King Badar thanked him and said farewell. Then he journeyed for three days until he drew near another city, and there he met an old gray-headed man, who asked him, “Where are you coming from, my son?”
“From the city of this witch,” replied Badar.
And the old man said, “Please be my guest tonight.”
He consented and went with him along the way, until they met an old woman, who wept when she saw the mule, and said, “There is no god but the God! Truly, this mule resembles my son’s dead mule, and his heart continues to long for this mule. So, please, my lord, sell it to me!”
“By Allah,” he replied, “I cannot sell her.”
But she cried, “Please don’t refuse my request! My son will surely die if I don’t buy this mule.”
And she kept imploring him until he exclaimed, “I will only sell the mule for a thousand dinars,” thinking to himself that this woman would never have a thousand dinars. However, she took out a purse containing a thousand ducats from her apron, and when Badar saw the purse, he said, “Mother, I was only jesting with you. I cannot sell the mule.”
But the old man looked at him and said, “My son, in this city nobody may lie, and whoever lies they put to death.”
And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,
So King Badar Basim had to get off the mule, and when he delivered it to the old woman, she drew the bit from its mouth, took some water in her hand, sprinkled the mule, and said, “Oh daughter, change your form, and become what you were once before!”
All at once Queen Lab was restored to her original form, and the two women embraced and kissed each other. The old woman was no one else but the queen’s mother, and Badar knew that he had been tricked and wanted to flee. But the old woman whistled loudly, and her call was obeyed by a jinnee as large as a mountain. Upon seeing this jinnee, Badar was terrified and could not budge from his spot. Then the old woman mounted the jinnee’s back, placing her daughter behind her and Badar before her, and the ifrit flew off with them. Within an hour they were in the palace of Queen Lab, who sat down on her throne and said to Badar, “Now that I have returned to my palace, you are a dead man! I’ve gotten what I wanted, and soon I’ll show you what I’m going to do with you and that old man the grocer! I’ve done numerous favors for him, and yet he offends me. Surely, you would not have been able to trick me without his help.”
Then she took water, sprinkled him with it, and said, “Change your form and become a stinking bird, the foulest of all the birds,” and she set him in a cage and deprived him of food and drink. However, one of her waiting women could not bear her cruelty and gave him food and water without her knowledge.
One day, this same woman slipped out of the palace without Queen Lab seeing this, and she went to the old grocer and told him, “Queen Lab intends to bring an end to your nephew’s life,” and she recounted everything that had happened.
The sheikh thanked her and said, “She leaves me no choice. Now I must take the city from her and make you the queen in her place.” Then he whistled loudly, and a jinnee with four wings appeared before him. “Take this damsel,” the sheikh said to the ifrit, “and carry her to the city of Julnar the Mermaid and her mother, Farashah, for the two are the most powerful magicians on the face of the earth.” Then he turned to the damsel and said, “When you arrive there, tell them that King Badar Basim is Queen Lab’s captive.”
After he finished speaking, the ifrit picked up the damsel and flew with her to the terrace roof of Queen Julnar’s palace, where he deposited her. Then she descended the stairs, and after entering the queen’s chamber, she kissed the ground and told the queen what had happened to her son from first to last. Thereupon, Julnar arose, thanked her, and treated her with honor. Afterward she had the drums beat throughout the city and informed her lieges and lords about the good news about Badar. Then she and her mother, Farashah, and her brother, Salih, assembled all the tribes of the jinn and all the troops of the high sea, for the kings of the jinn obeyed them ever since Salih had taken King Al-Samandal prisoner. Soon they all flew up in the air, landed on the city of Queen Lab, sacked the town and palace, and slew all the unbelievers in the twinkling of an eye. Then Julnar said to the damsel, “Where is my son?”
And the slave girl brought the cage and pointed to the bird inside it. “This is your son,” she declared.
So Julnar took him out of the cage, sprinkled some water on him, and said, “Return to your proper form!” No sooner had she spoken these words than Badar became a man as he was before. Upon seeing him as he once was, his mother embraced him and began weeping. Moreover, his Uncle Salih, his grandmother, and his cousins kissed his hands and feet. Then Julnar sent for Sheikh Abdallah and thanked him for the kindness that he had shown her son. Finally, Julnar married Abdallah to the damsel who had helped save Badar and made him king of the city. Moreover, she summoned the survivors of the city, who were all Moslems, and made them swear an oath of loyalty to Abdallah. Indeed, they all obeyed and pledged their allegiance. Afterward, Julnar and her company said farewell to Abdallah and returned to their own capital, where crowds of people came out to meet them with drums. Then they decorated the city, and for three days they celebrated the return of King Badar Basim with immense joy. After the celebration was over, Badar said to his mother, “The only thing left is for me to marry.”
“You’re right, my son,” Julnar replied, “but wait until we find the right princess for you.”
And his grandmother Farashah and his cousins said, “Badar, we will help you fulfill your desire by searching for the damsel most suited for you.”
