A plain and literal translation of the Arabian nights entertainments, now entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2 (of 17)

Now when it was the full Seventieth Night,

She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar son of Al-Nu'uman said in his letter, "And send to us the damsel to the end that she may dispute with them before the doctors; and, if she prevail over them, I will return her to thee accompanied with the tribute of Baghdad." As soon as Sharrkan knew the contents, he went in to his brother-in-law and said to him, "Bring the damsel to whom I married thee;" and when she came he showed her the letter and said, "O my sister! what answer wouldst thou advise me make to this letter?" Replied she, "Seek advice from thyself!" and presently added (for she yearned after her people and her native land), "Send me together with my husband the Chamberlain, to Baghdad, that I may tell my father my tale and let him know whatso befel me with the Badawi who sold me to the merchant, and that I also inform him how thou boughtest me of the trader and gavest me in marriage to the Chamberlain, after setting me free." "Be it so," replied Sharrkan. Then Sharrkan took his daughter, Kuzia Fakan, and committed her to the charge of the wet-nurses and the eunuchs, and he made ready the tribute in haste, bidding the Chamberlain travel with the Princess and the treasure to Baghdad. He also furnished him two travelling litters; one for himself and the other for his wife. And the Chamberlain replied, "To hear is to obey." Moreover Sharrkan collected camels and mules and wrote a letter to his father and committed it to the Chamberlain; then he bade farewell to his sister, after he had taken the jewel from her and hung it round his daughter's neck by a chain of pure gold; and she and her husband set out for Baghdad the same night. Now it so happened that Zau al-Makan and his friend the Fireman had come forth from the hut in which they were, to see the spectacle, and they beheld camels and Bukhti303 dromedaries and bât-mules and torches and lanterns alight; and Zau al-Makan enquired about the loads and their owner and was told that it was the tribute of Damascus going to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of the City of Baghdad. He then asked, "Who be the leader of the caravan?" and they answered, "The Head Chamberlain who hath married the damsel so famous for learning and science." Thereupon Zau al-Makan wept with bitter weeping and was minded of his mother and his father and his sister and his native land, and he said to the Stoker, "I will join this caravan and, little by little, will journey homewards." Quoth the Fireman, "I would not suffer thee to travel single-handed from the Holy City to Damascus, then how shall I be sure of thy safety when thou farest for Baghdad? But I will go with thee and care for thee till thou effectest thine object." "With joy and good will," answered Zau al-Makan. Then the Fireman gat him ready for the journey and hired an ass and threw saddle-bags over it and put therein something of provaunt; and, when all was prepared, he awaited the passage of the caravan. And presently the Chamberlain came by on a dromedary and his footmen about him. Then Zau al-Makan mounted the ass and said to his companion, "Do thou mount with me." But he replied, "Not so: I will be thy servant." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "There is no help for it but thou ride awhile." "'Tis well," quoth the Stoker; "I will ride when I grow tired." Then said Zau al-Makan, "O my brother, soon shalt thou see how I will deal with thee, when I come to my own folk." So they fared on till the sun rose and, when it was the hour of the noonday sleep304 the Chamberlain called a halt and they alighted and reposed and watered their camels. Then he gave the signal for departure and, after five days, they came to the city of Hamah,305 where they set down and made a three day's halt; – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that they halted in the city of Hamah three days; they then fared forwards and ceased not travelling till they reached another city. Here also they halted three days and thence they travelled till they entered the province Diyár Bakr. Here blew on them the breezes of Baghdad, and Zau al-Makan bethought him of his father and mother and native land, and how he was returning to his sire without his sister: so he wept and sighed and complained, and his regrets grew on him, and he began improvising these couplets: —

Sweetheart! How long must I await by so long-suffering tried? ✿ Nor cometh messenger to tell me where thou dost abide:Ah me! in very sooth our meeting-time was short enow: ✿ Would Heaven shorter prove to me the present parting-tide!Now hend my hand and ope my robe and thou within shall sight ✿ How wasted are the limbs of me and yet the waste I hide:When say they "Comfort take for loss of love" I but reply ✿ "By Allah, till the Day of Doom no comfort shall betide!"

