"Volume XV" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burtons Version)
"He adorns the branch of his tribal-tree, * Loves the fawn his song as his sight she see;
And beauty shines in his every limb * While in every heart he must stablished be."
Hereat the young man came to himself and shrieked a mighty loud shriek more violent than the first and put forth his hand to his garment and rent it in rags and fell swooning a second time, when his sides were bared more fully than before until the whole of his back appeared and Al-Rashid was straitened thereby as to his breast and his patience made protest, and he cried, "O Ja'afar, there is no help but that I ask concerning the wheals of this bastinadoing." And as they talked over the matter of the youth behold, he came to his senses and his slaves brought him a fresh suit and caused him don it, whereupon Al-Rashid came forward and said, "O young man, thou hast honoured us and favoured us and entreated us with such kindness as other than thyself could never do nor can any requite us with the like; withal there remaineth a somewhat in my heart"--And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was
The Six Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will." It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that Al-Rashid said to the youth, the master of the house, "Withal there remaineth a somewhat in my heart which if I manifest not to thee will abide there to my displeasure in my thought; and, albeit there is nothing to equal that thou hast done with us, still I desire of thee and of the excellence of thy kindness a fulfilling of thy favour." Said the youth, "What dost thou wish of me, ho thou the lord?" and said the Caliph, "I would have thee inform me concerning the scars upon thy sides and let me know for what cause they be there." Now when the young man heard these words he bowed his brow groundwards and wept awhile, then he wiped his face and raised his head and asked, "What hath urged you to this? But the fault is from me and I merit a penalty even greater. O sons of impurity, say me have you not read the lines written over the doors of my house that here you are speaking of what concerneth you not and so right soon shall ye hear what pleaseth you not? However, had ye never entered my house you would not have known of my case and my shame [FN#123] and withal sooth spoke he who said amongst his many sayings,
'We sowed kindness-seed but they wrought us wrong * Which is caitiff-work and a traitor-deed.'"
Resumed the young man, "O vilest of folk, you asked of me a gugglet of water, and I brought you into my house and honoured and welcomed you and you ate of my victual and my salt, after which I led you into my Harem with the fancy that ye were honest men and behold you are no men. Woe to you, what may ye be?" On this wise he continued to chide and revile them unknowing that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid stood before him, and presently the Prince of True Believers made reply, "We be folk of Bassorah." "Truth you have spoken," cried the other, "nothing cometh from Bassorah save the meanest of men and the weakest of wits but now rise up, O ye dung [FN#124] of mankind, O ye foulest of folk, and go forth from us and may Allah curse him who speaketh of whatso concerneth him not." All this and Ja'afar and Masrur rose to their feet for shame of the youth and of what they had heard from him of ill language and they went from beside him. But Al-Rashid's temper was ruffled and his jugulars swelled and the Hashimi vein stood out between his eyes and he cried, "Woe to thee, O Ja'afar! go this moment to Such-an-one the Wali and bid him muster his men of whom each one must have in hand an implement of iron, and let him repair to the mansion of this youth and raze it till it return to be level with the ground, nor let the morning dawn and show a trace thereof upon the face of earth." Quoth Ja'afar to Al-Rashid, "O Prince of True Believers, from the very first we feared for all this, and did we not make condition on the subject? However, O our lord, the good man is not ruined by the good man and this work is not righteous; nay, 'tis wholly unright, and one of the sages hath said, 'The mild in mind is not known save in the hour of wrath.' But, O Prince of faithful men and O Caliph of the Lord who the worlds dost vice-reign, thou swarest an oath that although the vilest of men should ill-speak thee yet wouldest thou not requite him with evil, nor return him aught of reply nor keep aught of rancour in thy heart for his unmannerly address. Moreover, O our lord, the youth hath no default at all and the offence is from us, for that he forbade and forefended us and wrote up in many a place the warning words, Whoso speaketh of what concerneth him not, shall hear what pleaseth him not. Therefore he unmeriteth the pain of death. Now what we had better do in this case is as follows:--Send thou for the Wali and bid him bring the youth and when he is present between thy hands, encounter him with kindness that his fear may find rest and his affright be arrested after which he shall inform thee of whatso befel him." Cried Al-Rashid, "This is the right rede and Allah requite thee with weal, O Ja'afar. 