Thousand & One Nights: 35th Night: A Porter & 3 Ladies

Three girls, a porter, three dervishes the Caliph Harun Al Rashid, his vizier and Masrur are now present in the palacious house of the girls. Harun Al Rashid and his men are in disguise. All the men present were depressed by the girls' treatment of the two hounds. Now begins the story of 35th Night:

The doorkeeper sister who had been sitting on the chair said to Shopper sister, "Get up and pay me my due."
The shopper rose, entered a chamber, and soon brought a bag of yellow satin with two green silk tassels ornamented with red gold and two beads of pure ambergris. She sat in front of the doorkeeper, drew a lute out of the bag of yellow satin, and with its sides resting on her knee, held it in her lap. Then she tuned the lute, and plucking the strings with her finger tips, began to play and sing the following verses of kan wa Kan variety:

My love, my aim
You are my desire.
You are my constant joy
Your absence hellish fire.
You are my madness 
My one infatuation 
Love is no shame,
Blameless adoration.
I wore the short of agony 
Revealed my secrete passion
Betrayed my agitated heart
And left me in confusion 
My tears declared my love
Over my cheeks they flowed
My tears betrayed me
And all my secrets showed
Cure me from my disease.
You are the sickness and cure
He whose remedy you are
Always suffer ever more 
Your eyes have wasted me 
Your hair has me in thrall
Your rosy cheeks vanquished me
And spread my tale to all
Hardship is my martyrdom 
My love the sword of teeth
Best men this way ended their breath
I will always love you 
Nor unlock what is sealed
Love is my law my remedy 
Blessed my eyes that gazes you
And left me in confusion.

The girl finished the poem. Her sister moaned. Then she grabbed her by the collar, and tore it down to hem, exposing her naked body, and fell down in a swoon. The Caliph looked at her; from head to feet it bore the marks of whip in blue and black. He and his companions were troubled. He said to Ja'far, "I will not sit quiet, but will go to the depth, and find the cause of this strange acts; the flogging of girls and the whipping of bitches."

Ja'far said, "O lord this is not the time to ask for an explanation. They have imposed on us a condition that we speak not of what concerns us not."

The shopper rose, entered the chamber, came out with a fine dress; and put it on her sister, replacing the one her sister had torn, and sat down. The sister said to the shopper, "For God's sake, give me some more to drink." The shopper took the cup, filled it and handed it to her. Then, the shopper held the lute in her lap, improvised a number of measures, and sang the following verses:

If I bemoan your absence, what will you say? If I pine with longing, what is the way? If I dispatch someone to tell my tale, the lover's complaint no one can convey.

If with patience, I try to beat my pain,
After the loss of love, I can't endure the blow. Nothing remains but longing and regret. And the tears that over the cheeks profusely flow. You who have long been absent from my eyes, Will in my loving heart forever stay. Was it you who have taught me how to love, And from the pledge of love never to stray.

When the sister finished the song, the girl cried out, "Oh, oh, oh!" and, overcome by passion, again grabbed her dress by the collar and tore it to the hem. Then she shrieked and fell down in a swoon. Again the shopper entered the chamber and came out with a dress even better than the first. Then she sprinkled her sister's face with rosewater; and when her sister came to herself, she put the dress on her. Then the sister said, "For God's sake, sister, pay me and finish off, for there remains only this one song." "With the greatest pleasure," replied the shopper, and she took the lute and began to play and sing the following verses:

How long shall I endure this cruel disdain?
Have I not paid enough with tears of woe.
For how long suffer your wilful neglect, 
As if it were vengeful, envious foe?
Be kind! Your cruel ways inflict a cruel pain.
Master, 'tis tme to me you pity show.
O gentlemen, avenge this thrall of love, 
Who neither sleep nor patience does now know.
Is it the law of love that one my love enjoys, 
While I alone do empty handed go?
My lord, let him my unjust tyrant be
Many the toils and trails I undergo.

When she finished her song.....
The night ended and the morning overtook.
























Notes:-
1. Kan wa Kan: is traditional Arabic phrase meaning "there was and there was not" often used in fairy tales. It is associated with story telling tradition of Arab world.


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