cruel taunts an innocent mortify:
Another so long-parted had ta'en heart from you, ✿ And had his whole
condition changed,—but not so I.
Then he kissed the gardener's hand and said, "O my father, even as thou
hast brought me glad tidings, so I also have great good news for thee,"
and told him anent his discovery of the vault; whereat the gardener
rejoiced and said, "O my son, fourscore years have I dwelt in this
garden and have never hit on aught; whilst thou, who hast not sojourned
with me a year, hast discovered this thing; wherefore it is Heaven's
gift to thee, which shall end thy crosses and aid thee to rejoin thy
folk and foregather with her thou lovest." Quoth Kamar al-Zaman, "There
is no help but it must be shared between me and thee." Then he carried
him to the underground-chamber and showed him the gold, which was in
twenty jars: he took ten and the gardener ten, and the old man said to
him, "O my son, fill thyself leather bottles[331] with the
sparrow-olives[332] which grow in this garden, for they are not found
except in our land; and the merchants carry them to all parts. Lay the
gold in the bottles and strew it over with olives: then stop them and
cover them and take them with thee in the ship." So Kamar al-Zaman arose
without stay or delay and took fifty leather bottles and stored in each
somewhat of the gold, and closed each one after placing a layer of
olives over the gold; and at the bottom of one of the bottles he laid
the talisman. Then sat he down to talk with the gardener, confident of
speedy reunion with his own people and saying to himself, "When I come
to the Ebony Islands I will journey thence to my father's country and
enquire for my beloved Budur. Would to Heaven I knew whether she
returned to her own land or journeyed on to my father's country or
whether there befel her any accident by the way." And he began
versifying:—
Love in my breast they lit and fared away, ✿ And far the land wherein my
love is pent:
Far lies the camp and those who camp therein; ✿ Far is her tent-shrine,
where I ne'er shall tent.
Patience far fled me when from me they fled; ✿ Sleep failed mine eyes,
endurance was forspent:
They left and with them left my every joy, ✿ Wending with them, nor find
I peace that went:
They made these eyes roll down love-tears in flood, ✿ And lacking them
these eyne with tears are drent.
When my triste spirit once again would see them, ✿ When pine and
expectation but augment,
In my heart's core their counterfeits I trace, ✿ With love and yearning
to behold their grace.
Then, while he awaited the end of the term of days, he told the gardener
the tale of the birds and what had passed between them; whereat the
hearer wondered; and they both lay down and slept till the morning. The
gardener awoke sick and abode thus two days; but on the third day, his
sickness increased on him, till they despaired of his life and Kamar
al-Zaman grieved with sore grief for him. Meanwhile behold, the Master
and his crew came and enquired for the gardener; and, when Kamar
al-Zaman told them that he was sick, they asked, "Where be the youth who
is minded to go with us to the Ebony Islands?" "He is your servant and
he standeth before you!" answered the Prince and bade them carry the
bottles of olives to the ship; so they transported them, saying, "Make
haste, thou, for the wind is fair;" and he replied, "I hear and obey."
Then he carried his provaunt on board and, returning to bid the gardener
farewell, found him in the agonies of death; so he sat down at his head
and closed his eyes, and his soul departed his body; whereupon he laid
him out and committed him to the earth unto the mercy of Allah Almighty.
Then he made for the ship but found that she had already weighed anchor
and set sail; nor did she cease to cleave the seas till she disappeared
from his sight. So he went back to whence he came heavy-hearted with
whirling head; and neither would he address a soul nor return a reply;
and reaching the garden and sitting down in cark and care he threw dust
on his head and buffeted his cheeks.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Fifteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the ship sped
on her course, Kamar al-Zaman returned to the garden in cark and care;
but anon he rented the place of its owner and hired a man to help him in
irrigating the trees. Moreover, he repaired the trap-door and he went to
the underground chamber and bringing the rest of the gold to grass,
stowed it in other fifty bottles which he filled up with a layer of
olives. Then he enquired of the ship and they told him that it sailed
but once a year; at which his trouble of mind redoubled and he cried
sore for that which had betided him, above all for the loss of the
Princess Budur's talisman, and spent his nights and days weeping and
repeating verses. Such was his case; but as regards the ship she sailed
with a favouring wind till she reached the Ebony Islands. Now by decree
of destiny, Queen Budur was sitting at a lattice-window overlooking the
sea and saw the galley cast anchor upon the strand. At this sight, her
heart throbbed and she took horse with the Chamberlains and Nabobs and,
riding down to the shore, halted by the ship, whilst the sailors broke
bulk and bore the bales to the storehouses; after which she called the
captain to her presence and asked what he had with him. He answered "O
King, I have with me in this ship aromatic drugs and cosmetics and
healing powders and ointments and plasters and precious metals and rich
stuffs and rugs of Yemen leather, not to be borne of mule or camel, and
all manner of ottars and spices and perfumes, civet and ambergris and
camphor and Sumatra aloes-wood, and tamarinds[333] and sparrow-olives to
boot, such as are rare to find in this country." When she heard talk of
sparrow-olives her heart longed for them and she said to the
ship-master, "How much of olives hast thou?" He replied, "Fifty bottles
full, but their owner is not with us; so the King shall take what he
will of them." Quoth she, "Bring them ashore, that I may see them."
