Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights) Volume 09 — Night 969 - 970

When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night, She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the jeweller said to his wife, "Have patience!

The owner of it is generous and I will seek to buy it of him; and, if he will sell it, I will bring it to thee; or, if he have another such stone I will buy it and fashion it for thee into a ring like this."

On this wise it fared with the jeweller and his wife; but as regards Kamar al-Zaman, he passed the night in his lodging and on the morrow he took an hundred dinars and carried them to the old woman, the barber's wife, saying to her, "Accept these gold pieces," and she replied, "Give them to thy father."

So he gave them to the barber and she asked, "Hast thou done as I bade thee?"

He answered, "Yes," and she said, "Go now to the Shaykh, the jeweller, and if he give thee the ring, put it on the tip of thy finger and pull it off in haste and say to him, 'O master, thou hast made a mistake; the ring is too tight.'

He will say, 'O merchant, shall I break it and mould it again larger?'

And do thou say, 'It booteth not to break it and fashion it anew.

Take it and give it to one of thy slave-women.'

Then pull out another stone worth seven hundred dinars and say to him, 'Take this stone and set it for me, for 'tis handsomer than the other.'

Give him thirty dinars and to each of the prentices two, saying, 'These gold pieces are for the chasing and the price of the ring shall remain.'

Then return to thy lodging for the night and on the morrow bring me two hundred ducats, and I will complete thee the rest of the device."

So the youth went to the jeweller, who welcomed him and made him sit down in his shop; and he asked him, "Hast thou done my need?"

"Yes," answered Obayd and brought out to him the seal-ring; whereupon he set it on his finger-tip and pulling it off in haste, cried, "Thou hast made a mistake, O master;" and threw it to him, saying, "'Tis too strait for my finger."

Asked the jeweller, "O merchant, shall I make it larger?"

But he answered, "Not so; take it as a gift and give it to one of thy slave-girls.

Its worth is trifling, some five hundred dinars; so it booteth not to fashion it over again."

Then he brought out to him another stone worth seven hundred sequins and said to him, "Set this for me: 'tis a finer gem."

Moreover he gave him thirty dinars and to each of his workmen two.

Quoth Obayd, "O my lord we will take the price of the ring when we have made it."

[FN#407] But Kamar al-Zaman said, "This is for the chasing, and the price of the ring remains over."

So saying, he went away home, leaving the jeweller and his men amazed at the excess of his generosity.

Presently the jeweller returned to his wife and said, "O Halímah,[FN#408] never did I set eyes on a more generous than this young man, and as for thee, thy luck is good, for he hath given me the ring without price, saying, 'Give it to one of thy slave-women.'

" And he told her what had passed, adding, "Methinks this youth is none of the sons of the merchants, but that he is of the sons of the Kings and Sultans."

Now the more he praised him, the more she waxed in love-longing, passion and distraction for him.

So she took the ring and put it on her finger, whilst the jeweller made another one, a little larger than the first.

When he had finished moulding it, she put it on her finger, under the first, and said, "Look, O my lord, how well the two rings show on my finger!

I wish they were both mine."

Said he, "Patience!

It may be I shall buy thee this second one."

Then he lay that night and on the morrow he took the ring and went to his shop.

As for Kamar al-Zaman, as soon as it was day, he repaired to the barber's wife and gave her two hundred dinars.

Quoth she, "Go to the jeweller and when he giveth thee the ring, put it on thy finger and pull it off again in haste, saying, 'Thou hast made a mistake, O master!

This ring is too large.

A master like thee, when the like of me cometh to him with a piece of work, it behoveth him to take right measure; and if thou hadst measured my finger, thou hadst not erred.'

Then pull out another stone worth a thousand dinars and say to him, 'Take this and set it, and give this ring to one of thy slave-women.'

Give him forty ducats and to each of his journeymen three, saying, "This is for the chasing, and for the cost of the ring, that shall remain.'

And see what he will say.

Then bring three hundred dinars and give them to thy father the barber that he may mend his fortune withal, for he is a poor man."

