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027 - Night 941 - 942 · Arabian Nights Tales from Volume 09

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty seven of the Book of the Thousand Knights
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  Speaker 1: and the Knight, Volume nine. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or the volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by phone The Book of the Thousand Knights and the Night,
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  Speaker 1: Volume nine by Anonymous, translated by Richard Francis Burton, Knight
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  Speaker 1: nine hundred and forty one. When it was the nine
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  Speaker 1: hundred and forty first night she pursued it, hath reached
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  Speaker 1: me o auspicious king that the baker said to the fishermen,
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  Speaker 1: take whatso thou needest, and I will have patience with
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  Speaker 1: THEE till better luck betide THEE after the which thou
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  Speaker 1: shalt bring me fish for all thou owest me. Said
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  Speaker 1: the fisherman, Almighty Allah, reward THEE and requite THEE for
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  Speaker 1: me with all good. Then he took the bread and
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  Speaker 1: the coins and went away, glad at heart, and, buying
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  Speaker 1: what he could, returned to his wife, whom he found
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  Speaker 1: sitting up, soothing the children who were weeping for hunger,
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  Speaker 1: and saying to them, at once, your father will be
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  Speaker 1: here with what ye may eat. So he set the
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  Speaker 1: bread before them, and they ate whilst he told his
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  Speaker 1: wife what had befallen him, and she said, Allah is bountiful.
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  Speaker 1: On the morrow, he shouldered his net and went forth
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  Speaker 1: of his house, saying, I beseech thee O Lord to
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  Speaker 1: vouchsafe me this day that which shall whiten my face
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  Speaker 1: with the baker. When he came to the sea shore,
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  Speaker 1: he proceeded to cast his net and pull it in,
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  Speaker 1: But there came up no fish therein, and he ceased
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  Speaker 1: not to toil thus till end the day. But he
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  Speaker 1: caught nothing. Then he set out homewards in great concern,
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  Speaker 1: and the way to his house lay past the baker's oven.
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  Speaker 1: So he said to himself, how shall I go home?
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  Speaker 1: But I will hasten my pace that the baker may
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  Speaker 1: not see me. When he reached the shop, he saw
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  Speaker 1: a crowd about it, and walked the faster, being ashamed
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  Speaker 1: to face his creditor. But the baker raised his eyes
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  Speaker 1: to him and cried out to him, saying, Ho, fisherman,
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  Speaker 1: come and take thy bread and spending money meseems thou forgettest,
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  Speaker 1: quoth Abdullah by Allah, I had not forgotten, but I
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  Speaker 1: was ashamed to face thee, because I have caught no
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  Speaker 1: fish to stay. And quoth the baker be not ashamed,
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  Speaker 1: said I not to thee at thy leisure, till better
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  Speaker 1: luck betide thee. Then he gave him the bread and
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  Speaker 1: the ten noofs, and he returned and told his wife,
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  Speaker 1: who said, allah is bountiful. Better luck shall yet betide thee,
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  Speaker 1: and thou shalt give the baker his due inshallah. He
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  Speaker 1: seesed not doing on this wise forty days, betaking himself
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  Speaker 1: daily to the sea, from the rising of the sun
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  Speaker 1: to the going down thereof, and returning home without fish.
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  Speaker 1: And still he took bread and spending money of the baker,
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  Speaker 1: who never once named the fish to him, nor neglected him,
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  Speaker 1: nor kept him waiting like the folk, but gave him
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  Speaker 1: the bread and the ten half durhams without delay. Whenever
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  Speaker 1: the fisherman said to him, O, my brother reckon with me,
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  Speaker 1: he would say, be off, this is no time for reckoning.
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  Speaker 1: Wait till better luck betide thee, and then I will
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  Speaker 1: reckon with thee. And the fisherman would bless him and
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  Speaker 1: go away, thanking him on the one and forthee a day.
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  Speaker 1: He said to his wife, I have a mind to
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  Speaker 1: tear up the net and be quit of this life.
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  Speaker 1: She asked, why wilt thou do this? And he answered, meseems,
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  Speaker 1: there is an end of my getting my daily bread
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  Speaker 1: from the waters? How long shall this last? By allah?
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  Speaker 1: I burn with shame before the baker, and I will
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  Speaker 1: go no more to the sea, so I may not
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  Speaker 1: pass by his oven, for I have none other way home.
