Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that I had a father who, after his time had been fulfilled, passed away and left me a great store of wealth. I remained unmarried for a short time and then married one of the richest men of his day. I lived with him for a year when he also died, and my share of his property amounted to eighty thousand dinars in gold according to the law of inheritance. Thus I became exceedingly rich, and my reputation spread far and wide, for I had made myself ten changes of garments, each worth a thousand dinars. One day, as I was sitting at home, an old woman came to me—a woman with hollow cheeks sucked in, with eyes sunken, scant and scabby eyebrows, a bare and bald head, teeth broken and worn by time, a bent back, a nodding neck, a blotched face, and eyes running with rheum. Her hair was like a speckled serpent, black and white—in appearance, truly a fright, as the poet says of such a one:

Ill omened hag! unshriven be her sins Nor mercy visit her on dying bed: Thousand head strongest he mules would her guiles, Despite their bolting, lead with spider thread.

And as says another:—

A hag to whom th' unlawful lawfullest And witchcraft wisdom in her sight are grown: A mischief making brat, a demon maid, A whorish woman and a pimping crone.

When the old woman entered, she greeted me and, kneeling before me, said, "I have an orphan daughter at home, and tonight is her wedding and her ceremonial display. We are poor people, strangers in this city, knowing no one, and we are heartbroken. Do yourself a kindness and gain a reward in Heaven by attending her display. When the ladies of this city hear that you will be present, they also will come. You will comfort her great affliction, for she is deeply troubled in spirit and has no one to turn to but Allah the Most High." Then she wept and kissed my feet, reciting these verses:

"Your presence brings us a grace We own before your winsome face: And were you absent never an one Could stand in stead or take your place."

Pity and compassion seized me, and I said, "I hear and consent. By God's will, I will do more for her than you ask. She shall not be presented to her bridegroom except in my raiment and ornaments and jewels." At this the old woman rejoiced and bowed her head to my feet, kissing them and saying, "May Allah reward you with good, and comfort your heart as you have comforted mine! But, O my lady, do not trouble yourself at this hour. Be ready by supper time, when I will come to fetch you." So saying, she kissed my hand and departed. I set about stringing my pearls and putting on my brocades and preparing my appearance, not thinking of what Fortune had in store for me. Suddenly the old woman appeared before me, grinning widely until every stump of tooth was visible, and said, "O my mistress, the ladies of the city have arrived. When I told them that you had promised to be present, they were delighted. Now they await you eagerly, looking forward to meeting you." So I threw on my mantilla and, with the old woman walking before me and my handmaidens behind me, I went until we came to a street well watered and swept clean, where a cool, sweet breeze blew. We were stopped at a gate arched over with a dome of marble stone, firmly set on the strongest foundation. It led to a Palace whose walls rose tall and proud from earth to sky, and whose pinnacle touched the clouds. Over the doorway were written these couplets:

I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile; The home of Joyance through my lasting while: And 'mid my court a fountain jets and flows, Nor tears nor troubles shall that fount defile: The marge with royal Nu'uman's bloom is dressed, Myrtle, Narcissus flower and Chamomile.

At the gate, before which hung a black curtain, the old woman knocked, and it opened for us. We entered a vestibule spread with carpets and hung with lamps burning brightly and candles in candelabra adorned with pendants of precious gems and noble metals. We passed through this corridor and entered a great hall, whose grandeur and beauty have no equal in this world. It was draped and carpeted with silken fabrics and illuminated with branched candlesticks, wall sconces, and tapers arranged in double rows. An avenue led to the far end of the hall, where stood a couch of juniper wood encrusted with pearls and gems, crowned with a baldaquin whose mosquito curtains of satin were looped up with pearls. We had hardly taken in this sight when a young lady emerged from the baldaquin. O Commander of the Faithful, I beheld a face and form more perfect than the full moon, with a beauty brighter than the dawn, gleaming with a saffron-hued light, even as the poet sang:

You pacest the palace a' marvel sight, A bride for a Kisrá's or Kaisar's night! Wantons the rose on your roseate cheek, O cheek as the blood of the dragon bright! Slim waisted, languorous, sleepy eyed, With charms which promise all love delight: And the tire which attires your tiara'd brow Is a night of woe on a morn's glad light.

