TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI.
It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a merchant of
the merchants who had much wealth, and business in various
cities. Now on a day he mounted horse and went forth to re cover
monies in certain towns, and the heat sore oppressed him; so he
sat beneath a tree and, putting his hand into his saddle bags,
took thence some broken bread and dry dates and began to break
his fast. When he had ended eating the dates he threw away the
stones with force and lo! an Ifrit appeared, huge of stature and
brandishing a drawn sword, wherewith he approached the mer chant
and said, "Stand up that I may slay thee, even as thou slewest my
son!" Asked the merchant, "How have I slain thy son?" and he
answered, "When thou atest dates and threwest away the stones
they struck my son full in the breast as he was walking by, so
that he died forthwith."[FN#40] Quoth the merchant, "Verily from
Allah we proceeded and unto Allah are we re turning. There is no
Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great! If I slew thy son, I slew him by chance medley. I pray
thee now pardon me." Rejoined the Jinni, "There is no help but I
must slay thee." Then he seized him and dragged him along and,
casting him to the earth, raised the sword to strike him;
whereupon the merchant wept, and said, "I commit my case to
Allah," and began repeating these couplets:--
Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing that of bane *
And holdeth Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure that of
pain.
See'st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking
strong * None save the forest giant feels the suffering of
the strain?
How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green *
Yet none but those which bear the fruits for cast of stone
complain.
See'st not how corpses rise and float on the surface of the tide
* While pearls o'price lie hidden in the deepest of the
main!
In Heaven are unnumbered the many of the stars * Yet ne'er a star
but Sun and Moon by eclipse is overta'en.
Well judgedst thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well *
And countedst not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever
fain.
The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride
* But bliss and blessings of the night are 'genderers of
bane!
When the merchant ceased repeating his verses the Jinni said to
him, "Cut thy words short, by Allah! needs must I slay thee." But
the merchant spake him thus, "Know, O thou Ifrit, that I have
debts due to me and much wealth and children and a wife and many
pledges in hand; so permit me to go home and dis charge to every
claimant his claim; and I will come back to thee at the head of
the new year. Allah be my testimony and surety that I will return
to thee; and then thou mayest do with me as thou wilt and Allah
is witness to what I say." The Jinni took sure promise of him and
let him go; so he returned to his own city and transacted his
business and rendered to all men their dues and after informing
his wife and children of what had betided him, he appointed a
guardian and dwelt with them for a full year. Then he arose, and
made the Wuzu ablution to purify himself before death and took
his shroud under his arm and bade farewell to his people, his
neighbours and all his kith and kin, and went forth despite his
own nose.[FN#41] They then began weeping and wailing and beating
their breasts over him; but he travelled until he arrived at the
same garden, and the day of his arrival was the head of the New
Year. As he sat weeping over what had befallen him, behold, a
Shaykh,[FN#42] a very ancient man, drew near leading a chained
gazelle; and he saluted that merchant and wishing him long life
said, "What is the cause of thy sitting in this place and thou
alone and this be a resort of evil spirits?" The merchant related
to him what had come to pass with the Ifrit, and the old man, the
owner of the gazelle, wondered and said, "By Allah, O brother,
thy faith is none other than exceeding faith and thy story right
strange; were it graven with gravers on the eye corners, it were
a warner to whoso would be warned." Then seating himself near the
merchant he said, "By Allah, O my brother, I will not leave thee
until I see what may come to pass with thee and this Ifrit." And
presently as he sat and the two were at talk the merchant began
to feel fear and terror and exceeding grief and sorrow beyond
relief and ever growing care and extreme despair. And the owner
of the gazelle was hard by his side; when behold, a second Shaykh
approached them, and with him were two dogs both of greyhound
breed and both black. The second old man after saluting them with
the salam, also asked them of their tidings and said "What
causeth you to sit in this place, a dwelling of the Jann?"[FN#43]
So they told him the tale from beginning to end, and their stay
there had not lasted long before there came up a third Shaykh,
and with him a she mule of bright bay coat; and he saluted them
and asked them why they were seated in that place. So they told
him the story from first to last: and of no avail, O my master,
is a twice told tale! There he sat down with them, and lo! a dust
cloud advanced and a mighty send devil appeared amidmost of the
waste. Presently the cloud opened and behold, within it was that
Jinni hending in hand a drawn sword, while his eyes were shooting
fire sparks of rage. He came up to them and, haling away the
merchant from among them, cried to him, "Arise that I may slay
thee, as thou slewest my son, the life stuff of my liver."[FN#44]
The merchant wailed and wept, and the three old men began sighing
and crying and weeping and wailing with their companion.
Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle) came out
from among them and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and said, "O
Jinni, thou Crown of the Kings of the Jann! were I to tell thee
the story of me and this gazelle and thou shouldst consider it
wondrous wouldst thou give me a third part of this merchant's
blood?" Then quoth the Jinni "Even so, O Shaykh ! if thou tell me
this tale, and I hold it a marvellous, then will I give thee a
third of his blood." Thereupon the old man began to tell
The First Shaykh's Story.
Know O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal
uncle, my own flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a
young maid, and I lived with her well nigh thirty years, yet was
I not blessed with issue by her. So I took me a concubine[FN#45]
who brought to me the boon of a male child fair as the full moon,
with eyes of lovely shine and eyebrows which formed one line, and
limbs of perfect design. Little by little he grew in stature and
waxed tall; and when he was a lad fifteen years old, it became
needful I should journey to certain cities and I travelled with
great store of goods. But the daughter of my uncle (this gazelle)
had learned gramarye and egromancy and clerkly craft[FN#46] from
her childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a calf, and
my handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over to the
herdsman's care. Now when I returned after a long time from my
journey and asked for my son and his mother, she answered me,
saying "Thy slave girl is dead, and thy son hath fled and I know
not whither he is sped." So I remained for a whole year with
grieving heart, and streaming eyes until the time came for the
Great Festival of Allah.[FN#47] Then sent I to my herdsman bid
ding him choose for me a fat heifer; and he brought me one which
was the damsel, my handmaid, whom this gazelle had ensorcelled. I
tucked up my sleeves and skirt and, taking a knife, proceeded to
cut her throat, but she lowed aloud and wept bitter tears.
Thereat I marvelled and pity seized me and I held my hand, saying
to the herd, "Bring me other than this." Then cried my cousin,
"Slay her, for I have not a fatter nor a fairer!" Once more I
went forward to sacrifice her, but she again lowed aloud upon
which in ruth I refrained and commanded the herdsman to slay her
and flay her. He killed her and skinned her but found in her
neither fat nor flesh, only hide and bone; and I repented when
penitence availed me naught. I gave her to the herdsman and said
to him, "Fetch me a fat calf;" so he brought my son ensorcelled.
When the calf saw me, he brake his tether and ran to me, and
fawned upon me and wailed and shed tears; so that I took pity on
him and said to the herdsman, "Bring me a heifer and let this
calf go!" Thereupon my cousin (this gazelle) called aloud at me,
saying, "Needs must thou kill this calf; this is a holy day and a
blessed, whereon naught is slain save what be perfect pure; and
we have not amongst our calves any fatter or fairer than this!"
Quoth I, "Look thou upon the condition of the heifer which I
slaughtered at thy bidding and how we turn from her in
disappointment and she profited us on no wise; and I repent with
an exceeding repentance of having killed her: so this time I will
not obey thy bidding for the sacrifice of this calf." Quoth she,
"By Allah the Most Great, the Compassionating, the Compassionate!
there is no help for it; thou must kill him on this holy day, and
if thou kill him not to me thou art no man and I to thee am no
wife." Now when I heard those hard words, not knowing her object
I went up to the calf, knife in hand--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.[FN#48] Then
quoth her sister to her, "How fair is thy tale, and how grateful,
and how sweet and how tasteful!" And Shahrazad answered her,
"What is this to that I could tell thee on the coming night, were
I to live and the King would spare me?" Then said the King in
himself, "By Allah, I will not slay her, until I shall have heard
the rest of her tale." So they slept the rest of that night in
mutual em brace till day fully brake. Then the King went forth to
his audience hall[FN#49] and the Wazir went up with his
daughter's shroud under his arm. The King issued his orders, and
promoted this and deposed that, until the end of the day; and he
told the Wazir no whit of what had happened. But the Minister
wondered thereat with exceeding wonder; and when the Court broke
up King Shahryar entered his palace.
