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
al-Din Hasan, "Of a truth my offense were over-punished by the least of
what thou hast already done to me; and Allah damn all conserve of
pomegranate-grains and curse the hour when I cooked it and would I had
died ere this!" But the Wazir rejoined, "There is no help for it; I
must crucify a man who sells conserve of pomegranate-grains lacking
pepper." All this time the carpenter was shaping the wood and Badr
al-Din looked on; and thus they did till night, when his uncle took him
and clapped him into the chest, saying, "The thing shall be done
to-morrow!" Then he waited until he knew Badr al-Din "Hasan to be
asleep, when he mounted; and taking the chest up before him, entered
the city and rode on to his own house, where he alighted and said to
his daughter, Sitt al-Husn, "Praised be Allah who hath reunited thee
with thy husband, the son of thine uncle! Up now, and order the house
as it was on thy bridal night." So the servants arose and lit the
candles; and the Wazir took out his plan of the nuptial chamber, and
directed them what to do till they had set everything in its stead, so
that whoever saw it would have no doubt but it was the very night of
the marriage. Then he bade them put down Badr al-Din Hasan's turband on
the settle, as he had deposited it with his own hand, and in like
manner his bag-trousers and the purse which were under the mattress:
and told daughter to undress herself and go to bed in the private
chamber as on her wedding-night, adding, "When the son of thine uncle
comes in to thee, say to him:—Thou hast loitered while going to the
privy; and call him to lie by thy side and keep him in converse till
daybreak, when we will explain the whole matter to him." Then he bade
take Badr al-Din Hasan out of the chest, after loosing the fetters from
his feet and stripping off all that was on him save the fine shirt of
blue silk in which he had slept on his wedding-night; so that he was
well-nigh naked and trouserless. All this was done whilst he was
sleeping on utterly unconscious. Then, by doom of Destiny, Badr al-Din
Hasan turned over and awoke; and, finding himself in a lighted
vestibule, said to himself, "Surely I am in the mazes of some dream."
So he rose and went on a little to an inner door and looked in and lo!
he was in the very chamber wherein the bride had been displayed to him;
and there he saw the bridal alcove and the settle and his turband and
all his clothes. When he saw this he was confounded and kept advancing
with one foot, and retiring with the other, saying, "Am I sleeping or
waking?" And he began rubbing his forehead and saying (for indeed he
was thoroughly astounded), "By Allah, verily this is the chamber of the
bride who was displayed before me! Where am I then? I was surely but
now in a box!" Whilst he was talking with himself, Sitt al-Husn
suddenly lifted the corner of the chamber-curtain and said, "O my lord,
wilt thou not come in? Indeed thou hast loitered long in the
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