The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 2

by Penguin; Robert Irwin; Malcolm Lyons; Ursula Lyons

  The girl went on: ‘I have told you this, your majesty, so that you may realize that evil viziers are not sincere and have no good intentions with regard to their kings. You have to be on your guard against them.’ The king accepted what she had to say and renewed his order that his son be executed. At this point the third vizier came forward and promised his colleagues that for this day he would stop the king from doing what would harm them. When he came into the king’s presence, he kissed the ground before him and said: ‘Your majesty, I will give you good advice, as I have at heart your interests and those of your dynasty. I tell you that the right thing to do is not to be hasty in killing your son, your darling and the fruit of your heart. It may be that what he did was something minor which this girl has exaggerated to you, and I have heard that the inhabitants of two villages killed each other because of a single drop of honey.’ ‘How was that?’ asked the king and THE THIRD VIZIER SAID:

  I was told, O king, that there was a man who used to hunt wild beasts in desert country. One day, he came to a mountain cave in which he found a hollow full of honey. He put some of this into a water skin which he had with him and, with the skin on his shoulder, he went to the city, accompanied by his hunting dog, of which he was very fond. He stopped by the shop of an oil seller and showed him the honey, which the man was willing to buy. The hunter opened up his water skin and extracted the honey to show him, but a drop fell on to the ground. Flies collected over it and birds then swooped down. The shopkeeper had a cat, which pounced at the birds, but the hunter’s dog then leapt at it and killed it. The shopkeeper killed the dog and in his turn was killed by the hunter. These men came from different villages, and when the two sets of villagers heard what had happened, they took their arms and their gear and confronted each other angrily, continuing to fight until many of them lay dead – how many God alone knows.

  ‘I have also heard concerning the wiles of women that a certain woman was given a dirham by her husband in order to buy rice,’ the third vizier said, AND HE WENT ON:

  When she went to the rice seller, he gave her the rice but then started fondling and squeezing her, saying: ‘Rice is only nice with sugar, and if you want the sugar then come into my shop for an hour.’ She went in and he told his slave: ‘Weigh out a dirham’s worth of sugar for this woman,’ giving him a secret sign as he did so. The slave took the woman’s kerchief, emptied out the rice that was in it and filled it instead with soil, while in place of sugar he put stones. He then tied the kerchief up and left it for her. On her way out she took it and went back home, thinking that it contained rice and sugar. When she got home, she gave the kerchief to her husband, who discovered the soil and stones in it. She had fetched the cooking pot, but he said: ‘Did I tell you that we wanted to build something, so that you brought me soil and stones?’ When she looked she realized that the servant of the rice seller had tricked her, but, standing there with the pot in her hand, she said: ‘I went to get a sieve but absent-mindedly fetched the cooking pot instead.’ ‘What were you thinking of?’ her husband asked, and she told him: ‘I dropped the dirham that I had with me in the market and I was too ashamed to hunt around for it with people watching, but as I didn’t want to lose it, I gathered up the soil from the place where it fell, intending to sieve it. I had gone to fetch the sieve but brought the pot instead.’ She then went off and fetched the sieve, which she gave to her husband, saying: ‘You sieve it, for your eyes are better than mine.’ So he sat down and sieved the soil until his face and his beard were full of dust, not realizing how she had tricked him or what she had done.

  This, your majesty, is one example of women’s wiles. You should also note the saying of Almighty God in the Quran: ‘Great are the wiles of women,’* where He also says: ‘Satan’s wiles are weak.’†

  The king was pleased and convinced by what the vizier had said in order to restrain him from acting in a fit of emotion. As he thought over the Quranic verses that had been quoted to him, the light of good counsel shone in the sky of his understanding and in his soul, and he gave up his intention to have his son put to death. On the fourth day, however, the girl came to him, kissed the ground before him and said: ‘O fortunate and judicious king, I have shown you clearly what is rightfully owed me, but you have treated me unjustly and put off avenging me on the one who wronged me because he is your son and your heart’s darling. The Glorious and Almighty God will help me against him as He helped the prince against his father’s vizier.’ ‘How was that?’ asked the king and SHE SAID:

  I have heard, O king, how one of the kings in past times had an only son who, on reaching manhood, was married by his father to the lovely and graceful daughter of another king. Her cousin had earlier asked her father for her hand, but he had not been willing to give her to him. When she married someone else, in a fit of jealous rage the disappointed suitor decided to send gifts to the vizier of the king, her father-in-law. He forwarded presents of great value, together with large sums of money, to the vizier, asking him to devise a scheme to get the prince killed or else to trick him into withdrawing from the marriage, explaining that he was moved by jealousy, as the girl was his cousin. When the gifts reached the vizier, he accepted them and sent back a consoling and heartening message to the man, promising to do what he wanted.

