by abc
she cried madly:
"Wretch, receive the reward of your prying, and become a dog."
The words were not out of her mouth when, without feeling conscious
that any change was passing over me, I suddenly knew that I had ceased
to be a man. In the greatness of the shock and surprise--for I had
no idea that Amina was a magician--I never dreamed of running away,
and stood rooted to the spot, while Amina grasped a stick and began
to beat me. Indeed her blows were so heavy, that I only wonder they
did not kill me at once. However they succeeded in rousing me from
my stupor, and I dashed into the court-yard, followed closely by Amina,
who made frantic dives at me, which I was not quick enough to dodge.
At last she got tired of pursuing me, or else a new trick entered
into her head, which would give me speedy and painful death;
she opened the gate leading into the street, intending to crush me
as I passed through. Dog though I was, I saw through her design,
and stung into presence of mind by the greatness of the danger,
I timed my movements so well that I contrived to rush through,
and only the tip of my tail received a squeeze as she banged
the gate.
I was safe, but my tail hurt me horribly, and I yelped and howled so
loud all along the streets, that the other dogs came and attacked me,
which made matters no better. In order to avoid them, I took
refuge in a cookshop, where tongues and sheep's heads were sold.
At first the owner showed me great kindness, and drove away
the other dogs that were still at my heels, while I crept into
the darkest corner. But though I was safe for the moment,
I was not destined to remain long under his protection, for he
was one of those who hold all dogs to be unclean, and that all the
washing in the world will hardly purify you from their contact.
So after my enemies had gone to seek other prey, he tried to
lure me from my corner in order to force me into the street.
But I refused to come out of my hole, and spent the night in sleep,
which I sorely needed, after the pain inflicted on me by Amina.
I have no wish to weary your Highness by dwelling on the sad thoughts
which accompanied my change of shape, but it may interest you to hear
that the next morning my host went out early to do his marketing,
and returned laden with the sheep's heads, and tongues and trotters
that formed his stock in trade for the day. The smell of meat
attracted various hungry dogs in the neighbourhood, and they gathered
round the door begging for some bits. I stole out of my corner,
and stood with them.
In spite of his objection to dogs, as unclean animals, my protector
was a kind-hearted man, and knowing I had eaten nothing since yesterday,
he threw me bigger and better bits than those which fell to the
share of the other dogs. When I had finished, I tried to go back
into the shop, but this he would not allow, and stood so firmly at
the entrance with a stout stick, that I was forced to give it up,
and seek some other home.
A few paces further on was a baker's shop, which seemed to have
a gay and merry man for a master. At that moment he was having
his breakfast, and though I gave no signs of hunger, he at once
threw me a piece of bread. Before gobbling it up, as most dogs
are in the habit of doing, I bowed my head and wagged my tail,
in token of thanks, and he understood, and smiled pleasantly.
I really did not want the bread at all, but felt it would be
ungracious to refuse, so I ate it slowly, in order that he might see
that I only did it out of politeness. He understood this also,
and seemed quite willing to let me stay in his shop, so I sat down,
with my face to the door, to show that I only asked his protection.
This he gave me, and indeed encouraged me to come into the
house itself, giving me a corner where I might sleep, without being
in anybody's way.
The kindness heaped on me by this excellent man was far greater
than I could ever have expected. He was always affectionate
in his manner of treating me, and I shared his breakfast,
dinner and supper, while, on my side, I gave him all the gratitude
and attachment to which he had a right.
I sat with my eyes fixed on him, and he never left the house
without having me at his heels; and if it ever happened that when
he was preparing to go out I was asleep, and did not notice,
he would call "Rufus, Rufus," for that was the name he gave me.
Some weeks passed in this way, when one day a woman came in to buy bread.
In paying for it, she laid down several pieces of money, one of
which was bad. The baker perceived this, and declined to take it,
demanding another in its place. The woman, for her part, refused to
take it back, declaring it was perfectly good, but the baker would
have nothing to do with it. "It is really such a bad imitation,"
he exclaimed at last, "that even my dog would not be taken in.
Here Rufus! Rufus!" and hearing his voice, I jumped on to the counter.
The baker threw down the money before me, and said, "Find out
if there is a bad coin." I looked at each in turn, and then laid
my paw on the false one, glancing at the same time at my master,
so as to point it out.
