not that to kill thee would bring disgrace and reproach on me, I
would take off thy head with my sword and make an end of thee."
Quoth she, "I did but jest with thee." And rose and kissed his
head and hands, saying, "Thou art right, and we will cast about
for some means to kill him." When he heard this, he was glad and
said, "Make haste and contrive some device to relieve me of my
affliction; for I am at my wit's end." Said she, "I will make
shift to do away his life for thee." "How so?" asked he; and she
answered, "By means of our female slave Bakoun." Now this Bakoun
was past mistress in all kinds of knavery and was one of the most
pernicious of old women, in whose religion it was not lawful to
abstain from wickedness; she had brought up Kanmakan and Kuzia
Fekan, and the former had her in so great affection, that he was
wont to sleep at her feet. So when King Sasan heard his wife name
her, he said, "This is a good counsel," and sending for the old
woman, told her what had passed and bade go about to kill
Kanmakan, promising her all good. "O my lord," replied she, "thy
commandment shall be done: but I would have thee give me a dagger
that has been tempered in water of dearth,[FN#158] that I may
despatch him the quicklier for thee." "So be it," said Sasan and
gave her a knife that would well-nigh forego destiny. Now this
woman had heard stories and verses and committed to memory great
store of witty traits and anecdotes: so she took the dagger and
went out, considering how she should compass Kanmakan's
destruction. Then she repaired to the prince, whom she found
sitting awaiting [the coming of a messenger with] his cousin's
tryst; so that night his thought was taken up with Kuzia Fekan
and the fires of love for her raged in his heart. Bakoun went in
to him, saying, "The time of union is at hand and the days of
separation are over and gone." When he heard this, he said, "How
is it with Kuzia Fekan?" And she answered, "Know that she is
distraught for love of thee." At this he rose and taking off his
[upper] clothes, put them on her and promised her all good. Then
said she, "Know that I mean to pass this night with thee, that I
may repeat to thee what talk I have heard and divert thee with
tales of many a slave of love, whom passion hath made sick."
Quoth he, "Tell me a story, that will gladden my heart and dispel
my cares." "With all my heart," answered she and sitting down
beside him, with the dagger under her clothes, began thus, "The
pleasantest thing I ever heard was as follows:
Bakoun's Story of the Hashish-eater.
A certain man loved the fair and spent his substance on them,
till he became a beggar and used to go about the streets and
markets, seeking his bread. One day, as he went along, a splinter
of iron pierced his finger and made it bleed; so he sat down and
wiping away the blood, bound up his finger. Then he went on,
crying out, till he came to a bath, and entering found it clean
(and empty). So he took off his clothes and sitting down by the
basin, fell to pouring water on his head, till he was tired, when
he went out to the room in which was the tank of cold water.
Finding none there, he shut himself up [in a cabinet] and taking
out a piece of hashish, swallowed it. The fumes of the drug
spread through his brain and he rolled over on to the marble
floor. Then the hashish made it appear to him as if a great lord
were kneading him and as if two slaves stood at his head, one
bearing a bowl and the other washing gear and all the requisites
of the bath. When he saw this, he said to himself, 'Meseems these
are mistaken in me; or else they are of the company of us
hashish-eaters.' Then he stretched out his legs and it seemed to
him that the bathman said to him, 'O my lord, the time of thy
going forth draws near and it is to-day thy turn of service (at
the palace).' At this he laughed and said, 'As God wills, O
hashish!' Then he sat and said nothing, whilst the bathman took
him by the hand and raising him up, girt his middle with a
waist-cloth of black silk, after which the two slaves followed
him, with the bowls and implements, till they brought him into a
cabinet, wherein they set perfumes burning. He found the place
full of various kinds of fruits and sweet-scented flowers, and
they cut him a melon and seated him on a stool of ebony, whilst
the bathman stood to wash him and the slaves poured water on him;
after which they rubbed him down well and said, 'O our lord the
Vizier, may the bath profit thee and mayst thou come to delight
everlasting!' Then they went out and shut the door on him; and he
took up the waist-cloth and laughed till he well-nigh lost his
senses. He gave not over laughing for some time and saying to
himself, 'What ails them to bespeak me as if I were a Vizier and
style me "Master" and "our lord"? Surely they are dreaming now;
but presently they will know me and say, "This fellow is a
beggar," and take their fill of cuffing me on the nape of the
neck.' Presently, he felt hot and opened the door, whereupon it
seemed to him that a little white slave and an eunuch entered,
carrying a parcel. The slave opened the parcel and brought out
three kerchiefs of silk, one of which he threw over his head, a
second over his shoulders, and a third he tied round his waist.
