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"During the reign of the Caliph Haroun Alraschid, there lived at Bagdad
a very rich merchant, whose wife was far advanced in years. They had an
only son, called Abou Hassan, who had been in every respect brought up
with great strictness.
"The merchant died when this son was thirty years old; and Abou Hassan, who was his sole heir, took possession of the vast wealth which his father had amassed, by great parsimony, and a constant industry in business. The son, whose views and inclinations were different from those of his father, very soon began to dissipate his fortune. Abou Hassan had always envied young men of his own age who had been more liberally supplied, and who never denied themselves any of those pleasures in which young men too readily indulge, and determined in his turn to distinguish himself by making an appearance consistent with the great wealth with which fortune had favoured him. Accordingly, he divided his fortune into two parts. With the one he purchased estates in the country and houses in the city, and, although these would produce a revenue sufficient to enable him to live at his ease, he resolved to let the sums arising from them accumulate; the other half, which consisted of a considerable sum of ready money, was to be spent in enjoyment, but he laid it down as a primary rule, which he determined inviolably to keep, not to expend more than this sum in the jovial life he proposed to lead.
"Abou Hassan soon brought together a company of young men, nearly of his own age and rank in life; and he thought only how he should make their time pass agreeably. To accomplish this he was not content with entertaining them day and night, and giving the most splendid feasts. These feasts were generally followed by balls, to which the best dancers in the city of Bagdad were invited. All these amusements, which were daily varied by new pleasures, were so extremely expensive to Abou Hassan, that the large sum of money which he had devoted to this prodigality ended with the year. So soon as he ceased giving these entertainments his friends disappeared; they shunned him whenever they saw him.
"Abou Hassan was more distressed at the strange conduct of his friends, who abandoned him with so much faithlessness and ingratitude, than at the loss of all the money he had so foolishly expended on them. Melancholy and thoughtful, with his head sunk upon his breast, he entered his mother's apartment and seated himself at the end of a sofa at some distance from her.
"'What is the matter, my son?' asked his mother, when she saw him in this desponding state. ‘Had you lost everything you possessed in the world you could not appear more miserable. I know at what an enormous outlay you have lived; and ever since you engaged in that course of dissipation I thought you would soon have very little money left. Your fortune was at your own disposal, and I did not endeavour to oppose your irregular proceedings, because I knew the prudent precaution you had taken of leaving half of your means untouched; while this half remains I do not see why you should be plunged into this deep melancholy.' Abou Hassan burst into tears at these words, and in the midst of his grief exclaimed, 'Oh, my dear mother, I know from woeful experience how insupportable poverty is. Yes, I feel very sensibly that as the setting of the sun deprives us of the splendour of that luminary, so poverty deprives us of every sort of enjoyment. Poverty buries in oblivion all the praises that have been bestowed on us, and all the good that has been said of us, before we fell into its grasp. He who is poor is regarded but as a stranger, even by his relations and his friends. You know, my mother,' continued Abou Hassan, 'how liberally I have conducted myself towards my friends for a year past. I have exhausted my means in entertaining them in the most sumptuous manner; and now that I cannot continue to do so, I find myself abandoned by them all. I thank Heaven for having inspired me with the idea of reserving what I call my income, under the rule and oath I made not to touch it for any foolish dissipation. I will strictly observe this oath, and I have resolved to make a good use of what happily remains; but first I wish to see to what extremity my friends, if indeed I can still call them so, will carry their ingratitude. I will solicit them to raise among themselves a sufficient sum of money in some measure to relieve me in the unhappy situation to which I am reduced by contributing to their amusement. But I mean to take this step, only to see whether I shall find in these friends the least sentiment of gratitude.'
"'My son,' replied the mother of Abou Hassan,' I will not take upon myself to dissuade you from executing your plan. I plainly see you do not yet know those men who, among people of your description, are commonly styled friends; but you will soon know them: and I pray Heaven it may be in the way I wish-that is, for your good.' 'My dear mother,' cried Abou Hassan, 'I am convinced of the truth of what you tell me: but it will be a more convincing proof to me of those men's baseness and want of feeling if I learn it by my own experience.'
"Abou Hassan set out immediately; and he timed his visits so well that he found all his friends at home. He represented to them the great distress he was in, and besought them to lend him such a sum of money as would be of effectual assistance to him; he even promised to enter into a bond to every one individually to return the sums each should lend him, so soon as his affairs were reestablished; but he still avoided letting them know that his distresses were in a great measure arising from them; for he wished to give them every opportunity of displaying their generosity. And he did not forget to hold out to them the hope that he might one day be again in a position to entertain them as he had done.
