Volume 9 — KAMAR AL-ZAMAN AND THE JEWELLER’S WIFE.[375] (continued 2)

The return of the friend is the best of all boons, ✿ And the joy-cup circles o’ morns and noons:

So well come, welcome, fair welcome to thee, ✿ The light of the time and the moon o’ full moons.

Then, for excess of joy, he poured forth a flood of tears from his eyes and he recited also these two couplets:—

The Moon o’ the Time,^[440] shows unveilèd light; ✿ And, his journey done, at our door doth alight:

His locks as the nights of his absence are black ✿ And the sun upstands from his collar’s^[441] white.

Then the merchants came up to him and saluting him, saw with him many loads and servants and a travelling litter enclosed in a spacious circle.^[442] So they took him and carried him home; and when Halimah came forth from the litter, his father held her a seduction to all who beheld her. So they opened her an upper chamber, as it were a treasure from which the talismans had been loosed;^[443] and when his mother saw her, she was ravished with her 288and deemed her a Queen of the wives of the Kings. So she rejoiced in her and questioned her; and she answered, “I am wife to thy son;” and the mother rejoined, “Since he is wedded to thee we must make thee a splendid marriage-feast, that we may rejoice in thee and in my son.” On this wise it befel her; but as regards the merchant Abd al-Rahman, when the folk had dispersed and each had wended his way, he foregathered with his son and said to him, “O my son, what is this slave-girl thou hast brought with thee and for how much didst thou buy her^[444]?” Kamar al-Zaman said, “O my father, she is no slave-girl; but ’tis she who was the cause of my going abroad.” Asked his sire, “How so?”; and he answered, “’Tis she whom the Dervish described to us the night he lay with us; for indeed my hopes clave to her from that moment and I sought not to travel save on account of her. The Arabs came out upon me by the way and stripped me and took my money and goods, so that I entered Bassorah alone and there befel me there such and such things;” and he went on to relate to his parent all that had befallen him from commencement to conclusion. Now when he had made an end of his story, his father said to him, “O my son, and after all this didst thou marry her?” “No; but I have promised her marriage.” “Is it thine intent to marry her?” “An thou bid me marry her, I will do so; otherwise I will not marry her.” Thereupon quoth his father, “An thou marry her, I am quit of thee in this world and in the next, and I shall be incensed against thee with sore indignation. How canst thou wed her, seeing that she hath dealt thus with her husband? For, even as she did with her spouse for thy sake, so will she do the like with thee for another’s sake, because she is a traitress and in a traitor there is no trusting. Wherefore an thou disobey me, I shall be wroth with thee; but, an thou give ear to my word, I will seek thee out a girl handsomer than she, who shall be pure and pious, and marry thee to her, though I spend all my substance upon her; and I will make thee a wedding without equal and will glory in thee and in her; for ’tis better that folk should say, Such an one hath married such an one’s daughter, than that they say, He hath wedded a slave-girl sans birth or worth.” And he went on to persuade his son to give up marrying her, by citing in support 289of his say, proofs, stories, examples, verses and moral instances, till Kamar al-Zaman exclaimed, “O my father, since the case is thus, ’tis not right and proper that I marry her.” And when his father heard him speak on such wise, he kissed him between the eyes, saying, “Thou art my very son, and as I live, O my son, I will assuredly marry thee to a girl who hath not her equal!” Then the merchant set Obayd’s wife and her handmaid in a chamber high up in the house and, before locking the door upon the twain, he appointed a black slave-girl to carry them their meat and drink and he said to Halimah, “Ye shall abide imprisoned in this chamber, thou and thy maid, till I find one who will buy you, when I will sell you to him. An ye resist, I will slay ye both, for thou art a traitress, and there is no good in thee.” Answered she, “Do thy will: I deserve all thou canst do with me.” Then he locked the door upon them and gave his Harim a charge respecting them, saying, “Let none go up to them nor speak with them, save the black slave-girl who shall give them their meat and drink through the casement of the upper chamber.” So she abode with her maid, weeping and repenting her of that which she had done with her spouse. Meanwhile Abd al-Rahman sent out the marriage-brokers to look out a maid of birth and worth for his son, and the women ceased not to make search, and as often as they saw one girl, they heard of a fairer than she, till they came to the house of the Shaykh al-Islam^[445] and saw his daughter. In her they found a virgin whose equal was not in Cairo for beauty and loveliness, symmetry and perfect grace, and she was a thousand-fold handsomer than the wife of Obayd. So they told Abd al-Rahman of her and he and the notables repaired to her father and sought her in wedlock of him. Then they wrote out the marriage contract and made her a splendid wedding; after which Abd al-Rahman gave bride-feasts and held open house forty days. On the first day, he invited the doctors of the law and they held a splendid nativity^[446]: and on the morrow, he invited all the 290merchants, and so on during the rest of the forty days, making a banquet every day to one or other class of folk, till he had bidden all the Olema and Emirs and Antients^[447] and Magistrates, whilst the kettle-drums were drummed and the pipes were piped and the merchant sat to greet the guests, with his son by his side, that he might solace himself by gazing on the folk, as they ate from the trays. Each night Abd al-Rahman illuminated the street and the quarter with lamps and there came every one of the mimes and jugglers and mountebanks and played all manner play; and indeed it was a peerless wedding. On the last day he invited the Fakirs, the poor and the needy, far and near, and they flocked in troops and ate, whilst the merchant sat, with his son by his side.^[448] And among the paupers, behold, entered Shaykh Obayd the jeweller and he was naked and weary and bare on his face the marks of wayfare. When Kamar al-Zaman saw him, he knew him and said to his sire, “Look, O my father, at yonder poor man who is but now come in by the door.” So he looked and saw him clad in worn clothes and on him a patched gown^[449] worth two dirhams: his face was yellow and he was covered with dust and was as he were an offcast of the pilgrims.^[450] He was groaning as groaneth a sick man in need, walking with a tottering gait and swaying now to the right and then to the left, and in him was realized his saying who said^[451]:—

