Prevod

The maiden said to him, “I have heard, O King, that there was once a devout and ascetic woman, wholly given to worship, who used to visit the palace of a certain king. The royal household sought her blessing and held her in great esteem. One day she entered the palace as usual and sat beside the king’s wife, who handed her a necklace worth a thousand dinars, saying, ‘My girl, keep this necklace with you and guard it until I come out of the bath and take it back.’ The bath was within the palace, so the woman took the necklace and sat in a room in the queen’s apartments to wait until she had bathed and returned. She placed the necklace beneath the prayer rug and rose to pray. Then a bird came, took the necklace, and tucked it into a crevice in one corner of the palace. The woman entrusted with its keeping had gone out on an errand, intending to return, and knew nothing of this. When the king’s wife came out of the bath, she asked the woman for the necklace, but she could not find it. She searched everywhere, yet could discover neither sign nor trace of it. ‘By Allah, my daughter,’ she said, ‘no one came to me. When I took it, I put it beneath the prayer rug. I do not know whether one of the servants saw it and took it while I was absorbed in prayer. Allah Most High alone knows the truth.’ When the king heard this, he ordered his wife to torture the woman with fire and severe beatings.” But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she fell silent, leaving her tale untold.

Then, when it was the five hundred and ninety-seventh night,

She said, “I have heard, O fortunate King, that when the king ordered his wife to torture the woman with fire and severe beatings, she subjected her to every kind of torment. Yet the woman confessed to nothing and accused no one. After this, he ordered her to be imprisoned and put in chains, and so she was confined. One day the king was sitting in the midst of the palace, with water all around him and his wife beside him, when his eye fell upon a bird pulling that necklace from a crevice in one corner of the palace. He called out to a maid who stood nearby, and she caught up with the bird and took the necklace from it. The king then knew that the woman had been wronged, and he regretted what he had done to her. He ordered her to be brought before him, and when she came, he began kissing her head, weeping, begging forgiveness, and lamenting his treatment of her. Then he ordered that she be given a great sum of money, but she refused to accept it. She forgave him and departed, vowing never again to enter anyone’s house. Thereafter she wandered through the mountains and valleys, worshipping Allah Most High until she died.”