by the fountain-basin and ceased not pouring water on his head till he
was tired. Then he went out to the room in which was the cistern of cold
water; and seeing no one there, he found a quiet corner and taking out a
piece of Hashísh,[107] swallowed it. Presently the fumes mounted to his
brain and he rolled over on to the marble floor. Then the Hashish made
him fancy that a great lord was shampooing him and that two slaves stood
at his head, one bearing a bowl and the other washing gear and all the
requisites of the Hammam. When he saw this, he said in himself,
"Meseemeth these here be mistaken in me; or else they are of the company
of us Hashish-eaters."[108] Then he stretched out his legs and he
imagined that the bathman said to him, "O my master, the time of thy
going up to the Palace draweth near and it is to-day thy turn of
service." At this he laughed and said to himself, "As Allah
willeth,[109] O Hashish!" Then he sat and said nothing, whilst the
bathman arose and took him by the hand and girt his middle with a
waist-cloth of black silk, after which the two slaves followed him with
the bowls and gear; and they ceased not escorting him till they brought
him into a cabinet, wherein they set incense and perfumes a-burning. He
found the place full of various kinds of fruits and sweet-scented
flowers, and they sliced him a water-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, Sir
Wazir, health to thee for ever!" Then they went out and shut the door on
him; and in the vanity of phantasy he arose and removed the waist-cloth
from his middle, and laughed till he well nigh fainted. He gave not over
laughing for some time and at last quoth he to himself, "What aileth
them to address me as if I were a Minister and style me Master, and Sir?
Haply they are now blundering; but after an hour they will know me and
say, This fellow is a beggar; and take their fill of cuffing me on the
neck." Presently, feeling hot he opened the door, whereupon it seemed to
him that a little white slave and an eunuch came in to him carrying a
parcel. Then the slave opened it 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,[110] and he put them on; after which in came white
slaves and eunuchs and supported him (and he laughing the while) to the
outer hall, which he found hung and spread with magnificent furniture,
such as beseemeth 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, sitting to her as a man
sitteth to a woman,[111] he took yard in hand and drew her towards him
and weighed down upon her, when lo! he heard one saying to him, "Awake,
thou ne'er-do-well! The noon-hour is come and thou art still asleep." He
opened his eyes and found himself lying on the marge of the cold-water
tank, amongst a crowd of people all laughing at him; for his prickle was
at point and the napkin had slipped from his middle. So he knew that all
this was but a confusion of dreams and an illusion of Hashish and he 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, to be sleeping stark naked with stiff-standing tool?" And
they cuffed him till his neck was red. Now he was starving, yet forsooth
had he savoured the flavour of pleasure in his dream. When Kanmakan
heard the bondwoman's tale, he laughed till he fell backward and said to
Bakun, "O my nurse, this is indeed a rare story and a delectable; I
never heard the like of this anecdote. Say me! hast more?" "Yes,"
replied she, and she ceased not to tell him merry adventures and
laughable absurdities, till sleep overcame him. Then she sat by his head
till the most part of the night was past, when she said to herself, "It
is time to profit by the occasion." So she sprang to her feet and
unsheathed the hanger and rushing up to Kanmakan, was about to cut his
throat when behold, his mother came in upon the twain. As soon as Bakun
saw her, she rose in respect and advanced to meet her, and fear gat hold
of her and she fell a-trembling, as if she had the ague. When his mother
looked at her she marvelled to see her thus and aroused her son, who
awoke and found her sitting at his head. Now the cause of her coming was
that Kuzia Fakan overheard the conversation and the concert to kill
Kanmakan, and she said to his mother, "O wife of my uncle, go to thy
son, ere that wicked whore Bakun murther him;" and she told her what had
passed from first to last. So she fared forth at once, and she thought
of naught and stayed not for aught till she went in to her son at the
very moment when Bakun was about to slay him in his sleep. When he
awoke, he said to his mother, "O my mother, indeed thou comest at a good
time, for nurse Bakun hath been with me this night." Then he turned to
Bakun and asked her, "By my life! knowest thou any story better than
those thou hast told me?" She answered, "And where is what I have told
thee compared with what I will tell thee?; but however better it be, it
must be told at another time." Then she rose to depart, hardly
believing, in her escape albeit he said, "Go in peace!" for she
perceived by her cunning that his mother knew what had occurred. So she
went her way; whereupon his mother said to him, "O my son, blessed be
this night, for that Almighty Allah hath delivered thee from this
accursed woman." "And how so?" enquired he, and she told him the story
from beginning to end. Quoth he, "O my mother, of a truth the live man
findeth no slayer, and though slain he shall not die; but now it were
wiser that we depart from amongst these enemies and let Allah work what
He will." So, when day dawned he left the city and joined the Wazir
