Kitabı oku: «A plain and literal translation of the Arabian nights entertainments, now entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4 (of 17)», sayfa 13

 
O Moslem! thou whose guide is Alcorán, ✿ Joy in what brought safe peace to thee, O man.
Fear not what Satan haply whispered thee, ✿ And in us see a Truth-believing clan.
 

Then said I, “I conjure thee, by the truth of Him thou worshippest, let me know who thou art!” Thereupon the Invisible Speaker assumed the form of a man and said, “Fear not; for the report of thy good deed hath reached us, and we are a people of the true-believing Jinn. So, if thou lack aught, let us know it, that we may have the pleasure of fulfilling thy want.” Quoth I, “Indeed I am in sore need, for I am afflicted with a grievous affliction and no one was ever afflicted as I am!” Quoth he, “Perchance thou art Abu Mohammed Lazybones?” and I replied, “Yes.” He rejoined, “I, O Abu Mohammed, am the brother of the white serpent, whose foe thou slewest; we are four brothers by one father and mother, and we are all indebted to thee for thy kindness. And know thou that he who played this trick on thee in the likeness of an ape, is a Marid of the Marids of the Jinn; and had he not used this artifice, he had never been able to get the girl; for he hath loved her and had a mind to take her this long while, but he was hindered of that talisman; and had it remained as it was, he could never have found access to her. However, fret not thyself for that; we will bring thee to her and kill the Marid; for thy kindness is not lost upon us.” Then he cried out with a terrible outcry – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifrit continued, “Verily thy kindness is not lost upon us.” Then he cried out with a terrible outcry in a horrible voice, and behold, there appeared a troop of the Jinn, of whom he enquired concerning the ape; and one of them said, “I know his abiding-place;” and the other asked “Where abideth he?” Said the speaker “He is in the City of Brass whereon sun riseth not.” Then said the first Jinni to me, “O Abu Mohammed, take one of these our slaves, and he will carry thee on his back and teach thee how thou shalt get back the girl; but know that this slave is a Marid of the Marids and beware, whilst he is carrying thee, lest thou utter the name of Allah, or he will flee from thee and thou wilt fall and be destroyed.” “I hear and obey,” answered I and chose out one of the slaves, who bent down and said to me, “Mount.” So I mounted on his back, and he flew up with me into the firmament, till I lost sight of the earth and saw the stars as they were the mountains of earth fixed and firm²³⁸ and heard the angels crying, “Praise be to Allah,” in heaven while the Marid held me in converse, diverting me and hindering me from pronouncing the name of Almighty Allah.²³⁹ But, as we flew, behold, One clad in green raiment,²⁴⁰ with streaming tresses and radiant face, holding in his hand a javelin whence flew sparks of fire, accosted me, saying, “O Abu Mohammed, say: – There is no god but the God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God; or I will smite thee with this javelin.” Now already I felt heart-broken by my forced silence as regards calling on the name of Allah; so I said, “There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is the Apostle of God.” Whereupon the shining One smote the Marid with his javelin and he melted away and became ashes; whilst I was thrown from his back and fell headlong towards the earth, till I dropped into the midst of a dashing sea, swollen with clashing surge. And behold, I fell hard by a ship with five sailors therein, who seeing me, made for me and took me up into the vessel; and they began to speak to me in some speech I knew not; but I signed to them that I understood not their speech. So they fared on till the last of the day, when they cast out a net and caught a great fish and they broiled it and gave me to eat; after which they ceased not sailing on till they reached their city and carried me to their King and set me in his presence. So I kissed ground before him, and he bestowed on me a dress of honour and said to me in Arabic (which he knew well), “I appoint thee one of my officers.” Thereupon I asked him the name of the city, and he replied, “It is called Hanád²⁴¹ and is in the land of China.” Then he committed me to his Wazir, bidding him show me the city, which was formerly peopled by Infidels, till Almighty Allah turned them into stones; and there I abode a month’s space, diverting myself with viewing the place, nor saw I ever greater plenty of trees and fruits than there. And when this time had past, one day, as I sat on the bank of a river, behold, there accosted me a horseman, who said to me, “Art thou not Abu Mohammed Lazybones?” “Yes,” answered I; whereupon, he said, “Fear not, for the report of thy good deed hath reached us.” Asked I, “Who art thou?” and he answered, “I am a brother of the white serpent, and thou art hard by the place where is the damsel whom thou seekest.” So saying, he took off his clothes and clad me therein, saying, “Fear not, for the slave who perished under thee was one of our slaves.” Then the horseman took me up behind