Thereupon said to him the Fireman, "Leave this weeping and wailing, for we are near the Chamberlain's tent." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "Needs must I recite somewhat of verse; haply it may quench the fire of my heart." "Allah upon thee," cried the other, "cease this lamentation till thou come to thine own country; then do what thou wilt, and I will be with thee wherever thou art." Replied Zau al-Makan, "By Allah! I cannot forbear from this!" Then he turned his face towards Baghdad and the moon was shining brightly and shedding her light on the place, and Nuzhat al-Zaman could not sleep that night, but was restless and called to mind her brother and wept. And while she was in tears, she heard Zau al-Makan weeping and improvising the following distichs: —

"Al-Yaman's306 leven-gleam I see, ✿ And sore despair despaireth meFor friend who erst abode wi' me ✿ Crowning my cup with gladdest gree;It minds me o' one who jilted me ✿ To mourn my bitter liberty.Say sooth, thou fair sheet-lightning! shall ✿ We meet once more in joy and glee?O blamer! spare to me thy blame ✿ My Lord hath sent this dule to dree,Of friend who left me, fain to flee; ✿ Of Time that breeds calamity:All bliss hath fled the heart of me ✿ Since Fortune proved mine enemy.He307 brimmed a bowl of merest pine, ✿ And made me drain the dregs, did he:I see me, sweetheart, dead and gone ✿ Ere I again shall gaze on thee.Time! prithee bring our childhood back, ✿ Restore our happy infancy,When joy and safety 'joyed we ✿ From shafts that now they shoot at me!Who aids the hapless stranger-wight, ✿ That nights in fright and misery,That wastes his days in lonely grief, ✿ For "Time's Delight"308 no more must be?Doomed us despite our will to bear ✿ The hands of base-borns cark and care.

