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Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net








                      _THE "CHANDOS CLASSICS."_



                            EASTERN TALES



                                  BY

                          MANY STORY TELLERS



        COMPILED AND EDITED FROM ANCIENT AND MODERN AUTHORS BY

                            MRS. VALENTINE

       _Author of "Sea Fights and Land Battles," &c., &c., &c._



                     WITH  NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS






                                LONDON

                        FREDERICK WARNE & CO.

                        BEDFORD STREET, STRAND

       *       *       *       *       *




PREFACE.

[Illustration]


In compiling this volume of Eastern Tales, the Editor has been careful
to select only those best suited to youthful readers. They have been
gathered from both ancient and modern, French, Italian, and English
sources, and therefore offer great variety of style and subject.

In the stories taken from the Tales of the Genii, an omission of a few
words has been made, to fit them for their place in this volume.

       *       *       *       *       *




CONTENTS

[Illustration]

                                                          PAGE

JALALADDEEN OF BAGDAD                                      1

THE STORY OF HASCHEM                                      40

THE PANTOFLES                                             73

STORY OF THE PRINCE AND THE LIONS                         78

THE CITY OF THE DEMONS                                    95

JUSSUF, THE MERCHANT OF BALSORA                          104

THE SEVEN SLEEPERS                                       169

THE ENCHANTERS; OR, MISNAR, THE SULTAN OF INDIA          200

SADIK BEG                                                306

HALECHALBE AND THE UNKNOWN LADY                          309

THE FOUR TALISMANS                                       341

THE STORY OF BOHETZAD; OR, THE LOST CHILD                366

URAD; OR, THE FAIR WANDERER                              499

ALISCHAR AND SMARAGDINE                                  524

       *       *       *       *       *




EASTERN TALES.

Jalaladdeen of Bagdad.

[Illustration]


Once upon a time there lived in the city of Bagdad a young man called
Jalaladdeen. It was not his native place; but, in his early days, his
father had taken up his abode there. He was, however, little
acquainted with the town, in which he had grown up a sturdy youth; for
his father inhabited a small house in one of the suburbs, and lived a
very retired and frugal life. They managed their household affairs,
and cultivated their small garden, without the aid of any domestics.

One day the father, feeling his end approaching, called for his son
once more to his bed-side before his death, and said to him,
"Jalaladdeen, my dearest son, thou seest that I have arrived at the
bourne of my earthly career: now I should joyously quit this life,
were it not for the thought that I must leave thee here alone. After
my death, thou wilt find that thou are not so poor as thou mayest have
conceived, and that too with good reason, from our hitherto contracted
habits of life. Nevertheless, guard against the impression that thou
art in possession of inexhaustible riches. Reflect that a year has
three hundred and sixty-five days, and that the smallest expenditure,
when it occurs daily, will in the end amount to no inconsiderable sum.
Pay careful heed, therefore, to these my instructions, and be
contented with the necessaries of life. Provide that which is
indispensable to thy subsistence; but beware of purchasing
superfluities. Man's wants increase daily, if he do not accustom
himself in his early days to practise self-denial. But shouldest thou
ever be so unhappy as to neglect these my sincere cautions, and
consequently fall into poverty, I have only this piece of advice left
for thee:--Take this rope, fasten it to the nail in yonder wall, and
pull stoutly three times."

After these words, with his latest strength he drew a new rope from
under the head of his bed, and presented it to Jalaladdeen: the next
moment he expired.

So remarkable was the last lesson of the dying father to Jalaladdeen,
that he carefully preserved the rope. The care of the funeral of the
deceased, and the grief for the loss of his parent, and his own
abandonment in the world, occupied Jalaladdeen's mind for the first
week; but soon the household matters demanded his attention, and he
speedily found his father's words verified. One day he discovered in a
chamber which his father had always kept locked, and which he himself
had never before entered, a great quantity of gold and jewels. He
still, however, persevered in his accustomed solitary and frugal life
in the same manner as before the death of his father. He fetched his
daily provisions for himself, worked in his garden, and dressed his
own food. One day it happened that as he went to fetch a piece of meat
from his butcher, he passed a house adjacent to his own, from an inner
room of which there sounded joyous voices, jokes, songs, and laughter.
He felt a desire to open the door a little and to peep in; and a
tastefully furnished chamber, hung with light blue silk draperies
ornamented with golden lace, presented itself to his view. Beneath a
canopy reclined five richly dressed young men at a table covered with
a costly cloth, on which stood dishes and plates. On a side-board
stood drinking-vessels and jugs; and five slaves were busily employed
in serving the company with viands and liquors. At sight of this
cheerful and joyous assemblage, Jalaladdeen felt discontented with his
lot.

"How happy are they!" said he to himself: "here they repose together,
and take their refreshments in common, savoured by sprightly
conversation and jokes. Alas! I, poor Jalaladdeen, must sit at home
alone, and take my solitary meal!"

While he was indulging in these reflections, one of the young men
observed him; and, as Jalaladdeen was withdrawing, he stepped forward
hastily and invited him in a most friendly manner to remain with them
during the day, and to pass it in a cheerful and convivial spirit.
Jalaladdeen endeavoured to excuse himself by pointing to his mean
garb, intimating his inability to mix in such society; but his
objections were of no avail. He was conducted to the table in a most
courteous manner, and seated with them. The slaves waited on him, and
placed before him viands with which he was at once pleased and
astonished.

As one of the slaves handed him a full goblet, he held it doubtfully
in his hand for some time, without tasting it. Upon this, one of the
young men, who appeared to be the host, said, "Why do you not drink?"

"I do not know," replied he, "what the liquor is: I am fearful it may
be wine, which our great Prophet has forbidden us."

Hereupon all the company raised a hearty laugh at him.

"Do you know," said one, "why the Prophet forbade his disciples to
drink wine?"

As Jalaladdeen replied in the negative, the other proceeded thus: "The
Prophet observed many of his disciples, when they had partaken freely
of the vine, brawling and quarrelsome; and therefore he forbade it.
The beverage, however, was very different in its effects: some of them
it rendered lazy and inactive; others, too, would defy the whole
world, when heated by its influence. But why should he order us to
shun it? He in fact allows us to use it, so long as we do not abuse
it; and as we are all good companions, and avoid brawls in every
possible way, there is no danger of neglecting the Prophet's command."

In consequence of this explanation, Jalaladdeen lifted the flagon to
his mouth, and emptied it with the greatest pleasure. "Sorry company
spoils good liquor." This maxim was readily adopted. In consequence of
his father's precepts, Jalaladdeen had always been in the habit of
treating all religious tenets with the greatest respect. But fearful
that, by remaining long with his new acquaintance, he should neglect
his father's words, he contrived at first to drink very sparingly. The
beverage, which he had hitherto never tasted, proved very agreeable to
his palate; and when the host called upon him to drain his cup, "Ah,"
thought he, "I have made one false step; I have erred from the right
path! Whether I drink little, or empty the goblet, is of no great
consequence; for I have broken the commandment of the Prophet."

He quaffed again and again, and had his cup filled so frequently, that
he gradually forgot all his good intentions, and felt a degree of
excitement which seemed to run through his veins in a manner he had
never before experienced. He had by this time lost all self-command;
and as he could neither call sense nor recollection to his aid, by
degrees he fashioned himself to the habits of his friends, and pleased
them more and more.

"Here, friend," said one of them at last, "your company is very
pleasant. I wish to have you always with us, that we may revel and
enjoy ourselves together."

The others also approved of the plan, and pressed him to become one of
them.

"I would willingly do so," said Jalaladdeen; "but I must first know
what your society is, and whether it would be proper for me to conform
to its customs. Some associations are dangerous."

"Have no fear on that account," said one: "our brotherhood is
perfectly harmless, and its aim innocent. See, we are five
unencumbered young men, each having some independent property. We have
linked ourselves together, and formed a confederacy to meet at one
another's residences, and to enjoy ourselves day after day in comfort
and pleasure. He to whose lot it has fallen to become host to-day
provides meat and drink, and if it should cost him something more than
usual, he makes up the loss by becoming on the next occasions the
guest of others. In this manner we pass a life devoid of care, and
feast, joke, and laugh with one another the livelong day."

The condition into which the wine and the luxuries of the table had
brought Jalaladdeen disposed him to be well pleased with the offer,
and he was easily induced to identify his lot with theirs. When
evening drew on, and he rose to take his departure, they showed him
the house of meeting for the morrow, and he returned to his own home
delighted with the events of the day, and, retiring to rest, was soon
locked in profound sleep, and lul