"Not one of his convivial companions was the least affected by Abou Hassan's afflictions. He had even the mortification to find that many of them pretended not to know him, and did not even remember ever to have seen him. He returned home, his heart filled with grief and indignation. 'Alas! my mother,' cried he, 'you have told me the truth; instead of friends I have found only perfidious, ungrateful men, unworthy of my friendship. I renounce them for ever, and I promise you I will never see them again.'
"Abou Hassan kept firmly to the resolution he had made. He bound himself by an oath never to ask any man who was an inhabitant of Bagdad to eat with him. He then took the strong box which contained the money arising from his rents from the spot where he had laid it by, and put it in the place of the coffers he had just emptied. He resolved to take from it for the expenses of each day a regular sum that should be sufficient to enable him to invite one person to sup with him; and he took a second oath, declaring that the person he entertained should not be an inhabitant of Bagdad, but a stranger who had only tarried in the city one day; and determined that he would send him away the next morning, after giving him only one night's lodging.
"In carrying out his design Abou Hassan took care every morning to make the necessary provision for this limited hospitality; and towards the close of each day he went and sat at the end of the bridge of Bagdad, and as soon as he saw a stranger, whatever the appearance of the wayfarer, he accosted him with great civility, and invited him to sup and lodge at his house on that, the night of his arrival. He at once informed his guest of the rule he had laid down, and the bounds he had set to his hospitality; and thereupon conducted him to his house.
"The repast which Abou Hassan set before his guest was not sumptuous; but it was such as might well satisfy a man, especially as there was no want of good wine.
"When he took leave next morning of his guest, Abou Hassan always said: "To whatever place you go, may Allah preserve you from every sort of calamity. When I invited you to sup with me yesterday, I informed you of the rule I had laid down for myself: for which reason you must not take it ill if I tell you that we shall never drink together again, nor shall we ever meet each other any more. I have my reasons for this course of conduct, which I need not explain to you. May Allah guard you!'
"Abou Hassan observed this rule with great exactness; and for a long time he continued this course of life. But one day, a little before sunset, as he was seated in his usual manner at the end of the bridge, the Caliph Haroun Alraschid appeared; but so completely disguised that none of his subjects could know him.
"Although this monarch had ministers and officers of justice, who performed their duty with great exactness, he wished, nevertheless, to look into the working of everything himself. With this design, he often went in different disguises through the city of Bagdad. He was even accustomed to visit the high environs; and on this account he made it a custom to go on the first day of every month into the high roads which lead to the city. That day, the first of the month, he appeared disguised as a merchant from Moussoul, and was followed by a strong and sturdy slave.
"As the caliph looked in his disguise like a grave and respectable man, Abou Hassan, who believed him to be a merchant from Moussoul, saluted the stranger with a courteous air, and addressed him thus: 'O my master, I congratulate you on your happy arrival; I entreat you will do me the honour to sup with me, and pass the night at my house, that you may rest yourself after the fatigue of your journey.' And to induce the supposed merchant to comply with his request, he told him, in a few words, the rule he had laid down to himself.
"The caliph found something so singular in the whimsical taste of Abou Hassan, that he felt an inclination to know something further of him. Therefore he assured Abou Hassan he could not better reply to so great and unexpected a civility, than by accepting the obliging invitation; and accordingly begged his entertainer to lead the way, declaring himself ready to follow him.
"Abou Hassan, who was ignorant of the high rank of the guest whom chance had just presented to him, treated the caliph as if he had been his equal. He took him to his house, showed him into an apartment very neatly furnished, where he seated him on a sofa in the most honourable place. Abou Hassan's mother, who was an adept in the culinary art, sent in three dishes. One was a fine capon, garnished with four fat pullets; the other two dishes were a fat goose and a ragout of pigeons.
"Abou Hassan placed himself at table opposite his guest; and the caliph and he began eating with a good appetite, helping themselves to what they liked best, without speaking and without drinking, according to the custom of their country. When they had done, the slave of the caliph brought them water to wash their hands, while the mother of Abou Hassan took away the dishes, and brought the dessert, which consisted of a variety of the fruits then in season. As the evening closed in they lighted the candles; and then Abou Hassan brought out bottles and glasses.
"When the pretended merchant and Abou Hassan were again seated at table, the latter, before he touched the fruit, took a cup, and filling it for himself, held it out in his hand, 'O my master,' said he to the caliph, 'you know as well as I do that the *bleep* never drinks till he has called his hens about him to come and drink with him; therefore I invite you to follow my example. I know not what your sentiments may be; but, for my own part, it seems to me that a man who hates wine is certainly foolish. Let us enjoy ourselves; I see pleasure sparkling in the cup, and it will assuredly yield much pleasure to those who empty it.'
