I've mentioned previously my fascination with the great explorer, author,
ethnographer, translator, etc., Richard Francis Burton [see Orrin's review
of To Your Scattered
Bodies Go (1971)(Philip Jose Farmer) (Grade:
B+)], but I had never actually gotten around to reading
his translation of the Arabian Nights. I don't think I'd ever
even comprehended the framing device that gives the book its name until
I read John Barth's Chimera, a modern riff on the ancient tales.
Heck, I think all I really knew of the Tales was the same as most American
kids: (1) the really cheesy Sinbad cartoon, where cinching his belt gave
him extraordinary powers; (2) the even cheesier Ray Harryhausen stop-action
films like Golden
Voyage of Sinbad; (3) and, I suppose I Dream of Jeannie
seemed to be related to the stories somehow. But upon reading the
stories, they turn out to be great fun and the set up is quite ingenious.
King Shahryar and his brother are both cuckolded by their wives--whom
they slice and dice along with their "blackamoor" lovers. Already
prey to understandable doubts about the fidelity of women, they set out
to find a man less fortunate than themselves:
So the two brothers issued from a second private
postern of the palace, and they never stinted
wayfaring by day and by night until they reached
a tree a-middle of a meadow hard by a spring of
sweet water on the shore of the salt sea. Both drank
of it and sat down to take their rest. And when
an hour of the day had gone by, lo! they heard a
mighty roar and uproar in the middle of the main as
though the heavens were falling upon the earth,
and the sea brake with waves before them and from it
towered a black pillar, which grew and grew till
it rose skyward and began making for that meadow.
Seeing it, they waxed fearful exceedingly and climbed
to the top of the tree, which was a lofty,
whence they gazed to see what might be the matter.
And behold, it was a Jinni, huge of height and
burly of breast and bulk, broad of brow and black
of blee, bearing on his head a coffer of crystal. He
strode to land, wading through the deep, and coming
to the tree whereupon were the two Kings, seated
himself beneath it. He then set down the coffer
on its bottom and out of it drew a casket with seven
padlocks of steel, which he unlocked with seven
keys of steel he took from beside his thigh, and out of
it a young lady to come was seen, whiteskinned and
of winsomest mien, of stature fine and thin, and
bright as though a moon of the fourteenth night
she had been, or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so
the poet Utayyah hath excellently said:-
She rose like the morn as she shone
through the night
And she gilded the grove with
her gracious sight.
From her radiance the sun taketh
increase when
She unveileth and shameth the
moonshine bright.
Bow down all beings between her
hands
As she showeth charms with her
veil undight.
And she floodeth cities with torrent
tears
When she flasheth her look of
levin light.
The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and
looking at her, said: "O choicest love of this heart
of mine! O dame of noblest line, whom I snatched
away on thy bride night that none might prevent
me taking thy maidenhead or tumble thee before I
did, and whom none save myself hath loved or hath
enjoyed. O my sweetheart! I would lief sleep a little
while." He then laid his head upon the lady's
thighs, and, stretching out hip legs, which extended
down to the sea, slept and snored and snarked like
the roll of thunder. Presently she raised her head
toward the treetop and saw the two Kings perched
near the summit. Then she softly lifted off her
lap the Jinni's pate, which she was tired of supporting,
and placed it upon the ground, then, standing upright
under the tree, signed to the Kings, "Come ye
down, ye two, and fear naught from this Ifrit."
They were in a terrible fright when they found that she
had seen them, and answered her in the same manner,
"Allah upon thee and by thy modesty, O lady,
excuse us from coming down!" But she rejoined by
saying: "Allah upon you both that ye come down
forthright. And if ye come not, I will rouse upon
you my husband, this Ifrit, and he shall do you to die
by the illest of deaths." And she continued making
signals to them.
So, being afraid, they came down to her, and she
rose before them and said, "Stroke me a strong
stroke, without stay or delay, otherwise will I
arouse and set upon you this Ifrit, who shall slay you
straightway." They said to her: "O our lady, we
conjure thee by Allah, let us off this work, for we are
fugitives from such, and in extreme dread and terror
of this thy husband. How then can we do it in
such a way as thou desirest?" "Leave this talk.
It needs must be so," quoth she, and she swore them by
Him who raised the skies on high without prop or
pillar that if they worked not her will, she would
cause them to be slain and cast into the sea. Whereupon
out of fear King Shahryar said to King Shah
Zaman, "O my brother, do thou what she biddeth thee
do." But he replied, "I will not do it till thou do
it before I do." And they began disputing about
futtering her.
