The king"s household and the slaves went to the wedding, and no one was left at home except Sackcloth. Waiting till they were well on their way, she took off her sackcloth and set out for the festivities, all made up and wearing the wedding dress she had brought with her. All the women were dancing in turn, and when her turn came she took the handkerchiefs and danced and danced till she had had her fill of dancing. She then dropped the handkerchiefs and left, and no one knew where she came from or where she went, Returning home, she put on her sackcloth, squatted alongside the walls of the palace, and went to sleep. When the slaves got back from the celebration, they started badgering her.

"What! Are you sleeping here?" they taunted. "May you never rise! If only you"d come to the wedding, you would"ve seen this girl who danced and danced, and then left without anybody knowing where she went."

That happened the first night, and the second night the same thing happened again. When the king"s wife came home, she went to see her son.

"Dear son," she said, "if only we could get that girl, I"d ask for her hand - the one who comes to the wedding and leaves without anybody knowing where she comes from or where she goes."

"Let me wear women"s clothes, mother," he suggested, "and take me with you [to the women"s side]. If anyone should ask, say to them, "This is my sister"s daughter. She"s here visiting us, and I brought her with me to see the celebrations.""

"Fine," she agreed.

Putting women"s clothes on him, she took him with them. Sackcloth, meanwhile, gave them enough time to get there, then took off her coat of sackcloth and followed. She went in, danced till she had had her fill, then slipped away. No one recognized her, or knew where she came from or where she went. Returning home, she put on her sackcloth and went to sleep.

The following day the king"s son said to the others, "You go to the wedding," and he hid outside the door of the house where the celebration was taking place. Sackcloth came again, went inside and danced, then pulled herself together and slipped away. No sooner had she left than he followed her, keeping a safe distance until she reached home. No sooner did she get there than she went in, put on her coat of sackcloth, and squatted by the palace wall and went to sleep.

"What!" he said to himself, "She dwells in my own house and pretends to be some kind of freak!" He did not say anything to anyone.

The next morning he said to the slaves who bring up his meals, "I don"t want any of you to bring my food up today. I want Sackcloth to serve my dinner, and I want him to share it with me."

"O master, for the sake of Allah!" she protested, "I can"t do it. I"m so disgusting, how could you want to have dinner with me?"

"You must bring up my dinner so we can eat together," he replied.

The servants prepared dinner, served it onto a platter, and gave it to Sackcloth. She carried it, pretending to limp, until she was halfway up the stairs, then she made as if her foot had slipped and dropped the whole platter.

"Please, master!" she pleaded, "Didn"t I tell you I can"t carry anything?"

"You must keep bringing platters and dropping them," the son of the king insisted, "until you manage to come up here on your own."

With the second platter she came up to the landing at the top of the stairs, slipped, and dropped it.

"This isn"t going to get you anywhere," said the son of the king. "Do not for one moment hope to be excused."

With the third platter she limped and limped, leaning here and there, until she reached the top and served him his dinner.

"Come sit here with me," said the prince, closing the door. "Let"s eat this dinner together."

"Please, master!" she protested, "Just look at my condition. Surely it will disgust you."

"No. Do sit down! I would like to have dinner with you."

They sat down to eat together, and the prince pulled out a knife and reached for the coat of sackcloth.

"You must take this thing off!" he said. "How long have we been searching, wondering who the girl was that came to the wedding. And all this time you"ve been living under my own roof!"

He made her remove the sackcloth coat, and called his mother. They sent for the cadi, and wrote up their marriage contract.

"For forty days," the public crier announced, "no one is to eat or drink except at the house of the king.""

They held wedding celebrations, and gave her to him for a wife.

And this is my tale, I"ve told it; and in your hands I leave it.

Sahin

Once there was a king (and there is no kingship except that which belongs to Allah, may He be praised and exalted!) and he had an only daughter. He had no other children, and he was proud of her. One day, as she was lounging about, the daughter of the vizier came to visit her. They sat together, feeling bored.

"We"re sitting around here feeling bored," said the daughter of the vizier. "What do you say to going out and having a good time?"

"Yes," said the other.

Sending for the daughters of the ministers and dignitaries of state, the king"s daughter gathered them all together, and they went into her father"s orchard to take the air, each going her own way.

As the vizier"s daughter was sauntering about, she stepped on an iron ring. Taking hold of it, she pulled, and behold! it opened the door to an underground hallway, and she descended into it. The other girls, meanwhile, were distracted, amusing themselves. Going into the hallway, the vizier"s daughter came upon a young man with his sleeves rolled up. And what! there were deer, partridges, and rabbits in front of him, and he was busy plucking and skinning.

Before he was aware of it, she had already saluted him. "Peace to you!"

"And to you, peace!" he responded, taken aback. "What do you happen to be, sister, human or jinn?"

"Human," she answered, "and the choicest of the race. What are you doing here?"

"By Allah," he said, "we are forty young men, all brothers. Every day my brothers go out to hunt in the morning and come home toward evening. I stay home and prepare their food."

"That"s fine," she chimed in. "You"re forty young men, and we"re forty young ladies. I"ll be your wife, the king"s daughter is for your eldest brother, and all the other girls are for all your other brothers." She matched the girls with the men.

Oh! How delighted he was to hear this!

"What"s your name?"

"Sahin," he answered.

"Welcome, Sahin."

He went and fetched a chair, and set it in front of her. She sat next tohim, and they started chatting. He roasted some meat, gave it to her, and she ate. She kept him busy until the food he was cooking was ready.

"Sahin," she said when the food was ready, "you don"t happen to have some seeds and nuts in the house, do you?"

"Yes, by Allah, we do."

