Prevod

Then I said, “Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my second brother was named al-Haddar. One day, as he was walking along on an errand, an old woman came up to him and said, ‘My good man, stop a moment while I put a proposal to you. If it pleases you, do as I ask.’ My brother stopped, and she said, ‘I shall show you something and lead you to it, on condition that you do not talk too much.’ ‘Say what you have to say,’ he replied. ‘What would you think,’ she asked, ‘of a beautiful house with flowing water, fruit and wine, a lovely face to gaze upon, a smooth cheek to kiss, and a slender waist to embrace? And all this from nightfall until morning! If you abide by my condition, good fortune awaits you.’ When my brother heard this, he said, ‘My lady, why have you singled me out from all the people in the world? What have you found so pleasing in me?’ She replied, ‘Did I not tell you not to talk so much? Be silent and come with me.’ Then the old woman turned away, and my brother followed, eager for what she had described, until they entered a spacious house. She led him from the lower floor to the upper, where he found a delightful mansion. Looking about him, he saw four girls more beautiful than any eyes had ever beheld, singing in voices that would have moved even a deaf stone to rapture. One of them drank a cup of wine, and my brother said to her, ‘To your health and happiness!’ He rose to wait upon her, but she would not let him. Then she gave him a cup, which he drank, and slapped him on the back of the neck. At this, my brother stormed out, angrily protesting, but the old woman followed him, winking at him to come back. He returned and sat down without a word, and the girl went on slapping the back of his neck until he fainted. Then my brother got up to relieve himself, and the old woman followed him and said, ‘Be patient a little longer, and you will have what you desire.’ ‘How long must I be patient,’ he asked, ‘without getting what I desire?’ ‘Once you are drunk,’ she answered, ‘you will have your wish.’

“My brother returned to his place and sat down. All the girls rose, and the old woman ordered them to strip off his clothes and sprinkle his face with rose water. They did so, and the loveliest of them said, ‘God grant you honor! You have entered my house, and if you submit patiently to my condition, you shall have what you desire.’ My brother replied, ‘My lady, I am your slave, entirely in your hands.’ ‘Know,’ she said, ‘that God has filled me with a passion for merriment, and whoever obeys me shall have his wish.’ Then she ordered the serving girls to sing, and they sang until the whole company was enraptured. At last she said to one of them, ‘Take your master, attend to his needs, and bring him straight back to me.’ The girl led my brother away, and he had no idea what she meant to do with him. The old woman followed and said, ‘Be patient; there is very little left.’ My brother went along with the girl, while the old woman kept saying, ‘Be patient! You have all but gained your desire. Only one thing remains: your beard must be shaved off.’ ‘But how shall I face the disgrace among people?’ he asked. The old woman replied, ‘She only wishes to do this so that you may be a beardless youth, with nothing left on your face to prick her. She has fallen deeply in love with you. Be patient, for your wishes are all but fulfilled.’

“So my brother endured it and submitted to the serving girl, who shaved off his beard and brought him back to the young lady. There he stood, his eyebrows, mustache, and beard all shaved off, and his face painted red. She started at the sight of him, then laughed until she fell flat on her back. ‘My lord,’ she said, ‘you have won my heart with your good nature!’ Then she made him swear by her life that he would get up and dance. He rose and danced, and she did not leave a cushion in the room without striking him with it. All the serving girls, too, began pelting him with oranges, lemons, and citrons, until he fell senseless beneath their blows. Still they went on slapping the back of his neck and pelting his face, until the old woman said, ‘Now you have attained your desire. Know that there is no more beating in store for you. Only one thing remains. It is her custom, when she is drunk, not to yield herself to anyone until she has taken off her clothes and drawers and stands entirely naked. You must take off your clothes as well and run after her, while she runs ahead as though fleeing from you. Keep following her from place to place until your cock is erect, and then she will yield herself to you.’ Then she said, ‘Get up and take off your clothes.’ He rose, quite beside himself, took off all his clothes, and stood naked.” But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she fell silent, leaving her tale untold.

When it was the thirty-first night,

She said, “It has reached me, O fortunate King, that when the old woman told the barber’s brother, ‘Get up and take off your clothes,’ he rose, quite beside himself, stripped off his clothes, and stood naked. Then the girl said to my brother, ‘Now get up and run after me. I shall run ahead of you, and if you want anything, follow me.’ She ran before him, and he pursued her. She began passing from room to room, entering one place and leaving by another, with my brother behind her, overcome with lust, his cock erect, pursuing her like a madman. Still she ran ahead and he ran after her, until he heard her give a soft cry. Suddenly he found himself in the middle of an alley in the leather merchants’ market, where they were crying their wares. The people saw him in this state—stark naked, his cock erect, his beard, eyebrows, and mustache shaved off, and his face painted red—and began shouting at him, laughing and guffawing. Some of them struck his naked body with hides until he fainted. Then they loaded him onto a donkey and took him to the governor. ‘What is this?’ the governor asked. ‘This fellow came upon us from the vizier’s house,’ they replied, ‘in just this state.’ The governor had him given a hundred lashes. I went out after him, brought him back into the city in secret, and arranged for his livelihood. Were it not for my generosity, I could never have put up with the likes of him.”