ISAAC OF MOSUL AND THE MERCHANT.
Quoth Ishak bin Ibrahim al Mausili, "It so chanced that, one day
feeling weary of being on duty at the Palace and in attendance
upon the Caliph, I mounted horse and went forth, at break of
dawn, having a mind to ride out in the open country and take my
pleasure. So I said to my servants, 'If there come a messenger
from the Caliph or another, say that I set out at day break, upon
a pressing business, and that ye know not whither I am gone.'
Then I fared forth alone and went round about the city, till the
sun waxed hot, when I halted in a great thoroughfare known as Al
Haram,"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ishak bin
Ibrahim the Mausili continued: "When the sun waxed hot I halted
in a great thoroughfare known as Al-Haram, to take shelter in the
shade and found it in a spacious wing of a house which projected
over the street. And I stood there but a little while before
there came up a black slave, leading an ass bestridden by a
damsel; and under her were housings set with gems and pearls and
upon her were the richest of clothes, richness can go no farther;
and I saw that she was elegant of make with languorous look and
graceful mien. I asked one of the passers by who she was, and he
said, 'She is a singer,' so I fell in love with her at first
sight: hardly could I keep my seat on horseback. She entered the
house at whose gate I stood; and, as I was planning a device to
gain access to her, there came up two men young and comely who
asked admission and the housemaster gave them leave to enter. So
they alighted and I also and they entered and I with them, they
supposing that the master of the house had invited me; and we sat
awhile, till food was brought and we ate. Then they set wine
before us, and the damsel came out, with a lute in her hand. She
sang and we drank, till I rose to obey a call of nature.
Thereupon the host questioned the two others of me, and they
replied that they knew me not; whereupon quoth he, 'This is a
parasite[FN#187]; but he is a pleasant fellow, so treat him
courteously.' Then I came back and sat down in my place, whilst
the damsel sang to a pleasing air these two couplets,
'Say to the she gazelle, who's no gazelle, *
And Kohl'd ariel who's no ariel.[FN#188]
Who lies with male, and yet no female is, *
Whose gait is female most unlike the male.'
She sang it right well, and the company drank and her song
pleased them. Then she carolled various pieces to rare measures,
and amongst the rest one of mine, which consisted of this
distich,
'Bare hills and campground desolate *
And friends who all have ganged their gait.
How severance after union leaves *
Me and their homes in saddest state!'
Her singing this time was even better than the first; then she
chanted other rare pieces, old and new, and amongst them, another
of mine with the following two couplets,
'Say to angry lover who turns away, *
And shows thee his side whatso thou
'Thou wroughtest all that by thee was wrought, *
Albe 'twas haply thy sport and play.'
I prayed her to repeat the song, that I might correct it for her;
whereupon one of the two men accosted me and said, 'Never saw we
a more impudent lick platter than thou. Art thou not content with
sponging, but thou must eke meddle and muddle? Of very sooth, in
thee is the saying made true, Parasite and pushing wight.' So I
hung down my head for shame and made him no answer, whilst his
companion would have withheld him from me, but he would not be
restrained. Presently, they rose to pray, but I lagged behind a
little and, taking the lute, screwed up the sides and brought it
into perfect tune. Then I stood up in my place to pray with the
rest; and when we had ended praying, the same man fell again to
blaming me and reviling me and persisted in his rudeness, whilst
I held my peace. Thereupon the damsel took the lute and touching
it, knew that it had been altered, and said, 'Who hath touched my
lute?' Quoth they, 'None of us hath touched it.' Quoth she, 'Nay,
by Allah, some one hath touched it, and he is an artist, a past
master in the craft; for he hath arranged the strings and tuned
them like one who is a perfect performer.' Said I, 'It was I
tuned it;' and said she, 'Then, Allah upon thee, take it and play
on it!' So I took it; and, playing a piece so difficult and so
rare, that it went nigh to deaden the quick and quicken the dead,
I sang thereto these couplets,
'I had a heart, and with it lived my life: *
'Twas seared with fire and burnt with loving-lowe:
I never won the blessing of her love; *
God would not on His slave such boon bestow:
If what I've tasted be the food of Love, *
Must taste it all men who love food would know.'"
--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ishak of
Mosul thus continued: "Now when I had finished my verse, there
was not one of the company but sprang from his place and sat down
like schoolboys before me, saying, 'Allah upon thee, O our lord,
sing us another song.' 'With pleasure,' said I, and playing
another measure in masterly fashion, sang thereto these couplets,
'Ho thou whose heart is melted down by force of Amor's fire, *
And griefs from every side against thy happiness conspire:
Unlawful is that he who pierced my vitals with his shaft, * My
blood between my midriff and my breast bone[FN#189] he
desire,
'Twas plain, upon our severance day, that he had set his mind *
On an eternal parting, moved by tongue of envious liar:
He sheds my blood he ne'er had shed except by wound of love, *
Will none demand my blood of him, my wreck of him require?'
When I had made an end of this song, there was not one of them
but rose to his feet and threw himself upon the ground for excess
of delight. Then I cast the lute from my hand, but they said,
'Allah upon thee, do not on this wise, but let us hear another
song, so Allah Almighty increase thee of His bounty!' Replied I,
'O folk, I will sing you another song and another and another and
will tell you who I am. I am Ishak bin Ibrahim al Mausili, and by
Allah, I bear myself proudly to the Caliph when he seeketh me. Ye
have today made me hear abuse from an unmannerly carle such as I
loathe; and by Allah, I will not speak a word nor sit with you,
till ye put yonder quarrelsome churl out from among you!' Quoth
the fellow's companion to him, 'This is what I warned thee
against, fearing for thy good name.' So they hent him by the hand
and thrust him out; and I took the lute and sang over again the
songs of my own composing which the damsel had sung. Then I
whispered the host that she had taken my heart and that I had no
patience to abstain from her. Quoth he 'She is thine on one
condition.' I asked, 'What is that?' and he answered, 'It is that
thou abide with me a month, when the damsel and all belonging to
her of raiment and jewellery shall be thine.' I rejoined, 'It is
well, I will do this.' So I tarried with him a whole month,
whilst none knew where I was and the Caliph sought me everywhere,
but could come by no news of me; and at the end of this time, the
merchant delivered to me the damsel, together with all that
pertained to her of things of price and an eunuch to attend upon
her. So I brought all that to my lodging, feeling as I were lord
of the whole world, for exceeding delight in her; then I rode
forthright to Al-Maamun. And when I stood in the presence, he
said, 'Woe to thee, O Ishak, where hast thou been?' So I
acquainted him with the story and he said, 'Bring me that man at
once.' Thereupon I told him where he lived and he sent and
fetched him and questioned him of the case; when he repeated the
story and the Caliph said to him, 'Thou art a man of right
generous mind, and it is only fitting that thou be aided in thy
generosity.' Then he ordered him an hundred thousand dirhams and
said to me, 'O Ishak, bring the damsel before me.' So I brought
her to him, and she sang and delighted him; and being greatly
gladdened by her he said to me, 'I appoint her turn of service
every Thursday, when she must come and sing to me from behind the
curtain.' And he ordered her fifty thousand dirhams, so by Allah,
I profited both myself and others by my ride." And amongst the
tales they tell is one of
