The Story Of The Three Sharpers.

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A Thousand Nights and One Night

The Three hundred and Thirty fourth Night

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Saying, "truly their adventure is wondrous and their actions delightsome and marvellous," presently adding There were in time of old three Sharpers who were wont every day in early morning to prowl forth and to prey, rummaging among the mounds which outlay the city. within it each would find a silver bit of five parahs or its equivalent, after which the trio would forgather and buy whatever sufficed them for supper: they would also expend two Nusfs upon Bast, which is Bhang, and purchase a waxen taper with the other silver bit. They had hired a cell in the flank of a Wakálah, a caravanserai without the walls, where they could sit at ease to solace themselves and eat their Hashish after lighting the candle and enjoy their intoxication and consequent merriment till the noon o' night. Then they would sleep, again awaking at day dawn when they would arise and seek for spoil, according to their custom, and ransack the heaps where at times they would hit upon a silverling of five dirhams and at other times a piece of four; and at eventide they would meet to spend together the dark hours, and they would expend everything they came by every day. For a length of time they pursued this path until, one day of the days, they made for the mounds as was their wont and went round searching the heaps from morning to evening without finding even a half parah; Why they were troubled and they went away and nighted in their cell without meat or drink. When the next day broke they arose and repaired for booty, changing the places in which they were wont to forage; but none of them found anything;

The Three Sharpers. 11 and their breasts were straitened for lack of a find of dirhams wherewith to buy them supper. This lasted for three full told and following days until hunger grew hard upon them and vexation; so they said one to other, "Go we to the Sultan and let us serve him with a sleight, and each of us three shall claim to be a past master of some craft: Perhaps Allah Almighty may incline his heart uswards and he may largesse us with something to expend upon our necessities." Accordingly all three agreed to do in this way and they sought the Sultan whom they found in the palace garden. They asked leave to go in to him, but the Chamberlains refused admission: so they stood afar off unable to approach the presence. Then they one to other said, " 'Twere better we fall to and each smite his comrade and cry aloud and make a clamour, and as soon as he shall hear us he will send to summon us." Accordingly they jostled one another and each took to frapping his fellow, making the while loud outcries. The Sultan hearing this turmoil said, "Bring me that people;" and the Chamberlains and Eunuchs ran out to them and seized them and set them between the hands of the Sovran.

As soon as they stood in the presence he asked them, "What be the cause of your wrath one against other?" They answered, ", we are past masters of crafts, each of us weeting an especial art." the Sultan said, "What be your crafts?" and one of the trio said, "O our lord, as for my art I am a jeweller by trade." The King exclaimed, "Passing strange! A sharper and a jeweller: this is a wondrous matter." And he questioned the second—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then her sister Dunyazad said, "How sweet and tasteful is your tale, O sister mine, and enjoyable and delectable!" She said, "And where is this compared with what I would relate to you on the coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?"

Now when it was the next night which was

The Three hundred and Thirty fifth Night

DUNYAZAD said to her, "in God's name, O my sister, If you be other than sleepy, finish for us your tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It has reached me,the director, the right guiding, lord of the counsel which is benefiting and of deeds fair seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Sultan asked the second Sharper saying, "And you, the other, what may be your craft?" He answered, "I am a genealogist of the horse kind." So the King glanced at him in surprise and said to himself, "A sharper yet he claims an astounding knowledge!" Then he left him and put the same question to the third who said to him, ", truly my art is more wondrous and marvellous than anything you have heard from these twain: their craft is easy but my is such that none save I can discover the right direction thereto or know the first of it from the last of it." The Sultan enquired of him, "And what be your craft?" Whereto he replied, "My craft is the genealogy of the sons of Adam." Hearing these words the Sovran wondered with extreme wonderment and said in himself, "truly He informs with His secrets the humblest of His creatures! Assuredly these men, If they speak truth in all they say and it prove truthful, are fit for nothing except kingship. But I will keep them by me until the occurrence of some nice contingency in which I may test them; then, if they approve themselves good men and trustworthy of word, I will leave them on life; but if their speech be lying I will do them die." Upon this he set apart for them apartments and rationed them with three cakes of bread and a dish of roast meat and set over them his sentinels dreading lest they fly. This case continued for a while till behold, there came to the Sultan from the land of 'Ajam a present of rarities, amongst which were two gems whereof one was clear of water

The Three Sharpers. 13 and the other was clouded of colour. The Sultan seized them in hand for a time and fell to considering them straitly for the space of an hour; after which he called to mind the first of the three Sharpers, the self styled jeweller, and cried, "Bring me the jeweller man." Accordingly they went and brought him and set him before the Sovran who asked him, "O man, are you a lapidary?" And when the Sharper answered, "Yes" he gave him the clear watered stone, saying, "What may be the price of this gem?"

