The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights

by vol 02 (tr Malcolm C

  As for ‘Ali, he went on standing by the door, and when nobody opened it for him he knocked so loudly that the sleepers woke up and said: ‘That is the knock of ‘Ali al-Zaibaq.’ Ahmad’s lieutenant opened the door and asked ‘Ali if he had brought the purse. ‘The joke has gone far enough, Shuman,’ ‘Ali said. ‘Didn’t I give it to you through the hole at the bottom of the door, after you told me that you had sworn not to open the door for me until I showed it to you?’ ‘By God,’ said Hasan, ‘I didn’t take it; it must have been Zuraiq who got it from you.’ ‘Ali, swearing that he was going to recover it, then went back to the wedding feast. There he heard the jester saying: ‘Give me a gift, Zuraiq, and you’ll get the benefit of it through your son.’ ‘I’m in luck,’ said ‘Ali to himself, and he went to Zuraiq’s house, where he climbed in from the back and dropped down. He found Zuraiq’s wife sleeping, drugged her with banj, dressed himself in her clothes and took the child in his lap, after which, on looking round the house, he discovered in a basket cakes that Zuraiq had meanly saved from ‘Id al-Fitr.

  It was now that Zuraiq came home, and when he knocked on the door ‘Ali answered him, pretending to be his wife and asking who was there. When Zuraiq gave his name, ‘Ali said: ‘I swore not to open the door until you brought back the purse,’ and when Zuraiq said that he had it, ‘Ali told him to produce it before he opened the door. ‘Lower the basket,’ Zuraiq instructed, ‘and you can then take the purse up in it.’ ‘Ali did this; Zuraiq put the purse in the basket and ‘Ali took it. He then drugged the child with banj, and after having brought the woman back to consciousness, he left by the way that he had come and returned to Ahmad’s headquarters. When he went in and showed the others the purse and the child, they thanked him for what he had done and then ate the cakes that he gave them. He told Hasan Shuman that the child was Zuraiq’s and asked him to keep him hidden. Hasan did this and then fetched a lamb, and after he had slaughtered it, he gave it to his lieutenant, who roasted it and then wrapped it in a shroud as though it were a dead person.

  As for Zuraiq, he went on standing at the door for a while and then knocked loudly. ‘Have you brought the purse?’ his wife asked, and he said: ‘Didn’t you take it from the basket which you let down?’ ‘I never let down any basket,’ she replied, ‘and I neither saw nor took the purse.’ ‘By God,’ he exclaimed, ‘the scoundrel ‘Ali has forestalled me and got it!’ Then he looked in the house and found that the cakes were gone and that his son was missing. He gave a cry of grief and his wife beat her breast. ‘You and I must go to the vizier,’ she told him, ‘as he can only have been killed by the scoundrel who played those tricks on you, and you’re responsible for this.’ ‘I guarantee to get the child back,’ Zuraiq told her, and he tied a kerchief round his neck as a mark of peace and set off for the headquarters of Ahmad al-Danaf. When he knocked on the door, it was opened for him by Ahmad’s lieutenant, and when he went in, Hasan Shuman asked him why he had come. ‘I want you to intercede for me with ‘Ali the Cairene so that he gives me my son back, and in exchange I’ll let him have my purse of gold,’ Zuraiq told him. ‘May God pay you back for this, ‘Ali!’ Hasan exclaimed. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that this was Zuraiq’s son?’ ‘What has happened to him?’ Zuraiq asked. ‘We gave him some raisins to eat, but he had a choking fit and died,’ Hasan said, adding, ‘and this is his body.’

  Zuraiq called out in grief, saying: ‘What am I going to tell his mother?’ Then he got up and undid the shroud only to find the roasted lamb. ‘You have been trying to get a rise from me, ‘Ali,’ he said, and Ahmad’s men then handed over the child. Ahmad said: ‘You hung up the purse for any clever thief to take, saying it would then be his by right. So it now belongs to ‘Ali the Cairene.’ ‘I make him a present of it,’ Zuraiq told him, but ‘Ali said: ‘Take it back for the sake of your niece Zainab.’ ‘I accept it,’ said Zuraiq. ‘Ali’s companions then went on: ‘We ask that she be given in marriage to ‘Ali,’ to which Zuraiq pointed out: ‘My only authority over her is a matter of goodwill.’ He took his son and the purse, but Hasan asked him: ‘Have you accepted this offer of marriage?’ ‘I shall accept an offer from someone who can pay her bride price,’ Zuraiq replied, and when Hasan asked what this was, Zuraiq explained: ‘She has sworn not to give herself to anyone unless he can bring her the robe of Qamar, the daughter of ‘Adhra the Jew, together with the rest of her finery…’

