Once upon a time there was a Porter in Baghdad, who was a bachelor and who would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a certain day, as he stood about the street leaning idly upon his crate, behold, there stood before him an honourable woman in a mantilla of Mosul silk, embroidered with gold and bordered with brocade; her walking shoes were also embellished with gold and her hair floated in long plaits. She raised her face veil and, showing two black eyes fringed with jetty lashes, whose glances were soft and languishing and whose perfect beauty was ever blandishing, she accosted the Porter and said in the suavest tones and choicest language, "Take up your crate and follow me." The Porter was so dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard her aright, but he shouldered his basket in hot haste saying in himself, "O day of good luck! O day of Allah's grace!" And walked after her till she stopped at the door of a house. There she rapped, and presently came out to her an old man, a Nazarene, to whom she gave a gold piece, receiving from him in return what she required of strained wine clear as olive oil; and she set it safely in the hamper, saying "Lift and follow." The Porter said, "This, by God, is indeed an auspicious day, a day propitious for the granting of all a man could wish." He again hoisted up the crate and followed her; till she stopped at a fruiterer's shop and bought from him

Shámi apples and Osmáni quinces and Ománi peaches, and cucumbers of Nile growth, and Egyptian limes and Sultáni oranges and citrons; besides Aleppine jasmine, scented myrtle berries, Damascene water lilies, flower of privet and camomile, blood red anemones, violets, and pomegranate bloom, eglantine and narcissus, and set the whole in the Porter's crate, saying, "Up with it." So he lifted and followed her till she stopped at a butcher's booth and said, "Cut me off ten pounds of mutton." She paid him his price and he wrapped it in a banana leaf, whereupon she laid it in the crate and said, "Hoist, O Porter." He hoisted accordingly, and followed her as she walked on till she stopped at a grocer's, where she bought dry fruits and pistachio kernels, Tihámah raisins, shelled almonds and all that was needed for dessert, and said to the Porter, "Lift and follow me." So he hoisted up his hamper and followed her till she stopped at the confectioner's, and she bought an earthen platter, and piled it with all kinds of sweetmeats in his shop, open-worked tarts and fritters scented with musk and "soap cakes," and lemon loaves and melon preserves, and "Zaynab's combs," and "ladies' fingers," and "Kazi's nibbles"

and goodies of every description; and placed the platter in the Porter's crate. Thereupon he said, being a merry man, "You should have told me, and I would have brought with me a pony or a she camel to carry all this market stuff." She smiled and gave him a little cuff on the nape saying, "Step out and exceed not in words for—Allah willing!—your wage will not be wanting." Then she stopped at a perfumer's and took from him ten sorts of waters, rose scented with musk, orange flower, water lily, willow flower, violet and five others; and she also bought two loaves of sugar, a bottle for perfume spraying, a lump of male incense, aloe wood, ambergris and musk, with candles of Alexandria wax; and she put the whole into the basket, saying, "Up with your crate and after me." He did so and followed until she stood before the greengrocer's, of whom she bought pickled safflower and olives, in brine and in oil; with tarragon and cream cheese and hard Syrian cheese; and she stowed them away in the crate saying to the Porter, "Take up your basket and follow me." He did so and went after her till she came to a fair mansion fronted by a spacious court, a tall, fine place to which columns gave strength and grace: and the gate of it had two leaves of ebony inlaid with plates of red gold. The lady stopped at the door and, turning her face veil sideways, knocked softly with her knuckles whilst the Porter stood behind her, thinking of nothing save her beauty and loveliness. Presently, the door swung back and both leaves were opened, whereupon he looked to see who had opened it; and behold, it was a lady of tall figure, some five feet high; a model of beauty and loveliness, brilliance and symmetry and perfect grace. Her forehead was flower white; her cheeks like the anemone ruddy bright; her eyes were those of the wild heifer or the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent moon which ends Sha'abán and begins Ramazán; her mouth was the ring of Sulayman, her lips coral red, and her teeth like a line of strung pearls or of camomile petals. Her throat recalled the antelope's, and her breasts, like two pomegranates of even size, stood out proudly, her body rose and fell in waves below her dress like the rolls of a piece of brocade, and her navel would hold an ounce of benzoin ointment.