Dandan, and after his departure, certain things befel between King Sasan
and Nuzhat al-Zaman, which compelled her also to quit the city and join
herself to them; and presently they were met by all the high officers of
King Sasan who inclined to their party. Then they sat in counsel
together devising what they should do, and at last all agreed upon a
razzia into the land of Roum there to take their revenge for the death
of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and his son Sharrkan. So they set out with
this intent and, after sundry adventures (which it were tedious to tell
as will appear from what follows), they fell into the hands of Rúmzán,
King of the Greeks. Next morning, King Rumzan caused Kanmakan and the
Wazir Dandan and their company to be brought before him and, when they
came, he seated them at his side, and bade spread the tables of food. So
they ate and drank and took heart of grace, after having made sure of
death, when they were summoned to the King's presence; and they had said
to one another, "He hath not sent for us but to slay us." And when they
were comforted the King said, "In truth I have had a dream, which I
related to the monks, and they said, 'None can expound it to thee save
the Wazir Dandan.'" Quoth the Minister, "Weal it was thou didst see in
thy dream, O King of the age!" Quoth the King, "O Wazir, I dreamt that I
was in a pit which seemed a black well where multitudes were tormenting
me; and I would have risen, but when springing up I fell on my feet and
could not get out of that same pit. Then I turned and saw therein a
girdle of gold and I stretched 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 both and behold, the girdles became one girdle; and this, O Wazir,
is my dream and what I saw when my sleep was deepest." Said Dandan, "O
our Lord the Sultan! know that this thy dream denoteth thou hast a
brother or a brother's son or an uncle's son or other near kinsman of
thy flesh and blood whom thou knowest not; withal he is of the noblest
of you all." Now when the King heard these words he looked at Kanmakan
and Nuzhat al-Zaman and Kuzia Fakan and the Wazir Dandan and the rest of
the captives and said to himself, "If I smite these people's necks,
their troops will lose heart for the destruction of their chiefs and I
shall be able to return speedily to my realm, lest the Kingship pass out
of my hands." So having determined upon this he called the Sworder and
bade him strike off Kanmakan's head upon the spot and forthright, when
lo! up came Rumzan's nurse and said to him, "O auspicious King, what
purposest thou?" Quoth he, "I purpose slaughtering these prisoners who
are in my power; and after that I will throw their heads among their
men: then will I fall upon them, I and all my army in one body, and kill
all we can kill and rout the rest: so will this be the decisive action
of the war and I shall return speedily to my kingdom ere aught of
accident befal among my subjects." When the nurse heard these words, she
came up to him and said in the Frankish tongue, "How canst thou prevail
upon thyself to slay thine own brother's son, and thy sister, and thy
sister's daughter?" When he heard this language, he was wroth with
exceeding wrath and said to her, "O accursed woman, didst thou not tell
me that my mother was murthered and that my father died by poison? Didst
thou not give me a jewel and say to me:—Of a truth this jewel was thy
father's? Why didst thou not tell me the truth?" Replied she, "All that
I told thee is true, but my case and thy case are wonderful and my
history and thy history are marvellous. My name is Marjanah and thy
mother's name was Abrizah: and she was gifted with such beauty and
loveliness and valour that proverbs were made of her, and her prowess
was renowned among men of war. And thy father was King Omar bin
al-Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad and Khorasan, without doubt or double
dealing or denial. He sent his son Sharrkan on a razzia in company with
this very Wazir Dandan; and they did all that men can. But Sharrkan, thy
brother, who had preceded the force, separated himself from the troops
and fell in with thy mother Queen Abrizah in her palace; and we happened
to have sought a place apart in order to wrestle, she and I and her
other damsels. He came upon us by chance while we were in such case, and
wrestled with thy mother, who overcame him by the power of her splendid
beauty and by her prowess. Then she entertained him five days in her
palace, till the news of this came to her father, by the old woman
Shawahi, surnamed Zat al-Dawahi, whereupon she embraced Al-Islam at the
hands of Sharrkan, and he took her and carried her by stealth to
Baghdad, and with her myself and Rayhánah and twenty other damsels, all
of us having, like her, followed the True Faith. When we came into the
presence of thy Father, the King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, and he saw thy
mother, Queen Abrizah, he fell in love with her and going in unto her
one night, had connection with her, and she conceived by him and became
with child of thee. Now thy mother had three jewels which she presented
to thy father; and he gave one of them to his daughter, Nuzhat al-Zaman,
another to thy brother, Zau al-Makan, and the third to thy brother
Sharrkan. This last thy mother took from Sharrkan and kept it for thee.
But as the time of her delivery drew near she yearned after her own
people and disclosed to me her secret; so I went to a black slave called
Al-Ghazban; and, privily telling him our case, bribed him to go with us.