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the seven hundred and sixteenth night, SHE CONTINUED:

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that Zuraiq told Shuman: ‘Zainab has sworn not to give herself to anyone unless he can bring her the robe of Qamar, the daughter of ‘Adhra the Jew, together with the crown, the girdle and the golden slippers.’ ‘If I don’t bring the robe tonight, I shall have no right to ask for her hand,’ ‘Ali agreed, but Zuraiq warned him: ‘If you play any of your tricks on Qamar, you are a dead man.’ ‘Ali asked why and was told: ‘The Jew is a wily and treacherous sorcerer who has jinn under his command. He has a castle outside the city whose walls are made of alternate bricks of gold and silver. While he is there it is visible, but when he leaves it disappears. He has a daughter named Qamar for whom he brought this robe from a talismanic hoard, and every day he places it on a gold tray, opens the castle windows and calls out: ‘Where are you, knaves of Egypt, rogues of Iraq and skilled thieves of Persia? Whoever takes this robe may keep it.’ Every young hopeful has tried his tricks, but no one has succeeded and they have then been transformed by magic into apes and donkeys.’ ‘I have to take the robe,’ said ‘Ali, ‘so that Zainab may wear it at her wedding.’

  He went to the Jew’s shop, and found him to be a coarse, rough man, with a pair of scales, brass weights, gold, silver and a number of boxes. He also saw that the Jew had a mule there, and when he got up to shut his shop, he put the gold and silver in two purses, which he placed in a pair of saddlebags and loaded them on the mule. He then rode out of the city, followed without his knowledge by ‘Ali, until he took some earth from a purse that he had in his pocket, recited a spell over it and scattered it into the air. At that, a castle of unrivalled splendour appeared in front of ‘Ali, and the mule carried the Jew up its steps, it being a jinni in his service. When the saddlebags had been taken off, it went away and disappeared.

  As for the Jew himself, ‘Ali watched as he took his seat in the castle. He brought out a rod of gold to which he attached a golden tray by means of golden chains, and in the tray he put the robe. As ‘Ali looked from behind the door, he made his proclamation to the knaves, rogues and thieves that whoever was clever enough to take the robe could keep it. He then recited a spell, and a table laden with food appeared in front of him, and after he had finished eating, it removed itself, while a second spell produced wine, which he drank. ‘Ali said to himself that the only way in which he could take the robe was if the Jew became drunk.

  He crept up behind the Jew and drew his steel sword, but the Jew turned round and uttered a spell that paralysed ‘Ali’s sword hand, leaving it holding the sword in mid-air. He tried with his left hand, but it too was paralysed, as was his right foot, leaving him balanced on one leg. The spell was then removed and ‘Ali returned to normal while the Jew used geomancy to discover his name. He turned to him and said: ‘Come here. Who are you and what are you doing?’ ‘Ali gave him his name and added that he was one of Ahmad al-Danaf’s band. ‘I have asked for the hand of Zainab, the daughter of Dalila the wily, and by way of bride price they have asked me for the robe of your daughter. If you want to live in safety, let me have it and accept Islam.’ ‘Not until you are dead,’ the Jew told him. ‘Many people have tried to trick me out of this, but no one has been able to take it away from me. If you are willing to accept advice, save your own life. The only reason that they asked you for the robe was to get you killed, and had I not seen that your good fortune was greater than mine, I would have cut off your head.’ ‘Ali was glad to hear what the Jew tol
d him about his good fortune, and insisted: ‘I must have the robe and you must accept Islam.’ ‘This is what you want and what you think you have to have?’ asked the Jew, and when ‘Ali said yes, he took a cup, filled it with water, recited a spell over it and said: ‘Quit your human shape and become a donkey.’ He sprinkled some of the water on ‘Ali, who was promptly transformed into a donkey, with hooves and long ears. He started to bray and the Jew traced a circle around him, which became a wall keeping him in, and after that the Jew went on drinking until morning.