When he ended his verse he cried out and fell down in a fainting-fit. This is how it fared with him; but as regards Nuzhat al-Zaman, when she heard that voice in the night, her heart was at rest and she rose and in her joy she called the Chief Eunuch, who said to her, "What is thy will?" Quoth she, "Arise and bring me him who recited verses but now." Replied he, "Of a truth I did not hear him" – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat al-Zaman heard her brother reciting, she called the Chief Eunuch and said to him, "Go, fetch me the man who is repeating this poetry!" Replied he, "Of a truth I heard him not and I wot him not and folks are all sleeping." But she said, "Whomsoever thou seest awake, he is the reciter." So he went, yet found none on wake save the Stoker; for Zau al-Makan was still insensible, and when his companion saw the Eunuch standing by his head he was afraid of him. Then said the Eunuch, "Art thou he who repeated poetry but now and my lady heard him?" The Stoker fancied that the dame was wroth with the reciter; and, being afraid, he replied, "By Allah, 'twas not I!" Rejoined the Eunuch, "Who then was the reciter?: point him out to me. Thou must know who it was, seeing that thou art awake." The Fireman feared for Zau al-Makan and said in himself, "Haply the Eunuch will do him some hurt"; so he answered, "By Allah, I know not who it was." Said the Eunuch, "By Allah, thou liest, for there is none on wake here but thou! So needs must thou know him." "By Allah," replied the Fireman, "I tell thee the truth!: some passer-by, some wayfarer must have recited the verses and disturbed me and kept me awake; Allah requite him!" Quoth the Eunuch, "If thou happen upon him, point him out to me and I will lay hands on him and bring him to the door of our lady's litter;309 or do thou take him with thine own hand." Said the Fireman, "Go thou back and I will bring him to thee." So the Eunuch left him and went his ways; and, going in to his mistress, told her all this and said to her, "None knoweth who it was; it must have been some passer-by, some wayfarer." And she was silent. Meanwhile, Zau al-Makan came to himself and saw that the moon had reached the middle Heavens; the breath of the dawn-breeze310 breathed upon him and his heart was moved to longing and sadness; so he cleared his throat and was about to recite verses, when the Fireman asked him, "What wilt thou do?" Answered Zau al-Makan, "I have a mind to repeat somewhat of poetry, that I may quench therewith the fire of my heart." Quoth the other, "Thou knowest not what befel me whilst thou wast a-faint, and how I escaped death only by beguiling the Eunuch." "Tell me what happened," quoth Zau al-Makan. Replied the Stoker, "Whilst thou wast aswoon there came up to me but now an Eunuch, with a long staff of almond-tree wood in his hand, who took to looking in all the people's faces, as they lay asleep, and asked me who it was recited the verses, finding none awake but myself. I told him in reply it was some passer-by, some wayfarer; so he went away and Allah delivered me from him; else had he killed me. But first he said to me: – If thou hear him again, bring him to us." When Zau al-Makan heard this he wept and said, "Who is it would forbid me to recite? I will surely recite, befal me what may; for I am near mine own land and care for none." Rejoined the Fireman, "Thy design is naught save to lose thy life;" and Zau al-Makan retorted, "Needs must I recite verses." "Verily," said the Stoker, "Needs must there be a parting between me and thee in this place, albeit I had intended not to leave thee, till I had brought thee to thy native city and reunited thee with thy mother and father. Thou hast now tarried with me a year and a half and I have never harmed thee in aught. What ails thee, then, that thou must needs recite verses, seeing that we are tired out with walking and watching and all the folk are asleep, for they require sleep to rest them of their fatigue?" But Zau al-Makan answered, "I will not be turned away from my purpose."311 Then grief moved him and he threw off concealment and began repeating these couplets: —

Stand thou by the homes and hail the lords of the ruined stead; ✿ Cry thou for an answer, belike reply to thee shall be sped:If the night and absence irk thy spirit kindle a torch ✿ Wi' repine; and illuminate the gloom with a gleaming gleed:If the snake of the sand-dunes hiss, I shall marvel not at all! ✿ Let him bite so I bite those beauteous lips of the luscious red:O Eden, my soul hath fled in despite of the maid I love: ✿ Had I lost hope of Heaven my heart in despair were dead.

And he also improvised the two following distichs:

We were and were the days enthralled to all our wills, ✿ Dwelling in union sweet and homed in fairest site:Who shall restore the home of the beloved, where showed ✿ Light of the Place for aye conjoined with Time's Delight?312

