Thousand & One Nights: 88th Night

Eighty eighth night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O king, Ja'far said to the Caliph:

Days and months went by, and when her time came, the daughter of the vizier of Cairo, gave birth to a boy, who had a face as round as the full moon, or the rising sun, a radiant brow and rosy cheeks. They cut his navel cord, applied kohl to eyelids, and his grandfather named him Ajib and committed him to the care of the nurses, stewardesses, and servants.

When Ajib was seven he was sent to a teacher to teach him good manners. Ajib remained with the teacher for four years. He began to bully, beat and abuse other children. At last they got together and complained to the monitor. The monitor said, "I will tell you what you should do tomorrow so that he will stop coming here and you will never see him again. When he comes tomorrow, gather around him to play a game and say to each other, "No one can join us in this game, unless he tells us the name of his mother and father, for he who does not know the names of his parents is a bastard and shall not play with us." The children were pleased, and the next day when Ajib arrived, they gathered around him and one of them said, "We will play a game, but no one can join in unless he tells us the name of his mother and father." Every one said, "Very well." Then one said, "My name is Majid, my mother's name is Sittita and my father's name is Iz al-Din." And others said the like, until it was Ajib's turn. He said, "My name is Ajib, my mother's name is Sit al-Husn and my father's name is Shams al-Din, the vizier." They said, "How can that be? By God, he is not your father!" He said, "Damn you, the vizier Shams al-Din is indeed my father." But they laughed at him and clapped their hands and said, "May God help him! He does not know his father! By God he cannot play or sit with us." Then the monitor came to him and said, "Ajib, don't you know that the vizier Shams al-Din is your grandfather, and not your father? As for your father neither you or we know who he is. The king married your mother to hunchbacked, but the demons came and slept with her. Your father is unknown. Unless you find out who he is, you will not be able to face the children. They will treat you as a bastard. Don't you see that even though your grandfather is the vizier of Cairo, the merchant's son knows his own father, and the grocer's son knows his, but you don't know your father. Ajib, this is a strange business."

Morning overtook, and Shahrazad stopped the story telling.