The Envier and the Envied is a tale of jealousy, betrayal, good fortune and forgiveness from The Arabian Nights. It follows two neighbours whose lives take very different paths. While one becomes consumed by resentment towards the other, the envied man seeks peace away from his troubles. An attempt on his life leads to an extraordinary escape, and his fortunes rise until he becomes a ruler. Yet his greatest test comes when he meets the very neighbour who once tried to kill him.
A Neighbour Consumed by Jealousy
In a certain city, two men lived in adjoining houses separated by a common wall. One of them envied the other and continually sought ways to harm him.
The more the envier tried to bring trouble upon his neighbour, the more the other man seemed to prosper. His success only increased the jealous man’s bitterness until he could scarcely eat or sleep peacefully.
Eventually, the envied man discovered that his neighbour was working against him. He decided that it was better to leave than to remain surrounded by hostility.
He said that God’s earth was wide enough for its people and departed for another city.
There, he bought a piece of land containing an old, dried up well in a ruinous condition. He established a place of worship and settled into a life devoted to religious study and prayer.
His sincerity attracted religious devotees and other visitors. As his reputation spread, the city’s leading people came to know him, and some became his disciples.
The man had left his former home to escape jealousy, but he found peace and respect in his new surroundings.
The Envier’s Cruel Plan
News of the envied man’s growing reputation eventually reached his former neighbour. Instead of being satisfied with his own life, the envier became troubled by the knowledge that the man he hated was prospering.
He travelled to the new city and presented himself at the man’s place of worship.
The envied man welcomed him warmly, offering him the same hospitality he would have shown another visitor. He did not know that his former neighbour had come with a terrible purpose.
The envier claimed that he had important news to share but insisted that they speak privately. He asked the envied man to send his devotees back to their own quarters so that nobody could overhear their conversation.
Trusting him, the envied man dismissed the others and accompanied his visitor away from the gathering.
They walked until they reached the old well.
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Without warning, the envier pushed his neighbour over the edge. The man fell into the deep well, while his attacker left, believing that he had finally killed the person whose success had tormented him.
Once again, jealousy had driven the envier to commit a terrible act.
The Secret of the Well
The well was not empty. It was inhabited by supernatural beings known in Burton’s translation as the Jann.
When they saw the man falling, they caught him and lowered him gently until he reached the bottom. They then seated him safely upon a large stone.
One of the supernatural beings asked the others whether they knew who the stranger was. Another recognised him as the good man who had established the place of worship above them and whose religious recitations had brought them comfort.
They understood that his former neighbour had deceived him and thrown him into the well.
As they continued speaking, the envied man overheard them discussing the Sultan’s daughter. The ruler intended to visit the holy man because his daughter was possessed by a spirit.
One of the beings explained that a spirit named Maymun, son of Damdam, was in love with the princess and had taken possession of her. They then revealed a remedy.
A black tomcat living in the place of worship had a white spot at the end of its tail. Seven white hairs were to be plucked from that spot and used to fumigate the princess. According to the supernatural beings, this would drive the possessing spirit away and restore her to her senses.
The envied man listened carefully and remembered their instructions.
When morning came, the devotees searched for their spiritual leader. To their amazement, they found him climbing out of the well. His survival increased their respect for him.
Remembering what he had heard, he took seven white hairs from the black cat’s tail and kept them ready.
The Sultan’s Daughter Is Cured
Soon afterwards, the Sultan arrived at the place of worship with some of his leading officials. The envied man welcomed him and asked whether he knew the reason for his visit.
The Sultan confirmed that he had come because of his daughter.
The man asked the ruler to send for the princess, explaining that he would try to heal her, if it was God’s will.
The Sultan was delighted by this promise and ordered that his daughter be brought to him. She arrived restrained because of her condition.
The envied man seated her behind a curtain and fumigated her with the seven hairs he had collected from the cat’s tail.
Immediately, the spirit departed.
The princess regained her senses and wondered what had happened and who had brought her there. Her father was overwhelmed with joy. He thanked the man who had restored his daughter’s health and asked his leading officials what reward such a service deserved.
They agreed that the man deserved to marry the princess.
The Sultan accepted their advice, and the envied man married his daughter. Through this marriage, he became the Sultan’s son in law.
From Holy Man to Sultan
The envied man’s good fortune continued.
After some time, the Sultan’s vizier died. The ruler asked his courtiers whom he should appoint to the vacant position, and they recommended his son in law.
The envied man therefore became vizier, serving as a senior official in the Sultan’s government.
Eventually, the Sultan also died. The leading men of the realm needed to choose a successor, and they agreed that the vizier should become their new ruler.
Thus, the man who had once been driven from his home by jealousy rose from a life of religious devotion to become Sultan.
His rise was remarkable, but his story was not yet complete. The neighbour who had tried to kill him still lived, and fate would bring them together again.
A Surprising Act of Forgiveness
One day, the Sultan rode through the city surrounded by his emirs, viziers and other important men. During the journey, he noticed his former neighbour standing among the people.
It was the envier who had pushed him into the well and left him for dead.
The Sultan could have ordered the man arrested and punished for his crime. Instead, he called one of his ministers and instructed him to bring the envier forward without frightening him.
When the man appeared, the Sultan ordered that a thousand miskals of gold be taken from the royal treasury for him. He also commanded that ten camels be loaded with goods for trade and that the envier be escorted safely back to his own city.
The Sultan then bade his former enemy farewell.
He did not punish the man for the many wrongs he had committed against him. Instead, he answered cruelty with generosity and allowed the envier to return home with wealth and protection.
The neighbour who had once been unable to tolerate another man’s good fortune now received kindness from the very person he had betrayed.
The envied man’s rise to power was extraordinary, but his decision not to seek revenge revealed another side of his character. He had the authority to punish his enemy, yet he chose to forgive him and provide for his journey home.
This concludes The Envier and the Envied, the embedded story told within the Second Kalandar’s Tale. The larger adventure then continues.
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Moral Lesson
Jealousy can lead people to harm others, even when those others have done them no wrong. The tale also shows that success need not lead to revenge. Forgiveness and generosity can reveal a strength that anger and hatred cannot provide.
Knowledge Check
1. Why did the envier become hostile towards his neighbour?
He was jealous of his neighbour’s good fortune and could not bear to see him prosper.
2. Why did the envied man leave his original city?
He discovered that his neighbour was continually trying to harm him, so he moved to another city to seek peace.
3. What happened when the envier pushed his neighbour into the well?
Supernatural beings living inside the well caught the falling man and lowered him safely to the bottom.
4. How did the envied man discover the remedy for the Sultan’s daughter?
He overheard the supernatural beings discussing the princess’s condition and explaining that seven white hairs from a spot on a black cat’s tail could be used to drive away the possessing spirit.
5. How did the envied man eventually become Sultan?
He cured the princess, married her, became vizier after the previous vizier died and was chosen to succeed the Sultan when the ruler died.
6. How did the Sultan treat the neighbour who had tried to kill him?
He forgave the envier and ordered that he receive a thousand miskals of gold, ten camels loaded with trade goods and an escort to his home city.
Source
Adapted from The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume I, translated and annotated by Richard F. Burton and first published in 1885. The story appears as “The Tale of the Envier and the Envied” within the Second Kalandar’s Tale.
