 Section 6, Volume 2 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, translated by Richard Burton. This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Lars Rolander. The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2, Section 6. When it was the thirty-ninth night, she said it had reached me, your suspicious king, that the merchant left his two children abundant wealth, and amongst other things, an hundred loads of silks and brocades, mascots, and mother-of-pearl. And there was written on every bale, this is of the packages intended for Baghdad. It having been his purpose to make the journey thither, when Almighty Allah took him to himself, which was in the time of the Khalif Harun al-Rashid. After a while, his son took the loads and bidding farewell to his mother and kindred and townsfolk, went forth with a company of merchants, putting his trust in Allah Almighty, who decreed him safety so that he ride without, let or stay at Baghdad. There he hired for himself a fair dwelling house, which he furnished with carpets and cushions, curtains, and hangings, and therein stored his bales and stable his mules and camels, after which he abode a while resting. Presently the merchants and notables of Baghdad came and saluted him, after which he took a bundle containing ten pieces of costly stuffs, with the prices written on them, and carried it to the merchants' bazaar, where they welcomed and saluted him and showed him all honour, and making him dismount from his beast, seated him in the shop of the syndic of the market, to whom he delivered the package. He opened it and drawing out the pieces of stuff sold them for him at the profit of two dinners on every dinner of crime cost. At this Ghanim rejoiced and kept selling his silks and stuffs one after another, and ceased not to do on this wise for a full year. On the first day of the following year he went as was his one to the exchange, which was in the bazaar, but found the gate shut, and inquiring the reason was told. One of the merchants is dead, and all the others have gone to follow his pair, and why shouldst thou not win the mead of good deeds by walking with them? He replied yes, and asked for the quarter where the funeral was taking place, and one directed him there too. So he purified himself by the Wusso Ablution, and repaired with the other merchants to the oratory, where they prayed over the dead, then walked before the beer to the burial place, and Ghanim, who was a bashful man, followed them, being ashamed to leave them. They presently issued from the city, and passed through the tombs until they reached the grave, where they found that the deceased's kith and kin had pitched a tent over the tomb, and had brought thither lamps and wax candles. So they buried the body and sat down while the readers read out and recited the Quran over the grave, and Ghanim sat with them, being overcome with bashfulness, and saying to himself, I cannot well go away till they do. They tarried listening to the Quranic perfection till nightfall, when the servants had supper and sweetmeats before them, and they ate till they were satisfied. Then they washed their hands, and again took their places. But Ghanim's mind was preoccupied with his house and goods, being in fear of robbers, and he said to himself, I am a stranger here and supposed to have money. If I pass the night abroad, the thieves will steal my money bags and my bales to boot. So when he could no longer control his fear, he arose and left the assembly, having first asked Liev to go about some urgent business, and following the signs of the road, he soon came to the city gate. But it was midnight, and he found the doors locked and saw none going or coming, nor heard aught but the hounds baying and the wolves howling. At this he exclaimed, There is no majesty and there is no might save and allow. I was in fear for my property and came back on this account, but now I find the gate shut and I am in mortal fear for my life. Then he turned back and looking out for a place where he could sleep till morning, presently found a santon's tomb, a square of four walls with a date tree in the centre court and a granite gateway. The door was wide open, so he entered and would feign have slept, but sleep came not to him, and terror and the sense of desolation oppressed him for that he was alone amidst the tombs. So he rose to his feet and, opening the door, looked out and low. He was aware of a light afar off in the direction of the city gate. Then walking a little way towards it, he saw that it was on the road whereby he had reached the tomb. This made him fear for his life, so he hastily shut the door and climbed to the top of the date tree, where he hid himself in the heart of the fronds. The light came nearer and nearer till it was close to the tomb. Then it stopped and he saw three slaves, two bearing a chest and one with a lanthan, an adze and a basket containing some mortar. When they reached the tomb, one of those who were carrying the case said, What aleeth thee, O sabbab, and said the other? What is the matter, O kafur? Quothee, were we not here at suppotide, and did we not leave the door open? Yes, replied the other, that is true. See, said kafur, now it's shut and barred. How weak are you, wits, cried the third who bore the adze, and his name was Bukyat. No, we not, that the owners of the gardens used to come out from Baghdad and tend them, and, when evening closes upon them, they enter this place and shut the door, for fear leased the wicked black men like ourselves should catch them, and roast them, and eat them. Thou sayst thsooth, said the two hours, But by Allah, however, that may be none amongst us is weaker of wits than thou. If ye do not believe me, said Bukyat, let us enter the tomb, and I will roast the rat for you. For I doubt not but that when he saw the light and us making for the place, he ran up the date-tree and hid there for fear of us. When Ghanim heard this, he said in himself, O courteous of slaves, may Allah not have thee in his holy keeping for this thy craft and keen is so wit. There is no majesty, and there is no might saving Allah, the glorious, the great. How shall I win free of these black amours? Then said the two who bore the box to him of the adze. Swarm up the wall and open the gate for us. O Bukyat, for we are tired of carrying the chest on our necks, and when thou hast opened the gate, thou shalt have one of those we catch inside. A fine fat rat, which we will fry for thee after such excellent fashion, that not a speck of his fat shall be lost. But Bukyat answered, I am afraid of some what which may weak wit have suggested to me. We should do better to throw the chest over the gateway, for it is our treasure. If we throw it, it will break. Replied they, and he said, I fearless there be robbers within who murder for and plunder their goods for evenings in their time of entering such place and dividing their spoil. O thou weak of wits, said both the bearers of the box. How could they ever get in here? Then they sat down the chest and climbing over the wall, dropped inside and opened the gate. Whilst the third slave, he that was called Bukyat, stood by them holding the adze, the lanthan, and the handbasket containing the mortar. After this they locked the gate and sat down and presently one of them said, O my brethren, we are wearied with walking and with lifting up and setting down the chest and with unlocking and locking the gate. And now it is midnight, and we have no breath left to open a tomb and bury the box. So let us rest here two or three hours, then rise and do the job. Meanwhile each of us shall tell how he came to be castrated, and all that befell him from first to last. The better to pass away our time while we take our rest. Thereupon the first he of the lanthan and whose name was Bukyat said, I'll tell you my tale. Say on, replied they, so he began as follows the first tale of the first unit, Bukyat. No, O my brothers, that when I was a little one, some five years old, I was taken home from my native country by a slave driver who sold me to a certain operator. My purchaser had a daughter, three years old, with whom I was brought up. And they used to make mock of me, letting me play with her and dance for her and sing to her, till I reached the age of twelve and she that of ten. And even then they did not forbid me seeing her. One day I went into her and found her sitting in an inner room, and she looked as if she had just come out of the bath, which was in the house. For she was scented with essences and reek of aromatic woods, and her face shone like a circle of the moon on the fourteenth night. She began to sport with me and I with her. Now I had just reached the age of puberty, so my prickle stood at point, as it were a huge key. Then she threw me on my back and mounting a straddle on my breast, fellow wriggling and bucking upon me till she had uncovered my yard. When she saw it standing with head erect, she hinted in hand and began rubbing it upon the lips of her little slit outside her petticoat trousers. There at hot lust stirred in me and I threw my arms round her, while she wound hers about my neck and hugged me to her with all her might. Till, before I knew what I did, my pizzles slit up her trousers and entered her slit and did away her maiden head. When I saw this I ran off and took refuge with one of my comrades. Presently her mother came into her and seeing her in this case fainted clean away. However she managed the matter advisedly and hid it from the girl's father out of goodwill to me, nor did they cease to call to me and coax me till they took me from where I was. After two months had passed, her mother married her to a young man, a barber who used to shave her papa and portioned and fitted her out of her own monies, whilst the father knew nothing of what had passed. On the night of consummation they cut the throat of a pigeon-pole and sprinkled the blood on her shift. After a while they seized me unawares and gilded me, and when they brought her to her bridegroom they made me her aga, her eunuch to walk before her wheresoever she went, whether to the bath or to her father's house. I abode with her a long time enjoying her beauty and loveliness by way of kissing and clipping and coupling with her till she died, and her husband and mother and father died also, when they seized me for the royal treasury as being the property of an interstate. I found my way hither where I became your comrade. This then, O my brethren, is the cause of my cullions being cut off and peace be with you. He ceased and his fellow began, in these words, the tale of the second eunuch, Kafur. Know, O my brothers, that when beginning service as a boy of eight, I used to tell the slave dealers regularly and exactly one lie every year, so that they fell out with one another till it lost my master lost patience with me, and carrying me down to the market ordered the brokers to cry. Who will buy this slave knowing his blemish and making allowance for it? He did so and they asked him, Pray what may be his blemish, and