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
saying, "Glory be to God! There is not with the Caliph of Baghdad what
is with me this day!" Then he ceased not faring on till he came to the
end of the market-street, when he remembered the words of the ape and
his charge, and returning to the Jew, threw him back the gold. Quoth
he, "What aileth thee, O Khalifah? Dost thou want silver in exchange
for gold?" Khalifah replied, "I want nor dirhams nor dinars. I only
want thee to give me back folk's fish." With this the Jew waxed wroth
and shouted out at him, saying, "O fisherman, thou bringest me a fish
not worth a sequin and I give thee five for it; yet art thou not
content! Art thou Jinn-mad? Tell me for how much thou wilt sell it."
Answered Khalifah, "I will not sell it for silver nor for gold, only
for two sayings [FN#206] thou shalt say me." When the Jew heard speak
of the "Two Sayings," his eyes sank into his head, he breathed hard and
ground his teeth for rage and said to him, "O nail-paring of the
Moslems, wilt thou have me throw off my faith for the sake of thy fish,
and wilt thou debauch me from my religion and stultify my belief and my
conviction which I inherited of old from my forbears?" Then he cried
out to the servants who were in waiting and said, "Out on you! Bash me
this unlucky rogue's neck and bastinado him soundly!" So they came
down upon him with blows and ceased not beating him till he fell
beneath the shop, and the Jew said to them, "Leave him and let him
rise." Whereupon Khalifah jumped up, as if naught ailed him, and the
Jew said to him, "Tell me what price thou asketh for this fish and I
will give it thee: for thou hast gotten but scant good of us this day."
Answered the Fisherman, "Have no fear for me, O master, because of the
beating; for I can eat ten donkeys' rations of stick." The Jew laughed
at his words and said, "Allah upon thee, tell me what thou wilt have
and by the right of my Faith, I will give it thee!" The Fisherman
replied, "Naught from thee will remunerate me for this fish save the
two words whereof I spake." And the Jew said, "Meseemeth thou wouldst
have me become a Moslem?" [FN#207] Khalifah rejoined, "By Allah, O
Jew, an thou islamise 'twill nor advantage the Moslems nor damage the
Jews; and in like manner, an thou hold to thy misbelief 'twill nor
damage the Moslems nor advantage the Jews. But what I desire of thee
is that thou rise to thy feet and say, 'Bear witness against me, O
people of the market, that I barter my ape for the ape of Khalifah the
Fisherman and my lot in the world for his lot and my luck for his
luck.'" Quoth the Jew, "If this be all thou desirest 'twill sit
lightly upon me." —And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-fifth 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