Great Works of Literature I (Fall 2017)

The First Old Man’s Tale p.570

“Fiend and King f the demon kings, if I tell you what happened to me and that deer, and you find it strange and amazing, indeed stranger and more amazing than what happened to you and the merchant, will you grant me a third of your claim on him for his crime and guilt?” The demon replied, “I will” The old man said:

This deer was a woman I was about to marry. Before I met her, I was just a poor man with homeless begging some money to people. When winter came, the cold weather put me to starve to death. I had no food, or place to stay to make myself warm.  I lost my focus because of hunger. I walked down the street and fell down in front of a house. I thought I was dying like this, but when I opened my eyes, I was in the house where I fell down. It was a big house where one woman lives alone. That woman lit a stove and served me a warm soup. After I finished eating soup, I realized that I had no place to go. I asked the woman “I do not have a place to go, can I stay here for few days?” Then the woman said, “If you become a companion to talk with me, you can stay at my home.”  Women, who’ve been living a lonely life, became energetic since I became a person to talk with her. Living there I also could eat and sleep comfortably. Later on, I eventually fell in love with her because I was so touched that she treated this poor man as an ordinary man and even though she had a wealth, she was humble.

I proposed to her and she accepted. We were about to get married. However one day, a stranger opened the door and entered home. That stranger was a sister of my woman. She lived in the mountain to receive a magic training to make her dead husband come alive for ten years and returned home. My woman got red in the face as soon as she saw her sister. I asked what happened, and she replied: “She left this house and made me stay here alone for ten years just to save her dead husband.”  That night, while I was sleeping, her sister woke me up and took me to her room. She talked to me about her husband and she told me that she could not make him alive with her power. I consoled her, but right after, she looked towards me and said that she wants to sleep with a man just one night to console her feelings. I told her that I would go back to my room and I faced towards the door. She then stopped me and asked me to sleep with her just once. She kneeled down in front of me and started weeping and said “I promise you. I will never to ask you again.” I inevitably accepted. However, she forgot to lock the door. Next day, eventually my woman saw us sleeping. She grasped a sword in one hand and looked at her sister with anger filled face. Her sister’s face turned deadly pale. My woman could not control her temper and put her knife to her sister’s neck on the spot. She wrapped her neck and said, “Are you really killing the part of your bloodline because of that one man? Yes, I am going to be dead soon, but I still can make you not to love forever.”  She died and black smoke came out from her body, and it enveloped my woman. When the smoke disappeared, my woman was gone, and there was a deer.

Pg. 577

Well, I did find her asleep, and I sprinkled some water on her and said, “Leave this shape for the shape of a mule.” She at once became the very mule you see here, oh sultan and chief of the demons.”

The Owl’s Trap

However, that is not the end of my story, oh sultan of the demons! When I cast the spell on wife I must have said the spell in the wrong way, since she became an owl instead of a mule, and she flew away instantly. She flew into the woods and I lost sight of her between the branches of the high and dense trees. From that day on, I was not able to have a peaceful night or a joyful day thinking that she might find some soothsayer to reverse the spell, come back, and take revenge on me.

Then, oh lord of the demons, I went to the shop’s owner’s daughter and related to her what had happened, and how all my wealth and my own life was at risk. To what she replied “oh nobleman, the only way to find and catch an owl is by being and thinking like one! So, I shall convert you into an owl and once you find your wife’s nest, come back and we will destroy her together after I made you a man again.” After these words, she converted me into an owl and I flew into the high and dense trees to start looking for my disloyal wife.

After weeks of intense search, I found out that thank God Almighty, she had not found any soothsayer that will convert her back into her human shape. I continued watching her during another whole week trying to come up with a trap to catch her. Consequently, I noticed that every night she would go hunting by a waterhole that was near my home, kill and eat his prey under a small tree next to it.

So, sultan of the Demons, I rushed back to the shop and waited anxiously for the owner’s daughter to notice me and lift the spell off me. She saw me and immediately converted me back into my human shape and said, “so, my dear friend, did you find whom you were looking for?” to what I answered, “Yes, great soothsayer, I also know how to capture her.” Consequently, when the sun was at its highest point and I knew my wife, this very mule that once was an owl, was sleeping, we set up a set of nets around the small tree where she used to eat her prey.

Finally, we captured her that very night, after she hunted her prey and posed herself under the small tree. We let the nets drop and the soothsayer sparkled water on her and said “you evil human in the shape of an owl, you shall live forever in the shape of a mule! May no spell ever be able to convert you into anything else!”