'Tis the like of thee should be Wazir of the Councillors and Counseller of the Kings." Hereupon Harun al-Rashid returned to his palace in company with Masrur the eunuch, and they entered the aforesaid private door whereby they had gone forth, nor was any aware of them. But when Ja'afar reached his abode he took thought in his mind as to how he should act and how he should send the Wali to the young man and bring him into the presence; and presently he retraced his way afoot and going to the Chief of Police acquainted him with the matter of the youth and carefully described his house and said to him, "Needs must thou bring him to us in the front of morning, but do thou be courteous in thy dealing and show him comradeship and startle him not nor cause him aught of fear." After this Ja'afar dismissed the Wali and returned to his own quarters. And when the morning morrowed the Chief of Police, having chosen him as escort a single Mameluke, made for the house of the youth, and when he had reached it knocked at the door, upon which the owner came out to him and the Wali knew him by the description wherewith Ja'afar had described him, so he bade him accompany him. Hereat the heart of the young man fluttered.--And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night, an the Sovran suffer me to survive." Now when it was the next night and that was
The Six Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the youth's heart fluttered when the Chief of Police summoned him to go in his company and he was smitten by sore fear; but the Wali said to him, "No harm shall befal thee: obey the summons of the Commander of the Faithful." Now when he heard these words Manjab was terrified with sorer alarm and affright, so by leave of the Wali he entered his house and farewelled his family and familiars after which he fared forth with the Chief of Police saying, "Hearkening and obedience to Allah and to the Prince of True Believers." Then he mounted his beast and the two rode together until they reached the Palace of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid where they craved admission to the presence; and, when leave was granted, the youth went in and standing between the hands of Harun he encouraged his intent and made his tongue eloquent and kissed ground between the royal hands and sat respectfully before him. Then he began with a tongue that was free of fear and showed naught of apprehension and spake the following lines,
"Hail to this place for such be honoured stead * Of God's viceregent known to all and some:
Palace of Al-Rashid, our lord, which aye * Excelleth Heaven higher still become:
I haste that may I write what should be writ * And eloquent the writ albe 'tis dumb."
'Rise, O comrade of cup, and to joy incline; * I've no patience, O brother, from pressing of wine:
See'st not how night with her hosts be fled * Routed, and morn doth her troops align?
How with Nadd and ambergris, rarest scents, * Rose laughs and smiles on us Eglantine?
This, my lord, is joy, this is pure delight. * Not standing at doors which the books confine.'
But when my mother, O Commander of the Faithful, espied these doings she reproached me, yet would I not be reproved. Then she saw that my wealth would be wasted, so she divided it between me and her, to each one half, a moiety for herself and her daughter, and the rest for myself. And presently she left me, carrying away her good and separated herself from me, abiding afar and leaving me to enjoy my frivolity and intoxication. I ceased not eating and drinking and diversion and disport, and enjoying the all-conquering faces of the beautiful, [FN#125] until the days smote me with their shafts, and all my wealth fell away from me and naught remained to me either above me or below me, and I ceased to be master of aught. Then my condition waxed strait, and as nothing was left to me at home I sold the pots and pans until I lacked even a sleeping-mat, and I used to patch my skirt with my sleeve. And naught profited me, neither friend nor familiar nor lover, nor remained there any one of them to feed me with a loaf of bread; so my case became hard and the folk entreated me evilly, nor was there one of my comrades or compeers who would take thought for me; nay more, when I met any of them on the road or at the receptions they would turn away their faces from me. So at last I took to pulling up the slabs [FN#126] of the house floor and selling them by way of a livelihood, and one day as I did on this wise, lo and behold! there opened in the floor a large vault whereinto I descended."--And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day, and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable;" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night, and that was
