A king of former times had an only son, whom he contracted in marriage
to the daughter of another king. But the damsel, who was endowed with
great beauty, had a cousin who had sought her in marriage, and had
been rejected; wherefore he sent great presents to the vizier of the
king just mentioned, requesting him to employ some stratagem by which
to destroy his master's son, or to induce him to relinquish the
damsel. The vizier consented. Then the father of the damsel sent to
the king's son, inviting him to come and introduce himself to his
daughter, to take her as his wife; and the father of the young man
sent him with the treacherous vizier, attended by a thousand horsemen,
and provided with rich presents. When they were proceeding over the
desert, the vizier remembered that there was near unto them a spring
of water called Ez-zahra, and that whosoever drank of it, if he were a
man, became a woman. He therefore ordered the troops to alight near
it, and induced the prince to go thither with him. When they arrived
at the spring, the king's son dismounted from his courser, and washed
his hands, and drank; and lo! he became a woman; whereupon he cried
out and wept until he fainted. The vizier asked him what had befallen
him, so the young man informed him; and on hearing his words, the
vizier affected to be grieved for him, and wept. The king's son then
sent the vizier back to his father to inform him of this event,
determining not to proceed nor to return until his affliction should
be removed from him, or until he should die.
He remained by the fountain during a period of three days and nights,
neither eating nor drinking, and on the fourth night there came to him
a horseman with a crown upon his head, appearing like one of the sons
of the kings. This horseman said to him, "Who brought you, O young
man, unto this place?" So the young man told him his story; and when
the horseman heard it, he pitied him, and said to him, "The vizier of
thy father is the person who hath thrown thee into this calamity; for
no one of mankind knoweth of this spring excepting one man." Then the
horseman ordered him to mount with him. He therefore mounted; and the
horseman said to him, "Come with me to my abode: for thou art my guest
this night." The young man replied, "Inform me who thou art before I
go with thee." And the horseman said, "I am the son of a king of the
Jinn, and thou art son of a king of mankind. And now, be of good heart
and cheerful eye on account of that which shall dispel thine anxiety
and thy grief, for it is unto me easy."
So the young man proceeded with him from the commencement of the day,
forsaking his troops and soldiers (whom the vizier had left at their
halting-place), and ceased not to travel on with his conductor until
midnight, when the son of the king of the Jinn said to him, "Knowest
thou what space we have traversed during this period?" The young man
answered him, "I know not." The son of the king of the Jinn said, "We
have traversed a space of a year's journey to him who travelleth with
diligence." So the young man wondered thereat, and asked, "How shall I
return to my family?" The other answered, "This is not thine affair.
It is my affair; and when thou shalt have recovered from thy
misfortune, thou shalt return to thy family in less time than the
twinkling of an eye, for to accomplish that will be to me easy." The
young man, on hearing these words from the Jinnee, almost flew with
excessive delight. He thought that the event was a result of confused
dreams, and said, "Extolled be the perfection of him who is able to
restore the wretched, and render him prosperous!" They ceased not to
proceed until morning, when they arrived at a verdant, bright land,
with tall trees, and warbling birds, and gardens of surpassing beauty,
and fair palaces; and thereupon the son of the king of the Jinn
alighted from his courser, commanding the young man also to dismount.
He therefore dismounted, and the Jinnee took him by the hand, and they
entered one of the palaces, where the young man beheld an exalted king
and a sultan of great dignity, and he remained with them that day,
eating and drinking, until the approach of night. Then the son of the
king of the Jinn arose and mounted with him, and they went forth, and
proceeded during the night with diligence until the morning. And lo!
they came to a black land, not inhabited, abounding with black rocks
and stones, as though it were a part of hell; whereupon the son of the
king of men said to the Jinnee, "What is the name of this land?" And
he answered, "It is called the Dusky Land, and belongeth to one of the
kings of the Jinn, whose name is Zu-l-Jenaheyn. None of the kings can
attack him, nor doth any one enter his territory unless by his
permission, so stop in thy place while I ask his permission."
Accordingly the young man stopped, and the Jinn was absent from him
for a while, and then returned to him; and they ceased not to proceed
until they came to a spring flowing from black mountains. The Jinnee
said to the young man, "Alight." He therefore alighted from his
courser, and the Jinnee said to him, "Drink of this spring."
The young prince drank of it, and immediately became again a man, as
he was at first, by the power of God (whose name be exalted!), whereat
he rejoiced with great joy, not to be exceeded. And he said to the
Jinn, "O my brother, what is the name of this spring?" The Jinnee
answered, "It is called the Spring of the Women: no woman drinketh of
it but she becometh a man; therefore praise God, and thank Him for thy
restoration, and mount thy courser." So the king's son prostrated
himself, thanking God (whose name be exalted!). Then he mounted, and
they journeyed with diligence during the rest of the day until they
had returned to the land of the Jinnee, and the young man passed the
night in his abode in the most comfortable manner; after which they
ate and drank until the next night, when the son of the king of the
Jinn said to him, "Dost thou desire to return to thy family this
night?" The young man answered, "Yes." So the son of the king of the
Jinn called one of his father's slaves, whose name was Rajiz, and said
to him, "Take this young man hence, and carry him upon thy shoulders,
and let not the dawn overtake him before he is with his father-in-law
and his wife." The slave replied, "I hear and obey, and with feelings
of love and honour will I do it." Then the slave absented himself for
a while, and approached in the form of an 'Efreet. And when the young
man saw him his reason fled, and he was stupefied; but the son of the
king of the Jinn said to him, "No harm shall befall thee. Mount thy
courser. Ascend upon his shoulders." The young man then mounted upon
the slave's shoulders, and the son of the king of the Jinn said to
him, "Close thine eyes." So he closed his eyes, and the slave flew
with him between heaven and earth, and ceased not to fly along with
him while the young man was unconscious, and the last third of the
night came not before he was on the top of the palace of his
father-in-law. Then the 'Efreet said to him, "Alight." He therefore
alighted. And the 'Efreet said to him, "Open thine eyes; for this is
the palace of thy father-in-law and his daughter." Then he left him
and departed. And as soon as the day shone, and the alarm of the young
man subsided, he descended from the roof of the palace; and when his
father-in-law beheld him, he rose to him and met him, wondering at
seeing him descend from the top of the palace, and he said to him, "We
see other men come through the doors, but thou comest down from the
sky." The young man replied, "What God (whose perfection be extolled,
and whose name be exalted!) desired hath happened." And when the sun
rose, his father-in-law ordered his vizier to prepare great banquets,
and the wedding was celebrated; the young man remained there two
months, and then departed with his wife to the city of his father. But
as to the cousin of the damsel, he perished by reason of his jealousy
and envy.
Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty,
_at the Edinburgh University Press_.