WOMEN'S WILES[FN#258]
On the following night Dunyazad said to her sister Shahrazad, "O
sister mine, an thou incline not unto sleep, prithee tell us a
tale which shall beguile our watching through the dark hours."
She replied:--With love and gladness.[FN#259] It hath reached me,
O magnificent King, that whilome there was in the city of
Baghdad, a comely youth and a well bred, fair of favour, tall of
stature, and slender of shape. His name was Alá al-Dín and he was
of the chiefs of the sons of the merchants and had a shop wherein
he sold and bought. One day, as he sat in his shop, there passed
by him a merry girl[FN#260] who raised her head and casting a
glance at the young merchant, saw written in a flowing hand on
the forehead[FN#261] of his shop door these words, "THERE BE NO
CRAFT SAVE MEN'S CRAFT, FORASMUCH AS IT OVERCOMETH WOMEN'S
CRAFT." When she beheld this, she was wroth and took counsel with
herself, saying, As my head liveth, there is no help but I show
him a marvel trick of the wiles of women and put to naught this
his inscription!" Thereupon she hied her home; and on the morrow
she made her ready and donning the finest of dress, adorned
herself with the costliest of ornaments and the highest of price
and stained her hands with henna. Then she let down her tresses
upon her shoulders and went forth, walking with coquettish gait
and amorous grace, followed by her slave-girl carrying a parcel,
till she came to the young merchant's shop and sitting down under
pretext of seeking stuffs, saluted him with the salam and
demanded of him somewhat of cloths. So he brought out to her
various kinds and she took them and turned them over, talking
with him the while. Then said she to him, "Look at the
shapeliness of my shape and my semblance! Seest thou in me aught
of default?" He replied, "No, O my lady;" and she continued, "Is
it lawful in any one that he should slander me and say that I am
humpbacked?" Then she discovered to him a part of her bosom, and
when he saw her breasts his reason took flight from his head and
his heart crave to her and he cried, "Cover it up,[FN#262] so may
Allah veil thee!" Quoth she, "Is it fair of any one to decry my
charms?" and quoth he, "How shall any decry thy charms, and thou
the sun of loveliness?" Then said she, "Hath any the right to say
of me that I am lophanded?" and tucking up her sleeves, she
showed him forearms as they were crystal; after which she
unveiled to him a face, as it were a full moon breaking forth on
its fourteenth night, and said to him, "Is it lawful for any to
decry me and declare that my face is pitted with smallpox or that
I am one eyed or crop eared?" and said he, "O my lady, what is it
moveth thee to discover unto me that lovely face and those fair
limbs, wont to be so jealously veiled and guarded? Tell me the
truth of the matter, may I be thy ransom!" And he began to
improvise,[FN#263]
"White Fair now drawn from sheath of parted hair, * Then in the
blackest tresses hid from sight,
Flasheth like day irradiating Earth * While round her glooms the
murk of nightliest night."
--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say. Whereupon cried Dunyazad her sister, "O sister
mine, how delectable is this tale and how desirable!" She
replied, saying, "And where is this compared with that which I
will recount to thee next night, Inshallah?"
The Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night.
Now when came the night, quoth Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad,
"O sister mine, an thou incline not unto sleep, prithee finish
thy tale which shall beguile our watching through the dark
hours." She replied:--With love and gladness! It hath reached me,
O auspicious King, that the girl said to the young merchant,
"Know, O my lord, that I am a maid oppressed of my sire, who
speaketh at me and saith to me, Thou art loathly of looks and
semblance and it besitteth not that thou wear rich raiment; for
thou and the slave-girls are like in rank, there is no
distinguishing thee from them. Now he is a richard, having a
mighty great store of money and saith not thus save because he is
a pinchpenny, and grudgeth the spending of a farthing; wherefore
he is loath to marry me, lest he be put to somewhat of expense in
my marriage, albeit Almighty Allah hath been bounteous to him and
he is a man puissant in his time and lacking naught of worldly
weal." The youth asked, "Who is thy father and what is his
condition?" and she answered, "He is the Chief Kazi of the well-
known Supreme Court, under whose hands are all the Kazis who
administer justice in this city." The merchant believed her and
she farewelled him and fared away, leaving in his heart a
thousand regrets, for that the love of her had prevailed over him
and he knew not how he should win to her; wherefore he woned
enamoured, love-distracted, unknowing if he were alive or dead.
