Budur, when she awoke she sought her husband and found him not: then she
saw her petticoat-trousers undone, for the band had been loosed and the
bezel lost, whereupon she said to herself, "By Allah, this is strange!
Where is my husband? It would seem as if he had taken the talisman and
gone away, knowing not the secret which is in it. Would to Heaven I knew
whither can he have wended! But it must needs have been some
extraordinary matter that drew him away, for he cannot brook to leave me
a moment. Allah curse the stone and damn its hour!" Then she considered
awhile and said in her mind, "If I go out and tell the varlets and let
them learn that my husband is lost, they will lust after me: there is no
help for it but that I use a stratagem." So she rose and donned some of
her husband's clothes and riding-boots, and a turband like his, drawing
one corner of it across her face for a mouth-veil.[312] Then, setting a
slave-girl in her litter, she went forth from the tent and called to the
pages who brought her Kamar al-Zaman's steed; and she mounted and bade
them load the beasts and resume the march. So they bound on the burdens
and departed; and she concealed her trick, none doubting but she was
Kamar al-Zaman, for she favoured him in face and form; nor did she cease
journeying, she and her suite, days and nights, till they came in sight
of a city overlooking the Salt Sea, where they pitched their tents
without the walls and halted to rest. The Princess asked the name of the
town and was told, "It is called the City of Ebony; its King is named
Armanús, and he hath a daughter Hayát al-Nufús[313] hight,"——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Lady
Budur halted within sight of the Ebony City to take her rest, King
Armanus sent a messenger, to learn what King it was who had encamped
without his capital; so the messenger, coming to the tents, made enquiry
anent their King, and was told that she was a King's son who had lost
the way being bound for the Khalidan Islands; whereupon he returned to
King Armanus with the tidings; and, when the King heard them, he
straightway rode out with the lords of his land to greet the stranger on
arrival. As he drew near the tents the Lady Budur came to meet him on
foot, whereupon the King alighted and they saluted each other. Then he
took her to the city and, bringing her up to the palace, bade them
spread the tables and trays of food and commanded them to transport her
company and baggage to the guest-house. So they abode there three days;
at the end of which time the King came in to the Lady Budur. Now she had
that day gone to the Hammam and her face shone as the moon at its full,
a seduction to the world and a rending of the veil of shame to mankind;
and Armanus found her clad in a suit of silk, embroidered with gold and
jewels; so he said to her, "O my son, know that I am a very old man,
decrepit withal, and Allah hath blessed me with no child save one
daughter, who resembleth thee in beauty and grace; and I am now waxed
unfit for the conduct of the state. She is thine, O my son; and, if this
my land please thee and thou be willing to abide and make thy home here,
I will marry thee to her and give thee my kingdom and so be at rest."
When Princess Budur heard this, she bowed her head and her forehead
sweated for shame, and she said to herself, "How shall I do, and I a
woman? If I refuse and depart from him, I cannot be safe but that haply
he send after me troops to slay me; and if I consent, belike I shall be
put to shame. I have lost my beloved Kamar al-Zaman and know not what is
become of him; nor can I escape from this scrape save by holding my
peace and consenting and abiding here, till Allah bring about what is to
be." So she raised her head and made submission to King Armanus, saying,
"Hearkening and obedience!"; whereat he rejoiced and bade the herald
make proclamation throughout the Ebony Islands to hold high festival and
decorate the houses. Then he assembled his Chamberlains and Nabobs, and
Emirs and Wazirs and his officers of state and the Kazis of the city;
and, formally abdicating his Sultanate, endowed Budur therewith and
invested her in all the vestments of royalty. The Emirs and Grandees
went in to her and did her homage, nothing doubting but that she was a
young man, and all who looked on her bepissed their bag-trousers, for
the excess of her beauty and loveliness. Then, after the lady Budur had
been made Sultan and the drums had been beaten in announcement of the
glad event, and she had been ceremoniously enthroned, King Armanus
proceeded to equip his daughter Hayat al-Nufus for marriage, and in a
few days, they brought the Lady Budur in to her, when they seemed as it
were two moons risen at one time or two suns in conjunction. So they
entered the bridal-chamber and the doors were shut and the curtains let
down upon them, after the attendants had lighted the wax-candles and
spread for them the carpet-bed. When Budur found herself alone with the
Princess Hayat al-Nufus, she called to mind her beloved Kamar al-Zaman
and grief was sore upon her. So she wept for his absence, and
estrangement and she began repeating:—
O ye who fled and left my heart in pain low li'en, ✿ No breath of life
is found within this frame of mine:
I have an eye which e'er complains of wake, but lo! ✿ Tears occupy it;
would that wake content these eyne!
