THE STORY OF NOOR-ED-DEEN AND ENEES-EL-JELEES - A Tale from the Arabian Nights: Baba Indaba Children's Stories - Issue 241

By Anon E. Mouse

ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 241
In this 241st issue of the Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the story of THE STORY OF NOOR-ED-DEEN AND ENEES-EL-JELEES - a tale from the Arabian Nights.
There was once, in El-Basrah (Basra), a certain King who loved the poor and indigent, and regarded his subjects with benevolence; he bestowed of his wealth upon them who believed and was celebrated in verse by the poets. The name of this King was Mohammad, the son of Suleymán Ez-Zeynee. He had two Wezeers (Viziers); one of whom was named El-Mo'een and the other, El-Fadl. El-Fadl was the most generous of the people of his age whereas El-Mo'een hated others, and was a man of inauspicious aspect.
Now one day the King was on his throne, surrounded by the court, and he called to his Wezeer El-Fadl and said to him, I desire a female slave unsurpassed in beauty by any in her age, of perfect loveliness, and exquisite symmetry, and endowed with all praiseworthy qualities. His courtiers told him such a woman could not to be found for less than ten thousand pieces of gold. And the Sultan agreed to pay this for such a beauty whose name was Enees-el-Jelees.
One day, one of the brokers came to the mansion of El-Fadl and told him the female slave for whom the noble mandate was issued had arrived in town. The Wezeer ordered she be brought and presented to him. When the Wezeer beheld her, she pleased him extremely, and he asked the broker her price? He replied ten thousand gold pieces and the price was agreed. She was sequestered in private and warned about the El-Fadl’s son who had not left a girl in the quarter without making love to her.
The Wezeer El-Fadl had a son as handsome as the shining full moon, with brilliant countenance, and red cheek, marked with a mole like a globule of ambergris, and with grey down. In time the youth heard about this damsel.
One day she went to bathe and, after certain of the female slaves had bathed her, she attired herself in rich apparel. She then went in to the Wezeer's wife who charged two young slave-girls to guard the door, saying to them that no-one but she and the Weezer were to be allowed entry under fear of punishment.
Later the Wezeer's son, came in, and asked after his mother and the family. The two girls said they had gone to bathe. Unfortunately Enees-el-Jelees heard the speech of 'Alee Noor-ed-Deen and she said to herself, I wonder what this youth is like as I have a desire to see him. She approached the door and spied him through a crack in the door. The sight of him made her sigh a thousand sighs and hearing her at the door, he opened it. After glancing on her beauty, he was so affected, with him beginning to feel the same way about her, each was caught in the snare of the other's love. The two slave-girls realising what had happened, and cried out at them; whereupon they fled.
Well, what did he do? Did he do to her what he had done to so many other fair maidens? Did his favours fall foul of the King and bring his wrath upon himself and his father’s household? Well, you’ll just have to download and read this fascinating tale to find out what did happen.

Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories".

Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps.

33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities.
INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abela Publishing
• Release date: May 11, 2017
• ISBN: 9788826089454

Book preview

THE STORY OF NOOR-ED-DEEN AND ENEES-EL-JELEES

A Tale from the Arabian Nights

Baba Indaba Children’s Stories

Published By

Abela Publishing, London

2016

THE STORY OF NOOR-ED-DEEN AND ENEES-EL-JELEES

Typographical arrangement of this edition

©Abela Publishing 2016

This book may not be reproduced in its current format

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without the prior written permission

of the publisher.

Abela Publishing,

London, United Kingdom

2016

Baba Indaba Children’s Stories

ISSN 2397-9607

Issue 241

Email:

[e-mail]

Website:

www.AbelaPublishing.com

An Introduction to Baba Indaba

Baba Indaba, pronounced Baaba Indaaba, lived in Africa a long-long time ago. Indeed, this story was first told by Baba Indaba to the British settlers over 250 years ago in a place on the South East Coast of Africa called Zululand, which is now in a country now called South Africa.

In turn the British settlers wrote these stories down and they were brought back to England on sailing ships. From England they were in turn spread to all corners of the old British Empire, and then to the world.

In olden times the Zulu’s did not have computers, or iPhones, or paper, or even pens and pencils. So, someone was assigned to be the Wenxoxi Indaba (Wensosi Indaaba) – the Storyteller. It was his, or her, job to memorise all the tribe’s history, stories and folklore, which had been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. So, from the time he was a young boy, Baba Indaba had been apprenticed to the tribe’s Wenxoxi Indaba to learn the stories. Every day the Wenxoxi Indaba would narrate the stories and Baba Indaba would have to recite the story back to the Wenxoxi Indaba, word for word. In this manner he learned the stories of the Zulu nation.

In time the Wenxoxi Indaba grew old and when he could no longer see or hear, Baba Indaba became the next in a long line of Wenxoxi Indabas. So fond were the children of him that they continued to call him Baba Indaba – the Father of Stories.

When the British arrived in South Africa, he made it his job to also learn their stories. He did this by going to work at the docks at the Point in Port Natal at a place the Zulu people call Ethekwene (Eh-tek-weh-nee). Here he spoke to many sailors and ships captains. Captains of ships that sailed to the far reaches of the British Empire – Canada, Australia, India, Mauritius, the Caribbean and beyond.

He became so well known that ship’s crew would bring him a story every time they visited Port Natal. If they couldn’t, they would arrange to have someone bring it to him. This way his library of stories grew and grew until he was known far and wide as the keeper of stories – a true Wenxoxi Indaba of the world.

Baba Indaba believes the tale he is about to tell in this little book, and all the others he has learned, are the common property of Umntwana (Children) of every nation in the world - and so they are and have been ever since men and women began telling stories, thousands and thousands of years ago.

Location of

KwaZulu-Natal (shaded in red)

Where in the World – Look it Up!

This next story was told to him by a man who hailed from the city of Basrah. Can you find Basrah on a map? What country is it in?

The Story of

NOOR-ED-DEEN

and

ENEES-EL-JELEES

A Tale from the Arabian Nights

A story, a story

Let it come, let it go

A story, a story

From long, long ago!

Umntwana Izwa! Children Listen!

Once upon a time long, long ago and far, far away There was, in El-Basrah, a certain King who loved the poor and indigent, and regarded his subjects with benevolence; he bestowed of his wealth upon him who believed in Mohammad (God bless and save him!) and was such as one of the poets who have written of him hath thus described:—

He used his lances as pens; and the hearts of his enemies, as paper; their blood being his ink: And hence, I imagine, our forefathers applied to the lance the term Khatteeyeh,

The name of this King was Mohammad the son of Suleymán Ez-Zeynee; and he had two