Part 59

As soon as the Fair Persian had finished her song, the caliph went down the steps, and the vizier Giafar followed him. When he came to the bottom, I never, said he, to the vizier, heard a more charming voice, or a lute better touched in my life. Isaac, [88] whom I thought the most skilful player in the world, does not come up to her. I am so charmed with her music, that I will go in and hear her play before me. We must, therefore, consider how I can do it.

Commander of the true believers, said the grand vizier, if you should go in, and Scheich Ibrahim chance to know you, he would infallibly die with the fright. It is that hurts me, replied the caliph; and I should be loth to be the occasion of his death, after so many years’ service. A thought is just come into my head, that may succeed: stay here with Mesrour, and wait for me in the next walk.

The neighbourhood of the Tygris had given the caliph an opportunity of turning a sufficient quantity of water under a stately bridge into his garden, to make a piece of water well terraced, whither the choicest fish of the whole river used to retire. The fishermen knew it very well, and would have given the world to fish there; but the caliph had expressly charged Scheich Ibrahim not to suffer any of them to come near it. However, that very night, a fisherman, passing by the garden-door, which the caliph had left open as he found it, made use of this opportunity, and, going in, went directly to the canal.

The fisherman immediately fell to work with his casting nets, and was just ready to draw them, when the caliph, fearing what would be the effect of Scheich Ibrahim’s negligence, but willing to make use of it to bring his design about, came to the same place. The fisherman, in spite of his disguise, knew him, and, throwing himself at his feet, humbly implored his pardon, and excused himself upon the account of his poverty. Rise, said the caliph, and be not afraid; only draw your nets, that I may see what fish you have got.

The fisherman, recovered of his fright, quickly obeyed the caliph’s orders. He drew out five or six very large fishes; and the caliph choosing the two biggest, tied them together by the head with the twig of a tree. After this, said he to the fisherman, Give me thy clothes, and here take mine. The exchange was soon made; and the caliph being dressed like a fisherman, even to his boots and turban, Take thy nets, said he to the fisherman, and get thee about thy business.

When the fisherman, very well pleased with his good fortune, was gone, the caliph, taking the two fishes in his hand, went to look after the grand vizier Giafar and Mesrour; he stopped at the grand vizier, who not knowing him, asked him what he wanted, and bid him go about his business. The caliph fell a laughing; by which the vizier finding it to be him, Commander of the true believers, said he, is it possible it can be you? I knew you not; and I ask a thousand pardons for my rudeness. You are so disguised, that you may venture into the hall, without any fear of being discovered by Scheich Ibrahim. Stay you here with Mesrour, said the caliph, while I go yonder and play my part.

The caliph went up to the hall, and knocked at the door. Noureddin hearing him first, told Scheich Ibrahim of it, who asked who was there. The caliph opened the door, and stepping a little way into the hall to show himself, Scheich Ibrahim, said he, I am the fisherman Kerim, who, being informed of your design to treat some of your friends, have brought you two very fine fishes, fresh caught, to ask if you have any occasion for them.

Noureddin and the Fair Persian, mightily pleased to hear him name fish, Pray, said she to Scheich Ibrahim, let him come in, that we may look at them. Scheich Ibrahim, by this time, was incapable of asking this counterfeit fisherman how or which way he came thither, his whole thought being only to oblige the Fair Persian. With much ado he turned his head towards the door, being quite drunk, and, in a stammering tone, calling to the caliph, whom he took to be a fisherman, Come hither, thou nightly thief, said he, and let us see what thou hast got.

The caliph went forwards, and counterfeiting all the actions of a fisherman to a nicety, presented the two fishes. These are very fine ones indeed, said the Fair Persian; and if they were well dressed and seasoned, I should be glad to eat some of them. The lady is in the right on it, answered Scheich Ibraham; but what can you do with your fish, unless it were dressed? Go dress it thyself, and bring it to us; thou wilt find every thing necessary in my kitchen.