he answered, He telleth me one single lie every year. Now a man that was a merchant came up and said to the broker, How much do they allow for him with his blemish? They allow six hundred dirhams, he replied, and said the other, Thou shalt have twenty dirhams for thyself. So he arranged between him and the slave dealer who took the coin from him, and the broker carried me to the merchant's house, and departed after receiving his brokerage. The trader clothed me with suitable dress, and I stayed in his service the rest of my twelve month until the new year began happily. It was a blessed season, plant just in the produce of the earth, and the merchants used to feast every day at the house of some one among them, till it was my master's turn to entertain them in a flower garden without the city. So he and the other merchants went to the garden, taking with them all that they required of provence and else beside, and sat eating and carousing and drinking till midday, when my master, having need of some matter from his home, said to me, O slave, mount the she-mule and hide thee to the house, and bring from thy mystery such and such a thing, and return quickly. I obeyed his bidding, and started for the house, but as I drew near it I began to cry out and shed tears, whereupon all the people of the quarter collected great and small, and my master's wife and daughters hearing the noise I was making, opened the door and asked me what was the matter. Said I, my master was sitting with his friends beneath an old wall, and it fell on one and all of them, and when I saw what happened to them I mounted the mule and came hither in haste to tell you. When my master's daughter and wife heard this, they screamed and rent the raiment and beat their faces whilst the neighbors came around them. Then the wife overturned the furniture of the house, one thing upon another, and tore down the shelves and broke the windows and the lattices and smeared the walls with mud and indigo. Saying to me, Woe to thee, O Ka'for, come help me to tear down these cupboards and break up the vessels, and this chinaware and the rest of it. So I went to her and aided her to smash all the shelves in the house, with whatever stood upon them, after which I went round about the terrace roofs and every part of the place, spoiling all I could and leaving no china in the house unbroken, till I had laid waste the whole, crying out the while. Well away my master! Then my mistress fed forth bare-faced wearing a headkerchief and not else and her daughters and the children salad out with her and said to me, O Ka'for, go thou before us and show us the place where thy master life's dead, that we may take him from under the fallen wall and lay him on a beer and bear him to the house and give him a fine funeral. So I went forth before them crying out, slack my master, and they after me with faces and heads bare and all shrieking, alas, alas for the man! Now there remain none in the quarter, neither man nor woman nor epicin, nor youth nor maid, nor child nor old trot, but went with us smiting their faces and weeping bitterly, and I led them leisurely through the whole city. The folk asked them what was the matter, whereupon they told them what they had heard from me, and all exclaimed, there is no majesty and there is no might saving Allah. Then said one of them, he was a personage of consequence, so let us go to the governor and tell him what hath befallen him, when they told the governor. And Sharasad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. End of Section 6 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2. Read by Lars Rolander. Section 7, Volume 2 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, translated by Richard Burton. This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Lars Rolander. The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2, Section 7. When it was the fortieth night, she said, it hath reached me, o auspicious king, that when they told the governor he rose and mounted, and taking with him labours, with spades and baskets went on my track, with many people behind him, and I ran on before them, howling and casting dust on my head and beating my face, followed by my mistress and her children, keening for the dead. But I got ahead of them and entered the garden before them, and when my master saw me in this state, he was smiting my face and saying, Well away, my mistress alas, alas, alas, who is left to take pity on me, now that my mistress is gone. Would I had been a sacrifice for her? He stood aghast and his color waxed yellow and he said to me, What is the you cover? What is the matter? Oh, my lord, I replied, when thou sendest me to the house I found that the saloon wall had given way, and had fallen like a layer upon my mistress and her children. And did not thy mistress escape? No, by Allah, oh my master, not one of them was saved, the first to die was my mistress, thine elder daughter. And did not my younger daughter escape? No, she did not, and what became of the mere mule I used to ride is she safe. No, by Allah, oh my master, the house walls and the stable walls buried every living thing that was within doors, even to the sheep and geese and poultry, so that they all became a heap of flesh, and the dogs and cats are eating them, and not one of them is left alive. And hath not thy master my elder son escape? No, by Allah, not one of them was saved, and now there is not left of house or household, nor even a sign of them, and as for the sheep and geese and hens, the cats and dogs have devoured them. When my master heard this, the light became night before his sight, his wits were dazed, and he so lost command of his senses that he could not stand firm on his feet. He was as one struck with a sudden palsy, and his back was like to break. Then he rent his raiment and plucked out his beard, and casting his turban from off his head, buffeted his face till the blood ran down, and he cried aloud, Allah is my children, Allah is my wife, Allah is my calamity. To whomever befell that which hath befallen me. The merchants his friends also cried aloud at his crying and wept for his weeping and tore their clothes, being moved to pity of his case. And so my master went out to the gardens, smiting his face with such violence that from excess of pain he staggered like one drunken with wine. As he and the merchants came forth from the garden gate, behold they saw a great cloud of dust, and heard a loud noise of crying and lamentation. So they looked and lo, it was the governor with his attendance in the town for, a world of people who had come out to look on, and my master's family following them, all screaming and crying aloud, and weeping exceeding sore weeping. The first to address my owner were his wife and children, and when he saw them he was confounded and laughed and said to them, How is it with all of you and what befell you in the house and what hath come to pass you? When they saw him they exclaimed, Praise to be to Allah for thy preservation, and threw themselves upon him and his children hung about him crying, Slack our father, thanks to Allah for thy safety, oh our father. And his wife said to him, Art thou indeed well? Lord to Allah who hath shown us thy face in safety, and indeed she was confounded, and her reason fled when she saw him and she asked, Oh my lord, how didst thou escape, thou and thy friends the merchants? And he answered her, And how fared it with thee in the house? Quoth they. We were all well, whole and healthy, nor hath ought of evil befallen us in the house. Save that thy slave Kaafur came to us bare-headed with torn garments and howling. Allah's the master, Allah's the master. So we asked him, What tidings so Kaafur? And he answered, A wall of the garden hath fallen on my master and his friends the merchants, and they are all crushed and dead. By Allah said my master, He came to me, but now howling. Allah's my mistress, Allah's the children of the mistress. And said, My mistress and her children are all dead, every one of them. Then he looked round and seeing me with my turban, drent in rags round my neck, howling and weeping with exceeding weeping. And throwing dust upon my head, he cried out at me. So I came to him, and he said, Woe to thee, oh ill omen slave, oh horse unnave, oh thou damned breed, what mischief thou hast wrought. By Allah I will flog thy skin from thy flesh, and cut thy flesh from thy bones. I rejoined, By Allah thou canst do nothing of the kind with me, oh my lord, for thou boughtest me with my blemish, and there are honest men to bear witness against thee, that thou didst so accept in the condition, and that thou knewst of my fault, which is to tell one lie every year. Now this is only a half-lie, but by the end of the year I will tell the other half. Then with the lie stand whole and complete. Oh dog, son of a dog, cried my master. Oh most accursed of slaves is this all of it but a half-lie. Verily if it be a half-lie, it is a whole calamity. Get thee from me, thou art free in the face of Allah. By Allah rejoined I, if thou free me, I will not free thee till my year is completed, and I have told thee the half-lie which is left. When this is done, go down with me to the slave market, and sell me as thou boughtest me, to host so will buy me with my blemish. To host so will buy me with my blemish, but thou shalt not manumit me, for I have no handicraft whereby to gain my living. And this my demand is a matter of law, which the doctors have laid down in the chapter of emancipation. While we were at these words up came the crowd of people and the neighbors of the quarter, men, women, and children together with the governor and his suit offering condolence. So my master and the other merchants went up to him and informed him of the adventure. And now this was but a half-lie, at which all wondered, deeming it a whole lie and a big one. And they cursed me and reviled me, while I stood laughing and grinning at them, till at last I asked, How shall my master slay me, when he bought me with his my blemish? Then my master returned home and found his house in ruins, and it was I who had laid waste the greater part of it, having broken things which were worth much money, and also had done his wife, who had said to him, to a scarfer who broke the vessels and chinaware. Thereupon his rage redoubled and he struck hand upon hand exclaiming, By Allah, in my life never saw I a horse unlike this slave, and he said this is but a half-lie. How then if he had told me a whole lie, he would ruin a city, I, or even two. Then in his fury he went to the governor and they gave me a neat thing in the bastinado-line and made me it stick till I was lost to the world and fainting fit came on me. And whilst I was yet senseless, they brought the barber who docked me and gilded me and cauterized the wound. When I revived I found myself a clean eunuch with nothing left, and my master said to me, Even as thou hast burned my heart for the things I held dearest, so have I burned thy heart for that of thy members, whereby thou setest most store. Then he