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Stories Of The Royal MendicantsThree Royal Mendicants
Three Royal Mendicants
The cateress then arose, and prepared for them a repast; and, after they
had eaten a little, they lighted the candles and burned some aloes-wood.
This done, they sat down again to the table; and, while they were eating and
drinking, they heard a knocking at the door; whereupon, without causing any
interruption to their meal, one of them went to the door, on her return, said,
Our pleasure this night is now complete, for I have found, at the door, three
foreigners^4 with shaven chins, and each of them is blind of the left eye: it
is an extraordinary coincidence. They are strangers newly arrived, and each of
them has a ridiculous appearance: if they come in, therefore, we shall be
amused with laughing at them. - The lady ceased not with these words, but
continued to persuade her sisters until the consented, and said, Let them
enter; but make it a condition with them that they speak not of that which
doth not concern them, lest they hear that which will not please them. Upon
this she rejoiced, and having gone again to the door, brought in the three men
blind of one eye and with shaven chins, and they had thin and twisted
mustaches. Being mendicants, they saluted and drew back; but the ladies rose
to them, and seated them; and when these three men looked at the porter, they
saw that he was intoxicated; and, observing him narrowly, they thought that he
was one of their own class, and said, He is a mendicant like ourselves, and
will amuse us by his conversation: - but the porter, hearing what they said,
arose, and rolled his eyes, and exclaimed to them, Sit quiet, and abstain from
impertinent remarks. Have ye not read the inscription upon the door? - The
ladies, laughing, said to each other, Between the mendicants and the porter we
shall find matter for amusement. They then placed before the former some food,
and they ate, and then sat to drink. The portress handed to them the wine,
and, as the cup was circulating among them, the porter said to them, Brothers,
have ye any tale or strange anecdote wherewith to amuse us? The mendicants,
heated by the wine, asked for musical instruments; and the portress brought
them a tambourine of the manufacture of El-Mosil, with a lute of El-Irak,
and a Persian harp; whereupon they all arose; and one took the tambourine;
another the lute; and the third, the harp: and they played upon these
instruments, the ladies accompanying them with loud songs; and while they were
thus diverting themselves, a person knocked at the door. The portress,
therefore, went to see who was there; and the cause of the knocking was this.
[See Three Royal Mendicants: The three Royal Mendicants performing.]
[Footnote 4: Or perhaps Kalenderi darwishes.]
The Khalifeh Harun Er-Rashid had gone forth this night to see and hear
what news he could collect, accompanied by Ja`far his Wezir, and Mesrur his
executioner. It was his custom to disguise himself in the attire of a
merchant; and this night, as he went through the city, he happened to pass,
with his attendants, by the house of these ladies, and hearing the sounds of
the musical instruments, he said to Ja`far, I have a desire to enter this
house, and to see who is giving this concert. - They are a party who have
become intoxicated, replied Ja`far, and I fear that we may experience some ill
usage from them; - but the Khalifeh said, We must enter, and I would that you
devise some stratagem by which we may obtain admission to the inmates. Ja`far
therefore answered, I hear and obey: - and he advanced, and knocked at the
door; and when the portress came and opened the door, he said to her, My
mistress, we are merchants from Tabariyeh,^5 and have been in Baghdad ten
days; we have brought with us merchandise, and taken lodgings in a Khan; and a
merchant invited us to an entertainment this night: accordingly, we went to
his house, and he placed food before us, and we ate, and sat a while drinking
together, after which he gave us leave to depart; and going out in the dark,
and being strangers, we missed our way to the Khan: we trust, therefore in
your generosity that you will admit us to pass the night in your house; by
doing which you will obtain a reward in heaven. - The portress, looking at
them, and observing that they were in the garb of merchants, and that they
bore an appearance of respectability, returned, and consulted her two
companions; and they said to her; Admit them: - so she returned, lnd opened to
them the door. They said to her, Shall we enter with thy permission? She
answered, Come in. The Khalifeh, therefore, entered, with Ja`far and Mesrur;
and when the ladies saw them, they rose to them, and served them, saying,
Welcome are our guests; but we have a condition to impose upon you, that ye
speak not of that which doth not concern you, lest ye hear that which will not
please you. They answered, Good: - and when they had sat down to drink, the
Khalifeh looked at the three mendicants, and was surprised at observing that
each of them was blind of the left eye; and he gazed upon the ladies, and was
perplexed and amazed at their fairness and beauty. And when the others
proceeded to drink and converse, the ladies brought wine to the Khalifeh; but
he said, I am a pilgrim; - and drew back from them. Whereupon the portress
spread before him an embroidered cloth, and placed upon it a China bottle,
into which she poured some willow-flower-water, adding to it a lump of
ice, and sweetening it with sugar, while the Khalifeh thanked her, and said
within himself, To-morrow I must reward her for this kind action.