Then her sister Dunyazad said, "How sweet is your story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" She said, "And where is this compared with what I would relate to you on the coming night, if the Sovran permits me to survive?"

Now when it was the next night and that was

The Three hundred and Thirty sixth Night

Now when the King heard these words he grew wroth with exceeding wrath and commanded the man's head to be stricken off, saying, "This jewel is clear of colour and free of flaw or other default; yet you chargest it falsely with containing a worm!" Then he summoned the Linkman who laid hands on the Sharper and pinioned his elbows and trussed up his legs like a camel's and was about to smite his neck when behold, the Wazir entered the presence and, seeing the Sovran in high dudgeon and the Sharper under the scimitar, asked what was to do. The Sultan related to him what had happened when he drew near to him and said, "O my lord, act not in this way! If you determine upon the killing of that man, first break the gem and, if you find within it a worm, you will know the people's word to have been veridical; but If you find it sound then strike off his head." "Right is your advice," the said,King: then he took in hand the gem and smote it with his mace and when he brake behold, he found within it the worm In the very middle of it.

So he marvelled at the sight and asked the man, "What proved to you that it harboured a worm?" "The sharpness of my sight," answered the Sharper. Then the Sultan pardoned him and, admiring his power of vision, addressed his attendants saying, "Bear him back to his comrades and ration him with a dish of roast meat and two cakes of bread." And they did as he bade them. After some time, on a day of the days, there came to the King the tribute of 'Ajam land accompanied with presents amongst which was a colt whose robe black as night showed one shade in the sun and another in the shadow. When the animal was displayed to the Sultan he fell in love with it and set apart for it a stall and solaced himself at all times by gazing at it and was wholly occupied with it and sang its praises till they filled the whole country side. Presently, he remembered the Sharper who claimed to be a genealogist of the horse kind and bade him be summoned. So they fared forth and brought him and set him between the hands of the Sovran who said to him, "Are you he who knows the breed and descent of horses?" "Yea truly," said the man.

Then cried the King, "By the truth of Him who set me upon the necks of His servants and who says to a thing 'Be' and it becomes, If I find anything of error or confusion in your words, I will strike off your head." "I hear and I obey," the said,Sharper. Then they led him to the colt that he might consider its genealogy. He called aloud to the groom——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then her sister Dunyazad said, "How sweet and tasteful is your tale,

The Three Sharpers. 15

O sister mine, and enjoyable and delectable!" She said, "And where is this compared with what I would relate to you on the coming night if the Sovran permits me to survive?"

Now when it was the next night and that was

The Three hundred and Thirty seventh Night

The Sultan asked, "And what is the quality which you blame?" and the Sharper answered, "Its sire was noble, but its dam was of other strain: she it was that brought the blemish and if you, O my lord, allow me I will notify it to you." " 'Tis well, and needs must you declare it," the said,Sultan. Then said the Sharper, "Its dam is a buffalo cow." When the King heard these words he was wroth with wrath exceeding and he bade the Linkman take the Sharper and behead him, crying, "O dog! O accursed! How can a buffalo cow bear a horse?" The Sharper replied, "O my lord, the Linkman is in the presence; but send and fetch him who brought you the colt and of him make enquiry. If my words prove true and rightly placed, my skill shall be stablished; but If they be lies let my head pay forfeit for my tongue. Here stands the Linkman and I am between your hands: you have but to bid him strike off my head!" Thereupon the King sent for the owner and breeder of the colt and they brought him to the presence. Then the sister Dunyazad said, "How sweet is your story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" She said, "And where is this compared with what I would relate to you on the coming night, if the Sovran permits me to survive?"

