Thousand & One Nights: 30th Night: A Porter & 3 Ladies continued

The porter thought that the girls were charming and beautiful, and they stacked enough of merchandise: wine, meat, fruits, nuts, sweets, fresh herbs, candles, charcoal, and the like for drinking and carousing, without seeming any man around, he was very astonished and stood there hesitant to leave. One of the girls asked him, "Why don't you go? Do you find your pay little?" and turning to her sister, said, "Give him another dinar."

The porter replied, "By God, ladies, my pay is not little, for I deserve not even two dirhams. But I have been wondering about your situation. The absence of anyone to entertain you. A table needs four legs to stand on. You being three, likewise need a fourth, for the pleasure of men is not complete without women, and the pleasure of women is not complete without men. The poet says:

Our delight needs four things:

The lute, the harp, the zither

And the double flute, blending with 

The scent of four lovely flowers 

Roses, myrtles, anemones, and

Gillyflowers. In four such things join

Money and wine; youth and lover.

You are three and you need a fourth:

a man." His words pleased the girls, who laughed and said, "How can we manage that, being girls who keep our business to ourselves, for we fear to entrust  our secrets where they may not be kept. We have read in some book what ibn al.Tammam has said:

Your own secret to none reveal

It will be lost to when told.

If your own breast cannot conceal

How can better another hold?

He said, "Trust me; I am a sensible and wise man. I have studied sciences and attained knowledge. I have read and learned, and presented my knowledge and cited my authorities. I reveal the good and conceal the bad, and I am well behaved. I am like the man of whom the poet said:

Only the faithful keeps a secret 

None but the best can hold it

I keep secret in a well shut house

Locked; and the key of it is lost.

The girls said, "You know very well that this table has cost us lot and that we have spent a great deal of money to get all these provisions. Do you have anything to pay in return for the entertainment?" We shall not let you stay unless we see your share; otherwise you will drink and enjoy yourself at our expense." The mistress of the house said, "Without gain, the love is not worth a grain." The doorkeeper added, "Have you got anything, my dear? If you are empty handed go empty handed."

The shopper said, "Sisters, stop teasing him, by God he had served me well today; no one else would have been as patient with me. Whatever his share will come to, I shall pay for him myself."

The porter overjoyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her, saying, "By God, it was you who brought me my first business today, and I still have the dinar you gave me, take it back and take me, not as a companion, but as a servant.

The girls said together, "You are very welcome to join us."

The shopper, girding herself, began to arrange this and that. At first she tidied up, strained the wine, stacked up the flasks, and arranged the bowels, goblets, cups and decanters, plates and serving spoons, as well as various utensils in gold and silver. Having prepared all the requisites, she set the tables by the pool and laid it with all kinds of food and drink. Then she invited all to banquet and sat down to serve. Her sisters joined her, as did the porter, who thought that he was in a dream. She filled the first cup and drank it, filled the second, and offered it to one of her sisters, who drank it, filled the third and gave it to other sister to drink, and filled the fourth, and gave it to the porter, who held it, and saluting with a bow, and thanked her and recited the following verses:

Drink not the cup, save with a friend, 

One whose blood owes noble father 

Wine, like wind, is sweet o'er sweet 

And foul if o'er the foul it haply blows.

Then, he emptied his cup, and the doorkeeper returned his salute and recited the following verses:

Cheers! Drink it in good health;

This wine is good for your health.

The porter thanked her and kissed her hand. The girls had drunk again and again and had given the porter more to drink; he returned to his companion, the shopper, saying, "My lady, your servant is calling on you," and recited the following verses: 

Your slave is waiting at your door,

With ample thanks for your favour.

She replied, "By God, You are welcome. Drink the wine and enjoy it in good health, for it relieves pain, hasten the cure, and restores health."

The porter emptied his cup, and pouring out another, kissed her hand, and offered it to her, and proceeded to recite the following verses:

I gave her pure old wine, 

As red as her cheeks, which with  

Red fire like a furnace glow 

She kissed the brim; and asked with 

A smile, "How can you cheeks with 

Cheeks pay what you owe?"  

"Drink! This wine is my blood 

And tears, my soul is the fragrance 

In the cup." She said, "If for me you

Have shed your blood, gladly will I 

On this red wine sup."

The girl took the cup, and drank it off, and sat by her sister. 

Thus receiving the full and returning the empty, they went on drinking cup after cup until the porter began to feel tipsy, lost his inhibitions, and was aroused. He danced and sang lyrics and ballads and carried on with the girls, toying, kissing, biting, groping, rubbing, fingering, and playing jokes on them, while one girl thrust a morsel in his mouth, another flirted with him, another served with him some fresh herbs, and another fed him sweets until he was in utter bliss. They carried on until they got drunk and wine turned their heads. When the wine got better of them, the doorkeeper went to the pool, took off her clothes, and stood stark naked, save what was covered of her body by her loosened hair. Then she said, "Whee," went into the pool, and immersed herself in the water.

The End of the Night.

Notes:-

1. Charcoal: The earliest evidence of charcoal comes from cave paintings dating back to 30000 years ago. But these were for art. Charcoal was used for cooking dates back to 3750BC.

2. Wicked candles: Exact date of the use of wick candles is not documented anywhere. Romans used a kind of rushlights made out of rolled papyrus dipped in melted tallow or beeswax.

3. There is no clearcut information as to the origin and practice of the concept. It all started around 13th century BCE or as late as 6th century BCE, in Greece. They very much believed women as a property and believed in domination and subjugation. It must have begun as an inheritance to property and wealth.

4. ibn al Tammam: Also known as Abu Tammam was a poet 9th century, Abbasid era.