took me and sold me at a profit, for that I was become a eunuch, and I ceased not bringing trouble upon all wherever I was sold, and was shifted from lord to lord and from notable to notable, being sold and being bought till I entered the palace of the commander of the faithful. But now my spirit is broken and my tricks are gone from me, so alas are my bellocks. When the two slaves heard his story, they laughed at him and chaffed him and said, Truly thou art skite and skite son, thou lightest an odious lie. Then quoth they to the third slave, tell us thy tale, O sons of my uncle Quathi, all that ye have said is idle. I will tell you the course of my loosing my testicles, and indeed I deserve to lose even more, for I fretted both my mistress and my master's eldest son and heir. But my story is a long one, and this is not the time to tell it, for the dawn, O my cousin's droth near, and if morning come upon us with this chest still unburied, we shall get into sword's grace, and our lives will pay for it. So up with you and open the door, and when we get back to the palace, I will tell you my story and the course of my loosing my precious stones. Then he swarmed up and dropped down from the wall inside and opened the door. So they entered, and setting down the lantern, dug between four tombs a hole as long as the chest, and of the same breadth. Kafur applied the spade, and Savab removed the earth by baskets full, till they reached the depth of the stature of a man. When they laid the chest in the hole, and threw back the earth over it, then they went forth and shutting the door, disappeared from Ghanim's eyes. When all was quiet, and he felt sure that he was left alone in the place, his thought was busy about what the chest contained, and he said to himself, Would that I knew the contents of that box? However he waited till day broke, when morning shone and showed her sheen, whereupon he came down from the date tree, and scooped away the earth with his hands, till the box was laid bare, and disengaged from the ground. Then he took a large stone and hammered at the lock till he broke it, and opening the lid, behold a young lady, a model of beauty and loveliness, clad in the richest of garments and jewels of gold, and such necklaces of precious stones, where the sultan's country evened with them, it would not pay their price. She had been drugged with bang, but her bosom rising and falling, showed that her breath had not departed. When Ghanim saw her he knew that someone had played her falls and hocused her. So he pulled her out of the chest and laid her on the ground with her face upwards. As soon as she smelt the breeze and the air entered her nostrils, mouth and lungs, she sneezed and choked and coughed, when there fell out from her throat a pill of Cretan bang. Had an elephant smelt it he would have slept from night to night. Then she opened her eyes and glancing around said in sweet voice and gracious words, Woe to thee, O wind, there is not in thee to satisfy the thirsty, nor ought to gratify one whose thirst is satisfied. Where is Tsar al-Bostam? But no one answered her, so she turned her and cried out, Ho, sabbya, sharyat al-dur, nor al-huda, naimat al-sub, be ye awake. Shava, noosab, halva, sarifa, out on you, speak! But no one answered, so she looked all around and said, Woe's me, have they entoned me in the tombs? O thou who knows'd what man's thought in wombs, and who givest compensation on the day of doom. Who can have brought me from amid hanging screens and curtains, veiling the harem rooms, and set me down between four tombs? All this while Ghanim was standing by, then he said to her, O my lady, here are neither screen-drooms nor palace harems, nor yet tombs, only the slave-henth force devoted to thy love. Ghanim bin Ayub, sent to thee by the omniscient one above, that all thy troubles he may remove and win for the every wish that cloth behove. Then he held his peace. She was reassured by his words and cried, I testify that there is no God but the God, and I testify that Muhammad is the apostle of God. Then she turned to Ghanim, and placing her hands before her face said to him in the sweetest speech, O blessed youth who brought me hither, see I am now come to myself. O my lady, he replied, three slave eunuchs came here bearing this chest, and related to her the whole of what he had befallen him, and how evening having closed upon him had proved the cause of her preservation. Otherwise she had died smothered. Then he asked her who she was, and what was her story, and she answered, O youth, thanks be to Allah who hath cast me into the hands of the like of thee. But now rise and put me back into the box, then fare forth upon the road, and hire the first camel-driver or mulletier thou findest to carry it to thy house. When I am there all will be well, and I will tell thee my tale, and acquaint thee with my adventures, and great shall be thy gain by means of me. At this he rejoiced and went outside the tomb. The day was now dazzling bright, and the firmament shone with light, and the fork had begun to circulate. So he hired a man with a mule, and bringing him to the tomb lifted the chest where he had put the damsel, and set it on the mule. Her love now engrossed his heart, and he fed homeward with her rejoicing. For that she was a girl worth ten thousand gold pieces, and a raiment and ornaments would fetch a mint of money. As soon as he arrived at his house he carried in the chest and opening it. And Charasad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased to say her permitted say. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Reading by Lars Rolander The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night Volume II Section 8 When it was the forty-first night she said, It hath reached me, O auspicious king, that when Ghanim son of Ayub arrived with the chest at his house, he opened it and took out the young lady who looked about her, and, seeing that the place was handsome, spread with carpets and dike with cheerful colors and other deckings. And noting the stuffs uppiled and packed bales and other else, then that knew that he was a substantial merchant, and a man of much money. Thereupon she uncovered her face and looked at him. And lo, he was a fair youth. So when she saw him she loved him and said, O my lord, bring us something to eat. On my head and mine eyes replied he. And going down to the bazaar bought a roasted lamb and a dish of sweetmeats, and with these dry fruits and wax candles besides wine and whatsoever was required of drinking materials, not forgetting perfumes. With all this gear he returned to the house, and when the damsel saw him she laughed and kissed him and clasped his neck. Then she began caressing him, which made his love wax hotter till it got the mastery of his heart. They ate and drank, and each had conceived the fondest affection, for indeed the two were one in age and one in loveliness. And one night came on Ghanim in Ayub the distraught, that thrall o' love rose and lit the wax candles and lamps, till the place placed with light, after which he produced the wine's service and spread the table. Then both sat down again, he and she, and he kept filling and giving her to drink, and she kept filling and giving him to drink, and they played and toyed and laughed and recited verses, whilst their joy increased, and they dove in closer love each to each. Glory be to the uniter of hearts! They ceased not to carouse after this fashion till near upon dawn, when drowsiness overcame them, and they slept where they were, apart each from other till the morning. Then Ghanim arose and going to the market, bought all they required of meat and vegetables, and wine and whatnot, and brought them to the house, whereupon both sat down to eat and ate their sufficiency when he set on wine. They drank and each played with each till their cheeks flushed red, and their eyes took on a darker view, and Ghanim so longed to kiss the girl and to lie with her, and he said, oh, my lady, grant me one kiss of that dear mouth, for chance it will quench the fire of my heart. Oh, Ghanim replied she, wait till I am drunk and dead to the world. Then steal a kiss of me secretly and on such wise that I may not know thou hast kissed me. Then she rose and taking off her upper dress, sat in a thin shift of fine linen and a silken headkerchief. At this passion inflamed Ghanim, and he said to her, oh, my lady, wilt thou not march save me what I asked of thee? By Allah, she replied, that may not be thine, for there is written upon my trousers string a hard word. Thereupon Ghanim's heart sank and desire grew on him as its object offered difficulties, and he improvised these verses. I asked the author of mine ills to heal the wound with one sweet kiss. No, no, she cried, for ever, no, but I, soft whispering, urged, yes. Quoth she, then take it by my lean, when smiles shall pardon thine amiss. By force cried I, nay, she replied, with love and gladness I wish. Now ask me not what next occurred, seek grace of God and wist of this. Deem what thou wilt of us for love, by columneness the sweeter is. Nor after this care I won yacht, whether my foe be known or not. Then his affection increased, and love fires rose hotter in his heart, while she refused herself to him, saying, thou canst not possess me, they cease not to make love and enjoy their wine and vassal, whilst Ghanim was drowned in the sea of love and longing. But she redoubled in coiness and cruelty till the night brought on the darkness, and let fall on them the skirts of sleep. Thereupon Ghanim rose and lit the lamps and wax candles, and refreshed the room and removed the table. Then he took her feet and kissed them, and, finding them like fresh cream, pressed his face on them and said to her, O my lady, take pity on one thy love hath turned, and thine eyes hath slain. For indeed I were heart whole but for thy bane, and he wept somewhat. O my lord, and light of my eyes quoth she, by Allah I love thee in very sooth, and I trust to thy truth, but I know that I may not be thine. And what is the obstacle, asked he, when she answered, Tonight I will tell thee my tale, that thou mayst accept my excuse. Then she threw herself upon him, and, widening her arms like a necklace about his neck, kissed him and caressed him, and promised him her favours, and they ceased not playing and laughing till love got the firmest hold upon both in their hearts. And so it continued a whole month, both passing the night on a single carpet bed, but whenever he would enjoy her she put him off, whilst mutual love increased upon them, and each could hardly abstain from other. One night as he lay by her side, and both were warm with wine, Ganim passed his hand over her breasts, and stroked them. Then he slipped it down to her waist as far as her navel. She awoke, and sitting up put her hand to her trousers, and finding them fast-tide, once more fell asleep. Presently he again felt her, and sliding his hand down to her trousers-string, began pulling at it, whereupon she awoke and sat upright. Ganim also sat up by her side, and