upon he drew his sword and fell upon them and there befell battle and slaughter and sore was the stress of the mellay; but Alaeddin broke them and routed them and slew the most part of them. Moreover, he plundered their goods and possessions and gat him spoil beyond count or reckoning, wherewith he returned in triumph, [having gained] a great victory, and entered the city, which had adorned itself for him of its joy in him. The Sultan came out to meet him and give him joy and embraced him and kissed him, and there was high festival holden in the kingdom and great rejoicing. Then the Sultan and Alaeddin betook themselves to the latter’s palace; [FN#542] whereupon his bride, the Lady Bedrulbudour, came out to meet him, rejoicing in him, and kissed him between the eyes, and he went in with her to her pavilion; [FN#543] whither after a little came the Sultan and they sat down and the slave-girls brought sherbets. [FN#544] So they drank and the Sultan commanded that all the realm should be decorated for Alaeddin’s victory over the enemy; whilst it became [a saying] with the commons and the troops and the folk, all of them, “Allah in heaven and Alaeddin on earth.” and they loved him yet more, having regard not only to the excess of his bounty and munificence, but to his knightly prowess, in that he had done battle for the kingdom and had routed the enemy.
So much for Alaeddin, and now to return to the Mangrabin enchanter. When he returned to his country, he abode all this time, bewailing that which he had endured of toil and stress, so he might compass the lamp, yet had his travail all been wasted and the morsel had escaped from his hand, after it had reached his mouth; and he still thought upon all this, bemoaning himself and reviling Alaeddin of the excess of his anger against him; and whiles he said in himself, “Since yonder whoreson is dead under the earth, I am content withal and I have hopes of the lamp, that I may yet achieve it, inasmuch as it is still safeguarded.” Then, one day of the days, he smote the sand and extracting the figures, set them down after the most approved fashion [FN#545] and adjusted [FN#546] them, so he might see and certify himself of the death of Alaeddin and the safe keeping of the lamp under the earth; and he looked well into [FN#547] the figures, both mothers and daughters, [FN#548] but saw not the lamp, whereupon rage overrode him and he smote the sand a second time, that he might certify himself of Alaeddin’s death, but saw him not in the treasure; whereat he redoubled in wrath, and yet more when it was certified to him that the lad was alive upon the surface of the earth and he knew that he had come forth from under the ground and had gotten the lamp, on account whereof he himself had suffered toil and torment such as passeth man’s power to endure. So he said in himself, “I have suffered many hardships for the sake of the lamp and have endured fatigues such as none but I might brook, [FN#549] and now yonder accursed one taketh it without stress and it is evident [FN#550] [that], an he have learned the use thereof, there will be none in the world richer than he.”
Then, [FN#551] when he saw and was certified that Alaeddin had come forth from under the earth and had happened upon the good of the Lamp, [FN#552] he said in himself, “Needs must I go about to kill him.” So he smote the sand once more and examining its figures, saw that Alaeddin had gotten him exceeding wealth and had married the Sultan’s daughter; whereat he was all afire for rage and envy and arising then and there, equipped himself for travel and set out for the land of China. When he came to the city of the sultanate, [FN#553] wherein was Alaeddin, he entered and alighting at one of the khans, heard the folk talking of nought but the magnificence of Alaeddin’s palace; then, after he was rested from his journey, he changed [FN#554] his clothes and went down to go round about in the thoroughfares of the city. He passed no folk but they were descanting upon the palace and its magnificence and talking of Alaeddin’s grace and comeliness and his bounty and munificence and the goodliness of his manners and disposition; so [FN#555] he went up to one of those who were extolling Alaeddin on this wise and said to him, “Prithee, fair youth, who is this whom you describe and praise? “O man,” replied the other, “meseemeth thou art a stranger and comest from afar; but, granting thou art from a far country, hast thou not heard of the Amir Alaeddin, whose repute, methought, filled the earth, and of his palace, a wonder of the world, whereof both far and near have heard? How is it thou hast heard nought of this nor of the name of Alaeddin, whom Our Lord increase in glory and prosper?” Quoth the Maugrabin, ” Marry, it is the utmost of my wish to look upon the palace; so, an thou wouldst do me a kindness, direct me thither, for that I am a stranger.” “Hearkening and obedience,” replied the other and going before him, guided him to Alaeddin’s palace.
The Maugrabin fell to examining it and knew that this all of it was the work of the Lamp; so he said, “Alack! Alack! Needs must I dig a pit for this accursed one, this tailor’s son, who could not come by a night’s supper; but, an destiny enable me, I will send his mother back to spin at her wheel, like as she did erst, and as for him, it shall cost him [FN#556] his life.” Then he returned to the khan in a woeful state of chagrin and colour and despite, for envy of Alaeddin, and [FN#557] taking his geomantic instruments, [FN#558] smote his [tablet of] sand, so he might learn where the lamp was, and found that it was in the palace and not with Alaeddin; [FN#559] whereat he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and said, “Now it will be an easy matter for me to bereave this accursed of his life and I have a way to come at the lamp.” Accordingly he went to a coppersmith and said to him, “Make me so many [FN#560] lamps [FN#561] and take of me their worth in full; [FN#562] but I will have thee despatch them quickly.” “Hearkening and obedience,” replied the smith and falling to work on them, speedily despatched them for him. When they were finished, the Maugrabin paid him their price, even that which he sought, and taking the lamps, carried them to the khan, where he laid them in a basket and fell to going round about in the markets and thoroughfares of the city and crying out, “Ho! who will barter an old lamp for a new lamp?” When the folk heard him crying this, they laughed at him and said, “Certes, this man is mad, since he goeth about, bartering new lamps for old.” Moreover, people [FN#563] followed him and the street-boys caught him up from place to place [FN#564] and laughed at him. However, he fended not himself neither took heed of this, but ceased not to go round about the city till he came under Alaeddin’s palace, where he fell to crying his loudest, whilst the children called after him, “Madman! Madman!”
Now as fate willed it, the Lady Bedrulbudour was in the kiosk and hearing one crying out and the boys calling after him and understanding not what was toward, bade one of the slave-girls “Go see what is this man who crieth out and what he crieth.” So the girl went and looking, saw one crying out, “Ho, who will barter an old lamp for a new lamp?” with the boys after him, laughing at him; so she returned and told her mistress, saying, “O my lady, this man crieth, ‘Ho! who will barter an old lamp for a new lamp?’ and the boys are following him and laughing at him;” and the Lady Bedrulbudour laughed also at this marvel. Now Alaeddin had forgotten the lamp in his pavilion, [FN#565] without locking it up in his treasury [as was his wont], and one of the girls had seen it; so she said to the princess, “O my lady, methinketh I have seen an old lamp in my lord Alaeddin’s pavilion; let us barter it with this man for a new one, so we may see an his speech be true or leasing.” And [FN#566] the princess said to her, “fetch the lamp whereof thou speakest.” Now the Lady Bedrulbudour had no knowledge of the lamp and its properties, neither knew she that this it was which had brought Alaeddin her husband to that great estate, and it was the utmost of her desire to prove and see the wit of this man who bartered new for old, nor was any one aware of the Maugrabin enchanter’s craft and trickery. So the slave-girl went up into Alaeddin’s pavilion and returned with the lamp to the Lady Bedrulbudour, who bade the Aga of the eunuchs [FN#567] go down and exchange it for a new one; so he took it and going down, gave it to the Maugrabin and took of him a new lamp, with which he returned to the princess, who examined it and finding it new and real, fell to laughing at the Maugrabin’s [lack of] wit. Meanwhile, when the enchanter had gotten the lamp and knew it for that of the Treasure, he thrust it forthwith into his sleeve [FN#568] and leaving the rest of the lamps to the folk who were in act to barter of him, set off running, till he came without the city, and walked about the waste places, awaiting the coming of the night. Then, when he saw himself alone in the open country, he brought out the lamp from his sleeve and rubbed it; whereupon the Marid immediately appeared to him and said, “Here am I; thy slave [is] before thee. Seek of me what thou wilt.” Quoth the Maugrabin, “My will is that thou take up Alaeddin’s palace from its place, with its inhabitants and all that [FN#569] is therein and myself also, and set it down in my country of Africa. [FN#570] Thou knowest my town and I will have this palace be thereby among the gardens.” “Hearkening and obedience,” replied the Marid. “Shut [thine] eye and open [thine] eye, and thou wilt find thyself in thine own country with the palace.” And immediately this befell in the twinkling of an eye and the Maugrabin was transported, with Alaeddin’s palace and all that was therein, to the land of Africa.
So much for the enchanter, and now let us return to the Sultan and Alaeddin. The Sultan, of his love and affection for his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour, was wont, every day, when he awoke from his sleep, to open the window and look at her therefrom; so he arose on the morrow, according to his wont, and opened his chamber-window, so he might see his daughter; but [FN#571] when he put out his head and looked for Alaeddin’s palace, he beheld nothing but a place swept [and level], like as it was aforetime, and saw neither palace nor inhabitants; [FN#572] whereat amazement clad him and his wit was bewildered and he fell to rubbing his eyes, so haply they were bleared or dimmed. Then he proceeded to look closely till at last he was certified that there was neither trace nor sign left of the palace and knew not what was come of it; whereupon he redoubled in perplexity and smote hand upon hand and his tears ran down upon his beard, for that he knew not what had befallen his daughter. So he sent forthright to fetch the Vizier, who came in to him and seeing him in that woeful state, said to him, “Pardon, O King of the Age (God keep thee from harm!) why art thou woeful?” Quoth the Sultan, “Meseemeth thou knowest not of my affair.” And the Vizier said to him, “By Allah, O my lord, I have no knowledge of aught whatsoever.” “Then,” rejoined the Sultan, “thou hast not looked towards Alaeddin’s palace.” “Nay, O my lord,” replied the Vizier, “it is yet shut.” And the Sultan said to him, “Since thou hast no news of aught, rise and look at it from the window and see where it is, this palace of Alaeddin’s, whereof thou sayest that it is yet shut.” The Vizier arose and looked from the window towards Alaeddin’s palace, but could see nothing, neither palace nor aught else; so his wit was bewildered and he was amazed and returned to the Sultan, who said to him, “Now knowest thou the cause of my distress and seest Alaeddin his palace, whereof thou saddest that it was shut.” “O King of the Age,” rejoined the Vizier, “I told Thy Grace aforetime that this palace and these affairs were all of them [the work of] enchantment.”
