The Tale of the Merchant and the ifrit

 The Tale of the Merchant and the ifrit

IT has come to me, O auspicious King, that there was once a merchant of the merchants, master of many riches and of affairs of commerce in all lands. One day he mounted on horseback and left for certain places whither his business called him. As the heat became too vexing, he sat down under a tree and, putting his hand into his food-bag, took from it a snack and also some dates. When he had finished eating the dates, he threw the stones to a distance; but suddenly an enormous Ifr(t appeared who

 approached him, brandishing a sword and crying: ‘Rise up, that I may slay you as you have slain my child!’ On this the merchant asked: ‘How have I slain your child?’ The other said: ‘When you threw the stones of the dates you had eaten, they struck my boy in the breast and he died forthwith.’ Then said the merchant to the Ifr(t: ‘Know, O great Ifr(t, that I am a Believer and know not how to lie. Now I have

 many riches and children and a wife, also I have at my home deposits which have been trusted to me. Give me leave to go to my house that I may render each his due and, when I have done this, I will return to you. Indeed, indeed, you have my promise and my oath that I will return to you forthwith. Then you shall do to me as you wish. And All&h is a witness of my words.’ So the Jinn( had trust in the

 merchant and let him depart. The merchant returned to his own land, rid himself of his obligations, rendered each his due, and lastly revealed to his wife and his children the fate that had overtaken him. So they all, relations, women and children, began to weep. Then the merchant made his will and rested with his folk until the year’s end; after which, taking his winding-sheet beneath his arm, he bade

 farewell to his nearest, to his neighbours, and to the folk of his house, and went forth, as it were, in spite of his nose. Then indeed was lamentation made and grief cried over him. As for the merchant, he continued to journey until he came to the garden where he was due on the first day of the new year. Now, while he sat down to weep over his fate, behold a venerable sheikh came towards him leading a

 gazelle by a chain. He saluted the merchant, wishing him a life of prosperity and saying to him: ‘What is the reason of your staying alone upon this Jinn-haunted spot?’ Then the merchant told him of his adventure with the Ifr(t. And the sheikh, master of the gazelle, being greatly astonished, said: ‘By

 All&h, your faith, my brother, is indeed a rare faith! And your story is so prodigious that, were it only written with a needle on the inner corner of an eye, it would yet be a matter of reflection to the circumspect.’ Then he sat down by the merchant’s side, saying: ‘By All&h! I shall certainly stay here with you, my brother, until I have seen what happens between you and the Ifr(t.’ So he stayed,

 conversing with the merchant, and beheld him swooning with fear and horror, a prey to deep sorrow and to stormy thoughts. Suddenly, as the master of the gazelle waited, there came a second sheikh, who advanced towards them leading two dogs of greyhound breed which were both black. He came up to them, wishing them peace and asking the reason of their stay upon that Jinn-haunted spot. So they told

 him the story from beginning to end. But hardly had he seated himself, when a third sheikh came towards them, leading a bay-coloured shemule, and he also wished them peace and asked them the reason of their stay. Again they told the story from beginning to end; but nothing is to be gained by

 repeating it in this place. In a little while a sand-devil lifted and a great wind blew heavily, coming towards the middle of the grassland. Then, the dust dispersing, the self-same Jinn( appeared, a fine-

sharpened blade in his hand and sparks of fire storming from his eyes. He came to them and, seizing the merchant from among them, said: ‘Come, that I may kill you as you killed my child, who was the breath of my life and the fire of my heart.’ Then the merchant began to weep and lament, and the three

 sheikhs also set themselves most conspicuously to weep and groan and sob. But the first sheikh, master of the gazelle, at last plucked up his courage and kissed the hand of the Jinn(, saying: ‘O Jinn(, O chief among the Kings of the Jinn and their crown also, if I relate to you the tale of myself and this gazelle and it is such that you marvel at it, oh grant me in return mercy for a third of the blood of this merchant!’ The Jinn( answered: ‘Assuredly, O venerable sheikh. If you tell me the story and I find it indeed extraordinary, I will grant you mercy for a third of this blood!’

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