'Rebel against women and so shalt thou serve Allah the more; *
The youth who gives women the rein must forfeit all hope to
soar.
They'll baulk him when seeking the strange device, Excelsior, *
Tho' waste he a thousand of years in the study of science
and lore.' "
And when he had ended his verses he continued, "O my father, wedlock is
a thing whereto I will never consent; no, not though I drink the cup of
death." When Sultan Shahriman heard these words from his son, light
became darkness in his sight and he grieved thereat with great
grief.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Seventy-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King
Shahriman heard these words from his son, the light became darkness in
his sight and he grieved over his son's lack of obedience to his
directions in the matter of marriage; yet, for the great love he bore
him, he was unwilling to repeat his wishes and was not wroth with him,
but caressed him and spake him fair and showed him all manner of
kindness such as tendeth to induce affection. All this, and Kamar
al-Zaman increased daily in beauty and loveliness and amorous grace;
and the King bore with him for a whole year till he became perfect in
eloquence and elegant wit. All men were ravished with his charms; and
every breeze that blew bore the tidings of his gracious favour; his
fair sight was a seduction to the loving and a garden of delight to the
longing, for he was honey-sweet of speech and the sheen of his face
shamed the full moon; he was a model of symmetry and blandishment and
engaging ways; his shape was as the willow-wand or the rattan- cane and
his cheeks might take the place of rose or red anemone. He was, in fine
the pink of perfection, even as the poet hath said of him,
"He came and cried they, 'Now be Allah blest! *
Praise Him that clad that soul in so fair vest!'
He's King of Beauty where the beauteous be; *
All are his Ryots,[FN#225] all obey his hest:
His lip-dew's sweeter than the virgin honey; *
His teeth are pearls in double row close press:
All charms are congregate in him alone, *
And deals his loveliness to man unrest.
Beauty wrote on those cheeks for worlds to see *
'I testify there is none good but He.'"[FN#226]
When the year came to an end, the King called his son to him and said,
"O my son, wilt thou not hearken to me?" Whereupon Kamar al-Zaman fell
down for respect and shame before his sire and replied, "O my father,
how should I not hearken to thee, seeing that Allah commandeth me to
obey thee and not gain-say thee?" Rejoined King Shahriman, "O my son,
know that I desire to marry thee and rejoice in thee whilst yet I live,
and make thee King over my realm, before my death." When the Prince
heard his sire pronounce these words he bowed his head awhile, then
raised it and said, "O my father, this is a thing which I will never
do; no, not though I drink the cup of death! I know of a surety that
the Almighty hath made obedience to thee a duty in religion; but, Allah
upon thee! press me not in this matter of marriage, nor fancy that I
will ever marry my life long; for that I have read the books both of
the ancients and the moderns, and have come to know all the mischiefs
and miseries which have befallen them through women and their endless
artifices. And how excellent is the saying of the poet,
'He whom the randy motts entrap *
Shall never see deliverance!
Though build he forts a thousand-fold, *
Whose mighty strength lead-plates enhance,[FN#227]
Their force shall be of no avail; *
These fortresses have not a chance!
Women aye deal in treachery *
To far and near o'er earth's expanse
With fingers dipt in Henna-blood *
And locks in braids that mad the glance;
And eyelids painted o'er with Kohl *
They gar us drink of dire mischance.'
And how excellently saith another,
'Women, for all the chastity they claim, *
Are offal cast by kites where'er they list:
This night their talk and secret charms are shine, *
That night another joyeth calf and wrist:
Like inn, whence after night thou far'st at dawn, *
And lodges other wight thou hast not wist.'"[FN#228]
Now when King Shahriman heard these his son's words and learnt the
import of his verses and poetical quotations, he made no answer, of his
excessive love for him, but redoubled in graciousness and kindness to
him. He at once broke up the audience and, as soon as the seance was
over, he summoned his Minister and taking him apart, said to him, "O
thou the Wazir! tell me how I shall deal with my son in the matter of
marriage."- -And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted stay.
