Part 30

Schaban returned quickly to the tent with his cheesecake. He presented it to the widow of Noureddin Ali, who was impatiently expecting it. She broke off a piece to taste it, but it had scarcely touched her lips, when she uttered a loud cry, and fainted away. Schemseddin Mohammed, who was present, was very much surprised at this accident: he himself threw some water on his sister-in-law’s face, and did all in his power to relieve her. As soon as she was recovered from her fainting, “Oh God,” cried she, “it must have been my son, my dear son, Bedreddin, who made this cake.”

When the vizier, Schemseddin Mohammed, heard his sister-in-law say, that it was Bedreddin Hassan who had made the cheesecake brought by the eunuch, he felt inexpressible joy; but then reflecting that this joy was without foundation, and that according to all appearance, the conjecture of the widow of Noureddin Ali was false, he said to her, “But, madam, what makes you think this? Cannot there be a pastry-cook in the world who is able to make cheesecakes as well as your son?”--“I allow,” replied she, “that there may be pastry-cooks capable of making them as good; but as I make them in a very particular manner, and as no one except my son possesses this secret, it must absolutely have been he who made this. Let us rejoice, my dear brother,” added she, with transport, “we have at length found what we have been so long and so anxiously seeking.”--“Madam,” replied the vizier, “I entreat you to moderate your impatience, we shall soon know what to think of this circumstance. We have only to desire the pastry-cook to come here; if he be Bedreddin Hassan, you as well as my daughter will recollect him. But you must conceal yourselves, and see him without his seeing you: for I do not wish the discovery to take place at Damascus. I intend to postpone it till we return to Cairo; where I propose giving you a very agreeable entertainment.”

Saying this, he left the ladies in their tent, and retired to his own. He there made fifty of his people come before him, and said to them, “Take each of you a stick, and follow Schaban, who will conduct you to a pastry-cook in the city. When you arrive, break every thing you find in his shop; if he inquires why you commit such an outrage, only ask if it was not he who made the cheesecake that was bought of him; if he replies in the affirmative, seize his person; bind him well, and bring him to me; but take care that you do not strike or hurt him. Go, and lose no time.”

The vizier was quickly obeyed; his people, armed with sticks, and conducted by the black eunuch, repaired to the house of Bedreddin Hassan, where they broke in pieces the plates, the boilers, the saucepans, the tables, and all the other furniture and utensils they could meet with; and deluged his shop with sherbet, cream, and confectionary. At this sight Bedreddin Hassan, being much astonished, said to them, in a pitiful tone, “My good people, why do you treat me thus? What is the matter? What have I done?” --“Was it you,” replied they, “who made the cheesecake which you sold to the eunuch, who is with us?”--“Yes,” returned he, “I made it myself; what fault have you to find with it? I defy any one to make a better!” Instead of returning any answer, they continued to break every thing; and the oven itself was not spared.

The neighbours, being by this time attracted by the noise, and much surprised to see fifty armed men committing such depredations, inquired the cause of this violent usage. Bedreddin once more said to those who were engaged in it, “I entreat you to inform me what crime I have committed, that you should thus break and destroy every thing in my house.”--“Is it not you,” replied they, “who made the cheesecake that you sold to this eunuch?”--“Yes, yes, I am the person,” cried he, “and I will maintain that it is excellent, and that I do not deserve this unjust treatment.” They seized his person, without listening to him, and having torn off the linen of his turban, they made use of it to tie his hands behind him; then dragging him by force out of his shop, they led him along.

The populace, which had assembled, touched with compassion for Bedreddin, took his part, and was inclined to oppose the designs of the people of Schemseddin Mohammed; but, at this moment, some officers of the governor of the city arrived, and, dispersing the mob, favoured the carrying off of Bedreddin; for Schemseddin Mohammed had been to the governor of Damascus, to acquaint him with the order he had given, and to request his assistance and guard; and this governor, who commanded over Syria in the name of the sultan of Egypt, did not dare to refuse any thing to the vizier of his master. Bedreddin, therefore, was dragged on, notwithstanding his lamentations and tears.

