CONVERSATIONS OF SYRIAN MIGRANTS

by Torsten Schwanke

CHAPTER I

Once upon a time there was a local schoolman, Jûsif-Agha, who lived near India; he had a cousin and was in love with his cousin's sister: he went to her secretly when she was still a girl; then she became pregnant at home. "By whom did you become pregnant?" her brother asked her. "I am pregnant by Jûsif-Agha," she replied. But the townspeople sided with the girl's brother and wanted to force Jûsif-Agha to marry the girl; he replied, "Since you have tried to force her on me, I don't want to marry her. The inhabitants of the village quarreled about this, but nothing could be done against Jûsif-Agha. In the meantime the girl gave birth to a son and a daughter, and they named the son Mammo and the daughter Amîna. When Mammo grew up, he asked who his father was. Then they pointed to his grandfather and told him: "This is your father". "He replied, "He is not my father. - Then Mammo fell in love with a girl and his lover asked him, "Do you know who your father is?" "Who?" "He had an affair with your mother when she was still a girl; then the relatives of your grandfather quarrelled with Jûsif-Agha, but could do nothing against him; so you were born out of wedlock". "Is it so?" "Yes." - When he came home, he went and cut off the gold pieces from his mother's headdress: with these he bought himself a sword and a pair of pistols; the sword he hung round his shoulder, and the pistols he put in his belt before him. So he entered Jûsif-Agha's room, who had no idea of this and called out, "Mammo, come and sit down here. Mammo sat down with Jûsif-Agha and they talked to each other. Then they got into a quarrel, Mammo pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Jûsif-Agha; the shot hit him in the heart, and Jûsif-Agha only cried out, "Mammo has killed me!" Then the relatives of Jûsif-Agha, the brothers and sons, attacked Mammo; but a rumour that Mammo had been killed reached his uncle, who rushed into Jûsif-Agha's room and now they attacked each other with sabres; in the fight Mammo killed six of Jûsif-Agha's relatives. Then he went home. But all the inhabitants of the village came to Mammo with the offer: "Be our chief!" "Good," he replied, and became a schoolman; but it took him two years to learn the office. -

Meanwhile, one of the villagers went into the woods, and a furious lion came upon him and ate up the man and his mule. Then they said, "The man is lost," and two men went to look for him; they saw blood on the ground and followed the trail of blood to the lion's den; at the opening of the den they saw the saddle horns, the axe, the rope and the pack-saddle lying there. But the lion jumped out, seized one and ate him, the other escaped; he came back to the village and cried, "Surely, there is an angry lion that has killed the two men." "What are you telling?" asked Mammo. "So and so is the matter," they replied. Then Mammo arose, took up his sabre and shield, and moved against the lion, taking a cow with him. Again the lion came out and became angry when he saw that Mammo had a sabre with him. Before the eyes of all the inhabitants of the village, Mammo, when the lion was about to seize him, held out his shield so that the lion could not harm him, and dealt him a blow with his sword; until noon they fought with each other as two men fight; at last he slew the lion and went home. By this deed Mammo gained fame, and his name became known throughout the world. -

Then a merchant from Môçul went to India and stayed with Mammo. "Are you Mammo?" he asked him. "Yes." "We have heard your name called Môçul in our homeland; are you still unmarried?" "Yes." "So Sîne of Jeſîre, the daughter of Mîre-Sirâf, fits you; she has three brothers, Mîr-Ssêfdîn, Ḥasso, and Tschakko; she lives in the castle of Jeſîre, and the chains of her court gate are of gold." Then asked Mammo, "Who will go there?" "I," answered that one. "If you are going there, bring her this ring," Mammo asked. "Gladly," he replied. "But bring me back news of her," he told the merchant. So the merchant went to India, did his trade, and turned back, came to Mammo, took Mammo's ring with him, and travelled to his native Môçul; then he went up to Dscheſîre to Sîne. There he caught sight of Sîne at the window and called to her, But she was unwilling to converse with the merchant. "Sîne," he called again. "What is it?" she asked. "I brought you something from somewhere". "What did you bring me?" "Look at it," he said. Then she untied the belt from her waist and let it down through the window under which the merchant was standing and on which she was sitting above, saying, "Tie it, whatever it is, to the end of this belt." The merchant tied it tightly, and Sîne pulled up the belt, then detached the thing from the belt, looked at it, and saw that it was a ring, of which one stone was a diamond, the other a pearl, and on the third stone was Mammo's name. "Where is the owner of the ring?" she asked. "In his native land," replied that one. "I have heard his name mentioned also; but now I will inquire after him; is he handsome? or is he not?" "A beautiful youth," replied the latter; "I have gone to India and returned to Môçul, but have nowhere found one more handsome and manly than he." "Will you return there?" she asked. "Yes". Then she sat down and drew her picture, as she looked, on paper and wrote to the picture: "Come to our country; it shall be far from me that I marry another man, except you yourself; but that men seek women is no disgrace, but that women seek men is a disgrace. Then she gave the letter to the merchant and kept the ring. The merchant travelled to Môçul, packed his bales of goods and left for India. When he reached Mammo, he approached him. He called out to him: "Welcome! Speak!" "What do you want me to say? Mammo," he replied, pulling the letter out of his bosom pocket and handing it to Mammo. As he looked at the letter and the picture of Sîne and the words she had written, he kissed the picture and asked: "Where is my finger ring? "Sîne has taken it," he replied.

For two years they sent each other letters, but then Sîne became angry with Mammo. She procured a messenger for a thousand piastres and sent a letter to him in India, saying that if he would come, let him come; "but if he does not come, I will marry Mîr-Akâbir, the prince of Wân. The man, inquiring about Mammo's residence, travelled to the same and handed him the letter. After Mammo had read it, he prepared for the journey, got on horseback and set out with forty-two people of the town (but they were not his brothers, as is usually told in the story); they went on their way with him without him telling them where he was going. But now they cried out, "Mammo!" "Yes." "Where are you going?" "I want to go to Môçul," he replied; "whoever comes with me is welcome, and whoever does not want to come, do as he pleases; I want to go abroad. So they turned back halfway and left Mammo. On the way he came to a spring and lay down to sleep by it, for there were no villages around the spring. Mammo, however, had four loaves of bread with him; he rubbed them into the mare's feed bag; but the mare did not eat the bread; so Mammo said to himself - for there was no one with him - "I do not know why she does not eat". Suddenly, by God's miraculous providence, the mare got speech and cried out, "Mammo!" "Yes, my faithful one!" "Return home from here!" "That will not do"; he answered, "without my bringing Sîne with me, it will not do." "Very well, as you wish," said the mare, and spoke no more, however much Mammo tried to continue the conversation. - Then he sang at the spring and wept over Sîne, but early in the morning he set out and travelled one station further. This time he got down in a meadow and lay down to sleep while the mare grazed. Then a snake came at him and coiled around his leg. "Go down, beast," he cried, but it said: "Do not be afraid, I will not bite you, for your hour has not yet come. So the serpent went down. "If your hour had come," it continued, "I had bitten you, which you would have said."

Then Mammo got up, mounted his horse and set off until he reached the threshing-floors outside the town of Jeſîre, where he dismounted to look at the town from the outside. There lived a certain Bakko the Bad, who enjoyed such prestige in the council of the respected that if he said something once, he did not have to say it a second time. This Bakko had a daughter who was also called Sîne. She was going down to the river to wash clothes when she saw Mammo and fell in love with him. Meanwhile, the relatives of the beautiful Sîne had heard that she and Mammo had sent letters to each other, and when she was advised, "Take a husband!" she answered, "I don't want to marry anyone but Mammo"; all the inhabitants of the town, old and young, had heard about this. - Then Bakko's daughter addressed him and asked, "Who are you?" "I am Mammo," he answered. "What are you looking for?" she asked. "Sîne I am looking for!" "When you see her, will you recognise her?" asked the one. "Yes." "I am Sîne," she said. He looked at her, and said, "No, thou art not Sîne; according to the description which is given of Sîne, there is nothing sweeter than she in the world; whereas thou art not beautiful; thou liest!" "Mammo," she cried, "God knows I am Sîne." "So perhaps thy name is Sîne; but thou art not the Sîne I wish to have." "Mammo!" she answered; "my name is Sîne, and I am the daughter of Bakko the Bad; Sîne of the prince's house is my friend." "So go and call her here!" he begged. Thereupon the daughter of Bakko the Bad went and called out, "Sîne!" "Yes." "Come, let us go to the river to look at a bird; there is a strange bird there, such as there is none more beautiful; I have left my clothes and have come to seek thee, that thou mayest look at this bird." Then Sîne, having put on her shoes, came down into the town; but the people of the town and of the shops, looking at Sîne, said, "Never has Sîne gone out of the house except now." So they went out of the town and came to the bank of the river. When Mammo saw Sîne, he fell down with a heartache; but she sat down by him and rubbed the region of his heart, while Bakko's daughter of misfortune looked on. By rubbing Mammo's heart area, he regained consciousness. But now she looked at Mammo and now she got heartache, so that Mammo had to rub her heart area; but her breast was white and soft like silk. Then Sîne came to again, and now they kissed each other. - "I want to go home," she said, "you get on horseback and come to us." "Yes," he replied. Then Sîne went home, climbed the battlements of the castle and looked around with a burning heart. Mammo came to the prince's house, to Mîr-Ssêfdîn, and sat down in the reception room. "Where are you from?" they asked him. "I am a stranger," he answered. Then they saw that he was more beautiful than they were, and they were delighted with him. But Sîne said to her brothers Tschakko and Ḥasso: "This is Mammo; do him honour and entertain him generously". So Mammo and the brothers were soon inseparable. - But to Bakko the Bad his daughter said: "This one has spurned me and taken a liking to Sîne". "I will have him killed," her father replied.

