1001 Arabian Nights (Season 1 : Episode 13 - The Tale of the Porter and the Young Girls)

THERE WAS ONCE a young man in the city of Baghdad, who

was by faith a bachelor and by trade a porter.

One day, as he was leaning idly against his basket in the market

place, a woman, wearing a full veil of Mosul silk, tasselled with gold

and turned with rare brocade, stopped before him and raised the veil

a little from her face. Above it there showed dark eyes with long

lashes of silk and lids to set a man dreaming. Her body was slight, her

feet were very small, and clear perfection shone about her. She said,

and oh, but her voice was sweet: ‘Take up your basket, porter, and

follow me.’ Hardly believing that so exquisite words could have been

said to him, the porter took up his basket and followed the girl, who

stopped eventually before the door of a house. She knocked at the

door and immediately a Christian opened to her, who gave her, in

exchange for a d(nar, a great measure of olive-clear wine which she

put into the basket, saying to the porter: ‘Lift and follow me.’ ‘By

Allah, this is a day of days!’ exclaimed the porter, as he lifted his

basket and followed the girl. Arrived at the stall of a fruiterer, she

bought Syrian apples, Osmani quinces, peaches from Uman, jasmine

of Aleppo, Damascene nenuphars, cucumbers from the Nile, limes

from Egypt, Sultan( citrons, myrtle berries, flowers of henna, bloodred

anemones, violets, pomegranate bloom, and the narcissus. All these

she put into the porter’s basket, and said: ‘Lift!’; so he lifted and

followed her until she came to a butcher’s stall. Here she said: ‘Cut

me ten pounds of mutton.’ So they cut her ten pounds which she

wrapped in banana leaves and put into the basket, and said: ‘Lift!’ He

lifted and followed her to an almond seller, from whom she bought

every kind of almond that there is. Then the porter followed her to a

sweetmeat seller from whom she bought a great platter which she

covered with things from the stall: openwork sugar tarts with butter,

velvet pastries perfumed with musk and stuffed deliciously, sab*n(yah

biscuits, small cakes, lime tarts, honey-tasting jam, those sweets called

mushabbak, little souffléd patties called lukaimatal-Kad(, and those

others named combs of Zainab which are made with butter and

mingled with milk and honey. All these pleasant things she put upon

the platter and then placed the platter in the basket. ‘If you had told

me, I would have brought a mule,’ said the porter. Smiling at his jest,

she stopped at the stall of a distiller of perfumes and bought ten sorts

of waters, rose water, water of orange flowers, willow flower, violet

and other kinds; she bought also a spray of rose-musk-scented water,

grains of male incense, aloe wood, ambergris and musk; finally she

selected candles of Alexandrian wax and put all in the basket, saying:

‘Lift and follow!’ Obediently the porter took up his basket and

followed the young lady until she came to a splendid palace, having a

great court set in an inner garden; it was tall, magnificent and foursquare,

and the door had two leaves of ebony, plated with plates of

red gold.

The young girl rapped gently upon the door and it flew wide

open. Then the porter looked at her who had opened the door and

saw that she was a child having a slim and gracious body, the very

model of all a young girl should be, not only for her round and

prominent breasts, not only for her beauty and her air of breeding,

but also for the perfection of her waist and of her carriage. Her brow

was as white as the first ray fallen from the new moon, her eyes were

the eyes of a gazelle, and the brows above them were as the crescent

moons of Ramadan. Her cheeks were anemones, her mouth the

scarlet seal of Sulaiman, her face pale as the full moon when she first

rises above the grasses, her breasts twin passion-fruit. As for her young

white pliant belly, it lay hid beneath her robe like some precious love

letter in a silken case. Seeing her, the porter felt that he was losing his

wits and nearly let the basket slip from his shoulders. ‘As Allah lives,

this is the most blessed day of all my life!’ he said. Standing within,

the young portress said to her sister the cateress and also to the porter:

‘Enter, and be your welcome as great as it is good!’

They went in and came at last to an ample hall giving on the

central court, hung over with silk brocade and gold brocade, and full

of fair gold-crusted furniture. There were vases and carved seats,

curtains and close-shut presses all about it, and in the middle a marble

couch, inlaid with pearl and diamond, covered with a red satin quilt.