After ye marchèd forth the lover 'bode behind; ✿ Question of him what
pains your absence could design!
But for the floods of tears mine eyelids rail and rain, ✿ My fires would
flame on high and every land calcine.
To Allah make I moan of loved ones lost for aye, ✿ Who for my pine and
pain no more shall pain and pine:
I never wronged them save that over-love I nurst: ✿ But Love departs us
lovers into blest and curst.
And when she had finished her repeating, the Lady Budur sat down beside
the Princess Hayat al-Nufus and kissed her on the mouth; after which
rising abruptly, she made the minor ablution and betook herself to her
devotions; nor did she leave praying till Hayat al-Nufus fell asleep,
when she slipt into bed and lay with her back to her till morning. And
when day had broke the King and Queen came in to their daughter and
asked her how she did, whereupon she told them what she had seen, and
repeated to them the verses she had heard. Thus far concerning Hayat
al-Nufus and her father; but as regards Queen Budur she went forth and
seated herself upon the royal throne and all the Emirs and Captains and
Officers of state came up to her and wished her joy of the kingship,
kissing the earth before her and calling down blessings upon her. And
she accosted them with smiling face and clad them in robes of honour,
augmenting the fiefs of the high officials and giving largesse to the
levies; wherefore all the people loved her and offered up prayers for
the long endurance of her reign, doubting not but that she was a man.
And she ceased not sitting all day in the hall of audience, bidding and
forbidding; dispensing justice, releasing prisoners and remitting the
customs-dues, till nightfall, when she withdrew to the apartment
prepared for her. Here she found Hayat al-Nufus seated; so she sat down
by her side and, clapping her on the back, coaxed and caressed her and
kissed her between the eyes, and fell to versifying in these couplets:—
What secret kept I these my tears have told, ✿ And my waste body must my
love unfold:
Though hid my pine, my plight on parting-day ✿ To every envious eye my
secret sold:
O ye who broke up camp, you've left behind ✿ My spirit wearied and my
heart a-cold:
In my heart's core ye dwell, and now these eyne ✿ Roll blood-drops with
the tears they whilome rolled:
The absent will I ransom with my soul; ✿ All can my yearning for their
sight behold:
I have an eye whose babe,[314] for love of thee, ✿ Rejected sleep nor
hath its tears controlled.
The foeman bids me patient bear his loss, ✿ Ne'er may mine ears accept
the ruth he doled!
I trickt their deme of me, and won my wish ✿ Of Kamar al-Zaman's joys
manifold:
He joins all perfect gifts like none before; ✿ Boasted such might and
main no King of old:
Seeing his gifts, Bin Zá'ïdah's[315] largesse ✿ Forget we, and Mu'áwiyah
mildest-soul'd:[316]
Were verse not feeble and o'er short the time ✿ I had in laud of him
used all of rhyme.
Then Queen Budur stood up and wiped away her tears and, making the
lesser ablution,[317] applied her to pray: nor did she give over praying
till drowsiness overcame the Lady Hayat al-Nufus and she slept,
whereupon the Lady Budur came and lay by her till the morning. At
daybreak, she arose and prayed the dawn-prayer; and presently seated
herself on the royal throne and passed the day in ordering and
counterordering and giving laws and administering justice. This is how
it fared with her; but as regards King Armanus he went in to his
daughter and asked her how she did; so she told him all that had
befallen her and repeated to him the verses which Queen Budur had
recited, adding, "O my father, never saw I one more abounding in sound
sense and modesty than my husband, save that he doth nothing but weep
and sigh." He answered, "O my daughter, have patience with him yet this
third night, and if he go not in unto thee and do away thy maidenhead,
we shall know how to proceed with him and oust him from the throne and
banish him the country." And on this wise he agreed with his daughter
what course he would take——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Tenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Armanus
had agreed with his daughter on this wise and had determined what course
he would take and night came on, Queen Budur arose from the throne of
her kingdom and betaking herself to the palace, entered the apartment
prepared for her. There she found the wax-candles lighted and the
Princess Hayat al-Nufus seated and awaiting her; whereupon she bethought
her of her husband and what had betided them both of sorrow and
severance in so short a space; she wept and sighed and groaned groan
upon groan, and began improvising these couplets:—
News of my love fill all the land, I swear, ✿ As suns on Ghazá[318]-wold
rain heat and glare:
Speaketh his geste but hard its sense to say; ✿ Thus never cease to grow
my cark and care:
I hate fair Patience since I lovèd thee; ✿ E'er sawest lover hate for
love to bear?
