Stories from the
Thousand and One Nights.
Vol. 16, pp. 100-107 of
The Harvard Classics
Suddenly all the
sinful city's inhabitants were turned to stone. When a beautiful
woman from Bagdad came to the dead city, night overtook her there.
Sleeping in the palace, she was awakened by a man's voice calling.
The
Story of the First of the Three Ladies of Baghdad
O PRINCE OF THE FAITHFUL, my
story is wonderful; for these two bitches are my sisters, born to my
father, but of another mother; and I am the youngest of the three.
After the death of our father, who left us five thousand pieces of
gold, these my two sisters married, and when they had resided some
time with their husbands, each of the latter prepared a stock of
merchandise, and received from his wife a thousand pieces of gold,
and they all set forth on a journey together, leaving me here; but
after they had been absent four years, my sisters’ husbands lost
all their property, and abandoned them in a strange land, and they
returned to me in the garb of beggars. When I first saw them in this
state, I knew them not; and, as soon as I recognized them, I
exclaimed, How is it that ye are in this condition?—O our sister,
they answered, thy inquiry now is of no use: the Pen hath written
what God hath decreed.—I sent them, therefore, to the bath, and,
having clad them in new apparel, said to them, O my sisters, ye are
my elders, and I am young; so ye shall be to me in the places of my
father and mother. The inheritance which I shared with you God hath
blessed; partake then of its increase, for my affairs are prosperous;
and I and ye shall fare alike.—I treated them with the utmost
kindness, and during a whole year they remained with me, and enriched
themselves by the money that I had given them; but after this period
they said to me, It will be more agreeable to us to marry again, for
we can no longer abstain from doing so.—O my sisters, I replied, ye
have seen no happiness in marriage: a good husband in this age is
rarely found, and ye have already had experience of the
marriage-state. They, however, heeded not my words; but married
against my consent: yet I gave them dowries from my own property, and
continued to them my protection. They went to their husbands, and the
latter, after they had resided with them a short time, defrauded them
of all that they possessed, and, setting forth on a journey, left
them destitute: so again they returned to me, and, in a state of
nudity, implored my forgiveness, saying, Be not angry with us; for
though thou art younger than we, thou hast more mature sense; and we
promise thee that we will never again mention the subject of
marriage. I replied, Ye are welcome, O my sisters; for I have no one
dearer to me than yourselves:—and I received them, and treated them
with every kindness, and we remained happily together for the space
of a year.