The Six Hundred and Fortieth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the youth Manjab continued his tale to Al-Rashid in these words. "So I descended into the vault, O Commander of the Faithful, and I found there three boxes each containing five bags and every bag held five thousand gold pieces. I carried forth the whole of them and set them in an apartment of the apartments and returned the flag of the floor to its place. Then I pondered what my brethren and companions had done with me, after which, O Prince of True Believers, I bought handsome clothes and made my person as it was before; and as soon as those men who were with me of yore and upon whom I had spent my substance in gifts and presents beheld me on such wise they flocked around me again. I accepted of them for a device which I purposed carrying out and took patience with them for a whole month whilst they came to visit me every day. But when it was the thirty-first day I summoned the Kazi and his assessors whom I concealed in a private place and bade write a bond and an acceptance for everything they might hear from my familiars and friends. After this I spread a feast and assembled all my associates; and when we had eaten and drunken and made merry, I drew them on to talk and to each and every whom I had gifted with a present I said, 'Allah upon thee, O Such-an-one, did I not donate to thee so-and-so without taking any return from thee?' And they replied, 'Yes, thou gavest it to me for naught.' I continued, O Prince of True Believers, to address each and all after this fashion whilst the Kazi and witnesses wrote down against them everything they heard from them and documented every word until not one of my friends remained without confession. Then, O Commander of the Faithful, I rose to my feet without delay and ere anyone could leave the assembly I brought out the Kazi and his assessors and showed them the writ in the name of everyone, specifying whatso he had received from the youth Manjab. After this manner I redeemed all they had taken from me and my hand was again in possession thereof, and I waxed sound of frame and my good case returned to me as it had been. Now one day of the days I took thought in my mind, O Prince of True Believers, that I could open the shop of my sire and I would sit in it as my parent was wont to do, selling and buying in sumptuous Hindi cloths and jewelry and precious metals. Accordingly I repaired to the place, which I found fast locked and the spider had pitched her web-tent about it; so I hired a man to wipe it and sweep it clean of all that was therein. And when the Bazar folk and the merchants and the masters of shops saw me they rejoiced in me and came to congratulate me saying, 'Praise be to Allah who opened not the store save for the owner thereof in succession to his sire.' Then I took of merchandise a mighty matter and my shop became one whose like was not to be looked upon throughout the market-street, and amongst the goods I laid in were carnelians of Al-Yaman; after which I seated me upon my shop-board that very day and sold and bought and took and gave, and I ceased not to be after such wise for nine days. Now when it was the tenth day I entered the Hammam and came out after donning a dress which was worth one thousand gold pieces, and my beauty was increased and my colour waxed sheeny-bright and my youth looked as though it had been redoubled, and I was not such but that the women were like to throw themselves upon me. However, when I returned from the Baths and sat in my store for an hour or so behold, I heard a shout that came from the depths of the Bazar and heard one saying, 'Have patience,' [FN#127] when suddenly I looked up and saw a stare-coloured mule whereon was a saddle of gold dubbed with pearls and gems, and upon it an old woman was riding accompanied by three pages. She ceased not going till she stood at my shop-door where she drew rein and her servants halted with her. Then she salam'd to me and said, 'How long is't since thou hast opened this store?' and said I, 'This day is the full tenth.' Quoth she, 'Allah have ruth upon the owner of this shop, for he was indeed a merchant.' Quoth I, 'He was my parent,' and replied she, 'Thou art Manjab named and as uniter of thy friends enfamed.' Said I, 'Yes!' whereat she smiled and questioned me, 'And how is thy sister, and what is the condition of thy mother, and what is the state of thy neighbours?' 'They are all well,' said I, when said she, 'O my son, O Manjab, thou hast grown up and reached man's estate.' Rejoined I, 'Whoso liveth groweth up;' and she continued, 'Say me hast thou a necklace of gems which is pleasing to the sight?' I responded, 'With me in the shop are many necklaces but I have better at home and I will bring them for thee betimes to-morrow if it be the will of Almighty Allah.' When she heard these my words she returned by the way she came and her pages walked by her side; and at the end of the day I went to my mother and informed her of the adventure how it was with the old woman and she said, 'O my son, O Manjab, verily that ancient dame is a confidential nurse and she conferreth benefits upon the folk amongst whom was thy sire before thee: therefore do thou be urgent in bringing about her business nor do thou forgo thine appointment with her.' The old woman disappeared for a day; but on the next she returned in her wonted state and when she came to my shop she said, 'O Manjab, arise and mount thy mule in weal and good health!' So I left my store and mounted my she-mule."--And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you in the coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night, and that was
