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74-1 - The
Three Apples
It is
said that the Caliph Haaroon al-Rasheed could not sleep one night, so he
called his Vazeer Zaafar and said to him - "I wish to go to common
folks and talk to them related to our administration, if they had any
complains about us. So the Caliph went to the town with his Vazeer Zaafar
and
eunuch Masaroor. They were passing through a very narrow street that they
saw a very poor man carrying a fishing net and a very small fish on his
head. He was going singing. The way he was singing, the Caliph felt that
he was very poor. So he went to him and asked - "O Shekh, What is
your profession?" He said - "O Lord, I am a fisherman with a
family to keep. I have been trying to catch a fish since mid-day but till
now I could not catch so much so that I can feed my family. I hate my life
and want to die." The Caliph asked - "Will you come with me to Tigris
River and cast your net on my luck and whatever you will catch, I will buy
it for 100 gold pieces?"
The
man agreed and returned with them to Tigris River. He cast his net and
pulled a chest with a lock. The chest was heavy, so the Caliph gave the
fisherman 200 Deenaars and sent him about his business. Masaroor took the
chest to the palace, set it down, lighted the candles, and broke the chest
open. He found a basket of palm leaves corded with red rope. They cut it
open and saw a piece of carpet within it. They lifted out the carpet and
under it was a woman's shawl folded in four. They lifted that shawl also,
and found a young lady's body cut into 19 pieces.
As the
Caliph looked at it, he cried, "Oh." and tears started flowing
from his eyes. He said to Zaafar - "People are murdered in our reign
and thrown in river to become a burden on the Day of Doom. By Allaah, We
should take the avenge of this lady's death and kill him by worst of
deaths. If you do not bring us the person who slew her, I will hang you at
the gate of my palace with your 40 kith and kin." Zaafar said -
"Give me three days, Sir." "OK."
Zaafar
went to his house and thought, "How am I going to find her killer? If
I bring any other person than the murderer, that is not good. I don't know what to
do." The Caliph waited in his palace for Zaafar for three days, then on the 4th
day, he called him to the palace and asked him, "Where is the
murderer?" He replied - "Am I the inspector of the murdered folk
that I should know who killed her?" The Caliph was furious at his
answer and asked his people to hang him at the door of his palace and made
a cry in the city that whoever want to see the hanging Zaafar with 40 of
his kin before the palace gate, should come and see him."
People
gathered there from all directions to see the hanging of Zaafar and his 40
kin, not knowing the cause. The Caliph's people set up the stakes and made Zaafar and the
others stand ready to be executed. While every eye was looking at the
Caliph's signal, and the crowd wept for Zaafar and his cousins; a young
man pushed his way through the crowd and came directly to Vazeer -
"You should be saved, I have killed that woman, so hang me for her
and do justice for me."
Zaafar
got very happy at his release, but in the meantime another man who was
very old came forward and said - "Do not believe this youth, I have
killed her." The youth said - "He is an old man who has said
whatsoever, but I am the man who has murdered her." The old man said
- "You are young, I am an old man, I offer my life as a ransom for
Vazeer, his relations and you. No one murdered her except me, so make
haste and hang me."
The
Vazeer took both of them to the Caliph and said - "Here are the
murderer of the woman." "Where is he?" "This young man
says, "I am the murderer", and this old man says, "I am the
murderer." The Caliph asked them - "Which of you murdered the
young woman?" Both said, "I." The Caliph said - "Take
both of them and hang both of them." Zaafar said - "Since one of
them is the murderer, to hang the other one will be injustice to
him."
The
youth cried, "I am the murderer." and he started describing how
he murdered the woman. The Caliph got assured that the young man had
killed the woman. He asked him - "But what was the cause of murdering
her and why did you confess your crime?" He said - "The woman
was my first cousin, the daughter of my paternal uncle, my wife and the
mother of my children. This old man is my father's own brother. When I
married her she was a maiden, then we had three male children. She loved
me, and served me well and I saw no evil in her.
On the
first day of this month, she fell ill grievously. I showed her to a
physician, but the recovery was very slow. When I asked her to take bath, she
said to me, "I wish to tell you something before I go there."
"OK." "I long for an apple, to smell it, and bite a bit of
it." I said - "Even if you have a thousand longings, I will
fulfill them." I went to the city and tried everywhere but I could
not find any. I came back home and said to her, "I am sorry, I could
not find any." She had got very weak and her weakness increased that
night. I felt anxious and got alarmed at this. Next morning, I went again
to the city but found no apple there.
