by Muhsin Mahdi
THE EIGHTEENTH NIGHT
The following night, Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Please, sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” The king added, “Let it be the rest of the story of the fisherman and the demon.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:
I heard, O King, that the fisherman said to the demon, “Had the king spared the sage, God would have spared him and he would have lived, but he refused and insisted on destroying the sage, and the Almighty God destroyed him. You too, demon, had you from the beginning agreed to spare me, I would have spared you, but you refused and insisted on killing me; therefore, I shall punish you by keeping you in this jar and throwing you into the bottom of the sea.” The demon cried out, “Fisherman, don’t do it. Spare me and save me and don’t blame me for my action and my offense against you. If I did ill, you should do good. As the saying goes, ‘Be kind to him who wrongs you.’ Don’t do what Imama did to ’Atika.” The fisherman asked, “What did Imama do to ’Atika?” The demon replied, “This is no time and this narrow prison is no place to tell a story, but I shall tell it to you after you release me.” The fisherman said, “I must throw you into the sea. There is no way I would let you out and set you free, for I kept imploring you and calling on you, but you refused and insisted on killing me, without any offense or injury that merits punishment, except that I had set you free. When you treated me in this way, I realized that you were unclean from birth, that you were ill-natured, and that you were one who rewards good with ill. After I throw you into the sea, I shall build me a hut here and live in it for your sake, so that if anyone pulls you out, I shall acquaint him with what I suffered at your hands and shall advise him to throw you back into the sea and let you perish or languish there to the end of time, you the dirtiest of demons.” The demon replied, “Set me free this time, and I pledge never to bother you or harm you, but to make you rich.” When he heard this, the fisherman made the demon pledge and covenant that if the fisherman released him and let him out, he would not harm him but would serve him and be good to him.
After the fisherman secured the demon’s pledge, by making him swear by the Almighty Name, he opened the seal of the jar, and the smoke began to rise. When the smoke was completely out of the jar, it gathered and turned again into a full-fledged demon, who kicked the jar away and sent it flying to the middle of the sea. When the fisherman saw what the demon had done, sure that he was going to meet with disaster and death, he wet himself and said, “This is a bad omen.” Then he summoned his courage and cried out, “Demon, you have sworn and given me your pledge. Don’t betray me. Come back, lest the Almighty God punish you for your betrayal. Demon, I repeat to you what the sage Duban said to King Yunan, ‘Spare me, and God will spare you; destroy me, and God will destroy you.’” When the demon heard what the fisherman said, he laughed, and when the fisherman cried out again, “Demon, spare me,” he replied, “Fisherman, follow me,” and the fisherman followed him, hardly believing in his escape, until they came to a mountain outside the city. They climbed over to the other side and came to a vast wilderness, in the middle of which stood a lake surrounded by four hills.
The demon halted by the lake and ordered the fisherman to cast his net and fish. The fisherman looked at the lake and marveled as he saw fish in many colors, white, red, blue, and yellow. He cast his net, and when he pulled, he found four fish inside, one red, one white, one blue, and one yellow. When he saw them, he was full of admiration and delight. The demon said to him, “Take them to the king of your city and offer them to him, and he will give you enough to make you rich. Please excuse me, for I know no other way to make you rich. But don’t fish here more than once a day.” Then, saying, “I shall miss you,” the demon kicked the ground with his foot, and it opened and swallowed him. The fisherman, O King, returned to the city, still marveling at his encounter with the demon and at the colored fish. He entered the royal palace, and when he offered the fish to the king, the king looked at them …
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what an amazing and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live!”
THE NINETEENTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, tell us the rest of the story and what happened to the fisherman.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:
I heard, O King, that when the fisherman presented the fish to the king, and the king looked at them and saw that they were colored, he took one of them in his hand and looked at it with great amazement. Then he said to his vizier, “Take them to the cook whom the emperor of Byzantium has given us as a present.” The vizier took the fish and brought them to the girl and said to her, “Girl, as the saying goes, ‘I save my tears for the time of trial.’ The king has been presented these four fish, and he bids you fry them well.” Then the vizier went back to report to the king, and the king ordered him to give the fisherman four hundred dirhams.5 The vizier gave the money to the fisherman, who, receiving it, gathered it in the folds of his robe and went away, running, and as he ran, he stumbled and kept falling and getting up, thinking that he was in a dream. Then he stopped and bought some provisions for his family.
