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

Then will I ride with my slave-women through the heart of the city and none shall look on me from window or lattice; and every one whom I find abroad I will kill.’[FN#401] So he went in to the King and begged of him this boon, which he granted him and caused proclamation to be made amongst the Bassorites,”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When is was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night, She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the barber’s wife said, “When the Jeweller begged his boon, the King bade proclamation be made amongst the Bassorites, but the people objected that they feared for their goods from the cats and dogs; wherefore he commanded to shut the animals up till the folk should come forth from the Friday prayers. So the jeweller’s wife fell to sallying forth every Friday, two hours before the time of congregational prayer, and riding in state through the city with her women; during which time none dareth pass through the market-place nor look out of casement or lattice. This, then, is what thou wouldest know and I have told thee who she is; but, O

my son, was it thy desire only to have news of her or hast thou a mind to meet her?” Answered he, “O my mother, ‘tis my wish to foregather with her.” Quoth she, “Tell me what valuables thou hast with thee”; and quoth he, “O my mother, I have with me precious stones of four sorts, the first worth five hundred dinars each, the second seven hundred, the third eight hundred and the fourth a thousand ducats.” She asked, “Art thou willing to spend four of these?”; and he answered, “I am ready to spend all of them.” She rejoined, “Then, arise, O my son, and go straight to thy lodging and take a bezel-gem of those worth five hundred sequins, with which do thou repair to the jewel market and ask for the shop of Master Obayd, the Shaykh of the Jewellers. Go thither and thou wilt find him seated in his shop, clad in rich clothes, with workmen under his hand. Salute him and sit down on the front shelf of his shop;[FN#402] then pull out the jewel and give it to him, saying, ‘O master, take this stone and fashion it into a seal-ring for me with gold. Make it not large, a Misk�l[FN#403] in weight and no more; but let the fashion of it be thy fairest.’ Then give him twenty dinars and to each of his prentices a dinar. Sit with him awhile and talk with him and if a beggar approach thee, show thy generosity by giving him a dinar, to the intent that he may affect thee, and after this, leave him and return to thy place. Pass the night there, and next morning, take an hundred dinars and bring them and give them to thy father the barber, for he is poor.” Quoth Kamar al-Zaman, “Be it so,” and returning to his caravanserai, took a jewel worth five hundred gold pieces and went with it to the jewel-bazar. There he enquired for the shop of Master Obayd, Shaykh of the Jewellers, and they directed him thereto. So he went thither and saw the Shaykh, a man of austere aspect and robed in sumptuous raiment with four journeymen under his hand.

He addressed him with “Peace be upon you!” and the jeweller returned his greeting and welcoming him, made him sit down. Then he brought out the jewel and said, “O master, I wish thee to make me this jewel into a seal-ring with gold. Let it be the weight of a Miskal and no more, but fashion it excellently.” Then he pulled out twenty dinars and gave them to him, saying, “This is the fee for chasing and the price of the ring shall remain.”[FN#404] And he gave each of the apprentices a gold piece, wherefore they loved him, and so did Master Obayd. Then he sat talking with the jeweller and whenever a beggar came up to him, he gave him a gold piece and they all marvelled at his generosity. Now Master Obayd had tools at home, like those he had in the shop, and whenever he was minded to do any unusual piece of work, it was his custom to carry it home and do it there, that his journeymen might not learn the secrets of his wonderful workmanship.[FN#405] His wife used to sit before him, and when she was sitting thus and he looking upon her,[FN#406] he would fashion all manner of marvellously wroughten trinkets, such as were fit for none but kings. So he went home and sat down to mould the ring with admirable workmanship. When his wife saw him thus engaged, she asked him, “What wilt thou do with this bezel-gem?”; and he answered, “I mean to make it into a ring with gold, for ‘tis worth five hundred dinars.” She enquired, “For whom?”; and he answered, “For a young merchant, who is fair of face, with eyes that wound with desire, and cheeks that strike fire and mouth like the seal of Sulaym�n and cheeks like the bloom of Nu’m�n and lips red as coralline and neck like the antelope’s long and fine.

His complexion is white dashed with red and he is well-bred, pleasant and generous and doth thus and thus.” And he went on to describe to her now his beauty and loveliness and then his perfection and bounty and ceased not to vaunt his charms and the generosity of his disposition, till he had made her in love with him; for there is no sillier cuckold than he who vaunteth to his wife another man’s handsome looks and unusual liberality in money matters. So, when desire rose high in her, she said to him, “Is aught of my charms found in him?” Said he, “He hath all thy beauties; and he is thy counterpart in qualities. Meseemeth his age is even as thine and but that I fear to hurt thy feelings, I would say that he is a thousand times handsomer than thou art.”