At
last I met an old gardener, so I asked him also about the apple. He told
me that it was rear with most gardeners, but it could be found only in the
Caliph's garden where his gardener kept it for the Caliph. I loved my wife
very much,
so I decided to undertake the journey to the Caliph's gardens. I set out for a
travel for 15 days and nights, to and fro. I brought three apples for
three Deenars. But when I gave them to my wife, she took no interest in
them and kept them aside, because her weakness and fever had increased.
She started getting better after 10 days.
So I
left my house for my shop and sat there for selling and buying. About
mid-day time an ugly black slave passed by my shop playing with one of the
three apples in his hands. I got very surprised to see that, so I asked
him - "Oh, Where have you got that apple? I may also like to get
it." He laughed and answered - "I got it from my mistress, for I
had been absent and when I came back, I found her ill with three apples by
her side. She said to me - "My husband went to Basaraa and bought
them for three Deenaars." So I ate and drank with her and took this
one from her."
I was severely out of my mind, I locked my shop and went home.
I
looked for the apples, but found only two apples there. I asked my wife -
"Where is the third apple?" She said laughingly - "I don't
know where is it gone." This convinced me that that slave had taken
the apple. I brought a knife and cut her throat. Then I cut her into
pieces and wrapping her in her shawl and a rag of carpet, hurriedly sew up
the hole, set it in a chest, locked it tight, loaded it on my mule and
threw it in Tigris. Thus I killed her, you should hang me soon.
When I
went home, I found my eldest son crying. He did not know what I had done
to his mother. I asked him - "Why do you weep?" He said -
"I took one of the apples which lay by mummy, and went down to play
with my friends, that a big black man came and snatched that apple from my
hand and asked me - "How do you get it?" I said - "My
father went far for it and brought from Basaraa for my mother who is ill
and two other apples for all of which he paid three Deenaars." I
asked him to give me that apple two-three times but he kicked me off and
went with it." I was afraid, lest my mother scolds me because of that,
so I went outside the city with my brother and stayed there till evening.
Then I came home, please, don't say anything to her. It may make her more
ill."
As I
heard this, I wept bitterly for killing my wife wrongfully. Presently this my
paternal uncle came and her father came in and I told them what had
happened, so we continued to weep till midnight. We have been mourning for her
for these five days. This happened only because of that black slave, and
this is how I killed her. Now please, make haste to kill me and do justice
to her."
The
Caliph said - "By Allaah, This young man is excusable and I will
punish that black slave, and I will sooth the suffering people. O Zaafar,
Bring that slave to me, and if you will not bring him in three days, you
will be slain in his place." Zaafar again wept and said - "Two
deaths have already been set on me, now this one will surely take me away. Only Allaah
can save me. I am not going out of my house for all these three
days." So he remained in his house for three days and 4th day he
called Qaazees, made his last will and took leave of his children weeping.
Presently
a messenger from the Caliph came to Zaafar and said - "The Caliph is
asking about you." Hearing this Zaafar wept and weeping he took leave
from his children, except his youngest daughter. In the end he proceeded to take
leave from her, because he loved her very much. He embraced her, kissed
her, and wept bitterly. When he embraced her, he felt something round in
her breast pocket. He asked her - "What is it in your breast pocket?"
"Father, It is an apple with the name of our Caliph written on
it." Rehaan, our servant brought it for me four days ago and would not
let me have it till I gave him two Deenaars."
When
Zaafar heard about the slave and the apple, he was so glad that he took
out the apple from his daughter's pocket, called his slave and said -
"Rehaan, When did you have this apple?" Rehaan said -
"By Allaah, I did not steal this apple from your palace nor from the
garden of the Prince. Five days ago, I was walking in the streets of the
city that I saw some little children playing, and one of them had this
apple in his hand, so I snatched it from his hand and beat him. He cried -
"This is my mother's apple, she is very ill. My father has brought
three apples from Basaraa or three gold coins; but I did not pay any
attention to him and carried the apple with me. My lady had bought it of
me for two Deenaars. This is it."
When
Zaafar heard the story, he understood that that the murder of the woman
has been caused by his slave. He grieved for the relationship of the slave to
himself, but still he took him to the Caliph and related the story from
the beginning till the end. The Caliph laughed till he fell on his back.
He asked this story to be recorded. But Zaafar said - "Don't be so
surprised at this story, for it is not more wondrous than the story Vazeer
Noor al-Deen of Egypt and his brother Shams al-Deen Muhammad."
"Then tell me that story." "I can tell you only one
condition." "What?" "That you will free my
slave." The Caliph said - "If that story will be more wondrous
then I will free him, otherwise I will surely slay your slave."
Then
Zaafar began his story---
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