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  Speaker 1: And every time I pass, he calleth me and giveth
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  Speaker 1: me the bread and the ten silvers. How much longer
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  Speaker 1: shall I run in debt to him? The wife replied, alhamdolillah,
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  Speaker 1: lod it be the Lord, the most High, who hath
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  Speaker 1: inclined his heart to thee, so that he giveth thee
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  Speaker 1: are daily bread. What dislikest thou in this? And the
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  Speaker 1: husband rejoined, I owe him now a mighty great sum
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  Speaker 1: of Durham's and there is no doubt but that he
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  Speaker 1: will demand his due. Hath he vexed thee with words?
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  Speaker 1: No on the co he still refuseth the reckon with me, saying,
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  Speaker 1: wait till better luck betide thee. If he press thee,
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  Speaker 1: say to him, wait till there come the good luck
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  Speaker 1: for which we hope thou and I, and when will
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  Speaker 1: the good luck come that we hope? For Allah is bountiful,
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  Speaker 1: sooth thou speakest so saying, he shouldered his net and
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  Speaker 1: went down to the sea side, praying, O, Lord, provide
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  Speaker 1: thou me though, but with one fish, that I may
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  Speaker 1: give it to the baker. And he cast his net
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  Speaker 1: into the sea, and pulling it in, found it heavy.
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  Speaker 1: So he tugged at it till he was tired with
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  Speaker 1: sore travil. But when he got it ashore, he found
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  Speaker 1: in it a dead donkey, swollen and stinking whereat. His
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  Speaker 1: senses sickened, and he freed it from the net, saying,
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  Speaker 1: there is no majesty, and there is no might save
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  Speaker 1: in Allah the Glorious, the Great. Indeed, I can no more.
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  Speaker 1: I say to that wife of mine, there is no
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  Speaker 1: more provision for me in the waters. Let me leave
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  Speaker 1: this craft. And still she answereth me Allah is bountiful,
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  Speaker 1: good will presently betie to thee is this dead ass
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  Speaker 1: the good whereof she speaketh? And he grieved with the
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  Speaker 1: sorest grief. Then he turned to another place so he
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  Speaker 1: might remove from the stench of the dead donkey, and
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  Speaker 1: cast his net there and waited a full hour. Then
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  Speaker 1: he drew it in and found it heavy. Thereupon quoth
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  Speaker 1: he go, and we are hauling up all the dead
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  Speaker 1: donkeys in the sea and ridding it of its rubbish. However,
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  Speaker 1: he gave not overtugging at the net till blood came
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  Speaker 1: from the palms of his hands. And when he got
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  Speaker 1: it ashore, he saw a man in it, and took
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  Speaker 1: him for one of the ifrits of the Lord Solomon,
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  Speaker 1: whom he was wont to imprison in cucrits of grass,
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  Speaker 1: and cast him into the main, believing that the vessel
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  Speaker 1: had burst for length of years, and that the iffrit
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  Speaker 1: had come forth and fallen into the net. Wherefore he
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  Speaker 1: fled from him, crying out and saying, mercy, mercy, o
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  Speaker 1: ifrit of Solomon. But the Adamite called out to him
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  Speaker 1: from within the net and said, come hither, o fisherman,
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  Speaker 1: and flee not from me, for I am human like thyself.
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  Speaker 1: Release me, so thou mayst get a recompense for me
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  Speaker 1: of Allah. When as he heard these words, the fisherman
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  Speaker 1: took heart, and, coming up to him, said to him,
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  Speaker 1: art thou not an ephrit of the gin, and replied
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  Speaker 1: the other, no, I am immortal and a believer in Allah.
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  Speaker 1: And his apostle asked the fisherman who threw thee into
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  Speaker 1: the sea, and the other answered, I am of the
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  Speaker 1: children of the sea, and was going about therein when
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  Speaker 1: thou causest the net over me. We are people who
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  Speaker 1: obey Allah's commandments and show loving kindness and to the
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  Speaker 1: creatures of the Almighty. And but that I fear and
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  Speaker 1: dread to be of the disobedient. I had torn thy net.
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  Speaker 1: But I accept that which the Lord hath decreeded to me. Wherefore,
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  Speaker 1: by setting me free, thou becomest my owner, and I
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  Speaker 1: thy captive. Wilt thou then set me free for the
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  Speaker 1: love of Almighty Allah, and make a covenant with me,
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  Speaker 1: and become my comrade. I will come to thee every
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  Speaker 1: day in this place. And do thou come to me
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  Speaker 1: and bring me a gift of the fruits of the land.
