when the night came upon him the eunuch set the lanthorn before him and
lighting the wax-candle, placed it in the candlestick; then brought him
somewhat of food. The Prince ate a little and continually reproached
himself for his unseemly treatment of his father, saying to himself, "O
my soul, knowest thou not that a son of Adam is the hostage of his
tongue, and that a man's tongue is what casteth him into deadly perils?"
Then his eyes ran over with tears and he bewailed that which he had
done, from anguished vitals and aching heart, repenting him with
exceeding repentance of the wrong wherewith he had wronged his father
and repeating:—
Fair youth shall die by stumbling of the tongue: ✿ Stumble of foot works
not man's life such wrong:
The slip of lip shall oft smite off the head, ✿ While slip of foot shall
never harm one long.
Now when he had made an end of eating, he asked for the wherewithal to
wash his hands and when the Mameluke had washed them clean of the
remnants of food, he arose and made the Wuzu-ablution and prayed the
prayers of sundown and nightfall, conjoining them in one; after which he
sat down.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Prince
Kamar al-Zaman had prayed (conjoining them in one) the prayers of
sundown and nightfall, he sat down on the well and began reciting the
Koran, and he repeated "The Cow," the "House of Imrán," and "Y. S.;" The
"Compassionate," "Blessed be the King," "Unity" and "The two
Talismans"[237]; and he ended with blessing and supplication and with
saying, "I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the stoned."[238] Then he
lay down upon his couch which was covered with a mattress of satin from
al-Ma'adin town, the same on both sides and stuffed with the raw silk of
Irak; and under his head was a pillow filled with ostrich-down. And when
ready for sleep, he doffed his outer clothes and drew off his
bag-trousers and lay down in a shirt of delicate stuff smooth as wax;
and he donned a head-kerchief of azure Marázi[239] cloth; and at such
time and on this guise Kamar al-Zaman was like the full-orbed moon, when
it riseth on its fourteenth night. Then, drawing over his head a
coverlet of silk, he fell asleep with the lanthorn burning at his feet
and the wax-candle over his head, and he ceased not sleeping through the
first third of the night, not knowing what lurked for him in the womb of
the Future, and what the Omniscient had decreed for him. Now, as Fate
and Fortune would have it, both tower and saloon were old and had been
many years deserted; and there was therein a Roman well inhabited by a
Jinníyah of the seed of Iblis[240] the Accursed, by name Maymúnah,
daughter of Al-Dimiryát, a renowned King of the Jánn.——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
[Illustration]
Now when it was the Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the name of the
Jinniyah in question was Maymunah, daughter of Al-Dimiryat; a renowned
King of the Jann. And as Kamar al-Zaman continued sleeping till the
first third of the night, Maymunah came up out of the Roman well and
made for the firmament, thinking to listen by stealth to the converse of
the angels; but when she reached the mouth of the well, she saw a light
shining in the tower, contrary to custom; and having dwelt there many
years without seeing the like, she said to herself "Never have I
witnessed aught like this"; and, marvelling much at the matter,
determined that there must be some cause therefor. So she made for the
light and found the eunuch sleeping within the door; and inside she saw
a couch spread, whereon was a human form with the wax-candle burning at
his head and the lanthorn at his feet, and she wondered to see the light
and stole towards it little by little. Then she folded her wings and
stood by the bed and, drawing back the coverlid, discovered Kamar
al-Zaman's face. She was motionless for a full hour in admiration and
wonderment; for the lustre of his visage outshone that of the candle;
his face beamed like a pearl with light; his eyelids were languorous
like those of the gazelle; the pupils of his eyes were intensely black
and brilliant[241]; his cheeks were rosy red; his eyebrows were arched
like bows and his breath exhaled a scent of musk, even as saith of him
the poet:—
I kissed him: darker grew those pupils,[242] which ✿ Seduce my soul, and
cheeks flushed rosier hue;
O heart, if slanderers dare to deem there be ✿ His like in charms; Say
"Bring him hither, you!"
