defiance to the eighty thousand men that stood in battle array against
him. And they, on their part, seeing the youth so hardily set on his
own destruction, drew sword and couched spear, and came all together
to the charge. The prince waited till they were almost upon him, then
turning the peg which stood in the pommel of his saddle he caused the
horse to rise suddenly in the air, and all the foremost ranks of the
enemy came clashing together beneath him. At that sight the King and
all his court drew a breath of astonishment, and the army staggered and
swung about this way and that, striking vainly up at the hoofs of the
magic horse as it flew over them. Then the King, full of dread lest
this should indeed be some evil genie that sought to carry his daughter
away from him, called to his archers to shoot, but before they could
make ready their bows Prince Firouz Schah had given another turn to
the peg, and immediately the horse sprang upward and rose higher than
the roof of the palace, so that all the arrows fell short and rained
destruction on those that were below.
Then the prince called to the King, "O King of Bengal, have I not now
proved myself worthy to be thy son-in-law, and wilt thou not give me
the hand of thy daughter in marriage?" But the King's wrath was very
great, for he had been made foolish in the eyes of his people, and
panic had broken the ranks of his army and many of them were slain; and
by no means would he have for his son-in-law one that possessed such
power to throw down the order and establishment of his kingdom. So he
cried back to the prince, saying, "O vile enchanter, get hence as thou
valuest thy life, for if ever thou darest to return and set foot within
my dominions thy death and not my daughter shall be thy reward!" Thus
he spoke in his anger, forgetting altogether the promise he had made.
Now it should be known that all this time the princess had been
watching the combat from the roof of the palace; and as her fear and
anxiety for the prince had in the first instance been great, so now was
she overjoyed when she saw him rise superior to the dangers which had
threatened him. But as soon as she heard her father's words she became
filled with fresh fear lest she and her lover were now to be parted;
so as the prince came speeding by upon the magic horse she stretched
up her arms to him, crying, "O master of the flying bird, leave me not
desolate, for if thou goest from me now I shall die."
[Illustration: All this time the Princess had been watching the combat
from the roof of the palace.]
No sooner did Prince Firouz Schah hear those words than he checked his
steed in its flight, and swooping low he bore down over the palace
roof, and catching the princess up in his arms placed her upon the
saddle before him; and straightway at the pressure of its rider the
horse rose under them and carried them away high in air, so that they
disappeared forthwith from the eyes of the King and his people.
But as they travelled the day grew hot and the sun burned fiercely upon
them; and the prince looking down beheld a green meadow by the side of
a lake; so he said, "O desire of my heart, let us go down into yonder
meadow and seek rest and refreshment, and there let us wait till it
is evening, so that we may come unperceived to my fathers palace; and
when I have brought thee thither safely and secretly, then will I make
preparation so that thou mayest appear at my fathers court in such a
manner as befits thy rank."
[Illustration: In the garden of the summer palace all was silence and
solitude.]
So the princess consenting, they went down and sat by the lake and
solaced themselves sweetly with love till it was evening. Then they
rose up and mounted once more upon the magic horse and came by night
to the outskirts of the city where dwelt the King of Persia. Now in
the garden of the summer palace which stood without the walls all was
silence and solitude, and coming thither unperceived the King's son led
the princess to a pavilion, the door of which lay open, and placing
before it the magic horse he bade her stay within and keep watch till
his messenger should come to take her to the palace which he would
cause to be prepared for her.
[Illustration: Sat by the lake and solaced themselves sweetly with
love.]
Leaving her thus safely sheltered, the prince went in to the city to
present himself before the King his father; and there he found him in
deep mourning and affliction because of his son's absence; and his
father seeing him, rose up and embraced him tenderly, rejoicing because
of his safe return, and eager to know in what way he had fared. And
the prince said, "O my father, if it be thy good will and pleasure,
I have come back to thee far richer than I went. For I have brought
with me the fairest princess that the eyes of love have ever looked
upon, and she is the daughter of the King of Bengal; and because of my
love for her and the great service which she rendered me when I was a
stranger in the midst of enemies, therefore have I no heart or mind or
will but to win your consent that I may marry her." And when the King
heard that, and of all that the princess had done, and of how they had
escaped together, he gave his consent willingly, and ordered that a
palace should be immediately got ready for her reception that she might
on the next day appear before the people in a manner befitting her rank.