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  Speaker 1: For with you are grapes and figs, and watermelons, and
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  Speaker 1: peaches and pomegranates and so forth, And all thou bringest
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  Speaker 1: me will be acceptable unto me. Moreover, with us are
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  Speaker 1: coral and pearls, and slights, and emeralds, and rubies and
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  Speaker 1: other gems, and I will fill thee the basket wherein
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  Speaker 1: thou bringest ma of fruit with precious stones of the
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  Speaker 1: jewels of the sea. What sayest thou to this, o,
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  Speaker 1: my brother, quoth the fisherman, be the opening chapter of
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  Speaker 1: the Koran between thee and me. Upon this, so they
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  Speaker 1: recited together the Futiha, and the fisherman loose the merman
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  Speaker 1: from the net and asked him what is thy name?
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  Speaker 1: He replied, My name is Abdullah of the Sea. And
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  Speaker 1: if thou come hither and see me, not call out
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  Speaker 1: and say where art thou o Abdullah o Merman, and
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  Speaker 1: I will be with thee? And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
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  Speaker 1: of day and ceased to say her permitted say end
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  Speaker 1: of night nine hundred and forty one night nine hundred
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  Speaker 1: and forty two, when it was the nine hundred and
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  Speaker 1: forty si second night, she resumed it. Hath reached me,
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  Speaker 1: o auspicious King, that Abdullah of the Sea thus enjoined
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  Speaker 1: the other, And thou come hither and see me, not
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  Speaker 1: call out and say where art thou o Abdullah o Merman,
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  Speaker 1: and I will be with thee? Forthwith But thou what
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  Speaker 1: is thy name, quoth the fisherman. My name also is Abdullah,
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  Speaker 1: And quoth the other thou art Abdullah of the land,
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  Speaker 1: and I am Abdullah of the sea. But tarry here
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  Speaker 1: till I go and fetch thee a present. And the
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  Speaker 1: fisherman repented him of having released him, and said to himself,
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  Speaker 1: how know I that he will come back to me?
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  Speaker 1: Indeed he beguiled me so that I loosed him, and
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  Speaker 1: now he will laugh at me. Had I kept him,
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  Speaker 1: I might have made a show of him for the
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  Speaker 1: diversion of the city folk, and taken silver from all men,
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  Speaker 1: and gone with him to the houses of the great.
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  Speaker 1: And he repented him of having set him free, and said,
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  Speaker 1: thou hast let thy pray from thy hand away. But
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  Speaker 1: as he was thus bemoaning his folly in releasing the prisoner,
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  Speaker 1: behold Abdullah de Merman returned to him with both hands
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  Speaker 1: full of pearls and coral and smarrags, and rubies and
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  Speaker 1: other gems, and said to him, take these, o, my brother,
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  Speaker 1: and excuse me. Had I a fish basket, I would
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  Speaker 1: have filled it for thee. Abdullah the fisherman rejoiced and
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  Speaker 1: took the jewels from the merman, who said to him,
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  Speaker 1: every day, come hither before sunrise and Farewellingham went down
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  Speaker 1: into the sea, whilst the other returned to the city,
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  Speaker 1: rejoicing and stayed, not walking, till he came to the
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  Speaker 1: baker's oven, and said to him, O, my brother, good
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  Speaker 1: luck is come to us at last. So do thou
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  Speaker 1: reckon with me? Answered the baker, There needeth no reckoning,
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  Speaker 1: and thou have ought, give it me. And if thou
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  Speaker 1: have naught, take thy bread and spending money, and be
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  Speaker 1: gone against weal betide. Thee rejoined the fisherman. O, my friend, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: Wheal hath betided me of allas bounty, and I owe
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  Speaker 1: him much money. But take this so saying, he took
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  Speaker 1: for him a handful of the pearls and coral and
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  Speaker 1: rubies and other jewels he had with him, the handful
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  Speaker 1: being about half of the hole, and gave them to
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  Speaker 1: the baker, saying, give me some ready money to spend
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  Speaker 1: this day till I sell these jewels. So the baker
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  Speaker 1: gave him all the money he had in hand and
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  Speaker 1: all the bread in his basket, and rejoiced in the jewels, saying,
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  Speaker 1: I am thy slave and thy servant. Then he set
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  Speaker 1: all the bread on his head, and following the fisherman home,
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  Speaker 1: gave it to his wife and children after a while,
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  Speaker 1: which he repaired to the market and brought meat and
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  Speaker 1: greens and all manner fruit. Moreover, he left his oven
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  Speaker 1: and abode with Abdullah all that day, busying himself in
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  Speaker 1: his service and fulfilling all his affairs. Said the fisherman, O,
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  Speaker 1: my brother, thou wariest thyself. And the baker replied, this
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  Speaker 1: is my duty, for I am become thy servant, And
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  Speaker 1: thou hast overwhelmed me with thy boons. Rejoined the fisherman,
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  Speaker 1: tis thou who wast my benefactor in the days of
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  Speaker 1: dearth and distress. And the baker passed that night with him,
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  Speaker 1: enjoying good cheer, and became a faithful friend to him.
