Characters
AjibSee The Third Kalandar
The Black Bitches
These two dogs belong to the eldest lady, the mistress of the house. For
reasons shrouded in mystery, she beats them harshly every night. Her story
reveals that these dogs are actually her enchanted sisters. They were turned
into dogs by a Jinniyah as punishment for their jealousy, and the Jinniyah
decreed they must be whipped three hundred times each night.
Caliph Harun al-Rashid
The Caliph embodies compassionate justice. Disguised as a merchant, he enters
the home of the three ladies and witnesses their unusual rituals, along with
the incredible stories of the three Kalandars. The following day, he summons
the eldest lady and the portress to recount their tales. After hearing all the
extraordinary stories, he takes action to set things right: he restores the
dogs to their human form, reunites the portress with her husband, marries the
three older ladies to the three Kalandars, and chooses the cateress as his
wife. Order is reinstated, with the women no longer alone and the men ceasing
their wandering.
The Cateress
The cateress, also known as the procuratrix, resides in a mansion with her two
sisters, the eldest lady and the portress. She aids the portress in her penance
by singing a song of repentance while the portress mourns and tears her clothes
in sorrow. By the end of the story, the Caliph takes the cateress as his
wife.
The Eldest Lady
The eldest lady is the mistress of the mansion and the oldest sister of the
cateress and the portress. While traveling with her elder sisters, she
discovers a city of stone and falls in love with a Prince. Out of jealousy, her
sisters throw her and the Prince overboard. She survives and, during her
journey home, rescues a serpent from a dragon. The serpent, revealed to be a
magical Jinniyah, rewards her by turning her envious sisters into two black
dogs. The Jinniyah commands the lady to beat them nightly or face eternal
imprisonment underground. The eldest lady is independently wealthy, having
accumulated riches from her Prince and her inheritance. She once worked as a
weaver, selling her goods, which underscores her independence. However, her
marriage to one of the Kalandars at the story's conclusion—when the Caliph
compassionately restores order and justice—suggests that even a self-sufficient
woman is considered incomplete without a male protector.
The First Kalandar
One of three one-eyed Kalandars who seek refuge at the doorstep of a group of
women, the First Kalandar discloses that he is actually a Prince in disguise.
He has journeyed to Baghdad to find the Caliph, escaping from a malevolent
Wazir who murdered his uncle and father and seized control of their realms.
(A Kalandar, often referred to as a dervish, is an ascetic Muslim monk known for living a life of simplicity.)
The First Kalandar’s Cousin
The cousin of the First Kalandar is also a Prince and serves as the Kalandar’s
closest companion. He persuades the Kalandar to aid him in fleeing to a hidden
underground abode with his lover, who is actually his sister, with whom a
romantic relationship is forbidden. Tragically, he and his lover perish in a
fire within their secret refuge, which his father believes is a divine
punishment for their incestuous relationship.
The First Kalandar’s Uncle
The First Kalandar’s uncle, who is also the father of the Kalandar’s cousin, discovers the charred remains of his son and his sister in their clandestine dwelling. In a fit of moral outrage, he spits on his son’s face and denounces him for the sin of incest. This uncle is subsequently...
(This entire section contains 1929 words.)
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killed by the wicked Wazir, who usurps both his and his brother’s kingdoms.
The Ifrit
The Ifrit, also spelled afreet in English, is a formidable demon featured in
many tales of the Arabian Nights. In the narrative of the Second
Kalandar, the Ifrit named Jirjis bin Rajmus keeps the Princess of Abnus captive
in a concealed underground chamber, forbidding her from interacting with anyone
else. When he learns of her betrayal with the Second Kalandar, he executes her
and transforms the Second Kalandar into an ape. He is eventually killed by the
sorceress-like Princess Sitt al-Husn, who restores the Second Kalandar to his
human form.
The IfritahSee The Jinniyah
Ja’far
Ja’far is the Wazir to the Caliph of Baghdad. He accompanies the Caliph on
nighttime excursions around Baghdad, disguised as a merchant, acting as the
Caliph’s protector and spokesperson.
The Jinniyah
Disguised as a serpent when encountered by the eldest lady outside of Baghdad,
the Jinniyah is being attacked by a dragon. The eldest lady kills the dragon,
and in gratitude, the Jinniyah avenges her betrayal by her sisters and her
lover, the Prince, by turning them into black dogs.
Jirjis bin RajmusSee The Ifrit
The King
In the story of the Second Kalandar, the King encounters the Kalandar while he
is still cursed as an ape. Despite this, the King is impressed by the
Kalandar's wisdom and abilities, appointing him as his new minister. Driven by
a sense of fairness, he requests his daughter, Sitt al-Husn, who possesses
mystical powers, to break the Kalandar's curse. Unfortunately, she loses her
life in a confrontation with the Ifrit. Realizing the Kalandar brings
misfortune, the King sends him away to continue his travels.
Magians
In the story of the eldest lady, the Magians are inhabitants of the city where
the lady's ship arrives. These people worship fire and do not believe in Allah,
ignoring warnings of impending judgment. On the day of judgment, they are all
transformed into stone.
The Old Lady
The old lady is depicted as scheming and deceitful. Her master dispatches her
to the portress's home to lure the portress to his abode, leading to their
joyful union. However, the old lady later disrupts their happiness by provoking
the portress to break her vow and kiss a stranger. Although it appears that she
is setting the portress up for execution by her husband, the old lady pleads
for her life at the last moment, invoking Allah. She persuades the husband to
whip and exile the portress instead of executing her.
The Porter
The porter is a single man who earns a living by carrying goods from the
market. He is hired by the cateress to help with her shopping and accompany her
to her mansion. Enchanted by the beauty of the three ladies, the porter
impresses them with his quick wit, leading to an invitation to stay with them.
The unmarried ladies are quite open with him, making the porter feel as if he
has entered Paradise. However, his joy in the luxurious company of the ladies
is swiftly shattered when they disturb him and the other guests with their
nightly rituals of repentance.
The Portress
The Portress is the second prominent woman in the narrative. Her actions stir
the curiosity and concern of her guests when, during a love song sung by her
sister, the Cateress, she tears her clothes and faints, revealing scars from a
previous beating. Later, under the Caliph's command, she shares the story
behind these scars. After her marriage, her husband forced her to vow never to
look at another man. However, while shopping at the market with an older woman,
they stopped at a stall where the shopkeeper asked for a kiss. She initially
refused but eventually gave in due to the older woman's prodding, allowing the
man to kiss her cheek. Instead, he bit her, leaving a mark she couldn't hide
from her husband. As a result, he beat her for her perceived betrayal and
expelled her from their home, leading her to tear her clothes every night while
listening to her sister's song. The Caliph later reunites her with her
husband.
The Prince
The Prince in the eldest lady’s tale is the son of the King of the Magians.
Raised by a devout Muslim woman to worship Allah, he is spared when the city's
inhabitants are turned into black stone. However, he meets his end when the
eldest lady's envious sisters throw him overboard, causing him to drown.
The Princess of Abnus
The Princess of Abnus was abducted by the Ifrit Jirus bin Rajmus and hidden in
an underground chamber. She had been isolated from other humans for twenty-five
years until the Second Kalandar stumbled upon her secret location. They fell in
love but were discovered by the Ifrit. Despite the Ifrit’s tortures, the
Princess remained steadfast in protecting the Second Kalandar until she was
ultimately killed.
The ProcuratrixSee The Cateress
The Second Kalandar
The Second Kalandar is a Prince and a distinguished scholar whose tale
illustrates the helplessness of individuals against fate and chance. On his
journey to visit the King of Hind, he is ambushed by robbers and escapes to a
foreign city, where a tailor takes him in. While working as a woodcutter, he
encounters the Princess of Abnus, who is held captive by the Ifrit Jirjis bin
Rajmus. As punishment for his romantic involvement with the Princess, the Ifrit
transforms him into an ape.
While in the form of an ape, the Prince becomes an advisor to a King and is eventually freed from his curse when the King's daughter summons and kills the Ifrit. During the battle between the Ifrit and the Princess, he loses his left eye. After being exiled from the King's court, he assumes the identity of a Kalandar and travels to Baghdad. His story concludes on a positive note, with fate smiling upon him as the Caliph of Baghdad marries him to one of the three older sisters.
Sitt al-Husn
Sitt al-Husn, a princess with sorceress-like abilities, realizes that the ape
in her father's court is actually an enchanted prince, the Second Kalandar. At
her father's behest, she calls upon the Ifrit Jirjis bin Rajmus. During a
fierce battle, she defeats the Ifrit, liberating the Second Kalandar from his
animal form. Tragically, she loses her life in the process.
The Tailor
The tailor offers refuge to the Second Kalandar when he arrives in town,
fleeing from a group of robbers. The tailor provides him with shelter and
conceals his identity for safety. He also helps the Second Kalandar by buying
him a set of woodcutter's tools. The tailor is both kind and welcoming.
The Third Kalandar
Ajib, the Third Kalandar and son of King Khazib, finds himself stranded on the
island of the Magnet Mountain during a voyage. A dream instructs him to kill
the mounted horseman on the mountain, which he does. Meanwhile, astrologers
predict that a wealthy man's son will die by Ajib's hand fifty days after the
horseman's death. Ajib travels to an island where the young man resides and
befriends him. However, on the forty-ninth night, Ajib accidentally kills the
young man when his knife slips from its sheath, fulfilling the astrologers'
prophecy. He leaves the island and encounters ten men with missing eyes. After
more adventures, Ajib loses one of his eyes and, overwhelmed with sorrow,
becomes a Kalandar.
The Wazir
The title wazir, also known as vizier in English, refers to the
King's advisor in medieval Islamic states. In the story of the First Kalandar,
the Wazir murders both his father and uncle to seize their kingdoms. He harbors
resentment against the First Kalandar, who accidentally blinded his left eye as
a child by throwing a stone. In revenge, the Wazir blinds the First Kalandar's
left eye with his finger and sentences him to execution in the wasteland.