Moreover, the eunuch gave him a pair of bath-clogs, and he put
them on; after which in came eunuchs and slaves and supported
him, laughing the while, to the outer hall, which he found hung
and spread with magnificent furniture, such as beseems none but
kings; and the pages hastened up to him and seated him on the
divan. Then they fell to kneading him, till sleep overcame him
and he dreamt that he had a girl in his arms. So he kissed her
and set her between his thighs; then, clipping her as a man clips
a woman, took his yard in his hand and was about to have at her,
when he heard one saying to him, 'Awake, thou good-for-nought!
The hour of noon is come and thou art still asleep.' He opened
his eyes and found himself lying on the merge of the cold-water
tank, with a crowd of people about him, laughing at him; for the
napkin was fallen from his middle and discovered his yard in
point. So he knew that all this was but an imbroglio of dreams
and an illusion of hashish and was vexed and said to him who had
aroused him, 'Would thou hadst waited till I had put it in!' Then
said the folk, 'Art thou not ashamed, O hashish-eater, and thou
lying asleep and naked, with thy yard on end?' And they cuffed
him, till the nape of his neck was red. Now he was starving, yet
had he tasted the savour of delight in sleep."
When Kanmakan heard this story, he laughed till he fell backward
and said to Bakoun, "O my nurse, this is indeed a rare story; I
never heard its like. Hast thou any more?" "Yes," answered she
and went on to tell him diverting stories and laughable
anecdotes, till sleep overcame him. Then she sat by him till the
most part of the night was past, when she said to herself, "It is
time to profit by the occasion." So she unsheathed the dagger and
drawing near to Kanmakan, was about to slaughter him, when,
behold, in came his mother. When Bakoun saw her, she rose to meet
her, and fear got hold on her and she fell a-trembling, as if she
had the ague. The princess mother marvelled to see her thus and
aroused her son, who awoke and found her sitting at his head. Now
the reason of her coming was that Kuzia Fekan heard of the plot
to kill Kanmakan and said to his mother, "O wife of my uncle, go
to thy son, ere that wicked baggage Bakoun kill him." And she
told her what had passed, from beginning to end. So she rose at
once and stayed not for aught, till she came to her son's
lodgings, just as Bakoun was about to slay him. When he awoke, he
said to his mother, "O my mother, indeed thou comest at a good
time, for my nurse Bakoun has been with me this night." Then he
turned to Bakoun and said to her, "My life on thee, knowest thou
any story better than those thou hast told me?" "What I have told
thee," answered she, "is nothing to what I will tell thee; but
that must be for another time." Then she rose to go, hardly
believing that she should escape with her life, for she perceived
of her cunning that his mother knew what was toward; and he said,
"Go in peace." So she went her way, and his mother said to him,
"O my son, blessed be this night, wherein God the Most High hath
delivered thee from this accursed woman!" "How so?" asked he, and
she told him the whole story. "O my mother," said he, "whoso is
fated to live finds no slayer; nor, though he be slain, will he
die; but now it were wise that we depart from amongst these
enemies and let God do what He will." So, as soon as it was day,
he left the city and joined the Vizier Dendan, and certain things
befell between King Sasan and Nuzhet ez Zeman, which caused her
also to leave the city and join herself to Kanmakan and Dendan,
as did likewise such of the King's officers as inclined to their
party. Then they took counsel together what they should do and
agreed to make an expedition into the land of the Greeks and take
their revenge for the death of King Omar ben Ennuman and his son
Sherkan. So they set out with this intent and after adventures
which it were tedious to set out, but the drift of which will
appear from what follows, they fell into the hands of Rumzan,
King of the Greeks. Next morning, King Rumzan caused Dendan and
Kanmakan and their company to be brought before him and seating
them at his side, bade spread the tables of food. So they ate and
drank and took heart of grace, after having made sure of death,
for that, when they were summoned to the King's presence, they
said to one another, "He has not sent for us but to put us to
death." Then said the King, "I have had a dream, which I related