  The princess’s father summoned the prince to his capital for the wedding and, when this message came, the king gave permission to his son to leave, sending with him the vizier who had been bribed, together with an escort of a thousand men, as well as gifts, litters, pavilions and tents. The vizier, who secretly harboured evil thoughts against the prince, intended to trick him. So, when they reached a stretch of desert, he remembered that there in the mountains was a spring of running water known as al-Zahra, which would turn any man who drank from it into a woman. With that in his mind, the vizier halted his men nearby and then mounted his horse, asking the prince: ‘Would you like to ride out with me to look at a spring of water here?’ There was no one else with them as the prince rode off with him, not knowing what the future held in store, and they went on until they came to the spring. The prince dismounted, washed his hands, drank from it and was transformed into a woman. When he realized what had happened, he gave a cry and then wept until he fainted. The vizier went up to him, commiserating with him and asking what had happened to him. The prince told him and the vizier continued his commiserations, shedding tears at his misfortune and exclaiming: ‘May Almighty God protect you against this! How is it that so disastrous a misfortune should strike you when we were going on our way so happily to your wedding with the princess? I have no idea now whether we should go to her or not. It is for you to decide, so what do you want to do?’ ‘Go back to my father,’ the prince said, ‘and tell him what has happened to me, for I am not going to leave here until this change is reversed or until I die of grief.’

  The prince then wrote a letter to his father telling him what had happened, and the vizier, who was secretly delighted with what he had done, took it and left for the king’s capital, abandoning the prince together with his escort. When he reached the king, he told him about what had happened and gave him his son’s letter. The king was deeply saddened and sent to the wise men and the masters of mysteries, telling them to throw light for him on his son’s misfortune, but he got no answer. The vizier then sent the good news of this to the princess’s cousin, who was overjoyed to hear it, hoping that he could now marry her. He sent valuable presents and large stores of money to the vizier, thanking him profusely.

  As for the prince, he stayed by the spring for three days and nights without eating or drinking, relying in his misfortune on God, the Glorious, the Exalted, Who never disappoints the hopes of those who put their trust in Him. Then, on the fourth night, a rider appeared wearing a crown on his head and looking like one of the sons of kings. ‘Young man,’ the rider asked, ‘who brought you here?’ The prince told him what had happened to him, explaining that he was on his way to his wedding and that the vizier had brough
t him to the spring from which he had drunk, with the result that he had changed sex. As he spoke he was overcome by tears and, hearing what he had to say, the rider was moved by pity and said: ‘It was your father’s vizier who brought this disaster on you, for there is only one man who knows about this spring.’ He then told the prince to mount and go with him to his house, where he would be his guest that night. ‘Before I ride with you,’ said the prince, ‘tell me who you are.’ ‘I am the son of the king of the jinn and you are the son of a human king, so take heart and console yourself that your cares and sorrows will be at an end, as this is a simple matter for me.’

  The prince accompanied him, without concerning himself about his escort, and they rode from daybreak until midnight. The jinn prince then asked whether he realized what distance they had covered in that time, and when he said: ‘I have no idea,’ the other told him that this was a year’s journey for a fast traveller. The astonished prince asked: ‘How am I to get back to my people?’ but his guide said: ‘That is not your concern but mine, and when you have been cured of your affliction, it will be easy for me to see that you return to them faster than the blink of an eye.’ The prince was overjoyed to hear this and thought that the whole thing had been a dream. ‘Praise be to God, Who has the power to return the wretched man to happiness!’ he exclaimed in his delight.

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the jinni delighted the prince by telling him that when he had been cured he would return to his people faster than the blink of an eye. THE GIRL WENT ON:

  The two of them continued on their way until morning, by which time they had reached a green and fertile land with tall trees, tuneful birds, splendid meadows and lofty palaces. The jinn prince dismounted and, after telling his companion to follow his example, he took him by the hand and led him into one of the palaces, where he found a dignified and imposing ruler, with whom he stayed all day, eating and drinking. At nightfall the jinn prince remounted his horse, and he and the human prince rode out under cover of darkness, pressing on until morning. By then they were in a dark and uncultivated land of rocks and black stones, like a district of hell. ‘What is this place called?’ asked the human prince and the other told him: ‘It is the Black Land, and it belongs to a jinn king called the Two Winged, whom no other king can subdue and whose land cannot be entered by anyone without his leave. So stay where you are until I ask his permission.’

