saying, “O Shahrazad I am well pleased with this thy tale, but now the dawn appeareth and the chanticleer of morn doth sound his shrill clarion. This day also I spare thy life, to the intent that I may listen at my ease to this new history of thine at the end of the coming night.” Hereupon the three took their rest until the fittest time drew near.—And as the morning morrowed Shahrazad held her peace till

 

The end of the Six Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night.

 

With the dawn Dunyazad awoke Queen Shahrazad from slumber sweet and said, “Arise, O my sister, but alas! ‘tis a bitter thing to stand in awe of coming doom.” Replied Shahrazad, “O dear my sister, be not thou downhearted: if life’s span be spent naught can avert the sharp edged sword. Yet place thy trust in Allah Almighty and put far from thee all such anxious thoughts: my tales are tokens of life prolonged.” Whereupon Queen Shahrazad began to tell in these words the story of

 

ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.[FN#289]

 

In days of yore and in times and tides long gone before there dwelt in a certain town of Persia two brothers one named K�sim and the other �Al� B�b�, who at their father’s demise had divided the little wealth he had left to them with equitable division, and had lost no time in wasting and spending it all. The elder, however, presently took to himself a wife, the daughter of an opulent merchant; so that when his father-in-law fared to the mercy of Almighty Allah, he became owner of a large shop filled with rare goods and costly wares and of a storehouse stocked with precious stuffs; likewise of much gold that was buried in the ground. Thus was he known throughout the city as a substantial man. But the woman whom Ali Baba had married was poor and needy; they lived, therefore, in a mean hovel and Ali Baba eked out a scanty livelihood by the sale of fuel which he daily collected in the jungle[FN#290] and carried about the town to the Bazar upon his three asses. Now it chanced one day that Ali Baba had cut dead branches and dry fuel sufficient for his need, and had placed the load upon his beasts when suddenly he espied a dust-cloud spireing high in air to his right and moving rapidly towards him; and when he closely considered it he descried a troop of horsemen riding on amain and about to reach him. At this sight he was sore alarmed, and fearing lest perchance they were a band of bandits who would slay him and drive off his donkeys, in his affright he began to run; but forasmuch as they were near hand and he could not escape from out the forest, he drove his animals laden with the fuel into a bye-way of the bushes