Latest / Arabian Nights Tales from Volume 09 / 028 - Night 943 - 944

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028 - Night 943 - 944 · Arabian Nights Tales from Volume 09

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty eight of the Book of the Thousand Knights
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  Speaker 1: and a 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 to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Mark Ernest The Book of the Thousand Knights and
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  Speaker 1: a Knight, Volume nine by anonymous, translated by Richard Francis Burton, Knight,
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  Speaker 1: nine hundred and forty three. When it was the nine
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  Speaker 1: hundred and forty third night, she said it hath reached me,
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  Speaker 1: O auspicious king, that when the King's wife sent to
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  Speaker 1: the King to say, these are not my property. Nay,
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  Speaker 1: these gems are finer than those of my necklace. So
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  Speaker 1: oppress not this man. But if he will sell them,
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  Speaker 1: buy them for thy daughter, um alsoud that we may
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  Speaker 1: set them in a necklace for her. When the eunuch
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  Speaker 1: returned and told the King what the queen said, he
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  Speaker 1: damned the syndic of the jewelers, him and his company
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  Speaker 1: with the damnation of ad and Thambud. And they said
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  Speaker 1: to him, O King of the age, we knew this
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  Speaker 1: man for a poor fisherman, and deemed such things too
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  Speaker 1: much for him. So we supposed that he had stolen them,
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  Speaker 1: cried the king, O, ye, filthy villains, begrudge ye a
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  Speaker 1: true believer good fortune? Why did ye not make no
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  Speaker 1: inquiry of him? Haply, Allah Almighty hath vouchsafed him these
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  Speaker 1: things from a source. Whereupon he reckoned not, why did
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  Speaker 1: ye make him out a thief and disgrace him amongst
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  Speaker 1: the folk? Begone? And may Allah never bless you. So
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  Speaker 1: they went out affrighted, and the king said to Abdullah,
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  Speaker 1: O man Allah bless thee in all he hath bestowed
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  Speaker 1: on thee. No harm shall befall thee. But tell me, truly,
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  Speaker 1: whence goddest thou these jewels? For I am a king,
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  Speaker 1: Yet I have not the like of them. The fisherman replied, O,
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  Speaker 1: King of the age, I have a fish basket full
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  Speaker 1: of them at home, and the case is thus. And
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  Speaker 1: thus then he told him of his friendship with the merman,
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  Speaker 1: adding we have made a covenant together that I shall
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  Speaker 1: bring him every day a basket full of fruit, and
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  Speaker 1: then he shall fill me the basket with these jewels.
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  Speaker 1: Quoth the king, O, man, this is thy lucky lot.
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  Speaker 1: But wealth needeth rank I will defend THEE for the
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  Speaker 1: present against men's domineering. But haply I shall be deposed
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  Speaker 1: or die in another rule in my stead, and he
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  Speaker 1: shall slay THEE because of his love of the goods
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  Speaker 1: of this world and his covetousness. So I am minded
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  Speaker 1: to marry THEE to my daughter, and make THEE I wazir,
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  Speaker 1: and bequeath THEE the kingdom after me, so none may
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  Speaker 1: hanker for thy riches when I am gone. Then said
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  Speaker 1: he hi with this men to the Haman. So they
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  Speaker 1: bore him to the baths and bathed his body and
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  Speaker 1: robed him in royal raiment, after which they brought him
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  Speaker 1: back to the king, and he made him his wazir,
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  Speaker 1: and sent to his house couriers and the soldiers of
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  Speaker 1: his guard, and all the wives of the notables, who
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  Speaker 1: clad his wife and children in kingly costume, and mounting
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  Speaker 1: the woman in a horse litter with the little child
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  Speaker 1: in her lap, walked before her to the palace, escorted
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  Speaker 1: by the troops and couriers and officers. They also brought
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  Speaker 1: her elder children into the king, who made much of them,
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  Speaker 1: taking them in his lap and seating them by his side,
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  Speaker 1: for they were nine children male, and the king had
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  Speaker 1: no son and heir, nor had he been blessed with
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  Speaker 1: any child save this one daughter, um alsud Rait. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: the queen entreated Abdullah's wife with honor and bestowed favors
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  Speaker 1: on her, and made her wazaris to her. Then the
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  Speaker 1: king bade draw up the marriage contract between his daughter
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  Speaker 1: and Abdullah of the land, who assigned to her as
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  Speaker 1: her dower all the gems and precious stones in his possession,
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  Speaker 1: and they opened the gates of festival. The king commanded
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  Speaker 1: by proclamation to decorate the city in honor of his
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  Speaker 1: daughter's wedding. Then Abdullah went in unto the princess and
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  Speaker 1: abated her maidenhead. Next morning, the king looked out of
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  Speaker 1: the lattice and saw Abdullah carrying on his head a
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  Speaker 1: fish crateful of fruit. So he called to him, what
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  Speaker 1: hast thou there, o, my son in law, And whither
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  Speaker 1: wendest thou. The fisherman replied to my friend Abdullah the merman,
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  Speaker 1: and the king said, O, my son in law, this
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  Speaker 1: is no time to go to thy comrade, quoth Abdullah. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: I fear to break tryst with him, lest he reckon me.