The fair young girl descended from the dais and said to me, "Welcome, welcome, and good cheer to you, my beloved sister, the illustrious one! A thousand greetings!" Then she recited these verses:

"If the house could know who comes, it would rejoice And kiss the dust beneath your feet; With the tongue of circumstance, the walls would say, 'Welcome and hail to one graced with noble gifts!'"

Then she sat down and said to me, "O my sister, I have a brother who has seen you at various wedding feasts and celebrations. He is a youth more handsome than I, and he has fallen deeply in love with you, for bounteous Destiny has gathered in you all beauty and perfection. He has given money to this old woman to visit you, and she has cleverly brought us together. He has heard that you are one of the nobles of your tribe, and he is no less noble in his. Wishing to unite his fortune with yours, he has arranged this meeting so that I might know you. He desires to marry you according to the law of Allah and His Prophet, and there is no shame in what is lawful and right." When I heard these words and realised I was trapped in this house, I said, "I hear and consent." She was delighted and clapped her hands. A door opened and a young man entered in the prime of life, exquisitely dressed, a model of beauty, loveliness, symmetry, and perfect grace, with gentle, winning manners. His eyebrows arched like a bent bow drawn on a string, and his eyes bewitched all hearts with lawful sorcery, as the poet says of one like him:

His face shines like the young moon And Fortune stamps him with pearls.

And may Allah bless him who said:

Blessed be his beauty and the Lord's decree Who created and shaped one so bright of hue: All gifts of beauty joined in him alone— In his love, all humanity is lost. Beauty's self is written on his brow: "I testify there is no good but he!"

When I looked upon him, my heart was drawn to him, and I loved him. He sat beside me and talked with me for a while. Then the young lady clapped her hands again, and a side door opened. The Kazi entered with his four assessors as witnesses. They greeted us and, sitting down, drew up and wrote the marriage contract between me and the youth, then departed. He turned to me and said, "May our night be blessed," and then added, "O my lady, I have a condition to place upon you."

I asked, "O my lord, what is it?" He arose and, fetching a copy of the Holy Book, presented it to me, saying, "Swear upon this that you will never look at any man but me, nor incline your body or your heart toward another." I swore to this gladly, and he was filled with great joy. He embraced me round the neck, and love for him filled my whole heart. Then they brought the table before us, and we ate and drank until we were satisfied. But I longed for night to come. When it did, he led me to the bridal chamber and lay with me, and all through the night he kissed and embraced me until dawn—a night more beautiful than any I had ever dreamed. I lived with him in happiness and joy for a full month, at the end of which I asked his permission to go to the bazaar and buy myself certain special fabrics, and he granted it. So I donned my mantilla and, taking with me the old woman and a slave girl, I went to the khan of the silk mercers, where I seated myself in the shop front of a young merchant whom the old woman recommended, saying to me, "This youth's father died when he was a boy and left him great store of wealth: he has by him a mighty fine stock of goods and you will find what you seek with him, for none in the bazar has better stuffs than he." Then she said to him, "Show this lady the most costly stuffs you have by you;" and he replied, "I hear and I obey!" Then she whispered me, "Say a civil word to him!"; but I replied, "I am pledged to address no man save my lord." And as she began to sound his praise I said sharply to her, "We want nothing of your sweet speeches; our wish is to buy of him whatever we need, and return home."