One day the prince ordered Ssêfdîn: "Let us go on the hunt for the Gasellen!" He also asked Mammo, and he agreed. But Sîne said to Ḥasso: "Don't take Mammo with you on the hunt; he is a guest; it would be a shame! Bakko might have him killed!" "Fear nothing, sister," replied the latter, "we are with him after all." - Then the servants saddled the horses; but Sîne also descended from her room and made Mammo's mare ready. Tchakko and Ḥasso saw her well, but said nothing; that remained locked in their hearts; but Prince Ssêfdîn noticed nothing of it. They went hunting for gaselle. Then a gazelle sprang up, and they ran after it till Mammo caught it up; and when he was about to give it to Prince Ssêfdîn, the latter said, "Nay, let it be a present to thee." "I accept it gratefully from you," replied Mammo. But then he turned to Ḥasso: "I have become thirsty and therefore want to go home and wait until you return". "Go ahead," said the latter. Then Mammo went and left them. Meanwhile, Sîne stood in the castle, looking at the road and thinking, "When will Mammo return?" Then Mammo approached and went up into the room, and now Sîne and he kissed and embraced each other. Then the brothers came back and went up to the room, so that they left no way for her to go out; so she slipped behind Mammo's back, and he covered her with his fur. But now Prince Ssêfdîn came while Mammo was sitting there. He greeted him, Mammo did not rise before him; if he had risen, Sîne would have appeared. Ssêfdîn and Bakko also sat down, the latter said to Mammo: "Prince Ssêfdîn greeted you, and you did not rise before him". Mammo replied, "Why, he is like my elder brother!" But Ḥasso and Tchakko knew that Sîne was hidden under Mammo's fur; so they beckoned to each other with their eyes. They said to Mîr-Ssêfdîn, "Get up, let us go to your garden." "I may not go," replied the prince, and became angry. Then Ḥasso went and beat his wife and set fire to his house to make Mîr-Ssêfdin get up from the room so that Sîne might come out behind Mammo; for Mammo's sake he acted thus. As a result, it was reported to Prince Ssêfdîn that Ḥasso had beaten his wife and set fire to his house. Now Mîr-Ssêfdîn went out of the room, towards Ḥasso's house, accompanied by Bakko the Bad, and as there was no one left in the room except Mammo and Sîne, she came out from under the fur and went up to her upper room. But Bakko told Mîr-Ssêfdîn: "Mammo did not get up before you because Sîne was hidden under his fur. Then Mîr-Ssêfdîn got into a quarrel with Ḥasso. Ḥasso, however, and Chakko got on horseback with a grudge and travelled here to Damascus. -

Meanwhile Mîr-Ssêfdîn threw Mammo into prison; but Sîne used to come to the door of the prison, weeping over Mammo; then Mammo said: "Sîne, do not weep! it devours my heart like fire". But she wept, and Mammo wept, until the latter, out of grief and anger, came near to death. Once a dervish came and asked her, "Why are you crying?" So she told the dervish and asked him, "Where are you going, dervish?" "I am going on pilgrimage". "Aren't you going to Damascus?" "Of course," he replied. "So go and tell my brothers: Bakko has had Mammo arrested, and now he will soon die; therefore come and tarry not." "Give me a kiss," begged the dervish. "Come, kiss me for Mammo's sake," she replied. Then he kissed her and went away. - But she used to feed Mammo, but he enjoyed nothing; at last he died; Sîne also collapsed dead of grief and fury. Then Sîne and Mammo were laid in one and the same grave, their backs turned to each other; but by a miracle from God their faces were turned to each other. - Meanwhile the dervish went and found Tchakko and Ḥasso and told them the message. They mounted their horses and returned to their homeland. There they asked, "Where is Mammo?" "He has died". "Where is Sîne?" "She has died". So they went and opened the grave and wept for her. Mîr-Ssêfdîn and Bakko accompanied them thither, and the latter said, "In this life they loved one another and in that they love one another." "How so?" asked those. "We have put their backs against each other; now they have turned their faces towards each other". Then Chakko said: "As long as they were alive, he did not leave them, and even now that they are dead, he does not leave them". After these words he struck Bakko with his sword and killed him. But a drop of his blood fell into the grave between Mammo and Sîne; this became a briar between the two; then the grave was closed again.

CHAPTER II

Once upon a time there was a chief of the Kôtschär called Mirſ-Agha, whose place of residence was in the pastures. A brother he had had died and left a son and a daughter; the name of the former was Ose, the name of the girl 'Amsche. Then Ibrahîm-Agha, the lord of Bitlis, sent a servant to Mirſ-Agha with the order: "Go, tell him to give me 'Amsche as a wife". The servant came to Mirſ-Agha and said, "Mirſ-Agha!" "Yes!" Ibrahîm-Agha sent me with the order, "Go, tell the Mirſ-Agha to give me the girl as a wife". "We will not do that," the latter replied. Then the servant returned and told Ibrahîm-Agha that they would not give her. Thereupon Ibrahîm-Agha complained about them to the government, and they drove the Kurds out of the country. They moved to the highlands until one day Ose, the nephew of Mirſ-Agha, said to him: "We have now stayed in the highlands for a year, let us return to our former place of residence". So the Kurds pitched their tents again and returned to their former place of residence. When Ibrahîm-Agha heard of this, he sent a servant to them with the order: "Go, drive them out from there". The servant came there, pulled the letter out of his breast pocket and handed it to Mirſ-Agha. The latter looked at the letter and Ose asked him, "Oheim, what does the letter say?" "My son," he replied, "the people of Ibrahîm-Agha want to expel us from here again." "Why is that?" asked Ose. "Because of 'Amsh, because we did not give her to him as a wife". Then Ose rose and slapped the servant so hard that he fell to the ground and broke three of his teeth. Then he said, "Pack up, let us see what you will do now". The servant got up, mounted his horse and made off. When he came into the city, he met the reception room filled; there he went before Ibrahîm-Agha, and the latter asked him, "Well, how did it go?" "You see it, sir!" replied the latter, "one named Ose, brother of 'Amsh, came at me and struck me a blow so that my teeth broke." Then Ibrahîm-Agha said: "Throw the servant into prison, you have taken a bribe from them. "No, my lord," he replied. Then he sent another servant with the order: "Go, tell Mirſ-Agha: come, let us make friends, Ibrahîm-Agha has arranged a wedding feast for his son and wishes you to come". Then the servant went to Mirſ-Agha and said to him, "Come, let us go to my lord, he sends you word that he wants to make friends with you". "Very well," he replied. "He has arranged a wedding feast for his son and wishes you to take part in it. But Ose said: "My grandfather is not coming". Mirſ-Agha, however, said: "Yes, I will come, do not listen to him". Mirſ-Agha then travelled with the servant to Bitlis, to the city of his master. He went into the council chamber, which was full of nobles, and they said: "Mirſ-Agha has come, prepare a seat for him, they have been enemies for a long time". Mirſ-Agha sat down in the corner opposite the prince. - In the meantime, however, Ose also mounted his horse, put his pistols to himself and hung his sabre around his shoulder; then he tied his headscarf with the camel's hair rope, put on a Baghdad overcoat and red boots, and put his dagger to himself. So he rode into the city behind his uncle. There he put his mare in the inn and went to the castle of Ibrahîm-Agha; as the room was crowded, he sat down by the shoes and boots and stuffed his pipe like a Bedouin. His grandfather was sitting with Ibrahîm Agha in the room, which was full of noblemen. They prepared coffee and first handed the bowl to Mirſ-Agha, but when he had taken it in his hand and was drinking, Ibrahîm Agha nodded to his servants with his eyes: "Kill him". Then the servants fell upon Mirſ-Agha with their daggers. The latter cried, "brr", drew his dagger and struck the servants with it; but he could do nothing; they killed him in the council chamber. Then Ose got up, barred the door, took up his sabre and rushed into the assembly. He killed Ibrahîm-Agha, his son and the nobles, and when he had slain seventy, he took his sabre and went out. He went to Ibrahîm-Agha's chamber; he had two daughters and a wife. Ose took the two daughters, put them each on a horse and mounted his mare; he tied his murdered uncle to a mule and set off for home. There he met some of his Kurds, who asked him, "What have you done?" "They murdered my uncle, and I killed seventy of them and took away the two daughters of Ibrahîm-Agha, and there my murdered uncle is lying on the mule". Then they came home and dismounted; then they buried the uncle. But Ose married one of the girls, and the other he gave in marriage to Jelâl, the son of Mirſ-Agha, his cousin.

One day the daughter of Ibrahîm-Agha, who had become the wife of Ose, lied to her husband: "I saw someone going to your sister 'Amsh. Then Ose called out to his sister, "'Amsche!" "What is it? my brother". "Is it true that someone has seduced you?" "No, my brother, see, I am as unspoiled as sweet milk; I know the daughter of the accursed Ibrahîm has done this to me". Then he took her with him and said, "Sister!" "Yes!" "Come, let us go for a walk together". Secretly she was afraid and said to herself: "He wants to kill me". He took her with him and they went into the mountains. As they passed, they saw a cave and settled down in it, Ose with his sister 'Amsche, who was more beautiful than any in the whole world. She said to herself: "I will go to sleep, then he may kill me; but with open eyes I am afraid of death. Then she said, crying, "Brother, I will lie down to sleep". "Lie down, sister". She did so, but Ose began to block up the opening of the cave with large stones and then went back home.