Then each one of them arose and journeyed forth in foreign lands, while Julnar sent out her waiting women on the backs of jinnees, ordering them not to leave a city without looking at all the beautiful girls in it. But when Badar saw all the trouble they were taking in this matter, he said to Julnar, “Mother, please stop, for no one will satisfy me except Jauharah, daughter of King Al-Samandal. Indeed, like her name, she is a jewel!”
“I agree with you, my son,” said Julnar, and she immediately ordered King Al-Samandal to be summoned to her. As soon as he was present, she sent for Badar Basim, and when Al-Samandal saw him, he stood up and saluted him. Thereupon, King Badar Basim requested his daughter’s hand in marriage.
“You have my permission, and I shall place her at your disposal,” said King Al-Samandal, and he sent some of his suite to search for her. When they found her, they told her that her sire was in the hands of King Badar Basim, and she returned with them through the air. As soon as the princess saw her father, she went up to him and threw her arms around his neck. Then, looking at her, he said, “My daughter, I want you to know that I have given you in wedlock to the magnanimous and valiant King Badar Basim, son of Queen Julnar the Mermaid. Indeed, he is the most beneficent of the people of his day, the most powerful, the most exalted, and the most noble. He is clearly your match, and you are clearly his.”
“I shall not oppose you, my sire,” she said. “Do as you wish, for sorrow and spite have come to an end, and I agree to be his wife.”
So they summoned the kazi and the witnesses, who drew up the marriage contract between King Badar Basim and the Princess Jauharah, and the citizens decorated the city, rejoiced, and beat the drums. Amnesty was given to all the prisoners in the jails, while the king gave generously to the widows, orphans, and poor and bestowed robes of honor on the lords of the realm, the emirs, and the nobles. For ten days there were wedding feasts and banquets from morning until night, and at the end of that time they displayed the bride in nine different dresses before King Badar Basim, who bestowed an honorable robe on King Al-Samandal and sent him back to his country and people. And they did not stop leading a most pleasurable life nor enjoying fine food, drink, and luxury until the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of societies came upon them. Thi
s is the end of their story, and may Allah have mercy on them all!
No sooner had Scheherazade concluded her tale than she said, “And yet, oh king, this tale is no more wondrous than the tale about the thief of Alexandria and the police chief.”
The Tale About the Thief of Alexandria and the Chief of Police
Once upon a time there was a chief of police in Alexandria called Husam al-Din, the sharp Scimitar of the Faith. Now one night, as he was sitting at his desk, a trooper came running into his office and said, “My lord, I entered your city this very night, and soon after I went to sleep at a certain khan, I awoke to find my saddlebags sliced open and a purse with a thousand gold pieces missing!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the chief summoned all his officers and ordered them to seize all the people in the khan and throw them into jail. The next morning, he had rods and whips brought to his office, and after sending for the prisoners, he intended to have them flogged until someone confessed to the theft in the presence of the owner. Just then, however, a man broke through the crowd of people at his office and went straight to the chief.
“Stop!” he cried out. “Let these people go! They’ve been falsely accused. It was I who robbed this trooper. Look, here’s the purse I stole from his saddlebags.”
Upon saying this, he pulled out the purse from his sleeve and laid it before Husam al-Din, who said to the soldier, “Take your money, and put it away. You no longer have any grounds to lodge a complaint against these people of the khan.”
Thereupon, the people of the khan and all those present began praising the thief and blessing him. However, he said, “Please stop. It doesn’t take much skill to bring the purse to the chief in person. But it does take a great deal of skill to take it a second time from this trooper.”
“And how did you manage to do that?” asked the chief.
And the robber replied, “My lord, I was standing in the money changer’s shop at Cairo, when I saw this soldier receive the gold in change and put it into this purse. So I followed him from street to street but did not find the right opportunity to steal it. Then he left Cairo, and I followed from town to town, plotting along the way to rob him without avail, until I entered this city, where I dogged him to the khan. There I took my lodgings next to him and waited until he fell asleep. Then I went up to him quietly, and I slit open his saddlebags with this knife and took the purse just as I am taking it now.”
No sooner had he spoken those words than he stretched out his hand and grabbed the purse from the trooper in front of the chief, and everyone thought that he was merely demonstrating how he had committed the theft. But, all at once, he broke into a run and sprang into a nearby river. The chief of police shouted to his officers, “Stop that thief!” And his men ran after him. But before they could doff their clothes and descend the steps of the river, he had made it to the other side. Of course, they continued searching for him, but there was no way they could find him, for he was able to escape through the back streets and lanes of Alexandria.
So the officers returned without the purse, and the chief of police said to the trooper, “I can’t do anything for you now. The people are innocent, and your money was returned to you. But you weren’t wise enough to protect it from the thief.”
Consequently, the trooper was compelled to leave without his money, while the people were delivered from his hands and those of the chief of police. And all this had the blessing of Almighty Allah.