him and rode on with me to a desert place, when he said, “Dismount now and walk on between these two mountains, till thou seest the City of Brass;²⁴² then halt afar off and enter it not, ere I return to thee and tell thee how thou shalt do.” “To hear is to obey,” replied I and, dismounting from behind him, walked on till I came to the city, the walls whereof I found of brass. Then I began to pace round about it, hoping to find a gate, but found none; and presently as I persevered behold, the serpent’s brother rejoined me and gave me a charmed sword which should hinder any from seeing me,²⁴³ then went his way. Now he had been gone but a little while, when lo! I heard a noise of cries and found myself in the midst of a multitude of folk whose eyes were in their breasts; and seeing me quoth they, “Who art thou, and what cast thee into this place?” So I told them my story, and they said, “The girl thou seekest is in this city with the Marid; but we know not what he hath done with her. Now we are brethren of the white serpent,” adding, “Go thou to yonder spring and note where the water entereth, and enter thou with it; for it will bring thee into the city.” I did as they bade me, and followed the water-course, till it brought me to a Sardáb, a vaulted room under the earth, from which I ascended and found myself in the midst of the city. Here I saw the damsel seated upon a throne of gold, under a canopy of brocade, girt round by a garden full of trees of gold, whose fruits were jewels of price, such as rubies and chrysolites, pearls and coral. And the moment she saw me, she knew me and accosted me with the Moslem salutation, saying, “O my lord, who guided thee hither?” So I told her all that had passed, and she said, “Know, that the accursed Marid, of the greatness of his love for me, hath told me what bringeth him bane and what bringeth him gain; and that there is here a talisman by means whereof he could, an he would, destroy the city and all that are therein; and whoso possesseth it, the Ifrits will do his commandment in everything. It standeth upon a pillar” – Whereat I asked her, “And where is the pillar?” and she answered, “It is in such a place.” “And what manner of thing may the talisman be?” said I: said she, “It is in the semblance of a vulture²⁴⁴ and upon it is a writing which I cannot read. So go thou thither and seize it, and set it before thee and, taking a chafing-dish, throw into it a little musk, whereupon there will arise a smoke which will draw the Ifrits to thee, and they will all present themselves before thee, nor shall one be absent; also they shall be subject to thy word and, whatsoever thou biddest them, that will they do. Arise therefore and fall to this thing, with the blessing of Almighty Allah.” I answered, “Hearkening and obedience” and, going to the column, did as she bade me, whereupon the Ifrits all presented themselves before me saying, “Here are we, O our lord! Whatsoever thou biddest us, that will we do.” Quoth I, “Bind the Marid who brought the damsel hither from her home.” Quoth they, “We hear and obey,” and off they flew and bound that Marid in straitest bonds and returned after a while, saying, “We have done thy bidding.” Then I dismissed them and, repairing to my wife, told her what had happened and said to her, “O my bride, wilt thou go with me?” “Yes,” answered she. So I carried her forth of the vaulted chamber whereby I had entered the city and we fared on, till we fell in with the folk who had shown me the way to find her. – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that he continued on this wise: – And we fared on till we fell in with the folk who had shown me the way to her. So I said to them, “Point me out a path which shall lead me to my home,” and they did accordingly, and brought us a-foot to the sea-shore and set us aboard a vessel which sailed on before us with a fair wind, till we reached Bassorah-city. And when we entered the house of my father-in-law and her people saw my wife, they rejoiced with exceeding joy. Then I fumigated the vulture with musk and lo! the Ifrits flocked to me from all sides, saying, “At thy service; what wilt thou have us do?” So I bade them transport all that was in the City of Brass of monies and noble metals and stones of price to my house in Bassorah, which they did; and I then ordered them to bring me the ape. They brought him before me, abject and contemptible, and I said to him, “O accursed, why hast thou dealt thus perfidiously with me?” Then I commanded the Ifrits to shut him in a brazen vessel;²⁴⁵ so they put him in a brazen cucurbite and sealed it with lead. But I abode with my wife in joy and delight; and now, O Commander of the Faithful, I have under my hand precious things in such measure and rare jewels and other treasure and monies on such wise as neither reckoning may express nor may limits comprise; and, if thou lust after wealth or aught else, I will command the Jinn at once to do thy desire. But all this is of the bounty of Almighty Allah. Thereupon the Commander of the Faithful wondered greatly and bestowed on him imperial gifts, in exchange for his presents, and entreated him with the favour he deserved. And men also tell the tale of the

