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82-3 - The
Sleeper and the Waker:
Aboo Plays Trick on the Caliph
Now
both, Aboo and Nuzhat, started enjoying life, that one day Aboo said to
Nuzhat - "I want to play a trick on the Caliph; and you will also do
the same with the Lady Zubaidaa. We will take to them at once, to begin
with 200 Deenaars and two pieces of silk." She asked - "What do
you want to do?" He said - "We will pretend ourselves dead, and
this is the trick. I will die before you and will lie outside. You will
spread over me a silken cloth, loose my turban over me, tie my shoes and
lay on my stomach a knife and a little salt. Then you let down your hair,
go to your mistress Zubaidaa, tearing your dress, slapping your face and
crying out. She will ask you, "What ails you?" Tell her that
"Aboo al-Hasan is dead." She will weep for me and ask her new
treasurer to give you 100 Deenaars and a piece of silk and will say to you
- "Go, Lay him out and carry him forth." You take that money and
cloth and come back to me, and then you will lie down in place of me. I
will play the same game with the Caliph.
Nuzhat
got very happy to hear this plan. So Aboo lay down. She shut his eyes,
tied his feet, covered him with a cloth and did everything what Aboo said
her to do. Then she tore her dress, loosened her hair and went to Zubaidaa
crying. Zubaidaa asked her - "What is the matter, Nuzhat?" She
said - "Aboo al-Hasan is dead." The Lady Zubaidaa mourned for
him, shed tears for him, then asked her treasurer to give her 100 Deenaars
and a piece of silk and said - "O Nuzhat, Go, Lay him out and carry
him forth." She took the 100 Deenaars and the cloth and came back to
Aboo. Aboo danced with joy, kept that money and cloth carefully and did
the same with Nuzhat as she did with him. When the Caliph heard this, he
said to him - "Do not grieve Aboo, for we will bestow you another
bed-fellow. He also ordered his treasurer to give him 100 Deenaars and a
piece of silk and said to him - "Go, Lay her out and carry her forth and
make her a handsome funeral."
So
Aboo took what was given to him and came back to his house. He gave money
and silk piece to Nuzhat, so they added money to money and cloth to cloth
and sat talking and laughing. Meanwhile, when Aboo al-Hasan came from the
Caliph and went out to lay out Nuzhat, the Caliph mourned for her and
dismissing the Deevaan, leaning upon Masaroor, thought to condole the Lady Zubaidaa, for her handmaid. But Zubaidaa said - "O My
Lord, Allaah protect my slave girl, your boon-companion Aboo al-Hasan is
dead." The Caliph said - "No, Your slave girl is dead." and
the Lady Zubaidaa said - "No, Your boon-companion is dead." At
this Zubaidaa said - "But I myself have given her 100 Deenaars and a
piece of silk. And in fact, I was waiting for you to console you for your
cup-companion."
At
this the Caliph got very angry and sent Masaroor to go to Aboo's house and
see which of them was dead. Masaroor immediately set out to Aboo's house.
The Caliph said to Zubaidaa - "Would you bet with me at this?"
Zubaidaa said - "Yes, I can." Masaroor came running to Aboo's
house, but he was still in a by-street, that Aboo had seen him coming. He
immediately said to Nuzhat - "It seems that, after I had left, The
Caliph must have gone to the Lady Zubaidaa, and condoled her on the death of
her hand maid, and she must have said, "It is not my hand maid, but your
cup-companion has died." Both must have betted and the Caliph has
sent Masaroor to find out who has died. So you lie down." Nuzhat
immediately lay down, Aboo covered her body with her shawl and started
weeping sitting at her head.
Masaroor
came in, saluted Aboo, uncovered the face of Nuzhat to confirm, expressed
his condolence for her death and ran away back to the Caliph to let him
know that Nuzhat was dead. He confirmed this to the Caliph and the Lady
Zubaidaa. The Lady Zubaidaa was very angry at this, she could not believe
Masaroor, so she said - "I send my own maid to find out that who is
dead." And she called on one of her old women and sent her to find
out who was dead - Aboo or Nuzhat. She also went running and as she
reached near Aboo's house, Aboo saw her and ask Nuzhat to take his place.
So Aboo lay down, and Nuzhat sat weeping for him at his head. The old
woman came and saw Aboo died. She confirmed it by uncovering his face and
expressed her condolence for his death.
She
thought that Masaroor wanted the Caliph and the Lady Zubaidaa to fight and
she said this to Nuzhat. Nuzhat asked - "What is the cause of this
fight?" The woman replied - "Masaroor came to the Caliph and the
Lady Zubaidaa and told them that Aboo was well." Nuzhat said -
"I was with the Lady a while ago, and she gave me 100 Deenaars and a
piece of silk. Now I am bewildered that how I will do being alone?"
The woman went back to the Lady Zubaidaa and related the story. She asked
her to tell this to the Caliph.
Now
Masaroor and the woman started quarreling over the issue that who was
dead. Seeing quarreling both, the Caliph said to the Lady Zubaidaa -
"OK, We all four are lying. To prove who is speaking truth, we all
four go to Aboo's house to find who is dead." So all four came to
Aboo's house. When Aboo saw them coming, he said to Nuzhat - "It
seems that the old woman had told that Aboo is dead, so Masaroor must have
opposed her and now all the four are coming to confirm." "What
do we do now?" Aboo said - "We both will lie down." So they
both lay down where they usually lay for their siesta.
Seeing
both lying, the Lady Zubaidaa wept and said - "It seems that the
death of Aboo was grievous to her and she died after him." The Caliph
said - "You cannot prove me a liar by telling this. Aboo must have
died after Nuzhat had died, because he came to me in torn clothes with
plucked beard and I gave him 100 Deenaars and a piece of silk and said to
him - "Go, I will give you another bed-fellow." So it is I who
have won the bet."
Thus
the dispute went sore. So the Caliph sat at the head of the couple and
said - "O Allaah, Who is going to tell me which one died before? I
will willingly give him 1,000 Deenaars." At this Aboo sprang up and
cried - "O Caliph, I died first. Give me 1,000 Deenaars according to
your promise." Nuzhat also rose and both the Caliph and the Lady Zubaidaa were very happy to see both of them safe and hearty. They then
came to know that it was only a trick played on them.
The
Lady Zubaidaa said to Nuzhat - "You should have told me what you needed.
What was the need of playing such a mean trick on us. You burned my heart for
you." Nuzhat got sorry for this and she asked her forgiveness. Aboo
said - "I played this trick, because the money you gave was finished
and I was ashamed to ask more from you." When I was single, I never
had any money in my hand, but since you have married me to this girl, even
if I have your money, it is less. But now you give me 1,000 Deenaars
according to your promise."
All
returned to the Caliph's palace. He gave 1,000 Deenaars to him and said -
"Keep this the reward for playing trick on me." While the Lady
Zubaidaa also did the same to her maid. Moreover the Caliph increased the
wages ad supplies of Aboo so that they lived in joy and contentment.
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