In fine she was like her of whom the poet said:—

On Sun and Moon of palace cast your sight Enjoy her flower-like face, her fragrant light: Your eyes shall never see in hair so black Beauty encase a brow so purely white: The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim Though fail her name whose beauties we indite: As sways her gait I smile at hips so big And weep to see the waist they bear so slight.

shamed the noon sun's radiancy; and she was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden marquetry or a bride displayed in choicest finery or a noble maid of Araby. Right well of her sang the bard when he said:—

Her smiles twin rows of pearls display Chamomile buds or rimey spray Her tresses stray as night let down And shames her light the dawn o' day.

The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with graceful swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon, when she said to her sisters, "Why stand you here? take it down from this poor man's head!" Then the cateress went and stood before him and the portress behind him while the third helped them, and they lifted the load from the Porter's head; and, emptying it of all that was within it, set everything in its place. Lastly they gave him two gold pieces, saying, "Go your ways, O Porter." But he went not, for he stood looking at the ladies and admiring what uncommon beauty was theirs, and their pleasant manners and kindly dispositions (never had he seen goodlier); and he gazed wistfully at that good store of wines and sweet scented flowers and fruits and other matters. Also he marvelled with exceeding marvel, especially to see no man in the place and delayed his going; whereupon the eldest lady said, "What ails you that you go not; perhaps your wage be too little?" And, turning to her sister the cateress, she said, "Give him another dinar!" But the Porter answered, "By God, my lady, it is not for the wage; my hire is never more than two dirhams; but in very truth my heart and my soul are taken up with you and your condition. I wonder to see you single with not a man about you and not a soul to bear you company; and well you know that the minaret topples over unless it stand upon four, and you want this same fourth; and women's pleasure without man is short of measure, even as the poet said:—

See not we want for joy four things all told The harp and lute, the flute and flageolet And be they companied with scents fourfold Rose, myrtle, anemone and violet; Nor please all eight an if four you would withhold Good wine and youth and gold and pretty pet.

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. 87

You are there and want a fourth who shall be a person of good sense and prudence; smart-witted, and one apt to keep careful counsel." His words pleased and amused them much; and they laughed at him and said, "And who is to assure us of that? We are maidens and we fear to entrust our secret where it may not be kept, for we have read in a certain chronicle the lines of one Ibn al-Sumam:—

Hold fast your secret and to none unfold Lost is a secret when that secret's told: If fail your breast your secret to conceal How can you hope another's breast shall hold?

And Abu Nowás said well on the same subject:—

Who trusts secret to another's hand Upon his brow deserves burn of brand!"

When the Porter heard their words he rejoined, "By your lives! I am a man of sense and discretion, who has read books and perused chronicles; I reveal the fair and conceal the foul and I act as the poet advises:—

None but the good a secret keep And good men keep it unrevealed: It is to me a well shut house With keyless locks and door ensealed"

When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application addressed to them they said, "You know that we have laid out all our monies on this place. Now say, have you anything to offer us in return for entertainment? For surely we will not suffer you to sit in our company and be our cup companion, and gaze upon our faces so fair and so rare without paying a round sum. Do you not know the saying:—

"Sans hope of gain Love's not worth a grain?"

Whereto the lady portress added, "If you bring anything you are a something; if nothing, be off with you, you are a nothing;" but the procuratrix interposed, saying, "Nay, O my sisters, leave teasing him for by God he has not failed us this day, and had he been otherwise he never had kept patience with me, so whatever be his shot and scot I will take it upon myself." The Porter, overjoyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her saying, "By God, these monies are the first fruits this day has given me." Hearing this they said, "Sit you down and welcome to you," and the eldest lady added, "By God, we may not suffer you to join us save on one condition, and this it is, that no questions be asked as to what concerns you not, and frowardness shall be soundly flogged." Answered the Porter, "I agree to this, O my lady, on my head and my eyes be it! Look here, I am dumb, I have no tongue." Then arose the provisioneress and tightening her girdle set the table by the fountain and put the flowers and sweet herbs in their jars, and strained the wine and ranged the flasks in row and made ready every requisite. Then sat she down, she and her sisters, placing amidst them the Porter who kept deeming himself in a dream; and she took up the wine flagon, and poured out the first cup and drank it off, and likewise a second and a third. After this she filled a fourth cup which she handed to one of her sisters; and, lastly, she crowned a goblet and passed it to the Porter, saying:—

"Drink the dear draught, drink free and fair What heals every grief and pain."