But one day Shêr-Bek, the chief of the shearers, went hunting; and a gaselle sprang up, and the hounds ran after it; but at the opening of the cave they stopped. Shêr-Bek rode on a mare whose saddle, reins and stirrups were of silver and gold. When the hounds howled at the opening of the cave, he spurred his mare and came to the hounds; then he ordered the pedestrians accompanying him to advance. Then the pedestrians, about a thousand in number (but Dälli, his brother, was with him on horseback), came and asked, "What is it, sir?" He said to them: "Open the entrance to this cave". They did so, and, oh wonder, they beheld a woman such as there was nothing more beautiful. They led her out and asked her, "Where have you come from?" But she said nothing, but wept. Then Shêr-Bek made Dälli dismount from his horse and let her sit on it. Then he gave her water to drink and, as she made the gesture of eating, bread to eat. Then the girl spoke and asked him, "Where are you from?" "I am Shêr-Bek, the prince of the Shêrwa". "And you, where are you from?" one asked. "I am the sister of Ose, the Kurdish chief; so and so my brother's wife has done to me; but my brother's wife is the daughter of Ibrahîm-Agha, the lord of Bitlis". Then they asked her, "Have you no husband?" "No", she replied, "or a fiancé?" "No." "Are you still a virgin?" "Yes." So they took her and came to Shêr-Bek's castle. Dälli claimed: "She is mine". But Shêr-Bek answered, "Go on, how will I give her to you in marriage? she is mine in any case!" Shêr-Bek married her, and at the wedding it transpired that she was still a virgin. -

Some time later Ose set out and went to the cave, but when he found no one, he inquired of the shepherds; they said they had not seen them. Then he came upon a fox, which fled and called from the top of a hill, "Hollah!" Ose stopped. "Your sister, whom you seek, has taken Shêr-Bek away". As a result, Ose went to Shêr-Bek and entered his reception room; there he sat down. Thereupon the table-leather was drawn up and the evening meal was set before the guests. But Ose said to Shêr-Bek, "Shêr-Bek!" "Yes!" "Did you find a woman in the cave?" "Yes," he replied. "Where is she then?" "She is with me, I have married her". "May it be a blessing to you, but by your love for God, tell me, was she a virgin or not?" "She was a virgin". Then Ose wept; but Shêr-Bek asked; "Why do you weep?" "She is my sister," he answered. Then Shêr-Bek got up, took him by the arm, and led him into the room of the 'Amsche: the two looked at each other and wept; then they kissed each other, and Ose said, "It does not matter; you have come as into your own house, since you have been taken into the house of the Bek." Shêr-Bek gave Ose the mare clothed in silver and gold and a garment of honour. Ose mounted his horse, came home, killed his wife and loaded up all his household goods; with them he went to Shêr-Bek's castle and lived there with his sister.

CHAPTER III

Once upon a time in Diârbekr there was a government official named Aḥmed-Kaḥja. But the government of Diârbekr was slack at that time. There also lived a man named Imâm-Agha, who had seven sons and one daughter. Then Aḥmed-Kaḥja sent his servant to the house of Imâm-Agha and said to him, "Let me take your daughter Ḥalîme as my wife. The servant went to the house of Imâm-Agha and presented the letter to him. Ḥalîme was called into the reception room, and her father and brothers said to her: "Aḥmed-Kaḥja wants to marry you. But she reviled him and his servant. When the latter returned to his master, the latter asked, "Well, what have you been answered?" "Sir", said the servant, "they have reviled you and me". - Meanwhile, the government of Diârbekr had become strict. But Aḥmed-Kaḥja mounted his horse and took twenty soldiers with him; with them he went to the dwelling of Imâm-Agha and had his seven sons seized. Then he had them put among the soldiers. Imâm-Agha, his wife and Ḥalîme remained alone at home and wept. Then Ḥalîme went, put on her ceremonial clothes, took the big white cloak around her and came to Diârbekr; there she entered the judge's house, weeping. "Why are you crying?" asked the judge. She answered: "Aḥmed-Kaḥja has sent to my father for my sake; and because I have not taken him as my husband, he has put my seven brothers among the soldiers". "What shall I do?" said that one, "I have nothing to say". Then Ḥalîme got up and went to Ḥassan-Agha, the lord of Serekîje; she entered his reception room while it was full of people and wept there. "Why are you crying?" he asked. "Aḥmed-Kaḥja, because I did not take him as my husband, has put my seven brothers among the soldiers." "What shall I do?" he replied, "I have nothing to say in this matter." So she went round to all the respectable gentlemen, but none of them was able to free her brothers. At last she was advised: "Go to Färcho of the house of 'Aeſêr-Agha; he is a brave man and takes on the government. She travelled to Färcho in the city of Dêreke, asked for his house and went to his castle. When she entered Färcho's room, where he was sitting alone, she approached him to greet him; then she withdrew again. "What do you want? Lord," she answered, "may you be well; I have come to you," (she wept as she said this) "because Aḥmed-Kaḥja, because I did not take him as my husband, has had my seven brothers seized and put among the soldiers." "Whose daughter are you?" he asked. "Of the Imâm-Agha." Then Färcho became angry, his eyes reddened with rage; he seized his pipe and smashed it. Thereupon he called out to his body servant 'Amer, "Come"! "What is it? Sir." "We want to go to Diârbekr to free the brothers of the Ḥalîme; but if Aḥmed-Kaḥja does not release them, we will wage war against the city of Diârbekr". Then they gathered soldiers and went to Diârbekr; when they arrived there, Färcho left his soldiers outside the gate and went in with two servants. When they came to the castle, they asked for Aḥmed-Kaḥja: "Where is he?" "There," they replied. Then Farcho went in to him; but Aḥmed-Kaḥja got down from his seat and let Farcho climb up on it. Färcho sat down; coffee was brought and they drank; then food was brought; but Färcho would not measure any of it. Then Aḥmed-Kaḥja asked, "Why don't you eat?" "I don't like to eat," he replied. "Why not?" "If you release the seven brothers of the Ḥalîme, I will eat; if not, I may not eat". "I cannot release them". "Will you not release them?" "No." Then Farcho drew his sabre and struck the Aḥmed- Kaḥja; but the latter fled, and only struck his shoulder; he went away crying: whereupon Farcho sent one of his servants to fetch the soldiers and have them march in. But Farcho himself, sabre in hand, descended the stairs into the courtyard of the government building, stood at the entrance of the prison, and with his sabre slew the keeper of the prison. Then he let out all the prisoners, as many as were in the prison, and set them at liberty. Then his soldiers came and asked Färcho, "What do you demand of us?" "I ask nothing more," he answered, "but take these seven, the brothers of the Ḥalîme, with you."; Then Farcho went home with his soldiers. But on the way he met his youngest son; he had gathered a band of boys and had gone out after his father. "My dear," his father asked him, "where are you going?" "I have followed you," he replied. "Turn back," he said to his son, "I have already brought the seven brothers of the Ḥalîme with me." When they had come home and dismounted, the eldest brother of the Ḥalîme went to kiss Farcho's hand and said, "Lord, I give you the Ḥalîme, make her your slave." "That will not do," replied Färcho; "since I have acted according to justice and equity, I do not want people to say that Färcho has done so because of a woman; but you go back home and dwell there in peace; however, any oppression on the part of the Turks be my affair." Then Farcho's name became world-famous.

CHAPTER IV

Once upon a time, two people loved each other. The relatives said to the girl: "We want to marry you into the family of Ḥaji-Bek". She replied: "I don't like anyone else but the one I love". But they refused to give her as a wife to the young man, the Ssêfdîn-Agha. However, the two did not let go of each other. Then a governor came to their region, namely to the house of Ḥadji-Bek. His people said to the governor: "This Ssêfdîn-Agha is liable to military service, put him among the soldiers". The governor did so and put him among the conscripts in a house, at the door of which were sentinels. But Ssêfdîn-Agha had a dagger with him; once he went out to satisfy a need and escaped; when the soldiers pursued him, he killed six of them with his dagger; but they seized him and put him again among the consigned. Then Särîfe (that was his lover's name) went to the governor and said, "Governor!" "What is it?" "I demand of thee, and beseech thee, that thou release Ssêfdîn-Agha." "That is not possible," replied the latter, "for he has killed six men." She said: "I will give you half a bushel of gold pieces as a gift in return". "It is not possible," he replied. - Then the governor set out with his soldiers and let the consignees go with them, and so they travelled from town to town. Särîfe, however, went with them, and in every town where she came, she pleaded with the respective governor, but she did not succeed with her pleas until they reached Kars on the border of the Russians. There they went to the chief governor, who is directly under the command of the Sultan. But Särîfe crept in among the consignees and said to Ssêfdîn-Agha: "Give me your clothes and take mine. Ssêfdîn-Agha exchanged his clothes with her; he put on women's clothes and she put on soldiers' clothes. She instructed him: "Go to the city, rent a house and live in it until we see how things turn out". He then went and rented a house near the government palace. Weli-Pasha (the chief governor) said to Kerîm-Pasha, the chiefs and captains, "Bring in the new soldiers and train them. Then they brought them in, and among them were soldiers in uniform; each non-commissioned officer took ten and trained them, while Weli-Pasha inspected the soldiers and the training of the recruits. The sergeant, however, who had Särîfe under him, gave her many blows, for he did not know that she was a woman; when the soldiers put their right foot forward, Särîfe put her left foot forward and made mistakes in the exercise. Then the constable said to the captains, "Come and see; this man does not want to learn anything. The captains told the chiefs, who also came and looked, and while Weli-Pasha was inspecting, the chiefs went upon the girl and struck her violently with the flat of the blade; then she took hold of her breast and bared it; so she went up to the chief constable's seat and cried, "Pardon me, sir, I am a woman," pointing to her breast. Then Weli-Pasha became angry and wanted to have the heads of five governors cut off, saying, "Do you now also put the women among the soldiers!" But she said: "No, my lord, I will tell you, give me permission to do so". "Speak," he ordered. She told him: "I had a fiancé who was not liable to military service, but whom the people of the village brought among the soldiers. Then I begged the governors; but they did not let him go; I, however, did not let go of him, and came hither with him, and stood in his place." "Where is he?" asked the Pasha. "He lives here," she answered. "Call him," he commanded; "if he is handsome, like you, I will set him free; but if he is ugly, I will put him among the soldiers." "So be it," she replied, and called him. He put on his clothes and went before the governor, who looked at him and said: "Of course, he is a handsome young man; he is suitable for a soldier, but I have given him to you as a gift. Then she kissed the governor's hand and said: "O Lord, I still have a request to you that you issue me a note and press the seal of the government on it, so that no one may seize him again. So he wrote her the ticket and gave it to her, and she returned home and they married each other.

