Read Ebook: The Arabian Nights Volume 3 (of 4) by Anonymous Westall Richard Illustrator

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These were the vizier's last words; who, dying a few moments after, left his family, the court, and the whole city in great affliction for his death. The king lamented him, as having lost a wise, zealous, and faithful minister; and the whole city wept for him as their protector and benefactor. Never was there a funeral at Balsora solemnized with greater pomp and magnificence; the viziers and emirs, and, in general, all the grandees of the court, strove for the honour of bearing his coffin, one after another, upon their shoulders to the place of burial; and both rich and poor accompanied him thither with tears.

Noureddin gave all the demonstration of a sorrow equal to the loss he had lately sustained, and lived a great while without ever seeing any company. At last, he admitted of a visit from an intimate friend of his. His friend endeavoured to comfort him all he could; and, finding him a little inclinable to hear reason, he told him, that, having paid what was due to the memory of his father, and fully satisfied all that custom and decency required of him, it was now high time to appear again in the world to converse with his friends, and maintain a character suitable to his birth and merit: For, continued he, we should sin both against the laws of nature and civility, and be thought insensible, if, upon the death of our fathers, we neglected to pay them what filial love and tenderness require at our hands; but having once performed that duty, and put it out of the power of any man to reproach us upon that account, we are obliged to return to our usual method of living. Dry up your tears then, and re-assume that wonted air of gaiety which always inspires with joy those that have the honour of your conversation.

Sometimes, to oblige his friends after a more particular manner, Noureddin would send for the Fair Persian to entertain them; who, notwithstanding her obedience to his command, never approved of his extravagant way of living, and often took the liberty of speaking her mind freely. Sir, said she, I question not but your father has left you abundance of riches; but, how great soever they are, be not angry with your slave for telling you that, at this rate of living, you will quickly see an end of them. We may indeed sometimes afford to treat our friends, and be merry with them; but, to make a daily practice of it, is certainly the high road to ruin and destruction. Therefore, for your own honour and reputation, you would do much better to follow the footsteps of your deceased father, that, in time, you may rise to that dignity by which he acquired so much glory and renown.

Noureddin hearkened to the fair Persian's discourse with a smiling countenance; and, when she had done, My charmer, said he, with the same air of mirth, say no more of that; let us talk of nothing but mirth and pleasure. In my father's lifetime I was always under restraint, and I am now resolved to enjoy the liberty I so much sighed for before his death. It is time enough for me to think of leading a sober regular life; and a man of my age ought to taste the pleasures of youth.

What contributed very much towards ruining Noureddin's fortune, was his unwillingness to reckon with his steward; for, whenever he brought in his accounts, he still sent him away without examining them. Go, go, said he, I trust wholly to your honesty; therefore only take care to let me have wherewith to make merry.

You are the master, sir, replied he, and I but the steward; however, you would do well to think upon the proverb, He that spends much and has but little, must at last insensibly be reduced to poverty. You are not contented with keeping an extravagant table, but you must lavish away your estate with both hands: and were your coffers as large as mountains, they would not be sufficient to maintain you. Begone, replied Noureddin; your grave lessons are needless; only take care to provide good eating and drinking, and trouble your head no farther about the rest.

In the mean time Noureddin's friends were constant guests at his table, and never failed making some advantage of the easiness of his temper. They praised and flattered him, extolling his most indifferent actions to the very skies. But, above all, they took particular care to commend whatever belonged to him and his; and this, they found, turned to some account. Sir, says one of them, I came the other day by your estate that lies in such a place: certainly there is nothing so magnificent, or so handsomely furnished, as your house; and the garden belonging to it is a paradise upon earth. I am very glad it pleases you, says Noureddin. Here, bring me pen, ink, and paper: but, without more words, it is at your service, and I make you a present of it. No sooner had others commended his house, baths, and some public buildings erected for the use of strangers, the yearly revenue of which was very considerable, than he immediately gave them away. The Fair Persian could not forbear letting him know how much injury he did himself; but, instead of taking any notice of it, he continued his extravagances, and, upon the first opportunity, squandered away the little he had left.