Accordingly the negro took us and fled the city with us, thy mother
being near her time. But as we approached a desert place on the borders
of our own country, the pangs of labour came upon thy mother. Then the
slave proved himself a lustful villain and approaching her sought of her
a shameful thing; whereupon she cried out at him with a loud cry, and
was sore affrighted at him. In the excess of her fright she gave birth
to thee at once, and at that moment there arose, in the direction of our
country, a dust-cloud which towered and flew till it walled the view.
Thereupon the slave feared for his life; so he smote Queen Abrizah with
his sword and slew her in his fury; then mounting his horse he went his
way. Soon after his going, the dust lifted and discovered thy
grandfather, King Hardub, Lord of Græcia-land, who, seeing thy mother
(and his daughter) lying slain on the plain, was sorely troubled with a
distress that redoubled, and questioned me of the manner of her death
and the cause of her secretly quitting her father's realm. So I told him
all that had passed, first and last; and this is the cause of the feud
between the people of the land of the Greeks and the people of the city
of Baghdad. Then we bore off thy murthered mother and buried her; and I
took thee and reared thee, and hung about thy neck the jewel which was
with Queen Abrizah. But, when being grown up thou camest to man's
estate, I dared not acquaint thee with the truth of the matter, lest
such information stir up a war of blood-revenge between you. Moreover,
thy grandfather had enjoined me to secrecy, and I could not gainsay the
commandment of thy mother's father, Hardub, King of the Greeks. This,
then, is the cause of my concealment and the reason why I forbore to
inform thee that thy father was King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; but when thou
camest to the throne, I told thee what thou knowest; and I durst not
reveal to thee the rest till this moment, O King of the Age! So now I
have discovered to thee my secret and my proof, and I have acquainted
thee with all I know; and thou reckest best what is in thy mind." Now
all the captives had heard the slave-woman Marjanah, nurse to King
Rumzan, speaking as she spake; when Nuzhat al-Zaman, without stay or
delay, cried out, saying, "This King Rumzan is my brother by my father,
King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, and his mother was Queen Abrizah, daughter of
King Hardub, Lord of the Greeks; and I know this slave-woman Marjanah
right well." With this, trouble and perplexity got hold upon Rumzan and
he caused Nuzhat al-Zaman to be brought up to him forthright. When he
looked upon her, blood yearned to blood and he questioned her of his
history. She told him the tale and her story tallied with that of
Marjanah, his nurse; whereupon the King was assured that he was, indeed
and without a doubt, of the people of Irak; and that King Omar bin
al-Nu'uman was his father. So without losing time he caused his sister
to be unpinioned, and Nuzhat al-Zaman came up to him and kissed his
hands, whilst her eyes ran over with tears. The King wept also to see
her weeping, and brotherly love possessed him and his heart yearned to
his brother's son Sultan Kanmakan. So he sprang to his feet and, taking
the sword from the Sworder's hands (whereat the captives made sure of
death), he caused them to be set close to him and he cut their bonds
with the blade and said to his nurse Marjanah, "Explain the matter to
this company, even as thou hast explained it to me." Replied she, "O
King, know that this Shaykh is the Wazir Dandan and he is the best of
witnesses to my story, seeing that he knoweth the facts of the case."
Then she turned to the captives and repeated the whole story to them on
the spot and forthright, and in presence of the Kings of the Greeks and
the Kings of the Franks; whereupon Queen Nuzhat al-Zaman and the Wazir
Dandan and all who were prisoners with them confirmed her words. When
Marjanah, the bond-woman, had finished, chancing to look at Sultan
Kanmakan she saw on his neck the third jewel, fellow to the two which
were with Queen Abrizah; and, recognising it, she cried so loud a cry,
that the palace re-echoed it and said to the King, "O my son, Know that
now my certainty is still more assured, for this jewel that is about the
neck of yonder captive is the fellow to that I hung to thy neck; and,
these being the two, this captive is indeed thy brother's son,
Kanmakan." Then the slave-woman Marjanah turned to Kanmakan and said to
him, "Let me see that jewel, O King of the Age!"; so he took it from his
neck and handed it to her. Then she asked Nuzhat al-Zaman of the third
jewel and she gave it to her; and when the two were in her hand she
delivered them to King Rumzan, and the truth and proof were made
manifest to him; and he was assured that he was indeed Sultan Kanmakan's
uncle and that his father was King Omar bin al-Nu'uman. So he rose at
once and on the spot and, going up to the Wazir Dandan, threw his arms
round his neck; then he embraced King Kanmakan and the twain cried a
loud cry for excess of joy. The glad news was blazed abroad without
delay; and they beat the tabrets and cymbals, whilst the shawms sounded
and the people held high festival. The armies of Irak and Syria heard
the clamour of rejoicing among the Greeks; so they mounted to the last