Then quoth she to the twain: "How is it I see you
disputing and demurring? If ye do not come forward
like men and do the deed of kind, ye two, I will
arouse upon you the Ifrit." At this, by reason of their
sore dread of the Jinni, both did by her what she
bade them do, and when they had dismounted from
her, she said, "Well done!" She then took from her
pocket a purse and drew out a knotted string
whereon were strung five hundred and seventy seal
rings, and asked, "Know ye what be these?" They
answered her saying, "We know not!" Then quoth she:
"These be the signets of five hundred and
seventy men who have all futtered me upon the horns
of this foul, this foolish, this filthy Ifrit. So give
me also your two seal rings, ye pair of brothers."
When they had drawn their two rings from their hands
and given them to her, she said to them: "Of a
truth this Ifrit bore me off on my bride night,
and put me into a casket and set the casket in a coffer,
and to the coffer he affixed seven strong padlocks
of steel and deposited me on the deep bottom of the
sea that raves, dashing and clashing with waves,
and guarded me so that I might remain chaste and
honest, quotha! that none save himself might have
connection with me. But I have lain under as many
of my kind as I please, and this wretched Jinni
wotteth not that Destiny may not be averted nor
hindered by aught, and that whatso woman willeth,
the same she fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even
so saith one of them:
"Rely not on women,
Trust not to their hearts,
Whose joys and whose sorrows
Are hung to their parts!
Lying love they will swear thee
Whence guile ne'er departs.
Take Yusuf for sample,
'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts!
Iblis ousted Adam
(See ye not?) thro' their arts."
Hearing these words, they marveled with exceeding
marvel, and she went from them to the Ifrit, and
taking up his head on her thigh as before, said
to them softly, "Now wend your ways and bear
yourselves beyond the bounds of his malice." So
they fared forth saying either to other, "Allah!
Allah!" and: "There be no Majesty and there be no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great, and
with Him we seek refuge from women's malice and
sleight, for of a truth it hath no mate in might.
Consider, O my brother, the ways of this marvelous
lady with an Ifrit, who is so much more powerful
than we are. Now since there hath happened to him
a greater mishap than that which befell us and
which should bear us abundant consolation, so return
we to our countries and capitals, and let us
decide never to intermarry with womankind, and presently
we will show them what will be our
action."
Thereupon they rode back to the tents of King Shahryar,
which they reached on the morning of the
third day. And having mustered the wazirs and emirs,
the chamberlains and high officials, he gave a
robe of honor to his Viceroy and issued orders for
an immediate return to the city. There he sat him
upon his throne and, sending for the Chief Minister,
the father of the two damsels who (Inshallah!)
will presently be mentioned, he said, "I command
thee to take my wife and smite her to death, for she
hath broken her plight and her faith." So he carried
her to the place of execution and did her die. Then
King Shahryar took brand in hand and, repairing
to the seraglio, slew all the concubines and their
Mamelukes. He also sware himself by a binding oath
that whatever wife he married he would abate her
maidenhead at night and slay her next morning, to
make sure of his honor. "For," said he, "there never
was nor is there one chaste woman upon the face
of earth."
Now I know that this seems like an unpromising beginning from a feminist
perspective, but we are soon introduced to one of the great heroines in
all of literature, Scheherazade:
Presently the King ordered his Chief Wazir, the same
who was charged with the executions, to bring
him a virgin, as was his wont, and the Minister
went forth and searched and found none. So he
returned home in sorrow and anxiety, fearing for
his life from the King. Now he had two daughters,
Scheherazade and Dunyazade, hight, of whom the elder
had perused the books, annals, and legends of
preceding kings, and the stories, examples, and
instances of bygone men and things. Indeed it was said
that she had collected a thousand books of histories
relating to antique races and departed rulers. She
had purused the works of the poets and knew them
by heart, she had studied philosophy and the
sciences, arts, and accomplishments. And she was
pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and
well bred. Now on that day she said to her father:
"Why do I see thee thus changed and laden with
cark and care? Concerning this matter quoth one
of the poets:
"Tell whoso hath sorrow
Grief never shall last.
E'en as joy hath no morrow
So woe shall go past."
When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words,
he related to her, from first to last, all that had
happened between him and the King. Thereupon said
she: "By Allah, O my father, how long shall this
slaughter of women endure? Shall I tell thee what
is in my mind in order to save both sides from
destruction?" "Say on, O my daughter," quoth he,
and quoth she: "I wish thou wouldst give me in
marriage to this King Shahryar. Either I shall live
or I shall be a ransom for the virgin daughters of
Moslems and the cause of their deliverance from
his hands and thine." "Allah upon thee!" cried he in
wrath exceeding that lacked no feeding. "O scanty
of wit, expose not thy life to such peril! How durst
thou address me in words so wide from wisdom and
unfar from foolishness? Know that one who
lacketh experience in worldly matters readily falleth
into misfortune, and whoso considereth not the
end keepeth not the world to friend, and the vulgar
say: 'I was lying at mine ease. Naught but my
officiousness brought me unease'." "Needs must thou,"
she broke in, "make me a doer of this good
deed, and let him kill me an he will. I shall only
die a ransom for others." "O my daughter," asked he,
"and how shall that profit thee when thou shalt
have thrown away thy life?" And she answered, "O my
father, it must be, come of it what will!"
