Chapter 3

On the following day the second Vizier came before the King, and, having
paid his respects, recommended that Bakhtyār should be no longer kept in
prison, but led out to execution. The King approved of this advice, and
gave orders that Bakhtyār and the executioner should be brought before
him. When they were come, he addressed the young man, and told him that
he had directed the tree of his existence to be rooted out from the soil
of his empire. Bakhtyār replied: “Long be the King’s life! Such is my
prayer, as I stand here on the eve of departure from this world; yet, as
it is every man’s duty to endeavour by honest means to save himself, I
appeal to the Almighty, who knows my innocence. But alas! my situation
is like that of the Merchant, whom good fortune constantly avoided, and
evil fortune incessantly pursued, so that all his exertions ended in
disappointment, and all his projects failed of success.”—The King
desired to hear the story of this ill-fated Merchant, and Bakhtyār,
after the usual compliments, began to relate it as follows:

STORY OF THE ILL-FATED MERCHANT, AND HIS ADVENTURES.

In the city of Basra there was a certain man, a merchant, who possessed
immense riches; but it was decreed that the light of prosperity should
be changed into the darkness of misfortune, so that in a short space of
time very little of all his wealth remained, and whatsoever commercial
projects he tried invariably terminated in loss.

It happened one year, that the price of corn was increased, and the
Merchant thought that, by laying out what remained of his money in
purchasing some loads of corn and keeping it till the next year, he
might profit considerably. He therefore hired a granary, purchased some
corn, and laid it by, in expectation that the price would rise.

But corn became more abundant, and consequently more cheap, the
following season. When the Merchant perceived this, he resolved to keep
that which he had in store until the next year, thinking it probable
that a barren season might succeed a plentiful one. But it happened that
the next year, so much rain fell, that most of the houses were washed
away, and the water found its way into the Merchant’s granary, where it
spoiled all his corn, and caused it to send forth a smell so
intolerable, that the people of the city compelled him to throw it away.

He was confounded by this misfortune; but after some time, finding that
he could not derive any profit from idleness or inactivity, he sold his
house, and joined a company of merchants, who were setting out on a
voyage by sea. With them, he embarked on board a vessel, and after three
days and three nights, the world became dark, the tempest arose, the
billows rolled: at length the ship was wrecked, and many of the crew
perished. The Merchant, with a few others, was saved on a plank, and
cast on dry land.

Hungry and naked, he wandered into a desert, when, after advancing some
leagues, he discovered a man at a little distance. Delighted to find
that the country was inhabited, and hoping to be relieved from hunger
and thirst, which had now become almost insupportable, he directed his
course towards that man, and soon perceived an extensive and populous
village, with trees and running streams. At the entrance to this village
he stopped. The chief man, or _dihkān_, of the place was a person of
considerable wealth, and of great generosity; he had erected in the
outlets of this village, a summer-house, in which he happened to be when
the Merchant arrived. As soon as he discovered the stranger, he ordered
his servants to bring him into the summer-house. The stranger paid his
respects, and was entertained by the dihkān with politeness and
hospitality. Having satisfied his hunger and thirst, he related, at the
desire of his host, all the circumstances of his past life, and all the
misfortunes he had undergone. The story excited compassion in the breast
of the generous dihkān, who gave the Merchant a suit of his own clothes,
and bade him not despair, for he would keep him with himself until his
affairs should be again in a prosperous condition.

After this, the dihkān gave into the Merchant’s charge the account of
his property and possessions, and said that he would allow him, for his
own share, the eleventh part of all the corn. The Merchant, much
delighted, was very diligent in superintending the concerns of his
employer; and as the harvest proved very abundant, when the corn was
gathered in, he found his portion so considerable, that he said within
himself: “The dihkān most probably will not consent to allow me such a
share; I shall therefore take it and conceal it, until the settlement of
accounts, when, if he think proper to bestow so much on me, I shall give
back this.” He accordingly took this quantity of the corn, and concealed
it in a cavern; but it happened that a thief discovered what he had
done, and stole the corn away by night.

When the dihkān inspected the accounts of the harvest, and had made his
calculation of the produce, he assigned to the Merchant the eleventh
part of the corn. The Merchant returned him thanks, and acknowledged the
doubts which he had entertained, and told him how he had set apart a
certain portion of the corn, “which,” said he, “I shall now go and cause
to be deposited in the granary.” The dihkān sent two of his people with
him to the place where he had concealed the corn, but none could be
found. They were astonished, and bit the finger of amazement. When the
dihkān was informed of this circumstance, he became angry, and ordered
that the Merchant should be driven forth out of the village.

In melancholy plight, the unlucky Merchant turned his face towards the
road which led to the sea-shore. There he chanced to meet six of those
persons who gain a livelihood by diving for pearls. They knew him, and
inquired into his situation. He related to them all that had happened,
and his story so much excited their compassion that they agreed to
bestow on him, for the sake of God, whatsoever their next descent to the
bottom of the sea should produce. They accordingly, with this charitable
intention, plunged all six into the sea, and each brought up from the
bottom a pearl of such exquisite beauty that its equal could not be
found amongst the treasures of any monarch. The Merchant received from
the divers those six precious pearls, and set forward with a joyful
heart.

