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
Her swoon endured from noon until eventide, her
mother sitting at her head the while and sorrowing for her
condition. But about set of sun behold, in came her father who
found his daughter aswoon; so he questioned his wife who began by
recounting to him what they had noted in the old woman of prayer
and display of devotion and how she had told them, "I have a
daughter whom I am about to marry and the bridal festivities will
be in my house." "And," pursued the mother, "she invited us to
visit her; so at undurntide I sent with her the girl; who at
noontide came back bringing somewhat wrapped up and bundled,
which be this. But when she entered the house she fell to the
floor in a fainting fit and she is even as thou seest; nor do I
know what befel her." Then the father rose up and besprinkled
somewhat of water upon her face which revived her and she said,
"Where am I?" whereto said he, "Thou art with us." And when she
had recovered and returned to her senses, and her condition was
as before the swoon, she told them of the old woman and her ill
designs and of her death and lastly how the clothes had been
brought by herself from the house of the Bhang-eater. As soon as
her sire had heard her words, he set out from his home and sought
the Sultan.?And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and
fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her
sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how
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 Four Hundred and Fifth 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 whilst the
Sultan was sitting behold, the Khwajah came in and complained to
him of the Bhang-eater, whereupon he ordered a company to go
fetch the accused and they went off and found him not. So they
returned and reported accordingly. Such was the cause of the
Khwajah coming to the King and such was the case with them; but
as regards the Bhang-eater, when he went off rejoicing to the
Bazar in order to buy whatso the merchant's daughter had asked
him, he brought many a thing wherewith he returned to his
lodging. However as he returned he beheld the old woman
slaughtered and weltering in her blood and he found nothing at
all of the choice articles wherewith his house was fulfilled; so
he fell to quoting this couplet:[FN#263]?
"'Twas as a hive of bees that greatly thrived; * But, when the
bee-swarm fled, 'twas clean unhived."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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