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Story Of Nur-Ed-Din And Enis-El-JelisThe Fisherman Kermin
The Fisherman Kermin
When the Khalifeh witnessed this conduct of the sheykh Ibrahim, the vein
of anger swelled between his eyes, and he descended,and said, O Ja`far, I have
never seen anything of the miraculous performances of the just such as I have
beheld this night: ascend, therefore, thyself also, into this tree, and look,
lest the blessings of the just escape thee. - On hearing the words of the
Prince of the Faithful, Ja`far was perplexed at his situation; and he climbed
up into the tree, and looked, and saw Nur-ed-Din and the sheykh Ibrahim
and the damsel, and the sheykh Ibrahim had the cup in his hand. As soon as he
beheld this, he made sure of destruction; and he descended, and stood before
the Prince of the Faithful, and the Khalifeh said, O Ja`far, praise be to God
who hath made us to be of the number of those who follow the external
ordinances of the holy law, and averted from us the sin of disguising
ourselves by the practice of hypocrisy! But Ja`far was unable to reply, from
his excessive confusion. The Khalifeh then looked towards him, and said, Who
can have brought these persons hither, and admitted them into my palace? But
the like of this young man and this damsel, in beauty and loveliness and
symmetry of form, mine eye hath never beheld. - Ja`far, now conceiving a hope
that the Khalifeh might be propitiated, replied, Thou hast spoken truly, O
Prince of the Faithful. And the Khalifeh said, O Ja`far, climb up with us upon
this branch which is opposite them, that we may amuse ourselves by observing
them. So they both climbed up into the tree, and, looking at them, heard the
sheykh Ibrahim say, O my mistress, I have relinquished decorum by the drinking
of wine; but the pleasure of this is not complete without the melodious sounds
of stringed instruments. - O sheykh Ibrahim, replied Enis-el-Jelis, by
Allah, if we had any musical instrument, our happiness were perfect. And when
the sheykh Ibrahim heard her words, he rose upon his feet. - The khalifeh said
to Ja`far, What may he be going to do? Ja`far replied, I know not. - And the
sheykh Ibrahim went away, and returned with a lute; and the Khalifeh, looking
attentively at it, saw that it was the lute of Ishak the cup-companion; and
said, By Allah, if this damsel sing not well, I will crucify you all; but if
she sing well, I will pardon them, and crucify thee. So Ja`far said, O Allah,
let her not sing well! - Why? asked the Khalifeh. - That thou mayest crucify
all of us, answered Ja`far; and then we shall cheer one another by
conversation. And the Khalifeh laughed: and the damsel took the lute, and
tuned its strings, and played upon it in a manner that would melt iron, and
inspire an idiot with intellect; after which she sang with such sweetness that
the Khalifeh exclaimed, O Ja`far, never in my life have I heard so enchanting
a voice as this! - Perhaps, said Ja`far, the anger of the Khalifeh hath
departed from him? - Yea, he answered; it hath departed. He then descended
with Ja`far from the tree, and, looking towards him, said, I am desirous of
going up to them, to sit with them, and to hear the damsel sing before me. - O
Prince of the Faithful, replied Ja`far, if thou go up to them, probably they
will be troubled by thy presence; and as to the sheykh Ibrahim, he will
assuredly die of fear. The Khalifeh therefore said, O Ja`far, thou must
acquaint me with some stratagem by means of which I may learn the truth of the
affair without their knowing that I have discovered them. And he and Ja`far
walked towards the Tigris, reflecting upon this matter; and lo, a fisherman
stood beneath the windows of the palace, and he threw his net, hoping to catch
something by means of which to obtain his subsistence. - Now the Khalifeh had,
on a former occasion, called to the sheykh Ibrahim, and said to him, What was
that noise that I heard beneath the windows of the palace? - and he answered,
The voices of the fishermen, who are fishing: - so he said, Go down and forbid
them from coming to this place. They were therefore forbidden to come thither;
but this night there came a fisherman named Kerim, and, seeing the garden -
gate open, he said within himself, This is a time of inadvertence, and perhaps
I may catch some fish on this occasion: - so he took his net, and threw it
into the river, and then recited some verses, contrasting the condition of the
poor fisherman, toiling throughout the night, with that of the lord of the
palace, who, awaking from a pleasant slumber, findeth the fawn in his
possession; and as soon as he had finished his recitation, lo, the Khalifeh,
unattended, stood at his head. The Khalifeh knew him, and exclaimed, O Kerim!