The baker, who had of course been only in joke, was exceedingly
surprised at my cleverness, and the woman, who was at last convinced
that the man spoke the truth, produced another piece of money
in its place. When she had gone, my master was so pleased that he
told all the neighbours what I had done, and made a great deal
more of it than there really was.
The neighbours, very naturally, declined to believe his story,
and tried me several times with all the bad money they could
collect together, but I never failed to stand the test triumphantly.
Soon, the shop was filled from morning till night, with people
who on the pretence of buying bread came to see if I was as clever
as I was reported to be. The baker drove a roaring trade,
and admitted that I was worth my weight in gold to him.
Of course there were plenty who envied him his large custom,
and many was the pitfall set for me, so that he never dared to let
me out of his sight. One day a woman, who had not been in the
shop before, came to ask for bread, like the rest. As usual,
I was lying on the counter, and she threw down six coins before me,
one of which was false. I detected it at once, and put my paw on it,
looking as I did so at the woman. "Yes," she said, nodding her head.
"You are quite right, that is the one." She stood gazing at me
attentively for some time, then paid for the bread, and left the shop,
making a sign for me to follow her secretly.
Now my thoughts were always running on some means of shaking off
the spell laid on me, and noticing the way in which this woman
had looked at me, the idea entered my head that perhaps she might
have guessed what had happened, and in this I was not deceived.
However I let her go on a little way, and merely stood at the door
watching her. She turned, and seeing that I was quite still,
she again beckoned to me.
The baker all this while was busy with his oven, and had forgotten
all about me, so I stole out softly, and ran after the woman.
When we came to her house, which was some distance off, she opened
the door and then said to me, "Come in, come in; you will never be
sorry that you followed me." When I had entered she fastened the door,
and took me into a large room, where a beautiful girl was working
at a piece of embroidery. "My daughter," exclaimed my guide,
"I have brought you the famous dog belonging to the baker which can
tell good money from bad. You know that when I first heard of him,
I told you I was sure he must be really a man, changed into a dog
by magic. To-day I went to the baker's, to prove for myself
the truth of the story, and persuaded the dog to follow me here.
Now what do you say?"
"You are right, mother," replied the girl, and rising she dipped her
hand into a vessel of water. Then sprinkling it over me she said,
"If you were born dog, remain dog; but if you were born man,
by virtue of this water resume your proper form." In one moment the
spell was broken. The dog's shape vanished as if it had never been,
and it was a man who stood before her.
Overcome with gratitude at my deliverance, I flung myself at
her feet, and kissed the hem of her garment. "How can I thank you
for your goodness towards a stranger, and for what you have done?
Henceforth I am your slave. Deal with me as you will!"
Then, in order to explain how I came to be changed into a dog,
I told her my whole story, and finished with rendering the mother
the thanks due to her for the happiness she had brought me.
"Sidi-Nouman," returned the daughter, "say no more about the
obligation you are under to us. The knowledge that we have been
of service to you is ample payment. Let us speak of Amina, your wife,
with whom I was acquainted before her marriage. I was aware that she
was a magician, and she knew too that I had studied the same art,
under the same mistress. We met often going to the same baths,
but we did not like each other, and never sought to become friends.
As to what concerns you, it is not enough to have broken your spell,
she must be punished for her wickedness. Remain for a moment with
my mother, I beg," she added hastily, "I will return shortly."
Left alone with the mother, I again expressed the gratitude I felt,
to her as well as to her daughter.
"My daughter," she answered, "is, as you see, as accomplished a magician
as Amina herself, but you would be astonished at the amount of good
she does by her knowledge. That is why I have never interfered,
otherwise I should have put a stop to it long ago." As she spoke,
her daughter entered with a small bottle in her hand.
"Sidi-Nouman," she said, "the books I have just consulted tell
me that Amina is not home at present, but she should return at
any moment. I have likewise found out by their means, that she
pretends before the servants great uneasiness as to your absence.
She has circulated a story that, while at dinner with her,
you remembered some important business that had to be done at once,
and left the house without shutting the door. By this means a dog
had strayed in, which she was forced to get rid of by a stick.
Go home then without delay, and await Amina's return in your room.
When she comes in, go down to meet her, and in her surprise, she will
try to run away. Then have this bottle ready, and dash the water it
contains over her, saying boldly, "Receive the reward of your crimes."
