Tales from the Arabic/Story of the Man of Khorassan, His Son and His Governor

“There was once a man of Khorassan and he hada son, whose improvement he ardently desired; but theyoung man sought to be alone and to remove himselffrom his father’s eye, so he might give himself up topleasance and delight. So he sought of his father [leaveto make] the pilgrimage to the Holy House of God andto visit the tomb of the Prophet (whom God bless andkeep!). Now between them and Mecca was a journeyof five hundred parasangs; but his father could notgainsay him, for that the law of God made this^[1]incumbent on him and because of that which he hopedfor him of improvement [therefrom]. So he joined untohim a governor, in whom he trusted, and gave him muchmoney and took leave of him. The son set out on the ​holy pilgrimage^[2] with the governor and abode on thatwise, spending freely and using not thrift.

Now there was in his neighbourhood a poor man, whohad a slave-girl of surpassing beauty and loveliness, andthe youth became enamoured of her and suffered griefand concern for the love of her and her loveliness, so thathe was like to perish for passion; and she also loved himwith a love yet greater than his love for her. So shecalled an old woman who used to visit her and acquaintedher with her case, saying, ‘An I foregather not with him,I shall die.’ The old woman promised her that she woulddo her endeavour to bring her to her desire; so she veiledherself and repairing to the young man, saluted him andacquainted him with the girl’s case, saying, ‘Her masteris a covetous man; so do thou invite him [to thy lodging]and tempt him with money, and he will sell thee thedamsel.’

Accordingly, he made a banquet, and stationing himselfin the man’s way, invited him and carried him to hishouse, where they sat down and ate and drank and abodein discourse. Presently, the young man said to the other,‘I hear that thou hast with thee a slave-girl, whom thoudesirest to sell.’ And he answered, saying, ‘By Allah,O my lord, I have no mind to sell her!’ Quoth theyouth, ‘I hear that she cost thee a thousand dinars, and ​I will give thee six hundred, to boot.’ And the othersaid, ‘I sell her to thee [at that price].’ So they fetchednotaries, who drew up the contract of sale, and the youngman counted out to the girl’s master half the purchasemoney, saying, ‘Let her be with thee till I complete tothee the rest of the price and take my slave-girl.’ Theother consented to this and took of him a bond for therest of the money, and the girl abode with her master, ondeposit.

As for the youth, he gave his governor a thousanddirhems and despatched him to his father, to fetch moneyfrom him, so he might pay the rest of the girl’s price,saying to him, ‘Be not [long] absent.’ But the governorsaid in himself, ‘How shall I go to his father and say tohim, “Thy son hath wasted thy money and wantoned itaway”?^[3] With what eye shall I look on him, and indeed,I am he in whom he confided and to whom he hathentrusted his son? Indeed, this were ill seen. Nay, Iwill fare on to the pilgrimage^[4] [with the caravan ofpilgrims], in despite of this fool of a youth; and whenhe is weary [of waiting], he will demand back themoney [he hath already paid] and return to his father,and I shall be quit of travail and reproach.’ So he wenton with the caravan to the pilgrimage^[4] and took up hisabode there.

Meanwhile, the youth abode expecting his governor’s ​return, but he returned not; wherefore concern andchagrin waxed upon him, because of his mistress, and hislonging for her redoubled and he was like to slay himself.She became aware of this and sent him a messenger,bidding him to her. So he went to her and she questionedhim of the case; whereupon he told her what was todo of the matter of his governor, and she said to him,‘With me is longing the like of that which is with thee,and I misdoubt me thy messenger hath perished or thyfather hath slain him; but I will give thee all my trinketsand my clothes, and do thou sell them and pay the restof my price, and we will go, I and thou, to thy father.’

