The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 4 - Sir Richard Francis Burton (robert munsch read aloud txt) 📗

is the reward and the least of the reward he shall receive who doth treason against the Caliphs of True Belief!” And the folk flocked to the place where the gallows stood. Thus far concerning him; but as regards Ahmad al-Danaf, Ala al-Din’s adopted father, he was sitting making merry with his followers in a garden, and carousing and pleasuring when lo! in came one of the water-carriers of the Divan and, kissing the hand of Ahmad al-Danaf, said to him, “O Captain Ahmad, O Danaf! thou sittest at thine ease with water flowing at thy feet,[FN#100] and thou knowest not what hath happened.” Asked Ahmad, “What is it?”

and the other answered, “They have gone down to the gallows with thy son Ala al-Din, adopted by a covenant before Allah!” Quoth Ahmad, “What is the remedy here, O Hasan Shuuman, and what sayst thou of this?” He replied, “Assuredly Ala al-Din is innocent and this blame hath come to him from some one enemy.”[FN#101] Quoth Ahmad, “What counsellest thou?” and Hasan said, “We must rescue him, Inshallah!” Then he went to the jail and said to the gaolor, “Give us some one who deserveth death.” So he gave him one that was likest of men to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat; and they covered his head and carried him to the place of execution between Ahmad al-Danaf and Ali al-Zaybak of Cairo.[FN#102] Now they had brought Ala al-Din to the gibbet, to hang him, but Ahmad al-Danaf came forward and set his foot on that of the hangman, who said, “Give me room to do my duty.” He replied, “O accursed, take this man and hang him in Ala al-Din’s stead; for he is innocent and we will ransom him with this fellow, even as Abraham ransomed Ishmael with the ram.”[FN#103] So the hangman seized the man and hanged him in lieu of Ala al-Din; whereupon Ahmad and Ali took Ala al-Din and carried him to Ahmad’s quarters and, when there, Ala al-Din turned to him and said, “O my sire and chief, Allah requite thee with the best of good!” Quoth he, “O Ala al-Din”—

And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

 

When it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Calamity Ahmad cried, “O Ala al-Din, what is this deed thou hast done? The mercy of Allah be on him who said, ‘Whoso trusteth thee betray him not, e’en if thou be a traitor.’ Now the Caliph set thee in high place about him and styled thee ‘Trusty’ and ‘Faithful’; how then couldst thou deal thus with him and steal his goods?” “By the Most Great Name, O my father and chief,” replied Ala al-Din, “I had no hand in this, nor did I such deed, nor know I who did it.” Quoth Ahmad, “Of a surety none did this but a manifest enemy and whoso doth aught shall be requited for his deed; but, O Ala al-Din, thou canst sojourn no longer in Baghdad, for Kings, O my son, may not pass from one thing to another, and when they go in quest of a man, ah! longsome is his travail.” “Whither shall I go, O my chief?” asked Ala al-Din; and he answered, “O my son, I will bring thee to Alexandria, for it is a blessed place; its threshold is green and its sojourn is agreeable.” And Ala al-Din rejoined, “I hear and I obey, O my chief.” So Ahmad said to Hasan Shuuman, “Be mindful and, when the Caliph asketh for me, say, ‘He is gone touring about the provinces’.” Then, taking Ala al-Din, he went forth of Baghdad and stayed not going till they came to the outlying vineyards and gardens, where they met two Jews of the Caliph’s tax-gatherers, riding on mules. Quoth Ahmad Al-Danaf to these, “Give me the black-mail.”[FN#104] and quoth they, “Why should we pay thee black mail?” whereto he replied, “Because I am the watchman of this valley.” So they gave him each an hundred gold pieces, after which he slew them and took their mules, one of which he mounted, whilst Ala al-Din bestrode the other. Then they rode on till they came to the city of Ay�s[FN#105] and put up their beasts for the night at the Khan. And when morning dawned, Ala al-Din sold his own mule and committed that of Ahmad to the charge of the doorkeeper of the caravanserai, after which they took ship from Ayas port and sailed to Alexandria. Here they landed and walked up to the bazar and behold, there was a broker crying a shop and a chamber behind it for nine hundred and fifty dinars. Upon this Ala al-Din bid a thousand which the broker accepted, for the premises belonged to the Treasury; and the seller handed over to him the keys and the buyer opened the shop and found the inner parlour furnished with carpets and cushions.