GENEROUS DEALING OF YAHYA BIN KHALID THE BARMECIDE WITH MANSUR

It is told that Harun al-Rashid, in the days before he became jealous of the Barmecides, sent once for one of his guards, Sálih by name, and said to him, “O Salih, go to Mansúr²⁴⁶ and say to him: – Thou owest us a thousand thousand dirhams and we require of thee immediate payment of this amount. And I command thee, O Salih, unless he pay it between this hour and sundown, sever his head from his body and bring it to me.” “To hear is to obey,” answered Salih and, going to Mansur, acquainted him with what the Caliph had said; whereupon quoth he, “I am a lost man, by Allah; for all my estate and all my hand owneth, if sold for their utmost value, would not fetch a price of more than an hundred thousand dirhams. Whence then, O Salih, shall I get the other nine hundred thousand?” Salih replied, “Contrive how thou mayst speedily acquit thyself, else thou art a dead man; for I cannot grant thee an eye-twinkling of delay after the time appointed me by the Caliph; nor can I fail of aught which the Prince of True Believers hath enjoined on me. Hasten, therefore, to devise some means of saving thyself ere the time expire.” Quoth Mansur, “O Salih, I beg thee of thy favour to bring me to my house, that I may take leave of my children and family and give my kinsfolk my last injunctions.” Now Salih relateth: – So I went with him to his house where he fell to bidding his family farewell, and the house was filled with a clamour of weeping and lamentations and calling for help on Almighty Allah. Thereupon I said to him, “I have bethought me that Allah may haply vouchsafe thee relief at the hands of the Barmecides. Come, let us go to the house of Yáhyá bin Khálid.” So we went to Yahya’s house, and Mansur told him his case, whereat he was sore concerned and bowed him groundwards for a while; then raising his head, he called his treasurer and said to him, “How much have we in our treasury?” “A matter of five thousand dirhams,” answered the treasurer, and Yahya bade him bring them and sent a messenger to his son, Al-Fazl, saying, “I am offered for sale a splendid estate which may never be laid waste; so send me somewhat of money.” Al-Fazl sent him a thousand thousand dirhams, and he despatched a messenger with a like message to his son Ja’afar, saying, “We have a matter of much moment and for it we want money;” whereupon Ja’afar at once sent him a thousand thousand dirhams; nor did Yahya leave sending to his kinsmen of the Barmecides, till he had collected from them a great sum of money for Mansur. But Salih and the debtor knew not of this; and Mansur said to Yahya, “O my lord, I have laid hold upon thy skirt, for I know not whither to look for the money but to thee, in accordance with thy wonted generosity; so discharge thou the rest of my debt for me and make me thy freed slave.” Thereupon Yahya hung down his head and wept; then he said to a page, “Harkye, boy, the Commander of the Faithful gave our slave-girl Danánír a jewel of great price: go thou to her and bid her send it to us.” The page went out and presently returned with the jewel, whereupon quoth Yahya, “O Mansur, I bought this jewel of the merchant for the Commander of the Faithful, at a price of two hundred thousand dinars,²⁴⁷ and he gave it to our slave-girl Dananir, the lute-player; and when he sees it with thee, he will know it and spare thy blood and do thee honour for our sake; and now, O Mansur, verily thy money is complete.” (Salih continued) So I took the money and the jewel and carried them to Al-Rashid together with Mansur, but on the way I heard him repeat this couplet, applying it to his own case: —

‘Twas not of love that fared my feet to them; ✿ ‘Twas that I feared me lest they shoot their shafts!

