when I said to them, Direct me to a route that shall lead me to my country.

Accordingly they guided me and walked with me to the shore of the sea, and placed us on board a ship; and the wind was favourable, and the ship conveyed us on until we arrived at the city of El-Basrah. And when the damsel entered the house of her father, her family saw her, and rejoiced exceedingly at her return. I then fumigated the eagle with musk, and, lo, the 'Efrits approached me from every quarter, saying, At thy service, and what dost thou desire us to do? And I commanded them to transport all that was in the City of Brass, of money and minerals and jewels, to my house which was in El-Basrah; and they did So. After that, I commanded them to bring the ape; and they brought him in an abject and despicable state; whereupon I said to him, O accursed, why didst thou act perfidiously to me? And I ordered them to put him into a bottle of brass. So they put him into a narrow bottle of brass, and stopped it over him with lead. And I resided with my wife in joy and happiness. I have now, O Prince of the Faithful, of precious treasures, and extraordinary jewels, and abundant wealth, what cannot be expressed by numbers, nor confined by limits; and if thou desire any thing, of wealth or aught else, I will command the Jinn to bring it to thee immediately. All this I have received from the bounty of God, whose name be exalted!

And the Prince of the Faithful wondered at this story extremely. He gave him imperial presents in return for his gift, and treated him with the favour that was suitable to him.

ANECDOTES

[NIGHTS 305-308]

ANECDOTE OF YAHYA THE SON OF

KHALID EL-BARMEKI

It is related that Harun Er-Rashid called for one of his guards, named Salih, before the period at which he became changed against the Barmekis, and when the man came before him he said to him, O Salih, go to Mansur, and say to him, Thou owest us a million pieces of silver, and we require that thou bring to us this sum immediately. I command thee also, O Salih, that if this sum be not paid to thee forthwith, before sunset, thou sever his head from his body, and bring it to me.So Salih replied, I hear and obey. He repaired to Mansur, and informed him of that which the Prince of the Faithful had said; whereupon Mansur exclaimed, I perish, by Allah; for the price of all my property and all that my hand possesseth, if sold for its highest value, would not exceed a hundred thousand: how then, O Salih, can I procure the remaining nine hundred thousand pieces of silver? Salih therefore said to him, Contrive for thyself some stratagem by which thou mayest save thyself quickly, or thou perishest; for I cannot grant thee a moment's delay after the period which the Khalifeh hath prescribed me, nor can I fail in aught of that which the Prince of the Faithful hath commanded me to do. Hasten then to employ a stratagem by which to save thy life before the period shall have expired.-Mansur replied, O Salih, I beg thee of thy kindness to take me to my house, that I may bid farewell to my children and my family, and give my directions to my relations.—Accordingly, says Salih, I went with him to his house, and he began to take leave of his family; and a clamour arose in his abode, with weeping and crying, and supplication for the aid of God, whose name be exalted!

Then Salih said to him, It hath occurred to my mind that God may effect thy relief by means of the Barmekis: so repair with us to the house of Yahya the son of Khalid. And when they went to Yahya the son of Khalid, he acquainted him with his case; whereat Yahya grieved, and hung down his head for a while towards the ground; after which, he raised his head, and, having called his treasurer, said to him, How much money is in our treasury? He answered, The sum of five thousand pieces of silver. And Yahya ordered him to bring it. He

then sent a messenger to his son El-Fadl, with a note, the purport of which was, There have been offered to me for sale some estates of great value, that will never be laid waste: so send to us some money. And he sent to him a million pieces of silver. Then he sent another man to his son Ja'far, with a note, of which the purport was this: We have an important affair to transact, and want for that purpose some money. And Ja'far sent to him immediately a million pieces of silver. And Yahya continued to send messengers to the Barmekis until he had collected from them for Mansur a great sum of money. Salih and Mansur, meanwhile, knew not of this proceeding; and Mansur said to Yahya, O my lord, I have laid hold upon thy skirt, and I know not how to procure this money but from thee, agreeably with thy usual generosity complete for me then the remainder of my debt, and make me thine emancipated slave. And Yahya hung down his head and wept, and said, O page, the Prince of the Faithful presented to our slave-girl Denanir a jewel of great value. Repair then to her, and tell her to send to us this jewel.-So the page went, and brought it to him; and he said, O Mansur, I purchased this jewel for the Prince of the Faithful from the merchants for two hundred thousand pieces of gold, and the Prince of the Faithful presented it to our slave-girl Denanir, the lute-player; and when he seeth it with thee, he will know it, and will treat thee with honour, and spare thy life on our account, in honour of us; and thy money, O Mansur, is now complete.

*

So I carried the money and the jewel, says Salih, to_Er-Rashid, taking Mansur with me; but while we were on the way, I heard him repeat this verse, applying it to his own case :

It was not from love that my feet went towards them; but because I feared to be smitten by the arrows.