He asked the people who surrounded him as he went along, what had been discovered in his cheesecake; but they did not return any answer. At length he arrived at the tents, where he was made to wait, till Schemseddin Mohammed returned from the governor of Damascus.

The vizier being arrived, inquired about the pastrycook. When he was brought before him, “My lord,” said Bedreddin, with tears in his eyes, “do me the favour to tell me in what I have offended you.” --“Ah, wretch,” exclaimed the vizier, “was it not thou who madest the cheesecake thou sentest me?”--“I confess that it was,” replied Bedreddin, “but what crime have I committed by doing so?”--“I will punish thee as thou deservest;” resumed Schemseddin Mohammed, “and it will cost thee thy life for having made so bad a cake.”--“Ah, good God,” cried Bedreddin, “what do I hear! is it a crime worthy of death to have made a bad cheesecake?”--“Yes,” replied the vizier, “and thou must not expect from me any other treatment.”

While they were thus engaged together, the ladies, who were concealed, observed Bedreddin attentively, and had not much difficulty in recollecting him, although so long a time had elapsed since they had seen him. The joy they experienced was such, that they both fainted away. When they had recovered they wanted to go and embrace Bedreddin, but the promise they had made the vizier not to show themselves, prevailed over the most tender emotions of nature and love.

As Schemseddin Mohammed had resolved to set off that same night, he ordered the tents to be struck, and the carriages to be prepared for the commencement of the journey. As for Bedreddin, he gave instructions that he might be put in a case well fastened, and carried on a camel. As soon as every thing was in readiness for their departure, the vizier and the people in his suite began their march. They travelled the whole of that night and the following day without resting; at the approach of night they stopped. They then took Bedreddin out of his case, to make him take some nourishment; but they were careful to keep him at a distance from his mother and his wife; and during the twenty days they were on their journey, they treated him in the same manner.

When they arrived at Cairo, they encamped without the city walls, by order of the vizier Schemseddin Mohammed, who desired Bedreddin to be brought to him. When he was come, he said to a carpenter, whom he had sent for on purpose, “Go and get some wood, and cut out a large stake immediately.” “Ah, my lord,” cried Bedreddin, “what are you going to do with this stake?”--“To fasten you to it,” replied the vizier “and then have you dragged through all the quarters of the city, that every one may behold in thee a vile pastry-cook, who makes cheesecakes without putting pepper in them.” At these words, Bedreddin Hassan exclaimed in so pleasant a manner, that Schemseddin Mohammed had difficulty to refrain from laughter: “Great God! is it then for not having put pepper in a cheesecake, that I am condemned to suffer a death as cruel as ignominious?”

The caliph, Haroun Alraschid, notwithstanding his gravity, could not avoid laughing, when the vizier Giafar said, that Schemseddin Mohammed threatened Bedreddin Hassan with death, for not having put pepper in the cheesecake he had sold to Schaban.

“What!” said Bedreddin, “was every thing in my house to be broken and destroyed, myself imprisoned in a box, and at last a stake prepared for my execution; was all this done only because I did not put pepper in a cheesecake? Great God, who ever heard of such a thing? Are these actions worthy of mussulmen, of persons who profess to practice justice, probity, and all kinds of good works?” Saying this he burst into tears, then beginning again his lamentations, “No,” continued he, “no one was ever treated so unjustly and so rigorously. Is it possible that they should deprive a man of life, for not having put pepper in a cheesecake? Cursed be all cheesecakes, as well as the hour in which I was born! would to God I had died at that instant!”

The unhappy Bedreddin did not cease his complaints, and when the stake was brought, and the nails to fasten him to it, he uttered dreadful cries at so horrid a spectacle: “Oh God!” said he, “canst thou permit me to suffer a death so infamous and excruciating? And for what crime too? It is not for having stolen, nor for having committed murder, neither for having denied my religion; it is for not having put pepper in a cheesecake!”

