Prevod

It has reached me, O King, that there was once a king who was passionately fond of women. One day, as he sat alone in his palace, his eye fell upon a young woman on the roof of her house. She was lovely and fair, and at the sight of her he was overcome with desire. He asked whose house it was, and they told him, “It is the house of your vizier, so-and-so.” At once he sent for the vizier, and when he appeared before him, ordered him to travel to a distant part of the kingdom, inspect its affairs, and return. The vizier set out as the king commanded, and after his departure the king contrived to enter his house. When the young woman saw him, she recognized him, sprang to her feet, kissed his hands and feet, and welcomed him. Then she stood at a distance, attending to his needs, and said, “My lord, what brings you on this blessed visit? One such as I is scarcely worthy of it.” He replied, “Love of you and longing for you have brought me here.” She kissed the ground before him once more and said, “My lord, I am not fit to be a maid to one of the king’s servants. How have I come to enjoy such favor with you, and to hold so high a place in your esteem?” The king reached out his hand to her, but she said, “There is no need for haste in this matter. Be patient, O King, and remain with me all this day, while I prepare something for you to eat.” So the king seated himself upon his vizier’s cushioned seat. She rose and brought him a book of moral counsel and good conduct, for him to read while she prepared the meal. The king took it and began to read, and found in it such admonitions and words of wisdom as restrained him from adultery and weakened his resolve to commit sin.

When she had prepared the food, she set it before him in ninety dishes. The king took a spoonful from each dish, and though the dishes were of many different kinds, their flavor was the same. He was greatly astonished and said, “Young woman, I see many different dishes here, yet they all taste alike!” She replied, “May God grant the king happiness. This is a parable I have set before you, that you may take its lesson to heart.” “What does it mean?” he asked. She said, “May God prosper our lord the king. In your palace are ninety concubines of differing complexions, yet their savor is one.” When the king heard these words, he was ashamed before her. He rose at once and left the house without doing her any wrong; but in his embarrassment he forgot his ring beneath the cushion and returned to his palace. Just as he had taken his seat there, the vizier arrived, approached him, kissed the ground before him, and reported on the business for which he had been sent. Then the vizier went home and sat upon his cushioned seat. Reaching beneath the cushion, he found the king’s ring. He picked it up, and the discovery weighed upon his heart. For an entire year he kept away from his wife and would not speak to her, while she knew nothing of the cause of his anger. And dawn overtook Shahrazad, and she ceased her permitted tale.

Then, when it was the five hundred and seventy-ninth night,

She said: It has reached me, O fortunate King, that the vizier kept away from his wife for an entire year and would not speak to her, while she knew nothing of the cause of his anger. When this estrangement had gone on so long, and she still could not discover its cause, she sent for her father and told him how her husband had shunned her for a whole year. Her father said, “I shall bring a complaint against him when he is in the king’s presence.” One day he entered and found the vizier before the king, with the judge of the army also in attendance. He brought his complaint, saying, “May Almighty God prosper the king. I had a beautiful garden, which I planted with my own hands and upon which I spent my wealth until it bore fruit and its harvest ripened sweetly. Then I gave it to this vizier of yours. He ate of it as he pleased, but afterward abandoned it and ceased to water it, until its flowers withered, its beauty faded, and its condition changed.” The vizier said, “O King, this man speaks the truth. I used to tend it and eat of its fruit, but one day I went there and saw the track of a lion. Fearing for my life, I kept away from it.” The king understood that the track the vizier had found was the royal ring he had forgotten in the house. He therefore said to his vizier, “Return to your garden, O Vizier, in safety and peace of mind. The lion has not touched it. I have learned that he did indeed enter it, but, by the honor of my fathers and forefathers, he did it no harm.” The vizier replied, “I hear and obey.” Then he returned home, sent for his wife, and made peace with her, assured of her chastity.