The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 9 by Sir Richard Francis Burton (best authors to read .TXT) 📖

sending thee back to thine own land.’ Then he set a great stone in the sack in my stead and cast it into the sea; but, when thou signedst to him to throw me in, thy seal-ring dropped from thy finger into the main, and a fish swallowed it. Now I was on the island a-fishing, and this fish came up in the net with the others; whereupon I took it, intending to broil it; but, when I opened its belly, I found the signet-ring therein; so I took it and put it on my finger.

Presently, up came two of the servants of the kitchen, questing fish, and I signed to them with my hand, knowing not the property of the seal-ring, and their heads fell off. Then the Captain came back, and seeing the ring on my finger, acquainted me with its spell; and behold, I have brought it back to thee, for that thou dealtest kindly by me and entreatedst me with the utmost honour, nor is that which thou hast done me of kindness lost upon me. Here is thy ring; take it! But an I have done with thee aught deserving of death, tell me my crime and slay me and thou shalt be absolved of sin in shedding my blood.” So saying, he pulled the ring from his finger and gave it to the King who, seeing Abu Sir’s noble conduct, took the ring and put it on and felt life return to him afresh. Then he rose to his feet and embracing the barber, said to him, “O man, thou art indeed of the flower of the well-born! Blame me not, but forgive me the wrong I have done thee. Had any but thou gotten hold of this ring, he had never restored it to me.” Answered Abu Sir, “O King of the age, an thou wouldst have me forgive thee, tell me what was my fault which drew down thine anger upon me, so that thou commandedst to do me die.” Rejoined the King, “By Allah, ‘tis clear to me that thou art free and guiltless in all things of offence since thou hast done this good deed; only the dyer denounced thee to me in such and such words;” and he told him all that Abu Kir had said. Abu Sir replied, “By Allah, O King of the age, I know no King of the Nazarenes nor during my days have ever journeyed to a Christian country, nor did it ever come into my mind to kill thee. But this dyer was my comrade and neighbour in the city of Alexandria where life was straitened upon us; therefore we departed thence, to seek our fortunes, by reason of the narrowness of our means at home, after we had recited the Opening Chapter of the Koran together, pledging ourselves that he who got work should feed him who lacked work; and there befel me with him such and such things.” Then he went on to relate to the King all that had betided him with Abu Kir the dyer; how he had robbed him of his dirhams and had left him alone and sick in the Khan-closet and how the doorkeeper had fed him of his own monies till Allah recovered him of his sickness, when he went forth and walked about the city with his budget, as was his wont, till he espied a dyery, about which the folk were crowding; so he looked at the door and seeing Abu Kir seated on a bench there, went in to salute him, whereupon he accused him of being a thief and beat him a grievous beating; brief, he told him his whole tale, from first to last, and added, “O King of the age, ‘twas he who counselled me to make the depilatory and present it to thee, saying, ‘The Hammam is perfect in all things but that it lacketh this’; and know, O King of the age, that this drug is harmless and we use it in our land where ‘tis one of the requisites of the bath; but I had forgotten it: so, when the dyer visited the Hammam I entreated him with honour and he reminded me of it, and enjoined me to make it forthwith. But do thou send after the porter of such a Khan and the workmen of the dyery and question them all of that which I have told thee.” Accordingly the King sent for them and questioned them one and all and they acquainted him with the truth of the matter. Then he summoned the dyer, saying, “Bring him barefooted, bareheaded and with elbows pinioned!” Now he was sitting in his house, rejoicing in Abu Sir’s death; but ere he could be ware, the King’s guards rushed in upon him and cuffed him on the nape, after which they bound him and bore him into the presence, where he saw Abu Sir seated by the King’s side and the doorkeeper of the Khan and workmen of the dyery standing before him. Quoth the doorkeeper to him, “Is no this thy comrade whom thou robbedst of his silvers and leftest with me sick in the closet doing such and such by him?” And the workmen said to him, “Is not this he whom thou badest us seize and beat?” Therewith Abu Kir’s baseness was made manifest to the King and he was certified that he merited torture yet sorer than the torments of Munkar and Nak�r.[FN#228] So he said to his guards, “Take him and parade him about the city and the markets;”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

 

When it was the Nine Hundred and Fortieth Night, She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicous King, that when the King heard the words spoken by the doorkeeper of the Caravanserai and the workmen of the dyery, he was certified of the vileness of Abu Kir; so he upbraided him with flout and fleer and said to his guards, “Take him and parade him about the city and the market-streets; then set him in a sack and cast him into the sea.” Whereupon quoth Abu Sir, “O King of the age, accept my intercession for him, for I pardon him all he hath done with me.”

