One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  So they laid a snare for Jouder and said to him, ‘O our brother, we have a mind to glory in thee and would fain have thee enter our houses and eat of our victual and solace our hearts.’ ‘So be it,’ replied Jouder. ‘In whose house shall the banquet be?’ ‘In mine,’ said Salim, ‘and after thou hast eaten of my victual, thou shalt be the guest of my brother.’ ‘It is well,’ answered Jouder and went with him to his house, where he set before him poisoned food, of which when he had eaten, his flesh rotted from his bones [and he fell down dead]. Then Salim came up to him and would have drawn the ring from his finger, but it resisted him; so he cut off the finger with a knife. Then he rubbed the ring and the Marid presented himself, saying, ‘At thy service. Ask what thou wilt.’ Quoth Salim, ‘Put my brother Selim to death and take the two bodies, the poisoned man and the slaughtered, and cast them down before the troops.’ So the Marid took Selim and slew him; then, carrying the two bodies forth, he cast them down before the chief officers of the army, who were sitting at meat in the verandah of the house. When they saw Jouder and Selim slain, they held their hands from the food and fear gat hold of them and they said to the Marid, ‘Who hath dealt thus with the Sultan and the Vizier?’ ‘Their brother Salim,’ answered the Marid. And behold Salim came in to them and said, ‘O soldiers, eat and make merry, for Jouder is dead and I have taken to me the seal-ring, of which the Marid before you is the servant; and I bade him kill my brother Selim, lest he dispute the kingdom with me, for he was a traitor and I feared lest he should deal traitorously with me. So now I am become Sultan over you; will ye accept of me? If not, I will rub the ring and bid the Marid slay you all, great and small.’ Quoth they, ‘We accept thee to King and Sultan.’

  Then he summoned the Divan and bade bury his brothers; and some of the folk followed the funeral, whilst others went before him in state procession to the palace, where he sat down upon the throne and they proclaimed him king; after which he said, ‘It is my will to marry my brother Jouder’s wife.’ Quoth they, ‘Wait till the days of widowhood are accomplished.’ But he answered, saying, ‘I know not days of widowhood nor aught else. As my head liveth, I will go in to her this very night.’ So they drew up the marriage contract and sent to tell the princess Asiyeh, who replied, ‘Bid him enter.’ Accordingly, he went in to her and she received him with a show of joy and welcome; but by and by she gave him poison in water and made an end of him. Then she took the ring and broke it, that none might possess it thenceforward, and rent the saddle-bags; after which she sent to the Sheikh el Islam and other the great officers of state, telling them what had passed and saying to them, ‘Choose you out a king to rule over you.’ And this is all that hath come down to us of the story of Jouder and his brothers.

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE HISTORY OF GHERIB AND HIS BROTHER AGIB.

  There was once of old time a mighty king called Kundemir, who had been a brave and doughty man of war in his day, but was grown very old and decrepit. It pleased God to vouchsafe him, in his extreme old age, a son, whom he named Agib, because of his beauty and grace, and committed to the midwives and nurses and handmaids and serving-women, and they reared him till he was seven years old, when his father gave him in charge to a priest of his own people and faith. The priest taught the boy the laws and tenets of their infidel faith and instructed him in philosophy and all manner of other knowledge, and it needed but three full-told years before he was proficient therein and his resolve waxed strong and his judgment sound; yea, and he became learned, eloquent and accomplished, consorting with the wise and disputing with the doctors of the law. When his father saw this of him, it pleased him and he taught him to ride and thrust with spears and smite with swords, till by the end of his twentieth year he was an accomplished cavalier, versed in all martial exercises and surpassing in all things all the folk of his day. But he grew up a stubborn tyrant and an arrogant devil, using to ride forth to the chase with a thousand horse and make raids upon the neighbouring lands, waylaying caravans and carrying off the daughters of kings and nobles; wherefore many were the complaints against him to his father, who cried out to five of his servants, saying, ‘Seize me yonder dog and beat him!’ So they seized the prince and binding his hands behind him, beat him till he lost his senses; after which the king imprisoned him in a chamber, where one might not know heaven from earth or length from breadth; and there he abode two days and a night. Then the Amirs went in to the King and kissing the earth before him, interceded with him for the prince, and he released him.

