Classics Retold

O the Commander of the Faithful, the murdered girl was my wife, and the mother of my children. She was my cousin, the daughter of this old man, my uncle, who gave her to me in marriage when she was still a young virgin. We lived together for eleven years, during which time God blessed her and she bore me three sons. She was well behaved, and served me exceedingly well. I in turn loved her very much. On the first day of this month she fell gravely ill and kept getting worse, but I took great care of her until by the end of the month she slowly began to recover. One day before going to the bath, she said to me, "Husband, I want you to satisfy a desire of mine."  "Even if it were a thousand desires, I am here to satisfy it." She said, "I have a craving for an apple. If I could do only smell it and take a bite, I wouldn't care if I die." "It shall be done," said I I went and looked for apples but could not find any anywhere. Had I found I would h...

Harun al Rashid on his roaming the country side, saw a fisherman who did not have any catch for the day and worried about his family's bread. The Caliph had brought him to the banks of Tigris and asked him to throw the net. When they pulled the net the catch was a locked heavy chest. The Caliph paid him one hundred dinars. The chest was taken to the palace. Now the story to continue: When the chest was opened there was a girl. She had been cut into nineteen pieces. The Caliph looked at her, felt very sad, and turned to Ja'far and said angrily, "You, dog of a vizier, people are being killed and thrown into river in my city while I take the responsibility of Doomsday. If you do not find her killer, I will hang you and forty of your kin with you." "O Commander of the Faithful, give me three days."Ja'far said. Ja'far went into the city, vexed, worried and sad. He had no idea what to do. He thought to himself, "Where shall I find the murderer?" ...

The Caliph heard these stories. He wanted to know the stories of the two bitches. He said, "Tell me what happened to the demon serpent who cast a spell on your sisters and turned them into bitches. Do you know her whereabouts, and did she set with you the date of her return to you?" The girl replied, "O the Commander of the Faithful, she gave me a tuft of hair, saying, 'Whenever you need me, burn two of the hairs, and I will be with you at once, even if I am beyond of Mount Qaf."' Caliph asked, "Where is the tuft of hair?" She brought it, and he took it and burned the entire tuft. Suddenly, the whole palace began to tremble, and the serpent arrived and said, "Peace be with you. O Commander of the Faithful! This woman has sown with me the seed of gratitude, and I cannot reward her amply enough. She killed my enemy and saved me from death. Knowing what her sisters had done to her, I felt bound to reward her by avenging her. At first, I decided t...

This is the second part of the storyof  Second Lady of Baghdad house. This is an inner story within the Frame story told by Shahrazad. The lady had inherited a great deal of money from her father. She had also inherited ninety thousand dinars from her deceased husband. She had been enjoying a pleasant and content life in Baghdad. She was married again by a handsome and wealthy man, who made her take a pledge that she would not look at any other man. One day she visited a fabric merchant to purchase some fabrics. She was accompanied by her maids and an old woman, who fostered many orphans. The young fabric merchant demanded that he be allowed to kiss on her cheek in exchange of his fabric. According to the advice of the old woman she turned her face to him. He put his mouth on her face and bit off a piece of her flesh. She fainted. When she came to herself the shop was locked and the merchant disappeared. The story to continue: The old woman who advised her to turn her face cursed h...

When my father died he left me a great deal of money. Shortly thereafter I married the wealthiest man in Baghdad, and for a year I lived with him the happiest of lives. Then he too died and left me my legal share of the inheritance, which was ninety thousand dinars. I lived a prosperous life, buying so much gold Jewellery, clothes and embroidery that I had a ten complete changes of clothes, each costing one thousand dinars, and my reputation spread in the city. One day. I was sitting in my home. An old woman came to me. She was too old with pallid scabby skin; a bent body, matted grey hair; a grey freckled face; broken teeth; plucked out eyebrows; hollow bleary eyes; and a runny nose.  She greeted me, kissed the ground before me. "My lady," said she, "I have an orphan daughter, and tonight is her unveiling and wedding night. But we are broken hearted, for we are strangers in this city, and we do not know anyone. If you come to her wedding, you will earn a reward in Heave...

When the wind began to blow, we set sail, and we sat chatting, my sisters asked me, "Sister, what will you do with this young man?" I replied, "I will make him my husband." Then I turned to him and said, "O My lord, when we reach Baghdad, I offer myself to you, and we will be husband and wife." The young man replied, "Yes, indeed, for you are my lady, and my mistress." I turned to my sisters and said, "Whatever goods we have are yours, my only reward is this young man. He is mine and I am his." We sailed under fair wind until we entered Sea of Safety and began to approach Basra. Night came. The young man and I fell asleep. My two sisters turned green with envy over him and harboured ill will towards me. They had been waiting patiently to get an opportunity. They carried me in my sleep, with my bed and threw me into the sea. They did the same to the young man. He was drowned. I wish I had drowned with him. But I was escaped. I was cast o...

The young man seated me by his side. His face was as beautiful as full moon. From head to feet he was blessed with beauty. In normal time he should have captivated me, but the dead silence of the city frightened my heart. I eagerly waited for his story. "This city is the capital of my father," said he, after a long silence, "the king you must have seen, turned into black stone inside this palace. The queen you must have seen inside the net. They and all the people of the city were Magians.[1] They worshipped fire. My father was blessed with my birth in his late years. I was born and brought up in affluence. There was an old woman who resided with us. She was very learned, and taught me Quran. "You should worship none, but God the Almighty." She used to say. This, I never told my father or anyone else of my family. One day we heard a mighty voice, "O people of the city, leave your fire worship, and worship only the Merciful God." But they refused to ob...