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Another Random Scribd Document
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 The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Plain and
Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights
Entertainments, Now Entituled the Book of the
Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 05 (of
17)
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights

Entertainments, Now Entituled the Book of the
Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 05 (of 17)

Translator: Sir Richard Francis Burton

Release date: February 28, 2017 [eBook #54257]

Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Richard Tonsing, Richard Hulse and the

Online
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PLAIN AND

LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
ENTERTAINMENTS, NOW ENTITULED THE BOOK OF THE
THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT, VOLUME 05 (OF 17) ***
 “TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE.”
(Puris omnia pura)

—Arab Proverb.

“Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole.”

—“Decameron”—conclusion.
“Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum
Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget.”

—Martial.
“Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,
Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.”

—Rabelais.
“The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One
Stories makes us regret that we possess only a comparatively small
part of these truly enchanting fictions.”
—Crichton’s “History of Arabia.”
PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN
NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS. NOW ENTITULED
 THE BOOK OF THE
Thousand Nights and a Night

WITH INTRODUCTION EXPLANATORY NOTES

ON THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF MOSLEM
MEN AND A TERMINAL ESSAY UPON THE
HISTORY OF T H E N I G H T S

VOLUME V.

BY
RICHARD F. BURTON

PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

 Shammar Edition

Limited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is

Number 547

Printed in U. S. A.
 To DOCTOR GEORGE BIRD.

My dear Bird,

This is not a strictly medical work, although in places treating of

subjects which may modestly be called hygienic. I inscribe it to you
because your knowledge of Egypt will enable you to appreciate its
finer touches; and for another and a yet more cogent reason,
namely, that you are one of my best and oldest friends.

Ever yours sincerely.

RICHARD F. BURTON.
Athenæum Club, October 20, 1885.
 CONTENTS OF THE FIFTH VOLUME.

PAGE

THE EBONY HORSE 1

(Lane, Vol. II., Chapt. XVII. Story of the Magic Horse: pp. 517–545.)

UNS AL-WUJUD AND THE WAZIR’S DAUGHTER ROSE-IN- 32

HOOD
(Chapt. XVIII. Story of Uns el-Wujood and El-Ward fi’l-Akmam: p.
549.)

ABU NOWAS WITH THE THREE BOYS AND THE CALIPH 64

HARUN AL-RASHID

ABDALLAH BIN MA’AMAR WITH THE MAN OF BASSORAH 69

AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL
(Anecdote of a Man and his Slave-Girl: p. 578.)

THE LOVERS OF THE BANU OZRAH 70

(Anecdote of Two Victims of Love: p. 579.)

THE WAZIR OF AL-YAMAN AND HIS YOUNG BROTHER 71

THE LOVES OF THE BOY AND GIRL AT SCHOOL 73

(Love in a School: p. 580.)
AL-MUTALAMMIS AND HIS WIFE UMAYMAH 74

HARUN AL-RASHID AND ZUBAYDAH IN THE BATH 75

HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE THREE POETS 77

MUS’AB BIN AL-ZUBAYR AND AYISHAH HIS WIFE 79

ABU AL-ASWAD AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL 80

HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE TWO SLAVE-GIRLS 81

HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE THREE SLAVE-GIRLS 81

THE MILLER AND HIS WIFE 82

(Lane, Vol. II. Anecdote of a Faithless Wife: p. 582.)

THE SIMPLETON AND THE SHARPER 83

(Anecdote of a Simpleton and a Sharper: p. 582.)

THE KAZI ABU YUSUF WITH HARUN AL-RASHID AND 85

QUEEN ZUBAYDAH

THE CALIPH AL HAKIM AND THE MERCHANT 86

(Anecdote of El-Hakim bi-amri-llah and a Merchant of Cairo: p.
583.)