The Six Hundred and Forty-second Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the youth Manjab said to the Prince of True Believers, "So I mounted my she-mule and I went with the old woman until I came to a mansion built of stone and wide of gates; so we dismounted, I and she, and entered the door, I following after her until we came to the great hall. There I found, O Prince of True Believers, carpets of fine silk and embroidered hangings and mattresses of gold-cloth and vases of the same kind all golden and fine brocades and jars of porcelain and shelves of crystal; in fine I saw things which I may not describe to thee, O Commander of the Faithful. And at the side of the mansion within were four bench-seats of yellow brass, plain and without carving, and the old woman seated me upon the highest mattress and she pointed out to me a porch where stood pourtrayed all manner birds and beasts, and hills and channels were limned. Now as I cast my eye over these paintings suddenly a young lady accosted us speaking with a delicate voice demure and words that the sick and sorry would cure and she was behind a hanging and saying, 'Whoso hath let down this curtain let him receive one hundred stripes.' Then she bade withdraw it and they removed it and behold, I felt as though the lightning were gleaming and glittering and it took away my sight until my head was near striking the ground, for there stood before me a young lady of lance-like stature and a face like the morning bright as though she were a chandelier a-hanging amid the cressets. She was dressed in sumptuous raiment and was even as said of her the poet,
'To us she bent whenas Night hung her veil * And nigh went she my sense to turn from right;
And rang her anklets and her necklace chimed * With dainty music to my tearful plight.
Showed me that her face a four-fold charm, * Water and fire and pitch and lamping light.'
Then, O Commander of the Faithful, she cried out to the slave girls, 'Woe to you, where is the Nurse,' and when she was fetched between her hands she asked her, 'Hast thou brought the jeweller;' and the other answered, 'Yea, verily, O lady of loveliness, and here he is sitting like the full moon when it easteth.' The young lady cried, 'O old woman, is this he or is it his servant?' [FN#128] Whereto she replied, 'No, 'tis he himself, O lady of loveliness.' Quoth the other, 'By the life of my youth, [FN#129] thou deservest naught for this [FN#130] save whatso thou fanciest not and thou hast raised me from before my food [FN#131] while yet I fancied that he merited rising up to him.' Then she considered me and cried, 'Am I then in this fashion become [FN#132] a bundle of dirty clothes all of poverty, and say me now, hast thou not even washed thy face?' But I, O Prince of True Believers, was still as I came forth from the Hammam and my countenance was shining like unto lightning. Hereat I made myself exceeding small and it mortified me to hear how she had found fault with my face and befouled my dress, scorning me till I became between her hands smaller than the very smallest. Then she fixed her sight upon me and she said to me, 'Thou art Manjab hight, thou dogs' trysting-site or gatherer of friends as saith other wight, but by Allah how far be familiars and friends from thy sight, O thou Manjab hight! Now, however, do thou look upon me, O Jeweller man, the while I eat and when my meal shall end there will be talk.' Hereupon, O Commander of the Faithful, they brought her a crystal platter in a golden basin and therein were the thighs of fowls; so she took seat before me and fell to eating without shyness or difficulty as though in her presence I were other than a son of Adam. And I stood looking at her and whenever she raised her wrist to take up a morsel, the dimple [FN#133] became manifest from without, and upon the skin was a tattoo of green colour and about it jewelled ornaments [FN#134] and armlets of red gold and a pink dye appeared upon the whiteness of her hand: so glory be to Him who created her and she was naught but a seduction to whoso espied her and blessed be Allah the best of Creators. May the Almighty have ruth upon the poet who said concerning the beauty of his lover these couplets,
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