In short, Noureddin did nothing for a whole year together, but feasted and made himself merry, wasting and consuming, after a prodigal manner, the riches that his predecessors, and the good vizier his father, had, with so much pains and care, heaped together and preserved.

The year was but just expired, when somebody one day knocked at the hall door, where he and his friends were at dinner together by themselves, having sent away their slaves, that they might enjoy a greater liberty and freedom of conversation.

One of his friends offered to rise, but Noureddin stepped before him, and opened the door himself. It seems it was the steward; and Noureddin going a little out of the hall to know his business, left the door half open.

The friend that offered to rise from his seat, seeing it was the steward, and being somewhat curious to know what he had to say to Noureddin, placed himself between the hangings and the door, where he plainly overheard the steward's discourse to his master. Sir, said the steward, I ask a thousand pardons for my coming to disturb you in the height of your joys; but this affair is of such importance, that I thought myself bound in duty to acquaint you with it. I come, sir, to make up my last accounts, and to tell you that what I all along foresaw, and have often warned you of, is at last come to pass. Behold, sir, says he, the remainder of all the sums I have received from you during my stewardship; the other funds you were pleased to assign me are all exhausted. The farmers, and those that owe you rent, have made it so plainly appear to me that you have assigned over to others whatever remains in their hands due to you, that it is impossible for me to get any more from them upon your account. Here are my books; if you please, examine them: and if you think fit to continue me in the place I am now in, order me some other funds, or else give me leave to quit your service. Noureddin was so astonished at this discourse, that he gave him no manner of answer.

The friend who had been listening all this while, and had heard every syllable of what the steward said, immediately came in and told the company what he had lately overheard. It is your business, gentlemen, says he, to make use of this caution; for my part, I declare it openly to you, this is the last visit I design to make Noureddin. Nay, replied they, if matters go thus, we have as little business here as you; and, for the future, shall take care not to trouble him with our company.

Noureddin returned presently after; yet, notwithstanding his carrying it pleasantly to his guests, by putting them into a merry humour again, he could not so handsomely dissemble the matter but they plainly perceived the truth of what they had been informed of. He was scarce sat down in his place, when one of his friends rose up, saying, Sir, I am sorry I cannot have the honour of your company any longer; and, therefore, I hope you will excuse my rudeness of leaving you so soon. What urgent affair have you, replied Noureddin, that obliges you to be going? My wife, sir, said he, was brought to bed to-day, and upon such an occasion, you know a husband's company is very acceptable; so, making a very low bow, away he went. A minute afterwards, a second took his leave upon another sham excuse; and so one after another, till at last not one of those ten friends that had hitherto kept Noureddin company, was left in the room.

As soon as they were gone, Noureddin, little suspecting the resolution they had made of never visiting him, went directly to the Fair Persian's apartment, to whom, in private, he related all the steward had told him, and seemed extremely concerned at the ill posture of his affairs. Sir, said the Fair Persian to him, you would never take my advice, but always managed your concerns after your own way, and now you see the fatal consequences of it. I find I was not mistaken, when I presaged to what a miserable condition you would bring yourself at last; but what afflicts me the more, is, that at present you do not see the worst of your misfortunes. Whenever I presumed freely to impart my thoughts to you, Let us be merry, said you, and in pleasures improve the time that fortune has kindly given us; perhaps she will not always be so prodigal of her favours. But was I now to blame in telling you that we are the makers or undoers of our own fortunes, by a prudent or foolish management of them? You indeed would never hearken to me; so, at last, much against my will, I was forced to desist, and let you alone.

I must own, replied Noureddin, I was extremely in the wrong in not following the advice that you, out of your abundance of prudence and discretion, was pleased to give me. It is true I have spent my estate; but do you not consider it is among friends of a long acquaintance, who, I am persuaded, have more generosity and gratitude in them than to abandon and forsake me in distress? Sir, replied the Fair Persian, if you have nothing but the gratitude of your friends to depend on, you are in a desperate condition; for, believe me, that hope is vain and ill-grounded, and you will tell me so yourself in a very little time.

To this Noureddin replied, Charming Persian, I have a much better opinion of my friends' generosity than you. To-morrow I design to make a visit to them all, before the usual time of their coming hither, and you shall see me return with a vast sum, that they will raise among them to support me. I am resolved to change my way of living, and, with the money they lend me, set up for a merchant.

