1001 Nights Vol 08 by Burton, Richard - Chapter 3

Khalifah the Fisherman of Baghdad



There was once in tides of yore and in ages and times long gone
before, in the city of Baghdad, a fisherman, Khalífah hight, a
pauper wight, who had never once been married in all his days.
[FN#186] It chanced one morning, that he took his net and went
with it to the river, as was his wont, with the view of fishing
before the others came. When he reached the bank, he girt
himself and tucked up his skirts; then stepping into the water,
he spread his net and cast it a first cast and a second but it
brought up naught. He ceased not to throw it, till he had made
ten casts, and still naught came up therein; wherefore his breast
was straitened and his mind perplexed concerning his case and he
said, "I crave pardon of God the Great, there is no god but He,
the Living, the Eternal, and unto Him I repent. There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great! Whatso He willeth is and whatso He nilleth is not! Upon
Allah (to whom belong Honour and Glory!) dependeth daily bread!
Whenas He giveth to His servant, none denieth him; and whenas He
denieth a servant, none giveth to him." And of the excess of his
distress, he recited these two couplets,

"An Fate afflict thee, with grief manifest, * Prepare thy
patience and make broad thy breast;
For of His grace the Lord of all the worlds * Shall send to wait
upon unrest sweet Rest."

Then he sat awhile pondering his case, and with his head bowed
down recited also these couplets,

"Patience with sweet and with bitter Fate! * And weet that His
will He shall consummate:
Night oft upon woe as on abscess acts * And brings it up to the
bursting state:
And Chance and Change shall pass o'er the youth * And fleet from
his thoughts and no more shall bait."

Then he said in his mind, "I will make this one more cast,
trusting in Allah, so haply He may not disappoint my hope;" and
he rose and casting into the river the net as far as his arm
availed, gathered the cords in his hands and waited a full hour,
after which he pulled at it and, finding it heavy,--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-second Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Khalifah the Fisherman had cast his net sundry times into the
stream, yet had it brought up naught, he pondered his case and
improvised the verses afore quoted. Then he said in his mind, "I
will make this one more cast, trusting in Allah who haply will
not disappoint my hope." So he rose and threw the net and waited
a full hour, after which time he pulled at it and, finding it
heavy, handled it gently and drew it in, little by little, till
he got it ashore, when lo and behold! he saw in it a one-eyed,
lame-legged ape. Seeing this quoth Khalifah, "There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! verily, we are
Allah's and to Him we are returning! What meaneth this heart-
breaking, miserable ill-luck and hapless fortune? What is come
to me this blessed day? But all this is of the destinies of
Almighty Allah!" Then he took the ape and tied him with a cord
to a tree which grew on the river-bank, and grasping a whip he
had with him, raised his arm in the air, thinking to bring down
the scourge upon the quarry, when Allah made the ape speak with a
fluent tongue, saying, "O Khalifah, hold thy hand and beat me
not, but leave me bounden to this tree and go down to the river
and cast thy net, confiding in Allah; for He will give thee thy
daily bread." Hearing this Khalifah went down to the river and
casting his net, let the cords run out. Then he pulled it in and
found it heavier than before; so he ceased not to tug at it, till
he brought it to land, when, behold, there was another ape in it,
with front teeth wide apart, [FN#187] Kohl-darkened eyes and
hands stained with Henna-dyes; and he was laughing and wore a
tattered waistcloth about his middle. Quoth Khalifah, "Praised
be Allah who hath changed the fish of the river into apes!"
[FN#188] then, going up to the first ape, who was still tied to
the tree, he said to him, "See, O unlucky, how fulsome was the
counsel thou gavest me! None but thou made me light on this
second ape: and for that thou gavest me good-morrow with thy one
eye and thy lameness, [FN#189] I am become distressed and weary,
without dirham or dinar." So saying, he hent in hand a stick
[FN#190] and flourishing it thrice in the air, was about to come
down with it upon the lame ape, when the creature cried out for
mercy and said to him, "I conjure thee, by Allah, spare me for
the sake of this my fellow and seek of him thy need; for he will
guide thee to thy desire!" So he held his hand from him and
throwing down the stick, went up to and stood by the second ape,
who said to him, "O Khalifah, this my speech [FN#191] will profit
thee naught, except thou hearken to what I say to thee; but, an
thou do my bidding and cross me not, I will be the cause of thine
enrichment." Asked Khalifah, "And what hast thou to say to me
that I may obey there therein?" The Ape answered, "Leave me
bound on the bank and hie thee down to the river; then cast thy
net a third time, and after I will tell thee what to do." So he
took his net and going down to the river, cast it once more and
waited awhile. Then he drew it in and finding it heavy, laboured
at it and ceased not his travail till he got it ashore, when he
found in it yet another ape; but this one was red, with a blue
waistcloth about his middle; his hands and feet were stained with
Henna and his eyes blackened with Kohl. When Khalifah saw this,
he exclaimed, "Glory to God the Great! Extolled be the
perfection of the Lord of Dominion! Verily, this is a blessed
day from first to last: its ascendant was fortunate in the
countenance of the first ape, and the scroll [FN#192] is known by
its superscription! Verily, to-day is a day of apes: there is
not a single fish left in the river, and we are come out to-day
but to catch monkeys!" Then he turned to the third ape and said,
"And what thing art thou also, O unlucky?" Quoth the ape, "Dost
thou not know me, O Khalifah!"; and quoth he, "Not I!" The ape
cried, "I am the ape of Abu al-Sa'ádát [FN#193] the Jew, the
shroff." Asked Khalifah, "And what dost thou for him?"; and the
ape answered, "I give him good-morrow at the first of the day,
and he gaineth five ducats; and again at the end of the day, I
give him good-even and he gaineth other five ducats." Whereupon
Khalifah turned to the first ape and said to him, "See, O
unlucky, what fine apes other folks have! As for thee, thou
givest me good-morrow with thy one eye and thy lameness and thy
ill-omened phiz and I become poor and bankrupt and hungry!" So
saying, he took the cattle-stick and flourishing it thrice in the
air, was about to come down with it on the first ape, when Abu
al-Sa'adat's ape said to him, "Let him be, O Khalifah, hold thy
hand and come hither to me, that I may tell thee what to do." So
Khalifah threw down the stick and walking up to him cried, "And
what hast thou to say to me, O monarch of all monkeys?" Replied
the ape, "Leave me and the other two apes here, and take thy net
and cast it into the river; and whatever cometh up, bring it to
me, and I will tell thee what shall gladden thee."--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.


When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-third Night

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the ape
of Abu al-Sa'adat said to Khalifah, "Take thy net and cast it
into the river; and whatever cometh up, bring it to me, and I
will tell thee what shall gladden thee." He replied, "I hear and
obey," and took the net and gathered it on his shoulder, reciting
these couplets,

"When straitened is my breast I will of my Creator pray, * Who
may and can the heaviest weight lighten in easiest way;
For ere man's glance can turn or close his eye by God His grace *
Waxeth the broken whole and yieldeth jail its prison-prey.
Therefore with Allah one and all of thy concerns commit * Whose
grace and favour men of wit shall nevermore gainsay."

And also these twain,

"Thou art the cause that castest men in ban and bane; * Sorrow
e'en so and sorrow's cause Thou canst assain:
Make me not covet aught that lies beyond my reach; * How many a
greedy wight his wish hath failed to gain!"

Now when Khalifah had made an end of his verse, he went down to
the river and casting his net, waited awhile; after which he drew
it up and found therein a fine young fish, [FN#194] with a big
head, a tail like a ladle and eyes like two gold pieces. When
Khalifah saw this fish, he rejoiced, for he had never in his life
caught its like, so he took it, marvelling, and carried it to the
ape of Abu al-Sa'adat the Jew, as ‘twere he had gotten possession
of the universal world. Quoth the ape, "O Khalifah, what wilt
thou do with his and with thine ape?"; and quoth the Fisherman,
"I will tell thee, O monarch of monkeys all I am about to do.
Know then that first, I will cast about to make away with yonder
accursed, my ape, and take thee in his stead and give thee every
day to eat of whatso thou wilt." Rejoined the ape, "Since thou
hast made choice of me, I will tell thee how thou shalt do
wherein, if it please Allah Almighty, shall be the mending of thy
fortune. Lend thy mind, then, to what I say to thee and ‘tis
this!: Take another cord and tie me also to a tree, where leave
me and go to the midst of The Dyke [FN#195] and cast thy net into
the Tigris. [FN#196] Then after waiting awhile, draw it up and
thou shalt find therein a fish, than which thou never sawest a
finer in thy whole life. Bring it to me and I will tell thee how
thou shalt do after this." So Khalifah rose forthright and
casting his net into the Tigris, drew up a great cat-fish
[FN#197] the bigness of a lamb; never had he set eyes on its
like, for it was larger than the first fish. He carried it to
the ape, who said to him, "Gather thee some green grass and set
half of it in a basket; lay the fish therein and cover it with
the other moiety. Then, leaving us here tied, shoulder the
basket and betake thee to Baghdad. If any bespeak thee or
question thee by the way, answer him not, but fare on till thou
comest to the market-street of the money-changers, at the upper
end of whereof thou wilt find the shop of Master [FN#198] Abu al-
Sa'adat the Jew, Shaykh of the shroffs, and wilt see him sitting
on a mattress, with a cushion behind him and two coffers, one for
gold and one for silver, before him, while around him stand his
Mamelukes and negro-slaves and servant-lads. Go up to him and
set the basket before him, saying ‘O Abu al-Sa'adat, verily I
went out to-day to fish and cast my net in thy name and Allah
Almighty sent me this fish.' He will ask, ‘Hast thou shown it to
any but me?;' and do thou answer, "No, by Allah!' then will he
take it of thee and give thee a dinar. Give it back to him and
he will give thee two dinars; but do thou return them also and so
do with everything he may offer thee; and take naught from him,
though he give thee the fish's weight in gold. Then will he say
to thee, ‘Tell me what thou wouldst have,' and do thou reply, "By
Allah, I will not sell the fish save for two words!' He will
ask, ‘What are they?' and do thou answer, ‘Stand up and say,
‘Bear witness, O ye who are present in the market, that I give
Khalifah the fisherman my ape in exchange for his ape, and that I
barter for his lot my lot and luck for his luck.' This is the
price of the fish, and I have no need of gold.' If he do this, I
will every day give thee good-morrow and good-even, and every day
thou shalt gain ten dinars of good gold; whilst this one-eyed,
lame-legged ape shall daily give the Jew good-morrow, and Allah
shall afflict him every day with an avanie [FN#199] which he must
needs pay, nor will he cease to be thus afflicted till he is
reduced to beggary and hath naught. Hearken then to my words; so
shalt thou prosper and be guided aright." Quoth Khalifah, "I
accept thy counsel, O monarch of all the monkeys! But, as for
this unlucky, may Allah never bless him! I know not what to do
with him." Quoth the ape, "Let him go [FN#200] into the water,
and let me go also." "I hear and obey," answered Khalifah and
unbound the three apes, and they went down into the river. Then
he took up the cat-fish [FN#201] which he washed then laid it in
the basket upon some green grass, and covered it with other; and
lastly shouldering his load, set out chanting the following
Mawwál, [FN#202]

"Thy case commit to a Heavenly Lord and thou shalt safety see; *
Act kindly through thy worldly life and live repentance-
free.
Mate not with folk suspected, lest eke thou shouldst suspected be
* And from reviling keep thy tongue lest men revile at
thee!"