As soon as she was gone, he shut up shop and walked straightway
to the Court, where he went in to the Chief Kazi and saluted him.
The magistrate returned his salam and treated him with
distinction and seated him by his side. Then said Ala al-Din to
him, "I come to thee seeking thine alliance and desiring the hand
of thy noble daughter." Quoth the Kazi, "O my lord merchant,
welcome to thee and fair welcome; but indeed my daughter
befitteth not the like of thee, neither beseemeth she the
goodliness of thy youth and the pleasantness of thy compostition
and the sweetness of thy speech;" but Ala al-Din replied, "This
talk becometh thee not, neither is it seemly in thee; if I be
content with her, how should this vex thee?" So the Kazi was
satisfied and they came to an accord and concluded the marriage
contract at a dower precedent of five purses[FN#264] ready money
and a dower contingent of fifteen purses, so it might be hard for
him to put her away, her father having given him fair warning,
but he would not be warned. Then they wrote out the contract
document and the merchant said, "I desire to go in to her this
night." Accordingly they carried her to him in procession that
very evening, and he prayed the night prayer and entered the
private chamber prepared for him; but, when he lifted the head
gear from the bride's head and the veil from her face and looked,
he saw a foul face and a favour right fulsome; indeed he beheld
somewhat whereof may Allah never show thee the like! loathly,
dispensing from description, inasmuch as there were reckoned in
her all legal defects.[FN#265] So he repented, when repentance
availed him naught, and knew that the girl had cheated him.--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say. Whereupon cried Dunyazad, her sister, "O sister
mine, how delectable is thy story and how sweet!" She replied,
saying, "And where is this compared with that which I will
recount to thee next night an I be spared and suffered to live by
the King, whom Almighty Allah preserve?"
The Hundred and Ninety-eight Night.
Now whenas came the night, quoth Dunyazad to her sister
Shahrazad, "O sister mine, an thou incline not unto sleep,
prithee finish thy story which shall beguile our watching through
the dark hours, for indeed ‘tis a fine tale and a wondrous." She
replied:--With love and gladness! It hath reached me, O generous
King, that the unhappy merchant carnally knew the loathly bride,
sore against the grain, and abode that night troubled in mind, as
he were in the prison of Al-Daylam.[FN#266] Hardly had the day
dawned when he arose from her side and betaking himself to one of
the Hammams, dozed there awhile, after which he made the
Ghusl-ablution of ceremonial impurity[FN#267] and donned his
every day dress. Then he went out to the coffee house and drank a
cup of coffee; after which he returned to his shop and opening
the door, sat down, with concern and chagrin manifest on his
countenance. After an hour or so, his friends and intimates among
the merchants and people of the market began to come up to him,
by ones and twos; to give him joy, and said to him, laughing, "A
blessing! a blessing! Where be the sweetmeats? Where be the
coffee?[FN#268] 'Twould seem thou hast forgotten us; and nothing
made thee oblivious save that the charms of the bride have
disordered thy wit and taken thy reason, Allah help thee! We give
thee joy, we give thee joy." And they mocked at him whilst he
kept silence before them, being like to rend his raiment and shed
tears for rage. Then they went away from him, and when it was the
hour of noon, up came his mistress, the crafty girl, trailing her
skirts and swaying to and fro in her gait, as she were a branch