Answered Kamar al-Zaman, "I hear and obey," and betook himself to the jeweller, who welcomed him and making him sit down, gave him the ring.

He took it and put it on his finger; then pulled it off in haste and said, "It behoveth a master like thee, when the like of me bringeth him a piece of work, to take his measure.

Hadst thou measured my finger, thou hadst not erred; but take it and give it to one of thy slave-women."

Then he brought out to him a stone worth a thousand sequins and said to him, "Take this and set it in a signet-ring for me after the measure of my finger."

Quoth Obayd, "Thou hast spoken sooth and art in the right;" and took his measure, whereupon he pulled out forty gold pieces and gave them to him, saying, "Take these for the chasing and the price of the ring shall remain."

Cried the jeweller, "O my lord, how much hire have we taken of thee!

Verily, thy bounty to us is great!"

"No harm," replied Kamar al-Zaman and sat talking with him awhile and giving a dinar to every beggar who passed by the shop.

Then he left him and went away, whilst the jeweller returned home and said to his wife, 'How generous is this young merchant!

Never did I set eyes on a more open-handed or a comelier than he, no, nor a sweeter of speech.'

And he went on to recount to her his charms and generosity and was loud in his praise.

Cried she, "O thou lack-tact,[FN#409] since thou notest these qualities in him, and indeed he hath given thee two seal rings of price, it behoveth thee to invite him and make him an entertainment and entreat him lovingly.

When he seeth that thou affectest him and cometh to our place, we shall surely get great good of him; and if thou grudge him the banquet do thou bid him and I will entertain him of my monies."

Quoth he, "Dost thou know me to be niggardly, that thou sayest this Say?

; and quoth she, "Thou art no niggard, but thou lackest tact.

Invite him this very night and come not without him.

An he refuse, conjure him by the divorce oath and be persistent with him."

"On my head and eyes," answered he and moulded the ring till he had finished it, after which he passed the night and went forth on the morrow to his shop and sat there.

On this wise it was with him; but as for Kamar al-Zaman, he took three hundred dinars and carrying them to the old wife, gave them to her for the barber, her husband.

Said she, "Most like he will invite thee to his house this day; and if he do this and thou pass the night there, tell me in the morning what befalleth thee and bring with thee four hundred dinars and give them to thy father."

Answered he, "Hearing and obeying;" and as often as he ran out of money, he would sell some of his stones.

So he repaired to the jeweller, who rose to him and received him with open arms, greeted him heartily and clapped up companionship with him.

Then he gave him the ring, and he found it after the measure of his finger and said to the jeweller, "Allah bless thee, O prince of artists!

The setting is conformable but the stone is not to my liking."

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say, When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventieth Night, She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al-Zaman said to the jeweller, "The setting is conformable to my wishes, but the stone is not to my liking.

I have a handsomer than this: so take the seal-ring and give it to one of thy slave women."

Then he gave him a fourth stone and an hundred dinars, saying, "Take thy hire and excuse the trouble we have given thee."

Obayd replied, "O merchant, all the trouble thou hast given us thou hast requited us and hast overwhelmed us with thy great bounties: and indeed my heart is taken with love of thee and I cannot brook parting from thee.

So, Allah upon thee, be thou my guest this night and heal my heart."

He rejoined, "So be it; but needs must I go to my Khan, that I may give a charge to my domestics and tell them that I shall sleep abroad to-night, so they may not expect me."

"Where dost thou lodge?"

asked the jeweller; and he answered, "In such a Khan."

Quoth Obayd, "I will come for thee there;" and quoth the other "'Tis well."

So the jeweller repaired to the Khan before sundown, fearing lest his wife should be anangered with him, if he returned home without his guest; and, carrying Kamar al-Zaman to his house, seated him in a saloon that had not its match.

Halimah saw him, as he entered, and was ravished with him.

They talked till supper was served when they ate and drank; after which appeared coffee and sherbets, and the jeweller ceased not to entertain him with talk till eventide, when they prayed the obligatory prayers.