Thereupon he called to the sailors, who brought her the fifty bottles;
and she opened one and, looking at the olives, said to the captain, "I
will take the whole fifty and pay you their value, whatso it be." He
answered, "By Allah, O my lord, they have no value in our country;
moreover their shipper tarried behind us, and he is a poor man." Asked
she, "And what are they worth here?" and he answered "A thousand
dirhams." "I will take them at a thousand," she said and bade them carry
the fifty bottles to the palace. When it was night, she called for a
bottle of olives and opened it, there being none in the room but herself
and the Princess Hayat al-Nufus. Then, placing a dish before her she
turned into it the contents of the jar, when there fell out into the
dish with the olives a heap of red gold; and she said to the Lady Hayat
al-Nufus, "This is naught but gold!" So she sent for the rest of the
bottles and found them all full of precious metal and scarce enough
olives to fill a single jar. Moreover, she sought among the gold and
found therein the talisman, which she took and examined and behold, it
was that which Kamar al-Zaman had taken from off the band of her
petticoat trousers. Thereupon she cried out for joy and slipped down in
a swoon;——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Sixteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Budur
saw the talisman she cried out for joy and slipped down in a swoon; and
when she recovered she said to herself, "Verily, this talisman was the
cause of my separation from my beloved Kamar al-Zaman; but now it is an
omen of good." Then she showed it to Hayat al-Nufus and said to her,
"This was the cause of disunion and now, please Allah, it shall be the
cause of reunion." As soon as day dawned she seated herself on the royal
throne and sent for the ship-master, who came into the presence and
kissed the ground before her. Quoth she, "Where didst thou leave the
owner of these olives?" Quoth he, "O King of the age, we left him in the
land of the Magians and he is a gardener there." She rejoined, "Except
thou bring him to me, thou knowest not the harm which awaiteth thee and
thy ship." Then she bade them seal up the magazines of the merchants and
said to them, "Verily the owner of these olives hath borrowed of me and
I have a claim upon him for debt and, unless ye bring him to me, I will
without fail do you all die and seize your goods." So they went to the
captain and promised him the hire of the ship, if he would go and return
a second time, saying, "Deliver us from this masterful tyrant."
Accordingly the skipper embarked and set sail and Allah decreed him a
prosperous voyage, till he came to the Island of the Magians and,
landing by night, went up to the garden. Now the night was long upon
Kamar al-Zaman, and he sat, bethinking him of his beloved, and bewailing
what had befallen him and versifying:—
A night whose stars refused to run their course, ✿ A night of those
which never seem outworn:
Like Resurrection-day, of longsome length[334] ✿ To him that watched and
waited for the morn.