At this the Sultan was fired with wrath and said to him, “Where is Alaeddin?” And he answered, “He is at the chase.” Whereupon the Sultan bade sundry of his eunuchs and officers go straightway fetch him bound and shackled. So they went till they came to Alaeddin and said to him, “O our lord Alaeddin, blame us not, for that the Sultan hath bidden us carry thee to him, bound and shackled; wherefore we beseech thee of excusement, for that we are under a royal commandment and may not gainsay it.” When Alaeddin heard their speech, wonderment took him and his tongue was tied, for that he knew not the cause; then he turned to the eunuchs and officers and said, “Prithee, sirs, [FN#573] have you no knowledge of the cause of this commandment of the Sultan? I know myself guiltless, forasmuch as I have done no sin against the Sultan nor against his realm.” And they said to him, “O our lord, we have no manner of knowledge thereof.” So Alaeddin lighted down from his stallion and said to them, “Do with me that which the Sultan biddeth you, for that his commandment is upon the head and eyes.” Accordingly [FN#574] the officers shackled him and pinioning him, haled him along in irons and entered the city with him.
The folk, seeing Alaeddin pinioned and shackled with iron, knew that the Sultan was minded to cut off his head, and forasmuch as he was extraordinarily beloved of them, they all gathered together and taking up arms, came forth their houses and followed the troops, so they might see what was to do. When the officers came with Alaeddin to the palace, they entered and told the Sultan, who immediately bade the headsman go and cut off his head. But the commons, hearing of this his commandment, shut the gates of the palace and sent to say to the Sultan, “This very moment we will overthrow the palace upon thee and all who are therein, an the least harm happen to Alaeddin.” So the Vizier went and told the Sultan and said to him, “O King of the Age, all will be over with us forthright; [FN#575] wherefore thou wert best pardon Alaeddin, lest some calamity befall us, for that the commons love him more than us.” Now the headsman had spread the carpet of blood and seating Alaeddin thereon, had bound his eyes and gone round him three times, [FN#576] awaiting the King’s final commandment. The Sultan looked at his subjects and seeing them swarming upon him and climbing up to the palace, that they might overthrow it, commanded the headsman to hold his hand from Alaeddin and bade the crier go forth among the people and proclaim that he pardoned Alaeddin and took him [again] into favour.
When Alaeddin found himself released and saw the Sultan sitting, he went up to him and said to him, “O my lord, since Thy Grace hath bountifully vouchsafed me my life, [FN#577] favour me [yet farther] and tell me the manner of my offence.” “O traitor,” replied the Sultan, “till [but] now I knew not thine offence;” then, turning to the Vizier, he said to him, “Take him, that he may see from the windows where his palace is.” Accordingly the Vizier took him and Alaeddin looked from the windows in the direction of his palace and finding the place swept and clear, like as it was before he built the palace thereon, neither seeing any trace of the latter, he was amazed and bewildered, unknowing what had happened. When he returned, the King said to him, “What hast thou seen? Where is thy palace and where is my daughter, my heart’s darling and mine only one, than whom I have none other?” And Alaeddin answered him, saying, “O King of the Age, I have no knowledge thereof, neither know I what hath befallen.” And the Sultan said to him, “Know, O Alaeddin, that I have pardoned thee, so thou mayst go and look into this affair and make me search for my daughter; and do not thou present thyself but with her; nay, an thou bring her not back to me, as my head liveth, I will cut off thine.” “Hearkening and obedience, O King of the Age,” replied Alaeddin. “Grant me but forty days’ grace, and an I bring her not after that time, cut off my head and do what thou wilt.” Quoth [FN#578] the Sultan to him, “I grant thee, according to thy request, the space of forty days; but think not to flee from my hand, for that I will fetch thee back, though thou wert above the clouds, not to say upon the face of the earth.” “O my lord the Sultan,” rejoined Alaeddin, “as I said to Thy Grace, an I bring her not to thee in this space of time, I will present myself before thee, that thou mayst cut off my head.”
Now the commons and the folk, one and all, when they saw Alaeddin, rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy and were glad for his deliverance; but the ignominy which had befallen him and shame and the exultation of the envious had bowed down his head; so he went forth and fell to going round about the city, perplexed anent his case and unknowing how all this had happened. He abode in the city two days in the woefullest of case, knowing not how he should do to find his palace and the Lady Bedrulbudour, his bride, what while certain of the folk used to come to him privily with meat and drink. Then he went forth, wandering in the deserts and knowing not whitherward he should aim, and ceased not going till he came to a river; whereupon, his hope being cut off for stress of chagrin that possessed him, he thought to cast himself into the stream; but, for that he was a pious Muslim, professing the unity of God, he feared God in himself and stood on the bank; of the stream to perform the ablution. [FN#579] So he took of the water in his hands and proceeded to rub between his fingers; and in doing this, his rubbing chanced upon the ring, whereupon a Marid appeared to him and said to him, “Here am I; thy slave is before thee. Seek what thou wilt.”
When Alaeddin saw the Marid, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and said to him, “O slave, I will have thee bring me my palace, with my bride, the Lady Bedrulbudour, and all that is therein.” “O my lord,” replied the Marid, “it irketh me sore that what thou seekest of me is a thing unto which I cannot avail, for that it pertaineth unto the slaves of the Lamp and I may not adventure upon it.” “Then,” said Alaeddin, “since this is not possible unto thee, take me and set me down beside my palace, in what land soever it is.” “Hearkening and obedience, O my lord,” replied the Marid and taking. him up, set him down, in the twinkling of an eye, beside his palace in the land of Africa and before his wife’s pavilion. By this time, the night was come; so he looked at his palace and his cares and sorrows were dispelled from him and he trusted in God, after he had forsworn hope, that he should see his bride once again. Then he fell to thinking upon the hidden mercies of God (glorified be His might!) and how He had vouchsafed [FN#580] him the ring and how his hope had been cut off, except God had provided him with the slave of the Ring. So he rejoiced and all chagrin ceased from him; then, for that he had been four days without sleeping, of the stress of his chagrin and his trouble and his grief and the excess of his melancholy, he went to the side of the palace and lay down under a tree; for that, as I have said, the palace was among the gardens of Africa without the city. [FN#581] He [FN#582] lay that night under the tree in all ease; but he whose head is in the headsman’s hand sleepeth not anights. [FN#583] However, fatigue and lack of sleep for four days past caused slumber get the mastery over him; [FN#584] so he slept till break of morn, when he awoke at the chirp [FN#585] of the sparrows. He arose and going to a stream there which flowed into the city, washed his hands and face; then, making the ablution, he prayed the morning-prayer and after returned and sat under the windows of the Lady Bedrulbudour’s pavilion.
Now the princess, of the excess of her grief for her separation from her husband and the Sultan her father and of her sore distress at that which had betided her with the accursed Maugrabin enchanter, used every day to arise, at the first peep of dawn, [FN#586] and sit weeping; nay, she slept not anights and forswore meat and drink. Her handmaid used to go in to her at the time of the Salutation, [FN#587] so she might dress her, and that morning, by the decree of destiny, the damsel opened the window at that time, thinking to solace her mistress with the sight of the trees and streams. So she looked out and seeing her lord Alaeddin sitting under the windows of the pavilion, said to the princess, “O my lady, my lady, here is my lord Alaeddin sitting under the pavilion!” Whereupon the Lady Bedrulbudour arose in haste and looking from the window, saw Alaeddin, and he raised his head and saw her; so she saluted him and he her and they were both like to fly for joy. Then said she to him, “Arise and come in to me by the privy door, for that the accursed one [FN#588] is not now here;” and she bade her handmaid go down and open the door. So the damsel went down and opened to Alaeddin, who arose and entered thereby. His wife, [FN#589] the Lady Bedrulbudour, met him at the door and they embraced and kissed each other with all joyance, till they fell a-weeping of the excess of their gladness.
Then they sat down and Alaeddin said to her, “O Lady Bedrulbudour, there is somewhat whereof I would ask thee, before all things. I used to lay an old copper lamp in such a place in my pavilion . . .” When the princess heard this, she sighed and answered him, saying, “O my beloved, it was that which was the cause of our falling into this calamity.” [FN#590] Quoth he, “How came this about?” So she acquainted him with the whole matter from first to last, telling him how they had bartered the old lamp for a new one; “and next morning,” added she, “we found ourselves in this country and he who had cozened me and changed the lamp told me that he had wroughten these tricks upon us of the might of his magic, by means of the lamp and that he is a Maugrabin from Africa [FN#591] and that we are now in his native land.” When [FN#592] she had made an end of her story, Alaeddin said to her, “Tell me, what does this accursed one purpose with thee; what saith he to thee and of what doth he bespeak thee and what is his will of thee?” “Every day,” answered the princess, “he cometh to me once and no more and seeketh to draw me to his love, willing me take him in thy stead and forget and renounce thee; nay, he told me that my father the Sultan had cut off thy head. Moreover, he useth to say to me of thee that thou art the son of poor folk and that he was the cause of thine enrichment and seeketh to cajole me with talk, but never hath he seen of me aught but tears and weeping or heard from me one soft word.” [FN#593] Quoth Alaeddin, “Tell me where he layeth the lamp, an thou knowest.” And she said, “He still carrieth it [about him] nor will part with it a moment; nay, when he acquainted me with that whereof I have told thee, he brought out the lamp from his sleeve and showed it to me”
When Alaeddin heard this, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and said to her, “Harkye, Lady Bedrulbudour; it is my present intent to go out and return in disguise. [FN#594] Marvel thou not at this and let one of thy slave-girls abide await at the privy door, to open to me forthright, when she seeth me coming; and I will cast about for a device whereby I may slay this accursed one.” Then he rose and going forth the [privy] door of his palace, walked on till he encountered a peasant by the way and said to him, “Harkye, sirrah, take my clothes and give me thine.” The man demurred, but Alaeddin enforced him and taking his clothes from him, donned them and gave him his own costly apparel. Then he fared on in the high road till he came to the city and entering, betook himself to the drug-market, where for two diners he bought of [one of] the druggists two drachms of rare strong henbane, the son of its minute, [FN#595] and retracing his steps, returned to the palace. When the damsel saw him, she opened him the privy door and he went in to the Lady Bedrulbudour [FN#596] and said to her, “Harkye, I will have thee dress and tire thyself and put away melancholy from thee; and when the accursed Maugrabin cometh to thee, do thou receive him with ‘Welcome and fair welcome’ and go to meet him with a smiling face and bid him come sup with thee and profess to him that thou hast forgotten thy beloved Alaeddin and thy father and that thou lovest him with an exceeding love. Moreover, do thou seek of him wine, and that red, [FN#597] and make him a show of all joy and gladness and drink to his health. [FN#598] Then, when thou hast filled him two or three cups of wine, [FN#599] [watch] till thou take him off his guard; then put him this powder [FN#600] in the cup and fill it up with wine, and an he drink it, he will straightway turn over on his back, like a dead man.” When the Lady Bedrulbudour heard Alaeddin’s words, she said! to him, “This is a thing exceeding hard on me to do; but it is lawful to slay this accursed, so we may be delivered from his uncleanness who hath made me rue thy separation and that of my father.” Then Alaeddin ate and drank with his wife that which stayed his hunger and rising at once, went forth the palace; whereupon the Lady Bedrulbudour summoned her tirewoman, who busked her and adorned her, and she rose and donned fine clothes and perfumed herself. Whilst she was thus engaged, the accursed Maugrabin presented himself and was exceeding rejoiced to see her on this wise, more by token that she received him with a smiling face, contrary to her wont; so he redoubled in distraction for her love and longing for her. Then she took him and seating him by her side, said to him, “O my beloved, an thou wilt, come hither to me this night and we will sup together. Enough of mourning; for that, an I sat grieving a thousand years, what were the profit? Alaeddin cannot return from the tomb and I have considered and believe [FN#601] that which thou saidst to me yesterday, to wit, that most like my father the Sultan hath slain him, in the excess of his grief for my loss. Nay, marvel not at me to-day, that I am changed since yesterday, for that I have bethought me to take thee to beloved and companion in Alaeddin’s stead, seeing there is left me no man other than thou. Wherefore it is my hope that thou wilt come to-night, so we may sup together and drink somewhat of wine with each other, and I will have thee let me taste of the wine of thy country Africa, for that belike it is better [than ours]. Wine, indeed, I have by me; but it is that of our country, and I desire exceedingly to taste the wine of your country.”