Lack-gold abaseth man and doth his worth away, Even as the setting sun that pales with ended day.

He passeth ’mongst the folk and fain would hide his head; And when alone, he weeps with tears that never stay.

Absent, none taketh heed to him or his concerns; Present, he hath no part in life or pleasance aye.

By Allah, whenas men with poverty are cursed, But strangers midst their kin and countrymen are they!

291And the saying of another:—

The poor man fares by everything opposed: ✿ On him to shut the door Earth ne’er shall fail:

Thou seest men abhor him sans a sin, ✿ And foes he finds tho’ none the cause can tell:

The very dogs, when sighting wealthy man, ✿ Fawn at his feet and wag the flattering tail;

Yet, an some day a pauper loon they sight, ✿ All at him bark and, gnashing fangs, assail.

And how well quoth a third:—

If generous youth be blessed with luck and wealth, ✿ Displeasures fly his path and perils fleet:

His enviers pimp for him and par’site-wise ✿ E’en without tryst his mistress hastes to meet.

When loud he farts they say “How well he sings!” ✿ And when he fizzles^[452] cry they, “Oh, how sweet!”

——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when his son said to Abd al-Rahman, “Look at yonder pauper!” he asked, “O my son, who is this?” And Kamar al-Zaman answered, “This is Master Obayd the jeweller, husband of the woman who is imprisoned with us.” Quoth Abd al-Rahman, “Is this he of whom thou toldest me?”; and quoth his son, “Yes; and indeed I wot him right well.” Now the manner of Obayd’s coming thither was on this wise. When he had farewelled Kamar al-Zaman, he went to his shop and thence going home, laid his hand on the door, whereupon it opened and he entered and found neither his wife nor the slave-girl, but saw the house in sorriest plight, quoting in mute speech his saying who said^[453]:—

292The chambers were like a bee-hive well stocked: when their bees quitted it, they became empty.