Then entered a handmaid with two cups[FN#410] of night drink, which when they had drunk, drowsiness overcame them and they slept.

Presently in came the jeweller's wife and seeing them asleep, looked upon Kamar al-Zaman's face and her wit was confounded at his beauty.

Said she, "How can he sleep who loveth the fair?"

and, turning him over on his back, sat astraddle upon his breast.

Then, in the mania of her passion for him, she rained down kisses on his cheeks, till she left a mark upon them and they became exceeding red and his cheek bones shone; and, she sucked his lips, till the blood ran out into her mouth; but with all this, her fire was not quenched nor her thirst assuaged.

She ceased not to kiss and clip him and twine leg with leg, till the forebrow of Morn grew white and the dawn broke forth in light; when she put in his pocket four cockals[FN#411] and went away.

Then she sent her maid with something like snuff, which she applied to their nostrils and they sneezed and awoke, when the slave-girl said, "O my lords, prayer is a duty; so rise ye and pray the dawn-prayer."

And she brought them basin and ewer.

[FN#412] Quoth Kaman al-Zamar "O master, 'tis late and we have overslept ourselves;" and quoth the jeweller, "O my friend verily the air of this room is heavy;

for, whenever I sleep in it, this happens to me."

Rejoined Kamar al-Zaman, "True," and proceeded to make the Wuzu ablution; but, when he put the water to his face, his cheeks and lips burned him.

Cried he, "Prodigious!

If the air of the room be heavy and we have been drowned in sleep, what aileth my cheeks and lips that they burn me?"

And he said to the jeweller, "O master, my cheeks and lips burn me."

The other replied, "I guess this cometh of the mosquito-bites."

"Strange!"

said Kamar al-Zaman.

"Hath this thing happened to thee?"

Replied Obayd, "No!

But whenever I have by me a guest like thee, he complaineth in the morning of the mosquito-bites, and this happeneth only when he is like thee beardless.

If he be bearded the mosquitoes sting him not, and naught hindereth them from me but my beard.

It seems mosquitoes love not bearded men."

[FN#413] Rejoined Kamar al-Zaman, "True."

Then the maid brought them early breakfast and they broke their fast and went out.

Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old woman, who exclaimed, when she saw him, "I see the marks of joyance on thy face: tell me what thou hast seen."

Said he, "I have seen nothing.

Only I supped with the house master in a saloon and prayed the night prayer, after which we fell asleep and woke not till morning."

She laughed and said, "What be those marks on thy cheeks and lips?"

He answered, "'Twas the mosquitoes of the saloon that did this with me;" and she rejoined, "'Tis well.

But did the same thing betide the house master?"

He retorted, "Nay; but he told me that the mosquitoes of that saloon molest not bearded men, but sting those only who have no hair on face, and that whenever he hath for guest one who is beardless, the stranger awaketh complaining of the mosquito bites; whereas an he have a beard, there befalleth him naught of this."

Said she, "Sooth thou speakest: but say me, sawest thou aught save this?"

And he answered, "I found four cockals in my pocket."

Quoth she, "Show them to me."

So he gave them to her and she laughed and said, "Thy mistress laid these in thy pocket."

He asked, "How so?"

And she answered, " 'Tis as if she said to thee, in the language of signs,[FN#414] 'An thou wert in love, thou wouldst not sleep, for a lover sleepeth not: but thou hast not ceased to be a child and fit for nothing but to play with these cockals.

So what drave thee to fall in love with the fair?'

Now she came to thee by night and finding thee asleep, scored thy cheeks with her kisses and left thee this sign.

But that will not suffice her of thee and she will certainly send her husband to invite thee again to night; so, when thou goest home with him, hasten not to fall asleep, and on the morrow bring me five hundred dinars and come and acquaint me with what hath passed, and I will perfect for thee the device."

Answered he, "I hear and obey," and went back to the Khan.

Thus it befel him; but as regards the jeweller's wife, she said to her husband, "Is the guest gone?"

Answered he, "Yes, but, O Halimah,[FN#415]the mosquitoes plagued him last night and scarified his cheeks and lips, and indeed I was abashed before him."

