'*1001 nights~Noureddin Ali & Bedreddin Hassan (3)
1001 NIGHTS
The history of Noureddin Ali and Bedreddin Hassan ~ part 3
"Schemseddin Mohammed, who was naturally of a warm temper, flew into a violent passion. He immediately repaired to the tent of his sister in law, and said to the eunuch, 'Wretch! Have you the temerity to abuse the confidence i have placed in you?'
Schaban, although sufficienty convinced by the testimony of Agib, thought proper still to deny the fact. But the child mantained the contrary. 'Now, you wicked slave,' cried the vizier, turning to the eunuch, 'after this will you deny that you both went into a pastryshop and ate there?'
Schaban had the effrontery to swear that it was not true. 'You are a liar!' said the vizier, 'I believe my grandson rather then you. Nevertheless, if you cant eat the whole of cheesecake which is on this table i shall be persuaded that you speaking the truth.'"
"Though he was full to the very throat, Schaban submitted to this trial and tool a bit of the cheesecake, but he was obliged to take it out of his mouth again, for his stomach turned against it. He, however, persisted in his falsehood. Irritated by the repeated falsities of the eunuch, and fully convinced that he was guilty, the vizier had him laid on the ground and ordered him to receive the bastinado. The unhappy wretch uttered loud cries on suffering this punishment, and confessed his fault. 'It is true,' cried he, 'that we did eat cheesecake at a pastryshop, and it was an hundred times better than that which is on this table.'"
"The widow of Noureddin Ali thought it was through spite to her and mortify her that Schaban praised the pastrycook's cheesecake, therefore addressing herself to him, she said, 'I cannot believe that the cheesecakes of this pastrycook are more excellent than mind. I will be satisfied at this point; you know where the man live; go to him and bring me back a cheesecake directly.'
She then ordered some money to be given to the eunuch that he might buy the cheesecake, and he set off. When he came to Bedreddin Hassan's shop he said, 'Here is some money for you. Give me one of your cheesecakes, one of our ladies wishes to taste them.'
There happened to be some hot cakes on the table, just out of the oven. Bedreddin Hassan chose the besth and giving it to the eunuch, said, 'Take this, i warrant it to be excellent, and i assure you that no one in the world can make such cheesecakes excepting my mother, who perhaps is still living.'"
"Schaban returned quickly to the tent with his cheesecake. He placed it before the widow of Noureddin Ali, who was impatiently expecting it. She broke off a piece to taste it, but it had scarcely touched her lips when he uttered a loud cry and fainted away. Schemseddin Mohammed, who was present, was very much surprised at this accident, and did all in his power to restore her. As soon as she was recovered she exclaimed, 'By Allah! It must have been my son, my dear son Bedreddin Hassan, who made this cake.'"
"When the vizier Schemseddin Mohammed heard his sister in law say that it was Bedreddin Hassan who made the cheesecake, he felt inexpressible joy, but then reflecting that this joy was altogether premature, he said to her, 'But, madam, what makes you think this? Cannot there be a pastrycook in the world who is able to make cheesecakes as well as your son?'
'I allow,' replied she, 'that there may be pastrycooks capable of making them as good, but as i make them in a very peculiar manner, and as no one except my son possesses this secret it must certainly have been he who made this. Let us rejoice, my dear brother, we have at lenght found him whom we have been so long and so anxiously seeking.'
'Madam,' said the vizier, 'i entreate you to moderate your impatience, we shall soon know what to think of this adventure. We have only to desire the pastrycook to come here, if he be Bedreddin Hassan, you and my daughter will recollect him. But you must conceal yourselves, and see him without seeing you, for i do not wish the discovery to take place in Damascus.'"
"He then left the ladies in their tent and retired to his own. The he summoned fifty of his people before him, and said to them, 'Take each of you a stick, and follow Schaban, who will conduct you to a pastrycook's in the city. When you get there break everything you find in his shop. If he inquires why you commit such an outrage, only ask if it was not he who made the cheseecake that was bought of him by a eunuch. If he acknowledge the fact, seize him, bind him securely, and bring him to me, but take care that you do not strike or hurt him. Go, and lose not time.'"