When it was the One Hundred and Seventy-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King summoned
his Minister; and, taking him apart, said to him, "O thou the Wazir,
tell me what I shall do with my son in the matter of marriage. Of a
truth I took counsel with thee thereon and thou didst counsel me to
marry him, before making him King. I have spoken with him of wedlock
time after time and he still gainsaid me; so do thou, O Wazir,
forthright advise me what to do." Answered the Minister, "O King, wait
another year and, if after that thou be minded to speak to him on the
matter of marriage, speak not to him privily, but address him on a day
of state, when all the Emirs and Wazirs are present with the whole of
the army standing before thee. And when all are in crowd then send for
thy son, Kamar al-Zaman, and summon him; and, when he cometh, broach to
him the matter of marriage before the Wazirs and Grandees and Officers
of state and Captains; for he will surely be bashful and daunted by
their presence and will not dare to oppose thy will." Now when King
Shahriman heard his Wazir's words, he rejoiced with exceeding joy,
seeing success in the project, and bestowed on him a splendid robe of
honour. Then he took patience with his son another year, whilst, with
every day that passed over him, Kamar al-Zaman increased in beauty and
loveliness, and elegance and perfect grace, till he was nigh twenty
years old. Indeed Allah had clad him in the cloak of comeliness and had
crowned him with the crown of completion: his eye-glance was more
bewitching than Hárút and Marút[FN#229] and the play of his luring
looks more misleading than Tághút;[FN#230] and his cheeks shone like
the dawn rosy-red and his eyelashes stormed the keen-edged blade: the
whiteness of his brow resembled the moon shining bright, and the
blackness of his locks was as the murky night; and his waist was more
slender than the gossamer[FN#231] and his back parts than two sand
heaps bulkier, making a Babel of the heart with their softness; but his
waist complained of the weight of his hips and loins; and his charms
ravished all mankind, even as one of the poets saith in these couplets,
"By his eyelash tendril curled, by his slender waist I swear,
By the dart his witchery feathers, fatal hurtling through the
air;
By the just roundness of his shape, by his glances bright and
keen
By the swart limping of his locks, and his fair forehead shining
sheen;
By his eyebrows which deny that she who looks on them should
sleep,
Which now commanding, now forbidding, o'er me high dominion keep;
By the roses of his cheek, his face as fresh as myrtle wreath
His tulip lips, and those pure pearls that hold the places of his
teeth;
By his noble form, which rises featly turned in even swell
To where upon his jutting chest two young pomegranates seem to
dwell
By his supple moving hips, his taper waist, the silky skin,
By all he robbed Perfection of, and holds enchained his form
within;
By his tongue of steadfastness, his nature true, and excellent,
By the greatness of his rank, his noble birth, and high descent,
Musk from my love her savour steals, who musk exhales from every
limb
And all the airs ambergris breathes are but the Zephyr's blow
o'er him.
The sun, methinks, the broad bright sun, as low before my love
should quail
As would my love himself transcend the paltry paring of his
nail!"[FN#232]
So King Shahriman, having accepted the counsel of his Wazir, waited for
another year and a great festival,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Seventy-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Shahriman having
accepted the counsel of his Wazir, waited for another year and a great
festival, a day of state when the audience hall was filled with his
Emirs and Wazirs and Grandees of his reign and Officers of State and
Captains of might and main. Thereupon he sent for his son Kamar
al-Zaman who came, and kissing the ground before him three times, stood
in presence of his sire with his hands behind his back the right
grasping the left.[FN#233] Then said the King to him, "Know O my son,
that I have not sent for thee on this occasion and summoned thee to
appear before this assembly and all these officers of estate here
awaiting our orders save and except that I may lay a commandment on
thee, wherein do thou not disobey me; and my commandment is that thou
marry, for I am minded to wed thee to a King's daughter and rejoice in
thee ere I die." When the Prince heard this much from his royal sire,
he bowed his head groundwards awhile, then raising it towards his
father and being moved thereto at that time by youthful folly and
boyish ignorance, replied, "But for myself I will never marry; no, not
though I drink the cup of death! As for thee, thou art great in age and
small of wit: hast thou not, twice ere this day and before this
occasion, questioned me of the matter of marriage and I refused my
consent? Indeed thou dotest and are not fit to govern a flock of
sheep!" So saying Kamar al-Zaman unclasped his hands from behind his
back and tucked up his sleeves above his elbows before his father,
being in a fit of fury; moreover, he added many words to his sire,
knowing not what he said in the trouble of his spirits. The King was
confounded and ashamed, for that this befel in the presence of his
grandees and soldier-officers assembled on a high festival and a state
occasion; but presently the majesty of Kingship took him, and he cried
out at his son and made him tremble. Then he called to the guards
standing before him and said, "Seize him!' So they came forward and
laid hands on him and, binding him, brought him before his sire, who
bade them pinion his elbows behind his back and in this guise make him
stand before the presence. And the Prince bowed down his head for fear
and apprehension, and his brow and face were beaded and spangled with
sweat; and shame and confusion troubled him sorely. Thereupon his
father abused him and reviled him and cried, "Woe to thee, thou son of
adultery and nursling of abomination![FN#234] How durst thou answer me
on this wise before my captains and soldiers? But hitherto none hath
