Free The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) by Muhsin Mahdi

and came to his wife and children. When he saw them, he wept bitterly, and when his family saw his sorrow and grief, they began to reproach him for his behavior, and his wife said, “Husband, what is the matter with you? Why do you mourn, when we are happy, celebrating your return?” He replied, “Why not mourn when I have only one year to live?” Then he told her of his encounter with the demon and informed her that he had sworn to return on New Year’s Day, so that the demon might kill him.
    When they heard what he said, everyone began to cry. His wife struck her face in lamentation and cut her hair, his daughters wailed, and his little children cried. It was a day of mourning, as all the children gathered around their father to weep and exchange good-byes. The next day he wrote his will, dividing his property, discharged his obligations to people, left bequests and gifts, distributed alms, and engaged reciters to read portions of the Quran in his house. Then he summoned legal witnesses and in their presence freed his slaves and slave-girls, divided among his elder children their shares of the property, appointed guardians for his little ones, and gave his wife her share, according to her marriage contract. He spent the rest of the time with his family, and when the year came to an end, save for the time needed for the journey, he performed his ablutions, performed his prayers, and, carrying his burial shroud, began to bid his family good-bye. His sons hung around his neck, his daughters wept, and his wife wailed. Their mourning scared him, and he began to weep, as he embraced and kissed his children good-bye. He said to them, “Children, this is God’s will and decree, for man was created to die.” Then he turned away and, mounting his horse, journeyed day and night until he reached the orchard on New Year’s Day.
    He sat at the place where he had eaten the dates, waiting for the demon, with a heavy heart and tearful eyes. As he waited, an old man, leading a deer on a leash, approached and greeted him, and he returned the greeting. The old man inquired, “Friend, why do you sit here in this place of demons and devils? For in this haunted orchard none come to good.” The merchant replied by telling him what had happened to him and the demon, from beginning to end. The old man was amazed at the merchant’s fidelity and said, “Yours ia a magnificent pledge,” adding, “By God, I shall not leave until I see what will happen to you with the demon.” Then he sat down beside him and chatted with him. As they talked . . .
    But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. As the day dawned, and it was light, her sister Dinarzad said, “What a strange and wonderful story!” Shahrazad replied, “Tomorrow night I shall tell something even stranger and more wonderful than this.”

    T HE T HIRD N IGHT
    When it was night and Shahrazad was in bed with the king, Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Please, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” The king added, “Let it be the conclusion of the merchant’s story.” Shahrazad replied, “As you wish”:
    I heard, O happy King, that as the merchant and the man with the deer sat talking, another old man approached, with two black hounds, and when he reached them, he greeted them, and they returned his greeting. Then he asked them about themselves, and the man with the deer told him the story of the merchant and the demon, how the merchant had sworn to return on New Year’s Day, and how the demon was waiting to kill him. He added that when he himself heard the story, he swore never to leave until he saw what would happen between the merchant and the demon. When the man with the two dogs heard the story, he was amazed, and he too swore never to leave them until he saw what would happen between them. Then he questioned the