[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

mortal, by our law; when our wives commit adultery, it is lawful
to us to put them to death. As for this woman, I stole her away
on her wedding-night, when she was a girl of twelve, and she has
known no one but myself. I used to come to her once in every
ten days in the habit of a man, a foreigner, and pass one night
with her; and when I was assured that she had played me false,
I slew her. But as for thee, I am not sure that thou west her
accomplice: nevertheless, I must not let thee go unharmed; but I
will grant thee a favour. At this I rejoiced greatly and said,
 What favour wilt thou grant me?  I will give thee thy choice,
replied he,  whether I shall change thee into a dog, an ass or an
ape. Quoth I (and indeed I had hoped that he would pardon me),
 By Allah, spare me, and God will reward thee for sparing a true
believer, who hath done thee no harm. And I humbled myself
before him to the utmost and wept, saying,  Indeed, thou dost me
injustice.  Do not multiply words on me, answered he;  it is in
my power to kill thee: but I give thee thy choice.  O Afrit,
rejoined I,  it would best become thee to pardon me, even as the
envied pardoned the envier. Quoth he,  And how was that?  They
say, O Afrit, answered I,  that
Story of the Envier and the Envied.
There dwelt once in a certain city two men, who occupied
adjoining houses, having a common party-wall; and one of them
envied the other and looked on him with an evil eye and did his
utmost endeavour to work him ill; and his envy grew on him till
he could hardly eat or enjoy the delight of sleep for it. But the
envied man did nought but prosper, and the more the other strove
74
to do him hurt, the more he increased and throve and flourished.
At last the hatred his neighbour bore him and his constant
endeavour to do him hurt came to his knowledge and he said,  By
Allah, I will renounce the world on his account! So he left his
native place and settled in a distant city, where he bought a
piece of land, in which was a dried-up well, that had once been
used for watering the fields. Here he built him an oratory, which
he fitted up with all that he required, and took up his abode
therein, devoting himself with a sincere heart to the service of
God the Most High. Fakirs[FN32] and poor folk soon flocked to
him from all sides, and his fame spread abroad in the city, so
that the notables resorted to him. After awhile, the news reached
the envious man of the good fortune that had befallen his old
neighbour and the high consideration in which he was held: so he
set out for the town in which the latter dwelt and repaired to
the hermitage, where the envied man welcomed him and received him
with the utmost honour. Quoth the envier,  I have journeyed
hither on purpose to tell thee a piece of good news. So order thy
fakirs to retire to their cells and go with me apart, for I will
not say what I have to tell thee, except privately where none may
overhear us. Accordingly the envied man ordered the fakirs to
retire to their cells; and they did so. Then he took the other by
the hand and walked on with him a little way, till they came to
the deserted well, when the envious man gave the other a push and
cast him into the well, unseen of any; after which, he went out
and went his way thinking that he had killed him. Now this well
was haunted by Jinn, who bore up the envied man and let him down
little by little, so that he reached the bottom unhurt, and they
seated him on a stone. Then said one of the Jinn to the others,
 Know ye who this is? And they answered,  No. Quoth he,  This
is the envied man who fled from him who envied him and settled in
our city, where he built him this oratory and entertains us with
his litanies and recitations of the Koran. But the envious man
set out and journeyed till he rejoined him and contrived to throw
him into this well. Now the news of him hath this very night come
to the Sultan of the city and he purposes to visit him to-morrow,
on account of his daughter.  And what ails his daughter? asked
another.  She is possessed of an evil spirit, replied the first,
 for the genie Meimoun ben Demdem has fallen in love with her;
but if the pious man knew the remedy, he could cure her; and it
is the easiest of things.  And what is the remedy? asked the
other. Quoth the first speaker  The black cat that is with him in
the oratory has a white spot, the size of a dirhem, at the end of
her tail: he should take seven white hairs from this spot and
fumigate the princess therewith; whereupon the Marid will leave
her and never return, and she will be cured immediately. And the
envied man heard all this. When the day broke and the morning
appeared and shone, the fakirs came to seek their chief and found
him rising from the well, wherefore he was magnified in their
eyes; and he took the black cat and plucking seven white hairs
75
from the spot at the end of her tail, laid them aside. The sun
had hardly risen when the King arrived and entered the hermitage,
attended by his chief officers, leaving the rest of his suite
without. The envied man bade him welcome and drawing near to him,
said,  Shall I tell thee the object of thy visit?  Yes,
answered the King. And he said,  Thou comest to consult me
concerning thy daughter. Quoth the King,  Thou sayst truly, O
virtuous elder! Then said the envied man,  Send and fetch her,
and (God willing) I trust to cure her at once. The King rejoiced
and sent for his daughter; and they brought her bound hand and
foot. The envied man made her sit down behind a curtain and
taking out the hairs, fumigated her with them; whereupon the
Afrit that was in her roared out and departed from her. And she
was restored to her right mind and veiled her face, saying,  What
has happened and who brought me hither? At this, the Sultan
rejoiced beyond measure and kissed her on the eyes and kissed the
envied man s hand. Then he turned to his officers and said,  How
say you? What reward doth he deserve who cured my daughter? They
answered,  He deserves to have her to wife; and the King,  Ye
say well. So he married him to her, and the envied man became
the King s son-in-law. After awhile, the Vizier died, and the
King said,  Whom shall we make Vizier in his stead?  Thy
son-in-law, answered the courtiers. So the envied man was made
Vizier. Presently the Sultan also died, and the grandees
determined to appoint the Vizier King in his place. So they made
him Sultan, and he became King regnant. One day, as he was riding
forth in his royal state, surrounded by his Viziers and Amirs and
grandees, his eyes fell on his old neighbour, the envious man; so
he turned to one of his viziers and said to him,  Bring me yonder
man and frighten him not. So the Vizier went and returned with
the envious man: and the King said,  Give him a thousand dinars
from my treasury and twenty loads of merchandise and send him
under an escort to his own city. Then he bade him farewell and
sent him away and forbore to punish him for what he had done with
him See, O Afrit, how the envied man forgave his envier, who had
always hated him and borne him malice and had journeyed to him
and made shift to throw him into the well: yet did he not requite
him his ill-doing, but on the contrary was bountiful to him and
forgave him. Then I wept before him exceeding sore, and repeated
the following verses: [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]