The caliph went back to the grand vizier, Giafar, said he, I have been very well received; but they want the fish to be dressed. I will take care to dress it myself, said the grand vizier, and they shall have it in a moment. Nay, replied the caliph, so eager am I to accomplish my design, that I will take that trouble myself; for since I have personated the fisherman so well, sure I can play the cook for once. In my younger days, I dealt a little in cookery, and always came off with credit. So saying, he went directly towards Scheich Ibrahim’s lodgings, and the grand vizier and Mesrour followed him.

They all three fell to work; and though Scheich Ibrahim’s kitchen was not very large, yet there was every thing in it that they wanted. The fish was quickly cooked; and the caliph served it up, putting to every one’s plate a lemon to squeeze in the sauce if they thought proper. They all eat very heartily, but especially Noureddin and the Fair Persian: and the caliph stood before them.

As soon as the repast was over, Noureddin looking upon the caliph, Fisherman, said he, there never was better fish eaten; and you have done us the greatest favour in the world. At the same time, putting his hand into his bosom, and pulling out a purse of thirty pieces of gold, the remainder of forty that Sangiar, the officer of the king of Balsora, had given him just upon his departure, Take it, said he to him; if I had any more, thou shouldst have it; had I known thee in my prosperity, I would have taken care to secure thee from ever wanting: do not refuse the small present I make thee, but accept of it as kindly as if it was much greater.

The caliph took the purse, and thanked Noureddin; and perceiving by the weight that it contained gold, Sir, said he to him, I cannot enough thank you for your liberality, and I think myself very fortunate in having to do with a person of your generosity; but before I take my leave I have a favour to ask, which I beg you not to deny me. Yonder is a lute, which makes me believe that the lady understands playing upon it; and if you can prevail with her to play but one tune, I shall go away perfectly satisfied; for a lute, sir, is an instrument I am particularly fond of.

Fair Persian, said Noureddin, immediately addressing himself to her, I ask that favour of you, and I hope you will not refuse me. She took up the lute without more entreaties, and putting it presently in tune, played and sung with such an air, as charmed the very soul of the caliph. Afterwards she played upon the lute without singing, but with so much strength and softness, that transported him into an ecstacy.

When the Fair Persian had given over playing, the caliph cried out, What a voice! what a hand! what skill! was there ever finer singing, or better playing upon the lute? Never was there any seen or heard like it.

Noureddin, who was accustomed to give all that belonged to him to persons who praised him, Fisherman, said he, I find thou hast some taste for music; since thou art so delighted with her performance, she is thine; I make thee a present of her. At the same time he rose up, and taking his robe, which he had laid by, was going away, and leaving the caliph, whom he believed to be no other than a fisherman, in possession of the Fair Persian.

The Fair Persian was extremely surprised at Noureddin’s liberality: she took hold of him, and, looking tenderly at him, Whither, sir, said she, are you going? Sit down in your place, I entreat you, and hearken to what I am going to sing and play. He did as she desired him; and then the Fair Persian, touching the lute, and looking upon him with tears in her eyes, sung some verses that she had made extempore, to reproach him with his indifference, and the easiness as well as cruelty with which he resigned her to Kerim. She only hinted without explaining herself any farther to a fisherman as Kerim was; for she, as well as Noureddin, was ignorant of his being the caliph. When she had done playing, she put the lute down by her, and clapped a handkerchief to her face, to hide the tears she could not help shedding.

Noureddin made no answer to all these reproaches, but by his silence seemed to declare he did not repent of what he had done. The caliph, surprised at what he had heard, Sir, said he, as far as I see, this beautiful, rare, and accomplished lady, that so generously you have made me a present of just now, is your slave, and you are her master. It is very true, Kerim, replied Noureddin; and thou wouldst be more surprised than thou art now, should I tell thee all the misfortunes that have happened to me upon her account. Ah! I beseech you, sir, replied the caliph, still behaving like a fisherman, oblige me so far as to let me hear part of your story.