man, and King Zibl Khan also took, horse saying to himself, "Would I
knew what can be the cause of this clamour and rejoicing in the army of
the Franks and the Greeks!" Then the army of Irak dight itself for fight
and advanced into the plain and place of cut and foin. Presently, King
Rumzan turned him round and saw the army deployed and in preparing for
battle employed, so he asked the cause thereof and was told the state of
the case. Thereupon he bade his niece and brother's daughter, Kuzia
Fakan, return at once and forthright to the troops of Syria and Irak and
acquaint them with the plight that had betided and how it was come to
light that King Rumzan was uncle to Sultan Kanmakan. She set out,
putting away from her sorrows and troubles and, coming to King Zibl
Khan,[112] saluted him and told him all that had passed of the good
accord, and how King Rumzan had proved to be her uncle and uncle of
Kanmakan. And when she went in to him she found him tearful-eyed, in
fear for the captive Emirs and Princes; but when he heard what had
passed, from first to last, the Moslem's sadness was abated and they
joyed with the more gladness. Then King Zibl Khan and all his officers
and his retinue took horse and followed Princess Kuzia Fakan till they
reached the pavilion of King Rumzan; and when entering they found him
sitting with his nephew, Sultan Kanmakan. Now he had taken counsel with
the Wazir Dandan concerning King Zibl Khan and had agreed to commit to
his charge the city of Damascus of Sham and leave him King over it as he
before had been while they themselves entered Irak. Accordingly, they
confirmed him in the vice-royalty of Damascus of Syria, and bade him set
out at once for his government; so he fared forth with his troops and
they rode with him a part of the way to bid him farewell. Then they
returned to their own places whereupon, the two armies foregathered and
gave orders for the march upon Irak; but the Kings said one to other,
"Our hearts will never be at rest nor our wrath cease to rage till we
have taken our wreak of the old woman Shawahi, surnamed Zat al-Dawahi,
and wiped away our shame and blot upon our honour." Thereupon 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 nurse Marjanah who had made them known to each other. They
fared on and ceased not faring till they drew near their home Baghdad,
and when the Chief Chamberlain, Sasan, heard of their approach, he came
out to meet them and kissed the hand of King Rumzan who bestowed on him
a dress of honour. Then the King of Roum sat down on the throne and
seated by his side his nephew Sultan Kanmakan, who said to him, "O my
uncle, this Kingdom befitteth none but thee." Replied Rumzan, "Allah be
my refuge and the Lord forbid that I should supplant thee in thy
Kingdom!" Upon this the Wazir Dandan counselled them to share the throne
between the two, ruling each one day in turn; and with this they were
well satisfied.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Forty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the two Kings
agreed each to rule one day in turn: then made they feasts and offered
sacrifices of clean beasts and held high festival; and they abode thus
awhile, whilst Sultan Kanmakan spent his nights with his cousin Kuzia
Fakan. And after that period, as the two Kings sat rejoicing in their
condition and in the happy ending of their troubles, behold, they saw a
cloud of dust arise and tower till it walled the world from their eyes.
And out of it came a merchant shrieking and crying aloud for succour and
saying, "O Kings of the Age! how cometh it that I woned safely in the
land of the Infidels and I am plundered in your realm, though it be the
biding place of justice[113] and peace?" Then King Rumzan went up to him
and questioned him of his case and he replied, "I am a merchant and,
like other merchants, I have been long absent from my native land,
travelling in far countries for some twenty years; and I have a patent
of exemption from the city of Damascus which the Viceroy, King Sharrkan
(who hath found mercy) wrote me, for the cause that I had made him gift
of a slave-girl. Now as I was drawing near my home, having with me an
hundred loads of rarities of Hind, when I brought them near Baghdad,
which be the seat of your sovereignty and the place of your peace and
your justice, out there came upon me wild Arabs and Kurds[114] in band
gathered together from every land; and they slew my many and they robbed
my money and this is what they have done me." Then the trader wept in
presence of King Rumzan, saying that he was an old man and infirm; and
he bemoaned himself till the King felt for him and had compassion on
him; and likewise did King Kanmakan and they swore that they would sally
forth upon the thieves. So they set out amid an hundred horse, each
reckoned worth thousands of men, and the merchant went before them to
guide them in the right way; and they ceased not faring on all that day
and the livelong night till dawn-break, when they came to a valley
abounding in rills and shady with trees. Here they found the foray
dispersed about the valley, having divided that merchant's bales among
them; but there was yet some of the goods left. So the hundred horsemen
fell upon them and surrounded them on all sides, and King Rumzan shouted
his war cry, and thus also did his nephew Kanmakan, and ere long they
