The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 14 by Sir Richard Francis Burton (best book clubs .TXT) 📖

nighted therein for a single night or two and in the morning they departed therefrom. This continued for a while of time until they made a city which had two gates and Abu Niyyah forewent his fellow through one of the entrances and suddenly heard an asker which was a slave begging and saying, “O ye beneficent, O doers of good deeds, an alms shall bring tenfold.” And, as the chattel drew near[FN#395] and Abu Niyyah noted his words, his heart was softened and he gave him his single Ashrafi; whereupon his comrade looked upon him and asked, “What hast thou doled to him?” Answered he, “An Ashrafi;”

and quoth the other, “Thou hast but a single gold piece while I have ten;” so he took the joint stock from him and left him and went his way.—And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I should relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was

 

The Four Hundred and Seventy-third Night Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the man Abu Niyyatayn took from Abu Niyyah the ten Ashrafis[FN#396] and said to him, “The gold piece belonging to thee thou hast given to the asker;” then, carrying away the other ten he left him and went about his business. Now Abu Niyyah had with him not a single copper neither aught of provaunt so he wandered about the town to find a Cathedral-mosque and seeing one he went into it and made the Wuzu-ablution and prayed that which was incumbent on him of obligatory prayers. Then he seated himself to rest until the hour of the sunset devotions and he said to himself “Ho, Such-an-one! this be a time when no one knoweth thee; so go forth and fare round about the doors and have a heed, haply Allah Almighty our Lord shall give thee somewhat of daily bread thou shalt eat blessing the creator.” Hereupon he went forth the Mosque and wandered through the nearest quarter, when behold, he came upon a lofty gate and a well adorned; so he stood before it and saw a slave lad coming out therefrom and bearing on his head a platter wherein was a pile of broken bread and some bones, and the boy stood there and shook the contents of the platter upon the ground. Abu Niyyah seeing this came forward and fell to picking up the orts of bread and ate them and gnawed the flesh from sundry of the bones until he was satisfied and the slave diverted himself by looking on. After that he cried, “Alhamdolillah—

Glory be to God!”[FN#397] and the chattel went upstairs to his master and said, “O my lord, I have seen a marvel!” Quoth the other, “And what may that be?” and quoth the servile, “I found a man standing at our door and he was silent and poke not a word; but when he saw me throwing away the remnants[FN#398] of our eating-cloth he came up to them and fell to devouring bittocks of the bread and to breaking the bones and sucking them, after which he cried, �Alhamdolillah.’” Said the master, “O my good slave, do thou take these ten Ashrafis and give them to the man;” so the lad went down the stair and was half-way when he filched one of the gold-pieces and then having descended he gave the nine.

Hereupon Abu Niyyah counted them and finding only nine, said, “There wanted one Ashrafi, for the asker declared, An almsdeed bringeth tenfold, and I gave him a single gold piece.” The house-master heard him saying, “There wanteth an Ashrafi,” and he bade the slave call aloud to him and Abu Niyyah went upstairs to the sitting room, where he found the owner, a merchant of repute, and salam’d to him. The other returned his greeting and said, “Ho fellow!” and the other said “Yes” when the first resumed, “The slave, what did he give thee?” “He gave me,” said Abu Niyyah, “nine Ashrafis;” and the house-master rejoined, “Wherefore didst thou declare, There faileth me one gold piece?