Then while preparation was going forward, the prince sought news
concerning the sage, for he feared that the King might have slain him.
"Do not speak of him," cried the King. "Would to Heaven that I had
never set eyes on him or his invention, for out of this has arisen all
my grief and lamentation. Therefore he now lies in prison awaiting
death."
"Nay," said the prince "now surely should he be released and suitably
rewarded, seeing that unwittingly he hath been the cause of my fortune;
but do not give him my sister in marriage."
So the King sent and caused the Indian to be brought before him clad
in a robe of rank. And the King said to him, "Because my son, whom thy
vile invention carried away from me, hath returned safe and sound,
therefore will I spare thy life. And for the reward of thine ingenuity
I give thee this robe of honour; but now take thy horse, wherever it
may be, and go, nor ever appear in my sight again. And if thou wilt
marry, seek one of thine own rank, but do not aspire to the daughters
of kings."
When the Indian heard that, he dissembled his rage, and bowing himself
to the earth departed from the King's presence. And, as he went,
everywhere in the palace ran the tale how the King's son had returned
upon the magic horse, bringing with him a princess of most marvellous
beauty, and how they had alighted in the gardens of the summer palace
that lay outside the walls.
Now when this was told him the Indian at once saw his opportunity, and
going forth from the city in haste he arrived at the summer palace
before the messenger with the appointed retinue which the prince and
the King were sending. So coming to the pavilion in the garden he found
the princess waiting within, and before the door the horse of ivory
and ebony. Then was his heart uplifted for joy, the more so when he
perceived how far the damsel exceeded in loveliness all that had been
told of her. Entering the chamber where she sat he kissed the ground
at her feet; and she, seeing one that wore a robe of office making
obeisance before her, speak to him without fear, saying, "Who art thou?"
The sage answered, "O moon of beauty, I am but the dust which lies
upon the road by which thou art to travel. Yet I come as a messenger
from the King's son who hath sent me to bring thee with all speed to a
chamber in the royal palace where he now awaits thee."
Now the Indian was of a form altogether hideous and abominable. The
princess looked at him, therefore, in surprise, saying, "Could not the
King's son find any one to send to me but thee?" The sage laughed, for
he read the meaning of her words. "O searcher of hearts," he said, "do
not wonder that the prince hath sent to thee a man whose looks are
unattractive, for because of his love toward thee he is grown exceeding
jealous. Were it otherwise, I doubt not that he would have chosen the
highest and most honourable in the land; but, being what I am, he has
preferred to make me his messenger."
When the princess heard that, she believed him, and because her
impatience to be with her lover was great, she yielded herself
willingly into his hands. Then the sage mounted upon the horse and
took up the damsel behind him; and having bound her to his girdle for
safety, he turned the pin so swiftly that immediately they rose up into
the air far above the roof of the palace and in full view of the royal
retinue which was even then approaching.
Now because his desire to be with his beloved was so strong, the prince
himself had come forth before all others to meet her; and when he saw
her thus carried away captive, he uttered a loud cry of lamentation,
and stretched out his hands toward her. The cry of her lover reached
the ears of the princess, and looking down she saw with wonder his
gestures of grief and despair. So she said to the Indian, "O slave,
why art thou bearing me away from thy lord, disobeying his command?"
The sage answered, "He is not my lord, nor do I owe him any duty or
obedience. May Heaven repay on him all the grief he has brought on me,
for I was the maker of this horse on which he won thee, and because he
stole it from me I was cast into prison. But now for all my wrongs I
will take full payment, and will torture his heart as he hath tortured
mine. Be of good cheer, therefore, for doubt not that presently I shall
seem a more desirable lover in thine eyes than ever he was."
On hearing these words the princess was so filled with terror and
loathing that she endeavoured to cast herself from the saddle; but the
Indian having bound her to his girdle, no present escape from him was
possible.