On the bed lay a third girl who exceeded all the marvel that a girl

can be. Her eyes were Babylonian, for all witchcraft has its seat in

Babylon. Her body was slim as the letter alif, her face so fair as to

confuse the bright sun. She was as a star among the shining of the

stars, a true Arabian woman, as the poet says:

Who sings your slender body is a reed

His simile a little misses,

Reeds must be naked to be fair indeed

While your sweet garments are but added blisses.

Who sings your body is a slender bough

Also commits a kindred folly,

Boughs to be fair must have green leaves enow

And you, my white one, must be naked wholly.

The young girl got up from the bed, moved a few paces into the

middle of the hall until she was near her two sisters and then said to

them: ‘Why are you standing still like this? Take the basket from the

porter’s head.’ Then the cateress came in front of the porter, the

portress came behind him and, helped by their third sister, they relieved

him of his burden. When they had taken everything out of the basket,

they arranged all neatly and gave two d(nars to the porter, saying:

‘Turn and be gone, O porter!’ But he looked at the young girls,

admiring the perfection of their beauty, and thought that he had

never seen the like. He noticed that there was no man with them

and, marvelling at all the drinks, fruits, perfumed flowers, and other

good things, had no desire to go away.

The eldest of the girls said: ‘Why do you not go? Do you find

your payment too little?’ and then, turning to her sister the cateress:

‘Give him a third d(nar.’ But the porter said: ‘As Allah lives, fair

ladies, my ordinary pay is but two half d(nars; you have paid me well

enough and yet all my heart and the inner parts of my soul are troubled

about you. I cannot help asking myself what this life of yours is, that

you live alone and have no man here to bear you human company.

Do you not know that a minaret is of no value unless it be one of the

four minarets of a mosque? You are but three, my ladies, you need a

fourth. Women cannot be truly happy without men. The poet has

said: “There can be no harmony save with four joined instruments:

the lute, the harp, the cithern and flagiolet.” Now you are only three,

my ladies; you need a flagiolet, a fourth instrument, a man of discretion,

full both of sentiment and intellect, a gifted artist with sealed lips!’

‘But, porter,’ said the young girls, ‘do you not know that we are

virgins and so are fearful of confiding ourselves to the indiscretion of

a man? We also have read the poets, and they say: “Confide in none;

a secret told is a secret spoiled.”’

Hearing this, the porter cried: ‘I swear on your dear lives, my ladies,

that I am a man sure, faithful and discreet, one who has studied the

annals and read books. I speak of only pleasing things and am carefully

silent about all the rest. I act up always to the saying of the poet:

I know the duties of high courtesy,

Your dearest secrets shall be safe with me;

I’ll shut them in a little inner room

And seal the lock and throw away the key.

Their hearts were much moved towards the porter when they heard

his verses and all the rhymes and rhythms he recited, and in jest they

said: ‘You must know that we have spent a great sum of money on

this place. Have you the silver to pay us back? For we would not ask

you to sit with us unless you paid the reckoning. We take it you

desire to stay here, to become our companion in the wine and,

above all, to keep us waking all the night until the shadow of the

dawn fall on our faces.’ ‘Love without gold is a poor makeweight in

the scales,’ added the eldest of the girls, the mistress of the house;

and the portress said: ‘If you have nothing, get you gone with

nothing!’ But here the cateress interrupted, saying: ‘Let us leave this

joke, my sisters. As Allah lives, this boy has not spoiled our day and

another might not have been so patient. I myself will undertake to

pay for him.’

At this the porter rejoiced with all his heart and said to the cateress:

‘By Allah, I owe this wonderful bargain all to you!’ ‘Stay with us,

then, brave porter,’ she replied, ‘and rest assured that you shall be the

darling of our eyes.’ So saying, she rose and, after clasping his waist,

began to arrange the flasks, to clarify and pour the wine, and to set

places for the feast near a pool of water in the centre of the hall. She

brought in everything of which they might have need, handed the

wine, and saw that all were seated. The porter with these girls on

every hand thought that he was dreaming in his sleep.

Soon the cateress took the wine flagon and filled a cup from

which each drank three times. Then she filled it afresh and passed it

to her sisters and then to the porter, who drank and said these lines:

In this red wine is liveliness

And strength and well-being,

In this red wine is all caress

And every wanton thing;

Drink deep and you will find, I trust,

In this red wine is very lust.

On this he kissed the hands of the three girls and drained die cup.

Then he went up to the mistress of the house, saying: ‘Mistress, I am

your slave, your thing, your chattel!’ and he recited, in her honour,

this stanza of a certain poet:

I stand most like a slave

Outside your door,

Must I an entrance crave

In vain for ever more?