Now at this moment, the captain knocked at the garden-gate, and Kamar
al-Zaman opened and went out to him, whereupon the crew seized him and
went down with him on board the ship and set sail forthright; and they
ceased not voyaging days and nights, whilst Kamar al-Zaman knew not why
they dealt thus with him; but when he questioned them they replied,
"Thou hast offended against the Lord of the Ebony Islands, the
son-in-law of King Armanus, and thou hast stolen his monies, miserable
that thou art!" Said he, "By Allah! I never entered that country nor do
I know where it is!" However, they fared on with him, till they made the
Ebony Islands and landing, carried him up to the Lady Budur, who knew
him at sight and said, "Leave him with the eunuchs, that they may take
him to the bath." Then she relieved the merchants of the embargo and
gave the captain a robe of honour worth ten thousand pieces of gold;
and, after returning to the palace, she went in that night to the
Princess Hayat al-Nufus and told her what had passed, saying, "Keep thou
my counsel, till I accomplish my purpose, and do a deed which shall be
recorded and shall be read by Kings and commoners after we be dead and
gone." And when she gave orders that they bear Kamar al-Zaman to the
bath, they did so and clad him in a royal habit so that, when he came
forth, he resembled a willow-bough or a star which shamed the greater
and lesser light[335] and its glow, and his life and soul returned to
his frame. Then he repaired to the palace and went in to the Princess
Budur; and when she saw him she schooled her heart to patience, till she
should have accomplished her purpose; and she bestowed on him Mamelukes
and eunuchs, camels and mules. Moreover, she gave him a treasury of
money and she ceased not advancing him from dignity to dignity, till she
made him Lord High Treasurer and committed to his charge all the
treasures of the state; and she admitted him to familiar favour and
acquainted the Emirs with his rank and dignity. And all loved him, for
Queen Budur did not cease day by day to increase his allowances. As for
Kamar al-Zaman, he was at a loss anent the reason of her thus honouring
him; and he gave gifts and largesse out of the abundance of the wealth;
and he devoted himself to the service of King Armanus; so that the King
and all the Emirs and people, great and small, adored him and were wont
to swear by his life. Nevertheless, he ever marvelled at the honour and
favour shown him by Queen Budur and said to himself, "By Allah, there
needs must be a reason for this affection! Peradventure, this King
favoureth me not with these immoderate favours save for some ill purpose
and, therefore, there is no help but that I crave leave of him to depart
his realm." So he went in to Queen Budur and said to her, "O King, thou
hast overwhelmed me with favours, but it will fulfil the measure of thy
bounties if thou take from me all thou hast been pleased to bestow upon
me, and permit me to depart." She smiled and asked, "What maketh thee
seek to depart and plunge into new perils, whenas thou art in the
enjoyment of the highest favour and greatest prosperity?" Answered Kamar
al-Zaman, "O King, verily this favour, if there be no reason for it, is
indeed a wonder of wonders, more by token that thou hast advanced me to
dignities such as befit men of age and experience, albeit I am as it
were a young child." And Queen Budur rejoined, "The reason is that I
love thee for thine exceeding loveliness and thy surpassing beauty; and
if thou wilt but grant me my desire of thy body, I will advance thee yet
farther in honour and favour and largesse; and I will make thee Wazir,
for all thy tender age, even as the folk made me Sultan over them and I
no older than thou; so that nowadays there is nothing strange when
children take the head and by Allah, he was a gifted man who said:—
It seems as though of Lot's tribe were our days, ✿ And crave with love
to advance the young in years."[336]
When Kamar al-Zaman heard these words, he was abashed and his cheeks
flushed till they seemed a-flame; and he said, "I need not these favours
which lead to the commission of sin; I will live poor in wealth but
wealthy in virtue and honour." Quoth she, "I am not to be duped by thy
scruples, arising from prudery and coquettish ways; and Allah bless him
who saith:—
To him I spake of coupling, but he said to me, ✿ 'How long this noyous
long persistency?'
But when gold piece I showèd him, he cried, ✿ 'Who from the Almighty
Sovereign e'er shall flee?'"
Now when Kamar al-Zaman, heard these words and understood her verses and
their import, he said, "O King, I have not the habit of these doings,
nor have I strength to bear these heavy burthens for which elder than I
have proved unable; then how will it be with my tender age?" But she
smiled at his speech and retorted, "Indeed, it is a matter right
marvellous how error springeth from the disorder of man's intendiment!
Since thou art a boy, why standest thou in fear of sin or the doing of
things forbidden, seeing that thou art not yet come to years of
canonical responsibility; and the offences of a child incur neither
punishment nor reproof? Verily, thou hast committed thyself to a quibble
for the sake of contention, and it is thy duty to bow before a proposal
of fruition, so henceforward cease from denial and coyness, for the
commandment of Allah is a decree foreordained:[337] indeed, I have more
reason than thou to fear falling and by sin to be misled; and
well-inspired was he who said:—
My prickle is big and the little one said, ✿ Thrust boldly in vitals
with lion-like stroke!