When he saw the house void, he turned right and left and presently went round about the place, like a madman, but came upon no one. Then he opened the door of his treasure-closet, but found therein naught of his money nor his hoards; whereupon he recovered from the intoxication of fancy and shook off his infatuation and knew that it was his wife herself who had turned the tables upon him and outwitted him with her wiles. He wept for that which had befallen him, but kept his affair secret, so none of his foes might exult over him nor any of his friends be troubled, knowing that, if he disclosed his secret, it would bring him naught but dishonour and contumely from the folk; wherefore he said in himself, “O Obayd, hide that which hath betided thee of affliction and ruination; it behoveth thee to do in accordance with his saying who said:—

If a man’s breast with bane he hides be straitenèd, ✿ The breast that tells its hidden bale is straiter still.”

Then he locked up his house and, making for his shop, gave it in charge of one of his apprentices to whom said he, “My friend the young merchant hath invited me to accompany him to Cairo, for solacing ourselves with the sight of the city, and sweareth that he will not march except he carry us with him, me and my wife. So, O my son, I make thee my steward in the shop, and if the King ask for me, say thou to him:—He is gone with his Harim to the Holy House of Allah^[454].” Then he sold some of his effects and bought camels and mules and Mamelukes, together with a slave-girl^[455], and placing her in a litter, set out from Bassorah after ten days. His friends farewelled him and none doubted but that he had taken his wife and gone on the Pilgrimage, and the folk rejoiced in this, for that Allah had delivered them from being shut up in the mosques and houses every Friday. Quoth some of them, “Allah grant he may never return to Bassorah, so we may no more be boxed up in the mosques and houses 293every Friday!”; for that this usage had caused the people of Bassorah exceeding vexation. Quoth another, “Methinks he will not return from this journey, by reason of the much-praying of the people of Bassorah against him^[456].” And yet another, “An he return, ’twill not be but in reversed case^[457].” So the folk rejoiced with exceeding joy in the jeweller’s departure, after they had been in mighty great chagrin, and even their cats and dogs were comforted. When Friday came round, however, the crier proclaimed as usual that the people should repair to the mosques two hours before prayer-time or else hide themselves in their houses, together with their cats and dogs; whereat their breasts were straitened and they assembled in general assembly and betaking themselves to the King’s divan, stood between his hands and said, “O King of the age, the jeweller hath taken his Harim and departed on the pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah: so the cause of our restraint hath ceased to be, and why therefore are we now shut up?” Quoth the King, “How came this traitor to depart without telling me? But, when he cometh back from his journey, all will not be save well^[458]: so go ye to your shops and sell and buy, for this vexation is removed from you.” Thus far concerning the King and the Bassorites; but as for the jeweller, he fared on ten days’ journey, and as he drew near Baghdad, there befel him that which had befallen Kamar al-Zaman, before his entering Bassorah; for the Arabs^[459] came out upon him and stripped him and took all he had and he escaped only by feigning himself dead. As soon as they were gone, he rose and fared on, naked as he was, till he came to a village, where Allah inclined to him the hearts of certain kindly folk, who covered his shame with some old clothes; and he asked his way, begging from town to town, till he reached the city of Cairo the God-guarded. There, burning with hunger, he went about alms-seeking in the market-streets, till one of the townsfolk said to him, “O poor man, off with thee to the house of the wedding-festival and eat and drink; for to-day there is open table 294for paupers and strangers.” Quoth he, “I know not the way thither”: and quoth the other, “Follow me and I will show it to thee.” He followed him, till he brought him to the house of Abd al-Rahman and said to him, “This is the house of the wedding; enter and fear not, for there is no doorkeeper at the door of the festival.” Accordingly he entered and Kamar al-Zaman knew him and told his sire who said, “O my son, leave him at this present: belike he is anhungered: so let him eat his sufficiency and recover himself and after we will send for him.” So they waited till Obayd had eaten his fill and washed his hands and drunk coffee and sherbets of sugar flavoured with musk and ambergris and was about to go out, when Abd al-Rahman sent after him a page who said to him, “Come, O stranger, and speak with the merchant Abd al-Rahman.” “Who is he?” asked Obayd; and the man answered, “He is the master of the feast.” Thereupon the jeweller turned back, thinking that he meant to give him a gift, and coming up to Abd al-Rahman, saw his friend Kamar al-Zaman and went nigh to lose his senses for shame before him. But Kamar al-Zaman rose to him and embracing him, saluted him with the salam, and they both wept with sore weeping. Then he seated him by his side and Abd al-Rahman said to his son, “O destitute of good taste, this is no way to receive friends! Send him first to the Hammam and despatch after him a suit of clothes of the choicest, worth a thousand dinars^[460].” Accordingly they carried him to the bath, where they washed his body and clad him in a costly suit, and he became as he were Consul of the Merchants. Meanwhile the bystanders questioned Kamar al-Zaman of him, saying, “who is this and whence knowest thou him?” Quoth he, 295“This is my friend, who lodged me in his house and to whom I am indebted for favours without number, for that he entreated me with exceeding kindness. He is a man of competence and condition and by trade a jeweller, in which craft he hath no equal. The King of Bassorah loveth him dearly and holdeth him in high honour and his word is law with him.” And he went on to enlarge before them on his praises, saying, “Verily, he did with me thus and thus and I have shame of him and know not how to requite him his generous dealing with me.” Nor did he leave to extol him, till his worth was magnified to the bystanders and he became venerable in their eyes; so they said, “We will all do him his due and honour him for thy sake. But we would fain know the reason why he hath departed his native land and the cause of his coming hither and what Allah hath done with him, that he is reduced to this plight?” Replied Kamar al-Zaman, “O folk, marvel not, for a son of Adam is still subject to Fate and Fortune, and what while he abideth in this world, he is not safe from calamities. Indeed he spake truly who said these couplets:—