So she gave him all that she possessed and he sold itand paid the rest of her price; after which there remainedto him a hundred dirhems. These he spent and lay thatnight with the damsel in all delight of life, and his soulwas like to fly for joy; but when he arose in the morning,he sat weeping and the damsel said to him, ‘What aileththee to weep?’ And he said, ‘I know not if my fatherbe dead, and he hath none other heir but myself; andhow shall I win to him, seeing I have not a dirhem?’Quoth she, ‘I have a bracelet; do thou sell it and buysmall pearls with the price. Then bray them and fashionthem into great pearls, and thereon thou shalt gain muchmoney, wherewith we may make our way to thy country.’So he took the bracelet and repairing to a goldsmith,said to him, ‘Break up this bracelet and sell it.’ But hesaid, ‘The king seeketh a good^[5] bracelet; I will go tohim and bring thee the price thereof.’ So he carried ​the bracelet to the Sultan and it pleased him greatly,by reason of the goodliness of its workmanship. Thenhe called an old woman, who was in his palace, andsaid to her, ‘Needs must I have the mistress of thisbracelet, though but for a single night, or I shall die.’And the old woman answered, ‘I will bring her to thee.’

So she donned a devotee’s habit and betaking herselfto the goldsmith, said to him, ‘To whom belongeth thebracelet that is in the king’s hand?’ Quoth he, ‘Itbelongeth to a man, a stranger, who hath bought him aslave-girl from this city and lodgeth with her in such aplace.’ So the old woman repaired to the young man’shouse and knocked at the door. The damsel opened toher and seeing her clad in devotee’s apparel,^[6] saluted herand said to her, ‘Belike thou hast an occasion with us?’‘Yes,’ answered the old woman; ‘I desire privacy andablution.’^[7] Quoth the girl, ‘Enter.’ So she entered anddid her occasion and made the ablution and prayed.Then she brought out a rosary and began to tell her beadsthereon, and the damsel said to her, ‘Whence comestthou, O pilgrim?’^[8] Quoth she ‘[I come] from [visiting]the Idol^[9] of the Absent in such a church.^[10] There standethup no woman [to prayer] before him, who hath an absent ​friend and discovereth to him her need, but he acquaintethher with her case and giveth her tidings of her absentone.’ ‘O pilgrim,’ said the damsel, ‘we have an absentone, and my lord’s heart cleaveth to him and I desire togo to the idol and question him of him.’ Quoth theold woman, ‘[Wait] till to-morrow and ask leave of thyhusband, and I will come to thee and go with thee inweal.’

Then she went away, and when the girl’s master came,she sought his leave to go with the old woman and hegranted her leave. So the beldam took her and carriedher to the king’s door. The damsel entered with her, unknowingwhither she went, and beheld a goodly houseand chambers adorned [with gold and colours] that wereno idol’s chambers. Then came the king and seeing herbeauty and grace, went up to her, to kiss her; whereuponshe fell down in a fit and strove with her hands and feet.When he saw this, he was solicitous for her and held alooffrom her and left her; but the thing was grievous to herand she refused meat and drink, and as often as the kingdrew near her, she fled from him in affright, wherefore heswore by Allah that he would not approach her, save withher consent, and fell to guerdoning her with trinkets andraiment, but she only redoubled in aversion to him.

Meanwhile, the youth her master abode expecting her;but she returned not and his heart forbode him of thedraught [of separation]; so he went forth at hazard,distraught and knowing not what he should do, and fellto strewing dust upon his head and crying out, ‘The oldwoman hath taken her and gone away!’ The boys ​followed him with stones and pelted him, saying, ‘Amadman! A madman!’ Presently, the king’s chamberlain,who was a man of age and worth, met him, and whenhe saw his youth, he forbade the boys and drove thereaway from him, after which he accosted him and questionedhim of his case. So he told him how it was with himand the chamberlain said to him, ‘Fear not: all shall yetbe well with thee. I will deliver thy slave-girl for thee: socalm thy trouble.’ And he went on to speak him fair andcomfort him, till he put faith in his speech.

Then he carried him to his house and stripping himof his clothes, clad him in rags; after which he calledan old woman, who was his stewardess, and said to her.‘Take this youth and clap on his neck this iron chainand go round about with him in all the thoroughfaresof the city; and when thou hast made an end of this,go up with him to the palace of the king.’ And he saidto the youth, ‘In whatsoever place thou seest the damsel,speak not a syllable, but acquaint me with her place andthou shall owe her deliverance to none but me.’ Theyouth thanked him and went with the old woman onsuch wise as the chamberlain bade him. She fared onwith him till they entered the city [and made the roundthereof]; after which she went up to the palace of theking and fell to saying, ‘O people of affluence, look ona youth whom the devils take twice in the day and prayfor preservation from [a like] affliction!’ And she ceasednot to go round about with him till she came to theeastern wing^[11] of the palace, whereupon the slave-girls ​came out to look upon him and when they saw him theywere amazed at his beauty and grace and wept for him.