She rejoined, "This is the wont of the mosquitoes of our saloon; for they love none save the beardless.

But do thou invite him again to night."

So he repaired to the Khan where the youth abode, and bidding him, carried him to his house, where they ate and drank and prayed the night-prayer in the saloon, after which the slave-girl entered and gave each of them a cup of night-drink,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy first Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the slave- girl went in to the twain and gave each of them a cup of night drink, and they drank and fell asleep.

Presently, in came Halimah and said, "O good-for-nothing, how canst thou sleep and call thyself a lover?

A lover sleepeth not!"

Then she mounted on his breast and ceased not to come down upon him with kisses and caresses, biting and sucking his lips and so forth, till the morning.

when she put in his pocket a knife and sent her handmaid to arouse them.

And when the youth awoke, his cheeks were on fire, for excess of redness, and his lips like coral, for dint of sucking and kissing.

Quoth the jeweller, "Did the mosquitoes plague thee last night?"

; and quoth the other, "Nay!"

; for he now knew the conceit and left complaining.

Then he felt the knife in his pocket and was silent; but when he had broken his fast and drunk coffee, he left the jeweller and going to the Khan; took five hundred dinars of gold and carried them to the old woman, to whom he related what had passed, saying, "I slept despite myself, and when I woke at dawn I found nothing but a knife in my pocket."

Exclaimed the old trot, "May Allah protect thee from her this next night!

For she saith to thee by this sign, 'An thou sleep again, I will cut thy throat.'

Thou wilt once more be bidden to the jeweller's house to-night,[FN#416] and if thou sleep, she will slay thee."

Said he, "What is to be done?"

; and said she, "Tell me what thou atest and drankest before sleeping."

Quoth he, "We supped as was our wont and prayed the night- prayer, after which there came in to us a maid, who gave each of us a cup of night-drink, which when I had drunk, I fell asleep and awoke not till the morning."

Quoth the old woman, "The mischief is in the cup: so, when the maid giveth it to thee, take it from her, but drink not and wait till the master of the house have drunken and fallen asleep; then say to her, 'Give me a draught of water,' and she will go to fetch thee the gugglet.

Then do thou empty the cup behind the pillow and lie down and feign sleep.

So when she cometh back with the gugglet, she will deem that thou hast fallen asleep, after having drunk off the cup, and will leave thee; and presently the case will appear to thee; but beware of disobeying my bidding."

Answered he, "I hear and I obey," and returned to the Khan.

Meanwhile the jeweller's wife said to her husband, "A guest's due honour is three nights' entertainment: so do thou invite him a third time."

Whereupon he betook himself to the youth and inviting him, carried him home and sat down with him in the saloon.

When they had supped and prayed the night-prayer, behold, in came the handmaid and gave each of them a cup.

Her master drank and fell asleep; but Kamar al-Zaman forbore to drink, whereupon quoth the maid, "Wilt thou not drink, O my lord?"

Answered he, "I am athirst, bring me the gugglet."

Accordingly she went to fetch it, and he emptied the cup behind the pillow and lay down.

When the slave-girl returned, she saw him lying down and going to her mistress said, "He hath drunk off the cup and fallen asleep;" whereupon quoth Halimah to herself, "Verily, his death is better than his life."

Then, taking a sharp knife, she went in to him, saying, "Three times, and thou notedst not the sign, O fool!

[FN#417] So now I will rip up thy maw."

When he saw her making for him knife in hand, he opened his eyes and rose, laughing; whereupon said she, "'Twas not of thine own wit, that thou camest at the meaning of the sign, but by the help of some wily cheat; so tell me whence thou hadst this knowledge."

"From an old woman," replied he, "between whom and me befel such and such;" and he told her all that had passed.

Quoth she, "To- morrow go thou forth from us and seek her and say, 'Hast thou any further device in store?'

And if she answer, 'I have,' do thou rejoin, 'Then do thy best that I may enjoy her publicly.'