He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best thanks and improvised:—

"Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend A man of worth whose good old blood all know: For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet And stinks when over stench it Perhaps blow:"

Adding:—

"Drain not the bowl, save from dear hand like yours The cup recalls your gifts; you are gifts of wine."

After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and was drunk and sat swaying from side to side and pursued:

"All drinks in which is blood the Law unclean Doth hold save one, the blood shed of the vine: Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won You fair! a willing ransom for those eyes."

Then the cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the portress, who took it from her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she poured again and passed to the eldest lady who sat on the couch, and filled yet another and handed it to the Porter. He kissed the ground before them; and, after drinking and thanking them, he again began to recite:

"Here! Here! By God, here! Cups of the sweet, the dear! Fill me a brimming bowl The Fount o' Life I speer"

Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and said, "O lady, I am your slave, your Mameluke, your white thrall, your very bondsman;" and he began to recite:—

"A slave of slaves there stands at your door Lauding your generous boons and gifts galore: Beauty! may he come in awhile to enjoy Your charms? for Love and I part nevermore!"

She said to him, "Drink; and health and happiness attend your drink." So he took the cup and kissed her hand and recited these lines in sing-song:—

"I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks Blushed red or flame from furnace flaring up: She kissed the brim and said with many a smile How dare you deal with folk's cheek for folk to sup? "Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tint Is heart-blood sighs have boiled in the cup."

She answered him in the following couplet:

An tears of blood for me, friend, you have shed Suffer me sup them by the head and eyes

Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sisters' health, and they did not stop drinking (the Porter being in the midst of them), and dancing and laughing and reciting verses and singing ballads and songs. All this time the Porter was carrying on with them, kissing, toying, biting, handling, groping, and caressing; whilst one thrust a dainty morsel in his mouth, and another slapped him; and this cuffed his cheeks, and that threw sweet flowers at him; and he was in the very paradise of pleasure, as though he were sitting in the seventh sphere among the celestial maidens of Paradise. They did not stop doing in this way until the wine played tricks in their heads and worsted their wits; and, when the drink got the better of them, the portress stood up and doffed her clothes till she was completely naked. However, she let down her hair about her body by way of covering, and throwing herself into the basin disported herself and dived like a duck and swam up and down, and took water in her mouth, and spurted it all over the Porter, and washed her limbs, and between her breasts, and inside her thighs and all around her navel.

Then she came up out of the cistern and throwing herself on the Porter's lap said, "O my lord, O my love, what do you call this article?" pointing to her anatomy. "I call that your cleft," the Porter said, and she rejoined, "Wah! Wah, are you not ashamed to use such a word?" and she caught him by the collar and soundly cuffed him. Said he again, "Your womb, your vulva;" and she struck him a second slap crying, "O fie, O fie, this is another ugly word; is there no shame in you?" He said, "Your...well, a crude name;" and she cried, "O you! Are you wholly destitute of modesty?" and thumped him and bashed him. Then cried the Porter, "Your clitoris," at which the eldest lady came down upon him with an even sorer beating, and said, "No;" and he said, "Surely it is," and the Porter went on calling the same thing by sundry other names, but whatever he said they beat him more and more till his neck ached and swelled with the blows he had received; and in this way they made him a butt and a laughing stock. At last he turned upon them asking, "And what do you women call this article?" Whereto the damsel made answer,

"The basil of the bridges." Cried the Porter, "Thank Allah for my safety: aid me and be you propitious, O basil of the bridges!" They passed round the cup and tossed off the bowl again, when the second lady stood up, and, stripping off all her clothes, cast herself into the cistern and did as the first had done; then she came out of the water and throwing her naked form on the Porter's lap pointed to her anatomy and said, "O light of my eyes, do tell me what is the name of this concern?" He replied as before, "Your slit;" and she rejoined, "Has such term no shame for you?" and cuffed him and buffeted him till the saloon rang with the blows. Then she said, "O fie! O fie! How can you say this without blushing?" He suggested, "The basil of the bridges;" but she would not have it and she said, "No! No!" And struck him and slapped him on the back of the neck. Then he began calling out all the names he knew, "Your slit, your womb, your...private parts, your clitoris;" and the girls kept on saying, "No! No!" So he said, "I stick to the basil of the bridges;" and all the three laughed till they fell on their backs and laid slaps on his neck and said, "No! No! That's not its proper name."

