Aboulhusn

“ So the treasurer gave him what the Khalif bade him, and the latter said to him, “Go, lay her out and carry her forth and make her a handsome funeral.” So Aboulhusn took that which he had given him and returning to his house, rejoicing, went in to Nuzhet el Fuad and said to her, “Arise, for the wish is accomplished unto us.” So she arose and he laid before her the hundred dinars and the piece of silk, whereat she rejoiced, and they added the gold to the gold and the silk to the silk and sat talking and laughing at one another. ”

“ Quoth Aboulhusn, ‘Never did I see or hear of one like unto thee in thy love! If thou sufferest all this transport and sickness and trouble, being enamoured of one who returns thy passion, how would it be with thee, if she whom thou lovest were contrary and perfidious? Meseems, thy case will be discovered, if thou abide thus.’ His words pleased Ali ben Bekkar and he trusted in him and thanked him. ”

“ And indeed, O my brother, the night thou camest to me and we caroused together, I and thou, it was as if the Devil came to me and troubled me that night." "And who is he, the Devil?" asked the Khalif. "He is none other than thou," answered Aboulhusn; whereat the Khalif smiled and sitting down by him, coaxed him and spoke him fair, saying, "O my brother, when I went out from thee, I forgot [to shut] the door [and left it] open, and belike Satan came in to thee." Quoth Aboulhusn, "Ask me not of that which hath betided me. ”

“ If thou be a thief, thou art a lost man, more by token that thou art dressed in the Khalif’s habit and perfumed with his scents. But, if thou be indeed Aboulhusn, thou art safe and no hurt shall come to thee, for that thou art the lover of Shejeret ed Durr, who is my sister and stinteth 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 as thou wouldst kiss the ground in her honour; and her heart is yet more aflame for thee than thine for her. ”

“ Moreover, I beg thee of thy grace to abide with me this night, that I may have the solace of thy company.’ Aboulhusn agreed to this; so they talked together till the night darkened, when Ali groaned aloud and lamented and wept copious tears, reciting the following verses:
My eye holds thine image ever ”

“ Presently, up came the Khalif and the Lady Zubeideh and Mesrour and the old woman and entering, found Aboulhusn and his wife both stretched out [apparently] dead; which when the Lady Zubeideh saw, she wept and said, “They ceased not to bring [ill] news of my slave-girl, till she died; methinketh Aboulhusn’s death was grievous to her and that she died after him.” ”

“ He tarried with her till he deemed her in a way of recovery, when he returned to his palace, sore concerned for her illness, and she bade me go to thee and bring her news of Ali ben Bekkar. So I came, leaving with her a number of her bodywomen; and this is what has delayed me from thee.’ When Aboulhusn heard her story, he marvelled and said, ‘By Allah, I have acquainted thee with his whole case; so now return to thy mistress ”

“ O Khalif of [all] cities and ruler of [all] countries!"
Therewithal Aboulhusn cried out at him and said, "O dog of the sons of Bermek, go down forthright, thou and the master of the police of the city, to such a place in such a street and deliver a hundred dinars to the mother of Aboulhusn the Wag and bear her my salutation. [Then, go to such a mosque] and take the four sheikhs and the Imam and beat each of them with four hundred lashes and mount them on beasts, face to tail, and go round with them about all the city and banish them to a place other than the city ”

“ So all that thou seest in my house, bearing the name of thy grandfather El Mutawekkil, is of his bounty to us, and the source of our fortune is from thy noble ancestors; for indeed ye are people of munificence and a mine of generosity.’
The Khalif marvelled at his story and rejoiced therein with an exceeding joy: and Aboulhusn brought forth to him the lady and the children she had borne him, and they kissed the earth before the Khalif, who marvelled at their beauty. ”

“ The lady alighted at Aboulhusn’s shop and sitting down there, saluted him, and he returned her salute. When Ali ben Bekkar saw her, she ravished his understanding and he rose to go away; but she said to him, ‘Sit in thy place. We came to thee and thou goest away: this is not fair.’ ‘O my lady,’ answered he, ‘by Allah, I flee from what I see; for the tongue of the case saith:
She’s the sun and her dwelling’s in heaven on high ”

“ Then he told him all that had befallen him, whilst the Khalif was like to die of hidden laughter; after which Aboulhusn removed the tray of food and bringing the wine-tray, filled a cup and emptied it out three times, then gave it to the Khalif, saying, "O boon-companion mine, I am thy slave and let not that which I am about to say irk thee, and be thou not vexed, neither do thou vex me." And he recited these verses:
No good's in life (to the counsel list of one who's
purpose-whole,) An if thou be not drunken still and gladden
not thy soul. ”

“ Allah! O my lord, these are sandals for the treading of thy feet, so thou mayst enter the draught-house." Aboulhusn was confounded and shaking the sandals from his sleeve, put them on his feet, whilst the Khalif [well-nigh] died of laughter at him. The slave forewent him to the house of easance, where he entered and doing his occasion, came out into the chamber, whereupon the slave- girls brought him a basin of gold and an ewer of silver and poured water on his hands and he made the ablution. ”