KING KISRA ANUSHIRWAN AND THE VILLAGE DAMSEL 87

(Anecdote of Anooshirwán: p. 884.)
THE WATER-CARRIER AND THE GOLDSMITH’S WIFE 89

KHUSRAU AND SHIRIN AND THE FISHERMAN 91

(Anecdote of Khusrow and Sheereen and a Fisherman: p. 585.)

YAHYA BIN KHALID AND THE POOR MAN 92

(Anecdote of Yahya el-Barmekee: p. 586.)

MOHAMMED AL-AMIN AND THE SLAVE-GIRL 93

(Mohammad el-Emeen and the Slave-Girl El-Bedr el-Kebeer: p. 587.)

THE SONS OF YAHYA BIN KHALID AND SAID BIN SALIM 94

(Anecdote of El-Fadl and Ja’afar the Barmekee: p. 588.)

THE WOMAN’S TRICK AGAINST HER HUSBAND 96

(Anecdote of a Deceitful Wife: p. 589.)

THE DEVOUT WOMAN AND THE TWO WICKED ELDERS 97

JA’AFAR THE BARMECIDE AND THE OLD BADAWI 98

OMAR BIN AL-KHATTAB AND THE YOUNG BADAWI 99

(Anecdote of a Homicide: p. 589.)

AL-MAAMUN AND THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT 105

THE THIEF AND THE MERCHANT 107

(Anecdote of an Impudent Thief: p. 592.)

MASRUR THE EUNUCH AND IBN AL-KARIBI 109

 (Compact of Mesroor with Ibn el-Karibee: p. 594.)

THE DEVOTEE PRINCE 111

(Lane, Vol. II. Anecdote of a Devotee Son of Harun er-Rasheed: p.
595.)

THE SCHOOLMASTER WHO FELL IN LOVE BY REPORT 117

THE FOOLISH DOMINIE 118

THE ILLITERATE WHO SET UP FOR A SCHOOLMASTER 119

(Anecdote of an Illiterate Schoolmaster: p. 599.)

THE KING AND THE VIRTUOUS WIFE 121

ABD AL-RAHMAN THE MAGHRIBI’S STORY OF THE RUKH 122

(The Rukh: p. 600.)

ADI BIN ZAYD AND THE PRINCESS HIND 124

DI’IBIL AL-KHUZA’I WITH THE LADY AND MUSLIM BIN AL- 127
WALID

ISAAC OF MOSUL AND THE MERCHANT 129

THE THREE UNFORTUNATE LOVERS 133

HOW ABU HASAN BRAKE WIND 135

THE LOVERS OF THE BANU TAYY 137

(Result of Restraint upon Two Lovers: p. 601.)
THE MAD LOVER 138
(Anecdote of a Distracted Lover: p. 602.)

THE PRIOR WHO BECAME A MOSLEM 141

(The Converted Prior: p. 603.)

THE LOVES OF ABU ISA AND KURRAT AL-AYN 145

(Aboo’Esa and Kurrat el-‘Eyn: p. 606.)

AL-AMIN AND HIS UNCLE IBRAHIM BIN AL-MAHDI 152

AL-FATH BIN KHAKAN AND AL-MUTAWAKKIL 153

THE MAN’S DISPUTE WITH THE LEARNED WOMAN 154

CONCERNING THE RELATIVE EXCELLENCE OF MALE AND
FEMALE

ABU SUWAYD AND THE PRETTY OLD WOMAN 163

ALI BIN TAHIR AND THE GIRL MUUNIS 164

THE WOMAN WHO HAD A BOY AND THE OTHER WHO HAD 165
A MAN TO LOVER

ALI THE CAIRENE AND THE HAUNTED HOUSE IN 166

BAGHDAD
(Lane, Vol. II., Chapt. XIX. Story of ‘Alee of Cairo: p. 609.)