The world tears man to shreds, so be thou not ✿ Of those whom lure of rank and title draws:

Nay; ’ware of slips and turn from sin aside ✿ And ken that bane and bale are worldly laws:

How oft high Fortune falls by least mishap ✿ And all things bear inbred of change a cause!

Know that I entered Bassorah in yet iller case and worse distress than this man, for that he entered Cairo with his shame hidden by rags; but I indeed came into his town with my nakedness uncovered, one hand behind and another before; and none availed me but Allah and this dear man. Now the reason of this was that the Arabs stripped me and took my camels and mules and loads and slaughtered my pages and serving-men; but I lay down among the slain and they thought that I was dead, so they went away and left me. Then I arose and walked on, mother-naked, till I came to Bassorah where this man met me and clothed me and lodged me in his house; he also furnished me with money, and all I have brought back with me I owe to none save to Allah’s goodness and his goodness. When I departed, he gave me great store of wealth and I returned to the city of my birth with a heart at ease. I left him in competence and condition, and haply there hath befallen him some bale of the banes of Time, that hath 296forced him to quit his kinsfolk and country, and there happened to him by the way the like of what happened to me. There is nothing strange in this; but now it behoveth me to requite him his noble dealing with me and do according to the saying of him who saith:—

O who praisest Time with the fairest appraise, ✿ Knowest thou what Time hath made and unmade?

What thou dost at least be it kindly done,^[461] ✿ For with pay he pays shall man be repaid.

As they were talking and telling the tale, behold, up came Obayd as he were Consul^[462] of the Merchants; whereupon they all rose to salute him and seated him in the place of honour. Then said Kamar al-Zaman to him, “O my friend, verily, thy day^[463] is blessed and fortunate! There is no need to relate to me a thing that befel me before thee. If the Arabs have stripped thee and robbed thee of thy wealth, verily our money is the ransom of our bodies, so let not thy soul be troubled; for I entered thy city naked and thou clothedst me and entreatedst me generously, and I owe thee many a kindness. But I will requite thee.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al-Zaman said to Master Obayd the jeweller, “Verily I entered thy city naked and thou clothedst me and I owe thee many a kindness. But I will requite thee and do with thee even as thou didst with me; nay, more: so be of good cheer and eyes clear of tear.” And he went on to soothe him and hinder him from speech, lest he should name his wife and what she had done with him; nor did he cease to ply him with saws and moral instances and verses and conceits and stories and legends and console him, till the jeweller saw his drift and took the hint and kept silence concerning the past, diverting himself with the tales and rare anecdotes he heard and repeating in himself these lines:—

297On the brow of the World is a writ; an thereon thou look, ✿ Its contents will compel thine eyes tears of blood to rain:

For the World never handed to humans a cup with its right, ✿ But with left it compelled them a beaker of ruin to drain.