Now when it was the next night and that was

The Three hundred and Thirty eighth Night

DUNYAZAD said to her, "in God's name, O my sister, If you be other than sleepy, finish for us your tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It has reached me,the director, the right guiding, lord of the counsel which is benefiting and of deeds fair seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Sultan sent for the owner and breeder of the colt and asked him saying, "Tell me the truth anent the blood of this colt. Did you buy it or breed it so that it was a rearling of your homestead?" He said, "By God,I will speak nothing which is not truth, for indeed there hangs by this colt the strangest story: were it graven with graver needles upon the eye corners it had been a warning to whoever would be warned. And this it is. I had a stallion of purest strain whose sire was of the steeds of the sea; and he was stabled in a stall apart for fear of the evil eye, his service being entrusted to trusty servants. But one day in springtide the Syce took the horse into the open and there picquetted him when behold, a buffalo cow walked into the Three Sharpers. 17 enclosed pasture where the stallion was tethered, and seeing her he brake his heel ropes and rushed at her and covered her. She conceived by him and when her days were completed and her throwing time came she suffered sore pains and bare that colt. And all who have seen it or have heard of it were astounded," he said, presently adding, "By God,had its dam been of the mare kind the colt would have had no equal on earth's surface or anything approaching it." at this the Sultan took thought and marvelled; then, summoning the Sharper he said to him when present, "O man, your speech is true and you are indeed a genealogist in horseflesh and you know it well. But I would know what proved to you that the dam of this colt was a buffalo cow?"

He said, "O King, my proof of it was palpable nor can it be concealed from any people of right wits and intelligence and special knowledge; for the horse's hoof is round whilst the hooves of buffaloes are elongated and duck shaped, and by this I kenned that this colt was a jumart, the issue of a cow buffalo." The Sultan was pleased with his words and said, "Ration him with a plate of roast meat and two cakes of bread;" and they did as they were bidden. Now for a length of time the third Sharper was forgotten till one day the Sultan bethought him of the man who could explain the genealogy of Adam's sons. So he bade fetch him and when they brought him into the presence he said, "You are he that know the caste and descent of men and women?" and the other said, "Yes." Then he commanded the Eunuchs take him to his wife and place him before her and cause him declare her genealogy. So they led him in and set him standing in her presence and the Sharper considered her for a while looking from right to left; then he fared forth to the Sultan who asked him, "What have you seen in the Queen?"

Answered he, "O my lord, I saw a somewhat adorned with loveliness and beauty and perfect grace, with fair stature of symmetrical trace and with modesty and fine manners and skilful case; and she is one in whom all good qualities appear on every side, nor is anything of accomplishments or knowledge concealed from her and Perhaps in her centre all desirable attributes. nevertheless,there is a curious point that dishonours her from the which were she free none would outshine her of all the women of her generation."

Now when the Sultan heard the words of the Sharper, he sprang hastily to his feet and clapping hand upon hilt bared his brand and fell upon the man purposing to slay him;—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then her sister Dunyazad said, "How sweet and tasteful is your tale, O sister mine, and enjoyable and delectable!" She said, "And where is this compared with what I would relate to you on the coming night if the Sovran permits me to survive?"

Now when it was the next night and that was

The Three hundred and Thirty ninth Night

DUNYAZAD said to her, "in God's name, O my sister, If you be other than sleepy, finish for us your tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It has reached me,the director, the right guiding, lord of the counsel which is benefiting and of deeds fair seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Sultan fell upon the Sharper with his sword purposing to slay him; but the Chamberlains and the Eunuchs prevented him saying, "O our lord, kill him not until his falsehood or his fact shall have been made manifest to you." The Sultan said to him, "What then appeared to you in my Queen?" "He is ferly fair," said the man, "but his mother is a dancing girl, a gypsey." The fury of the King increased at this and he sent to summon the inmates of his Harem and cried to his father in law, "Unless you speak me truth concerning your daughter and her descent and her mother I" He replied, "By God,nothing saves a man save soothfastness! Her mother indeed was a Gháziyah: in past time a party of the tribe was passing by my abode when a young maid strayed from her fellows and was lost. They asked no questions concerning her; so I lodged her and bred her in my homestead till she grew up to be a great girl and the fairest of her time. My heart would not brook her wiving with any other; so I wedded her

The Three Sharpers. 19 and she bare me this daughter whom you, O King, have espoused." When the Sultan heard these words the flame in his heart was quenched and he wondered at the subtlety of the Sharper man; so he summoned him and asked him saying, "O wily one, tell me what certified to you that my Queen had a dancing girl, a gypsey, to mother?" He answered, ", truly the Ghaziyah race has eye balls intensely black and bushy brows whereas other women than the Ghaziyah have the reverse of this." On such wise the King was convinced of the man's skill and he cried, "Ration him with a dish of roast meat and two scones." They did as he bade and the three Sharpers tarried with the Sultan a long time till one day when the King said to himself, "truly these three men have by their skill solved every question of genealogy which I proposed to them: first the jeweller proved his perfect knowledge of gems; secondly the genealogist of the horse kind showed himself as skilful, and the same was the case with the genealogist of mankind, for he discovered the origin of my Queen and the truth of his words appeared from all quarters. Now 'tis my desire that he do the same with me that I also may know my provenance." Accordingly they set the man between his hands and he said to him, "O fellow, have you the power to tell me my origin?" Said the Sharper, "Yes, O my lord, I can trace your descent, but I will so do only upon a condition; to wit, that you promise me safety after what I shall have told you; for the saw says, 'Whilst Sultan sits on throne 'ware his despite, given that none may be contumacious when he says 'Smite.' " Thereupon the Sultan told him, "you have a promise of immunity, a promise which shall never be falsed."

