The Thousand and One Nights Volume I Part 14

[154] D'Herbelot, art. "Bokhteri."

[155] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chapter the seventh (MS. in my possession).

[156] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chapter the eighth.

[157] Idem, chapter the seventh.

[158] A recent traveller has questioned Mr. Lane's authority, in the "Modern Egyptians," for the remark that Muslims should not pray in the bath. A reference to any well-known collection of traditions of the Prophet will, however, prove, by many sayings besides that quoted above, that Mr. Lane is in this matter strictly accurate.--ED.

[159] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, &c., section the seventh.

[160] A pious Muslim generally sits at his meals with the right knee raised, after the example of the Prophet, who adopted this custom in order to avoid too comfortable a posture in eating, as tempting to unnecessary gratification.--ED.

[161] Pp. 180--182, ed. Oxon. 1800.

[162] See Esther vi. 8 and 9.

[163] El-Ma?reezee's "Khi?a?," and El-Is-?a?ee.

[164] El-Is-?a?ee; reign of the Khaleefeh El-Musta'een, the son of El-Mo?ta?im.

[165] Sketches of Persia, vol. i. ch. v. [Mr. Lane has written some of the Oriental words in this extract according to his own mode.--ED.]

[166] Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, vol. i. pp. 220 et seq. 8vo. ed.

[167] A more full account of this custom is given in my work on the Modern Egyptians, vol. i. ch. l.

[168] Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, vol. i. p. 232, 8vo.

ed.

[169] Kitab el-'Onwan fee Mekad en-Niswan.

[170] Ch. xxiv. vv. 27-29.

[171] See "Modern Egyptians," vol. ii., close of chap, ix.--Since this was written, I have found that El-Idreesee applies the term "?asheesheeyeh," which is exactly synonymous with "?ashshasheen," to the "a.s.sa.s.sins:" this, therefore, decides the question.

[172] Lib. i. cap. 10.

[173] Lib. ii. cap. 77.

[174] El-Ma?reezee and El-Is-?a?ee.

CHAPTER III.

COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE NINTH NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH.

THE STORY OF THE PORTER AND THE LADIES OF BAGHDaD, AND OF THE THREE ROYAL MENDICANTS, &c.

There was a man of the city of Baghdad, who was unmarried, and he was a porter; and one day, as he sat in the market, reclining against his crate,[III_1] there accosted him a female wrapped in an izar[III_2] of the manufacture of El-Mo?il,[III_3] composed of gold-embroidered silk, with a border of gold lace at each end, who raised her face-veil, and displayed beneath it a pair of black eyes, with lids bordered by long lashes, exhibiting a tender expression, and features of perfect beauty; and she said, with a sweet voice, Bring thy crate, and follow me.

The porter had scarcely heard her words when he took up his crate, and he followed her until she stopped at the door of a house, and knocked; whereupon there came down to her a Christian, and she gave him a piece of gold, and received for it a quant.i.ty of olives, and two large vessels of wine,[III_4] which she placed in the crate, saying to the porter, Take it up, and follow me. The porter exclaimed, This is, indeed, a fortunate day!--and he took up the crate, and followed her.

She next stopped at the shop of a fruiterer, and bought of him Syrian apples, and 'Othmanee quinces,[III_5] and peaches of 'Oman, and jasmine of Aleppo, and water-lilies of Damascus, and cuc.u.mbers of the Nile, and Egyptian limes, and Sul?anee citrons, and sweet-scented myrtle, and sprigs of the ?enna-tree, and chamomile, and anemones, and violets, and pomegranate flowers, and eglantine: all these she put into the porter's crate, and said to him, Take it up. So he took it up, and followed her until she stopped at the shop of a butcher, to whom she said, Cut off ten pounds of meat;--and he cut it off for her, and she wrapped it in a leaf of a banana-tree, and put it in the crate, and said again, Take it up, O porter:--and he did so, and followed her. She next stopped at the shop of a seller of dry fruits, and took some of every kind of these, and desired the porter to take up his burden. Having obeyed, he followed her until she stopped at the shop of a confectioner, where she bought a dish, and filled it with sweets of every kind that he had,[III_6] which she put into the crate; whereupon the porter ventured to say, If thou hadst informed me beforehand, I had brought with me a mule to carry all these things. The lady smiled at his remark, and next stopped at the shop of a perfumer, of whom she bought ten kinds of scented waters; rose-water, and orange-flower-water, and willow-flower-water,[III_7] &c.; together with some sugar, and a sprinkling-bottle[III_8] of rose-water infused with musk, and some frankincense, and aloes-wood, and ambergris, and musk, and wax candles; and, placing all these in the crate, she said, Take up thy crate, and follow me. He, therefore, took it up, and followed her until she came to a handsome house, before which was a s.p.a.cious court. It was a lofty structure, with a door of two leaves, composed of ebony, overlaid with plates of red gold.[III_9]

The young lady stopped at this door, and knocked gently; whereupon both its leaves were opened, and the porter, looking to see who opened it, found it to be a damsel of tall stature, high-bosomed, fair and beautiful, and of elegant form, with a forehead like the bright new moon, eyes like those of gazelles, eyebrows like the new moon of Rama?an,[III_10] cheeks resembling anemones, and a mouth like the seal of Suleyman:[III_11] her countenance was like the full moon in its splendour, and the forms of her bosom resembled two pomegranates of equal size. When the porter beheld her, she captivated his reason, the crate nearly fell from his head, and he exclaimed, Never in my life have I seen a more fortunate day than this! The lady-portress, standing within the door, said to the cateress and the porter, Ye are welcome:--and they entered, and proceeded to a s.p.a.cious saloon,[III_12] decorated with various colours, and beautifully constructed, with carved wood-work, and fountains, and benches of different kinds, and closets with curtains hanging before them; there was also in it, at the upper end,[III_13] a couch of alabaster inlaid with large pearls and jewels, with a musquito-curtain of red satin suspended over it, and within this was a young lady with eyes possessing the enchantment of Babil,[III_14] and a figure like the letter Alif,[III_15] with a face that put to shame the shining sun: she was like one of the brilliant planets, or rather, one of the most high-born of the maidens of Arabia. This third lady,[III_16] rising from the couch, advanced with a slow and elegant gait to the middle of the saloon, where her sisters were standing, and said to them, Why stand ye still? Lift down the burden from the head of this poor porter:--whereupon the cateress placed herself before him, and the portress behind him, and, the third lady a.s.sisting them, they lifted it down from his head. They then took out the contents of the crate, and, having put every thing in its place, gave to the porter two pieces of gold, saying to him, Depart, O porter.

The porter, however, stood looking at the ladies, and admiring their beauty and their agreeable dispositions; for he had never seen any more handsome; and when he observed that they had not a man among them, and gazed upon the wine, and fruits, and sweet-scented flowers, which were there, he was full of astonishment, and hesitated to go out; upon which one of the ladies said to him, Why dost thou not go? dost thou deem thy hire too little? Then turning to one of her sisters, she said to her, Give him another piece of gold.--By Allah, O my mistress, exclaimed the porter, my hire is but two half-dirhems,[III_17] and I thought not what ye have given me too little; but my heart and mind were occupied with reflections upon you and your state, ye being alone, with no man among you, not one to amuse you with his company; for ye know that the menareh[III_18] standeth not firmly but on four walls: now ye have not a fourth, and the pleasure of women is not complete without men: ye are three only, and have need of a fourth, who should be a man, a person of sense, discreet, acute, and a concealer of secrets. We are maidens, they replied; and fear to impart our secret to him who will not keep it; for we have read, in a certain history, this verse:--

Guard thy secret from another: intrust it not: for he who intrusteth a secret hath lost it.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

--By your existence, said the porter, I am a man of sense, and trustworthy: I have read various books, and perused histories: I make known what is fair, and conceal what is foul, and act in accordance with the saying of the poet:--

None keepeth a secret but a faithful person: with the best of mankind it remaineth concealed.

A secret is with me as in a house with a lock, whose key is lost, and whose door is sealed.[III_19]

When the ladies heard the verses which he quoted, and the words with which he addressed them, they said to him, Thou knowest that we have expended here a considerable sum of money: hast thou then wherewith to requite us? We will not suffer thee to remain with us unless thou contribute a sum of money; for thou desirest to sit with us, and to be our cup-companion, and to gaze upon our beautiful faces.--If friendship is without money, said the mistress of the house, it is not equivalent to the weight of a grain:--and the portress added, If thou hast nothing, depart with nothing:--but the cateress said, O sister, let us suffer him; for, verily, he hath not been deficient in his services for us this day: another had not been so patient with us: whatever, therefore, falls to his share of the expense, I will defray for him.--At this the porter rejoiced, and exclaimed, By Allah, I obtained my first and only pay this day from none but thee:--and the other ladies said to him, Sit down: thou art welcome.