When it was the Second Night,
said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, "O my sister, finish for
us that story of the Merchant and the Jinni;" and she answered
"With joy and goodly gree, if the King permit me." Then quoth the
King, "Tell thy tale;" and Shahrazad began in these words: It
hath reached me, O auspicious King and Heaven directed Ruler!
that when the merchant purposed the sacrifice of the calf but saw
it weeping, his heart relented and he said to the herdsman, "Keep
the calf among my cattle." All this the old Shaykh told the Jinni
who marvelled much at these strange words. Then the owner of the
gazelle continued:--O Lord of the Kings of the Jann, this much
took place and my uncle's daughter, this gazelle, looked on and
saw it, and said, "Butcher me this calf, for surely it is a fat
one;" but I bade the herdsman take it away and he took it and
turned his face homewards. On the next day as I was sitting in my
own house, lo! the herdsman came and, standing before me said, "O
my master, I will tell thee a thing which shall gladden thy soul,
and shall gain me the gift of good tidings."[FN#50] I answered,
"Even so." Then said he, "O merchant, I have a daughter, and she
learned magic in her childhood from an old woman who lived with
us. Yesterday when thou gayest me the calf, I went into the house
to her, and she looked upon it and veiled her face; then she wept
and laughed alternately and at last she said:--O my father, hath
mine honour become so cheap to thee that thou bringest in to me
strange men? I asked her:--Where be these strange men and why
west thou laughing, and crying?; and she answered, Of a truth
this calf which is with thee is the son of our master, the
merchant; but he is ensorcelled by his stepdame who bewitched
both him and his mother: such is the cause of my laughing; now
the reason of his weeping is his mother, for that his father slew
her unawares. Then I marvelled at this with exceeding marvel and
hardly made sure that day had dawned before I came to tell thee."
When I heard, O Jinni, my herdsman's words, I went out with him,
and I was drunken without wine, from the excess of joy and
gladness which came upon me, until I reached his house. There his
daughter welcomed me and kissed my hand, and forthwith the calf
came and fawned upon me as before. Quoth I to the herdsman's
daughter, "Is this true that thou sayest of this calf?" Quoth
she, "Yea, O my master, he is thy son, the very core of thy
heart." I rejoiced and said to her, "O maiden, if thou wilt
release him shine shall be whatever cattle and property of mine
are under thy father's hand." She smiled and answered, "O my
master, I have no greed for the goods nor will I take them save
on two conditions; the first that thou marry me to thy son and
the second that I may be witch her who bewitched him and imprison
her, otherwise I cannot be safe from her malice and
malpractices." Now when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words of the
herdsman's daughter, I replied, "Beside what thou askest all the
cattle and the house hold stuff in thy father's charge are shine
and, as for the daughter of my uncle, her blood is lawful to
thee." When I had spoken, she took a cup and filled it with
water: then she recited a spell over it and sprinkled it upon the
calf, saying, "If Almighty Allah created thee a calf, remain so
shaped, and change not; but if thou be enchanted, return to thy
whilom form, by command of Allah Most Highest!" and lo! he
trembled and became a man. Then I fell on his neck and said,
"Allah upon thee, tell me all that the daughter of my uncle did
by thee and by thy mother." And when he told me what had come to
pass between them I said, " O my son, Allah favoured thee with
one to restore thee, and thy right hath returned to thee." Then,
O Jinni, I married the herdsman's daughter to him, and she
transformed my wife into this gazelle, saying:--Her shape is a
comely and by no means loathsome. After this she abode with us
night and day, day and night, till the Almighty took her to
Himself. When she deceased, my son fared forth to the cities of
Hind, even to the city of this man who hath done to thee what
hath been done;[FN#51] and I also took this gazelle (my cousin)
and wandered with her from town to town seeking tidings of my
son, till Destiny drove me to this place where I saw the merchant
sitting in tears. Such is my tale! Quoth the Jinni, "This story
is indeed strange, and therefore I grant thee the third part of
his blood." There upon the second old man, who owned the two
greyhounds, came up and said, " O Jinni, if I recount to thee
what befel me from my brothers, these two hounds, and thou see
that it is a tale even more wondrous and marvellous than what
thou hast heard, wilt thou grant to me also the third of this
man's blood?" Replied the Jinni, "Thou hast my word for it, if
shine adventures be more marvellous and wondrous." Thereupon he
thus began
The Second Shaykh's Story.