Now when Maymunah saw him, she pronounced the formula of praise,[243]
and said, "Blessed be Allah, the best of Creators!"; for she was of the
true-believing Jinn; and she stood awhile gazing on his face, exclaiming
and envying the youth his beauty and loveliness. And she said in
herself, "By Allah! I will do no hurt to him nor let any harm him; nay,
from all of evil will I ransom him, for this fair face deserveth not but
that folk should gaze upon it and for it praise the Lord. Yet how could
his family find it in their hearts to leave him in such desert place
where, if one of our Márids came upon him at this hour, he would
assuredly slay him." Then the Ifritah Maymunah bent over him and kissed
him between the eyes, and presently drew back the sheet over his face
which she covered up; and after this she spread her wings and soaring
into the air, flew upwards. And after rising high from the circle of the
saloon she ceased not winging her way through air and ascending skywards
till she drew near the heaven of this world, the lowest of the heavens.
And behold, she heard the noisy flapping of wings cleaving the welkin
and, directing herself by the sound, she found when she drew near it
that the noise came from an Ifrit called Dahnash. So she swooped down on
him like a sparrow-hawk and, when he was aware of her and knew her to be
Maymunah, the daughter of the King of the Jinn, he feared her and his
side-muscles quivered; and he implored her forbearance, saying, "I
conjure thee by the Most Great and August Name and by the most noble
talisman graven upon the seal-ring of Solomon, entreat me kindly and
harm me not!" When she heard these words her heart inclined to him and
she said, "Verily, thou conjurest me, O accursed, with a mighty
conjuration. Nevertheless, I will not let thee go, till thou tell me
whence thou comest at this hour." He replied, "O Princess, Know that I
come from the uttermost end of China-land and from among the Islands,
and I will tell thee of a wonderful thing I have seen this night. If
thou find my words true, let me wend my way and write me a patent under
thy hand and with thy sign manual that I am thy freedman, so none of the
Jinn-hosts, whether of the upper who fly or of the lower who walk the
earth or of those who dive beneath the waters, do me let or hindrance."
Rejoined Maymunah, "And what is it thou hast seen this night, O liar, O
accursed! Tell me without leasing and think not to escape from my hand
with falses, for I swear to thee by the letters graven upon the bezel of
the seal-ring of Solomon David-son (on both of whom be peace!), except
thy speech be true, I will pluck out thy feathers with mine own hand and
strip off thy skin and break thy bones!" Quoth the Ifrit Dahnash son of
Shamhúrish[244] the Flyer, "I accept, O my lady, these conditions."——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Dahnash spoke thus
to Maymunah, "I accept, O my lady, these conditions." Then he resumed,
"Know, O my mistress, that I come to-night from the Islands of the
Inland Sea in the parts of China, which are the realms of King Ghayúr,
lord of the Islands and the Seas and the Seven Palaces. There I saw a
daughter of his, than whom Allah hath made none fairer in her time: I
cannot picture her to thee, for my tongue would fail to describe her
with her due of praise; but I will name to thee a somewhat of her charms
by way of approach. Now her hair is like the nights of disunion and
separation and her face like the days of union and delectation; and
right well hath the poet said when picturing her:—
She dispread the locks from her head one night, ✿ Showing four-fold
nights into one night run;
And she turned her visage towards the moon, ✿ And two moons showèd at
moment one.
She hath a nose like the edge of the burnished blade and cheeks like
purple wine or anemones blood-red: her lips as coral and cornelian shine
and the water of her mouth is sweeter than old wine; its taste would
quench Hell's fiery pain. Her tongue is moved by wit of high degree and
ready repartee: her breast is a seduction to all that see it (glory be
to Him who fashioned it and finished it!); and joined thereto are two
upper arms smooth and rounded; even as saith of her the poet
Al-Walahán:[245]—
She hath wrists which, did her bangles not contain, ✿ Would run from out
her sleeves in silvern rain.