- and the fisherman, hearing him call him by his name, turned towards him; and
when he beheld the Khalifeh, the muscles of his side quivered, and he said, By
Allah, O Prince of the Faithful, I did not this in mockery of the mandate; but
poverty and the wants of my family impelled me to the act of which thou art
witness. The Khalifeh replied, Throw thy net for my luck. And the fisherman
advanced, rejoicing exceedingly, and cast the net, and, having waited until it
had attained its limit and become steady at the bottom, drew it in again, and
there came up in it a variety of fish that could not be numbered.
The Khalifeh was delighted at this, and said, O Kerim, strip off thy
clothes: - and he did so. He was clad in a jubbeh^5 in which were a hundred
patches of coarse woollen stuff, containing vermin of the most abominable
kind, and among them fleas in such numbers that he might almost have been
transported by their means over the face of the earth; and he took from his
head a turban which for three years he had never unwound; but when he happened
to find a piece of rag he twisted it around it: and when he had taken off the
jubbeh and the turban, the Khalifeh pulled off from his own person two vests
of silk of Alexandria and Ba`lbekk, and a melwatah^6 and a farajiyeh, and said
to the fisherman, Take these, and put them on. The Khalifeh then put on
himself the fisherman`s jubbeh and turban, and, having drawn a litham^7 over
his face, said to the fisherman, Go about thy business; - and he kissed the
feet of the Khalifeh, and thanked him, reciting these two verses: -
[Footnote 5: A long outer coat with sleeves nearly reaching to the wrist.]
[Footnote 6: A jubbeh or dress of costly material.]
[Footnote 7: The Bedawi muffler, made by the end of the head-kerchief.]
Thou hast granted me favours beyond my power to acknowledge, and completely
satisfied all my wants.
I will thank thee, therefore, as long as I live, and when I die my bones will
thank thee in their grave.
But scarcely had he finished his verses, when the vermin overran the person of
the Khalifeh, and he began to seize them with his right hand and his left from
his neck, and to throw them down; and he exclaimed, O fisherman, wo to thee!
What are these abundant vermin in this jubbeh? - O my lord, he answered, at
present they torment thee; but when r week shall have passed over thee, thou
wilt not feel them, nor think of them. The Khalifeh laughed, and said to him,
How can I suffer this jubbeh to remain upon me? The fisherman replied, I wish
to tell thee something; but I am ashamed, through my awe of the Khalifeh. -
Impart, said the Khalifeh, what thou hast to tell me. So he said to him, It
hath occurred to my mind, O Prince of the Faithful, that thou desirest to
learn the art of fishing, in order that thou mayest be master of a trade that
may profit thee; and if such be thy desire, this jubbeh is suitable to thee.
And the Khalifeh laughed at his words.
The fisherman then went his way, and the Khalifeh took the basket of
fish, and, having put upon it a little grass, went with it to Ja`far, and
stood before him; and Ja`far, thinking that he was Kerim the fisherman, feared
for him, and said, O Kerim, what brought thee hither? Save thyself by flight;
for the Khalifeh is here this night. - And when the Khalifeh heard the words
of Ja`far, he laughed until he fell down upon his back. So Ja`far said,
Perhaps thou art our lord the Prince of the Faithful? - Yes, O Ja`far,
answered the Khalifeh, and thou art my Wezir, and I came with thee hither, and
thou knowest me not. How then should the sheykh Ibrahim know me when he is
drunk? Remain where thou art until I return to thee. - Ja`far replied, I hear
and obey: - and the Khalifeh advanced to the door of the palace, and knocked.