...
"I will never desist, O my father, nor shall this
tale change my purpose. Leave such talk and
tattle. I will not listen to thy words and if thou
deny me, I will marry myself to him despite the nose
of thee. And first I will go up to the King myself
and alone and I will say to him: 'I prayed my father
to wive me with thee, but he refused, being resolved
to disappoint his lord, grudging the like of me to
the like of thee'." Her father asked, "Must this
needs be?" and she answered, "Even so."
Hereupon the Wazir, being weary of lamenting and
contending, persuading and dissuading her, all to
no purpose, went up to King Shahryar and, after
blessing him and kissing the ground before him, told
him all about his dispute with his daughter from
first to last and how he designed to bring her to him
that night. The King wondered with exceeding wonder,
for he had made an especial exception of the
Wazir's daughter, and said to him: "O most faithful
of counsellors, how is this? Thou wettest that I
have sworn by the Raiser of the Heavens that after
I have gone into her this night I shall say to thee on
the morrow's 'Take her and slay her!' And if thou
slay her not, I will slay thee in her stead without
fail." "Allah guide thee to glory and lengthen thy
life, O King of the Age," answered the Wazir. "It is
she that hath so determined. All this have I told
her and more, but she will not hearken to me and she
persisteth in passing this coming night with the
King's Majesty." So Shahryar rejoiced greatly and said,
"'Tis well. Go get her ready, and this night bring
her to me." The Wazir returned to his daughter and
reported to her the command, saying, "Allah make
not thy father desolate by thy loss!"
But Scheherazade rejoiced with exceeding joy and
get ready all she required and said to her younger
sister, Dunyazade: "Note well what directions I
entrust to thee! When I have gone into the King I will
send for thee, and when thou comest to me and seest
that he hath had his carnal will of me, do thou
say to me: 'O my sister, an thou be not sleepy,
relate to me some new story, delectable and
delightsome, the better to speed our waking hours.'
And I will tell thee a tale which shall be our
deliverance, if so Allah please, and which shall
turn the King from his bloodthirsty custom."
Dunyazade answered "With love and gladness."
So when it was night, their father the Wazir carried
Scheherazade to the King, who was gladdened at
the sight and asked, "Hast thou brought me my need?"
And he answered, "I have." But when the King
took her to his bed and fell to toying with her
and wished to go in to her, she wept, which made him
ask, "What aileth thee?" She replied, "O King of
the Age, I have a younger sister, and lief would I
take leave of her this night before I see the dawn."
So he sent at once for Dunyazade and she came and
kissed the ground between his hands, when he permitted
her to take her seat near the foot of the couch.
Then the King arose and did away with his bride's
maidenhead and the three fell asleep.
But when it was midnight Scheherazade awoke and
signaled to her sister Dunyazade, who sat up and
said, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, recite to us
some new story, delightsome and delectable,
wherewith to while away the waking hours of our
latter night." "With joy and goodly gree," answered
Scheherazade, "if this pious and auspicious King
permit me." "Tell on," quoth the King, who chanced
to be sleepless and restless and therefore was pleased
with the prospect of hearing her story. So
Scheherazade rejoiced, and thus, on the first night
of the Thousand Nights and a Night, she began her
recitations.
And what recitations! The Thousand and One Nights are the evenings
that Scheherezade fills with stories of jinnis and ifrits, of Ali Baba
and the Forty Thieves and of the Voyages of Sinbad. In this time
she bears the King three children and finally the King summons his brother:
Then the King shut himself up with his brother and
related to him that which had betided him with
the Wazir's daughter, Scheherazade, during the past
three years, and told him what he had heard
from her of proverbs and parables, chronicles and
pleasantries, quips and jests, stories and
anecdotes, dialogues and histories and elegies and
other verses. Whereat King Shah Zaman marveled
with the uttermost marvel and said: "Fain would
I take her younger sister to wife, so we may be two
brothers german to two sisters german , and they
on like wise be sisters to us; for that the calamity
which befell me was the cause of our discovering
that which befell thee, and all this time of three
years past I have taken no delight in woman, save
that I lie each night with a damsel of my
kingdom, and every morning I do her to death. But
now I desire to marry thy wife's sister,
Dunyazade."
And so, Scheherezade saves the women of the kingdom with her stories.
She is truly a hero for the ages and these stories are immensely entertaining.