[Footnote 5: Tiberias.]
The party continued their carousal, and, when the wine took effect upon
them, the mistress of the house arose, and waited upon them; and afterwards,
taking the hand of the cateress, said, Arise, O my sister, that we may fulfil
our debt. She replied, Good. The portress then rose, and, after she had
cleared the middle of the saloon, placed the mendicants at the further end,
beyond the doors; after which, the ladies called to the porter, saying. How
slight is thy friendship? thou art not a stranger, but one of the family. So
the porter arose, and girded himself, and said, What would ye? - to which one
of the ladies answered, Stand where thou art: - and presently the cateress
said to him, Assist me: - and he saw two black bitches, with chains attached
to their necks, drew them to the middle of the saloon; whereupon the mistress
of the house arose from her place, and tucked up her sleeve above her wrist,
and, taking a whip, said to the porter, Bring to me one of them. Accordingly,
he dragged one forward by the chain. The bitch whined, and shook her head at
the lady; but the latter fell to beating her upon the head, notwithstanding
her howling, until her arms were tired, when she threw the whip from her hand,
and pressed the bitch to her bosom, and wiped away her tears, and kissed her
head; after which she said to the porter, Take her back and bring the other; -
and he brought her, and she did to her as she had done to the first. At the
sight of this, the mind of the Khalifeh was troubled, and his heart was
contracted, and he winked to Ja`far that he should ask her the reason; but he
replied by a sign, Speak not.
The mistress of the house then looked towards the portress and said to
her, Arise to perform what thou hast to do. She replied, Good: - and the
mistress of the house seated herself upon a couch of alabaster, overlaid with
gold and silver, and said to the portress and the cateress, Now perform your
parts. Then portress then seated herself upon a couch by her; and the
cateress, having entered a closet, brought out from it a bag of satin with
green fringes, and, placing herself before the lady of the house, shook it,
and took out from it a lute; and she tuned its strings, and sang to it these
verses: -
Restore to my eyelids the sleep which hath been ravished; and inform me of my
reason, whither it hath fled.
I discovered, when I took up my abode with love, that slumber had become an
enemy to my eyes.
They said, We saw thee to be one of the upright; what, then, hath seduced
thee? I answered, Seek the cause from his glance.
Verily I excuse him for the shedding of my blood, admitting that I urged him
to the deed by vexation.
He cast his sun-like image upon the mirror of my mind, and its reflection
kindled a flame in my vitals.
When the portress had heard this song, she exclaimed, Allah approve thee!
- and she rent her clothes, and fell upon the floor in a swoon; and when her
bosom was thus uncovered, the Khalifeh saw upon her the marks of beating, as
if from mikra`ahs^5 and whips; at which he was greatly surprised. The cateress
immediately arose, sprinkled water upon her face, and brought her another
dress, which she put on. The Khalifeh then said to Ja`far, Seest thou not this
woman, and the marks of beating upon her? I cannot keep silence respecting
this affair, nor be at rest, until I know the truth of the history of this
damsel, and that of these two bitches. But Ja`far replied, O our lord, they
have made a covenant with us that we shall not speak excepting of that which
concerneth us, lest we hear that which will not please us. - The cateress then
took the lute again, and, placing it against her bosom, touched the chords
with the ends of her fingers, and thus sang to it: -
[Footnote 5: Palm sticks.]
If of love we complain, what shall we say? Or consuming through desire, how
can we escape?
Or if we send a messenger to interpret for us, he cannot convey the lover`s
complaint.
Or if we would be patient, short were our existence after the loss of those we
love.
Nought remaineth to us but grief and mourning, and tears streaming down our
cheeks.
O you who are absent from my sight, but constantly dwelling within my heart!
Have you kept your faith to an impassioned lover, who, while time endureth
will never change?
Or, in absence have you forgotten that lover who, on your account, is wasting
away?
When the day of judgment shall bring us together, I will beg of our Lord a
protractive trial.
On hearing these verses of the cateress, the portress again rent her clothes,
and cried out, and feel upon the floor in a swoon; and the cateress, as
before, put on her another dress, after she had sprinkled some water upon her
face.
