by Haji Ismail Sloan
Once there were two brothers. One brother
was the King of Samarkand. The other brother was the King of
Bukhara. One day, the King of Samarkand said to himself, "It
has been twenty years since I have seen my brother. I long
to see him now."
With that, the King of Samarkand decreed to all of his realm that
he was going to visit his brother. A grand caravan was organized
and, within a few days, they all started out on their journey to
Bukhara.
A few miles out of Samarkand, the king suddenly remembered an
important gift that he had been planning to give to his brother.
Not wanting to break the pace of the long caravan, which was by
now well on its way to Bukhara, the king decided to return by himself
alone, after ordering the caravan to proceed onward without him.
The King of Samarkand would catch up later.
The king returned by himself to his palace in Samarkand. However,
when the king entered his royal bed chamber, to his great astonishment,
he found his wife in his royal bed with one of his slaves. His
wife and the slave were doing a bad thing. Needless to say, the
king quickly drew his sword and chopped off the head of his wife.
He also chopped off the head of his slave. The king then fetched
the gift that he was planning to give to his brother, said nothing
about this to anybody, returned to his caravan, and proceeded on
his way to Bukhara, but with a heavy heart.
Upon arriving in Bukhara, the king's brother
came out to greet him. He was very glad to see him. "Oh, my brother," the King of
Bukhara said, "I have longed to see you for these twenty years.
Had you not come to me, I would have gone to see you. Now that
you are here, you must stay for some days. Come, let us dine,
and tomorrow we shall go hunting in your honor in the royal
hunting grounds."
The next morning, the two kings, accompanied by their guards,
horses and cavalry, went out of the royal palace in Bukhara and
went on a royal hunt. That evening, the two kings came back to
the palace, exhausted from a happy day of hunting.
The next morning, the two kings went out hunting again, and came
back that night, and then the next day, and then the next day and
then the next day.
One morning, after several weeks of hunting
every day, the King of Samarkand said to his brother, "Oh,
my brother, I am not feeling well this morning. I see that
you have gotten the cavalry together and are ready to go out
for the hunt. Please, go now, and I will stay here and rest."
To this, the King of Bukhara replied, " Oh,
my brother, without you, I cannot go. I will stay here with
you. After all, I have organized this hunt in your honor."
The King of Samarkand said, "Please, my brother,
I see that your horses are saddled and ready to go. It will
create a disturbance if you do not go now. Please, go now,
and I will stay here and rest. Just pretend that I have gone
with you."
Finally and reluctantly, the King of Bukhara agreed to go. He
proceeded out of his palace with his full cavalry. He left the
King of Samarkand behind in his royal bedchamber.
Shortly, after the King of Bukhara and his
cavalry had left, the King of Samarkand looked out of the window
of the royal bedchamber and into the courtyard. The king was
astonished to see what he saw. In the middle of the courtyard,
there stood the favorite, number one, wife of the King of Bukhara.
The king's favorite wife called out, "Oh, Saeed! Come to me!
I long for you!"
With that, one of the king's black slaves came out into the courtyard
and, with all to see, took off all of the clothing of the king's
favorite wife, laid her down in the middle of the courtyard, and
did the same bad thing, right in the middle of the courtyard, for
all to see, which the slave in Samarkand had previously done to
the wife of the King of Samarkand.
But that was not all. Next, all 40 of the King of Bukhara's other
wives and concubines came out into the courtyard and called out
to 40 more slaves. Each of the slaves came out and did to them
the same thing that the other slave had done to the king's favorite
wife.
All this time, unknown to all of them, the King of Samarkand peered
out through the window of the palace, watching all of this, in
wonder and amazement.
Late that evening, the King of Bukhara returned
from the hunt, only to find his brother in a joyful and happy
mood. The King of Bukhara said to his brother, "Why, my brother,
when I left here this morning, you were very gloomy and sad
but, now that I have returned, for the first time since you
arrived here, you seem to be happy. What great fortune has
befallen you?"
The King of Samarkand replied, "Yes, it is
true. I have been unhappy ever since I arrived here, in spite
of your efforts to entertain me. This is because of a great
tragedy I suffered at the time of my departure from Samarkand."
With that, the King of Samarkand told the sad story of how he
had surprised his wife and her slave in bed in the royal palace
in Samarkand and how he had had no choice but to cut off both of
their heads.
When he heard this, the King of Bukhara said, "That
is such a terrible thing. I can see how that would deeply hurt
an honorable man such as yourself. You must have suffered greatly.
I am so fortunate that such a thing could never happen to me.
But then, please tell me, why is it that today you have become
so happy and joyful."
"Because", said the King of Samarkand, "I
have found out that, as deep as my troubles have been, there
is somebody whose troubles are 40 times greater than mine."
"Pray tell, who is that person," said the King of Bukhara, "and
how can such a thing be?"
"Why, it is you!", said the King of Samarkand. "I
had only one wife in Samarkand. But you have 40 wives and concubines
here in Bukhara, and all of them are doing the same bad thing
which my wife did."
With that, the King of Samarkand told the King of Bukhara what
he had seen from the window of the royal bedchamber that day.
"No. Impossible!", said the King of Bukhara. "My
wife would never, never do such a thing! My favorite wife is
pure and honest and loyal. My wife is a pious woman of high
intellect and great virtue. It is completely impossible for
my wife to do a thing like that."
"Oh, so you don't think so?," said the King of Samarkand. "Well,
I'll tell you what. Tomorrow morning, prepare your royal cavalry
to go out just as before. However, send one man out disguised
as you and another man out disguised as me. Meanwhile, we will
stay behind and watch secretly from the royal window. We shall
see what we shall see."
The next morning, the royal cavalry went out just as always before.
However, there was one man disguised as the King of Samarkand and
another man disguised as the King of Bukhara. Meanwhile, the two
actual kings stayed behind secretly in the royal bed chamber and
watched out the window.
Sure enough, almost as soon as the royal cavalry
had gone out for the hunt, the king's favorite wife came out
into the middle of the courtyard and called out, "Oh, Saeed.
Come to me. I long for you."
With that, Saeed came out and did again what he had done the previous
day. Then, the 40 other wives and concubines of the King of Bukhara
all came out into the courtyard, called out to 40 slaves, lay down,
and they did again just as they had done the day before.
The King of Bukhara was amazed and astonished
at this. He could not believe it. So, naturally, he gave the
order to his guards to cut off the heads of all of his wives
and concubines, along with the heads of all of the slaves who
had served them. Then, after he saw that his order had been
carried out, the King of Bukhara said to his brother, "Oh!
Such great tragedy has befallen both of us. What could be more
terrible than the fate which you and I have suffered? Come,
now, let us take a long journey alone together and think about
the true meaning of life."
With that, the two kings mounted their horses and rode off on
a long journey.
After many, many days, the two kings came to the shore of the
Caspian Sea. The two kings were very tired, so they lay down under
a tree by the sea. They fell asleep.
While the two kings were sleeping, a great, giant genie rose out
of the Caspian Sea. The genie carried a beautiful golden box on
top of his head. Fortunately, the two kings woke up just in time
and quickly climbed up into the branches of the tree. They were
able to hide themselves, so that the great genie could not see
them.
The genie was very tired. He put down the beautiful golden box.
He unsealed the box and opened it. When he opened the box, out
stepped a beautiful young girl. The genie then lay down under the
tree and went to sleep.
The beautiful young girl walked around for a while. Then, by chance,
she looked up into the branches of the tree. And what did she see,
but the two kings hiding in the branches of the tree.
"Come down this moment and be with me!", the
young girl called up to the two kings.
"We cannot do that", the two kings replied, "because,
if that genie wakes up and finds us with you, he will kill
us both."
The young girl stomped her foot. "Come down from there this instant",
the young girl said, "and do this thing to me, because, if
you do not lay with me, I shall wake up this genie, who is
my husband, and tell him that you have been bothering me. He
will kill you both."
In fear and trembling, the two kings climbed
down from the tree and lay with the young girl. They did to
her everything that she demanded. When the young girl finally
was fully satisfied, she said, "Well Done!" She then allowed
the two kings to climb back up into the tree and hide themselves
again.
After that, the genie awoke. He put the young girl back into the
beautiful golden box, sealed the box, put the box on his head,
and went back down into the Caspian Sea.
When all this happened, the two kings were
amazed. "Look at this",
they said. "We are both kings, and we thought that our wives
were pure, loyal and virtuous. Yet, look at what our wives
have done to us. And, now, this genie is far greater and more
powerful than either of us. And, see, even his wife, whenever
she gets the chance, does exactly the same bad thing that our
wives have done. Are all women like this? Can there not be
even one woman in the world who can be trusted?"
Now, the two kings finally realized that, in all the world, there
is not even one woman who can be trusted. Women are all the same.
No man can trust his wife out of his sight, the two kings realized.
Realizing this, the two kings sadly parted. They both went back
home, each to his own kingdom.
When the King of Samarkand arrived back in his home, he now realized
that no woman could be trusted out of his sight, but still he needed
a wife. Finally, he thought of a solution to this vexing problem.
The King of Samarkand called his grand wizard. He ordered the grand
wizard to find a pure and innocent young girl to be his wife.
The grand wizard went out of the royal palace and, before long,
returned with an innocent young girl. The king immediately married
her. The king then spent the night with his new wife. The next
morning, after the king and his new wife woke up, the king called
his guards and ordered them to take his wife out and to chop off
her head.
After being satisfied that this had been done, the king then called
the grand wizard again. The king ordered the grand wizard to bring
him another innocent young girl. Once again, the wizard brought
a young girl and the king married her. Once again, the king spent
just one night with the young girl. Once again, the next morning,
after a satisfying night with his new wife, the king called his
guards and ordered them to take her out and chop off her head.
From that day on, the King of Samarkand did the same thing every
day and night. Every day, he had a new young girl brought to him.
Every day, he married the girl. Every night, he spent just one
night with his new wife. And every morning, he had her taken out
and had her head chopped off.
This continued on for three years. After three years, the kingdom
started running out of young girls.
All this time, the grand wizard himself had two beautiful young
daughters. The grand wizard kept his two daughters hidden in his
house. He never allowed his two daughters to go out into the yard
and play with other girls. The grand wizard was afraid that the
king might see his daughters and want to marry them.
The eldest daughter of the grand wizard was named Sheherazade.
Sheherazade was charming, witty and beautiful. Sheherazade also
liked to read. It is said that she possessed a thousand books.
She knew all the great books; books about science and art and history
and astronomy. However, Sheherazade was very sad because so many
of her girlfriends had been taken away for marriage and then had
their heads chopped off, by order of the king.
Finally, one day, Sheherazade said to her
father, "Oh,
my father, I want to be married to the king. I want to become
the king's wife."
"No", her father replied. "You cannot become
the king's wife, because, if you do that, he will sleep with
you for just one night and then he will have your head chopped
off the next day."
"Please, my father, I know that", said Sheherazade. "So
many of my girlfriends have died that way. But, I have a plan.
Please, my father, I beg of you! Allow me to be married to
the king."
The grand wizard refused to allow his daughter to be married to
the king. But, every day, again and again, Sheherazade asked her
father to be married to the king. Finally, with heavy heart, the
grand wizard agreed to his daughter's request, and brought Sheherazade
to be married to the King of Samarkand.
After the marriage ceremony, Sheherazade was
taken to the king's bed chamber. Sheherazade brought a flower
as a present for the king. When the king arrived, Sheherazade
said to her new husband, "Oh,
my husband, my king! I know what you will do with me tonight,
and what will be done with me tomorrow morning. But, please,
I have just one last request. I have a younger sister, and
she is very beautiful. After I give you my flower, I want my
sister to be brought here to your royal bed chamber, so that
I can see her one last time. I will tell her a story."
This seemed to the king to be a reasonable request. He could not
see any harm in it. Also, he wanted to see how beautiful the sister
of Sheherazade really was. Therefore, the king agreed, and later
the sister of Sheherazade was brought to the king's royal bed chamber.
The name of the sister was Dunyazade. When
Dunyazade arrived, she sat at the foot of the bed and said
to Sheherazade, "Oh,
my sister, I am so happy to see you one last time. Please tell
me one of your stories. I long to hear your voice."
"Yes, I will tell you a story", said Sheherazade.
And, with that, she started to tell a story. While Sheherazade
was telling the story to her sister, the King of Samarkand
sat and listened.
This was a truly wonderful story. However,
Sheherazade only told half of the story to her sister. Then,
Sheherazade suddenly stopped. "But,
what happened next?", said the sister. "Please, I beg you,
tell me the rest of the story."
"No", replied Sheherazade. "I will not tell
you the rest of the story tonight. Go now to our father's house.
Tomorrow night, if I am still here, and if my husband allows
me, I will tell you the rest of the story."
The sister of Sheherazade then went home to her father's house.
All this time, the King of Samarkand had been listening to the
story. It was a wonderful story, and the king was anxious and excited
to learn the end. Finally, the king decided to allow Sheherazade
to live just one more night, so that he could hear the end of the
story.
The next night, the King of Samarkand called
for the sister of Sheherazade to be brought again to his royal
bedchamber. After the sister had arrived, Sheherazade finished
that story but, as soon as she had finished, she said to her
sister, "Now, I will
tell you another story."
With that, Sheherazade started another story. This story was even
more wonderful than the first.
Again, the King of Samarkand listened, while
Sheherazade told the story to her sister. Once again, Sheherazade
did not finish the story. Sheherazade only told half of the
story and, once again, she said to her sister, "Tomorrow night,
if the king allows me, I will tell you the rest of the story."
Once again, the sister left. Once again, the king decided to let
Sheherazade live just one more night.
This continued for another night, and then another night and then
another night. Every night, Sheherazade finished the story she
had started the previous night. Then, every night, Sheherazade
started a new and wonderful story. Every night, the king was so
anxious to hear the end of the story that he decided to allow Sheherazade
to live just one more night.
This continued on and on for nearly three years, for exactly 1001
nights. Finally, after 1001 Arabian nights had passed, the old
king died.
And what were those wonderful stories which Sheherazade told to
her sister? Why, we have them all today because, every night, when
her sister went home to her father's house, she wrote down the
story which had been told to her that night by Sheherazade. Since
then, these stories have all been told and retold and copied into
books and published and translated into every language of the world,
so that every boy and girl can read them today.
And what were those 1001 stories which were
first told by Sheherazade? Why, these are all the great stories
of Arabia. There is "Aladdin
and His Lamp" and "Sinbad the Sailor" and "Ali Baba and the Forty
Thieves" and so many other great stories, which every boy and
girl in the world reads today. These are the 1001 stories first
told on those 1001 Arabian nights by the greatest story teller
of them all: Sheherazade.