She at once became the very mule you see right here, oh sultan and chief of the demons.”

“Then the demon released the merchant and departed. The merchant turned to the three old men and thanked them, and they congratulated him on his deliverance and bade him good-bye. Then they separated, and each of them went on his way.” (Page 577)

When the merchant arrived at home, he found his farmland desolated with weeds springing up, hearing mourning and crying from inside the house. Astonished and panic, the merchant rushed in. To his surprise, only salves and slave-girls stood in the corner, bowing their heads, with his little kids in their arms. He asked for the salves where his wife, his daughter, and his elder sons went in agony. One of the salves answered, “ My dear owner! Please save your pitiful woman and innocent children! They might have suffered great insult!” The merchant’s eyes widened, anxiously said, “What is the matter with them? Why do you lament like that when I return home?” The slave told him with sob that several days after his departure, three old men came to knock the door, claiming that they were brothers and curious about what was happening for they heard a sound of moan from the house. Then the merchant’s wife stated his husband’s encounter with the demon, which would kill him.

The oldest man sighed, saying, “How unfortunate your husband is! But do not worry, I have come up with an idea to rescue him.” The wife stopped crying, doubted, “How could you save my husband? I appreciate for your kindness, but how can three old men fight against a demon?” The oldest men smiled, “Well, there is only one thing you think right. That demon actually has stronger power than any other demon, while my brothers and I have learnt the spell since we were born. So we have the confidence to save your husband in condition that…” “What? What do you want? Tell me please! I will be driven mad when thinking of his death!”

However, the oldest man came to be silent without immediate answer. His younger brother stood out and said, “Calm down, we need your help. First, our plot need you and three of your children, his flesh and blood, to be animals. Second, the demon is so formidable that we will suffer tremendous loss in strength. Hence, even if your husband has been released, you and your children cannot go back home and must stay with us forever, because we need your figures to absorb vigor and regain power.”

When the wife heard what he said, her face became pale, trembling, “I … I accept your conditions, only if you can swear that my husband can be freed. But my children…” “Mother, do not hesitate. I am willing to sacrifice myself in exchange my father!” One of the elder sons said. Instantly, a daughter and another son initiatively decided to become animals for their father’s life. They huddled together, mourning for the farewell. Afterwards, as the merchant had met, the deer of the fist old man was his wife, the two dogs of the second old man were his two sons, and the mule of the third man was his daughter. They told the demon three different strange and amazing stories, eventually saving his life.

The merchant burst into tears after hearing the truth, his heart being full of grief and guilty. At this moment, one of the salves seemed to remember something suddenly, taking out a lock of hair and gave them to his owner, saying, “The hair comes from your wife. She told me that she had left a message on them and only your blood could make the message appear.”

The sun spread the rose dawn over the sky, and Shahrazad came into silence.

Page 568

When the merchant finished and stopped weeping the demon said, “By God, I must kill you, as you killed my son, even if you weep blood.” The Merchant asked, “Must you?” The demon replied, “I must,” and raised his sword to strike.

The Merchant’s Debt to his Brother

Before the demon strikes, the merchant pleaded, saying, “Oh demon please have mercy on me and allow me to repay the debt I owe to my brother, a wealthy man who has done much for me throughout my life. For it is not right for me to die with out repaying such a good man.” The demon agreed and allowed the merchant to go to his brother and repay his debts. Once the merchant arrived at his brothers house, they both wept since it has been years since they last met. The merchant told his brother how he will be killed by a demon for killing its son, but he must repay the debt he owed to his brother first. The merchants brother wept saying, “Oh brother how can I ask anything of you after hearing your great and tragic fate, for I can not ask anything in return of you for the little food and shelter I’ve given to you during your times of need. The merchant was moved after hearing this from his brother and offered him a bag of silver coins, all that the merchant has saved throughout his life. Seeing this the merchants brother refused to take it. Being a wealthy man the merchants brother gave the merchant two more small bags of sliver coins. The merchants brother said, “Take these bags along with yours, so you may buy and enjoy whatever your heart desires on your journey back to the demon.” The brothers hugged and wept as the merchant began his journey back to the demon.