She hath breasts like two globes of ivory, from whose brightness the
moons borrow light, and a stomach with little waves as it were a figured
cloth of the finest Egyptian linen made by the Copts, with creases like
folded scrolls, ending in a waist slender past all power of imagination;
based upon back parts like a hillock of blown sand, that force her to
sit when she would lief stand, and awaken her, when she fain would
sleep, even as saith of her and describeth her the poet:—
She hath those hips conjoined by thread of waist, ✿ Hips that o'er me
and her too tyrannise;
My thoughts they daze whene'er I think of them, ✿ And weigh her down
whene'er she would uprise.[246]
And those back parts are upborne by thighs smooth and round and by a
calf like a column of pearl, and all this reposeth upon two feet,
narrow, slender and pointed like spear-blades,[247] the handiwork of the
Protector and Requiter, I wonder how, of their littleness, they can
sustain what is above them. But I cut short my praises of her charms
fearing lest I be tedious."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifrit Dahnash
bin Shamhurish said to the Ifritah Maymunah, "Of a truth I cut short my
praises fearing lest I be tedious." Now when Maymunah heard the
description of that Princess and her beauty and loveliness, she stood
silent in astonishment; whereupon Dahnash resumed, "The father of this
fair maiden is a mighty King, a fierce knight, immersed night and day in
fray and fight; for whom death hath no fright and the escape of his foe
no dread, for that he is a tyrant masterful and a conqueror
irresistible, lord of troops and armies and continents and islands, and
cities and villages, and his name is King Ghayur, Lord of the Islands
and of the Seas and of the Seven Palaces. Now he loveth his daughter,
the young maiden whom I have described to thee, with dearest love and,
for affection of her, he hath heaped together the treasures of all the
kings and built her therewith seven palaces, each of a different
fashion; the first of crystal, the second of marble, the third of China
steel, the fourth of precious stones and gems of price, the fifth of
porcelain and many-hued onyxes and ring-bezels, the sixth of silver and
the seventh of gold. And he hath filled the seven palaces with all sorts
of sumptuous furniture, rich silken carpets and hangings and vessels of
gold and silver and all manner of gear that kings require; and hath
bidden his daughter to abide in each by turns for a certain season of
the year; and her name is the Princess Budur.[248] Now when her beauty
became known and her name and fame were bruited abroad in the
neighbouring countries, all the kings sent to her father to demand her
of him in marriage, and he consulted her on the matter, but she disliked
the very word wedlock with a manner of abhorrence and said, O my father,
I have no mind to marry; no, not at all; for I am a sovereign Lady and a
Queen suzerain ruling over men, and I have no desire for a man who shall
rule over me. And the more suits she refused, the more her suitors'
eagerness increased and all the Royalties of the Inner Islands of China
sent presents and rarities to her father with letters asking her in
marriage. So he pressed her again and again with advice on the matter of
espousals; but she ever opposed to him refusals, till at last she turned
upon him angrily and cried, O my father, if thou name matrimony to me
once more, I will go into my chamber and take a sword and, fixing its
hilt in the ground, will set its point to my waist; then will I press
upon it, till it come forth from my back, and so slay myself. Now when
the King heard these her words, the light became darkness in his sight
and his heart burned for her as with a flame of fire, because he feared
lest she should kill herself; and he was filled with perplexity
concerning her affair and the kings her suitors. So he said to her, If
thou be determined not to marry and there be no help for it: abstain
from going and coming in and out. Then he placed her in a house and shut
her up in a chamber, appointing ten old women as duennas to guard her,
and forbade her to go forth to the Seven Palaces; moreover, he made it
appear that he was incensed against her, and sent letters to all the
kings, giving them to know that she had been stricken with madness by
the Jinns; and it is now a year since she hath thus been secluded." Then
continued the Ifrit Dahnash, addressing the Ifritah Maymunah, "And I, O
my lady, go to her every night and take my fill of feeding my sight on
her face and I kiss her between the eyes: yet, of my love to her, I do
her no hurt neither mount her, for that her youth is fair and her grace
surpassing: every one who seeth her jealouseth himself for her. I
conjure thee, therefore, O my lady, to go back with me and look on her
beauty and loveliness and stature and perfection of proportion; and
after, if thou wilt, chastise me or enslave me; and win to thy will, for
it is thine to bid and to forbid." So saying, the Ifrit Dahnash bowed
his head towards the earth and drooped his wings downwards; but Maymunah
laughed at his words and spat in his face and answered, "What is this
girl of whom thou pratest but a potsherd wherewith to wipe after making
water?[249] Faugh! Faugh! By Allah, O accursed, I thought thou hadst
some wondrous tale to tell me or some marvellous news to give me. How