she asked him, What does thou want? I want to lie with thee, he answered, and that we may deal openly and frankly with each other. Quoth she, I must now declare to thee my case, that thou mayest know my quality. Then will my secret be disclosed to thee, and my excuse become manifest to thee. Quoth he, so be it. There it she opened the skirt of a shift, and taking up her trousers-string said to him, O my Lord, read what is worked on the flat of this string. So he took it in hand, and saw these words broided on it in gold. I am thine, and thou art mine, O cousin of the apostle. When he read this he withdrew his hand, and said to her, Tell me who thou art, so be it, answered she. Know that I am one of the concubines of the commander of the faithful, and my name is Qut al-Kulub, the food of hearts. I was brought up in the palace, and when I grew to woman's estate he looked on me and, noting what share of beauty and loveliness the creator had given me, loved me with exceeding love, and assigned me a separate apartment and gave me ten slave girls to wait on me, and all these ornaments thou ceased me wearing. On a certain day he set out for one of his provinces, and the lady Subbaida came to one of the slave girls in my service, and said to her, I have something to require of thee. What is it, O my lady, asked she, and the caliph's wife answered, When thy mistress Qut al-Kulub is asleep, put this piece of bang into her nostrils, or drop it into her drink, and thou shalt have of me as much money as will satisfy thee. With the love and gladness replied the girl, and took the bang from her, being a glad woman because of the money, and because of four times she had been one of Subbaida's slaves. So she put the bang in my drink, and when it was night drunk, and the drug had no sooner settled in my stomach than I fell to the ground, my head touching my feet, and I knew not of life but that I was in another world. When her device succeeded, she bet put me in this chest, and secretly brought in the slaves and the doorkeepers and bribed them. And on the night when thou wast perched upon the day tree, she sent the blacks to do with me as thou sourced. So my delivery was at thy hands, and thou broughtest me to this house, and hast entreated me honorably and with thy kindest. This is my story, and I was not what is become of the caliph during my absence. No, then, my condition, and divulge not my case. When Ganim heard her words, and knew that she was a concubine of the caliph, he drew back for eve of the caliphate beset him, and set apart from her in one of the corners of the place, blaming himself and broadening of his affair, and patience in his heart bewildered for love, a one he could not possess. Then he wept for excess of longing, and blamed him of fortune and her injuries, and the world and its enmities, and praised me to him who causeth generous hearts to be troubled with love and the beloved, and who endoth not the minds of the mean and miserly with so much of it as even a grain weight. So he began repeating, The lover's heart for his beloved must meet, sad pain and from a charm's persor defeat. What is love's taste? They asked and answered I. Sweet is the taste, but art is bitter sweet. Thereupon Kutalkulub arose and took him to her bosom, and kissed him, for the love of him was firm fixed in her heart, so that she disclosed to him her secret and all the affection she fell, and, throwing her arms round Ganim's neck, like a collar of pearls, kissed him again and yet again, but he held off from her in aid of the caliph. Then they talked together a long while, and indeed both were drowned in the sea of their mutual love, and as the day broke Ganim rose and donned his clothes and going to the bazaar, as was his one, took what the occasion required, and returned home. He found her weeping, but when she saw him she checked herself and smiling through her tears said, Thou hast desolated me, O beloved of my heart. By Allah this hour of absence hath been to me like a year. I have explained to thee my condition in the excess of my eager love for thee, so come now near me and forget the past and have thy will of me. But he interrupted her crying. I seek refuge with Allah. This thing may never be. How shall the dog sit in the lion's stead? What is the Lord's unlawful to the slave? So he withdrew from her and sat down on a corner of the mat. Her passion for him increased with his forbearance, so she seated herself by his side like a roost and played with him, till the two were flushed with wine, and she was mad for her own dishonour. Then she sang these verses. The lover's heart is like to break in twain, till when these coy denials are, till when? O thou who flyst me son's fault of mine, gazelles are wanted times, protamed to men. Absence, aversion, distance and disdain. How shall young lover all these ill sustain? Thereupon Ghanim wept, and she wept at his sweeping, and they cease not drinking till nightfall, when he rose and spread two beds each in its place. For whom is this second bed? asked she, and he answered her. One is for me, and the other is for thee. From this night forth we must not sleep save thus, for that which is the Lord's is unlawful to the thrill. O my master, cried she, let us have done with this, for all things come to pass by faith and fortune. But he refused, and the fire was lighted in her heart, and as her longing waxed fiercer, she clung to him and cried, by Allah, we will not sleep save side by side. Allah forfend, he replied, and prevailed against her, and lay apart till the morning, when love and longing redoubled on her, and distraction and eager thirst of passion. They abode after this fashion three full-toed months, which were long and lonesome indeed, and every time she made advance to him he would refuse himself and say, whatever belongeth to the master is unlawful to the man. Now, when time waxed tiresome and tedious to her, and anguish and distress grew on her, she burst out from her oppressed heart with these verses. How long, rare beauty, will do wrong to me? Who was it paid thee not belong to me? Without a chance thou wettest inner grace, comprising every point of pick-and-see. Passion thou hast infused in every heart, from eyelids driven sleep by deputy. Airst was I wet, the spray made thin of leaf, vocasia spray, and leaf thy sin I see. The heart airst hunted I, how is it I spy? The hunter hunted, fare my heart by thee? One research still I tell thee, ay, that I am trapped while never up to trap thou be. Never grant my prayer, for if I grudge thyself, to thee I grudge my me more jealously, and cry so long as life belong to me. Rare beauty, how? How long this wrong to me? They abode in this state a long time, and fear kept Ganim aloof from her. So far concerning these two, but as regards the Lady Subbaida, when, in the Caliph's absence she had done this deed by Kut al-Kalub, she became perplexed, saying to herself, what shall I tell my cousin when he comes back and asks for her? What possible answer can I make to him? Then she called an old woman who was about her, and discovered her secret to her, saying, how shall I act seeing that Kut al-Kalub died by such untimely death? Oh, my lady, quoth the old crone, the time of the Caliph's return is near, so do thou send for a carpenter, and bid him make thee a figure of wood in the form of a corpse. We will dig a grave for it midmost the palace, and there bury it. Then do thou build an oratory over it, and set there in lighted candles and lamps, and order each and every in the palace to be clad in black. Furthermore, command thy handmaids and eunuchs, as soon as they know of the Caliph's returning from his journey, to spread straw over the vestibule floors, and when the commander of the faithful enters, and asks what is the matter, let them say, Kut al-Kalub is dead, and may Allah abundantly compensate thee for the loss of her. And for the highest demon which she was held of our mistress, she hath buried her in her own palace. When he hears this he will weep, and it shall be grievous to him. Then will he cause perfections of the Quran to be made for her, and he will watch by night at her tomb. He will say to himself, verily Subbaida, the daughter of my uncle hath compassed her in jealousy, the death of Kut al-Kalub, or if love longing overcoming him, and he bid her be taken out of her tomb. Fear thou not, for when they dig down and come to the image in human shape, he will see it shrouded in costly grave clothes, and if he wish to take off the winding sheet that he may look upon her. Then let him, or let some other forbid him saying, the sight of her nakedness is unlawful. The fear of the world to come will restrain him, and he will believe that she is dead, and will restore the figure to its place, and thank thee for thy doings, and thus thou shalt escape. Please almighty Allah from his slow of despond. When the lady Subbaida heard her words, she handed the council and gave her a dress of honour, and a large sum of money, ordering her to do all she had said. So the old woman set about the business forthright, and paid the carpenter make her the aforesaid image. And as soon as it was finished, she brought it to the lady Subbaida, who shrouded it and buried it, and built as a pulker over it, wherein they lighted candles and lamps, and laid down carpets about the tomb. Moreover she put on black, and she spread abroad in the harim that Kut Al-Kulub was dead. After a time the caliph returned from his journey, and went up to the palace thinking only of Kut Al-Kulub, he saw all the pages and eunuchs and handmaids habited in black, at which his heart fluttered with extreme fear. And when he went into the lady Subbaida, he found her also garbed in black. So he asked the cause of this, and they gave him tidings of the death of Kut Al-Kulub, whereon he fell a swooning. As soon as it came to himself, he asked for her tomb. And the lady Subbaida said to him, No, O Prince of the Faithful, that for his special honour, I have buried her in my own palace. Then he repaired in his travelling garb to the tomb that he might wail over her, and found the carpet spread and the candles and lamps lighted. When he saw this, he thanked Subbaida for her good deed, and abode perplexed, halting between belief and unbelief, till at last suspicion overcame him, and he gave order to open the grave and take out the body. When he saw the shroud and would have removed it to look upon her, the fear of Allah Almighty restrained him. And the old woman, taking advantage of the delay, said, Restore her to her place. Then he sent at once for fakirs and koran readers, and caused perfections to be made over her tomb, and sat by the side of the grave, weeping till he fainted, and he continued to frequent the tomb and sit there for a whole month, and Charasad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. End of Section 8 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2. Read by Lars Rolander. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anna Simon. The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2. Section 9. When it was the 42nd night, she said, It hath reached me, O aspicious king, that the caliph seized not to frequent the tomb for the period of a whole month, at the end of which time it so happened one day, that he entered the saraglio after dismissing the emirs and vazirs, and lay down and slept a while, and there sat at his head a slave-girl fanning him, and at his feet a second robbing and shampooing them. Presently he awoke and, opening his eyes, shut them again and heard the handmaid at his head saying to her who was at his feet, a nice business this, Okaizaran, and the other answered her, Well, Okaizi Balban, verily said the first, Our Lord knoweth not of what had happened, and sitteth waking and watching by a tomb, wherein is only a log of wood carved by the carpenter's art, and could our kulup quoth the other, what hath befallen her? She replied, knowing that the lady Zubeda sent a pellet of bong by one of the slave-women who was bribed to drug her, and when sleep overpowered her, she let put her in a chest, and odeth Savab and Kafur and Bukhaid to throw her amongst the tombs. What dost thou say, Okaizi Balban, asked Kaisaran, Is not the lady Kut or kulup dead? Nay, by Allah, she answered, and long mere youth be saved from death. But I have heard the lady Zubeda say, that she is in the house of a young merchant named Ganim Binayup of Damascus, hyset is trod, the thrall of love, and she hath been with him these four months, whilst our lord is weeping and watching by night at a tomb wherein there is no corpse. They kept on talking this sort of talk, and the caliph gave ear to their words, and by the time they had ceased speaking, he knew right well that the tomb was a faint and a fraud, and that Kut or kulup had been in Ganim's house for four months. Whereupon he was angered with exceeding anger, and, rising up, he summoned the emirs of his state, and his wazir, Jafar, the barmaqi, came also, and kissed the ground between his hands. The caliph sat to him in fury, Go down, O Jafar, with a party of armed men, and ask for the house of Ganim's son of Ayyub, fall upon it, and spoil it, and bring him to me with my slave-girl, Kut or kulup, for there is no help without I punish him. To hear is to obey, said Jafar, and setting out with the governor and the guards and a world of people, prepared to Ganim's house. Now, about that time, the youth happened to have brought back a pot of dressed meat, and was about to put forth his hand to eat of it, he and Kut or kulup, when the lady, happening to look out, saw calamity surrounding the house on every side. For the wazir and the governor, the nightguard and the mamalux, with swords drawn, had girded as the white of the eye girded the black. At this, she knew that tidings of her had reached the caliph, her lord, and she made sure of ruin, and her colour paled, and her fair features changed, and her favour faded. Then she turned to Ganim and said to him, Oh, my love, fly for thy life! For what shall I do? asked he, and with her shall I go, seeing that my money and means of maintenance are all in this house. And she answered, Delano, lest thou be slain and lose life as well as wealth. Oh, my loved one, and a light of mine eyes! he cried, How shall I do to get away when they have surrounded the house? Kwadshi, fear not! And, stripping off his fine clothes, dressed him in ragged old garments, after which she took the pot, and, putting in it bits of broken bread and a saucer of meat, placed a hole in a basket, and setting it upon his head said, Go out in this guys, and fear not for me, who wanted right well what thing is in my hand for the caliph. So he went out amongst them, bearing the basket with its contents, and the protector vouch-saved him his protection, and he escaped the snares and perils that beset him, by the blessing of his good conscience and pure conduct. Meanwhile Jafar dismounted, and entering the house saw Kudakulup, who dressed and decked herself in splendid raiments and ornaments, and filled the chest with gold and jewellery, and precious stones and rarities, and what else was light to bear and of value rare. Once he saw Jafar come in, she rose, and, kissing the ground before him, said, O my lord, the reed hath written of old, the reed which Allah decreed. By Allah, O my lady, answered Jafar, he gave me an order to seize Ghanim son of Ayyub, and she rejoined. O my lord, he made ready his goods, and set out therewith for Damascus, and I know nothing more of him. But I desire to thee to take charge of this chest and offer it to me in the harem of the Prince of the Faithful. Hearing and obedience said Jafar, and bathed his men buried away to the headquarters of the caliphate, together with Kudakulup, commanding them to entreat her with honour as one in high esteem. They did his bidding after they had wrecked and plundered Ghanim's house. Then Jafar went into the caliph and told him all that had happened, and he ordered Kudakulup to be lodged in a dark chamber, and appointed an old woman to serve her, feeling convinced that Ghanim had debauched her and slept with her. Then he wrote a mandate to the emir Mohammed bin Suleiman al-Zayni, his viceroy in Damascus, to this effect. The instant thou shalt receive this our letter, seize upon Ghanim bin Ayyub, and send him to us. When the missive came to the viceroy, he kissed it and laid it on his head. Then he let proclaim in the bazaars, who sow his desires to plunder away with him to the house of Ghanim son of Ayyub. So they flocked thither, and they found that Ghanim's mother and sister had built him a tomb in the midst of the house and set by it weeping for him, whereupon they seized the two without telling them the cause, and, after spoiling the house, carried them before the viceroy. He questioned them concerning Ghanim, and both replied, for a year or more we've had no news of him. So they restored them to their place, thus far concerning them. But, as regards Ghanim, when he saw his wealth spoiled and his ruin uttered, he wept over himself till his heart well night break. Then he fared on at random till the last of the day, and hunger grew hard on him, and walking worried him. So, coming to a village, he entered a mosque where he sat down upon a mat, and propped his back against the wall. But presently he sank to the ground in his extremity of famine and fatigue. There he lay till dawn, his heart fluttering for want of food, and, owing to his sweating, the lice coursed over his skin. His breath waxed fettet, and his whole condition was changed. When the villagers came to pray the dawn prayer, they found him prostrate, ailing, hunger lean, yet showing evident signs of former affluence. As soon as prayers were over, they drew near him, and, understanding that he was starved with hunger and cold, they gave him an old robe with ragged sleeves, and said to him, Oh, stranger, whence art thou, and what sickness is upon thee? He opened his eyes and wept, but returned no answer, whereupon one of them, who saw that he was starving, brought him a saucer of honey and two barley scones. He ate a little, and they sat with him till sunrise, when they went to their work. He abode with them in this state for a month, whilst sickness and weakness grew upon him, and they wept for him, and, pitting his condition, took counsel with one another upon his case, and agreed to forward him to the hospital in Baghdad. Meanwhile, behold, two beggar women, who were none other than Ghanim's mother and sister, came into the mosque, and, when he saw them, he gave them the bread that was at his head, and they slept by his side that night, but he knew them not. Next day, the villagers brought a camel, and said to the camelier, Set this sick man on thy beast, and carry him to Baghdad, and put him down at the Spittle Dole. So happily he may be medicine'd, and be healed, and thou shalt have thy hire. To here is to comply, said the man. So they brought Ghanim, who was asleep, out of the mosque, and set him, Matt and all, on the camel, and his mother and sister came out among the crowd to gaze upon him, but they knew him not. However, after looking at him and considering him carefully, they said, Over truth, he favours our Ghanim, poor boy! Can this sick man be he? Presently, he woke, and, finding himself bound with robes on a camel's back, he began to weep and complain, and the village people saw his mother and sister weeping over him, albeit they knew him not. Then they fared forth for Baghdad, but the camelmen forwent them, and, setting Ghanim down at the Spittle Gate, went away with his beast. The sick man lay there till dawn, and, when the folk began to go about the streets, they saw him and stood gazing on him, for he had become as thin as a toothpick, till the syndic of the bazaar came up and drove them away from him, saying, I will gain paradise through this poor creature, for, if they take him into the hospital, they will kill him in a single day. Then he made his young man carry him to his house, where they spread him a new bed with a new pillow, and he said to his wife, Tend him carefully, and she replied, Good! on my head be it! Thereupon she tucked up her sleeves and, warming some water, washed his hands, feet, and body, after which she clothed him in a robe belonging to one of her slave-girls and made him drink a cup of wine and sprinkled rose-water over him. So he revived and complained, and the thought of his beloved Qudal Qulub made his grief redouble, thus far concerning him, but as regards Qudal Qulub when the Caliph was angered against her, and Sharazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. When it was the forty-third night, she said, Ereth reached me, oh auspicious king, that when the Caliph was angered against Qudal Qulub, he ordered her to a dark chamber where she abode eighty days, at the end of which the Caliph, happening to pass on a certain day the place where she was, heard her repeating poetry, and after she seized reciting her verse, saying, Oh my darling! Oh my Ghanim! How great is thy goodness, and how chaste is thy nature! Thou didst dwell by one who did ill by thee, and thou guardest his honour, who guard thine. And his harem thou didst protect, who to enslave thee and shine did elect. But thou shalt surely stand, thou and the commander of the faithful, before the just judge, and thou shalt be justified of him on the day when the Lord, to whom be honour and glory, shall be kazi, and the angels of heaven shall be witnesses. When the Caliph heard her complained, he knew that she had been wronged, and, returning to the palace, sent Masroor the eunuch for her. She came before him with bowed head, and eyes tearful and heart sorrowful, and he said to her, Oh Qudal Qulub, I find thou accuses me of tyranny and oppression, and thou avouches that I have done ill by one who did well by me. Who is this who hath guarded my honour, while I guard his to become dishonour? Who protected my harem, and whose harem I wrecked? He is Ghanim, son of Ayub, replied she, for he never approached me in wantonness or with loo intent. I swear by thy munificence, O