When the merchant arrived to the demon, the demon asked, “Has your brother forgiven the debts you owe him?” The merchant replied, “Yes.” The demon prepared to kill the merchant but before he could the merchant pleaded once more saying, “Oh demon, my brother has gifted me these bags of silver, it would not be right for me to die without assigning them to someone else.” The demon agreed and allowed the merchant more time to assign the bags of silver coins to whoever he wanted after he died.

“On the following day, the plowman came to the merchant’s house and, taking the ox, placed the yoke upon his neck and worked him at the plow, but the ox lagged behind.”

“Maybe the ox is sick and feeling unwell,” the plowman thought to himself. Instead of the ox, the plowman brought in the donkey to do all of the work. The next day, the same thing occurred. The ox refused to work and the donkey took over once again. When the third day came around, the donkey believed the extremely exhausting work he was forced to do needed to come to an end. He missed being lazy and rarely being worked. When the donkey confronted the ox about the issue he exclaimed, “I cannot do this anymore! You win! Please take back your job!” But the ox refused. The donkey was now furious. When the ox fell asleep, the donkey had found a poisonous plant that he planned to make the ox eat. However, on his return back to the farm, he had misplaced the plant and decided he would look for it after he fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning, he discovered that the ox had already eaten the plant, but he did not seem to be affected. The ox came over to the donkey and said, “Thank you for the delicious plant. I have never had anything like it before. Where did you get it from?” The donkey then told him where he had found it but also wondered why the plant did not kill him. He then decided to try the plant himself and quickly was killed. The ox had tricked the donkey into thinking he actually ate the plant, but he knew very well that the plant was poisonous and recognized what was happening. When the plowman came out to work the donkey, he saw that he had died and thought he must have had something poisonous. However, the plowman did not turn to the ox for help. He turned to another ox to take over the job.  He decided the ox must have reached old age and was suffering deeply and due to this, he could no longer do his job. To put the ox out of its misery, he killed the ox as well. Eventually, another donkey had come along and gave the new ox some advice…

The merchant himself went back home to his family, his wife, and his children, and he lived with them until the day he died. But this story is not as strange or as amazing as the story of the Twins and the Demon.

These are the details. In a town not very far, but not very close to here there was a pair of 11-year-old identical twins, named Clarke and Avery. Not much was known about them, except that their parents had disappeared without a trace when the twins were 5 years old. They tantalized the town with their dangerous pranks and with their trickery. No one knew where the twins lived and whether or not they had any kind of guardian after their parent’s disappearance. The one thing they knew is that they were tired of the twins stealing food from the shops, and playing pranks on the people of the town.

One evening, the people of the town got together to devise a plan to catch the twins in the middle of stealing from one of the shops and have them be placed under arrest until a suitable guardian could be found for them in a different town very far away. Several of them, along with guards, set up a net to trap the twins inside the bakery they knew the twins frequently stole from at night. They succeeded in capturing the twins and they were then taken to the guard’s holding area.

They were surprised to see that the stone faces that the twins previously wore had suddenly become faces of anxiety and fear. They confessed that the Demon had kidnapped their parents and had told the twins that they only way to free them was if they stole from the town’s stores and played pranks on the town for his own enjoyment until they were 12 years old.

The town was split in terms of believing the twins, but after learning that the twin’s 12^th birthday was 4 days away, they decided to test whether or not they were telling the truth by freeing them with the threat of recapture in 5 days.

For the next days the twins continued their stealing and pranks until the day of their birthday. When the clock struck midnight, a large bam was heard throughout the town as it was covered in fog. That afternoon the town was rattled to see the twin’s appear upon the guards hand in hand with their parents. Many people from the town cried for never trying to understand or help the twins and asked for their forgiveness.

“The merchant himself went back home to his family, his wife, and his children, and he lived  with them until the day he died.”(pg.577)

But this story is not as strange or amazing as the story of the princess.

The Story of the princess and the Demon

It is related that there was this princess who lived in her palace with her parents and three sisters. The princess was due to get married but would turn down every suitor. Twelve suitors have come to ask for her hand, but every time she would say:” I must refuse as you are not desirable.” One day, a demon came disguised as a suitor and asked for her hand in marriage. He was disguised in the most attractive form that no woman could refuse. He said: “Dear princess, I have traveled far hearing of your beauty. I wish to make you my wife.” The princess answered: ”I must refuse as you are not desirable.” The demon then got angry and changed into his real shape. His head reaching the ceiling, sharp teeth glistening and a tail longer than a man hanging behind him. The princess was terrified and out of words. The demon spoke:” Now that you have refused me I must kill you.” The princess cried:” Please don’t take my life. Why must I die?”The Demon responded: “ You must die for the shame that you have put me through.” The princess’ three sisters were in the room and witnessed all of this. One of the sisters came forward holding a jewelry box and said:” Demon will you consider sparing my sister’s life If I tell you the story of me and this jewelry box?” The Demon agrees.