  The next day he told ‘Ali: ‘I shall give the mule a rest and ride you,’ after which he put the robe, the tray, the rod and the chains away in a cupboard. He summoned ‘Ali with a spell, put the saddlebags on his back and mounted. The castle vanished from sight as ‘Ali moved off with his rider and they got to the shop. Here the Jew dismounted and emptied out the two purses, one containing gold and the other silver, into the box that he kept in front of him. ‘Ali, in his donkey shape, was left tethered and, while he could hear and understand, he was unable to speak. Just then, up came the son of a merchant who had fallen on hard times and, in the absence of any other available occupation, had become a water carrier. He had taken his wife’s bracelets and had brought them to sell to the Jew so that he could use the money to buy a donkey. ‘What are you going to carry on it?’ the Jew asked, and the man told him that he proposed to load it with water from the river and make a living by selling this. ‘Take this donkey of mine,’ said the Jew, and so the man exchanged the bracelets for the donkey and the Jew paid over the difference in price.

  The man took ‘Ali, still under the spell, back to his house and ‘Ali told himself: ‘If this fellow puts a wooden pack saddle and a water skin on me, it will only take ten trips to ruin my health and kill me.’ So when the man’s wife came out to put down his fodder, he butted her with his head, knocking her over on to her back. He then jumped on her and stuck his mouth into her face while lowering his private parts. She shrieked to the neighbours for help and they came and beat ‘Ali off her. When her husband, the would-be water carrier, came home, she said: ‘Either divorce me or take this donkey back to its owner.’ ‘What’s happened?’ he asked, and she told him: ‘This is a devil in the shape of a donkey. It jumped on me, and if the neighbours hadn’t removed it from on top of me it would have defiled me.’ Her husband took ‘Ali back to the Jew, who asked why he was bringing back his purchase. ‘It did something disgusting to my wife,’ the man said, and so the Jew gave him the money and the man went off.

  As for the Jew, he turned to ‘Ali and said: ‘Are you trying to play tricks, you miserable creature…?’

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the seven hundred and seventeenth night, SHE CONTINUED:

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that when the water carrier returned the ‘donkey’ to the Jew, the latter gave him the money and then turned to ‘Ali and said: ‘Are you trying to play tricks, you miserable creature, to make him return you to me? But since you are happy to be a donkey, I shall let you be a spectacle for old and young alike.’ He took ‘Ali the donkey, mounted him and rode out of the city, before taking some ashes, reciting a spell over them and then scattering them in the air, at which the castle reappeared. When he had gone up into it, he unloaded the saddlebags and took away the purses of gold and silver. He then fetched out the rod and, after attaching it to the tray with the robe, he made his proclamation to the rogues of every district, challenging them to take the robe. As before, he proceeded to conjure up a meal, and after he had finished eating, another spell produced wine, from which he drank his fill.

  At this point he brought out a cup of water and, when he had recited a spell over it, he sprinkled it on the donkey and said: ‘Change back from this to your original shape.’ When ‘Ali had returned to his human form, the Jew said to him: ‘Take my advice, lest I do something worse to you. There is no need for you to marry Zainab and to take my daughter’s robe, for this is not going to be easy for you. It will be better for you not to be greedy, or else I shall turn you into a bear or an ape or hand you over to one of the jinn, who will throw you behind Mount Qaf.’ ‘ ‘Adhra,’ replied ‘Ali, ‘I have undertaken to get the robe and get it I must, and, unless you accept Islam, I shall kill you.’ ‘You are like a nut which cannot be eaten until it has been cracked,’ the Jew told him, and then he took a cup of water, recited a spell over it and sprinkled it over ‘Ali, saying: ‘Take the shape of a bear.’ ‘Ali was immediately turned into a bear, and the Jew put a collar round his neck, muzzled him and tethered him to an iron stake. As he ate, he would throw ‘Ali some scraps and pour out some of the leftover water.