Thereupon he cried, "O my sisters, what is its name?" and they replied, "What say you to the husked sesame seed?" Then the cateress donned her clothes and they fell again to carousing, but the Porter kept moaning, "Oh! and Oh!" for his neck and shoulders, and the cup passed merrily round and round again for a full hour. After that time the eldest and fairest lady stood up and stripped off her garments, whereupon the Porter took his neck in hand, and rubbed and soothed it, saying, "My neck and shoulders bear the marks of Allah's justice!" Then she threw herself into the basin, and swam and dived, sported and washed; and the Porter looked at her naked figure as though she had been a slice of the moon and at her face with the beauty of Luna when at full, or like the dawn when it brightens, and he noted her noble stature and shape, and those glorious forms that quivered as she went; for she was naked as God made her. Then he cried, "Alas! Alas!" And began to address her, versifying in these couplets:—

"If I liken your shape to the bough when green My likeness errs and I sore mistake it; For the bough is fairest when clad the most And you are fairest when entirely naked."

When the lady heard his verses she came up out of the basin and, seating herself upon his lap and knees, pointed to her anatomy and said, "O my lordling, what is the name of this?" He said, "The basil of the bridges;" but she said, "Bah, bah!" He said, "The husked sesame;" she said, "Pooh, pooh!" Then he said, "Your womb;" and she cried, "Fie, Fie! Are you not ashamed of yourself?" and cuffed him on the nape of the neck. And whatever name he gave declaring "It is so," she beat him and cried, "No! No!" Till at last he said, "O my sisters, what is its name?" She replied, "It is entitled the Khan of Abu Mansur;" whereupon the Porter replied, "Ha! Ha! O Allah be praised for safe deliverance! O Khan of Abu Mansur!" Then she came forth and dressed and the cup went round for a full hour. At last the Porter rose up, and stripping off all his clothes, jumped into the tank and swam about and washed under his bearded chin and armpits, even as they had done. Then he came out and threw himself into the first lady's lap and rested his arms upon the lap of the portress, and reposed his legs in the lap of the cateress and pointed to his member and said, "O my mistresses, what is the name of this article?" All laughed at his words till they fell on their backs, and one said, "Your pintle!" But he replied, "No!" And gave each one of them a bite by way of forfeit. Then they said, "Your pizzle!" But he cried, "No," and gave each of them a hug;—

When it was the Tenth night

her sister Dunyazad, said, “Finish for us your story;” and she answered, “With joy and gladly.” The damsels did not stop saying to the Porter “Your prickle, your pintle, your pizzle,” and he did not stop kissing and biting and hugging until his heart was satisfied, and they laughed on till they could no more. At last one said, “O our brother, what, then, is it called?” He said, “Know you not?” They said, “No!” “Its veritable name,” he said, “is mule Burst-all, which browses on the basil of the bridges, and munches the husked sesame, and lodges in the Khan of Abu Mansur.” Then they laughed till they fell on their backs, and returned to their carousal, and did not stop in this way till night began to fall. Thereupon they said to the Porter, “In God's name, O our master, up and on with those sorry old shoes of yours and turn your face and show us the breadth of your shoulders!” He said, “By God, to part with my soul would be easier for me than departing from you: come let us join night to today, and tomorrow morning we will each go our own way.” “By my life on you,” said the procuratrix, “suffer him to tarry with us, that we may laugh at him: we may live out our lives and never meet with his like, for surely he is a right merry rogue and witty.” So they said, “You must not remain with us this night save on condition that you submit to our commands, and that whatever you see, you ask no questions about it, nor enquire of its cause.” “All right,” rejoined he, and they said, “Go read the writing over the door.” So he rose and went to the entrance and there found written in letters of gold: “Whoever speaks of what concerns him not, shall hear what pleases him not!” The Porter said, “Be you witnesses against me that I will not speak of whatever concerns me not.”