Moreover, he found there a store-room full of sails and masts, cordage and seamen’s chests, bags of beads and cowrie[FN#106]-

shells, stirrups, battle-axes, maces, knives, scissors and such matters, for the last owner of the shop had been a dealer in second-hand goods.[FN#107]ook his seat in the shop and Ahmad al-Danaf said to him, “O my son, the shop and the room and that which is therein are become thine; so tarry thou here and buy and sell; and repine not at thy lot for Almighty Allah blesseth trade.” After this he abode with him three days and on the fourth he took leave of him, saying, “Abide here till I go back and bring thee the Caliph’s pardon and learn who hath played thee this trick.” Then he shipped for Ayas, where he took the mule from the inn and, returning to Baghdad met Pestilence Hasan and his followers, to whom said he, “Hath the Caliph asked after me?”; and he replied, “No, nor hast thou come to his thought.” So he resumed his service about the Caliph’s person and set himself to sniff about for news of Ala al-Din’s case, till one day he heard the Caliph say to the Watir, “See, O Ja’afar, how Ala al-Din dealt with me!” Replied the Minister, “O Commander of the Faithful, thou hast requited him with hanging and hath he not met with his reward?” Quoth he, “O Wazir, I have a mind to go down and see him hanging;” and the Wazir answered, “Do what thou wilt, O Commander of the Faithful.” So the Caliph, accompanied by Ja’afar, went down to the place of execution and, raising his eyes, saw the hanged man to be other than Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat, surnamed the Trusty, and said, “O Wazir, this is not Ala al-Din!” “How knowest thou that it is not he?” asked the Minister, and the Caliph answered, “Ala al-Din was short and this one is tall ” Quoth Ja’afar, “Hanging stretcheth.” Quoth the Caliph, “Ala al-Din was fair and this one’s face is black.” Said Ja’afar “Knowest thou not, O Commander of the Faithful, that death is followed by blackness?” Then the Caliph bade take down the body from the gallows tree and they found the names of the two Shaykhs, Abu Bakr and Omar, written on its heels[FN#108]

whereupon cried the Caliph, “O Wazir, Ala al Din was a Sunnite, and this fellow is a Rejecter, a Shi’ah.” He answered, “Glory be to Allah who knoweth the hidden things, while we know not whether this was Ala al-Din or other than he.” Then the Caliph bade bury the body and they buried it; and Ala al-Din was forgotten as though he never had been. Such was his case; but as regards Habzalam Bazazah, the Emir Kh�lid’s son, he ceased not to languish for love and longing till he died and they joined him to the dust. And as for the young wife Jessamine, she accomplished the months of her pregnancy and, being taken with labour-pains, gave birth to a boy-child like unto the moon. And when her fellow slave-girls said to her, “What wilt thou name him?” she answered, “Were his father well he had named him; but now I will name him Asl�n.”[FN#109] She gave him suck for two successive years, then weaned him, and he crawled and walked. Now it so came to pass that one day, whilst his mother was busied with the service of the kitchen, the boy went out and, seeing the stairs, mounted to the guest-chamber.[FN#110] And the Emir Kh�lid who was sitting there took him upon his lap and glorified his Lord for that which he had created and fashioned then closely eyeing his face, the Governor saw that he was the likest of all creatures to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat. Presently, his mother Jessamine sought for him and finding him not, mounted to the guest-chamber, where she saw the Emir seated, with the child playing in his lap, for Allah had inclined his heart to the boy. And when the child espied his mother, he would have thrown himself upon her; but the Emir held him tight to his bosom and said to Jessamine, “Come hither, O

damsel.” So she came to him, when he said to her, “Whose son is this?”; and she replied, “He is my son and the fruit of my vitals.” “And who is his father?” asked the Emir; and she answered, “His father was Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat, but now he is become thy son.” Quoth Kh�lid, “In very sooth Ala al-Din was a traitor.” Quoth she, “Allah deliver him from treason! the Heavens forfend and forbid that the ‘Trusty’ should be a traitor!” Then said he, “When this boy shall grow up and reach man’s estate and say to thee, ‘Who is my father?’ say to him, ‘Thou art the son of the Emir Kh�lid, Governor and Chief of Police.’” And she answered, “I hear and I obey.” Then he circumcised the boy and reared him with the goodliest rearing, and engaged for him a professor of law and religious science, and an expert penman who taught him to read and write; so he read the Koran twice and learnt it by heart and he grew up, saying to the Emir, “O my father!” Moreover, the Governor used to go down with him to the tilting-ground and assemble horsemen and teach the lad the fashion of fight and fray, and the place to plant lance-thrust and sabre-stroke; so that by the time he was fourteen years old, he became a valiant wight and accomplished knight and gained the rank of Emir. Now it chanced one day that Aslan fell in with Ahmad Kamakim, the arch-thief, and accompanied him as cup-companion to the tavern[FN#111] and behold, Ahmad took out the jewelled lanthorn he had stolen from the Caliph and, setting it before him, pledged the wine cup to its light, till he became drunken. So Aslan said to him, “O Captain, give me this lanthorn;” but he replied, “I cannot give it to thee.” Asked Aslan, “Why not?”; and Ahmad answered, “Because lives have been lost for it.” “Whose life?” enquired Aslan; and Ahmad rejoined, “There came hither a man who was made Chief of the Sixty; he was named Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat and he lost his life through this lanthorn.” Quoth Aslan, “And what was that story, and what brought about his death?” Quoth Ahmad Kamakim, “Thou hadst an elder brother by name Hahzalam Bazazah, and when he reached the age of sixteen and was ripe for marriage, thy father would have bought him a slave-girl named Jessamine.” And he went on to tell him the whole story from first to last of Habzalam Bazazah’s illness and what befell Ala al-Din in his innocence. When Aslan heard this, he said in thought, “Haply this slave-girl was my mother Jessamine, and my father was none other than