When [FN#602] the Maugrabin saw the love which the Lady Bedrulbudour professed to him and that she was changed from her whilom plight of grief, he thought that she had given up her hope of Alaeddin; so he rejoiced greatly and said to her, “O my soul, hearkening and obedience unto all that which thou wiliest and biddest me withal. I have with me in my house a jar of the wine of our country, the which I have kept stored these eight years under the earth; so I go now to fill from it our sufficiency and will return to thee forthright.” Therewithal the Lady Bedrulbudour, that she might beguile him more and more, said to him, “O my beloved, do not thou go thyself and leave me. Send one of thy servants to fill us from the jar and abide thou sitting with me, that I may take comfort in thee.” “O my lady,” answered he, “none knoweth the place of the jar save myself; but I will not keep thee waiting.” [FN#603] So saying, he went out and returned after a little with their sufficiency of wine; and the Lady Bedrulbudour said to him, “Thou hast been at pains [FN#604] [for me], and I have put thee to unease, [FN#605] O my beloved.” “Nay,” answered he, “O [thou that art dear to me as] mine eyes, I am honoured by thy service.” Then she sat down with him at table and they both fell to eating. Presently, the princess called for drink and the handmaid immediately filled her the cup; then she filled for the Maugrabin and the Lady Bedrulbudour proceeded to drink to his life and health, [FN#606] and he also drank to her life and she fell to carousing [FN#607] with him. Now she was unique in eloquence and sweetness of speech and she proceeded to beguile him and bespeak him with words significant [FN#608] and sweet, so she might entangle him yet straitlier in the toils of her love. The Maugrabin thought that all this was true [FN#609] and knew not that the love she professed to him was a snare set for him to slay him. So he redoubled in desire for her and was like to die for love of her, when he saw from her that which she showed him of sweetness of speech and coquetry; [FN#610] his head swam with ecstasy [FN#611] and the world became changed [FN#612] in his eyes.
When they came to the last of the supper and the princess knew that the wine had gotten the mastery in his head, she said to him, “We have in our country a custom, meknoweth not if you in this country use it or not.” “And what is this custom?” asked the Maugrabin. “It is,” answered she, “that, at the end of supper, each lover taketh the other’s cup and drinketh it.” So saying, she took his cup and filling it for herself with wine, bade the handmaid give him her cup, wherein was wine mingled with henbane, even as she had taught her how she should do, for that all the slaves and slave-girls in the palace wished his death and were at one against him with the Lady Bedrulbudour. So the damsel gave him the cup, and he, hearing the princess’s words and seeing her drink in his cup and give him to drink in hers, deemed himself Iskender of the Horns, whenas he saw from her all this love. Then she bent towards him, swaying gracefully from side to side, and laying her hand on his, said, “O my life, here is thy cup with me and mine is with thee; thus do lovers drink one from other’s cup.” Then she kissed [FN#613] his cup and drinking it off, set it down and came up to him and kissed him on the cheek; [FN#614] whereat he was like to fly for joy and purposing to do even as she had done, raised the cup to his mouth and drank it all off, without looking if there were aught therein or not; but no sooner had he done this than he turned over on his back, like a dead man, and the cup fell from his hand.
The Lady Bedrulbudour rejoiced at this and the damsels ran, vying with each other in their haste, [FN#615] and opened the palace-door [FN#616] to Alaeddin, their lord; whereupon he entered and [FN#617] going up to his wife’s pavilion, [FN#618] found her sitting at the table and the Maugrabin before her, as one slain. So he went up to the princess and kissed her and thanked her for this [that she had done] and rejoiced with an exceeding joy. Then said he to her, “Get thee now into thine inner chamber, thou and thy damsels, and leave me alone, so I may consider of that which I have to do.” Accordingly, the Lady Bedrulbudour tarried not, but entered the inner pavilion, she and her women; whereupon Alaeddin arose and locked the door on them and going up to the Maugrabin, put his hand to his sleeve and pulled out the lamp; after which he drew his sword and cut off the sorcerer’s head. Then he rubbed the lamp and the Marid, its slave, appeared to him and said, “Here am I, O my lord; what wiliest thou?” Quoth Alaeddin, “I will of thee that thou take up this palace from this country and carry it to the land of China and set it in the place where it was erst, before the Sultan’s palace.” “Hearkening and obedience, O my lord,” replied the Marid [and disappeared], whilst Alaeddin went in and sat with the Lady Bedrulbudour his bride and embraced her and kissed her and she him; and they sat talking and making merry, what while the Marid took up the palace with [FN#619] them and set it down in its place before the Sultan’s palace.
Presently Alaeddin called for food; so the slave-girls set the tray before him and he sat, he and the Lady Bedrulbudour his wife, and ate and drank in all joy and gladness till they had taken their sufficiency. Then they removed to the chamber of wine and carousel, where they sat drinking and making merry and kissing one another with all eagerness, for that it was long since they had had easance together; and they ceased not from this till the sun of wine rose in their heads and sleep took them; whereupon they arose and lay down on their bed in all rest and delight. In the morning Alaeddin arose and aroused his wife, whereupon her women came to her and dressed her and busked her and adorned her; whilst he, on his part, donned the richest of raiment, [FN#620] and both were like to fly for joy at their reunion with each other, after their separation, whilst the Lady Bedrulbudour was especially glad, for that she looked to see her father that day.
So much for Alaeddin and the Lady Bedrulbudour; and as for the Sultan, after he had released Alaeddin, he ceased not to mourn for the loss of his daughter and to sit and weep for her, like a woman, at every time and tide; for that she was his only one and he had none other than her. And every day, whenas he arose from his sleep in the morning, he would go hastily to the window and opening it, look towards the place where Alaeddin’s palace was erst and weep till his eyes were dried up and their lids ulcered. He arose that day at dawn, according to his wont, and opening the window, looked out and saw before him a building; so he fell to rubbing his eyes and looking closelier, was certified that it was Alaeddin’s palace; whereupon he immediately called for the horses. Accordingly, they saddled them and he went down and mounting, rode to Alaeddin’s palace. When the latter saw him coming, he went down and meeting him half-way, took him by the hand and carried him up to the pavilion of the Lady Bedrulbudour, his daughter. Now she also longed sore for her father; so she came down and met him at the stair-foot door, over against the lower hall; whereupon he embraced her and fell to kissing her and weeping and on this wise did she also. Then Alaeddin brought them up to the upper pavilion, [FN#621] where they sat down and the Sultan proceeded to question the princess of her case and of that which had befallen her, whilst [FN#622] she acquainted him with all that had happened to her and said to him, “O my father, I breathed not till yesterday, when I saw my husband, and he it is who delivered me from the bondage of a Maugrabin, an accursed sorcerer, methinketh there is not a filthier than he on the face of the earth; and but for my beloved Alaeddin, I had not won free of him and thou hadst not seen me all thy life. Indeed, O my father, there possessed me grief and sore chagrin, not only for my severance from thee, but also for the loss of my husband, to whom I shall be beholden all the days of my life, seeing he delivered me from that accursed enchanter.”
Then she went on to acquaint her father with all that had befallen her and to tell him of the Maugrabin’s dealings and what he did with her and how he feigned himself a lampseller, who bartered new for old. “And when,” [quoth she]; “I saw this [seeming] lack of wit in him, I fell to laughing at him, unknowing his perfidy and his intent; so I took an old lamp that was in my husband’s pavilion and sent it by the eunuch, who exchanged it with him for a new lamp; and next day, O my father, at daybreak, we found ourselves in Africa, with the palace and all that was therein; and I knew not the properties of the lamp which I had exchanged, till my husband Alaeddin came to us and contrived against the Maugrabin a device whereby he delivered us from him. Now, except my husband had won to us, it was the accursed one’s intent to go in to me perforce; but Alaeddin, my husband. gave me a powder, the which I put for him in a cup of wine and gave it him to drink. So he drank it and fell-back as one dead; whereupon my husband Alaeddin came in to me and meknoweth not how he wrought, so that he transported us back from the land of Africa to our place here.” And Alaeddin said to the Sultan, “O my lord, when I came up and saw him cast down like one slain and sleeping for the henbane, I said to the Lady Bedrulbudour, ‘Go in, thou and thy women, to the inner pavilion.’ So she arose and went in, she and her damsels, from that loathsome sight; whilst I went up to the accursed Maugrabin and putting my hand to his sleeve, pulled out the lamp, for that the Lady Bedrulbudour had told me he still carried it there. Then, when I had gotten it, I drew my sword and cut [off] the accursed’s [head] and making use of the lamp, bade its servants take us up, with the palace and all that was therein, and set us down here in our place. And if Thy Grace be in doubt of my words, do thou come with me and see the accursed Maugrabin.”
So the King arose and going in with Alaeddin to the pavilion, saw the Maugrabin [Iying ]: whereupon he bade forthright take the carcase and burn it and scatter its ashes [to the winds]. Then he embraced Alaeddin and fell to kissing him and said to him, “Excuse me, O my son, for that I was going [FN#623] to bereave thee of thy life, through the wickedness of yonder accursed sorcerer who cast thee into this pit; and indeed, O my son, I was excusable in that which I did with thee, inasmuch as I saw myself bereft of my daughter and mine only one, who is dearer to me than my kingdom, and thou knowest how fathers’ hearts yearn upon their children, more by token that I have but the Lady Bedrulbudour.” And he went on to excuse himself to him and kiss him; and [FN#624] Alaeddin said to him, “O Lord of the Age, thou didst with me nothing contrary to the law and I also was guiltless of offence; but the thing came all of that vile Maugrabin enchanter.” Then the Sultan bade decorate the city and hold festival and rejoicings and commanded the crier to cry in the city that that day was a great festival, wherefore rejoicings should be holden in all the realm during the space of a month, [to wit,] thirty days’ time, for the return of the Lady Bedrulbudour his daughter and her husband Alaeddin.