CHAPTER V

Once upon a time there was a governor of Diârbekr who had a daughter, and the son of the governor of Baghdad was courting her. One day the governor's daughter said she wanted to go into the garden. She went there to amuse herself, for she had arranged it with the magistrate's son; he also came into the garden, and when he had met the governor's daughter, they sat down together; but he jested with her and attended her. Then she returned home. When a year had passed, the people of the governor of Baghdad came to fetch her for his son; they brought soldiers and a palanquin, and in the palanquin they put her and one of her slaves. On the way, the princess went into labour. "I am in pain," she said to her slave. "Where?" she asked. "In my belly and on my hips," she answered. The servant said to her, "You are not pregnant, are you?" "I don't know." "Just say so, there is no one here". "Come, fill me", the bride begged. "Yes, you are pregnant," said the servant, "you are about to give birth and disgrace us with the people." "What shall we begin?" asked the governor's daughter. Then the slave girl called out to the servants who were leading the palanquin. "What is it?" they asked. "Stop," she said, "so that the princess can get down a little to do something. They let them stop, and the princess got down together with her slave; they went into the grass, which was a cubit high. The servant rubbed her mistress's back, and she gave birth to a little daughter. But they returned immediately, got into the palanquin and travelled on; they left the girl in the grass. "Go on," said the slave girl to the servants; but the princess said to her: "Now give me good advice. "Rely on God and on me," answered the servant. So they reached a village and got down; the servants asked the slave girl: "Girl". "Yes." "What do you want to eat?" "Bring us a black chicken and fetch us bread, we want to slaughter the chicken ourselves already". So they fetched her what she wanted; the slave slaughtered the chicken and put its blood in a little bottle. So they travelled on and reached Baghdad; and the whole city, men, women and children, set out together to watch their entry; cannon shots were discharged at the arrival of the bride of the son of their governor. When she had made her entrance, she was taken into a room with her slave, who said to her mistress: "When the prince comes to enter into his conjugal rights, put your cloth under you and sprinkle on it one drop of blood after another; then your husband will say nothing and will not disgrace you. When night came, the prince came to his bride; they drank and amused themselves; but she made the prince drunk with brandy. As he was about to enter into his matrimonial rights, she put the cloth under her; and after the marriage it was all full of drops of blood. The prince looked at the cloth and saw that there was blood on it, so he kissed his wife, who asked her husband: "Give the slave a great gift, for she has worked very hard for me. This he did, and then went out of the room to his father and announced to him, "Father, I am now really married." "Thank God, my son," he replied; then they fired cannons and rejoiced. But the slave girl showed the cloth to the governor's wives, and they also gave her a present.

Now a cowherd was grazing his cattle in the mountains, and he found a little girl who cried out; he put her in his satchel and gave her cow's milk to drink until evening; then he came home and said to his wife, "Wife". "What is it?" "I have found us a little daughter." "Where?" she asked. "On the mountain," he answered. "She will perhaps have relatives," said she. "Fear not," he said, and pulled the girl out of her satchel. Then she rejoiced greatly: for they had no children; but when she washed it in the baking-trough, the whole surface of the water in it was covered with silver and gold. Then the shepherd and his wife rejoiced, and gathered the silver and gold together, and the shepherd sold it for ten thousand piastres; and every week once she bathed the child, and every week the shepherd sold gold and silver for ten thousand piastres, so that he soon made a greater house than the governor, and it was said, "God hath given riches unto the shepherd." But the shepherd became a merchant, and his daughter grew up; her locks were alternately one of silver and the other of gold, as there is nothing more beautiful in the world. Therefore the minister's son said, "I want only the shepherd's daughter for my wife, no other." "Fine," they said, for the shepherd had become a merchant. The shepherd's daughter was freed from the minister's son and brought home to him.

But she used to visit her father, the shepherd. Then the people asked her, "Who is your father?" She answered, "The cowherd." "No", they said, "he is not your father". "But who is?" she asked. They answered: "He found you in the mountains". When the girl heard this, she collapsed dead of rage. As a result, the minister's son killed some of the town's inhabitants with his sword. "Why do you do this?" they asked him. He answered: "You told my wife that the shepherd was not her father". "They offered him another wife, but he replied, "Far be it from me to marry another after the death of that wife. Then he became a dervish and went out into the world. On his journey he reached Baghdad and came to the window of the governor's daughter-in-law; there he beat the hand drum and wept. The governor's daughter-in-law listened and asked him, "Dervish, why are you crying?" He replied, "My grief is great". Then he wept and sang a poem about the story of the girl whom the shepherd had found and brought up; how she had then become beautiful, and how the minister's son had cried for her, and how they had spoken to her in such and such a way, and she had died; "but I," he said, "am this minister's son." At this he wept on and on, singing this story to the daughter-in-law of the governor of Baghdad, the girl's mother. Then she too began to weep, called to the dervish and took him as her servant. "O mistress," he said once. "What is it? Dervish," she asked. He replied, "Your face and figure are much like my wife's"; then he wept and said, "O wife, as long as I remain alive, I will not depart from you, but console myself with the sight of you". "Dervish," said the woman. "What is it?" he asked. "But tell no one". "No". "That one was my daughter". So she told the dervish everything and he remained her servant forever.

CHAPTER VI

Once upon a time there was a minister who had neither wife, nor father, nor mother. There was also a widow who lived there, she was beautiful. She had relatives, and the minister used to visit her and attend her; then she became pregnant. When her time approached, she no longer went out of the house out of shame in front of the people. She gave birth to a son, put him in a box and put a piece of sugar in his mouth; then she closed the box. Her village was near the sea, so she took the box and threw it into the sea; the box swam away and disappeared from her sight. Then a merchant came sailing along on the sea; he was sitting on the steamboat and was smoking a cigarette. Suddenly he said to one of the skippers: "Skipper!" "Yes!" "Go into the water and swim; there's a box, get it for me!" The skipper and two others went down into the sea; they swam and floated the box with the ocean waves in front of them; when they had brought it to the steamship, they took hold of it and climbed up. "Why do you want to open it?" asked the merchant; "I'll buy it from you unopened". So the merchant bought them by good luck for ten bags: but he did not open them either, but put them among his bales of goods. Then he came home, and as he had finished his most urgent business in the course of a week, his wife said to him: "Man!" "Yes!" "What have you brought us in this box?" "By God," he answered, "I know not what it is; I bought it of the mariner for ten pouches; bring it, and we will open it." She fetched it to open it; but however they began, the box would not open. Then he said, "Leave the box there until tomorrow; then I will have a key made for it". They put it down and left it there, but while they were still talking, the little child began to cry. Now the merchant and his wife had no son, but five daughters. When the little girl wept, they rejoiced and said, "O God, perhaps it is a little girl. Each of their daughters vowed a vow to the Mother of God, each a gold piece. That night they did not sleep until morning. When morning came, they said to the merchant, "Go, have a key made for the box". So the merchant went to the market and had a key made. He brought it, put it in the box and opened it, and it turned out that there was a boy inside with a lump of sugar in his hand. They were very happy, and the whole town heard that the merchant had found a little boy. So they brought up the boy year after year until he was twenty years old. Then the prince of the town died, and the inhabitants of the town asked each other whom they should make prince; they said, "We will make no one of our town prince, but the boy whom the merchant has found". So they made him prince over the city, and as such he ruled admirably; he freed the city from taxes, and when soldiers came, he quartered them in the inns (and not with the citizens), and behaved well. Then the prince was given a wife, the daughter of the magistrate.