"The vizier was quickly obeyed, his people, armed with sticks and led by the black eunuch, repaired to the house of Bedreddin Hassan, where they broke in pieces the plates, the boilers, the saucepans, the tables, and all furniture an utensils they could discover, so that Bedreddin Hassan's shop was deluged with sherbet, cream and confectionery. At this sight Bedreddin Hassan was much astonished, and said to them in a pitiful tone, 'My good people, why do you treat me like this? What i have done?'
'Was it you,' asked they in return, 'who made the cheesecake which you sold the eunuch who is with us?'
'Yes,' said Bedreddin Hassan, 'i made it myself. What fault have you to find in it? I defy any one to make better!'
Instead of answering him they seized his person, and having torn off the linen of his turban, they made us of it to tie his hands behind him. Then they dragged him by force out of his shop."
"The populace, who had gathered round, were touched with compassion for Bedreddin Hassan. They took his part, and were inclined to oppose the designs of the people of Schemseddin Mohammed, but at this moment some officers of the governor of the city arrived, and dispersing the mob., favoured the carrying of Bedreddin Hassan, for Schemseddin Mohammed had been to the governor of Damascus to acquaint him with the order he had given, and to reguest his assistance and guard. And this governor, who ruled over Syria in the name of the Sultan of Egypt, did not dare to refuse anything to the vizier of his master. Bedreddin Hassan was therefore dragged away."
"On his arrival, the vizier inquired for the pastrycook when he was brought before him, poor Bedreddin Hassan said, with tears in his eyes, 'Oh, my lord, my lord, do me the favour to tell me in what i have offended you?'
'How, wretch,' exclaimed the vizier, 'was it not you who made the cheesecake you sent me?'
'I confess that it was,' replied Bedreddin Hassan, 'but what crime have i committed by doing so?'
'I will punish you as you deserve,' resumed Schemseddin Mohammed, 'and you shall pay with your life for having made so bad cake.'
'Woe is me!' cried Bedreddin Hassan, 'What do i hear? Is it a crime worthy of death to have made a bad cheesecake?'
'Yes,' replied the vizier, 'and expect not from me any other treatment.'"
"As Schemseddin Mohammed had resolved to set off the same night, he ordered the tents to be struck and all preperations to be made for the commencement of the journey. As for Bedreddin Hassan, the vizier gave instructions that he might be put in a well fastened case, and carried on a camel. As soon as everything was in readiness, the vizier and the people in his suite began their march. They travelled the whole of that night and the following day without resting, at the approach of the night they stopped. They then took Bedreddin Hassan out of his case to give him some food, but they were careful to keep him at a distance from his mother and his wife, and during the twenty days occupied by their journey they treated him in the same manner."
"On reaching Cairo they encamped without the city walls, by order of the vizier, who desired his servants to bring Bedreddin Hassan before him. When the prisoner was come, Schemseddin Mohammed said to a carpenter, whom he had sent for on purpose, 'Go, and get some wood, and cut me a large stake immediately.'
'Oh, my lord,' cried Bedreddin Hassan, 'what are you going to do with this stake?'
'To fasten you to it,' replied the vizier, 'and then have you carried through all the quarters of the city, that every one may behold in the pastrycook, who makes cheesecakes without putting pepper in them.'
At these words Bedreddin Hassan exclaimed in so comic a manner that Schemseddin Mohammed had difficulty to refrain from laughter. 'O, Allah! Is it then for not having put pepper in a cheesecake that i am condemned to suffer a cruel and ignominious death? What!' said Bedreddin Hassan, 'Was everything in my house to be broken and destroyed, myself imprisoned in a box, and at last a stake prepared for my execution, was all this done only because i did not put pepper in a cheesecake? Powers of Heaven! Who ever heard of such a thing?'"
"As the night was now far advanced, Schemseddin Mohammed ordered Bedreddin Hassan to be put back in case and said to him, 'Remain there till to morrow, the day shall not passed before i order to be put to death.'
The case was taken away and placed on the camel that had brought it from Damascus, all other camels were reladen, and the vizier mounting his horse, ordered that the camel which carried his nephew should go before him, thus he entered the city, followed by all his equipage. After passing through several streets, he arrived at his house, where the case was deposited with strict charge not to open it till he should think proper."