And I wondered at the wickedness of his disposition, and his worthlessness and depravity, and the baseness of his origin and birth; and I retorted and said to him, There is not upon the face of the earth any one better than the Barmekis, nor is there any more base or more evil than thyself; for they bought thee off from death, and saved thee from destruction, bestowing upon thee the means of thy deliverance, and thou hast not thanked them nor praised them, nor behaved in the manner of the ingenuous; but hast requited their kindness with these words. I then went to Er-Rashid, and related to him the story, acquainting him with all that had happened; and Er-Rashid wondered at the generosity of Yahya, and his munificence and kind disposition, and at the vileness of Mansur, and ordered that the jewel should be restored to Yahya the son of Khalid, saying, Any thing we give unto him, it is not fit that we revoke. And Salih returned to Yahya the son of Khalid, and related to him the story of Mansur, acquainting him with his evil conduct. But Yahya replied, O Salih, when a man is in want, with a contracted heart and with a troubled mind, for whatsoever proceedeth from him he is not to be reproached; for it doth not come from his heart. And he sought excuses for Mansur. And upon

* Plural of dinar, a piece of gold.

this, Salih wept, and said, The revolutions of time will never bring about the existence of a person like thee. Alas, then, how can it be that one endowed with a nature like thine and generosity like thine shall be buried in earth!-And he recited these verses :

Hasten to accomplish any kind intention; for it is not always that generosity can be exercised.

How many a man, when able, hath withheld himself from an act of generosity till poverty prevented him!

ANOTHER ANECDOTE OF YAHYA THE SON OF KHALID EL-BARMEKI

It is related also, that there existed, between Yahya the son of Khalid, and 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik El-Khuza'i, a secret enmity, which neither of them manifested; and the reason of this enmity between them was, that the Prince of the Faithful, Harun Er-Rashid, loved 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik so greatly as to occasion Yahya the son of Khalid and his sons to say, that 'Abd-Allah enchanted the Prince of the Faithful. Thus they continued for a long time, with hatred in their hearts.

And it happened that Er-Rashid bestowed the government of Armenia upon 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik El-Khuzaʻi, and despatched him thither. And after he had established himself there in the seat of government, there came to him a man of the inhabitants of El-'Irak, of surpassing good breeding, and acuteness and intelligence; but his means had become contracted, and his wealth had passed away, and his prosperity had vanished: so he forged a letter in the name of Yahya the son of Khalid to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik, and journeyed to him in Armenia. On arriving at his door, he delivered the letter to one of his chamberlains, who took the letter and delivered it to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik El-Khuza'i; and he opened it and read it, and, considering it, he knew that it was forged. So he gave orders to bring the man; and when he presented himself before him, he prayed for him and praised him and the members of his court; and 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik said to him, What induced thee to undergo this long toil, and to come to me with a forged letter? But be of good heart; for we will not disappoint thy labour.-The man replied, May God prolong the life of our lord the Wezir! If my coming be troublesome to thee, employ no pretext to repel me; for God's earth is wide, and the Bestower of the means of subsistence existeth: the letter that I have brought to thee from Yahya the son of Khalid is genuine, not forged.-So 'Abd-Allah said, I will write a letter to my agent in Baghdad, and order him to inquire respecting this letter that thou hast brought to me; and if it prove to be true and genuine, not forged, I invest thee with the government of one of my districts, or I give thee two hundred thousand pieces

of silver, with horses and excellent camels of high value, and an honorary gift besides, if thou desire a present: but if the letter prove to be forged, I give orders that thou shalt be beaten with two hundred blows of a staff, and that thy beard shall be shaven.-Then 'Abd-Allah commanded that he should be taken into a chamber; and that what he required should be put for him there until he should have ascertained his case. After this, he wrote a letter to his agent in Baghdad, the purport whereof was as follows:

There hath come unto me a man with a letter which he asserteth to be from Yahya the son of Khalid, and I have an evil opinion of this letter. It is therefore necessary that thou neglect not this affair; but go thyself and ascertain the case of this letter, and hasten to send me a reply, that we may know the truth or the falsity of the matter.

So when the letter was brought to him in Baghdad, he mounted immediately, and repaired to the mansion of Yahya the son of Khalid. He found him sitting with his boon-companions and chief attendants, and he saluted him, and delivered to him the letter; and Yahya the son of Khalid read it, and said to the agent, Return to me to-morrow, that I may write for thee the answer. Then looking towards his booncompanions, after the departure of the agent, he said, What shall be the recompense of him who beareth a letter forged in my name, and taketh it to mine enemy? And every one of the boon-companions offered some opinion, and each of them proposed some kind of punishment. But Yahya said to them, Ye have erred in that which ye have proposed, and this advice which ye have given hath arisen from the baseness and meanness of your minds. Ye all know the close favour in which 'AbdAllah is held by the Prince of the Faithful, and ye know the wrath and enmity that subsisteth between me and him. Now God (whose name be exalted !) hath made this man a means of effecting a reconciliation between us, and hath fitted him for that purpose, and appointed him to extinguish the fire of hatred in our hearts, which hath been increasing for a period of twenty years; and by his intervention our affairs shall be peaceably adjusted. It is incumbent on me to satisfy this man by verifying his opinions and amending his circumstances; and I will write for him a letter to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik El-Khuza'i, to the effect that he shall treat him with increased honour, and continue to exalt and respect him.-And when the boon-companions heard this, they invoked blessings upon him, and wondered at his generosity and the abundance of his kindness. He then demanded the paper and the inkhorn, and wrote to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik a letter in his own hand, of the following purport:

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Thy letter hath arrived may God prolong thy life! and I have read it, and rejoiced at thy safety, and been delighted at the tidings of thy wellbeing and thy general prosperity. Now thou imaginedst that that ingenuous man forged a letter as from me, and did not bear an epistle from me but the case was not so; for the letter I myself wrote, and it was not forged; and I hope from thy liberality and kindness and excellence of disposition that thou wilt satisfy the hope and wish of that ingenuous and generous man, and regard him with the respect that he