Four years passed, and she conceived and gave birth to a daughter. But the people of the town cried out: "Oh, what a pity, if only a son had been born to our prince! Meanwhile, the girl grew up and became very beautiful. She fell in love with the cowherd's son, and every day when she got up from sleep she took food with her and went to the cowherd's house. Then the people and her mother and father asked her, "What are you going to the cowherd's house for?" She answered: "I'm going to listen, because the cowherd is playing something for us on the flute. But she said to her father: "I will never marry anyone but the cowherd's son. Then her father scolded her and beat her, saying, "Who am I and who is the cowherd?" "As you wish," she said. One day she called out to the cowherd's son, "Come, take me away to Abu Sêd, the chief of the Hilâl; he is a brave man". The cowherd's son set out and carried off the prince's daughter; then he travelled with her to Abu Sêd, the chief of the Hilâl; he and the girl went under the tent before Abu Sêd; then they kissed his hand and stepped back again. Abu Sêd looked at them and asked, "Who and what are you?" They replied, "We are guests." "At your service; sit down!" So they sat down, and the table-leather was drawn before them: the youth ate; but the girl said, "I do not like to eat." "Why will you not eat?" asked Abu Sêd. "Because." "It is not possible," said Abu Sêd. "I will tell thee," she replied, "if thou wilt, I will eat; if not, I will not eat." "Speak, thy cause is with God and with me". Then she said: "I fell in love with the son of the cowherd, but my father would not give me to him as a wife; so he kidnapped me, and so I came with him to you. Then Abu Sêd gnashed his teeth and said: "Eat and have no fear, your father's consent is my business". Then she dined with the others and they lay down to sleep. Then Abu Sêd called the clergyman and had the girl married to the son of the cowherd; then he gave him a tent, and gathered him from each family an ox, a sheep, and a camel, and gave them to him; then the son of the cowherd dwelt with them. -

Meanwhile the prince's family, the girl's relatives, heard of it; in consequence of which the prince set out with his counsellors, mounted their horses, and rode to Abu Sêd. They reached the tents and inquired about the tent of Abu Sêd: the merchant, the prince's father, had also come along. Then they entered under the tent of Abu Sêd and sat down; supper and coffee were brought to them, as is the custom of the world; they dined, and the table-leather was carried away. Then the council of Abu Sêd assembled, and those talked with him. Then Abu Sêd asked, "What is your wish?" "O Abu Sêd," answered those, "our prince had a daughter, and she has let herself be carried off by the cowherd's son, and has come into your domain, and we do not like that." "She is with me, she and he," replied Abu Sêd. "Then we demand that you hand her over to us". "No, that is not possible". "Yes indeed it is possible". "Sleep till tomorrow", he said. So they slept until the following day, then they said, "Quick, hand them over to us". Abu Sêd, however, had the prince and his companions led out and ordered them to be stapled and hanged.

Then the Sultan heard that Abu Sêd had done so; so he gathered an army and went against him; they fought with each other, but Abu Sêd defeated the Sultan's army; then he sent a message to the Sultan, saying, "Bring only soldiers; as many as you bring, I may perish, if I do not put an end to the kingdom of Islam". Then the Sultan sent him a letter with kind words: "I demand of you, who are like my son, that you do not transgress our orders and remain outside for a year without ruling over the Hilâl, and that this year another rule over you in your place; then return again under the Hilâl". Abu Sêd granted the request, appointed another as chief, and said to his wife, "I will go into the wide world; pitch your tent outside on your right hand, and set it on a pillar". Abu Sêd had no sons, but his wife was pregnant without anyone knowing it. Abu Sêd then went away to the south and passed a Bedouin tent settlement. After travelling for five or six days, he found a settlement of about two hundred tents. He went up to them and asked for the dwelling of the chief Shêch Ghânim. Thereupon he stayed with them as a guest, and they did him honour and entertained him. When he had stayed with them for three days, the Bedouins of Shêch Ghânim quarreled with the 'Aenĕſe, whose leader was called Ssifûk; so the people of Shêch Ghânim set out to fight the 'Aenĕſe. When Abu Sêd saw this, his eyes reddened with fury; he gnashed his teeth and put on his armour. No one stayed in the tents; the men went off to battle and the women went to watch. Abu Sêd mounted his mare Werdăke, which was worth a thousand chests of money, and rode to the battlefield. There he brandished his lance with his hand and surveyed the situation. He saw the 'Aenĕſe all without caps, and rushed upon them and defeated them; three thousand and one he slew, until he came upon Ssifûk. Then Abu Sêd and Ssifûk faced each other with their lances; but Abu Sêd spurred Werdăke with the stirrup and called out to Ssifûk, "May your father be damned, I am Abu Sêd, the father of the Färḥa and the chief of the Hilâl." Immediately Ssifûk dismounted from his mare, made a bow to the ground and kissed the foot of Abu Sêd: but the latter let Ssifûk mount and took him to Shêch Ghânim. When the people of Shêch Ghânim heard that this was Abu Sêd, they rejoiced greatly as he came near and brought Ssifûk with him; and men and women looked at Abu Sêd and Ssifûk: the women gave a shout of joy; twenty came from this side and twenty from that side, and took hold of Abu Sêd, lifted him from his horse, and led him in. Then he said, "Bring Ssifûk before me!" They brought him in to him. Then the council of Shaykh Ghânim gathered, and there was no way left to the tent before the crowd of people; whoever came went to kiss Abu Sêd. In short, the day passed, the people dispersed; but Abu Sêd made Ssifûk and Shêch Ghânim kiss each other and make friends. - After Ssifûk had returned to the 'Aenĕſe, Shêch Ghânim said to Abu Sêd: "I have three daughters, marry whichever of them you wish; one of them has a husband, and two are unmarried and still at home". Then Abu Sêd looked at the three and said, "I will have this one, the youngest". They entrusted her to him, and he had six sons by her, whose names were: Ḥosein, Ḥasan, 'Ali, 'Amer, Mûsa and Muḥammed. - Then Abu Sêd mounted his horse and took his sons and his wife, each of them on a horse, and went home. There his first wife gave birth to a son named 'Aelâu. The Hilâl rejoiced that Abu Sêd had returned and had six sons, and here also one, that is, seven sons; but they trembled for fear of his violence and went out to meet him with flutes and timbrels. - Then Abu Sêd approached and descended with his sons at the tent; the government was again put into his hands. He stayed at home for a month; then he mounted his horse with his seven sons and travelled to the Sultan. The Sultan hung five medals on Abu Sêd and one on each of his sons. He then returned to his homeland.

CHAPTER VII

Abu Sêd was chief of the Hilâl, Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai chief of the Ṭai. Once three sorceresses came to Abu Sêd, and he set food and drink before them, and gave ten bags to each, saying, "Whom have you seen who would be more generous than I?" Two of them said nothing; but the third said, "Give me leave (to speak)." "You have," he said, "speak." She said: "Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai is more generous than you". "O woe, this is wonderful, for I am Abu Sêd, the chief of the Hilâl, and they tell me there is another who is better than I! put the three of them in a chamber; I will go to find out whether their speech is true; if it is a lie, I will have the sorceresses' heads cut off; but if it is true, give them the treasures of the whole world." Abu Sêd disguised himself as a dervish, hung his sword around his shoulder and travelled around the world. He inquired of the Ṭai Bedouins and came to their tents. When evening came, the servants of Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai rushed into the camp and left no one in it whom they did not lead to Ḥêtim's table; they also met the dervish and called out, "Dervish!" "What is it?" "Up, come to the table, to eat!" "I don't want to come," he replied. "Why?" "Because." The servants went and told Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai: "Sir, there is a dervish who does not want to come to the table". Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai put on his boots and went to seek out the dervish. "Dervish!" he called out. "What is it?" "Come to the table". "I may not come". "What is your intention in heart?" asked the chief. He answered, "If you give me your wife, I will come; if not, I will not come". "Get up," said the chief; "I give you my wife; the table is ready, it would be a sin not to give food to someone". Then the dervish got up and went along; Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai did him honour and entertained him; then the dervish lay down to sleep in Ḥêtim's tent. Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai, however, went to his wives; there he stuffed one pipe after another, smoked it and knocked it out again without speaking. His wife said, "Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai!" "Yes!" "Why are you like this?" "Like what?" "You're not saying anything". "What shall I say?" he replied, "there is a dervish who would not come to the table: I said to him" "'what do you want? come to the table', he answered: 'your wife I want!' 'Get up', I said to him, 'I will give her to you'; I am thinking about that". "'That has nothing to say,' she replied. Early in the morning the dervish got up and after breakfast he demanded of Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai that he now give him the woman. He then took her with him a day's journey away. When the sun set, they camped in the mountains and both lay down to sleep; but he put his sword between himself and the woman until daylight. - Then he came to the tents of his tribe, assigned her a special tent to live in, and stayed at home.

But one day he arose and let his leaders go with him and rode with them to the ruin of Ssärval; from there he sent messengers to Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai and told him to come, "we will make brotherhood, tell him: Abu Sêd has said so". Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai came with his leaders and they met at the ruin of Ssärval. Abu Sêd said to Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai, "Come home with us". "Up!" replied the latter. So he rode to the abode of Abu Sêd and the latter had a hundred rams slaughtered for him to prepare a meal. Early in the morning Abu Sêd said to Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai: "Brother, I have nothing at all to give you; I will give you my sister as a wife. "Fine," said the latter. That very morning he gave him the sister; Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai took her away with him and came home with her. Now when night came and he did not lie down to sleep with her, she asked the Ḥêtim-eṭ-ṭai, "Why do you not sleep with me?" "That is why," he replied; for he had not recognised his wife, and that is why he spoke thus. She asked, "Why did you lie to my brother, (you wanted to marry me)?" "Therefore." "Stand up", she said, "do not be afraid, I am your wife". Then he looked at her and became thoughtful. "Do you not feel a tug of your heart?" she asked him. "No." "Then what sign did you have on your wife?" "I once," he said, "put the point of my sword on her breast." "There," she said. "Indeed," he cried, and lay down by her. - She bore a son. - To this son he said, "You shall one day rule over the Ṭai." As soon as the son had grown to manhood, he disgraced every manly girl of his tribe. Then all his tribesmen came together to his father's house and said: "We don't put up with these things". "How so?" the latter asked. "Your son," they answered, "dishonours the girls of the tribe. - Then they drove him away with his father, and the two of them went out into the wide world. The Ṭaijites, however, saw another chief.