A glance that dealt love-sickness dealt me death, ✿ Glances are
deadliest things with torments rare:
He shook his love-locks down and bared his chin, ✿ Whereby I spied his
beauties dark and fair:
My care, my cure are in his hands; and he ✿ Who caused their dolour can
their dole repair:
His belt went daft for softness of his waist; ✿ His hips, for envy, to
uprise forbear:
His brow curl-diademed is murky night; ✿ Unveil't and lo! bright Morn
shows brightest light.
When she had finished her versifying, she would have risen to pray, but,
lo and behold! Hayat al-Nufus caught her by the skirt and clung to her
saying, "O my lord, art thou not ashamed before my father, after all his
favour, to neglect me at such a time as this?" When Queen Budur heard
her words, she sat down in the same place and said, "O my beloved, what
is this thou sayest?" She replied, "What I say is that I never saw any
so proud of himself as thou. Is every fair one so disdainful? I say not
this to incline thee to me; I say it only of my fear for thee from King
Armanus; because he purposeth, unless thou go in unto me this very
night, and do away my maidenhead, to strip thee of the kingship on the
morrow and banish thee his kingdom; and peradventure his excessive anger
may lead him to slay thee. But I, O my lord, have ruth on thee and give
thee fair warning; and it is thy right to reck."[319] Now when Queen
Budur heard her speak these words, she bowed her head groundwards awhile
in sore perplexity and said in herself, "If I refuse I'm lost; and if I
obey I'm shamed. But I am now Queen of all the Ebony Islands and they
are under my rule, nor shall I ever again meet my Kamar al-Zaman save in
this place; for there is no way for him to his native land but through
the Ebony Islands. Verily, I know not what to do in my present case, but
I commit my care to Allah who directeth all for the best, for I am no
man that I should arise and open this virgin girl." Then quoth Queen
Budur to Hayat al-Nufus, "O my beloved, that I have neglected thee and
abstained from thee is in my own despite." And she told her her whole
story from beginning to end and showed her person to her, saying, "I
conjure thee by Allah to keep my counsel, for I have concealed my case
only that Allah may reunite me with my beloved Kamar al-Zaman and then
come what may."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Eleventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Lady
Budur acquainted Hayat al-Nufus with her history and bade her keep it
secret, the Princess heard her with extreme wonderment and was moved to
pity and prayed Allah to reunite her with her beloved, saying, "Fear
nothing, O my sister; but have patience till Allah bring to pass that
which must come to pass:" and she began repeating:—
None but the men of worth a secret keep;
With worthy men a secret's hidden deep;
As in a room, so secrets lie with me,
Whose door is sealed, lock shot and lost the key.[320]
And when Hayat al-Nufus had ended her verses, she said, "O my sister,
verily the breasts of the noble and brave are of secrets the grave; and
I will not discover thine." Then they toyed and embraced and kissed and
slept till near the Mu'ezzin's call to dawn-prayer, when Hayat al-Nufus
arose and took a pigeon-poult,[321] and cut its throat over her smock
and besmeared herself with its blood. Then she pulled off her
petticoat-trousers and cried aloud, whereupon her people hastened to her
and raised the usual lullilooing and outcries of joy and gladness.
Presently her mother came in to her and asked her how she did and busied
herself about her and abode with her till evening; whilst the Lady Budur
arose with the dawn, and repaired to the bath and, after washing herself
pure, proceeded to the hall of audience, where she sat down on her
throne and dispensed justice among the folk. Now when King Armanus heard
the loud cries of joy, he asked what was the matter and was informed of
the consummation of his daughter's marriage; whereat he rejoiced and his
breast swelled with gladness and he made a great marriage-feast whereof
the merry-making lasted a long time. Such was their case: but as regards
King Shahriman it was on this wise. After his son had fared forth to the
chase accompanied by Marzawan, as before related, he tarried patiently
awaiting their return at nightfall; but when his son did not appear, he
passed a sleepless night and the dark hours were longsome upon him; his
restlessness was excessive, his excitement grew upon him and he thought
the morning would never dawn. And when day broke he sat expecting his
son and waited till noon, but he came not; whereat his heart forebode
separation and was fired with fears for Kamar al-Zaman; and he cried,
"Alas! my son!" and he wept till his clothes were drenched with tears,
and repeated with a beating heart:—
Love's votaries I ceased not to oppose, ✿ Till doomed to taste Love's
bitter and Love's sweet:
I drained his rigour-cup to very dregs, ✿ Self-humbled at its slaves'
and freemen's feet:
Fortune had sworn to part the loves of us; ✿ She kept her word how
truly, well I weet!
