THE STORY OF THE CUT WOMAN, THE THREE APPLES, AND THE NEGRO RIHAN
Harun al-Rashid
Source
It turns out that the negro is called Rihan and is one slave of Jia'far. To save his slave from death, Jia'far starts to tell the caliph the story of two brothers who were viziers in Egypt.
ON THE THIRD NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
It has come to me, O fortunate King, that the caliph swore that he would only kill the negro, seeing that the young man was excusable. Then the caliph turned to Jia'far and said: "Bring into my presence that treacherous negro who has been the cause of this affair! And if you can't find him for me, I'll kill you instead!"
And Jia'far went out crying, and saying to himself: “From where can I bring him into his presence? Just as it is by chance that a jug that falls does not break, so it was by chance that I escaped death the first time. But now?... However, He who wanted to save me the first time, if he wants to, will save me again the second time! As for me, by Allah! I am going to lock myself in my house, without moving, these three days of delay. For what good is it to search in vain? And I trust in the will of the Righteous Most High!"
And, indeed, Jia'far did not move from his house during the three days of delay. And on the fourth day, he summoned the kadi, and made his will before him; and he bade farewell to his children with tears. Then came the envoy of the caliph who told him that the caliph was still willing to kill him if the negro was not found. And Jia'far wept still more, and his children wept with him. Then he took the youngest of his daughters to kiss her one last time, seeing that he loved her more than all his children; and he pressed her to his bosom, and shed many tears, thinking that he was bound to abandon her. But suddenly, as he pressed her against him, he felt something round in the little girl's pocket, and he said to her, "What have you got in your pocket?"
She answered: “O my father, an apple! It was our negro Rihan who gave it to me. And I've had it with me for four days. But I could only get it after giving two dinars to Rihan."
At these words of negro and apple, Jia'far had a great emotion of joy, and exclaimed: “O Liberator! Then he ordered Rihan the negro to come. And Rihan came, and Jia'far asked him: "Where's that apple from?" He replied, “O my master, five days ago, while walking through the city, I entered an alley, and I saw children playing, and among them was one who was holding this apple; I took it from him and struck him; then he wept and said to me: "She belongs to my mother. And my mother is sick. She had wanted an apple, and my father had gone to get it for her in Basra, with two other apples, at the price of three gold dinars. And I took one to play. Then he began to cry. But I, ignoring his tears, came home with this apple and gave it to my mistress, your little one, for two dinars!"
At this story, Jia'far was in the greatest astonishment to see all these troubles and the death of the young woman through the fault of his negro Rihan. So he ordered that he be thrown into the dungeon at once. Then he rejoiced at having thus himself escaped certain death, and he recited these two verses:
If your misfortunes are only due to your slave,
Why do you not dream of getting rid of this slave?
Don't you know that slaves abound,
But that your soul is one and cannot be replaced!...
But he changed his mind and took the negro and brought him before the caliph, to whom he told the story.
And the caliph Haroun Al-Rashid was so amazed that he ordered that this story be put in the annals to serve as a lesson to humans.
But Jia'far said to him: “Do not marvel too much at this story, O Commander of the Faithful because it is far from equaling that of the Vizier Noureddine and his brother Chamseddine. »
And the caliph exclaimed: “And what is this story which is more astonishing than the one we have just heard?" And Jia'far said, "O prince of the Faithful, I will only tell it to you on the condition that you forgive my negro Rihan for his reckless act!" And the caliphate replied: “So be it! I grant you the grace of his blood."
THE STORY OF THE VIZIER NOUREDINE, HIS BROTHER THE VIZIER CHAMSEDDINE, AND HASSAN BADREDDINE
Then Jia'far Al-Barmaki said:
“Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that there was, in Cairo, a just and beneficent sultan. This sultan had a wise and erudite vizier, versed in science and letters, and this vizier was a very old man; but he had two children similar to two moons: the older was called Chamseddine and the younger was called Noureddine. Noureddine, the youngest, was certainly more handsome and better made than Chamseddine, who, moreover, was perfect. Noureddine had no equal in the whole world. He was so admirable that his beauty was known in all countries, and many travelers came to Egypt, from the most distant countries, just for the pleasure of contemplating his perfection and the features of his face.
Fate caused the vizier, their father, to die. And the sultan was greatly distressed. So he brought the two children near to him and made them put on a robe of honor, and said unto them: "From now on, you shall perform the duties of your father with me.
So they rejoiced and embraced the land in the Sultan's hands. Then they made their father's funeral ceremonies last for a whole month. After that they entered into their new office of viziers; and each of them fulfilled in turn, for a week, the functions of the vizierate. And when the Sultan went on a trip, he only took one of the two brothers with him.
Now, one night among the nights, it happened that, the sultan having to leave the next morning, and the turn of the vizierate for this week having fallen to Chamseddine, the eldest, the two brothers were talking about various to spend the evening. In the course of the conversation, the elder said to the younger: “O my brother, I must tell you that I intend that we are thinking of getting married; and that this marriage takes place the same night for both of us." And Noureddine answered: “Do according to your will, O my brother, for I agree with you on all things." Once this first point had been agreed between them, Chamseddine said to Noureddine: "When, with the approval of Allah, we will have united with two young girls, and that we will have slept with them the same night, and when they have given birth on the same day and — Allah willing! - gave birth, your wife, to a little girl and, my wife, to a little boy, well, then we must marry the children to each other, as cousins!" Then Noureddine answered: “O my brother, and then what do you think of asking my son as a dowry to give him your daughter?" And Shamseddine said: “I will take from your son, as a prize for my daughter, three thousand dinars of gold, three orchards, and three villages of the best in Egypt. And really that will be very little compensation for my daughter. And if the young man, your son, did not want to accept this contract, nothing would be done between us." To these words, Noureddine replied: “You are not thinking about it! What, in truth, is this dowry that you want to ask of my son? Do you forget that we are two brothers and that we are, even, two viziers in one? Instead of this request, you should offer my son your daughter as a present, without thinking of asking her for any dowry. Besides, don't you know that the male is always worth more than the female? Now, my son is a male, and you are asking me for a dowry that your daughter should bring herself! You're doing like that merchant who, not wanting to give up his merchandise, begins, to put off the customer, by raising the price of butter fourfold!" So Shamseddine said to him: “I see that you really imagine that your son is more noble than my daughter. Now, that proves to me that you are completely lacking in reason and common sense, and above all in gratitude. Because, from the moment that you speak of the vizierate, do you forget that it is to me alone that you owe your high functions, and, if I have associated you with me, it is simply out of pity for you and so that you can help me in my work. But be it! you can say what you want! But, as long as you talk like that, I don't want to marry my daughter to your son anymore, even for a ton of gold!" At these words, Noureddine was very pained and said: “Me neither, I no longer want to marry my son to your daughter!" And Chamseddine answered: “Yes! It's all over! And now, as tomorrow I have to leave with the sultan, I will not have time to make you feel all the impropriety of your words. But then you will see! When I return, Allah willing, what will happen will happen!"
So Noureddine went away, very distressed by the whole scene, and went to sleep alone, absorbed in his sad thoughts.
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.*