CHAPTER VIII

Once upon a time there was a father who had twelve sons, but he loved the youngest more than all the others; his name was Jûsef, and he was not allowed to do any work, but to remain idle. But his brothers were angry with him, and when they went to cut the harvest, they said: "Little father! "Yes!" "Send us food through Jûsef". "Yes," replied the latter. Then they went to harvest, and Jûsef, riding on a camel, brought them bread. In the meantime the other sons were talking among themselves; some said, "How now?" others, "When Jûsef comes, we will throw him into the cistern; why does our father love him more than us?" "So it shall be done," they said. So when he came near and was dismounted, they seized him and cast him into the cistern. Towards evening they came home, and their father asked, "Where is Jûsef?" "We have not seen him," they replied, "yet he has taken food for you and gone to you." "He has gone back home," they said. "I have not seen him," said his father. Then he cried day and night. "You killed him," he said. "No, we didn't kill him," they swore to their father, but he kept crying.

Meanwhile, a merchant came and camped by the cistern; his servants wanted to draw water, but Jûsef caught hold of the well rope. The servants told the merchant that there was someone in the cistern; they let down ropes for him and Jûsef tied them around his waist; then they pulled him up and brought him out. Then they asked him, "Why are you in the cistern?" "My brothers threw me into it," he replied. Since the boy was beautiful, the merchant took him with him and came with him to Egypt; even there the boy stayed with him, and the merchant gave him clothes and loved him. When the king of Egypt saw the boy, he asked the merchant, "Where did this boy come from?" "I pulled him out of the cistern," he replied. "Sell him to me," he asked. "As you command, I will sell him to you". "Make a demand!" said the king. "Five thousand bags." So the king bought him and took him into his house. Soon the king became very fond of Jûsef, so that he made him overseer of all his house, the keys, the treasure, and the food and drink. - But the king had a wife whose like there was not; she fell in love with Jûsef, but he never spoke to her; but every time the queen saw Jûsef, she said to him, "Come, sleep with me". When the queen spoke thus, Jûsef said, "No," but he did not tell the king. - One day the king went out to enjoy himself, and Jûsef with him. Then he said to him, "Go home and get us some wine, so that we may be merry". And Jûsef came home, and filled a great bottle with wine, and went in to the woman to fetch the king's pipe out of her room: and she shut the doors behind him, and as he was about to flee, she cried aloud, and caught him by the back of his shirt, and it rent. And Jûsef burst open the doors, and fled away. He went to the king, but said nothing to him; they sat together, drank and were merry; then they returned home. Then the queen wrote a letter to the king, who read it and shook his head. Then the Bat gathered, and the king cried, "Jûsef!" "Yes!" "Why have you acted thus, my son?" "Have I failed?" said the latter, "ask!" Then the woman was ordered to come into the assembly and asked, "Woman, what is your claim?" "Jûsef has stretched out his hand to me". Jûsef answered: "If I had stretched out my hand to her, the shirt would not have been torn here; but it is torn here from behind". The king looked at it and realised that this statement was a lie, but it was not right for him to expose his wife, so he had Jûsef thrown into prison for seven years.

In the prison there was a butcher and a baker; the latter once said to Jûsef: "I dreamt that I was carrying bread around". "They will let you out," replied Jûsef, and the baker was indeed let out of prison. But the butcher said: "Jûsef!" "Yes!" "I had a dream" "May he be happy, what was it like?" "I dreamt that I was carrying meat around," he replied. "Then they will kill you," said Jûsef; and indeed they called the butcher, led him out, and executed him. - Then the king said, "I have had a dream," but no one could explain it to him; only the baker said to the king, "Jûsef knows about dreams. So they called him, took him to the barber and had him shaved, then they took him to the baths, had him bathed, dressed him in beautiful clothes and led him to the audience. The king said: "Jûsef!" "Yes!" "I dreamed I had a lot of grain." "O king", said Jûsef, "fill your barns, for seven years buy wheat; for there will be a famine". So the king bought wheat and stored it in the barns, and made Jûsef the chief overseer of them. Soon after, the king died and Jûsef was made king. When he was king, a year of famine came upon Jûsef's homeland, so his brothers set out, mounted their camels and travelled to Egypt to buy wheat. When Jûsef came down from the castle to sell them wheat, he recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him. So he put his cup into the sack of grain of his elder brother of the same mother. They loaded up and went out to the city. Then Jûsef sent his servants after them and had them brought back. They asked: "What do you want? O king". "You have stolen my cup," he said. "No, by God, we have not done so," they replied. Then he said, "Pour out their sacks, that we may search them". They obeyed, and the cup was found in the sack of his brother in the flesh. They packed his brother's sack and left. When they came home, their father asked, "Where is Ja'qûb?" They answered, "He has stolen the king's cup; therefore they have arrested him." "So you have killed this one too, like Jûsef," cried the father. "He is with the king," they answered. Then their father sent word to the king: "I beg you to release Ja'qûb". But the king had him answer, "Let them come and bring their household here". Then Jûsef called out to the Ja'qûb, "Ja'qûb!" "Yes!" "I am Jûsef!" "You are Jûsef?" "Yes!" Then they kissed each other and wept. As they sat there, their family and the whole household came to Jûsef's court. His father, however, was blinded by the fact that he had cried so much. Now Jûsef went down to meet them. The father said: "O God, this is the smell of Jûsef that comes to my nose". Then his eyes were opened. But Jûsef said: "Father, I am Jûsef". They settled there; but Jûsef was king, and his brothers served him.

CHAPTER IX

Once upon a time there was a man who had neither mother nor father; but he had much money, his name was Ḥosein the Hunter; for every day he went hunting. People advised him to marry, but he said, "I don't like to marry". Then his uncle had a daughter, and as soon as she was born he took her and carried her home. There he had her brought up by giving her to a nurse. When the girl had grown up and become manly, he called the Molla and had her married. Then he met a black slave and said to him, "Won't you stay with me as a servant?" "Yes," he replied, "for how much a month?" "Three hundred piastres." "Fine." So the black man stayed. But while Ḥosein was hunting, the black man slept with his wife. She then gave birth to a black child, and as a result Ḥosein killed her, threw the black man out of the house and remained alone with the boy. When the boy grew up, he had him married off. The boy tended the fruit orchard; when he came home one evening, he found his own wife in the old man's embrace. He took up his sword and killed the old man and his wife. Thereupon his name became world-famous, he was called Kander, Kander with the horn. The council did not assemble without him, for he possessed much and countless property. Then they said to him, "O Kander!" "Yes!" "For thee the daughter of the King of Persia fits." "Where is she?" he asked. "In the Persian land," they answered him. Then he met a dervish; "Dervish," he cried. "Yes, sir." "Where do you want to go?" he asked. "I want to go to the land of the Persians," replied the latter. "If I give thee a letter, wilt thou deliver it?" "Certainly." "I will also reward you for it," said Kander. "Fine," replied the latter. Then he wrote a letter, put his name under it and sealed it with his seal. "Give this letter," he said, "to the daughter of the King of Persia." "Beautiful," he said. "From my hand into your hand and directly into her hand". "Fine", said the dervish and went away. When he had come to Persia, he inquired about the whereabouts of the King of Persia, and was told: "There in the city of Shât-u-Ben'ât is his palace". So the dervish left and came to that city. He inquired about the palace. Having come to it, he went in and asked, "Where is the king's daughter?" "In the room of the upper floor," they answered him; "why (do you want to see her)?" "I have come from the pilgrimage," replied the latter, "and have brought her a greeting from the (spiritual) shêch of the place of pilgrimage." "There is the princess," they said. As he climbed up and came to the door, he saw two servants, her bodyguards, sitting in front of it. "Where to?" they asked; but the people in the court shouted, "Let him go in to our mistress." He entered and greeted her. "Come closer, dervish!" she said. Then he took out the letter and handed it to her. When she had read it, she kissed it and placed it on her head. "Dervish!" she cried, "Yes!" "Don't go away, you don't have permission to do that. Then she called to her servant. "'Osmân!" "Yes!" "Put bread before the dervish that he may eat, and you dervish eat and stay with me". "Fine," he replied, went and ate. But she wrote a letter saying: "Kander, become my husband and come and kidnap me". When she had written the letter, she took off the ring of gold and precious stones, put it in the letter, folded it up, called to the dervish and told him, handing it to him: "Then the dervish took the letter with him and set out on his way to Môçul, where he met Kander. He stepped in front of him, crossing his arms over his chest. "Welcome, O dervish," he said, "erzäle!" Then he pulled out the letter and gave it to Kander. Kander read it, kissed it, and put it on his head; then the king appeared in the letter; Kander looked at it and laughed; then he kissed it and put it on his finger. Now Kander set out and mounted his horse; he also took the dervish with him and made him mount his horse. So they travelled and reached the town of Shât-u-Ben'ât. They settled in a tree-garden and rented it from the gardener, telling him not to let anyone into the garden on that day. The gardener agreed. Then Kander sent the dervish with the order: "Go, call my mistress, tell her to visit the garden today to enjoy herself. Kander is sitting in the garden, waiting for you". The dervish went, but he had to use force to make them let him in to the princess; but she cried from within, "Let the dervish come in to me only; otherwise I will have your head cut off." When the dervish had come before her, she addressed him, "Well? Dervish!" "Up!" said the latter, "Kander is sitting in the garden waiting for you." "Go," she replied, "I will appear in a moment. Then the princess called her servant and said to her: "Make us buttered rolls and baqlâwa and other food and fill a bottle with brandy; we will go out into the garden to enjoy ourselves". Accompanied by her servant, she went into the garden and saw Kander sitting there with the dervish. Then the princess and her servant came nearer, sat down with them, ate and drank, and had a great time with them. "Dervish," said Kander. "Yes!" "Here take money, go, buy us two more horses". The dervish did so, and brought the horses; and when they had got ready, they mounted, Kander and the dervish each on his horse, and the princess with her servant each on a horse, and rode away; and when they had travelled five days, there was tumult in the city and among the Persians. They asked, "What is it?" "The king's daughter has been kidnapped," they said. The king, accompanied by soldiers, got on horseback and pursued them; they hurried after them and caught up with them. Then Kander got into a fight with the soldiers, and while the princess and her servant went on to Môçul, Kander and the dervish stayed behind and fought. Kander killed four thousand of the Persian soldiers, but they took the dervish and killed him, saying, "This is the one who took the woman. But Kander went on and caught up with the princess and her servant. Then he reached home and lived there. He arranged a wedding feast with merrymaking and dancing, and the Molla married her to him. Then the people of the town came and said: "God, how wonderfully beautiful she is! But Kander stayed at home and ruled over the city.