This, then, is what befell Alaeddin with the Maugrabin; but Alaeddin, for all this, was not altogether [FN#625] quit of the accursed enchanter, withal his body had been burned and given to the winds; for that the accursed one had a brother viler than he [and yet more skilled] in magic and geomancy and astrology; [nay, they were even] as saith the proverb, “A bean and it was cloven in twain;” [FN#626] and each dwelt in one quarter of the world, so they might fill it [FN#627] with their sorcery and craft and guile. It chanced one day that the Maugrabin’s brother was minded to know how it was with his brother; so he fetched his sand-board and smote it and extracted its figures; then he considered them and examining them throughly, found his brother in the house of the tomb; [FN#628] whereat he mourned and was certified that he was indeed dead. Then he smote the sand a second time, so he might learn how and where he died, and found that he had died in the land of China and by the foulest of deaths and knew that he who slew him was a youth by name Alaeddin. So he rose at once and equipping himself for travel, set out and traversed plains and deserts and mountains months and months, till he came to the land of China [and entering] the city of the sultanate, wherein was Alaeddin, repaired to the Strangers’ Khan, where he hired him a lodging and rested there a little.
Then he arose to go round about the thoroughfares of the city, that he might spy him out a means of compassing his fell purpose, the which was to take vengeance of his brother on Alaeddin. So he entered a coffee-house in the market, a mighty fine place whither there resorted great plenty of folk, some to play tables, [FN#629] some draughts [FN#630] and other some chess and what not else. There he sat down and heard those who sat beside him talk of an old woman, an anchoress, by name Fatimeh, who still abode in her place without the city, serving [God], and came not down into the town but two days in the month, avouching her to be possessed of divine gifts galore. [FN#631] When the Maugrabin enchanter heard this, he said in himself, “Now have I found that which I sought. An it please God the Most High, I shall achieve my quest by means of this woman.” So [FN#632] he went up to the folk who were speaking of the devout old woman’s supernatural powers and said to one of them, “O uncle, I hear you talk of the divine gifts of one she-saint, [FN#633] by name Fatimeh. Who [FN#634] is she and where is her place?” “Wonderful!” cried the man. “What, thou art in our city and hast not heard of the divine gifts of my Lady [FN#635] Fatimeh? Apparently, good man, [FN#636] thou art a stranger, since thou hast never chanced to hear of the fasts of this holy woman and her abhorrence of the world and the goodliness of her piety.” “Ay, my lord,” replied the Maugrabin, “I am indeed a stranger and arrived but yesternight in this your town; wherefore I beseech thee tell me of the divine gifts of this holy woman and where her place is, for that I have fallen into a calamity and would fain go to her and crave her of prayer, so haply God (to whom belong might and majesty) may deliver me from my stress, by means of her intercession.” The man accordingly told him of the divine gifts of the holy woman Fatimeh and her piety and the excellence of her devotion; then, taking him by the hand, he carried him without the city and showed him the way to her abiding-place, which was in a cavern on the top of a little hill; whereupon the Maugrabin thanked him amain for his kindness [FN#636] and returned to his place in the Khan.
Now, by the decree of destiny, Fatimeh came down on the morrow to the city and the enchanter, going forth the Khan in the morning, saw the folk crowding together; so he went up, to see what was toward, and found Fatimeh standing, whilst every one who had a pain or an ache came to her, seeking her blessing and soliciting her prayers, and whenas she stroked him, he was made whole of his ailment. The Maugrabin followed her, till she returned to her cavern, and waited till nightfall, when he arose and entering a sherbet-sellers [FN#637] shop, drank a cup of liquor, [FN#638] then went forth the city, intending for the cavern of Fatimeh the recluse. When he came thither, he entered and saw her sleeping on her back on a piece of matting; so he went up to her and sitting down [FN#639] on her breast, [FN#640] drew his dagger and cried out at her; whereupon she awoke and opening her eyes, saw a man, a Maugrabin, with a drawn dagger, sitting on her breast [FN#641] and offering to kill her. So she feared and trembled and he said to her, “Harkye, an thou say aught or cry out, I will kill thee on the spot. Arise now and do all that I shall bid thee.” And he swore an oath to her that, if she did for him that which he should bid her, he would not kill her.
Then he rose from her and she rose also, and he said to her, “Give me thy clothes and take mine.” So she gave him her clothes and head-bands and her kerchief and veil; and he said to her, “Now must thou anoint me, to boot, with somewhat, so my face may become like unto shine in colour.” Accordingly Fatimeh went within the cavern and bringing out a vial of ointment, took thereof in her palm and anointed his face withal, whereupon it became like unto hers in colour. Then she gave him her staff and taught him how he should walk and how he should do, whenas he went down into the city; moreover, she put her rosary on his neck and finally giving him the mirror, said to him, “Look now; thou differest not from me in aught.” So he looked and saw himself as he were Fatimeh herself. [FN#642] Then, when he had gotten his desire, he broke his oath and sought of her a rope; so she brought him a rope and he took her and strangled her therewith in the cavern. When she was dead, he dragged her forth and cast her into a pit therewithout; then, [FN#643] returning to her cavern, he slept there till the day broke, when he arose and going down into the city, came under Alaeddin’s pavilion. [FN#644]
The folk gathered about him, believing him to be Fatimeh the Recluse, and he proceeded to do like as she had been used to do, laying hands on those in pain and reciting for this one the Fatiheh [FN#645] and for that a[nother] chapter of the Koran and praying for a third. Then, for the much crowding upon him and the clamour of the folk, the Lady Bedrulbudour heard and said to her women, “See what is to do and what is the cause of this noise.” So the Ada of the eunuchs went to see what was toward and returning, said to her, “O my lady, this clamour is because of the Lady Fatimeh. An it please thee bid me fetch her to thee, so thou mayst ask a blessing of her ….” And the Lady Bedrulbudour said to him, “Go and bring her to me; marry, this long while past I have still heard of her gifts and excellences and have yearned to see her, so I may ask a blessing of her, for that the folk are beyond measure abundant [in talk] of her [FN#646] virtues.” So the Aga went and brought the enchanter, disguised as Fatimeh, before the Lady Bedrulbudour; whereupon the Maugrabin offered up abundance of prayers for her, and none misdoubted of him but that he was Fatimeh the recluse. The princess rose and saluting him, seated him by her side and said to him, “O my Lady Fatimeh, I will have thee with me alway, that I may be blessed in thee and eke that I may learn of thee the ways of God-service and piety and model myself on thee.”
Now this was what the accursed sorcerer aimed at; however, the better to accomplish his perfidious intent, [FN#647] he [dissembled and] said to her, “O my lady, I am a poor woman sitting in the desert and it beseemeth not that the like of me should abide in kings’ palaces.” Quoth the Lady Bedrulbudour, “Have no manner of care, O my lady Fatimeh; I will give thee a place in my house, where thou shalt do thy devotions, and none shall ever go in to thee; nay, here shalt thou serve God better than in thy cavern.” And the Maugrabin said to her, “Hearkening and obedience, O my lady; I will not gainsay thy commandment, for that the speech of princes may not be crossed neither disputed; but I beg of thee that my eating and drinking and sitting may be in my closet alone [and] that none may come in upon me. Moreover, I need no rich viands, but every day do thou favour me and send me by thy handmaid a piece of bread and a draught of water to my closet; and when I am minded to eat, I will eat in my closet alone.” (Now this the accursed did, of his fear lest his chin veil should be raised, when he ate, and so his case be exposed and they know him for a man by his beard and moustaches.) “O my lady Fatimeh,” rejoined the princess, “be easy; nothing shall betide save that which thou wiliest; so rise now [and come] with me, that I may show thee the pavilion [FN#648] which I purpose to order for thine inhabitance with us.” So [FN#649] saying, she arose and carrying the sorcerer to the place which she had appointed him wherein to abide, said to him, “O my lady Fatimeh, here shalt thou dwell; this pavilion is in thy name and thou shalt abide therein in all quiet and ease of privacy.” And the Maugrabin thanked her for her bounty and prayed for her.
Then the Lady Bedrulbudour took him and showed him the belvedere [FN#650] and the kiosk of jewels, with the four-and- twenty oriels, [FN#651] and said to him, “How deemest thou, O my Lady Fatimeh, of this wonderful pavilion?” [FN#652] “By Allah, O my daughter,” replied he, “it is indeed marvellous in the extreme, [FN#653] nor methinketh is its like found in the world; nay, it is magnificent exceedingly; but oh, for one thing which would far increase it in beauty and adornment!” And the princess said to him, “O my Lady Fatimeh, what is lacking to it and what is this thing which would adorn it? Tell me of it; I had thought that it was altogether perfect.” “O my lady,” answered the sorcerer, “that which lacketh to it is the egg of the bird Roc, which being hung in its dome, there were no like unto this pavilion in all the world.” “What is this bird.” asked the princess, “and where shall we find its egg?” And the Moor said to her, “O my lady, this is a great bird that taketh up camels and elephants in its talons and flieth with them, of its bigness and greatness; it is mostly to be found in the mountain Caf and the craftsman who builded this palace [FN#654] is able to bring its egg.” Then they left that talk and it was the time of the morning-meal. So the slave-girls laid the table and the Lady Bedrulbudour sat down and sought of the accursed sorcerer that he should eat with her; but he refused and rising, entered the pavilion which she had given him, whither the slave-girls carried him the morning-meal.