But quoth the King, “An thou pardon him all his offences against thee, I cannot pardon him his offences against me.” And he cried out, saying, “Take him.” So they took him and paraded him about the city, after which they set him in a sack with quicklime and cast him into the sea, and he died, drowned and burnt. Then said the King to the barber, “O Abu Sir, ask of me what thou wilt and it shall be given thee.” And he answered, saying, “I ask of thee to send me back to my own country, for I care no longer to tarry here.” Then the King gifted him great store of gifts, over and above that which he had whilome bestowed on the crew of this galleon were Mamelukes; so he gave him these also, after offering to make him his Wazir whereto the barber consented not.

Presently he farewelled the King and set sail in his own ship manned by his own crew; nor did he cast anchor till he reached Alexandria and made fast to the shore there. Then he landed and one of his Mamelukes, seeing a sack on the beach, said to Abu Sir, “O my lord, there is a great heavy sack on the sea-shore, with the mouth tied up and I know not what therein.” So Abu Sir came up and opening the sack, found therein the remains of Abu Kir, which the sea had borne thither. He took it forth and burying it near Alexandria, built over the grave a place of visitation and endowed it with mortmain writing over the door these couplets,

 

“Man is known among me as his deeds attest; * Which make noble origin manifest:

Backbite not, lest other men bit thy back; * Who saith aught, the same shall to him be addrest:

Shun immodest words and indecent speech * When thou speakest in earnest or e’en in jest.[FN#229]

We bear with the dog which behaves itself * But the lion is chained lest he prove a pest:

And the desert carcases swim the main * While union-pearls on the sandbank rest[FN#230]:

No sparrow would hustle the sparrow-hawk, * Were it not by folly and weakness prest:

A-sky is written on page of air * ‘Who doth kindly of kindness shall have the best!’

‘Ware of gathering sugar from bitter gourd:[FN#231] * ‘Twill prove to its origin like in taste.”

 

After this Abu Sir abode awhile, till Allah took him to Himself, and they buried him hard by the tomb of his comrade Abu Kir; wherefore that place was called Abu Kir and Abu Sir; but it is now known as Abu Kir only. This, then, is that which hath reached us of their history, and glory be to Him who endureth for ever and aye and by whose will interchange the night and the day.

And of the stories they tell is one anent

ABDULLAH[FN#232] THE FISHERMAN AND

ABDULLAH THE MERMAN.

 

There was once a Fisherman named Abdullah, who had a large family, to wit, nine children and their mother, so was he poor, very poor, owning naught save his net. Every day he used to go to the sea a-fishing, and if he caught little, he sold it and spent the price on his children, after the measure of that which Allah vouchsafed him of provision; but if he caught much, he would cook a good mess of meat and buy fruit and spend without stint till nothing was left him, saying to himself, “The daily bread of to-morrow will come to-morrow.” Presently, his wife gave birth to another child, making a total of ten, and it chanced that day that he had nothing at all; so she said to him, “O my master, see and get me somewhat wherewithal I may sustain myself.” Quoth he, “I am going (under favour of Almighty Allah) this day seawards to fish on the luck of this newborn child, that we may see its fair fortune;” and quoth she, “Put thy trust in Allah!” So he took his net and went down to the sea-shore, where he cast it on the luck of the little one, saying, “O my God, make his living of ease not of unease, and abundant, not scant!” Then he waited awhile and drew in the net, which came up full of rubbish and sand and pebbles and weeds, and he saw therein no sign of fish neither muchel nor little. He cast it again and waited, then drew it in, but found no catch in it, and threw it a third and a fourth and a fifth time still not a single fish came up. So he removed to another place beseeching his daily bread of Allah Almighty and thus he kept working till the end of the day, but caught not so much as a minnow;[FN#233]

whereat he fell a-marvelling in himself and said self-communing, “Hath Allah then created this newborn child without lot of provision? This may never, never be. He who slitteth the corners of the lips hath pledged Himself for its provision, because Almighty Allah is the Bountiful, the Provider!”[FN#234]

So saying, he shouldered his net and turned him homewards, broken-spirited and heavy at heart about his family, for that he had left them without food, more by token that his wife was in the straw. And as he continued trudging along and saying in himself, “How shall I do and what shall I say to the children tonight?” he came to a baker’s oven and saw a crowd about it; for the season was