by abc
he disappeared before Noureddin had time to thank him.
As soon, then, as the fair Persian had put on her veil they
fled together, and had the good fortune to get out of the town
without being observed. At the mouth of the Euphrates they
found a ship just about to start for Bagdad. They embarked,
and immediately the anchor was raised and they set sail.
When the captain of the guard reached Noureddin's house he caused his
soldiers to burst open the door and to enter by force, but no trace was
to be found of Noureddin and his slave, nor could the neighbours give
any information about them. When the king heard that they had escaped,
he issued a proclamation that a reward of 1,000 gold pieces would be
given to whoever would bring him Noureddin and the slave, but that,
on the contrary, whoever hid them would be severely punished.
Meanwhile Noureddin and the fair Persian had safely reached Bagdad.
When the vessel had come to an anchor they paid five gold pieces for
their passage and went ashore. Never having been in Bagdad before,
they did not know where to seek a lodging. Wandering along the banks
of the Tigris, they skirted a garden enclosed by a high wall.
The gate was shut, but in front of it was an open vestibule with a sofa
on either side. "Here," said Noureddin, "let us pass the night,"
and reclining on the sofas they soon fell asleep.
Now this garden belonged to the Caliph. In the middle of it was
a vast pavilion, whose superb saloon had eighty windows, each window
having a lustre, lit solely when the Caliph spent the evening there.
Only the door-keeper lived there, an old soldier named Scheih Ibrahim,
who had strict orders to be very careful whom he admitted,
and never to allow any one to sit on the sofas by the door.
It happened that evening that he had gone out on an errand.
When he came back and saw two persons asleep on the sofas he was
about to drive them out with blows, but drawing nearer he perceived
that they were a handsome young man and beautiful young woman,
and decided to awake them by gentler means. Noureddin, on being awoke,
told the old man that they were strangers, and merely wished to pass
the night there. "Come with me," said Scheih Ibrahim, "I will lodge
you better, and will show you a magnificent garden belonging to me."
So saying the doorkeeper led the way into the Caliph's garden,
the beauties of which filled them with wonder and amazement.
Noureddin took out two gold pieces, and giving them to Scheih Ibrahim
said
"I beg you to get us something to eat that we may make merry together."
Being very avaricious, Scheih Ibrahim determined to spend only
the tenth part of the money and to keep the rest to himself.
While he was gone Noureddin and the Persian wandered through the
gardens and went up the white marble staircase of the pavilion as far
as the locked door of the saloon. On the return of Scheih Ibrahim
they begged him to open it, and to allow them to enter and admire
the magnificence within. Consenting, he brought not only the key,
but a light, and immediately unlocked the door. Noureddin and the
Persian entering, were dazzled with the magnificence they beheld.
The paintings and furniture were of astonishing beauty, and between
each window was a silver arm holding a candle.
Scheih Ibrahim spread the table in front of a sofa, and all
three ate together. When they had finished eating Noureddin
asked the old man to bring them a bottle of wine.
"Heaven forbid," said Scheih Ibrahim, "that I should come in contact
with wine! I who have four times made the pilgrimage to Mecca,
and have renounced wine for ever."
"You would, however, do us a great service in procuring
us some," said Noureddin. "You need not touch it yourself.
Take the ass which is tied to the gate, lead it to the nearest
wine-shop, and ask some passer-by to order two jars of wine;
have them put in the ass's panniers, and drive him before you.
Here are two pieces of gold for the expenses."
At sight of the gold, Scheih Ibrahim set off at once to execute
the commission. On his return, Noureddin said: "We have still need
of cups to drink from, and of fruit, if you can procure us some."
Scheih Ibrahim disappeared again, and soon returned with a table spread
with cups of gold and silver, and every sort of beautiful fruit.
Then he withdrew, in spite of repeated invitations to remain.
Noureddin and the beautiful Persian, finding the wine excellent,
drank of it freely, and while drinking they sang. Both had fine
voices, and Scheih Ibrahim listened to them with great pleasure--
first from a distance, then he drew nearer, and finally put his
head in at the door. Noureddin, seeing him, called to him to come
in and keep them company. At first the old man declined, but was
persuaded to enter the room, to sit down on the edge of the sofa
nearest the door, and at last to draw closer and to seat himself
by the beautiful Persian, who urged him so persistently to drink
her health that at length he yielded, and took the cup she offered.