The Story of a girl and a jewelry box

The girl said to the Demon:

This jewelry box that you see here used to be my husband.  Demon said: “ Is this the truth?” The girl responded: “Yes it is.” Many years ago I was wed to a man that proposed to me just like you did to my sister. He came to me as a beggar asking for some food. He ended up staying at our palace and working as a servant. I would spend days and nights with him and I soon fell in love. He begged to have my hand in marriage. And I gladly accepted After two nights of our marriage he took all of my jewels and belongings, trying to flee. I tried to stop him but he told me: “ If you try to stop me I will kill you and your family.” He ran and left me behind. I was betrayed and horrified. However, one of our servants saw all of this happening. She came to me and told me that she knows how to utilize magic. She said: “ Your husband will come back to steal more and once he does I will turn him into a jewelry box. That way he will be punished and never able to leave.” My husband came back to take more from me. And the servant woman took magic dust out of her pocket and threw it at him and said:” You will never leave your wife again.” He  turned into this very jewelry box that I am holding and will never be able to have human form. Demon said: “ This is a great story. I will consider sparing your sister’s life, but I am not yet convinced.”

Then the second sister came forward, holding a swan and said to the Demon: ”Will you consider sparing my sister’s life if I tell you an even more amazing and unbelievable story? ”The Demon agrees.

From “The Tale of the Ox and the Donkey”
“You, my daughter, will likewise perish because of your miscalculation. Desist, sit quietly, and don’t expose yourself to peril. I advise you out of compassion for you.” She replied, “Father, I must go to the king, and you must give me to him.” He said, “Don’t do it.” She insisted, “I must.” He replied, “If you don’t desist, I will do to you what the merchant did do his wife.” She asked, “Father, what did the merchant do to his wife?” He said:

It was the end of the day and the merchant came home after a stressful days worth of work. The merchant’s wife was home the entire day, doing house chores and the like. Tired as well, his wife said, “Husband, would you please help me cook and clean a little, I am tired and I have been taking care of our children all day.” The merchant replied, “Sorry, I tired and I cannot help, I will help you tomorrow.” The wife thought, “Okay, so tomorrow it is.” The next day, the merchant came home tired and weary again. The wife looked up from her work as he came home and he said, “Sorry wife, I cannot help today either, I have worked very long and hard. Tomorrow I will help you.” A bit distraught, the wife reluctantly agreed. This kept happening, the merchant would come home tired and promise to help tomorrow and the wife would agree.
One evening, it was the day of the wife’s birthday. The wife was excited to come home, expecting a gift and help from her merchant husband. The merchant came home empty handed and weary. In a fit, the wife screamed, “Husband! You have not helped me at all this past year and I am sick and tired of this! You did not even bring me a gift- It is my birthday today! You completely forgot about me!” The merchant replied, “Wife, I am tired, please do not yell, I do not want to deal with this right now.” The merchant’s response enraged the wife even further. The wife said, “You work only from sun up to sun down, I work that and much more! I should be resting, not you!” Feeling his temper begin to boil, the merchant said, “I am done.” and he stayed silent. The wife continued to yell at the merchant; the merchant not saying a thing. The merchant began to help the wife with her chores, all without saying a word. Weeks passed by and the merchant still had not said a word to his wife. Initially the wife did not mind and enjoyed the extra help around the house. However, weeks became months and the husband still had not said a word to the wife.  Every night after they finished their chores and went to bed, the wife would say, “Good night husband.”, she would not receive a reply. Every morning as the wife greeted the merchant, “Good morning husband.”, she would not receive a reply. Eventually the wife caved and said, “Husband, please stop ignoring me. If you keep ignoring me I do not know what I will do. Please!” The merchant said, “Good.” and then left for work.