But, if she say, 'I have no means of doing that, and this is the last of my devices,' put her away from thy thought, and to-morrow night my husband will come to thee and invite thee.

Do thou come with him and tell me and I will consider what remaineth to be done."

Answered he, "There is no harm in that!"

Then he spent the rest of the night with her in embracing and clipping, plying the particle of copulation in concert[FN#418] and joining the conjunctive with the conjoined,[FN#419] whilst her husband was as a cast-out nunnation of construction.

[FN#420] And they ceased not to be thus till morning, when she said to him, "'Tis not a night of thee that will content me, nor a day; no, nor yet a month nor a year; but it's my intent to abide with thee the rest of my life.

Wait, however, till I play my husband a trick which would baffle the keenest-witted and win for us our wishes.

I will cause doubt to enter into him, so that he shall divorce me, whereupon I will marry thee and go with thee to thine own country; I will also transport all his monies and hoards to thy lodging and will contrive thee the ruin of his dwelling place and the blotting out of his traces.

But do thou hearken to my speech and obey me in that I shall say to thee and gainsay me not."

He replied, "I hear and I obey: in me there is none opposition."

Then said she, "Go to the Khan and, when my husband cometh to thee and inviteth thee, say to him, 'O my brother, a son of Adam is apt to be burdensome, and when his visits grow over frequent, both generous and niggard loathe him.

[FN#421] How then shall I go with thee every night and lie I and thee, on the saloon?

An thou wax not chagrined with me, thy Harim will bear me grudge, for that I hinder thee from thine.

Therefore if thou have a mind to my company, take me a house beside thine own and we will abide thus, now I sitting with thee till the time of sleep, and now with me thou.

Then I will go to my place and thou to thy Harim and this will be a better rede than that I hinder thee from thy Harim every night.'

Then will he come to me and take counsel with me, and I will advise him to turn out our neighbour, for the house wherein he liveth is our house and he renteth it of us; and once thou art in the house, Allah will make easy to us the rest of our scheme."

And presently she added, "Go now and do as I bid thee."

Answered he, "I hear and obey;" whereupon she left him and went away, whilst he lay down and feigned to be asleep.

Presently, the handmaid came and aroused them; and when the jeweller awoke, he said to his guest, "O merchant have the mosquitoes worried thee?"

He replied, "No," and Obayd said, "Belike thou art grown used to them."

Then they broke their fast and drank coffee, after which they fared forth to their affairs, and Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old crone, and related to her what had passed,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-second Night, She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old crone, he related to her what had passed, saying, "She spake to me this and that, and I answered her thus and thus.

Now say me, hast thou any farther device for bringing me to enjoy her publicly?"

Quoth she, "O my son, here endeth my contrivance, and now I am at the term of my devices."

Upon this he left her and returned to the Khan where, as eventide evened, the jeweller came to him and invited him.

He said, "I cannot go with thee."

Asked the merchant, "Why so?

I

love thee and cannot brook separation from thee.

Allah upon thee come with me!"

The other replied, "An it be thy wish to continue our comradeship and keep up the friendship betwixt thee and me, take me a house by the side of thine own and when thou wilt, thou shalt pass the evening with me and I with thee; but, as soon as the time of sleep cometh, each of us shall hie him to his own home and lie there."

Quoth Obayd, "I have a house adjoining mine, which is my own property: so go thou with me to night and to- morrow I will have the house untenanted for thee."

Accordingly he went with him and they supped and prayed the night prayer, after which the jeweller drank the cup of drugged[FN#422] liquor and fell asleep: but in Kamar al-Zaman's cup there was no trick; so he drank it and slept not.

Then came the jeweller's wife and sat chatting with him through the dark hours, whilst her husband lay like a corpse.

When he awoke in the morning as of wont, he sent for his tenant and said to him, "O man, quit me the house, for I have need of it."

"On my head and eyes," answered the other and voided the house to him, whereupon Kamar al-Zaman took up his abode therein and transported thither all his baggage.

The jeweller passed that evening with him, then went to his own house.