There is one gift I have—

I stand most like a slave.

Then, ‘Drink, my friend,’ said she, ‘and may the wine be sweet and

wholesome in its going down: may it give you strength to set out

upon that road where lies all bodily well-being.’ The porter took the

cup, kissed the girl’s hand and, in a sweetly-modulated voice, sang

very low these verses of the poet:

I gave my love a wine

Splendidly red as are her cheeks, I said;

Then she: ‘I cannot drink these cheeks of mine.’

‘Ah, let me speak,’ I said,

‘Thou can’st not drink those cheeks of thine;

Then drink these tears and blood of mine!’

Again the young girl took the cup to the porter and, after holding it

to his lips, sat down beside her sister. Soon they began to dance and

sing and to play with the wonderful petals, the porter all the time

taking them in his arms and kissing them, while one said saucy things

to him, another drew him to her, and the third beat him with flowers.

They went on drinking until the grape sat throned above their reason,

and, when her reign was fully established, the portress rose and stripped

off all her clothes until she was naked. Jumping into the water of the

fountain, she began to play with it, taking it in her mouth and blowing

it noisily at the porter, washing all her body, and letting it run between

her childish thighs. At length she got out of the fountain, threw herself

on the porter’s lap, stretched out on her back and, pointing to the

thing which was between her thighs, said:

‘My darling, do you know the name of that?’ ‘Aha,’ answered the

porter, ‘usually that is called the house of compassion.’ Then she

cried: ‘Y*, y*! Are you not ashamed?’ and taking him by the neck

she began to slap him. ‘No, no!’ he cried. ‘It is called the thing.’ But

she shook her head, and ‘Then it is your behind piece,’ said the

porter. Again she shook her head, and ‘It is your hornet,’ said he. At

these words she began to slap him so hard that she abraded his skin.

‘You tell me its name!’ he shouted, and she told him: ‘Basil of the

bridges.’ ‘At last,’ cried the porter. ‘Praise be to Allah for your safety,

O my basil of the bridges!’

After that, they let the cup go round and round; and the second

girl, taking off her clothes, jumped into the basin. There she did as

her sister had done and then, getting out, threw herself on to the

porter’s lap. Pointing to her thighs and the thing between them, she

said: ‘Light of my life, what is the name of that?’ ‘Your crack,’ he

answered. ‘O listen to his naughty word!’ she cried, and slapped him

so hard that the hall echoed with the sound. ‘Then it is basil of the

bridges,’ he hazarded, but she again cried that it was not and went on

slapping his neck. ‘Well, what is its name?’ he yelled, and she answered:

‘The husked sesame.’

Now the third girl, in her turn, got up, undressed, and went down

into the basin, where she did as her sisters had done. Afterwards she

put on some of her clothes and stretched herself over the thighs of

the porter. ‘Guess the name of that,’ she said, pointing to her delicate

parts. The porter tried this name and that and ended by asking her to

tell him and cease her slapping. ‘The khan of Abu-Mans*r,’ she replied.

Then, in reprisal, the porter rose, undressed and went down into the

water, and lo! his blade swam level with the surface. He washed as the

girls had done, came out of the basin, and, throwing himself into the

lap of the portress, rested his feet in that of the cateress. Pointing to his

organ, he asked the mistress of the house: ‘What is his name, my queen?’

At this all the girls laughed till they fell over on their backs, and cried

together: ‘Your zabb!’ ‘No,’ he said, and took a little bite at each by way

of forfeit. Then they cried: ‘Your tool, then!’ But he said: ‘No,’ and

pinched their breasts. ‘But it is your tool,’ they cried in astonishment,

‘for it is hot. It is your zabb, because it moves.’ Each time the porter

shook his head and kissed and bit and pinched and hugged them until

they laughed again. In the end they had to ask him to tell them; and the

porter reflected a moment, looked between his thighs, and winking,

said: ‘Ladies, this child, my zabb, says for himself:

“My name is the Mighty Ungelt Mule who feeds on the basil of

bridges, feasts on husked sesame, and stays the night in father

Mans*r’s khan.”’