Tale of the Portress. 179

So he brought me all I sought and I offered him payment, but he refused, saying, "Let this be a gift to my honored guest!" I then said to the old woman, "If he will not take the money, take back the goods." But he cried, "By God, I will take nothing from you! I do not sell for gold or silver, but I give it all as a gift for a single kiss—a kiss more precious to me than everything in this shop." The old woman asked, "What profit is a kiss to you?" Then, turning to me, she whispered, "O my daughter, do you hear what this young man says? What harm would it do you to give him a kiss and obtain what you seek at that price?" I replied, "I seek refuge with Allah from such an action! Do you not know that I am bound by a solemn oath?" But she answered, "Now, be quiet. Just let him kiss you without speaking to him or leaning toward him, and you will keep your oath and your silver, with no harm to you whatsoever." She did not stop persuading and urging me and making light of the matter until evil entered my mind. I resolved never to consent, yet consented. I veiled my eyes and held up the edge of my mantilla between myself and those passing by, and he put his mouth to my cheek beneath the veil. But as he kissed me, he bit me so hard that he tore the flesh from my cheek, and blood flowed rapidly while faintness overcame me.

The old woman caught me in her arms, and when I came to myself, I found the shop closed and her grieving over me, saying, "Thank Allah for turning away what might have been worse!" Then she said to me, "Come, gather your strength and let us go home before this matter becomes known and you are dishonored. When you are safe inside, pretend to be ill and lie down. Cover yourself up, and I will bring you powders and plasters to heal this bite. Your wound will be healed within three days at most." After a while I arose, though I was in extreme distress and terror. I made my way slowly home and, upon arriving, I claimed to be ill and lay down. When my husband came in at night, he said, "What has happened to you, my darling, on this excursion of yours?"

I replied, "I am not well; my head aches greatly." He lit a candle and drew near me, looking closely at my face and asking, "What is that wound I see on your cheek, in such a tender place?" I answered, "When I went out today with your permission to buy fabrics, a camel laden with firewood bumped into me, and one of the pieces tore my veil and wounded my cheek, as you see. The streets of this city are very narrow." "Tomorrow," he cried, "I will go to the Governor and complain, and he will hang every fuel seller in Baghdad!" "In God's name," I said, "do not burden your soul with such sin against innocent men. The truth is I was riding on a donkey, and it stumbled, throwing me to the ground. My cheek struck a stick or a piece of glass and received this wound." "Then," he said, "tomorrow I will go to Ja'afar the Barmaki and tell him the story, and he will put to death every donkey boy in Baghdad!" "Would you destroy all these men because of my wound," I said, "when what happened to me was by Allah's decree and destiny?"

But he answered, "There is no other way," and, springing to his feet, assailed me with words and pressed me until I was confused and frightened. I stammered and my words grew unclear, and I said, "This was merely an accident by Allah's decree." Then, O Commander of the Faithful, he guessed what had truly happened and said, "You have been false to your oath." He at once cried out loudly, and a door opened. Seven black slaves entered, and he ordered them to drag me from my bed and throw me down in the middle of the room. He commanded one of them to pin my arms and sit upon my head, and another to sit upon my knees and hold my feet. Then he drew his sword and gave it to a third, saying, "Strike her, O Sa'ad, and cut her in half, and let each of you take a portion and cast it into the Tigris so that the fish may eat her. Such is the punishment for those who violate their vows and are unfaithful in love." He grew even more angry and recited these couplets:

"An there be one who shares with me her love, I'd strangle Love tho' life by Love were slain Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, For ill is Love when shared twixt partners twain.

Then he said to the slave, "Strike her, O Sa'ad!"

And when the slave who sat upon me was certain of the command, he bent down and said, "O my mistress, recite the profession of Faith and think if there is anything you would have done, for truly this is the last hour of your life." "O good slave," I said, "wait a moment and get off my head so that I may give you my final wishes." I raised my head and saw my condition—how I had fallen from high station into the lowest disgrace, from life into death (and what a life it had been!), and how I had brought this punishment upon myself through my own sin. Tears streamed from my eyes, and I wept bitterly. But he looked at me with eyes of anger and began to recite:

"Tell her who turns from our love to work it injury sore, And takes her a fine new love the old love tossing over: We cry enough o' you before you enough of us will cry! What past between us does suffice and Perhaps something more."

