Story of the Youth Who Would Futter His Father's
Wives.[FN#579]
It is related that there was a man who had a grown-up son, but
the youth was a ne'er-do-well,[FN#580] and whatever wife his sire
wedded, the son would devise him a device to lie with her and
have his wicked will of her, and he so managed the matter that
his father was forced to divorce her. Now the man once married a
bride beautiful exceedingly and, charging her beware of his son,
jealously guarded her from him.--And Shahrazad was surprised by
the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted
say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O
sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And
where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the
coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was
the next night, and that was
The Eight Hundred and Thirty-second Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be
not sleeping, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the
watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and
good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director,
the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of
deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the father
applied himself to safe-guarding his wife and gave her a charge
warning her with threats against his son and saying, "Whenas I
wed ever a woman, yonder youth by his cunning manageth to have
his wicked will of her." Quoth she, "O Man, what be these words
thou speakest? This thy son is a dog, nor hath he power to do
with me aught, and I am a lady amongst women." Quoth he, "Indeed
I but charge thee to have a care of thyself.[FN#581] Haply I may
hie me forth to wayfare and he will lay some deep plot for thee
and work with thee as he wrought with others." She replied, "O
Man, hold thyself secure therefrom for an he bespeak me with a
single word I will slipper him with my papoosh;[FN#582] and her
rejoined, "May safety be thine!" He cohabited with her for a
month till one day of the days when he was compelled to travel;
so he went in to his wife and cautioned her and was earnest with
her saying, "Have a guard of thyself from my son the debauchee
for 'tis a froward fellow, a thief, a miserable, lest he come
over thee with some wile and have his will of thee." Said she,
"What words are these? Thy son is a dog nor hath he any power
over me in aught whereof thou talkest, and if he bespeak me with
one injurious word, I will slipper him soundly with my foot-
gear."[FN#583] He rejoined, "If thou happen to need aught[FN#584]
never even mention it to him;" and she, "Hearkening and
obedience." So he farewelled her and fared forth wholly intent
upon his wayfare. Now when he was far enough from the town the
youth came to the grass-widow but would not address a single word
to her, albeit fire was lighted in his heart by reason of her
being so beautiful. Accordingly he contrived a wile. It happened
to be summer-tide so he went[FN#585] to the house and repaired to
the terrace-roof, and there he raised his clothes from his
sitting-place and exposed his backside stark naked to the cooling
breeze; then he leant forwards propped on either elbow and,
spreading his hands upon the ground, perked up[FN#586] his
bottom. His stepmother looked at him and marvelling much said in
her mind, "Would Heaven I knew of this froward youth what may be
his object!"[FN#587] However he never looked at her nor ever
turned towards her but he abode quiet in the posture he had
chosen. She stared hard at him and at last could no longer
refrain from asking him, "Wherefore dost thou on this wise?" He
answered, "And why not? I am doing that shall benefit me in the
future, but what that is I will never tell thee; no, never." She
repeated her question again and again, and at last he replied, "I
do thus when 'tis summer-tide and a something of caloric entereth
my belly through my backside and when 'tis winter the same cometh
forth and warmeth my body; and in the dog-days and keepeth me in
heats like these, fresh and comfortable."[FN#588] She asked, "An
I do what thou doest, shall it be the same to me?" And he
answered, "Aye." Herewith she came forward beside him and raised
her raiment from her behind till the half of her below the waist
was stark naked;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her
sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister
mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is
this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night
as the Sovran suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next
night and that was
The Eight Hundred and Thirty-third Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be
other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short
the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love
and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the
director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting
and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the grass-
widow came forward beside her stepson and raised her raiment from
her behind until the half of her below the waist was stark naked;
and she did even as her husband's son had done, and perked up her
buttocks, leaning heavily upon her knees and elbows. Now when she
acted on this wise the youth addressed her saying, "Thou canst
not do it aright." "How so?" "Because the wind passing in through
the postern passeth out through thy portal, thy solution of
continuity." "Then how shall I do?" "Stopper thy slit
wherethrough the air passeth." "How shall I stopper it?" "An
thou stopper it not thy toil will be in vain." "Dost thou know
how to stopper it?" "Indeed I do!" "Then, rise up and stopper
it." Hearing these words he arose, because indeed he greeded for
her, and came up behind her as she rested upon her elbows and
knees and hending in hand his prickle nailed it into her coynte
and did manly devoir. And after having his will of her he said,
"Thou hast now done thy best for me and thy belly is filled full
of the warm breeze." On this wise he continued every day,
enjoying the wife of his father for some time during his wayfare,
till the traveller returned home, and on his entering the house
the bride rose and greeted him and said, "Thou hast been absent
overlong!"[FN#589] The man sat with her awhile and presently
asked of her case for that he was fearful of his son; so she
answered, "I am hale and hearty!" "Did my son ask thee of aught?"
