The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 08 (of 10)
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 08 (of 10)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
though he give thee the fish's weight in gold. Then will he say to
thee, 'Tell me what thou wouldst have;' and do thou reply, "By Allah, I
will not sell the fish save for two words!' He will ask, 'What are
they?' and do thou answer, 'Stand up and say, 'Bear witness, O ye who
are present in the market, that I give Khalifah the fisherman my ape in
exchange for his ape, and that I barter for his lot my lot and luck for
his luck.' This is the price of the fish, and I have no need of gold.'
If he do this, I will every day give thee good-morrow and good-even,
and every day thou shalt gain ten dinars of good gold; whilst this
one-eyed, lame-legged ape shall daily give the Jew good-morrow, and
Allah shall afflict him every day with an avanie [FN#199] which he must
needs pay, nor will he cease to be thus afflicted till he is reduced to
beggary and hath naught. Hearken then to my words; so shalt thou
prosper and be guided aright." Quoth Khalifah, "I accept thy counsel,
O monarch of all the monkeys! But, as for this unlucky, may Allah
never bless him! I know not what to do with him." Quoth the ape, "Let
him go [FN#200] into the water, and let me go also." "I hear and
obey," answered Khalifah and unbound the three apes, and they went down
into the river. Then he took up the cat-fish [FN#201] which he washed
then laid it in the basket upon some green grass, and covered it with
other; and lastly shouldering his load, set out chanting the following
Mawwál, [FN#202]
"Thy case commit to a Heavenly Lord and thou shalt safety see; *
Act kindly through thy worldly life and live repentance-
free.
Mate not with folk suspected, lest eke thou shouldst suspected be
* And from reviling keep thy tongue lest men revile at
thee!"
—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account