As the night was now far advanced, the vizier, Schemseddin Mohammed, ordered Bedreddin to be put again into his case, and said to him, “Remain there till to-morrow; the day shall not pass before I order thee to be put to death.” The case was taken away, and placed on the camel that had brought it from Damascus; all the other camels were reladen, and the vizier, mounting his horse, ordered that the camel, which carried his nephew, should go before him, and entered the city, followed by all his equipage. After passing through several streets, where no one appeared, as the inhabitants had retired to rest, he arrived at his house, where the case was conveyed with strict charge not to open it till he should think proper.

Whilst they were unlading the other camels, he took aside the mother of Bedreddin Hassan and his daughter, and addressing the latter, “God be praised,” said he, “my dear daughter, that we have so happily met with your cousin and husband. I dare say you recollect the state in which your chamber was on the night of your nuptials. Go, and have every thing placed as it was then. If by chance you do not remember it, I can supply the defect in your memory, by the description I wrote at the time. On my part, I will go and give orders for the rest.”

The Queen of Beauty went with joy to execute the commands of her father, who began to place all the things in the hall in the same way as they were when Bedreddin Hassan was there with the hunchback groom of the sultan of Egypt. As he read the writing, his servants put each piece of furniture in its place. The throne was not forgotten, nor the lighted flambeaux. When every thing was prepared in the hall, the vizier entered the chamber of his daughter, where he placed the dress of Bedreddin, together with the purse of sequins. This being done, he said to the Queen of Beauty, “Undress yourself, my daughter, and go to bed; and when Bedreddin comes into this chamber, begin to complain of his having been out too long a time, and tell him, that you were much surprised when you awoke, not to find him by your side. Press him to return to bed, and to-morrow morning you will entertain your mother-in-law and me with the account of what passed in the night.” At these words he went out of his daughter’s chamber, and left her to retire to bed.

Schemseddin commanded all the servants to go out of the hall, excepting only two or three whom he wished to remain, and gave directions for them to take Bedreddin out of the case, to put him on a shirt and drawers, and in that state to bring him into the hall, where they were to leave him alone, and shut the door. Bedreddin Hassan, although in so unhappy a condition, had fallen so sound asleep, that the servants of the vizier took him out of the case, and put on his shirt and drawers, without waking him; and then carried him so quickly into the hall, that they did not give him time to recollect himself. When he found himself alone in the hall, he looked around him, and the things he saw reminding him of his marriage, he perceived with astonishment, on a closer inspection, that this was the same hall in which he had seen the hunchback groom. His surprise increased, when drawing near to the door of a chamber, which he found open, he saw his clothes in the same spot where he remembered to have placed them on the night of his nuptials. “Great God,” said he, rubbing his eyes, “am I asleep or awake?”