The horse had meanwhile carried them far from the city of the King
of Persia, and it was yet an early hour after dawn when they arrived
over the land of Cashmire. Assured that he was now safe from pursuit,
and perceiving an uninhabited country below him, the Indian caused
the horse to descend on the edge of a wood bordered by a stream.
Here he made the princess dismount, and was proceeding to force upon
her his base and familiar attentions, when the cries raised by the
princess drew to that spot a party of horsemen who had been hunting
in the neighbourhood. The leader of the party, who chanced to be no
other than the Sultan of that country, seeing a fair damsel undergoing
ill-treatment from one of brutish and malevolent aspect, rode forward
and demanded of the Indian by what right he so used her. The sage
boldly declared that she was his wife and that how he used her was
no man's business but his own. The damsel, however, contradicted his
assertion with indignation and scorn, and so great were her beauty and
the dignity of her bearing that her statement of the case had only to
be heard to be believed. The Sultan therefore ordered the Indian to be
bound and beaten, and afterwards to be led away to the adjacent city
and there cast into the deepest dungeon. As for the princess and magic
horse, he caused them to be brought to the palace; and there for the
damsel he provided a magnificent apartment with slaves and attendants
such as befitted her rank; but the horse, whose properties remained
secret, since no other use for it could be discovered, was placed in
the royal treasury.
Now though the princess was full of joy over her escape from the
Indian, and of gratitude to her deliverer, she could not fail to read
in the Sultan's manner towards her the spell cast by her beauty. And,
in fact, no later than the next day, awakened by sounds throughout the
whole city of tumult and rejoicing, and inquiring as to the reason,
she was informed that these festivities were the prelude to her own
nuptials with the Sultan which were to be celebrated that very day
before sundown.
At this news her consternation was so great that she immediately
swooned away, and remained for a long while speechless. But no sooner
had she recovered possession of her faculties than her resolution was
formed, and when the Sultan entered, as is customary on such occasions,
to present his compliments and make inquiries as to her health, she
fell into an extravagance of attitude and speech, so artfully contrived
that all who beheld her became convinced of her insanity. And the more
surely to effect her purpose, and at the same time to relieve her
feelings, she made a violent attack upon the Sultan's person; nor did
she desist until she had brought him to recognize that all hopes for
the present consummation of the nuptials were useless.
On the following day also, and upon every succeeding one, the princess
showed the same violent symptoms whenever the Sultan approached her. It
was in vain that all the wisest physicians in the country were summoned
into consultation. While some declared that her malady was curable,
others, to whose word the princess by her actions lent every possible
weight, declared that it was incurable; and in no case was any remedy
applied that did not seem immediately to aggravate the disorder.
[Illustration: It was in vain that all the wisest physicians in the
country were summoned into consultation.]
And here for a while we must leave the princess and return to Prince
Firouz Schah, whose affliction no words can describe. Unable to
endure the burden of his beloved one's absence in the splendours of
his father's palace, or to leave her the victim of fate without an
attempt at rescue, he put on the disguise of a travelling dervish, and
departing secretly from the Persian court set out into the world to
seek for her.
For many months he travelled without clue or tidings to guide him; but
as Heaven ever bestows favour on constancy in love, so it led him at
last to the land of Cashmire, and to the city of its Sultan. Now as
he drew near to it by the main road, he fell into conversation with
a certain merchant, and inquired of him as to the city and the life
and conditions of its inhabitants. And the merchant looked at him in
surprise, saying, "Surely you have come from a far country not to have
heard of the strange things which have happened here, for everywhere in
these regions and among all the caravans goes the story of the strange
maiden, and the ebony horse, and the waiting nuptials."
[Illustration: For many months he travelled without clue.]
Now when the prince heard that, he knew that the end of his wanderings
was in sight: so looking upon the city with eyes of gladness, "Tell
me," he said, "for I know none of these things." So the merchant told
him truly all that has here been narrated; and having ended he said,
"O dervish, though you are young, you have in your eyes the light of
wisdom; and if you have also in your hands the power of healing, then I
tell you that in this city fortune awaits you, for the Sultan will give
even the half of his kingdom to any man that shall restore health of
mind to this damsel."
