One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Then, when that which was with them of food was finished, Alaeddin arose and taking one of the platters under his clothes, went in quest of the Jew, so he might sell it to him; but, as chance willed it, he passed by the shop of a goldsmith, an honest, pious man, who feared God. When the latter saw Alaeddin, he accosted him and said to him, “O my son, what wilt thou? This many a time have I seen thee pass hereby and betake thyself to such an one, a Jew, and I have seen thee give him certain things. Nay, methinketh even now thou hast somewhat with thee and art seeking him, so thou mayst sell it to him. But thou knowest not, O my son, that the good of the Muslims, believers in the unity of God the Most High, is lawful spoil in the eyes of Jews; nay, they still cheat the Muslims and especially this accursed one with whom thou dealest and into whose hands thou hast fallen. Wherefore, O my son, an thou have with thee aught thou wouldst sell, show it to me and fear nothing, for that, by the truth of God the Most High, I will give thee its price.” Accordingly, Alaeddin brought out the platter to the old man, who took it and weighing it in his scales, said to him, “Was it the like of this thou usest to sell to the Jew?” “Ay,” replied Alaeddin, “its like and its brother.” “And how much,” asked the goldsmith, “useth he to give thee to its price?” And Alaeddin said, “He useth to give me a diner.”

  When the goldsmith heard this, “Out on this accursed one,” cried he, “who fleeceth the servants of God the Most High!” Then he looked at Alaeddin and said to him, “O my son, this Jew is a cheat, who hath cheated thee and laughed at thee, for that the silver of this thy platter is pure and fine; and I have weighed it and find its worth threescore diners and ten; so, an it please thee take its price, take [it].” Accordingly, he counted out to him seventy diners and he took them and thanked him for his kindness, in that he had shown him the Jew’s trickery. Thenceforward, whenassoever the price of one platter was spent, he would carry another to the old goldsmith, and on this wise he and his mother increased in substance; but they ceased not to live at their sufficiency, midwise [betwixt rich and poor], without excessive spending or squandering. As for Alaeddin, he left idleness and the commerce of striplings and took to consorting with grown men; nay, he would go every day to the market of the merchants and sit with the great and the small of them and question of the ways and fashions of commerce and the prices of articles of merchandise and otherwhat. He used also to go to the market of the goldsmiths and the market of the jewellers, and there he would sit and look upon the different kinds of jewels and see them bought and sold; whereby he became aware that the fruits of the trees, wherewith he had filled the purses, whenas he was in the treasure, were neither glass nor crystal, but jewels, and knew that he had happened upon great wealth, such as kings might nowise compass. Moreover, he noted all the jewels that were in the jewellers’ market, but saw not [among] the biggest [of them] one to match with the smallest of those he had at home.

  He ceased not to go daily to the market of the jewellers and to clap up acquaintance with the folk, making friends with them and questioning them of buying and selling and giving and taking and dear and cheap, till, one day of the days, he arose in the morning and donning his clothes, went forth, intending, as of wont, for the jewellers’ market; but, as he went, he heard the crier proclaiming aloud on this wise, “By commandment of the Lord of Beneficence, the king of the age and monarch of the time and the tide, let all the folk shut their shops and stores and enter their houses, for that the Lady Bedrulbudour, daughter of the Sultan, purposeth to go to the bath, and whoso transgresseth the commandment, his punishment shall be death and his blood be on his own head.” When Alaeddin heard this proclamation, he longed to look upon the Sultan’s daughter and said in himself, “All the folk talk of her grace and goodliness, and the uttermost of my desire is to see her.” So he cast about for a device how he might contrive to see the Lady Bedrulbudour and him-seemed he were best stand behind the door of the bath, that he might see her face, as she entered. Accordingly he betook himself to the bath, awhile in advance, and posted himself behind the door, whereas none of the folk might see him.

