Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights) Volume 09 — Night 945 - 946

When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-fifth Night, She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah of the sea said to Abdullah of the Land, "And if a thousand or more of this kind hear an Adamite cry a single cry, forthright all die nor hath one of them power to remove from his place; so, whenever a son of Adam falleth into the sea, we take him and anoint him with this fat and go round about the depths with him, and whenever we see a Dandan or two or three or more, we bid him cry out and they all die forthright for his once crying."

Quoth the fisherman, "I put my trust in Allah;" and, doffing his clothes, buried them in a hole which he dug in the beach; after which he rubbed his body from head to heels with that ointment.

Then he descended into the water and diving, opened his eyes and the brine did him no hurt.

So he walked right and left, and if he would, he rose to the sea-face, and if he would, he sank to the base.

And he beheld the water as it were a tent over his head; yet it wrought him no hurt.

Then said the Merman to him, "What seest thou, O my brother?"

; and said he, "O my brother, I see naught save weal[FN#263]; and indeed thou spakest truth in that which thou saidst to me; for the water doth me no hurt."

Quoth the Merman, "Follow me."

So he followed him and they ceased not faring on from place to place, whilst Abdullah discovered before him and on his right and left mountains of water and solaced himself by gazing thereon and on the various sorts of fish, some great and some small, which disported themselves in the main.

Some of them favoured buffaloes[FN#264] others oxen and others dogs and yet others human beings; but all to which they drew near fled, whenas they saw the fisherman, who said to the Merman, "O my brother, how is it that I see all the fish, to which we draw near, flee from us afar?"

Said the other, "Because they fear thee, for all things that Allah hath made fear the son of Adam.

[FN#265]" The fisherman ceased not to divert himself with the marvels of the deep, till they came to a high mountain and fared on beside it.

Suddenly, he heard a mighty loud cry and turning, saw some black thing, the bigness of a camel or bigger, coming down upon him from the liquid mountain and crying out.

So he asked his friend, "What is this, O my brother?"

; and the Merman answered, "This is the Dandan.

He cometh in search of me, seeking to devour me; so cry out at him, O my brother, ere he reach us; else he will snatch me up and devour me."

Accordingly Abdullah cried out at the beast and behold, it fell down dead; which when he saw, he said, "Glorified be the perfection of God and His praise!

I smote it not with the sword nor knife; how cometh it that, for all the vastness of the creature's bulk, it could not bear my cry, but died?"

Replied the Merman, "Marvel not, for, by Allah, O my brother, were there a thousand or two thousand of these creatures, yet could they not endure the cry of a son of Adam."

Then they walked on, till they made a city, whose inhabitants the fisherman saw to be all women, there being no male among them; so he said to his companion, "O my brother, what city is this and what are these women?"

"This is the city of women; for its inhabitants are of the women of the sea."

"Are there any males among them?"

"No!"

"Then how do they conceive and bear young, without males?

[FN#266]" "The King of the sea banisheth them hither and they conceive not neither bear children.

All the women of the sea, with whom he is wroth, he sendeth to this city, and they cannot leave it; for, should one of them come forth therefrom, any of the beasts of the sea that saw her would eat her.

But in other cities of the main there are both males and females."

Thereupon asked the fisherman, "Are there then other cities than this in the sea?"

; and the Merman answered, "There are many."

Quoth the fisherman, "And is there a Sultan over you in the sea?"

"Yes," quoth the Merman.

Then said Abdullah "O my brother, I have indeed seen many marvels in the main!"

But the Merman said, "And what hast thou seen of its marvels?

[FN#267] Hast thou not heard the saying, 'The marvels of the sea are more manifold than the marvels of the land?'

" "True," rejoined the fisherman and fell to gazing upon those women, whom he saw with faces like moons and hair like women's hair, but their hands and feet were in their middle and they had tails like fishes' tails.

Now when the Merman had shown him the people of the city, he carried him forth therefrom and forewalked him to another city, which he found full of folk, both males and females, formed like the women aforesaid and having tails; but there was neither selling nor buying amongst them, as with the people of the land, nor were they clothed, but went all naked and with their same uncovered.

Said Abdullah "O my brother, I see males and females alike with their shame exposed,[FN#268]" and the other said, "This is because the folk of the sea have no clothes."