Then the King's son felt his heart uplifted within him, howbeit he knew
well that the fortune he sought would not be of the Sultan's choosing;
so parting from the merchant, he put on the robe of a physician, and
went and presented himself at the palace.
The Sultan was glad at his coming, for though many physicians had
promised healing and had all failed, still each new arrival gave him
fresh hopes. Now as the sight of a physician seemed ever greatly to
increase the princess's malady, the Sultan led him to a small closet
or balcony, that thence he might look upon her unperceived. So Prince
Firouz Schah, having travelled so many miles in search of her, saw his
beloved seated in deep despondency by the side of a fountain; and ever
with the tears falling down from her eyes she sighed and sang. Now when
he heard her voice and the words, and beheld the soft grief of her
countenance, then the prince knew that her disorder was only feigned;
and he went forth and said to the Sultan, "This malady is curable; but
for the cure something is yet lacking. Let me go in and speak with the
damsel alone, and on my life I promise that if all be done according
to my requirements, before this time to-morrow the cure shall be
accomplished."
[Illustration: And ever with the tears falling down from her eyes she
sighed and sang.]
At these words the Sultan rejoiced greatly, and he ordered the doors of
the princess's chamber to be opened to the physician. So Firouz Schah
passed in, and he and his beloved were alone together. Now because of
his grief and wanderings and the growth of his beard, the face of the
prince was so changed that the princess did not know him; but seeing
one before her in the dress of a physician she rose up in pretended
frenzy and began to throw herself about with violence, until from utter
exhaustion she fell prostrate. Thereupon the prince drew near, and
called her gently by name; and immediately when she heard his voice she
knew him, and uttered a loud cry. Then the king's son put his mouth to
her ear and said "O temptation of all hearts, now spare my life and
have patience, for surely I am come to save thee; but if the Sultan
learn who I am we are dead, thou and I, because his jealousy is great."
So she replied, saying, "O thou that bringest me life, tell me what I
shall do?" The prince said, "When I depart hence let it appear that
I have restored to thee the possession of thy faculties; howbeit the
full cure is to come after. Therefore when the Sultan comes to thee, be
sad and meek and do not repulse him as thou hast done aforetime. Yet
have no fear but that I will keep thee safe from him to the last." And
so saying he left the princess and returned to the Sultan, and said
to him, "Go in and see whether the cure be not already at work; but
approach not near to her, for though the genie that possessed her is
bound he is not yet cast forth: nevertheless to-morrow before noon the
remedy shall be complete."
So the Sultan went and found her even as he had been told; and with joy
and gratitude he returned to Firouz Schah, saying, "Truly thou art a
healer and the rest are but bunglers and fools. Now, therefore, give
orders and all shall be done according to thy will. Doubt not that thy
reward shall be great."
Then the prince said, "Let the horse of ivory and ebony which was with
her at the first be brought forth and set again in the place where it
was found, and let the damsel also be brought and put into my hand;
and it shall be that when I have set her upon the horse, then the evil
genie that held her shall be suddenly loosed, passing from her into
that which was aforetime his place of bondage. So shall the remedy be
complete, and the princess find joy in her lord before the eyes of all."
Now when the Sultan heard that, the mystery of the ebony horse seemed
plain to him, and its use manifest. Therefore he gave orders that with
all speed the thing should be done as the physician of the princess
required it.
So early on the morrow they brought the horse from the royal treasury,
and the princess from her chamber, and carried them to the place where
they were first found; and all about, a great crowd of the populace
was gathered to behold the sight. Then Prince Firouz Schah took the
princess and set her upon the horse, and leaping into the saddle before
her he turned the pin of ascent, and immediately the horse rose with a
great sound into the air, and hung above the heads of the affrighted
populace. And the King's son leaned down from the saddle and cried in a
loud voice, "O Sultan of Cashmire, when you wish to espouse princesses
which seek your protection, learn first to obtain their consent." And
so saying he put the horse to its topmost speed, and like an arrow on
the wind he and the princess were borne away, and passed and vanished,
and were no more seen in that land.