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Khalifah
the fisherman, after ending his song, set out with the basket
upon his shoulder and ceased not faring till he entered the city
of Baghdad. And as he threaded the streets the folk knew him and
cried out to him, saying, "What hast thou there, O Khalifah?" but
he paid no heed to them and passed on till he came to the market-
street of the money-changers and fared between the shops, as the
ape had charged him, till he found the Jew seated at the upper
end, with his servants in attendance upon him, as he were a King
of the Kings of Khorason. He knew him at first sight; so he went
up to him and stood before him, whereupon Abu al-Sa'adat raised
his eyes and recognising him, said, "Welcome, O Khalifah! What
wantest thou and what is thy need? If any have missaid thee or
spited thee, tell me and I will go with thee to the Chief of
Police, who shall do thee justice on him." Replied Khalifah,
"Nay, as thy head liveth, O chief of the Jews, none hath missaid
me. But I went forth this morning to the river and, casting my
net into the Tigris on thy luck, brought up this fish."
Therewith he opened the basket and threw the fish before the Jew
who admired it and said, "By the Pentateuch and the Ten
Commandments, [FN#203] I dreamt last night that the Virgin came
to me and said, ‘Know, O Abu al-Sa'adat, that I have sent thee a
pretty present!' and doubtless ‘tis this fish." Then he turned
to Khalifah and said to him, "By thy faith, hath any seen it but
I?" Khalifah replied, "No by Allah and by Abu Bakr the
Viridical, [FN#204] none hath seen it save thou, O chief of the
Jews!" Whereupon the Jew turned to one of his lads and said to
him, "Come, carry this fish to my house and bid Sa'ádah [FN#205]
dress it and fry and broil it, against I make an end of my
business and hie me home." And Khalifah said, "Go, O my lad; let
the master's wife fry some of it and broil the rest." Answered
the boy, "I hear and I obey, O my lord" and, taking the fish,
went away with it to the house. Then the Jew put out his hand
and gave Khalifah the fisherman a dinar, saying, "Take this for
thyself, O Khalifah, and spend it on thy family." When Khalifah
saw the dinar on his palm, he took it, saying, "Laud to the Lord
of Dominion!" as if he had never seen aught of gold in his life;
and went somewhat away; but, before he had gone far, he was
minded of the ape's charge and turning back threw down the ducat,
saying, "Take thy gold and give folk back their fish! Dost thou
make a laughing stock of folk? The Jew hearing this thought he
was jesting and offered him two dinars upon the other, but
Khalifah said, "Give me the fish and no nonsense. How knewest
thou I would sell it at this price?" Whereupon the Jew gave him
two more dinars and said, "Take these five ducats for thy fish
and leave greed." So Khalifah hent the five dinars in hand and
went away, rejoicing, and gazing and marvelling at the gold and
saying, "Glory be to God! There is not with the Caliph of
Baghdad what is with me this day!" Then he ceased not faring on
till he came to the end of the market-street, when he remembered
the words of the ape and his charge, and returning to the Jew,
threw him back the gold. Quoth he, "What aileth thee, O
Khalifah? Dost thou want silver in exchange for gold?" Khalifah
replied, "I want nor dirhams nor dinars. I only want thee to
give me back folk's fish." With this the Jew waxed wroth and
shouted out at him, saying, "O fisherman, thou bringest me a fish
not worth a sequin and I give thee five for it; yet art thou not
content! Art thou Jinn-mad? Tell me for how much thou wilt sell
it." Answered Khalifah, "I will not sell it for silver nor for
gold, only for two sayings [FN#206] thou shalt say me." When the
Jew heard speak of the "Two Sayings," his eyes sank into his
head, he breathed hard and ground his teeth for rage and said to
him, "O nail-paring of the Moslems, wilt thou have me throw off
my faith for the sake of thy fish, and wilt thou debauch me from
my religion and stultify my belief and my conviction which I
inherited of old from my forbears?" Then he cried out to the
servants who were in waiting and said, "Out on you! Bash me this
unlucky rogue's neck and bastinado him soundly!" So they came
down upon him with blows and ceased not beating him till he fell
beneath the shop, and the Jew said to them, "Leave him and let
him rise." Whereupon Khalifah jumped up, as if naught ailed him,
and the Jew said to him, "Tell me what price thou asketh for this
fish and I will give it thee: for thou hast gotten but scant good
of us this day." Answered the Fisherman, "Have no fear for me, O
master, because of the beating; for I can eat ten donkeys'
rations of stick." The Jew laughed at his words and said, "Allah
upon thee, tell me what thou wilt have and by the right of my
Faith, I will give it thee!" The Fisherman replied, "Naught from
thee will remunerate me for this fish save the two words whereof
I spake." And the Jew said, "Meseemeth thou wouldst have me
become a Moslem?" [FN#207] Khalifah rejoined, "By Allah, O Jew,
an thou islamise ‘twill nor advantage the Moslems nor damage the
Jews; and in like manner, an thou hold to thy misbelief ‘twill
nor damage the Moslems nor advantage the Jews. But what I desire
of thee is that thou rise to thy feet and say, ‘Bear witness
against me, O people of the market, that I barter my ape for the
ape of Khalifah the Fisherman and my lot in the world for his lot
and my luck for his luck.'" Quoth the Jew, "If this be all thou
desirest ‘twill sit lightly upon me." --And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Jew
said to Khalifah the Fisherman, "If this be all thou desirest,
‘twill sit lightly upon me." So he rose without stay or delay
and standing on his feet, repeated the required words; after
which he turned to the Fisherman and asked him, "Hast thou aught
else to ask of me?" "No," answered he, and the Jew said, "Go in
peace!" Hearing this Khalifah sprung to his feet forthright;
took up his basket and net and returned straight to the Tigris,
where he threw his net and pulled it in. He found it heavy and
brought it not ashore but with travail, when he found it full of
fish of all kinds. Presently, up came a woman with a dish, who
gave me a dinar, and he gave her fish for it; and after her an
eunuch, who also bought a dinar's worth of fish, and so forth
till he had sold ten dinars' worth. And he continued to sell ten
dinars' worth of fish daily for ten days, till he had gotten an
hundred dinars. Now Khalifah the Fisherman had quarters in the
Passage of the Merchants, [FN#208] and, as he lay one night in
his lodging much bemused with Hashish, he said to himself, "O
Khalifah, the folk all know thee for a poor fisherman, and now
thou hast gotten an hundred golden dinars. Needs must the
Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, hear of this from
some one, and haply he will be wanting money and will send for
thee and say to thee, ‘I need a sum of money and it hath reached
me that thou hast an hundred dinars: so do thou lend them to me
those same.' I shall answer, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, I am
a poor man, and whoso told thee that I had an hundred dinars lied
against me; for I have naught of this.' Thereupon he will commit
me to the Chief of Police, saying, "Strip him of his clothes and
torment him with the bastinado till he confess and give up the
hundred dinars in his possession. Wherefore, meseemeth to
provide against this predicament, the best thing I can do, is to
rise forthright and bash myself with the whip, so to use myself
to beating." And his Hashish [FN#209] said to him, "Rise, doff
thy dress." So he stood up and putting off his clothes, took a
whip he had by him and set handy a leathern pillow; then he fell
to lashing himself, laying every other blow upon the pillow and
roaring out the while, "Alas! Alas! By Allah, ‘tis a false
saying, O my lord, and they have lied against me; for I am a poor
fisherman and have naught of the goods of the world!" The noise
of the whip falling on the pillow and on his person resounded in
the still of night and the folk heard it, and amongst others the
merchants, and they said, "Whatever can ail the poor fellow, that
he crieth and we hear the noise of blows falling on him?"
‘Twould seem robbers have broken in upon him and are tormenting
him." Presently they all came forth of their lodgings, at the
noise of the blows and the crying, and repaired to Khalifah's
room, but they found the door locked and said one to other,
"Belike the robbers have come in upon him from the back of the
adjoining saloon. It behoveth us to climb over by the roofs."
So they clomb over the roofs and coming down through the sky-
light, [FN#210] saw him naked and flogging himself and asked him,
"What aileth thee, O Khalifah?" He answered, "Know, O folk, that
I have gained some dinars and fear lest my case be carried up to
the Prince of True Believers, Harun al-Rashid, and he send for me
and demand of me those same gold pieces; where upon I should
deny, and I fear that, if I deny, he will torture me, so I am
torturing myself, by way of accustoming me to what may come."
The merchants laughed at him and said, "Leave this fooling, may
Allah not bless thee and the dinars thou hast gotten! Verily
thou hast disturbed us this night and hast troubled our hearts."
So Khalifah left flogging himself and slept till the morning,
when he rose and would have gone about his business, but
bethought him of his hundred dinars and said in his mind, "An I
leave them at home, thieves will steal them, and if I put them in
a belt [FN#211] about my waist, peradventure some one will see me
and lay in wait for me till he come upon me in some lonely place
and slay me and take the money: but I have a device that should
serve me well, right well." So he jumped up forthright and made
him a pocket in the collar of his gaberdine and tying the hundred
dinars up in a purse, laid them in the collar-pocket. Then he
took his net and basket and staff and went down to the Tigris, --
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Khalifah
the Fisherman, having set his hundred dinars in the collar-pocket
took basket, staff and net and went down to the Tigris, where he
made a cast but brought up naught. So he removed from that place
to another and threw again, but once more the net came up empty;
and he went on removing from place to place till he had gone half
a day's journey from the city, ever casting the net which kept
bringing up naught. So he said to himself, "By Allah, I will
throw my net a-stream but his once more, whether ill come of it
or weal!" [FN#212] Then he hurled the net with all his force, of
the excess and his wrath and the purse with the hundred dinars
flew out of his collar-pocket and, lighting in mid-stream, was
carried away by the strong current; whereupon he threw down the
net and plunged into the water after the purse. He dived for it
nigh a hundred times, till his strength was exhausted and he came
up for sheer fatigue without chancing on it. When he despaired
of finding the purse, he returned to the shore, where he was
nothing but staff, net and basket and sought for his clothes, but
could light on no trace of them: so he said in himself, "O vilest
of those wherefor was made the byword, ‘The pilgrimage is not
perfected save by copulation with the camel!" [FN#213] Then he
wrapped the net about him and taking staff in one hand and basket
in other, went trotting about like a camel in rut, running right
and left and backwards and forwards, dishevelled and dusty, as he
were a rebel Marid let loose from Solomon's prison. [FN#214] So
far for what concerns the Fisherman Khalifah; but as regards the
Caliph Harun al-Rashid, he had a friend, a jeweller called Ibn
al-Kirnás, [FN#215] and all the traders, brokers and middle-men
knew him for the Caliph's merchant; wherefore there was naught
sold in Baghdad, by way of rarities and things of price or
Mamelukes or handmaidens, but was first shown to him. As he sat
one day in his shop, behold, there came up to him the Shaykh of
the brokers, with a slave-girl, whose like seers never saw, for
she was of passing beauty and loveliness, symmetry and perfect
grace, and among her gifts was that she knew all arts and
sciences and could make verses and play upon all manner musical
instruments. So Ibn al-Kirnas bought her for five thousand
golden dinars and clothed her with other thousand; after which he
carried her to the Prince of True Believers, with whom she lay
the night and who made trial of her in every kind of knowledge
and accomplishment and found her versed in all sorts of arts and
sciences, having no equal in her time. Her name was Kút al-Kulúb
[FN#216] and she was even as saith the poet,

"I fix my glance on her, whene'er she wends; * And non-acceptance
of my glance breeds pain:
She favours graceful-necked gazelle at gaze; * And ‘Graceful as
gazelle' to say we're fain."

And where is this [FN#217] beside the saying of another?

"Give me brunettes; the Syrian spears, so limber and so straight,
Tell of the slender dusky maids, so lithe and proud of gait.
Languid of eyelids, with a down like silk upon her cheek, Within
her wasting lover's heart she queens it still in state."