  Agib dissembled with his father for ten days, at the end of which time he went in to him by night and smote off his head, as he slept. When the day rose, he mounted the throne and bade his men arm themselves in complete steel and stand before him and on his either hand with drawn swords. By and by, the Amirs and captains entered and finding their king slain and his son Agib seated on the throne, were confounded and knew not what to do. But Agib said to them, ‘O folk, ye see what hath befallen your king. Whoso obeyeth me, I will entreat him with munificence, and whoso gainsayeth me, I will do with him even as I did with my father.’ When they heard this, they feared lest he should do them a mischief; so they replied, ‘Thou art our king and the son of our king;’ and kissed the earth before him; whereupon he thanked them and rejoiced in them. Then he let bring money and apparel and clad them in sumptuous dresses of honour and showered largesse upon them, wherefore they loved him and obeyed him. In like manner he dealt with the governors of the provinces and the Sheikhs of the Bedouins, both tributary and independent, so that all the kingdom submitted to him and the folk obeyed him and he reigned and commanded and forbade.

  He abode thus five months, till, one night, he had a vision in sleep and awoke trembling, nor did sleep visit him again till the morning. As soon as it was day, he mounted his throne and his officers stood before him, right and left. Then he called the astrologers and expounders of dreams and said to them, ‘As I slept last night, my father appeared to me, with his yard uncovered, and there came forth of it a thing the bigness of a bee, which grew till it became as a mighty lion, with claws like daggers. As I lay, wondering and alarmed at this, behold, it ran upon me and smiting me with its claws, rent my bells’ in sunder; whereupon I awoke, affrighted and trembling. Expound to me the meaning of this dream.’ The interpreters looked at one another and answered, after consideration, ‘O mighty King, this dream points to a child born of thy father, between whom and thee shall be strife, and he shall get the better of thee: so be thou ware of him, by reason of this thy dream.’ When Agib heard their words, he said, ‘I have no brother whom I should fear; so this your speech is a lying one.’ ‘We tell thee but what we know,’ answered they; but he was wroth with them and beat them.

  Then he rose and going in to his father’s palace, examined his concubines and found one of them seven months gone with child; whereupon he bade two of his slaves carry her to the sea-shore and drown her. So they took her forth to the sea-shore and were about to drown her, when they looked at her and seeing her to be of surpassing beauty and grace, said to each other, ‘Why should we drown this damsel? Let us rather carry her to the forest and live with her there in rare dalliance.’ So they took her and fared on with her nights and days, till they brought her to a distant forest, abounding in fruit trees and streams, where they thought to take their will of her; but each said, ‘I will lie with her first’ And they fell out one with the other concerning this. As they were thus engaged, a company of blacks fell upon them, and they drew their swords and defended themselves; but the blacks slew them both in less than the twinkling of an eye. So the damsel abode alone and wandered about the forest, eating of its fruits and drinking of its waters, till in due time she gave birth to a boy, brown but clean-limbed and comely, whom she named Gherib, by reason of her strangerhood. Then she cut his navel and wrapping him in some of her own clothes, gave him suck, mournful at heart and sorrowing for the fair estate she had lost and full of fear for her lonelines
s.

  One day, there came horsemen and footmen into the forest, with hounds and hawks and horses laden with storks and cranes and herons and young ostriches and divers and other waterfowl and hares and gazelles and wild oxen and lynxes and wolves and lions. Presently, they came upon the damsel, sitting suckling her child, and said to her, ‘Art thou a mortal or a genie?’ ‘I am a mortal, O chief of the Arabs,’ answered she. So they told their chief, whose name was Merdas, prince of the Benou Kehtan, and who had come forth to hunt that day with five hundred of his kinsmen and the nobles of his tribe. and he bade them bring her before him. They did so and she related to him her story, at which he marvelled. Then they took her and returned, hunting by the way, to their encampment, where the Amir appointed her a separate dwelling-place and five damsels to serve her; and he loved her with an exceeding love and went in to her and lay with her. She straightway conceived by him, and when her months were accomplished, she bore a male child and named him Sehim el Leil. He grew up with his brother Gherib among the nurses and throve and waxed upon the lap of the Amir Merdas; and the latter in due time committed the two boys to a doctor of the law, who instructed them in the things of their faith; after which he gave them in charge to a valiant cavalier of the Arabs, who taught them to smite with swords and thrust with spears and shoot with bows, till, by the time they reached the age of fifteen, they knew all that they needed and surpassed all the warriors of their tribe; for each of them would undertake a thousand horse.