It happened that after some time he fell into company with certain
robbers, whom he much feared, and he resolved to save part, at least, of
his property, by concealing three of the pearls in his mouth, and the
other three among his clothes; hoping that, if they should search him,
they might be contented with these, and that he might save those
concealed within his mouth. He accordingly put three of the pearls among
his clothes, and the other three into his mouth, and went on for some
time without exciting any suspicion, or attracting the notice of the
robbers. But unluckily opening his mouth to address them, the pearls
fell on the ground; and when the robbers saw them, they seized the
Merchant, and so terrified him with their threats and violence that he
became senseless. The robbers, perceiving this, took up the three pearls
and went away. After some time the Merchant recovered his senses, and
was overjoyed to find that he had still three of the pearls left.

Proceeding on his journey, he arrived by night at a certain city, where
he slept; and next morning went to the shop of a jeweller, to whom he
offered the pearls for sale. The jeweller, on beholding them, was
astonished; for they far exceeded anything he had ever seen: then
casting his eyes on the mean and squalid garments of the Merchant, he
immediately seized him by the collar, and exclaimed with a loud voice,
accusing the unfortunate stranger of having stolen the pearls from his
shop: a violent struggle and dispute ensued, and at length they both
proceeded to the tribunal of the King.

The jeweller was a man of some repute in the city, and that which he
said was believed by the inhabitants. He accused the Merchant of having
contrived a hole through which he stole away a casket of gold and jewels
from his shop, and those three pearls were part of the contents of the
casket. The Merchant declared himself innocent; but the King ordered him
to deliver the pearls to the jeweller, and he was loaded with chains and
thrown into prison.

There he pined in misery and affliction, until after some time those
divers who had given him the pearls arrived in that city; and going to
visit the prison, that they might benefit by seeing the punishment of
vice and wickedness, they distributed some money among those who were
confined, and at last discovered the Merchant in a corner, loaded with
chains. They were astonished, and inquired into the occasion of his
disgrace. He related the whole affair, and they, feeling great
indignation on account of the injurious treatment which their friend had
suffered, desired him not to despair, as they would soon procure him his
liberty. They immediately hastened from the prison to the palace. The
chief of them was a man whom the King much respected; and when he had
related the story of the Merchant, and of the pearls which they had
given him, the King became convinced of the jeweller’s guilt, and
instantly ordered him to be seized and brought before him, and at the
same time that the Merchant should be released from prison. When the
jeweller appeared before the King, his confusion and trembling betrayed
his guilt. The King asked him why he had thus injured a stranger; but he
remained silent; and was then led away to execution. The King caused to
be proclaimed throughout the city: “Such is to be the punishment of
those who shall injure or do wrong to strangers.”

He directed also, that the property of the jeweller should be
transferred to the Merchant. Supposing that a man who had seen so much
of the world, both of prosperity and adversity, must be well qualified
for the service of a King, he ordered a splendid robe to be given to the
Merchant; and desired that he should be purified from the filth of a
prison in a warm bath, and appointed him keeper of the treasury.

The Merchant employed himself diligently in the duties of his station;
but there was a vizier who became envious of his good fortune, and
resolved to devise some stratagem whereby to effect his ruin.

The King’s daughter had a summer-house adjoining the treasury, and it
was her custom to visit this summer-house during six months of the year,
once every month. It happened that a mouse had made a hole quite through
the wall of the treasury; and one day the Merchant having reason to
drive a nail into the wall, it entered into the hole which the mouse had
made, and went through and caused a brick to fall out on the road which
led to the Princess’s summer-house. The Merchant went immediately and
stopped up the hole with clay.

The malicious vizier, having discovered this circumstance, hastened to
the King, and informed him that he had seen the Merchant making a hole
through the wall of the summer-house, and that, when he had found
himself detected, he had, in shame and confusion, stopped it up with
clay. The King was astonished at this information: he arose and
proceeded to the treasury, where finding the Merchant’s hands yet dirty
from the clay, he believed what the vizier had told him; and on
returning to his palace, ordered his attendants to put out the
Merchant’s eyes, and to turn him out at the palace-gate. After this the
King went to the summer-house, that he might pay a visit to his
daughter; but he found that she had not been there for some time, having
gone to amuse herself in the gardens. On proceeding to the treasury, the
King discovered the hole, which had evidently been the work of a mouse.
From these circumstances he began to suspect the truth of the vizier’s
information, and at last being convinced that the Merchant was innocent,
he ordered the vizier to be punished. He lamented exceedingly the hard
fate of the Merchant, and was much grieved at his own precipitancy; but
his condolence and his sorrow were of no avail.

* * * * *

Having related this story, Bakhtyār observed, that the King would have
prevented all this distress had he taken some time to inquire into the
affair, and entreated a further respite, that he might be enabled to
prove his innocence.—The King, being pleased with the recital of this
story, complied with Bakhtyār’s request, and ordered him to be taken
back to prison for that day.