The Story of the Merchant with the Efreet

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Here we start a new story whose main characters are a merchant and an efreet, who is basically an evil genie.

The merchant is in trouble with the efreet. The efreet is of the trusted kind.

The merchant will be helped by three sheikhs.

Notes:

• A sheikh (or sheik) is a respectable old man.
• In these tales, a step-father is called an uncle. So my uncle's daughter means my wife.
• The diwan is the court session or the room when it happens.

ON THE FIRST NIGHT

Sheherazade said:

It came to me, O fortunate King, that there was a merchant among merchants, master of many riches and commercial affairs in all countries.

One day he got on horseback and left for some places where his business called him. As the heat had become too intense, he sat down under a tree, and, putting his hand to his bag of provisions, he took out some nuts and also some dates. When he had finished eating the dates, he threw away the pits; but suddenly a tall efreet appeared before him, who, brandishing a sword, approached the merchant and shouted: "Arise, I kill you because you killed my child!" And the merchant said to him: "How did I kill your child?" The efreet replied: “After the dates were eaten, you threw away the pits, the pits struck my son in the chest: then it was all over with him and he died at once." Then the merchant said to the efreet: “Know, O great efreet, that I am a believer, and that I cannot lie to you. Now I have much wealth, and I also have children and a wife; moreover, I have deposits in my house entrusted to me. So allow me to go to my house so that I can give his rights to those who are entitled: that done, I will come back to you. So you have my promise and my oath that I will then return to you. And then you will do with me what you want. And Allah is the guarantor of my words! Then the efreet trusted the merchant and let him go.

And the merchant returned to his country, got rid of all his contracts, and sent the rights to whom it was due. Then he revealed to his wife and children what had happened to him: and all began to weep, the parents, the women, and the children. Then the merchant made his will, and he remained with his people until the end of the year; after which he resolved to leave again and, taking his shroud under his armpit, he read his farewells to his relatives, neighbors, and relatives, and went away despite his nose. So his family began to lament over him and to utter cries of mourning.

As for the merchant, he continued to travel, and he arrived at the garden in question; that day was the first day of the new year. Now, while he was sitting crying over what was happening to him, an old sheikh came towards him leading a chained gazelle. He greeted the merchant, wished him a prosperous life, and said to him: "Why are you staying all alone in this place which is haunted by efreets?" Then the merchant told him what had happened to him with the efreet, and the cause of his staying there. And the sheikh, master of the gazelle, was greatly astonished and said: “By Allah! O my brother, your faith is great! And your story is a story so prodigious that, if it were written, it would be food for thought to the respectful thinker! Then he sat down beside him and said, “By Allah! O my brother, I will not stop staying close to you until I see what will happen to you with the efreet." And he stayed, indeed, and began to talk with him, and even saw him faint with fear and terror, a prey to deep affliction and tumultuous thoughts. And the master of the gazelle continued to stay there, when suddenly a second sheikh came and walked towards them, leading two greyhounds of the black hound species. He approached, wished them peace, and asked them the reason for their staying in this place haunted by the efreets. So they told him the story from beginning to end. But no sooner had he sat down than a third sheikh came towards them, leading a starling-colored mule. He wished them peace and asked them the reason for their stopping there. And they told him the story from the beginning to the end. But there is no point in repeating it.

Meanwhile, a whirlwind of dust arose and a storm blew violently as it approached the middle of the meadow. Then, when the dust had cleared, the efreet in question appeared, a finely sharpened sword in his hand; and sparks flew from his eyelids. He came to them and, seizing the merchant in their midst, he said to him: “Come, let me kill you as you killed my child, the breath of my life and the fire of my heart!" Then the merchant began to weep and lament; and also the three sheikhs notoriously began to weep, moan, and sob.

But the first sheikh, the master of the gazelle, eventually grew bolder, and, kissing the hand of the efreet, he said to him: "O efreet, O the chief of the kings of the genies and their crown, if I tell you my story with this gazelle, and let you marvel at it, as a reward, will you spare me a third of this merchant's blood?" The efreet said: "Yes, certainly, venerable sheikh! If you tell me the story, and that I find it extraordinary, I will grant you in grace a third of his blood!"

TALE OF THE FIRST SHEIKH

The first sheikh says:

"Know, O great efreet, that this gazelle was my uncle's daughter, and that she was of my flesh and blood. I married her when she was still young and lived with her for almost thirty years. But Allah granted me no children from her. So I took a concubine who, with the grace of Allah, gave me a male child as beautiful as the moon when it rose; he had beautiful eyes and eyebrows that met and perfect limbs. He grew little by little until he was a boy of fifteen. At that time I was obliged to leave for a distant town, on account of a big commercial affair.

Now, my uncle's daughter, this gazelle, was initiated from childhood into witchcraft and the art of enchantment. By her knowledge of magic, she transformed my son into a calf, and the slave, his mother, into a cow; then she put them in the custody of our shepherd.

Me, after a long time, I came back from my trip. I inquired about my son and his mother, and my uncle's daughter said to me: “Your slave is dead, and your son fled and I do not know where he went! »

So, for a year, I remained overwhelmed with the affliction of my heart and tears in my eyes.

When the annual festival of the Day of the Sacrifices arrived, I sent to tell the shepherd to reserve me a very fat cow; and he brought me a very fat cow — but it was my concubine bewitched by this gazelle! So I rolled up my sleeves and the tails of my dress and, knife in hand, prepared to sacrifice the cow. Suddenly this cow began to wail and cry profusely. So I stopped, but I ordered the shepherd to sacrifice her. He did; then he skinned it. But we found no fat or meat in it: just the skin and the bones. I then repented of having sacrificed her; but of what use was repentance to me? Then I gave it to the shepherd and said to him: “Bring me a very fat calf. And he brought me my son, the bewitched calf.

When this calf saw me, it cut its rope, ran to me, and rolled at my feet; and what moans! and what tears! So I took pity on him, and said to the shepherd, "Bring me a cow, and leave this one!"

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— At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and, discreetly, fell silent without taking further advantage of the permission. Then her sister Doniazade said to her: “O my sister, how sweet and kind and savory and delicious are your words! And Sheherazade answered: "But they are really nothing compared to what I will tell you both next night if I am still alive and if the King is willing to keep me!" And the king said to himself: “By Allah! I will not kill her until I have heard the rest of her tale!"

Then the King and Scheherazade spent the whole night embracing. After which the king went out to preside over the affairs of justice. And he saw the vizier arrive with, under his arm, the shroud intended for his daughter Sheherazade, whom he believed to be already dead. But the king told him nothing about it, and continued to dispense justice and to appoint some to offices and to dismiss others, and that until the end of the day. And the vizier was in perplexity and on the verge of astonishment.

When the diwan was over, King Schahriar returned to his palace.

— At this point in her narration, Scheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.

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Second Night