THE PILGRIM MAN AND THE OLD WOMAN 186

(Anecdote of a Townsman and a Bedaweeyeh: p. 635.)
ABU AL-HUSN AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL TAWADDUD 189

THE ANGEL OF DEATH WITH THE PROUD KING AND THE 246
DEVOUT MAN

THE ANGEL OF DEATH AND THE RICH KING 248

THE ANGEL OF DEATH AND THE KING OF THE CHILDREN 250

OF ISRAEL
(A Tyrannical King and the Angel of Death: p. 636.)

ISKANDAR ZU AL-KARNAYN AND A CERTAIN TRIBE OF 252

POOR FOLK

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF KING ANUSHIRWAN 254

THE JEWISH KAZI AND HIS PIOUS WIFE 256

THE SHIPWRECKED WOMAN AND HER CHILD 259

THE PIOUS BLACK SLAVE 261

THE DEVOUT TRAY-MAKER AND HIS WIFE 264

(Advantages of Piety and Industry: p. 637.)

AL-HAJJAJ BIN YUSUF AND THE PIOUS MAN 269

THE BLACKSMITH WHO COULD HANDLE FIRE WITHOUT 271

HURT
THE DEVOTEE TO WHOM ALLAH GAVE A CLOUD FOR 274
SERVICE AND THE DEVOUT KING

THE MOSLEM CHAMPION AND THE CHRISTIAN DAMSEL 277

(Lane, Vol. II. Anecdote of a Moslem Warrior and a Christian
Maiden: p. 639.)

THE CHRISTIAN KING’S DAUGHTER AND THE MOSLEM 283

THE PROPHET AND THE JUSTICE OF PROVIDENCE 286

(The Justice of Providence: p. 612.)

THE FERRYMAN OF THE NILE AND THE HERMIT 288

THE ISLAND KING AND THE PIOUS ISRAELITE 290

ABU AL-HASAN AND ABU JA’AFAR THE LEPER 294

THE QUEEN OF THE SERPENTS 298

a. The Adventures of Bulukiya 304

b. The Story of Janshah 329

 THE EBONY HORSE.[1]