The sheykh Ibrahim arose, therefore, and said, Who is at the door? He
answered, I, O sheykh Ibrahim. The sheykh said, Who art thou? - and the
Khalifeh answered, I am Kerim the fisherman: I heard that there were guests
with thee, and have therefore brought thee some fish; for it is excellent. -
Now Nur-ed-Din and the damsel were both fond of fish, and when they heard
the mention of it they rejoiced exceedingly, and said, O my master, open to
him, and let him come in to us with the fish which he hath brought. So the
sheykh Ibrahim opened the door, and the Khalifeh, in his fisherman`s disguise,
entered, and began by salutation; and the sheykh Ibrahim said to him, Welcome
to the robber, the thief, the gambler! Come hither, and shew us the fish which
thou hast brought. - He therefore shewed it to them; and lo, it was alive, and
moving; and the damsel exclaimed, By Allah, O my master, this fish is
excellent! I wish it were fried! - By Allah, said the sheykh Ibrahim, thou
hast spoken truth. Then, addressing the Khalifeh, he said, O fisherman, I wish
thou hadst brought this fish fried. Arise, and fry it for us, and bring it. -
On the head be thy commands, replied the Khalifeh: I will fry it, and bring
it. - Be quick, said they, in doing it.
The Khalifeh therefore arose and ran back to Ja`far, and said O Ja`far,
they want the fish fried. - O Prince of the Faithful, replied he, give it me,
and I will fry it. But the Khalifeh said, By the tombs of my ancestors, none
shall fry it but myself: with my own hand will I do it! He then repaired to
the hut of the superintendent, and, searching there, found in it everything
that he required, the frying-pan, and even the salt, and wild marjoram, and
other things. So he approached the fire-place, and put on the frying-pan, and
fried it nicely; and when it was done, he put it upon a banana-leaf, and,
having taken from the garden some limes, he went up with the fish, and placed
it before them. The young man, therefore, and the damsel and the sheykh
Ibrahim advanced and ate; and when they had finished, they washed their hands,
and Nur-ed-Din said, By Allah, O fisherman, thou hast done us a kindness this
night. Then putting his hand into his pocket, he took forth for him three
pieces of gold, of those which Senjer had presented to him when he was setting
forth on his journey, and said, O fisherman, excuse me; for, by Allah, if I
had known thee before the events that have lately happened to me, I would have
extracted the bitterness of poverty from thy heart; but take this as accordant
with my present circumstances. So saying, he threw the pieces of gold to the
Khalifeh, who took them, and kissed them, and put them in his pocket. The
object of the Khalifeh in doing this was only that hemight hear the damsel
sing: so he said to him, Thou hast treated me with beneficence, and abundantly
recompensed me; but I beg of thy unbounded indulgence that this damsel may
sing an air, that I may hear her. Nur-ed-Din therefore said, O Enis-e-Jelis!
She replied, Yes. - By my life, said he, sing to us something for the
gratification of this fisherman; for he desireth to hear thee. And when she
had heard what her master said, she took the lute, and tried it with her
fingers, after she had twisted its pegs, and sang to it these two verses: -
The fingers of many a fawn-like damsel have played upon the lute, and the
soul hath been ravished by the touch.
She hath made the deaf to hear her songs; and the dumb hath exclaimed, Thou
hast excelled in thy singing!
Then she played again, in an extraordinary manner, so as to charm the minds of
her hearers, and sang the following couplet: -
We are honoured by your visiting our abode, and your splendour hath dispelled
the darkness of the moonless night:
It is therefore incumbent upon me to perfume my dwelling with musk and
rosewater and camphor.
Upon this, the Khalifeh was affected with violent emotion, and overcome
by ecstasy, so that he was no longer master of himself from excessive delight;
and he began to exclaim, Allah approve thee! Allah approve thee! Allah approve
thee! So Nur-ed-Din said to him, O fisherman, have the damsel and her art
in striking the chords pleased thee? - Yea, by Allah! exclaimed the Khalifeh.
And Nur-ed-Din immediately said, She is bestowed upon thee as a present
from me, the present of a generous man who will not revoke his gift. And he
rose upon his feet, and took a melwatah, and threw it upon the Khalifeh in the
fisherman`s disguise, ordering him to depart with the damsel. But she looked
towards him, and said, O my master, wilt thou part from me without bidding me
farewell? If we must be separated, pause while I take leave of thee. - And she
recited the following couplet: -
If you depart from me, still your abode will be in my heart, in the recess of
my bosom.
I implore the Compassionate to grant our reunion; and a boon such as this, God
will grant to whom He pleaseth.
And when she had finished, Nur-ed-Din thus replied to her: -
She bade me farewell on the day of separation, saying, while she wept from the
pain that it occasioned,
What wilt thou do after my departure? - Say this, I replied, unto him who will
survive it.
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