The mendicants, when they witnessed this scene, said, Would that we had
never entered this house, but rather had passed the night upon the
[rubbish-] mounds; for our night hath been rendered foul by an event that
breaketh the back! The Khalifeh, looking towards them, then said, Wherefore
is it so with you? They answered, Our hearts are troubled by this
occurrence. - Are ye not, he asked, of this house? - No, they answered; nor
did we imagine that this house belonged to any but the man who is sitting with
you: - upon which the porter said, Verily, I have never seen this place before
this night; and I would that I had passed the night upon the mounds rather
than here. They then observed, one to another, We are seven men, and they are
but three women; we will, therefore, ask them of their history; and if they
answer us not willingly they shall do it in spite of themselves: - and they
all agreed to this, excepting Ja`far, who said, This is not a right
determination; leave them to themselves, for we are their guests, and they
made a covenant with us which we should fulfil: there remaineth but little of
the night, and each of us shall soon go his way. Then, winking to the
Khalifeh, he said, There remaineth but an hour; and to-morrow we will bring
them before thee, and thou shalt ask them their story. But the Khalifeh
refused to do so, and said, I have not patience to wait so long for their
history. - Words followed words, and at last they said, Who shall put the
question to them? - and one answered, The porter.
The ladies then said to them, O people, of what are ye talking? -
whereupon the porter approached the mistress of the house, and said to her, O
my mistress, I ask thee, and conjure thee by Allah, to tell us the story of
the two bitches, and for what reason thou didst beat them, and then didst
weep, and kiss them, and that thou acquaint us with the cause of thy sister`s
having been beaten with mikra`ahs: that is our question, and peace be on you.
- Is this true that he saith of you? inquired the lady, of the other men; and
they all answered, Yes, - excepting Ja`far, who was silent. When the lady
heard their answer, she said, Verily, O our guests, ye have wronged us
excessively; for we made a covenant with you beforehand, that he who should
speak of that which concerned him not should hear that which would not please
him. Is it not enough that we have admitted you into our house, and fed you
with our provisions? But it is not so much your fault as the fault of her who
introduced you to us. - She then tucked up her sleeve above her writs, and
struck the floor three times, saying, Come ye quickly! - and immediately the
door of a closet opened, and there came forth from it seven black slaves, each
having in his hand a drawn sword. The lady said to them, Tie behind them the
hands of these men of many words, and bind each of them to another: - and they
did so, and said, O virtuous lady, dost thou permit us to strike off their
heads? She answered, Give them a short respite, until I shall have inquired of
them their histories, before ye behead them. - By Allah, O my mistress,
exclaimed the porter, kill me not for the offence of others: for they have all
transgressed and committed an offence, excepting me. Verily our night had been
pleasant if we had been preserved from these mendicants, whose presence is
enough to convert a well-peopled city into a heap of ruins! - He then
repeated this couplet: -
How good is it to pardon one able to resist! and how much more so, one who is
helpless!
For the sake of the friendship that subsisted between us, destroy not one for
the crime of another!
On hearing these words of the porter, the lady laughed after her anger. Then
approaching the men, she said, Acquaint me with your histories, for there
remaineth of your lives no more than an hour. Were ye not persons of
honourable and high condition, or governors, I would hasten your recompense. -
The Khalifeh said to Ja`far, Woe to thee, O Ja`far! make known to her who we
are; otherwise she will kill us. - It were what we deserve, replied he. -
Jesting, said the Khalifeh, is not befitting in a time for seriousness: each
has its proper occasion. - The lady then approached the mendicants, and said
to them, Are ye brothers? They answered, No, indeed; we are only poor
foreigners. She said then to one of them, Wast thou born blind of one eye? -
No, verily, he answered; but a wonderful event happened to me when my eye was
destroyed, and the story of it, if engraved on the understanding, would serve
as a lesson to him who would be admonished. She asked the second and the third
also; and they answered her as the first; adding, Each of us is from a
different country, and our history is wonderful and extraordinary. The lady
then looked towards them and said, Each of you shall relate his story, and the
cause of his coming to our abode, and then stroke his head, and go his way.
The first who advanced was the porter, who said, O my mistress, I am a
porter; and this cateress loaded me, and brought me hither, and what hath
happened to me here in your company ye know. This is my story; and peace be on
you. - Stroke thy head, then, said she, and go: - but he replied, By Allah, I
will not go until I shall have heard the story of my companions. - The first
mendicant then advanced, and related as follows: -
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