Noureddin, who had already obliged him in several things of more consequence, was so complaisant as to relate the whole story to him. He began with the vizier his father’s buying the Fair Persian for the king of Balsora, and omitted nothing of what he had done, or what had happened to him from that time to their arrival at Bagdad, and to that very moment he was talking to him.

When Noureddin had ended his story And whither are you going now? said the caliph. Where Heaven shall direct me, answered Noureddin. If you will believe me, replied the caliph, you shall go no farther, but, on the contrary, you must return to Balsora. I will write a short letter, which you shall give the king in my name: you shall see, upon the reading it, he will give you a very handsome reception, and nobody will dare to speak against you.

Kerim, said Noureddin, what thou hast told me is very singular; I never heard that a poor fisherman, as thou art, had any correspondence with a king. Be not astonished at that, replied the caliph: you must know, that we both studied together under the same masters, and were always the best friends in the world. It is true, fortune has not been equally favorable to us; she has made him a king, and me but a fisherman. But this inequality has not lessened our friendship: he has often expressed a readiness and desire to advance my fortune, but I always refused it; and am better pleased with the satisfaction of knowing that he will never deny me whatever I ask for the service and advantage of my friends: let me do it, and you shall see the success.

Noureddin consented to what the caliph had proposed; and there being every thing necessary for writing in the hall, the caliph wrote a letter to the king of Balsora; at the top of which, near the edge of the paper, he placed this form, in three small characters, ‘In the name of the most merciful God,’ to show he would be absolutely obeyed.

The letter of Caliph Haroun Alraschid to the King of Balsora.

‘Haroun Alraschid, son of Mandi, sends this letter to Mahommed Zinebi, his cousin. As soon as Noureddin, son to the late vizier Khacan, the bearer, has delivered you this letter, and you have read it, pull off the royal mantle, put it on his shoulders, and place him in thy seat without fail. Farewell.’

The caliph folded up the letter, and sealed it; and giving it to Noureddin, without saying any thing of what was in it, Go, said he, embark immediately in a vessel that is ready to go off, (as there did constantly every every day at the same hour;) you may sleep when you are abroad.

Noureddin took the letter, and away he went, with the little money he had about him when Sangiar gave him his purse; and the Fair Persian, distracted with grief at his departure, retired to one of the sofas, and fell to weeping bitterly.

Noureddin was scarce gone out of the hall, when Scheich Ibrahim, who had been silent during the whole transaction, looking stedfastly upon the caliph, whom he still took for the fisherman Kerim, Hark’e, said he, Kerim, thou hast brought us two fishes that are worth twenty pieces of copper at most, and thou hast got a purse and a slave; but dost thou think to have it all for thyself? I here declare, that I will go halves with thee in the slave; and as for the purse, show me what is in the inside: if it is silver, thou shalt have one piece for thyself; but if it is gold, I will have it all, and give thee in exchange some pieces of copper which I have in my purse.

For the better understanding of what follows, Scheherazade, interrupting herself here, said, we must observe, that the caliph, before his serving up the fish, had despatched the grand vizier Giafar to his palace, with orders to get four slaves, with a rich habit, and to wait on the other side of the pavilion till he gave a signal with his finger against the window. The grand vizier performed his commission, and he, Mesrour, and the four slaves, waited at the appointed place, expecting the sign.

But to return to my story, said the sultaness. The caliph, still personating the fisherman, answered Scheich Ibrahim boldly, I know not what there is in the purse; gold or silver, you shall freely go my halves; but as to the slave, I will have her all to myself; and if you will not accept these conditions, you shall have nothing.

Scheich Ibrahim, enraged to the last degree at this insolence, considering him only as a fisherman, snatched up one of the china dishes which were on the table, and flung it at the caliph’s head. The caliph easily avoided the blow, being thrown by a person in liquor; but the dish striking against the wall, was dashed into a thousand pieces. Scheich Ibrahim grew more enraged at having missed his aim; and, catching up the candle that stood upon the table, rose from his seat, and went staggering down a pair of back stairs to look for a cane.