At these words, the girls laughed so much that they fell over on

their bottoms; and afterwards all four went on drinking from the

same cup until the approach of evening. When night fell, they said to

the porter: ‘Be gone, now, turn your face and let us see the width of

your shoulders.’ But the porter cried: ‘By Allah, it is easier for my

soul to quit my body than for me to quit your house, my ladies! Let

us make the night continue the sweet day, and to-morrow all can

part and follow their destiny upon the road of Allah.’ The young

cateress then spoke up saying: ‘By my life, sisters, let us ask him to

pass the night with us; we will have many good laughs at the naughty

fellow who is so shameless and yet so gentle.’ The others agreed, and

said to the porter: ‘Very well, you can stay with us this night on

condition that you obey implicitly and ask no reason or explanation

of anything you see.’ ‘I agree to that, ladies,’ he said. ‘Get up, then,

and read what is over the door,’ they commanded; so he rose, and

found over the door these words lettered in gold:

‘Speak not of that which concerns you not or you will hear that

which shall please you not.’

Reading this, the porter said: ‘Ladies, I call you to witness that I

will never speak of that which concerns me not.’

At this point Shahrazad saw the approach of morning and discreetly

fell silent.

But when the tenth night had come

DUNYAZ-D SAID: ‘Finish your tale, dear sister.’

So Shahrazad answered: ‘Gladly and as in duty bound,’ and thus

continued:

It is related, O auspicious King, that when the porter had made

his promise to the girls, the cateress rose and set meat before them all,

which they ate with good appetite. After the meal, candles were lighted,

perfumed wood and incense burned, and all began to drink again

and to eat the various delicacies from the market; especially the porter

who also recited well-formed verses all the time, shutting his eyes

and shaking his head. Suddenly they heard a knocking on the door,

which, though it did not interrupt their pleasure, caused the portress

to rise. She came back, saying: ‘Indeed, to-night’s pleasure is to be

perfect, for there are three strangers at the door with shaved beards

and each blind of the left eye, which is a strange coincidence. It is

easy to see that they come from the lands of R*m, each has different

features and yet their faces all match in their fittingness for being

laughed at. If we let them in, we can have much fun at their expense.’

She persuaded her companions, who said: ‘Tell them that they may

come in, but be sure they understand the condition: “Speak not of

that which concerns you not or you will hear that which shall please

you not.”’ So the young girl ran joyously to the door and came back

leading the three one-eyed men, who indeed had shaved beards,

moustaches twisted back, and all the signs of that brotherhood of

beggars called kalandars. As soon as they came in, they wished peace

to the company, backing one by one as they did so; on which the

girls stood up and invited them to be seated. The three men, after

they had sat down, looked at the porter, who was very drunk, and

supposing him to belong to their brotherhood, said among themselves:

‘Here is another kalandar; he is sure to bear us friendly company.’

But the porter, who had heard what they said, jumped to his feet and,

eyeing them sternly and a little squintingly, said: ‘All right, all right,

my friends, make yourselves at home; and begin by digesting those

words written above the door.’ The girls burst out laughing at his

words and said to each other: ‘We are going to have fun with these

kalandars and the porter.’ They set food before the kalandars—who

ate like kalandars!—then wine—and the kalandars drank turn and

turn about, reaching out again and again for the cup. When the drink

was passing round at a rare pace, the porter said: ‘Come, brothers,

have you not some good tale of marvellous adventure in your scrips

to amuse us?’ Cheered by this suggestion, the kalandars asked for

musical instruments and, when the portress had fetched out a Mosul

drum fitted with crotals, a lute of Irak, and a Persian flagiolet, they

stood up and began to play while the girls sang with them. The

porter became frenzied with pleasure and kept on shouting: ‘Ha! ya

Allah!’, so struck was he by the harmonious voices of the singers.

In the middle of all this, knocking was again heard upon the door

and the portress rose to see who was there.

Now this was the reason for the second knocking on the door:

That night the Khal(fah, Har*n al-Rashad, had gone down to

wander about his city to see and hear for himself what might be

going on there. He was accompanied by his waz(r, Jafar al-Barmaki,

and by Masr*r, his sword-bearer, the instrument of his justice. You

must know that it was a habit of his to disguise himself as a merchant

and make such expeditions.

While he was walking through the streets of the city, he passed

that palace and heard the sounds of music and gaiety which issued

from it. Then said the Khal(fah to Jafar: ‘I wish to enter that place to

see those singers.’ Jafar answered: ‘They must be a crowd of drunkards.

If we go in some hurt may come to you.’ But the Khal(fah said:

‘Certainly we must go in. I wish to find a way in which we can enter

and take them by surprise.’ ‘I hear and I obey,’ said Jafar at this

command and, going up to the door, he knocked.