Know, O lord of the Kings of the Jann! that these two dogs are my
brothers and I am the third. Now when our father died and left us
a capital of three thousand gold pieces,[FN#52] I opened a shop
with my share, and bought and sold therein, and in like guise did
my two brothers, each setting up a shop. But I had been in
business no long while before the elder sold his stock for a
thousand diners, and after buying outfit and merchandise, went
his ways to foreign parts. He was absent one whole year with the
caravan; but one day as I sat in my shop, behold, a beggar stood
before me asking alms, and I said to him, "Allah open thee
another door!"[FN#53] Whereupon he answered, weeping the while,
"Am I so changed that thou knowest me not?" Then I looked at him
narrowly, and lo! it was my brother, so I rose to him and
welcomed him; then I seated him in my shop and put questions
concerning his case. "Ask me not," answered he; "my wealth is
awaste and my state hath waxed un stated!" So I took him to the
Hammam bath[FN#54] and clad him in a suit of my own and gave him
lodging in my house. Moreover, after looking over the accounts of
my stock in trade and the profits of my business, I found that
industry had gained me one thousand diners, while my principal,
the head of my wealth, amounted to two thousand. So I shared the
whole with him saying, "Assume that thou hast made no journey
abroad but hast remained at home; and be not cast down by shine
ill luck." He took the share in great glee and opened for himself
a shop; and matters went on quietly for a few nights and days.
But presently my second brother (yon other dog), also setting his
heart upon travel, sold off what goods and stock in trade he had,
and albeit we tried to stay him he would not be stayed: he laid
in an outfit for the journey and fared forth with certain
wayfarers. After an absence of a whole year he came back to me,
even as my elder brother had come back; and when I said to him,
"O my brother, did I not dissuade thee from travel?" he shed
tears and cried, "O my brother, this be destiny's decree: here I
am a mere beggar, penniless[FN#55] and without a shirt to my
back." So I led him to the bath, O Jinni, and clothing him in new
clothes of my own wear, I went with him to my shop and served him
with meat and drink. Furthermore I said to him, "O my brother, I
am wont to cast up my shop accounts at the head of every year,
and whatso I shall find of surplusage is between me and
thee."[FN#56] So I proceeded, O Ifrit, to strike a balance and,
finding two thousand diners of profit, I returned praises to the
Creator (be He extolled and exalted!) and made over one half to
my brother, keeping the other to my self. Thereupon he busied
himself with opening a shop and on this wise we abode many days.
After a time my brothers began pressing me to travel with them;
but I refused saying, "What gained ye by travel voyage that I
should gain thereby?" As I would not give ear to them we went
back each to his own shop where we bought and sold as before.
They kept urging me to travel for a whole twelvemonth, but I
refused to do so till full six years were past and gone when I
consented with these words, "O my brothers, here am I, your
companion of travel: now let me see what monies you have by you."
I found, however, that they had not a doit, having squandered
their substance in high diet and drinking and carnal delights.