“ Then she took leave of him and went away. When she was gone, Aboulhusn’s friend, who was a jeweller, took occasion to speak and said to Ali ben Bekkar, ‘Doubtless, the women of the palace have some claim upon thee or thou hast dealings with the Khalif’s household?’ ‘Who told thee of this?’ asked Ali. ‘I know it by yonder damsel,’ replied the jeweller, ‘who is Shemsennehar’s slave-girl ”

“ When Shemsennehar saw him weep, she wept for his weeping; and Aboulhusn exclaimed, 'By Allah, I wonder at your plight and am confounded at your behaviour; of a truth, your affair is amazing and your case marvellous. If ye weep thus, what while ye are yet together, how will it be when ye are parted? Indeed, this is no time for weeping and wailing, but for foregathering and gladness; rejoice, therefore, and make merry and weep no more.' Then Shemsennehar signed to a damsel, who went out and returned with handmaids bearing a table, whereon were silver dishes, full of all manner rich meats. ”

“ Have pity on one who weeps, afflicted and ever sad, A slave of
passion, who burns for thee with longings untold.
The Khalif was ravished and exclaimed, 'May God bless thee and receive him who taught thee [FN#349] into His mercy!' Whereupon she rose and kissed the earth before him. Then he sent for money and paid her master Aboulhusn a hundred thousand dinars to her price ”

“ Even the stag that ranges the moors, when he flies from the hounds to the lake, dies rather than venture there to take the water. This is a fine example of the descriptions of nature in the poem. Beowulf is not alarmed; we must all die at last, he says, but while we live we should try to win glory.
So they all rode to the haunted pool, Beowulf in his iron armour and helmet. The man who had insulted him now repents, and gives Beowulf the best of iron swords, named Hrunting; for famous swords in these days had names, like King Arthur's blade, Excalibur, or Roland's Durendal. ”

“ Indeed, I have sinned against thee; but would that thou hadst made thyself known to me and said, “I am such an one!” Indeed the fault is with thee, for that thou madest not thyself known unto me, more by token that I was distraught for much business.’ ‘God pardon thee, O my comrade!’ replied Abousir. ‘This was fore-ordained, and reparation is with God. Enter and put off thy clothes and bathe at thine ease.’ ‘I conjure thee by Allah, O my brother,’ said the dyer, ‘forgive me!’ And Abousir said, ‘God acquit thee of blame and forgive thee! ”

“ After, the rejoicings, eight horses and princely armour are given to Beowulf. The minstrel sings of the hero Finn, with a pleasant description of the coming of spring after a long winter. The poem is not all about fiends and fighting; the descriptions of wild rocks and seas, and of happy nature, are beautiful. Then the gracious wife of Hrothgar bids Beowulf farewell, giving him a cup of gold. Other presents are offered, and on so happy a day, wine, not ale, is drunk in hall. ”

“ And there was anger on Aoibhell when he said that, and she said: "Murchadh will fall, and you yourself will fall, and your proud blood will be on the plain to-morrow." And they went back into the battle, and got their death there.
And it was Aoibhell gave a golden harp to the son of Meardha the time he was getting his learning at the school of the Sidhe in Connacht and that he heard his father had got his death by the King of Lochlann. And whoever heard the playing of that harp would not live long after it. ”

“ In Beowulf there are various episodes where a story is told by one of the persons engaged. Besides the poem of Hengest chanted in Heorot, there is Beowulf's own narrative of his adventures, after his return to his own people in the kingdom of the Gauts, and passages still nearer in form to the Lament of Oddrun and the Confession of Gudrun are the last speech of Beowulf before his death (2426-2537) , and the long speech of Wiglaf (2900- [Pg 111] 3027) telling of the enmity of the Gauts and the Swedes. ”

“ Beowulf may be a god or a nonentity, but the poem which records his exploits must at least be true, true in the manners it paints and the emotions which the poet reveals—the emotions of his contemporaries.
53
Beowulf,3 a chieftain of the Western Danes, was the Achilles of the North. We first view him with his followers landing on the shores of a Danish kingling. A single ship with an armed company, in those predatory days, could alarm a whole realm. The petty independent provinces of Greece afford a parallel ”

“ And subsequent investigations into the history and folk-lore of our poem have not confirmed Müllenhoff's theory: in some cases indeed they have hit it very hard. When a new light was thrown upon the story by the discovery of the parallels between Beowulf and the Grettis saga, it became clear that passages which Müllenhoff had condemned as otiose interpolations were likely to be genuine elements in the tale. ”

“ With bitter words he reproached his cowardly comrades, saying: “I remember how we boasted, as we sat in the mead hall and drank the foaming ale, as we took gladly the gold and jewels which our king lavished upon us, that we would repay him for all his gifts, if ever such need there were! Now is the need come upon him, and we are here! Beowulf chose us from all his bodyguard to help him in this mighty struggle, and we have betrayed and deserted him, and left him alone against a terrible foe. Now the day has come when our lord should [Pg 37] see our valour, and we flee from his side! ”