the mosque, waiting the Queen's departure, and when she came forth
with all her attendants he plucked one of them by the sleeve and said
to him, "If the Queen would have news of her son, Prince Codadad, let
her send for the stranger who will be found waiting at the door of her
palace." So, as soon as Pirouzè had returned to her apartments, the
slave went in and gave his mistress the message. Then she sent in all
haste and caused the surgeon to be brought before her. And the surgeon
prostrated himself and said, "O Queen, let not the grief of the tidings
which I bear be visited upon me but on them that were the cause of it."
And she answered him, "Have peace, and say on!" So he told her, as has
been here set forth, the full story of all the courage and prowess
of Codadad, and of his generosity towards his brethren, also of his
marriage to the Princess of Deryabar and of what followed after. But
when he came to speak of the slaying of her son, the tender mother,
as though receiving in her own body the strokes of the murderers
fell forward upon the ground, and there for a while lay motionless
without sign of life. When however the surgeon, aided by her women,
had restored her to consciousness, then Pirouzè, putting aside all
personal grief, set her mind upon the accomplishment of the duty which
now lay before her. "Go instantly," she said, "and tell the Princess
of Deryabar that the King will shortly receive her with all the honour
due to her rank. As for yourself, be assured that your services will be
remembered."
Hardly had the surgeon departed, when the King himself entered, and
the sight of his Queen's deep affliction at once informed him that
something dreadful must have occurred. "Alas," she cried, "our son
no longer exists, nor is it even possible to pay to his body those
last rites which were due to his rank and virtue, for stricken by
treacherous hands and left to perish unprotected he has fallen a prey
to wild beasts so that not a trace of him remains." She then proceeded
to inform her husband of all the horrible circumstances which the
surgeon had narrated.
But before she had ended the King became so transported with rage and
grief that he could no longer delay the setting in motion of his just
vengeance. Repairing in haste to the hall of audience, where courtiers
and suitors stood waiting, he summoned to him his grand vizier with
so much fury of countenance that all trembled for their lives. "Go
instantly," he cried, "arrest all the Princes, and convey them under
a strong guard to the prison assigned for murderers!" The vizier,
not daring to question an order so terribly uttered, went forth and
fulfilled the King's command with all speed. On his return to the
palace for the presentation of his report, a further order almost
equally surprising awaited him. The King described to him a certain inn
lying in a poor quarter of the city. "Go thither," said he, "take with
you slaves and high attendants, a white mule from the royal stables,
and a guard of honour, and bring hither with all the respect due to her
rank the young Princess whom you shall find there."
[Illustration: And taking her hand he led her to the apartments of the
Queen Pirouzè.]
The vizier, with revived spirits, went forth to fulfil this second
mission, so much more agreeable to him than the first; and presently
there arose from the streets leading to the palace the acclamations of
the populace because of the magnificence and splendour which announced
the arrival of the unknown Princess. The King, as a token of respect,
stood waiting at the palace gates to receive her, and taking her
hand he led her to the apartments of the Queen Pirouzè. Here at the
meeting of mother and wife a scene of the most tender and heart-rending
affliction took place. The King himself was so moved by it that he
had not the heart to refuse to them any request. So when they came
and besought for the absent those funeral honours which under other
circumstances would have been his due, he gave orders for a dome of
marble to be erected on the plain by which the city of Harran lies
surrounded. And with such speed was the work put in hand, and so large
was the number of men employed upon it, that within three days the
entire building was completed.
On the day following the obsequies began. All was done with the
greatest solemnity and splendour. First came the King attended by his
vizier and all the officers and lords of his palace; and entering the
tomb, in which lay an effigy of Codadad, they seated themselves on
carpets of mourning bordered with gold. Then followed the chiefs of the
army mounted upon horses and bewailing the loss of him who had led them
to victory; behind these came old men upon black mules, with long robes
and flowing beards; and after these maidens on white horses, with heads
unveiled, bearing in their hands baskets of precious stones. Now when
these had approached and compassed the dome three times about, then the
King rose up to speak the dismissal of the dead. Touching with his brow
the tomb whereon the effigy lay, he cried in a loud voice, "O my dear
son, O light of mine eyes, O joy that is lost to me for ever." After
him all the lords and the chiefs and the elders came and prostrated
themselves in like manner; and when the ceremony was ended the doors of
the tomb were shut and all the people returned to the city.