There was once in times of yore and ages long gone before, a great
and puissant King, of the Kings of the Persians, Sábúr by name, who
was the richest of all the Kings in store of wealth and dominion and
surpassed each and every in wit and wisdom. He was generous,
open handed and beneficent, and he gave to those who sought him
and repelled not those who resorted to him; and he comforted the
broken-hearted and honourably entreated those who fled to him for
refuge. Moreover, he loved the poor and was hospitable to strangers
and did the oppressed justice upon the oppressor. He had three
daughters, like full moons of shining light or flower-gardens
blooming bright; and a son as he were the moon; and it was his
wont to keep two festivals in the twelvemonth, those of the Nau-
Roz, or New Year, and Mihrgán the Autumnal Equinox,[2] on which
occasions he threw open his palaces and gave largesse and made
proclamation of safety and security and promoted his chamberlains
and viceroys; and the people of his realm came in to him and
saluted him and gave him joy of the holy day, bringing him gifts and
servants and eunuchs. Now he loved science and geometry, and one
festival-day as he sat on his kingly throne there came in to him three
wise men, cunning artificers and past masters in all manner of craft
and inventions, skilled in making things curious and rare, such as
confound the wit; and versed in the knowledge of occult truths and
perfect in mysteries and subtleties. And they were of three different
tongues and countries, the first a Hindi or Indian,[3] the second a
Roumi or Greek and the third a Farsi or Persian. The Indian came
forwards and, prostrating himself before the King, wished him joy of
the festival and laid before him a present befitting his dignity; that is
to say, a man of gold, set with precious gems and jewels of price
and hending in hand a golden trumpet. When Sabur[4] saw this, he
asked, “O sage, what is the virtue of this figure?”; and the Indian
answered, “O my lord, if this figure be set at the gate of thy city, it
will be a guardian over it; for, if an enemy enter the place, it will
blow this clarion against him and he will be seized with a palsy and
drop down dead.” Much the King marvelled at this and cried, “By
Allah, O sage, an this thy word be true, I will grant thee thy wish
and thy desire.” Then came forward the Greek and, prostrating
himself before the King, presented him with a basin of silver, in
whose midst was a peacock of gold, surrounded by four-and-twenty
chicks of the same metal. Sabur looked at them and turning to the
Greek, said to him, “O sage, what is the virtue of this peacock?” “O
my lord,” answered he, “as often as an hour of the day or night
passeth, it pecketh one of its young and crieth out and flappeth its
wings, till the four-and-twenty hours are accomplished; and when
the month cometh to an end, it will open its mouth and thou shalt
see the crescent therein.” And the King said, “An thou speak sooth, I
will bring thee to thy wish and thy desire.” Then came forward the
Persian sage and, prostrating himself before the King, presented him
with a horse[5] of the blackest ebony-wood inlaid with gold and
jewels, and ready harnessed with saddle, bridle and stirrups such as
befit Kings; which when Sabur saw, he marvelled with exceeding
marvel and was confounded at the beauty of its form and the
ingenuity of its fashion. So he asked, “What is the use of this horse
of wood, and what is its virtue and what the secret of its
movement?”; and the Persian answered, “O my lord, the virtue of
this horse is that, if one mount him, it will carry him whither he will
and fare with its rider through the air and cover the space of a year
in a single day.” The King marvelled and was amazed at these three
wonders, following thus hard upon one another on the same day,
and turning to the sage, said to him, “By Allah the Omnipotent, and
our Lord the Beneficent, who created all creatures and feedeth them
with meat and drink, an thy speech be veritable and the virtue of thy
contrivance appear, I will assuredly give thee whatsoever thou
lustest for and will bring thee to thy desire and thy wish!”[6] Then he
entertained the sages three days, that he might make trial of their
gifts; after which they brought the figures before him and each took
the creature he had wroughten and showed him the mystery of its
movement. The trumpeter blew the trump; the peacock pecked its
chicks and the Persian sage mounted the ebony horse, whereupon it
soared with him high in air and descended again. When King Sabur
saw all this, he was amazed and perplexed and felt like to fly for joy
and said to the three sages, “Now I am certified of the truth of your
words and it behoveth me to quit me of my promise. Ask ye,
therefore, what ye will, and I will give you that same.” Now the
report of the King’s daughters had reached the sages, so they
