The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume I
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume I
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
know his father's name." Thereupon they dispersed from around him
and laughed him to scorn, leaving him choked with tears and
mortification. Then said the monitor to him, "O Agib, knowst thou
not that the Vizier is thy mother's father, thy grandfather and
not thy father? As for thy father, thou knowest him not nor do
we, for the Sultan married thy mother to a humpbacked groom; but
the Jinn came and lay with her, and thou hast no known father.
Wherefore, do thou leave evening thyself with the boys in the
school, till thou know who is thy father; for till then thou wilt
pass for a misbegotten brat amongst them. Dost thou not see that
the huckster's son knows his own father? Thy grandfather is the
Vizier of Egypt, but as for thy father, we know him not, and we
say, thou hast no father. So return to thy senses." When Agib
heard the insulting words of the children and the monitor, he
went out at once and ran to his mother, to complain to her; but
his tears would not let him speak awhile. When she heard his sobs
and saw his tears, her heart was on fire for him and she said to
him, "O my son, why dost thou weep? Tell me what is the matter."
So he told her what the children and the monitor had said and
said to her, "Who is my father, O my mother?" "Thy father is the
Vizier of Egypt," answered she; but he said, "Do not lie to me.
The Vizier is thy father, not mine. Who then is my father? Except
thou tell me the truth, I will kill myself with this dagger."
When the Lady of Beauty heard him speak of his father, she wept,
as she thought of her cousin and her bridal-night, and repeated
the following verses:
Love in my breast, alas! they lit and went away; Far distant is
the camp that holds my soul's delight!
Patience and reason fled from me, when they withdrew; Sleep
failed me, and despair o'ercame me like a blight.
They left me, and with them departed all my joy; Tranquility and
peace with them have taken flight.
They made my lids run down with tears of love laid waste; My eyes
for lack of them brim over day and night.
When as my sad soul longs to see them once again And waiting and
desire are heavy on my spright;
Midmost my heart of hearts their images I trace, Love and
desireful pain and longing for their sight.
O ye, one thought of whom clings round me like a cloak, Whose
love it as a shirt about my body dight,
O my beloved ones, how long will ye delay? How long must I endure
estrangement and despite?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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