made prize of them all, to the number of near three hundred horsemen,
banded together of the refuse of rascality.[115] They took what they
could find of the merchant's goods and, binding them tightly, brought
them to Baghdad, where King Rumzan and his nephew, King Kanmakan, sat
down together on one throne and, passing the prisoners in review before
them, questioned them of their case and their chiefs. They said, "We
have no chiefs but these three men and it was they who gathered us
together from all corners and countries." The Kings said to them, "Point
out to us your head-men!"; and, when this was done, they bade lay hands
on the leaders and set their comrades free, after taking from them all
the goods in their possession and restoring them to the merchant, who
examined his stuffs and monies and found that a fourth of his stock was
missing. The Kings engaged to make good the whole of his loss, whereupon
the trader pulled out two letters, one in the handwriting of Sharrkan,
and the other in that of Nuzhat al-Zaman; for this was the very merchant
who had bought Nuzhat al-Zaman of the Badawi, when she was a virgin, and
had forwarded her to her brother Sharrkan; and that happened between
them which happened.[116] Hereupon King Kanmakan examined the letters
and recognised the handwriting of his uncle Sharrkan, and, having heard
the history of his aunt, Nuzhat al-Zaman, he went in to her with the
second letter written by her to the merchant who had lost through her
his monies; Kanmakan also told her what had befallen the trader from
first to last. She knew her own handwriting and, recognising the
merchant, despatched to him guest-gifts and commended him to her brother
and nephew, who ordered him largesse of money and black slaves and pages
to wait on him; besides which Nuzhat al-Zaman sent him an hundred
thousand dirhams in cash and fifty loads of merchandise and presented to
him other rich presents. Then she sent for him and when he came, she
went up to him and saluted him and told him that she was the daughter of
King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and that her brother was King Rumzan and that
King Kanmakan was her nephew. Thereupon the merchant rejoiced with great
joy, and congratulated her on her safety and on her reunion with her
brother, and kissed her hands thanking her for her bounty; and said to
her, "By Allah! a good deed is not lost upon thee!" Then she withdrew to
her own apartment and the trader sojourned with them three days, after
which he took leave of them and set out on his return march to the land
of Syria. Thereupon the two Kings sent for the three robber-chiefs who
were of the highwaymen, and questioned them of their case, when one of
them came forward and said, "Know ye that I am a Badawi who am wont to
lie in wait, by the way, to snatch small children[117] 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 yon two gallows-birds in
gathering together all the riff-raff of the Arabs and other peoples,
that we might plunder merchandise and waylay merchants." Said the Kings,
"Tell us the rarest of the adventures that have befallen thee in
kidnapping children and maidens." Replied he, "O Kings of the Age, the
strangest thing that happened to me was that one day, two-and-twenty
years ago, I snatched a girl who belonged to the Holy City; she was
gifted with beauty and comeliness, despite that she was but a servant
and was clad in threadbare clothes, with a piece of camlet-cloth on her
head. So I entrapped her by guile as she came out of the caravanserai;
and at that very hour mounting her on a camel, made off with her,
thinking to carry her to my own people in the Desert and there set her
to pasture the camels and gather their droppings in the valley. But she
wept with so sore a weeping that after coming down upon her with blows,
I took her and carried her to Damascus city where a merchant saw her
with me and, being astounded at her beauty and marvelling at her
accomplishments, wished to buy her of me and kept on bidding me more and
more for her, till at last I sold her to him for an hundred thousand
dirhams. After selling her I heard her display prodigious eloquence; and
it reached me that the merchant clothed her in handsome gear and
presented her to the Viceroy of Damascus, who gave him three times the
price which he had paid to me, and this price, by my life! was but
little for such a damsel. This, O Kings of the Age, is the strangest
thing that ever befel me." When the two Kings heard her story they
wondered thereat, but when Nuzhat al-Zaman heard what the Badawi
related, the light became darkness before her face and she cried out and
said to her brother Rumzan, "Sure and sans doubt this is the very Badawi
who kidnapped me in the Holy City Jerusalem!" Then she told them all
that she had endured from him in her strangerhood of hardship, blows,
hunger, humiliation, contempt, adding, "And now it is lawful for me to
slay him." So saying she seized a sword and made at him to smite him;
and behold, he cried out and said, "O Kings of the Age, suffer her not
to slay me, till I shall have told you the rare adventures that have
betided me." And her nephew Kanmakan said to her, "O my aunt, let him
tell us his tale, and after that do with him as thou wilt." So she held
her hand and the Kings said to him, "Now let us hear thy history." Quoth
he, "O Kings of the Age, if I tell you a rare tale will ye pardon me?"