of Ban in a garden of bloom. She was yet more richly dressed and
adorned and more striking and cutting[FN#269] in her symmetry and
grace than on the previous day, so that she made the passers stop
and stand in espalier to gaze upon her. When she came to Ala
al-Din's shop, she sat down thereon and said to him, "Blessed be
the day to thee, O my lord Ala al-Din! Allah prosper thee and be
good to thee and perfect thy gladness and make it a wedding of
weal and welfare!" He knitted his brows and frowned in answer to
her; then asked her, "Wherein have I failed of thy due, or what
have I done to harm thee, that thou shouldst requite me after
this fashion?" She answered, "Thou hast been no wise in default;
but ‘tis yonder inscription written on the door of thy shop that
irketh me and vexeth my heart. An thou have the courage to change
it and write up the contrary thereof, I will deliver thee from
thine evil plight." And he answered, "Thy requirement is right
easy: on my head and eyes!" So saying, he brought out a
sequin[FN#270] and summoning one of his Mamelukes said to him,
"Get thee to Such-an-one the Scribe and bid him write us an
epigraph, adorned with gold and lapis lazuli, in these words,
"THERE BE NO CRAFT SAVE WOMEN'S CRAFT, FOR INDEED THEIR CRAFT IS
A MIGHTY CRAFT[FN#271] AND OVERCOMETH AND HUMBLETH THE FALSES OF
MEN." And she said to the white slave "Fare thee forthright." So
he repaired to the Scribe, who wrote him the scroll, and he
brought it to his master, who set it on the door and asked the
damsel, "Is thy heart satisfied?" She answered, "Yes! Arise
forthwith and get thee to the place before the citadel, where do
thou foregather with all the mountebanks and ape-dancers and
bear-leaders and drummers and pipers and bid them come to thee
to-morrow early, with their kettle drums and flageolets, whilst
thou art drinking coffee with thy father in law the Kazi, and
congratulate thee and wish thee joy, saying, ‘A blessing, O son
of our uncle! Indeed, thou art the vein[FN#272] of our eye! We
rejoice for thee, and if thou be ashamed of us, verily we pride
ourselves upon thee; so, although thou banish us from thee, know
that we will not forsake thee, albeit thou forsake us.' And do
thou fall to throwing diners and dirhams amongst them; whereupon
the Kazi will question thee, and do thou answer him, saying, My
father was an ape-dancer and this is our original condition; but
our Lord opened on us the gate of fortune and we have gotten us a
name amongst the merchants and with their provost.' Upon this he
will say to thee, ‘Then thou art an ape-leader of the tribe of
the mountebanks?' and do thou rejoin, ‘I may in nowise deny my
origin, for the sake of thy daughter and in her honour.' The Kazi
will say, ‘It may not be that thou shalt be given the daughter of
a Shaykh who sitteth upon the carpet of the Law and whose descent
is traceable by genealogy to the loins of the Apostle of
Allah,[FN#273] nor is it meet that his daughter be in the power
of a man who is an ape-dancer, a minstrel.' Then do thou reply,
‘Nay, O Efendi, she is my lawful wife, and every hair of her is
worth a thousand lives, and I will not put her away though I be
given the kingship of the world.' At last be thou persuaded to
speak the word of divorce and so shall the marriage be voided and
ye be saved each from other." Quoth Ala al-Din, "Right is thy
rede," and locking up his shop, betook himself to the place --And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say. Whereupon cried Dunyazad, her sister, "O sister
mine, how goodly is thy story and how sweet!" She replied,
saying, "And where is this compared with that which I will
recount to thee next night, Inshallah!"
The Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night.