When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and looked at him and began reciting these verses:

"To severance you doom my love and all unmoved remain; My tear sore lids you sleepless make and sleep while I complain: You make firm friendship reign between my eyes and insomny; Yet can my heart forget you not, nor tears can I restrain: You made me swear with many an oath my troth to hold for aye, But when you reigned my bosom's lord you wrought me traitor bane. I loved you like a silly child who wots not what is Love; Then spare the learner, let her not be by the master slain! By God's name I pray you write, when I am dead and gone, Upon my tomb, This died of Love whose senses Love had ta'en: Then Perhaps one shall pass that way who fire of Love has felt, And treading on a lover's heart with ruth and woe shall melt."

When I finished my verses, tears came again, but my poetry and weeping only increased his rage, and he recited:

"Twas not satiety bade me leave the dearling of my soul, But that she sinned a mortal sin which clipt me in its clip: She sought to let another share the love between us twain, But my True Faith of Unity refuses partnership."

When he finished reciting, I wept again and begged his pardon, humbling myself before him and speaking softly. I thought to myself, "I will try to move him with words, perhaps he will stop from killing me, even if he takes all I have." So I spoke of my sufferings and began to recite these verses:

"Now, by your life and were you just my life you had not ta'en, But who can break the severance law which parts lovers twain! You loadest me with heavy weight of longing love, when I Can hardly bear my chemisette for weakness and for pain: I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin lain: I marvel much to see my frame such severance pangs sustain."

When I ended my verse, I wept again. He looked at me and reviled me with harsh language, reciting these couplets:

"You were all taken up with love of other man, not me; 'Twas yours to show me severance face, 'twas only mine to see: I'll leave you for that first you were of me to take your leave And patient bear that parting blow you borest so patiently: even as you sought other love, so other love I'll seek, And make the crime of murdering love yours own atrocity."

When he finished reciting, he cried out to the slave again, "Cut her in half and free us from her, for she is worthless to us." The slave moved toward me, O Commander of the Faithful, and I stopped reciting verses. I resigned myself to death and, losing all hope of life, I surrendered my soul to Almighty Allah. But suddenly the old woman rushed in and threw herself at my husband's feet, kissing them and weeping. She said, "O my son, by the obligation you owe to my care of you and by my long service to you, I implore you to pardon this young lady. She has done nothing to deserve such a fate. You are still young, and I fear her death will be upon your conscience, for it is said that whoever kills shall be killed. As for this woman—if you think her wanton—drive her out from your house, your love, and your heart." She did not cease weeping and pleading until he relented and said, "I grant her pardon, but I must mark her so that all her life she will bear the sign of what she has done." He then commanded the slaves to drag me along the ground and lay me out at full length.

After they stripped me of all my clothes and held me so I could not move, he brought a rod of quince wood and struck me repeatedly on my back and sides until I lost consciousness from the pain and despaired of life. Then he commanded the slaves to take me away as soon as darkness fell, along with the old woman to show them the way, and to throw me on the floor of the house in which I had lived before my marriage. They did as their master commanded and cast me down in my old home, then departed. I did not come to until dawn, when I attended to my wounds with ointments and medicinal treatments. I treated myself as best I could, but the marks of the rod remained visible on my sides and ribs, as you have seen. I lay in a weakened state, confined to my bed for four months before I regained the ability to rise and recovered my health. At the end of that time, I went to the house where all this had occurred and found it in ruins. The street had been demolished, and rubbish heaps covered where the building had stood. I could not learn what had happened. Then I went to my sister on my father's side and found her with these two black bitches. I greeted her and told her what had happened to me and all my story. She said, "O my sister, who is safe from the cruelty of time and secure from harm? Thanks be to Allah who has brought you safely through," and she began to say:

"Such is the World, so bear a patient heart When riches leave you and when friends depart!"