The cateress then arose, and, having tightened her girdle, arranged the bottles, and strained the wine, and prepared the table by the pool of the fountain. She made ready all that they required, brought the wine, and sat down with her sisters; the porter also sitting with them, thinking he was in a dream. And when they had seated themselves, the cateress took a jar of wine, and filled the first cup, and drank it:[III_20] she then filled another, and handed it to one of her sisters; and in like manner she did to her other sister; after which she filled again, and handed the cup to the porter, who, having taken it from her hand, repeated this verse:--

I will drink the wine, and enjoy health; for, verily, this beverage is a remedy for disease.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The wine continued to circulate among them, and the porter, taking his part in the revels, dancing and singing with them, and enjoying the fragrant odours, began to hug and kiss them, while one slapped[III_21] him, and another pulled him, and the third beat him with sweet-scented flowers, till, at length, the wine made sport with their reason; and they threw off all restraint, indulging their merriment with as much freedom as if no man had been present.[III_22]

Thus they continued until the approach of night, when they said to the porter, Depart, and shew us the breadth of thy shoulders;[III_23]--but he replied, Verily the departure of my soul from my body were more easy to me than my departure from your company; therefore suffer us to join the night to the day, and then each of us shall return to his own, or her own, affairs. The cateress, also, again interceded for him, saying, By my life I conjure you that ye suffer him to pa.s.s the night with us, that we may laugh at his drolleries, for he is a witty rogue. So they said to him, Thou shalt pa.s.s the night with us on this condition, that thou submit to our authority, and ask not an explanation of anything that thou shalt see. He replied, Good.--Rise then, said they, and read what is inscribed upon the door. Accordingly, he went to the door, and found the following inscription upon it in letters of gold, Speak not of that which doth not concern thee, lest thou hear that which will not please thee:--and he said, Bear witness to my promise that I will not speak of that which doth not concern me.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The cateress then rose, and prepared for them a repast; and, after they had eaten a little, they lighted the candles and burnt some aloes-wood.

This done, they sat down again to the table; and, while they were eating and drinking, they heard a knocking at the door; whereupon, without causing any interruption to their meal, one of them went to the door, and, on her return, said, Our pleasure this night is now complete, for I have found, at the door, three foreigners[III_24] with shaven chins, and each of them is blind of the left eye: it is an extraordinary coincidence. They are strangers newly arrived,[III_25] and each of them has a ridiculous appearance: if they come in, therefore, we shall be amused with laughing at them.--The lady ceased not with these words, but continued to persuade her sisters until they consented, and said, Let them enter; but make it a condition with them that they speak not of that which doth not concern them, lest they hear that which will not please them. Upon this she rejoiced, and, having gone again to the door, brought in the three men blind of one eye and with shaven chins, and they had thin and twisted mustaches. Being mendicants, they saluted and drew back; but the ladies rose to them, and seated them; and when these three men looked at the porter, they saw that he was intoxicated; and, observing him narrowly, they thought that he was one of their own cla.s.s, and said, He is a mendicant like ourselves, and will amuse us by his conversation:--but the porter, hearing what they said, arose, and rolled his eyes, and exclaimed to them, Sit quiet, and abstain from impertinent remarks. Have ye not read the inscription upon the door?--The ladies, laughing, said to each other, Between the mendicants and the porter we shall find matter for amus.e.m.e.nt. They then placed before the former some food, and they ate, and then sat to drink. The portress handed to them the wine, and, as the cup was circulating among them, the porter said to them, Brothers, have ye any tale or strange anecdote wherewith to amuse us? The mendicants, heated by the wine, asked for musical instruments; and the portress brought them a tambourine of the manufacture of El-Mo?il, with a lute of El-'Era?, and a Persian harp;[III_26]

whereupon they all arose; and one took the tambourine; another, the lute; and the third, the harp: and they played upon these instruments, the ladies accompanying them with loud songs; and while they were thus diverting themselves, a person knocked at the door. The portress, therefore, went to see who was there; and the cause of the knocking was this.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The Khaleefeh[III_27] Haroon Er-Rasheed had gone forth this night to see and hear what news he could collect, accompanied by Ja?far[III_28] his Wezeer, and Mesroor[III_29] his executioner. It was his custom to disguise himself in the attire of a merchant; and this night, as he went through the city, he happened to pa.s.s, with his attendants, by the house of these ladies, and hearing the sounds of the musical instruments, he said to Ja?far, I have a desire to enter this house, and to see who is giving this concert.--They are a party who have become intoxicated, replied Ja?far, and I fear that we may experience some ill usage from them;--but the Khaleefeh said, We must enter, and I would that thou devise some stratagem by which we may obtain admission to the inmates.