  Now Merdas had many enemies, and the men of big tribe were the bravest of all the Arabs, being all doughty cavaliers, none might warm himself at their fire. Amongst his neighbours was an Amir, by name Hissan ben Thabit, who was his friend; and he took to wife a noble lady of his tribe and bade all his friends to the wedding, amongst them Merdas, prince of the Benou Kehtan, who accepted his invitation and came with three hundred horsemen of his tribe, leaving other four hundred to guard the women. Hissan received him with honour and seated him in the highest room. Then came all the cavaliers to the bridal and he made them bride feasts and held high festival by reason of the marriage, after which the guests departed to their dwelling-places. When Merdas came in sight of his camp, he saw dead men lying and birds hovering over them right and left and his heart sank within him at the sight. Then he entered the camp and was met by Gherib, clad in complete mail, who gave him joy of his safe return. Quoth Merdas, ‘What meanest this, O Gherib?’ And Gherib answered, ‘El Hemel ben Majid attacked us with five hundred horse.’

  Now the reason of this was that the Amir Merdas had a daughter called Mehdiyeh, never saw eyes a fairer than she, and El Hemel, prince of the Benou Nebhan, heard of her charms; whereupon he took horse with five hundred of his men and rode to Merdas to demand her hand; but he refused and sent him away disappointed. So he abode his time, till Merdas was absent on his visit to Hissan, when he fell upon the camp of the Benou Kehtan with his braves and slew a number of their warriors, and the rest fled to the mountains. Now Gherib and his brother had ridden forth a-hunting with a hundred horse and returned not till midday, when they found that El Hemel had sacked the camp and carried off the women and children captives, and Mehdiyeh among them. When Gherib saw this, he lost his wits for rage and cried out to Sehim, saying, ‘They have plundered our camp and carried off our women and children! Up and at the enemy, that we may deliver the captives!’ So Gherib and Sehim and their hundred horse rushed upon the foe, and Gherib’s wrath redoubled, and he reaped a harvest of heads, giving the warriors to drink of the cup of death, till he won to El Hemel and saw Mehdiyeh among the captives. Then he drove at the prince of the Benou Nebhan and transfixing him with his lance, hurled him from the saddle; nor was the time of the afternoon-prayer come before he had slain the most part of the foe and put the rest to the rout and rescued the captives; whereupon he returned to the camp in triumph, bearing El Hemel’s head on the point of his lance and reciting the following verses:

  I’m he whose might is known upon the battle-day: Earth’s Jinn do quake to see my shadow in the way.

  I have a sword, which when my right hand shakes on high, Death hastens from my left to plunge into the fray;

  And eke a spear I have, whereon if any look, Like to the crescent moon they see its steel point ray.

  Gherib I’m called, that am the champion of my tribe: What if my men be few! My heart knows not dismay.

  Hardly had he made an end of this when up came Merdas, to whom he related all that had passed in his absence. So Merdas alighted and entered his pavilion, and the men stood about him. Then all the people of the tribe fell to praising Gherib and saying, ‘But for Gherib, O our lord, not one of the tribe had been saved!’ So Merdas thanked him and said, ‘Thou hast well requited our pains in rearing thee, O Gherib!’

  Now, when Gherib delivered Mehdiyeh from El Hemel, she smote him with the arrows of her glances and he fell into the toils of her love, wherefore his heart could not forget her and he became drowned in passion and love-longing. Sleep forsook him and he had no delight of meat or drink, but would spur his horse up to the mountain-tops, where he would spend the day in reciting verses and return at nightfall; and indeed the signs of love-liking and distraction were manifest upon him. He discovered his secret to one of his companions and it became noised abroad in the camp, till it reached the ears of Merdas, who thundered and lightened and rose and sat down and puffed and snorted and reviled the sun and the moon, saying, ‘This is the reward of him who rears bastards! Except I kill Gherib, I shall be put to shame.’

