The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (78 page)

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The following night Shahrazad replied, “Very well,” and said:

I heard, O happy King, that the broker cried out, “O merchants, O men of wealth, not every round thing a walnut nor every long thing a banana; not every red thing meat nor every white thing fat. O merchants, I have here this unique pearl. What will you pay for her and what is your opening bid?” One of them cried out, “Four thousand dinars,” and the broker opened the bidding at four thousand dinars, but while he was calling for bids, the Vizier al-Mu'in ibn-Sawi happened to pass through the market and, seeing Nur al-Din standing in a corner, said to himself, “I wonder what ibn-Khaqan is doing here. Has this good-for-nothing anything left to buy girls with?” Then he looked around and, seeing the broker in the middle of the market, surrounded by the merchants, said to himself, “If I am not mistaken, I think that Nur al-Din has become penniless and has brought Anis al-Jalis down to the market to auction her off. O how soothing to my heart!” Then he called the broker, who came and kissed the ground before him, and he said to him, “Broker, show me the girl you are selling.” The broker, who dared not cross him, replied, “Yes, my lord, here she is, look at her,” and he showed him Anis al-Jalis, who pleased him very much. He said to the broker, “Hasan, what is the bid on her?” The broker replied, “My lord, I have an opening bid of four thousand dinars.” Al-Mu'in said, “I too bid four thousand dinars.” When the merchants heard this, they dared not bid against him, knowing his tyranny and treachery. The vizier looked at the broker and said, “Damn it, what are you waiting for? Go to Nur al-Din Ali and offer him four thousand dinars for her.” The broker went to Nur al-Din and said to him, “My lord, your girl is about to be sold for nothing.” Nur al-Din asked, “How so?” The broker replied, “I opened the bidding at four thousand dinars, when that unfair tyrant al-Mu'in ibn-Sawi passed through the market, and when he saw the girl, she pleased him and he said to me, ‘Go and offer four thousand dinars for her.' I am sure, my lord, that he knows that she belongs to you, and if he would pay you at once, it would still be all right, but knowing how unfair he is, he will give you a written note on some of his agents; then he will send someone to tell them to procrastinate and give you nothing at this time, and whenever you go to them to ask for your money, they will say to you, ‘Very well, but come back tomorrow.' They will do this to you day after day until, being as self-respecting as you are, you will angrily snatch the note and tear it up and lose the money for the girl.” When Nur al-Din heard the broker's words, he looked at him and asked, “What is to be done?” The broker replied, “My lord, I will give you a piece of advice that, if you follow, will be more to your advantage.” Nur al-Din asked, “What is it?” The broker replied, “When I stand in the middle of the market, come to me at once and, taking the girl from my hand, slap her and say, ‘O slut, see how I have fulfilled my pledge and brought you down to the market to sell you at auction, just as I had sworn that I would.' If you do this, the vizier, as well as the merchants, will be fooled and will believe that you brought the girl to the market only to fulfill a pledge.” Nur al-Din replied, “This is good advice.”

Then the broker left him and, returning to his place in the middle of the market, took Anis al-Jalis by the hand and, turning to al-Mu'in ibn-Sawi, said, “My lord, here comes her owner,” as Nur al-Din came up to the broker and, snatching the girl from him, slapped her..

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister, “What a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live!”

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The following night Shahrazad replied, “Very well” and said:

I heard, O happy King, that Nur al-Din slapped Anis al-Jalis and said, “Damn you, see how I have brought you down to the market as I had sworn. Go back home and see to it that you don't repeat your bad habit. Woe to you, do I need your price to sell you? The furniture of my house would fetch many times your value, if I sold it.” When the vizier heard this, he turned to Nur al-Din and said, “Damn you, have you anything left to sell for a single dinar or dirham?” and he advanced to hit him. Nur al-Din turned to the merchants, brokers, and shopkeepers, all of whom loved him, and said to them, “Were it not for you, I would kill him.” They all responded with the same signal, meaning, “Do with him what you wish, for none of us will step between you.” Nur al-Din, who was a stout young man, seized the vizier and, pulling him off his saddle, threw him to the ground and into a mudhole that happened to be there, and fell on him, slapping him and boxing him, with blows, one of which landed on his teeth and filled his mouth with blood. The vizier had with him ten Mamluks,
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who, seeing their master treated in this fashion, grabbed the hilts of their swords and were about to draw them, attack Nur al-Din, and cut him to pieces. But the merchants and bystanders interposed and said to them, “One is a vizier and the other a vizier's son, and if by chance they make peace one day, you will be hated by both, or if by chance your master receives a blow, you will all die the worst of deaths. You will do wisely not to interfere.”