So far for the fisherman, O King. In the meantime the girl scaled the fish, cleaned them, and cut them into pieces. Then she placed the frying pan on the fire and poured in the sesame oil, and when it began to boil, she placed the fish in the frying pan. When the pieces were done on one side, she turned them over, but no sooner had she done this than the kitchen wall split open and there emerged a maiden with a beautiful figure, smooth cheeks, perfect features, and dark eyes. She wore a short-sleeved silk shirt in the Egyptian style, embroidered all around with lace and gold spangles. In her ears she wore dangling earrings; on her wrists she wore bracelets; and in her hand she held a bamboo wand. She thrust the wand into the frying pan and said in clear Arabic, “O fish, O fish, have you kept the pledge?” When the cook saw what had happened, she fainted. Then the maiden repeated what she had said, and the fish raised their heads from the frying pan and replied in clear Arabic, “Yes, yes. If you return, we shall return; if you keep your vow, we shall keep ours; and if you forsake us, we shall be even.” At that moment the maiden overturned the frying pan and disappeared as she had come, and the kitchen wall closed behind her.
When the cook came to herself, she found the four fish charred, and she felt sorry for herself and afraid of the king, saying to herself, “‘He broke his lance on his very first raid.’” While she remonstrated with herself, the vizier suddenly stood before her, saying, “Give me the fish, for we have set the table before the king, and he is waiting for them.” The girl wept and told the vizier what she had seen and witnessed and what had happened to the fish. The vizier was astonished and said, “This is very strange.” Then he sent an officer after the fisherman, and he returned a while later with the fisherman. The vizier shouted at him, saying, “Bring us at once four more fish like the ones you brought us before, for we have had an accident with them.” When he followed with threats, the fisherman went home and, taking his fishing gear, went outside the city, climbed the mountain, and descended to the wilderness on the other side. When he came to the lake, he cast his net, and when he pulled up, he found inside four fish, as he had done the first time. Then he brought them back to the vizier, who took them to the girl and said, “Fry them in front of me, so that I can see for myself.” The girl prepared the fish at once, placed the frying pan over the fire, and threw them in. When the fish were done, the wall split open, and the maiden appeared in her elegant clothes, wearing necklaces and other jewelry and holding in her hand the bamboo wand. Again she thrust the wand into the frying pan and said in dear Arabic, “O fish, have you kept the pledge?” and again the fish raised their heads and replied, “Yes, yes. If you return, we shall r
eturn; if you keep your vow, we shall keep ours; and if you forsake us, we shall be even.”
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “What an entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I live, the Almighty God willing!”
THE TWENTIETH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Please, sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:
I heard, O happy King, that after the fish spoke, the maiden overturned the frying pan with the wand and disappeared into the opening from which she had emerged, and the wall closed behind her. The vizier said to himself, “I can no longer hide this affair from the king,” and he went to him and told him what had happened to the fish before his very eyes.
The king was exceedingly amazed and said, “I wish to see this with my own eyes.” Then he sent for the fisherman, who came after a little while, and the king said to him, “I want you to bring me at once four more fish like the ones you brought before. Hurry!” Then he assigned three officers to guard the fisherman and sent him away. The fisherman disappeared for a while and returned with four fish, one red, one white, one blue, and one yellow. The king commanded, “Give him four hundred dirhams,” and the fisherman, receiving the money, gathered it in the folds of his robe and went away. Then the king said to the vizier, “Fry the fish here in my presence.” The vizier replied, “I hear and obey,” and he called for a stove and a frying pan and sat to clean the fish. Then he lit the fire and, pouring the sesame oil, placed the fish in the frying pan.
When they were almost done, the palace wall split open, and the king and vizier began to tremble, and when they looked up, they saw a black slave who stood like a towering mountain or a giant descendant of the tribe of ’Ad.6 He was as tall as a reed, as wide as a stone bench, and he held a green palm leaf in his hand. Then in clear but unpleasant language, he said, “O fish, O fish, have you kept the pledge?” and the fish raised their heads from the frying pan and said, “Yes, yes. If you return, we shall return; if you keep your vow, we shall keep ours; and if you forsake us, we shall be even.” At that moment, the black slave overturned the frying pan, in the middle of the hall, and the fish turned into charcoal. Then the black slave departed as he had come, and the wall closed behind him. When the black slave disappeared, the king said, “I cannot sleep over this affair, for there is no doubt a mystery behind these fish.” Then he bade the fisherman be brought before him again.
When the fisherman arrived, the king said to him, “Damn you, where do you catch these fish?” The fisherman replied, “My lord, I catch them in a lake that lies among four hills, on the other side of the mountain.” The king turned to the vizier and asked, “Do you know this lake?” The vizier replied, “No, by God, your Majesty. For sixty years, I have hunted, traveled, and roamed far and wide, sometimes for a day or two, sometimes for a month or two, but I have never seen or known that such a lake existed on the other side of the mountain.” Then the king turned to the fisherman and asked him, “How far is this lake from here?” The fisherman replied, “King of the age, it is one hour from here.” The king was astonished, and he ordered his soldiers to be ready. Then he rode out with his troops, behind the fisherman, who led the way under guard, muttering curses on the demon as he went.
