“ The fisherman ceased not to divert himself with the marvels of the deep, till they came to a high mountain and fared on beside it. Suddenly, he heard a mighty loud cry and turning, saw some black thing, the bigness of a camel or bigger, coming down upon him from the liquid mountain and crying out. So he asked his friend, “What is this, O my brother?”; and the Merman answered, “This is the Dandan. He cometh in search of me, seeking to devour me; so cry out at him, O my brother, ere he reach us; else he will snatch me up and devour me.” ”

“ Replied the Wind, saying, “O Spider, hast thou not learnt that this world is a house of calamities; and, say me, who can boast of lasting happiness that such portion shall be thine? Wottest thou not that Allah tempteth His creatures in order to learn by trial what may be their powers of patience? How, then, doth it beset thee to upbraid me, thou who hast been saved by me from the vasty deep?” “Thy words are true, O Wind,” replied the Spider, “yet not the less do I desire to escape from this stranger land into which thy violence hath cast me.” ”

“ So I weighed out to him twelve hundred dinars, the mensual hire, and abode with her one month as it were one day, for what I saw of the comeliness of her semblance and the goodliness of her converse. After this I went to the Shaykh one evening and heard a great noise and loud voices; so I asked him, “What is to do?”; and he answered, saying, “This is the night of our remarkablest nights, when all souls embark on the river and divert themselves by gazing one upon other. Hast thou a mind to go up to the roof and solace thyself by looking at the folk?” ”

“ Thou knowest my case and that which hath befallen me with this tyrannical King, and I, Thine oppressed servant, beseech Thee, of the abundance of Thy mercy, to deliver me from the hand of this unjust ruler and send down on him Thy vengeance; for Thou art not unmindful of the unright of every oppressor. Wherefore, if Thou know that he hath wronged me, loose on him Thy vengeance this night and send down on him Thy punishment; for Thy rule is just and Thou art the Helper of every mourner, O Thou to whom belong the power and the glory to the end of time! ”

“ Rejoined the Caliph, “O Miriam, Allah bless and direct thee in the way of righteousness! Since thou art a Moslemah and a believer in Allah the One, I owe thee a duty of obligation and it is that I should never transgress against thee nor forsake thee, though be lavished unto me on thine account the world full of gold and gems. So be of good cheer and eyes clear of tear; and be thy breast broadened and thy case naught save easy. Art thou willing that this youth Ali of Cairo be to thee man and thou to him wife?” ”

“ Quoth my father, “Who art thou, O man who rejectest the worship of idols, that thou sayst thus? Fearest thou not that the idols will be wroth with thee?” He replied, “The idols are stones; their anger cannot prejudice me nor their favour profit me. So do thou set in my presence thine idol which thou adorest and bid all thy folk bring each his image: and when they are all present, do ye pray them to be wroth with me and I will pray my Lord to be wroth with them, and ye shall descry the difference between the anger of the creature and that of the Creator. ”

“ So Abu 207al-Hasan kissed ground and was abashed and wept before the Caliph for excess of joy. Now when he wept, the tears ran down from his eyelids upon his cheeks and the blood returned to its place and his face became like the moon on the night of its fulness. Whereupon quoth the Caliph, “There is no god but the God! Glory be to Him who decreeth change upon change and is Himself the Everlasting who changeth not!” Saying these words, he bade fetch a mirror and showed Abu al-Hasan his face therein, which when he saw, he prostrated himself, in gratitude to the Most High Lord. ”

“ How deemest thou of yonder cornuted, who is drunken in his heedlessness and weeteth not the wiles of women? There is no help for it but that I cozen him into divorcing me. To-morrow, I will disguise myself as a slave-girl and walk after thee to his shop, where do thou say to him, O master, I went to-day into the Khan of Al-Yasirjíyah, where I saw this damsel and bought her for a thousand dinars. ”

“ Why, then, O my father, dost thou not outfit me with merchandise, so I may fare with it and find my luck?” He replied, “O my son, such merchants lack money; so they send their sons to foreign parts for the sake of profit and pecuniary gain and provision of the goods of the world. But I have monies in plenty nor do I covet more: why then should I exile thee? Indeed, I cannot brook to be parted from thee an hour, more especially as thou art unique in beauty and loveliness and perfect grace and I fear for thee.” ”