CHAPTER X

Once upon a time, a man and a woman remained childless for a long time, so God gave them two sons; they named the elder Kander and the younger Jäninâr. Their father died when they were young; but their mother brought them up, begging here and there to provide food for them until they grew up. When they grew up and became older, she provided them with a place with the people as shepherds; for one or two years they grazed the goats; but once at night they talked to each other and said, "This no longer suits us; we want to go into the wide world, each for himself, so that we can see what we bring back". - Early in the morning they set out and got ready; but their mother, crying, asked, "My children, where are you going, and what am I to do here alone?" "Fear not," they answered, "we will travel and return." Then they took leave of each other and kissed each other; but Kander went in the direction of the south and Jäninâr in the direction of the east. Kander came to a town and saw a woman at the well. She called to him: "Heda! Man!" "Yes!" "Won't you stay here as a servant?" Kander looked at her; she was a beautiful woman. "Where then?" he asked. "With me," she answered, "who are you?" "I am the daughter of the prince of the city," she replied. "Whom have you in your house?" he asked. "I have no one left, my husband has died, and I have only one daughter." "I will come," he said. So he went home with her and stayed with her. Then he asked her, "What is the business you want me to do?" She answered, "Nothing, but that you go and water the tree-gardens, and then come home again; that shall be your work." "Fine," he replied. From then on, Kander went to water the gardens every day and returned. Then the people came to free this woman's daughter; she said, "she is still too young"; but Kander advised her, "Marry her, that we may have peace from her." They married her off, and Kander remained alone with the woman; he went every day to water the gardens and then came home again. But once in the evening the woman made a delicious supper, and when Kander said, "Lay food for us, that we may have supper," she replied, "No, this night we will make a wager together, I and you." "What kind of wager shall it be?" "We want to drink brandy," she answered, "and if you get drunk, I will put a stamp on you; but if I get drunk, you put it on me." Then he asked, "Where shall the stamp go?" "On our buttocks". "Fine." Then they got some brandy and drank, but the woman got drunk first. Then she said: "Stand up, stamp me". He answered: "Not until we have had supper". So they ate, and then he said, "Now, lie down". He made the seal hot and thought: "I will press it on". But she said: "I don't want to". "Why?" he asked. "Not with this seal," she said. "Which one then?" he asked. "With your lower seal," she said. Then he put his lower stamp on her and slept on her; whereupon she said, "Now you have stamped me." "Yes." "Henceforth may I perish if I marry other men than you". But Kander continued to go into the garden and come home at night.

One day he said to the woman: "I want to go out into the wide world and then return". So he got up, mounted his horse and went on his way. When night came, he came to a ruin and lay down to sleep there. The grass in it was as tall as a man's arm, so he let his horse graze in it. It became light in the morning, and the sun grew hot while he was still lying there; at last he got up, stuffed his pipe and smoked it. Then he looked around him and saw a mouse hole in front of him; he saw a blind mouse come out and carry the earth out; then the mouse scattered the earth on all sides. While Kander was watching, the mouse slipped back into its hole, took out a piece of gold and put it there; then it went in again and brought out another; so the mouse brought out five hundred pieces; then it went in and came out no more. Kander collected the gold pieces and put them in his bag. Then he got up, and having a broad short sword with him, he dug after the hole and pursued it. But the mouse slipped down into a small cellar. Kander followed it down into this cellar, too, and went in and saw a little room in which there were twenty pearls that sparkled; he also saw a barrel full of gold pieces; from these he took away a little and went out again. Then he closed the cave, mounted his horse and rode to the town; there he bought four mules and four double sacks and returned with them to the mouse hole. He opened the hole and stepped inside; then he saw a blind ogre inside the cellar, who cried out, "Heda, what are you doing here?" The blind fiend groped about after him thus. They grabbed each other to wrestle with each other. But from morning till evening neither could throw the other; in the evening they sat down, Kander for himself and the ogre for himself, each on one side. Kander was smoking his pipe, when he saw a woman coming to bring the ogre his supper; there was no daintier girl than she, and her clothes were all silver and gold, so that Kander almost died of longing. "Alas! alas!" he thought, "how could I leave here and leave this beauty with this blind man!" Then she set the ogre's supper before him and came near to kiss Kander, but she dared not do so in the presence of the blind ogre. So the ogre ate his supper, while Kander remained hungry; but she went and fetched a second supper, then took off her shoes and walked on tiptoe, carried the supper to Kander, and returned, They looked at each other and laughed; but when Kander was eating, the ogre asked, "Where did you get your supper?" "I had it with me," replied Kander. "Good." Then they lay down to sleep until the following day; but in the morning they arose and wrestled until evening, without one throwing the other. Then the giant called again to the girl; she came near and had put on another garment, so she set the inside of Kander even more on fire. Again they looked at each other and laughed. The giant ordered: "Make a dinner, as best you can, for me and Kander". "Fine," she replied, and prepared dinner for both of them; but into the giant's plate she put a handful of poison. Now when they had eaten, the giant collapsed; Kander went at him and cut him in pieces with his sword. Then Kander lit the lamp and entered a cave as if through a downward-looking window. There he found the girl alone, stretched out on a bed, and went to her. She asked: "How did you dare to come here?" "I am your servant; I killed him". "No, I killed him," she answered. Then they sat happily together. But Kander said to the girl, "Come on, let's go away." "Where to?" she asked. "I want to take you with me," he replied. "I won't go with you until you lie down with me". "We'll get to that later". "No", she replied. Then he joined her, and a black snake came out of the girl's mouth. "Kill this snake," she commanded. When he had killed it, he asked, "What does this snake mean?" "It is the love of the giant," she replied; "why did I command thee, 'Kill it here?' lest it should come to the surface of the earth; but now up! we will go away!" So she went out; but he took the money, the pearls, and the treasures which were there, and loaded them upon the mules, and put the damsel also upon one. He himself got on horseback, and so they departed. They came to the home of the woman who owned the garden. He unloaded his load at her house; the woman looked at the girl and said to herself: "May your mother's house collapse", because it was beautiful. Then they prepared food and ate; Kander stayed with the woman with the garden for a week, then he called out: "Woman!" "Yes!" "Do you want to come with us?" "Where to?" "To my home," he answered. "Yes." "Then prepare yourself, we will travel," he said. So she went and said to the prince, her father: "Little father!" "Yes!" "I have taken a husband and will now go with him; the gardens may be yours." "Very well, as you wish," he replied. Then the princess went back to her house. - But the prince had a son of young age; to him his father said: "My son, go with your mother to the princess for a while, for she is leaving in the morning". So the prince came with his mother to his sister, the princess. But there he saw a little girl in Kander's company, she was beautiful, and he fell madly in love with her; he quickly put on his shoes again and returned home. There he said to his father, "Father!" "Yes!" "Kander has a girl with him; I will never marry one if not this one; if you do not buy her from him for me, I will kill myself." Then the prince went to Kander and looked at her; he was quite bewildered by the excess of her beauty. Then he said to Kander: "I demand that you give this girl to my son as a wife. Then Kander stood up angrily and said, "How can I give her away?" The prince said, "Then I will take her away by force." "Well, I will get on horseback and go away from here; then come and take them by force". Kander then loaded his mules, got on horseback, and mounted the two women also; then he went out of the city. But the prince arose and brought the whole town to its feet in pursuit of Kander. Then the girl said to Kander, "Put on this shirt and fight; it will not let any blows through". Kander did so, fought, and rushed among them; he killed the soldiers and destroyed the whole army; then he entered the city and killed women and children, so that only the prince and his son remained. Then he went into the castle, killed these two also, and took their four ears. Then he turned back and came to his wives; they asked him, "What have you wrought?" "Indeed," he answered, "I have let none escape, but have killed them all; here also are the ears of thy father and thy brother." Then she wept, and he asked, "Dost thou grieve for their loss?" "No," she answered, "if thou wilt, return!" "Did I reproach you?" she replied.