"While Abou Hassan was drinking, the caliph took hold of the cup that was intended for him, and replied: ‘I agree with you. You are what may be called a jolly fellow. I expect you will fill my cup to the brim as you have filled yours.'
"When Abou Hassan had drunk, he filled the cup which the caliph held out.
"While the caliph was drinking, Abou Hassan observed, ‘Any man who looks at you may observe at first sight that you are one of those who have seen the world, and know how to enjoy it; I count the day fortunate on which I have met with a man of your merit.'
"Abou Hassan very much diverted the caliph, who was naturally of a merry disposition, and took pleasure in inducing him to drink, that by means of the gaiety which wine would excite, he might become better acquainted with him. To engage him in conversation he asked him his name, and what was his employment, and how he passed his time. '0 stranger,' replied his host, 'my name is Abou Hassan; I have lost my father, who was a merchant, not indeed a very rich man, but one of those who manage to live very much at their ease. At his death he left me an inheritance sufficient to support me creditably in the rank I held. As he had kept me very strictly during his lifetime, I wished to try to make up for all the time I considered I had lost.
"'Nevertheless,' continued Abou Hassan, ‘I regulated my proceedings with more prudence than is practised by young people in general. They usually give themselves up to intemperance in a very thoughtless way; they indulge in every dissipation till reduced to their last sequin. In order to avoid future distress, I divided my property into two parts; the one consisted of rents, the other of ready money. I devoted the ready money to the enjoyments I purposed indulging in; and made a firm resolution not to touch my rents. I brought together a company of people I knew, men nearly of my own age; and, with the money which I freely lavished, I every day gave the most splendid entertainments. But this did not last long; at the end of a year I found my purse empty, and at once all my convivial friends disappeared. I made it my business to call upon each of them in turn; I represented to each the wretched state to which I was reduced, but not one of them would give me any assistance. I therefore renounced their friendship; and, reducing my expenses within the limits of my income, I determined that in future I would entertain no one at all, except every day one stranger whom I should meet on his arrival at Bagdad; and I made it a condition that I entertained him for that day only.'
"Very well satisfied with this explanation, the caliph said to Abou Hassan, ‘I cannot sufficiently commend the step you took, and the caution with which you acted, when you entered upon your free course of life. I respect you still more for keeping your resolution with so much steadiness as you have shown. To tell you what I think of the matter, I firmly believe you are the only man of pleasure that ever did, or ever will, conduct himself in such a manner. You are the happiest man on earth, thus to have every day the company of a respectable person, with whom you can converse agreeably, and to whom you give an opportunity of telling the world the good reception you have afforded him. But we forget ourselves. Neither you nor I perceive how long we have been talking without drinking; come, drink, and I will pledge you.' The caliph and Abou Hassan continued drinking a long time, and conversing most agreeably together.
"The night was now far advanced; and the caliph, pretending to be much fatigued with his day's journey, said to Abou Hassan that he was much inclined to go to rest. 'I should be loth,' added he, 'that, on my account, you should lose any of your sleep. Before we part-for perhaps I shall be gone to-morrow from your house before you are awake- let me have the satisfaction of saying how sensible I am of the civility, the good cheer, and the hospitality with which you have treated me. I am only anxious to know in what way I can best prove my gratitude. It is hardly possible that a person like you should not have some business that might be done, some want that should be supplied, some wish that is yet ungratified. Though I am but a merchant, as you see, I am in a position, either alone, or with the help of my friends, to serve my friends.'
"At these offers of the caliph, whom Abou Hassan all along supposed to be a merchant, he replied, 'My good friend, I am thoroughly convinced that it is not out of mere compliment you address me in this generous manner. But I can assure you that I have no distress, no business, no want; that I have nothing to ask of any one. I am perfectly contented with my lot; so that I have only to thank you, as well for your kind offers as for the kindness you have shown in conferring upon me the honour of taking a poor refreshment at my house.
"'I will say, nevertheless,' continued Abou Hassan, cthat one thing gives me some concern. You know the city of Bagdad has several divisions, and that in every division there is a mosque. Each mosque has an Iman, who assembles all the people of the division at the accustomed hours to join with him in prayer. The Iman of this division is a very old man, of an austere countenance; he is a complete hypocrite, if ever there was one in the world. He assembles in council four other dotards, my neighbours, very much of the same character with himself, and they meet regularly every day at his house. When they get together there is no sort of slander, calumny, and mischief which they do not raise and propagate against me, and against the whole quarter; they disturb our quiet, and stir up dissensions among us. They wish, in short, to be our masters, and desire that each of us should behave himself according to their caprice, while, at the same time, they cannot govern themselves. I cannot bear to see them, busying themselves with everything except the Koran, and it angers me that they cannot let their neighbours live in peace.'
