THE STORY OF THE PORTER WITH THE YOUNG LADIES
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No, the saâlouk, under the form of a monkey, was not killed. He was under the protection of the captain of the ship. And he was bought by a king. And he beat him twice playing chess!
ON THE THIRTEENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
The second saâlouk continued his story:
Then the captain took pity on me, and said to the people that wanted to kill me: “O merchants, this monkey has just implored me, and I listen to his prayer; he is under my protection! Let no one stop him and drive him away or inconvenience him!" Then the captain began to call me and to say pleasant and kind words to me, and I understood all his words. So he took me as a servant, and I did all his business for him and waited on him in the ship.
The wind was favorable to us for fifty days, and we landed in a huge city so full of inhabitants that only Allah could count the number!
When we arrived, we saw advancing toward our ship mamluks who were sent by the king of the city. They approached and welcomed the merchants, and said to them: "Our king compliments you on your safe arrival, and he commands us to communicate to you this scroll of parchment, and he says: Let each of you write on it a line of his beautiful handwriting!"
So I, still in my monkey guise, got up and suddenly seized the roll of parchment from their hands and jumped with it a little further. So they feared seeing me tear it up and throw it in the water. And they called me with cries and wanted to kill me. So I made a sign to them that I knew and wanted to write! And the captain said to them: "Let him write! If we see him scribbling, we will stop him from continuing; but if, in truth, he knew beautiful handwriting, I would adopt him for my son! Because I've never seen a smarter monkey."
So, I took the reed pen, I leaned it on the pad of the inkwell, spreading the ink well on both sides of the reed pen, and I began to write.
I wrote four improvised stanzas, each in a different script and in a different style: the first stanza in the Rikaa mode; the second in the Rihani mode; the third in the Coulci mode; and the fourth according to the Mouchik mode:
a) Time has already marked the benefits and gifts of generous men, but he despaired of ever being able to count yours!
After Allah, the human race has recourse only to you, because you are truly the father of all blessings!
b) I will tell you about his pen:
His pen! This is the first and very origin of feathers! Its power is a surprising thing; it is it that put him among the remarkable scholars.
From this pen, held between the pulp of his five fingers, flow over the five rivers of eloquence and poetry!
c) I will tell you about his immortality:
There is no writer who does not die, but time eternizes the writing of his hands!
Also, only let your pen write things that could make you proud on the Day of Resurrection!
d) If you open the inkwell, immerse yourself in it only to draw donor lines, beneficent lines!
But, if you can't use it to write donations, at least you dive into it for beauty!
And, in this way, you will be among those who are among the greatest of writers!
When I was done writing, I handed them the roll of parchment. And all were in the greatest admiration, then each, in turn, wrote a line of his most beautiful handwriting.
Then the slaves went to take the scroll to the king. When the king had seen all the scriptures, he was satisfied only with my own handwriting, which was done in four different ways, and for which I was renowned throughout the world, when I was still a king's son.
Then the king said to all his friends who were present and to his slaves: "Go, all of you, to the master of this beautiful writing, and give him this robe of honor to put on, and bring him up on the most beautiful of my mules, and carry it in triumph to the sounds of the instruments, and bring it into my hands!"
At these words, everyone began to smile. And the king, noticing this, was very angry and exclaimed: “What! I give you an order, and you laugh at me! And they answered: “O king of the century, we would be careful not to laugh at your words! but we must tell you that the one who wrote this beautiful handwriting is not a son of Adam, but a monkey who belongs to the captain of the ship!" Then the king was prodigiously astonished at their words, then he convulsed with joy and hilarity, and exclaimed: “I want to buy this monkey!" Thereupon he ordered all the persons of his court to go to the ship to receive the monkey and to take with them the mule and the robe of honor, and said to them: "You must absolutely put on this dress of honor, get him on the mule and bring him here!"
Then all came to the ship and bought me dearly from the captain, who at first would not! Then I made a sign to the captain to tell him I was very sorry to leave him. Then they took me away, dressed me in the robe of honor, put me on the mule, and we all left to the sound of the harmonious instruments of this city. And all the inhabitants and all the human creatures of the city were amazed and began to watch with enormous interest this astonishing and prodigious spectacle.
When I was brought before the king and I saw him, I kissed the earth between his hands three times and then I remained motionless. Then the king invited me to sit down, and I knelt down. Then all the assistants were amazed at my good education and my admirable politeness, but it was still the king who was in the greatest wonder. And as soon as I got down on my knees like that, the king ordered everyone to go away, and everyone went away. There remained in the hall only the king, the chief eunuch, and a favorite young slave, and I, O my mistress!
Then the king ordered food to be brought. And they brought a tablecloth on which lay all the meat that a soul could wish and desire, and all the things that delight the eyes. And the king beckoned me to eat. So I got up and kissed the earth in his hands seven different times, sat down very politely, and began to eat remembering all my past upbringing.
When the tablecloth was lifted, I also got up to go and wash my hands; then I returned, after having washed my hands, and I took the inkpot, the reed pen and a sheet of parchment, and I wrote two stanzas on the excellence of Arab pastries:
O pastries, soft, fine, and sublime pastries rolled up by the fingers!
8You are the theriac, antidote to all poison!*
Apart from you, pastries, I could never love anything; and you are my only hope, all my passion!
O tremors of my heart at the sight of a stretched tablecloth where, in its middle,
*A kenafa[1] is flavored swimming in the middle of butter and honey, in the large tray!
O knafeh! knafeh thinned into appetizing, pleasing hair! My desire, the cry of my desire towards you, O knafeh, is extreme!
And I couldn't, at the risk of dying, spend a day of my life without you on my tablecloth, O knafeh, ya knafeh!
And your syrup! your adorable, delicious syrup! Ha!
Would I eat it, would I drink it day and night, that I would take it again in the future life!
After which, I put down the reed pen and the leaf, and I got up and went to sit respectfully further away. Then the king looked at what I had written and read it, and he marveled at it in amazement and exclaimed: “Is it possible that a monkey could possess such eloquence and above all such beautiful handwriting? By Allah! it is the wonder of wonders!"
At this moment, a set of chess was brought to the king, and the king asked me by signs: "Do you know how to play?" And I, with my head, said, "Yes, I know!" So I approached, set up the game, and began to play with the king. And twice I defeated him! Then the king did not know what to think, and his reason was in perplexity, and he said: “If he were a son of Adam, he would have surpassed all the living of his century!"
Then the king said to the eunuch: “Go to your young mistress, my daughter, and say to her: “Come quickly, my mistress, to the king!" because I want my daughter to be able to enjoy this show and see this wonderful monkey!"
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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