Arabian Nights

by abc

  "And what is that?" said the princess.

  "If only a roc's egg," replied he, "were hung up from the middle

  of this dome, it would be the wonder of the world."

  After this the princess could think of nothing but a roc's egg,

  and when Aladdin returned from hunting he found her in a very

  ill humour. He begged to know what was amiss, and she told

  him that all her pleasure in the hall was spoilt for the want

  of a roc's egg hanging from the dome.

  "It that is all," replied Aladdin, "you shall soon be happy."

  He left her and rubbed the lamp, and when the genie appeared

  commanded him to bring a roc's egg. The genie gave such a loud

  and terrible shriek that the hall shook.

  "Wretch!" he cried, "is it not enough that I have done everything

  for you, but you must command me to bring my master and hang him

  up in the midst of this dome? You and your wife and your palace

  deserve to be burnt to ashes; but this request does not come from you,

  but from the brother of the African magician whom you destroyed.

  He is now in your palace disguised as the holy woman--whom he murdered.

  He it was who put that wish into your wife's head. Take care of yourself,

  for he means to kill you." So saying the genie disappeared.

  Aladdin went back to the princess, saying his head ached, and requesting

  that the holy Fatima should be fetched to lay her hands on it.

  But when the magician came near, Aladdin, seizing his dagger,

  pierced him to the heart.

  "What have you done?" cried the princess. "You have killed

  the holy woman!"

  "Not so," replied Aladdin, "but a wicked magician," and told her

  of how she had been deceived.

  After this Aladdin and his wife lived in peace. He succeeded

  the Sultan when he died, and reigned for many years, leaving behind

  him a long line of kings.

  The Adventures of Haroun-al-Raschid, Caliph of Bagdad

  The Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid sat in his palace, wondering if there was

  anything left in the world that could possibly give him a few hours'

  amusement, when Giafar the grand-vizir, his old and tried friend,

  suddenly appeared before him. Bowing low, he waited, as was his duty,

  till his master spoke, but Haroun-al-Raschid merely turned his

  head and looked at him, and sank back into his former weary posture.

  Now Giafar had something of importance to say to the Caliph,

  and had no intention of being put off by mere silence, so with

  another low bow in front of the throne, he began to speak.

  "Commander of the Faithful," said he, "I have taken on myself to

  remind your Highness that you have undertaken secretly to observe

  for yourself the manner in which justice is done and order is kept

  throughout the city. This is the day you have set apart to devote

  to this object, and perhaps in fulfilling this duty you may find

  some distraction from the melancholy to which, as I see to my sorrow,

  you are a prey."

  "You are right," returned the Caliph, "I had forgotten all about it.

  Go and change your coat, and I will change mine."

  A few moments later they both re-entered the hall, disguised as

  foreign merchants, and passed through a secret door, out into the

  open country. Here they turned towards the Euphrates, and crossing

  the river in a small boat, walked through that part of the town

  which lay along the further bank, without seeing anything to call

  for their interference. Much pleased with the peace and good order

  of the city, the Caliph and his vizir made their way to a bridge,

  which led straight back to the palace, and had already crossed it,

  when they were stopped by an old and blind man, who begged for alms.

  The Caliph gave him a piece of money, and was passing on,

  but the blind man seized his hand, and held him fast.

  "Charitable person," he said, "whoever you may be grant me yet

  another prayer. Strike me, I beg of you, one blow. I have deserved

  it richly, and even a more severe penalty."

  The Caliph, much surprised at this request, replied gently:

  "My good man, that which you ask is impossible. Of what use would

  my alms be if I treated you so ill?" And as he spoke he tried

  to loosen the grasp of the blind beggar.

  "My lord," answered the man, "pardon my boldness and my persistence.

  Take back your money, or give me the blow which I crave.

  I have sworn a solemn oath that I will receive nothing without

  receiving chastisement, and if you knew all, you would feel that

  the punishment is not a tenth part of what I deserve."

  Moved by these words, and perhaps still more by the fact that he

  had other business to attend to, the Caliph yielded, and struck him

  lightly on the shoulder. Then he continued his road, followed by

  the blessing of the blind man. When they were out of earshot,

  he said to the vizir, "There must be something very odd to make

  that man act so--I should like to find out what is the reason.

  Go back to him; tell him who I am, and order him to come without fail

  to the palace to-morrow, after the hour of evening prayer."

  So the grand-vizir went back to the bridge; gave the blind beggar

  first a piece of money and then a blow, delivered the Caliph's message,

  and rejoined his master.