When it was eventide and Alaeddin returned from the chase, the Lady Bedrulbudour met him and saluted him: whereupon he embraced her and kissed her and looking in her face, saw that she was somewhat troubled and smiled not, against her wont. So he said to her, “What aileth thee, O my beloved? Tell me, hath there befallen thee aught to trouble thee?” And she answered him, saying, “There aileth me nothing; but, O my beloved, I had thought that our palace [FN#655] lacked of nought; however, O my eyes [FN#656] Alaeddin, were there hung in the dome of the upper pavilion [FN#657] an egg of the bird Roc, there were not its like in the world.” “And wast thou concerned anent this?” rejoined Alaeddin. “This is to me the easiest of all things; so be easy, for it is enough that thou tell me of that which thou wishest and I will fetch it thee from the abysses of the world on the speediest wise.” Then [FN#658] after he had comforted the princess and promised her all she sought, he went straight to his closet and taking the lamp rubbed it; whereupon the Marid at once appeared and said to him, “Seek what thou wilt;” and Alaeddin, “I will have thee bring me a Roc’s egg and hang it in the dome of the [upper] pavilion.” [FN#659]
When the Marid heard Alaeddin’s words, his face frowned and he was wroth and cried out with a terrible great voice, saying, “O denier of benefits, doth it not suffice thee that I and all the slaves of the Lamp are at thy service and wouldst thou eke have me bring thee our liege lady, for thy pleasure, and hang her in the dome of thy pavilion, to divert thee and thy wife? By Allah, ye deserve that I should forthright reduce you both to ashes and scatter you to the winds! But, inasmuch as ye are ignorant, thou and she, concerning this matter and know not its inward from its outward, [FN#660] I excuse you, for that ye are innocent. As for the guilt, it lieth with the accursed one, the surviving [FN#661] brother of the Maugrabin enchanter, who feigneth himself to be Fatimeh the Recluse; for lo, he hath slain Fatimeh in her cavern and hath donned her dress and disguised himself after her favour and fashion and is come hither, seeking thy destruction, so he may take vengeance on thee for his brother; and he it is who taught thy wife to seek this of thee.” [FN#662] Therewith he disappeared, and as for Alaeddin, when he heard this, his wit fled from his head and his joints trembled at the cry wherewith the Marid cried out at him; but he took heart and leaving his closet, went in straightway to his wife and feigned to her that his head irked him, of his knowledge that Fatimeh was renowned for the secret of healing [FN#663] all aches and pains. When the Lady Bedrulbudour saw him put his hand to his head and complain of its aching, [FN#664] she asked him what was the cause and he said, “I know not, except that my head irketh me sore.” Accordingly she sent forthwith to fetch Fatimeh, so she might lay her hand on his head; whereupon quoth Alaeddin, “Who is this Fatimeh?” And the princess told him how she had lodged Fatimeh the recluse with her in the palace. [FN#665]
Meanwhile the slave-girls went and fetched the accursed Maugrabin, and Alaeddin arose to him, feigning ignorance of his case, and saluted him, as he had been the true Fatimeh. Moreover he kissed the hem of his sleeve and welcomed him, [FN#666] saying, “O my Lady Fatimeh, I beseech thee do me a kindness, since I know thy usances in the matter of the healing of pains, for that there hath betided me a sore pain in my head.” The Maugrabin could scarce believe his ears of this speech, [FN#667] for that this was what he sought; so he went up to Alaeddin, as he would lay his hand on his head, after the fashion of Fatimeh the recluse, and heal him of his pain. When he drew near-him, he laid one hand on his head and putting the other under his clothes, drew a dagger, so [FN#668] he might slay him withal. But Alaeddin was watching him and waited till he had all to-drawn the dagger, when he gripped him by the hand and taking the knife from him, planted [FN#669] it in his heart.
When the Lady Bedrulbudour saw this, she cried out and said to him, “What hath this holy anchoress done, that thou burthenest thyself with the sore burden of her blood? Hast thou no fear of God, that thou dost this and hast slain Fatimeh, who was a holy woman and whose divine gifts were renowned?” Quoth he to her, “I have not slain Fatimeh; nay, I have slain him who slew her; for that this is the brother of the accursed Maugrabin enchanter, who took thee and by his sorcery transported the palace with thee to the land of Africa. Yea, this accursed one was his brother and came to this country and wrought these frauds, slaying Fatimeh and donning her clothes and coming hither, so he might take vengeance on me for his brother. Moreover, it was he who taught thee to seek of me a Roc’s egg, so my destruction should ensue thereof; and if thou misdoubt of my word, come and see whom I have slain.” So saying, he did off the Maugrabin’s chin veil and the Lady Bedrulbudour looked and saw a man whose beard covered his face; whereupon she at once knew the truth and said to Alaeddin, “O my beloved, twice have I cast thee into danger of death;” and he said to her, “O Lady Bedrulbudour, thanks to thine eyes, [FN#670] no harm [hath betided me thereof; nay,] I accept with all joy everything that cometh to me through thee.” When the princess heard this, she hastened to embrace him and kissed him, saying, “O my beloved, all this was of my love for thee and I knew not what I did; [FN#671] nor indeed am I negligent of thy love.” [FN#672] Whereupon Alaeddin kissed her and strained her to his breast and love redoubled between them.
Presently, in came the Sultan; so they told him of all that had passed with the Maugrabin enchanter’s brother and showed him the latter, as he lay dead; whereupon he bade burn him and scatter his ashes to the winds. Thenceforward Alaeddin abode with his wife the Lady Bedrulbudour in all peace and pleasure and was delivered from all perils. Then, after a while, the Sultan died and Alaeddin sat down on the throne of the kingdom and ruled and did justice among the people; and all the folk loved him and he lived with his wife, the Lady Bedrulbudour, in all cheer and solace and contentment till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Societies.
Footnotes
[FN#1] i.e. (1) Zeyn Alasnam, (2) Codadad. (3) The Sleeper Awakened. (4) Aladdin. (5) Baba Abdallah. (6) Sidi Nouman. (7) Cogia Hassan Alhabbah (8) Ali Baba. (9) Ali Cogia. (10) Prince Ahmed and Pari-Banou. (11) The Sisters who envied their younger Sister.
[FN#2] “M. Galland was aware of the imperfection of the MS. used by him and (unable to obtain a more perfect copy) he seems to have endeavoured to supply the place of the missing portions by incorporating in his translation a number of Persian, Turkish and Arabic Tales, which had no connection with his original and for which it is generally supposed that he probably had recourse to Oriental MSS. (as yet unidentified) contained in the Royal Libraries of Paris.” Vol. IX. p. 263. “Of these the Story of the Sleeper Awakened is the only one which has been traced to an Arabic original and is found in the Breslau edition of the complete work, printed by Dr. Habicht from a MS. of Tunisian origin, apparently of much later date than the other known copies…..Galland himself cautions us that the Stories of Zeyn Alasnam and Codadad do not belong to the Thousand and One Nights and were published (how he does not explain) without his authority.” p. 264. ” It is possible that an exhaustive examination of the various MS. copies of the Thousand and One Nights known to exist in the public libraries of Europe Might yet cast some light upon the origin of the interpolated tales; but, in view of the strong presumption afforded by internal evidence that they are of modern composition and form no part of the authentic text, it can hardly be expected, where the result and the value of that result are alike so doubtful, that any competent person will be found to undertake so heavy a task, except as incidental to some more general enquiry. The only one of the eleven which seems to me to bear any trace of possible connection with the Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night is Aladdin, and it may be that an examination of the MS. copies of the original work within my reach will yet enable me to trace the origin of that favourite story.” pp. 268-9.
[FN#3] Histoire d’ ‘Ala Al-Din ou la Lampe Merveilleuse. Texte Arabe, Publie avec une notice de quelques Manuscrits des Mille et Une Nuits et la traduction de Galland. Par H. Zotenberg. Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1888.
[FN#4] For the sake of uniformity and convenience of reference, I use, throughout this Introduction, Galland’s spelling of the names which occur in his translation, returning to my own system of transliteration in my rendering of the stories themselves.
[FN#5] i.e. God’s.
[FN#6] “La suite des Mille et une Nuits, Contes Arabes trafluits par Dom Chavis et M. Cazotte. Paris 1788.” The Edinburgh Review (July, 1886) gives the date of the first edition as 1785; but this is an error, probably founded upon the antedating of a copy of the Cabinet des Fees, certain sets of which (though not actually completed till 1793) are dated, for some publisher’s reason, 1785. See also following note.
[FN#7] These four (supplemental) vols. of the Cabinet des Fees (printed in 1793, though antedated 1788 and 1789) do not form the first edition of Chavis and Cazotte’s so-called Sequel, which was in 1793 added, by way of supplement, to the Cabinet des Fees, having been first published in 1788 (two years after the completion-in thirty-seven volumes-of that great storehouse of supernatural fiction) under the title of “Les Veillees Persanes” or “Les Veillees du Sultan Schahriar avec la Sultane Scheherazade, histoires incroyables, amusantes et morales, traduites par M. Cazotte et D. Chavis, faisant suite aux Mille et Une Nuits.”
[FN#8] I cannot agree with my friend Sir R. F. Burton in his estimate of these tales, which seem to me, even in Caussin de Perceval’s corrector rendering and in his own brilliant and masterly version, very inferior, in style, conduct and diction, to those of “the old Arabian Nights,” whilst I think “Chavis and Cazotte’s Continuation” utterly unworthy of republication, whether in part or “in its entirety.” Indeed, I confess the latter version seems to me so curiously and perversely and unutterably bad that I cannot conceive how Cazotte can have perpetrated it and can only regard it as a bad joke on his part. As Caussin de Perceval remarks, it is evident that Shawish (whether from ignorance or carelessness) must, in many instances, have utterly misled his French coadjutor (who had no knowledge of Arabic) as to the meaning of the original, whilst it is much to be regretted that a writer of exquisite genius and one of the first stylists of the 18th century, such as the author of the Diable Amoureux, (a masterpiece to be ranked with Manon Lescaut and Le Neveu de Rameau,) should have stooped to the commission of the flagrant offences against good taste and artistic morality which disfigure well nigh every line of the so-called “Sequel to the 1001 Nights.” “Far be it” (as the Arabs say) that we should do so cruel a wrong to so well and justly beloved a memory as that of Jacques Cazotte as to attempt to perpetuate the remembrance of a literary crime which one can hardly believe him to have committed in sober earnest! Rather let us seek to bury in oblivion this his one offence and suffer kind Lethe with its beneficent waters to wash this “adulterous blot ” from his else unsullied name.
[FN#9] Lit. “Servants” (ibad) i.e. of God.
[FN#10] i.e. he who most stands in need of God’s mercy.
[FN#11] Kebikej is the name of the genie set over the insect kingdom. Scribes occasionally invoke him to preserve their manuscripts from worms.-Note by M. Zotenberg.
[FN#12] Galland calls him “Hanna, c’est … dire Jean Baptiste,” the Arabic Christian equivalent of which is Youhenna and the Muslim Yehya, “surnomme Diab.” Diary, October 25, 1709.
[FN#13] At this date Galland had already published the first six (of twelve) volumes of his translation (1704-5) and as far as I can ascertain, in the absence of a reference copy (the British Museum possessing no copy of the original edition), the 7th and 8th volumes were either published or in the press. Vol. viii. was certainly published before the end of the year 1709, by which time the whole of vol. ix. was ready for printing.
[FN#14] i.e. Aladdin.
[FN#15] Galland died in 1715, leaving the last two volumes of his translation (which appear by the Diary to have been ready for the prep on the 8th June, 1713) to be published in 1717.
[FN#16] Aleppo.
[FN#17] i.e. Yonhenna Diab.