Asked the fisherman, "And how do they when they marry?"

The Merman answered, "They do not marry; but every one who taketh a liking to a female doth his will of her."

Quoth Abdullah, "This is unlawful!

Why doth he not ask her in marriage and dower her and make her a wedding festival and marry her, in accordance with that which is pleasing to Allah and His Apostle?"

; and quoth the other, "We are not all of one religion: some of us are Moslems, believers in The Unity, others Nazarenes and what not else; and each marrieth in accordance with the ordinances of his creed; but those of us who marry are mostly Moslems."

The fisherman continued, "Ye are naked and have neither buying nor selling among you: of what then is your wives' dowry?

Do ye give them jewels and precious stones?"

The Merman rejoined, "Gems with us are only stones without worth: but upon the Moslem who is minded to marry they impose a dowry of a certain number of fishes of various kinds that he must catch, a thousand or two thousand, more or less, according to the agreement between himself and the bride's father.

As soon as he bringeth the amount required, the families of the bride and bridegroom assemble and eat the marriage-banquet; after which they bring him in to his bride, and he catcheth fish and feedeth her; or, if he be unable, she catcheth fish and feedeth him."

Enquired the fisherman, "And how if a woman commit adultery?"

;

and the other replied, "If a woman be convicted of this case, they banish her to the City of Women; and if she be with child by her gallant, they leave her till she be delivered; then, if she give birth to a girl, they banish her with her, calling her adulteress, daughter of adulteress, and she abideth a maid till she die; but, if the woman give birth to a male child, they carry it to the Sultan of the Sea, who putteth it to death."

Abdullah marvelled at this and the Merman carried him to another city and thence to another and yet another, till he had diverted him with the sight of eighty cities, and he saw the people of each city unlike those of every other.

Then said he to the Merman, "O my brother, are there yet other cities in the main?"

; whereto said the other, "And what hast thou seen of the cities of the sea and its wondrous spectacles?

By the virtue of the noble Prophet, the benign, the compassionate, were I to show thee every day a thousand cities for a thousand years, and in each city a thousand marvels, I should not have shown thee one carat of the four-and- twenty carats of the cities of the sea and its miracles!

I have but shown thee our own province and country, nothing more."

The fisherman thus resumed, "O my brother, since this is the case, what I have seen sufficeth me, for I am a-weary of eating fish, and these fourscore days I have been in thy company, thou hast fed me, morning and night, upon nothing but raw fish, neither broiled nor boiled."

"And what is broiled or boiled?"

"We broil fish with fire and boil it in water and dress it in various ways and make many dishes of it."

"And how should we come by fire in the sea?

We know not broiled nor boiled nor aught else of the kind."

"We also fry it in olive-oil and oil of sesame.

[FN#269]"

How should be come by olive-oil and oil of sesame in the sea?

Verily we know nothing of that thou namest."

"True, but O my brother, thou hast shown me many cities; yet hast thou not shown me thine own city."

"As for mine own city, we passed it a long way, for it is near the land whence we came, and I left it and came with thee hither, thinking only to divert thee with the sight of the greater cities of the sea."

"That which I have seen of them sufficeth me; and now I would have thee show me thine own city."

"So be it," answered Abdullah of the Sea; and, returning on his traces, carried him back thither and said to him, "This is my city."

Abdullah of the Land looked and saw a city small by comparison with those he had seen; then he entered with his comrade of the deep and they fared on till they came to a cave.

Quoth the Merman, "This is my house and all the houses in the city are like this, caverns great and small in the mountains; as are also those of every other city of the sea.

For whoso is minded to make him a house must repair to the King and say to him, 'I wish to make me a house in such a place.'

Whereupon the King sends with him a band of the fish called 'Peckers,'[FN#270] which have beaks that crumble the hardest rock, appointing for their wage a certain quantum of fish.

They betake themselves to the mountain chosen by the intended owner and therein pierce the house, whilst the owner catcheth fish for them and feedeth them, till the cave is finished, when they wend their ways and the house-owner taketh up his abode therein.

On such wise do all the people of the sea; they traffic not one with other nor serve each other save by means of fish; and their food is fish and they themselves are a kind of fish.

[FN#271]" Then he said to him, "Enter!"