And when he ended his verse, he wiped away his tears and bade his troops
make ready for a march and prepare for a long expedition. So they all
mounted and set forth, headed by the Sultan, whose heart burnt with
grief and was fired with anxiety for his son Kamar al-Zaman; and they
advanced by forced marches. Now the King divided his host into six
divisions, a right wing and a left wing, a vanguard and a
rear-guard;[322] and bade them rendezvous for the morrow at the
cross-roads. Accordingly they separated and scoured the country all the
rest of that day till night, and they marched through the night and at
noon of the ensuing day they joined company at the place where four
roads met. But they knew not which the Prince followed, till they saw
the sign of torn clothes and sighted shreds of flesh and beheld blood
still sprinkled by the way and they noted every piece of the clothes and
fragment of mangled flesh scattered on all sides. Now when King
Shahriman saw this, he cried from his heart-core a loud cry, saying,
"Alas, my son!"; and buffetted his face and pluckt his beard and rent
his raiment, doubting not but his son was dead. Then he gave himself up
to excessive weeping and wailing, and the troops also wept for his
weeping, all being assured that Prince Kamar al-Zaman had perished. They
threw dust on their heads, and the night surprised them shedding tears
and lamenting till they were like to die. Then the King with a heart on
fire and with burning sighs spake these couplets:—
Chide not the mourner for bemourning woe; ✿ Enough is yearning every Ill
to show:
He weeps for stress of sorrow and of pain, ✿ And these to thee best
evidence his lowe:
Happy![323] of whom Love-sickness swore that ne'er ✿ Should cease his
eyelids loving tears to flow:
He mourns the loss of fairest, fullest Moon, ✿ Shining o'er all his
peers in glorious glow:
But death made drink a brimming cup, what day ✿ He fared from natal
country fain to go:
His home left he and went from us to grief; ✿ Nor to his brethren could
he say adieu:
Yea, his loss wounded me with parting pangs, ✿ And separation cost me
many a throe:
He fared farewelling, as he fared, our eyes; ✿ Whenas his Lord
vouchsafed him Paradise.
And when King Shahriman had ended his verses, he returned with the
troops to his capital,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Twelfth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King
Shahriman had ended his verses, he returned with the troops to his
capital, giving up his son for lost, and deeming that wild beasts or
banditti had set upon him and torn him to pieces; and made proclamation
that all in the Khalidan Islands should don black in mourning for him.
Moreover, he built, in his memory, a pavilion, naming it House of
Lamentations; and on Mondays and Thursdays he devoted himself to the
business of the state and ordering the affairs of his levies and lieges;
and the rest of the week he was wont to spend in the House of
Lamentations, mourning for his son and bewailing him with elegiac
verses,[324] of which the following are some:—
My day of bliss is that when thou appearest; ✿ My day of bale[325] is
that whereon thou farest:
Though through the night I quake in dread of death; ✿ Union wi' thee is
of all bliss the dearest.
And again he said:—
My soul be sacrifice for one, whose going ✿ Afflicted hearts with
sufferings sore and dread:
Let joy her widowed term[326] fulfil, for I ✿ Divorcèd joy with the
divorce thrice-said.[327]
Such was the case with King Shahriman; but as regards Queen Budur
daughter of King Ghayur, she abode as ruler in the Ebony Islands, whilst
the folk would point to her with their fingers, and say, "Yonder is the
son-in-law of King Armanus." And every night she lay with Hayat
al-Nufus, to whom she lamented her desolate state and longing for her
husband Kamar al-Zaman, weeping and describing to her his beauty and
loveliness, and yearning to enjoy him though but in a dream: And at
times she would repeat:—
Well Allah wots that since my severance from thee, ✿ I wept till forced
to borrow tears at usury:
"Patience!" my blamer cried, "Heartsease right soon shalt see!" ✿ Quoth
I, "Say, blamer, where may home of Patience be?"
