Now, there was haste in the movements of Noorna bin Noorka, and she
arrayed herself and clutched Shibli Bagarag by the arm, and the twain
departed from Feshnavat the Vizier, and came to the outside of the city,
and lo! there was the Genie by a well under a palm, and he standing in
the shape of an Ass, saddled. So they mounted him, and in a moment they
were in the midst of the desert, and naught round them save the hot
glimmer of the sands and the grey of the sky. Surely, the Ass went at
such a pace as never Ass went before in this world, resting not by the
rivulets, nor under the palms, nor beside the date-boughs; it was as if
the Ass scurried without motion of his legs, so swiftly went he. At last
the desert gave signs of a border on the low line of the distance, and
this grew rapidly higher as they advanced, revealing a country of hills
and rocks, and at the base of these the Ass rested.
So Noorna, said, 'This desert that we have passed, O my betrothed, many
are they that perish in it, and reach not the well; but give thanks to
Allah that it is passed.'
Then said she, 'Dismount, and be wary of moving to the front or to the
rear of this Ass, and measure thy distance from the lash of his tail.'
So Shibli Bagarag dismounted, and followed her up the hills and the
rocks, through ravines and gorges of the rocks, and by tumbling torrents,
among hanging woods, over perilous precipices, where no sun hath pierced,
and the bones of travellers whiten in loneliness; and they continued
mounting upward by winding paths, now closed in by coverts, now upon open
heights having great views, and presently a mountain was disclosed to
them, green at the sides high up it; and Noorna bin Noorka said to Shibli
Bagarag, 'Mount here, for the cunning of this Ass can furnish him no
excuse further for making thee food for the birds of prey.'
So Shibli Bagarag mounted, and they ceased not to ascend the green slopes
till the grass became scanty and darkness fell, and they were in a region
of snow and cold. Then Noorna bin Noorka tethered the Ass to a stump of a
tree and breathed in his ear, and the Ass became as a creature carved in
stone; and she drew from her bosom two bags of silk, and blew in one and
entered it, bidding Shibli Bagarag do likewise with the other bag; and he
obeyed her, drawing it up to his neck, and the delightfulness of warmth
came over him. Then said she, 'To-morrow, at noon, we shall reach near
the summit of the mountain and the Well of Paravid, if my power last over
this Ass; and from that time thou wilt be on the high road to greatness,
so fail not to remember what I have done for thee, and be not guilty of
ingratitude when thy hand is the stronger.'
He promised her, and they lay and slept. When he awoke the sun was
half-risen, and he looked at Noorna bin Noorka in the silken bag, and she
was yet in the peacefulness of pleasant dreams; but for the Ass, surely
his eyes rolled, and his head and fore legs were endued with life, while
his latter half seemed of stone. And the youth called to Noorna bin
Noorka, and pointed to her the strangeness of the condition of the Ass.
As she cast eyes on him she cried out, and rushed to him, and took him by
the ears and blew up his nostrils, and the animal was quiet. Then she and
Shibli Bagarag mounted him again, and she said to him, 'It is well thou
wert more vigilant than I, and that the sun rose not on this Ass while I
slept, or my enchantment would have thawed on him, and he would have
'scaped us.'
She gave her heel to the Ass, and the Ass hung his tail in sullenness and
drooped his head; and she laughed, crying, 'Karaz, silly fellow! do thy
work willingly, and take wisely thine outwitting.'
She jeered him as they journeyed, and made the soul of Shibli Bagarag
merry, so that he jerked in his seat upon the Ass. Now, as they ascended
the mountain they came to the opening of a cavern, and Noorna bin Noorka
halted the Ass, and said to Shibli Bagarag, 'We part here, and I wait for
thee in this place. Take this phial, and fill it with the waters of the
well, after thy bath. The way is before thee--speed on it.'
He climbed the sides of the mountain, and was soon hidden in the clefts
and beyond the perches of the vulture. She kept her eyes on the rocky
point when he disappeared, awaiting his return; and the sun went over her
head and sank on the yon-side of the mountain, and it was by the beams of
the moon that she beheld Shibli Bagarag dropping from the crags and
ledges of rock, sliding and steadying himself downward till he reached
her with the phial in his hand, filled; and he was radiant, as it were
divine with freshness, so that Noorna, before she spoke welcome to him,
was lost in contemplating the warm shine of his visage, calling to mind
the poet's words:
The wealth of light in sun and moon,
All nature's wealth,
Hath mortal beauty for a boon
When match'd with health.
Then said she, 'O Shibli Bagarag, 'tis achieved, this first of thy tasks;
for mutely on the fresh red of thy mouth, my betrothed, speaketh the
honey of persuasiveness, and the children of Aklis will not resist thee.'
So she took the phial from him and led forth the Ass, and the twain
mounted the Ass and descended the slopes of the mountain in moonlight;
and Shibli Bagarag said, 'Lo! I have marked wonders, and lived a life
since our parting; and this well, 'tis a miracle to dip in it, and by it
sit many maidens weeping and old men babbling, and youths that were idle
youths striking bubbles from the surface of the water. The well is
rounded with marble, and the sky is clear in it, cool in it, the whole
earth imaged therein.'
Then Noorna said, 'Hadst thou a difficulty in obtaining the waters of the
well?'
He answered, 'Surely all was made smooth for me by thy aid. Now when I
came to the well I marked not them by it, but plunged, and the depth of
that well seemed to me the very depth of the earth itself, so went I ever
downward; and when I was near the bottom of the well I had forgotten life
above, and lo! no sooner had I touched the bottom of the well when my
head emerged from the surface: 'twas wondrous! But for a sign that
touched the bottom of the well, see, O Noorna bin Noorka, the Jewel, the
one of myriads that glitter at the bottom, and I plucked it for a gift to
thee.'
So Noorna took the Jewel from his hand that was torn and crimson, and she
cried, 'Thou fair youth, thou bleedest with the plucking of it, and it
was written, no hand shall pluck a jewel at the bottom of that well
without letting of blood. Even so it is! Worthy art thou, and I was not
mistaken in thee.'
At her words Shibli Bagarag burst forth into praises of her, and he sang:
'What is my worthiness
Match'd with thy worth?
Darkness and earthiness,
Dust and dearth!