"Yes," answered they. Then the Badawi robber-chief began,
THE TALE OF HAMMAD THE BADAWI;
And he said:—Know ye that a short while ago, I was sore wakeful one
night and thought the morn would never dawn; so, as soon as it was break
of day I rose, without stay or delay; and, slinging over my shoulder my
sword, mounted horse and set my lance in rest. Then I rode out to sport
and hunt and, as I went along, a company of men accosted me and asked me
whither I was bound. I told them and they said, "We will keep thee
company." So we all fared on together, and, whilst we were faring, lo
and behold! up started an ostrich and we gave her chase, but she escaped
our pursuit and spreading wings ceased not to fly before us (and we
following by sight) till she lost us in a desert wherein there was
neither grass nor water, nor heard we aught therein save hiss of snake
and wail of Jinn and howl of Ghul; and when we reached that place the
ostrich disappeared nor could we tell whether she had flown up into the
sky or into the ground had gone down. Then we turned our horses' heads
and thought to return; but found that to retrace our steps at that time
of burning heat would be toilsome and dangerous; for the sultry air was
grievous to us, so that we thirsted with sore thirst and our steeds
stood still. We made sure of death; but while we were in this case we
suddenly espied from afar a spacious mead where gazelles were frisking.
Therein was a tent pitched and by the tent side a horse tethered and a
spear was planted with head glittering in the sun.[118] Upon this our
hearts revived after we had despaired, and we turned our horses' heads
towards that tent making for the meadow and the water which irrigated
it; and all my comrades fared for it and I at their head, and we ceased
not faring till we reached the mead. Then we alighted at the spring and
watered our beasts. But I was seized with a fever of foolish curiosity
and went up to the door of that tent, wherein I saw a young man, without
hair on his cheeks, who fellowed the new moon; and on his right hand was
a slender-waisted maid, as she were a willow-wand. No sooner did I set
eyes on her than love gat hold upon my heart and I saluted the youth,
who returned my greeting. Then said I, "O my brother, tell me who thou
art and what to thee is this damsel sitting by thy side?"[119] Thereupon
the youth bent his head groundwards awhile, then raised it and replied,
"Tell me first who thou art and what are these horsemen with thee?"
Answered I, "I am Hammad son of al-Fazári, the renowned knight, who is
reckoned among the Arabs as five hundred horse. We went forth from our
place this morning to sport and chase and were overcome by thirst; so I
came to the door of this tent, thinking haply to get of thee a draught
of water." When he heard these my words, he turned to the fair maiden
and said, "Bring this man water and what food there is ready." So she
arose trailing her skirts, whilst the golden bangles tinkled on her
ankles and her feet stumbled in her long locks, and she disappeared for
a little while. Presently she returned bearing in her right hand a
silver vessel full of cold water and in her left hand a bowl brimming
with milk and dates, together with some flesh of wild cattle. But I
could take of her nor meat nor drink for the excess of my passion, and I
applied to her these two couplets, saying:—
It was as though the sable dye[120] upon her palms, ✿ Were raven
perching on a swathe of freshest snow;
Thou seest Sun and Moon conjoined in her face, ✿ While Sun fear-dimmed
and Moon fright-pallid show.
After I had eaten and drunk I said to the youth, "Know thou, O Chief of
the Arabs, that I have told thee in all truth who and what I am, and now
I would fain have thee do the like by me and tell me the truth of thy
case." Replied the young man, "As for this damsel she is my sister."
Quoth I, "It is my desire that thou give me her to wife of thy free
will: else will I slay thee and take her by force." Upon this, he bowed
his head groundwards awhile, then he raised his eyes to me and answered,
"Thou sayest sooth in avouching thyself a renowned knight and famed in
fight and verily thou art the lion of the desert; but if ye all attack
me treacherously and slay me in your wrath and take my sister by force,
it will be a stain upon your honour. An you be, as ye aver, cavaliers
who are counted among the Champions and reck not the shock of foray and
fray, give me a little time to don my armour and sling on my sword and
set lance in rest and mount war-steed. Then will we go forth into the
field of fight, I and you; and, if I conquer you, I will kill you to the
last man; but if you overcome me and slay me, this damsel, my sister, is
yours." Hearing such words I replied, "This is only just, and we oppose
it not." Then I turned back my horse's head (for my love for the damsel
waxed hotter and hotter) and returned to my companions, to whom I set
forth her beauty and loveliness as also the comeliness of the young man
who was with her, together with his valour and strength of soul and how
he had avouched himself a match for a thousand horse. Moreover, I
described to my company the tent and all the riches and rarities therein
and said to them, "Know ye that this youth would not have cut himself
off from society and have taken up his abode alone in this place, were
he not a man of great prowess: so I propose that whoso slayeth the
younker shall take his sister." And they said, "This contenteth us."
Then my company armed themselves and mounting, rode to the tent, where
we found that the young man had donned his gear and backed his steed;
but his sister ran up to him (her veil being drenched with tears), and
took hold of his stirrup and cried out, saying, "Alas!" and, "Woe worth
the day!" in her fear for her brother, and recited these couplets:-
To Allah will I make my moan of travail and of woe; ✿ Maybe Ilàh of
Arsh[121] will smite their faces with affright:
Fain would they slay thee, brother mine, with purpose felon-fell; ✿ Albe
no cause of vengeance was, nor fault forewent the fight.