“ As a man meteth, so shall it be meted unto him, and he who betaketh himself to good shall gain his eternal reward. But grieve thou not, neither let this trouble thee, O King, for that assuredly thy son, after his tyranny and oppression, shall return to the goodliness of thy policy. And I would that yon learned man, thy Wazir Shimas, had concealed from thee naught in that which he expounded unto thee; and this had been well-advised of him, for ’tis said:—Those of the folk who most abound in fear are the amplest of them in knowledge and the most emulous of good. ”

“ Each day the tree yieldeth me a pomegranate which I eat and it sustaineth me from tide to tide; and every Friday, Al-Khizr (on whom be peace!) cometh to me and ’tis he who acquainted me with thy name and gave me the glad tidings of thy soon coming hither, saying to me, “When he shall come to thee, entreat him with honour and obey his bidding and gainsay him not; but be thou to him wife and he shall be to thee man, and wend with him whitherso he will.” So, when I saw thee, I knew thee and such is the story of this city and of its people, and the Peace!” ”

“ Indeed, ’tis I who stand in need of their forgiveness, for that these twelve years past I have beaten them a grievous bout every night!” Rejoined the Caliph, “O Abdullah, Inshallah, I will endeavour for their release and that they may become men again, as they were before, and I will make peace between thee and them; so shall you live the rest of your lives as brothers loving one another; and like as thou hast forgiven them, so shall they forgive thee. But now take them and go down with them to thy lodging and this night beat them not, and to-morrow there shall be naught save weal.” ”

“ Allah spare thy blood given thou speak truth! An thou be a robber, thou art lost, more by token that thou art dressed in the Caliph’s habit and incensed with his scents. But, an thou be indeed Abu al-Hasan, thou art safe and no hurt shall happen to thee, for that thou art the friend of Shajarat al-Durr, who is my sister and ceaseth never to name thee and tell us how she took of thee money, yet wast thou not chagrined, and how thou didst follow her to the river bank and madest sign as thou wouldst kiss the earth in her honour; and her heart is yet more aflame for thee than is thine for her. ”

“ Cried the Merman, “Pardon, O my brother! Those who have no tails are rare among us, and whenever one such is found, the Sultan taketh him, to make fun of him, and he abideth a marvel amongst us, and all who see him laugh at him. But, O my brother, excuse these young children and this woman, for they lack wits.” Then he cried out to his family, saying, “Silence!”; so they were afraid and held their peace; whilst he went on to soothe Abdullah’s mind. ”

“ Said he to my sire, “O rebel, O idolater, how long wilt thou take pride in worshipping idols and abandoning the service of the All-knowing King? Say:—I testify that there is no god but the God and that Mohammed is His servant and His messenger. And embrace Al-Islam, thou and thy tribe; and put away from you the worship of idols, for they neither suffice man’s need nor intercede. None is worshipful save Allah alone, who raised up the heavens without columns and spread out the earths like carpets in mercy to His creatures.” ”

“ So he entered the vestibule and saw Abu Sir, who rose to him and rejoiced in him: but the dyer said to him, “Is this the way of well-born men? I have opened me a dyery and am become master-dyer of the city and acquainted with the King and have risen to prosperity and authority: yet camest thou not to me nor askest of me nor saidst, Where’s my comrade? For my part I sought thee in vain and sent my slaves and servants to make search for thee in all the Khans and other places; but they knew not whither thou hadst gone, nor could any one give me tidings of thee.” ”

“ Quoth the master to the Boy, “What sayst thou?”; and quoth he, “These men lie; but I will tell thee the truth. It is that we all came hither together and they bade me climb the tree and shake its boughs that the nuts might fall down to them, and I obeyed their bidding.” Said the master, “Thou hast cast thyself into sore calamity; but hast thou profited by eating aught of the fruit?”; and he said, “I have eaten naught thereof.” Rejoined the owner of the garden, “Now know I thy folly and thine ignorance in that thou hast wrought to ruin thyself and profit others.” ”