The Queen of Beauty, who watched him, after entertaining herself with his astonishment, undrew the curtains of the bed, and advancing her head, said in a tender voice, “My lord, what are you doing at the door? Come, and lie down again. You have been out of the room a long time: I was much surprised, when I awoke, not to find you by my side.” Bedreddin’s countenance changed, when he perceived that the lady, who spoke to him, was the same charming person with whom he remembered to have slept. He went into the chamber, but instead of going to bed, as his mind was full of the thoughts of what had passed during the last ten years, and he could not persuade himself that so many events had taken place in only one night, he approached the chair, where his clothes and purse of sequins were, and having examined them with great attention, “By the great living God!” cried he, “these are things which I cannot comprehend.” The lady, who was diverted with his embarrassment, said to him, “Once more, my dear lord, let me beg you to come to bed; what engages your attention?” At these words, he advanced towards the Queen of Beauty, “I entreat you, madam,” said he, “to acquaint me, if it is long since I was with you.”--“The question surprises me,” replied she, “did you not just now rise from my side? Your mind must be strangely absent.”--“Madam,” resumed Bedreddin, “my spirits certainly are not very composed. I remember to have been with you, it is true; but I also remember to have lived ten years at Damascus. If I have really slept with you this night, I cannot have been absent so long.”--“Yes, my lord,” replied the Queen of Beauty, “you have no doubt dreamt that you were at Damascus.”--“Nothing can be so ridiculous,” cried Bedreddin, bursting into a laugh, “I assure you, madam, that this dream will appear to you very laughable. Imagine, if you please, that I found myself at the gates of Damascus in my shirt and drawers, just as I am at this moment; that I entered the city amidst the shouts and hisses of the populace, who followed to insult me; that I took refuge with a pastry-cook, who adopted me, taught me his business, and left me all his property when he died; that after his death, I kept his shop. In short, madam, an infinity of adventures befel me, which would be too tedious to relate; all I can say is, that I did well to awake, otherwise I should have been nailed to a stake.” --“And why, pray,” said the Queen of Beauty, pretending surprise, “were you to suffer so cruelly? You must have committed some heinous crime.”--“No, indeed,” replied Bedreddin, “it was for the most comical and ridiculous thing you can conceive. My only crime was the having sold a cheesecake in which I had not put any pepper.”--“I must confess,” said the lady, laughing heartily, “that you were treated very unjustly.”--“Oh, madam,” resumed he, “this was not all; on account of this cursed cheesecake, in which I was accused of not having put any pepper, they had broken and destroyed every thing in my shop; they had bound me with cords, and shut me up in a case, where I was so closely confined, that I feel still as if I were in it. At last, they had sent for a carpenter, and ordered him to prepare a stake to fasten me to. But God be praised, that all this is only an effect of sleep.”

Bedreddin did not pass the night very quietly; he awoke from time to time, and asked himself, whether he was dreaming or awake. He doubted his good fortune, and wishing to ascertain the truth, he undrew the curtains, and cast his eyes over the room. ”I am not deceived;” said he, ”this is the same chamber into which I came instead of the hunchback, and slept with the beautiful lady who was destined for him.” Day-light, which now began to appear, had not removed his uneasiness, when the vizier, Schemseddin Mohammed, his uncle, knocked at the door, and entered at the same moment to wish him good day. Bedreddin Hassan was extremely surprised to see a man he was so well acquainted with appear immediately after, but he no longer bore the appearance of the terrible judge, who had pronounced the decree of his death. “Ah!” cried he, “it is you who have treated me so cruelly, and condemned me to a death, the thoughts of which still fill me with horror, for having made a cheesecake without putting pepper in it.” The vizier began to laugh; and, to dispel his fears, related how, by the interference of a Genius, (for the account he had received from the hunchback made him suspect the truth) he had been conveyed to his house, and had married his daughter, instead of the groom belonging to the sultan. He then acquainted him, that it was by means of the packet, written by Noureddin Ali, that he had discovered him to be his nephew; and at last told him, that it was in consequence of this discovery, that he left Cairo, and had gone to Balsora in search of him. “My dear nephew,” added he, embracing him with the greatest tenderness, “I beg your pardon for all I have made you suffer since I have discovered you. I wished to reconduct you here before I acquainted you with your good fortune, which you must find so much the more pleasant as it has cost you more pain. Console yourself for all your afflictions, with the joy you must experience at being again with persons who are the most dear to you. Whilst you dress yourself, I will go and acquaint the lady, your mother, who is all impatience to embrace you; and I will bring you your son, whom you saw at Damascus, and towards whom you felt so much affection without knowing him.

No words are sufficiently expressive to give any idea of the joy of Bedreddin, when he saw his mother and his son Agib. These three persons did not cease embracing each other, and evincing all the transports which nature and the tenderest affection can inspire. The mother said the most affecting things to Bedreddin; she related to him the sorrow which so long an absence had created, and the tears she had shed on his account. The little Agib, instead of avoiding the embraces of his father, as he had done at Damascus, flew to receive them; and Bedreddin Hassan, divided between two objects so worthy of his love, thought he could not lavish on them sufficient proofs of his affection.