When the young portress opened the door, the waz(r said to her:

‘My mistress, we are merchants from Tiberias. Ten days ago we came

to Baghdad with our goods and took lodging in the khan of the

merchants. One of the other traders at the khan asked us to his house

to-night to eat with him. After the meal, which lasted an hour in

which we ate and drank excellently, he gave us leave to depart. We

came out but, the night being dark and we strangers, lost our way to

the khan where we lodge. So now we beg you of your great goodness

to let us come in and pass the night at your house. Allah will reward

your kindness.’ The portress looked at them closely and, seeing that

they had the appearance of most respectable merchants, went in to

ask the advice of her two companions. The other two said: ‘Let them

come in!’ So she returned to the door, crying: ‘Enter!’ On this

invitation the Khal(fah and Jafar and Masr*r came in and the girls

rose, putting themselves at their service and saying: ‘Be very welcome.

Take your’ ease here, dear companions; but accept, we pray, this one

condition: “Speak not of that which concerns you not or you will

hear that which shall please you not.”’ The newcomers answered:

‘Be it so,’ and sat down with the others. While they were being

invited to drink and to send round the cup, the Khal(fah looked at

the three kalandars and was astonished to see that each was blind of

the left eye; then at the girls and was overcome with surprise at all

their beauty and grace. When the girls, in their ministrations to the

guests, offered the Khal(fah a cup of the rarest wine, he refused, saying:

‘I am vowed to pilgrimage.’ So the portress got up and placed a little

table of finest inlay before him on which she set a cup of Chinese

porcelain into which she poured spring water refreshed with snow,

mingling sugar and rosewater within it. The Khal(fah accepted this,

thanking her cordially and saying to himself: ‘To-morrow I shall reward

her for her kindness.’

The girls continued to act the hostess and pass about the wine till

the wits of the companions were dancing dizzily. Then she who was

the mistress of the house rose up and, having asked if any wanted

more, took the cateress by the hand saying: ‘Rise, my sister, that we

may do that which we have to do.’ ‘Be it as you say,’ the other

answered. On this the portress also rose and, telling the kalandars to

get up from the centre of the hall and seat themselves by the door,

herself cleared and tidied the central space. The other two called to

the porter: ‘By Allah, your friendship is of but little use! You are no

stranger here but belong to the house.’ On this the porter stood up,

lifted the skirts of his robe and tightened his belt, saying: Tell me

what to do and I shall do it.’ ‘Follow me,’ said the portress. So he

followed her out of the hall and saw two black bitches with chains

round their necks, which, as he was bid, he led back into the middle

of the hall. Then the eldest pulled up her sleeves, took a whip, and

told the porter to lead forward one of the bitches. When he had done

so, dragging her by the chain, the animal began to weep, raising its

head piteously towards the girl; but the latter, without seeming to

notice, fell upon it, beating it over the head with her whip till the

bitch yelled and wept and she herself could strike no more. Then she

threw down the whip and, taking the bitch in her arms, clasped it to

her breast, wiped away its tears, and kissed its head which she held

between her hands. After a little, she said to the porter: ‘Bring me the

other, and take this one back.’ So the porter brought the other bitch

forward and the girl treated it as she had the first.

The Khal(fah felt his heart filled with pity at this sight; his breast

shook with grief and he signed with his eye to Jafar to question the

young woman. But Jafar signed to him that it were better to keep

silent. Soon the mistress of the house turned to her sisters saying:

‘Come, let us do as is our custom.’ They answered: ‘Yes’; so she got

up on to the marble bed which was plated with gold and silver and

said to the other two: ‘Let it be done!’ Then the portress also got up

on to the bed; but the cateress went into her own room and brought

back a satin bag fringed with green silk. Halting before the other

two, she opened the bag and drew a lute from it. First tuning this

and then playing upon it, she sang these lines of love and all the

sadness of love:

Love at my door

Knocked and I gave him bed.

When sleep saw this

He took offence and fled.

‘Give me back sleep;

Where has he gone?’ I said.

They said: ‘Our friend

That kept the sure straight way,

Who has done this

To send you so astray,

To lead you blind

Into the sand?’ said they.

I said: ‘Not I,

But she must answer make.

I could but cry:

My blood, which is hers to take,

Lies heavily

Not spilled yet for her sake.