"Whilst they were unloading the other camels, Schemsedin Mohammed took aside the mother of Bedreddin Hassan and his daughter, and addressing the latter, said, 'God be praised, my dear daughter, that we have so happily met with your cousin and husband. I dare say you recollect the state in which your chamber was on the night of your nuptials? Go and have everything placed as it was then. If by chance you do not remember it, i can supply the defect in your memory by the description i wrote at that time. On my part, i will go and give orders for the rest.'"
"The Queen of Beauty went joyfully to execute the commands of her father, who began to place all things in the hall in the same position as when the Bedreddin Hassan was there with the humpbacked groom of the Sultan of Egypt. As he read the writing, his servants put each piece of furniture in its place. The throne was not forgotten, nor the lighted torches. When everything was prepared in the hall, the vizier entered the chamber of his daughter, where he placed the clothes of Bedreddin Hassan, together with the purse of sequinš. Then he said to the Queen of Beauty, 'Undress yourself, my daughter, and go to bed, and when Bedreddin Hassan comes into this chamber, begin to complain of his long absence, and tell him that you were much surprised when you awoke not to find him by your side. Press him to return to bed, and tomorrow morning you will entertain your mother in law and me with the account of what he says.'
At these words, he went out of his daughter's chamber, and left her."
"Schemseddin Mohammed commanded all the servants, excepting only two or three, to go out of the hall, and to these he gave directions to take Bedreddin Hassan out of the case, to put him on a shirt and drawers, and thereupon to bring him into the hall, where they were to leave him alone, and shut the door. In spite of his unhappy condition, Bedreddin Hassan had fallen so soundly asleep, that the servants of the vizier took him out of the care, and put on his shirt and drawers, without waking him, and then they carried him so quickly into that hall that they did not give him time to recollect himself. When he found himself alone in the hall, he looked round, and the things he saw remainding him of his marriage, he perceived with astonishment, on a closer inspection, that this was the same hall in which he had seen the humpbacked groom. His surprise increased when, drawing near to the door of a chamber which he found open, he saw his clothes in the same spot where he remembered to have placed them on the night of his nuptials. 'Good heavens!' said he, rubbing his eyes, 'Am i asleep or awake?'"
"The Queen of Beauty, who watched him, was much amused at his astonishment. She drew aside the curtain of the bed, and advancing her head, said in tender voice, 'My lord, what are you doing at the door? Come and lie down again. You have been absent a long time. I was nuch surprised, when i awoke, not to find you by my side.'
Bedreddin Hassan's countenance changed when he perceived that the lady who spoke to him was the same charming person to whom he had been married years ago. He went into the chamber, but instead of going to bed, as his mind was full of the thoughts of what had passed during the last ten years, and he could not persuade himself that so many events had taken place in only one night, he approached the chair where his clothes and purse of sequins were. These he examined with great attention, and then exclaimed, 'By the great living God! These are things which i cannot understand.'
The lady, who was diverted at his embarrassment said to him, 'Once more, my dear lord, let me beg you to come to bed. What troubles you?'
At these words, he advanced towards the Queen of Beauty, and said, 'I entreat you, madam, to acquaint me if it is long since i left you.'
'This question surprises me,' replied she, 'did you not just now rise from the bed? Your mind must be strangely disturbed.'
'Madam,' resumed Bedreddin Hassand, 'my spirits certainly are not very composed. I remember to have been with you, it is true, but i also remember to have lived ten years at Damascus. If i have really slept with you this night, i cannot been absent so long.'
'Yes, my lord,' replied the Queen of Beauty, 'you have no doubt dreamt that you were at Damascus.'
'What a ridiciculous thing is this,' cried Bedreddin Hassan, bursting into a laugh. 'I assure you, madam, that this dream will appear to you very laughable. I found mayself at the gates of Damascus in my shirt and drawers, just i am at this moment. I entered the city amidst the shouts and hisses of the populace, who followed to insult me. I took refuge with a pastrycook who adopted me, taught me his business, and left me all his property when he died. After his death i kept his shop. In short, madam, a great number of adventures beffell me, which would be too tedious to relate. All i can say is, that i did well to awake, for they were going to nail me to a stake.'