“ If I continue on this wise, soon, very soon, the kingdom will pass out of my hand.” She rejoined, “I see, O King, that thou hast been duped by the Wazirs and Ministers, who wish but to torment and entrap thee, so thou mayst have no joyance of this thy kingship neither feel ease nor taste delight; nay, they would have thee consume thy life in warding off trouble from them, till thy days be wasted in travail and weariness and thou be as one who slayeth himself for the benefit of another or like the Boy and the Thieves.” ”

“ Quoth the man, “Allah forbid that I tell thee a lie! But what is it that thou reproachest to me, O Commander of the Faithful?” Quoth the Caliph, “Since I entered thy mansion and looked upon its grandeur, I have noted the furniture and vessels therein, nay even to thy clothes, and behold, on all of them is the name of my grandfather Al-Mutawakkil ala ’llah.” [353] Answered Abu al-Hasan, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful (the Almighty protect thee) , truth is thine inner garb and sincerity is thine outer garment and none may speak otherwise than truly in thy presence.” ”

“ Said the jeweller, “O my lord, and where is my wife?” and said Abd al-Rahman, “She is in that upper chamber, go up to her and be easy with her, for my sake, and trouble her not; for, when my son brought her hither, he would have married her, but I forbade him from her and shut her up in yonder room, and locked the door upon her saying in myself:—Haply her husband will come and I will hand her over to him safe; for she is fair of favour, and when a woman is like unto this one, it may not be that her husband will let her go. ”

“ I will expound this to thee, so thou mayst be in no scepticism thereof, and the marvel-signs of the alternation of Night and Day shall make this clear to thee. When the light goeth and the night cometh, the day is hidden from us and we know not the place where it abideth; and when the night passeth away with its darkness and its terror, the day cometh and we know not the abiding-place of the night. ”

“ Then he carried them to the Divan of the Caliph and kissing ground before Al-Rashid wished him continuance of honour and fortune and surcease of evil and enmity.” Quoth the Caliph, “Welcome, O Emir Abdullah! Tell me what hath befallen thee.” And quoth he, “O Commander of the Faithful (whose power Allah increase!) when I carried my brothers home to my lodging, my heart was at rest concerning them, because thou hadst pledged thyself to their release and I said in myself, “Kings fail not to attain aught for which they strain, inasmuch as the divine favour aideth them.” ”

“ But he was silent and made no reply, whereupon cried the King, “What aileth thee that thou rejoicest not in my joy and returnest me no answer? Doth the thing mislike thee, O Shimas?” Hereat the Wazir prostrated himself before him and said, “O King, may Allah prolong thy life! What availeth it to sit under the shade of a tree, if there issue fire therefrom, and what is the delight of one who drinketh pure wine, if he be choked thereby, and what doth it profit to quench one’s thirst with sweet cool water, if one be drowned therein? I am Allah’s servant and thine, O King ”

“ When he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and throttle him and throw him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say:—His sister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with us, and said to him:—O thou scum of mankind, who art thou that thou shouldst complain of me to the Commander of the Faithful? Deemest thou that we dread him? As he is a King, so we too are Kings, and if he mend not his manners in our regard we will do him die by the foulest of deaths. ”

“ Hearing these words the Mouse replied, “How shall I suffer thee enter my nest seeing that thou art my natural foe and thy food is of my flesh? Indeed I fear lest thou false me, for that is of thy nature and there is no faith in thee, and the byword saith:—It befitteth not to entrust a lecher with a fair woman nor a moneyless man with money nor fire with fuel. Neither doth it behove me to entrust myself to thee; and ’tis said:—Enmity of kind, as the enemy himself groweth weaker groweth stronger.” ”

“ Replied Shimas, “When Allah created man with Truth, He made him loving to Himself and there was for him neither repentance nor punishment; but he abode thus till Allah put in him the soul, which is of the perfection of humanity, albeit naturally inclined to lust which is inherent therein. From this sprang the growth of Untruth and its confusion with Truth, wherewith man was created and with the love whereof his nature had been made; and when man came to this pass, he declined from the Truth with disobedience and whoso declineth from the Truth falleth into Falsehood.” ”