Yet for a rider art thou known to those who back the steed, ✿ And twixt
the East and West of knights thou art the prowest knight:
Thy sister's honour thou shalt guard though little might be hers, ✿ For
thou'rt her brother and for thee she sueth Allah's might:
Then let not enemy possess my soul nor 'thrall my frame, ✿ And work on
me their will and treat thy sister with despight.
I'll ne'er abide, by Allah's truth, in any land or home ✿ Where thou art
not, though dight it be with joyance and delight:
For love and yearning after thee myself I fain will slay, ✿ And in the
gloomy darksome tomb spread bed upon the clay.
But when her brother heard her verse he wept with sore weeping and
turned his horse's head towards his sister and made this answer to her
poetry:—
Stand by and see the derring-do which I to-day will show, ✿ When meet we
and I deal them blows that rend and cleave and split;
E'en though rush out to seek a bout the lion of the war, ✿ The stoutest
hearted brave of all and eke the best in wit;
To him I'll deal without delay a Sa'alabiyan blow,[122] ✿ And dye my
cane-spear's joint in blood by wound of foe bespit:
If all I beat not off from thee, O sister, may this frame ✿ Be slain,
and cast my corpse to birds, for so it would befit:
Yes, for thy dearest sake I'll strike my blows with might and main, ✿
And when we're gone shall this event in many a book be writ.
And when he had ended his verse, he said, "O my sister, give ear to what
I shall enjoin on thee"; whereto she replied, "Hearkening and
obedience." Quoth he, "If I fall, let none possess thy person;" and
thereupon she buffeted her face and said, "Allah forbid, O my brother,
that I should see thee laid low and yield myself to thy foe!" With this
the youth put out his hand to her and withdrew her veil from her face,
whereupon it shone forth as the sun shineth out from the white clouds.
Then he kissed her between the eyes and bade her farewell; after which
he turned to us and said, "Holla, Knights! Come ye as guests or crave ye
cuts and thrusts? If ye come to us as your hosts, rejoice ye in the
guest-rite; and, if ye covet the shining moon, come ye out against me,
knight by knight, into this plain and place of fight." Thereupon rushed
out to him a doughty rider and the young man said to him, "Tell me thy
name and thy father's name, for I am under an oath not to slay any whose
name tallies with mine and whose father's name is that of my father; and
if this be the case with thee, I will give thee up the maid." Quoth the
horseman, "My name is Bilál;"[123] and the young man answered him,
saying:—
Thou liest when speaking of "benefits," while ✿ Thou comest to front
with thine evillest will:
An of prowess thou'rt prow, to my words give ear, ✿ I'm he who makes
champions in battle-field reel
With keen blade, like the horn of the cuspèd moon, ✿ So 'ware thrust
that shall drill through the durest hill!
Then they charged down, each at each, and the youth thrust his adversary
in the breast so that the lance-head issued from his back. With this,
another came out, and the youth cried:—
Ho thou hound, who art rotten with foulness in grain,[124] ✿ What high
meed is there easy for warrior to gain?
'Tis none save the lion of strain purest pure ✿ Who uncareth for life in
the battle-plain!
Nor was it long before the youth left him drowned in his blood and cried
out, "Who will come forth to me?" So a third horseman rushed out upon
the youth and began saying:—
To thee come I forth with my heart a-flame, ✿ And summon my friends and
my comrades by name:
When thou slewest the chief of the Arabs this day, ✿ This day thou
remainest the pledge of my claim.
Now when the youth heard this he answered him in these words:—
Thou liest, O foulest of Satans that are, ✿ And with leasings calumnious
thou comest to war:
This day thou shalt fall by a death-dealing point ✿ Where the lances
lunge and the scymitars jar!
Then he so foined him in the breast that the spear-point issued from his
back and he cried out, saying, "Ho! will none come out?" So a fourth
fared forwards and the youth asked him his name and he answered, "My
name is Hilál, the New Moon." And the youth began repeating:—
Thou hast failed who would sink me in ruin-sea, ✿ Thou who camest in
malice with perfidy:
I, whose verses hast heard from the mouth of me, ✿ Will ravish thy soul
though unknown to thee.
Then they drave at each other and delivered two cuts, but the youth's
stroke devanced that of the rider his adversary and slew him: and thus
he went on to kill all who sallied out against him. Now when I saw my
comrades slain, I said to myself, "If I go down to fight with him, I
shall not be able to prevail against him; and, if I flee, I shall become
a byword of shame among the Arabs." But the youth gave me no time to
think, for he ran at me and dragged me from my saddle and hurled me to
the ground. I fainted at the fall and he raised his sword designing to
cut off my head; but I clung to his skirts, and he lifted me in his hand
as though I were a sparrow. When the maiden saw this, she rejoiced in
her brother's prowess and coming up to him, kissed him between the eyes.