commander of the faithful. Then said the Caliph, There is no majesty, there is no might save in Allah. Ask what thou wilt of me, O Qudal Qulub. O Prince of the faithful, answered she, I require of thee only my beloved Ghanim, son of Ayub. He did as she desired, whereupon she said, O Lord of the Muslims, if I bring him to thy presence, wilt thou bestow me on him? And he replied, if he come into my presence, I will give thee to him as the gift of the generous who revoked not his largesse. O Prince of true believers, Qwachi, Suffer me to go and seek him. Happily Allah may unite me with him. And Qwati, do evenest thou wilt. So she rejoiced and, taking with her a thousand dinas in gold, went out and visited the elders of the various fates and gave alms in Ghanim's name. Next day she walked to the merchant's bazaar and disclosed her object to the syndic and gave him money, saying, bestow this in charity to the stranger. On the following Friday she fared to the bazaar with other thousand dinars and, entering the goldsmiths and jewelers market street, called the chief and presented to him a thousand dinars with these words, bestow this in charity to the stranger. The chief looked at her and he was the syndic who had taken in Ghanim and said, Oh, my lady, wilt thou come to my house and look upon a youth, a stranger I have there and see how goodly and graceful he is. Now the stranger was Ghanim's son of Ayyub, but the chief had no knowledge of him and thought him to be some wandering pauper, some debtor whose wealth had been taken from him or some lover parted from his beloved. When she heard his words, her heart fluttered and her vitals yearned and she said to him, sent with me one who shall guide me to thy house. So he sent a little lad who brought her to the house wherein was the headman's stranger guest and she thanked him for this. When she reached the house, she went in and saluted the syndic's wife who rose and kissed the ground between her hands, for she knew her. Then quoth cut our kulub. Where is the sick man who is with thee? She wept and replied, Here is he, oh, my lady, Pahala, he has come of good folk and he beareth the signs of gentle breeding. You see him lying on young their bed. So she turned and looked at him and she saw something like him, but he was worn and wasted till he become lean as a toothpick, so his identity was doubtful to her and she could not be certain that it was he. Yet pity for him possessed her and she wept, saying, Fairly, the stranger is unhappy, even though he be a prince in his own land. And his case was grievous to her and her heart ached for him. Yet she knew him not to be Ghanim. Then she furnished him with wine and medicines and she sat a while by his head, after which she mounted and returned to her palace and continued to visit every bazaar in quest of her lover. Meanwhile Ghanim's mother and sister, Fikna, arrived at Baghdad and met the syndic who carried them to Qut al-Kulub and said to her, Oh, princes of beneficent ladies, there came to our city this day a woman and her daughter who are fairer of favour and signs of good breeding and dignity are apparent in them, though they be dressed in haircloth and have each one a wallet hanging to her neck and their eyes are tearful and their hearts are sorrowful. So I have brought them to thee that thou mayst give them refuge and rescue them from beggary for they are not of asker folk and if it please Allah we shall enter paradise through them. By Allah, oh my master, Qurachi, thou makes me long to see them. Where are they? Adding, here with them to me. So he bade the eunuch bring them in and when she looked on them and saw that they were both of distinguished beauty she wept for them and said, By Allah, these are people of condition and show plain signs of former opulence. Oh, my lady, said the syndic's wife, we love the poor and the destitute more especially as reward in heaven will recompense our love and as for these persons, happily the oppressor had dealt heartily with them and had plundered their property and harried their houses. Then Ghanim's mother and sister wept with sore weeping, remembering their former prosperity and contrasting it with their present poverty and miserable condition and their thoughts dwelt upon son and brother whilst Qutah Qulub wept for their weeping and they said, We beseech Allah to reunite us with him whom we desire and he is none other but my son named Ghanim bin Ayud. When Qutah Qulub heard this she knew them to be the mother and sister of our love and wept till the swoon came over her. When she revived she returned to them and said, Have no fear and sorrow not for this day is the first of your prosperity and the last of your adversity and Charizard perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. When it was the forty-fourth night she said, It hath reached me, oh auspicious king, that when Qutah Qulub had consoled them she bade the syndic lead them to his house and let his wife carry them to the Hamam and dress them in handsome clothes and take care of them and honour them with all honour and she gave him a sufficient sum of money. Next day she mounted and riding to his house went into his wife who rose up and kissed her hands and thanked her for her kindness. There she saw Ghanim's mother and sister whom the snig's wife had taken to the Hamam and clothed it afresh so that the traces of their former condition became manifest upon them. She sat talking with them a while after which she asked the wife about the sick youth who was in her house and she replied, He's in the same state. Then said Qutah Qulub, Come, let us go and visit him. So she arose, she and the chief's wife and Ghanim's mother and sister and went into the room where he lay and sat down near him. Presently Ghanim Binayup, the distraught, the thrall of love, heard them mention the name of Qutah Qulub, whereupon life returned to him and mace-shaded and withered as he was and he raised his head from the pillow and cried aloud, Oh Qutah Qulub! She looked at him and made sudden it was he and shrieked rather than said, Yes, oh my beloved! Draw near to me, said he, and she replied, Surely thou art Ghanim Binayup! and he rejoined. I am indeed. Hereupon beswoon came upon her and as soon as Ghanim's mother and his sister Fitna heard these words, both cried out, Oh our joy! and fainted clean away. When they all recovered, Qutah Qulub exclaimed, Praise be to Allah who hath brought us together again and hath reunited thee with thy mother and thy sister. And she related to him all that hath befallen her with the caliph and said, I have made known the truth to the commander of the faithful who believed my words and was pleased with thee and now he desired to see thee. Adding, he hath given me to thee. There it, he rejoiced with extreme joy when she said, Quit not this place till I come back and, rising forthwith, we took herself to the palace. There she opened the chest which she had brought from Ghanim's house and, taking out some of the dinners, gave them to the syndic saying, Buy with this money for each of them four complete suits of the finest stuff and twenty kerchiefs and else beside of whatsoever they require. After which, she carried all three to the baths and had them washed and bathed and made ready for them consommeys and gullengale water and cider against their coming out. When they left the hamam, they put on the new clothes and she abode with them three days, feeding them with chicken meats and bullies and making them drink sherbet of sugar candy. After three days, their spirits returned and she carried them again to the baths and when they came out and had changed their raiment, she led them back to the syndic's house and left them there whilst she returned to the palace and craved permission to see the caliph. When he ordered her to come in, she entered and, kissing the ground between his hands, told him the whole story and how her lord, Ghanim bin Ayub, the distraught, the thrallalove and his mother and sister were now in Baghdad. When the caliph heard this, he turned to the eunuchs and said, Here with Ghanim to me. So Jafar went to fetch him but Kutakulup forewent him and told Ghanim the caliph had sent to fetch thee before him and charged him to show readiness of tongue and firmness of heart and sweetness of speech. Then she roped him in his sumptuous dress and gave him dinners and plenty, saying, Be lavish of the largesse to the caliph's household as thou ghost into him. Presently, Jafar, mounted on his Nubian mule, came to fetch him and Ghanim advanced to welcome the wazir and, wishing him long life, kissed the ground before him. Now the star of his good fortune had risen and shone brightly and Jafar took him and they seized not faring together, he and the minister, till they went in to the commander of the faithful. When he stood in the presence, he looked at the wazirs and amirs and chamberlains and vizieres and vizieres and vizieres and viziers and chamberlains and vizeroys and grandees and captains and then at the caliph. Hereupon he sweetened his speech and his eloquence and, bowing his head to the ground, broke out in these extemporary couplets. May that monarch's life span a mighty span whose lavish of largesse all-imperian leashes scan, none other but he shall be Kaiser Heis, Lord of Lordly Hall and of Horde Duvan. Kings lay their gems on his threshold dust, as they bow and salam to the mighty man, and his glasses for them and all recoil, bowing beards aground and with faces wan, yet they gain the profit of royal grace, the rank and station of high earth's plainest scant for thy world of man, camp there in K-1's imperian. May the king of kings ever hold me dear, be counsel, shine and write steadfast plan, till thy justice spread over the wide-spread earth and the near and the far be of equal worth. When he ended his improvisation, the caliph was pleased by it and marveled at the eloquence of his tongue and the sweetness of his speech, and Charizard perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. End of Section 10 Section 11, Volume 2 of the Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night translated by Richard Burton. This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Lars Rolander The Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2, Section 11 When it was the 45th night, she said, it has reached me, oh auspicious king, that the caliph, after marveling at his eloquence of tongue and sweetness of speech, said to him, draw near to me. So he drew near and quoth the king. Tell me thy tale and declare to me thy case. So Ghanim sat down and related to him what had befallen him in Baghdad, of his sleeping in the tomb, and of his opening the chest after the three slaves had departed, and informed him, in short of everything that had happened to him from commencement to conclusion, none of which we will repeat for interest fails in twice tall tales. The caliph was convinced that he was a true man. So he invested him with a dress of honour and placed him near himself in token of favour and said to him, acquit me of the responsibility