"Nay, he asked me not, nor did he ever address me: withal, O Man,
he hath admirable and excellent expedients and indeed he is
deeply versed in natural philosophy." "What expedients and what
natural philosophy?" "He tucketh up his dress and exposeth his
backside to the breeze which now passeth into his belly and
benefiteth him throughout the cold season, and in winter he doeth
exactly what he did in summer with effect as beneficial. And I
also have done as he did." Now when the husband heard these her
words he knew that the youth had practised upon her and had
enjoyed his desire of her; so he asked her, "And what was it thou
diddest?" She answered, "I did even as he did. However the breeze
would not at first enter into my belly for whatever passed
through the back postern passed out of the front portal, and the
youth said to me, 'Stopper up thy solution of continuity.' I
asked him, 'Dost thou know how to stopper it?' and he answered,
'Indeed I do!' Then he arose and blocked it with his prickle; and
every day I continued to do likewise and he to stopper up the
peccant part with the wherewithal he hath." All this was said to
the husband who listened with his head bowed groundwards; but
presently he raised it and cried, "There is no Majesty and there
is no might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great;" and suddenly
as they were speaking on that subject the youth came in to them--
And Sharazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and
ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad,
"How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and
delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I
would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to
survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was
The Eight Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be
not sleeping, finish for us thy tale, that we may cut short the
watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and
good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director,
the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting, and of
deeds fair-seeming and worth celebrating, that the youth came in
to his father and found his step-mother relating to him all they
had done whilst he was away and the man said to him, "Wherefore,
O youth, hast thou acted on such wise?" Said the son, "What harm
have I done? I only dammed the waterway that the warm air might
abide in her belly and comfort her in the cold season." So the
father knew that his son had played this trick in order to have
his will of her. Hereat he flew into a fury[FN#590] and
forthright divorced her, giving her the contingent dowry; and she
went her ways. Then the man said in his mind, "I shall never get
the better of this boy until I marry two wives and ever keep them
with each other, so that he may not cozen the twain." Now after a
couple of weeks he espoused a fair woman fairer than his former
and during the next month he wived with a second and cohabited
with the two brides. Then quoth the youth in his mind, "My papa
hath wedded two perfect beauties and here am I abiding in single
blessedness. By Allah, there is no help but that I play a prank
upon both of them!" Then he fell to seeking a contrivance but he
could not hit upon aught for that whenever he entered the house
he found his two step-mothers sitting together and thus he could
not avail to address either. But his father never fared forth
from home or returned to it without warning his wives and saying,
"Have a care of yourselves against that son of mine. He is a
whoremonger and he hath made my life distraught, for whenever I
take to myself a wife he serveth some sleight upon her; then he
laugheth at her and so manageth that I must divorce her." At such
times the two wives would cry, "Walláhi, an he come near us and
ask us of amorous mercy, we will slap him with our slippers."
