One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Quoth Abdallah, ‘Since thou hast told him this, I will bear thee out with him, lest he deem thee a liar, for thou art my friend. Were it other than thou, I had denied the affair and given him the lie. But now I will go with thee and carry the two dogs with me, though in this be my own ruin and the ending of my term of life.’ ‘God will protect thee,’ rejoined Abou Ishac, ‘even as thou hast veiled my face with the Khalif!’ Then Abdallah took a present beseeming the Khalif and mounting the dogs with him, each on a camel, bound with chains of gold, journeyed with Abou Ishac to Baghdad, where he went in to the Khalif and kissed the earth before him. He bade him sit; so he sat down and brought the two dogs before Er Reshid, who said to him, ‘What are these dogs, O Amir Abdallah?’ Whereupon they fell to kissing the ground before him and wagging their tails and weeping, as if complaining to him.

  The Khalif marvelled at this and said to the governor, ‘Tell me the history of these two dogs and the reason of thy beating them and after entreating them with honour.’ ‘O Vicar of God,’ replied Abdallah, ‘these are no dogs, but two handsome young men, endowed with grace and shapeliness and symmetry, and they are my brothers and the sons of my father and my mother.’ ‘How is it,’ asked the Khalif, ‘that they were men and are become dogs?’ Quoth Abdallah, ‘If thou give me leave, O Commander of the Faithful, I will acquaint thee with the truth of the case.’ ‘Tell me,’ said the Khalif, ‘and beware of leasing, for it is of the fashion of the hypocrites, and look thou tell truth, for that it is the ark of safety and the characteristic of the virtuous.’ ‘O Vicar of God,’ rejoined Abdallah, ‘when I tell thee the story of these dogs, they will both bear witness against me.’ Quoth the Khalif, ‘These are dogs; they cannot speak nor answer; so how can they testify for thee or against thee?’ So Abdallah said to them, ‘O my brothers, if I speak an untrue word, do ye lift your heads and stare with your eyes; but, if I speak truth, hang down your heads and lower your eyes.’

  Then said he to the Khalif, ‘Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that we are three brothers by one father and mother. Our father’s name was Fazil and he was thus named for that his mother bore two sons at one birth, one of whom died forthright and the other remained [alive], wherefore they named him Fazil. His father brought him up and reared him well, till he grew up, when he married him to our mother and died. Our mother conceived a first time and bore this my first brother, whom my father named Mensour; then she conceived again and bore this my second brother, whom he named Nasir; after which she conceived a third time and bore me, whom he named Abdallah. My father reared us all three till we came to man’s estate, when he died, leaving us a house and a shop full of coloured stuffs of all kinds, Indian and Greek and Khurasani and what not, besides threescore thousand dinars. We washed him and buried him to the mercy of his Lord, after which we builded him a splendid monument and let pray for him prayers for the deliverance of his soul from the fire and held recitations of the Koran and gave alms on his behalf, till the forty days were past; at the end of which time I called together the merchants and nobles of the folk and made them a sumptuous entertainment.

  When they had eaten, I said to them, “O merchants, verily this world is fleeting, but the world to come is eternal, and extolled be the perfection of Him who endureth after His creatures have passed away! Know ye why I have called you together this blessed day?” And they answered, “Extolled be the perfection of God, who [alone] knoweth the hidden things.” Quoth I, “My father died, leaving much good, and I fear lest any have a claim against him for a debt or a pledge [left in his hands] or what not else, and I desire to discharge my father’s obligations towards the folk. So whoso hath any claim on him, let him say, ‘He oweth me so and so, and I will satisfy it to him, that I may acquit my father’s responsibility.”