  The next morning he got up and, after removing the tray and the robe, he forced the bear by means of a spell to follow him to his shop, where he emptied out the gold and silver into his box and took his seat. He fastened the chain round the bear’s neck inside the shop and, as a bear, ‘Ali could hear and understand but was unable to speak. While he was there, a merchant came to visit the Jew in his shop to ask if he would sell him ‘the bear’, explaining that doctors had advised his wife, who was his cousin, to eat bear meat and to rub herself with bear fat. The delighted Jew said to himself: ‘I shall sell him so that this man may kill him and I shall be rid of him,’ while ‘Ali told himself: ‘He wants to kill me, and it is only God who can save me.’ ‘I shall give you the bear as a present,’ the Jew told the merchant, who then took ‘Ali and brought him to a butcher, telling the man to fetch his tools and go with him. The butcher followed with his knives, tied up ‘Ali and started to sharpen a knife in order to slaughter him. When ‘Ali saw the man coming towards him, he found himself free and he then started to fly through the air, not stopping until he came down in front of the Jew in his castle.

  The reason for this was that when the Jew had gone home after having given ‘the bear’ to the merchant, in answer to a question from his daughter he had told her all that had happened. She advised him to summon a jinni and ask him whether this really was ‘Ali al-Zaibaq or someone else who was trying to play a trick. He used a spell to conjure up a jinni, and when he put the question to him the jinni snatched up ‘Ali and brought him there. ‘This is ‘Ali the Cairene and no one else,’ the jinni said. ‘The butcher had tied him up, sharpened his knife and was just about to cut his throat when I snatched him away and brought him to you.’

  The Jew took a cup of water, recited a spell over it and then sprinkled some of it on ‘Ali, saying: ‘Return to your human form.’ When this happened, the Jew’s daughter, Qamar, saw a handsome young man and fell in love with him. ‘Unfortunate young man,’ she said, ‘why do you try to take my robe when my father does this kind of thing to you?’ ‘I have undertaken to get it for Zainab the trickster, so as to marry her,’ ‘Ali said. ‘Others have tried to trick my father out of it but have failed, so stop coveting it,’ she told him, to which he replied: ‘I must get it, and if your father does not accept Islam, I shall kill him.’ ‘See how this wretched fellow does his best to get himself killed,’ her father said. ‘I shall turn him into a dog.’ He took an inscribed cup with water in it, recited a spell and sprinkled some of the water over ‘Ali, saying: ‘Take the shape of a dog,’ and a dog he became.

  The Jew caroused with his daughter until morning and then, after taking away the robe and the tray, he mounted the mule and recited a spell over the ‘dog’, which followed him with all the other dogs barking at it. He passed the shop of a second-hand dealer who got up and drove the other dogs away, after which ‘Ali fell asleep in front of him. When the Jew looked round, ‘Ali was not to be seen, and when the dealer closed his shop and went home, ‘Ali followed him. When the man went into his house and his daughter caught sight of the dog, she covered her face and said: ‘Father, are you bringing a strange man in to see me?’ ‘This is a dog, daughter,’ her father said, but she insisted: ‘This is ‘Ali the Cairene, whom the Jew has bewitched.’ Then she turned t
o the ‘dog’ and said: ‘Are you ‘Ali the Cairene?’ at which it nodded its head. ‘Why did the Jew put a spell on him?’ her father asked, and she said: ‘Because of the robe of his daughter, Qamar, but I can set him free.’ ‘This is the time for a good deed,’ he told her, and she said: ‘I shall free him if he will marry me.’ The ‘dog’ nodded and she took a cup with writing on it, but as she was reciting a spell over it, there was a loud cry and it fell from her hand. She turned and saw that it was her father’s slave girl who had cried out, and this girl now said: ‘Mistress, is this the arrangement we made? I was the only one who taught you this art, and you agreed to do nothing without my advice, and also that whoever married you should marry me as well and that he should come to us on alternate nights.’ Her mistress confirmed that this was so, and when her father asked her who had taught this girl magic, she said: ‘It was she who taught me, but you have to ask her yourself who taught her.’

  When he did this, the girl told him: ‘You must know, master, that I was in service with ‘Adhra the Jew, and I used to creep in while he was reciting his spells. Then, when he went off to his shop, I would open his books and read them until I had mastered the art of magic. One day, when he was drunk, he asked me to sleep with him, but I refused and told him: “That cannot be until you become a Muslim.” He refused and I insisted that he take me to the sultan’s market, which is where he sold me to you. When I came to your house, I taught my mistress on condition that she should do nothing without my advice and that any man who married her should marry me as well, and that we would have him on alternate nights.’