The Book Of The
THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT





MA'ARUF THE COBBLER AND HIS WIFE



There dwelt once upon a time in the God-guarded city of Cairo a
cobbler who lived by patching old shoes.[FN#1] His name was
Ma'aruf[FN#2] and he had a wife called Fatimah, whom the folk had
nicknamed "The Dung;"[FN#3] for that she was a whorish, worthless
wretch, scanty of shame and mickle of mischief. She ruled her
spouse and abused him; and he feared her malice and dreaded her
misdoings; for that he was a sensible man but poor-conditioned.
When he earned much, he spent it on her, and when he gained
little, she revenged herself on his body that night, leaving him
no peace and making his night black as her book;[FN#4] for she
was even as of one like her saith the poet:--

How manifold nights have I passed with my wife * In the saddest
plight with all misery rife:
Would Heaven when first I went in to her * With a cup of cold