Thousand & One Nights: 51st Night

Baghdad house of three beautiful and independent girls. Besides these girls the following persons are present.
The porter
Three dervishes 
Harun Al Rashid and his vizier and executioner. 
Narrator: Second Dervish. Both the porter and first dervish were absolved of their guilt. But they linger to hear the stories of the remaining five members. 

The scene of the story is the palace of a king. King's daughter, second dervish, the king and demon are present. Both the demon and king's daughter were in serious battles.

All these stories are layered within the frame story of Shahrazad, the vizier's daughter who through her stories challenged the myth of virginity and chastity.

The rooster, glad to see the seed, rushed to pick it, when it rolled into fountain, became a fish, and dove into water. The rooster turned immediately into a bigger fish and plunged after it, and the two disappeared into the bottom of the fountain for a very long time. We heard loud shouts, shrieks, and howls, which made us tremble, and a while later came out the demon as a burning flame followed by the girl, also as a burning flame. The demon blew fire and sparks from his mouth, nostrils, and eyes, and battled the girl for a long time until their flames engulfed them, and the smoke filled the palace, until we were suffocated. As we stood stricken by fear for our lives, certain of disaster and perdition, and as the fire raged and became more intense, we cried, "there is no power and no strength, save in God, the Almighty, the Magnificent." Suddenly, before we could notice, the demon darted as a flame out of the fire, and with one leap stood in the hall before us, blowing fire in our faces, and the girl pursued him with a loud cry. As the demon blew fire at us, the sparks flew, and as I stood there, in the semblance of an ape, one of them hit my right eye, and destroyed it. A second spark hit the king, burning half of his face, including his beard and chin, and knocking out a row of his teeth. A third spark hit the servant in his chest and killed him instantly. At that moment, as we felt certain of destruction and gave ourselves up for lost, we heard a cry, "God is great, God is great! He has conquered and triumphed; he has defeated the infidel." It was the cry of king's daughter, who had at that very moment defeated the demon. We looked and saw a heap of ashes.

Then she came up to us and said, "Bring me a bowl of water," and crying, "In the name of the Almighty God and his covenant, be yourself again," and she sprinkled me with water, and I shook and stood "a full fledged man." Then she cried out, "The fire! the fire! O father, I am going to miss you, for I have been wounded by one of the arrows of demon, and I shall not live much longer. Although I am not used to fighting demon, I had no trouble until the pomegranate broke to pieces and I became a rooster. I picked all the seeds but overlooked the one that contained the very soul of the demon. Had I picked it up he would have died instantly, but I overlooked it. I fought him on the earth and I fought him in the sky, and every time he initiated a domain of magic, I countered with a greater domain and foiled him, until I opened the domain of fire. Few open it and survive, but I exceeded him in cunning, and with God's help I killed him. God will protect you in my place." Then she implored again, "The fire! The fire!"

End of the Night

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