THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments by Richard F. Burton VOLUME TEN The Dunyazad Digital Library www.dunyazad-library.net The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments by Richard F. Burton First published 1885–1888 Volume Ten The Dunyazad Digital Library www.dunyazad-library.net The Dunyazad Digital Library (named in honor of Shahrazad’s sister) is based in Austria. According to Austrian law, the text of this book is in the public domain (“gemeinfrei”), since all rights expire 70 years after the author’s death. If this does not apply in the place of your residence, please respect your local law. However, with the exception of making backup or printed copies for your own personal use, you may not copy, forward, reproduce or by any means publish this e- book without our previous written consent. This restriction is only valid as long as this e-book is available at the www.dunyazad-library.net website. This e-book has been carefully edited. It may still contain OCR or transcription errors, but also intentional deviations from the available printed source(s) in typog- raphy and spelling to improve readability or to correct obvious printing errors. A Dunyazad Digital Library book Selected, edited and typeset by Robert Schaechter First published November 2014 Release 1.0 · November 2014 2 To His Excellency Yacoub Artin Pasha, Minister of Instruction, etc. etc. etc. Cairo. My Dear Pasha, During the last dozen years, since we first met at Cairo, you have done much for Egyptian folk-lore and you can do much more. This volume is inscribed to you with a double purpose; first it is intended as a public expression of gratitude for your friendly assistance; and, secondly, as a memento that the samples which you have given us imply a promise of further gift. With this lively sense of favours to come I subscribe myself Ever yours friend and fellow worker, Richard F. Burton. London, July 12, 1886. 3 About this Edition See About this Edition in Volume 1. While in all the volumes of the present Dunyazad Library edition of The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night footnotes to the stories have been included only to the extent that they are relevant to the text, all footnotes of Burton’s Terminal Essay are included here. Page numbers that refer to the original print edition have not been updated. The paragraph breaks of the Essay (unlike those of the stories) are those of the original. Greek text has been included. Arabic characters and words have been omitted (indicated in the text), except for the verses at the end of the volume. A highly technical section of Francis Joseph Steingass’s essay within Burton’s essay, on Arabic prosody, has been omitted. Likewise omitted have been the appendices: Appendix I. I. Index to the Tales in the ten Volumes. II. Alphabetical Table of the Notes (Anthropological, etc.) prepared by F. Steingass, Ph.D. III. Alphabetical Table of First Lines (metrical portion) in English and Arabic, prepared by Dr. Steingass. IV. Tables of Contents of the various Arabic texts. A. The Unfinished Calcutta Edition (1814–18). B. The Breslau Text (1825–43) from Mr. Payne’s Version. C. The MacNaghten or Turner-Macan Text (a.d. 1839–42) and the Bulak Edition (a.h. 1251 = a.d. 1835–36), from Mr. Payne’s Version. D. The same with Mr. Lane’s and my Version. 4 Appendix II. Contributions to the Bibliography of the Thousand and One Nights, and their Imitations, with a Table shewing the contents of the principal editions and translations of The Nights. By W. F. Kirby, Author of “Ed-Dimiryaht, an Oriental Romance;” “The New Arabian Nights,” &c. If you are interested in the omitted parts of the text you can find the scan of a complete print edition in PDF format at this address: http://www.burtoniana.org/books/1885-Arabian Nights/ 5 Contents of the Tenth Volume Ma’aruf the Cobbler and his Wife Fatimah 7 Conclusion 71 Terminal Essay Preliminary 82 § I — The Origin of the Nights A. — The Birth place 85 B. — The Date 99 C. 113 § II — The Nights in Europe 115 § III — The Matter and the Manner of the Nights A. — The Matter 136 B. — The Manner of the Nights 185 § IV — Social Condition A. — Al-Islam 198 B. — Woman 218 C. — Pornography 230 D. — Pederasty 232 § V — On the Prose-Rhyme and the Poetry of the Nights A. — The Saj’a 286 B. — The Verse 289 L’Envoi 311 About the Author and The Translator’s Foreword see Volume 1. 