chastised thee,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Shahriman
cried out to his son Kamar al-Zaman, "How durst thou answer me on this
wise before my captains and soldiers? But hitherto none hath chastised
thee. Knowest thou not that this deed thou hast done were a disgrace to
him had it been done by the meanest of my subjects?" And the King
commanded his Mamelukes to loose his elbow bonds and imprison him in
one of the bastions of the citadel. So they took the Prince and thrust
him into an old tower, wherein there was a dilapidated saloon and in
its middle a ruined well, after having first swept it and cleansed its
floor-flags and set therein a couch on which they laid a mattress, a
leathern rug and a cushion; and then they brought a great lanthorn and
a wax candle, for that place was dark, even by day. And lastly the
Mamelukes led Kamar al-Zaman thither, and stationed an eunuch at the
door. And when all this was done, the Prince threw himself on the
couch, sad-spirited, and heavy- hearted; blaming himself and repenting
of his injurious conduct to his father, whenas repentance availed him
naught, and saying, "Allah curse marriage and marriageable and married
women, the traitresses all! Would I had hearkened to my father and
accepted a wife! Had I so done it had been better for me than this
jail." This is how it fared with him; but as regards King Shahri man,
he remained seated on his throne all through the day until sundown;
then he took the Minister apart and said to him "Know thou, O Wazir,
that thou and thou only west the cause of all this that hath come to
pass between me and my son by the advice thou west pleased to devise;
and so what dost thou counsel me to do now?" Answered he, "O King,
leave thy son in limbo for the space of fifteen days: then summon him
to thy presence and bid him wed; and assuredly he shall not gainsay
thee again."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir, said
to King Shahriman, "Leave thy son in limbo for the space of fifteen
days; then summon him to thy presence and bid him wed; and assuredly he
shall not gainsay thee again." The King accepted the Wazir's opinion
and lay down to sleep that night troubled at heart concerning his son;
for he loved him with dearest love because he had no other child but
this; and it was his wont every night not to sleep, save after placing
his arm under his son's neck. So he passed that night in trouble and
unease on the Prince 's account, tossing from side to side, as he were
laid on coals of Artemisia-wood[FN#235]: for he was overcome with
doubts and fears and sleep visited him not all that livelong night; but
his eyes ran over with tears and he began repeating, ;
"While slanderers slumber, longsome is my night; *
Suffice thee a heart so sad in parting-plight;
I say, while night in care slow moments by, *
'What! no return for thee, fair morning light?'"
And the saying of another,
"When saw I Pleiad-stars his glance escape *
And Pole star draught of sleep upon him pour;
And the Bier-daughters[FN#236] wend in mourning dight, *
I knew that morning was for him no more!"
Such was the case with King Shahriman; but as regards Kamar al- Zaman,
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.
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''[FN#237]; and he ended with blessing and supplication and
with saying, "I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the stoned."[FN#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[FN#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 Jinniyah of the seed of Iblis[FN#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.
When it was the One 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[FN#241]; his cheeks were rosy red; his eye-brows 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,[FN#242] which *
Seduce my soul, and cheeks flushed rosier hue;
O heart, if slanderers dare to deem there be *
His like in chasms, Say 'Bring him hither, you!' "
Now when Maymunah saw him, she pronounced the formula of
praise,[FN#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 kind 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[FN#244] the
Flyer, "I accept, O my lady, these conditions."—And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Seventy-eight 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 showed 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 carnelian
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,[FN#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 fief 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.'[FN#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,[FN#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.
When it was the One 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.[FN#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 shine
to bid and to forbid." So saying, the Ifrit Dahnash bowed his head
towards the earth and drooped his wings downward; 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?[FN#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![FN#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.
When It was the One 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 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
shine 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 shine: 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 If rit 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 hired spies:
The shining light of brow, the trinkets' tinkling voice, *
And scent of essences that tell whene'er she tries:
Gi'en that she hide her brow with edge of sleeve, and leave *
At home her trinketry, how shall her scent
disguise?''[FN#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.
When it was the One 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[FN#252] eye thou hast that witcheth far and wide;
From pure platonic love[FN#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 shine 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[FN#254]
Who irketh me, and eke a Groom whose wrong cloth 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![FN#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
When it was the One 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."