  “O Abdallah,” replied the merchants, “verily the goods of this world stand not in stead of those of the world to come, and we are no fraudful folk, but all of us know the lawful from the unlawful and fear God the Most High and abstain from devouring the substance of the orphan. We know that thy father (may God have mercy on him!) still let his good lie with the folk, nor did he suffer any one’s claim on him to go unquitted, and we have often heard him say, ‘I am fearful of the people’s substance.’ He used always to say, when he prayed, ‘O my God, Thou art my stay and my hope! Let me not die in debt.’ And it was of his wont that, if he owed any one aught, he would pay it to him, without asking, and if any owed him aught, he would not dun him, but would say to him, ‘At thy leisure.’ If his debtor were poor, he would forgive him the debt and acquit him of responsibility; and if he were not poor and died [without paying], he would say, ‘God forgive him what he owed me!’ And we all testify that he owed no one aught.”

  “May God bless you!” said I. Then I turned to these my brothers and said to them, “O my brothers, our father owed no man aught and hath left us much money and stuffs, besides the house and shop. Now we are three brothers and each of us is entitled to one third part. So shall we agree to forego division and abide copartners in our property and eat together and drink together, or shall we divide the money and the stuffs and take each his part?” Said they, “We will divide them and take each his share.”’ Then Abdallah turned to the two dogs and said to them, ‘Did it happen thus, O my brothers?’ And they bowed their heads and lowered their eyes, as who should say, ‘Yes.’ ‘So,’ continued Abdallah, ‘I called in a departitor from the Cadi’s court and he divided amongst us the money and the stuffs and all our father’s effects, allotting the house and shop to me in exchange for a part of the money and stuffs to which I was entitled. We were content with this; so the house and shop fell to my share, whilst my brothers took theirs in money and stuffs. I opened the shop and stocking it with [my part of] the stuffs, bought others with the money allotted to me, over and above the house and the shop, till the latter was full, and I sat selling and buying. As for my brothers, they bought stuffs and chartering a ship, set out on a voyage to foreign parts. Quoth I, “God aid them! As for me, my livelihood is ready to my hand and peace is priceless.”

  I abode thus a whole year, during which time God prospered me and I made great profits, till I became possessed of the like of that which our father had left us. One day, as I sat in my shop, with two fur pelisses on me, one of sable and the other of miniver, for it was the winter season and the time of the great cold, there came up to me my two brothers, each clad in nothing but a ragged shirt, and their lips were white with cold and they were shivering. When I saw them in this plight, it was grievous to me and I mourned for them and my reason fled from my head. So I rose and embraced them and wept over their condition. Then I put on one of them the pelisse of sable and on the other that of miniver and carrying them to the bath, sent them thither each a suit of apparel such as befitted a merchant worth a thousand purses. When they had washed and donned each his suit, I carried them to my house, where, seeing them to be sore anhungred, I set a tray of food before them and ate with them, caressing them and comforting them. Then he turned to the two dogs and said to them, ‘Was this so, O my brothers?’ And they bent their heads and lowered their eyes.

  ‘Then, O Vicar of God,’ continued Abdallah, ‘I said to them, “What hath befallen you and where are your goods?” Quoth they, “We fared up the river, till we came to a city called Cufa, where we sold for ten dinars the piece of stuff that had cost us half a dinar and that which cost us a dinar for twenty. So we profited greatly and bought Persian stuffs at the rate of ten dinars the piece of silk worth forty in Bassora. Thence we removed to a city called El Kerkh, where we sold and bought and made great profit and amassed store of wealth.” And they went on to set forth to me the places [they had visited] and the profits [they had made]. So I said to them, “Since ye had such good luck, how comes it that I see you return naked?” They sighed and answered, “O our brother, some one must have belooked us with the evil eye and there is no security in travel. When we had gotten together these riches and goods, we freighted a ship therew
ith and set sail, intending for Bassora. We fared on three days and on the fourth day we saw the water rise and fall and roar and foam and swell and rage, whilst the waves clashed together, striking out sparks like fire. The winds blew contrary for us and our ship struck upon the point of a rock, where it broke up and plunged us into the river, and all we had with us was lost in the water. We abode struggling on the surface a day and a night, till God sent us another ship, whose crew picked us up and we begged our way from town to town, suffering sore hardships and selling our clothes piecemeal, to buy us food, till we drew near Bassora; nor did we win thither till we had endured a thousand miseries. But, had we come off in safety with that which was with us, we had brought back riches that might vie with those of the king: but this was ordained of God to us.”