to the monks and they said, 'None can expound it to thee but the
Vizier Dendan.'" "And what didst thou see in thy dream, O King of
the age?" asked Dendan. "I dreamt," answered the King, "that I
was in a pit, as it were a black well, where meseemed folk were
tormenting me; and I would have risen, but fell on my feet and
could not get out of the pit. Then I turned and saw on the ground
a girdle of gold and put out my hand to take it; but when I
raised it from the ground, I saw it was two girdles. So I girt my
middle with them, and behold, they became one girdle; and this, O
Vizier, is my dream and what I saw in sleep." "O our lord the
Sultan," said Dendan, "this thy dream denotes that thou hast a
brother or a brother's son or an uncle's son or other near
kinsman of thy flesh and blood [of whom thou knowest not]." When
the King heard this, he looked at Kanmakan and Dendan and Nuzhet
ez Zeman and Kuzia Fekan and the rest of the captives and said in
himself, "If I cut off these people's heads, their troops will
lose heart for the loss of their chiefs and I shall be able to
return speedily to my realm, lest the kingdom pass out of my
hands." So he called the headsman and bade him strike off
Kanmakan's head, when behold, up came Rumzan's nurse and said to
him, "O august King, what wilt thou do?" Quoth he, "I mean to put
these captives to death and throw their heads among their troops;
after which I will fall upon them, I and all my men, and kill all
we may and put the rest to the rout; so will this be the end of
the war and I shall return speedily to my kingdom, ere aught
befall among my subjects."
When the nurse heard this, she came up to him and said in the
Frank tongue, "How canst thou slay thine own brother's son and
thy sister and thy sister's daughter?" When he heard this, he was
exceeding angry and said to her, "O accursed woman, didst thou
not tell me that my mother was murdered and that my father died
by poison? Didst thou not give me a jewel and say to me, 'This
jewel was thy father's'? Why didst thou not tell me the truth?"
"All that I told thee is true," replied she: "but thy case and my
own are wonderful and thine and my history extraordinary. My name
is Merjaneh and thy mother's name was Abrizeh. She was gifted
with such beauty and grace and valour that proverbs were made of
her, and her prowess was renowned among men of war. Thy father
was King Omar ben Ennuman, lord of Baghdad and Khorassan. He sent
his son Sherkan on an expedition, in company with this very
Vizier Dendan; and Sherkan thy brother separated himself from the
troops and fell in with thy mother Queen Abrizeh, in a privy
garden of her palace, whither we had resorted to wrestle, she and
I and her other damsels. He came on us by chance and wrestled
with thy mother, who overcame him by the splendour of her beauty
and her valour. Then she entertained him five days in her palace,
till the news of this came to her father, by the old woman
Shewahi, surnamed Dhat ed Dewahi, whereupon she embraced Islam at
Sherkan's hands and he carried her by stealth to Baghdad, and
with her myself and Rihaneh and other twenty damsels. When we
came to thy father's presence, he fell in love with thy mother
and going in to her one night, foregathered with her, and she
became with child by him of thee. Now thy mother had three
jewels, which she gave to thy father, and he gave one of them to
his daughter Nuzhet ez Zeman, another to thy brother Zoulmekan
and the third to thy brother Sherkan. This last thy mother took
from Sherkan, and I kept it for thee. When the time of the
princess's delivery drew near, she yearned after her own people
and discovered her secret to me; so I went privily to a black
slave called Ghezban and telling him our case, bribed him to go
with us. Accordingly, he took us and fled forth the city with us
by stealth towards the land of the Greeks, till we came to a
desert place on the borders of our own country. Here the pangs of
labour came upon thy mother, and the slave, being moved by lust,
sought of her a shameful thing; whereat she cried out loudly and
was sore affrighted at him. In the excess of her alarm, she gave
birth to thee at once, and at this moment there arose, in the
direction of our country, a cloud of dust which spread till it
covered the plain. At this sight, the slave feared for his life;
so, in his rage, he smote Queen Abrizeh with his sword and slew
her, then, mounting his horse, went his way. Presently, the dust
lifted and discovered thy grandfather, King Herdoub, who, seeing
