Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 4 (of 6)
General
Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 4 (of 6)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
overdose, they got into a hurly-burly of words and fell to saying
things which can neither be intended nor indited, and amongst
these they exclaimed, "By Allah, the Sultan is desposed and we
will rule in his stead and deal commandment to his reign." The
other enquired, "And if the Sultan summon us what wilt thou say
to him?" "By Allah, I will tell him a tale which befel myself and
crave of him ten Faddahs wherewithal to buy Bhang!" "And hast
thou any skill in tale-telling?" "In good sooth I have!" "But how
wilt thou despose the Sultan and reign in his stead?" "I will say
to him 'Be off!' and he will go." "He will strike thy neck."
"Nay, the Sultan is pitiful and will not punish me for my words."
So saying the Bhang-eater arose and loosed the inkle of his
bag-trowsers, then approaching the Sultan he drew forth his
prickle and proceeded to bepiss him:[FN#236] but the King took
flight as the other faced him, and fled before him, he
pursuing.?And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and
fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her
sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister
mine, and enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is
this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night
an the Sovran suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next
night and that was
The Three Hundred and Ninety-sixth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be
other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short
the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love
and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the
director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting
and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the
Bhang-eater holding up his bag-trowsers ran after the Sultan
purposing to bepiss him and caught up the fugitive at the doorway
when he fell over the threshold and began a-piddling upon his own
clothes. In like manner the Kazi attempted to bepiss the Wazir
and ran after him to the entrance, where he also fell upon the
Bhang-eater and took to making water over him. So the Bhang-eater
and the Kazi lay each bewraying other, and the Sultan and the
Wazir stood laughing at then and saying, "By Allah, too much
Hashish injureth man's wits;" and presently they left and went
their ways returning to their palaces. But the two drunkards
ceased not lying in their own water till day broke; and when the
fumes of the drug had left heir brains, they arose and found
themselves dripping and befouled with their own filth. Thereupon
each said to other, "What be this cross hath betided us?"
Presently they arose and washed themselves and their clothes;
then sitting down together they said, "None did this deed by us
save and except the two fellows who were with us; and who knoweth
what they were, or citizens of this city or strangers; for 'twas
they brought the intoxicant which we ate and it bred a madness in
our brains.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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