  Presently, the Sultan’s daughter came forth and went round about the

  city and its thoroughfares and diverted herself by viewing it; then

  she repaired to the bath and when she came thither, she lifted her

  face-veil, as she entered; whereupon her face shone out, as it were the

  resplendent sun or a precious pearl, and she was as saith of her one of

  her describers:

  Who sprinkled the kohl of enchantment upon her eyes

  And gathered the bloom of the rose from her cheeks, fruit-wise?

  And who was it let down the curtained night of her hair

  And eke through its glooms made the light of her forehead rise?

  When she raised the veil from her face and Alaeddin saw her, he said, “Verily, her fashion glorifieth the Great Creator and extolled be the perfection of Him who made her and graced her with this beauty and goodliness!” And his back was cloven in sunder, when he saw her; his thought was confounded and his understanding dazed and the love of her gat hold upon his whole heart; so he turned back and returning home, went in to his mother, like one distraught. She bespoke him and he answered her neither yea nor nay; then she brought him the morning-meal, as he abode on this wise, and said to him, “O my son, what hath betided thee? Doth there ail thee aught? Tell me what hath befallen thee, for that, against thy wont, I bespeak thee and thou answerest me not.”

  Now Alaeddin had been used to think that women were all like his mother and he had heard of the beauty of the Lady Bedrulbudour, daughter of the Sultan, but had not known what beauty and grace were; so he turned to his mother and said to her, “Leave me;” but she was instant with him to come and eat. Accordingly, he came forward and ate a little; then, rising, he threw himself on his bed and lay musing till break of morn; and on this wise he abode all next day. His mother was perplexed at his case, unknowing what had befallen him, and bethought herself that belike he was sick; so she came up to him and questioned him, saying, “O my son, an thou feel aught of pain or otherwhat, tell me, that I may go fetch thee a physician, more by token there is presently in the city a physician from the land of the Arabs, whom the Sultan hath sent to bring hither, and report saith of him that he is exceeding skilful; so [tell me] if thou art sick, that I may go and call him to thee.”

  When Alaeddin heard his mother offer to fetch him the physician, he said to her, “O my mother, I am well and not sick, but I had thought that women were all like unto thee. However, yesterday, I saw the Lady Bedrulbudour, the Sultan’s daughter, as she went to the bath;” and he told her all that had happened to him, adding, “And most like thou heardest the crier proclaiming that none should open his shop nor stand in the road, so the Lady Bedrulbudour might pass to the bath; but I saw her even as she is, for that, when she came to the door of the bath, she lifted her veil, and when I noted her favour and viewed that noble form of hers, there befell me, O my mother, a passion of yearning for love of her and desire of her usurped mine every part; nor can I ever more have ease, except I get her, and I purpose, therefore, to demand her of the Sultan her father in the way of law and righteousness.”

  When Alaeddin’s mother heard her son’s speech, she thought little of his wit and said to him, “O my son, the name of God encompass thee! Meseemeth thou hast lost thy wit; return to thy senses, O my son, and be not like the madmen!” “Nay, O my mother,” replied he, “I have not lost my wits nor am I mad; and this thy speech shall not change that which is in my mind, nor is rest possible to me except I get the darling of my heart, the lovely Lady Bedrulbudour. And my intent is to demand her of her father the Sultan.” So she said to him, “O my son, my life upon thee, speak not thus, lest one hear thee and say of thee that thou art mad. Put away from thee this extravagance: who shall undertake an affair like this and demand it of the Sultan? Meknoweth not how thou wilt do to make this request of the Sultan, and if thou speak sooth, by w
hom wilt thou make it?” “O my mother,” rejoined Alaeddin, “by whom [should I make] a request like this, when thou art at hand, and whom have I trustier than thyself? Wherefore my intent is that thou shalt make this request for me.” “O my son,” quoth she, “God deliver me from this! What, have I lost my wits like thee? Put away this thought from thy mind and bethink thee who thou art, O my son, — the son of a tailor, the poorest and least of the tailors in this city, and I also am thy mother and my folk are exceeding poor; so how wilt thou dare to demand the Sultan’s daughter, whom her father would not vouchsafe to marry with kings’ sons and Sultans, except they were his peers in puissance and rank and noblesse; nay, were they one degree less than he, he would not give them his daughter.”