So Abdullah entered and the Merman cried out, saying, "Ho, daughter mine!"

when behold, there came to him a damsel with a face like the rondure of the moon and hair long, hips heavy, eyes black-edged and waist slender; but she was naked and had a tail.

When she saw Abdullah of the Land she said to her sire, "O my father, what is this No-tail[FN#272] thou hast brought with thee?"

He replied, "O my daughter this is my friend of the land, from whom I used to bring thee the fruits of the ground.

Come hither and salute him with the salam."

So she came forward and saluted the fisherman with loquent tongue and eloquent speech;

and her father said to her, "Bring meat for our guest, by whose visit a blessing hath betided us:[FN#273]" whereupon she brought him two great fishes, each the bigness of a lamb, and the Merman said to him, "Eat."

So he ate for stress of hunger, despite himself; because he was tired of eating fish and they had naught else save fish.

Before long, in came the Merman's wife, who was beautiful of form and favour and with her two children, each having in his hand a young fish, which he craunched as a man would craunch a cucumber.

When she saw the fisherman with her husband, she said, "What is this No-tail?"

And she and her sons and their sister came up to him and fell to examining the back parts of Abdullah of the Land, and saying, "Yea, by Allah, he is tailless!"

; and they laughed at him.

So he said to the Merman, "O my brother, hast thou brought me hither to make me a butt and a laughing-stock for thy children and thy consort?"

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-sixth Night, She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah of the Land said to Abdullah of the sea, "O my brother, hast thou brought me hither to make me a butt and a laughing-stock for thy children and thy consort?"

Cried the Merman, "Pardon, O my brother!

Those who have no tails are rare among us, and whenever one such is found, the Sultan taketh him, to make fun of him, and he abideth a marvel amongst us, and all who see him laugh at him.

But, O my brother, excuse these young children and this woman, for they lack wits."

Then he cried out to his family, saying, "Silence!"

; so they were afraid and held their peace; whilst he went on to soothe Abdullah's mind.

Presently, as they were talking, behold, in came some ten Mermen, tall and strong and stout, and said to him, "O Abdullah, it hath reached the King that thou hast with thee a No-tail of the No-tails of the earth."

Answered the Merman, "Yes; and this is he; but he is not of us nor of the children of the sea.

He is my friend of the land and hath come to me as a guest and I purpose to carry him back to the land."

Quoth they, "We cannot depart but with him; so, an thou have aught to say, arise and come with him before the King; and whatso thou wouldst say to us, say thou that same to the King."

Then quoth the Merman to the fisherman, "O my brother, my excuse is manifest, and we may not disobey the King: but go thou with me to him and I will do my best to deliver thee from him, Inshallah!

Fear not, for he deemeth thee of the children of the sea; but, when he seeth thee, he will know thee to be of the children of the land, and he will surely entreat thee honourably and restore thee to the land."

And Abdullah of the Land replied, "'Tis thine to decide, I will trust in Allah and wend with thee."

So he took him and carried him to the King, who, when he saw him, laughed at him and said, "Welcome to the No-tail!"

And all who were about the King began to laugh at him and say, "Yea, by Allah, he is tailless!"

Then Abdullah of the Sea came forward and acquainted the King with the fisherman's case, saying, "This man is of the children of the land and he is my comrade and cannot live amongst us, for that he loveth not the eating of fish, except it be fried or boiled; wherefore I desire that thou give me leave to restore him to the land."

Whereto the King replied, "Since the case is so, and he cannot live among us, I give thee leave to restore him to his place, after due entertainment," presently adding, "Bring him the guest-meal."

So they brought him fish of various kinds and colours and he ate, in obedience to the royal behest; after which the King said to him, "Ask a boon of me."

Quoth he, "I ask of thee that thou give me jewels;" and the King said, "Carry him to the jewel-house and let him choose that whereof he hath need."

So his friend carried him to the jewel-house and he picked out whatso he would, after which the Merman brought him back to his own city and pulling out a purse, said to him, "Take this deposit and lay it on the tomb of the Prophet, whom Allah save and assain!"

And he took it, knowing not what was therein.

Then the Merman went forth with him, to bring him back to land, and by the way he heard singing and merrymaking and saw a table spread with fish and folk eating and singing and holding mighty high festival.