thy mother his daughter dead on the ground, was sorely troubled
and questioned me of the manner of her death and why she had left
her father's kingdom. So I told him all that had happened, first
and last; and this is the cause of the feud between the people of
the land of the Greeks and the people of Baghdad. Then we took up
thy dead mother and buried her; and I took thee and reared thee,
and hung this jewel about thy neck. But, when thou camest to
man's estate, I dared not acquaint thee with the truth of the
matter, lest it should stir up a war of revenge between you.
Moreover, thy grandfather had enjoined me to secrecy, and I could
not gainsay the commandment of thy mother's father, Herdoub, King
of the Greeks. This, then, is why I forbore to tell thee that thy
father was King Omar ben Ennuman; but, when thou camest to the
throne, I told thee [what thou knowest]; and the rest I could not
reveal to thee till this moment. So now, O King of the age, I
have discovered to thee my secret and have acquainted thee with
all that I know of the matter; and thou knowest best what is in
thy mind." When Nuzhet ez Zeman heard what the King's nurse said,
she cried out, saying, "This King Rumzan is my brother by my
father King Omar ben Ennuman, and his mother was the Princess
Abrizeh, daughter of Herdoub, King of the Greeks; and I know this
damsel Merjaneh right well." With this, trouble and perplexity
got hold upon Rumzan and he caused Nuzhet ez Zeman to be brought
up to him forthright. When he looked upon her, blood drew to
blood and he questioned her of his history. So she told me all
she knew, and her story tallied with that of his nurse; whereupon
he was assured that he was indeed of the people of Irak and that
King Omar ben Ennuman was his father. So he caused his sister to
be unbound, and she came up to him and kissed his hands, whilst
her eyes ran over with tears. He wept also to see her weeping,
and brotherly love entered into him and his heart yearned to his
brother's son Kanmakan. So he sprang to his feet and taking the
sword from the headsman's hands, bade bring the captives up to
him. At this, they made sure of death; but he cut their bonds
with the sword and said to Merjaneh, "Explain the matter to them,
even as thou hast explained it to me." "O King," replied she,
"know that this old man is the Vizier Dendan and he is the best
of witnesses to my story, seeing that he knows the truth of the
case." Then she turned to the captives and repeated the whole
story to them and to the princes of the Greeks and the Franks who
were present with them, and they all confirmed her words. When
she had finished, chancing to look at Kanmakan, she saw on his
neck the fellow jewel to that which she had hung round King
Rumzan's neck, whereupon she gave such a cry, that the whole
palace rang again, and said to the King, "Know, O my son, that
now my certainty is still more assured, for the jewel that is
about the neck of yonder captive is the fellow to that I hung to
thy neck, and this is indeed thy brother's son Kanmakan." Then
she turned to Kanmakan and said to him, "O King of the age, let
me see that jewel." So he took it from his neck and gave it to
her. Then she asked Nuzhet ez Zeman of the third jewel and she
gave it to her, whereupon she delivered the two to King Rumzan,
and the truth of the matter was made manifest to him and he was
assured that he was indeed Prince Kanmakan's uncle and that his
father was King Omar ben Ennuman. So he rose at once and going up
to the Vizier Dendan, embraced him; then he embraced Prince
Kanmakan, and they cried aloud for very gladness. The joyful news
was blazed abroad and they beat the drums and cymbals, whilst
the flutes sounded and the people held high festival. The army of
Irak and Syria heard the clamour of rejoicing among the Greeks;
so they mounted, all of them, and King Ziblcan also took horse,
saying in himself, "What can be the cause of this clamour and
rejoicing in the army of the Franks?" Then the Muslim troops made
ready for fight and advancing into the field, drew out in battle
array. Presently, King Rumzan turned and seeing the army deployed
in battalia, enquired the reason and was told the state of the
case; so he bade Kuzia Fekan return at once to the Muslim troops
and acquaint them with the accord that had betided and how it was
come to light that he was Kanmakan's uncle. So she set out,
putting away from her sorrows and troubles, and stayed not till
she came to King Ziblcan, whom she found tearful-eyed, fearing