I have incurred, and Ghanim did so, saying, oh our Lord the Sultan, of a truth thy slave and all things his two hands own are his masters. The caliph was pleased at this and gave orders to set apart a palace for him, and assigned to him pay and allowances, rations and donations, which amounted to something immense. So he removed the dither with sister and mother, after which the caliph hearing that his sister fitna was in beauty a very fitna, a mere seduction, demanded her in marriage of Ghanim who replied, she is thy handmaid as I am thy slave. The caliph thanked him and gave him a hundred thousand dinners, then summoned the witnesses and the kasi, and on one and the same day they wrote out the two contracts of marriage between the caliph and fitna and between Ghanim bin Ayyub and Qut al-Kulub, and the two marriages were consummated on one and the same night. When it was morning, the caliph gave orders to record the history of what had befallen Ghanim from first to last and to deposit it in the royal muniment rooms that those who came after him might read it and marvel at the dealings of destiny and put their trust in him who created the night and the day. Yet, O auspicious king, this story to which thou hast designed give ears is on no wise, no more wondrous than the tale of king Omar bin Al-Numan and his son Sharkan and Saul Al-Makhan and what befell them on things seldom seen and peregrine. The king asked her, and what was their story, and she answered, It hath reached me, O auspicious king, that there was in the city of safety, Baghdad, before the caliphate of Abd al-Malik bin Marwan, a king Omar bin Al-Numan, heiss who was of the mighty giants and had subjected to the costresses of Persia and the Caesars of Eastern Rome. For none could warm himself at his fire, nor could any wail to meet him in the field of foray and fray, and when he was angered, they came forth from his nostrils sparks of flame. He had made himself king over all quarters, and Allah had subjected to him all his creatures. His word went forth to all great cities, and his hosts had harried the farthest land. East and west had come under his command, with whatsoever regions lay interspersed between them. Hind and sinned and sinned, the holy land al-Hijjahs, the rich mountains of Al-Yaman and the archipelagos of India and China. Moreover, he reigned supreme over the north country and Diyarbakr or Mesopotamia and over Sudan, the eastern Negro land and the islands of the ocean and all the far-famed rivers of the earth, Sahun and Yahun, Nile and Evfrats. He sent envoys and ambassadors to capitals the most remote to provide him with true report, and they would bring back tidings of justice and peace with assurance of loyalty and obedience and of prayers in the pulpits for King Omar bin Al-Nu'uman. For he was a ruler of the age, a right noble king, and there came to him presence of rarities and tall and tribute from all lands of his governing. This mighty monarch had a son, Islip Charkan, who was likest of all men to his father and approved himself one of the prodigies of his time for subduing the brave and bringing his contemporaries to bane and ban. For this his father loved him with love so great none could be greater and made him heir to the kingdom after himself. The prince grew up till he reached man's estate and was twenty years old and Allah subjected his servants to him by reason of his great might and prowess in battle. Now his father King Omar had four wives legally married but Allah had vouched saved him no son by them, save Charkan whom he had begotten upon one of them and the rest were barren. Moreover he had three hundred and sixty concubines after the number of days in the Coptic year who were of all nations and he had furnished for each and every a private chamber within his own palace. For he had built twelve pavilions after the number of the months each containing thirty private chambers which thus numbered three hundred and three score wherein he lodged his handmaids and he appointed according to law for each one her night when he lay with her and came not again to her for a full year and on this wise he abode for a length of time. Meanwhile his son Charkan was making himself renowned in all quarters of the world and his father was proud of him and his might waxed and grew mightier so that he passed all bounds and bore himself masterfully and took by storm castles and cities. Presently by decree of the decree a handmaid among the handmaids of Omar bin Uman became pregnant and her pregnancy being announced to the harem the king was informed thereof whereupon he rejoiced with exceeding joy and said happily it will be a son and so all my offspring will be males. Then he documented the date of her conception and entreated her with all manner of kindness. But when the tidings came to Charkan he was troubled and the matter seemed to him a sore one and a grievous and he said verily one cometh who shall dispute with me the sovereignty. So quoth thee to himself if this concubine bear a male child I will kill it but he kept that intention hidden in his heart. Such was the case with Charkan but what happened in the matter of the damsel was as follows. She was a Rumia, a Greek girl by name Sophia or Sophia whom the king of Rum and lord of Caesarea had sent to King Omar as a present together with great store of gifts and of rarities. She was the fairest of favor and loveliest of all his handmaids and the most regardful of her honor and she was gifted with a wit as penetrating as her presence was fascinating. Now she had served the king on the night of his sleeping with her saying to him Oh King, I desire of the God of the heavens that he bless thee this night with a male child by me so I may bring him up with the best of rearing and enable him to reach man's estate perfect in intelligence, good manners and prudent bearing. A speech which much pleased the king. During her pregnancy she was instant in prayer, fervently supplicating the lord to bless her with a goodly male child and make his birth easy to her and Allah heard her petition so after her months were accomplished she sat safely upon the birth stool. Now the king had deputed a eunuch to let him know if the child she should bring forth were male or female and in like way his son Sharkan had sent one to bring him tidings of the same. In due time Sophia was delivered of a child which the midwives examined and found to be a girl with a face shinier than the moon so they announced this to all present in the room whereupon the king's messenger carried the news to him and Sharkan's eunuch did the like with his master who rejoiced with exceeding joy. But after the two had departed quoth Sophia to the midwives wait with me a while for I feel as if there were still somewhat in my womb then she cried out and the pains of child bed again took her and Allah made it easy to her and she gave birth to a second child. The wise women looked at it and found it a boy like the full moon with forehead flower white and cheek ruddy bright with rosy light whereupon the mother rejoiced hasted the eunuchs and attendants and all the company and Sophia was delivered of the afterbirth whilst all in the palace sent forth a thrill of joy. The rest of the concubines heard it and envied her lot and the tidings reached Omar son of Al-Numan who was glad and rejoiced at the excellent news. Then he rose and went to her and kissed her head after which she looked at the boy and bending over him kissed him whilst the damsel struck the taboos and played on instruments of music. And the king gave order that the boy should be named Saul Al-Makan and his sister Nusat Al-Saman. They answered hearing and obedience and did his bidding so he pointed wet nurses and dry nurses and eunuchs and attendants to serve them and assigned them grations of sugar and diet drinks and unguents and elves beside beyond the power of tongue to rehearse. Moreover the people of Baghdad hearing that Allah had blessed their king with issue decorated the city and made proclamation of the glad tidings with drum and tom-tom and the emirs and vasirs and high dignitaries came to the palace and wished King Omar bin Al-Numan joy of his son, Saul Al-Makan and of his daughter Nusat Al-Saman. Wherefore he thanked them and bestowed on them dresses of honor and further favored them with gifts and dealt largest to all gentle and simple who were present. After this fashion he did for four days full-told and he lavished upon Sophia raiment and ornaments and great store of wealth and every few days he would send a messenger to ask after her and the new boys. And when four years had gone by he provided her with the way with all to rear the two children carefully and educate them with the best of instructions. All this while his son Sharkan knew not that a male child had been born to his father Omar son of Al-Numan, having news only that he had been blessed with the birth of Nusat Al-Saman. And they hid the intelligence from him until days and years had sped by whilst he was busyed in battling with the brave and fighting single handed against the knights. One day as King Omar was sitting in his palace his chamberlings came in to him and kissing the ground before him said, Oh King, there become ambassadors from the king of Rome, Lord of Constantinople the great, and they desire admission to thee and submission to thy decree. If the king command us to introduce them we will so do, and if not there is no disputing his behest. He bade them enter and when they came in he turned to them and cautiously receiving them asked them of their case and what was the cause of their coming. They kissed the ground before him and said, Oh King, glorious and strong, Oh Lord of the arm that is long, know that he who has dispatched us to thee is King Afridun, Lord of Iona Island, and the Nazarene Armors, the Sovereign who is firmly established in the Embry of Constantinople, to acquaint thee that he is now waging fierce war and fell with a tyrant and a rebel, the Prince of Caesarea, and the cause of this war is as follows. One of the kings of the Arabs in past time during certain of his conquest charged upon a horde of the time of Alexander when he removed wealth past compute and amongst other things three round jewels big as ostrich eggs from a mine of pure white gems whose like was never seen by man. Upon each was graven characters of Ionian characters and they have many virtues and properties amongst the rest that if one of these jewels be hung round the neck of a newborn child no evil shall befall him and he shall neither wail nor shall fever ale him as long as the jewel remain without fail. When the Arab king laid hands upon them and learned their secrets he sent a King Afridun presence of certain rarities and amongst them the three jewels forementioned and he equipped for the mission two ships one bearing the treasure and the other men of might to guard it from any who might offer hindrance on the high seas. Albeit well assured that none would dare wailay his vessels for that he was King of the Arabs and more by token that