Then they told the damsel, who came forth and lookedupon him and knew him not. But he knew her; so hebowed his head and wept. She was moved to compassionfor him and gave him somewhat and returned to herplace, whilst the youth returned with the stewardess tothe chamberlain and told him that she was in the king’shouse, whereat he was chagrined and said, ‘By Allah,I will assuredly contrive a device for her and deliverher!’ Whereupon the youth kissed his hands and feet.Then he turned to the old woman and bade her changeher apparel and her favour. Now this old woman wasgoodly of speech and nimble of wit; so he gave hercostly and delicious perfumes and said to her, ‘Get theeto the king’s slave girls and sell them these [perfumes]and make thy way to the damsel and question her if shedesire her master or not.’ So the old woman went outand making her way to the palace, went in to the damseland drew near her and recited the following verses:

When the damsel heard these verses, she wept till herclothes were drenched and drew near the old woman, whosaid to her, ‘Knowest thou such an one?’ And she ​wept and said, ‘He is my lord. Whence knowest thouhim?’ ‘O my lady,’ answered the old woman, ‘sawstthou not the madman who came hither yesterday with theold woman? He was thy lord. But this is no time fortalk. When it is night, get thee to the top of the palace[and wait] on the roof till thy lord come to thee andcontrive for thy deliverance.’ Then she gave her whatshe would of perfumes and returning to the chamberlain,acquainted him with that which had passed, and he toldthe youth.

When it was eventide, the chamberlain let bring twohorses and great store of water and victual and a saddle-cameland a man to show them the way. These he hidwithout the town, whilst he and the young man took withthem a long rope, made fast to a staple, and repaired tothe palace. When they came thither, they looked andbeheld the damsel standing on the roof. So they threwher the rope and the staple; whereupon she [made thelatter fast to the parapet and] wrapping her sleeves abouther hands, slid down [the rope] and landed with them.They carried her without the town, where they mounted,she and her lord, and fared on, whilst the guide forewentthem, directing them in the way, and they gave not overgoing night and day till they entered his father’s house.The young man saluted his father, who rejoiced in him,and he related to him all that had befallen him, whereuponhe rejoiced in his safety.

As for the governor, he wasted all that was with himand returned to the city, where he saw the youth andexcused himself to him. Then he questioned him of what ​had befallen him and he told him, whereat he marvelledand returned to companionship with him; but the youthceased to have regard for him and gave him not stipends,as of his [former] wont, neither discovered to him aughtof his secrets. When the governor saw that there was noprofit for him with the young Khorassani, he returned tothe king, the ravisher of the damsel, and told him whatthe chamberlain had done and counselled him to slay thelatter and incited him to recover the damsel, [promising]to give his friend to drink of poison and return. So theking sent for the chamberlain and upbraided him; whereuponhe fell upon him and slew him and the king’sservants fell upon the chamberlain and slew him.

Meanwhile, the governor returned to the youth, whoquestioned him of his absence, and he told him that hehad been in the city of the king who had taken thedamsel. When the youth heard this, he misdoubted ofthe governor and never again trusted him in aught, butwas still on his guard against him. Then the governormade great store of sweetmeats and put in them deadlypoison and presented them to the youth. When the lattersaw the sweetmeats, he said in himself, ‘This is an extraordinarything of the governor! Needs must there bemischief in this sweetmeat, and I will make proof of itupon himself.’ So he made ready victual and set on thesweetmeat amongst it and bade the governor to his houseand set food before him. He ate and amongst the rest,they brought him the poisoned sweetmeat; so he atethereof and died forthright; whereby the youth knewthat this was a plot against himself and said, ‘He who ​seeketh his fortune of his own [unaided] might^[12] attainethit not.’