answered, “If the King be content with us and accept of our gifts
and allow us to prefer a request to him, we crave of him that he give
us his three daughters in marriage, that we may be his sons-in-law;
for that the stability of Kings may not be gainsaid.” Quoth the King,
“I grant you that which you wish and you desire,” and bade summon
the Kazi forthright, that he might marry each of the sages to one of
his daughters. Now it fortuned that the Princesses were behind a
curtain, looking on; and when they heard this, the youngest
considered her husband to be and behold, he was an old man,[7] an
hundred years of age, with hair frosted, forehead drooping,
eyebrows mangy, ears slitten, beard and mustachios stained and
dyed; eyes red and goggle; cheeks bleached and hollow; flabby nose
like a brinjall, or egg-plant[8]; face like a cobbler’s apron, teeth
overlapping and lips like camel’s kidneys, loose and pendulous; in
brief a terror, a horror, a monster, for he was of the folk of his time
the unsightliest and of his age the fright-fullest; sundry of his
grinders had been knocked out and his eye-teeth were like the tusks
of the Jinni who frighteneth poultry in hen-houses. Now the girl was
the fairest and most graceful of her time, more elegant than the
gazelle however tender, than the gentlest zephyr blander and
brighter than the moon at her full; for amorous fray right suitable;
confounding in graceful sway the waving bough and outdoing in
swimming gait the pacing roe; in fine she was fairer and sweeter by
far than all her sisters. So, when she saw her suitor, she went to her
chamber and strewed dust on her head and tore her clothes and fell
to buffeting her face and weeping and wailing. Now the Prince, her
brother, Kamar al-Akmár, or the Moon of Moons hight, was then
newly returned from a journey and, hearing her weeping and crying
came in to her (for he loved her with fond affection, more than his
other sisters) and asked her, “What aileth thee? What hath befallen
thee? Tell me and conceal naught from me.” So she smote her
breast and answered, “O my brother and my dear one, I have
nothing to hide. If the palace be straitened upon thy father, I will go
out; and if he be resolved upon a foul thing, I will separate myself
from him, though he consent not to make provision for me; and my
Lord will provide.” Quoth he, “Tell me what meaneth this talk and
what hath straitened thy breast and troubled thy temper.” “O my
brother and my dear one,” answered the Princess, “Know that my
father hath promised me in marriage to a wicked magician who
brought him, as a gift, a horse of black wood, and hath bewitched
him with his craft and his egromancy; but, as for me, I will none of
him, and would, because of him, I had never come into this world!”
Her brother soothed her and solaced her, then fared to his sire and
said, “What be this wizard to whom thou hast given my youngest
sister in marriage, and what is this present which he hath brought
thee, so that thou hast killed[9] my sister with chagrin? It is not right
that this should be.” Now the Persian was standing by and, when he
heard the Prince’s words, he was mortified and filled with fury and
the King said, “O my son, an thou sawest this horse, thy wit would
be confounded and thou wouldst be amated with amazement.” Then
he bade the slaves bring the horse before him and they did so; and,
when the Prince saw it, it pleased him. So (being an accomplished
cavalier) he mounted it forthright and struck its sides with the
shovel-shaped stirrup-irons; but it stirred not and the King said to
the Sage, “Go show him its movement, that he also may help thee
to win thy wish.” Now the Persian bore the Prince a grudge because
he willed not he should have his sister; so he showed him the pin of
ascent on the right side of the horse and saying to him, “Trill this,”
left him. Thereupon the Prince trilled the pin and lo! the horse
forthwith soared with him high in ether, as it were a bird, and gave
not overflying till it disappeared from men’s espying, whereat the
King was troubled and perplexed about his case and said to the
Persian, “O sage, look how thou mayst make him descend.” But he
replied, “O my lord, I can do nothing, and thou wilt never see him
again till Resurrection-day, for he, of his ignorance and pride, asked
me not of the pin of descent and I forgot to acquaint him therewith.”
When the King heard this, he was enraged with sore rage; and bade
bastinado the sorcerer and clap him in jail, whilst he himself cast the
crown from his head and beat his face and smote his breast.
Moreover, he shut the doors of his palaces and gave himself up to
weeping and keening, he and his wife and daughters and all the folk
of the city; and thus their joy was turned to annoy and their
gladness changed into sore affliction and sadness. Thus far