The next morning, Noureddin failed not to visit his ten friends, who lived in the very same street. He knocked at the first door he came at, where one of the richest of them lived. A slave came to the door; but, before he would open it, he asked who was there? Go to your master, says he to the slave, and tell him it is Noureddin, the late vizier's son. Upon this the slave opens the door, and shows him into a hall, where he left him to go and tell his master, who was in an inner room, that Noureddin was come to wait on him. Noureddin! cried he, in a disdainful tone, loud enough for Noureddin to hear it with surprise. Go, tell him I am not at home; and whenever he comes hither, be sure you give him the same answer. The slave came back, and told Noureddin he thought his master was within, but he was mistaken.

Noureddin came away in the greatest confusion in the world. Ah! base, ungrateful wretch! said he to himself, to treat me so basely to-day, after the vows and protestations of love and friendship that you made me yesterday! From thence he went to another door, but that friend ordered his slaves also to say he was gone out. He had the same answer at the third; and, in short, all the rest denied themselves, though every one of them was at home at the same time.

It was now that Noureddin began in earnest to reflect with himself, and be convinced of the folly of his too credulous temper, in relying so much upon the vows and protestations of amity, that his false friends in the time of his prosperity had solemnly made him. It is very true, said he to himself, that a fortunate man, as I was, may be compared to a tree laden with fruit, which, as long as there is any remaining on its boughs, people will be crowding round; but, as soon as it is stripped of all, they immediately leave it, and go to another. He smothered his passions as much as possible while he was abroad; but, no sooner was he got home, than he gave loose to his sorrow, and resigned himself wholly to it.

The Fair Persian, seeing him so extremely concerned, fancied he had not found his friends so ready to assist him as he expected. Well, sir, said she, are you now convinced of the truth of what I told you? Ah! cried he, my dear, thou hast been too true a prophetess; for not one of them would so much as know me, see me, or speak to me. Oh! who could ever have believed that persons so highly obliged to me as they are, and on whom I have spent my estate, could ever have used me so barbarously? I am distracted, and I fear committing some dishonourable action, below myself, in the deplorable condition I am reduced to, without the aid and assistance of your prudent advice. Sir, replied the Fair Persian, I see no other way of supporting yourself in your misfortunes, but selling off your slaves and moveables, and living upon the money, till Heaven shall find out some other means to deliver you from your present misery.

Noureddin was very loath to make use of this expedient; but what could he do in the necessitous circumstance he was in? He first sold off his slaves; those unprofitable mouths, which were a greater expense to him than what his present condition could bear. He lived on the money for some time; and when all of it was spent, he ordered his goods to be carried into the market-place, where they were sold for half their worth; among which were several valuable things that cost immense sums. Upon this he lived for a considerable time: but that supply failing at last, he had nothing at all left by which he could raise any more money; of which he complained to the Fair Persian in the most tender expressions that sorrow could inspire.

Noureddin only waited to hear what answer this prudent creature would make. Sir, said she, at last, I am your slave, and you know that the late vizier your father gave ten thousand pieces of gold for me: perhaps I am a little sunk in value since that time, but I believe I shall sell for pretty near that sum yet. Let me entreat you then instantly to carry me to the market, and expose me to sale; and with the money that you get for me, which will be very considerable, you may turn merchant in some city where you are unknown, and by that means find a way of living, if not in splendour, yet with happiness and content.

THE STORY OF NOUREDDIN AND THE FAIR PERSIAN CONTINUED.

Ah! lovely and adorable Persian, cried Noureddin, is it possible you can entertain such a thought of me? Have I given you such slender proofs of my love, that you should think me capable of so base an action? But suppose me so vile a wretch, could I do it without being guilty of perjury, after the oath I have taken never to sell you? No, I could sooner die than part with you, whom I love infinitely beyond myself; though by the unreasonable proposition you have made me, it is plain your love is not so tender as mine.

