The ninety-eight night

The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related, O King, that Ja’far said to the caliph:

Badr al-Din kept crying, calling for help, and asking, “What fault did you find with the pomegranate dish?” and they kept asking, “Aren’t you the one who cooked the pomegranate dish?” while he kept answering, “Yes, indeed! But what is wrong with it that I should suffer like this?” As they drew close to the tents, the chamberlain, with his captains and other men, caught up with them. He pushed the vizier’s servants aside to look at Badr al-Din and, hitting him on the shoulders with his stick, asked him, “You, are you the one who cooked the pomegranate seeds?” Badr al-Din cried with pain from the blow and replied, “Yes, my lord, but I ask you, in the name of God, what is supposed to be wrong with it?” But the chamberlain scolded him and cursed him, saying to his men, “Drag away this dog who has cooked the pomegranate dish.” Badr al-Din felt miserable, wept, and said to himself, “What did they find wrong with the pomegranate dish that they should abuse me to this extent?” and he felt frustrated for not knowing what his fault was. The men kept dragging him until they reached the tents, where they waited until the vizier, having gotten the viceroy’s permission to depart and having bidden him good-bye, returned to the tents.

As soon as he dismounted, he asked, “Where is the cook?” and they brought Badr al-Din before him. When Badr al-Din saw his uncle the vizier Shams al-Din, he wept and said, “My lord, what is my offense against you?” Shams al-Din replied, “Damn you, aren’t you the one who cooked the pomegranate dish?” With a cry of exasperation, Badr al-Din replied, “Yes my lord, and what a misfortune! Does my crime warrant cutting off my head?” Shams al-Din replied, “That misfortune would be the least punishment.” Badr al-Din said, “My lord, will you not tell me my crime and what is wrong with the pomegranate dish?” Shams al-Din replied, “Yes, presently,” and he called out to his servants, shouting, “Pack up, and let us go.” The servants undid the tents at once and made the camels kneel for loading. Then they put Badr al-Din in a chest, which they locked and placed on a camel. Then they departed and journeyed until nightfall, when they stopped to eat. Then they took Badr al-Din out of the chest, fed him, and locked him up again.

They kept traveling in this way until they reached Cairo and dismounted outside the city. Then the vizier ordered the servants to take Badr al-Din out of the chest, and they did so and brought him before the vizier, who sent for wood and a carpenter and said to him, “Make a wooden, crosslike figure.” Badr al-Din asked, “What will you do with it?” The vizier replied, “I will crucify you by nailing you on it, and then I will parade you throughout the city, because the pomegranate dish you cooked lacked pepper and tasted awful.” Badr al-Din said, “Haven’t you done enough, and all because the pomegranate dish lacked pepper?”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister, “What a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live!”