The Hermits.
A certain hermit worshipped on a certain mountain, whither
resorted a pair of pigeons; and the worshipper was wont to make
two parts of his daily bread,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
worshipper was wont to make two parts of his daily bread, eating
one half himself and giving the other to the pigeon pair. He also
prayed for them both that they might be blest with issue so they
increased and multiplied greatly. Now they resorted only to that
mountain where the hermit was, and the reason of their fore-
gathering with the holy man was their assiduity in repeating
"Praised be Allah!" for it is recounted that the pigeon[FN#145]
in praise, "Praised be the Creator of all Creatures, the
Distributor of daily bread, the Builder of the heavens and
Dispreader of the earths!" And that couple ceased not to dwell
together in the happiest of life, they and their brood till the
holy man died, when the company of the pigeons was broken up and
they dispersed among the towns and villages and mountains. Now it
is told that on a certain other mountain there dwelt a shepherd,
a man of piety and good sense and chastity; and he had flocks of
sheep which he tended, and he made his living by their milk and
wool. The mountain which gave him a home abounded in trees and
pasturage and also in wild beasts, but these had no power over
his flocks; so he ceased not to dwell upon that highland in full
security, taking no thought to the things of the world, by reason
of his beatitude and his assiduity in prayer and devotion, till
Allah ordained that he should fall sick with exceeding sickness.
Thereupon he betook himself to a cavern in the mountain and his
sheep used to go out in the morning to the pasturage and take
refuge at night in the cave. But Allah Almighty, being minded to
try him and prove his patience and his obedience, sent him one of
His angels, who came in to him in the semblance of a fair woman
and sat down before him. When the shepherd saw that woman seated
before him, his flesh shuddered at her with horripilation[FN#146]
and he said to her, 'O thou woman, what was it invited thee to
this my retreat? I have no need of thee, nor is there aught
betwixt me and thee which calleth for thy coming in to me." Quoth
she, "O man, cost thou not behold my beauty and loveliness and
the fragrance of my breath; and knowest thou not the need women
have of men and men of women? So who shall forbid thee from me
when I have chosen to be near thee and desire to enjoy thy
company? Indeed, I come to thee willingly and do not withhold
myself from thee, and near us there is none whom we need fear;
and I wish to abide with thee as long as thou sojournest in this
mountain, and be thy companion and thy true friend. I offer
myself to thee, for thou needest the service of woman: and if
thou have carnal connection with me and know me, thy sickness
shall be turned from thee and health return to thee; and thou
wilt repent thee of the past for having foresworn the company of
women during the days that are now no more. In very sooth, I give
thee good advice: so incline to my counsel and approach me."
Quoth the shepherd, "Go out from me, O woman deceitful and
perfidious! I will not incline to thee nor approach thee. I want
not thy company nor wish for union with thee; he who coveteth the
coming life renounceth thee, for thou seducest mankind, those of
past time and those of present time. Allah the Most High lieth in
wait for His servants and woe unto him who is cursed with thy
company!" Answered she, "O thou that errest from the truth and
wanderest from the way of reason, turn thy face to me and look
upon my charms and take thy full of my nearness, as did the wise
who have gone before thee. Indeed, they were richer than thou in
experience and sharper of wit; withal they rejected not, as thou
rejectest, the enjoyment of women; nay, they took their pleasure
of them and their company even as thou renouncest them, and it
did them no hurt in things temporal or things spiritual.
Wherefore do thou recede from thy resolve and thou shalt praise
the issue of thy case." Rejoined the shepherd, "All thou sayest I
deny and abhor, and all thou offerest I reject: for thou art
cunning and perfidious and there is no honesty in thee nor is
there honour. How much of foulness hidest thou under thy beauty,
and how many a pious man hast thou seduced from his duty and made
his end penitence and perdition? Avaunt from me, O thou who
devotest thyself to corrupt others!" Thereupon, he threw his
goat's hair cloak over his head that he might not see her face,
and betook himself to calling upon the name of his Lord. And when
the angel saw the excellence of his submission to the Divine
Will, he went out from him and ascended to heaven. Now hard by
the hermit's hill was a village wherein dwelt a pious man, who
knew not the other's station, till one night he heard in a dream
a Voice saying to him, "In such a place near to thee is a devout
man: go thou to him and be at his command!" So when morning
dawned he set out to wend thither, and what time the heat was
grievous upon him, he came to a tree which grew beside a spring
of running water. So he sat down to rest in the shadow of that
tree and behold, he saw beasts and birds coming to that fount to
drink, but when they caught sight of the devotee sitting there,
they took fright and fled from before his face. Then said he,
"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! I rest
not here but to the hurt of these beasts and fowls." So he arose,
blaming him self and saying, "Verily my tarrying here this day
hath wronged these animals, and what excuse have I towards my
Creator and the Creator of these birds and beasts for that I was
the cause of their flight from their drink and their daily food
and their place of pasturage? Alas for my shame before my Lord on
the day when He shall avenge the hornless sheep on the sheep with
horns!''[FN#147] And he wept and began repeating these couplets,
"Now an, by Allah, unto man were fully known *
Why he is made, in careless sleep he ne'er would wone:
First Death, then cometh Wake and dreadful Day of Doom, *
Reproof with threats sore terror, frightful malison.
Bid we or else forbid we, all of us are like *
The Cave companions[FN#148] when at length their sleep was
done."
Then he again wept for that he had driven the birds and beasts
from the spring by sitting down under the tree, and he fared on
till he came to the shepherd's dwelling and going in, saluted
him. The shepherd returned his salutation and embraced him,
weeping and saying, "What hath brought thee to this place where
no man hath ever yet come to me." Quoth the other devotee, "I saw
in my sleep one who described to me this thy stead and bade me
repair to thee and salute thee: so I came, in obedience to the
commandment." The shepherd welcomed him, rejoicing in his company
and the twain abode upon that mountain, worshipping Allah with
the best of worship; and they ceased not serving their Lord in
the cavern and living upon the flesh and milk of their sheep,
having clean put away from them riches and children and what not,
till the Certain, the Inevitable became their lot. And this is
the end of their story. Then said King Shahyrar, "O Shahrazad,
thou wouldst cause me to renounce my kingdom and thou makest me
repent of having slain so many women and maidens. Hast thou any
bird stories?" "Yes," replied she, and began to tell the