[Illustration: After these, maidens on white horses, with heads
unveiled, bearing in their hands baskets of precious stones.]
Now after this there was prayer and fasting in the mosque for eight
days, and on the ninth the King gave orders that the Princes were to be
beheaded. But meanwhile the neighbouring powers, whose arms the King
of Harran had defeated, as soon as they heard that Codadad was dead,
banded themselves together in strong alliance, and with a great host
began to advance upon the city. Then the King caused the execution to
be postponed, and making a hasty levy of his forces went forth to meet
the enemy in the open plain.
And there battle was joined with such valour and determination on
both sides that for a time the issue remained doubtful. Nevertheless,
because the men of Harran were fewer in number they began to be
surrounded by their enemies; but at the very moment when all seemed
lost they saw in the distance a large body of horsemen advancing at the
charge; and while both combatants were yet uncertain of their purpose,
these fell furiously and without warning upon the ranks of the allies,
and throwing them into sudden disorder drove them in rout from the
field.
With the success of their arms thus established the two leaders of the
victorious forces advanced to meet each other in the presence of the
whole army, and great was the joy and astonishment of the King when
he discovered in the leader of the lately-arrived troop his lost son
Codadad. The Prince, for his part, was equally delighted to find in his
father's welcome the recognition for which he had yearned.
When the long transport of their meeting embrace was over, the Prince,
as they began to converse, perceived with surprise how much was already
known to the King of past events. "What?" he inquired, "has one of my
brothers awakened to his guilt, and confessed that which I had meant
should ever remain a secret?" "Not so," replied the King, "from the
Princess of Deryabar alone have I learned the truth. For she it was who
came to demand vengeance for the crime which your brothers would still
have concealed."
At this unlooked-for news of the safety of the Princess and of her
arrival at his father's court, Codadad's joy was beyond words, and
greatly was it increased when he heard of his mother's reinstatement
in the King's favour with the honour and dignity due to her rank. He
now began to perceive how events had shaped themselves in his absence,
and how the King had already become informed of the bond that existed
between them. As for the rest of his adventures, together with the
circumstance which had led to his disappearance and supposed death,
they were soon explained. For when the Princess had left Codadad in
her desperate search for aid, there chanced that way a travelling
pedlar; and he, finding the youth apparently deserted and dying of
his wounds, took pity on him, and placing him upon his mule bore him
to his own house. There with medicinal herbs and simple arts unknown
in the palaces of kings he had accomplished a cure which others would
have thought impossible, so that in a short time Codadad's strength
was completely restored. Thereupon the Prince impatient for reunion
with those whom he loved, bestowed on the pedlar all the wealth that he
possessed, and immediately set forth toward the city of Harran.
On the road news reached him of the fresh outbreak of hostilities
followed by the invasion of his father's territory. Passing from
village to village he roused and armed the inhabitants, and by the
excellence of his example made such soldiers of them that they were
able in the fortunate moment of their arrival to decide the issue of
the conflict and give victory to the King's arms.
"And now, sire," said the Prince in conclusion, "I have only one
request to make: since in the event all things have turned out so
happily, I beg you to pardon my brothers in order that I may prove to
them in the future how groundless were the resentment and jealousy that
they felt toward me."
These generous sentiments drew tears from the King's eyes and removed
from his mind all doubt as to the wisdom of the resolution he had been
forming. Immediately before the assembled army he declared Codadad
his heir, and, as an act of grace to celebrate his son's return,
gave orders for the Princes to be released. He then led Codadad with
all speed to the palace, where Pirouzè and her daughter-in-law were
anxiously awaiting them.
In the joy of that meeting the Prince and his wife were repaid a
thousandfold for all the griefs and hardships they had undergone: and
their delight in each other's society remained so great that in all the
world no happiness has been known to equal it. The Princes half died
of shame when the means by which their pardon had been procured was
revealed to them; but before long the natural insensibility of their
characters reasserted itself and they recovered.