'And why,' said the Queen of Beauty, pretending surprise, 'why were you to suffer so cruelly? You must have commited some heinous crime.'
'No indeed,' replied Bedreddin Hassan, 'it was the most ridiculous thing you can conceive. My only crime was that i had sold a cheesecake in which i had not put any pepper.'
'I must confess,' said the lady, laughing heartly, 'that you were treated very unjustly.'
'O madam,' resumed he, 'this was not all. On account of this cursed cheesecake, in which i was accused of not having put any pepper, they broke and destroyed everything in my shop, they bound me with cords, and shut me up in a case, where i was so closely confined that i feel as if i still in it. At last they sent for a carpenter, and ordered him to prepare a stake to crucify me. But God be praised that all this is only a dream.'"
"Bedreddin Hassan did not pass the night very quietly, he avoke from time to time, and asking himself whether he was dreaming or awake. He doubted his good fortune, and wishing to ascertain the truth, he drew the curtains, and cast his eyes round the room. 'I am not deceived,' said he, 'this is the same chamber into which i came instead of the hunchback, and where i saw the beautiful lady who was destined for him.'
Daylight, which now began to appear, had not removed his uneasiness when the vizier Schemseddin Mohammed, his uncle, knocked at the door, and entered to wish him good day. Bedreddin Hassan was extremely surprised to see a man with whom he was so well acquinted appear immediately aftes, but the visitor no longer bore the appearance of the terrible judge who had pronounced the decree of his death. 'Ah!' cried he, 'It is you who have treated me so cruelly, and condemned me to a death, the thoughts of which still fill me with horror, for having made a cheesecake without putting pepper in it.'
The vizier laughed, and, to dispel Bedreddin Hassan's fears, related how, by the interference of a genie (for the account he had received from the hunchback made him suspect truth) the young man had been conveyed to his house, and had married his daughter instead of the groom belonging to the sultan. He them acquainted him that it was by means of the packet written by Noureddin Ali that he had discovered him to be his nephew, and at last told him how, in consequence of this discovery, he had left Cairo, and had gone to Balsora in search of him. 'My dear nephew,' added he, embracing Bedreddin Hassan with the greates tenderness, 'i beg your pardon for all i have made you suffer since i have discovered you. I wished to bring you here before i acquainted you with your good fortune, which you must find so much the more pleasant, as it has cost you so much pain. Console yourself for all your afflictions with the joy you must expirience at being again with those who are most dear to you. Whilst you dress yourself, i will summon your mother, who is all impatience to embrace you, and i will bring you your son, whom you saw at Damascus, ant towards whom you felt so much affection without knowing him.'"
"No words give any idea of the joy of Bedreddin Hassan when he saw his mother and his son Agib. These three persons embraced each other with all the transports which nature and the tenderest affection can inspire."
"Whilst these things were passing in the house of Schemseddin Mohammed, the vizier had gone to the palace, to give the sultan an account of the success of his journey. The sultan was so delighted at the account of this wonderful history, that he ordered it to be writen carefully preserved among the archives of his kingdom."
"The vizier Giafar, having concluded the history of Bedreddin Hassan, said to the Caliph, 'Commander of the Faithful, this is what i had to relate to your majesty.'
The Caliph thought this history so surprising that he did not hesitate to grant a pardon to the slave Rihan, and to console the young man for the loss of a wife he tenderly lovf, the caliph married him to one of his slaves."
'But, my lord,' added Scheherazade, 'however entertaining the history i have related may have been, i know another which is far more wonderful. If your majesty will but hear it tomorrow night, i am sure you will think so too.'
Shahriar arose without making any reply, for he was doubtful what he should do. 'This good sultana,' said he to himself, 'relates very long stories, and when she has once begun one, there is no possibility of refusing to hear the whole of it. I do not know whether i ought not to order her death today, yet no, i will do anything precipitately. The story she promises me is, perhaps, the most amusing of any i have yet heard, and i must not deprive myself of the pleasure of hearing it. After she finished it i will give orders for her execution.'
Dinarzade did not fail on the following morning to wake the sultana before daybreak, according to her usual custom. And Scheherazade, having requested permission of Shahriar to relate the history she had promised him, began as follows...
Please continue to The history of the little Hunchback!