their course lay over waters subject to the King of Constantinople and they were bound to his port nor were there on the shore of that sea any say the subjects of the great King Afridun. The two ships set out and voyage till they drew near our city when they sailed out on them certain corsairs from that country and amongst them troops from the Prince of Caesarea who took all the treasures and rarities in the ships together with the three jewels and slew the crews. When our King heard of this he sent an army against them but they rooted it then he marched a second and a stronger but they put this also to flight where upon the King waxed wroth and swore that he would not go forth against them save in his own person at the head of his whole army nor would he turn back from them till he had left Caesarea of Armenia in ruins and had laid waste all the lands and cities over which her Prince held sway. So he sent us to the Lord of the Age and the Time Sultan Umar bin Al-Numan, King of Baghdad and of Corson desiring that he aid us with an army so may honor and glory accrue to him and he hath also forwarded by us somewhat of various kinds of presence and of the King's grace he begot their acceptance and the friendly boon of furtherance then the ambassadors kissed the ground before him and Sharasad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. End of Section 11 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night Vol. 2 Read by Lars Rolander. Section 12 Vol. 2 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night Translated by Richard Burton This is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Lars Rolander. The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night Vol. 2 Section 12 When it was the 46th night she said, It has reached me, O auspicious King, that after the ambassadors and retinue, from the Constantinopleitan King had kissed the ground before Omar and had delivered their embassage. They brought out the presents, which were fifty damsels of the choicest from Grecia land and fifty mamalookers in tunics and brocade, belted with girdles of gold and silver, each wearing in his ears hoops of gold with pendants of fine pearls, costing a thousand ducats every one. The girls were adorned in light fashion and were clad in stuffs worth a treasury of money. When the King saw them he rejoiced in them and accepted them. Then he bade the ambassadors to be honorably entreated and summoning his vassirs to cancel with them of what he should do. Herewith rose up among them a vassir, an ancient man, Dandan Heis, who kissed the ground before Omar and said, O King, there is nothing better to do in this matter than equip an army valiant and victorious and set over it thy son Sharkam with us as his lieutenants. And this read commended itself to me on two accounts. First, because the King of Rome hath invoked thine assistance and has sent thee gifts which thou hast accepted. And secondly, because while no enemy death attack our country, thine army may go forth safely and should it succour the King of Grecia land and defeat his foe, the glory will be thine. Moreover, the news of it will be noise to broad in all cities and countries and especially when the tidings shall reach the islands of the ocean and the kings of Mauritania shall hear it. They will send the offerings of rarities and pay the tribute of money. The King pleased by the vassir's words and approving his read gave him a dress of honor and said to him, Of the like of thee should kings ask counsel and it seems fit that thou shouldst conduct the van of our army and our son Sharkam command the main battle. Then he sent for his son who came and kissed ground before him and sat down. And he expounded to him the matter telling him what the ambassadors and the vassir Dandan had said and he charged him to take arms and equip himself for the campaign and joining him not to gainsay Dandan in ought he should do. Moreover he ordered him to pick out of his army ten thousand horsemen armed cap up high and inured to onset a stress of war. Accordingly Sharkam arose on the instant and chose out a myriad of horsemen after which he entered his palace and mustered his host and distributed largest to them saying, Ye have delay of three days. They kissed the earth before him in obedience to his commands and began at once to lay in munitions and provide provisions for the occasion. While Sharkam repaired to the armories and took therefrom whatsoever he required of arms and armor and thence to the stable where he choose horses of choice blood and others. When the appointed three days were ended the army drew out of the suburbs of Baghdad city and King Omar came forth to take leave of his son who kissed the ground before him and recede from the king seven parcels of money. Then he turned to Dandan and commended to his care the army of his son and the Vassir kissed the ground before him and answered, I hear and I obey. And lastly he charged Sharkam that he should consult the Vassir on all occasions which he promised to do. After this the king returned to his city and Sharkam ordered the officers to muster their troops in battle array. So they mustered them and their numbers was ten thousand horsemen besides footmen and camp followers. Then they loaded their baggage on their beasts and the war drums beat and the trumpets blared and the banner also on standards were unfurled while Sharkam mounted horse with the Vassir Dandan by his side and the colors fluttering over their heads. So the horse fared forth and stinted not faring with the ambassadors preceding them till day departed and night drew nigh when they elighted and encamped for the night. And as soon as Allah caused the morn tomorrow they mounted and tried on guided by the ambassadors for a space of twenty days and by the night of the twenty first they came to a fine and spacious wady well grown with trees and shrubbery. Here Sharkam ordered them to elight and commanded a three days hold so they dismounted and pitched their tents spreading their camp over the right and the left slopes of the extensive valley whilst the Vassir Dandan and the ambassadors of King Aphrodon pitched in the soul of the wady. As for Sharkam he tarried behind them for a while till all had dismounted and he had dispersed themselves over the valley sites. He then slacked the reins of his steed being minded to explore the wady and to mount guard in his own person because of his father's charge and owing to the fact that they were on the frontier of Grecia land and in the envious country. So he rode out alone after ordering his own slaves and his bodyguard to camp near the Vassir Dandan and he fared on along the side of the valley till a fourth part of the night was passed when he felt tired and drowsiness overcame him so that he could no longer urge horse with heel. Now he was accustomed to take rest on horseback so when slumber overpowered him he slept and the steed ceased not going on with him till half the night was spent and entered one of the thickets which was dense with growth. But Sharkam awoke not until his horse stumbled over wooded ground. Then he started from sleep and found himself among the trees and the moon arose and shone brightly over the two horizons eastern and western. He was startled when he found himself alone in this place and said the say which never yet shamed its air. There is no majesty and there is no might save in Allah the glorious the great but as he rode on in fear of wild beasts. Behold the moon spread her glade light over a meadow as if it were on the meads of paradise and he heard pleasant voices and a loud noise of talk and laughter captivating the senses of men. So King Sharkam alighted and tying his steed to one of the trees went over a little way till he came upon a stream and heard a woman talking in Arabic and saying Now by the crush of the Messiah this is not well of you but whoso utters a word I will throw her and truss her up with her own girl. He kept walking in the direction of the sound and when he reached the further side he looked and behold a stream was gushing and flowing and antelopes at large were frisking and roving and wild cattle amid the pasture moving. And birds expressed joy and gladness in their diverse tongues and that place was purflied with all manner flowers and green herbs even as a poet described it in these couplets. Most beautiful is earth in budding bloom when lucid waters course through plain and wood. No work but his the all great the all glorious giver of all gifts giver of all good. And as Sharkam considered the place he saw in it a Christian monastery within whose in saint a castle towered high in the air catching the light of the moon. Through the midst of the convent passed a stream the water flowing amongst its gardens and upon the bank sat the woman whose voice he had heard while before hers to ten handmaids like moons and wearing various sort of raiment and ornaments that dazed and dazzled their beholder. High busened virgins as set of them the poet in these couplets. The mead is bright with what is aunt O merry maiden Stebonair double its beauty and its grace those trooping damsels slender fair. Virgins of graceful swimming-gate ready with eye and lip to ensnare and like the tender's vine they lose the rich profusion of their hair shooting their shafts and arrows from beautiful eyes beyond compare overpowering and transpiercing every fraught adversaire. Sharkam gazed upon the ten girls and saw in their midst a lady like the moon at fullest with ring-letted hair and forehead sheeny-white and eyes wondrous wide and black and bright and temple locks like the scorpion's tail. And she was perfect in essence and attributes as the poet said of her in these couplets. She beamed on my sight with a wondrous glance and her straight slender stature and shamed the lance. She burst on my sight with cheeks rosy red where all manner of beauties have habitants and the locks on her forehead were lowering as night whence issues adorned tide of happiest chance. Then Sharkam heard her say to the handmaids, come ye on that I may wrestle with you and gravel you ere the moon set and the dawn break. So each came up to her in turn and she grounded them forthright and pinioned them with their girls and ceased not writhling and pitching them until she had overthrown one and all. Then they turned to her an old woman who was before her and the bell them said as in wrath, O strumpet, cost thou glory in grounding these girls? Behold, I am an old woman, yet I have thrown them forty times. So what has thou to boast of? But if thou have the strength to wrestle with me, stand up that I may grip thee and set thy head between thy heels. The young lady smiled at her words, but she was filled with an inward wrath and she jumped up and asked, O my lady, sat al tabai, by the truth of the Messiah will thou wrestle with me in very deed or dost thou jest with me? And she answered, Yeah! And Charasad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. End of Section 12 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2. Read by Lars Rolander.