On the morrow the Caliph sent for Ibn al-Kirnas the Jeweller, and
bade him receive ten thousand dinars as to her price. And his
heart was taken up with the slave-girl Kut al-Kulub and he
forsook the Lady Zubaydah bint al-Kasim, for all she was the
daughter of his father's brother [FN#218] and he abandoned all
his favorite concubines and abode a whole month without stirring
from Kut al-Kulub's side save to go to the Friday prayers and
return to her in all haste. This was grievous to the Lords of
the Realm and they complained thereof to the Wazir Ja'afar the
Barmecide, who bore with the Commander of the Faithful and waited
till the next Friday, when he entered the cathedral-mosque and,
foregathering with the Caliph, related to him all that occurred
to him of extra-ordinary stories anent seld-seen love and lovers,
with intent to draw out what was in his mind. Quoth the Caliph,
"By Allah, O Ja'afar, this is not of my choice; but my heart is
caught in the snare of love and wot I not what is to be done!"
The Wazir Ja'afar replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, thou
knowest how this girl Kut al-Kulub is become at thy disposal and
of the number of thy servants, and that which hand possesseth
soul coveteth not. Moreover, I will tell thee another thing
which is that the highest boast of Kings and Princes is in
hunting and the pursuit of sport and victory; and if thou apply
thyself to this, perchance it will divert thee from her, and it
may be thou wilt forget her." Rejoined the Caliph, "Thou sayest
well, O Ja'afar; come let us go a-hunting forthright, without
stay or delay." So soon as Friday prayers were prayed, they left
the mosque and at once mounting their she-mules rode forth to the
chase. --And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
the Caliph Harun al-Rashid and the Wazir Ja'afar would go forth
a-hunting and a-chasing, they mounted two she-mules and fared on
into the open country, occupied with talk, and their attendants
outwent them. Presently the heat became overhot and Al-Rashid
said to his Wazir, "O Ja'afar, I am sore athirst." Then he
looked around and espying a figure in the distance on a high
mound, asked Ja'afar, "Seest thou what I see?" Answered the
Wazir, "Yes, O Commander of the Faithful; I see a dim figure on a
high mound; belike he is the keeper of a garden or of a cucumber-
plot, and in whatso wise water will not be lacking in his
neighborhood;" presently adding, "I will go to him and fetch thee
some." But Al-Rashid said, "My mule is swifter than thy mule; so
do thou abide here, on account of the troops, whilst I go myself
to him and get of this person [FN#219] drink and return." So
saying, he urged his she-mule, which started off like racing wind
or railing-water and, in the twinkling of an eye, made the mound,
where he found the figure he had seen to be none other than
Khalifah the Fisherman, naked and wrapped in the net; and indeed
he was horrible to behold, as to and fro he rolled with eyes for
very redness like cresset-gleam and dusty hair in dishevelled
trim, as he were an Ifrit or a lion grim. Al-Rashid saluted him
and he returned his salutation; but he was wroth and fires might
have been lit at his breath. Quoth the Caliph, "O man, hast thou
any water?"; and quoth Khalifah, "Ho thou, art thou blind, or
Jinn-mad? Get thee to the river Tigris, for ‘tis behind this
mound." So Al-Rashid went around the mound and going down to the
river, drank and watered his mule: then without a moment's delay
he returned to Khalifah and said to him, "What aileth thee, O
man, to stand here, and what is thy calling?" The Fisherman
cried, "This is a stranger and sillier question than that about
the water! Seest thou not the gear of my craft on my shoulder?"
Said the Caliph, "Belike thou art a fisherman?"; and he replied,
"Yes." Asked Al-Rashid, "Where is thy gaberdine, [FN#220] and
where are thy waistcloth and girdle and where be the rest of thy
raiment?" Now these were the very things which had been taken
from Khalifah, like for like; so, when he heard the Caliph name
them, he got into his head that it was he who had stolen his
clothes from the river-bank and coming down from the top of the
mound, swiftlier than the blinding leven, laid hold of the mule's
bridle, saying, "Harkye, man, bring me back my things and leave
jesting and joking." Al-Rashid replied, "By Allah, I have not
seen thy clothes nor know aught of them!" Now the Caliph had
large cheeks and a small mouth; [FN#221] so Khalifah said to him,
"Belike, thou art by trade a singer or a piper on pipes? But
bring me back my clothes fairly and without more ado, or I will
bash thee with this my staff till thou bepiss thyself and befoul
they clothes." When Al-Rashid saw the staff in the Fisherman's
hand and that he had the vantage of him, he said to himself, "By
Allah, I cannot brook from this mad beggar half a blow of that
staff!" Now he had on a satin gown; so he pulled it off and gave
it to Khalifah, saying, "O man, take this in place of thy
clothes." The Fisherman took it and turned it about and said, "My
clothes are worth ten of this painted 'Abá-cloak;" and rejoined
the Caliph, "Put it on till I bring thee thy gear." So Khalifah
donned the gown, but finding it too long for him, took a knife he
had with him, tied to the handle of his basket, [FN#222] and cut
off nigh a third of the skirt, so that it fell only beneath his
knees. Then he turned to Al-Rashid and said to him, "Allah upon
thee, O piper, tell me what wage thou gettest every month from
thy master, for thy craft of piping." Replied the Caliph, "My
wage is ten dinars a month," and Khalifah continued, "By Allah,
my poor fellow, thou makest me sorry for thee! Why, I make thy
ten dinars every day! hast thou a mind to take service with me
and I will teach thee the art of fishing and share my gain with
thee? So shalt thou make five dinars a day and be my slavey and
I will protect thee against thy master with this staff." Quoth
Al-Rashid, "I will well"; and quoth Khalifah, "Then get off thy
she-ass and tie her up, so she may serve us to carry the fish
hereafter, and come hither, that I may teach thee to fish
forthright." So Al-Rashid alighted and hobbling his mule, tucked
his skirts into his girdle, and Khalifah said to him, "O piper,
lay hold of the net thus and put it over thy forearm thus and
cast it into the Tigris thus." Accordingly, the Caliph took
heart of grace and, doing as the fisherman showed him, threw the
net and pulled at it, but could not draw it up. So Khalifah came
to his aid and tugged at it with him; but the two together could
not hale it up: where upon said the fisherman, "O piper of ill-
omen, for the first time I took thy gown in place of my clothes;
but this second time I will have thine ass and will beat thee to
boot, till thou bepiss and beskite thyself! An I find my net
torn." Quoth Al-Rashid, "Let the twain of us pull at once." So
they both pulled together and succeeded with difficulty in
hauling that net ashore, when they found it full of fish of all
kinds and colours;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Khalifah the Fisherman and the Caliph hauled that net ashore,
they found it full of fish of all kinds; and Khalifah said to Al-
Rashid, "By Allah, O piper, thou art foul of favor but, an thou
apply thyself to fishing, thou wilt make a mighty fine fisherman.
But now 'twere best thou bestraddle thine ass and make for the
market and fetch me a pair of frails, [FN#223] and I will look
after the fish till thou return, when I and thou will load it on
thine ass's back. I have scales and weights and all we want, so
we can take them with us and thou wilt have nothing to do but to
hold the scales and pouch the price; for here we have fish worth
twenty dinars. So be fast with the frails and loiter not."
Answered the Caliph, "I hear and obey" and mounting, left him
with his fish, and spurred his mule, in high good humour, and
ceased not laughing over his adventures with the Fisherman, till
he came up to Ja'afar, who said to him, "O Commander of the
Faithful, belike, when thou wentest down to drink, thou found a
pleasant flower-garden and enteredst and tookest thy pleasure
therein alone?" At this Al-Rashid fell a laughing again and all
the Barmecides rose and kissed the ground before him, saying, "O
Commander of the Faithful, Allah make joy to endure for thee and
do away annoy from thee! What was the cause of thy delaying when
thou faredst to drink and what hath befallen thee?" Quoth the
Caliph, "Verily, a right wonderous tale and a joyous adventure
and a wonderous hath befallen me." And he repeated to them what
had passed between himself and the Fisherman and his words, "Thou
stolest my clothes!" and how he had given him his gown and how he
had cut off a part of it, finding it too long for him. Said
Ja'afar, "By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, I had it in mind
to beg the gown of thee; but now I will go straight to the
Fisherman and buy it of him." The Caliph replied, "By Allah, he
hath cut off a third part of the skirt and spoilt it! But, O
Ja'afar, I am tired with fishing in the river, for I have caught
great store of fish which I left on the bank with my master
Khalifah, and he is watching them and waiting for me to return to
him with a couple of frails and a matchet. [FN#224] Then we are
to go, I and he, to the market and sell the fish and share the
price." Ja'afar rejoined, "O Commander of the Faithful, I will
bring you a purchaser for your fish." And Al-Rashid retorted, "O
Ja'afar, by the virtue of my holy forefathers, whoso bringeth me
one of the fish that are before Khalifah, who taught me angling,
I will give him for it a gold dinar." So the crier proclaimed
among the troops that they should go forth and buy fish for the
Caliph, and they all arose and made for the river-side. Now,
while Khalifah was expecting the Caliph's return with the two
frails, behold, the Mamelukes swooped down upon him like vultures
and took the fish and wrapped them in gold-embroidered kerchiefs,
beating one another in their eagerness to get at the Fisherman.
Whereupon quoth Khalifah, "Doubtless these are of the fish of
Paradise!" [FN#225] and hending two fish in right hand and left,
plunged into the water up to his neck and fell a-saying, "O
Allah, by the virtue of these fish, let Thy servant the piper, my
partner, come to me at this very moment." And suddenly up to him
came a black slave which was the chief of the Caliph's negro
eunuchs. He had tarried behind the rest, by reason of his horse
having stopped to make water by the way, and finding that naught
remained of the fish, little or much, looked right and left, till
he espied Khalifah standing in the stream, with a fish in either
hand, and said to him, "Come hither, O Fisherman!" But Khalifah
replied, "Begone and none of your impudence!" [FN#226] So the
eunuch went up to him and said, "Give me the fish and I will pay
thee their price." Replied the Fisherman, "Art thou little of
wit? I will not sell them." Therewith the eunuch drew his mace
upon him, and Khalifah cried out, saying, "Strike not, O loon!
Better largesse than the mace." [FN#227] So saying, he threw the
two fishes to the eunuch, who took them and laid them in his
kerchief. Then he put hand in pouch, but found not a single
dirham and said to Khalifah, "O Fisherman, verily thou art out of
luck for, by Allah, I have not a silver about me! But come to-
morrow to the Palace of the Caliphate and ask for the eunuch
Sandal; whereupon the castratos will direct thee to me and by
coming thither thou shalt get what falleth to thy lot and
therewith wend thy ways." Quoth Khalifah, "Indeed, this is a
blessed day and its blessedness was manifest from the first of
it!"[FN#228] Then he shouldered his net and returned to Baghdad;
and as he passed through the streets, the folk saw the Caliph's
gown on him and stared at him till he came to the gate of his
quarter, by which was the shop of the Caliph's tailor. When the
man saw him wearing a dress of the apparel of the Caliph, worth a
thousand dinars, he said to him, "O Khalifah, whence hadst thou
that gown?" Replied the Fisherman, "What aileth thee to be
impudent? I had it of one whom I taught to fish and who is
become my apprentice. O forgave him the cutting off of his hand
[FN#229] for that he stole my clothes and gave me this cape in
their place." So the tailor knew that the Caliph had come upon
him as he was fishing and jested with him and given him the
gown;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-ninth Night,

She resume, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Caliph came upon Khalifah the Fisherman and gave him his own gown
in jest wherewith the man fared home. Such was his case; but as
regards Harun al-Rashid, he had gone out a-hunting and a-fishing
only to divert his thoughts from the damsel, Kut al-Kulub. But
when Zubaydah heard of her and of the Caliph's devotion to her,
the Lady was fired with the jealousy which the more especially
fireth women, so that she refused meat and drink and rejected the
delights of sleep and awaited the Caliph's going forth on a
journey or what not, that she might set a snare for the damsel.
So when she learnt that he was gone hunting and fishing, she bade
her women furnish the Palace fairly and decorate it splendidly
and serve up viands and confections; and amongst the rest she
made a China dish of the daintiest sweetmeats that can be made
wherein she had put Bhang. Then she ordered one of her eunuchs
go to the damsel Kut al-Kulub and bid her to the banquet, saying,
"The Lady Zubaydah bint Al-Kasim, the wife of the Commander of
the Faithful, hath drunken medicine to-day and, having heard tell
of the sweetness of thy singing, longeth to divert herself
somewhat of thine art." Kut al-Kulub replied, "Hearing and
obedience are due to Allah and the Lady Zubaydah," and rose
without stay or delay, unknowing what was hidden for her in the
Secret Purpose. Then she took with her what instruments she
needed and, accompanying the eunuch, ceased not fairing till she
stood in the presence of the Princess. When she entered she
kissed ground before her again and again, then rising to her
feet, said, "Peace be on the Lady of the exalted house Abbasi and
scion of the Prophet's family! May Allah fulfil thee of peace
and prosperity in the days and the years!" [FN#230] Then she
stood with the rest of the women and eunuchs, and presently the
Lady Zubaydah raised her eyes and considered her beauty and
loveliness. She saw a damsel with cheeks smooth as rose and
breasts like granado, a face moon-bright, a brow flower-white and
great eyes black as night; her eyelids were langour-dight and her
face beamed with light, as if the sun from her forehead arose and
the murks of the night from the locks of her brow; and the
fragrance of musk from her breath strayed and flowers bloomed in
her lovely face inlaid; the moon beamed from her forehead and in
her slender shape the branches swayed. She was like the full
moon shining in the nightly shade; her eyes wantoned, her
eyebrows were like a bow arched and her lips of coral moulded.
Her beauty amazed all who espied her and her glances amated all
who eyed her. Glory be to Him who formed her and fashioned her
and perfected her! Brief, she was even as saith the poet of one
who favoured her,

"When she's incensed thou seest folk like slain, * And when she's
pleased, their souls are quick again:
Her eyne are armed with glances magical * Wherewith she kills and
quickens as she's fain.
The Worlds she leadeth captive with her eyes * As tho' the Worlds
were all her slavish train."

Quoth the Lady Zubaydah, "Well come, and welcome and fair cheer
to thee, O Kut al-Kulub! Sit and divert us with thine art and
the goodliness of thine accomplishments." Quoth the damsel, "I
hear and I obey"; and, putting out her hand, took the tambourine,
whereof one of its praisers speaketh in the following verses,

"Ho thou o' the tabret, my heart takes flight * And love-smit
cries while thy fingers smite!
Thou takest naught but a wounded heart, * The while for
acceptance longs the wight:
So say thou word or heavy or light; * Play whate'er thou please
it will charm the sprite.
Sois bonne, unveil thy cheek, ma belle * Rise, deftly dance and
all hearts delight."