Sir, replied the Fair Persian, I am sufficiently convinced that your passion for me is as violent as you say it is; and Heaven, who knows with what reluctance I have made this proposition that you dislike, is my witness, that mine is as great as yours; but, to silence reason at once, I need only bid you remember that necessity has no law. I love you to that degree, it is impossible for you to love me more: and be assured, that to what master soever I shall belong, my passion shall always continue the same: and if you are ever able to redeem me, as I hope you may, it will be the greatest pleasure in the world to be in your possession again. Alas! to what a fatal and cruel necessity are we driven! But I see no other way of freeing ourselves from the misery that involves us both.

Noureddin, who very well knew the truth of what the Fair Persian had spoken, and that there was no other way of avoiding a shameful poverty, was in the end forced to yield to her first request. Accordingly he led her to the market, where the women-slaves are exposed to sale, with a regret that cannot be easily expressed. He applied himself to a courtier named Hagi Hassan: Hagi Hassan, said he, here is a slave that I have a mind to sell; I pray thee to see what they will give for her. Hagi Hassan desired Noureddin and the Fair Persian to walk into a room; and when she had pulled off the veil that covered her face, Sir, said Hagi Hassan to Noureddin, in a great surprise, if I am not mistaken, this is the slave your father, the late vizier, gave ten thousand pieces of gold for? Noureddin assured him it was the same; and Hagi Hassan gave him some hopes of selling her at a good rate, and promised to use all his art and cunning to raise her price as high as it would bear.

Hagi Hassan and Noureddin went out of the room, and locked the Fair Persian in; after which Hagi Hassan went to look after the merchants; but they being busy in buying slaves that came from different countries, he was forced to stay till the market was done. When their sale was over, and the greatest part of them got together, My masters, said he to them, with an air of gaiety in his looks and actions, every thing that is round is not a nut; every thing that is long is not a fig; all that is red is not flesh; and all eggs are not fresh. It is true you have seen and bought a great many slaves in your lives, but you never yet saw one comparable to her I am going to tell you of; in short, she is the very pearl of slaves. Come, follow me, and you shall see her yourselves, and by that judge at what rate I shall cry her.

The merchants followed Hagi Hassan into the chamber where the Fair Persian was; and, as soon as they beheld her, they were so surprised at her beauty, that at the first word they unanimously agreed that four thousand pieces of gold was the very lowest price that they could set upon her. The merchants then left the room, and Hagi Hassan, who came out with them, without going any farther, proclaimed with a loud voice, Four thousand pieces of gold for the Persian slave.

None of the merchants had yet offered any thing, and they were but just consulting together about what they might afford to give for her, when the vizier Saouy, perceiving Noureddin in the market, appeared. Said he to himself, Noureddin has certainly made some more money of his goods, and is come hither to buy a slave with it. Upon this he advanced forward just as Hagi Hassan began to proclaim a second time, Four thousand pieces of gold for the Persian slave.

The vizier Saouy, concluding by the extravagance of the price, that she must be some extraordinary piece of beauty, had a longing desire to see her; so spurring his horse forward, he rode directly up to Hagi Hassan, who was in the very middle of the merchants. Open the door, said he, and let me see this slave. It was never the custom to show their slaves to any particular person, till after the merchants had seen her, and had the refusal: but Saouy being a person of so great authority, none of them durst dispute their right with him; and Hagi Hassan being forced to open the door, beckoned the fair slave to come forward, that Saouy might have a sight of her without the trouble of alighting from his horse.

The vizier was astonished at the sight of so beautiful a slave; and knowing the courtier's name, Hagi Hassan, said he, is it not at four thousand pieces of gold that you cry her? Yes, sir, answered he, it is but a moment since I cried her at that price, and the merchants you see gathered together here are come to bid money for her; and I question not but they will give a great deal more than that.

If nobody offers any higher, I will give that sum, replied Saouy, looking upon the merchants at the same time with a countenance that forbade them to advance any more. In short, he was so universally dreaded, that nobody durst speak a word, not so much as to complain of his encroaching upon their privilege.

The vizier Saouy having staid some time, and finding none of the merchants outbid him, What do you stay for? said he to Hagi Hassan: go, look after the seller, and strike a bargain with him at four thousand pieces of gold, or more if he demands it; not knowing yet the slave belonged to Noureddin.