[FN#18] For “Persian.” Galland evidently supposed, in error, that Petis de la Croix’s forthcoming work was a continuation of his “Contes Turcs” published in 1707, a partial translation (never completed) of the Turkish version of “The Forty Viziers,” otherwise “The Malice of Women,” for which see Le Cabinet des Fees, vol. xvi. where the work is, curiously enough, attributed (by the Table of Contents) to Galland himself.
[FN#19] See my terminal essay. My conclusions there stated as to the probable date of the original work have since been completely confirmed by the fact that experts assign Galland’s original (imperfect) copy of the Arabic text to the latter part of the fourteenth century, on the evidence of the handwriting, etc.
[FN#20] In M. Zotenberg’s notes to Aladdin.
[FN#21] Night CCCCXCVII.
[FN#22] Khelifeh.
[FN#23] Or ‘favourites” (auliya), i.e. holy men, devotees, saints.
[FN#24] i.e. the geomancers. For a detailed description of this magical process, (which is known as “sand-tracing,” Kharu ‘r reml,) see posl, p. 199, note 2.{see FN#548}
[FN#25] i.e. “What it will do in the course of its life”
[FN#26] Or “ascendants” (tewali).
[FN#27] i.e. “Adornment of the Images.” This is an evident mistake (due to some ignorant copyist or reciter of the story) of the same kind as that to be found at the commencement of the story of Ghanim ben Eyoub, (see my Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol I. p. 363 et seq.), where the hero is absurdly stated to have been surnamed at birth the “Slave of Love,” a sobriquet which could only have attached itself to him in after-life and as a consequence of his passion for Fitoeh. Sir R. F. Burton suggests, with great probability, that the name, as it stands in the text, is a contraction, by a common elliptical process, of the more acceptable, form Zein-ud-din ul Asnam, i.e. Zein-ud-din (Adornment of the Faith) [he] of the Images, Zein (adornment) not being a name used by the Arabic-speaking races, unless with some such addition as ud-Din (“of the Faith”), and the affix ul Asnam ( “[He] of the Images”) being a sobriquet arising from the circumstances of the hero’s after-life, unless its addition, as recommended by the astrologers, is meant as an indication of the latter’s fore-knowledge of what was to befall him thereafter. This noted, I leave the name as I find it in the Arabic MS.
[FN#28] Sheji nebih. Burton, “Valiant and intelligent.”
[FN#29] Syn. “his describers” (wasifihi).
[FN#30] Wa huwa hema caiou fihi bads wasifihi shiran. Burton (apparently from a different text), “and presently he became even as the poets sang of one of his fellows in semblance.”
[FN#31] Milah, plural of melih, a fair one.
[FN#32] Khemseh senin. Burton, “fifteen.”
[FN#33] Shabb, adult, man between sixteen and thirty.
[FN#34] Femu ghefir min el aalem. Burton, “All the defenders of the realm.”
[FN#35] Night CCCCXCVIII.
[FN#36] Syn. “depose.”
[FN#37] Lit. “that which proceeded from him.”
[FN#38] See ante, p. 3, note.{see FN#23}
[FN#39] Night CCCCXCIX.
[FN#40] i.e. imposed on me the toil, caused me undertake the weariness, of coming to Cairo for nothing.
[FN#41] Forgetting his mother.
[FN#42] i.e. no mortal.
[FN#43] Keszr abouka ‘l fulani (vulg. for abika’l fulan). Burton, “Such a palace of thy sire.”
[FN#44] i.e. it is not like the journey to Cairo and back.
[FN#45] i.e. in God grant thou mayst.
[FN#46] Or “jade” (yeshm).
[FN#47] Night D.
[FN#48] “Edh dheheb el atic. Burton, “antique golden pieces”; but there is nothing to show that the gold was coined.
[FN#49] The “also” in this clause seems to refer to the old man of the dream.
[FN#50] Keszr, lit. palace, but commonly meaning, in modem Arabic, an upper story or detached corps de logis (pavilion in the French sense, an evident misnomer in the present case).
[FN#51] Lit. “put the key in the lock and opened it and behold, the door of a palace (hall) opened.”
[FN#52] Takeli, sing. form of tac, a window. Burton, “recess for lamps.”
[FN#53] Lit. “till he join thee with.”
[FN#54] Or “Cairo,” the name Misr being common to the country and its capital.
[FN#55] Badki tecouli[na]. Badki (lit. after thee) is here used in the modern sense of “still” or “yet.” The interrogative prefix A appears to have dropped out, as is not uncommon in manuscripts of this kind. Burton, “After thou assuredst me, saying, &c.”
[FN#56] Here she adopts her son’s previous idea that the old man of the dream was the Prophet in person.
[FN#57] Night DI.
[FN#58] Cudoum. The common form of welcome to a guest.
[FN#59] Or “upper room” (keszr).
[FN#60] Eight; see ante, p. 14. {see FN#46}
[FN#61] Edh dheheb el kedim.
[FN#62] Edh dhelieb er yemli, lit. sand. (i.e. alluvial) gold, gold in its native state, needing no smelting to extract it. This, by the way, is the first mention of the thrones or pedestals of the images.
[FN#63] Lit. “[With] love and honour” (hubban wa kerametan). a familar phrase implying complete assent to any request. It is by some lexicologists supposed to have arisen from the circumstance of a man answering another, who begged of him a wine-jar (hubb), with the words, “Ay, I will give thee a jar and a cover (kerameh) also,” and to have thus become a tropical expression of ready compliance with a petition, as who should say, “I will give thee what thou askest and more.”
[FN#64] The slave’s attitude before his master.
[FN#65] The like.
[FN#66] Night DII.
[FN#67] i.e. invoked blessings upon him in the manner familiar to readers of the Nights.
[FN#68] Lit. thou [art] indulged therein (ent musamih fiha).
[FN#69] Mehmy (vulg. for mehma, whatsoever) telebtaha minni min en miam. Burton, “whatso of importance thou wouldst have of me.”
[FN#70] Lit. “in a seeking (request) ever or at all” (fi tilbeti abdan). Burton, “in thy requiring it.”
[FN#71] Tal aleyya ” wect, i.e. I am weary of waiting. Burton, “My tarrying with thee hath been long.”
[FN#72] Or “difficult” (aziz); Burton, “singular-fare.”
[FN#73] Lit. “If the achievement thereof (or attainment thereunto) will be possible unto thee [by or by dint of] fortitude,”
[FN#74] Lit. “Wealth [is] in (or by) blood.”
[FN#75] El berr el atfer. Burton translates, “the wildest of wolds,” apparently supposing atfer to be a mistranscription for aefer, which is very possible.
[FN#76] Kewaribji, a word formed by adding the Turkish affix ji to the Arabic kewarib, plural of carib, a small boat. The common form of the word is caribji. Burton reads it, “Kewariji, one who uses the paddle.”
[FN#77] Lit “inverted ” (mecloubeh). Burton, “the reverse of man’s.”
[FN#78] Night DIII.
[FN#79] Wehsh. Burton, “a lion.”
[FN#80] Lit. “then they passed on till” (thumma fatou ila [an]).
[FN#81] Sic (ashjar anber); though what the Arabic author meant by “trees of ambergris” is more than I can say. The word anber (pro. pounced amber) signifies also “saffron”; but the obbligato juxtaposition of aloes and sandal-wood tends to show that what is meant is the well- known product of the sperm-whale. It is possible that the mention of this latter may be an interpolation by some ignorant copyist, who, seeing two only of the three favourite Oriental scents named, took upon himself to complete the odoriferous trinity, so dear to Arab writers, by the addition of ambergris.
[FN#82] Yas, Persian form of yasm, yasmin or yasimin. Sir R. F. Burton reads yamin and supposes it to be a copyist’s error for yasmin, but this is a mistake; the word in the text is clearly yas, though the final s, being somewhat carelessly written in the Arabic MS, might easily be mistaken for mn with an undotted noun.
[FN#83] Lit. “perfect or complete (kamil) of fruits and flowers.”
[FN#84] Lit. “many armies” (asakir, pl. of asker, an army), but asker is constantly used in post-classical Arabic (and notably in the Nights) for “a single soldier,” and still more generally the plural (asakir), as here, for “soldiers.”
[FN#85] Syn. “the gleaming of a brasier” (berc kanoun). Kanoun is the Syrian name of two winter months, December (Kanoun el awwal or first) and January (Kanoun eth thani or second).
[FN#86] So as to form a magic barrier against the Jinn, after the fashion of the mystical circles used by European necromancers.
[FN#87] Night DIV.
[FN#88] Fe-halan tuata, the time-honoured “Ask and it shall be given unto thee.”
[FN#89] Sic (berec ed dunya); but dunya (the world) is perhaps meant to be taken here by synecdoche m the sense of “sky.”
[FN#90] Syn. “darkness was let down like a curtain.”
[FN#91] Lit. “like an earthquake like the earthquakes”; but the second “like ” (mithl) is certainly a mistranscription for “of” (min).
[FN#92] Night DV.
[FN#93] Night DVI.
[FN#94] Here we have the word mithl (as or like) which I supplied upon conjecture in the former description of the genie; see ante, p. 24, note.