  They passed on towards the palace, but walking through a square,

  they came upon a crowd watching a young and well-dressed man

  who was urging a horse at full speed round the open space,

  using at the same time his spurs and whip so unmercifully that

  the animal was all covered with foam and blood. The Caliph,

  astonished at this proceeding, inquired of a passer-by what it

  all meant, but no one could tell him anything, except that every

  day at the same hour the same thing took place.

  Still wondering, he passed on, and for the moment had to

  content himself with telling the vizir to command the horseman

  also to appear before him at the same time as the blind man.

  The next day, after evening prayer, the Caliph entered the hall,

  and was followed by the vizir bringing with him the two men of whom

  we have spoken, and a third, with whom we have nothing to do.

  They all bowed themselves low before the throne and then the Caliph

  bade them rise, and ask the blind man his name.

  "Baba-Abdalla, your Highness," said he.

  "Baba-Abdalla," returned the Caliph, "your way of asking alms

  yesterday seemed to me so strange, that I almost commanded you

  then and there to cease from causing such a public scandal.

  But I have sent for you to inquire what was your motive in making

  such a curious vow. When I know the reason I shall be able to judge

  whether you can be permitted to continue to practise it, for I

  cannot help thinking that it sets a very bad example to others.

  Tell me therefore the whole truth, and conceal nothing."

  These words troubled the heart of Baba-Abdalla, who prostrated

  himself at the feet of the Caliph. Then rising, he answered:

  "Commander of the Faithful, I crave your pardon humbly,

  for my persistence in beseeching your Highness to do an action

  which appears on the face of it to b
e without any meaning.

  No doubt, in the eyes of men, it has none; but I look on it as a

  slight expiation for a fearful sin of which I have been guilty,

  and if your Highness will deign to listen to my tale, you will

  see that no punishment could atone for the crime."

  Story of the Blind Baba-Abdalla

  I was born, Commander of the Faithful, in Bagdad, and was left

  an orphan while I was yet a very young man, for my parents died

  within a few days of each other. I had inherited from them

  a small fortune, which I worked hard night and day to increase,

  till at last I found myself the owner of eighty camels. These I

  hired out to travelling merchants, whom I frequently accompanied

  on their various journeys, and always returned with large profits.

  One day I was coming back from Balsora, whither I had taken a supply

  of goods, intended for India, and halted at noon in a lonely place,

  which promised rich pasture for my camels. I was resting in the

  shade under a tree, when a dervish, going on foot towards Balsora,

  sat down by my side, and I inquired whence he had come and to what

  place he was going. We soon made friends, and after we had asked

  each other the usual questions, we produced the food we had with us,

  and satisfied our hunger.

  While we were eating, the dervish happened to mention that in a spot

  only a little way off from where we were sitting, there was hidden

  a treasure so great that if my eighty camels were loaded till they

  could carry no more, the hiding place would seem as full as if it

  had never been touched.

  At this news I became almost beside myself with joy and greed, and I

  flung my arms round the neck of the dervish, exclaiming: "Good dervish,

  I see plainly that the riches of this world are nothing to you,

  therefore of what use is the knowledge of this treasure to you?

  Alone and on foot, you could carry away a mere handful. But tell me

  where it is, and I will load my eighty camels with it, and give you

  one of them as a token of my gratitude."

  Certainly my offer does not sound very magnificent, but it was

  great to me, for at his words a wave of covetousness had swept

  over my heart, and I almost felt as if the seventy-nine camels

  that were left were nothing in comparison.

  The dervish saw quite well what was passing in my mind, but he did

  not show what he thought of my proposal.

  "My brother," he answered quietly, "you know as well as I do,

  that you are behaving unjustly. It was open to me to keep my secret,

  and to reserve the treasure for myself. But the fact that I have

  told you of its existence shows that I had confidence in you,

  and that I hoped to earn your gratitude for ever, by making your

  fortune as well as mine. But before I reveal to you the secret

  of the treasure, you must swear that, after we have loaded the

  camels with as much as they can carry, you will give half to me,

  and let us go our own ways. I think you will see that this is fair,

  for if you present me with forty camels, I on my side will give you

  the means of buying a thousand more."

  I could not of course deny that what the dervish said was perfectly

  reasonable, but, in spite of that, the thought that the dervish

  would be as rich as I was unbearable to me. Still there was no

  use in discussing the matter, and I had to accept his conditions

  or bewail to the end of my life the loss of immense wealth.

