The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
General
The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
And when we were about to set sail again, we found, on the shore of the
sea, a maiden clad in tattered garments, who kissed my hand, and said to
me, O my master, art thou possessed of charity and kindness? If so, I
will requite thee for them. I answered, Yes, I have those qualities,
though thou requite me not. Then said she, O my master, accept me as thy
wife, and take me to thy country; for I give myself to thee:[I_24]
act kindly towards me; for I am one who requires to be treated with
kindness and charity, and who will requite thee for so doing; and let
not my present condition at all deceive thee. When I heard these words,
my heart was moved with tenderness towards her, in order to the
accomplishment of a purpose of God, to whom be ascribed all might and
glory; and I took her, and clothed her, and furnished for her a place in
the ship in a handsome manner, and regarded her with kind and respectful
attention.
We then set sail; and I became most cordially attached to my wife, so
that, on her account, I neglected the society of my brothers, who, in
consequence, became jealous of me, and likewise envied me my wealth, and
the abundance of my merchandise; casting the eyes of covetousness upon
the whole of the property. They therefore consulted together to kill me,
and take my wealth; saying, Let us kill our brother, and all the
property shall be ours:--and the devil made these actions to seem fair
in their eyes; so they came to me while I was sleeping by the side of my
wife, and took both of us up, and threw us into the sea. But as soon as
my wife awoke, she shook herself, and became transformed into a
Jinneeyeh.[I_25] She immediately bore me away, and placed me upon
an island, and, for a while, disappeared. In the morning, however, she
returned, and said to me, I am thy wife, who carried thee, and rescued
thee from death, by permission of God, whose name be exalted. Know that
I am a Jinneeyeh: I saw thee, and my heart loved thee for the sake of
God; for I am a believer in God and his Apostle, God bless and save
him![I_26] I came to thee in the condition in which thou sawest me,
and thou didst marry me; and see, I have rescued thee from drowning. But
I am incensed against thy brothers, and I must kill them.--When I heard
her tale, I was astonished, and thanked her for what she had done;--But,
said I, as to the destruction of my brothers, it is not what I desire. I
then related to her all that had happened between myself and them from
first to last; and when she had heard it, she said, I will, this next
night, fly to them, and sink their ship, and destroy them. But I said, I
conjure thee by Allah that thou do it not; for the author of the proverb
saith, O thou benefactor of him who hath done evil, the action that he
hath done is sufficient for him:[I_27]--besides, they are at all
events my brothers. She still, however, said, They must be killed;--and
I continued to propitiate her towards them: and at last she lifted me
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