The vizier said to his daughter, “If you don’t stop, I will do what the merchant did to his wife.” She said, “I don’t care about that. Actually, I would much rather have you do to me what the merchant did to his wife. I hate you since you refuse my request and I rather not speak to you at all. You know what, I’m going to not talk to you until you give me what I want. Starting….. now.” The vizier gave in quickly to the daughter and requested a meeting with the king. King Shahrayar said:

And Aladdin abode with his wife, the Lady Badr al-Budur, in all pleasure and joyaunce of life, and thenceforward escaped every danger, and after a while, when the Sultan deceased, his son-in-law was seated upon the throne of the kingdom. And he commanded and dealt justice to the lieges so that all the folk loved him, and he lived with his wife in all solace and happiness until there came to him the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of societies.

(add)

After a good while for 20 years, there is a daughter of Moroccan magician who put Aladdin in trouble, Sarah, she is a magician too like father. She makes some plan for his revenge and approached the youngest son of Aladdin on purpose, Sarah seduces the youngest son and he is fall in love with her, they finally get married, after a while, he gave her treasure of Aladdin’s kingdom and said. “O my beloved, Sarah, This is for you what said before, whatso thou wishest and all thou biddest, father’s wonderful lamp”. Sarah said “O Thank you my beloved, I wanted to see that my very own eyes!” And Sarah went into hers private room with a wonderful lamp, and called Jinni up out of nowhere. But, Jinni said “O my lord, I will be your servant, but I’m too old to grant your wishes, if you pay me ten years of your life, you can use me again”, So she found the reason why Aladdin has not being using the lamp for a long while, and she paid ten years of her life to Jinni. After finishing the contract with the Jinni, she asked Jinni for taking away Aladdin’s property and slaves at all to her. So, Jinni fulfilled the desire of her. When she leaves the palace with all of property and slaves, the son of Aladdin, his husband, came to see her and said “O my beloved, I love you although you have taken all the property from my father, I didn’t know you were deeply wounded by my father, I can understand and condone your action, I wish I could be with you all the time because I love you.” So, Sarah was deeply touched by his saying, and leaves together from there.

One day when she lived a beautiful house built with property she taken and lived happily ever after, she woke up in the morning and found nothing, there is no furniture and property, just empty house in one night, and there is a letter on the bed. The letter said ‘To Sarah, I’m so sorry, actually we needed somebody’s sacrifice to use the lamp again, your 10 years of lifetime. We could not sacrifice our people and families, I feel for you but we can’t forgive your father for doing so. And I’m sorry that I never loved you ever. From your fake husband’. She was devastated and cried.

He stood before them without greeting them, yanked the merchant with his left hand, and, holding him fast before him, said, “Get ready to die.” The merchant and the three old men began to weep and wail. The Demon said to them ” you wish to weep and wail, let me give you the story of the son that this merchant killed, a true reason to weep and wail even for my kind.

The Boy Who Belonged in Neither World

Us jinn live for thousands of years. As one dies more come to life. Born of the very fire that God All-mighty has created. We walk the earth in corporeal form. For us, we rarely love because no creature could survive as long as we do. My brother as much of a Jinn as he was he could not help but love the humans that roamed the earth. Specifically, there was one girl who he had fallen for completely. She was a simple girl who wasn’t the daughter of a king or vizier, but rather the daughter of a slave. When I asked him why he loved her so much he said that her smile had a way of making him forget his long life. After several years and the girl matured her slave master came to sell her off. This was the chance my brother had waited for many years. He used all of his power to change into a human form and went to buy the girl. Once he bought her he made her his own and they lived together for a good while in peace. After many years had passed and I had not heard from my brother for a while a message came to me that they were expecting a boy.

When the child was born I intended to go and visit my brother and ask him where he wanted his son to live. in the human world with him and his wife or in the world of the jinn with me. There was only a small problem. the midwife who delivered the child had the ability to discern jinns from humans. In that, she saw that my brother was full jinn and his son was half and half. She betrayed my brother and his wife and told the townsfolk of their existence. The town could not allow this transgression against God. The town came with their pitchforks and fire. Even though my brother kept reciting:

No man should burn

Another man in turn

For only the lord of fire

Has the right to burn with his creation

They refused to stop and my brother with all of his love for his wife refused to change back into jinn. He died alongside her hand in hand. As for the boy, he had on his own turned himself to jinn so that he could survive. After I found the boy I named him Jafar and hid him by this tree in a hole as that is where the jinn reside. I went back to the village and massacred them all only to come back and find that this merchant had killed the boy I would raise as my own son. Is my anger not justified. After all the hardship I have seen. Having three of those I love to die in such a short span.