That is all I have to tell you."
Everything happened exactly as the young magician had foretold.
I had not been in my house many minutes before Amina returned, and as
she approached I stepped in front of her, with the water in my hand.
She gave one loud cry, and turned to the door, but she was too late.
I had already dashed the water in her face and spoken the magic words.
Amina disappeared, and in her place stood the horse you saw me
beating yesterday.
This, Commander of the Faithful, is my story, and may I venture
to hope that, now you have heard the reason of my conduct,
your Highness will not think this wicked woman too harshly treated?
"Sidi-Nouman," replied the Caliph, "your story is indeed a strange one,
and there is no excuse to be offered for your wife. But, without
condemning your treatment of her, I wish you to reflect how much
she must suffer from being changed into an animal, and I hope you
will let that punishment be enough. I do not order you to insist
upon the young magician finding the means to restore your wife to her
human shape, because I know that when once women such as she begin
to work evil they never leave off, and I should only bring down on
your head a vengeance far worse than the one you have undergone already."
Story of Ali Colia, Merchant of Bagdad
In the reign of Haroun-al-Raschid, there lived in Bagdad a
merchant named Ali Cogia, who, having neither wife nor child,
contented himself with the modest profits produced by his trade.
He had spent some years quite happily in the house his father had
left him, when three nights running he dreamed that an old man had
appeared to him, and reproached him for having neglected the duty
of a good Mussulman, in delaying so long his pilgrimage to Mecca.
Ali Cogia was much troubled by this dream, as he was unwilling
to give up his shop, and lose all his customers. He had shut his
eyes for some time to the necessity of performing this pilgrimage,
and tried to atone to his conscience by an extra number of good works,
but the dream seemed to him a direct warning, and he resolved to put
the journey off no longer.
The first thing he did was to sell his furniture and the wares
he had in his shop, only reserving to himself such goods as he
might trade with on the road. The shop itself he sold also,
and easily found a tenant for his private house. The only matter he
could not settle satisfactorily was the safe custody of a thousand
pieces of gold which he wished to leave behind him.
After some thought, Ali Cogia hit upon a plan which seemed a safe one.
He took a large vase, and placing the money in the bottom of it,
filled up the rest with olives. After corking the vase tightly down,
he carried it to one of his friends, a merchant like himself,
and said to him:
"My brother, you have probably heard that I am staffing with a caravan
in a few days for Mecca. I have come to ask whether you would
do me the favour to keep this vase of olives for me till I come back?"
The merchant replied readily, "Look, this is the key of my shop:
take it, and put the vase wherever you like. I promise that you shall
find it in the same place on your return."
A few days later, Ali Cogia mounted the camel that he had laden
with merchandise, joined the caravan, and arrived in due time
at Mecca. Like the other pilgrims he visited the sacre
d Mosque,
and after all his religious duties were performed, he set out his
goods to the best advantage, hoping to gain some customers among
the passers-by.
Very soon two merchants stopped before the pile, and when they
had turned it over, one said to the other:
"If this man was wise he would take these things to Cairo, where he
would get a much better price than he is likely to do here."
Ali Cogia heard the words, and lost no time in following the advice.
He packed up his wares, and instead of returning to Bagdad,
joined a caravan that was going to Cairo. The results of the journey
gladdened his heart. He sold off everything almost directly,
and bought a stock of Egyptian curiosities, which he intended selling
at Damascus; but as the caravan with which he would have to travel
would not be starting for another six weeks, he took advantage
of the delay to visit the Pyramids, and some of the cities along
the banks of the Nile.
Now the attractions of Damascus so fascinated the worthy Ali,
that he could hardly tear himself away, but at length he remembered
that he had a home in Bagdad, meaning to return by way of Aleppo,
and after he had crossed the Euphrates, to follow the course of
the Tigris.
But when he reached Mossoul, Ali had made such friends with some
Persian merchants, that they persuaded him to accompany them
to their native land, and even as far as India, and so it came
to pass that seven years had slipped by since he had left Bagdad,
and during all that time the friend with whom he had left the vase
of olives had never once thought of him or of it. In fact,
it was only a month before Ali Cogia's actual return that the affair
came into his head at all, owing to his wife's remarking one day,