concerning them; but as regards the Prince, the horse gave not over
soaring with him till he drew near the sun, whereat he gave himself
up for lost and saw death in the skies, and was confounded at his
case, repenting him of having mounted the horse and saying to
himself, “Verily, this was a device of the Sage to destroy me on
account of my youngest sister; but there is no Majesty and there is
no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! I am lost without
recourse; but I wonder, did not he who made the ascent-pin make
also a descent-pin?” Now he was a man of wit and knowledge and
intelligence; so he fell to feeling all the parts of the horse, but saw
nothing save a screw, like a cock’s head, on its right shoulder and
the like on the left, when quoth he to himself, “I see no sign save
these things like buttons.” Presently he turned the right-hand pin,
whereupon the horse flew heavenwards with increased speed. So he
left it and looking at the sinister shoulder and finding another pin, he
wound it up and immediately the steed’s upwards motion slowed
and ceased and it began to descend, little by little, towards the face
of the earth, while the rider became yet more cautious and careful of
his life.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-
eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Prince wound up the sinister screw, the steed’s upward motion
slowed and ceased, and it began to descend, little by little, towards
the earth while the rider became yet more cautious and careful of
his life. And when he saw this and knew the uses of the horse, his
heart was filled with joy and gladness and he thanked Almighty Allah
for that He had deigned deliver him from destruction. Then he
began to turn the horse’s head whithersoever he would, making it
rise and fall at pleasure, till he had gotten complete mastery over its
every movement. He ceased not to descend the whole of that day,
for that the steed’s ascending flight had borne him afar from the
earth; and, as he descended, he diverted himself with viewing the
various cities and countries over which he passed and which he
knew not, never having seen them in his life. Amongst the rest, he
descried a city ordered after the fairest fashion in the midst of a
verdant and riant land, rich in trees and streams, with gazelles
pacing daintily over the plains; whereat he fell a-musing and said to
himself, “Would I knew the name of yon town and in what land it is!”
And he took to circling about it and observing it right and left. By
this time, the day began to decline and the sun drew near to its
downing; and he said in his mind, “Verily I find no goodlier place to
night in than this city; so I will lodge here and early on the morrow I
will return to my kith and kin and my kingdom; and tell my father
and family what hath passed and acquaint him with what mine eyes
have seen.” Then he addressed himself to seeking a place wherein
he might safely bestow himself and his horse and where none
should descry him, and presently behold, he espied a-middle-most of
the city a palace rising high in upper air surrounded by a great wall
with lofty crenelles and battlements, guarded by forty black slaves,
clad in complete mail and armed with spears and swords, bows and
arrows. Quoth he, “This is a goodly place,” and turned the descent-
pin, whereupon the horse sank down with him like a weary bird, and
alighted gently on the terrace-roof of the palace. So the Prince
dismounted and ejaculating “Alhamdolillah”—praise be to Allah[10]—
he began to go round about the horse and examine it, saying, “By
Allah, he who fashioned thee with these perfections was a cunning
craftsman, and if the Almighty extend the term of my life and restore
me to my country and kinsfolk in safety and reunite me with my
father, I will assuredly bestow upon him all manner bounties and
benefit him with the utmost beneficence.” By this time night had
overtaken him and he sat on the roof till he was assured that all in
the palace slept; and indeed hunger and thirst were sore upon him,
for that he had not tasted food nor drunk water since he parted from
his sire. So he said within himself, “Surely the like of this palace will
not lack of victual;” and, leaving the horse above, went down in
search of somewhat to eat. Presently, he came to a staircase and
descending it to the bottom, found himself in a court paved with
white marble and alabaster, which shone in the light of the moon.
He marvelled at the place and the goodliness of its fashion, but
sensed no sound of speaker and saw no living soul and stood in
perplexed surprise, looking right and left and knowing not whither
he should wend. Then said he to himself, “I may not do better than
return to where I left my horse and pass the night by it; and as soon
as day shall dawn I will mount and ride away.”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-

ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the
king’s son to himself, “I may not do better than pass the night by my
horse; and as soon as day shall dawn I will mount and ride away.”
However, as he tarried talking to himself, he espied a light within the
palace, and making towards it, found that it came from a candle that
stood before a door of the Harim, at the head of a sleeping eunuch,
as he were one of the Ifrits of Solomon or a tribesman of the Jinn,
longer than lumber and broader than a bench. He lay before the
door, with the pommel of his sword gleaming in the flame of the
candle, and at his head was a bag of leather[11] hanging from a
column of granite. When the Prince saw this, he was affrighted and
said, “I crave help from Allah the Supreme! O mine Holy One, even
as Thou hast already delivered me from destruction, so vouchsafe
me strength to quit myself of the adventure of this palace!” So
saying, he put out his hand to the budget and taking it, carried it
aside and opened it and found in it food of the best. He ate his fill
and refreshed himself and drank water, after which he hung up the
provision-bag in its place and drawing the eunuch’s sword from its
sheath, took it, whilst the slave slept on, knowing not whence
destiny should come to him. Then the Prince fared forwards into the
palace and ceased not till he came to a second door, with a curtain
drawn before it; so he raised the curtain and behold, on entering he
saw a couch of the whitest ivory, inlaid with pearls and jacinths and
jewels, and four slave-girls sleeping about it. He went up to the
couch, to see what was thereon, and found a young lady lying
asleep, chemised with her hair[12] as she were the full moon rising[13]
over the Eastern horizon, with flower-white brow and shining hair-
parting and cheeks like blood-red anemones and dainty moles
thereon. He was amazed at her as she lay in her beauty and
loveliness, her symmetry and grace, and he recked no more of
death. So he went up to her, trembling in every nerve and,
shuddering with pleasure, kissed her on the right cheek; whereupon
she awoke forthright and opened her eyes, and seeing the Prince
standing at her head, said to him, “Who art thou and whence
comest thou?” Quoth he, “I am thy slave and thy lover.” Asked she,
“And who brought thee hither?” and he answered, “My Lord and my
fortune.” Then said Shams al-Nahár[14] (for such was her name),
“Haply thou art he who demanded me yesterday of my father in
marriage and he rejected thee, pretending that thou wast foul of
favour. By Allah, my sire lied in his throat when he spoke this thing,
for thou art not other than beautiful.” Now the son of the King of
Hind had sought her in marriage, but her father had rejected him,
for that he was ugly and uncouth, and she thought the Prince was
he. So, when she saw his beauty and grace (for indeed he was like
the radiant moon) the syntheism[15] of love gat hold of her heart as it
were a flaming fire, and they fell to talk and converse. Suddenly, her
waiting-women awoke and, seeing the Prince with their mistress,
said to her, “Oh my lady, who is this with thee?” Quoth she, “I know
not; I found him sitting by me, when I woke up: haply ‘tis he who
seeketh me in marriage of my sire.” Quoth they, “O my lady, by Allah
the All-Father, this is not he who seeketh thee in marriage, for he is
hideous and this man is handsome and of high degree. Indeed, the
other is not fit to be his servant.”[16] Then the handmaidens went out
to the eunuch, and finding him slumbering awoke him, and he
started up in alarm. Said they, “How happeneth it that thou art on
guard at the palace and yet men come in to us, whilst we are
asleep?” When the black heard this, he sprang in haste to his sword,
but found it not; and fear took him and trembling. Then he went in,
confounded, to his mistress and seeing the Prince sitting at talk with
her, said to him, “O my lord, art thou man or Jinni?” Replied the
Prince, “Woe to thee, O unluckiest of slaves: how darest thou even
the sons of the royal Chosroes[17] with one of the unbelieving
Satans?” And he was as a raging lion. Then he took the sword in his
hand and said to the slave, “I am the King’s son-in-law, and he hath
married me to his daughter and bidden me go in to her.” And when
the eunuch heard these words he replied, “O my lord, if thou be
indeed of kind a man as thou avouchest, she is fit for none but for
thee, and thou art worthier of her than any other.” Thereupon the
eunuch ran to the King, shrieking loud and rending his raiment and
heaving dust upon his head; and when the King heard his outcry, he
said to him, “What hath befallen thee?: speak quickly and be brief;
for thou hast fluttered my heart.” Answered the eunuch, “O King,
come to thy daughter’s succour; for a devil of the Jinn, in the
likeness of a King’s son, hath got possession of her; so up and at
him!” When the King heard this, he thought to kill him and said,
“How camest thou to be careless of my daughter and let this demon
come at her?” Then he betook himself to the Princess’s palace,
where he found her slave-women standing to await him and asked