Then I, 'Tis a sin!; and he, No sin to me! ✿ So I had him at once with a
counterfeit poke."[338]
When Kamar al-Zaman heard these words, the light became darkness in his
sight and he said, "O King, thou hast in thy household fair women and
female slaves, who have not their like in this age: shall not these
suffice thee without me? Do thy will with them and let me go!" She
replied, "Thou sayest sooth, but it is not with them that one who loveth
thee can heal himself of torment and can abate his fever; for, when
tastes and inclinations are corrupted by vice, they hear and obey other
than good advice. So leave arguing and listen to what the poet saith:—
Seest not the bazar with its fruit in rows? ✿ These men are for figs and
for sycomore[339] those!"
And what another saith:—
Many whose anklet-rings are dumb have tinkling belts, ✿ And this hath
all content while that for want must wail:
Thou bidd'st me be a fool and quit thee for her charms; ✿ Allah forfend
I leave The Faith, turn Infidel!
Nay, by thy rights of side-beard mocking all her curls, ✿ Nor mott nor
maid[340] from thee my heart shall spell.
And yet another:—
O beauty's Union! love for thee's my creed; ✿ Free choice of Faith and
eke my best desire:
Women I have forsworn for thee; so may ✿ Deem me all men this day a
shaveling friar.[341]
And yet another:—
Even not beardless one with girl, nor heed ✿ The spy who saith to thee
"'Tis an amiss!"
Far different is the girl whose feet one kisses ✿ And that gazelle whose
feet the earth must kiss.
And yet another:—
A boy of twice ten is fit for a King!
And yet another:—
The penis smooth and round was made with anus best to match it; ✿ Had it
been made for cunnus' sake it had been formed like hatchet!
And yet another said:—
My soul thy sacrifice! I chose thee out ✿ Who art not menstruous nor
oviparous:
Did I with woman mell, I should beget ✿ Brats till the wide wide world
grew strait for us.
And yet another:—
She saith (sore hurt in sense the most acute ✿ For she had proffered
what did not besuit):—
"Unless thou stroke as man should swive his wife ✿ Blame not when horns
thy brow shall incornùte!"
"Thy wand seems waxen, to a limpo grown, ✿ And more I palm it, softer
grows the brute!"
And yet another:—
Quoth she (for I to lie with her forbore), ✿ "O folly-following fool, O
fool to core:
If thou my coynte for Kiblah[342] to thy coigne ✿ Reject, we'll show
thee what shall please thee more."[343]
And yet another:—
She proffered me a tender coynte ✿ Quoth I "I will not roger thee!"
She drew back, saying, "From the Faith ✿ He turns, who's turned by
Heaven's decree!"[344]
And front-wise futtering, in one day, ✿ "Is obsolete persistency!"
Then swung she round and shining rump ✿ Like silvern lump she showèd me!
I cried: "Well done, O mistress mine! ✿ No more am I in pain for thee;
O thou of all that Allah oped[345] ✿ Showest me fairest victory!"
And yet another:—
Men craving pardon will uplift their hands; ✿ Women pray pardon with
their legs on high:
Out on it for a pious, prayerful work! ✿ The Lord shall raise it in the
depths to lie.[346]
When Kamar al-Zaman heard her quote this poetry, and was certified that
there was no escaping compliance with what willed she, he said, "O King
of the age, if thou must needs have it so, make covenant with me that
thou wilt do this thing with me but once, though it avail not to correct
thy depraved appetite; and that thou wilt never again require this thing
of me to the end of time; so perchance shall Allah purge me of the sin."