I chose a girl

To put my thought in her;

She is my thought,

My thought’s her imager;

Now she is gone

Fire is my comforter.

See for yourselves!

Even Allah like a lover

From molten threads

Of the syrup of life wove her;

Then made all gems

And fruits with what was over.’

But they said: Fool,

Small joy and, for the rest,

Torture and tears

And hugging to the breast

Shades on a pool.

The first drink is the best.’

‘If I am drunk

I came not so by drinking,

It was enough

To see the ruby winking

There in the glass—

Sleep saw it too, I’m thinking.

It’s not that time

Has passed, but that so has she,

It’s not that love

Won’t last, but that nor will she,

Not that life’s gone,

But that she’s gone from me.

My soul is bound

By the scents of her body,

Jasmine and musk

And rose of her body,

Amber and nard,

The scents of her body.’

‘Allah comfort you, my sister,’ cried out the portress, when the song

was finished; then, tearing all her clothes in an ecstasy of grief, she

fell in a faint upon the floor.

Her body being in some sort bared, the Khal(fah was able to see

upon it the prints of whips and rods, a circumstance which astonished

and appalled him. But the cateress came and cast water in her sister’s

face until she recovered consciousness; then she brought her a new

robe and helped her into it.

The Khal(fah whispered to Jafar: ‘You do not seem moved by

this. Do you not see the marks of the scourge on the woman? I can

hardly keep silent and I will know no rest until I have found out the

truth of all this and of the matter of the two bitches.’ ‘Lord and

Master,’ answered Jafar, ‘remember the condition: “Speak not of

that which concerns you not or you will hear that which shall

please you not.”’

While they were talking thus, the cateress again took up the lute

and, pressing it against her rounded breast, sounded the chords and sang:

If one came to us plaining of love,

What would we answer?

Seeing that we also are drowned in love,

What would we do?

If we charged a speaker to speak for us,

What would he know of it?

He has brought us within two fingers of the pit of death,

He has cut our heart-strings that they might hold him no more,

Has he kept one withered seed of all our love?

Does he think at all that we are stricken and with what disease?

All that he has forgotten we shall call upon God to remember.

If one came to us plaining of love,

What would we answer?

Seeing that we also are drowned in love,

What would we do?

If we charged a speaker to speak for us,

What would he know of it?

Again the portress wept at this sad song and tore her robe and fell

back fainting; and again the cateress cast water in her face, raised her

up and put another robe on her, while the eldest oft hem said to her:

‘Courage, courage, for the final song! It is our duty.’ So the cateress

tuned the lute afresh and sang:

Cease this parting as of years,

I have no more tears.

Your absence is no longer needed,

It has succeeded.

Men have the months and years alway,

Women but a day.

How shall I call a murder on

You, when the body’s nearly gone

That showed what you had done?

How cry a debt when the wet

White cheek hardly remaineth yet

Where was written the debt?

My sighs fan up your flame,

That would be well if the game

You hunted were still the same.

Mussulmans, make a feud,

Cover him with the rude

Hates of a multitude.

Yet do not—for all that he

Felt of your cruelty

Would be felt by me.

Rather crush me beneath your feet

And he’ll not feel his pulses beat

At the other side of the street.

Again the portress fell fainting and again her naked body showed the

marks of whips and rods.

The three kalandars began whispering together when they saw

this: ‘It had been better for us we had never come into this house,

even though we had to sleep on the naked ground; for what we have

just seen is enough to melt the marrow in our spines.’ The Khal(fah

turned to them and said: ‘Why is that?’ ‘We are afraid of what has

happened,’ they answered. ‘Is that so?’ said the Khal(fah, ‘then you

are not of this house?’ ‘We are not,’ they answered, ‘we imagined it

belonged to that man beside you.’ ‘By Allah, it does not!’ cried the

porter. ‘This is the very first time that I have entered here. Also, God

knows, it would have been better for me to have slept on the rubbish

heaps among the ruins.’

So they concerted with each other and said: ‘We are seven men to

three women, let us demand an explanation of these things and, if they

will not answer willingly, we can use force.’ They all agreed to this

except Jafar, who said: ‘Do you think that right and equitable?

Remember, we are their guests and that they laid down certain

conditions which we swore to keep. The night is nearly over; it would

be better for each of us to go forth and seek his destiny upon the road of

Allah.’ Then, winking at the Khal(fah and drawing him aside, he

continued: ‘We have but one more hour to stay here. Tomorrow I

promise that I will bring them up before you, and then we can compel

them to tell their story.’ But the Khal(fah said: ‘I have not the patience to

wait till to-morrow.’ The others continued their planning, some saying

this and some saying that, but it all came back to the question: ‘Who is

to ask them?’ At last it was decided that the porter should do so.