And as he ceased his verses, he shrieked three shrieks and fell senseless to the ground and the Fireman rose and covered him. When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard the first improvisation, she called to mind her father and her mother and her brother and their whilom home; then she wept and cried at the Eunuch and said to him, "Woe to thee! He who recited the first time hath recited a second time and I heard him hard by. By Allah, an thou fetch him not to me, I will assuredly rouse the Chamberlain on thee, and he shall beat thee and cast thee out. But take these hundred dinars and give them to the singer and bring him to me gently, and do him no hurt. If he refuse, hand to him this purse of a thousand dinars, then leave him and return to me and tell me, after thou hast informed thyself of his place and his calling and what countryman he is. Return quickly and linger not." – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman sent the Eunuch to make enquiries concerning the singer and said, "Beware how thou come back to me and report, I could not find him." So the Eunuch went out and laid about the people and trod in their tents, but found none awake, all being asleep for weariness, till he came to the Stoker and saw him sitting up, with his head uncovered. So he drew near and seizing him by the hand, said to him, "It was thou didst recite the verses!" The Fireman was afeard for his life and replied, "No, by Allah, O chief of the people, it was not I!" But the Eunuch said, "I will not leave thee till thou show me who it was that recited the verses, for I dread returning to my lady without him." Now when the Fireman heard these words he feared for Zau al-Makan and wept with exceeding weeping and said to the Eunuch, "By Allah, it was not I, and I know him not. I only heard some passer-by, some wayfarer, recite verses: so do not thou commit sin on me, for I am a stranger and come from the Holy City of Jerusalem; and Abraham, the friend of Allah, be with you all." "Rise up and fare with me," rejoined the Eunuch, "and tell my lady this with thine own mouth, for I have seen none awake save thyself." Quoth the Stoker, "Hast thou not come and seen me sitting in the place where I now am, and dost thou not know my station? Thou wottest none can stir from his place, except the watchmen seize him. So go thou to thy station and if thou again meet any one after this hour reciting aught of poetry, whether he be near or far, it will be I or some one I know, and thou shalt not learn of him but by me." Then he kissed the Eunuch's head and spake him fair till he went away; but the Castrato fetched a round and, returning secretly, came and stood behind the Fireman, fearing to go back to his mistress without tidings. As soon as he was gone, the Stoker arose and aroused Zau al-Makan and said to him, "Come, sit up, that I may tell thee what hath happened." So Zau al-Makan sat up, and his companion told him what had passed, and he answered, "Let me alone; I will take no heed of this and I care for none, for I am near mine own country."313 Quoth the Stoker, "Why wilt thou obey thy flesh and the devil? If thou fear no one, I fear for thee and for my life, so Allah upon thee! recite nothing more of verses till thou come to thine own land. Indeed, I had not deemed thee so ill-conditioned. Dost thou not know that this lady is the wife of the Chamberlain and is minded to chastise thee for disturbing her? Belike, she is ill or restless for fatigue of the journey and the distance of the place from her home, and this is the second time she hath sent the Eunuch to look for thee." However Zau al-Makan paid no heed to the Fireman's words but cried out a third time and began versifying with these couplets: —

I fly the carper's injury, ✿ Whose carping sorely vexeth me:He chides and taunts me, wotting not ✿ He burns me but more grievously.The blamer cries "He is consoled!" ✿ I say, "My own dear land314 to see:"They ask, "Why be that land so dear?" ✿ I say "It taught me in love to be:"They ask, "What raised its dignity?" ✿ I say, "What made my ignomy:"Whate'er the bitter cup I drain, ✿ Far be fro' me that land to flee:Nor will I bow to those who blame, ✿ And for such love would deal me shame.