for the captive chiefs and princes. She saluted him and told him
all that had passed, whereat the Muslims' grief was turned to
gladness. Then he and all his officers took horse and followed
the princess to the pavilion of King Rumzan, whom they found
sitting with his nephew, Prince Kanmakan. Now they had taken
counsel with the Vizier Dendan concerning King Ziblcan and had
agreed to commit to his charge the city of Damascus of Syria and
leave him king over it as before, whilst themselves entered Irak.
Accordingly, they confirmed him in the viceroyalty of Damascus
and bade him set out at once for his government, so he departed
with his troops and they rode with him a part of the way, to bid
him farewell. Then they returned and gave orders for departure,
whereupon the two armies united and King Rumzan and his nephew
set out, surrounded by their nobles and grandees. And indeed
Kanmakan rejoiced in his uncle King Rumzan and called down
blessings on the nurse Merjaneh, who had made them known to each
other; but the two Kings said to one another, "Our hearts will
never be at rest nor our wrath appeased, till we have taken our
wreak of the old woman Shewahi, surnamed Dhat ed Dewahi, and
wiped out the blot upon our honour." So they fared on till they
drew near Baghdad, and Sasan, hearing of their approach, came out
to meet them and kissed the hand of the King of the Greeks, who
bestowed on him a dress of honour. Then King Rumzan sat down on
the throne and seated his nephew at his side, who said to him, "O
my uncle, this kingdom befits none but thee." "God forbid,"
replied Rumzan, "that I should supplant thee in thy kingdom!" So
the Vizier Dendan counselled them to share the throne between
them, ruling each one day in turn, and they agreed to this. Then
they made feasts and offered sacrifices and held high festival,
whilst King Kanmakan spent his nights with his cousin Kuzia
Fekan; and they abode thus awhile.
One day, as the two Kings sat, rejoicing in the happy ending of
their troubles, they saw a cloud of dust arise and up came a
merchant, who ran to them, shrieking and crying out for succour.
"O Kings of the age," said he, "how comes it that I was in safety
in the country of the infidels and am plundered in your realm,
what though it be a land of peace and justice?" King Rumzan
questioned him of his case, and he replied, "I am a merchant, who
have been nigh a score of years absent from my native land,
travelling in far countries; and I have a patent of exemption
from Damascus, which the late Viceroy King Sherkan wrote me, for
that I had made him gift of a slave-girl. Now I was returning to
Irak, having with me a hundred loads of rarities of Ind; but, as
I drew near Baghdad, the seat of your sovereignty and the
abiding-place of your peace and your justice, there came out upon
me Bedouins and Kurds banded together from all parts, who slew my
men and robbed me of all my goods. This is what hath befallen
me." Then he wept and bemoaned himself before the two Kings, who
took compassion on him and swore that they would sally out upon
the thieves. So they set out with a hundred horse, each reckoned
worth thousands of men, and the merchant went before them, to
guide them in the right way. They fared on all that day and the
following night till daybreak, when they came to a valley
abounding in streams and trees. Here they found the bandits
dispersed about the valley, having divided the treasure between
them; but there was yet some of it left. So they fell upon them
and surrounded them on all sides, nor was it long before they
made prize of them all, to the number of near three hundred
horsemen, banded together of the scourings of the Arabs. They
bound them all, and taking what they could find of the merchant's
goods, returned to Baghdad, where the two Kings sat down upon one
throne and passing the prisoners in review before them,
questioned them of their condition and their chiefs. So they
pointed out to them three men and said, "These are our only
chiefs, and it was they who gathered us together from all parts
and countries." The Kings bade lay on these three and set the
rest free, after taking from them all the goods in their
possession and giving them to the merchant, who examined them and
found that a fourth of his stock was missing. The two Kings
engaged to make good his loss, whereupon he pulled out two
letters, one in the handwriting of Sherkan and the other in that
of Nuzhet ez Zeman; for this was the very merchant who had bought
Nuzhet ez Zeman of the Bedouin, as hath been before set forth.