Hast thou a legal claim of debt upon us for an Ashrafi, O thou scanty of shame?” He answered, “No, by Allah, O my lord; my intent was not that but there befel me with a man which was a beggar such-and-such matter.” Hereupon the merchant understood his meaning and said to him, “Do thou sit thee down here and pass the night with us.” So Abu Niyyah seated himself by his side and nighted with the merchant until the morning. Now this was the season for the payment of the poor-rates,[FN#399] and that merchant was wont to take the sum from his property by weight of scales, so he summoned the official weigher who by means of his balance computed the account and took out the poor-rate and gave the whole proceeds to Abu Niyyah. Quoth he, “O my lord, what shall I do with all this good, especially as thou hast favoured me with thy regard?” “No matter for that,” quoth the other; so Abu Niyyah went forth from the presence of his patron and hiring himself a shop fell to buying what suited him of all kinds of merchandise such as a portion of coffee-beans and of pepper and of tin;[FN#400] and stuff of Al-Hind, together with other matters, saying to himself, “Verily this shop is the property of thy hand.” So he sat there selling and buying and he was in the easiest of life and in all comfort rife for a while of time when behold, his quondam companion, Abu Niyyatayn was seen passing along the market-street. His eyes were deep[FN#401] sunken and he was propped upon a staff as he begged and cried, “O good folk, O ye beneficent, give me an alms for the love of Allah!” But when his sometime associate, Abu Niyyah looked upon him, he knew him and said to the slave whom he had bought for his service, “Go thou and bring me yonder man.” Hereat the chattel went and brought him and Abu Niyyah seated him upon the shopboard and sent his servile to buy somewhat of food and he set it before Abu Niyyatayn who ate until he was filled. After this the wanderer asked leave to depart but the other said to him, “Sit thou here, O Shaykh; for thou art my guest during the coming night.”

Accordingly he seated himself in the shop till the hour of sundown, when Abu Niyyah took him and led him to his lodging where the slave served up the supper-tray and they ate till they had eaten their sufficiency. Then they washed their hands and abode talking together till at last quoth Abu Niyyah, “O my brother, hast thou not recognised me?” to which the other responded, “No, by Allah, O my brother.” Hereupon said the house-master, “I am thy whilome comrade Abu Niyyah, and we came together, I and thou, from such-and-such a place to this city.

But I, O my brother, have never changed mine intent[FN#402] and all thou seest with me of good, the half thereof belongeth to thee.” When it was morning tide he presented him with the moiety of all he possessed of money and means and opened for him a shop in the Bazar by the side of his own, and Abu Niyyatayn fell to selling and buying, and he and his friend Abu Niyyah led the most joyous of lives. This endured for a while of time until one day of the days when quoth Abu Niyyatayn to Abu Niyyah, “O my brother, we have exhausted our sitting in this city, so do thou travel with us unto another.” Quoth Abu Niyyah, “Why, O my brother, should we cease abiding here in comfort when we have gained abundance of wealth and moveables and valuables and we seek naught save a restful life?” However Abu Niyyatayn ceased not to repeat his words to him and persist in his purpose and reiterate his demand, till Abu Niyyah was pleased with the idea of travelling—And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I should relate to you on the coming night and the King suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was

 

The Four Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that Abu Niyyah was pleased with the idea of travelling companied with Abu Niyyatayn: so they got themselves ready and loaded a caravan of camels and mules and went off from that city and travelled for a space of twenty days. At last they came to a camping ground about sunset-hour and they alighted therein seeking rest and a nighting stead, and next morning when they arose they sought where they could fodder and water their cattle. Now the only place they could find was a well and one said to other, “Who will descend therein and draw for us drink?” Cried Abu Niyyah, “I will go down” (but he knew not what was fated to him in the Eternal Purpose), and so saying he let himself down by the rope into the well and filled for them the water-buckets till the caravan had its sufficiency. Now Abu Niyyatayn for the excess of his envy and hatred was scheming in his heart and his secret soul to slay Abu Niyyah, and when all had drunk he cut the cord and loaded his beasts and fared away leaving his companion in the well, for the first day and the second until the coming of night.

Suddenly two ‘Ifrits forgathered in that well and sat down to converse with each other, when quoth the first, “What is to do with thee and how is thy case and what mayest thou be?” Quoth his fellow, “By Allah, O my brother, I am satisfied with extreme satisfaction and I never leave the Sultan’s daughter at all at all.” The second Ifrit asked, “And what would forbid thee from her?” and he answered, “I should be driven away by somewhat of wormwood-powder scattered beneath the soles of her feet during the congregational prayers of Friday.” Then quoth the other, “I also, by Allah, am joyful and exulting in the possession of a Hoard of jewels buried without the town near the Azure Column which serveth as benchmark.”[FN#403] “And what,” asked the other to his friend, “would expel thee therefrom and expose the jewels to the gaze of man?” whereto he answered, “A white cock in his tenth month[FN#404] slaughtered upon the Azure Column would drive me away from the Hoard and would break the Talisman when the gems would be visible to all.” Now as soon as Abu Niyyah had heard