them, “What is come to my daughter?” “O King,” answered they,
“slumber overcame us and, when we awoke, we found a young man
sitting upon her couch in talk with her, as he were the full moon;
never saw we aught fairer of favour than he. So we questioned him
of his case and he declared that thou hadst given him thy daughter
in marriage. More than this we know not, nor do we know if he be a
man or a Jinni; but he is modest and well bred, and doth nothing
unseemly or which leadeth to disgrace.” Now when the King heard
these words, his wrath cooled and he raised the curtain little by little
and looking in, saw sitting at talk with his daughter a Prince of the
goodliest with a face like the full moon for sheen. At this sight he
could not contain himself, of his jealousy for his daughter’s honour;
and, putting aside the curtain, rushed in upon them drawn sword in
hand like a furious Ghul. Now when the Prince saw him he asked the
Princess, “Is this thy sire?”; and she answered, “Yes.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
 Now when it was the Three Hundred and
Sixtieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Prince saw the King rushing in upon them, drawn sword in hand, like
a furious Ghul he asked the Princess, “Is this thy sire?”; and she
answered, “Yes.” Whereupon he sprang to his feet and, seizing his
sword, cried out at the King with so terrible a cry that he was
confounded. Then the youth would have fallen on him with the
sword; but the King seeing that the Prince was doughtier than he,
sheathed his scymitar and stood till the young man came up to him,
when he accosted him courteously and said to him, “O youth, art
thou a man or a Jinni?” Quoth the Prince, “Did I not respect thy right
as mine host and thy daughter’s honour, I would spill thy blood! How
darest thou fellow me with devils, me that am a Prince of the sons of
the royal Chosroes who, had they wished to take thy kingdom, could
shake thee like an earthquake from thy glory and thy dominions and
spoil thee of all thy possessions?” Now when the King heard his
words, he was confounded with awe and bodily fear of him and
rejoined, “If thou indeed be of the sons of the Kings, as thou
pretendest, how cometh it that thou enterest my palace without my
permission, and smirchest mine honour, making thy way to my
daughter and feigning that thou art her husband and claiming that I
have given her to thee to wife, I that have slain Kings and King’s
sons, who sought her of me in marriage? And now who shall save
thee from my might and majesty when, if I cried out to my slaves
and servants and bade them put thee to the vilest of deaths they
would slay thee forthright? Who shall deliver thee out of my hand?”
When the Prince heard this speech of the King he answered, “Verily,
I wonder at thee and at the shortness and denseness of thy wit! Say
me, canst covet for thy daughter a mate comelier than myself, and
hast ever seen a stouter hearted man or one better fitted for a
Sultan or a more glorious in rank and dominion than I?” Rejoined the
King, “Nay, by Allah! but I would have had thee, O youth, act after
the custom of Kings and demand her from me to wife before
witnesses, that I might have married her to thee publicly; and now,
even were I to marry her to thee privily, yet hast thou dishonoured
me in her person.” Rejoined the Prince, “Thou sayest sooth, O King,
but if thou summon thy slaves and thy soldiers and they fall upon
me and slay me, as thou pretendest, thou wouldst but publish thine
own disgrace, and the folk would be divided between belief in thee
and disbelief in thee. Wherefore, O King, thou wilt do well,
meseemeth, to turn from this thought to that which I shall counsel
thee.” Quoth the King, “Let me hear what thou hast to advise;” and
quoth the Prince, “What I have to propose to thee is this: either do
thou meet me in combat singular, I and thou; and he who slayeth
his adversary shall be held the worthier and having a better title to
the kingdom; or else, let me be this night and, whenas dawns the
morn, draw out against me thy horsemen and footmen and
servants; but first tell me their number.” Said the King, “They are
forty thousand horse, besides my own slaves and their followers,[18]
who are the like of them in number.” Thereupon said the Prince,
“When the day shall break, do thou array them against me and say
to them”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and

Sixty-first Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth
the Prince, “When day shall break, do thou array them against me
and say to them:—This man is a suitor to me for my daughter’s
hand, on condition that he shall do battle single-handed against you
all; for he pretendeth that he will overcome you and put you to the
rout, and indeed that ye cannot prevail against him. After which,
leave me to do battle with them: if they slay me, then is thy secret
the surer guarded and thine honour the better warded; and if I
overcome them and see their backs, then is it the like of me a King
should covet to his son-in-law.” So the King approved of his opinion