Now the old man only made a pretence of renouncing wine;
he frequented wine-shops like other people, and had taken none
of the precautions Noureddin had proposed. Having once yielded,
he was easily persuaded to take a second cup, and a third,
and so on till he no longer knew what he was doing. Till near
midnight they continued drinking, laughing, and singing together.
About that time the Persian, perceiving that the room was lit
by only one miserable tallow candle, asked Scheih Ibrahim to light
some of the beautiful candles in the silver arms.
"Light them yourself," answered the old man; "you are younger than I,
but let five or six be enough."
She did not stop, however, till she had lit all the eighty, but Scheih
Ibrahim was not conscious of this, and when, soon after that,
Noureddin proposed to have some of the lustres lit, he answered:
"You are more capable of lighting them than I, but not more than three."
Noureddin, far from contenting himself with three, lit all,
and opened all the eighty windows.
The Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid, chancing at that moment to open
a window in the saloon of his palace looking on the garden,
was surprised to see the pavilion brilliantly illuminated.
Calling the grand-vizir, Giafar, he said to him:
"Negligent vizir, look at the pavilion, and tell me why it is lit
up when I am not there."
When the vizir saw that it was as the Caliph said, he trembled
with fear, and immediately invented an excuse.
"Commander of the Faithful," he said, "I must tell you that four
or five days ago Scheih Ibrahim told me that he wished to have
an assembly of the ministers of his mosque, and asked permission
to hold it in the pavilion. I granted his request, but forgot
since to mention it to your Majesty."
"Giafar," replied the Caliph, "you have committed three faults--
first, in giving the permission; second, in not mentioning it
to me; an
d third, in not investigating the matter more closely.
For punishment I condemn you to spend the rest of the night with me
in company of these worthy people. While I dress myself as a citizen,
go and disguise yourself, and then come with me."
When they reached the garden gate they found it open, to the great
indignation of the Caliph. The door of the pavilion being also open,
he went softly upstairs, and looked in at the half-closed door
of the saloon. Great was his surprise to see Scheih Ibrahim,
whose sobriety he had never doubted, drinking and singing with a young
man and a beautiful lady. The Caliph, before giving way to his anger,
determined to watch and see who the people were and what they did.
Presently Scheih Ibrahim asked the beautiful Persian if anything
were wanting to complete her enjoyment of the evening.
"If only," she said, "I had an instrument upon which I might play."
Scheih Ibrahim immediately took a lute from a cup-board and gave
it to the Persian, who began to play on it, singing the while
with such skill and taste that the Caliph was enchanted.
When she ceased he went softly downstairs and said to the vizir:
"Never have I heard a finer voice, nor the lute better played.
I am determined to go in and make her play to me."
"Commander of the Faithful," said the vizir, "if Scheih Ibrahim
recognises you he will die of fright."
"I should be sorry for that," answered the Caliph, "and I am going
to take steps to prevent it. Wait here till I return."
Now the Caliph had caused a bend in the river to form a lake in
his garden. There the finest fish in the Tigris were to be found,
but fishing was strictly forbidden. It happened that night,
however, that a fisherman had taken advantage of the gate being
open to go in and cast his nets. He was just about to draw them
when he saw the Caliph approaching. Recognising him at once in spite
of his disguise, he threw himself at his feet imploring forgiveness.
"Fear nothing," said the Caliph, "only rise up and draw thy nets."
The fisherman did as he was told, and produced five or six fine fish,
of which the Caliph took the two largest. Then he desired the
fisherman to change clothes with him, and in a few minutes the Caliph
was transformed into a fisherman, even to the shoes and the turban.
Taking the two fish in his hand, he returned to the vizir, who,
not recognising him, would have sent him about his business.
Leaving the vizir at the foot of the stairs, the Caliph went up
and knocked at the door of the saloon. Noureddin opened it,
and the Caliph, standing on the threshold, said:
"Scheih Ibrahim, I am the fisher Kerim. Seeing that you are feasting
with your friends, I bring you these fish."
Noureddin and the Persian said that when the fishes were properly
cooked and dressed they would gladly eat of them. The Caliph then
returned to the vizir, and they set to work in Scheih Ibrahim's
house to cook the fish, of which they made so tempting a dish
that Noureddin and the fair Persian ate of it with great relish.
When they had finished Noureddin took thirty gold pieces (all
that remained of what Sangiar had given him) and presented them to
the Caliph, who, thanking him, asked as a further favour if the lady
would play him one piece on the lute. The Persian gladly consented,
and sang and played so as to delight the Caliph.
Noureddin, in the habit of giving to others whatever they admired,
said, "Fisherman, as she pleases you so much, take her; she is yours."