Then Kamar al-Zaman and his father took Obayd and carrying him into the saloon of the Harim, shut themselves up with him; and Abd al-Rahman said to him, “We did not hinder thee from speaking before the folk, but for fear of dishonour to thee and to us: but now we are private; so tell me all that hath passed between thee and thy wife and my son.” So he told him all, from beginning to end, and when he had made an end of his story, Abd al-Rahman asked him, “Was the fault with my son or with thy wife?” He answered, “By Allah, thy son was not to blame, for men must needs lust after women, and ’tis the bounden duty of women to defend themselves from men. So the sin lieth with my wife, who played me false and did with me these deeds^[464].” Then Abd al-Rahman arose and taking his son aside, said to him, “O my son, we have proved his wife and know her to be a traitress; and now I mean to prove him and see if he be a man of honour and manliness, or a wittol.^[465]” “How so?” asked Kamar al-Zaman; and Abd al-Rahman answered, “I mean to urge him to make peace with his wife, and if he consent thereto and forgive her, I will smite him with a sword and slay him and kill her after, her and her maid, for there is no good in the life of a cuckold and a quean^[466]; but, if he turn from her with aversion I will marry him to thy sister and give him more of wealth than that thou tookest from him.” Then he went back to Obayd and said to him, “O master, verily, the commerce of women requireth patience and magnanimity and whoso loveth them hath need of fortitude, for that they order themselves viper-wise towards men and evilly entreat them, by reason of their superiority over them in beauty and loveliness: 298wherefore they magnify themselves and belittle men. This is notably the case when their husbands show them affection; for then they requite them with hauteur and coquetry and harsh dealing of all kinds. But, if a man be wroth whenever he seeth in his wife aught that offendeth him, there can be no fellowship between them; nor can any hit it off with them who is not magnanimous and long-suffering; and unless a man bear with his wife and requite her foul doing with forgiveness, he shall get no good of her conversation. Indeed, it hath been said of them:—Were they in the sky, the necks of men would incline them-wards; and he who hath the power and pardoneth, his reward is with Allah. Now this woman is thy wife and thy companion and she hath long consorted with thee; wherefore it behoveth that thou entreat her with indulgence which in fellowship is of the essentials of success. Furthermore, women fail in wit and Faith,^[467] and if she have sinned, she repenteth and Inshallah she will not again return to that which she whilome did. So ’tis my rede that thou make peace with her and I will restore thee more than the good she took; and if it please thee to abide with me, thou art welcome, thou and she, and ye shall see naught but what shall joy you both; but, an thou seek to return to thine own land. For that which falleth out between a man and his wife is manifold, and it behoveth thee to be indulgent and not take the way of the violent.” Said the jeweller, “O my lord, and where is my wife?” and said Abd al-Rahman, “She is in that upper chamber, go up to her and be easy with her, for my sake, and trouble her not; for, when my son brought her hither, he would have married her, but I forbade him from her and shut her up in yonder room, and locked the door upon her saying in myself:—Haply her husband will come and I will hand her over to him safe; for she is fair of favour, and when a woman is like unto this one, it may not be that her husband will let her go. What I counted on is come about and praised be Allah Almighty for thy reunion with thy wife! As for my son, I have sought him another woman in 299marriage and have married him to her: these banquets and rejoicings are for his wedding, and to-night I bring him to his bride. So here is the key of the chamber where thy wife is: take it and open the door and go in to her and her handmaid and be buxom with her. There shall be brought you meat and drink and thou shalt not come down from her till thou have had thy fill of her.” Cried Obayd, “May Allah requite thee for me with all good, O my lord!” and taking the key, went up, rejoicing. The other thought his words had pleased him and that he consented thereto; so he took the sword and following him unseen, stood to espy what should happen between him and his wife. This is how it fared with the merchant Abd al-Rahman; but as for the jeweller, when he came to the chamber-door, he heard his wife weeping with sore weeping for that Kamar al-Zaman had married another than her, and the handmaid saying to her, “O my lady, how often have I warned thee and said, Thou wilt get no good of this youth: so do thou leave his company. But thou heededst not my words and spoiledst thy husband of all his goods and gavest them to him. After the which thou forsookest thy place, of thine fondness and infatuation for him, and camest with him to this country. And now he hath cast thee out from his thought and married another and hath made the issue of thy foolish fancy for him to be durance vile.” Cried Halimah, “Be silent, O accursed! Though he be married to another, yet some day needs must I occur to his thought. I cannot forget the nights I have spent in his company and in any case I console myself with his saying who said:—