Now when I heard this, I marvelled at his evil nature and his depravity and mischief-making and his ignoble birth and provenance and, turning upon him, I said, “There is none on the face of the earth better or more righteous than the Barmecides, nor any baser nor more wrongous than thou; for they bought thee off from death and delivered thee from destruction, giving thee what should save thee; yet thou thankest them not nor praisest them, neither acquittest thee after the manner of the noble; nay, thou meetest their benevolence with this speech.” Then I went to Al-Rashid and acquainted him with all that had passed – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Salih continued: – So I acquainted the Commander of the Faithful with all that passed and Al-Rashid marvelled at the generosity and benevolence of Yahya and the vileness and ingratitude of Mansur and bade restore the jewel to Yahya, saying, “Whatso we have given it befitteth us not to take again.” After that Salih returned to Yahya, and acquainted him with the tale of Mansur and his ill-conduct; whereupon replied he, “O Salih, when a man is in want, sick at heart and sad of thought, he is not to be blamed for aught that falleth from him; for it cometh not from the heart;” and on this wise he took to seeking excuse for Mansur. But Salih wept and exclaimed, “Never shall the revolving heavens bring forth into being the like of thee, O Yahya! Alas, and well-away, that one of such noble nature and generosity should be laid in the dust!” And he repeated these two couplets: —

 
Haste to do kindness thou dost intend; ✿ Thou canst not always on boons expend:
How many from bounty themselves withheld, ✿ Till means of bounty had come to end!
 