The caliph took this opportunity, and striking his hands against the window, the grand vizier, Mesrour, and the four slaves, were with him in a trice; the slaves quickly pulled off the fisherman’s clothes, and put him on the habit they had brought. They had not quite dressed the caliph, who had seated himself upon the throne that was in the hall, but were very busy about him, when Scheich Ibrahim, spurred on by interest, came back, with a swinging cane in his hand, with which he designed to pay the pretended fisherman soundly; but instead of finding him, he saw his clothes in the middle of the hall, and the caliph upon his throne, with the grand vizier and Mesrour on each side of him. He stood awhile gazing upon this unexpected sight, doubting whether he was awake or asleep. The caliph fell a laughing at his astonishment; and calling to him, Scheich Ibrahim, said he, what dost thou want? whom dost thou look after?

Scheich Ibrahim, no longer doubting that it was the caliph, immediately threw himself at his feet, with his face and long beard to the ground. Commander of the true believers, cried he, your vile slave has offended you; but he implores your clemency, and asks a thousand pardons for his offence. As soon as the slaves had made an end of dressing him, he came down from his throne, and advancing towards him, Rise, said he; I forgive thee.

The caliph then addressed himself to the Fair Persian, who had suspended her sorrow as soon as she understood that the garden and pavilion belonged to that prince, and not to Scheich Ibrahim, as he had all along made her believe, and that it was he himself disguised in the fisherman’s clothes. Fair Persian, said he, rise, and follow me: by what you have lately seen, you ought to know who I am, and to believe that I am above taking any advantage of the present which Noureddin, with a generosity not to be paralleled, has made me of your person. I have sent him to Balsora to be king there; and when I have given him the despatches necessary for his establishment, you shall go thither and be queen. In the mean time, I am going to order an apartment for you in my palace, where you shall be treated according to your desert.

This discourse encouraged the Fair Persian, and comforted her very sensibly. The joy for the advancement of Noureddin, whom she passionately loved, to so high an honour, made her sufficient amends for her affliction. The caliph kept his promise, and recommended her to the care of his lady Zobeide, whom he acquainted with the esteem he had lately entertained for Noureddin.

Noureddin’s return to Balsora was more fortunate, and speedier by some days, than he could have expected. Upon his arrival, without visiting any of his friends or relations, he went directly to the palace, where the king at that time was giving public audience. With the letter held up in his hand, he pressed through the crowd, who presently made way for him to come forward and deliver it. The king took and opened it, and his colour changed in reading it: he kissed it thrice, and was just about to obey the caliph’s orders, when he bethought himself of shewing it to the vizier Saouy, Noureddin’s irreconcilable enemy.

Saouy, who had discovered Noureddin, and began to conjecture, with great uneasiness, what might be the design of his coming, was no less surprised than the king at the order contained in the letter; and being as much concerned in it, he thought that very moment upon a way to evade it. He pretended not to have read the letter quite through, and therefore, desiring a second view of it, he turned himself a little on one side, as if he wanted a better light, and, without being perceived by any body, dexterously tore off from the top of it the form that showed the caliph would be absolutely obeyed, and putting it into his mouth, swallowed it.

After this egregious piece of villany, Saouy turned to the king, and giving him the letter, Sir, said he to him, in a low voice, what does your majesty intend to do? What the caliph has commanded me, replied the king. Have a care, sir, said the wicked vizier, what you do. It is true, this is the caliph’s hand, but the form is not to it. The king had observed that very well, but in his confusion, he thought his eyes deceived him when he saw it was gone.

