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
When she heard this, she came up out of the water and sitting
down on his knees, pointed to her kaze and said, 'O my little
lord, what is the name of this?' 'The sweet basil of the dykes,'
answered he; but she said, 'No! No!' Quoth he, 'The peeled
barleycorn.' And she said, 'Pshaw!' Then said he, 'Thy kaze.'
Fie! Fie!' cried she. 'Art thou not ashamed?' And cuffed him on
the nape of the neck. And whatever name he said, they beat him,
saying, 'No! No!' till at last he said, 'O my sisters, what is
its name?' 'The khan[FN#27] of Abou Mensour,' answered they. And
he said, 'Praised be God for safety! Bravo! Bravo! O khan of Abou
Mensour!' Then the damsel rose and put on her clothes and they
returned to their carousing and the cup passed round awhile.
Presently, the porter rose and putting off his clothes, plunged
into the pool and swam about and washed under his chin and
armpits, even as they had done. Then he came out and threw
himself into the eldest lady's lap and putting his arms into the
portress's lap and his feet into that of the cateress pointed to
his codpiece and said, 'O my mistresses, what is the name of
this?' They laughed till they fell backward and one of them
answered, 'Thy yard.' 'Art thou not ashamed?' said he. 'A
forfeit!' and took of each a kiss. Quoth another, 'Thy pintle.'
But he replied, 'No,' and gave each of them a bite in play. Then
said they, 'Thy pizzle.' 'No,' answered he, and gave each of them
a hug; and they kept saying, 'Thy yard, thy pintle, thy pizzle,
thy codpiece!' whilst he kissed and hugged and fondled them to
his heart's content, and they laughed till they were well nigh
dead. At last they said, 'O our brother, and what is its name?'
'Don't you know?' asked he; and they said, 'No.' Quoth he, 'This
is the mule Break-all, that browses on the basil of the dykes and
gobbles up the peeled barleycorn and lies by night in the khan of
Abou Mensour.' And they laughed till they fell backward. Then
they fell again to drinking and continued after this fashion till
the night came upon them, when they said to the porter, 'In the
name of God, put on thy sandals and be off and let us see the
breadth of thy shoulders!' Quoth he, 'By Allah, the leaving life
were easier to me than the leaving you! Let us join the night to
the day, and to-morrow we will each go our own way.' 'My life on
you!' said the cateress, 'let him pass the night with us, that we
may laugh at him, for he is a pleasant rogue; and we may never
again chance upon the like of him.' So the mistress of the house
said to the porter, 'Thou shalt pass the night with us on
condition that thou submit to our authority and that, whatever
thou seest, thou ask no questions about it nor enquire the reason
of it.' 'It is well,' answered he; and they said, 'Go and read
what is written over the door.' So he went to the door and found
the following words written thereon in letters of gold, 'He who
speaks of what concerns him not, shall hear what will not please
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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