And men tell another tale of the

GENEROUS DEALING OF YAHYA SON OF KHALID WITH A MAN WHO FORGED A LETTER IN HIS NAME

There was between Yahyá bin Khálid and Abdullah bin Málik al-Khuzá’i²⁴⁸ an enmity which they kept secret; the reason of the hatred being that Harun al-Rashid loved Abdullah with exceeding love, so that Yahya and his sons were wont to say that he had bewitched the Commander of the Faithful. And thus they abode a long while, with rancour in their hearts, till it fell out that the Caliph invested Abdullah with the government of Armenia²⁴⁹ and despatched him thither. Now soon after he had settled himself in his seat of government, there came to him one of the people of Irak, a man of good breeding and excellent parts and abundant cleverness; but he had lost his money and wasted his wealth and his estate was come to ill case; so he forged a letter to Abdullah bin Malik in the name of Yahya bin Khalid and set out therewith for Armenia. Now when he came to the Governor’s gate, he gave the letter to one of the Chamberlains, who took it and carried it to his master. Abdullah opened it and read it and, considering it attentively, knew it to be forged; so he sent for the man, who presented himself before him and called down blessings upon him and praised him and those of his court. Quoth Abdullah to him, “What moved thee to weary thyself on this wise and bring me a forged letter? But be of good heart; for we will not disappoint thy travail.” Replied the other, “Allah prolong the life of our lord the Wazir! If my coming annoy thee, cast not about for a pretext to repel me, for Allah’s earth is wide and He who giveth daily bread still liveth. Indeed, the letter I bring thee from Yahya bin Khalid is true and no forgery.” Quoth Abdullah, “I will write a letter to my agent²⁵⁰ at Baghdad and command him enquire concerning this same letter. If it be true, as thou sayest, and genuine and not forged by thee, I will bestow on thee the Emir-ship of one of my cities; or, if thou prefer a present, I will give thee two hundred thousand dirhams, besides horses and camels of price and a robe of honour. But, if the letter prove a forgery, I will order thou be beaten with two hundred blows of a stick and thy beard be shaven.” So Abdullah bade confine him in a chamber and furnish him therein with all he needed, till his case should be made manifest. Then he despatched a letter to his agent at Baghdad, to the following effect: – “There is come to me a man with a letter purporting to be from Yahya bin Khalid. Now I have my suspicions of this letter: therefore delay thou not in the matter, but go thyself and look carefully into the case and let me have an answer with all speed, in order that we may know what is true and what is untrue.” When the letter reached Baghdad, the agent mounted at once – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the agent of Abdullah son of Malik al-Khuza’i, on receipt of the letter at Baghdad, mounted at once and repaired to the house of Yahya bin Khalid, whom he found sitting with his officers and boon-companions. After the usual salute he gave him the letter and Yahya read it and said to the agent, “Come back to me to-morrow for my written answer.” Now when the agent had gone away, Yahya turned to his companions and said, “What doth he deserve who forgeth a letter in my name and carrieth it to my foe?” They answered all and each, saying this and that, and every one proposing some kind of punishment; but Yahya said, “Ye err in that ye say and this your counsel is of the baseness of your spirits and the meanness of your minds. Ye all know the close favour of Abdullah with the Caliph and ye weet of what is between him and us of anger and enmity; and now Almighty Allah hath made this man the means of reconciliation between us; and hath fitted him for such purpose and hath appointed him to quench the fire of ire in our hearts, which hath been growing these twenty years; and by his means our differences shall be adjusted. Wherefore it behoveth me to requite such man by verifying his assertion and amending his estate; so I will write him a letter to Abdullah son of Malik, praying that he may use him with increase of honour and continue to him his liberality.” Now when his companions heard what he said, they called down blessings on him and marvelled at his generosity and the greatness of his magnanimity. Then he called for paper and ink and wrote Abdullah a letter in his own hand, to the following effect: – “In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! Of a truth thy letter hath reached me (Allah give thee long life!) and I am glad to hear of thy safety and am pleased to be assured of thine immunity and prosperity. It was thy thought that a certain worthy man had forged a letter in my name and that he was not the bearer of any message from the same; but the case is not so, for the letter I myself wrote, and it was no forgery; and I hope, of thy courtesy and consideration and the nobility of thy nature, that thou wilt gratify this generous and excellent man of his hope and wish, and honour him with the honour he deserveth and bring him to his desire and make him the special object of thy favour and munificence. Whatso thou dost with him, it is to me that thou dost the kindness, and I am thankful to thee accordingly.” Then he superscribed the letter and after sealing it, delivered it to the agent, who despatched it to Abdullah. Now when the Governor read it, he was charmed with its contents, and sending for the man, said to him, “Whichever of the two promised boons is the more acceptable to thee that will I give thee.” The man replied, “The money gift were more acceptable to me than aught else,” whereupon Abdullah ordered him two hundred thousand dirhams and ten Arab horses, five with housings of silk and other five with richly ornamented saddles, used in state processions; besides twenty chests of clothes and ten mounted white slaves and a proportionate quantity of jewels of price. Moreover, he bestowed on him a dress of honour and sent him to Baghdad in great splendour. So when he came thither, he repaired to the door of Yahya’s house, before he went to his own folk, and craved permission to enter and have audience. The Chamberlain went in to Yahya and said to him, “O my lord, there is one at the door who craveth speech of thee; and he is a man of apparent wealth, courteous in manner, comely of aspect and attended by many servants.” Then Yahya bade admit him; and, when he entered and kissed the ground before him, Yahya asked him, “Who art thou?” He answered, “Hear me, O my lord, I am he who was done dead by the tyranny of fortune, but thou didst raise me to life again from the grave of calamities and exalt me to the paradise of my desires. I am the man who forged a letter in thy name and carried it to Abdullah bin Malik al-Khuza’i.” Yahya asked, “How hath he dealt with thee and what did he give thee?”; and the man answered, “He hath given me, thanks to thy hand and thy great liberality and benevolence and to thy comprehensive kindness and lofty magnanimity and thine all-embracing generosity, that which hath made me a wealthy man and he hath distinguished me with his gifts and favours. And now I have brought all that he gave me and here it is at thy door; for it is thine to decide and the command is in thy hand.” Rejoined Yahya, “Thou hast done me better service than I did thee and I owe thee a heavy debt of gratitude and every gift the white hand²⁵¹ can give, for that thou hast changed into love and amity the hate and enmity that were between me and a man whom I respect and esteem. Wherefore I will give thee the like of what Abdullah bin Malik gave thee.” Then he ordered him money and horses and chests of apparel, such as Abdullah had given him; and thus that man’s fortune was restored to him by the munificence of these two generous ones. And folk also relate the tale of the