When the Son of the Chan was, as formerly, carrying Ssidi away in the
sack, Ssidi inquired of him as before; but the Son of the Chan shook
his head without speaking a word, so Ssidi proceeded as follows:--
"Many, many years ago there ruled over a certain kingdom a Chan named
Guguluktschi. Upon the death of this Chan his son, who was of great
reputation and worth, was elected Chan in his place.
"One berren (a measure of distance) from the residence of the Chan
dwelt a man, who had a daughter of wonderful abilities and
extraordinary beauty. The son of the Chan was enamoured of this
maiden, and visited her daily; until, at length, he fell sick of a
grievous malady, and died, without the maiden being made aware of it.
"One night, just as the moon was rising, the maiden heard a knocking
at the door, and the face of the maiden was gladdened when she beheld
the son of the Chan; and the maiden arose and went to meet him, and
she led him in and placed arrack and cakes before him. 'Wife,' said
the son of the Chan, 'come with me!'
"The maiden followed, and they kept going further and further, until
they arrived at the dwelling of the Chan, from which proceeded the
sound of cymbals and kettledrums.
"'Chan, what is this?' she asked. The son of the Chan replied to these
inquiries of the maiden, 'Do you not know that they are now
celebrating the feast of my funeral?' Thus spake he; and the maiden
replied, 'The feast of thy funeral! Has anything then befallen the
Chan's son?' And the son of the Chan replied, 'He is departed. Thou
wilt, however, bear a son unto him. And when the season is come, go
into the stable of the elephant, and let him be born there. In the
palace there will arise a contention betwixt my mother and her
attendants, because of the wonderful stone of the kingdom. The
wonderful stone lies under the table of sacrifice. After it has been
discovered, do you and my mother reign over this kingdom until such
time as my son comes of age.'
"Thus spake he, and vanished into air. But his beloved fell, from very
anguish, into a swoon. 'Chan! Chan!' exclaimed she sorrowfully, when
she came to herself again. And because she felt that the time was
come, she betook herself to the stable of the elephants, and there
gave birth to a son.
"On the following morning, when the keeper of the elephants entered
the stable, he exclaimed, 'What! has a woman given birth to a son in
the stable of the elephants? This never happened before. This may be
an injury to the elephants.'
"At these words the maiden said, 'Go unto the mother of the Chan, and
say unto her, "Arise! something wonderful has taken place."'
"When these words were told unto the mother of the Chan, then she
arose and went unto the stable, and the maiden related unto her all
that had happened, 'Wonderful!' said the mother of the Chan.
'Otherwise the Chan had left no successors. Let us go together into
the house.'
"Thus speaking, she took the maiden with her into the house, and
nursed her, and tended her carefully. And because her account of the
wonderful stone was found correct, all the rest of her story was
believed. So the mother of the Chan and his wife ruled over the
kingdom.
"Henceforth, too, it happened that every month, on the night of the
full moon, the deceased Chan appeared to his wife, remained with her
until morning dawned, and then vanished into air. And the wife
recounted this to his mother, but his mother believed her not, and
said, 'This is a mere invention. If it were true my son would, of a
surety, show himself likewise unto me. If I am to believe your words,
you must take care that mother and son meet one another.'
"When the son of the Chan came on the night of the full moon, his wife
said unto him, 'It is well that thou comest unto me on the night of
every full moon, but it were yet better if thou camest every night.'
And as she spake thus, with tears in her eyes, the son of the Chan
replied, 'If thou hadst sufficient spirit to dare its accomplishment,
thou mightest do what would bring me every night; but thou art young
and cannot do it.' 'Then,' said she, 'if thou wilt but come every
night, I will do all that is required of me, although I should thereby
lose both flesh and bone.'
"Thereupon the son of the Chan spake as follows: 'Then betake thyself
on the night of the full moon a berren from this place to the iron old
man, and give unto him arrack. A little further you will come unto two
rams, to them you must offer batschimak cakes. A little further on you
will perceive a host of men in coats of mail and other armour, and
there you must share out meat and cakes. From thence you must proceed
to a large black building, stained with blood; the skin of a man
floats over it instead of a flag. Two aerliks (fiends) stand at the
entrance. Present unto them both offerings of blood. Within the
mansion thou wilt discover nine fearful exorcists, and nine hearts
upon a throne. "Take me! take me!" will the eight old hearts exclaim;
and the ninth heart will cry out, "Do not take me!" But leave the old
hearts and take the fresh one, and run home with it without looking
round.'
"Much as the maiden was alarmed at the task which she had been
enjoined to perform, she set forth on the night of the next full moon,
divided the offerings, and entered the house. 'Take me not!' exclaimed
the fresh heart; but the maiden seized the fresh heart and fled with
it. The exorcists fled after her, and cried out to those who were
watching, 'Stop the thief of the heart!' And the two aerliks (fiends)
cried, 'We have received offerings of blood!' Then each of the armed
men cried out, 'Stop the thief!' But the rams said, 'We have received
batschimak cakes.' Then they called out to the iron old man, 'Stop the
thief with the heart!' But the old man said, 'I have received arrack
from her, and shall not stop her.'
"Thereupon the maiden journeyed on without fear until she reached
home; and she found upon entering the house the Chan's son, attired in
festive garments. And the Chan's son drew nigh, and threw his arms
about the neck of the maiden."
"The maiden behaved well indeed!" exclaimed the Son of the Chan.
"Ruler of Destiny, thou hast spoken words! Ssarwala missdood jakzang."
Thus spake Ssidi, and burst from the sack through the air.
Thus Ssidi's ninth relation treats of the Stealing of the Heart.