And whenas came the night, quoth Dunyazad to her sister, "O
sister mine, an thou incline not unto sleep, pray finish thy tale
which shall beguile our watching through the dark hours." She
replied:--With love and gladness! It hath reached me, O generous
King, that the young merchant betook himself to the place before
the citadel, where he foregathered with the dancers, the drummers
and pipers and instructed them how they should do, promising them
a mighty fine reward. They received his word with "Hearing and
obeying;" and he betook himself on the morrow, after the morning
prayer, to the presence of the Judge, who received him with
humble courtesy and seated him by his side. Then he addressed him
and began questioning him of matters of selling and buying and of
the price current of the various commodities which were carried
to Baghdad from all quarters, whilst his son-in-law replied to
all whereof he was questioned. As they were thus conversing,
behold, up came the dancers and drummers with their drums and
pipers with their pipes, whilst one of their number preceded
them, with a long pennon-like banner in his hand, and played all
manner antics with voice and limbs. When they came to the Court
house, the Kazi cried, "I seek refuge with Allah from yonder
Satans!" and the young merchant laughed but said naught. Then
they entered and saluting his worship the Kazi, kissed Ala
al-Din's hands and said, "A blessing on thee, O son of our uncle!
Indeed, thou coolest our eyes in whatso thou doest, and we
beseech Allah for the enduring greatness of our lord the Kazi,
who hath honoured us by admitting thee to his connection and hath
allotted to us a portion in his high rank and degree." When the
Judge heard this talk, it bewildered his wit and he was dazed and
his face flushed with rage, and quoth he to his son-in-law, "What
words are these?" Quoth the merchant, "Knowest thou not, O my
lord, that I am of this tribe? Indeed this man is the son of my
maternal uncle and that other the son of my paternal uncle, and
if I be reckoned of the merchants, ‘tis but by courtesy!" When
the Kazi heard these words his colour changed--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day, whereupon cried Dunyazad her sister,
"O sister mine, how delectable is thy story and how desirable!"
She replied, saying, "And where is its first compared with its
last? But I will forthwith relate it to you an I be spared and
suffered to live by the King, whom may Allah the Most High keep!"
Quoth the King within himself, "By the Almighty, I will not slay
her until I hear the end of her tale!"
The Two Hundredth Night.
Now whenas came the night, quoth Dunyazad to her sister, "O
sister mine, an thou incline not unto sleep, prithee finish thy
tale which shall beguile our watching through the dark hours."
She replied:--With love and gladness! It hath reached me, O
auspicious king, that the Kazi's colour changed and he was
troubled and waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and was like to
burst for stress of rage. Then said he to the young merchant,
"Allah forfend that this should last! How shall it be permitted
that the daughter of the Kazi of the Moslems cohabit with a man
of the dancers and vile of origin? By Allah, unless thou
repudiate her forthright, I will bid beat thee and cast thee into
prison and there confine thee till thou die. Had I foreknown that
thou wast of them, I had not suffered thee near me, but had spat
in thy face, for that thou art more ill-omened than a dog or a
hog."[FN#274] Then he kicked him down from his place and
commanded him to divorce; but he said, "Be ruthful to me, O
Efendi, for that Allah is ruthful, and hasten not: I will not
divorce my wife, though thou give me the kingdom of Al-Irak." The
judge was perplexed and knew that compulsion was not permitted of
Holy Law;[FN#275] so he bespake the young merchant fair and said
to him, "Veil me,[FN#276] so may Allah veil thee. An thou divorce
her not, this dishonour shall cleave to me till the end of time."
Then his fury gat the better of his wit and he cried, "An thou
divorce her not of thine own will, I will forthright bid strike
off thy head and slay myself; Hell-flame but not shame."[FN#277]
The merchant bethought himself awhile, then divorced her with a
manifest divorce and a public[FN#278] and on this wise he won
free from that unwelcome worry. Then he returned to his shop and
presently sought in marriage of her father her who had done with
him what she did[FN#279] and who was the daughter of the Shaykh
of the guild of the blacksmiths. So he took her to wife and they
abode each with other and lived the pleasantest of lives and the
most delightsome, till the day of death: and praise be to Allah
the Lord of the Three Worlds.