Hagi Hassan having locked the chamber-door, went to confer notes with Noureddin: Sir, said he to him, I am very sorry to bring you the ill news of your slave's being just going to be sold for nothing. How so? replied Noureddin. Why sir, said Hagi Hassan, you must know that the business at first went on rarely; for, as soon as the merchants had seen your slave, they ordered me to cry her at four thousand pieces of gold. Accordingly I cried her at the price; upon which the vizier Saouy came, and his presence has stopped the mouths of all the merchants, who seemed inclinable to raise her, at least to the same price your deceased father gave for her. Saouy will give no more than four thousand pieces, and it is much against my inclination that I am come to tell you the despicable price he offers. The slave indeed is your own; but I will not advise you to part with her upon those terms, since you and every body else are sensible of her being worth infinitely more: besides, he is base enough to contrive a way to trick you out of the money.

Hagi Hassan, replied Noureddin, I am highly obliged to thee for thy advice; but do not think I will ever sell my slave to an enemy of our family. My necessities indeed are at present very great, but I would sooner die in the most shameful poverty, than ever consent to the delivering her up to his arms. I have only one thing to beg of thee, who art skilful in all the turns and shifts of life, that thou wouldst put me in a way to prevent the sale of her.

Sir, said Hagi Hassan, there is nothing more easy: you must pretend, that, being in a violent passion with your slave, you swore to expose her in the market, and for the sake of your oath you have now brought her hither, without any manner of intention of selling her. This will satisfy every body, and Saouy will have nothing to say against it. Come along with me then; and just as I am presenting her to Saouy, as if it were by your own consent, pull her to you, give her two or three blows, and send her home. I thank thee for thy counsel, said Noureddin, and thou shalt see I will make use of it.

Hagi Hassan went back to the chamber, and having in two words acquainted the Fair Persian with their design, that she might not be surprised at it, he took her by the hand, and led her to the vizier Saouy, who was still, on horseback at the door: Sir, said he, here is the slave: she is yours; pray take her.

These words were scarce out of Hagi Hassan's mouth, when Noureddin, catching hold of the Fair Persian, pulled her to him, and giving her a box on the ear, Come hither, impertinence, said he, and get you home again; for though your ill humour obliged me to swear I would bring you hither, yet I never intended to sell you; I have business for you to do yet, and it will be time enough to part with you when I have nothing else left.

This action of Noureddin's put the vizier Saouy into a violent passion. Miserable debauchee, cried he, wouldst thou have me believe thou hast any thing else left to make money of but thy slave? And at the same instant, spurring his horse directly against him, endeavoured to have carried off the Fair Persian. Noureddin, nettled to the quick at the affront the vizier had put upon him, quits the Fair Persian, and, laying hold of his horse's bridle, made him run two or three paces backwards. Vile dotard, said he to the vizier, I would tear thy soul out of thy body this very moment, were it not for the crowd of people here present.

The vizier Saouy being loved by nobody, but, on the contrary, hated by all, there was not one among them but was now pleased to see Noureddin mortifying him a little; and, by shrewd signs, they let him understand he might revenge himself upon him as much as he pleased, for nobody would meddle with their quarrel.

Saouy endeavoured all he could to make Noureddin quit the bridle; but he being a lusty vigorous man, and encouraged by those that stood by, pulled him off his horse, in the middle of a brook, gave him a thousand blows, and dashed his head against the stones till it was all of a gore of blood. The slaves that waited upon the vizier would fain have drawn their scimitars and fallen upon Noureddin, but the merchants interposing prevented them from doing it. What do you mean? said they to them; do not you see the one is a vizier, and the other a vizier's son? Let them dispute their quarrel themselves; perhaps they will be reconciled one time or other; whereas, if you had killed Noureddin, your master, with all his greatness, could not have been able to protect you against the law.

Noureddin having given over beating the vizier Saouy, left him in the middle of the brook, and taking the Fair Persian, marched home with her, being attended by the people with shouts and acclamations for the action he had performed.