Then she smote the tambourine briskly and so sang thereto, that
she stopped the birds in the sky and the place danced with them
blithely; after which she laid down the tambourine and took the
pipe [FN#231] whereof it is said,

"She hath eyes whose babes wi' their fingers sign * To sweet
tunes without a discordant line."

And as the poet also said in this couplet,

"And, when she announceth the will to sing, * For Union-joy 'tis
a time divine!"

Then she laid down the pipe, after she had charmed therewith all
who were present, and took up the lute, whereof saith the poet,

"How many a blooming bough in the glee-girl's hand is fain * as
lute to 'witch great souls by charm of cunning strain!
She sweeps tormenting lute strings by her artful touch * Wi'
finger-tips that surely chain with endless chain."

Then she tightened its pegs and tuned its strings and laying it
in her lap, bended over it as mother bendeth over child; and it
seemed as it were of her and her lute that the poet spoke in
these couplets,

"Sweetly discourses she on Persian string * And Unintelligence
makes understand.
And teaches she that Love's a murtherer, * Who oft the reasoning
Moslem hath unmann'd.
A maid, by Allah, in whose palm a thing * Of painted wood like
mouth can speech command.
With lute she stauncheth flow of Love; and so * Stops flow of
blood the cunning leach's hand."

Then she preluded in fourteen different modes and sang to the
lute an entire piece, so as to confound the gazers and delight
her hearers. After which she recited these two couplets,

"The coming unto thee is blest: * Therein new joys for aye
attend:
Its blisses are continuous * Its blessings never end."

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Fortieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the maiden,
Kut al-Kulub, after singing these songs and sweeping the strings
in presence of the Lady Zubaydah, rose and exhibited tricks of
sleight of hand and legerdemain and all manner pleasing arts,
till the Princess came near to fall in love with her and said to
herself, "Verily, my cousin Al-Rashid is not to blame for loving
her!" Then the damsel kissed ground before Zubaydah and sat
down, whereupon they set food before her. Presently they brought
her the drugged dish of sweetmeats and she ate thereof; and
hardly had it settled in her stomach when her head fell backward
and she sank on the ground sleeping. With this, the Lady said to
her women, "Carry her up to one of the chambers, till I summon
her"; and they replied, "We hear and we obey." Then said she to
one of her eunuchs, "Fashion me a chest and bring it hitherto to
me!", and shortly afterwards she bade make the semblance of a
tomb and spread the report that Kut al-Kulub had choked and died,
threatening her familiars that she would smite the neck of
whoever should say, "She is alive." Now, behold, the Caliph
suddenly returned from the chase, and the first enquiry he made
was for the damsel. So there came to him one of his eunuchs,
whom the Lady Zubaydah had charged to declare she was dead, if
the Caliph should ask for her and, kissing ground before him,
said, "May thy head live, O my lord! Be certified that Kut al-
Kulub choked in eating and is dead." Whereupon cried Al-Rashid,
"God never gladden thee with good news, O thou bad slave!" and
entered the Palace, where he heard of her death from every one
and asked, "Where is her tomb?" So they brought him to the
sepulchre and showed him the pretended tomb, saying, "This is her
burial-place." When he saw it, he cried out and wept and
embraced it, quoting these two couplets, [FN#232]

"By Allah, O tomb, have her beauties ceased and disappeared from
sight * And is the countenance changed and wan, that shone
so wonder-bright?
O tomb, O tomb, thou art neither heaven nor garden, verily: * How
comes it then that swaying branch and moon in thee unite?

The Caliph, weeping sore for her, abode by the tomb a full hour,
after which he arose and went away, in the utmost distress and
the deepest melancholy. So the Lady Zubaydah saw that her plot
had succeeded and forthright sent for the eunuch and said,
"Hither with the chest!" He set it before her, when she bade
bring the damsel and locking her up therein, said to the Eunuch,
"Take all pains to sell this chest and make it a condition with
the purchaser that he buy it locked; then give alms with its
price." [FN#233] So he took it and went forth, to do her
bidding. Thus fared it with these; but as for Khalifah the
Fisherman, when morning morrowed and shone with its light and
sheen, he said to himself, "I cannot do aught better to-day than
visit the Eunuch who bought the fish of me, for he appointed me
to come to him in the Palace of the Caliphate." So he went forth
of his lodging, intending for the palace, and when he came
thither, he found Mamelukes, negro-slaves and eunuchs standing
and sitting; and looking at them, behold, seated amongst them was
the Eunuch who had taken the fish of him, with the white slaves
waiting on him. Presently, one of the Mameluke-lads called out
to him; whereupon the Eunuch turned to see who he was an lo! it
was the Fisherman. Now when Khalifah was ware that he saw him
and recognized him, he said to him, "I have not failed thee, O my
little Tulip! [FN#234] On this wise are men of their word."
Hearing his address, Sandal the Eunuch [FN#235] laughed and
replied, "By Allah, thou art right, O Fisherman," and put his
hand to his pouch, to give him somewhat; but at that moment there
arose a great clamour. So he raised his head to see what was to
do and finding that it was the Wazir Ja'afar the Barmecide coming
forth from the Caliph's presence, he rose to him and forewent
him, and they walked about, conversing for a longsome time.
Khalifah the Fisherman waited awhile; then, growing weary of
standing and finding that the Eunuch took no heed of him, he set
himself in his way and beckoned to him from afar, saying, "O my
lord Tulip, give me my due and let me go!" The Eunuch heard him,
but was ashamed to answer him because of the minister's presence;
so he went on talking with Ja'afar and took no notice whatever of
the Fisherman. Whereupon quoth Khalifah, "O Slow o' Pay!
[FN#236] May Allah put to shame all churls and all who take
folks's goods and are niggardly with them! I put myself under
thy protection, O my lord Bran-belly, [FN#237] to give me my due
and let me go!" The Eunuch heard him, but was ashamed to answer
him before Ja'afar; and the Minister saw the Fisherman beckoning
and talking to him, though he knew not what he was saying; so he
said to Sandal, misliking his behaviour, "O Eunuch, what would
yonder beggar with thee?" Sandal replied, "Dost thou not know
him, O my lord the Wazir?"; and Ja'afar answered, "By Allah, I
know him not! How should I know a man I have never seen but at
this moment?" Rejoined the Eunuch, "O my lord, this is the
Fisherman whose fish we seized on the banks of the Tigris. I
came too late to get any and was ashamed to return to the Prince
of True Believers, empty-handed, when all the Mamelukes had some.
Presently I espied the Fisherman standing in mid-stream, calling
on Allah, with four fishes in his hands, and said to him, ‘Give
me what thou hast there and take their worth.' He handed me the
fish and I put my hand into my pocket, purposing to gift him with
somewhat, but found naught therein and said, ‘Come to me in the
Palace, and I will give thee wherewithal to aid thee in thy
poverty. So he came to me to-day and I was putting hand to
pouch, that I might give him somewhat, when thou camest forth and
I rose to wait on thee and was diverted with thee from him, till
he grew tired of waiting and this is the whole story, how he
cometh to be standing here." --And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-first Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Sandal the Eunuch related to Ja'afar the Barmecide the tale of
Khalifah the Fisherman, ending with, "This is the whole story and
how he cometh to be standing here!" the Wazir, hearing this
account, smiled and said, "O Eunuch, how is it that this
Fisherman cometh in his hour of need and thou satisfiest him not?
Dost thou not know him, O Chief of the Eunuchs?" "No," answered
Sandal and Ja'afar said, "This is the Master of the Commander of
the Faithful, and his partner and our lord the Caliph has arisen
this morning, strait of breast, heavy of heart and troubled of
thought, nor is there aught will broaden his breast save this
fisherman. So let him not go, till I crave the Caliph's pleasure
concerning him and bring him before him; perchance Allah will
relieve him of his oppression and console him for the loss of Kut
al-Kulub, by means of the Fisherman's presence, and he will give
him wherewithal to better himself; and thou wilt be the cause of
this." Replied Sandal, "O my lord, do as thou wilt and may Allah
Almighty long continue thee a pillar of the dynasty of the
Commander of the Faithful, whose shadow Allah perpetuate [FN#238]
and prosper it, root and branch!" Then the Wazir Ja'afar rose up
and went in to the Caliph, and Sandal ordered the Mamelukes not
to leave the Fisherman; whereupon Khalifah cried, "How goodly is
thy bounty, O Tulip! The seeker is become the sought. I come to
seek my due, and they imprison me for debts in arrears!" [FN#239]
When Ja'afar came in to the presence of the Caliph, he found him
sitting with his head bowed earthwards, breast straitened and
mind melancholy, humming the verses of the poet,

"My blamers instant bid that I for her become consoled; * But I,
what can I do, whose heart declines to be controlled?
And how can I in patience bear the loss of lovely maid, * When
fails me patience for a love that holds with firmest hold!
Ne'er I'll forget her nor the bowl that 'twixt us both went round
* And wine of glances maddened me with drunkenness
ensoul'd."