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  Speaker 1: A liar, and say, the things of the world have
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  Speaker 1: diverted thee from me. And quoth the King, thou speakest,
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  Speaker 1: sooth go to thy friend, and God help thee. So
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  Speaker 1: he walked through the city on his way to his companion,
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  Speaker 1: And as he went he heard the folk who knew
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  Speaker 1: him say, there goeth the King's son in law to
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  Speaker 1: exchange fruit for gems, whilst those who knew him not said, O, fellow,
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  Speaker 1: how much a pound come sell to me? And he entered, saying,
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  Speaker 1: wait till I come back to thee, for that he
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  Speaker 1: would not hurt the feelings of any man. Then he
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  Speaker 1: fared on till he came to the sea shore, and
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  Speaker 1: foregathered with his friend Abdullah the merman, to whom he
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  Speaker 1: delivered the fruit, receiving jims in return. He ceased, not
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  Speaker 1: doing thus till one day, as he passed by the
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  Speaker 1: baker's oven, he found it closed. And so he did
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  Speaker 1: ten days, during which time the oven remained shut, and
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  Speaker 1: he saw nothing of the baker. So he said to himself,
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  Speaker 1: this is a strange thing. Would I WoT whither the
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  Speaker 1: baker went. Then he inquired of his neighbor, saying, O,
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  Speaker 1: my brother, where is thy neighbor the baker, and what
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  Speaker 1: hath Allah done with him? And the other responded, O,
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  Speaker 1: my lord, he is sick, and cometh not forth of
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  Speaker 1: his house. Where is his house, asked Abdullah, and the
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  Speaker 1: other answered in such a quarter. So he fared thither
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  Speaker 1: and inquired of him. But when he knocked at the door,
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  Speaker 1: the baker looked out of window, and, seeing his friend
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  Speaker 1: the fisherman full basket all head, came down and opened
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  Speaker 1: the door to him. Abdullah entered, and, throwing himself on
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  Speaker 1: the baker, embraced him and wept, saying, how dost thou, o,
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  Speaker 1: my friend? Every day I pass by thine oven and
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  Speaker 1: see it unopened. So I ask thy neighbor, who told
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  Speaker 1: me that thou wast sick. Therefore I inquired for thy
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  Speaker 1: house that I might see THEE. Answered the baker, Allah,
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  Speaker 1: requite THEE for me with all good. Nothing aileth me.
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  Speaker 1: But it reached me that the king had taken THEE,
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  Speaker 1: for that certain of the folk had lied against THEE
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  Speaker 1: and accused THEE of being a robber. Wherefore I feared
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  Speaker 1: and shut shop and hid myself. True, said Abdullah, and
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  Speaker 1: told him all that had befallen him with the King
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  Speaker 1: and the Shaykh of the jeweler's bazaar. Adding moreover, the
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  Speaker 1: King hath given me his daughter to wife, and made
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  Speaker 1: me his wazir. And after a pause, so do thou
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  Speaker 1: take what is in this fish basket to thy share?
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  Speaker 1: And fear nought? Then he left him, after having done
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  Speaker 1: away with him his affright, and returned with the empty
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  Speaker 1: crak to the King, who said to him, O, my
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  Speaker 1: son in law, twould seem thou hast not foregathered with
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  Speaker 1: thy friend the merman to day replied, Abdullah, I went
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  Speaker 1: to him, But that which he gave me I gave
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  Speaker 1: to my gossip, the baker, to whom I owe kindness.
