The Thousand Nights - IV

The 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.’

.....

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.”

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.

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)