On the next day, his wife sent for a cunning builder and bribed him with money to make her an underground-way[FN#423] from her chamber to Kamar al-Zaman's house, with a trap-door under the earth.

So, before the youth was ware, she came in to him with two bags of money and he said to her, "Whence comest thou?"

She showed him the tunnel and said to him, "Take these two bags of his money."

Then she sat with him, the twain toying and tumbling together till the morning, when she said, "Wait for me, till I go to him and wake him, so he may go to his shop, and I return to thee."

He sat expecting her, whilst she went away and awoke her husband, who made the Wuzu-ablution and prayed and went to his shop.

As soon as he was gone, she took four bags and, carrying them through the Souterrain to Kamar al-Zaman, said to him, "Store these up;" then she sat with him awhile, after which she retired to her home and he betook himself to the bazar.

When he returned at sundown, he found in his house ten purses and jewels and much besides.

Presently the jeweller came to him and carried him to his own house, where they passed the evening in the saloon, till the handmaid came in according to custom, and brought them the drink.

Her master drank and fell asleep, whilst naught betided Kamar al-Zaman for that his cup was wholesome and there was no trick therein.

Then came Halimah who sat down atoying with him, whilst the slave-girl transported the jeweller's goods to Kamar al-Zaman's house by the secret passage.

Thus they did till morning, when the handmaid awoke her lord and gave them to drink coffee, after which they went each his own way.

On the third day the wife brought out to him a knife of her husband's, which he had chased and wrought with his own hand, and which he priced at five hundred dinars.

But there was no knife like it and because of the eagerness with which folk sought it of him, he had laid it up in a chest and could not bring himself to sell it to any one in creation.

Quoth she, "Take this knife and set it in thy waist shawl and go to my husband and sit with him.

Then pull out the knife and say to him, 'O master, look at this knife I bought to-day and tell me if I have the worst or the best of the bargain.'

He will know it, but will be ashamed to say to thee, 'This is my knife;' so he will ask thee, 'Whence didst thou buy it and for how much?'

; and do thou make answer, 'I saw two Levantines[FN#424] disputing and one said to the other, 'Where hast thou been?'

Quoth his companion, 'I have been with my mistress, and whenever I foregather with her, she giveth me ten dirhams; but this day she said to me, 'My hand is empty of silver for thee to day, but take this knife of my husband's.' So I took it and intend to sell it.'

The knife pleased me and hearing his tale I said to him, 'Wilt thou sell it to me?'

when he replied, 'Buy.'

So I got it of him for three hundred gold pieces and I wonder whether it was cheap or dear.'

And note what he will say to thee.

Then talk with him awhile and rise and come back to me in haste.

Thou wilt find me awaiting thee at the tunnel mouth, and do thou give me the knife."

Replied Kamar al-Zaman, "I hear and I obey," and taking the knife set it in his waist-shawl.

Then he went to the shop of the jeweller, who saluted him with the salam and welcomed him and made him sit down.

He spied the knife in his waist shawl, at which he wondered and said to himself, "That is my knife: who can have conveyed it to this merchant?"

And he fell a-musing and saying in his mind, "I wonder an it be my knife or a knife like it!"

Presently Kamar al-Zaman pulled it out and said to him, "Harkye, master; take this knife and look at it."

Obayd took it and knew it right well, but was ashamed to say, "This is my knife;"-- And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-third Night, She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the jeweller took the knife from Kamar al-Zaman, he knew it, but was ashamed to say, "This is my knife."

So he asked, "Where didst thou buy it?"

Kamar al-Zaman answered as Halimah had charged him, and the jeweller said, "The knife was cheap at that price, for it is worth five hundred dinars."

But fire flamed in his heart and his hands were tied from working at his craft.

Kamar al-Zaman continued to talk with him, whilst he was drowned in the sea of solicitudes, and for fifty words wherewith the youth bespoke him, he answered him but one; for his heart ached and his frame was racked and his thoughts were troubled and he was even as saith the poet, "I have no words though folk would have me talk * And who bespeak me find me thought waylaid: Plunged in the Care-sea's undiscovered depths, * Nor aught of difference see 'twixt man and maid!"

