THE STORY OF THE PORTER WITH THE YOUNG LADIES
Harun al-Rashid
Source
Amina gets married. The couple is happy for a month. Then the old woman tricked again Amina, who is threatened with death by her husband.
ON THE TWENTY-SEVENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade continued the story of Amina:
The supposed bride said: "My brother has no other desire than to marry you in this year blessed by Allah and by his Messenger. And there is no shame in doing the lawful things!"
When I heard her words and saw myself known and esteemed in this house, I said to the young woman: “I listen and I obey!" Then she was filled with joy, and she clapped her hands together. At this signal, a door opened, and a young man like the moon entered. As the poet says:
He has reached such a degree of beauty that he has become a work truly worthy of the creator!
A jewel truly to the glory of the goldsmith who chiseled it!
He has reached the very perfection of beauty, its unity!
Also, don't be surprised to see him madden with love for all humans!
His beauty shines in the eyes because it is inscribed on her features.
Also, I swear that there is no other beauty than his!
Seeing him made my heart lean toward him. Then he came forward and sat down near his sister. And immediately the kadi entered with four witnesses; they bowed and sat down; then the kadi wrote my contract with this young man, and the witnesses put their seals on the contract, and they all left.
Then the young man approached me and said: “May our night be a blessed night!" Then he said: “O my mistress, I would like to set you a condition!" I said to him: “O my master, speak! What is this condition?" So he got up, brought the Sacred Book, and said to me: "You will swear to me on the Koran, that you will never choose anyone other than me, and that you will never have any inclination for another!" And I swore to him for this condition. Then he rejoiced exceedingly and threw his arms around my neck, and I felt his love penetrate me to my bowels and the mass of my heart!
Then the slaves prepared the tablecloth for us, and we ate and drank until we were full. Then, at nightfall, he took me and lay down with me on the bed; and we passed the whole night in embraces in each other's arms, until morning.
We remained in this state for a month, in bliss and joy. At the end of that month, I asked my husband for permission to go to the souk to buy some fabric. He granted me this permission. So I put on my clothes and took the old woman with me, who had since remained at home, and I went down to the souk. I stopped at the shop of a young silk merchant whom the old woman highly recommended to me for the quality of his fabrics, and whom she had known for a long time, she told me. Then she added: “He is a young man who, at the death of his father, inherited a lot of money and wealth!" Then, turning to the merchant, she said to him: "Show what you have best and most expensive, among all the fabrics, because it is for this beautiful young woman!" And he said: “I listen and I obey!” Then the old woman, while the young merchant was busy unrolling the fabrics for us, continued to praise him and point out his qualities to me; and I answered him: “I have nothing to do with these qualities and the praise you give me of them! for our purpose is to buy from him what we need, and then return to our home."
When we had chosen the desired fabric, we offered the merchant the price money. But he refused to touch the money, and said to us: “For today I accept no money from you; this is a gift for the pleasure and the honor that you make me come to my shop!" So I said to the old woman: "If he doesn't want to accept the money, give him back his fabric!" So he exclaimed: “By Allah! I won't take anything from you! All this is a gift from me. Now, in return, grant me, O beautiful, a single kiss, a single one! I consider this kiss to be of a higher price than all the goods put together in my shop!" And the old woman said to him, laughing: “O handsome young man, you are very mad to consider this kiss such an invaluable thing!" Then she said to me: “O my daughter, you have just heard what this young merchant is saying! Don't worry, nothing bad could happen to you for a little kiss he would take from you, and you, in return, could choose and take according to your desire among all these precious fabrics!" So I answered, "Don't you know that I am bound by oath?" And she replied: "Let him kiss you, but you don't speak and don't move: that way you won't have anything to reproach yourself for." Moreover, you will take back this money, which is yours, and the fabrics too." Finally, this old woman continued in this way to embellish this act and I had to consent to put my head in the bag and to accept this offer. For that, I covered my eyes, and I stretched out the tail of my veil so that passers-by would not see the thing. And then the young man put his head under my veil, approached his mouth to my cheek, and kissed me. But, at the same time, he bit me on the cheek and a bite so terrible that it cut my flesh! And I pass out from pain and emotion.
When I came to, I found myself lying on the knees of the old woman, who looked very sorry for me. As for the shop, it was closed and the young merchant had disappeared. Then the old woman said to me: “May Allah be praised for having spared us a worse misfortune!" Then she said to me: "Now we have to go home." But you, you will pretend to be indisposed, and I will bring you a remedy that you will apply to the bite, and you will recover instantly." So I was not long in getting up, and, absorbed in my thoughts and my terror of the consequences, I began to walk until I was at home. And my terror increased as I approached. When I got there, I went into my room and pretended to be sick.
In the meantime, my husband came in and, all preoccupied, said to me: “O my mistress, what misfortune happened to you during your outing?" I answered him: “It is nothing. I am well." So he looked at me carefully and said: “But what is this wound that is on your cheek, just at the softest and finest place?" So I said to him: "When, with your permission, I went out today to buy these fabrics, a camel, which was loaded with wooden logs, hugged me in the crowded street, and tore apart my veil and hurt my cheek as you can see. Oh! those narrow streets of Baghdad!" Then he was full of anger and said to me: “As of tomorrow, I will go to the governor and lodge a complaint against the camel drivers and the woodcutters, and the governor will have them all hanged to the last one!" So I, full of compassion, said to him: “By Allah upon you! do not burden yourself with the sins of others! Besides, it's my fault alone, because I got on a donkey which began to kick and gallop, and I fell on the ground, and by chance, a piece of wood was there which scratched my face and hurt my cheek!" So he exclaimed: “Tomorrow, I will go up to Jia'far Al-Barmaki, and I will tell him this story, and he will kill all the donkey drivers in this city!” So I cried out: "So you're going to kill everyone because of me? Know then that this simply happened to me by the will of Allah and by the Destiny which he commands!" At these words, my husband could no longer contain his fury, and exclaimed: “O treacherous one! enough lies! You will endure the punishment for your crime!" And he treated me with the harshest words, stamped the ground with his foot, and cried with a loud voice calling. Then the door was opened, and seven terrible negroes came in, who tore me from my bed and threw me in the middle of the courtyard of the house. Then my husband ordered one of the negroes to take me by the shoulders and sit on me, and he ordered another negro to sit on my knees and hold my feet. Then a third negro came, holding a sword in his hand, and said: "O my master, I will strike her with the sword and I will cut her in two parts!" And another negro added: "And each of us will cut off a large piece of her flesh, and throw it as food to the fish in the river Tigris! For such must be the punishment of anyone who betrays the oath and the friendship! And, to support his statement, he recited these verses:
If I realized that there is an associate with the one I love,
My soul would revolt and tear itself away from this love of perdition!
And I would say to my soul: “O my soul, it is better for us to die nobly!
Because there is no happiness in a love with an enemy."
Then my husband said to the negro who held the sword: “O brave Saâd, strike this perfidious one!" And Saad raised the sword! And my husband said to me: “And you, now say your act of faith out loud. Then remember a little all the things and clothes and effects that belong to you and make your will: for it is the end of your life!"
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.*
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