"Why don"t you get us some. It"ll help pa.s.s away the time."

In their house, the seeds and nuts were stored on a high shelf. He got up, brought a ladder, and climbed up to the shelf. Having filled his handkerchief with seeds and nuts, he was about to come down when she said, "Here, let me take it from you. Hand it over!" Taking the handkerchief from him, she pulled the ladder away and threw it to the ground, leaving him stranded on the shelf.

She then brought out large bowls, prepared a huge platter, piled all the food on it, and headed straight out of there, taking the food with her and closing the door of the tunnel behind her. Putting the food under a tree, she called to the girls, "Come eat, girls!"

"Eh! Where did this come from?" they asked, gathering around.

"Just eat and be quiet," she replied. "What more do you want? Just eat!"

The food was prepared for forty lads, and here were forty la.s.ses. They set to and ate it all. "Go on along now!" commanded the vizier"s daughter, "Each one back where she came from. Disperse!" She dispersed them, and they went their way. Waiting until they were all busy, she took the platter back, placing it where it was before and coming back out again. In time the girls all went home.

Now we go back. To whom? To Sahin. When his brothers came home in the evening, they could not find him.

"O Sahin," they called. "Sahin!"

And behold! he answered them from the shelf.

"Hey! What are you doing up there?" asked the eldest brother.

"By Allah, brother," Sahin answered, "I set up the ladder after the food was ready and came to get some seeds and nuts for pa.s.sing away the time. The ladder slipped, and I was stranded up here."

"Very well," they said, and set up the ladder for him. When he came down, the eldest brother said, "Now, go bring the food so we can have dinner." Gathering up the game they had hunted that day, they put it all in one place and sat down.

Sahin went to fetch the food from the kitchen, but he could not find a single bite.

"Brother," he said, coming back, "the cats must have eaten it."

"All right," said the eldest. "Come, prepare us whatever you can."

Taking the organs of the hunted animals, from this and that he made dinner and they ate. Then they laid their heads down and went to sleep.

The next morning they woke up and set out for the hunt. "Now brother," they mocked him, "be sure to let us go without dinner another evening. Let the cats eat it all!"

"No, brothers," he said. "Don"t worry."

No sooner did they leave than he rolled up his sleeves and set to skinning and plucking the gazelles, rabbits, and partridges. On time, the vizier"s daughter showed up. Having gone to the king"s daughter and gathered all the other girls, she waited till they were amusing themselves with something and then dropped in on him.

"Salaam!"

"And to you, peace!" he answered. "Welcome to the one who took the food and left me stranded on the shelf, making me look ridiculous to my brothers!"

"What you say is true," she responded. "And yet I"m likely to do even more than that to the one I love."

"And as for me," he murmured, "your deeds are sweeter than honey."

Fetching a chair, he set it down for her, and then he brought some seeds and nuts. They sat down to entertain themselves, and she kept him amused until she realized the food was ready.

"Sahin," she said, "isn"t there a bathroom in your house?"

"Yes, there is," he replied.

"I"m pressed, and must go to the bathroom. Where is it?"

"It"s over there," he answered.

"Well, come and show it to me."

"This is it, here," he said, showing it to her.

She went in and, so the story goes, made as if she did not know how to use it.

"Come and show me how to use this thing," she called.

I don"t know what else she said, but he came to show her, you might say, how to sit on the toilet. Taking hold of him, she pushed him inside like this, and he ended up with his head down and his feet up. She closed the door on him and left. Going into the kitchen, she served up the food onto a platter and headed out of there. She put the food under a tree and called to her friends, "Come eat!"

"And where did you get all this?"

"All you have to do is eat," she answered.

They ate and scattered, each going her way. And she stole away and returned the platter.

At the end of the day the brothers came home, and there was no sign of their brother. "Sahin, Sahin!" they called out. "O Sahin!" But no answer came. They searched the shelf, they searched here, and they searched there. But it was no use.

"You know," said the eldest, "I say there"s something odd about Sahin"s behavior. I suspect he has a girlfriend. Anyway, some of you go into the kitchen, find the food, and bring it so we can eat. I"m sure Sahin will show up any moment."

Going into the kitchen, they found nothing. "There"s no food," they reported. "It"s all gone! We"re now sure that Sahin has a girlfriend, and he gives her all the food. Let"s go ahead and fix whatever there is at hand so we can eat."

Having prepared a quick meal, they ate dinner and were content. They prepared for sleep, but one of them (All respect to the listeners!) was pressed and needed to relieve himself. He went to the bathroom, and lo! there was Sahin, upside down.

"Hey, brothers? he shouted. "Here"s Sahin, and he"s fallen into the toilet!"

They rushed over and lifted him out. What a condition he was in! They gave him a bath.

"Tell me," said the eldest, "what"s going on?"

"By Allah, brother," replied Sahin, "after I cooked dinner I went to relieve myself, and I slipped."

"Very well," returned the eldest. "But the food, where is it?"

"By Allah, as far as I know it"s in the kitchen, but how should I know if the cats haven"t eaten it?"

"Well, all right!" they said, and went back to sleep.

The next morning, as they were setting out, they mocked him again. "Why don"t you leave us without dinner another night?"

"No, brothers!" he said. ["Don"t worry."]

Pulling themselves together, they departed. Now, on time, the daughter of the vizier came to see the king"s daughter, gathered the others, and they came down to the orchard and spread out. Waiting until they were all caught up with something, she slipped away to him, and listen, brothers! she found him at home.

"Salaam!"

"And to you, peace!" he retorted. "Welcome! On the shelf the first day, and you made away with the food; and the second day you threw me into the toilet and stole the food, blackening my face in front of my brothers!"