When Kamar al-Zaman saw his case thus changed, he said to him, "Belike thou art busy at this present," and leaving him, returned in hottest haste to his own house, where he found Halimah standing at the passage door awaiting him.

Quoth she "Hast thou done as I bade thee?"

; and quoth he, "Yes."

She asked, "What said he to thee?"

; and he answered, "He told me that the knife was cheap at that price, for that it was worth five hundred dinars: but I could see that he was troubled; so I left him and know not what befel him after that."

Cried she, "Give me the knife and reck thou not of him."

Then she took the knife and restoring it to its place, sat down.

Now after Kamar al-Zaman's departure fire flamed in the jeweller's heart and suspicion was sore upon him and he said to himself, "Needs must I get up and go look for the knife and cut down doubt with certainty."

So he rose and repaired to his house and went in to his wife, snorting like a dragon;[FN#425] and she said to him, "What mattereth thee, O my lord?"

He asked, "Where is my knife?"

and she answered, "In the chest," and smote hand upon breast, saying, "O my grief!

Belike thou hast fallen out with some one and art come to fetch the knife to smite him withal."

Said he, "Give me the knife.

Let me see it."

But said she, "Not till thou swear to me that thou wilt not smite any one therewith."

So he swore this to her and she opened the chest and brought out to him the knife and he fell to turning it over, saying, "Verily, this is a wondrous thing!"

Then quoth he to her, "Take it and lay it back in its place;" and she, "Tell me the meaning of all this."

He answered, "I saw with our friend a knife like this," and told her all that had passed between himself and the youth, adding, "But, when I saw it in the chest, my suspicion ended in certainty."

Said she, "Haply thou misdoubtedst of me and deemedst that I was the Levantine's mistress and had given him the knife."

He replied, "Yes, I had my doubts of this; but, when I saw the knife, suspicion was lifted from my heart."

Rejoined she, "O man, there is now no good in thee!"

And he fell to excusing himself to her, till he appeased her; after which he fared forth and returned to his shop.

Next day, she gave Kamar al-Zaman her husband's watch, which he had made with his own hand and whereof none had the like, saying, "Go to his shop and sit by his side and say to him, 'I saw again to- day him whom I saw yesterday.

He had a watch in his hand and said to me, 'Wilt thou buy this watch?'

Quoth I, 'Whence hadst thou it?'

; and quoth he, 'I was with my mistress and she gave me this watch.'

So I bought it of him for eight-and-fifty gold pieces.

Look at it: is it cheap at that price or dear?'

Note what he shall say to thee; then return to me in haste and give me the watch."

So Kamar al-Zaman repaired to the jeweller and did with him as she had charged him.

When Obayd saw the watch, he said, "This is worth seven hundred ducats;" and suspicion entered into him.

Then the youth left him and returning to the wife, gave her back the watch.

Presently, her husband suddenly came in snorting, and said to her, "Where is my watch?"

Said she, "Here it is;" and he cried, "Give it to me."

So she brought it to him and he exclaimed, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!"

; and she too exclaimed, "O man, there is something the matter with thee.

Tell me what it is."

He replied, "What shall I say?

Verily, I am bewildered by these chances!"

And he recited these couplets,[FN#426] "Although the Merciful be doubtless with me, Yet am I sore bewildered, for new griefs Have compassed me about, or ere I knew it, I have endured till Patience self became Impatient of my patience.

--I have endured Waiting till Heaven fulfil my destiny.

-- I have endured till e'en endurance owned How I bore up with her; (a thing more bitter Than bitter aloes) yet though a bitterer thing Is not, than is that drug it were more bitter To me should Patience leave me unsustained."

Then said he to his wife, "O woman, I saw with the merchant our friend, first my knife, which I knew, for that its fashion was a device of my own wit, nor doth its like exist; and he told me of it a story that troubled the heart: so I came back and found it at home.