Sir, continued the vizier, we have no reason to doubt but that the caliph, upon the complaints he has made against your majesty and me, has granted him this letter purely to get rid of him, and not with any intention of having the order contained in it executed. Besides, we must consider he has sent no express with a patent; and without that, the order is of no force. And since a king like your majesty was never deposed without that formality, any other man as well as Noureddin might come with a forged letter: let who will bring such a letter as this, it ought not to be put in execution. --Your majesty may depend upon it, that is never done; and I will take upon myself all the consequence of disobeying this order.

King Zinebi, easily persuaded by this pernicious counsel, left Noureddin entirely to the discretion of the vizier Saouy, who led him to his house after a very insulting manner; where, after causing him to be bastinadoed till he was almost dead, he ordered him to a prison, where he commanded him to be put in the darkest and deepest dungeon, with a strict charge to the gaoler to give him nothing but bread and water.

When Noureddin, half dead with the strokes, came to himself, and found what a nasty dungeon he was in, he bewailed his misfortunes in the most pathetic manner. --Ah! fisherman, cried he, how hast thou cheated me, and how easy have I been in believing thee! Could I, after the civility I showed thee, expect so inhuman and barbarous usage? However, may Heaven reward thee; for I cannot persuade myself that thy intention was so base; and I will with patience wait the end of my afflictions.

The poor disconsolate Noureddin remained six whole days in this miserable condition; and Saouy did not forget that he had confined him there: but being resolved to put him to a shameful death, and not daring to do it by his own authority, to accomplish his villanous design, he loaded some of his slaves with rich presents, which he, at the head of them, went and presented to the king. Behold, sire, said he, with the blackest malice, what the new king has sent you upon his accession to the crown, and begs your majesty to accept of it.

The king, taking the matter just as Saouy intended it, What! replied he, is that wretch still living? I thought you had put him to death already. Sire, I have no power, answered the vizier, to take any person’s life away; that only belongs to your majesty. Go, said the king, behead him instantly; I give you full authority. Sire, replied the vizier Saouy, I am infinitely obliged to your majesty for the justice you do me; but since Noureddin has publicly affronted me, I humbly beg the favour that his execution may be performed before the palace, and that the criers may publish in every quarter of the city, that every body may be satisfied he has made a sufficient reparation for the affront. The king granted his request; and the criers, in performing their office, diffused an universal sorrow through the whole city. The memory of his father’s virtues being yet very fresh among them, no one could hear without horror and indignation that the son was going to suffer an ignominious death, through the villany and instigation of the vizier Saouy.

Saouy went in person to the prison, accompanied with twenty slaves, ministers of his cruelty, who took Noureddin out of the dungeon, and put him upon a shabby horse without a saddle. When Noureddin saw himself in the hands of his enemy, Thou triumphest now, said he, and abusest thy power; but I trust in the truth of what is written in one of our books, ‘You judge unjustly, and in a little time you shall be judged yourself.’ The vizier Saouy, who really triumphed in his heart, What, insolent! said he, darest thou insult me yet? --but go, I pardon thee, and care not whatever happens to me, so I have the pleasure of seeing thee lose thy head in the public view of all Balsora. Thou oughtest also to remember what another of our books says, ‘What signifies if one dies the next day after the death of his enemy?’

The vizier, still implacable in his hatred and enmity, surrounded by part of his slaves in arms, ordered Noureddin to be conducted by the other, and went himself towards the palace. The people were ready to fall upon him as he went along; and if any body had set the example, they would certainly have stoned him to death. When he had brought him to the place of suffering, which was to be in sight of the king’s apartment, he left him in the executioner’s hands, and went straight to the king, who was in his closet, ready to glut his eyes with the bloody spectacle he had prepared.

The king’s guard and the vizier’s slaves, which made a circle round Noureddin, had much ado to withstand the people, who made all possible efforts, but in vain, to break through them, and carry him off by force. The executioner coming up to him, Sir, said he, I hope you will forgive me; I am but a slave, and cannot help doing my duty. If you have no occasion for any thing more, I beseech you prepare yourself; for the king is just going to give me orders to strike the blow.