Then the cateress arose, and set food before them and they ate; after which they changed their drinking place for another, and she lighted the lamps and candles and burned ambergris and aloe wood, and set out fresh fruit and the wine service, when they fell to carousing and talking of their lovers. And they did not stop eating and drinking and chatting, nibbling dry fruits and laughing and playing tricks for the space of a full hour when lo! a knock was heard at the gate. The knocking in no wise disturbed their gathering, but one of them rose and went to see what it was and presently returned, saying, "Truly our pleasure for this night is to be perfect." "How is that?" asked they; and she answered, "At the gate be three Persian Kalandars with their beards and heads and eyebrows shaven; and all three blind of the left eye—which is surely a strange chance. They are foreigners from Roum land with the mark of travel plain upon them; they have just entered Baghdad, this being their first visit to our city and the cause of their knocking at our door is simply because they cannot find a lodging. Indeed one of them said to me: Perhaps the owner of this mansion will let us have the key of his stable or some old outbuilding in which we may pass this night; for evening had surprised them and, being strangers in the land, they knew none who would give them shelter. And, O my sisters, each of them is a figure of fun after his own fashion; and if we let them in we shall have matter to make sport of."

She gave not over persuading them till they said to her, "Let them in, and make the usual condition with them that they speak not of what concerns them not, lest they hear what pleases them not." So she rejoiced and going to the door presently returned with the three monoculars whose beards and moustaches were clean shaven. They saluted and stood afar off by way of respect; but the three ladies rose up to them and welcomed them and wished them joy of their safe arrival and made them sit down. The Kalandars looked at the room and saw that it was a pleasant place, clean swept and garnished with flowers, and the lamps were burning and the smoke of perfumes was rising in the air; and beside the desserts and fruits and wine, there were three fair girls who might be maidens; so they exclaimed with one voice, "By God, it is good!" Then they turned to the Porter and saw that he was a merry-faced fellow, albeit he was by no means sober and was sore from his beatings. So they thought that he was one of themselves and said, "A mendicant like us! Whether Arab or foreigner."

But when the Porter heard these words, he rose up, and fixing his eyes fiercely upon them, said, "Sit you here without exceeding in talk! Have you not read what is written over the door? surely it befits not fellows who come to us like paupers to wag your tongues at us." "We crave your pardon, O Fakir," rejoined they, "and our heads are between your hands." The ladies laughed consumedly at the squabble; and, making peace between the Kalandars and the Porter, seated the new guests before meat and they ate. Then they sat together, and the portress served them with drink; and, as the cup went round merrily, the Porter to the newcomers said, "And you, O brothers mine, have you no story or rare adventure to amuse us as well?" Now the warmth of wine having mounted to their heads they called for musical instruments; and the portress brought them a tambourine of Mosul, and a lute of Irak, and a Persian harp; and each mendicant took one and tuned it; one the tambourine and the others the lute and the harp, and struck up a merry tune while the ladies sang so lustily that there was a great noise. And whilst they were carrying on, behold, someone knocked at the gate, and the portress went to see what was the matter.

Now the cause of that knocking, O King (said Shahrazad) was this: the Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, had gone forth from the palace, as was his wont now and then, to solace himself in the city that night, and to see and hear what new thing was stirring; he was in merchant's garb, and he was attended by Ja'afar, his Wazir, and by Masrur his Sword of Vengeance. As they walked about the city, their way led them towards the house of the three ladies; where they heard the loud noise of musical instruments and singing and merriment; so the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "I long to enter this house and hear those songs and see who sing them." Ja'afar said, "O Prince of the Faithful, these folk are surely drunken with wine, and I fear some mischief might befall us if we get amongst them." "There is no help but that I go in there," replied the Caliph, "and I desire you to contrive some pretext for our appearing among them." Ja'afar replied, "I hear and I obey;" and knocked at the door, whereupon the portress came out and opened it. Then Ja'afar came forward and kissing the ground before her said, "O my lady, we are merchants from Tiberias town: we arrived at Baghdad ten days ago; and, alighting at the merchants' caravanserai, we sold all our merchandise.

Now a certain trader invited us to an entertainment this night; so we went to his house and he set food before us and we ate: then we sat at wine and merriment with him for an hour or so when he gave us leave to depart; and we went out from him in the shadow of the night and, being strangers, we could not find our way back to our inn. So perhaps by your kindness and courtesy you will suffer us to tarry with you this night, and Heaven will reward you!" The portress looked upon them and seeing them dressed like merchants and men of grave and respectable bearing, she returned to her sisters and repeated to them Ja'afar's story; and they took compassion upon the strangers and said to her, "Let them enter." She opened the door to them, when they said to her, "Have we your leave to come in?" "Come in," She said; and the Caliph entered followed by Ja'afar and Masrur; and when the girls saw them they stood up to them in respect and made them sit down and looked to their wants, saying, "Welcome, and well come and good cheer to the guests, but with one condition!" "What is that?" asked they, and one of the ladies answered,