  “O my brothers,” said I, “let not your hearts be troubled, for wealth is the ransom of bodies and safety is [to be accounted] gain. Since God hath written you of the saved, this is the end of desire, for poverty and riches are but as it were illusions of dreams, and gifted of God is he who saith:

  So but a man may win to save his soul alive from death, But as the paring of his nail his wealth he reckoneth.

  O my brothers,” continued I, “we will put it that our father died to-day and left us all this money that is with me, for I am willing to share it with you equally.” So I fetched a departitor from the Cadi’s court and brought out to him all my money, which he divided into three equal parts, and we each took one. Then said I to them, “O my brothers, God blesseth a man in his livelihood, if he be in his own country: so let each of you open a shop and sit therein to get his living; and he to whom ought is ordained in the secret purpose of God, needs must he get it.” Accordingly, I helped each of them to open a shop and stocked it for him with goods, saying to them, “Sell and buy and keep your monies and spend nought thereof, for I will furnish you with all ye need of meat and drink and so forth.”

  I continued to entreat them generously and they fell to selling and buying by day and lay the night in my house nor would I suffer them to spend aught of their own monies. But, whenever I sat talking with them, they would praise travel and vaunt its charms and set out the gains they had made therein; and they ceased not to urge and tempt me and importune me thus till, to please them, I agreed to travel with them.’ Then he said to the dogs, ‘Was this so, O my brothers?’ And they confirmed his speech by bowing their heads and lowering their eyes. ‘Then, O Vicar of God,’ continued Abdallah, ‘I entered into a contract of partnership with them and we chartered a ship and packing up all manner of precious stuffs and merchandise of all kinds, freighted it therewith; after which we embarked therein all that we needed [of victual and what not else for the voyage] and setting sail from Bassora, launched out into the surging sea, swollen with clashing billows, into which whoso entereth is lost and from which whoso cometh forth is as a new-born child.

  We sailed on till we came to a city of the cities, where we sold and bought and made great profit. Thence we went on to another city, and we ceased not to pass from land to land and city to city, selling and buying and profiting, till we had gotten us great wealth and much gain. Presently, we came to a mountain, where the captain cast anchor and said to us, “O passengers, go ye ashore; ye shall be saved from this day, and make search; it may be ye shall find water.” So we all landed and dispersed about the island in search of water.

  As for me, I climbed to the top of the mountain, and as I went along, I saw a white snake fleeing and a black dragon, foul of favour and frightful to look upon, pursuing her. Presently he overtook her and pressing straitly upon her, seized her by the head and wound his tail about hers, whereupon she cried out and I knew that he purposed to ravish her. So I was moved to pity for her and taking up a flint-stone, five pounds or more in weight, threw it at the dragon. It smote him on the head and crushed it, and before I knew, the snake changed and became a handsome young woman, full of grace and brightness and symmetry, as she were the shining full moon, who came up to me and kissing my hands, said to me, “May God veil thee with two veils, one [to protect thee] from reproach in this world and the other from the fire in the world to come on the day of the great upstanding, the day when wealth shall not avail neither children, [nor aught] but that one come to God with a whole heart! O mortal,” continued she, “thou hast saved my honour and I am beholden to thee for kindness, wherefore it behoveth me to requite thee.”

  So saying, she signed with her hand to the earth, which opened and she descended into it. Then it closed up again over her and by this I knew that she was of the Jinn. As for the dragon, fire was kindled in him and consumed him and he became a heap of ashes. I marvelled at this and returned to my comrades, whom I acquainted with that which I had seen, and we passed the night [in the island]. On the morrow the captain weighed anchor and spread the sails and coiled the ropes and we sailed till we lost sight of land. We fared on twenty days, without seeing land or bird, till our water came to an end and the captain said to us, “O folk, our fresh water is spent.” Quoth we, “Let us make for land; peradventure we shall find water.” “By Allah,” answered he, “I have lost my way and I know not what course will bring me to the land!”

  When we heard this, there betided us sore chagrin and we wept and besought God the Most High to guide us into the right course. We passed that night in the sorriest case: but gifted of God is he who saith:

  How many a night have I passed in dismay And in grief that might well-nigh cause sucklings grow gray,

  But no sooner broke morn than came succour from God; Ay, and help near at hand was vouchsafed me with day.

  On the morrow, when the day arose and gave forth its light and shone, we caught sight of a high mountain and rejoiced therein. When we came [to the island wherein] it [was], the captain said to us, “O folk, go ashore and seek for water.” So we all landed and sought for water, but found none, whereat we were sore afflicted. As for me, I climbed up to the hill-top and on the other side thereof I saw a spacious enclosure, an hour’s journey or more in breadth. So I called my companions and said to them, “Look at yonder enclosure, behind this mountain; for I see therein a lofty and strong-built city, [girt about] with walls and towers and hills and meadows, and doubtless it wants not for water and good things. So let us go thither and fetch water therefrom and buy what we need of meat and fruit and [other] victual and return.” But they said, “We fear lest the inhabitants of the city be unbelievers, ascribing partners to God, and enemies of the faith and lay hands on us and take us captive or else slay us; so were we the means of the loss of our own lives, having cast ourselves into destruction and evil emprise. Indeed, the presumptuous man is never praiseworthy, for that he goeth still in danger of calamities, even as saith of him one of the poets:

  Whilst earth is earth and sky is sky, the rash presumptuous wight, No commendation meriteth, although he ‘scape outright.

  Wherefore we will not expose ourselves to peril.” “O folk,” answered I, “I have no authority over you; so I will take my brothers and go to the city.” But my brothers said to me, “We also fear this thing and will not go with thee.” Quoth I, “I am resolved to go thither; and I put my trust in God and accept whatsoever He shall decree to me. Do ye therefore await me, whilst I go thither and return to you.”

  Then I left them and walked on till I came to the gate of the place and saw it a city rare of building and magnificent of proportion, with lofty walls and strong-builded towers and palaces soaring high into the air. Its gates were of Chinese iron, curiously gilded and graven on such wise as confounded the wit. I entered the gateway and saw there a stone bench, whereon sat a man, with a chain of brass on his arm, to which hung fourteen keys; wherefore I knew him to be the porter of the city and that it had fourteen gates. So I drew near him and said to him, “Peace be on thee!” But he returned not my greeting and I saluted him a second and a third time; but he made me no reply. So I laid my hand on his shoulder and said to him, “O man, why dost thou not return my greet
ing? Art thou asleep or deaf or other than a Muslim, that thou refusest to return the salutation?” But he answered me not neither stirred; so I considered him and saw that he was stone. Quoth I, “Strange! This is a stone wroughten in the likeness of a man and wanting nothing but speech!”

  Then I left him and entering the city, saw a man standing in the road. I went up to him and examined him and found him stone. Presently, I met an old woman with a bundle of clothes on her head, ready for washing, so I went up to her and examining her, saw that she was stone, and the bundle of clothes on her head was stone also. Then I came to the market, where I saw a chandler, with his scales set up and various kinds of wares before him, such as cheese and so forth, all of stone. Moreover, I saw all manner of tradesmen seated in their shops and men and women and children, some standing and some sitting; but they were all stone. Then I entered the merchants’ bazaar, where I saw each merchant seated in his shop and the shops full of various kinds of merchandise, all stone; but the stuffs were like spiders’ webs. I amused myself with looking upon them, and as often as I laid hold upon a piece of stuff, it fell to dust in my hands.