Again to day I see him with the watch, whose fashion also is of my own device, nor is there the fellow of it in Bassorah, and of this also he told me a story that saddened my heart.

Wherefore I am bewildered in my wit and know not what is to come to me."

Quoth she, "The purport of thy speech is that thou suspectedst me of being the friend of that merchant and his leman, and eke of giving him thy good; so thou camest to question me and make proof of my perfidy; and, had I not shown thee the knife and the watch, thou hadst been certified of my treason.

But since, O man, thou deemest me this ill deme, henceforth I will never again break with thee bread nor drain with thee drink, for I loathe thee with the loathing of prohibition.

[FN#427]" So he gentled her and excused himself till he had appeased her and returned, repenting him of having bespoken her thus, to his shop, where he sat, And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night, She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the jeweller quitted his wife, he repented having bespoken her thus and, returning to his shop, he sat there in disquiet sore and anxiety galore, between belief and unbelief.

About eventide he went home alone, not bringing Kamar al-Zaman with him: whereupon quoth his wife, "Where is the merchant?"

; and quoth he, "In his lodgings."

She asked, "Is the friendship between thee and him grown cold?"

and he answered, "By Allah, I have taken a dislike to him, because of that which hath betided me from him."

[FN#428]

Quoth she, "Go fetch him, to please me."

So he arose and went in to Kamar al-Zaman in his house; where he saw his own goods strewn about and knew them.

At this sight, fire was kindled in his heart and he fell asighing.

Quoth the youth, "How is it that I see thee melancholy?"

Obayd was ashamed to say, "Here are my goods in thy house: who brought them hither?"

; so he replied only, "A vexation hath betided me; but come thou with me to my house, that we may solace ourselves there."

The other rejoined, "Let me be in my place: I will not go with thee."

But the jeweller conjured him to come and took him to his house, where they supped and passed the evening together, Kamar al-Zaman talking with the jeweller, who was drowned in the sea of solicitude and for a hundred words, wherewith the guest bespoke him, answered him only one word.

Presently, the handmaid brought them two cups of drink, as usual, and they drank; whereupon the jeweller fell asleep, but the youth abode on wake, because his cup was not drugged.

Then came Halimah and said to her lover, "How deemest thou of yonder cornuted, who is drunken in his heedlessness and weeteth not the wiles of women?

There is no help for it but that I cozen him into divorcing me.

To-morrow, I will disguise myself as a slave-girl and walk after thee to his shop, where do thou say to him, 'O master, I went to-day into the Khan of Al-Yasirjíyah, where I saw this damsel and bought her for a thousand dinars.

Look at her for me and tell me whether she was cheap at that price or dear.'

Then uncover to him my face and breasts and show all of me to him;

after which do thou carry me back to thy house, whence I will go to my chamber by the secret passage, so I may see the issue of our affair with him."

Then the twain passed the night in mirth and merriment, converse and good cheer, dalliance and delight till dawn, when she returned to her own place and sent the handmaid to arouse her lawful lord and her lover.

Accordingly they arose and prayed the dawn-prayer and brake their fast and drank coffee, after which Obayd repaired to his shop and Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to his own house.

Presently, in came Halimah to him by the tunnel, in the guise of a slave-girl, and indeed she was by birth a slave-girl.

[FN#429] Then he went out and she walked behind him, till he came to the jeweller's shop and saluting him, sat down and said, "O master, I went into the Khan of Al-Yasirjiyah to-day, to look about me, and saw this damsel in the broker's hands.

She pleased me; so I bought her for a thousand dinars and I would have thee look upon her and see if she be cheap at that price or no." So saying, he uncovered her face and the jeweller saw her to be his own wife, clad in her costliest clothes, tricked out in her finest trinkets and kohl'd and henna'd, even as she was wont to adorn herself before him in the house.

He knew with full knowledge her face and dress and trinkets, for those he had wrought with his own hand, and he saw on her fingers the seal-rings he had newly made for Kamar al- Zaman, whereby he was certified with entire assurance that she was indeed his very wife.

So he asked her, "What is thy name, O slave-girl?"