"Speak not of what concerns you not, lest you hear what pleases you not." "Even so," said they; and sat down to their wine and drank deep. Presently, the Caliph looked on the three Kalandars and, seeing them each and every blind of the left eye, wondered at the sight; then he gazed upon the girls and he was startled and he marvelled with exceeding marvel at their beauty and loveliness. They continued to carouse and to converse and said to the Caliph, "Drink!" But he replied, "I am vowed to Pilgrimage;" and drew back from the wine. Thereupon the portress rose and spreading before him a tablecloth worked with gold, set thereon a porcelain bowl into which she poured willow flower water with a lump of snow and a spoonful of sugar candy. The Caliph thanked her and said in himself, "By God, I will recompense her tomorrow for the kind deed she has done." The others again addressed themselves to conversing and carousing; and, when the wine got the better of them, the eldest lady who ruled the house rose and making obeisance to them took the cateress by the hand, and said, "Rise, O my sister and let us do our duty."

Both answered, "Even so!" Then the portress stood up and proceeded to remove the table service and the remnants of the banquet; and renewed the incense sticks and cleared the middle of the saloon. Then she made the Kalandars sit upon a sofa at the side of the estrade, and seated the Caliph and Ja'afar and Masrur on the other side of the saloon; after which she called the Porter, and said, "How scanty is your courtesy! Now you are no stranger; nay, you are one of the household." So he stood up and, tightening his waist cloth, asked, "What would you have me do?" and she answered, "Stand in your place." Then the procuratrix rose and set in the midst of the saloon a low chair and, opening a closet, cried to the Porter, "Come help me." So he went to help her and saw two black bitches with chains round their necks; and she said to him, "Take hold of them;" and he took them and led them into the middle of the saloon. Then the lady of the house arose and tucked up her sleeves above her wrists and, seizing a scourge, said to the Porter, "Bring forward one of the bitches."

He brought her forward, dragging her by the chain, while the bitch wept, and shook her head at the lady who, however, came down upon her with blows; and the bitch howled and the lady did not stop beating her till her forearm failed her. Then, casting the scourge from her hand, she pressed the bitch to her bosom and, wiping away her tears with her hands, kissed her head. Then she said to the Porter, "Take her away and bring the second;" and, when he brought her, she did with her as she had done with the first. Now the heart of the Caliph was touched at these cruel doings; his chest tightened and he lost all patience in his desire to know why the two bitches were so beaten. He threw a wink at Ja'afar wishing him to ask, but the Minister turning towards him said by signs, "Be silent!" Then the portress said to the mistress of the house, "O my lady, arise and go to your place that I in turn may do my duty." She answered, "Even so"; and, taking her seat upon the couch of juniper wood, decorated with gold and silver, said to the portress and cateress, "Now do you what you have to do." Thereupon the portress sat upon a low seat by the couch side; but the procuratrix, entering a closet, brought out of it a bag of satin with green fringes and two tassels of gold. She stood up before the lady of the house and shaking the bag drew out from it a lute which she tuned by tightening its pegs; and when it was in perfect order, she began to sing these quatrains:—

“You are the wish, the aim of me And when, O Love, your sight I see The heavenly mansion opens; But Hell I see when lost your sight. From you comes madness; nor the less Comes highest joy, comes ecstasy: Nor in my love for you I fear Or shame and blame, or hate and spite. When Love was throned within my heart I rent the veil of modesty; And ceases not Love to rend that veil Bringing disgrace on grace to alight; The robe of sickness then I donned But rent to rags was my privacy: Why my love and longing heart Proclaim your high supremest might;

The tear drop falling down my cheek Tells my tale of shame: And all the hidden was seen by all And all my riddle read aright. Heal then my malady, for you Are malady and remedy! But she whose cure is in your hand Shall never be free of bane and blight Burn me those eyes that radiance rain Slay me the swords of fantasy How many has the sword of Love Laid low, their high degree despite? Yet will I never cease to pine Nor to oblivion will I flee Love is my health, my faith, my joy Public and private, wrong or right. O happy eyes that sight your charms That gaze upon you in their grace! Yea, of my purest wish and will The slave of Love I'll ever be called.”