Whenas Ja'afar stood in the presence, he said, "Peace be upon
thee, O Commander of the Faithful, Defender of the honour of the
Faith and descendant of the uncle of the Prince of the Apostles,
Allah assain him and save him and his family one and all!" The
Caliph raised his head and answered, "And on thee be peace and
the mercy of Allah and His blessings!" Quoth Ja'afar; "With
leave of the Prince of True Believers, his servant would speak
without restraint." Asked the Caliph, "And when was restraint
put upon thee in speech and thou the Prince of Wazirs? Say what
thou wilt." Answered Ja'afar, "When I went out, O my lord, from
before thee, intending for my house, I saw standing at the door
thy master and teacher and partner, Khalifah the Fisherman, who
was aggrieved at thee and complained of thee saying, ‘Glory be to
God! I taught him to fish and he went away to fetch me a pair of
frails, but never came back: and this is not the way of a good
partner or of a good apprentice.' So, if thou hast a mind to
partnership, well and good; and if not, tell him, that he may
take to partner another." Now when the Caliph heard these words
he smiled and his straitness of breast was done away with and he
said, "My life on thee, is this the truth thou sayest, that the
Fisherman standeth at the door?" and Ja'afar replied, "By thy
life, O Commander of the Faithful, he standeth at the door."
Quoth the Caliph, "O Ja'afar, by Allah, I will assuredly do my
best to give him his due! If Allah at my hands send him misery,
he shall have it; and if prosperity he shall have it." Then he
took a piece of paper and cutting it in pieces, said to the
Wazir, "O Ja'afar, write down with thine own hand twenty sums of
money, from one dinar to a thousand, and the names of all kinds
of offices and dignitaries from the least appointment to the
Caliphate; also twenty kinds of punishment from the lightest
beating to death." [FN#240] "I hear and obey, O Commander of the
Faithful," answered Ja'afar, and did as he was bidden. Then said
the Caliph, "O Ja'afar, I swear by my holy forefathers and by my
kinship to Hamzah [FN#241] and Akil, [FN#242] that I mean to
summon the fisherman and bid him take one of these papers, whose
contents none knowesth save thou and I; and whatsoever is written
in the paper which he shall choose, I will give it to him; though
it be the Caliphate I will divest myself thereof and invest him
therewith and grudge it not to him; and, on the other hand, if
there be written therein hanging or mutilation or death, I will
execute it upon him. Now go and fetch him to me." When Ja'afar
heard this, he said to himself, "There is no Majesty and there is
no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! It may be
somewhat will fall to this poor wretch's lot that will bring
about his destruction, and I shall be the cause. But the Caliph
hath sworn; so nothing remains now but to bring him in, and
naught will happen save whatso Allah willeth." Accordingly he
went out to Khalifah the Fisherman and laid hold of his hand to
carry him in to the Caliph, whereupon his reason fled and he said
in himself, "What a stupid I was to come after yonder ill-omened
slave, Tulip, whereby he hath brought me in company with Bran-
belly!" Ja'afar fared on with him, with Mamelukes before and
behind, whilst he said, "Doth not arrest suffice, but these must
go behind and before me, to hinder my making off?" till they had
traversed seven vestibules, when the Wazir said to him, "Mark my
words, O Fisherman! Thou standest before the Commander of the
Faithful and Defender of the Faith!" Then he raised the great
curtain and Khalifah's eyes fell on the Caliph, who was seated on
his couch, with the Lords of the realm standing in attendance
upon him. As soon as he knew him, he went up to him and said,
"Well come, and welcome to thee, O piper! ‘Twas not right of thee
to make thyself a Fisherman and go away, leaving me sitting to
guard the fish, and never to return! For, before I was aware,
there came up Mamelukes on beasts of all manner colours, and
snatched away the fish from me, I standing alone, and this was
all of thy fault; for, hadst thou returned with the frails
forthright, we had sold an hundred dinars' worth of fish. And
now I come to seek my due, and they have arrested me but thou,
who hath imprisoned thee also in this place?" The Caliph smiled
and raising a corner of the curtain, put forth his head and said
to the Fisherman, "Come hither and take thee one of these
papers." Quoth Khalifah the Fisherman, "Yesterday thou wast a
fisherman, and to-day thou hast become an astrologer; but the
more trades a man hath, the poorer he waxeth." Thereupon,
Ja'afar, said, "Take the paper at once, and do as the Commander
of the Faithful biddeth thee without prating." So he came
forward and put forth his hand saying, "Far be it from me that
this piper should ever again be my knave and fish with me!" Then
taking the paper he handed it to the Caliph, saying, "O piper,
what hath come out for me therein? Hide naught thereof."--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-second Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Khalifah the Fisherman took up one of the papers and handed it to
the Caliph he said, "O piper, what have come out to me therein?
Hide naught thereof." So Al-Rashid received it and passed it on
to Ja'afar and said to him, "Read what is therein." He looked at
it and said, "There is no Majesty there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" Said the Caliph, "Good news,
[FN#243] O Ja'afar? What seest thou therein?" Answered the
Wazir, "O Commander of the Faithful, there came up from the
paper, ‘Let the Fisherman receive an hundred blows with a
stick.'" So the Caliph commanded to beat the Fisherman and they
gave him an hundred sticks: after which he arose, saying, "Allah
damn this, O Bran-belly! Are jail and sticks part of the game?"
Then said Ja'afar, "O Commander of the Faithful, this poor devil
is come to the river, and how shall he go away thirsting? We
hope that among the alms-deeds of the Commander of the Faithful,
he may have leave to take another paper, so haply somewhat may
come out wherewithal he may succor his poverty." Said the Caliph,
"By Allah, O Ja'afar, if he take another paper and death be
written therein, I will assuredly kill him, and thou wilt be the
cause." Answered Ja'afar, "If he die he will be at rest." But
Khalifah the Fisherman said to him, "Allah ne'er gladden thee
with good news! Have I made Baghdad strait upon you, that ye
seek to slay me?" Quoth Ja'afar, "Take thee a paper and crave
the blessing of Allah Almighty!" So he put out his hand and
taking a paper, gave it to Ja'afar, who read it and was silent.
The Caliph asked, "Why art thou silent, O son of Yahya?"; and he
answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, there hath come out on
this paper, ‘Naught shall be given to the Fisherman.'" Then said
the Caliph, "His daily bread will not come from us: bid him fare
forth from before our face." Quoth Ja'afar, "By the claims of
thy pious forefathers, let him take a third paper, it may be it
will bring him alimony;" and quoth the Caliph, "Let him take one
and no more." So he put out his hand and took a third paper, and
behold, therein was written, "Let the Fisherman be given one
dinar." Ja'afar cried to him, "I sought good fortune for thee,
but Allah willed not to thee aught save this dinar." And
Khalifah answered, "Verily, a dinar for every hundred sticks were
rare good luck, may Allah not send thy body health!" The Caliph
laughed at him and Ja'afar took him by the hand and led him out.
When he reached the door, Sandal the eunuch saw him and said to
him, "Hither, O Fisherman! Give us portion of that which the
Commander of the Faithful hath bestowed on thee, whilst jesting
with thee." Replied Khalifah, "By Allah, O Tulip, thou art
right! Wilt share with me, O nigger? Indeed I have eaten stick
to the tune of an hundred blows and have earned one dinar, and
thou art but too welcome to it." So saying, he threw him the
dinar and went out, with the tears flowing down the plain of his
cheeks. When the eunuch saw him in this plight, he knew that he
had spoken sooth and called to the lads to fetch him back: so
they brought him back and Sandal, putting his hand to his pouch,
pulled out a red purse, whence he emptied an hundred golden
dinars into the Fisherman's hand, saying, "Take this gold in
payment of thy fish and wend thy ways." So Khalifah, in high
good humor, took the hundred ducats and the Caliph's one dinar
and went his way, and forgot the beating. Now, as Allah willed
it for the furthering of that which He had decreed, he passed by
the mart of the hand-maidens and seeing there a mighty ring where
many folks were foregathering, said to himself, "What is this
crowd?" So he brake through the merchants and others, who said,
"Make wide for the Skipper Rapscallion, [FN#244] and let him
pass." Then he looked and behold, he saw a chest, with an eunuch
seated thereon and an old man standing by it, and the Shaykh was
crying, "O merchants, O men of money, who will hasten and hazard
his coin for this chest of unknown contents from the Palace of
the Lady Zubaydah bint al-Kasim, wife of the Commander of the
Faithful? How much shall I say for you, Allah bless you all!"
Quoth one of the merchants, "By Allah, this is a risk! But I
will say one word and no blame to me. Be it mine for twenty
dinars." Quoth another, "Fifty," and they went on bidding, one
against other, till the price reached an hundred ducats. Then
said the crier, "Will any of you bid more, O merchants?" And
Khalifah the Fisherman said, "Be it mine for an hundred ducats
and one dinar." The merchants, hearing these words, thought he
was jesting and laughed at him, saying, "O eunuch sell it to
Khalifah for an hundred ducats and one dinar!" Quoth the eunuch,
"By Allah, I will sell it to none but him! Take it, O Fisherman,
the Lord bless thee in it, and here with thy gold." So Khalifah
pulled out the ducats and gave them to the eunuch, who, the
bargain being duly made, delivered to him the chest and bestowed
the price in alms on the spot; after which he returned to the
Palace and acquainted the Lady Zubaydah with what he had done,
whereat she rejoiced. Meanwhile the Fisherman hove the chest on
shoulder, but could not carry it on this wise for the excess of
its weight; so he lifted it on to his head and thus bore it to
the quarter where he lived. Here he set it down and being weary,
sat awhile, bemusing what had befallen him and saying in himself,
"Would Heaven I knew what is in this chest!" Then he opened the
door of his lodging and haled the chest until he got it into his
closet; after which he strove to open it, but failed. Quoth he,
"What folly possessed me to buy this chest? There is no help for
it but to break it open and see what is herein." So he applied
himself to the lock, but could not open it, and said to himself,
"I will leave it till to-morrow." Then he would have stretched
him out to sleep, but could find no room; for the chest filled
the whole closet. So he got upon it and lay him down; but, when
he had lain awhile, behold, he felt something stir under him
whereat sleep forsook him and his reason fled.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-third Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Khalifah the Fisherman lay down upon the chest and thus tarried
awhile, behold, something stirred beneath him; whereat he was
affrighted and his reason fled. So he arose and cried, "Meseems
there be Jinns in the chest. Praise to Allah who suffered me not
to open it! For, had I done so, they had risen against me in the
dark and slain me, and from them would have befallen me naught of
good." Then he lay down again when, lo! The chest moved a second
time, more than before; whereupon he sprang to his feet and said,
"There it goes again: but this is terrible!" And he hastened to
look for the lamp, but could not find it and had not the
wherewithal to buy another. So he went forth and cried out, "Ho,
people of the quarter!" Now the most part of the folk were
asleep; but they awoke at his crying and asked, "What aileth
thee, O Khalifah?" He answered, "Bring me a lamp, for the Jinn
are upon me." They laughed at him and gave him a lamp, wherewith
he returned to his closet. Then he smote the lock of the chest
with a stone and broke it and opening it, saw a damsel like a
Houri lying asleep within. Now she had been drugged with Bhang,
but at that moment she threw up the stuff and awoke; then she
opened her eyes and feeling herself confined and cramped, moved.
At this sight quoth Khalifah, "By Allah, O my lady, whence art
thou?"; and quoth she, "Bring me Jessamine, and Narcissus."
[FN#245] and Khalifah answered, "There is naught here but Henna-
flowers." [FN#246] thereupon she came to herself and considering
Khalifah, said to him, "What art thou?" presently adding, "And
where am I?" He said, "Thou art in my lodging." Asked she, "Am
I not in the Palace of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid?" And quoth
he, "What manner of thing is Al-Rashid? [FN#247] O madwoman,
Thou art naught but my slave-girl: I bought thee this very day
for an hundred dinars and one dinar, and brought thee home, and
thou wast asleep in this here chest." When she had heard these
words she said to him, "What is thy name?" Said he, "My name is
Khalifah. How comes my star to have grown propitious, when I
know my ascendant to have been otherwise?" She laughed and
cried, "Spare me this talk! Hast thou anything to eat?" Replied
he, "No, by Allah, nor yet to drink! I have not eaten these two
days, and am now in want of a morsel." She asked, "Hast thou no
money?"; and he said, "Allah keep this chest which hath beggared
me: I gave all I had for it and am become bankrupt." The damsel
laughed at him and said, "Up with thee and seek of thy neighbours
somewhat for me to eat, for I am hungry." So he went forth and
cried out, "Ho, people of the quarter!" Now the folk were
asleep; but they awoke and asked, "What aileth thee, O Khalifah?"
Answered he, O my neighbours, I am hungry and have nothing to
eat." So one came down to him with a bannock and another with
broken meats and third with a bittock of cheese and a fourth with
a cucumber; and so on till he lap was full and he returned to his
closet and laid the whole between her hands, saying, "Eat." But
she laughed at him, saying, "How can I eat of this, when I have
not a mug of water whereof to drink? I fear to choke with a
mouthful and die." Quoth he, "I will fill thee this
pitcher."[FN#248] so he took the pitcher and going forth, stood
in the midst of the street and cried out, saying, "Ho, people of
the quarter!" Quoth they, "What calamity is upon thee to-night,
[FN#249] O Khalifah!" And he said, "Ye gave me food and I ate;
but now I am a-thirst; so give me to drink." Thereupon one came
down to him with a mug and another with an ewer and a third with
a gugglet; and he filled his pitcher and, bearing it back, said
to the damsel, "O my lady, thou lackest nothing now." Answered
she, "True, I want nothing more at this present." Quoth he,
"Speak to me and say me thy story." And quoth she, "Fie upon
thee! An thou knowest me not, I will tell thee who I am. I am
Kut al-Kulub, the Caliph's handmaiden, and the Lady Zubaydah was
jealous of me; so she drugged me with Bhang and set me in this
chest," presently adding, "Alham-dolillah--praised be God--for
that the matter hath come to easy issue and no worse! But this
befel me not save for thy good luck, for thou wilt certainly get
of the Caliph Al-Rashid money galore, that will be the means of
thine enrichment." Quoth Khalifah, "I not Al-Rashid he in whose
Palace I was imprisoned?" "Yes," answered she; and he said, "By
Allah, never saw I more niggardly wight than he, that piper
little of good and wit! He gave me an hundred blows with a stick
yesterday and but one dinar, for all I taught him to fish and
made him my partner; but he played me false." Replied she,
"Leave this unseemly talk, and open thine eyes and look thou bear
thyself respectfully, whenas thou seest him after this, and thou
shalt win thy wish." When he heard her words, it was if he had
been asleep and awoke; and Allah removed the veil from his
judgment, because of his good luck, [FN#250] and he answered, "On
my head and eyes!" Then said he to her, "Sleep, in the name of
Allah." [FN#251] so she lay down and fell asleep (and he afar
from her) till the morning, when she sought of him inkcase
[FN#252] and paper and, when they were brought wrote to Ibn al-
Kirnas, the Caliph's friend, acquainting him with her case and
how at the end of all that had befallen her she was with Khalifah
the Fisherman, who had bought her. Then she gave him the scroll,
saying, "Take this and hie thee to the jewel-market and ask for
the shop of Ibn al-Kirnas the Jeweller and give him this paper
and speak not." "I hear and I obey," answered Khalifah and going
with the scroll to the market, enquired for the shop of Ibn al-
Kirnas. They directed him to thither and on entering it he
saluted the merchant, who returned his salim with contempt and
said to him, "What dost thou want?" Thereupon he gave him the
letter and he took it, but read it not, thinking the Fisherman a
beggar, who sought an alms of him, and said to one of his lads,
"Give him half a dirham." Quoth Khalifah, "I want to alms; read
the paper." So Ibn al-Kirnas took the letter and read it; and no
sooner knew its import than he kissed it and laying it on his
head--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-fourth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ibn
al-Kirnas read the letter and knew its import, he kissed it and
laid it on his head; then he arose and said to Khalifah, "O my
brother, where is thy house?" Asked Khalifah, "What wantest thou
with my house? Wilt thou go thither and steal my slave-girl?"
Then Ibn al-Kirnas answered, "No so: on the contrary, I will buy
thee somewhat whereof you may eat, thou and she." So he said,
"My house is in such a quarter;" and the merchant rejoined, "Thou
hast done well. May Allah not give thee health, O unlucky one!"
[FN#253] Then he called out to two of his slaves and said to
them, "Carry this man to the shop of Mohsin the Shroff and say to
him, ‘O Mohsin, give this man a thousand dinars of gold;' then
bring him back to me in haste." So they carried him to the
money-changer, who paid him the money, and returned with him to
their master, whom they found mounted on a dapple she-mule worth
a thousand dinars, with Mamelukes and pages about him, and by his
side another mule like his own, saddled and bridled. Quoth the
jeweller to Khalifah, "Bismillah, mount this mule." Replied he,
"I won't; for by Allah, I fear she throw me;" and quoth Ibn al-
Kirnas, "By God, needs must thou mount." So he came up and
mounting her, face to crupper, caught hold of her tail and cried
out; whereupon she threw him on the ground and they laughed at
him; but he rose and said, "Did I not tell thee I would not mount
this great jenny-ass?" Thereupon Ibn al-Kirnas left him in the
market and repairing to the Caliph, told him of the damsel; after
which he returned and removed her to his own house. Meanwhile,
Khalifah went home to look after the handmaid and found the
people of the quarter foregathering and saying, "Verily, Khalifah
is to-day in a terrible pickle! [FN#254] Would we knew whence he
can have gotten this damsel?" Quoth one of them, "He is a mad
pimp; haply he found her lying on the road drunken, and carried
her to his own house, and his absence showeth his offence." As
they were talking, behold, up came Khalifah, and they said to
him, "What a plight is thine, O unhappy! Knowest thou not what is
come for thee?" He replied, "No, by Allah!" and they said, "But
just now there came Mamelukes and took away thy slave-girl whom
thou stolest, and sought for thee, but found thee not." Asked
Khalifah, "And how came they to take my slave-girl?"; and quoth
one, "Had he falled in their way, they had slain him." But he,
so far from heeding them, returned running to the shop of Ibn
al-Kirnas, whom he met riding, and said to him, "By Allah, 'twas
not right of thee to wheedle me and meanwhile send thy Mamelukes
to take my slave-girl!" Replied the jeweller, "O idiot, come
with me and hold thy tongue." So he took him and carried him
into a house handsomely builded, where he found the damsel seated
on a couch of gold, with ten slave-girls like moons round her.
Sighting her Ibn al-Kirnas kissed ground before her and she said,
"What hast thou done with my new master, who bought me with all
he owned?" He replied, "O my lady, I gave him a thousand gold
dinars;" and related to her Khalifah's history from first to
last, whereat she laughed and said, "Blame him not; for he is but
a common wight. These other thousand dinars are a gift from me
to him and Almighty Allah willing, he shall win of the Caliph
what shall enrich him." As they were talking, there came an
eunuch from the Commander of the Faithful, in quest of Kut al-
Kulub, for, when he knew that she was in the house of Ibn al-
Kirnas, he could not endure the severance, but bade bring her
forthwith. So she repaired to the Palace, taking Khalifah with
her, and going into the presence, kissed ground before the
Caliph, who rose to her, saluting and welcoming her, and asked
her how she had fared with him who had bought her. She replied,
"He is a man, Khalifah the Fisherman hight, and there he standeth
at the door. He telleth me that he hath an account to settle
with the Commander of the Faithful, by reason of a partnership
between him and the Caliph in fishing." Asked al-Rashid, "Is he
at the door?" and she answered, "Yes." So the Caliph sent for
him and he kissed ground before him and wished him endurance of
glory and prosperity. The Caliph marvelled at him and laughed at
him and said to him, "O Fisherman, wast thou in very deed my
partner [FN#255] yesterday?" Khalifah took his meaning and
heartening his heart and summoning spirit replied, "By Him who
bestowed upon thee the succession to thy cousin, [FN#256] I know
her not in anywise and have had no commerce with her save by way
of sight and speech!" Then he repeated to him all that had
befallen him, since he last saw him, [FN#257] whereat the Caliph
laughed and his breast broadened and he said to Khalifah, "Ask of
us what thou wilt, O thou to bringest to owners their own!" But
he was silent; so the Caliph ordered him fifty thousand dinars of
gold and a costly dress of honour such as great Sovrans don, and
a she-mule, and gave him black slaves of the Súdán to serve him,
so that he became as he were one of the Kings of that time. The
Caliph was rejoiced at the recovery of his favourite and knew
that all this was the doing of his cousin-wife, the Lady
Zubaydah,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph
rejoiced at the recovery of Kut al-Kulub and knew that all this
was the doing of the Lady Zubaydah, his cousin-wife; wherefore he
was sore enraged against her and held aloof from her a great
while, visiting her not neither inclining to pardon her. When
she was certified of this, she was sore concerned for his wrath
and her face, that was wont to be rosy, waxed pale and wan till,
when her patience was exhausted, she sent a letter to her cousin,
the Commander of the Faithful making her excuses to him and
confessing her offences, and ending with these verses