Hardly had he made an end of his verses and come to a conclusion, when the Eunuch (who had heard him from his hiding-place at his head) came up to him; whereupon the Fireman fled and stood afar off to see what passed between them. Then said the Eunuch to Zau al-Makan, "Peace be with thee, O my lord!" "And on thee be peace," replied Zau al-Makan, "and the mercy of Allah and His blessings!" "O my lord," continued the Eunuch – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Eunuch said to Zau al-Makan, "O my lord, I have sought thee these several times this night, for my mistress biddeth thee to her." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "And who be this bitch that seeketh for me? Allah curse her and curse her husband with her!"315 And he began to revile the Eunuch, who could make him no answer, because his mistress had charged him to do Zau al-Makan no hurt, nor bring him save of his own especial free will; and, if he would not accompany him, to give him the thousand dinars. So the Castrato began to speak him fair and say to him, "O my lord, take this purse and go with me. We will do thee no unright, O my son, nor wrong thee in aught; but our object is that thou bend thy gracious steps with me to my mistress, to receive her answer and return in weal and safety: and thou shalt have a handsome present as one who bringeth good news." When Zau al-Makan heard this, he arose and went with the Eunuch and walked among the sleeping folk, stepping over them; whilst the Fireman followed after them from afar, and kept his eye upon him and said to himself, "Alas the pity of his youth! To-morrow they will hang him." And he ceased not following them till he approached their station,316 without any observing him. Then he stood still and said, "How base it will be of him, if he say it was I who bade him recite the verses!" This was the case of the Stoker; but as regards what befel Zau al-Makan, he ceased not walking with the Eunuch till he reached his station and the Castrato went in to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said, "O my lady, I have brought thee him whom thou soughtest, and he is a youth, fair of face and bearing the marks of wealth and gentle breeding." When she heard this, her heart fluttered and she cried, "Let him recite some verses, that I may hear him nearhand, and after ask him his name and his condition and his native land." Then the Eunuch went out to Zau al-Makan and said to him, "Recite what verses thou knowest, for my lady is here hard by, listening to thee, and after I will ask thee of thy name and thy native country and thy condition." Replied he, "With love and gladness but, an thou ask my name, it is erased and my trace is unplaced and my body awaste. I have a story, the beginning of which is not known nor can the end of it be shown, and behold, I am even as one who hath exceeded in wine-drinking and who hath not spared himself; one who is afflicted with distempers and who wandereth from his right mind, being perplexed about his case and drowned in the sea of thought." When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard this, she broke out into excessive weeping and sobbing, and said to the Eunuch, "Ask him if he have parted from one he loveth even as his mother or father." The Castrato asked as she bade him, and Zau al-Makan replied, "Yes, I have parted from every one I loved: but the dearest of all to me was my sister, from whom Fate hath separated me." When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard this, she exclaimed, "Allah Almighty reunite him with what he loveth!" – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat al-Zaman heard his words she said, "Allah reunite him with what he loveth!" Then quoth she to the Eunuch, "Tell him to let me hear somewhat anent his separation from his countrymen and his country." The Eunuch did so, and Zau al-Makan sighed heavily and began repeating these couplets317: —

Is not her love a pledge by all mankind confest? ✿ The house that hometh Hinda be for ever blest!Her love all levels; man can reck of naught beside; ✿ Naught or before or after can for man have zest.'Tis though the vale is paved with musk and ambergris ✿ That day when Hinda's footstep on its face is prest:Hail to the beauty of our camp, the pride of folk, ✿ The dearling who enslaves all hearts by her behest:Allah on "Time's Delight" send large-dropped clouds that teem ✿ With genial rain but bear no thunder in their breast.

And also these: —

I vow to Allah if at home I sight ✿ My sister Nuzhat al-Zamáni hight,I'll pass the days in joyance and delight ✿ Mid bashful minions, maidens soft and white:To sound of harps in various modes they smite ✿ Draining the bowl, while eyes rain lively light'Neath half-closed lids, a-sipping lips red-bright ✿ By stream-bank flowing through my garden-site.

When he had finished his verse, Nuzhat al-Zaman lifted up a skirt of the litter-curtain and looked at him. As soon as her eyes fell on his face, she knew him for certain and cried out, "O my brother! O Zau al-Makan!" He also looked at her and knew her and cried out, "O my sister! O Nuzhat al-Zaman!" Then she threw herself upon him and he gathered her to his bosom and the twain fell down in a fainting fit. When the Eunuch saw this case, he wondered at them and throwing over them somewhat to cover them, waited till they should recover. After a while they came to themselves, and Nuzhat al-Zaman rejoiced with exceeding joy: oppression and depression left her and gladness took the mastery of her, and she repeated these verses: —

Time sware my life should fare in woeful waste; ✿ Forsworn art Time, expiate thy sin in haste!318Comes weal and comes a welcome friend to aid; ✿ To him who brings good news, rise, gird thy waist:I spurnèd old-world tales of Eden-bliss; ✿ Till came I Kausar319 on those lips to taste.

When Zau al-Makan heard this, he pressed his sister to his breast; tears streamed from his eyes for excess of joy and he repeated these couplets320: —

Long I lamented that we fell apart, ✿ While tears repentant railèd from these eyne;And sware, if Time unite us twain once more, ✿ "Severance" shall never sound from tongue of mine:Joy hath so overwhelmed me that excess ✿ Of pleasure from mine eyes draws gouts of brine:Tears, O mine eyes, have now become your wont ✿ Ye weep for pleasure and you weep for pine!