When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains she cried out "Alas! Alas!" And rent her raiment, and fell to the ground fainting; and the Caliph saw scars of the palm rod on her back and welts of the whip; and marvelled with exceeding wonder. Then the portress arose and sprinkled water on her and brought her a fresh and very fine dress and put it on her. But when the company beheld these doings their minds were troubled, for they had no inkling of the case nor knew the story of it; so the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "Did you not see the scars upon the damsel's body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till I learn the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and the secret of the two black bitches." But Ja'afar answered, "O our lord, they made it a condition with us that we speak not of what concerns us not, lest we come to hear what pleases us not." Then said the portress, "By God, O my sister, come to me and complete this service for me." Replied the procuratrix, "With joy and gladly;" so she took the lute; and leaned it against her breast and swept the strings with her fingertips, and began singing:—

"Give back my eyes their sleep long ravished And tell me where my reason has fled: I learned that lending to your love a place Sleep to my eyelids mortal foe was made. They said, "We held you righteous, who waylaid Your soul?" "Go ask his glorious eyes," I said. I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill Owning his troubles drove him to shed blood. On my mind's mirror sun-like sheen he cast Whose keen reflection fire in my vitals bred Waters of Life let Allah waste at will Suffice my wage those lips of dewy red:

If you address my love you'll find a cause For plaint and tears or ruth or lustihed. In water pure his form shall greet your eyne When fails the bowl nor need you drink of wine. "

Then she quoted from the same ode:—

“I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine; And his swaying gait swayed to sleep these eyes: 'Twas not grape juice gripped me but grasp of the past 'Twas not bowl o'er-bowled me but gifts divine: His coiling curls my soul ensnared And his cruel will all my wits outwitted.”

After a pause she resumed:—

"If we complain of absence what shall we say? Or if pain afflicts us where do we go our way? If I hire a translator to tell my tale The lover's plaint is not told for pay: If I put on patience, a lover's life After loss of love will not last a day: Nothing is left me now but regret, repine And tears flooding my cheeks for ever and aye: O you who have stolen the light of my eyes You are homed in my heart that shall never stray; Would heaven I knew whether you have kept our pact Long as stream shall flow, to have firmest faith? Or have forgotten the weeping slave Whom groans afflict and whom griefs waylay? Ah, when severance ends and we lie side by side I'll blame your rigours and chide your pride!"

Now when the portress heard her second ode she shrieked aloud and said, "By God! It is right good!"; and laying hands on her garments tore them, as she did the first time, and fell to the ground fainting. Thereupon the procuratrix rose and brought her a second change of clothes after she had

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. 101 sprinkled water on her. She recovered and sat upright and said to her sister the cateress, "Come on, and help me in my duty, for there remains but this one song." So the provisioner again brought out the lute and began to sing these verses:

"How long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe May not suffice you all these tears you see flow? Our parting thus with purpose fell you do prolong Is it not enough to glad the heart of envious foe? Were but this lying world once true to lover heart He had not watched the weary night in tears of woe: Oh pity me whom overwhelmed your cruel will My lord, my king, 'tis time some ruth to me you show: To whom reveal my wrongs, O you who murdered me? Sad, who of broken troth the pangs must undergo! Increase wild love for you and frenzy hour by hour And days of exile minute by so long, so slow; O Muslims, claim vendetta for this slave of Love Whose sleep Love ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low: Does law of Love allow you, O my wish! to lie Lapped in another's arms and unto me cry "Go!"? Yet in your presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy When he I love but works my love to overthrow?"

When the portress heard the third song she cried aloud; and, laying hands on her garments, rent them down to the very skirt and fell to the ground fainting a third time, again showing the scars of the scourge. Then said the three Kalandars, "Would Heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather spent the night on the mounds and heaps outside the city! For truly our visit has been troubled by sights which cut to the heart." The Caliph turned to them and asked, "Why so?" and they made answer, "Our minds are sore troubled by this matter." The Caliph said, "Are you not of the household?" and they said, "No; nor indeed did we ever set eyes on the place till within this hour." At this the Caliph marvelled and rejoined, "This man who sits by you, would he not know the secret of the matter?" and so saying he winked and made signs at the Porter. So they questioned the man but he replied, "By the Almighty of Allah, in love all are alike! I am born of Baghdad, yet never in my born days did I darken these doors till today and my companying with them was a curious matter." "By God," they rejoined, "we took you for one of them and now we see you are one like ourselves."