"I long once more the love that was between us to regain, * That
I may quench the fire of grief and bate the force of bane.
O lords of me, have ruth upon the stress my passion deals *
Enough to me is what you doled of sorrow and of pain.
‘Tis life to me an deign you keep the troth you deigned to plight
* ‘Tis death to me an troth you break and fondest vows
profane:
Given I've sinned a sorry sin, ye grant me ruth, for naught * By
Allah, sweeter is than friend who is of pardon fain."

When the Lady Zubaydah's letter reached the Caliph, and reading
it he saw that she confessed her offence and sent her excuses to
him therefor, he said to himself, "Verily, all sins doth Allah
forgive; aye, Gracious, Merciful is He!" [FN#258] And he
returned her an answer, expressing satisfaction and pardon and
forgiveness for what was past, whereat she rejoiced greatly. As
for Khalifah, the Fisherman, the Caliph assigned him a monthly
solde of fifty dinars and took him into especial favour, which
would lead to rank and dignity, honour and worship. Then he
kissed ground before the Commander of the Faithful and went forth
with stately gait. When he came to the door, the Eunuch Sandal,
who had given him the hundred dinars, saw him and knowing him,
said to him, "O Fisherman, whence all this?" So he told him all
that had befallen him, first and last, whereat Sandal rejoiced,
because he had been the cause of his enrichment, and said to him,
"Wilt thou not give me largess of this wealth which is now become
thine?" So Khalifah put hand to pouch and taking out a purse
containing a thousand dinars, gave it to the Eunuch, who said,
"Keep thy coins and Allah bless thee therein!" and marvelled at
his manliness and at the liberality of his soul, for all his late
poverty. [FN#259] Then leaving the eunuch, Khalifah mounted his
she-mule and rode, with the slaves' hands on her crupper, till he
came to his lodging at the Khan, whilst the folk stared at him in
surprise for that which had betided him of advancement. When he
alighted from his beast they accosted him and enquired the cause
of his change from poverty to prosperity, and he told them all
that had happened to him from incept to conclusion. Then he
bought a fine mansion and laid out thereon much money, till it
was perfect in all points. And he took up his abode therein and
was wont to recite thereon these two couplets,

"Behold a house that's like the Dwelling of Delight; [FN#260] *
Its aspect heals the sick and banishes despite.
Its sojourn for the great and wise appointed it, * And Fortune
fair therein abideth day and night."

Then, as soon as he was settled in his house, he sought him in
marriage the daughter of one of the chief men of the city, a
handsome girl, and went in unto her and led a life of solace and
satisfaction, joyaunce and enjoyment; and he rose to passing
affluence and exceeding prosperity. So, when he found himself in
this fortunate condition, he offered up thanks to Allah (extolled
and excelled be He!) for what He had bestowed on him of wealth
exceeding and of favours ever succeeding, praising his Lord with
the praise of the grateful and chanting the words of the poet,

"To Thee be praise, O Thou who showest unremitting grace; * O
Thou whose universal bounties high and low embrace!
To Thee be praise from me! Then deign accept my praise for I *
Accept Thy boons and gifts with grateful soul in every case.
Thou hast with favours overwhelmed me, benefits and largesse *
And gracious doles my memory ne'er ceaseth to retrace.
All men from mighty main, Thy grace and goodness, drain and
drink; * And in their need Thou, only Thou, to them art
refuge-place!
So for the sake of him who came to teach mankind in ruth *
Prophet, pure, truthful-worded scion of the noblest race;
Ever be Allah's blessing and His peace on him and all * His aids
[FN#261] and kin while pilgrims fare his noble tomb to face!
And on his helpmeets [FN#262] one and all, Companions great and
good, * Though time Eternal while the bird shall sing in
shady wood!"

And thereafter Khalifah continued to pay frequent visits to the
Caliph Harun al-Rashid, with whom he found acceptance and who
ceased not to overwhelm him with boons and bounty: and he abode
in the enjoyment of the utmost honour and happiness and joy and
gladness and in riches more than sufficing and in rank ever
rising; brief, a sweet life and a savoury, pure as pleasurable,
till there came to him the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer
of societies; and extolled be the perfection of Him to whom
belong glory and permanence and He is the Living, the Eternal,
who shall never die!



NOTE. I have followed the example of Mr. Payne and have
translated in its entirety the Tale of Khalifah the Fisherman
from the Breslau Edit. (Vol. iv. Pp. 315-365, Night ccxxi-
ccxxxii.) in preference to the unsatisfactory process of
amalgamating it with that of the Mac. Edit. given above.




Khalifah The Fisherman of Baghdad.



