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
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 youth,
the owner of the calf, after beating the Shaykh of the Vagabonds
with a sore bashing within the Bath went forth by the back door.
Whereupon (continued the Larrikin) the followers of the Chief
went in and they found him at his last breath and moaning from
the excess of blows. Quoth they, "What is the matter with thee?"
and quoth he, "That man with a malady who came into the Hammam is
none other but the owner of the calf and he hath killed me." So
they took him up and carried him from the place and he said to
them, "Do ye bear me outside the city and set up for me a tent
and lay me therein, after which do ye gather round about me and
never leave me at all." Hereat they mounted him upon an ass and
bore him to the place he described and, pitching a tent, set him
therein and all sat around him. Presently the tidings reached me,
whereupon I changed my clothes for a disguise and drew near the
tent whereabouts I found a Badawi-man feeding his sheep. So I
said to him, "O Badawi, take this ducat and draw near yonder tent
and call aloud, saying, 'I am the owner of the calf;' after which
make off with thy life for an they catch thee they will slay
thee." "By Allah," quoth the Arab, "even if they rode their best
mares none of them could come up with me!" So I took charge of
the sheep while the Badawi approaching the tent cried in his
loudest voice, "By Allah, I am the owner of the calf." Hearing
this the vagabonds sprang to their feet as one body and drew
their weapons and rushed after the Badawi; but, when he had run
some distance from the tent with all the men behind him, I went
in and drawing from below my clothes the tail of the calf said,
"O Shaykh, is this the tail of a calf or a kid?" The Elder asked,
"Art thou not he who cried out, I am the owner of the calf?" and
I answered, "No, I am not," and came down upon him with the tail
and beat him until he could no longer breathe. Then I took the
properties belonging to his party and wrapping them in a sheet
carried them off and quitting the place I went in to my mother
and said to her, "Take them to the worth of the calf." Now those
who had run after the Badawi ceased not pursuing him, yet could
none of them come up with him and when they were tired they
returned from the chase and stinted not walking until they
entered the tent. There they found the Shaykh breathless nor
could he move save to make signs; so they sprinkled a little
water upon his face; and the life returned to him and he said to
them, "Verily the owner of the calf came to me and beat me till
he killed me and the wight who cried, 'I am the owner of the
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