After this Kander came to his home and stayed in his house; then his mother gave a shout of joy and rejoiced. Kander had had a mud hut; he pulled it down and began to build a new one; he built himself a castle with rooms; he made twenty rooms in it, and in each of them he put a pearl in place of the candlestick; and these shone by day and by night. Then he said, "I will perish if I first have these women married to me; I will make them my wives without a wedding ceremony." Then he asked his mother, "Little mother!" "My son?" "Have you not heard any tidings of Jäninâr?" "No, my child; your mother's eyes may go blind; your brother has disappeared!" Then Kander put on the impenetrable shirt and mounted his horse, saying, "I will go into the wide world to search for my brother." Then he travelled in an easterly direction and came to a town of the Gavers; with them he spoke in their language. It was a large town where no one knew anyone else, but Kander went into the coffee house and sat down there. Then a singer struck the mandolin and sang and wept. Kander's heart was moved by this, and he said to him: "Would you give me the explanation of your song, you shall receive a present for it! But the latter answered: "O Lord, that cannot be told at all. "Then take and tell!" He said: "Once upon a time there was a man named Janninâr who travelled to the land of the blind and took two wives as beautiful as any; and I was his companion. Then he came to this city, and the king of the Gavers seized him and said to him: 'Either you hand over those two to me, or I will not let you go'; so it is now eight years since he has been imprisoned here." "Can you show me him?" asked Kander of the singer. "Certainly." "On then! I am his brother, after all". "Really?" "Yes." "Wonderful," said the singer, "you are Kander?" "Yes, I am Kander". "The people of this city," said that one, "have heard that you have destroyed a whole city." "That is what I have done," he said. Thereupon he put on iron impenetrable shirt and went with the singer to the king's prison. There he called out to the Jäninâr, and the latter came out. Then they recognised each other and wept. Then Kander went up to the king and said, "Release this man who is in prison!" "I do not want to release him," the latter replied. "I am Kander, and this prisoner is my brother." Then the king began to tremble and said: "Release him; after you have said: 'I am Kander', I will release him. Then they released him, and Kander asked him, "What did you bring with you?" "Two wives," he answered, "and twenty loaded mules, which the king has taken, and the two wives he has sold with two of his sons.. Then he drew his sword, went in to the king and killed him. Then he fetched the two women and the mules; he also took the king's daughter, and then he pounced on the inhabitants of the city and destroyed them all. Then the singer cried out, "Kander!" "Yes!" "Give me one of them to wife; I am your servant". They gave him the king's daughter, and the singer now sang a song about Iskänder Abu Qarnein, who destroyed two cities. Then they came home and the singer with them (he sang in Arabic: Skander abu qarnein qatal medînetein). But Kander's name became world-famous, and from that day on he was called: Skander Abu Qarnein (i.e. the two-horned one).

CHAPTER XI

Once upon a time there were two friends, both Jews; one was rich, the other poor. The poor one used to go to the rich one and fell in love with his wife. When the rich man went to the shop, the poor man came to his house, took up with the woman and received money from her. "Where did this money come from?" the rich man asked the poor man. "God gave it to me," he replied. Once the rich man's wife said to the poor man: "Make an underground passage from our house to yours, it shall cost you nothing". The poor man answered, "With pleasure", and called day labourers to work for him. He had a large underground passage made up to the woman's house. One day he took the mare of his friend, the rich man, with him through the passage, led her out to the market, went to his friend's shop and said, "Brother, I have bought this mare". The rich man said to himself, "this is mine," but asked, "How much did you buy her for?" "For twenty bags," he replied. "Fine," said the rich man, and he got up and went home. But before he got there, the poor man had already returned through the passage and put the mare back in her place. Now the rich man knocked on the door and shouted, "Open up!" His wife opened the door for him. "Where is the mare?" he asked. "Inside," she answered. He looked and saw the mare standing inside. "By God," he said, "my friend has just bought a mare that looks exactly like this one. "Can't one thing be like another?" replied the woman. "Possibly," he said, and went back to his shop. Then the poor man came through the underground passage and fetched the woman's silver-soled shoe. She gave it to him and said, "Go, show it to my husband and tell him: I bought it, what is it worth?" He carried it away through the passage and came to his friend, her husband. "Brother," he said to him, "what is this shoe worth?" He looked at it and said to himself: "It belongs to my wife. He shook his head and asked, "How much did you buy it for?" "What is it worth?" replied the poor man, "I got it for twenty gold pieces." "Fine," said the rich man, running home and knocking on the door, calling out, "Open up!" She opened it; but the poor man had come in before and brought the shoe back through the underground passage. "Woman!" he cried. "Yes!" "Where is your shoe?" "There it is," she replied. He looked at the shoe and said, "By God, just now my brother bought a shoe; you should say it is that shoe there." The woman said: "One thing is like another". "Possibly," he replied, and went into his shop. - Then the woman said to the poor man: "Go and prepare a meal and a wedding feast and invite your friend, and I will come and cook. "Fine," said the man, who took rice and food from her house and went home. Then he got some meat and brandy from the woman, and she cooked for him inside his house. - Then he said to his friend, "Brother, come to us." "Why?" asked the latter. "I have prepared a feast." "Gladly," said the latter. They came to the poor man's house and he said: "Brother, I have taken a wife". "May it be a blessing to you, my brother", he answered; "where is your wife? "There she is." He looked at her and thought, "That is my wife". He returned home, but she entered through the passage in front of him and sat down there. He called out, "Open up!" She opened. "By God," he said, "my brother has married and taken a wife who is completely like you.. "Cursed one," said she, "why should not one thing be like another?" Then he returned to his friend; but she got there first through the passage; and when he came back to his friend, he saw her sitting by him. "Brother!" he said. "Yes!" "Blessed be thy bride." "Blessed by God," replied the latter, "God grant thee long life." Then they sat down, drank and enjoyed themselves, all three of them, the woman with them. "Brother," he said to the rich man, "wait at the door until I have entered into my conjugal rights. The latter waited outside the door, but the poor man lay down with the woman, got up again, and then called out, "Brother, come!" "Where to?" asked the latter. "Come, sleep with my wife too," said the poor man. "All right," replied the rich man, and went and lay with her. Then he rose, took leave of the poor man and said, "Tomorrow come to me; then it will be my turn." Then the rich man prepared a great feast with brandy and invited his friend, the poor man. The poor man came; they sat down, drank, and ate meat, rice, and other food. "Brother," said the rich man to the poor man, "sleep with my wife. The poor man said, "That is not proper". "That is proper", he replied, "why should I sleep (alone) with your wife?" The poor man lay down with her; and when he arose, they again served food and brandy. Then they made the rich man drunk and gave him poison to drink; then they carried him away and buried him. The people of the town and the council asked the woman, "Whom will you marry now?" "The poor man," she answered, "our friend." She married him and moved into his house. They lived happily together. But of the latter they said, "The fool has died".

CHAPTER XII

Once upon a time a molla met a grinch and asked him, "Won't you go with me?" "Where to?" "We want to gather sultanas from the vineyards". "Of course," replied the grin-head. As they walked on, they met a Jeſîdi and called to him, "Jeſîdi!" "Yes!" "Don't you want to come with us?" "Where to?" "To gather sultanas in the vineyards". "Of course," he replied. So the three of them went with a donkey and demanded sultanas from the owners of the vineyards. When they had filled their sack, they went into the village. The molla entered a house and asked: "Give us shelter". "With pleasure", was the answer, "come and sit down". But the grin-head said: "I won't sit here". "Why not?" asked the Molla. "That's why there are no beautiful women here". He said, and went to the door of a woman who was spinning yarn on the reel; she had make-up on her eyes, she was a beauty. The grin-head said, "We want to sleep with you." "No," she replied. But the grin-head said: "Of course!" and unloaded the load into the hall against her will. The woman said to him: "Friend, our house will be full of water in the night". Then the molla cried, "Grin-head, do you want to drown me?" "No, no, don't be afraid, we'll let you sleep in the window alcove". They settled down inside. When evening came, the woman sat down by the fire, while they lay down to sleep beside the load of sultanas. But the grin-head sat there with his eyes open and watched the woman. Now she thought they were asleep, so she fetched a black thread, put it around her finger and tied it to the door in case her lover came. Then she went to sleep too. The grin-head got up very slowly, took the thread from the woman's hand and put it on his. When the woman's lover came, took the thread and pulled on it, the grin-head stood up, pretended to be the woman, and asked: "What do you want?" "I want to sleep with you," he replied. "We have guests, the Grin-head, the Molla and the Jeſîdi". "How are we going to do it?" asked the lover. "Put your limb between the boards of the door," replied the grin-head. Then the lover said, "Take this cooked chicken," gave it to the grin-head, and then put his limb through between the boards, but the grin-head seized it from the inside and cut it off with a knife. Then he approached his companion, the Jeſîdi, eating from the chicken. "What are you eating?" the latter asked. "I am eating a gristle". "Dearest, give it to me". He gave him the limb, and the Jeſîdi bit at it, but he could not bite off anything edible. "Put it on the fire," the grin-head advised him, and he put the thread back on the finger of the woman, who was still asleep. But the lover stood before the door with his member cut off. He lit a fire and put a skewer in it. Then he pulled the thread from the door; the woman came and asked: "What do you want? Makke". "I want to sleep with you. "We have guests. "So put your back against the boards, I'll put my member through". "Fine!" she said and put her back against the boards. But he made the iron hot and put it through between the boards. It was hot; when it penetrated the woman, she cried out, "Whew! I'm burnt!" Now the Jeſîdi thought the grin-head had taken the meat from the fire. He reached out his hand to the fire to take the meat out, but his hand hit the water jug, it fell over and the water dripped out onto it. Then the molla cried out, "The house is full of water," jumped down from the window, fell and broke his teeth. The woman died and the lover died too. The grin-head, the molla and the Jeſîdi loaded up their sultanas and went home.