There was once, in days of yore and in ages and times long gone
before, in the city of Baghdad, a fisherman, by name Khalíf, a
man of muckle talk and little luck. One day, as he sat in his
cell,[FN#263] he bethought himself and said, "There is no Majesty
and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!
Would Heaven I knew what is my offence in the sight of my Lord
and what caused the blackness of my fortune and my littleness of
luck among the fishermen, albeit (and I say it who should not) in
the city of Baghdad there is never a fisherman like myself." Now
he lodged in a ruined place called a Khan, to wit, an
inn,[FN#264] without a door, and when he went forth to fish, he
would shoulder the net, without basket or fish-slicers,[FN#265]
and when the folk would stare at him and say to him, "O Khalif,
why not take with thee a basket, to hold the fish thou
catchest?"; he would reply, "Even as I carry it forth empty, so
would it come back, for I never manage to catch aught." One night
he arose, in the darkness before dawn, and taking his net on his
shoulder, raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Allah mine, O Thou
who subjectedst the sea to Moses son of Imrán, give me this day
my daily bread, for Thou art the best of bread-givers!" Then he
went down to the Tigris and spreading his net, cast it into the
river and waited till it had settled down, when he haled it in
and drew it ashore, but behold, it held naught save a dead dog.
So he cast away the carcase, saying, "O morning of ill doom! What
a handsel is this dead hound, after I had rejoiced in its
weight[FN#266]!" Then he mended the rents in the net, saying,
"Needs must there after this carrion be fish in plenty, attracted
by the smell," and made a second cast. After awhile, he drew up
and found in the net the hough[FN#267] of a camel, that had
caught in the meshes and rent them right and left. When Khalif
saw his net in this state, he wept and said, "There is no Majesty
and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! I
wonder what is my offence and the cause of the blackness of my
fortune and the littleness of my luck, of all folk, so that I
catch neither cat-fish nor sprat,[FN#268] that I may broil on the
embers and eat, for all I dare say there is not in the city of
Baghdad a fisherman like me." Then with a Bismillah he cast his
net a third time, and presently drawing it ashore found therein
an ape scurvy and one-eyed, mangy, and limping, hending an ivory
rod in forehand. When Khalif saw this, he said, "This is indeed a
blessed opening! What art thou, O ape?" "Dost thou not know me?"
"No, by Allah, I have no knowledge of thee!" "I am thine ape!"
"What use is there in thee, O my ape?" "Every day I give thee
good-morrow, so Allah may not open to thee the door of daily
bread." "Thou failest not of this, O one-eye[FN#269] of ill-omen!
May Allah never bless thee! Needs must I pluck out thy sound eye
and cut off thy whole leg, so thou mayst become a blind cripple
and I be quit of thee. But what is the use of that rod thou
hendest in hand?" "O Khalif, I scare the fish therewith, so they
may not enter thy net." "Is it so?: then this very day will I
punish thee with a grievous punishment and devise thee all manner
torments and strip thy flesh from thy bones and be at rest from
thee, sorry bit of goods that thou art!" So saying, Khalif the
Fisherman unwound from his middle a strand of rope and binding
him to a tree by his side, said, "Lookee, O dog of an ape! I mean
to cast the net again and if aught come up therein, well and
good; but, if it come up empty, I will verily and assuredly make
an end of thee, with the cruellest tortures and be quit of thee,
thou stinking lot." So he cast the net and drawing it ashore,
found in it another ape and said, "Glory be to God the Great! I
was wont to pull naught but fish out of this Tigris, but now it
yieldeth nothing but apes." Then he looked at the second ape and
saw him fair of form and round of face with pendants of gold in
his ears and a blue waistcloth about his middle, and he was like
unto a lighted taper. So he asked him, "What art thou, thou also,
O ape?"; and he answered, saying, "O Khalif, I am the ape of Abú
al-Sa'ádát the Jew, the Caliph's Shroff. Every day, I give him
good-morrow, and he maketh a profit of ten gold pieces." Cried
the Fisherman, "By Allah, thou art a fine ape, not like this
ill-omened monkey o' mine!" So saying, he took a stick[FN#270]
and came down upon the sides of the ape, till he broke his ribs
and he jumped up and down. And the other ape, the handsome one,
answered him, saying, "O Khalif, what will it profit thee to beat
him, though thou belabour him till he die?" Khalif replied, "How
shall I do? Shall I let him wend his ways that he may scare me
the fish with his hang-dog face and give me good-even and
good-morrow every day, so Allah may not open to me the door of
daily bread? Nay, I will kill him and be quit of him and I will
take thee in his stead; so shalt thou give me good-morrow and I
shall gain ten golden dinars a day." Thereupon the comely ape
made answer, "I will tell thee a better way than that, and if
thou hearken to me, thou shalt be at rest and I will become thine
ape in lieu of him." Asked the Fisherman, "And what dost thou
counsel me?"; and the ape answered, saying, "Cast thy net and
thou shalt bring up a noble fish, never saw any its like, and I
will tell thee how thou shalt do with it." Replied Khalif,
"Lookee, thou too! An I throw my net and there come up therein a
third ape, be assured that I will cut the three of you into six
bits." And the second ape rejoined, "So be it, O Khalif. I agree
to this thy condition." Then Khalif spread the net and cast it
and drew it up, when behold, in it was a fine young
barbel[FN#271] with a round head, as it were a milking-pail,
which when he saw, his wits fled for joy and he said, "Glory be
to God! What is this noble creature? Were yonder apes in the
river, I had not brought up this fish." Quoth the seemly ape, "O
Khalif, an thou give ear to my rede, 'twill bring thee good
fortune"; and quoth the Fisherman, "May God damn him who would
gainsay thee henceforth!" Thereupon the ape said, "O Khalif, take
some grass and lay the fish thereon in the basket[FN#272] and
cover it with more grass and take also somewhat of basil[FN#273]
from the green grocer's and set it in the fish's mouth. Cover it
with a kerchief and push thee through the bazar of Baghdad.
Whoever bespeaketh thee of selling it, sell it not but fare on,
till thou come to the market street of the jewellers and
money-changers. Then count five shops on the right-hand side and
the sixth shop is that of Abu al-Sa'adat the Jew, the Caliph's
Shroff. When thou standest before him, he will say to thee, ‘What
seekest thou?'; and do thou make answer, ‘I am a fisherwight, I
threw my net in thy name and took this noble barbel, which I have
brought thee as a present.' If he give thee aught of silver, take
it not, be it little or mickle, for it will spoil that which thou
wouldst do, but say to him, ‘I want of thee naught save one word,
that thou say to me, ‘I sell thee my ape for thine ape and my
luck for thy luck.' An the Jew say this, give him the fish and I
shall become thine ape and this crippled, mangy and one-eyed ape
will be his ape." Khalif replied, "Well said, O ape," nor did he
cease faring Baghdad-wards and observing that which the ape had
said to him, till he came to the Jew's shop and saw the Shroff
seated, with eunuchs and pages about him, bidding and forbidding
and giving and taking. So he set down his basket, saying, "O
Sultan of the Jews, I am a fisher-wight and went forth to-day to
the Tigris and casting my net in thy name, cried, ‘This is for
the luck of Abu al-Sa'adat;' and there came up to me this Banni
which I have brought thee by way of present." Then he lifted the
grass and discovered the fish to the Jew, who marvelled at its
make and said, "Extolled be the perfection of the Most Excellent
Creator!" Then he gave the fisherman a dinar, but he refused it
and he gave him two. This also he refused and the Jew stayed not
adding to his offer, till he made it ten dinars; but he still
refused and Abu al-Sa'adat said to him, "By Allah, thou art a
greedy one. Tell me what thou wouldst have, O Moslem!" Quoth
Khalif, "I would have of thee but a single word. [FN#274]" When
the Jew heard this , he changed colour and said, "Wouldst thou
oust me from my faith? Wend thy ways;" and Khalif said to him,
"By Allah, O Jew, naught mattereth an thou become a Moslem or a
Nazarene!" Asked the Jew, "Then what wouldst thou have me say?";
and the fisherman answered, "Say, I sell thee my ape for thy ape
and my luck for thy luck." The Jew laughed, deeming him little of
wit, and said by way of jest, "I sell thee my ape for thy ape and
my luck for thy luck. Bear witness against him, O merchants! By
Allah, O unhappy, thou art debarred from further claim on me!" So
Khalif turned back, blaming himself and saying, "There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great! Alas that I did not take the gold!" and fared on blaming
himself in the matter of the money till he came to the Tigris,
but found not the two apes, whereupon he wept and slapped his
face and strewed dust on his head, saying, "But that the second
ape wheedled me and put a cheat on me, the one-eyed ape had not
escaped." And he gave not over wailing and weeping, till heat and
hunger grew sore on him: so he took the net, saying, "Come, let
us make a cast, trusting in Allah's blessing; belike I may catch
a cat-fish or a barbel which I may boil and eat." So he threw the
net and waiting till it had settled, drew it ashore and found it
full of fish, whereat he was consoled and rejoiced and busied
himself with unmeshing the fish and casting them on the earth.
Presently, up came a woman seeking fish and crying out, "Fish is
not to be found in the town." She caught sight of Khalif, and
said to him, "Wilt thou sell this fish, O Master?" Answered
Khalif, "I am going to turn it into clothes, 'tis all for sale,
even to my beard.[FN#275] Take what thou wilt." So she gave him a
dinar and he filled her basket. Then she went away and behold, up
came another servant, seeking a dinar's worth of fish; nor did
the folk cease till it was the hour of mid-afternoon prayer and
Khalif had sold ten golden dinars' worth of fish. Then, being
faint and famisht, he folded and shouldered his net and,
repairing to the market, bought himself a woollen gown, a calotte
with a plaited border and a honey-coloured turband for a dinar
receiving two dirhams by way of change, wherewith he purchased
fried cheese and a fat sheep's tail and honey and setting them in
the oilman's platter, ate till he was full and his ribs felt
cold[FN#276] from the mighty stuffing. Then he marched off to his
lodgings in the magazine, clad in the gown and the honey-coloured
turband and with the nine golden dinars in his mouth, rejoicing
in what he had never in his life seen. He entered and lay down,
but could not sleep for anxious thoughts and abode playing with
the money half the night. Then said he in himself, "Haply the
Caliph may hear that I have gold and say to Ja'afar, ‘Go to
Khalif the Fisherman and borrow us some money of him.' If I give
it him, it will be no light matter to me, and if I give it not,
he will torment me; but torture is easier to me than the giving
up of the cash.[FN#277] However, I will arise and make trial of
myself if I have a skin proof against stick or not." So he put
off his clothes and taking a sailor's plaited whip, of an hundred
and sixty strands, ceased not beating himself, till his sides and
body were all bloody, crying out at every stroke he dealt himself
and saying "O Moslems! I am a poor man! O Moslems, I am a poor
man! O Moslems, whence should I have gold, whence should I have
coin?" till the neighbours, who dwelt with him in that place,
hearing him crying and saying, "Go to men of wealth and take of
them," thought that thieves were torturing him, to get money from
him, and that he was praying for aidance. Accordingly they
flocked to him each armed with some weapon and finding the door
of his lodging locked and hearing him roaring out for help,
deemed that the thieves had come down upon him from the
terrace-roof; so they fell upon the door and burst it open. Then
they entered and found him mother-naked and bareheaded with body
dripping blood, and altogether in a sad pickle; so they asked
him, "What is this case in which we find thee? Hast thou lost thy
wits and hath Jinn-madness betided thee this night?" And he
answered them, "Nay; but I have gold with me and I feared lest
the Caliph send to borrow of me and it were no light matter to
give him aught; yet, an I gave not to him 'tis only too sure that
he would put me to the torture; wherefore I arose to see if my
skin were stick-proof or not." When they heard these words they
said to him, "May Allah not assain thy body, unlucky madman that
thou art! Of a surety thou art fallen mad to-night! Lie down to
sleep, may Allah never bless thee! How many thousand dinars hast
thou, that the Caliph should come and borrow of thee?" He
replied, "By Allah, I have naught but nine dinars." And they all
said, "By Allah, he is not otherwise than passing rich!" Then
they left him wondering at his want of wit, and Khalif took his
cash and wrapped it in a rag, saying to himself, "Where shall I
hide all this gold? An I bury it, they will take it, and if I put
it out on deposit, they will deny that I did so, and if I carry
it on my head,[FN#278] they will snatch it, and if I tie it to my
sleeve, they will cut it away." Presently, he espied a little
breast-pocket in the gown and said, "By Allah, this is fine! 'Tis
under my throat and hard by my mouth: if any put out his hand to
hend it, I can come down on it with my mouth and hide it in my
throttle." So he set the rag containing the gold in the pocket
and lay down, but slept not that night for suspicion and trouble
and anxious thought. On the morrow, he fared forth of his lodging
on fishing intent and, betaking himself to the river, went down
into the water, up to his knees. Then he threw the net and shook
it with might and main; whereupon the purse fell down into the
stream. So he tore off gown and turband and plunged in after it,
saying, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah,
the Glorious, the Great!" Nor did he give over diving and
searching the stream-bed, till the day was half spent, but found
not the purse. Now one saw him from afar diving and plunging and
his gown and turband lying in the sun at a distance from him,
with no one by them; so he watched him, till he dived again when
he dashed at the clothes and made off with them. Presently,
Khalif came ashore and, missing his gown and turband, was
chagrined for their loss with passing cark and care and ascended
a mound, to look for some passer-by, of whom he might enquire
concerning them, but found none. Now the Caliph Harun al-Rashid
had gone a-hunting and chasing that day; and, returning at the
time of the noon heat, was oppressed thereby and thirsted; so he
looked for water from afar and seeing a naked man standing on the
mound said to Ja'afar, "Seest thou what I see?" Replied the
