CI NUIT
by Unknown · from Les mille et une nuits - Tome premier
Adapted Version
The Doctor and his Wife have a big problem. A big stiff figure is in their house. What can they do? It is very heavy. It is very strange. They do not know what to do.
The Doctor's Wife has an idea. She points to the chimney. It is the Neighbor's house. "Let us put it there," she says. "Down the chimney." The Doctor likes this plan.
The Neighbor sells food for the King. He keeps oil and butter in his house. Little mice like to eat his food. He worries about the little mice. They make a big mess.
The Doctor and his Wife work hard. They carry the Stiff Figure. They go up to the roof. They put ropes on the figure. They lower it down the chimney. It stands up inside. It looks like a person.
The Neighbor comes home. He was at a big party. He has a bright lantern. He walks into his house. It is dark inside.
He looks up. What is that? A strange shape is in the chimney. "A thief!" he thinks. He is very brave. He grabs a long stick.
He goes to the figure. He pokes it with his stick. "Go away, thief!" he says. "You eat my food." He pokes it again. He pokes it again and again. He wants it to leave.
Suddenly, the Stiff Figure falls down. It falls to the floor. The Neighbor is very surprised. He pokes it one more time. It does not move.
The figure does not move. It is very, very still. The Neighbor looks closely at it. Oh no! It is not a person. It is just a Stiff Figure. He is very, very surprised now.
The Neighbor is very, very worried. He thinks he broke the Stiff Figure. What will he do now? He feels very bad. This is a big problem.
The Neighbor is still very, very worried. The sun comes up outside. Light fills the room. What will happen next? We do not know! This is a big, big problem.
Original Story
CI NUIT.
Le médecin et sa femme délibérèrent ensemble sur le moyen de se délivrer du corps mort pendant la nuit. Le médecin eut beau rêver, il ne trouva nul stratagème pour sortir d'embarras; mais sa femme, plus fertile en inventions, dit: «Il me vient une pensée; portons ce cadavre sur la terrasse de notre logis, et le jetons, par la cheminée, dans la maison du musulman notre voisin.»
Ce musulman était un des pourvoyeurs du sultan: il était chargé du soin de fournir l'huile, le beurre et toute sorte de graisses. Il avait chez lui son magasin, où les rats et les souris faisaient un grand dégât.
Le médecin juif ayant approuvé l'expédient proposé, sa femme et lui prirent le bossu, le portèrent sur le toit de leur maison, et après lui avoir passé des cordes sous les aisselles, Ils le descendirent par la cheminée dans la chambre du pourvoyeur, si doucement qu'il demeura planté sur ses pieds contre le mur, comme s'il eût été vivant. Lorsqu'ils le sentirent en bas, ils retirèrent les cordes et le laissèrent dans l'attitude que je viens de dire. Ils étaient à peine descendus et rentrés dans leur chambre, quand le pourvoyeur entra dans la sienne. Il revenait d'un festin de noces auquel il avait été invité ce soir-là, et il avait une lanterne à la main. Il fut assez surpris de voir, à la faveur de sa lumière, un homme debout dans sa cheminée; mais comme il était naturellement courageux et qu'il s'imagina que c'était un voleur, il se saisit d'un gros bâton, avec quoi courant droit au bossu: «Ah! ah! lui dit-il, je m'imaginais que c'étaient les rats et les souris qui mangeaient mon beurre et mes graisses, et c'est toi qui descends par la cheminée pour me voler! Je ne crois pas qu'il te reprenne jamais envie d'y revenir.» En achevant ces mots, il frappe le bossu et lui donne plusieurs coups de bâton. Le cadavre tombe le nez contre terre. Le pourvoyeur redouble ses coups; mais remarquant enfin que le corps qu'il frappe est sans mouvement, il s'arrête pour le considérer. Alors voyant que c'était un cadavre, la crainte commença de succéder à la colère. «Qu'ai-je fait, misérable! dit-il: je viens d'assommer un homme. Ah! j'ai porté trop loin ma vengeance! Grand Dieu, si vous n'avez pitié de moi, c'est fait de ma vie. Maudites soient mille fois les graisses et les huiles qui sont cause que j'ai commis une action si criminelle!» Il demeura pâle et défait. Il croyait déjà voir les ministres de la justice qui le traînaient au supplice, et il ne savait quelle résolution il devait prendre.
L'aurore, qui paraissait, obligea Scheherazade à mettre fin à son discours; mais elle en reprit le fil sur la fin de la nuit suivante, et dit au sultan des Indes:
Story DNA
Moral
Actions, even those intended to avoid blame, can lead to unforeseen and escalating complications.