But in the city of the King of Persia great joy and welcome and
thanksgiving awaited them; and there without delay the nuptials were
solemnized and through all the country the people rejoiced and feasted
for a full month. But because of the grief and affliction that it had
caused him the King broke the ebony horse and destroyed its motions.
As for the maker thereof, the Sultan of Cashmire caused him to be put
to a cruel death: and thus is the story of the sage and his invention
brought to a full ending.
THE STORY OF THE WICKED HALF-BROTHERS
In the city of Harran there once lived a King who had every happiness
which life and fortune could bestow save that he lacked an heir.
Although, according to royal custom, he had in his household fifty
wives, fair to look upon and affectionate in disposition, and though
he continually invoked on these unions the blessing of Heaven, still
he remained childless; for which cause all his joy was turned to
affliction, and his wealth and power and magnificence became as of no
account.
[Illustration: There appeared before him an old man of venerable
appearance.]
Now one night as he slept there appeared before him an old man of
venerable appearance who, addressing him in mild accents, spoke
thus: "The prayer of the faithful among fifty has been heard. Arise,
therefore and, go into the gardens of your palace and cause the
gardener to bring you a pomegranate fully ripe. Eat as many of the
seeds as you desire children, and your wish shall be fulfilled."
[Illustration: Pirouzè, the fairest and most honourably born.]
Immediately upon awaking the King remembered the dream, and going down
into the gardens of the palace he took fifty pomegranate seeds, and
counting them one by one ate them all. So in due course according to
the promise of his dream, each of his wives gave birth to a son all
about the same time. To this, however, there was an exception, for
one of the fifty whose name was Pirouzè, the fairest and the most
honourably born, she alone, as time went on, showed no sign of that
which was expected of her. Then was the King's anger kindled against
her because in her alone the promise of his dream was not fulfilled;
and deeming such a one hateful in the eyes of Heaven he was minded
to put her to death. His vizier, however, dissuaded him. "Time alone
can show," said he, "whether her demerits are so great as you now
suppose. Let her go back to her own people and remain in banishment
until the will of Heaven shall declare itself, and if within due time
she give birth to a son then can she return to you with all honour."
So the King did as his vizier advised, and sent Pirouzè back to her
own country to the court of the Prince of Samaria; and there before
long she who had seemed barren had the joy of becoming a mother and
gave birth to a son whom she named Codadad, that is to say, "the Gift
of God." Nevertheless, because the King of Harran had put upon her so
public a disgrace, the Prince of Samaria would send no word to him of
the event; so the young Prince was brought up at his uncle's court,
and there he learned to ride and to shoot and to perform such warlike
feats as become a prince, and in all that country he had no equal for
accomplishment or courage.
Now one day, when Codadad had reached the age of eighteen, word came
to him that his father the King of Harran was engaged in war and
surrounded by enemies; so the Prince said to his mother, "Now is it
time that I should go and prove myself worthy of my birth and the equal
of my brethren; for here in Samaria all is peace and indolence, but in
Harran are hardship and dangers, and great deeds waiting to be done."
And his mother said to him, "O my son, since it seems good to thee,
go; but how wilt thou declare thyself to thy father, or cause him to
believe thy word, seeing that he is ignorant of thy birth?" Codadad
answered, "I will so declare myself by my deeds that before my father
knows the truth he shall wish that it were true."
So he departed and came in princely arms to the city of Harran, and
there offered his service to the King against all his enemies. Now,
no sooner had the King looked upon the youth than his heart was drawn
toward him because of his beauty and the secret ties of blood, but when
he asked from what country he came, Codadad answered, "I am the son of
an emir of Cairo, and wherever there is war I go to win fame, nor do I
care in what cause I fight so long as I be proved worthy."
The Prince was not slow in making his valour known; before long he had
risen to the command of the whole army, not only over the heads of his
brethren but also of the more experienced officers. And thereafter,
when peace was re-established, the King, finding Codadad as prudent as
he was valiant, appointed him governor to the young Princes.