[FN#95] Medinetu ‘l meda [FN#96] Lit. “How [is] the contrivance and the way the which we shall attain by (or with) it to. . . .” [FN#97] I.a tehtenim; but the text may also be read la tehettem and this latter reading is adopted by Burton, who translates, “Be not beaten and broken down.” [FN#98] Or “in brief” (bi-tejewwuz). Burton translates, “who maketh marriages,” apparently reading bi-tejewwuz as a mistranscription for tetejewwez, a vulgar Syrian corruption of tetezewwej. [FN#99] Said in a quasi-complimentary sense, as we say, “Confound him, what a clever rascal he is!” See the Nights passim for numerous instances of this. [FN#100] Quoth Shehrzad to Shehriyar. [FN#101] Syn. “to work upon her traces or course” (tesaa ala menakibiha). [FN#102] Night DVII. [FN#103] Lit. “the thirsty one (es szadi) and the goer-forth by day or in the morning,, (el ghadi); but this is most probably a mistranscription for the common phrase es sari (the goer by night) wa ‘l ghadi, often used in the sense of “comers and goers” simply. This would be quite in character with the style of our present manuscript, which constantly substitutes sz (sad) for s (sin), e.g. szerai for serai (palace), szufreh, for sufreh (meal-tray), for hheresza for hheresa(he guarded), etc., etc., whilst no one acquainted with the Arabic written character need be reminded how easy it is to mistake a carelessly written-r (ra) for d (dal) or vice-versa [FN#104] The mosque being the caravanserai of the penniless stranger. [FN#105] The person specially appointed to lead the prayers of the congregation and paid out of the endowed revenues of the mosque to which he is attached. [FN#106] Night DVIII. [FN#107] Burton translates, “these accurseds,” reading melaa [FN#108] Eth thiyab el heririyeh. Burton “silver-wrought.” [FN#109] Netser ila necshetihim (lit. their image, cf. Scriptural “image and presentment”) wa szufretihim, i.e. he satisfied himself by the impress and the colour that they were diners, i.e. gold. [FN#110] Lit. I am now become in confusion of or at him (lianneni alan szirtu fi khejaleh (properly khejleh) minhu). Burton, “for that I have been ashamed of waiting upon him.” [FN#111] Lit. “That which was incumbent on me to him.” [FN#112] Lit. “go to (or for) his service,” or, as we should say, “attend him.” [FN#113] Burton, “one of the envious;” but the verb is in the plural. [FN#114] Night DIX. [FN#115] Et tsenn er redi. Burton, “the evil.” [FN#116] So that they might hang down and hide his feet and hands, it being a point of Arab etiquette for an inferior scrupulously to avoid showing either of these members in presenting himself (especially for the first time) before his superior. [FN#117] Lit., “religiousness or devoutness (diyaneh) was by nature in him,” i.e. he was naturally inclined to respect religion and honour its professors. Burton, “He was by nature conscientious,” which does not quite express the meaning of the text; conscientiousness being hardly an Oriental virtue. [FN#118] Lit, “I may (or shall) ransom him with m’ life till I (or so that I may) unite him therewith.” [FN#119] Iftekeret fi rejul. [FN#120] Terbiyeh. This word is not sufficiently rendered by “education,” which modern use has practically restricted to scholastic teaching, though the good old English phrase “to bring up” is of course a literal translation of the Latin educare. [FN#121] i.e. “I shall owe it to thee.” [FN#122] Lit. “It is certain to me,” Constat mihi, fe-meikeni (vulg. for fe-yekin) indi. [FN#123] Night DX. [FN#124] Or perhaps “Would I might.” [FN#125] i.e. the contract of marriage. [FN#126] See my “Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night” passim, especially Vol. I pp. 190 et seq. [FN#127] Miheffeh, a kind of howdah with a flat roof or top. [FN#128] Tekht-rewan, a sort of palanquin drawn or carried by mules or camels wherein she could recline at length. Burton renders Miheffeh bi-tekhtrewan “a covered litter to be carried by camels.” [FN#129] Burton adds here, “Thou wouldst feel ruth for me.” [FN#130] Lit. profit, gain (meksib), i.e. the ninth image, which he was to receive as a reward for the faithful execution of his commission. [FN#131] Night DXI. [FN#132] [A] nehnu bedna baud an hukm. The word hukm, which commonly signifies the exercise of government or judicial power, is here used metonymically in the sense of the place of dominion, the seat of government. Burton, “Have we fared this far distance by commandment of my bridegroom?” [FN#133] Or “God forbid!” (Hhasha), a common interjection, implying unconditional denial. [FN#134] Lit. “The writing of (or he wrote) his writ upon thee” (ketb kitabiki aleiki). [FN#135] i.e.. at the Last Day, when men will be questioned of their actions. [FN#136] Night DXII. [FN#137] Sic (tentsur), but this is probably a copyist’s error for “we may see” (nentsur), the difference being only a question of one or two diacritical points over the initial letter. [FN#138] Here Burton adds, “Indeed I had well nigh determined to forfeit all my profit of the Ninth Statue and to bear thee away to Bassorah as my own bride, when my comrade and councillor dissuaded me from so doing, lest I should bring about my death.” [FN#139] Night DXIII. [FN#140] Or (vulg.) “I thank him, etc.” (istekthertu aleihi elladhi hefitsaha wa sanaha wa hejeba rouhaku anha). Burton, “Albeit I repeatedly enjoined him to defend and protect her until he concealed from her his face.” [FN#141] Or we may read “went out, glad and rejoicing, with (bi) the young lady;” but the reading in the test is more consonant with the general style of the Nights. [FN#142] Azaa, strictly the formal sitting in state to receive visits of condolence for the death of a relation, but in modern parlance commonly applied, by extension, to the funeral ceremonies themselves. [FN#143] El kendil el meshhour. The lamp is however more than once mentioned in the course of the tale by the name of “wonderful” (ajib, see post, p. 88, note 4) so familiar to the readers of the old version. [FN#144] Night DXIV. [FN#145] Khilafahu, lit. “the contrary thereof;” but the expression is constantly used (instead of the more correct gheirahu) in the sense of “other than it,” “the take,” etc. [FN#146] Or “street-boys” (auladu ‘l hhareh). [FN#147] Zeboun. [FN#148] Burton adds here, “Counsel and castigation were of no avail.” [FN#149] Lit. “had been recalled” (tuwouffia), i.e. by God to Himself. [FN#150] This old English and Shakspearean expression is the exact equivalent of the Arabic phrase Khelesza min sherr walidihi. Burton, “freed from [bearing] the severities of his sire.” [FN#151] Kanet wayyishuhu. Burton, “lived only by.” [FN#152] Night DXV. [FN#153] I prefer this old English form of the Arabic word Meghrebiy (a native of El Meghreb or North-Western Africa) to “Moor,” as the latter conveys a false impression to the modern reader, who would naturally suppose him to be a native of Morocco, whereas the enchanter came, as will presently appear, from biladu ‘l gherbi ‘l jewwaniy, otherwise Ifrikiyeh, i.e. “the land of the Inner West” or Africa proper, comprising Tunis, Tripoli and part of A]geria. [FN#154] Min biladi ‘l gherbi ‘l jewwaniy. The Muslim provinces of North-Western Africa, extending from the north-western boundary of Egypt to Cape Nun on the Mogador Coast, were known under the general name of El Meghreb (modern Barbary) and were divided into three parts, to wit (1) El Meghreb el Jewwaniy, Inner, i.e. Hither or Nearer (to Egypt) Barbary or Ifrikiyeh, comprising Tripoli, Tunis and Constantine (part of Algeria), (2) El Meghreb el Aouset, Central Barbary. comprising the rest of Algeria, and (3) El Meghreb el Acszaa, Farther or Outer Barbary, comprising the modern empire of Morocco. [FN#155] El hieh. Burton translates, “astrology,” and astrology (or astronomy);) is the classical meaning of the word; but the common meaning in modern Arabic is “the science of physiognomy,” cf. the Nights passim. See especially ante, p. 42. {see FN# [FN#156] Bi-szaut hezin meksour. Burton, “in a soft voice saddened by emotion.” [FN#157] Burton, “brother- german.” [FN#158] Or “comfort myself in him” (ateazza bihi). Burton “condole with him [over the past].” [FN#159] Lit. “hid not unto me that” (ma ekhfa aleyya an). [FN#160] Night DXVI. [FN#161] Teaziyeti. Burton, “I have now railed in the mourning ceremonies.” [FN#162] El bein ked efjaani fihi, i e. “I have been stricken with separation from him.” Burton, “Far distance wrought me this trouble.” [FN#163] Lit. “the being (el ka [FN#164] Or “consolation” (azaa). [FN#165] Burton, “I have none to condole with now save thyself” [FN#166] Night DXVII. [FN#167] Burton, “finding out.” [FN#168] Lit. “He had no longer a heart to part with him,” i.e.. he could not bear him out of his sight, Alaeddin being necessary for the achievement of the adventure of the lamp. See post. [FN#169] El asha. Burton, “the meat.” [FN#170] Lit. “vein” (irc). [FN#171] Night DXVIII. [FN#172] Ujoubetu ‘l aalem. See ante, p. 32, note. {see FN#95} [FN#173] Ila biladi ‘l gherbi ‘l jewwaniy. [FN#174] Burton, “to the regions of the Setting Sun and abode for a space of thirty years in the Moroccan interior.” See ante, p. 57, notes. {see FN#154} [FN#175] Burton adds, “Alone at home.” [FN#176] i.e. birthplace, a child being bow head-foremost. [FN#177] Burton, “wander like a wild Arab.” [FN#178] Lit. “and “; but this is the error of some copyist, who, by leaving out an initial l, has turned lau (if) into wa (and). [FN#179] The first chapter of the Koran; a common usage in anticipation of travel or indeed before commencing any enterprise of moment. [FN#180] Istehhweda (vulg. for istehhwedha) aleyya. Burton, “of the pains which prevailed upon me.” [FN#181] Or “succeedeth” (yekklufu). Burton, “the legacy bequeathed to us by.” [FN#182] Khellefa. [FN#183] Night DXIX. [FN#184] Lit. “abide in the subsistence of the like of this one ” (acoumu fi ma”sh mithl hadha). Burton, “go about for a maintenance after this fashion.” [FN#185] Uhheszszilu ana ma”ski ana buddi men yuayyishani. Burton, “I am compelled to provide him with daily bread when I require to be provided.” [FN#186] Ibn nas generally signifies “a man of good family” (Fr. fils de famille), but here the sense seems to be as in the text. [FN#187] Or “constrain not thyself for me,” in do not be ashamed to say what thou wishes”, lit. “let it not be hard or grievous upon thee from or on account of me” (la yesubu aleika minni). Burton, “Let not my words seem hard and harsh to thee.” [FN#188] Fe-in kana keman (vulg. for kema anna). Burton, “if despite all I say.” [FN#189] Fi, lit. “in,” but here used, as is common in Syria, instead of bi “with.” [FN#190] Burton, “Shalt become famous among the folk.” [FN#191] Khwaja (Persian). [FN#192] Tajir (Arabic equivalent of khwaja). [FN#193] Burton, “that such folk dress handsomely and fare delicately.” [FN#194] Night DXX. [FN#195] Lit. “was past” (fata). Burton, “the dark hours were passing by and the wine was drunken.” [FN#196] Sherab. Burton, “sherbets.” [FN#197] Night