Ja?far therefore answered, I hear and obey:--and he advanced, and knocked at the door; and when the portress came and opened the door, he said to her, My mistress, we are merchants from Tabareeyeh,[III_30] and have been in Baghdad ten days; we have brought with us merchandise, and taken lodgings in a Khan;[III_31] and a merchant invited us to an entertainment this night: accordingly, we went to his house, and he placed food before us, and we ate, and sat awhile drinking together, after which he gave us leave to depart;[III_32] and going out in the dark, and being strangers, we missed our way to the Khan: we trust, therefore, in your generosity that you will admit us to pa.s.s the night in your house; by doing which you will obtain a reward in heaven.--The portress, looking at them, and observing that they were in the garb of merchants, and that they bore an appearance of respectability, returned, and consulted her two companions; and they said to her, Admit them:--so she returned, and opened to them the door. They said to her, Shall we enter with thy permission? She answered, Come in. The Khaleefeh, therefore, entered, with Ja?far and Mesroor; and when the ladies saw them, they rose to them, and served them, saying, Welcome are our guests; but we have a condition to impose upon you, that ye speak not of that which doth not concern you, lest ye hear that which will not please you. They answered, Good:--and when they had sat down to drink, the Khaleefeh looked at the three mendicants, and was surprised at observing that each of them was blind of the left eye; and he gazed upon the ladies, and was perplexed and amazed at their fairness and beauty. And when the others proceeded to drink and converse, the ladies brought wine to the Khaleefeh; but he said, I am a pilgrim;[III_33]--and drew back from them. Whereupon the portress spread before him an embroidered cloth, and placed upon it a China bottle, into which she poured some willow-flower-water, adding to it a lump of ice, and sweetening it with sugar, while the Khaleefeh thanked her, and said within himself, To-morrow I must reward her for this kind action.

The party continued their carousal, and, when the wine took effect upon them, the mistress of the house arose, and waited upon them; and afterwards, taking the hand of the cateress, said, Arise, O my sister, that we may fulfil our debt. She replied, Good. The portress then rose, and, after she had cleared the middle of the saloon, placed the mendicants at the further end, beyond the doors; after which, the ladies called to the porter, saying, How slight is thy friendship! thou art not a stranger, but one of the family. So the porter arose, and girded himself, and said, What would ye?--to which one of the ladies answered, Stand where thou art:--and presently the cateress said to him, a.s.sist me:--and he saw two black b.i.t.c.hes, with chains attached to their necks, and drew them to the middle of the saloon; whereupon the mistress of the house arose from her place, and tucked up her sleeve above her wrist, and, taking a whip, said to the porter, Bring to me one of them.

Accordingly, he dragged one forward by the chain. The b.i.t.c.h whined, and shook her head at the lady; but the latter fell to beating her upon the head, notwithstanding her howling, until her arms were tired, when she threw the whip from her hand, and pressed the b.i.t.c.h to her bosom, and wiped away her tears, and kissed her head; after which she said to the porter, Take her back, and bring the other;--and he brought her, and she did to her as she had done to the first. At the sight of this, the mind of the Khaleefeh was troubled, and his heart was contracted, and he winked to Ja?far that he should ask her the reason; but he replied by a sign, Speak not.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The mistress of the house then looked towards the portress, and said to her, Arise to perform what thou hast to do. She replied, Good:--and the mistress of the house seated herself upon a couch of alabaster, overlaid with gold and silver, and said to the portress and the cateress, Now perform your parts. The portress then seated herself upon a couch by her; and the cateress, having entered a closet, brought out from it a bag of satin with green fringes, and, placing herself before the lady of the house, shook it, and took out from it a lute; and she tuned its strings, and sang to it these verses:--