Kanmakan examined the letters and recognized the handwriting of
his uncle Sherkan and his aunt Nuzhet ez Zeman; then (for that he
knew the latter's history) he went in to her with that which she
had written and told her the merchant's story. She knew her own
handwriting and recognizing the merchant, despatched to him
guest-gifts (of victual and what not) and commended him to her
brother and nephew, who ordered him gifts of money and slaves and
servants to wait on him, besides which the princess sent him a
hundred thousand dirhems in money and fifty loads of merchandise,
together with other rich presents. Then she sent for him and made
herself known to him, whereat he rejoiced greatly and kissed her
hands, giving her joy of her safety and union with her brother
and thanking her for her bounty: and he said to her, "By Allah, a
good deed is not lost upon thee!" Then she withdrew to her own
apartment and the merchant sojourned with them three days, after
which he took leave of them and set out to return to Damascus.
After this, the two Kings sent for the three robber-chiefs and
questioned them of their condition, whereupon one of them came
forward and said, "Know that I am a Bedouin, who use to lie
in wait, by the way, to steal children and virgin girls and
sell them to merchants; and this I did for many a year until
these latter days, when Satan incited me to join these two
gallows-birds in gathering together all the riff-raff of the
Arabs and other peoples, that we might waylay merchants and
plunder caravans." Said the two Kings, "Tell us the rarest of the
adventures that have befallen thee in kidnapping children and
girls." "O Kings of the age," replied he, "the strangest thing
that ever happened to me was as follows. Two-and-twenty years
ago, being at Jerusalem, I saw a girl come out of the khan, who
was possessed of beauty and grace, albeit she was but a servant
and was clad in worn clothes, with a piece of camel-cloth on her
head; so I entrapped her by guile and setting her on a camel,
made off with her into the desert, thinking to carry her to my
own people and there set her to pasture the camels and collect
their dung (for fuel); but she wept so sore, that after beating
her soundly, I carried her to Damascus, where a merchant saw her
and being astounded at her beauty and accomplishments, bid me
more and more for her, till at last I sold her to him for a
hundred thousand dinars. I heard after that he clothed her
handsomely and presented her to the Viceroy of Damascus, who gave
him for her her price thrice told; and this, by my life, was but
little for such a damsel! This, O Kings of the age, is the
strangest thing that ever befell me." The two Kings wondered at
his story; but, when Nuzhet ez Zeman heard it, the light in her
face became darkness, and she cried out and said to her brother,
"Sure, this is the very Bedouin who kidnapped me in Jerusalem!"
And she told them all that she had endured from him in her
strangerhood of hardship and blows and hunger and humiliation,
adding, "And now it is lawful to me to slay him." So saying, she
seized a sword and made at him; but he cried out and said, "O
Kings of the age, let her not kill me, till I have told you the
rare adventures that have betided me." And Kanmakan said to her,
"O my aunt, let him tell his story, and after do with him as thou
wilt." So she held her hand and the Kings said to him, "Now let
us hear thy story." "O Kings of the age," said he, "if I tell you
a rare story, will you pardon me?" "Yes," answered they. Then
said the Bedouin, "know that
Hemmad the Bedouin's Story.