O my lords, shall he to your mind occur ✿ Who recurs to you only sans other mate?

Grant Heaven you ne’er shall forget his state ✿ Who for state of you forgot own estate!

It cannot be but he will bethink him of my affect and converse and ask for me, wherefore I will not turn from loving him nor change from passion for him, though I perish in prison; for he is my love and my leach^[468] and my reliance is on him that he will yet return to me and deal fondly with me.” When the jeweller heard his wife’s words, he went in to her and said to her, “O traitress, 300thy hope in him is as the hope of Iblis^[469] in Heaven. All these vices were in thee and I knew not thereof; for, had I been ware of one single vice, I had not kept thee with me an hour. But now I am certified of this in thee, it behoveth me to do thee die, although they put me to death for thee, O traitress!” and he clutched her with both hands and repeated these two couplets:—

O fair ones forth ye cast my faithful love ✿ With sin, nor had ye aught regard for right:

How long I fondly clung to you, but now ✿ My love is loathing and I hate your sight.

Then he pressed hardly upon her windpipe and brake her neck, whereupon her handmaid cried out “Alas, my mistress!” Said he, “O harlot, ’tis thou who art to blame for all this, for that thou knewest this evil inclination to be in her and toldest me not.^[470]” Then he seized upon her and strangled her. All this happened while Abd al-Rahman stood, brand in hand, behind the door espying with his eyes and hearing with his ears. Now when Obayd the jeweller had done this, apprehension came upon him and he feared the issue of his affair and said to himself, “As soon as the merchant learneth that I have killed them in his house, he will surely slay me; yet I beseech Allah that He appoint the taking of my life to be while I am in the True Belief!” And he abode bewildered about his case and knew not what to do; but, as he was thus behold, in came Abd al-Rahman from his lurking-place without the door and said to him, “No harm shall befal thee, for indeed thou deservest safety. See this sword in my hand. ’Twas in my mind to slay thee, hadst thou made peace with her and 301restored her to favour, and I would also have slain her and the maid. But since thou hast done this deed, welcome to thee and again welcome! And I will reward thee by marrying thee to my daughter, Kamar al-Zaman’s sister.” Then he carried him down and sent for the woman who washed the dead: whereupon it was bruited abroad that Kamar al-Zaman had brought with him two slave-girls from Bassorah and that both had deceased. So the people began to condole with him saying, “May thy head live!” and “May Allah compensate thee!” And they washed and shrouded them and buried them, and none knew the truth of the matter. Then Abd al-Rahman sent for the Shaykh al-Islam and all the notables and said, “O Shaykh, draw up the contract of marriage between my daughter Kaukab al-Saláh^[471] and Master Obayd the jeweller and set down that her dowry hath been paid to me in full.” So he wrote out the contract and Abd al-Rahman gave the company to drink of sherbets, and they made one wedding festival for the two brides the daughter of the Shaykh al-Islam and Kamar al-Zaman’s sister; and paraded them in one litter on one and the same night; after which they carried Kamar al-Zaman and Obayd in procession together and brought them in to their brides.^[472] When the jeweller went in to Abd al-Rahman’s daughter, he found her handsomer than Halimah and a thousand-fold lovelier. So he took her maidenhead and on the morrow, he went to the Hammam with Kamar al-Zaman. Then he abode with them awhile in pleasance and joyance, after which he began to yearn for his native land: so he went in to Abd al-Rahman and said to him, “O uncle, I long for my own country, for I have there estates and effects, which I left in charge of one of my prentices; and I am minded to journey thither that I may sell my properties and return to thee. So wilt thou give me leave to go to my country for that purpose?” Answered the merchant, “O my son, I give thee leave to do this and there be no fault in thee or blame to thee for these words, for ‘Love of mother-land is a part of Religion’; and he who hath not good in his own country hath none in other folks’ country. But, haply, an thou depart without 302thy wife, when thou art once come to thy native place, it may seem good to thee to settle there, and thou wilt be perplexed between returning to thy wife and sojourning in thine own home; so it were the righter rede that thou carry thy wife with thee; and after, an thou desire to return to us, return and welcome to you both; for we are folk who know not divorce and no woman of us marrieth twice, nor do we lightly discard a man.”