Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 1.djvu/33

15 what ails our master, O dog?’ asked the cock. The dog told him what had happened and how the merchant’s wife had importuned him, till he was about to tell her his secret and die, and the cock said, ‘Then is our master little of wit and lacking in sense; if he cannot manage his affairs with a single wife, his life is not worth prolonging. See, I have fifty wives. I content this one and anger that, stint one and feed another, and through my good governance they are all under my control. Now, our master pretends to sense and accomplishments, and he has but one wife and yet knows not how to manage her.’ Quoth the dog, ‘What, then, should our master do?’ ‘He should take a stick,’ replied the cock, ‘and beat her soundly, till she says, “I repent, O my lord! I will never again ask a question as long as I live.” And when once he has done this, he will be free from care and enjoy life. But he has neither sense nor judgment.’

When the merchant heard what the cock said, he went to his wife (after he had hidden a rattan in an empty store-room) and said to her, ‘Come with me into this room, that I may tell thee my secret and die and none see me.’ So she entered gladly, thinking that he was about to tell her his secret, and he locked the door; then he took the rattan and brought it down on her back and ribs and shoulders, saying, ‘Wilt thou ask questions about what is none of thy business?’ He beat her till she was well-nigh senseless, and she cried out, ‘By Allah, I will ask thee no more questions, and indeed I repent sincerely!’ And she kissed his hands and feet. Then he unlocked the door and went out and told the company what had happened, whereat they rejoiced, and mourning was changed into joy and gladness. So the merchant learnt good management from a cock, and he and his wife lived happily until death. And thou, O my daughter,” added the Vizier, “except thou desist from this thing, I