Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 3 (of 6) Part 1
General
Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 3 (of 6) Part 1
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
“’Tis true; for the Jinns do present themselves before the Sons of
Adam[114] but I, O my son, never saw them in all my life and meseemeth
that this be the same who saved thee when thou wast within the Enchanted
Hoard.” “This is not he, O my mother: this who appeared before thee is
the Slave of the Lamp!” “Who may this be, O my son?” “This be a Slave of
sort and shape other than he; that was the Familiar of the Ring and this
his fellow thou sawest was the Slave of the Lamp thou hentest in
hand.”——And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,
Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us
some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and
good will.”——It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin said,
“Verily, O my mother, the Jinni who appeared to thee was the Slave of
the Lamp.” And when his parent heard these words she cried, “There!
there![115] so this Accursed, who showed himself to me and went nigh
unto killing me with affright, is attached to the Lamp.” “Yes,” he
replied, and she rejoined, “Now I conjure thee, O my son, by the milk
wherewith I suckled thee, to throw away from thee this Lamp and this
Ring; because they can cause us only extreme terror and I especially can
never abear a second glance at them. Moreover all intercourse with them
is unlawful, for that the Prophet (whom Allah save and assain!) warned
us against them with threats.” He replied, “Thy commands, O my mother,
be upon my head[116] and mine eyes; but, as regards this saying thou
saidest, ’tis impossible that I part or with Lamp or with Ring. Thou
thyself hast seen what good the Slave wrought us whenas we were
famishing; and know, O my mother, that the Maghrabi, the liar, the
Magician, when sending me down into the Hoard, sought nor the silver nor
the gold wherewith the four halls were fulfilled, but charged me to
bring him only the Lamp (naught else), because in very deed he had
learned its priceless value; and, had he not been certified of it, he
had never endured such toil and trouble nor had he travelled from his
own land to our land in search thereof; neither had he shut me up in the
Treasury when he despaired of the Lamp which I would not hand to him.
Therefore it besitteth us, O my mother, to keep this Lamp and take all
care thereof nor disclose its mysteries to any; for this is now our
means of livelihood and this it is shall enrich us. And likewise as
regards the Ring, I will never withdraw it from my finger, inasmuch as
but for this thou hadst nevermore seen me on life; nay I should have
died within the Hoard underground. How then can I possibly remove it
from my finger? And who wotteth that which may betide me by the lapse of
Time, what trippings or calamities or injurious mishaps wherefrom this
Ring may deliver me? However, for regard to thy feelings I will stow
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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