Plot Summary
A Jewish doctor and his wife, needing to dispose of a dead hunchback, decide to secretly drop the body down their Muslim neighbor's chimney. The neighbor, a purveyor for the sultan, returns home and, mistaking the upright corpse for a thief, beats it with a stick. Upon realizing he has struck a dead body, the purveyor is overcome with terror, believing he has committed murder. The story ends on a cliffhanger as he grapples with his despair.
Themes
Emotional Arc
panic to greater panic
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
This story is part of 'One Thousand and One Nights' (Arabian Nights), a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled during the Islamic Golden Age. The framing device of Scheherazade is characteristic of this collection.
Plot Beats (11)
- A doctor and his wife are in a predicament, needing to dispose of a dead body (a hunchback).
- The wife suggests throwing the body down their Muslim neighbor's chimney.
- The neighbor is a purveyor for the sultan, storing oils and fats, and has a problem with rats.
- The doctor and his wife carry the body to the roof, lower it into the chimney, and leave it standing upright.
- The purveyor returns home from a wedding feast, carrying a lantern.
- He sees the figure in his chimney, assumes it's a thief, and grabs a stick.
- He confronts the 'thief', accusing it of stealing his provisions, and beats it repeatedly.
- The body falls, and the purveyor continues to strike it.
- He eventually realizes the body is motionless and discovers it is a corpse.
- Overcome with fear and guilt, he believes he has committed murder and laments his fate.
- The story ends with the purveyor in despair, as dawn breaks and Scheherazade pauses her narration.
Characters
The Jewish Doctor
Of average height and build, likely with a scholarly or thoughtful demeanor, though no specific features are detailed.
Attire: Likely wears simple, practical robes or tunic and trousers, possibly a cap or turban, consistent with a professional man in a Middle Eastern city.
Wants: To dispose of the dead body without attracting suspicion or legal trouble, to protect his reputation and livelihood.
Flaw: Lack of ingenuity, indecisiveness, reliance on others for solutions.
Does not undergo a significant arc in this segment, remaining reactive to his wife's plans.
Thoughtful, indecisive, easily swayed by his wife's more cunning ideas, prone to worry.
The Jewish Doctor's Wife
No specific details are provided, but she is characterized by her quick wit and resourcefulness.
Attire: Likely wears modest, practical clothing such as a long dress or tunic, possibly with a head covering, consistent with a married woman in a Middle Eastern city.
Wants: To quickly and discreetly dispose of the dead body to avoid legal repercussions for her household.
Flaw: Her cunning can lead to morally questionable actions.
Does not undergo a significant arc in this segment, acting as the primary instigator of the plot.
Resourceful, cunning, decisive, practical, quick-witted.
The Hunchback
A man with a prominent hunchback, otherwise no specific details are given about his height, build, or other features.
Attire: No specific details are given, but likely simple, everyday clothes appropriate for a common person in a Middle Eastern setting, perhaps worn and well-mended.
Wants: Deceased.
Flaw: His physical deformity, which ultimately leads to his accidental death (implied, as he is already dead at the story's start).
Begins as a corpse, remains a corpse, and is moved from place to place.
Deceased, so no personality is displayed. In life, he might have been a figure of pity or amusement.
The Muslim Provisioner
A man of average build, characterized by his natural courage and later by his fear and pallor. No specific height or build is given.
Attire: Likely wears practical, yet respectable clothing befitting a sultan's provisioner, perhaps a thobe or tunic and trousers, possibly a simple turban or cap. He carries a lantern.
Wants: To protect his property from thieves, to avoid punishment for what he believes is murder.
Flaw: Impulsiveness, quick temper, prone to panic when faced with severe consequences.
Begins as a confident, protective homeowner, then transforms into a terrified man believing he has committed murder, consumed by fear of justice.
Courageous, quick to anger, impulsive, easily frightened by the consequences of his actions, prone to self-recrimination.
Locations
Physician's House Rooftop
The flat, accessible rooftop terrace of a Jewish physician's house, likely made of packed earth or stone, typical of older Middle Eastern architecture, offering a view over neighboring rooftops and narrow alleys. It's dark and quiet, with the faint glow of distant city lights.
Mood: Tense, secretive, conspiratorial
The physician and his wife carry the hunchback's body onto their roof and lower it into their neighbor's chimney.
Musulman's Storeroom
A dimly lit storeroom within a Musulman's house, filled with large earthenware jars and sacks containing oil, butter, and other fats. The room has rough, plastered walls and a simple wooden door. A wide, sooty chimney flue descends into the room, and the air is heavy with the scent of stored provisions. It's a functional, somewhat cluttered space.
Mood: Initially mundane, then shocking and fearful
The hunchback's body is lowered into this room, where the Musulman discovers it and, mistaking it for a thief, strikes it repeatedly.