Now when it was the next night, and that was

The Three hundred and Forties Night

DUNYAZAD said to her, "in God's name, O my sister, If you be other than sleepy, finish for us your tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It has reached me,the director, the right guiding, lord of the counsel which is benefiting and of deeds fair seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Sultan pledged his word for the safety of the Sharper with the customary kerchief and the man said, ", whenas I acquaint you with your root and branch, let it be between us twain lest these present hear us." "Why O man?" asked the Sultan, and the Sharper answered, "O my lord, Allah of Allmight has among His names 'The Veiler';" Why the King bade his Chamberlains and Eunuchs retire so that none remained in the place save those two. Then the Sharper came forward and said, "O my lord, you are a son of shame and an issue of adultery." As soon as the King heard these words his case changed and his colour grew wan and his limbs fell loose: he foamed at the mouth; he lost hearing and sight; he became as one drunken without wine and he fell fainting to the ground. After a while he recovered and said to the Sharper, "Now by the truth of Him who has set me upon the necks of His servants, an your words be veridical and I ascertain their truth by proof positive, I will assuredly abdicate my Kingdom and resign my realm to you, because none deserves it save you and it becomes us least of all and every. But If I find your speech lying I will slay you." He replied, "Hearing and obeying;" and the Sovran, rising up without delay, went inside to his mother with grip on glaive, and said to her, "By the truth of Him who uplifted the lift above the earth,

The Three Sharpers. 21

If you answer me not with the whole truth in whatever I ask you, I will cut you to little bits with this blade." She enquired, "What do you want with me?" and he replied, "Whose son am I, and what may be my descent?" She rejoined, "Although falsehood be an excuse, fact and truth are superior and more saving. You are indeed the very son of a cook. The Sultan that was before you took me to wife and I cohabited with him a while of time without my becoming pregnant by him or having issue; and he would mourn and groan from the core of his heart for that he had no seed, nor girl nor boy; neither could he enjoy anything of sweet food or sleep. Now we had about the Palace many caged birds; and at last, one day of the days, the King longed to eat something of poultry, so he went into the court and sent for the Kitchener to slaughter one of the fowls; and the man applied himself to catching it. At that time I had taken my first bath after the monthly ailment and I to myself, said, 'If this case continue with the King he will perish and the Kingdom pass from us.' And the Shaytan tempted me to that which displeased Allah"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then her sister Dunyazad said, "How sweet and tasteful is your tale, O sister mine, and enjoyable and delectable!" She said, "And where is this compared with what I would relate to you on the coming night if the Sovran permits me to survive?"

Now when it was the next night and that was

The Three hundred and Forty first Night

Now at that time the Sultan was hunting and birding and enjoying himself about the gardens all of his pleasure at the prospect of becoming a father; and when the bearer of good news went to him and announced the birth of a man child he hurried back to me and directly bade them decorate the capital and he found the report true; so the city adorned itself for forty days in honour of its King. Such is my case and my tale." Thereupon the King went forth from her to the Sharper and bade him doff his dress and when this had been done he doffed his own raiment and habited the man in royal gear and hooded him with the Taylasán and asked him saying, "What proof have you of my being a son of adultery?" The Sharper answered, "O my lord, my proof was your bidding our being rationed, after showing the perfection of our skill, with a dish of roast meat and two scones of bread; by which I knew you to be of cook's breed, for the Kings be wont in such case to make presents of money and valuables, not of meat and bread as you did, and this evidenced you to be a bastard King."

He replied, "South you say," and then robed him with the rest of his robes including the Kalansuwah or royal head dress under the hood and seated him upon the throne of his estate. 23 ceased to say her permitted say. Then her sister Dunyazad said, "How sweet is your story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" She said, "And where is this compared with what I would relate to you on the coming night, if the Sovran permits me to survive."

Now when it was the next night and that was

The Three hundred and Forty second Night

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Story of the Sultan of Al-Yaman and his Three Sons.

The Sultan Who Fared Forth In The Habit Of A Darwaysh,