So Abdullah of the Land said to his friend, "What aileth these people to rejoice thus?

Is there a wedding among them?"

Replied Abdullah of the Sea, "Nay; one of them is dead."

Asked the fisherman, "Then do ye, when one dieth amongst you, rejoice for him and sing and feast?"

; and the Merman answered, "Yes: and ye of the land, what do ye?"

Quoth Abdullah of the Land, "When one dieth amongst us, we weep and keen for him and the women beat their faces and rend the bosoms of their raiment, in token of mourning for the dead."

But Abdullah the Merman stared at him with wide eyes and said to him, "Give me the deposit!"

So he gave it to him.

Then he set him ashore and said to him, "I have broken off our companionship and our amity;

wherefore from this day forward thou shalt no more see me, nor I see thee."

Cried the fisherman, "Why sayst thou this?"

; and the other said, "Are ye not, O folk of the land, a deposit of Allah?"

"Yes."

"Why then," asked the Merman, "is it grievous to you that Allah should take back His deposit and wherefore weep ye over it?

How can I entrust thee with a deposit for the Prophet (whom Allah save and assain!

), seeing that, when a child is born to you, ye rejoice in it, albeit the Almighty setteth the soul therein as a deposit; and yet, when he taketh it again, it is grievous to you and ye weep and mourn?

Since it is hard for thee to give up the deposit of Allah, how shall it be easy to thee to give up the deposit of the Prophet?

[FN#274] Wherefore we need not your companionship."

Saying thus he left him and disappeared in the sea.

Thereupon Abdullah of the Land donned his dress and taking the jewels, went up to the King, who met him lovingly and rejoiced at his return saying, "How dost thou, O my son-in-law, and what is the cause of thine absence from me this while?"

So he told him his tale and acquainted him with that which he had seen of marvels in the sea, whereat the King wondered.

Then he told him what Abdullah the Merman had said[FN#275]; and the King replied, "Indeed 'twas thou wast at fault to tell him this."

Nevertheless, he continued for some time to go down to the shore and call upon Abdullah of the Sea, but he answered him not nor came to him; so, at last, he gave up all hope of him and abode, he and the King his father-in-law and the families of them both in the happiest of case and the practice of righteous ways, till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of societies and they died all.

Wherefore glory be to the Living, who dieth not, whose is the empire of the Seen and the Unseen, who over all things is Omnnipotent and is gracious to His servants and knowth their every intent!

And amongst the tales they tell is one anent HARUN AL-RASHID AND ABU HASAN, THE

MERCHANT OF OMAN.

The Caliph Harun al-Rashid was one night wakeful exceedingly; so he called Masrur and said to him as soon as he came, "Fetch me Ja'afar in haste."

Accordingly, he went out and returned with the Wazir, to whom said the Caliph, "O Ja'afar wakefulness hath mastered me this night and forbiddeth sleep from me, nor wot I what shall drive it away from me."

Replied Ja'afar, "O Commander of the Faithful, the wise say, 'Looking on a mirror, entering the Hammam-bath and hearkening unto song banish care and chagrin.'

" He rejoined, "O Ja'afar I have done all this, but it hath brought me naught of relief, and I swear by my pious forbears unless thou contrive that which shall abate from me this insomny, I will smite thy neck."

Quoth Ja'afar, "O Commander of the Faithful, wilt thou do that which I shall counsel thee?"

whereupon quoth the Caliph, "And what is that thou counselleth?"

He replied, "It is that thou take boat with us and drop down Tigris River with the tide to a place called Karn al-Sirat, so haply we may hear what we never heard or see what we never saw, for 'tis said, 'The solace of care is in one of three things; that a man see what he never before saw or hear what he never yet heard or tread an earth he erst hath never trodden.'

It may be this shall be the means of remedying thy restlessness, O Commander of the Faithful, Inshallah!

There, on either side of the river, are windows and balconies one facing other, and it may be we shall hear or see from one of these somewhat wherewith our hearts may be heartened."

Ja'afar's counsel pleased the Caliph, so he rose from his place and taking with him the Wazir and his brother Al-Fazl and Isaac[FN#276] the boon-companion and Abu Nowas and Abu Dalaf[FN#277] and Masrur the Sworder,-- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.