  Then he opened out his mind to one of the elders of his tribe and took counsel with him of killing Gherib. ‘O Amir,’ replied he, ‘it was but yesterday that he freed thy daughter from captivity. If thou must needs kill him, let it be by the hand of another than thyself, so the folk may not misdoubt of thee.’ Quoth Merdas, ‘Advise me how I may compass his death, for I look to none but thee for this.’ ‘O Amir,’ answered the other. ‘wait till he goes forth to hunt, when do thou take a hundred horse and lie in wait for him in the caves, till he passes; then take him off his guard and fall upon him and cut him in pieces, so shalt thou be quit of his reproach.’ ‘This should serve,’ said Merdas and chose out a hundred and fifty of his stoutest horsemen, whom he lessoned to his will. Then he watched Gherib till, one day. he went forth to hunt and rode far away amongst the hills and valleys; whereupon Merdas followed him with his men and lay in wait for him by the way against he should return from the chase; but, as they lay in ambush among the trees, there fell upon them five hundred Amalekites, who slew of them three-score and made fourscore and ten prisoners and pinioned Merdas.

  Now the reason of this was that when Gherib put El Hemel and his men to the sword, the rest fled to their lord’s brother and told him what had happened, whereat his gorge rose and he gathered together his Amalekites and choosing out five hundred cavaliers, each fifty cubits high, set out with them in quest of revenge for his brother. By the way he fell in with Merdas and his company and there happened between them what happened; after which he bade his men alight and rest, saying, ‘O folk, the idols have given us an easy revenge; so guard ye Merdas and his men, till I carry them away and put them to death on the foulest wise.’ When Merdas found himself a prisoner, he repented of what he had done and said, ‘This is the reward of tyranny.’ Then they lay down to sleep, and the enemy passed the night, rejoicing in their victory, whilst Merdas and his men despaired of life and made sure of death.

  Meanwhile, Sehim el Leil, who had been wounded in the fight with El Hemel, went in to his sister Mehdiyeh and she rose to him and kissed his hands, saying, ‘May thy hand never wither nor thine enemies have occasion to rejoice! But for thee and Gherib, we had not escaped captivity. But know, O my brother,’ continued she, ‘that thy father hath ridden forth with a hundred and fifty horse, purposing to kill Gherib; and thou knowest it would be foul wrong to kill him, for that it was he who saved your honour and rescued your goods.’ When Sehim heard this, the light in his eyes became darknes
s and he donned his battle-harness and mounting, rode in quest of Gherib. He presently came up with him and found that he had taken great plenty of game; so he saluted him and said to him, ‘O my brother, why didst thou go forth, without telling me?’ ‘By Allah,’ replied Gberib, ‘it was but that I saw thee wounded and thought to give thee rest.’ Then said Sehim, ‘O my brother, beware of my father!’ and told him how Merdas was abroad with a hundred and fifty men, seeking to kill him. Quoth Gherib, ‘Allah will make his treason to return on his own head.’

  Then they set out, to return to the camp, but the night overtook them by the way and they rode on in the darkness, till they drew near the valley where the enemy lay and heard the neighing of horses; whereupon said Sehim, ‘O my brother, my father and his men are ambushed in yonder valley; let us flee from it.’ But Gherib dismounted and throwing his bridle to his brother, said to him, ‘Stay here till I come back to thee.’ Then he went on till he came in sight of the folk, when he saw that they were not of his tribe and heard them name Merdas and say, ‘We will not kill him save in his own land.’ Wherefore he knew that Merdas was their prisoner and said, ‘As Mehdiyeh liveth, I will not depart hence till I have delivered her father, that she may not be troubled!’ Then he sought till he came upon Merdas and found him bound with cords; so he sat down by his side and said to him, ‘God deliver thee, O uncle, from these bonds and humiliation!’ When Merdas saw Gherib, his reason fled and he said to him, ‘O my son, I am at thy mercy: deliver me in right of my fosterage of thee!’ Quoth Gherib, ‘If I deliver thee, wilt thou give me Mehdiyeh?’ ‘O my son,’ answered the Amir, ‘by all that is sacred to me, she is thine to all time!’ So he loosed him, saying, ‘Make for the horses, for thy son Sehim is there:’ and Merdas crept along till he came to his son, who rejoiced in him and gave him joy of his escape.