VersionsThe Thousand Nights - I [English, London, 2004]
The Thousand Nights - II [English, London, 2005]
The Thousand Nights - III [English, London, 2005]
The Thousand Nights - IV [English, London, 2005]
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night - IV
Powys Mathers
Routledge
It is related in the writings of the wise past that the Commander of the Faithful, al-Mutasid Billah, sixth Khalifah in the line of Abbas, grandson of al-Mutawakkil, grandson of Harun al-Rashid, was a prince of lofty soul and fearless heart. He was noble and beautiful, royal and intelligent, he had the courage and strength of lions, and a genius which made him the greatest poet of his time. He kept sixty zealous wazirs about him in Baghdad to watch day and night over the welfare of his people; so that no trifle escaped him in all his mighty empire, from the desert of Sham to the Moorish confines, from the mountains of Khurasan and the western sea to the ... Contents of Volume IV
The Tale of Pearl-Harvest / 1 The Tale of the Two Lives of Sultan Mahmud / 15 The Tale of the Unending Treasure / 21 The Adventures of the Royal Bastard / 35
Containing The Tale of the Ape Youth / 47 The First Madman’s Tale / 56 The Second Madman’s Tale / 63 The Third Madman’s Tale / 75
Wisdom below the Severed Heads / 83 The Perfidy of Wives / 91
Containing The Pastry cook’s Tale / 95 The Greengrocer’s Tale / 97 The Butcher’s Tale / 99 The First Clarinet’s Tale / 101
The Tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves / 103 The Meetings of Al-Rashid on the Bridge of Baghdad / 127
Containing The Master of the White Mare / 130 The Youth Behind Whom Indian and Chinese Airs Were Played / 142 The Generous Sheikh / 149 The Split-Mouth Schoolmaster / 163 The Blind Man Who Would Be Buffeted / 166
The Tale of Princess Zulaikah /173 Sweet Tales of Careless Youth / 189
Containing Hard-Head and His Sister Little-Foot / 189 The Anklet / 193 The He-Goat and the King’s Daughter / 196 The Prince and the Tortoise / 203 The Chick-Pea Seller’s Daughter / 210 The Looser / 215 The Captain of Police / 217 A Contest in Generosity / 220 The Gelded Barber / 223 Firuz and His Wife / 227 The Mind and the Soil / 230
The Tale of the Magic Book / 233 The Splendid Tale of Prince Diamond / 259 Some Jests and Suggestions of The Master of Shifts and Laughter / 295 The Tale of the Girl Heart’s-Miracle, Lieutenant of The Birds / 307 The Tale of Al-Malik Baibars and His Captains of Police / 341
Containing The First Captain’s Tale / 342 The Second Captain’s Tale / 351 The Third Captain’s Tale / 354 The Fourth Captain’s Tale / 360 The Fifth Captain’s Tale / 365 The Sixth Captain’s Tale / 372 The Seventh Captain’s Tale / 381 The Eighth Captain’s Tale / 381 The Ninth Captain’s Tale / 388 The Tenth Captain’s Tale / 392 The Eleventh Captain’s Tale / 394 The Twelfth Captain’s Tale / 397 The Tale of the Sea Rose of the Girl of China 403 The Tale of the Honey Cake and the Cobbler’s Calamitous Wife / 417 Windows on the Garden of History / 445
Containing The Poet Duraid, His Generosity, and His Love for Tumadir al-Khansah / 447 Ufairah the Suns and Hudhailah the Moons, the Warrior Daughters of the Poet Find / 458 The Love Story of Princess Fatimah and the Poet Murakkish / 460 The Vengeance of King Hujr / 463 Men in the Judgment of Their Wives / 465 Tales of Umar Ibn al-Khattab / 468 Blue Salamah the Singer / 475 The Tale of the Parasite / 477 The Tale of the Slave of Destiny / 479 The Tale of the Fatal Collar / 484 Ishak of Mosul and the Lost Melody / 487 The Two Dancers / 491 The Pistachio Oil Cream, and the Legal Point / 494 The Arab Girl at the Fountain / 498 The Perils of Insistence / 501 The End of Jafar and the Barmakids / 505 The Tender Tale of Prince Jasmine And Princess Almond / 517
Conclusion / 527
The Tale of Pearl-Harvest AND SHAHRAZAD SAID TO KING SHAHRYAR:
It is related in the writings of the wise past that the Commander of the Faithful, al-Mutasid Billah, sixth Khalifah in the line of Abbas, grandson of al-Mutawakkil, grandson of Harun al-Rashid, was a prince of lofty soul and fearless heart. He was noble and beautiful, royal and intelligent, he had the courage and strength of lions, and a genius which made him the greatest poet of his time. He kept sixty zealous wazirs about him in Baghdad to watch day and night over the welfare of his people; so that no trifle escaped him in all his mighty empire, from the desert of Sham to the Moorish confines, from the mountains of Khurasan and the western sea to the furthest bounds of India and Afghanistan. One day, as the Khalifah was walking with Ahmad ibn Hamdun, his intimate friend and chosen cup-companion (to whom we owe the oral transmission of the fairest tales and verses of our ancestors), he came to a lordly dwelling folded pleasantly among gardens. Its harmonious architecture said more of its owner’s fine taste than the tongue of an eager friend, and to a man of the Khalifah’s subtle and attentive soul seemed eloquence itself.
As the two men sat down on a marble bench which faced the gate, to rest from their walking and breathe an air laden with the souls of jasmine and lily, they saw two youths of moon-like beauty coming towards them out of the shades of the garden. One was saying to the other: ‘Would that heaven might send some chance guests to our master on this delightful day. He is sad when he has to eat alone.’ ‘This is the first time that such a thing has happened,’ answered the second youth. ‘It is strange that no citizen has walked out to see our gardens on this fair Spring day.’
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Powys Mathers
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night - IV
Routledge
Routledge, Taylor & Francis e-Library The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night Volume IV Powys Mathers
Rendered into English from the literal and complete French translation of Dr. J. C. Mardrus By Powys Mathers
Routledge London and New York
First published as a paperback in 1986 by Routledge & Kegan Paul plc
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
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ISBN 0-203-35914-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-37170-4 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-04542-8 (vol. IV) ISBN 0-415-04543-6 (set)
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