  The prince halted and his companion left him for a while. When he came back, the two continued on their way until they came at last to a spring of water flowing from dark mountains. The jinn prince told the human to dismount and drink from it, and when he had done that he instantly became a man again, just as he had been before, through the power of Almighty God. He was overjoyed and asked: ‘Brother, what is the name of this spring?’ ‘It is known as the Women’s Spring,’ said the other, ‘and no woman can drink from it without becoming a man. So give praise and thanks to God for your cure and then mount your horse.’ The prince did this, and they both rode off at a fast pace for the rest of the day until they had returned to the jinni’s land. The prince remained there, being lavishly entertained, and the two of them ate and drank until nightfall. ‘Do you want to go back to your family tonight?’ asked his host, and when the other said: ‘Yes, as I need to see them again,’ the jinni called for one of his father’s slaves, named Rajiz, and told him: ‘Take this young man from here on your shoulder and see to it that he is with his father-in-law and his wife before daybreak.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ said Rajiz, ‘I shall do this most gladly.’ He left for a time, and when he returned it was in the form of an ‘ifrit. The startled prince panicked, but his jinn companion told him: ‘No harm will come to you. Mount your horse and ride it up on to Rajiz’s shoulder.’ ‘No,’ said the prince, ‘I shall climb up myself and leave the horse with you,’ and so he dismounted and climbed on the ‘ifrit’s shoulder. ‘Close your eyes,’ said the jinni, and when the young man did so the ‘ifrit flew off with him between the heavens and the earth. He had no idea what was happening to him, but by the time that the third and last watch of the night had come, he was on the roof of his father-in-law’s palace. He was told to dismount and when he had, the ‘ifrit said: ‘Open your eyes, for this is the palace of your father-in-law and of his daughter,’ after which he left him and flew away.

  When day broke and the young prince had recovered from his alarm, he came down from the roof, and on seeing him his father-in-law rose to greet him, filled with amazement at finding him there. ‘Other people can be seen coming through doors,’ he exclaimed, ‘but you come down from the sky!’ ‘What happened was the will of God, the Glorious and Exalted,’ the prince said, and the astonished king expressed delight at his safe return. When the sun had risen he ordered his vizier to have great feasts prepared, and when this had been done the marriage was celebrated and consummated. The prince stayed there for two months, after which he set out for his father’s city. As for the bride’s cousin, he died of jealous passion when the prince slept with her, and in this way God, the Glorious and Almighty, allowed the prince to triumph both over his rival and over his father’s vizier. All was well and when he brought his bride to his father in a state of perfect happiness, his father came out to meet him with his troops and his viziers.

  I hope, your majesty, that Almighty God will allow you to get the better of your own viziers, and I ask you to right the wrong your son did me.

  On hearing this, the king gave orders that his son be executed.

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that when the girl had told the king her story and asked him to right the wrong done to her by his son, his father ordered his execution. This was on the fourth day, and it was the fourth vizier who came in, kissed the ground before the king and said: ‘May God strengthen the king and aid him. O king, take your time with regard to this sentence that you are determined to carry out. No intelligent man acts until he has looked at the consequences of his action and the proverb has it that Time does not befriend whoever does not consider these consequences. Those who fail to proceed carefully suffer what happened to the bath keeper at the hands of his wife.’ The king asked what this was, and THE FOURTH VIZIER SAID:

  I have heard that there was a bath keeper whose baths were patronized by the leading men and persons of importance in his city. One day, in came a handsome young man, the son of a vizier, who was stout and thickset. The bath keeper waited on him, and when his customer had taken off his clothes, the bath keeper could not see his penis, which was hidden between his thighs because he was so fat; all that could be seen of it was something that looked like a hazelnut. The bath keeper felt sorry for him and clapped his hands together in regret. When the young man saw this he asked the reason for it and the bath keeper replied: ‘It is because you are in such a difficult position. You live a life of ease and are handsome and good-looking, but you lack what would give you a man’s enjoyment.’ ‘That is true,’ said the young man, ‘and you have reminded me of something that I was forgetting.’ The bath keeper asked what this was, and the youth said: ‘Take this dinar and fetch me a pretty woman with whom I can try myself out.’

  The bath keeper went to his wife with the dinar and told her: ‘The son of one of the viziers has come into my baths and, although he is as handsome as the moon on the night it becomes full, he does not have a man-sized penis but only a little thing that looks like a hazelnut. I was sorry for him, young as he is, and he gave me this dinar to fetch him a woman on whom he could test himself. You have a better right to the dinar; this will do us no harm as I shall protect you and you can sit laughing at him for an hour. So take the money.’ His wife, who was an exceedingly beautiful woman, took the
coin and got up to put on her ornaments and her finest clothes, after which she went out with her husband, who brought her to the vizier’s son in a private room. When she got there and looked at him, she saw to her astonishment how handsome and good-looking he was, like a full moon, while he, for his part, immediately lost control of his senses at the sight of her.