The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 (of 10)
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 (of 10)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
Quoth Shams al-Din, "Basta! [FN#367] I see thee fail in respect to me
by making thy son of more account than my daughter; and 'tis plain that
thine understanding is of the meanest and that thou lackest manners.
Thou remindest me of thy partnership in the Wazirate, when I admitted
thee to share with me only in pity for thee, and not wishing to mortify
thee; and that thou mightest help me as a manner of assistant. But
since thou talkest on this wise, by Allah, I will never marry my
daughter to thy son; no, not for her weight in gold!" When Nur al-Din
heard his brother's words he waxed wroth and said, "And I too, I will
never, never marry my son to thy daughter; no, not to keep from my lips
the cup of death." Shams al-Din replied, "I would not accept him as a
husband for her, and he is not worth a paring of her nail. Were I not
about to travel I would make an example of thee; however when I return
thou shalt see, and I will show thee, how I can assert my dignity and
vindicate my honour. But Allah doeth whatso He willeth."[FN#368] When
Nur al-Din heard this speech from his brother, he was filled with fury
and lost his wits for rage; but he hid what he felt and held his peace;
and each of the brothers passed the night in a place far apart, wild
with wrath against the other. As soon as morning dawned the Sultan
fared forth in state and crossed over from Cairo [FN#369] to Jizah
[FN#370] and made for the pyramids, accompanied by the Wazir Shams
al-Din, whose turn of duty it was, whilst his brother Nur al-din, who
passed the night in sore rage, rose with the light and prayed the
dawn-prayer. Then he betook himself to his treasury and, taking a small
pair of saddle-bags, filled them with gold; and he called to mind his
brother's threats and the contempt wherewith he had treated him, and he
repeated these couplets:—
"Travel! and thou shalt find new friends for old ones left behind; *
Toil! for the sweets of human life by toil and moil are found:
The stay-at-home no honour wins nor aught attains but want; * So leave
thy place of birth [FN#371] and wander all the world around!
I've seen, and very oft I've seen, how standing water stinks, * And
only flowing sweetens it and trotting makes it sound:
And were the moon forever full and ne'er to wax or wane, * Man would
not strain his watchful eyes to see its gladsome round:
Except the lion leave his lair he ne'er would fell his game, * Except
the arrow leave the bow ne'er had it reached its bound:
Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine, * And
aloes-wood mere fuel is upon its native ground:
And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal'd; * And
aloes sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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