DXXI. [FN#198] Or “places” (amakin). [FN#199] Or “streets” (mehellat). Burton, “apartments.” [FN#200] i.e. “It is no merit in me that I do what I have done.” [FN#201] Bi-jahi ‘l awwelin. Burton, “by the honour of the Hallows.” [FN#202] i.e.. “a protection.” [FN#203] Lit. “that thine eye will be cooled with (or by) him.” [FN#204] Likai yetearrefa fihim wa yetearrefou fihi. This passage confirms my reading of a former one; see ante, p. 68, note 3. {see FN#189} [FN#205] Nighs DXXII. [FN#206] Lit. “believed not what time (ayyumetn) the day broke;” but ayyumeta (of which ayyumeta is a vulgar corruption) supposes the future and should be used with the aorist. The phrase, as I have translated common in the Nights. [FN#207] Or, “laughing at” (yudsahiku).. Burton, “he began to make the lad laugh.” [FN#208] Szeraya (for seraya). [FN#209] Keszr. [FN#210] Newafir, an evident mistranscription, probably for some such word as fewawir, irregular form of fewwarat, pl. of fewwareh, a spring or jet of water. [FN#211] Burton adds, “and reach the end of our walk.” [FN#212] Jebel aali. Burton, “the base of a high and naked hill.” [FN#213] Lit. “before or in front of a mountain.” Burton, “we have reached the barren hill-country.” [FN#214] Ra [FN#215] Shudd heilek. [FN#216] Lit. the land of the West (biladu ‘l gherb); see ante, p. 57, notes. {see FN#153} [FN#217] Night DXXIII. [FN#218] Lit. “without aught ” (bilash), i e. without [visible] cause or reason. Burton, “beyond the range of matter.” [FN#219] Nuhhas szebb (for szebeb min er) reml, lit. “brass poured [forth from] sand,” i.e. cast in a mould of sand. Cf. 1 Kings, vii 16, “two chapiters of molten brass.” [FN#220] Dir balek, lit. “turn thy thought (i.e. be attentive) [to that which I shall say to thee].” [FN#221] Night DXXIV. [FN#222] Lit. “pass not by” (la tuferwwit). Burton, “nor gainsay.” [FN#223] Yani li-min (vulg. for tani li-men), i.e. on whose behalf do I undertake all these my toils? [FN#224] Lit. “leave”; but the verb khella (II. of khela is constantly used in the present text in the sense of “he made.” [FN#225] There is some mistake here in the text. The word which I translate “great” is akabir (pl. of akber, most great), apparently inserted by mistake for kebir, great. But that akabir is followed by jiddan (exceedingly), I should be inclined to read the phrase [kebiru ‘l] akabir, greatest of the great. [FN#226] Wehdi, lit. “my lone,” a Scotch expression, which might be usefully acclimatized in English prose and verse. [FN#227] Night DXXV. [FN#228] Or “pay attention,” dir (vulg. for adir) balek. See ante, p. 78, note. {see FN#220} [FN#229] Lit. “a place divided into four places” I take the variant aweds, chambers. from Chavis’s copy of the MS., as quoted by M. Zotenberg. [FN#230] Liwan, i.e. an estrade or recessed room, raised above the level of the ground and open in front. [FN#231] Lit. “in it” (fihi); but the meaning is as in the text, i.e. connected with it or leading thereto. This reading is confirmed by the terms in which the stair is afterwards mentioned, q.v. post, p. 83, and note. {see FN#235} [FN#232] Night DXXVI. [FN#233] Ubb. Burton, “breast-pocket,” the usual word for which is jeib. Ubb is occasionally used in this sense; but it is evident from what follows (see post, p. 85. {see FN#243} “Alaeddin proceeded to pluck and put in his pockets (ajyab, pl. of jeib), and his sleeves ” (ibab), and note) that ubb is here used in the common sense of “sleeve.” [FN#234] i.e. “that which is in the lamp.” [FN#235] Burton transposes, “where he entered the saloon and mounted the ladder;” but the context shows that the stair was a flight of steps leading up to the dais and not a ladder in it. The word fihi in the magician’s instructions might indeed be taken in this latter sense, but may just as well be read “thereto” or “pertaining thereto” as “therein.” See also below, where Alaeddin is made to descend from the dais into the garden. [FN#236] Lit. voices (aswat). Burton, “fond voices” [FN#237] Burton, “Furthermore the size of each stone so far surpassed description that no king of the kings of the world owned a single gem of the larger sort.” [FN#238] Night DXXVII. [FN#239] Toubasi. I insert this from the Chavis MS. Burton adds, “spinels and balasses.” [FN#240] Ibab. [FN#241] Ubb. [FN#242] Ajyab, pl. of jeib, the bosom of a shirt, hence a breast or other pocket. [FN#243] Ibab. Burton, “pokes and breast-pockets.” [FN#244] The possession of the lamp rendering him superior to the spells by which they were enchanted. [FN#245] Burton says here, “The text creates some confusion by applying sullem to staircase and ladder; hence probably the latter is not mentioned by Galland and Co., who speak only of an ‘escalier de cinquante marches.'” As far as I can see, Galland was quite right, a staircase (and not a ladder) being, in my judgment, meant in each case, and Sir Richard Burton’s translation of sullem min thelathin derejeh as “a ladder of thirty rungs” (see ante p. 82, note {see FN#231}) seems to me founded on a misconception, he being misled by the word “fihi” (see my note ante, p. 83 {see FN#235}). He adds, “sullem in modern Egyptian is used for a flight of steps;” but it signifies both “ladder” and “flight of steps” in the classic tongue; see Lane, p. 1416, colt 2, “sullem, a ladder or a series of stairs or steps, either of wood or clay, etc.” His remark would apply better to derej (class. “a way,” but in modern parlance “a ladder” or “staircase” which the story-teller uses interchangeably with sullem, in speaking of the stair leading down into the underground, thus showing that he considered the two words synonymous. [FN#246] Akyas. This is the first mention of purses. [FN#247] Lit. “without” (kharijan). [FN#248] Burton, “Forasmuch as he had placed it at the bottom of his breast-pocket and his other pockets being full of gems bulged outwards.” [FN#249] Night DXXVIII. [FN#250] Lit. “was locked,” inkefelet, but I take this to be a mistranscription of inkelebet, “was turned over.” [FN#251] Lit. “was covered over, shut like a lid” (intebeket). [FN#252] Tebbeca, i.e. caused (by his enchantments) to become covered or closed up like a lid. [FN#253] Ifrikiyeh, see ante, p. 57, note 1. {see FN#153} Here the story-teller takes the province for a city. [FN#254] Burton adds, “by devilish inspiration.” [FN#255] Wa [kan] el aghreb an fi hadha ‘l kenz [kana]. Burton “the most marvellous article in this treasure was, etc.” [FN#256] Kendil ajib. [FN#257] Night DXXIX. [FN#258] A proverbial expression, meaning that, as he did not absolutely kill Alaeddin, though doing what was (barring a miracle) certain to cause his death, he could not be said to be his slayer; a piece of casuistry not peculiar to the East, cf. the hypocritical show of tenderness with which the Spanish Inquisition was wont, when handing over a victim to the secular power for execution by burning alive, to recommend that there should be “no effusion of blood.” It is possible, however, that the proverb is to be read in the sense of “He who is destined to live cannot be slain.” [FN#259] i.e. with the contents of the chambers and the garden. [FN#260] Night DXXX. [FN#261] Lit. rubbing in or upon. [FN#262] Lit. “The Quickener, the Deadener” (el muhheyyi, el mumit), two of the ninety-nine names of God. [FN#263] Or “Judge” (cadsi). [FN#264] Farijuha. Burton, “Bringer of joy not of annoy.” [FN#265] i.e. Mohammed’s. [FN#266] Lit. a servant or slave, i.e. that of the ring. Burton, “its Familiar.” [FN#267] i.e. Solomon. [FN#268] See my Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol. 1. p 33, note. {see Payne’s Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol. 1 FN#16} [FN#269] Night DXXXI. [FN#270] Night DXXXII. [FN#271] i.e.. in all the registers of men’s actions fabled to be kept in heaven. [FN#272] Lit. “see the accursed his duplicity and his promises that he promised me withal in that he would do all good with me.” Burton, “see how the dammed villain broke every promise he made, certifying that be would soon work all good with me.” [FN#273] Lit. “on account of my pain therefrom when I was absent from the world.” [FN#274] Hatha ‘l metleb li, lit. “this quest (or object of quest) [was] mine (or for me).” Metleb is often used in the special technical sense of “buried treasure.” [FN#275] Night DXXXIII. [FN#276] Bustan. [FN#277] Bilaur. [FN#278] Keszr, instead of liwan (dais), as in previous description. [FN#279] Keisan. Burton, “bag-pockets.” [FN#280] Lit. “without” (kharij). [FN#281] Aadim, present participle of adima, he lacked. [FN#282] Night DXXXIV. [FN#283] Lit. the pre-eminence (el fedsl). [FN#284] Thani youm, Burton, “the second day,” which, though literal, conveys a false impression. [FN#285] Night DXXXV. [FN#286] Or “beyond desire” (fauca ‘l khatir), i.e. inconceivably good. Burton, “beyond our means.” [FN#287] It is a favourite device with Oriental cooks to colour dishes (especially those which contain rice) in various ways, so as to please the eye as well as the palate. [FN#288] Lit. “black bottles” (museunvedetein). Burton, “black jacks.” [FN#289] Zekiyyeh (pure) for dhekiyyeh (strong, sharp, pungent), a common vulgar corruption. [FN#290] Burton, “wherewith Allah Almighty hath eased our poverty.” [FN#291] Elladhi iftekeda juana. Burton, “who hath abated our hunger pains.” [FN#292] Lit. “we are under his benefit.” [FN#293] Hhizana for hhezzaza? [FN#294] Lit. “whet proceeded from.” [FN#295] Lit. “but” (lakin for Iekan, “then”). [FN#296] Keif dhalik. Lit. “How this?” Burton, ” Who may this be? [FN#297] Night DXXXVI. [FN#298] i.e. the Jinn of the lamp and the ring. [FNE299] Apparently referring to chap. xxiii, verses 99, l00, of the Koran, “Say, ‘Lord, I take refuge in Thee from the suggestions of the devils, and I take refuge in thee, Lord, that (i.e. Iest) they appear!'” Mohammed is fabled by Muslim theologians to have made a compact with the Jinn that they should not enter the houses of the faithful unless expressly summoned.. [FN#300] i.e. “I am, in general, ready to obey all thy commandments” [FN#301] i.e. the lamp. [FN#302] Lit. “uses,” “advantages ” (menafi). [FN#303] Referring, of course, to the slave of the lamp. [FN#304] Night DXXXVII. [FN#305] Lit. “saw.” [FN#306] Afterwards “silver”; see pp. 108 and l10. [FN#307] A carat is generally a twenty-fourth part of a diner, i.e. about 5d.; but here it appears to be a sixtieth part or about 2d. Burton, “A copper carat, a bright polished groat.” [FN#308] Lit. “to the contrary of him” (ila khilafihi). See ante, p. 55, note 4. {see FN#145} [FN#309] Night DXXXVIII. [FN#310] Kenani, pl. of kinnineh, a bottle or phial. [FN#311] i.e. the genie. [FN#312] Night DXXXIX. [FN#313] Ala kedhum. Burton, “after their olden fashion.” [FN#314] Lit. “[in] middling case” (halet[an] mustewessitet[an]). Burton translates, “as middle-class folk,” adding in a note, “a phrase that has a European touch.” [FN#315] Burton adds, “on diet.” [FN#316] “Er rijal el kamiloun, lit. “complete men.” Burton,