They rode until they were outside the city. Then they climbed the mountain, and when they descended to the other side, they saw a vast wilderness that they had never seen in all their lives, as well as the four hills and the lake in whose clear water they saw the fish in four colors, red, white, blue, and yellow. The king stood marveling; then he turned to the vizier, princes, chamberlains, and deputies and asked, “Have any of you ever seen this lake before?” They replied, “Never.” He asked, “And none of you knew where it was?” They kissed the ground before him and replied, “By God, your Majesty, till now we have never in our lives seen this lake or known about it, even though it is close to our city.” The king said, “There is a mystery behind this. By God, I shall not return to the city until I find the answer to the mystery behind this lake and these fish in four colors.” Then he ordered his men to halt and pitch the tents, and he dismounted and waited.
When it was dark, he summoned the vizier, who was an experienced and wise man of the world. The vizier came to the king, without being seen by the soldiers, and when he arrived, the king said, “I wish to reveal to you what I intend to do. At this very hour, I shall go all by myself to look for an answer to the mystery of this lake and these fish. Early tomorrow morning you shall sit at the entrance of my tent and tell the princes that the king is indisposed and that he has given you orders not to let anyone be admitted to his presence. You must not let anyone know about my departure and absence, and you must wait for me for three days.” The vizier, unable to disobey him, abided by the order, saying, “I hear and obey.”
Then the king packed, prepared himself, and girded himself with the royal sword. Then he climbed one of the four hills, and when he reached the top, he journeyed on for the rest of the night. In the morning, when the sun rose and steeped the mountaintop with light, the king looked and sighted a dark mass in the distance. When he saw it, he was glad, and he headed in its direction, saying to himself, “There may be someone there to give me information.” He journeyed on, and when he arrived, he found a palace, built under a lucky star, with black stones and completely overlaid with iron plates. It had double doors, one open, one shut. Pleased, the king knocked gently at the door and waited patiently for a while without hearing any reply. He knocked again, this time more loudly than before, but again waited without hearing any reply or seeing anyone. He knocked for the third time and kept knocking repeatedly but once more waited without hearing any reply or seeing anyone. Then he said to himself, “There is no doubt that there is no one inside, or perhaps the palace is deserted.” Summoning his courage, he entered and shouted from the hallway, “O inhabitants of the palace, I am a stranger and a hungry traveler. Have you any food? Our Lord will requite you and reward you for it.” He shouted a second and a third time but heard no reply. Feeling bold and determined, he advanced from the hallway into the center of the palace and looked around, but saw no one.
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what an amazing and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I live, the Almighty God willing!”
THE TWENTY-FIRST NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “For God’s sake, sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:
I heard, O King, that the king walked to the center of the palace and looked around, but saw no one. The palace was furnished with silk carpets and leather mats and hung with drapes. There were also settees, benches, and seats with cushions, as well as cupboards. In the middle there stood a spacious courtyard, surrounded by four adjoining recessed courts facing each other. In the center stood a fountain, on top of which crouched four lions in red gold, spouting water from their mouths in droplets that looked like gems and pearls, and about the fountain singing birds fluttered under a high net to prevent them from flying away. When the king saw all this, without seeing anyone, he was astonished and regretted that he found none to give him any information. He sat pensively by one of the recessed courts, when he heard sad moans and lamentations and the following plaintive verses:
My soul is torn between peril and toil;
O life, dispatch me with one mighty blow.
Lover, neither a bankrupt nor a noble man
Humbled, by love’s law do you pity show.
Ev’n from the breeze I jealously used to guard you,
But at the blow of fate the eyes blind go.
What can the bowman facing his foes do?
And when the foes begin to congregate
How can he then escape his cruel fate?
When the king heard the lamentation and the verses, he rose and moved toward the source of the voice until he came to a doorway behind a curtain, and when he lifted the curtain, he saw at the upper end of the room a young man sitting on a chair that rose about twenty inches above the floor. He was a handsome young man, with a full figure, clear voice, radiant brow, bright face, downy beard, and ruddy cheeks, graced with a mole like a speck of amber, just as the poet describes it:
Here is a slender youth whose hair and face
All mortals envelope with light or gloom.
Mark on his cheek the mark of charm and grace,
A dark spot on a red anemone.
The king greeted the seated young man, pleased to see him. The young man wore a long-sleeved robe of Egyptian silk with gold embroidery, and on his head he wore an Egyptian conical head covering, but his face showed signs of grief and sorrow. When the king greeted him, the young man greeted him back courteously and said, “Pardon me, sir, for not rising, for you deserve even a greater honor.” The king replied, “Young man, you are pardoned. I myself am your guest, having come to you on a serious mission. Pray tell me the story behind the lake and the colored fish, as well as this palace and the fact that you sit alone and mourn with no one to console you.” When the young man heard this, his tears began to flow over his cheeks until they drenched his breast. Then he sang the following Mawwaliya verses:7
Say to the man whom life with arrows shot,
“How many men have felt the blows of fate!”
If you did sleep, the eyes of God have not;