^[473] Quoth Obayd, “Uncle, I fear me thy daughter will not consent to journey with me to my own country.” Replied Abd al-Rahman, “O my son, we have no women amongst us who gainsay their spouses, nor know we a wife who is wroth with her man.” The jeweller cried, “Allah bless you and your women!” and going in to his wife, said to her, “I am minded to go to my country: what sayst thou?” Quoth she, “Indeed, my sire had the ordering of me, whilst I was a maid, and when I married, the ordering all passed into the hands of my lord and master, nor will I gainsay him.” Quoth Obayd, “Allah bless thee and thy father, and have mercy on the womb that bare thee and the loins that begat thee!” Then he cut his thongs^[474] and applied himself to making ready for his journey. His father-in-law gave him much good and they took leave each of other, after which the jeweller and his wife journeyed on without ceasing, till they reached Bassorah where his kinsmen and comrades came out to meet him, doubting not but that he had been in Al-Hijáz. Some rejoiced at his return, whilst others were vexed, and the folk said one to another, “Now will he straiten us again every Friday, as before, and we shall be shut up in the mosques and houses, even to our cats and our dogs.” On such wise it fared with him; but as regards the King of Bassorah, when he heard of his return, he was wroth with him; and sending for him, upbraided him and said to him, “Why didst thou depart, without letting me know of thy departure? Was I unable to give thee somewhat wherewith thou mightest have succoured thyself in thy pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah?” Replied the jeweller, “Pardon, O my lord! By Allah, I went not on the pilgrimage! but there have befallen me such and such things.” Then he told him all that had befallen him 303with his wife and with Abd al-Rahman of Cairo and how the merchant had given him his daughter to wife, ending with these words, “And I have brought her to Bassorah.” Said the King, “By the Lord, did I not fear Allah the Most High, I would slay thee and marry this noble lady after thy death, though I spent on her mints of money, because she befitteth none but Kings. But Allah hath appointed her of thy portion and may He bless thee in her! So look thou use her well.” Then he bestowed largesse on the jeweller, who went out from before him and abode with his wife five years, after which he was admitted to the mercy of the Almighty. Presently the King sought his widow in wedlock; but she refused, saying, “O King, never among my kindred was a woman who married again after her husband’s death; wherefore I will never take another husband, nor will I marry thee, no, though thou kill me.” Then he sent to her one who said, “Dost thou seek to go to thy native land?” And she answered, “An thou do good, thou shalt be requited therewith.” So he collected for her all the jeweller’s wealth and added unto her of his own, after the measure of his degree. Lastly he sent with her one of his Wazirs, a man famous for goodness and piety, and an escort of five hundred horse, who journeyed with her, till they brought her to her father; and in his home she abode, without marrying again, till she died and they died all. So, if this woman would not consent to replace her dead husband with a Sultan, how shall she be compared with one who replaced her husband, whilst he was yet alive, with a youth of unknown extraction and condition, and especially when this was in lewd carriage and not by way of lawful marriage? So he who deemeth all women alike,^[475] there is no remedy 304for the disease of his insanity. And glory be to Him to whom belongeth the empire of the Seen and the Unseen and He is the Living, who dieth not! And among the tales they tell, O auspicious King, is one of