Yet I spoke not a word of reproach; so far from it I looked over
my shop accounts once more, and sold what goods and stock in
trade were mine; and, finding myself the owner of six thousand
ducats, I gladly proceeded to divide that sum in halves, saying
to my brothers, "These three thousand gold pieces are for me and
for you to trade withal," adding, "Let us bury the other moiety
underground that it may be of service in case any harm befal us,
in which case each shall take a thousand wherewith to open
shops." Both replied, "Right is thy recking;" and I gave to each
one his thousand gold pieces, keeping the same sum for myself, to
wit, a thousand diners. We then got ready suitable goods and
hired a ship and, having embarked our merchandise, proceeded on
our voyage, day following day, a full month, after which we
arrived at a city, where we sold our venture; and for every piece
of gold we gained ten. And as we turned again to our voyage we
found on the shore of the sea a maiden clad in worn and ragged
gear, and she kissed my hand and said, "O master, is there
kindness in thee and charity? I can make thee a fitting return
for them." I answered, "Even so; truly in me are benevolence and
good works, even though thou render me no return." Then she said,
"Take me to wife, O my master, and carry me to thy city, for I
have given myself to thee; so do me a kindness and I am of those
who be meet for good works and charity: I will make thee a
fitting return for these and be thou not shamed by my condition."
When I heard her words, my heart yearned towards her, in such
sort as willed it Allah (be He extolled and exalted!); and took
her and clothed her and made ready for her a fair resting place
in the vessel, and honourably entreated her. So we voyaged on,
and my heart became attached to her with exceeding attachment,
and I was separated from her neither night nor day, and I paid
more regard to her than to my brothers. Then they were es banged
from me, and waxed jealous of my wealth and the quantity of
merchandise I had, and their eyes were opened covetously upon all
my property. So they took counsel to murder me and seize my
wealth, saying, "Let us slay our brother and all his monies will
be ours;" and Satan made this deed seem fair in their sight; so
when they found me in privacy (and I sleeping by my wife's side)
they took us both up and cast us into the sea. My wife awoke
startled from her sleep and, forthright be coming an
Ifritah,[FN#57] she bore me up and carried me to an island and
disappeared for a short time; but she returned in the morning and
said, "Here am I, thy faithful slave, who hath made thee due
recompense; for I bore thee up in the waters and saved thee from
death by command of the Almighty. Know--that I am a Jinniyah, and
as I saw thee my heart loved thee by will of the Lord, for I am a
believer in Allah and in His Apostle (whom Heaven bless and
preserve!). Thereupon I came to thee conditioned as thou sawest
me and thou didst marry me, and see now I have saved thee from
sinking. But I am angered against thy brothers and assuredly I
must slay them." When I heard her story I was surprised and,
thanking her for all she had done, I said, "But as to slaying my
brothers this must not be." Then I told her the tale of what had
come to pass with them from the beginning of our lives to the
end, and on hearing it quoth she, "This night will I fly as a
bird over them and will sink their ship and slay them." Quoth I,
"Allah upon thee, do not thus, for the proverb saith, O thou who
doest good to him that cloth evil, leave the evil doer to his
evil deeds. Moreover they are still my brothers." But she
rejoined, "By Allah, there is no help for it but I slay them." I
humbled myself before her for their pardon, whereupon she bore me
up and flew away with me till at last she set me down on the
terrace roof of my own house. I opened the doors and took up what
I had hidden in the ground; and after I had saluted the folk I
opened my shop and bought me merchan disc. Now when night came on
I went home, and there I saw these two hounds tied up; and, when
they sighted me, they arose and whined and fawned upon me; but
ere I knew what happened my wife said, "These two dogs be thy
brothers!" I answered, "And who hath done this thing by them?"
and she rejoined, "I sent a message to my sister and she
entreated them on this wise, nor shall these two be released from
their present shape till ten years shall have passed." And now I
have arrived at this place on my way to my wife's sister that she
may deliver them from this condition, after their having endured
it for half a score of years. As I was wending onwards I saw this
young man, who acquainted me with what had befallen him, and I
determined not to fare hence until I should see what might occur
between thee and him. Such is my tale! Then said the Jinni,
"Surely this is a strange story and therefor I give thee the
third portion of his blood and his crime." Thereupon quoth the
third Shaykh, the master of the mare mule, to the Jinni, "I can
tell thee a tale more wondrous than these two, so thou grant me
the remainder of his blood and of his offense," and the Jinni
answered, "So be it!" Then the old man began
The Third Shaykh's Story.