Whilst these things were passing in the house of Schemseddin Mohammed, the vizier himself was gone to the palace, to give the sultan an account of the happy success of his journey. The sultan was so delighted with the relation of this wonderful history, that he ordered it to be written and carefully preserved amongst the archives of his kingdom. As soon as Schemseddin Mohammed returned home, as he had prepared a superb entertainment, he sat down to table with all his family, and his whole household passed the day in great festivity and rejoicings.

The vizier Giafar having concluded the history of Bedreddin Hassan, said to the caliph, Haroun Alraschid, “Commander of the Faithful, this is what I had to relate to your majesty.” The caliph thought this history so surprising, that he did not hesitate to grant his pardon to the slave Rihan: and to console the young man for having so unhappily deprived himself of a wife he tenderly loved, this prince married him to one of his slaves, loaded him with gifts, and continued to bestow his favours upon him as long as he lived.

“But, Sire,” added Scheherazadè, “however entertaining the history I have related may have been, I know another, which is far more so: if your majesty wishes to hear it to-morrow night, I am sure you will think so too.” Schahriar arose without making any reply, and very uncertain what he should do.

“This good sultana,” said he to himself, “relates very long stories, and when she has once begun one, there is no possibility of refusing to hear the whole of it. I do not know, whether I ought not to order her death to-day; yet no; I will not do any thing precipitately; the story she promises me is, perhaps, the most diverting of any I have yet heard, and I must not deprive myself of the pleasure of hearing it; after she has finished it, I will give orders for her execution.”

Dinarzadè did not fail the following morning to wake the sultana of the Indies before day-break, according to her usual custom. And Scheherazadè, having requested permission of Schahriar to begin the history she had promised him, proceeded as follows:

NOTES TO VOL. I.

[a] It is a custom with the Arabian women, in order to give the veins of their hands and arms a more brilliant appearance, to make slight punctures along them, and to rub into the incisions a blue powder, which they renew occasionally as it happens to wear out.

[b] The vapour here alluded to, called by the Arabians _Serab_, is not unlike in appearance (and probably proceeding from a similar cause) to those white mists which we often see hovering over the surface of a river in a summer’s evening, after a hot day. They are very frequent in the sultry plains of Arabia, and when seen at a distance, resemble an expanded lake, but upon a nearer approach, the thirsty traveller perceives his deception. Hence the _Serab_, in Arabian poetry, is a common emblem of disappointed expectation. This word occurs in Isaiah xxxv. 7, which is rendered by our translators, “and the parched ground shall become a pool.” But in a prophecy consisting of promises for the confirming of happiness and the fulfilling of hope, perhaps we may translate the word שרב with as much propriety, according to its Arabic acceptation. “And the sultry vapour shall become a real lake.”

[c] The great empires of the Mogul of Persia, of the Turks, of Morocco, besides many other powerful kingdoms, have been founded on the ruins of the wide-extended dominions of the Khalifs; which at one time comprehended Arabia, Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Persia, the Khorassan, Samarkand, Bokhara, Cabul, Chandahar, Zableston, &c. the greatest part of India, many districts along the Oxus or Ginon, and the Caspian Sea, Circassia, Georgia, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, part of Asia Minor, Egypt, the Mediterranean coasts of Africa, Morocco, Fez, Spain, Sicily, Naples, part of France, &c. &c. in all which countries, (if we except the European states) the Arabic is to this day cultivated with care, as being the language of their religion and their law.

[d] Vol. II. page 84.

[e] Marco Paulo resided seventeen years in the court of the Khan of Tartary, and was the first European, who gave any account of China to be depended upon. What he speaks from his own knowledge has been generally confirmed by subsequent voyagers. His fabulous narratives are of a similar kind to those mentioned by Mandeville, Vertomannus, and other ancient travellers into the East, Sindbad included, as a farther examination of his voyages will plainly shew.

[f] Lib. iii. ch. 40. Novus Orbis. See also Ramusio’s collection of voyages, printed at Venice, A. D. 1633, Tom. II. page 58.

[g] Ramusio, Tom. I. page 369.

[h] See the works of Sir W. Jones, Mr. Maurice, Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Kindersley, Mr. Beloe, Mr. Scott, Dr. Russell, &c.