When Nur al-Din finished beating the vizier, he took Anis al-Jalis and went home, and when the vizier finally got up, he was in three colors, the white of his clothes, the black of the mud, and the red of his blood. When he saw himself in this plight, he put a halter around his neck, held a bundle of grass in each hand, and began to run until he stood below the wall of the palace of King Muhammad ibn-Sulaiman al-Zainabi and cried out, “O King of the age, I am a man aggrieved.” When the king heard the cry, he said, “Bring me the fellow who is shouting.” When they brought him in and the king saw that it was his grand vizier, he asked him, “O Vizier, who has done this to you?” The vizier wept before the king and recited the following verses:

Shall bad fortune oppress me while you live?

Shall wolves eat me while you stand, a lion strong and proud?

Shall every thirsty man drink from your store,

While I go thirsty, O rain-laden cloud?

Then he said, “My lord, all who care for your welfare and serve you fare this way.” The king said, “Damn it, hurry and tell me how this happened and who mistreated you in this way; your sanctity is my sanctity.” The vizier said, “My lord, I went today to the slave market to buy a cook, when I saw there a slave-girl whose beauty none has seen before and decided to buy her for my lord the king. When I asked the broker about her and about her owner, he replied that she belonged to Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Khaqan. Some time ago, my lord the king had given his father the vizier ten thousand dinars to buy a girl for my lord, but when the father bought her, she pleased him and he begrudged my lord the king and gave her to his son. When he died, his son sold everything until he had nothing left, and when he found himself penniless, he took her down to the market and gave her to a broker to sell. The broker started the auction, and the merchants bid against each other until the bidding reached four thousand dinars. At that point I said to Nur al-Din, ‘O my son, take the four thousand dinars from me and let me buy this slave-girl for our lord the king, for he deserves her more than anyone else, especially since it was his money that had paid for her in the first place.' When he heard this, he looked at me and said . . .

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister, “What a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live!”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that the vizier al-Mu'in ibn-Sawi said to the king, “Nur al-Din looked at me and said, ‘Wretched old man, I will sell her to a Christian or a Jew rather than to you.' I replied, ‘Is this how you reward our lord the king for helping your father and myself thrive under his blessing?' When he heard me say this, he rose and, pulling me off my horse, began to beat me until he left me in this condition. All this happened to me solely because I strove to be true to you.” Then the vizier threw himself on the ground and lay there, weeping, trembling, and pretending to swoon. When the king saw the vizier's condition and heard his story, the veins of his eyes bulged with anger, and he turned to the officers of state and, seeing forty armed guards standing on duty, said to them, “Go down to ibn-Khaqan's house and sack it and raze it; then bind him and drag him with the girl on their faces until you bring them to me.” They replied, “We hear and obey,” and they put on their outfits, preparing to go to Nur al-Din's house.

It happened that one of those present was one of the king's chamberlains, who was called ‘Alam al-Din Sanjar. He had earlier been one of the Mamluks of Fadl al-Din ibn-Khaqan but had subsequently left his service for that of the king, who had advanced him and made him a chamberlain. When he saw the enemies intent on killing his master's son, he could not stand it; so he withdrew from the king's presence and, mounting his horse, rode until he came to Nur al-Din's house and knocked at the door. Nur al-Din came out to see who was there and, finding that it was the chamberlain Sanjar, greeted him. But the chamberlain replied, “This is no time for greetings. As the poet says:

If you suffer injustice, save yourself

And leave the house behind to mourn its builder.

Your country you'll replace by another,

But for yourself you'll find no other self.

Nor with a mission trust another man,

For none is as loyal as you yourself.

And did the lion not struggle by himself,

He would not prowl with such a mighty mane.”

Nur al-Din asked him, “‘Alam al-Din, what is the matter?” ‘Alam al-Din replied, “My lord Nur al-Din, rise and flee for your lives, you and the girl, for the vizier al-Mu'in ibn-Sawi has set a trap for you, and if you don't move quickly, you will fall into it. At this very moment the king has dispatched forty armed men to sack your house, bind you and the slave-girl, and bring you before him. I advise you to rise at once and flee with the girl, before they overtake you.” Then ‘Alam al-Din put his hand in his pouch and, finding there forty dinars, took them and gave them to Nur al-Din, saying, “My lord, take this money for your journey. If I had had more, I would have given it to you, but this is no time for self reproach.”

Nur al-Din went to Anis al-Jalis and told her what had happened, and her hands began to shake. Then the two of them fled at once, and God granted them cover until they came out of the city gate and reached the riverbank, where they saw a large ship with the captain standing on the middle, ready to sail.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister, “What a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live!”