would it be if thou were to sight my beloved? Verily, this night I have
seen a young man, whom if thou saw though but in a dream, thou wouldst
be palsied with admiration and spittle would flow from thy mouth." Asked
the Ifrit, "And who and what is this youth?"; and she answered, "Know, O
Dahnash, that there hath befallen the young man the like of what thou
tellest me befel thy mistress; for his father pressed him again and
again to marry, but he refused, till at length his sire waxed wroth at
being opposed and imprisoned him in the tower where I dwell: and I came
up to-night and saw him." Said Dahnash, "O my lady, shew me this youth,
that I may see if he be indeed handsomer than my mistress, the Princess
Budur, or not; for I cannot believe that the like of her liveth in this
our age." Rejoined Maymunah, "Thou liest, O accursed, O most ill-omened
of Marids and vilest of Satans![250] Sure am I that the like of my
beloved is not in this world."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Eightieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifritah
Maymunah spake thus to the Ifrit Dahnash, "Sure am I that the like of my
beloved is not in this world! Art thou mad to fellow thy beloved with my
beloved?" He said, "Allah upon thee, O my lady, go back with me and look
upon my mistress, and after I will return with thee and look upon thy
beloved." She answered, "It must needs be so, O accursed, for thou art a
knavish devil; but I will not go with thee nor shalt thou come with me,
save upon condition of a wager which is this. If the lover thou lovest
and of whom thou boastest so bravely, prove handsomer than mine whom I
mentioned and whom I love and of whom I boast, the bet shall be thine
against me; but if my beloved prove the handsomer the bet shall be mine
against thee." Quoth Dahnash the Ifrit, "O my lady, I accept this thy
wager and am satisfied thereat; so come with me to the Islands." Quoth
Maymunah; "No! for the abode of my beloved is nearer than the abode of
thine: here it is under us; so come down with me to see my beloved and
after we will go look upon thy mistress." "I hear and I obey," said
Dahnash. So they descended to earth and alighted in the saloon which the
tower contained; then Maymunah stationed Dahnash beside the bed and,
putting out her hand, drew back the silken coverlet from Kamar
al-Zaman's face, when it glittered and glistened and shimmered and shone
like the rising sun. She gazed at him for a moment, then turning sharply
round upon Dahnash said, "Look, O accursed, and be not the basest of
madmen; I am a maid, yet my heart he hath waylaid." So Dahnash looked at
the Prince and long continued gazing steadfastly on him then, shaking
his head, said to Maymunah, "By Allah, O my lady, thou art excusable;
but there is yet another thing to be considered, and this is, that the
estate female differeth from the male. By Allah's might, this thy
beloved is the likest of all created things to my mistress in beauty and
loveliness and grace and perfection; and it is as though they were both
cast alike in the mould of seemlihead." Now when Maymunah heard these
words, the light became darkness in her sight and she dealt him with her
wing so fierce a buffet on the head as well-nigh made an end of him.
Then quoth she to him, "I conjure thee, by the light of his glorious
countenance, go at once, O accursed, and bring hither thy mistress whom
thou lovest so fondly and foolishly, and return in haste that we may lay
the twain together and look on them both as they lie asleep side by
side; so shall it appear to us which be the goodlier and more beautiful
of the two. Except thou obey me this very moment, O accursed, I will
dart my sparks at thee with my fire and consume thee; yea, in pieces I
will rend thee and into the deserts cast thee, that to stay-at-home and
wayfarer an example thou be!" Quoth Dahnash, "O my lady, I will do thy
behests, for I know forsure that my mistress is the fairer and the
sweeter." So saying the Ifrit flew away and Maymunah flew with him to
guard him. They were absent awhile and presently returned, bearing the
young lady, who was clad in a shift of fine Venetian silk, with a double
edging of gold and purfled with the most exquisite of embroidery having
these couplets worked upon the ends of the sleeves:—
Three matters hinder her from visiting us, in fear ✿ Of hate-full,
slandering envier and his hirèd spies:
The shining light of brow, the trinkets' tinkling voice, ✿ And scent of
essences that tell whene'er she hies:
Gi'en that she hide her brow with edge of sleeve, and leave ✿ At home
her trinketry, how shall her scent disguise?[251]
And Dahnash and Maymunah stinted not bearing that young lady till they
had carried her into the saloon and had laid her beside the youth Kamar
al-Zaman.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Eighty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifrit Dahnash
and the Ifritah Maymunah stinted not bearing Princess Budur till they
descended and laid her on the couch beside Kamar al-Zaman. Then they
uncovered both their faces, and they were the likest of all folk, each
to other, as they were twins or an only brother and sister; and indeed
they were a seduction to the pious, even as saith of them the poet
Al-Mubín:—
O heart! be not thy love confined to one, ✿ Lest thou by doting or
disdain be undone:
Love all the fair, and thou shalt find with them ✿ If this be lost, to
thee that shall be won.
