ABSTRACT
You have already heard, O auspicious King, that the Khalifah, Harun alRashid, used to suffer from a frequent lack of sleep caused by the cares of his kingdom. One night, as he turned from side to side upon his bed and could not fall asleep, he grew weary of the useless trying and therefore kicked his coverings away and, clapping his hands for Masrur, the sword-bearer, who watched each night at his door, said to him: ‘Masrur, find me some distraction, for I cannot sleep.’ ‘My lord,’ answered Masrur, ‘there is nothing like walking in the night for calming the spirit and making a man drowsy. Outside the night is beautiful in the garden; let us go down among the trees, among the flowers; we will look at the stars in their magnificent incrustation, and admire the fairness of the moon as she advances among them and comes down to bathe herself in the waters of the river.’ ‘Masrur,‘ said the Khalifah, ’I do not wish to see these things to-night.’ ‘My lord,’ continued the sword-bearer, ‘you have in the palace three hundred secret women, each owning a pavilion of her own. Let me go and warn them to be ready; then you can come behind the curtains of each pavilion and, without betraying your presence, admire the simple nakedness of each.’ ‘Masrur,’ said the Khalifah, ‘this palace is my palace, and these young women are mine, but to-night my soul has no desire for them.’ ‘My lord,’ went on the other, ‘let me assemble before you the learned men, the sages, the poets of Baghdad: the sages will rejoice you with their polished sentences, the learned with the discoveries which they have lately made in the annals, and the poets with the genius of their rhythmed verse.’ ‘Masrur,’ said the Kahlifah, ‘to-night my soul wishes for none of these things.’ ‘My lord,’ continued Masrur, ‘there are delightful cupbearers and charming youths within the palace; shall I order them to bear you company?’ ‘Masrur,’ said the Khalifah, ‘my soul will have none of them.’ Then said Masrur: ‘My lord, why not cut
off my head? Perhaps that is the only way by which you can be cured of your melancholy.’