"'So then,' replied the caliph, 'you seem desirous of finding means to check this abuse?' 'I am, indeed,' returned Abou Hassan; 'and the only thing I would beg of Heaven for this purpose is, that I might for one day be caliph in the room of the Commander of the Faithful, our sovereign lord and master, Haroun Alraschid.' 'What would you do,' demanded the caliph, 'if that should happen?' 'One very important thing would I do,' replied Abou Hassan, 'which would give satisfaction to all good people. I would order that one hundred strokes on the soles of the feet be given to each of the four old men, and four hundred to the Iman himself, to teach them that it is not their business to disturb and vex their neighbours.'
"The caliph was much amused by the conceit of Abou Hassan; and, as he had naturally a turn for adventures, it suggested to him a desire to divert himself at his host's expense in a very extraordinary manner. 'Your wish pleases me the more,' said the caliph, 'because I see it springs from an upright heart, and is the sentiment of a person who cannot bear that the malice of wicked men should go unpunished. Perhaps it is not impossible that what you have imagined may come to pass. I feel certain that the caliph would readily trust his power in your hands for twenty-four hours if he only knew of the excellent use you would make of the opportunity. Although I am but a merchant, I am nevertheless not without a degree of interest which may possibly forward this business.'
"'I see plainly,' replied Abou Hassan, 'that you are diverting yourself with my foolish fancy-and the caliph would laugh at it also if he came to hear of such a ridiculous whim. Still, it might have the effect of inducing him to inquire into the conduct of the Iman and his counsellors, and order them to be punished.'
"'I am by no means laughing at you,' replied the caliph; 'and I can assure you the caliph himself would not laugh at you. But let us make an end of this conversation; it is time to go to bed.'
"'Then,' said Abou Hassan, 'we will cut short our discourse, and I will not prevent you from taking your repose: but, as there is a little wine still left in the bottle, I pray you let us finish that, and then we will retire. The only thing I have to recommend is, when you leave the house to-morrow morning, if I should not have risen, that you would not leave the door open, but that you would trouble yourself to shut it after you.' This the caliph faithful promised to do.
"While Abou Hassan was speaking, the caliph laid hands on the bottle and the two cups. He helped himself first, and made Abou Hassan understand that he drank to him a cup of thanks. When he had done so, he slily threw into Abou Hassan's cup a little powder, which he had with him, and poured upon it the remainder of the wine from the bottle. Presenting it to Abou Hassan, he said, 'you have had the trouble of helping me throughout the evening; the least I can do, in return, is to spare you that trouble now at our parting cup: I beg you will drink this time for my sake.'
"Abou Hassan took the cup; and the better to prove to his guest with how much pleasure he accepted the honour done him, he swallowed the whole contents at a draught. But scarcely had he set down the cup on the table, when the powder began to take effect. He instantly fell so soundly asleep, that the caliph could not help laughing. The slave had been for some time on the spot, ready to obey his master's orders. 'Take this man upon your shoulders,' said the caliph to him, 'but be careful to notice the spot where this house stands, that you may bring him back hither when I shall bid you.'
"The caliph, followed by his slave, who bore Abou Hassan on his shoulders, went out of the house; but he did not close the door as Abou Hassan had requested him to do. Indeed, he left it open on purpose. When he arrived at the palace he entered by a private door, and ordered the slave to carry Abou Hassan to his own apartment, where all the officers of the bed-chamber were in waiting. 'Undress this man,' said he to them, 'and lay him in my bed; I will afterwards tell you my intention.'
"The officers undressed Abou Hassan, clothed him in the caliph's nightdress, and put him to bed, as they were ordered. No one in the palace had yet retired to rest. The caliph ordered that all the ladies, and all the other officers of the court should be summoned, and when they were all in his presence, he said, 'I desire that all those who usually come to me when I rise shall not fail in their attendance here tomorrow morning upon this man, whom you see asleep in my bed; and that upon his waking each shall perform the same services for him which are usually performed for me. I desire also that the same respect be observed towards him that is shown to my own person; and that he be obeyed in all that he shall command. On every occasion, where it shall be proper to speak to him or to answer him, let him be always treated as the Commander of the Faithful. Above all, let the utmost care be taken that the deception is carried through, even to the most trifling circumstance.'
"The officers and ladies, who soon perceived the caliph had some jest in hand, answered only by a low obeisance; and all of them prepared to contribute everything in their power, to support the deception with exactness.
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