This is how it fared with Queen Budur; but as regards Kamar al-Zaman, he
abode with the gardener in the garden for no short time, weeping night
and day and repeating verses bewailing the past time of enjoyment and
delight; whilst the gardener kept comforting him and assuring him that
the ship would set sail for the land of the Moslems at the end of the
year. And in this condition he continued till one day he saw the folk
crowding together and wondered at this; but the gardener came in to him
and said, "O my son, give over work for this day nor lead water to the
trees; for it is a festival day, whereon folk visit one another. So take
thy rest and only keep thine eye on the garden, whilst I go look after
the ship for thee; for yet but a little while and I send thee to the
land of the Moslems." Upon this, he went forth from the garden leaving
to himself Kamar al-Zaman, who fell to musing upon his case till his
heart was like to break and the tears streamed from his eyes. So he wept
with excessive weeping till he swooned away and, when he recovered, he
rose and walked about the garden, pondering what Time had done with him
and bewailing the long endurance of his estrangement and separation from
those he loved. As he was thus absorbed in melancholy thought, his foot
stumbled and he fell on his face, his forehead striking against the
projecting root of a tree; and the blow cut it open and his blood ran
down and mingled with his tears. Then he rose and, wiping away the
blood, dried his tears and bound his brow with a piece of rag; then
continued his walk about the garden engrossed by sad reverie. Presently,
he looked up at a tree and saw two birds quarrelling thereon, and one of
them rose up and smote the other with its beak on the neck and severed
from its body its head, wherewith it flew away, whilst the slain bird
fell to the ground before Kamar al-Zaman. As it lay, behold, two great
birds swooped down upon it alighting, one at the head and the other at
the tail, and both drooped their wings and bowed their bills over it
and, extending their necks towards it, wept. Kamar al-Zaman also wept
when seeing the birds thus bewail their mate, and called to mind his
wife and father,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
day her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Thirteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al-Zaman
wept and lamented his separation from spouse and sire, when he beheld
those two birds weeping over their mate. Then he looked at the twain and
saw them dig a grave and therein bury the slain bird; after which they
flew away far into the firmament and disappeared for a while; but
presently they returned with the murtherer-bird and, alighting on the
grave of the murthered, stamped on the slayer till they had done him to
death. Then they rent his belly and tearing out his entrails, poured the
blood on the grave of the slain[328]: moreover, they stripped off his
skin and tare his flesh in pieces and, pulling out the rest of the
bowels, scattered them hither and thither. All this while Kamar al-Zaman
was watching them wonderingly; but presently, chancing to look at the
place where the two birds had slain the third, he saw therein something
gleaming. So he drew near to it and noted that it was the crop of the
dead bird. Whereupon he took it and opened it and found the talisman
which had been the cause of his separation from his wife. But when he
saw it and knew it, he fell to the ground a-fainting for joy; and, when
he revived, he said, "Praised be Allah! This is a foretaste of good and
a presage of reunion with my beloved." Then he examined the jewel and
passed it over his eyes[329]; after which he bound it to his forearm,
rejoicing in coming weal, and walked about till nightfall awaiting the
gardener's return; and when he came not, he lay down and slept in his
wonted place. At daybreak he rose to his work and, girding his middle
with a cord of palm-fibre, took hatchet and basket and walked down the
length of the garden, till he came to a carob-tree and struck the axe
into its roots. The blow rang and resounded; so he cleared away the soil
from the place and discovered a trap-door and raised it.——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Fourteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kamar
al-Zaman raised the trap-door, he found a winding stair, which he
descended and came to an ancient vault of the time of Ad and
Thamúd,[330] hewn out of the rock. Round the vault stood many brazen
vessels of the bigness of a great oil-jar which he found full of
gleaming red gold: whereupon he said to himself, "Verily sorrow is gone
and solace is come!" Then he mounted from the souterrain to the garden
and, replacing the trap-door as it was before, busied himself in
conducting water to the trees till the last of the day, when the
gardener came back and said to him, "O my son, rejoice at the good
tidings of a speedy return to thy native land: the merchants are ready
equipped for the voyage and the ship in three days' time will set sail
for the City of Ebony, which is the first of the cities of the Moslems;
and after making it, thou must travel by land a six months' march till
thou come to the Islands of Khalidan, the dominions of King Shahriman."
At this Kamar al-Zaman rejoiced and began repeating:—