They sat awhile at the litter-door till she said to him, "Come with me into the litter and tell me all that hath befallen thee, and I will tell thee what happened to me." So they entered and Zau al-Makan said, "Do thou begin thy tale." Accordingly she told him all that had come to her since their separation at the Khan and what had happened to her with the Badawi; how the merchant had bought her of him and had taken her to her brother Sharrkan and had sold her to him; how he had freed her at the time of buying; how he had made a marriage-contract with her and had gone in to her and how the King, their sire, had sent and asked for her from Sharrkan. Then quoth she, "Praised be Allah who hath vouchsafed thee to me and ordained that, even as we left our father together, so together shall we return to him!" And she added, "Of a truth my brother Sharrkan gave me in marriage to this Chamberlain that he might carry me to my father. And this is what befel me from first to last; so now tell me how it hath fared with thee since I left thee." Thereupon he told her all that had happened to him from beginning to end; and how Allah vouchsafed to send the Fireman to him, and how he had journeyed with him and spent his money on him and had served him night and day. She praised the Stoker for this and Zau al-Makan added, "Of a truth, O my sister, this Fireman hath dealt with me in such benevolent wise as would not lover with lass nor sire with son, for that he fasted and gave me to eat, and he walked whilst he made me ride; and I owe my life to him." Said she, "Allah willing, we will requite him for all this, according to our power." Then she called the Eunuch, who came and kissed Zau al-Makan's hand, and she said, "Take thy reward for glad tidings, O face of good omen! It was thy hand reunited me with my brother; so the purse I gave thee and all in it are thine. But now go to thy master and bring him quickly to me." The Castrato rejoiced and, going in to the Chamberlain, summoned him to his mistress. Accordingly, he came in to his wife and finding Zau al-Makan with her, asked who he was. So she told him all that had befallen them both, first and last, and added, "Know, O Chamberlain, that thou hast married no slave-girl; far from it, thou hast taken to wife the daughter of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman for I am Nuzhat al-Zaman, and this is my brother, Zau al-Makan." When the Chamberlain heard the story he knew it to be sooth, and its manifest truth appeared to him and he was certified that he was become King Omar bin al-Nu'uman's son-in-law, so he said to himself, "'Twill be my fate to be made viceroy of some province."321 Then he went up to Zau al-Makan and gave him joy of his safety and reunion with his sister, and bade his servants forthwith make him ready a tent and one of the best of his own horses to ride. Thereupon said Nuzhat al-Zaman, "We are now near our country and I would be left alone with my brother, that we may enjoy each other's company and take our fill of it ere we reach Baghdad; for we have been parted a long, long time." "Be it as thou biddest," replied the Chamberlain, and, going forth from them, sent them wax-candles and various kinds of sweetmeats, together with three suits of the costliest for Zau al-Makan. Then he returned to the litter and related the good he had done and Nuzhat al-Zaman said to him, "Bid the Eunuch bring me the Fireman and give him a horse to ride and ration him with a tray of food morning and evening, and let him be forbidden to leave us." The Chamberlain called the Castrato and charged him to do accordingly; so he replied, "I hear and I obey;" and he took his pages with him and went out in search of the Stoker till he found him in the rear of the caravan, girthing his ass and preparing for flight. The tears were running adown his cheeks, out of fear for his life and grief for his separation from Zau al-Makan; and he was saying to himself, "Indeed, I warned him for the love of Allah, but he would not listen to me; Oh would I knew what is become of him!" Ere he had done speaking the Eunuch was standing by his head whilst the pages surrounded him. The Fireman turned and seeing the Eunuch and the pages gathered around him became yellow with fear – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.