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  Speaker 1: Who may be this baker, asked the king, and the
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  Speaker 1: fisherman answered, he is a benevolent man who did with
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  Speaker 1: me thus and thus in the days of my poverty,
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  Speaker 1: and never neglected me a single day, nor hurt my felix.
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  Speaker 1: Quoth the King, what is his name? And quoth the fisherman,
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  Speaker 1: his name is Abdullah the Baker, And my name is
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  Speaker 1: Abdullah of the land, and that of my friend, the merman,
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  Speaker 1: Abdullah of the sea, rejoined the king, And my name
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  Speaker 1: also is Abdullah, and the servants of Allah are all brethren.
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  Speaker 1: So sen and fetch thy friend the Baker, that I
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  Speaker 1: may make him Wazir of the left. So he sent
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  Speaker 1: for the Baker, who speedily came to the presence, and
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  Speaker 1: the King invested him with the wazerial uniform and made
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  Speaker 1: him Wazir of the left, making Abdullah of the land
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  Speaker 1: his Wazir of the right. 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 three, night nine hundred
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  Speaker 1: and forty four, when it was the nine hundred and
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  Speaker 1: forty fourth night, she continued it. Hath reached me o
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  Speaker 1: auspicious King, that the King made his son in law
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  Speaker 1: Abdullah of the Land Wazir of the right, and Abdullah
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  Speaker 1: the Baker Wazir of the left. In such condition the
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  Speaker 1: fishermen abode a whole year, every day caring for the
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  Speaker 1: merman the crate full of fruit and receiving it back
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  Speaker 1: full of jewels. And when fruit failed from the gardens,
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  Speaker 1: he carried him raisins and almonds, and filberts, and walnuts
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  Speaker 1: and figs and so forth, and all that he brought
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  Speaker 1: for him. The merman accepted and returned to him the
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  Speaker 1: fish basket full of jewels according to his custom. Now
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  Speaker 1: it chanced one day that he carried him the crate
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  Speaker 1: full of dry fruits, as was his wont and his
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  Speaker 1: friend took them from him. Then they set down to converse,
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  Speaker 1: Abdullah the fisherman on the beach and Abdullah the Merman
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  Speaker 1: in the water near the shore, and discoursed, And the
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  Speaker 1: talk went round between them till it fell upon the
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  Speaker 1: subject of sepulchers. Where it quoth the Merman, Oh, my brother,
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  Speaker 1: they say that the prophet whom Allah assay and save,
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  Speaker 1: is buried with you on the land. Knowest thou his tomb.
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  Speaker 1: Abdullah replied, Yes, it lieth in a city called Yathrib,
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  Speaker 1: asked the Merman. And do the people of the land
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  Speaker 1: visit it? Yes, answered the fisherman. And the other said,
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  Speaker 1: I give you joy, o, people of the land, of
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  Speaker 1: visiting that noble prophet and compassionate, which whoso visiteth meriteth
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  Speaker 1: his intercession. Hast thou made such visitation? O, my brother,
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  Speaker 1: replied the fisherman. No, for I was poor and had
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  Speaker 1: not the necessary sum to spend by the way, Nor
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  Speaker 1: have I been in easy case. But since I knew
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  Speaker 1: THEE and Thou bestowedest on me this good fortune, but
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  Speaker 1: such visitation behoveth me after I have pilgrimed to the
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  Speaker 1: Holy House of Allah and nought withholdeth me therefrom But
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  Speaker 1: my love to THEE, because I cannot leave THEE for
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  Speaker 1: one day, rejoin the Merman, And dost thou set the
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  Speaker 1: love of me before the visitation of the tomb of Mohammed,
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  Speaker 1: whom Allah as say, and save, who shall intercede for
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  Speaker 1: THEE on the day of review before Allah, and shall
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  Speaker 1: save THEE from the fire, And through whose intercession thou
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  Speaker 1: shalt enter paradise. And dost thou, for the love of
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  Speaker 1: the world neglect to visit the tomb of thy prophet, Mohammed,
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  Speaker 1: whom God bless and preserve, replied Abdullah, No, by Allah,
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  Speaker 1: I set the visitation of the Prophet's tomb above all else,
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  Speaker 1: and I crave thy leave to pray before it. This year,
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  Speaker 1: the Merman rejoined. I grant THEE leave on condition that
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  Speaker 1: when thou shalt stand by his sepulcher, thou salute him
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  Speaker 1: for me with thee Salam. Furthermore, I have a trust