And quoth another:—
Mine eyes beheld two lying on the ground; ✿ Both had I loved if on these
eyne they lay!
So Dahnash and Maymunah gazed on them awhile, and he said, "By Allah, O
my lady, it is good! My mistress is assuredly the fairer." She replied,
"Not so, my beloved is the fairer; woe to thee, O Dahnash! Art blind of
eye and heart that lean from fat thou canst not depart? Wilt thou hide
the truth? Dost thou not see his beauty and loveliness and fine stature
and symmetry? Out on thee, hear what I purpose to say in praise of my
beloved and, if thou be a lover true to her thou dost love, do thou the
like for her thou lovest." Then she kissed Kamar al-Zaman again and
again between the eyes and improvised this ode:—
How is this? Why should the blamer abuse thee in his pride?
What shall console my heart for thee, that art but slender bough?
A Nature-Kohl'd[252] eye thou hast that witcheth far and wide;
From pure platonic love[253] of it deliverance none I trow!
Those glances, fell as plundering Turk, to heart such havoc deal
As never havocked scymitar made keenest at the curve.
On me thou layest load of love the heaviest while I feel
So feeble grown that under weight of chemisette I swerve.
My love for thee as wottest well is habit, and my lowe
Is nature; to all others false is all the love I tender:
Now were my heart but like to thine I never would say No;
Only my wasted form is like thy waist so gracious-slender:
Out on him who in Beauty's robe for moon-like charms hath fame,
And who is claimed by mouth of men as marvel of his tribe!
"Of man what manner may he be" (ask they who flyte and blame)
"For whom thy heart is so distressed?" I only cry "Describe!"
Oh stone-entempered heart of him! learn of his yielding grace
And bending form to show me grace and yielding to consent.
Oh my Prince Beautiful, thou hast an Overseer in place[254]
Who irketh me; and eke a Groom whose wrong doth ne'er relent.
Indeed he lieth who hath said that all of loveliness
Was pent in Joseph: in thy charms there's many and many a Joe!
The Genii dread me when I stand and face to face address;
But meeting thee my fluttering heart its shame and terror show.
I take aversion semblance and I turn from thee in fright,
But more aversion I assume, more love from me dost claim;
That hair of jetty black! That brow e'er raying radiant light!
Those eyne wherein white jostles black![255] That dearling dainty frame!
When Dahnash heard the poesy which Maymunah spake in praise of her
beloved, he joyed with exceeding joy and marvelled with excessive
wonderment.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Eighty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Ifrit
Dahnash heard the poesy which Maymunah spake in praise of her beloved,
he shook for exceeding joy and said, "Thou hast celebrated thy beloved
in song and thou hast indeed done well in praise of him whom thou
lovest! And there is no help for it but that I also in my turn do my
best to enfame my mistress, and recite somewhat in her honour." Then the
Ifrit went up to the lady Budur; and, kissing her between the eyes,
looked at Maymunah and at his beloved Princess and recited the following
verses, albeit he had no skill in poesy:—
Love for my fair they chide in angry way; ✿ Unjust for ignorance, yea
unjustest they!
Ah lavish favours on the love-mad, whom ✿ Taste of thy wrath and parting
woe shall slay:
In sooth for love I'm wet with railing tears, ✿ That rail mine eyelids
blood thou mightest say:
No marvel what I bear for love, 'tis marvel ✿ That any know my "me"
while thou'rt away:
Unlawful were our union did I doubt ✿ Thy love, or heart incline to
other May.
And eke these words:—