Know, O Sultan and head of the Jann, that this mule was my wife.
Now it so happened that I went forth and was absent one whole
year; and when I returned from my journey I came to her by night,
and saw a black slave lying with her on the carpet bed and they
were talking, and dallying, and laughing, and kissing and playing
the close buttock game. When she saw me, she rose and came
hurriedly at me with a gugglet[FN#58] of water; and, muttering
spells over it, she besprinkled me and said, "Come forth from
this thy shape into the shape of a dog;" and I became on the
instant a dog. She drove me out of the house, and I ran through
the doorway nor ceased running until I came to a butcher's stall,
where I stopped and began to eat what bones were there. When the
stall owner saw me, he took me and led me into his house, but as
soon as his daughter had sight of me she veiled her face from me,
crying out, "Doss thou bring men to me and cost thou come in with
them to me?" Her father asked, "Where is the man?"; and she
answered, "This dog is a man whom his wife hath ensorcelled and I
am able to release him." When her father heard her words, he
said, "Allah upon thee, O my daughter, release him." So she took
a gugglet of water and, after uttering words over it, sprinkled
upon me a few drops, saying, "Come forth from that form into thy
former form." And I returned to my natural shape. Then I kissed
her hand and said, "I wish thou wouldest transform my wife even
as she bans formed me." Thereupon she gave me some water, saying,
"As soon as thou see her asleep, sprinkle this liquid upon her
and speak what words thou heardest me utter, so shall she become
whatsoever thou desirest." I went to my wife and found her fast
asleep; and, while sprinkling the water upon her, I said, "Come
forth from that form into the form of a mare mule." So she became
on the instant a she mule, and she it is whom thou seest with
shine eyes, O Sultan and head of the Kings of the Jann! Then the
Jinni turned towards her and said, "Is this sooth?" And she
nodded her head and replied by signs, "In deed, 'tis the truth:
for such is my tale and this is what hath be fallen me." Now when
the old man had ceased speaking the Jinni shook with pleasure and
gave him the third of the mer chant's blood. And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Then quoth Dunyazad, "O. my sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and
how tasteful; how sweet and how grateful!" She replied, "And what
is this com pared with that I could tell thee, the night to come,
if I live and the King spare me?"[FN#59] Then thought the King,
"By Allah, I will not slay her until I hear the rest of her tale,
for truly it is wondrous." So they rested that night in mutual
embrace until the dawn. After this the King went forth to his
Hall of Estate, and the Wazir and the troops came in and the
court was crowded, and the King gave orders and judged and
appointed and deposed, bidding and forbidding during the rest of
the day. Then the Divan broke up, and King Shahryar entered his
palace.
When it was the Third Night,
And the King had had his will of the Wazir's daughter, Dunyazad,
her sister, said to her, "Finish for us that tale of shine;" and
she replied, "With joy and goodly gree! It hath reached me, O
auspicious King, that when the third old man told a tale to the
Jinni more wondrous than the two preceding, the Jinni mar veiled
with exceeding marvel, and, shaking with delight, cried, Lo! I
have given thee the remainder of the merchant's punishment and
for thy sake have I released him." Thereupon the merchant
embraced the old men and thanked them, and these Shaykhs wished
him joy on being saved and fared forth each one for his own city.
Yet this tale is not more wondrous than the fisherman's story."
Asked the King, "What is the fisherman's story?" And she answered
by relating the tale of