The fair Persian, astounded that he should wish to part from her,
took her lute, and with tears in her eyes sang her reproaches to
its music.
The Caliph (still in the character of fisherman) said to him,
"Sir, I perceive that this fair lady is your slave. Oblige me,
I beg you, by relating your history."
Noureddin willingly granted this request, and recounted everything
from the purchase of the slave down to the present moment.
"And where do you go now?" asked the Caliph.
"Wherever the hand of Allah leads me," said Noureddin.
"Then, if you will listen to me," said the Caliph, "you will
immediately return to Balsora. I will give you a letter to the king,
which will ensure you a good reception from him."
"It is an unheard-of thing," said Noureddin, "that a fisherman
should be in correspondence with a king."
"Let not that astonish you," answered the Caliph; "we studied together,
and have always remained the best of friends, though fortune,
while making him a king, left me a humble fisherman."
The Caliph then took a sheet of paper, and wrote the following letter,
at the top of which he put in very small characters this formula
to show that he must be implicitly obeyed:--"In the name of the Most
Merciful God.
"Letter of the Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid to the King of Balsora.
"Haroun-al-Raschid, son of Mahdi, sends this letter to Mohammed Zinebi,
his cousin. As soon as Noureddin, son of the Vizir Khacan,
bearer of this letter, has given it to thee, and thou hast read it,
take off thy royal mantle, put it on his shoulders, and seat him
in thy place without fail. Farewell."
The Caliph then gave this letter to Noureddin, who immediately
set off, with only what little money he possessed when Sangiar
came to his assistance. The beautiful Persian, inconsolable at
his departure, sank on a sofa bathed in tears.
When Noureddin had left the room, Scheih Ibrahim, who had hitherto
kept silence, said: "Kerim, for two miserable fish thou hast
received a purse and a slave. I tell thee I will take the slave,
and as to the purse, if it contains silver thou mayst keep one piece,
if gold then I will take all and give thee what copper pieces I
have in my purse."
Now here it must be related that when the Caliph went upstairs
with the plate of fish he ordered the vizir to hasten to the palace
and bring back four slaves bearing a change of raiment, who should
wait outside the pavilion till the Caliph should clap his hands.
Still personating the fisherman, the Caliph answered:
"Scheih Ibrahim, whatever is in the purse I will share equally
with you, but as to the slave I will keep her for myself.
If you do not agree to these conditions you shall have nothing."
The old man, furious at this insolence as he considered it,
took a cup and threw it at the Caliph, who easily avoided a missile
from the hand of a drunken man. It hit against the wall, and broke
into a thousand pieces. Scheih Ibrahim, still more enraged,
then went ont to fetch a stick. The Caliph at that moment clapped
his hands, and the vizir and the four slaves entering took off
the fisherman's dress and put on him that which they had brought.
When Scheih Ibrahim returned, a thick stick in his hand, the Caliph
was seated on his throne, and nothing remained of the fisherman
but his clothes in the middle of the room. Throwing himself on the
ground at the Caliph's feet, he said: "Commander of the Faithful,
your miserable s
lave has offended you, and craves forgiveness."
The Caliph came down from his throne, and said: "Rise, I forgive thee."
Then turning to the Persian he said: "Fair lady, now you know who
I am; learn also that I have sent Noureddin to Balsora to be king,
and as soon as all necessary preparations are made I will send
you there to be queen. Meanwhile I will give you an apartment
in my palace, where you will be treated with all honour."
At this the beautiful Persian took courage, and the Caliph was as
good as his word, recommending her to the care of his wife Zobeida.
Noureddin made all haste on his journey to Balsora, and on his
arrival there went straight to the palace of the king, of whom he
demanded an audience. It was immediately granted, and holding
the letter high above his head he forced his way through the crowd.
While the king read the letter he changed colour. He would instantly
have executed the Caliph's order, but first he showed the letter
to Saouy, whose interests were equally at stake with his own.
Pretending that he wished to read it a second time, Saouy turned
aside as if to seek a better light; unperceived by anyone he tore
off the formula from the top of the letter, put it to his mouth,
and swallowed it. Then, turning to the king, he said:
"Your majesty has no need to obey this letter. The writing is indeed
that of the Caliph, but the formula is absent. Besides, he has not
sent an express with the patent, without which the letter is useless.
Leave all to me, and I will take the consequences."
The king not only listened to the persuasions of Saouy, but gave
Noureddin into his hands. Such a severe bastinado was first