Still the man would insist, saying, "Be ye on your guard against
him," and they would reply, "We are ever on our guard." Now one
day the women said to him, "O man, our wheat is finished," and
said he, "Be ye watchful while I fare to the Bazar in our market-
town which lieth hard by and fetch you the corn." So he left them
and made for the town,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth
her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O
sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And
where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the
coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?" Now when it was
the next night and that was
The Eight Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be
other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short
the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love
and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the
director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting
and of deeds fair-seeming and worth celebrating, that when the
father had gone forth and was making for the market-town, his son
happened to meet him, and the two wives went up to the terrace
wishing to see if their husband be gone or not. Now by the decree
of the Decreer the man had in some carelessness forgotten his
papooshes so he turned to the youth who was following him and
said, "O my son, go back and bring me my shoes." The women still
looking, and the youth returned in mighty haste and hurry till he
stood under the terrace, when he looked up and said, "My father
hath just now charged me with a charge saying, 'Do thou go sleep
with my wives, the twain of them, and have each one of them
once.' They replied, "What, O dog, O accursed, thy father bespake
thee on this wise? By Allah, indeed thou liest, O hog, O ill-
omened wight." "Wallahi," he rejoined, "I lie not!" So he walked
back till he was near his father when he shouted his loudest so
as to be heard by both parties, "O my papa, O my papa, one of
them or the two of them? One of them or the two of them?" The
father shouted in reply, "The two, the two! Allah disappoint
thee: did I say one of them or the two of them?" So the youth
returned to his father's wives and cried, "Ye have heard what my
papa said. I asked him within your hearing, 'One of them or the
two of them?' and ye heard him say, 'Both, both.'" Now the man
was speaking of his slippers, to wit, the pair; but the women
understood that his saying, "the two of them" referred to his
wives. So one turned to her sister spouse and said, "So it
is,[FN#591] our ears heard it and the youth hath in no wise lied:
let him lie with me once and once with thee even as his father
bade him." Both were satisfied herewith; but meanwhile the son
stole quietly into the house and found his father's papooshes:
then he caught him up on the road and gave them to him and the
man went his ways. Presently the youth returned to the house and
taking one of his father's wives lay with her and enjoyed her and
she also had her joy of him; and when he had done all he wanted
with her he fared forth from her to the second wife in her
chamber and stretched himself beside her and toyed with her and
futtered her. She saw in the son a something she had not seen in
the sire, so she joyed in him and he joyed in her. Now when he
had won his will of the twain and had left the house the women
foregathered and began talking and saying, "By Allah, this youth
hath given us both much amorous pleasure, far more than his
father ever did; but when our husband shall return let us keep
our secret even though he spake the words we heard: haply he may
not brook too much of this thing." So as soon as the man came
back with the wheat he asked the women saying, "What befel you?"
and they answered, "O Man, art thou not ashamed to say to thy
son, 'Go sleep with both thy father's wives?' 'Tis lucky that
thou hast escaped." Quoth he, "Never said I aught of this"; and
quoth they, "But we heard thee cry, 'The two of them.'" He
rejoined, "Allah disappoint you: I forgot my papooshes and said
to him, 'Go fetch them.' He cried out 'One of them or the two of
them?' and I replied, 'The two of them,' meaning my shoes, not
you." "And we," said they, "when he spake to us such words
slippered him and turned him out and now he never cometh near
us." "Right well have ye done," he rejoined, "'tis a fulsome
fellow." This was their case; but as regards the youth, he fell
to watching and dogging his father's path, and whenever the man
left the house and went afar from it he would go in to the women
who rejoiced in his coming. Then he would lie with one, and when
he had won his will of her he would go to the sister-wife and
tumble her. This lasted for some time, until the women said each
to other, "What need when he cometh to us for each to receive him
separately in her room? Let us both be in one chamber and when he
visiteth us let us all three, we two and he, have mutual joyance
and let him pass from one to the other." And they agreed to this
condition, unknowing the decree of Allah which was preparing to
punish the twain for their abandoned wantonness.--And Shahrazad
was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to
say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet
is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!"
Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate
to you on the coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?"
Now when it was the next night and that was
The Eight Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be
not sleeping, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the
watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and
good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director,
the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of
deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the two women
agreed to partnership in iniquity with the youth their stepson.
Now on the next day the man went forth and left his house for
some pressing occasion and his son followed him till he saw him
far distant: then the youth repaired to the two wives and found
them both in one chamber. So he asked them, "Why doth not each of
you go to her own apartment?" and they answered, "What use is
there in that? Let us all be together and take our joy, we and
thou." So he lay between them and began to toy with them and
tumble them; and roll over them and mount upon the bubbies of one
and thence change seat to the other's breasts and while so doing
all were plunged in the sea of enjoyment.[FN#592] But they knew
not what lurked for them in the hidden World of the Future.
Presently, lo and behold! the father returned and entered the
house when none of them expected him or was ware of him; and he
heard their play even before he went into the chamber. Here he
leant against a side-wall and privily viewed their proceedings
and the lewd state they were in; and he allowed time to drag on
and espied them at his ease, seeing his son mount the breasts of
one woman and then shift seat to the bubbies of his other wife.
After noting all this he fared quietly forth the house and sought
the Wali complaining of the case; so the Chief of Police took
horse and repaired with him to his home where, when the two went
in, they found the three at the foulest play. The Wali arrested
them one and all and carried them with elbows pinioned to his
office. Here he made the youth over to the Linkman who struck his
neck, and as for the two women he bade the executioner delay till
nightfall and then take them and strangle them and hide their
corpses underground. And lastly he commanded the public Crier go
about all the city and cry;-- "This be the award of high
treason." And men also relate (continued Shahrazad) the