  So I collected my camels and we set out together under the guidance

  of the dervish. After walking some time, we reached what looked

  like a valley, but with such a narrow entrance that my camels could

  only pass one by one. The little valley, or open space, was shut

  up by two mountains, whose sides were formed of straight cliffs,

  which no human being could climb.

  When we were exactly between these mountains the dervish stopped.

  "Make your camels lie down in this open space," he said, "so that we

  can easily load them; then we will go to the treasure."

  I did what I was bid, and rejoined the dervish, whom I found trying

  to kindle a fire out of some dry wood. As soon as it was alight,

  he threw on it a handful of perfumes, and pronounced a few words

  that I did not understand, and immediately a thick column of smoke

  rose high into the air. He separated the smoke into two columns,

  and then I saw a rock, which stood like a pillar between the

  two mountains, slowly open, and a splendid palace appear within.

  But, Commander of the Faithful, the love of gold had taken such

  possession of my heart, that I could not even stop to examine

  the riches, but fell upon the first pile of gold within my reach

  and began to heap it into a sack that I had brought with me.

  The dervish likewise set to work, but I soon noticed that he

  confined himself to collecting precious stones, and I felt I

  should be wise to follow his example. At length the camels

  were loaded with as much as they could carry, and nothing

  remained but to seal up the treasure, and go our ways.

  Before, however, this was done, the dervish went up to a great

  golden vase, beautifully chased, and took from it a small wooden box,

  which he hid in the bosom of his dress, merely saying that it

  contained a special kind of ointment. Then he once more kindled

  the fire, threw on the perfume, and murmured the unknown spell,

  and the rock closed, and stood whole as before.

  The next thing was to divide the camels, and to charge them with

  the treasure, after which we each took command of our own and marched

  out of the valley, till we reached the place in the high road

  where the routes diverge, and then we parted, the dervish going

  towards Balsora, and I to Bagdad. We embraced each other tenderly,

  and I poured out my gratitude for the honour he had done me,

  in singling me out for this great wealth, and having said a hearty

  farewell we turned our backs, and hastened after our camels.

  I had hardly come up with mine when the demon of envy filled my soul.

  "What does a dervish want with riches like that?" I said to myself.

  "He alone has the secret of the treasure, and can always get as much

  as he wants," and I halted my camels by the roadside, and ran back

  after him.

  I was a quick runner, and it did not take me very long to come up

  with him. "My brother," I exclaimed, as soon as I could speak,

  "almost at the moment of our leave-taking, a reflection occurred

  to me, which is perhaps new to you. You are a dervish by profession,

  and live a very quiet life, only caring to do good, and careless

  of the things of this world. You do not realise the burden that you

  lay upon yourself, when you gather into your hands such great wealth,

  besides the fact that no one, who is not accustomed to camels from

  his birth, can ever manage the stubborn beasts. If you are wise,

  you will not encumber yourself with more than thirty, and you will find

  those trouble enough."

  "You are right," replied the dervish, who understood me quite well,

  but did not wish to fight the matter. "I confess I had not thought
r />   about it. Choose any ten you like, and drive them before you."

  I selected ten of the best camels, and we proceeded along the road,

  to rejoin those I had left behind. I had got what I wanted, but I

  had found the dervish so easy to deal with, that I rather regretted

  I had not asked for ten more. I looked back. He had only gone

  a few paces, and I called after him.

  "My brother," I said, "I am unwilling to part from you without

  pointing out what I think you scarcely grasp, that large experience

  of camel-driving is necessary to anybody who intends to keep

  together a troop of thirty. In your own interest, I feel sure you

  would be much happier if you entrusted ten more of them to me,

  for with my practice it is all one to me if I take two or a hundred."

  As before, the dervish made no difficulties, and I drove off my ten

  camels in triumph, only leaving him with twenty for his share.

  I had now sixty, and anyone might have imagined that I should

  be content.

  But, Commander of the Faithful, there is a proverb that says,

  "the more one has, the more one wants." So it was with me.

  I could not rest as long as one solitary camel remained to the dervish;

  and returning to him I redoubled my prayers and embraces, and promises

  of eternal gratitude, till the last twenty were in my hands.

  "Make a good use of them, my brother," said the holy man.

  "Remember riches sometimes have wings if we keep them for ourselves,

  and the poor are at our gates expressly that we may help them."

  My eyes were so blinded by gold, that I paid no heed to his wise counsel,

  and only looked about for something else to grasp. Suddenly I