So, when the girls said: ‘Good folk, what are you talking about?’,

the porter rose to his feet and, standing up straight before the lady of

the house, addressed her courteously: ‘My queen, I ask and pray you

in the name of Allah, on behalf of all us jolly fellows, to tell us the tale

of those two bitches and why you so beat them and then weep over

them and kiss them. Tell us, too, for we wait to hear it, the cause of

the marks of whips and rods on the body of your sister. This we ask

of you; that is all, my queen.’ Then the lady of the house questioned

them: ‘Is this that the porter has said asked in the name of all?’ And

each, with the exception of Jafar, answered: ‘Yes.’ Jafar said nothing.

The eldest girl, hearing this answer of theirs, exclaimed: ‘As Allah

lives, you who are our guests have done us here the most grievous of

wrongs. We bound you to this condition: “Speak not of that which

concerns you not or you will hear that which shall please you not.”

Was it not enough for you to come into our house and eat our good

food? Perhaps, though, it was less your fault than the fault of our

sister who let you in.’

So saying, she pulled the sleeves of her robe away from her wrist

and beat the floor with her foot three times, calling: ‘Come quick,

come quick!’ The door of one of the great curtained presses opened

and out glided seven strong negroes carrying sharpened swords. To

these she said: ‘Bind the arms of these prattling guests and fasten

them one to the other.’ This the negroes did, saying: ‘O mistress, O

hidden flower beyond the sight of men, may we cut off their heads?’

‘Have patience for an hour,’ she answered. ‘I wish to know what sort

of men they are before they die.’

On this the porter cried: ‘By Allah, mistress queen, do not kill me

for the crime of others. All these have sinned, committing a notable

crime against you, but not I. As God lives, how happy, how paradisal

would our night have been if we had never set eyes on these illomened

kalandars. I have always said that kalandars could lay waste

the loveliest of cities just by coming into it.’ And he added these

lines:

The fairest gift of strength is clemency

If the weak offend;

So do not, for our love’s sake, punish me

For the fault of a friend.

The eldest girl burst out laughing when the porter had finished

speaking.

At this point Shahrazad saw the approach of day and discreetly

fell silent.

But when the eleventh night had come

SHE SAID:

It is related, O auspicious King, that when the eldest girl burst out

laughing after having been angry, she came down to the company

and said: ‘Tell me all that there is to tell, for you have but one hour to

live. I give you this indulgence because you are poor folk. If you were

among the most noble, great ones of your tribes or even governors, it

is true that I would hurry on your punishment.’

‘Jafar, we are in sorry case,’ said the Khal(fah, ‘tell her who we are

or she may kill us.’ ‘Which is exactly what we deserve,’ said Jafar.

Then said the Khal(fah. ‘There is a time for being witty and a time

for being serious, there is a time for everything.’

Now first of all the eldest girl approached the kalandars and asked

them: ‘Are you brothers?’ To this they answered: ‘No, by Allah, we

are only poor men of the poorest who live by cupping and scarifying.’

Then she turned to one of them and said: ‘Were you born without

one eye?’ ‘As God lives, I was not,’ he answered, ‘but the tale of the

way I lost my eye is so extraordinary that, if it were written with a

needle in the corner of another eye, yet would it be a lesson to the

circumspect.’ The second and the third made the same kind of answer;

then all three said: ‘Each of us was born in a different country; the

stories of our lives are strange and our adventures pass the marvellous.’

‘Well, then,’ said the girl, ‘each of you must tell his story and the

reason of his coming to our house. Should the tale seem good to us,

each then may make his bow and go his way.’

The first who came forward was the porter; and he said: ‘My

queen, I am a porter, nothing more. Your cateress here gave me things

to carry and led me to you. You know well what happened to me

after I got here and, if I refuse to be more particular, you know why.

That is all my tale. I will not add another word to it, and Allah bless

you.’ Then said the eldest girl: ‘Get you gone, make your bow and let

us see the last of you.’ ‘But,’ said the porter, ‘no, by God, I will not

stir until I have heard the tales of these friends of mine.’

Then the first kalandar came forward to tell his tale, and said:

 

Thanks for Reading, to be continued.