She was silent, yet the fire of fondness was kindled in her heart. And the jeweller ceased not to talk with her and to set out Kamar al-Zaman’s charms before her till he had made an end of moulding the ring; when he gave it to her and she put it on her finger, which it fitted exactly. Quoth she, “O my lord, my heart loveth this ring and I long for it to be mine and will not take it from my finger.” Quoth he, “Have patience! The owner of it is generous, and I will seek to buy it of him, and if he will sell it, I will bring it to thee. Or if he have another such stone, I will buy it and fashion it for thee into a ring like this.”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night, She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the jeweller said to his wife, “Have patience! The owner of it is generous and I will seek to buy it of him; and, if he will sell it, I will bring it to thee; or, if he have another such stone I will buy it and fashion it for thee into a ring like this.” On this wise it fared with the jeweller and his wife; but as regards Kamar al-Zaman, he passed the night in his lodging and on the morrow he took an hundred dinars and carried them to the old woman, the barber’s wife, saying to her, “Accept these gold pieces,” and she replied, “Give them to thy father.” So he gave them to the barber and she asked, “Hast thou done as I bade thee?” He answered, “Yes,” and she said, “Go now to the Shaykh, the jeweller, and if he give thee the ring, put it on the tip of thy finger and pull it off in haste and say to him, ‘O master, thou hast made a mistake; the ring is too tight.’ He will say, ‘O

merchant, shall I break it and mould it again larger?’ And do thou say, ‘It booteth not to break it and fashion it anew. Take it and give it to one of thy slave-women.’ Then pull out another stone worth seven hundred dinars and say to him, ‘Take this stone and set it for me, for ‘tis handsomer than the other.’ Give him thirty dinars and to each of the prentices two, saying, ‘These gold pieces are for the chasing and the price of the ring shall remain.’ Then return to thy lodging for the night and on the morrow bring me two hundred ducats, and I will complete thee the rest of the device.” So the youth went to the jeweller, who welcomed him and made him sit down in his shop; and he asked him, “Hast thou done my need?” “Yes,” answered Obayd and brought out to him the seal-ring; whereupon he set it on his finger-tip and pulling it off in haste, cried, “Thou hast made a mistake, O

master;” and threw it to him, saying, “‘Tis too strait for my finger.” Asked the jeweller, “O merchant, shall I make it larger?” But he answered, “Not so; take it as a gift and give it to one of thy slavegirls. Its worth is trifling, some five hundred dinars; so it booteth not to fashion it over again.” Then he brought out to him another stone worth seven hundred sequins and said to him, “Set this for me: ‘tis a finer gem.” Moreover he gave him thirty dinars and to each of his workmen two. Quoth Obayd, “O my lord we will take the price of the ring when we have made it.”[FN#407] But Kamar al-Zaman said, “This is for the chasing, and the price of the ring remains over.” So saying, he went away home, leaving the jeweller and his men amazed at the excess of his generosity. Presently the jeweller returned to his wife and said, “O Halimah,[FN#408] never did I set eyes on a more generous than this young man, and as for thee, thy luck is good, for he hath given me the ring without price, saying, ‘Give it to one of thy slave-women.’” And he told her what had passed, adding, “Methinks this youth is none of the sons of the merchants, but that he is of the sons of the Kings and Sultans.”

Now the more he praised him, the more she waxed in love-longing, passion and distraction for him. So she took the ring and put it on her finger, whilst the jeweller made another one, a little larger than the first. When he had finished moulding it, she put it on her finger, under the first, and said, “Look, O my lord, how well the two rings show on my finger! I wish they were both mine.” Said he, “Patience! It may be I shall buy thee this second one.” Then he lay that night and on the morrow he took the ring and went to his shop. As for Kamar al-Zaman, as soon as it was day, he repaired to the barber’s wife and gave her two hundred dinars. Quoth she, “Go to the jeweller and when he giveth thee the ring, put it on thy finger and pull it off again in haste, saying, ‘Thou hast made a mistake, O master! This ring is too large. A master like thee, when the like of me cometh to him with a piece of work, it behoveth him to take right measure; and if thou hadst measured