  Alaeddin waited till his mother had made an end of her speech and said to her, “O my mother, all that thou thinkest I know; marry, I know full well that I am the son of poor folk, nor may all this thy talk anywise avail to move me from my purpose; but I beseech thee, an I be thy very son and thou love me, do me this kindness; else wilt thou lose me, for death hasteneth upon me, an I attain not my wish of the beloved of my heart. In any case, O my mother, I am thy son.” When his mother heard his speech, she wept of her concern for him and said to him, “Yes, O my son, I am thy mother and thou art my son and the darling of my heart; I have none other than thee and the extreme of my desire is to rejoice in thee and marry thee. So, an thou wilt, I will seek thee a bride of our own rank. But suppose [I do this], they [will] ask at once an thou have craft or land or trade or garden, so thou mayst live, and what shall I answer them. And if I cannot answer poor folk like ourselves, how, O my son, shall I dare to seek the King’s daughter of China, who hath none before him and none after him? Wherefore do thou ponder this matter in thine understanding. And who seeketh her? The son of a tailor. Indeed, I know that, an I speak of this, it will but be for the increase of our ill luck, for that this affair will bring us in great danger with the Sultan and belike there will be death therein for thee and for me. As for me, how can I adventure upon this danger and this effrontery? Moreover, O my son, on what wise shall I demand thee his daughter of the Sultan and how shall I avail to go in to him? Nay, if they question me, what shall I answer them? Most like they will deem me a madwoman. And suppose I gain admission to the presence, what shall I take by way of offering to the Sultan’s highness? It is true, O my son, that the Sultan is clement and rejecteth none that cometh to him for protection or craveth a boon of him, for that he is bountiful and beneficent unto all, great and small; but he bestoweth his favours upon those who are deserving thereof or who have done some feat of arms before him or have wrought for the service or defence of the realm; and thou, O my son, tell me, what hast thou done for the Sultan or the realm, that thou shouldst merit of him this boon? Again, this that thou cravest is beyond thy condition; so it cannot be that the king will grant thee that which thou seekest. Moreover, whoso presenteth himself before the Sultan and craveth favours of him, it behoveth him take in his hand somewhat that sorteth with the royal dignity; and as I said to thee, how canst thou presume to present thyself before the Sultan and seek of him his daughter, without aught thou mayst proffer him of that which sorteth with his rank?”

  “O my mother,” replied Alaeddin, “thou speakest justly and deemest that which is true, and it behoveth me consider all that whereof thou mindest me; but, O my mother, the love of the Sultan’s daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour, hath entered into the innermost of my heart; and there can be no rest for me, except I obtain her. Moreover, thou mindest me of somewhat I had forgotten, and that a thing which emboldeneth me to seek of him his daughter by thee. Thou sayst, O my mother, that I have no gift to present to the Sultan, according to the wont of the folk, whilst in fact I have by me a gift and an offering, the like whereof methinketh no king ever possessed, no, nor aught to match therewith; for thou must know, O my mother, that the fruits, which I brought in the purses from the treasure and which I deemed glass or crystal, are very jewels, methinketh all the kings of the world may not compass the least of them, and I, of my companying with the jewellers, know that they are precious stones. Wherefore, an thou please, have the goodness to rise and bring me such a China dish which we have by us, that I may fill it with these jewels, and thou shalt take it as a present to the Sultan. By this means I am assured that the thing will be easy to thee, and do thou stand before the Sultan and seek of him my desire; but, O my mother, an thou refuse to further me with thine endeavour for the attainment of my wish of the Lady Bedrulbudour, know that I am a dead man. Be not concerned for the gift, for these be exceeding precious jewels, and know, O my mother, that I have gone many a time to the market of the jewellers and have seen them sell jewels, that had not an hundredth part of the beauty of these of ours, at exceeding high prices such as man’s wit cannot conceive. When, therefore, I saw this, I said [in myself], ‘Verily, the jewels that are with us are exceeding precious.’ So now, O my mother, arise, as I bade thee, and fetch me the China dish whereof I bespoke thee, that we may range of these jewels therein and see how they show.”