The vizier Saouy, cruelly bruised with the strokes he had received, by the assistance of his slaves made shift to get up, and had the mortification to see himself besmeared all over with blood and dirt. He leaned upon the shoulders of two slaves, and in that condition went straight to the palace, in the sight of all the people, with so much greater confusion because nobody pitied him. As soon as he reached the king's apartment, he began to cry out, and call for justice, after a lamentable manner. The king ordered him to be admitted; and as soon as he came, he asked him who it was that had abused and put him into that miserable pickle. Sir, cried Saouy, your majesty ought to afford me a large share of your favour, and to take into your royal consideration my late abuse, since it was chiefly upon your account that I have been so barbarously treated. Say no more of that, replied the king, but let me hear the whole story, simply as it is, and who the offender is; and if he is in the wrong, you may depend upon it he shall be severely punished.

Sir, said Saouy then, telling the whole matter to his own advantage, having an occasion for a cook-maid, I went to the market of women-slaves to buy me one. When I came thither, there was a slave just cried at four thousand pieces of gold: I ordered them to bring the slave before me, and I think my eyes never did, nor ever will, behold a more glorious creature than she is. I had not time to examine her beauty thoroughly: but, however, I immediately asked to whom she belonged; and upon inquiry I found that Noureddin, son to the late vizier Khacan, had the disposing of her.

Sir, you may remember that, about two or three years ago, you gave that vizier ten thousand pieces of gold, strictly charging him to buy you a slave with it. The money indeed was laid out upon this very slave; but instead of bringing her to your majesty, thinking his son deserved her better, he made him a present of her. Noureddin, since his father's death, having wasted his whole fortune in riot and feasting, has nothing left but this slave, which he intended to part with, and therefore she was to be sold in his name. I sent for him, and without mentioning any thing of his father's baseness, or rather treachery, to your majesty, I very civilly said to him, Noureddin, the merchants, I perceive, have put your slave up at four thousand pieces of gold; and I question not but, in emulation of each other, they will raise the price considerably: let me have her for the four thousand pieces; I am going to buy her for the king, our lord and master: this will be a handsome opportunity of making your court to him, and his favour will be worth a great deal more than the merchants can propose to give you.

Instead of returning me a civil answer, as in good manners he ought to have done, the insolent wretch beholding me with an air of fierceness, Decrepit villain, said he, I would rather sell my slave to a Jew for nothing than to thee for money. Noureddin, replied I, without any manner of passion, though I had some reason to be a little warm, you do not consider that in talking at this rate you affront the king, who has raised your father and me to the honours we have enjoyed.

This admonition, instead of moving him to a compliance, provoked him to a higher degree; so that, falling upon me like a madman, he pulled me off my horse, beat me as long as he could stand over me, and has put me into this miserable plight your majesty sees me in; and therefore I beseech you, sir, to consider me, since it is upon your account I have been so openly affronted. At the end of these words, he bowed his head, and turning about, wept a plentiful shower of tears.

The abused king, highly incensed against Noureddin by this relation, full of malice and artifice, discovered by his countenance the violence of his anger; and, turning to the captain of his guards that stood near him, Take forty of your soldiers, said he, and immediately go plunder Noureddin's house; and, having ordered it to be razed to the ground, bring him and his slave along with you.

The captain of the guards was not gone out of the king's presence, when a gentleman-usher belonging to the court, who overheard the order that had been given, got before him. His name was Sangiar, and he had been formerly the vizier Khacan's slave, by whose favour he was brought into the court service, where by degrees he was advanced higher.

Sangiar, full of gratitude to his old master, and affection for Noureddin, with whom in his infancy he had often played, and being no stranger to Saouy's hatred to Khacan's family, could not hear the orders without concern and trembling. May be, said he to himself, this action of Noureddin's is not altogether so black as Saouy has represented it; but, however, the king is prejudiced against him, and will certainly put him to death without allowing him time to justify himself.

Sangiar made so much haste to Noureddin's house, as to get thither time enough to acquaint him with what had passed at court, and to desire him to provide for his own and the Fair Persian's safety. He knocked so violently loud at the door, that Noureddin, who had been a great while without any servant, ran immediately to open it: My dear lord, said Sangiar, here is no more staying for you in Balsora: if you design to save yourself, you must lose no time, but depart hence this very moment.

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