Then he delivered me to her, saying, "Take him and look to him and
entreat him hospitably, for he is come under our rule." So she took hold
of the collar of my hauberk[125] and led me away by it as one would lead
a dog. Then she did off her brother's coat of mail and clad him in a
robe, and set for him a stool of ivory, on which he sat down; and she
said to him, "Allah whiten thy honour and prevent from thee the shifts
of fortune!" And he answered her with these couplets:—
My sister said, as saw she how I stood ✿ In fight, when sun-rays lit my
knightlihood,
"Allah assain thee for a Brave of braves ✿ To whom in vale bow lions
howso wood!"
Quoth I, "Go ask the champions of my case, ✿ When feared the Lords of
war my warrior-mood!
My name is famed for fortune and for force, ✿ And soared my spirit to
such altitude;"
Ho thou, Hammád, a lion hast upstirred, ✿ Shall show thee speedy death
like viper-brood!
Now when I heard his verse, I was perplexed as to my case and,
considering my condition and how I was become a captive, I was lowered
in my own esteem. Then I looked at the damsel, his sister, and seeing
her beauty I said to myself, "'Tis she who caused all this trouble; and
I fell a-marvelling at her loveliness till the tears streamed from my
eyes and I recited these couplets:—
Dear friend! ah leave thy loud reproach and blame; ✿ Such blame but irks
me yet may not alarm:
I'm clean distraught for one whom saw I not ✿ Without her winning me by
winsome charm:
Yestreen her brother crossed me in her love, ✿ A Brave stout-hearted and
right long of arm."
Then the maiden set food before her brother and he bade me eat with him,
whereat I rejoiced and felt assured that I should not be slain. And when
he had ended eating, she brought him a flagon of pure wine and he
applied him to it till the fumes of the drink mounted to his head and
his face flushed red. Then he turned to me and said, "Woe to thee, O
Hammad! dost thou know me or not?" Replied I, "By thy life, I am rich in
naught save ignorance!" Quoth he "O Hammad, I am 'Abbád bin Tamím bin
Sa'labah and indeed Allah giveth thee thy liberty and leadeth thee to a
happy bride and spareth thee confusion." Then he drank to my long life
and gave me a cup of wine and I drank it off; and presently he filled me
a second and a third and a fourth, and I drained them all; while he made
merry with me and swore me never to betray him. So I sware to him one
thousand five hundred oaths that I would never deal perfidiously with
him at any time, but that I would be a friend and a helper to him.
Thereupon he bade his sister bring me ten suits of silk; so she brought
them and laid them on my person, and this dress I have on my body is one
of them. Moreover, he made bring one of the best of his
she-dromedaries[126] carrying stuffs and provaunt, he bade her also
bring a sorrel horse, and when they were brought he gave the whole of
them to me. I abode with them three days, eating and drinking, and what
he gave me of gifts is with me to this present. At the end of the three
days he said to me, "O Hammad, O my brother, I would sleep awhile and
take my rest and verily I trust my life to thee; but, if thou see
horsemen making hither, fear not, for know that they are of the Banu
Sa'labah, seeking to wage war on me." Then he laid his sword under his
head-pillow and slept; and when he was drowned in slumber Iblis tempted
me to slay him; so I arose in haste, and drawing the sword from under
his head, dealt him a blow that made his head fall from his body. But
his sister knew what I had done, and rushing out from within the tent,
threw herself on his corpse, rending her raiment and repeating these
couplets:—
To kith and kin bear thou sad tidings of our plight; ✿ From doom th'
All-wise decreed shall none of men take flight:
Low art thou laid, O brother! strewn upon the stones, ✿ With face that
mirrors moon when shining brightest bright!
Good sooth, it is a day accurst, thy slaughter-day ✿ Shivering thy spear
that won the day in many a fight!
Now thou be slain no rider shall delight in steed, ✿ Nor man-child shall
the breeding woman bring to light.
This morn Hammád uprose and foully murthered thee, ✿ Falsing his oath
and troth with foulest perjury.
When she had ended her verse she said to me, "O thou of accursed
forefathers, wherefore didst thou play my brother false and slay him
when he purposed returning thee to thy native land with provisions; and
it was his intent also to marry thee to me at the first of the month?"
Then she drew a sword she had with her, and planting the hilt in the
earth, with the point set to her breast, she bent over it and threw
herself thereon till the blade issued from her back and she fell to the
ground, dead. I mourned for her and wept and repented when repentance
availed me naught. Then I arose in haste and went to the tent and,
taking whatever was light of load and weighty of worth, went my way; but
in my haste and horror I took no heed of my dead comrades, nor did I
bury the maiden and the youth. And this my tale is still more wondrous
than the story of the serving-girl I kidnapped from the Holy City,
Jerusalem. But when Nuzhat al-Zaman heard these words from the Badawi,
the light was changed in her eyes to night——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Forty-fifth Night,
[Illustration]