6 Volume Ten of The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night Ma’aruf the Cobbler and his Wife Fatimah. There dwelt once upon a time in the God-guarded city of Cairo a cobbler who lived by patching old shoes. His name was Ma’aruf 1 and he had a wife called Fatimah, whom the folk had nicknamed “The Dung;” for that she was a whorish, worthless wretch, scanty of shame and mickle of mischief. She ruled her spouse and used to abuse him and curse him a thousand times a day; and he feared her malice and dreaded her misdoings; for that he was a sensible man and careful of his repute, but poor-conditioned. When he earned much, he spent it on her, and when he gained little, she revenged herself on his body that night, leaving him no peace and making his night black as her book; 2 for she was even as of one like her saith the poet: — How manifold nights have I passed with my wife * In the saddest plight with all misery rife: Would Heaven when first I went in to her * With a cup of cold poison I’d ta’en her life. Amongst other afflictions which befel him from her one day she said to him, “O Ma’aruf, I wish thee to bring me this night a vermicelli-cake 3 1 The popular word means goodness, etc. 2 i.e. black like the book of her actions which would be shown to her on Doomsday. 3 The “Kunáfah” (vermicelli-cake) is a favourite dish of wheaten flour, fried with samn (butter melted and clarified) and sweetened with honey or sugar. 7 dressed with bees’ honey.” He replied, “So Allah Almighty aid me to its price, I will bring it thee. By Allah, I have no dirhams to-day, but our Lord will make things easy.” Rejoined she, — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Ninetieth Night, she resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ma’aruf the Cobbler said to his spouse, “By Allah, I have no dirhams to-day, but our Lord will make things easy to me!” She rejoined, “I wot naught of these words; whether He aid thee or aid thee not, look thou come not to me save with the vermicelli and bees’ honey; and if thou come without it I will make thy night black as thy fortune whenas thou marriedst me and fellest into my hand.” Quoth he, “Allah is bountiful!” and going out with grief scattering itself from his body, prayed the dawn-prayer and opened his shop, saying, “I beseech thee, O Lord, to vouchsafe me the price of the Kunafah and ward off from me the mischief of yonder wicked woman this night!”. After which he sat till noon, but no work came to him and his fear of his wife redoubled. Then he arose and locking his shop, went out perplexed as to how he should do in the matter of the vermicelli-cake, seeing he had not even the wherewithal to buy bread. Presently he came to the shop of the Kunafah-seller and stood before it distraught, whilst his eyes brimmed with tears. The pastry- cook glanced at him and said, “O Master Ma’aruf, why dost thou weep? Tell me what hath befallen thee.” So he acquainted him with his case, saying, “My wife is a shrew, a virago who would have me bring her a Kunafah; but I have sat in my shop till past mid-day and have not 8 gained even the price of bread; wherefore I am in fear of her.” The cook laughed and said, “No harm shall come to thee. How many pounds wilt thou have?” “Five pounds,” answered Ma’aruf. So the man weighed him out five pounds of vermicelli-cake and said to him, “I have clarified butter, but no bees’ honey. Here is drip-honey, how- ever, which is better than bees’ honey; and what harm will there be, if it be with drip-honey?” Ma’aruf was ashamed to object, because the pastry-cook was to have patience with him for the price, and said, “Give it me with drip-honey.” So he fried a vermicelli-cake for him with butter and drenched it with drip-honey, till it was fit to present to Kings. Then he asked him, “Dost thou want bread and cheese?”; and Ma’aruf answered, “Yes.” So he gave him four half dirhams worth of bread and one of cheese, and the vermicelli was ten nusfs. Then said he, “Know, O Ma’aruf, that thou owest me fifteen nusfs; so go to thy wife and make merry and take this nusf for the Hammam;4 and thou shalt have credit for a day or two or three till Allah provide thee with thy daily bread.