صفحة من كتاب ألف ليلة وليلة

A Page from the Arabian Nights

الترجمة: محمود عباس مسعود
Translated by: Mahmoud Abbas Masoud


حكاية التاجر مع العفريت
The Tale of the Merchant and the Demon

ففي الليلة الأولى قالت: بلغني أيها الملك السعيد أنه كان تاجر من التجار كثير المال والمعاملات في البلاد قد ركب يومًا وخرج يطالب في بعض البلاد فاشتد عليه الحر فجلس تحت شجرة وحط يده في خرجه وأكل كسرة كانت معه وتمرة فلما فرغ من أكل التمرة رمى النواة وإذا هو بعفريت طويل القامة وبيده سيف فدنا من ذلك التاجر وقال له:


On the first night, she said, I have been told, O happy king, that a very wealthy merchant, with major transactions throughout the land, rode his horse one day and went off to a certain region to ask for that which others owed him. The heat overpowered him, so he sat under a tree, reached for the saddlebag and ate a small piece of bread and a date that he had. When he finished eating the date, he tossed the pit away. No sooner had he done so than a very tall demon appeared with a sword in his hand. He drew close to the merchant and said


قم حتى أقتلك مثل ما قتلت ولدي فقال له التاجر: كيف قتلت ولدك قال له: لما أكلت التمرة ورميت نواتها جاءت النواة في صدر ولدي فقضي عليه ومات من ساعته فقال التاجر للعفريت: أعلم أيها العفريت أني على دين ولي مال كثير وأولاد وزوجة وعندي رهون فدعني أذهب إلى بيتي وأعطي كل ذي حق حقه ثم أعود إليك ولك علي عهد وميثاق أني أعود إليك فتفعل بي ما تريد والله على ما أقول وكيل.


Get up to kill you as you have killed my son. The merchant said: How did I kill you son? The demon answered: When you ate the date and threw away the pit, it hit my son’s chest, causing him to instantly die. The merchant said to the demon: know, O demon that I am in debt and have much wealth and children and a wife; I also have other obligations. So let me go to my home to give each one their rights and then come back to you. I swear to you with a solemn oath that I will return to you so that you can do what you will with me; God is the guarantor of my words

فاستوثق منه الجني وأطلقه فرجع إلى بلده وقضى جميع تعلقاته وأوصل الحقوق إلى أهلها وأعلم زوجته وأولاده بما جرى له فبكوا وكذلك جميع أهله ونساءه، وأوصى وقعد عندهم إلى تمام السنة ثم توجه وأخذ كفنه تحت إبطه وودع أهله وجيرانه وخرج رغمًا عن أنفه وأقيم عليه العياط والصراخ فمشى إلى أن وصل إلى ذلك البستان وكان ذلك اليوم أول السنة الجديدة فبينما هو جالس يبكي على ما يحصل له وإذا بشيخ كبير قد أقبل عليه ومعه غزالة مسلسلة فسلم على هذا التاجر وحياه وقال له:


The demon felt assured of the veracity of his words and released him. He returned to his country and fulfilled his entire obligations, returning to others what he owed them. He then told his wife and children about what had happened to him. They wept, likewise his entire household and women. Thereupon he wrote his will and stayed with them until the completion of the year. He then took his shroud under his armpit, said goodbye to his close relatives and neighbors, and departed against his will. Cries, wailing and screaming broke out as a result. He walked until he reached that orchard; it was the beginning of the New Year. Now, while he was sitting and weeping for what was awaiting him, an old sheikh walked toward him, along with a chained gazelle. He greeted the merchant and said to him


ما سبب جلوسك في هذا المكان وأنت منفرد وهو مأوى الجن فأخبره التاجر بما جرى له مع ذلك العفريت وبسبب قعوده في هذا المكان فتعجب الشيخ صاحب الغزالة وقال: والله يا أخي ما دينك إلا دين عظيم وحكايتك حكاية عجيبة لو كتبت بالإبر على آفاق البصر لكانت عبرة لمن اعتبر ثم أنه جلس بجانبه وقال والله يا أخي لا أبرح من عندك حتى أنظر ما يجري لك مع ذلك العفريت ثم أنه جلس عنده يتحدث معه فغشي على ذلك التاجر وحصل له الخوف والفزع والغم الشديد والفكر المزيد وصاحب الغزالة بجانبه فإذا بشيخ ثان قد أقبل عليهما ومعه كلبتان سلاقيتان من الكلاب السود.


Why do you sit alone in this place when it is a dwelling for the demons? The merchant told him what had happened to him with the demon, and the reason behind his sitting in this place. The sheikh, the gazelle’s owner, was filled with amazement, and said: By God, my brother, your faith is a great faith, and your story is marvelous. If it were to be etched with needles on the vast space, it will make a good sermon for those who wish to ponder. Then he sat next to him, saying: By God, my brother, I will not leave you until I see with my won eyes what will happen to you with that demon. Therefore, he sat by his side and talked to him. The merchant lost awareness and experienced exceeding fear, agitation, anxiety, apprehension, and deep sorrow. While the merchant sat next to him, another sheikh walked toward them with two black female saluki dogs

فسألهما بعد السلام عليهما عن سبب جلوسهما في هذا المكان وهو مأوى الجان فأخبراه بالقصة من أولها إلى آخرها فلم يستقر به الجلوس حتى أقبل عليهم شيخ ثالث ومعه بغلة زرزورية فسلم عليهم وسألهم عن سبب جلوسهم في هذا المكان فأخبروه بالقصة من أولها إلى آخرها وبينما كذلك إذا بغبرة هاجت وزوبعة عظيمة قد أقبلت من وسط تلك البرية فانكشفت الغبرة وإذا بذلك الجني وبيده سيف مسلول وعيونه ترمي بالشرر فأتاهم وجذب ذلك التاجر من بينهم وقال له:


After saluting them he asked them about the reason behind their sitting in this place when it is frequented by the Jinn. They related the entire story to him, from beginning to end. No sooner had he sat down than another sheikh with a spotted mule approached them. He saluted them and asked them about the reason behind their sitting in this place. Again, they related the whole story to him. All of a sudden, the dust stirred with a great force and a mighty storm approached from the midst of the wasteland. The dust cleared and the same demon appeared with an unsheathed sword in his hand. His eyes were emitting fiery sparks. He approached them and forcefully pulled the merchant from their midst, saying to him

قم أقتلك مثل ما قتلت ولدي وحشاشة كبدي فانتحب ذلك التاجر وبكى وأعلن الثلاثة شيوخ بالبكاء والعويل والنحيب فانتبه منهم الشيخ الأول وهو صاحب الغزالة وقبل يد ذلك العفريت وقال له: يا أيها الجني وتاج ملوك الجان إذا حكيت لك حكايتي مع هذه الغزالة ورأيتها عجيبة أتهب لي ثلث دم هذا التاجر قال: نعم. يا أيها الشيخ إذا أنت حكيت لي الحكاية ورأيتها عجيبة وهبت لك ثلث دمه فقال ذلك الشيخ الأول:


Get up that I can kill you as you have killed my son who was as dear to me as the inner core of my heart. The merchant wept ; also, the three sheikhs showed their distress and wailed and wept. The first sheikh, the gazelle’s owner, came to his senses and kissed the hand of the demon, saying: O Jinni and the crown of the Jinn Kings, if I relate to you my story with this gazelle and you find it to be marvelous, will you then give one third of this merchant’s blood (life) to me. The demon said, yes, I would do that, O sheikh. If you relate to me the story and I saw that it is marvelous indeed, I will give you one third of his blood; then the first sheikh said

اعلم يا أيها العفريت أن هذه الغزالة هي بنت عمي ومن لحمي ودمي وكنت تزوجت بها وهي صغيرة السن وأقمت معها نحو ثلاثين سنة فلم أرزق منها بولد فأخذت لي سرية فرزقت منها بولد ذكر كأنه البدر إذا بدا بعينين مليحتين وحاجبين مزججين وأعضاء كاملة فكبر شيئًا فشيئًا إلى أن صار ابن خمس عشرة سنة فطرأت لي سفرة إلى بعض المدائن فسافرت بمتجر عظيم وكانت بنت عمي هذه الغزالة تعلمت السحر والكهانة من صغرها فسحرت ذلك الولد عجلًا وسحرت الجارية أمه بقرة وسلمتها إلى الراعي


Know, O demon, that this gazelle is the daughter of my uncle, and is of my flesh and blood. I married her when she was still young and lived with her for thirty years without bearing me a child. Therefore, I took to myself a concubine and she bore me a male child, resembling the full moon when rising in the sky. His eyes were beautiful, his eyebrows thick and closely-knit together, and his organs perfectly shaped. Slowly he grew up until he reached his fifteenth year. I had to travel to a distant city, so I made preparations and proceeded with great merchandise. This gazelle, my cousin, had learned magic since her early childhood, so she cast a spell on that son of mine and turned him into a calf and changed his mother into a cow and gave it to the shepherd


ثم جئت أنا بعد مدة طويلة من السفر فسألت عن ولدي وعن أمه فقالت لي جاريتك ماتت وابنك هرب ولم أعلم أين راح فجلست مدة سنة وأنا حزين القلب باكي العين إلى أن جاء عيد الضحية فأرسلت إلى الراعي أن يخصني ببقرة سمينة وهي سريتي التي سحرتها تلك الغزالة فشمرت ثيابي وأخذت السكين بيدي وتهيأت لذبحها فصاحت وبكت بكاء شديدًا فقمت عنها وأمرت ذلك الراعي فذبحها وسلخها فلم يجد فيها شحمًا ولا لحمًا غير جلد وعظم فندمت على ذبحها حيث لا ينفعني الندم وأعطيتها للراعي وقلت له: ائتني بعجل سمين فأتاني بولدي المسحور عجلًا فلما رآني ذلك العجل قطع حبله وجاءني وتمرغ علي وولول وبكى فأخذتني الرأفة عليه وقلت للراعي ائتني ببقرة ودع هذا. وأدرك شهرزاد الصباح فسكتت عن الكلام المباح


I returned from my travels after a long absence and asked about my son and his mother. She said, your woman slave has died and your son ran away, but I don’t know his place. I sat down broken hearted and wept for a whole year, until the day of the sacrificial feast. I sent to my shepherd asking him to dispatch a fat cow to me, the same concubine that the gazelle had bewitched. I rolled up my clothes, took a knife in my hand and prepared to butcher her. Suddenly she cried and bitterly wept. I let her alone and ordered the shepherd to kill her and remove her skin, but he found no fat or flesh in her, only skin and bones. I deeply regretted having her butchered, yet repentance was of no help to me. Therefore, I gave it to the shepherd and said to him, get me a fat calf. He brought me my bewitched son who had been changed into a calf. As soon as that calf saw me, he severed his rope, rushed toward me and rubbed himself against me and wailed and cried. I took pity on him and told the shepherd, get me a cow instead and release the calf. Then the morning broke and Shahrazad refrained from saying any more words, which she is permitted to relate