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  Speaker 1: to give thee. So come thou with me into the sea,
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  Speaker 1: that I may carry THEE to my city and entertain
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  Speaker 1: THEE in my house, and give THEE a deposit, which
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  Speaker 1: when thou takest thy station by the Prophet's tomb, do
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  Speaker 1: thou lay thereon, saying, O apostle of Allah Abdullah. The
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  Speaker 1: merman saluteth THEE and scindeth THEE this present, imploring thine
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  Speaker 1: intercession to save him from the fire. Said the fisherman, O,
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  Speaker 1: my brother, thou wost created in the water, and water
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  Speaker 1: is thy abiding place, and doth THEE no hurt. But
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  Speaker 1: if thou shouldst come forth to the land, would any
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  Speaker 1: harm betide thee? The merman replied, yes, my body would
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  Speaker 1: dry up, and the breezes of the land would blow
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  Speaker 1: upon me, and I should die, rejoined the fisherman, And I,
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  Speaker 1: in like manner, was created on the land, and the
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  Speaker 1: land is my abiding place. But an I went down
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  Speaker 1: into the sea, the water would enter my belly and
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  Speaker 1: choke me, and I should die. Retorted the other, have
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  Speaker 1: no fear for that, for I will bring THEE an ointment,
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  Speaker 1: wherewith when thou hast anointed thy body, the water will
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  Speaker 1: do THEE no hurt, though thou shouldst pass the lave
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  Speaker 1: of thy life going about in the great deep, and
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  Speaker 1: thou shalt lie down and rise up in the sea,
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  Speaker 1: and naught shall harm thee, quoth the fisherman, and the
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  Speaker 1: case by thus well and good. But bring me the ointment,
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  Speaker 1: so that I may make trial of it, And quoth
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  Speaker 1: the merman, so be it. Then, taking the fish basket,
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  Speaker 1: disappeared in the depths. He was absent awhile, and presently
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  Speaker 1: returned with an ungwint as it were, the fat of beef,
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  Speaker 1: yellow as gold and sweet of savor. Ask the fisherman,
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  Speaker 1: what is this, o, my brother, And answered the merman
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  Speaker 1: tis the liver fat of a kind of fish called
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  Speaker 1: the dan Dan, which is the biggest of all fishes,
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  Speaker 1: and the fiercest of our foes. His bulk is greater
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  Speaker 1: than that of any beast of the land, and were
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  Speaker 1: he to meet a camel or an elephant, he would
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  Speaker 1: swallow it at a single mouthful. Abdullah inquired, O, my brother,
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  Speaker 1: what doth this baleful beast? And the merman replied, he
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  Speaker 1: eateth of the beasts of the sea. Hast thou not
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  Speaker 1: heard the saying, like the fishes of the sea forcible
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  Speaker 1: eateth feeble. True. But have you many of these dandans
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  Speaker 1: in the sea, Yes, there be many of them with us.
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  Speaker 1: None can tell their tale, save Almighty Allah. Verily I
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  Speaker 1: fear lest if I go down with thee into the deep,
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  Speaker 1: a creature of this kind fall in with me and
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  Speaker 1: devour me. Have no fear. When he seeth thee, he
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  Speaker 1: will know THEE for a son of Adam, and will
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  Speaker 1: fear thee and flee. He dreadeth none in the sea
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  Speaker 1: as he dreadeth a son of Adam. For that an
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  Speaker 1: he eateth a man, he dieth forthright. Because human fat
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  Speaker 1: is a deadly poison to this kind of creature. Nor
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  Speaker 1: do we collect its liver speck, save by means of
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  Speaker 1: a man. When he faleth into the sea and is drowned,
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  Speaker 1: for that his semblance becometh changed, and oft times his
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  Speaker 1: flesh is torn. So the dan dan eateth him, deeming
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  Speaker 1: him the same of the denizens of the deep, and dieth.
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  Speaker 1: Then we light upon our enemy dead, and take the
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  Speaker 1: speck of his liver, and grease ourselves, so that we
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  Speaker 1: can overwander the main in safety. Also, wherever there is
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  Speaker 1: a son of Adam, though there be in that place,
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  Speaker 1: an hundred or two hundred, or a thousand or more
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  Speaker 1: of these beasts all die forthright, and they but hear
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  Speaker 1: him and Shahrazad perceive the dawn of day and ceased,
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  Speaker 1: saying her permitted say end of night, nine hundred and
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  Speaker 1: forty four. Recording by Mark Ernest