No sooner had Scheherazade concluded her story than she said, “And yet, oh king, this tale is no more wondrous than the tale of Prince Behram and the Princess Al-Datma.”
Prince Behram and the Princess Al-Datma
There was once a king’s daughter called Al-Datma who, in her time, had no equal in beauty and grace. In addition to her lovely looks, she was brilliant and feisty and took great pleasure in ravishing the wits of the male sex. In fact, she used to boast, “There is nobody who can match me in anything.” And the fact is that she was most accomplished in horsemanship and martial exercises, and all those things a cavalier should know.
Given her qualities, numerous princes sought her hand in marriage, but she rejected them all. Instead, she proclaimed, “No man shall marry me unless he defeats me with his lance and sword in fair battle. He who succeeds I will gladly wed. But if I overcome him, I will take his horse, clothes, and arms and brand his head with the following words: ‘This is the freedman of Al-Datma.’”
Now the sons of kings flocked to her from every quarter far and near, but she prevailed and put them to shame, stripping them of their arms and branding them with fire. Soon, a son of the king of Persia named Behram ibn Taji heard about her and journeyed from afar to her father’s court. He brought men and horses with him and a great deal of wealth and royal treasures. When he drew near the city, he sent her father a rich present, and the king came out to meet him and bestowed great honors on him. Then the king’s son sent a message to him through his vizier and requested his daughter’s hand in marriage. However, the king answered, “With regard to my daughter Al-Datma, I have no power over her, for she has sworn by her soul to marry no one but him who defeats her in the listed field.”
“I journeyed here from my father’s court with no other purpose but this,” the prince declared. “I came here to woo her and to form an alliance with you.”
“Then you shall meet her tomorrow,” said the king.
So the next day he sent for his daughter, who got ready for battle by donning her armor of war. Since the people of the kingdom had heard about the coming joust, they flocked from all sides to the field. Soon the princess rode into the lists, armed head to toe with her visor down, and the Persian king’s son came out to meet her, equipped in the fairest of fashions. Then they charged at each other and fought a long time, wheeling and sparring, advancing and retreating, and the princess realized that he had more courage and skill than she had ever encountered before. Indeed, she began to fear that he might put her to shame before the bystanders and defeat her. Consequently, she decided to trick him, and raising her visor, she showed her face, which appeared more radiant than the full moon, and when he saw it, he was bewildered by her beauty. His strength failed, and his spirit faltered. When she perceived this moment of weakness, she attacked and knocked him from his saddle. Consequently, he became like a sparrow in the clutches of an eagle. Amazed and confused, he did not know what was happening to him when she took his steed, clothes, and armor. Then, after branding him with fire, she let him go his way.
When he recovered from his stupor, he spent several days without food, drink, or sleep. Indeed, love had gripped his heart. Finally, he decided to send a letter to his father via a messenger, informing him that he could not return home until he had won the princess or died for want of her. When his sire received the letter, he was extremely distressed about his son and wanted to rescue him by sending troops and soldiers. However, his ministers dissuaded him from this action and advised him to be patient. So he prayed to Almighty Allah for guidance.
In the meantime, the prince thought of different ways to attain his goal, and soon he decided to disguise himself as a decrepit old man. So he put a white beard over his own black one and went to the garden where the princess used to walk most of the days. Here he sought out the gardener and said to him, “I’m a stranger from a country far away, and from my youth onward I’ve been a gardener, and nobody is more skilled than I am in the grafting of trees and cultivating fruit, flowers, and vines.”
When the gardener heard this, he was extremely pleased and led him into the garden, where he let him do his work. So the prince began to tend the garden and improved the Persian waterwheels and the irrigation channels. One day, as he was occupied with some work, he saw some slaves enter the garden leading mules and carrying carpets and vessels, and he asked them what they were doing there.
“The princess wants to spend an enjoyable afternoon here,” they answered.
When he heard these words, he rush
ed to his lodging and fetched some jewels and ornaments he had brought with him from home. After returning to the garden, he sat down and spread some of the valuable items before him while shaking and pretending to be a very old man.
And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,
In fact, the prince made it seem as if he were extremely decrepit and senile. After an hour or so a company of damsels and eunuchs entered the garden with the princess, who looked just like the radiant moon among the stars. They ran about the garden, plucking fruits and enjoying themselves, until they caught sight of the prince disguised as an old man sitting under one of the trees. The man’s hands and feet were trembling from old age, and he had spread a great many precious jewels and regal ornaments before him. Of course, they were astounded by this and asked him what he was doing there with the jewels.
“I want to use these trinkets,” he said, “to buy me a wife from among the lot of you.”
They all laughed at him and said, “If one of us marries you, what will you do with her?”
“I’ll give her one kiss,” he replied, “and then divorce her.”
“If that’s the case,” said the princess, “I’ll give this damsel to you for your wife.”
Arabian Nights Page 29