Then she told me her own story and what had happened to her with her two sisters and how matters had ended. So we lived together, and the subject of marriage never came to our lips in all these years. After some time, our other sister, the provisioner, joined us. She goes out every morning to buy all we need for the day and night. We continued in this way until last night. This morning, our sister went out as usual to do the shopping, and then came what came from bringing the Porter into our house and admitting these three Kalandar dervishes. We treated them kindly and honorably, and before a quarter of the night had passed, three respectable merchants from Mosul arrived and told us their adventures. We sat speaking with them under one condition which they broke. Because of their breach, we made them repeat the account they had given us. They did as we asked and we forgave them. So they departed from us, and this morning we were unexpectedly summoned to your presence. And such is our story!" The Caliph marvelled at her words and commanded that the tale be recorded and preserved in his archives.

When it was the Nineteenth night

She answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, she gave me a lock of her hair and said, 'Whenever you wish to see me, burn one or two of these hairs, and I will come to you instantly, even if I were beyond the Caucasus Mountains.'" The Caliph said, "Bring me the hair." She brought it, and he threw the entire lock into the fire. As soon as the scent of the burning hair spread through the palace, it shook and trembled. All present heard the sound of rolling thunder and the noise of wings, and behold! The Jinni woman who had been a serpent stood before the Caliph. She was a Muslim, so she greeted him and said, "Peace be upon you, O Vicar of Allah," to which he replied, "And peace be upon you, and may Allah's mercy and blessing be with you." She continued, "Know that this damsel showed me kindness, and I cannot sufficiently repay her, for she saved my life and destroyed my enemy. I saw how her sisters treated her and felt obliged to avenge her. At first I meant to kill them, but I feared it would grieve her, so I transformed them into bitches instead. But if you wish their release, O Commander of the Faithful, I will restore them, to please you and her, for I am a Muslim."

The Caliph said, "Release them, and afterward we will investigate the matter of the beaten lady and examine her case carefully. If her story is proven true, I will exact retaliation from the one who wronged her." The Ifritah said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I will immediately release them and reveal to you the man who committed this deed against this lady, who wronged her and took her property—and he is among the closest of all men to you!" So saying, she took a cup of water and recited an incantation over it, uttering words that none could understand. Then she sprinkled some of the water on the faces of the two bitches, saying, "Return to your former human shape!" Thereupon they were restored to their human forms and began praising their Creator. Then the Ifritah said, "O Commander of the Faithful, the one who beat this lady with rods is your son al-Amin, brother of al-Maamun. He heard of her beauty and loveliness and devised a lover's stratagem, marrying her according to law. He beat her because he laid a condition upon her and made her swear a solemn oath not to do a certain thing. But she was false to her vow, and he meant to execute her. Yet he feared Almighty Allah and contented himself with beating her, as you have seen, and sending her back to her home. Such is the story of the second lady, and God knows all things."

When the Caliph heard these words and learned who had beaten the lady, he marvelled greatly and said, "Praise be to Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, who has shown me such great mercy, enabling me to deliver these two ladies from sorcery and torment, and allowing me to know the truth of this lady's history! Now, by God, I will do something that shall be remembered of me after I am gone." He then summoned his son al-Amin and asked him about the story of the second lady, the portress, and al-Amin told it truthfully.

The Caliph then commanded that the Judges and their witnesses, the three Kalandar dervishes, and the first lady with her sisters—those who had been under the spell—be brought before him. He married the three ladies to the three Kalandars, whom he knew to be princes and sons of kings. He appointed them as chamberlains in his court, gave them stipends and allowances, and provided for all their needs, lodging them in his palace at Baghdad. He returned the beaten lady to his son al-Amin, renewed the marriage contract between them, gave her great wealth, and ordered that her house be rebuilt more beautiful than before. As for himself, he took the provisioner as his wife and lay with her that night. The next day he set apart for her an apartment in his harem, with handmaidens to serve her and a fixed daily allowance. The people marvelled at their Caliph's generosity, kindness, and princely wisdom. Nor did he forget to have all these stories recorded in his chronicles. When Shahrazad finished speaking, Dinarzad exclaimed, "O my dear sister, by God, this is truly a pleasant and delightful tale! Never has one like it been heard. But please, tell me another story to pass the remaining hours of this night." She replied, "With love and joy, if the King permits," and he said, "Speak your tale, and tell it swiftly." So she began in these words: