by Muhsin Mahdi
It stayed with him for three days; then he asked me, “Don’t you have any skill with which you can earn your living?” I replied, “I am a jurist, a man of letters, a poet, a grammarian, and a calligrapher.” He said, “Such skills are not much in demand in our city.” I replied, “By God, I have no other skills, save what I have mentioned to you.” He said, “Gird yourself, take an axe and a rope, and go and hew wood in the wilderness for your livelihood. But lest you perish, keep your secret to yourself and don’t let anyone know who you are, until God sends you relief.” Then he bought me an axe and a rope and put me under the charge of certain woodcutters. I went out with them, cut wood all day long, and came back, carrying my bundle on my head. I sold the wood for half a dinar and brought the money to the tailor. In such work I spent an entire year.
One day I went out into the wilderness, and having penetrated deep, I came to a thick patch of trees in a meadow irrigated by running streams. When I entered the patch, I found the stump of a tree, and when I dug around it with my axe and shoveled the earth away, I came upon a ring that was attached to a wooden plank. I raised the plank and beneath it I found a staircase. I descended the steps, and as I reached the bottom, I came to a subterranean palace, solidly built and beautifully designed, a palace so splendid that a better one I have never seen. I walked inside and saw a beautiful girl who looked as radiant as a brilliant pearl or the shining sun and whose speech banished all sorrow and captivated even the sensible and the wise. She was about five feet tall, with a beautiful figure, firm breasts, soft cheeks, and a fair complexion. Through the night of her tresses, her face beamed, and above her smooth bosom, her mouth gleamed, as the poet said of one like her:
Four things that never meet do here unite
To shed my blood and to ravage my heart,
A radiant brow and tresses that beguile
And rosy cheeks and a glittering smile.
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange 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 FORTY-THIRD NIGHT
The following night, Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”:
I heard, O happy King, that the second young dervish said to the girl:
When the girl looked at me, she asked, “What are you, a man or a demon?” I replied, “I am a human being.” She asked, “What brought you here? I have lived in this place for twenty-five years without ever seeing any human being. I said—for I found her words sweet and touching and she captivated my heart—“My good fortune brought me here to dispel my care, or perhaps your good fortune, to banish your sorrow.” Then I related to her my mishaps, and she felt sad for me and said, “I too shall tell you my tale. I am the daughter of Aftimarus, king of the Ebony Island. He married me to one of my cousins, but on my wedding night a demon snatched me up, flew away with me, and a while later set me down in this place. Then he brought me all I needed of food and drink and sweets and the like. Once every ten days he comes to spend a night with me—for he took me after he had already a family. If ever I need him for anything by night or by day, I have only to touch the two lines engraved on the doorstep, and he will be with me before I lift my fingers. He has been away for four days, so there remain only six days before he comes again. Would you like to spend five days with me and leave on the day before he arrives?” I replied, “Yes, indeed, ‘if only dreams were true!’”
She was pleased and she rose and took me by the hand through an arched doorway that led to a bath. She took off my clothes and took off hers and, entering the bath, she bathed me and washed me. When we came out, she dressed me with a new gown, seated me on a couch, and, giving me a large cup of juice to drink, sat conversing with me for a while. Then she set some food before me, and I ate my fill. Then she offered me a pillow, saying, “Lie down and rest, for you are tired.” I lay down and slept, forgetting every care in the world and regaining my energy. When I awoke, some time later, I found her massaging me. I sat up, thanked her, and commended her to God, feeling very much refreshed. Then she asked, “Young man, are you ready to drink?” I replied, “Yes, let us drink,” and she went to a cupboard and took out a sealed flask of old wine and, setting a sumptuous table, began to sing the following lines:
Had we known of your coming, our dark eyes
Or throbbing heart for you we would have spread,
Or with our cheeks would have covered the earth,
So that over the eyelids you might tread.
My love for her began to possess my whole being and my sorrow departed. We sat drinking till nightfall, and I spent with her a delightful night the like of which I never spent in all my life. When we awoke, delight followed delight till midday, and I was so drunk that I almost lost consciousness and began to stagger right and left. I said, “My beautiful one, let me carry you up and deliver you from this prison.” She laughed and replied, “O my lord, sit still, hold your peace, and be content, for of every ten days only one is for the demon and nine for you.” I said—as drink had got the better of me—“This very instant I shall smash the doorstep with the engraved inscription and let the demon come, so that I may kill him, for I am used to killing demons by the tens.” When she heard my words, she grew pale and said, “No, for God’s sake, don’t do it.” Then she recited the following lines:
You, who seek separation, hold your reins,
For its horses are much too swift and free.
Hold, for betrayal is the rule of life
And severance the end of amity.
But in my drunkenness, I kicked the step with my foot.
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “What a strange 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 FORTY-FOURTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”:
It is related, O happy King, that the second dervish said to the girl:
As soon as I kicked the step, there was thunder and lightning, and the earth began to tremble and everything turned dark. I became sober at once and cried out to her, “What is happening?” She replied, “The demon is coming. O my lord, get up and run for your life.” I fled up the staircase, but in my great terror I left my sandals and my iron axe behind. I had not reached the top when I saw the palace floor split asunder and the demon appear, saying, “What disaster has led you to trouble me like this?” She replied, “My lord, today I felt depressed and took a little wine to lighten my heart. Then I got up to go and relieve myself, but I felt tipsy and fell against the step.” The demon cried, “You are lying, you whore,” and, looking about, saw my sandals and my axe, and asked, “Whose are these?” She replied, “I have never set eyes on them till this moment. They must have stuck to your clothes and you brought them with you.” The demon said, “I will not be deceived by this ruse, you slut.” Then he seized her, stripped her naked and, binding her hands and feet to four stakes, proceeded to torture her and make her confess.”
O lady, it was not easy for me to hear her cries, but trembling with fear, I climbed the staircase slowly until I was outside. Then I placed the trapdoor as it was before and covered it with earth. I felt very sad and extremely sorry, as I thought of the girl, her beauty, her kindness, and her generous treatment, how she had lived quietly for twenty-five years and how in one night I had brought her this calamity. And when I remembered my father and my country, how life turned against me and I became a woodcutter, and how for a brief moment it befriended me and punished me again, I wept bitterly, blamed myself, and repeated the following vers
es:
My fate does fight me like an enemy
And pursues helpless me relentlessly.
If once it chooses to treat me kindly,
At once it turns, eager to punish me.
Then I walked on until I came to my friend the tailor, whom I found most anxiously waiting for me. He was glad to see me and asked, “Brother, where did you stay last night? I was worried about you; praise be to God for your safety.” I thanked him for his friendly concern and, retiring to my recess, sat thinking about what had happened to me, blaming myself for my rashness, for had I not kicked the step, nothing would have happened. As I sat, absorbed in such thoughts, my friend the tailor came to me and said, “There is outside an old Persian gentleman, who has your iron axe and your sandals. He had taken them to the woodcutters, saying, ‘I went out this morning to answer the call to prayer and stumbled on this axe and these sandals. Take a look at them and tell me to whom they belong and where I may find him.’ The woodcutters recognized your axe and told him where to find you, saying, ‘This axe belongs to a young man, a foreigner who lives with the tailor.’ At this very moment he is sitting at the entrance of the shop. Go to him and take your axe from him.” When I heard what he said, I felt faint and turned pale and, while we stood there talking, the floor of my recess split asunder and there emerged the old Persian gentleman, who was that very demon. He had tortured the girl almost to her death, but she did not confess. So he took the axe and the sandals, saying, “If I am truly the son of Satan’s daughter, I shall bring you back the owner of the axe.” Then he assumed the guise of a Persian gentleman and came to find me. When the ground split asunder and he emerged …
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange 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 FORTY-FIFTH NIGHT
The following Night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your little tales.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”:
It is related, O King, that the second dervish said to the girl:
As soon as the demon emerged, he snatched me up from my recess, soared high in the sky, and flew away with me. When he landed a while later, he kicked the ground with his foot, split it asunder, and, carrying me in a swoon, plunged under the earth and emerged with me in the middle of the palace where I had spent the night. There I saw the girl stripped naked, her limbs tied, and her sides bleeding, and my eyes filled with tears. The demon untied her and, covering her, said, “You slut, isn’t it true that this man is your lover?” Looking at me, she replied, “I don’t know this man at all and I have never laid eyes on him till this very moment.” He said, “Damn you, all this torture, and you refuse to confess!” She said, “I don’t know this man, and I cannot tell lies about him and let you kill him.” He replied, “If you don’t know him, take this sword then and strike off his head.” She took the sword and, coming up to me, stood facing me. I signaled her with my eyes, and she understood and winked back, meaning, “Aren’t you the one who has brought all this upon us?” I signaled again, “This is the time for forgiveness,” and she replied with words written with tears on her cheeks:
My eyes spoke for my tongue to let him know,
And love betrayed what I tried to conceal.
When we last met and shed our thoughts in tears,
Tongue-tied, I let my eyes my heart reveal.
He signed with his eyes, and I understood;
I winked, and he knew what my eyes did say.
Our eyebrows carried out our task so well,
As mute we stood and let love have its sway.