  Accordingly, she arose and brought the China dish, saying in herself, “Let us see if my son’s speech be true concerning these jewels or not.” So she set the dish before Alaeddin and he brought out jewels of all kinds from the purses and proceeded to range them in the dish till he filled it. When it was full, his mother looked at the dish, but could not gaze fixedly thereon, for the radiance of the jewels and their lustre and the excess of their flashing; so she shut her eyes and her wit was confounded at them; yet was she not certified that their value was in very deed so great as her son had said, but bethought her that his speech might be true in that their like was not found with kings. Then Alaeddin turned to her and said, “See, O my mother, this is a magnificent present for the Sultan and I am assured that thou wilt get of him exceeding honour and that he will receive thee with all consideration. And now, O my mother, there remaineth to thee no excuse; so be good enough to take this dish and go with it to the palace.”

  “O my son,” replied she, “true it is that the present is exceedingly costly and precious and as thou sayest, none hath the like thereof; but who shall dare to come forward and seek of the Sultan his daughter Bedrulbudour? Nay, I dare not adventure myself and say to him, ‘I want thy daughter,’ whenas he asketh me, ‘What wouldst thou?’ Marry, O my son,, my tongue will be tied. And grant that Allah make [the thing] possible and I take courage and say to him, ‘I desire to ally myself to thee by [marrying] thy daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour with my son Alaeddin,’ they will straightway deem me mad and will put me out with ignominy and reproach; nay, I need not tell thee that by this I shall fall into danger of death, and not I only, but thou also. Withal, O my son, of regard for thy wish, needs must I take courage and go; but, O my son, if the King receive me and honour me for the gift’s sake and I seek of him that which thou wilt in the matter of marrying his daughter and he ask me, after the wont of the folk, what are thy possessions and thy revenues, what shall I say to him? And most like, O my son, he will ask me of this ere he ask me of thyself.” And Alaeddin said to her, “Nay, it cannot be that the Sultan will ask this, whenas he seeth the jewels and their magnificence, and it booteth not to think of a thing that will not happen. Do thou but rise and seek me his daughter of him and proffer him these jewels and sit not magnifying the affair in thy thought beforehand. Moreover, O my mother, thou knowest of the lamp which is with me and which presently provideth for our livelihood; nay, all that I seek of it it will bring me, and I trust by its means I shall know how to answer the Sultan, an he ask me of this.”

  They abode in talk of the matter all that night and when the morning morrowed, Alaeddin’s mother arose and fortified her heart, more by token that her son expounded to her somewhat of the properties of the lamp and its uses, in that it would bring them all they sought. But, when he saw that she heartened herself for that which he set forth to her of its virtues, he feared lest she should talk of this to the folk,
so he said to her, “O my mother, beware lest thou bespeak any of the lamp and its uses, for that this is our fortune; be careful and exceed not in speech thereof to any one, lest we lose it and lose this our present prosperity, for that it is from it.” “Have no fear for that, O my son,” answered she and rising, took the dish wherein were the jewels and wrapping it in a fine handkerchief, went forth betimes, so she might reach the Divan and enter, ere it became crowded. When she came to the palace, the Divan was not yet assembled and she saw the Vizier and certain of the chiefs of the state entering the presence-chamber. After a while, the Divan being complete with the Viziers and the chiefs of the state and officers and Amirs and grandees, the Sultan appeared and the Viziers and other the officials and notables ranged themselves before him, whilst he sat down on the throne of his kingship and all who were present in the Divan stood before him, with hands clasped behind them, awaiting his commandment to sit. So he bade them be seated and they all sat down, each in his several room; then the petitioners presented themselves before the Sultan and each affair was decided in its course, till the Divan came to an end, when the King rose and entered the palace and each went his way.