She replied, "I promise thee this same, hoping that Allah of His favour
will relent towards us and blot out our mortal offence; for the girdle
of heaven's forgiveness is not indeed so strait, but it may compass us
around and absolve us of the excess of our heinous sins and bring us to
the light of salvation out of the darkness of error; and indeed
excellently well saith the poet:—
Of evil thing the folk suspect us twain; ✿ And to this thought their
hearts and souls are bent:
Come, dear! let's justify and free their souls ✿ That wrong us; one good
bout and then—repent!"[347]
Thereupon she made with him an agreement and a covenant and swore a
solemn oath by Him who is Self-existent, that this thing should befal
betwixt them but once and never again for all time, and that the desire
of him was driving her to death and perdition. So he rose up with her,
on this condition, and went with her to her own boudoir, that she might
quench the lowe of her lust, saying, "There is no Majesty, and there is
no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! This is the fated
decree of the All-powerful, the All-wise!"; and he doffed his
bag-trousers, shamefull and abashed, with the tears running from his
eyes for stress of affright. Thereat she smiled and making him mount
upon a couch with her, said to him, "After this night, thou shalt see
naught that will offend thee." Then she turned to him bussing and
bosoming him and bending calf over calf, and said to him, "Put thy hand
between my thighs to the accustomed place; so haply it may stand up to
prayer after prostration." He wept and cried, "I am not good at aught of
this," but she said, "By my life, an thou do as I bid thee, it shall
profit thee!" So he put out his hand, with vitals a-fire for confusion,
and found her thighs cooler than cream and softer than silk. The
touching of them pleasured him and he moved his hand hither and thither,
till it came to a dome abounding in good gifts and movements and shifts,
and said in himself, "Perhaps this King is an hermaphrodite,[348]
neither man nor woman quite;" so he said to her, "O King, I cannot find
that thou hast a tool like the tools of men; what then moved thee to do
this deed?" Then loudly laughed Queen Budur till she fell on her
back,[349] and said, "O my dearling, how quickly thou hast forgotten the
nights we have lain together!" Then she made herself known to him, and
he knew her for his wife, the Lady Budur, daughter of King al-Ghayur,
Lord of the Isles and the Seas. So he embraced her and she embraced him,
and he kissed her and she kissed him; then they lay down on the bed of
pleasure voluptuous, repeating the words of the poet:—
When his softly bending shape bid him close to my embrace ✿ Which clipt
him all about like the tendrils of the vine,
And shed a flood of softness on the hardness of his heart, ✿ He yielded;
though at first he was minded to decline;
And dreading lest the railer's eye should light upon his form, ✿ Came
armourèd with caution to baffle his design:
His waist makes moan of hinder cheeks that weigh upon his feet ✿ Like
heavy load of merchandise upon young camel li'en;
Girt with his glances' scymitar which seemed athirst for blood, ✿ And
clad in mail of dusky curls that show the sheeniest shine,
His fragrance wafted happy news of footstep coming nigh, ✿ And to him
like a bird uncaged I flew in straightest line:
I spread my cheek upon his path, beneath his sandal-shoon, ✿ And lo! the
stibium[350] of their dust healed all my hurt of eyne.
With one embrace again I bound the banner of our loves,[351] ✿ And
loosed the knot of my delight that bound in bonds malign:
Then bade I make high festival, and straight came flocking in ✿ Pure
joys that know not grizzled age[352] nor aught of pain and pine:
The full moon dotted with the stars the lips and pearly teeth ✿ That
dance right joyously upon the bubbling face of wine:
So in the prayer-niche of their joys I yielded me to what ✿ Would make
the humblest penitent of sinner most indign.
I swear by all the signs[353] of those glories in his face ✿ I'll ne'er
forget the Chapter entituled Al-Ikhlas.[354]
Then Queen Budur told Kamar al-Zaman all that had befallen her from
beginning to end and he did likewise; after which he began to upbraid
her, saying, "What moved thee to deal with me as thou hast done this
night?" She replied, "Pardon me! for I did this by way of jest, and that
pleasure and gladness might be increased." And when dawned the morn and
day arose with its sheen and shone, she sent to King Armanus, sire of
the Lady Hayat al-Nufus, and acquainted him with the truth of the case
and that she was wife to Kamar al-Zaman. Moreover, she told him their
tale and the cause of their separation, and how his daughter was a
virgin, pure as when she was born. He marvelled at their story with
exceeding marvel and bade them chronicle it in letters of gold. Then he
turned to Kamar al-Zaman and said, "O King's son, art thou minded to
become my son-in-law by marrying my daughter?" Replied he, "I must
consult the Queen Budur, as she hath a claim upon me for benefits
without stint." And when he took counsel with her, she said, "Right is
thy recking; marry her and I will be her handmaid; for I am her debtor
for kindness and favour and good offices, and obligations manifold,
especially as we are here in her place and as the King her father hath
whelmed us with benefits."[355] Now when he saw that she inclined to
this and was not jealous of Hayat al-Nufus, he agreed with her upon this
matter——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Two Hundred and Seventeenth Night,