Wazir, "Yes, O Commander of the Faithful; I see a man standing on
a hillock." Al-Rashid asked, "What is he?"; and Ja'afar answered,
"Haply he is the guardian of a cucumber-plot." Quoth the Caliph,
"Perhaps he is a pious man[FN#279]; I would fain go to him,
alone, and desire of him his prayers; and abide ye where you
are." So he went up to Khalif and saluting him with the salam
said to him, "What art thou, O man?" Replied the fisherman, "Dost
thou not know me? I am Khalif the Fisherman;" and the Caliph
rejoined, "What? The Fisherman with the woollen gown and the
honey-coloured turband[FN#280]?" When Khalif heard him name the
clothes he had lost, he said in himself, "This is he who took my
duds: belike he did but jest with me." So he came down from the
knoll and said, "Can I not take a noontide nap[FN#281] but thou
must trick me this trick? I saw thee take my gear and knew that
thou wast joking with me." At this, laughter got the better of
the Caliph and he said; "What clothes hast thou lost? I know
nothing of that whereof thou speakest, O Khalif." Cried the
Fisherman, "By God the Great, except thou bring me back the gear,
I will smash thy ribs with this staff!" (For he always carried a
quarterstaff.) Quoth the Caliph, "By Allah, I have not seen the
things whereof thou speakest!"; and quoth Khalif "I will go with
thee and take note of thy dwelling-place and complain of thee to
the Chief of Police, so thou mayst not trick me this trick again.
By Allah, none took my gown and turband but thou, and except thou
give them back to me at once, I will throw thee off the back of
that she-ass thou ridest and come down on thy pate with this
quarterstaff, till thou canst not stir!" Thereupon he tugged at
the bridle of the mule so that she reared up on her hind legs and
the Caliph said to himself, "What calamity is this I have fallen
into with this madman?" Then he pulled off a gown he had on,
worth an hundred dinars, and said to Khalif, "Take this gown in
lieu of thine own." He took it and donning it saw it was too
long; so he cut it short at the knees and turbanded his head with
the cut-off piece; then said to the Caliph, "What art thou and
what is thy craft? But why ask? Thou art none other than a
trumpeter." Al-Rashid asked, "What showed thee that I was a
trumpeter by trade?"; and Khalif answered, "Thy big nostrils and
little mouth." Cried the Caliph, "Well guessed! Yes, I am of that
craft." Then said Khalif, "An thou wilt hearken to me, I will
teach thee the art of fishing: 'twill be better for thee than
trumpeting and thou wilt eat lawfully[FN#282]." Replied the
Caliph, "Teach it me so that I may see whether I am capable of
learning it." And Khalif said, "Come with me, O trumpeter." So
the Caliph followed him down to the river and took the net from
him, whilst he taught him how to throw it. Then he cast it and
drew it up, when, behold, it was heavy, and the fisherman said,
"O trumpeter, an the net be caught on one of the rocks, drag it
not too hard, or I twill break and by Allah, I will take thy
she-ass in payment thereof!" The Caliph laughed at his words and
drew up the net, little by little, till he brought it ashore and
found it full of fish; which when Khalif saw, his reason fled for
joy and presently he cried, "By Allah, O trumpeter, thy luck is
good in fishing! Never in my life will I part with thee! But now
I mean to send thee to the fish-bazar, where do thou enquire for
the shop of Humayd the fisherman and say to him, ‘My master
Khalif saluteth thee and biddeth thee send him a pair of frails
and a knife, so he may bring thee more fish than yesterday.' Run
and return to me forthright!" The Caliph replied (and indeed he
was laughing), "On my head, O master!" and, mounting his mule,
rode back to Ja'afar, who said to. him, "Tell me what hath
betided thee." So the Caliph told him all that had passed between
Khalif the Fisherman and himself, from first to last, adding, "I
left him awaiting my return to him with the baskets and I am
resolved that he shall teach me how to scale fish and clean
them." Quoth Ja'afar, "And I will go with thee to sweep up the
scales and clean out the shop." And the affair abode thus, till
presently the Caliph cried, "O Ja'afar, I desire of thee that
thou despatch the young Mamelukes, saying to them, ‘Whoso
bringeth me a fish from before yonder fisherman, I will give him
a dinar;' for I love to eat of my own fishing." Accordingly
Ja'afar repeated to the young white slaves what the Caliph had
said and directed them where to find the man. They came down upon
Khalif and snatched the fish from him; and when he saw them and
noted their goodliness, he doubted not but that they were of the
black-eyed Houris of Paradise: so he caught up a couple of fish
and ran into the river, saying, "O Allah mine, by the secret
virtue of these fish, forgive me!" Suddenly, up came the chief
eunuch, questing fish, but he found none; so seeing Khalif
ducking and rising in the water, with the two fish in his hands,
called out to him, saying, "O Khalif, what hast thou there?"
Replied the fisherman, "Two fish," and the eunuch said, "Give
them to me and take an hundred dinars for them." Now when Khalif
heard speak of an hundred dinars, he came up out of the water and
cried, "Hand over the hundred dinars." Said the eunuch, "Follow
me to the house of Al-Rashid and receive thy gold, O Khalif; and,
taking the fish, made off to the Palace of the Caliphate.
Meanwhile Khalif betook himself to Baghdad, clad as he was in the
Caliph's gown, which reached only to above his knees,[FN#283]
turbanded with the piece he had cut off therefrom and girt about
his middle with a rope, and he pushed through the centre of the
city. The folk fell a-laughing and marvelling at him and saying,
"Whence hadst thou that robe of honour?" But he went on, asking,
"Where is the house of Al-Rashád[FN#284]?;" and they answered,
"Say, ‘The house of Al-Rashíd';" and he rejoined, "'Tis all the
same," and fared on, till he came to the Palace of the Caliphate.
Now he was seen by the tailor, who had made the gown and who was
standing at the door, and when he noticed it upon the Fisherman,
he said to him, "For how many years hast thou had admission to
the palace?" Khalif replied "Ever since I was a little one;" and
the tailor asked, "Whence hadest thou that gown thou hast spoilt
on this wise?" Khalif answered, "I had it of my apprentice the
trumpeter." Then he went up to the door, where he found the Chief
Eunuch sitting with the two fishes by his side: and seeing him
sable-black of hue, said to him, "Wilt thou not bring the hundred
dinars, O uncle Tulip?" Quoth he, "On my head, O Khalif," when,
behold, out came Ja'afar from the presence of the Caliph and
seeing the fisherman talking with the Eunuch and saying to him,
"This is the reward of goodness, O nuncle Tulip," went in to
Al-Rashid and said to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, thy
master the Fisherman is with the Chief Eunuch, dunning him for an
hundred dinars." Cried the Caliph, "Bring him to me, O Ja'afar;"
and the Minister answered, "Hearing and obeying." So he went out
to the Fisherman and said to him, "O Khalif, thine apprentice the
trumpeter biddeth thee to him;" then he walked on, followed by
the other till they reached the presence-chamber, where he saw
the Caliph seated, with a canopy over his head. When he entered,
Al-Rashid wrote three scrolls and set them before him, and the
Fisherman said to him, "So thou hast given up trumpeting and
turned astrologer!" Quoth the Caliph to him, "Take thee a
scroll." Now in the first he had written, "Let him be given a
gold piece," in the second, "An hundred dinars," and in the
third, "Let him be given an hundred blows with a whip." So Khalif
put out his hand and by the decree of the Predestinator, it
lighted on the scroll wherein was written, "Let him receive an
hundred lashes," and Kings, whenas they ordain aught, go not back
therefrom. So they threw him prone on the ground and beat him an
hundred blows, whilst he wept and roared for succour, but none
succoured him, and said, "By Allah, this is a good joke O
trumpeter! I teach thee fishing and thou turnest astrologer and
drawest me an unlucky lot. Fie upon thee,[FN#285] in thee is
naught of good!" When the Caliph heard his speech, he fell
fainting in a fit of laughter and said, "O Khalif, no harm shall
betide thee: fear not. Give him an hundred gold pieces." So they
gave him an hundred dinars, and he went out, and ceased not
faring forth till he came to the trunk-market, where he found the
folk assembled in a ring about a broker, who was crying out and
saying, "At an hundred dinars, less one dinar! A locked chest!"
So he pressed on and pushed through the crowd and said to the
broker, "Mine for an hundred dinars!" The broker closed with him
and took his money, whereupon there was left him nor little nor
much. The porters disputed awhile about who should carry the
chest and presently all said, "By Allah, none shall carry this
chest but Zurayk!"[FN#286] And the folk said, "Blue-eyes hath the
best right to it." So Zurayk shouldered the chest, after the
goodliest fashion, and walked a-rear of Khalif. As they went
along, the Fisherman said in himself, "I have nothing left to
give the porter; how shall I rid myself of him? Now I will
traverse the main streets with him and lead him about, till he be
weary and set it down and leave it, when I will take it up and
carry it to my lodging." Accordingly, he went round about the
city with the porter from noontide to sundown, till the man began
to grumble and said, "O my lord, where is thy house?" Quoth
Khalif, "Yesterday I knew it, but to-day I have forgotten it."
And the porter said, "Give me my hire and take thy chest." But
Khalif said, "Go on at thy leisure, till I bethink me where my
house is," presently adding, "O Zurayk, I have no money with me.
'Tis all in my house and I have forgotten where it is." As they
were talking, there passed by them one who knew the Fisherman and
said to him, "O Khalif, what bringeth thee hither?" Quoth the
porter, "O uncle, where is Khalif's house?" and quoth he, "'Tis
in the ruined Khan in the Rawásín Quarter."[FN#287] Then said
Zurayk to Khalif, "Go to; would Heaven thou hadst never lived nor
been!" And the Fisherman trudged on, followed by the porter, till
they came to the place when the Hammal said, "O thou whose daily
bread Allah cut off in this world, have we not passed this place
a score of times? Hadst thou said to me, 'Tis in such a stead,
thou hadst spared me this great toil; but now give me my wage and
let me wend my way." Khalif replied "Thou shalt have silver, if
not gold. Stay here, till I bring thee the same." So he entered
his lodging and taking a mallet he had there, studded with forty
nails (wherewith an he smote a camel, he had made an end of it),
rushed upon the porter and raised his forearm to strike him
therewith; but Zurayk cried out at him, saying, "Hold thy hand! I
have no claim on thee," and fled. Now having got rid of the
Hammal, Khalif carried the chest into the Khan, whereupon the
neighbours came down and flocked about him, saying, "O Khalif,
whence hadst thou this robe and this chest?" Quoth he, "From my
apprentice Al-Rashid who gave them to me," and they said, "The
pimp is mad! Al-Rashid will assuredly hear of his talk and hang
him over the door of his lodging and hang all in the Khan on
account of the droll. This is a fine farce!" Then they helped him
to carry the chest into his lodging and it filled the whole
closet.[FN#288] Thus far concerning Khalif; but as for the
history of the chest, it was as follows: The Caliph had a Turkish
slave-girl, by name Kut al-Kulúb, whom he loved with love
exceeding and the Lady Zubaydah came to know of this from himself
and was passing jealous of her and secretly plotted mischief
against her. So, whilst the Commander of the Faithful was absent
a-sporting and a-hunting, she sent for Kut al-Kulub and, inviting
her to a banquet, set before her meat and wine, and she ate and
drank. Now the wine was drugged with Bhang; so she slept and
Zubaydah sent for her Chief Eunuch and putting her in a great
chest, locked it and gave it to him, saying, "Take this chest and
cast it into the river." Thereupon he took it up before him on a
he-mule and set out with it for the sea, but found it unfit to
carry; so, as he passed by the trunk-market, he saw the Shaykh of
the brokers and salesmen and said to him, "Wilt thou sell me this
chest, O uncle?" The broker replied, "Yes, we will do this much."
"But," said the Eunuch, "look thou sell it not except locked;"
and the other, "'Tis well; we will do that also."[FN#289] So he
set down the chest, and they cried it for sale, saying, "Who will
buy this chest for an hundred dinars?"; and behold, up came
Khalif the Fisherman and bought the chest after turning it over
right and left; and there passed between him and the porter that
which hath been before set out. Now as regards Khalif the
Fisherman; he lay down on the chest to sleep, and presently Kut
al-Kulub awoke from her Bhang and finding herself in the chest,
cried out and said, "Alas!" Whereupon Khalif sprang off the
chest-lid and cried out and said, "Ho, Moslems! Come to my help!
There are Ifrits in the chest." So the neighbours awoke from
sleep and said to him, "What mattereth thee, O madman?" Quoth he,
"The chest is full of Ifrits;" and quoth they, "Go to sleep; thou
hast troubled our rest this night may Allah not bless thee! Go in
and sleep, without madness." He ejaculated, "I cannot sleep;" but
they abused him and he went in and lay down once more. And
behold, Kut al-Kulub spoke and said, "Where am I?" Upon which
Khalif fled forth the closet and said, "O neighbours of the
hostelry, come to my aid!" Quoth they, "What hath befallen thee?
Thou troublest the neighbours' rest." "O folk, there be Ifrits in
the chest, moving and speaking." "Thou liest: what do they say?"
"They say, ‘Where am I?'" "Would Heaven thou wert in Hell! Thou
disturbest the neighbours and hinderest them of sleep. Go to
sleep, would thou hadst never lived nor been!" So Khalif went in
fearful because he had no place wherein to sleep save upon the
chest-lid when lo! as he stood, with ears listening for speech,
Kut al-Kulub spake again and said, "I'm hungry." So in sore
affright he fled forth and cried out, "Ho neighbours! ho dwellers
in the Khan, come aid me!" Said they, "What is thy calamity
now?"[FN#290] And he answered, "The Ifrits in the chest say, ‘We
are hungry.'" Quoth the neighbours one to other, "'Twould seem
Khalif is hungry; let us feed him and give him the supper-orts;
else he will not let us sleep to-night." So they brought him
bread and meat and broken victuals and radishes and gave him a
basket full of all kinds of things, saying, "Eat till thou be
full and go to sleep and talk not, else will we break thy ribs
and beat thee to death this very night." So he took the basket
with the provaunt and entered his lodging. Now it was a moonlight
night and the moon shone in full sheen upon the chest and lit up
the closet with its light, seeing this he sat down on his
purchase and fell to eating of the food with both hands.
Presently Kut al-Kulub spake again and said, "Open to me and have
mercy upon me, O Moslems!" So Khali