Then the girl threw the sword away and stepped back, saying, “How can I strike the neck of one I do not know and be guilty of his blood?” The demon said, “You cannot bear to kill him because he has slept with you. You have suffered all this torture, yet you have not confessed. It is clear that only like feels for and pities like.” Then he turned to me and said, “You human being, do you too not know this woman?” I replied, “Who may she be, for I have never laid eyes on her till this very moment?” He said, “Then take this sword and strike her head off, and I will believe that you do not know her and let you go free.” I replied, “I will do it,” and I took the sword and sprang toward her.
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what an entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”
THE FORTY-SIXTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Tell us the rest of the story.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”:
I heard, O happy King, that the second dervish said to the girl:
When I took the sword and went up to her, she winked at me, meaning, “Bravo! This is how you repay me!” I understood her look and pledged with my eyes, “I will give my life for you.” Then we stood for a while, exchanging looks, as if to say:
Many a lover his beloved tells
With his eyes’ language what is in his heart.
“I know what has befallen,” seems to say,
And with a glance he does his thoughts impart.
How lovely are the glances of the eyes,
How graceful are the eyes with passion fraught.
One with his looks a lover’s message writes,
Another with his eyes reads what his lover wrote.
I threw the sword away, stepped back, and said, “Mighty demon, if a woman, who is befuddled, thoughtless, and inarticulate, refuses to strike off the head of a man she does not know, how can I, a man, strike off the head of a woman I do not know? I can never do such a deed, even if I have to die for it.” The demon replied, “You two are conniving against me, but I am going to show you the result of your misdeeds.” Then he took the sword and struck the girl, severing her arm from her shoulder and sending it flying. Then he struck again and severed the other arm and sent it flying. She looked at me, as she lay in the throes of death, and with a glance bade me good-bye. O my lady, at that moment I longed for death, and for a moment I fell into a swoon. “This is the punishment of those who deceive,” said the demon and, turning to me, added, “O human being, it is in our law that if a wife deceives her husband, she is no longer lawful to him, and he must kill her and get rid of her. I snatched this woman away on her wedding night, when she was merely a girl of twelve who knew no man but myself. I used to come to her every ten days in the semblance of a Persian gentleman, to spend a night with her. When I became certain that she had deceived me, I killed her, for she was no longer lawful to me. As for you, even though I am not certain whether you are the culprit, I cannot let you go unharmed. Tell me into what animal you wish me to turn you with my magic, a dog, an ass, or a lion. Do you prefer to be a bird or a beast?” I replied, hoping that he might spare me, “O demon, it is more befitting to you to pardon me, even as the envied pardoned the envier.” The demon asked, “And how was that?” and I began to tell him:
4. Well-known writer on Muslim jurisprudence. “Seven readings” a “readings”: is a distinct manner of reciting, punctuating, and vocalizing a text of the Quran.
[The Tale of the Envious and the Envied]
It is related, O demon, that there lived in a certain city two men who dwelt in adjoining houses separated by a common wall. One of them envied the other, gave him the evil eye, and did his utmost to hurt him. He was so obsessed that his envy grew until he could hardly eat or enjoy the pleasure of sleep. But the envied did nothing but prosper, and the more the envious strove to injure him, the more he throve and flourished. At last the envy and malice of his neighbor came to his attention, and he left the neighborhood and moved to another city, saying, “By God, because of him, I will even depart from this world.” There he bought himself a piece of land that had an old irrigation well, bui
lt a hermitage that he furnished with straw mats and other necessities, and devoted himself to the worship of the Almighty God. The mendicants began to flock to him from every quarter, and his fame spread throughout the city.
Soon the news reached his envious neighbor, how he had prospered and how even the eminent men of the city called on him. So the neighbor journeyed to that city, and when he entered the hermitage, the envied received him with cheerful greetings, warm welcome, and great respect. Then the envious said; “I would like to acquaint you with something that has caused me to come to you. Let us walk aside in the hermitage, so that I may tell you what it is.” The envied got up, and as the envious held him by the hand, they walked to the far end of the hermitage. Then the envious said, “Friend, bid your mendicants enter their cells, for I will not tell you, except in private, so that none may hear us.” Accordingly, the envied said to the mendicants, “Retire to your cells,” and they did so. Then the envious said, “Now, as I was telling you, my tale …” and he walked with him slowly until they reached the edge of the old well. Suddenly the envious pushed the envied and, without being seen by anyone, sent him tumbling into the well. Then he left the hermitage and went away, believing that he had killed him.
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”
THE FORTY-SEVENTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us what happened to the envious after he pushed the envied into the well.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”: