Transcriber's Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
upplemental
ights
TO THE BOOK OF THE
Thousand Nights and a Night
WITH NOTES ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND EXPLANATORY
VOLUME III. Part 2.
Limited to one thousand numbered sets,of which this is
THE CALIPH’S NIGHT ADVENTURE.
I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashidwas one night wakeful exceedingly and when he rose in the morningrestlessness gat hold of him. Wherefore all about him weretroubled for that “Folk aye follow Prince’s fashion;” they rejoiceexceedingly with his joy and are sorrowful with his sorrows albeitthey know not the cause why they are so affected. Presently theCommander of the Faithful sent for Masrúr the Eunuch, and whenhe came to him cried, “Fetch me my Wazir, Ja’afar the Barmaki,without stay or delay.” Accordingly, he went out and returnedwith the Minister who, finding him alone, which was indeed rare,and seeing as he drew near that he was in a melancholic humour,never even raising his eyes, stopped till his lord would vouchsafeto look upon him. At last the Prince of True Believers cast hisglance upon Ja’afar, but forthright turned away his head and satmotionless as before. The Wazir descrying naught in the Caliph’saspect that concerned him personally, strengthened his purposeand bespake him on this wise, “O Commander of the Faithful,wilt thine Highness deign suffer me to ask whence cometh thissadness?” and the Caliph answered, with a clearer brow, “Verily,O Wazir, these moods have of late become troublesome to me, norare they to be moved save by hearing strange tales and verses;and, if thou come not hither on a pressing affair, thou wilt gladdenme by relating somewhat to dispel my sadness.” Replied theWazir, “O Commander of the Faithful, my office compelleth meto stand on thy service, and I would fain remind thee that this isthe day appointed for informing thyself of the good governanceof thy capital and its environs; and this matter shall, Inshallah,308divert thy mind and dispel its gloom.” The Ca