Then said the Caliph, "We are seven men, and they only three women without even a fourth to help them; so let us question them of their case; and, if they answer us not, we will obtain answers by force." All of them agreed to this except Ja'afar who said, "This is not my counsel; let them be; for we are their guests and, as you know, they made a compact and condition with us which we accepted and promised to keep. Why is it better that we be silent concerning this matter; and, as but little of the night remains, let each and every of us go his own way." Then he winked at the Caliph and whispered to him, "There is but one hour of darkness left and I can bring them before you tomorrow, when you can freely question them all concerning their story." But the Caliph raised his head haughtily and cried out at him in wrath, saying, "I have no patience left for my longing to hear of them: let the Kalandars question them directly." Ja'afar said, "This is not my advice." Then words ran high and talk answered talk, and they disputed as to who should first put the question, but at last all fixed upon the Porter. And as the commotion increased the house mistress could not but notice it and asked them, "O you folk! On what matter are you talking so loudly?"

Then the Porter stood up respectfully before her and said, "O my lady, this company earnestly desire that you acquaint them with the story of the two bitches and what makes you punish them so cruelly; and then you fall to weeping over them and kissing them; and lastly they want to hear the tale of your sister and why she has been beaten with palm sticks like a man. These are the questions they charge me to put, and peace be with you." Thereupon she who was the lady of the house said to the guests, "Is this true that he says on your part?" and all replied, "Yes!" Save Ja'afar who kept silence. When she heard these words she cried, "By God, you have wronged us, O our guests, with grievous wronging; for when you came before us

The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. 103 we made compact and condition with you, that whoever should speak of what concerns him not should hear what pleases him not. Suffice you not that we took you into our house and fed you with our best food? But the fault is not so much yours as hers who let you in." Then she tucked up her sleeves from her wrists and struck the floor thrice with her hand crying, "Come you quickly;" and lo! a closet door opened and out of it came seven black slaves with drawn swords in hand to whom she said, "Bind the elbows of these praters and bind them each to each." They did her bidding and he asked, "O veiled and virtuous! Is it your high command that we strike off their heads?"; but she answered, "Leave them awhile that I question them of their condition, before their necks feel the sword." "By God, O my lady!" cried the Porter, "slay me not for another's sin; all these men offended and deserve the penalty of crime save myself. Now by God, our night had been charming had we escaped the mortification of these monocular Kalandars whose entrance into a populous city would convert it into a howling wilderness." Then he repeated these verses:—

"How fair is mercy the strong man deigns not smother! And fairest mercy when shown to weakest brother: By Love's own holy tie between us twain, Let one not suffer for the sin of another."

When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed—

When it was the Eleventh night

Then said the Caliph, "Woe to you, O Ja'afar, tell her who we are lest we be slain by mistake, and speak her fair before some horror befalls us." "It is part of your deserts," he replied; whereupon the Caliph cried out at him saying, "There is a time for witty words and there is a time for serious work." Then the lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked them, "Are you brothers?"; when they answered, "No, by God, we are nothing but Fakirs and foreigners." Then she said to one among them, "Were you born blind of one eye?"; and he said, "No, by God, it was a marvellous matter and a wondrous mischance which caused my eye to be torn out, and mine is a tale which, if it were written upon the eye corners with needle gravers, were a warning to whoever would be warned." She questioned the second and third Kalandar; but all replied like the first, "By God, O our mistress, each one of us comes from a different country, and we are all three the sons of Kings, sovereign Princes ruling over kingdoms and capital cities." Thereupon she turned towards them and said, "Let each and every of you tell me his tale in due order and explain the cause of his coming to our place; and if his story pleases us let him rub his head and go on their way."

The first to come forward was the Hammal, the Porter, who said, "O my lady, I am a man and a porter. This dame, the cateress, hired me to carry a load and took me first to the shop of a vintner, then to the booth of a butcher; thence to the stall of a fruiterer; thence to a grocer who also sold dry fruits; thence to a confectioner and a perfumer-druggist and from him to this place where there happened to me with you what happened. Such is my story and peace be on us all!" At this the lady laughed and said, "Rub your head and go your ways!"; but he cried, "By God, I will not touch it till I hear the stories of my companions." Then came forward one of the Monoculars and began to tell her