Her Majesty the King

_To the lineal descendant of the Lady Kayenna, who told me this true history, the while I could but marvel and admire the teller; for, of a truth, since Scheherezade there hath been none to approach her in goodliness and wit and wisdom and all comeliness of mind and person and, especially, in a proper and intelligent appreciation of_

THE ILLUSTRIOUS AUTHOR.

FOREWARNING.

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(YEAR OF THE HEGIRA 1276.)

Many, and in sooth foolish, are they who writing books send them forth to the world with humiliating disparagement of their contents and servile appeals for mercy to those who may read them. Now a man who hath dates, or coffee, or rice to sell goeth not into the market-place crying out, “Lo! the merchandise which I offer for sale is poor and mouldy and unworthy stuff; yet of your charity, good people, I pray you to buy,” seeking yet to cajole his hearers with coarse flattery. As if any man were silly enough to buy damaged goods because, forsooth, the vendor praised the good judgment of the buyer!

I, who have made the pilgrimage and kissed the Kaaba which endowed with truth, am not as the Franks who trust to the beguilement of the Stone of Bel-Ârni. This volume, containing the surprising adventures of the good Kayenna and the marvellous wisdom of Shacabac, the Wayfarer, needeth no apology. If it excelleth all other works of history in lofty thought, in rich imagery, in polished style, and in perfect diction, it is only because I have made it to do so. Had it existed in the days of the good Caliph Omar, wisest of all censors, it would not have shared the fate of that mass of unworthy literature by him justly condemned to the flames. Rather would it have been commended to all the faithful as a work not to be hastily skimmed by the light and thoughtless who seek transitory knowledge in the public libraries, but to be bought and preserved for careful and frequent study by the discriminating reader.

While the work of no mortal is perfect, the only defect in this book is its brevity. Its merits are as many as its words. If any man fail to recognize them, let him wisely be silent, and, returning the book to him from whom he borrowed it, pray Allah for better judgment and mourn the hour in which he, unworthy, ever learned to read.

CONTENTS.

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PAGE

FOREWARNING v

CHAPTER I. 13

He that repenteth too late may some time worry too soon.—The Kâtâmarana.

CHAPTER II. 20

A lie grows so fast that its own parents may not recognize it.—Deucalion.

CHAPTER III. 29

The hardest thing to find is an honest partner for a swindle.—Samith.

CHAPTER IV. 34

A grandfather is a man who has two chances to make a fool of himself, and seldom neglects them.—Ginglymus.

CHAPTER V. 46

An omen, said the Fakir, is a sign of the future. Blame not the omen, but the future, if the sign prove not true.—Shiraz, the Younger.

CHAPTER VI. 55

The man who can invent a good working substitute for honesty has yet to be invented himself.—Eastern Proverb.

CHAPTER VII. 61

Nevertheless, much depends on a man’s horoscope. One is born in the desert, and becomes a brigand; another is reared in the great city, and publishes books. It is Kismet.—Ben Haround.

CHAPTER VIII. 72

What is a cryptogram? asked the Pupil. It is a cipher, replied the Sage. What is a cipher? persisted the Pupil. It is naught, answered the Sage. Is there a cryptogram in this book? asked the Pupil. If there be, a Sage alone will find it. It should explain aught that may seem irrelevant.—The Wisdom of Shacabac.