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  Speaker 1: Then the fisherman told his wife what had befallen him
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  Speaker 1: with the merman whereat. She rejoiced and said, keep thy secret,
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  Speaker 1: lest the government come down upon thee. But he said,
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  Speaker 1: though I keep my secret from all men, yet will
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  Speaker 1: I not hide it from the baby. On the morrow
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  Speaker 1: he rose betimes and shouldering a basket which he had
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  Speaker 1: filled in the evening with all manner fruits prepared before
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  Speaker 1: sunrise to the sea shore, and setting down the crate
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  Speaker 1: on the water edge, called out where art thou, O
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  Speaker 1: Abdullah Omrman. He answered, here am I at thy service,
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  Speaker 1: and came forth to him. The fisherman gave him the fruit,
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  Speaker 1: and he took it, and, plunging into the sea with it,
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  Speaker 1: was absent a full hour, after which he came up
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  Speaker 1: with the fish basket full of all kinds of gems
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  Speaker 1: and jewels. The fisherman set it on his head and
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  Speaker 1: went away, And when he came to the oven, the
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  Speaker 1: baker said to him, O, my lord, I have baked
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  Speaker 1: thee forty buns and have sent him to thy house,
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  Speaker 1: and now I will bake them first, and as soon
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  Speaker 1: as all is done, I will bring it to thy
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  Speaker 1: house and go and fetch thee greens and meat. Abdullah
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  Speaker 1: handed to him three hundrefuls of jewels out of the
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  Speaker 1: fish basket, and, going home, set it down there. Then
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  Speaker 1: he took a gem of price of each sort, and
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  Speaker 1: going to the jewel bazaar, stopped at the syndic's shop
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  Speaker 1: and said to him, by these precious stones of me,
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  Speaker 1: show them to me, said the sheikh, so he showed
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  Speaker 1: them to him, and the jeweler said, as though aught
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  Speaker 1: beside these, and Abdillah replied, I have a basketful at home.
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  Speaker 1: The syndic asked, and where is thine house? And the
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  Speaker 1: fisherman answered in such a quarter. Whereupon the sheikh took
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  Speaker 1: the jewels from him and set to his followers. Lay
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  Speaker 1: hold of him, for he is the thief who stole
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  Speaker 1: the jewelry of the queen, the wife of Barsultan, and
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  Speaker 1: he bad beat him, so they bastinadoed him and pinioned him,
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  Speaker 1: after which the syndic and all the people of the
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  Speaker 1: jewel market arose and set out for the palace, saying,
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  Speaker 1: we have caught the thief. Quoth one none robbed such
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  Speaker 1: a one but this villain, And quoth another twas none,
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  Speaker 1: but he stole all that was in such a one's house.
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  Speaker 1: And some said this, another said that all this while
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  Speaker 1: he was silent, and speak not a word, nor returned
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  Speaker 1: the reply, till they brought him before the king, to
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  Speaker 1: whom said the syndic, O, King of the age, when
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  Speaker 1: the queen's necklace was stolen, thou sentest to acquaintance of
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  Speaker 1: the theft, requiring of us the discovery of the culprit.
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  Speaker 1: Wherefore I strove beyond the rest of the folk, and
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  Speaker 1: have taken the thief for thee. Here he standeth before thee,
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  Speaker 1: and these be the jewels we have recovered from him.
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  Speaker 1: Thereupon the king said to the chief eunuch, carry these
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  Speaker 1: jewels for the queen to see, and say to her,
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  Speaker 1: are these thy property thou hast lost. So the eunuch
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  Speaker 1: took the jewels and went in with them to the queen, who,
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  Speaker 1: seeing their luster, marveled at them, and sent to the
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  Speaker 1: king to say, I have found my necklace in my
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  Speaker 1: own place, and these jewels are not my property. Nay,
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  Speaker 1: they are finer than those of my necklace. So oppress
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  Speaker 1: not the man. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
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  Speaker 1: and ceased, saying her permitted say end of night nine
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  Speaker 1: hundred and forty two